#it’s rivers but I went to grab the River picture and it’s different and I was just baffled like I am so convinced | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

uzumaki-rebellion · 1 month ago

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Lick Back 2 (Part 2) by Uzumaki Rebellion

Pairing: Terry Richmond x Black Female OC

Warning(s): 18+, Explicit Sex, Angst, Domestic Drama, Unprotected Sex, Breeding Kink, Violence, AITA!Terry Richmond.

Summary: Terry Richmond didn't expect to become a father over night. A surprising photo in the mail reveals that an illicit affair he had with a married woman eleven months ago resulted in a baby girl named after him. Ecstatic to be a new dad, he races to South Carolina to reunite with Nova, and bring their new family to Louisiana for Christmas. Unfortunately, Nova's estranged husband Jordan has different plans.

Word count: 14.5K

Read Lick Back (The Beginning) HERE.

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"Like sweet morning dew

I took one look at you

And it was plain to see

You were my destiny

With you I'll spend my time

I'll dedicate my life

I'll sacrifice for you

Dedicate my life for you"

Method Man & Mary J. Blige—"All I Need"

Terry went into battle mode, thinking as a soldier doing an extraction.

The retreat stayed hidden within a vast area of forest, swampland, and the black river. He pulled over near a grouping of trees to hide his truck. According to his mapping calculations, the treehouse encampment was ahead of him, but he didn't want the noise of his truck to alert Jordan of his presence. He'd gone off-roading to enter the grounds since the main entrance was closed. Digging into one of his travel bags, he donned a black jacket to blend into the darkness. His black jeans aided the camouflage. Grabbing a small military tactical flashlight with various light settings, he chose night vision green to help him see and blend in without the brightness of the white flashes alerting Jordan. Slinging a small pair of sportsman's binoculars around his neck, he set off into the forest.

The potent scent of river water compelled him to move faster. He was in the correct geographical location. He turned on Nova's phone and placed it in quiet mode. The Airtag signal was good for one hundred feet, and the cell signal flitted in and out. Moving in stealth, he followed the river and scouted for treehouses. He couldn't find Terrina's signal. Touching the screen, he switched over to Van-Van's…there. A bright white arrow pointed to his left on a black screen. One hundred feet away. About six car lengths. The signal dropped, but he felt confident about finding them.

Keeping close to the trees, he found the dark sedan that ran down his truck partially hidden under a dark tarp. He turned off Nova's phone and stuffed it in his back pocket. Ahead, a shadowy structure loomed. Using the binocs, he confirmed the ground-level structure was empty. The building appeared to be used as an information kiosk. He read the name of the retreat all over the walls and found a wall map of all the treehouses available. There were ten in a half-moon pattern. Nella said they used the ones closest to the river and there were four shown. He snapped a picture of the map for reference and traveled on, using Nova's phone app as his guide.

Bingo!

Van-Van's Airtag pinpointed the exact spot.

In the darkness, a pale yellow light glowed high in the canopy of an oak tree further away. The treehouse stood on stilts that raised it up high so that tall, slender trees surrounded it. Brightly shining white Christmas lights hung on several trees. They prevented Terry from sneaking up the narrow steps to the housing platform without being seen.

Creeping quietly toward the structure, he climbed a tree and roosted in its canopy to look inside a picture window using the binocs. He made out two figures. Jordan pacing frantically waving a weapon, and Nova seated facing him. Exhaling a sigh of relief, he planned his next move.

He could wait until Jordan fell asleep, but that might not happen if he was hopped up on meth. The longer Nova stayed with him, the more chances the man might amp up toward violence against her. Storming in to surprise him could put Nova and the children in harm's way if he started shooting.

He needed to lure Jordan out.

Terry ran back a great distance to the covered sedan and smacked the driver's side door handle. The alarm screeched with a high-pitched series of annoying sounds. The car was too low to the ground for Terry to crawl under for a surprise attack. He hid behind a tree and waited for Jordan instead.

Sure as shit, Jordan arrived to check on the car and made sure there were no other campers showing up. He moved with caution, holding his gun out, ready to pop off rounds.

Although Jordan was a trained soldier, he was also an addict, so his warped mind might not have been too sharp. Terry hoped that was so. He lifted a medium-sized rock and threw it far past the river. It made a loud thunk about eighty yards away. Jordan slowly went to investigate the sound and waved his gun in every direction.

Terry waited until he was out of sight before he hastened to get into the treehouse. Jordan had switched all the lights off. He ran up the narrow, rickety stairs and burst into the dwelling.

Van-Van sat on a pallet next to Terrina's car seat. His baby slept quietly in it. Jordan had tied Nova to a chair with her arms behind her back. He jammed a sock in her mouth to keep her quiet. Terry held a finger to his lips for Van-Van to stay silent.

Pulling the sock from Nova's mouth, he worked on untying the rope. She whimpered in relief with tears pricking her eyes.

"How did you find us?" she whispered.

"The Airtags you put on the children. I found your phone and Nella showed me the tracking app."

"He's crazy, Terry."

"Listen to me, I want you to get Van-Van and we're going to escape in the trees to find my truck. I'm right behind you with the baby. Head west…that's straight past the fire pits outside."

She nodded and moved to grab her son the moment he freed her. He handed back her smartphone, and she dashed out of the treehouse carrying Van-Van down the stairs. Terry lifted his sleeping daughter in her car seat and hoped she wouldn't wake up.

He ran down six steps and Jordan glared at him from the bottom step with the barrel of the gun pointed at him. Terry exhaled a breath, gripping the handle of his baby girl's car seat tighter. He looked around for Nova and Van-Van.

"Don't worry about those two. This is about you," Jordan said.

Terry stared at him.

"Put her back inside," Jordan ordered.

"Jordan—"

BANG!

A bullet ripped through the step below Terry's feet.

"Put the fucking baby back inside the house," Jordan yelled, while slowly slithering up the steps.

"Alright…alright…stay calm."

Terry turned around and set Terrina's car seat in the doorway. A rustling in the forest distracted Jordan, and Terry grabbed his wrist and twisted it. Jordan's close quarter combat skills were still sharp, and he used a quick countermove that Terry trained him on to aim the gun under Terry's throat. He shot a round, but Terry had already deflected the weapon, and the bullet shot up into the night sky. They tussled and Terry tried to get his footing anchored on the steps to prevent a gunshot from striking his child. Both men crashed through the rotted railing of the stairs and landed with a hard thud on the crunchy fall leaves below in a fifteen foot freefall.

Terry blacked out for a minute.

He came to and noticed the shine of a rising moon and the faint twinkle of stars appearing in the sky. He groaned and rolled over, shaking his head. Nothing felt broken, but his side was going to hurt later. He glanced at the top of the stairs.

No car seat.

Jumping up, he caught the fading sound of running feet and he chased it down. Adrenaline took over, and he pushed away any fear he had for his daughter. He had to stay focused on catching Jordan. Fear would kill his mind and prevent him from thinking rationally in his pursuit.

He heard a splash and sprinted full force toward the sound.

Jordan stood at the edge of the river, looking down into the dark, swirling waters.

Terrina's car seat floated upside down in the frigid water, and her little blanket snagged on a large jagged rock that jutted out before being swept away by the fast-moving current.

"What did you do, Jordan? What did you fucking do!?"

Terry splashed into the freezing water waist-deep and grabbed the car seat. No Terrina.

"Now you and Nova have no connection anymore," Jordan said in the coldest, most frightening tone Terry had ever heard in his life.

"Noooo!" Terry screamed.

He charged further into the water.

"Terrina! Terrina!" he screamed.

His heart rose into his throat and he tripped over slippery rocks, hitting his hand in the icy river, searching for his baby. He pulled out his flashlight and put it on bright white, aiming it downriver.

She was gone.

A splintery, raw rage surged out of him, and he flew at Jordan, slamming him to the ground. He punched him over and over, breaking his nose and fracturing his cheekbone. His knuckles split open and bled, mingling with the bloody horror he made of Jordon's face.

"She was just a baby, you fucking murderer! You could've just killed me…you should've killed me, you fucking bastard!"

Moonlight illuminated Jordan's hateful face. Blood covered his teeth like shadowy black paint. He spit one out that Terry knocked loose.

"Now you know what it feels like to lose everything, T. How does it feel, nigga? How does it feel to have everything you love taken from you?"

"You never loved Nova!"

"You stole her from me…now I stole something from you. We can both be in hell together."

Jordan pulled out the gun and Terry snatched it from him, aiming the nozzle at the center of his forehead. The evil sneer on Jordon's face transformed into the hopeless countenance of a man who had nothing to live for anymore, and Terry didn't care. A life for a life.

The piercing wail of a frightened baby stopped Terry from squeezing the trigger. The cries came from behind a nearby tree. He emptied all the bullets from Jordan's weapon onto the ground and tossed the gun into a bush. Stumbling and feeling nauseous, Terry searched for his daughter.

He found Terrina lying at the foot of a live oak. Her tiny limbs squirmed in the cold and Terry lifted her in his arms. He unzipped his jacket and placed her against the warmth of his chest. Her hair and body were damp and smelled of river water.

"I got you baby girl, daddy's here…oh, I know… that wicked man scared you so much…"

Terry wept, the relief washing over him as he held his baby. Had she not been alive, he would've killed Jordan and thrown his body into the river.

"Terry! Terry!"

Nova's voice broke over the sound of Terrina's whimpers.

She wasn't alone. Nella, Titus and Michelle were with her, along with two police officers.

Nova grabbed a hold of him and he gave her the baby, pulling off his jacket to wrap around her.

"We gotta get her warmed up," he said.

He showed the officers where Jordan was located, and they lifted him up, pulling him away. A distressed Michelle followed them with Titus.

"I had to call them after you left, Terry," Nella said.

She patted his back and hugged Nova. They all walked back to his truck. Two police cruisers awaited them. After handcuffing Jordan, the officers put him in the back of a cruiser and questioned Terry.

He tried to answer, but his eyes stayed on Nova. She held their little one in the passenger seat of his truck. Van-Van peered at him from the back window, safely buckled into his car seat. Terrina's head rested on Nova's neck, her eyes closed in a safe slumber, wrapped in a warm blanket.

He told the police where to find Jordan's gun. There would still be traces of Nella's blood on it. Terry took one last look at Jordan. The man rested his bruised and bloodied face against the window of the cop car and stared at Nova and Terrina. He would do some serious prison time. Assault and kidnapping charges loomed over his head.

Van-Van and Terrina would probably be grown adults by the time he ever got out.

It took a week of police statement interviews and the coming together of the Pattersons and Eastons rallying around Nova that finally freed them from that terrible night on the Edisto River. Jordan didn't fight the charges, but because of South Carolina law, Nova would have to fly back to Charleston and testify, anyway. That court case was a long way off. When asked why he took Nova to the treehouse, Jordan told his parents that it was the place where he and Nova had shared fond memories in the past. It was where they fell in love as teenagers and he longed to bring her back to that time and away from Terry.

One thing bothered Terry, though.

During his interrogation, Jordan admitted to tossing Terrina in the water strapped to her car seat out of anger and jealousy. But he didn't remember pulling her out and placing her by the tree. His public defender had the confession stricken from the record since Terry found the baby unharmed under the oak tree. Perhaps Jordan's rational mind fought against the nefarious intentions and saved the baby from certain death. Either way, Jordan's lawyer could use it as part of his defense. The meth made him hallucinate…or something of that nature.

The Walker clan treated Terry like a hero. Even the old lady trio from the couch wept their thanks for saving Nova and the babies, hugging him and slipping peppermint candies into his hand from their purses. Brielle and Nella preened, feeling good that their niece was in excellent hands with him.

Uncle Pete came down from his lofty, hypocritical heights and shook Terry's hand at a family dinner to see them off finally. When Terry took some time to look at the blue bottle tree, Mawmaw walked outside with him without her walker. She had replaced the two broken glass bottles with new, clear ones.

"Dis bottle tree, Terry…been standing since 1943. My daddy put it up to replace the one him mama put up after the flood of 1908…my own Mawmaw. Not one time has a bottle fell down and broke…not 'til dat day Jordan grab my grandbaby and her chirren. Signs and wonders are real, una hear me?"

"I do."

"My great-grandbaby came in my house smellin' like black water. Dat man threw her in. But somethin' else brought her back out."

"The cymbee?" he said, wearing a half smile on his face.

"Not s'posed to say they name out loud," she said, with a sly grin.

She patted his arm.

"Una no longer a comeya…una beenya now. One of my people here."

"Thank you," he said.

He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Had the original bottles broken to warn him of trouble? Did some captured spirit from long ago feel sorry for him and dared to burst free to get his attention? He easily could've walked into the house and thought everyone was out taking care of family business and slept through the ordeal. As for an African-rooted Gullah river spirit plucking Terrina out of dangerous waters…he didn't care if it happened or not. His daughter was alive and well.

Terry glanced over at Nova, sleeping in the passenger side of his truck. He'd driven for five hours after a pit stop to change Terrina's diaper and help Van-Van change his pull-ups. Glancing in the rearview, both children were fast asleep. Terrina's car seat had a giant satin red ribbon tied on it. They stopped at a Target and bought Van-Van a little red bowtie to wear for his debut. In thirty minutes, they would arrive at his parent's house, and his mother kept texting for ETA confirmation every fifteen minutes once he crossed over into Louisiana.

"Babe, we're here," he whispered, tapping Nova's thigh.

She opened her eyes and checked her face in the vanity mirror.

"I swear we were just at that gas station," she said.

"You were knocked out. Ready?"

"Yeah."

He drove the truck into the driveway. His father had moved their giant RV onto the street so he could keep the truck and U-Haul on their property. He barely switched off the engine before his parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins poured out of the house to greet them.

His mother was already crying again while his father waved and waited anxiously for them to get out of the truck.

"You take her," Nova said.

He climbed out of his seat and hugged his mother first, then his father. His family swarmed around Nova, showering her with hugs and kisses…so much love. Their embrace of her filled him with comfort. She looked so pretty. Back at their pit stop, she changed into a forest green empire waist dress. A white headband pushed back her hair because she didn't know what to do with it since it had grown out.

His mother held Nova's face and poured a ton of affection into her. He watched his true love lift Van-Van out first and his family spoiled him with compliments on his bowtie. While the family fussed over Van-Van, he slipped around the truck and pulled Terrina out.

Tonette held her hand over her mouth and cried again. Gordon stepped forward and admired his granddaughter.

"Look at that…will ya'll just look at that?" he kept saying.

Tonette touched the pretty red bow and then Nova helped him unfasten Terrina from the car seat.

"Here she is, Mrs. Richmond," Nova said.

"Call me Mama or Momo like my nieces and nephews, baby…oh, Lord…look what you brought into the world."

Tonette cradled Terrina and fawned over her.

"Look at my grandbaby, Janice!" Tonette said.

Terry's Aunt Janice grinned and touched Terrina's covered foot.

"Let's get them inside. It's chilly out here. Nova, honey, come on inside. Let Terry get your bags and stuff," Tonette said.

"I got the bags…Mike, Clint, y'all help me get their things," Gordon said.

Terry hugged his favorite cousin, Mike, and then unlocked the truck bed cover. They all made two trips and Gordon set them up in his old bedroom. The room hadn't changed since his college days. Big queen-sized bed. An old orange loveseat that once belonged to his maternal grandmother and faced his old flat screen TV. Their bags took up a lot of space, but his mother had set up his sister's old bedroom into a nursery for Van-Van and Terrina.

"You can put the portable crib over there, and Van-Van will get his own bed," Tonette enthused.

Nova and Terry stared at each other. They hadn't slept in a room alone together since the last time they made love and conceived Terrina. He noticed a flicker of excitement in Nova's eyes. Alone time in a bed with a house full of adults who were dying to look after Terrina and Van-Van? God was good. All the time.

Terrina became alert and anxious by all the attention from new family faces. Van-Van was the opposite. He thrived under the adoration.

Tonette guided Nova into the spacious livingroom. His maternal grandparents waited for them there.

"Sit, Nova, relax," Gordon said.

"Babe, these are my mother's parents… my grandfather Arneux LeBlanc and my grandmother Jessie-Belle," he said.

Arneux had slicked his hair back with heavily scented pomade for the occasion, the long silver waves reaching to his shoulders. Jessie-Belle twisted her graying brown hair into a stylish chignon. Nova stared into his grandmother's bright green eyes and smiled, recognizing Terrina's family heirloom in genetics.

"So happy to see you, Nova," Jessie-Belle said.

She gave Nova a hug, and Arneux did the same.

Nova didn't know what to do with herself. His family treated her like a queen. He told her that would happen. She wouldn't need to lift a finger and just take in the experience of meeting his family.

Tonette handed Terrina to her mother Jessie-Belle and the brand new great-grandmother cooed with Arneux over the tiny addition to their family. Jessie-Belle touched Terrina's earlobes.

"Oh, her color is going to come in nice and deep…Bear, she's going to be your pretty brown skin tone. Watch and see."

Jessie-Belle looked at Arneux—Bear—and grinned.

"Now who is this gorgeous little fellow right here?" Jessie-Belle said, looking at Van-Van.

"I'm Van-Van!"

"You're my new great-grandson."

Van-Van grinned while staring into Jessie-Belle's eyes. The boy reached for Terry's hand and held it.

"Come sit next to me, young man. Let me get a good look at you," Arneux said.

Van-Van touched his lips and looked up at Terry.

"Do you want to sit?" Terry asked him.

Van-Van nodded enthusiastically. Terry released his hand, and the boy streaked to Arneux like a rocket.

"Lookin' like his mama," Jessie-Belle said.

The relatives gently passed Terrina around for an hour, then Nova slipped away to his bedroom to feed her. Van-Van entertained everyone else with his chatter, and Terry's parents relished that time, beaming from head to toe. He chatted with Mike and seeing his cousin so animated made him happy. Mike had plans to stay with Terry's brother in New York and try his hand at a culinary school there.

Terry joined Nova in his room and closed the door. She sat on the loveseat and lowered the top of her dress. He watched her feed Terrina before ducking into the next room to put together her portable crib and set up the baby monitor. A peek at his watch revealed the time for Van-Van to nap. He wondered if his son could handle sleeping by himself in his new auntie's old room.

Son.

Terry grinned. Hadn't he always treated Van-Van like he was his own, even before he was born? There was no need to call him stepson or bonus child. The boy was now his. He earned the right to claim him as his own.

Sitting on his sister's bed, he wondered what he and Nova would tell Van-Van about his biological father. The boy didn't seem traumatized by the kidnapping. Perhaps it was because he knew Jordan. It wasn't some random stranger that grabbed them from the street.

"Terry…"

Nova's voice came through the baby monitor.

He went back to his room and lifted Terrina from her mother's arms and walked her into the new children's room. Putting the baby down and covering her with soft lavender blankets, Terry pondered his new life. He had everything a man could want. Maintaining that lucky gift reinforced the responsibility he had as a man to keep his ducks lined up in a row of stability. Nova needed that. The children needed that.

Nova walked into the room with Van-Van who rubbed his eyes. Terry helped take off the boy's shoes and pulled back the covers on the bed.

"I'll stay with him until he falls asleep," Nova said.

"You go rest in our room afterward, okay? I'll join you there in a bit," he said.

He headed back to the living room and caught up with his parents, who gushed over Nova and their children. They made plans to go to Yazoo for Thanksgiving so Terry's paternal grandparents could meet his family and then his siblings planned to return to Cypress Bend for Christmas. His mother insisted that he go take a nap from their long journey. He took a shower first.

The house already smelled like good food, and he knew dinner was going to be amazing, especially with his mother and aunties running the kitchen. Back in his room, Nova was already in the bed resting with the TV on.

"She was really hungry and fell asleep fast, huh?" Nova said.

"That means she'll be out for a few hours. How did Van-Van do?"

"I'm surprised. I thought he would whine about being left by himself, but he fell asleep as soon as he crawled in the bed. The trip and all the new people tired him out. I turned the monitor low."

He sat down on the loveseat and finished drying his hair with a fluffy towel.

"Gotta get this shit cut, starting to get long," he said.

He ran a hand over the waves that were curling. Nova climbed out of the bed and sat next to him. She had changed into a form-fitting T-shirt and sleeper shorts. Her soft fingers rubbed on his scalp, feeling his curls.

"I looked at your football pictures. Your hair was so cute longer," she said.

He glanced at the dresser with the photos on top.

"Yep, used to rock braids, a messy 'fro…all the styles."

He grinned and patted her thigh.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"I used to wish I could have a girl in my room when I lived here. I'm laughing because eighteen-year-old me would've given anything to have a fine ass woman on this old couch."

"Oh, yeah?"

She stroked the side of his neck and tendrils of pleasure cascaded down his throat.

"What would you have done back then?" she purred.

The shine of arousal danced provocatively in her eyes. He leaned over and kissed her…really kissed her. His tongued sought reciprocity, and she gave it, matching his energy. Their mouths watered with the joy of connecting romantically again. They spent six weeks raising babies and waiting on court matters cramped in a hotel room without any privacy. Now they had it. She sucked on his tongue slowly, lavishing his mouth with a tenderness he yearned for. His dick slowly plumped up. He pulled off his shirt and his sweatpants. She took off her shirt and shorts. They each took a moment to look at each other's bodies, marveling at the complementary nature of curves and hard muscles, soft heavy breasts, and solid thighs built for fat asses, with huge biceps ready to lift. He kissed her again without touching her, entwining their tongues and listening to the soft moans they released. His big, fluffy lips enveloped hers and she groaned his name.

He looked down at his dick. The firmness highlighted the girth, and his tip leaked pre-cum. Staring at her tits aroused him even more. Their weight and mass made his dick spit out more pre-cum. He couldn't stop staring at her areolas. Had they gotten bigger? Stretched wider because she was full of milk? He palmed one of them and Nova reached for his dick and slowly moved her hand up and down, just under the ridge.

Squeezing her tits after a long absence of doing so almost made him come unhinged. Those big ass titties belonged to him. Those thick thighs? His. That little pot belly from where Terrina stretched the skin and left faint tiger stripe marks on her mama? All his. The part at the apex of her thighs where he could see the pink of her pussy? Fuck yeah…all his. He licked his fingers and gently touched her vulva, lettings his digits brush across her clit. Nova hissed and her back pressed into the loveseat. He explored her labia carefully, enjoying the slippery feel of her arousal wetting his fingers. Her pubic hairs curled with the dampness she spewed and he finally touched the opening of her vagina.

He dropped to his knees and ran his lips down her vulva, giving it a sweet kiss of thanks. He continued kissing her vulva before parting her inner labia with his tongue. Staring at the entrance of what he considered holy, he worshipped that space. It gave him pleasure. Gave him a child. It comforted him long ago when they were forbidden lovers. They didn't have to hide their love anymore. He was hers forever, and as long as she would have him, he swore allegiance to her for the rest of his life and the life after that…and the life after that one.

Joining her back on the loveseat, he played with her breasts again and kissed her wanton lips. She stroked his dick, teasing the hardness and whispered how much she loved him into his shameless mouth. Lowering his head, he sucked on her tits, stretching his mouth around each breast, and groaning into the flesh as her skilled hand jerked him off to the point of Terry grunting her name into a stiff nipple.

He leaned back and used two fingers to tease her plump clit. Their mutual masturbation of each other side by side was the hottest thing to happen to him in a year. He'd remained celibate after Nova left him. Even porn bored him because there wasn't anything as exciting as the woman he loved stroking his dick. He wished they had made sexy vids of their lovemaking back then, but he couldn't take a chance of Jordan finding anything incriminating on Nova's phone.

"Fuck! Look at these big tits! Nova…baby…fuck…you know what you're doing to me…."

Her lips poked out with what he called her pleasure face. That shit always turned him on because it meant he was getting to her. She said his eyes and the dominating way he owned her body always got to her. When he added the deep baritone by talking her through sex…she became a limp noodle every time. He knew he was always intense during sex. All of his previous partners had told him that and it was why he never ran out of women to choose from before Nova.

They both listened to the slippery sounds coming from her labia and the entrance of her pussy. She shook her tits, and he watched them entice him further into the deep zone. His balls throbbed, and those breasts kept jiggling from her deliberate movement.

She was the best. Just the visual of her spread out like that on his loveseat sent his former teenaged self into a tizzy. He kept gently playing with her clit, never venturing to insert any fingers into her. That moment would be for another time. Right now, he was relearning his woman. Reclaiming his rightful place as her man giving her pleasure.

She smeared the new leaking of pre-cum all around his slit with her thumb and hit a super sensitive spot just under his frenulum that made him jump. He let out a whimper in a tone that was brand new to him. They both laughed at the sound, and he kissed her, delighted that there were new ways she could titillate and surprise him with her touch. Lips glued together, shoulders touching, arms outstretched toward the other, they traversed every contour, scouted fresh territory on their tingly skin, sparked sensuality by gazing at one another as their touching inflamed their desire for each other. She palmed his balls next. His sack nearly filled her hand. She squeezed, and the pressure shot a zinger of pleasure through his dick. He watched her tits and his lips parted, eyes narrowed…his dick needed to be inside of her, spilling into her again. His eyes tracked all over from her face to her breasts to her pussy. He gasped and moaned low in his throat, trying to control the surge ready to gush out. Her slick fingers rubbed all over the shiny knob of his tip and he jammed his heels into the carpet.

"I know you like that, huh, baby? Playing with this big dick in my hand?" she whispered.

She knew his weakness. Catering to his ego by talking to him about his prowess. He did have a big dick. Her hand could barely control it. So hot and heavy in her grasp.

"Can I sit on it later? I don't know if it'll all fit…last time, it barely did. Remember? I had to use so much lube…you stretched my pussy so wide…ooh baby…remember what you did to my pussy?"

His tip spilled out a sticky stream of clear fluid that dripped down her fingers like morning dew. She hit that spot again under his ridge and he groaned her name. All she had to do was crawl on top of him and drop that wet pussy on his dick, and he would explode. She kept talking and telling him how good he was and he ate it all up like a giant cat spoiled with endless catnip. He didn't trust his voice to talk back to her with any coherence. Listening to her, watching those bountiful breasts, touching her clit and feeling his dick get fisted by her soft hand overstimulated his brain. It became an overload of sensory pleasure.

He teased her clit mercilessly with lazy, untrustworthy caresses. She never knew what his fingers would do next, and that edging rolled her eyes back. Soft pants spilled out of her mouth that he liked to hear. Her pussy lips throbbed after a long, languorous fingering. The expression on her aroused face pleased him.

"I'm cumming…." she panted.

He moaned, watching her.

Her orgasm spilled out in contractions that made the lower half of her vulva move with visible throbs. Nova had a deep pussy, so he already knew if he were inside of her, his dick would've been milked with divine pulses. She made the entire encounter sexier by holding a hand over her mouth as she came, shielding the room from her normal loud cries of ecstasy.

Leaping to his feet, Terry stroked his dick in front of her, lowering his body so that his dick lined up with her tits. Her body still shook from her release, but he could only focus on his pleasure now. His balls rose closer to his body, and he gasped as a thick nut splashed onto her tits.

"I couldn't hold it, baby," he whimpered.

His sphincter muscle screamed from the force of his ejaculation. Cum shot out again all over her chest and dripped everywhere.

"Fuck…fuck…fuck…" he whispered.

He rose and a final load shot onto her lips.

Standing back, he stared at his future wife, and his dick stayed firm from the sight. Covered in his creamy white semen, her legs spread wide, showing him all that pretty pink pussy, Terry knew he was in for some problems. He was going to have to make a lot of money somehow, because the urge to get Nova pregnant again weighed heavily in his nutsack. He didn't know where the breeding kink came from. Not every woman brought that need out of him in sexual encounters, but the ones that did…dear God.

Nova tried to sit there all demure, as if being drenched in cum was her right as his woman. It was, actually. Back when they were sneaking around, the sex was provocative and illicit, of course, but part of the thrill was cumming all over her. Another man's woman let him nut in her mouth, inside her pussy, and all over her breasts. His dick used to get hard just thinking about covering her in semen and watching it turn clear on her silky skin, knowing he would send her home smelling like great sex. He had a feeling that the urge would warp into something body quaking since they could be out in the open from now on. He took the woman he wanted. Put a baby in her to seal the union forever. Wrong or right, that shit got him off, and he was always going to revel in that sexually.

He shoved his dick in her mouth, and Nova slurped and choked all over him like the good girl she was.

"Stand up," he said.

She did, and he made her bend over slightly so he could see her tits hang all fat and deliciously pendulous. He stroked his dick against her ass and her tits swayed and smacked together from her movement and he ejaculated on her ass. Yeah, they were going to have problems later. He was definitely fucking her and cumming in that pussy when he had the chance. Cumming inside of Nova was everything. Watching her ride his dick while he did it made him feel invincible.

She cleaned herself with baby wipes and he dressed and snuck into the hall bathroom to bring her a warm hand towel to finish the job. He couldn't keep his hands off her ass or her breasts and she slapped them away before they got carried away, drawing attention from his family with the noise. She looked at his hands and held them. The wounds on his knuckles from beating Jordan were still healing. Nova kissed each one, her soft lips puckering and pressing into each laceration. She looked up at him with tears.

"Hey…baby…it's okay," he said.

She closed her eyes, remembering.

He wiped away her tears and kissed her eyelids.

"Nothing will ever hurt you again, understand?" he murmured into her lips.

She nodded, and they kissed, their tangled tongues promising better days ahead.

Nova fell in love with his family.

The trip to Yazoo for Thanksgiving was a blast and once they were back in Louisiana prepping for Christmas, his parents and close kin felt like she had always been a part of them. Everyone showered their children with affection, and Nova finally rested, as she had longed to do since Terrina's birth.

Gordon became an expert at waking up for early a.m. feedings, giving Terry and Nova time to sleep a full eight hours. A retired grandfather eager to pamper his first grandbaby was a godsend. Tonette held down her end of the schedule in between her hours doing part-time medical billing in his older brother's old bedroom that she converted into a home office. She took on more hours before Christmas to make a little extra holiday money to splurge on her new grandbabies.

Nova helped him decorate the room addition that was built on the back of the house and used as a game room and extra bedroom when guests overflowed. Expecting a large holiday gathering, the Richmond clan stacked and readied cots and blow-up beds among the Christmas decorations. He showed Nova the pool table he learned to play on and they played a few rounds in between feedings and shopping.

Tonette hung extra large holiday stockings across the fireplace mantle with everyone's name sewn into them. She and Nova decorated the live Christmas tree with fake snow spray and then added mauve and mulberry colored ornaments. Terry lifted Van-Van to help put a golden star at the top.

"Aw, perfect!" Tonette said. Van-Van clapped his hands.

Terry later chopped up a stack of wood with an axe in the backyard as his father enlisted the help of Van-Van to help water his winter garden of cabbage and mustard greens. They gave the boy a small watering can that was used for the house plants to help water the fat cabbages and leafy greens ready for Christmas dinner picking.

Terry and Tonette left Nova and Van-Van with Gordon at the house while they snuck away to do some Christmas shopping with the baby. He walked around a giant shopping center, the biggest one in Cypress Bend, carrying Terrina wrapped on his chest.

"Mama, I'm going to ask Nova to marry me," he said inside a food court.

Shopping bags sat spread around his mother's legs as they ate Panda Express inside a luxury mall. Tonette slurped a chow mein noodle and forked a juicy piece of orange chicken.

"When?" she asked.

"Christmas Eve. After caroling with the family."

"In front of everyone?"

"Yes."

Tonette pushed up her glasses on her nose.

"Jaybird, I dunno…I saw some TikTok videos the other day with women saying they don't like public acts of proposals anymore. It puts a lot of pressure on them."

"Since when have you been using TikTok?"

"Your dad has an account. He posts his gardening tips. Sometimes I watch them to help give him comments for the algorithm."

He grinned.

"Does she know of your intentions? I mean, is that something you two have spoken about?"

"I told her father I wanted to marry her…right in front of her, back in Charleston."

"How did she react?"

"She looked happy, Mama. Really happy."

"You really adore her, huh?"

"I do. I'd been living a good life until she came along. But now, she's made my world richer by having her beside me. The children are everything to me."

"Do you feel any pressure about that? An instant family?"

He sipped on his iced tea and rubbed Terrina's back. His baby had grown so much in three months. She could hold her head up and started trying to crawl. Mastering coordination was funny to watch, and he got a kick out of her squirming all her limbs like a turtle on her belly when they placed her on a blanket on the living room floor. Van-Van would squat in front of her and call her name, encouraging her to crawl. They weren't quite there yet, but her legs and arms were strong.

"I don't even worry about that, honestly. Having Nova and the kids kinda makes me feel like a grown-up finally. That's weird, huh?"

"No, Jaybird. It isn't. But it is an enormous responsibility to step into so soon when you weren't expecting it."

Tonette gazed at him with loving eyes.

"Her parents will be here tomorrow. I had hoped they would stay with us at the house," she said.

"Nova told them about the spa tub at the Hyatt. I think this trip is a second honeymoon for them, so they want privacy."

"It was nice of you to invite them here. Spend Terrina's first Christmas together."

"It's been rough for them dealing with Jordan's mess."

Tonette nodded her head.

"Poor Nova. The hell that man put her through. And you."

Tonette reached across the table and touched his hand.

"All you and Nova can do is love on each other and take care of those babies."

Terrina sneezed, and Terry looked down at her face. Her bright eyes stared up at him and she grinned a toothless smile.

"Hey Rina, Rina," he teased.

He kissed her cheek with a loud smack and she squealed, bursting into infectious chuckles that made Tonette laugh, too.

"You and Nova made a beautiful little girl. I don't know if y'all could've made her any cuter. Like a lil round ladybug…that's my grandbaby…hey, Terrina."

"We better head back," he said.

"I think we bought out the entire mall."

"We've made enough trips to the car with bags today. I should think so."

They threw away their food containers and stuck their meal trays on top of a trash receptacle.

"Lemme, go past the eye glasses place one more time to look at those frames," she said.

"Mama, if you want the Gucci frames, get them."

"No…I just wanna look, that's all."

Tonette carried the last of their shopping bags and he helped by carrying two. They passed by several shops and it tickled him to observe his mother's yearning to buy more things, but pretending she was only window shopping.

"Terry? Terry Richmond."

He turned his head and spotted two women he went to highschool with, Phyllis and Stacey. He gave them side hugs and showed off his baby. They both had been cheerleaders when he played football for their school with Von. He caught them up on his life in California, and Stacey kept looking at his daughter with wistful eyes. She had been his junior prom date so long ago, and although they dated briefly in their senior year for a month, he just wasn't into her like she was into him. The two women shared photos of their children and husbands, and he whipped out his phone to show them pictures of Nova and Van-Van.

Tonette watched the interaction with amusement and when they carried on their merry little way to her car, she side-eyed him.

"Stacey looked happy to see you again."

"It was good seeing her. Time just flies on by."

"She used to call the house to say hi from time to time before she got married…always asked about you after you left for the marines."

"I'm sure she did."

"You ever wonder what it would've been like had you stayed here? Settled down with someone like her?"

"Stacey was cute. Nice girl. But, nah. Had I done that, I wouldn't have this special girl."

He bounced Terrina in his arms before putting her in the car seat in the back of his mother's Cadillac SUV. Tonette tickled Terrina's chin.

"Look at my sweet Ladybug!"

Terrina giggled.

"Mama, you always give everybody a nickname."

"My mother did it. It's hereditary."

"What do you call, Van-Van?"

"My Roly-Poly because he's always rolling all over the ground like a pill bug in your daddy's garden."

"Nova?"

"Queenie, because you bend over backwards for her…as you should. Huh, Ladybug? Your mama is a queen because she gave me a lil princess like you."

Tonette kissed Terrina's cheek and his daughter gurgled and slobbered her joy at all the attention.

His mother drove them back to the house. Nova stood on the porch holding a large registered mail envelope. Her face looked pensive. He handed Terrina to his mother.

"Mama, I'll bring in all the shopping bags in a minute," he said.

Tonette glanced at Nova's face for a quick second and took the baby into the house.

The chill of the winter air froze their breath in puffs of condensation. It had rained earlier.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

His stomach churned. She handed him the large envelope.

He reached in and pulled out another smaller envelope with a court document inside. Opening that one, he read the contents, and cracked a huge smile.

"Your divorce is finalized. You're free," he said.

She nodded and he hugged her.

"Ah, baby, you had me worried."

She sniffled.

"I kept waiting and hoping. Nella sent it priority, and I had to sign for it to make sure it got here. I just…it's finally over."

"Just in time for Christmas."

He hugged her again and closed his eyes.

"Thank you, God," he whispered to himself.

On Christmas Eve, Tonette cooked their own Creole version of shrimp and grits. She showed Nova her secret of using pancetta instead of bacon in her roux for the shrimp. So many relatives stuffed the house that Terry lost count and just flowed with everyone there. His cousin Mike and his brother Dean kept sneaking him shots of rum to cope with having future in-laws in the mix.

The Eastons blended in and it made Nova so happy that Titus and Gordon shared a love of gardening and spent most of their time outside discussing weed killers and the best garden soil. Pauletta fell right in with his Aunt Janice and they were already tipsy from drinking spiked egg nog and eating chocolate rum balls rolled in coconut that his grandmother Jessie-Belle made for all the adults.

Nova couldn't get over the size difference between himself and his siblings. His sister Sage was average-sized like his brother Dean, and she giggled when Tonette took pictures of the three of them in the backyard.

Terry towered over everybody. Dean had Nova laughing every time he was around her in the kitchen, and his sister would not put Terrina down. The baby lived on her right hip. Van-Van was in seventh heaven with all the little cousins under five who ran around with him in the game room where his grandparents supervised them with a few other older aunties on childcare duty while they sipped a little liquor. The teenagers lived in the den playing Mario Kart and arguing over losses and wins.

The house was festive and full of warmth and love. His parents tended to over-do it with the holidays, so he and his siblings chipped in to pay for all the food and libations for everyone.

"Nova, try my Christmas cheesy bread while it's hot!" Tonette said.

His mother placed a ceramic platter on the dining table next to the chilled oysters, fancy chocolate candies, and champagne bottles. Two large crock pots filled with grits and the shrimp roux warmed up on the dining table, too. There'd be a couple of Creole pecan glazed hams and a brisket for the main courses later that night. Southern fried cabbage with spicy andouille sausage. Mustard greens with smoked turkey. Dean helped prepare most of the food in the kitchen as a professional chef. He dashed off to make the mac' n cheese and candied purple sweet potatoes with Mike's help. The Richmonds partied hard on Christmas Eve. They reserved Christmas day for opening gifts and recuperating from the night before.

Nova pulled a piece of bread from the top of the Christmas tree shape. His mother sprinkled pomegranate seeds, seasoning, and fresh rosemary needles on it.

"Good, huh?" Tonette said.

Nova nodded enthusiastically. His mother touched her hair.

"I'm so happy that light pressing I gave you turned out so cute. Do you like it?" Tonette asked.

"I love it. I had the hardest time figuring out how to style it now that it's in that in-between stage of growth, y'know?"

"Honey, a good bob will always fix everything!"

Nova shook her hair. It was down past her ears. He had to smell burning hair early that morning in the kitchen as Nova sat in a chair and let his mama do her thing.

Terry glanced around the livingroom where most of the family had gathered for the caroling. Dressed in the finest fits to match the holiday atmosphere, the Richmonds and the Eastons showed out. A fire crackled in the fireplace behind a glass gate and the house smelled of savory foods. Donny Hathaway's "This Christmas" played softly on the sound system and everything felt…right.

He stared at Nova.

She ate cheesy bread and chatted with his mother. Her Christmas Eve dress shined a delightful Christmas shade of green with red trim along the off the shoulder décolletage. The red heels on her feet lifted her a few inches taller, and she looked angelic. His sister joined them carrying Terrina, who they dressed in a little Santa's Helper outfit. Van-Van and the other little ones ran through the living room chasing Gordon, who donned a Santa Claus suit and carried a big red bag filled with gifts for all of them. Minutes later, they all heard Van-Van crying in the den. Terry went to investigate and all the children surrounded his seven-year-old cousin, Jennifer, on the floor. Her hand rested on the crank of a Jack-in-the-box toy.

"The clown scared him," Jennifer said.

Van-Van stood next to her wailing and pointing at the goofy-looking bobble head on a spring that bounced around. Terry lifted him up and carried him back to the living room where the boy's crying transferred to Terrina. She stared at her brother and burst out crying, too.

"Uh, oh, we have a pity party," Nova said.

Terry rocked Van-Van and rubbed on his back, soothing his cries and whispering to him until the cries broke down into whimpers.

"I don't like that toy," Van-Van huffed.

"I know. It popped out when you weren't expecting it," Terry said.

Jennifer and the other children ran out to check on their weeping cousin.

"Sorry Van-Van, we'll play with something else," Jennifer said.

"You want to go back with them?"

Van-Van looked unsure. He looked down at his sister crying and wiggled in Terry's arms to be put down.

"Don't cry Rina…I feel better," Van-Van said, wiping his eyes.

He pressed his lips onto his sister's cheek, and Nova cradled his chin.

"You're being a good big brother checking on your sister," she said.

Van-Van glanced at the other children and ambled back to them. They all cheered for him and he grinned, with two tears still shining on his cheek. A second later, they ran off like a wolf pack, whooping it up and off to some new adventure. Crisis averted.

"Hey, everybody, time to gather around in five minutes," Tonette said.

Terry's stomach dropped. He rushed to the guest bathroom down the hall. His brother noticed the panic in his eyes and followed him.

"What's wrong, Terry?"

"I'm going to ask Nova to marry me."

Dean's mouth dropped open.

"Now?"

"Before we eat."

He pushed open the bathroom door and Dean closed it behind them.

"Why the scary face?"

Dean stared at him as Terry glanced at his own reflection. The color seemed to drain from his face as his heart sped up. His brother grabbed his hands.

"Hey…baby brother…relax. You got this. Breathe."

He took a deep breath and pressed his hands on the sink, lowering his head to help ease his anxiety.

"I don't want to mess this up," he said.

"How can you mess up asking the woman you love to be your wife? Have you looked at her today? Every time you walk near her, she's grinning in your face. She got it bad for you, man."

"She's been through so much…I don't want to disappoint her."

"Disappoint her how? You drove across the country and saved her from an unpleasant situation. She's about to be posted up in an oceanfront condo in California. You got the Richmond good looks and passed them down to your baby. Your career is where you want it and you can support a family. You're head over heels for her. Tighten up!"

Dean rubbed his shoulder.

Terry stared at his reflection. His brother was right.

"C'mon, bring it in," Dean said.

He held out his arms toward Terry for an embrace. They hugged.

"Hit another shot of whiskey…better yet, ask Grandpa for a shot of his moonshine. He got some hidden under the kitchen sink. Liquid courage will smooth the jitters out. Wait here, I'll go get you a shot glass of it," Dean said.

His brother left the bathroom and Terry concentrated on a sunny beach far away in the Caribbean somewhere and calmed his mind. Dean returned two minutes later with a pineapple-shaped shot glass bought from Honolulu, Hawaii.

"Here ya go. Toss it back."

Terry wasted no time drinking the fiery liquid that burned down his throat and fired up his chest. He squinted and twisted his lips from the aftertaste.

"Shit tastes like kerosene and Satan's foot," Terry choked out.

He coughed, and Dean pounded his back.

"That means the magic is working. Let's go sing!"

They returned to the living room just in time to greet Von and Bethany, who arrived with their two little girls. Bethany hugged Nova tight and gushed over the baby. Von hugged Terry, making him feel more confident about what would happen later when he approached Nova for her hand.

"Man, we had to take our time getting on this side. It started snowing," Von said.

Everyone rushed to the windows and stepped outside to watch the rare sight in Cypress Bend of hard rain freezing into snowflakes that fell quietly from the sky like a whisper. The snow already covered a thin layer of the ground. All the children squealed as puffy white clouds blanketed the sky, making Terry feel like his family was inside a giant snow globe. The twinkling of the Christmas lights on the house added a romantic feeling. He put an arm around Nova and Terrina. Titus held Van-Van's hand and his son stared at the winter wonderland before him.

"That's snow, Van-Van," Terry said.

Delighted, Van-Van raised his hands and tiny flakes fell into his palms and melted, making him giggle with delight.

"Singing first, snow later," Tonette said, clapping her hands for everyone to come back inside.

Folks settled into the livingroom. Terry helped pass out homemade song books they'd used since he was a child that contained all the Christmas songs they liked to sing together as a family. Nova put on her new red baby feeding wrap and took Terrina from Sage's arms to feed her on an armchair discreetly. Terry stood next to her proudly, knowing his extended family watched them together with cheerful smiles and twinkling eyes. He was a family man now.

Mike and Dean helped pass out the filled champagne flutes and his aunties and mother offered the freshly chilled oysters with Champagne mignonette sauce and assorted chocolate bites to those who wanted them before they started caroling. Dean prepared hot apple cider with cinnamon, to warm up hands from the cold outside, too.

"You look so handsome," Bethany said, admiring his dark suit and holiday red tie with candy canes all over it.

She hugged him tight and whispered in his ear.

"I'm happy for you. Terrina is such a cutie and Nova looks radiant."

He grinned. Knowing he had Bethany and Von in his corner out in Oceanside invigorated him. Nova would have a friend and confidante in her, and she'd know that Von didn't play with men not living up to their roles as husbands. They would both have role models close by that they admired to guide them on their journey.

Aunt Janice directed everyone like they were a choir after everyone took their places and started belting out Christmas classics, and Pauletta looked impressed with how his rich baritone enhanced the singing. Dean was the show off and added all the runs, and his sister Sage kept the higher harmonies in check. Nova's father sang off-key during "Deck the Halls". Pauletta and Tonette kept laughing next to each other as Janice tried to help him out on the Fa-la-la-la-la's. The house sounded glorious with the singing, especially when his sister and cousins added the soul of Blackness to the songs. It was a rollicking good time, and he was grateful the Easton's enjoyed every moment. As they wound down after an hour, Tonette waved her hand at Terry.

"Jaybird, you and Junebug sing 'Silent Night' with Mouse and Boss Man," she said. "Sing for my Ladybug."

Terry gathered his brother Dean, his cousin Mike, and Von in front of the fireplace.

"Sing it like ya do in church," Grandma Jessie-Belle said, sitting next to Grandpa Arneux.

Dean tuned them all up by singing the first two lines by himself, and then Terry joined his cousin and best friend in a quartet directed toward his daughter and Nova. She didn't know he could sing so well, and gazed at him with a dreamy glow on her face. Terrina heard her daddy's voice go lower in register and she bounced in her mama's lap, gurgling and looking up at him with her big green eyes.

They made the song truly holy and from the corner of his eyes, he noticed his mother and grandmother tearing up. Even Gordon's and Pauletta's eyes misted with appreciation.

"Y'all betta sing!" Bethany called out.

Their harmony together matched the a capella smoothness of "Boyz II Men" and it was a nice way to end the caroling session. Everyone exploded in applause afterward. He kissed Nova and lifted his baby girl in his arms.

"Did you like Daddy's singing?" he cooed, kissing her forehead.

Terrina reached for his nose and he kissed her fingers. His father, Gordon, still dressed as Santa, called all the kids to the center, even the teenagers.

"Time for Christmas stockings!" Gordon said.

He passed out stockings to all the youngsters, and they dug into the red felt and pulled out gift cards, small toys, candy, socks, and candy canes. The Temptations Christmas album played softly in the background as all the adults watched the children have fun. Van-Van was so excited. He showed everyone all the things packed into his stocking. Terry's parents spoiled him, making sure he had the best out of all the children. His mother's smile was so wide with pride. She snapped her fingers.

"Oh wait, the baby has a stocking, too!" Tonette said. "Jaybird, take it down from the fireplace. My Ladybug can't be left out."

Terry handed Terrina to Pauletta and reached for her stocking that hung above the fireplace next to his and where Van-Van's used to be. He handed it to Nova, who dug into it eagerly.

"Oh, how cute!" Nova said.

She pulled out baby socks with reindeers on them and immediately put them on Terrina's feet. There were baby hand toys and a headband with wiggly ladybug antennae on them. His father bought her a gold anklet with her name on it and there were little colorful barrettes for all the hair Terrina had on her head. Nova showed them to the baby, but Terrina was more interested in touching the bouncy antennae on the headband. Pauletta had to put it away because his daughter kept trying to put them in her mouth. Everyone loved the rolled up little blue shirt that said "Help! Call Grandpa, These Fools Don't Know What They're Doing!" Gordon fell over laughing with Titus.

"Show them the shirt I made for Ladybug!" Tonette insisted.

Nova pulled out another small purple shirt that said "Half Creole, Half Gullah, All Trouble"

Pauletta laughed, "I know that's right!"

Nova reached the bottom of the stocking and pulled out a small black velvet box.

Terry dropped on one knee in front of her.

The audible gasp in the room matched the expression on Nova's face. She opened the jewelry box and the engagement ring sparkled in the firelight. His hand shook on his knee, and his leg felt rubbery.

"Nova—"

"Yes!"

An explosion of laughter and cackles surrounded them, along with handclaps and loud whistles from Von and Mike.

Terry took the ring from the box and slipped it on her finger.

"Nova…you coming into my life was divine, perfect timing. You changed my life from the ordinary into the extraordinary in such a short amount of time that sometimes…I don't even think you're real. But you are…and I want to spend the rest of my life with you and Van-Van…and that baby girl you gave me…."

His voice shuddered, and he blinked back tears.

"Take your time Jaybird!" Jessie-Belle shouted.

"Nova…will you do me the honor of becoming my wife and marry me?"

"I do…yes! Oh my God, yes!"

She threw her arms around him. He stood and lifted her off of her feet. Titus rose first and shook Terry's hand. Pauletta hugged him and then hugged Nova.

"Show us the ring!" Dean shouted.

Nova wiped her eyes, then splayed out her fingers.

"How much that set you back?" Von asked.

Bethany slapped his arm. Their family and friends gave them congratulations in abundance, along with hugs and joyful kisses. The oven timer rang out. Dean ran toward the kitchen.

"Everyone wash up, dinner will be served in a few minutes. The mac n' cheese is calling us!"

Nova wrapped her arms around his waist and he lowered his head so they could press their foreheads together.

"Whenever you're ready, baby…you set the date and time," he said.

"Okay."

Her voice quivered. She closed her eyes. He let her cry, let his own tears join hers. There wasn't a happier man alive in the world.

Christmas morning smelled of fresh coffee, cinnamon rolls, and the lingering scent of the fresh pine needles on the tree. Wrapping paper and toys scattered in heaps throughout the house as the Easton and Richmond families shared gifts and watched Van-Van zoom around in his new electric car that the Easton's bought for him, among other things. As Terry predicted, all the Richmonds and his new family dressed in matching pajama sets of red and green with white snowflakes all over them. Titus and Pauletta took plenty of pictures, especially ones of Terrina and Van-Van

Terry watched his brother-in-law Bobby open the last gift from his wife. Sage looked thrilled to give him a new bronze and onyx Movado watch. Bobby hugged and thanked her and the family all headed to the dining room for a full breakfast. His grandfather said grace, and they tucked into fresh biscuits smothered in strawberries and whipped cream, fried eggs, and maple cured bacon. Dean used leftover ham to make omelets with Swiss cheese and onions.

After bellies were full, they spoke to Nova's relatives in Charleston and wished Mawmaw a Merry Christmas, sending pictures to Nella's phone to share. Terry took Van-Van into the backyard to play in snow that hadn't melted away yet. The chilly air let the ground hold on to two inches. They made it a lazy, relaxing day with plans to go visit other relatives and deliver gifts. There were also plans to go see Christmas fireworks at the Hyatt where the Eastons had a room overlooking the area for the light show. They spent the night at the house on Christmas Eve and invited everyone to enjoy the fireworks in their extensive suite for the evening.

Nova looked exhausted and Terry begged off on them joining the trip to see other relatives. They would catch up later at the hotel to watch the fireworks. Nova prepared two bottles of milk for Terrina, and her mother took the children under her charge with Titus. Terry packed a baby bag and put in some snacks for Van-Van. He waved at everyone from the porch as they all drove off in two SUVs.

Alone.

At last.

He strolled back into the house and placed another log on the fire, stoking it with an iron poker. Nova padded out from the kitchen, snacking on another cinnamon roll drenched in thick icing. He sat next to her on the couch and they watched the flames flicker.

"This was the best Christmas ever," she sighed.

"I'm sure Mawmaw and them put on a good time."

"They do, but this was the first time I could be in the moment. Normally I'm rushing around helping to run things or cooking. It felt like being a kid again, when you didn't have to do anything but enjoy all the Christmas magic. I got spoiled here. I don't know if I can go back to the old ways."

He kissed her temple and threw an arm around her.

"You could've gone with them to see your cousins," she said.

He shook his head.

"I've seen enough of them since we've been here. We need to take advantage of this moment of quiet."

She admired her engagement ring and fell asleep cuddled next to him. He rested his eyes and soon nodded off himself. They slept for about ninety minutes, and Nova woke up refreshed and hungry. They nibbled on slices of ham and leftover mac n' cheese, drank some champagne, and then moved most of the Christmas gifts closer to the tree to clean up the living room for his mother.

"We'll need to rent a bigger U-Haul when we leave next week," he said.

They both surveyed all the presents lavished on Van-Van and Terrina. Nova lifted her Octavia Butler bookset from the base of the Christmas tree.

"I can't wait to dig into this," she said.

She stretched and wandered off to take a shower. He plopped back down on the couch and scanned a few channels for a football game. After a while, he noticed Nova hadn't returned. He scanned some new channels.

"Hey, Nova, they're playing 'The Preacher's Wife' in a few. You wanna watch it?"

"Do you want to watch that or watch me?"

He turned his head. Nova stood under the mistle toe at the entrance of the hallway dressed in the sheer red negligee that adorned her body the last time they made love in Oceanside. She spruced up her hair and added sultry make-up. The heels on her feet tooted her ass out.

Shit.

Fuck.

Goddamn.

He left the couch and prowled toward her, stopping a mere three feet away to drink in her beauty and ultra sexiness.

"Is this my bonus Christmas gift?" he said.

She nodded with coquettish eyes.

He pulled off his pajama top and balled it up, tossing it back on the couch.

"You're wearing something real dangerous," he said.

She rubbed on her breasts, teasing him with their bounty. His eyes narrowed, and she sighed. He had her hooked already with their intensity. His eyes always trapped her. They could make her do things without him having to say one word. She ran her fingers all across her tits, pinching her nipples and pushing them together. He stood silently and watched, feeling the blood in his body travel south. She did everything he wanted to see.

His dick grew thick and stretched out his pajama bottoms. Nova rested her hands on her generous thighs and shook her upper body, letting her tits bounce, knowing that would send him into overdrive.

He pulled down his pajama bottoms with his boxer briefs and his dick jutted like steel. She turned around and jumped on her heels to make her ass cheeks clap for him. He smacked her backside, turning her light brown skin red on both cheeks. She didn't even bother to put on the g-string that went with it. He smacked and rubbed out the hard strikes he gave her ass with his large hand. She bent over and touched her toes, letting him get a peek at her glistening pussy.

"Fuck…Nova…"

He gently touched her pubic hairs. They were already damp. Her wetness flowed out easily. He held his dick by the root and smacked her ass with it. A sticky stream of pre-cum dripped onto her ass, and he gripped her neck. He lowered his head and ravaged her mouth from behind, the perk of being taller than her. Nova panted and groaned in his mouth, their tongues dueling for control of the other. He lifted her breasts and squeezed them. His dick rested against her ass and kept spilling pre-cum.

They kissed like that for a long time under the mistletoe. Slow…easy…unrushed. His head arched over hers and her head bent back to accept his plundering tongue. He plucked at her nipples, causing shivers in her frame. Her lips were so succulent that he had to groan at the pleasure they brought him. His dick throbbed with a knowing anticipation. They hadn't had intercourse in over a year with one another, and the way she was carrying on with his mouth, he guessed she was ready for penetration. She purposely wore that negligee to inflame his ardor like a matador waving a red cape at a bull.

"Can I be inside you?" he asked.

Nova moaned, "Yes."

"Do we need to do anything extra?" he asked.

She was on birth control, and he brought condoms for the occasion. But she knew how he liked to get down. He could pull out for his release, but her body drove him into a breeding frenzy.

"I already used the spermicidal gel," she said.

He groaned, and his dick jumped. They had the extra back up to let him cum inside her raw.

"I'll take it slow, baby," he whispered into her mouth.

She threaded her fingers with his and pulled him toward their bedroom. He reached down and grabbed his pajama bottoms.

They couldn't keep their lips apart inside his room. Her tongue still tasted like cinnamon and expensive champagne. He rubbed all over her breasts, loving how they looked behind the sheer material, her small nipples so cute surrounded by the wideness of her areolas.

"Feel so good," he said.

He let his right hand drift behind her backside and he probed her pussy lips, inserting his fingers inside Nova a couple of inches to test her wetness. Her engorged inner labia parted open for him. He had to tamp down on his eagerness or else he'd cum prematurely. Her body had that effect on him with sex. He could pace himself easily with any other woman, but Nova drove him wild and his dick could spit at any moment, blowing the chance for them to fuck raw and uninhibited with an empty house. Finger fucking her pussy that way made her squirm and pant his name in his ear. She stuck her tongue in his ear and moaned when he inserted his middle finger into her ass. They once tried anal sex in the past, but she could only take the head in and nothing past his frenulum. It was enough for him to ejaculate, though, and she still liked when he used a finger or two.

He sat on the bed and pulled her toward him so he could fondle her breasts in his face. The tip of his tongue traced around her nipples through her negligee and she stroked his hair, letting sighs of arousal fall into his ears. He pulled down the straps and released her tits. Their warmth bathed his cheeks as he pushed a breast on each side of his face and licked the center of her chest. He smashed them closer, letting them smother him. She cradled the nape of his neck with her right hand while he sucked on one nipple and pinched the other. An expert at titty sucking, Terry latched onto her with greedy lips and a lascivious tongue. His nipple stimulation caused her to gasp.

"Terry…Terry baby, hold on, my milk is letting down…"

He ignored her warning and accepted the flow of milk into his mouth from both nipples. Holding both breasts, he ran his tongue back and forth…teasing…tasting…turning her on more. He playfully slapped them, their heft arousing his dick with a sturdier girth, ready to plunge deep into her pussy.

"Is that pussy ready for me?" he asked.

He reached down between her thighs and wove careful circles around her clit like the way she showed him how to weave sweetgrass on her grandmother's porch. His fingers had a message to relay, and he used her clit like a telegraph to her inner walls: he was coming to do some work. Be ready.

"Yes…"

She grabbed his shoulders to keep her balance. Her eyes were already half-lidded.

"Suck my dick first. Lemme stretch your mouth."

Nova's eyes were glassy. She whined with annoyance, so desperate to get on her back and let him lay that pipe on her. Stretch those walls out instead. But he knew the longer he prolonged penetration, the sweeter her pussy would be on his dick. He needed to slut her out a bit. Get her pussy throbbing for his erection he taunted her with.

She lowered herself and opened her mouth wide. Taking the bulbous head with her lips first, he groaned the moment her tongue curled on the underside. Her head bobbed in his lap with a steady motion. All mouth, no hands. Poor baby. His girth and length tired her jaw. Wrapping both hands around him still wasn't enough for her. She spit on his dick like the nasty little slut she could be for him. He remembered the times she'd suck him off while pregnant. Nova loved the taste of his dick in her mouth, but always had to take her time with his size or she'd tire out fast, especially while carrying a baby in her belly. He reached for her tits and she sandwiched his dick between them, rubbing them up and done while she watched his expression. His dick pulsed and the veins bulging on it excited her more. Her arousal made her look high. He watched her left nipple leak milk and his jumped again. His fiancé whimpered in desperation. She wanted her pussy plowed right then and there.

There would be time to eat her pussy out later. In the meantime; he needed to be inside of her. Those big titties would keep spilling milk, but he needed to spill into her and satisfy the raging urge to fuck her until he soaked her insides with cum. Her negligee beckoned him to make love to her like the last time they did. It was the best sex he'd had, and it produced a beautiful baby. He wanted to experience that type of carnal pleasure again. Being reckless last time gave him the best nut of his life. They would be extra careful this go-round, but the urge escalated in his dick. He became dizzy, lusting after breeding her with his semen. He kissed her with all the passion in his being.

Nova's legs shook from the stimulation of his tongue and lips. He pulled her onto the bed beside him and spread her legs, letting her feet rest on the edge. She kicked off her heels, and he kissed her toes, which were painted scarlet to match the negligee. Nova played with her pussy, letting him see and hear how wet she was. God, his dick was hard as a brick and his balls hung heavy. He squeezed them to show her how much cum weighed down his sack.

He stepped away to rummage in his personal bag and pulled out some warming lube. He slicked up his dick and smacked it in his hand hard. She heard that heavy sound and chewed on her bottom lip. He slid his hands up her thighs and lifted the negligee back further. Resting between her legs, he lowered his mouth to kiss her and remind her why they fit together. The first time she kissed him so long ago, he recognized the hunger within. He shared that same craving. Pressing the wide head of his dick at her entrance, he breathed into her mouth, "Can I stick part of it in?"

"Yes, baby…yes…"

That's what he liked to hear. Enthusiastic consent. He watched his dick penetrate her dripping pink entrance.

"More!" she pleaded.

Grunting, he tried to keep it together. His entry was so smooth, he would have bet she was built to sheath him from the moment they met.

"Oh! That's it…baby!" she shouted.

He let go of a loud moan of completion as he sank all the way in until his balls slapped her ass. Pulling out slowly, he admired how she could take every inch of him. He stretched her again, easily, the lube and her natural wetness perfectly aroused to handle all of him.

Terry moved slowly, being mindful that she gave birth five months ago. He loved the way her belly bunched up, squeezing her belly button area into a fold of flesh. She worried about having a big fupa later, but he told her good pussy needed extra protection. He watched her face for any signs of discomfort. There weren't any. Her lips pouted and her eyes squinted with her pleasure face. He stroked a little faster, their bodies slapping harder together.

"Yes, baby! Oh…Terry…right there…go deeper…harder…"

She wrapped her legs around his waist and he fisted his hands into the mattress, giving himself an anchor so he could start fucking her silly. His thrusts pulled out her begging. More dick. Deeper. Harder. Faster. Fuck me good Daddy energy.

He gripped her breasts and held onto them. They were slick with more milk and sweat, filling his hands past capacity.

"You'll always love me?" she asked.

Her lust-filled eyes still had a pleading quality to them. He snaked his hips to stroke another part of her pussy. His thickness tugged on her labia and stimulated her clit without him having to touch it yet.

"I'll always love you, Nova."

"Promise?"

He tongued her down and muffled the decadent cries that threatened to get louder since no one else was in the house. Gripping her waist, he owned her pussy, reminding her of what he could do.

"You'll always protect me?" she gasped.

"Yesssss."

He caressed her face and slowed down his thrusts until he barely moved, driving her insane. He used his deep voice to seduce her insecurities away.

"You're my woman…mine, Nova. Don't worry about anything. You're going to be my wife and I'm going to show you what a great man can do when he takes care of his woman and responsibilities properly…hey…look at me…don't you ever doubt my love or my intentions…okay? You're the only one for me. I put a ring on your finger to lock you down for life."

Nova lifted onto her elbows and started fucking him back as he spoke. His face grew heated listening to the sound of his dick stirring up her pussy. All the sticky, creamy, squelching noises coming from her juicy pussy had his dick pulsing inside her. She clenched on his length and he grunted. She needed reassurances. Her heart stayed cautious, and he would have to prove himself each day. He would start by making love to her as her husband. They didn't need a future wedding for him to solidify himself in that way right now. She deserved it all. His heart, mind, body, and soul.

He kissed the side of her neck and sucked on the tender skin there before sliding the tip of his tongue along the shell of her ear.

"I love you, Nova. I'll never misuse your heart baby…never…"

She arched her back, as he loved her properly.

They switched positions before he ejaculated inside her gushy warmth. Her wetness bathed him in an ocean of sensual contentment. He sat on the edge of the bed and she sat on his dick. He lifted her up and down, then clutched onto her ass cheeks while she rode him. She hung onto his shoulders and he shouted her name in time to the slapping of her ass on his thighs. He sucked on her titties, kissed her lips, talked to her on how he wanted her pussy to act on his dick…did everything he could to bolster her confidence in their love going the distance. At no time did he ever want her thinking of her unhappy past. He was a new book with a new story that had a happy ending this time.

Slapping her ass, he ordered her onto the bed and fucked her from behind. Head down, ass up.

"Hold those ass cheeks wide open," he demanded.

She pulled her ass cheeks apart so he could watch his dick sink into her. Was this the position he had knocked her up in last time? Or was it when he pounded her on the bed with her legs thrown over his shoulders? Maybe it was when he lifted her up and fucked her while standing.

Her nail polish matched her toes and looked seductive on her light brown skin. The wet pink of pussy swallowed his dick…in…out…in…out…making his dick so glossy from her slippery walls. She was close to an orgasm. Her rapid panting and clawing of the blanket warned him..

"Can I cum in your pussy, Nova?"

He gripped her hips. His balls slapped her clit, and each thrust gave her the friction she needed. From the closet mirror, he could see her tits hanging and moving with each thrust he gave her. He reached down and grabbed her hair, pulling her head back. Her breasts swayed with each hard thrust.

"…hitting my spot…keep fucking me so good…yes…yes…yes…missed this dick…" she panted.

"Will you let me cum all in this fat pussy?"

Sweat from his chest dripped down onto her ass, that clapped like thunder in the room. She acted willful by not answering him. Nothing irritated him more than a bratty woman. She knew that and played with him, anyway. He'd have to break her of that habit before they returned to Oceanside. He released her hair and pulled her arms back. The motion lifted her chest up and her tits bounced around like crazy then, turning him on further.

"I wanna make a mess in this pussy," he growled.

The shift in tone locked her eyes on him. She took the hint. He wasn't playing with her.

"Tell me I can make a big mess in this pussy."

He was on the verge of losing it. Ready to blast into forever. But he needed her to cum first. She was the lifeline to drag him into the depths of a splendid hallelujah orgasm.

"Tell me!"

He pumped into her as his balls throbbed. Her mouth parted, showing the tip of her tongue. She felt so fucking good around his dick and all he needed was for her to tell him she wanted his cum to drown her pussy. His hips rocked into her faster and his dick swelled. His friction tugged on her clit and Nova spasmed up and down that big Christmas penis he served her. Her contractions vanquished speech from her vocal chords and all she could muster were continuous breathy cries of "Oh, oh, oh, oh!" that matched the throbbing of his erection as he shot hot cum far into her womb. Terry roared so loud that he was positive every angel in heaven heard his yelling. He dropped his head down and watched the root of his dick throb hard, pushing cum into her.

"Damn, Nova…damn, baby…I feel like I'm putting another baby in you!"

No more sound erupted from his lips, just his mouth stayed open with his eyes narrowed like he was mad at her pussy for milking him like that. Up and down his shaft, the contractions of her walls squeezed him. His hips rocked into her and the final spurts felt even more intense than the first. When he pulled out, he stroked the last bit of semen all over her labia. A lot more spilled out of her vagina. She had wrecked him and he left her pussy in shambles.

"Nova…shit…"

He started laughing, and she shook with giggles. Rolling over, she held out her arms for him and he climbed on her and rested his head on those soft pillowy breasts that fed his baby and satisfied him.

"God, I fucking love you, girl," he said.

"I think I love you more."

"Impossible."

"No, I think it's true," she said.

"But I loved you first," he said.

"Impossible."

She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him all over his forehead, nose, cheeks, and then finally…his lips.

Terry showered with Nova.

They changed into comfortable, ugly Christmas sweaters and jeans. Nova cooked Mawmaw's Carolina Gold Rice, making red rice with crabmeat, and scooped it into a large ceramic casserole dish. She bagged it up with some of the leftovers along with paper plates and plastic forks for everyone to eat while watching the fireworks.

He drove them to the Hyatt in his truck and once they entered the suite where his parents and her parents relaxed and cared for their babies, Terry knew in the marrow of his bones that he was right to pursue Nova.

Van-Van ran up to him with his arms up in the air and he swooped his son up, giving him kisses.

"I love you, Van-Van," he said.

Van-Van pointed to the ceiling to floor window and wiggled to be put down so he could touch the glass and watch the first bright lights shoot off into the night sky. Nova handed him Terrina. His baby girl touched his lips, and he nibbled her fingers, making her squeal and laugh. He kept her on his right arm and put his other arm around Nova's shoulder.

"Dada, look…see? Fireworks," Van-Van said, elated by the presentation of red, green and white fireworks.

Terry smiled.

"I see them, son. I see them."

Nova grinned, and they stood together with their children as a family. His daughter rested her head on his chest, wearing her Creole/Gullah shirt. He glimpsed Nova's engagement ring as she pointed out a new fiery explosion to Van-Van.

She gazed into Terry's eyes and gave him a peck on the lips.

"Merry Christmas, Terry," she said.

"Merry Christmas, Mrs. Nova Richmond."

The fireworks couldn't match the brightness of Nova's smile.

Nor the glow inside his heart.

youtube

A.N:

Merry Christmas y'all and Happy New Year down the road! I hope my story gave you some holiday cheer, and a few thrills! Reminder: One of the best ways to support Black fanfiction writers that doesn't cost a dime is to reblog or comment (or both!). We thrive off of kind words to keep us going, and it's always great to extend our reach to new readers. In 2025 I'm making more of an effort to get my stories out to as many Black women as possible. We are in our #RestEra of pouring into ourselves and our own, so we deserve nice things to come home to for our reading pleasure.

On Deck: I'm finishing the last chapter of my Vampire!Terry Richmond fic "A Tattoo and the Bloodsucker Blues" by New Years, and then it's on to add more chapters to "Spinning the Block" my Terry Richmond/Jess Sims fic!

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#lick back 2 #terry richmond #rebel ridge #terry richmond fanfiction #rebel ridge fanfiction #aaron pierre #AITA!Terry Richmond #terry richmond smut #uzumaki rebellion #Terry Richmond x Black Female OC #Black Fanfiction Writer #Black Fanfiction #Christmas 2024

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lowkeyrobin · 5 months ago

Note

hi! how are u???

i was wondering if you could do mcyt x reader where they go to an amusement park? i don't realky know the specifics :P

it's totally fine if not!

also, could i please be 🦑 anon?

your writing is so good, btw :3

ooo okay I can try! ; and welcome 🦑! (I'm gonna consistently think this is an umbrella academy fan goodnight 💀) hope you enjoy your stay! ; and thank you, I appreciate it! <3

MCYT ; amusement park

includes ; tommyinnit, badlinu, maxggs, quackity & slimecicle

warnings ; language

disclaimers ; idk anything about amusement parks outside kennywood and disneyworld so probably using references and names here / may be mixed up cause I don't remember all the different places / pretend like it's in Europe for tommy, freddie & max and in america for Charlie & Quackity

masterlist

TOMMYINNIT

he's so fuckin scared of the rides with insane heights that go really fast

he will NOT be going on them unless it's to impress you (shout out university crush)

if there's any water rides he's forcing you on them 🗣🗣

he buys any snacks/food or little souvenirs you want lol

you both go home tired and lowkey sleep on the train and almost miss ur stop

soooo many pictures

you're probably vlogging too

"guys, Tommy's scared of the phantom"

"look at that fuckin thing! I'm not going on that, ill fly out!"

"true, you're a six foot twig"

"I swear to god, y/n..."

FREDDIE BADLINU

he's getting on most rides w you

he loves the swings lmao

you got a handful of pics but you're mostly living in the moment

dippin dots go crazy

you go on the little kids rides for shits and giggles and adults are looking at u like 🤨😒

yk on that Winnie the Pooh ride line there's the screens and it's like honey and u can draw on it temporarily? yall stood there for a solid 10 mins cause the long line drawing dicks and random stuff

ice cream!!!! it's so good

you make a tiktok

"wheres harry potter land??"

"....y/n were at disneyworld"

it's your mission to piss of Disney adults

MAXGGS

literally up for anything

he got you both silly sunglasses and you wore them around all day

you literally go on Kalis River Rapids twice because why not

you SPRINT for Tianas Bayou Adventure (I wanna go so bad to see this omfg)

he makes you re-ride the barnstormer like 5 times (me core)

you immediately go for the fast paced / thrilling rides like space mountain and tower of terror (ik these are different just pretend I can't remember many rides...)

then at the end of the day you do the safari ride / avatar ride / ykwim

so many cute pics and videos 💔 literally spammed ur Instagrams when u got back

ALEX QUACKITY

he does not wanna go on things like space mountain or thunder mountain bro

you make him get on them anyway unless he just genuinley doesn't want to, you'll go with a friend if there is another person with you / alone and he'll wait / vlog from a safe spot

you meet a lot of characters and get pics all day long & they were so nice 💔

"OMG Y/N ITS OLAF"

he nearly vomits after the teacups...

you go on the pirates of the caribbean ride and he tries to speak like sparrow the whole time in line

you get some little leather bracelets with each other's names on them at the end in the little store (I had one but idk where it is anymore I'm so mad)

he keeps saying "I'm not hungry" ans when u stop for food he literallt devours his ice cream and hot dog bro

"I thought u weren't hungry???"

"... I was waiting for u to want food"

CHARLIE SLIMECICLE

literally the funnest ever

he's getting on everything istg

yall chill in the swiss family tree house when u need a break from walking / grab a drink and go to the enchanted tiki room to escape the heat entirely

over food you speculate what they may add for the little villain land they're planning (holy shit so excited for this even tho I'm probably never gonna be able to go again)

haunted mansion went crazy 💀 trust the vlog is funny asf

"woahhh that ghost looks like me!"

"yeah if you were dead"

"wanna go to mickeys philharmagic after this?"

"that's across the park.."

"we can make it lol"

he's on it with the puns idek how

u want a souvenir of any kind? he's got u trust

#lowkeyrobin #gn reader #gender neutral reader #they/them reader #mcyt x reader #mcyt preferences #mcyt oneshot #tommyinnit x reader #badlinu x reader #freddie badlinu x reader #charlie slimecicle x reader #slimecicle x reader #alex quackity x reader #quackity x reader #maxggs x reader #🦑 anon

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sungbeam · 1 year ago

Text

𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫

artist!kevin moon x senator's daughter!reader

after a long night, you find yourself on the front doorstep of a man who's heart you still held tightly in your grasp.

4.0k words, exes 2 lovers?, bittersweet angst with a happy ending, kissing, swearing, mentions of arranged marriages and controlling parents, mentions of social class, it takes place in washington dc bc i had a specific place in mind lol but i've also only went to dc once(???)

a/n: dug this up and dusted off the cobwebs — originally inspired (partly) by youngk's cover of moon river <3 (im sorry i always give you angst kevin...)

It was late when you knocked on his door. It was so late, in fact, that the fog had begun to roll over the Potomac and dampen the cobblestones beneath your shoes. You would have taken off the death traps your mother called fashion, but you'd seen your friends on the rowing team get foot diseases before. The streetlights here glowed from their perches in golden yellow flames, not amber like they did in some parts of the district.

You hadn't really expected him to answer. You knew he was almost guaranteed to be awake, but there were always exceptions. You knew he would recognize you, too, but if he would open the door for you… it didn't matter that he was the kindest person you'd ever met, there were always exceptions.

His expression sat carefully blank when you faced him, a war brewing in his beautiful eyes of a long past you shared. He swallowed, scanning your form.

"I'm sorry," you managed to say. You suddenly felt stupid. Why were you here? Why had you run all the way across the river to his place in Georgetown? Why him? Out of all the people, you chose the one person who's heart you let fall to the ground and shatter. It was a miracle he even opened the door. "I—I didn't know who else to go to."

The bobby pins in your hair stabbed your head and intensified the headache building in your scalp. It had been a long night; you weren't sure if you were even of sound mind and thought right now.

Kevin Moon considered you for a moment, his eyes and posture softening at the lines. "Come in," he murmured as he stepped aside in the doorway, "it's late."

You swallowed as you took slow steps into his townhouse and he closed the front door behind you. Everything was as you had last seen it—pictures of him and his family, his friends; his artwork hung on the entryway walls; stair leading up to the upper floors, and hallway traveling back toward the parlor and kitchen. You could extract the memories that you had of this place, but that would keep you up the rest of the night. It would be a dangerous endeavor, you thought, as if coming to Kevin in the first place wasn't already.

"Here." He held out one toned arm for you to grasp. "So you can take off your shoes."

You gave a barely-there nod. "Oh, uhm, thank you," you said, locking your hand against his forearm as you swiftly discarded the stilettos from your feet. When your aching feet met flat ground, a weight fell from your shoulders, and you lined up the pair against the wall neatly by his shoe rack.

He began trekking up the stairs, beckoning you to follow. "You can have the guestroom," he sighed, carding a hand through his hair. It stuck up in the back, you noticed whilst following him up, which meant he had probably been tossing and turning for awhile.

Everything smelled the same, felt the same.

A different weight fell upon your chest, suffocating. Was it a mistake to come here? It was all coming back to you.

And he was opening the only other bedroom door besides his on the floor, leaving the door open for you to follow. He fluffed the pillows and pulled a blanket out from the closet shelf. This room used to be for guests, not for you, but that change was your fault.

"I'll grab you something to change into," he said in the silence with one hand cupped behind the back of his neck. He didn't look at you this time. "You still know where everything is?"

"Yeah," you rasped. You cleared your throat and held your clutch in front of yourself like a pitiful shield. "Thanks, Kevin. I… I promise I'll be out of your hair by the morning."

A beat passed. You felt his eyes on you and met them.

"Just—" his arm fell to his side and tucked into the pocket of his sweats, "—take your time, Yn. Good night."

You watched him leave. "Good night."

The house was quiet again after you finished washing up in the bathroom and retreated into the guest room. Kevin could hear the door close even from the third floor in his attic studio, his feet pressed against the cool wood, eyes staring out at the half-filled canvas on the easel. He'd been stuck for awhile, having not yet decided what he wanted to do with the rest of it. This indecisiveness came with the artist's block, unfortunately.

He didn't like to admit that one of the few ways to get him out were the dozens of canvases shoved against the far corner. There was a drop cloth draped over them so he wouldn't get distracted, but… most nights he couldn't resist.

There was always something soulful about the way he painted your eyes. It had always been that, and your smile, that he intentionally captured first whenever he painted your portrait. It was a greedy, selfish attempt to keep some part of you for himself because he knew that it was and could never be like that in the real world. He knew that fact all too well.

The vision of you on his porch tonight… he'd almost believed he was dreaming.

Kevin released a frustrated huff from his mouth, rubbing his hands down his face, then up through his hair. His brushes remained untouched, canvas on the easel left undone.

He stood from his stool and quietly made his way back down to the second floor.

He could've sent you away, he thought. He could've, but did he want to?—

"Oh. Hi."

His eyes shot up at the sound of your voice, meek and soft. You stood in the doorway of the guest bedroom with his T-shirt and sweatpants hanging from your frame like it was two years ago. He lost his breath for a second; he didn't think you were still awake. "Did I wake you?" He asked, clutching the banister.

"No," you said while leaning against the door jamb. "I was… I wasn't sleeping."

That made the both of you.

"You still have bandaids in the medicine cabinet?" You asked him.

He nodded, stepping down fully onto the second floor. "Yeah. How many did you need?" He shoved the intrusive thoughts away from the forefront of his mind and replaced them with the idea of bandages. He padded over into the bathroom, turning the light on to rifle through the medicine cabinet.

Never mind that you knew where they were and that you were capable of getting them yourself—he already lost when he let you into his house.

You slipped in behind him. "Just a couple small ones is okay—for my feet."

Oh, right. He'd nearly forgotten you must have traveled all the way from across the river to get here in those god awful shoes. Not only that, but no doubt spent an entire night in them at some stuck-up, rich-prick gala—

Not now, he hushed. Most of the time, it was never your choice to even go to those functions.

He withdrew the box of Band-Aids he kept, all beat up from years of figuring out where they belonged. There was a mishmash of sizes, but most of the medium-sized ones were all gone, leaving only the extreme sizes on the spectrum. He picked out a few of the small ones for you, staring at the tile on the floor while you sat on the lid of the toilet to cover your blisters and bruises.

“I know that my showing up here unannounced was really unfair to you,” you suddenly said. He raised his head a little. You were grabbing your heel now, gently massaging your foot. “Especially at this time of night. I—” You paused, “I just—I’m sorry.”

If he didn't think about it too much, he could pretend this apology was only about you showing up unannounced, out of the blue, at an ungodly hour, and not about every other elephant in the room.

“It's okay, I understand,” he murmured. He felt his body move to settle on the edge of the bathtub across from you to take your foot from your hand to rub soothing circles into your aching bones.

You connected gazes again and he saw the flicker of gratitude in them, and something else he didn't want to see. Hope was so cruel sometimes. “You don't have to do this.”

“I know. I want to.”

It felt like college all over again, just you and him. Those four years had been some of the best years of his life—but they were filled with naïve bliss. The long, humid summer days and nights along the river; the golden light filtering through his windows as you read and he painted; the picnics on the Georgetown University lawns; the echo of your laughter against cobblestone walls and streets.

They were engraved into his memory, even with the rose-tinted lenses off.

He would call it a fever dream, but he knew you were solid and real when he held you. Your smile was real, your love was palpable. He could hear your humming in his kitchen in the evenings and feel the ghost of your arms around him in the mornings.

When you were called away by your family to fulfill filial obligations, you would always return home to him. Not them, him.

In this moment, he knew exactly what he was doing, even if he chose to pretend he didn't. Like this wouldn't lead to his heart getting broken again when all that was left of you in the morning was your perfume on his clothes and bandaid wrappers in the trash.

“So what was tonight about?” He piped up, daring another glance at you.

You shook your head. “You don't have to—”

“Only if you're comfortable.” Sometimes it helped for you to talk about it, and sometimes it didn't. He wanted to help, nonetheless. He still cared about you, after all.

You wrestled down a swallow. “It was some dumb charity that wasn't even about the charity,” you rasped, returning your bare feet to the floor when he was done rubbing the hurt away. You had to look away, and he resisted the urge to turn your chin back to him. “And something about—something about marriage.”

His heart fell to the bathroom tiles. “What?”

Marriage?

“It—it’s nothing—”

“Nothing,” he repeated, speechless.

“Not nothing,” you amended, tripping over your words. You shouldn't have mentioned it. Why would you mention it? Out of everyone, you and to say it to him. “My parents mentioned something about it, but it's just one of those things where they're urging me to start looking. I don't know. It's not arranged or anything.”

He said exactly what both of you were thinking, “Yet.”

You looked at him then. He saw the way silver lined your eyes, the hurt threatening to spill over just like what pounded against the floodgates of his heart. Yet.

If you waited any longer, who knew what your parents would do to secure a political alliance? You were a Senator's daughter, your family's jewel and pawn piece. You were born to be someone Kevin couldn't be with and god-fucking-damn did that hurt like a bitch.

They were giving you time to make your own, careful choice. It was an illusion of free will that made him seethe and ache for you.

“It's gonna be fine,” you said with little to no strength behind the words. “I'll be fine.”

Kevin stared at you. You and he had shared plenty of arguments about this exact topic before and it all ended in the same place. He didn't know what to say this time to make you say or think or do differently.

What could he possibly say to make you stay? To make you rethink your entire life and career, to make you turn your back on your own family?

“I'm sorry I said anything about this.” You sighed. “I don't know why I said anything about this.”

He swallowed. “I asked in the first place; it's okay.” His hands yearned to touch your skin, to swaddle you in his arms and rock you into assurance. He missed when he could reach over and warm your knee with his palm to silently tell you he was here and listening.

“We should try to sleep. I've taken so much of your time already. I'm sor—”

“Yn, love, stop saying you're sorry.” You didn't ask for any of this and you kept acting like you did, like it was your fault. He couldn't fault you for anything if he tried.

It looked like you were about to say something to him. He could practically taste the words that sat on your tongue.

Tell me I'm not suffering alone. Tell me that you still love me, even after all this time.

Instead, you nodded while rubbing your eye. “Okay,” you exhaled. “Thanks for the bandaids and your time.”

When you stood, so did he. He pressed a warm palm to the small of your back to lead you out of the bathroom, his other hand hitting the light switch.

He reluctantly drew his hand away from you to step towards his own bedroom.

He heard you stop, his head pathetically raising to meet you as you turned around.

“Kevin, I…” There it was again.

Oh, he wanted so badly for you to say it. But it was late and neither of you were in the right state of mind.

“Sleep on it,” he whispered. He couldn't handle any of those words exchanged now if you were going to regret it later. “Please.”

You inclined your head, lips pressing together. “Good night.”

“Good night,” he said back, for the second time tonight, and for as many opportunities as he was granted. As long as he didn't have to say goodbye instead.

Sleep refused to take you and you tossed and turned for what felt like hours. Two long hours of torture, and you gave up, throwing the sheets off your body to step over to the window. The street below was dark with only a small halo of golden light from a street lamp to provide some reprieve from the darkness. You'd always seen this back street from Kevin's bedroom, never this one. It was so odd seeing it from a different point of view.

You closed your eyes with a sigh and rested your forehead against the cool glass. What were you doing here? Why were you troubling a man who you'd already troubled before? Your being here had to be bad for the both of you, but why did your being here feel right instead? You could separate comfort from rightness anymore, couldn't find where the line was in the sand because maybe you had danced all over it before to muddle it up.

Maybe you didn't want to define it—you just wanted it to be him.

You would never forget this moment, standing with your eyes closed against a cold window pane, that you came to an understanding. You had little to no sleep in your system, but your heart hurt as much as your feet, and while there were plenty of ways to soothe sore feet, there weren't as many to heal a broken heart.

Maybe a glass of water would refresh you enough to fall asleep. It would be terrible of you to wake him up, especially when you'd bothered him this much. He had already done so much for you.

But you'd seen him just hours ago, and you'd seen the tenderness in his gaze, felt the tenderness in his touch.

The way he'd asked for you to “sleep on it” had been loaded with something. Hope was so cruel sometimes.

Your chest tightened and you pulled away from the window. You stepped over to the door to quietly open it and slip out. There was no light coming out from beneath Kevin's bedroom door, and you tiptoed across the landing to make your way downstairs.

When you'd successfully retrieved a glass of water, you climbed back up the stairs, only to freeze at the sight of Kevin stepping up onto the ones leading up to the attic. Your heart galloped at the sight of him.

“I hope I didn't wake you up,” you whispered this time, gesturing to the cup of water in your hand. “I just needed some water.”

He nodded. “Don't worry about it. Can't sleep still?” He asked.

You shook your head. Not even if you tried.

He seemed to understand, and with a sweep of his hand through his hair, he beckoned you up to the third floor with him.

You hadn't been up to the attic for as long as you had been away from Kevin. It was his studio space, somewhere he could let his creativity run wild. There were canvases pressed and stacked up against the slanted roof, paint cans and boxes of brushes off to the side, and the chaise lounge you always draped yourself over when the sun filtered in just right. It was the perfect spot to curl up with a good book, and you could feel its cushioned back imprinted against yours even now.

The memories all flooded back in one, big tidal wave and your hand tightened around your cup.

“Are you working on anything?” You asked quietly, lingering at the stair landing to sip your water. You feared you weren't allowed to venture further, as if you needed permission to wander now.

He glanced back at you from his easel stool, forehead creasing between his brows when he saw you still standing there. “Yn, you can sit,” he said, nodding to the chaise lounge. “Not really,” he confessed. “I just… I've been in a block, I guess.”

You crept over to the lounge chair and seated yourself on the edge, stiff and with your legs crossed one over the other. You leaned your forearms onto your knees, looking in the direction of Kevin, his body half blocked by the wooden easel. “Ah, I see,” you murmured. “Have you had trouble sleeping lately?”

His eyes flickered to yours. “It's… on and off. You?”

“Same.” Your mind went to what you thought about in the guest bedroom earlier. Would it be out of left field to spring it up on him? You didn't even know if he felt the same way anymore, but… but you had to try, didn't you?

Why did you come to him? Out of all the people and places in this city, your feet carried you here.

“I—” Both of you said at once, eyes clashing when you realized the other's voice was speaking.

“You first,” he said.

You shook your head. “No, please. I—I think you should go first.”

He seemed to hesitate, but relented. There was so much emotion in the way he looked at you then; the wideness of his eyes gave it all away. “Why are you here, Yn? Why are you really here?”

It was like he could read your mind. You knocked back the rest of your water and placed the empty cup on the floor a little ways from your feet so you didn't knock it over. “I,” you began, “I don't… at least, I don't consciously know.”

He pursed his lips together. “Do better than that. I know you can.”

You knew he was right; you could do better. You knew the truth, but it was a matter of how much courage you had to face it. “Kevin, I—I should've never let you go that easy, and I should've never let my judgment be swayed by my parents as it had. I'm so sorry for hurting you; you never deserved it. You never deserved any of it.

“I think,” you said, one hand grabbing your other shoulder, “after all this time, I still know who I want, and it's never been anyone but you. That's why—that’s why I'm here.” You wished you could shrink into yourself with his gaze pinned to you like it was. “And this is all so unfair to you—I know. I know it is, and I am so, so sorry.”

You would bear your entirety to him in hopes that he believed you and saw your sincerity. Because while your parents had raised you to be their perfect daughter, they missed the part when you fell hopelessly in love with your best friend from college. It tore you apart that day they forced you to part ways with him—you knew it did just the same to him, too.

Kevin was quiet for a moment with a pensive expression on his face burning into his floorboards. He suddenly stood and made his way over to you, your body shifting to make room for him on the chaise. The pair of you sat side by side with your shoulders and legs pressed against each other, sharing the other's warmth.

“I don't blame you if you're bitter,” you said. “I would be, too. And you can kick me out if that makes you feel better, because I…”

“Don't say it's because you deserve it.”

You tilted your gaze over to him.

He shook his head. “You don't deserve it. You hurt me, yes, but I know why you did it and I can't blame you for it, no matter how hard I try.” He turned his gaze up to the ceiling for a moment. “Sometimes I wish I had been born in a different position so neither of us would have to hurt so much.”

Your chest ached.

“It's not your fault,” you said. “Kevin, it was never your fault.”

His smile curled into something somber as his hand reached over to thumb your cheek. “I know it's not. And it's not yours either.”

For a moment, his hand lingered, and you let it.

“Don't marry someone else,” he said so quietly you thought you'd imagined it. But there was that tenderness in his eyes then, loving and imploring, and you knew you hadn't just kidded yourself.

His hand went to cup the side of your face. “I can't—” he swallowed, “I can't stomach that thought. I love you too much to see you unhappy.” His words were slurring together, voice watery, as he attempted to cover it up by pressing his lips to your hairline.

“I love you so much it hurts,” you told him in earnest. “Of course I'd run back here to you. It's always been you.” No amount of parental control could change that. They could never choose who you fell in love with when your heart was yours to give.

Kevin shifted to press his lips against yours, soft and cautious, giving you the space to back out. You reciprocated though, hands coming up to cup his face. And as you kissed, a sense of comfort settled over you, something akin to contentment, like knowing this was where you were meant to be. All the worries and heartache melted away for one split second of bliss that you found in a man whom you loved too much to let go.

His nose gently bumped against yours, his thumb caressing your cheekbone affectionately. “I love you. You can break my heart when you leave in the morning, but let me have this at least.”

“You can have this, and you can have me,” you said, nodding against him. You were going to fight this time; you would fight until you bled because you would be damned if you let him go so easily a second time. “You've always had me.”

a/n: i have to be up early tmr as usual... but i hope u didn't get bored by all the wordiness sjfbdkdn

tbz m.list

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anarchiii · 5 months ago

Text

Worlds apart-13 —ACOTAR x TOG AU

Part Thirteen | warnings: angst, blood, violence, | Azriel x Celaena Sardothien

Summary; pain and sorrow one after the other, Azriel decides that maybe he isn’t meant for this world, but maybe for another…

Note: this is an AU it’s not in the books.

Masterlist / Series Masterlist

Azriel’s POV

“What’s wrong with you, boy?” Amren snapped, clearly having enough of his tensed body and impatience, everything, he almost wanted to say, everything was wrong, it had started an hour ago when he woke up to a nightmare where he watched as Celaena choked to death on her own blood right infront of a door, a human man simply watching her die, he stood there and could no nothing. It had felt so real. So real in fact that his love seemed to watch him as she lay there, tears falling from her beautiful eyes.

“She’s in danger,” he finally said, whispering more like it, what if she was dying right now, dead even? “Who?” He could barely think straight, she could be suffering right now and he wasn’t doing anything, “Celaena, I can feel it, I need to help her.” She looked up at him. Her eyes a blazing silver, she nodded once, eyes landing back on the book she was reading, after a few more minutes she said, startling him, “I’ve got it,” he immediately got up. A small spark of hope filling his chest but he ignored it.

“Let’s do it,” he said, before she could say anything, “right now, this very moment,” this was the first time he had seen the Firedrake look concerned but she didn’t disagree, besides, if it didn’t work, Rhysand and the inner circle would never know, they didn’t have much time if what he suspected was true, his family would understand, they had to.

She nodded again, running out of the Day Court library and down a long winding staircase, he didn’t ask where she was going, just followed, by the time they were reaching the bottom, he was out of breath, the exhaustion of running and barely sleeping for weeks could come later, love first.

“Grab Truth-teller and make a semi-deep cut along your forearm, don’t ask questions just do,” Amren snapped, dropping to the cold stone floor and flipping through the book violently, he indeed didn’t ask questions, just did, he made the cut, his blood flowing quickly. The ruby liquid like a river. Amren grabbed his harm harshly before dipping her child-sized fingers into the liquid and drawing marks on the ground, the same marks Celaena had drawn, though there was a difference between then and now, he was not afraid, he would not be afraid.

He forgot how terrifying it was, standing infront of the sickly green portal that would lead him—hopefully—to his darling, if he could even call her that, perhaps he would come all this way and show himself fully to her just for her to send him back home, when she didn’t realise that she was his love, was this all for nothing? Was he so pathetic that the first person that had shown him a love that wasn’t platonic made him think and act like this? No, this couldn’t all be for nothing.

He shook his head, trying to disperse those thoughts, Amren was eyeing him but said nothing, she had been incredibly patient, it was almost like she knew something he didn’t, there was no other reason for her to act in such a manner, she started tapping her foot on the floor impatiently, but still stayed silent, everything was so odd— right. He had to go now. If it was anything like last time then the portal would not be here much longer.

Breathing in deeply and exhaling, he went through it, picturing nothing but her lovely face, that pure smile that made her look goddess-like, the strawberry blush that covered her cheeks when he said something about her, the way she put her hands on her hips to prove a point not realising that she was like a beautiful siren to his sailor, the beautiful maiden seducing the unprepared guard, she was his temptress without even trying. Lovely.

He landed face-first on a marble checkered floor, the first thing he noticed was the haughty laughter and clinking of glasses all around him, he got up, groaning as the pain retested in his nose, he ignored it, everyone around him was in dresses and suits, except him. People around him were eyeing him and some blushing as they took in his body but relatively ignored him, Azriel bestowed the same upon them.

He also noticed a mousy-brown haired man watching him from a wall, in the same moment, another plain looking man appeared and instead walked up to him and offered a glass of champagne, he refused a couple of times but the man didn’t stop insisting so he grabbed the glass but didn’t drink it, he keep surveying his surroundings but there was no sign of Celaena anywhere, but if his dream was right, then she was near a wooden door. And she looked like she was in a hallway. The servants quarters, kitchens, or even power-rooms were his guesses.

He didn’t think to hard on it as he started running down halls and rooms, his surroundings seemed to become more familiar from the dream so he kept going, he was nearly there to where I knew Celaena was when something hard hit his head, he slammed into a wall but got up instantly and drew Truth-teller—the blade mercifully staying with him this time—he turned and faced the wait from before. He drew a simple long dagger and threw it—aiming for his head. Thankfully, he missed, moving to the side before welding his blade and slicing along his neck, the man bled out instantly and fell to the floor, not even a worthy opponent.

He didn’t linger long, wiping the blood off of his blade quickly and breaking out into a run as he raced to find his love, small puddles of blood lay on the floor, the further he went the larger they became, what the Hell? Bodies started appearing, the inflicted wounds janky and uneven, their eyes still open. Gazing to the covered sky. No matter what they had done—he still sent a silent prayer for them to whatever Gods inhabited this world, the Mother was not here to save him, she never had. Anyway.

He slowed down as to not slip and stopped, listening for anything, anything that could help, he heard gurgling, choking even, he turned another corner and beheld the sight in front of him, there she was, her sweat-covered forehead leaning against the doorframe of that oak door. Blood spilling out from her wicked mouth. Her lovely skin covered in old—and new—blood, blood, there was so much of it.

He slammed to his knees and came before his lovely Fire, her eyes flicked to his but held no emotion, the golden ring in them gone dull, she was dying, the woman he had dreamed about every second he had been away from, dying—suffering, he didn’t know what to do. Azriel had planned everything he was going to do and say to her when he was here but now. . . Now he was here. He was completely lost.

Her expression grew pained as time went on and he got enough sense to act, he took off his shirt and ripped it up into strips, wiping away all the blood to see what he was working with, she bore many wounds but he knew those were not the main cause, it was invisible, poison. He looked to the oak door and, before he could think straight, put his whole body weight into it and started shoving into it, it didn’t take long for the door to snap off its hinges and bang open, he rushed to the sink and started collecting water. Washing Celaena’s wounds and making her drink the liquid. He didn’t know what to do, he wasn’t very familiar with poison, only using it a handful of times, and the Cauldron knew what poisons people used in this world, Azriel had no antidote. He was useless.

He started crying then, utterly useless, perhaps this was his punishment for all the horrible things he’d done in his lifetime, forced to watch his heart stop in front of him, he didn’t stop the tears, didn’t stop them as they fell onto her pretty face, she was crying as well, neither could tell which tears were their own. He rested his brow on hers, closing his eyes and wishing to anyone that would listen to save her.

He heard the panting of breath first, he turned his head slightly to see Dorian rushing their way, covered head to toe in blood, a dagger hanging from his grip, his face laced with anguish as he took in his friend—friends, Celaena made a small whimpering sound as she spotted him, the Prince got on his knees as grabbed her hand, rubbing his thumb across the scarred-skin, “I’m sorry,” he breathed, “I’m so damn sorry. Cel. I left you for five minutes and they attacked me, I fought them off the best I could—I see you did aswell,” a soft laugh accompanied by a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, “it was my Father that sent the men, he tried to take us both out, I should’ve known this would happen, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. . .” The Crown-prince was shaking with barely contained tears.

This was all his fault, it was his fault Celaena Sardothien and Dorian Havillard were suffering, being punished for being good, being fare, these humans were infinitely better than him and yet they were suffering, it was cruel, it was torture. It was injustice.

He distantly heard panicked yelling—for the Champion and her friend, not him,—the stomping of feet and clashing of swords against swords, yet no one moved, there was no point, not when time was running out, her heart would only beat so long. A person could only be so strong for so long.

He heard a shocked gasp as those loud footsteps stopped, he didn’t turn around this time, though, he did react when a strong hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back, he just kept staring at those lovely eyes, the dulled blue that had once been brighter than the sky, she was the light he had been searching for-for centuries. And now that light was going out. The fire in her was getting smothered.

“Azriel!” He heard someone yell in his ear, he came to, realising it was Chaol, he turned his head, looking into the man’s eyes, he didn’t move, just met eyes with her again, watching as her breathing turned slower, how she closed her eyes and didn’t open them for longer periods of time, he heard the Captain swear—a colourful combination—he pushed him aside and ran to his friend, holding her face in his hands. Azriel just watched. He watched as Chaol yelled for the antidote, watched as Dorian was dragged away by struggling guards, their expressions apologetic.

He watched, just as he had done his whole life, the only thing he had ever been good at—apart from killing and torturing, but that was and never would be something he was proud of,—he watched as one of Chaol’s men shoved a strange liquid down Celaena’s throat. Blood kept flowing from out her mouth but she swallowed. Nothing happened, it was too late, it would never work, he saw the truth in her eyes, she knew this was the end.

He crawled over the blood to her, putting his scarred hands that were so beautiful to her on her face, the marks looked so strange on her un-marred skin, beauty and the beast, he kissed her lightly, his lips staining with the scarlet liquid, he looked deep into her eyes. Hazel orbs meeting those of cerulean. Water and earth. The perfect clash.

In that moment, he used all the power he had to beg to the Gods, to anything, that he would do anything to let her live, even if that meant the end of him, he used everything he had to ask for mercy, he felt a strange thing flow through him, like a curious cat rubbing against his legs. Though its voice was older than the obsidian blade that lay discarded mere-meters away, “and what would you give me in return?” It purred. “Anything” he whispered, anything.

“Your soul, even?” Curious, to see what he would do for love, “my soul, yes,” it made a humming noise, like it was contemplating its options, if it could even do that, “your love will live, but you will not be standing by her side while she does, that is your price, if you visit this world again I will see to it that your Fae girl will perish.” It said. It’s voice cold and cruel, and—Fae girl? Celaena was fae, well, that wasn’t much of a shock but. . . Why didn’t she tell him? It made so much sense now, that un-earthly grace she held, the beauty she possessed that no human should have. Fae. He would’ve laughed in any other circumstances. But not this one.

“Okay, yes, i agree, but give me at least ten minutes with her,” he said at last, Chaol and Dorian were giving eachother wary glances as they watched Azriel talk to himself, he didn’t care, though, not when he felt the thing nod its head and watched in wonder as Celaena’s face brightened ever so slightly, her breathe evening out, it had worked, it had damn worked!

He kissed her again and again, he knew his time was running out now but he had enough time to kiss her, everyone else excused themselves, their faces full of shock and amazement at Celaena Sardothien’s recovery, but he didn’t care. He looked at the assassin again. Fearful for their time to end.

He tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, brushing his fingers down her cheek, his beautiful, wicked thing, the woman with a heart of fire, his Fireheart, he had to leave her and yet he had never loved her more, the lady who walked with death by her side, the girl that smiled at the sun that rose and frowned at the sun that set, the female that kissed the scars on his hands and called them beautiful, she would make a great queen. And an even better lover.

He kissed her once more, the last time before grabbing a folded up piece of paper from his pocket and placing it in her hands gently, she didn’t move to pick it up or read it but that was fine, she didn’t have to, he didn’t cry this time, no, he smiled. Smiled as he looked deep into her eyes and said, no pain in his voice, “I have loved you from the very first moment I saw you, you were—and are, incredible. Never in my five hundred years of existence have I met someone like you. And I damn well hope the person that steals your heart realises that, you and I both knew this wouldn’t last, no matter how hard we wished it otherwise, there is a female in my world who is just as amazing, and I think you would love her, she’s not you—and never will be. But I think it would be easy for me to love her. As easy as it was to love you.” She nodded her head slowly, still dazed but seemed to understand what he was getting at.

“What is her name?” She got out, her eyes held no agony or jealousy, just pure, unfiltered love, he smiled, showing all his teeth, “her name is Gwyneth Berdara,” she smiled at that, copying his, she hit his shoulder in a playful way before saying, “very well, send me a solstice card,” he laughed, it wasn’t loud but it was full. Gods he adored this woman.

“You can count on it,” he said, she laughed softly at that, he kissed her head in goodbye before getting up, Azriel Shadowsinger was still smiling as he grabbed Truth-teller and made a return portal, and he was still smiling when he arrived back in the Day Court library, he was moving instantly, hugging Amren quickly before flying back home to Velaris.

He landed hard on the main balcony of the House of Wind but shook it off and made his way to the library, Clotho letting him in with a wink and a smirk, he ran through stacks and stacks of books and papers, the Priestesses curious but didn’t stop him, he kept running. And then he saw her—

He pulled to a stop right in front of her, her copper hair shining in the light of the candles, she didn’t reject him when he put his hands on her face, warm skin meeting that of cold, nor did she pull away when he put his lips against hers, no, Gwyn just kissed him back.

Yes, both Azriel and Celaena had a lot of healing to do but that would come with time, he knew the assassin was strong and would survive and not only that but flourish, but him on the other hand? He wanted this incredible Valkyrie by his side as he did, he wanted to wake up to her teal eyes sparkling and know she wasn’t going anywhere, to know she saw all of him and embraced it.

Celaena Sardothien and Gwyneth Berdara were similar in a lot of ways, but also so, so different, and he loved that, Azriel would never stop loving the haughty female that shone like the sun but he also had a lot more love to give, love that was reserved for the sassy red head and her only. His Oristian.

Celaena’s POV (bonus)

Everything hurt, and not just physically, not as Azriel said what he had said and handed her a piece of paper and simply left, she knew things would end badly but like this? Celaena had no idea what or who he had been whispering to before—because she’d slipped in and out consciousness many times—but all she did know was that whatever he had done, had worked. And she was so, so grateful, but. . . Now he was gone, she was alone again. Well, not really.

Dorian sat next to her, his eyes vacant as a few Royal healers patched him up, said Healers did the same to her, working quickly and quietly, no more than ghosts, she had stopped crying some time ago but her eyes still burned, her body still shook. She had nearly died. That wasn’t something someone got over instantly, Celaena had a feeling it would be a while of healing. Especially with the news.

It had gotten out that the King had attempted to assassinate his Champion and Son and the public had been outraged, revolting against him and seemingly snapping, it seemed all the citizens had gotten sick of the Rules he’d in-forced, and, rightfully so. Many people had-had enough of their family members being sent to Endovier or its sister camp, Caculla, the Assassin couldn’t help but agree with them.

But what had shocked her the most was that one of the King of Ardalan’s court members had gone rouge and killed the man, stabbing him right through the heart with his Rapier, she had been incredibly amused to hear that, apparently the old bastard was right, there were a lot of traitors working for him. Though, Dorian hadn’t found it amusing, simply nodding and staring at nothing, like he had been doing for two hours now.

She couldn’t find it in her cold heart to feel sorry for him. No, not as she remembered how much the man had made her and her family suffer for so many years, he deserved it, everyone in Erelia could breathe.

Sighing, she finally decided to open the folded paper the Shadowsinger had given her, it was relatively new but still had a few ink stains on it and lots of folded marks, as if he had opened and closed it many times before giving it to her. She breathed in—this was the only thing she could ever remember him by, faintly, she could smell the night-chilled mist and leather of his sent, and if she tried hard enough. She could almost imagine that lovely smile of his that she adored so well, her Azriel—closing her eyes for a second, she exhaled and began reading. . .

‘Celaena Sardothien-

I write you this to tell you all the things I could not voice out loud, if you are reading this then we did indeed not last, it pains me that we did not get to see how far our love went for one another but I think, even with the short amount of time we had together, that it was one of the happiest few weeks of my life, I have lived a long life but experiencing such a short amount with you has made me realise how unfulfilling it was without you in it, you made me feel alive.

I hope this letter finds you well and I hope that you are happier now or are getting there, you deserve all the joyous moments that you will have, I have never meant anything more than that—except for when I told you I loved you, perhaps I love another person when you’re reading this but you will always hold a special place in my heart, I hope the man that steals your fiery heart is worthy of it. And I hope he knows how damn lucky he is. A piece of my heart will forever belong to you, even when we both are nothing more than dust, I am yours and you are mine, just in a different world. Star-crossed lovers, remember?

—Azriel Shadowsinger’

The End. (Actually)

Note: this series is finished, I know it might not seem like much to some but this series kept me going when I was having a rough time and that is why I want to say a special thank you to these people;

-A big thank you to @cynthiesjmxazrielslover for supporting me through this all, I know we are only mutuals but you are a great friend to me and I couldn’t have done this without you, you’re my motivator and my inspiration, I love you girl, stay amazing. 🫶

-A big thank you to @azrielslittleslut for liking and believing In this series from the start, your stories are a huge inspiration and I aspire to one day write as beautifully as you do, Mwah. ❤️

-A big thank you to @shadowsingercassia for loving all of the chapters and making me want to keep going, you appeared halfway through the series but you might as well have been here since I started writing, your love for what I do has helped me more than you could’ve imagined, I know I am not a very big or popular writer but the one little like you give me amounts to hundreds others could give. I love you so, so much. Keep being the person you are. 🫶

-some thank you’s to @aelincaddel, @yashiw, and @snoopyspace for loving this series so much that you asked to be on the taglist, that little thing has meant so much to me. Thank you, lovelies. ❤️

Thank you once again everyone, even if you just liked one of the chapters from this series and no other, or rebloged one or even commented, thank you, that small gesture of appreciation made my day. The epilogue for this series is already written and I hope you all like it. I know some people wanted Celaena and Azriel to end up together but—sadly—that didn’t happen, but I hope the ending was still good. If anyone has any questions about something in the series. Please do ask.

I love you all so much and I hope to make more stories that are just as entertaining. ❤️❤️

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arc852 · 5 months ago

Text

Shattered Reflections Ch. 2

Chapter Summary: Skizz delegates himself to finding them some food and water. But as he is searching, he comes across some giants.

Warnings: amnesia, frustration, and worry

Word Count: 2559

Part 1 | AO3 Link

Sorry for the long wait! But chapter two is finally here! And hopefully this story will be updated more frequently now. I hope you guys enjoy!

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The wood had already been rotting away, so it was easy for Skizz and Joel to hack away enough of it in order to make an entrance. Inside was actually pretty roomy. The hollowness of the tree went up a good amount, making the ceiling plenty high for the two of them. That was something Skizz had been a bit nervous about. He was a pretty tall guy for a borrower after all. But thankfully, low ceilings and tight spaces didn’t seem to be a problem in this tree.

The actual area itself was nice and big too. Enough for him and Joel to comfortably be in the same space. He looked over to Joel, noticing how the other borrower seemed to be in deep thought. “Whatcha thinkin’?” Skizz asked, watching as Joel blinked out of his thoughts and turned to look at Skizz.

“Huh? Oh, just thinking of what we can do in here to make it more…I guess homely? Livable?” Joel waved his hand around. “Whatever you want to say.”

That was fair. Despite the space, it was still a hollowed out tree. It was dark, dusty, musty, and dirty. Not too different from walls though, if Skizz was being honest. So it shouldn’t take them much to get it cleaned and ready to live in.

“We can probably use some of the fallen leaves to get this dust out of here.” Skizz suggested, kicking some of the dust around as he mentioned it.

Joel nodded along but was mainly focused on one of the walls. He squinted at it and then held his hands up in a sort of square shape. “That would probably work.” He said in regards to Skizz’s suggestion. “I was also thinking we could hack away here for a window, in order to get some light in here. Maybe one on the other side as well.” Oh, so that’s what Joel was doing. Picturing what a window would look like. Skizz couldn’t help but agree.

“Yeah, can’t exactly start a fire in here for some light.” The tree would quickly burn down if they tried. Though, speaking of a fire, it might be good to get one going soon. Outside, of course, and far enough away from the tree. They also had food to worry about and one of them would have to take a trip down to the river to get some water at some point.

As Skizz looked toward Joel, who still seemed to be in thought about this new space, Skizz decided he would take it upon himself to worry about those things as Joel dealt with their shelter. He decided to say as much. “Hey, as long as it’s okay with you, how about we split up? You can work on the shelter and I’ll worry about getting us some food and water.” Skizz suggested.

Joel blinked and looked back over at Skizz. “Oh…yeah, that sounds good.” Joel said with a nod. “Thanks Skizz. Let me know if you need any help.”

Skizz nodded back and grinned. “Same to you!”

As Joel got back to his thoughts, Skizz walked back outside and grabbed some of the bark they tore away from the trunk, crafting a pick-like tool out of that and the pebbles on the ground. With a real tool now in hand Skizz looked around the area, searching for anything that might give them a steady food source.

He wasn’t having much luck from here though, so he decided to start walking, leaving the shaded area under the tree for the first time. He decided to head toward the river. If anything he could get some water to bring back, but he was also hoping for some wild crops that had maybe decided to grow alongside the river.

It was quite the trek away and Skizz felt a bit anxious leaving his buddy behind, even if just for a little bit. But he knew Joel was safe inside of the tree. Safer than Skizz, actually. Skizz was the one in danger, out in the open fields like this. He gripped his pick tighter, keeping an eye out not only for food but for any potential dangers.

Thankfully, he made it to the river with no problems. Well, except for one. As Skizz walked closer to the water, he had the sudden realization that he didn’t actually have a way of getting any water back over to their base. Skizz facepalmed at his own stupidity before looking around the river bed for anything he might be able to use to make a makeshift bucket.

There was only mud, dirt, and a few sticks around. Maybe if he compacted some mud and dirt together into a bowl shape? But no, the water would probably just seep into it. Skizz sighed and ran a hand through his hair. It looked like he would have to wait on the water for now. He turned his focus onto the area by the river, trying to see if anything crop-like was popping out of the ground. He didn’t see anything though, the bank of the river only seeming to hold mud and some weeds. It seemed he was leaving completely empty handed.

“Great.” He muttered to himself as he turned around and started heading back toward the tree. “You had one job Skizz…” He prepared himself for Joel to make fun of him for not making or bringing anything to put the water in but as he walked, slowly, the ground below him started to shake.

It started out as faint tremors. Barely noticeable. But it only seemed to continue and grow. Skizz stopped and looked around, knowing that the shaking meant something big was headed this way. He kept his eyes peeled for some kind of animal, maybe a cow or sheep. But his eyes widened as he noticed, in the distance, a borrower’s worst fear.

Giants.

Skizz didn’t even think, diving behind some foliage as soon as he noticed them heading in his direction and hoping they would move past him quickly. His heart beat rapidly in his chest as the giants came upon his hiding spot. There were four of them in total and all four of them were massive. Skizz felt dizzy trying to look up all the way at their faces. It was just his luck though, as the four stopped just short of where he was hidden, now standing only a few feet away from where he was.

“I still can’t believe X is just starting the season as normal.” One of them said, sounding very frustrated. Skizz shivered at that. He didn’t want to get found by a giant normally but an angry or frustrated one was the lowest on the list. Skizz also couldn’t help but note that he appeared to have giant parrot-like wings folded against his back. Something in the back of his mind told him that meant this particular giant was something called an avian hybrid. The term sounded familiar but Skizz was unsure where he knew that from.

“I know, I don’t really like it either...But you heard what he said. They’re actually on the server. The best way to find them is to have all of us split up.” The only girl of the group said, as far as Skizz could tell anyway. Again, it was hard to see any of their faces, but he could just make out the fact that she had red hair.

“I still don’t like it. Having different search parties scouring the server is one thing but having us start as normal? I just…” The one with wings said, his wings drooping a bit behind him as he trailed off. The frustration was still there but Skizz could tell there was now some worry behind it all.

“We just gotta trust X, right? If they’re on the server, then they’re pretty safe wherever they are.” Another one of the giants said. This one appeared to be using a cane, at least that’s what Skizz thought it was anyway. This giant also appeared to have scars across his body, which Skizz compared to his own. It was weird seeing a giant with so many scars. “Besides, X has a lot more people to think about then just them.” The scarred up giant continued.

The avian hybrid grumbled. “Yeah, yeah…it doesn’t mean we have to be happy about it though.”

“We can still spend most of our time looking for them.” The scarred giant said, leaning just a bit more on his cane. “But we should probably find where we want to base too.”

“...That mountain in front of us looks pretty nice.” The avian pointed out, sounding a bit defeated.

“Yeah, maybe the four of us could base around it?” The girl giant said, trying to lift the mood a bit.

Suddenly, the scarred giant stood up straight and lifted his hand to cup above his eyes. “Wait…is that Mumbo over there?” He sounded excited and that was all the warning any of them got before he took off in that direction.

“Wha- Scar!” The one with wings called out, said wings fluffing up as he took off after Scar. Scar, huh? Considering he was calling him the scarred giant in his head, that was quite the accurate name.

That left the girl and the one giant that hadn’t spoken the entire time they had all been there. He couldn’t help but take in the fact that this giant appeared to be a hybrid as well, though this one was less obvious than the avian. The only thing Skizz could really make out from where he was, was the forked tail hanging limply behind him. Skizz kept watching as the girl placed a hand on the guy’s upper back. “You okay?”

The guy sighed. “I just…don’t get it. Where are they?” He spoke quietly, his tone confused but also sad. But Skizz was more focused on just how familiar his voice was. It rattled in his ears like he had heard it a million times before. But that wasn’t possible. Why would a giant’s voice be familiar to him?

He tuned back in just as the girl spoke again. “I don’t know. But we’ll find them, okay?” She was rubbing comforting circles across his upper back now. “We’ll find them.”

“Yeah…” He said, though he didn’t quite sound convinced, and then both walked away, following after their friends.

Skizz still refused to move from his hiding spot until he was sure the giants were far enough away. He could still hear them in the distance, which was not ideal, but they shouldn’t be able to see him anymore at least. So Skizz took the chance and ran back to the tree they had both deemed their shelter.

“Joel! We’ve got a problem!” Skizz shouted as soon as he ran inside the tree, his heart beating fast in his chest. Being so close to the giants must have affected him more than he thought. Joel jumped at Skizz’s sudden entrance and turned to face Skizz with a look of surprise on his face.

“What? Skizz, what are you on about?” Joel asked with a raised brow, setting the leaf he had been using to dust the area up against the wall.

Along with his increased heart rate, Skizz’s breaths were heavy from how fast he had run. But he managed to catch it as he continued. “We’ve got giants.”

Joel’s eyes widened and then narrowed. “What?” He hissed out. Skizz motioned for him to follow and both borrowers exited the tree and rounded the corner a bit. They stayed close to the trunk and Skizz pointed in the direction the giants were still talking in.

“See? There’s five of them and I think they’re planning on basing on that mountain. Or around it.” Skizz said, recounting what he had heard. He didn’t understand a lot of what they had said, something about trying to find someone maybe? But the most important thing was the fact that they were going to be living so close to the two of them.

“That’s not good.” Joel said before pulling back. Skizz followed Joel back to the front of the tree. “That’s really close to where we are. Too close.”

Skizz hummed in agreement. The thought of having the giants so close was nerve-wracking to say the least. “Do we…move?” When Skizz looked back at Joel, the other borrower appeared to be in deep thought.

“No, no we got a good thing going for us here.” Joel said, motioning to the tree. It was true, not a lot of trees would be hollowed out already like this one was. And it was the closest tree to their only known water source right now. “But…maybe this is actually a good thing.”

Skizz blinked. “What? How is this a good thing?” Skizz asked, not understanding. How could giants living so close to them be anywhere close to a good thing?

Joel sent him a look. “Skizz, we’re borrowers. What do we do?” Joel asked instead, looking to Skizz to figure out what he already had.

Skizz frowned but answered. “We borrow.”

Joel raised an eyebrow. “From?”

“From gia-oh…” Skizz trailed off, realization hitting him. Joel just laughed and patted him on the back.

“If they really are basing so close, that means we’ll have easy access to their food and supplies.” Joel continued, looking toward the mountain. The giants had moved, now in sight from their position in front of the tree but still far enough away where they didn’t have to worry. “Looks like we won’t be roughing it out here after all.”

Skizz nodded, finally seeing the blessing for what it was. But there was still a sense of dread deep down in his gut whenever he thought about borrowing from the giants. It was a strange feeling to have, shouldn’t he be used to it? He’s been a borrower his whole life. Maybe it was the amnesia, or maybe borrowers never got rid of that feeling of fear at the sight of beings larger than them. Skizz felt the latter was more accurate.

As Joel continued to talk and make plans, Skizz’s gaze couldn’t help but wander back over to the giants. From this angle, he could see them more clearly. And his eyes wouldn’t leave the one with a tail. Now that he could see him more clearly, he was able to see the horns that grew from his head and the claws at the end of his fingers. Even with this updated information though, Skizz still wasn’t sure what kind of hybrid he was.

He had never seen this giant before in his life. But for some reason, something was pulling on Skizz’s chest. Pounding in his head. Skizz winced as the pounding grew into a headache and he turned away as he rubbed at his head.

Right, he needed to focus. Food and water. Now that he was back at base, he could use the things lying around to make some sort of bucket to grab water with. As far as food went, they should be fine until they could borrow some from the giants.

Skizz got to work, tuning back in to what Joel was saying and letting himself forget about the strangely familiar giant.

#g/t #giant/tiny #hermitcraft #hermitcraft g/t #hermitfic #mcyt g/t #borrowers #kind of #shrinking #tiny skizz #tiny joel #shattered reflections #au #part 2 #chapter 2 #amnesia #fanfiction #hermitcraft fanfic

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thisblogisaboutabook · 1 year ago

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Cowboy Like Me - Part 5

Azriel x Reader

Reader is introduced to the rest of the Inner Circle, Elain included. Azriel feels awkward. Nyx is adorable. Amren does what Amren does best and throws shade.

Part 3 Part 4 Part 6

Warnings: suggestive language, alcohol

The “River House” as it was so lovingly referred to was stunning and not a house in the slightest. It was an estate, and a massive one at that. I was able to hide my awe at the size of it upon arriving to the grounds but any mask of indifference disappeared as I stepped inside.

The air inside welcomed me with the aromas of seasoned foods and warm bread. Fresh flowers and art decorated the entry hall of the manor - loving, thoughtful intricacies decorated the attached living area along with cozy furniture and amenities. Somehow the High Lord and High Lady managed to turn this grand estate into a home. The sounds of laughter from another room were enough to tell me that this was a home of love and not the cold, indifferent atmosphere of many in the upper echelon of Prythian.

Before I could explore, Mor grabbed my arm and whisked me up the grand staircase. “Come on! Let’s indulge in the riches of our excursion.” Her full lips spread into a warm smile.

The room - her room - was exactly what I’d picture for the female. It was somehow luxurious if a bit sultry, while warm and welcoming, much like she was. She took my hand, leading me to a large oak vanity. With a flick of her wrist, the pocket realm revealed our spoils. Rummaging through them, Mor pulled out cosmetics from one of the boutiques we’d stopped in. I went to reach for the items but Mor swatted my hand away. “I know you’re capable of doing your own makeup but I believe I’ve got many years of experience on you. Pleaseeee, may I do your makeup? Please, please, please?”

She made a show of the pleading forming a pout on her lips, batting thick eyelashes as if she were a child trying to win over their parents.

I giggled. “Fiiiiine. Do your worst, Morrigan.”

She clapped, letting out a squeal. “Only my best for you, dear.”

An hour later my face was made up - lips painted a sultry red, kohl lightly lining my eyes, my eyelashes so thick that I likely could blink and blow half the estate away. One half of my hair fell over my shoulder in loose waves while the other was pinned back, accentuating my high cheek bones and pointed ears. A gorgeous blue dress that wasn’t too formal for dinner but was definitely a bit…. extra, fit me like an extra layer of skin. Fortunately, if I was overdressed, Mor would be too as she wore the same, only in red.

Gazing in the mirror I had to admit. I did look pretty damned beautiful. The dress hugged my curves perfectly, accentuating my feminine figure.

“Your boobs look AMAZING.” Mor shamelessly exclaimed as she smoothed out the front of her dress before looking down to admire her own cleavage.

“Says you” I smirked. “You look divine.”

“We are quite the double-threat.” She laughed. “Come on, let’s introduce you to the rest of the family and eat. I’m STARVING.”

“It hasn’t been that long since we ate!” I laughed.

“What’s that have to do with anything? Besides, the sooner we eat, the sooner we can break into the expensive wines.”

With that, she extended her arm and led me downstairs.

———————————-

Mor led me into a seating area where Nesta was sitting with a female who looked like a softer version of her. Not the High Lady, so this must be the third Archeron sister, Elain.

Mor’s demeanor shifted slightly as we entered the room, walking toward Nesta who looked up from her book to greet me “Hello, Y/N.”

I smiled. “Hello Nesta, I missed having our lesson together today. I’m rather eager to brush up on my ballroom dancing skills soon.”

The silver-eyed female smirked with a hint of amusement that only a trained eye could spot “It’s not you who needs the extra work, it’s the toe-stepper.”

I huffed a small laugh. Her and Mor were so different yet both felt like they could have been good friends in another life, had I been born into this circle.

I turned to the doe-eyed female next to her about to introduce myself when Azriel entered the room gaze fixed on Nesta. “It was one time! You two are never going to let that go, are you?”

Elain tensed as his gaze shifted to her from Nesta, he nodded his head in greeting before turning toward me.

When his eyes met mine, he froze, that intense hazel gaze sweeping from my head to my toes and back up again, twice. I could have sworn his gaze fixed on my chest for a moment before he met my eyes again. “You look…” he paused, then glanced slightly to the side, seemingly remembering who was in the room. “Nice.”

Mor scoffed. “Nice? I know you’re not a male of many words, Az, but nice? I’d go with ethereal, like a goddess, a deity.” She rolled her eyes, scoffing once Mor. “Nice.”

Azriel said nothing as Mor again took my arm, “Come on, Y/N, let’s go speak with people who will appreciate your naturally gorgeous features and my incredible skills in enhancing them.”

A part of me begged to feel disappointment in Azriel’s choice of words but, words meant so little when his eyes said so much. Perhaps he still had a relationship with Elain? Perhaps they didn’t have one but he didn’t want to hurt her? Perhaps he was completely indifferent and… ugh. Again, why does it matter? He’s a colleague and nothing more. He owes me nothing.

Mor and I entered the dining room to find Rhysand, “Rhys” as he told me to call him and the High Lady. “High Lady” I curtsied, “it’s a pleasure to meet you, officially.”

“Hello Y/N,” a soft smile graced her face, her gray-blue eyes fixed softly on me. “It’s nice to have you here. I do remember briefly seeing you during the encounter in the Summer Court but it’s nice to truly meet you.”

“Thank you, High Lady.”

A booming laugh echoed through the room as a broad, tall Illyrian male entered the space, taking up most of the large entryway. Cassian, I recalled. The general of the Night Court’s armies, the fearsome Lord of Bloodshed.

“High Lady? Since when does family dinner have such formality?”

He turned toward me with a wicked grin. “Hi, I’m Cassian. Just Cassian. And you must be my new favorite person - the one who hit Az with that baguette.”

I blushed, hiding a laugh. “It’s nice to meet you, Just Cassian. I’m Y/N.”

Cassian’s eyes lit up at his humor being met by my own cheesy attempt at a joke. “Az didn’t tell me you were so….” His cheeks puffed as he blew out air “So…” with both palms extended, he gestured to me in an up and downward motion. Clearly my figure was not lost on him. Under typical circumstances, this would have been awkward but I could sense that this was, well, just Cassian.

“Oh good gods.” Mor muttered. “You males are truly terrible at complimenting an attractive female.”

Rhys mocked offense, striding up to me only halting a step away. “Y/N, darling. You look exquisite.” then proceeded to take my hand and press a kiss to the back of it.

Feyre’s eyes lit up at the gesture, clearly adept at enduring her husband’s antics. “You really do look stunning, Y/N. And, as I would have told you before Cassian butt into our conversation, please just call me Feyre.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet all of you. Truly.”

At that moment, a shadow-wraith with High Fae features entered the room holding a babbling and insanely adorable winged toddler. “Oh, the wraith said. I didn’t realize there was… company” she eyed me for a moment before returning her gaze toward Feyre, who only smiled and took the babe from her arms. “It’s okay Nuala, this is Y/N, she’s here for family dinner.”

Nuala’s eyebrows rose. “Oh?” Walking toward me in easy-graceful strides and a nod of her head. “It’s nice to meet you.” Her tone and expression kind with a hint of curiosity thrown in.

The lovely wraith skittered out of the room as a very petite fae entered the room with one hell of a commanding presence. Oh, I knew exactly who this was. The legendary “Amren”. Rhysand’s second in command. Gods, she was practically legendary - tales of her both horrifying and awe-inspiring. I bowed in reverence as she assessed me, sniffing the air. “Interesting.” She said flatly, more to herself than anyone else.

“That’s Amren.” Mor noted. “Don’t mind her. She’s likely hangry and in need of a nap.”

“Careful, girl.” Amren chided. “You aren’t far off from the truth. Do not test me.” Her lips curled into a slightly terrifying smirk.

Oh, this was going to be fun.

An awkward silence momentarily filled the room before the toddler in Feyre’s arms noticed my presence, patting his mother’s shoulder before pointing a chubby finger at Mor and me. “Mama, mama! Look! Pretty!”

“Finally!” Mor praised. “A male that knows how to give a compliment. Thank you, Nyxie baby.”

—————————————

Dinner was spread out on the table before us leaving my mouth practically watering. Mor seated herself on my right, Feyre on my left at the head of the table with Nyx in a high chair beside her, and Rhys next to him. Azriel sat across from me avoiding eye contact. Though, I felt his burning gaze on me any time I turned to Mor or Feyre to speak. A small, traitorous part of me heated low in my belly knowing that he couldn’t resist sneaking glances in my direction.

Elain seated herself beside him in an awkward manner as it was the only remaining chair. Her body tense and avoiding any accidental brushes of their arms. I caught her looking at me a few times too, something like longing and contempt warring within her overall kind features. My gut churned at the tension, though nobody seemed to sense it.

A pang filled my chest at the sight of the High Lady at the head of the table and her mate, the High Lord next to her and their son, instead of the opposite end of the table. They were good parents, you could see the love they poured into Nyx overflowing out of him. My parents loved me that way too.

Chatter filled the table, Cassian’s boisterous laugh and risqué comments earning elbow nudges from Nesta to which he’d look at her with nothing but love and adoration in his eyes. The fierce female warming beneath his stare.

I may not be a total romantic but my mind wandered. What would it be like to be loved like that? The way Rhys looked at Feyre and her at him, and the way Cassian and Nesta looked at each other. Mates. Something only the lucky few ever experienced.

“You’re being quiet, girl.” Amren accused. “Listening for information to sell to the highest bidder?”

“Amren.” Azriel warned.

“What?” The petite female added. “This is perfectly normal? For you to invite a stranger, one who is a known spy join us as if we’ve known and trusted her for centuries? Since when do you go to such great measures in seeking evening companionship.”

My jaw dropped at the same time Elain gasped at the statement.

“Enough, Amren.” Rhysand spoke. “She is my guest. I am the one who invited her.”

“A foolish decision.”

Darkness rolled off of Rhys, dimming the room. Feyre diverted Nyx’s attention to her with gentle coos.

I stood to excuse myself from the table, Azriel quickly standing to follow, but Rhys held a hand toward him. “Excuse us, Y/N. I believe we need to have a family discussion on manners. Azriel, stay seated. Elain, perhaps you could show Y/N the garden.”

Mor started “That’s not necessary, I can -“

“You will stay here too, Mor.” Rhys demanded.

Elain slowly, begrudgingly stood up from the table, walking past me with a whispered “follow me.”

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Tags: @fxckmiup @saltedcoffeescotch @minnieoo

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etraytin · 4 months ago

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The Bitter Beauty

I bought an art print last night. I have never bought an art print before, or at least not for years and certainly not one that I planned to frame and put on my actual wall. It's from a photographer whose gallery was in the River Arts District, so of course all of his finished framed prints are lost and gone with a thousand other works of art the river took from us. About ten days after the storm, I guess, we had the rare opportunity to see the Northern Lights from our latitude. It was a strange and beautiful show, barely visible for most of us except through the lenses of our camera phones. This artist, a guy named Tim Reaves, went down into the ruins of Riverview Station and took pictures with the Northern Lights as a backdrop. Here's the one I bought:

I don't live in Asheville proper and I am a deeply uncool person in general, so I'd never really been to most of the River Arts District before I started canvassing. I got the opportunity to visit Riverview Station several times while I was working, both to try and canvass there (not a hopping spot on Tuesday afternoon, unfortunately) or to have my lunch break. Just a month ago, I sat across from this Summit Coffee Company at a picnic table and wished I had an extra fifteen minutes of break so I could go in and grab a drink. Next time, I promised myself.

In a way, the storm froze many of us into a moment in time. I think anyone who remembers the start of COVID can sympathize. There was September 24, when everything was normal except that it was starting to rain. We knew weather was coming, but it wasn't coming for us. There was September 25 and 26, when it rained and rained, sullen and soggy and so normal except for the warnings that kept getting more ominous. Catastrophic Flooding. Unprecedented. High Winds. Evacuation warnings. We hunkered down, we checked our flashlights, we watched the weather forecasts. Then it was September 27. The power went, then the internet, then the water, and nothing was the same again. A part of me still didn't understand until I saw this picture that I will not be going back to Riverview Station, at least not the one that I knew.

That link I put up there is to Tim Reaves' online gallery, and I recommend taking a look at it. Every picture in the collection is beautiful and each one broke my heart in a different way. They are an elegy to a place that was alive and now is not, but at the same time they feel like the opening notes to a song that could start again. The buildings are gone, the art is gone, but the artists are still here. The people are still here. I am still here. And I will put this picture on my wall, and someday, maybe, hopefully, I will go and have a coffee there.

#hurricane helene #asheville #river arts district #tim reaves #art photography #northern lights #journal stuff

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cjsarchive · 10 months ago

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First Date-Damien x Reader

I touched up my makeup in the bathroom mirror, preparing for my date with Damien. We weren’t going anywhere fancy, we were going to the zoo then the aquarium, but I still wanted to look as good as I could. It was our first date after all.

“Hey, you ready to go?” Damien asked as he walked in.

“Yeah, I was just touching up,” I told him. He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

“You look very pretty,” He gave me a kiss on the cheek.

“So do you,” I teased, kissing him on the cheek in return making him blushed slightly. I giggled at the sight. I made sure I had everything I needed, and we made our way to the zoo.

We arrived at the zoo, got our maps, and headed in. Damien had a smile on his face just looking around and taking in the atmosphere. Luckily, it was quite early so it wasn’t very crowded. I smiled and grabbed his hand, bringing his attention to me, “You ready to see some animals?”

“Uh huh! Where do you wanna go first?”

“It’s your first time at the zoo, where do you wanna go first?” I read the map to him and told him what animals would be at each exhibit.

He thought for a moment, “I don’t mind what we see first. How about we just follow the path? Is that okay with you?”

“Yeah, of course! Let’s go!”

We spent a few hours walking through the zoo checking out all the animals. Damien expressed so much amazement at all the animals. His excitement was so infectious and it made for a great trip. From the big cats, to the bears, to the birds, to the reptiles, every animal was a brilliant experience. As it was early, many of the animals were out and roaming, I made sure to get tons of pictures and videos. The standout animal was definitely the lions.

We walked up to the glass and looked around. “Over there,” I pointed to one lion resting in the shade while another lion was walking beside it.

Damien gasped and stared at them in awe, “Woah! They’re so majestic!” I couldn’t help but laugh. One of the lions started walking towards the glass.

“Hey, it’s coming towards us!” The lion walked right up to the glass and stared at us. It jumped up and started pawing at the glass. Damien laughed at it as the other people around us exclaimed in amazement. It stared right at Damien and he pressed his hand against the glass in admiration.

“It’s so cute!” He smiled at the lion before it began walking off and around the pen. Damien had a love for cats and it was always so wholesome to see. He’s amazing. I had so much love for him, I couldn’t help but wrap my arms around his waist and lean it to kiss him on the cheek. He gasped and looked at me before settling into my arms. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and gave me a gentle but warm kiss on the lips.

Afterwards, we went to get something to eat before going to the aquarium. “The lions were definitely my favorite! Did you see the way it looked at me?!” Damien rambled on excitedly, “Ooh! And the red pandas were adorable! The otters were definitely one of my favorites as well! No wait, I loved the farm! The sheep especially were very cute! This was so much fun, can we do this next year too?” I smiled at his rambling. He’s was so precious.

“Of course, we can do this every year if you’d like! I love seeing you so happy.” I grabbed his hands and kissed the back of both of them, making him blush and making me laugh.

The zoo was great, but you could argue the aquarium was just as if not even more spectacular. Walking around and seeing all of the colorful fish and playful sea creatures was a great sight. Damien got a kick out of seeing the river otters splash around. The aquarium wasn’t as large as the zoo, so we took a couple laps around the whole thing. We soon found ourselves standing in front of a huge screen of different species of fish. Being engulfed in the deep blue light as a big screen of sea animals swam past us was wonderful. Damien put his hands around my waist and pulled me into a hug. I stood in shock for a moment before hugging him back.

“Thank you so much for this day.” He said softly into my shoulder, “I love you. More than you know. You are the most wonderful person.”

I felt my face heat up and a blush creep onto my cheeks. Damien always knew how to enthral me, even without his incubus powers. I ran my fingers through his hair and he nuzzled into my touch. “No problem, Damien. I love you so much.” I pulled away then leaned in to give him a loving kiss. I poured all of my love and affection for him into the kiss.

We rested our foreheads together and just enjoyed each other’s holds as the fish swam past us in beautiful waves of color.

#seduce me the otome #seduce me #seduce me otome #seducemeotome #smto #seducemetheotome #seduce me damien #seduce me damien x reader #Izroul #I wish this was longer but it was hard to without making it super repetitive😭

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britt-kageryuu · 4 months ago

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Morning Day 2

First | PREV | Next

-------------------

They woke up fairly early, but they were caught up with people taking up the bathrooms across their rooms. The each took turns washing up, then fighting over space in front of the mirror getting their makeup looking good.

Donnie was getting their costume on, they were forced to do the interviews in the morning and early noon, so they decided on a version of a Senkuu Ishigami cosplay. This would be a different level of torture, but it was his agreement to have Mikey on M&G. The they would switch with April for the interviews.

Leo was going to be in the Artist Alley helping with the table until Dontron and Miguel switched. For the day he was dressed up like his Usagi, though he couldn't bring a sword because weapon checks can be a hassle. He wasn't looking forward to being stuck in the booth later.

Mikey volunteered to grab breakfast since he wasn't in a rush to get ready. He grabbed a couple breakfast pizzas, burritos, and a little something for lunch later. Hs also double checked everything Leo would need to take to the table for the day. And warn him not to do anything stupid.

Raph would be wandering around, he heard about a couple panels/workshops that sounded interesting, and was looking forward to shopping around. Though he wasn't going to be dressed up today, he was wearing some of their merch, and a Star Warrior jacket.

After everyone who was going in right now was gathered, they left to tap in for the day, and Donnie was getting Shelldon in a little costume, and River took over for Shelldon.

~▪~▪~▪~▪~▪~▪~

🧡

Mikey finished his breakfast while setting up his model, along with messing with what would appear on screen ar the booth, mainly just made the background a paintable surface for him to mess with while talking to guests.

The first number of people to walk past the holoscreen at the booth were watching him draw his Mandarin Paints logo while asking for pictures or just asking questions.

A bit more into the morning Mikey showed off some of his dance skills with some guests, and was having fun drawing random stuff for people walking past.

Up until someone decided to question his Psychology Degree... It was not pretty, and many people had to just stop and watch the trainwreck of a smackdown Mikey delivered.

At least he didn't unleash the full Wrath of Dr. Delicate Touch on the poor fool, just Dr. Disappointed.

💙

Leo wasn't having a terrible time, but so many people kept asking were Mikey was, and it wasn't annoying so much as a bit irritating to repeatedly say 'He stayed up very late to get some restock in, and we let him sleep in.'

One upside was just chatting with CJ when no one was asking to buy something. CJ had been traveling solo more recently, and it was nice to catch up and hear some of the stories CJ had about were he went.

The most interesting thing from the morning was some high and mighty artist tried to claim Leo stole their work, and was selling it. Leo let them yell and complain, while recording them, claiming they saw specifically Leo steal their stuff, and demanded to have 'their work'be returned with compensation.

Leo loved to look on this persons face when Leo calmly and loud enough for the eavesdroppers to hear, "Hey, listen, I get that you might be jealous of the art on sale at this table, but I got some news for ya. This ain't my table. I'm not the artist for this table, nor am I an artist in general, my baby brother is though." Leo could barely keep the smugness out of his voice, "And I sure as hell don't need to steal your work. So why claim you saw ME supposedly steal Your work Hmm?"

The person had realized they were in trouble, and tried to run, but they didn't get far before Con Security got them, Leo gladly handed over a copy of the video for evidence against the troublemaker.

Some parts of social media were going wild with this for days, and that Artists reputation was probably never going to recover. Especially not after possible legal stuff was brought up when mentioned.

💜

Donnie wasn't having the worst time with doing interviews, though they were getting stopped more for getting his picture than anyone wanting to give an interview.

Even if all Donnie planned to ask was, 'what's your day job?', since that was a fairly popular thing to ask when at events, if only for the slight shock value of hearing someone in Realistic Armour say they were a software engineer or something.

Though they also wanted to add in, 'Well I'm a tech engineer, but got dragged into this ridiculousness for a sponsorship deal.' at least once, but again not many want to stop to answer questions on how they're liking the Con.

Though they did end up having a delightful discussion on how data management wasn't taken very seriously, with a person in a fluffy dragon fur suit.

The switch off time couldn't have gotten there any sooner.

❤

Raph was having a pretty great morning.

There had been a panel for one of his favorite shows, and they had the creators there, and the voice actress for Raphs favorite characters.

Then he got on a call with Star while walking around the Dealers Hall, picked up a gift or two for her, she liked this one series that was older and harder to find now.

But he wondered how he didn't see the Build Your Own Plush booth before, the line was long, but worth it.

Though some people recognized him from yesterday, and wanted to ask how strong Raph was. So there's now some pictures of him flexing while multiple people hang on his arms, and a few of him carrying one or more people.

And he thankfully still had time to get to the workshop he wanted to check out. They were going to show how to crochet some simple videogame enemies, and looked like fun.

-------------------

Masterpost

I'm gonna stagger posting a bit, because I want to be sure I like how I wrote things out, especially since I'm still having a bit of trouble figuring watch to write the guys doing on their own.

Which is part of why I split these up in to like Morning and Afternoon posts.

Also if it isn't obvious I can't really write out drama without rushing it a bit, if only because I forget about pacing things out when I want to get to the resolution.

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resi4skz · 1 year ago

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Another one bites the dust. :D

Pairing: Chan(idol)xFemMC

Pairing: Han(idol)xFemMC (2nd couple)

Title: New Begninnings

If it was thing I ever really wanted, it was to see a Stray Kids concert. Although I lived with my roommate/best friend, her and I made it our mission to afford their ticket + plane tickets. We worked our asses off, even worked on holidays for 3 years straight. My boyfriend was against it because he thought that it was a waste of money to just to see a bunch of guys sing and dance.

Our flight was in less than 12 hrs and Daniel, my boyfriend, was lazing around in our living while I packed a last few things for the trip. "Hey, Nora, do you have any eyelash curlers. I think I lost mine."

"Let me take a look," she calls outs from her room.

"Are you seriously going to go to Korea?" Daniel asks.

"Uh, yeah." I replied, rummaging through my makeup bag for an eyelash curler.

"You seriously bought a ticket just to see this lame ass band?"

I paused. I look up and see the back of his head. "What is your problem?"

"My problem?" He gets up and faces me. "My problem is that the fact that my girlfriend is so obsessed with these men that don't even know her!"

"Here's one I..." Nora walks out of her room and stops when she sees us two. "Wasn't using."

"Is that what this is about?"

"Oh it most definitely is, Ava!" He exclaims, throwing his hands in the air. "You could be doing so much more with that money."

"Like what?"

"An education! A real job! Not to see a bunch of gay ass dudes dancing for a few hours."

"Daniel, do you even realize what they mean to me?"

He scoffs, rolling his eyes. "Oh please don't start with that mental shit. I don't wanna hear it."

"Okay." I walk into my room, closing it behind me. This was the last straw. I have told him time and time again that those boys have saved me from a lot of things. I pickup his duffle bag and start throwing his clothes and stuff inside. Even his gifts to me, which I haven't used at all. Once I thoroughly got rid of this things in my room, I zip up the bag and walk out, throwing the bag at him.

"What's this?" He asks, looking down at the bag.

"Your stuff. You're free from me so you can leave." I grab the eyelash curler from Nora, who's grinning from ear to ear. "Thanks."

"Are you serious? Ava, what the fuck?"

"Daniel, I really don't have time for your bullshit. Leave," I explain, pointing to the apartment door. "The door's right there."

He huffs and puffs and storms out before mumbling some curse words at me, slamming the door shut.

"Good riddance."

*30hrs later*

-------------------------------------------------------------

I was unpacking my bag while Nora took a shower. It was a bit cold at this time of year in seoul. Thank god for Nora for telling me to pack warm. We were going to get dinner. I wore a black turtleneck with blue tight jeans, black boots and a long beige coat. i went light on rhe makeup. I hear a whistle from behind me. "Girl, you're gonna make heads turn."

Rolling my eyes, I turn around and gasp. "Nora."

"What?" She blinks at me.

"Talk about making heads turn." I look at her from toe to head and whistle. She was wearing black tight jeans, a dark green sleeveless crop top, a leather jacket to go with the whole look. The girl never gets cold.

She rolls her eyes at me as she wears her black ankle boots. "Ready?"

"Born ready." We head out of our hotel room and head down the elevator. We decided we would explore the city a bit before having dinner at a restaurant. The city at night was another sight to see, although there were people around, we were more than happy to walk around and explore. And our hotel was very close to han river. We had always wanted to visit it. We asked bystanders to take a few pictures of us which turned out great.

All the walking around got us hungry so we opted for fast food. Even korea's fast food was different than ours back home in the states. But nonetheless, it was delicious. With our tummies now full and content, we were walking around and goofing around. "Careful, Nora," I warn as she walks backwards on the sidewalk. "You're gonna fall and blame it on me."

"I won't," she says giggling. She turns around and bumps into someone, hard. And they both go tumbling down.

"Nora!" I shout. I run towards her and bending down. "You okay?!" She turns her head, groaning but nods. "I told you that you'd fall."

"I'm oka-" she gasps at the person underneath her.

"What? Does it hurt? Where?!"

The person under her groans and lifts their-his head. "Aish. What the hell?" He looks up, his brown eyes shining. "Miss, are you alright?"

Holy shit. There's no fucking way. He helps himself and Nora up, as we both just stare at him. Nora stands beside me, wide eyed as me. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Hyung! There you are. Others just went home so it's just you and me." A very cute brown haired, bubbly person comes running to the other man.

What are the fucking odds of seeing our biases together?

"I'm not dreaming, am I?" Nora asks. "Ava, pinch me." I pinch her arm. "Ow! Okay definitely not dreaming."

I look at the duo in front of me as they converse in korean. My eyes catch the black haired one. I had only seen him on my tv screen. But to see him in the flesh....."Miss?"

I snap out of my thoughts. "Yes?"

"Will you two ladies be alright?"

Holy fuck. Even his Australian accent was hot to hear it in real life. "Yes. We're just heading back to our hotel."

"Oh? May I ask which hotel?"

I glance at Nora then back. "Uh, Lotte Hotel."

"May we walk you ladies back to the hotel if it's not too much trouble?"

I glance at Nora who's looking at me like a deer caught with headlights. "Girl, what do we do? That's Chan and Han!" She whisper-yells.

"Calm down." I turn to him, smiling. "Sure."

He smiles, his dimples popping. Oof. I want to swim in them. "Great. Let me tell my mate and we'll go." He runs back to Han who nods his head after a second. They both run up to us, smiling. "Shall we?"

------------------------------------------------------------

Even though it was a 15 min walk, I couldn't stop telling Chan that he was amazing in everything he does while the other duo walked behind us, a few steps behind. "Nah, I'm not that good."

"But you are!" I exclaimed. "You sing, rap, write songs, make music and not mention being able to speak more than 1 language. If that's not your definition of good, then you need a new dictionary."

He chuckles. "Is that so?"

"Mmhm," I nod, smiling. "Don't ever underestimate yourself just because you think the rest of the members is okay with it. They want you to be in the spotlight too, they just have a different way of showing it to you." He turns his head, looking at me while walking. "What? Do I have something on my face?"

He gives me a soft smile. "For someone who just met an idol, you're quite chirpy."

"What did you think I was going to be? Screaming at the tip of my lungs or cause so much attention to you and Han that would make you uncomfortable?"

"Well," he nods. "Yeah."

I snort. "I'm not the crazy fans so sorry if I dissapointed you."

"I'm not dissapointed. More like.....surprised."

I blink at him before looking ahead. The hotel peeking around the corner, just a few more minutes. "Well, then you haven't been ona date with me." The minute the words left my mouth, I knew it was over for me. Way to go, Ava, now he's going think you're a weirdo.

"Are you saying I should go on a date with you?"

Fuck. I knew I shouldn't have opened my stupid mouth. I laughed, nervously, peeking behind me to Nora and Han conversing. Well they seemed to be getting along just fine. "Listen, I didn't mean to say that."

"Oh?" He says as we come around the corner. "That's a shame."

"How so?"

"Because I would have loved to take you out on a date."

My heart stops beating, or at least I think it does. Is this real life? "You want to go on a date with me?" He nods in answer. "But you don't even know me."

We come to a stop. Han and Nora still behind which I was kind of glad at the moment. "Is that what dates are for? Getting to know each other?"

"Okay. Fair point," I replied. "But I'm just-"

He takes a step closer and suddenly, the air around us gets warm. "Give me your phone."

Perplexed, I take out my phone, unlock and hand it to him. He taps his thumbs on the screen and hands it back to me. My eyes widen when I saw what he did. I want to take my clothes off and jump in a pool. "Wha-"

"Give me a call. Text. Whichever is better for you."

I stand there, my phone in my hand as Han and Nora come around the corner laughing. "Alright, thank you for walking us to our hotel," she says.

"It was our pleasure," Chan replies, smiling. "Get some sleep, yeah?"

"Yeah, we will." Nora nudges me, snapping me out of my trance.

"Goodnight ladies." Chan smiles and winks at me before turning around to walk with his friend.

That night, I went to sleep with a smile on my face. And dreamt of dimples and the boy who gave me his number.

#bang chan #chris bang #christopher bang #stray kids bang chan #bang chan fanfic #fanfic #stray kids #oneshot #straykids #han jisung #hannie #hanners #bangers

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thats-a-lot-of-cortisol · 6 months ago

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Backstories: Childhood Trauma Edition

I went in order of youngest to oldest: Candor was 5, Diodore was 8, Peregrine was 10, Solace was 10, and Corentin was 15. And these aren't the only (and not even the first in some cases) traumas they experienced as children. And tbh Peri's is the only one where the adult/mentor figure who's shown/referenced/implied isn't contributing to the situation. The woman is his adoptive mother (who he called Auntie), who didn't die until he was well into his twenties.

I'll give more context for the scenarios under the cut. I put cw's in the tags, but I'll reiterate them at the beginning of each explanation too so it's clear which goes where.

1. Candor: (cw child abuse, murder, drowning) he was born to half-elf parents and appeared to be one at birth, but when he was about 4 or 5 his horns & tail started to grow in. His mother freaked out, and it escalated to the point where his father feared for his child's safety and, to some extent, his own. Things came to a head one night and Candor's father tried to hide him in a closet while he tried and failed to talk down his wife & get both him and Candor out of her reach. She knocked him out, grabbed Candor, and ran to the Chionthar River; he managed to wake up and catch up in time to wrestle their kid away from her and shoved her into the water in the struggle. Not knowing where else to turn, and not wanting to be separated from Candor when his wife's body was found and the Fists came knocking, he turned to the Guild for shelter. Candor grew up in the Guildhall, being watched while his dad went to work and, eventually, joining him on the boat despite his intense fear of water & drowning.

2. Diodore: (cw- child abuse, child death, ableism, murder) Dora's autism had been pretty difficult to detect as a young child, especially since, as her only daughter (and only child period), her mother and the community at large were willing to overlook some things they would have caught in other kids. When she was about eight years old, however, her difficulties adapting socially and conforming to the teaching styles of her instructors put a target on her back. It didn't help that she and some other kids had begun to form a friend group around their shared struggles. Eventually, the adults considered it no longer worth their time to try and "help" her and her friends and, one by one, they began disappearing, being fed to a beholder in a nearby cavern. Dora was one of the last to be targeted, due to her specific family situation, and managed to slip under the radar before being dragged off with a combination of social masking and realizing her knack for alchemy & gardening (her parents' specialties) which justified pulling her out of the community school for "specialized training". She was unable to help her friends.

3. Peregrine (abandonment, "othering", idk how else to explain it sorry): Peri accidentally interrupted his parents' attempt at figuring out the Dream of the Blue Veil spell when he wandered into the ritual at 10 years old and the resulting magical surge transported him from Eberron to Faerun, where he was found, alone, by the woman who would become his adoptive mother ("auntie"). His parents before this were emotionally harsh and neglectful, frustrated with his difficulty shapeshifting and, seemingly, by his presence. He assumed them dead via the same accident that teleported him and blamed himself for it for the rest of his childhood and into his adulthood, and was so stressed by suddenly being on a completely different plane that he was mute until he was about 13. He also became obsessed with remembering his old home and family, drawing pictures to process what had happened. The community that took him in was hesitant due to their belief that he was a fae child (they called him "changeling" which was accurate but not for the reason they thought) but were ultimately welcoming, due primarily to the efforts of his auntie. He carried that fear of being "found out" as a shapeshifter that he'd learned first from his parents and then from his new town into his adulthood, only opening up to more people a few years before the "present" day.

4. Solace & Corentin (cw: murder, child death, intrusive/violent thoughts, lack of control, child abuse, really anything durge related): Corentin's Dark Urge truly awoke when they were 15. They'd had violent thoughts & dreams for years beforehand, and had even had a close call that their mother had managed to catch, but they had been working with the Temple of the Open Hand on controlling themself. Their training failed, along with the lock on their door, one night while they were sleepwalking (trapped in their own head, really). Solace was the only family member besides Corentin to survive the night, and only barely. They didn't see their mother die, but their father died protecting them and their 13 year old sister, and their sister died while trying to hide them by laying on top of them. When Corentin woke up they broke a window and called for help before being dragged away by Sceleritas Fel, but managed to throw one of the several healing potions the family kept stashed around their home at Solace, saving their life. Solace was taken in by the Temple and ended up becoming a Tempest cleric after the clergy tried and failed to train them as a healer. Corentin was horrifically abused and brainwashed (to put it lightly) by the Bhaalists after being taken to them and ended up creating/helping with the Absolutist plot in a desperate grab at freedom. In the "present-day" of their storylines they're both trying to come to grips with what happened, Corentin dealing with the guilt and gaps in their memory and Solace grappling with how to handle the new knowledge they've gained of Bhaalspawn and their own memory of the night's events.

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crimson-calligraphyx · 2 years ago

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24: The Hell I Overcame

A/N: I'm apologizing in advance for the time skips, but it's time to close the story out. Thank you all so much for your support on this; I had so much fun writing this!

PS: I know Noah’s last name isn’t Sebastian irl. It is in my story tho hehe

Noah

"Will you stop taking so many pictures of me?" Liv groaned as she made her way to the top of the hill where I stood. I put my phone back in my pocket and folded my arms over my chest with a pout, feigning defeat. She closes the space between us and wraps her arms around me, "No pouting," she says, surely mocking me from earlier today. I chuckled lightly. "Let me take one more picture, and I promise I'll stop taking candids of you." She drops her arms from around me with a roll of her eyes. "Fine, but can I enjoy the view first?" "What do ya mean? The view's right here," I smirked as I pointed both thumbs towards myself. I laughed when she shot daggers at me without a word and waved my arm to the view beside us. "By all means, Liv, soak it all in."

I couldn't help but smile as I watched her face soften into pure astonishment as she absorbed the view. I loved seeing her genuine reactions; it brandished the true grace she held from the inside and out, and that's why I snapped all the pictures that I could. I wanted to cherish each and every moment of this trip with her. I wanted genuine smiles and real laughs, not just the 'picture-perfect' photos that anyone could fabricate.

As she took in the view below, I took in the true beauty in front of me: mahogany waves sailing in the breeze against alabaster skin, her dress mirroring the way the cherry blossoms flew by and settled in the river below.

I made my way over to her and took her hand in mine, having her gaze up at me, those electric eyes piercing right through me and warming me to the core. I smiled down at her as she rested her head on my arm and relaxes into me with a sigh. I wanted nothing more than to experience moments like this with her until the end of time.

I took a deep breath and break the comfortable silence, “Can I get that picture of you, now?” "You promise this is the last one?" she chuckles, shaking her head. “I promise, but you’re gonna have to pose a certain way for this one.” I wait for her to agree before I take her by the shoulders gently, having her stand in front of me while still facing the moat. "Okay, so here's what you're gonna do. Take my hand, and make it look like you’re guiding me down to the trees.”

She nods shallowly, holding her arm out towards me and takes my awaiting hand in hers. She looks back over her shoulder, one eyebrow perched. "Like this?" she asks, taking a small step forward. “Yes, perfect—it’s like you’re dragging me into an adventure. Now, look forward, Liv.” She laughs at me, but does as I say. “Have you been taking courses from Bryan or something?” "Yeah, something like that," I replied, taking a deep breath to calm the nerves that were beginning to run rampant within me.

She has no idea what I went through to get to this point—countless pep talks from the boys, hours searching for a ring that was right for her, days trying to figure out the perfect way to execute this. My brain was on the fritz as I recited the words I wrote a million times over in my head, hoping to God I wouldn't fuck this up. My heart ricocheted in my chest painfully as I hoped to God she wouldn't turn around and laugh, or run, or reject me. It was now or never.

I sucked in a large breath of air and held it, attempting to steady my hand that was holding my phone up. I snapped multiple pictures at different angles, hoping that at least one of them came out clear with how badly I was shaking. I could feel the hand that she was holding start to sweat—I let go of her hand, letting her arm swing back down to her side before she was able to notice.

"Did you get the picture?" she asked after a moment. I quickly grabbed the tiny velvet box from my pocket after dropping my phone on the ground, mentally cursing myself as I watched it tumble a few feet to my left. Guess I wasn't getting that last candid picture of the day that I really wanted to get. "Noah?" I dropped down onto one knee, scrambling to open the clamshell box in my hands to present it to her before she turned around.

Everything was in slow motion as I watched her turn on her heel, eyebrows knitting together when she doesn't see me directly in front of her. She glances down; I see her confusion melt into shock as her mouth dropped, her hands flying up to her face shortly after. She gasps, and I can just barely make out the tears starting to brim her eyes.

"Try to hold the waterworks until I'm done, okay?" I chuckled nervously, the ring in my hand suddenly weighing a hundred pounds. I hear her giggle into her palm, and she nods. I puffed out a breath of air, "Liv, from the second you bought me that drink and sat down with me at the bar, I was drawn to you. Something about that made the bells go off in my head, and I knew I had to get to know you. I'm not saying it was love at first sight, cuz that shit ain't real, but fuck. You had this aura permeating from you that made the air a little lighter each time I saw you."

I watched the first tear roll down her cheek as she choked on a sob. I wanted to stop my speech and hold her to me, to wipe those tears off her face, to kiss her lips that I knew were trembling behind her hand.

I cleared my throat and continued. "The moment I was able to see the ocean in your eyes, I was scared shitless, but I knew that I never wanted to go a day without seeing them again. In the year that we've known each other, I've never felt more alive and thankful to be here because of you. Feel free to slap me for using your full name as soon as I shut up." We both chuckled. "Heather Olivia Foster, will you let me see the color in your eyes for the rest of my life and marry me?" "Yes! A million times yes, Noah!" she exclaims, frantically nodding her head as tears spill down her face.

I felt the weight lift right off my shoulders hearing her answer, my own tears glossing over my eyes as I beamed at her, elated. I took her left hand and slipped the ring onto her finger, admiring how perfectly it complimented her hand—my ring, on her hand.

She doesn't even glance down at it; she simply cups my face with both hands and plants her mouth to mine passionately. I smiled against her trembling lips as she continued to let out soft cries while kissing me—I could taste the salt on her lips from her tears. I wrapped my arms around her waist and stood up, lifting her off the ground to spin her. She locks her arms around my neck and clings on, laughing as she kicks out her legs behind her.

I place her back on her feet and take her face between my hands, swiping my thumbs over her cheeks to dry them. I rested my forehead gently against hers, getting lost in her iridescent eyes as they continued to glisten from fresh tears. "You just made me the happiest man on the planet. I hope you know that Olivia," I whispered to her. "Well, you just made me the happiest woman on the planet." "That was the goal," I chuckled and gave her a kiss on the nose. "One more picture." She scoffs but grins shortly after, "Only if I get to choose the pose this time." "Deal."

I picked my phone up off the ground, relieved to see that it wasn't cracked after brushing the dirt off of it. "So, here's what we're gonna do. I think you're smart enough to follow my lead," she says with a wink and places her left hand on my cheek. "Ready?" I smirked and held my phone up for the selfie as she kisses me, still brandishing the ring on her finger with her hand on my cheek. I blindly snapped a few pictures before tucking my phone back in my pocket and wrapping my arms around her.

Olivia

Sitting in the airport, I couldn't keep my eyes off the new diamond that sat on my finger as I continuously moved my hand about to catch the light. It was nearly the same as the necklace Noah had given me prior; though the main stone was square and not heart-shaped, it was haloed with smaller diamonds, casting tiny rainbows about. The silver band twined as it met at the top, brandishing more minuscule diamonds.

Was this real life? Was I really about to leave Japan engaged to Noah? Pinch me, I must be dreaming.

As if he could read my mind, Noah drapes his arm over my shoulders and gives me a squeeze, pulling me from my thoughts. I turned my attention to him; he had the softest smile curling at the corners of his lips, his eyelids heavy from the little sleep we got last night. I rested my head against his chest, sighing peacefully as he rubbed my upper arm.

I grinned to myself as the images of last night flooded back into my mind. The feeling of our skin brushing against one another, the sound of gentle sighs, the delicacy of his hands as they caressed the curves of my body. The feeling of his lips on mine, the warmth from his chocolate eyes as they gazed deeply into mine. The intimacy we burned into each other leisurely, unhurried, taking our time to express the love within us.

"I love you," I mumbled, nuzzling my head against his chest. He hums and gives me a kiss on the top of my head, "I love you too, Liv. You ready to get back into the swing of things when we get home?" I groaned, "No, not at all. Can we stay here instead?" I hear a chuckle vibrate in his chest, "I wish. You'd have to leave Vic and your mom behind, would you really wanna do that?" "I guess not," I sighed. "Speaking of which, I should probably give Vic a call, she'd be pissed if I came back and didn't tell her you popped the question." Noah takes his arm away from my shoulders as I sat up to retrieve my phone, FaceTiming her.

"You bitch," she grumbles as she answers. It was still dark where she was; I could just barely make out her face from the soft glow from her phone screen. "This better be good, or I swear I'm disowning you. You do realize it's like 5 in the morning here, right?" "Shit, sorry," I cringed, completely forgetting about the time difference. "I think this is reasonable," I say, holding my hand up in front of the camera.

I watched her blink a few times, trying to focus her sleepy vision on what I was showing her. It takes her a moment, but she suddenly sits up, rubbing her eye. "No fucking way!" she exclaims, "He actually fucking did it." I laughed, shaking my head. "What do you mean 'actually'?" She snorts, "Girl, he's been planning this for a few months, but he was being a little chicken-shit about it." "Hey! I was not!" Noah butts in, whining, "I wanted it to be the right time and place." "Yeah, yeah. I said what I said!" she hollers back at him. "Anyway, congratulations you two, I'm going back to sleep. And for the love of God, get all the gross lovey-dovey shit out of your system before you land." She hangs up, and I couldn't help but laugh with a shake of my head. "On second thought, maybe I could leave her behind."

ONE YEAR, 5 MONTHS LATER

"You doing okay?"

I looked over at Victoria as she places a reassuring hand on my back. She looked so beautiful in her maroon dress, her makeup done perfectly to match. Her chestnut hair was curled over her right shoulder, a peppering of baby's breath laced in to mirror mine.

"Yeah," I breathed out, brandishing an apprehensive smile. My stomach was churning, the nerves settling in. "You look beautiful," she says quietly, her eyes starting to gloss over as she looks me up and down. "Noah is one lucky man." I chuckle bashfully, smiling down at the floor. "Thanks, Vic. I hope he feels that way." She tips my head up by my chin, looking me straight in the eye. "Of course he does, Olivia. Don't be stupid. Even the blind could see how much this man adores you."

Tears began to well up in my eyes hearing her words and I let out a tiny laugh, sniffling. "No, stop that! You're going to ruin your makeup," she scolds me, fanning my face to dry the tears that were threatening to spill. "Sorry, I'm sorry," my voice cracked as I rolled my eyes to the ceiling, fanning my face along with Vic. "I'm just happy and nervous and excited and—" She pulls me into a tight embrace and rubs my back, "Shh, I know, Liv. I know. Deep breaths."

I sucked in a deep breath and held it, pulling away from her to dab under my nose and eyes, careful not to smudge any makeup. I let go of the breath I was holding and nod to myself. I can do this. There's nothing to be nervous about; it's just Noah at the end of the aisle, the man who has been with me every step of the way these last two plus years.

“Don’t you two ladies look fabulous,” Ricky’s voice pulls me from my thoughts as he joins us. He gives us each a gentle kiss on the cheek, “It’s almost time. You ready for this?” I huff out another nervous breath, nodding, “Yeah. I-I think so.” He quirks an eyebrow. “You think? Listen, I don’t have to give you away. I can head back to Boston,” he shrugs, promptly thumbing over his shoulder. Victoria smacks him on the shoulder, “Ricky, don’t joke like that. She’s already a ball of nerves, we don’t need her freaking out because she thinks you’re gonna up and leave before she walks down the aisle!” “Ow, chill, woman! I was just kidding, she knows that!” “Don’t you ‘woman’ me, Richard,” Vic scolds, getting up in his face. He groans, “Don’t call me that! You sound just like mom when you do that!”

“Guys,” I laughed, putting a hand on each of their chests to separate them. “You can settle your family feud later. Right now, it’s about—” “It’s time,” Nick Ruffilo pops his way in, smiling over at the three of us. “C’mon Vic,” he waves an arm, beckoning her over. She nods at Nicholas before turning back towards me, “I’ll see you out there,” she says gently and reaches behind my head to pull the veil over my face. She fluffs it out, positioning it to her liking before she wraps her arms around me, giving me a tight squeeze. “Feel free to beat Ricky’s ass if he tries to pull some shit,” she mumbles in my ear before she breaks away. I laughed as she winked at me, turning on her heel to link arms with Nick as they made their way out to the venue.

“Can I say one thing before we go out there?” Ricky asks. I grin up at him, “Sure, of course you can.” “I just wanted to let you know how much it means to me that you asked me to walk you down the aisle. I know I’m not your dad, and it’s definitely not the same, but it’s an honor,” he says with a sincere smile on his face. “He would be so proud of you and all that you’ve accomplished, Liv. I just know that he’s smiling down on us right now.” My lips quiver as I absorbed his words, tears springing to my eyes again. “Ricky, you can’t be saying this shit. You’re gonna make me cry and ruin my makeup, and then Victoria is really gonna kick your ass,” I say with a chuckle. “In all seriousness, though, I wouldn’t want anyone else to give me away if it weren’t my dad. Thank you for this.” “Of course, Olivia. You’re like my second sister, even though we’re states apart and haven’t seen each other much,” he grins, holding his arm out. “Shall we?”

I dabbed under my waterline again, making sure my face was dry before I nodded and linked my arm through his. He guides me over to the table where my bouquet of roses gently rested; I picked them up and clutched them to my chest, their aroma roaming around me as we continued our walk to the aisle.

Everything was silent, save for the wedding music, as we cleared the French doors—everyone’s attention was averted to me. Nervous from everyone’s eyes on me, I squeezed Ricky’s arm to me a little tighter, and took a deep breath.

Nick’s niece ran ahead of us, dropping the flowers by the handful as she trotted down the aisle. The room hummed with quiet laughter when she stopped to double back and scoop up some petals she had already dropped, refilling her presumably empty basket. She carries on, and finishes spreading the flowers down the path. I giggled as I watched her innocently skip up to the alter, promptly wrapping herself around Nick’s legs after she completed her duty as the flower girl. He squats down to her level and gives her a hug before he directs her back to his parents.

As I made my way down the path, I found my mom at the very front, who was trying her absolute best not to cry. She had her lips pressed into a tight line, her chin trembling as she took deep breaths through her nose to hold herself together. I give her the cheek-to-cheek air kiss and whisper a quick ‘I love you’ as I passed—the tears roll down her face shortly thereafter. I flash her a smile before stepping up to the altar, handing Vic my bouquet as Ricky unveiled me before taking his seat next to my mom.

When I finally turned to Noah, I nearly lost it after I soaked in his appearance. His espresso-brown eyes shimmered with tears as his lips pressed tightly together and curled at the outer corners. I could see them quivering just a tad as he sniffles, holding back a cry; my heart melted at the sight. I found myself mimicking him from the emotions emanating from him, only a tear made its way down my left cheek. He brushes it away before taking my hands in his, giving them a reassuring squeeze.

Still trying to get used to his short hair, I grinned seeing the top layer of his dark hair pulled back into a neat bun, a few loose strands resting on his forehead. He sees that my eyes are fixed on it; his eyes now crossed while trying to look up at his forehead, causing me to giggle. He blows at the strands before bringing his attention back to me, a goofy grin splayed on his face. “You’re too cute,” I whisper to him. “And you’re beautiful,” he murmurs back, smiling down at me. I feel my face flush as if this is the first time he’s ever said this to me.

"Family and friends," the officiant's voice boomed, causing me to jump. Noah and I both shared a quiet chuckle at my reaction as he continued. "Thank you all for coming today to share this special occasion. At this moment, we are here together to unite Noah and Olivia in marriage."

I felt like I was about to fly away as the officiant continued his invocation, the words being muddled as I focused on Noah's smile and the way his hands felt in mine. I was squeezing his hands so tightly to keep myself grounded, to make sure that this moment in time was real and not just a figment of my imagination. I could see his lips move as he said his vows, I could feel mine moving as I said mine, but everything was such a blur until the words "You may kiss the bride" were spoken.

Cheers exploded around us as we kissed, Noah lowering me into a dip. I feel his lips curl into a smile against mine briefly before he parts, just gazing into my eyes. He rests his forehead against mine and places a hand on my face, brushing his thumb across my cheek delicately. "I love you, Olivia Sebastian." I smile wide as tears spring to my eyes and my heart swells in my chest after hearing my new name come out of his mouth. "I love you too, Noah Sebastian," I giggled.

He stands us up straight and takes hold of my hand, giving it a firm squeeze as he turns towards the audience. We raise our adjoined hands up as we make our way back down the aisle together, smiling wide as our loved ones cheered us on into our new journey...

My name is Olivia Sebastian, and this was the story of the Hell I overcame.

#fanfic #fan fiction #noah sebastian #bad omens #bad omens band #fanfic writing #fantasy #romance

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