#ive caught bits and pieces of it

[recent-rose]

god the way sam nivola plays lochlan is so funny kfl;dskfl

he absolutely nails the socially awkward shrinking violet youngest child who struggles to assert himself in a meaningful way. so fascinating. in ep2 the conversation about whether the waitstaff are women or men, and how he looks absolutely - enthralled? hypnotized? captivated? by saxon talking about how you 'never know what you're going to get'. like there's this weird look he gets when saxon does things like that and i think it's fascination? possibly. same look pretty much every time saxon says or does something that is absolutely way past normal sibling/familial boundaries. very moth to a flame. very planet orbiting a black hole. it's like he registers an opportunity to cut down even more distance between himself and his brother and he's gazing at it like some kind of (starving) carnivorous animal LOL

also the guy who did his posture adjustment in ep3 clocked tf out of him i almost died laughing. because even though he was clearly uncomfortable with what the guy was saying he was still like smiling and trying to appease him my god. bro isn't just a people pleaser he's mr people pleasurer himself. that must've been so hard for him

[wanderingchocolateeclair]

Ectoloader? Yes. Was this a piece meant for mermay? Yes. Am I only just now getting time to finish some month old wips? Also yes.

Sometimes when you go diving underwater for treasures, you might just find something that is a lot more surprising than any other regular treasures.

From my Little Mermaid au, I usually draw edgejeanists side of this au, and decided to doodle some ectoloader instead :D

[ar-reality360]

Slight spoilers for Lear’s lodge story.

You cannot tell me that a small child sent to bed without dinner as punishment would be allowed to go cook ramen.

I feel the scan made it lose a bit of its color, so here’s photos that hopefully give some of the color back.

[elegyofthemoon]

me trying to catch up w love and deepspaces new stories going 😰

[cgear-archived]

( ^ been writing this fucker again on discord and ough if/when i have the time and energy to come back to this blog i might need to defibrillate him out of his tumblr coma )

[a-little-monotonous]

I dont reallyyyyy like sonic x all that much but I absolutely ADORE the first episode, especially the racing part toward the end and how Absolutely Sassy sonic is

[arobinwithoutbatman]

"Tim. Some say Star Trek is partly iconic because they're unhinged co-workers in space. What do you think?"

"Oh one hundred percent agree! But also the very believable effects, which still hold up by the way, as well as the huge variety in politics and customs between various planets and galaxies. Even the newer series are all amazing and continue adding to what we've already learned! Did you see that Picard series? That twist with his son? God! I was on the edge of my seat every week!"

[my-castles-crumbling]

five - february 21 - black brothers - background jegulus - @black-brothers-microfic - cw: orion and walburga black are pieces of shit, but it's vague - word count: 613

Regulus Black had always been an insufferably serious person. Sirius always liked to joke that they'd been named incorrectly- Regulus was the one who never smiled, after all. But by the time he and Regulus escaped home at ages fifteen and sixteen, Sirius could only remember a grand total of five times that Regulus had really, truly smiled.

I

The first had, of course, been his first smile. Baby Regulus had been almost as emotionless as his teenage counterpart, hardly any tears or smiles, but the one time he had grinned, Sirius had caught it. And oh, it had been a sight to behold. A beautiful flash of gums followed by a little angelic giggle. Sirius's stomach had filled with joy as he'd smiled in return, so happy to see his baby brother happy.

Of course, it had been cut off quickly, when Mother had yelled so loudly, Regulus had started to cry.

II

The second time had been when they were small. Regulus had learned quickly that emotions weren't tolerated in the Black household and was a master of hiding them. But once, while they were hidden away in Sirius's room, reading a book that he had stolen from the local Muggle library, Sirius had caught it: the fleeting glimpse of glittering eyes and shining white teeth as Regulus had listened to Sirius read to him.

The feeling of seeing his brother smile had gotten him through insufferable meals for moths after.

III

The third time was when Sirius came home from his first year at Hogwarts. It had been so long since they'd seen each other, and though Sirius had written weekly, he'd felt like there was a gaping chasm in his chest where Regulus ought to be. So when a very stoic-looking Mother and Father greeted him on the platform, he ignored them. He instead focused on Regulus, who grinned from ear-to-ear, pulling him into a hug.

That hug and that smile helped him through one of the worst summers of his life.

IV

The fourth time was, of course, when Regulus got his own Hogwarts letter. Eleven-year-old Regulus looked like he was going to cry with happiness when he opened the thick envelope, and Sirius wanted to cry with pride along with him.

Of course, Mother and Father immediately ruined it by reminding Regulus that he better be a Slytherin 'or else.'

V

The fifth, and most recent, time was when Regulus had caught the Snitch in his first school Quidditch game, winning for Slytherin.

Sirius knew he was supposed to be rooting for Ravenclaw, but he couldn't help himself: seeing his brother smile like that made him scream his head off, pride swelling in his chest as he watched Regulus lifted on the shoulders of the other players.

+1

But now...now they were here. Showing up at the front door of the Potter residence in the middle of the night after what could only be described as the most horrific week of Sirius's life. He expected Regulus to be even more closed-off than usual. He expected him to maybe even cry, or scream.

But when James opened the door, and he and Regulus locked eyes...

Regulus broke into the biggest, most adoring, relieved smile Sirius had ever seen. And he watched as his brother rushed into James's arms, gripping him tightly like if he didn't, he would disappear.

And in that moment, Sirius realized that while he was a bit annoyed that he hadn't been told about something (because he was smart enough to know that friends didn't embrace like that), he absolutely didn't care. Because anyone who made Regulus smile like that was absolutely perfect for him.

[good-beans]

Aww that's fun! I know it wasn't necessarily a choice lol but thanks pal >:3

My wardrobe is slowly being taken over with fruit-themed clothes -- I realized I really liked them and now it's kind of my brand lol. I've had several people recognize me by it at school/work events, which makes me really happy :3

I'm a cartoonishly bad cook. I'm usually alright following a recipe, but it takes 100% of my attention and effort, and even then nothing's guaranteed 😅 The good part of this is I'm not a picky eater, so no matter how badly I mess up a meal, I'll still eat it 👍

I have really good heat tolerance and I love it. I'm that annoying person who's cheering for the hot summer weather -- I'm absolutely miserable in the winter but thriving this time of year 😅I'm just a little cold blooded lizard in a trenchcoat...

@ispreadrabieslikewildfire @elegyofthemoon @faceless-es @kyanako5972 @mukuberry @nightingem @arc-archernar

if you get this, answer w/ three random facts about yourself and send it to the last seven blogs in your notifs. anon or not, doesn’t matter, let’s get to know the person behind the blog !

I was born with an extra set of ribs :D

Green is my favourite colour

And

I have a very unhealthy obsession with dragons (which somehow didn’t bleed into this blog )

@very-evil-bubbles @smelgor @the-ghost-of-a-spirit @thejokig23 @chasmwilt @inwayovermyhead and @ anyone else who wants to join in! (You don’t need to answer if you don’t want to!)

[k-aemi]

kaiser michael ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ handle me however you want.

smut-ish, cum.

divider: kodaswrld

thinking about prisoner!kaiser who got caught by the police.

hes very aggressive, not even the police could handle him his vigorous behavior. to be honest, hes probably the most handsome prisoner you met so far, but you have no time to be thinking of such silly thoughts.

as the warden, you think this is a huge success because youve been trying to capture him for about six months already. just tracking him down was hard enough.

he stands in front of you with cuffs, a blue rose tattoo that trailed from his neck to his left hand, hair, blonde to blue, a red eyeliner that made his eyes sharp and piercings that enhanced his features a lot.

“lets get this over with. all piercings must be removed.” he smirked as you prepared yourself with some gloves.

"gib dein bestes (do your best)." he stuck his tongue out, thats the first piercing. you took it out with ease. taking out the other visible ones, on his ears or eyebrows.

your detector scanning through him, on his body, where it went off where his chest was at. you lift his shirt and damn was he built so well. he can see the way you froze to admire the way his abs fluttered.

you shake your thoughts, seeing another piecing on his nipples. you take both of them off, then seeing another one on his belly button.

"just how many do you have?" you furrowed your eyebrows, scanning through again. so far nothing, until you went down to his lower region. it hit his crotch.

you slowly shift your gaze up at him and all you see is that smirk of his. "alles von dir, schöne (all yours beautiful)." you swear he was teasing you judging by that tone even when you didnt know what he said.

you cleared your throat before crouching down your knees, unbuckling the pants, releasing his pants that displayed his cock, with at least three fucking piercings. seriously, who needs that much!?

and why was he huge even soft? theres no way these german folks were like this. your hand takes hold of his cock, that you can feel stiffening by the second. carefully taking off one from his tip, but you can feel the way his cock twitched under your touched and it made you flinch.

you were slightly irritated but you musnt let that stop you. you removed one. two more to go.

your hand glides upwards a bit for a better leverage. the next piercing a bit thicker, making it hard to try and remove it carefully without harming him.

you grumbled, finally removing it with ease.

"noch einer (one more)." he chuckled and your eyebrows furrowed at his teasing. you can tell he was making fun of you at the position youre in right now despite being the warden.

you exhale a breath. "just one more and then youll lock him up!" you thought to yourself.

your thumb glazes against his tip to remove the final one. his mean red tip was twitching like hell right now, but you didnt bothered. you just needed to get this over with.

you can hear the ragged breaths he let out, it was normal, i mean after touching his most sensitive places, you dont blame him. actually you do, who has this much piercings.

taking out his last one, you finally sigh in relief. but your moments of joy were interrupted with him releasing his sticky white hot lava on you. you yelp from the sudden burst as he lets out little grunts before grinning at the facial he gave you.

"sah zu hübsch aus, ich konnte nicht anders (looked too pretty, i couldn't help myself)." you were so going to give him the worst treatment.

ive been thinking about this so why not write :P

tags ✎: @rinrinniebaby @kaiserpussy

[typing-catastrophe]

Charles Xavier - only one bed (headcanons)

request: "gmorning! with deadpool 3 bringing around the xmen renaissance ive found myself once again totally obsessed w james mcavoy and was wondering if i could req an only one bed charles xavier x reader piece please ! i feel like theres just so much to be done w that trope, the mutual pining, the fluster, the rushed confessions, and ive somehow never seen anymore pair it w charles yet ?? i trust your vision completely, thank you so much and have a lovely day!"

a/n: thank you so much for your request anon ^^ I am also working on a longer piece (actual oneshot, no bulletpoints), so stay tuned for that and in the mean time have this :P hope you like it

💕 fluff

oohhh the temptation

charles trying so hard not to give in and read your mind

he is just so goddamn curious as to know what you're thinking about your current situation

because he can feel you laying next to him all tensed up and it makes him nervous

you're both idiots in love with the other, have been for a while, and both to scared to make the first move

you're convinced he isn't interested in you at all, and are too scared to ruin the friendship to say anything

and he is convinced he would drive away the only friend he made asides from raven and would end up feeling much lonelier than before

he technically is confident enough but at the same time doesn't want to risk anything going wrong or making it awkward between the two of you

when it gets too much for him, he strikes up a conversation which would end up in you two laughing and finally being comfortable in each others space again

when you tell him that you're having a hard time falling asleep at new places, he would offer to tell you about his research, because it helps raven fall asleep

when you both eventually fall asleep, he unconsciously shifts over and holds you close

you stir awake from the movement next to you, already dozing off again when you feel an arm sneak over your stomach and an explosion of butterflies when charles pulls you close

(that man needs someone to cuddle at night and you can't convince me otherwise. he's a cuddler.)

now wide awake and heartbeat going faster by the second, you franticly try to think of what to do next

when you try to scoot away, you're not only met with resistance but with him pulling you back and nuzzling his nose into your neck and hair

you lay there in defeat for a few minutes, enough time for your heartbeat to settle again. then you decide to turn around in his arms

you use the opportunity to look at him his beautiful facial features, all relaxed and peaceful. you'd never allow yourself to stare at him like this, in fear of getting caught

when he started to wake up and blinking a few times, you know you should look away, but you're so captured by him that you can't bring yourself to do so

so you're laying face to face with him, only inches apart, holding your breath

"hey... can't sleep?" he asks with a soft tone and smile

you shake your head the tiniest bit and a stray lock of hair falls into your face

he reaches out to tuck it behind your ear and lets his hand linger

even without using his powers he is almost sure to know what you think in that moment

so he leans in closer and asks "may I?"

you whisper a breathless "please" and before you know it, he presses the softest kiss to your lips

you almost whine when he leans back again

"you look so beautiful, darling" and "forgive me, we should've done this a lot sooner"

you couldn't agree more

sleepy, soft kisses turn into more intense ones turn into makeout session

so much suppressed feelings resurfacing, you can't get enough of each other

when your shirt hitches up and his hand grazes your bare skin, you let out a small noise of surprise and jump a little at the sudden contact

charles moves his hand away, not wanting to make you uncomfortable or do something you're not ready for, when you reach down and put his hand back, reassuring that it is okay for you

he doesn't mind at all if you don't want to go any further, he can't believe his luck of you reciprocating his feelings at all in the first place

if you do want to go further, that man will give you the best and softest, most loving time of your life

given that that would be your first time together, you would keep it simple and stick to getting to know each other and each others likes

first and foremost he would concentrate on making you feel good

[writingoddess1125]

My Darling Dove

König x Plus Size FemReader

Soooo Ive had this in my drafts for over a year (Peak Koniq era) and touched it up a bit- There was a part two if anyone wanted that since it has some serious NSFW, I Hope you guys enjoy?

Warnings: Fluff, Bullying, Violence (not on reader), some Angst/Body Insecurities, Start of spice (would be in pt 2)

Pt. 2 ->

Prequel->

Support me on Ko-Fi

Masterlist <-

His Liebling- Schatz- Perle, Maus.

He could think of a million names for you, but one would always beat the rest.

His wife.

Having met long ago when he was a fresh faced marine and you were a green medic. Both of you awkward and shy, yet fitting together like a puzzle piece. He loved you- and you loved him, more then words could ever hope to express.

He'd gotten home from deployment the evening before, excited to see you and spend some much needed quality time with his darling wife. Washing up as fast as possible, as he knew you hated him jumping in bed still smelling of old blood and sweat.

Rushing in fresh boxers that truthfully were barely on him since hed plan to take them off anyway, he'd caught you at the perfect time it seemed-

Seeing you getting dressed in your nightclothes, as he placed his hands on your waist almost salivating like an animal as his hands immediately went to try at the waistband-

However he saw the scramble of you pull on rather baggy pants, hiding the figure he loved so much- How your flash of almost panic at him seeing you, which threw him off incredibly.

"My Dove? Are you okay?" König whispered softly, noticing your apprehension and shyness much to his confusion.

"I'm fine love just.. maybe not tonight?- I don't feel too great" You said softly, König nodding and moving his hands away from your pants and carefully wrapping around your waist.

"Of course Maus"

König cuddled you that night, spooning you but he noticed immediately you seemed uncomforble and distant. Pulling at your shirt to cover your body more-

He didn't say anything about it, but he knew something was wrong- Very wrong.

Which lead him to his current state. Seated in his office on base thinking deeply- He hadn't even seen you this morning when you changed to go do your shift, normally getting quite some eyefulls of you before you left but not today. You'd gone as far to change in the bathroom before giving him his kiss goodbye.

Maybe it was the sexual frustration of not getting to sleep with you or his now general worry for you, however it was plaguing him and he couldn't focus...

His face twisted in a scowl under his hood as he tapped his fingers on his desk looking at the reports from his last assignment.

Standing up suddenly he walked out of his office, Files in hand as he walked straight to Horangi- Handing the man the files a bit harsher then intended.

Horangi looking to the man almost amused as he could practically smell the stress from the male.

"Problems in paradise I take it?"

König shot a glare- before rubbing his face under his mask with a heavy sigh. Horangi and a fairly decent portion of any higher ranking soldiers and staff knew you were his wife, seeing however wherever he went you went- It had been a fight with those higher then him, however it had been seen as a leash to keep their best in check-

A price König was willing to pay to keep you close.

"No.. She's is acting odd.. almost jumpy" He grumbled, Now the other soilder now seemingly surprised by this-

"I need to check on her- Do these" König said as he pointed to the files and marched out of the building, marching over to the medical quarters he knew you would be in.

Walking in he had seen it was rather busy, a fair amount of new recruits there paired with some frequent flyers. Nothing that didn't surprise him at least, his eyes scanning around silently as he turned the corner to find you.

"It's like watching a hippo-"

König paused mid step, Hearing the voice and slowly moving so he could glance from around said corner to hear who was saying this and at who- always being one to correct such childish behavior no matter what.

"Yeah but at least a hippo has better grace- (Y/N) is like the blob-" The young men cackled.

König was never so greatful for having silent footsteps before- his arms crossed over his vested chest as he watched two young Cadets gawk at you and cackle amongst themselves as they sat on their medical cots clearly just there to avoid duty- their gaze clearly only on you. He saw how you flinched ever so slightly at their words, clearly able to hear their squawking but choosing to continue working.

"Still big girls are desperate- So I bet she's easy if not a chubby little barracks bunny" one of the men cackled- König seeing your shoulders flinch at their words once more and turn away as your hands seemed to go over the medicine needing to be dished out. His body starting to shake as he stood there, rage filling his very soul.

"I'd have peel those pants off those thighs like trying to take a pillow out of a pillow case" They cackled, clearly other staff seeing this but seeing how these Cadets had been rising through their ranks fairly fast- it would be a surprise if they threatened some of the staff by the way the other medics and nurses seemed to avoid them.

"Bet her thighs are like silly putty" This made the two break out in childish giggles.

Konig was beet red at this point- listening to these two disrespect his wife who was trying to work. Knowing damn well you could hear every word these idiots were saying but trying to be polite and not cause a fuss or rock the boat- Most likely for his sake to keep him at his best behavior.

However that went out the window when he saw your cheeks red and bottom lip quiver like tears were about to fall as you march off to a separate room to hand out the medicine in hand.

König felt a hollowness run through him- seeing the way you practically sprinted away.

His kind sweet wife-

The women he cuddled at night, who treated his wounds and he cared for more then life itself-

The sweet woman who ran away almost in tears cause of two unimportant waste of air...

"You think so?"

König growled out, the two Cadets jumping up quickly at hearing his voice and saluting their superior.

"Colonel König-" The two young men squawked out wide eyed at the rage in their commanders eyes.

"So this is what two men on base do? Harass the medics?"

The men looked to each other, seeing a crazed and enraged look in their Colonels eye as he stepped towards them. His hands flexing like just craving to reach for the gun to his hip-

"Harrass MY Wife?-"

He all but snarled, his voice usually light and nasally now so low it rumbled their chest. The men's faces turning white as snow as their eyes widened, fear gripping their hearts. Before they could open their quivering lips to squeak out an apology the large man hands shoot out and grab them by their necks and squeeze- Pathetic squeals of pain leaving the men as they tried to try away from the giants hold and escape.

Every muscle in his arm seemed to flex as he pulled the two close to him to make sure he got to see the very light leave their eyes.

"You DARE sit here, insulting the light of my life? Dishonor her as she saves your miserable little lives.. I'm going to correct that now" He grits out as he squeezes tighter feeling the cracks under his hands and the feeling of their body struggle for air under his grasp.

You had only left the room from a moment when you heard those squeals- Rushing back to see your husband clearly about to kill the two men who had been bullying you as the other medics made sure to stand as far away as possible as König literally had the two lifted off the ground as they squirmed desperate for their lives.

"König!" You call out and rush to your husband, laying both hand on him to try and pry his hands off the two men from strangling them to death, but his calloused hands were like iron and in no way they where coming off from you pulling.

"Darling please-e you'll kill them!"

"...Even now- my Sweet Darling Perle here wishes for me to spare you. The one you wished to insult!" He yelled, you staring at him surprised by him raising his voice as his accent seemed to come even heavier.

You were surprised by how angry König was- especially openly. He was quite the reserved man and rarely truly got angry let alone enough to were he would burst like this- already seeing some other officers coming closer incase they had to take control.

"Kö?-" You ask softly, gently reaching up to have him look at you. Making his eyes meet yours as you used the gentle Nickname to ease him. His pale blue eyes now red with rage locking onto you making a trinkle of fear wash though only slightly.

"I need you to let them go, Please...Please" You begged softly, you already knew the two men would need serious medical attention after this as they where blue in the face and clearly moments from passing out from lack of oxygen as their movements slowed and began shaking.

...5 seconds passed

Then another ... 10 seconds passed

König closed his eyes finally and released the two men who collapsed to the ground like dolls, barely alive at this point. You signing in relief as two medics terrified grabbed the men to pull away to receive medical attention.

König however was still staring at you like he was looking you over silently and a feeling washed over you- Shame... You knew he saw it as well, as embarrassment of allowing yourself to be talked down to and your husband finding out in such a way, ate at you. König however grabbed your hand quickly and with as much gentleness as he could possibly muster as he lead you out of the office, no one would dare stop him anyways after the scene he just made.

He lead the two of you back to the base provided housing the two of you shared, He had been silent the whole walk there. It made your stomach do backflips as he lead you in first, you looking to him still waiting to hear something- Anything!

But instead he took off your medical clogs, and his own boots. Setting them to the side as he took your hand again and lead you upstairs. Tossing his sniper mask away somewhere along the way to your shared bedroom.

"...Kö?.." You say softly, But he doesn't stop. Instead walking both of you to the master bedroom and setting you on the bed. As he dug through the dresser, tossing things at random around as he seemed on a mission before your eyes.

"Felix?" You finally say, seeing how he stopped and looked back at you. Much to your surprise his eyes were soft, so very soft-

"Ja, mein Herz?" He said as softly as his gaze at you, reaching back in the drawer as he seemed to find exactly what he was looking for.

You open your mouth to speak- But unsure what to say. Shifting a bit uncomforbly as embarrassment still bubbled in your chest.

"I'm sorry.." You mumbled out, Unsure of what else to say. He closed his eyes, closing the drawer silently as he held the fabric in his hands calmly.

"Why are you apologizing?" He questioned softly, walking over to you as you looked down at your bare feet, seeing his shadow loom over you.

"Better question is why you let them insult you.. Why?" Your silence followed for a few seconds before it felt like a dam burst through you.

"I.. I.. I thought in some way.. they were right" You finally let the words fumble from your lips- Still not meeting your husband's gaze as tears began to roll down your cheeks trying to wipe them with the best of your abilties.

"It's hard.. It's so hard sometimes to act like they don't effect me- It's just I know I'm not tiny or- what people assume- I just, All the talks of you and supposed brothels-s and I-Im not the little fit girls who stare up at you- I thought I'd be used to it- I-I just feel like I- it was like they w-were the voice in the back of my head"

Tears continued to roll down your cheeks as you sobbed- unsure of what pent up emotion brought this on, Maybe it was the late nights on missions- or the whispers of nurses talking about how a lot of soilder would go rush to brothels to get away from their wives- How they all had in some way a inkling of desire for your husband either for power, his size or even just because they thought they could.

It just had all had slammed into you at once as you cried sitting there on the bed, König staring down at you as you let it all out.

He down settling on his knees before you. Beginning to wipe your tears with his hands as you sniffled and tried to stop your tears. Caressing your flushes cheeks as he stared at you, only love in his eyes as he kissed your forehead softly.

"(Y/N), What silly silly thoughts you have my Darling Wife.. Thinking id run chasing crusty little skirts and fowl smelling panties when I have the prettiest wife on earth?" He said with a soft smile.

A smile went over your lips slowly as you sniffled and let a giggle leave you. "Dont be rude Felix" You manage out as you smile at your husband- He tsk dismissively.

"Its True Perle! You are the most darling women in the world, If you think I'd run in such petty things- Clearly I have not shown you how much he you mean to me"

He held your hands close, kissing them as he stared at you.

"You are and will always be the only women for me. I'll do anything for you- Ill never dishonor you. You are most precious to me" He said softly, watching the way your eyes shone as a smile crept over your lips. Much happier tears now in your eyes making him smile as he kissed your cheeks once more.

"Cry baby..." He said softly earning a giggle from you and the softest tap to his outer thigh with your foot. König leaning in to capture your lips in a kiss, his hands unwrapping from your own as he held your cheek with one as another wrapped around your hip to pull you close.

You hadn't even noticed till you felt yourself being tilted back and your back hitting the back of the mattress. König pulling back from the kiss to properly move up towards you.

His massive form now shadowing you as he leaned over you.

"Felix?" You Squeak out as you looked up to your husband taking off the top of his uniform with a grin as he stared down at you like you were his last meal and he was a starved man- reaching his hands under your scrubs starting to slide them up feeling your soft skin underneath with a damn near giddy gleam.

"Now My Darling Dove, allow me to show truly how much I adore you and your body in every way~"

[serpentandlily]

Sly Fox, Dumb Bunny - Eris x Reader

Sly Fox, Dumb Bunny V - Eris x Archeron!Reader

Summary: You find yourself ensnared by a sly, cunning fox. A very handsome, irritating one.

Warnings: angst, attempted SA, misogynistic language/beliefs, drugging (if you'd like more in depth warnings, feel free to dm me)

➻❥ Part I ➻❥ Part II ➻❥ Part III ➻❥ Part IV ➻❥ Part V

· · ─────── ·♡· ─────── · ·

Part V

· · ─────── ·♡· ─────── · ·

“One of the stableboys told me he spotted Lady Genevieve and Lord Vaughn sneaking out of the party together last week,” Willow said in a whisper as Ivy gasped in disbelief. 

You glanced up at them from where you were sitting at the table in Eris’s common room, sewing a hole shut on the skirt you had worn out to the woods with him yesterday. Your kiss had gotten…heated and your skirt had caught on a piece of bark on the tree Eris had you pressed against and ripped. Just thinking of it made your cheeks turn pink.

“And that’s scandalous, why?” You asked, raising an eyebrow at your handmaidens. They had insisted they repair your skirt for you but sewing was one of the skills you had actually acquired during your family’s time in poverty. Who else would’ve made sure Feyre’s hunting clothes stayed intact? 

“Well because Lady Genevieve is engaged to his brother, of course!” Ivy exclaimed. 

You opened your mouth to reply but a knock on the door made you pause. The three of you glanced at each other. Eris had mentioned he would be traveling to a nearby town for some business and wouldn’t return until morning. He advised you to stay inside with your handmaidens and take dinner in your room until his return. 

Ivy rose and made her way to the door, pulling it open to reveal one of Eris’s brothers. He placed a pale hand on the doorframe and gave her a charming, but unsettling, grin. His hair was longer than Eris’s, his stature a bit shorter and far bulkier than the refined quality your mate had. 

Ivy curtsied. “Lord Reid, how may I assist you?” 

“I’m here to escort my brother’s mate to dinner,” he purred. “Since he is unable to do so himself.” 

You stood, placing the skirt on the table as you glanced at Willow with uncertainty. Ivy’s pretty face paled. 

“B-but Lord Eris requested that Lady Archeron have dinner in his quarters tonight,” she stuttered out. 

The grin slipped from Reid’s face, a more threatening look taking over. “Are you denying me my request, nymph?”

He spat out the last word like a curse, making you flinch on your friend’s behalf. You had to bite your tongue from saying anything back knowing you’d likely just anger him further.

Ivy bowed her head. “Of course not, my Lord.”

You crossed the room, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder and nudging her back. “Thank you, Ivy, I’ll take it from here.” 

That charming grin was back on Reid’s face as he looked down at you, but the look in his eyes made your legs shake. He held out his elbow like a proper escort and you had no choice but to take it, letting him pull you out of Eris’s chambers.

“Talk back to me again and I’ll have you whipped in the courtyard in front of everyone else,” Reid spat at Ivy. You gave her an alarmed look, but she shook her head at you discreetly—a warning to stay quiet. You bit your lip so hard it almost bled. 

Reid finally began to guide you down the corridor and you tried to keep your breathing under control, not wanting him to know how scared you were. Finnegan had been nothing like this, had not had that cruelty lingering in his eyes. 

“Has Eris returned?” You asked, swallowing harshly. “Is that why my presence is needed at dinner tonight?”

Reid looked down at you with a raised eyebrow, as if daring you to say more. You glanced away, not wanting him to see it as a challenge. You knew how females were regarded here. But you also wanted to know why you were being dragged down to the main dining area. 

“Are you not a part of this family now?” Reid remarked, his tone questioning but the sharpness of his words didn’t escape you. 

“Of course, my Lord,” you breathed, still staring at the floor. He hummed in response and continued to lead you down corridor after corridor until you made it to the formal dining room. 

You glanced up as you entered, taking note of who was present that you knew amongst the sea of strangers. The High Lord and his Lady, of course, as well as Finnegan and Eris’s other brother, Liam. Finn shot Reid a questioning look that went ignored while Liam sat with his eyes kept straight ahead of him. It was remarkable how alike they all looked, though none could match the beauty that Eris possessed. 

The Lady of Autumn, Seraphina, kept her eyes locked on the table—seated next to Beron who sat at the head of the table. Reid escorted you to the seat next to her, pulling out the large wooden chair for you. A feast was laid out on the table before you, empty plates set in front of each seat. A few other Lords and Ladies wandered in, taking seats at the other end of the table. You listened to their idle chit chat, clenching your skirt in your fists. 

“Why have you brought her here?” Finn hissed at Reid as the male took the seat next to him. “Eris is still in Pinecrest.” 

Reid shrugged. “I just wanted to make sure she felt included in our family. Lighten up, little brother.” 

Finn shot him a glare but Beron clanked his fork against his glass, drawing everyone’s attention. You half listened to his small speech, but focused mainly on trying to lessen the pounding of your heart. You felt so out of place, so alone here at this big table. No family. No mate. Just strangers all around you. Strangers with nefarious reputations.

Dinner began once Seraphina plated Beron his food and he took the first bite. It was like a breath of relief was let out amongst the fae at the table, their conversations picking back up. You sipped on your wine, trying not to draw attention to yourself but Reid had other plans, it seemed. 

“Have you lot had the pleasure of meeting Eris’s mate yet?” He asked, leaning back in his chair as he spoke to some Lords and Ladies. “This is her. Little thing, isn’t she? She is sister to the cursebreaker.” 

You felt the gazes of them on you as your cheeks turned pink. One of the ladies looked you up and down with a haughty look that made her face quite unpleasant to look at. 

“Are the rumors true?” She asked, her voice filled with faux innocence. “Were you truly a human before all of this?” 

“Indeed, she was,” Reid answered before you could even open your mouth. 

“How ghastly,” the female sneered, placing a hand to her chest as if she were clutching her pearls. “The Mother must’ve found it within her heart to give out some charity to those lesser the day she mated you with Lord Eris.”

Your face grew hot at her hateful words. You wished the floor would open up and suck you in whole just to get away from this table. But to your surprise, someone came to your defense. 

“Watch how you speak, Genevieve,” Finn spat. “She is soon to take the Vanserra name and if you insult her again, you'll find yourself in the position of all the others who dared to insult our family.” 

By the way Genevieve’s face paled, you could only imagine the punishment those people had faced. But hearing the familiar name caused a smile to blossom on your face. You cleared your throat and sat up. 

“Genevieve, is it?” You asked, blinking at her with wide, innocent eyes. “I’ve heard quite a bit about you, Lady, or rather how much you enjoy parties.” 

Your eyes darted to the male sitting next to her. The male who looked so similar to the one gripping her hand in his. When you looked back at Genevieve, her face had paled even more. Her lips pressed into a thin line and she focused her gaze on her plate before her.

Reid leaned in close to whisper in your ear. “So the kitten has some claws after all.” 

You wanted to roll your eyes but instead, bit your lip again to prevent you from saying something that wouldn’t be taken well. Reid leaned further into your space, causing you to press against the back of your chair with raised eyebrows. He grabbed the dish of potatoes next to you before finally seating himself correctly in his chair.

You frowned when you noticed a second dish of potatoes on his other side, closer to him, but shook it off. He was trying to rattle you—that much was obvious. 

You nibbled on your dinner, not having an appetite while seated around these faeries. You sipped on your wine, cringing a bit as the bitter liquid slid down your throat. The wine in the Night Court was far sweeter than the wine here, it seemed. 

The longer the dinner went on, the hotter the room seemed to be getting. Was it because so many fire wielding fae sat here or was this room just particularly stuffy? You fanned at your face as discreetly as you could. 

Sweat began to dribble down the back of your neck, your skin tingling at the sensation. You clenched your skirt in your fists, shifting uncomfortably in your chair. The Lady of Autumn glanced at you, taking note of your reddening cheeks and behavior.

“Are you alright, dear?” Her voice was soft, quiet, and full of concern. It was the first time you’d heard her speak. 

“It’s just a bit warm in here, isn’t it?” You replied, fanning your face again. Gods, you were so hot. It was unbearable. 

The Lady of Autumn’s nostrils flared and her eyes went wide. She placed the back of her hand against your forehead, making a noise of displeasure before pulling it away. She waved a hand towards the servants who were milling about. Ivy and Willow darted forward from where they stood against the wall behind you. 

“Lady Archeron isn’t feeling well,” she whispered to your handmaidens. “Please escort her back to her chambers for the night.” 

Both of your handmaidens sniffed before their faces paled. Ivy held out a hand to you. “Come, my Lady, let us take you to your room.”

You grabbed her hand like it was a lifeline. You nearly groaned at the feeling of her skin against yours. They ushered you out of the dining hall, hurrying you down the corridor. 

“Something’s wrong,” you moaned, pitifully. Your skin was on fire now. An ache was forming in the lower part of your stomach. Like an unrelenting itch that needed to be scratched. 

“I think someone has slipped you a breeding tonic,” Willow hissed under her breath. Her lips were pressed into a thin line, her eyebrows furrowed.

“A what?!” You exclaimed but Ivy hushed you. You spoke in a whisper, thinking of how they had sniffed you, “How do you know that? Could you smell it in my drink or food?” 

“No, my Lady,” Ivy said, hesitantly. “But your scent…it’s…Well, it’s changed.” 

“My scent? But…oh.” If your face wasn’t already red, you were sure it’d be now. Gods, they could…smell you—your awakening arousal. You were mortified. “But who would do that?” 

“I don’t know.” Willow frowned. “It’s more important we get you to your chambers before any male scents you.” 

“Why? What…what does a breeding tonic do?” 

Your two handmaidens exchanged a look before Ivy answered, “Well, my Lady, it—well it's supposed to make a female more…willing when she’s in her marriage bed.”

Your skin was itching, flushed red from all the heat you felt. You tugged at the collar of your dress. It was agonizing. “How long is this supposed to last?”

“Just a few hours,” Willow said in a soft, comforting tone. “It’s not like most males need any more than a few minutes”

“Willow,” Ivy scolded. “Now is not the time for those kinds of remarks!”

You could hardly pay attention to their conversation, your mouth drying up as the effects of the tonic worsened—causing a violent need to be touched in places you’d never been. “What will happen if a male scents me now?” 

The two girls exchanged another look. “I’m afraid some males in this court have problems with their…restraint, my Lady. And your smell right now is rather enticing, for lack of a better word. It's best not to test them when it comes to these kinds of things.” 

All the color left your face.

Willow let out a noise of distress. “Which is why we should move faster—”

“Well, what do we have here?” The three of you froze in your tracks as you nearly ran into a group of three guards coming around the corner—all dressed in armor with Beron’s seal imprinted on the center of their chests. Fuck, it was a group of the High Lord’s personal guards. “Ah, it's the little bitch mated to our High Lord’s son.” 

Your face turned bright red. 

“Watch your mouth,” Willow snapped.

The guard backhanded her before you could even blink, causing her to crumble to the floor. Ivy gasped and rushed forward, kneeling next to her. Before you could follow her, one of the guards grabbed you by the upper arm, yanking you away from your two handmaidens. 

“What are you doing? Let me go! You can’t just hit—”

“Shut up,” the guard growled in your ear. Your eyes shot to Ivy who was helping Willow off the floor, the other girl holding her reddening cheek. 

“Talk like that to me again and I’ll do worse,” the head guard snarled at Willow. “Now get lost. You’ve been relieved of your duties, ladies. We can escort the girl back to her room.” 

You tried to pull your arm free, your heart pounding in your chest. Willow and Ivy looked inclined to protest, but then they both took a step away, sending you an apologetic look. You knew there was nothing they could do in this situation that didn’t put them in risk but maybe if they left, they could go get help. You tried to convey that message with your eyes and Ivy gave you a small dip of the head, like she understood. 

As the guard began to pull you away from them, she mouthed something to you: ‘The bond.’

Understanding her message, you started to tug on the glowing gold thread in your chest, panicking as you were dragged away. The guards were snickering with each other. “Do you smell that? I think the girls in heat, Captain. Maybe we can take her downstairs for some…fun before anything else.” 

You desperately tried to yank yourself free but the guard’s grip on your arm only tightened to the point of pain. “Let me go, you sick bastards!” 

The guard that had been identified as the Captain chuckled. “Good idea. I think she needs to be taught a lesson on how to properly treat a male, don’t you think?” 

The guards laughed with their agreement and you went feral trying to break away. “If you touch me, I swear to the Gods I’ll tell Eris! He’ll kill you!”

The guards only laughed harder. “Lord Eris won’t believe you over us, girl. Keep screaming though. I do love it when they fight back.” 

You were pulled down a stone stairwell, into a lower level of the Forest House. You screamed and fought against the guards, but with three of them and only one of you…it was hopeless. You tugged and tugged on the mating bond, not really sure how it worked but hoped you had gotten Eris’s attention and that he was on his way back. 

Tears poured down your cheeks and they tossed you in what seemed to be a large storage room. Crates full of goods, barrels of wine, and shelves filled with supplies crowded the room. The Captain slammed the door shut behind him as you were scuttling to stand up. You backed away from them, your eyes darting around for anything you might be able to use as a weapon—not that you had much training.

One of the guards lunged for you and you swiftly kicked him in the groin, sending him to his knees. “You stupid bitch!”

Using the commotion as a distraction, you took off running down the shelves, trying to keep them at a distance. But one of them was much faster, grabbing you by the collar of your dress. You let out a cry as your dress ripped down the back and you fell to your hands and knees, your chin smashing against the floor. You tasted blood in your mouth as the guard grabbed your foot and started to drag you back to him but you quickly flipped onto your back and kicked him right in the nose with your other foot, hearing a satisfying crunch. 

He let out a curse, blood pouring from his nose, and you scrambled to start running away again, holding your tattered dress up. You spotted a door at the end of the room and sprinted towards it, throwing it open and darting through it before slamming it shut behind you. 

You skidded to a stop once you realized the door had only led to a broom closet. Fuck, you had backed yourself into a corner. You covered your mouth with a hand, stifling your sobs as you heard footsteps pounding your way. With nowhere to go, you backed away to the wall, facing the door. You had no option but to try and fight your way out of this. 

The door to the closet slammed open and you squeezed your eyes shut, bracing yourself for the impact of a body against yours. But after a moment of silence passed, you slowly opened your eyes. They widened as they took in the guard standing in the middle of the closet, his eyes darting around the small space, passing over you several times. 

“What the fuck?” he grumbled.

“Stop wasting time,” one of the other guards shouted from outside. “Pull her out of there so we can have our fun.” 

“She’s not…She’s not in here!” 

“What do you mean she’s not in there?” One of the other guards shouldered his way into the closet, pushing the other male out. “What—I saw her run in here! We all did. Where the hell did she go?”

“Does she know how to winnow?”

You stood frozen as the two guards discussed your whereabouts. How could they not see you? You were literally standing right in front of them! You looked down at your body and almost gasped when you didn’t see any part of yourself. What the hell? What….what was happening? You could still feel the ground under your feet, still feel the wall at your back. You tried holding up a hand but nothing—you couldn’t even see your own hand!

“She wouldn’t be able to winnow unless she could break through the wards down here,” the other guard grumbled. “Wards set up by the High Lord, himself. There’s no way a former human could do that.” 

You could feel yourself panicking even more now because what was happening to you?

“What the fuck is going on down here?!”

The voice of your mate caused a sob of relief to leave your mouth and it seemed whatever magic you had been using sputtered out, causing the two guards to whip their heads towards you. You sank to the ground, still clutching your tattered dress, kohl marking the tear tracks down your cheeks. 

“Lord Eris, it’s not what it looks like—”

The Captain let out a spine-chilling scream before a snap was heard and a thump of a body hitting the ground. You pulled your knees to your chest, crying out for Eris. The two guards in the closet with you whirled around as Eris stalked towards them. They held up their palms, beginning to plead, but the feral rage on your mate’s face shut them up. You’d never seen Eris look so unhinged. His normally styled hair was in disarray, his cuffs rolled up to his elbow. 

His heavy boots slammed against the floor until he was right in front of them. Eris’s amber eyes darted to you for a second and flames erupted from the edges of his body. Your eyes widened in shock. His eyes fell back on the guards, his anger causing fire to even dance in his irises. 

“Lord Eris, we can explain!”

“Shut the fuck up,” Eris snarled before two whips made entirely of fire were summoned in his hands. He lashed them at the guards and they latched around their necks before he pulled them to their knees with it. Both of the guards started choking, trying to pull at the whips now strangling them but only burnt their hands to a crisp. 

“Imagine my surprise when I felt my mate’s terror down our bond while in negotiations with the Lords in Pinecrest,” Eris growled, wrapping the whip around his hand and yanking it tighter, forcing the guards’ faces to smash against the floor. “Only to show up and have her two handmaidens tell me three of my father’s guards were dragging her—my mate—down here to force themselves on her. Consider yourselves lucky she’s still sitting here because this death will be a mercy compared to the one I had planned for the three of you.” 

The guards started to screech in agonizing pain. Blood began to bubble out of their ears, eyes and mouth and it took you a second to comprehend that Eris was burning them to death from the inside out, boiling their blood. You whimpered, slapping a hand over your mouth and nose as the smell of burning human flesh spread through the small space. You squeezed your eyes shut at the horror happening before you. 

When the two guards finally slumped all the way to the ground, their eyes cold with death, Eris stepped over them and gently picked you up off the ground, cradling you to his chest. You clutched his shirt in your hands, crying as the adrenaline you had been fighting through wore off. 

“It’s okay, little bunny,” Eris murmured in your ear. “I’ve got you.” 

“I tried…I tried—”

You were sobbing with a flood of emotions. 

“I know, I know,” he hushed you, “you did good, little bunny. You did good holding them off until I got here.”

You were vaguely aware of him carrying you out of the basement and back up the stairs. The gasps of Ivy and Willow met your ears as he emerged with you in his arms.

“Is she okay?” 

“She is now,” Eris replied, his voice still filled with anger. “I’ve got it from here. Thank you, ladies, please retire to your rooms. I’ll make sure you face no repercussions from this.” 

“Take care of her, my Lord,” you heard Willow say before two footsteps started fading away. 

You kept your face buried in your mate’s chest until you were finally back in his chambers. Eris carried you into the bathroom before seating you on the counter. He took your face in his hand, twisting and turning it, examining you for injuries. He grabbed a small towel and wetted it, before beginning to clean the smears of makeup from your face. You sat still for him, still reeling from your shock. 

Eris’s touch was so delicate as he wiped your face, the cold water soothing your hot skin. A few minutes of silence passed as you watched him focus intently on his task, small flames still dancing in his eyes from his anger. 

“You came for me,” you whispered as he dabbed your cheek with the cloth. 

“Of course I did. I always will,” he murmured back. “I’m so sorry I wasn't here, bunny. I’m so sorry it took me so long to come back.” 

You shook your head. “It’s not your fault.”

His jaw ticked and he set the cloth down before placing a hand on your cheek, his thumb rubbing your tears away. “It is. It is my fault you are in this situation. I’m so sorry that the Gods have cursed you with me.”

“Don’t say that.” You nuzzled your head into his hand. You stared up into his eyes, now noticing how dilated his pupils were—the amber color almost gone. His hand that wasn’t on your cheek was gripping the counter so hard, cracks were appearing on its surface. You suddenly remembered what started all of this. The damn breeding tonic someone had slipped you during dinner.

The breeding tonic that still had your skin on fire, still had desire pooling between your legs. And now that Eris was here, standing so close to you…His scent of crackling embers and warm cinnamon enveloped you with his own heat. Your arousal spiked, your eyes dipping to his lips. The need to kiss him, to be touched by him, was barrelling its way through you. 

You lurched forward and smashed your lips against his. Eris sucked in a breath and kissed you back with the same vigor until he came to his senses and pulled away from you, causing you to whine in displeasure. 

“Someone drugged you, bunny,” he grimaced. “I can’t…I won’t take advantage of you while you're still under its effects.” 

“Eris, please,” you begged, clenching your thighs together as the need to be touched grew and grew. “It hurts.” 

A small whine came from the back of his throat and you watched him fight against himself. You grabbed him by the collar and yanked him back down to kiss him again. You sighed as your lips made contact with his and he kissed you back with the same hunger. You wrapped your legs around his waist, pulling him closer until his body was pressed against yours.

Eris’s hardening cock nudged at the place between your thighs that was throbbing with desire and you gasped. With your lips parted, he slipped his tongue in your mouth, groaning at the taste of you, deepening the kiss and utterly consuming you. 

Eris kissed and kissed you—only letting up to trail kisses down your jaw and neck. You tossed your head back with a moan, granting him more access. You needed every inch of skin to be touched by him. By his fingers. By his lips. You ached, feeling terribly empty inside. His hand slipped under your skirt, gripping your thigh. 

But you could tell he was still restraining himself. 

Your own hands fell on his shirt, starting to undo his buttons.“Eris,” you groaned as he sucked on the delicate skin on your neck. “Tell me what to do. I’ve…I’ve never—”

You wished you had kept your mouth shut because Eris stopped for a second, his lips hovering over your skin. "What do you mean, you’ve never, bunny? You've never what? Never had sex?”

You nodded your head, biting your lip. 

“Fuck,” Eris groaned against your neck before sliding his nose up the column of your throat, inhaling deeply. “I’ll make it so good for you, baby. I promise.” 

You whimpered as his words, your fists clenching his shirt. But to your dismay, Eris merely pecked you on the lips before gently taking your hands and slowly ripping them off of him. 

“But not like this, bunny,” he murmured. “Not while you're drugged. Not after what happened today.”

“Eris, please.”

Any embarrassment you might’ve felt for begging simply did not exist when you felt so incredibly heated, needing him so much. Eris let out a long breath and took a step away from you, dodging your arms that tried to pull him back in. 

“Not like this, bunny,” he repeated. “Take a cold bath, okay? It’ll help you feel better. The tonic should wear off soon. I’ll be waiting for you out there.” 

“No, Eris, please—”

But he quickly left the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. You jumped off the counter and tried to open the door, but he must’ve used magic to lock it from the outside. You let out a whine, trying to tug it open to no avail. Your forehead dropped against the wood and you sighed. 

Fine, you’d take a stupid cold bath. 

· · ─────── ·♡· ─────── · ·

You sat in the cold water until your skin pruned and the effects of the tunic left your body. You rose from the bath, wrapping yourself in a towel. You noticed a pile of clothes waiting for you on the counter—a night gown and some underwear. You quickly slipped them on before finally leaving the bathroom. 

You froze in the doorway at the sight of Eris lounging on his bed, shirtless and twirling a dagger in his hand. He looked at you with a smirk and your cheeks turned bright red. Partly because he looked absolutely ravishing laying there with his toned chest and abs on display and partly because you were mortified by your behavior. 

“Don’t look so embarrassed, bunny,” he teased, setting the dagger down on his nightstand and patting the bed next to him. “Come here.” 

You shyly slid on the bed next to him, letting him take you in his arms. You let out a small breath, resting your head on his chest. It felt so right being here, in his embrace. Safe and perfect. Like his arms were the home you’d been looking for all your life. The mating bond sang in your chest. 

“Do you feel better?” 

You nodded, wordlessly. He muttered out a “good” before he started stroking your hair. You closed your eyes and melted into his arms. Tonight had been so scary. You didn’t even want to think about what would have happened to you if Eris hadn’t come in time to stop the guards. 

“I’m going to find out who drugged you,” Eris murmured. “And they’re going to pay for it.” 

“Eris, something…happened when I was down there with those guards,” you whispered, running your finger in swirling patterns on his chest. “When I was in the broom closet, it was like they couldn’t see me. I couldn’t see myself, either. It was like I had gone invisible.”

Eris hummed in thought. “Your sisters got powers from the cauldron, did they not? Did you get the same?” 

“No, I mean, I’ve never been able to do anything other than the basic stuff all High Fae can do,” you answered. “I’ve never shown any other sorts of power. I don’t think the Cauldron gifted me anything like it did with Elain. And I certainly didn’t try to steal from it like Nesta did.” 

“Yesterday, in the forest, you said something about me looking right at you and not seeing you,” Eris brought up. “I disregarded it at the time but…bunny, maybe the Cauldron did gift you something.”

“You think it gifted me something? Like what? The power of invisibility? I’ve never even heard of that!”

You hated that it made sense. Hated that, of course, the sister who had felt left behind, felt stuck in the background, unseen, would be gifted the power of invisibility. 

“Maybe it’s now finally emerging. Do you remember anything from that day?” 

You shook your head. “I remember being tossed into the Cauldron. I remember…I remember how it felt to be torn apart and put back together. But I don’t remember anything after that. I don’t even remember how I got out of the Cauldron or how I got to the Night Court afterwards.” 

“And you’ve never asked your sisters about it?”

“I did ask Feyre once she returned. But she told me I was unconscious when the Cauldron tipped me out and that Mor winnowed all three of us out that day.” 

“You know, after you left the meeting,” Eris remarked,

“Tamlin mentioned that you never came out of the Cauldron.”

“What? But that makes no sense! Why would he say that?” 

“There’s something Rhysand and Feyre are hiding. Wouldn’t be the first time the Night Court kept information from someone—especially Rhysand.”

You placed your chin on his chest, staring up at him with a small glare. “I know you don’t have a great relationship with my family, but my sister would not lie to me.” 

Eris raised an eyebrow, not looking convinced. “Maybe even your sister doesn’t know. Maybe Rhysand is lying to her, too. That kind of power…a lot of people would want to have someone like you in their court, bunny.” 

“He wouldn’t lie. Not to Feyre.”

You couldn’t help but defend your family. Eris seemed to let it go for now, pressing a kiss to your temple. “We’ll figure it out, bunny.” 

You laid your head back down on his chest with a sigh. “Can I ask you something?” 

“Go ahead.” 

“What really happened with Mor that day in the forest, Eris? I need to know. I need to know before…before this can happen. I need to know why my family hates you so much.”

Eris let out a long breath. “I knew this would come up eventually. I’ll tell you, bunny, but you have to understand something. You got a taste of some of the horrors of this court tonight. Things I’ve been trying to put a stop to and change my whole life. But I can only do so much without my father suspecting me of being a traitor. And he’s not above killing any of his own sons.” 

The idea of Beron killing Eris caused both fear and rage to build up inside of you. Your grip on your mate tightened as you frowned. Eris ran his hand up and down your arm in a soothing motion. 

“When my father and Mor’s father forced a marriage alliance on the two of us, it was, in part, a test for me on my father’s behalf. I was young and not as careful as I should’ve been and I think he could see the rebellious attitude in me. I think he thought I’d stop at nothing to somehow make them rescind the alliance proposal.”

“You didn’t want to marry Mor?” 

“Gods, no,” Eris snorted. “And Keir is just as bad as my father. The thought of those two falling into a partnership…Anyways, my father forced me to make a bargain with him. See, he thought I’d fuck it up by trying to bed her before we were properly married. Which, of course, I wouldn’t have. But I played along, not wanting him to think of other things I might do. And he knew my one weakness at the time. My Mother. He made me bargain that I would not lay a single finger on her before we were wed and if I did, he would out my mother for an affair she had and punish her with death.”

You gasped and sat up to look at him. “Eris, that’s awful!” 

“I thought so too,” Eris chuckled, mirthlessly. “So that day Keir dumped Mor in the forest, beaten to near death, I knew if I touched her the bargain would alert my father and though I doubt that would’ve counted in his eyes, he still would’ve taken her and some who knows what. I couldn’t alert anyone about her either because the guards that were with me that day were my father’s personal ones. They watched my every move and reported them back to my father. I had to make a choice, one that haunts me to this day.” 

“The choice to keep your mother safe,” you said. “And to not let your father know that Mor was there, in your court?” 

He nodded his head. “Yes. I lingered in the area long enough to catch sight of that Illyrian brute’s shadows and knew he’d come sniffing around for her. So I made sure the guards were far away so he could slip in and out without them alerting my father.” 

“And all these years,” you said, sadly, “All these years no one knew the truth of why you made that decision. No one except you and your father?” 

“The Night Court’s hasn’t always had an outstanding reputation, bunny,” Eris replied. “I didn’t know if I could trust them. And when I realized they already decided I was as much of a monster as my father, I had little interest in convincing them otherwise.”

“But Eris, you deserve better than that—”

“No, bunny, I don’t,” Eris sighed. “I’ve done a lot of bad things. I can only hope that things might change when my father is no longer on the Autumn throne.” 

You linked your fingers with his, grasping his hand. “As long as it’s you sitting on it, Eris, I think they will. You are not what people think you are. You are not a monster.” 

“I don’t care what everyone thinks. I don’t care if I’m the villain in their stories,” Eris said. “I only care that I’m not the monster in yours.” 

You folded your arms on his chest, plopping your chin on the back of your hands to stare up at him. 

“You’re no monster to me. You’re my sly fox,” you teased. 

Eris gave you his signature fox-like grin that caused butterflies to flutter around in your stomach. Your heart beat to the same rhythm of the mating’s bond soft melody. You could hear his beating too. 

“And you are still my dumb, little bunny.” 

· · ─────── ·♡· ─────── · ·

a/n: I don't normally like making characters virgins but I felt like it fit this character in particular. Hope you liked this part!!

Tag list: @dwkfan @pinksmellslikelove @vellichor01 @whatdoyxumean @minnieoo @hnyclover @daughterofthemoons-stuff @ferrarisbitch @thaynarajejheje @honeysuckle-daydreams13 @the-sweet-psycho @sleepylunarwolf @homeslices @annblvd @historygeekqueen @crystalferret202 @meritxellao @st0rmyt @bruhhvv @venussdovess @naturakaashi @waves-against-a-cliff @justvibbinghere @queerqueenlynn @isa1b2h3 @oucereeng @hnyclover @locotreofthegods @namelesssav @edance2000 @lalaluch @saltedcoffeescotch @jangmi-latte @frobrotbaggins @naturakaashi @isa1b2h3 @awkwardnerd @crazylokonugget @marvelouslovely-barnes @tinystarfishgalaxy @ilovespideyyy @mybestfriendmademe @holb32 @littlemisslovestoread @regina-hawthorne @acourtofbatboydreams @artof-aristocracy @eyebagsanonymous @starrystarkey93 @darling006 @feyres-fireheart @fangirlloza010 @tarataraaaa @asweetblueberry2 @anuttellaa @daughterofthemoons-stuff @why4anne @bloodicka @wildlyobserving @allyjoe755 @neebeee @imxnotxhere @unleashthelion @mimsie95 @imperihoe-writes @joalslibrary @hnnybee0 @azrielsmate3 @azzydaddy @caraaaaugh @iamjimintrash @ren-ni @mysticalfuncollectorus @ubigaia @taylorgriffin @shelbieza03 @prettylittlewrites @ysmtttty @hiddlestonspassionsackx @anxious-study @browneyedgirly93 @fandomarchiveilyd @aninnai @enfppuff @amberlynn98 @scooobies

@lilah-asteria @96jnie @glitterypirateduck @i-m-in-loki-s-army

*If you asked to be on the taglist and you don't see your username, tumblr wouldn't let me tag you for some reason :(

[fuckyeahdindjarin]

V ║Raw Edge

Joel Miller x F!Reader

{ Part IV: Notch | Behind the Seams: Part V | Series Masterlist | Main Masterlist }

Rating: E, a proper E!

Summary: One lazy afternoon, Joel tests your patience.

Warnings: Sexual tension, some language, gratuitous descriptions of the male body, flirting, fingering, explicit grinding, shy!reader, reader has a nickname related to her job, soft!domestic!Joel, no use of Y/N

Word count: 2k

Notes: It's been a long and winding road y'all, but I'm finally back with an update on the main series. It is a short one, more of an interlude, but it will get us where we need to go for the next chapter. Thank you for your patience, I don't take you guys' understanding and love for granted for even a second. Releasing this during the Seams sleepover, more drabbles coming your way for the remaining month of March!

Raw edge - the raw, raveling, and unfinished, cut edge of the fabric.

It’s fitting that Joel is a patient man. He’s built for it, after all.

Those broad shoulders, the sturdy thighs, his sure hands - he’s steadfast as the mountains that loom over Jackson.

As the sun shifts over the ridges and valleys of the sierra through the seasons, bringing shadows into light, so does Jackson on Joel, and you learn that he’s many kinds of patient.

On lookout duty, even in the depths of winter, he becomes one with the stillness of the night, patiently watching over the safety of the town in the loneliest hours.

When townsfolk stop him on the high street for neighbourly chit chat, he obliges with polite patience, never rushing, but careful not to encourage conversation that is longer than necessary.

With Ellie, when she prattles on with a long-winded story from school, he listens with amused patience, letting her run her half-full mouth over dinner with half-hearted admonishment.

And with you - he is agonisingly patient with you, and yet, never in a way that leaves any doubt of his want for you.

You cannot be more grateful.

And in turn, you’re patient with him. As the green of summer softens with the tail end of the season, you pick up bits and pieces. You hear whispers of names. Tess. Bill. You glimpse ghosts of his past. Sarah. Frank.

You don’t expect him to, but you have the audacity to hope, that one day, if he finds it in him to let you in, you have shoulders to spare.

When the heat fades and the brisk autumnal chill starts to linger in the morning mist, you start to find that you like it when he’s not patient.

Not necessarily for the lack of patience thereof, but the fact that it’s worn thin by something else.

The way heat bleeds into his eyes when Lucy holds you up after your shift ends, fingers twitching, as if the caveman in him wants to grab you and drag you home, where you have planned on dinner - and more.

When you’re two bodies tangled in your sheets, breath short as he kisses his way down your neck and nips the underside of your breasts, bra cups pushed up only halfway because you’re still too shy to take it off completely. You feel him shudder, nails digging into your skin, nostrils flaring like he’s holding back from ripping the scant fabric off of you.

And late one evening, when you ask him for it, in heated whispers and your lower lip caught in your teeth, he oh so patiently works his fingers inside your wet heat - 

One, then two; 

Slow, then fast; 

Tender, then frantic - 

Until he feels you clench tight around the crook of his fingers for the first time, watch you arch clean off the bed, he bares his teeth and lets out a primal growl at the cry of his name on your swollen lips.

You find the thrill in getting under Joel Miller’s skin.

As the fall deepens, and trees start to shed in golden surrender, you’re caught off guard when he turns the table on you.

You don’t see it coming, your desperation, that lazy afternoon. It’s just another Saturday when Ellie is on her shift at the Outfitter with Lucy, and Joel is spending those free hours with you.

You’re not sure what got him into the mood, but the man is relentlessly teasing that afternoon, almost bratty in the way he toys with you. His hands go everywhere while you’re cooking, squeezing the swell of your ass then going north to cup your breasts, and stopping off everywhere in between.

Tips of your ears burning, you smack the back of his hands - so big and mapped with veins - just so you can get drain the pasta. Joel chuckles and kisses the corner of your mouth. ‘I like it when you’re bossy, sweetheart.’

He insists on eating on the sofa, with you between his legs, and you can feel him already hard and straining through his jeans. Neither of you really make a real go at the rapidly cooling marinara, and the plates are quickly pushed to the side as them meal degenerates into a full-blown make out session.

Not yet ready to let him strip you bare or for him to disrobe him completely, clothes hang half unbuttoned and unzipped on you both. The part of your brain that still has enough blood to reason likes it though - the demure flashes of skin under creased fabric, blindly touching and feeling where you can’t see.

Your jeans are pushed halfway down your thighs, bra pushed down under your breasts, the elastic straps digging into your shoulders. His shirt is open down to the second last button, bare chest rubbing against your nipples, the contact making you whine. His belt hangs open and his jeans are unzipped, but before you can reach down, his fingers slide inside your panties, twisted and sticky, teasing your wet folds. 

‘Joel,’ you whimper as he pushes two thick fingers inside you to the knuckle, your pussy slickly opening around him. 

‘Does that feel good, sweetheart?’ he asks, mouthing at your collarbone.

‘More,’ you gasp.

‘I got two in you already -’

Your voice cracks in a sob, your nails digging into his back. ‘Joel, I want more. Please.’

He glances at the clock ticking away on the wall and hesitates. The rational part of him knows that he has to leave in less than twenty minutes to pick up Ellie. But feeling you leak onto his fingers, pushing your hips against him to get his fingers even deeper, his cock twitches painfully hard in his pants.

He breathes through his nose to steady himself. ‘Sweetheart, we don’t have time -‘

‘Joel!’ you whine, almost petulantly.

He stares down at you, eyes wide at your desperation. He’s never seen you like this before, and fuck, he wants to give it to you. Wants to give you what you want, what he wants. What he’s wanted for long fucking months, woken up hard and throbbing dreaming about. But he steels himself - no, not when he’s on the clock, he won’t rush it. He will give you what you deserve, and not an ounce less. 

So he kisses you, long and deep, and bargains with you. ‘Listen, sweetheart, we can’t right now - but if you want to, we can try something new.’

‘Ok,’ you reply without hesitation.

A sharp breath catches in your throat when he eases his fingers out of you, and he brings them up to his mouth to lick them clean, his brow furrowing at your taste, thick on his tongue. Then you watch, transfixed, as he pushes his unzipped jeans down with his boxers, kicking them off his ankles - and his hard cock springs free of its confines. 

It’s taken you many months to drum up the bravery to map his body with your touch, and you’ve mostly done so in the safety of darkness, your shyness holding you back. To see all of him, jutting hard and thick in the stark afternoon light, you don’t even hear yourself whimper at the sight.

Joel holds your gaze as he slowly wraps his fingers around the swollen length and strokes himself, lips parted, watching you watch him. ‘You trust me, sweetheart?’

‘Yes.’

‘Gonna make you feel good, ok?’

His words make you squirm beneath him. ‘Ok.’

Grabbing the base of his cock, Joel shifts, looming over you and pushing your thighs apart so they’re bent at the knees to accommodate him. Then with a delicate finger, he traces under the seat of your panties and pulls them to one side, baring your spread pussy to his eyes. 

Your jaw goes slack the same time Joel bites out a filthy fuck. You know this is the first time he’s laying eyes on you there - you’ve been demure about that, preferring to be nose-to-nose with him while he buries his fingers inside you. But now, watching his eyes go black, nostrils flaring, an inexplicable high goes to your head, and you feel yourself clench around nothing.

His eyes fly to yours, and your lips part. Did he see that?

Before you can find out, Joel moves, and you hold your breath when he bows his head right where your legs are splayed open. Distracted by the beautiful chisel of his nose from this angle, you would’ve jumped right off the couch if not for his hands holding you in place when he dribbles spit onto your clit.

You cry out wordlessly, not understanding the visceral reaction of your body to the unexpectedly lewd act.

‘You’re plenty wet for me sweetheart, but this will feel even better,’ he says, spitting again, lower this time, and you tremble at the unfamiliar sensation of the wetness trailing down your folds. 

Tracing a thumb over you, Joel makes a low noise of satisfaction in his chest when it glides over your lips, frictionless. Taking a hold of the base of his cock, he positions the underside of his length in the seam of your folds - and thrusts. 

‘Joel!’ you whimper as the full length of him glides over the lips of your spit-wet pussy, from entrance to clit. He braces himself over you, and you hang onto his impossibly broad shoulders as he carefully rolls his hips, again and again. Rubbing along you just so, making sure you feel all of him despite not being inside you - that will have to wait.

You can feel your panties getting wetter, sticking to your skin, and Joel jolts a gasp from you when he roughly tugs the fabric hard to the side, baring more of you to his drunken gaze, witnessing the mess he’s making of you.

‘Listen t’ you,’ he slurs through gritted teeth, the lewd, wet slide of skin filling his ears. ‘Gonna sound even sweeter when I make you mine, sweetheart.’

With a whine, you arch off the couch, as if chasing the possessiveness in his words. Joel finds a rhythm that has the swollen head of his cock grinding against your clit with every thrust, and above you, he smears open-mouthed kisses over the secret spots he’s patiently unearthed by trial and error, until you’re shaking all over. It’s just what you needed, what you wanted - the elusive more that you didn’t know how to articulate. More than his fingers, but not yet ready to take everything that he can give you.

‘You’re close,’ Joel says, a quiet confidence to his verdict that coaxes a whine out of you. Holding a thumb over his cock, it presses even harder against your clit. His hips quicken in pace, and you know he’s chasing his own release as much as yours. 

‘It’s ok sweetheart, you can let go, let me feel you cum for me, let me feel that pretty pussy -’

And then you’re gone. Any illusion of control over your body is just that, an illusion, when the bubble bursts. White hot pleasure burns through your bloodstream, tendrils of heat blooming and swelling from deep inside you, spilling out your fingertips twisted tightly into his graying curls. 

Over the rush of blood in your ears, you hear Joel stutter fuck, fuck, fuck! before warm cum gushes over you, pooling in your belly button, spilling down your pussy and streaking your thighs. 

Limbs heavy and eyelids drooping, it’s hard to care when the cum stains your panties or the couch below. Not when Joel wraps his arms around you, lips brushing the nape of your neck softly as he brackets you from behind. 

Clinging onto the last vestiges of consciousness, you murmur, ‘You have to pick up Ellie soon.’

He grunts. ‘The little punk can wait.’

You smile, struggling to feel apologetic that the teenager might be waiting a while as Joel’s breathing slows, whistling softly by your ear. 

In the quiet aftermath, his words echo in your head. 

When I make you mine. 

Little does he know, he doesn’t have to - you’re already his.

Notes: Time has really flown by since the last main series update. I've gone through so many ups and downs since, and I really need to thank you guys for giving me the time to figure things out in terms of my writing and how this story will go!

As I mentioned in Behind the Seams: Part V, I have 2 more full length chapters planned for the main series. I don't know if there will be any more after that, but at the very least, I hope that I will be adding to the Seams universe through drabbles and oneshots. I wouldn't write off the possibility of more chapters to add to the main series if I find the inspiration.

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter ❤️

[strwberri-milk]

at home

|| Dick Grayson x Reader || Fluff || 1 522 Words ||

a/n - this is my bday fic uhh i just love dick grayson my affection for him came back in full force this year for some reason and its maybe not like the most amazing in chracter fic for him but i promise ive read a lot about him i just wanted a purely fluffy piece :(( ive got a few more things w him but his voice isnt quite yet perfectly solid in my head

The days always crawled by slowly whenever Dick wasn’t home.

It’s not like you two lived together or anything. You also worked hard not to be fully codependent despite both of you having slightly clingy tendencies that were only unable to come to fruition in thanks to Dick’s incredibly hectic schedule.

You thought you’d grow used to it by now, but you never really truly did.

After all, if you had you wouldn’t find yourself buried deep in the closet of his slightly shitty apartment, laying on some makeshift nest comprised of the sheets that sorta still smell like him wrapped around your body.

You doze off a bit, clinging to a pillow that wears his shirt. The coolness of his cologne rests against your cheek and you ignore the slightly acrid taste in your mouth in favour of having the idea of him wrapped around you again. You’re so caught up in your daydreaming that you don’t hear the door to his apartment open, nor do you realise he’s too tired to notice that the pair of shoes sitting in the foyer are yours. He creeps up the stairs silently, Escrima sticks in hand, only putting them away when he sees the mess of blankets on the ground.

For a moment, his heart stops. He thinks something’s wrong, that you came in to find him and instead found yourself face to face with someone who wanted you dead. It’s not until he sees the easy way your chest rises and falls, how relaxed you look in your little cocoon that he exhales softly.

A shadow falls over your body as you look up, Dick now looming over you as his bright blue eyes focus on you laid across the floor of his bedroom like it’s a luxury mattress.

“…comfy down there?” he asks after a minute, the softest hint of a laugh in his voice.

“Yeah,” you mumble in response, turning to bury your face in the pillow.

Dick tries not to look too offended as you seem far too comfortable snubbing his actual real moving up and down chest in favour of whatever contraption you’ve got set up inside his closet.

“What are you trying to do?”

You ignore him as he crouches down to get at eye level with you, chuckling a bit at his slight wince and the way his joints sound clicking into place.

“Ha. You’re getting fucking old,” you taunt as he lightly flicks you wherever he can reach.

“I literally just got home. What did I do to deserve that?” he asks petulantly.

It takes him another moment before he decides to see what all the fuss is about, laying on the ground next to you. Unlike you however, he has none of the amenities you’d acquired – stolen – from his bed. You look at him out of the corner of your eye as he just lays there for a bit, turning his face to look at you with half a grin.

“I don’t get it. Why are we both down here?”

You don’t reply to him, simply taking in the way he looks finally being here with you. Your eyes slowly trail over his face, catching the way his freckles are disappearing into his tanned skin since it’s not very sunny outside, the way his dimple is fighting for its life right now as he pretends he isn’t wanting to grin like a madman from just seeing you. Subtly, you begin shifting to lay down on your side, continuing to observe him.

You also don’t want to open your mouth, afraid to admit that this was the best way you were able to feel his presence whenever he left for long periods of time. His closet would always vaguely smell like him and as long as you made a nest to lay down on it really wasn’t all that bad. He watches you curiously, mirth filling his eyes as he watches you settle.

“I think I’m missing something,” he muses, something filling his voice and you know it’s not good.

You squeal out loud when he suddenly reaches an arm out and grabs you, pulling you into his chest tightly. The sheets drag along the small, cramped space of the floor as he buries his nose into your neck. After a moment, he starts taking comedically deep breaths as he gnaws on your shoulder in way that’s clearly not meant to be sexy.

“There. Much better,” he says when he’s satisfied with whatever he’s done to you, sighing happily as his leg hooks over your hip to keep your back in place against his chest. 

“Dick stop it – Dick -  oh my god-“

You make another noise of surprise when his hands slide under your shirt, hands resting against the planes of your chest as his thumbs keep themselves busy by circling on your skin. You try to fight his grip but it’s totally no use, Dick’s strength always impossible for you to fight out of.

“Quit squirming,” he mumbles, biting the back of your neck.

“I’m trying to get comfortable. You’re moving too much.”

He continues to manhandle you into place, ignoring the way you yelp and laugh as he does, finally satisfied when he’s got you pressed up against him as tight as he can possibly get you. His leg slots itself between both of yours, the thick muscle of his thigh pressing right up against your core. His arms are holding you so tightly against his chest you would think he’s restricting your airflow but somehow, he’s got you at a perfect medium.

“Done now?” you ask when he finally stops moving around, his breathing beginning to even out against you.

“Done,” he mumbles, now busying himself with pressing kisses to the bites he left earlier.

“Now, are you going to tell me what we’re doing on the floor of my closet?”

You let his words sit in the air for a bit, half heartedly shrugging before you decide to come clean.

“I missed you,” you say simply, hoping it’ll be enough to sate his curiosity.

“Ah. So, you missed me so much you wanted to become a part of my floorboards? I don’t think that’s quite how it works,” he teases, lightly squishing you a bit.

You’d rather him think that was the truth, barely nodding as you bury your face into the pillows. Dick can tell immediately that you’re trying to hide something from him and he’s not very happy about it, sighing softly.

“C’mon,” he coaxes, thumbs rubbing circles against your skin.

“Tell good ol’ Dick what’s wrong. Promise I won’t make fun of you.”

“Say that again and I’m breaking up with you,” you retort, elbowing him somewhere and feeling satisfied when he lets out a sharp noise of pain.

“Baby. I bruised my ribs,” he whines.

“Oh. Sorry.”

“You don’t sound it,” he replies, the pout quite obvious in his voice.

You take a moment, letting Dick continue to wine before you cut him off.

“Your closet smells like you. That’s why I’m here.”

He falls silent, the words settling against him. He’s equal parts flattered and upset that this is what you resort to in his absence, trying to figure out exactly what to say to you.

“’m sorry for being gone for so long,” he decides on after a bit, nuzzling against your skin.

“I know you understand, and you’ve been much more accommodating than you need to be. Just know I think about you every day whenever I’m away from you. Really,” he mumbles against you.

“I love you. More than anything. You make everything I go through worth it.”

“I know you do. I love you too. That’s why I miss you so much,” you reply, finally turning to face him.

He looks at you so earnestly, the fatigue in his eyes still there but somehow duller in the light of his love for you. His hand comes up to cup your face tenderly, rough pads of his fingers gently running along your cheekbone.

“You should just move in,” he suggests, shrugging.

You raise a brow, his tone far too casual for such a loaded suggestion. If you didn’t know him better, you wouldn’t see the light dusting of pink along the bridge of his nose or how his ears are turning a pretty red. He somehow still manages to keep his eyes on yours, an incredibly soft look in them.

“You wouldn’t have to break into my apartment then. And you’d see me as soon as I return home. Home doesn’t mean much to me anyway. It never was a place,” he mumbles lowly, nose pressed against yours.

You roll your eyes, knowing that Dick’s about to break out some cheesy line to romance you. You also know that it really doesn’t matter – you’re going to fully fall for it anyway.

“Home is wherever the heart is you know. And I’ve pretty much torn mine out of my chest and thrown it at you the second you batted your eyelashes at me,” he grins, pulling you in impossibly closer to press a kiss to your lips.

[mandalhoerian]

the shape of grief.

as far as rafayel is concerned, pygmalion's is a horror story, not a myth. guy decides all women are beneath him, quite literally designs and builds one for himself, and somehow his narcissistic prayers for her to live are granted. what humans define as love and the stories they tell about it are always so revealing of their selfish nature. he only ever gets the appeal of it when he looks at his faceless galatea unable to take shape in his clay-sodden hands, and thinks, what wouldn't i give for you to open your eyes so that i could remember their exact color.

♯ ⸻ pure angst, sfw, 3.7k, read on ao3

note: directly inspired by this post about rafayel trying to sculpt mc/reader but not remembering her face. a bit late to this but i was hit with the procrastination fairies LMAO . i wrote this in a feverish delirium without caring for any canon at all, i apologize if rafayel is ooc !! this work assumes he has his memories of his life as the god of tides, you can think it as an AU if you believe he has no memories of it in the main timeline (yet.) This also takes place before the Addictive Pain anectode (if you like nitpicking and think why he doesn't have a photo of her and that this could have been avoided HAHA)

but without further ado, i hope you enjoy, please let me know what you thought!

The gallery Thomas had to basically bribe him to attend was cold with intention. Whitewashed walls were almost blinding beneath the overhead lights, each fixture angled to make the sculptures glow faintly at the edges like relics, a violin track playing at a volume calibrated for reverent hush with the crowd adjusting its voice accordingly. Somehow, the worst of it was that they'd scented the room with something floral and expensive, and it was clinging so offensively to the back of Rafayel’s throat and wouldn't go away no matter how much he swallowed or sipped on the drink glued to his hand.  

The exhibit was titled Breathed to Life: The Divine Muse in Modern Form. He’d read the placard twice, though once would’ve been enough. Wherever he looked, Rafayel couldn't escape from the oozed hauteur for the attempts at capturing a miracle, sculptures of taxidermied epiphanies resting under glass that was tempered with more care in Rafayel's opinion, preserved with just enough light to make the delusion shine. Words like transcendence, revelation, and worship had been worked into the catalog copy, and even the bubbles of champagne he was swirling in the flute glass was more interesting as he idly moved through the space.

He passed a piece labeled Galatea No. IV — a full-bodied woman in bronze, lips parted in awakening, arms half-lifted as if to greet the man who had imagined her, the texture of her skin smoothed to impossible precision, idealized down to the the pores with not a single wrinkle or mole.

One of the critics standing nearby called it sublime. Another said, "She looks so real I almost expect her to blink."

Rafayel said nothing. He kept walking.

A curator caught him between rooms. She was in something backless, dark green, dripping with confidence. “You must feel at home here,” she said, beaming. “Mr. Rafayel, you're the Pygmalion of our time."

He looked past her to one of his own works, mounted near the final archway. A man slouched on a low stone, arms folded, spine curved with a kind of refusal, turned away from something but looking up at it at the same time in criticism, his face gaunt with a pinch of displeasure, half-shielded by a fall of hair. No awe or supplication.

His was the only Pygmalion in the entire exhibit, and no one seemed to realize it. Rafayel had heard some talk about how progressive it was to genderbend Galatea for gay representation, or that this could be the moment Galatea came to life and rejected her maker in a plot twist. 

Rafayel had left it up to interpretation if his Pygmalion was looking at Galatea at all. He was staring past her — past all of them, really. Every woman he ever imagined beneath him, too dull or too much or too sharp to matter. A man convinced that the thing he made was a compromise, that he’d been forced to shape it because nothing real had measured up. Neither a lover, nor a muse. A reflection bent to fit him. And maybe resenting how much of himself had ended up in the marble anyway. Nothing of the yearning saint the myth preferred. 

The gallery had tried to soften this image of human ugliness within the divine benevolence of Galateas all around, projecting wind through bare branches beside the figure, trying to frame the posture as meditative. They titled the piece Invocation. Rafayel wasn't even asked before they changed the name and he was definitely having a talk about it with Thomas after.

He offered the curator a a dismissive hand. “A flattering comparison. Though I hear his success rate depended entirely on divine intervention.”

She laughed, unsure whether it was flirtation or rebuke. “Still, what an honor. So many of us see ourselves in the myth, don’t we? The ones who love so deeply we bring our muses to life.”

He excused himself with a nod that meant nothing. Her perfume followed him down the corridor.

The flowing hallway was a blur of marble, alabaster, glass, bronze, the women luminous and soft, the men always absent — except in the titles. The Sculptor’s Prayer. In the Hands of the Maker. Love Before Breath. One artist had suspended a torso in resin, veins threaded with copper, the heart cavity open and waiting with the accompanying quote that read: “She lives because I saw her clearly enough.”

Rafayel stopped in front of it. The figure inside was beautiful and fragile, designed to be admired.

He traced the edge of the plinth with one fingertip and thought: She lives because you needed her to. Not because she wanted to.

He left the gallery floor and stepped into the auxiliary corridor lined with donor plaques and black-and-white photographs. One showed a young couple posed beside a sculpture mid-process. The woman’s face was amicable, and the man looked directly into the camera, his hand on the small of her back. The caption read: The original Galatea — forever immortalized by love.

He looked at it until the focus dissolved, and the polished surface of the frame stopped reflecting anything but his own cold expression.

Pygmalion was granted his wish. That alone was enough to make Rafayel despise him. 

A man shapes greed with his hands, pulls at the skirts of heavens like a petulant child, and the gods — watching from a distance they rarely breach — clap their hands in glee and say yes.

The myth pretended that mercy could be earned by longing, that a body sculpted by a beholder who sees himself so above others is owed because he called it love. There was no weight in that kind of miracle, only cruelty dressed as grace, a prayer granted just to mock the millions that weren't. 

Pygmalion was the epitome of human selfishness, the final limit where want transformed into greed for more than the world could grant. Only his statue, made by his own greedy hands and given life through someone else's breath, was beautiful, because only she embodied perfection to him, not because she was worth desiring but because he desired her. Pygmalion's love didn't reach past his self, it served only to feed himself and satiate him with the sight of his narcissism, like any other creation brought to life by humans for their own benefit; machines built to kill, guns painted gold so they look like art when killing — all just tools made to feed men's hunger for more.

But he would have never cared about Pygmalion if it wasn't for the gods.

Because Rafayel envied those gods, all too human in their vanity, for the power and might they wielded to give so easily like that. Their ability to move mountains without ever being touched by grief, to pull strings that bind worlds without fearing losing something of theirs; it was unfathomable to someone so bound in mortal tethers such as he.

It must feel so freeing, living like that, he thought. Must feel so good, pulling at other lives like they are your playthings. So easy to get lost in those dreams.

The same way he did back then.

The disdain covering Rafayel in a second skin as if he was an oil-soaked seagull was fuel enough to get back to work after that travesty of a gallery.

He’d been developing a concept for a painting — a large-scale composition of a coral-devoured, bleeding cathedral submerged in the sea, its steeples fractured and stretching toward the surface in a gesture that evoked both surrender and yearning, an image meant to convey the contradictions of loss and reverence, a symbolic convergence of decay and devotion. At least that’s what the so-called critics were about to yammer on about. It in fact was the fate of a certain buyer Rafayel was targeting, and the message was meant for his people and his people only.

The draft lived on the sketchbook propped against his raised knees, his legs crossed on the high stool, charcoal gripped tightly in one hand and smudging downwards the length of a pillar as he added textures and shadows to create depth. It was a hasty thing, but effective at illustrating what he envisioned, complete with notes scribbled around the edges, jotted reminders for little details here and there he needed to add to truly flesh out the piece later on. Rafayel was so distracted by a couple more things to add to the sketch that the canvas already prepared beneath the dome skylight felt neglected despite the brushes sitting ready and dipped in paint atop a palette of bruised violet scraped from stormclouds, diluted ultramarine, blue fog, a soft grime green of oxidized copper, rotten ivory, a sliver of warm rust, a cold pink scraped from the underbelly of spent roses, and more.

And yet, when he finally got up to start for good, his gaze drifted elsewhere.

Toward the bust armature.

Rafayel stood beside it, hands in the pockets of his black suit pants, head tilted sideways with one hand playing with it in thought. He loosened the buttons of the white dress shirt he wore after flinging off that horrid tie, sleeves pushed to mid forearms as he dragged a stool and took a seat before the armature, right elbow propped atop the round table to the side holding supplies, chin resting on knuckles, now gazing up at the base of the clay cast while chewing the inside of his cheek.

He had always told himself he would return to it when he was ready, when time had softened the raw, exposed nerve endings of loss, when he could render your likeness with a steady hand instead of a shaking one.

But then months stretched into a year, days faded into seasons which blended together into a period of numbness broken occasionally by an intrusive thought here and there while he focused on Lemuria and Lemuria only, and then — nothing. Until it was easier not to think about it at all. He became absorbed in his mission, dedicated to getting revenge, and avoided thoughts of you, for all intents and purposes, until moments like these where he simply sat in silence looking up at a form without feature to remind him why exactly he did what he did.

Galatea, huh?

He crossed the room with the same distracted focus he used to summon bruyous, hands rummaging through the storage shelves until he found the sealed bag of clay, not expecting it to be heavier than he remembered, dense with neglect. Dumping it unceremoniously beside the armature, he sliced it open, letting the block fall onto the slab table with a dull, resistant thud, finding it cold to the touch, too stiff to yield immediately, so he pressed it between his palms, wetting them, working the material slowly until the top layer lost its brittleness.

He didn't sit right away, hovering over the lump with furrowed brows, kneading it down into something usable, folding in water from the bowl on the side, rotating it as he moved, pushing and turning until the tension bled out. Once softened, he dunked the mass onto the metal plate mounted over the dented and sluggish, old man of a banding wheel. Only then did he sit, lowering himself onto a battered wooden stool, one bare foot braced against the leg of the wheel’s base while the other nudged gently to angle it.

All done. He reached for the wire loop tool without thinking or looking over, fingers already coated in the dull slip of moisture and clay.

The first lines came quick and confident. Indents for the eyes. The line of a nose. Just scaffolding, clearing a space where you might return to him, the only sound in the room the soft grind of his tools and his breathing. 

He narrowed the chin, adjusted the brow. Then sat back, frowning.

Too young. This was closer to the child at the beach who had hooked pinkies with him. 

He scraped the forehead flat again, thumb dragging clay down like peeling skin. The smoothed face stared up at him in blank reprieve, a temporary erasure before he tried again, less baby fat on the cheeks, sharper cheekbones this time, a more adult curve to the jaw, something more defined around the eyes, though he wasn’t sure what. A firmer mouth, perhaps. A stronger line. He reworked the nose — it ended up being too straight the first time and he chided himself for the mistake, then he decided it was too narrow, crooked it just slightly at the bridge, something he'd sworn felt right.

It wasn't long before the moment slipped from his fingers, and all the revisions felt more like mistakes than anything, tilting the whole balance of the face into something uncanny. He could pretend it was nearly familiar, but only in the way dreams pretended to be memory.

With an annoyed click of his tongue, Rafayel tilted the wheel. Leaning in with an emotion-tense strain in his spine, he angled the bust toward the overhead light until the shadows shifted and spilled away from the features he’d laid out like a confession.

He stood up for a burning stretch to contemplate, stepped back, squinted with his head tilted, and stepped forward again.

Was it just him? The angle? The lighting? The fatigue of the gallery distorting everything?

After he sat back down with more determination to get over whatever this slump was that made him get you wrong over and over again, one adjustment in the temple led to a collapse in the jawline, and the later correction to the mouth made the chin too long.

The realization that the eyes looked distant now and he couldn’t tell if it was him failing the depth or the absence of something deeper was particularly worrying. Rafayel had always trusted the process, but this didn’t feel like a detour into arriving at the same destination, the clay was actually resisting him in a non-art block way and it was starting to actually bother him. 

He scraped again, set the brow differently, ignoring the thing niggling at him at the back of his head and brushing against some the internal nerve. Was it ever really that shape? Or had he once wanted it to be, and kept telling you about how doing your brows that way would compliment your features better when Algie had sat you down before the vanity in your room to try out some dresses for the ceremony and work on make-up to go along with each one of them?

The clay warped gently beneath his fingers as he tried to trust the sensation, but every stroke seemed to subtract rather than add. The frustration Rafayel hadn't sensed had made its way into his hands like fire following the path of a wick, making the cheekbone dip under the tool, and he had to sit back straighter with a huff from his nose. 

His eyes flew all over the features of the bust, the whole incomplete face. Rafayel couldn't even call it yours. One mistake or two could be expected, even pictures could be unflattering. But it was worse than that — he couldn’t figure out where it had gone wrong. The structure was exactly the same, proportions were what he remembered. The surface was close to reality enough to breathe, but the person who would come to life if they did wasn’t you, and he didn't know where he had gone wrong. 

Rafayel stared longer. A pressure grew behind his ribs, and it was beginning to feel like trying to hum a melody he hadn’t heard in years. The more he reached for it, the more the silence beneath it yawned open.

He reached up and pressed his palm against the clay, not to shape, just to feel if it might suddenly remember for him.

It didn’t.

This was someone else. Too much of him.

He looked down at his hands, coated in slip and streaked with fine dust, and flexed the fingers slowly as though wondering how long they’d been disobeying him.

He pressed the backs of the base knuckles of his thumbs into the inner corners of his eyes. Into the tear ducts.

Where was the scar you used to trace absently while thinking? He tried to recall the way your mouth moved when you were amused but trying not to smile. Was it one side that curled first? Or both? He had drawn it once, years ago, sketched it from memory with absolute certainty. But when he reached for it now, he found only doubt.

The chair scraped backwards and nearly toppled as he sprang to his feet, crossing to the small cabinet beside the canvas where he kept what little he dared to revisit. He almost flung the drawer halfway through the room when he yanked it open, pulled the first sketchpad he could reach, pages flipping too and frenzied to register until he paused and kept going through them slower to make sense of it. 

Eyes, alone. Dozens of them. Glancing sideways, gazing directly, lowered in thought, every single one of them slightly different in expression, none of them quite right. A nose rendered in three-quarter view with a soft crease that might have been tension. The arch of a brow, mid-expression — concern, maybe? Hair texture studies in every style you wore it that he remembers. A mouth caught in a smile with no cause. Hands more frequently than anything else — folded gently, held in motion, reaching out. The gesture of a wrist mid-turn, the curve of a knuckle mid-thought. A sketch of a nape that vanished into the shadows of the page’s lower edge.

None of them carried your name. But they were you. Bits of you. Shards. And every one of them had been committed to the page when he hadn’t even meant to — absentminded, between tasks, in the margins of other projects. A fragmented archive of heartbreak he’d been too cowardly to complete. As if assembling you would demand an answer to where you had gone, as if seeing it finished would require confronting what it meant for him to have stayed, inviting something too vast and unhealed to fit back inside him without breaking something else a lie in full.

Rafayel had underestimated the sheer amount of notebooks he'd gone through for years now, like paper towels one would wipe away their tears with. The grudges he'd immortalized left to collect dust and avoided religiously.

He could only look through a draft of your eyes and hold on to the sketchbook for dear life when his vision blurred and something trickled down his cheek. One by one, the tears solidified into pearls, striking the floor and rolling away into obscurity among the chaos of his studio.

Dropped right into the throes of a realization far bigger than he could accept.

Like a dream that slipped away upon waking, your face had receded to the place where Lemuria had sunk — unable to be grasped fully or played back clearly unless he called them forth, the rest reduced to snippets and gestures instead, images that flickered through his mind like slides projected on a screen, ephemeral and fading faster the harder he fought to keep hold of them. What remained was abstraction — softness that used to be hair, the dimple of an incisor tooth, a tilt of the mouth that belonged to laughter. Those fragments still possessed color. What they lacked were definitions that would allow him to shape the clay in your image.

He went through more sketchbooks until the last of it joined the pile around him and he was left standing motionless in the wreckage of graphite and paper spilling open across the floor like overturned reliquaries, pages fluttering mockingly gentle under the breeze nudging through the half-cracked windows, reflecting back a half-you, or an almost-you. He stared at them for a long time without moving, eyes dragging from shape to shape, as if willing one to speak with your voice.

What answered was a notification pinging in his pocket, a sound so mundane amid the shambles of his misery. He pulled his phone out in a detached daze, swiping at it with no thought.

Thomas: Pygmalion and Galatea gallery photos are up on their page! Your attendance was well publicized and people are talking about your piece, so I expect requests for interviews soon. Just letting you know 😃

 His knees gave out before the grief did, he caught the armrest at the very last possible second, and slid down the length of the sofa's side.

She lives because I saw her clearly enough. Those words barricaded his mind like blood rushing to fill a bruise.

Rafayel was a creature built from ripples, shaped by a lineage of memory so ancient it existed without written record, a primordial awareness of past pains and future sufferings alike, generations upon generations worth of invisible scar tissues patching him up like a rag doll. Cities had fallen and crumbled behind him, yet he could name their street corners and the songs sung during their funerals.

So why — how — had you slipped from him this way?

The thought unspooled inside him slowly, a wet thread tugged from a wound so raw that Rafayel didn’t dare touch it. He had thought, in some arrogant, buried part of him, that if he ever tried, truly allowed himself to miss you more than he mourned his people, and stopped tormenting himself by creating puzzle pieces of you out of scraps in his refusal to obtain a photo of you living your new life, he would be able to rebuild you perfectly. Even the gods who breathed life into Galatea would turn green with envy.

His gaze crawled back to the Frankenstein's monster of a bust, all unrelated bits and pieces that had looked like you when isolated but made no sense when he put them together, taking the shape of grief itself.

She lives because I saw her clearly enough.

He tossed the phone aside without giving Thomas an answer, threw his head back to lean on the lip of the couch, and covered his face with a forearm.

And at last, bitterly, he realized he was no different than Pygmalion: longing for the memory of a woman to etch itself into life.