#like that is my level of attachment to that place

[liltalle]

Shardic Opposite-Pairs – Cosmere Theory

It's been said that some of the Shards have opposite Intents (Preservation and Ruin). The obvious question is how inherent is this to the system? Given the symmetry of the original 16, do all of the Shards fit into 8 opposite-pairs?

As of Wind & Truth, we know the names of all 16, so I'm going to try to pair up each and see how they fit. (Cosmere spoilers below)

(Our pool: Devotion, Dominion, Preservation, Ruin, Odium, Cultivation, Honor, Endowment, Autonomy, Ambition, Invention, Mercy, Valor, Whimsy, Virtuosity, Reason)

Preservation/Ruin - This is our canonical example. I don't know that I need to elaborate on their locked conflict on Scadrial and Harmony's difficulty integrating them.

Devotion/Dominion - Khriss describes these two as having "a polarized relationship [...] Forced together as they are, trapped and bursting to escape". Also, the submission/dominance dichotomy seems obvious here.

Cultivation/Endowment - The Nightwatcher is all about fair if esoteric prices for the good she offers, and Cultivation takes that to a deeper level—her deal with Dalinar is about the loss necessary to relief, and the pain necessary to growth. Whereas, Endowment grants godhood freely as she sees fit.

(These first 3 seem pretty clear to me, and they're some of the Shards we know the most about. Those that follow I'm less sure of.)

Odium/Mercy - Odium represents many emotions, but the strongest emotion is hatred, which... I think could be described as a passionate attachment to a wound, lashing out at its perceived source. (That adding Honor's sense of righteousness yields Retribution supports this interpretation.) Mercy is the opposite of that, of Justice classically, letting go of wounds and forgiving. (The two things we know about Mercy canonically are that Harmony was disturbed by discussing Odium with them, and that they were involved in the clash of Odium and Ambition. The former could be Mercy expressing mercy for Rayse himself, but that's not well determined. What happened around Threnody is known to be disturbing, so that's a more obvious interpretation, and this is complicated by knowing that Vessels and Intents don't always align. So, the name is all canon really gives us.)

Autonomy/Honor - (On with my bolder choices.) Harmony says "Autonomy is driven to divide off from the rest of us, go her own way," while Honor's most famous directive is "Unite them." Autonomy's individualism and distinctiveness contrast with Honor's legalism and uniformity. Autonomy avoids constraint while Honor is all about binding people. (This one surprised me, but I think it holds up quite well. Another option was Honor with Whimsy, constraint vs. spontaneity, but I think this split is better, as I'll elaborate later.)

(We know very little about any of the remaining 6 Shards.)

Ambition/Valor - Ruthless self-preservation and accomplishment (Ambition would be mono-black in Magic: the Gathering, Brandon says) vs. selfless defense of others. (Here's a decent place to note my recurring that the saying "Discretion is the better part of Valor" is relevant to Hoid not being able to find her, though she does talk to others, so I don't know if that fully tracks.)

Invention/Virtuosity - My flaw here is that I've not read Yumi & the Nightmare Painter yet, only skimmed Virtuosity's Coppermind article. Still, there seems like a basic opposition here between the creation of new things vs. the mastery of existing arts (Renaissance art's focus on proper perspective, photographic painting, etc. vs. Modern art's focus on surprise and violation of convention).

Whimsy/Reason - Whimsy could well be defined as not doing things for reasons, but following unanalyzed spontaneous impulses. We're told the Shard is not congruous with intense planning or ambitions (per Coppermind, which is an argument for Whimsy/Ambition, but I'm guessing the planning aspect might be more important.) It's also not dignified. Reason, however, seems to be our most dignified and deliberate Shard. It's the Survival Shard, of which Brandon said "The intent is related but only tangentially. Mostly it just knows what's going on and is smart enough to get out of there." This sounds to me like Reason is relevant in that it channels the knowledge of the Vessel to a coherent conclusion that it follows very consistently. Having the discipline to hide from other gods for millennia does seem antithetical to the fun and spontaneity of Whimsy.

So... that fit better than I expected. There's a few other shufflings I could see, and if anyone wants to reblog with their own arrangements I'd be delighted to read your arguments. But it feels just coherent enough that this might actually be Brandon's intention and not only me projecting and forcing patterns to make it more interesting (as my OCD likes to do).

The obvious next question is whether these pairs are part of a more complex structure, analogous to the 16 mundane metals in the Metallic Arts. Each pair would then be like a Push/Pull duality, the 16 should be divisible into 4 quadrants, and so on. I do not know if Brandon planned that far ahead, but... the question of whether each of the four Dawnshards corresponds to a quartet of Shards was RAFO'd, so maybe (Cultivation and Ruin as under Change makes sense, Preservation then under Exist... maybe I should stop here, we only know 2 of the Commands anyway). Again, any thoughts are welcome 😉

[bookworrm1999]

How Far Away? Part 7

Caleb x Mc

Tags: unplanned pregnancy, presumed death, depression, miscommunication, miscarriage scare

Summary: Mc and Caleb fight right before he goes on a long mission into space. Caleb ends up MIA while Mc finds out she's pregnant. She struggles to deal with the grief while Caleb is fighting for his life to make it back home to her.

AO3

Part 1| Part 2| Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7|

Caleb awoke to a very dry mouth and a pounding head.

It felt like a really nasty hangover and he had had plenty of those back in flight school. His memory was hazy for the moment so he wondered how much he had drank to feel like this.

He stretched his arm out and met the cool metal of some sort of rail.

What is this? He blearily opened his eyes and focused on his surroundings. A window with ugly green curtains, a wall full of cabinets and drawers, a small sink, a patterned curtain in front of the door, then the machines.

The pain in his arm made him hiss as he moved the wrong way. There was a needle and a tube in his arm, he followed it up to a bag full of liquid dripping down the tube.

Oh, it’s a hospital. Now it’s coming back to him, the shouting, the frantic energy of nurses and doctors trying to keep his heart beating.

He knew this hospital, it was Willow Medical Center in Skyhaven. How did he end up here?

The worst hangover he’d ever felt and it was no wonder. A few weeks of constant evol use on low food and not drinking as much water as he should have.

A recipe for disaster but he was here, he was alive.

It was dark from what he could see through the curtains drawn over the window. Other than the pounding in his head and dry mouth, he was otherwise uninjured.

His crew had actually gotten him safely out of the deepspace tunnel.

A warm feeling in his chest made him cough in embarrassment.

They had somehow gotten him out of the Fleet’s clutches, away from Ever’s influence to a safe place.

All that effort he had expended in getting them home must have left them feeling indebted to him.

He was very grateful for it, if he had been left to Ever’s clutches. They would’ve fixed his chip and taken advantage of his weakened state to upgrade him even more. Sinking their slimy fingers even more into whatever individuality he had left.

He’d worked so hard to fight the chip, it was at 50% integrity now and going down without a fight wasn’t an option.

His crew deserved something in return as thanks but he’d have to think on that more.

Where was his stuff? Only dressed in a hospital gown without a stitch of anything else, Caleb felt very exposed.

Oh there’s his stuff, a neat pile on the side table. His phone off to the side of his clothes.

Caleb really wanted to see her face, even if it was through a picture. Cell phones glitched weirdly in the deepspace tunnel, so he usually relied on his memory and the hidden photo in his pocket to keep her with him.

Then a nurse came bustling in, keeping the light low, he could see a clock behind the curtain she had just pulled aside.

2 am, well, not the worst time to be alive.

The nurse noticed he was up, looking a little shocked before recovering.

“Hello Colonel, how are you feeling?”

He grimaced

“My head has a band playing inside it and I really need some water.”

“Well, I can go and get water for you right now, I’ll send a note to the doctor to put in an order for some pain medication too. Okay?”

“Right.”

“I actually came in to grab some blood for labs, we need to make sure all of your levels are normal now.”

“Go ahead.”

She quickly took out her butterfly needle along with a few vials, sanitizing his arm and quickly drawing blood out.

Snapping her gloves off, she asked

“Anything else I can get you?”

“Can I have my phone from that table?”

“Oh sure, here you go!”

After handing Caleb his phone, she went back out into the hallway. Hopefully to return with water and something for this headache.

There was a universal charging cord attached to the hospital bed for his convenience. Plugging it in, it only took a minute to boot back up.

He saw the day, the fact that it was still a few days shy of his original return date made him a bit relieved.

That is, until he saw the slew of messages from her.

100’s of them, his phone kept going off and it felt like it was going buzz its way out of his grip.

What in the world?

Caleb was very concerned now, she almost never sent him this many. Not while he was gone and couldn’t respond.

Very worried at this point, he opened the earliest message.

Watching it left him in a daze, her bright smile seared into his mind as she had proudly proclaimed that you were pregnant.

Pregnant with his baby?!

He sat in astonishment for just a minute before it really hit him.

Caleb was going to be a father!

He eagerly opened each message after that.

All her cute little complaints about being sick, wanting food but not being able to eat it, her pants not fitting.

The weight loss did indeed worry him but he was reassured just seeing the way she struggled to wear pants now.

Hearing about stealing his clothes made him a bit feral to be honest but also stoked his male pride.

Then Caleb got to the point where she showed him the newest ultrasound, the little bean had little arms and legs now.

He stared at the image for a long while, the heartbeat of his child, his little baby, in the background.

All the joy came to a halt as the love of his life’s crying face came into view.

He had been pronounced MIA and presumed dead?

Oh no.

He noticed the background was now only showing her at his house in all the videos after that, her eyes hollow, her face limp, only the thought of their baby keeping her going.

He clenched his fist, the one that could punch through walls to get to you.

Caleb desperately wanted to call her now, but he didn’t want to do it over the phone. Not to mention that it was still the middle of the night.

He played the next few videos, his heart breaking as his love’s decline was put on display for a man that she thought was dead.

The last video though, it was only yesterday that it was sent.

Oh, oh now he wanted to rip the building apart.

Zayne, that sly bastard swooping in as soon as he smelt blood in the water.

Trying to take advantage of a grieving woman.

The confusion, the phone was laid down as he heard faintly, is that blood.

The word blood made his own run cold.

She was hurt? No, something worse as sobs came over the phone.

“Please don’t let me lose you, you’re all I have left of Caleb. Please baby, just stay with me!”

Desperate pleas came over the phone before the camera was back in her face, utterly wrecked as the video ended.

What the hell?

That’s how it ends?

He needed to leave now.

He started to rip the IV out of his arm and the nurse came back in, carrying a packet and a cup of water.

“What are you doing?!”

“I’m leaving!”

“You haven’t been cleared yet!”

“I’m going and you can’t stop me.”

He stood up and towered over her. The nurse shrank a bit before standing firm.

“Why?”

“You don’t need to know.”

“I do if you’re going to leave AMA! You were in bad shape when you first came in. You’re still recovering.”

“She needs me and I’m going!”

“Wait she?”

He grimaces at the slip before spitting

“Yes, she needs me, there’s something wrong happening and I need to be there.”

“Maybe I can help.”

He stared at the small woman before shrugging.

“If you can tell me what hospital she went to, sure.”

“Are you referring to the woman listed as your emergency contact?”

“Yes.” He grits out impatiently.

She goes to the monitor in the corner of the room and looks at few pages before pulling something up.

“You’re in luck, she’s here in the labor and delivery ward.”

“Great, I’m leaving.”

She stops him with a hand to his chest.

“What is it now?” Snarling at the interruption.

“You can go, but in a wheelchair.”

So thus, Caleb is rolled all the way from intensive care all the way to L and D.

She had bandaged his arm up from where he’d ripped the IV out, he hadn’t even noticed it bleeding.

The nurse asks the night nurse working where she is and they’re directed to a room at the end of the hall.

He’s wheeled through the door and there she was.

Sleeping, looking so small and weary even in the dim light.

The nurse whispers

“I’ll have to go back but just hit the call light if you need anything, ok?”

He nods but doesn’t dare disturb the peace of the room with his voice.

But as the nurse leaves, he’s desperate to touch you.

So he pushes the chair forward by the wheels until he’s by her side. Caleb can now see something miraculous.

A baby bump, a true proof of their love.

Were they okay though? There was no one to ask, but he spies a chart at the end of the bed.

Grabbing it eagerly, he reads

‘Patient presented with mild bleeding at 18 weeks of pregnancy. Scans done and slight placental abruption was found. Mildly invasive procedure done to correct issue. Patient to be kept under observation for 24 hours.’

A very short summary of the situation but it was enough.

The baby, their sweet baby, and her were going to be okay.

Shoulders shaking as a few tears escaped his eyes as he laid a gentle hand on their child.

“Hello little one, I’m your daddy. I’m sorry I haven’t been here so far but don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere.”

A slight bump against his hand and he was instantly in love.

Caleb wanted to scoop them both up and never let them go. His two loves in his arms forever.

A slight noise behind him made him turn his head from the beautiful sight.

Zayne.

His gut tightened.

“What are you doing here?” Caleb tried to keep his voice low but the protectiveness came through.

Zayne pushed his glasses up before answering

“They called me here to check on her heart and so that she’d have a member of her care team here. She couldn’t make it all the way down to Akso hospital so her OB told her to go to Skyhaven’s hospital for now.”

What a perfectly reasonable explanation but he’d heard what Zayne had been doing while he was away.

“You sure move fast Dr.Zayne.”

A raised eyebrow was the only response he got.

“She’s not yours.” Caleb made that clear with a growl.

“From what I hear, she wasn’t truly yours either. Scared of commitment, colonel?”

“That will soon be rectified so you can butt out.”

“Fortunately for you, she told me to butt out before you even came home. I have no plans to stay where I’m not wanted.”

“Good.” The baby bumped against Caleb’s hand again, making him smile.

“But if she needs me again, don’t think I won’t come running.”

With that ominous warning given, Zayne turned around and left the room.

Well, at least that’s done. Where does Zayne get off telling him that though?

She was more important than that sly bastard anyway and Caleb settled in to stay with her until she woke up.

He knew he had to take care of Ever somehow, he had been steadily wearing the chips integrity down so that they wouldn’t have hold over him anymore. It seemed that it was time to move the timeline up.

His two babies deserved him at his best and without these shackles.

He could wait for her eyes to open though. They had a lot to talk about after all.

Tags: @moonberry69 @supermyeon22 @tinnyrabbit @gavin3469 @marina27826 @crowleysthings @tabi-callico @midiplier

@his-ocean-emissary @rosalyne08 @xaviers-pookie-bear @tsunamethyst @thejujvtsupost @cherrybeomgyu

@gojosballsack69 @apple-lov3r @dinochocochip @violetpurplez @raiyuxa @nickibunny23 @sh3sa1dwhat @playboygeniusphilanthropist @flwerie @lynnlovesthestars @twilightsmissingfur @kasuumi

[choerrysjubiles]

Baby Fever: Valentine's Day Special

Pairing: Eunseok x fem!reader

Warning: smut! Unprotected sex, cunnilingus, teasing, breeding-talk? this is the breeding series of course that’s here

wc: 2.4k

a/n: who could ask for a better valentine? Also not proofread :]

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

You felt yourself slowly stir awake, carefully grabbing at your blankets to warm yourself. You feel Eunseok’s arms wrap around you, nuzzling against you. You basked in his warmth, grabbing his arm to lean closer to him.

“Good morning.” He kisses the back of your neck.

“Good morning.” You respond, more groggy than him.

“Do you know what today is.” Eunseok can’t hide the smile on his face.

You turn to face him, laying an arm across his, “Can’t remember.” Your eyes are still closed, still too sleepy.

Eunseok pulls you closer, “It’s Valentine’s Day.” He kisses the crown on your head.

“It is?”

“Uh huh.”

You manage to open your eyes, leaning up to kiss him, “Happy Valentine’s Day, baby.”

He laughs, “I have something planned for us.”

“After work?”

“And before.”

This woke you up more.

“Before work?” You slowly woke.

“Would you like to be my Valentine?” Eunseok asks, a soft smile on his face.

“We’re married, of course.”

Eunseok repeated the question.

“I’d love to be your Valentine.” You answer, a little better this time.

Eunseok leaned forward, kissing you while leaning you onto your back. He moves on top, pressing kisses along your sensitive skin. You feel your hips grind against him, hands attempting to remove your clothing.

“Not yet.” He whispers into your ear.

His hands slowly shed your clothing, leaving you bare under him. His mouth never leaving your skin as he kisses and licks across your torso and stomach.

“You’re so sexy.” He presses a kiss against your breast.

You groan, pelvis bucking upwards, hoping Eunseok will go further south.

“I think that everyday.” He places a kiss on your ribcage, “Every single day.” He kisses along your stomach.

“You do?”

“And I should be more vocal about it.” He kisses your hip bone.

Spreading your thighs wider, Eunseok stares at your core.

“You’re always so sexy, always so good to me.” He kisses above your pubic bone.

Eunseok moves further down, eye level with your core, he looks up at you as he places a kiss on your clitoris. You gasp, your hands gripping the bedsheets as he continues.

“You’re so wet and you always take everything I give you.”

Eunseok licks a stripe upwards.

“Even when you’re at your limit, you can always push through for me.”

He continues licking, flat tongue dragging up your core, tongue flicking against your clit as you fall apart. He moves closer, mouth flushed against your core as he continued bumping his nose against your clit, tongue flicking at your entrance.

“Eunseok.” You gasp.

“Yes?” He teases.

“Keep going.” You beg.

“Of course.”

Eunseok dives in further, fingers rubbing your clit while he moves up and down your pussy. Drinking up your arousal as he drags his tongue all over you. He began kissing up your thigh, watching the way your breathing grows heavy as he continued rubbing your clit.

“You like it?”

“I’m gonna cum, Eunseok.”

“I wanna taste you when you cum.”

He lean back down, move attaching to your clit as he continues rubbing the nub. Your hands move to his hair, holding onto him even though you know he’s not going anywhere. Your hips buck upwards, your pussy begging him to let you cum.

“Are you close?”

“So fucking close.”

“Cum for me.”

You pant, feeling your orgasm approach.

“Please, baby, I want you to cum.”

You gasp, feeling your orgasm erupt out of you. Eunseok attaches back to your core, sucking up your cum as his hands rub your thighs. You look down at him, feeling yourself come back down.

“You did so good, baby.” Eunseok praises.

He attempts to move up, you hold onto him, making him halt his actions.

“Can we have sex?”

“Of course, baby.”

Eunseok removes his bottoms, moving between your thighs to push in before you lift the hem of his shirt.

“Ah.” He says, taking his shirt off.

Leaning down, he gives you a sweet kiss before pushing in.

“Eunseok.” You moan.

“Do you feel good?”

“You always make me feel good.”

“Always?”

“All the time.” You gasp when he begins moving, “Always, you always feel so good.”

You pull him down to kiss.

“You always feel amazing around me.” He says, lips never far from your own.

You feel your hips rock back against his thrusts, sighing in relief as he continues thrusting into you.

“You’re so hot.” You say, “You’re toned body feels so good against me.”

He leans in, pressing more kisses against your lips.

“You always make sure I feel good,” You gasp when he begins rubbing your clit, “yes!”

Eunseok continues slowly thrusting into you, slow and gentle as he feels you approach your orgasm.

You feel Eunseok press more kisses to your skin, along your neck and shoulder as you orgasm. Fingers gripping him, your head thrown back, a loud “Oh,” echoing around the room. You don’t know where Eunseok went, only noticing him when his lips press into yours while he groans, hips flush against yours as he cums inside.

“You always feel so fucking good, y/n.”

His hips carefully buck more before settling still. Eunseok pulls out before settling next to you in the bed. You catch your breath before rolling on your side.

“Good morning.” You say to Eunseok.

“Good morning.” He smiles at you.

You both erupt in a laughing fir before he gets up to dress for work.

“I’m sorry I have to leave.” He says, adjusting his tie in the mirror.

You hug his from behind, your arms settling along his waist, “It’s fine, you have to work.” You lay a kiss along his clothed shoulder.

“I do have plans for us after work.”

“You do?” You peak over his side, showing your shocked expression.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

You were amazed at the restaurant Eunseok took you to. A smaller place with romantically dim lighting. You sat at your table before dining on amazing food.

“Where’d you hear about this place?”

“Some coworker mentioned it.” He responded, “It it good?”

“Very.” You smiled.

After dining, you and Eunseok decided on somewhere else for dessert. You sat beside him as he drove somewhere.

“I know a place.”

He was so sure you had to follow where he wanted to go.

You pull towards a cafe, putting the car in park, you both get out to enter the cafe.

“Oh, my god.” You laugh, remembering the building.

“You only went here, like, everyday for a year.” Eunseok laughed.

“I don’t know how I forgot about this place.”

You look at the menu, trying to remember your old order.

Eunseok leans into your ear, “I remember it.”

You both get your drinks and desserts before moving to a more secluded table.

“I know it may not be as romantic as somewhere else.”

“No!” You laugh, “It’s far more personal than some dinner and movie.”

He smiles at you, eyes soft with a light blush glowing along his cheeks.

“I remember going here a lot just to see you.”

“You pined?!” You almost yelled.

Eunseok burst into laughter.

“Strangers to lovers?” You laughed, “Slowburn?”

He went to this cafe just for you?

“I remember, oh this is embarassing.” Eunseok began laughing.

“Tell me.” You lean closer.

“It took me, like, a week to even stand near you.”

“Huh?” You stared in shock at him.

“The amount of times Seunghan had to push me in your direction,” Eunseok sighed, feeling his face warm as he tried to not remember how timid he was around you.

You finished your drinks and desserts. Walking around the area before going to his car.

“This was really nice.” You smile.

“It was?” He throws his arm around your shoulders, pulling you into a half hug.

“Absolutely.”

Arriving home you both go upstairs, shedding your attire. You were removing your jewelry as you felt Eunseok stand behind you, helping you out of your clothing. He dropped kisses along your skin as he shed more of your clothing.

“I got something for you.” You smile.

“I can see, baby.” Eunseok smirks at the new lingerie set you were wearing.

His mouth trails towards your front, you lean against your vanity to hold yourself up as your fingers lace through his hair. His mouth leaves wet kisses along your breasts before moving upwards to your neck and ends at your lips. His warm hands, rubbing and massaging your body, still themselves along your waist.

You feel your breathing become ragged the more you kiss, your hands gripping onto him for support. He pulled your close, walking you towards the bed. You feel him hold onto you, slowly dropping you onto the bed as he continued kissing you.

Your hands move down to unbutton Eunseok’s shirt, pulling it down his arms, and throwing it to the side. You feel his pelvis move in, grinding against your clothed core as he moves down to kiss along your breasts, hands massaging the flesh.

You attempt to move down to undo his hands, instead you feel his hands grip your hips. His fingers quickly undoing your bottoms to see the rest of your lingerie set. His tongue pushes out to lick against the sheer lace. Your hips grind forward, feeling nothing to rub against.

Eunseok moves down, holding your legs in place to admire the lingerie you wore.

“You’re always doing more and more.” He looks up at you, smirking at the desperate expression you displayed.

“Do you like it?”

“I love it.” He says, rubbing his hands up and down your thighs.

He folds your legs upwards, slotting himself between your legs. He stays there, letting his trousers get slowly soaked by the arousal dripping out of you. You squirm, trying to feel any satisfaction before Eunseok’s hands grip you tighter. He holds you in place before undoing his belt.

The anticipation makes you even more aroused. Your breathing grows heavier, hungry eyes watching Eunseok’s every move as he, every so slowly, removes his pants. Your hands move down to hold onto his waist, thumbs rubbing his skin as he grinds his underwear against you.

“Eunseok.” You whine.

“What’s wrong?” He asks, leaning forward.

“Can we have sex, yet?” You sounded more desperate than you wanted.

Eunseok leaned down, kissing your cheek, “Let’s have a little more fun.”

His hand moved down to dip into your panties, feeling his fingers soak in your arousal.

You feel yourself whine against his movements. Eunseok leaves a chaste kiss against your lips before slipping out of his underwear. Your legs wrap around his waist, grinding against his hand that returned to your core. His fingers rubbed and tapped along your folds as your hips desperately bucked into him.

“Aw, look at that.”

You crane your head down, seeing Eunseok slide your panties down your thighs.

“So soaked.”

His voice was a touch lower, a second slower, every syllable shot right to your core. Feeling yourself grow to a new level of neediness.

“Did you want my cock?” He asks, almost cheek to cheek with you.

“I need it.”

“Need it?”

“So badly, I need your cock in me.”

“Who am I to deny my wife.”

Eunseok aligns his dick to your core and slowly pushes in. You gasp as you hear Eunseok sigh in relief, slowly pushing in and stretching you out. You feel every inch drag along your walls as he pushes in further and further.

“You okay?” He asks.

“You’re so fucking big.”

Eunseok chuckles, kissing your forehead as he waits for you to be comfortable.

You feel your hips buck forward, “You can move.”

Eunseok slowly pulls out before thrusting back in.

“Ah.” You moan, gripping onto his biceps.

Eunseok watches you as he continues, steady thrusts while your eyes grow heavy. Your hand drifting from his arm to your clit, rubbing circles into the muscle as Eunseok goes faster.

“God, you feel so fucking good.” Eunseok looks up at the ceiling, afraid the sight of you will make him cum.

“Faster.” You whine.

Eunseok speeds up, his hands moving to fold your legs forward.

“Ah, Eunseok.” You groan, eyes closing from the pleasure.

“Look at me.”

You struggle to open your eyes, brows furrowed as you look at Eunseok staring into you as he continues thrusting.

“Do you feel good?”

“So good.” You reply with a raspy voice, your throat growing dry.

“Fuck, I’m gonna cum.” Eunseok says, eyes shutting tightly.

You rub your clit faster, feeling his hips speed up even more.

“Wait.” Eunseok pulls out.

Your thighs close, attempting to feel some kind of friction again.

“Fuck, I’m sorry.” He says.

“Take your time.” You pant.

“Here.” Eunseok repositions himself, back to your missionary position.

He pushes back in, feeling his hips piston back into a fast pace.

“Fuck, right there.” You groan, fingers going back to rubbing your clit.

Your head digs into the pillow as Eunseok can’t help himself but continue this painfully fast pace.

“There, fuck, there.” You moan.

Eunseok leans forward, kissing your neck as you continue moaning his name.

“I’m not gonna last.” He whines.

“I wanna feel you cum in me.” You feel lightheaded, so close to your orgasm.

“You want me to fill you up?”

“So badly.” You feel your abdominal muscles tighten, so close to cumming.

“I’m gonna fuck you so good.” Eunseok babbles, chasing his orgasm.

“You’re gonna fill me up so good.”

“So fucking good.” He groans, feeling your walls close around him.

“Ah.” You moan, feeling your core clench around him.

A few more thrusts and Eunseok cums inside you, his hands gripping your hips to bury his dick deep into your core. His moan is loud, almost echoing off the walls. His hands move to your face, cupping your cheeks to kiss you.

He breathes as deeply as he can between kisses, still deep inside you as he calms down from his orgasm. You rub his cheek, thumb tracing his jaw as Eunseok catches his breath.

“Did you have a good Valentine’s Day?” You smile up at him.

He laughs, relaxing against your body, “The best. Was yours good.”

“Definitely the best I’ve had.” You smile at him.

[jessicafangirl]

An Arrow To The Heart

Oh I made it before Valentines Day! Whoo hoo here's the nearly 15K word monster I birthed. This started as a ficlit idea that just became this. Copia is a wordy bitch when he's doing the deed. And I love writing for him.

I also love dark Copia and him being just super protective and a touch evil...but evil in a good way. I hope you like this. I went smutty. There's smut. There's some Special Ghoul Phil. There's a dark ending. It's super self indulgent and I don't care. He's my comfort boo.

This is you and Copia. You who haven't joined the church but have fallen in love with your friend who is now Frater. You've become head of the Ghost Projects PR Department and there's some siblings that like to spread rumors you got the job because you are banging the boss and they don't like you. BOYYY does Copia not like this. So yeah...enjoy this Valentines Day Frater fest.

You can also read it here on AO3. Please share if you like it. Let me know if you like it. Let me know if this made your V day (HE'S COMING) brighter. Viva Ghost.

It wasn’t just the week, it had been an entire month, almost two of non-stop disappointments and feeling like nothing was going to work. You felt yourself drowning in work, in expectations you had created for yourself, and you were never going to meet them.

At one point the flu had decided to attach itself to you and you had barricaded yourself away from everyone working through it remotely with a 101.00 fever. Copia had nearly broken your door down when he’d discovered this, already angry about being denied the opportunity to take care of you. But you weren’t going to let him get sick too. As it was, a Facetime call that was filled with glaring, darkened eyes and a loud Italian voice saying, “YOU TURN OFF THAT CAZZO OF A MACHINE AND GO TO BED!” made you do just that. The Frater had then had a number of Ghouls show up with medicine and food that you ate some of until you were recovered.

After the flu incident Copia was still angry at you but he’d just have to deal. He wasn’t the one having to prove themselves to every other person at the Ministry and the Ghost Project. Not being a member of the church but working for it AND dating the head of the church put more pressure on you than the lowest level of the ocean, the parts with those creepy fish with the teeth and glowing eyes. Everyone doubted you had what it took to handle the PR for the project, to get more eyes and ears on things, including the new guy. It was a massively important time and….you didn’t know if you had it in you. And you damn well knew that Sister Phyllis and the other siblings whose glares followed you as you walked down hallways on phone calls or glanced into your open office door actually knew you didn’t have it in you.

The only one who seemed confident you did was Copia. And he just was too soft hearted to admit it, you knew. Everything was so new between you and Frater Imperator Emeritus that he would never admit you weren’t worthy of your position or him. Your relationship had become more than friends after the death of his mother and his ascension…you’d been there when he needed you because Copia had always been there when you needed him. And when it had become public knowledge the already tenuous acceptance you had with the siblings and others of the church turned completely to something else.

Copia didn’t know this or hadn’t heard of it, at least not from you. You weren’t going to have him go storming off to protect your honor. You would do your job well and earn your place, you wouldn’t let him down. He had enough to deal with. So it was you and Phil and the other Ghouls you had to help you became a team.

The beginning of the new Papa’s tour was going to be the death of you, and you knew it. But by god you would make this work before you rattled out your last breath. 14 hour days of prep, of planning, booking interviews for not only Papa V but Copia too. The stress was a living thing but at least the Ghouls could go for days without sleep…even if you couldn’t. Sadly that become evident on your 60th hour of being awake when Phil saw you nearly fall out of your chair. He called your name and then came running over as he saw you blinking tiredly around out of it. On your computer screen was a half-finished email to Metal Edge setting up some photo shoots. Phil’s gloved hand grabbed your shoulder. “Hey, hey are you ok?” He asked.

You rubbed your eyes, glancing at the clock and seeing that it was nearly time for your next meeting with marketing. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine Phil…sorry just sort of dazed out there.” Beneath his mask, Phil’s nostrils flared as he sniffed the air. The scent of exhaustion surrounded you, burning embers and wilting flowers. You were barely hanging on and he knew it. He’d been watching it unfold. He knew why you were pushing yourself this much and it pissed him off. Not anger at you, but the siblings. Phil liked you. You were loyal to Copia and that meant you were loyal to Copia’s Ghouls. Copia loved you like a lunatic which meant his Ghouls felt that same dedication….though sadly for some of them not with the benefits.

Copia was a lucky Frater.

But this was concerning. He’d not witnessed you nearly falling into the floor before. He was going to have to narc, and he hated that…but he knew you were too thick headed to listen to him. So he’d have to get Copia to get involved. He seemed to be able to get you to listen if the flu incident was any indication.

Sister Constance arrived just as you were leaving for your meeting. The older woman gave you a smile which was rare. “I just wanted to let you know that the art you approved has started being printed on the merchandise.” Constance said. “And I have to commend you for the choices and the colors. It looks brilliant.”

You nearly ran into the door jam. “Oh…thank you!” You were flustered, not used to hearing praise from any of the siblings. You’d never had a problem with Constance though…you’d just never had much time other than design meetings to speak with her. “The artist is one of my favorites and she’s just got an eye for the Ghost style.”

Constance nodded, her habit falling gracefully over her shoulders. “Well, good job and good eye. Satan bless you.”

You gave her an awkward smile as you hurried to the meeting room. At your departure Constance turned to Phil who was working at his desk. “She looks like she’s made of ash and has Frater’s eye make-up…but that’s just her skin.” She said to him.

Phil let out a sigh. “I know…it’s getting worse.”

The sister sat down opposite him. “She can’t keep this pace.”

The Ghoul reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a half full bottle of whiskey and two glasses. He filled them each with a shot, handing one to Constance. “I’m going to talk to Frater. He’s not going to be happy, but something has to be done.”

Constance drank down the shot in one go, barely wincing. “Phyllis is a bitch. She’ll keep her running until she falls over.”

Phil lifted his mask enough that his grey tinted lips were visible and drank his own shot. He hissed at the mention of Phyllis. “I really want an accident to happen to that one.”

Constance raised her eyebrows. “I mean, it wouldn’t be the first time.”

Phil stood, putting away the bottle. “Don’t tempt me.” He said.

“That’s part of my job, isn’t it?” Constance laughed.

The Ghoul took hold of her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles. “I’m too old for you gorgeous.” He said, his tail wrapping around her lined neck in a light embrace. “Pray to Satan I make it through the melt down he’s going to have when I tell him about this.” He said as he let go of her hand and brought his tail into line.

Copia’s new office was larger and on the same floor as his new apartments, which were also larger. Being Frater had benefits. Phil stopped at the office’s carved wooden door with the shiny new plaque stating “Office Of Frater Imperator” next to it…in case the large, ornate Grucifix that had been chiseled into the dark wood along with the Latin phrasing “Father of Darkness, Leader of the Faithful” wasn’t enough.

Phil took a deep breath and then hit the button that buzzed letting Copia know someone was coming in.

“Hellooo?” His muffled voice called out.

Phil took that as his okay to enter and pushed open the door. Copia was seated at the large desk in front of his computer. His black suit was pristine, the jacket hanging on the coat stand. His black rhinestone collar was removed and setting on the desk next to the remains of two juice boxes and a half eaten cheeseburger. You could upscale the title, but Copia would always be Copia.

Copia finished typing up a response to one of the other abbeys regarding a visit in the next few months and turned to see Phil standing patiently, his hands behind his back. “Ah! Phil! What can I do for you?”

Copia’s mismatched eyes held a bit of concern in them the Ghoul noticed. He didn’t come here often so he knew Copia would realize something had to be up. “Frater, I feel I need to speak to you regarding some things, may I sit?”

Copia’s brow narrowed. Okay, something was definitely up. He tried to remember if you’d mentioned anything in the last few days that might have spurred this visit. And then Copia realized…he hadn’t really seen you in the last few days more than a couple of minutes. That hurt suddenly. He’d been so busy he’d not thought about the fact that he’d been neglecting his amore. What a horrible moment to have that realization.

“Of course, si si. Mi dispacia I’ve been so busy I haven’t had a chance to visit the publicity team in the last few days. But you all do such a good job eh? I don’t feel like you need me as they say…micro managing.” Copia quickly cleared away his now very cold lunch to try and be a little more proper.

Phil nodded. He really did like Copia, strange quirks and all. He sat down, “That’s alright Frater. What I need to discuss is a little more personal in nature though.”

Copia paused, his heart thudding in his throat. Was this it? Was this when he would find out his cara was leaving him for a Ghoul or just leaving in general because he was a horrible excuse for a paramour? Was it Phil? Satanus….was it Phil?

“Oh…eh…okay…please go on.” Copia turned, giving his full attention to the silver masked Ghoul. Under his desk his gloved hands were gripping each other in a death grip. He didn’t know what he’d do if Phil said “We’re in love Frater. She’s mine and she says I’m three times the man you are…and I’m not even a man.” Copia had never gone to blows with a Ghoul but…never say never.

Phil leaned back in his chair. The scent of paranoia was strong in the room now with an underly of jealousy. Copia had no idea what he was about to say. “Frater this is about…”

At the mention of your name the sound of the leather gloves fingers clenching harder could be heard. Copia’s heart started slamming in his chest. He was right…this was it….he was going to be left alone by…everyone.

He swallowed the lump in his throat. “Go…go on.” He managed to say.

Phil took a breath. The things he did for his faith…not that he had a choice, he was a summoned Ghoul…but even then there should be limits, right?

“Frater, she’s working very, very hard.” He said.

Copia felt a tiny bit of tension leave him. “Si, I know, she’s a very hard worker.”

“No Frater, I mean she’s working too hard. She’s working herself sick and well…I felt you needed to know the reason.” The Ghoul’s voice was kind, like he was talking to a child.

Confusion crossed Copia’s face. Working herself sick?? He flashed back to when you had walled yourself away, when he’d had to basically yell over a phone screen to stop and rest. He had expected that to be enough to get you back on a healthy mindset but…cazzo…he’d been so caught up in being head of the church and in his own head he hadn’t realized where yours was. But that last sentence…the reason?

“Phil, what are you saying? What is going on with her? What is the reason?” He asked, his voice taking a tone that not many had witnessed. Steady, steely.

The Ghoul laced his fingers together and prepared for the aftermath of what he was about to say. “She nearly fell off her chair today from exhaustion. I could smell it. She’s been awake for over 60 hours Frater.”

A look of horror crossed Copia’s face. “Satanus…what…”

Phil continued. “It’s the siblings Frater. It’s the way they treat her like an outsider and the jealousy. It drips off them like acid. Not all of them…but there are some that feel she’s got her position because she’s…well…you and her. She feels she has to prove herself. I’ve seen it and I’ve tried to get her to realize she doesn’t need to prove anything but you know…you know how she is. She won’t listen.” Copia hadn’t said anything so Phil decided to just keep going. “She also feels she needs to prove she’s good enough for you.”

Copia felt like he’d been slapped or stabbed with that last sentence. A sharp pain cutting through his heart. “Good enough…for me?” He said, latching onto the words.

“Yes…she…well…all of this has built up over the last few months. She knows what they are saying and it’s made her feel this way.” Phil shook his head, his tail whipping back and forth in anger. “I couldn’t stay silent anymore Frater. She’s my friend and she deserves to know she’s got nothing to prove.”

Copia’s mismatched eyes looked down into the polished wood of his desk. The green side darkening to a near black, the white so bright Phil thought for a moment it might blind him if he looked directly at it. His jaw was clenched tightly, his lips a thin line and his breathing was heavy.

When he spoke, his voice was not the usual lighthearted and joking tone many thought of when Copia was mentioned. No, this was heavy with a barely contained anger that was going to find a target very soon. “Il mio amore…feels she has to prove her worth to me…because of some petty bastardos who think she fucked her way into her job…who dare disrespect her…my girl…my love…they think they can do this and not suffer for it…”

The fury within him was so bright hot, so sudden that he couldn’t comprehend it. Phil actually felt a little afraid as he watched the emotions play out in the other man’s face.

“I’m…sorry Frater.” The Ghoul said, not knowing what else to say. “I just…she’s my friend and she deserves better. She needs a break honestly.”

Copia turned, glancing at Phil. A break. She needed a break. 60 hours….Satanus he was useless. How was he supposed to be head of the church when he didn’t even realize the woman he loved was drowning in despair? The person that was supposed to be closest to him and he hadn’t seen it.

The Frater sighed, unclenching his fists. He would deal with this in stages but the first was you. He needed to take care of you, he needed to love you, to show you just how much he loved you. “You’re a good friend Phil.” He finally said. “To both of us. Grazie for telling me.”

Copia stood then, turning to face the window that looked out over the courtyard. It was starting to get dark. “I need you to bring me a list of those who have sown the seeds of this doubt in mi amore. They will be dealt with…soon.”

Behind his mask Phil’s eyes widened…well he knew that was probably going to happen. “Yes Frater.”

“Also, she’s going to be taking a few days off starting today. She doesn’t know this yet.” Copia bounced on the balls of his feet for a moment, his dress shoes making a clicking sound on the marble floor.

“We can manage for sure. She’s got everything so planned I think a toddler could do it.” Phil replied.

Copia nodded. Of course she did, she was brilliant. The anger flared to life again. “Si si, bene. Don’t mention anything to her if you see her. I’ll let her know.” He turned and glanced at Phil who nodded.

“Yes Frater.” The Ghoul stood. “I’ll head back to the department then unless you needed anything else.”

Copia turned and gave a slight nod to the Ghoul. “No nothing else. Again, thank you for letting me know. I expect the list as soon as you can provide it.”

Phil gave a slight bow and left the office. He almost felt bad for the names that would be on that list…then he thought better of it. Let them burn.

Copia’s brain was a strange place sometimes. Years of neurosis, fear, abandonment issues were there of course. How could they not be when you’d lived so long to only realize sheer months before she died your mom had always been there and just not told you…and your dad’s ghost never had bothered to either. Plus said father was a prick and…a ghost. Then there was the possible imminent death thing.

But with all of that Copia had learned to survive. He’d dealt with the harshness of growing up an orphan, an odd one at that he’d admit, in the ministry. Ratboy, Ratman, other names nowhere near as kind. He’d lived through it all and eventually got his payback for the treatment. Copia could be nefarious when he wanted to be, dangerous when the mood struck him.

Again…look who his parents were.

This situation was a new one. Firstly he’d not had a paramour like you before. One that was real, that mattered, that wasn’t there to advance or use his position or name. The irony wasn’t lost on him that this was literally what everyone he was going to happily destroy thought was the case. No, you had proven your heart to him many times over and that was exactly why he would, very much so, destroy those that had driven you to this level of torment.

But before that happened he needed to show you what you truly meant to him, to remind you of what you were to him. This feeling that Phil had mentioned, that you felt the need to show you were worthy of him…it both angered and confounded him. How could you think such a thing? How could you doubt your worth when you had saved him from an abyss of sorrow that had nearly drowned him? That you, only you, were able to make him laugh again, to find happiness.

Even before that fateful night when he’d finally given in to the tender feelings he’d been so afraid to dare show, to even hope you would feel as well, you had always been there. You were the friend he needed, the confidant he could trust, the one who would drag him from his blankets and make sure he ate something and would then stay up all night playing his old games with him, giving him a run for his money on who would win. No one else, not even his Ghouls had been so kind, so patient, so caring. Only you…and he had no idea why. But then you’d told him, after he had confessed his love to you, when he’d asked you why you would ever put up with him. “Because you’re you Copia. You’re the one who tells everyone how life can be filled with ups and downs but you should keep going. You care. You’re kind. You deserve to be loved Copia, you deserve to be happy. And if my dumbass can make you laugh when you’ve had a bad day then I did my job.”

Copia had managed not to cry like a complete idiot at your words…but there may have been a tear that he’d quickly wiped away. That night the video games were forgotten and he thought just maybe he made some of his ancestors proud. He was fairly certain the Ghouls in the dens under the abbey proper probably heard you both…judging from the way many of them were giving him a thumbs up the next day.

But this doubt…this doubt that had been sown in your heart against yourself…this would not stand. He would not allow this to continue. If your job was to ensure he was happy then his job was exactly the same when it came to you. His job was to make sure that any doubts about your worth, your love, were stopped. He really wanted to maim someone as he thought about it. The Emeritus violent streak definitely continued with him.

Copia was a romantic at heart but life hadn’t given him many opportunities to pursue that or act on it. There were some of his songs of course, moments on stage where he got to live out a little role playing as a gothic, satanic prince serenading a sorella from the audience. But none of those were you. Although he did know or noticed you did have a glimmer in your eye when he’d still been performing and had worn those costumes. You’d also mentioned a few times about envying the mic stand and also a fondness for the lace up jeans that had, as you described, “wrapped up his thighs like a second skin.” He turned away from the window and chuckled to himself, a plan forming.

He double checked the calendar. Copia knew St. Valentines Day was coming soon and sure enough it was only two days away. He wasn’t going to wait for Valentines Day though which would make this even more of a surprise. He picked up the phone and called up one of the Ghouls and quickly gave him some instructions and to make it snappy. Then he turned off his computer and locked up the office.

Copia headed to his apartments down the hall and after feeding his bambinos made his way to the large closet in his bedroom. He flicked on the light and sighed. Along one wall were his concert suits and costumes, all wrapped up in thin plastic to keep them safe. He missed it far more than he’d ever let on. Papa V was doing his thing of course, different style and all that…but Copia couldn’t help but think he did a better job. I mean…out of the last four he was the one who wasn’t under glass.

The ex-Papa strolled along the hanging mementos pondering for a moment which would be the thing that would make his amore the happiest. He grabbed a pair of his tattered jeans with the lace up front of course and then one of the puffy sleeved black lace shirts that would have been at home on a pirate. His eyes alighted on the perfect thing. “Ah ha…” He said and pulled it from the closet bar.

The black leather vest with the gold embroidery was one of his favorites and if he wasn’t mistaken one of yours as well. He remembered coming off stage wearing it one night near the end of the run, before you had both realized your friendship had become something far deeper. He’d asked you “Did I make their asses wobble or what??” laughing and clapping his gloved hands together and he’d noticed you hadn’t replied, just looked at him with big eyes and an even bigger grin. There was a glimmer he’d not noticed before in your gaze, something that made a warmth start in his tummy and spread out along every nerve. “Hey, hey, am I just performing for myself here?” He’d waggled his fingers in front of your face and you’d snapped out of it.

“No! Yes! No!! You…you did great! Not an ass unwobbled.” You’d replied.

Copia chuckled. Yep, this should do it. He may not be allowed to do up the paints like the old days, but no one said he couldn’t work the suits like he used to. Walking out of the closet he hoped he could still fit in these. Since he’d become Frater there wasn’t as much ass wobbling to be done but there was a lot of eating at his desk. He didn’t think he’d changed that much…and you certainly hadn’t mentioned anything. So…with a short prayer to the dark lord Copia slipped off his jacket.

The day had ended much later than you’d anticipated. You had managed to slam down a Monster to get through the last few hours but you were dragging yourself back to your office and it was nearly 7 o’clock. Phyllis, that bitch, had stopped you after your meeting to complain about changing the printers for the band shirts. Apparently she “had a relationship” with the last group who were using the shoddiest material you’d ever seen. The chat had ended with a snide comment about how you thought you had the right to overstep…even though you were actually in charge of decisions like this now and could totally make those decisions.

The lack of sleep and desire to not start drama…something she apparently didn’t have…left you to just slink away. You hated that you let her run over you like a steam roller but you just didn’t have any fight in you at this point. As you came to your desk you saw a sticky note in Phil’s handwriting in the middle of your monitor “GO THE FUCK TO BED.” Was in bold letters with a little heart and a devil face at the end. “Love you too buddy.” You muttered with a smile. The note was right…you needed to just go pass out.

You grabbed your bag, turned off the lights, and locked the door. You leaned up against the door frame for a moment and sighed, running your fingers through your hair in the hopes you wouldn’t look like you felt. For a moment you wondered how Copia was doing. You missed him having not seen him for the last few days as everyone was going 100 mph. He had enough on his plate to deal with being Frater and you didn’t want to distract him. He was having to deal with things you could never imagine all while giving up playing to a crowd he loved.

You didn’t think you’d be great company that night anyway. You didn’t even know if you had it in you to microwave something before passing out. With a sigh you pushed away from the door and headed upstairs to your apartment. Maybe you’d text him to see how he was doing. You were just getting ready to pull your phone from you pocket when you glanced up at your door. Stuck to the wood was a black envelope with your name written in silver. You recognized the handwriting. “What….?” You said aloud, pulling it off the door and opening it.

Inside was a black piece of stationary and in the same silver script were the words “Come to my rooms now. – C.”

Your eyebrows lifted in surprise. This wasn’t a request…that was written as an order. Lord, what had you done now? How had you managed to piss him off too after not even seeing him for most of the week. Maybe this was it, maybe he was done with you and you were fired and dumped in one fell swoop. Maybe you had fucked up…well…everything.

You sighed heavily, felt like crying, but held it back. You unlocked your door just enough to place your bag on the floor then closed and locked it. You then headed to the next floor where the leadership’s rooms were and found yourself at Copia’s entrance. You took a breath, hoped you weren’t crying, and knocked hesitantly.

There was no response. When your realized that you tried the door knob and it turned easily. With more than a little trepidation, you stepped inside. You glanced around in awe. The room was dark other than probably 20 or more candles lit and standing around along with the blazing fireplace. On the dining table were more candles and on the coffee table was a massive bouquet of black and red roses. The scent mixed with that of the candles, something spicy and elegant, filling the room with a heady fragrance.

Copia was nowhere to be seen but as you glanced down you saw a trail of black and red rose petals leading to his bedroom. You raised an eyebrow. Unless this was some really evil trick maybe he wasn’t mad at you? Well…it would seem the roses were leading the way so you headed that direction.

Moving the partially open door you were met with more candles, more roses, and his giant bed covered in more petals. It was absolutely beautiful…Copia had the bed made up with red satin sheets. Frilly black pillows set up near the carved head board that was dark stained wood. Images of devilish cherubs and little rats were carved in the design. The black sheer fabric that hung from the four posts of the bed were pulled back with ribbon. Near the bed on one of the night stands a bowl of strawberries sat next to a dish of thick whipping cream. On the other night stand was an ice bucket holding a bottle of what looked like champagne with two etched crystal glasses.

Okay…this…this felt like a trap or you’d actually fell asleep and were dreaming. There was still no sign of Frater Emeritus, the man who had to have put all this together.

And then you heard the door shut.

“Mi amore, you have been away from this bed for too long.” Copia’s voice was soft, nearly purring as you heard him behind you.

You turned and your eyes widened at what you saw, unable to help it. Oh…oh this was a trap. Copia stood there, hair perfectly coiffed, brushed back from his forehead with his beautiful eyes surrounded in black. His upper lip was flawlessly painted.

He was wearing…THE pants. The ones that looked like they’d been attacked by a swarm of razors or rat teeth, laced up the front. They hugged his thighs perfectly and left nothing to the imagination along with the very obvious fact that underwear was nowhere in the equation. He’d donned a flowing-sleeved black shirt that was buttoned up his throat and fell in lace at his wrists. His fingers were encased in black leather gloves and over the shirt was THE vest. Gold trimmed black leather and fitting him like he'd been born into it. Copia Emeritus could still rock the suit…and you knew you were doomed.

You knew he knew what this was doing to you by the way his green eye darkened and somehow glittered at the same time. You noticed then he was holding a single red rose in his hand, twirling it in his fingers.

“Uh…wow…Uhm…you look…great.” You managed to speak but only just. “This…this is all…nice.”

Copia’s gaze narrowed as he looked at you. Even in just the candlelight he could see you were exhausted, worn out. You were paler than normal and you were always pale. Your eyes, usually so sparkling and lively were faded, circles setting in beneath them. There was the slightest tremor to your fingers. You’d been drinking those cazzo energy drinks again. Oh there would be words…but right then he had a mission.

“You seem nervous dolcezza.” He said softly, taking another step closer. “You’ve been here before…many times…”

You swallowed, mouth going dry. Why were you suddenly wanting to bolt like a scared rabbit? Why was this making you feel like you were prey suddenly? Because he looked like panther a bit…that’s why. You hadn’t seen Copia dressed like this and with this…intensity…in a while…or ever.

“Uh…yes…but it’s not looked so…” You looked around. “Beautiful.” And you didn’t feel like you belonged here at all right then. You felt like a slug compared to this gorgeous man who was looking at you like that and all this atmosphere. You needed to crawl away. It was too much.

Copia could read you like a book and right then what he saw made him want to find the ones on Phil’s list and take them down to the lower levels of the abbey…the ones with the torture devices that no one spoke about. The time for that was later though…now was the time to fix what those fuckers had broken in his love.

“Yet not as beautiful as you amore.” He replied smoothly, stepping in front of you, the pointed toes of his shoes brushing close to your sneakers. You weren’t meeting his eyes, glancing anywhere else and that wouldn’t do either. He lifted his gloved fingers to your chin and tilted your face up to where you had to look him in the eye. “I’m here cara, not in the corner.” He ran this thumb along your jaw.

“I…I’m sorry…I’m not…I’m not good company right now Frater.” You said, feeling the weight of his gaze on you. His white eye was glowing in the candlelight and it was lovely and unnerving as always. You felt like he could see whatever he wanted inside your head with that eye.

“Frater?” He cocked a brow. His title? Really? “In this room, in this bed I’m Copia. Your Copia. Always cara mia. You know this do you not?”

He stroked your other cheek with the petals of the rose as he spoke. They were soft as velvet and smelled divine and you felt like you couldn’t do anything right. You closed your eyes and took a breath of the perfumed air. “Ye….yes I know Copia.”

“Hmm.” He hummed. Copia carefully placed the rose behind your ear. “I do not think you do amore. I think you’ve forgotten.” He replied, his fingers trailing along your cheek to rest on your shoulder.

You looked at him in surprise at his words with more than a little embarrassment. “No, no I haven’t forgotten.”

Copia raised his head slightly, looking down his nose and studying your expression while he wrapped an arm around your waist to keep you from running away…because you looked just like a deer who’d seen a car coming right at them. “Perhaps not completely cara but there’s something missing, something crushed I think that had blossomed like the roses here. And I must tend to you la mia dolce rosa so that it blooms as it should. Beautiful, sweet, and mine.”

He kissed you then, capturing your mouth with his before you realized what he was doing. His gloved fingers were at the back of your neck, twining into your hair as he held you in place, enjoying the little muffled sound of surprise in your throat.

You’d been caught up in what he’d been saying and how true it was though you didn’t want to admit it. You did feel crushed, trampled under the simple meanness of the siblings who never seemed to tire of treating you like garbage and whose job it seemed was to remind you of how you didn’t deserve Copia.

But right at that moment you were finding it hard to think on their words, their glares. The only thing you could think of was how he tasted slightly of strawberries and chocolate, how his lips were so warm and how you’d missed how he kissed you like he was savoring some sort of delicacy. His tongue swept along yours, lapping at you and your knees grew weaker. Don’t fall over…you thought to yourself, don’t fall over.

You wrapped your arms around his neck and he pulled you closer, one hand moving to the small of your back. You heard him make a sound somewhere between a moan and a growl as he felt your own tongue dance with his, slowly, enjoying the feeling of Copia’s kiss after having missed it.

He pulled away reluctantly but he knew you needed to breathe. Copia leaned his forehead against yours, noticing how your skin was growing warmer. He felt some pride in that.

“Mmm…that’s a start amore.” He said softly, brushing his nose against yours.

“Copia…” you said his name, breathless after his attentions. “What…what is all this?”

He brushed his lips against yours once more, pulling back a ways so he could look into your eyes again. He’d missed the way you looked at him, the tenderness, the affection that he could always see peeking out. The way your eyes grew a darker shade when he’d touched you a certain way…like now for instance…that might be his favorite. “All of this amore? This is all for you. You deserve to be cherished and I have been remiss in that duty which it is my honor to have.”

Something was up and even though he was doing a hell of a job distracting you this, it was a lot all of a sudden. Silver tongued kisses and words aside…he was up to something. You let your fingers trail down his jaw, the freckled skin smooth as could be thanks to a recent shave. “Copia you don’t have to…mmph!”

He cut you off with another kiss. He wouldn’t hear another word of what he didn’t have to do. He would not hear you say how you didn’t deserve every romantic gesture in history if he could provide it. After a moment he pulled back. “You were saying cara?”

Your eyes were still closed. He was making you light headed, which wasn’t hard with the lack of sleep. You opened your eyes and tried to glare at him. “You’re up to something.” You finally said, head fuzzy from the taste of dark chocolate, strawberries and Copia.

Copia gave a naughty smile, his eyes glittering. He let the thumb of his glove run along your bottom lip, enjoying the site of the black kiss marks that colored over the pink lushness of your mouth. “What I am up to la mia rosa spinosa is seducing you into my arms. And it would appear its working.”

You let your fingers trace his chin, stroking the dimple there. He was far too handsome and you were so slap happy from exhaustion you almost laughed. “You don’t have to work this hard to seduce me Copia.” You said with a grin, placing a kiss on his chin and letting the tip of your tongue leave a tiny lick in the indention.

Copia shuddered at the sensation, fingers flexing against your back. He wanted you naked on the rose petals immediately. That was his goal at least. He made no apologies for it. But he could still sense the doubt there. “Mmm…cara it is not work.” Copia placed a kiss on your cheek, then started a trail of them along you jaw to your neck. “It’s a pleasure and I want to spoil you…” He started nipping at your skin, suckling at your pulse, feeling it start to speed up under his lips.

“I want you to realize how much I am in love with you, si? I want you to never want to leave my side dolcezza.” He bit at the point where your neck met your shoulder, a spot he knew was one of your most sensitive. He wasn’t going to play fair at all. When he heard the gasp come from your mouth he smiled while sucking the sensitive skin between his teeth. It would be a lovely bruise in the shape of his bite. He released you a moment later, placing a kiss there on the reddened patch.

His mouth trailed back up your jaw, planting a kiss at the corner of your mouth. “I think you forgot what you mean to me amore. What you do to me. And I’m going to remind you and show you.” He purred, fingers trailing down your side to rest at your hip and pulling you closer.

You and Copia were nearly the same height, granted he was a little taller now with the dress shoes and their heels. But even with that added height his hips were flush to your own and his hardness was pressed into you perfectly, hitting your core through your jeans. He growled, the sound animalistic and rough as it rolled from his throat. “Do you feel it la mia tentazione?” He managed to say, the words a heated breath against your ear. “The desire for you…it is almost painful…the most beautiful pain I have known.”

You were only a woman. A woman in love with this man who seemed beyond just being a man at the moment as he ground his laced up length into you with hips that belonged on a dancer. Copia was overwhelming you with all of this and you felt like you had actually fallen asleep at your desk and dreamed yourself into a gothic romance straight out of Dracula. He probably had the wings somewhere in his closet truth be told…he’d probably put them on if you asked. But that would be another piece of clothing you’d have to tear off him…and you didn’t think you had any patience left.

“Copia…” you sighed his name as you felt his teeth scrape your earlobe, his fingers now slipping up under your shirt. The soft, warm leather of his touch made you tremble as it found your lace covered breast, his thumb rubbing your nipple.

“The way you say my name amore…you sound like you are praying.” Copia started walking you back towards the bed, the need to surround himself in you was becoming unbearable. “But it is I who are worshipping you tonight.”

You felt the back of your legs hit the edge of the bed. By that point you’d pressed your nose into his neck, drinking in the smell of his cologne that was always mixed with the scent of the incense used in the church’s services. It was as though it was always a part of him now, which made sense as he was Frater Imperator, leader of the Ministry. It was in his blood of course.

You lifted your face to look into his. His pupils were wide, the deep black swallowing all the forest green and nearly eclipsing the white. You reached up and tugged at the buttons of his vest, undoing them in quick succession as he watched you, gaze lowered and burning. You started on his shirt next, letting your fingers linger on the exposed skin of his neck before taking on the smaller buttons of the blouse. For a moment your gaze fell to his lips, already kiss swollen, the black nearly gone and you were sure you were now wearing it. He said nothing, just watched you with lust blown eyes.

“But I want to worship you too il mio bel diavolo.” You said softly, using that bit of Italian you’d been learning over the last many months. It had the desired effect as you watched his face tense, his jaw twitch, and his eyes somehow reflect every flame in the room.

Copia’s cock became so hard suddenly, jerking at what you said, he thought it might actually rip through the laces of his jeans to reach you. He wasn’t joking about the pain…right then he ached to the point of madness. “Lift your arms…now.” He managed to say, the words bitten out in a gruff timbre.

You actually looked a little scared as you did as he asked. His voice was intense and while you’d heard him get stern before this was something new. You liked it…but it was…intimidating. In the next instant he had your shirt removed, tossed behind him to the floor. He gazed at your black lace covered breasts and it was a look of pure hunger…you nearly covered them with your arms for a moment and you didn’t know why.

“Bene…” Copia breathed out the praise and with a slow and deliberate motion pulled one glove off with his teeth, tossing it behind him where he’d thrown your shirt. His now gloveless fingers ran down your cheek, along your throat, thumb tracing the bite he’d left there as his eyes widened a little at the sight.

“Keep going tesoro.” He said and you moved to begin undoing his shirt once more. As you did so his fingers slid down your side, slipping along your hip to rest at your back. They moved in slow circles against your skin and it was distracting but you had a mission. Out of the corner of your eye you saw Copia lift his other hand to his teeth and pull the glove away to toss it into the darkness of the room.

You’d reached the last button and his shirt fell open to reveal the dark hair that covered the expanse of his chest. Like little pieces of treasure mixed in with the darker strands were silver ones that you adored. He may not be as lean as he used to be but Copia was still fit and you could happily spend hours racking you nails over him. You pressed your nose and cheek against the patch over his heart, letting your lips touch him, kissing against the beat beneath his skin. The scent of incense was stronger here, and you fantasized it was due to the heart of the ministry being there beneath his breast.

You heard him make a noise, a sigh maybe, or a whimper. It reverberated in his chest and against your ear. You smiled at the sound and kissed your way over to his right nipple, giving it a lick which caused him to tremble beneath you. It happened again when you teased it with your teeth and you felt his fingers grip you harder where they had come to rest on your hips. More bruises you were sure, and that was fine.

You glanced at the Omen inspired tattoo. You’d heard the rumors he’d been born with this…you knew better. During a drunken night of film watching (he’d seen the original Omen as many times as you’d seen Horror of Dracula…which was a lot) he’d admitted he’d gotten it as a rabid fanboy. The mystique it had garnered after it had been noticed was just icing on the cake.

You kissed each six in the circle, giving a little lick after each kiss. Your fingers slipping up his stomach and along his sides, nails scratching and leaving red trails. “All for you Copia.” You murmured with a grin as you reached his collar bone and looked up into his half closed eyes. “It’s all for you.” Then you nipped him, teeth worrying the skin over the bone.

“Ahhh…” Copia couldn’t stop the stuttering noise that came out of his mouth. You’d bewitched him. He was the one that was supposed to be doing the seducing here, not the other way around. But…but you’d said you wanted to worship him so prettily and you…you were weaving a spell with your touch and your tongue. And now your teeth…oh Satan your teeth.

He gasped your name, pulling you from his chest to kiss you again, lips clashing together in a messy dance. You pulled at his shirt until he let go of you just long enough to nearly rip it off and toss it aside. His hands immediately went to the hooks of your bra and with a life of study in the art of removing them, he had it off you in less than a second. He made a point of remembering where he tossed that piece of clothing for later.

In the next instant he had you pushed onto the bed, rose petals raining down as you fell onto the blankets. Your now bare breasts beckoned him, beautiful and full. You looked like a gift from the dark lord and Copia vowed thanks to him for such a treasure. Your glossy eyes gazed up at him, petals falling into your hair and his next thought was that this nights worship would do the devil proud.

Copia climbed up onto the bed, making his way between your legs. He hooked a knee behind your left leg, pushing it out of the way to settle himself there. “And I will take all of you.” He promised as his mouth latched onto your left breast.

You gasped as his hand found the right, massaging, squeezing, his fingers plying your nipple with the finesse of a man who truly loved women’s breasts and had spent years on how to appreciate them. He was leaving marks on you, the way his teeth bit and the amount of suckling…the sound was pornographic as it mixed with his moans and yours. “Copia…please…” What were you asking for? You had no idea…you didn’t want him to stop but…it was so much.

He licked a trail to your other breast, lips surrounding that nipple, teeth starting to suckle again as his hand slowly trailed along your stomach, fingers kneading the soft flesh there, leading to the button of your jeans. Your tits were a playland for him. Not too big, not too small. If he wanted he could fit the whole of one of them in his mouth but he’d never do such a thing. He wanted to savor you, tease you, claim every inch of you.

He released your nipple with a wet pop, his heavy lidded eyes taking in how very, very pink he’d left you and the trail of red marks that he could follow like a map of where he’d been so far. “What is your desire cara? What do you want?” His fingers moved to start stroking you through your jeans. He pressed against you and you nearly bucked off the bed.

You couldn’t think anymore, everything was just simple need at this point. “Please…please…” You managed to say.

Copia knew what he wanted and he felt it was the same thing you were pleading for. “I will drink my fill of you mio dolce amore…then I will fill you till you sing for me.” He made quick work of your shoes and then your jeans, tearing them away along with your underwear until there was nothing between you and him.

His eyes, already devouring you with a look, stared down at the cleft of your legs. His tongue licked the corner of his lips and you knew you were going to be hoarse come morning. His fingers trailed down along your stomach once again, warm and pressing against your skin. You moved, wrapping your arms around him and pulling him to your mouth for a kiss. He happily acquiesced, tongue tracing your lips while his fingers found your wet slit, causing you to gasp against him, nearly biting his lower lip in the progress.

Copia hummed in pleasure as he stroked you, not quite slipping his finger inside your sweet cunt but making you writhe just the same. You were so wet, so warm, so pliant for him. Made for him. He sent yet another prayer of thanks to the dark lord for bringing you to him, for gifting him such an exquisite partner in crime as you.

“Copia…please…just…” you were begging at this point. This was cruel, this was heaven…this was hell. With him maybe hell was heaven. You buried your face in his neck, breath hot and panting against his skin. “Ti amo…please.” You whispered.

The words undid him. There was no more delicious waiting, he pressed two fingers into you, sliding in easily. You moaned into his ear and he pressed his lips to your pulse as he began moving them nearly all the way out then back, crooking them every so often, hitting the spot he knew would make you sing. He knew when you were close because your arms tightened around him, your breathing was quick, and when you came your voice cried out his name like a beautiful Nema at the end of a benediction.

“Yes mi bella…such a lovely song.” Copia’s voice was rough, deeper. He pulled his fingers from your heat and licked them clean. “The wine of ecstasy, our sacrament…so warm cara…so delicious…I could live off your pleasure and never hunger for anything else.”

He didn’t give you a chance to recover. His mouth was on your cunt in the next moment living up to what he’d just said. You nearly screamed as his tongue delved into you, his arms slipping under your legs and holding your hips in place while he lapped you up, his slightly pointed tongue giving him an ability that was almost supernatural. Your fingers were in his hair, destroying any semblance of order while you tried to not die of a heart attack.

“Copia, my…god…” You gasped as you felt his lips sucking on your clit suddenly, almost positive he was actually grazing it with his teeth. Then he was back to lapping at you the sounds making you blush on top of the fact your body felt like it was on fire.

Copia looked up at you from between your thighs, lips glistening in the firelight, eyes glowing, debauchery personified. “God is not here amore…I’m the one bringing you paradise tonight. Sing my praises cara…I want to hear you sing.” Then he was drinking you again, lapping up every drop of your pleasure, the taste addictive. One hand moved to your stomach, and he felt your body tensing. Yes, yes again…he wanted to feel you break while his mouth was on you.

He wanted you to scream so loudly the Ghouls would hear you again and know what he’d done to you. Let them all know what he’d done to you, especially the ones who had tried to destroy your love. The ones who dared to make you doubt you were worthy. Oh Satan let them hear your screams and know that he was yours and you were his. With that thought he latched upon your clit once more, suckling the nub of nerves till he felt the release against his tongue, heard you cry his name like a hymnal sung by one of hells angels. Now…now you were ready for him.

You felt like every limb was boneless as the second orgasm rocked through you. He was relentless and you were dizzy with it. You were trying to catch your breath when you saw him stand up just long enough to unlace his jeans and toss them aside.

To say he was ready was an understatement. His cock was gloriously standing proud, engorged, and you believed it, that he’d been in pain. You didn’t know if you were going to survive this night but you’d die happy you supposed. He was stunning in the candlelight and you felt that little bit of doubt come back to you that you’d never be able to keep such a magical being like Copia for long.

He saw it…he saw it in your eyes that had been so beautifully filled with lust and love and pleasure. Glossy with it, glowing with it. He saw the doubt sneak in. No. No this was not allowed and he would be doubly damned if he would let it ruin this for you and for him.

Copia quickly moved back into the bed, pulling you into his arms, settling himself against you, and then grasping your chin in his fingers. “I see you amore. I see you pulling away. You are here with me this night and for all the others that follow.” He kissed you, warm and soft then moving to keep your eyes locked to his. “You do not get to hide from me. You do not doubt yourself cara mia, you are mine because you are magic. Ti amo. I am the lucky one. And any who tell you different will know my wrath. I protect what is mine, and that amore, is you.”

You felt a tear fall from the corner of your eye then, not even realizing you were crying. How did he know? How could he tell? Maybe he did have supernatural powers. He brushed the tear away with his thumb, kissing you again so softly in comparison to what you had been doing just before.

That one tear was all they would get Copia thought to himself. No more. No more stolen pain. He kissed you again, vowing silently to himself that would be the last pain they would cause you. “Now cara, I’m going to ruin you wonderfully for any other man before I die from how hard you’ve made me…”

You couldn’t help it, you laughed. Because it was not only true but after such sweet words to go right to the uncouth truth of his raging hard on was so Copia. He gave you a smile, his nearly fang like incisors catching some of the candlelight, joy in his heart that he’d made you laugh and forget your tears.

You reached up and pulled him down for another kiss, tasting yourself on his tongue and not minding. “You’ve already ruined me for anyone else Copia.” You muttered against his lips.

He pressed the tip of his cock against you, pulling away to look down into your eyes. “Mmm…I know amore, but it’s so much fun to do.” He said softly, his expression a mix of heady lust and pure affection. “Your petals are lovely as all the roses here amore…now I shall pluck them.” He raised a dark brow at his own pun and before you could comment on it he slid into you to the hilt making you gasp as he stretched you out completely for him.

Your nails latched onto his shoulders as he buried his face in your neck, drinking in the scent of your perfume and the roses that surrounded you both. Copia gave you a moment to get used to him again and then he pulled his hips back, nearly parting from you completely before slamming back in. He couldn’t make himself be gentle, he had built himself into a frenzy and now…now he just needed to fuck himself into you until nothing else remained.

Sweet Satan you were so tight, so hot around him. He barely could hold on. How many days since he’d taken you, buried himself in your warmth? Too many…never again. He wouldn’t allow this to happen again.

He refused to let himself reach a release before you, no…even if he’d brought you to breaking twice already he would take you to a third exquisite peak and fall with you. Fall down as far as Lucifer if you asked him to. He didn’t care as long as he was joined to you in bliss.

He was nearly bruising you and you knew you’d be sore tomorrow but it was so sweet. He was muttering something, his face buried in your neck, were those…prayers? It was Italian and muffled but you couldn’t tell and your brain was short circuiting with how deep he was within you, in and out, the slick sounds making it even more obscene…and you wanted all of it. Every thrust hitting that spot that only Copia seemed to be able to reach, to make you sing as he called it. And tonight he’d turned you into an Opera star.

“Amore…fall with me…please bella I…I can’t…I can’t hold on any longer…fall with me my love.” He begged you, the lovely sounds of your gasps and sighs were clawing him over the edge. Your song leading him to oblivion.

He knew then what to do, the thing that would push you over with him. He sank his teeth into your neck and you screamed as you came, your nails embedded in his back as you each drew blood and ecstasy from the other. Copia felt himself fill you as waves of pleasure raced through his body. He sucked your skin between his teeth as he felt you tremble from your own orgasm, your breath hot and fast against his shoulder, his name over and over again on your lips.

When it had abated, Copia laid there on top of you, barely able to move. He’d released your neck of course. The first thing he did when he could think clearly was lift his head to see the damage he’d done to your throat. Cazzo…he had drawn blood. “Oh cara…mi dispacia…I…got carried away.” He licked the little drop of blood that had formed there, placing a soft kiss against the bruise.

You moaned something in response. You weren’t sure what you were trying to say. Your brain was mush. Copia was a heavy weight on top of you and you could feel his now softening cock inside you, filling you still. You didn’t want to move even if there was a now cooling sticky mess between the two of you. It wouldn’t be the first.

“What was that tesoro?” Copia asked, lifting himself up on his arms. He looked down at you and saw how your eyes were still closed, your hair was a mess of petals and locks and your lips were reddened from kisses. You were a goddess. He did not want to move but he knew it couldn’t be too comfortable for you.

“I said…s’okay.” You managed to mumble. “Next time wear the bat wings.”

Copia raised a brow at that. Hmmm…an idea for another night starting to form in his head. He lifted his fingers to brush some stray hair from your forehead. “Did I hurt you amore? I…could not be as gentle as I wished…”

You shook your head no, still not able to think too clearly. You managed to open your eyes and found him mussy haired and gazing down at you, an expression equally filled with worry and love. You reached up and touched his jaw, tracing along his chin to the dimple there. He moved and kissed your fingertips.

Copia rolled over bringing you with him, laying on his side, raising another storm of the remaining petals. He pulled the blanket around the two of you like a flower filled burrito. His legs were still entwined with yours. He knew he needed to tend to you as he was always honored to do, but he couldn’t bring himself to let you go just yet. He was happy, content…but he also needed to make sure you knew you were going to rest for the next few days. He had plans.

You gazed up at him, surrounded by satin and roses and a satanic pope that had stolen your heart. You noticed a few red blooms were now nestled in his chest hair and so you set to clearing them away. “You know…” you said as he stroked your back with his fingers. “I’ve been well and truly plucked.” You glanced up at him with a grin. “But I get the feeling you are still thorny.”

Copia chuckled, brushing his nose against yours. “Always for you la mia dolce rosa.” He kissed your cheek. You picked that moment to yawn, much to your chagrin. And then remembered you had to set up a meeting with one of the promoters for LA in the morning. With a sigh your head fell back against the bed. “Ugh…”

“Cara what is it?” He asked, looking surprised. What had he missed? What happened?

“I have to finish some work…I completely forgot.” You were getting ready to sit up and start the no doubt fruitless hunt for your clothes but Copia tightened his hold on you immediately. “Copia I need to…”

“No.” He said, voice going into full Frater mode. “No, you are not going to go back to work.”

You looked up at him in shock. “I have to, it’s my job and it’s important. Too much is riding on…”

He cut you off again. Copia took a deep breath. “Cara, you are taking the next few days off. If that needs to be an order then so be it.”

“I can’t just…” You tried to explain without getting into everything. You didn’t want him to know the reasons you had to do this.

Copia shook his head, sitting up and pulling you up with him. He grasped your chin, glancing down to see you were holding the blanket around yourself almost like a shield. That hurt a bit, but he would let it slide. “Listen to me cara. I know what’s been going on. I know of the words, the slights, the eyes that have been following you. I know what’s been said and why you feel you need to work yourself ill to convince insects that you are worthy.”

You felt the tears again…the damned things pooling in the corners of your eyes. How did he even know this? You’d been so careful, you thought. “Copia I just want to earn the spot. I’m not…not part of the church, I know that makes me an outsider to people but I love you. I want to be enough, to help you succeed.” Your voice cracked a little but you managed to be steady when you said it.

Cazzo bastardi, she was crying. He’d sworn the final tear had been shed, but here more pain from their words, their actions. Oh…they would pay. He wrapped his arms around you, pulling you into his embrace as if he could shield you from what had already been done. “Dolce you are enough for me, for everyone that matters. You’ve more than earned the spot and you’ve already improved so many things. Cazzo, even Phil knows it and he’s the most pain in the ass Ghoul I know.” He tried to get you to laugh and he felt a smile and heard a weak little chuckle from where your face pressed into his shoulder.

“Listen to me tesoro.” He lifted your gaze back up, still holding you close. “I will take care of this problem. You will be respected as you have earned the respect of all. Aside from this, you are my love. No one is allowed to cause you pain. Not while I breathe. What they have done goes against the tenants of this church. I am Frater Imperator…it is MY job to ensure our rules are followed, si? And I will do my job as well as you’ve done yours.” He kissed your forehead. “And you will take a break so you can keep doing your job well. And that means you rest, you relax, and for Valentines Day I get to wine and dine you…with other…activities…comprende?”

You chewed on your lip, nerves raging at this entire scenario.

He bopped your nose, bringing you eyes back front and center. “Comprende?” he asked again.

You sighed. “Understood…I…thank you Copia.” You said, throwing your arms around him and hugging him tight.

Copia closed his eyes and held you tightly in return. You were a stubborn creature but you were his and he would fight every demon in hell for you if he needed to. A handful of siblings were nothing. A grumbling noise caught his attention and he pulled back enough to glance down. You were hiding your face. “My love, was that…your stomach?”

You squeezed your eyes shut hoping to turn into something the size of a mite. “Maybe…” You mumbled against his shoulder.

He sighed. “Dare I ask you when you last ate?” You didn’t respond. “You don’t remember do you?” Still no response. A string of Italian poured forth, most of it asking the dark lord for patience, some that would have made a sailor blush. “I will keep you well piccolo idiota, even if you don’t think to keep yourself so.”

You looked up at him. “Did you call me an idiot?”

“Si, I did. At least your Italian is improving even if your self care is not.” He replied with a haughty glare. You narrowed your eyes at him and it was adorable even though you looked like you might kill him. That was part of the appeal actually. He quickly kissed your nose. “Here viper.” He reached over and grabbed the bowl of strawberries. “Eat some of these and I’ll order some dinner from the kitchen.”

You bit into one of the strawberries even though you were still pouting while Copia grabbed his cell phone off the stand and called down. He spoke quickly and in Italian so you didn’t know what all he was saying, though you did catch something about rigatoni. Hopefully he wasn’t trying to feed you his rat. While he was talking one of the berries fairly erupted with juice and you managed to catch it on your fingers but mostly your chin. Before you could react he reached over and caught it on his thumb, brining it to his lips and sucking it away with a fiery glance at you. Seriously…always thorny.

You went to grab the bottle of champagne and he clicked off the phone and grabbed it from your hand. “Not yet tesoro. You need real food in your belly before you drink the devils nectar.”

“Seriously…you are denying me booze?” You asked him with a pout.

“Food first, then bubbly.” He put the bottle on the nightstand. “Now I take care of you before dinner…and no more pouting.”

Copia took all the care of you, cleaning you up before smacking your behind and making you take a shower with him in what you’d started calling Satan’s Hot Springs. When you got out Copia had had one of your pajama sets delivered, the Star Wars one that had Darth Vader stating he was your daddy. You knew he’d made them pick this one on purpose. You ate your fill of pasta and bread and finally got your glass of champagne.

By then it was close to midnight and you were barely functioning. A full belly, the effects of the alcohol and having been up for nearly 3 days and being ravished into oblivion caught up to you. You barely made it back to the freshly made bed. “When…they do this?” You managed to mumble as you settled down.

“Ghouls are quick and sneaky cara, never forget that.” Copia replied. He was weary as well, but he planned on having you sleep here tonight and every night he could.

Decked out in the Dawn of the Dead pj’s you got him for Yule the previous year he looked adorable and the minute he laid down beside you, you had curled up against him and nestled up close. “Mmph…body pillow.” You muttered, barely able to keep your eyes open.

Copia smiled, kissing the top of your head. “Si, Frater Pillow, that’s me…hehe.” He snuggled in and clapped his hands, the lights going off.

You sighed. “Really…need to get you…an Alexa.”

“Shh…you’ll hurt mio amico Clapper’s feelings. Go to sleep.” He replied.

You slept…a long time. At some point Copia had left but you were in a near coma, not even noticing or missing the fact that your normal alarm wasn’t going off. When you did wake up it was to your shock and surprise 3 in the afternoon. You sat up in shock, completely disoriented and needing to pee like a race horse. After taking care of that business you came back into Copia’s bedroom to find a letter on the nightstand. It was written on his personal rat and heart stationary.

“My baby, Rest, relax, EAT. I’ll see you tonight. EAT. <3 C.”

Well, that was clear enough. You headed back to your own rooms and changed into some comfy, not PJ clothing and headed out to do…well…nothing. You hit a book store, grabbed a couple books and a coffee that was three times normal price. You ate a very late lunch of a giant cheeseburger and fries that would have made the devil weep they were so good. You weren’t used to this sort of ease anymore and it made you a little weirded out. You kept looking at your phone and there were no messages from anyone. No fires to put out. The only message you got was one from your satanic boy toy that read “I need proof you are eating” You sent him back a picture of the cheeseburger and fries. His response was the single word “ENVY.”

You got back to the abbey at around 7pm and went to Copia’s rooms after changing into your Incredible Hulk pj’s, deciding whoever saw you could deal with your love of the big green. You knocked on the door and he immediately opened it and pulled you into his arms, peppering your face with kisses.

“You already look happier my baby.” He said. “How do you feel?”

“It was weird to relax and not get calls…but…it was nice.” You replied liking the way he filled out his faded Stryper shirt. The story behind it and how he got it and why he wore it was hilarious. It paired well with his black sweat pants.

“Bene, it is good for you. And that cheeseburger!” He made a chefs kiss gesture. “You’ll have to take me there, I must have one.” He gestured to his couch. “Now, I must sadly murder you as only Sub Zero can.”

“Ah, it’s a Mortal Kombat night?” You asked raising a brow.

“Si, it’s always a Mortal Kombat night somewhere.” He grabbed your hand and pulled you along.

“Kitana is going to wipe the floor with you, you know.” You told him, grabbing a controller and noticing the ice bucket from last night now filled with various juice boxes. “Confidence is important amore.” He raised a brow while taking a sip from his own juice box and draining it.

You managed to not laugh but only just…that stance wasn’t nearly as intimidating as he thought.

The two of you played for a couple of hours. Enjoying each others company was a phrase but the curse words and faux insults that were thrown back and forth would make someone wonder exactly if that was the right description.

In the end it was a tie and Copia admitted that Kitana was an equal to his favorite ninja. He planted a kiss on your cheek. “Come la mia principessa della lame, let us rest our warrior bodies for another day.”

You nodded, feeling sleepy even though you’d already slept so long. Your body was apparently not agreeing with the assessment. You got into bed and told Copia to turn around.

“I…I get to be little spoon?” He asked excitedly.

“Si…” you replied, kissing his neck. You curled around him and pressed your nose into his hair. You felt him relax almost immediately, fingers sliding into your own and hold your hand to his heart. It’s steady beat lulled you into slumber.

The next day was Valentines Day, and you woke up again with Copia having left you with a breakfast tray on the nightstand. It was 10am so you weren’t nearly as unconscious as before. You sat up and dug into the blueberry muffin, warm coffee and fruit bowl. He was earning all the points, and you were hoping he liked his gift you would give him later that evening.

You headed back to your apartment on the lower floor and showered. You had almost a full day till he would be free to as he said, “wine and dine.” So you grabbed your book that you’d purchased and settled onto the couch to read. You fought the instinct to check in with Phil. If he needed you, you know he’d call.

It was noon when your phone went off with a text message alert. You grabbed it quickly and saw it was from Copia. “Important matter, please come to my office.” It read. Your eyes widened. What was this about? Was it some sort of Valentines Day rendezvous? His office wouldn’t really be an appropriate place for that. You’d always told him you wanted to keep the offices as work and business only, it just seemed right. Though he’d tried a couple of times of course…because he was Copia. But if it was some sort of naughty time idea, he wouldn’t have been so…dry in the message.

You were overthinking. Just go to his office. You changed out of your t-shirt into a dark red button down and grabbed your black cardigan to give some appearance of propriety in case this was that sort of situation. Checking your hair and giving a quick make up touch up you headed to the Frater’s office.

You knocked on the closed door and Copia’s voice called out “Please, come in.” You took a breath and opened the door. Immediately you saw them. Along the wall were five chairs, the basic ones from the dining hall. And sitting in them were Phyllis and the rest of your tormentors. Your eyes widened in surprise as Phyllis’s gaze burned into you. The other four, three sisters and one of the brothers, wouldn’t even look up. They looked pale, terrified in a couple of cases.

“Ah, Sorella, please sit.” Copia gestured to the free chair near his desk, the comfortable one. His voice was all business.

You swallowed thickly and took a seat. “Frater, hello…uhm…what can I do for you?” You asked, making sure to use his title in front of these siblings.

Copia stood, his suit immaculate down to the rhinestone collar. He looked dangerous as you watched him move gracefully from behind his desk to stand next to it and you. His gloves had what appeared to be black claws on them. You’d not seen those before.

“I believe you know these siblings, si?” He gestured to the five sitting opposite you. “Sister Phyllis especially.”

You nodded. “Uhm, yes, we…we’ve worked together on some projects.” What was he doing…

“Si, si.” Copia could hear the nerves in your voice. He wouldn’t let you be affected by these insects anymore. “It has come to my attention sorella that these individuals have been defying the core mandates, the beliefs of our church in regards to you.” He stepped away from the desk to stand just in front of you and facing the five now even paler faced siblings, shielding you from them. Phyllis looked ready to rip his eyes out and he only prayed she’d try.

Copia turned to you. “For that sorella you have my deepest apologies. The Ministry is a place of acceptance, respect, we do not ridicule anyone. We do not harm anyone lest they harm us. Even if you have not joined us as a follower in our dark lord, you are still a sister to us. You help us, you serve the ministry as a valued member of our family. For that you deserve the respect of all.”

Here he turned back to the five siblings. You didn’t see his eyes change, the green turning into a near black and the white flare like a star, a haze almost surrounding it. “To break those commandments, those core beliefs set by our dark lord is to defy him. To defy the ministry. To defy me.” Copia’s voice was like ice, sharp, piercing.

You shivered for a moment, thankful that this wasn’t directed at you. What were you witnessing?

“For these transgressions you will hereby be removed from the ministry.” He spoke with finality, gloved hands clasped in front of him and his gaze heavy as it fell on the siblings. You heard a couple of them gasp, one started crying. Phyllis glared, her eyes finding you and if looks could kill you’d be dead.

Copia noticed and stepped to the side to block you from her view. She would not be allowed to even look at you anymore. He turned slightly to speak to you. “I wanted you to know that you will not need to worry about these five again. The ministry protects its own and we will not allow such acts to take place here.”

You nodded, still in shock. You hadn’t expected this…especially this quickly. “Thank…thank you.” You managed to say.

He gave you a slight bow and offered you his hand. “Thank you for your patience and grace while dealing with such behavior sorella. Allow me to walk you out.”

You stood and before you took another step Copia turned to the siblings. “I’ll be back in a moment, stay there.” His voice changed again to that icy tone. He walked you to the door, opening it and gesturing you outside, he closed it behind you while you stood in the hallway.

“Copia…what…what is this?” You gestured towards his office, voice more than a little frantic.

His gloved hand touched your now flushed cheek, the little black claws tickling your skin. “I promised you that you wouldn’t have to worry about them anymore. I wanted you to see that it was taken care of amore. They deserved to see you and know you are protected.”

He ran one of the claws down your jaw, tapping you on chin. He smiled and it was just a touch sinister. “I’m Frater tesoro. I told you I protect the commandments of our dark lord and the ministry and that’s what I’m doing. This is the core of our belief. We accept everyone, no judgements unless you do harm to others. If you harm those protected by our church, by me…you will have to deal with the consequences, si? You won’t have to see them again my baby. Never again.”

The look on his face was one you’d not really seen. His eyes were steely but burning as they looked in your own. His jaw tight and determined. You could only nod in response. “I understand. I just…it was a surprise.”

Copia smiled, seeing the nerves start to leave you. He glanced around, checking to see if you were alone and quickly leaned down and kissed you gently. Pulling back he wiped away the black lip print with his thumb. “It’s Valentines Day dolcezza, you’ve got a couple more surprises later. But for now, go enjoy the day and I’ll join you tonight. Wine and dine, remember?”

You smiled and he felt it in his damned soul. “Wine and dine…cheeseburgers?” You asked.

“Temptress.” Copia replied. “Now shoo, relax.” He turned around and before you could think better of it you slapped his behind. He turned back to you with a shocked face, to see you backing away quickly. “Oh…payback cara…so much payback.” He growled.

“Promise?” You asked grinning.

“Threat.” He replied with a snapping of his teeth at you. He watched you walk away and took a deep breath. Yes, you were happy, you were well. You were protected and loved. He was doing his job.

Copia opened the door to his office where the now slightly shaking siblings sat. He turned, back facing them as he closed the door.

“So…do we get to leave now? Do we even get to pack our things?” Phyllis’s shrill voiced asked, bravado in the words.

Copia’s head raised, cocking to the side. The sound of metal clinging shut echoed as five pairs of metal cuffs were closed around the hands of the siblings, seemingly from nowhere. They gasped, finding they couldn’t move from the chairs.

“I told you sister; you were to be removed.” Copia turned then and from the shadows of the room four Ghouls appeared, one of them Phil, his tail twitching happily. “I never said you were leaving.” Copia continued.

As the siblings watched in horror each of the Ghouls pulled a large, red jeweled knife from a sheath on their hip. Phil handed Copia his own and the Frater looked at it, letting the light bounce off it’s blade for a moment, the red reflecting in his white eye. He turned to the siblings and smiled and for a moment, the room grew darker. Copia’s shadow almost looked like it had horns as it stretched out on the wall.

“You do know it’s Valentines Day, don’t you?” He said, stepping towards Phyllis who now had tears streaming down her face. His voice echoed in the office which felt so cold suddenly. “It’s a day you give away your heart.”

[theevilcactus]

What's the origin of your blog title?

I was an angsty teenager who liked cacti and I needed a blog title. There was really no deeper meaning behind it, but I'm attached now.

OTP(s) Shipname:

I don't really have one specific OTP right now, but a couple of my top ships historically have been Whouffle (when I was in high school) and Hannigram (in the first couple years of college). I'm currently very much enjoying James/Alyssa (the end of the fucking world) and Polypalooza (from PIBE), but I wouldn't call either of those my OTP.

Favourite colour:

Green! I like all shades, but I'm especially fond of overly bright lime green. Eyesore levels of green.

Favourite game:

If we're talking video games, it's easily The Sims 4. If we're talking physical games, like board or card games, probably Fluxx. (Star Fluxx if you want to be specific.)

Song stuck in your head:

Dead Girl Walking (Reprise)

Weirdest habit/trait?

I can't stand having the volume on an odd number. It needs to be even. No matter what. Even is 10 is too quiet and 12 is too loud, I will not put the sound on 11. I will put up with any level of inconvenience from the even numbers if it means avoiding having to put it on an odd one.

I don't know if that's actually that weird, but my mom seems to think i is.

Hobbies:

Reading & writing fanfiction, making a bunch of characters in the sims that I'm never actually gonna play, occasionally hiking.

If you work, what's your profession?

Unemployed, unfortunately. In the process of looking for a new job.

If you could have any job you wish, what would it be?

Writing novels. It's a damn hard field to break into, though, if you want to actually make enough money to live on. Even harder if you're like me and seemingly unable to actually finish writing a novel.

Something you're good at:

Writing. I'd better be good at it, I've been writing fics since I was 8 and I literally majored in creative writing in school.

Something you're bad at:

Being social, responding to texts within a timely manner

Something you love:

My silly little shows. Also, my cat.

Something you could talk about for hours off the cuff:

Pretty much any of the shows/books/movies I've ever been super into (I tend to get very obsessive about them and rewatch the same episodes constantly). Or Greek mythology.

Something you hate:

The texture of the inside of a tomato.

Something you collect:

I guess you could say I collect books, but that's less of a deliberate collection and more of an accident. Earrings maybe?

Something you forget:

Pretty much everything, I'm very forgetful.

What's your love language?

Does parallel play count? Just existing in the same space as each other but each doing our own thing

Favourite movie/show:

My #1 favorite movie is Fear Street: 1978, closely followed by the Harley Quinn Birds of Prey movie. My favorite show is probably either Gotham or Survivor.

Favorite food:

Bread. I could eat a good loaf of bread all damn day, especially if there's herbed oil or butter or something to dip it in. Also, the specific combination of brie & blackberries & honeycrisp apple slices.

Favorite Animal:

Cats, maybe? I'm also currently very fond of toucans and orchid bees.

What were you like as a child?

Shy and anxious and very annoying about Warriors cats. And smart.

Favourite subject at school?

English/literature.

Least favourite subject:

Chemistry specifically, but other science classes were ok. Math if we want to be more general.

What's your best character trait?

My creativity

What's your worst character trait?

I'm a bit of a coward

If you could change any detail of your life right now, what would it be?

I'd have enough moneyyyyyyy to never need to work again

If you could travel in time, who would you like to meet?

I'd be more interested in various places/eras than specific famous historical people. I'd want to see ancient Greece or maybe some dinosaurs.

tagging @alpacasandravens @poolboyvmprmansion @cherrych4 @panic-wizard-sex-walrus @empir2 @cosmicoceanfic and @ anybody else who wants to do it

Get to know your mutuals!!!

cheers @stevie-marigold for tagging me!

What's the origin of your blog title?

doccy who! plus me mum always used to say i have telescopic arms. personally i think they're a normal length

OTP(s) Shipname:

johnlock, i will forever be a johnlocker no matter which version of those freaks we're talking about

Favourite colour:

orange <3

Favourite game:

factorio! i greatly enjoy the spagetti of it

Song stuck in your head:

antmusic by adam and the ants

Weirdest habit/trait?

darling everything i do is deeply weird, couldn't do something normal if i tried

Hobbies:

writing, reading, nuisance making, music enjoying, getting in the way, and various wool-related crafts

If you work, what's your profession?

im the imp who sits in your camera and paints the pictures for you (im out of blue btw)

If you could have any job you wish, what would it be?

id invent hexopostcards, which are hexagonal postcards and only have pictures of six sided things on. if a thing has more than six sides than you've got to have the seventh+ side(s) off the edge of the postcard. if it has less than six you have to draw where the rest of the sides could feasibly be. then id retire

Something you're good at:

answering questions truthfully

Something you're bad at:

eating dog food

Something you love:

doing jigsaws

Something you could talk about for hours off the cuff:

doccy who. i just do that anyway

Something you hate:

jigsaws that have too much sky so its all just blue (doesn't include my starry night puzzle)

Something you collect:

vinyls, posters, things ill use someday, names, ideas of things to write

Something you forget:

my best friends birthday. i have it written down and i still forget consistently

What's your love language?

circular gallifreyan

Favourite movie/show:

oh theres so many. doccy who and torchwood, sherlock, merlin (im really from a specific time going by those answers) loads of films too but, to say an obscure one to make me sound cool, mcfarland usa

Favourite food:

the souls of the damned. failing that pasta

Favourite animal:

@zelda-wheelz

What were you like as a child?

weird nervous about everything and a nerd

Favourite subject at school?

maths! don't ask me to remember a single thing from my alevels though

Least favourite subject:

drama. hated acting in front of all those eyes

What's your best character trait?

i like to think im quite nice

What's your worst character trait?

asking @zelda-wheelz the answers for half these questions

If you could change any detail of your life right now, what would it be?

id move

If you could travel in time, who would you like to meet?

george michael, so long as i can bring my mum

tagging: @captainfairygodmother @b1uetrees @by-gray

[folkloregirlfriend]

i hate feeling ambitionless aimless the future is so bleak

[lokittystuckinatree]

2 months later almost to the day and I’m still literally sobbing into my pillow about the Shakespearean tragedy that was Sylki

[mbirnsings-71]

Wikihow to stop drawing Mr. Tango Tek-

[undercover-stories]

YES. Let a-Yuan have all the softness and love wangxian never had. Just let that consistently be a thing in every universe. My favorite is definitely Lan Zhan, scolding inanimate objects for daring to cause his beloved son harm. But don't let me go too far on that tangent cause I will if you let me.

But i still just have to talk about one of the things that I absolutely adore about canon Lan Sizhui is how confident and self assured he is and for the life of me I've been trying to find the term they use for the type of parenting that typically produces these sort of children but I can't. But basically it's a type of parenting where the parent makes themselves available for their child especially on an emotional level. That allows them to form confidence and assuredness within themselves because 1) during their formative years you assured them that they had a place they could fall back on without judgment should they stumble and 2) the firm confidence you have in their abilities reinforces their own and it's basically a self-looping form of positive reinforcement.

And because of this I am firm in my belief that, while rearing Lan Sizhui would have been a more collective clan effort, it's also outright canon that Lan Zhan, despite most likely being a very busy senior Lan disciple, still made himself available for Sizhui should he ever need him. Ever. Always. From the moment he took him in at 4 years old to the blooming Junior radish that we see him now.

Imagine that. The one dude that's notoriously seen as being too strict, thought to be a tattle tale, who basically has no friends or any form of social attachments, is literally such a good father figure to his adopted son that he grows to actual be the best of his clan. The absolute goodest boy and the only reason Jingyi has not been kicked out because (Bonus for non-banquet readers) it is canon that Sizhui is also a rulebreaker!!!!!

Ok maybe a bit overblown on my part but basically Lan Zhan lost any real solid adult figure he could reliably lean on as a child and it's why he grew up to be so strict and uptight in his teen years because those 3000 rules were what helped him ground himself. He had no place he felt he could be vulnerable and soft so he used those rules to hold himself to a standard he could rely on. It's why he took them so seriously and so willingly accepted punishment because it was his way of punishing himself.

But for Sizhui, the fact that we find out he's actually more than liable to break rules should he need to and the thought doesn't break him or have any power over him is such a huge testament to not only how much Lan Zhan has matured as an adult but also how much Lan Zhan has realized that he himself should have been allowed the same room for softness and that would have been ok. THAT is why Lan Zhan can break the trauma bonds that birthed and shaped him.

Fluffy, Wangxian fic idea. (For Once)

So, this was inspired by the text post I made yesterday for the Wangxian family—one, I'm pretty sure someone already did, but unashamedly did anyway; you can never have too much Wangxian, after all, as the saying goes—and it was sitting in the well-worn (and sometimes, loved) backseat of my mind for a while and then I was watching Bluey before bed, and it set the ember aglow. 

I wanted to cocoon Wangxian in warmth, for once. Something soft and tender, this time around. And I was like, hey, can I turn this text post into something of a mini fic? Can this be something more? So I shot a text to @xiaokuer-schmetterlingand just like that, the idea took flight.  @xiaokuer-schmetterling, enabler of dreams (and unhinged ideas), king among mortals, fueled the fire with unwavering encouragement, and now, here it is—no longer a fleeting thought but something tangible, something that breathes.

Modern Wangxian AU which starts Lan Wangji being tackle-hugged by his family, laughing and golden in the sunlight. Feeling so impossibly grateful like the sappy man he is, where the gods feel close and love is as simple as reaching out a hand and finding one reaching back. Content. Loved. Happy. And he stumbles through the door and finds the walls - gleaming and shining - decorated with tiny little handprints all in different colors, a chaotic mural of sorts. 

“Why are there little handprints on the walls?” Lan Wangji asks, because, with Wei Wuxian, it could be anything. And it usually, is how trouble — though, a far more fonder, softer version of the word — begins.

His Wei Ying shrugs, before kneeling down to a-Yuan, who looks terribly shy and so unfathomably adorable in his little light-up sneakers and white, bunny jacket (with floppy bunny ears on the hood) and wringing his little hands together. He is so small, so precious, Lan Zhan wishes he could carry him around in his pocket always. There is a reason two pockets were invented for coat jackets, after all — one for his husband and one for his son. 

a-Yuan nervously wrings his hands tighter,  but Wei Ying’s voice is gentle and pretty, unbearably so, even as he whispers, “Why are there tiny handprints on the walls?”

It is a stage whisper. Lan Wangji hears it as clear as a crisp, summer day, but Lan Wangji is used to the (endearing) antics of his husband, and so he plays along, as he always does. Fondly. 

a-Yuan, who only months ago had been a trembling thing, skittish and afraid, peeks up at Wei Ying, solemn as the moon. “Because I have little hands.” And he lifts them, as if in proof. 

Wei Ying nods at them, equally grave. He rises, and a-Yuan immediately rushes to cling to his pant leg. Wei Ying ruffles his hair, soft from yesterday’s bath, still carrying the faint scent of calendula. Then, his voice still as grave as it was before, he turns to Lan Wangji. “Because he has little hands.”

a-Yuan raises them again, this time, to show Lan Wangji. 

Lan Wangji looks at them, serious, thoughtful. “Mn,” he says at last. A slow smile unfurls across his lips. He nods his head at the handprints. “Well. They look lonely.”

And so they add their own. Hands dipped in paint, pressed against the walls, an unspoken promise sealed in color. This is not just play—this is permanence, a claim, a declaration. A home built not of bricks and beams, but of belonging.

And later, when the night quiets, when A-Yuan sleeps safe and small beneath the covers, his hands no longer trembling, Wei Ying will turn to him, eyes too bright, too full, and Lan Wangji will understand, as he always does.

This is it. This is the moment.

For a-Yuan, who once flinched at raised voices and curled in on himself when the world seemed too big, who now paints walls with fearless little hands and tugs at Lan Wangji’s sleeve with the easy, thoughtless trust of a child who knows they will be caught. For a boy who had known only instability, who had been shuffled from house to house with no roots to anchor him—this is proof that he is wanted. That he can take up space without fear. That his existence does not come with conditions.

For Wei Wuxian, who had taken one look at a bright-eyed boy chasing a bunny plush across a too-crowded orphanage and felt something crack wide open in his chest, an instinct, something older than words—this is devastation of the best kind. This is undoing and remaking. This is ensuring that no other child suffers a hollowed-out boyhood the way he did. This is his heart, raw and aching, spilling over with love too vast to contain. With so many people to give it to. 

For Lan Wangji, who will be there, always. Who will feed the ducks because Wei Ying asks him to, who will wear hideous sweaters because Wei Ying knits them, who will stare down anyone who dares to scoff at Wei Ying’s art—and make sure they never do it again. To Lan Wangji, this is everything. He had known, from that fateful day in the park, when Wei Ying knelt and reached out a hand, that their guest room would never be a guest room again. That his uncle would be a great-uncle. That he would love this child as his own, with all that he is, with all that he will ever be.

If fate was a loom, perhaps a younger Lan Wangji would have woven himself a quieter life. A simple, unobtrusive thread, neat and pale. But this thread was spun golden, and it glittered in the sun, bright and unashamed. And Lan Wangji—

Lan Wangji has always reached for the light.

I feel like I get more incoherent with every post I make, for some reason. Lemme know what you think!

@xiaokuer-schmetterling, @undercover-stories, @sun-ashes, I am suffering. This is my 117th W.I.P. Grace me with some of your holy wisdom. Have mercy on the child. :((((

[bf-rally]

im messing around with possible art styles for the bfs and avatars

i wanted to do chibis originally, but now considering just doing something else for detail sake (especially in the clothing cause thats most important to me lol)

anyways heres sketches and a close up of A

[akuma-homura]

...honestly, people aren't wrong about the whole '>backlash >whoops! sorry, we didn't mean it like THAT!' thing being a usual song and dance for companies including tumblr, and I even did mention it in the tags of... one of the related posts...

I was still surprised they bothered responding so early, but. ...yeah, I guess we'll just have to see. The whole "Outdated" wording was extremely worrisome, so...

[peapod20001]

LMAO QUICK. WIPE YOUR TEARS BEFORE SOMEONE SEEEESSS YOUUU

[my-thoughts-and-junk]

thinking about a house. the house is sentient but not in a way i would typically recognize. it would view me as both a part of itself (similar to how an animal is a part of its ecosystem) and also something inherently lesser (like how an owner views its pet). i can't communicate with it in any meaningful way. i can't even tell when it's paying attention to me if it doesn't try to draw my attention. it can manipulate whatever is inside of itself except me, which would give me a sort of edge if it ever viewed me as a threat, but since it doesn't it sees it in more of a "awww look at your little claws" way.

[tamaharu]

kdj -> sys: this kid reminds me too much of myself in bad ways but the ways in which shes similar either come up when im going as hard as i can in my denial phase or dont get spelled out to me in exact detail until im already too invested in her to get rid of her but in the meantime i can ignore her without having to think too deeply about it

^ reductive bc i still have to roll her around in my head especially in relation to late game stuff but corey (one of my friends reading orv) brought up the fact that "kdj's literal Incarnation On Earth, Embodiment Of Self [is] a scared little girl who had to kill somebody and is terrified she's gonna turn into a monster". which. oh my goddd of course. of course. like this is so obvious that i wouldnt be surprised if everyone else has already noticed this/pointed this out and i just missed it but like yeah of fucking course she is!

of course kdjs incarnation, his daughter, one of the few characters that can see beyond the veil he puts up from very early on, is shin yoosung: a child. a child who had to kill to survive, to steal resources from others to survive, to isolate herself from other people to survive, and thinks of herself as evil for it, and thus undeserving of of sympathy and very deserving of death. a child who grows up to be a monster, a literal vehicle of the story through the disaster of floods/biyoo. a child who, if killed via disconnected film theory, will in turn prevent all the suffering her adult self would cause, who would, after surviving, drive everyone she loved to utter misery.

i wonder where we've heard this story before. should we read it again? :)

kdj -> knw: this kid reminds me too much of myself in bad ways but hes doing something clearly morally wrong so i can ignore/kill him without having to think too deeply about it

kdj -> lgy: this kid reminds me too much of myself in bad ways but the way in which hes similar isnt relevant to the scenario at hand so i can ignore him without having to think too deeply about it

kdj -> ljh: this kid reminds me too much of myself in bad ways but shes yjhs problem so i can ignore her without having to think too deeply about it

[sttoru]

‘no matter how much time the king of curses spends with you, he doesn’t think he will ever understand you or your affectionate behaviour towards him.’

☀︎｜tags. true form sukuna x female reader. heian era sukuna. fluff. bits of mentions of blood & murder. big size difference. cold-big-monster-having-a-small-soft-spot-for-a-single-human trope. reader gets called ‘little one, brat’. not proof read! let me know if you like my characterisation or not; it’s my first sukuna fic.

a kiss on the cheek is one of the most innocent - yet apparently also the most difficult - things to do. it’s a small form of intimacy; not that hard to do. it’s really as simple as planting your lips on your beloved’s cheek. then all you do is retreat — maybe get a kiss on the cheek back from him. or on the lips.

“get moving. i’m not waiting all day for you.” sukuna grumbles. you had suddenly stopped in your tracks and the king of curses was confused as to what the reason might have been. the two of you had been walking through the courtyard for a few minutes now — well, you basically had to drag him out to take a little stroll together.

and now the same you was quiet. it bothered sukuna; you were always so chatty around him when it was just the two of you. he might have called you an ‘annoying brat’ for it, but he secretly enjoyed your company and voice.

“c-coming.” you reply in a quiet mumble, eyes glancing over at the monstrous frame that stood a few steps away. his dull yet sharp gaze was focused on you — like he was sizing you up. or rather: trying to figure out what’s wrong with the change in behaviour you showed.

sukuna watches you as you hurry over to his side again. he resumes walking, hands folded over each other under the material of his kimono.

though, he couldn’t yet let go of the fact that you were acting different around him. the king of curses’ suspicion only grew once he noticed how your fingers fiddled with your obi. you were anxious about something.

sukuna shakes his head slightly. some humans sure are difficult to understand, he thinks to himself. your happy yet reserved personality when you usually interacted with him had disappeared and made place for a nervous wreck. trying to figure out why made sukuna’s head hurt.

were you finally scared of him? like all other humans and curses were?

he doesn’t know why, but it felt like he would hate for such thing to happen. sukuna usually wouldn’t care if someone resents, fears or somehow even admires him. only you could make him think and care about such difficult and maybe even trivial things.

“uhm,” you break off his train of thoughts and his eyes are instantly on yours again, “may i do something really quickly?”

sukuna’s face doesn’t show any change in expression, but a small nod tells you everything you need to know. you clear your throat, “can you please lower your head towards me?”

lowering his head? oh, you got some guts. if anyone else had said that to him, sukuna would have obliterated them; there wouldn’t have been anything but red bloody dust left of their body.

but then again: it’s you. all exceptions the king of curses makes are for you.

sukuna slightly lowers his head to your level so you could do whatever you needed to. he’d be lying if he said that his curiosity wasn’t piqued. it always was when he was around you.

you gulp. it was time to do what you’ve longed to do ever since the beginning of your stroll: give the ryomen sukuna a kiss on the cheek. you don’t think he’d be mad—at least he never seriously gets mad at you. only to get a reaction out of you since your responses are always ‘intensely amusing’—as he says.

“go on.” sukuna’s breath hits your cheeks. he was so close—too close that it made you even more nervous in a way. as if you hadn’t even had your first kiss yet.

you swallow your fears and just go for it. your lips attach to his cheek in the fraction of a second—the speed of light—before they leave. it was right under his right set of eyes.

you take a step back and clear your throat. you try to escape the embarrassment of sukuna’s possible reaction by continuing your stroll, though were stopped by a strong hand firmly grabbing your forearm.

“where’d you think you’re going?”

sukuna’s deep voice echoes through your ears. you were surprised to hear the tone of it; almost soft. a tone sukuna uses on rare occasions: in your presence.

you turn your head around and smile sheepishly at the king of curses before you. he doesn’t return the same (not that you expected him to), however he does unexpectedly ruffle your hair for a split second. or at least he attempts to.

his large and warm palm lands on top of your head and he gives it a little and subtle shake. sukuna had seen you do a similar action to someone else before, thus he concluded that he could do it to you. maybe as a form of endearment or. . whatever you used it as.

he did find the way you tried to scurry away after giving him a kiss very adorable. even if he wouldn’t say so out loud.

“now, come along. we don’t have all day.” sukuna nonchalantly mutters after retracting his hand. it left as fast as it came, though you were still stunned at the slight show of affection the king of curses returned.

you instantly catch up to sukuna again—walking next to him as fast as your legs could take you. you were a bit more at ease after you got a positive reaction to your little kiss. it was a pity that he didn’t smirk or laugh at you—maybe mocked you like he usually would. but that head pat made up for it.

even if it did leave your hair a little disheveled.

you couldn’t properly see sukuna’s face, but the faint smirk tugging at his lips was undeniably there. even if it was for just a split second.

“how very interesting.” sukuna mutters under his breath so you wouldn’t catch on. he sighs and shakes his head, unable to keep out that memory of you looking so cute—standing on the tip of your toes to plant a kiss on his cheek with your comically small hand on his jaw line. he doesn’t know why he found that to be so thrilling.

you flutter your eyelashes. you were curious about what he might have commented on, “may i ask what you had just said? i didn’t quite hear it.”

a short second of silence hangs before sukuna tilts his head to the right to look down at you again; his face expressionless, but still having a hint of a grin on his lips.

“i said you better hurry before i gobble you up right this instant.” he replies, (playfully) intimidating you with his sharp red eyes that glinted with a form of danger.

you shiver (though knew the threat was an empty one) and instantly pick up your pace. you even get ahead of him, walking as fast as your legs could. you answer with a curt ‘my apologies’ and walk like you actually have somewhere to be.

sukuna’s grin only grows as he sees you get ahead of him. if you had turned around, maybe you could have caught onto that light flicker of affection in his expression.

“i’m coming for you, little one.” sukuna adds just to ignite some more fear into you and you react as expected, “you’re not escaping me today.”

it was a funny sight; your reactions always make him enjoy his time with you even more than he already (secretly) was.

the way his body reacts in mysterious ways when you’re around, is still very much an unsolved riddle to the king of curses. and the reasons as to why you aren’t scared of him and can easily give him all your ‘love’ are also still yet to be discovered.

until then, sukuna will continue to enjoy teasing you.

[communistkenobi]

the other day I was going through the blog of a self-identified terf who had shown up in my notifications, and I saw them say that they wanted people to stop using asab terminology (assigned sex at birth) and instead use osab (observed sex at birth). which like at a basic level is very funny - don’t like the words being used to describe your body, hm? I can’t imagine what that feels like - but it does reveal this very particular commitment that anti-trans and anti-intersex reactionaries have to insisting that sex is just a natural objective fact, that all sexual and gendered violence is a result of men neutrally observing and then responding to the self-evident sexual properties of women. As if the act of observation is not political! It is a request to naturalise the assumptions of the people doing the observing. More fundamentally, it is a request to enshrine through language the assumptions of patriarchy, that sex is a complete and distinct property of the body that can be observed without interpretation, that it is self-evident. Observation itself is defined as a complete process; any part of the object under investigation that is not in view of the observer is rendered irrelevant. Thank god we’re just talking about sex, a very simple element of the human body that is easily cordoned off from the body its attached to!

And of course this wilfully ignores an obvious part of why trans and intersex people call attention to the assigned nature of sex. “Observed sex at birth” is already the first step in the assignment process, it is already implicated in the act of assignment, because the ritual of observing sex at birth is based on the assumption that this is a part of the body that is uniquely worthy of observation. The obvious follow-up question is why is sex worthy of observation in the first place? What assumptions go into the calculation of ‘worthiness’? If it’s so worthy of observation, who gets to be the observer? What are the consequences of this observation process? And if this is so important, how you do record the results of this observation process? Through a series of administrative, medical, and legal assignment procedures, perhaps? What if someone makes a mistake carrying out these procedures? What if the observer observes something they aren’t expecting (and where do those expectations come from)? What if they can’t observe anything? What do they do?

If you take this distinction seriously, if you insist ‘observation’ is somehow less politically or socially contingent than ‘assignment,’ you are advocating for a horrifically nihilistic worldview, one in where the ‘observations’ society makes about sex are all made natural. It is a request that is based on a political pursuit to fully enshrine patriarchy as a natural part of human life. I observe that the subjugation of women produces adverse educational, social, economic, and medical outcomes for them - I guess it’s just because women are naturally inferior. I mean what else could it possibly be? The doctors did a genital inspection on them when they were a baby. It says F right here on the birth certificate