#letting the horse girl brain win

[amielot]

Big stretch please! 🙏

a WIP of a comic from slightly later in the timeline XD.

Hob lets the horse-girl-brain overtake him. The impulse was too strong.

I think dream might be a bit small in these panels so I may fix it later lol.

[twola]

I have one simple request, getting back from a successful mission with Arthur , reader and Arthur are all excited and happy about the job and can’t wait to get their hands on each other with reader trying to discreetly suck him off behind a wagon at camp. Or something along those lines, I’m a sucker for keeping that man quiet when others are near. Work your magic girl!

Uh. *checks notes*

Filthy. I hope you like filthy.

Success

Arthur Morgan x F!Reader Smut (18+), MDNI

➵ Fic Masterlist ➵ AO3 Link

“Reckon that’s a winning combination,” you laugh, swinging down from your horse and tying its reins to the hitching post. 

Arthur swings down from his horse as well, grunting in agreement, patting his mare’s flank before he follows you deeper into the camp, past the folks cleaning up their dinner, breaking into their first (or fourth) drink of the night—Dutch’s gramophone lilts in the background.

As the two of you walk closer to the table where the contribution box is set out, Arthur opens his satchel to pull out the ill-gotten gains.

“Course, like anyone would believe a pretty little thing like you could rob a man blind.” Arthur places the overflowing jewelry bag into the camp’s money chest, but not before nicking a pair of earrings that he knew would look good on you. 

“Are you being facetious, Mister Morgan?” You smile overly sweetly at him and move quickly ahead of him, walking backward toward your destination of his wagon.

“Reckon I don't have the brains to be so, Miss.”

“What did you tell that man that he was so damn excited about getting in a room with me?” You continue slyly, playing with the ends of your hair in a flirtatious manner.

“Told him ain't nothing ever been sweeter than your mouth on my cock.” Arthur rumbles lowly, his tone teasing.

Oh, it was one of those nights.

You push his shoulder. Once. Twice. You know you could never move the mountain of muscle that he is. But he allows it, letting you push him backward until he smacks against the side of his wagon. He smirks as you press yourself against him and he eagerly meets you as you lean up to kiss him. 

What he doesn’t expect is those warm little hands of yours deftly unfastening his gunbelt and immediately working at his pants.

“What are you doin-” he harshly whispers and immediately shuts up as you wind your hand through his hastily opened buttons and encircle his cock.

“Shit-” he hisses, leaning back against the wagon, watching you draw out his engorged cock from his pants and stroke it gently, teasingly.

“Can you be quiet for me, cowboy? Can you hold yourself together as I suck you off?”

Arthur smashes his hat onto his head to block his vision as you sink to your knees, biting his lower lip.

“Look at me, Arthur Morgan,” you whisper before kissing his shaft, your nose tickled by the wiry curls on his pelvis.

He looks down at you, hand coming off his hat, his other arm braced against his wagon.

Loudly swallowing, he looks around for anyone who would be able to see. The rest of the gang were mulling about- only steps away, 

“Watch me, dearest.” You smile, sickly sweet, before your tongue darts out and licks a warm, wet stripe from base to head.

He whines, whines, trying to keep quiet. Arthur’s breath comes out in hurried pants as you swirl your tongue around the head of his cock. You look up at him again, bright-eyed as you lap at the sensitive skin of his member.

“Fuck, honey, I -” he grits his teeth as you lick again, the tip of your tongue probing against his slit, tasting the first bitter, salty drips of his arousal.

You frown up at him, hand wrapped around his base, and pull away, “You want to be caught? Be quiet.”

His jaw immediately clamps shut as he nods dumbly, following your order. Arthur cannot help but to spread his legs further, his spurs jingling, as his head passes into your mouth. 

“Hah-”  he wheezes, watching you slide your mouth further down his shaft. Each inch of him disappearing into the warm, wet cavern.

“Oh, Jesus-”  he throws his head back against the wagon, his hat falling to the ground, as the very tip of him hits the back of your throat and begins to arch downward as your nose presses against his pelvis. He knows he’s leaking like a dripping faucet, blinking up to the stars, breathing out through his nose loudly like a bull to stud.

Your mouth is perfect - wet and warm and your tongue presses against the underside of his cock insistently. You make a small noise around him and he looks down at you. His entire cock is in your mouth, prodding the back of your throat, and you blink up at him with doe eyes.

He’s a goner, even before you hollow your cheeks and suck.

Arthur barely has enough time for his hands to find your head, holding you still as you groan, and with one half-aborted thrust, he comes, hot and sticky down your throat. You gag a little, and he realizes he’s choking you, and his hands move down to your shoulders, gently pushing you back.

You gasp, coughing a little as his cock leaves your mouth, bobbing slightly in front of your face. For a moment, a pearly string of saliva and spend is suspended between your lower lip and the head of his cock. He grits his teeth again, fighting off the moan that he wants to let loose into the night air.

The string breaks as a large drip of pearly spend escapes his cock, falling to your chin.

You blink away tears as you look up at him, gasping for breath, his spend bright on your skin in the moonlight.

“Oh honey, here-” he’s wincing as he tucks his sensitive cock back into his pants before stooping over to take your shoulders and help you up.

You press your hands against his chest to steady yourself.

Arthur’s hand leaves your shoulder and his thumb wipes slowly across your chin, collecting that last drip of spend.

You grab his wrist, preventing him from moving, as you take his thumb into your mouth, sucking off the last drop of spend from him as he gazes upon you dumbfounded.

You let go of his thumb and suddenly he’s crashing into you, his arms thrown around your body, crushing you to him, his lips insistent against yours, his tongue pressing into your mouth. He kisses you like he needs your love to breathe.

You melt into his embrace, kissing him back with equal fervor. He swings you around to change places, with you leaning against his wagon, the boxes of bullets inside clinging as he pushes you against it.

“Christ alive-” he grits between kisses.

“If I ain’t-” Arthur’s hand paws at your rear and you gasp. “The luckiest man-” Your skirts are drawn up.

“West of the Lanaheechee-” Your bloomers puddle around your boots. You bury your head into his shoulder as you gasp, his fingers zeroing between your legs with a practiced ease.

“Look at my hand, honey.” Arthur teases as you squeeze your eyes shut, your knees shaking as his other arm wraps around your waist, keeping you upright.

You heed him though, looking down between you and grabbing at your skirt, lifting the fabric enough so that you can see his hand cupping the entirety of your cunt, where just the smallest tuft of dark hair is visible where his palm ends. You suck in another breath as his middle finger parts your folds and presses against your opening.

Arthur is looking down at you with a confident hunger as the first part of his finger slides into your cunt. Your eyes squeeze shut as your hands clench at his strong trigger finger pushing behind the first, both sliding into your body.

He crooks those fingers and a cry escapes you. His other hand covers your mouth and he shushes you, lowering his head to yours as he whispers lowly,  “You want to be caught? Be quiet.”

Your eyes widen as you nod your head, but he doesn’t remove his hand from your mouth, instead leaning in and taking your earlobe between his teeth as he starts his ministrations in your cunt again.

His hand muffles your sounds as he begins to thrust those fingers roughly. His tongue traces up the helix of your ear before he harshly whispers into it.

“You may play the whore but ain’t no man ever gonna touch you but me. Ain’t no man ever gonna make you come, right honey?”

You nod vigorously, about to trip over that precipice.

“Good girl, now come for me.” Arthur orders, pressing his thumb hard against that bead of nerves above your cunt and curling his two fingers inside.

Your knees shake as your eyes squeeze shut, moaning into his hand as you obey, a small gush of your arousal coating his fingers and dripping down his knuckles.

Arthur slowly removes his fingers from your body, and your skirts drop as his other hand uncovers your mouth. You pant, leaning heavily against the wagon. He looms over you, and as he also breathes heavily, a smile cracks across his weathered face.

“Reckon any more and we’re really gonna get caught.” He nuzzles his forehead against yours.

You smile, laughing softly, “Any more and neither of us will be able to stand up.”

Arthur snorts as he holds out his hand for you to take and hold on to. “C’mon, let’s show our faces a bit before disappearing again.”

[il-miele-che-scrive]

Please have your asks open okay so hear me out

Charles Leclerc x Greek ! F1 driver ! Reader

You can choose the brand anything Ferrari because I want it to be like a little rivalry to lovers . Social media au or not . Reader being in f1 more time than Charles or Charles with rookie reader .

Thank you in advance

Hello!! I decided to go with rookie reader, hoping you'll like it❤️🙏

scuderiaferrari We are thrilled to announce a historic moment in Formula 1 as we welcome Y/n Y/l/n to our racing family! 🚀 Introducing Y/n Y/l/n, the first woman to compete in F1 since the iconic Lella Lombardi in 1976, and proudly representing Greece! 🇬🇷 Teaming up with our Charles Leclerc, Y/n brings a fresh wave of skill, determination and passion to the track. Together they'll conquer the 2024 season with the iconic Prancing Horse🐎

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yourusername I feel extremely honored to become a part of this family❤️

username1 Miss girl has no idea what she signed up for 💀 wishing her all the best tho

username2 A GIRL, GUYS WE FINALLY GOT A GIRL IN F1

username3 I have a bad feeling about this...

↳username1 wtf? care to explain?

username3 By the summer break she'll have hooked up with half the grid

username1 bye I'm not even participating in this conversation, misogynistic brain rot

carlossainz55 Goodluck @/yourusername 💪

↳yourusername Thank you Carlos 🙏

↳username4 Help why does his comment seem kinda salty

username2 wdym salty lol he literally wished her goodluck

username5 I get him tho, a girl stole his seat

username2 what "stealing" are you talking about? his contract expired, they didn't prolong it and went with some fresh blood that happened to be a woman, not to mention you have to be like the best of the best to get into F1, there was def no stealing done

charles_leclerc Exciting times ahead, let's see if you can keep up

↳yourusername Buckle up 🤠

↳username2 now THAT'S what I'd call a salty comment

username5 Charles forgot they're on the same team lol

achi_of_greece Hellenic Hurricane 🌪

↳yourusername I'll never escape from this nickname will I? 🫶

↳username1 NOT Y/N HAVING LITERAL ROYALTY UNDER A POST ABOUT HER

↳username3 Let's see if the hellenic hurricane can keep up with Lighting McQueen

username4 keep up? 🤡 miss girl will beat his ass up

username5 once again, i kindly remind, they are a TEAM!

lewishamilton History in the making

↳yourusername Omg sir Lewis Hamilton I'm gonna cry 🥹

username1 Y/n being a fangirl just like us

username4 she's so real for this frfr

oscarpiastri Finally🥴it was a bit lonely

↳yourusername Hi f2 bestie 🫶

logansargeant What about me

yourusername you know Oscar and I love you!!

f1 A historic day at the Imola Circuit as Y/n Y/l/n, the Hellenic Hurricane, wins the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix! Congratulations to Y/n and the entire Ferrari team for this outstanding performance.

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yourusername A dream come true honestly 😭🙏

↳carlossainz55 Great job👏

↳lewishamilton So proud

↳username4 Someone explain why the 7 (8)times WC and Charles' ex teammate are more supportive than Charles himself

username2 I think it might be an ego thing? He could be jealous? Personally I think it's Ferrari's fault, they kinda messed up the friendship between CL and CS too at the end

username5 yeah Y/n is definitely the 'favorite child' to Ferrari because she's new and they want to focus more on her or smth

maxverstappen1 Well deserved

↳yourusername THANK YOU MAX

↳username6 Why is Max here and Charles is not😭

username1 A GIRL. IN FERRARI. WINNING IN ITALY. I WASN'T READY FOR THIS

username2 The haters are pretty quiet rn

username4 No cuz I was gonna ask if she found a therapist yet... But she might not need it

username6 Excuse me it's been a few weeks and we get a Y/n win already?? I love it here

landonorris Max Verstappen is screaming crying throwing up

↳maxverstappen1 I'm literally not

landonorris You must admit it was refreshing not having to listen to the Dutch anthem again

oscarpiastri Best rookie fr

↳yourusername I learn from the best (even though you didn't have a win in your rookie year)

oscarpiastri Wdym i didn't, i won sprint in Qatar. Not to mention rookie of the year

yourusername Yeah yeah, stop flexing pookie

logansargeant Go bestie

↳yourusername Can't fvck with these hoes cuz they messy 💅

username7 live laugh love Y/n

username1 the Verstappen curse has ended🙏

↳username3 you know it's probs her first and last victory in F1 right?

username1 I just wonder why is Charles so quiet

charles_leclerc Congrats 👍

↳username7 not Charles commenting after people started to wonder why he didn't say anything 😭

↳yourusername How did you enjoy looking at the back of my car? Oh wait, you couldn't even see it from P8

username1 maybe it was better when Charles didn't comment 💀

username3 if that was how my teammate talks to me I'd be pissed too

username1 if this is angrily my name is Ayrton Senna

username2 pls if he was angry, it was only cuz he's in love with her but can't do anything about it

↳username3 he can, they're both single, if he wanted he would've, but he knows they have to keep it professional

username2 that's why I said he can't do anything, literally. i predict a relationship the moment one of them leaves ferrari (or f1 in general)

username4 dude is so in love it's embarrassing

username5 I just know he's thinking about unholy things

↳username7 angry sex lmao imagine

username6 oh to have someone who'll look at me the same way Charles looks at Y/n

username7 okay so my theory is they're attracted to each other okay? but neither of them can talk about emotions, but they tried to have a talk about it, which turned into an argument cuz both are short tempered pookies

↳username3 this is so delusional 🤡 why would they talk about it in that exact moment?

username7 let a girl fantasize

↳username5 quietly manifesting this to be true

↳username2 I'll never believe in true love if this doesn't turn out to be real

username8 No cuz hear me out guys. The LONGING gaze in the second picture? There is chemistry between them whether they admit it or not

↳username6 I totally see it, that is the stare of a man in love with the woman he's just argued with. Look at him. He doesn't look angry. He looks upset. Why? Because they had this argument and didn't make up. Now he's worried they'll get in the cars and something bad will happen either to him or Y/n and... You can imagine how the rest goes

username3 And i thought the previous person was delulu wtf

username9 I can die happily the day I see CharlesY/n happen

↳username7 be careful what you wish for, I feel like it can happen sooner than we'd expect

username10 I need to know HOW didn't Y/n fold after being looked at like this

username11 My friend went to Monaco for the GP and she has a paddock pass, she told me she overheard Y/n talk to some girl from her team that she liked Charles AND they even had "THE talk"™ (which could mean they did "IT"?), but Y/n can't imagine a relationship with him

↳username3 out of all the things that didn't happen, this didn't happen the most

↳username1 I can see that, they're very similar - competitive, short tempered - each of them is like a ticking bomb alone, so in a romantic relationship they would be truly a nuclear weapon (which doesn't mean I don't want it to happen)

yourusername A great day for some karting 🥴 summer break!

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username1 did I gaslight myself that hard or she's really in the number 16?

↳username5 nah, I see that too

↳username2 girlie giving us hints, is it soft launching yet?

username2 16 I'M SCREAMING

username4 enemies to lovers?

↳username3 when were they enemies?

username4 well they never seemed very fond of each other

username3 then just say rivals 💀

charles_leclerc You forgot to mention I won this time

↳yourusername first and last time you got a higher place than me

username4 I can see them having "the winner gets to be on top" kinda bets

↳landonorris 👀

username1 LANDO KNOWS SOMETHING

username11 i told yall, there's too much tension between Y/n and Charles to not be AT LEAST fuck buddies

oscarpiastri What's the longest you can go without being on track?

↳yourusername Mate as I'm writing this I'm waiting for a plane home, won't sit behind the wheel for like a week or more 😭

↳username2 Y/n is dedicated to her job

yourusername είσαι η αγάπη μου❤️🤍

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username1 the red and white hearts?? just saying but they're colors of the Monaco flag

↳username2 and the guy lowkey looks like Charles🤔

username3 looks like Charles? The best you can see is the back of his head

username2 and it looks exactly like Charles' 😌

francisca.cgomes Where credits for the last pic?

↳username4 KIKA WHAT ARE U DOING HERE

↳yourusername Pierre said not to tag either of you 😭 safety reasons or something 🙄

username4 AND PIERRE IS THERE?

username3 Okay, she's in a relationship, y'all can stop shipping Charles with her

↳username5 wdym 💀 this is literally Charles

username3 And y'all say that based on the back of his head, delusional

oscarpiastri @/landonorris and I want an invitation next time

↳yourusername Sorry pookie, it's not for kids

landonorris I'm not a kid

yourusername Then don't act like one

username5 lmao Ferrari had no idea they're getting a sassy queen

username6 Y/n is in love 🥹

↳username2 She's winning, she's in love, what else could a girl want?

username7 Not the soft launch as if we didn't know it's literally her teammate

username1 WHAT.

username2 I TOLD YOU. I TOLD YOU.

username3 You know it's totally normal for friends to hang out? I'd take it as they finally made up

↳username2 UP OR OUT

↳username4 they totally look like just friends, sure😐

username5 IN HER HOMETOWN 😭 HE MET HER FAMILY

↳username7 I'm super curious how it went. "Mom, dad, this is Charles my teammate, I hate his guts. Oh, and we're also lovers"

username6 So where is the person who said they can die happily when CharlesY/n turns out to be real?

↳username2 dead probs lmao

username7 The power couple we needed 😭

username8 imagine their PR team lurking onto gossip pages seeing this

↳username1 I know FOR A FACT that the pr people do look at the gossip accounts

username9 Y'all remember how once someone said Y/n will hook up with half the grid? Staring with the teammate is easy, let's see who'll be next

↳username3 Yeah, I'm so surprised it didn't happen earlier

↳username2 stay mad lol Y/n is living her best life with the man she loves

username5 THIS and it doesn't matter that they met through being on the same team

username6 They knew each other before tho! Y/n used to be friends with Arthur, so she def met Charles in the past

username3 Oh so she tried to get with Arthur but because it didn't work out she went for Charles?

username6 That's literally not what I said. She was friends with Arthur. FRIENDS

username3 You know there's no such thing as friendship between a man and a woman?

username6 look at who is delulu now 🤡 I'm not having this conversation

charles_leclerc Partners on and off the track

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username1 Man literally said fuck a soft launch 😭

↳username2 as he should! we've been dying for them to announce it

yourusername Je t'aime 🩷

↳charles_leclerc Je t'aime avec tes défauts et tes qualités

yourusername EXCUSE ME

yourusername DO YOU THINK I CANT USE TRANSLATOR?

yourusername WHAT "DÉFAUTS" YOU MEAN? I HAVE NO DÉFAUTS

charles_leclerc That's adorable ❤️

pierregasly Remind me, who took the first photo? 🤔

↳yourusername Kika did 🫶 @/francisca.cgomes

francisca.cgomes First and foremost I am the biggest CharlesY/n fan

pierregasly But you took the pic with my phone, I am the author just as much 🙄

francisca.cgomes No❤️

landonorris OH

landonorris I thought you won't have the balls to hard launch

↳yourusername The balls are there indeed

yourusername And more

landonorris EWWWW TMI

yourusername 😐

landonorris exactly my face rn

oscarpiastri So that's why Lando and I weren't invited

↳yourusername It's a couples trip 🤷‍♀️ there wasn't space for the Aussie and his emotional support extrovert

oscarpiastri fuck Lando, what about the Aussie and his GIRLFRIEND?

oscarpiastri Because I do have a girlfriend, you know?

landonorris HEY that's mean

logansargeant I can't say I didn't see it coming

↳username1 We all did, Logan

↳yourusername You were literally the first person I told about my crush on Charles...

logansargeant But who said I believed it would work out?

oscarpiastri HE was the first to know?

yourusername And you were the first to know about the night Charles spent in my hotel room in Monaco

charles_leclerc You talk to them about these things, chérie?

yourusername Don't act like you didn't run to Lando to tell him all about it on the next day

username4 So the theories were real after all, the spicy night in Y/n's hotel room was the cause of their argument

↳username3 She didn't say that...

username4 But it's obvious. Look - the night happened, they felt weird about it and boom there goes the argument. It makes a lot of sense

username5 However it happened, I'm glad it happened

username6 What happens now? Are they even allowed to be a couple?

↳username7 wdym allowed lol it's better than if they were from different teams, they'd have to sign NDA or something

username6 Isn't the team worried they'll distract each other or something?

username7 At least they'll be traumatized together

scuderiaferrari 🇬🇷❤️🇲🇨

↳username6 The team is indeed not worried

yourusername The benefits of having birthday during the summer break

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username1 I love the Y/n and Charles/Kika and Pierre friend group

↳username2 they're everything I want fr

username4 okay but I NEED to know whose idea the cake was

↳username2 I would expect it from Logan and Oscar, honestly, but they weren't in Greece with them

↳yourusername ofc it was Kika's idea!!

francisca.cgomes and I'm proud of it

logansargeant It hurts to know you're making new friends 🙄

↳yourusername I figured I needed some girl friend after spending so much time with you and Oscar 🙄

logansargeant Do you even remember about us anymore?

oscarpiastri I bet 10 of your american dollars that she doesn't

yourusername how could I forget? You two still haunt me in my nightmares 🫶

username1 lmao Charles wakes up screaming box box and Y/n wakes up screaming what's a kilometer and shoe thongs 😭

yourusername that's an accurate description

charles_leclerc I swear I once heard you talk in your sleep something about running a mile in shoe thongs

yourusername And I don't even know how long a mile is, so you can only imagine how terrifying that was

lewishamilton Happy birthday to my favorite rookie

↳yourusername Every time you appear in my comment section I cry a little

lewishamilton The good tears I hope?

yourusername happiness tears of course😭

username5 Do y'all think Charles is jealous seeing his gf interact with THE Lewis Hamilton?

↳username2 No? Why? Lewis is Y/n's idol so obviously she's gonna fangirl a lil

username6 Y/n being a WAG and a driver at the same time, iconic

username7 My fav wag duo for real

[bellarkeselection]

hey! I have a submission/request for a fanfic for whenever you can get to it.

While Monica and Kayce are separated, Kayce and a female farm hand (who has been around for a few years) end up having a drunken night together. Feeling ashamed, she ends up drinking in the pasture (clearly hasn’t learnt her lesson) with Rip. She ends up having a night with Rip as well. Well a few weeks later she finds out she is pregnant and doesn’t know who the father is. She tries to hide the pregnancy for a bit until she can find out the paternity but something happens and she has to spill the beans to them

Two Baby Daddy’s

None of us say that we are going to help someone cheat on their husband or wife…sometimes these things happen. But what I didn’t expect was having two possible baby daddy's to the infant growing in my belly…let's go back to the beginning though shall we?

Rubbing the sleep from my eyes I rolled over on my side feeling a soft bed mattress underneath me. My gaze found a familiar tousled locks of brown curly hair that could only belong to Kayce Dutton. I sat slightly up on the pillows just staring at him. “You sure know how to show a girl a good time, Dutton.” I kissed his head climbing out of the covers shrugging on my clothes that we had thrown around the room the night before.

I snatched my hat off the door handle leaving his bedroom and went straight to the barn. Climbing on my horse the work day wasn't bad and the guys were playing poker and drinking beer by the end of the night. I walked outside of the building leaning against the wooden fence drinking from my beer hearing footsteps coming up behind me. “You didn’t talk much today. Care to explain why?” Rip came walking up to me.

“The cattle don't care much for talkin’. And I just didn't have anything good to share except that I am a coward who can’t tell the guy I like how I feel without a whole lot of alcohol.” I take a long drink feeling the buzz in my head starting to appear.

Rip leans on the fence watching me. I had been a loyal farm hand for years. He respected me as much as John does. “Everybody makes mistakes in their life. You just have to man up and take responsibility for it.”

“That sounds like a good idea. But I'd rather do the opposite it and just make the pair go away for a few hours. What do ya say, Wheeler?” I swayed my hips at him holding the beer bottle in my freehand trying to gain his attention.

Rip stood there for a moment debating in his head. He knew Beth would tear down whoever slept with her man even though she didn't much care for labels on relationships. “Beth wouldn't like that very much if we hooked up.”

“Hey, it's not like I'm just some random girl. I am her best friend and you could just say you did it to make me happy for a night. She won't sink her claws into me over that.” I slowly walked up to him running my freehand down his chest ever so slowly. “What do you say. One more girl before you make Berh your wife forever?”

Y/n, I….hell with it.” Rip decided to change his mind cupping my face and smashing his lips onto mine before his brain told him this was wrong.

Moving my hands up his chest I moaned into the kiss enjoying the feeling. The bottle in my hands dropped to the dust and dirt underneath our boots. Rip tugged me closer to his chest deepening the kiss. “We should get out of here before they come looking for us out here.” He warned me of the cowboys fighting inside the bunkhouse over who was really winning the poker game.

Dragging me to his cabin Rip kicked open the door and I jumped up into his arms wrapping my legs around his waist. He carried me to his bedroom, sitting me on the bed. We each quickly removed our clothes before I held his face in my hands pulling him down onto me and the bed.

That night was two weeks ago and it brought more conflict than I ever wanted in my life.

Walking down the hallway of the main house and to Beth’s room I knocked three times before she opened the door knowing it was me. “Did you get what I asked you for?”

“Yes I did. My father knows I can’t have kids. So you better be more discreet about this.” She moved out of the way, letting me inside the bedroom. She reached into her purse handing me a pack of pregnancy tests.

Taking out one I went into the nearest bathroom while she stood guard inside with me, blocking the door shut with her body. “Thanks Beth…..oh I’m so screwed now.” Holding the test in my hands it took a few minutes before we had an answer.

“Do you know who the father is?” She questioned me, arms crossed over her chest.

Lifting my head up I felt my entire body shiver at the thought. I hadn’t told her about me and Rip yet since it was just a one time thing. “I uh….I slept with Rip. But I also slept with Kayce a few days earlier.”

“If you were anyone else I would kick your ass. But because you are my friend I will help you hide this until you find out who the father is.” She responded to me helping me to my feet before we went our separate ways.

Weeks later -

Climbing down from my horse as quickly as possible when I got into the barn after work saying that I wasn’t feeling too good and so Rip let me heed back earlier. Stumbling into the dirt I rushed over to one of the empty stalls that we kept the horses in. I bent my head over the wall and puked whatever was in my stomach. “Y/n, woah hey. Hey are you alright?”

“Kayce?” I croaked through the fact that I was trying to catch my breath still.

He was holding my hair back out of my face when I slowly turned around to face him. “Rip said you weren't feeling well so I thought I'd come check on you.”

“Thanks Kayce. But I'm fine.” I pushed away from him, snatching my hat up from the dirt ground and dusting the dust off of it.

Kayce stared at me and stepped forward grabbing me by the forearm when I attempted to leave the barn. “Hold on a second. There's something I need to talk to you about. Beth, just told me she wants me and Rip to come down to the hospital with you.”

“Shit Bethany. What the hell are you doing?” I cursed under my breath.

I have been keeping this a secret for a few weeks now. I needed to keep my job after all and not ruin my friendship or whatever that I had with the Dutton standing in front of me now. I had gone to the hospital yesterday evening asking for a paternity test to find out who the father of the baby was. “Do you want to explain why she would want me and Rip to go to the hospital with you?”

“Kayce, I…it’s because-”

“Y/n, are you feeling better? We managed to finish the job earlier so the boys are going out for drinks if you want to come with us.” Rip's voice entered the barn and he dismounted his horse seeing the two of us.

Glancing over my shoulder, my chest tightening in a panic mode. “Rip?”

“Is something going on here I need to involve the boss in?” Rip points his finger from me to Kayce.

Clutching my hands into fists I sucked in a sharp breath. The two men were just staring at me now. Thanks to Beth I supposed I have no choice but to explain the situation if I don't want them to both be angry with me later down the line. “There's something I need to talk to you two about…I'm pregnant.” Lifting the sweatshirt I had on you could see a growing belly underneath the shirt I was wearing.

“You're pregnant. How far along…do you think it's mine?’ Kayce covers his mouth with his hands.

Rip blinked when I focused my attention on him. “Or it could be mine.”

“Yes, That's why I took the test. The reason Beth told you Kayce is because the doctor has the results now.” I whispered avoiding their gazes on me.

Rip headed towards the doorway and we followed him to the truck. Beth came with us since she knew I needed a friend when we entered the room and the doctor came in with the results. “This will be a very interesting conversation for the father. So I will say congratulations to you Y/n. The father has the same blood DNA as Mr. Dutton.”

“I'm gonna be a father again?” Kayce breathed out.

Beth pushed the doctor out of the room and Rip followed her out into the hallway leaving us alone in the room. “Thanks for the help. Now let them yell at each other then kiss alone.”

I remained in my seat, hands covering my mouth with my hands so terrified of what I would say to him. There were two options he could say to me. He would either be happy or not want anything to do with me and our baby. “Kayce, I don't know where to start. I should have told you how I felt before now. It shouldn't have been alcohol to make me have the guts to tell you that I've had feelings for you for years.”

“It was because of Monica and me why you didn't say anything wasn't it?” He turned his head at me and we were looking the other in the eye. “I'm sorry I didn't see your feelings earlier…I love Tate. I guess he was right that I was too chicken to tell you the truth.”

I blinked through some tears needing to hear the words from him to believe it. “Kayce, how do you feel about me?”

“This is how, Darling.” He got to his feet, getting down on his knees in front of me. I gasped feeling him press his lips down onto mine slowly. Wrapping my arms around his neck I kissed him back until we needed air and he was panting for breath. “I've always had feelings for you. I won't leave you and this baby.”

I gasped sniffing through happy tears. “You won't. But what about Tate?”

“He's gonna be thrilled to have a sibling.” Kayce chuckled, kissing my forehead. “I love you Y/n.”

Laying my head against his chest I smiled when he wrapped his arms around my waist holding me. “I love you too, Kayce.”

[dark-and-kawaii]

Do Zevlor and Lofn have any children? If not, any headcanons surrounding pregnancy and parenthood for the pair?

˚₊‧꒰ა❤︎໒꒱‧₊˚ 𝓛𝓸𝓯𝓷 & 𝓩𝓮𝓿𝓵𝓸𝓻 ˚₊‧꒰ა❤︎໒꒱‧₊˚

Whaaaa!!!!! I’m all for telling you about this!!! I’m so excited I get to write more about them!!! Thank you so much darling xoxo :,3 Gosh I tried shortening these, I could talk about their story all day long honestly.

♡ Lofn & Zevlor have three children currently, one boy and two girls. She would love to have another, there’s just something about being pregnant with his children that she adores. Son looks like his father, tielfing characteristics and all, the daughters look like photo copies of Lofn with small details of their father.

♡ While she was pregnant, Zevlor’s protective nature went into overdrive. He also scolded her due to finding out after the elder brain fight, hated that she went into battle while carrying a child. Though he knows nothing could’ve convinced her not to. He was constantly checking on her, making sure she was comfortable and had everything that she needed. Always super attentive and caring, always tried to convince her to stay off her feet… She never did (ᗒᗜᗕ)

♡ Zevlor took time and spent hours in the castle’s library reading books and scrolls about pregnancy and childbirth. He began to develop dark circles under his eyes until the Queen, Lofns mother found him one day, she shut the book he was reading and told him to go to her daughter, that everything would be fine.

♡ Lofn found Zevlor one day handcrafting a crib, she could see that every detail was meticulously thought out. There were even small detail on the side of a few men in armor riding horses with dragons framing it… She couldn’t believe how much detailing he carved into this crib.

♡ During the birth of her first child there were complications… And it was one of the scariest moments Zevlor had ever endured. He had faced countless dangers in his life, but nothing had ever terrified him as much as the thought of losing Lofn. Fear gripped his aching heart, he felt so helpless as he watched his beloved struggle (˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ ) Hours passed in a blur of pain and fear as Lofn’s screams echoed through the chamber, each one tearing at Zevlor’s soul. He held her hand the entire time, whispering words of love and encouragement, and he prayed with all his might.

♡ When the horrors of birth were over, Zevlor cradled their newborn son in his arms, marveling at his son’s tiny, perfect features. The infants eyes were closed, his small chest rising and falling with each breathhh. Lofn, exhausted from the ordeal, leaned her head against Zevlor's shoulder, her eyes heavy with sleep, “He's beautiful,” Lofn whispered, her voice barely audible, “Just like his father.” He kissed Lofn's forehead gently, “And strong, like his mother,” he replied, his voice filled with tenderness.

♡ The baby let out a soft whimper, and Zevlor instinctively began to hum a gentle tune. It was a song his mother had sung to him when he was a child, a lullaby from Elturel. The melody was soothing, filled with memories of love and safety from his very own childhood. As he hummed, Zevlor felt a small delicate tail wrap around his wrist. He looked down to see his son's tiny tail curling around his arm, the baby finding comfort in his father's presence.

♡ Zevlor could honestly win an award for best dad. He’s always there for his children, always there teaching them, showing them how to wield a sword, allowing his children to drag him wherever it is they please. He just loves being a father. At times he’ll walk around with bows in his hair due to his daughters, they cling to him the most. Their son tends to stick by his mother, though he holds high respect for his father. The girls will also tie a pink bow to their father’s tail, since they don’t have one, “but faaather! We don’t have one so you have to wear it for us!” He doesn’t say no ever to them.

[i-cant-sing]

Dr snow hear me out. So I’m North African right now? Ikr so cool anyway if I was in the 12th century I would be a direct descendant of dihya al Kahina and I would be angsty and upset about the loss of my royal status as princess in the matriarchal amazigh society after the Arabs came so I would train and become the best archer in North Africa and look for ways to restore my dignity and honour the matriarchy of my great great great great grandmother. I would wake up one day and get a tanit tattoo on my forehead and then seek help of the one and only in all of the levant….king Baldwin , we would meet in some random setting in the desert , I would ride a camel and he would have a white horse , I would come unarmed fierce and feisty to impress him with my bravery or so he thought because I did in fact have a dagger strapped to my thigh under my royal blue satin dress with a slit that he can’t see so he would never know I truly was armed…He would see an angsty angry upset wretched hurt soul within me instead of the fake strength mask I had put on through his wisdom and imaginable charisma . We would play chess , I would win , he would agree to help me after that . In the end , he would heal my soul from hostility towards Arabs and from the dangers of revenge and I would become a delicate rose with a tempered soul who was truly strong and possessed a lot of wisdom and compassion instead of an angsty reckless impulsive little girl. We would live happily ever after then and throw balls every season.

idk why but the visuals is reminding me of assassin's creed odyssey and im a sucker for AC games

honestly, yes baldwin would help you but he would 1000% know that you are armed and he would NEVER lose a chess game. im sorry but u could be idk magnus carlson, and baldwin would still be able to beat you. the only way youre winning is if baldwin lets you win because you might be a sore loser and ur angsty ass needs a win for once.

baldwin is the embodiment of beauty with brains, and this dude is so wise and smart, most people actually underestimate him because of his age (because they think age = experience) but its also because baldwin often downplays his intelligence. he's not the type to immediately spring into action, no- baldwin likes to observe, likes to set everything into place and let the dominoes fall into place. he's not someone who waits for an opportunity, no hes the one creates an opportunity. only a fool would wait for the circumstances to be in their favour. baldwin makes the circumstances favour him.

[elsweetheart]

maybe tomorrow you’ll know

🎀 summary: when your girlfriend ellie can’t make it to patrol, you take her slot and go with joel. your father figure comforts you when you get overstimulated.

🎀 an: trying out the diary entry kind of cover picture ?? idk if it looks cute or not but idk what else to put so there . another ldr song title lol … this fic is kinda odd ,, kind of a weird ending and idk if i like it. feels kind of ooc. oh well !! ppl requested it. this is a prequel to this fic and a late sequel to this one !!

🎀 warnings: implied acknowledgment of neurodivergence from joel ?? joel is a little nicer / more healed than he is canonically,, reader gets overstimulated and upset ,, mentions of daddy issues lol ,, mentions of grief ,, i think that’s it ??

It wasn’t unlikely that common colds and flu’s swept Jackson this time of year. It was the pollen from the trees, or maybe the sap, or something like that. Ellie had explained it you a while back but you were more focused on her freckles than the scientific explanation of illness, so the information was kind of buzzing around loosely at the back of your brain.

Ellie, who’s immune system seemed to be made of gold in other departments was hit by the cold. She had the runt of it, red nose, sore throat, awful mood. The one upside was you swanning around looking after her, but that one upside was accompanied by several downsides— as per mentioned, really shitty mood, and the God awful medicine that Maria had cranked out to those hit by the illness.

That left very few people to go on patrol, and you being the helpful angel that you were signed up without second thoughts. You, who had very little patrol experience — your talents thriving more in the gardening area or barn. The shell shock Ellie experienced from hearing you’d signed up didn’t last long thankfully, when you’d rushed to tell her that Joel told you that he’d accompany you. She relaxed a little, if she was going to feel that you were safe in anyone’s hands, it would be Joel’s.

She was honestly feeling much better, the headaches and most of the sniffles had gone away by the time the day of your patrol rolled around, but the antibiotic she was still unfortunately taking made her drowsy for the better part of the day — so for safety reasons, she wasn’t able to up and snatch your patrol slot like she’d so cunningly planned.

She’d watched you get ready, watched you pull on your jeans and a tight white t—shirt. She could tell you were trying to look ‘practical’, outfit removed of any frills and decoration like it usually would garner to seem more Ellie-esque, apparently manifesting her courage and skill to support you on the patrol. It was sweet, but she worried for you, and kept having to remind herself that Joel would be there, Joel would be there, Joel would be there. Nothing was going to get you. She didn’t let this show of course, flashing you a winning smile before you left, helping you tighten your backpack straps and kissing the nervous line between your eyebrows. “Go get ‘em, patrol girl.” She was as cool as ever.

You’d spotted Joel waiting by the gate, and your own nerves settled into a quiet hum in your chest at the sight of him. He looked unafraid, as usual — but when did he ever look afraid? His worn brown jacket was a familiar sight, and you smiled— giving him a sweet wave when he noticed you emerging.

“What, Ellie not here to send you off?” He smiled, in his gruff Joel way as soon as you were in hearing distance.

“She’s on strict doctors orders to rest and stay in bed.” You recite proudly, the two of you sharing a chuckle of disbelief at the fact that someone had managed to tell Ellie what to do. Who else would it be?

“Alright Kiddo, up you get.” He aided you onto his horse, wedging himself in the front saddle. You weren’t offended that he hadn’t trusted you with your own horse today, in fact you felt safer like this.

Joel liked spending one on one time with you, like the time you introduced him to skincare. He found you to be rather seraphic in nature — a glow of purity and light heartedness in an otherwise dark world. He was the most happy to see that you and Ellie were dating, as he found your ways to rub off on her. He’d notice the way she would actually think twice or hesitate before snapping at someone, always making sure to check for you first to gauge your emotions. Ellie was gentler than before, her jagged edges buffing themselves down as to not catch you on its spikes. In fact, Joel had notice everyone that had the grace of being around you had softened up slightly and not in a bad way, you were your own little patch of sunshine. The sugar in the tea that was Jackson.

Which is why he was happy to let you wear yourself out with words, burbling about some funny incident that occurred earlier on in the week with Jesse — Joel chuckling along due to the expressive nature in which you told the tale, glancing at the shadow in the snow of your arms waving about wildly in gesture as you did so despite the older man not facing you.

“I don’t know how you got this much energy so early in the mornin’.” He chuckled with an amused shake of his head. You sat with this for a moment, staring out at a gaggle of birds flapping about causing ruckus in the tree top. You wondered if the birds knew the world has ended, and exhaled through your nose at the thought — leaning forward to rest your cheek to Joel’s back. You suppose you were a little tired, not having much sleep from the night before.

“Changed your tune.” He hummed, a little more quietly. The sun had only just come up, and you felt the adrenaline of leaving past the gates beginning to seep out, your eyes feeling puffy and dry from perhaps lack of sleep.

“You reminded me I am a little sleepy.” You yawned and he chuckled, steering the horse round a bend making your fingers dig into his jacket just a little more. You stayed this way for a while, the two of you plodding along on the horse as Joel took mental note of routes and watched for foot prints and such. Your peaceful reverie was broken by the terrifying groan that could only belong to clickers. Your head snapped up, heart clenching in that dreaded way but Joel didn’t seem to react in the slightest. His back continued to slowly expand and deflate with his slow breaths as the two of you located the small gaggle with your eyes. He drew his weapon, a knife with a thick handle and slid off the horse.

You felt slightly vulnerable as he stepped away, weary of his feet crunching in the snow as he stalked towards the screeching clickers ambling around amongst themselves. Perhaps it really had been a long time since you’d been past the gates, as your gut tensed up as you watched Joel brutally take down the small group. You didn’t quite notice that you were clutching at your jacket, jaw tense and eyes wide until he started trudging back towards you slightly lost of breath. His eyes caught yours and gave you a curt nod to signify he was okay, watching you for a moment longer as you uncurled your hands letting your jacket free from its clammy grip.

“Been a while since you been out here, huh.” He slung himself back onto the horse with a quiet grunt of exertion.

“Yeah. I’m super out of practise, it’s bad.” You shook your head fearfully, eyes boring into the mangled figures staining the snow red as you passed them, flinching when one of their legs twitched ever so slightly.

“You’re alright. S’the people who aren’t infected you gotta watch out for.” He remarked. You stayed silent, pensive at this comment that slightly set you on edge and he added “Don’t get many o’them round here though. We’d know about it.” to soothe your anxiety.

Perhaps you’d been spoiled a little with your working hours at Jackson, because being on patrol was more demanding and time consuming than you’d have thought. Some parts were nice, like chatting with Joel when you got to sit on the horse— but the rest of it was a lot more physically challenging than you were used to. Being hoisted up onto walls, climbing over fences, Joel was giving you quite the workout in comparison to your usual quiet and peaceful days. Your backpack had grown heavier from being filled with useful items you had found to bring back home — and it was beginning to make your shoulders ache, weighing you down uncomfortably.

The sky was aglow with a breathtaking abendrot, the day been and gone having been travelling around with Joel all day. You’d mentally clocked out around 2 hours ago, feeling the exhaustion push you past your limits. You never wanted to be in a bad mood with Joel — so you hid it, but you were starting to feel a little shitty. A close run in with the infected made your ears ring from Joel’s gun shooting a little too close to your ear— the annoying humming sound making it hard for you to concentrate. All of the physical exertion made you hot and clammy beneath your layers, but it was too cold without them. You could feel your hair sticking to the nape of your neck, getting tangled in the back of your necklace bringing it taut against your skin leaving a thin chain print indent against it. You could feel a pebble rattling in your shoe that you couldn’t get out, your knee was grazed slightly from a stumble trying to get away from a clicker, and you could feel the blood from the injury sticking to the inside of your jeans. Worst of all, you could feel a slight tickle at the back of your throat — the start of what could be the cold Ellie had.

“You listenin’?” Joel glanced round at you, on top of everything — he had decided now was the time to launch into a long and detailed story. You loved when Joel told stories, it was usually a moment of comfort or bonding — but you couldn’t help but feel irritated at the fact you could barely hear him, ringing in your ears seeming to grow louder.

“Huh? I— ugh, i can’t—” You stressed, fingers prodding inside your ears trying to wiggle the blockage out. Your face was screwed up slightly, overwhelmed by the feelings and sensations you were experienced. The man craned round slightly, taking a look at you.

“Y’alright?” He gave you a once over and you simply huffed, deciding that you didn’t care about the Jackson chill anymore as you practically fought your jacket off your body, immediately going back to sticking your finger in your ear trying to unplug it to escape the incessant ringing. You groaned agitatedly, not noticing your jacket dropping off the back of the horse and into the snow as you continued your pressurised ministrations. It all had seemed to hit you at once, your face heating up as you felt your heart rate pattering against your chest. “Kiddo?”

“What? I— I don’t know I don’t feel good I’m— I hurt myself and i’m getting sick and — everything is too much and —” You exploded, cutting yourself off as you burst into tears. You were frantically, nearly wailing as you grappled with yourself like you were covered in tiny ants. Joel frowned, quickly steering his horse beneath an old bridge and parking up, jumping off — hoping you didn’t fidget your way into falling off. You slid off the horse by yourself, pacing for a moment as you cradled yourself before sliding down the wall.

“Hey, kiddo. Look at me.” His movements was slow, purposeful. He didn’t freak out, he never did. Just slowly coming to squat infront of you, knee’s clicking with the gesture. You pulled your face from your hands, face hot and sticky now which only seemed to worsen your reaction. “You’re panickin’.” He observed. You nodded, unsure of what to say as you scrubbed your face, trying to rid of the feeling of your sticky tears. “Be gentle. Gonna hurt yourself.” He spoke even quieter as you did so, weary of hands rough swiping.

You leant back on the brick, letting your eyes flutter shut as you sucked in breaths. Joel took the time to look around, checking that there were no unwelcome visitors approaching. “Y’alright.” He soothed as you continued breathing. After a moment, you whined quietly into your hands.

“Too many feelings and sounds.” You shook your head, embarrassment creeping up the back of your neck. Joel probably thinks I’m insane, spoke the loud moth’s buzzing around from ear to ear.

“I get it.” He drawled, shrugging and sliding up beside you to sit, drawing his knees up. “We’ll sit here ‘til they go away.”

You went to complain, knowing he probably just wanted to get back, you were only holding him up — “Joel—”

“We’ll sit here, ‘til they go away.” He repeated with determination, turning to look at you seriously. You glanced at him, nodding before you closed your eyes once more — focusing on your breathing.

What did you find relaxing? The gentle breeze that fanned over your face as you sat and caught your breath, caressing the overly warm places on your body and soothing you as evening crept in. The thought of Ellie back in Jackson, the domesticity of it, thinking about how she was probably laying on her bed resting wearing her warm grey hoodie, tongue poking between her lips in concentration as she doodled in her diary. A butterfly sketched with a chewed biro, your profile drawn in the margins. The sound of birds tweeting as they settled in their nests for the evening, rustling their feathers slightly and cooing to their babies. Joel beside you, same old worn brown jacket and the deep lines of age embedded into his skin. You could hear his slow breath, in and out. In and out. You matched his speed, and before you knew it you were calm.

“Sorry about that.” You croaked, voice hoarse from your freak out. You didn’t feel hot with irritation anymore, just a slight warmth to your cheeks from embarrassment. “Didn’t mean to have a tantrum on you.” You sniffled, still clearly upset by the occurrence.

“Nothin’ to be sorry about. I think going on patrol just ain’t for everybody.” His deep voice reverberated beside you. The two of you sat for a moment, and you felt him observe you for a few seconds before he pushed himself to stand. He wandered off, returning back a moment later with your jacket that you had chucked off the back of the horse in his hand. He draped around you and you stuffed your arms back in, feeling the chill consuming you a little more now. Standing above you, Joel held out his hand.

You took it and he pulled you up. The sky seemed a shade darker, and a pang of guilt smacked your chest — realising how much time you’d wasted. You started busily dusting yourself down, adjusting your backpack waiting for him to step aside. When he didn’t, you stepped around him.

“Gosh, it’s getting late already— we better get going I’ve wasted enough time.” You released all in one breath. Your voice was strained, odd, like you were still barely holding it together. You turned to Joel, who still stood there and watched you analytically.

“Hey.” He interrupted, as you turned back to him.

“What?”

He held out his arms, and you didn’t hesitate.

Joel had only hugged you a few times before. From his demeanour, it was clear he wasn’t much of a hugger. Once when your dad left, and once when you had a frightening run in with an intruder. He had been there to comfort you in your lowest moments.

He wrapped his arms around you as you pressed your ear to his chest, hearing the slow and steady thump through his shirt. You let out a quiet sob, shoulders relaxing. You hadn’t realised how badly you just needed fatherly love until this very moment, the hole in your heart slowly but surely being filled by Joel’s presence.

“M’grateful you’re here. You’re the closest thing I have to…” You stopped yourself, deciding it would be too… much to say. You decided it would probably stay unspoken forever — the grief on his behalf too large to mention. You had only hoped he felt your gratitude and love without saying it.

Part of him tensed, but relaxed in allowance after a minute. “I know, babygirl.” He spoke his appreciation. It was quiet, almost like he had hoped that you and maybe even himself wouldn’t hear it. Another moment passed, and he cupped the back of your head, pulling you closer. “Same goes to you.” Your heart was warm when you pulled away, Joel not quite being able to meet your eye — as if processing what he’d just quietly admit to. You didn’t bring it up, and the two of you never discussed it again — climbing up onto the horse and galloping back in the direction of Jackson’s gates with quiet conversation as the sky melted into navy.

You were half asleep by the time you’d gotten back, Joel walking you back to Ellie’s door. Your breakdown had pretty much exhausted you, and Joel decided not to press you on it — silent footsteps in the snow as you reached the porch. Ellie came to the door, welcoming you inside with a kiss on the cheek as you sleepily mumbled to her before toddling inside the house disappearing into the dark hallway.

“How’d it go?” Ellie gave a once over to Joel’s pensive expression.

“Good.” He looked passed Ellie for a moment, to see whether or not you lingered. “Keep an eye on her, yeah?” His brow furrowed slightly and Ellie mirrored the expression, saying nothing as she urged him to continue. “Reckon she… she’s a little … different to you and I. Feels things different. She got… upset. Said she was feelin’ too much. Got all… overstimulated. Think that’s the word anyway. You know me, m’not good with all that stuff but… maybe you can talk to her, Kid.” He shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Yeah.” Ellie frowned, the syllable coming out in a fog of cold Jackson air. “I’ll ask her… thanks.” She nodded.

“Yeah. ‘Night.” He smiled, turning and plodding away tiredly.

Ellie curled up behind you in the moonlit room, your body was still cold having simply shed your clothes and dropped into the bed. The freckled girl rubbed your arms as she pulled the blanket over the two of you, pressing kisses to the back of your head.

“Missed you today, brave girl.” She whispered and you hummed, hand tiredly closing around her own on your shoulder.

“Missed y’too.”

“Joel told me you got upset. We gotta talk about that tomorrow, you know that right?” Her voice was gentle as she craned around to watch your face in the dark room, dropping a kiss to your cheek. She watched your eyelashes move, a failed attempt to open your eyes and your hand closed around hers just a little tighter.

“Tomorrow. M’okay.” Your voice grew weaker as sleep faded in around you.

“Okay baby. Get some sleep.” She tucked herself in behind you, trying to erase the worry from her mind.

[storydays]

Spring Broken P2

(3rd POV)

"Alright, assholes, listen up and let's do that shit!" exclaimed Blitz, snapping a stick in his hand, in front of a poorly drawn presentation. 

M&M sat on the other side, Millie with a smile on her face and Moxxie with a glare. On the other side of the table, Loon was in the middle of scrolling on social media and paused to raise an eyebrow at the red and white imp. (Y/N) sat with his legs on the table, and typing on his tablet, probably texting Verosika or the Shadow Prince, could never tell with him. 

"We find a fuck ton of clients, we portal up,  and have our fun murder time per usual. We pile all the bodies into a big fucking canoe, we push said canoe into said water, we light it on fire, to attack sharks, eagles and  maybe a goose, they eat the bodies, we win the bet, we rub it in that sloppy bitch's drunken face ass face, do you have any questions?" 

Blitz smirked at his team, clearly proud of himself. 

(Y/N)'s tail flicked slightly. "Jackass say what?" He muttered low enough for Loona to hear making her lip turn upwards a bit. "What?" Blitz watched in confusion as Loona and (Y/N) fist bumped smirking to themselves.

"Yeah, why was that nonsense?" Moxxie asked. 

"That wasn't a question." replied an annoyed Blitz. 

"That wasn't a plan." snarked the smaller imp, crossing his arms. 

"I'm sorry, that was a flawless presentation of what we should do Mox. It's  not my fault you got a smooth little brain upstairs." 

"A what?"

"I'm calling you slow Moxxie. God, why don't you learn to take criticism,  you talentless baby dicked troll?" Blitz hissed, pointing at the other. 

 "Well, why don't you take an art class?!" Moxxie snapped, pointing his finger into his chest. "Why don't you see how expensive they are!" yelled Blitz, slamming Moxxie back into his chair. 

"Hey!" Loona called, "Is there a way I can come with you guys this time?" 

"Absolutely not, I forbid it, not gonna happen, sweetie." Blitz huffed, "Spring break is no place for vulnerable, young goth girls. You know, the kind of freaks up there who will drool all over you." 

At that exclamation, the team all glared out at the fourth wall, (Y/N) going as far as sending a middle finger. 

"Well, I can blend in, like (Y/N)." Loona said, drawing their attention back to her. "Wait, say that again." Blitz said, raising an eyebrow. 

"I can blend in?" Loona asked, shrugging her shoulders. "Do you have a human disguise?" Millie asked. "Yeah,(Y/N) got me one a few years ago." Blitz looked at his nephew who was now ignoring him, sweating under his uncle's intense glare. 

"You bought Loona a human disguise but not the rest of us?!" He yelled, eyes widening when (Y/N) easily towered over him, "Bitch, I told you 3 years ago to get yourselves some, and you keep blowing the money on horse shit!" The younger imp pursed his lips as he thought about it, "Literally!"

"You four have been screwing around on Earth this whole fucking time without human disguises?!" Loona growled, slamming her hands on the table. "Those three have an excuse, but why don't you use yours, (Y/N)?" 

"Well......new plan!" (Y/N) dodged the topic, and started drawing a new plan on his tablet before showing it to the rest. "Loona can help lure the humans to you guys, and we'll can take care of the rest. Seems like a solid plan to me!" He laughed nervously, clearly hiding something.

Seeing he was nervous, Millie perked up, "Flawless logic." "I think we're missing the biggest issue, sir," Moxxie spoke up, addressing Blitz, "Isn't it crucial to have a client who demands enough kills to win this bet. We aren't just going up to massacre."

Blitz smirked, "I've got that covered, Mox."

The two went outside as Blitz hung up an ad that he drew giving a 50% off deal for kills. "Now, we wait." He said smugly, hands on his hip.

Moxxie facepalmed, "Sir, there is no way we are going to get enough clients by the end of the day with horribly spelled,  bad grammar flier!" "Ha, look again, fatty." (Y/N) called from the window with a smirk. Moxxie's jaw dropped seeing the long line of clients wanting a kill. Blitz laughed smugly before walking to the crowd. "Now, who's first?"

*Timeskip to Earth*

Loona opened up a portal under the dock and the others hid behind rocks. "Now remember: We can't be seen, alright? Loose shots will likely cause a panic, so Loona and (Y/N)--" "Incorrect: (Y/N) will be killing and checking the names off." his nephew spoke up, eyes focused on the list. "Loona, can help with leading targets to a better spot to off them." Blitz finished with a slight glare at the interruption. 

"Loona, smell." (Y/N) held up a paper list for Loona. "Got it." she nodded, before standing and transforming into her human disguise.  "Wow, Loonie, you look downright awful!" Blitz complimented, eyes sparkling at this new side of his daughter. "Now fetch!" 

Loona's eyes locked onto the first four targets and quickly made easy work of drawing them away. 

The first guy Blitz shot in the forehead. 

The second guy (Y/N) wrapped a noose around his neck and jumped down from the roof, killing him instantly. 

The third guy, Millie kicked off a high building.

The fourth, Moxxie dropped glass on his head. 

Millie beat the next lady, and (Y/N) shot one in the head. 

Blitz finished tying them in a bag with a smug grin in his face. "That's nine kills in the bag, I'd like to see that whaely snatch that many orgasms that many--"

"Alright, Spring Breakers!" Verosika called over the speaker, as her demon form was shown through smoke, drinking alcohol before she came out of the smoke with a human disguise, "Y'all ready to get fucked up and make some bitchin' bad choices?!" She yelled, getting the crowd excited, "This is your final boarding call, all aboard." Verosika hummed seductively, running a hand through her blond hair. 

She moved across stage while the boards behind her said, "Fuck you Blitzo, and I love you, (Y/N)" Blitz foamed at the mouth and clenched his fists, while (Y/N) smiled to himself, blowing her a kiss when she looked his way.

All around Verosika's performance, people were getting it on like Donkey Kong. Her crew were all doing their own things with humans and getting freaky.

"Goddamn it! That bitch started her goadish mating call!" Blitz huffed, hands on hips, "Now she's gonna win all these sex maniacs, we gotta pick up things up guys." Seeing a guy barfing next to him he asked, "Is he on the list guys?" 

Both (Y/N) and Loona were looking elsewhere, Loona's eyes trained on Vortex while (Y/N)'s eyes watched Verosika's every movement on stage. "Huh, uh, yeah think so." They said in unison. "Good!" exclaimed Blitz raising an axe over his head as the human looked up in shock. 

"Whoa, what are you? A leprechaun?" asked the drunken human excitedly. "Yeah, pretty cool, huh?" the axe then came down and split the human's head into two. "But you sure as shit ain't gonna tell nobody." smirked the red and white imp. 

"Alright, next one, guys, c'mon." Blitz urged. When silence met his demand, he noticed Loona and (Y/N) were missing and started looking around with wide eyes. "Where are my babies?!" He screeched. "(Y/N) said he had something to deal with--" Moxxie started with Millie piping up, "Look!" she pointed to where Loona was heading towards Vortex. 

Blitz's eyes narrowed. 

*With Loona*

Loona walked confidently towards the older hellhound before checking her appearance once more. She scowled seeing a pair of guys fall in front of her as they made out, quickly followed by  a bathing suit top being thrown at her.

Vortex's eyes widen as he watched a crazed fan approach and quickly hit him out of commission. Loona grimaced as she took the bikini top off and looked around frantically for Vortex. As she moved to leave, a goth guy grabbed her shoulders and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Rolling her eyes, she punched him in his face and stalked off. 

"Now, who wants a piece of this?!" She yelled, throwing her alcohol into the crowd, not realizing it got into the ocean and changed a fish into a mutant. 

Meanwhile, Loona made her way next to Vortex. "Hey.....you!" she called, punching his shoulder awkwardly. "Oh,  you're the hound working for my boss's freaky ex. Aren't you also cousins with (Y/N)? He's a cool dude." 

"Yeah, sorry if that's weird." She laughed nervosuly, looking down. "It's cool, her beef ain't mine. I'm not paid enough to care." replied the older. "Yeah, yeah, I'm Loona." She sighed heavily, making Vortex chuckle as he copied her tone, "Okay, I'M VORTEX!"

"That's hot," Loona said dreamily before realizing her mistake and blushing brightly, "I mean, like, literally, you know? Because Vortexes, they you know, give off heat, probably? Right?" The older hellhound smiled at the goth's nervous energy. 

"I guess, but my friends call me Tex." "Oh, yeah? I wish I had friends. I mean, (Y/N) is my best friend but uh, yeah, I don't have friends." Loona played with her hair nervously before Blitz appeared with a look of annoyance on his face. 

"Am I interrupting?" 

"Nah, man," Vortex replied cooly, "Just having a conversation." 

"'Conversations" lead to HPV!" Blitz scowled, poking his finger into Vortex's chest, Loona narrowing her eyes at the imp. 

In the distance, Moxxie rolled his eyes, "Aaaand we've lost him. It's looking like it's up to us to finish this list." 

"Hell yeah!" Millie cheered, before noticing (Y/N) face palming. "What's up?" she asked curiously. "Uh, here, I'm sending you the list. There's only a couple more and I'm confident you guys got it." He quickly typed on his phone, sending a screenshot to Millie, before standing and dusting himself off. "I've got some business to take care of, and will catch up with you guys shortly." 

"Team M'n'M getting shit done, making money!" With determination, the two ran off, leaving a blood bath in their wake. 

*Back with Loona*

Loona pinched the bridge of her nose before looking around, "Blitz, get the fuck out of here, you're going to get us all into shit!" "I just wanted to see what was important that you'd be distracted from your job!" 

"What I can't have a break?" Loona demanded, moving Blitz to a private place. "WE HAVE A PARKING SPOT ON THE LINE!" He shouted back. 

"Hey, dude, why don't you chill out?" Vortex interrupted. "Why don't you stay out of it? Okay, this is our buisness.....literally!" Blitz deadpanned. "Oh, fuck, Blitz! Why can't you stay out of my face for 5 minutes?!" Loona seethed. "Because I adopted you! That should mean something." The imp crossed his arms and turned away. 

"Oh, what does it matter? You're not my real dad! I was almost 18!" 

"It still counts!"

"Well, it shouldn't! I didn't need you then, asshole, and I don't need you now." Loona screamed, not noticing the hurt on Blitz's face. 

*Back with M'n'M*

Millie loaded a shotgun and handed it to Moxxie with a soft kiss. Moxxie's eyes widen as a drunken partygoer tipped the table they were hiding on. The white haired imp landed on his stomach in front of more drunken people. 

"Ew! It's a fucking possum!" One shrieked. 

"Oh crumbs." muttered Moxxie as he tried to scurry away before getting caught by the dumbass who flipped the table. "I got it! Whoo-hoo!" he exclaimed, slamming Moxxie into a full beer keg, where he started, unintentionally, drinking the beer inside.   

The crowd that had Moxxie passed by Loona and Blitz. 

Blitz was still hurt by Loona's comment and turned away from Loona, who was now feeling guilty. "Uh, Blitz, I'm--" "Enjoy your break, Loonie. I'm gonna go kill something." Blitz replied, before running off. 

Loona winced, realizing her mistake. "Damn, girl, that was savage." Tex said lowly, before placing his hand on her shoulder for comfort. "You okay?" Loona's face was redder than a tomato. "I'm fine," she chuckled, "He'll get over it. He always does." 

The older hound chuckled, "I'm glad you could stick up for yourself for yourself, at least. Mm, takes guts." He nodded proudly.  "Thanks." 

*With M'n'M*

Millie ran and hid around the beach looking for Moxxie. She hid behind a beer keg before tipping it back to see Moxxie come out with a dopey smile on his face. "Moxxie!" she exclaimed.

She leaned over to look at him with concern in her eyes. "Millie!" he yelled happily, rolling over onto his back. "Hi, hey when did you get four foreheads? I wanna kiss them." He made kissy faces at her while she smiled down at him.  Millie held him close as a giant fish emerges from the ocean. 

Everyone on the beach looked at the fish in an array of emotions: shock, fear, and that 'oh, shit' expression people get when they realize that they were part of the problem. 

Humans started running and screaming as one got crushed.

Blitz was in the middle of strangling a human when he saw the fish. His eyes widen as it roared loudly. "Ooh! Fish." Moxxie drunkely giggled before the fish's tounge wrapped around the imp and ate him, as he went "wheee!" all the way around.

Millie's eyes widen before she sprung into action. She killed a human who was too drunk to run away, and used his towel and beer as a bomb, making it stumble back into the water. Millie swam after it, stabbed her way up towards it's teeth and opened it's jaw to show Moxxie punching the monster's tongue. 

Millie reached down for her husband's hand, in which he gave her a high five. Rolling her eyes, she grabbed her wrist, pulled him towards her and cut the wiggling appenaged. In reaction to the pain, the monster clamped its jaws around Millie, sending Moxxie flying.

Straight into Blitz's arm. 

The human Blitz was trying to kill stood wide eyed at the two. Blitz deadpanned and took out his golden revolver and K'O'd him. 

Moxxie giggled as Millie wrestled with the monster in the ocean, each one getting hits in. "I love that woman." He hummed. "Oh, she totally pegs you, doesn't she?" Blitz smirked. 

Having enough, Millie dived down into the monster's throat and sliced him in half, making it screech loudly before it died. Panting heavily, Millie came back to the beach to Blitzo cheering for her. "Oh, yeah! Way to show off, Mills!"

"Is Mox okay?" she asked, worriedly. "Oh, yeah," the older imp dropped the younger, "He's fine." He walked away as Millie pulled Moxxie back into her arms, giggling to herself. "This is funny, I'm sooooooooooooooooooooo drinky."

"Okay, this is too wholesome for my liking." huffed the other, stiffening when someone called out to him from behind. 

"Blitzo." called Verosika, making the imp turn to see her and her crew.

"Oh perfect! That must be the whores." 

"That was rather obvious, don't you think?" Verosika smiled smugly, arms crossed. 

"I don't think this belongs to any of us." Millie threw the flask back at Verosika who caught it easily before giving it to one of her crew members. "Shame if anyone found out you guys were behind a giant monster fish in the human world. " She grinned devilishly. 

Moxxie started giggling hysterically. "Oh, Satan! You guys are so fucked!" 

The succubi looked at each other nervously. "Yeah, well, you three nasty ass gremlins will be in shit for not being in disguises." Verosika shot back, hand on her hip. 

Moxxie fell flat on his face at Verosika's feet before looking up at her with a glare. "A human called me a possom. I am not a possum." 

"Ya know..." Blitz started smugly, Verosika gritting her teeth, "We could keep this little bee movie scene on the down low if you agree to let us use that parking space." 

Suddenly a crowd appeared on the beach, cheering loudly and chanting, "Love 16!" over and over again. "What is going on?" Blitz asked as a familiar voice came over the speakers. "Hello, New Jersey!" (Y/N) yelled into the mic, still no where to be seen. "Let's get this party started!!!!!"  Appearing on stage, coming from a cloud of smoke that showed his demon form much like Verosika, was a human (Y/N). The humans screamed loudly, seeing one of the biggest popstars appeard. 

Everyone from Hell looked on with jaws dropped and eyes wide. 

"Fine-ah." Verosika sighed, not listening to a word the older imp was saying, as Blitz cheered loudly. "Fuck yes!" Millie cheered. 

"In your face bitch! And stay away from my nephew!" Blitz yelled loudly. 

"Let's get out of here! Tex!" Verosika called. 

The two hell hounds looked over from the conversation and sighed. "Well, guess it's time to bounce." Tex said as Loona smiled hopefully, "But hey, if you're ever down to party, I'll give you a ring sometime, and tell (Y/N) to bring you around more too." 

"Really?" Loona gasped, before regaining her composure. "Yeah, yeah." "Yeah, my girlfriend throws a ton of crazy hound parites." Loona mad a sad puppy sound but Tex didn't seem to notice her discomfort. "Nice! Can't wait for my first one." 

Vortex chuckled lowly, fist bumping Loona's shoulder in a friendly manner. "Come on, Loonie! Let's go home and pack our fat fucking car into our fat fucking space!" 

M'n'M jumped into the portal, followed by Blitz, and Loona lazily, and depressingly fell backwards into the portal. As Verosika's crew left the beach, Blitz hurriedly jumped through the portal and shot the pop demoness the double bird, making her growl and stalk off. 

"Put your hands up, you sick deviants!" A crowd of policemen shouted as the succubi and Vortex raised their hands. 

"Alright, sluts," Verosika sighed heavily, "Get ready to suck a LOT of pig dick." The group groaned in disgust and annoyance, clearly pissed. "Actually that won't be necessary, love." (Y/N) said, approaching the group with his band mates. "Huh?" Verosika asked. 

"Sorry guys," (Y/N) turned to the police with a charming smile, "the deviants you were looking for actually bounced when that monster attack happened. These are my groupies, and got lost in the chaos." 

"Oh, okay," The police chief came forward and shook (Y/N)'s hand before signaling everyone to leave. "Sorry for the mixup, Mr (Last name), won't happen again. Can I have your autograph? Ya know...for my daughter." He grinned nervously. (Y/N) rolled his eyes and signed the headshot of himself before ushering the big groups of succubi and inccubi out of eyesight to portal back to Hell.

*Back in Hell*

"Sorry, guys, I'm stealing (Y/N), we'll be back in a bit." Verosika pulled (Y/N) by the arm into a secluded space.

"Hey, love, did you like the performance?" he asked casually, admiring Verosika's human form. "Shut up. How could you not tell me you were the hot one of Love 16?!" She asked with a smirk. 

"Wait, you like Love 16?" (Y/N) asked with wide eyes and a bright smile. 

"I love them! They've written all of my favorite songs, and now that I know you're part of them, I love them even more! You are amazing, and quite honestly, fucking HOT in your human disguise." Verosika purred, kissing her lover's neck, and reaching a hand down into the other's pants.

(Y/N) groaned slightly and gripped her hips, "Damn, who knew you had a thing for humans?" He chuckled breathlessly. "Mhm, just you, hon." Verosika hummed. 

*An hour later*

(Y/N), now in his regular form, walked into I.M.P. with a grin on his face. He stopped short seeing his teammates and uncle looking at him with raised eyebrows.

"You smell like sex." Loona deadpanned as Blitz started going off but was quiteted by (Y/N) saying, "What? I'm part Incubbi remember? A demon has needs." He smirked to himself as everyone shouted something at him.

*END*

[fionacle]

Okay so I started drafting the slides for the school project on Wander Over Yonder’s messages on love and relationships. Can anyone say anything to change/add, or give advice for making it all sound more professional? (under cut bc long)

Quick descriptions of the main characters

Wander - A Star Nomad. Very impulsive, obsessed with helping people to a compulsive extent, optimistic, believes everyone can become better, actually very good at manipulating people but he only does so to help

Sylvia - A Zbornak (basically a horse). Best friends with Wander, much more grounded, sassy strong female character (but not in a shallow way)

Lord Hater - An “electrical skeleton man” (as phrased by the Evil Sandwich). An utter manchild, toxic masculinity, annoyed so badly by Wander that he can’t focus on anything else when he’s around and is constantly foiled by him, a villain more because he thinks it’s cool than having actual malice in his heart, not that he isn’t also sadistic (he has a remix of his victims screaming), a dictator basically

Commander Peepers: A Watchdog (eye people) Hater’s second in command, the actual brains behind their army, also has anger issues (napoleon complex, he’s short even for a Watchdog), attached to Hater in a queer-coded way

Appreciation

Wander and Sylvia constantly tell each other how much they love each other, and it’s really good to see that you can be so close and affectionate and not be romantically involved.

Communication

Wander and Sylvia aren’t actually always so good at communicating and listening. Wander is a very impulsive person, which can cause Sylvia a lot of strife as he drags her along with him. In the episode The Tourist, Wander gets into a competition with an elderly woman to see who can visit the most places throughout the galaxy. In his desperation to win the race, he deprives Sylvia of the experience of actually taking in the famous places they visit, and of being able to rest on the vacation planet they met the woman on. Wander has to learn to take things slow for her sake. In the episode The Void, they find themselves in a void where they can manipulate reality at will, and Wander messes around too much to the point of literally treating Sylvia like a puppet, briefly holding her from strings in a play setting. Wander would have been lost mindlessly messing around in that void for eternity if not for his friend, because she grounds him.

Communication (cont.)

Outside of those two, Wander and Lord Hater both fail to communicate with Lord Dominator, the main villain of season two. Hater falls for her just because she’s a girl, and Wander assumes he can manipulate them into falling in love to make them go good, again just because she’s a girl. They are both crushed when Hater finally lets down his walls and admits his love for Dominator, because she was never actually interested in dating, she just takes joy in destroying the galaxy, “I crush all your hopes and then I watch you cry” being in her villain song that immediately follows Hater’s love song. This teaches Wander he can’t just control everything everyone does, and that sometimes trying to do so without actually listening can lead to more heartbreak than reward.

Consent

In the episode The Boy Wander, there is a one-off character voiced by Weird Al, named Dr. Screwball Jones (he is a banana with a bowtie). His philosophy is that everyone should smile and laugh all the time, even against their will, so he goes everywhere tickling people. Wander may often influence people’s actions for what he considers the greater good, but he notes a stark difference between him and Dr. Screwball, with whom he has a past, where Wander believes you can’t force people to do anything.

Obsession and Jealousy

In the episode The Lonely Planet, they meet a sentient planet named Janet. Janet grows obsessive over Wander, him being the first person to show her kindness, and thus jealous of his closeness with Sylvia. She tries to break them apart, filling up Wander’s time with gifts and praise, while pushing Sylvia to the literal other side of the planet, and making her fall through a crack into Janet’s core. Consent is once again called into play, when Janet reveals to Wander that she’s taken and framed dozens of photos of him, refuses to let him leave, and tries to kiss him with the “lips” of a flower. Sylvia shows up right on time and saves Wander, but Wander insists on going back to comfort the now-alone Janet. In the end she ends up in a healthy relationship with her moon. It was good that this episode spoke on love vs. obsession, and that it’s unhealthy when someone tries to separate you from everyone else, but in real life people going back like Wander did is dangerous as they could get re-stuck in abuse. This was in season one, before they wanted to share the “some people can’t be helped” message as they did with Lord Dominator, though.

[homelander-rp-blog]

Continue from here. @elpida (hope you like Sweet Tooth addition! <3)

"what are you, ten years old girl with an obsession for horses?!" he shakes the phone again but to no win. looking around, they're stuck in middle of nowhere with nothing around them for miles "alright.. we uh.. we gotta walk.. but I won't guarantee we wouldn't bump into any of those guys.. fuckers still think finding a cure is a secret in hybrids' brains for God's sake.." he picks up the supplies and his shot gun from the backseat, nodding to Eris "just.. tell me if something is approaching, hm? I got everything we might need but we really gotta consider stealing another car on our way too.. and a new phone maybe.. how else I can let others know that we're just fine" he can just say 'screw it all', forget about mission and turn around, back to the camp but those hybrid kids.. he might be their only hope.

[the-inkwell-variable]

Happy STS! What part of your story has been your favourite to write, or what part are you looking forward to most? (feel free to share a snippet 👀) - @trixierosewrites

Happy STS! Thank you so much for the ask!

Honestly? My absolute favorite bits to write are the scene with Rasman and Cilia - two centaurs that only show up for one scene and one scene only. Their banter is absolutely precious to me and I'm seriously considering bringing them back in the next book just so I can write more of them!

Here are a few snippets of their conversations so you can see what I mean! Mind you, these all take place within a few minutes of each other, because I have zero self restraint :3

SNIPPET ONE

“Ubada said you could give me a ride back to Lochmallow.” The girl, who couldn't be any older than she was, studied her for several long seconds, then shrugged.  “Sure.  Makes me no difference.” The centaur on the left snorted and stomped his hoof.  “Sure.  Whatever.  Not like you're the one pulling the extra weight.  Two hundred pounds isn't nothing, you know!” “Oh shut up, Rasman.”  The other centaur, a female with only bridle straps across her ample chest, scoffed and tossed her thick amber mane over her shoulder.  “if you can't handle it, just tell us instead of whining about it so we can go hook up Posedes instead.” “Posedes?!  That mangy dobbin can barely pull a pram, let alone a logging wagon!  I just would like the dignity of being asked, that's all!  I'm not a horse!” The half-elf rolled her eyes and shot Amara a look that was both annoyed and apologetic.  “Rasman, would you be okay with ferrying… what's your name?” “Amara.” “Amara along while we take the shipment?” “Of course. I'm not an animal.”  After a moment, he added ”Was that so hard?” in an almost whining tone that made the half—tiefling immediately dislike him.

SNIPPET TWO

“My ma used to read tea leaves,” Cilia called back, tossing her head over her shoulder.  "Scary accurate she was too.  Predicted Da's death down to the hour.  Can't say we didn't expect it, but was devastating all the same.” “How did he die?” Amara asked out of curiosity.  Maybe I should add reading tea leaves to the shop… “Epizootic haemorrhagic disease.  He caught it when he went to Delarid to visit my aunt's new grandbaby.  He was already pretty up there in years, too old to survive the fever.  Been nigh on two years now.” “Hang about.”  Rasman nearly jerked the cart to a halt as he stopped to stomp a hoof.  “Epizootic haemorrhagic disease doesn't affect horses or centaurs.  What's your game?” “How do you know that?” Ariel interrupted before Cilia could answer. “I'm taking a correspondence course through Elaeseth Medical Academy,” he replied in a haughty tone.  “Currently third in my class, according to Professor Blytheson.  In two years and six months, you'll be looking at a Doctor of Supernatural Races and Diseases.  Now answer me, Cilia - why would your father, a centaur, die of a fever that only affects bovines and ruminant species?” “My da,” Cilia responded curtly, her teeth snipping off every syllable, “was a minotaur.  My ma was a centaur.  I may look more like ma, but I've got da's brains and brawn.” “And attitude,” Rasman muttered, making no effort to muffle himself.

SNIPPET THREE

Even Rasman, who seemed tired of bickering with Cilia, shook his head.  ”I've known the Montagues since I was a foal.  Ol’ Monty used to feed us carrots.  Didn't matter that my herd prefered apples and turnips - ‘carrots will make you see like an elf,’ he'd say, and we'd scarf those carrots down like we were starving.�� And you know what?  He was right.  To this day, I still win the 'spot the difference’ challenge at the fall festival every year.” "Only because Posedes is colorblind,” Cilia countered.  “He still smokes you at the distance spy game.” Rasman tossed his shoulder-length black hair back and flapped his hand dismissively.  "As a doctor-” “Med student.” “-it is vital that I see the minute details up close and personal.  Let the herd guards focus on the distance.  I must keep my focus on the here and now.” Cilia shook her head, her thick tresses bouncing on her tanned shoulders.  “Congratulations on the gods-like eyesight.  What does that have to do with Lily being arrested?”

SNIPPET FOUR

They got hung up on Jalen for some time - both Ariel and Cilia vouched for his mean temper, but Rasman, who had spent a summer and half of fall as the blacksmith's boyfriend, insisted that, despite the half-elf's crotchety temperament, he would never stoop to violence.  “There's a reason Lily is so comfortable working for him.  He's a real sweetheart beneath his thorny exterior.  If you ever see him blush, you'll see what I mean.” “Do you miss him, Rasman?” Cilia asked gently, reaching out to touch his shoulder. Rasman shrugged, though whether he was doing so in response or to get her hand off was unclear.  “Sometimes.  We weren't good for each other.  His aspirations stop at a smithy in Verthurst, while I fully intend to own a clinic in Elaeseth within ten years.” “In the capital?” Cilia echoed, doubt creeping into her voice.  “That's going to be crazy expensive.  I'd give you fifteen years, just to be safe.” “Fifteen years?!  May as well take me out to pasture at that point!  Just what kind of quack do you take me for?!”

I JUST LOVE THEM OKAY

[sillyromance]

The best

Good day everyone !

So, it's my new Dooku/Nyx short story, yet this time it's a Naga!Dooku AU. The master and his padawan decided to have some fun together and play cat and mouse...

P.S: it's my first time writing fearplay two people agreed on, I hope it has turned out nice...

Nyx ran down the corridor, her light steps almost inaudible. She didn't want to use the force - he could feel it as well as he could smell her scent, so the only option left was to rely only on her brains and muscles. 

She knew he was close. Very close. The mistake she made in the Mirror Hall gave Dooku an advantage which could put all her efforts to waste. If only she managed to reach the front door of the castle... She would win, and she would be free.

Unless...

The girl felt her heart pounding in her throat, it was hard to breathe - lungs ached of the enormous pressure put on them. Nyx tried to choose open, well-illuminated areas: snakes doesn't like those for there they don't have a place to hide and have less opportunities to corner their victims. It wouldn't stop one from striking, though.

Therefore, Nyx sharpened all her senses and didn't trust a single corner.

On the crossroad she turned left. That way was risky, but, if she was lucky, the girl would be outside in five minutes. The hall wouldn't bring any danger, but the stairs and the living room... Better not to think about it.

Run, run, run!

Two first locations stayed behind.

Nyx's pace increased; the door flashed open, she flew through the room like a butterfly and got ready to escape, but sudden noise made the girl hesitate.

Her eyes went wide. She slammed her hands over her mouth and dived in the gap behind a lemon tree standing beside a big wooden chest.

The scales. She heard them rustle upon the floor...

Nyx shivered as she watched long, thick black coils crawl inside the room; big glossy rhombs twinkled threateningly in pale sun light fighting its way through heavy magenta curtains. Those coils had never let anybody escape – they were strong enough to choke a horse, and if she, a small human girl, would try to struggle against them, it wouldn’t do anything except giving just one more reminder of her hopeless weakness.

Dooku was silent. He slowly, methodically searched around the place, a tip of his long tail twitching slightly. Nyx didn’t let herself be fooled; he had already found her, though couldn’t resist playing with his little prey, stimulating fear to grow inside her chest so he could enjoy his superiority over her later when she couldn’t bear that anymore… Well, as sad as it was to admit, his acting worked – Nyx found herself tremor like a leaf every time he passed by her occasional shelter.

But what would she do? There were only two exits – jumping out of the window was impossible, he would catch her before she could even touch the lattice – and now he stood right between them, his coils spreading all over the ground…

Nyx forced herself to think logically. Returning in depth of the castle wouldn’t do her any favor – if she did, it would be just a matter of time before her body would get exhausted enough for her to simply collapse, and Dooku would be able to make his final move without worrying of her disappearing or fighting back. So, the only chance to survive was to complete her first plan.

Keeping an eye on the naga, she scanned patterns his body made on the parquet. There were tempting clear spots, perfect for hopping right in, but those were traps, nooses which would turn into deadly knots as far as she would lay a foot in them. Frowning, Nyx squinted.

A-ha!

Free space between the wall and one of the coils. To react he would be bound to reposition all of himself!

Maybe, she could have a second, one little, but victorious second...

Although, if she failed with calculation, she would be just pinned against the stone, and…

Nyx heart raced at crazy speed as if in attempt to break through her chest.

She threw one more glance at the naga – Dooku seemed to be on the other side of the room, absolutely unbothered by her inner agony. Her cheeks flushed.

Bastard!

She inhaled.

Like a cat, the girl slid soundlessly from behind the plant.

Glanced back.

He didn’t look.

"Fine, now or never."

One…

Two…

THREE…

Nyx leaped; as intended, her little foot landed just at the right spot. Now, turn around, grab the hold!..

- Got you!

She yelped. Moving fast and accurately, the coils pressed the girl to the cold concrete and wrapped around her legs and waist, holding gently, yet firmly.

Dooku leisurely turned around and decreased the distance between him and his catch squirming anxiously in his grasp.

- Well, well, well, what do we have here? My dear little padawan… - She could see he was pleased with himself, his voice silky and low, sweet... Like venom in his milky fangs. – I’ve started to wonder when you would swallow my bait. I can praise you for your cleverness, though – any other on your place would choose an easy path… However, it was over long ago you were had to choose, darling.

Nyx felt as she was lifted up – her master brought the girl closer to his smirking face, dark eyes radiating with soft condescension.

- So brave, so intelligent. Yet, so foolish… - He murmured to her ear, making Nyx tremble. – You could never escape me. I’m a predator. And you’re prey. No prey has been ever able to run away from me…

His coils tightened. The girl gasped for air, her ribcage losing some inches to expand to.

She went pale, her pleading eyes staring at Dooku with fear and despair.

- Oh, is it too hard for you to breathe? My apologies. – The grip loosened. Dooku bended over his captive and stroke her tender, velvet cheek, then sighed. She watched his nostrils widen as he shamelessly tasted her aroma. – Don’t want my lady to pass out when there is so much fun ahead? How rude of me it would be…

That’s bad. That sounds really, really bad!..

- Don’t you know where I’m leading to, little one? – He chuckled. The more frightened his prey’s face appeared, the more it seemed to amuse the naga. – Oh, I bet you do! You are very clever: the fact you were able to make me chase you around my own house for hours proves it better than anything. At the same time, such intense pursuit has its consequences in the end.

Nyx blood ran cold when her ears caught an audible growl coming from the count’s midsection.

- I’m rather… hungry…

His warm exhales lightly tickled her skin. His beautiful, noble face loomed over hers, grinning at the effect his words had, his coils restrained her fruitless, pathetic struggles; he undoubtedly sensed her screaming pulse through them… She was doomed.

- Please… don’t…

She didn’t want to beg. It wasn’t what he taught her. However, it was already too much – her lips parted and let out that cry, not a cry of a warrior, but a tiny girl, a bird in embrace of a snake. A sparkling tear swelled in the corner of her blue eye and rolled out, leaving thin wet track as it slipped down.

It seemed to touch something in the cold serpent's heart. Dooku stopped speaking, his gaze warming just a bit and his hand lifting up again to wipe that treacherous tear. Nyx couldn’t help but melt into the touch – deceivingly familiar presence of his palm caressing her felt almost comforting.

- No, no, no, darling. Don’t cry. – Dooku whispered seductively, pressing a soft kiss on her cool forehead. – I know you’re sad. It’s just not your day! Nothing can change things now – once a prey’s in my coils, I won’t let them go… But think of it this way – there will be no worries, no suffering, no sorrow anymore… Just my soft innards hugging you… Just deep, peaceful, eternal sleep…

The longer it went on, the more Nyx understood her master’s statement of breaking an opponent before engaging them – he had already had all possible power over her, his last words tearing last glimpses of hope from her soul. And that wasn’t the worst yet!

- You know, I can feel you taste already, my precious morsel…

Dooku licked his lips and hummed, savoring shades of flavor he picked with the kiss. His head titled back, giving a good view of his throat contracting with a loud “gulp”, a powerful motion sending saliva down, in the ravenous abyss.

- It’s practically exquisite, incomparable to anything I have ever tried. A delicacy indeed…

Despite the terror, looking at how he shone with delight, Nyx suddenly found herself… red.

- Oh, who is blushing now?... – He exclaimed teasingly, placing a finger under her chin and turning her head from side to side, like a proud artist, observing his work. - Although, who am I to blame such a sweet, delicious girl for being flustered? A charming candy like yourself deserves special attention, don’t you think?..

He leaned forward and granted her one more kiss, gentler, fatherly affectionate; his fingers brushed her silver hair, sinking into their smooth streams. When he fell back, the count left his prey even more fluttered.

- Nevertheless... As much as I like spending my time with you, little one, I can’t ignore my hunger much longer. The time has come…

Those words brought her back to reality. Alarmed, Nyx restarted her attempts to squirm free from his grasp, but it was too late. Not paying any attention to her protests, Dooku parted his jaws and engulfed her head whole, muffing all the screams and cries of his poor victim.

It was hot, and damp, and slimy. Nyx shuddered, sensing the naga’s fangs on her neck and his squishy, long tongue fondling her face. He took his time savoring her, coating her in slick saliva, so, when he finally made a swallow, the girl came in easily as if she was always meant to be his food. It was no use to jerk away at that point – every movement she made only helped her descend, and very soon Nyx felt as her shoulders, her chest, her belly was squeezed and pulled inside by strong muscles which could stir her bones into dust. She gave up when he came to the hips – the girl still sensed inhuman power of his coils on every inch of her legs. The fight was over.

She was going into his stomach, willingly or not.

And at that thought… She smiled.

Meanwhile, Dooku was doing a good job devouring his apprentice whole and alive. The count was happy like a child who got a long-awaited treat, therefore the room vibrated with a sound of his content purr. He felt even better when Nyx’s struggles died within his body and her emotions stabilized. Dooku got so worried as soon as his senses indicated genuine grief and fear engulfing her back then. And that tear… He almost dropped the act once he saw it. But they promised each other to play until the very end – and he went on, calming Nyx down in the process with the tools he could use at that moment.

But - All-Mighty Force! – the apotheosis worthed everything! When he described the girl’s taste, Dooku wasn’t kidding at all: it was heavenly good. Neither of the prey who had ever entered his insides felt so right, so sweet on his tongue. Although, he suspected it wasn’t just Nyx’s natural characteristics; the count adored his little padawan more than anything in the universe. And now, when she was so close to his heart every beat of which sang of her alone, he desired nothing more but to push her even deeper, to seal her inside of himself and never let go. To keep her safe and sound.

With that in mind, he slurped her toes and made one last, fateful swallow, feeling his throat stretching one last time as it threw his meal down, into the stomach, separating Nyx from the evil of the outside world.

The girl arrived at her destination and sighed joyfully. Dooku didn’t lie – his flesh was soft as no cushion in the entire galaxy could be. Her body, numb and sore after the chase and short, but unforgettable entrapment in her master’s iron coils, finally relaxed at thorough massage the organ provided her with. She layed still, permitting the walls to churn and knead her all they wanted, and didn’t hesitate to answer to representation of their love for her with gentle rubs and strokes.

The purring she discovered earlier on her way down grew louder.

- Did you like the game, master? Was that enough? – She called out cheerfully.

- More than enough, little one! I’m not afraid to say you were perfect! – Dooku replied, coiling around his snake belly and settling just beside his girl. His hand met hers from the outside. – But I think, I have to say sorry. I… I didn’t predict I could scare you that much. If I do it next time, don’t be ashamed to tell me right away, OK?

Nyx’s smile widened; she nuzzled deeper into him, comforted by the darkness and warmth.

- Sure… Though, you are irresistibly good in this role: I admit, there were moments I thought you would… You would eat me… for real... - Dooku's aura darkened. - Don't worry, I’m fine now. And I promise – I’ll warn you in the future if something is wrong.

- Good. – Dooku tightened the muscles around her for a second in improvised hug, then went up. – Well, I guess, we both need some rest after all this. I’m going to my quarters – to sleep off my “dinner”. – He added with a chuckle.

- Hey! –Nyx laughed, gifting the naga with a good kick. – Watch out, master: if you’re going to joke like that, named “dinner” will be able to give you quite a stomach ache!

- All right, fine, I surrender! – He laughed back, cringing at the slight pain she caused. – I’m unbearable sometimes, am I not?

Nyx wanted to shoot a teasing comment, but stopped herself. She stroke the area she hit and gave it a soothing kiss.

- … No. You are the best, master.

The place considerably heated up. Dooku was silent for a good while, then she received a thought through their bond.

“Thank you, Nyx. You are too. ”

[cryptozoolliegy]

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way!

O What fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh,

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way!

O What fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh.

Dashing through the snow,

in a one-horse open sleigh

Over the fields we go,

Laughing all the way.

Bells on bobtail ring,

Making spirits bright

What fun it is to ride and sing

A sleighing song tonight!

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way!

O What fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh,

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way!

O What fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh.

A day or two ago

I thought I'd take a ride,

And soon, Miss Fanny Bright

Was seated by my side.

The horse was lean and lank,

Misfortune seemed his lot,

He got into a drifted bank

And then we got upsot.

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way!

O What fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh,

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way!

O What fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh.

A day or two ago,

The story I must tell

I went out on the snow,

And on my back I fell.

A gent was riding by

In a one-horse open sleigh,

He laughed as there I sprawling lie,

But quickly drove away.

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way!

O What fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh,

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way!

O What fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh.

Now the ground is white,

Go it while you're young;

Take the girls tonight,

And sing this sleighing song.

Just get a bobtailed bay,

Two-forty as his speed,

Hitch him to an open sleigh

And crack! you'll take the lead.

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way!

O What fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh,

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way!

O What fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh.

You thought I was done? On no, oh no no no, this is a combo attack >:)

Ma-ia-hii, ma-ia-huu

Ma-ia-hoo, ma-ia-haa

Ma-ia-hii, ma-ia-huu

Ma-ia-hoo, ma-ia-haa

Ma-ia-hii, ma-ia-huu

Ma-ia-hoo, ma-ia-haa

Ma-ia-hii, ma-ia-huu

Ma-ia-hoo, ma-ia-haa

Alo, salut, sunt eu un haiduc

Si te rog iubirea mea primeste fericirea

Alo, alo, sunt eu, Picasso

Ti-am dat beep si sunt voinic

Dar sa stii nu-ti cer nimic

Vrei sa pleci dar nu ma nu ma iei

Nu ma nu ma iei, nu ma nu ma nu ma iei

Chipul tau si dragostea din tei

Mi-amintesc de ochii tai

Vrei sa pleci dar nu ma nu ma iei

Nu ma nu ma iei, nu ma nu ma nu ma iei

Chipul tau si dragostea din tei

Mi-amintesc de ochii tai

Te sun sa-ti spun ce simt acum

Alo, iubirea mea sunt eu fericirea

Alo, alo, sunt iarasi eu, Picasso

Ti-am dat beep si sunt voinic

Dar sa stii nu-ti cer nimic

Vrei sa pleci dar nu ma nu ma iei

Nu ma nu ma iei, nu ma nu ma nu ma iei

Chipul tau si dragostea din tei

Mi-amintesc de ochii tai

Vrei sa pleci dar nu ma nu ma iei

Nu ma nu ma iei, nu ma nu ma nu ma iei

Chipul tau si dragostea din tei

Mi-amintesc de ochii tai

Ma-ia-hii, ma-ia-huu

Ma-ia-hoo, ma-ia-haa

Ma-ia-hii, ma-ia-huu

Ma-ia-hoo, ma-ia-haa

Ma-ia-hii, ma-ia-huu

Ma-ia-hoo, ma-ia-haa

Ma-ia-hii, ma-ia-huu

Ma-ia-hoo, ma-ia-haa

Vrei sa pleci dar nu ma nu ma iei

Nu ma nu ma iei, nu ma nu ma nu ma iei

Chipul tau si dragostea din tei

Mi-amintesc de ochii tai

Vrei sa pleci dar nu ma nu ma iei

Nu ma nu ma iei, nu ma nu ma nu ma iei

Chipul tau si dragostea din tei

Mi-amintesc de ochii tai

:3

The day they found me, I hadn't yet been played

Inside my workshop behind the old arcade

Electric desires had unraveled all my wires

Now I'm in the box for safekeeping

The news reporters reported that I died

But all my organs were living on inside

Circuit board to brain with two lungs collecting change

One big human heart gently beeping

You can't win me, I can't be beat

I won't hurt you unless you cheat

You can't see me behind the screen

I'm half human and half machine

Thank God for business, they let me take the floor

I stood so proudly, like I was going to war

Players soon appeared and I quickly was revered

This must be what love would have felt like

Such dedication, they came from miles away

With eyes so piercing, they'd wait their turn to play

Perfect patient lines because I was in their minds

I could do whatever I felt like (whatever I felt like)

You can't win me, I can't be beat

I won't hurt you unless you cheat

You can't see me behind the screen

I'm half human and half machine

I'm happy for years and years

And, only eating the occasional maintenance man

Only driving a few kids to madness

Maybe they were predisposed to madness, who knows?

I only want to have fun

But now they're telling me my days here are done

'Cause there's a tiny little box that they make in Japan

And pretty soon it's gonna fit in your hand

It's getting lonely, it's getting hard to breathe

The arcade's empty, I think it's Christmas Eve

Someone's broken in, now they're painting on my skin

Breaking me and taking my quarters

Bashing in my face with a crowbar

Kicking me and pushing me over

Now they see my blood on their sneakers

You can't win me, I can't be beat

I won't hurt you unless you cheat

You can't see me behind the screen

I'm half human and half machine

Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba, ba-ba-ba-ba, ba-da-da-da

Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba, ba-ba-ba-ba

Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba, ba-ba-ba-ba, ba-da-da-da

Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba, ba-ba-ba-ba

combo attack back yippee

Market Town

What a doozy walking 'round

With all these putrid people everywhere

"You've gotta buy this!"

Screams a whiskey stinking vermin vendor

Holding up a rotten pear

But I hold on to my dollar

Looking all around me

In this place, I hide my face

But dirty people hound me

Market Street

I could use a bite to eat

But I don't want to buy a whole raw fish, no

No, not a blanket!

Yes, it's lovely but I'm hungry

And that's really not my favorite dish

So I hold on to my moolah

My mazuma, money

There's no trash that's worth my cash

It all just smells too funny

In Marketland

You can buy what's in demand

15 years ago, wow

In Marketland

All the world is in your hand

I'd go wash it off now

Market Lane

Either I'm going insane

Or there's an urchin hawking book reports

Oh, that's a new one

Some old guy with just one eye's

Selling his obviously soiled shorts

But I hold on to my dollar

Looking all around me

In this place, I hide my face

But dirty people hound me

Market Hell

There's no food too old to sell

There is no merchandise too urine-stained

"You've gotta buy this!"

Scream the whiskey stinking vermin vendors

Well, at least I'm entertained

Still I hold on to my moolah

My mazuma, money

There's no trash that's worth my cash

It all just smells too funny

In Marketland

You can buy what's in demand

Fifteen years ago, wow

In Marketland

All the world is in your hand

I'd go wash it off now

In Marketland

You can buy what's in demand

Fifteen years ago, wow

In Marketland

All the world is in your hand

I'd go wash it off now

@littlebookworm69

[leviathansshadycorner]

Rope Him In ( Cato x District 10! Reader x slight! Marvel) Pt. 6

Summary: (Y/n) begins training.

A/n: Sorry for any inconsistencies and spelling errors, enjoyyyyyy!

Pt.5 Pt.4 Pt.3 Pt.2 Pt.1

____________________________________

Chapter 6 Training pt. 2

“So tell me why you’re in a feud with a career.” Ramsey bit into his apple. The mentor sat across from you and Buckley. 

“Where’s Dolly?” You hadn’t seen her in the room and were starting to get worried. 

“Don’t worry about her.” Ramsey dismissed. 

“Where is she?” Buckley then repeated. 

The room had grown quiet. Even Pradain who had been watching the Capitol news had gone silent. Ramsey shook his head, avoiding eye contact with either of you. You turned to look at Buckley who intently waited for an answer. 

“She’s talking with the President.” Praidain offered you an answer. “Apparently (Y/n)’s stunt didn’t sit right with him.” 

“Fuck.” You cursed as you threw your head into your hands  and onto the table. 

Dolly had warned you. She had told you that you’d get her in trouble. Buckley seemed taken back but was quick to come to your defense. 

“I'm sure it's nothing,” He began, “Maybe he’s just telling her to keep an eye on you.” 

“Buck’s right.” Ramsey shrugged. “It’s not like the presidents going to hurt any of us. There’s rumors of rebels in the districts. He’s worried that your little horse trick might’ve sent the wrong message. That’s all he’s worried about.” 

“That and the girl from 12.” Pradain added. 

“I wouldn’t worry about her. She seems like another Joanna if anything.” Ramsey added. 

“Have you seen how she stares at the Capitol Citizens? She practically skins the President with that nasty glare of hers.” Pradain sprawled out on the couch. 

All the talk couldn’t distract you from the immense guilt you felt. You’ve heard stories about people getting punished by the Capitol. You knew about how cruel they could be since you practically lived  with the lingering threat of the peacekeepers. You hoped that Buckley was right. That she was just getting a little scolding. You wouldn’t be able to live with yourself if your actions had caused her to get hurt or worse. 

“Why don’t they just kill us on the spot?” Came your hopeless reply. 

“Don’t go around saying things like that (Y/n)” Pradain’s sympathy shone for the first time. 

“They like entertainment.” Ramsey said, looking out into space. 

Buckley looked uneasy. It seemed the guilt had gone to him as well. You wondered if he hated you. Of course he probably didn’t but you were sure he thought of you differently. 

You could feel the flood of emotions swirl in your brain. This was all getting to be so much and the games haven't even started. You’d lost your appetite. Shakily you got up. Your body felt weak. It seemed you’d spent most of your time here fighting off panic attacks and the urge to cry. Quickly you marched into your room. You could hear Buckley’s chair screech as he stood up to follow but Ramsey kept him back. 

“Let her,” He instructed him. “Why don’t we chat about winning?” He followed up. 

Your tears didn’t hesitate any longer. A familiar flood of salt water streamed down your face as you slouched down the door. The cries were progressively getting harder to contain. Ugly cries erupted from you and you knew the rest of the group would be able to hear them. You threw yourself onto the strange bed. Cries were muffled but now you were drowning in your snot and tears. 

Why did you ever believe Buckley? Why did you think you could be strong. You weren’t the same person you were 10 years ago. That brash little girl left when your mother died. She left when reality took over your fantasy of a better life. 

You were weak. 

In your time here so far you’d proven to be difficult, negative, and living off of false confidence. There was no possible way you’d win the games. Especially since you’ve managed to make enemies out of the tributes with the highest chance at  victory. Amaranto was wrong. You weren’t even good at your job back home. Skilled with knives? If anything you’d get killed by one. Amaranto. He’d be left with a heartbroken father. Clarabell was there for him which gave you some sense of hope but even then. What use does it have for him to have a life, a family- if his kids would be reaped too. 

You thought of your mother. What would she think of you if she were still here? You hadn’t talked to her in years. You weren’t able to. Life got hectic and visits to the meadow were replaced with shifts at the slaughterhouse.  Instantly your mind is filled with memories of your mother. She’d told you that anything was possible. That you were strong and capable yet wild and fierce. 

The cold air kissed your tears away as you laid looking at the ceiling. Her last words echoed as you closed your eyes. Sleep was hard to get by these days. Fortunately for you, you’d exhausted yourself enough to drift into a blissful nap. 

“(Y/n).” A voice came through your dream. 

You shifted in place, the untouched part of the sheets cold, causing your skin to break out in goosebumps. 

“(Y/n), come on you gotta go to training.” The feminine voice came again. 

Your eyelids fought to open, refusing to be awoken by the gift of a nap. When they finally did open you were met with Dolly’s gentle eyes. She shook you slightly to get you up. Your groginess was replaced and you basically threw yourself onto her. 

“You’re ok!” Your arms grasped her into a tight hug. 

Dolly hugged back, “Are you ok? Did something happen?” She asked you. She thought it was unlike you to be so forward. 

“I should be asking you that- What happened?” Came your worried reply. 

“Nothing much.” She smiled. “You have training in 10-” 

You cut her off, “Ramsey and Pradain said you were talking to the President.” 

She looked confused. She stood back, getting off the bed she had been hugged on to. 

“He wasn’t supposed to tell you that.” She sighed. 

“What's going on Dolly? Was it about me?” You wondered, glad she didn’t seem to be hurt. 

“Well Snow called me in because of you, so that parts true.” She placed a hand on your arm, “But don’t worry about it nothings going to happen.” She took a deep breath as she began to explain. “You cant tell anyone I told you this but Snow suspects another rebel uprising. He’s concerned about the tributes showing defiance towards the Capitol.” 

“Yeah Pradain and Ramsey told me about the rebels.” 

“Great.” She rolled her eyes. “Anyways, I was going to tell you later since I know you’re busy with training but I guess now’ll have to do.” She tried to find the right wording. “Snow wants you to play up the part of a cowgirl from 10.” 

“What?” Her answer didn’t seem real. 

���You’re joking right?” You laughed. 

“No (Y/n). Your parade stunt, in his words, ‘ can be seen as an act of defiance.’ So to counter that he wants you to show the Capitol that you’re really, again his words not mine, ‘A good ol’ fashioned- wild and dense country girl.” She said the last part with disdain. She was from district 10 too, something that you’d forgotten from time to time. 

You felt offended. “Wait why- that doesn’t even make any sense. He didn’t like that I rode a horse so he wants me to act stupid?”

“It could be worse.” She reminded . Suddenly you had no problem with it. Except you did. Cato would have a hayday with this. 

The second day of training was already different as soon as you walked in. You’d all be spending the first half training as a group, the next would be individual. Like yesterday, you dreaded group training. The tributes lined up by districts as they waited to spar against trainers. 

You looked up to the balcony. The game makers were stationed up there to evaluate the tributes, but in reality all they did was get drunk and cause distractions. You paid no mind to them yesterday since there were only a few, but the rest of them seemed to join in today. 

“So they’re really making you play an idiot?” Buckley whispered. He was in front of you, waiting for his turn. 

“Yeah. Keep that on the down low please.” You asked, not wanting to let any other tributes in on it. 

“Of course. Can you believe we have three days of this? Like it's going to help anyone. The game makers like to kill people off when the games get stale.” His face scrunched in annoyance as he looked towards them. “They say may the odds be ever in your favor, but they make it so that they never are.” 

You didn’t like thinking about the games. You knew you’d die eventually, even if you did manage to make it far. Out of the 24 people here there’s bound to be at least 16 ahead of you. The only thing that got you through the long days were memories of 10, thinking of going home to Amaranto, Pa, and Clarabell, and Buckley. Though you tried not to think of him too much. You’ve grown attached to your neighbor, but there could only be one. He’d have a chance, you hoped he would, but he could get in over his head at times. 

The girl from 12 overheard, she looked like she wanted to pipe in but went against it. Buckley had previously told you that she had also made Cato’s list. So even if you did want to talk to her you knew it’d make things worse for the both of you. 

“I wonder if they program them to be psychopaths.” You chatted with Buckley. 

“They probably feed them sheet metal.” He joked. 

Routinely the careers finished fast. They went to their familiar spot and proceeded to judge and ridicule the efforts of the others. 

“I’m surprised 4 isn’t with them. Aren’t they also careers?” You looked over at the pair of tributes. 

“Have you seen them (y/n)? They may be from 4, but they don’t seem like the career type. They would’ve been with the pack already.” Buckley moved slightly so they were in your field of vision. It was true. The boy from 4 looked too young to be here. It broke your heart. The girl looked capable, but she kept to herself, not really helping the boy. 

“Have you decided on your chosen skill yet?” You asked him. 

Buckley shrugged, “No, but I might just throw some knives around.” 

You nodded. He looked  at you as if waiting for your answer. “I think I’ll do something with rope.” 

His face lit up, “You have to!” 

Individual training was better than group training. Partially because the careers were focused on themselves and not on the less capable tributes. Buckley had gone on to do some strength training. You could see him trying to talk to Thresh. It was clear the boy didn’t want to talk, but Buckley didn’t know any better. You on the other hand were in a simulation pod. It was a small rectangular room within the building. It simulated different weather and textures. One of your least favorite parts of the game that you came to realize was the randomly selected arena. In past years there’d been tundras, deserts, beaches, and cities. There was no telling which one they’d come up with this year. You hoped it’d be anything but  a jungle. You could handle heat but not humidity. 

When you first started using the pod, all eyes were on you. Mostly because it piqued the interest of the other tributes and you were sure they’d want to use it after you. It was filled with coarse sand first, cold but then gradually heating up. The pod went from room temperature to a scorching heat and you had to take your jacket off. The sand quickly morphed into liquid, and you were floating in the water. You weren’t much of a swimmer, so of course you panicked. The worst part came when the water evaporated and you stood on leaves while the air around you got humid. Your jacket was already off and you couldn’t get rid of any more layers. The simulation ended with the water turning into snow. When you were done you stepped out, already regretting having chosen it. You were however pushed back in by a trainer. The pod inhaled the sand, snow, and water particles, leaving you good as new. 

Stepping out you’ve noticed the tributes lining up. In a weird way you could tell they were excited to try out capitol technology. Marvel was the first in line. He was surprised to see you walk out the door. He peeked his head in the pod before looking at you. 

“Can’t swim?” He asked. You couldn't tell whether he was trying to make conversation or insult you. Saying nothing you walked past him.

 Your mentors had instructed you to try to at least learn some lethal skills since trying to run wouldn’t always work. The weapons area was intimidating, but you had to at least try. There were spears, bow and arrows, knives, daggers, swords, axes, sickles. An array of weapons you didn’t know how to use. 

You picked up a knife and examined it. A trainer looked ready to help you so you walked toward them. “I’m not sure what to do.” 

“Why don’t you try with the dummy first?” They suggested. 

Nodding you went over to one of the training dummies. You tried stabbing the knife into the wood. Your arm was a bit wobbly at first but you eventually got the hang of it. The trainer came over to help you out with a technique. After a half hour you were finally able to train with them. It was hard at first since you never really had to fight with anyone. You were skilled to an extent with a knife, but those skills were only permitted in the arena. 

“Alright, why don’t you try the spears next?” The trainer pointed to where the said weapon lied. 

Spears were a weird weapon to you. It was essentially an elongated knife mixed with a needle. You’d seen Marvel use these before. He was the only one who could effectively use one, so you’ve come to learn. Eventually the trainer got whisked away to help another tribute, leaving you alone. The metal felt heavy in your hands. You lifted the spear to poke the point, drawing blood from your finger. Hissing, you put the finger in your mouth, hoping that it wouldn’t bleed too much and cause a mess. As you approached a dummy you  messed around with the weapon, hoping to find your grip. When you did you hit the dummy- lightly at first- deciding what the best way to weaken your opponent would be. Driving the point into the dummy’s stomach, you let out a sound as you tripped over your own feet, the force of your stab stronger than you anticipated. 

“You know those are meant to be thrown too right?” Marvel appeared besides you, his hands on his hip as he observed your technique. “Give me that.” He took the spear out of your dry hands, immediately getting into a stance before throwing it at the dummy’s head. 

Marvel turned to you and smiled, acting like a boy who had just made a basketball shot.  Your mouth twitched as you forced yourself to keep a stoic expression. Your nerves were around the place but you didn’t need Marvel knowing that. 

“Come on 10, it’s not that hard.” He said as he retrieved the spear. You could see his muscles when he grabbed the base of the spear, using force to get it out of the foam head he had stuck it through. 

“(Y/n)?” Buckley called your name. You turned around and saw him on the opposite side of the room. He gave you the ‘you good?’ eyes. Dismissing him you turned back around to face Marvel who was examining the build of the spear. 

“These things are wicked huh? I’ve never seen one this sleek.” He commented, running his hands over the metallic stick. 

“The Capitol loves making things shiny.” Came your reply. Since your talk with Dolly, you’ve come to learn that being friendly with the careers might be your only way of not getting killed in the games, especially now that snow was on your case. 

Marvel looked astounded that you even spoke. You’d kept quiet for the most part. Your comment made his smirk grow. Marvel handed the spear to you. It was only then that you noticed he smelled like cologne. It was sharp enough to give you a headache. It didn’t surprise you that he would take advantage of the Capitol’s amenities. He was from district one after all. 

“Here, I’ll try again.” You got into a stance, “Can you show me how you get ready to throw?” Your voice sounded artificial. You knew he could tell you were acting differently. He raised an eyebrow but helped you anyways. 

“You want to spread your feet. No-not like that.” He said as he tapped your leg to fix your stance. “Make sure you don’t poke your damn eye out.” Marvel warned as he fixed your arm. When he saw that you had perfected your stance he nodded. “Alright, that's a start. Go.” He ordered. 

You mentally slapped yourself. You had made the spear go through the dummy’s neck- which was impressive, however you didn’t like the fact that you needed Marvel’s help in order to attain it. 

“Look at that!” He shouted. Marvel looked proud, he wrapped an arm over your shoulder and you quickly stepped away from him. “Not bad.” He said still impressed by your work. “If it were up to me you’d be in our pack.” He joked. 

“Are you serious?” Again, you never knew when he was lying. 

“No. Of course not.” He said and walked away to bug some other poor tribute. 

.

.

.

.

.

“You guys know what to do right?” Ramsey and Dolly stood by the door as they watched the district 9 tributes enter the waiting room. 

“Show off?” Buckley answered. 

“Exactly. You have fifteen minutes, so use them wisely.” Dolly looked nervous. You wondered if she was worried about you since you hadn’t shown as much skill as Buckley since you got here. 

“If they get bored of you they’ll ask you to leave earlier, so don’t bore them.” Ramsey eyed the two of you. “I assume you’ll be showing off your throwing skills?” He turned to Ramsey. He shrugged, “I’m teetering between that and strength.” 

“Remember, the higher you score, the more likely you are to get sponsors.” You could tell that was aimed towards you by the way Dolly intentionally faced Buckley. 

It didn’t take a genius to piece together that you were the weak link in the district 10 team. A few other tributes made their way to the waiting room, leaving team 10 behind. 

“Alright, well they’ll call you by your names. Good luck.” Dolly bid the two of you farewell as she and Ramsey turned to make their leave. 

“They didn’t even ask you what you chose.” Buckley commented, sticking to your side as the doors to the waiting room opened. 

If it weren’t for the fact that it was deadly quiet, you would’ve responded to him. Instead you sat down next to the district 9 and 11 tributes, sandwiched in the middle. The freckled girl looked at you, offering a scared look, the boy next to her looked frightened as well. You could tell they didn’t speak much by the way they weren’t facing each other. On the other side of Buckley sat a small girl with the curliest locks you’ve ever seen. You’ve seen her before, each time a sharp pain would reach your heart since she looked so young and innocent. The thought of her meeting her demise in the arena sickened you and you wished that she’d at least go peacefully. Next to her was Thresh. You knew his name since he was the biggest one here, everyone even Cato seemed to be wary of him. You even heard Pradain talk about how he’d probably be this year’s victor. 

You hadn’t noticed how anxious Buckley was. In fact this was the first time you’ve noticed how much he bounced his leg and fiddled with his fingers. In your eyes he was the peace in all of this chaos, always finding a way to calm you down, even in the moments where the two of you faced the reality of possibly having to kill each other. 

The nerves in your body were just as bad as his, but you fought to put a smile on his face, your hand going to his forearm as a way to reassure him. He nodded at your action, his bounces dying down. As you removed your hand you noticed the girl from 12 observing you. She had a blank expression on her face, and before you could return it the intercom went off. 

“Marvel Sanford.” 

Everyone’s attention was on him as he stood up. 

“You got this Marvel.” Glimmer cheered him on, patting him on the back as he went to take his turn. He did a little pre-game jump before he disappeared into the other side. 

One by one the tributes went, some of them taking longer than others. The careers took the longest, you assumed the game makers were infatuated with their natural-born skills. As it got closer to the lower districts, the tributes took less, some of them lasting not even 5 minutes. Soon enough it was Buckley’s turn. 

“You’ll do great.” You didn’t know how well your words would encourage him, but you hoped he’d feel less anxious about the whole thing. 

“Thanks.” He smiled, leaving you alone with the tributes from 11 and 12. 

Once again quiet filled the room. You looked over at the tributes and observed them, making eye contact with the little girl. She looked away quickly before you could give her a smile. The baker from 12 also made eye contact with you. It lingered for a while, the two of you feeling a spark of similarity, it was like looking at a mirror. You recognized the look on his face. 

“You had blood on your clothes when you got reaped.” The girl from 12 spoke up, probably noticing how long you had been staring at them. 

Not sure if you should respond, you simply nodded. 

The boy gave her a look but she ignored him, pressing on. “Why?” 

The tributes from 11 were now also intrigued, Thresh turning to size you up. 

“I-” Your voice came out crackled from the lack of speaking, “I was working in my reaping clothes.” You replied quietly as if you’d just gotten in trouble. 

“Oh.” There was a lull and silence overtook the room once again. “You’re a butcher?” 

You shrugged. You could tell why the baker looked like that, you assumed she was the more capable one from the two of them. She was his Buckley. 

She left the conversation at that. You thought to yourself. Were people afraid of you? You hoped the Capitol didn’t paint you as some psychopath, although you’d take psycho over a ditzy cowgirl. 

“(Y/N) Cuernos.” The speaker announced your turn. Buckley came back from the doors, his face red and misty from sweat. He gave you a look, a silent cheer as he left. 

The training arena looked scarier when it was empty. All the weapons were lined up at the same point, tables with supplies were also lined up, the two opposite of eachother. Tributes got to choose what they wanted to show off, and it was between survival and combat skills. 

The game makers were enjoying their drinks, laughing up there as if they didn’t have a job to do. Seneca Crane, a devilish looking man who happened to be the head game maker was causing a ruckus up there. His jokes seemed to have a chokehold on the men as they laughed their drinks down. 

You had 15 minutes. 15 minutes to impress a group of drunk men who weren’t even paying attention to you. Immediately you looked for rope. There was no way you’d score high with a weapon. On the steel table there were about three piles of rope. It was dark and heavy, and unlike any you’d seen before. You struggled to pick them all up, but eventually hoisted them on your shoulder as you began to scurry around. 

Memories were what you relied on as you quickly unraveled the rope, your hands working fast as you tied knots. Your mind went back to when you were young and working as a farmhand with Amaranto. The old man who you had worked for would always forget to close his gate right, causing all the livestock to scurry around. Even though you were small, you had a fire burning inside of you. Amaranto taught you how to make a lasso, more importantly he taught you how to rope in the livestock. On weekends you’d practice your lasso skills with him, trying to see who could bring down barrels full of sand the quickest. 

Suddenly you were back home. The dummies in front of you were  the frantic animals trying to run into the forbidden lands. You built up speed, spinning the lasso in different directions, the time showing as the first one immediately fell. Embarrassed, you looked over to the game makers and to your relief they still weren’t paying attention. You tried again, this time you had an idea of how to get it to work, the child in you peeking out as you managed to get the loop over a dummy’s head. Quickly with force you pulled it close to you, the dummy falling with a loud thud that echoed through the metallic room. 

You took haste as you worked your muscles to bring it next to you. It was heavier than you anticipated, you groaned with every pull. The game makers were now watching you, curious as to what the hell you were doing. You didn’t stop there. Once it was close enough to you, you knelt down to tie it in a hogtie. It took longer than you remembered, and you were sure it was a weak tie. Immediately after you finished, you went to grab the other lasso, this time showing off since you knew they were watching you. Once again with full force you threw the rope over another dummy, repeating the process only this time quicker. Your third and Final attempt was faster, this time you took down two dummies at the same time. 

By the time you were done the cheeks on your face had reddened, your hair was messy from wiping your forehead of sweat. When you looked back up the only audience you had were about four game makers, the rest of them going back to drinking. As you were dismissed you couldn’t help but feel impressed by yourself. You’d left the dummies on the ground, bound and tied. You only hoped you’d be able to do that in the arena. 

When you arrived on your floor, Buckley was already in the shower. Dolly greeted you and sat you down. 

“How’d it go?”  Her bright eyes looked excited, hoping to hear something good. 

“They were drunk, so I don’t think they were paying much attention, but good I hope.” Her face fell when you told her that. 

“Those assholes.” She sneered. 

“What did you end up doing?” She pressed on. 

“Lasso tricks.” You should have worded it better, but you didn’t want her to be disappointed when they gave you a 4 for showing off the best ability you thought of at the time. 

“Lasso tricks? That’s it? Like swinging around a rope?” She seemed surprised, irritated almost. “(Y/n), ya were supposed t’ show off dear.” 

“I did.” 

“S’pose that’ll feed into the whole act Snow’s got  you doing.” She sighed. 

“About that- Dolly.” There were a few questions you had in mind. “I don’t have to keep that up in the arena do I?” 

She clicked her tongue, “Truth be told I think it depends. If the arena you get is western then yes, but either way I think you’ll have to keep it up until he shows interest in another tribute.” She warned. Interest in Snow was like a Lion being interested in a wounded gazelle. 

“Dolly I don’t think I’m gonna win.” In your heart you knew it was true. No matter how many people wished for the odds to be in your favor, you knew you wouldn’t see home again. 

“Don’t say-” 

“No. I mean it.” Your mood had shifted immensely, and once again you were breaking down. The games were so close, the only thing left being the interviews before you met your eventual demise. “I have no skills, there’s about 9 tributes here who can kill me no problem, and probably more that are hiding the fact that they can kill me.” You choked trying to not ugly cry in front of your mentor. 

“(Y/n)-” You cut her off again. 

“I’ve got about three Careers who have it out for me only because I won’t be their little bitch, I don’t think I’d be able to kill Buckley if I win, and I’m weaker than I’ve ever been. I can’t even hold my own in combat.” You sniffed. Your eyes were hurting now, you’d been holding in your tears and they were starting to fall involuntarily. “I can’t do this.” 

Dolly sighed, she rubbed your back. “Look- even if you don’t think you can, you have to try. You’re going to try. I am not going to let you go in there thinking you’re going to die. Alright? Me and Ramsey are gonna go around getting people to sponsor you. You just try to survive alright? Hide out just make sure the game makers don’t catch on, try to live until you’re the last one there. Most importantly put on a show.” She paused to wipe your tears away. “What do all of the Victors have in common?” She asked as you sniffled. “They all put on shows. And you-” She poked your chest. “You are going to put on the best one alright? That’s all they want.” 

A good show. Show. To you it was life or death. To them you were entertainment. That’s why the crowd went wild when you rode the horse, why they cheered when the coal miners caught on fire, why they ogled over Glimmer’s  looks. 

Nodding you let yourself fall into Dolly’s arms. The lady was kind enough to hold you in her arms until you calmed down. 

When it was time for the evaluations to be announced, all of you gathered in the lounging area. Pradain in his usual spot, sprawled on a couch, Sashay and the other stylish sitting in the loveseats spread around the room. Dolly, Buckley, Ramsey and you were on the main couch facing the giant screen.

“Good evening folks! I’m Caesar Flickerman live from the Capitol as we announce the 74th hunger game’s tribute evaluations!” He cheered, his white teeth contrasting his nearly orange skin. Claudias Templesmith introduced himself as well but everyone knew that Caesar was the star host. 

“It’s starting, everybody shut up.” Rasmey announced as he turned the volume up. 

“Here.” You had gotten a small cupcake for Buckley and yourself from the dining table. 

“Thanks.” He took it and immediately swallowed it whole- or at least it looked that way. 

“From district 1 Marvel! With a score of 9.” Buckley noticed you shift uncomfortably. 

“Glimmer with a score of 9!” Of course they’d score high. It was just another day for them. 

“From District 2, Cato with a score of.. 10!” The host said, his eyes wide. “Also from 2 Clove with a score of 10.”

“God damn.” Buckley said surprised. “She’s so tiny!” 

The scores kept going, the lowest so far being a 3. You prayed that you’d at least get a 4. 

You had held onto Dolly’s hand, your other hand in Buckley’s as you waited for your scores. Time felt so slow. The anticipation makes you want to go up to Caesar and just tell him to say it already. 

“From district 10, Buckley Wheaton…” His grip tightened on your hand. “With a score of 9!” Everyone cheered. He shook your shoulders, happy with his score. You laughed with joy, however the room fell quiet again when your name was called. 

“(Y/n) Cuernos…” You felt like throwing up, “with a score of 6!” Immediately you could feel the room’s mood change. 

Dolly’s voice faltered, “Hey! That’s better than a 4! And above a 5! That’s good.” She tried to lift you up, but you sat there on the brink of another breakdown. 

“Let’s hear it for our tributes!” Pradain smiled, lifting up a plate with shot glasses. He passed them around, offering one to you and Buckley as well. 

“To (Y/n) and Buckley!” He announced, and everybody drank. 

Your face scrunched up from the foreign taste, yet Buckley looked unphased. 

The screen was still playing, and you could hear them announce the rest of the tributes. “From district 11 Thresh, with a 10!” He said happy to see another high score after  an hour of low scores. “Rue with a score of 7.” You wondered what she had done to get a score so high. Your ego definitely was down after that, crushed even more by the fact a small 12 year old girl could score higher than you. 

“From district 12 Peeta, with a score of 8.” 

Everyone commented on how they didn’t expect him to be high up. However the most shocking score was yet to come. 

“Katniss. With a score of… oh my- 11!” The collective gasp around the room was hilarious to you. 

“Damn-” Buckley commented, “an 11? How is that even possible..” 

“Heard from Effie that she stuck an arrow through an apple in a pig’s mouth, right at the game maker’s balcony.” Pradain giggled as he continued to sip on some champagne he had poured himself. 

The girl who had asked you about your clothes, the one who you knew had something about her, had scored an 11. A sense of happiness washed over you as you knew that Cato was having a bitch fit right now. 

After the evaluations were through, everyone returned to their own. Except for you and Buckley who were having a late night snack of cheese and fruit. 

“What’s your strategy?” Buckley asked, the two of you alone in the lounging room. 

“Hmm? What do you mean?” It didn’t strike you as something he’d bring up. Maybe he was trying to figure out if he had to protect you or not. 

“Like other than survive.” He broke off a grape, sticking it into his mouth. 

“I’m not sure. I was thinking of just trying to avoid the tributes, hopefully make an alliance with the girl from 5.” You shrugged. It was the truth. After today you knew that everyone would be out for Katniss, moreover, your low score either meant you were going to be killed first, or kept off the radar. “Dolly says I gotta keep up the cowgirl act in the arena.” 

“Why the girl from 5? And what do you mean keep up the act? What act is there to keep up? Shouldn’t you be focused on surviving rather than keeping the president happy?” He asked, his eyebrows furrowing. 

“She seems smart. She knows how to keep a low profile anyways.” You shrugged. “I think keeping the president happy is what’ll keep me alive longer. What about you Buck, any strategies you’d like to share?” 

“We can stick together.” He offered. 

“Not happening.” He looked almost offended. 

“Well why not?” 

“Because, respectfully, I don’t want to be dead weight. You actually have a chance.” You’ve had this conversation before. It was always the same thing. He had a big heart, but there was no room for heart in the games. 

“(y/n)-” 

“What’s your strategy?” You hoped he would change the subject. He sighed, his big eyes falling to the ground. 

“I guess just try to survive, not kill. I don’t know if I’d be able to kill anyone really.” There was sadness in his face. “I’m pretty big, so I guess I’ll have to try to not get killed by the Careers. I mean I’d want to have an alliance with Thresh but- I’m pretty sure he’s got a lone wolf thing going on.” He rambled on. 

You smiled at him, “It’s gonna be hard to hide huh?” 

He let out a breathy laugh, “Pretty much.”

____________________________________

Tags: @randomgurl2326

[pinkbrries]

— A–Z with June —

[find hannah’s version here] | [find izabella’s version here] | june’s masterlist

➤ A is for… after experiencing “feelings” i’ve decided that this just isn’t for me, but thank you for the opportunity

➤ B is for… *talking to heeseung* bro your vibes are so cool and you’re amazing… hold my hand bro

➤ C is for… call it whatever you want: an ‘accident’ or a ‘near death experience’ but the truth is: that was a vibe check from god

➤ D is for… dude, at this point? i think the easiest way to feel ‘wanted’ is to simply rob a bank / [jake looking at her with concern] noona, don’t

➤ E is for… everyone here must know that it’s not blood that runs through these veins but glitter gel pen ink

➤ F is for… fortunately for me but unfortunately for my company, i will keep doing whatever i want

➤ G is for… *looking at the i-land cameras* good morning! … but at what cost

➤ H is for… *reading a weird comment on vlive* haha yeah–uhm, babygirl… there is something obviously wrong with your brain… haha

➤ I is for… i suck at flirting, i end up fighting with them instead:/

➤ J is for… just so everyone know, this is my emotional support song, so nope, i won’t change it

➤ K is for… kisses? the only person that deserve my kisses is kim sunoo<3

➤ L is for… *trying to imitate jake* LETS GAUUUUURRRR

➤ M is for… mmh yeah, i’m not going to wear my contacts anymore, i’ve seen enough

➤ N is for… next time i’m opening to someone is during my autopsy

➤ O is for… okay but whoever has my voodoo doll, please kiss its forehead, i need it

➤ P is for… *’02 liners nagging at june because she won a game* [june looking behind the camera] pd-nim! they simply hate to see a girl boss winning

➤ Q is for… *during her solo vlive* question here engenes: do you ever want to just yell in someone’s face to date you? because same

➤ R is for… *singing at jay* row row row your boat, far away from me~

➤ S is for… sometimes it’s you and your cute comfy oversized sweater against the world and that’s okay

➤ T is for… *winks at the sky* this is for the aliens

➤ U is for… *reading a comment* ‘unnie, can you recommend me some musicals?’ yeah, i really like musicals but like, the real good musicals, for example the barbie movies–

➤ V is for… velvet? oh, as red velvet sunbaenim! [starts dancing ‘red flavor’ out of the blue]

➤ W is for… what can i say? i’m charming and irresponsible– i mean– irresistible;)

➤ X is for… *reading a math question in weekly idol* x+2y+6– wait a minute, JUNE! [raises her hand] THAT’S A TXT SUNBAENIM’S SONG! / [mc’s start laughing] no june, this is an actual math problem / oh…

➤ Y is for… you say you have a crush on a boy, but is he kim hongjoong sunbaenim? min yoongi sunbaenim? jeon wonwoo sunbaenim? because if he’s not, then thank you, next

➤ Z is for… zebras are so cool though, they didn’t want to be normal horses so they decided on painting stripes on theirselves… good for them

[infinitelystrangemachinex]

rattling the bars of my cage over how much hotd struggles to function as a fantasy show and not just a pseudo historical drama just like got did. tiny example that will NOT leave my brain and has not for like 2 years now: hotd is supposed to be THEE asoiaf adjacent story that highlights the cruelty and unfairness of misogyny in society. we know from the context of asoiaf and got that women who act outside of their gender roles are treated as immature at best and freaks at worst. even dany with three dragons and many victories has to fight and claw and outsmart her way for every inch of ground as a girl queen and conqueror and she is not even in westeros. the men who serve her struggle at times with the fact that she is a girl AND their queen AND conqueror but most of the time they see her as DIFFERENT because she is a targaryen but would she be treated with such deference by and within her family if her family had lived? beggar king viserys implies that no she would not have and would have faced misogyny regardless, and hotd endeavors to not elaborate on that lol

female dragonriders are still expected to play active parts in war with their dragons. it's fascinating that baby girls are even given eggs in their cradles in the first place. a woman's war is in the birthing bed and yet rhaenys is scouting in the air for days on end, laena rode like she was going to battle even when it was just for show, baela is shooting crossbows and rushing garrisons, rhaenyra is throwing her weight around on syrax, nettles is a girl AND common and rides sheepstealer in war. where does this custom come from that's so different from how the rest of westeros views women? is it simply assumed that as many dragons as possible should be hatched at all times even if that means giving women the power to burn entire towns and cities to the ground if they feel like it? if noble targaryen women go to war then why is the line drawn before female knights or female soldiers of any kind? how does everyone feel about targaryen women gaining glory in war? targaryens are supposed to be closer to gods than men and so of course rhaena feels lesser for not having a dragon, but through her will we learn more about what it means to have or not have a dragon AND be a targaryen woman in westeros?

i assume that riding dragons is hard, much harder than riding a galloping horse. dany almost died on drogon let's be real. so do targaryen women exercise? who trains them? who teaches little girls the "dracarys" command?? are girls taught how to aim a dragon mid-flight to burn an army? do they train with the men or not? who is bringing targaryen women into lessons on warcraft so that someone like rhaenys knows how to scout, how to navigate a blockade, and more? and how does everyone, the women especially, square all this with women then being relegated to the typical westerosi standard of femininity - look pretty, act the noble lady, have babies? we see this struggle with young rhaenyra in season 1 and then syrax kinda just disappears for most of the time so idk, is adult rhaenyra a battle-trained dragonrider or not

or is all of this just a quirk of the Dance and everyone was so desperate to win and survive that everyone forgot about sexism and the social contract between men for a few years and so we shouldn't care? that would be wild, considering that hotd is, again, a show about sexism. that sure would be wild if hotd ignored sexism whenever it was too inconvenient to write about these issues when they come up