#its just because hes a demon animals have the instinct to sense “bad” things

[thebraxiatelcollection]

It's kind of funny seeing some of the difference between the show and book. Show!Omens Crowley becomes kind of a animal lover but in the book, most of the animals don't get along with him. He literally slides off horses when he tries to ride them.

[cafecourage]

Late to the party but can I request just- spoiling the Chain with love and affection and care (including First!) because these boys deserve it

- Softie, who can't remember if this has been asked for already

I think these can combine nicely. 😊 Because all of these boys have a lot of trauma I am going to make a Hc’s to cover everything.

Time:

This man crumbles when you care for him. He is literally always the person that take's care of others so having someone care for him is new. Even if he knows your not flirting he is still receptive to it. Though Time is going to try to give back everything.

Making Time flustered is actually fairly hard. Yes, I just said he crumbles when cared for. However, he more or less soaks it in. Getting him to go all red and mushy and just flustered is extremely hard. You can pull out all the stops and he will not stray from that calm exterior. Maybe he would be blushing but its not as bad as you when he goes to fluster you.

The most nightmares that he would have are from OoT however the most comforts he needs is more from the Majora's Mask adventure.

Because most of the things he has been through was when he was a child, he probably has some sort of childhood memory lost from it. But its more of he knows what happen but the memories he would have just aren't there. It's not like he can see it in his mind eyes. Though I would imagine he would have nightmares of the future hyrule he saw in the adult timeline. That part of the adventure was more horrifying to him then the child portion of the adventure. When this happens he tends to not go back asleep unless you urge him to. He really doesn't want to wake up in a future with out those he cares about.

Time, I would think still has some anxiety towards not being able to keep track of the days. It's mainly because he did lose track of the time while in Termina and he does flinch every time when a clock tower bell chimes. Time has kept most of his masks including the ones with spirits inside, though he assumes they had moved on to the afterlife at this point as even he can sense the lack of magic. Honestly on days that he is more anxious, you would need to ground him. Hold his hand. Give him a hug. Quiet reassurance.

Twilight:

Twilight's suffering comes from abandonment. I am just gonna call him out. He might have a body horror fear, aiming on himself as transforming into a wolf is disgusting and painful.

Honestly even though it hurts he will still become Wolfie to feel some comfort from the other boys. Just as much as he goes wolf to help the others with comfort. Twilight isn't one to ask for physical affection mainly because he was used to just receiving it

What he wants for affection is hugs and kisses. He needs that reassurance that everything is going to be ok. That your not going to leave him as well, also that everything is going to be ok. He really just needs the love and attention.

Twilight's second worse fear is that he will be left alone for the rest of his life. He has abandonment issues which mixing with his wolf protection instincts is just a complete mess of emotions. Just sit his butt down when he gets overbearing a hug him. From that moment on just ban Twilight from moving. If he needs to walk he is gonna have to carry you.

Sometimes you would also need to drag Twilight away to a more quiet location. Being turned into an animal also heightens your senses. We both know the boys are loud. So if its pampering time. You two wont be seen for hours :D

Warriors:

Warriors will rather die then let his demons be known. Which is really good that you know about his adventure! But seriously, Link hates his weakness showing even in private. The man has bad anxiety, he consistently feels like he is being watched. It's not just because of Cia, but knowing that she was always watching him the whole time didn't help, he also had to deal with traitors.

That being said Warriors is another Link that needs the silent affection and comfort. He might twist it on you. That just so he can twist what it looks like to other people. He will 100% take advantage of 'comforting you' to comfort himself as well. Don't point it out, don't even mention it. He will stop and get defensive.

That being said if he is hurt, then call him out on it. Warriors is more willing to be comforted because he is already hurt. He loves his hair being played with, its an instant relaxer for him when he isn't on high high alert. For example, at bed time he is out like a light, but if you play with his hair while walking through town he will tease you.

Warriors is going to need reassurance from time to time. He doesn't think anyone in the chain is going to betray him. But his brain just tells him to always be on edge just incase of an attack. I think when you get to know him better you would be able to notice it. In case of this emergency. There isn't much you can do, other then hold his hand through it. Distracting him wont do much but when he focus's on you he feels a bit better.

All this to say he doesn't get much sleep. He actually is a nightmare when it comes to nightshifts and wont wake people up because he is to anxious to not be awake and on watch. You might just have to throw him down on the bedroll and lay on top of him.

First:

First is hard to read. No matter how long you've known him. It's hard to know if he is ok. You just know that sometimes First comes up to you, hug you and not say anything. You can be in full conversation with someone and he just hugs you from behind. Face in your hair as he takes in your present.

He really doesn't want you to disappear on him. First lost a lot of people then almost lost his life. So let him just seek you out when he is feeling a bit... out of body.

First in general wont tell you what's the matter with him because he doesn't know what's wrong half the time. I image first is a bit no brain cell type. So like when there is a out of body moment it just confusion. Also it doesn't happen to often.

If he does look bothered by something or maybe a bit more out of it then normal. Hugging typically works. Kissing works as well. But he adores hugs and will pick you up so he could cuddle.

Either way you want to spoil first? Cuddle or hugs. Just make sure your touching him that's all he wants. Adores it even.

[blxxditout]

After what had happened with Selene, it's only ever been one incident after the other. From growing pains to eating raw meat like an animal over the sink at some ungodly hour. Sid's life had really been turned upside down, but for better or worse, he's yet to decide. His nightly walks had brought him here, to a homely little playground. A lamp head casts its fluorescent light down at the carousel, and what does he see there sitting upon it? A demon, of course. It's always demons. The familiar scent and flaring of his eyes had attracted the drooling abomination, blood falling in a consistent string down its mangled jaw as its glowing eyes leered at him from where he stood in the dark.

He wasn't new to the horrors, having lived through them himself after taking up residency in this city, but he couldn't help but to shudder every time he'd saw something so grotesque and out of his ordinary human life. A life that only seemed to be his just ages ago. What ended up transpiring was nothing short of a one-sided thrashing, but that didn't stop him from feeling bad about it. Whining under his heel, he'd watch as it tried to struggle in vain, kicking and screeching as it tried to get its claws under it. It had ran, crashing and careening into the pavement as it tried to escape him. The devil embedded into his heart chuckled darkly, humored by the newly found prey.

Pathetic. It wasn't worth the chase, not when catching it was child's play. Yet here, he was now, about to finish the job when the damn thing became even more frantic. It's noises and whining to get away were not because of anything that he himself was doing, but because of another. He knows who it is, having sensed the other before. Instinctively, he scowls, inherently displeased with the detection of his kind. The athame in his chest turns slightly, putting its sights back on the fodder below them. Right. He still has to kill this before addressing the devil down the path, now approaching.

A crunch resonates into the air as the beast goes slack beneath him.

@blxxditout

Glaring down at the thick blackish trail of sludge just beyond his shoes, Vergil's noise wrinkles. Such stench of demonic creatures never fails to make the hunter cringe in some shape or form. But in this case it is getting ridiculous. Since coming to this place, strange activities, or anything in particular, have been low to moderate. Now all the sudden there's a fluctuation of said monsters are turning out to be animals infected with demonic energy or somehow got a hold of a artifact. Concerning? Yes. Obviously. He did not want Lil Nero running around at the playground to be suddenly attacked when the babysitter is busy petting a dog.

Which explains why Vergil is even out here in the chilly evening air, hunting down a pest that dared come too close to his apartment... But oddly enough it was somewhat injured, explaining the reason there is random streaks of blood on the sidewalk. Sighs, rubbing his eyes as he would really, REALLY rather be at home buried into two pairs of arms instead of doing pets control. Tapping the hilt of Yamato's sheath, Vergil walks in a set direction, boots rather quiet on damp pavement.

"I don't get paid enough to deal with small fries."

[quarthly]

Twilight characters as random animals that I think are oddly fitting

(Also yes, I am roasting the animals as well)

Edward: He would be a Cheetah. Now I know, seems like a cop out just because of his speed but hear me out. Cheetahs are, at face value, pretty cool. They used to be my favorite animal as a child, but then I grew up.

Cheetahs, through no fault of their own, are severely inbred. Now thats mainly because of poaching, but the cheetas anxiety also comes into play. In captivity, cheetahs are usually given emotional support dogs. I will admit it is cute but it negatively affects the population. Excluding one in the wild, cheetas can be to anxious to breed and thats not good for conservation efforts.

Cheetahs can hit up to 80 miles per hour in a couple of seconds. They are designed for fast running and agility. Their claws are similar to that of a dogs for better traction and they have elongated spines for longer strides. They have a thin build, long legs and a long tail for balance.

This has downsides though. Many times after making a kill, it will get stolen for them by larger predators. Thats right, they get absolutely bodied by the other animals. I should probably make these shorter but I'm on a rant now, so I guess this will be semi educational.

Throughout the series, we see Edward over estimated his abilities and value, constantly getting bodied by others. He's essentially a perfect mormon, though thats on S'meyers. He constantly judges others, dehumanizing them to their baser flaws, without doing any self reflecting. Him viewing himself as a monster doesn't really count to me. While he definitely hates himself, the only thing he is truly demonizing is being a vampire.

Bella: Picking up from Edwards, Bella is a Chocolate Labrador. Yes, she is his therapy dog. I feel like this is really fitting for her. I know Golden retriever would make more sense, as thats the most common breed for service animals. However, I kind of focused on her appearance. Only at first though! I just know that Edward raved about her human qualities and that would pass over as animals as well. Her chocolate eyes and brown fur, very average and boring. Thats essentially Bella. Even Edward wasn't into her until he got a wiff. Labradors a very loyal dogs and while they have more personality than Bella, I just couldn't shake it. Their also very stupid. Ok that's kind of mean, they're not stupid but when it comes to love, then yeah they are stupid.

I used to have a lab, loved him to death, but god he was something else. Very much danger prone, from their own stupidity or their lack of survival instincts. I know that labs are almost aquatic. They love water, swimming, all that jazz. We can just say that bella has a few screws loose in her dna and is just "not like other labs."

Rosalie: Now she was hard. There are quite a few animals that I think would fit for her. I'll list the other ones, but that one I went with is the Swan. Like Edward, seems a little on the nose, but I have my reasoning.

I was going to pick a predator for her, as she is shown to be very vengeful and viscous. I would have pick some type of cat, most likely a purebred, from a rich family. It could still work, but the swan just speaks to me on this one.

Swan's are known for being beautiful, graceful, and are pictured as the symbol of love. They are also very vain. Edward constantly brings up Rosalies vanity. She was constantly valued for her beauty as a human, so of course that crossed over in the transformation. She was raised to be married into wealth, she was used as a bargaining chip to increase the family's standing.

Rose has a very strong character and makes her opinions known. She's assertive and aggressive at times. She's not afraid to get dirty.

Swans mate for life and like geese, are known for being great parents. I was also going to choose geese as an option for the maternal instincts. I was wary at first because swans can be really aggressive. Like actually, you think geece are bad? Yikes bestie...

I was conflicted because swans are known for drowning dogs and sometimes people. However, I can actually see Rose drowning Bella. It's not that unbelievable lmao.

Emmett: Now this one is just ironic. I only associate him with bears. Its inevitable, but picking a Grizzly or Black bear is too obvious. So I went a slightly different route...

So I was going to pick the Sun bear just because of looks alone. Like, I'm not exaggerating, it looks like someone wearing a bear costume. I don't think it fits him but I know for a fact that he would dress up as a sun bear and sneak into a zoo to see if anyone would notice. I'll put a pic of it here

Like look at this thing. I have no words...

Anyway, what I picked was a Sloth Bear. Now Sloth bears are mostly nocturnal, which either way works consider vamps don't sleep. Their diet is also odd but honestly so is the cullens. They're native to the Indian subcontinent, and are known for being aggressive towards humans. Its said that for the most part they're pretty calm, so I think its just fear of humans that make them act aggressively. Honestly, that's a good thing because they are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red list.

They have some similarities with sloths, which is where they get the name. They have long claws and unusual teeth. They are known to hang upside down from tree branches, and is described as having a messy appearance. Honestly, Emmitt has a messy personality. Sorry bestie but you're a lot of work.

Now heres the biggest reason for choosing this bear. Aside from Baloo from the jungle book being a sloth bear, they are known to run fades with Tigers. Honestly, how fucking badass is that!? Now I don't think there are recorded instances of a Sloth bear killing a Tiger, but when push comes to shove, they can hold their own and I find that incredibly impressive.

Carlisle: This one was somehow the easiest as well as the toughest. I know Owl seems like the obvious choice, and I can see it. However, I believe Carlisle values emotional intelligence as much or if not more than academic intelligence. He is so charismatic and values other's above himself. He might not be as Saint like as Edward thinks, but he does try and I think he genuinely cares about others. For that reason alone, I choose a Elephant.

Elephant's are very social animals and are extremely intelligent. I could rave about them for ages, I love them so much.

Now elephants live in a familial unit and are usually matriarchal. Bulls usually are on the outer edges of the herd or form little groups with other males. Honestly, they're not that bad aside from when their in musk.

In the group of males, the elder ones will teach the younger where to get the best food, water, how to use things as tools, and every other thing that will increase their odds of survival. This is really cute to me tbh, they do this because the females usually choose the older males because they've proved that they are intelligent and strong, that they have survived and will continue to for awhile. Teaching the younger males these things are to make the odds of them getting chosen to mate more likely. The whole unit just reminds me of a father that has to deal with rowdy teens.

Carlisle likes to take in strays, he might not have a herd but he will make one and teach them to thrive. That's how he envisions it anyway. He just has a found family and is trying his best.

Esme: Now this might seem like an insult, but I promise it's not! This is in no way misogynistic. I love cattle and ever since I took animal science in highschool, I have appreciated these grass puppies like they deserve. Call me Castro because I love cows.

Yup! I chose a Cow for her. Specifically a beef cow. That might sound weird but its because beef cows have higher maternal instinct than dairy cows. I'm thinking Scottish Highland based on vibes alone.

They are nicknamed the Gentle Giants of Scotland. Super maternal and sweet and ugh look how cute they are!

Esme came from a abusive marriage and had just lost her child, she was depressed and desperate. Her changing was, in a way, salvation. She just fits in. She adopts all these strays along with him and will protect them to the death. She might be gentle by nature, but don't fuck with her family. She lost her first one and she isn't going to lose this one.

Alice: She's an odd one. There are so many possibilities and maybe I'm biased, but I feel like she would be a Crow.

Ok listen, I'm definitely biased but it just feels right. Crows get a bad rap, they are so cool! They are so intelligent and have the ability to actually sit and think about the past, prest, and future. I forget what its called, but this was only seem in humans! Maybe other apes, I can't remember exactly, but either way its awesome. They do live in groups, or murders, and remember people and faces. They remember locations and are able to pass down information through generations. They essentially have their own language! They are able to use tools too!

Alice's story is really sad. When we first meets her, it revolves around the death of her mother and her institutionalized. She was essentially tortured and forgot everything from her past. All she had was the future and even that wasn't constant. Crows a often viewed as omens, they are associated with death. I personally believe that instead of being the cause, they just know something is going to happen. They are very inquisitive and can be creative.

If you befriend a murder of crows, sometimes, depends or the group, they will bring gifts. Its can range from food to shiny metals and colorful plastic. Hell, I think I've seen a post of one stealing things from people just to gift it to their human.

Alice's love language is gifts. Even if they are focused around fashion, she still goes out of her way to get something that will look good and at least be a little comfortable. By that I mean she tends to forget peoples comfort zones, but she means well.

Jasper: Honestly not to sure what to put for him. I know a predator would be more fitting, but for some reason I can see a donkey working. I know, seems like I'm clowning on the confederate. Fair, but I'm serious about the donkey thing. Honestly, it would be perfect if it wasn't a herbivore. Porcupine would also work.

Being a predator would make more sense. Given his backstory and his characterization, it wouldn't make sense for him to be a prey animal. Usually I wouldn't count this, but given his gore filled past and trouble with the diet, it seemed fitting.

I see him as a Big Cat. Honestly, vamps in general just give cat vibes. Jasper though especially have some cat like qualities, which originates from hunting and being a soldier.

I specifically see him as a Mountain Lion. Aside from him being blonde, he just has the predatory stealth to him. In midnight sun, we see him use his gift to make the nomads overlook him. He's honestly really powerful.

Mountain lions are known for being stealthy with an air of grace and power to them. They are stong animals. And I mean strong. They can jump 40-45 feet.

They're very elusive and quite. They stalk their prey and tend to attack from behind but don't think they won't hold their ground if need be.

Jasper was changed during the Civil War and forced to fight in the Newborn wars. He was a soldier as a human and as a vampire. He's able to feel and manipulate others emotions. He's covered in scars and is very intimidating.

He still struggles with the diet and honestly I hate how the others handle it. Like they have no room to talk. I don't want to defend the confederate but it just pisses me off. He has to deal with his hunger on top of everyone else's. Like damn, besties always on edge! Everyone doubts him which I don't think helps any.

Also, Mountain lions and Cheetahs can purr!

@aquanova99 I'll do a Volturi one too. That one will be fun lmao

[project-paranoia]

Let’s Watch: Yin Yang Master: Dream of Eternity

I have watched this movie 85 Whole Entire Times and I do not regret.  The only thing wrong with this movie is that it wasn't a fifty episode series.  I cried, I laughed, I fell in love.  The cinematography is on point, the acting is amazing, the crew member who put snow on people's eyebrows did an amazing job, and the acting!  The subtlety, the gentleness, the love and affection, the discussion of race is one of the best I've ever seen.

As people have pointed out before in series like X-Men that fear of mutant's is practically if not thematically justified due to the laser eyes in a way that fear of ethnic minorities just isn't in real life.  In Dream of Eternity however humans are equally if not sometimes more super powered than the yao they hunt.  Demons - very much not in the Christian sense - are a mixture of spirits, resentful souls, and animals and plants who cultivated to human form.  They often appear human at first glance and in some cases the extent of their power seems to be the limited to turning into a smaller more vulnerable animal.  Qingming's deliberate care and gentleness not only reflects his upbringing as a Yin Yang Master, but parallels the experience of racial minorities labelled as aggressive.

The movie takes particular care as well in the way it looks at trauma, grief, and love.  The three of which haunt the main characters and send out ripple effects into the world around them.  In the world of Dream of Eternity no loss is purely private, it spools out into the world around the person effected until they make an effect to acknowledge and deal with their experiences.  Qingming's warmth and gentleness isn't just marked by his behaviour but by the orange light he's lit by and his variety of shishen - but he is also separate, standing alone in frame and facing away from the people around him.  Boya's loss has made him unforgiving and as cold as the blue light he's lit in, and yet he is open and instinctive, talking and acting as soon as the thought enters his head.  The Empress is lost and drifting, trapped and grief stricken, vulnerable to those who profess to love her.  The film is simple, it says and shows what it means when it means it - but it is also as complex as the very human characters it depicts.  

The movie is made even more complex by its pull from theaters.  Claims of plagiarism drench the edges of the movie, which as true as the assertion that Fan BingBing went on a spa vacation in 2018.  Although this blog is about Chinese censorship dealing specifically with BL content, Chinese censorship also effects those who criticize governmental policy.  I hope that supporters of this blog will also support Chinese media threatened by censorship for many reasons so that artists and others involved in film making can continue to make meaningful content.

Doing a watchthrough of a movie is not feasible, but please enjoy a few thousand words - with spoilers on Yin Yang Master included:

* That gentle chiming and rain soundscaping is so soothing, what a great way to calm and lull the audience before the movie even starts * Qingming is so small and isolated in the frame - cinema! * The lighting and cinematography is just so good * Shifu, soft gentle teacher * So much love stored in the Shifu * Instant grow * This boy is Sassy * This theme of deflection in Qingming's character is established early * Deflection with a teleportation portal and then immediately deflection verbally * Shifu is certainly an attractive man aged up, but his face is also soft and gentle, something to note when his double pops up later * Also the awkward question of don't you have someone you want to protect, maybe part of the problem is that shifu is just really bad at wording things * The answer that yes he does has several meanings, one of which is immediately apparent when Shifu acts out one of those Father Saves Child By Yeeting them youtube videos * ACtion MuSIC * I love them your honour * The spirit guardian's design is so specific and elegant, absolutely superb you funky little shishen * I wonder if Qingming ever thinks about that if he didn't come back with all his fellow disciples that Shifu would have been fine * Maybe it's not that he doesn't have someone he wants to protect and more that he believes that he's not capable of protecting those he wants to * subtle indication Shifu's qi is corrupted * Precious Magic Childe ;-; * The framing, I'm living for it * The Serpent graphic is lovely * Also the way they set things up * Qingming cares so much about his shifu * Mark Chao just has the ability to crumple his face like paper * Sad Time exposition involving the corrupting influence of desires * "When you're gone I'll be all alone" in just about all you need to know about Qingming at this point in the story * Also like, sympathy for Shifu in raising this lonely child.  By all accounts he was an absolutely superb father figure, and Qingming I'm sure was not an easy child to raise.  He's the sort of kid that would take a lot of calm and patience. * Slumber party! * It's kind of interesting that this is an activity Fangyue and He Shouyue are doing together.  He's definitely obsessed and in love with her and she's just doing friends and family activities with him * Also yellow/gold lighting is kind of their thing * It's interesting how they do the make up for He Shouyue.  The actor is very attractive, but they make him up to look doll like, a little too pretty, a little too shiny.  Like a porcelain doll. * Cool lit Boya and warm lit Qingming appear! * Camels! * The framing is so good, they're careful to be sure he's shown as obviously isolated as much as possible * And it should go without saying that I adore the City * The matte painting is outstanding * But there's also the lighting, the vignettes, the clusters, the foliage * It is a supremely beautiful set * The irony that Killing Stone is playing along with Boya's music and then it's Boya who kicks him around * A small note, but one I appreciate - even when Boya has warm highlight's they're red instead of orange * "It's Jason Bourne!" * I hope Qingming paid for that water taxi * It's interesting how Killing Stone goes from the safety of Qingming's orange light to the danger of Qingming's blue * Colour related foreshadowing! * Look at this poor sweet man, how could anyone suspect him of anything.  He's just a sad man who loves his dead wife * Qingming's use of a fan is interesting - battle fans show up all over wuxia and xianxia, but it feels like it also ties into the way he's so very careful in how he presents himself.  There's that quote that a sword can only be a sword but other weapons are also able to serve other purposes - not a perfect quote but the point is got across. * The way Qingming just knocks Boya back, like get An Clue, my dude * The way that Killing Stone curls around the pipa ;-; * So the movie is based on the book series 'Onmyoji' by Yumemakura Baku.  The books start with Seimei (Qingming) and Hiromasa (Boya) already in a relationship talking about various cases Seimei has recently experienced.  Plotwise, obviously the stories are different, however thematically Seimei and Hiromasa discuss why some yao stick around and solutions to the difficulties and dangers they might cause - which is generally from Seimei's very successful perspective to listen and treat them like humans.  So in that way the plots of the books and the movie are quite different, but the themes are just about identical. * Boya says Don't Talk Me I Angy and also that demons don't have feelings and Qingming's face takes out a billboard that's just like Ah, Another Fantasy Racist, Excellent * Qingming also does what should be done in this situation, taking care of the victim not the racist * Fight scene!  Fight scene! * Qingming's first few moves aren't to attack, they're to distract and just hold his fan up to block Boya's way and his view - it's only when Boya persists in attacking that Qingming fights back * Qingming's sassy smile, he is very much deliberately irritating Boya as much as he's refocusing his attention and distracting him * "nICE sWORD" * I've sighed that sigh before * This boy is taking great pleasure from teasing Boya, but also he makes a really good point * I understand and relate to what Qingming did, but also I can understand why Boya was ready to throw rocks at Qingming when he saw him again * Killing Stone lit in Qingming's orange light again * Killing Stone, my beloved * A good gauge to the state of the world for yao is no one has told this sweet boy before that demons have feelings too * There are several lines like this in the movie that just drop kick you with Implications * The same way Qingming clung to Zhongxing, Killing Stone wants to join up with Qingming to have some compassion in his life * The way he asks to be a spirit guardian is so formal too, and Qingming is so gentle with him, I cry ;-; * The warm orange light of Qingming's love ;-; * He heals the wounds * It took me an embarrassing amount of time to realise it's the actual imperial degree speaking and not one the of Jingyun Temple Masters * The mutual this guy again is delicious * "Is it because of your pretty face" * Boya draws his sword so fast and Qingming is so amused by it * Longye!  Queen!  I love her! * The two of them seem to understand each other instantly * Those sassy little smiles * He Shouyue looks even more like a doll than before * Longye has her head on a swivel from second one, she plays the Maiden so well like she's not a skilled master * And her customer service smile * Qingming is shooketh

* What happens next?  You'll have to watch and find out!

[danteinthedevildom]

Dude your stuff is absolutely amazing, I meant every word. And now I have the confidence to request something! So, in the anime MC is being portrayed as an actual sheep, which I still think is genius. But what do you think about “Sheep”!MC? Super short and cute, with the fluffy pink hair, totally harmless looking. Buuuut despite barely being able to fight, they’re always ready to attack a demon, even if it’s one of the brothers. I dunno, the idea of a tiny MC trying to punch Lucifer for insulting Mammon popped into my head like a month ago and hasn’t left me alone since lmao

I absolutely LOVE the concept of absolutely tiny MC always ready to go even though it's absolutely, probably a death wish, and I will go through, in extensive detail, the reasons why.

Note: this post is written for Gender Neutral MC and uses they/them pronouns!

+ In general, I like to imagine that demons are just Naturally Taller than most humans, so something like 5ft 10 would actually be super tiny to them. "Sheep"!MC being smaller than that would be a genuine novelty - they're so tiny, that's just... not something they really come across in the Devildom? Even baby animals are larger than them, in some cases, which really just highlights how helpless their new human charge is - but it would also quickly present itself to be a complete NIGHTMARE that none of them considered.

+ On the first day at R.A.D. Mammon spends ten frantic minutes trying to find a very, very tiny human in a crowd of comparably giant demons because he took his eyes off of them for one (1) second, and apparently that was long enough for them to scarper off. Who knew such tiny legs could move so fast!

+ Eventually, he finds "sheep"!MC cornered by demons. That's bad enough, of course, except then, as he nears them, he watches with abject horror (and a little respect) as the tiny human tries to headbutt one of their assailants. Surprisingly, it works - though that might be because they're on perfect height to get the demon directly in the stomach. Not enough to incapacitate them, but enough that the demon's surprised, which means now "sheep"!MC can run!

+ "Sheep"!MC does not run. In fact, "sheep"!MC does the complete opposite: they stand their ground and... okay, it's hard to tell through the thick curls covering their eyes, but Mammon's pretty sure they're staring the demons down? Okay. Little human's got guts. Which might become more than metaphorical if the little human doesn't run like hell.

+ In the end, he has to save them before they really do get gutted. Just a little pressure from his aura, a quick, snappy line, and bam - those lesser demons are running off with their tails between their legs (quite literally, for one of them). He absolutely expects to be thanked for saving them - how heroic, right? He actually did his job! - but instead, as he's gloating, they just. Stamp on his foot. It doesn't hurt (like, honestly, he barely even felt it), but the sheer audacity of it stuns him into silence. They even look mad at him!

+ This tends to happen... a lot, actually. By the end of their first day, there's a plethora of tales running about the academy of the tiny, frail human who keeps trying to attack demons. They even tried to bite one! The brothers think it's hyperbolic at first, but a rather shaken Simeon later informs them that it's completely true; he had to physically grab their cape a few times to stop them from leaping over their desk to deck a demon in the few classes they shared together.

+ Looking after "sheep"!MC is a full-House job. They have a tendency to sneak away whenever any of the brothers look away for even a fraction of a section. It's even happened to Lucifer a few times, much to his absolute bafflement. The truth of it is that "sheep"!MC's so small, it's very easy for them to get drawn into crowds and accidentally bumped away from the brothers. They don't always intend to get separated from them (though sometimes they definitely do), but when it does happen, they don't exactly... rush to find their caretaker again. In fact, they tend to just wander 'round the halls, chest puffed out and chin up, acting like they're ten feet tall and not just barely brushing hip-height on some of the larger demons.

+ Some of them have found out that it's actually better to just hold onto "sheep"!MC somehow. Whether that means holding onto their wrist (Mammon), their hand (Asmo), or their shoulder (Satan), they can at least feel the moment "sheep"!MC tries to slip away and tug them back towards them - often very grumpily, which leads to them very ineffectually trying to dig their heels in.

+ Naturally, they're not scared of the brothers, either. If anyone tries to pick them up, they will attack - often with kicks and punches, but also with vicious attempts to scratch at any bared skin and tug on hair. Most of them can ignore it or at least hold "sheep"!MC at arm's length, but it does mean they're squirmy as hell, which makes carrying them a challenge. Asmo's really the only one who still tries to pick them up for fun - the others mostly do it if they've tried to run away too much or if they need to get somewhere quickly - but even he's a little more cautious of it after getting his hair yanked a few times too many.

+ The sheer audacity of their bravery knows no bounds, and it's... kind of cute, sometimes. They've punched Mammon in the shoulder for being a dick before, and while it doesn't hurt, the fact that they do it without fear for their limbs - or their life, in general - is just. Amazing, actually. They don't even have qualms with gently kicking Mammon to make him budge up on the sofa, or trying to shove him off the bed with their feet when he takes up too much space (which doesn't work, ever, but it's hilarious, and sometimes he slides off the bed just to make them feel better).

+ What isn't so cute are the times they come between the brothers. That's... terrifying, actually. In general, y'know, when the brothers aren't actually going to hurt each other - when they're just being demons, and brothers, and there's no (permanent) harm intended - "sheep"!MC still comes in to defend the brothers they're closest to. Mostly it's Mammon, because of course it is; he's the one they spend most of their time with, and he's the one who gets targeted most. It makes sense that they jump to his defence, throwing cutlery if it happens at breakfast/dinner, or charging at the brother if they happen to be standing.

+ (Especially after they've finally gotten used to him enough to let him hold them at night, cuddled up in bed, because he sleeps better like that; when they're no longer trying to kick him away, and instead curl up in his arms like a tiny, tiny teddy bear.)

+ Sometimes, though, they'll stand before Beel when Satan's furious at him for emptying out the fridge again, or between Levi and Asmo when they're arguing about which thing is better, and it stuns them all enough that they just... stop. Even before they've fully accepted "sheep"!MC as part of the House, or before they've formed all their pacts. There's just something strange in seeing someone so tiny leap in, fully prepared to attack and defend, that ends most arguments without a fight.

+ Not that it happens all the time, though. Sometimes, if Lucifer's threatening to string Mammon up to the rafters, or if he's berating Mammon for something "sheep"!MC knows he didn't do, they'll really attack. And that's... that's not good. There's only so many times the Avatar of Pride can take a punch to the kidney, or side-step a headbutt, or grab them by the scruff before they can charge, before he starts to get pissed. Does this stop them? Of course not. Even with the full pressure of Lucifer's anger bearing down on them, they'll stand their ground and prepare for a fight.

+ The brothers, as they get closer to "sheep"!MC, often find themselves spending more time trying to diffuse situations or quickly squirrel "sheep"!MC away before things go south than they do anything else. They berate them, of course, as much as each of them can, but it never seems to stick. Because of course, half the time, "sheep"!MC's body leaps into action before their brain does. Half the time, they've moved without even realising it, head tucked down or fist raised, moving on instinct.

+ (There's often a difference between "sheep"!MC leaping to action like an anime gag and moving to someone's defence like a BNHA character. The first they can tell happening by "sheep"!MC's face; they might not show their eyes, but they're expressive as hell regardless, lips curling into wide snarls and tugging down into deep frowns. That's when they leap and someone grabs them, holding them in the air as their arms and legs flail uselessly, more put-on by their fighty nature than anything else. The second, though? That's preceeded by "sheep"!MC's face going blank. That's when they move so quickly that it's clear their body is moving on its own. That's when the brothers stand frozen in place, staring in horrified awe at this tiny, brave little human stepping into the path of danger over something the brothers could easily survive - but they definitely can't.)

+ The TSL competition really does almost lead to "sheep"!MC's death. They don't run, don't even think to; the moment they see Levi charge at them, even in full demon form, they stand their ground and snarl. Mammon almost has a heart attack that day - especially when Levi's attack hits them, and sends their tiny body flying back against the wall.

+ Brave little human, even after getting yeeted across the room, tries to get back up again. It's that stubbornness - the refusal to give up, even though they're clearly out of their league - that spurs Lucifer into action. He's impressed by them, if you'd believe it; most humans would cower just at the sight of a demon in their demonic form, and even less would try to go down fighting after such a display of strength. So he steps in, personally, and defends them with his full form out.

+ He doesn't expect a thank you, but it's still amusing, seeing them half-slumped on the floor, being worried over by Mammon, steadfastly ignoring the second-born to downright glower at him for stepping in. There's no question that they would have died hadn't someone helped, and yet still they remain stubborn. He's pretty sure they'd even try to kick him, if they had the strength left to do so; their leg twitches as if trying to do that very action, just before he leaves.

+ It's less amusing when it happens to him, however. When he's found them in the crypt, with Beel and Luke behind them, their stance wide as if hoping that will somehow hide Beel's gigantic form. No, their stubbornness is infuriating in that moment; a blow to his own pride, to see something so small and pathetic attempt to stop him.

+ But they won't move. "Sheep"!MC knows, logically, that they'll die if they take an actual, full-on attack from a demon, but there's fight in them and they don't intend to go down without one. Is it a little reckless? Maybe. Would it be better if they just stepped to the side? Probably. Would they make it through the year by keeping their head down, being good, doing as they're told? Absolutely. But they're not going to do that. And they will stare down Pride himself, knowing that they'll die, if it means they can say they tried.

+ After this incident, "sheep"!MC starts wearing a headband with little sheep horns on it, commissioned from Levi. He's not too sure why they used the pact to make him do it, or even why they asked for it, but it's a fun little project to do and even works as a bonding experience for them. On top of that, it suits them! Ack - no, wait, it's made them too cute - he made a mistake!

+ He's genuinely surprised to learn that the horns aren't, in fact, meant to make them look like a sheep - which earns him a punch to the side for suggesting, and a pretty stern pout - but are meant to emulate a demon form. He thinks it's because of him, for a moment - that he scarred them so much when he attacked them, they're trying to cope by... being what they feared? Maybe? - but then "sheep"!MC tells him the truth, and he loses it.

+ They think the horns will make them look more scary and less like they should be fucked with - not because they're scared, but because they're getting annoyed that demons keep picking fights with them. They think the horns look badass. Levi doesn't have the heart to tell them that it's the cutest thing he's ever seen.

+ Most of the brothers agree that the horns do make "sheep"!MC look cute, and that's even when most of them start using "little sheep" as a nickname for their human. They still stubbornly wear the horns, despite the nickname.

+ "Sheep"!MC is ridiculously stubborn. They're cute, and sweet, and that's just a genuine fact; when they're not being bitey as all hell, or trying to leap head-first into danger, they look like the most adorable little thing in all the Three Realms. Asmo even has a collection of photos and videos on Devilgram solely dedicated to dressing "sheep"!MC up in cute outfits, and it's ridiculously popular. But what those things don't show is how often "sheep"!MC will be belligerant over seemingly nothing. Why, yes, this does include agreeing to do a photoshoot for Asmo and then refusing to wear anything he picks because he implied he didn't trust them to choose a good outfit.

+ That's also led to some potentially dangerous situations, of course - such as "sheep"!MC purposefully ignoring Lucifer's advice not to eat something because he said it would be "in their best interest" not to, only to be told by a frantic Mammon a few moments later that what they're eating isn't human-safe.

+ Sometimes "sheep"!MC will let the brothers pull them into their laps, because they're small enough to actually fit comfortably there and have the brothers rest their chins on their head. It can even be nice! But they do have a tendency to use that position to their advantage - namely, to headbutt the brother they're sitting on under the chin when they're getting annoyed (such as if Levi's gloating/cheating at a game, or Asmo's playing too much with their hair, or Mammon's squeezing them a little too tight while arguing over whether or not he should let them sit in someone else's lap). It's one of the few ways they actually can hurt the brothers, but mostly because it tends to make them bite their own tongues.

+ If you want to imagine something hilarious that at the time was genuinely terrifying, please consider this: Henry 1.0, moving at speeds that give even Mammon a run for his money, appearing in the distance. Asmo and Solomon, in confusion slowly morphing into fear, turning on tail to run before the great beast can reach them. "Sheep"!MC, immediately widening their stance to take on the fuck-off huge serpent that has the second and third borns running for their lives, standing their ground, head tipped down to point their horns forward. Mammon, grabbing the back of "sheep"!MC's jacket as he runs past them, hauling them over his shoulder while screaming in terror, as they pound at his back and kick at his chest, demanding to be put down so they can fist fight a snake. A typical day in the House of Lamentation.

+ If Belphie thought killing this MC was going to be easy, he's dead wrong. It's not exactly a challenge, sure - they are still human, and still much smaller than him at that - but he wasn't expecting the counter-deception of getting headbutted in the gut when he opened his arms up for a hug. It's just enough to surprise him, and means he's a second too slow to grab them when they dart back.

+ By the time he does eventually grab them, he's panting hard, a little bruised, and very frustrated. Who knew being small could have its advantages? They're quick and nimble; a few times he thought he'd gotten them, only for them to dart off to the side or dive between his legs. They'd always land a hit, too, whenever that happened - which didn't hurt, but the one time they tugged on his tail did smart a little, and that was just... unforgivable.

+ "Sheep"!MC doesn't forgive, and they definitely don't forget. There's no easy getting back into their good books, even after the new timeline's settled. Belphie has to deal with getting headbutted a lot after that whole debacle's ended, even when he thinks they're actually getting along well. If he gets too close? They lash out with a fist. If he tries to reach out for them? Their blunt teeth dig into his flesh before he's even aware they turned around. If he's sleeping somewhere they've claimed as "theirs"? Well, that one varies, but he's been shoved off beds, kicked, and had water dumped on him. It'd be impressive if it wasn't so... annoying. But he deals with it. Only because Beel wants him to.

+ You may be wondering, "has "sheep"!MC ever punched the prince?" And the answer would be yes. It wasn't on purpose, the time it happened; Diavolo, sans Barbatos for once, had somehow managed to sneak up on the little human exchange student, and thought he'd have just a bit of fun. It's not exactly like he gets a chance to be a normal demon that often, after all.

+He'd reached out to very gently tap them on the shoulder, expecting them to maybe jump a foot in the air, or to shriek with fear, so that he could say "surprise!" and laugh as they realised it was him.

+ Instead, just before he could reach their shoulder, they'd spun on heel and socked him dead in the gut.

+ He'd been so surprised that he'd stammered out an apology, watched them walk off in an indignant huff, and only started laughing at the absurdity of the situation several minutes later, when Barbatos asked why he was standing gourmlessly in the hallway.

I could probably go on much longer, but the post's getting a little long, so instead I'll leave you with this:

I haven't drawn in like ten thousand years and it absolutely shows, but the moment I read the words "sheep"!MC, this is what came to mind - and I just had to try and give my best rendition to it because the thought was so fucking funny to me.

[bvccy]

Tenderness and Ferocity | 1. The First Day

Pairing: Winter Soldier!Bucky Barnes x Hydra!Reader Fic Synopsis: The Winter Soldier is starting to make stupid mistakes in the field, which is Bucky's way of trying to wrest back control and sabotage his handlers. Hydra brings a new doctor to figure out what's wrong with him and fix it. As she spends time with him, she becomes fond of the Winter Soldier, and he becomes fond of her. Bucky has other ideas. Or, a fic in which the Winter Soldier is the good guy and Bucky is actually the bad guy. Inspired by two imagines [1] [2] from @hushyourimaginationistalking (can be spoilery). Warnings for this chapter: None Word count: 2386 Read on AO3: [link] [Fic Masterlist] [Next Chapter]

"There resides infinitely more good in the demonic than in the trivial man." — Kierkegaard

Away from the world and beyond the scrutiny of common knowledge, secreted away into a methodically manufactured nothingness, in a damp room in a concrete fortress, a flock of doctors busied around the returned Soldier — The Asset. Or, today, the Problem.

As they performed the standard tests and checks and tinkered at the dents in his mechanical arm, he sat quietly, personless. Underneath all that, he was expecting another "corrective calibration", another session where everything hurt until it went blank. His whole body was expecting it, tight with muscle-memory that ran deeper than his own with horrors he no longer had access to.

He had almost failed his mission, he completed it by dumb luck alone. He knew it, and his handlers knew it. What was left of his ego had bitterly learned long ago that his successes were due to the brilliant doctors, but the failures were his own.

Nevertheless, there was no fear in him — at least, not at the level that was present, that watched the doctors taking readings off the machines, recording his vitals in their notebooks, checking his restraints against the cold metallic chair. But there were parts of him where the real fear still lived. He could not bring it up, and examine, or control, but he felt it stirring in the pit of his mind.

At the periphery of his consciousness, he knew what they were thinking: those failed parts of himself had gotten in the way, had compromised his mission; like a bad reflex in the wrong direction at the worst moment. So they were going to try harder this time, keep trying, keep trying, until they cleaned up all that was left of his dissenting self at the bottom of his brain.

The Soldier waited for them to begin, like last time, and the time before that. But some were talking to each other, some were sitting down and waiting, others were drinking their coffee... They were doing things they weren't supposed to do, and the part of him where the fear settled was starting to itch. What was different about this time?

Get out get out get out.

When he heard the echoes of a walking pair come closer, saw their shadows licking up the wall beyond the foggy lab door, and saw them stop to talk right outside, the Soldier didn't think, nor feel, nor react, and for once it wasn't because the Soldier didn't do that, but because he made a conscious effort not to.

He didn't miss the guarded gaze shared between the nurses securing his legs, but then they got up, and with the rest they gathered their gadgets and scopes and manila folders and ambled out of the room. The pair outside waited for them all to leave, exchanged some parting words, then one of them went inside with him and the other closed the door with a hiss and a click: locked.

The Soldier had never seen this doctor before. Was that what she was? She did wear a lab coat, with the Hydra insignia pinned to her lapel, a standard issue name tag, and had in every other way the look of all the rest of them.

The way she looked at him that first time, scanned him from a safe distance as she clung to her folders like a lifeline, told him she had never seen him before, at least not up-close. But her eyes didn't linger on his metal arm — so she knew about it? They didn't stay anywhere very long, though she did direct a second's worth of a frown at his naked chest — oh, were they supposed to have dressed him up for her?

She took a deep breath, thinking so loudly he could almost hear it, then took a solid step forward in a straight line toward him. Her scent could reach him now, a sweet and stinging perfume that was familiar but now unrecognisable, with fresh notes on her throat and warmer aftertastes lingering in her hair, which was clasped back in a tight French twist. Underneath that, soap and bitter coffee, the sterile air of the facilities, and freshly ironed cotton. She looked right at him, and through him. Perhaps she did not like how his eyes followed hers. She seemed afraid, but of him?

Of failure.

She came to a stop at the table by his side and busied herself arranging her files. Her shirt looked standard issue: white, pressed, keeping its form rigidly while her tight chest fluttered underneath. Her waist held her up stiffly, unmoving, as she bent slightly forward. Her straight black skirt went down to her knees. Her legs were clad in imperceptibly thin stockings, tapering in black doeskin shoes.

The Soldier's gaze caressed its way back up to her face to find her disapproving look waiting for him. He looked back without shame, taking in her elegant little features gentled by large eyes, a soft mouth, lashes that left spiderweb-shadows on her cheeks under the clinical light.

She kept her eyes on him unwavering as she stepped back and around to face him, to look at him from the other side, then closer, then back again. She was examining him like all the others did - like an object - but he didn't mind. Her attention melted the fear away.

Finally, she got closer, and with a touch made to gentle a wild animal tilted his head back and up. She stood to his right where his flesh arm was, checked his pupil dilation with a little light, checked his pulse with her fingers, his blood-oxygen with a pinch at his thumb — he could have told her the other doctors already went through this with him.

But why tell her anyway?

And just like that, she was back to not looking at him. She finished her check-up and turned briskly back to her papers. He noted her face had moved first and her body followed — disgust, avoidance; ah, did he smell? They never did prioritise cleaning him after a mission.

"Can you speak?" she asked, looking straight at him again.

"Yes."

"What are you?"

"Soldier."

"What am I?"

"Doctor."

"Sit up straight... Now close your eyes."

He heard her step closer, heard her stop right in front of him, between his spread legs. Her voice was so close now, and much too soft.

"I'm going to touch the sides of your face. You will tell me if it feels the same."

She lightly ran the tips of her fingers from his temples, down his cheekbones, down the hollowed stubbled cheeks, ending at his chin, then back up and down again.

"Same?"

"Yes."

"Keep your eyes closed. I'm going to make small sounds with my fingers next to your ears, you will tell me which side it's on."

"Right. Left. Right. Right."

"Open your eyes now."

He caught sight of her just as she stepped back.

"Did they finish the repairs on you?"

He looked at his left arm and saw everything was closed back up. "Yes."

"Alright. Make fists with both of your hands, and hold them up, like this. Alright, now keep them steady and don't let me press them down."

She tested his right fist, then his left, her hands barely covering the span of his knuckles. Both fists were steady as rocks against her efforts.

"Now, close your eyes again. Can you touch your thumb to your index on your right hand? Good, now go through all the fingers, touch the thumb to the fingertip... then back to the index. Good. Now your left hand, keep your eyes closed."

He could hear her throat work to swallow at the clink-clink of the metal digits.

"Alright, stop."

She stepped back to the table, picked up a little silver hammer with a rubber head, then came back to his side. "Keep your right arm relaxed, I'm just going to check your reflex."

She pressed her dry, cold thumb to the inside of his elbow and tap-tapped against her finger, his arm bouncing slightly in its confines.

"Alright, now I'm going to do something a little silly. But you won't laugh at me, will you?"

"No." His dry delivery didn't put her much at ease.

Moving to his left side, she did the same thing to his metal arm. She tapped the little hammer over her thumb, where the inside of the titanium elbow was, and tapped and tapped.

"Makes sense I guess..." she said to herself when nothing happened.

As she ran her tests on him, he could feel her relax, noticed her start to speak not just at him but to him, like other people spoke to each other. The Soldier wasn't sure it was smart of her to drop her guard like that, but he couldn't begrudge it. He wanted to speak to her like a real person too, but the want knocked itself against a wall.

She worked her way around him, back to a desk, sat down primly, opened a folder, crossed out some boxes on a yellowed piece of paper... He watched her openly, sliding his gaze down to her tightly-crossed legs and back up, but was not too fixated on the ornamental parts of her to not notice her swallow hard and squeeze her pen as she became instinctively aware of being looked at.

"I'm going to ask you some questions." she said without looking up. "Do you know where we are?"

He had to think for a second for this one. "Headquarters Alpha 3."

"What's the nearest town?"

"I don't know."

"What country are we in?"

"I don't know."

"What day of the week is it?"

"I don't know."

"Do you know what year it is?"

"No."

She wrote something down and sighed — she wasn't disappointed, was she? After all, he didn't need to know those things. But when she looked back up, she didn't seem upset with him. She even smiled at him a little, he almost smiled back.

"There are some more tests I want to run, but I can't do that with you tied up. We'll have another session, if it's approved."

He didn't nod, didn't blink, didn't betray the hope he felt at the anticipation of being trusted. Even untied, she would be safe with him, he wouldn't hurt her. Did they know that? Did she know that?

A knock on the door grabbed her attention. Too eagerly for his liking, she jumped up and opened it.

"Done?"

"Yes, I'll just get my things."

Standing just a step inside the room, the Director looked straight at him, then turned his attention back to her, waiting.

They stepped outside together, but by negligence or uncaring left the door ajar. He listened on as they whispered to each other.

"So?"

"Both hemispheres seem very well coordinated, as well as I can tell considering the arm... There seems to be no... leakage of anything from one side or the other, or from previous missions. To me, the Asset seems fully functional. But I need more tests to assess the state of his memory."

"What's the problem?"

"As I suggested in my proposal, Sir, the methods used in the Project affect his explicit memory, but the implicit memory isn't really addressed. I need confirmation."

"And what does that mean?"

"It means we should probably schedule..."

"No, what you said about his memory."

"Oh, well... As I wrote to you, Sir..." She took a pause to swallow her words. "Explicit memory is... the things you can bring forward in an instant, that you can talk about. But if you were to... if you were to smell a perfume, for example, and you suddenly remembered it because it was what your mother wore when you were a child, that's implicit memory. It stays in the brain but you don't know it's there unless there's a stimulus. And because it's there, it can still influence what you do, even if you don't realise it..."

"I see. Couldn't our equipment fix it?"

"I don't think it can be calibrated for something like that. Such memories are usually connected to real functions, like muscle memory or the senses. And besides, wiping him repeatedly probably resets his integration level, which can be counterproductive... especially if he was predisposed to higher disintegration before the serum."

"So what do you need?"

"First of all, he might need to be kept... er, thawed, at least for a while."

"If your little experiment is a failure, we're gonna waste valuable time on him."

"It's just that it isn't good to freeze and unfreeze even an ordinary slab of meat, let alone a complex animal like that. It could be connected to the malfunctions they're reporting with his behaviour. Not to mention the lack of REM sleep, which makes it even worse for stabilising his thinking, his reflexes..."

"Alright, we have empty cells we can keep him in."

"And for the next session, if it's approved Sir, we should maybe have a brand new room. Not this lab, and not somewhere where he's locked down. Subjects usually form underlying associations with common environments, it impedes the process."

"I fear we might be spoiling him, you know. His own 'suite', his own lounge now, no more cryo, and I don't know when the last time was that he saw a woman..."

"Certainly he sees them all the time on missions, Sir."

"Yeah, through a scope. Will that be all?"

"One more thing... if it's possible, to not have surveillance during the sessions, Sir..."

"And why would you ask for that?"

"In case I need to apply unethical methods."

"'Though I can respect that, don't you think you're asking for a bit much?"

"Oh, please Sir."

The Soldier could hear the smile in her voice, the deliberate lightening of the tone to something girlish, and through the fogged glass he saw her brush a hand over the Director's elbow, just quickly enough to stay professional. The armrest under his bionic arm started creaking in his grip.

"I'll keep it all under budget, I promise. Oh, and could we maybe arrange to have him washed more often?"

"I'm going to leave before you ask for dessert. You better deliver."

"Yes, Sir. Hail Hydra."

"Hail Hydra."

[fishoutofcamelot]

I am once again thinking about a BBCM Mystery Skulls AU. Now, for those of you who are so woefully unaware of what Mystery Skulls is, allow me to set the scene.

(This ended up WAY longer than I was expecting, so I decided to put it all under the cut-off)

Merlin, Gwen, and Arthur have been friends since high school. Gwen is a spunky yet affectionate employee at a book store and despite her cutesy pastel aesthetic she has a bizarre interest in the occult/paranormal.

She came up with the idea for the three of them to form a ghost-hunting troop, and they call themselves the Mystery Skulls. And while Merlin and Arthur aren't nearly as invested in the idea as she is, since this is pretty much her hyperfixation, they are both very supportive nonetheless and enjoy going on adventures together.

Gwen has a pet lizard named Kilgharrah, and it's been in the family for a very long time, since before she was even born. Are lizards supposed to be able to live that long? She's never really given it much thought, but sometimes it seems almost...intelligent. Unnaturally so. Nevertheless, the weird and unexplainable is kinda their whole brand, and Kilgharrah has become something of a mascot for them, so they all let it slide.

Arthur is the Fred of the group. Muscular and almost-but-not-quite-a-himbo, he's the one driving the van with a cocky grin. Fearless, popular, everyone loves him, and besides some family issues he's got a good life. He and Gwen are in a relationship, and they're very lovey-dovey about it. He doesn't know much about the paranormal, certainly not as much as his girlfriend, but the idea of punching a ghost in the face is very alluring to him.

And then there's Merlin. He lives with his uncle Gaius due to...unexplained family drama, but the two of them have a good thing going. Gaius runs a mechanic shop on the edge of town, but his age is starting to catch up to him so Merlin has slid in as his replacement. Which makes sense, considering Merlin's near prodigy level of skill with machines. He's the one who fixed up an abandoned beat-up van and offered it up for their ghost-hunting endeavors. He quite likes Kilgharrah, ever a fan of pets and animals and the like, and Kilgharrah appears to begrudgingly return the sentiment.

Merlin has been third-wheeling Arthur and Gwen since high school. But he's not bitter about it, really he's not. He definitely doesn't feel left out, doesn't feel like an outsider, doesn't constantly worry that they would prefer it if he wasn't around, doesn't constantly feel forgotten and cast aside as he watches them get so absorbed in their two-way whirlwind passion. Not at all. So Merlin sits and smiles, because he truly is happy for his friends, and he pretends the loneliness doesn't bother him.

One day, they decide to investigate a mysterious cave. There are rumors of it being haunted by some kind of demonic entity. Merlin, as always, says it's a bad idea and they should turn back. Arthur, as always, teasingly calls him a coward. Gwen and Arthur exchange excited grins at the prospect of facing a real ghost. Merlin watches them wistfully, longingly. He fails to notice the way that Kilgharrah is getting increasingly anxious the closer they get to the cave.

Merlin has a really bad feeling about this cave, and a gut feeling tells him to go back to the van and head home. No one heeds his instincts.

There are two diverging paths in the cave, and Merlin dreads the moment that Arthur will inevitably suggest they split up. They usually split up between Merlin and Kilgharrah, and Arthur and Gwen. Because of course Arthur will want to pair off with his girlfriend.

Arthur notices that Merlin is scared, which makes sense because Merlin is always scared during their investigations. Gwen is sympathetic yet encouraging like she usually is - but notices that Merlin is more frightened than usual, so she suggests that Arthur pair off with Merlin instead this time, while she takes Kilgharrah. This doesn't make Merlin feel any better.

Arthur and Merlin head down one path in the cave, which eventually leads them to a cliff. All the while, Merlin keeps hearing whispers. Whispers that speak of horrible, macabre, terrible things, and all those whispers keep rattling in his mind like sharp-edged marbles. Arthur says he hears nothing at all, and they both conclude that Merlin is just hearing things.

He is not, in fact, just hearing things.

Arthur comes to the edge of the cliff and peers over to see the sharp, jagged stalagmites at the bottom. He beckons Merlin to come over and check out this cool view - but Merlin can't.

Merlin is...frozen. Petrified. Unable to move because of all the whispers attacking his mind from all angles, pounding into him with a righteous headache. His thoughts have turned to static, and his vision is quickly growing dark. Starting at his fingertips, his arm begins to go numb. The numbness gradually crawls deeper and further into his body, until he knows no more.

The spirit of the cave, the demon, the entity, whatever it is...it sapped into him through his misery. Through his loneliness. Through his pain. His pain has made him vulnerable for possession, and the demon plans to take full advantage of this.

The possession begins at the fingertips, its demonic wispy presence infecting him from the hand up. By the time its control has reached all the way to Merlin's face, it has enough strength to surge Merlin's body forward while Merlin himself is unconscious.

The half of Merlin's face that is still free from possession remains slack and unaware, but the half that has fallen into the demon's clutches is alight with a grin. It pushes Merlin's hand into Arthur's chest and gives a powerful shove.

As Arthur falls from the cliff, he doesn't have time to notice how Merlin's normally blue eyes have turned a sickly green, nor to notice the jaundiced hue pervading his friend's flesh, nor the spectral mist clouding all around Merlin's body in a haze.

No. As Arthur falls, as Arthur crashes into the ground and feels a stalagmite rip into his chest, all he sees is the half of his friend's face that has been contorted into a demonic smile.

Meanwhile, Gwen and Kilgharrah's path led them down a different part of the cave, and eventually they reach the bottom of a deep chasm filled with stalagmites.

Gwen spots Arthur at the top of a nearby cliff and waves up to him, but her excitement is short-lived as she watches him fall. Watches a stalagmite pierce his chest. Watches blood splatter everywhere.

It is said that if someone wishes for something passionately and profoundly enough as they die, then their dying wish might be granted. In this case, Arthur wishes more than anything for Gwen not to see him die. To not remember this. To just forget.

His wish is granted, and Gwen faints from the sheer force of his dying wish turning all her thoughts into static.

Kilgharrah sees the demon at the top of the cliff. Sees the wretched beast puppeteering Merlin's flesh, and snarls.. How dare that horrible thing possess one of his humans!

You see, Kilgharrah is no ordinary lizard. But rather, a very ancient and very powerful dragon masquerading as such, tasked with the protection of Gwen's lineage - the reasons for which only he is old enough to know or remember.

But while he is supposed to look after just Gwen, he has taken quite a liking to her friends as well. All three of them are under his protection, and it would be a disgrace to let this pitiful demon steal Merlin away under his watch.

So Kilgharrah unfurls from his false lizard form and embraces his true form - that of a massive dragon - and does whatever he can to purge the demon from Merlin's vessel.

Unfortunately, there's only one thing he can do. Since the demon has so vehemently lodged itself in Merlin's arm, quickly spreading out through the rest of his body, Kilgharrah has only one option left to stop the demonic infection.

Hating himself for it all the while, Kilgharrah bites off Merlin's arm.

A day later, Gwen wakes up in the hospital. Not only can she not remember watching Arthur die, but she can't remember anything to do with Arthur at all. She wakes up in the hospital with no recollection of how she got there, her pet lizard a blood-spattered coil on her lap, and with everyone telling her that her best friend Merlin is in surgery.

When Merlin wakes up, he also has no recollection of what happened to Arthur. He remembers going into the cave, splitting up...but everything goes blank after that. He doesn't know where Arthur is. Doesn't know what happened to his arm.

And he certainly doesn't know why he has become so debilitatingly afraid of Kilgharrah. Kilgharrah, who is by all accounts an ordinary lizard, but in Merlin's dreams transforms into a massive beast with bloody teeth.

Gwen gets a glazed look in her eyes and suffers horrible migraines whenever anyone mentions Arthur, so Merlin eventually gives up trying to remind her. Her memory problems have made her a lot more...scatter-brained, and although Merlin gets easily spooked he's willing to go to a thousand seances if it'll help Gwen act like her old self again.

He also tries to go back to the cave, but it has mysteriously vanished from where he knows it was meant to be. Gwen says that if a place is haunted by something powerful enough, it can change its own location, or can make it so that it will only be found if it wants to be found.

But Merlin refuses to give up. He uses the spare parts lying around his uncle's shop and builds himself a mechanical prosthetic, and loses himself in a never-ending quest to find his friend, to figure out what happened to his arm, and to find a way to restore Gwen's memories.

When Arthur wakes up, he discovers he has turned into one of the same ghosts he and his friends used to hunt. He looks down and sees his body, bloody and broken and cold as it lays impaled on a stalagmite. He can't look at it for long without feeling sick.

He also feels angry. Very, very angry. While his death had happened fast, too fast, he can clearly remember Merlin pushing him. Merlin, who he thought was his best friend. Merlin, who he grew up with. Merlin, who has always been there for him.

Surging with betrayal and fury, Arthur's now spectral body floats out of the cave. He has only one objective on his mind: vengeance.

[aros001]

First time read through light novel vol. 7. Random thoughts.

Through some kind of mistake, Rem had completely accepted Subaru, but he knew all too well that the Subaru Natsuki she saw was an ideal far removed from the real thing. Compared with the man she envisioned in her mind, the cards that the real Subaru held were few in number, and poor in quality—

But he learned, now that he stood at the playing table, no one cared about his personal problems.

All anyone in his position could do was try to win with the cards he was dealt.

This is sign I think Subaru has grown a little bit, though he is still growing. It's not about him, and Ferris later seems like he's trying to drill that into him a bit more later when Subaru wants to help with the battle preparations. It's good that he wants to help but sometimes he's unintentionally making things too much about himself, just to ease his own feelings. There are places where he would be getting in the way if he tried to help and Subaru's learning to accept that; to be patient and give his services where he can actually be of use, not just to help himself feel better. And damn, does he put that new maturity to good use in the big battle.

Originally, these negotiations had been Rem’s appointed duty. He could easily imagine how being unable to divulge her task to Subaru and having to speak with Crusch day after day had whittled away at her spirit.

Subaru had continually rotted by himself while the future of the Emilia camp had been entrusted to her—she must have suffered under that burden.

He hoped that in some small way, this victory repaid the girl whose feelings had supported him for so long; if so, then for the moment, that was enough for Subaru to be happy.

I really like this part. Again, it's not all about Subaru. He's acknowledging how much Rem's had to deal with while he was having his breakdowns and indulgences during his prior loops, and how much she still did what she could to support him in spite of it all. We're getting a little more that she does have a life outside of just Subaru and a little more added on to why he feels he's been so selfish. It really feels like he is now doing this for her. It's not like Subaru was completely self-centered before but I imagine there were times, especially with Emilia, where he wanted to help, but he wanted to be the one to help. He wanted good things for her but part of him cared more that he was the one giving them to her, verses her just getting what she needs in general. It's like how he couldn't feel happy that Otto was in support of Emilia first time he met him, though of course that was when he was at one of his lowest points.

And, of course, I'm absolutely reveling in all the sweetness of Rem supporting Subaru through his negotiations. Even if it's just holding his hand and reminding him she's there, he clearly appreciates the strength and courage it's giving him. Obviously they're not a romantic couple but this is the kind of stuff I love to see in romantic relationships. Just the basic comfort and support they find in each other's presence.

“...If I am gone, will you remember me just as long?”

“...I don’t wanna answer that. It’s bad luck.”

Speaking with a voice of dismay, Subaru gave Rem’s forehead a little poke.

When he touched Rem’s forehead, she smiled with a happy expression, almost as if she’d received the reply she had been hoping for.

Given something I believe I've been spoiled on for what happens later in the story (after where the anime leaves off), this feels like a very cruel monkey's paw bit of foreshadowing.

“Subaru.”

“...What?”

“I am fine with being your second wife.”

They were words to make a man unwittingly halt in his tracks.

When Subaru, unable to resist, looked toward her, Rem made a face like that of an adorable puppy, seemingly wagging her tail as she awaited Subaru’s reply.

Oh, good grief, just how far is this girl gonna—?

“If Emilia-tan’s a very generous first wife...”

“Well then, when we get back you must convince Lady Emilia. I shall try hard as well.”

Rem clenched the hand not grasped into a fist, very animated as she spoke with a smile.

Speaking jokingly like that broke all the tension, driving home to Subaru how weak he was. He truly couldn’t hold a candle to the girl.

I'm...going to have to see where the story goes from here, and how truly joking/serious Rem was with that second wife line. Just to put it out there, I don't really have a good view of polygamy. I'm always going to think that, 1st wife or 2nd or 3rd or wherever, someone is always going to be treated like second best and second priority. What they're receiving doesn't feel like real love and that's not fair to them. The only way I can see myself supporting a polygamous marriage in this series is if it's made clear Emilia and Rem are attracted to each other as well as Subaru and want to bang. Then it at least becomes three people who love each other as opposed to just "the guy and his two prizes".

So, first time you read this part in the novels or watched it in the anime, was anyone else afraid of the White Whale not showing up where and when Subaru told everyone it would? Like the world would just want to gut punch him one more time and have everyone think he's a fraud? I remember I was.

One theory I have for why the witch's scent grows stronger, not just when Subaru RBD, but also when he tries to talk about RBD is that maybe the witch likes when he acknowledges her "gift" to him. But she's also quite screwed up and doesn't like it when he tries to "share" what's between them, thus why she punishes him or those around him for doing so.

In front, behind and up above, he saw yet another whale-shaped figure high in the sky, scattering mist all around.

—The infinite mouths of the three White Whales laughed together, drawing out the despair of men.

Subaru, Crusch, the soldiers, everyone, etc.

Though pests had interrupted it, the White Whale’s mission was to cover the world in mist. This, too, was the command of its instinct, and doing so was the purpose of the White Whale’s existence.

One thing I've enjoyed about the various light novel series I've been reading is that, compared to their anime, I get a better idea of various characters' and monsters' mentalities. The best example I could give would be the goblins in Goblin Slayer (that they are not mindless creatures; that they know EXACTLY what they're doing to people and they enjoy it) and this bit with the White Whale is another good one. It seeks to cover the world in its mist and thus destroy/consume/erase everything (maybe?) And it doesn't know why it seeks to do this. It just does, suggesting there is something else, possibly the one behind its creation, driving it.

It's also interesting that, to the White Whale, the witch's scent is described as foul, despite the stories that she's the one who created it. This brings to mind a couple different theories.

Satella didn't actually create the whale. Someone else, perhaps one of the other six witches did or one of the archbishops.

Satella did create the whale but maybe used one of the other witches to do it. Puck did mention something about Gluttony when he sensed the whale approaching in the last loop.

Satella REALLY cannot tell the difference between positive and negative emotions, even more so than we were already led to believe.

Kind of cruel of Rem to trick Subaru into thinking she was dying, but at least we do get Subaru's completely true feelings out in the open. Back to the polygamy matter, I don't have a problem with Subaru being indecisive between Emilia and Rem or being in love with them both. It's not just that they've done so much for him, in which case the relationship would feel just like how Emilia described, just the two of them repaying debts to each other. Both women have been a hugely positive influence on Subaru's life. They've impacted it for the better and helped push him into being more of a man he can live with being, and it works the other way around too. It would be hard to imagine his story without either of them in it. I feel the same way with Code Geass in regards to CC, Shirley, and Kallen in Lelouch's story. It was the only "harem" series I've ever watched where I had trouble saying who the MC should end up with, because all three were irreplaceable in his life and story. Take any of them out and it loses a lot. Emilia and Rem are a similar case.

As Rem looked back at Subaru, now beside her, large tears filled her blue eyes. It was not being left behind that she feared. No, what she feared more than anything was—

“When you are in distress, Subaru, I want to be the one offering my hand faster than anyone. When you hesitate along your path, I want to be the one pushing on your back. When you challenge something, I want to be at your side, stopping you from shaking. That is—that is all I wish for. So please...”

Again, more great parallels between Subaru and Rem, as this isn't dissimilar to what he wanted to do for Emilia.

Wilhelm might just be the biggest example of a tsundere I've ever seen. Married a woman he loved from the bottom of heart for what was assumedly a decent amount of time...never freaking told her "I love you" until he finally killed the beast that killed her.

As for Theresia, it's definitely a case of why context is so important. She never wanted to be the Sword Saint. She only did so because she found purpose in saving as many lives as she could with the insane power she had (the whole "great power, great responsibility" chestnut). If Wilhelm is strong enough to protect and save people, to where her absence would make no difference, then she doesn't have to be the Sword Saint anymore and can live the life she wants. It's what makes it an actual kindness vs. some chauvinistic BS. Probably helps too that she'd already helped put an end to a long war, so she wouldn't have been needed as much anyway.

“So it is said. The existence and origins of demon beasts are mysteries to us. Some propagate in the same manner as ordinary living creatures, but some suddenly appear out of nowhere like the White Whale. Though, properly speaking, the only exceptions on par with the White Whale are the Black Serpent and the Great Hare.”

Oh...I'm so not looking forward to meeting those two. After how much tragedy just the White Whale caused, what the f**k are those things going to do? My money would be that whatever it is, it will hurt Subaru quite horribly.

This book potentially answered a question I had in my last post. The Witch Cult is after Emilia because they see her as an impostor of the Witch of Envy, or at least so the characters in-story are speculating.

Not sure how many people here are fans of Rising of the Shield Hero but after this I kind of want to see the White Whale and the Spirit Tortoise duke it out. That sounds awesome. Mountain Turtle vs. Witch Fish.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Re_Zero/comments/gub735/novels_first_time_read_through_light_novel_vol_7/

[booksbookssomemoviesandbooks]

Book Recs

Hello! so for my first post, I'll recommend some books, so y'all can have a closer look at some fandoms I'll post about! enjoy!!

1.  

Harry Potter By J.K. Rowling is definitely an interesting, well-written series! there are 7 books however, and the books get bigger as the series progresses. It's sometimes difficult to know the exact order, so I'll list it below:

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Although the movies are great, they don't include all the amazing details, as with all movies. A short summary:

Harry Potter, a young boy who’s being constantly abused by his uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia, gets a peculiar letter from the magical school of Hogwarts, where he spends most of his time, becoming his home.

Quotes:

“To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure." ― Albus Dumbledore

“You’re just as sane as I am" - Luna Lovegood

“Mischief managed" - Fred and George Weasley

It is Important to know that j*r is a huge transphobe, along with other things, and is currently being erased by the fandom itself.

2.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians, along with the other series by Rick Riordan, is a definite must-read. With each book, you can really notice the character developments and a lot more! There is loads of representation in this one, with lgbtqia+ characters, black characters, Muslim characters and more. It's very action-packed and addicting, sucking you into the magnificent world of Half-Bloods and Demigods within the first page. The first series consists of 5 books, in the following order:

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters

Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse

Percy Jackson and the Battle of The Labyrinth

Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian

THE MOVIES ARE TRASH SO I DEFINITELY DO NOT RECOMMEND WATCHING THEM BEFORE READING THE BOOKS!!! There were many changes and the movies aren't nearly as good as the books. A short summary:

Percy Jackson, a 12 year-old who lives with his mother, Sally, and step-father, Gabe, attends the private boarding school Yancy Academy. While on a school trip, his teacher, Mrs. Dodds, turns into a fury and attacks him. This, in turn, triggers a series of other problems and adventures.

Quotes:

“If my life is going to mean anything, I have to live it myself.” - Percy Jackson

“With great power, comes great need to nap. Wake me up later." - Nico Di Angelo

“Even strength has to bow down to wisdom sometimes." - Annabeth Chase

3.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is one of my most recommended series! With everything it deals with, from the Capitol to the districts to the champions, the books are amazing! 

Order:

The Hunger Games

Catching Fire

Mockingjay

Starring the movies is the amazing Jennifer Lawrence, but with all books, the movies have slight differences, although I definitely recommend watching them when you're done with the books.

A Short Summary:

In what was once North America, the Capitol of Panem maintains its hold on its 12 districts by forcing them each to select a boy and a girl, called Tributes, to compete in a nationally televised event called the Hunger Games. Every citizen must watch as the youths fight to the death until only one remains. District 12 Tribute Katniss Everdeen has little to rely on, other than her hunting skills and sharp instincts, in an arena where she must weigh survival against love.

(FILM SYNOPSIS)

Quotes:

"May the odds be ever in your favor." - Effie Trinket

"Fire is catching, and if we burn, you burn with us!" - Katniss Everdeen

“Hope is the only thing stronger than fear.” - President Snow

4.

Divergent is another book with a huge fandom, and rightfully so. This book is amazing, and you honestly can't live without having read it!

Order:

Divergent

Insurgent

Allegiant 

Surprisingly, I haven't watched the movies yet, but I hear that they aren’t that bad, so you should give them a go!

Summary:

In a world run by fictional classes known as factions, children who reach the age of 16 begin to choose which factions they wish to call home for the rest of their lives. Each faction comes with its own ups and downs, so it's definitely a hard choice, especially for someone as unique as Beatrice.

Quotes:

“Becoming fearless isn't the point. That's impossible. It's learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it“ - Four

“We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another.” - Dauntless Motto

"We are not the same. But we are, somehow, one." - Tris

5. 

You might have heard of this series, and it's really addictive, trust me! The Mortal Instruments is one of the most astonishing books I've ever read, and it's most definitely my go-to when recommending a book series!

Order:

City of Bones

City of Ashes

City of Glass

City of Fallen Angels

City of Lost Souls

City of Heavenly Fire

Again, (I know this is rather disappointing) I haven't watched the movies, but do check them out!

Summary:

Clary Fray's search for her missing mother leads her into an alternate New York called Downworld, filled with mysterious faeries, hard-partying warlocks, not-what-they-seem vampires, an army of werewolves, and the demons who want to destroy it all.

via: https://shadowhunters.com/shadowhunters-novels/the-mortal-instruments/#:~:text=Clary%20Fray's%20search%20for%20her,want%20to%20destroy%20it%20all.

Quotes:

“Heroes aren't always the ones who win. They're the ones who lose, sometimes. But they keep fighting, they keep coming back. They don't give up. That's what makes them heroes.” - Clary Fairchild

“If I cannot move Heaven, I will raise Hell.” - Sebastion Morgenstern

“The descent into Hell is easy.” - Motto of the Nephilim

6.

Gay. What more needs to be said?

SADLY, there isn't a movie yet, but I think they're working on one, or sure though

Summary:

Set in a world in which a female Democrat from Texas wins the presidency in 2016, Red, White & Royal Blue chronicles the illicit romance between the president's son, Georgetown senior Alex Claremont-Diaz (Dad is a Mexican-American senator), and Prince Henry of Wales, his childhood nemesis.

Via: https://www.wsj.com/articles/red-white-royal-blue-book-summer-beach-read-11565285001#:~:text=Set%20in%20a%20world%20in,of%20Wales%2C%20his%20childhood%20nemesis.

Also, classic enemies-friends-lovers arc and honestly it's amazing

Quotes:

“As your mother, I can appreciate that maybe this isn’t your fault, but as the president, all I want is to have the CIA fake your death and ride the dead-kid sympathy into a second term.” - Ellen Claremont 

" 'that’s because you can’t hear all the menacing gobbling.' 'Yes, famously the most sinister of all animal sounds, the gobble.' " - Harry and Alex

"History, huh? Bet we could make some." - Alex

7.

I’m sure you've heard at least a little bit about this book. While not nearly as famous as ones mentioned above, it's still just as good, of not better. I'd say this book is one of my favorites, to be honest. It speaks about a lot of topics people usually find disturbing, and it makes me so happy that it's there, it's written, it's amazing. PTSD, coming out issues, abusive relationships and more, this book is truly awesome.

TRIGGER WARNING 

Summary:

A young boy named Charlie usually dissociates, and pushes other people away. He’s afraid of beginning high school, until he meets two other students who show him how bizarre and amazing the world is.

Quotes:

“And in that moment, I swear we were infinite” - Charlie

“We accept the love we think we deserve” - Mr. Anderson

“You can't just sit there and put everybody's lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love" - Sam

8. 

This book is honestly pro-feminist and I think that's much more than enough

Summary:

Kaur explores the true impact of sexual abuse and harassment, as well as the difficulties of immigrating, being a female, and depression.

It's also a poem

TRIGGER WARNING

Quotes:

“what is stronger

than the human heart

which shatters over and over

and still lives”

“you do not just wake up and become the butterfly 

- growth is a process”

“on the last day of love

my heart cracked inside my body"

9.

This book isn't very well-known, which really sucks because I really love how it speaks about the consequences of WWII from the German point of view. And about the Germans who did not believe in Hitler's ways. It's also based on a real story, and it's so cool

Summary: 

A nurse working in a nursing home meets a peculiar old lady who decides to tell her her story when she meets the nurse's younger son, Karl, who reminded her of her brother. Lizzie (the old lady) speaks about life in Dresden before the war, and even after it. She also tells them the story about the strange, magnificent elephant in her garden.

Quotes:

“That was the only way of keeping our hopes alive, by looking beyond all we were seeing around us, and the shadow of disaster that hung over us.” - 

“I think I have always had a strong sense of justice, of fair play, of what is right and what is wrong.” - 

“Our home should be an oasis of peace and harmony for us in a troubled world.” - Lizzie (Quoting Papi)

10.

This book is pro-blm and it's ahead of its time (by like 2 years but still). 

Summary:

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. via: https://socialjusticebooks.org/the-hate-u-give/#:~:text=Sixteen%2Dyear%2Dold%20Starr%20Carter,hands%20of%20a%20police%20officer.

Quotes:

“Sometimes you can do everything right and things will still go wrong. The key is to never stop doing right.” - Lisa

“Daddy once told me there’s a rage passed down to every black man from his ancestors, born the moment they couldn’t stop the slave masters from hurting their families. Daddy also said there’s nothing more dangerous than when that rage is activated.” - Starr

“Everybody wants to talk about how Khalil died,” I say. “But this isn’t about how Khalil died. It’s about the fact that he lived. His life mattered. Khalil lived!” I look at the cops again. “You hear me? Khalil lived!” - Starr

[lairofsentinel]

What can we say about the relationship between the tadpole and the person who appears in dreams?

[Baldur’s Gate 3, Early Access, Spoilers]

At a first glance, in a careless attempt, we immediately connect the tadpole with the image of the person in our main char’s dreams. One is inclined to think it is the tadpole itself asking for the host to let them in. However, after carefully watching the scene, and checking all its options... I started to doubt it.

During Early Access we only can see four dreams [video compilation of the dreams]:

The first one, in which only the voice is heard for a couple of seconds, shows a weird... tentacle-like creature? It’s not made of the gray skin of a Mind Flayer, it’s red, and unless it’s a terrible bug... it may say that we are in the presence of something different than the usual Mind-Flayer. In fact, I think it looks like a tiefling or a Cambion tail/wings (they have thorns). Could it be Raphael’s since he is red? How do we explain those boots in the top of the screenshot?. Maybe it’s a mere bug.

The second one, in which the main char awakes in that intense green garden, has a peaceful sense to it.

The third one is when that desired person in the dreams shows you an enemy you stab in self defence, and then you observe an entire city under siege.

The forth one is when you have the ability to kill that person in the dreams.

After having the second dream, we can talk about this with our companions. All of them, except by Astarion, explain that their dreams were about desire and power. About a promise. 

It's clear for us that Gale dreamt about Mystra and Wyll about Mizora. Both women are the embodiment of power and desire. We don't have a clue who Shadowheart dreamt about, but we know is a he that represents the same values. Astarion is the one who disrupts the pattern. 

He dreamt about Cazador, which is for sure the representation of power, but of his desire? At first I thought it was a twisted taste forced onto him over two hundred years of slavery. As a slave, maybe he had to learn how to enjoy the worst things just to endure it, so the incredibly wicked and twisted insinuation of Astarion being attracted to his tormentor... was surprising at first. Especially when you explore his dialogue and he shows a strong bad reaction to such insinuation. 

Thinking about it a bit more, I realised that maybe Astarion “desiring” Cazador is another thing he is forced to do against his own will. Or maybe it's the typical consequence of the vampire relationship with the sire: the childe is always attracted to their sire, no matter how much they hate them. Astarion is not even free of having his own desire due to Cazador's power, so... his dream about Cazador was another display of the control that such figure has over him. Therefore, we can say that, in the end, he is also following the pattern, but his desire is commanded by being a vampire spawn. 

When it comes to the main char, we also know that such figure in their dreams is someone they are attracted to [that's exactly what we were asked to do in the character creation part].

The tadpole in the main character's head reacts negatively to this desired person, and it’s strange. It can mean that the projection of that figure and the tadpole are not the same (Gale, are you wrong?). The figure acknowledges the presence of the tadpole and the transformation in process, and they seem to be in power of stopping it if only you let them “in”. But the presence of the tadpole is always there while interacting with this figure, uncomfortable and wanting to get away from that desired person. The tadpole feels threatened by this figure. 

At times, this beautiful figure feels like an entity proper of a demon, asking you to let it in and possess you. We know by Shadowheart’s comment that this voice appeared in her head when she was in the ship, so that we can assume it started to affect the hosts by the same time the tadpole process started.

The hag provided us the most valuable information I found out in the game. She confirmed that the tadpole has been altered, as everyone had suspected. But not only that... they had netherese magic, shadow magic (*) in it. This, however, feels wrong in terms of lore: mind flayers detest arcane magic, they believe its a corrupt version of the psionic power they have. Mixing it with their traditional birth procedure looks odd. Odd if this new experiment is only their idea. Maybe the big mind behind these new tadpoles is not a Mind flayer.

With this bit of information given by the hag, I was inclined to think that this magical compound may explain the presence of the person in the main char's dreams. What surprises me is that the tadpole wants the figure away, so how is it possible that both, the figure and the tadpole, work one against the other? If we assume that the tadpoles were altered to perform a transformation of some sort, shadow magic embodied by that figure and the tadpole should work together. However, the tadpole triggers hunger and animal instincts to rip that figure out. It feels endangered. Maybe it’s because the whole procedure is an experiment yet.

The desired figure keeps claiming they want you to help, but in the process, they also tell you that you can be more powerful and conquer Baldur's Gate [yes, despite the blurriness, it is enough to distinguish the characteristic entrance of the city].

[image from the trailer]

The last dream is one of the most disturbing ones. You awake with symptoms of your skull starting to change its bones, and apparently, the presence of the figure is the only thing which is preventing the transformation. The figure is irritated. You can ask them for help you because the parasite is going too far. The figure says that they need to go deeper into you to calm down the “animal” inside. And once more the tadpole activates a defence mechanism. 

You can indulge yourself in the desire of destroying the figure apart, and you ride the figure strangling them and killing them. The figure calls you “monster” and tells you that you deserve what's coming for you [which I assume, it's the standard Mind Flayer transformation]. The experiment may have failed in this way since you destroy the stasis.

If you resist the impulse of killing them and at the same time resist the intrusion of the figure, the figure is disgusted with you. The figure only is understandable with you when you tell them the truth about your impulse of killing them. They will state that they knew about it, and they trust you to control it while they go deeper into you. 

It’s disconcerting if the sudden hunger for death comes from the tadpole (I put my coins here) or from the figure going deeper into you. I assume it’s the tadpole because the figure will call you monster and wont be happy if you indulge yourself in that hunger. 

By the end, the figure calls you ungrateful if you resisted them once more and tells you that the next time you meet them, you will ask forgiveness. Early access allows that last dream and no more.

Hypothesis

Now, all these strange urges for murdering the figure makes me wonder if the magical compound that now these tadpole have is related to some evil divine entity, playing a role similar to Bhaal in Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2. In those previous games, you and a bunch of people were direct spawn of the God of Murder, and in a couple of occasions, you had strong urges to kill losing control of your character [and killing NPCs you were fond of]. What if... this new tadpole is an experiment combining the Mind-Flayer procedure of birth (needed in order to have a completely different body for new demi-god powers) with a divine-infused-magical compound from the shadows. What for?. I don’t know... maybe to create an army of demi-gods? [following the usual flavour of Baldur’s Gate series]. 

This procedure, if it’s as such, could allow to have god-spawn creatures without the God sleeping with mortals and waiting mortal-gestation times. xD If we follow this train of thoughts, and we believe a God is behind all this, it must be some tyrant God, like Bhaal or Bane, since the dreams are all about power and control, showing Baldur’s Gate under siege. Maybe the procedure is not perfect, since there are two different effects working one against the other: The shadow magic that infuses a degree of divinity is about desire and power, but the tadpole’s only interest is to go on with the standard Mind-Flayer procedure. 

I thought about this divinity-compound because we saw that there are third parties interested in this new particular tadpole: Raphael. What Gale says to you after his visit is a fact: if a cambion become interested in these tadpoles, it’s because there is more than souls at stakes. But all of these are specualtions. The only certanties are:

Tadpoles are not only Mind-Flayer-made.

They have been altered with Shadow Magic (weird for Mind Flayers).

The Tadpole and the figure which offers you power are different entities.

The more you use powers of command, the more these dreams come and the more it triggers the Mind-Flayer transformation.

The figure in your dreams is the only one preventing the Mind-Flayer transformation.

Conventional tadpoles only cause Mind-Flayer transformation in a week.

Extra information I found later [here]

More content of bg3 in general [here]

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

(*) Shadow magic is a Weave-base magic in the Forgotten Realms. It comes from the Shadow Planes connecting to them via the Weave. It's not related to Shadow Weave (an alternate Wave crafted by Shar), something I talked about when explaining some bits of Mystra [here]. You use the standard Mystra-Weave to use shadow magic, but it's not rare that users of shadow magic find some affinity with Shadow Weave. Apparently it's a type of magic strongly related to a human [Tethyrian] ethnic. Churchs of Lolth, Mask, Set, Shar, and Shargaas  show interest in this type of magic. 

[lunarsaga]

EPISODE 2: Angel Among Demons

HOLY SHIT THIS BITCH IS LONG, HAVE FUN Y'ALL~ a very quick note, I wanted to work in more of Luna being bilingual, so when you see [text in brackets like this] that means that she's speaking in english. (This will only happen in her perspective—no one save Kagome will know what she's saying.)

ENJOY!!!

================================

“Luna, please tell me again why you have to go off on your own.” Kagome set her hands on her hips.

Luna sighed as she slung her shotgun holster over her shoulder and held up her sheathed short sword. “Technically I don’t have to. But if you all are stopping to rest, go ahead and rest. I’m just needing some practice with my sword—it’s been a while since I’ve even held a katana.”

“Shouldn’t you save your energy as well?” Miroku asked her. “We have quite a journey ahead of us, it seems.”

Luna shook her head. “I’m too restless to sit around right now. Besides, if we’re headed toward a fight, you’re gonna want me at the top of my game.”

“Just stay close, okay?” Kagome pleaded. “I can sense a demonic aura somewhere in the area.”

Luna tucked her sword into a belt loop on her jeans, offering her sister a little finger gun. “That is what the shotgun’s for, little sis. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

As it turns out, she wasn’t… wrong. But that didn’t mean her little solo workout wouldn’t be entirely uneventful.

She walked a little ways away from where the group was, taking a second to appreciate the surrounding nature. Even back where her dad’s place was—in upstate New York—the forests weren’t quite like this. Not only was the scenery beautiful, but the air was about ten times clearer than she was used to. Truly beautiful.

She found a nice little spot among the trees: a little clearing, mostly clear of rocks or anything she could trip or fall on, and no grass or mud to slip on while she was moving around, just dry dirt. There was a little sapling, just big enough to be a practice dummy while she worked on her form. She dropped her gun out of the way, and shucked off the flannel shirt she was wearing. With that tied around her waist, she was left in just a pair of yoga pants and a tank top.

“Alright girl,” She said, repeating words that had been said to her so many times over the years: “Let’s get to work.”

She wasn’t afraid to admit that she’d gotten rusty. In her era, she only really ever needed her modern weapons; the only reason she even had a Katana was because the rare occasion called for it. Well, this was certainly a situation that called for it.

“Sorry, tree,” she chuckled to herself, “but you’re young, you’ll heal. Life, uh...” She drew her sword, twirling it in a figure eight around her body. “...finds a way.”

It was easy for her to get lost in her training. This often happened when she did repetitive drills or workouts: the movements came rather naturally, so she could zone out and lose herself in it. It might’ve been an hour, could’ve been more than two; she wasn’t sure.

“Fighting with a katana isn’t like what you see in the movies.” That was the first thing her father had taught her when he’d given her this sword—almost ten years prior. “It’s all about moving your feet.”

She sliced an arc through the air, envisioning her sapling opponent swinging a sword as well.

“Strike fast, and dodge faster.”

As the imaginary blade “swung” her way, she ducked the blow, feet sliding across the dirt. She paused for a second, hand extended in front of her and sword raised above her head, parallel to the ground. She smirked, steadying her breathing. She remembered being thirteen and how it felt to actually wield this sword for the first time...

“You and your sister are special,” her father had told her, “you can learn to see with your other senses.”

As a young teen, she’d laughed at that. “Like using the Force? Like a Jedi?”

“Just like that.”

The Jedi thing seemed like a joke at the time. But as she grew older, she learned it was more serious than she could have ever guessed.

“Everything gives off an energy called an Aura. The more powerful something is, the easier it is to sense.”

Before she could swing again, she froze. Speaking of auras, she was picking up on a rather strong one—and it was headed in her direction. She heard no sound—other than the wind rustling through the trees and the occasional call of an animal in the distance—but this strong sense of foreboding was unmistakable. Her ears were burning, and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end as a chill ran down her spine.

A demon, no doubt. And a powerful one at that.

“It’s not enough to sense its presence. Focus. Close your eyes. Where is it coming from?”

Right… over… There!

Without even looking, she whirled and flung her sword directly at the source of the demonic aura. The blade struck something—she heard the thunk—but she didn’t wait to look. She immediately dove for her shotgun, tossed the holster, and caught herself in a roll. She was solidly crouched on her knees and the balls of her feet, with the gun cocked before she looked up at the demon she’d chucked her blade at.

“Thought you could sneak up on me, huh?” She snorted. Then, she actually took in the sight of him.

First of all, her blade hadn’t even come close to hitting him. It was currently embedded in a tree trunk—just barely, it looked like it could fall at any second— about six or seven feet from where the actual demon was standing.

The first thing she noticed about him was the sheer amount of white on his person. Pristine white linen kimono, hakama of the same fabric cinched around his ankles,  an enormous (and fluffy-looking) pelt of fur over his shoulder, and silvery-white hair cascading down his back. On top of all that, he wore armor that Luna supposed was meant to be intimidating— but to her, it just looked ridiculous.

And his face. He was positively gorgeous, which was incredibly confusing given that the feeling of dread she was getting from his aura hadn’t gone away. His eyes were a striking shade of gold—but cold as a polar ice cap. He had markings on his face—two magenta on each cheek, and an indigo crescent moon on his forehead.

“You’re in my way,” he said. Even his voice was cold, albeit resonant. “Move.”

For a second, Luna forgot she had a voice. Silent as her lips were, her mind was racing, trying to do the math: What the actual fuck— why is he so pretty? He’s a demon! Demons ain’t usually this damn pretty! Who the fuck gave him permission to look like that— it’s a Tuesday for fuck’s sake!

Almost a solid thirty seconds had gone by, and Luna realized she still hadn’t said anything. Oh, fuck, okay, stop just fuckin’ staring at him and say something, you idiot— so, of course, the most intelligent thing that she could say at that moment was: “...huh?”

Those frigid, golden eyes sparked just the tiniest bit of annoyance. “I said move.”

Her grip on her gun loosened just the tiniest bit, and she straightened up just a little. After a small glance around the enormous forest surrounding them, she made an amused face at him. “What? Dude, there’s a whole forest, just go around me.”

She uncocked her shotgun, stretching her legs to stand up.

“You have quite the audacious nerve for a human.” And he sounded none too happy about that. “Get out of my way.”

Luna sighed, “And you seem to like repeating yourself. I’m doin’ something here, so unless you feel like getting your demonic energy purified today, I’d suggest you take abouuut...” she pursed her lips, pretending to judge the distance with her pointer finger. “Five? Six steps to the right? It won’t be that hard on you, I promise. No one will think less of you.”

Now she was just being facetious, which was more than likely going to cause problems for her in the future—knowing how demons tended to be—but she had absolute faith in her weapon and her own skill. With an aura as strong as his, it wasn’t likely that her sacred salt rounds would do more than wound him, but sometimes that was at least enough to scare off some spirits.

When he didn’t respond, she figured he was just going to swallow his pride and take her advice. She was about to set her shotgun down and go back to practicing, but the Bad Feeling roiling in her gut got worse. It wasn’t just the buzz of a demonic aura anymore, the energy started crackling with even more malice, and she swore there was a sickly smell in the air for a split second before she felt it pop.

Her instincts screamed at her to move, so she spun to the side, almost as if her body moved on its own. What looked like a whip made of pure green light zipped close enough to her that she felt the heat on her cheek. When it didn’t stop, neither did she; she jumped back and nearly fell over backwards trying to bend out of the way of the second snap of the whip. This time, she didn’t hesitate to cock her gun and fire.

The air was still for a second as the shot rang in her ears, tension crackling and fizzling out like the tails of fireworks. When Luna regained her balance, she aimed and pumped again to ready the second shell. No distraction this time, she was aiming straight for his face.

She expected him to be at least a little startled—hell, she could see she’d blasted the end of his sleeve off, and there was a surface burn on his hand from the Sacred Salt packed into her ammunition. His claws were still bared, still glowing green from where he’d lashed at her. What was frustrating, was that he didn’t seem like he was more than mildly perturbed.

“...how did you do that?”

She growled at him: “Sacred Salt, you wanna see it up close? Try me again, fucker.”

“Vulgar.” His voice was flat, but he did finally move… but not to walk around her. He stepped forward like he was trying to inspect her. “You are a priestess, I assume.”

“Nah, I ain’t that pretty and nice,” Luna said, keeping her stance and line of fire. “Call me a Demon Slayer, or a witch if you like. Names don’t matter, the end result will be the same.”

He’d moved to point-blank range, but that horrible feeling in her gut had only grown stronger—her instincts were telling her to run the fuck away, but logic told her the point was moot. She only had one shell left, and the first hadn’t amounted to more than a scrape on him. Even at this range, she’d never do much more than scratch him.

“Whatever name you take matters not to me,” He continued, “regardless. You are still human. And as such you are no match for my power. I will give you one more chance to get out of my way, or you will die.”

There was another tense moment of silence. Luna could feel her heart beating from her ears, to her toes, to the tip of her trigger finger. Resolute as she was—and as much as she so desperately wanted to wipe that calm, detached look off this proud asshole’s face—she knew she wasn’t making it out of here alive if she didn’t stand down. And it’d be kind of a lame-ass thing to say when she got to the afterlife: “How did I die? Oh, I refused to back down from a standoff with a super-powerful demon because I didn’t wanna give him the satisfaction of telling me what to do.”

“Fine.” She huffed, uncocking her gun and stepping out of the way. She sneered at him as she rested the gun on her shoulder. “But not because you told me to. I’m gonna be late for dinner if I don’t head back.”

The air was still thick with tension as she went to grab her sword. She didn’t look back at him, but she was hyper aware of his presence. Thankfully, this time, there was no climactic snapping of the tense energy; as she pulled her sword from the tree trunk, she felt his aura receding. When it was far enough away, she heaved a sigh of relief and let her shoulders relax.

“One of these days, girl, your pride is gonna get your ass killed!”

Luna rolled her eyes as she went back to collect her holster and her katana’s sheath. “I know, Alice,” she muttered to herself.

~ ~ ~

This was why Rin didn’t like humans.

She had only been minding her own business! She needed to eat, so she’d been foraging through the forest like she always did. She didn’t realize that she’d wandered so far away from Master Jaken and Ah-Un until she looked up, arms full of foraging spoils, and realized she had no idea where she was.

She tried to retrace her steps, calling out for Master Jaken and Lord Sesshomaru every once in a while, but it didn’t help. She remembered passing by a human village before, but she made a mistake in trying to use that as a way of finding her way back to where they had stopped. Because when she passed the village, she was confronted by some men that lived there.

“You’re the one we saw earlier, with those demons!” One of them said, “Child, you should not be living among them!”

Oh no. Rin began to back away from them, but they only drew closer. One of them cut off the path she was walking on.

The one closest to her was looming over her. “You should come with us. Demons are dangerous, you could be killed or eaten!”

“No, I won’t!” Rin said. She might’ve been trembling, but she was firm. “I won’t go with you, and I’m fine on my own!”

“Don’t be silly, you’re far too young!”

“Where are your parents?”

“If you tell us, perhaps we can help you return to them.”

“I don’t need your help.” Rin kept backing away, hoping to put enough distance between herself and the men. She clutched the little bundle of food closer to her and prepared to run. “Leave me alone!” Valiant as her attempt to escape was, it was still in vain. The one closest to her grabbed her arm, and she accidentally dropped her food. She tried to struggle away from him, but his grip was too tight.

“Let me go!” She yelled, tears pricking her eyes.

“You should be living with your own kind, girl!” the villager said, “You belong with humans!”

“OI.”

That was a new voice. Rin stopped pulling, and the villagers all turned their focus to the newcomer: it was a woman—human, as she appeared to be. Her black hair was tied up in a ponytail, and she was dressed strangely; black garb, and skin-tight like a ninja’s. She had something that looked like a very short, strangely-patterned kimono tied around her waist. In her hand was a short katana, and she carried what Rin thought looked like one of those matchlock guns on her back.

A samurai? Rin guessed. If she was, she was dressed really strangely. No armor, either? Maybe she really was a ninja.

The woman’s hazel-brown eyes narrowed at the village men. “Is there a problem here, gentlemen?” She held her hand out, gesturing to Rin. “Let the girl go, or we’re gonna have issues.”

What an odd accent. Rin looked up at the man, hoping he’d listen and let her go. No such luck yet.

“This doesn’t concern you, woman,” the man said. Rin could swear she saw a twinge of anger in the woman’s face when he called her that.

“This child was residing with demons!” One of the others joined in.

The woman arched an eyebrow. “So what? You her father?”

“No—”

“Uncle?”

“....no.”

“Caretaker?”

“No.”

“Then it ain’t much of your business either, now is it?” The woman crossed her arms, leveling a stare that could mow down a forest. In an instant, her expression changed as she shifted her eyes to Rin and gestured with her sword. “C’mere, honey.”

The man holding her wrist looked like he wanted to object, but Rin took the opportunity to rip her arm free and run away from him. She did not like humans, not in the very least. Humans were horrible, and these men were no different. But this woman—her eyes were soft, and she squatted down to Rin’s height when she stood next to her, her posture non-threatening.

“Did they hurt you?” She asked gently.

Rin stared at her a second, folded in on herself. “...No…”

“You know these guys? Are they from your village?”

Rin shook her head. “I don’t have a village…”

The woman nodded, processing that before asking: “You have someone taking care of you, sweetie?”

Cautious, Rin paused a second. It seemed this woman wanted to help her—but… she was still a human. Rin didn’t trust humans. There might’ve been something about her that was different. This close, Rin could see her eyes better: they weren’t just hazel brown, they just looked like that from far away. Most of the color was a cool brown, but right around her pupils, she had flecks of gold that took the shape of crescent moons.

Was she really a human with eyes like that? Lord Sesshomaru had golden eyes… and the crescent moon on his forehead! Perhaps she wasn’t a human after all—or she wasn’t a full human, at least. That settled it; she was definitely more trustworthy than most humans.

Rin smiled a little as she answered her: “Yes… I have Master Jaken and Lord Sesshomaru.”

Her savior nodded and smiled, then she stood to face the village men again, blocking them from Rin. “Alright, you all can head home. This girl is obviously spoken for.”

“By demons!”

“Are you mad?!” the one that grabbed her demanded. “She is in danger!”

“Probably,” the woman said. “But look at her. She’s unhurt, she’s obviously able to feed herself, and the only ones I see endangering her is you three. So scram.”

“How dare you talk back!”

Rin flinched as the leader reached out and smacked the woman across the face. She started shaking again, but this time it was from anger. “You can’t hit a girl like that!”

“Don’t worry, kiddo.” The woman’s voice was low. She cracked her neck, rolled her shoulders, and untied her odd kimono from around her waist. She turned around, set her weapons down, and held out the kimono. “Hold this for me?”

Confused, Rin nodded and took the garment, surprised at the soft, warm fabric. She watched as the woman turned back to the villagers once again.

“Alright, boys,” she said, cracking her knuckles as well. “Just remember… you hit first.”

The leader had no chance to figure out what she meant before she swung back and punched him square in the nose (Rin tried not to laugh). The other two shouted and lunged at her, but she kicked one in the side of his knee and smacked the other in the face with her elbow. When the first one went down, the second came back and tried to grab her, but she flipped him over her shoulder as easily as if she were lifting a sack of beans. The leader had fallen to his knees, cradling his bleeding nose. The woman stood before him, crossing her arms.

“Hope you’ve learned to leave young girls alone,” She said flatly, “If you haven’t, I’ll be back.” Without waiting for a response, she turned back to Rin, her face softening again. “Sorry you had to see that, honey.”

Rin shook her head, blinking wide eyes up at her as she held out the kimono. “...Are you a ninja?”

She laughed. “What? No, no, not a ninja. Just good at fighting. Thanks for holding my shirt for me.”

Shirt? Was that what that was called? This person was incredibly odd, but still; Rin was very grateful for her. She went to go gather her food up again, as the woman tied her “shirt” back around her waist and picked her weapons back up.

“Now,” she said, holding her hand out for Rin to take, “let’s get you back to your people.”

Rin happily took the outstretched hand. “Okay!”

“What’s your name, kiddo?”

“I’m Rin!”

“Nice to meet ya, Rin. My name’s Luna.”

~ ~ ~

“Rin! Where on earth have you been?!”

Well, that was the shrillest voice Luna had ever heard. And it came from—what the fuck was that?!

“Master Jaken!”

...well. Sure, when she’d heard this little kid was “residing among demons” from those limp-dick douchebags from the neighboring village, she didn’t expect to be returning her to someone who looked like your average human. But when Rin mentioned she recognized where they were, she definitely didn’t expect to be greeted with the sight of a little demon that looked like Kermit The Frog’s ugly step-cousin.

And yet, Rin spoke to him like he was an uncle. “Sorry, Master Jaken! I went to find something to eat, and I almost got taken by humans from that village!”

“WHAT?!” The little demon shrieked.

“No, it’s okay! Miss Luna helped me!” Rin turned back to look at her with a wide grin on her face, and Luna gave a little three-fingered wave.

“Yo.”

“I thought she was human at first,” Rin went on, “but now I think she might be a demon!”

Luna laughed at that. “What?”

“You foolish girl!” “Master Jaken” chastised her, “That’s no demon!”

Rin looked confused. “Huh? But… she has gold in her eyes, just like Lord Sesshomaru!”

Gods above, this kid was adorable. Luna shook her head, smiling fondly. “I promise, I’m not a demon.” When Rin looked disappointed, she added: “But I promise, I’m not like those guys that tried to take you. I’m one of the good ones.”

She was snapped out of her good mood by a familiar feeling. A demonic aura, another strong one. With her focus on the adorable kid—and the little demon and the horse (dragon?)-looking demon so close—she hadn’t noticed it until she felt it directly behind her. Her grip on her sword tightened, and she hazarded a look over her shoulder. And who should be standing there, but the pompous asshole she’d run into earlier.

Startled, she practically launched herself into the air, shouting: “[JESUS FUCK!]” in English. She didn’t dare draw either of her weapons, just stood out of the way so she wouldn’t be killed.

“Lord Sesshomaru!” Rin greeted him happily.

What the fuck. “[Y… you’re—]” she stopped herself, trying to get her brain to go back to the right language. “[God damnit], you’re her Lord Sesshomaru?!”

“Lord Sesshomaru”, of course, didn’t answer. He just glared at her, likely planning how he was going to murder her. “Rin. Who is this woman.” It wasn’t a question, and those disdainful golden eyes never left Luna.

“This is Miss Luna!” Rin answered. “I was just telling Master Jaken: she saved me from these terrible villagers that were trying to take me away!”

Luna held up her hands defensively, never breaking eye contact with the demon. “Didn’t know she was with you. I just wanted to help her.”

Sesshomaru was silent for a moment, but his glare disappeared and his expression returned to indifference. Luna gave him a nod, a silent (yet contemptfully begrudging) sign of submission. Without another word on the subject, the demon passed her by.

“We’re leaving.” He said to the other two.

Luna made a face at him behind his back, then shook her head. Fuck, this guy pissed her off to no end, and she’d only known him for a little over an hour. The little girl, however, caused her to smile again, and Luna waved goodbye as she turned to leave.

“[What an asshole.]” She muttered, once again in English.

~ ~ ~

Luna had to admit, watching Inuyasha choke on his instant noodles was pretty hilarious. “You did WHAT?!”

“Yeah, this demon lord guy,” Luna said, waving her chopsticks around as she spoke. “Colossal dickhead. I had no idea that this little girl was his—well, not his, but— [dammit, what’s the word for it again…?]”

Kagome pressed her hands together, looking like she was about to burst a blood vessel. “Luna. Do you remember when I told you about Inuyasha’s older brother?”

“Kinda?” Luna said, slurping up more noodles. “Somethin’ about the swords, right? Inuyasha sliced off his arm?”

“Yes. You remember what his name was?”

“Uh…” Luna trailed off.

“Sesshomaru.” Kagome deadpanned.

“What’s this got to do with that assh—” It clicked, and Luna swore her eyes nearly came popping out of her head. “Wait— THAT was the older brother?!”

“Yes! I told you about him, Luna!”

“[Son of a BITCH, Kags!]” Dammit, she had to get better about that. “You know I’m shit with names!”

There was also, of course, the fact Kagome hadn't mentioned that he was fucking gorgeous, but there was no way in hell Luna was gonna say that out loud now.

Sango looked a little worried. “It doesn’t bode well that you just ran into him randomly.”

“Well, it’s not entirely impossible,” Miroku said, “he is searching for Naraku, just like we are. Unfortunately, that means our paths are likely to cross at some point.”

“What’s amazing is that you came out of it alive!” Shippo said to Luna. “He’s crazy powerful, and none too friendly at that.”

“I refuse to believe you just dodged his poison whip like that,” Inuyasha snorted. “He’s way too fast. You woulda been dead meat right then and there.”

“Maybe I’m just faster than you~” Luna teased him.

“You are not, ya damned liar!”

“Or maybe it’s cos I’m stronger—I am taller than you.”

“COME AND SAY THAT TO MY FACE!”

“Guys, not over the food!”

[danurso]

Hi! Lemonade for Jaune? Sounds like somebody is thristy! *wink* What's this story about?

Thirsty? Ira, my dear friend, i have absolutelly no idea whatcha talking about ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Title: A Lemonade for Jaune

Pairing: Jaune x Pyrrha/Cinder/Ruby/Yang (colorguard)

Status: Under Rewrite.

Chapters wrote: 4

Total words so far: 2,900 (the part i re-wrote, the original had about 7K words if i'm not mistaken)

Story:

I think it's very obvious judging by the name that this story is a lemon, its basically a smutty spin-off of my first fic "between angels and demons"

I made four chapters, one for each girl.

Chapter 1 - A dragon in the shower.

The first chapter starts with jaune waking up on the bed surrounded by pyrrha, ruby and yang, he struggles a bit but manages to slip off the bed and head off to the shower.

Upon reaching the shower jaune proceeds to brainstorm about his problems and responsibilities (related to my first fic, so i won't go into detail here) and before he can go too deep into his thoughts yang shows up and asks if she can join him.

Jaune doesn't have a problem with that and lets her in, sharing the not-big-enough shower with her. (One thing that is worth mentioning is that, thanks to some plot related stuff, jaune has some more...wild instincts, he's very sensitive to his girlfriend's scent and has a really hard time to control himself in these kinds of situations.)

Yang notices how nervous he is and they talk a bit, jaune explains that is kinda hard to control himself when she's naked and so close to him, yang tells him with a grin that he doesn't have to control himself like that, jaune is embarrassed and says that he feels bad for being so sensitive like that, he was afraid that they saw him like a horny animal or something like that.

Yang gave him a kiss and told him she would never see him like that, she gets why he's like this and that's his nature, it's not his fault that he was born like that and if she could help him in any was she would, and if the way of helping him was through sex it was even better, so yang gave him a sultry grin while reaching out for his very sensitive lower region and teased him a bit saying that she liked the deal just as much as he did.

Jaune gave her one last warning, saying if she kept going he wouldn't be able to hold back anymore, yang asked why was he still trying to even if she told him to let go, she was ready whenever he was.

After hearing these words jaune pressed yang against the cold glass of the shower and started to make out with her, and what comes next your dirty minds probably already know.

Chapter 2 - A spar with the spartan (yeah, pun intended)

Thanks to the VERY LONG shower he took in the morning, jaune got late to his training session jaune and had to fight adam as a punishment, since adam basically didn't held back during fights, even if it was training. And after a brutal morning of training he left to get his lunch with his friends and girlfriends, and when that was over he joined pyrrha into a swordsmanship training.

Jaune trained a lot with the others to get more strength and experience, but when it came to more technical skills with the sword, pyrrha was his teacher. 

So they went to their usual place at the rooftop and started to train and spar. They spared for a long time, and ever since their first spar jaune had improved a lot, but it still wasn't enough to defeat pyrrha in question of sword skill, but he still was improving, to the point where he managed to land a clear strong blow on pyrrha, who by reflex counter attacked and sent him flying to the wall.

Jaune was dizzy for a moment but slowly he started to hear his partner calling him, when he finally came back to his senses he was sat on the rooftops with his back leaned on the wall, pyrrha was kneeled next to him and holding his face while calling him, to problem was that she was very close and on the position she was at the moment, jaune had a perfect view of her cleavage.

Jaune blushed and looked away, trying to ignore the voice in his head that was telling him to pounce at her. pyrrha asked if he was okay and he said he was but it was probably better of they finished for today, jaune really needed a cold shower, as if the view wasn't enough, the fact that she was very sweaty from their training didn't helped his sensitive nose.

Jaune tried to get up but pyrrha held him back, she saw how red his face was and wondered if he had a fever, she switched her position, sitting on his lap and resting her forehead on his.

Jaune had a really hard time to control himself, he told pyrrha he was okay but she insisted that she needed to make sure he was okay, jaune was praying for the gods hoping that she wouldn't take long but she did, why was she taking so long just to check his temperature? When jaune finally managed to look directly at her he noticed the faint blush on her cheeks, and when she asked about it she retracted and apologised saying she was a bit distracted.

Jaune was hoping she would switch positions but she was still on the same place, still sat on his lap and when he pointed that out she apologized again, but didn't budge, jaune would speak up again but she spoke up first asking if jaune was. . .aroused.

Jaune blush increased tenfold and he tried to play it off saying that he wasn't and why was she asking that, pyrrha (very red, mind you) said that it was because she could feel his. . .err. . .'Lower self' poking her.

Jaune instantly started to apologise but pyrrha said that it was okay and that she knew that it was normal, so if he wanted she could help him to. . .relax.

Jaune couldn't say that the offer wasn't appealing, specially after the stress he got through earlier, jaune said that if she wouldn't mind it, pyrrha instantly said that she wouldn't and blushed a bit because of how eager she sounded, jaune then said it was okay and before her could mention going back to their room pyrrha already pulled him into a mind blowing kiss, jaune tried to resist but it didn't lasted more than a few seconds, and he just accepted the fact that they would end up doing right there in the rooftops.

Jaune started to remove pyrrha's armor and started the foreplay by messing with her chest, not long after they moved to the main course, which again, your perverted minds already know how it probably worked.

Chapter 3 - Quality time with the rose.

After he and pyrrha were done jaune joined ren to get some aura training and left to take a shower, when he was done he found ruby who reminded him of the movie marathon they wanted to watch, so jaune put on his new pajamas (since nora burnt his onesie by 'accident') and joined ruby on a common room she reserved for them, she had popcorn and drinks ready for them and so they started the marathon.

Jaune laid down on the couch with ruby on his chest while they both shared some popcorn and watched movies, jaune had trouble to focus a few times because ruby's but rubbed against his crotch a few times, she spilled her drink on her shirt making it get a bit transparent (and thanks to that jaune found out that she wasn't wearing any bra), then she came back with a new nightgown she bought on a trip to vale along with weiss, a nightgown that was a bit more revealing than her usual pajamas, and to top it all of the countless times the control fell on the floor and ruby had to get up and lean down to get it, giving him a perfect view of her hear.

Jaune managed to enjoy the movies but he still had some trouble to keep his mind away from the more dirty thoughts, and apparently he wasn't the only one who was in a bad mood, ruby seemed to be angry at something, he just didn't knew what, but found out not long after.

When the movies were over jaune sta up and told her they should go back to their dorm because it was late. . .ruby only nodded wordlessly.

Jaune found it weird how silent she was and how she was looking down, forming a shadow over her eyes. Jaune asked what was wrong, and before he could ever react ruby sat on his lap and pulled him into a deep kiss.

When they broke for air jaune tried to ask but ruby was quicker, she asked jaune if he thought she was attractive, she had a small blush on her cheeks and was avoiding his eyes, jaune replied said she was beautiful and gorgeous, ruby then asked if she thought she was sexy, her face redder than before, just like jaune's. Jaune replied that yeah, he thought she was sexy.

Ruby then held his face and asked if that was true then why was she the only one he wasn't doing lewd stuff with. Jaune asked what was she talking about and she said she saw him doing it with yang and pyrrha earlier, but right now, even when she was trying to get his attention and giving a few hints he still didn't do anything with her, she asked of it was because her body wasn't developed like the others were, and if jaune didn't thought her body was appealing.

Jaune said that it wasn't like that, he loved her body almost as much as he loved her, and that he didn't do anything because he didn't wanted to make her uncomfortable.

Ruby replied, saying that it wouldn't make her uncomfortable. she wanted to do it too and thought he was avoiding her because he didn't liked her body.

Jaune then in a bold move placed her on the couch and pulled her nightgown down, exposing her chest so he could show her how much he loves her body. And once more, your dirty minds can imagine what happens next.

Chapter 4 - Past Ashes.

On the next day, jaune carried on with his usual routine. he woke up, took a short bath and left to his training, this time getting in time and so, avoiding his punishment.

When his training reached to the end he got his lunch and left to his room to take a bath, yang teased him saying she wanted to join him but she and the girls needed to go out for a girls day on vale, basically they wanted to enjoy a bit and buy some stuff to spice things up for them later on, jaune blushed and left to his shower to cool his head down and relax a bit.

When he left the shower the girls had already left and he was alone on the dorm, he fell down on his bed and started to brainstorm about some stuff when he heard a familiar sound of concrete being pierced by a blade.

Jaune groans knowing how good witch will give him an earful about how his girlfriend should stop doing that. Doing what you may ask? Well. . .getting in his room through the window.

Soon enough, he saw the tip of a scythe hang on his window and the girl he was thinking about climbing up.

Jaune said that his dorm had a door for a reason and that cinder should stop climbing up the walls with a scythe instead of using them.

(Yes, in this story cinder uses a scythe, long story short she was saved by maria calavera after some bad shit happened, maria trained her and because of that cinder uses a scythe, she's also damaged like in vol.4 but instead of having a grimm arm she has a robotic one.)

Jaune keeps talking about how she should use the door while cinder ignores with a grin and puts on some more casual clothes, jaune at some point gives up knowing she doesn't really care about that.

Once he finally shuts up cinder sits by his side and hugs his arm, asking if he missed her, jaune replies that obviously yes and asked how things were going back home

(Jaune's dad is one of the bad guys in the story and cinder is the one who keeps an eye on him and on what he's doing)

Cinder tells him everything and he asks if she isn't doing anything dangerous, cinder tells him that she obviously is doing something dangerous all things considered and jaune starts to remember some bad stuff.

Cinder helps him to calm down and jaune turns to her, telling he's just afraid of losing her again. Cinder assured that it would never happen again and for him to not worry about it.

Jaune wipes a few tears and she rolls her eyes saying that some things never change, that he's still the same crybaby from ten years ago.

Jaune agrees and says that she is still that same stubborn girl that jumps on the face of the danger without thinking twice.

Cinder then straddles him and says he talks too much. jaune turned away with a blush while she cooed at him, telling he looks adorable when he's embarrassed, jaune tells her he's not embarrassed but she says he totally is, he looks exactly the same of when they first did it.

Jaune reminded her that she was just as nervous as he was at that time, and cinder added that even so she wasn't the one stuttering her words or blushing all the time. Jaune fell silent in embarrassment while she grinned at him.

Cinder asked if he was planning to keep in silence, but he didn't replied, her grin got a bit wider as she said that she knew how to make him talk.

Not even a second later she started to grind her hips on his, while he did his best to ignore it, unfortunately for him, cinder didn't liked to be ignored and started to grind even more aggressively, jaune couldn't help but let out a few lewd noises, making her grin victoriously.

Jaune condeaded and said she won and told her to stop, cinder asked what if she didn't wanted to stop? She knew he was telling her to stop but his other self was very eager to 'play' jaune blushed and looked away again, cinder chuckled and told him to relax, she's been away for awhile and neglected him for way too long, and so she wanted him to leave her do the dirty job, when jaune asked what did she meant she decided to answer with a kiss, and while he was distracted with the kiss she started to take off his pants.

When the kiss was over she started to attack his neck and slowly trailed down to his collarbones, his chest and his abs, planting a trail of kisses and nibbles all the way down there, and not satisfied after reaching his abs she decided to go even lower and give her boyfriend a special treat. You know the drill after that don't you? Bunch of pervs.

Planned scenes: 

1- During the second chapter, pyrrha would accidentally let slip that she let him see his cleavage and sat on his lap on purpose just to turn him on, because she heard him and yang doing it earlier and wanted to do it too, jaune then 'punishes' pyrrha for being a dirty girl. (I don't need to describe it do i? You probably already read enough lemon to know what happened)

2- a scene where jaune does it with all four of them, but i can barely work with one girl, imagine trying to make a scene with four, i can't do that.

Fun facts: 

1- This story is part of my 'lemonade collection' which are five lemon fics for each of the five main characters of my first fic, there's one for jaune, one for ren, one for adam, one for vergil and one for my OC dante. (I only put jaune's on the list cause his was the main one so we'll ignore the rest)

2- on chapter four, jaune found out that cinder's robotic arm has a vibrating function ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[ordonianhero]

Blood on your Hands-Lu fan fic

This story, got inspired by a scene in a show I was watching. It slightly talks about some deeply personal topics. that may be uncomfortable for some. The main one being that Twilight has issues with the knights of his Hyrule. which comes up after Warriors pushes the subject. Twilight is far to nice and Warriors happened to be the nearest thing to lash out. There is mention of Blood. No injuries though, just the blood of bad guys. Talk of miss use of alcohol. and now sobriety. Twilight is clean. anyways. Felt like getting that info out.

Other wise, this sort of a angst and Fluff. Lot of group bonding moment really. also learning a bit more about Twilight. I hope you enjoy it. I wrote most of this at 2am in the morning and now the rest at 3pm. I have a learning disability so the grammar is not all that great. just yet another emotional piece.

word count: 3,299

(Character creation is from: @linkeduniverse  )

 As the nine entered castle town In twilight’s Hyrule, the markets were hustle and bustling. So lively. “Okay away with y’all’s. Go find what you need. I am off to go say hello to a very old friend of mine.” Twilight said with a warm smile. “Meet back at the fountain- hm- in a few hours.” They all nodded and then split up. Time and wild however stuck by Twilight. He kept his head down as if he didn’t want to be seen. Which was strange to Time. Wild was to focused on the winding ally ways they ducked into. Why is he hiding like as of expecting to run into some unwanted company? Time wondered. He shook off the thought as they made another turn. Twilight seemingly walking faster till he jogged his way down some stairs to a place that had a sign that read “Telma’s bar”. Uh oh. Is he going to break his sobriety. Time worried. Twilight give time a look. “Old friend works here. Come along if you want. I want to give her a check in that I am okay.” Time let out a sigh. Wild looked at Time. Time followed. Wild not far behind. The room of the bar was cozy, the patrons all happy. Being well fed and drinks all around. Time watched a well curvy woman came out from behind the bar and gave Twilight a tight hug. Her voice carried across the room. “LINK, oh honey! I am so glad to see you!” Time smiles and shook his head. Wild stood beside Time and chuckled. “He looks nearly squished by her. Also first to see him allow anyone that close to him. Old friend indeed. But what had you worried back there?” He asked Time. Times one good eye looks down at wild as he crossed his arms and moved out of the way so to let people leave to building. Wild quickly following. “Hm, to be honest wild. I think that’s for him to tell. However, cause it you. Twilight had a drinking problem. After saving his world, he was in a world of hurt. He didn’t know how to handle it. He did what most of us did. Did things to try and cope with what they went through- instead of facing it. It got nasty. He became unrecognizable.” Time spoke softly. Keeping and eyes one Twilight. The situation was not far from his own. He got a handle on his own devices, as did Twilight. “He’s been sober since then. I fear though he is having to face many of his own demons again. When he does- who know how he will handle it.” Wild looked back at twilight as the woman seem to look at the two of them.

Time gave a slight awkward wave. Telma walked over to the two. Twilight heading off to a back area where a group was sitting around a map it seems with some books. “So you are his crew these days. I get a few letters from him. You must be Time and you cutie is Wild. Oooh look at you.” She said placing a gentle hand on Wilds face. “So sorry any of you had to go through what you have.” She states then looking at Time. He softly smiled at her. “you must be the famous Telma then. Keeping the boy out of trouble.” Telma chuckled and swatted at Time. “What trouble, the boy was no trouble. He was brave and courageous. I am so proud of him.” She stated. “Any ways, come in, come in. We have things other than alcohol here. Got food and drinks. Good company.” Time chuckles at her. “We are fine. However thank you for your offer.” She nodded, "you're welcome. Link is just catching up with the group that helped him. More than welcome to join him.” They both nodded and made their way towards where twilight was. Where he was happily chatting up the scholarly looking youth. “Oh there is so much I have seen now. Stuff that sort of fit to your father’s writings.” Time placed a hand on Twilight’s shoulder. Twilight nearly jumping out of his own tunic. “Ah, what secrets are you telling these friends of yours pup?” Twilight blushes and brushed Times hand off. “Just filling them in on the few things we experienced to sort of help fill in some of the work this fellow is working on.” Twilight stood up crossing his arms and giving Time a smirk. “That’s nice-“ Time paused and recognized an old friend. Also swordsman from Ordon Village. “Rusl?” The now much older gentleman rose to his feet  and came over to Time as they soon broke into an animated greeting and hug between the two “been so Long since that day!”

“Oh I know, so good to see you are still kicking.”

“Oi! Don’t be calling me old, look at you! My-my! Never thought I would see you again.” Twilight shook his head and chuckled. “Pup! You didn’t tell me he was in this motley crew you spoke of.” Time said ruffling the young Hylian’s hair. Twilight smirked and shoved Time away. “Join our table, we got room. Ah you got to be Wild then. Good to see another knight at our table. Sure Ashei won’t mind sharing some pointers with you.” Rusl states scooting past to grab some extra chairs and patting Wild’s back. Wild flinched and sort of stood shyly closer to Twilight. Chairs where then brought and set up. Time took a chair and so did wild. He watched as Twilight however didn’t. Interesting. He thought to himself. Twilight how did manage to snag a bit of the bread and snacked on it. As there was chatter among the Time and the others. A bit about what Twilight and the group they were in we doing. To showing So places to check out. Twilight chiming in a bit. Otherwise. Quiet. Twilight smiled though. Telma bring over a few cups of Tea and also joining in the conversation or teasing Twilight.

After some time the three said their goodbyes. Rusl gabbing Twilight a good long hug and remind him to not be a stranger and write some time. Keep in touch and all. Twilight going “okay, okay. I will Try.” And away they went. Twilight seem to have a much different energy buzzing around him. As he lead them down the ally towards the castle town central. Where the fountain could be seen and the Castle in the at the foot. Wild following behind twilight quietly. Time processing a bit of information they were given about some enemies in some parts of Twilight’s Hyrule. Places to possibly to gather information. As well help the locals out. He saw why Twilight had a bit of distrust for the knights. Though relatively peaceful, there were many Hylian knights getting plastered. They had let down Hyrule in its greatest time of need and even now making fools of themselves. Cowards! They had them managed to meet up with the rest. “So we got some Intel on some camps we should take out. Locals have a few enemies in the area.” Twilight spoke. Taking lead. Time, smiled seeing Twilight willingness to take charge. He wasn’t a bad leader, just rarely felt like he was good one though. However this was his world. He knew what to do.

They started gathering up their gear when a seemingly drunken older man pushed through the group. Grabbing Twilight by his tunic and proceeded to yell at him. “It’s all your fault!” Twilight frozen in shock. Time and Warriors jumped in, pulling the guys off. “Hey! Let go of me! It’s all his fault.” They held him back. Twilight regaining his sense. “Let him go, it’s okay.” Twilight said calmly. The others looked at him confused. Time and Warriors let the man go. The main adjusted himself before pointing his finger at Twilight, “my son is dead because of you. You are no hero.” He spit at Twilight. “You got blood on your hands and you did NOTHING to save my son. Where were you when he needed you to save him. His platoon all died. While you went off on some fancy adventure. Not saving this kingdom.” The man shouted. It then occurred what he was speaking about. There was a time where he went through the twilight mirror and was in the twilight realm. Stuck. He couldn’t help. Not until Zant was taken down a peg and Midna had her throne again. Her land restored to its rightful state. Twilight’s brow Scrunched in sadness. I felt for the man. The eight then saw something they didn’t expect from someone being bashed. Twilight step forward and pulled the stranger into a hug. Time instinctively stepped forward out of fear what the man could do. However all the man did was sob into twilight’s chest. Twilight just holding this complete stranger. “I am sorry I was not able to save them. However your son fought bravely. Not all in vain. He helped save this world when I could at the time. I am no hero.” He pulled away from the man and looked him straight in the face. “Yes I may have failed him. However he did not fail this kingdom and is a hero in his own right. That is some good you should think of. He died protecting the land and people he care most about.” The man seem to sober up at those words. Realizing how right Twilight was. “Y-you are right. I never thought about it that way. Also sorry. My son’s death was not your fault. You are one person trying to do what others were unable to do. I am just-“ “Hurting? I get it. No need to apologize.” The man then wiped his tears away and then nodded. Twilight flashed the gentleman a smile and gave him a nod. “Thank you.” The man said, before scurrying off. Feeling foolish at the scene he made. Twilight looked as the man walked off.

Once the man was out of sight, he looked back at the group, who all looked in shock at what just happened. “Don’t.” He growled and lead them out of the castle town and back out to Hyrule field where Epona awaited them. Time stayed quiet. Wild stood close to time waiting to see if anyone would say anything. Legend and Warriors seem to both holding back their words. Sky, four and Hyrule all just without words. Warriors stepped forward as Twilight adjusted their packs a bit. “No hero Hu?! What IN HYLIA was that back there?!” Warriors angrily spat at Twilight. Getting In twilight’s personal space. 3.....2...... okay you are fine 1...twilight counted. “You saves your kingdom and the people thank you like that?! You are a Goddess damn hero!” Shut it warriors. Oh just shut it. “They should be thankful for all you did for this kingdom. You didn’t ask to be a part of a dispute between two worlds.” Warriors fumed. The anger raged in twilight’s blood. He then whipped around so quickly knocking Warriors to the ground. “You LOT are all the FUCKING SAME! The knights failed this kingdoms out of cowardice. When they were need. Where we they? Off getting drunk! Or running and hiding from THEIR duty!” Twilight barked at Warriors. Who was in utter shock at that point. Time rushed and stepped forward. Putting a barrier between the two. “Oi! Pup, back off. He had nothing in this. Your kingdom failed you pup. Warriors just sad to see how you seen by some. Warriors. Probably best not to touch on this right now.” Time sternly and calmly stated. Time pushed twilight back. “Back off.” He quietly said again. Looking at Twilight with disapproved look. Twilight backed down and took Epona’s reigns before leading her off towards their next destination. Time helped warriors up. Warriors brushed off the dirt and said nothing. The tension in the air was thick. It seem to be that way till they made their way, following Twilight. Time thinking to the time his own people had even judged him for his own failures. Time knew it all too well how that felt. He couldn’t be in all in one place and he knew that. Didn’t take away that guilt he felt. He was sure Twilight and many others felt that too.

They ended up camping out in a nearby woods. They were a few days from the nearest camp they would try and take down and see if there was any clues to the dark shadow that had seem to have taken over. Hyrule and Four helped set up. A fire. Wild, did some quick meal. Camp was quiet. Many still too shocked at the events that happened that afternoon. Time spotted twilight not eating, more so refusing to eat. Twilight feeling uncomfortable at everyone looking at him, grabbed his gear and went off to patrol the camp. When he was out of war shot, legend was the first to speak up, “okay, what the hell? I have Never seen Twilight snap like that.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t talk about this guys. It’s clear he is working through some things.” Sky spoke up.

“I get we all got secrets, however he is the most reserved guy and loose his cool that way...” legend then continued. “Guys....” Wild said softly.

“I mean...” Time sighed and just shook his head. “Quiet.” He then barked.

The group sat in attention. “We have all been where he is at. Show a bit of compassion. Eat your food and drop the subject. Once done with that, each go to bed. “ “Who will take second watch then.” Asked wild. “I will.” Time said coolly. They all nodded. They all did what Time said. Warriors couldn’t be angry at Twilight. Not with what had said. Twilight. He knew it had nothing to do with him. However he couldn’t rest. So as everyone else was asleep. He looked at Time who was sitting up, sipping on tea and keeping an eye out for the camp. Warriors could see Twilight had not returned. He sat up and gathered up a log and placed it on the fire, before taking a seat beside Time. “Any sight of him?” Warriors asked. Time stayed quiet. No. “Hope he is okay.” Warriors continued looking in the direction of the forest which Twilight left. Time was worried. Twilight was not known to be gone this long. Clear he wanted to work through this on his own. Twilight was a private person about his emotions. He did show them to anyone really. Snapping like he did came from all the built up hurt and emotions he is keeping stuff in. He talked to Time a bit. Otherwise, he didn’t let anyone know. The night grew on. Time was fighting sleep. Warriors still sitting up with him. “One of us should sleep. No point both of us being out of rest.” Said Time fighting off a yawn. Warriors nodded. He spotted wild having one of his nightmares. “I will sleep. Wake me in a few though. Then I will take your place. We got to be in shape for fighting the camp.” He said getting up and moving over to where Wild was. Taking where Twilight would of been and just laid beside the cub. Giving them comfort the best he could.

The night dragged on. Time tossed another log on the fire. Twilight nowhere in sight still. Where are you pup? Please be careful. He thought to himself. He let another sigh. He was going to sit up till he could no longer stay awake. However Warriors seem to also being unable to sleep again. After making sure Wild was no longer trembling from nightmare. He made his way over to Time again. whose eye looked as those they were to nearly close. He plopped beside him. "you should rest. I will keep watch." Warriors said. Time tiredly looked at Warriors and gave in. He slow got up and then went over and slept where Warriors had been. Warriors carefully watched over the group. He sat up waiting. All the way till daylight crept up. The cool Morning air was crisp. The fog was low on the field and bits of the woods. The morning birds starting to chatter away. Warriors, eye, spotted a shadow of what Looked like a wolf making its way through the fog. That can't be, wolfi- his thought was broken when Twilight broke through the Fog. He looked bloodied and exhausted. Warriors stood up quickly. He rushed over to Twilight. Twilight Raised a hand up. "I am okay." Sensing what warriors was going to say. "Sorry about the other day. I had no right to snap at you that way. You are a knight, you had not play in my world's dealing. Hope you can forgive me?"  he then continued. Warrior's pulled Twilight in a Tight hug. he could care less how soaked Twilight was in what looked like the blackest blood that was coming out of many of the corrupted beasts.

"I am just glad you are alive and I now better understand you finally." Warriors said quietly, that only Twilight could hear. The rest of the camp was slowly waking. Warrior, broke the hug after some time. seeing how tense Twilight was. Twilight quickly wiped some blood coming from his mouth. Warriors crossed his arms. "goddess you will need a good wash after whatever trouble to got yourself into." Twilight chuckled and shook off and attempted to rub off some of the blood from his tunic. "well all I can say, we can explore the place safely. They too though seemed corrupted. However their leader was nowhere in sight." Warrior bought a hand to his own chin and went into deep though. Thinking about what twilight had said. Twilight was then bum rushed into a hug by both Wild and Wind, who seem both excited and worried. Twilight smiled, ruffling wind's hair. Then moving his hand to Wild's chin and giving a light tap of his forehead against wild’s.

Legend, Four and Hyrule sort of stayed back, still a little uncertain of the situation. Wind and Wild moved out of the way as Time grabbed Twilight into a tight hug. Twilight hands instinctively going up and resting on Times chest. As to put up some sort of barrier. He body just then relaxes. He was safe. This was someone he trusted. The stood like that for some time. The group watched. "I was so worried." Time said quietly.

"I'm sorry."  his head sinking into Time's chest.

"don't ever do that again."

"I know."

Time pulls away and lifted Twilight’s chin to look his square in the face, "and stop saying sorry, you have done nothing wrong. Just had us all worried." giving the pup a concerned looked. Twilight gave him a smirk and Pulled away.  "Also, don't pull a wild. we got one chaotic child, don't need two." Gaining Twilight the ever disapproval look from Time.

Twilight Chuckled. "fair. But no Guarantees" he then teased.

The group all chuckled. They went about packing camp up and making a quick breakfast. Before they were to head out to the camp which Twilight single handily in the night took down. "I swear I thought Wolfie was about to appear this morning, through the fog. Maybe he is reflecting you Twilight." Warriors stated as they quickly ate. Twilight said nothing and just smirked. Four, wild, Legend and Time all worriedly looking at twilight then at each other.

Hm, so he may. Twilight Thought to himself and continued to smile and say nothing. So he may.

-Fin.

[kpopchangedme]

Nocturna: Part I

The fragile peace between undead and lycanth is imperilled your arrival to the Inferorum Castrum. Between the changing power dynamics of the wolf pack and the insatiable urges of the vampire king, you aren’t exactly sure where your loyalty lies.

Protagonists: Im Jaebeom | You | Bang Chan

Word Count: 2.3k

Genre: NSFW | Supernatural!au | Vampires | Werewolves | Angst | Romance | Love Triangle  [Drabble 2k]

Prompt: “I thought you were dead” requested by Anon

Nocturna Masterlist | HALLOWEEN

The beast is nearing, you can hear its growls over your frenetic pants. You accelerate, not noticing the low branches scratching your face as you run deeper than ever into the ancient forest. Climbing a tree could be a great escape plan if the monster wasn’t already so close. Your lungs are afire, threatening to give in any moment. Your heartbeat is deafening, the sound resonating within you as if to scream you’re still alive. It’s the only thing pushing you to keep running, survive.

You don’t want to die. You want to live, reach your village. You promised your grandmother you would be back safe and sound. Behind you, there’s an animalistic low howl. The others were right, you should never have set foot in the Forbidden Forest. Now you are doomed. “HELP,” you scream, not slowing your erratic race down, “SOMEONE HELP ME!” 

But there is no one to hear, no other human soul within these woods, you’re all alone. The beast has gained ground again. Its large paws quicker than your feet on the dead leaves, and between the tree roots. You look over your shoulder, meeting its glowy eyes. It’s a question of mere seconds before it jumps on you. Understanding this, you blindly fork to the left, unable to see in the thick darkness. It is the middle of the day, but the sun rays don’t shine through the high branches of the old trees. The forest is black and foreign, no wonder villagers never walk through these woods, or rather... Never come out again. It wasn’t a problem for you before today, but you had never wandered this deep, never would’ve hunted this far from the outskirts. It’s all because of that monster...

You don’t see it coming when the wolf snaps your shoulder and you fall to the ground screaming went it releases you. The momentum of your race causes you to tumble and roll on yourself for a few meters in a small glade. You hit roots and rocks as you go before you’re finally immobilized. The beast has stopped too. It now stands many steps back, observing as you desperately attempt to crawl away. The wolf’ canines are exposed, glimmering and its muzzle trembles on a silent ferocious growl.

The scariest smile. 

Its hind is raised, legs bent and ready to jump to end you. That is no normal wolf. Its silvery coat of fur and bear size are anything but that of those you’ve faced through your years of hunting. Aching all over, you stop trying to crawl. You can’t escape. Instead, you muster your courage and reach for the bow to your side. You aren’t going to be eaten alive, not without a fight. As you load a wood arrow from your broken quiver, the demon wolf snaps its jaw on thin air, challenging. There’s a strange intelligent spark in its eyes. Your vision is blurry, tinted by the blood running down your face. As if the attack wasn’t enough, the fall severely injured you. Even if you miraculously manage to kill the beast, you’re going to bleed out here.

“Well,” a male voice suddenly rises from the surrounding blackness, startling you, “this is just rude.”

The wolf diverts his yellow glare to your right at the interruption. You are not relieved at all though, all hair rises on your body. There’s nobody to be found where the voice came from, no one visible to the naked eye. That is bad. The Forbidden Forest is infamous for sheltering the worst creatures known to humankind. Your screams must have attracted one. The silver beast prances in hesitation, searching for the newcomer too. Using the diversion, you aim your arrow at its neck, holding your breath for a clear shot.

“Is it silver?” The strange voice echoes again, this time closer to your left. You turn, alarmed, sending droplets of blood flying. Again, there’s nothing there. Whatever this supernatural being is; it’s agile, maybe the wolf is the least of your worries now. There’s a chuckle, “Go for the head.” Your grip tightens on your hunting bow. You pull at the bowstring, trying to ignore the ache in your wounded shoulder. The silver wolf growls, louder this time, before barking madly. “Shoot.” The voice presses you once more from somewhere above, and the wolf’s jaw snaps on nothing like a protest. “The head!” Finally, you see him: the strange man that voice belongs to. He’s lazily leaning against a tree nearby, laughing. He’s built but lean, and as pale as death. Not a man, you realize; a bloodsucker. 

You don’t even have to ponder a second more to take your shot.

You let go of the string and the arrow whistles, cutting through the air in direction of its target. Unfortunately, it is stopped by a steel grip, millimetres away from marble skin. You have never missed a single shot, but there is a first for everything.

“I meant for the dog’s.” The alabaster man speaks airily, the remnant of his amusement completely gone.

You’ve heard of creatures of the night, through legends told by your people to keep children away from the forest. Bloodsucking eternal undead that masquerade as humans to lure their prey. Pale as parchment, beautiful as gods and strong as a hundred men. Your instinct is to flee when the vampire's eyes narrow dangerously into two sanguine slits, but your injuries prevent you from standing at all. You fall back to your knees in pain, broken. Your whole back and face are ablaze, cut open by the beast and the fall.

“That wasn’t very nice...” The undead breaks your arrow in his hand with no apparent effort, and your eyes widen. “Help me,” he mimics with a higher pitch, pushing himself off the tree, “someone help me!” He walks to the middle of the trees, and the giant wolf steps back in the forest, barking madly. You sure are going to miss that beast if it flees so easily in front of this new one.

“You aren’t supposed to be out,” you hush, clutching to your bow for reassurance, “the sun is still high!”

“Exactly.” With feline grace, the vampire crouches in front of you. He’s even more stunning from up close, eyes stretching in straight lines with a pointy chin. “Some of us are trying to rest, tidbit.” The creature is only this pretty because he’s an amazing predator, a trap perfected to distract and fascinate humans, like a colourful poisonous frog. At the comparison, your stomach turns. “You got a lot of nerves, I like that.” He admits, so close, that when you raise your head, the only thing you see is his crimson irides. “Head kills the wolf. For me… Straight at the heart. It always amazes me, how forgetful and feeble mortals are.”

“I a-apologise,” your voice falters, “I was just trying to escape, s-sir!” There’s something about the creature that inspires reverence, perhaps it’s his obvious power. He seemed angry, but at your fearful respect, he softens. 

“Hear that, tail-wagger? You are the reason I was disturbed... And now grumpy!” The vampire glares somewhere above your head, sounding far away. “Couldn’t you have finished this, clean and quiet? Do you have any idea what time it is!” 

“Noon,” you turn your head at the new voice, mouth falling open as another man emerges from the deep woods. He’s stark naked, tanned skin and sculpted muscles exposed in all their glory. Although, that’s not why you are staring. You know him very well, would recognize that silvery mass of messy curls anywhere.

Chan. 

He is your closest friend. You met at the market, both trying to sell game when you were about fifteen. Chan isn’t from your village but he is a nomad hunter and visits often. He even knows your grandma. You went on a few trips together throughout the years. He’s a skilled hunter, second best to you in the area. He must have been in the forest and heard your screams.  He came to your rescue. 

"R-Run..." You want to yell at him to run away, insists he leaves you behind and saves himself, but you only manage to whisper. "Go..." He doesn't seem to hear. 

“The sun is up. Which means I am well within my rights, Jeonha...” Chan spits the last word whilst baring his teeth in a feral threat. You have never seen him like that.

This can’t be. 

Does he know the vampire, isn’t he here to save you? As though sensing your confusion, the young hunter turns to assess you. Except there’s something else instead of his familiar brown irides. A terrifying yellow glow, one that you’ve seen before. Impossible.

“You…” In shock, you try to wrap your head around what he is, terrified.

“Go away,” the wolf says to the vampire, tone cavernous, “she’s mine.” You notice Chan’s mouth is soaked with blood, your blood, you blanch even more.

“The human seems to disagree,” the undead reaches for your face, and you recoil by reflex but he follows, “and I hate being disturbed in the middle of the day. I deserve a treat.” His icy fingers brush some blood on your battered cheek, and he takes them to his mouth. Instantly, his almond eyes roll back. “Oh,” he mutters in awe. It takes him seconds to speak again, but it feels like an eternity. “Sweet...” Without warning, his hand wraps around your arm to yank you upwards, making you yelp in pain. Your entire body is cut and bleeding, you really are going to die. 

The dark animal in Chan's body appears in front of you two before you can fight back, “She's mine! ” He points out angrily like you’re some sort of toy he’s being denied. “You can’t just take her! He won’t stand for it, I wo-” 

“Too bad! I haven’t fed in a while...” You tug at your arm in despair, but the vampire doesn’t budge. “And aren’t you forgetting something, mutt?”

“Jeonha...” He grunts, mouth closed, looking like he’s about to rip the other’s throat open.

The vampire simply waves his hand in the air. “Shoo puppy, shoo!”

Chan narrows his eyes meanly but remains unimpressed. His lips curl, uncovering menacing canines as sound birth at the bottom of his gut. They are going to fight.

“Help...” You try to scream but only manage to whimper, last strength abandoning you. The two supernatural creatures turn to you like one. “Save me... Please, save me...” There’s no one else to hear, but you still have to try one last time. You’re about to pass out from your injuries. Your vision is blurring.

With amazing timing, a long powerful howl echoes from somewhere deep inside the forest. Instantly, Chan steps back as if summoned. His eyes go from the woods to you in haste. “I’ll get you back soon.” He promises with a nod as though you aren’t dying on the ground. You want to believe he isn't the one who bit off your shoulder. That this thing wasn't him. You want to belive he cares for you.

The pale vampire chuckles, finding this entertaining. “I won’t let that happen, dog. And if you ever dare disturb me again... I won’t be as forgiving.” 

“C-Ch…” You attempt, hoping to appeal to the man-wolf’s humanity. He seems like a far better end than the cold-one.

It almost works. “Sorry,” Chan whispers with fatality. With that, the beast in a human body growls one last time, turning to walk back into the forest. He doesn't even look back. When the vampire’s attention fully returns, he pulls you closer, making your stomach sink to your feet. The only thing holding you upwards now is his arm wrapped around your waist.

“What are we gonna do, dear? I thought you were dead meat...” You wiggle with desperation in his grip, like a worm fighting the hook. He sighs, “How unappetizing...” That alone succeeds in making you freeze. His lips stretch into a devilish smile. “Don’t worry, I like my humans way warmer.”

You are not stupid, you know what he is and what he sustains from, but vampires never killed people from your village. You’ve been the guardians of their sanctuary woods for centuries. 

“I am from Ianua,” you mutter weakly, eyes fluttering shut. His impossibly large grin widens, uncovering his fangs. “You can’t k-kill me...”

“I could but I didn’t tidbit.” His scarlet irides are now half-moon shapes. “You went ahead and picked a fight with a mad dog.” You try to free yourself from his grip once more, but you’re too weak by now. Your knees give up. The vampire catches you easily, holding you up in an embrace. “I don’t think you have much time left… So weak...” He whispers, pressing his face into your hair. “Do you really want me to save you?”

“P-Please…” You breathe out, “Please, save me...” 

“As you wish, tidbit.” His fingers delicately brush hair away from your face. “But only because you begged. Sleep.”

Everything goes black.

Nocturna Masterlist | HALLOWEEN

[starstruck-thirst]

Chrollo Lucilfer: A Great Heist Part 1

Warnings: Sexual descriptions, Theft

This is a thing I have been toying with that is part of a writer collaboration. The second part will be posted by another writer in the future. And when it is I will reblog it here. But please, as always, enjoy and let me know what you all think of it. Hopefully it will make up for the hiatus a little bit.

~~~~~~

Your heart was beating with a steady pace, but it felt like it shook your entire body.

It took a conscious effort to keep it calm. “Don’t get in over your head,” you warned yourself mentally.

Don’t let your adrenaline make you do something stupid.

The glass square in front of you seemed almost transparent, the artfully arranged lights that illuminated the item inside had been placed specifically for that effect. Idly, the thought crossed your mind to reach out and run your fingers over the cold surface of the ceramic. This insatiable desire to snatch something from a museum wasn’t new to you, but the fact it was a tea set did strike you as odd when you thought about it logically.

Jewels, expensive paintings, national treasures. These all made sense to drool over. But a fucking tea set? If you couldn’t clearly see the glowing air around it that marked it as a special nen object, you would have been concerned that your taste was starting to slip.

“The Bolama Tea Set has traveled the world and the origins are unknown. The clay used in the making of the tea set is not native to any known developed land. It has a dark color naturally which can be seen inside the pot and cups, while the outside has been glazed to a brilliant blue.

Legend says that whoever uses the teacup marked with a bird will gain the life energy of the person who uses the teacup marked with a rodent.”

The animals were both red on the bottoms of the cups that were tilted on an angle so that the viewer could clearly see them. Against the dark color of the clay that practically glowed.

Stories accompanying objects were a dime a dozen, especially if they could be confirmed to be over two hundred years old, but since the set was covered in nen energy, there could be some truth to the legend. And you wanted to find out so bad. The potential mystery in front of you only made you want the set more.

The cold glass surface became obscured as a man stepped up next to you, standing a bit more closely than the mostly empty art museum hall really required. His pale face reflected right in front of the teacups, dark tousled hair showcasing how pale he was even in his almost transparent reflection.

“Do you think the legend is true?” he asked. The friendly quality of his voice took you by surprise and made you look at him directly. He continued to look at the display case and you noticed he wore a headband, which was curious. Clothing could tell a lot about a person, this was a fact you used to your advantage when scoping out potential targets, and in your experience the only people that wore headbands like that were usually sports enthusiasts, people that wanted other people to think they were sports enthusiasts, and hunters. But you didn’t sense any nen from him. And he wore far too much black for a sports enthusiast.

He could just be a weirdo. There were also plenty of those in the world.

But most likely he was using zetsu to make it seem as if he couldn’t use nen.

Then again, maybe you were giving a stranger too much credit.

“Of course not,” you said with a small laugh and light hearted lit to your voice, “Legends are just silly stories right?”

His eyes slid to you and slight goosebumps rose on your flesh as his dark irises looked directly into you. There was a coldness behind that warm voice, you hadn’t noticed it before but now even as he smiled you felt it. Had you been too distracted with your lust for the Bolama set?

“Hmm? You think so?” His voice still sounded so pleasant, so normal and welcoming to conversation. But now you couldn’t shake the feeling of a looming darkness standing next to you. He hadn’t given you any reason to feel on edge, but your instincts were never wrong. “Most legends come from a level of truth to them. Perhaps someone poisoned the rodent cup, and the legend started. Meaning it isn’t anything mythical so much as… sinister?”

Your fingers started to tingle, in the way they did right before you were about to steal something you had been coveting. A slow smile spread across your lips as your carefully maintained heartbeat picked up just a little. “For some people the art of malevolent intent is mythical. It makes it easier to say a demon made you do something horrible than it is to admit you did it yourself. And society likes to accept that answer. Surely no one that corrupt could actually exist? Demons make much more sense. They are absolved of guilt or guilt by association if they just accept the existence of creatures they cannot control.”

The man looked shocked for a moment as he looked back at you. A warm sense of pride at his reaction filled you as your grin only grew. Shutting down men that thought they were deep was in your top 3 favorite things list.

But to your surprise he didn’t get angry or frustrated. Instead he smiled and laughed. Not the irritated laugh you had heard from others before that laughed so they could quell a growing anger at being shown up by a woman, but a sincerely entertained laugh. “I think you’re right. Is it not why Satan exists? If you can say that you were led into temptation by a force that is greater than yourself then you cannot possibly be responsible for the guilt that you have earned. But then, are people no better than children unable to think for themselves? When children are young we excuse much of their follies with the fact they don’t yet comprehend the world in the way adults do. Exonerating them of any sin they could have brought upon themselves. So by using the contingent presence of evil entities are we not just allowing our growth to be stunted?”

Is this what people called a ‘nerd fight’? “Are you saying we are all just ignorant children refusing to grow up and take responsibility for our actions?”

“Well… some of us more than others perhaps,” he said continuing to hold a smile as he looked back to the tea set.

“Do you take responsibility for your choices that others might perceive as malicious?”

He paused, and the once simple and pleased smile twisted into a grin as he slipped a hand into his pants pocket. “I’d like to think so.”

“Why? Because you are an adult, or you like to be identified as a malevolent demon?”

A small chuckle this time and he did a quarter turn to fully face you. Automatically you turned to face him as well, only now noticing in the break of your back and forth banter that you were enjoying yourself. Playing a game of verbal tennis with a total stranger- a stranger that was starting to seem more attractive by the moment if you were completely honest- was pretty fun.

He had to be a hunter.

“Do you have time for dinner?” he asked, dark eyes holding you in place with their intensity. His warm voice had lowered into a more predatory dark tone. It made a lightning strike of excitement run up your spine.

Admittedly, you were taken by surprise for the second time at the sudden offer. “Depends,” you replied leaning casually on one leg as you looked the man up and down to decide for yourself if a dinner treat before a job would help you feel motivated, “are you buying?”

~*~*~

The walls were real wood, dark and sealed to preserve the natural color that helped the room feel warm and inviting, spite the icy cold people that occupied it. Ornate chandeliers hung from the ceiling offered enough light to fill the room but small lamps on tables and mounted on the side panels gave each table its own individual glow. Tall bay windows provided a screen into the outside world in the form of darkness and blinking lights, like artificial stars. The diners that sat closest to them naturally ignored the view, they had paid good money to look snobby and they wouldn’t be denied a chance to show off to the other snobs just how much more contemptuous they were than everyone else.

It was the kind of restaurant you visited when you wanted to relish in the fact that everyone around you thought they were safe, as you sipped wine knowing with a smug sense of superiority that you had robbed one of their own and now dined on their dollars. It was in your top 4 favorite things.

Tonight was somewhat different though.

You had been given an address and a time to meet from the man in the dark clothes, but you hadn’t been quite expecting this. Luckily you had dressed for the part. A long dress with a plunging neckline that you kept specifically for occasions such as these.

After the conversation at the museum you had guessed that the stranger would take you somewhere he could show off more, and you had pinned it exactly right. Though, to be fair, you were even a little surprised by the level of showmanship.

Mentally you praised yourself for confirming who was paying for dinner beforehand.

“Shall we?” he asked next to you, holding an arm out for you to take. The maître d was gesturing for you to follow a member of the waitstaff as he led the way into the large dining room where quiet conversations and the clinking of dinner wear could be heard.

With a nod you took his arm and followed, realizing for possibly the first time that your greed had gotten the better of you again. The thought of getting a nice meal with a handsome stranger had blinded you to potential dangers. He could have not shown up. He could have shown up just to kill you.

The second thought was definitely the more titillating of the two. Which would have been worrying if you hadn’t decided a long time ago that therapy was boring and stealing things was much more entertaining. It was the thrill of it all, and this was just another job. Stealing a meal from this handsome stranger before disappearing.

Maybe if you played your cards right, you could get away with more.

“Your table,” the waitperson said stopping next to a bay window. Before they could pull a chair for you, the man slipped from your grip and did it himself. You smiled and sat as he pushed the chair gently under you.

He was good.

As he moved to his own chair you admired the way he looked. A black tailcoat with a high breast. Very cutting on his form, and you had always liked that look more than the long-breasted coats. It made men’s waists tempting to touch. A midnight blue cravat was tied around his neck and it complimented his odd earrings perfectly. Black hair was slicked back, and you decided it looked nice in this environment, but the down and tousled look was definitely preferable. Admittedly, he looked intoxicating.

Maybe you would have to stay for dessert.

“May I suggest our newest wine? It is an import from Azia and pairs well with tonight’s dinner.”

“That will be fine, thank you.”

“This is quite the elaborate place,” you commented, sitting back in your chair to look around at the other diners casually. A few looked at you from the sides of their eyes, obviously judging as in polite company one didn’t simply look around and observe others so blatantly. But you just smirked and looked back to your dining partner. “Maybe I should have dressed up more.”

“You look lovely,” he commented, and it made you smile. Who could tell how sincere it was, but it made you feel good.

“Thank you. Luckily, I think that you look handsome enough for us both anyway.”

His lids lowered a little, giving his face a much more serious look than he had in the museum. “Handsome for a malevolent demon?”

“An alleged malevolent demon,” you corrected, holding up one finger. “You didn’t confirm nor deny.”

“I suppose you are correct. I didn’t.”

“You also didn’t grant me your name. Somewhat cruel for a gentleman, be he demon or man. Especially when you so brazenly invited me to dinner.”

“Usually you have to already know a demon’s name to summon him.”

“Unless you happen upon one and then you must learn his name so you can summon him again, if you so desire.”

Another chuckle.

You couldn’t help but to notice that since arriving to the restaurant that your companion hadn’t been behaving quite as every-man cheery has he had previously. In the shroud of the night he was much darker by nature. His voice lower, and the way he looked at you as if he was going to pluck you from a museum like a trained thief.

“You interest me,” he said as he leaned over the table toward you.

“Hmm? Before you try to steal my innocence, sir, I should warn you I don’t have much left.” You leaned in towards him just a few inches, enough to make your flirtations clear without giving too much away. Your index finger toyed idly with a strand of hair that fell in front of your ear as you looked up into his eyes.

“I suspect not,” he said with a smoky voice that made your fingertips tingle.

That was when you realized it was a race. A race to see who could snatch the other first.

Half of your mind told you to get out while the going was good, but the other half was on a high of curiosity. Who was this man? If you probed deeper what would you find?

What could you take from him?

The waitperson arrived, but neither of you moved. “Your soup course. Tonight we have vichyssoise,” they said as small bowls were placed upon the central plate. They poured you each a glass of wine in silence, obviously not minding the fact that the two of you were staring at each other waiting to see who would look away first.

Unfortunately, you couldn’t let the person leave without recognition. Service people had it hard enough without being ignored, even though most people did so. Without moving the rest of your body, you turned your head to smile at them warmly, “Thank you so much. It looks delicious.”

Since you had broken first, your partner turned and also thanked them as his wineglass was placed back into position on the table.

Resuming a proper position on your chair you stared into the soup bowl. Chopped leak floated on top of the cool white broth and collecting a few pieces into the spoon proved easy seeing as it was a chilled soup. The taste had a surprising underlying sweetness to it, and you sipped at the spoon enjoying the feeling of the cool liquid running down your throat. “It is very good,” you commented as you gathered another spoonful to sip.

Carefully you slid your foot forward slowly until it gracefully touched his own, he didn’t look up from his own bowl but you could see the corner of his lips quirk into the slightest of smiles before bringing the spoon to his lips. “Delectably creamy,” you added licking the side of the spoon to catch a drop before it fell into your lap.

The soup was gone quickly. The rich creamy broth dictated it would be a small portion so that the consumer would have room for the next course. How many there were you couldn’t be totally sure, at minimum four since the service started with soup. But it could be up to seven.

Oh the silly knowledge you had gained over the years of tricking rich fools.

As the bowls were whisked away, the man ran a hand over the side of his head, making sure his hair was in place before he leaned on the table an acceptable amount. “I would like to ask you something more direct.” It wasn’t really a question, or a form of seeking permission. He had said it in such a way that you couldn’t really say no without seeming rude, not that you would have minded coming off rude to a man that dared to command you after knowing you for at maximum an hour.

Taking the wine glass into hand you sipped it, smirking at the light lip print that was left behind. Deliberately you moved your leg so it touched his softly, like a whisper, and looked at him to show you were listening.

“How were you planning on stealing it?”

Uncertain if it was the soup or the icicle of potentially being caught in your mind, your blood ran cold for a few seconds. You controlled your face to not display this sudden change in your temperature. “Known each other less than a day and you’re calling me a thief? Perhaps you are mistaking my intentions?” It was a statement that could blanket many things and didn’t give away that you knew he knew.

But he did know.

The way he looked into your eyes directly, his hand resting on the table casually so that if he had to grab the silverware it was within reach, the knowing smirk. It all gave away that he very much knew.

“If demons did exist in this world, do you think they would know each other immediately? Or do you think it is possible for them to fool each other? Perhaps, they could even fool themselves?”

His leg moved closer to your own and now they were touching with force. You managed to continue to keep your cool as you responded, “Hm, this is a difficult topic.”

“Because demons aren’t real?”

“Because it depends on your perception of demons.”

He nodded to encourage you to continue before sipping his own wine. Idly you ran a finger around the rim of your water glass as you thought aloud. “In many mythologies demons have a natural order, levels if you would. So higher level demons are more apt at deceiving man and beast alike. They can appear normal to any untrained eye. But also, they can spot weaker kin instantly. Often, they can recognize fellow high-level demons in a way that even lower tiers can’t say they feel from their own kind. A type of respectable feeling of knowing someone before properly meeting them.

But are we to assume that in this world they follow those rules? And I suppose more importantly how is one to know said rules?”

“Then you believe it is possible?” he asked sitting back, the mischievous grin on his face only growing.

“Who knows? Maybe only a demon would,” you replied before a fresh sip of wine as the waitperson returned with two beautifully crafted salads.

“Salad course is a bibb lettuce salad with lemon dill vinaigrette,” they said as the plates lightly clacked against each other. The salad was piled so nicely that it almost looked like a flower, petals glistening with the vinaigrette like morning dew. Eating decadently was nice from time to time, but admittedly it also seemed like a shame to make something you were going to eat look so pretty.

Mercilessly you picked up the salad fork and took up a small bite of the dish to taste, ruining its beauty. The lemon after a creamy soup course was a nice pick up. The service felt like it was ramping up to the entrée with each crisp crunch of the leaves.

“I think that the ability to recognize a soul that is similar to yours is an acquired ability as opposed to an inherited one. One develops it as a way to know who is friend and who is foe.” The smooth cadence of his voice was so natural, and how he effortlessly brought the conversation back to a point that was beneficial for him was artful.

You nodded putting the salad fork down. “I suppose you are correct. And I would also think that in the case of meeting a similar soul, trying to hide would seem rather silly wouldn’t it?” Elegantly you patted your lips free of the vinaigrette.

“It would be foolish to try and hide once spotted, yes.” He was staring at you. You could feel it, the power of his knowing eyes on you.

So, this had been what you were sensing before at the museum. He wasn’t a hunter, or at least if he was he wasn’t a traditional one. He was a thief. And he had figured you out before you had figured him out. Not that you could let on to that fact. Pretending that you were on his level could possibly be the only way that you would be able to make your way out of this situation.

That, and you had wanted that damn tea set first. No man, no matter how attractive, would swipe something you had been yearning for, for a week,  from under you. Moments passed while you sipped some wine to wash your palate clean and your salad plates were taken away. Soon the entrée would arrive. The meat of the meal.

Finally, you looked up to meet his eyes, knowing full well he had watched your every movement up to that point. His face was serious, chin resting on his hand to steady his gaze as he waited for you to acknowledge him. You had to hand it to him, he had been quite patient. Below the table his leg was still pressing into yours and you hadn’t moved away from him at all. “I suppose it would also be foolish to hope that we had different targets, just at the same location?”

He smiled. “I think something could be worked out,” he said with amusement.

This probably meant he had several targets, or would be willing to split the prize after the object had been hawked. But you still wanted to find a way to try the cups. What was the fun of acquiring a mystery if you couldn’t try to solve it? But once it was out of the museum, who was to say what wasn’t possible?

Coyly, you slipped your other leg forward so that you gripped his between your two. “You sure know how to surprise a lady with a good time,” you practically purred.

He reacted positively, hooking one of your ankles with his foot to forcefully slide your legs closer to him. “I believe in taking what one desires.”

“I guess that means I never had a choice then,” you pointed out, worried only momentarily that he would pull you from your chair entirely. “I suppose this also answers the question I asked earlier.”

“Oh?” he asked, shifting his leg slightly against yours and making a small shiver run up your spine.

“I asked if you perceive yourself as an adult or as a malevolent demon.”

The waitperson stopped by the table and he sat up so that the entree could be placed in front of him. “The entree tonight is seared dry rub salmon with fruit salsa on top. Sauteed vegetables and long grain rice as a side. And naturally, bread.”

This time neither of you could look away from the other but you made sure to mutter an appreciation, positive that they could feel the tension that was growing between you two and didn’t really want to interfere with that anyway. Which was confirmed with how quickly they left the table again.

“I take it you have come to your own conclusion.”

“I have,” you replied lifting a leg and running it up the side of his, making a more brazen move since the seal had been broken on this strangely intense conversation.

“Well?” he inquired seeing you weren’t going to be forthcoming on your own.

“A malevolent demon to be sure,” you said with a quiet laugh which abruptly stopped when his hand caught your ankle under the table.

His tight grip made you clutch your dinner fork. To defend yourself? Just to have a grip on something? Even you weren’t sure. But as he brushed his thumb over your skin he shifted forward on his chair enough that he could touch your leg and look relatively natural while doing so. “And you? Are you a demon or a human that is merely influenced by demons?”

You slid the dinner fork through the salmon, making sure to get some of the salsa from the top to go with the bite. Like everything it was delicious. The spices in the dry rub mixed with the sweet and spicy salsa. His hand slid from your ankle to your calf, gripping almost painfully as he went so as to get your attention.

“The guard rotation around the tea set walks by every 3 hours at night. The glass can be removed with a special tool I have a replica of,” you looked into his eyes again, wondering if he would be audacious enough to actually pull you from your chair or upset the table in a way that would draw attention.

“And the cameras?”

“I have my own way of dealing with those,” you stated before taking another bite of salmon.

At long last he lifted his own fork with his spare hand and took a bite of his dinner and you felt a little calm permeate the air. The tension was more noticeable once it had regressed some. The hand on your leg was still very warm and present. He was keeping control of you physically in a subtle enough way that none of the other diners would notice if they had the gall to look. “You’ll have to tell me later then,” he said with an expectant tone in his voice

You nodded, feeling compelled to follow his direction. Not sure how much of a choice you had, or maybe that was an excuse?

“Chrollo,” he stated plainly.

The fork stopped shy of your mouth. “Chrollo?”

His smirk was back, the one that seemed dark and yet sincere. “That is my name. I look forward to working with you.”

~*~*~

At some point the streetlights had stopped going by the car window. Almost total darkness stared back at you through the tinted glass as the trees on the side of the road obscured the distant, blinking city lights. The driver hadn’t said a word from the moment Chrollo helped you into the car, and he hadn’t given any directions to the very still form in the front seat. The quiet felt stifling after being in a restaurant surrounded by noise and a constant flow of conversation. It created a sense of foreboding which floated around the small space as the car took you even further from civilization.

A temperate hand covered yours, which dragged your attention away from the window. Chrollo was looking at you with some of the warmth that his face had held during the museum trip and it was hard to tell if it helped you relax or only made you more tense. “Don’t tell me a thief is afraid of the dark.”

A soft chuckle came from you at the mere idea. “Do I seem like I’m on edge or something?” you asked, noticing you might have let some of your cool mask slip.

While you knew hand to hand combat, you didn’t have any physical weapons on you in the moment, and Chrollo had all the control. You were going somewhere with him where he would have the advantage, possibly allies. But he hadn’t given you much choice when he told you that he was going to bring you with him. To talk about the plan.

He didn’t know you well enough yet to trust you not to do something brash, or stupid, after separating at dinner. It only made sense he’d keep you nearby. So, there was an unspoken threat about not doing as he wished. And it was never good to bring attention to yourself with a fight in a fancy restaurant before a job.

And it would be a lie to say that part of you wasn’t finding thrill in this turn of events, even though as you had sat in the car it sank in just how potentially over your head you really were.

The leather seat didn’t even squeak as Chrollo shifted so that his body was turned towards you as his hand cupped your face. “What does a demon have to fear from the night?”

Now you actually laughed, some of the weight lifting from your shoulders with the release of the tension. It had been a little corny, and the smile on Chrollo’s face didn’t give away if that had been the intention or if he just hadn’t cared how you reacted.

When your laughter stopped, he pulled you closer to him on the back seat until he could easily lean down and brush his lips over your own. The movement had caught you by surprise, and you could feel your cheeks warm.

Which was quite rude of your body to betray you, since you had been doing so well at playing the little flirtatious game at dinner. Even throughout dessert- which might have been a somewhat rushed in hindsight- the back and forth banter and casual touches had remained constant. It was almost too distracting for you to enjoy the apple tartlet and on location made vanilla ice cream.

Almost. That tartlet had been amazing.

“What brought that on?” you asked while attempting to read his expression before he turned to face forward with that smirk on his lips again.

“I just wanted to. No real reason.” It looked like a thought crossed his mind as his eyes wandered from the driver to the window and back to you. Gently he put his finger under your chin to run his thumb over your lip, “Does it bother you?”

“Not at all,” you said with a small shake of your head, and he pulled you to him again, making you stretch to meet his lips. The kiss was surprisingly chaste, but firm.

The car stopped, and he broke the kiss with a chuckle. “Maybe we’ll continue this later?”

“Maybe,” you confirmed as he released you and you sat back comfortably in your seat.

Chrollo accepted that for now with a nod, swinging the car door open to slip out. Was it just the trait of a thief that they seemed to move with such deliberate ease? Did you look like that?

You took his offered hand to slide out of the car, using his balance to steady yourself as you did so. Secretly you hoped you looked half as graceful.

The building the car had stopped at appeared to be an abandoned apartment building, easily seven floors tall and you wondered where Chrollo kept his lovely tailcoat when he wasn’t using it. Or maybe he had stolen it just for dinner tonight. That was kind of an attractive thought.

Behind you the car was turned off but the driver didn’t move to get out. “Come with me,” Chrollo said as he moved to the front door and held it open.

Inside the building looked worn, but not like it was a complete safety violation just yet. Old wallpaper peeled in places, dirty with age, but some light glowed from an apartment door that had been left open on the right side of the hallway.

Without thinking much about it, you moved towards the light spurred on by curiosity. A plain living room was visible beyond the door frame, a lamp on the coffee table the only light. You almost walked into the room automatically but stopped when you noticed fine threads spread over the doorway like a spider’s web.

But it was apparent to anyone with nen that these were not normal.

“What’s wrong?” Chrollo asked behind you.

You pointed at the threads and looked back at him, “I suspect you should enter before me.”

He smirked, putting one hand into his pants pocket leisurely. “Machi, let down the threads.” A pause. Then the threads were quickly tugged away from the door without a single sound. “After you.”

Walking into a previously trapped door seemed like a horrible idea, but at this point you had to accept you were in this deep. Might as well dive in.

The apartment furniture was mostly intact, just old. A musty smell circulated the room and particles floated lazily in the lamp light around a woman with pink hair sitting on the sofa, one leg curled up to her chest. Her blue eyes watched your every move as you entered the room and stood to one side for Chrollo to come in.

“Where is Pakunoda?” The air about him had shifted somewhat. If this was how he truly was it seemed the Chrollo from dinner was the closest you had gotten to his true self so far because he was relaxed, but in control. His shoulders were back but slumped somewhat as he looked at the pink haired woman.

“On her way. She’ll be here soon,” the woman responded, her eyes flicking to your face and narrowing in distrust before going back to Chrollo’s. “She said everything should be ready for tomorrow on her end.”

Admittedly since you had done dinner it had gotten somewhat late, but you had still been hoping that the heist would happen tonight. It was a bit disappointing.

“Good. Let’s go over the plan tomorrow. Would you like to rest?”

It took a moment to register that he was addressing you with the question as you were distracted with the aura of malice that was radiating your way. “Hm? Oh. Sure,” you replied. Mostly you wanted some time away from the woman you presumed was ‘Machi’ and have a moment to think of what your own plan was going to be.

“I’ll be back momentarily. If Pakunoda comes back have her wait with you until I get back.”

Machi nodded and Chrollo gave you a simple smile before turning to lead you out of the apartment. Meanwhile Machi was watching you directly again and it wasn’t in your nature to not say something about that. “Nice not meeting you,” you half joked with a wave before you left to catch up with the person that had gotten you into all of this. Machi didn’t seem to react but you were curious how much she wanted to murder you.

“She seems nice,” you told Chrollo as he opened a door across the hallway.

He laughed as he went through, “She is.”

If that was nice then you wouldn’t want to see her angry. Or Chrollo for that matter.

This apartment was a mirror of the last in set up, but the living room was occupied by a different sofa. Where had the people gone and why hadn’t they done something with their furniture? The thought only persisted further as Chrollo led you to a bedroom that still had a half decent bed with a pillow and a blanket. You tried not to wrinkle your nose at the thought of how long those items had been here, but truthfully you had slept in worse.

“I was surprised to hear that we wouldn’t be getting to work tonight,” you confessed as Chrollo stopped in the room, cutting off whatever he was about to say.

“It’ll make more sense tomorrow when we discuss the details,” he said leaning against the nearest wall, watching you.

That was the problem with thieves, they were always watching. “Do you plan to rob half the museum?” you asked moving in close to him.

“I plan on taking what I want.”

“So you’ve said. If you have help, why ask for mine?”

“You seem to have a good understanding of the museum, we share a goal,” he ran a hand down your exposed arm, “and- as I said before- you interest me. Thus, what is to stop me from taking you just like I take everything else I want?”

“I can’t argue that.” Instinctively you leaned in towards him so that your body was almost touching his, threatening to pin him to the wall with one more step. “What would you have done if I had said no to dinner then?”

His hands gripped your wrists and pulled, making you crash into him and you were surprised at how comfortable he was to lean against despite the hard muscle you could feel under his dress clothes. “I knew you wouldn’t.”

You opened your mouth to say something snarky back, but the chance was taken from you as Chrollo kissed you again. His fingers around your wrists tightened to a painful level which made you wince. When he freed your lips you quietly hissed a noise of pain at how hard his grip was. He didn’t seem bothered, if anything you could feel his grip tighten just a little more on one wrist before he turned you in one swift movement to pin you to the wall.

Due to the speed at which it had happened, the force of being slammed into the wall was painful and you clenched your teeth to keep from making any noises of pain. Chrollo’s free hand grabbed your chin and forced your head up and to the side so that he could easily bite at your neck and nip your throat.

Everything had progressed so quickly that you only now noticed your heart was pounding, and surely he could feel that heavy throbbing in his teeth as he bit down on your sensitive nerves.

You were completely in his control, in a place far from the rest of the civilized world, with the only people nearby to hear you scream being his associates. Saying you had dived too deep into the pool would be under exaggerating. For the first time you felt actual fear well up inside of you, making you feel cold everywhere but the places Chrollo touched you.

Swimming in thoughts of lust and fear you accidentally let a moan escape when he bit down on your shoulder and sucked. Your hand struggled against his strength, but he had firmly pinned it to the wall at your side, so your other hand went to his shoulder gripping the soft suit fabric tightly in your fingers as you struggled to know if you wanted to push him away or bring him closer.

He stood straight to take in your expression, and you knew you looked flushed already. Your heart was just beating too hard, and maybe you had held your breath to keep from moaning at each touch. Like some school girl that was being touched for the first time. Passively you assured yourself it was just because it had been a little while. That was all.

Taking your hand from his shoulder he brought both of your hands over your head, holding them with only one of his own. “So that’s the face that lives under your mask,” his voice was boastful and soft, secretly you loved hearing him talk.

“I don’t know what you mean,” you were trying to sound coy and confident, but even you could hear the low tremble in your words.

The back of his fingers ran from your temple to your cheek as his dark eyes drank in your attempt of a cock-sure smile. “I could see just a peek of that mask slip at dinner. And I wanted to take it from you right there in front of everyone.” You shivered and his hand slid down your neck to your shoulder. “This look suits you. It’s honest and greedy.” His fingers danced their way under your arm to your back and easily found the zipper on your dress. “Your eyes practically beg for me to feed that greed because you can’t take it for yourself. Not while you are held like this you can’t anyway.”

The comfortable fabric of the dress loosened in a waterfall around your body as he dragged the zipper down, leaving you standing naked save for your panties and shoes- as the dress hadn’t allowed you to wear a bra. That was the upside, and downside, of such clothing: once it was gone you were horribly exposed. Subconsciously, you rubbed your thighs together before you caught yourself and steadied your legs.

Chrollo was smiling again, and gods you enjoyed the way that little smile accompanied the look in his eyes. He put his hand to your lower back and you could feel the skin warm instantly at his touch. “Maybe my plan to take what I want is to seduce you into just giving it to me,” you managed finally as the warmth spread to your butt with his movement.

“Not a bad plan,” he praised, fingers sliding under the curve of your bottom to tease your vaginal lips. You let out a sigh, spreading your legs just enough for his fingers to have room to move teasingly against you. “But what if I stopped right now? You wouldn’t get what you wanted.” His fingers stopped moving completely.

You licked your lower lip, hiding your disappointment. “Then you wouldn’t get what you wanted either, right? So where would that leave either of us?”

“Perhaps all I wanted was this. Having you exposed and craving my touch. So I would win.”

Being careful to not move quickly enough to accidentally harm him, you lifted a leg and moved your thigh against his groin, feeling his dick react with a twitch which made you giggle. “Seems a lame victory. Like stealing the glass of the display case and leaving the jewels.”

Gently at first you rubbed your thigh against him before pushing harder, knowing you were also rubbing his balls with each movement. His lips parted absentmindedly, a sign he was enjoying it. The growing firmness against your thigh helped prove that. “Come on, boss. Don’t you want to take something that isn’t yours and mark it up?”

His hesitance had actually played in your favor, giving you a moment to take initiative and gain a little ground of your own. Some of that initial fear had converted into adrenaline that was feeding you to be sassy. But Chrollo’s ego wouldn’t allow it long you realized, because with another fluid motion you were falling onto the bed. His dark silhouette loomed as you started to get onto your elbows out of a natural reaction. “No. Stay as you were,” he said, tone dark with a sense of order that was used to being heeded.

The ground you had just gained was crumbling as you laid on the bed looking up at him as he loosened his cravat, eyes never moving from your body. It seemed like a good time to remove your shoes, so you toed them off, hearing them hit the floor with a soft thud. “Nothing bad is going to happen,” you told yourself as he dropped the flowing fabric from his neck and began to remove his coat. “You can handle this. This is just a bit of fun before a job.”

Every movement he made as he undressed made the adrenaline within you increase. Your legs were almost trembling with need, as well as from an understandable fight or flight reaction. Chrollo draped the coat over a nearby chair and you ran a hand down your chest watching him take the time to remove his shoes. His eyes watched as you cupped one breast and pinched the nipple between two fingers, hips shifting against the bed in anticipation.

You enjoyed him watching you. Knowing that he would notice each little movement made your skin raise in goosebumps and your other hand caressed your hip as he moved towards the bed. He stopped next to the bed and continued to observe you as he removed the cuff-links from his shirt. The pause gave you a chance to regain that crumbling level field again, so you slowly lifted yourself up to your elbows. This time he he said nothing. Testing the line of his order, you sat up and shifted your knees underneath yourself so you could rise upon you knees to match his height the best you could with the slight height disadvantage the bed created. His face didn’t give away anything, and it was starting to irritate you. The least he could do was give you a bit of reaction for your performance.

Teasingly, you ran your hands down his chest as he put the cuff-links into a pants pocket. Even through his clothes you could feel the defined muscles and you bit your lower lip imagining what he would look like naked. Using just the tips of your fingers, you caressed his neck. Drawing lines from the pale flesh down to the top button of his shirt. Purposely looking at his shirt buttons and not his face, you popped the button free and with a leisurely pace moved to the next. The building joy you felt as you did so was comparable to opening a gift, it didn’t matter that you had a good guess what was under the paper. A new toy was a new toy.

Chrollo ran his hands through your hair, moving a few strands out of the way of his view of your face. This little tell made it apparent that he did enjoy your show, so much so he wanted to watch every part of it as you moved your fingers down his front.

Unable to contain yourself from taking a bit more, you leaned forward and kissed the side of his neck as your fingers continued their dexterous dance on his buttons. Your trained fingers could open locks, nick wallets unnoticed, and coerce men to do your bidding with just the barest of touch. But still you enjoyed the action of slowly popping each button free and revealing the undershirt that hugged his torso underneath. Chrollo’s long fingers moving through your hair only added to the experience, definitely helping you feel inspired to continue doing whatever came to mind and you straightened out enough to run your tongue over the soft curve of his ear.

The last button came free and your hands moved past the stiff cotton to the softer undershirt to caress his chest. His skin was so pale, probably from thieving at night and hiding out for most of the day. You wanted to ruin that beauty.  Each little kiss back down to the nape of his neck was just as teasing to you as it was to him with that thought in your head.

While your hands continued their adventure of his body, he freed his hands of your hair and shrugged the shirt off his shoulders. Moving in such a way as to not disturb your actions, he pulled the shirt free of his pants and tossed it join the tailcoat on the chair. He was obviously distracted by this menial task, so as his hands met your hips you bit his neck- hard enough to leave a bruise to be sure- and he hissed. His muscles tightened under your touch and the fact that he made it so apparent that he had been caught off guard made pride swell up in you, even as he grabbed your shoulders to pull you back. “Bold, aren’t you?” he questioned, almost sounding a little irritated. Already you could see the beautiful purple blemishing his skin.

“I can get a little needy,” you admitted, reaching for the button on his pants as you spoke. You were too involved now, so even his slight disapproval couldn’t stop you now.

Chrollo resumed removing his much more complicated outfit as your fingers worked the front of his pants. Easily he slid the suspenders from his shoulders and threw off his undershirt with haste. Somehow even rushed, it was really attractive to watch a man undress from a good outfit. And the increasing speed at which Chrollo was becoming naked let you know he was getting excited.

His dick was pressing against his underwear, bulging out from the open front of his pants, trying to become completely free. You took it into both hands, rubbing your thumbs against the underside as your fingers laced around his girth, the silky fabric of his underwear adding to the sensation for you both.

“Take me into your mouth,” he said in that same commanding tone as before. You licked your lips and looked into his face finally. His eyes had a shine to them that hadn’t been there before and his lips were in a perpetual tiny, almost unnoticeable, smile. To encourage you further, he put a hand on top of your head and leaned in towards you.

“Of course, boss,” you replied, really hoping the playful use of the title made him feel a little less in control of your actions. But if it did he didn’t let on as you slid his underwear down to free his dick at last.

He was already hard, but as you wrapped your hand around it you could tell there was room to grow. Rubbing the side of the head you ran your tongue over his balls and up the underside to the head. The veins in his sensitive flesh were protruding a little and you could feel them on your tongue as you repeated the motion but taking your time to let the tip of your tongue explore. Something told you that Chrollo wasn’t the type to be loud, but that only made you want to really earn a reaction.

You loosened your grip and started to rub your fingers up and down the shaft of his dick, keeping it teasing at first. Any piece of flesh you left exposed became a target for your lips and tongue to flick against, providing some lubrication to your fingers as well. He still hadn’t made a noise yet, but his dick grew so that now your grip was tighter purely because his size demanded it.

Shifting you positioned your mouth over the head, running your tongue around the ridge of flesh as your hand’s speed remained constant. Despite the fact he still wore his dress pants, you could see his thigh muscles tighten as you took him into your mouth, carefully brushing your teeth over the sensitive, wet surface. You couldn’t be sure over the sound of your mouth working, but you swore you could hear his breath catch from that move.

You chanced a glance up as you worked your tongue out under him and sucked. For a brief moment his eyes closed and a fresh sense of pride egged you on. Your free hand gripped his thigh for support as you gripped the base of his cock to hold him steady for your mouth. Carefully, you backed him out of your mouth and then brought him in, taking his length deeper into your throat before pulling away again. The pace was slow and deliberate and each time you came back you managed to fit more down towards your throat.  It was a delicate balance of pace and stamina as you tried to be careful so as not to not over do it and make yourself gag. Each time you carefully touched your teeth to just the ridge of the head his thigh muscles would tense again and you knew that he liked the slight thrill.

You managed to take him entirely in, gagging only a little as his dick rubbed against your throat, but not enough to be ashamed of. Now you picked up the pace. Finger and thumb creating a ring around his base, you quickly sucked and backed him out of your throat just a few inches before going back. His hand on your head gripped your hair tight and you wished you could look up into his face again, but that would distract from your careful rhythm.

Somewhat unfortunately, Chrollo finally gave you a reaction. Both hands buried themselves into your hair and he forced your head to move faster. Both of your hands gripped his thighs for stabilization as he brought your mouth too fast back onto his cock and you gagged a little as he did it again. To the best of your ability you breathed in through your nose and tried to work your tongue around his dick as he kept up his  harsh pace. A single tear ran down your cheek as you wondered how much longer you could take the abuse. You hoped that your fingers were leaving bruises on his thighs as you clung to him for dear life.

Just as you started to wonder if you’d pass out from not being able to get in enough air for how fast Chrollo was going, he finally released the pressure on your head so you could pull away enough to recover. He hadn’t come but he was definitely at full erection now, a little pre-cum sitting on your tongue as you coughed and took in a full breath. His hands hands slipped out of the strands of your hair and you sat back on your heels, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand as you gave him a low glare. It took a moment for you to regulate your breath, but he was of course not paying attention to you now.

Instead he was slipping his pants and underwear off, taking the suspenders off of the pants with particular care. “That was a bit rude,” you said after recovering more thoroughly, sounding only a little breathy.

“Do you want me to stop?” he asked looking at you from the corner of his eyes.

Admittedly you didn’t. But if you said yes, would he? He had already made it very clear that he planned to take what he wanted. “No.”

He smiled facing you again, suspenders taut in his hands. “No, what?”

You swallowed as your heart slammed in your chest. “No… boss?”

He laughed and pushed you onto the bed as he followed. Had he seriously thought that little name to be sexy? Or was he just messing with you? You couldn’t tell as he knelt on the bed and turned you onto your stomach with one hand. 

With a skilled and fast hand, Chrollo easily tied your wrists behind your back with the suspenders, your hammering heart still echoing in your ears as you tested the strength of the accessory. They gave enough so it was comfortable, but he had tied them in such a way it would be hard to escape.

“You know I saw you the first day you looked at the tea set.” You turned your head in an attempt to be able to see him over your shoulder. It was difficult but you could see his face as he watched his hand rub your naked back. “I’m not sure how long you were in town before that. But I knew what you were when your eyes lit up.”

You didn’t get to ask any questions as his hand left your back and came across your ass. It didn’t hurt much, the action had been playful. “I knew that shine instantly. A demon cannot hide what it is from another demon, right?” When you didn’t respond he smacked you again and your fingers curled into your palms. “That was what you said right?”

“That is what I said,” you agreed.

He made a low noise of pleasure, somewhere between a chuckle and a ‘hn’. “I didn’t lie when I said you looked nice in your dress, but you looked gorgeous in that moment. Your fingers moved like they wanted to work a piano or a lock,” he was rubbing the place he had spanked you before, which made your skin burn. “And it was then that I knew I wanted to take you.”

The way in which he said the sentence made cold creep up your spine again. Shifting slightly, you attempted to turn so you could more clearly look at him, but a solid slap against your butt stopped you. “Not yet,” he commanded and you laid still. “I want to know: did you notice me that day?”

Had you? It was hard to remember. When something caught your attention that was all you focused on in those moments. A harder smack came down and the noise was much louder than the other ones. You grumbled out an ‘ouch’, pulling against your restraints.

“Well? Did you?”

The museum had been quiet, but there were several tourists and even some locals. Their clothing gave away which party they belonged to. Had anyone caught your attention specifically?

He spanked you again, just as hard as the last time.

You closed your eyes remembering the museum. Remembering who you looked at and who you had intentionally avoided.

With his next strike you cried, “Yes! I saw you.”

“Oh? Are you lying?”

“No,” you sighed, feeling the stinging continue. “I tried to avoid you when I came into the museum. You were looking at the statue outside of the Azian exhibit as I left.”

He kissed the cheek he had created a fire on. “I knew that you were a true thief,” he said with a light voice of praise.

You took a breath in through your nose and out your mouth in relief before Chrollo turned you on your back again. Your arms being pinned under you wasn’t the most comfortable, but you didn’t have time to think about it as he positioned himself between your legs and began tracing a path up your inner thigh with just the lightest touch of his fingers. “Did you know when you saw me then that this would happen?”

Everything in you wished you could lie and say you did, but it was too obvious of a lie. “I knew when I saw you today.” This caught his attention.

He looked you in the eyes as one finger traced your panty line. “Did you?”

“When you didn’t walk away after I replied to you,” it was a stretch of the truth, but a convenient one.

One finger found its way under your underwear and touched your slit. Now you were aware just how wet you were as he slid his finger up and down and you looked to the darkened ceiling with a soft gasp. “Did you think you’d end up just like this?”

You smiled. “Oh yeah. It is obvious you’re the kind of guy that likes to tie a girl up.” Roughly he shoved a finger into you and you gasped louder, thighs clamping around his body.

To his credit, now he shut up. Focusing just on moving his fingers in and out of you, curling them against your insides in a way that made you moan. It became obvious that he was intentionally not touching your clit, and that was maddening as the warm sensation of a building orgasm started to build inside of you. You managed to focus enough to twist your hands under your back, pulling at the suspenders and using their sight elasticity to work them around your wrists.

“Chrollo,” you breathed and he ‘hm’ed in response. “Stop teasing me.”

He thrust his fingers into you deeper, but you didn’t make a noise- even though you really wanted to. He frowned as each of your noises and tells slowly stopped coming as simply. You looked down at him with cold eyes, “I told you. Teasing me isn’t going to work forever.”

You pulled your hands out from under your back, holding the suspenders in one hand with a pleased grin that you had managed to slip out of them. Taking the suspenders into both hands you shifted yourself so you could lift your hips to gently rub his dick with your pussy, keeping the teasing grin on your face the entire time. “Did I surprise you… Boss?” Playfully you whipped his chest with the suspender strap. “You said yourself that I was a thief. Did you think your little trick would hold me long?”

“Interesting,” he muttered, leaning over you to intimidate you with his position. “I didn’t think you’d get free so quickly.”

It was a small praise, but you lapped it up. You slid the suspenders around the back of his neck and pulled him down to your level. “Tell me more about how impressive I am.”

“You’re more than bold. You’re outright audacious.” You started to laugh but he pressed his mouth to yours so that he could kiss you silent.

If asked, you would be forced to admit that Chrollo was good with his mouth in a few ways, and you wish you could have known if it was any good in more. As he kissed you with rough vigor he also took the opportunity of your distraction to swiftly slip inside of you. All at once you were flooded with feelings: his lips still pressing into yours, his dick sliding in and out of you, his hand digging into your hip as he helped lift you to his rhythm. 

Chrollo reached out with his free hand and took the suspenders from you and discarded them, though you weren’t sure to where- you didn’t really care either. But with the object occupying your hands gone they started to wander for a place to belong. Naturally they ended up his hair, each finger breaking up that perfect slicked back look as you pulled his face from yours to breath in as his pace picked up and made you gasp.

You watched his hair become disheveled through hazy eyes. You had been right, he was much more attractive this way, and that only added to the pleasure.

He brought his hips up with an especially hard snap and you moaned loudly, forgetting for the moment that there were potentially other people around to hear you.

“God,” you muttered with a breathy voice and Chrollo laughed.

“He has nothing to do with this,” he replied. “Give credit where it is due.”

A small chuckle was cut off from your lips as he shoved his way into you particularly hard. On some level you were worried you would pull his hair too hard as your fingers tightened their grip on their own accord. Releasing his dark strands you gathered the blanket underneath you in two clenched fists, watching Chrollo’s face as he fucked you.

“Chrollo, don’t stop,” you moaned, “Whatever you do, don’t stop.”

His lips had parted again, one of his only tells so far of how much he was enjoying this. At one point he slowed, and his eyes closed before he picked up his pace and you felt washed over with sensation again. You were so close to an orgasm and his face said he was too.

You released the blanket to reach down and rub your clit, touching your finger against his dick as it came into you and you could feel him shudder as your nail brushed against him.

The build up within you gave out, like a dam. You clamped down on Chrollo as you orgasmed. Your hand let go of the blanket and gripped his forearm as a small cry came with the rush of pleasure. The extra pressure of you clamping onto him was enough to finish him off as well and you could hear his voice catch in his throat as he came.

Feeling satisfied and somewhat spent you turned your face into the bed, noticing only now that the sheet below you smelled somewhat clean. How far ahead had he planned all of this? Not that you would complain. Fucking on a clean bed was much better than what you had thought was happening at the start, not that it had stopped you obviously.

Chrollo brought a hand down your body one last time before standing, an air of fulfillment still hanging about him as well. You watched him move- wrapping yourself in the blanket for covering and warmth- as he redressed, keeping the tailcoat and cravat off.

“The water works,” he informed you as he ran his hands through his hair to fix it, which made you frown. You had done good work messing that up. “There are clothes in the bathroom for you.”

“You sure think of everything don’t you?” He tucked his shirt into his pants with a smirk.

Keeping the cover wrapped securely you sat up, drawing his attention. “Rest in here as long as you like. We’ll go over the plan tomorrow and move into position in the afternoon.”

“Yes, boss,” you teased.

“Don’t push it,” he warned, but it didn’t sound too serious. Something about your teasing smile must have brought a thought to his mind, because after fastening his top button he leaned over and gave you a chaste kiss. “I’ll see you later for briefing.”

It wasn’t just a casual throw away line. It was a statement of certainty. In a simple way he had just told you what he expected, and you wondered what he would do if you didn’t. If you slipped away into the night.

He left you alone and you fell back into the bed, cuddling up to the pillow. Happily you found it too smelled clean.

You didn’t intend to leave before the job was done though. No. You had pushed things this far, and now you had gotten a taste for Chrollo. It was easy to see he thought you capable, but something told you he still underestimated you.

The swirling ideas of a plan started to form in your mind as you drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

~*~*~

 “This plan still doesn’t sit well with me.”

“Is that your intuition, Machi?”

“… yes.”

“Hm. We’ll tread carefully. We can still use her for the end of the plan. We just have to be careful with how we proceed up to that point. Pakunoda will be with her the entire time. I trust her, don’t you?”

“Of course.”

“Then we’ll continue on with our plan for now.”

“Fine.”

Across the hall the shower water turned on.

“Hope she is as good as you think she is, boss.”

~*~*~

 Showered and changed into fresh, dark clothes you joined the other apartment once more. The door was clear of traps this time so it was a better start than before.

Two women were in the room: Machi sat in her same position on the couch and who you presumed was Pakunoda leaned against a wall that led to the kitchen. Chrollo sat on the kitchen counter, using the natural sunlight from the nearby window to read a book. All eyes but Chrollo’s flew to you as you entered the room.

The atmosphere was tense. This was why you liked working alone. Other people could cause such drama.

“Good morning to you too,” you said to the women as you stopped in the living room. Admittedly it was already afternoon. You had hid in the other apartment for a few hours, using the alone time to your advantage and avoiding this very meeting.

“Good morning,” Pakunoda said. You thought her voice was pleasant. Neither rude or overly pleasant. Just natural. Which wasn’t what you had expected

You waited for Chrollo to address the room, wishing he would put the book down and get to it already. You were itching to start, especially since your own original plan was to act last night, now you were already 16 hours off of your own plan.

With a resounding snap, he closed his book and looked up at you. His face was passively neutral and he had changed clothes at some point. No longer was he in the dress slacks and button up, but instead in black pants with white detail, and a black coat. It would look gaudy on most anyone else, but it suited Chrollo. The tattoo on his forehead was new though. It hadn’t been there last night at dinner and at the museum he had worn a headband. Maybe he had covered it with makeup to go out last night? Somehow you already felt it suited him just as much as his clothing did.

“We’ll talk on the way,” he stated standing up from the counter. In unison the two women stood and waited for Chrollo to lead the way.

They obviously worked together a lot.

As he left the apartment the women waited for you to go before them, and you managed not to sigh as you did so. If you were going to disappear you would have done it by now. It occurred to you that perhaps they were more worried about you attacking them. But for what reason?

The car from last night was still outside, and you wondered if they had at least moved it overnight so that no potential passerby would see it.

“First we will go back into the city. It is Friday, so as evening settles in downtown will be lively with foot traffic. We’ll blend in with the crowds and meet on the South side of the building at 9:30 pm,” Chrollo informed you all as he held the door open.

Without hesitation Machi and Pakunoda got in before you and Chrollo motioned for you to go in before himself. The other two women sat across the car from you and Machi reached up and tapped on the top of the car twice. Automatically the driver started the car and began driving back the long way to the city.

“At dusk we will enter through a door on the roof. Machi will be getting us through that door. Once inside you and Pakunoda will go to the first floor. She knows what objects to take from that floor. Machi and I will go the basement and meet you at the door to the East side of the building that lets out onto the street. At that time we will rejoin with the car. Any questions?”

“What time are we meeting at the East entrance?” you asked.

Chrollo looked at you next to him and smirked. “It should end up being around 11:00 pm. The weekend crowds will still be around to provide us cover as we rejoin the traffic on the street.”

This was a fast plan. But if the cases could be removed and objects taken quickly, you could definitely get the tea set within the guard’s rotation break. But what other items were on the list? Was Pakunoda fast at such work? She had to be if you were both to take the main floor.

“Okay,” you replied, though you weren’t feeling very informed or confident.

Machi and Pakunoda had nothing to ask, which wasn’t surprising. Surely they had known the plan and the finer details before now.

“Can you still take care of the cameras?” Chrollo asked you and you nodded. “Good. You will take point on the way into the museum and Pakunoda will provide directions as needed.” You noticed he didn’t ask how. Something told you he wanted to watch you do it instead of asking.

If you had thought the drive out of the city had been awkward, the drive back in was definitely worse. The car was quiet as the grave and the lack of slight flirtatious energy made it feel longer when compared to last night.

You distracted yourself by looking out the window, watching the scenery fly by that had just been so much darkness the last time you saw it. There were other buildings scattered around, it had to have been a suburb that had been mostly abandoned over time while people moved closer to the city. After a few miles the signs of people still living buildings could be seen. Lawn decorations, cars in the driveway, and toys left in yards.

What would life have been like for you if you hadn’t decided you wanted to be a miscreant? Would you have settled down in a small suburb and found a boring job to work five days a week?

This was too much introspection. How did the other three stand being in this situation? You felt like you would go crazy. You wished you had a cellphone for once. But they hadn’t been worth the hassle so far so you had never gotten one.

The memory of Chrollo’s shocked face when you had turned the tables on him last night came into your mind and you didn’t stop the cat like grin that appeared. You couldn’t wait to see it again.

It felt like an eternity, but finally the busy city traffic enclosed the car. Pedestrians filled the sidewalks as the dying light made the concrete glow orange. The small clutch purse you had taken with you to the restaurant was still in the car and you were glad for that because you had left it behind like an idiot last night. You could feel it against your ankle as the car took a turn towards the museum.

Fishing down for it you pulled it into your lap, seeing Machi watch your movements with curiosity. As if to reassure her, and maybe yourself, you pulled from the small bag a tool and waved it at her. It was your entry key into the museum displays. She looked away as if she didn’t care and you rolled your eyes replacing the item into your bag.

This was already a fun filled trip with friends, you could tell.

The car stopped on a side street and automatically Chrollo opened the door and motioned for you to join him. This time you didn’t have him help you, probably because of pride, and you got out on your own. The car drove away once the door was shut to drop the other too off a few blocks away to blend in with the crowd as was the plan.

Watching it go you couldn’t help but to wonder: who was the driver? How much did they know about this plan? It all seemed like a lot of variables to consider, but no one seemed bothered. Just another testament of how often they all worked together.

Refusing to walk behind Chrollo, you walked by his side and he looked at you from the corner of his eye for a brief moment. You didn’t particularly care what he thought about it, but you weren’t going to be forced to walk behind him like a puppy. He didn’t say anything as you turned a corner together and made your way through the crowded downtown streets.

No one really paid attention to you as you carefully side stepped anyone that was too distracted to not run into you themselves. That was the beauty of large cities, no one cared what you were doing as long as you didn’t bother them. Even if you were dressed for a night out at a club that you had no intentions of visiting.

Chrollo ducked into an alleyway, and you matched his pace and direction easily. Out of sight of the main street you did feel better, even if no one was paying attention before. Now you were unseen by most eyes.

Several twists and turns later the team arrived to the back of the building at last. The last lights of the day had disappeared over the horizon and the noise of night life rose in the form of music and voices from every nearby major street.

Machi  and Pakunoda had been waiting, casually leaning against the back wall of the museum. Their forms were barely visible in the darkened alleyway but you already were familiar enough to know it was them at a distance.

Standing straight, Machi threw her barely visible threads to the rooftop and pulled them to test their grip. Methodically she handed one to Chrollo and you first. You wrapped the silky strand around your hand and Machi tugged the strings with a full body movement which sent you flying towards the roof.

The way she did it so seemingly easy was somewhat shocking. You gripped the roof edge and pulled yourself the rest of the way up, releasing her thread as you did so. “That’s pretty impressive,” you confessed, rubbing your hand from where the thread had bitten into it.

Chrollo had a smug look of pride when you looked at him, but he shrugged, nonchalant. “They are very good at what they do.”

“I guess that is why you’re willing to work with others,” you commented as Machi and Pakunoda pulled themselves onto the roof with grace.

“One of the reasons.”

Machi passed by you to the roof door, pulling a straight pin from the cushion on her left hand as she went.

The door popped open easily and without a word you all entered into the building. Now this was the part you had been excited for, the actual fun.

This was your number one favorite thing.

Once you reached the door for the first floor you motioned for the others to stand back. Being careful to move as slowly as possible, you opened the door the slightest crack and peeked out. The guard wasn’t on this side of the exhibits just yet, and you knew from your long walks that the stairwells weren’t alarmed as the guards used it to go between floors sometimes. It also saved on tech cost to keep the rest of the building on high alert comparatively.

With a deep breath you brought forth your nen into your right hand. Carefully you reached out and touched the outside wall. Emitting your nen across the wall you moved it based on a sensation you couldn’t quite describe. Electricity had a specific, familiar prickling sensation, and once you found it you could tap into it and follow it to your primary target: the cameras. Using the electrical signals, the cameras were manipulatable with your nen. They could flicker, freeze the last visual data they had received, or turn off. The more cameras, the more nen you’d have to use. There were only three in this first area. Easy enough.

“Let’s go,” you said confidently, opening the door and leading the way into the museum. Each camera flickered several times, so as to disguise that there was a sequence that hid you and your companions movements through their areas to the next dark zone.

They stuck to you as closely as they could, never asking a question or seeming to double check your work. It seemed they blindly trusted you, or they really did take Chrollo’s word. Either way there was no chance you were going to be left alone at any point.

Area by area you made your way to the stairs that would allow Chrollo and Machi access to the basement, Pakunoda giving you specific floor plan details along the way. Which was helpful for the places you hadn’t memorized since they hadn’t been integral to your own needs before. But her knowledge was so exact you were curious how she knew it all.

At the door to the stairs you managed to rest a little, only one camera pointed in this direction and freezing it alone was easy enough. Now you didn’t feel so silly for resting extra today since you were expending much more energy than you had intended.

“Nice work,” Chrollo complimented, both hands in his coat pocket. He seemed completely relaxed.

“How will you get to the East entrance?” you asked.

“Don’t worry. We’ll be there,” he said with a smirk. Behind him Machi opened the stairwell that led to the basement and Chrollo gave you a last look over his shoulder as he turned to leave, “Make sure you’re there as well.”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” you teased, hearing Pakunoda at your back shift.

The two of you continued your path to the section on unidentified artifacts. But first, Pakunoda directed you to the Azia exhibit and you realized that your leading target would probably be that area. It was frustrating, you’d prefer to get your tea set and shrug the woman off, but it was still too early. You wanted Chrollo and Machi to be deeply stuck in the basement first.

The patrol guard was just leaving the exhibit hall as you arrived. “Yeah they have been doing that all week. There is a special electrician coming to check it out,” he said into his walkie talkie as he passed by the alcove in which the two of you hid. Pakunoda looked at you upon hearing this and you merely smiled.

 “I’ll go down there just to be sure as always though. I bet they’re just old. You gotta replace technology every six months these days you know? That’s what the kids all say." The guard continued rambling on about cameras and technology as he made way towards the part of the museum you had come from.

You shrugged at Pakunoda with false ignorance before turning into the exhibit hall.

Again you froze the camera in this hallway, it was easier than making it flicker forever. It took more energy but as long as you only had to do this a few times you’d still have plenty of power. “So you’re an emitter,” Pakunoda said as she stopped at a display case of masks and pointed.

“Guess so,” you replied, pulling your tool from your clutch bag. “I always thought being a manipulator would be easier, but you work with what you get.”

Easily you took each screw out of the case quickly and when you lifted the glass Pakunoda took the masks so you could quietly replace the glass. She wrapped them in cloth and placed them in a bag she had brought with her.

Three more displays of ancient artifacts were taken much the same way, each time you got faster with the strange screws and tool. You noticed Pakunoda’s bag was quite full already and too much more could leave too much room for weight error.

“Let’s move on,” she said and you nodded with relief.

The unidentified artifacts exhibit was small. Only one camera inside, part of the draw for you personally.

But this time as you took the last screw out you pointed to Pakunoda to lift the glass. She looked at you with distrust but you remained firm. “This is the one thing I have to grab with my own hands. Chrollo promised me that right.”

He hadn’t, but maybe she’d fall for that lie anyway.

With a soft sigh she lifted the glass and you could feel your fingers start to tingle with excitement. You pulled from your clutch a folded up object and with a flick of the wrist it folded out into a container. Pakunoda’s eyes widened with surprise as you gently lifted the tea set from its current home into the container. With practiced speed, you folded up the top after dropping all of the soft foam that had taken up the rest of the clutch bag. It would help cushion the tea set so that it would clatter around in the box.

“Thanks,” you told her with a smile. Slowly she started to set the glass down and you backed away silently, dropping your nen from the nearby camera.

“Let’s go,” she said and you nodded innocently.

“Which way? I don’t know the way to the door on the East. I always came in and out from the North.”

She pointed and you nodded turning, resuming your camera manipulations with your nen. She followed too closely for you to try and bring the cameras back up to catch only her, but that didn’t matter. You had gotten her once.

You checked the clock on the wall as you passed by. 10:20 pm. It hadn’t taken you as long as you had thought it would. Maybe you had thought that because you expected that Chrollo had more targets on the first floor. But if they had guessed 11 there was a reason. He and Machi would still be busy in the basement.

The container in your hand was heavy, but you felt so light carrying it. Actually you felt positively giddy. You got what you wanted and in just a few moments you’d be free of your babysitter.

The door to the East exit was just ahead but Pakunoda grabbed you and pulled you to the side behind a large sign that was boasting about a new exhibit. “This should be a camera blind spot. We’ll wait here until Chrollo returns.”

All too happy to drop your nen you nodded. If you had to, you could keep it up for longer, but you were admittedly getting a bit tired and the night wasn’t over yet.

You could hear footsteps running down the tile floor in your direction and managed not to smile. Chrollo and Machi would be too smart to make so much noise, it had to be the guard.

He stopped at the end of the hall and you peeked out from your hiding spot to see him raise his gun. “I know you’re back there. Come out or I will be forced to fire!”

Pakunoda looked at you pointedly and you stared back at her with confusion. “Maybe he saw the cases empty?” you asked shifting more behind the signage.

She frowned and gripped the arm that held the tea set, looking into your eyes with a gaze that could kill. “Then how does he know which exit we are at?”

“It is his job,” you snapped. “How should I know?”

But Pakunoda’s hand on your arm was crushing. The muscles under her grip screamed and your free hand flew to hers to pull back her thumb and force her to relieve some of the pressure. “Let go, you’re hurting me,” you snarled as the emotionless face continued to stare at you.

“You brought the camera back up on me,” she said plainly. “Why?”

A sliver of panic stabbed into your heart. There was no way she should know that. “Never trust a thief,” you told her simply as the guard down the hallway yelled again. “I knew you were going to ditch me. I heard them talking about it earlier.”

She nodded, “I can see that. But maybe you’re jumping to conclusions? You don’t know what was what was going to happen.”

A bullet hit the wall to the side of the two of you, it was just a warning shot. “Never take unnecessary chances. Besides I know the wine, dine, and leave behind trick.” Chrollo had been very charming, there were times in the game that you had slipped and enjoyed yourself a bit too much. But you knew it was all business.

Loud clattering rang against the museum walls, the second floor guard had arrived as back-up. There were at least two more within the building. Time was running out.

“It’s too bad. You had some potential,” Pakunoda said as she shoved you harshly into the hallway.

You bit back a curse, catching yourself before you completely lost footing and fell to the ground. “Put your hands up!” one guard cried.

Pakunoda watched you from behind the sign, her gun raised at you as well. She was aiming purposefully low, intending to wound you so you couldn’t run and would be caught. “You’re right, it is too bad, Paku,” you muttered quietly enough the guards wouldn’t hear a thing. “We could have been friends under different circumstances. Maybe.”

She didn’t react to you, merely watched with a quiet coldness as you slowly knelt and put the box on the ground while the guards barked orders at you and into their walkie talkies. As you slowly lifted your hands over your head, you could see her pull her phone out of her pocket from the corner of your eye. She was telling Machi and Chrollo what had happened, now time was even more limited.

But it was the perfect opportunity. Her attention was split between aiming at you and using her phone, so you dropped low, swinging your leg out to knock over the exhibit sign that she was still taking refuge behind.

Making a quick decision she dropped the phone, gripped her gun with both hands and fired. A bullet from the front whizzed by you when you had dropped down, but you had always been focused on Pakunoda’s gun. She was closer, so she was a bigger threat.

With seconds to spare you angled your supporting foot to launch you away from her target area and then back at her, successfully dodging her shot. Her reaction time was fast and the gun swung around to point at you again and you muttered a mental prayer to whoever would take it that you could be just a little faster as you knocked the hand with the gun away. Someone must have been listening, because the shot missed and you landed on Pakunoda with your entire weight.

There was no time to revel in your victory, using all of your strength you pushed her out into the center of the floor, keeping your feet under you as did so. With one hard push you lept to your box and snatched it up before dashing to the door.

Down the hall, the guards couldn’t clearly see what was happening as the two of you were silhouetted by the lights outside of the exit and it was the only source of light they had to operate off of. This made them slow to react as one shot at you and the other raced down the hallway towards Pakunoda who scrambled for her gun and fired. But you didn’t have time to look back and see what was going on past that. Only the sound of a body hitting the ground gave away any clue.

For fire safety the doors could be pushed open from inside even when locked, so escaping out onto the street was easy.

Your heart was pounding so hard that you had to fight the natural urge to gasp for air as you quickly hustled down the stairs and into the crowd that filled the street on a busy weekend night. It took a second to compose yourself enough to look up and pose yourself to appear natural so as to blend into the people who hadn’t just been shot at several times.

Moments after the door to the museum opened and an angry Pakunoda emerged into the night air. Without a doubt you were sure that both guards were dead, but had she recovered the cell phone in time to also follow you?

Time was actually up now.

You didn’t turn to look at her as you weaved your way through the crowd and turned a corner.

Once out of her line of sight you ducked into the busy bar immediately down the street. The bodies packed inside were unforgiving but you managed to slip around them easily with a practiced dance that required you to twist and turn your body, keeping your prize close to your chest.

It was too dangerous to look around for your tail, because that would make you too obvious, but you hoped she hadn’t seen you as you ducked low enough in the crowd so that you couldn’t be seen. Using the cover of other bodies as a camouflage as you snuck around to the door that lead to the back room. The bartenders had been so busy with orders they didn’t notice you push your way into the kitchen.

The pair preparing simple bar food and closing up for the night didn’t seem to particularly care when you entered the kitchen and immediately went out the back door to the alleyway where everything had started. You couldn’t blame them, it was a busy weekend night and surely they were exhausted.

It was a simple turn around, but you didn’t see any sign of Pakunoda as you reemerged onto the street and hailed a taxi. Not a second could be wasted or stalled so you slipped into the back of the cab without a second cursory look around. As you sank into the seat you could hear the noise of sirens in the distance already coming your way. They sure worked quick in this city.

“Where to?” the driver asked.

You looked closely at him to make sure that he didn’t seem familiar before responding, “Train station.”

The taxi slid away from the sidewalk and into the busy traffic. By the time you hit the first stop light down the street the telling blue and red of the police were already surrounding the museum and you decided to chance a glance, turning to see if you would catch a glimpse of any more action.

“Woah. That is sudden isn’t it?” the driver commented as he looked back in his mirror.

“Yeah. I wonder what happened. I hope it isn’t a fire,” you said with a morose tone.

“Oh that would be awful. I’ve been to that museum a lot. There are a lot of really pretty pieces in there."

“I had hoped to go but I didn’t have time. I was visiting my grandmother for a few days. I did find a nice gift for my husband down town though,” you said lifting the box for him to see. “He loves sweets so I got him a cake from that bakery down the street.”

“Oh! Simple Sweets? I love that place!” The car started to move as police rushed into the museum. “Did you try their pastries? They are so flaky you’ll never want any other pastries in the world.”

You smiled as the driver prattled on for the rest of the drive, caressing the top of your prize like a cat as you barely listened and made the appropriate “oh” and “really?” replies.

Admittedly you’d miss the dress you had left behind. But sacrifices had to be made for good product you decided as you tipped the driver from the clutch bag you had managed to keep track of the entire time. “Thanks for the ride and suggestions! I’ll be sure to try it all next time I visit!”

The driver chuckled and waved goodbye as he got out to help a woman load her bag into the trunk.

Even though you had just been in a pleasant car ride, your heart was still beating heavy in your chest as you bought a ticket and navigated your way through the station toward your platform. With how well trained Chrollo’s team was you knew you’d have to get off early and fly to the next city where you would try to lay low for a bit. There would be a bit of extra footwork this time, but at least the cops wouldn’t be looking for you when they had other perfectly viable suspects.

You bought a ticket for the next train leaving so as soon as you stepped on the platform you were able to board. The entire time the phantom sensation of a weight on your back made your shoulders tense as you navigated the train car to a seat closest to the aisle and away from the large window. The train was pretty empty, both a blessing and a curse. But it gave you a chance to be familiar with everyone that entered and took seats. No one seemed particularly suspicious.

Outside the whistle blew and you sighed hoping that there had been too little time for anyone to make their way here from the museum, what with all the cops and traffic.

Your right side felt icy cold as the train doors slid shut. It was too tempting to ignore, so slowly your eyes slid from the seat in front of you, across the aisle, and out the opposite window.

Standing with his hands casually in his pockets amongst the crowd you could see Chrollo looking right at you. His face seemed passive, neither angry or unconcerned as the train started to move away from the platform. Machi and Pakunoda weren’t in sight, so they were either still busy, or on the train.

But spite that concern you stood and went to the window to watch Chrollo’s dark form slip away, offering a smile and a wave goodbye as the train picked up speed. Before long, even his black silhouette was too far away to make out from the rest of the human forms that waited for their train.