#it's just really repetitive and it took me a little bit to figure out the length of my stitches to get them even

[redflagshipwriter]

Mamabat- enter Jason 1/2

MASTERPOST

The air was different with Cass, now. Danny felt a little anxious as he followed her to the study after breakfast. Something about her was serious-determined-protective. 

She always felt protective towards him. That was why he'd followed her in the first place. Some ghosts lied, but they couldn't do it with their aura. He knew what she really felt for him. 

“Sit?” She asked him. She gestured at the big squashy chair. Danny did without complaint. Cass perched behind him and started dragging her fingers through his hair, relaxing him.

Man. She was good at this. Top tier mothering, right here. Danny went limp. 

“I'm worried,” Cass broke the silence. She didn't sound worried. She never really did. Her voice was quiet and serious, but still kind. Her thumbs dug into his scalp. He pushed his head back against it. Bliss. “Barbara made you sad. Because you miss your sister?”

Danny tensed. 

‘I should have figured that Batman would track me down.’

Maybe he had known, if he was honest with himself. It didn't hit him like a shock.

“Tim thinks your name is Fenton,” she added, brutally sensible as always. And yup, that was it. No point in denying it. “Declared dead. In danger?”

He sucked in air through his teeth. He wasn't going to lie to her. 

“Worried,” she repeated. 

He thought about it. He really did. Danny bit his lip. 

She was liminal. That probably meant she'd come really close to death, in at least one sense of the word. Would that mean she was desensitized to it, or extra paranoid?

…It was hard to imagine Cass over or under reacting to a possible danger. She was just so steady. But would she see him as a possible danger if she knew what he was, what he really was? 

He could feel it out before he took a plunge with the whole truth.

Maybe it was wrong. Maybe it was invasive. She didn't seem to realize that she was liminal. That meant she definitely didn't realize how much she was communicating to him under her words and gestures. 

But Danny deliberately tuned into her quiet aural communication and tested the waters. “Tim is right, I'm Danny Fenton,” he said. He knew he was too tense. She would definitely feel it. But what could he do about that? He was nervous. “I… Maybe I did die.”

Her heart dropped to her stomach. He could feel the crush of grief on her heart. 

But it didn’t wash away the thudding repetition of love-protect-my darling. There was no suspicion, no guilt, no fear. It was just pain for his sake, with no calculation about how to solve a sudden problem. 

God. He wanted so badly for that to have been how his parents reacted. His eyes started to sting.

Danny sniffled. He thought it was safe to tell her. “I died,” he corrected, and he knew he was right when Cass made a little wounded sound and leaned her body into him, aiming to comfort. “Not then, but a couple years ago. I’m different now, and it’s uh… It’s dangerous to be this way.”

“Affects?” Cass asked quietly. She started to pet his hair again. “Mood? Health?”

“...Huh,” he said, because that was a sensible question he hadn’t expected. If he really thought about his mood and emotions before and after the accident: “Yeah, uh, there’s sometimes a mood thing. I might be a little more aggressive than I was before? And I can get kind of intense sometimes.”

He had thought that was basically just a reaction to having a whole bunch of new threats in his life. But would pre-electrocution Danny have been able to actually stand and fight Skulker? He had genuinely been afraid of the jocks. Maybe… Maybe he was different. Sure, Sam and Jazz were up for shooting ghosts with Fenton tech. Would he have been if he was just human? 

…He didn’t really think so.

Oof. Well, that wasn’t exactly great for his sense of self.

Cass shook him lightly. “Health?” she repeated.

Danny forced down that revelation to deal with later. He didn’t like acknowledging that he was kind of a chicken by nature, but historically, there wasn’t much evidence of bravery pre-mortem. “Uh, my heart rate is really slow, body temp is low, so I can’t really afford to go to a doctor for a checkup,” he said. “Uh, sometimes I’ve got none at all and my hair turns white.” He paused there. That was- that was enough, yeah? He was going to be honest with her because she deserved honesty from him. But that didn’t mean he had to explain the whole great beyond and his inhuman status.

“Sounds like Jason,” Cass said, after a long silence.

Danny short-circuited. “Wait, what?” He craned to look at her. “Who?”

Cass darted forward to kiss his forehead. “Little brother,” she said cheerfully. “Want to meet him?”

Uh, yeah. Danny nodded vigorously, wondering what the hell she was on about. “Do you mean he died?” 

“Died,” Cass agreed, getting out her phone and tapping away at it rapidly.

“Not like, heart stopped for a minute on the operating table and he was revived, or what?” Danny pressed.

“Dead in the ground, came back later,” Cass said. “Dead for months. Now, very crabby.”

Danny balked. “What?”

“White hair too,” she said. Then her face did something funny. “I think he dyed it recently,” she said. 

Danny huffed a laugh. “If it’s the same thing as mine, you can’t dye it.” He saw her look over his head for white streaks. He didn’t correct her line of thought.

He hadn’t thought that anything could top the anticipation of meeting Batman. But Danny had to admit the rest of the day was a wash. Apparently Jason couldn’t make it until the evening, about an hour before patrol.

Danny nearly paced a line into the carpet. He had enough energy to do that now, even without ecto. He was getting soooo much food here. A guy couldn’t even stress out for an hour without someone coming by to make sure he had fruit and yogurt or a hot drink.

He didn’t need someone to come and tell him that the much anticipated Jason had shown up. Danny knew it when he went to take a sip of cruelty-free chocolate milk (hand delivered by the most frightening child in the world) and choked on vapor.

Damian gave him a glare and snatched the drink away. “Are you incapable of drinking beverages?” he demanded. His face looked so goddamn cross but he was just worried.

Danny managed a smile. “No, went down the wrong pipe, sorry.”

Damian didn’t seem to even see the fog, so- so that meant that either he was really unobservant or he wasn’t liminal enough to see it the way people did in Amity. That was a small blessing. Danny appreciated it and he took back his drink to have something to hold onto.

That was a whole ass ghost. That was a whole ghost coming onto the property, one that felt big and mad and old. Danny smacked his lips, disconcerted. 

He, uh, didn’t know what to expect from this.

[peacelovepandora]

A Little Attention

Jake Sully x Daughter!Reader

ik i've put you all through an emotional hell with these last few fics, so I'm gifting you with something soft n sweet. just Jake playing w his young daughter.

forehead kisses to you all <3

enjoy xxxx.

Jake kept his gaze down as he sharpened his knives. The evening was young, but nocturnal creatures of Pandora were already beginning to make their presence known. As subtle noises echoed from the surrounding forest, Jake's ears twitched as he worked, keeping an ear out for foreign noises.

It didn't take long for a foreign noise to catch his attention. Jake sharpened his blade one more time before pausing. With ears flicked to the side, he listened sharply, trying to see if he could pick up the noise again.

Pat, pat, pat.

There it was. He took another moment to listen for it. After hearing it again, he saw movement at the corner of his right eye. Careful not to turn his head, he shifted his gaze to the side, only to catch a glimpse of a small body tucking itself around a corner.

A smirk pulled at his lips as his eyes returned back to his knives. He picked up his blades before resuming his sharpening motions. However, he only gained a minute of sharpening time before he caught movement in the corner of his eye again--this time on his opposite side.

Keeping his eyes trained on the moving figure, he waited until it tucked itself around the corner again before he moved. In one quick motion, he dropped everything and soundlessly sprinted away.

As you hid behind the doorway again, you bit your lip, struggling to keep your giggles to yourself. However, when you heard your father's motions grow quiet, your breath hitched.

Moving slowly, you peeked back into the doorway, only to be met with an empty room. After scrunching your small face in confusion, you allowed your curiosity to carry you farther into the room. Looking back and forth, you grew more confused by the second when you realized that your father was no longer there.

As you crept to where Jake had been working, you failed to notice the towering figure creeping up behind you.

Just as you reached his tools, Jake grabbed your sides before yelling, "Are you trying to sneak up on me?"

You screamed, turning sharply as he kneeled in front of you. "You tryin' to scare me, baby girl? Huh?" he growled playfully, holding you close to him as you giggled frantically, "Oh, you're nothing but giggles now, aren't you?"

He held you closer as he began wiggling his fingers all over your stomach and sides, making your giggles escalate to panicked laughter. "Aren't you? Aren't you?" he repeated, keeping you laughing as you squirmed wildly in his arms.

As weak as his tickles were making you, you still managed to keep your biceps pressed to your sides, preventing him from traveling any higher than your stomach and sides. However, Jake didn't miss a thing, and he smiled mischievously before trying to prod at the area under your arms.

Your laughter heightened in pitch as he struggled to wedge his pointer fingers in the spaces that you were so fiercely protecting. After switching between front and back angles, he paused as he threw his head back and laughed. You panted as you crossed your arms while nervous giggles spilled from your lips.

"You really don't want me to get to those pits, now do you?" he teased.

To test your strength, he gripped your forearms and tried to pry them apart. Though he was stronger than you by a long shot, he was highly amused by how diligent your resistance was.

After letting himself laugh one more time, he raised his hands to cup your head. Then, he pulled you in and placed a kiss on your cheek. Once he pulled away, he stood up before heading back to where he was working.

"What did you need, baby?" he asked, reclaiming his spot in front of his knives.

As you watched him resume his repetitive actions, you calmed your panting breaths before your face fell slightly. You felt the absence of his body warmth, which had been so uplifting when he was within close proximity to you.

When you didn't answer, he glanced back at you. "Hm? Or were you just spying on me for entertainment?"

As your cheeks grew warm, you quickly realized that you couldn't find the courage to explain that you simply wanted some attention from him. As of lately, he'd gotten a bit busy with Neteyam and Lo'ak--who were reaching their adolescent years and being more rebellious than ever. It had been a minute since you'd gotten your daddy all to yourself.

However, your young mind did little to hide this unease from Jake's paternal instincts. Jake stopped his movements before placing his knives down.

"Y/N?" he called, a concerned frown crossing his face, "You okay? C'mere."

When he reached a hand out, you walked over to him and allowed him to pull you close again. He placed both hands on your sides, leaning back to scan your face. "You okay, baby?"

"Yeah," you answered simply, making him tilt his head and eye you suspiciously.

"Y/N," Jake warned gently, "Talk, or I'm gonna coax it outta you." As he said this, his fingers began to threateningly walk up your ribs, making you giggle and slam your biceps to your sides.

"No, Daddy," you giggled, making him chuckle before stilling his hands. You waited a moment before finally answering.

"I miss you."

His smile faded as he processed your words. Then, he withheld a stunned gasp as you closed the distance and wrapped your arms around his neck.

"Baby girl, I--" he began, returning your embrace with a few back rubs before pulling you back, "Hey." He cupped your face with his large hand. "You know I've been right here, right? I'm here whenever you need me, baby."

"You're always with Teyam and Lo'ak," you replied, dropping your gaze to his chest.

He began to answer, but cut himself off. As he reflected on the last couple of weeks, his heart dropped as he began to realize that you were correct. It had been a long time since he'd given you all of his attention--something you were so used to him spoiling you with.

"Oh . . . oh, I’m sorry, sweetheart," he apologized, gently pulling you closer, "Your older brothers are just such knuckleheads sometimes that I'm forced to give them more of my time."

As he explained this, you nodded understandingly, briefly lifting your gaze to meet his before lowering it again. However, he wasn't done, and was determined to redeem himself in your heart--a heart that he held so preciously.

"But I'll tell you one thing," he continued, gently wiggling a finger under your chin as he tilted his head down, trying to catch your eyes, "You'll always be my number one girl."

His words made a small smile tug on your lips, which brought relief to his heart. You kept your head down as he continued to tilt his head towards you, trying to catch a glimpse of the smile you were holding back.

"You got that?" he asked, nudging his pointer finger under your chin, "Hm?"

Hesitantly, you nodded, sucking in your cheeks as you struggled to keep a straight face. He smiled before crossing his legs around you, keeping you in one spot.

"Now, can I get a smile?"

Keeping your gaze down, you shook your head.

Jake raised his eyebrows. “No?”

His overly dramatic tone nearly made you crack. He leaned back, placing a hand on his chest before continuing.

“My baby girl refuses to crack a smile for me?” he asked before dropping his hand and gripping your arms.

The mischievous twinkle returned to his eyes, making your heart soar as anxious giggles began bubbling up again. However, you tried your hardest to suppress them and maintain a straight face.

“Oh, we’ll see about that," he growled.

Biting your lip, you flexed your arms as you crossed them in front of your chest, knowing exactly what he was trying to do. Your heart leapt within your chest as he easily managed to uncross them before beginning to coax them upwards.

You squeezed your lips closed as you fought his strength. Amused by your determination, he let you put up a little fight. He continued to gently push upwards while you struggled with shaking arms.

"Oh, she's fightin'," he teased, adding more strength to raise them a little higher, "She's fighting with every fiber of her itty bitty body."

The combination of the playful fight with your father, and his relentless teasing, made it harder for you to hold your ground. However, you held out, still refusing to give him the smile he so desperately wanted.

"Still nothing?" he gasped, tilting his head.

You shook your head, lips pressed tight as suppressed laughs shook your body. Jake took a dramatic breath before shaking his head.

"Alright, then."

Suddenly, he yanked you towards him before lifting you by your arms. In one quick motion, he laid you down and stretched your arms over your head. You screamed, shaking your head as he gasped dramatically again.

"No?" he asked, shaking his head with you as he imitated your desperate mannerisms.

"No! No! No!" you squealed, unable to hold your smile any longer.

"No? No? No?" Jake parroted, "Oh, we got a smile! We got a smile! Can we get a laugh?" He leaned down and blew a quick raspberry on your right hollow.

You jumped, letting out a squeal as you tugged desperately on your arms.

He smiled widely before moving his gaze to his grip on your wrists. He shifted your left wrist to his left hand, taking both wrists into one hand and freeing his right hand. Once you'd realized what he'd done, your squirming increased aggressively.

Jake raised his eyebrows at you before letting out a laugh. "What's wrong?" he asked, placing his large hand over your stomach, stilling some of your squirming.

You simply shook your head, finally beginning to release some laughs. Jake smiled before laughing with you. Then, he leaned down and placed a kiss on your forehead, soothing some of your laughter.

When he leaned up, he shook his head, endearment taking over his eyes. "I love you," he cooed, making you relax further, "and I love these giggles. But--"

You immediately tensed at his last word, making him smile again, "But, I don't think these are the genuine giggles I want," he continued, leaning in before releasing your stomach, "I think these are nervous giggles."

As he spoke his last two words, he used his free hand to poke each of your hollows, making you jump aggressively as helpless laughter immediately spilled from your lips.

"I think my baby girl is scared," he continued, reaching out threateningly as he emphasized certain words, but never making contact with your skin, "that I'm gonna attack her worst spot."

You jumped every time, laughing so hard that your cheeks began to grow sore. Jake leaned his head forward, collapsing it beside your body and shaking with his own laughter.

"God," he rasped, leaning back up, "I don't even have to do much with you. Your brothers were so hard to get a reaction out of."

Your laughter slowly subsided as you stared up at him, awaiting his next move. He released a soft breath.

"Alright," he finally spoke, "I think I'm almost done torturing you."

His words triggered your nerves, making laughter begin to bubble up once again. Chuckling, he shook his head at your instant reaction.

"However," he said, speaking over your laughter, "I wanna bring it home with your best laughs, baby. That means you gotta let me get these pits."

Your laughter heightened as you shook your head. He nodded his head, walking two fingers up your left side.

"Yes, yes, and then I'm gonna let you go, okay?" he teased, smiling as your laughter spiked when he finally reached your hollow, "Okay? I'm sorry, honey, the temptation is too much."

He only went on for about ten more seconds, knowing that you'd reached your limits. However, to you, those ten seconds felt like an eternity as he brutally attacked your most sensitive spot, wriggling his fingers against your skin.

He, then, released your arms and began using his other hand. You weren't quick enough when you lowered your arms, trapping his hands as he continued his attack.

At that point, you opened your eyes and screamed at him. He widened his eyes and playfully screamed back, mocking you completely. Then, he leaned down and blew one final raspberry in your neck.

"What in Eywa is going on in here?" Your mother's voice echoed, making Jake lift his head.

However, she didn't need him to answer as soon as she saw the position you both were in. Neytiri suppressed a laugh before forcing a stern tone.

"Ma Jake, you are going to kill our baby if you keep doing this."

"But she's such a cutie pie, watch." He blew a quick raspberry on your stomach, earning a fit of giggles from you. "See?"

Neytiri kneeled behind you, pulling you from his grasp. "Yes, she is, but I think she's had enough, don't you?"

Jake chuckled as Neytiri pulled you into her grasp. You leaned against her, obviously exhausted from all your laughing. After he stood up with Neytiri, he reached out and gently pinched your cheek.

"You ready for bed, baby girl?" he asked.

You nodded, giggling as he leaned in closer. "Yeah?" he asked, smiling reaching down to pinch your side.

"Jake," Neytiri hissed, leaning you away from him.

He pulled back, raising his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, I'm done."

Neytiri playfully narrowed her eyes at him before cupping your head and taking you away to bathe.

-

Taglist : @eywas-daughter @pturnersblog @bombshe77 @faatxma @scryarchives @gamorxa @222krn @ellabellabus07 @perfectprofessorloverapricot @raefoxi@egirl @vampxra @itssiaaax @tinkerbelle05 @brittclass-18 @missroro @aisylazzy @leomatsuzaki @joey-hoey @eternallyvenus @mae-is-crazy @nyotamalfoy @mashiromochi @theghostofshadows @httpsplanetmarsdotcom @cmfouatslota77 @laylasbunbunny @fanboyluvr @phxntomx11

[allophonicmess]

Uncanny Touch

Masterlist

You didn't get the chance to get acquainted with the new version of the doctor. So it's comes as a surprise when he suddenly wants the seduce you on a space ship at the end of the universe.

14th Doctor x reader + fake doctor x reader

Timelord!wife reader

Established relationship

1.5K Words

Angst

A little bit smutty

Written based on this request by @creelmalfoylaufeyson69 on my tumblr:

"Hello! I was wondering if you could do something angsty where Y/n prefers the fake Doctor over the real one? "

After the unconventional landing, the sudden disappearance of the Tardis, you finally arrived in the ship's cockpit. You let out a sigh of relief. Finally, some sense of control. Cockpits were good; you were trained on a Tardis type-60 but knew enough about other ships and transport systems to make an educated guess. "Okay, you two take a look at the other corridors.", you told them, sliding into the pilot's chair. You took a look at the pedals and screens in front of you. Was it built with a dual-slot engine? No, there would have to be a physical instrument to initiate ignition. Abduction core? Possibly, guessing from the symbols, there was a cooling system on the ship.

The Doctor and Donna had taken a step towards the cockpit's glass front, wondering about the edge of the universe. It was a strange concept: being at the end of everything. The thought made you shiver.

"Doctor." You called, making him step away from the glass and turn to you. "It looks like it utilizes cooler breaks. Could you go and look for any kind of cooling system?" You asked, still trying to figure out any of the written symbols.

You hadn't been able to figure out anything more than the basic number system that the Doctor had been able to translate.

"Any indication for power resources?" The Doctor leaned in next to you to take a look at the controls; he flipped through some of the slides and notifications that popped up on the screen. His hip was pressed against your knee; he didn't notice as he was too focused. But you did. You felt how warm his skin was. His heat slowly seeped into your leg, and you suddenly felt warmth rush to your face. You hadn't really touched, not in an intimate way.

But there had been no time to do so as you just popped up during the situation with the Meep. There was no time for rekindling, and you would have to wait a little longer judging the situation. "Um, no," You said softly. This position gave you the chance to finally take a better look at him.

He hummed, sliding back out between you and the screen. But not without letting his hand glide over your leg with just enough pressure to show you that his touch was deliberate. You sat up a little more straight, your eyes following his hand up to his arm and up to his face. He was looking at you with a kind smile. You huffed, reciprocating the playful sentiment. He let go, calling for Donna to follow him on his search for the ship's energy source and water system.

You stayed in the pilot's seat, trying to figure out possible syntax structures for the language you were presented with. It looked like nothing you had seen before. You were very familiar with circular writing systems, but this? Mysterious.

"Energy systems are controlled with base plate repetition filaments, Love." He informed you as he passed you on the corridor. "Ah, nice. And you gave Donna the pesky task of reenergizing them?" You asked, vaguely looking in his direction as he moved swiftly towards the other side of the cockpit. "Someone had to do it." He shrugged. He kept moving into the other room, his voice becoming muffled by the metal walls separating you. "And you had instructed me to look for a water system, no? Repetition filaments mean water spindles, so that's where I am going to solve my riddle of the day," He told you, his voice becoming smaller as he moved further into the room.

You huffed a laugh, once again focusing on the task at hand. You squinted your eyes, trying to find reoccurring elements in the symbols. Was there a word order? Did they even use words or was this a different kind of language. They may be phonemic creatures and somehow managed to create a written language.

"Whoa-"You gasped when a pair of arms suddenly wrapped around you from behind. You realized it was the Doctor's.

You caught your breath, adrenaline rising in you from the sudden contact. You turned your head to look at him, but the seat's height made it impossible to look behind it.

"Are you done already?" You asked, genuinely surprised at his speed at work. He just hummed, his hands losing their pressure to slowly glide over your torso. You gasped softly at the intimate touch over your chest and belly. Was 14 going to be a touchy incarnation? Wandering hands and flirty interactions?

"I missed you." He said lowly, letting go of you, only to appear on your left. His hand was outstretched, asking you silently to take it. You studied his face for a moment. He had removed his glasses, and his dark eyes watched you with a strange energy behind them. You haven't seen him like this before. You glanced at his hand for a moment before accepting his invitation. He grinned, pulling you up quickly.

He was more substantial than you remembered, using a good amount of strength to pull you right into his chest. His grin widened, keeping you there, pressed into his front. It was new, unexpected. He had always been very levelheaded on past journeys and travels. But you couldn't get yourself to mind it very much. Not with the sudden rush you felt. He had always been romantic but never this… physically approaching.

"Hello, you." He chuckled, watching you hungrily. His right hand moved up to your chin, holding it in a firm grasp. You let out a breath, not noticing you held it. His thumb moved to your lower lip, pressing down on it and letting his finger glide over it.

"Doctor-"You gasped softly. You really wanted to tell him that you appreciated the new physical contact and were also looking forward to exploring his new form, but now, stuck with Donna on an empty ship and without a Tardis, wasn't the right moment to do so. Yet the mix of surprise and attraction made it impossible to say more than that. He chucked at your weak interjection. Letting go of your lip and letting it bounce back into place.

"Always humouring me." He whispered, grinning again, eyes moving to your lips and back up to meet your eyes. He pulled you forward to meet you in a passionate kiss, the hand on your cheek moved to your neck to hold you in place.

You gasped into the kiss when he slowly walked you backwards, turning you around so that he stood with his back to the chair.

"Taste so good." He growled, allowing you to catch your breath before letting himself fall into the pilot's chair. His left arm was still wrapped around you, making you follow his movement. You practically fell into his lap; you had enough sense not to stumble completely and sit down on his lap. Each leg was placed over his thigh as your knees bumped against the small armrests of the chair. He looked down at your position.

"Yes-"He groaned, pushing you closer with a hand against your lower back. His long fingers graced your ass, and suddenly, you didn't care so much about being stuck on a lost spaceship.

"My good girl." He hummed, going in for another kiss. He squeezed your side, nimble fingers moving under your shirt. He pulled down the neckline of your shirt, humming against your pulse.

"I've waited so long to finally have you again." The Doctor started kissing your pulse, moving towards your neck. You closed your eyes, intoxicated by him. His stubble rubbed deliciously against your skin, making you gasp.

"Doctor, we shouldn't…" But then his fingers hand found a way under your shirt. They were a bit cold, creating goosebumps as they danced over your back with gentle pressure.

"Mhm, and yet you enjoy it. You little rule-breaker." He sucked on that delicious spot where your jaw connected to your skull. His fingers had reached the claps of your bra. He kneaded the skin underneath them before unhooking them one by one. You knew that something was off. That the Doctor would never approach you like this, despite his playful and sometime unpredictable nature. But you realised with shock that you didn't care about that. Because this version of him gave you what you longed for.

"Donna?!"

"My little deserter." He pulled you closer to let his lips wander over your clavicle to go lower.

"What?" You opened your eyes, wondering if you were just hearing things. Did he just call you-

"You should have followed those orders, hmm?" He licked your neck, his hands moving to your front, just waiting to touch your-

"Donna, Love, are you there? Donna-"

Your eyes met. His emotions shifted quickly from confused to intrigued, triggered by that look of bliss and arousal on your face. But in the end, he just looked terrified as he noticed the familiar arms and white sleeves peeking out from underneath your shirt. Accustomed fingers massaging your flesh. And then that grin. He never knew he could look so terrorizing, grinning back at himself.

With you, gasping on the lap of the other him.

[fuuuuyo]

continuing ;

‘ FOUR WORDS ’ pt. 2

kuroo tetsurō x fem!reader, just fluff :>, this part is a little cheesy ngl ㅠㅠ (tbh i dont know why i continued this)

link to pt. 1

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

as one of kuroo’s childhood friends, it was a privilege to watch him grow. who knew that the boy that helped you on the swings would be the captain of nekoma high school volleyball club. you still remembered all the gifts he gave you, and even all the birthday cards he handed to you was in the drawer of your bedside table. you could never forget those childish memories you’ve had with him and all the ups and downs that you’ve had. the past 12 years spent with him are priceless. you’d give up anything for it. you were far more than grateful to have the privilege of him growing up alongside you. he’s grown to become very athletic and smart, and not to mention, a very attractive man in your eyes. although, his hair never changed. it had always been the same.

spending time with kuroo was what brought you most joy, but would also set your heart blazing with fire. you’ve developed a sense of romantic feelings towards him and you couldn’t help it. you’d often ponder and think about those four words he said as a child, wondering if it wouldn’t just be an imagination, but would be something that would come true.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

watching kuroo play volleyball reminded you of all the times you’ve spent together over the years. as you cheered him enthusiasticly from the sidelines, memories of your childhood slowly flooded back. the cats came out on top in the end, and you couldn’t be more proud of him and his team.

“ congratulations on your victory! ” you squealed to the team with happiness and excitement. you were truly so proud of them, especially kuroo, your best friend. you helped them pack up, and soon after went to walk home with kuroo since you’d always been close neighbors too.

“ kuroo, this is for you ! i figured that you might have gotten a little hungry after the match so i made you some sushi! ”

“ thanks a lot, [name]! it looks really good! do you want to stop by at the park for a bit for me to eat this? ” he asked, receiving a repetitive nod from you afterwards.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

later on the day, the both of you plopped on the bench on the park. it wasn’t too dark yet, so you had some time to stall with kuroo at the park. you couldn’t help but reflect on how much had changed since the early days, and how much had stayed the same.

“ so how’s my sushi? ” you competively asked.

“ pretty good, but i suppose the ones i make are still better.” he replied with a devilish grin displayed on his face. you put so much effort into those sushi, only to find out that he still makes better ones.

“ if you really think so, let me have my sushi back! ” you said as you slid over the bench to him as you tried to snatch away the bright yellow container filled with the sushi you gave him.

“ hey, i was still hungry- ”

“ are you really that hungry? or are you just inlove with the flavors of my sushi? ” you snickered, coming a little bit closer to him, flustering him a bit. you weren’t going to back down one bit.

a smirk appeared on his face and he said, “ you’re pretty close to me aren’t you, [name]? ” you thought you had control, but it seemed like it was flipped around now.

“ oh sorry, i didn’t realize.” you replied, not really sorry.

“ you think i care? i wouldn’t mind it if you came even closer. ” he said with a confident smug, his ego being boosted into a high level. he carefully took the yellow container from your hands and placed down on the other side of the bench, having his other hand placed on your waist, when you blurted out a gasp, cheeks flushed.

“ what’s up? scared of me, kitty? ”

“ as if i’d be scared of you. ” you replied with a scoff following afterwards.

“ come closer then. ” he said as his hand went up to your hips, pulling you close as he crashed his lips into yours, as he captivated you into a lovingly aggressive kiss. after a moment, out of breath, you pulled away.

“ god i really have fallen inlove with you, [name]. be my girl? ”

“ yes of course. ” you gleefully replied. as you left the park, you suddenly caught up with the memories of you and kuroo running around as a child. everything was so fun and playful, but you never knew that this day would ever come. as you both left the park, you couldn’t help but think about how much the two of you had grown since your childhood.

“ let’s see what the future holds for us, yeah kitten? ” he said as he trailed off after dropping you home.

[fogdraws]

A Scandal at Baker Street,

An ACD Sherlock fanfiction oneshot based on "A Scandal in Bohemia".

"He could not help but bear the impression that the pair held a deeper meaning behind the gazes and touches they'd shared so earnestly. Looking out the window and to the repetitive London landscape, he decided not to venture further into his poderings; he certainly did not wish to murk the image he had of the detective — nor the doctor’s — with such assumptions. Soot and ash from the city filled his nose as he let sleep take over his mind; now, he could only hope."

Full piece under the cut!

He was nervous. He should not be, but when your whole reputation (and relationship, though the latter concerned him far less) depends on this, it may be understandable to fret a little. So yes, he was anxious as he brought his hands to adjust the mask that covered the upper half of his face — a measure he took to protect himself; today he would be Count Von Kramm, nevertheless.

A plaque, in which was written “Baker Street, 221B”, came into his vision just before the brougham came to a halt. The modest brick facade was unassuming, though the name it bore was whispered in both awe and reverence across the continent. From what he was told, this apartment block — quite underwhelming, if he was to be truthful — was home to a brilliant, energetic man, one that would have (or find) the answer to any enigma given in a manner no one else could compare to. He hopes that’s true, for he had come from a long way, Germany, just for this.

“Come in!” A voice clamored from inside the door when he knocked it. A sweet old lady had escorted him inside the block. Once again, supposed Von Kramm adjusts the black mask, pushing its tails to tighten the hold — it was rather loose and annoying.

Upon opening the door, he was met not by the lone figure he had anticipated, but by two men: one standing tall and lanky, dark hair messy and looking quite in need of a trim; and the other, on a heavier build, in a much more neat fashion, sat and with a notebook in his hands. That defied his former expectations — the matter was of the most private sense, not meant to be shared to noone more than the detective. Both of them looked at him, expectantly.

“You had my note?” He didn’t really know which one was supposed to be Sherlock Holmes. Both of them seemed to feel at home. “I told you that I would call.”

“Pray take a seat. This is my good friend and colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me in my cases,” the fair-haired gentleman brightened up to that, giving a lighthearted chuckle. “Whom have I the honor to address?” Funny, he thought, that he kind of expected to be the detective, the more preen one.

“You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honor and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate with you alone.” He would not let himself be vulnerable.

At that, Dr. Watson made it as if to stand up, but was quickly caught by the wrist by Mr. Holmes’ own hand. Although initially he looked a bit distraught, the doctor quickly looked at the other with… something tender in his eyes. With gentle yet firm pressure, the tall man guided his companion back into his seat, their proximity leaving Von Kramm distinctly uncomfortable.

It was a quiet exchange, nothing more than a fleeting gesture between the two men, but it left him unsettled, as though he had intruded upon a private understanding, one far deeper than he could comprehend. In their shared glance, he felt not merely a lack of privacy, but an absence of control. Like he shouldn't be there.

Mr. Holmes didn’t move, leaning towards and looking directly at the doctor, both his hands firmly keeping the wrists of the fair-haired gentleman on the armrest. “It is both, or none,” the consulting detective said, low and slowly. Not looking at Von Kramm, as he should, but at Dr. Watson, still — much like the words were directed to the latter, not the former.

With a swift movement, the detective was upright again. Dr. Watson shifted in his seat, tangling his legs so they were crossed — the notebook, long ago forgotten on his lap, was at his hands again. “You may say before this gentleman anything which you may say to me,” Mr. Holmes affirmed, as if he hadn't just done the strangest thing.

He shrugged his shoulders, “Then I must begin,” he started, “by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at the end of that time the matter will be of no importance.” After this display, he's not sure it's possible to separate the pair, even though it would be far more preferable to deal with the detective alone.

“I promise.”

“And I,” Dr. Watson complied.

Once again, it felt much like the words weren't meant to him, but to one another.

The doctor scribbled something on the small notebook of his and, as Von Kramm made to look at it discreetly, the fair-haired gentleman slightly covered the paper.

“You will excuse this mask,” he tried to ignore the pair’s mannerisms and the implications that came through his mind. “The august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have just called myself is not exactly my own.”

When he told mr. Holmes whom the detective had the honour of working for, he was met with the utmost disdain, raising annoyance upon himself. The man had dared to close his eyes and relax in the nearest armchair, striking a most dramatic pose. Dr. Watson stared at him out of the corner of his eye. “I was aware of it,” the detective said, and then, “I was also aware of that,” when Von Kramm tried to emphasize the absolute import of the ordeal.

Should this man be the best detective of Europe whole, he didn't wish to see what would be of the lesser ones. Von Kramm looked over to the fair-haired gentleman to express his indignation; he only had attention for the detective, however, legs still crossed. Upon studying Dr. Watson's expression for a second, the look he saw in his eyes was one of badly-contained longing. Von Kramm, then, avoided looking at the doctor again.

“If your Majesty would condescend to state your case,” the consulting detective remarked, “I should be better able to advise you,” as he slowly reopened his eyes, a look of impatience stamped on his arched eyebrows. Much like he was bored out of his mind; this man was getting onto his frail nerves.

Then, what mr. Sherlock had just said dawned on Von Kramm, drawing out a sharp inhale out of himself. He sprang up from his chair. It would do nothing now, to pretend his identity. This man knew it!

In a fit of rage, he — the King of Bohemia, had now been caught — tore off the mask that had irritated his face for the whole day, tossing it upon the floor. “You are right,” he raised his voice, “I am the King. Why should I attempt to conceal it?” The doctor appeared to be surprised too. And never did he seem to stop writing words in that notebook of his. “Why, indeed?” Mr. Holmes murmured, as if the king wasn't ready to yell and shout.

Forcing his temper to subside, the king proceeded to tell his story. Mr. Holmes listened in a calm manner, making the effort of opening his grey eyes every so often, only to remark something to Dr. Watson with a quiet smile on his lips and close them again. To that, the fair-haired gentleman always nodded in contempt or flatter the man's deduction abilities. Their dynamic seemed stable, comfortable. For the whole ordeal, the detective constantly yawned and feigned disinterest; but everytime the king convinced himself that the man wasn't listening, he was surprised with the clever wit of an observation that couldn't be made out of disattention.

Somehow, the king had grown quite accustomed to the way mr. Holmes worked. After they had discussed the money involved — Dr. Watson's face, when the detective opened the chamois bag full of gold he'd received, had been absolutely remarkable — he was quickly escorted down the stairs and out the door by both of them. The mask was almost forgotten, but the doctor gave it back to him at the last minute.

“Then, goodnight, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon have some good news for you.” Mr. Holmes said as he opened the door. The brougham stood patiently for him at the side of the road, as it should; the king entered it as agile as he could, not to raise any opinions from the passersby.

“And we must have a good night, Watson,” was the last thing he heard from the pair. As for sight, mr. Holmes’ lips appeared to form a small smile as he looked dr. Watson from head to toe, whose hands went somewhere near the detective's waist as the door was closed shut.

He could not help but bear the impression that the pair held a deeper meaning behind the gazes and touches they'd shared so earnestly. Looking out the window and to the repetitive London landscape, he decided not to venture further into his poderings; he certainly did not wish to murk the image he had of the detective — nor the doctor’s — with such assumptions. Soot and ash from the city filled his nose as he let sleep take over his mind; now, he could only hope.

[therantsofawriterrr]

The Umbrella Academy Final Season: My Version

Part Five: The Unbearable Tragedy Of Getting What You Want

Overview: As the marigold starts working, the family's journey through six years is revealed.

TW: mature language, repetitive use of the phrase "Six years ago", tell me if i missed anything Pairings in the chapter: very tiny glimpse of Allison×Ray A/N: yea so i saw someone say why s2 was so nice with getting peeps invested was cause there was backstory, so i just thought why not?

Masterlist

The next day, the marigold had already started to take effect in their bodies. It had been six years without it. So it was only right that the particle took time to actually fully mix into their bodies.

Luther slapped the alarm clock to stop its annoying beeps. He ended up breaking it. He felt weird as hell. His muscles felt like they were burning up from the inside, but he just figured they were aching.

Six years ago, Luther had looked around for Sloane for a week before Diego, Klaus, Five and Ben had dragged him back to Lila's place. Diego had been the one to talk to him, to force him to rest up and have some food. Lila's parents and family had been kind to him and took care of him for a whole year, one year that he'd used to process his feelings a little and he'd proceeded to make a plan.

He'd gotten a job at a science museum because of his knowledge, and because they were short of a person who could take people around and tell them about science and shit. Even if it had been purely for money and sustenance at first, he'd grown to like the job. He was always praised by people for being the best with schoolchildren, thanks to his unique way of teaching and just his golden retriever vibes. He visited Lila's family sometimes, though. Just when he didn't want to see anybody else. It made him feel nice. And he got to see Diego and his life. He was happy for him.

Diego drove through the same pesky neighbourhood, throwing mail to the houses from the van, not really noticing that his aim was a bit because instead of breaking windows and cutting through vases, it was mostly hitting the door. He had a lot on his mind, from Lila's secret investigation to providing for the family.

Six years ago, Lila had found out that her family was alive, and she'd taken them there. They'd been more than happy to accept him, and three months later, they were married. Then, Grace was born, and their happiness only doubled, when the twins were born two years later. He missed his old life, but he sure as hell wouldn't give this one up for anything.

Lila, on the other hand, had woken up with her eyes stinging for some reason. It wasn't very bad, but it was hindering her work a bit. But, she still went ahead with getting the kids ready for school. They were al excited for the last day of school before Christmas break, when they'd finally get to live next door at her parents and she'd get some alone time with Diego.

Six years ago, Lila had been elated when she'd found out her birth parents were alive. But she also had a shit ton of trauma to get over when it came to them. So, she processed her feelings as best as she could while enjoying life with them. But lately, she was getting a little bit bored. There was an itch that only the investigation scratched. And so, she lied to her husband. To her kids. To her whole goddamn family. She felt too guilty about it, though. Maybe she would get Diego in on it. Or she'd just stop, maybe? She wasn't sure.

Meanwhile, Allison woke up with a scratchy throat and a killer fever. When Ray had felt her forehead burn up under his hand, he'd demanded she get to bed and rest a little. She brushed it off as nothing, but he hadn't budged. As she lay in bed, she couldn't help but think about stuff while she stared at the ceiling.

Six years ago, she had gotten Ray and Claire back, but she might as well have lost her family. Luther wouldn't even look at her because he thought she had something to do with Sloane's disappearance. Diego and Lila were alright, but they kept their distance. Ben, unsurprisingly, didn't care, but that was him with pretty much everyone. Five had gotten busy with his job, and they barely saw him. Viktor was colder than ever because of what happened to Harlan.

She'd been hurting. She knew that. What she did wasn't right. She knew that too. But she didn't regret bringing her husband and daughter back. She'd never apologize for that. She did want to apologize for the other things she did, but, she didn't know if she could.

Klaus woke up feeling all tingly throughout his body, and he felt the weirdest urge to look around to see if someone was watching him.

Six years ago, Klaus hadn't really believed that he could just die. He'd gotten back into his substance abuse tendencies, always experimenting, almost dying all the time. He'd not been ready to believe it till Raymond had needed to pick him up from some gangster's lair three years later to get him straight to a hospital. Claire had seen him like that. And that's when he'd decided to change his ways. He'd gone to rehab, but he'd become very afraid of death. To the point that everything scared him.

Crossing the road, he'd see both ways twice. Someone's smoking a cigarette? Second-hand smoke. Cancer risk. He'd wave the smoke away as fast as he could while exaggerating his cough just to show the other person they weren't just ruining their own stupid lives, but his too. When Allison had taken him in, he stayed home all the time. If it was totally necessary, he went out with rubber gloves on, being extremely careful, especially if he was with Claire. But despite all this, he was proud of being another uncle that his nieces and nephew looked up to.

Five was, as usual in the CIA building, feeling as though his muscles were jelly. He still tried to move whatever part of his hands he could move, trying to stay awake enough so that he could keep an eye on the Thibedeaus.

Six years ago, Five had tried the retired life for a year. He'd moved in with Viktor, with the intention of sleeping early, waking up late to a wonderful pot of black coffee, reading a book, maybe watching some daytime television. There was only one thing he hadn't expected.

Plain. Explicit. Boredom.

He got bored of reading books. He got bored of watching TV. He went fishing, which was a glorious experience, but he didn't know what to do afterward. He was a jack of all trades. He never thought it could make his life It was what had made him a special man at the Commission. So, he'd gone straight to Lance. He had gotten in as a wild card when he'd solved a mission that even he or the director hadn't been able to solve. Soon, he'd grown to be one of the favorites. But still, he was a tired old man.

Ben paced around in his small motel room with a weird itch in his upper back area. It wasn't too bad, but enough to piss him off. He had his phone in his hand, thumb hovering over Klaus's contact.

Six years ago, Ben hadn't known what to do. He had grown closer to the Umbrella Hargreeves family in Oblivion, but he'd been too scared to admit it. So, to distract himself, and to make a plan of what to do next, he'd gone to a diner, where he'd met a guy who was making a crypto app. Being pretty good at numbers was a specialty of Ben, though, it had been instilled in all his siblings. So, he offered to help. And he'd been good, until a year later, when the feds busted them down and accused them of fraud.

Even though Ben hadn't directly been embroiled in it, he'd been sentenced to jail for four years. His lawyer advised that investigating his innocence would take more time and a thorough background search, so he'd relented. And he'd ended up being released six months earlier for good behavior, while his "friend" was continuing to rot somewhere, to his pleasure.

Viktor kept needing to scratch his ears, because of all the fucking noise around him. It felt like all the world was just around him at that moment.

Six years ago, Viktor had just left without any notice. He'd stolen a truck from Reggie's compound and driven it till its gas had given out in Nova Scotia. There, the people had been kind enough to help him and shelter him, till one of the old men there had given him a chance to start something of his own. That's how he'd started his own bar business. He'd even bought a violin to serenade the guests once in a while. He'd missed playing it a lot, and he enjoyed playing it in the empty bar when he closed up. The occasional praise from Five was worth it too.

But little did they know, that there was another impending doom on the way to wreak havoc in their well-adjusted lives.

Another A/N: so this might've been a bit boring, but yea the next chapters will have the good stuff prolly haha Likes, comments and reblogs are highly appreciated!!! Tysm for reading❤️🩷💜

[takeyourcyanide]

Woeful

AO3

I would just like to say that I think this may or may not have gone completely off the rails. But that’s fine. Because so does Soul Eater. I have also never written smut before in my life, so I hope it’s not a complete dumpster fire! I think it started out fine, and then just plummeted and diverged haha. We’ll see. This is a very experimental fic for me. This might’ve ended up out of character. Whoopsies.

CWs: Porn, implied emotional manipulation and neglect, jealousy issues on both Stein and Kami’s end, internalized misogyny (a little) on Kami’s end, mentions of Stein’s experimenting on Spirit, infidelity, underage alcoholism, teen pregnancy, consensual underage sex, slight physical abuse (?) near the end, toxic relationships

Fandom: Soul Eater

Character(s): Spirit Albarn, Kami (Maka’s mother), Franken Stein, brief mentions of Marie Mjolnir and Joe Buttataki

Word count: 10 192

Tags: hurt/comfort, underage drinking, porn with plot, men crying, verbal humiliation, teen romance, teen angst, teen pregnancy, drinking to cope, angst and porn, praise kink, sadism, masochism, emotional manipulation, resolved sexual tension, infidelity, slapping (Kami slaps Spirit), sexual content, not beta read, etc.

Summary: Kami tells Spirit that she’s pregnant. There’s another thing that she’s also been keeping from him, however, that sends him spiraling into drinking and infidelity with his ex-partner.

Notes: I began with the idea that I’d explore teen pregnancy and its effects on teenagers, Spirit and Kami in this case, as well as how their immaturity, irresponsibility, and vices might effect them during such a trying time. This may or may not have became something entirely different. Oops. It’s a bit of everything, from toxic relationships to alcoholism. So, here, hope you like over 10k words of pure angst. And smut. I made Spirit extremely pathetic in this one. I simultaneously hate this and love it. It’s horrible. LMAOOO. I can never stick to one goddamn thing because I’m tangential. It’s everything. I really need to learn how to. But I’ve written over ten thousand words and I’m not putting that to waste.

Spirit gripped the edges of Kami’s marble countertop with a fervor he was not aware that he possessed; his knuckles just as white as the petals of a daisy, his fingertips vermillion. As he stared down into the sink, not daring to face himself in the bathroom mirror, he forced the bile rising in his throat back down, a stirring cocktail of trepidation, consternation, excitement, joy, shame, and grief falling upon him all at once.

“Spirit… I’m pregnant,” the words screamed repeatedly within the confines of his shaken skull, the perturbation in his lover’s voice still just as apparent as it had been mere moments ago.

He had given his whole life away for the sake of one night of pleasure and passion. Or multiple nights. There was no telling when and where the growing fetus was conceived if he was being entirely honest with himself.

Albarn threw his head back and forth, a repetitive motion, as his nose scrunched, his eyebrows furrowing in terror. His mouth opened and closed, searching for anything at all to respond with.

“Ar… Are you sure?” He began, lifting his slouched figure from the cool and comforting, sturdy rigidity of the counter, looking Kami up and down, his eyes scanning each and every atom surrounding him, panicking. “I mean - how many tests did you take?!”

“Four! I took four, Spirit! Four different pregnancy tests!” She shook her own head in mild disbelief, as though it was completely inconceivable that the results flashed before her eyes on the stick could ever be potentially false. “And they all said ‘positive’!” Kami slapped her hands together, her eyes bugging out of her head, her lips pursed.

“Fuck,” Spirit ran a stressed hand through his crimson hair, deeply swallowing whatever so much as desired to escape from his mouth.

“So, what? You’re not gonna run away and become a deadbeat, are you?” Her voice trembled, her lips quivering, as she forced down the welling and unwelcome tears.

“Death, no! No, no, no, Kami… I know I’m an asshole, but come on,” the scythe rushed over to her, gripping her shoulders, a more sympathetic expression on his countenance than before. “I’d never do that, I promise you. I will love you and this baby, it’s just… Shit…”

“I know, we’re both young..”

“Young and fucking stupid, clearly! We’re seventeen, Kami!” He released a troubled and disquieted chuckle. “I thought you were on birth control?!”

“I lied…”

Her flushed, timorous face left him reeling, as the revelation of the very fact that yet another person he put all of his trust into demonstrably lied to him smacked him upside his gullible, naive head.

“Kami…” Spirit stood, stiff and still, as he simply stared at the meister with wide, alert, and betrayed eyes.

“I thought you wouldn’t want to do anything if I made you wear a condom, or something,” she rushed out in a frenzy, her tone bashful and ashamed, as one stray tear finally spilled.

“Are you kidding me?” His voice was hoarse, hushed. It was evident to anyone purely based upon his expression and shock-induced stupor how thrown for a loop he’d been. He could no longer raise his mortified and stunned voice, resorting to just staring continuously down at the bright tiles underneath him.

“I’m sorry… I know it was dumb, okay?” More and more tears bolted down her cheeks, her hands coming up to her swelling eyes, rubbing them in a harsh and disorganized manner.

Albarn raised his gaze to meet his lover’s, a sudden surge of guilt and empathy swirling inside of him, mixing with the rage and resentment he thought he’d never be able to feel towards Kami.

“Please don’t cry, I hate it when you cry… I want to be fucking mad at you, shit,” he suppressed the tears he felt creeping up on him, emerging from his eyes.

Spirit outstretched his arms, wrapping them around her shuddering form, Kami burying her sodden face into his chest, the thumping of his heart audible.

Listening to his heartbeat was typically something she found rather soothing, but with how rapidly it was banging against his sternum, it only served as a reminder of how monstrously she’d screwed up.

“It’s okay.. It’ll all be okay, baby,” he murmured, lips against her hair as he sappily kissed her. “We can do this..”

“You sure? Our lives just started, Spirit, are they already over?” Albarn placed the palm of his hand on her scalp, his lithe fingers gently scratching, as he mulled everything over, unable to process the newfound information.

“They’re not over.. And even if they are, it’s because a new one’s begun, right? Yeah?” Whether Spirit wanted to admit it or not, he was attempting to convince himself more so than Kami.

🥃

They had long since exited the incandescent bathroom, now both perched upon their leather sofa, entirely silent, all that was left unspoken speaking cacophonous volumes.

Spirit held a book in his hands, of which had been sitting on the side table for weeks, Kami’s tired head resting upon his shoulder, as he merely stared blankly at the words, poorly feigning focus, each and every letter blurring together and forming into one large amalgamation of ink, not even putting in the effort to turn a page once in a while.

Kami simply fiddled with her phone - too, pretending to be impressively engrossed by whatever social media she was scrolling endlessly through.

Neither of them spared so much as a curious glance at the other.

That is, until Kami tossed her cellphone to the side, the device delicately plopping on the cushion beside her.

“Spirit?” Her voice possessed a solemn and chilling timbre, as she spoke under her breath.

“What is it?” He shut his book, returning it to its former place on the side table, his full and undivided attention on his meister upon hearing the tone she quietly used, his own voice gravelly in a way that reflected his seething acrimony.

The sheer tension in the room could be cut with a knife… Or perhaps one of his former meister’s scalpels.

Speaking of which…

Should he tell him that they were having a baby?

“Should we get an abortion?” The scythe peered over at her, utterly taken aback despite the question not truly being unexpected, visage sincerely concerned and almost sorrowfully pained at the notion, his eyes large and hurt.

Kami shifted as to face her boyfriend, tilting her head off to the side in commiseration.

“I know… It’s not that I don’t want it, it’s more so that we’re not ready for a baby at all right now….���

Spirit released a melodramatically elongated and pensive exhale, his abdomen and his chest stuttering up and down.

“I get that.. You’re right, we’re not exactly ‘ready.’ This came way too soon. But I really wanna try, Kami. I think we’d be great parents, even despite… this,” he placed his palm on the top of her hand, languidly intertwining her fingers with his, as he gazed deep within her eyes, practically reading and analyzing every cavernous depth of her soul despite only being a weapon. “Don’t you want to try at the very least? Just try? And not to mention… Is anyone really ‘ready’ to raise another human being? Is there a right time? Don’t you want to-“

“Spirit, a child isn’t something you can just ‘try’ on-“

“A child is the least you can give me after what you did!” His fingers lost their grip on hers, as he shouted, his eyes narrow in pure, unbridled indignation. “You.. You dangle this shit in front of me as if you didn’t already know I wanted a baby one day!”

“Well, fuck, man, for one, you acted like you were ready to run off and join the circus earlier, and second of all, it’s my goddamn body, Spirit! I don’t owe you jack-shit! I’m not ‘dangling’ anything, stop being so dramatic! That’s just flat-out lying!”

The two of them rose from their seats, just as their mutual anger was; it was all clenching jaws and the grinding of aggravated teeth, as they butted heads with each other.

“Oh, yeah, I’m sure you’d know a thing or two about that, now, wouldn’t you?” He quipped, cheeks beet-red.

Spirit trudged off, stomping his wrathful feet, yanking his suit jacket from off of their coatrack, and flinging the front door completely open.

“Where are you going?!” Kami yelled out, rushing over to meet him where he agitatedly stood.

“I’m leaving before I say something I’ll really regret.”

And with that, a glacial-like gust of wind blew her hair in every direction upon the weapon’s slamming of the door in her face, as she flinched at the strident, grating sound.

She angrily walked back over to the couch, slamming herself down onto the cushion shoved between the two others, staring daggers into the door, her arms crossed tautly over her chest, lying in wait for his imminent return.

Her brows were pinched, a frown present on her countenance, as she grimaced, allowing for an outraged tear to slide downwards.

Kami never considered herself to be prone to tears, but what else can one do but weep when they aren’t allowed to simply willy-nilly bludgeon someone else to death.

And when the bastard was to make his grand return, she was more than certain that he’d come back reeking of liquor and some other whore’s cheap-ass perfume.

And she, too, was sure that she’d end up being the one to hold his hair back as he evicted every last content irritating his stomach, since god-forbid he ever put the bottle down when it’s time to stop.

🥃

The snickering crescent moon cascaded beautifully and classily down onto the dingy liquor store, a little bell chiming as he pushed the door open, alerting the staff of his morose presence.

“Mr. Albarn, it’s been a while,” a familiar face warmly spoke, beaming. Spirit gave a friendly smile and nod in return.

Kami hadn’t allowed him to purchase anything with a trace of alcohol in it in a fairly long time, as she viewed him as some sort of “alcoholic” who’d surely end up on the streets one day if he didn’t nip his vice in the bud.

But for just one night, whatever Kami wanted didn’t matter. It could all be about whatever he wanted, and he wanted to drink.

He quickly managed to find the aisle holding the strongest vodka he’d ever drank, wasting no time perusing, smirking as he held the bottle in his hand, inspecting the way in which the fluorescent lighting bounced off of the glass. He took one short step outside of the aisle, before deciding to grab his favorite whiskey, setting both bottles on the counter with a soft ‘clank.’

“Somethin’ happen, sir?” The brunette cashier curiously prodded, one eyebrow raised, as she scanned the two needed barcodes.

“You could say that,” Albarn shrugged his shoulders, his hand diving into his left pocket, fishing for his wallet.

He handed the woman the one-hundred dollar bill he found, watching as she leisurely gathered his change, having already bagged the alcohol.

“Aw, I’m sorry.. I hope whatever you’re going through gets better,” she placed a few bills in his hands, along with a couple of quarters and pennies.

“Thanks,” the cashier handed him the beverage-filled paper bag, Spirit finding his way right back out into the crisp air of the night.

‘Where am I supposed to go? I can’t just sit down on the dirty sidewalks and drink,’ he pondered to himself, suppressing an annoyed groan. ‘I could go to Chupa Cabra’s… But I don’t want to deal with the kindness they’re paid to give me.. Or Kami’s whining about it.. Not to mention, if I were to get too wasted there and said a little too much… If word were to get out about what happened, who knows what would happen to our careers? And I already bought my own alcohol.’

There was only one place he could go.. Only one place where he knew wouldn’t be judged.. Where he knew the individual was tight-lipped… And it was an apartment he didn’t think he’d ever return to.. Not after what happened and how infuriated Kami was about it.

It was his and Stein’s formerly shared apartment - now only inhabited by Stein himself.

‘I think I’d rather Kami think I went to Chupa Cabra’s and hit on some girl…’

Spirit kicked the abundance of pebbles around on the cobblestone sidewalks, begrudgingly finding that his legs seemed to move on their own, leading him right back to Stein, despite the therapy-worthy trauma he put him through.

Their souls would forever be connected.. interlinked… There didn’t seem to be any chance of their wavelengths ever truly going off-balance.

And truthfully, he’d be lying if he said something about that didn’t make him feel… almost pleased.. It was as though their relationship just felt worthwhile, or like an accomplishment - a victory. Their ability to resonate was wholly effortless, and always had been. With Kami, it had always been a struggle despite the pair working decently well with one another on the battlefield.

Sometimes Spirit could still feel deeply within his own soul the calamity and rapid teetering back and forth of Stein’s own soul. It kept him up at night with a genuine and disturbing amount of worry. He still felt responsible for him to a degree, like his little guard dog… And also as his friend. He was still his friend, at least their souls were still intertweaved as thought they were.. And he didn’t want him to just.. completely lose it. He wanted to be a rock for him, though he’d vehemently deny it..

It always made Kami so jealous - their relationship.. She was always so jealous. Could she seriously not understand the history they have together? There was no severing their ties, or getting rid of that - no matter what.

Spirit balled his hand into a fist, having entered one of the apartment buildings commonly occupied by academy students, knocking on the door he sort of felt as though he’d abandoned in some ways.

“Spirit?” Stein spoke in a voice more stunned than the weapon had ever heard come out of him, his eyes bulging out from their sockets.

The scythe held the bag of alcohol upwards, tilting his head to the side questioningly, as if to say, “Can we put everything aside just for one night?”

“You want to come inside? Seriously?” He squinted his eyes in suspicion.

“Yeah.. There’s some really fucked up shit that just happened and… There is no one else in all of Death City as uncaring and willing to keep a secret as you.”

“All right, then,” he held the door open for the redhead apprehensively, and frankly, rather confusedly.

🥃

“So.. What do you have there?” Franken pointed towards the alcohol that had been taken out from the bag and placed onto the coffee table, Spirit running to fetch a few glasses from the cabinets.

“Vodka and whiskey..”

“Straight? Not mixing either with anything?”

“God, no… Not on a night like tonight. I’ll tell you in a second.. But you can look at the bottles if you want, of course. Just don’t lace the drinks with any experimental drug, or whatever,” he paused briefly after opening the cabinet door he expected the glasses and cups to be in. “You still keep them in the same place?”

“Never had any incentive to move them.”

Albarn nostalgically chuckled to himself in response, holding both shot glasses and two plastic cups in his hands, letting them rest against his arms and chest, adoringly looking over them.

He set the cups and glasses onto the table, neatly beside the bottles, sitting almost uncomfortably close to Stein given their… past, though the meister made no moves to force him farther away, nor did the weapon. Franken merely observed soundlessly as the male to his right fiddled with the bottles and such, pouring the vodka into the little shot glasses, filling the cups halfway with whiskey.

“You ready to take a shot?” Spirit smirked smugly.

“Are you going to tell me what you came here to vent about afterwards?”

“Yeah, obviously. Shots first, questions later,” he halfheartedly scowled, raising the glass to his mouth, Stein following suit.

And with one swift swoop, both men were left suppressing grimaces as the liquid burned on its way down their throats, their noses scrunching as they giggled synchronously at their own reactions.

“How’d Kami feel about you coming here? Not great, I presume?” He put his glass back down onto the table, dissecting the whirlwind of emotions within the ginger’s soul, as he stared concurrently expectantly and blankly at him.

“What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her,” he filled the glasses once more. “But what I didn’t fucking know - despite being a blessing - may or may not affect my ability to become a death scythe.”

“Blessing, huh? What, did you knock her up?” Stein began to laugh, snickering just as the moon was and still is.

“Well, actually, yes,” Spirit gave a sarcastic, frustrated, and small grin, downing whatever he could from the tiny glass.

“Oh, shit,” he delivered rather plainly, clearly unbothered, as he raised his shot glass into the air, teasing with, “A toast to the fact that most know how to properly make use of contraceptives.”

Albarn pushed him by his mocking arm, slapping it, causing the vodka to fly and roll speedily down Franken’s neck as he guzzled it down, sinking into his prominent collarbones, and disappearing down his habitually grey shirt, leaving a wet stream in its wake.

His Adam’s Apple bobbed as he swallowed, leaving Spirit fuzzily scrambling to remember the earlier offense he had taken to his little comment, as well as what he wanted to say back, for some odd and unknown reason, his body slowly heating.

“Seriously, Spirit, I thought you were smarter than that. After all the women you’ve-“

“I get it, I get it,” he flung his hands up in defeat after returning to the world he had been momentarily kicked out of, having been brought back by the realization of what the meister was going to say, stopping Stein before he could embarrass him even more so than he already was. “Actually, Kami lied to me about taking birth control.”

“You know what? That doesn’t surprise me,” Stein fetched the cup of neglected and idle whiskey, taking a swig of it, noticing Spirit doing the same from his peripheral vision. “But you still should have worn a condom, dipshit.”

“I know, I know… I’m an idiot. And I know you’ve always hated her,” the scythe shook his head both playfully and retrospectively disappointedly after finishing off the cup.

The longer time went on, the longer their conversation went on, the more light and pleasurably woozy he began to feel, his problems suddenly seeming more humorous than… whatever word might be appropriate… Appalling, perhaps? Shocking? Distressing?

Stein tittered, quickly catching up with Spirit in terms of his whiskey, before saying, “Well, yeah, she took my greatest experiment from me.”

“Greatest?” He choked out, delightfully perplexed despite the obvious dehumanization.

“Why, yes, of course.. But that’s not why I said that. I could just see her trying to trap you into a relationship, or.. I don’t even know. I could, frankly, just see her being the type to lie in such a way,” he threw his arm up onto the top of the couch, his hand resting right behind Spirit’s dazed head.

The both of them filled their cups up once more, gulping every last bit of the dizzying liquid down.

A vivid blush dusted across both of their cheeks, the entirety of their faces tinted. It was only a matter of time before they began babbling nonsensically to one another.

“Why’s that?” Spirit slammed the cup back down onto the coffee table, more alcohol cascading into it, as he wiped his lips off with his sleeve.

“She’s just… To me, she’s just obnoxious and conniving and thieving.. and..”

“You really don’t like her, huh..?”

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little biased,” he confessed.

Spirit laid his head against the hand behind it, an unconscious decision, after they both finished yet another cup, Stein licking the remaining whiskey from off of his lips, which did not go unnoticed by Albarn.

“Y’know,” the redhead drawled almost seductively. “She was always so jealous of you.”

“I could tell,” his typical sadistic and self-congratulatory smirk appeared on his face, an expression that both unnerved and seemed to turn on Spirit over the years, though he suppressed it. “How come? Did she think you were cheating with me of all people, or something?”

“Dunno… I guess so.. Or I thought she was all jealous because of our close friendship.. Maybe it’s that? Or both?

“I don’t know what her problem is, but she forgets that I was here first. You were my experiment first,” Stein’s countenance distorted into one of minor petulance. “She’s a bitch.”

The weapon’s mouth stretched into a shit-eating grin as he listened to his former partner ramble on, practically nuzzling further into the meister’s freezing hand.

“So.. Is that your way of saying you’re the jealous type, too?” He chuckled. “I never expected you out of everyone to be so possessive..”

“Well, she stole my test subject… I wasn’t done with you yet,” he admitted, the both of them inching closer to one another.

Stein grabbed the entire bottle of vodka, leaning his head back onto the couch, his eyes closed, downing a third of the bottle. Spirit felt as even more blood rushed to his face, as he crossed his legs at the sight of Franken’s cheeks hollowing around the neck of the bottle.

He discarded the alcohol, unthinkingly plonking it onto the side table, his gaze moving down towards exactly what was sticking out like a sore thumb, what Albarn was failing to conceal.

“Now, it’s normal to actively seek and desire any kind of affection, attention, and distraction from others when going through a rough patch… There’s no shame in it,” his smirk grew impossibly larger, as he snickered at the muscles of the weapon’s thighs tightening around each other, as he averted his flustered eyes from Stein’s own.

“Don’t. fucking. tease me,” he sucked cool air in through his teeth, pouty and teary-eyed. “This is embarrassing enough as it is…”

“Aw, the baby’s so sensitive… You were always my cutest test subject, too, y’know,” he chuckled at the furrow in his brows. “But there’s no reason to be so shy about it.. I’ll give you what you want, Spirit.”

“Really?” The ginger whipped his head around, his tone a little too hopeful and giddy, even for his own ears.

Franken laughed at how antsy he was, leaning closer, muttering, “Of course. Take that jacket of yours off, lay down and I’ll make you feel better than that alcohol ever could. I’ll make you forget about everything..”

Spirit thoughtlessly obeyed, the suit jacket being deserted someplace on the floor, lying down on his back, voice already breathy as he questioned, “I didn’t think you were the type to…”

“What? Fuck?” Stein wrapped his fingers around the male’s smaller wrists after removing his glasses, pinning him down to the sofa, both of their gazes half-lidded, Spirit nodding in agreement. “I’m not usually. But you know how I like to experiment. Especially with the most fascinating ones..”

He leaned down, breath fanning against Albarn’s neck, as he chastely pecked the skin, searching for any signs of objection from the reactive man. When he noticed none, he latched onto the flesh, directly above his carotid artery, with his teeth, biting and gently sucking at the skin, feeling pleased with himself as purple and red marks began to blossom.

Stein moved one hand away from his wrist, bringing it slowly down to the buttons of his collared dress shirt, meddling with them until he could feel the warmth and smoothness of skin underneath his fingertips, the weapon’s body becoming his to toy with.

A mortifyingly loud and dramatically long whine escaped Spirit’s mouth, as he felt Franken rub and twist his nipples with his free-hand, hissing when the meister bit down particularly hard into his neck, Stein basking in his noises.

“I’m gonna show this bitch exactly whose scythe you really are,” he growled, rutting his hips desperately into Spirit’s.

“You,” Albarn began in between not-so-hushed moans. “You said you think I’m cute? And fascinating?”

“Mhm,” he hummed in response, shifting to straddle his weapon, still grinding down against the other male’s throbbing erection, whilst shuffling out of his shirt after Spirit’s constant and irritated fussing with its hem, snickering, “You’re so needy.”

“You really think so? Uhm- the cute thing, I mean,” he panted out, biting down onto his lip in a mixture of nervousness and delightful overstimulation.

Stein ceased his movements entirely, squinting his eyes as to analyze Spirit, grinning in the most simultaneously grandiose, doting, and cruel way imaginable.

“Aww… You like that, don’t you? You want me to call you cute? You want me to praise you, huh?” Spirit whimpered, covering his face with his newly freed hand, demurely and sheepishly nodding.

Stein moved to sit further down on the weapon’s thighs, reaching down to unbuckle his belt. He lifted his hips up, helping the scientist to take his pants off.

“Does Kami not compliment you, lovely? Is she neglecting you? I don’t think she realizes how delicate you are,” he cooed, already having drug down the scythe’s ruined boxers, dragging a hand up and down his length, lightly squeezing the shaft, running his thumb over the sopping tip, and using Spirit’s pitifully abundant slick as a lubricant. “You need to be taken care of.”

Given the way in which Franken was speaking, it was clear as day to even Spirit’s fogged mind that he was deriving pleasure from affectionately mocking him and his fragility, from the idea of his weapon being vulnerable - a needy guinea pig for him to play with. He was always a sadist, after all. But Spirit didn’t mind - not when, underneath the clear sardonic tone, he was being praised for the same emotionality his actual lover often shamed and chided him for.

The redhead whined, whimpering as the moistness in his eyes spilled over, bucking his hips up to meet Stein’s quickening hand.

“You’re so adorable when you cry.. So pretty… I’ve always loved how much of a crybaby you are. It’s fucking beautiful,” he said, leaning his head down to kiss the head of his cock, licking an unhurried stripe from the base, upward. “Does she not let you cry either, baby? Because I would. And I have. I think you belong in a museum with the rest of the world’s best and most magnificent art.”

Shocks of pleasure ran up and down the weapon’s spine, his mouth hanging lustfully wide open, his eyes rolling repetitiously back into his skull.

“Please… More, Stein.. Please,” He pleaded in between moans, Franken grunting almost noiselessly at the sight, his own disregarded dick straining against the prison-like confines of his pants. “‘M getting close..”

“God, you should really beg more often,” Stein said in a low, raspy voice, pumping gradually faster, clasping a hand over his own crotch, leisurely palming himself. “You’re truly gorgeous inside and out, and believe me.. I’d know.”

Something about his latter statement, strangely enough, wasn’t a turn-off. He had seen not only the deepest recesses of his soul, but his body - his innards. And he liked what he saw. If only he could tell whether or not Kami did, too.

“You have the prettiest insides I’ve ever seen. I still remember them vividly.. You’re even prettier when you’re stitched up, scarred, and bleeding than when you’re not,” Stein reminisced in the most horny way Spirit had ever seen. “I wan to cut you up again. I want to steal you back. You’d be so much better off with me. I can be gentle. I can take better care of you, sweetheart.”

The combination of the dark glint in Stein’s eyes, the uncharacteristic amount of kind praise and pet names, his hand which seemed to expertly pick up the pace, and how perfectly in tune he was with his needs had him arching his back in no time, his head tilting backwards, a prolonged whine of “fuck” leaving his lips, his muscles contracting rapidly.

Franken grabbed the throw blanket lying over the arm of the couch behind him, cleaning both his hand and Spirit off with whatever he could find.

“Still want me to fuck your brains out?” He asked slightly jokingly.

Spirit’s chest bumped up and down as he caught his breath, his overheated skin perspiring, his hair disheveled, tear tracks staining his bright cheeks.

“Uh-huh,” was all he managed to produce, the back of his hand resting on top of his sweat-slicked forehead.

“Are you sure? You look recked and all I did was give you a handjob. Is Kami that horrible in bed?” Franken laughed, his pants dropping to his ankles, as he gave his weapon the once-over.

“I always do all the work,” he huffed. “Haven’t had anything really done specifically to me in a long time.”

“Oh, so, she IS neglectful?” He tossed his boxer shorts onto the floor, positioning himself above Spirit once more. “As I’ve said, I can take good care of you… better care of you,” Stein held his chin in between his index finger and his thumb, tilting his head back down to face him properly.

“Yeah, but that’s just so you’ll get to dissect me and shit,” he placed his hands onto Stein’s shoulders, of which possessed the same sturdiness that Kami’s stupid marble countertop had, as well.

“You know me so well,” he maliciously smiled.

Spirit wrapped his arms around the meister’s neck, pulling him abruptly down, passionately locking lips with the startled male.

After recovering from the initial shock, Stein kissed him back, taking the lead, as he bit softly down onto Albarn’s bottom lip, earning a soft groan from him. He seized the opportunity, prodding his tongue into the other’s mouth while he was too distracted to continue chasing after the tender eroticism of the kiss as a whole.

He moved an already wandering hand down, his pointer and middle finger flush with his hole, as he gradually and diligently pushed them past the first ring of muscle.

Spirit gasped, his previously closed eyes shooting open at the discomfort. Stein was quick to shush him, continuing to kiss him, moving his other hand to, once again, toy with his nipples as some sort of distraction.

“The pain will subside in a moment, I promise,” he soothed as he took a breath, leaning away from Albarn’s lips.

“If you say so,” Spirit grimaced. “….Can I tell you something?”

“Go ahead,” he said, slowly beginning to thrust his lengthy fingers inwards and outwards according to his weapon’s expressions and body language.

“I’ve been fantasizing about this for a while now,” he ashamedly divulged.

“Oh, really?” The redhead nodded. “Can I tell *you* something?”

“What is it?”

“I already knew that.”

He rammed his two fingers experimentally into him, all the way in, curling them and dragging them against his walls. Spirit dug his fingers into Stein’s arms, jumping a little out of his skin at the odd sensation.

“This feels weird,” he whined in a childish manner. It wasn’t exactly a complaint, but it wasn’t exactly not a complaint either.

Stein laughed, continuing his search for Albarn’s prostate. The least he could do was make the experience as a whole even remotely pleasurable.

“I know it’s not the best feeling, but it’s necessary if you’d like to lessen the pain later. And just give me a second, I think I can make it better for you.”

Spirit shoved his head into the crook of Stein’s neck, having tugged on his shoulders as to tell him to move closer, wrapping both his arms and legs around him tightly.

“Is she not physically affectionate enough for you either?”

“Is it that obvious?” He pursed his bitten lips.

Embracing another warm body seemed to give him a rush.. One of which he was unable to truly describe, other than it made him want to latch onto Stein and never let go - which was only exacerbated by the fact that he even decided to take the time to prep him at all. He was really going the extra mile trying to convince him to return to being his little lab rat.

“Go-god!” He had the wind absolutely and utterly knocked out of him the moment Franken found his g-spot, his fingernails stabbing into the poor man’s back as he groaned out in minor pain.

“Feeling good now?” Stein spoke in a strained voice, his face tensing as he felt the weapon’s nails dig and drag further into and over his spine.

“Thi-this is much better than before,” The scientist added another finger, much to the satisfaction of Spirit.

“Good.. Tell me when you think you’re ready to-“

“Now,” he interrupted restlessly, already achingly hard again. “Now, please.”

“Someone’s impatient,” he smirked, removing his fingers from the other, wiping them off on the soiled blanket.

“Of course, I am! You’ve already said it yourself, sort of!”

“What? That she doesn’t fuck you as much as you fuck her, if at all, and that’s not something you’re exactly handling well?”

“Yeah…”

Stein grabbed ahold of his dick, pumping it a few times before lining it up with Spirit’s hole, pushing into him little by little.

“You okay?” He asked, observing his face attentively. He had removed his hands begrudgingly from Stein, nearly tearing holes into the couch cushion with his nails.

“Yeah,” he took a few deep breaths. “Just stings.”

“Patience is a virtue. Remember that next time,” Spirit shot the meister a glare, watching him sink and disappear into him with rapture. “Tell me when you’re ready for me to move.”

He brought his hands back up to Stein, petting the red markings he’d left up and down his back as an apology, feeling the sigh the man released reverberating within him.

“Why’re you bein’ so nice?” Albarn stared into Franken’s curious and intrigued eyes, a certain glimmer in them he couldn’t quite place, one of which he’d never seen in him before.

“Is this not how you’re supposed to treat someone during sex? Am I doing something wrong? I didn’t know whether or not you were into being treated roughly, but you responded so well to being treated gently-“

“No, no, it’s fine, don’t worry. You’re doing perfectly, I was just wondering. I was halfway expecting you to hack me open,” he chuckled, beginning to wiggle around hastily.

“Well, this was an impulsive decision and I didn’t grab a scalpel.”

“True,” he continued to writhe. “Can you move now, please?”

“Of course,” he concurred, thrusting in deeper, hips flush with Spirit’s, beginning to move in and out. “You wanna start out slow, right?”

“Actually.. No.. I give you free reigns to treat me like a fucking slut now,” he giggled, cringing internally at his own embarrassing words and shrugged his shoulders the best he could in his current position.

“Ah.. Is that so?”

“Yeah, why not?”

Stein pulled nearly entirely out, slamming himself back into Spirit, the scythe’s head coming dangerously close to hitting against the arm of the sofa, as he grinded repeatedly inside of him, causing Albarn’s jaw to go completely slack, his eyes about to burst out of his skull, loud moans and grunts pouring out of him.

He grasped one large hand around the weapon’s neck, his fingers curling around its thickness and squeezing, the redhead wheezing and whining in response.

“Stein,” he panted. “You’re so… quiet. I wanna hear you.”

He leaned much farther down, mouth right beside Spirit’s ear, increasing the speed and impact of his thrusts, as he released low whimpers and groans where he knew he’d be able to hear him best.

Spirit turned his head to the side, fully intending to watch each and every twitch of Stein’s facial muscles. And he was met with a sight more grand than anything else he’d ever seen before.

His eyes had rolled stunningly for a second, his lips wide apart, as pleasant noises and pants escaped him. His cheeks were as vermillion as Spirit’s fingers had been hours ago, his bangs mussed down, sticking to his forehead.

His grip on his neck began to falter, only to tighten once again as he succumbed more and more to the pleasure, murmuring, “I could fuck you like this everyday if you’d just stay mine and obey me like a good mutt should.”

Spirit himself whimpered and moaned, more pangs of pleasure shooting all throughout him like electric shocks, forming an enjoyable pressure and tingling in his lower body.

“Oh, yeah? You like that? You want to be my good mutt? My good dog?” Stein moved his head away from the male’s ear, staring dead at him, his hand leaving his throat and making its way to squeeze his cock, the brilliantly pinkish, reddish tip dripping with pre-cum.

Spirit’s back arched, lifting from off of the cushions below him, as he nodded fervently up and down.

“Then be MY weapon, MY scythe. Not hers. Mine,” he pumped his hand rigorously up and down, grinding as hard as he possibly could into him.

“I am yours, Stein, I swear. You can do whatever you want to me, I don’t care anymore,” he couldn’t remember how to breathe. He could only remember how to meet each and every one of his meister’s desperately libidinous movements.

“Good boy,” he quickened his hand, his hips. “Say it again.”

“I’m yours..”

“Again,” he ordered once more, rubbing at his sensitive tip.

“I’m.. I’m your weapon, I’ve never been hers!” He exclaimed, as streams of white spurted out from him, landing on both his and Stein’s abdomens, his legs quivering.

“Good. Fucking. Boy,” his hips stuttered violently forward, one hand by Spirit’s head, the other lying on his thigh, as he came inside of him, collapsing onto the male.

“That was wonderful,” Albarn sucked in whatever oxygen he could, feeling utterly doused in an unfortunate pool of sweat.

Stein rose from Spirit, his body having been against his, his face having laid momentarily in his blood-red hair.

“Where’re you going?” He whined out in complaint as the scientist stood, walking away from him, leaving him.

“I’m just getting a rag, so we don’t have to use that blanket, Spirit. You can come if you’d like,” he offered, picking his glasses up from off of the side table.

“I’m not sure if I can walk.. I’m tipsy and my legs feel wobbly,” he turned, watching as Stein picked their clothing up off of the floor, throwing it onto the side of the couch opposite to the sulky and clingy scythe. “You should carry me.”

“It’d be quicker for me to just run and get a rag,” the weapon’s expression sank the moment he processed his words.

With a sigh, Stein conceded, “How about this, I’ll put my entire self aside and cuddle you to sleep?”

“Deal,” he yelled gleefully out, the other exhaustedly moving towards the bathroom.

“Oh, and if it provides you any sort of solace or anything, I don’t usually want to fuck my test subjects, Spirit. Remember that. You’re the exception. You’re my favorite.”

🥃

The sun’s morning rays bled through the covered window of the living room, shaking Spirit awake as it flooded into his vision.

It felt as though pins and needles had been dug into his eyes, his temples ready to explode, disorientated and muzzy, as he attempted to lift himself from off of an oddly warm and fleshy mattress.

He looked sleepily to his side, the sight of a pile of clothes scattered across one side of the.. sofa? And a bottle of vodka over beside the clothes on a small table.. And those aforementioned clothes happened to be his and what looked to be.. Stein’s…

Wait a minute… Where was he?

“Look who’s awake,” a sonorous and groggy voice startled him, as he immediately whipped his head downwards in the direction of the sound, only to be met with a nude Stein.

A nude Stein? What?

His eyes tripled in size as he scanned the room, scanned his own apparently mostly naked body, being only covered by his unbuttoned shirt, and scanned what precisely he was perched upon, causing sudden bursts of the previous night to come back to him.

“Oh, God.. Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God,” he rushed out in a panic, scrambling to clothe himself as he stood up and away from Stein, of whom had his arms crossed behind his head, his eyes half-lidded and dull, as nonchalant as ever, all of him out on display.

“Remembering everything now?” He grinned, sitting up and leaning over towards where his pants had been left astray, digging into the pockets and retrieving a cigarette.

“What are we going to do, Stein?” Spirit held his face in his hands, running up and down each side of his head, and through his unkempt hair.

“Laugh,” he said in between self-satisfied chuckles, lighting the end of his cigarette, taking a long drag of it. “That was an impressively interesting way to come out to me, there, Spirit.”

“Oh, Shut up, Stein,” he snarled. “And.. God… she’s pregnant! And what if she finds out?! What if she leaves me?! I.. What have I done? No, no, no, no…”

“Probably shouldn’t have thought with the wrong head, huh?” He blew smoke in the direction opposite of Albarn.

“You’re such an asshole,” he sniveled, wiping away quickly falling tears in humiliation and shame, his shirt still unbuttoned, his pants not zipped up.

Franken sighed, standing and trudging over to the blubbering scythe, placing his cigarette in between his lips and allowing it to hang, zipping his pants up, buckling his belt, and buttoning his dress shirt for him.

This is how he’s always been when hungover. Those of whom viewed him as being overly emotional or even downright theatrical before seeing him the morning after too many drinks had no clue what they were talking about. He’d become a different version of himself when hungover. He’d cry at the slightest change in tone when hungover.

And to be frank, Stein didn’t really blame him. His own head was pounding, every little photon made him want to gouge his eyes out, and his stomach was beginning to churn with nausea, so it’s not as though he himself wasn’t ready to break down sobbing along with him.

Franken took one last inhale of the cigarette before putting it out in the ashtray he’d left on the far end of the coffee table, setting it down inside of it before placing a placid and serene hand on the back of Albarn’s head, pulling him in and comforting him the way he’d learned how to over the years.

He wasn’t typically the type to soothe anyone, but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t gain a certain level of sadistic enjoyment from the fact that Spirit was moldeable putty in his hands.. It wasn’t something he was exactly proud of, though he was not ashamed of it either. And, of course, observing the male’s reactions towards his affectionate gestures was truly fascinating.

“It’s going to be okay, Spirit. There’s no use in crying over it. What’s done is done. I can help you cover the hickeys up,” he brushed sweetly up and down his scalp, and up and down his spine.

“You can?” Spirit peered up at the scientist, chin resting on his chest.

“Yeah, all I need to do is put a little makeup on you,” he brushed his cheek with his thumb, tenderly sliding it back and forth against the skin.

“You have makeup?” He gawked at him, Stein being the person he’d expected the least to own any sort of makeup.

“Oh, only a little. I like to do SFX when I get bored, sometimes,” Franken gave the touchy-feely man a touchy-feely kiss on the forehead, analyzing the way in which he fought melting into him. “I’ll just use some concealer and foundation and shit, and it should go all right, unless you turn out to have a drastically different skin tone than me. You’re a bit tanner. But we’ll paint up your face and such, too. I’m sure it’ll be believable given your current predicament.”

“Thank you,” he gratefully smiled. “But what if she notices the foundation? She knows what foundation looks like when applied, Stein..”

“Well, it’s worth a shot, is it not?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” he sullenly pouted.

“The makeup’s in the bathroom.. I’ll have to turn the light on, though,” they both groaned in unison.

“Whatever it takes.. Plus, we’re both probably gonna end up throwing up anyway, might as well already be in there,” they separated from one another, walking side by side to the godforsaken bathroom with its godforsaken lights.

🥃

“Were you being serious last night?” Stein asked, padding against Spirit’s neck with a foundation-covered beauty blender, his eyes remaining solely on the overt markings he’d left behind.

“About what?” The weapon was sat on top of the countertop, a black bag filled with makeup, face-paint, and fake blood sitting on the other side of the sink, Franken standing in between his spread legs.

“…About being my weapon and not hers.”

Spirit narrowed his eyes in thought for a moment, both out of genuine consideration and an attempt to remember at what precise point in time he uttered such words, blushing furiously when it came back to him.

“I… Uhm..”

“It’s okay if not. I only want an honest answer,” thought he spoke in his usual monotone, the scythe couldn’t help but feel the heavy weight of disappointment radiating from Stein.

“No, no.. It’s not that.. I was being honest, but..”

“I know you love her. It’s fine if you prefer her, or would prefer to stay with her. That’s what I expected,” he finished with applying the foundation, fetching some sort of powder and brush to dab onto the area.

Spirit felt more guilty than he ever had before at how ‘used to it’ the meister sounded, being reminded of how he had effectively abandoned the former life he had.

“At the end of the day, I am aware of what I did and what I may or may not continue to do,” he placed the brush down onto the counter, looking closely over the redhead’s skin as to compare and contrast how differently the foundation appeared against his true skin color. “I think I might need to apply it all over your neck and face.. Perhaps even your hands, too..”

“Stein… It’s not that I don’t want to stay with you.. I’m conflicted,” he twiddled his culpability-ridden thumbs.

“You don’t have to force yourself to like me, Spirit. Don’t feel obligated to be nice. You know I prefer bluntness,” he spread the concealer and foundation and such over the rest of his counterpart’s neck, smoothing it into the skin underneath his chin.

“No, I *do* like you! It’s just that I like Kami, too, and she said she’d leave me if I didn’t become and stay her weapon.. She said that’s how she’d know that I love her, and that was, like, the perfect turnout for any couple, and it was romantic, or some shit like that,” he began elucidating, honestly a little frantic to assure Stein he wasn’t just going to give up on him like everyone else seemed to, and that he did, in fact, like him and his… eccentric personality.

Franken paused, ceasing his movements entirely, the blender and brush sitting beside each other as he placed his hands on the counter, both next to Spirit’s thighs.

“Don’t you think it’d be better to leave someone who consistently threatens you, and makes you feel as though you need to measure up? I’m no expert when it comes to any relationships, obviously, but is that not textbook emotional manipulation?” The scientist pointed out precisely what Albarn did not want to accept. “You’re clearly not good for each other. You just cheated on her with me, and she’s.. She’s Kami. Based purely upon the evidence, emotional manipulation and cheating doesn’t tend to have a great effect on the human psyche - unless mental deterioration is your goal, of course.”

The world around him, including the male standing patiently in front of him, blurred and swirled as tears brimmed in his eyes again, spilling out and falling down despite his best efforts.

“I don’t know what to do anymore, Stein… I don’t want to leave her.. And I’m not so great to her either,” he wiped his running nose with the back of his hand, Franken handing him a roll of toilet paper as he did as such.

“What do you mean? The getting fucked by your ex-partner?” He suppressed an amused chuckle.

“Well, yeah… But it’s not just that,” little droplets beaded on Spirit’s long eyelashes, becoming steadily more apparent the harder he wept and the more he tilted his head downwards in yet another burst of shame. “I said something to her.. and I’m mad at myself for it.”

“What’d you say?” Stein moved the makeup utensils farther away from the crybaby, temporarily shuffling them back into the bag.

“I.. All she did was bring up a valid point - that we’re not ready, and she brought up abortion.. And I snapped at her and told her she owed me the baby after lying, and it pissed her off,” he sniffled, blowing his nose cartoonishly into one of the multitude of fuzzy, paper squares.

“That was the best way you could’ve put it,” he sarcastically grinned, Spirit frowning in response, annoyed and fed up with Stein’s teasing. “Hey, I’m just trying to lighten the mood a little.. Here,” he brought the weapon’s head back to his chest, patting him gently on the back as he whimpered sadly.

“‘M sorry I cry so much,” he choked on a pitiful sob.

“Oh, this is pretty interesting to me, so there’s no need to apologize. And you cry a lot less when you’re not hungover and just generally not feeling like complete and total shit,” he reassured in a quiet voice, one of which seemed to soothe Spirit like a lullaby. “I’m not your obnoxious girlfriend. There’s no reason to be insecure about it.”

“Clearly,” he snuffled out in agreement, finding that his extremities were gradually becoming more and more jello-like under the touch of the same man who repeatedly and non-consensually ripped him open. It was as though Stein was two similar, yet distinctive people at times.

“I know it will be difficult for someone such as yourself, especially given her sudden and unprecedented pregnancy, but it’d be best for the both of you to leave one another. You should break up with her. And remember; if you two do end up going through with having the baby, you can always visit the child if it doesn’t happen to live with you,” he brushed the ginger’s hair from out of his eyes and he stared up at him, running guiding and grounding fingers across his forehead, as he tucked the strands behind his ear.

“I know, but I love her…”

“….Truly, it’s your decision to make, Spirit. That’s just my personal opinion,” Franken thumbed away the continuously rolling tears, one hands smoothing over the wrinkles in the back of his shirt.

“Thank you,” he hiccuped.

“Mhm… Now, the foundation isn’t too bad of a match.. But I do still think it could use some work.. Would you like me to use it on your face, as well?”

“Sure… But let me throw up first..”

🥃

Spirit stepped into his shoes, of which had been sat right beside Stein’s, just like old times. It was sickeningly domestic in a sense, as well as wistful.

And with a whisper of “goodbye,” a profound bidding of adieu holding much more than what meets the eye, he trudged out of the apartment, and out of the complex itself, dreading the conversation that was to come, and ignoring the unpleasantly cake-y texture lathered on his face.

He tried to distract himself with the beauty of the nature surrounding him as he walked, only to be hit with constant reminders of his problems, as he lowered his gaze away from the young children skipping along, hand-in-hand with their parents, giggling and acting overly jovial.

He was beginning to think that the universe had it out for him.

He anxiously strolled under a few weeping willows, something of which he found rather ironic given how much he himself had been weeping, and gave that thought a small chuckle.

Unfortunately, however, any and all humor was sucked straight out of him by the soul-crushing black hole that was the coming discussion, as he retrieved the key to his and Kami’s apartment door, slowly turning it within the knob, terrified of being too loud and alerting his girlfriend. Though she’d most likely be waiting for him the moment he pushed the door open.

And that she was.

She was sat down on the very center of the couch, staring at him with what he could only describe as being something mixed between bloodlust and sorrow.

“Look, I’m sor-“

“Spirit,” she abruptly interrupted, evidently not willing to hear any apology he had to give. “Why were you out all night? Where were you? And why do you smell like both liquor and cigarette smoke? Don’t tell me you’re drinking and smoking again.”

Shit. Cigarette smoke. The one thing neither of them thought to account for.

“So, what if I am? I can make my own decisions. And please, just let me-“

“Why can’t you just be more responsible? We’re having a baby, are we not? Given that you won’t even consider abortion.”

Spirit moved closer to Kami, sighing and shoving his keys back into his pocket, and standing in front of her, their round coffee table in between them.

“I think you forget that we’re both seventeen, Kami. I think you forget that we are BOTH pretty irresponsible. Need I remind you of the lie that lead us to this moment?” He crossed his arms over his sternum, looking directly into her self-serving eyes, as he bit into his tongue.

She glowered intensely at him, pursing her lips for a brief moment, as she questioned once more, “Where were you, Spirit?”

His thoughts raced, his mind twisting and turning trying to come up with some decently elaborate, yet not too elaborate lie.

“I went to the liquor store. I went to the tobacco store. I went to Marie’s house. I got drunk, I smoked, and I talked to Marie and Joe.”

“Oh, great, you rattled off to them about me, didn’t you? I bet you tried to fuck her, too,” Kami accusingly stated, standing up, now face-to-face with Spirit, minus the table.

“For one, I believe I just mentioned Joe being there, and he was there the whole time. Secondly, I don’t fuck anyone who’s already with someone else. Thanks for showing how little you think of me.”

“Oh, but you’d fuck any other slut who happened to come onto you, right? So long as they didn’t belong to anyone?” Kami marched on over to Albarn, getting up close and personal, squinting her eyes in suspicion as she got a good look at him. “What the hell’s on your face? Is that foundation? Is that why you look so damn pale? Why are you wearing… Wait a minute..” She touched around his face, his neck, even more anger effervescently bubbling within her.

“Why would you be wearing makeup? Are you trying to hide something, like, I don’t know, a hickey, maybe?”

“Who says I can’t just like makeup?”

“Don’t play dumb, Spirit.”

“Fine. I’m hiding hickeys,” he owned up to his infidelity despite the anxiety that came with it, not desiring in any way, shape, or form to be anything like Kami; a raging liar.

Kami raised her hand, slapping him across his face, her hand leaving a stinging sensation in its wake. He held the cheek her hand collided with delicately and soothingly, fighting back even more tears, not wanting to look weak.

“Who. did. you. fuck. Spirit? It better not have been Marie.”

“You wanna know? You really want to know?” The weapon’s nose was nearly touching hers, as he bared his teeth.

“Yes, I want to fucking know!” She screamed, clenching her fists.

“It was Stein! Are you pleased to no it wasn’t Marie? It was Stein! I never went over to Marie’s place! And he fucked me better than you ever could. It was the best sex I’ve ever had. Do you want to hear exactly what he did to me? Huh?”

“You did what?” Kami took a few detesting steps backwards, beginning to shake her head back and forth in disbelief, similar, yet different to how she had in the bathroom. “I can’t believe you,” she huffed out a laugh. “I expected you to cheat but with STEIN? With HIM? With another MAN? Holy shit…”

“Welp, since it’s already out in the open, is this a good time to tell you I’m bisexual?” He threw his arms in the air, only for them to fall and smack noisily against his thighs.

“God, I just… Why? Why did you do that? And why didn’t you tell me that a long time ago?” She continued to shake her head.

“Well, I got drunk and shit happens. And Of course I didn’t tell you, I figured you’d judge me for it just like you judge me for everything else!”

“Seriously?! You’re so fucking dramatic! And you’re seriously going to try to just dismiss you fucking someone else?!”

“And there you go again! You always say that, any time I’ve ever brought anything up! And no, I’m not trying to make it seem less serious or whatever, I’m just saying, I was wasted and shit happens!” His eyes moistened, his headache surely progressing into a migraine, the tingling and burning of his cheek proving to be a bothersome disturbance.

“You’re a whiny, annoying, cheating piece of shit,” she insulted him, reaching beside him and yanking her purse from off of the coffee table, the strap swinging around her arm and resting on her shoulder. “I’m fucking done with you.“

“Wait! What about the baby?!” He worriedly shouted, watching as Kami swung the door open just as he had.

“You know what, Spirit?” She turned her head and body to the side to face him. “I’ll keep it. I’ll keep the baby. But only so I can take pleasure in the fact that you’ll live in constant agony knowing your child is somewhere, living without a father.. Or at the very least, living without you.”

The door slammed, ringing in Spirit’s shaken ears. And once again, that moistness poured out from his eyes as abundantly as the whiskey had poured from the bottle.

He wouldn’t get to see his baby grow up.

He kneeled down, sitting languidly down onto the floor, still processing what just happened.

Kami was gone. And he wouldn’t get to see his baby grow up. The baby he’d always wanted, unexpected or not.

His chest tightened, feeling as though a boa was wrapping around his heart, constricting and squeezing until the organ was to burst. He coughed out anguished sobs, gasping for air as his hand came to land against his abdomen, his stomach being wrung in and out, his skin boiling.

Should he call someone? Should he call Stein? Should he try to get in his pants again as a distraction? Would Stein even allow for that? Should he drink?

His torso fell forward, as he landed on his hands and knees briefly, his body caving in to the turmoil, soon finding himself lying on the floor and struggling to breathe.

He needed to call someone. He didn’t want to be alone. He wanted comfort. He wanted the comfort Stein gave him, even if he knew the meister only gave it to him as some sort of experiment, for his own selfish reasons.

He dug into his pockets, bringing his cellphone up to his face, dialing Stein’s number from memory, as Kami forced him to both block and delete his number over a year ago.

“Hello?” The scientist’s voice boomed through the speakers.

“St.. Stein?” He called brokenly out in between pathetic sobs.

“Yeah? What happened?”

He could no longer see, could no longer breathe, could no longer properly move; a soul-sucking, alcoholism-inducing depression swaddling him like he’d never be able to do with his baby.

“Can you come over? Kami’s gone.”

“Gone?”

“Gone.”

[halliescomut]

Love Sea Ep 3 watch along

Okay, but that little reminder text is a perfect example of showing you care without saying you care. 🥹

Okay but sometimes Mame is unexpectedly very deep and very good with words.

P'Vi confuses me. I do like the blunt honesty her and Rak have though. That's important in friends.

Mook is so absolutely adorable. If Vi makes her cry I will figure out how to kick the ass of a fictional character.

So it seems their dad did worse than just leave them based on that convo between Rak and his sister. (I think I remember discussion of that from where ppl were discussing the novel on Twitter, but I did make the decision to not try and read the novel first.)

I kinda wanna know where all of Mut's button-up shirts are from. I really like them.

Rak being all depressing and Mut and ....shoot I forgot his name again... going diving.

Mut(Fort really) is just so cuddle shaped.

On iQiYi the OST lyrics overlap with the actual captions and it's annoying as fuck

This fucking nosey ass 🤣🤣

The difference in aesthetics for their clothes here is so wild. I will say though that I like that there's wardrobe repetition. That's not always common in TV, and it really fucks with the believability. I know it's more common in Thai BL, but that's mostly bc so many involve ppl that wear a uniform of some sort (looking at you University BLs).

Interesting...very interesting. I talked.... somewhere... About how the social power dynamics at play here were dangerous because they were going into this whole thing without being honest (with themselves or each other) and it was going to have fallout.

I don't know if I'm surprised Mut took so long, or if maybe I expected him to take Rak's verbal abuse a little longer.....

A beautiful scene. It's a lovely bit of physical acting how Rak sort of melts into Mut.

I do think it's so funny how Mut always says he's so simple (and in some ways he is) but people seem to take it to mean not smart or clever, and he's very obviously both. I can't tell if he truly sees himself that way or if it's an attempt to have people underestimate him....maybe it's both.

Well now I'm just depressed. Thanks a lot Rak. But seriously, I do appreciate the clarification of the family dynamics. I'm also a bit surprised Rak is opening up so soon to Mut about this. Idk if it's because it's at the front of his mind, or if Mut's kind of easy acceptance of everything makes it seem easy...idk.

Ruh-ro raggy .... Rak thinks this is gonna be a failed experiment because he truly doesn't think real love exists, but I fear he will be wrong (this is a romance after all).

I'm curious about Mut's motivations though. I believe he believes in love. I also think he wants Rak to, or maybe just for Rak to have some peace? Idk. He's surprisingly hard to read. As much as I think he likes Rak (both as a person and a sex partner) I don't think he's fallen in love with him at this point.

While I do love a fake dating storyline ... I'm still on the fence about P'Vi.

I feel like Fort had to carry Peat for a long time for this scene. I bet his arms were killing him. (Though we've seen the gym pics, I know he's been working out.)

That's so cute.

Oh yeah...slow mo pushing the hair back. Very Baywatch

Are we doing more beach sexy time?

I Guess Not. We're back at the keyboard.

You're gonna sit here and tell me that's not a goddamn puppy in human form??? LIES!!

He's goddamn adorable. I'd want one for myself if I wasn't Ace and had any idea what to do with one other than feed it and take it for walks.

Peat's got nice hands 🥵...send tweet.

That was such a sharp poke. OMG 🤣🤣

Okay but this is practically a still from the PaiSky fanfic I wrote. Linked here.

Rak likes cuddles. Cute little bean.

Palm ....that's his name. I was thinking Pond earlier, which is close. And now he's being nosey again.

Mut's face when Palm waved back🤣🤣🤣 Like bitch I ain't waving at you

I do think it's sweet how determined Palm is to be a good wingman though.

I do appreciate the love bite front and center. But what are our thoughts on whether it's makeup or a 'practical effect'?

"A dog in rut more like." "Well then his owners is as well." 🤣🤣

Mut's nervous to take Rak to his home. Sweet, but legit if Rak were to judge him for his home I would vote for kicking him to the curb, no matter how much I like him.

Ahhhhh.....so Ja is VI's costar...okay. God I forget how fucking tall he is. Mans practically a redwood.

Is this like Wedding Plan, but make it straight???

I know that bunny purse is entirely impractical for the person I am, but it's so cute.

It really is weird people would be claiming boob job when I think Vi is a B cup on a good day.

Very impressive just fully ignoring the sexuality question Vi.

Mook, babes....you gave in way too fast.

"I'm not bi." I know a lie by omission when I see one. That statement does not equal that you are straight.

You are a damn liar Rak. This little visit has nothing to do with inspiration. You want to be nosey and learn more about Mut.

I like the environmentalism aspect woven into the show. It's good.

As if I couldn't hate your dad more Mut. Calm down Satan.

So we know why Mut left. But really how can someone make their living from nature but not care enough about it??

Okay exhibitionist Rak.

Idk why but there's something about Rak straddling Mut that just....

Well.....we can tick off the Fort's nipple obsession of on the bingo board.

And we're returning favors. Very egalitarian.

Two condoms....well. You certainly had plenty of energy there didn't you....

There's a couple wrappers on the floor, but those do look unopened.

Also vaguely off topic: while the sheets are not the Slutty Geometry Sheets™️, I think my sister has the same kind.

Hmmm....now this is a juicy conversation. Rak being so intentionally honest here telling Mut to ask him to stay. He's afraid to take the leap, but he wants to.

As a side note....I cannot tell you how much I love them showing Fort's physical 'imperfections'. The kind of farmer's tan he has going on, you can see the stretch marks on his upper arms. He's an absolutely gorgeous man, but so often that stuff gets filtered out, or covered in makeup. I love seeing it. We need this more.

OMG I'm crying.

This is important though. Rak needs to know that his answer will have consequences.

That was the right answer. (Though the shabby hole comment about his house was a bit much. I'm hoping that's more a translation issue.)

I suspect the country mouse shall go to the city in next week's episode.....

Awwww Rak in Mut's tank top. Cute.

I really thought Rak was bare-assed for a second pulling a Pete, but no, he's in khaki pants.

So cute and sweet 🥹🥹🥹. Also, I love the bed net. Malaria is no joke.

So next week are we looking at just an NDA or is that contract for like a full Sugar Baby position??

Also end credits change-up again. Now MutRak are walking together....symbolic.

Well that's all for this watch along. I don't think I'll have 4k words to say about it tomorrow, but we shall see.

[mooncakesofpan]

Chapter 2

The life of a top designer is stressful in itself how much will change when you find 2 glowing eyes peering back at you from your yard.  

Poly!Skz x Tall!Nonbinary!Reader

Series Warnings: mention of abuse, hybrid au, omegaverse themes, strong language, suggestive topics, and themes (see individual chapters for specific warnings)

Chapter warnings: unwanted advances, mentions of food, mentions of stress, anxiety, slight angst, mentions of possible neglect, Reader uses they/them. Use of Mx.

Word count: 5.2k

An: I'm so sorry this took so long my life got really crazy and it took me a bit to recover.

| Previous chapter | Masterlist | Next Chapter |

DO NOT STEAL MY WORK

I stir awake only to feel my throat dry, I reach for my water bottle and go to take a sip only to realize the bottle is empty. I stumble out bed and attempt to get out of the tangle of blankets that adorn my bed. Phone and water bottle in hand as I head out my room, using my phone to light my way through the house to accompany the moon light shining through the windows. As I move down the stairs with soft steps trying to keep to keep quite not wanting to wake the two hybrids. I can hear the soft snoring from Felix and Chan’s room. As I step into the hall I notice a figure sitting on the floor next to the slightly cracked door.

Chan.

He's curled up against the wall with his knees firmly pressed to his chest. The light from the moon barely makes his face visible, yet I can still make out the stern gaze glued to the front door further down the hall from his and Felix's room. The furry ears on the top of his head twitch hearing the wood creek under my feet. Though his eyes on the door don’t move one bit.

“Hey you okay?” I sit on the wall opposite of him.

“Oh— uh yeah,” He gives me a tired look from his spot.

“Can’t sleep?”

I see his head shake.

“Something on your mind? I’m all ears if you need someone to listen,” I say fiddling with the bottle in my hands,almost dropping it.

“Just stuff from the past you know, old habits die hard,” He sighs with a false smile shaking his head looking at his hands.

“Wanna talk about it?” I say looking back down at my hands.

“One day, but you should head back to sleep. You said you had an important interview in the morning, right? wouldn't you want to be exhausted in the morning.”

“... yeah I do, I’ll uh— head back to bed,” I say slowly getting up from the floor moving to head to the kitchen.

“I thought you were heading to bed” his voice raises in confusion.

“Oh– I came down to fill my water bottle” I say, shaking the water bottle.

Looking at Chan, it’s obvious that he wants to talk about things. I don’t want to push him, but hopefully one of these days he’ll feel comfortable opening up and talking about it. He seems to have a lot of weight on his shoulders.  

I finish filling the water bottle and head back to my room glancing back one last time at the man. Still curled up against the wall, staring at the door. He glances up at me, his eyes soften  looking back at mine as I hesitate going up the stairs wishing I could offer him some comfort.

Chan was right, the alarm felt like a rude awakening, I was way too tired to want to deal with anything this morning . The repetitive beep and the fact I didn't want to wake up to to go to this interview anyway is already making me miserable. I trudge out of bed to change into some dark form fitting slacks, a wide brim hat and a suit jacket with nothing under it. If I have to be in front of the cameras I might as well look good while I do it. I look through my drawers to find a simple chain to clip around my neck. The simple loafers picked out to go with my outfit, makes it a little more practical. I carry the shoes to put on at the garage door.

My thumb flicks across my phone  screen as I look through my notifications as the sound of the coffee maker feels in my ear and the strong smell of the coffee fills my nose.

A quiet “Oh shit,” fills my ears as I move to the island. I look up worried seeing Felix looking at me having spilled a little coffee on the counter.

“Are You okay?” I say hurrying to grab a paper towel to wipe up the small mess. “You didn't burn yourself right?”

I take his hand in mine double checking that the hot coffee didn't scald it.

“No I’m okay, y-you look nice,” he says looking at my clothes.

“Oh thank you I have that meeting today then I have to meet with some model agencies and higher-ups about the status of that project I told you and Chan, I was working on since we're getting closer to the deadline—,” I start.

My hands run down my face, tired.

“God, today just seems like it's gonna be so long and it hasn't even started,” I say with an awkward chuckle leaving my mouth.

The slight pink on Felix's cheeks almost goes unnoticed as I throw the paper towel away.

did he get burned and he didn't tell me?

“Oh uh—Let me know if you guys need anything okay, I might be out late,” I put on my dress shoes and grab my bag giving Felix a hug before he doesn't let go for a minute rubbing his face in my neck a little bit. The motion made my face warm.

I’m about to head out the door wishing I could say bye to Chan but he doesn't seem to be up yet. This seems to be a continuous trend. Waking up a little later than me and Felix

Is it related to him sitting outside the door this morning? Does he do that every night? They've been here for a few weeks. Maybe I should invest in a security system or something? Since he looked like he was watching the front door?

 I shrug the idea off to deal with later as I get into my car and head to the address for the interview. Getting escorted into the building and my dressing room. The morning was already chaotic on top of my interview today. It seems today just isn't my day already and its just started.

I had sat down to check my text messages from Felix and Chan on my personal phone. A text from Felix from about 30 minutes reads on my lock screen.

☀️Lixie☀️: Hey we ran out of eggs, sorry I didn’t realize yesterday that there were only few left.

Me: It's okay I’ll pick them up on my way home.

☀️Lixie☀️: K thanks see you when you get home :)

The sound of knocking reaches my ears.

“Come in!” I say looking toward the door.

A young women in her early 20′s with red panda ears adorning the top of her head I almost miss them as they lay against the braids in her hair decorated with beads that knock together in a rhythm as she peaks her head in.

“Hi Zinnia, I'm here for makeup.”

“Oh yeah come in,” I say with a smile.

She looks between me and her bag and pulls out brushes, palettes,powdersand tubes as I sit looking through my work phone.

“So you work with Script right?” she asks, touching up blemishes on my face.

“Yeah I've been working with them for a few years almost straight out of college.”

“That's cool,” she says with focus making sure I won’t be shiny on the camera.

“How long have you been working here?” I mumble, trying not to move too much.

“I think I've been with them for about  4 months. I just got finished with cosmetology school,” her voice let out.

Her soft voice is quiet as the orange and white tail flicked back and forth behind her, I almost missed her nose scrunching up.

”Do you mind if I ask you a question?” She lets out cautiously, putting some of her stuff away.

“Yeah go ahead,” I urged while watching her move around the room.

“Do you have hybrids?” She looks at me curiously.  

“Uh, yeah I recently took in some a few weeks ago, how did you know that?”  The words spilled out curiously.

“I could smell him on you,” she points to my neck. The same spot that Felix had rubbed against this morning when he hugged me.

“How?!” I asked, a bit with surprise and eyes wide.

The question honestly sounded a little stupid I've been trying to research hybrids but some of it has been hard to find conclusions too. Like, nesting, hierarchical systems, more instinctual stuff I honestly should suck up my pride and embarrassment and just ask Chan and Felix more questions .

“Hybrids have a really good sense of smell, and he scented you,” She pointed to her button nose with a smile.

Scent— I've come across the word but I haven't really been able to come up with a cohesive answer based on all the things online.

“Sorry I've been trying to research about hybrids and stuff since they moved in, what does that mean?” I let out nervously

“Oh, scenting is like trying to mark that someone belongs to someone for a hybrid to scent you; it's typically a sign of trust and a want to stake a claim.” The words left her mouth so casually as she described what it meant.

“We’ll typically scent around chest and neck areas and wrist.”

“So say the hybrid I live with hugs me and like nuzzled into my neck this morning—”

“That would be scenting,” She chuckles.

I nod along listening to her words as she talks about a few hybrid typical things. The conversation eventually moves to interest and I end up offering my phone number so we could keep in touch and talk some more.

“Who’s one of the biggest people you’ve worked with?” she asked, sitting in the chair across from me.

“That’s a hard question, I’ve been brought on a lot of projects but, I’d have to say Rihanna I worked on a project with her. It was a very exciting experience. I was so nervous to mess up. What about you? You’ve been out of beauty school for a few months, who is a celebrity you’ve done work with. ”

“That’s hard, a lot of celebrities have their own make-up teams. I think it might be you,” she gives me a shrug.

“I wouldn’t really consider myself a celebrity though,” there’s honesty in my voice.

I really don’t consider myself a celebrity. As she goes to speak again there’s a knock on the door.

“Mx. L/n you're needed backstage.”

“Okay thank you, it was nice meeting you. let's definitely talk more in the future,” I say, getting up and waving.

The hybrid women waves back as I leave the room and head to the studio where I would be interviewed. The audience of people there  Makes me dread coming to interviews and being on talk shows. Discomfort is obvious in the way my hands fiddle with the sleeve of my jacket.

As I'm told to walk on stage I wave to the audience and make my way to the empty seat.

I shake the interviewer's hand before sitting down in the chair. “So Y/n can I call you Y/n, you've been very busy for the past year haven't you,” her words run quickly out of her mouth

I nod and give confirmation that the use of my first name is okay.

“ Yeah this has been a really big project and probably the biggest of my career,”

I don’t even really take in most of the questions mostly on my work and when the Colra x Script line comes to the public. Then things got personal and I’m a very private person I don't like revealing things in my personal life to the public.

“So, got anyone in your life?” The woman sitting across from me says causing my eyes to widen.

“Oh no I don't really publicly date,” I say, nervousness itching its way back to the surface.

“No ones caught your eye recently?” there was a flirty tone in her voice as our chairs sat closely together. The tone in her voice makes me uncomfortable.

“No, I’d prefer to not talk about that aspect of my personal life though,” I say, voice unsteady with nervousness.

She nods, thankfully moving on to a different topic.  

“We'll, I think that brings us to the end of today. Thank you for coming on and talking with us!” her voice changed back to the tone before she started asking about my love life.  

As she closes out the segment I rush off to my dressing room feeling my discomfort and awkwardness eating away at me and I pack up my stuff and leave the building.

I considered taking the rest of the day off  but decide against it knowing that would just move the rest of my meetings to next week.

I sit in my studio, reading through my emails, things people want me to do piling up deadlines, new projects, and clientele. I said I wouldn’t take on another project till the one with Colra gets out to the public, but my boss keeps pushing me to work with other clients when Script has already pushed out so much money. Trying to make sure that the Colra is happy with designs, advertisements making sure they showed proper representation of hybrids and humans alike. Along with  how we had to redo everything I need to at least see that this all goes through well.

The knock on the door frame startled me from work in my room. I look up to see a lanky man with light brown wavy hair and a cardigan.

He has a black tie, and seems well put together.

“Uh hi I'm Theo we've been emailing back and forth for a while, and I wanted to look over some promotional material with you being the leader of the team working on this,” he says smiling at me, his British accent filling my ears.

“Oh yeah of course come in,” I wave over to the workbench in the middle of the room.

We stand at the table as he pulls out some of the pictures with the pieces that have been finished. The photos are amazing. The color of the outfits are bright and beautiful, they pop against the background and give a regal feel paired with the elegance of the models  in the photos. The soft purples and whites on the models looked graceful and beautiful. Looking through the photos I noticed that the hybrid models we had hired for this campaign were missing from the photos.

“Theo, where are the hybrid models? We were supposed to have a good mix of both in the pictures, modeling the outfits.” I shuffle the photos he placed out the folder double checking I didn't miss it.

The brunette opened the folder sifting through the contents to find the ones with the hybrid models in them too.

“Great I like these too, they all look great. I know these are supposed to be going out to socials soon so if I can suggest something?” I question looking back up from the table to the male around my height.

He nods in response. I point to the 2 photos of a few of the models in a flower field and one with a few other models on white crystal-looking steps. the photo is well-balanced and has a good diversity of the models that we worked with to do the photoshoot.

“I would suggest these two, Script has a wide range of demographics and I think these will do the best with going out first, they really pop as ones that catch my eyes.”

“Yeah you're right those two will work great. I'll go ahead and let the rest of marketing know, thank you again for taking the time out of your day,” he confirms back to me as I smile kindly at him.

“Of course, happy I could help,” I  respond to him, excited to finally see some of the advertisements going out as he is putting the contents of the folder. his cheeks a slightly tinged pink.

Maybe he's a bit warm in his sweater vest.

As he leaves I decide to put the final details on one of the last designs that needed to be finished and sent out for photoshoots and to models. Some of the remanding sets got sent out to other people in the company to make to take the pressure off of me. I had found out we had money in the budget too and I had gotten an email right before Theo had come in that  the last 2 pieces that had been sent out had been finished and were going to be given to the models for photo shoots tomorrow and I was the last person to send the last piece out, which I need to hem the bottoms and ad a spot for a tail and then it’ll be good to go out. The rest of my afternoon was free aside from finishing the bottoms for the last outfit and which hopefully wouldn't take all night should take maybe an hour. Once the entire line gets sent out things are left in the hands of the stylist for the shoots.

Needless to say, Im glad that the day is almost over, I'm so exhausted. It was 6 and the goal is to finish by 7:30. That way I can still go to the store before it closes to do some light shopping. I get up to move to work on the bottoms for the outfit.

I pin the lace to the cuff of the bottoms and feed them through the sewing machine. The fabric is soft under my fingers. The lace at the bottom is a great final touch. The time spent putting it on with care. The model who was supposed to wear this is a ferret hybrid and has a long tail so a slit is made in the back for his tail. I glance down at my phone just now seeing its  7:20 pm, thankfully I had finally finished everything. I packed up my belongings and grabbed a garment bag and put the completed masterpiece in it. a sigh of relief leaves my mouth, happy that the day is finally over.

My feed carry me through the building as I hold a small smile feeling great about the the line being finished. I'm supposed to come in tomorrow too, which will mean this week I've been in the office a lot. But tomorrow is a Friday and I've had a stacked week. I told the photographer I would sit in on the shoot since I missed the first one. I find the rack for the outfits to go on and place my bag next to the other two  black garment bags. I look around to see if anyone is around, of course there is not, I one of few people still here this late. I peek in the bags getting a good look at the Wonderfull work of the other people on my team.

I head to the parking garage to start to head out. The grocery store is my last stop of the night before going home. I slide into the drivers seat and pull out my phone to text Felix.

Me: Was there anything else we needed? im at the store right now

☀️Lixie☀️: we're getting low on coffee. I think we need some more

Me: Okay thanks, I'm gonna grab a bit of other stuff.

Walking through the store I pick up some more meat, chicken, beef, pork, and bacon. The hope of having more time to cook this next week warms my chest. I found some kombucha squash and put it in the cart thinking of finding something to make with it. The line for check out is short but the store closes in an hour. Most people are home this late in the evening. Most people take this time to enjoy time with their family.

I work on dinner deciding to use the squash, taking out the onions, beans, carrots, and ground turkey I got at the store to make some stuffed squash. I cut up onions, and add beans and other vegetables to the ground beef and seasoning while the squash sits in the oven roasting. Felix sits on the counter talking to me about things he watched,some of the recipes he found, and what he got up too toda. My brain wonders to this morning and the conversation about scenting I had with Zinna.

“So they ended up not making it to the finals—”

“Sorry it’s on my mind,— did you scent me this morning?” I interrupt his ramblings, and in that moment Chan walks into the kitchen looking up from his phone.

I probably could have handled it a bit better.

“What?” he looks a bit worried at my question.

Felix Jumps surprised by Chan's voice.

“I was asking if Felix scented me this morning, I was talking to a hybrid this morning and she had asked me about it—I'm not mad I was just asking if it was purposeful,” I speak quickly to try to justify why I asked the question in the first place.

Chan is Stands still in his spot and looks at Felix to answer the question.

”Yeah I did sorry I should of asked.”

”It's fine I just wished you had asked I would have let you if it makes you feel more comfortable,” I shrug it off. If it's a sign he's more comfortable with me I'll take it. Im glad he’s feeling more comfortable around me.

Chan sits down, patting Felix's shoulder.

“I'm still learning about what it's like to live with hybrids, just gotta give me heads up about things,'' I admit,with a soft smile

We eat the quash in silence, the feeling of something that hasn’t been spoken into the air yet lingers. I Scoop one of the last pieces of squash in my mouth. I look back at my bag near the garage door reminding me of the work I had promised to my friend tomorrow. I've been out of the house a lot this week. It's definitely weighing on me but I'm worried that the boys are gonna feel like I'm too absent and like I'm neglecting them. Technically they don't belong to me and I frankly don't like thinking of the gross owner pet implication of having a hybrid but emotionally I know that they rely on me— or at least Felix does, Chan I know still has a hard time being comfortable with me. I don't blame him for that of course I don't know his or Felix's history.

For the past few weeks, I've been worried about them feeling stuck in the house.

“I'm gonna be out the house again tomorrow, hopefully next week won't be as busy. I should hopefully be home early” I let out, pushing around a bean on my plate.

“It's okay, we know this week was big for you” Chan says.

“I know I just feel bad like I'm worried you guys feel stuck here all the time alone—” I take pause

“Do you guys feel stuck here?” I question

“I mean it would be nice to get out” Felix says perking up a bit.

“You’d have to adopt us,” Chan said still eating his food not making eye contact trying to seem more focused on his plate.

“Yeah I wasn't sure how you guys felt about that. I was looking into independent hybrid programs and that tends to require prior adoption for about a year,” I say, nervous about their response.

“it would probably be best if you adopted us. I know I'm fine with it, we trust you enough, you don't seem like you'd abuse that title,” Chan explains, finally looking up to meet my eyes.

“Okay then I'll see how to get the paperwork for it and try to get those filed,” I fidget a little under his gaze. Looking back down at my food to keep eating.

I wash the dishes alone. This is the first time today I can truly relax, and knowing that adopting Felix and Chan would at least  be granted a little freedom helps to ease my worries with their adoption. Them being able to go out more should give them some type of freedom.

I got to my room, and open up my laptop to look at what the process to adopt the two hybrids looks like. The page I find belongs to one of the hybrid centers in the city Stating that they help rehome and rehabilitate hybrids and have been rated one of the best in the area;

“Are you open to welcoming hybrids into your home? We’re here to provide you with the knowledge training and help prepare you for a new friend!”

Seem good enough.

“We won’t rehome a hybrid without they’re expressed consent from the hybrid Stating verbally that they would like to go home with you. Knowing that they’re from our own facility we prefer you spend weeks getting to know them and get comfortable with each other, after that we can start the adoption process!”

Bringing in strays or having been aiding hybrids and wanting to adopt them and give them a home will have a similar process! We start with an interview with you and then the hybrid making sure that they are comfortable going home with you! After the interview will be an exam of the hybrid making sure there is anything that needs to be watched or addressed. After The exam we will survey the new home and make sure the place is suitable and livable for your new hybrid! If you’ve made it to this point then you’ll be in the home stretch to fill out paperwork and take your hybrid home! We do checks in 3 weeks 6 weeks 9 weeks and then 6 months and a year check in to make sure everything is going Aye Okay!”

The page was very helpful and it said I can set up an appointment to get things started. I spent the rest of the night filling the form about Felix and Chan filing in the section concerning  their situation and pressing send before I closed my laptop for the night.

Today was more casual. I pull white pants and a Blue oversized sweater. It’s a lot more casualI seeing as I'm going to watch a shoot and not spend all my time in the office, I prefer it that way.

I got a text from my friend Johnny on my work phone,who's the photographer .

Johnny : Hey make sure you're here at 10 I wanna go over a few things with you.

Me: sure thing I should be there a little early if anything.

The door to Felix’s and chans room opens right as I hit the last steps of the stairs. Chan's back is to me as he tries to close the door quietly.

“Morning Chan you're up bright and earlier.”

My voice must have startled him because he jumps as he turns to me with a hand over his heart. Seeing it's just me he lets out an awkward chuckle

“Oh yeah– I slept pretty well last night actually,” he smiles softly at me. sleep was still slightly evident in his eyes, but the smile made me feel warm inside and something inside me fluttered slightly.

“I was gonna make something,” I motioned down the hall.

”Yeah you should try and eat before you head out. It's not good to start the day on an empty stomach,” he presses.

7:45

I had a bit of time before I had to go so making something wouldn't hurt. I pulled the milk out of the fridge with some eggs. Before I could pull anything else out the voice of Felix coming down the hall is hurd by both me and Chan as he entered the kitchen phone in hand.

“Would you mind if I made breakfast?” he smiled, ears twitching on top of his head.

“No not at all, whatcha gonna make?” I ask and move to sit the milk down on the counter and move to the barstools to watch what Felix might be making.

“I found a recipe for pancakes. I wanted to try it,” he continued to check his phone assumingly for ingredients and measurements.

Me and Chan watch him move around the kitchen making the pancakes, the batter being mixed together and fried on a skillet. The pancakes were fluffy and buttery as they pile on the plate .  

 “Felix this is really good,” Chan says digging into the pancakes

“Yeah you did an amazing job.”

Felix’s face is a bit red seemingly from our compliments. I can see a smile as he mumbles out a thank you while still eating the pancakes. The morning was peaceful, small talk about the food and other recipes Felix wants to try and what I’m up to today. It starts getting close for me to leave. I go to grab my work bag just in case but I plan to come home after the photo shoot. I notice the freckled brunette Felix leaned up against the wall near the door.

“Hey Felix, need something?” I say, making sure I had a jacket just in case it rained.

“—Do you mind if I scent you?” He's standing in front of me with space between the two of us the space being filled with quiet but low sounds of his voice.  

“Oh—no, not at all!” I put my stuff down and smile as Felix comes close. He placed his face in the crook of my neck  to rub his face against it  and moves to rub himself against my clothes. He continues for a minute before he decides in his head that I've been scented enough, but before I move he takes the moment to grab my wrist and rub it against his neck.

“Okay I’ll probably be back earlier. I didn't have plans to really stay after this shoot,” I smile as I start to head out the door.

“Tell Chan I said bye!” I walk out the door.

Today feels nice, the sky is still overcast with the late October weather moving into winter.

Pulling up to the set and getting to see the line together was so satisfying and it made me feel like everything was coming together. Fake sets and lighting stood out, waiting to find Johnny, I started to look around talking to some of the makeup artists thanking them for their help. I start to see some of the models dressed and coming on set, one was sitting in the corner quietly flipping through his phone also seemingly waiting for directions on what to do. He has soft round white ferret ears and a tail that slightly curls to be in his lap and he’s wearing the outfit I finished sewing yesterday.

“Hi I'm L/n Y/n, I'm the top designer on this project. I just want to thank you for working and modeling with us,” I say sticking out my hand.

A soft smile graces his full lips as he reaches his hand to greet mine.

“I’m Hwang Hyunjin.”

Bismuth Taglist :

@fuck-you-im-gae​ @i-dont-know-me-either​ @betray-jaes

Don’t forget to reblog and let me know how you like it

[sohrleas]

Who wants to see a bit of art that I did for Death Shall Come on Swift Wings by @lennjamin-o7 ???

Too bad so sad you're seeing it anyways!

Listen, Lenn said that the type of clothes that Philza would be wearing would be Mesopotamian. You think I'm not going to jump on that?? I so am. Also, the jewelry is beautiful, I'm very tempted to make some in that style (even if I'd never wear it)

Let me link the fic here before I ramble too much: https://archiveofourown.org/works/50266048/chapters/126974530

I can't sing the praises of this fic enough. It's got language barriers, I love that shit, and the way Lenn formats it--oh my GOD please read it!

Ok, so, more details on the art and process if anyone wants them, as well as the scribble sheet I was taking notes on.

So most of my reference for the jewelry came from pictures of artifacts from the royal tomb of Ur and Queen Pu-abi's jewelry. I would KILL to see the artifacts in situ but oh well.

This is my scribble sheet. Highlights include complaining about the article saying that the only reason jewelry was found in men's graves and daggers found in women's graves were bribes for the gods of the afterworld, and a mild breakdown once I found out what bitumen was. My brother suffered through extended rants on both but he deserved it.

Some notes:

-Lenn says that Phil was a god of Magic (simplified explanation ngl) and the Sumerians were obsessed with Lapis Lazuli. Maybe that's why Lapis is used in enchanting, Phil was obsessed with the stuff. If we're assuming Minecraft Enchanting rules in this setting.

-Sumer is actually where we get the measurement of time from! They were the ones who liked the number 60, and 24, and all that. I noticed that there was repetition of 12 and 8 in the jewelry I saw, especially with Pu-abi's choker and the 8-point rosette. If I had made Phil wear Pu-abi's choker, it would have been an 8-point star/flower...both for simplicity and also because I think the love of 12 as a base may not have been used so much as 8. I could go on and on and on, but I'll stop there

-Carnelian, Lapis, and gold were the most common material used in jewelry, so I went with Phil having predominantly Lapis and Gold, with a little carnelian mixed in. If I were to make a version of this with Techno, he'd have predominantly carnelian. If I cared more about the symbolism of stones I'd go look that up but I also know I'd start looking like a conspiracy theorists if I do that

-Philza's clothing and jewelry are very understated; I figured this would be what he would wear when he was more relaxed and just chilling, and so potentially what outfit he got trapped in for thousands of years.

-I was thinking about adding beaded strings draping over his wings, but if this is meant to be a chill-time outfit, he probably wouldn't deal with that. Or he took them off before going to destroy the world, I imagine they'd get tangled the hell up

-I wonder if the people who trapped him stole all the jewelry around the palace. I wonder if they ended up in museums...though Phil would probably just take them back and nobody would really protest. But imagine if he DID humor the curators of the museum even a little

-the jewelry was done with acrylics, including metallic for the gold, and the rest was watercolor

-I'm probably going to experiment with metallic paint for the feathers, but that's not right now.

Anyways, that's it!

[galadrieljones]

i read your theories. And i believe it but there is a feeling inside me and telling me that beth will never comeback. i don’t know.

I would be lying if I didn't say that every day, I deal with a similar nagging voice in my head: If she doesn't come back, is this all for nothing? I do truly believe that lately, there has been too many strange developments to be pure coincidence. But, at the same time, I have skepticism deep in my roots. It's simply in my nature to interrogate, which is how I got here in the first place, so I feel you.

I came into the Bethyl fandom about 6 years late. I saw "Coda," during my first TWD marathon during covid in 2020, and I had been accidentally spoiled a long time back. I knew Beth was going to get shot and that she was going to die, so while I was really upset about it, I knew it was going to happen. BUT. I didn't think it would be that...weird?? I just thought a rogue bullet would tag her during a shoot-out, and she'd die in Daryl's arms. But it didn't happen like that at all. It was just so WEIRD! It was so unlike any of the other deaths. And it just didn't sit right. The way Dawn was trying to convince Beth to stay, to do something that she said would be "the most important thing she'll ever do in her life??" Rick's repetition of the "Can't go back, Bob," line? The weird POV and high angle shots during the exchange? The bizarre audio and closed captions that don't match what we hear and/or see? The canted shots, which I remembered from a film class I took in college were meant to communicate messages of disorientation and even psychosis. I thought, is something wrong with Rick? Is he misremembering what happened? I was also stunned by the coda with Morgan, because it was just so...oblique? Like what were all those weird, random bits of inventory? The magazine, the little things he leaves at the altar, and how he seems to be laughing at some cosmic truth we can't see or understand. I thought, I have to be missing something!

Then I watched WHAWGO, and I knew something was like really off. I knew that the writers were playing some sort of game. I couldn't really put my finger on it, but like, I just figured they would address it later. I figured that whatever was being hidden, it would soon surface. But it never did. Around the time I was watching season 8, so maybe a month or two later, I found Team Delusional on tumblr, and I realized that my instincts were, if not definitively correct, than at least being shared by tons of other fans. It was amazing to me that, six years later, I could be asking the same exact questions, completely unprompted, that they were asking at the time the episode aired. How could that be a coincidence?

In any case, skepticism still finds me from time to time, mainly, I assume, as a form of self-preservation. I mostly cope with my creeping, inevitable skepticism by just...continuing to badger the evidence. Anytime I simply feel like being reminded of why I care so much about this, I go back and revisit "Slabtown" and "Coda." For me, the most convincing evidence is actually the Christ imagery. Why plant a bunch of Christ imagery if you weren't planning a resurrection? It really doesn't make sense. And it's really not that unusual for the GA of a show like this to just miss the signs. Because while "the signs are all there," if you don't know how to read them, you might just think you're looking at confusing writing choices and/or you might just tell yourself, "Meh, well, it's just a TV show. It's not that serious." And, of course, it's not. It IS just a TV show, but I have met lots of people who, because of TD, at the very least, have gone back and admitted that, um, yeah. "Coda" IS kind of weird. Like, what is it with that? And the angle of the gun actually DOESN'T make sense, and yeah, why DIDN'T we see Beth's funeral? Isn't a whole big deal made in "Alone" about Beth and how important she thinks it is to give dead people funerals? These are all objectively valid questions! They don't take "true believer" or "conspiracy theory" ideologies to entertain. They just take one single second look at the evidence and an open mind. Team Delusional really isn't delusional at all. We're simply very inquisitive, detail oriented people who really love Beth and Daryl.

All of that said, I definitely understand where your skepticism is coming from, and it's been such a long time. The best way I've found to deal with it, other than continuing to interrogate the show, is to just sort of let go of control and enjoy the moment as a hobby and/or a passion. For me, this kind of research and analysis is definitely a passion. But also, to (badly) quote @twdmusicboxmystery, "Until the powers that be come right out and say, 'Beth is dead and she is never coming back,' I'll be here." I do really think she's alive! And at the very least, I believe they'll create closure for Daryl, in some way that has to involve Beth.

Keep believing!! But don't let it cause you pain or anxiety. It has to be fun. Whatever will be will be, and if you're not enjoying it, it's okay to take breaks or to just take a firm "wait and see" approach. You can always change your mind and dive back in when you feel up to it again ❤️💕💫

[semisgroupie]

part two: the hole that replaced my heart

vampire!choso x fem. reader

wc: 10.8k

warnings: main character death, blood (blood consumption), age gap, monsterfucking, creampie, unprotected sex, a slap, this part is heavily angsty but has some smut, minor character deaths (none are named), biting, reincarnation au, mentions of god and other religious elements (angels)

note: all flashbacks/events in the past are italicized

series masterlist | previous | next

It had been three weeks since Kento last came for the interview.

During this time Choso did what he normally did, read and reminisce on the past. That’s the pain with immortality, the longer you live the more memories you carry with you. No matter if they’re good or bad, you just have to carry the burden and that’s what Choso hated most.

When you have motivation to survive and live on, then everything is worth it but when the motivation has depleted then you’re stuck in a loop of repetitive actions. Day in and day out, each breath that fills your lungs meant nothing if there was no motivation.

Today Choso just sat in his room for a little while longer after he woke up. His empty eyes flit over to the painting by his bed and a small smile found its way to his lips. “Beautiful.” The word was barely spoken above a whisper and he leaned in closer, brushing his finger against the frame then pulled back. “Absolutely beautiful.”

He brushed some of his hair out of his face and stood, deciding not to change his clothes since he wasn’t planning on leaving the penthouse. The neckline of his shirt plunged a bit, showing his chiseled collarbones and his pajama pants hung loosely on his hips. He slipped his feet into his slippers and trudged his way into the kitchen. He opened his fridge and took out a bag of blood, setting it down on the counter while he grabbed a bowl to put it in. Just as he had poured the contents of the bag inside, there was a knock on his door.

He set the bowl to the side and made his way to the door, he opened it and to his surprise, Kento stood at the other end of the doorway. “Hey old friend, sorry I came unannounced but I figured you weren’t doing much today.” Choso pulled the blonde male into a hug and patted his back before letting him go so he could walk inside.

“It’s good to see you Kento, what have you been up to these past few weeks?” He shut the door behind the blonde and made his way into the kitchen to grab his bowl and a spoon. Kento shrugged his jacket off and set it down, “I recently moved, my wife and I are planning to start a family. Maybe have our own white picket fence dream.” The blonde chuckled and glanced over at Choso. “Oh I’m sorry, did I interrupt? I could come back later.”

Choso shook his head and made his way over to Kento, “don’t worry about it, I’ll be quick and then we can start with the session for today. But go on, tell me more about the Mrs. and how wonderful your married life is.” Kento nodded and started talking about it all, Choso listened intently, nodding along and adding little comments here and there while he ate. While he spoke, Kento took note of Choso’s expression, while it wasn’t something that was being unconsciously done, Choso had a small frown on his face and any light that was just in his eyes had dimmed. It made him want to stop talking but he knew if he did then Choso would just push him to continue, trying to reassure him that everything was fine when it really wasn’t. So, he just continued but in the back of his mind he felt like he was rubbing his happiness in Choso’s face, he didn’t like it one bit.

Choso ate and then once he finished he put the bowl and the spoon he used into the dishwasher then made his way back to Kento. “Let’s move back to the living room, we’ll get comfy then we can start the session.” Kento nodded and made his way to the living room, Choso following behind. “I’m really happy for you Kento, make sure to bring the little ones around once you and your wife have them. I’ll make sure to stock up on toys kids like.” He smiled softly as he thought about it, kids, a joy in life he never got to experience. That opportunity was ripped from his hands a long time ago but maybe there was something hopeful written in the cards of fate, maybe he would get the chance one day.

The men sat down in the same seats they sat in a few weeks prior, Kento took everything out that he needed and glanced over at Choso. “Are you ready?” The dark haired male nodded and brushed some hair from his face. Kento brought the recorder to his lips and pressed record, “The date is October 19th, 2002 and I am here again with Choso Kamo. You can start whenever you’re ready.” He placed the recorder in the middle of the table and Choso started.

“So the last thing I discussed was my first meeting with Y/N.” He crossed one leg over the other to get more comfortable and continued, “so I was anxious the whole day. I could barely focus on my work because I kept thinking about her, thinking about what her response would be to waking up and seeing my note. If she was upset and never wanted to see me, I would have understood. I mean, what kind of guy would I be to take her virginity and then ditch her in the middle of the night? It’s not like she knew or could’ve known that I can’t go out in the middle of the day without being burnt to a crisp. But for the first time in a long time I prayed, I prayed that she would meet me at the fountain, I prayed that I would get to see her beautiful face again. Even if it was for just a second, I would have been the happiest man alive. I just wanted to see her and be with her, not just sexually, I just wanted to be in her presence.”

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

You read the note’s contents again then sat down on the bed. What should you do? You wanted to see him again but what if he wasn’t there? What if he just wrote that note to just make you believe he wasn’t some kind of asshole? As the questions of doubt swarmed your mind they couldn’t overpower the voice that was screaming at you to go, screaming at you to meet him tonight. So, you made the decision to meet him at that time.

You dressed yourself, deciding not to put on the corset since it would be too annoying to tie it yourself then made your way out of the bedroom. Just as you made it down the first flight of steps you heard a shocked gasp that made you whip your head around to the direction of it. “You naughty girl! I never would have thought that I would meet Miss ‘I’m never looking for a man’ after a wild night like this, half dressed, slightly limping, had a fun night?” You rolled your eyes as Satoru made his way over to you, Suguru following behind lightly chuckling.

“That’s none of your business Satoru, now let’s go downstairs and maybe if I feel like it, I’ll tell you.” Satoru took your hand and started pulling you down the steps, “come on, don’t take so long! I want to hear all the dirty details.” Once you three were on the ground floor, you told them everything and showed them the note, they looked at it then looked at you.

“You need to go, if he made you feel like that then you can’t let him go. You need to give him a chance and he’ll explain why he left.” Suguru spoke as he handed you the note and Satoru nodded. “I was planning on going but what if he’s not there? What if he just wrote the note to give me a false sense of hope?”

Satoru shook his head and placed his hands on your shoulders, slightly shaking you, “just go. Because if you don’t I know you’ll regret it for as long as you live. If he’s not there then we’ll trash his shop or just pay him a little visit.” You nodded and gave him a small smile, you clutched the note tighter and prayed a silent prayer, praying that Choso wasn’t messing with you, praying that Choso would be there at the fountain when the time came.

The next hours went by quickly, too fast for your liking. Your heart pounded in your chest so quickly and it only got worse as you made your way closer to the fountain. You wore one of your more casual dresses but that was only decided after going through your entire wardrobe twice. You knew you were a little early so you took a seat near the fountain, watching everyone as they walked past. You leaned over to an older man sitting nearby and asked him for the time and once he spoke the answer your heart sank.

Choso was late.

Ten minutes past eight, you sighed and looked down at your hands on your lap to try to hold back tears. You shouldn’t have gotten your hopes up, you shouldn’t have listened to that voice inside, you should’ve just stood home.

“Y/N!”

Your head shot up as you heard your name being called and relief washed over your body when you saw who called it out. Choso ran over to you with flowers in his hand, his hair was slightly disheveled from running and you stood up and walked over to meet him. “I’m so sorry I’m late, the florist was closed by the time I got there and it took a lot of begging to get him to open up his shop.” He handed you the flowers and you held them close to your chest, a smile growing on your lips. “Thank you, it’s beautiful.”

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

“I wish I could say how relieved I was to see her there waiting for me. I thought she would’ve left after seeing that it was past the time I told her. But at that moment I would’ve ran to the nearest church and thanked god until my face turned blue.”

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

You held the bouquet in one hand while he held your other hand, “I was thinking that we should go get dinner. I owe you a proper date after last night.” You nodded and held onto his hand tighter as you followed him to a local restaurant. You two sat in front of each other and Choso didn’t let go of your hand for a moment, “was work busy today?” Small talk ensued and it wasn’t awkward at all, something that you both were thankful for. Choso kept his eyes on you the entire meal, watching as you ate with a soft smile on his face. You wanted to question why he didn’t get anything for himself but decided not to.

After the meal he took you out for a walk around town, just letting you steer the conversation as you passed different buildings. “I understand if I’m stepping any lines by asking this, but why did you leave last night?” A small sense of panic filled his senses but quickly faded once he met your eyes, they were filled with interest and sincerity and it pained him to know that he had to lie to you for now.

“I had to open up the shop early for a shipment of new fabrics and I had some leftover work I needed to finish. For some reason it filled my head and disrupted my sleep so I had to leave. I didn’t want to leave but if I didn’t finish that work then I would have had to deal with a lecture from my most uptight customer. I am so sorry for leaving you last night, so sorry.” He looked down at you as your eyes scanned his, trying to see if there was anything he was hiding. You took his hand in one of yours and gently squeezed it as a smile grew on your face. Another wave of relief washed over him, he couldn’t imagine conjuring another lie for you, he was already surrounded by a web of them like a fly caught on the sticky netting.

He held your hand in his as you two walked with no particular destination to go. He could walk to the next country and continue on if you were by his side. You gave him a sense of comfort and a sense of humanity, he didn’t want to let that or you go. You two made your way to a local park, “there’s a pond here that I love to visit. I like to just sit by and watch the water ripple as the wind pushes it.” You looked into the open greenery as you spoke, your eyes lighting up due to a combination of the moonlight hitting you and thinking about going to the pond, showing him a more personal side of you. “Sounds perfect, lead the way, beautiful.” Heat rose to your cheeks at the name and you walked with him to the pond, the moonlight reflected on the body of water perfectly as you moved to sit with him on a bench nearby.

He still held your hand in his and he moved closer to you so your knees touched as you sat, “I’ve always loved coming here since I was a little girl. A friend of mine taught me how to skip rocks here and there’s many more memories I’ve been able to make here. It’s also been a place of protection and it’s pulled me away from any restless nights. Just being able to sit by the water and just think about everything is something that I’ll always cherish about this pond.” Another smile graced your lips as you spoke and Choso felt himself melt just by looking at you, he was honored to hear you speak about the importance of this pond, he didn’t deserve to share this moment with you, he didn’t even feel like he deserved to be with you. You looked at the water while he just stared at you then you turned your attention away to meet his eyes. “Is everything okay?” Your eyebrows furrowed slightly as you asked the question but quickly relaxed once he nodded.

“Mhm, I’m fine. You just look so beautiful, I couldn’t help but stare.” The genuine tone of his voice flustered you completely and you pressed your face to his arm. “You can’t keep saying things like that,” you whined, your words slightly muffled by the fabric of his shirt. He chuckled at your reaction and moved his free hand to hook two fingers under your chin and lifted your head up, “why can’t I? I’ve always thought it was important to tell the truth so I’m just voicing my truth.” You looked at him with big eyes, the moonlight reflected off the side of his face as he looked at you, highlighting his chiseled features, making him even more handsome than he already was. He moved his thumb to run against your bottom lip then leaned in until his lips met yours. It mirrored the first kiss you two shared the night before, soft and passionate all at once.

He caressed your cheek with the thumb that ran across your bottom lip just mere seconds ago then pulled back to break the kiss. “I wanted to do that all night.” You smiled and leaned in to peck his lips softly, “I did too, why didn’t you do it sooner?”

He chuckled and kissed you again before mumbling against your lips, “was just waiting for the perfect moment.” He held your face in his hands as your lips molded against his, it was perfect, you were perfect. It was your turn to break the kiss and you rested your forehead against his. “I want to keep seeing you, Choso. I enjoy how I am with you, even in such a small time.” His heart jumped in his chest at your words, your honesty and he moved back a bit so he could catch your gaze.

“I want the same. I haven’t felt like this before and I want to keep this feeling. So every night we’ll meet at the same spot as tonight and enjoy each other’s company.” He smiled softly and you wanted to question him. Why did he only want to see you at night? But you answered your own question by remembering that he owned his own business, maybe night is the only time he’s free. But deep down you wondered if there was someone else in the picture, someone else in his life, that made him want to see you late. You didn’t want to be the other woman in his life, you wanted to be the only woman. You were so wrapped up in your thoughts you didn’t notice that he caught on, probably reading every single question, doubt, and thought in your head. “Hey,” he gripped your chin gently and made you look at him, “what’s going on in that pretty head of yours?”

Heat rose to your cheeks as you met his eyes and you shook your head, “sorry, something popped into my head and I got a little distracted.” It wasn’t a complete lie, just a general umbrella of the truth. He nodded and leaned down to kiss you softly then pulled back slightly. “It’s getting late, I’ll take you back home.” You nodded and pressed your lips against his once more before pulling back completely.

Maybe one day you’ll get the courage to voice your thoughts, just not today.

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

“I felt so fucking giddy once I dropped her off. I was excited for what was to come and what the future would hold for us. It was exciting and nerve wracking all at once.” A smile made its way onto his face as he spoke and it made Kento smile softly. “Everything was going beautifully, we met every single night and I felt some form of relief since I didn’t have to explain myself to her. But I knew something was up, there was something lingering in the back of her mind during our peaceful moments of silence. There were questions unanswered and questions that I knew she was too scared to ask. Then around three months into dating she finally asked them.”

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

You two walked hand in hand by the pond he took you on your first date. You loved being with him but you wanted to walk out with him in the daylight, you wanted to show your relationship off like all the other couples. This felt like you two were hiding something and you didn’t like it. Choso noticed that there was something up but he didn’t want to force you to bring anything up unless you wanted to, so he decided to wait.

“Choso, can I ask you something?” You stopped in your tracks and looked up at him, his hair was pulled back loosely so strands of his hair framed his perfectly sculpted face. “Of course you can, darling. What’s on your mind?”

“Why do we always have to meet at night? I love spending time with you but I don’t want to be someone’s secret. I can’t be someone’s secret.” You sighed as he chuckled and scratched the back of his neck, expecting him to tell you he had a wife and kids. Expecting him to break your heart.

“I knew you were going to ask me this but no planning could ever help me figure out how to respond so I’ll just tell you the truth.” You waited with bated breaths for his response. “I can’t go out during the day because the sun would kill me. It would burn my skin like I was put in an incinerator. I can only go out after the sun sets because the darkness protects me. I’m a vampire, my love.” Your eyes widened at his words and you moved back from him. Nothing in his eyes showed you that he was deceiving you but maybe he was that good at lying.

“Are you fucking kidding me? You’re going to look me in the eye and tell me that bullshit?” You were beyond furious, how could he say that and expect you to believe him? “I would rather you just say that I was your mistress. Just forget about me, forget I exist, forget about everything that has to do with me.” You turned your back to him and made your first step to walk away from him until he tried to stop you by grabbing your wrist.

You tried to hold yourself back from slapping him, you really did try but the second he made contact with you, you couldn’t hold yourself back anymore. You turned to him and your open hand collided with his cheek. The next moments were a blur and the next thing you knew you were pinned against a tree.

That was when you saw it, his eyes were practically glowing red as he stared you down. “What more do I need to do to show you? What possible desire would I have to lie to you?” Your eyes moved down to look at his mouth as he spoke, you saw his sharpened canines, sharper than the finest blade. Your chest rose and fell, all feelings of anger and frustration were swapped with curiosity and fear. He shut his eyes and dropped his head to try to collect himself, trying to calm down before doing something he would regret.

It was like your throat was closing in on itself, no words could escape you in the moment but your mind ran with questions. He lifted his head and everything was back to normal, “I’m sorry, I’m so fucking sorry. I didn’t want you to ever see me like this.” He let go of you and took a step back. “I’ll leave you be, I know there’s no way you’d want to be associated with a monster like me. I’ve done so many things in my life that’s deplorable, I’ve ruined so many people's lives and I don’t want to do that to you. You’re so sweet, so beautiful, so pure, I can’t taint you. I couldn’t live with myself if I did.”

His voice broke a bit as he spoke and you slowly reached out to him, holding onto the sleeve of his shirt. “No.” It was all you could choke out. You gripped the sleeve of his shirt tightly and pulled yourself to him, burying your face in his chest while you shook your head and repeated that word. Letting it get swallowed into the fabric. He wrapped his arms around you and held you until you lifted your head up. “You won’t taint me, I won’t let you leave and you’re not a monster. I don’t know what you did but I know you must’ve done it to survive. I can’t let you leave, you’ve made me so happy and made me feel so loved. I don’t want to lose this feeling and I don’t want to lose you. Please don’t go.”

He moved one hand to cup your cheek and wiped a stray tear that escaped from the corner of your eye. He leaned in and kissed you softly, “I won’t leave. I promise.” He muttered against your lips before kissing you again, deepening the kiss before pulling back. He slid his thumb along your kiss swollen bottom lip and smiled. “I think we should take this somewhere else, I don’t want anyone to get a glimpse of you. Call me selfish but I want you all to myself.”

You nodded and pressed a kiss to his thumb, “take me to yours.” He nodded and did just that. Once you two were confined in the space of his home he kissed you deeply while his hands pulled at your clothes, almost ripping them off before undressing himself. He held you close to him and gripped and groped at your body. “Jump, I’m taking you to my bedroom.” You wrapped your arms around his neck and held onto him tightly as you jumped up, wrapping your legs around his waist. He gripped your ass tightly, massaging the flesh while you kissed and sucked on his neck, your fingers moved up the nape of his neck and pulled at the tie holding his hair back so the raven locks could fall freely.

He walked up the stairs quickly and kicked the door to his bedroom open so he could lay you on the bed. The plush fabric of his blanket swarmed you before he leaned down to kiss you again, his lips molded against yours hungrily. His cock throbbed as he gripped it, guiding it to your wet entrance. He broke the kiss and looked into your eyes, “I’m sorry my love but we need to skip the foreplay for now. I need you badly, I need to feel you again.” He pushed inside you and dropped his forehead against yours. Your back arched off the bed and your hands gripped his shoulders.

You couldn’t stop thinking about the first night you were intimate with him since it happened. On the nights after your dates with him, when you were in the lonely confines of your bedroom you would touch yourself to the thought of him and that night. Wondering if he would do the same to you if you had the chance to experience a moment like that again. Now that you finally have him here with you like this, you couldn’t wait to see what he had in store for you.

Your back arched to press your chest to his while he bottomed out inside you, he felt even better than what you dreamt of since that night. His cock twitched inside you and one of his hands fisted the sheets by your head while the other gripped your waist as he started thrusting. His hips slapped against yours with each heavy thrust. It was completely different from how he was when he was first intimate with you, any sense of fragility he had with you was completely out the window and replaced with animalistic need.

“Missed feeling you like this, you feel so fucking perfect for me. Just taking me perfectly, fuck.” He groaned and fisted the sheets in his hand tighter while his grip on your waist was bruising. All you could do was whimper and moan his name, the pleasure was completely overwhelming you. His eyes scanned your face, watching how it scrunched up then his eyes trailed down to your neck, he could practically hear the blood rush through your veins. If only he could have a taste of the saccharine nectar, but he had to control himself, especially in a moment of passion like this, he didn’t want to push anything too far. Your hands moved up to hook around the back of his neck to bring him even closer to you, he put more of his body weight on you and moved his other hand from your waist to the other side of your head.

“Kiss me, I want to feel you everywhere.” Your tone was drenched in lust and he couldn’t deny you. He captured your lips in his again, kissing you hungrily and sloppily, sucking on your tongue and pulling on your bottom lip between his teeth as he trailed his kisses down. Kissing along the side of your mouth and jaw until he could reach your neck. His hips snapped against yours harder and faster, maybe if he made you cum he wouldn’t be tempted to bite down on the soft skin of your neck. You tangled your fingers in his hair, tugging on the dark strands as he pounded into you. He licked up the length of your neck and he couldn’t help but bare his teeth, dragging the sharp points of them along your pulse point, which made you shiver underneath him.

You didn’t know what took over you in that moment, whether it was the drag and pull of his cock in your warm, wet walls or if it was something you wanted but didn’t realize until now. “ Bite me please.” Your voice was barely above a whisper and he wouldn’t have been able to hear you but thanks to how close you two were to each other, he could hear your plea clearly. He pulled back from your neck and looked at you with wide eyes and stopped moving his hips, earning a whine from you and a buck from your hips. “I can’t, I don't want to do something stupid and hurt you. I let myself lose control now by even letting my teeth drag against you but I can’t bite you.”

You lifted your hands to cup his face and shook your head. “Please. I know you won’t hurt me, I know you wouldn’t take it too far. I just want to feel it, I want to feel everything you can offer me, I need it so badly.” He looked into your eyes and he felt more conflicted than ever, you wanted it and deep down he wanted it even more than you, but then whatever shred of his conscience was left was screaming at him to rethink everything. “Please Choso, I want to be more connected to you. I’m all yours, mark me as such.” You let go of his face and held onto his arms as you tilted your head to the side, presenting yourself to him.

He let out a shaky breath and started moving his hips again, quickly finding the brutal pace he set earlier while dipping his head down. He kissed and sucked along your pulse point, still thinking about what he should do. He wanted to give you what you wanted but there was always a chance that he might end up hurting you. He groaned as his hips slammed into yours, his kisses and sucks grew hungrier as he kept thrusting. He had to hold himself back, he couldn’t succumb to his carnal desires…but he just couldn’t hold back any longer.

His fangs grazed against your skin once more before he sank them into you. Your back arched and tears pricked your eyes from the mix of pleasure and pain and your body reacted beautifully to him. “Cumming! Oh fuck.” Your body shook under him and his hips somehow started moving even faster. The mix of the saccharine that fell on his tongue and the way your walls clenched around and massaged his cock, he was cumming in no time. He rested his hips against yours as he filled you with his cum and somehow came back to his senses so he could pull away from your neck. He licked over the bite marks to clean off any blood that dripped and looked down at you.

You had a blissed out smile on his face, you looked like a masterpiece underneath him, so flawless. He leaned down and kissed you softly, you tasted the iron on your lips and pulled back slightly. “Sorry, I’m just not used to the iron taste.” He chuckled and leaned in to press a kiss to the corner of your lips, slowly pulling out of you as he did so. You whimpered as he pulled out completely then relaxed against his bed, feeling completely exhausted from the strength of your orgasm and the blood you lost. He left to go grab some tissues to clean you off and get you a glass of water but when he came back you were sound asleep. He chuckled and cleaned away any leaking cum and then set the glass of water down on the nightstand, just in case you woke up thirsty.

When he finally laid down next to you, he pulled you close to him and kissed the top of your head. He felt like the weight of the whole universe was lifted off his shoulders, especially since he could be honest with you. He hated that he had to keep the secret from you but now he could leave everything bare with you and know that you would accept him entirely.

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

“It felt amazing to get everything off my chest and to have her accept me for who I was. We continued going on dates and our relationship progressed. After the five month period of us dating, I told her I loved her and she reciprocated my feelings. I can’t describe how I felt around her, there wouldn’t be enough words to do so but she was my everything. The sun to my cloudy day, the stars to brighten my night sky, the budding sprout that livened my dead garden, the air that I breathe.” He let out a small sigh and rested his head back against the couch he was seated on, thinking about all the time he had with you. A smile broke out on his face and he closed his eyes for a moment before opening them up again. “I think it was a few weeks short of our two year anniversary when I asked her to marry me. I was so nervous. But she said yes and a month afterwards our wedding came. The Astors offered to let us use their backyard as a wedding venue and they gave us all access to one of their properties for our honeymoon.”

Kento adjusted his position and leaned in, “so, did the Astors know about you being a vampire?” Choso chuckled in response and shook his head, “oh no, at that time the only people that knew were Y/N, Satoru and Suguru. We just convinced them that a wedding at night would be more romantic and they believed us.”

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

You stood in front of the mirror and adjusted the veil on your head, making sure it draped over your shoulders perfectly. Mrs. Astor walked next to you and placed a gentle hand on your shoulder while your mother draped your grandmother’s necklace around your neck. “You look beautiful, sweetheart. Choso is so lucky to be the one to marry you and I’m so happy for you. I didn’t think you would be the type to get married but it makes me happy to see you so in love.” You smiled at her and placed a hand over your grandmother’s necklace.

“I was still hoping that you would marry Satoru but Choso is a nice guy, mysterious looking but he hasn’t given me a reason to not like him.” You turned to face your mother and hugged her tightly, she returned the loving embrace and squeezed you tightly. “Your father would have been so proud to see you like this, seeing his precious angel all dolled up for her wedding day.” You pulled back to look at her and wiped a few tears that escaped her eyes. “I wish he was here mom but I’m glad that I have you, thank you for accepting Choso even though he wasn’t your first choice for a son-in-law. But enough crying, we still have a wedding to get through.”

Choso was more nervous than he had ever been in his life and nothing Satoru or Suguru did to try to calm him down worked. “What if she changes her mind? What if she doesn’t want to marry me? What if I rushed everything?” He paced around the room while Satoru and Suguru tried to think of something to say, then there was a knock on the door and it opened to reveal Mr. Astor.

“Choso, what’s the matter? I can hear your footsteps from outside.” The older gentleman joked but sighed as he recognized all the telltale signs. “Come sit down with me, son.” He sat down on the bench in the room and patted the empty space, Choso looked at it for a moment before moving to sit down. “I’ll tell you this, you’re probably more nervous than she is. I was the same way when I got married to Charlotte, I felt like my heart was going to beat right out of my chest and all the doubts swarmed in. I thought about all my fuck ups when we first started dating. Even on our first date, I spilled my wine all over her beautiful dress, she had just bought it and within moments of us getting our drinks I dumped the entirety of the glass on her. But I can tell you this, when you see your soon-to-be bride walking down the aisle, every doubt leaves your mind. The only thing that you can think of is how beautiful she looks, like God sent down one of his angels for you. That’s what matters, not those pesky thoughts.” He placed his hand on Choso’s shoulder and stood, “now, fix your mop that you call hair and head outside, the sun just set and your bride is almost ready.” With that Mr. Astor left the room and Choso felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. Like that was what he needed to hear.

Within the hour the ceremony started and Choso stood next to the priest waiting for you. The door that led to the backyard opened and there you were with Satoru, he insisted on walking you down the aisle and wouldn’t take no for an answer. When Choso met your eyes he felt his heart stop, “James was right” he thought to himself as you started walking to him. The dress hugged your figure beautifully, a cinched waist and the high neckline made you look like a goddess. As you walked down some of the guests poured some flower petals on the train of your dress and offered whispered compliments of your beauty.

Tears threatened to brim Choso’s eyes but he quickly blinked and wiped them away, he couldn’t explain to the guests why his tears were crimson instead of translucent. Then, you stood there in front of him, you handed your bouquet to Satoru and took Choso’s hands in yours. “You look stunning, my love.” “And you look even more handsome than the first time I saw you.”

The priest began the ceremony and before you knew it, it was time for your vows. Choso spoke first, “my darling angel, I did not think I could love someone as much as I love you. You’re the reason why my heart beats every second and why air fills my lungs with each breath I take. I was in a dark place, I had lost all those who I had loved and I thought I would roam the earth in solitude but then you appeared and my life was introduced to light once again. Your smile rivals the sun, your skin is better than the softest silk, your eyes hold novels in them and your heart is bigger than any other. Your heart is a heart that is intertwined with mine for all of eternity. If I ask for one thing, all I ask is if one of us meets our timely demise without the other, I ask that we find each other again and live out our love over and over until the earth stops turning.”

You released one of his hands to wipe the tears that spilled from your eyes before speaking, “I had never believed in love until I met you. I had never been interested in relationships and devoting my time to another until that night we met. From that moment on you have shown me the beauty of love, a beauty that I have never been able to understand. You appeared in my life as a mysterious stranger of the night and now you are to be my husband, my soulmate. I have yearned for you all my life, I have loved you before knowing you, I dedicate myself to you. You have never failed to put a smile on my face and you always sweep me off my feet. Choso, I am yours forever as you are mine. Our souls are entangled and they will never part. I love you, for now, forever and always.”

You both put your wedding bands on each other's fingers and the priest said his closing words. “May God bless this marriage, you may kiss your wife.” Choso pulled you close and pressed one hand to your back before dipping you down and kissing you passionately, pouring his overflowing love onto your lips. You held onto his suit jacket tightly until he lifted you upright and broke the kiss. Every guest cheered for you both as you walked down the aisle hand in hand.

Everything went by quickly, the night was filled with laughter, tears, dancing, kisses but most importantly, love. Then you two were being ushered out by the Astors to a horse drawn carriage, “you’ll be taken to your honeymoon residence now, enjoy your night and congratulations.”

The ride to the cottage was fairly quick and once the carriage stopped, Choso got out then scooped you into his arms so he could walk through the door. Once you two crossed the threshold, he kicked the door shut and made his way up the wooden stairs to the master bedroom. “You look magnificent my love, you were glowing.” He made his way up the stairs quickly and set you on the bed. He quickly got rid of his clothes then captured your lips in his. The kiss was hungry and filled with a mix of love and lust. His hands moved along your body to try to find the buttons of your dress but when he started struggling with the first two he opted for the easier solution, tearing the dress off of you.

You gasped against his lips and broke the kiss when you heard the fabric tear. “Choso! What if we want to pass this dress down to our children?” He slid the dress off your shoulders and started peppering kisses along all the open skin he could get his lips on. “I’ll fix it, I’m the best tailor in town anyways.” His hands moved swiftly to undress you until you were both completely naked in front of each other. It was a sight that you both have seen hundreds of times but now it was different, now you two were a married couple and now it was more than just lust between you two. It was pure love. Something so pure it rivaled a virgin’s purity.

He gently pushed you back against the bed and leaned in to kiss you, this time he was much softer with his movements, he took his time to savor you and feel you. Your hands wrapped around the back of his neck to keep him close to you, pulling him so close that you could feel his heartbeat mold with yours once his chest was pressed to yours. He used one arm to hold himself up and his hand moved down to grip his cock, pumping it in his hand as he guided it to your awaiting entrance. He broke the kiss and looked down at you, “do you want me to prep you, my love?”

You shook your head and pulled the elastic that held his hair back, “no, I want you. I want all of you inside me.” He pressed his forehead against yours and slowly pushed himself inside you. It felt like the night he took your virginity, the first night he met you and the night you gave yourself to him. Your back arched slightly and your eyes fluttered shut as a moan left your lips. It was a sight he could never get tired of for as long as he lived.

“I love you.” He groaned out the words as he bottomed out inside you and moved his other arm to rest by your head. He gave you a moment to adjust and started thrusting, slow and deep thrusts as his cock worked through your plush walls. “I love you so much, my husband.” Your words came out through breathy moans and your nails dug into his toned arms, digging at the flesh but only leaving red marks in its wake.

His hips slowly picked up speed, it was still nothing like how he would normally fuck you. There was no animalistic nature, no brutal snapping of his hips against yours, no headboard banging against the wall so hard you would think it would break. He was slow, meticulous, and thorough with each thrust. It was as if he was reciting his vows and pouring his heart to you once more each time his hips met yours. He captured your lips in his again and moved his left hand down to rub your clit.

You two shared moans and groans against each other's lips and nothing needed to be said. What else could there be when your bodies were speaking for you?

While his movements were slower than normal, the buildup to your orgasm was just the same. Your toes curled and your back arched as you felt the coil tighten in your stomach. Each thrust tightened it more and more until it just snapped. You broke the kiss and moaned his name in the most beautiful sound he had ever heard, it was as if angels were singing in his ears. To him, you were the angel singing in his ear. He thrusted a few more times before filling you to the brim with cum, he let out a guttural groan of your name and dropped his head in the crook of your neck. He placed gentle kisses on the skin until his lips felt the all too familiar marks from his fangs. He licked over them and lifted his head to look up at you.

Your eyes were already half shut, you were fighting sleep like you always tried to do and it made him chuckle. He pressed a kiss to the tip of your nose then kissed your lips softly. “Get some rest my love, we have the rest of eternity to relive moments like these. Just close your eyes and dream peaceful dreams of our future together.” You let out a small whine, trying to say something back but fatigue took over. He watched your eyes close and listened to the gentle hum of your even breaths. He slowly pulled out of you and laid next to you. He covered you both with a blanket and watched as you slept, his eyes traced over your features until they were etched into his mind.

If he could put all of his emotions into writing he would write best selling novels on everything he loves about you, if he was a musician, he would write symphonies about the little things that make you, you.

This chance that he had felt like he was finally going to have his happily ever after.

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

“Now, every love story has an ending and the hope is that the ending would be a happy one but not this love story. Kento, would you follow me? Take your recorder too.” Choso stood from where he was sitting and waited for Kento to follow as he made his way to his bedroom. On the wall facing the bed was a large painting of a woman, most likely in her late 20s, a soft smile was on her face and Kento followed Choso closer to it.

As he moved closer the gears turned in his head and his eyes widened as he made the realization. “Y/N.” His mouth moved before he could properly gather his thoughts and Choso turned to face him, nodding. “This is Y/N. This was finished three months before that dreaded day, done by a young man that recently moved to the town we lived in. He did it for free so in return I promised him free alterations for life. She was so happy when she saw it, she said that it didn’t even look like her but she was so wrong. While the boy was talented he could never capture her beauty, no one could.”

Choso stood silent for a moment while he brought his hand up to the painting, his fingers lightly grazing the glass of the frame that protected the painting. Kento’s eyes trailed back and forth from the painting to Choso and back until they focused on Choso. His eyes widened a bit as he saw the tears that spilled from the raven haired male, the tears of blood that spilled so freely. Kento had never seen Choso show this much emotion, Choso was always quick to wipe at his tears but not now.

Kento slowly approached him and rubbed his back. “It’s okay, please take your time. I can’t imagine how difficult this is for you to recollect all this, all the pain.” Choso nodded and took a deep breath before wiping the tears away. “It’s just that I haven’t spoken about that day with anyone, I’ve tried to bury it but whenever I see her face, everything just comes to the surface and drowns me. I miss her, I miss her so much.”

Kento set the recorder down and hugged Choso, squeezed him tightly and stood there with him. “Let it out, you need to let it all out.” Choso hugged him back, more tears streamed down his face and a red stain grew on Kento’s shirt. After a few moments of silence Choso broke the hug. “Thank you, I’m ready to speak about her now.” Choso looked at your picture and sighed. “It was just after her 33rd birthday, the year was 1909 and I was at my shop when I received the call. Y/N was out running some late errands with Satoru and she was supposed to meet me at the shop.”

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

He held the two fabrics up to Suguru and held them to the pants he had against his work table. “The left matches these pants more right?”

Suguru sighed and looked at Choso with a raised eyebrow. “And why are you asking me?” Choso chuckled and set the fabrics down, “well you’re in my shop and you’re not asking for alterations so I’m making you do some work. You know, for taking up space.” Suguru narrowed his eyes but jumped when the phone rang. “Can you be a dear and answer the phone? You’re not much help with color matching.”

Suguru sucked his teeth and answered the phone, his eyes widening at the frantic voice on the other end. “Satoru, calm down! I can’t understand you when you’re frantic, calm down!” Choso’s eyes widened and looked over at Suguru. As he stood there waiting his heart sunk to his stomach, the anticipation was all too much. “What’s going on?”

Suguru hung up the phone and his face looked like it was drained of its blood. “It’s Y/N, she’s dead.” Choso ran over to him and gripped his shirt in his fists tightly, his eyes changed to a glowing burgundy. “Stop joking around and tell me the fucking truth. My wife isn’t dead.” Suguru placed his hands over Choso’s and took in a shaky breath. “She’s dead. She was in the store with Satoru and she just collapsed. When they were on the way to the hospital she had no pulse. She’s gone. We need to go to the hospital now.”

Choso let go of the now crying male and quickly left his shop.

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

“I kept on telling myself that it couldn’t be true. She was healthy, she had recently gone to the doctor and she was in perfect health. But when I saw her body covered with a white sheet, that’s when reality hit me.”

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

Choso sank to his knees when he saw your lifeless body on the table. He gripped your hand and squeezed it, all warmth was gone. “Baby, please. I need you. What happened to the life we were going to live? What about the children we were supposed to have? What about living for the rest of eternity together? Baby please. Please get up, please let this be a sick joke. I won’t be mad I promise. Just please let me hear your voice once more, let me hear your laughter, let me see your smile. Please.”

Tears streamed down his face and he banged his fist on the ground as he turned his head up to the ceiling. “I was good! I’ve done nothing wrong! Why did you have to take her from me? Why punish me now when I was truly happy? I’ve atoned for my sins, I’ve prayed for forgiveness and this is how I get repaid? What the fuck kind of sick judgement is that? What more do I need to do? You’ve given me this curse, now I have to live alone? Why take her when you could’ve taken me? She’s done nothing to you. She’s your most perfect creation and now you take her back? Fuck you! Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you!” He spent the rest of his time sobbing until Satoru came in, his face stained with tears.

“I’m so sorry, I should’ve never invited her with me. Maybe this wouldn’t have happened.” Choso lifted his head, “you apologizing means nothing, it won’t bring her back. Just leave.” His tone was sharp and cold, Satoru just nodded and left.

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

“Later on I had learned that her death wasn’t preventable. It just happened and there was nothing I could’ve done about it. Maybe it was a good thing that I wasn’t there when she died but I wish I could’ve been there in her final moments. I wish that I could’ve been the last face she saw but maybe I wasn’t meant to see it. I still dream of Yuuji during his final moments, so maybe this was God’s way of looking out for me. I mean, who wants to see their soulmate die in front of them? But it’s the selfish side of me that wishes I was there.” He took a deep breath and sighed, Kento drew closer and rubbed his back in some form of consolation.

“Within the following weeks we held a funeral for her. What hurt the most was seeing her mother so upset, I have never seen someone cry so much in my life. The Astors paid for a beautiful tombstone and her mother visited her grave every single day until she met her own demise. I patched things up with Satoru and Suguru and I was with them until they died. Then I was alone again.” He sighed and looked up at the painting. “But I changed. Even before Y/N I had never thought about killing for sport but when she was ripped from my life I killed innocent people just for the hell of it. It wasn’t just people who deserved it, it was people who had so much to live for and I took that away from them. I don’t want pity for what I’m saying, I’ve prayed for forgiveness and I have changed for the better. I mean, you see I only drink from blood bags, it’s donated blood so I’m not hurting anyone to ease my pain. About 10 years ago I saw Y/N in a dream. This is something I’ve kept to myself and not even mentioned to you during our personal conversations.”

Choso tapped his fingers against the frame of the painting and walked out of the room, Kento following close behind. “She looked divine. She was glowing and she had such a beautiful smile on her face but she also looked pained. I know it must have been because she was aware of all the damage I caused after her death and also because I was alone again. But when she approached me all she did was hold me in her arms, I babbled and blubbered like a newborn baby. I apologized to her and told her how much I miss her and she just held me. Then when it was time for her to go and time for me to wake up she just told me one thing, she told me, ‘look for me, I will be in your life again and we will fulfill our promise of being together for eternity.’ Then I woke up, tear stains were on my face and pillow and I’ve held onto that message ever since. I have no clue what she could’ve meant but God, I hope I’ll be able to find that answer soon.”

Choso turned to Kento and nodded, signaling that he was done for today’s interview. Kento stopped the recording and sat down on the couch and Choso followed. “Thank you for sharing that with me. I really do appreciate it. I know she’s watching over you and I know that you two will find each other again. I just hope that it happens soon.” Choso nodded at his words and offered a small smile, “I hope so too but now let’s change to something a little happier. So how many children are you two planning to have?”

Kento chuckled and combed his fingers through his hair, “well I personally just want one but she wants at least two so I’ll have to adjust to that number. But once we do have children, I want you to be their godfather, I want you to be involved in their lives.” Choso sucked in a breath and sat silent for a moment, trying to gather the right words. “I know you don’t want to face more loss in your life but I want someone to be there for you. You have isolated yourself in this cold, cold place. I know you don’t even go out for anything anymore but you need to live. If not for yourself, then for Y/N. How could you find her again if you’re cooped up in here?”

Choso narrowed his eyes at the blonde and tensed at his words. “I know, it’s just hard. I’ve tried to will myself but I just can’t. I don’t want to make myself vulnerable again, I know she’s out there somewhere but what if she’s not ready for me just yet. What if she’s with another? I can’t live knowing she’s loving someone else that isn’t me.” His voice cracked a bit and he shook his head. Kento moved a bit closer and gripped his shoulder, “you don’t know that, you don’t know. Stop living with hypotheticals. Live with the truth and the truth is in the outside world. Go out there. You know, I actually saw a new nightclub opened up a few blocks from here. Go out and experience life in the modern world. And who knows? She might be there waiting for you. And if you don’t go, I’ll drag you there myself. Your inhuman strength is no match for my determination.”

Choso laughed at the poor joke and shrugged. “Fine, I’ll go but don’t expect me to go to this place every night. I think I’ll go insane if I do.”

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

After a few hours of conversation Kento left and Choso got himself ready to go out. He looked at himself in the mirror as he styled his hair one last time then walked over to the painting. “Please be out there tonight, I feel ridiculous doing this. But for you, I’ll do anything.” He pressed two fingers against his lips then pressed them against the frame of the painting before leaving. His nerves shouted at him as he walked down to the club, he saw the long line forming when he approached the block and let out a deep sigh, “of course the line is long, lucky me.” He glanced at the people already on the line as he moved to the back and there was no sign that you would be there. And as the time passed on the line, he started losing hope.

There would be no chance in hell that he could find you again the first night he started searching for you, it was an unrealistic dream but there was still a glimmer of hope. Maybe he would be lucky for one more time in his miserable life. Maybe, just maybe.

After what felt like forever, he finally made his way inside. He smelled the booze, sweat, cheap perfumes and colognes, just everything. It was a nice club, had two floors and the top was presumably for VIPs and celebrities and the bottom was for the common folk who wanted a wild night. The bass of the music thrummed in his ears and he started thinking about heading back home. This wasn’t his scene and he didn’t want to be there longer than he had to but he had to see if you were around. Just some form of you. He made his way through the sweaty bodies all packed together like sardines so he could go to the bar. Maybe if he had a few drinks in him, this environment would be just slightly tolerable.

After about an hour and about five whiskeys, the situation was seemingly getting worse. His body needed more alcohol and the alcohol already in his system was just making him irritable. He stood at one end of the bar, far away from the drunken club-goers that stumbled and were on the brink of toppling over. His eyes scanned around to see if there was a trace of you and just when he was about to give up, he saw you.

You were at the other end of the bar, trying to catch the bartender's attention while she was flirting with someone else. His heart felt like it was about to leap out of his chest and his body started moving before his mind could process anything. He had to confirm what he saw, he had to make sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. He maneuvered his way through the drunken people, almost shoving a few out of the way to get closer to you. Then he was there, standing next to you. His throat was dry but he had to get something out.

“Y/N.” Your name tumbled from his lips and somehow you were able to hear it through the loud music and all surrounding noise. You turned to face him and you lifted your head to meet his gaze. “Hi”, you froze for a moment before continuing, “do we know each other from somewhere?” Your question was asked so gently and there Choso stood frozen.

Everything was the same from all those centuries ago. Like the same angel was sent back down to earth to grace his eyes once more. Your eyes crinkled when you smiled just as they did all that time ago, your voice was the same, only slightly raspier since you have spent the past few minutes yelling for the bartender’s attention, everything was the same. Choso couldn’t believe his eyes, how could he have been so lucky to see you reborn again?

You asked the question again, assuming that he didn’t hear you but again you only received silence as a response. This stranger just stood in front of you, completely frozen but you couldn’t seem to tear yourself away from him. Like there was this magnet that kept you captivated by him. A sense of familiarity washed over you but there was also confusion since you couldn’t trace back to where you knew him from. But if you two didn’t know each other, how could he possibly know your name?

Then he finally gained his train of thought, “sorry, I have to go.” Choso moved through the crowd and you followed behind him, like there was some tether tied to the both of you. You had to follow him or else the invisible tie would snap. Tears gathered in Choso’s eyes as he made his way through to the exit and once he was outside it was like he had gotten even faster. You ran after him as best as you could then stood on the corner when you lost sight of him.

One of your friends who witnessed the whole thing go down approached you and gently gripped your shoulder, “hey, did you know that guy?” You turned to face her and furrowed your eyebrows as you thought about it, you didn’t necessarily know him but you felt like you had. He knew you but you knew relatively nothing about him but you felt like you knew everything about him. Your friend gently shook you to grab your attention, “did you?”

“I think I did.”

Choso looked around to see if you were still following him and once he noticed you weren’t he leaned against the abandoned building and sank down to his knees. Crimson tears streamed down his face and one of his hands clutched the fabric of his shirt near his heart while he muttered to himself.

“I found her, I found you.”

taglist: @blueparadis @ajaxkinnie @cherribxio @gloomiigloom @aki-and-saltfish

[enteroctopusdarkysilis]

✨Tragon !✨

Trans...dragon..It's funny, right ?- Also, I know it's a wyvern...Dragon sounds better...

It's pride month, so it was the perfect occasion to finally make a dragon, yay ! It's also my first time making something akin to a dragon (technically the second time,, but the first one is truly horrible), and even if the proportion are still a bit out of place, it could have been worse. It's also my first time doing custom wings, but I'll talk about that in more details beneath :}

Also, it needs a name ! I’m really bad with names, but I would gladly take suggestions ! (And here is an alt picture, in its natural habitat-)

Anyways, details/closeups under the cut !

None of these picture below are edited, because it's exam period- Enjoy the green backgrounds :}

I have to say, before any other comment, that I made the body way to heavy for the two poor sockets of the legs. The position above is the only one where it's actually standing upright. Also, my stock of pink and rightly-shaded blue was much smaller than originally anticipated, so I would have done a bunch of tings differently, if it wasn't for that. Still, I was lucky to have that many curved blue pieces for the top part. Well, all of the ones with purple diamonds on them have been forcefully taken from a small Elves dragon, but it was worth it (I also really enjoy the purple here, it contrasts nicely).

All of the joints are mixel socket joints, except for the knees, which are just hinges. It gives a lot of movements, from the tail to the jaw. Even if these are limited, it gives it a wide range of positions (even if, realistically, it won’t change it much from the one I gave it). Still, it can sit ! (Including small trans flag)

The pointy scales on the back are some of the only elements which aren’t directly attacked to the body : one 2*2 plate holds them down, and a modified 2*1 under the plates keeps it from sliding in any other direction, so even with little connections, it doesn’t budge. I really liked these angular pieces. To keep them from being too repetitive, they are only connected to each other by one stud, with a small angle, which gives them a slightly "round" effect.

The tail here is not really complicated, it's just a bunch of socket joints linked together with curved tiles on top (one of the sticker is backward, and it's unnerving, but it's not my fault and I can't risk changing it...), with white arch pieces underneath. Not sure of why I added these in the first place, but it looks cool. And of course, the end of the tail is a big heart, because it simply fits the vibe, doesn't it?

Of course, I can't forget what is the most important, and what makes this creature as cute as it is ! (It is cute, and if that is the hill I have to die on, I will.)

The green background doesn't show it well, but the flame offers a good contrats with the rest of the head, and brings the eyes there first (instead of all the mistakes present). Because there are a bunch of these.

I spent nearly as long on the head as all the other body parts cumulated (except for the wings), because making something detailed yet small enough to be a good head is tough. I actually started from the top (for the piece with the sticker, more exactly), instead of the bottom, like I usually do, in order to get an idea of scale (because I already knew I wanted the jaw to move, and for that I needed to see how big it would be). Then, I did the back to quickly have a neck connection point, to see if it would fit. Because the neck is larger under the connection sockets, the socket of the head is actually pretty high up, but the colours are practically aligned so it works well.

Then, the next thing was the eyes and the spikes. The spikes took me a hile to figure out, because without the rest of the head, they looked kinda dumb, but it does bring the head together when everything is in place. Then the eyes : on the small dragon I took apart, there were these blue tooth pieces which I used to get some texture above them, so that they don't look flat, and then, I connected them to the center connectors of a 2*4 plates. That works well in placement, but I ran into the issue of what would be around. If I didn't do anything, there would be two gaps, which would look terrible. Instead, I stuck two 1*4 tiles in these gaps, and since the tooth pieces are around either side, they don't move - well, not much, they still produce a shaking sound when I'm moving the head.

Then under these plates, I directly have 1*4 pink bricks, which stick out behind the head. At first, it was a problem, and I had nothing else to replace them; but they actually restrict and hold the neck, so that even if the head is technically a bit too heavy, it remains in place.

The actual teeth are modified 2*1 plates, four at the top and four at the bottom. To keep them with such a small gap (and to attach them to either sides of the jaw) I have use modified 1*1 plates with a ring. There is a single one at the bottom, and then underneath a few cut 2*1 and 2*2 curved tiles to make the jaw triangular; and two on top, one which connects it to the head and one with holds the snout (which is using a cheese piece and another one of the blue tooth).

So, custom wings ! It isn't actually complicated, if only a bit tedious. Here below is all that I needed to make them :

As you can see, it's not much. Most important, of course, is a good, solid sheet of paper, and a cutter (precision cutter is better, in my opinion, but anything works). To make things easy (or if, like me, you don't know how to draw properly), you can take a basic lego wing, and trace the outline and where the holes go. I would advise only doing a single, blank one, at first. Once you have your proto-wing, you can start to make the actual frame it will be attached on. I chose to use bricks above it to act as claws, but you can use socket joints, like in most sets. The advantage of using plates is that the overall look is better, but if you want overhangs like I did, you have to get the holes really close to the edge of the wing.

Once you have your frame, trace where the holes would go on it ! (if you used a wing model, it might be easier, but it could also not fit, which is why you make a prototype first). To make holes just the right size, I would advise first cutting squares (easier than circles) at just the right size, then scratching the edges with the blade of the cutter. Once it looks good, try to fit an axle inside. If it just about fits, and can rotate, it's good ! Otherwise, just remove it and scratch again.

When that's done, test if it can correctly fit on your frame. Once that's done, you can either make two wings with that pattern, or simply make another copy. I personally made two new from my first prototype because it took me a while to figure out exactly how to place the holes.

Finally, once you got two wings, you can finally add whatever you want on them (easier when they're not actually on the frame, although that should've been obvious), and you're done :}

I went for a really basic thing, but technically, any shape is possible. I'll likely use it again someday, because it's quite fun !

And of course, the bonus picture, since you’re here ! I like the symbolic of this (also don’t pay attention to the tentacles).

I actually really wanted to get rid of this castle (which was gifted, not exactly desired, although I must admit it’s really well designed), and well. Now, it’s gone, and in its place lies the dragon…and my horrendous crab, too.

[mauesartetc]

What is your opinion on Winx Club and it's art direction?

Honestly I never watched Winx Club growing up, so my frame of reference for it isn't particularly intimate. But just looking at the characters, it's clear there's a bit of Sameface and Samebody Syndrome going on.

The art style's certainly unique for a Western kids' show, and there's a nice variety of bright colors. But man, I hate to think what kinds of messages the show's young target audience took away from these designs. If all kids see in their media are tall, impossibly skinny bodies portrayed as desirable, they'll wonder why their own bodies don't match. And creators should be especially sensitive to this when they're making shows for girls, since media bombards them with a host of beauty standards to measure up to (and it's not like I'm any kind of expert in child psychology, but I'd wager the advent of social media hasn't helped matters). So it frankly didn't surprise me to learn that this show was created by a dude.

Look, I'm not saying men can't be mindful of the effects media can have on girls, nor am I saying men and boys never deal with their own body image issues. But if you're making a show with a majority-female cast, maybe consult some women about their designs-? In the credits of the first episode there are two feminine names listed as character designers (Michele Lilli and Andrea Pulito), but they appear to be outnumbered by twice as many men. (Though apparently those names can be masculine in Italian, so it's possible Michele and Andrea are men as well. Too bad their IMDB pages don't list pronouns for them.)

And according to Winx Club's Wikipedia page, after a pilot that was unsatisfying to the creator, the team hired fashion designers to revamp the characters. At first I thought this would explain the girls' proportions (it's common practice in fashion design to draw slim, taller-than-average figures with elongated legs), but the concept art from the pilot tells a different story. Even before the fashion designers came aboard, all the girls had the same tall, skinny physique.

Not that there's anything wrong with being tall and skinny- hell, I'm a beanpole myself! But when all your characters have the exact same body type, whatever that may be, it leaves out so much human variety and just looks repetitive as a result. It's boring. And on top of that, it creates a visual impression that these characters are interchangeable with little to no individuality. The girls do have their own distinct personalities in the show (I ended up watching the entirety of Season 1 for this post), but those personalities don't come across well in still images.

It'd help if they were posed in ways that showcased their individual traits rather than just... "feminine and vaguely playful" across the board. Where's Stella's cockiness, Flora's kindness, Musa's sarcasm, Techna's logic? I'm wondering if the fashion designers sketched out these poses as well, because they seem much better suited to displaying clothes than demonstrating character.

(To make matters worse, there's a point in the show where the girls look like literal clones. This screenshot where they're all wearing the same outfit really highlights just how little body diversity they have.)

And what's bonkers about the faces looking so extremely similar is that creator Iginio Straffi based these characters on real women-? Namely Britney Spears for Bloom, Cameron Diaz for Stella, Jennifer Lopez for Flora, Pink for Techna, Lucy Liu for Musa, and Beyonce for Aisha. Here's how they all looked around the time of Winx Club's development:

And here's how I'd use the photos as a starting point to make each character's face stand out more.

They seriously couldn't have just leaned in to what made each face unique rather than painting them all with the same brush?

I get it, drawing all the characters with the same base makes it easier to keep them on model (and I imagine it keeps things cost-effective when making toys of them). But good god, you couldn't have treated them as actual characters rather than paper dolls for the fashion of the week?

From what I saw of the show, it's fine. It's passable. I fully accept that I'm not the target audience for it, but it's not bad for what it is. Could use a ton more character development, though, both in the designs and the writing. In any case, I'm glad that present-day animated shows seem to be evolving past cookie-cutter character design.

To close this out, here's something that I absolutely should not be able to get away with:

Recognizing these poses from the DVD cover is a sign of knowledge.

Realizing I switched them around is a sign of wisdom.

[savannahthefangirl]

MY BUNDLE HAS ARRIVED EARLIER THIS WEEK

Oh boy, am I glad to announce that after SIX AND A HALF YEARS OF WAITING, I finally got my hands on some DA Merch, that being the lovely Rotom Royal Flush Bundle

WARNING: A COUPLE OF IMAGES BELOW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE COMIC, SO FOR THOSE STILL WAITING ON THEIR BUNDLES WHO DON’T WANNA BE SPOILED, I RECOMMEND SCROLLING PAST THIS POST!

So for starters, we have everything that was in the package

Now for each independent item, starting off with the comic book, as well as a few of my favourite panels in it along with the front and the back pages, which the latter is completely blank, so if anyone is going to any conventions that have either Will, the development team, and/or the VAs going there, I recommend that you take that as an opportunity to get your comic books autographed (The lovely illustrations being done by @aspennightray, who I recommend you checking out if you haven’t already)

Next we have the cards, which were designed by Aeroartwork (I don’t know about their socials, so if anyone who does know can reply with them, let me know cause I really wanna follow them), starting off with the DACrew and their guests (My favourites from them being Will, Chrissy, Chris and the card shared by SaltyDKDan and Chi-Chi)

And now we’re at the cards that feature the Rotom Family, where it’s REALLY hard for me to pick favourites, as all their cards look amazing, tho I will admit that the first card I took a picture of (as in the moment I opened the box on Tuesday night) was Bolvadeer, given that he’s my favourite out of all of them

And last, but not least for the cards, we have the Rotom Corp. logo as the ace card. Nothing more to say on this one

Like the comic book, there are a few blank cards at the end of the deck for unknown reason, so once again, I encourage any con-goers to use these to gain signatures from anyone involved in the making of Solitude.

And lastly, in terms of items that are part of the bundle, and probably the most hyped part of it as far as I’m aware, we have the Xavier Rotom figure, who just looks very polite, tho my mom said, her words, not mine, “I don’t know, he looks pretty scary to me, but you just seem to love him.” The one thing that looks a bit off to me is the angle he’s positioned in, which I could only guess is due to them using the same pose in the first ever 2D render of him that came out back in 2021 (Second image by TheAbbeyRoadie on Twitter)

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

When the bundle was delivered to me, as well as many other people who ordered it, it came along with either two plushies or a DAGames enamel pin, tho it was mostly the former people were getting. Now as of me posting this, there isn’t a concrete reason as to why these were being shipped with the bundles if aren’t part of it in the first place, with some speculations being

Option A) An apology gift on the side for how long the shipping process has been for everyone

Option B) A way for Ownaj to clear up storage, as a lot of these plushies are repetitively seen

Option C) A method to have the box that the Xavier figure was in kept in place

Option D) All of the above

Regardless, everyone was humble enough to keep these little trinkets as their own, so I’ll post pictures of the ones I’ve gotten as well

So yeah, if there’s one good thing to come out of this year, it’s that I’ve finally made my longtime dream come true. Don’t know how my mom’s gonna feel about me when Christmas rolls around tho, as she’s spent a hundred and ten Canadian dollars for this bundle ^^’ But yeah, I might make a video going into better detail of the bundle, as well as Solitude in general 🖤❤️🩵💜💛

[spaceorphanssecondbreakfastclub]

SO's Bookclub : The Viscount Who Loved Me

Title: The Viscount Who Loved Me Author: Julia Quinn Genre: Romance

Goodreads Summary :

Anthony Bridgerton hasn't just decided to marry—he's even chosen a wife! The only obstacle is his intended's older sister, Kate Sheffield—the most meddlesome woman ever to grace a London ballroom. The spirited schemer is driving Anthony mad with her determination to stop the betrothal, but when he closes his eyes at night, Kate is the woman haunting his increasingly erotic dreams...

Review:

It should not have taken me a month to read this, I've just been super distracted...

The second book of the Bridgerton series focuses on Anthony and Kate's romance, and I found it to be a lot of fun, actually. While this is only the second book I've read because I am reading them in order, I can already see why this ends up at or near the top of the lists.

If you've seen the show -- there's a lot that the show pulled from the book, more so than I had expected. It definitely hinges on that enemies to lovers-ish trope. (And while not a favorite of mine, personally, I think it's handled relatively well here.) Kate is a great protagonist -- she's smart and clever and holds her ground really well, which makes her someone to root for. Anthony is... fine. Look, I probably will never like these male heroes because they usually descend too far into anger and bad boy with a heart of gold figures out love when a level headed woman straightens him out gets a little old after a while. Plus, I do appreciate Jonathan Bailey bringing some great charm to the show that book Anthony lacks a bit.

But I think there's a lot of fun to this book, too. There's a real competitive spirit that's enjoyable to read. The pall mall, family stuff is great and a clear stand out in the book, which I can see why they adapted it. I also think the book does tension relatively well, and the push and pull between Kate and Anthony works!

I do still think there are times the book drags (I felt this in the previous book as well) where Quinn sometimes lets scenes go on for a little too long, or she gets repetitive within a scene. But as someone who isn't an outright fan of romance novels, and has read quite a few bad ones, Quinn is at least a solidly good writer, and it's a fairly quick and easy read.

The only plot thing that I took any issue with is the fact that two thirds of the way through, Anthony and Kate are forced to marry due to circumstances of the time, and I wish they could have not been forced into it? Part of it is the schtick of Anthony having to really fall in love with his wife, and I get that. But that kind of thing just isn't my cup of tea. All things considering, I really don't have a whole lot to complain about with this one.

One drawback coming from someone who's watched the show first, is the fact that these books are so focused on the couple, we don't get as much of a sense of the greater world. All the rest of the Bridgertons play a relatively small role (though it's nice to see Daphne and Simon back). Eloise shows up at the end for the first time as a little spy, which is cute. Colin continues to be a delight, though he's less in this one. I'm surprised Benedict was hardly here, and there's really no mention of the younger ones or even Violet. I will say, one of my favorite things, though, is that Kate and Penelope got to have an entire sequence where they strike up a friendship, and I did love that!

I was also kind of surprised that, while they were featured a lot in the first half of the book, Edwina and Mary don't play as big of roles in this book as I thought they would. They're still very important to Kate and her character, though, and their family unit is really nicely on display throughout.

Also, we end on another tease of Lady Whistledown, and I am so ready for it. But, alas, we have to get through Benedict's book first. So, let's do it!

Overall, I think if you liked the show, you probably would like this as well. It's fun and uses the tropes it sets up relatively well. It's still a regency based romance novel written in the early 2000s, but I think it is better than a lot of the same kinds of stuff written around and at the same time.

Rating : 4 stars