#it rises every few month fucking chill

[meru90]

.

[steddiehyperfixation]

don't you forget about me (steddie fic)

saw this post and was inspired to write something angsty <3

The first thing Eddie is aware of when he wakes up, before he even opens his eyes, is the dull, aching pain throbbing through pretty much his entire body. The second thing he’s aware of is that someone is holding his hand. 

“Eddie?” The hand in his tightens its grip as Eddie begins to stir; the voice it presumably belongs to sounds immeasurably relieved, yet only vaguely familiar. 

Eddie groans. His eyelids flutter, blinking awake, and he groggily rolls his head to the side to get a look at whoever had spoken. 

The voice sighs again, “Oh thank god-” 

“Harrington?” Eddie’s eyes fly open wide now as they land on the mystery man sitting beside him on the edge of the bed - a man he most definitely is not close enough with to be holding his hand, and a bed that is most definitely not his own. He snatches his hand away. “What the hell are you doing? Where am I?”

“Ed-” Another man’s voice, this one just as relieved and infinitely more familiar. It fills Eddie with relief too as he looks to his other side to find his uncle Wayne rising from a nearby chair to come up next to him. 

“Wayne, what-?” His surroundings are becoming more clear. “What happened? Why am I in a hospital? And why the fuck is King Steve at my bedside?” Eddie tries to sit up only to gasp and wince in pain as the dull ache in his sides sharpens to near agony at the movement. 

“Take it easy, son.” Wayne’s hand lands on his shoulder, gently but firmly pushing him back down onto the pillows. “You were hurt real bad.” 

“Yeah, I got that,” Eddie grumbles out. He sucks in a deep, intentional breath and exhales slowly, the pain beginning to dull again now that he’s settled. His questions are still largely unanswered, though. Blank mind reaching desperately for any logical piece to this bizarre puzzle, he turns an accusing glare to Harrington. “Did you land me in here? Is that why you’re here, some sort of weird guilt thing?” 

Harrington’s looking at him like a kicked puppy. “What? No, I-” he falters, takes a shaky breath and swallows painfully like he’s trying not to cry. “You don’t remember?” 

“I don’t remember what? Will someone just tell me what happened?” Eddie’s confusion is rising more and more into agitation with every second he remains without an explanation. 

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Harrington asks quietly.

“I was driving home from school, just found out I wasn’t gonna graduate again.” Eddie frowns as he thinks back, still trying to put pieces together. “Did I crash my car? Is that it? I was emotional and not paying attention and got into an accident?” 

Yet again, he receives no answers. 

“Eddie, what month is it?” Wayne asks instead, his tone dangerously measured and serious. “What year?” 

“May…” Eddie says warily, “1985.”

His words hold a weight he doesn’t understand, landing heavy on the others in the room and thickening the air. It sends a chill of dread down his spine, the way his answer etches concern deep into the lines of Wayne’s face, the way Steve Harrington seems to take it like a blow to the chest. 

Harrington exhales sharply as if he’s been punched, standing abruptly and taking a few stumbling steps back. Wayne says, “It’s April of ‘86, Ed.”

Eddie’s blood runs cold. “No. No, it can’t be.” 

“I’m gonna go tell the nurse you’re awake,” Harrington mumbles, his voice strained and his eyes glassy with barely held-back tears. 

“I’ll go,” Wayne offers, pushing himself away from Eddie’s bed. He gives Harrington a meaningful look, though what that meaning is, Eddie can’t decipher. 

Harrington turns his devastated gaze to the older man. “But, Wayne, he doesn’t-” 

“I know, kid.” Wayne gives a sad smile and places a sympathetic hand on Harrington’s shoulder as he passes by. “Just talk to him.” 

Eddie is thrown off by this familiarity between them. Since when were those two close? He feels like he’s entered some sort of parallel universe where everything is just ever so slightly wrong. It leaves an itch beneath his skin, uncomfortable and out of place, like he no longer quite fits in his own body, in his own life. He’s lost 11 months, apparently, and this world is no longer his; he doesn’t know where he fits into it anymore. 

Wayne leaves the room, and Eddie wants to protest: Don’t leave me here with this guy I don’t know in this time I don’t know, please, you’re the only thing that feels safe and familiar! Anxiety is crawling through him like a thousand tiny bugs in his veins. He wants to scream, he wants to cry, he wants to run. Anything to shake this feeling loose. But he’s confined to this bed, trapped both by his pain and by all these machines he’s hooked up to, and he sure as shit isn’t going to have a breakdown in front of Steve goddamn Harrington. 

Instead, Eddie resigns himself to this situation and casts a sideways glance at Harrington who very much looks like he’s also trying not to have a breakdown. “I’m freaking out, man,” Eddie says finally, hating how shaky and pathetic his voice sounds. “I swear to god, Harrington, if you don’t tell me what the hell is going on…” 

Harrington worries his lip between his teeth as he hesitates. “It’s a lot to explain.” 

“Yeah, I bet,” Eddie scoffs out a humorless laugh. “I’m missing nearly an entire year, of course it’s a lot to fill in. Unless I’ve been here this whole time?” 

“No.” Harrington shakes his head. “No, you’ve only been here about a week. I- I don’t know why you’re missing so much time, the whole Vecna thing only started like a week before that-” 

“Vecna?” Eddie interrupts to question. “What does any of this have to do with the D&D campaign I was planning? And, also, how the fuck do you know about that?” 

Harrington closes his eyes for a second and takes a breath, like having this conversation is the most painful thing he’s ever had to do. “I’m not talking about D&D, Ed. Vecna was a real-life monster from a real-life alternate dimension we called the Upside-Down. The kids only called him Vecna because we didn’t know who he was at the time and he, like, cursed people before he killed them, but he was actually Henry Creel, which is a whole other fucked up story.”

“Okay…” Eddie doesn’t know who ‘the kids’ are and he’s skeptical of the way Harrington talks so factually about monsters and dimensions and curses existing in the real world, but he does remember his uncle telling him stories about the demonic tragedy of the Creel family, which is the only thing that makes any of this even halfway believable. It still doesn’t explain how Eddie wound up in the hospital with his entire body feeling like it’d been run through a blender, though, or why the former king of Hawkin’s High was hovering over his sickbed. He gestures for Harrington to continue. 

“I never wanted you to get involved in all this Upside-Down shit,” Harrington’s voice breaks. He steps closer to Eddie’s bed again, and he looks so so sad as he stares down at him that it makes Eddie’s own heart ache, just a little bit. Harrington’s hand twitches at his side as if he means to reach out for Eddie but then thinks better of it, running the hand through his hair instead as he continues, “I tried to keep you from it for so long, I really did, but then Vecna killed Chrissy in your trailer and the whole town blamed you and you were just a part of things then, there was no getting around it. You helped us fight him - Vecna. You kept his army of bats off our ass while we weakened his body and El weakened his mind. If it weren’t for you we never would’ve defeated him and we certainly wouldn’t have all made it out alive.” Harrington’s gaze softens, as does his voice, his next words almost a whisper, “You were a hero, Eddie.” 

“That doesn’t sound like me,” Eddie says, like that’s the least plausible part of Harrington’s story. And, really, it is. He can wrap his mind around a lot of things: a murder in his trailer - sure, Forest Hills always was a shady place; the whole town accusing him of being a killer - yeah, of course, that tracks; even an evil wizard from another dimension with an army of bats - fine, okay, why the hell not. But Eddie Munson is no hero, and he’s definitely not any sort of fighter either.

“No, you never did think so, did you?” Harrington mutters with a sad sort of fondness and the barest trace of a wistful smile. “But it’s true. Dustin was in danger and you didn’t even think twice. You ran right into the fray without a second thought, sacrificed yourself so that the rest of us might survive. Those bats nearly killed you, b-” he breaks, choking on whatever word he was going to say. His eyes swim with yet more unshed tears. “I almost thought they had killed you, you know. I thought you were dead when I carried you out of the Upside-Down,” he admits shakily, choked up and barely managed, “and even when I brought you here and you were stable, I was still so scared you wouldn’t wake up…” 

Eddie doesn’t know how to react to any of that information or to such a display of emotion. His own hands twitch now with the urge to reach out and comfort him, but he too denies that instinct. He tries for humor instead, something lighter, cracking a grin and teasing, “Aw, Stevie, I didn’t know you cared.” 

Harrington makes a sound halfway between a sob and a laugh. “Oh, Ed, you have no idea.” 

“We were friends then, weren’t we?” Eddie guesses now, carefully. It’s rapidly becoming the only possible explanation for the guy’s behavior around him. “Before all the Vecna stuff?”

“Yeah,” Harrington manages, forcing a small, sad smile as his eyes finally overflow and streak his cheeks with tears. “Yeah, we were good friends.” 

~

Wayne reenters the room then with a nurse in tow, and Steve quickly turns away and rubs his hands over his face. He needs to pull himself together; he can’t break down right now, not yet, not here. 

He listens, distantly, as the nurse asks Eddie a bunch of questions and then tells the rest of them that she needs to take him in for some tests to determine the cause and prognosis of Eddie’s amnesia. He watches, numbly, as she wheels Eddie’s entire bed out of the room. 

Steve can barely hear, barely see, his emotion clouding his eyes and roaring in his ears. He stares blankly through the open doorway and struggles to swallow down the ever-rising lump in his throat. 

Wayne’s voice rumbles from somewhere beside him, but he can’t quite make out the words. “What?” 

“I’ll take that as a no, then,” Wayne says, the sound reaching Steve’s ears a little clearer now. “I asked if you were alright.” 

Steve shakes his head. His voice comes out coarse and raw, “‘Course I’m not alright.” 

“Right, ‘course you’re not,” Wayne echoes. He follows Steve’s mournful gaze to the door Eddie had disappeared through. “What did you tell him?” 

“Told him he was a hero,” Steve croaks, “...and that we were good friends.”

“Ah…” Steve’s vision is so blurred behind a thick layer of tears he can’t see the sympathetic frown on the old man’s face, but he knows it’s there. “At least he’s alive, kid,” Wayne tries to be comforting. “You can always start over.” 

“Yeah, I know, but I don’t- I don’t want to start over, I just want-” Steve chokes back a sob. He just wants Eddie.

It’s a horrible thought, but Steve almost thinks that this just might be worse than if Eddie really had died… Because how is Steve supposed to handle the fact that his boyfriend of 9 months no longer knows him? How is he supposed to cope now that the love of his life looks right at him and no longer sees him?

He closes his eyes, presses the heels of his palms into his eyelids, inhaling a shaky breath and exhaling an even shakier sigh. Steve whispers, “It feels like I’m losing him all over again.” 

(part two is here!)

(also on ao3)

[rageserenity]

It's 2024. Are you still thinking about movieverse!Cherik? Because I am.

For the past several months, there's only been a very slow trickle of posts/fics in the xmcu cherik tag. Let's try to breathe some life back into this incredible pairing!

With one clear winner of my poll, here's thirty prompts for the thirty days of April. (This is a super chill, laid-back event---do these in any order, interpret them as loosely as you like! Create in any medium! Fic, art, gifs, meta, incoherent screaming about the otp…all winners in my book.)

The only rule here is to cherik too close to the sun. Alright. Here are the prompts.

Mutual Pining

Doesn't really even need elaboration! Write that horrifically slow slow-burn. Gif every time McAvoy made insane fuck me eyes on screen. Make a playlist of songs about impossible love.

2. Alternate Meetings

There are endless quotes about how these two complete each other in a way no one they'd met before or after ever did. How else could they have met?

3. Erik Has A Telepathy Kink

This is basically canon. Let my boy get freaky!

4. Canon Fix-It

All the times Fox fucked it up. There are endless options.

5. Hurt/Comfort

Put them in that Situation. Put them in that Blender. Break them apart and put them back together ❤️‍🩹

6. Canon Compliant

Draw that missing scene! Gif your favourite cherik moment!

7. Beach Divorce

Make it worse. Make it better. Show it to us exactly how it was. Break it down in a 3,000 word meta. Go wild!

8. Domestics

Sometimes you just want to see them doing normal couple things. Erik put the gun down.

9. Found Family

The real heart of x-men!

10. Time Travel

There are SO many possibilities here. Stick them in a time loop. Give them a chance to change their past.

11. AU

Love a good AU!

12. There Is Only One Bed

Had to get this one in here. What better way to amp up the tension?

13. Genosha

By some miracle, cherik actually did end up together at the end of 2019s trash bag disaster Dark Phoenix. We aren’t making a big enough deal about this.

14. Declaration(s) of Love

Who says it first? How do they say it and when? Have they said it…without saying it?

15. Jealousy

Need I say more.

16. Reunion

These two have absolutely no chill.

17. Soulmates

Classic prompt, had to get this in here too.

18. The DOFP Aircraft

The TENSION here. Break it down for me. How does Charles feel about his injury? How does Erik feel about his injury?

19. Gay Mutant Road Trip

You already know.

20. Body Swap

SO fun when people have superpowers.

21. First Kiss

When? How? Who initiated it?

22. The Mansion

Mansion!content is a genre of its own.

23. Conflicting Ideology

Give me your theses. Who’s right? Can they ever reconcile completely? Write a fic where it drives them apart.

24. Sebastian Shaw

A trope unto himself.

25. Team As Matchmaker

They had to have known something was going on, didn’t they?

26. Cooking

Charles deserves a good meal. Also, imagine Erik using his powers in the kitchen. The sheer domesticity…

27. Hurt No Comfort

Plenty of scope with these two 🥲

28. Growing Old Together

Giving Sirs Ian Mckellan and Patrick Stewart their props as well!

29. Making Up

*pushes chess board across the table* sorry babe

30. Charles Xavier Did More For Mutants Than You'll Ever Know

Rising to each other’s defense. Only I can insult this man.

I will be tracking #revivecherik to reblog stuff! Here’s a fic collection for the same. Let’s get this ball rolling! Please feel free to send me an ask if you’ve got anything to say! And most importantly, let’s all have fun 😁

*I know a few of you preferred something like a gift exchange because of the commitment factor—I’m super down to organise a tiny one for the handful of us! If this promptathon doesn’t flop horribly, we can hopefully do a whole bunch of stuff :)

If you read this post all the way through, please reblog for reach! Thank you! Hoping you participate come April.

Shoutout to @inmymagnetoera for reaching out and helping with this!

[inlovewithquestionablecharacters]

Din Djarin X Reader: Guilty Pleasure

Warnings: not proof read, smut, penetration (p in v), fingering, hand job, cream pie, pet names, touch starved, cursing, kissing, no use of yn

Word count: 2K

He’s trying not to look. He really is but you're not making it easy. 

Maker, it isn’t your fault he finds you irresistible. 

Here you are innocently helping him fix his ship and all he can think about is how it would feel to fuck you from behind. It’s been going on for weeks now. Every time you bend down, your ass coming into his view, Mandos mind seems to venture to sinful thoughts. He didn’t know why it’d started, you'd been with him for months now and even though he’d realized he had a thing for you days ago he’d only recently started to see you in this new light. A light that made him feel like his pants were too tight and made his breath become uneven.

“Kriffing metal piece of-shit!”

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s a part that needs replacing.”

“You can’t fix it?”

“No, it's completely rusted. Not a surprise though. When was the last time you put some oil on this thing?”

In all honesty Mando had no idea the compartment you were currently tinkering with existed much less that he needed to oil it. You took his silence as an answer, shaking your head.

“Well, lucky for us there is a shop in town that deals in ship parts. They should have what we need.”

The two of you walked through the crowded town. Dins hand rested on his blaster, eyes looking around for any signs of trouble. You held the new part you purchased in your hand. The owner of the shop had asked for a fair price and to your surprise the piece was in rather good condition. You glanced to the side, eyes catching on a small shop. You didn’t notice the person walking towards you until their shoulder bumped into yours. You stumbled your hand releasing the part you held. It fell to the ground with a dull thud. You bent down to get it.

Mando had been too focused on a sketchy looking man to notice you’d stopped walking. His body collided into yours, his hands instinctively moved to hold onto your frame. Mandos' eyes widened beneath his helmet as he realized the position he now found himself in. His hands rested on your hips keeping you steady. You were bent forward, your ass pushed against his groin. By some force of nature Din had found himself in the exact position he’d been thinking about for the past few days. 

In the middle of a crowded street. 

In front of a bunch of strangers. 

Mando didn’t touch you often. He usually avoided coming in contact with your body when possible. So when you felt his grip on your hips you froze. Your head turned to the side, eyes moving up Mandos body until they reached his helmet. Mando started at your shocked expression. He should have let you go already but he couldn’t move. You turned your attention back to the part grabbing it in your hand. Once it was securely in your palm you slowly started to rise. Mandos' hands remained glued to you as you moved. You finally managed to get upright and you immediately regretted it.

You could feel his body pressed against yours. A small sigh left your lips at the feeling. Maker it had been so long since you’d been this close to someone.  Beneath his helmet Mando shut his eyes taking a deep breath in. You felt so soft against him. Your body was a warm contrast against the chilled metal that constantly surrounded him. His fingers flexed against your skin digging into the meat of your hips. You let out a sharp intake of breath. The noise made Mando open his eyes. He watched you rest your head against his shoulder blade, your eyes closed and lips slightly parted. You’d exposed your neck to him and the only thing he could think about was sinking his teeth into you. Mando called out your name causing you to furrow your brows before opening your eyes slowly. You tilted your head slightly so that you could stare at the T shape of his visor. You should have been embarrassed, maybe even a little ashamed, of how you were behaving but you weren't. You’d longed for Din’s touch for a long time and now that you had it, you weren’t going to waste your time worrying about it. You were going to savor this moment. No matter how little it lasted. 

“We have to get out of here.”

Mandos' modulated voice sounded strange. He sounded like he’d just ran a mile. It was then that you realized you had the same effect on him that he had on you.

Mando struggled to center himself as he dragged you towards the crowd. You stumbled after him, your hand grasping him tightly as you tried to keep up with his speed. You’d passed two motels on the way and it had taken everything inside Mando to not rent a room and get you naked as fast as possible. But he didn’t want to seem that desperate so he shook the thoughts out of his head.

You were getting close to the ship now, just a little bit longer and you’d get to feel him again.

Din smashed his hand against the hull's panel, a growl escaping his lips as he waited for the door to open all the way. Once it did, he dragged you inside the ship. You placed the part on top of a counter quickly turning to face Mando once more. You watched him slam his fist into the inside panel, making the door close again before he spun to look at you. You stare at him, your chest rising and falling rapidly as you wait for him to do something. Mandos' hands moved to his armor tugging at the metal desperately. 

“Help me cyar'ika.”

You rushed over to him, your own hand tugging at the beskar that covered him. For the first time you were looking at him without his armor and even with his flight suit still on you could see everything. Mando moved forward, stepping away from the pile of metal and making his way to you. His arms wrapped around your frame tugging you into his body. You gasped at the feeling of him. Unlike his armor he was incredibly warm and soft. You sighed into him, your head moving to rest against his neck. Mando groped you ass making you squeal. 

“Ah Din!”

He loved the way his name sounded coming out of your lips. You felt his hands move towards your front. You moaned as he stroked your clothed cunt with his fingers. Your hands moved to his head trying to grasp onto his hair only to remember he was still using his helmet. Din seemed to sense the disappointment in your body, his fingers stopping his teasing. His other hand made its way to your face, tugging your chin up so that you were looking at his visor. Your pupils were blown wide and your face was slightly flushed. Din smiled under his helmet. Maker if this is how you reacted to his fingers he wondered how you would look after he’d bent you over and fucked you stupid. 

“Tell me what you want.”

“What?”

“Saw you pouting about something. What is it?”

You bit into your lip. The truth is you wanted to see his face but you couldn’t ask him for that. You respected his allegiance to the Mandalore and his beliefs far too much to be that selfish but you really wanted to be able to feel him properly. You wanted to kiss and and hear his unfiltered grunts as he fucked you.

‘Mesha’la. Tell me what you want.”

“You can't give me what I want.”

“How can you know that if you didn’t even ask me for it?”

“I want to kiss you.”

Mandos' body stiffens at your words, his hand resting on your cheek as he tries to think about what you’d just said. You move against him taking a step back. 

“It’s okay i know you can’t it was stupid to-”

“Close your eyes.”

You stopped walking backwards, your mouth opening and closing as you tried to think of something to say. Mando tilts his head to the side and despite not saying anything you know what he’s asking. You do as he asked, eyes closing. You hear the hiss of his helmet being released and you almost stop breathing. Mando makes his way over to you, his hand finding your cheek once more.

“Promise to keep them closed.”

His voice sounds majestic without the modulator.

“I promise.”

“Good girl.”

Before you can even respond his lips are on yours. You groan into his mouth, your tongue darting out to ask him for entrance. He understands your request, his lips opening to let you in. Your tongues move together. The kiss isn't pretty, it's visceral. Your hands grab onto any part of Din you can and he does the same to you. You're so lost in the taste of him you barely register the fact that he's pulled your pants down to your ankles. It's only when you feel his fingers against your pussy that you realize your bareness. Din bites into your shoulder as he pistols his fingers into you. You melt into his hands latching onto his curls as you moan. His name leaves your lips like a prayer and he swears he’ll never forget the sound. 

“Din pleasee.”

“What is it mesha’la? What do you want?”

“I need you inside Din-ugh ah- wanna feel you.”

“Fuck cyar'ika.”

He spins you around so fast that you almost fall to the ground. You brace yourself against the cold wall, brows furring as you listen to Mando unzip his flight suit. 

“Give me your hand.”

You lift your hand to Dins face. He licks a strip down your palm before maneuvering your arm to twist downwards. A gasp leaves your lips as you feel his dick against your hand. You begin stroking him and he moans.

“Yeah just like that fuck.”

He lets you stroke him a bit before pulling your hand away. You whine at the lack of contact.

“I thought you wanted me inside.”

“I do.”

“Can’t be inside you if i’m fucking your hand mesha’la.”

It sounds strange to hear such dirty words coming out of Din's mouth. You like it though. You wonder what noises he’ll make when he’s balls deep in you. The thought makes you nudge your ass against him. Mando gets the massage. His toys with you a bit, sliding his dick against your folds for a moment before plugging in. The sound that leaves your lips isn’t natural. Din groans into your neck as your walls flutter around him.

“Move please Din move.”

He started rocking into you slowly. Your hands move against the cold wall, trying to find something to grab onto but coming on empty. You throw your hand behind your head searching for Dins curls. Once you find them you latch your fingers onto his scalp tugging at him as he pistols into you. You can hear your knees bainging against the wall as Din fucks you, you’re sure to wake up with bruises tomorrow but you don’t care. You focus on the grunt Din lets out as his dick spears into you. He’s a lot more vocal than you’d imagined. 

“Din i’m close…”

“Me to just a little more-ugh fuck me-a little more.”

Dins hands trail against your hips moving to your front. His fingers search for your clit moving expertly against the bud. Your eyes roll to the back of your head as you cum. Din feels you milking his cock the feeling of your walls sucking him in making his hips sputter. His pace fastens and pretty soon he's filling you with his seed. You slump against the wall body sagging as your energy drains out of you. Din rests his head against the metal hull, his breathing coming unsteady. The two of you stay like that for a moment each one trying to come back to reality. 

“I’m never oiling any part of this ship again.”

You laugh at Dins words, head turning to give him a kiss. 

“Maybe i’ll have to start dropping stuff in front of you more often.”

“Don’t tempt me mesha’la. I’ll fuck you on every surfess of this ship if you let me.”

“Oh yeah? That a threat or a promise?”

“Guess you’ll have to find out.”

[vyzz-undercover]

RAAAGHHG QUICK HOLD THIS!!!

[cato/f!ambassador]

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

(11,000ish words) (MAXED OUT SPACE LMFAO)

CONTENT WARNINGS:

•no dubcon (growth!!!)

•hints of size kink

•references to masturbation

•oral [f receiving]

•intercourse [M/F]

•discussions on contraception

•discussions on pregnancy

•breeding kink (finally someone admits it)

•mild violence [on reader]

•degrading language

•tumblr's horseshit concept of copy paste formating

———————————————————————————————————

WHATS UP???? IM ALIVE ENJOY THE FUCKING SHITSTORM OF CATO FINALLY ADMITTING HES A WIFE GUY BASICALLY!!!!! oh and here's the taglist ily all mwah mwah!!! @mothiir, @moodymisty, @bispecsual, @the-raven-lady, @thevoidscreams, @pluvio-tea, @lemon-russ, @egrets-not-regrets, @kit-williams, @passionofthesith, @historitor-bookshelf, @cosmic-cryptid-from-beyond, @ma1dmer, @scriberye, @gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan, @undeaddream, @beckyninja, @yestheantichrist, @sinistermojo, @vivacious-hyena, @grimdark-racoon!!!! if anyone wants on or off taglist lmk no pressure!!! enjoooooyyyy i love u alllllll :3

———————————————————————————————————

For all intents and purposes, everything is going swimmingly.

Cato is happier these days—and so are you, apparently.

So when he is called to the Command deck by his Primarch, he is somewhat unsure of what to make of the matter. Paranoia rises in his gullet like bile, but ever since the slip up in front of Guilliman, you've both been spotless.

Cato strides up the parapet and demagnetises the locking pins keeping his helm secure, tugging it off his head and letting it nest in the crook of his arm.

Slicking his hair into some semblance of order with a free hand, he sighs.

Ugh, he needs a haircut—it's starting to get in his eyes if he doesn't swipe it back. But he can't—because you seem to approve, and stubborn as he is, if keeping it this length means he receives dainty Ambassador fingers as a comb sometimes, then so be it.

It still pisses him off, though.

Regardless, Cato carries on his way—and the first face he sees upon entering the discussion area is the Chapter Master's, and two of his subordinate Victrix Guard hovering behind.

The Primarch's lesser-used vessel Dawn of Fire has been given to Calgar, and has been trailing behind the Macragge's Honour for a month and a half now; meaning the situation has granted a fair few more audiences than normal amongst them.

Nemus bows his head in unison with Lethro, the gesture familiar and practiced, while Calgar simply tips his chin down at him.

Cato reciprocates with a curt, martial bob and takes his place nearby his Primarch at the central control booth.

A few menials are fiddling with the specifications of the lithocast display before it flickers into life, the green-tinged projection juddering for a second before stabilising to a clear motion pict link.

Lo and behold, Severus Agemman's shiny bald head and pinched face.

The mere sight is enough to make Cato disinterested; and when he hears the First Captain speak his greetings to the Primarch, Cato abruptly considers himself deaf.

He turns away, looking aside, and finds you.

You're leaning on the railing of the raised observation deck while his Primarch gives feedback Cato doesn't heed.

You've dressed a little different than your usual ship-attire—clad in that same old blue robe but armed with a big navy shawl, and he suspects you've done so expecting the chill of the upper deck.

Cato's dark brow quirks as he gazes towards the high, arching, star-flecked windows. Throne, he feels like he's being hypnotised by the white shifting whorls—there is a humility to gazing up, every so often. A reminder of perspective. Cato has seen some objectively beautiful sights in the galaxy; stars and asteroids and planets untouched by Humanity, and Xenos, and Chaos alike; but none really compare to watching you stare up at the wide glass panels, absentmindedly connecting the dots between distant gas giants.

For a moment it feels like everything is unimportant.

He wants to stand beside you. Lean down and rest on the railing, and bask in the smile you'd shoot up at him.

He wants to ask which cluster of far off planets you think prettiest, perhaps if you recognise any—or if you'd like to see how the stars look glittering off the mighty oceans of his home-world—but it is not appropriate to behave that way with the current company, despite how it aches to deny himself the sentiment.

"No," Guilliman sharply answers a response Cato hadn't been listening to.

And only then does Cato realise himself, gaze and focus tearing back to reality and sticking to Guilliman's big, tired blue eyes, as he digresses, "No, no—the moment the Drukhari know we are onto them, they will butcher through the populace for sport—and the elites will cripple the dwarf planet to spite them. Farrim is a major port world, the set back of going off course, even temporarily, is worth the delay."

There are several billion inconsequential people on that rock. And all they have to thank for not being sentenced to slavery and death is the benefit of being close by.

The locale would surely not be high priority if not for the chance it is practically adjacent to Agemman, and he can simply scare off the assault with an extremely minor detour—and then obliterate the fleeing Xenos like chaff before the wind.

The only real problem is orchestrating how to go about it.

Bombard them into their base particles before they even get their hand in the jar? Or let them begin, and then close the trap to watch them squirm and suffer in it like salted leeches?

Cato knows he would chose the latter, but he's not about to dignify Severus with any sort of advice on such meagre matters.

Cato exists beyond the normal chain of discipline, as Commander of the Victrix Guard—which means felating Agemman is Sevastus Acheran's problem as Captain of the Second Company, now.

The planetary governance's reaction must be considered also—he knows of Farrim, vaguely. There are a series of vast docks in geosynchronous orbit, and that means they are host to all sorts of satellite criminal activities. It is surely a rat's nest rife with Rogue Traders returning from deep dives into hell; and that means heretical practices, like engaging in interspecies dealings; of tack, of weregild—of flesh.

Cato knows well the horrible desperation of the weak for some form of certitude in a galaxy run mad, even if the only certitude possible was that of complete degeneration. A greedy baseline would sell their kin to Xenos to eat another day. That is the reason for law. It is one of the reasons for Astartes. It is a basic truth. Because a cornered beast would sooner kill itself in the struggle of fleeing than face its pursuer—and humanity in masses are oft worse than if they were caged in a cramped pen with a starving Termagant.

But he hopes, beyond reason, that the moronic rulers that allowed the Drukhari so close would suffer far more than just the panic of the chase before succumbing to their vermin fear in such a way. Punishment would be harshly imposed, because treating with Xenos ever yielded foul results. Simply writhing in their own terror was not enough justice for their enactures, and Cato will gladly watch the meting out of greater judgement upon them soon.

Consequently, Cato had come to find almost all Aeldari are cunning, vapid, spineless rabid dogs. Naught but misery-merchants, worthless and parasitic enough to be slaughtered en masse without hesitation.

The Lord Primarch did not wholly agree with this, of course. But he had his own reasons for such beliefs, after having met with them himself. He said there are, allegedly, good and bad ones amongst the lot—then he went on to say one should ever be considerate of their fey, mercurial motives.

Cato knows a knife-eared witch had implored much of Guilliman, and his father is nothing if not a good listener.

But Guilliman is also a master tactician, and is more human than most of the Imperium is led to believe.

At times, he behaves more human than his gene-sons—but his Father was reared well, so he says. And maybe that's why he insists on assessing the uncouth. Like hearing out dribbling Xenos hierophants, or keeping you as a pupil pet.

Cato believes the Primarch favours you, truly.

He has projected his meagre hope of a kinder future on your success, against all the impossible odds.

Guilliman is a brilliant leader, and an even better teacher.

He is just, and personable—but stern.

Cato is the opposite.

He bites, and he always has.

Martinet to his core, Cato is ever succinct; almost to a sociopathic degree at times. He's never truly understood how to speak with his Father's finesse. But he can mimic it. He knows the gist of what to say, and when to say it. Largely by predicting the next words. As an Astartes, he is not inherently made to be a statesman, even if he is the Grand Duke of Talassar.

Nevermind the fact a vast majority of political dissidents opponents would sooner grant themselves the Emperor's mercy than try argue policy with him, an Ultramarine. He knows he is sullen and bad-tempered and easily aggravated in casual conversation, even amongst his Brothers—but he's not about to admit things like that out loud; and where he once sought out discourse—he's become despondent reclusive compared to his previous confidence.

He swallows down the harsh reality that he knows the exact tipping point.

He tries to forget that Damnos was the first pebble before the rockslide; the agonising strike of a Necron lord's war-scythe in his side, not to mention the sting of Severus Agemman's proverbial sabaton up his ass.

And, most importantly, he ignores the hint of tinnitus in his ears. The echoing across the decks of the Emperor's Will that sound like screa—

You yawn, and look over your shoulder to Guilliman with a weary curiosity.

You are everything Cato isn't, and he knows that now.

Perhaps that is the real allure of you, in the end; beyond the aspects of his lust, and your own affections.

Sweet, endearing—trusting to a fault, and... small.

He almost snorts to himself at that because, Throne, you really do look tiny amongst so many ceramite clad trans-humans.

The Primarch flashes you a soft glance and directs his gaze back to the lithocast.

You approach Guilliman with a preppy, yet cautious sort of diligence; standing beside him not a moment later as he listens to Agemman prattle on, and on—and on.

Agemman doesn't acknowledge your entrance in the slightest, hell, he doesn't even blink. He doesn't know you by face—but Cato knows you know him; because in Guilliman's quest to have you absorb as much information as possible, you've interacted by writing many times. But the First Captain clearly wrongly assumes the woman in his holo-field of view is a lowly attendant, not the Ambassador he's had several dissertation-long discussions with by note.

You're looking up at Agemman with a soft smile, like one would reserve for a friend—and he does not return it.

Seemingly aware of the fact your gesture is for naut, your expression withers to a sad little frown.

At that, Cato's eyebrows furrows harshly, embittered by seeing you suffer the rejection.

He ought to—

But then a bundle of data-slates are lifted off the hexagonal interface surrounding the projection system, held out to you in far, far larger gauntlets than Cato's own; and you take them into the cradle of your arms.

It's too many for you to comfortably hold, and Cato can tell solely because there's that familiar, tiny crease between your brows that only ever appears when you're unsure of something.

"I will be back en-route with the First as soon as the threat is cleared, and—" Agemman's raving wavers periodically, hologram gaze tilting down.

Cato winces a bit when the topmost slate slips out of your bundled arms and clatters to the deck loudly.

In response, the First Captain's hologram rakes you with a nigh appalled sneer that has Cato puffing up at the hackles like an angry carnodon.

"A-Apologies, my lords..." You shrink back, seeking an exit, in that frightened-mouse way of yours that Cato would've once delighted in long ago. But it's a grating, bastardised comparison when he knows Agemman's disgust is entirely, baselessly genuine unlike Cato's had been.

Another slate falls in your timid outburst, and Agemman snorts angrily at you.

More than willing to take the heat, Cato immediately steps forward into the threshold of the holo-cast's vision breadth and snorts back.

It's a standoffish moment where the First Captain becomes aware of him and turns his head.

"Cato," Agemman says sharply in that typical, dismissive tone; but his expression betrays a brooding aggravation.

He scowls, lips curling much like his fingers into a fist, "Severus."

He can play this game, because unlike prior altercations—he's not being held to a rapport of failure.

Cato answers to Calgar and Guilliman now, and yes, he's to heed Agemman—but he's not to abide orders like he'd had to during his Captaincy of the Second.

And neither Calgar nor Guilliman have stopped him as of yet for this outburst.

In fact, Calgar is apparently more interested in trying to rub away a speck of grime on his power-fist.

While the Primarch... well, the Primarch has currently shut his eyes, grimacing softly.

It appears Cato's simply keeping the peace.

And on the surface, to onlookers, it's not at all indicative of any ulterior reason aside from petty distaste for Agemman—even if Cato's real motive is possessive defensive, and solely intent on taking the attention off you.

"Enough," The Primarch grumbles at last, and opens his eyes as he leans down—his great height folding—dutifully collecting the two, small fallen objects with mild hassle. Guilliman sighs at you remorsefully as he sets the data-slates in a better position, unperturbed by your clumsiness. "The Ambassador has done me no insult, she was merely over encumbered. The galaxy as we know it has not imploded, as of yet."

Agemman blinks, "...Ambassador?" he mumbles—with the revelation, in a fraction of a second he's entirely placid and defanged, reigning himself back in and cringing slightly—unlike Cato, who returns to glaring murderously at him.

"That means you, too," Guilliman starts aloud, and he apparently knows he needn't clarify more.

Cato grinds his teeth and tears his gaze away, letting it fall aside as he unclenches his fists.

You take a step back, a pitiful sigh leaving you as you set about trying to balance with the data-slates. The Primarch finally realises that it's too much for you, just like Cato had to begin with.

"Sicarius," Guilliman says flatly, "Give her a hand."

A hand?

Oh, he's given you more than hand.

He feels himself bristle with want, an abrupt , mad rush of eager heat besieging his body as he sets his shoulders stubbornly.

In or out of armour, he's done it—and Cato is caught daft at the sudden eidetic memory of having you straining against his big forebrace shoved hard under you to keep you in place. Squirming frantically against as many fingers as he would deign allow you, drooling on his armour as you suffer a cleverly turned thumb; so wanton and pretty as you finally, finally give him his prize and cry out for—no—no, no—shut up, shut up.

At that, he tersely inhales; and remembers he's surrounded by other Astartes.

Nobody's noticed, thank fuck.

"Cato!" Guilliman snaps.

Cato blinks, "What—uh, pardon me, my lord?"

"You are utterly impossible," he half-chastises, half-laments, with little more than a sigh. "Help. Her."

Cato nods stiffly, silently panicking, and approaches you.

"Stop snivelling like a useless dog, and pull it together, woman, you're embarrassing yourself," he accosts loudly, overcompensating for his own screw-up, and it's cruel—he knows it is because you flinch a little, and one of the gathered high-ranking brothers behind you huffs in surprise at just how brutish he's acting—but he cannot show the comfort you wish of him under the circumstances.

You regard him with a profound sadness in your eyes, and he can't bear to meet your gaze; so he casts it aside.

And immediately meets the Primarch's eyes.

A strange, angered confusion has graced his Father's features. A sort of stunned disappointment—and Cato supposes that tracks, given the fact Guilliman though he'd gotten over his gripe with you.

"Check your anger, Commander Sicarius." Guilliman says with a cold discontent, and Cato immediately drops the act.

Cato holds out his helm, turned plume-down, the inside proffered up as a bucket.

The task of shovelling the data-slates in is tedious at best, but it's easy when he joins in.

When all's done, Cato practically dumps his helmet in your arms.

"It's alright, don't fret," Guilliman chuffs, smiling at you tiredly, trying to seem supportive. "Just be on your way, Ambassador."

You look back at the Primarch, stunned for a moment—who smiles at you again, and tips his chin to the exit hallway.

Nodding, you shakily curtsy at the gaggle of Astartes and stumble away with the heavy weight of Cato's helmet and it's new contents in your grasp.

Cato frowns at the entire display, and Guilliman seems to notice that too, because he immediately grits out, "Commander Sicarius, if the safety of your helmet worries you so, go make sure she doesn't drop anything else."

"Of course... yes, my Lord Primarch," He straightens up, surprised at the dismissal but certainly not about to argue.

in his mind, Guilliman is sending him to cool off. That much Cato is sure of, which works to his favour.

Promptly, he knocks his breastplate in respectful farewell and trails after you; now a little ways down the grand and lofty adjoining chamber hall.

Cato strides with his chin held high, but promptly drops it when he rounds the corner and is out of view of the Primarch a few moments after you.

You say nothing to him when Cato catches up and matches your slow march to your quarters.

Cato's practically drags his boots across the regal carpeting as he walks.

And when the carpet runs out, he scrapes his heels on steel like a petulant child.

He knows he's taken the charade too far.

Head hung low much like his, you don't look at him—and it eats away at what meagre actual backbone he's got left around you.

It continues for a while; you pass servitors, serfs, staff, and Astartes alike; not acknowledging anyone.

They acknowledge Cato of course, but he ignores any nods or salutes like he's got blinders on.

He knows the path you're taking well—it's a shortcut, but a tedious one with the load you're carrying. And when the passersby thin out to nothing eventually, you're still trudging along like a lobotomite.

You look appear much like a sullen little arming serf carrying his helmet as you are. The coarse broom-spread of his helm's Suzerain mane brushes the fabric atop your thighs—and Cato can tell it's annoying you, because you slow a little when it itches; trying to shimmy it up higher in your grasp to no avail.

Your breathing is heavy with strain, now a few paces behind him; and Cato groans when you both round a corner and he sees a flight of stairs ahead.

He pauses, and rounds about-face.

"Give it to me," he snaps.

You immediately sigh, "Why?"

"Because it's mine," Cato grumbles. "Now give it to me."

You pout, "I don't need help."

He scowls harshly, "I wasn't asking."

A gasp leaves you as you're suddenly being advanced on by an Astartes, stomping you down—and he catches the data-slate filled rim of his helmet with a gauntlet.

He's honestly surprised you hold on while he pulls it away from you.

"Let go," he hisses.

"No," you hiss back.

"Let go, now." Cato shakes the helmet around, trying to dislodge you; going so far as to lift it until you're dangling off the side.

"No," is all he receives again.

Tiny, stubborn, cunt of a waif.

He cannot sustain subtlety when he is rebutted on something. Not without pause. He's aggravated now, and it shows when he snarls, "Why are you acting like this?"

"No," you bark.

A very real temper is flaring as he says, "No, what? That's not an answer—"

"Fuck off, Cato!"

He's never heard that tone out of you directly. It stuns him for a second, because he's never actually made you genuinely angry. He can't explain why it makes him suddenly decide to play disciplinarian like you're an unruly Scout, but it does. And you're going to explain exactly why you thought to voice that opinion, Emperor help you.

"Enough of this groxshit," He tugs the helmet high, and you up with it, scooping a vambrace under your midsection to carry you like a keg under his arm; prying you and the helm apart.

"Put m-me down!" You kick out wildly behind him, snarling insults and slamming your fists back against his plate on his core, to no avail.

It's a good thing you're actually close to your quarters, because the scene you're making is more than enough to be flagged for gross insubordination if anyone saw. Striking an Astartes is of no meagre consequence. It'd be death, for anyone but you.

It takes him a try more than usual to input his locking override code, given your squirming—and him only being able to manage a pointer free on the hand holding his helm.

Your door slides open nonetheless, and Cato ducks in with you still secured, despite your tantrum; and in his seething, he fully calculates the effort it'd take to hog-tie you with your own robes.

You're hissing and carrying on as if you're a pissy little neophyte hopped up on stims for the first time, and Cato ignores you periodically to lock your door behind you both.

He empties his helm of the data-slates on the nearest pile of clothes, magnetises the bucket on his hip; and practically tosses you onto your bed.

You yelp at the rough handling and scramble to reach your nightstand.

Instead of scampering off like he honestly expects, you grab a book; and when he leans over the bed and reaches for you, you start to bat his armoured hand away with the hardcover front.

"Do you honestly think that will work?" Cato snarls, but despite himself, he recoils and starts eyeing you. "Are you that fucking dense, woman?"

You grumble sourly and hold the novel up, like it's an actual weapon.

"Fine, be that way," he rolls his eyes, and with trans-human speed, catches you by the ankle and reels you in.

You bleat out a warbling cry at being yanked, and manage to toss the book at his head in a lucky shot.

He cops the hit to the brow harmlessly, then it lands on the covers below him beside where he's dragged you under.

You freeze for a second as he brackets your arms upward above your head in one large gauntlet.

"Stop," he bites out, "Just stop struggling."

You start fighting him again regardless, legs kicking out—knocking the book sidelong into the headboard with a thud.

Cato glances at source of sound, and then he's suddenly fixated on the wall above it.

His dagger's been hung up.

It's a little crooked, but that's expected when the hooks the sheathe and blade are lodged against aren't actually drilled in place. It's done with adhesive—it's your doing.

Cato can't exactly name the feeling that washes over him as he stays staring at it, but it feels thick, and viscous in his chest. Like pain, almost—like he's hurt himself. His tongue feels leaden in his mouth. Every ounce of retaliatory anger at your earlier antics dissipates into nothingness.

The shackles his large mitt's made on your wrists falls away.

"I didn't think you'd actually do it," He mumbles, before taking a deep breath—and his armour creaks at the gesture; servos humming as he settles into a crouch at your bedside, half strewn over the duvet—staring at you pinned under him.

The bed protests, because of course it does to that amount of bulk, but it still holds regardless.

You huff sourly, and suck your bottom lip into your mouth as you avert your gaze.

With a tired sigh, Cato leans close to you and frowns—straining to tuck his nose against your neck and scoop a vambrace under you to hold you close.

"I may have," he starts slowly as he smothers himself against you. "Overreacted."

A scoff escapes you, but you rest your cheek to his temple regardless.

You take a big breath in; and the politician in you jumps out—even if the politician is currently a little bit shaky.

"I-I am aware that... it's tedious to have me around given my bearing, amongst your kind," you stammer, gaze flittering to and fro from his eyes to his pauldron to the desk behind him. "I can take a snort and a scoff, but you made it worse, at the end—" your voice trails off, and you sit up; scrubbing your cheek with your palm, fussing. "It's easy to hear criticism from a stranger, but not—not from you. Not after... all of this, in a situation like that."

There was a time when Cato would've flat out turned his nose up at the prospect of apologising. He has done so to maybe ten baselines in his entire life, and he's including his parents in that number purely by an assumption—and Vedeah.

"Even in the moment," he says carefully, and tries not to think too hard about the wider implications of doing so, "I realised it was a cruelty, and I am sorry for it."

You simply hold onto him for a moment, and Cato buries his face closer; your hand combing across the side of his head.

"It's alright," you tut softly, "Seeing y-you... you getting all huffy about the First Captain for me was funny though... Throne, I feel so stupid sending him all those letters now."

"You weren't to know Agemman's a prick," he sniffs, laying a gauntlet on your thigh. "I've been on the receiving end of his sour judgment just as you, earlier."

"Were..." you start, voice hesitant. "Were you like that, when you were Captain of the Second?"

The question catches him off guard, which makes him harrumph.

Cato sets his jaw and leans back to look at you, frowning softly, "You would not have liked me in the slightest."

You look a little taken aback at his admission, and Cato feels the need to clarify before your habit of asking too many questions seizes you.

"I was..." Cato begins abruptly, cringing, "...reckless, and a lot more vain; always seeking victories at any cost despite the odds," he says, begrudgingly explaining himself and feeling a lot like his own Primarch was simply speaking through him, "I probably would have petitioned to have you tried for the simple crime of... being, despite my actual... ahem—predilection."

You eye him for a moment, and there's a familiar warmth in your gaze despite the fact he just admitted, out loud, he'd have you put to death for the crime of stirring his cock in another set of circumstances.

"Why do you think that?" You ask, curious.

Cato raises a brow, "I would have painted you a Slaaneshi temptress, like I had thought originally."

"You thought that? Really? I hadn't even—" You scoff, looking at him with a quizzical little grimace.

The deadpan expression on his own face answers you before you can even get it all out.

"Okay," you groan. "Okay, I get it."

He gives your leg a squeeze, and pulls back.

"Good," he hums and moves to stand.

"Wait, Cato—stay," you mumble, "Please."

At full height in your cramped room, he furrows his brows, "I cannot remain here, not tonight, not in this."

You sit yourself on the edge of the bed and look up at him, and Cato's forced to peer over his gorget to catch the full extent of the pleading, doe-eyes you're putting into action.

Cato has to fight back a dopey smile at the insistent, honeyed look you grace him with as you stare up at him.

So pretty, even when you're playing at guilt-tripping him.

It's risky, and quite frankly his dumbest, most thinking-with-his-cock moment; but he still offers it.

"You could accompany me, instead?" He dithers, and eventually acquiesces.

Your head cocks to the side excitedly, "...to where?"

"My quarters," Cato says matter-of-factly.

You're suddenly up and scrambling off the bed to stand beside him, and he hands you his helmet off his hip. You take it without complaint nor reason, even though Cato'd been prepared to give you an excuse.

Oh, it's an alibi, oh, it's this—it's that—it's the simple fact you looked irresistible amusing carrying his helm.

He unlocks your door, and shuffles out—with you tailing him eagerly.

Laterally, it's not too far from his quarters, but it is tedious given the levels between; and it has to be done quickly—if not for the fact if others see they will gossip, he'd throw you over his shoulder like a dead-weight and break into a run. So you need to keep up with his rush, given you wanted to follow.

He hastens down the corridor, and up a flight, and you keep pace, surprisingly.

Your breathing is a little heavy, but Cato attributes that to you having just scaled a fair amount of stairs, for a baseline.

He lingers at the top, in the elevator bay; and you bumble up to him and take the spot behind him.

Cato activates the lift and sighs as it begins to grind it's ascent into existence.

He's stunned to have not heard a peep out of you yet, and honestly that—hold on—there's a hand on his rear, and small fingers depressing the bodysuit over his left glute.

"Get off of there," he snaps, "We are in public."

"I'm just leaning to catch my breath," You huff, squeezing him a little.

Fifteen minutes ago you were sulking and seething, and now you're straight back to bothering him for entertainment.

"Don't start," he sighs, and takes a step aside from you—desperate to not dignify the heat crawling up his neck.

"What will you do?" You scoff, and he all but whips around at your snarky tone, "Snort and sneer me to death? I just fought you off with a book."

Cato rolls his eyes.

"I can and will use things against you," he says, a slight hint of a growl trailing his words.

You raise an eyebrow.

"Such as?"

"I know how easy it is to render you docile and silent, as you ought to be," Cato scowls harshly, putting some finesse into appearing menacing.

It does not work.

"You think I'm some animal to be scruffed?" Your laugh is painfully endearing, but—but he's firm in his rapport. At least, he's trying to be firm. One part of him certainly is firm and hard... and straining against his inners—stop.

"Much the same, seeing as you would preoccupy a single hand at most," he grits out flatly, but his temper wavers when he realises his own statement's double meaning—his cheeks feel a little warm, and it aggravates him that he reacts so easily.

You raise an eyebrow, staring at him, "Just your hand?"

He fights the urge to pout at the sheer cheek of you, and the lurid smugness you're letting show so brazenly.

It's a common situation now: you say something erring on insult, smile a tad, and then the brain in his cock takes the reigns from the one in his head. He thought he was past swooning starting at your antics by now; or at least he hoped to have become a lot more immune to it.

But no—despite being the belligerent, bitter bastard he is, you still manage to ferret out a weak spot for yourself in his hearts.

"I ought to take you over my knee," he says so softly it's practically an oath to himself.

Nonetheless, you apparently catch it—and blink dumbly up at him for a few seconds; a slow, creeping flush steadily finding it's place on your cheeks as you swallow so hard he hears the cartilage in your throat click.

The lift comes to a halt, and he all but harries you off it.

Thankfully, it is standard rest hours for the Victrix; that is to say those who aren't bedded down are likely on jaunts elsewhere in the ship.

It's the perfect opportunity to sneak you inside, in short.

The grand, carpeted corridor is empty, and you ogle it; and it's likely your first time having been near higher standard Astartes accomodation.

"I'll be back—" He opens the door in a quick input of numerals and ushers you in swiftly before huffing; "Don't open for anyone, not even Guilliman."

You nod and step inside, looking back at him a little sheepishly with his helm held to your chest; as the sliding mechanism activates, clicks shut, and promptly dead-locks behind you—while he quickly thumbs in his security code.

He breaks into a sprint to the nearest armour chamber, which is thankfully on this level; if not an eight minute jog at Astartes speed.

At first, Cato asks the mechanicum disarming staff to show some haste in doffing him from his panoply of ceramite—but he quickly loses patience and growls at the serfs who try to drag out the whole ordeal with longwinded rights and sermons while the adepts' machines hex-key open his vambraces. Part of the ordeal ends, war-gear shed, and Cato practically hisses at the gathered attendants when he starts to wrestle out of his body-glove and they try to smear him with unguents. He does, however, allow them to administer local numbing agents and analgesics for the more tedious, biological matters of unlinking from his interfacing.

They hose him down instead of scrubbing him at least, and Cato's glad that someone in that Void-damned room is listening to him.

He hurriedly lathers his arms and legs, dipping a cupped palm back into the presented urn of warm, fragranced oil to cover his neck and underarms—and bending, creasing points, as is typical.

He feels a little wobbly as he puts his sandals on at the hasty loss of the armour's weight—and in that aforementioned hurry, he trips a little while he tugs his tunic over his head and knocks over the servitor, who then knocks over one of the serfs, who then knocks over the tech adept.

It's not Cato's finest moment, surely, but he's in about as much of a rush to get moving as an Astartes can be in a non-combat environment.

He doesn't stop, because he has better things to do—more specifically, he has you to do.

He makes his way down the long winding halls, sprinting between the gaps in onlookers eyelines, stop-starting, like a fool. But damn, if he isn't on a mission with the thought of you waiting on him hanging over his head.

"Sicarius," the Chapter Master's voice abruptly greets curtly.

Cato swallows a scream and takes a step backwards, immediately entering grappling stance.

The aging Primaris seems to realise he's genuinely surprised him and raises a grey brow.

Cato rights himself with a forced cough and stumbles a little, "Lord Calgar?"

A huge power fist comes to rest on his tunic'd shoulder to steady him, "I did not intend to shock, but there is something you must hear of," Calgar says, manoeuvring to allow space for him to walk beside.

Cato matches the broader strides of the Chapter Master, although with him being a Primaris and Cato out of his war-gear—it's a tad more effort than normally required given the size disparity.

Marneus Calgar is typically a man of few words when he's not seized by his passion for monologuing... but he certainly has plenty words when he has gossip.

"I have a suspicion," Calgar huffs.

Cato swallows the lump in his throat, playing along, "And I assume you're not at all responsible for that suspicion travelling to other ears."

"Of course," The Chapter Master shoots him a downward, sidelong glance with his good eye. And if Cato didn't know any better, he'd have been amiss to the glimmer of amusement there.

Abruptly, Calgar pauses in step and quietly remarks, "One of our brothers is aberrant."

The metaphorical leaden brick that hits Cato in the temple works in his favour, because it makes it seem like he's in disbelief rather than panic.

"Corruption?" He hisses, eyes narrowing.

Calgar's grey brows furrow as he shakes his head, "Aberrant, Cato—not chaos-tainted, insofar as I am aware."

"How?" Cato snaps, and again, his bemusement that Calgar didn't equate the two for some reason surely works in his favour, making it look like a sincerely shocked reaction—but the problem remains that he, personally, would equate them. Throne, there—there must be a reason he's acted on his urges, there must be something he can blame.

Calgar purses his thin lips and sighs, "I have on good reason to believe there is a sort of... fraternisation is occurring."

"Really?" Cato huffs, he's simultaneously stunned and horrified that this conversation is even happening. Because if Marneus doesn't think it's the work of the Warp's wiles, then it can't surely have just been his own love partiality for you—that damnable, incessant yearning to have you close, and warm, and tucked against his side.

"And by that," Calgar starts, "I mean that one of them is engaging in baser ventures."

He tries very hard not to laugh out of sheer mortification, and the mental pict of Calgar clutching a string of pearls like a senile ecclesiarch.

"Are you certain?" Cato says, despite the looming dread.

The Chapter Master nods stoically, "I chanced upon an area reeking of Astartes sweat and... intercourse."

When every word may damn you, it is better to say nothing at all. And Throne, he can't bring himself to speak regardless of the fact; because his balls are in his throat. Even if it sounds as though Calgar's largely oblivious to the truth that the Astartes is him—Cato Sicarius—and although he is partially thankful he's in the clear; if Calgar's got your room identified as the source, you're in the hot seat. Every facet of your little existence would be so over for you it's almost unfathomable. Even if you escape the judgement of the Legionnes, you would be hunted down by the Assassinorum, in and beyond any Imperial system; fuck, he's going to have to smuggle you—

"I was sequestered elsewhere urgently, and I did not chance where it was coming from," Calgar continues, "But I know it occurred somewhere in the northeastern apartments."

Cato fights for his life not to sputter out a relieved sigh and buckle at the knees, boneless on the floor.

The ventilation systems must have dispersed the smell, which would have thrown off Calgar's vomeronasal organ.

He rejects most aspects regarding godhood placed upon the Master of Mankind ever since his agonising jaunt in the Warp, and from his conversations with Guilliman—but surely the Emperor must have leaned over on His throne and pelted a holy, righteous wrench at Calgar's big nose that morning.

The Emperor protects, albeit when He comedically feels like it.

"I will keep an eye out for... un-sanctioned behaviours."

"Report them to me, or Guilliman, should you find anything—no chaplains," Calgar says at last, and comes to a halt in a fork in the hallway. "Nonetheless, keep your wits about you—I must get going."

Cato blinks as Calgar rounds on his big heel, "Another vox-haling?"

"No," he sighs. "A meeting, for the next six hours."

"With the planetary governor?"

"No," Calgar says again, face completely dead-pan like a corpse, "With my cot—and if anyone needs me, tell them to piss off unless Guilliman's dying. Again."

Then he shoots him that wry, amused side-eye once more and stomps off down the adjacent passage.

Cato stands stunned in the hall for a brief time, genuinely flabbergasted.

Then he's a trans-human on a mission, thundering down the corridor—his mind immediately concocting several protocols to prevent the previous situation occurring again.

Firstly, the instant he gets to his quarters, he's going to stuff his incense burner into the ventilator grate.

Sound won't be an issue, he knows his chambers are proofed—surely not because he's woken screaming in that room without anyone saying anything. But that's besides the point, because the only screaming that's to be happening is his final plan of action; namely that, lastly, he's going to slide into you and have you crying his name—

Cato doesn't even consciously remember arriving at his door, nor coding in his numerals and doing the same behind him; but he's certainly in the present when he sees you.

Something in his chest lurches to a halt at the sight of you tucked in his sheets, the thundering of his twin heartbeats slowing and easing to a lulled calm.

There's less candles in his room than yours, but what little of your hair that peaks from beneath the blanket is bathed in flickering, warm light when he approaches.

His helm's lying against you atop the thin cover, and you're snoring softly.

Cato nears, and—with nobody to judge him, including you, simply stares.

Throne, he could live this scene out every day of his life and never tire of it—but matters need attending before he can bask in the domesticity.

Dutifully, he grabs his incense holder and follows through with his plan of action.

He doesn't intend it, but he wakes you at some point while jamming the vent back into place; and you groan softly, rubbing your eyes as you stretch and sit up.

The sheets over you slip away as you do, and he daftly fixes his haze at the drowsy, stark-naked Ambassador in his bed.

"...Cato?"

He swallow the proverbial bolt round lodged in his throat and grunts.

"When..." you pause to yawn, "When did you get in?"

It takes him a second to register the question with how intensely he's focused on ogling your tits, but eventually "...a few minutes," leaves him as an answer.

You blink lazily and harrumph, then slump back—and he's sure it's intentional, because the way your body curves with the motion is almost like you're presenting yourself. The sheets are low on your hips—not low enough that he can really take an eyeful, but the temptation of it raw and syrupy in his mind. What he can see is the warm, soft skin of your navel and stomach offered up to his roving gaze like a hunk of meat. It's bait, and it's obvious, and he's a slavering, starved dog in that instant.

He sits himself on the edge of the thin mattress, kicking off his sandals—and leans over you, breathing controlled but fast.

He splays a palm on your side, dragging it up, tracing.

You fuss a little, wanting.

He manoeuvres himself atop you, and you pout, as your elbow digs into the mattress.

He can tell in some fey way you're about to comment on the state of his bed—or rather, the lack of a real bed. Well, maybe not fey, it's mere prediction given your habit of complaining. You've probably been stewing on making a remark about it the entire time you've been dicking around in here. There's no headboard, no duvet. It's closer to a big, thin cushion on a fold out, bolted to a hinge on the wall at the top end.

You grumble, "This is the worst bed I've ever actually lain on," and there it is—the nagging, the backtalk.

"My mattress on Talassar is far nicer," he hums, nosing into the crook of your neck and sighing contently.

Your voice is barely a mumble as you say, "Well, we're not on Talassar—that's for sure."

"We could be," Cato mouths against your skin as he ventures lower.

"What?" You sit up a little and displace him enough that you can meet his gaze, and your eyes lock onto his in a hasty, focused manner—then Cato feels translucent again. As if you can see him for everything he is: prideful and doltish, disgustingly predictable—you've got him eating out of your hand.

"We... we could go to Talassar," he blurts out, one of your breasts against his chin. Then he ducks lower—planting a kiss just above your bellybutton. His voice comes out muffled against your skin, swallowing thickly, cotton-mouthed. "I'm sure I could... find an excuse, logistically."

The look you're giving him is just as flushed as his own face feels.

Cato Sicarius, High Suzerain of Ultramar, babbling—once again. Reduced to an illiterate, juddering wreck. His Astartesian dignity, honour and status petering to nothing. You have him swooning, on the back foot. Earnest and vulnerable—Throne, it makes him hot under the proverbial collar.

Cato stalls for a second, pursing his lips before digressing, "I could... I could petition an excursion to Glaudor to Guilliman, and then... arrange docking at Perusia."

Why does he feel so heated talking about this? Why is he, a several hundred year old, trans-human killing machine, flustering saying these things out loud?

"I don't actually know much about Talassar, aside from—well, aside from Guilliman's assigned readings on the Void Tridents, really."

Cato huffs, "I am distantly related to their Lord Commodore, Theodro Vethrus."

"Really? Huh..." you squint, trying to parse out his expression, "So do you... like him?"

Cato nods, "He's competent."

"High praise from you," you laugh softly, and wriggle yourself down—closer to eye level with him. "So what w-would we do? On Talassar, I mean..."

He breaks eye contact and stares at your lips instead, rearing up from you a little, "Well, there's a large hinterland that's quite nice in spring when it's not raining... and my Ancestral seat, on the coast. People sometimes swim and such, there—"

"I've never actually swam at a beach, before."

Cato harrumphs, "Really?"

"Never," you pout.

He smiles softly, "That can be remedied."

From the higher rooms of his duchy's fortress, you can get a good look at the long isthmus that sometimes peaks out from afore the sea walls when the waves calm down bi-yearly.

It's nicer on the other side where it's too small of a cove to support vessels, where the submerged canyon redirects the immense tidal forces sidelong.

You can swim in the carved rock lap pool, like he used to.

Because he's not about to run into the waves with his Tempest Blade should one of Talassar's less hospitable locals swim under the marine nets.

That, and to hell with picking the sealant-putty out of his interfacing ports. The annoyance of that is almost as bad as to be without it, and chock full of sand at exposed nerve points. With that mental deliberation settled, he lays both palms flat to the mattress supporting him either side of your shoulders, and raises a brow when your hand touches his chest.

Absentmindedly, he weighs the pros and cons or giving you the leeway to continue groping; it feels nice—but there's an aspect of mischief to your eyes he finds suspicious.

You start squeezing at his pectoral, fingers bearing down; watching the dense muscle contort and bulge.

"You really ought to bind these," you hum abruptly.

He scowls down at you, "I am not binding my chest."

"Why not?" You retort.

Cato sniffs derisively, "They are not breasts."

"Riiiight..." You drawl, dragging out the word still pawing at his left pectoral. "In my professional opinion, they seem pretty breast-like to me."

"They are not. Fucking. Breasts," Cato snarls, enunciating himself sharply while puffing up.

"No need to get defensive," you trail off, eyebrow quirking up slyly; laying the faux-pas down heavily, purposefully trying to irritate him by nipping at his metaphorical heels. "It's just that—well, even though they're hairier, they do feel simi—"

"That's enough talking out of you," he says, and promptly seizes you by the chin with his mitt, closing your mouth with his hand and effectively silencing you.

But stifling you had not wiped the smug, leering smile off your face. Yes, he can fucking feel it, you little bitch.

"You aren't funny," he hisses.

You grunt at him, huffing and puffing through your nose as you attempt speech even though your maw is held shut.

"Don't say something stupid," Cato frowns, and loosens his hold enough for you to get a few words out.

"I'd wager you could lactate w-wuh—with—" you race to say, thrashing as he quickly manages to shut you back up with his palm.

Cato tries not to grumble at the fact you're wheezing hysterically through your nose.

"Every time I think you are above something, you find a way to sink lower."

In response, you start thrashing, writhing enough in his grip to get four single words out from between his big fingers, "Sink—i-into your–cl—uh–eavage—" you manage to sputter, laughing behind his hand.

"I'll sink into you in a moment, if you do not stop," Cato growls openly.

You go still almost immediately, and whine against his palm.

"Really," he sneers, flabbergasted as he pulls his hand away and raises a brow, "Are you getting off on this, you degenerate?"

The comment clearly also stirs something in you, because then you're swatting at his face—missing, yes—but the effort still infuriates Cato to no end.

He rears back in avoidance, still keeping you nice and muzzled by his palm, but you manage to clap a hand around his mouth.

You push at him and squirm, fussing.

Then he inhales.

It's a little surprising his nose finds your fingers smell of molasses, and that means slick—the lingering hormonal melody of 'please?' is so blatant it's almost pathetic.

Cato raises an eyebrow and moves his hand from your face to ensnare the one you have on his, keeping it close.

"Is that why you're being such a scathing bitch? You're just impatient?" He scoffs, purposefully trying to taunt as he sniffs them again, just to be sure—and then licks across the underside of your pointer and middle, "Were these not big enough to entertain you while I was gone?"

You whine, flushed red with embarrassment, and try to wretch your hand away pointlessly.

A belated snort escapes him and he gives you a long, judgemental glare, letting you boil in your own shame.

"Don't start," you huff, petulant.

Cato huffs darkly, "I didn't say anything."

You frown knowingly—and his head descends, lower and lower.

You're all too willing to let him arrange you near his face.

Sure, you wriggle and flush and grumble at him as he makes sure to make a dramatic gesture of the act, but you're eager—and he knows it.

With an Ambassador's plump cunt to his mouth, Cato can't complain. But you certainly try to, despite the juddering thighs squeezing fruitlessly against the sides of his head. It's hopeless to try to fend off an Astartes, especially like this.

"C-Cato, just—"

He rolls his tongue over your clit again and again, delighting in the blissful hormone feedback lighting up his brain and the sounds you're making adding to it.

Some part of him'd be content lapping at your swollen nerve for hours, until you're a boneless mewling wreck. Tormenting you, letting you beg for him while he just roils in the simple goal of getting you to your end a dozen or so times.

"Please, just f-fuck—" you sob, squirming as he laughs against your sex at how toothless your frustration is. "Fuck m-me, Cato, stop being a-a—"

He drags over your clit again and feels your hamstrings tense, a fresh surge of slick wetting his chin.

"I'm—I c-can't," a shuddering whine leaves you, desperate.

The air practically vents out of your lungs like you're winded as he sucks; until you're so terribly close, all he'll need to do is bottom out in you to make you cum.

And that's exactly what he does.

He organises your legs off his shoulders and about his mid section as quickly as he can manage and then—

"F-f—fuh—uck," You writhe, head thrown back while you squirm at the heavy press of him rocking inside you, making your breathing stutter for a second. It's the familiar, obscene view of watching the massive slab of cock press into a cunt that's almost too small for him. But given the fact you take it so well, who's Cato to deny you? You love it, and that's the real thrill. A surge of pleasure sends you bucking; legs moving mindlessly where they're hooked over his hips, but he keeps still, simply letting you suffer your end on the thick length of him—all the while enjoying the feeling of being stuffed in you the whole ordeal.

It's only a quick orgasm, but damn if it isn't a hell of a show.

You're panting deliriously, trembling on his cock; and Cato's about to start drooling at the tightness he's being treated to.

When you stop trembling around him, you fight to steady your breathing—huffing out; "I—I ought-t-ah... squeeze you o-out."

"You'd need a dozen Dreadnauts to drag me loose right about now," he snorts and tips his head close, nudging his temple to yours a second later before smirking proudly.

The heavy swell of his balls sit flush against your ass, and you arch up, scrambling to pull him down into an embrace.

The small hands on his back are a nice counterpoint, and he moans when your fingers glide up to his shoulder; trailing the side of his neck before cupping his cheek. You pet him against the slightly grown out grain of his stubble with a skrrch skrrch, and he hums contently—and when that little hand rises to his pet his hair, it's sublime.

Your touch shifts away and he grumbles.

"I didn't tell you... to stop, damn it."

"So you are enjoying y-yourself, hm?" You smile, cupping his jaw and petting slowly.

"I don't... don't know what you're talking about, woman," he lies, nigh beside himself; pressing his bulk against you while pawing and groping at whatever he can.

He'd try for one of your tits in his mouth if the angle he's currently reaming you out at didn't make it impossible.

You work kisses across the high point of his cheek and down the heated column of his throat; seemingly emboldened by the dulcet, appreciative hums and rumbles that escape from Cato the entire time.

Doused in affection like this, he struggles to form sentences, damn it all.

He lets his head rest close, assailed with honest desperation.

"But, I..." he starts quickly, feeling a weight in his chest. His brain wants him to finish with a whole other word he refuses to even think of; because even if he's itching to say that he—he loves adores you—he's too stubborn to say it without sufficient prodding; but there's an arrow of longing lodged in his gullet and thankfully it doesn't dare to leave his mouth. "But, I do enjoy... you."

The prettiest whine escapes you in answer, and the flutter your tight cunt around him proves that for once, he's somehow said the right thing.

You swallow thickly and dither for a second, genuinely flustered but still able to get the words out, "I-I enjoy you, too."

A heady rush of heat fans across his face as he tries to properly process the information. The road travels both ways, and everything is serene, he's happy—you're happy, and that's all he ever needs. The duty and the honour, and the courage, seem inconsequential to it all in that moment.

He turns and kisses you swiftly, before leering away.

You rear up trying to close the distance again, but then Cato finally thrusts—and your eyes swim in their sockets, thighs shaking, mouth open with the heady gasp that leaves you.

So he nears, and gives you the other kiss you were eager for.

It's far messier than the former; his big tongue sticking in, dragging across yours and stifling you, saliva smearing down your chin as Cato practically laps the moans out of your mouth.

When he arches back at last, you're flushed and red at the lips, fluttering your lashes at him; eyes falling half-lidded under his gaze.

"C-Cato, move," You whine, imploring, and there's another eager clench around him when he obligingly ruts forward.

Cato can see the lurid glee on your face as your focus shifts suddenly to the point you both meet. Folded under him, it's given you a perfect vantage of the slab-of-meat that is his cock absolutely jammed down to the base in your guts.

You shimmy a bit and moan, "M-More?"

The scoff that leaves him is disbelieving, but he's well aware you're goading him to really set about fucking you insensible.

"If I fucked you as hard as you liked, you'd be getting augmetic hips tomorrow," he snarks, punctuating his point my pushing forward a little, so he's jammed riiiight against the soft ring of your cervix.

A soft gasp is all the receives for a second before you're suddenly grinning, "You're n-not that big."

It's so blatantly a lie he doesn't even dignify it with an answer. Instead, he shifts back a hint so only a third of himself stays inside you, letting you grow irate at the denial.

"I w–uh-was joking, Cato... please, don't s-stop," You whimper mournfully, raising yourself a little in attempt to coax him to slam in... and suddenly, there's a small hand on his flank.

Cato ignores it, focused on getting some much needed humility out of your darling mouth; then the hand claws at his rump.

"Needy bitc—" His would-be snarky sentence cuts short as he jumps a little, surprised, and clenches his rear; causing him to buck forward, sinking down to the hilt in you.

The thrilled gasp you make is priceless, and the shivering heat around his cock is sublime—but damn you for using that instinctive muscle reaction on him—you clever little bitch.

"Stop grabbing my ass," he grumbles, scowling down at you.

A crooked smile graces your lust-dumb features before it contorts into a flushed keen—surely not because Cato grinds deep to wipe the smirk off your face.

"This ought to keep your hands busy," He chides, rearing back and reaching sidelong for his discarded helmet on the far side of his cot.

You eagerly take it into your embrace, and Cato's impulse control violently derails seeing your tits sandwiched to the side panel; the white and red plume brushing your cheek—and you looking up at him with wanton lust.

Oh, Throne of Terra—that looks...

Cato swallows the saliva that suddenly over-accumulates in his mouth.

It's lecherous, and a glaring hypocrisy to everything the Legiones Astartes stands for—but there's something painfully enthralling about the visual that riles him up to strain at the bit like a warhorse.

Throne, he wishes he could fuck you in full-plate; just to see you drip and squirm, the adamantine of his thigh plating against your tender rear—the gooseflesh cold ceramite earns out of you to contrast the big hot slide of him into you. If only there was a way to keep the comfort of familiar war-gear upon him and the bliss of your soft skin on his simultaneously.

But he's got more than one round in him, and you've signed the warrant to be fucked to hysterics with all your insufferable antics earlier, no matter how cute you're acting now.

He's not going to last long.

Not like this.

Not with you so painfully eager, and pretty, and warm, and sweet.

He can't help acting on the urge to absolutely plough into you like his life depends on spilling inside.

"Ca–ah—to, Cato, C-Cato—" you drool, eyes shut tightly, fingers white with the exertion of keeping a grip on his helm's respirator. Each time you cry out his name it's followed by the sticky plap-plap-plap of his balls against your rear, and it's enthralling feeling you twitch and cramp on his length in rhythm with each stroke.

"Aren't you such a good little fucktoy," Cato pants, grinning when you nod on instinct. "Holding an Astartes' helm for him... while taking his cock."

A strangled 'y-yes' escapes you, breath fogging condensation against the cold steel of his helm.

"Perfect," he grunts, "My perfect... little whore," gritting his teeth, "You'll let me fill you, won't you?"

Another gorgeous few bleated notes of 'yes, y-yes, yes' meet him in answer.

"You want it here?" Cato hisses, breathlessly punctuating himself with a grind, "That's it... that's what you want?"

And that comment apparently does you in at last.

The pathetic little sob that pairs along with your frantic nodding makes him salivate like a rabid dog.

Your thighs judder as he pulls back to slam in, fruitlessly trying to lock at the ankles around the wide span of his hips; vainly attempting to keep him still—squeezing tighter and tighter as he keeps driving home into you—and the feeling is ecstasy, much like the view. You're so red across the cheeks it's almost the same colour as his plume, and you're hugging his helmet close, making the sweetest hiccuped sobs of pleasure against it.

He grits his teeth at the tightness that rewards him for pushing you to finish, helpless to it doing the same. Rutting into you, filling the eager hole he's sheathed in.

Cato slumps forward, shivering; careful to not squish you and his helm beneath his bulk despite the daze of him emptying a load in you—keeping pace even when the stimuli becomes unbearably tender and your heels dig into his flanks.

Heaving, he halts at last after the pleasure begins to really hurt, and meets your hazy gaze with a long, content sigh.

"C-Cato," you start softly, and nose against his cheek.

"Yes?" He begins in an airy tone, looming close to your ear and letting his exhale taper off into a long, curious hum.

"Your helm's d-digging into my ribs..." you cringe, and he immediately lifts himself away with a strong hand and pulls his helmet away and to the side.

Redness in the vague outline of the ceramite is imprinted on the soft skin of your side and he tuts, hand tracing the minor injury.

Kneading the area a little, you start to squirm, and Cato's suddenly hyperaware he's still inside you; and looks down.

He's fucked your combined fluids into a frothing mess.

With an air of unimpressed amusement, you snort at the show he makes of pulling out—he grabs you with a mitt on the underside of each thigh, functionally spreading you as inch after thick inch drags free so slowly it's almost jarring just how much of him you fit. The flushed head of his cock pops out, dripping a final fat rope of cum across your vulva; and then your overfilled insides start leaking more.

"Still got the implant?" Cato queries, using his thumb to pull your labia aside and eye just how deep he's emptied into you.

"Yes," you snicker weakly, "Y-Yes, I do—why?"

"It's a simple question," he tuts.

"I know w-what you're really asking, Cato."

He raises an eyebrow, "It's got nothing to do with the fact you're hard to avoid finishing inside."

A laugh leaves you like a bark, "You've never tried to a-avoid it."

"You'd throw a fit," he shoots back, and shuffles over to lie beside you on his back.

With a disgruntled huff you retort, "H-How would you know?"

"I remember your opinion on a certain... 'theoretical hypothetical scenario' quite well," Cato says slowly, and prides at the flustered smile you fight to hide in his peripheral vision.

"I... I stand by that statement," you sigh, still half-smirking.

He pouts, "You do, do you?"

"Yes," you huff, "Because now there's the t-temptation of leave to a seaside paradise on the proviso of being gravid," you say pointedly, and roll onto your side to face him—worming closer until your cheek rests on his pectoral. "Which becomes more tempting by the minute."

"You lazy little shit, I never said you had to be pregnant to get there," he scoffs, grinning, sitting up and resting his back to the wall. "Besides, I can assure you Guilliman's homework will find you even on a barren death world."

"I'm sure I can come up with something," you say, glaring at him with a conspiratorial smile. "And what was that about me not having to be knocked up to get this vacation?"

"The stipulation is I'd have you squirming on my lap daily," Cato rumbles, eyeing you arranging yourself to settle atop him. "Hourly, even; and the side effect of that may very well be a procreational one—"

"Such an egalitarian bargain," You snicker softly, saddling yourself on his hips instead of remaining prone—lifting your legs, straining to splay yourself wide enough to let him slot between them. "You're a better statesman than I thought, Commander Sicarius."

He rumbles a smooth subvocal sound of assent, and the big palms on your hips slide to cup the flesh atop your thighs.

The simple feeling of your warm skin pressed to him, and he is panting softly through his nose already. You kiss him then, with a tender sigh—more a sweet thing than a desperate scramble.

Cato stares when you pull away, keen eyes lingering on your own as you look up at him.

Something about that look plays havoc with his mind, and your next words double down on the heat in his blood, "Does the Grand Duke want for heirs so badly?"

"Fuck, yes—well, no—but... should one of your gene-stock occur by chance, who am I to object," he jumbles his words a tad when you reach down to hold his cock straight.

Throne, he wants it; he really does. Even if it's more likely considered a luxury well beyond anything he deserves, he wants you beside him in whatever way, shape, or form you'll allow.

"So," you snort, and the thick head of his length catches at the rim of your still-dripping cunt, "I'm to be an infant factorum?"

"Duchess," he groans, bristling at your soft lips against his cheek in unison with you sinking down, down, down to the hilt on him. "You're to be... a Grand Duchess, moron."

The languid sigh you make when he's buried in you is so content he's genuinely giddy as you ask, "I-Is that so, Cato?"

"You're going to adore every second of it," Cato rumbles softly, palming your ass. "Spoiled little heifer, that you are."

You make a strangled sound at the harsh grope of your rear and smile against his jaw, "...what's a heifer?"

"A female bovine that's never calved," he expects a slap for that—and yet it never comes.

You lean away, looking deeply unimpressed, and he sulks a little because it's not the reaction he was after. But it's a reaction nonetheless.

"Why do you, as an A-Astartes, even know that?"

"When Guilliman's mood ebbs to a trough, he lectures me on farming techniques," he says offhandedly, "He does so for hours."

Cato feels strange talking of his Father, the Lord Primarch, when his balls are currently smooshed against your perineum and his cock is playing whack-a-mole with your cervix.

"Would t-that make you a male bovine, then?"

Cato considers for a second before arching close to drag his tongue across your throat, grinning.

"So this i-is a breeding attempt b-by you?" You laugh with a daft, pleasured sort of delight and lift yourself a little, fucking yourself on him at your leisure.

"Yes," Cato pants, and rolls his hips upward—meeting you in the middle.

The contact makes a lewd plap along with a mixed combination of his moan and yours.

"W-Well," you sigh, "You're really trying—ah—aren't y-you, Cato?"

"For once," he rasps, mouthing a nice big bruise onto the soft skin on the side of your neck, "Keep talking."

"S-So, how m-many do—" you start meekly, stuttering a little with hesitation; your mouth to his ear. "How many do y-you want?"

The question makes Cato's head spin.

A sound that he can only assume is a braying moan escapes his gullet, because all his focus is cross-haired on the implication you've just given him on a platter.

"You're... you're going to get that implant removed next cycle," Cato pants, raring. "And," he bites out as he struggles not to just give in to the moan trapped in his throat and forsake words altogether. "You'll let me... let me breed this eager cunt of yours, won't you?"

The shaky gasp that leaves you in answer is divine, and Throne, aren't you the perfect little wife whore.

Then you nod, and that fucked-out smile is the most gorgeous thing Cato's ever seen.

It's conjecture, it's fantasy. Because Guilliman's going to skin him if anything like that ever gains actuality—and he may still very well be chemically sterile, after all of this; but it feels right to indulge in that impossible want at this instant. He'd take you as a bride, by the sea—in the high courtyards that look down at the great harbour. He'd have his pretty little wife, maybe a dozen bairns as stubborn as himself and as insufferable as you—and everything'd be perfect. He doubts you'd allow that many, but it's a discussion point. He'll barter—hell, who's he kidding. He'll take anything, even if it's just the two of you.

Whatever you'd ask he'd give; because in the end, he'd enjoy nothing more than to have you with him—and whatever boon might come from that conjunction—something made out of love, that he's not supposed to have.

He takes a firm hold of your hips on either side and bounces you, managing to steal a kiss on the up-lift and ripping a moan out of you on the down-pull—again and again; until you're squirming, slumping forward, squeezing on his cock as you're forced into a racketing orgasm.

Overwhelmed, you all but squeal, scrambling at the wide expanse of his shoulders in an effort to lock him closer, clawing at his deltoids.

It's the last push he needs.

Cato empties his balls right where you want it, groaning and heaving in desperate gulps of air as he slumps back against the wall; dragging you with him.

Your head rests limply against his shoulder and you wriggle, overstuffed—taking every drop.

He grits his teeth as each shudder milks him dry, arcs of pleasure lighting up his nerves.

It leaves him huffing and puffing into your nape, grumbling to himself.

"Perfect," he whispers, nuzzling against your neck. He can feel the sticky heat of his cum dripping out of you and onto his thighs and balls.

Cato supposes if this is what de-facto baseline marriage is like, it's not half bad.

[athenaluthor]

Living Daylights ~ Darth Vader.

summary: Husband!Vader comes home angry and he needs to let out some anger.

warnings: 18+ Minors DNI, SMUT, Unburnt!Vader, Dubcon, Creampie, Rough, PiV, Domestic Vader, mentions of kids.

Word count - 1.6k

masterlist

Comfortably sat on the living room sofa, she waited for her husband. Though he would never admit it, he enjoyed having someone greet him after a long day. A familiar face to wash away the troubles of the day right when he walks through the door.

Truth be told, she needed it too. Working from home while taking care of two incredibly restless boys was exhausting, especially when both were terribly ill from a flu being passed around at school. Between runny noses, high fevers and tears; she clearly needed a break from being pulled in a million different directions.

The attendants scurry to open the door for him, quickly scrambling away right after, none wanting to be on the receiving end of his wrath.

The sound of Vader's ship landing snaps her out her trance rather abruptly. Looking out, she sees him storming out of it the moment the ship is secured on the landing pad. He was infuriated, his footsteps echoing loudly, a clear show of his anger.

Testing the waters, she gently calls out to him “Vader..?”.

She receives no reply. His body is unusually rigid, making the hairs on her body rise. Days like this would usually end with her laying on her back, legs spread and him mercilessly pounding away at her. Not that she minds, but tonight she prays that it wouldn't be the case, she barely had any energy left. Vader undeniably enjoyed fucking the living daylights out of his wife.

Usually, he would give her a chaste kiss on the lips or cheek before grabbing her hand to retire to their bedroom. He wouldn't ask for much, just some help with his suit and sometimes a bath. On some occasions, he'd ask her to help with his strained muscles or injuries.

Today, he was nothing of that sort. Vader grabs her arm and pulls her roughly towards their shared quarters. A chill runs down her spine. The last time this occurred, she could barely walk after. Vader had taken her so many times and so hard that night that she blacked out several times. Thank the Maker that their bedroom had been soundproofed. She prayed that their children would never see what Vader would do to her. Vader's was insatiable especially when he was angry.

“Vader? What's wrong?” she asks again only to receive a low grunt from him.

Admittedly, the past few months had been hectic, Vader had been engulfed and utterly preoccupied with work, while she tried to wrangle two young boys at home. They've barely seen one another without being interrupted by work or their children. She didn't need to see his face to know he was angry and frustrated.

The moment they make it through the door, Vader tosses her onto the bed. He was mostly careful with her in bed, save for the occasions where he was angry. The rough act earned a rather terrified whimper from her, surprised by his abruptness.

Then, he unclasps his helmet, dropping it to the floor with a loud clang. Wasting no time, he pounces on top of her, roughly kissing her with vigor. His hands were roaming her body as if he was mapping her out. Taken aback, she places her hands on his chest, trying to make him slow down and to let her breathe.

Within no time, Vader managed to tear off her clothes off her body. Judging by his acts, he was in no mood to play and jest. His eyes were filled with rage and lust, he looked every bit the Sith Lord people feared.

Vader begins to strip himself of his suit, each piece thrown aside without a thought. He would pick them up later once he was done fucking his wife, his beautiful wife.

Then, Vader buries his face in her neck, beginning his assault of kisses and leaving a trail of red spots in his wake. He adored marking her skin, letting the galaxy know she was his.

Vader's hand moves down to her clit, pinching it. She lets out a small noise, surprised at the action. Vader toys with her clit and runs his tongue across her nipples.

“Vader! Gods, slow down!” she begs him.

Without warning, he inserts two of his large fingers in her. Earning a moan of both pleasure and pain escapes me at the sudden intrusion. She wasn't wet enough for it yet, and he knew it. Vader thrusts his fingers in and out of her without care, sending a sharp pain through her. He knew she liked it when he was rough, how wet she would get when he had his way with her.

Vader's mouth is now on her clit, his tongue flicking the bundle of nerves while his fingers violate her. Vader knew how to make me pliable, bending to his every command. He knew how to turn her to a pile of moans, to have her pussy leaking for him.

He begins to toy between flicking his tongue on her clit and sucking it, making her so,so wet. Her hands reach down to his head, grabbing the head of soft blonde curls as he made her head spin.

Vader then curls his fingers towards my sweet spot, earning a rather loud moan from her. His cock was so hard by now, he needed to fuck her soon.

She could feel the pressure build in her lower belly, taut and dizzying. Vader knew how to read her cues. How her walls would clench when her orgasm was building or how cunt would be dripping wet, soaking his fingers and the sheets. His pace was relentless, pistoning his fingers in and out of her so quickly.

Trying to hold herself together, she grasped at anything she could. Feeling the pressure grow tauter and tauter until it eventually snaps, sending her body into blind pleasure. Moaning and tossing around as her body came.

Vader drank up her moans, reveling in how her back would arch and how she clenched down on his fingers as she came. He did not stop, continuing to finger her through it, his mouth also continued its assault on her. He loved overstimulating his wife.

“Va-vader! It's too much! Give me a break, please!” she begs, back arching from pleasure.

“You can take it. Even if you can't, I'll make sure you do.”

The second orgasm builds up so quickly, the pleasure made her body shake. Her clit was overstimulated and her hole was sore from his fingers. She tries to close my legs together but Vader quickly pins them down.

“Try that again and you'll regret it, wife.”

Her second orgasm hits and her mind is empty. Only thoughts of her husband having his way with her remained. The pleasure was too much all at once, earning incoherent moans and screams from her. She can't seem to catch her breath,her body wildly thrashes on the bed. As Vader slips his fingers out of her, her body is limp, tired from the overstimulation.

Vader positions his hard cock between her legs and she had no energy to resist. Vader's lust was insatiable at times. Regardless of what she wanted, he would fuck her when he wanted to fuck me.

Vader slides his cock inside her, her cunt was dripping, making it easier for him to fuck her. Her walls were so warm and tight, Vader had to resist the urge to come immediately like a teenage boy.

Despite being wet enough, the stretch still stung. Vader's cock was long and girthy and a few months without sex made it even harder to take.

It didn't help that Vader was not gentle, he thrusted his whole length in without hesitation, bottoming out in her. She let out a pained groaned while he moans loudly.

He wasted no time. Vader began thrusting in and out of her roughly, his pace unwavering. He needed to fuck her, he needed to bury himself so deep inside his wife. The head of his cock hit her cervix repeatedly, making her scream. She hoped he wouldn't fuck her all night, she didn't think she could take it.

Vader was sure she would be so sore in the morning. He hadn't fucked her in so long, her pussy was so tight.

“God, you're so deep. Just, slow down.” she pants.

“I can't. I kriffing can't! You feel too good wrapped around me.” he says, sounding breathless.

Vader buries his face in her neck as he continues to pound into his wife. Grunting into her neck with each thrust, shaking the bed as he does so. The sharp pain his rough pounding caused made her head spin, reducing her to moans and whimpers of pain and pleasure.

Vader pins her hands above her head, while he kisses her lips roughly. Vader loved to kiss her while she moaned, her moans drive him crazy. So crazy that he'd fuck her for hours just to hear them.

As he fucked her hard, her third orgasm approaches. This time, the pleasure builds so quickly she could barely think. Her body hadn't felt this much pleasure in months.

One of Vader's hands reaches down to rub her clit, he knew by the way she tightened around his cock. He knew she was close. So, Vader's fingers reach down and plays with her clit. Vader's fingers on her clit pushed over the edge.

She screams into their kiss as she came around his cock. Vader grunts in reply as her walls clamped down on his cock. Vader loved the way her legs shook, overwhelmed by pleasure. He loved how fucked out she looked under him.

Vader pulls away from their kiss and says“You’re so tight when you come on my cock. I can barely move, fuck! You love it when I fuck the living daylights out of you, huh?”.

Vader's pace does not falter even after she came. By this point, she could barely process what was happening. His thrusts, his grunts and his kisses all pushed me to edge of her limits. Her body was riddled with pleasure and exhaustion as he fucked her.

Vader pinches her nipples and slaps her breasts and he fucks her. His roughness made her breathless. His grunts only spurred her on. Fueling the pleasure in her veins and she could feel his thrusts becoming more and more frantic, he was close. He would come soon and he would fill her with his come, stuff her so full of him.

She loved being filled by him, having his seed in her. She loved it when he treated her like this.

Suddenly, Vader grips her hips and lifts them slightly. He increased his speed, pounding her like his life depended on it. Anyone watching would think Vader had gone insane.

His pace was relentless and his grunts echoed through their bedroom. Vader wraps one of his hands around her throat, putting slight pressure on it.

She moaned his name repeatedly, trying to hold on to the edges of her consciousness as her Vader fucks her. The lack of air making it harder for her to stay conscious.

Vader comes with a loud groans and grunts, rutting wildly into her. Vader shoots his seed deep inside her womb, painting her insides.

The feel of his seed her was euphoric. It pushed another orgasm through her body. Her body shook as he continued to thrust into her softly through both of their climax. Vader lets go of her throat right as she was about to faint.

Her vision darkens for a few moments, her body unable to handle the pleasure and exhaustion. Laying there limp and satiated with her husband buried deep inside her, where he belongs.

Vader softly strokes her cheek, trying to rouse her back to reality. She opens her eyes to the sight of him looking at her with worried eyes.

“You still there?” He softly asks.

Too weak to answer, she merely nods. Her skin was sticky, her heart was beating wildly and she was barely able to catch her breath.

Vader slides himself out of her slowly, his seed dripping out of her and soaking the sheets. Vader's cock hardens slightly at the sight. His seed coming out her hole was enough to make him want to fuck her again.

Worried about over exhausting her, he refrains. He slowly lifts her up and sets her on the bed properly. Laying her limp body down, head on the pillow and comfortable.

Somewhere in her daze, he cleaned her up with a damp towel and tucked her in. The room was warm and cozy which made her smile. He adjusted the temperature so they both would be comfortable.

When she woke, he had just came out of the shower and dressed only in long pants. Sliding into bed, his skin was cool against hers. He pulled her into his arms, allowing her head to be resting on his chest.

“I heard the boys were sick today. You stayed home with them?” He asks.

“They were. Some flu has been going around at school. Their fevers have broke so they should be better in a few days.”

“What did the doctor say?”

“Not much. Gave them medicine and advised they rest. Told me to monitor their temperatures and coughs, and call him if they get worse."

“I'm sorry.”

“Hmm? About what?”

“I came home and fucked the living daylights out of you without even greeting you.”

“Yeah, you did.”

“Was it too much?”

“A little. What was it about, hm? You don't usually come home that angry.” I ask, tracing patterns on his chest.

“Nothing you should concern your pretty little head about. You should sleep. I can tell you're tired.” He replies while rubbing my arms softly.

He's avoiding telling her about it. She's learned not to prod when he's not ready to talk, he's Vader. He won't talk until he wants to.

Once she's asleep on his chest, Vader's mind wanders off. He would not include her in his plans, it was too dangerous. But soon, very soon, they would be free.

Free from the Emperor.

He slips out of bed and heads to his children's bedroom. Vader couldn't sleep anyways, he might as well check on his children. Seeing them would help him ground himself and calm down.

He slips inside their rooms quietly, not wanting to wake them up. He checks on each of the boys' temperature, making sure their fevers weren't too high. He stood there for a while watching them peacefully sleep. They were pure and untainted by the world around them, unlike him.

He would make sure Palpatine would never touch any of them again. Not his wife, not his children.

His youngest stirred awake, the bluest sleepy eyes staring back at him. He could tell the little boy was on the verge of tears, probably uncomfortable from being sick.

He gently picks up the boy and soothes him. His wife and eldest were sound asleep, he didn't want them to wake up as well. Vader's youngest son melts in his arms, and so does he. His son buries his tiny face into Vader's neck.

The little boy still had a slight fever and was probably still uncomfortable. Vader could feel the little boy's tears on his neck. Vader couldn't resist loving his two boys. He would much rather die before letting Palpatine dig his claws into them as well.

So, he'll fight. Palpatine will be gone and defeated. He swears it.

[targaryenrealnessdarling]

A Perfect Score - Epilogue | FigureSkating!AU

Summary: months have passed since the finals with no sign of Aemond, making you wonder if anything has changed | Word Count: 6k~ | Warnings below the cut~

Series Masterlist | Links to my Taglists: General Taglist | Aemond Targaryen Taglist

Warnings: p in v sex, daddy kink, oral (f receiving), degradation, praise, *a finger in the bum*, butt play, ass eating, orgasm denial, creampie, ass slapping, pussy slapping, face slapping

A/N: *don't get emosh, don't get emosh, don't get emosh* I can't believe it's really REALLY the end! I've had this idea for the Epilogue for AGES and can't wait for you all to read the last instalment of our figure skating couple <3 would die for them and hope you enjoy!

"Good, but bend your knees!" You shout to El who's still got her hands outstretched haphazardly, wobbling on the ice as others whizz past her, knocking her off balance.

She throws a middle finger.

Charming.

You laugh as she pushes off to do another lap, reaching down between your legs for the bag and pulling your phone out for any new texts.

Nothing, you sigh.

El makes you jump, bumping into the ledge, "Will you stop being a simp and checking your phone every two seconds? He's going to text you!"

You click your phone off, "I know. I'm just so impatientttt…" you whine, exaggerating your frustration.

El rolls her eyes, "He'll get in, bud"

"Ew, don't call me that"

"Besides, if he gets rejected, he could always be your new manager, pal" she grins.

"You're so fucking gross, you know that?"

She shrugs, a grin that spells victory, "that'd be kinda hot to be fair. Going everywhere with you to competitions, organising your hotel rooms, fucking you over his des-"

"El! For fucks sake" you whisper-shout, heat rising to your cheeks.

A few other skaters on the ice turn their heads in judgment, making your face burn with embarrassment.

"Gods, so uptight" El jokes, a mischievous grin on her face.

To tell the truth. You missed Aemond. In all aspects.

You hadn't had sex since being in Dorne. And you hadn't seen him since the hospital.

Even though you texted most days, after months of seeing him everyday, it was quite the shock to the system.

It felt like there was a hole, conveniently Aemond-shaped, that was deepening the longer you two were separated.

"Oof!"

You both look up, to see Floris on the ice, wobbling her way back onto her feet, grimacing, "I'm ok!" She reassures, pushing off to skate slowly.

You nod in Floris' direction, "Is she okay skating?"

"Yeah, the physiotherapist said it'd be good to get her doing things like this again" El replies, looking over her shoulder at her sister.

She turns back to you, "Your manager doesn't hang around here anymore. Not since Floris has started coming back".

You resist the urge to frown.

Coward.

“Got you”, El smirks mischievously, "will you tell me what happened one day?"

It was something you’d thought about for some time. To tell her, or not? Floris certainly didn’t know the deeper details, but you knew she would have had suspicions.

Aemond was obviously unbothered if such information circulated, having put a very large proverbial wall between him and Otto the moment he was discharged from hospital. And yet, it still wouldn’t feel right, airing out all the Targaryen dirty laundry like that.

Even if he said it was okay.

But maybe, on a deeper level, Floris and El at least, deserved the truth.

"One day" you promise.

The cold winter chill nips at your bones, even through the layers of thermal clothing you've got piled on, the thick socks, boots and an overcoat, it still feels positively freezing.

“Who are you texting, missy?” you tease, bumping El on the shoulder, shoving your hands into your thick coat pockets.

She flushes, from the weather or the embarrassment you are unsure, but she puts her phone away quickly, “Nobody, you nosy cow”

King's Landing Winter Wonderland, Christmas Market and trinket shops, though it's far too early for any of that, it gets the people into the spirit. Stalls line the market square with several of them selling holiday related items as well as food, with an ice rink circling the entirety of the perimeter.

The air smells of mulled wine, cooked meats and the laughter of families and couples alike. With their warm breath creating clouds of white with each exhale.

El has you excitedly tucked into her arm, telling you all about her newest boyfriend, who for all intents and purposes is both hot and a keeper.

Ah, so that’s who she was talking to.

"He's already talking about us moving in together! Before the end of the year" She says excitedly, but her face falls, "but…I don't want to leave you in the lurch paying the rent by yourself".

You scoff, "I won't take you away from good dick because of fucking rent" you smirk, "if you want to, go for it".

She arches her eyebrows in uncertainty, "You sure?"

You pat her gloved hand with yours, "very", you smile, "as long as he doesn't steal you away from me, I want the lowdown".

"Oh you'll get that alright", she laughs.

Having poked your heads into a few stalls, and several sips of mulled wine later, you smirk as El is glued to her phone. Again.

"That your man?" You ask.

She quickly puts it away, biting her lip, "Yup" she replies, "wanna go skating?"

You roll your eyes, "It's not like it's my fucking job, El. Sick of it".

"Oh come on! I won't have to use the kids stabilisers anymore!"

She gives you her wide, puppy-like eyes.

Ones you know you can't refuse.

"Fine" you sigh.

She is far too excited to say that literally a few hours before she was struggling to use her two flippers to stay upright on the rink. Nevermind going backwards.

It’s quite entertaining to see her drag you by the hand excitedly to the ticket gate.

“One ticket for skating, please! Size 5!” she beams at the receptionist, who looks like he’d rather be dead right now.

You furrow your brows, “One? Did you want to go on by yourself and I watch or-”

“Nope! Just you” she grins.

“Me? El, what in seven hells are you on abou-”

She shoves the skates into your hands and practically pushes you past the gate, waving you off, “no questions!”

You don’t even really have time to cuss her out/question the situation, it feels like your brain is in overdrive.

There, either hand leaning against the entrance to the ice rink, where the public are zipping around slowly, laughing, pink in the face, hand in hand, is Aemond. The familiar ribbons of platinum hair that have fallen from the hair tie, now slightly waved from the moisture in the air, sways with the breeze at his shoulders.

He has that slack smirk on his face, his tall broad form leaning on one side, ankles crossed with the low quality skates on, tapping the tip onto the ice.

Even in a heavy looking coat, his hair messily done up and pink cheeks from where the cold had been hitting them, he still looks every bit as handsome as you remembered him.

It makes your heart sigh to see him smile at you with that glimmer in his eye. Blinking slowly and admiringly at you.

"Hey, Princess", he greets warmly.

You almost drop the skates in your hands, the cold wisps of wind making you realise now that your eyes are all wet.

You're sure his name slips out before you crash into his arms, flinging yours around his neck.

He smells just like he used to.

And all those good memories just flood back at once, making that wetness behind your eyes form actual teardrops that line your cheeks.

You feel him laugh a little, one of his big hands on your back, "missed me then?", he prods in a smooth tone.

Fuck. His voice.

You didn't realise you'd missed hearing it so much.

When you pull away, to properly look at his face, he's still smiling, in that classic 'Aemond' way.

You're so engrossed with just looking at him, you nearly flinch when you feel his thumb wipe your under eye softly, wiping the moisture away.

His gaze softens, "don't cry. I don't look that bad, do I?"

Giving a watery laugh, you shake your head, "Just missed you".

His hand is still around your waist, inadvertently pulling you close to him so your hands hover over his chest, "Now, now, don't get all soft on me".

Your cheeks hurt from smiling.

"How?.."

Aemond gestures with his head, "El organised it".

"But…she's-"

"With her new boyfriend, don't worry. It's just us, princess" Aemond smiles, picking up the skates you'd dropped.

"For old time's sake?" He smiles.

And all you can do is blush and smile up at him like a little lovesick teenager.

It feels utterly strange to get back on the ice with Aemond again, even if it is a public one in the middle of a Christmas market. Even more so that he's not flinging you around in all sorts of twists and jumps.

But it feels nice.

Hand in gloved hand, you glide about together, catching up.

Alicent, you learn, has gotten back in touch with her long time friend. Aemond furrows his brows when he recollects that usually she's on facetime with a glass of Dornish Red in one hand and creasing up in front of her iPad at something her friend has said.

Aegon. Well, he's Aegon. Aemond's words, not yours. But he's working on getting a teaching qualification so that he can coach skating instead. It's nice that he was able to find something to use his skills for. Other than womanising.

"Had minor surgery on my nerves…they think it'll do the trick for some years, hopefully forever" he says as you weave on either foot.

"Well that's good" you smile, "does it feel better?"

He nods, "Oh and Hel has a new partner".

You look over quickly, one eyebrow poised, "And? Was I right?"

Smirking, Aemond has to resist the urge to roll his eye, "Yes, you were right".

"Yes! I knew it! I knew she was bi!"

You flush when some families around you look over when you shout it a bit too loud.

Oops.

Aemond tugs you to his side by your waist, humming in a kind of quiet laugh. A comfortable silence descends, just enjoying one another's company.

"I got in", he says suddenly. Stealing your attention again as your feet synchronise in short glides.

"Got in?"

"KLU".

"KLU? Oh my god-" you surge up, his face between your hands, but he doesn't complain, and kiss him fiercely, "Congratulations, Aemond. Oh my gosh, that's-"

You beam with pride.

And you can tell he genuinely loves it, by the way he blushes slightly.

"And" he goes on, his face close to yours, smirking at the confused look on your face.

"And?..."

He licks his lips before he speaks.

"I got a place" he adds, "and was wondering…if you…"

He trails off. And your face settles into realisation. Your heart hammering in your chest, like the engine of an old train.

He shrugs, clearing his throat, “You know, because we basically spent all our time together during the championships…”

You swallow thickly, "Really?..." it comes out weaker than you intended.

He nods, “It’s just out of town, not far from here really” he gestures in the vague direction with his head, the hand that’s resting at your waist dropping somewhat.

Blinking the emotion from your eyes, you swat his chest playfully, “Alright, Mr Moneybags”

He doesn’t laugh, like you expect him to, but he does smile at least. At this point, you seem to have come to a stop, your skates nestled between his to keep you both stable.

His darkened gaze just looks at your face. Studies it.

Like he’s opened a book and is reading through the pages.

When he looks at you like that, you can’t help but feel a flutter deep in your chest. It feels like he is drawing on you softly, like a thousand little butterflies have landed on your face, and are slowly opening and closing their wings.

You shudder when his warm, ungloved thumb brushes against your cheek.

“What?...” you smile at him affectionately.

He hums, a cloud escaping his lips as he speaks, “I’ve missed you”.

All you feel is the ledge of the ice rink press against your lower back and yours and Aemond’s noses brushing against one another as he presses his warm, comforting lips to yours.

He takes his time, moving languidly against your lips with a soft, wet beat, his tongue parting your lips as if he had been waiting all this time to taste you properly.

He tastes just as you remember.

A hint of cigarettes that he’s tried to hide with spearmint.

When you break away, you can’t ignore the warm feeling that blooms in your gut. In all the time you’d spent apart, you forgot how his lips felt on yours, how his hands felt on you, and how his mere presence around you made arousal creep up your thighs.

Gods, it’s been so long.

A blush creeps up your neck to your face, and Aemond smirks.

“Stop that”

Your lower lip catches between your teeth before you reply, “What?”

He leans against the ledge, caging you in with his own body.

“Blushing”

His voice lowers.

“Otherwise I’ll give you something to blush about”

The tension was thick as you and Aemond trudged through the Christmas Market after vacating the ice rink. You tried to lighten it by doing idle things like looking at the homemade ornaments on one stand, to sharing a cup of mulled wine between you, feeling the way the liquid warmed your insides.

That warmth was nothing compared to the way Aemond looked at you.

It reminded you of all those months ago, at the hotel, before the dynamic of your relationship changed. The way he used to stare at you from across the room, in what you wrongly thought at the time was out of disinterest and detest.

How wrong you were.

Shooting off a quick text to El, who you were sure was already back at the flat anyway, enjoying all the ‘assets’ of her new boyfriend, you walk hand in hand with Aemond back to his apartment.

He was very intent on showing you his new place. And your insides fluttered in anticipation, heat crawling up your neck.

His apartment was nice. Not that you expected any less. It was several floors high, showing a good view of King’s Landing and the bright, illuminated Christmas Market in the square below. Even from here, through the tall and wide windows of the living room, you could see the couples zipping around the ice rink, as you both were just a few moments before.

It had that ‘new apartment’ smell, but whenever you brushed past a coat of his or a blanket, it smelled like him. The walls were bare, but you were sure that Aemond would decorate when he was properly settled.

“Is Vhagar going to be coming here?” you ask, cupping the warm mug of tea in your hands as Aemond gives it to you.

“Maybe. She’s quite settled at Mum’s though so…I don’t want to make her anxious”.

You nod, “It’s a nice place”

“Will look even better when you’re here” he smirks, bending down to huff himself onto the sofa, “I’m sure you have better ideas than I do on interior design”.

You simply watch him for a moment, the warmth of his apartment making your previously cold hands feel prickly. Your fingers tap against the ceramic, the sound of Aemond’s playlist rumbling quietly from a speaker in a different room.

Placing the mug on the coffee table, Aemond exhales as your legs rest either side of his torso, moving to sit atop him with your hands stealing beneath his shirt, watching as his pink lips part for breath.

“You’re playing a dangerous game, princess” he murmurs against your lips as he leans up, his large hands squeezing your ass, moulding the flesh to his grip and eliciting a low gasp from your lips.

"Who says it's a game?" You whisper back, teasing him by brushing your lips against his, moving your hips on him and smiling when you feel him harden instantly.

" - fuck - "

You know he hates it, just hates it, when you smirk at how pent up and desperate he gets. But you just can't help it. Not only is it all too easy, it's just too fucking tempting too.

How easily such a large, overbearing and domineering man, can be subdued to a mewling, near-begging mess just by the soft movement of your hips.

"Baby, please -"

Reaching down between your bodies, Aemond outright moans when you palm his erection through his jeans, sitting against his thigh quite obviously. You tease your hand from the base to the tip, squeezing through the denim, seeing the way Aemond almost knits his brows together in barely-contained pleasure.

And any time he tries to reach up, to kiss you properly, you pull back, allowing him to chase you.

"Oh, fuck you-"

You yelp in surprise as Aemond lifts you, keeping your legs around his waist as he pushes his bedroom door open and dropping you onto his mattress. And before you even have a moment to sit up on your elbows, he's on you, kneeing your legs apart and caging you to the bed with his body.

"Can't fucking wait any longer - need you, baby-"

Fuck, even the way he says that has arousal pooling between your legs, the desire to push your thighs together strong, but weakened with Aemond's body keeping them apart.

He's so fast and rough, the way he unbuttons your jeans and pulls the denim down your legs, taking your underwear with it, that you feel for a moment he may have torn something.

He practically fucking growls when he he looks between you, his thumb teasing your clit, finally able to look upon you the way he's wanted to for months.

"Already soaked for me, aren't you?" He coos lowly, teasing your bud in sure, confident circles, before swatting your heat firmly with a wet smack, "such a good fucking slut for me".

You mewl, pressing your lips together, a flush enveloping your face at his words. It's been so long since you were intimate with him, it will take a few moments to get used to it again and fall into that rhythm.

That, and you can't help but flush in embarrassment at the realisation you've not shaved your legs, genuinely not having expected to see him today.

It doesn't seem like Aemond cares.

With a fist over the collar of his shirt, he pulls it over his head, showing his lean and well-muscled torso lit with a warm amber glow from the bedside lamp.

You jolt in surprise as his fingers pull you by your thighs further down the bed, a gasp flying past your lips as his tongue and teeth nip and kiss at the inside of them. The sensation bordering on pain and pleasure at the same time.

"You don't know how long I've waited to taste your sweet pussy, princess"

You have an idea, by the way Aemond mouths at the crease between your thigh and hip. But you don't say it out loud. The anticipation of his mouth so, so close without touching you where you need him most is agonising.

" - fuck - Aemond -"

Your back nearly arches off the bed as he flattens his tongue against your warmth, swirling around your clit first before diving into your folds to feast on you, his fingers digging into your flesh for leverage. The feeling of his grip into your flesh burns pleasantly as he tugs you towards him, your lips parting with hurried pants tumbling out.

Your legs tremble as his low moan vibrates through your core, electricity creeping up your spine as he laps at you with vigour, his sharp nose nudging at your clit as he moves side to side to eventually fuck you with his tongue.

For a split second, you worry if he can actually breathe.

But as your embarrassingly quick orgasm starts barrelling towards you without warning, it somehow gets pushed to the back of your mind, you reach down, threading your fingers through his hair, chanting his name as if it’s all you can say as he groans against your cunt.

His hands hold you down by your thighs, tugging you back to his mouth in soft micro-movements as you shake against him, head thrown back against the pillows with your breath hot in your chest, unable to catch it well enough to form any other sound than moaning unabashedly.

Aemond outright moans as you cum against his tongue, the lewd sound of him licking up everything that comes out makes a heat creep up your neck. But you can’t find it within yourself to be embarrassed. Not when he makes you feel like this.

You can feel the moisture on his face when he takes mercy, drawing his lips away to kiss and nip at the inside of your thighs again, giving one firm bite before he pulls away with a smirk on his face, no doubt happy at the mark he’s left behind.

Your eyes feel heavy as you lift your gaze to him, now perched on his knees as he pops the buttons of his jeans off, the veins on the back of his hand straining, making you feel somewhat lightheaded.

“ - can’t wait to fuck you again - you don’t know how long I’ve wanted be buried inside that pretty little pussy -”

You lick your lips as your mouth goes dry. He always manages to do that. Somehow turn you into a limp, mewling mess in no time at all.

Something you have in common, clearly.

With your heart beating erratically, body throbbing in the afterglow of your orgasm, that feeling is enhanced still when Aemond tugs at his length needily, his shoulders rising and falling with the desire to just stuff himself inside you as deep as he will go.

You can only watch in awe as his fingers wrap around himself, the tip ruddy and desperate, with arousal coating it with every slow and calculated fist. His stomach muscles clench and unclench uncontrollably, his chest muscles moving steadily with each deep breath.

It feels exciting, how utterly small you feel when he leans over you, once again grasping your legs to spread them before him. His long, thick fingers tease your slick folds, before he guides the fat head of his cock to your centre, watching with parted lips at the way your eyebrows furrow in both relief and pleasure as he stretches you around him slowly.

“ - ohfuck - ”, he moans lowly, sinking himself slowly into your warmth and basking in the closeness it offers, “ - fuck, baby, so tight for me -”

Being with him like this again is like sinking into a warm bath, with the rolls of steam batting at your face. And his words are so soft, they’re like dozens of little snowflakes settling on your face in a flurry. All cold and numb, and yet warm and fuzzy at the same time.

It’s completely instinctual, the way you turn your head, slightly embarrassed as Aemond holds either of your legs apart, his pelvis smacking against yours as he eases himself into a steady rhythm.

“ -aw, don’t tell me you’ve gone all shy on me -” he mocks, his eye glimmering with mischief as he looks down at you, “-where’s the needy, little slut I used to know, hm? -”

You gasp as Aemond pushes both hands down, pressing both of your legs towards your shoulders, bending at the knee so that he can kneel higher, using the new position with gravity to fuck down into you faster and rougher.

The new position has you pretzeled before him, completely unable to do anything but throw your head back against the pillows and turn bright red at the wanton, breathy moans that slip out.

“ -Aemond -”

“ - what’s wrong, baby? -” he coos, “ -is this too much for you? Hm? I know you’re more flexible than this -”

Fuck.

Each rough push of his length into you from this angle has the curved head of his cock brush against your sweet spot with devastating precision. With every thrust, the air seems to expel forcefully from your lungs, not helped in part by the fact that Aemond has your legs pressed hard against your ribs.

All you’re able to see through bleary eyes is the way he smirks down at you with his hair stuck to his tacky face, his chest heaving with hurried breath, and every now and then, his neck muscles straining as he tips his head back and groans loudly as you inadvertently squeeze his length when he bullies the end of you.

The air is charged, hot and humid. And you barely register the fact that music is still playing in another room, and that the curtains are pulled back. Though there’s no chance of anyone being able to see you both from how high his apartment is, it still makes your insides tighten that it’s happening so unabashedly with the city right below you.

His hand drifts down your thigh, watching as you squirm beneath him as he presses hard on your stomach, your eyes closing tightly at the feeling of him closing you around his length as it pistons roughly into you. He smiles slightly, almost as if he can feel how deep he reaches inside you.

“ -Oh fuck, baby - can fucking feel you gripping me -” he moans helplessly, leaning over, the sweat on his forehead slightly illuminated by the warm lamp’s light, “-does my girl like being a dirty little slut?”

You barely even register he’s speaking, everything sounding utterly muffled and just too much all at once. His low voice only serves to make that coil wind tighter in your gut, reacting to the way he never lets up his pace once.

You jolt slightly when he taps your cheek twice, a little rougher than you’d anticipated.

“ -I’m fucking talking to you -” he growls, moving his hand from your stomach up to bunch the shirt in his fist, exposing your pebbled nipples to the warmth of the room.

You nod helplessly, “Yes - yes -”

It’s all mindless babbling, and Aemond knows it as he grins, his eye flitting down to watch the way your breasts bounce as he fucks you.

“ -please, Aemond -”

“ -please what, hm? You want to cum, is that it? But you’re too fucked stupid to say it?”

As much as you hate to admit it, his words send a bolt of humiliation through you that does nothing but excite you, your core throbbing around his length with every calculated word he says.

"Aw, poor thing -" he jeers, "- I'm going to have fun with you-"

Wait what?

This isn't said 'fun'?

Oh shit.

Before that familiar coil can wind itself any tighter, Aemond pulls back, grunting as he manhandles your hips to turn you over and his palm cracking against your backside, smirking in victory at the mewl it gets out of you.

The skin there blooms with warmth, more so as Aemond’s tantalisingly hot skin presses against it once more, your lips parting in what can only described as a relieved moan as he slides into you again, his cockhead hitting the spongey end, filling you utterly.

"-Aemo-"

Smack.

"Not my fucking name, Princess. C'mon, you can do it" he purred, pressing his hand against your back, pushing against your spine and forcing your face against the sheets.

A choked moan almost slips out, with him tugging your hips up to him in such a curved position, his cockhead bullies your sweet spot, dragging his length along your sensitive walls, propelling you to an overwhelming orgasm.

"Go on - beg me for it or I won't let you cum-"

The idea of him denying you yet again when you were so close last time just seems utterly unbearable. So despite the humiliation rocking through your core with each harsh smack of his hips, despite the overwhelming heat of the room and most of all, despite your pride.

You do.

"Please - daddy - need it-"

If you could see him, you'd hate it.

Because he grins. Ear to fucking ear like he's wanted to hear it for months.

"Aren't you gonna beg me for permission to touch yourself?"

You suck in a breath, squealing muffled against the sheets as he gives another hard thrust. Clearly, despite appearances, on the verge himself.

"-can I - can I touch myself - please, daddy -"

"-fuck- baby, touch that little clit for me, yeah? - want to feel you cum-"

His voice is strained, pushing you with each thrust further and further against the sheets, your arms near giving out with the weight of him on you. With difficulty, your hand snakes between you and the mattress that constantly dips with how rough Aemond is being, and finds your bud, running the slickness that has collected over it, tying up your pleasure into two feelings.

Aemond’s lips part, staggered breaths the only thing coming out, as he feels your walls flutter around him, looking down at the way your bodies meet with a soft smack every time. You feel so warm and tight, gods he’s wanted to cum since since you started touching him through his jeans.

But now, pulling you by your hips to spear you onto his cock, he’s so so close.

Just wants to feel you first.

“-baby, you’re doing so well for me-” he breathes quickly, his gaze flitting briefly from where he’s pistoning in and out of you, to your sweat slick face, pressed against the sheets, biting your lips harshly as you pleasure yourself in tandem with Aemond’s movements.

As his hand slid down past your hips, his thumb tracing the bottom of your spine, you suck in a harsh breath when he softly grazes over your puckered hole, still fucking shallowly as if to tease you and him into teetering on the edge of a climax.

You're barely able to see behind you, pressed so hard into the sheets, but he looks good fucking you. His chest shines with perspiration, the chain dangling around his neck teasingly, and his abdominal muscles clenching and unclenching with restraint.

And then you see him smile.

"-oh? We've never done this before have we, princess?-"

Oh shit.

After all the exertion of your passion so far, your slick has easily made its way onto your thighs, so Aemond doesn't have to move much to drag some of it on his thumb and circle your hole with light, delicate motions, moistening the area.

Humiliation creeps up onto your face, eyes slipping shut. No guy before has ever really tried to do this. So this is uncharted territory. But despite the brief embarrassment, you have to admit that the feeling of Aemond ever so slightly pressing his thumb against you as he continues to thrust brutally into your cunt just feels new in the most amazing way.

His other hand still grabs the flesh of your ass, tugging you back to his cock in a frantic rhythm. The mewls coming out your mouth now sounding so unlike your own.

Aemond knows by the way your hips move up to meet his touch that you like it, but are too embarrassed to say.

"-how about it, hm? - you want me in both your pretty little fuckholes? -"

"-yes - yes, please daddy, I-"

Making sure his thumb is slick enough, your puckered hole also, he slides in slowly, using the palm of his hand to grasp whatever of your ass cheeks as he can.

You almost hear his choked moan.

"-fuck-, you're so tight here, princess - you gonna let me fuck it one day, hm? - you'd be so fucking good here-"

The batting of his cock against your upper walls has you very nearly sobbing outwardly, combined with the feeling of him in such a new place, pressing in, you'd forgotten you'd stopped pleasuring yourself. Completely embroiled in this feeling.

He chuckles darkly, crooking the digit ever so slightly, leaning over to press against your back "-you'd fucking let me as well, wouldn't you? -"

The curling of his other fingers on the flesh of your backside has him smiling at the sounds it emits from you.

“-did I say stop, hm? Keep touching yourself - cum for me-”

You know that as soon as you do it’s all over.

His voice, combined with all three feelings at once, tugging at that pleasurable spot inside you that has white, hot pleasure soaring through your bloodstream, has a long, choked moan filling the space between you. And you’re surprised to hear that the same sound slips past Aemond’s lips as well, the air of his breath batting against your neck as he tries to bury himself as deep inside you as he possibly can.

You’re trying to suck in breath without really realising it, the earth-shattering orgasm making your body go all rigid for a moment before you relax against the sheets, with the pleasant weight of him above you.

Everything feels warm. His bedroom right now feeling like a large blanket has enveloped you both. It seems a weird thing to think in the moment, with Aemond’s half naked body hunched over you, his cock twitching and pulsing, whimpering as he is still emptying himself inside of you and feeling the aftershocks through your fleshy walls.

All his micro-movements seem overly-sensitive. And when Aemond exhales, lifting himself off your back, lifting your lids to open your eyes feels like the most difficult thing you’ve ever done.

“-sorry-” he whispers cautiously as he pulls his softening cock from you, immediately feeling the warm rush of cum coating your inner thighs.

Warmth blossoms once again to your cheeks as he stays still, and you think he must be staring at the way he leaks from you, sighing in a sort of perverted admiration.

You don’t even have time to open your mouth before his thumb slips out your other hole, only to jolt in shock once it’s immediately replaced by his tongue. All those dulled out endorphins that were dissipating into your limbs feel like they all gather back, and you squeeze your thighs together, fisting the bedsheets so tightly they could’ve torn.

Both of his hands seem to find their home on each asscheek, spreading them so he can easily swirl his talented wet, muscle around your hole, fucking moaning as he does it. All your nerves ring semi-uncomfortably, overstimulation nipping at the edges of the pleasure.

“-fuck, Aemond, no no, please-” you plead, emitting a weary, exhausted laugh when he chuckles and pulls away, landing one softened smack against the flesh.

“-Mm- another time-”

Lethargy pulls at your body as you lay on your front, blinking slowly as you feel the mattress rise, pressing your lips together as Aemond disappears into the en-suite, tucking himself back into his jeans.

A moment later, he comes back with a warm washcloth, offering to clean you up. But you simply smile, pushing yourself to sit up, “I’m good”, you smile, with a flushed face, feeling slightly bashful after what you’d just done together.

One long shower together later, you lay in his bed, looking out at the city beneath, the cascade of brightly coloured lights littering the dark space between buildings. Aemond’s shirt easily reaches to your thighs, with nothing beneath, not having anticipated staying over anywhere today.

Aemond sighs calmly, his chin on the top of your head, pressed against your back, with one of his hands running through the tresses of your hair, every now and then stroking at your scalp, which has your eyes slipping shut at the pleasant feeling.

“Well, princess? Do you like it?” he asks, his voice all soft and tired.

You meet his lilac gaze, tilting your head slightly in question.

“The apartment”.

“It’s perfect”, you smile, reaching up his cheek and running the back of your fingers over it, the scar tissue feeling slightly different in texture over your skin, “you sure you want me to move in?”

He blinks slowly, a smile rising to his lips, his hand coming to yours and pressing a soft, tender kiss to your wrist. And though not directly sexual, it makes your belly do little backflips, feeling so intimate and captivating that warmth floods your skin through his lips.

“Of course, princess. I can't do this without you”.

General Taglist: @aemondsfavouritebastard | @bellstwd | @blairfox04 | @hb8301 | @jamespotterismydaddy | @mochi-rose | @nenelysian | @natty2017 | @randomdragonfires | @risefallrise | @theoneeyedprince | @thelittleswanao3 | @tsujifreya | @urmomsgirlfriend1 | @valeskafics | @watercolorskyy

Aemond Taglist (1): @asp3nxx | @avidreader73 | @bellaisasleep | @boofy1998

[brotherblaze]

quicksand —gojo satoru + geto suguru

summary: Five months after exiling yourself from jujutsu society and fleeing Japan, Gojō and Getō finally track you down. And they’re not going to let you slip through their fingers for a second time.

word count: ~3,5k

warnings: n/a

The evening breeze is cool.

You’re sitting on the grassy area, just in front of the small strip of sand on the shore, legs outstretched in front of you, heels digging into the sand. There are cows grazing a stone’s throw away from you, fenced in and kept up by the city council. The newspaper said they’re here annually, every summer from April to late September. Waves lap at the shore.

The hair on the back of your neck rises on its ends. Familiar cursed energy wraps around you like a vice. You don’t look back to meet their eyes, instead you look at the cows. There are a few calves amongst the herd, fluffier than the fully grown cows.

Footsteps approach and a warm body stops right behind you. Warmth emits from him like he’s a furnace and his cursed energy is all too familiar, almost suffocating, and oh, the irony of forgetting how formidable a person the Gojō Satoru is.

“Get up,” he says. His voice is stern. Cold, even. What a contrast. He’s like a siren, luring you in with body heat to chill you to the bone with his words. You ignore him at first, and instead, take a long breath in, hold it for a few moments, then exhale. It does little to soothe the buzzing in your veins and stop the thoughts racing through your head. Too many to keep count of — all of them centered around them. There’s a headache blooming, too.

Slowly, you unfold your legs and stand, dusting the sand off your pants. You turn to him, keeping one foot rooted on the corner of the yellow picnic blanket to keep it from flying off with a gust of wind. You raise your eyes to Gojō, then over his shoulder to where Getō stands, just a few strides away. The bitter taste of shame crawls up your esophagus as your eyes meet for a moment and you quickly avert yours to stare at the Jujutsu High button on Gojō’s uniform. Uniform. Straight from a mission, then. But it’s hard to tell; they have an uncanny ability to evade the blows of the opponent, never looking disheveled — no, not uncanny, a testament to their prowess, of their ranks as Special Grades. The créme de la créme of the jujutsu world.

“Well?” Gojō’s head is cocked to the side ever so slightly, hands in his jacket pockets, eyes obscured by bandages. Still, the feeling of being watched overwhelms you. You level your gaze with his and attempt not to get spooked by the intensity of his gaze and yet you’re unsuccessful. He definitely notices the subtle flinch of your shoulders. So, you raise your eyes to the treeline behind both of them. He calls out your name and you ignore the instinct to look, to give him the satisfaction of yet another flinch.

“I was a danger to everyone around me. So, I ran.” Cool wind from the sea caresses the back of your neck. You grind your foot deeper into the sand as the edges of the picnic blanket curl up. “It doesn't concern you, by the way, so don’t worry your pretty little head about it.”

“It does concern us when you disappear for months!” Gojō argues, swinging his hand to the side.

“How’d you find me, anyway?”

“You took my credit card,” he says, “three, actually.”

You swear under your breath. That fucking donut shop in town, right. Great donuts, no way to pay in cash.

“So you had to run over here? I’m fine, I was fine, everything was fine. You should’ve just moved on with your lives.”

“I think we have a right to know what’s going on, no?” Getō speaks up. Your eyes meet again but this time it’s harder to look away. In fact, you can’t force yourself to avert your eyes. “We tried to do right by Amanai and we’ll extend the same courtesy to you.”

Unlike Gojō, Getō’s voice is soft. It curls around you invitingly, like it wants you to spill all the secrets you keep close to your heart.

“No,” you say. The word is so bitter in your mouth you almost want to drink down handfuls of salty ocean water to taste anything, anything other than that. You ignore the intensity of Gojō’s gaze, ignore the twinge in your body that’s pulling you back towards them but that ache somewhere deep in your bones, the one that wants you to step closer to chase the warmth of human intimacy you’ve deprived yourself of for the past five months — that crawls up your spine and you almost take a step closer. “Just… leave.”

Gojō grabs the collar of your jacket and yanks you up to face him. You hiss a ‘no’, one hand clawing at his bare wrist, toes barely scraping the ground to kick up a clump of grass and dirt. You expect not to reach him, only Infinity, yet you do, and sink your nails into his flesh. He doesn’t even flinch. This is Gojō Satoru, the very peak of everything, he doesn’t skirt around the subject and he doesn’t accept any efforts at skirting around the subject.

“What do I have to do to make you trust us—”

His right hand collides with your left, already reaching for his throat, and fire licks up the length of your forearm. The distinct sound of metal snapping under immense pressure bounces against your eardrums. The next moment, the glint of the evening sun off metal shards, and the next, a piercing pain in your left cheek. Your knees give in.

Three of your fingers are lying on the pasture grass, glowing blue liquid seeping out of each one.

He seems to realize when you do because his grip on you goes slack and your knees collide with the ground. Your vision is blurring with tears as you reach out to gather the pieces of metal that were your fingers only moments ago and stuff them into your jacket pocket because they were organic once. They can be slotted back, right? They’ll be fine, right?

You reach around yourself for the yellow picnic blanket, shake it free of the stray grains of sand, and sloppily wrap it around your left hand. The bright blue liquid begins to seep through the layers almost immediately.

When you stand, you pointedly ignore both Getō and Gojō, sidestep them both without even glancing at them, and begin the trek back to civilization down the forest trail that leads to the daycare at the edge of the woods. Their footsteps, so silent you almost miss them, follow. They don’t speak, either, as if that will make you forget about their presence and the suffocating force of their jujutsu. Your headache is now fully present and making itself known, wrapping around your brain like barbed wire.

The forest trail melts away abruptly into a stone-paved road. It runs along the perimeter of the daycare and diverges in two up ahead: on the left, the daycare itself and its adjacent indoor swimming pool, on the right, more woods and the parking lot.

You continue ignoring your shadows and climb into the passenger seat of your car. Something vaguely human-shaped is sitting in the driver’s seat, its body littered with eyes. It just stares at you as you pull the car door closed.

YOUR DIVINE MAJESTY…

“What now?” You pinch the bridge of your nose and squeeze your eyes shut to clear your vision.

APOLOGIES FOR MY INTRUSION, BUT WOULD IT NOT BE BEST TO HAVE THEM ON HAND? It tightens its grip on the steering wheel for a moment as if it's forming a nervous habit. Maybe. You’re not sure if they can even feel human emotions.

You glance at the side mirror. They’re still standing there, a few feet from the car. They don’t have any intention to move, either, you think.

THEIR DIVINE MAJESTY NEED NOT WASTE TIME OR ENERGY ON COOKING AND CLEANING. THEY CAN FOCUS ON REVERSING THE BARRIER.

“What barrie—”

You bury your face into your free hand with a loud swear. The headache pulses behind your eyes and your vision blurs with tears. Fuck. You push the car door open and slide out—

“You!” A few long strides are all it takes to reach Gojō and you rear your fist back for a swing at his blurry face. Something catches it and you yank yourself out of Getō’s hold, yank yourself away from both of them, and take two steps back. Gravel crunches under your feet. “I told you to leave, but no, you’re Gojō Satoru and you know better than everyone, right?”

“How is any of this my fault?”

“I asked you to leave! If you’d just left, we could’ve all left and gone our separate ways but no, of course not!” You turn on your heel and stomp back to the car, pulling the back door open. “Shut up and get in the car.”

You don’t wait for their answer and climb into the front seat.

They’re willing to hear you out, you’ll give them that. The curse in the driver’s seat growls from its throat when Gojō and Getō sit and buckle in.

“I need a driver, not a dog,” you remind it. It spits a swear under its breath and puts the car into drive. It jostles as it drives over the speedbump at the entrance of the parking lot and you lay your left hand onto your knee.

Blue bleeds through the picnic blanket and stains your pants and fuck, does this mystery liquid even come out of clothes? Can you even throw it into the washing machine or will it carry the disease onto the washing machine? You groan, imagining a washing machine with a sonic cannon mounted on it. What if this thing is corrosive instead, and by the time you arrive home to wash it out, it’s eaten through both fabric and skin, maybe even muscle, or bone? Will it spread there, too? It shouldn’t, it should be non-viral by now, but maybe its virality only applies if it’s hopping host organisms and won’t spread in its’ first host even if it is viral. And fuck if you have to quarantine yourself in Limbo again—

“Hey.”

A hand lands on the junction between your shoulder and neck, digging into it with just enough force to feel relaxing. Getō presses down on the muscle knot and you place your free hand in front of your mouth to stifle the groan that wants to escape. You lean your head to the left, temple resting against the seat headrest to give Getō’s hand more room to work. Human contact is one hell of a drug.

“You’re panicking.”

You make a noncommittal sound in the back of your throat.

“Breathe.”

“We’re trapped here.” The hand that’s moved on to pull the knot out of your shoulder abruptly stops its administrations. “I read the Book of the Damned, I set a boundary spell. It triggered when you grabbed me.” You turn your head slightly to find Gojō in the corner of your eye. “And I have no idea how to undo it.”

“How’d you put it up?” Gojō asks. His voice is even, but it’s missing the edge it had earlier. More than anything, he sounds tired. You shake your head slowly.

“I don’t remember.”

“That’s dumb.”

“Satoru,” Getō says.

“What does the barrier do?” Gojō ignores Getō’s warning and leans forward in his seat. He’s fully in your field of vision now, all-encompassing. There’s something about him that draws the eye.

“Loser dies, winner gets out.” You shrug your shoulders. “I panicked and the Book gave me a spell; ‘s how it works.”

“Stop reading that cursed thing,” Gojō says, falling back into his seat, arms crossed over his chest. You blink once, twice, then turn straight in your seat, too, and pull away from Getō’s warm hand.

The rest of the drive is silent. Street lights are flickering on the farther you drive. Stores are long closed by now, neon, and lit brand signs hanging on the front of the passing buildings. Dusk paints the sky in a soft lavender. June is nice here.

Eventually, the curse behind the wheel parks the car in the half-finished garage adjacent to a small blue house. Silence lingers in the car as it’s shut off, and the key is deposited in your open palm. The drenched rag that was once a yellow picnic blanket squelches in your lap as you adjust your hand and fire licks up your left arm. You stifle the sound of pain that wants to escape, and turn to the curse. It stares at you with the array of eyes littered throughout its entire body.

“Get lost.”

The figure blinks at you with its many eyes and then slowly, like a sandcastle destroyed by the waves, it melts away.

You climb out of the car, digging into your jacket pocket for the house key and spare a moment to curse under your breath. If the barrier really is impenetrable, you’re all stuck here. They will probably refuse a hotel or whatever to keep an eye on you. That means two more copies of the key, more food, more cooking and cleaning, and more reasons for your shitty neighbors to spy on you. All that on top of trying to piece your fingers back onto your hand — a very, very not human hand — maybe you’ll get lucky and your body will reject the repairs and kill you of lead poisoning or something. You stare at the now-dripping ball of fabric. Is there even lead in this?

Pain twinges again when you forget and try to grab the handle with that hand. You pull away with a hiss but the door cracks open nonetheless and you finish the job with the nudge of your foot. They’re so close you can feel the heat of their breaths on the back of your neck and you hurry inside, teeth gritting together to keep yourself from making a stupid comment that will earn you their hovering for the rest of eternity. The door creaks when Gojō pulls it shut behind him and you wince at the sound. You toe your sneakers off and wander into the house. The flowers strung along every interior wall of the house bloom when you approach. They cast just the right amount of illumination without melting your brain into soup.

Gojō and Getō are still lingering in the open hallway, taking in the interior of the house. It’s more spacious than it looks on the outside. There are two doors to their right, one up ahead, right next to the brick oven, and an open kitchen and a living room to their left. The glass coffee table you seat yourself behind is well within their line of sight.

The fingers clink when they hit the glass table. You slowly unwrap the blue-soaked picnic blanket and place it on the farthest end of the coffee table. It leaves a dribble of blue liquid on the glass.

There is movement in the corner of your eye. You ignore it to stare dumbly at the fingers. You place your metal hand on the glass and attempt to align the fingers to their respective stumps. The movement sloshes the blue dribble around and smears it along the glass surface. Can glass be corroded? It would be a pain in the ass to have another glass table delivered.

Getō gathers your hair and ties it back. You fight to keep a sigh from leaving your lips and instead, swallow around the lump in your throat. His touch is soft and doesn’t tug on any strands and you tilt your face down the moment he’s done, ignoring the lurch in your heart when his warm hands leave your skin. A few strands of hair fall in front of your eyes and you huff. The hair dangles back and forth as if it’s mocking you and you narrow your eyes at it.

“You got a headband somewhere?”

“Shelf next to the bathroom sink.” You jerk your chin forward. “Straight across from the front door.”

You watch him until he disappears behind the brick oven and turn back to the table. Your heart shoots into your throat when Gojō’s face appears in front of yours and you realize he’s crouched down on the other side of the table. He moves quietly, you remind yourself. Be aware of your surroundings, you remind yourself.

Gojō picks up one of the fingers lined up on the glass and slowly turns it between his own. He doesn’t say anything for a long time, his attention solely on the metal digit in his hand.

There are hands on your head and you jump again. Getō makes a soothing hush as he fits the headband over your head and then pulls it up over your bangs. He brushes a few stray baby hairs back with his fingers but they spring up again almost immediately.

“Thanks,” you say stiffly and reach to pluck your finger from Gojō.

“What happened?” He asks and you glance up at him just as he’s pulling the bandages over his head. His hair falls down over his eyes. Beautiful eyes — terrifying eyes. You think you might get lost in the depth behind them if you don’t look away immediately. So, you do, and clear your throat.

“Some piece of shit curse user infected me with some sort of transmutation virus; anything organic becomes animate technology.” You wipe away more of the pooling blue liquid, and line the fingers up again. It seems off somehow. You swap the middle and ring fingers. Still off; it’s hard to tell which finger belongs where and you grit your teeth together and swallow the taste of tears in your mouth.

Gojō leans in and carefully swaps the pointer and ring finger. You want to argue, tell him that you know your own body better than he does but this thing buried into your flesh is new and confusing. Inhuman. Maybe his Six Eyes allows him more knowledge than you will ever have.

In the corner of your eye, Getō moves to the space between you and Gojō, and sits down on the rug, too.

This might be the most people this house has seen since you moved in. Something about it feels right, something about it tears a gaping hole into your heart.

The headache pulses behind your eyes again and you squeeze them shut. When you open them, the world is swimming again. You force down the discomfort of Gojō and Getō’s silhouettes fraying at the edges and return your attention to your hand. Where there once was muscle, hidden by layers and layers of blood vessels and skin, there is a layer of softly illuminated cables hidden under a layer of thin metal with grooves and dents that adjusts itself as you move your arm. You take a breath in and wait for your vision to focus again before you pick up a finger and press it against its corresponding stump.

The cables underneath the metal plating mold together with a low hiss. blue liquid dribbles onto the glass tabletop. You repeat the action once, then once more.

Slowly, you crook one finger, then the other, and the third one. It’s not quite the same as your still-human hand, but it’s a feeling of sorts. It even emits warmth. The luminescent cables bend under the movement.

Gojō lets his impulsive thoughts win and reaches out to press a finger against the soft tissue with his finger.

“Do you go around shoving your dick into people’s gunshot wounds, too?” You slap his hand softly and he pulls back.

“How far does it reach?” Getō asks. You purse your lips and shrug your jacket off, and fold it onto your lap. The metal runs all the way up to about mid-bicep, where it burrows under the scarred skin.

Getō’s hand jerks on his thigh, as if he wants to reach out to you. Instead, he balls his hand into a fist around the fabric of his pants until his knuckles turn white. You don’t want to look up to face him, so you pointedly ignore his eyes as you shimmy closer and raise your arm towards him. There’s a moment of hesitation from his end before his fingers uncurl and ghost over your skin. His touch is gentle, like he’s terrified you’ll shatter if he exerts the smallest amount of pressure.

“Did it hurt?” He asks, the pad of his thumb smoothing over the scar tissue.

“Worse than the sorcerer killer.”

His fingers trace the metal plates of your arm, over the exposed cables in the crook of your elbow, all the way down to your hand and the newly re-attached fingers.

“Satoru, have you seen anything like this before?”

Gojō leans in and takes your left hand in his. He turns it one way and then the other, silent all the while. You glance at Getō who shrugs his shoulder minutely.

“Never,” Gojō says finally. He turns your palm to face him and laces his fingers between yours. He gives your hand a squeeze. “But we’ll figure it out. I promise.”

part two.

[avonne-writes]

Happy birthday! I just wanted to tell you that you're the best fan fiction writer I've come across in 20+ years ♥️

Can I ask for the [coffee] prompt? Gale manages to get hold of some coffee beans in the stalag and makes a cup of real coffee for John. Even better if he has to hide it from all the other inmates ☺️

My dear, this has been in my inbox for months, waiting for me to finally get to it! I'm sorry that it took me this long, especially because this was an original prompt. Thank you so much for your sweet message, I appreciate it so much! 🩷❤️ The drabble I'm posting below is part of a longer fic which will be posted on AO3 when it’s finished. It’s set in my a/b/o au (core idea here, drabble here).

The last fading rays of summer warmth are pushed away by the deepening chill of the night when the sun sets. It’s only September, but the walls of their prison seem to grow colder with each night, and the barbed wire fence looks taller every miserable morning. How long can a bird stay alive with its wings clipped, locked inside a cage that only lets it see the light, never feel it? And is it life at all?

It's been almost a year, and there's no end in sight. Only the mindless, final darkness, the one that beckons Bucky persistently every time the pains of his body and soul grow too heavy to bear without howling. If he and Gale hadn't bonded before their capture, he would've given in to that call already.

But they had, so here Bucky is. Still hungry, still cold, curled up in his bunk because Gale fussed the whole night and pushed him away every time Bucky touched him. Not even his own mate wants Bucky anymore.

“John.” He hears Gale's voice, quiet and warm, close to his ear as Gale leans over him. A hand shakes Bucky's shoulder, then slides down to his elbow in a caress. “The weather is so nice outside.”

“So what?” Bucky grunts, fed up with the morning sunshine that streams in through the flimsy curtains. How dare it tempt him with joy when he can’t even take a breath deep enough to remember freedom.

Gale shakes him again. His scent is so sweet that if Bucky closes his eyes, he can imagine that this is just another morning at Thorpe, and his mate is in a good mood. “Come, walk with me.”

Illusion shattered, Bucky shrugs Gale's grip off. “I'm not your dog.”

There's a pause, then a sigh. Gale squeezes Bucky's arm, then Bucky hears the thud of his boots as he walks away. The door opens and closes with a click.

“You should get it together, man. You're still mates, are you not?” Jefferson's voice rings from behind him, and it pisses Bucky off. What fucking business of his is it if he and Gale are still mates or not? He shouldn't say shit about things he doesn’t understand.

His irritation is enough fire to make Bucky turn around and rise from the bed, but Jefferson is already halfway out the door, scoffing at him, and Bucky isn’t quite angry enough to chase after him. He growls and drops into a chair at their small table, dealing a pack of cards to play imaginary poker against himself. From the corner of his eye, he notices the stares Crank and DeMarco shoot him, but they also go out after a few minutes, leaving him blessedly alone in silence.

For a while, it feels good. Time is beyond his perception, has been for who knows how long now. It's just one of those things that doesn’t seem to matter anymore. He plays and loses against himself, always loses, then just drops the cards and stares at the strip of light crawling across the wooden floorboards. Guilt starts to tickle at the corners of his eyes and throbs at his temples like a headache. He didn’t mean to be so rude to Gale, but last night left him in a mood even worse than usual. He should probably find the strength to go out, join the others and apologize to him. Touch the mark on Gale’s neck if he's still willing to let him. 

Bucky's just about to push himself to his feet when the door swings open and Gale comes back inside. He looks frazzled and pale as a sheet, although it's hard to tell if that's the general effect of the stalag or something new. He puts his hands on his hips and paces around a bit, shooting Bucky quick glances as if gearing himself up to speak.

“What happened?” Bucky asks, frowning.

“Nothing.” Gale licks his lips, then stills for a moment before he walks over to the table with confident steps, all of that sudden unsettled energy swallowed up by his self-control. Maybe, he’s nervous that Bucky will gnash his teeth at him like a feral animal again. When he sits down and meets Bucky's eyes, Bucky sighs.

“Look.” Bucky starts, leaning forward and holding his hand out. He leaves it there even though Gale doesn’t take it. “I'm sorry for this morning. Didn’t mean to lash out like that.”

Gale considers him for a beat of silence, then nods, somber. “Apology accepted.”

He glances down at his lap, then pulls something out of the pocket of his trousers. When he looks at Bucky again, his eyes are soft and loving like they used to be before they learned how fragile the good things in life are. “Do you know what day it is?”

Bucky puffs his cheeks out, his eyebrows quirking up in a way that clearly amuses Gale. “Haven't a clue, doll. I'm wearing my Sunday best though, just in case.”

Gale huffs, shaking his head with a fond twist to his mouth. Something about the movement makes him wince, but he composes himself quickly. “It’s the 8th, John.”

Oh.

A dull pain starts in Bucky's chest and radiates out into the rest of his body. He can’t believe he forgot. He can’t believe that this moment came. The first time he spends 8 September as a prisoner of war, instead of laughing and celebrating with the love of his life.

Gale puts the small package he pulled out of pocket on the table between them. “I couldn’t get you any whiskey.” He says with wry humor that pulls a joyless smile out of Bucky. “But I got you this.”

When Bucky opens the package, the scent of ground coffee hits him like the sweet promise of heaven. It’s the real stuff, he can tell instantly, not the sand and ash concoction they mix up for them on most days. If they brew this, one sip of it will give Bucky enough life for a week. Oh, just the mere thought of its taste, the faint memories still not overwritten by the bland, permeating monotone of the stalag… 

The grin pulling at Bucky’s lips isn’t tainted by manic delusions for once. It’s purely happy, devoid of the shadows that have been haunting Bucky's mind lately, and it seems to make Gale flush in an echo of joy. This small bag of coffee must have cost Gale a lot of rations, but it’s such a perfect gift that Bucky doesn’t have the heart to ruin it by asking to know its price. 

"Happy birthday." Gale says with a small smile, but when Bucky reaches for his hand, he flinches.

It's a telltale reaction that they both know well. Bucky pauses, breathes in deep, takes stock of Gale's wide pupils and the clamminess of his fingers when he touches them. There’s sweat gathering at Gale’s hairline and his cheeks look blotchy. Bucky sees him pulling his other hand back into the sleeve of his fraying sweater, one of the few comforts he has in this wretched place. The gesture makes Bucky's chest go tight.

"Are you in heat?”

The muscles around Gale's jaw clench. He doesn’t need to say a word. The look in his eyes tells Bucky everything.

“Shit.” Bucky says, his voice like a ghost’s. Departing his body as dread creeps down his throat, cold and slimy fear around his heart. His brain, the last to admit defeat, still tries to deny it. It's impossible. God can’t curse them with this now. Their fate can’t be this cruel. “But you haven't had one in a year.”

“I know.” Gale's nostrils flare.

“But -”

“You know I've run out of the goddamn pills.” He snaps, harsh and aggressive in a way he wouldn’t be in his right mind.

There's no denying it any longer. It can't be just a cold or the bitterness of captivity. They have to face this here, now, and somehow make it through.

Bucky lowers his voice placatingly. “I know, Buck, I know.” He squeezes Gale's hand. It’s a relief when Gale squeezes back. “But that was six months ago.”

Tucked inside his sleeve, Gale’s fingers clench around the fabric. His eyes stare at his boots, and he looks so frail and small that Bucky has to look away to compose himself. They're both at the end of their ropes.

“Better weather, more food…” Gale mutters, pulling his shoulders up in a helpless gesture. “I guess my body figured it was enough.”

Bucky strokes the back of Gale's hand with his thumb, feels Gale’s racing pulse at his wrist. “We're gonna get through this.”

Gale nods, but he stares at the far wall. After a moment, Bucky realizes that he’s holding his breath, as if to keep himself forcefully calm and grounded. 

“Promise me -” He starts quietly. “- that if the guards find out, you won’t get yourself killed.”

Bucky's chest tightens. He hears the fear Gale is stomping down on with all his iron willpower. “I can’t.”

Bucky’s hand is yanked forward so suddenly and with such force that Bucky hisses. Gale fists his other hand in Bucky's shirt and snarls at him from an inch away. “Promise.”

The nasty, instinctual part of Bucky aches to fight, to force Gale to back down using his alpha nature to his advantage. But, even with all the things chipping at his sanity, Bucky doesn’t want to do that to him. It wouldn’t work anyway. Not with Gale, especially not when he's in heat.

“They won't find out.” He tells Gale, cupping his scarred cheek and giving him a firm look. “I promise I'll keep you safe.”

The scent in the air turns cloyingly sweet as gratitude washes over Gale, but then he shudders, and the sweetness turns into sour fear. Gale lets go of Bucky's shirt and stands up, gripping the edge of the table until his knuckles turn white. When he speaks, the calm tone of his voice is frightening. 

“Don’t worry about me, John. Whatever happens, I can take it.”

[abiiors]

so you're tired 🥀 // ross macdonald x reader

in which he doesn't exactly cheat but it hurts just the same a/n: this is loosely based on so you're tired by sufjan stevens, one of my fav songs atm!!! (can't wait for javelin) cw: very brief mentions of smut, arguments and yelling because well, this is just angst :( wc: 2k

the first time you fight—seriously fight—you don’t talk to him for three days. 

it’s the longest either of you have gone without talking to each other. he’s barely home for two more weeks before tour starts again and yet here you are, waking up to a cold bed every single day and roaming around like ghosts in a cold house. three days where you don’t come home to him humming softly in your kitchen while cooking you your favourite meals. three days of utter silence before one of you cracks. 

towards the end of it, none of you remember what the fight was about, only that you feel a hollow ache in your chest every night you don’t go to sleep cuddled up in his arms. you don’t remember who cracks first—all you remember are whispered apologies on each other’s skin and kisses that taste of tears. 

“i am wasting precious time with you,” he says, his face buried deep in the crook of your neck, holding you so close as if you might slip away from right between his fingers. 

“let’s forget about it, love,” you stroke his head, “let’s just move on. we have time…”

and it’s true isn’t it? you have all the time in the world. so what if he’s going away again? he will come home to you eventually…

so you smile and melt into his kiss. the next few days pass in a flurry of half-hearted joy and trepidation but ross is there, hugging you unexpectedly and playing with your hair till you fall asleep. ross is there to waltz you around the kitchen and make you your favourite meals. and the fight seems long forgotten, all the feelings of anxiety and lonliness burried deep down…

until they bubble up the night before he has to leave. 

“you always promise,” his voice rises with each word, “it’s always the same. and i always believe you like a fucking idiot.” he’s back on the same topic again, yelling about the same things you were two weeks ago but this conversation is going nowhere. 

“jesus christ, ross! i have a job you know!” you yell back, watching his face grow angrier. “can’t just drop everything and come travel the world with you.”

“you’re acting like i am asking you to run away with me!”

“that’s exactly—”

“no it’s not! stop putting words in my mouth,” he finally snaps, breathing heavily while standing in the midst of clothes strewn on the ground. a half-full suitcase sits by his feet with its maw wide open. “i told you, no. i asked you months ago if you would take some time off to come with me. fuck i was even fine if you brought work with you—”

“and it’s just not possible—”

“it’s never fucking possible!” he yells. “you never know how much i fucking miss you when i am gone.”

you defensively cross your arms in front of your chest, shivering slightly against the chill in the room. it’s been so rainy and gloomy all day, ironically the perfect ambiance for your fight that just seems so final. 

“ross, you’re acting like i don’t miss you at all!” “no…” he speaks quietly. you stand there like a statue, watching him gather his things and stuff them in the suitcase. when he zips it shut, it might as well be the loudest sound in the world. “you’re the one acting like that.”

and with that ross is gone, sidestepping you so easily that you might as well have not existed at all. just a ghost in your room, staring at the floor where his things were just moments ago, now all that remains is the echo of the door slamming shut behind him. 

you don’t know where ross goes that night. maybe over to matty’s or directly at the airport to spend the night sleeping on the bench. 

maybe he thinks it’s better to spend the night cold and uncomfortable and alone than to share the warm bed with you. 

maybe he thinks he’s better off alone entirely. 

you don’t try to call him. you just curl up on the bed, on his side of it, and let your sobs put you to sleep. 

blink and three more days go by. another three days of not talking, of radio silence. in that time, all the updates you get about him are concert photos and fan edits. he looks sad in them, quiet and reserved, yet they don’t know him as well as you do. they just think he’s tired from the  jetlag. a good night’s sleep will fix everything for him. 

they don’t know that a good night’s sleep comes only when he’s with you. 

this time it’s you who cracks first, calling him practically in the middle of the night with a thudding heart. on the brink of a panic attack. 

his voice is sleep-filled and his eyes bleary. you feel bad for calling him like this but he asks you to stay, asks you if you can talk. 

“i overreacted,” he sighs, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “i shouldn’t have…”

“no, ross. i should apologise, you weren’t… you weren’t wrong.”

his face perks up at those words. and your heart sinks deeper into your stomach. so, like a heartless bitch, you give him momentary hope and soothe him with sweet words until he asks the inevitable question. 

“so… are you coming?”

things can only go downhill from there and all you can do is scrunch your eyes shut let a few tears of regret roll down your cheeks. 

you’re certain this fight is worse than the last one. at least, the last time he was physically here. a tangible presence. now it’s just you, alone in your room with your sharp voice echoing all around you. drowning you in shame. 

this time when he argues, he’s eerily calm, not a single emotion in his voice or in his eyes and that’s how you know it’s really the end. 

that’s how you know his goodbye is final. 

when the “we are done” text pings on your phone at 2:15 am, you sob so hard you almost get sick on your bedroom carpet, only managing to run to the toilet at the last minute. 

you sob so hard that the warmth zaps right out of you and into the bathroom floor which remains just as ice cold the entire night you spend shivering on it. 

by the time morning comes, there are no more tears left. no more sobs or wails. 

all that’s left is a feeling of unending emptiness. 

everyone seems to have an opinion about the break up. some tell you he’s childish, a man child to not accept the fact that this is how adult relationships work. that people are busy. some go as far as to declare him the latest perpetrator of toxic masculinity—these people you ignore entirely. but there are some who sow a small seed of doubt in you—you fucked up. ultimately it’s george who knocks some sense into you with one simple text. 

he’s miserable. 

and before you know it, you’re texting your clients and letting them know you’ll be out of office for the foreseeable future. like a possessed person you’re on your laptop hunting for the quickest flights to paris. 

it’s the city of love and light. it should fix what’s broken. and you’re more than willing to grovel. to beg him for just one more chance. 

“will you please pick me up?” you text george as a last desperate attempt, practically jumping with joy when he says yes and asks you for your flight details. 

he tells you he’ll take care of the hotel room, of anything else you might need. all you need to worry about it being there and fixing what’s broken. he tells you there’s still hope. and like a fool you believe him wholeheartedly. 

it’s almost a day later that you stand in front of his hotel room on shaky legs, staring at the non-descript door with blurred eyes. you’re thankful for george’s hand lightly resting on your shoulder—there’s at least some moral support there. 

he doesn’t urge you to knock, he just stands there with you, staring at the brown door for as long as you might need to build up courage. 

you close your eyes and dream of the after. 

sure it will a confrontation at first. he’s going to be angry and hurt but you can change that. more importantly you can make him believe that you can change. so you let yourself dream of what comes after. of how you might spend days after cooped up in the room, tasting each other’s skin and reeking of sex. 

it won’t matter though. you would spend hours with your limbs tangled up, laughing at silly stories you’ve told each other a million times before and eating ridiculously expensive macaroons. 

the thought makes you laugh sharply, just once before you cover it up with a slight cough and look at george.

“right… right i think i’m ready…”

he nods and steps back, keeping a respectful distance, still there to be with you just in case. 

so you knock, toeing the carpet and trying not to strain your ears to hear any signs of life inside. maybe you’ve come at the wrong time… maybe he’s in the shower or asleep and you’re just doing one more thing wrong. maybe he’s not even in his room, preferring to be somewhere instead. it is paris after all… 

but the lock clicks and with it your heart stops beating. george takes another step back, rooting for a happy, cuddly reunion you hope. 

and then the door swings open and your heart is in your throat as soon as you see him. ross… your ross, he’s there. sure, he looks a bit tired and disheveled and sure he’s just answered the door shirtless but you couldn’t care less. 

“ros—”

“ross?” it’s another voice. it’s not yours and yet it’s a female voice, lilting and high-pitched and snagging on the r, saying his name. a voice that comes from inside his room. 

and then there she is, peeking out from behind him. it’s unmistakable that she only has a bedsheet clutched around her, hair escaping her bun and falling onto her bare shoulders. 

you stand there like a fucking statue once again, looking from her to him and back at her confused face. she’s everything you’re not—perfect and waiflike and god so stunning it hurts to look at her. 

or perhaps the hurt comes from the feeling of someone squeezing your heart so tight that you stumble back, practically knocking into george whose existence you’d forgotten in those last thirty seconds. 

“love—”

“no,” you whisper, already half turned around, bags in tow.

ross reaches forward, his face crumpling into one of guilt, pain and worry. his throat bobs, eyes quickly tinging with red. 

he tries to speak but nothing comes out. 

or maybe he does speak and you hear nothing at all because you’re so busy sprinting out of there and out of the hotel entirely and onto the unknown streets of paris. 

the eiffel tower stands proud—a romantic backdrop to all the cuddly couples taking photos in front of it, kissing each other and laughing their hearts out. you run away, back to wherever that will take you farthest away from here. 

wherever that will take you so so far away from his version of after that you would never even remember it again—remember him again, rather. the crinkles around his eyes and his dimples. the feel of his beautiful hair between your fingers. his voice and his laugh and his humming. 

all you can do is seethe with laughter so hard that a sob lodges itself in your throat, chokes and suffocates you thoroughly. 

there’s no after that you so desperately dreamed of. this is the only one you get. 

lemme know what you think <33

taglist: @scooby-doodoo, @partoftheairforce, @justgoatsbreakinghearts0855 @beachesgetpeaches, @you-muppet, @mcabister, @alexmarie29, @at-her-very-foreign, @hfkait, @squishysoupy @sierraeslaprincesa @harrie-fic-center @alien-girl-violet @thereisaplaceintheheart @kennedy-brooke @lolidontknowanymore @theoriginalwhatsername @celestcies @sugarkane1001 @ari-turner @thewaywewereinsaigon

add yourself to the taglist

[intimidating-fettuccine]

Proxies relax day? What do they do together? Like fishing or camping?

(Scenario also Hi! I'm new!)

Hello! Welcome to the blog :) I know you specified scenario but I just haven't been in a scenario headspace, although I tried to spice this up for you. I hope you enjoy it regardless :)

Fishing, of course! Fishing is Tim's favorite pastime, and it's something he does on a weekly basis. He goes out on his boat, floats into the water, and fishes the day away. It's a way to destress for him, and it just calms him and makes him relaxed after a very long week. It's an honor, quite honestly, for Tim to invite someone to go fishing with him. Everyone knows not to mess with him, as he takes fishing very seriously, and it'll make him very upset and down if you get too rowdy and scare all the fish away, so when it became a tradition every few weeks for him to invite Brian and Toby, the two of them felt quite special.

Brian is the most easygoing with the whole thing. He sits there quietly and patiently, although he doesn't fish all that much as he just doesn't have the talent for it, he always brings them plenty of snacks and drinks, and he's very encouraging with them. He also takes a bunch of pictures of them while they're out there, whether it be group photos, or candid shots of the other two while they're fishing, he likes to have a bunch of photos to remember these times together. Toby on the other hand originally struggled quite a bit with the fishing trips. He gets antsy when he's in the same place for too long, so there would be lots of "Let's move the boat over there!", "Let's go swimmin' Tim!", "Can't we just go for a little walk?", "Is there anything else to do?" And all of them would be shut down by Tim pretty fast. Did it agitate the shit out of Tim? Yes. But he loves Toby and is understanding of him, so he would let it go. It wasn't until Toby had a bad episode out on the water, and he started rocking the boat and almost fell in that things came to a head, with Tim yelling at him in fear and concern to knock it the fuck off. Was that the best way to handle it? No. Were there lots of hugs and tears and apologies afterward? Yes. 

After that point, something sort of clicked in Toby, and he became much more relaxed on the fishing trips. It was the fear in Tim's voice and in his eyes as he almost fell into the deep water that chilled him out a lot on the water, and things became easier after that. Tim started paying him a lot more attention too, to make him feel more occupied. He got him a new fishing rod and a bunch of equipment, and it became a bonding thing for them. Giving him tips and advice, to cast your line over there, to reel it in like this, to use these sorts of baits, and these kinds of lures, and Toby paid attention to every single piece of advice Tim gave him, even bringing a little notebook and writing it all down. Toby started to enjoy fishing a lot more after that, and thus, the tradition was born. Every other Sunday, the three of them go out on the water and fish for most of the day, starting early around the time the sun rises. If they catch anything good, Tim will grill it up when they get home, but if not, at least they still got to spend a day out in the water. Brian's lock screen for the last few months has been his favorite picture of the two, sitting shoulder to shoulder with the sunrise in front of them, with Toby's head sleepily resting on Tim as they fish. Toby might not always be the best in situations like these, but he tries for Tim, and Tim tries for him too. At the end of the day though, they also always have Mama Brian there to smooth over any rough bumps between the two.

[heyidkyay]

Who can say no to bridezilla? |

Epilogue

Because I couldn't not give them a proper ending.

Summary: With no date to your sister's wedding, what are you to do? No worries though, she's already got it covered, well, sort of...

Masterlist

--

MATTY POV:

“Now, we’ve all seen it. We’re all talking about it! So, why don’t we just clear the air, hey?”

Matty raised a brow at the interviewer.

Immediately he knew where this question was ultimately headed, but instead of making things easier for all parties involved, he went with the clueless route. Because that was always more fun, wasn’t it? And also, if he lived for anything, then it was annoying the fuck out of the nosy godawful pricks who were constantly so engrossed in his private life. 

“Sorry, mate. Gonna have to be a bit more specific here.”

The interviewer, Josh or something of the like, blinked at him before he casted a glance at the camera and laughed him off awkwardly. 

In all truth, Matty wasn’t the type to bite his tongue (not for a lack of trying, of course, he’d just always had zero filter- something which he liked to blame his mother for) and so it was probably quite easy to tell just how much he didn’t want to be here, in this fucking sauna of a room. 

Christ, was he sweating already? 

With a sigh, he scratched at the side of his cheek in attempt to hide the yawn he’d been fighting off since this shit-show had begun, and waited for the bloke sat opposite to continue on with this tireless charade they all seemed to adopt sooner or later. All, as in, every journalist ever.

It had all grown so tiring, so trivial, by this point in their career. They all just seemed to ask the same thing in one term or another, over and over. What’s your favourite colour? Who’s your celebrity crush? How’s it staying sober? Who’re you currently shagging? 

That last one was something of a hot topic at the minute. For him at least. 

Always him, it seemed. 

See, it’d all started a few months back when the lot of them had taken a good few weeks off so that Hann could have the ‘wedding of his dreams’. Or at least that was how Matty had taken it, having been on something of a roll with the last album and tour, he’d wanted to get a head start on the next now that he was properly off of all the hard stuff. 

But Jamie, their band’s manager, had taken use of his authority and all but demanded the break. 

Put his foot down. Quite literally, in fact- through a glass table of all things during a celebratory night out after the Brits. 

Matty had been rather delighted with the scene, of course, and thus had given Jamie a whistling round of applause, which had died down shortly after only Ross had joined him. Still, it had been a night worthwhile.

Anyway… stories always seemed to get away from him. He sort of had a knack for it, he guessed, going round and round the point. Or maybe he was just showing his age. But yeah, it had all basically begun way back when Hann had finally declared the date of his wedding.

Matty, honestly hadn’t been dreading it- no, not at all. Losing one of his best mates, forever, to a girl of all things. No, he’d been completely fine. Excited for them even!

Almost.

Maybe…

Alright, so he might’ve used every possible opportunity he’d had to avoid the topic at all costs, but previously mentioned girl was also relatively chill, and someone Matty had grown quite fond of in recent years. So he hadn’t been too vocal about his many irrational dwellings and constantly rising panic. Up until that very moment at least.

And Hann… he hadn’t been too happy a chap.

But with the wedding still happening- with or without his blessing, he’d like to iterate- Matty had used up the time and space he’d been ‘gifted’ to work on himself a bit. So he’d fucked off dating and alcohol (the hard stuff at least), took up jiu-jitsu, and decided to slack off social media too for a while. 

Just wanted to keep his circle small in truth. He drunk a bit of wine here and there, and smoked when and where he pleased. 

Because since rehab, he’d actually become something short of a chimney, which was honestly saying something if you’d known him at all before. A cigarette after the most mundane tasks had quickly become an adopted habit of his, alongside the weed which he didn’t have the heart to give up. Because, who the fuck else did it harm in the grand scheme of things?

And that had been that. Up until the point when Ross, the ginormous tosser he was, had gone and cucked up his pretty little bubble of peace by asking who he’d intended to bring along to Hann’s wedding.

Matty had sort of lost it then. Because he’d had. No. Fucking. Clue.

Not after having been out of the game for so long, and having avoided almost every ounce of social interaction that had been tossed his way. 

Plus, there'd been absolutely no way that he was bringing some randomer along to his best mate’s big day. He just wasn’t down with that. And so, like that fucking loser he was, he’d declared that he’d be going stag.

But, Y/s/n, the formidable angel she was (as well as the poor woman of Hann’s decrepit dreams, poor sod), had simply laughed her arse off at him when he’d mentioned it, and point blank told him no. 

Actually, the words she’d used were, ‘There’s no way in fuck-off hell that you, of all people, are turning up stag to my wedding, Matty. I’ll sort it.’

And did she fuck.

Because not too soon after that whole commotion did you fall into the mix. 

Now, Matty had heard tidbits about this faceless girl here and there- you were Y/s/n’s older sister for one, and was almost always busy doing something of the sorts. But you had quickly become a strange puzzle in his incredibly hectic life, someone he knew bits and pieces about but could never quite imagine complete.

Truthfully, the whole thing had honestly been a favour to the both of you at first. You had been in need of someone to throw in front of your mum for a bit (something Matty could relate to- intrusive mother’s were now something of a pastime to him), and he’d just been desperate enough for any kind of date that he’d so happened to agree. Figured it’d be fun, a distraction to take his mind off of losing one of his very best mates. 

Dramatic, he knows, but who cared.

So Hann had sent him your number and it had all sort of spiralled from there. He’d messaged you on a whim, having decided to just get it over and done with, but then you had texted back. And Matty had grown enthralled.

You’d spent that entire first night messaging back and forth. And then the night after that, and the one after that, and so on. 

Days had rapidly turned to weeks, and weeks into months. And before either of you had even realised it, the big day had finally arrived.

And honestly? Matty had been fucking bricking himself.

That morning especially, but also the entire week prior, too.

Just ask Ross and George- he’d been an utter mess. 

Such a fucking nutcase in fact that George had actually blocked his number and flat out refused to answer his front door. 

Ross had been a true friend in his time of need though, but mainly because he’d just been pleased to have someone to shit all over and rip to bits. He was a vindictive little fucker at the best of times, and supposedly found immense pleasure in Matty’s obvious suffering.

So yeah, he’d been anxious about it alright, more than just that to be honest, but surprisingly he hadn’t been able find an actual word to describe what he’d truly been feeling.

Even thinking back to it now had his stomach all tied up in knots.

It was almost a little dizzying to see the complete turn around he’d made of it since then, even with everything that had occurred that evening. Because it was him we were talking about here, and so of course he’d been the first to cock things up.

Still, it had all worked out in the end. Hadn’t it? 

And here he now was, sat on this arse-aching chair, being asked a question all about you.

“The pictures, Matty! We’re all dying to know more. Twitter is, quite literally, imploding!”

Ah, the pictures…

Pap shots, more like. Fucking pricks the lot of them.

But they were all out there now. For everyone to see. And they’d only doubled in recent weeks after the news of baby Hann had broken and that dildo had gone into hiding. They all wanted to know about her, about the girl who’d been a complete constant in his life. The girl he’d been orbiting like the fucking sun.

And perhaps if it hadn’t been him they were all gossiping about, he might’ve wanted to know a bit more about it all too, because it was just human nature, he figured. To want- even after the most insignificant things. It was just something everybody appeared to find oddly intriguing.

So he could understand it, see?

At least from a fan’s perspective he could- the media too, if he was being technical. But it honestly had begun to grate on him a little. He hadn’t wanted to hide you away from this part of his life, it wasn’t like that at all in actuality. He’d just wanted you to himself for a little bit longer. To ignore the rest of the world so that he could learn everything there was to know about you.

But shit happened and life never gave you exactly what you were after, did it? Not in the ways you expected, at least.

“Come on, you can tell us…” James then goaded- or had it been Jack? Matty frowned. Either way, he wasn’t too attached.

“Yeah, I could, mate. But question is, do I really want to?” Matty countered, forefinger pressed against the corner of his mouth whilst he smirked unashamedly at the reporter.

The guy, bless him, really did seem to be trying. He wanted his big break, Matty could tell, and a story like this could probably get him just that. 

But. 

Matty was an insufferable twat at the best of times, and he wasn’t one to turn down a game of fun. Especially not after the rollercoaster of a day he’d had.

“I think it’d be good, for you, for your fans, to let everyone in on the big secret, don't you?” Jim- yeah, that’s what he was going with- encouraged him, and Matty had to struggle not to roll his eyes. “So who is she? This girl you’ve been spotted with.”

“Don’t know about you, but I talk to a lot of women on the daily. Get pictured with a fair few too, hard to keep track, you know?”

Jim’s smile tightened and Matty felt his own fall into something a bit more genuine. Ah, he was going to enjoy this.

“Come on, Matty.” And fuck did he hate the way Jim said his name. There were two fucking t’s in there, for Christ’s sake. But this tit of a saucepan kept making it sound as though it had been shortened from Madeleine or some sort. 

‘Maddy. Maddy.’ What was he, an eighty year old woman?

“We’re all friends here! Your fanbase have been making a few fair assumptions, some even recognising her.”

Matty’s brow quirked at that. “Oh, yeah? Fill me in then, Jimbo.”

The interviewer’s forehead wrinkled in slight confusion at the name he'd been dubbed, before he hastily continued on, believing himself to be finally getting somewhere.

“Well, she just keeps popping up everywhere! We’ve seen her out with you, in London, and New York, here in LA. People are beginning to suspect that she’s the one we’ve all been hearing in the background of your Instagram stories, and on your lives.” Jim explained, and he was a very gesticulative man, Matty noted. 

He was almost a little fearful that he was about to get slapped in the face by one of his wayward hands.

“And most of all, I’ve discovered that quite a lot of your band’s fans make quite the detectives. They’ve all rallied and decided that you met this mystery girl at Adam, the bands guitarist’s wedding earlier this year.”

“How’ve they deducted this then?” Matty found himself asking, a tad invested now.

Jim seemed to beam at him then and Matty found himself regretting this whole thing. Fuck Jamie, and fuck the guys. Why was it always him doing these shitty fucking interviews whilst everyone else got to sit at home on their arses?

He had a thousand other things he could’ve been doing in that very moment- most of them included you.

“I’m actually glad you asked.” Jim barrelled on, and Matty had almost forgotten he was there, too caught up in his own head. “On one of the announcement posts referring to your band’s newest edition, expected early next year, there was a user who had commented.”

Ah. How sagacious.

Matty was almost a little disappointed with that final deduction though- he’d expected more. Like a super secret stakeout. Or one of their fans behind bars after having hacked into the Secret Intelligence database, or fuck knows, Scotland Yard even. But nah, you’d only just gone and left a sodding comment on your sister’s baby post.

“Reckon there was a half a million comments there, mate.” Matty drawled, clucking his tongue ever so slightly. “Like, I was honestly hoping to get some lawyers involved here, break someone out of prison, or at the very least hear a more promising tale. I mean, a comment. Really?”

Good old Jim just seemed to find his reply hilarious though, and appeared rather thrilled that he’d finally managed to wrangle more than a few syllables out of him.

“I’m sure you have more than enough excitement going on in your life!” Jim conducted, chuckling away to himself. Matty forced a sarky sort of smile. “So can you either confirm, or deny, that the woman you’ve been spotted with, as of recent, is a bandmate’s sister?”

Matty stopped short, then gave a boisterous laugh. One knee jilting up off the floor slightly as he threw his head back against the back of the chair to just cackle at the bloke. He had to shake his head at it all, in disbelief. “Fuck man, how have you bolloxed that up so bad?”

Interviewer Jim just seemed to frown at him though, torn between obvious confusion and some of the amusement he still felt. He did his best to regroup though.

“What? Are you claiming the rumours to be false then?”

“Oh, I think the boys who have siblings would know better than to let me near any of them.” Matty retorted, still grinning away. “But I’ll leave it up to everyone else, and their incredible skills of deduction, to work it all out.”

Matty glanced away then pointed towards the small crew that had gathered and the camera that’d been set up.

“Suppose we're all done here then?”

Jim blinked at him, jaw swinging.

“Um.” He tried, but Matty was already up, out of his seat and throwing on his jacket. 

He stuck a hand out towards the man as he slipped a pair of dark shades over his eyes, because he could play at being polite. “Cheers for this, mate. Hope everything goes well.”

And then he was gone, having weaved his way through the building's hallways and slipped out through the first side door he'd found. His phone was already in hand by the time he felt the sun beaming down on him and he started smirking to himself as he typed out a text. 

Today 11:59

Georgie: 

World thinks I’m shagging your sister, mate.

Matty couldn’t help his grin, and was quick to drop out of his messages so that he could do exactly what he’d been hoping to do ever since his morning had begun.

His smile was a whole lot more fond when your face popped onto the screen, rubbing at your eyes with a pillowy pout.

“What?”

Matty snorted out an unjustly laugh at the love-filled greeting he'd received whilst he shook his head at you, mindful of the busy street he was crossing.

“What do you mean, what? Why are you asleep, it’s like 8pm your time.”

His chest fucking warmed at the sight of you wrinkling your nose unhappily at him, obviously not too pleased with having been awoken.

“Your point?” You fired back, sighing as you reluctantly sat up in bed, all the way back home in dreary London.

“Sweetheart, you’re gonna kick yourself later when you can’t sleep tonight.” Matty mentioned, pausing on a street corner just outside of a trendy little cafe so that he could light a fag. Not caring about the few upturned noses he received in response from passersby and the avant-garde try hards settled on tables outside. LA, man.

“Then that’s my business, isn’t it?” You piped up, drawing his attention back down to his phone.

You’d since tied your hair up into a messy style of bun he typically loved to play with when you were cuddled up together, and sort of let the duvet pool around your hips.

“Besides, it was just a nap- you know how sleepy I get when I have to deal with Y/s/n all day. She’s been on a rampage this week, I swear, so just be happy you’ve not had to deal with any of it. I mean, really, there’s no fucking difference between Fine Dream and Frosted Cream! It’s all just paint to me!”

Matty couldn’t hide his lopsided smile as he listened to you continue your ramble. It had quickly become the most favoured part of his day, whether you were wrapped around one another back at his, or a couple hundred miles apart.

The couple hundred miles though, they had started to grow harder and harder, seeing as he was currently out in LA, whilst you were busy with life and things at home.

Still, he’d be back with you this time tomorrow morning- unbeknownst to you of course. Because he’d planned it to be something of a surprise. He’d been gone three long weeks and knew that the separation had been difficult on you both, seeing as the pair of you had spent practically every day since Hann’s wedding under one another’s feet.

“Anyway,” You sighed, regaining his attention, and Matty watched as you puttered about the kitchen, more than likely preparing yourself a cup of tea. “How did the interview go? Was it that radio thing you were excited for, or was that something else?”

Matty shook his head at the screen, stumping out his cigarette on the brick wall beside him. 

“That’s next week. All of us will be doing it though, so I’m looking forward to it.” He informed you, blowing out the last remaining tendrils of smoke. “But God, you wouldn’t believe this bloke I just met, reckon he could’ve bored me to death with his questions. Same fucking thing, over and over again, I swear. LA used to be so thrilling, but now, it’s all gotten so- I don’t know… Just feels really superficial. Want to be back home.”

“Missing this English weather, are you?”

And he could see the small smile pulling at your lips. Apparently, it had snowed in the time he’d been gone, and because the world just loved to spite him, that meant he’d missed seeing you in it. But he’d witnessed your reaction at the very least, and it had been incredibly endearing to watch you get all excited, even over a Facetime call. Because you’re face had honestly said it all, eyes wide and so fucking alive. It definitely could’ve rivalled any little kid’s.

“Hm,” Matty hummed, tilting his phone so that the Californian sun didn’t cause a glare. “Reckon it might have more to do with me missing a certain someone, to be fair.”

“That so?” You quipped, looking right at him, “Has Ross finally caved and messaged you then? Needy, that one- I'd be careful. You’ve only been apart a couple days. But me? I’ve not had you in three weeks.”

“And it’s been a terrible loss, we’ll have to remedy it once I’m home." Matty said with an assured nod, "Figure I’ll have you in the hallway first.”

Your loud laughter bubbled up through the phone’s speaker and Matty let his eyes slip close in turn, revelling in the sound for a brief second.

“Careful there, Matthew. Never know who could be listening.” You replied with a smirk of your own whilst you stirred milk into a large mug- one Matty immediately recognised as one of his own. The thief. “Besides, I’ll be picking you up from the airport so you’ll have to make do with the backseat of my car.”

He grinned full out upon hearing that, chuckling to himself as he shook his head, deciding to carry on the teasing. “Christ, if anyone's needy, it's you. But I reckon I can deal with that. Just as long as you don’t give yourself a concussion this time ‘round.”

You gasped, shocked. “It wasn’t a concussion, you twat! And you’re the one with the fucking jackrabbit hips! If anyone was at fault, it’s you.”

“Oh, come off it. You love being on top.”

With a roll of your eyes, you sipped carefully at your steaming drink then pointedly shrugged. “Still carried on though, didn’t I? Without any complaints, I might add.”

Matty snorted lightly. “Indeed you did, baby.”

The ring of a doorbell sounded then and he watched as your head turned in its direction, only to then huff.

“That’ll be Jamie. Forgot he was coming over after work tonight.” You told him as you put the mug down and picked up your phone to putter over towards the door.

Matty heard it being opened, as well as the usual greetings often shared between your cousin and you, before a pair of great big eyes were suddenly boring into the screen, startling him slightly, only to then be followed by a matching grin and loud laugh.

“Alright, Healy, the Yanks treating you alright?” Jamie acosted, clearly having stolen your phone from you whilst your defences had been down. He could just make out you rolling your eyes in the background whilst your cousin made himself comfortable in your flat. “Enjoying the sun, eh?”

Either he’d been in LA too long, or he just hadn’t heard Jamie speak in a while, his northern accent sounded so prominent down the phone.

“Always do, Jim.” Matty said, smiling at the bloke who’d splayed himself out across your living room sofa. He withheld the humour he found in his inner musings when he recalled the earlier Jim, to ask after Jamie’s missus, Kate.

Jamie told him that she was doing good, busy with work, but enjoying it all the same. He also mentioned that they were actually thinking about moving in together too, which Matty found surprising but was all for, having been witness to the couple and their love for one another over the last couple of months. They were proper great together, anyone could see it.

And since his and Jamie's big bust up- something Matty had deemed it, even though it had been anything but- during your sister and Hann’s wedding, the two of them had sort of bonded. 

Don’t get him wrong, it had been tense and they’d started out on an awkward-footing, seeing as Jamie was practically more your brother than cousin, as well as the defensive type, but they’d gotten there in the end.

Matty had quickly learned that if he wanted to be with you, then he’d have to get used to Jamie always hanging about too. The pair of you were somewhat of an odd duo. But he found you both entertaining all the same.

“Alright, can I have my boyfriend back now?” Echoed your voice from somewhere off to the side, and then there was a bit of a scuffle before your accomplished grin flashed across his screen. “Hi.” You greeted, somewhat out of breath. Matty merely quirked a brow.

“You alright there, darling?”

“Oh, yeah. Brilliant, thanks.” You panted faintly, waving him off casually before you moved to raise the phone above your head. 

Matty full out cackled then at the sight you’d gifted him, because of course you’d be the one to somehow manage to get the upper hand over your giant of a cousin, only to then sit proudly on his back whilst his face pressed into the cold wooden floor. 

“Fucking class!” Matty laughed and he could actually feel the skin around his eyes tightening at just how hard he was smiling. “Comfy there, Jim?” He couldn’t help but taunt, smiling as the man's reddened face came into view.

“Grand, mate. Cheers.” Jamie huffed in retort, lifting an arm vaguely in the direction of the camera to give him a thumbs up. 

Matty shook his head as the duo continued to bicker, comforted by the fact that it was only hours before he got to see you again, properly this time. 

--

Taglist: @real-actual-human-person @wurldisavampire @partoftheairforce @kurdtbean @indierockgirrl

Check out my other works here

[mykuup]

𝕿𝖆𝖓𝖌𝖑𝖊𝖉 𝖎𝖓 𝕲𝖔𝖉'𝖘 𝖉𝖊𝖘𝖎𝖗𝖊𝖘

back to navigation here

My Masterlist

Summary : Four dark figures chose you for their full-moon ritual.

wc : 2.5k

Warnings : SMUT // porn without plot // dub con // cnc // bondage // mention and use of tentacle // creampie // kinda monster fucking // kinda religion kink-play? // unprotected piv (wrap it irl guys) // size diference // voyeurism // no mention of y/n // afab reader but no skin color or body description (Reader only have pussy and boobs)

A/n : This is my little gift for Halloween. I know it's not scary or anything but I wanted to share something for this special day!

I discovered this band a few months ago and I'm OBSSESSED to say the least. The lore is incredible and their songs are just amazing!!

Thank you @saphirmoraitie for the beta reading 💜

(The end of 'Of bone and bloom' will get posted soon btw 🤭)

You're out of breath. For the last few minutes, you've been running, plunging deeper into the woods, reaching its darkest depths. You can’t even remember how it began—all you know is that you’re being chased. From a distance behind you, you hear the crunching of leaves under multiple pairs of feet. The full moon hangs above, and the air is chilly, a thin fog blurring your vision and obscuring what lies ahead. Trying to catch a glimpse of what's pursuing you, you stumble over a large tree root. You trip and hit your head hard as you fall to the ground. The impact leaves you dizzy, pain pounding in your skull. As you struggle to rise, the footsteps stop just in front of you. The fog seems to thicken, and all you can make out are four dark silhouettes. "Pl-please," you murmur before everything goes black.

A strong scent of candle wax and burned flowers fills your nose, stirring you from unconsciousness. Your head still throbs, and as you reach up to soothe the pain, your eyes fly open.

You can’t move.

Your wrists and ankles are bound. Beneath you, a hard, cold surface presses against your back each time you try to break free. You take a deep breath. You need to calm yourself to think clearly. As you glance around, you realize you’re indoors; the forest now feels like a distant memory. The room you’re in looks like an ancient church, but unlike any you’ve ever seen. Unrecognizable sigils are painted all over the walls, and the candles appear to float in midair. Maybe you’re dreaming? It’s a strange dream, not quite a nightmare, because despite being tied up, there’s no immediate threat.

At least, not yet.

A tall silhouette approaches slowly, stopping just at the edge of the candlelight’s shadow, keeping itself partly hidden. And for the first time, you hear a voice. It was deep and low, sending chills down your spine. “Let’s see if she’s worthy.” Across the room, three other silhouettes approach you, none as tall as the one who spoke. And that’s when you feel that something seems off. They climb a few steps and surround you, towering over you as you are still lying down, not able to get away from your restraints. “Please, let me go.”, you plead, but you’re quickly muffled, you feel a hand over your mouth, pushing your head back against the cold surface. It felt human even though you realized it was covered in black ink.

Several other hands start to roam over your whole body, exploring and slowly detailing every inch of you. First, it was your hands and fingers, and then they crawled to your shoulders, leaving goosebumps on your arms as they brushed your skin. Another pair of hands was exploring your now bare feet, crawling up between your legs and thighs. You feel overwhelmed by all the attention your body is getting at this moment. You've never been touched like that, yet you still feel trapped, scared of what could happen in this abandoned house.

The tall figure finally steps closer, positioning itself beside you to get a better view. You couldn’t see its face as it was halfway hidden by a mask. All you could see was a mouth covered in black ink and bright white teeth. When you take a look at the others, they all were wearing masks. All different, and covering their whole faces. You could only see their eyes. It looked human yet you still weren’t a hundred percent sure.

"Her body is burning," one of them murmurs to the taller figure, who nods silently, a wide grin cutting across his jaw. It may have been a silent order as the three figures around you begin to undress you, tearing your shirt and unzipping your jeans. And then, they become more invasive, forcing you to open your mouth so they can slip two fingers inside, running it around your lips, and teeth, pulling on your tongue to feel its warm wetness.

You gasp when you feel the remnants of your shirt being yanked off your body and your pants being pulled out entirely. The stone surface beneath you is freezing, a sharp difference with the heat radiating from your body. You’re in shock as tons of feelings are storming in your head, and your breath shortens as fear invades your mind. Your heart is beating fast as you desperately try to free yourself.

But in vain.

The three pairs of hands pin you down, holding you firmly in place. They each, put a hand on your now bare skin, letting a trail of dark ink in their wake. One hand caresses the space between your breasts, while the others grip and knead, thumbs tracing slow circles over your nipples. You feel a heatwave go through your entire being, your little bud of flesh rock hard under their touch.

You should get scared, you should fight back but something in the way they touch you, and the intoxicating fragrance of the candles pulls a soft moan from your lips, escaping against your will.

Hearing the sweet sound you just made, the taller figure puts his big spidery hands around your throat, squeezing slightly. You gasped as you still had two fingers down your throat pumping in and out slowly, saliva drooling at the corner of your lips. Then, his hand trailed up to your forehead where you were hurted, gently caressing your wound, the ink covering his body mixing with dried blood. “Sleep will heal that. You’re too beautiful to wear bruises.” His voice was a low growl. He seemed satisfied with how you were responding to them all. “Let her breathe, II”, he adds and the smallest masked figure took his fingers out of your mouth, smudging some black ink by wiping off your saliva. “Blessed Vessel for bringing you there”,II whispers as he and the others slowly release their grip, their hands leaving your skin.

Sleep? Two? Vessel? What was all that? None of it made sense, and you weren’t sure you wanted to understand. As if reading your mind, the one called "Vessel" speaks again. “Don’t worry, sweet thing,” he walks around you to be close to your feet. “You are the prettiest offering that ever laid on this altar.” 

The three other figures bow in front of Vessel, whispering that they were all envious about what would happen before returning to the shadows.

The masked figure in front of you suddenly seemed even darker. You could now see his black-inked torso, the line of his thin abs almost shimmering with a dark glimmer. The room starts to hum, the air buzzing around you. The air, crisp and cold before, was now warm and humid. Thick black ink was slowly dripping from the church roof, levitating in the atmosphere and reaching the altar. Vessel raises his arms to reach for it and in the blink of an eye, the gooey texture formed several tailed and tentacles coming from behind him. He smiles and cuts off all your restraints, pulling you close to him at the end of the altar.

You watched in awe, how the dark figure who looked human before, was now transformed into something else. It was like he mutated into a kind of entity, an ancient deity, dark and forgotten. The tentacles, cold and slippery crawled over your body like snakes. It almost felt like tongues licking every inch of your skin. Two encircled your ankles to pull your thighs apart and the apparent god in front of you smiled. A devilish grin shows his sharp white teeth as he licks his lips at the view before him. You were full on display, your skin all flushed, a thin coat of sweat making your body shimmer under the candlelight. Your pussy dripping wet as you involuntarily started to get aroused by the whole situation.

“Let the ritual begin”, Vessel announced as he raised his head, looking at the levitating black thing. You didn’t know what it was supposed to be and you don’t even understand what was happening since you woke up on this altar. But all of this was beyond your human imagination and consciousness. Though it looked like a sacrifice of some kind. Before you could ask a question, two big dark hands landed on your thighs, keeping them apart. You gasped in surprise and your eyes went wide when you saw Vessel coming down on his knees. The tails around your ankles forced you to put your legs on his shoulders and you could hear him breathing you in. “Sleep will be so satisfied. It will now be your only purpose, until the end of times.” You jolt when Vessel’s tongue lapped a fat strip of your folds. He hums, savoring your taste and scent, sending vibrations through your whole body. You shiver and squirm under his touch, your back already arching to chase the pleasure. Vessel chuckles at your eagerness and while he dives back into your pussy, three other tentacles crawled to your body. Two stops at your breasts, kneading them and circling your nipples again while the last one slowly coils up around your neck to reach your lips. It tightens around your throat, forcing you to open your mouth for oxygen. But the tentacle makes its way between your plush lips, playing with your tongue.

Again, you felt overwhelmed and your first orgasm arrived quickly, the sweet sensation like a huge wave. “Oh my god, please I- I’m gonna cum god please!” You were a mess, desperate to finally get your release, but Vessel stopped right before you could actually let go. “I am your only God now.” His voice was different from before. It was now a deep, low whisper like someone—something—else was talking. Suddenly, Vessel’s body was towering over you as he kneeled on the altar, his hand splayed on the stone on both sides of your head. The tentacles let go of your ankles, neck, and mouth but you were still trapped under him, his hips between your still parted legs.

You wanted to say something, you wanted to beg, but for what?

You were frustrated your orgasm was denied but you also were still lying there, being a part of a strange ritual for an unknown force. You tried to guess some answers in Vessel’s eyes but all you could see was his dark wide grin and his white and red mask with three pairs of black eye sockets. “You were made for me. Now swallow me whole.” A thick and long appendice forces its way into your tight pussy, stretching you as it slipped in one go. You scream, not really sure if it is because of the pain or the hint of pleasure you finally start to feel again. It was buried so deep inside of you it was hitting behind your navel. You realized it was Vessel’s cock when he started to circle his hips slowly and that the tentacles encircled your wrists above your head. He pulled off almost entirely before diving back. “You’re so worthy.” Again, he starts to piston into you slowly, repeating himself every time he dives in. “You’re so worthy.”

His movement became faster as he buried himself even deeper, making you moan and gasp. Your mind was empty and you were lost in the pleasure Vessel was offering you. His teeth were grazing the skin of your neck and you could feel his hot breath as he whispered. “Beg for me. Show me you’re worthy.” And without hesitation, you plead. ‘Please, please I need to cum.” But the deity wasn’t satisfied.

Vessel speaks again, Sleep’s voice reaching your ears. “Praise me and I’ll offer you what you want.” It was an order, not an asking. But you weren’t really yourself anymore. You were drunk by the fragrance of the burned flowers invading your mind, and without a second-guess, you begged again. “You’re so good to me, I promise I’ll be good to you too.” you moan as one of Vessel’s hands lands on your throat, squeezing tightly. “You can take everything, I’m yours. Forever and always.”

You could have begged even more at this point because of how much you were influenced by your surroundings. But you didn’t need to. The deity’s pleased enough with your prayer and promise.

The entire room buzzes and a whirlwind blew off all the candles around you both. The church was dark for a second before the sigils on the walls you noticed before started to glow. When you looked at Vessel again, the sigil on his mask was gleaming too, his hands and tentacles tightening his grip on you as he pumped into you faster and faster. “Cum for us.” He demands and there was the strongest orgasm you ever had. It hits you like a tsunami wave, that —oh so intoxicating—white hot burning feeling rising from the depth of your belly. You cry as it snaps, your pussy clenching around his length, your release drenching the altar. Vessel didn’t stop, the overstimulation making your body shake and your legs squeezing his waist. “You’re ours now.” He growls in your ear before his cock twitches in your abused pussy, hot ropes of cum painting your inner velvety walls. At this moment you felt full.

Full of him, full of a new force, full of love.

Your pussy was still pulsing around him, and Vessel relaxes his body as he lands on you, letting his weight press over your form. Your scent and heat were mixing together as you felt your eyelids grow heavy. Vessel murmured something to you but your mind was already wandering, your soul far away from your body. 

You groan as you wake up, feeling like you overslept. Your body is sore, but when you try to remember what you did last night, your mind is foggy. Did you fall somewhere, somehow? You’re pretty sure your forehead was bruised.

You sigh, exhausted, looking at your alarm clock. It’s still the middle of the night. You decide to wash your face and drink water to clear your mind, but fragments of memories flash before your eyes as you stumble into the bathroom. A low hum buzzes in your ears like a distant whispering voice. “Worship me now, until the end of time.”

Shaking your head, you pinch the bridge of your nose, trying to shake off the strange sensation and fragments of memories. Everything is blurry, clinging to your mind and skin in an uneasy sensation.

As you stand in front of the sink for water, you dare to look up at the mirror, and your eyes widen in fear. There’s no wound left on your forehead, even though you remember falling last night.

All you can see is the soft glow of the sigil engraved on your sternum.

[griefpersevering]

ch14 of runaways running the night, my spideypool retelling of Deadpool & Wolverine, is out!! read on for a snippet of Wade and Peter sharing a bed <33

Falling asleep hasn't been easy for Peter since... forever. Even with Wade's promise of fighting off his nightmares.

His heart thuds dully in his chest. His confession lightened the load he's carried daily for months, but hasn't eased his conscience entirely. He should've done that a long time ago, but who would he have told? There's no one left to care about his sob story.

Frank lends him some clothes and Peter slides into bed next to Wade.

In the diner, a table separated their makeshift beds. This morning, he didn't even know they shared a bed until Wade was already out of it. Right now, he's aware of each deafening breath and every miniscule shift.

Wade's warmth seeps through the thin space between them and into his aching muscles. "Relax," he says, his low voice rumbling through the springs of the mattress and down Peter's spine.

How is he supposed to relax? Besides sharing a bed with a stupidly muscly mercenary who he killed this morning, his heart picks up every time he even thinks about the fight tomorrow.

Peter signed up to die on the job a long time ago, and he knows Wade will survive. But what about Kamala? Did she leave the house one day to fight crime and never come home? Have her parents spent the past few months tearing through her room, searching for clues about her whereabouts in fanart and homework?

And Frank — consigned to being the only survivor of his family in every other universe, and ripped from them in the one where he might find happiness.

Jess has a business to run and crimes to solve, and Logan has fights to win and whisky to drink. The TVA stole them all away from their lives because of laws they don't even abide by anymore.

Peter scratches his nose under the mask and the sound grates on every nerve in his body.

"The anxiety is radiating from you in waves," Wade says. "It's like being trapped in Hell's microwave. I can sleep on the floor, if you—"

"No," Peter interrupts.

Wade rolls over to face him. "Then chill the fuck out, baby boy."

He's right. He should sleep so he's well-rested for the battle tomorrow. Actually, how much time does he have before dawn? How much sleep has he wasted stressing about things he can't control?

Wade sighs and shuffles closer, sliding his arm under Peter's head and rearranging him until he's using Wade's chest as a pillow. He's so warm, and so much softer outside of the Deadpool suit. His scarred fingertips tickle as he rubs circles into Peter's shoulder, and he shivers as Wade whispers, "Is this okay?"

"Yep," Peter squeaks, an octave higher than usual.

Wade's chuckle reverberates through Peter's empty chest. He relaxes into the embrace limb by limb, matching his breaths to the gentle rise and fall of Wade's chest.

They sink together, and for the first time in years, there's someone anchoring Peter to the present.

Continue reading on AO3!!

[just-a-floofy-catt]

THE LAST DRABBLE FOR NOW

Thank

Fucking

God

XD

This ones another barely coherent bullet point one lol

Its based completely around the song "Rises the moon" and its lyrics :)

• The dca bois in their recovery after the virus incident in sb :(

• Like, imagine a fic where you have to help them get better/back to normal after all that trauma

• Sun is still super paranoid and has a breakdown or panic attack at even the insinuation of the lights going out

• You have to slowly get him used to it and try to chill him out

• He feels really bad for not trusting Moon, since he missed him so much after all. But he just cant help it, and ends up overworking himself and trying to stay in control as long as possible and give as little chances as he can for Moon to come out.

• So then he has warring fear and guilt eating away at him

• On the other side of this, Moon is doing a hell of alot of reflecting

• He feels absolutely awful about what has happened, despite how much others try to tell him it isnt his fault and that hes also a victim in the situation

• He becomes incredibly distant and lost in his own wallowing, avoiding literally everyone and isolating himself out of fear of hurting someone

• Just imagine a super soft scene where after a month of trying to get Moon to just properly talk to them, YN ends up catching him sat alone in the dark with only the faint glow in the dark elements in the daycare illuminating him on the balcony. Hes literally just sat there, just staring sadly at the fake stars along the ceiling.

• YN approaches him carefully and he doesnt even notice

• They sit on the edge of the ballpit, looking up at him in silence

• He finally notices them and startles

• Random note - (Metaphor in the song of how every day with sun feels different, due to both his erratic behaviour and him actually slowly improving over time, but every night is always the same with moon refusing to open up to you)

• He just waits and stares at them suspiciously

• (This isnt their usual shift. They werent supposed to be in today and theyre a later than usual too.)

• (They asked if they could go in, because they felt like they just couldnt give up on Moon and made a spur of the moment impulsive decision before going to bed that they would go and see if catching him later would help at all or make a difference. They were desperate for just anything at all to work)

• They didnt really plan this, so not only do they not know what to do or say, but their lack of sleep means theyre tired af

• After a few moments of just silent staring, they start to droop a bit, and yawn, laying their head on their knees, just waiting for any reaction at all from him.

• Theres just complete stillness between the two, and YNs body seems to give into Moon’s stubbornness, dozing slightly and causing them to fall asleep

• Moon softens slightly, programming kicking in at seeing them so tired

• He hesitates, waiting a little longer, then goes down to them

• He cautiously approaches them, then reaches down to pet their head

• They shift slightly and he smiles

• His fear of accidentally hurting someone, or suddenly becoming a monster still holds him in its grip, making him rather scared when gently lifting them into his arms

• He goes back up to the balcony, heading for his room

• He jumps slightly as they suddenly grasp onto him

• "I promise things can get better, Moon... it will soon"   "i trust you."

• Moon is shocked and emotional from their sleepily-murmured words, suddenly having the realization that- yes. He does want that to happen. He does miss being with the childern. He misses being with Sunny. He misses being happy.

• He settles down into a pile of pillows and holds YN close, protective, as they sleep.

• Moon then agrees to working with YN and they slowly start his road to recovery

• Just YN helping a very nervous Moon to get his confidence back :)

• Meanwhile though, as this progresses, whilst Sun has pretty much eradicated his issue, he gains a new one. Dealing with the daycare kids all without Moon again is really taking its toll on him again, and not only does he desperately need the help, but he also really misses Moon

• Having him so close but just out of reach was destroying him over time. He knew he needed to be patient. Every time he asked you when he could properly talk to his Moonie again, thats what you always said. That moon needed more time to get better. And he understood that, but that didnt make it any less hard

• Eventually, theyre reunited

• Just

• Omg

• Imagine how FUCKING ADORABLE THAT SCENE WOULD BE

• I WOULD CRY

• Reading or writing it, i would S O B

• They finally have eachother back to take refuge in once again, and they owe it all to YN

• Cue the 3 of yall just being really sweet and all

[heimdallwatchesyou]

Word Finding Tag Game

@celticrune tagged me on this, thankyooo <3 The words were: Blood, Hand, Gaze. I haven't written too much lately so most of these are pretty old x'D I also probably haven't published none of this 'cause all I have is unfinished wips so \shrug BLOOD (Angi / canon-ish) The knife cuts right through his ribs like butter and it doesn't even hurt. Some part of him knows it shouldn't be this easy, but he'd stopped trying to make sense of it years ago. Blood flows freely from the wound on his chest and drips on the floor, and when his hand falters again the witch simply pushes it further and he feels it sinking into his frantic heart, spluttering a bloody cough.

It's too late for panic to rise but it still does, it always does, and he clings to the pale wrist holding the knife with eyes shut and a silent plea - but she twists the blade inside him and he can only cry and cough. 

"my brave boy," he hears. A thousand whispers coming from nowhere, and he’s not sure the voice he hears is Aurélie’s or the grandmother’s. "just a little more." 

The knife slides further into his chest and it hurts, but what comes out of his mouth is just a strained cry, a gurgling noise as his throat fills up with blood and he coughs. The world blurs for a moment, the whispers and echoes stronger, louder, the grandmother's voice telling him the pain is only temporary and he takes it so so well he's doing great he's going to be just fine.

HAND (Angi/Pietr - Mafia??? kinda??? AU)

There’s a chill breeze in the air as they stroll down the street. Maybe this is why Pietr’s walking so close to him, and maybe this is why Angi doesn’t care. He pulls his hoodie further onto his forehead and tells himself he’s not hiding when he burrows his hands in his pockets. It’s just fucking cold, that’s all. 

No one’s following them. No one knows he’s even left his apartment. No one expects him to be in this part of the city. They’re safe. 

That’s the mantra he keeps repeating to himself as they walk past empty cars, empty stores. The urge to recoil, turn on his heels and leave everytime they pass by a group of people is almost too strong to ignore, but he manages it -- and with it, ends up huddling closer to Pietr’s much larger frame.  They notice it, of course. They always do. Angi catches them looking at him more than once, and everytime he pretends not to see it. He’s not sure he can handle their worry right now. If Pietr asked anything, he'd probably just spill out the whole truth about himself, about what he does and who he works for, then Pietr would (rightfully) hate his guts. His stomach lurches just by thinking of this possibility. He’d rather have his members flayed one by one than have Pietr looking at him with disgust. He can’t have that. Nope.

GAZE (Aurélie - I have no idea where this is from~)

Beautiful, sweet Elodie; her round cheeks and auburn hair a fresh sight in a world of black veils and gold crucifixes. Her hazelnut eyes met her own once, after the communion, and then never left. She could feel the corners of her lips twisting into a smile and her heart leaping inside her chest at the mere thought of Elodie, her gaze always searching for hers. Sunday became her favorite day, because it was the day she could see Elodie, she could hear Elodie, she could imagine how it would feel to run her fingers through Elodie's hair.

One day, both of them managed to sneak outside and met at the back of the church, hidden from curious eyes and protected from the rain. Aurélie had been feeling brave, so she showed Elodie a trick she'd learned, something simple: she made leaves grow on Elodie's hair, small ones, bigger ones, and the boisterous kiss she received in return was worth every tear she'd ever shed. This kept going for a few months: they would escape when their mothers were distracted and meet at the same spot; they would kiss and hold each other close and share whispered secrets. Elodie would call Aurélie her little witch and kiss her cheeks and hands, Aurélie would bring Elodie dead flowers and curious insects she'd found. Everytime their lips touched, Aurélie would feel the electricity on her skin, that hunger for more, more, more. Tagging @triquizzies (yep! one more tag for you) and @teaandbatteries (and honestly anyone else from my mutuals who want to do this!). Words are: Soft, Heart and Eyes.