#meanwhile here I am on round 2

[jbluphin]

Skyping with my bf between rooms of the apartment so I don't give him covid.

Thought I was done with this shit when he moved in with me. Long-distance relationship flashbacks...

[totaly-obsessed]

The Weight of Expectations

Alexia Putellas x reader

-> Happy Birthday to my darling @greynatomy, love ya!

-> Alexia struggles through the IVF journey and turns mean

-> Talk of pregnancy, alcohol and abuse

➳ Masterlist

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

“¡No puedes hablar en serio!”

Oh. Alexia was home, something new. You were currently in the bathroom closest to the bedroom, heaving up anything that you had eaten, even the light soup. 

For a couple of days, you had been like this, and two days ago you had finally done a test. A pregnancy test. This was the last IVF round before Ale and you had to start considering other options like adoption. The first 2 rounds had failed.

Positive. The goddamn test was finally positive.

Immediately you had made an appointment for a blood test to get done. You just had to be sure before telling Alexia. The blonde already blamed herself, thinking she had waited for too long, hesitant to have a child while in the midst of her career before she finally committed to it.

You had been so incredibly happy when she came to you after a game. Tears streamed down your face when she told you that she was ready to have a child. With you.

The disappointment of two failed attempts weighed heavily on Alexia. She desperately tried to console you as you cried, hiding her own tears in her pillow when you finally passed out. How could she be sad when you had to go through the physical aspect as well?

She shouldn't have waited that long, maybe 29 was too old.

After that things changed. She had left for Spain camp, and after that, she threw herself back into work in Barcelona. Her surgery was healing well and she was getting better and better by the day.

Meanwhile, you were sat at home, trying to understand the change in your wife. Did you do something wrong? With the previous tries the footballer had been so involved, checking in on you multiple times a day when she was at training. 

And now? Nothing.

Alone you had gone to the blood test yesterday, not even needing an explanation for your wife, who came home after you had gone to bed and left before you woke up.

Eight Weeks. You were already two months along. In Alexia's absence, you had completely forgotten to test, wanting to do it with her.

As soon as you had gotten the confirmation, the morning sickness hit ten times harder. Who even decided to call it that? Morning sickness… What a stupid fucking name. The whole day was filled with sudden cramps and vomiting.

And you had done it all alone until now. 

But Alexia was here now, yelling in the kitchen, before she stomped up the stairs to the bathroom, looking into every door available on her way. She was looking for you.

She hesitated for a second, seeing you crouched on the floor, head over the toilet, and pale as the white wall behind you.

“¡No puedes hablar en serio!”, she yelled again, now in your face.

“I am serious Ale, what's up?”

This was the first time you had seen her in a couple of days, her roots were starting to show, as did the bags under her eyes. But the rest of her body looked stronger than ever, the countless hours in the gym paying off.

“The kitchen is a mess, you didn’t do the laundry and you didn't mop the floors either. Look how filthy it is in this house!”

Wow.

You didn't know what you had been expecting. But definitely not this.

With slow movements you pushed yourself up, using the sink to help balance yourself. Fuck were you dizzy.

“W- What did you mean?” You hated how meek your voice sounded after your wife practically yelled at you.

Her face was red, and her eyes looked like she had been bitten by the devil, spit gathering at the corners of her mouth.

Crazy. She looked really fucking crazy, and it was terrifying.

“¿En serio?”

“Let’s just go downstairs, I made dinner and we can talk about it.” 

With a scoff the blonde turned on the spot, stomping down the stairs, leaving you in the bathroom. Tears threatened to fall. What has happened?

With your nausea, it took you a bit longer to navigate the stairs. Every step hurt, but Alexia couldn’t care less about your pain-filled noises. She was busy stabbing a fork into her dinner, already scarfing a plate of your favorite pasta dish down.

“Finally. God, you always take so long.”

The words were filled with hate as she spat them at you, not even noticing that a bit of the sauce was flung onto her cheeks. 

You couldn’t help but smile a bit, she had never managed to eat without making a mess of herself and the table. With a damp cloth, you tried to wipe the spot away, but when she hit your hand away from her, the cloth sailed to the floor as you looked at her. Eyes wide in panic.

“I am not your goddamn child. I can take care of myself.”

Your wives' usually warm eyes pierced your heart even more. Was this really the same woman who would carry you to bed every night, even after grueling training and rehab sessions?

The tears you had breathed away were back, a painful sensation in your eyes as Alexia continued to devour the meal you had prepared with so much excitement to tell her as if it didn't mean anything.

“This tastes like shit. Not even good for cooking.” She threw the fork on the plate, the clattering sound ripping you out of your shock-induced trance. “Do you want me to make you something different?

Your wife looked terrifying. Her eyes were wide open with small pupils that moved around quickly, looking you up and down before making their way through the house. The rest of her face was stoic, a facade she had perfected over the years. One that she didn’t usually use with you.

“No. I don’t want new food. I want you to get yourself together.”

The room filled with a heavy silence that nearly made you gasp for air. What did she mean?

“Amore I don’t know what has gotten into you, but maybe we should just go for a quick walk? Get some fresh air?”

That was the final nail in the coffin for the footballer, who stood up with such force, that the chair slid back and toppled over with a startling noise.

“Fresh air? You want fresh air?” She was getting in your face now, hunching a little to really get close. “Do you know what I want?”

Her breath was warm as it hit your nose.

Alcohol. You could smell alcohol.

She was a mean drunk, snapping at anyone who dared to get too close to her, her dog, or you. But just like her stern face, you were usually safe from her drunken attitude. Your wife always pushed you behind her as soon as anything looked like trouble.

This was new and you hated it.

“What do you want Ale?”

the defender had emptied your cup of coffee in one go, slamming the mug down on the counter.

“What do I want? I a housewife that can actually do her fucking job!” She was yelling now, some of the words accentuated with harsh hand movements and slight pushes to your shoulders.

“And look at how you let yourself go. Fucking pathetic! How can I even show myself in public with you?”

Shit that hurt.

You were finally pregnant with a very much wanted child, and she acted like this after leaving you alone for such a long time.

“Gained so much weight it’s-”

“I’m pregnant.”

You didn't yell. You didn’t shout. You said it with a normal voice. Well as normal as you could with tears threatening to spill.

But it was enough to quiet the drunk blonde. 

“Pregnant? You’re pregnant?”

It felt as if she was looking at you for the first time when her eyes softened and her whole body slumped. She fucked up. And she knew it.

In a frenzy you started packing things, throwing stuff into a suitcase while your wife tried to stop you. “Where are you going? Amore, please! I am so sorry!”

But it was too late.

With a suitcase and Alexia’s car, you made your way to Eli’s house, you had no one in Spain, all your family back home, so you decided to turn to your wife's mother who loved you to no end and had spent a lot of time at your house while Alexias had been ‘busy’ the last few weeks.

Alexia watched as you left. You were pregnant with a child that she wanted so badly, and she fucked it up.

Tomorrow she will make up for it. She really will.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - I Still On1y Care About...

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

Sept 2024 Week 1

Ongoing Series - Thai

Monster Next Door (Thai Thurs Gaga ) eps 7 of 12 - Deeeelightful. They are so damn cute + a nice kiss! The rise of the green flag semes continues. I like it when Diew flirts and shows that he does have some experience in a relationship, and he can/will flex his power. Props to God for being a man who remembers to TAKE HIS DRINK with him. 

Addicted Heroin (Thai Tues WeTV) ep 4 of 10 - Yep I still like it and all its toxicity. It’s fun to see how closely it follows the original. Now I really can’t wait to see how this one ends. Since this time around we get an actual ending.

Battle of the Writers (Sun YT) ep 6 of 12 - How did they know that what I wanted more than anything was a side couple = spoiled prince + demon lord? How clever they are to give them to me. Meanwhile, in a shocking twist, the leads have known each other since childhood. Because why be original? 

I Saw You in My Dream (Weds Gaga) ep 8 of 12 - Oh it’s very cute. I love Ing. I love that Ai was honest with his bestie. Best friend's older brother trope is a go! Also good kisses all round. 

Kidnap (Fri YT) ep 1 of 12 - Ohm has his shirt off less than 5 min in. I guess GMMTV is learning what we want. My boy Title is the creep character again. I’m assuming that’s why GMMTV brought him on board at this juncture. Sigh. New boy, Q, looks like Mek’s younger brother. Ultimately? I'm not convinced on this one. It is doing what it says on the tin, but nothing more than that. I’m not wild about it, but I will keep watching.

The Trainee (Sun YT) ep 10 of 12 - The more OffGun BLs, the more time they spend communicating as characters in those BLs. It’s kind of charming. They've become the pair that advocates for communication in relationships. I like it as evolution for their brand. Flirting via the printer was very fun. Especially as the Thai script is so beautiful.

Live in Love (Sun Gaga) ep 1 of 5 - I guess this is a lockdown narrative? Odd choice. A lot of familiar faces but from more minor rolls. Is this from the Destiny Seeker people? It feels like that. It’s a bigger cast than I was expecting, and a sort of classic university BL of the kind star Hunter produces. Or the end of love people. Pretty classic Thai pulp stuff. I’m mildly enjoying it. Hali is too hot to be the dorky second lead. Nice to see Boat back on my screen. However, it is… what’s the word I am looking for? Oh yes. Boring. Plus singing. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

The On1y One (Taiwan Thurs Gaga) eps 5-6 of 12 - I entirely lost my mind over this show this week. Fuck me it's so good. The delicacy sends me. I keep expecting it to be clumsy and then is just isn't - it's so subtle and it demands we pay such close attention. I feel like I'm holding my breath the whole time I'm watching.

Cliff's notes on these 2 eps as follows:

The pure unadulterated tsundere of it all.

The awesome angst, it aches.

The series of repercussions after the fight was pacing genius.

The brilliant juxtaposition of "the kid who self isolates too easily" versus "the one who has been forced into isolation" meets both of them being smart enough to know why they react out of hurt, but neither can stop doing it.

Baby’s reaction to learning he’s going to be left behind = to instantly make plans to do the leaving in the future hurts my heart in the best possible way.

"Maybe what we call eternity is just persistence."

Maybe one boy simply deciding to be another boy's rock is romance. 

Production better nail the second half of this show! It better be the world against them from here on out or the audience is gonna riot.

And by "audience" I mean me.

Sugar Dog Life (Japan Sun grey) ep 5 of 10 - Oh noes! Poor baby boy!!! My heart hurts. But also gah so cute and next week they shack up together! Hooray! 

I Hear the Sunspot AKA Hidamari ga Kikoeru (Japan Weds Gaga) ep 11 - too much time spent on the girl again. I don’t need excuses for why she’s a bitch. So can we talk about Taichi instead? It’s such a good characterization, this boy who understands everything about other people but doesn’t notice anything about himself, including his own abilities of observation. The person who is special never realizes how special they are, I guess. The soundscapes are so good with this show. The moments where prod decided to be silent are so vital and so pivotal and used with such delicacy and strategy, it’s truly audio magic manipulation.  

First Note Of Love (Taiwan Mon Gaga) eps 7-8 of 12 - I loved how Orca just jumped on the stage. What a great side couple. CHARMED I TELL YOU. Orca was all… singing? Naw. I came back to fuck the manager's brains out. Anything less than that is unacceptable. 

Takara's Treasure AKA Takara No Vidro (Japan Mon Gaga) ep 10 fin - Essentially this was a growth story for Takara and an exercise in patience while the two of them learned each other’s quirks and languages. It was also an exercise in patience for me... who doesn’t like the power differential of a weaker younger character having to do all the pursuing while constantly feeling like he is inferior to the older popular hot character. I know this was a BL that was definitely for some people, since plenty liked it way more than I did, but I didn’t like it very much even though there’s nothing objectively wrong with it. It simply wasn’t to my personal taste. 7/10 

Seoul Blues (Korea Fri? YouTube) ep 5-6 of 8 - Enter an ex or something? Well he certainly has a type. Bah. This whole series seems to be mainly about cheating. It’s very annoying because they are all so pretty. 

Happy of the End (Japan Tues Gaga) - Based on a manga, longer than usual run time. A boy is disowned for being gay, dumped by his boyfriend, and ends up in a dysfunctional co-dependant relationship with his would-be kidnapper. We were due for another messy JBL. Messy gay pain here we go.

Oh it’s exactly what I expected. Do I like it? No I do not. And ya know what? There is plenty airing. I have a bad feeling about this one. DNF 

It's airing but...

4 Minutes (Sat Gaga) eps 1-6 of 8 - Gaga picked this one up so we can watch it there. I'm waiting until the end, it seems angsty and confusing and full of awful people being awful. But also... high heat and I'm shallow. So we shall see which devil wins (and how it ends).

The Hidden Moon (Sat ????) ep 1 of 10 - This is a supernatural romance (my ghost boyfriend trope) ‘เดือนพราง’ by Violet Rain (I Feel You Linger)... A Bangkok writer is hired to write an article about an old mansion in Chiang Mai which is being converted into a café. He gets into an accident and nearly dies on his way there. After that, he sees the ghosts of people who died at the mansion, one boy catches his attention. Was substantially recast. Couldn't find it. Didn't really look.

In case you missed it

Meet You at the Blossom (China) - I'm eating crow, binging the fucker, and live blogging. It's just taking me some time. This isn't really a bingable show, not for me anyway. It's A LOT to take all at once. No new one this week.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Plus:

9/9 Jack & Joker (Thai Mon IQIYI) 12 eps? - Be gay YinWar, do crimes. Dehup gives us Yin, War, Mark and a few other familiar faces in a Leverage sitch, only queerer.

9/14 Love Sick 2024 (Thai Sat ????) ?? eps - Remake of the original. I'm scared too.

9/15 Bad Guy My Boss (Thai Sun Gaga) 10 eps - Assistant to a player boss who is in love with that boss decides to quit to save himself. The boss then makes a move. (A gay What's up with Secretary Kim?)

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

Coming SEPTEMBER 2024:

9/17 Love is Like a Poison AKA Doku Koi: Doku mo Sugireba Koi to Naru (Japan Tues Netflix?) 10 eps - Lawyer and a con artist meet at a bar, pair up, fall in love.

9/28 Teenager Judge (Vietnam Sat YouTube) ?? eps - oh I don't know just Ba Vinh doing his thing with pretty boys again.

9/? The Time of Fever (Korea iQIYI) 6 eps - HoTae & DongHee are back! Side couple from Unintentional Love Story, same actors, same character names I an WILD for this.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Not sure what this is from but I capped it for a reason so, shrug.

The scent trope AND the childhood crush trope? I see you suckering me into one trope because I like the other. Clever, Battle. Very clever.

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are a pain.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs

Sigh, Tumblr in its infinite wisdom doesn't like too many at-ings.

[fanfictionismyaddiction]

Whispers of Rome

Word count: 2.3k

Pairing: Toto Wolff x reader

Summary: On a summer night in Rome, Y/n and her friends meet Toto Wolff and his friend at their favorite bar. Despite exchanging glances, neither Y/n nor Toto can initially find the courage to speak. When their friends' coincidental bathroom trips lead to introductions, the two groups mingle, sparking deeper conversations.

Warnings: Older male younger female, age gap, size difference, soft smut

One Shot Masterlist

______________________________________________________________

It was a warm summer night in Rome, the kind that wrapped the city in a golden glow and made every moment feel like a scene from a movie. Y/n, 24, was out with her two best friends, Sarah, 30, and James, 26. They had just finished a delightful dinner at a quaint trattoria and were now headed to Y/n’s favorite bar, a cozy little spot known for its charming ambiance and exquisite cocktails.

Unbeknownst to Y/n, Toto Wolff, the legendary Formula 1 team principal, was also in Rome. He had come to the city for a brief respite, accompanied by his friend, Mark. After a day of sightseeing, they decided to unwind at a bar that had caught Toto’s eye earlier in the day—the same bar Y/n and her friends were headed to.

As Y/n and her friends settled into their seats, Toto and Mark took a table opposite them. The instant Y/n spotted Toto, she recognized him from the numerous races she had followed, but she never imagined she’d see him here. Throughout the evening, Y/n and Toto exchanged glances, each too shy to approach the other. The air between them crackled with an unspoken connection, a palpable tension that neither could ignore.

"Did you see that guy?" Y/n whispered to Sarah, nodding subtly in Toto's direction.

Sarah turned slightly and then back to Y/n, her eyes widening. "He looks familiar, but I can't place him. Who is he?"

Y/n leaned in closer, her excitement barely contained. "That's Toto Wolff, the handsome guy from Formula 1 I've been telling you about!"

Sarah's eyes lit up in recognition. "Oh really? Now I see what you mean. He does look good!"

Meanwhile, James, oblivious to Y/n’s secret glances, eventually excused himself to the restroom. Coincidentally, Mark did the same. In the restroom, the two men struck up a conversation. James, always the sociable one, mentioned their table and invited Mark and his friend to join them. Mark, sensing an opportunity, agreed.

When they returned, James announced, "Guys, I’ve invited these two gentlemen to join us. Hope you don’t mind."

Y/n’s heart skipped a beat as Toto and Mark took the seats next to them. Despite the shyness that lingered between Y/n and Toto, the group quickly fell into an animated exchange of stories and laughter. Toto introduced himself and Mark, and soon they were all sharing travel stories and favorite places in Rome.

As the conversation flowed, Y/n found herself stealing glances at Toto, admiring his easy smile and the way he listened intently to everyone. She gathered her courage and turned to him. "I have to confess, I know who you are," she said, her cheeks flushing slightly. "I've followed Formula 1 for years."

Toto smiled warmly. "And I have to confess, I noticed you the moment I walked in. There's something about you, Y/n. I just like you."

Y/n's heart fluttered at his words. "Well, that makes two of us then," she replied, feeling a bit braver.

As the night went on, they continued to talk, their conversations becoming more personal. They discussed their passions, their dreams, and the serendipity of their meeting. Despite the shyness, a genuine connection was forming between them.

After a few rounds of drinks, Sarah suggested, “Hey, how about we go to the beach? It’s a beautiful night and the bar’s about to close.”

It was already 2 AM, but the idea of parting ways was the last thing on Y/n and Toto’s minds. Fueled by the courage from the evening’s libations, they all agreed and ordered an Uber.

At the beach, they laid out their jackets on the cool sand. The moon hung low, casting a silver path on the waves. Y/n and Toto found themselves sitting next to each other, the silence between them filled with unspoken words. Y/n broke the silence, turning to Toto with a mischievous grin.

"You know, we should go for a swim when the sun comes up," she said, her eyes sparkling.

Sarah and James eagerly agreed, but Toto hesitated. "I don't know, it's pretty cold," he said with a reluctant smile.

"Come on, it'll be fun," Y/n encouraged. Seeing his hesitation, she stood up and began to strip down to her underwear. "I’m going in!"

Toto watched her, captivated, as she confidently headed towards the water. Her boldness was infectious, and after a moment, he stood up as well, laughing. "Alright, you win," he said, quickly stripping down and following her.

As they waded into the water, the cool waves lapping at their legs, they continued their conversation. "So, what do you love most about Rome?" Toto asked.

"I think it's the history," Y/n replied. "Every corner of the city tells a story. What about you?"

"For me, it's the atmosphere," Toto said. "It's different from anywhere else. The people, the food, the energy—it's all so vibrant."

Y/n nodded. "And tonight has been...unexpectedly wonderful."

Toto smiled, moving closer to her. "It has been. I'm glad we decided to come here."

As they ventured deeper into the water, the coldness of the sea contrasted sharply with the warmth between them. The conversation flowed effortlessly, and as the first light of dawn began to creep over the horizon, the tension that had been building all night finally broke.

Y/n turned to Toto, her eyes reflecting the dawn light. "I've never met anyone quite like you," she said softly.

"And I've never met anyone like you," Toto replied, his voice husky.

The world around them faded as they leaned in, their lips meeting in a tender but electrifying kiss. The kiss deepened, becoming more passionate as the waves gently lapped around them. Their hands explored each other’s bodies, the water making their skin slick and the sensations more intense.

They finally pulled back, breathless. "This is crazy," Y/n whispered, a mix of excitement and disbelief in her voice.

"But it feels right," Toto replied, his eyes locked onto hers.

Y/n nodded, agreeing. "What happens now?"

Toto hesitated for a moment before speaking. "I don't want this night to end. Would you like to come back to my hotel? We can watch the sunrise from there."

Y/n smiled, feeling a thrill of anticipation. "I'd love that."

As the sun rose, casting a warm glow over the beach, they emerged from the water and rejoined their friends. Sarah and James smiled knowingly, glad to see Y/n so happy. The group sat together, drying off in the morning sun, exchanging phone numbers 

______________________________________________________________

The early morning air filled with the sounds of their laughter and chatter. Y/n found herself standing a little apart from the others, lost in her thoughts.

Sarah noticed Y/n's distracted demeanor and walked over to her. "Hey, you okay?" she asked, a knowing smile on her face.

Y/n looked at her friend, a blush creeping up her cheeks. "Yeah, I’m just thinking about everything. It’s been... a lot."

Sarah chuckled. "I can imagine. You two were pretty cozy in the water. So, what’s the plan now?"

Y/n sighed, glancing over at Toto, who was talking to Mark and James a little further down the beach. "He invited me to his hotel. I want to go, but... I don’t know. What if this is just a one-time thing?"

Sarah placed a reassuring hand on Y/n’s shoulder. "Listen, Y/n. You’re one of the most confident and sexy women I know. You went after what you wanted tonight, and it paid off. Don't second-guess yourself now. If you want to spend more time with him, go for it. You deserve to enjoy this."

Y/n smiled, feeling a surge of confidence from Sarah’s words. "You really think so?"

"I know so," Sarah replied firmly. "And honestly, from what I saw, he seems really into you. Just go with the flow and see where it leads."

Encouraged by her friend's words, Y/n nodded. "Thanks, Sarah. You always know what to say."

"That’s what best friends are for," Sarah said with a wink.

Feeling more assured, Y/n walked back over to Toto, who smiled as she approached. "Ready to head out?" he asked, his eyes hopeful.

Y/n glanced back at Sarah, who gave her a supportive nod. "Yeah, I’m ready," she replied, her heart racing with excitement.

______________________________________________________________

The ride to Toto's hotel was filled with a charged silence, both of them acutely aware of the night's possibilities. The early morning light cast long shadows across Rome's ancient streets as their Uber navigated the winding roads. Y/n's heart raced with excitement and anticipation, her hand still entwined with Toto's, feeling the warmth and strength of his grip.

When they arrived, Toto led Y/n through the opulent lobby of the hotel, the grandeur of the place reflecting his stature. The staff greeted him with respectful nods, and Y/n couldn’t help but feel a bit awed by the whole experience. They took the elevator to the top floor, where Toto’s suite offered a breathtaking view of the city waking up under the rising sun.

Once inside the suite, Toto closed the door behind them and turned to Y/n. “Can I get you anything? A drink, perhaps?”

Y/n shook her head, stepping closer to him. “No, I’m good. I just want to...” She trailed off, glancing up at him. The height difference between them was more pronounced now, Toto towering over her with his 6'5" frame. Y/n, at 5'4", had to tilt her head back to look into his eyes, the difference making her feel both small and protected.

Toto smiled down at her, his eyes softening. “I’ve got you,” he murmured, closing the distance between them. He cupped her face in his large hands and leaned down to kiss her, his lips meeting hers with a mix of tenderness and hunger. Y/n responded eagerly, her arms wrapping around his neck, pulling him closer.

They slowly made their way to the large, plush bed, shedding the remnants of their damp clothing along the way. When they finally fell onto the bed, the feel of the soft sheets against their skin was a delicious contrast to the firm touch of their bodies.

Toto paused for a moment, looking down at Y/n with a mixture of desire and tenderness. “Are you sure about this?” he asked, his voice a low whisper.

Y/n nodded, her eyes locked onto his. “I’ve never been more sure of anything.”

With that, they surrendered to the moment. Their lovemaking was both urgent and tender, a perfect blend of passion and connection. Toto’s experienced touch and Y/n’s eager responses created a rhythm that felt both new and timeless. As they moved together, they spoke in whispers, sharing secrets and desires, each word deepening their bond.

Afterward, they lay tangled in the sheets, their bodies still humming from the intensity of their encounter. The sun had fully risen, casting a golden glow into the room. Toto brushed a strand of hair from Y/n’s face, his eyes filled with a softness she hadn’t expected.

“What happens now?” Y/n asked, her voice barely more than a breath.

Toto sighed contentedly, pulling her closer. “I don’t know. But I want to find out. I want to see where this can go.”

Y/n smiled, feeling a warmth spread through her chest. “Me too.”

They spent the rest of the morning wrapped in each other’s arms, talking and laughing, exploring the depths of their connection. They ordered breakfast to the room, savoring the simple pleasure of sharing a meal together. Each moment felt like a discovery, every touch a promise of something more.

As the city buzzed to life outside, Y/n and Toto remained in their bubble, oblivious to the world beyond the walls of the suite. 

______________________________________________________________

As noon approached, the reality of the world outside began to seep back in. They reluctantly dressed, but the ease between them remained. Toto watched Y/n as she moved around the room, a soft smile playing on his lips.

“You know, you could stay,” he suggested, his tone casual but his eyes hopeful.

Y/n turned to him, considering. “I’d love to, but I should probably get back to Sarah and James. They’ll be wondering what happened to me.”

Toto nodded, understanding. “Of course. But maybe we can meet again tonight? Dinner, perhaps?”

Y/n’s heart fluttered at the thought. “I’d love that.”

Toto walked her to the door, their fingers reluctantly parting. “Until tonight, then,” he said, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips.

“Until tonight,” Y/n echoed, stepping out into the hallway.

As she made her way back to her friends, she couldn’t stop smiling.

When she finally reunited with Sarah and James, they bombarded her with questions. Y/n laughed, sharing the highlights of her night, though some details she kept just for herself.

[fireboltposts]

Stray Kids' reaction to you texting them "Merry Christmas ya filthy animal" on Christmas day referencing the movie Home Alone 2 : Lost In New York

A/N : Since Advent is round the corner here's a silly Christmas scenario. Picture credit goes to the owner.

Chris

• He'd definitely laugh at your playful message and the Home Alone reference would definitely click with them.

• "Merry Christmas you cheeky little troublemaker 🐺🎄", he texts back.

• He'd call you right after just to hear your voice "so you're quoting movies at me now Y/N ie ? Am I Kevin or am I one of the burglars ?"

• He'd tease you relentlessly but would definitely appreciate you wishing him at midnight.

Minho

• Minho would raise an eyebrow at your cheeky message highly amused by the sheer audacity to text him that.

• "Merry Christmas you brat 🙄. You know what happens to 'filthy animals' right ? Better be careful 😏".

• You'd blush profusely at his reply meanwhile he double texts you a picture of his three precious cats lounging next to the dorm Christmas tree with something like "they're watching you".

Changbin

• He would probably be producing a track late at night while you text him that sharp at midnight.

• He would laugh at your text, clearly amused. "Merry Christmas bunny 💕. But hey we all know who the real 'filthy animal' is over here 😏".

• He'd probably video call you soon after asking you what you got him for Christmas and would make plans for the day wanting to spend it with you.

Hyunjin

• Hyunjin would be startled at first, staring at the message like "Is she calling me filthy ?!" But then he’d remember the movie reference and start giggling.

• "Excuse me ? I'm practically an angel and not a filthy animal 😤 . And Merry Christmas to you too you absolute menace ❣️".

• Hed probably just send you a selfie later, pouting and asking you "so do I look like a filthy animal to you now ?"

Jisung

• Boy would probably be munching on some late night Christmas snack and would almost spit out the food at your message, putting down the phone to laugh at it.

• "HOW DARE YOU !! I'm the cleanest animal here, thank you very much. But Merry Christmas to you too, you little gremlin 😆🎄".

• By evening, he’d text you "Okay fine, I admit that was the best Christmas message I’ve ever gotten. Don’t tell anyone".

Felix

• Felix would be confused for a split second but would quickly catch on to the reference. He’d chuckle softly, finding your humor absolutely endearing.

• "Merry Christmas, darling. 💕 But… are you calling me filthy ? 😭 I thought I was your angel 😔".

• He'd send you a voice note in that deep voice of his wishing you all the love and happiness Christmas. He’d then gush to the members about how adorable you were.

Seungmin

• Seungmin would squint at his phone, trying to decide whether to laugh or pretend to be offended.

• "Merry Christmas, clown. 🎅 You’re lucky it’s the holidays otherwise, I’d roast you for that message".

• He’d subtly bring up your message during the day, saying things like, "So, how many other people did you call 'filthy animals' or am I just special?" He’d tease you relentlessly but would secretly love your sense of humor.

Jeongin

• Jeongin would blink at the message, trying to make sense of it for a second. If he got the reference, he’d laugh and shake his head at how bold you were.

• "Merry Christmas, you weird human. 🎁 But don’t forget that I’m the baby of the group. Filthy animal ? Really ?"

• By evening, he’d probably text you something like "Yours was the funniest Christmas message I received today. But next year, I’m coming up with something better, so you'd better watch out".

A/N : Hope you liked it. Do like, comment, reblog and follow if you did. You can find the rest of my masterlist here.

[rootspiral]

Agatha All Along deep dive: episode 1 part 3

(Wandavision entries: [1][2][3])

(AAA entries: ep1 [1][2][3][4] ep2 [1][2][3][4] ep3 [1][2][3] ep4 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][+1] ep5 [1][2][3][4][5] ep6 [1][2][3] ep7 [1][2][3][4][5][6] ep8 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] ep9 [1][2][3][4][5][6])

so babe, hear me out. we could adopt him. just spitballing here (agatha, probably)

bwahhaha fantasy!billy and his death stare, meanwhile real billy is such a polite baby

if you look closely you can tell Joe Locke is fighting for his life holding down laughter in a lot of his scenes with Katrhyn. he has nerves of steel, couldn't be me

(also, billy telling her she has neither the respect of her peers NOR a fulfilling home life? harsh, but fair.) (at least her wife is trying to fix the home life part)

honey, don't go around kicking grumpy little twinks now! perfectly in character. despite her chaotic exterior, rio is a very lawful person. she is literally the laws of nature!

the Ballad plays faintly in the background when Billy mentions the Road

I love when good actors have to pretend to be bad actors. and I also find it interesting that Agatha cast herself as a good guy. does it make her feel better? is she telling herself that all the atrocities were justified, that it was only survival instinct? (like rio said, she's only lying to herself)

I had to look up the painting, it's Macbeth meeting the three witches (thank you Reddit!) So Macbeth (Agatha) and Banquo (Billy) meeting Lilia, Jen and Alice?

how did I miss Billy sitting on the chair Rio was just on?! amazing lens choices here too

Wanda's death makes her cry again. I honestly, honestly believe she feels awful about what she did to her. but guilt will never be enough to redeem her - especially because she tends to run away from it.

Wanda's magic was so strong that it took at least four things to undo the spell: Wanda dying, Rio's intervention, Billy's counterspell, and Agatha's willpower. It was a group effort, Agatha could have never done it alone. And despite her scorched earth tactics, there are still two people in her life, rio and billy, willing to help out in her hour of need

it's naughty tiiiime

I still really love the curls

can I say iconique?

it's like someone's about to die at the end of this

bwahahahahaah and oh my GAWD all the case files and boxes, where did she GET that stuff, did she rob a precinct, did she make them with the power of arts and crafts

you know what I think? being naked here is a power move. she is being very over the top because she's really uncomfortable, she just woke up and she's in those moments when you stop dreaming and have to relearn what's real and what isn't. she is someone used to calculate and scheme and micromanage every aspect of her life and she is not in control right now. what does Agatha do to reclaim control? she puts on a show. to her, being under the spell was way more like being naked, her insecurities and emotions and past were out in the open for everyone to see. being physically naked could never be nearly as distressing, and this is a nakedness she chose, because it tells people nothing about herself, nothing of what she wants to keep secret and protected. she's got the upper hand, not the other way round

you are all cowards and sheep for not saying Wanda's name, says the lady who would rather hide under a dozen magic layers than face her problems

that is so nice that they brought her groceries actually??? and lol those are the flowers in Agatha's crime scene pictures

that little girl is having a great time

FUCK CLOTHES BUT FUCK THESE CLOTHES SPECIFICALLY!!!!

(wait am I allowed to post butt cheeks? what are the rules right now?)

she turns quiet and emo as soon as she's alone

why doesn't she just - kiss the wiwwle bunny. bury her nose in that big fluffly head. even villains need a cuddle sometimes.

sure, bring señor scratchy. so menacing. that'll show them.

poor boy. trapped in a closet with ralph's bluray collection

aaand I really want to get to the next scene so I'll start on it right away, hopefully it'll be ready later tonight

go to part 4

[bestanimal]

Round 2 - Arthropoda - Copepoda

(Sources - 1, 2, 3, 4)

Copepoda is a class of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater biome, including the arctic. Some are planktonic, some live in sediment (benthic), some live underground in sinkholes or caves, some are parasitic, and some even live in wet terrestrial places such as bogs and the water-filled cups of bromeliads. They are small, usually 1 to 2 mm long, with a teardrop-shaped body and two pairs of antennae. Some polar copepods can reach up to 1 cm long. Most copepods have a single compound eye, usually bright red and in the centre of their transparent head. Subterranean species may be eyeless, and a couple genera have two eyes. Free-living copepods have a head fused with the first one or two thoracic segments, with the remainder of the thorax being comprised of three to five limbed segments. The first pair of appendages are maxillipeds, limbs used for feeding. The second pair beat like oars, aiding in swimming. They have a narrow abdomen with five leg-less segments, with tail-like rami at the tip. Meanwhile, the anatomy of parasitic copepods are so widely diverse that I simply do not have space to talk about it here. Copepods have incredibly fast reflexes, due to well-developed myelin sheaths, allowing them to escape predators at high speeds, often porpoising out of the water. Like ostracods, many species also use bioluminescence as a defense mechanism, using it to distract predators (see gif below).

When they are ready to mate, some copepod females leave a trail of pheromones for males to follow. When mating, the male will grip the female with his antennae and produce an adhesive spermatophore, then transfer it to the female’s genital opening. After fertilization, the eggs will sometimes be laid directly into the water column, or, in some species, the female will carry them in a sac until they hatch. In some pond-dwelling species, the eggs can remain dormant in the case of the pond drying up, waiting to hatch until more favorable conditions are present. The larvae hatch with a head and a tail but no true thorax or abdomen. In fact, the larvae look so different from their adult forms that many of them were once thought to be different species! They will moult 5-6 times before becoming a copepodid larva which resembles the adult, sans some limbs and segments. After 5 more moults they will reach adulthood.

The oldest known fossils of copepods are from the Late Carboniferous, but due to their small size and fragility, they are rare in the fossil record. However, these fossilized copepods seemed to belong to an extant (still living) family, meaning that copepods may have already reached the forms they are in now by the Carboniferous.

Propaganda under the cut:

Copepods are dominant members of zooplankton and are food for many species of fish. Some scientists say they form the largest animal biomass on earth, matched only by Antarctic Krill.

The surface layers of the ocean are the world’s largest carbon sink, absorbing harmful greenhouse gasses: about 2 billion tons of carbon a year, the equivalent of a third of human carbon emissions. Copepods contribute to a large part of this, feeding near the surface at night, and then carrying these gasses to deeper water with them. Their moulted exoskeletons, feces, and respiration all transfer carbon to the deep sea.

Live copepods are a popular addition to saltwater fish tanks, both as a food source for hard-to-feed fish, and as a clean-up crew.

Copepods are sometimes added to water-storage containers to control mosquitos, as some species will eat mosquito larvae. Copepods have been used successfully in Vietnam to control mosquitoes carrying dengue fever, and trials to employ this method are also underway in Thailand and the southern United States.

Sheldon J. Plankton, of “Spongebob Squarepants” fame, is a copepod!

[fenrislorsrai]

The Crow Road

I did in fact read The Crow Road because of Good Omens and it was very meandering with a lot of character study. For a thing summarized as "trying to solve a mystery from papers left behind" it was very uninterested in doing so. It didn't even introduce them for first 100 pages, then didn't refer to them for another 100, then LOST THEM ON THE TRAIN. The book itself is mostly a distraction from solving actual mystery. In no way would I classify this as being Mystery, as in the genre. This is a family saga/coming of age thing. I did enjoy it, but if you're expecting a genre fiction thing, you will hate it.

ANYWAY.

Then we get to the last 20 pages or so of the book and OH MY FUCKING GOD

the rest of this is going under a cut for anyone who actually wants to read The Crow Road themself, but for everyone else, this is directly relevant to the end of season 2, episode 6 AND is NSFW

Toward end of book, MC Prentice figures out "oh, maybe I am actually in love with my best friend, Ash, I should tell here". Oh shit, she's taking a job and moving to Canada! FUCK. Well telling her now is not gonna do anything good here, I blew it.

Ash meanwhile comes to stay with him in his rented place before having to fly out in the morning. The place is tied up in an estate dispute. It has an enormous four poster bed in a room covered in naked paintings of Venus. And mirrors. Pointed at the bed.

They go out for dinner and have a conversation of who owes who for dinner and decide its neither. They walk around a little bit reminiscing about when they were in school. Prentice had once broken her nose with a snowball and thought she didn't know. She says she forgave him right away. It also turns out she knew he was using morse code to tap out rude things at their French teacher.

They get back to the house and she says she's going to turn in early. Goes to give him a kiss on cheek. WHich then turns into kissing. and grabbing ass. They head to the bedroom of Fucking to do just that.

have a couple round and then while tangled up doing effectively some cockwarming, Ash does a little rhymic squeezing via morse code to spell out I-L-U and he does some cock moving to spell out I-L-U-T she still gets up in morning to leave, tehre's that brief, but what if I convince you to stay??? and they basically both agree "no, this is a breakup for work." Ash goes off to do her work contract, Prentice is going to finish his degree and sell the Bentley he just inherited. The split is not forever.

I did not have love confession via morse code while fucking on my bingo card AT ALL.

But good god, that ending there and the kiss there at the end of season2. OH RIGHT, THEY BOTH HAVE DONE SPY STUFF!!! What the fuck are Aziraphale's hands doing? are they frenching with morse code? IF THAT IS WHAT HAPPENED AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[necronatural]

Project Moon Discourse Part Whatever: Statement 2

Project Moon's company twitter has released a statement on their perspective.

In summary, the Youth Union who has been rallying a lot of people has been protesting about Vellmori's "unfair dismissal" (firing over previous statements). Project Moon points out that they have not fired her yet, and the YU do not have concrete proof of what happened (AKA why you have to say "alleged" when commenting on crimes yet to be tried). Youth Union discusses the private circumstances and apologizes for repeating accusations as fact.

Kim Jihoon posits here that this was a political conspiracy by the Youth Union to boost their position (they were a very very small group before all this), which the Project Moon User Association must a part of. He posts the draft the Youth Union drew up if PM complied, without the union rep's permission as evidence. OK man.

...By the way, he also sent an official legal notice to the Project Moon User Association with that same info.

The PMUA says hey man! We do talk to the Youth Union, but we're actually a completely different group who has not declared jackshit as fact and have been conscientious in our speech. Fuck you! And posted the letter (legal threat) PM sent publicly along with their reply. (Jihoon references this in the statement above).

Read here. The letter is the pdf at the top of the doc.

It's through this response that we learn that the reason the Youth Union was cowed was because Vellmori resigned.

The PMUA notes: hey, isn't it extremely fucking suspicious that you publicly stated that due to breaking company rules with years old tweets (this isn't legal btw) and Vellmori's most recent statement was that you told her that she's getting her papers in a week (legal but asshole shit btw)? And yet when you're catching heat about the ludicrously illegal unjust firing, you reveal you've been hiding her resignation? Unrelated, why did you post an unfinished draft statement predicated on a round table that never occurred? Why are you threatening us for libel we never posted?

AKA they fucking ate him for dinner.

Kim Jihoon is being cooked alive over his notes app malding & pointed translated repost of his original statement. Everyone and their dog can see his sole deflection only really applies to the Youth Union, who fucked up publicly a while ago, while the PMUA is spotless in their conduct. The fact they have not done anything but ask the Youth Union for info - which they used responsibly thus far - renders literally every complaint Kim Jihoon is making totally worthless. And they made sure he fucking knew it. Meanwhile, the folks who originally kicked off harassment and boycotts (DCInside) remains uncommented on, enraging people even further.

By the way, you may be wondering why Kim Jihoon is suddenly so frenzied in his attacks. The thing is, PMUA just successfully met their fundraising goal! And wouldn't you know it, the money they raised is for applying to file a class action lawsuit over PM's mismanagement.

Stay tuned for more on Crossy News Network. I am too nosy to possibly stop reporting on this

[danielmolloystits]

break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored (2/2)

Summary:

“Armand?” Lestat looks at him very seriously, then. “He has neglected you?” Daniel laughs, though there isn’t much humor in it. “That’s one fuckin’ word for it, sure.” “Oh, mon ami.” Lestat’s eyes are round and wet like an animal’s. “A prize such as yourself does not deserve this terrible treatment.” He shrugs. “You get used to it.” “No.” Lestat grabs one of Daniel’s hands in both of his own, making such intense eye contact with the journalist that it starts to grow uncomfortable. “You deserve better. You must understand this.” “Okay,” Daniel agrees, shifting a little in his seat. Anything to move past this point in the interaction. “I deserve better.” “Good,” Lestat says, nodding resolutely to himself. “This is why you should let me fuck you.”

Pairing: M/M (Daniel/Lestat, Armand/Daniel) Rating: E WC: ~3,200

Daniel’s first thought after his climax is that Armand is going to kill him, for real this time, and his cock is still going to be twitching from the aftershocks when he does.

He thinks it’s probably indicative of something deeply, deeply wrong with him that it makes a spark of renewed arousal alight in his gut.

Quietly, he scrambles to pull his boxers and t-shirt back on. The other two vampires don’t appear to notice.

“Lestat,” Armand says, voice devoid of any emotion whatsoever. And, wow, Daniel really gets what Louis meant when he’d described this expression as ‘half-blank, half-apocalyptic.’ “It would be a good idea for you to leave now.”

The blond just raises an eyebrow at him, still holding Daniel in his hand, still absolutely covered in the mess Daniel made. “Can you not see that I am a little bit busy here?”

Armand’s jaw is clenched so tight that Daniel can hear the creak of bone on bone. “Now.”

“My apologies, mon frère, but someone has to ravage your fledgling, and if you’re not going to do it—”

In an instant, Lestat is flung off of the bed and into the wall at speed, the plaster buckling from the force of the impact. Daniel is grateful, suddenly, that their team sprung for a nice hotel; if this were a Motel 6, Lestat would be clean into the next room, easy.

“Guess we’re not getting our deposit back,” He says, because he can’t help himself. Because he’s never had even an ounce of self-preservation. Armand’s eyes cut to him briefly, his irises vibrating like a dragonfly’s wings, and Daniel’s stomach bottoms out. Mostly from fear.

Lestat, meanwhile, huffs a pained laugh and stands. “Well, I can see when I’m not wanted,” he says, his hands spreading in a gesture of appeasement. “Monsieur Molloy, do you mind if I borrow your room for the evening?”

Wordlessly, Daniel tosses him the key card.

“Merci, darling.” Lestat bows, then begins to take his leave. He pauses, however, as he passes by Armand, swiping two fingers through the stickiness that decorates his cheek and presenting them to the other vampire. “Parting gift?”

A muscle above Armand’s lip spasms in an aborted snarl.

“Fine then,” Lestat says with a shrug, popping the digits into his mouth instead and grinning once they’ve been sucked clean. “More for me.”

Then, he exits, closing the door soundly behind him, and Daniel and Armand are alone together for the first time since...well, since.

“So,” Daniel says, drawing out the vowel sound sarcastically as he sits up against the headboard. “The last time my dad walked in on me with a boy was a pretty long while ago—I forget, are you supposed to ground me now, or do we just pretend it didn’t happen and never bring it up again?”

Armand opens his mouth to speak, but Daniel doesn’t let him.

“Or is this more of an infidelity situation? Because I’m gonna be honest with you, Armand: I didn’t realize we were together. On account of how you fucked off immediately after turning me.”

“You’re angry with me,” Armand says, and it’s insane how quickly he melts from predator back into prey, all slumped shoulders and big, wobbly doe eyes.

“You think?”

The other vampire isn’t meeting his gaze, his own fixed somewhere on Daniel’s cheek like he can’t bear to look straight at him. “I didn’t want you to hate me. For what I did to you.”

“And you thought abandoning me to figure this shit out by myself was a good way to prevent that?” He asks, incredulous. “News flash, Amadeo: it wasn’t.”

“I’m here now,” Armand points out—hopeful, fragile, as though he’s afraid the words will shatter in his mouth if he isn’t careful.

“Yeah, and why is that?” Daniel asks, lacing it with all the righteous indignation he can muster. But despite his best efforts, he finds himself losing steam in the face of Armand’s complete and utter supplication. “Don’t tell me it’s because you’re into me.”

The other vampire finally looks at him head-on, his eyes piercing straight through to the core of Daniel. To the knot of uncomfortable, complicated feelings that sits just beneath his breast. “Is it really so difficult to believe?”

“Kind of,” He says, reflexively shifting under the weight of Armand’s stare. It’s ridiculous, he thinks, how easily the man sets him off-kilter. How easily he comes in and turns Daniel’s life upside down, as though it’s nothing to him.

Armand stalks towards him slowly, then, managing to appear at once like the nervous rabbit and the cat hunting it from the bushes. Like both the thing to be eaten and the one doing the eating, like both the consumer and the consumed. He approaches the bed until he arrives at the edge of the mattress, sitting down delicately atop it and never once looking away from Daniel as he does. His expression is painfully open; achingly earnest.

“You have no idea the things I’d like to do you,” he says, and Daniel understands why he was so cautious earlier, because the words come out cracked and fractured, the edges of them sharp enough to cut.

(Belatedly, Daniel wonders when exactly his life turned into a trashy harem romance novel. He thinks that maybe he ought to be more upset about it.)

“Hard to know when you don’t tell me,” he replies, his voice a lot rougher than it was mere moments ago. It’s humiliating, he thinks, the obviousness of his desire. The fact that he even still wants the fucker after all the shit he’s put Daniel through.

Armand slides the rest of the way onto the bed, crawling forward on his knees until his body cages Daniel’s from above. His gaze falls to Daniel’s lips. “I could tell you now, if you wanted.”

And he is simply too weak to say no to that, so instead he murmurs, “Yeah,” his hand reaching up to tangle in Armand’s hair. “That might be good.”

Armand ducks his head down to lay a kiss beneath the sensitive skin of his ear. “I want to claim you,” he whispers, before dragging his tongue over the spot his lips just brushed, “I want to make you mine.”

Daniel gasps, his fingers tightening in the silky black curls. “What else?”

“I want to taste you.” As he speaks, he grazes the tips of his fangs down until they rest at his pulse point. “I want your blood to fill my mouth; I want to stain my teeth red with the very life of you. I want to memorize how it flows over my tongue.”

“Is that all?” He means it to sound cool, nonchalant, but the attempt is belied by how each exhale grows quicker and quicker with every teasing touch.

“No.” He can feel Armand’s smile pressing into his neck. “I also want to fuck you,” he starts, his hand snaking down to palm at Daniel’s hardening cock through his underwear, “until you forget the name of every other person who has ever touched you.”

Daniel moans, hips canting into the contact; Armand rewards him by firming his grip. “Okay,” he says airily, as Armand licks a filthy line back up his throat. “I can agree to those terms.”

“Say it, then,” Armand orders, stroking his thumb over where the head of Daniel’s cock tents his boxers. “Say you’ll belong to me.”

If Daniel were any less turned on right now, if the scent of Armand wasn’t filling his nose all earthy and sweet like honeyed cloves, then maybe he could respond with something snarky. Maybe he would be able to say no. As it is, he rasps, “I’m yours, Armand,” as fervent and breathless as a desperate prayer. “I’m yours.”

Armand kisses him then, hot and raging like a wildfire. It sucks the air from his lungs and replaces it with burning smoke, lights every nerve ending in his body aflame. It consumes him, destroys him, unmakes him and reduces him to smoldering ash in the shape of the man he used to be.

What happens after that is a blur, soft and surreal like a hazy memory: Armand strips Daniel and takes him into his mouth, painting over the places Lestat kissed with his tongue until his spit is all that remains. He writes his name into Daniel’s skin like a promise, like a brand, like he plans on doing it to every inch of Daniel until he’s covered in reminders of Armand’s existence.

Then, once Armand has him reduced to a wanting, whimpering mess, he pulls Daniel into the cradle of his arms, spine to sternum, and fucks into him as though he’s trying to make a home for himself in his lover’s body. As though it isn’t enough for Armand to claim his lips or his throat or his skin; he needs to mark Daniel’s insides, too, his guts and his organs and the viscera that holds him together.

When Daniel comes, Armand’s fist wrapped around him and Armand’s cock buried deep in his ass, it is a revelation. It is an epiphany. Armand follows him shortly after, clutching him close and tight and perfect.

Daniel doesn’t think he ever intends to let go again.

After Daniel’s had enough time to recover and he can be sarcastic again, he jokes, “If I had realized that fucking Lestat would bring you back, I’d have done it a lot sooner.”

Armand looks at him with an exaggerated pout. “Hm. That’s no good.”

“What do you mean?” he asks.

Then, the other vampire is climbing back on top of him. In between kisses, he murmurs, “You still remember his name. We’ll have to remedy that.”

And, well. Daniel’s not about to argue with him.

[eulaliasims]

Round 2, Midwife 3 / 5

I am ignoring that Helenet's herbalist station has books attached to it. I am trying So Hard to ignore it.

Helenet took Angus with her on one of her hikes to gather ingredients in the forest, and she got a wee bit overheated. You okay there, girl?

Helenet senses someone arriving to annoy her, but this time it's not Elmet.

Helenet: What are you doing here? I thought you didn't leave the grove during the day.

Arturo: Why would you think that? I have a charm that temporarily allows people's perception to glance off me, so sometimes I do come walk through the outer village. Though it doesn't work with magic users, as you can see.

Helenet: Please tell me you're not going around looking through people's windows.

Arturo: I am not going around looking through people's windows. I heard you walking through the forest earlier and I thought I'd... say hello? That is what people do, I believe.

Helenet: You were bored. Got it. Well, if you're here, watch this—oh, I hope I can do it again.

Arturo: Very good. See how the wands hold you back?

Helenet: I'm not convinced it's the wand or not. Maybe Veridia just sits closer to the Otherworld than my home village does.

Arturo: Whatever you want to believe, I suppose.

The boss drops by on her way home to check in with Helenet. Norweni has been very kind since Helenet moved to Veridia, from arranging her housing to making sure all is well. Helenet convinces Norweni to take home some of her contraceptive tea, and suggests that Diseta should probably drink it too, in case the spirit's gift works a little differently than they thought.

Norweni: That's probably best. One surprise baby is quite enough, thank you.

Helenet: That's the spirit!

Elmet decided to take Helenet up on her offer of company, although he seems to also have found another wolfy friend to follow him around.

Helenet: Can you at least make the pack be quiet? People are starting to talk about a wolf hunt if they keep coming into the village.

Elmet: I'm not doing it, I swear! But I guess I can try to tell them to keep it down? I don't know how much they understand when I talk.

Meanwhile, Xiang, lagging a little behind Norweni on his way home from the village warriors' training session, spies his brother-in-law speaking with Eisu's friend the midwife, in wirokū form. Interesting; he was under the impression that Elmet refused to reveal his curse to anyone. (He is, of course, going to gossip about this with Eisu immediately.)

Helenet has warmed to Elmet since the first time she met him; alright, he's a little argumentative, but so is she. It's not necessarily a bad thing. She thinks that the thing with Elmet is that he's been lost for what to do since the incident that caused his lycanthropy. He wants to connect with people but holds them at arms length at the same time because he doesn't want to be shunned for his condition. If you get past that, he's honestly kind of sweet.

Also, he's weirdly comforting to hug in wolf form. All warm and fuzzy.

[xxfaithlynxx]

Rendezvous and Carnality

Pairing: Sylus x f!(Named)OC; Rafayel x f!(Named)OC; Xavier x f!(Named)OC; Zayne x f!(Named)OC (WAS a Hunter (chronic physical pain, back injury)

ENJOY the next installment of Part 2!

I’m going absolutely feral for the new year ‘Nightly Rendezvous’ 5* cards! Much like all our LaDs girlies, I'm sure! I hope you all thoroughly enjoy this next bit, cause inspiration hit… hard. (Still don’t think I’m very good at smut bits, but I am trying.)

NOT PROOFREAD! SMUT******* On the shorter side!

Please DON'T steal or plagiarize my work. Much appreciated! As always. ~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 5:

XAVIER

We’d all opted to stay at Sylus’ estate that night after figuring out what had been haunting Era for much of her life. Unsurprisingly, the big white haired boss man had enough rooms to accommodate.

Though, something didn’t seem… right.

I went in search of an open window as I felt like my skin was about to melt off me. Had I caught something maybe? I rounded the corner after coming out from one the many bathrooms this place had and found the other three men standing on a balcony overlooking the eastern quadrant of the N109 Zone, or Charon as Sylus had called it, seeing the plethora of lights and vividly colored LED signs littering towering skyscrapers and menacing, partially broken buildings that may have once been beautiful if the darkness of the Zone hadn’t made everything so haunting.

“Does anyone else feel like they’re coming down with something?” I asked them, slipping in between Rafayel and Zayne as they leaned against the railing. “I feel sick… but not.” It made no sense once I’d said it out loud.

Sylus was leaning on the north side of the thick, intricately carved stone railing, his hips and back arched back in a way that allowed him to lean his elbows back against the rough surface behind him. His head was tilted up, that typical quirk tipping a corner of his mouth upward. “We all feel it, but it’s not that we’re getting sick.” Thank you… you’re a wonder of observation, damn cryptic ass. I narrowed my eyes as a wave of heat rippled up my spine, making a collective round of gasps and noises escape each one of us. What the fuck? I glanced between each man, their cheeks and ears a burning red as their eyes flickered between me and the others in embarrassment.

“Not. A. Word. Lite Bright.” Rafayel had curled in on himself over the railing, similarly Zayne seemed to be trying to keep himself together as well.

 I felt the blush sear down my neck as I swore, I felt lips press against the skin just under my jaw, another shocked gasp escaping me as I pressed a hand to the frame of the door before my legs gave out from the sensation coursing through me. “What the fuck is happening….” My voice no longer sounded like my own as another trickling sensation of lips or fingers trailed down over the left-hand side of my neck, followed by more soft airy kisses down over my chest.

In an almost drunken haze, I felt myself get shoved, not violently, by all three of the other men as they each surged by me and headed in three separate directions. Their erratic breathing and heated looking faces the only visual I got in realizing we were all feeling something.

“O – Oh… fuck.” I leaned my forehead against the glass panel of the door as what felt like hands wandered down my sides, my skin prickling wherever the feeling slithered over. An image fluttered to life in my mind, having her kneeling before me, her eyes, those pristine pools of aquamarine locked on my own as she moved the palms of her hands over my clothed thighs, gracing her touch across the painfully engorged bulge confined within my constricting jeans.

The image seemed so real… but she couldn’t be here… she couldn’t be doing this… unless….

                Meanwhile….

With sheets clinging to every available sweat covered surface of my body. I could feel the stretch and pull within my mind. Pushing past the barriers of my mind. Beyond into the cosmos of where they were. The craving my soul had for the ones at each end of the tethers locked into my soul went beyond anything my body had craved prior. My body sang for each of them in turn, calling for their touch, for their taste, for their beings.

Writhing atop the soft surface of the bed I’d pictured in my mind; I ran my hands in opposing directions over my body. My legs just barely spread but bent at each knee, thighs rubbing together to attempt an attempt at friction to appease the need that burned inside me. Left hand drifting up to push past the thin white silk robe I’d adorned myself in, curling two fingers around my nipple, while my palm cupped the swollen flesh of my right breast while my right hand sunk between my legs, feeling the wet heat sluice over my fingertips as I brushed a pad over the thrumming nub where I wanted me men the most.

“I wish you were all here with me….” I couldn’t help but picture them all, surrounding me as I proceeded to sink a single finger between the drenched folded between my legs, imagining their mouths, their teeth, their bodies moving with mine. Their combined heat and soft whispers of pleasure and carnal desires coming to light with every touch, every kiss. I sucked my bottom lip between my teeth as I imagined the enormity of having their bodies pressed flush against my own, their hard lengths pressing into my thighs, into my stomach and my mouth as the lost themselves in me. Stroking over my lust laden body with their calloused but huge hands.

Seeing Sylus through my own eyes had sent my equilibrium into a fit of rage. Had he registered that I was still in here? Had he moved on? No… he was my mate, as were Rafayel, Zayne and Xavier. Had they missed me? Been looking for me? I missed them… with every fibre of my being. Tonight, as I watched Belamy through my own eyes trace patterns across the bare knees of my legs. How I wished it was one of my men… or all four of them at once, laying siege to their desires for me and only me! I shut reality out as even my brainwashed figure wasn’t entertaining him tonight. I could feel the heat of his large hand as he gripped my throat and pushed me back, the barely there feel of the soft surface pressing into my back as he sneered at my cold eyes before disappearing, an echoing grumble of how he wasn’t interested in those kinds of corpses before I heard the telltale sound of my bedroom door close. ‘Thank God… now back to my imagination.’

~~~

                RAFAYEL

Fuck… fuck… fuck….

I had to get away from them… the fact that all four of us were experiencing whatever this aphrodisiac moment was, went beyond my comprehension. The need that had rushed through me while we’d all ventured to that balcony… and suddenly for all of us to make those noises? What the fuck….

The fact that my clothes felt too tight was enough for me to seek out the room that Sylus had shown me earlier. Something wasn’t right, and it seemed like all four of us were experiencing it. I rushed in and closed the door behind me, pressing my back against the cool wooden surface while my mind reeled from the fact that it felt like someone… she was touching me… like she was pressing her body against me, curling a leg over and around my thigh while that pretty pussy of hers scorched over my own thigh, riding me for any semblance of friction. “Shit!” I need out of these clothes, now… A clear image of her suddenly standing in front of me, barely bent at the waist, crooking a finger in a come-hither motion as I forwent the buttons and tore my shirt apart, hearing the buttons snap and fly across the floor as I shrugged it off and dropped it to the floor.

I felt my eyes hyperfocus on whatever my brain seemed to have conjured. Haven’t had sex since we’d got back from the island, maybe I’m just feeling needier than usual…. Her body was covered in what looked like a white satin gown, no… not a gown, a robe. Beyond where the image of her stood, beckoning me forward, the silhouette of her perfect curves and swells could easily be seen through the fabric as it swayed in the nonexistent breeze of the room.

“Era….” I had to voice it, no matter that I already knew she wasn’t truly here. Not inviting me in to touch her again, to let me feel her again. I took a step, and she retreated a step, Cat and Mouse? I smirked at that ghostly form as she smiled back, one of her eyes closing and then opening quickly as she back into the edge of the bed, before she climbed to kneeling on its edge, her hands dragging over her satin covered tits, nipple peaking through the thin fabric. Fuck. Me.

I made quick work of the belt around my waist before dropping my agonizingly tight pants to the floor. Still unsure whether what I was seeing was real or a fantastic dream, I decided to keep the briefs on and followed her up to the edge of the bed, when I stood before her, it took my breath away again as I swore, I could feel her hands trace around the dips and the curves of my muscles and abs. “Why aren’t you here….” I felt myself whimper as a particular toe curling brush of her mouth graced the spot beneath my left collarbone.

                SYLUS

After that vile moment on the balcony with the others, I could feel her pull, her bond tugging at my mind. Tugging at…. I gasped as I pushed into my bedroom, closing and locking the door as I leaned my back against the door, head tilted up as the clear image of her body coiling with mine, hands and mouth roaming while she took her pleasure from me, I grit my teeth as I felt the strain of need pulse between me legs.

She’s a fox… that one. Insatiable, even while imprisoned… fuck. I moved quickly so that I was sitting on the bench seat beneath the window of my bedroom, arms stretched over the surface of the backrest as I topped my head back to rest idly against the glass of the window facing the south side of the N109 Zone’s taller buildings, and their glittering lights and signs, sharing a sinister look to Charon, as the Zone usually did.

Out on that balcony, all I could think about was the feeling of her. Remembering our first time in my shower, taking her against the tiled wall while water pelted against the angry red stripes she’d scored into the skin of my back, and then while I’d taken her as she’d faced that mirror. My body sang out with pleasure as I pulled the buttons of my shirt undone leisurely. Was she manipulating us from her prison? With him? I felt a sharp tug over the now rigged peak of my left nipple, I looked down and could swear I was seeing her ghost… a knee pressed against the cushion between my spread legs, hands pressed against my chest as she hovered above me, a smirk in place as she tilted her head to the side, her now much shorter ash blonde hair curving across her forehead to fall sexily over her eyes.

“Oh, kitten… you’re punishing us, aren’t you.” It wasn’t meant to be responded to, Hell, I wasn’t sure she could in her apparition like state. I felt her hands wander though, dragging her the tips of her fingernails down the ridges of my sides, eliciting sharp breaths and strangled moans from my chest. It’s been too long… the beast needs his mate…. I sucked in another sharp inhale as I watched her ghostly form move to straddle my lap, and as she roamed her hands across the heaving muscle of my chest, I took a moment to really look at her, trying to focus on more of her details.

She wore a flimsy and cheap looking sheer robe that barely clung to her form, the belt messily tied around her middle. Her shoulders bare as the fabric drifted down over her alabaster skin, to her elbows. I could feel the warmth of her, like she was in fact there with me, and I all I could think about was having her, solid and real riding my lap like her life depended on it.

I exhaled on a moan as she drifted those salacious fingertips down over my clothed cock….

                Meanwhile….

I could picture them all clearly, Xavier with his perfect tongue between my legs, licking me slowly, his tongue pressing flat from taint to clit, before wrapping his tongue around that sensitive nub and sucking, hard. My skin felt so hot as I wandered my fingers through his imaginary blonde tresses, watching as his eyes rolled back as he encouraged me to roll my hips against his starving mouth with the hands he held around the globes of my ass. Drinking in all of what my body was willingly giving him as waves of pleasure corded through my center, coiling and tightening from the ministrations of the diligent wet muscle. My noises falling on needy ears as those fingers dug into the flesh of the ample cheeks he clung to. When he’d sucked, licked and bullied my clit into falling apart under his tongue, back arched and toes curling, I could imagine him gripping my ass hard enough to pull me down the bed’s surface, fingers digging hard enough to leave behind small circular bruises, before he slung my legs high up and over his biceps as he folded me in half. Pressing his mouth against my own, the taste of my own slick a prominent flavor surrounding his tongue as it surged between my lips and curled with my own, reminding and remembering, releasing my mouth, I imagined Xavier releasing my legs one at a time before grappling my hips only to flip me over on to my stomach, only to pull my hips up and pressing his hips firmly against the soft cushion of my bum, letting his swollen cock slip between my legs to brush over the folds of my smoldering and dripping pussy, causing soft whimpers and gasps to escape me from the friction over my already sensitive body.

A clear image of Rafayel joining as he crawled towards me from the edge of the bed, reaching out with one hand to grip my chin between thumb and four fingers as he slotted his mouth over my own, his tongue pushing past the barrier of my lips with the eagerness of a starving man. Sinking his delicious tongue into the cavern of my mouth, my own tongue meeting his halfway, letting the sweet taste of him envelope my senses as I felt Xavier’s mouth touch the center of my back, and one of his hands wrap around my middle, arching me up so my back pressed against his chest, allowing Rafayel to slink closer to me.

                ZAYNE

 The cool air had felt good when Sylus and I had gone out to that balcony, we’d thought similarly to Xavier when he’d arrived, shortly after the lemurian asking about feeling sick but not. I’d shared a look at Sylus when the waves and curls of pleasure started saturating our senses. We both knew what this was, Rafayel’s comment about not saying a word after whatever wave of bliss had surged through each of us, causing all of us to release those noises…. I’d been mortified, but now….

“Tease.” I stood bent over a desk in the bedroom I’d been provided, my legs were spread to shoulder width as I pressed my palms into the surface of the tabletop. The sensation of what could only be defined as the soft pressure of her fingers pressing into my thighs and the brush of breath across my mouth made my own mouth water, imagining dominating that naughty mouth of hers with my own unless she was a pliant mess of needy limbs and scorching heat. Those bonds….

Reaching up quickly, I tore my glasses off my face and set them none-to-gently against the top of the desk as I let my head dip forward, the feel of her mouth moving against my neck and up, tongue flicking over the shell of my ear, bringing forth yet another breathy moan from somewhere in my chest. I no longer cared how loud I was, my imagination was running rampant as the bond she and I shared electrified every sensation, every curl of euphoric indulgence in this moment. A soft caress glided across my bottom lip, and I felt myself pant with need as the apparition before me shimmered lightly, becoming almost solid but still ethereal around her edges.

“Everything… is falling apart… without you here, Era….” I whispered as I felt those ghostly hands drift down between my legs.

                Meanwhile….

Another mouth pressed to my shoulder in my mind as I opened my eyes and saw Sylus beside me, Rafayel and Xavier still in front and behind me, their own mouths pressing heated, open mouthed kisses and licks over my chest and back, soft breaths leaving me as I reached up a hand to cup Sylus beneath his chin, pulling him in to capture his curved panty dropping mouth with my own, a soft moan escaping him as my tongue ran unabashedly over his lips, waiting for him to open for me. When he did, my hand dropped to press an open palm over the center of his chest before dipping lower, searching for what I truly wanted. When my fingers brushed over the leaking tip of his fully erect member, I moaned into his mouth at the same time he whined into mine. Pulling away from Sylus’ mouth, I turned when I felt a sharp nip of teeth sink into the opposite shoulder, when I looked up from my shoulder, my eyes locked on the verdant greens of Zayne’s eyes. I smiled as I reached up to brush my thumb across his lip, watching as his eyes fluttered shut and he leaned into my touch, pressing a soft kiss to the pad of my digit.

“I need you… all of you.” I whispered as the pleasure rolling through me amped up as my mind brought them closer, Xavier prodding his cock to my entrance from the back, while Rafayel arced his hips forward and slid his thick member between the folds of my cunt to brush his rigged tip over my clit. Zayne had reached up and grabbed the back of my neck, pulling me slightly closer to him as he crashed his mouth over mine, his tongue shoving past my lips to wrap and curl around my own. His free hand slipping down to grip my free wrist, only to mimic what the opposite was down as he circled my fingers around his cock, and using his hand to begin stroking him, matching the rhythm of how I was also stroking Sylus’ shaft.

All four men seemed to moan in unison as they moved, pushing and pressing against me, my own desires were being fulfilled by all of them in that blissful moment while locked away in that decrepit cage.

“I will come home to you all.”

~~~

[corgate-epistolary]

May 5th, 624

(Transcript under the cut) (Read on Ao3 HERE)

[Delivered to Corgate May 6th, 624 – Received by Elowen Vance on May 14th, 624)

[Front of Envelope: Letter was mailed in a brown craft paper envelope tied with natural twine, addressed to:

Elowen Vance Corgate Post Office May 5th, 624

With the return address of:

Eris Mirrows 87 Lancedragon Strt. Avalon

In the top right, there is a sticker depicting an black engraving-style ice cream bowl on a white background, below which are the words “FOR YOUR HEART”.

Back of Envelope: The letter was sealed in mottled red & white sealing wax, with a wax seal depicting a crescent moon surrounded by orbital shapes & stars. Letter was tied with craft twine, with a small treble clef & key tied to the cord. In the bottom left there is a sticker depicting a black engraving-style steaming cup on a white background, below which is the word “BONJOUR”.

Interior pages: Written on mottled medium brown paper. It is lightly, almost invisibly, lined with slightly darker brown lines. In the top center, approximately 1 inch from the top, the words “THANKS FOR LIVING YEARS” can be seen on the paper. The writing is tidy, slightly rounded print in black ink.]

Eris Mirrows, A.Mg. 87 Lancedragon Strt. Avalon

May 5th, 624

Dear Ms. Vance, It is with great pleasure and a hint of surprise that I receive your letter. I did not expect the Corgate post system to be so quick to get your words to me. The simple fact that they have railroad tracks still amaze [sic] me. I do not know how Mg. Hawkins convinced you to move with him to this backwater part of the country without so much as a raise. What you would do for him, I wonder… Or rather, what he would do without you. I am pleased to read that Mg. Hawkins is in his element in the countryside and having a great time. Meanwhile, I have rarely heard Mg. Equlee complain so much as in the past few days. Something about how they will succomb [sic] to boredom without the most entertaining clown in town. I am divided between patting him on the back for the loss of his favorite pastime of picking a fight with your mage, or believing his condescending tone and idly nodding along. I have no doubt that they will

[End of Page 1] [Eris Mirrow’s address & the date appears on all pages, and have been eliminated for clarity]

find a way to piss each other off despite the distance, but I would never dare ruin the sulking of Mg. Equlee; which is the reason I have passed your most sincere apologies with as much dramatics as I could muster. You would, without a doubt, have been a better performer of this trick than I was. I do not know which shocked Mg. Equlee the most; to hear an apology from my mouth or that Mg. Hawkins did not leave a message for them through your letter. Either way, they resumed their theatrics a little less loudly so I suppose it must have worked. For what it is worth, I do share your reservation on this assignment. The Council does not make a habit of sending their greater mages away from Avalon without a reason. I remember on Kathrina Devolee, a good five years back or so, who’s [sic] name had been sullied by dirty rumors of unconventional use of magic, to which the Council had answered with a swift assignment to the North. I do not believe anyone has heard much from her since. (Writing these words, I realize it was indeed you who told me this tale. It goes to show, once again, that you are the ever flowing source of gossip in this part of town. I will do my best to fill the role in your absence, but do not keep your hopes up.)

[End of Page 2]

I have been around Vimes Place to get your satchel back. It was, as you have so helpfully provided, propped on the front table. You will forgive my curiosity as I could not help but wonder exactly what novels you would put alongside such ever-so-important notes. I am unsurprised to find there your classic Aliyah Prestance. I do not remember a time of our lives where you did not carry at least one of [scratch out - “your”] her works. I might’ve shipped a few recommendations of my own in your satchel, so do not be offput [sic] if it seems heavier than you remember it to be. Mg. Equlee was glad to put some complex lock on the whole package, no doubt just a tad more complex than necessary, just to be annoying. I hope you will be able to retrieve the contents fast enough. I will, of course, keep a watchfull [sic] eye on your plants. My green thumb might not be as good as yours but how hard could it be, right? Your plants are safe with me. I hope the countryside treats you well and

[End of Page 3]

that you will keep describing its people and sights in your letter. The world always seems brighter through your eyes, though I ever so wonder where that enthusiasm keeps coming from. I am hopeful that the Coucil [sic] will call you back soon enough. In the meantime, have my good wishes and thoughts.Awaiting your reply, Eris.

[To the right of the signature is a sticker depicting a tiger, a small girl, and a rabbit. The small girl is pulling clothes out of a suitcase the rabbit is sitting on. The art is done in an engraving style, with black lines on a white background.]

[missadangel]

Little Bird in a Cage (Javier Peña x Reader)

Part 11: Payback (WARNING +18, Smut)

Gifs by javier-pena - smokahauntis - sigurism

---------------------------- All episodes here ------------------------

It was around 2 am when you knocked on the door to Javi's room. He opened the door with a smile, but he frowned as he saw you because you were wearing a very long black trench coat, a large backpack and...

‘Sunglasses at night?’

‘Sshhh,’ you shushed him and hurried inside.

Javi chuckled and closed the door. You took off the glasses and took a deep breath.

‘Good thing I didn't run into anyone.’

‘You don't think it's a little over the top?’

You rolled your eyes and put your bag on the floor, ‘I have to be cautious even if my dad is very busy since what happened.’

‘You look a bit funny,’ Javi said laughing and pointing at the trench coat you were wearing.

Without taking your eyes off him you took off the trench coat and threw it on the bed.

‘How do I look now?’

You were wearing a black satin slip mini dress with black lace garter socks underneath.

Javi was speechless, his heart started to race, he walked slowly towards you and put his hands gently around your waist.

‘You look gorgeous,’ he said and lowered his head looking into your eyes.

‘I love you, I'm sorry I couldn’t say it before,’ and then he started to run his lips over your face, first your cheeks, your ears, your neck. You felt your throat dried as his sweet breath caressed your whole face.

‘Why don't we have a drink first?’ you swallowed.

He raised his eyebrows.

‘Why are you so fond of alcohol these days?’

‘I think I'm addicted now, I drink every time I got stressed, I even tried cigarettes but-’

‘Cigarettes? You? Really?’

‘I couldn’t because I choked from coughing.’

Javi chuckled and poured a drink from the minibar into glasses for you and himself.

‘By the way, you don't smell of cigarettes anymore,’ you said, suddenly remembering.

He handed you the glass, ‘I've been using nicorette lately, but sometimes I really want to smoke, I cheated many times.’

‘It must be hard after all these years,’ you murmured, looking out of the window of the room.

‘Wow, you were right about the view,’ took a sip from your liquor.

Javi put his glass on the table and slowly approached you from behind, wrapping his arms around your waist. Then he took your glass and put it on the window sill.

Meanwhile he kept his other hand on your waist, apparently getting impatient. Then he started kissing your neck and you start to breathe heavily.

‘You have no idea how much I’ve missed you,’ he whispered. ‘Your chocolate hair, your thin long slim neck, your sweet caramel eyes sparkling like gems in the light, and your sugary lips,’ his finger rubs your lips.

‘Kiss me already,’ you said passionately, his words driving you crazy.

He did as you said, when your lips met, his moustache tickled your lips, you felt like you get electrocuted, and it was spreading all over your body.

The kiss got rougher and he lifted you onto his lap, your legs automatically wrapped around his waist as you both breathed only through your nostrils.

With you on his lap, still kissing you, he turned round and sat you on the bed, and lower himself down to your level, kneeling.

After his lips slip to your neck and then down he gently pushed you backwards. Then he lifted your legs up and put on his shoulders, you gasped with surprise. You were very excited and nervous as you had never experienced what he was about to do during sex before. His lips running on your panties now, his moustache kept tickled which made you real wet then he started to lick it and you bit your lip hard.

It was so good.

After licking down to the hem of your panties, he runs his fingers along the inside and takes it off. First, he starts licking and kissing your inner thighs, slowly moving to your wet pussy. He slowly starts to lick your clit and sucking. You leaned back, moaning in pleasure.

“God, Javi,” you moaned.

He smirked and started going faster. Pumping his two fingers in while licking hard. This feeling made you moaning like a stray cat, no one has ever made you feel such pleasure.

“Please Javi,” you begged.

He smirked “So impatient.”

You sat up in bed and looked at him, grabbed him by the shirt and kissed him hard while unbuttoning and taking it off.

And suddenly he's on top of you, kissing your neck. You moaned and press your pelvis against him. You ask for more without speaking. Your pulse raised when he grabbed the strap of your dress and peeled it down to your waist.

Your eyes on his muscles, run your hands over his belly and greedily grabbed his belt.

"So this is what you want, huh?" he murmured, smiling crookedly.

“I want you Javi,” you whispered his ear.

You undo his belt and, following it, immediately the buttons of his pants. He quickly got rid of his pants.

Then kissed you roughly, challenges you and bites your lip a little. You pull pillows to the side pushing away and moan as his cock enters you. You throw your head back and move up and down, holding onto his shoulders. His hands are on your hips, on your waist, on your back, on your breasts... His hands were everywhere.

You lean up to touch his chest and wrap your arms around his muscled shoulders.

He moans when you move and looks down at you, the change of position feeling even tighter on his cock. You kiss his neck. He leans down to place both hands on the bed surface with you still wrapped around him.

He presses his forehead against yours, grabs your hips and gets even more rough in his movements.

“I'm so close,” you barely whispered.

“Me too baby,” he moans and closes his eyes as the pleasure builds up. He rubs your breasts with one hand while the other one stays grabbing your hips, which made you enjoyed a lot.

He goes impossibly faster as he struggles to keep up the pace and finally you both scream in pure pleasure as Javi sucks and bites your chin and you scratch his back with your nails. The wave washing over you is heavy, intense. You both have never felt such an extreme release.

“You’re amazing Javi,” you were panting.

 He kissed your neck, also panting. This wasn't nearly the experience he had with other women.

This was fucking amazing, he thought.

'I love you, Javi,' your voice caresses his ears.

He propped himself up on his elbow, leaning over you kisses you softly.

“I love you too, hermosa.“ He kisses you again, your lips, your nose, your neck, top of your shoulders make you feel like you’re the happiest woman alive.

After a while you had go to the bathroom to pee and take a quick shower, he accompanied you.

-----

‘So you wouldn't have come if you didn't think I was pregnant?’

‘I wanted to, but I didn't think I had the right to force you to come with me.’

In the early hours of the morning you were lying in bed together, talking about everything, chatting. You put your head on Javi's chest and he put his arm around you.

‘You thought I wouldn't come with you?’

You looked at him curiously, you didn't know he thought like that, you thought he would go on with his life without caring about you.

Javi turned his head to you.

‘If I asked you to come to Texas with me a few days before the wedding, would you accept? I don't have a fancy house there like you grew up in, I live with my dad in a small house, and I didn't think I could give you the comfortable life you're used to.’

Your eyes filled with tears, you realized how selfish you were thinking, you were not the only one whose suffering. It must have been a difficult process for him as well.

You touched his face with your hand.

‘Javi, I would go anywhere with you, I want you, I'm happy when I’m with you.’

Javi smiled and kissed you.

‘I can't be without you anymore either, the days without you felt like something was missing. And I don't want to feel incomplete anymore.’

You kissed him back and then sat up to hug him. As he began to kiss you more eagerly, he grabbed your hips and slid you onto his lap, wrapping his strong arms around your back and waist. It was so nice to hold him like that with both of you naked, the feeling of your breasts against his strong, muscular chest, that you never wanted it to end.

You didn't want to think about anything else but the two of you, unfortunately life goes on outside this room.

There was a knock on the door made you both stopped and looked at there.

‘Jav, we need to talk, are you awake?’

You blushed when you heard Steve's voice, you were so embarrassed.

‘Coming,’ Javi kissed you on the top of the head before getting out of bed. He grabbed his pants from floor and quickly putting them on. You pulled the sheet over your head burying yourself in.

Javi chuckled and hurried to the door.

‘What's up man? Something wrong?’

Steve looked him up and down.

‘Shit, sorry, wrong time?’

‘It's okay, you tell me what happened.’

‘We've been called in for a statement, we need to go to the station.’

Javi frowned. ‘A statement?’

‘The president was attacked and same day we arrived by DEA plane. And we were coincidentally at the same wedding. Apparently the Colombian government has launched a full-scale investigation and is considering every possibility.’

When you were under the sheet, you heard everything, you were angry and worried.

‘Come on, get dressed and meet me at the lobby, the plane will take us to Bogotá, we have to make a statement at the headquarters,’ Steve said suggestively with his eyes, Javi rolled his eyes.

‘Fuck this man.’

Steve patted him on the shoulder and when he left, Javi closed the door.

‘We'll be apart again,’ you sneered. Javi came over and sat on the bed, touched your cheek.

‘Don't worry, we'll just make a statement, it's better to go there and as much as I don't like the ambassador, he'd back us up.’

‘And then what? Will you come back here?’

‘Not sure, what about you, how long will you stay at the hotel?’

‘I mean, I was supposed to fly to Hawaii for my honeymoon today, but...’

Javi glared at you.

‘But, since I can't go, I think we'll stay in a hotel for a while. I must go to my room to talk Caroline and Dolores.’

‘Okay, I can reach you by hotel phone,’ he smirked.

‘What are you going to tell them? I want to meet the bride who couldn’t get married yesterday, or what?’

‘The bride I seduced yesterday and made her mine,’ he said, rubbing your cheek as your face turned red.

‘I love this colour of your face,’ he said and kissed your cheek, then stood up.

‘Oh, Javi your back!’

‘Hm?’

There were scratches on his back, like cat scratches, and suddenly you felt embarrassed.

‘Did I do that?’

Javi looked at his back in the mirror, smiling.

‘Yes, my naughty gatita.’

You giggled as he leaned down and kissed your lips then pulled back and walked to the wardrobe to get dressed.

You had to get dressed too, so you stood up and took your clothes out of your bag. Javi was surprised to see that you were wearing sportswear.

‘I thought if I got caught I'd pretend I was out for a morning jog,’ you explained.

‘You seem to be an expert at that,’ he grinned.

‘Thanks to my detail-orientated, inquisitive father.’

When you finished getting dressed, you kissed Javi and left the room, and he followed you out. You felt sad that you were going to be apart from now on, no idea when he will be back. When you came to your room couldn’t find anyone.

Caroline was staying in the room with you so you wonder where she was, so you decided to go for real walk or jog.

The lobby of the hotel was quiet, you were thankful that you didn't see Felipe or anyone else from his family. You approached the door and the attendant opened it for you, you were going down the stairs when suddenly a few people approached you, they had cameras in their hands. You got surprised.

“There she is!

“Get on the record now.”

Someone handed you a microphone. “Senorita Y/N Botero Llano, what do you have to say about the tragedy that befell the president at your wedding?”

You were just standing there, couldn’t step back.

“Will you postpone your wedding?” someone else asked.

“Have your father said anything about the president, can you inform us about his condition?” another man asked.

Suddenly Felipe came in with security and grabbed you by the arm and pulled you inside.

“Are you crazy? It's a bad time to go outside.”

“What do you mean I'm locked up in the hotel?”

“Makes two of us.”

“Great!”

That's all that you need.

Caroline ran to you through the lobby. “Where have you been, were you with h-”

Suddenly you made a gesture with your eyes for her to shut up, and Felipe was frowning at you. Caroline smiled fakely.

“Ah, I mean, I was going to say, where did you go out of the room so early in the morning?”

“I was going for a walk, but the reporters-”

“Yes, they came early in the morning in a hurry.”

“You know we have to give them an explanation sooner or later, right?” Felipe said in a weird tone.

You rolled your eyes at him.

“Maybe we'll just call off the wedding, isn't that an option?”

“My family, my relatives, your relatives, none of them matter to you?

They really didn't.

“No,” you said, not looking at him. “I didn't want to get married anyway, remember?”

Felipe got angry.

“Okay, maybe I'll go and tell the journalists that you cheated on me, it'll be an interesting story, don't you think?”

A wave of anger swept through your body.

“Felipe, what the-” You silenced Caroline by raising your hand, looking at him got curious what he meant.

“I saw you with him last night,” he said, then lowered his voice and continued. “I'm not stupid, I know you spent the night with him.”

You sighed. “So? What do you think will happen if you go and tell the journalists? You just gonna humiliate yourself.”

“I don't know who would be more humiliated, me or you. After all, you are the minister's daughter. Guess the headline, 'Wedding canceled because the minister's daughter slept with famous Agent Javier Peña same night as supposed to be her wedding night.”

You slapped him hard in the face. Everyone in the lobby looked at you.

“You asshole! Don't you dare mention his name!”

Felipe looked at you menacingly.

“If you don't come with me and tell the journalists that we're postponing the wedding for now, I'll humiliate you and him all over Colombia!”

Your eyes filled with anger, and as you were thinking what to do, you realized that he was even angrier than you. You ran after him as he was heading the outer door, you wanted to grab his arm but your foot caught on the edge of the seat in the lobby and you fell, you had managed to grab his arm as you fell but now it looked like you were begging him.

You got up quickly, it was hard to decide which was more frustrating, the strange looks of the people in hotel or Felipe's threat against you.

“Are you okay?” Caroline came running over and examined your foot.

“Yeah, I think I hurt it a bit,” you staggered.

“Look, don't name him, okay, you can blame it on me, but don’t give his name,” you said, Felipe crossed his arms in a relaxed manner.

“Okay, are you going to tell them we postponed the wedding?”

“She just hurt her foot, what the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Caz,” you said, shushing her. “Fine, I'll do it," you hissed.

“Don't, Y/N,” Caroline grabbed your arm. You patted her hand making her calm.

Then you turned to Felipe.

“But I have one condition, I'll do it after my father comes back,” you said, you were absolutely sure that he wouldn't like this.

Your father has never wanted you in the news, politically or socially. Felipe was playing with fire.

“Deal,” he said, smiling, thinking he has won, but the real winner was you.

------

It was almost noon when Javi and Steve's plane arrived in Bogotá. First they visited the ambassador, then the DEA headquarters. According to the information, one of the assailants has been shot at the scene and the other was captured alive. He was in the interrogation room waiting to be questioned. According to his file, he was a Colombian citizen and had connections to all the cartels, so it was DEA's job.

It was the supervisor who specifically asked Javi and Steve to interrogate the attacker. Which this is on their benefit because it was very strange that these two agents should have finished their work in this country and go back to their homeland long ago, but for some reason this attack happened on the day of their unexpected return.

Steve and Javi stood outside the door to the interrogation room.

‘Just like old times, eh?’ Steve grinned at him.

‘Yeah, I fucking missed it.’ Javi grunted.

When they opened the door and walked in, the assailant was handcuffed to a chair and had taken quite a beating.

‘Oh, shit,’ Javi said sarcastically. ‘Some cops have no mercy when it comes to the president?’

Steve laughed and glanced down at the his file.

‘José Fedor Rey, ex-guerrilla member also ex Cali Cartel member, and your list of crime is as long as a fucking christmas tree at Northgate Mall.’

The world's tallest christmas tree was at Northgate Mall in 1950.

‘According to an ex-guerrilla, you're a bad shot for wounding the president in the arm,’ Javi said, flipping through the crime scene investigation files. ‘Guess it wasn't your day, huh?’

Jose grinned, but he didn’t care to say anything.

Javi pulled up a chair and sat opposite him. Steve was standing right next to him. They both trying to get something out of this dangerous criminal and they were just getting started.

‘Why did you target the president? You've got to give me something or you're going to jail and I'm afraid you won't last a day in prison as an ex-guerrilla, an errand boy for the Cali cartel.’

Javi hadn't mentioned prison in Colombia, and Jose tensed when he realised this.

‘I'm a citizen of this country, it's my right to serve my sentence here.’

‘Look Jav, he can talk,’ Steve said sarcastically. ‘I don't think you realise how famous you are, you're on the FBI's most wanted list, which means the US has the power to prosecute and imprison you.’

‘Fuck you, you can't do that,’ he shouted.

‘You're a member of a cartel and attacked the Colombian president and shot him, don't you think that's reason enough?’ it was Javi's turn to push him.

‘President wasn't the target,’ he muttered.

‘What did you say?’ Javi and Steve looked at him curiously, it was their turn to tense up.

‘You guys think you're so clever but I don't think you're getting the point, the reason we chose the wedding day was because the target was the Minister of Defense. But the damn president wouldn't shut up to finish his speech, I had one chance when the minister came up to him but the president decided to hug him and the moment I fired he raised his damn arm.’

Javi got angry and he and Steve looked at each other.

‘Why did you target the minister?’ Steve continued.

‘He broke the deal, everything happened because of him, he promised Miguel and the others, all of us.’

Then he looked at Javi.

‘If he hadn't reinstated you, Agent Peña, Miguel wouldn't have been caught, the plan was perfect. No one would have caught Miguel but you. Everything happened because of him, and you. Then we had a chance when we got the girl, but you saved her, you ruined everything. We’ve lost many men.”

‘Oh you're breaking my fuckin heart,’ Javi growled angrily.

‘What time is it?’ Jose asked.

Steve was confused.

‘Why the fuck are you asking me what time it is?’

‘It's probably mid-afternoon, which means my team should be finishing up the loose ends soon.’

Javi angrily grabbed him by the collar.

‘What the fuck does that mean? What team?’

José just laughed wickedly, ‘You're about to find out what it's like to be on the losing side.’

Javi punched him in the face hard and José fell down to the floor with the chair, before he could look up Javi grabbed his throat.

‘Tell me what you're planning! Where's your team? What are they gonna do?’

Steve tapped Javi on the shoulder, he was worried too.

‘Tell me, fucker!’ he pressed his hands angrily against his neck and shook him, probably killing him if Steve hadn't grabbed his hands and pulled him away.

José coughed and breathes hard, then began laughing.

‘Santa Marta,’ he said, ’it's probably too late now, Agent Peña.’

Javi kicked him angrily while he was still on the ground, made him lose his consciousness.

‘Javi, we don't have time, we have to get to the plane now. Come on, man.’

Javi nodded, anxiety has taken over his body. They rushed out of the building to get on the same plane they have arrived. Supervisor couldn't understand what had happened, but he got it was an emergency.

[snaillock]

this fandom dry as shitttttt cause why am i barely seeing anyone talk about the new trailer? i know there are people talking about it if you scroll enough through the blue lock tag but for an animanga fan base that just had a season 2 of it’s anime drop? it’s a whole damn desert up in here.

anyways here are my thoughts on the trailer and the upcoming season:

good god blue lock deserved a better studio if i’m being completely honest here.

i really really don’t like the harsh look of the dominant and completely black shadows. i feel like it just does not at all fit with the art style and just clashes weirdly. it just gives off the vibe of them trying something and just going too far with it.

ofc a lot of stuff about the art direction is pretty subjective and everyone can have their own thoughts about it. personally, i don’t enjoy it that much and a lot of the screencaps are pretty unappealing to look at.

also not sure if this is just me but i have always hated is how absurdly lean the characters’ bodies looked in the anime. not completely sure if this is a thing unique to this anime or not. in the manga, they obviously looked fit and athletic but it was still believable that they were teenage athletes that have only really played on a high school/local level. meanwhile the adaptation made it appear like they have 0% body fat and are completely dehydrated. they looked like they were on steroids or some shit. is ego over there sneaking tren into their bloodstreams when they’re sleeping? and it certainly does not look this pet peeve of mine will get any better in season 2.

anyways onto the more positive stuff i’m looking forward to:

one thing i am excited for is isagis final goal in the u-20 match. i love that specific chapter in the series and i do feel like they’ll put a lot of effort into that part since it’s a pretty significant moment. so yeah i do have hopes for that. same with rin’s backstory. based on the little clip of it in the trailer, it does seem promising and i bet they’ll do a good job on that as well since it is a defining moment for his character.

another thing im quite happy about is my pookie sae’s new design. i’m so happy they changed his look to reflect the manga art style improve post-second selection arc. he looks soooo goodddd!

i’m also hella excited for the additional times. i really enjoyed those the first time i watched the anime and definitely was a little sad when i found out they weren’t canon in the actual manga. so i can’t wait to see what they’ll add to the characters this round.

even if the new season does inevitably its noticeable flaws, i bet i still will be extremely hyped when watching just like with season one. this series doesn’t fail to make me feel like a typical sports bro in a bar whenever someone makes a goal. and you bet my ass will be tuning in (🏴‍☠️) each and every week.

[trulycertain]

Blankets

In which the shadow-cursed lands are freezing, Lora's undead boyfriend is shivering, and she decides there's only one solution: hug that vampire. And bring blankets. Meanwhile, Astarion gets to further discover the joys of non-sexual intimacy.

Sappy fluff on those lines Astarion has about cuddling, and about missing his partner's body heat. Act 2, after his big "I like you" confession. 3.1k. Ao3

The shadow-cursed lands have a certain character. It's a menacing, get-the-fuck-out-of-here character, but it's definitely a character. The dark and the weather - or lack of it - have a feel all their own.

"Who gave this place permission to be so damned freezing?" Astarion's trying to keep his usual stiff-necked poise, even slouched by the fire, but the cold's starting to defeat him. Hunting helped for a while, it was obvious, and it'd probably be a lot worse if he hadn't fed, but nothing seems to keep the cold at bay for long. His mouth is working as he tries not to let his teeth chatter - probably a lot worse with fangs.

"Blame Shar," Gale mutters, daring to without Shadowheart close by, and Lae’zel snorts. “But tonight is frigid even for this cursed place.”

Astarion pulls the blanket tighter round himself - worn but thick wool, with a little embellished, almost fleur-de-lys border in delicate gold thread. Somehow that hasn't unravelled. The rest is drabber than his usual style, though needs must, Lora supposes. But there's a pink patch, one she swears she sewed more haphazardly...

Wait. Lora knows that blanket. It used to be one of hers. It's the worn one she dropped outside his tent the first night they camped together - when he'd spent the journey muttering about the mud and the lack of baths, she'd spent it letting his snotty insults roll off her back, and she'd woken up the next morning to find said blanket had... mysteriously disappeared. That was months ago.

The thread's new.

“Damn this,” Astarion mutters, before she can muck everything up by saying something. “I'm turning in. Wake me up if we're all eaten by shadow undead.” And then he stalks to his tent, blanket thrown over his shoulders like a stereotypical vampire's cape; she watches him go in concern.

“Goodnight?” Gale manages.

Silence falls, even more than usual in the Shadowlands. Gale coughs. Wyll stirs the fire with a stick. Lae’zel sharpens her sword just a little more pointedly.

Lora lasts perhaps two minutes before she's grabbing a fur and an extra blanket from her tent - firmly ignoring the curious amusement she can feel from the other side of the fire - and sidling into Astarion's vaguely hedonistic lair, stepping past blood jars and haphazard books.

Astarion’s already reclining on an elbow, of course; he heard her coming. “Oh? Didn't know you were feeling frisky. At least it might warm us both up.”

Even though it's a joke, any coquettish effect is  mostly ruined by the three layers he's wearing - undershirt peeking out from under his collar, another shirt, and some kind of robe he must have stolen along the way - and his miserable little nest of blankets. And the subtle redness to his nose, the tension in his shoulders to stop the shakes. Gods, there’s barely anything here, for all the treasure trove outside his tent. He’s all but slee – trancing on the ground. Elf or not, he’s got to be freezing.

Lora shakes her head, sliding to her knees next to him. “You're shivering.”

“Of course I'm not. Am I?” Astarion looks down at himself and sighs. “I suppose I am.” He is. Vigorously. “How are you not?” he adds, in confused disgust.

Lora throws the extra covers over him. And then she wriggles half out of his tent, ignoring the fact that Wyll is now leaning round Gale to watch, and returns with half of Astarion’s cushion stash.

“Is that why you're here? To make a delivery?” That arch voice is muffled through wool, until a pale hand pulls it away from his face and Astarion blinks at her owlishly. Well, half owl, half very disgruntled sheep. The pomade’s starting to lose the fight against blanket friction, flyaway curls sneaking back into shape. It’s... sweet.

“If you want. But I thought I'd ask if we could share,” she says, gesturing to his bedroll.

He blinks at her, sobering. “I thought we'd spoken about, ah…”

Is it patronising to be proud of him? Probably. It doesn't change the fact she is, terribly, even while guilt for how they started is trying to squeeze the breath out of her.

A hand to her heart, Lora says, “No funny business. On my mother's life.”

Astarion squints at her, amused but with the tiniest hint of wariness underneath. “You don't have a mother.”

Sombrely now, eyes steady on his, she says, “On my lyre.”

Those little lines start around his brows - he's frowning, trying to work her out. And then, like so many small moments over this journey, she sees the second he decides to trust her. With an incline of his head, Astarion says, “Accepted.” He blinks, and snorts. “But darling, it's not as if I have an excess of body heat to give. If anything, quite the opposite. I'll, ah, leech from you.” He tries to grin fangily through the shivers, and then it occurs to him. “...Ah. You were trying to save my dignity, weren't you?” He sighs, and untucks a corner of his blanket pile, dragging a cushion or two under his head and turning away from her. It's the nearest to an invitation she's likely to get.

Unable to watch him in his misery any more, Lora swiftly ties the tent flaps, tries not to bolt into his absurd nest of cushions, and tucks herself in. “Oh. These are soft,” she says, plumping one. Silk. Shouldn't even ruin her hair too badly.

Astarion huffs a laugh at that - mostly silent, but she spots the movement of his shoulders.

Slowly, loudly, she shuffles closer and puts an arm round him; Hells, below wool and linen, he's absolute ice. He makes the smallest noise and stiffens, shoulder blades like shelves against her.

Lora lets go, instantly - but there's a hand snaking to her hip before she can shuffle backwards, pulling her to him.

Astarion murmurs, “I was just startled, that's all. You're so warm.” His tone is wondering - and then embarrassment at himself catches up with him. He goes tense all over again, but Lora just re-wraps an arm round him; curls the rest of herself round him too, knees against his knees, hips against his hips, chest to back.

It's the softest breath he lets out, almost inaudible. He tries, “This is ridiculous. It's not as if we're in some snowy wasteland.”

She says, “No light. No heat.”

“Hm. You know, once I would have said something like, ‘You're all the light I need. A lone star in the darkness.’”

With a laugh, she puts her nose against his shoulder. “Isn't that meant to be you? Considering the name, and all.”

“Shh. Don't ruin my metaphor. It took me a whole five seconds to think of it.” It's a slow thaw, the way he's melting against her as he speaks: bit by bit, inch by inch.

Lora sniggers against his robe.

Where her hand rests on his chest, she feels slim, strong, freezing fingers join it. Astarion says, softly, “I won't say I don't miss the sun. But you… help. You're so - ugh - colourful. And warm.” His head ducks, and then her hand’s being lifted to cool, gentle lips. He lays a kiss to her knuckles.

Lora’s chest fills with something that makes her realise she's a terrible bard, because she's uncertain how to describe so very much. She kisses a pointed ear - it twitches the tiniest bit in his surprise, barely there and in a way that would likely irritate him if he knew.

“It's probably the big glowing mace,” Astarion grumbles, carefully ruining the compliment - belied by how gently his hand’s still holding hers. That first time is still fresh and new: the way he took her hand like it was a precious thing. How pleased he was just to hold and be held. His grousing is relaxed, half swallowed by his pillow.

Many wouldn't say he's an ideal partner for cuddling: he's all sharp angles and sharper elbows, albeit ones dulled by his clothing. He's freezing marble except for where his hair tickles her nose. But his toes twitch against her shins and his voice is a low rumble where she rests, and he fits in her arms like they were made for it. Lora knew these strong shoulders and these long limbs would be good for something, and apparently that something was holding a short, slowly warming undead elf.

For all he's not tall, he's long, somehow: elegant limbs with a deceptive amount of strength hidden underneath. She'd thought the first time they slept together he was all lean muscle and sinew; now she realises he was starving. It just takes longer in a vampire. There's a solidity to him now under her hands: his shoulders are the slightest bit broader, his thighs a little less skinny. Lora wants, all over again, to tell the man she met in that clearing not to do this: to go hunting with her instead. To ask for a bit of her blood. To take her hand. Not that he would have listened.

“You've gone all tense,” Astarion remarks. “Have I done something?” His voice is on the knife-edge of casual.

Yes. No.

She swallows. “It's so quiet here. The birds don't sing. I feel exposed when I do. The silence leaves you with your thoughts - not always the good ones.”

“Mm.” All at once there's a small hurricane of movement next to her - before she quite knows what's happening, he's eeled out of her grasp and turned to face her. “Luminis,” he says, softly, all cut-glass enunciation; close to where they've bedded down, a jar - empty, thankfully - illuminates. He takes his fingers away from it.

Scarlet eyes search her face. It felt easier to hide in the half-dark, even though he could see her perfectly well… Oh. The light isn't for him, is it? His fragile mortal lover, so small in the grand scheme of things.

The words spill from her mouth unbidden, and she wonders, for far from the first time, how she ever became a bard. “I, ah, I get on edge, in this place. You said I was… colourful.”

“It's a bard thing, I'm sure.” Astarion’s voice is wry, but there's a crease of what looks like concern between his brows; he’d be appalled if it was pointed out.

“Here, that feels like I'm a target. I feel watched all the time.”

Grimacing, he says, “Ugh. Awful, isn't it? It's not just you.” But it's less theatrical than it would be with the others. More honest.

Astarion eases closer to her, hair falling over his forehead but eyes still dark and curious on hers - and something like realisation is dawning on his face. He always knows someone's soft spots. Lora wants to crawl away, to make some pleasant joke to distract them both; she makes herself be brave and stay, instead.

He places a hand on her arm, lightly, uncertainly, as if real tenderness is a song he's heard so many times but he isn't sure how to play by ear - and then he cups her face, still with a tentative hand. There's no laughter in his voice when he speaks. “Lora, darling, are you scared?”

“Aren't you?” she says, sounding small and helpless and hating every second of it.

Astarion barks a laugh, seeming to startle them both. “Love, we're all terrified of this place. Karlach’s spent half the journey quaking in her fiery little boots. Gale seems to be reading so he doesn't scream. But you're always so… cheerful.” He strokes his thumb over her cheek, again with a slow lightness to it, as if he's ready to move away the moment she says something, as if he might be overstaying his welcome. As if it isn't keeping her grounded. Sadness is in the tight lines around his eyes, his mouth. “I thought you'd sublimated it all into jokes and anger. Or perhaps that's just me.” He gives her a grin that's almost sheepish, by his pointedly-confident standards. Sobering, he says, “I should have seen through a fellow liar.” That's too gentle, too worried to have any sting to it.

The words are so hard to find. “Having someone with me helps. To watch this place back. You've got the fastest eye of any of us.”

Amusement flits over his face, his eyes skating to her throat. “I didn't think you'd want these fangs so close to your neck.” Double-edged, with the barest hint of real fear under there, the way so many of his offhand jokes are.

“They have been enough times before. You” - she clears her throat, and tries not to feel ridiculous - “you look after me?”

Astarion blinks a moment, eyes widening. “I do, do I?” He's trying for wryness, but his voice has something else to it. Something raw, but she can't tell if it's good or bad.

Lora says, hastily, with a demented kind of mildness, “Usually by stabbing things that are trying to kill me. And you can see in the dark, and I can't. And you slee - trance less.” And the shadows are less frightening when met with a wry voice and flamboyant arm-waving. And she's learned to feel him at her back, even when she can't see him.

She wants to squirm, but he's leaning to catch her eye. He says, with a disbelieving half-smile, “My dear, are you saying you feel safe with me?”

Lora sighs explosively, ready to be laughed at -

“Gods, I really have taken up with a madwoman.” But the words are softer than they should be, and he… tugs her into his arms, and holds her tightly.

Oh.

Lora freezes - he does, too, as if scared he might have overstepped his bounds. She wraps an arm round his waist before he can decide that she must hate this and he should run away again, her head settling onto his shoulder. He's warmer, she's glad to note, the shivers gone entirely. Still not as warm as someone alive, but getting closer to his normal.

Astarion says, “I'll keep the shadows at bay. You just focus on keeping me warm.”

“I can do that,” she says, faintly.

“Can I take away the light?”

“Sure. It's not the dark that worries me. It's… being alone, in the silence.”

Astarion throws the tent back into darkness with a whispered word - and then stays there: chest against hers and legs tangled, breathing every so often out of habit instead of necessity. A hundred little sounds even in a man as consummately quiet as him, from that to the brush of his clothes against pillows. Lora feels him start to stroke her hair with that careful touch, uncertain of his welcome; she hums happily, and he keeps it up. It's worth a little extra work in the morning for this.

A memory winds slowly back into her head: a man who'd give her florid nicknames and yet all but flee after sex, their arrangement going mostly unspoken. The second time, and that touch on her hair, so oddly uncertain for a man that confident in bed. She hadn't understood it at the time.

All I had to do was not fall for you.

Astarion turns his head, breath cool on her ear. “Lora?”

“Mm?”

“Thank you.”

“Mmhm." It's vague, said into his hair.

She feels him laugh faintly against her.

When Lora wakes to the morning light, she's somehow spooning him again; his forearm is wrapped around hers, holding her there, but he’s contorted himself to lean a book next to him so he can read.

Wait. That wasn’t in his tent last night. Lora tries to get her mind around the image of him sneaking out of bed, getting a book, and sneaking himself back in under her arm. Somehow, it makes a worrying amount of sense.

Astarion lets go of her the moment he senses she's awake, saying idly, “Have you ever considered a second career as a backpack?”

“How long have you been thinking of that one?” she mumbles, only realising she's nuzzling her nose into his hair when she gets tickled.

The book snaps shut, and Astarion pushes it aside with three fingers. “Is your pillow talk always so cynical? What's wrong with a good sweet nothing?” But he turns to her, a glint of amusement in his eyes.

For a moment Lora just lies there in some sort of disbelief, because she knows how nights with Astarion end. She wakes up alone, with only a bite mark to say anything happened at all, or there’s some convenient excuse he pulls out to sneak away.

But there’s a man in her arms, now, running a little cool for a mortal but not the block of ice he was – his hair wildly curly, his movements soft and slow and easy, the tiniest satisfied hum running through him as he eases into her embrace. “Gale is skulking about, making breakfast,” he says into her shoulder.

“Sounds good.”

“No, it sounds terrible. You’re better than a furnace. The bastard can show off to everyone else, but I’m keeping you.”

“Just for warmth,” Lora says.

“Obviously.”

“Are you warmer?”

His voice is a wry drawl, but something content is sneaking in around the edges. “Toasty, darling.”

Lora strokes a hand over Astarion’s back, over the layers of nightshirts and robes. For the barest moment he tenses – whether it’s because of his scars, or whether he thinks she’ll touch him somewhere less innocent, try to push his limits. She doesn’t, and he makes that faint content sound under his breath and goes loose again, his nose against her neck, curls tickling her cheek. It all feels like an impossibility that’s half a dream, like capturing the moon in a bucket of water, or...

A throat’s cleared outside the tent.

“Gale?” Lora says.

Through the tent, a wizardish shadow gazes awkwardly up at the sky. “I see. I shan’t ask if you’re decent in there. I somehow doubt I wish to know.”

Astarion mumbles, mouth still half against her skin, “If you untie that tent flap, I will kill you.”

“Ahem. It occurs to me that only one of you needs food – well, until I perfect that Waterdhavian blood pudding recipe. All the same, I’ve made a porridge with honey and almonds. Whenever you’re ready.”

Lora’s stomach growls just at the sound of that; she tries not to be embarrassed.

Astarion says, with the faintest fond undertone to it, “Ugh, mortals.” Rolling away from her, he adds, “Go, darling. It’s best never to deny your hunger.” He grins at her, and it’s full of teeth – but it softens as he adds, “And if you need further protection from the night’s shadows, you know where I am.”

 

She does. But it’s Astarion who sneaks into her tent the next night, a couple of ragged blankets tossed round his shoulders. She shifts to make room, opens her arms, and he fits himself between them like it was where he was always meant to be. Perhaps it was.