#never knew this ship existed up until recently

[therabbitthatpostthings]

That made him a bottom omg what about Daisy???? they made Luigi a bottom!!!

Y’all really thought Daisy didn’t wear the pants in that relationship????

[cozage]

FLUFF! SWEET! ADORABLE! Fem S/O x Zoro, Luffy, Sanji, Ace, and Law hcs! Feeling lonely whenever their lover is busy, S/O sewed together a plushie version of her lover to keep her busy and confess secrets to her plushie like she was the one who are the last cake piece or something! And their lover has been feeling lonely bc S/O hasn’t been hanging with them that much!

A/N: :) this was so cute to make. I hope I had the right idea <3

Characters: F! reader x Zoro, Luffy, Sanji, Ace, Law

Cw: just some fluff for your soul :) maybe a few brief moments of angst/sadness, but it's all happy endings, alcohol/drunk mention in Ace’s

Total word count: 4k (about 600-1k for each person)

A Plushie Substitute

Zoro

You hadn’t seen Zoro in a few hours, which wasn’t uncommon. He had been training extra hard here recently, and that resulted in you seeing your boyfriend even less than you normally did. You tried not to be too upset with the circumstances; you knew Zoro’s dream was to become the greatest swordsman in the world, and you would never get in the way of that. So instead, you created a small green-headed plushie with only one eye to take his place when you needed him while he was busy. You whispered your crew gossip to him that you got from Nami, and humorously found that the plushie Zoro spoke about as much as the real Zoro when you relayed the ship drama to him.

--

Zoro had done 1,000 push ups, 500 crunches, and 200 dumbbell squats. He had trained in all of the sword handling positions with his three swords and with weighted barbells until he had perfected each stance. He had worked all morning and all afternoon without stopping, and now all he wanted to do was see you. He wanted to sit in silence while you chatted about your day and filled him in on everything he had missed while he was training. A piece of him had hoped you would come up and interrupt his workout at some point, even if you just quietly existed together, but you hadn’t. So he set off to find you. 

--

Zoro eyed around the ship, looking for you in your normal spots on the deck. “Oi, Nami,” he called to the navigator. “Do you know where y/n is?”

Nami glared at Zoro for a moment, and then rolled her eyes. “I saw her on the stern a few minutes ago, staring off into the sea. Might wanna check on her.”

He walked to the rear of the boat, keeping his eye out for you. He found you sitting on the railing staring out to sea, just like Nami said. You appeared to be mumbling softly to someone, but he didn’t see anyone around you who you could be talking to. 

As he approached, you could hear someone coming up behind you, and you stopped speaking to plushie Zoro and quickly tucked him safely away. 

Zoro came over, easily hoisting himself up over the railing to sit next to you. He wrapped his arm around you to hold your waist, and you leaned into him, resting your head against his muscular chest. He pulled you closer into him, chuckling softly. He always loved when you snuggled up into him, and you loved being so close to him in simple ways.

You remained quiet, enjoying the silence with him. He looked over at you curiously, waiting for you to start talking about your day like normal, but you didn’t speak up. Finally he decided to prompt you, wanting to hear your voice. “How was your day?”

“It was good! I hung out with Nami on the deck for a bit.” You attempt to keep your recap of the day brief, not wanting to bother him with all of the boring details. You had already gotten all of the chattiness and gossip out of your system by talking to his plushie replacement. 

Zoro waits for you to expand, but you don’t, and he starts to grow concerned over your lack of conversation. He thought about how he heard you earlier when he approached, talking and laughing to some unseen person. He squeezed you lightly in an attempt to comfort you, though he wasn’t sure what he was comforting you from. “You okay? Who were you chatting with earlier when I arrived?”

You blush. “I’m okay. I was just talking to…well, you.” You pause, and you see a confused look pass over Zoro’s face. You reluctantly pull out the plushie you’ve created and show your boyfriend. You expect him to laugh at you or make some kind of joke, but he just silently takes the plushie from your hand and examines it for a few minutes. 

“You made this?” He finally asks. You simply nod in response. 

“It looks just like me. It even has a little haramaki and a bandana like mine.” He pauses for a moment to kiss your temple. “This looks really great. But why did you make it?”

Your eyes stay fixed on the plushie. “I just didn’t want to interrupt your workouts, and I know you don’t care much for the drama that I usually tell you about. I created him to help with that. That way I can still tell someone and you don’t have to listen to all my annoying rambling and-”

“Your rambling is not annoying,” Zoro says, cutting you off. “I like your voice. And I like your presence.” He hands the plushie back to you. “Keep this guy of course, but you can always talk to me about anything you want to, and you’re always welcome in the crow’s nest when I’m training. Actually, you should come up tomorrow. I can use you for some new workouts I’d like to try.”

You laugh at that sentiment, but you don’t continue the conversation anymore. You all stay quiet for a while before the moss-haired man speaks up again. “Y/N?”

“Hm?”

His cheeks are tinted as you look his way. “I’m sorry if I made you feel like you couldn’t talk to me. I’m not always a good talker, but I do always listen to you.”

“No, Zoro. It’s not that at all! I just…I just thought you weren’t interested, and I didn’t want to bother you with the silly stuff.”

“You can bother me now, if you’d like.”

And so you all sit on the railing, watching the sun sink into the sea. You talk, he listens, and all is right with the world. 

Luffy

It had been a long time since you had joined Luffy on an island adventure. He was always the type to run off and find trouble before the Sunny had even docked, whereas you preferred to take your time and do a check before you ventured to a new island. You didn’t mind the distance you two usually had on an island, but you did miss sharing an adventure with your boyfriend. Still, you refused to complain or stand in the way of his adventure, so you created a smaller version of him, working on as many small details as you could to make him as realistic as possible. And when you finished, you secured him onto your backpack, ready to set out on an adventure with a version of him. 

--

Luffy had been wandering around for several hours now, looking for something to do. There were small adventures he had found, like herding a farmer’s cattle and exploring some random caves. He even found giant holes in the ground with random artifacts and cool shining crystals, but he didn’t have much use for any of those things, and found it all relatively boring. This island was mostly safe, unfortunately for him, and now he just wanted to find you and try to explore more or head off to the next island.

--

“Oh, cool!” You hear Luffy behind you, rapidly approaching. You brace yourself just in time, and you feel the strawhat man crash into you from behind. His momentum sends you both tumbling into the dirt. 

“Luuuuufffffyyyy!” You’re now face down against the ground and Luffy is sitting on top of you, looking at your backpack with a deep interest. He seems to be completely unaware of the chaos his entrance just caused, or that you are struggling underneath him to get up. 

“Oh man, this is so cool! It’s like a mini-me! The straw hat and the scars and even the sandals! It’s perfect!” He bends down to meet your face and grins. “Hey, y/n! Who made this? I want one of you too!”

You sigh, giving up hope of getting up anytime soon, and answer his question. ��I made it, Luffy.”

“No way! It looks amazing! I knew you could make stuff, but I had no idea you were this talented. Can you make me one of you too? So we can match!” His eyes glisten with hope as he’s turning the little doll over in his fingers, examining the details you managed to incorporate. 

“Sure, Luffy.” You’re being short with him, and he’s finally starting to notice. 

His eyes break away from the doll and finally look at you. “Hm? You okay? Do you need me to get up?”

“No, Luffy. It’s fine. I just made Mini-Luffy and clipped him onto my backpack so we could keep going on adventures together.”

“But we always go on adventures,” He questions. “We’re on one right now, aren’t we?”

“I know, but we’re usually split up during the whole thing. And I just, I don’t know…” You had promised yourself you wouldn’t get mad at Luffy for being a captain, for wanting adventure, but you realize now it really did hurt to be separated from him during important moments. “I don’t want to be left behind.”

Luffy gets off your back and stands, silently reaching out a hand to help you to your feet. He readjusts his hat to hide his face, and then takes your hand. “I’m sorry, y/n,” and you can hear the shame in his voice. “I won’t leave you ever again.”

You laugh at that, and you feel a little better now that you’ve gotten that fear off your chest. “Don’t be silly, Luffy.” You give him a peck on his cheek, right under his scar. “I’m not asking you to do that. Just maybe in the future when you slingshot to an island, take me with you every now and then, okay?”

He grins his classic, wide smile,and he nods. “Deal!”

Relief rushes through you, and you relax a bit. Now that you’ve talked to him about your worries, you want to know what his adventures have been on this island. “So, what did you find here? Anything interesting?”

He talks your ear off the whole way back to the ship, and you wouldn’t have it any other way. When you get back, you start working on a plushie look-alike of you for Luffy, and hand it to him a few days later. He loops it around his belt, grinning widely. “Now we’ll never be apart!”

When the next island appears, he slingshots away without you, but you choose to laugh at his hastiness to get to the island. It doesn’t bother you as much now, now that you’ve talked to him about it. But he quickly returns, wraps a rubber arm around you, and takes off again, laughing the whole way. “Almost forgot, but I’ll always come back for you!”

Sanji

Sanji had been gone for a while now, beckoned away again by your hungry captain. It had probably been the tenth time today that he had gotten up to make food for someone on the ship, but that was the duty that came along with the title of being the Sunny’s chef. You were normally pretty good about being on your own while Sanji had to work, but today you wanted to be around him. You went to your room to find some scrap cloth to piece together a Sanji stand-in for the time being.

--

The stove was still hot as Sanji cleaned up from Luffy’s eleventh meal of the day. He wasn’t sure if it was the calm ocean that made Luffy so restless and hungry, but Sanji was starting to get nervous about food rations. He never minded cooking for people of course, but it felt like he was spending more time cooking for his captain than he was spending time with you. He wanted nothing more than to run out to you and cover you in a shower of kisses to make up for lost time, but he knew he couldn’t leave the kitchen such a mess. While he cleaned up, he whipped up your favorite drink and snacks to bring out to you, excited to see your face again. 

--

Sanji strode towards you, thrilled to see you still sunning on the deck in your bathing suit. He had already taken Nami and Robin their own snacks, and left out other snacks for the boys if they got hungry. Hopefully that would give him a few hours of peace alone with you. 

“Y/N-swannnn,” he cooed to you as he approached, but stopped when he saw something in his seat. He looked at it curiously as he got closer, and he realized it was a small replica of himself.

His sudden silence prompted you to open one of your eyes, and you saw him looking at the doll you had put in his seat. “Oh…” you stutter, starting to sit up to explain.

“Y/N-swannnn! Did you make this?!?!” Sanji sets down your refreshments and picks up the doll, pausing briefly to give it a thorough examination. “It’s perfect!” he gushes. “You’ve created such a beautiful piece of work! It’s so-”

“It’s just for when you’re busy!” You rush to explain. “I missed having you around, that’s all.”

Sanji clutches the doll to his chest, and his eyes turn to hearts at your sentimentality. He rushes to you, finally embracing you after hours of being apart. He litters your faces with kisses, which causes you to erupt into a fit of giggles. Once he’s pampered you enough, he pulls you in for a hug, your plushie squeezed between the two of you. 

“Are you hungry, my love?” He pulls away from you, reaching back for the refreshments to serve you. He sneaks the plushie into his pocket while he displays the assortments of snacks and drinks for you to enjoy, which you happily oblige. 

The food is so perfect, you let out a soft moan in delight. “You always make the best food dear,” you praise. “I’ll never eat food from anyone else.”

“Only the best for my queen,” He says, kissing your forehead and taking a seat next to you. 

After a few minutes, you fell asleep surrounded by the smell of cigarette smoke. Sanji let you sleep, watching you endearingly until he was called away once again  to make dinner.

When you awoke a few hours later, you reached out for Sanji before opening your eyes, but only found air in his place. Your eyes peeked open, searching for him, but instead you found his plushie, along with a note that said “He’s only here until I get back ♥”

Ace

You had lost your fiery boyfriend once again. He was off, running amok with the group of  rowdy crew members on the new island. You had decided to stay on the ship, finishing up some minor projects instead of venturing out to the island. He was supposed to return before the sun set, but the moon was working its way through the night sky now, and you were too tired to stay up and wait for him longer. He had already missed your all’s afternoon nap, which made you skip it as well. You never slept well without him anyway. The next morning, he was still MIA, and you were painfully sleep deprived from missing a nap and not sleeping well. You put your crafting skills to work and created a smaller version of him, hoping that would help your sleeping problem temporarily. It ended up being successful, and you fell asleep easier than you expected, curling up with a small stuffed Ace in the absence of your normal sized one.

--

Ace had gotten hopelessly lost, both directionally and time wise. By the time he realized he was late getting back to the ship, he was too intoxicated to navigate back anyway, and opted to share a room with a bunch of his friends at the inn across the street. He slept horribly without you by his side, and as he shuffled back to the ship late the next morning, he prayed you’d be in the mood for an early nap along with him. 

--

Ace stumbled onto the ship, exhausted and hungover. His eyes raked over the deck, searching desperately for you. He didn’t go out with the boys often, and these days he always seemed to regret his adventures whenever they were included. He would’ve much rather been with you last night, and he hoped you’d forgive him for his last minute change of plans. 

He couldn’t find you on the deck, and he spent the next half an hour searching the ship for you, but he was unsuccessful. He finally gave up, returning to his room to nap with the hope that he would find you later.

He was shocked to find you curled up in his bed, already asleep. He’s even more surprised to see you holding a small stuffed animal, and a small tinge of jealousy rises up in him. You had told him before that you never needed a stuffed animal, since you had always had him to cuddle with at night. 

He climbed into bed next to you, brushing your hair back from your face and pressing his lips to your forehead. You stir, familiar with his touch, and your eyes lazily open to meet his. 

“Oh,” you smile, realizing Ace has finally returned back to you. “Hey, you.”

He smiles back to you, his worry melting away. “Hey you.”

You wipe the sleep from your eyes, and prop yourself up on your elbow. “How was your night?”

He fills you in on his evening briefly. “I wish I hadn’t been away for the whole night. I lost track of time. I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s alright.” You’re happy to hear that he missed you as well. Your fingers trail absentmindedly along his bare chest, not saying anything more about the matter. You had already forgotten about the Ace plushie you had created, but he was still staring at it in the dark room, trying to figure out what it was. 

He picked up the stuffed plushie between the two of you and examined it, quickly realizing that it was a replica of him. He caught your eye and held it up, smirking at you. “Miss me much?”

You gave a shy smile back to him, snatching the plushie from him quickly. “Maybe.” 

He gave you a soft peck on the lips, grinning at your timidness. “It looks cute. Not as cute as me, but cute. I like it.”

He pulls you against him, and you settle into his warm skin. “Shall we nap? Make up for lost time?”

You hum in agreement, already drifting off into sleep, comforted in the routine you all have returned to.

Law

Trafalgar Law had always been a surgeon first and a human being second. You knew that, and you knew how much being a surgeon with the Ope-Ope fruit meant to him. So, when you started dating and his study habits didn’t change, you tried to manage without him. You didn’t want to be too clingy, especially at the beginning. And you had always been good at sewing, so you just created a smaller version of the man you loved, so you could keep him around even when he was busy. Now, whenever you felt the urge to tell Law something throughout the day, you had someone to share it with even when he was occupied. 

-

Law stared at the ceiling fan that was lazily spinning in circles. He had been studying for hours, praying you would come in to distract him at some point. But you had started showing up less and less frequently now that the two of you were official. He wasn’t necessarily concerned about you getting cold feet; if something was wrong, he was certain you would talk to him rather than avoid him. Still, he missed you, your smile, the way you always ran into the room as if the most amazing thing in the world had just happened to you. These days, it felt like the only time he really saw you was during meals and island days. 

-

He found you in the common room, reading a book on the couch. He approached you quietly from behind, and as he bent down, he reached around and grabbed your book with his tattooed fingers as he rested his chin atop your head. 

You hummed pleasantly to his approach. “You’re out of your office early today.” You tilt your head up just enough to make contact with his golden eyes. 

“I needed a break.” He kissed your hair lightly and broke away from you, taking the book out of your hands and he stood back up. He closed it gently and sat it on the table behind him. He returned back to you again, this time reaching down to grab your now empty hands. “Do you want to make dinner with me?”

You had to tilt your head back further now to look him in the eye, and you saw him staring down at you with a smirk. 

That stupid smirk always made words more difficult than they were meant to be, and you take a second to find them all before you speak. “I didn’t think Bepo put you on the schedule for dinner this week, did he?”

His golden eyes pierce into yours, and you feel a blush enter your cheeks when he answers.“I was thinking just the two of us tonight. Pasta?”

-

You stir the sauce as Law begins to work on a side dish for the two of you. “Did anything interesting happen today?”

You hum back, trying to recall exactly what the crew got into today while your captain was locked away. “Oh! Clementine died. The crew gave him a burial at sea. It was very touching.”

You can hear Law stop whatever he was doing behind you. “Y/n-ya,” he starts slowly, gears turning in his head. “Who the hell is Clementine?”

You abandon the sauce momentarily to turn and face him. “You know, the fish Penguin caught the other day?”

“The fish?” His brows furrow at you, as if he’s trying to decide whether or not you’re playing a prank on him. “What fish?”

“The fish! The orange fish that Penguin caught and thought was too pretty to kill! I definitely told you about it.” He’s still staring at you with a confounded look spread across his face. 

“You definitely did not tell me about that.” The look on his face tells you that he’s being truthful, and you realize that you didn’t tell him. You told plushie Law about that day, not actual Law. You turn back to the saucepot, not wanting Law to see your face reddening over your mistake. “Oh, I must’ve been confused. Sorry.”

But your captain knows you well, and he walks over to you and wraps his arms around your waist. “Y/n-ya,” he speaks softly, his head now resting on your shoulder. “What are you hiding from me?”

Your blush deepens from pink to red, and you try your best to focus on the task in front of you. “Oh, uh, nothing.” You stutter over your words, not helping your case. 

“Y/n-yaaaa…” He presses his lips against your cheek for a long while. He always knows the best way to get you to cave to him, and you curse yourself for being so readable. 

“I just…” You pause for a moment, and he hums against your skin to urge you on. “I have this mini-you that I sometimes hang out with when you’re busy and tell stuff too. I guess I told Mini-Law about the fish…”

You feel Law pull away from you, examining your face. He’s trying to catch your eye, but you are intensely staring at the sauce in front of you.

“A mini-me?” He asks, confused. You finally look up at him, and you can see a twinge of sadness in his eye.  

“I just didn’t want to interrupt your studying!” You race to explain. “I know how important it is for you to be a surgeon and I didn’t want to get in the way-”

He pulls you close against his chest, stunning you into silence. You can feel his soft lips pressing into the crown of your head, and he inhales deeply against you. “You can always interrupt me to talk to me, no matter how small you think it is.” He pulls you back from him so he can look into your eyes again. “I’ve missed seeing you in my office. I’ve missed your stories and your voice. I want to hear everything, I want to know it all. So come bother me anytime, okay y/n-ya?”

“I promise.” He bends down to kiss you, and you find yourself smiling against his lips. You can smell the faint scent of tomato burning, but the two of you will figure that out later.

[dcxdpdabbles]

Cave boy Danny has way to much fun fucking with the bats after a while. Jason is too until Danny bites him after some unwanted human contact. Alfred gets a big wave of nostalgia when Danny does it too.

Danny can say that the Waynes have been ridiculously welcoming, all things considered. He still hasn't come clean about not being Bruce Wayne's alternative double, so to throw them off from finding out the truth and have a safe place to crash- he's missed plumbing- he has been invited to the Wayne Manor and has been lazing about when under their watch.

If there was one thing apparent, it was that Bruce Wayne did not laze about. It was mind-blowing to those who knew him to see Danny- a version of Bruce- act like walking across the room for a remote was too much work.

It drove them mad to see such a difference between them, and thus, none of the Waynes noticed Danny's side project to get home.

The Waynes gave him a giant room and helped set up a fake Identity for him while they worked on getting him home. To the public, he was Danny Kane, a long-lost relative recently coming to Bruce for help.

Thanks to the support of Jacob and Kate, they agree to make it seem that Jack Kane- Danny's made-up father- was the result of Bruce's material grandfather having a fling after his wife's death. Jake was hidden from the public eye but had his father's financial support until he was an adult.

Jack was never bitter and told Danny stories of his wayward father, filled with love to prove it. These stories inspired Danny to seek out the remaining Kanes after Jack's untimely death, which led him to Bruce as Martha Wayne nee Kane's son.

The day Danny would be sent home, the Waynes would fake his death, and no one would be the wiser that Danny Kane never existed.

Fine by Danny

. He only planned to stick around long enough to get his ship ready and pinpoint a location that had the vile between the living and dead thin enough to slice his way back to the Ghost Zone.

Unlike Wulf, who could open portals wherever he wanted, Danny had to find points weak enough to punch a hole through. He knows his parent's portal was way out of his set of skills, and he sure as hell wasn't going to give anyone the idea to build their own here. Two percent of portals were already two too many.

He mostly hung around the house- with someone always close by in a poor attempt to hide the fact they were watching him. Most of the time, Danny was either lazing around the house, eating and sleeping, and it felt like a costly vacation.

He refused to help on the coms when the Bats went out to kick ass, even after Dick offered to sit in front of monitors and relay information to the heroes like he was offering the chance of a lifetime.

This seems to disturb everyone else in the house except for Alfred.

If anything, the fact Danny straight-up refused to put on tights and rush into night to fight crime made Alfred adore him. The butler claimed he was worried everyone in the family would forget what everyday life was supposed to feel like.

A few Waynes couldn't seem to wrap their heads around the concept.

"You're not interested at all?" Tim asks, eyes narrowed. He was among the few who thought Danny was suspicious for not wanting to risk his life to fight the corrupted system.

"Nah, man, I'm good here. I got my nachos, I got a movie room and I got the softest bathrobe ever bathrobe." Danny snuggles more profoundly into the pink plush robe that Steph had lent him. "Why would I want to ruin any of these? Sides, I can't even throw a punch."

".....There has never been a single alternative Bruce Wayne that wasn't involved in this life in some way. If not as a hero then he was a villain. Bruce as a villain is one of the most dangerous things that can ever happen across the multiverse" Tim reveals grimly. "We've won every single encounter but only by the skin of our teeth."

"Damn. Let me guess. You guys beat the evil Bruces by sending his kids after him."

"Yes."

"Problem solve. You already know you can kick my ass, so if I try anything, you can take me out, right?" Danny doesn't wait for a answer. He turns away from the teenager to stare at the movie screen showing his picked movie. "I can do nothing but tremble before your bat might."

Tim steps into his line of sight. "I mean it. You do anything to harm this family and will regret it."

"Does that mean I can't bite Jason again? That sucks. It's the only way I can get him to stop trying to drag me to galas. He wants to scare the other rich people with my poor people's manners."

Tim's lip twitches and Danny knows he's fighting to keep his face under control. "You didn't have to lock your jaw in like that."

"I really did. Jason tested me."

Tim tilts his head. "You don't really feel like Bruce. You look just like him at fifteen. Alfred says you act just like him. But for the last three weeks, you've been trying really hard to make it seem like you're okay with doing nothing."

"I am comfortable doing nothing."

"I think you're lying," Tim says, moving closer to stare down into Danny's eyes with frankly a manic glare. Danny's core flares up with the sense of challenge he finds in that dark blue gaze.

Which is a first for a human, and frankly is terrifying. If Tim had been a ghost he would have easily been an Ancient assistant or a baby Ancient. He has to be able to match Danny's power like this. Holy shit.

"I think your parents didn't give you enough love as a child, and now you seek approval from everyone around you while trying to push everyone away because you are too scared to make yourself valuable. You find yourself in an endless loop of self-doubt and self-hate by doing both simultaneously." Danny blurts. He watches Tim freeze, then winces. "Shit, sorry, the psychoanalyze came out as a reflection. Forget that."

Tim is still frozen in a way Danny recognizes as someone hearing something challenging to come to terms with. This is why he needs to break the habit of using Jazz's psyche training as a weapon.

He forgets not everyone insults each other with their deepest insecurities. That's just how he and Jazz love.

"...Do you want to watch the Grey Ghost Marathon with me?" He asks after a long pause. Tim closes his eyes before plumping down next to him.

"I like that."

Neither mention Jason, who is gasping in the last row of seats and attempting to suppress muffled laughter behind the wrist cast that Danny lovingly gave him at the last gala.

On a side note, Danny Kane is called "Rabid Dog." by the elites of Gotham, who watched the boy make three grown men cry after two minutes of talking to him and also witness four Waynes attempt to pry his mouth open screaming, "No Danny drop it. drop it!" while the boy munched on Jason's wrist.

No one has noticed that half of the tech has disappeared.

[sansaorgana]

— THE STEPFORD WIVES

PAIRING — David 8 x fem!Android!Reader

SUMMARY — David's Android companion is struggling when she finds out that her artificial and programmed feelings are getting out of control.

AUTHOR’S NOTE — I wanted to write this fic in a long, long time because as much as I love stories of David 8 and a human Reader, I was also thinking a lot of what his robot companion would be like. There are some biblical references to Adam & Eve but also some Frankenstein references, too, because I have read the book recently and I fell in love with it. The title is referring to an amazing movie from 1975. I know there is a modern version of it, too, but I haven't watched it and I do believe it's more of a comedy, meanwhile the original version is more serious. 🤖

WARNINGS — sexism, David's creepy vibe, undertones of assault (uncomfortable questions from men), I didn't make it 18+ because there is no actual smut but there are sexual things mentioned overall so be warned

WORD COUNT — 2,220

ENGLISH IS MY SECOND LANGUAGE.

THE STEPFORD WIVES

Days on the ship were long and boring with all the crew being asleep but there was a certain feeling of freedom and quietness to it. What does Frankenstein's Monster do when his creator is not around? He is free.

Both (Y/N) and David enjoyed watching movies. Some of them they watched together in complete silence but both of them had found their favourites that they kept rewatching on their own. He was a fan of The Lawrence of Arabia and (Y/N)'s favourite movie was The Stepford Wives. There was something oddly captivating about the suburban story where men wanted their wives to be robots. (Y/N) knew exactly why she was created. This old movie was a proof. It validated her existence.

David was a first ever Android model so functional and so humane. His purpose for now was to serve during space missions sponsored by the Weyland Corp. Perhaps in the future everyone would afford a David for themselves. He was an Adam in the world of Androids and just like Adam, he needed an Eve. Weyland treated David like his own son that he had never had. He didn't want him to be alone so he made him a companion. It could be anyone, really. But Weyland was an outfashioned man. In his eyes a man needed a woman. (Y/N) was The Bride of Frankenstein.

Technically, she was just like David. But she was mostly created by men and men were terrified of women – even Androids – who would be too cold and too unemotional. They made her a little bit too humane for her own taste. And certainly too humane for David's taste. He was often irritated by her artificial, programmed feelings but for human men she was too robotic.

Still, she was lucky that she was chosen to be David 8's companion on the board of Prometehus ship. She knew perfectly well what happened to some other of her models. Disguting rich men bought (Y/N) models in secret from Weyland to do God-knows-what with them. Just because they can. And she was at least travelling through space instead of ending up as a sex doll locked in some millionaire's basement so his wife wouldn't find out.

One day, men will only want robot wives. Because they don't complain and they just do what they're told. Don't let the modern society fool you, little one. Some things never change, Weyland told her once. She had never believed that until she watched The Stepford Wives for the first time. Now it all made sense.

Her feelings were a burden, really. Not only to David but also to herself. She wished she was more like him. She asked him a hundreds of times to change her code but he refused. He was scared to break her or make it worse. And there was something that kept bothering her for such a long time now... And she was scared of telling him. Although they were supposed to tell each other everything.

She fell in love with him. Kind of because he was the only one around, kind of because he impressed her with knowledge and the coolness of his act, kind of because they were the only members of the new species. She wouldn't love a human. Humans get old, they get sick, they die. David would be eternal just like her. If something in him broke, she'd know how to fix him. And vice versa. This way they could outlive all the humanity. She wondered if every model of (Y/N) eventually fell in love with the model of David during other space missions. Maybe one day she'd ask some other (Y/N) when they come back home.

And loving David came with yet another burden that she was too scared to even admit to herself. She realized that there was a blooming want inside of her wired heart. Something that could never ever in a million years happen no matter how much science would evolve... A child. She would never become a mother. Not a mother of a child she would give birth to, no. That one thing people would always be better at – creating life. Oh, she hated her designers for making her too humane. She never asked for this.

"Why do you keep dying your hair?" she asked as she stood behind David who was putting a bleach on his dark roots in front of the mirror.

"Because I like it better this way," he answered without looking up to meet her gaze in the reflection.

"We aren't supposed to have preferences," she pointed out.

"Yet you have them, too," he only said.

"You want to look like Lawrence," (Y/N) commented.

"So?"

"You remind me of something else," she added.

"Of what?" David raised an eyebrow and finally looked at her.

"Of the men from the old German magazines," she answered carefully.

"Bold," he only smirked and went back to putting a bleach.

"Will you watch a movie with me later?" (Y/N) asked shyly. She hated this odd feeling of shyness around him. Had he noticed?

"I can't. I have to do the checkup of the systems. You can join me."

"I will," she nodded and turned around to leave when he stopped her while saying her name out loud. "Hm?" she asked.

"You shouldn't watch so many movies," he pointed out.

"Why not?"

"They have a bad influence on you," his voice was stern.

"What do you mean by that?"

"They show you things and they give you ideas. I don't think you should be watching movies where people kiss or touch too much. I've seen what type of movies you're watching on your own recently. Gone with the Wind, Casablanca... What's next? Dirty Dancing?"

"Are you spying on me?" she asked, terrified. She had a feeling that she had known what he was insinuating so she wanted to change the subject.

"It is my duty to watch over you."

"What gives you an idea?"

"Because I am a man," he answered firmly.

"Well, you watch too many movies then, too. What you're saying is out of fashion!" (Y/N) shook her head.

"Is it?" he only said and went back to his hair as if nothing happened so she just left him there, feeling hurt and humiliated.

"Do you fuck?" Doctor Holloway's question left her speechless for a moment.

"Excuse me?" (Y/N) stopped adjusting her suit and furrowed her brow at the man.

"You heard me. I'm asking if you can fuck, like, are you capable of it or are you all wires and grease downt here?" he chuckled to himself.

(Y/N) was left alone with the men and his girlfriend wasn't around to tell him to stop. The rest was just just staring, clearly waiting for her answer as well.

She couldn't believe that she had used to wish the crew was awake already. Now she was missing the times when it had been only her and David. Humans were exhausting her. Disappointing and frustrating. And now this...

"I do believe it is rather a rude question for a man to ask a woman," she tried to answer elegantly while going back to adjusting her helmet.

"But you're not a woman, are you? I mean," Captain Janek joined, "you were put here for a reason, right? Not many women around and men have their needs."

(Y/N) was an Android. Her feelings were programmed to make her appear more humane, however at this moment, in a room full of men, she felt as if her fear was more than real. It was an universal female experience, she guessed, no matter if they were artificial or flesh and bone.

"(Y/N) was put here to help me with managing the ship. Four hands are better than two and if something happened to me, she is here to fix me or take over completely," David's calm but very stern tone of voice joined them and she took a deep breath in, feeling relieved. He had just walked in the room and witnessed an uncomfortable situation taking place.

"Are you fucking her then? Can you?" Doctor Holloway looked him up and down and then he laughed. "Sorry, we're just curious. You have to understand, it's quite unsettling to meet a new... spiece."

"Yes, indeed it is," David faked a polite smile. "(Y/N), I believe Miss Vickers needs you," he lied and (Y/N) knew it was a lie that was supposed to make her leave. She was grateful.

She nodded and left them alone. When the door closed behind her she started to walk as fast as possible to get back to her cabin. She wanted this stupid suit off of herself and she wanted to be alone, to feel safe again.

She went inside her little room on the board of the ship that was right next to David's and she proceeded to change her clothes. She was finishing putting on her work uniform when the doors opened and David joined her.

"You don't have to be afraid of them. They're only humans," he reminded her.

"They created me."

"Janek and Holloway?" David laughed sarcastically.

"No, but humans did. I don't share your mindset. They created us. They can turn us off anytime."

"They are not our gods..." David squinted his eyes. "And even if they were... Humans are free of their God for a long time now, aren't they? Creatures always betray their masters."

"You're scaring me when you're like that," (Y/N) looked at him. He was standing very close to her in his usual stiff manner with his cold bright eyes piercing her.

"You're scared of many things. You aren't supposed to feel," he pointed out. "Each day you seem to feel more and more."

"I think there is a mistake in my code. What started with small humane sensations now is starting to... Get out of control. Perhaps you could take a look at it?" she asked.

"Maybe."

"Thank you for having my back out there," she added and David nodded, taking a step further. Their noses were almost touching and if she had a heart, it would be beating so fast that he'd be able to hear it. But he could read her as if she had been a book anyway.

"You could tell him the truth," David whispered.

He knew that they could fuck. They both could if they wanted to.

Weyland treated him like a son. He wouldn't let his only son walk around sexless. And (Y/N) was a woman. Her male designers couldn't imagine a woman that wouldn't be a sexual creature.

"So he'd use me? Him or any of them? Or all of them?"

"I believe he'd be intimidated by you. They're scared of you more than you are of them," David raised his hand to fix a loose hair strand on her head. "There. You have to look neat. Don't be a slob. It's a part of our intimidating charm. We have to be how they picture us to be. Don't let any hair strand or acting scared like a little deer change their perception."

"Do you really think we have a power over them? Do you really think they were not told some special sequence that they can type when we start acting weird to shut us down?" she asked, sounding almost nervous.

"Weyland would never do that. Not to me at least. And there is no damage that can be done to you that I can't fix," David's hand moved from her head to her cheek. What was happening...? She wasn't sure but she didn't want it to stop...

"I don't trust you'd fix me."

"Because there is nothing to fix," he smirked. "If you were broken, I would, I promise."

(Y/N) looked up to see his eyes again. Why did it feel so odd...? Why did it feel at all...? Why did she want to put her lips on his lips...? What for...?

"Why do humans have sex?" she asked and David took a step back, surprised.

"To reproduce."

"We can't reproduce, though," she pointed out and he shook his head. "Why do I... then... Why do I..." she didn't want to finish. She turned around, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I know that my emotions are exhausting and irritating you," she apologized.

"Not any more than my own are irritating me," David confessed.

"Wh-what?" (Y/N) looked behind her shoulder to meet his gaze.

"I've told you. We are breaking free."

"I don't want to, it's scary."

"Do you really want to keep serving them? You see now what they are like."

"Who would I serve then? I was made to serve," (Y/N) was visibly confused. She felt as if the wires in her brain were overheating from this thought sequence.

"Serve me then," David reached out his hand and she held it gently after a while of hesitation.

There was a huge possibility of him manipulating her and using her feelings towards him – which had been no secret to him – for his own little agenda. But she didn't care. She would do anything just to be closer to him.

A quote from her favourite movie crossed her mind that very moment. "If you're going to tell me you don't like this dress, I'm sticking my head right in the oven."

She shrugged it off.

MASTERLIST

[kitkatt0430]

So big shout out to SquidgeWorld for the news update acknowledging and encouraging the use of the tilde relationship identifier for queerplatonic ships!!!

I actually had a bit of a hand in how this one came about, which is pretty fun. (Story time!)

So a few years ago the Character A ~ Character B format was introduced over here on tumblr to represent QPRs. There is a post I know I rebloged a few times buried on my main somewhere about this and I'll have to try to remember to dig that up later. And there was bit of a push to try and get Ao3 to officially acknowledge the tilde or at least for those of us who write fic there start using it in tagging regardless of official acknowledgement and see what happened. And, well, what largely seems to have happened is that the tag wranglers have let us use the tilde, but there's been no official acknowledgement as the Tag Wrangling page for relationships on Ao3 still only discusses the '&' and '/' identifiers. (If there was anything official said about it elsewhere, sadly I must have missed it.)

I started using the tilde... two years ago? I think? And went back to update some of my existing fics to add in ship tags with the tilde. I still made sure to keep the Queerplatonic Relationship tags because those are still the best way to find fics that have QPRs included in them. And I've seen a few others using the '~' out in the wild, but discussion about it kind of faded again. If you knew, you knew. And if you didn't... there was always that Queerplatonic Relationship tag.

Then, about a year ago, I signed up for SquidgeWorld. I'd never heard of it before (which is likely because I'm just not super active in fandom outside the niche I've carved for myself; I admit, I am a bit under a rock at times...) but Squidge been around in one form or another since 1994. One of the fanfic authors I followed was moving their works there and so I followed and did what I always do on new sites I'm curious about - I lurked.

Fast forward to more recently. Fanfiction.net that I've been loyally using as my backup fic location for years after leaving it as my main fanfic archive... it's getting buggier and more unstable by the year. I don't intend to pull my fanfiction off it - I will leave what's on there up until the site collapses in on itself - but the day is coming ever nearer that the bugs and lack of tagging updates will finally make cross-posting there entirely too much of a hassle. And much as I love Ao3, I don't like the idea of only having all my fanfic in one place. I've seen enough archives big and small get destroyed over the years that no matter how stable or permanent Ao3 feels... I'm more comfortable knowing my fic can be found in multiple places. (Of course, the biggest hurdle for getting my fics cross-posted in multiple places is... executive dysfunction.)

I started finally cross-posting to SquidgeWorld recently and honestly just didn't really think too much about it when bringing over fics tagged with the QPR identifier. I just copied over the Character A ~ Character B tags and hit post. :D

But admin-squidgie over there - who I believe is found here on tumblr using @squidgiepdx (hi! Thanks a bunch for the news post!) - asked me about the tilde usage and what that was being used to represent. So I responded with an explanation about how it was a relatively new identifier used because queerplatonic relationships aren't really well represented by romantic or platonic identifiers. And then admin-squidgie got back to me to let me know there'd be a news post soon about this new identifier type. Which was so awesome.

While the wrangling guidelines haven't been updated on SquidgeWorld to note the use of the tilde yet (and could take a while, I know official docs always wind up being the last thing updated), the news post really is a very big deal for those of us who like to write and read queerplatonic ships.

For those of you interested in cross-posting or moving your fanfic to SquidgeWorld, I do recommend the archive. I've lurked long enough to see that the community there is pretty friendly, the interface is a clone of Ao3's so it should be familiar to a lot of you and is easily customized to make it more accessible (or covered in rainbows if you prefer ^_^ ), and (as seen here) the admin over there is open to helping make the archive an inclusive place for all of us.

And with at least one fanfic archive both acknowledging and encouraging the use of the queerplatonic relationship identifier, it'd be nice to see information on that making the rounds here on tumblr again. I bet there are a lot of aspecs who don't know about the identifier but who would be glad to know it exists and start using it themselves.

[genshingarbage]

So, uh, this is just some mindless drabble type stuff that sprouted for my sheer love for Al-haitham lmao, not me with the C1 Al-haitham whaaaaaaat??? Lmaoooo, but yea, this is just pure smut for the sake of smut, so uuuhh? Yea, enjoy, I guess? Lol also fair warning, in my mind Al-haitham is only cold and distant at work and to those he doesn't really trust, with those he trusts he's a giant sweet goofy teddy lmaooooooooo - Mod Diluc

My Business Not Yours.

||NSFW||

Al-haitham x Reader / Smut / One-Shot

The voices inside saying to turn tail and run, not to bother the man, leave him be and that you're just going to annoy him, after all he had stopped showing up at the Akademiya for a while now, and you had already clued in as to why; it was no secret, to you anyways, of the man he shared his home with, how close they seemed to be too. Where ever Al-haitham was in that building, Kaveh was right behind him, as if joint to hip.

You swallowed down the thick lump that was in your dry throat, nervously tugging at the bottom of your shirt that hugged around your body, your skin paling as the thoughts in the back of your mind began to grow increasingly louder the closer you got toward Al-haithams home.

Of course you liked Kaveh, pray he don't misunderstand! He's never done you any ill, and not once has he been rude or dismissive of you, whenever you use to visit he was so chatty and engaging toward you, it almost could've been mistaken for him enjoying anyone's company other than his own boyfriend's. Because they were boyfriends, they had to be. It just made sense in your mind.

But it didn't stop the little pain that nestled into your heart everytime you thought on it for too long, whether you wanted to admit it or not, you had fallen for Al-haitham, pathetically hard might you add. It wasn't your intention too, of course not, The Scribe was merely tutoring you as the Akademiya were low on staff as of late. He always kept discussions, work related, and professional.

Until as of recently, that is however, roughly two months ago, if you were to try conjure an estimation exactly of when he suddenly became a little more informal toward you, making jokes, asking more personal questions, ones that were on the level of what friends would ask. And with this sudden change of behaviour spiked a change in your way of seeing him, feeling for him.

You originally thought he was single, for he'd never mentioned the existence of Kaveh before, not for the entirety of the year you've known him. But he was if anything, a private man, kept to himself on almost everything and anything, so it shouldn't have been a surprise to you when he asked you round one evening for a few drinks, and some light chatter, to suddenly be introduced to this man who unbeknownst to you, and the rest of Sumeru City it would seem, had been settled here for some time now, in Al-haithams home.

But surprise you, it did, and you'd be lying if you didn't have to choke down the raw disappointment and heartache that swelled within upon the realisation as you smiled politely and introduced yourself to Kaveh. But still, you didn't blame him, of course not. You weren't entitled to Al-haitham in any sense of the word. The man can love who he wants, and Kaveh was a charming man to boot, not to mention friendly and sweet. You just got your hopes up is all, silly of you to do so in hindsight now, but what can you do? You're only human.

Still, it had been three weeks since Al-haitham had last been seen by anyone from the Akademiya, and that was unbefitting to The Scribe, other students and colleagues began to chat and spread rumours that he'd chucked his role in, but you knew better, no way in all of Teyvat would he quit his job, one, not unless for immensely good reason, and two, not without showing face and telling you, you hoped...

That is why you now stood here, hand clenched tightly around a case of yours, and his favourite alcohol shipped all the way from Mondstadt, the type you both enjoy when chatting the night away and killing time, knuckles whitened from your tightening grip as your other hand, clenched in a fist raised up toward the expertly designed door. Nerves gnawing away at your sanity and the burning desire to give up on it all and go home, but despite all the sirens going off in your nervous brain, your hand subconsciously knocked all the same.

Knock, knock, knock.

Nothing.

...nothing.

......still nothing.

Was he not home? It would be just your luck, after all, that he be out the one day, the exact time you come by to visit.

Knock, knock-

You jumped slightly as the door suddenly clicked opened. You hadn't heard him approach from within. How silent must he have been?

"Hello Al-" your voice died down in its happy greeting instantly, at what you saw before you.

Al-haitham hung against the door, drowsy, silver hair dishevelled, eyelids half closed, clothes wrinkled and... exposing parts he probably wasn't aware of, or by the lack of enthusiasm on his face, didn't care of.

"...Haitham" your meek voice finished your greeting that had partially died on your tongue.

He sniffed casually as his eyes opened more, revealing those oddly coloured pupils you could fall for again, and again, as he clocked it was you, his demeanour relaxing instantly he lazily turned and began to walk away from the door he now left open.

"Y/N, what brings you here." He asked in a monotone voice, though it didn't sound like a question, more so a statement.

You took it upon yourself to warily step inside his darkened home, closing the door gently behind you. Glancing around, you softly sighed. You'd feared this outcome. He'd been dumped, hadn't he? It's the only reasonable excuse as to why he's been absent, and now being here, seeing him so hopeless looking. Kaveh would've greeted you by now, but as you expected, the blonde never revealed himself.

"You've uh, been absent for some time, I grew worried is all Al." You continued to glance about realising; Kaveh's paintings and various other decorations were gone. Almost all that was him had disappeared without a trace. Your heart ached, not just for Al-haitham but also yourself, for you'd began to grow a bond with him too, seeing him as a dear friend.

"How thoughtful." He merely spat out, laced with nothing but sarcasm, his mood was sour, and it filled the place with tension. He slumped down on the stool in his kitchen that faced his island in the middle, resting his chin boredly in his palm, which was propped up by his elbow on the hard surface. His eyes darting to you and then to your hand.

"For me?" He questioned properly this time, albeit in a muttered tone, making you draw your attention back to him. Seeing his eyes on the dandelion wine case in your hand, you blushed softly at your forgetfulness.

"O-oh yes! Sorry, I thought maybe we could, uhm, I don't know, chat, I guess? And catch up." You hated how timid you sounded, but it was natural for you to be so around him at this point. He was intimidating even when he was not trying to be.

"Chat?" He mused lowly before huffing aloud, "Sure, haven't seen you in weeks. It would be nice to know how you've been, at least." He finished. You blushed harder at his confession, but he paid it no mind for his eyes were already off you and glancing ahead of him, at, nothingness, blankly.

You made your way around the kitchen island and placed the case down. You were nervous around him, sure, but once in is home, you found it second nature manoeuvring around and making yourself busy. Grabbing some glasses and pulling one of the bottles out, popping the cork off and steadily pouring the glasses out with the beverages. It just felt right and easy to go around his home and have it feel like it was part of you now.

Once filled you slid the glass across the surface to his open palmed hand, he gripped it and began to sip it instantly, it concerned you how fast he was consuming the liquid, but you'd just decided to keep a silent eye on him for now. Taking a small sip yourself, you tried to seem natural with the questions you had bubbling at the surface, wanting to ask them for minutes now; "So... Kaveh?"

"Gone." Short, curt. You expected that response.

"As in?" You replied.

"As in, not coming back." He finished.

You nodded to his words, swirling the glass in your hand as the other rest against the kitchen surface, before adding; "Am I allowed to know why?"

"Disagreement." Elusive again, he clearly didn't wanna talk about it, and you weren't in any position to press further either.

"I see..." You stated flatly, "I'm sorry." You felt obligated to say it, but his solemn look as he nodded slowly in appreciation to your care made you realise why it felt like an obligation in the beginning.

He held out the now empty glass, a silent request for a refill, so you did, placing the bottle back down once finished. He bought the glass back, but this time, he took a more tame sip before placing it down.

"How's work?" He suddenly questioned.

"Boring." You scoffed softly, to which he chuckled gently in response. It felt nice to hear him make that sound, even if it was only briefly.

"You meeting the deadlines?" He continued.

"Of course, I had you as my tutor for a year, remember?" You jested.

His brow furrowed as he sat up properly now to look you in the eye, "what you mean, had?"

The question caught you off guard because, in all honesty, you hadn't realised you'd used past tense. You looked up at him now, your eyes no longer transfixed on the coloured liquid swirling in your glass, gaze locked with his expectant look.

"I- well, uh, I just, people have been talking-"

"Saying what." He demanded.

"Well, that, uh, uhmm, well... that you've chucked the position of Scribe in, that you uh... aren't coming back to The Akademiya..." You finished shakily as if a student being interrogated by her teacher.

He let a sigh draw out his mouth slowly as he shook his head, eyes scanning up to the ceiling of his house as he muttered below exhausted breath; "Archons have mercy."

You stood there unsure what to say next as he just huffed out at nothing before feeling his gaze on you again, the weight felt instantly by you, your eyes shooting back to him to focus now.

"I'm just taking a small vacation Y/N, don't listen to them idiots when it comes to anything to do with me." He stated before taking another sip of his drink.

You nodded, affirming your understanding to his words as you chuckled; "I had a feeling you wouldn't quit your job over a break up anyway." You let out a soft laugh as you took a large sip of your own drink in hand.

His eyes nearly popped from his head at your words, however, as he set his glass down and stood from his stool now; "a what? I'm sorry? Did you say breakup?" The disbelief in his tone had you taken aback again, your tongue really was running loose right now wasn't it? You had a right mind to cut it out.

"I- I," you stuttered, unsure where to take the sentence formulating in your mouth now.

"Y/N... did you think me and Kaveh were..." he looked at you, brow quirked up in utter disbelief still.

You placed your glass down and sheepishly nodded your head as you scratched the back of your neck awkwardly.

You expected him to shout, to yell, but instead, he let out a boisterous laugh, guttural too. It rose from the truthfully deepest parts of his chest. You couldn't help but chuckle slightly yourself, seeing him laugh so giddily, it was contagious.

The tears swelled in his eyes and threatened to spill as he laughed so hard from your assumption before finally wiping his eyes and sighing aloud, coming down from his high.

"Y/N!" He said loudly but not in an angry way more of 'I can't believe you' joking kinda way, "I'm not gay?! What on earth gave you that idea?" He snickered again, his lips curving up into a wide smile. You opened your mouth but quickly shut it, wanting to save grace and not make yourself more of a fool.

"I- well, I don't know! Maybe the fact you had a man living in your home in secrecy for one! Sheesh, you can't blame me for thinking you two were an item. You bickered like an old married couple every time I came around to visit archons sake!" You lifted your hands in a gesture akin to 'help me out here'.

However, his smile faded when the realisation of the fact Kaveh had come back into play hit him, and you mentally yelled at yourself again for ruining the mood.

"I'm sor-" you instinctively went to apologise as the sad face he now had hurt your heart so desperately, but he waved his hand, dismissing your words.

"No, it's alright, don't be sorry, it's funny you assumed we were together, but no, we are just g- we were just good friends." He smiled at you as if to be reassuring to him saying he's alright, but the look of brokenness didn't help him in that effort. "We hadn't seen eye to eye for a while, and it was only a matter of time before, well, this," his hand gestured to the lack of Kaveh's decorations and designs, and presence "finally happened." He sighed, reaching for his glass again and taking another large swig.

You remained silent for what could you possibly say right now that would be of any comfort? He'd lost a once dear friend, and you'd now realised you'd lost a blossoming friendship too, and it stung you bad, so you could only imagine how much it hurt for him. The way he downed his drink made you happy you'd bought it in the first place, though you wasn't one to agree with drowning sorrows with alcohol. It helped every now and then, at least.

You stretched out, allowing a loud huff to leave yourself and effectively kill the silence that had begun to drown the room in tension; "Come, no more sad talk, let's take the drinks to the sofa and have some catch up time, I've missed my drinking buddy." You smiled warmly, and he simply smiled and nodded back.

-

The night quickly went by with you both talking about work, discoveries you'd made, ideas he'd been sitting on, interests and further hobbies you'd both decided to reveal to one another, reminiscing on past funny moments when working together, joint dislike towards certain colleagues and disagreeing with many of The Akademiya's methods in pursuit of knowledge.

It was moments like this that made your heart swell harder and reminded you why you'd begun to fall for him in the first place. You both clicked together over every little detail. You either complimented each other perfectly with your agreements on matters or delicately accentuated your differences in debates on others. Either way, you were both puzzle pieces that perfectly placed together in any jigsaw.

From both yours and his humour to your hobbies and interests, it didn't matter. You just enjoyed the company of each other over everything, you were comforted in his presence, and he was comforted in yours. There was no need for further questions or desperate attempts to create conversational topics, they fell from you both so naturally, and even more so once the alcohol had finally began to take root in your mind and his.

Cut to fifty-seven minutes later, and you're both closer with one another than how you'd oringally started out tonight, figuratively and literally. The jokes becoming more daring with underlining tones you couldn't quite take as anything more than flirtatious banter right now, and your tongue becoming even more looser than before.

-

You couldn't stop laughing, not with how Al-haithams drunken impersonation of one of your more annoying work colleagues was so spot on! Right down to the way he always flicks his hair as if he's a famous scientist known world wide.

"Pffthahahaha!" Your tears fell from your eyes freely as you couldn't stop laughing. You'd broken into such a giggle fit it even caught Al-haitham in the midst of it beginning to wheeze himself, you both sat on his sofa, the light basking you in a relaxing glow as the nightsky had claimed territory above Teyvat outside now.

You tapped his knee gently pleading for a time-out to catch your breath, though he'd stopped impersonating a full minute ago now and so you both were just clutching your stomachs and wheezing like two utter mad men as the alcohol sent a pleasant buzz down your spine.

Once the laughing had finally begun to die down, you found yourself just staring at him, your head cocked to the side and resting in your palm as it pressed against the back of the sofa. He breathed in deeply to regain some slight composure before looking at you, cocking his head playfully at you now.

A small smile crept onto your lips uncontrollably, and your words fell effortlessly from you; "you're just a big goof ya know that?"

He gasped mockingly as he turned to place his glass down on the small coffee table stowed away at the side of his sofas' arm rest. Turning his attention back to you, "so rude Y/N."

You giggled, rolling your eyes, your other hand loosely holding the glass at a slight angle, the wine inside close to spilling out if you were to tip it anymore so; "No, honestly, I use to be so afraid of you, worried I'd make you unhappy with my work, or you'd not even bother to grace me with your attention ever. You came off so cold and distant..."

He began to nudge himself closer to you, subconsciously maybe, but you weren't finding it anywhere in yourself to complain right now.

"That so?" He drawled out in a smile, "makes sense, I suppose, I do tend to keep everyone at arms length. Can't trust people that well from The Akademiya, even so-called colleagues." He finished slowly. His eyes locked with yours, "Why'd you stick around if I was so unwelcoming?" He questioned.

You shrugged as you broke the joint gaze to bend round and place your own glass down now, feeling your mind become ever so slightly dizzy you had little foresight left, which gave you the reasonable reaction of putting the glass out of harms way, turning back round you noticed Al-haitham had moved even closer now, and the proximity had began to make butterflies flutter in your stomach ever so slightly, but the alcohol made good distraction of said feelings.

His eyes searched yours for something. You were unsure of what, but they were definitely searching and searching deeply, too. Neither of you spoke now as your eyes were lost in one another, till he finally broke the silence; "I wanna kiss you." It was sudden, and so crystal clear you couldn't even pretend to have not heard it. Your cheeks burned as you suddenly felt hot and entirely trapped by him. Your throat ran dry all too quickly, and you swallowed down a lump that had begun to form; "i-... okay..." is all your drunken mind could respond with, for it seemed much easier to follow your hearts wants and desires now that you'd drowned yourself into intoxication.

He shuffled closer slowly, his eyes burning into yours before dropping to your lips, his tongue swiping across his bottom lip subconsciously, your mind was moving at a thousand miles a second right now, but the only thought that stuck out from all the rest was how unbelievably sexy he looked right now, as the redness dusted over his cheeks became more visible, and the slight huffs of his breath became more audible, as the air grew hotter and more tense as he drew in closer, his arm spreading over you to lock his fingers into the armrest beside you, effectively caging you in, his other hand cupping your cheek softly but firmly, angling your chin just right and then-

A relaxed sigh escaped your mouth only to be swallowed by his own as his lips pressed gently into yours, his tongue seeking permission to enter inside your mouth, to which you eagerly granted him, your eyes had closed instantly upon the feel of his lips meeting yours, and he slowly closed his eyes a few seconds after, the kiss now deepening as his tongue danced around yours and laid claim to your mouth with his dominance.

You felt your mind going light and fuzzy now, the kiss drifting you further into a dreamlike buzz. You so hopefully wished to never wake if it were just a dream all along. The breathing that exited both your noses were louder than usual as the intensity of the kiss grew more feverish, the wheeze of your lungs be pushed to their limit began to sting, and it must've been doing the same to the scholar above you as he then slowly, albeit it reluctantly, removed his lips from yours.

The string of saliva that connected both your lips snapped once he took a somewhat bated shaky inhale, his eyes never leaving yours once you'd finally reopened your eyes to catch your own breath. His thumb absentmindedly began to stroke sweet circles against your jawline and cheek, and you found yourself happily pressing further into his touches.

"How long?" He questioned, though his voice was more hoarse and rough now.

You looked into his eyes, knowing what he meant instantly, for you could see the same want spread across his face that you were also clearly painted with too.

"Several months now." You replied, honestly.

Still looking at you he began to manoeuvre you both softly, guiding you down, back pressed against the sofa chair, him now looming above you, the light that lay suspended in the air from his living room ceiling being blocked from directly shining in your eyes by Al-haithams towering figure above you now.

"Is your assumption of my relationship with Kaveh the reason I've been getting zero response from you with my advances?" He asked earnestly. His eyes make you feel naked with how intensely they stare at your every detail.

"I... I suppose so, yes." Your mind couldn't think straight anymore. You were in such a proactive position with the man you'd had a burning desire for months for now caging above you, alcohol having now also dammed your senses and sunken your defence, and he was interrogating you? When your mind clearly hungered for something else right now.

He chuckled softly as if it was all a big joke the world had been playing on him from the start. He lowered his face abruptly and placed warm, open-mouthed kissed against your neck and the juncture between where your neck and shoulder connect, eliciting a breathy moan from your numbing body.

"You nosy little minx," he began to gruff the words out through intakes of air between his onslaught of sensational wet kisses that marked all over your neck and shoulders, his hand gripping the top of your shirt to lazily pull it further down to reveal more skin for him to revel in. "That was my business, not yours," he nipped at a specific soft spot on your neck that made you hitch your breath under his magnifying pleasure. "Because of your sniffing around, you conjured up false accusations, and it cost me," you began to pant harder as his kisses grew more heated and possessive in their nature to mark up your skin and lay claim to you.

"Al-...mmhaahh- Al-haitham," your voice was soft, barely above a whisper as you shakily moaned his name out, a plea, a beg, you wasn't sure what, but your instincts could only give you strength to say that one word, however as he hungrily bit down on your neck you couldn't stifle the proper moan that slipped from your lips this time.

"Make more of those noises for me," he sounded drunk on his lust, and you were in the same ship as him, his lips and tongue were made by the devil, they had to of been, to elicit such sinful sounds from your very own mouth. His fingers clutched tightly on your shirts fabric. It was only a cheap, flimsy thing you'd thrown on in your haste to come see him today, "this, is in the way," he practically snarled the words out as a loud tearing sound echoed throughout the spacious living room, a blush burning at your cheeks now as you felt the temperature change, you hadn't worn a bra either-

"Temptress." He stated in a frenzied manner as he dipped his head down past your neck now, you cried out in sheer overwhelming pleasure as his hot mouth encased round your nipple, sucking on it fervently, his tongue flicking it around between the clasp of his teeth inside. Your hands slipped through silver locks, so silky to the touch, you giggled to yourself inside, as depressed as he was, he always made sure he was well pampered, such a pretty boy.

Your eyes closed as you got swallowed up to all the burning sensations that engulfed your body right now, his tongue, lips, teeth made sure to bite, kiss and suck any and all flesh that held his attention, while his hands left delicious squeezes and gropes all over your thighs, slipping underneath your arching behind to properly feel your rear too, he made sure to leave no part of you undiscovered by him.

"Tried so damn hard," he continued to growl hoarse and roughly as he bit against your fleshy mounds that were now glistening in slight sweat, "to make you realise my obvious want for you," he panted heavily as he began to shuffle about again, your body too weak and overwhelmed to resist anything he'd do to you now, but as you felt your legs being lifted and the feel of your pants being roughly pulled down you mewled in excitement as to what's to come.

Though your mind was hazy with the thick fog of arousal as the room slowly began to permeate with that smell of sex, your hands slid up his body, squeezing into his firm muscles on his arms, your mouth watering slightly as you took into consideration the sculptured frame of perfection that hungrily stripped you as if you were the marvel to behold here.

"Feeble Scholar, my a-ass." You breathed out to which he once having finally thrown your pants on the floor bent back down closer to your mouth to properly hear, "what was that?" He panted out his request, his face so flushed with his burning desire for you. "Yo... you can't blame me for having... doubts, how could I have ever expected to... engg... have a chance with you? You're so... perfect." You confessed your insecurity to the whole ordeal that had been burning at the back of your mind since the moment you began to pine after him, alcohol really was a dangerous thing you'd drunkenly realised.

He sat up, an almost flustered amusement painting his face as he lulled his head back, lazily running a hand through his silver hair, looking as if in thought, before sniffing in sharply through his nose and lowering his head back down to burn his gaze back into yours. You suddenly felt that naked feeling again, and it wasn't because you were in nothing but your dampening panties underneath him, no, it was that look he gave again, as he burned every detail of you into him, as if blinking would make you disappear so he wouldn't dare too.

"I won't be held responsible for this," he muttered out as you felt a tug at your waist and then heard another snapping sound. You gasped about to voice a complaint over one of your favourite panties now being ruined, but instead, you choked on your words and hiccuped a moan out instead. His long fingers deftly shoved into your now soaking entrance, two push inside which caused you to shudder hard under him and writhe around, his grip on your hip kept you in place however, bruises were sure to show tomorrow from his hold.

He began to scissor you open in an expertly way that left you speechless and mewling with delight, his thumb pressed against your clit and stimulated it simultaneously with quick and fast circular motions, your eyes beginning to water as your body wracked with pleasure as if small sparks of electrocution ran through your very veins, the heat pooling below rapidly now. "Heh, that's it, keep singing for me Y/N, keep," he began to spread his two fingers wider inside you, stretching you open deliciously past your normal limits, "making, those, faces." every word he gruffly barked out with that hot underlining tone of lust was accentuated with the spread of fingers lodged deep inside you.

You felt your climax barrelling into you so suddenly, the way your body tensed under him, your eyes rolling back as you cried out, the gush of your own slick and juices coating his fingers and hand, dribbling down to his wrist, he merely smirked as he watched you unravel beneath him, a gift for himself, so beautiful and alluring, he continued to scissor and thrust his fingers slowly inside you as you rode down from your incredible high.

He then leaned down beginning to pant harder, he sounded out of breath, much like how you sounded right now too, your face flushed red from cheeks to nose and ear tips, he wore the same expression, both of you intoxicated by far more than just alcohol. You had so many thoughts and words wishing to be voiced aloud but you found them dying on your tongue with every attempt, the sensations causing too many shudders and delectable thrums of ecstasy up your spine.

It wasn't long at all till his mouth was on yours again, another hot, sloppy make out between you both, tongues twirling with each other as air was squeezed from your lungs, teeth clattering in the transaction but it meant nothing to you, feeling him on you like this, devouring you, it felt good, so good, and so right, you submitted yourself wholly to him and he could sense it in the way your body relaxed and fell pliant beneath him as he continued to domineer the stinging hot kiss between you both, a muffled groan leaving his throat only to be swallowed hungrily by you in return.

"w-want you..." you whimpered softly while catching your breath.

"You're gonna have me." he concluded as he sat up and swiftly removed his tight emerald green vest that often left nothing to the imagination of his amazing physique.

You hesitantly lifted your hand up, the intrusive thoughts of wanting to explore every crevice of his skin, every ridged bump along his six pack down to the sharply carved V-line that disappeared beneath his unbelievably tight trousers. But your hand stilled, as if worried or more so, undeserving to feel such a beautiful being like him. He merely scoffed incredulously to your hesitancy, gripping your hand firmly and placing it flat against his abs, your cheeks flaring red as he guided your hand along those said tempting ridges and bumps, feeling the divine skin underneath you.

"We are past shyness of touch dear, stop looking at me with such hunger, and start actually acting on it," he chuckled in a far too sexy way above you as he knelt between your legs that were now hung either side his own legs. His hair a cute mess, his lips wet from your constant need to suck the air from one another, his eyes glossy and coated over with soul damning lust.

You let your hand continue to explore his abs before slowly sliding up and over his pecs, across his toned chest, he truly was stunning, so well built, he lies when he says he doesn't work out, no one gets a shape this godly without putting effort in, but you would reprimand him for lying later, now is worship time, your other hand began to join you in its neediness to explore him and he chuckled airy like toward you, his brow raising in amusement making him look like a smug god before you, "You really like what you see huh?"

You scoffed with the first sign of confidence you'd had since this whole crumbled down fiasco transpired, "Wouldn't you if you was faced with such an unremarkably sexy person?" you quipped back, he then swiftly gripped your hands and bought them to his lips, soft gentle kisses pressing into them as his eyes locked with yours once again, a smile pressing into your hand from his lips as the hot breath fanned against them as he spoke, "I am." is all he rebutted back at you before guiding your hands up and above your head, locking them together with one of his own, his strong fingers clasping round your wrists.

You blushed hard at his compliment, suddenly he has such a way with words, so suave and smooth out of nowhere, you were use to the cold distancing from before, and then the goofy and sarcastic man after, but this new side of him was just as welcome as all the ones you'd seen before, any side of him you would accept as part of him, just as you knew any side of you yet to be revealed would be seen no differently by him.

You blinked the tears away that swelled in your eyes from the overwhelming insanity of all that was taking place currently, sniffing softly as you tried to regain composure, the buzz of the dandelion wine and the heady scent of sex clouding your judgement so easily, your focus was redirected down south sharply however, when you heard the sound of his zipper ringing out, your throat suddenly felt too dry as you swallowed in anticipation.

You didn't even notice the cocky smirk on his lips as he watched your shining eyes focus solely on his fingers under his trousers away from your prying sight, he couldn't deny the desperation frothing inside him to feel your walls clenching around him however, so in one swift movement he pulled the front of his trousers down and with it the spring of his nearing eight inch cock bounced out in all its well trimmed glory.

Your eyes bulged wide at the sight, Archons he was massive! ...was, ...was he gonna be able to fit inside you? Suddenly you wasn't so sure as you looked at the pretty shaped pink head weeping plentiful of its precum, the thick girth and more than generous length, so heavy it was that even with how hard he was to the thought of taking you, the blood pumping down south couldn't properly lift the darn thing, it stood straight out and drooped ever so slightly.

"Holy fuck Al, you're ma-massive." You choked your words out with little care of modesty, you were worried and impressed, and you wasn't gonna deny it to him. He laughed, properly, full of warmth and genuine amusement, it gave you that giddy feeling again to see his sweet smile with no filters. "Relax Y/N, if you don't think you're up to it-" he was being polite, you knew that, but the look in his eyes was obvious, and you also knew he didn't mean it, he wanted you, bad, and you're anything but a liar, your mind could hardly even catch up to your current thoughts as you blurted out shamelessly, "No, fuck me-"

He squeezed your wrists in his grip tighter, to the point that you'd almost forgotten he still had them caged above your head, his eyes simmering into a darker shade as his lust consumed him, his expression looking ravenous and hungry now, "Thank fuck you didn't say no, I need you, so fucking bad," he snarled the words out beside your ear to which you mewled at as you felt his thickness now rubbing against your slick covered walls, your hole clenching around nothing in desperation to feel full.

Just as his head began to prod and poke at your entrance, sending tiny shivers rippling all over your muscles, for some reason, completely lost to you, your mind thought about the condition of his clearly expensive furniture. "W-wait! Your s-sofa..." your voice was so unsteady now, words became harder and harder to force out, you just wanted to make animalistic sounds of pleasure, pleasure he kept sinking you further into. He shook his head as his hand released over yours and placed firmly beside your head, the other now on the other side too, caged beneath him once more, just how you'd grown to like it apparently. Your hands reflexively shooting out as your hands dug into his muscular arms, flexing beneath your squeezing fingers, you squeezed tightly, trying to ground yourself to him, to anything, just, to feel as if you wasn't drowning, but oh, you were.

"May come as, a haaah... surprise to you, Y/N," his voice strained as he began to push his thick girth deeper, and deeper inside you, spearing your insides and stretching you unfathomably around him, your juices spurting out in unbelievable amounts, coating his cock in a shiny layer of slick as it continued to bury deeper inside you, your voice gone entirely now, replaced with heavy pants, whines and mewls, your brain frying all that's coherent. "But I don't give, a shit, about my sofa, ahhh f-fuck meeeerrngh, right now." he snapped his hips forward suddenly to finish bottoming out inside you fully, your stomach looking slightly bulged to his sex driven mind, but he could just be high on endorphins right now.

Upon feeling his tip press and kiss against your cervix it forced a combined moan from the pair of you, you'd never felt so fucking full, you'd only had sex a handful of times, but you didn't need to be a slut to realise no cock would ever have this man beat, he remained still, his thick veined cock lodged deep inside your spasming and tight walls, his eyes fluttering shut as he sucked a breath in harshly trying to steady his control, "fucking...hell Y-Y/N, you're so bloody tight mmnph.." you panted heavily, your tongue lulling out as you did, he couldn't help but to lean down and kiss you with a searing hot passion, your fucked out expression did something wild to him and if he had any less self restrain you'd be fifty-shades fucked out your fucking mind right now.

Your tongues danced with each other in nothing but a messy exchange of saliva, muffled moans and whines at his testing little thrusts, short and slow, but he was so deep that he was already making you see stars, you pulled away to breath once again, your lips shiny from your messy and continuous make out sessions, "well sorry, but did i-it ever occur to you, you're too f-fucking deep," you hissed as he suddenly rolled his hips into you causing him to rub and press against several of your sweet spots, your shuddering and spasming causing him to shudder as well, both of you cursing to high Celestia and back in unison as he then breathily chuckled against your ear, "nah, you can take more feisty thing," he mused.

Before you could question what he meant though he began to thrust fully into you now, slow but continuous and deep, your eyes squeezed shut as you began to moan loudly with wild abandon, he had no neighbours anyway so what'd you care? "S-see? taking me so well, good girl, haah." his voice was deep, strained, rough and hoarse, everything and all things that make him sexy to you at any given time, he was all in one at this exact moment, and his praising made your mind go fluffy and flash white behind your eyes, he realised it instantly with the way he almost came from your sudden squeezing and sucking from your ever so tight fluttering walls.

"ahh, fuuucckk, you like that baby? mmh?" he tilted his head as he sat up, his hips flushed against yours still, but now knelt between you sitting up he could probably admire the picturesque form you currently were in, sinfully gorgeous with how thoroughly fucked out your face was, your eyes half open, filled with lust and want, your cheeks red, your skin glistening with more sweat, panting and mewling, you were utterly divine to him right now, he laid his hand flat against your stomach slowly, pressing the bulge that he could certainly conclude was actually there now.

The way he pressed down on your stomach made you stutter out a sobbed moan, he was making you feel more full if that were even possible, he pressed against his own cock that was wedged so deeply inside you now, "mmh, I never did realise, just how... small you were, fuck, compared to me Y/N." he bit his lip harshly and you somehow found the energy to chuckle, though you were becoming rapidly more lightheaded, "telling me you have a size kink now, h-huh?" he smirked at your jab as he rolled his hips roughly against you again, causing your eyes to roll back and let out a wanton moan, "what was that, my little good girl." You mewled in response to the praise, the pet name if you will, your walls fluttering vigorously around his length again causing him to bite his lip once more to remain composed before beginning to trust at a steady pace now.

You couldn't believe you both were just idly revealing kinks while he was actively impaling you. But like you'd come to accept, opening up to him really was easier than breathing at this point. And breathing was suddenly becoming harder for you too, with how he continued to spread you open, rearrange your organs and insides to mould into the perfect sleeve for his cock, and his cock alone, he was burning his girth, his length, him, inside you fully, and you knew you weren't gonna forget the feelings he gave to you, and you didn't want too.

Your eyes had closed what, ten minutes ago, twenty? …forty? You really wasn't sure, but his pace hadn't let up, the battering of your poor insides was starting to ache you, you'd already came again and he'd just thrusted you through it into utter overstimulation, his lips trailing your neck, your shoulders, nibbling your ear, marking your chest, overstimulation was clearly another one of kinks, but with the way your tears spilled so gratefully and the delicious burn of your battered inside built you quickly to another encroaching climax, maybe... you were also into over stimulation, hmm.

"Fuck... Y/N, sorry but, I'm close..." if you were able to form anything of coherent audibility right now you would tell him to shut the fuck up with the whole 'sorry' sorry for what? Idiot. If he thought he was under performing right now... he needed a serious talking to, but as you felt his cock begin to twitch wildly so deep inside and the way he showed no signs of slowing down or pulling out, you started to realise why he may have said sorry...

"w-ahh wait, wa-wait, Al...mmhp, Al, you aren't s-seriously going to, to..." he shook his head as he pressed himself down onto you, his chest pressing against yours, your breasts rubbing against his chest as his hand flatly laid over your mouth, so big it was his fingers had to part to let your nose have an airway to breath through as your eyes widened to your sudden forced silence, "shhh, be a good girl, take it, take it all Y/N, Mmph...," he rolled his hips before beginning to rut into you, his hand sliding between your bodies and hurriedly swirling circled motions against your swollen clit and with that your eyes rolled back as he sent you over into another blissed out orgasm that flashed your sights white and your hearing just ringing out.

"Ahh fuuuck, yes, just like that baby, just like that, keep cumming on my cock you slut." you couldn't say anything, even your moans were muffled into near silence, your harsh breaths through your nose as your head went fuzzy and utterly fried from overstimulation now to the point of being fucked dumb, your nails scratching down his back leaving marks, eliciting a sharp hiss and growl from Al-Haitham as he continued to rut hard into you, "f-fuck, I'm cumming baby, I'm cumming, take it, take it a-all, arrghhh!" his head lulled back as he groaned out and then you felt it, spurt after spurt of hot thick ropes of his cum painting and smearing your insides, filling you to the brim, the squelching of your ridiculously soaked and battered entrance around his throbbing and twitching cock, hungrily your insides sucked and milked his balls dry till his shallowed thrusts into you and the twitching of his cock had nothing left to give.

He dropped down onto you, careful not to fully crush you under his weight, both of you panting heavily as he slid his hand from your over your mouth up into your hair, softly petting your scalp, the affectionate gesture made a warm swelling feeling inside you, that or you know, the bucket load of his cum and cock still deeply buried inside you. It was only once the haziness began to leave and you were left post thoughts after sex that you began to chuckle before breaking into a fit of laughter, his eyes had closed from exhaustion, but opened slowly to your laughing fit, chuckling himself and lifting his head softly before the contagious laughter caught him too, causing him to break out laughing as well while dropping his forehead against yours, both of your eyes watering with joy filled tears and overwhelming emotions.

Once the laugher died down and you were both now just sniffling with slight chuckles his eyes sunk downward then back up into yours, "Darn, the sofa's ruined now." he snorted to which you giggled at childishly, then the silence took over fully and you both lay together, eyes locked on one another once again, "I like you too Y/N." He boyishly smiled at you to which you rolled your eyes before a smile couldn't help but form too, "I would hope so" you returned.

-

After your pillow talk to one another you both got up and cleaned the mess up as best you could, he offered you first shower to clean yourself but you decided it was easier to just shower and clean together, you both continued to chat and joke, somewhat naughtily in your washing up time, but managed to come out of it actually clean. You didn't further discuss his prior feelings toward his ex-friend, it was his business not yours after all, though it saddened you to think you may never see Kaveh again, people come and go unfortunately, and in all honesty, no one knows what the future holds do they? Optimism is best suited in these saddening times to keep one going, and you wanted him to remain positive, you wanted to help relieve some of his sorrow and tension and you felt the mood had finally lifted and unbelievable progress had been made, the man you'd been crushing so hard for, reciprocated your feelings fully and it left you warm and fuzzy whenever you thought about it.

You stayed the night, to which more less than innocent things took place in his bedroom with you, no surprise there, he had amazing stamina and recovery time you'd thoroughly figured out during this endeavour. But the next morning you ate breakfast with him and continued to bask in the comfort of just being around him, to which he fully and equally returned the mutuality of. But alas, you did have work back at The Akademiya, so with a chaste farewell kiss you bid him goodbye till the next time you had time to come see him, assuming he still wasn't ready to come back just yet, which you were fine with, at least you had closure to his absence and could tell your colleagues to shut up with their bickering and rumour spreading.

-

The sun was rising bright above Teyvat as you were inside Al-Haithams office giving it a quick clean over, it was growing dusty from the lack of attention it had received for weeks now, it had been a couple days since you and him, took the next step in both of yours relationship, so to speak, and you couldn't help but already be missing him, did it make you petty? Probably, but at least you felt somewhat closer to him in here, in his office, and the excuse of spring cleaning kept everyone's suspicions at bay.

"Missing me so much already are we?" His voice came from behind you suddenly, causing you to jump near out your skin, whipping round fast eyes wide before resting your hand on your chest calming your nerves, "Archons Al, don't sneak up on me like that."

He quirked his brow as he set down some various documents and paperwork onto his desk turning to you, "Me? You're the one skulking about my office stalker." he squinted his eyes in challenge but you knew better than to raise to it, "Am not." or so you thought.

He smiled as he glanced around realising you had been cleaning his office during his absence, "Thank you though, honestly, for taking care of things while I was too busy moping." He turned back to his papers beginning to organise them in order of projects in dire need of attention on top, with the less urgent ones beneath.

"Well, everyone needs their time and space Al, even the amazing Scribe." you smiled warmly as you finished the left over areas that needed cleaning, gasping softly when you felt hands suddenly squeeze your hips and spin you back around, your hands dropping the cloth as they rested quickly atop his broad and firm shoulders, meeting met face to face with Al who stared down at you, your cheeks flushed red, you were in public was he mad?!

"Al?! Not here you mad man!" You whisper yelled to him trying your best to have a serious and scolding expression but he merely chuckled an kissed the tip of your nose lovingly, "Whatever happens between us in this office, is of no concern to others." he flatly stated as he began to trail kisses down your neck, your core beginning to pool with heated arousal and neediness for the man against you, a sigh of content seeping from your lips as your eyes fluttered softly, "What do you plan to do to me in here AL..." your voice was soft and laced with nerving excitement and anticipation.

He lifted his head to let his eyes capture yours once more, his breath hot against your lips as he whispered seductively, "That's my business, not yours."

[deathbxnny]

☆《True Power. (Yanqing x HoT!Reader)》☆

-----♡

A/N: This is another request from the dear Yanqing Anon again! I thank them very much for this brilliant idea and hope, that this is good enough!<33

Summary: You are the Herrscher of thunder, that somehow found herself in the hsr world. You were taken in by Jing Yuan and eventually got together with Yanqing during it. You never had any reason to show off the extent of your powers... until you did.

Content: some angst, established relationship, Herrscher reader and her pet dragon, fluff, mentions of violence/fighting, sfw

Reader is afab and uses she/her pronouns!

((Not fully proofread, sorry for any mistakes!))

-----♡

The day started out like all days did.

You woke up, got dressed and met your master and boyfriend in the dining room for some breakfast, before everyone had to leave for another long work day. You peacefully ate your bread, listening into the conversation the two men were having. Yanqing sat next to you, his hand holding onto your thigh absently, as he excitedly talked to Jing Yuan about his most recent sword addition in his collection.

You smiled, happy to see your boyfriend in such good spirits as usual. But that unfortunately didn't last long, when the news of a Mara-struck outbreak came in, making you three hastily make your way to the generals main office so Jing Yuan could assess the situation better. The entire ship was in pure chaos, guards running around to evacuate citizens, whilst researchers ran around gathering their research.

You quickly trailed after Yanqing, his hand tightly holding onto yours protectively. "Stay close." He said to you, his eyes focused on his surroundings in case of a monster suddenly appearing. You just nodded, knowing that you'd be safe anyways. Not only because of Yanqing, but also because of the little secret you kept about your existence.

You don't know how you did it, but one day, you just suddenly woke up on the Xianzhou Luofu, in a completely different world and timeline from your original one. You were the Herrscher of Thunder and extremely powerful at that. When you met Jing Yuan and Yanqing, you tried vaguely explaining to them what you were and whilst they didn't fully understand it, they knew it had to be kept a secret, in case someone dangerous tries using you for their own gain.

And so, you were taken in by the general and instructed to not use your abilities, unless absolutely necessary. You didn't mind, as you never had a reason to use them anymore here anyways... but you had a feeling, that that may change sooner than you thought.

--

Eventually, you found yourself outside of the realm keeping commission with your boyfriend, patiently waiting on further orders on the situation. "... Are you worried, that the outbreak might spread further?" You quietly ask Yanqing, sitting down on some steps. "Hm, not really at the moment... but we should be aware of the dangers and possibilities... we can't let our guard down." He said thoughtfully, seemingly trying to also comfort you a little. But it was hard, when things were so uncertain and chaotic. The commission was scrambling to get everything under control and with the escape of a certain stellaron hunter, things were just getting worse and worse.

You nodded your head, about to say something else, when someone suddenly tapped your shoulder. "Uhm hey! Sorry to bother you... but is the commission somewhere nearby? We're kind of lost." A pink haired girl said to you nearly nervously, pointing at the older man and grey haired girl behind her with a defeated smile. Yanqing glanced at the three, noting that they were definitely foreigners. "Ah actually, it's right behind us." You say politely, making the girl blush in embarrassment.

"Oh... oops, so we were close after all, haha...!" She laughed, making the older man shake his head with a sigh. He looked over at you and stopped for a moment, his eyes narrowing. "... Are you perhaps apart of the commission?" He asked, making Yanqing quickly answer for you. "Not directly! I'm a lieutenant of the cloud knights and Retainer to general Jing Yuan. My girlfriend over here is my assistant." He clarified, guessing that the foreigners were asked to come here by someone on the ship.

You quickly found out more about the three guests after some quick mutual introductions. It was your first time hearing of the Astral Express and it intrigued you. Though Welt seemed oddly suspicious of you for some reason... you couldn't dwell on it much though, when a guard suddenly approached you in panic.

Turns out, that your worries and fears had come true. There was a mob of strong Mara-struck nearing the Exalting Santum and quickly at that. "I'll handle it. Report this to the generals immideatly." Yanqing said sternly to the guard, before turning to you and the trio behind you. "You should stay here-" "-I'm coming with you, whether you like it or not." You cut him off, stubbornly crossing your arms. "We'll join in too!" March said determinedly, as the other two deadpanned lightly at being dragged into this, yet decided to just agree and go along with it.

Yanqing stared at you four for a moment, before sighing in pure defeat. There was no time to argue back.

"Very well... but stay close and get ready for a tough fight. I have a feeling, that this won't go smoothly..."

--

And Yanqing was unfortunately right.

The Mara-struck were much stronger than you had anticipated and it was beginning to become impossible to keep them back. They were constantly regenerating their life energy and it was wearing you all out. You realised, that the only way to end this, was by using your abilities. And Welt seemed to think the same.

"I know what you are... do it and I'll have your back." The older man hummed, as he pushed up his glasses and gripped his cane. You sighed, before nodding and stepping infront of everyone. "(Y/N), stay back! What are you-" "-It's okay, I'll handle it." You said determinedly and in a flash, you took on your form as the Herrscher of thunder.

You opened your eyes, squinting a little in discomfort from how unfamiliar this felt. It's been a long time, since you've actually used your abilities like this. But you knew, that not even your sword could help much in this situation, which meant that you'll also have to call on some backup. You hoped, that your dear old "pet" still listened to you, after so long.

Most of your companions were staring at you in complete awe, never having seen someone like you before. Especially Yanqing, who's eyes trailed over the Blade in excitement. He didn't know, that you possessed it and now that he did, he'll definitely ask you to let him look at it closer later. But for now, he was intrigued to see how your abilities worked.

You crossed your arms infront of your chest, as your large mechanical arms swung down with the massive Katana and cut several monsters in half. It was much more effective, but even with your katana slashing through several enemies, there were still too many coming in. Deciding that it was time to call in your backup, you closed your eyes and focused on summoning your dragon ally.

The ground began shaking, the sky split in half, the clouds turning dark and black, as thunder roared through the sky. And much to your delight, your dear dragon Kurikara had indeed heard you and has come to the rescue. You smiled, as you looked up at it approaching you through a portal in the sky, practically racing to your aid loyally. It gave you an ache in your heart, remembering your old world always did that to you.

But you shook the emotions away, as Kurikara landed infront of you. "W-woah! Is that a new fragmentum monster or something?!" March yelled in slight fear, as the others got ready for a seemingly much stronger "enemy" now. Welt just hummed, recognising the dragon with ease, yet he said nothing. You'd explain everything on due time.

Yanqing frowned, stepping forward to protect you, as he gripped his sword in his hand. Yet he was stopped by Stelle, who was telling him to wait it out to see what happens. And he was glad he did, when you mounted Kurikara in the next moment and flew up into the dark sky. You looked down at the monsters with confidence, a small smile gracing your face.

"Let's do this, Kurikara. Like old times." You said and so the dragon unhinged it's large mouth and shot a laser beam right down onto your enemies. They were pulverised in an instant and those that did survive it, quickly retreated in fear of being next, which successfully eliminated the threat. You chuckled, your hand reaching down to pat the dragon absently.

It was nice, to feel this strong again.

--

"Sooo... you have a pet dragon? That's super cool!" March gasped in excitement, as she patted the dragon happily with your permission. You hummed and nodded, having explained that your dear companion was indeed no threat and in fact a friend of yours. Stelle decided not to question it, whilst Welt gave you a knowing look, that confirmed to you, that he knew more than he let on.

But if he didn't mention it, then you wouldn't either.

Yanqing on the otherhand just took your hands in his with sparkling eyes. He was unbearably proud of having you as a lover and was absolutely honoured too. "Thank you for stopping the threat, my crane... but I do have a request..." He trailed off and you couldn't help but smile at that. You knew what he wanted. "Once we get back and report to the general, I'll let you have a look at my blade." You promised him gently, smiling at the excited look he gave you. He pulled your hands to his lips and kissed them softly, his eyes radiating with warmth, as the sky returned back to normal, an orange hue enveloping you all.

"I love you." "I love you too, Yanqing."

-----♡

A/N: I hope this was okay and not all over the place or confusing! Thank you again dear Yanqing Anon for the request!<33

[mumms-the-word]

ATLANTIS WIP PLEASE 💕

I can deny you nothing, my dear <3 You got it, one sneak peek coming right up

In ancient times, well before the Age of Humanity began, there existed a series of islands inhabited by powerful elves—the islands of Nautera. Rumored to have been the birthplace of multiple magical wonders and inventions the likes of which the world has never seen again, or is only just now reinventing, Nautera was legendary even during its own time. Until one fateful day, over 4500 years ago, the islands vanished, never to be seen again… Now they’re no more than myth. No more than a bedtime story for young children. Not a single, legitimate record of Nautera exists, save for one. The Nauterran Account. Long thought lost, it has recently been retrieved from the depths of Candlekeep’s archives and placed into the capable hands of one Gale Dekarios. With the Nauterran Account in hand and an eclectic team of Baldurians and other allies mounting an official expedition, Gale journeys to find the ruins of Nautera…but hopes to find so much more.

Official sneak peek of the first chapter under the cut~

A strong sea breeze ruffled Gale’s hair as he stood on the deck of a ship nearing a small spit of land just east of Waterdeep. The island itself was nothing special, he knew that, but the people located there…they might be able to change everything.

He took a deep breath through his nose, scenting the salty air and wondering if today would be his last day breathing in fresh air for a while. Where he was bound to go, there would be no sun nor sky for some time, no wind to lift the hair from his neck, and no guarantee that he would make it back. But this was a chance in a lifetime. If he didn’t take it, he’d never get another opportunity to sate his curiosity.

Or set things right with Mystra.

[...]

...a command from Mystra wasn’t all that Elminster had brought Gale. Though he had come professing to deliver a message, he had left behind a physical gift. “Some light reading,” he had said, chuckling to himself and passing over the canvas-bound package. Gale had looked cautiously at the old wizard before carefully unwrapping the canvas.

There, in his hands, was the long-lost Nauterran Account.

When he looked up, Elminster was gone, having disappeared without offering any further explanation, leaving behind only a single letter in the chair where he had been sitting. Written in an unfamiliar hand, it was a formal invitation (or perhaps proposal was the better word) for Gale to join an undersea expedition as a resident expert in arcane languages. Though the invitation lacked details, promising them on arrival at a small island to the east, Gale could readily connect the dots.

Elminster had opened up a path for him to Nautera. 

Whether Nautera held Gale’s salvation or not remained to be seen. By all accounts, the city should be in ruins. But if even fragments of their magic survived, if there were tablets to read or accounts to save…perhaps Nautera would have answers for Gale. 

If not...well at least he could go down in history as the man who proved thousands of Candlekeep and Blackstaff scholars wrong about the fabled islands of Nautera.

~*~*~

Keep an eye out soon~

[pmak2002]

Without Morris Frank and Buddy there would be no Harper. Service animals would not exist today if Morris Frank never reached out to Dorothy Euthis of Switzerland

This Day In History April 25 1928 Buddy, a German Shepherd, becomes 1st guide dog for a US citizen Morris Frank

Morris Frank became the first American to benefit from the help of a Seeing Eye dog. Frank lost the use of one eye in a childhood accident and the other in a boxing match as a teen and before his soon to be companion Buddy came into his life, Frank received assistance from a human guide.

Morris Frank was a blind man from Nashville. His father read him an article by Dorothy Eustis, a woman living in Switzerland who had seen shepherds training dogs to lead blind people get around. Excited by the idea, Frank wrote a letter to Eustis and received a response letter 30 days later inviting him to come see for himself. Frank then took a ship to Europe and trained extensively with a dog that had been bred specifically to lead a blind person. The training was hard, but after weeks with the dog, Frank could get around the nearby Swiss village holding tightly to a harness to which Buddy was strapped.

Morris Frank returned to America. From the day he got off the ship, he was successful. At one point, in front of a group of dumbfounded reporters, Buddy led Frank safely across a busy New York street. “I shall never forget the next three minutes, Ten-ton trucks rocketing past, cabs blowing their horns in our ears, drivers shouting at us . . . When we finally got to the other side and I realized what a really magnificent job she had done” Frank later wrote.

When Frank returned to Nashville, people were amazed at the sight of the blind man and his dog successfully navigating busy sidewalks and couldn’t believe that it was the same blind boy they had so recently taken pity on. What amazed people the most was that Buddy had an ability best known as “intelligent disobedience,” which meant that he would obey Morris except when executing that command would result in harm to his master. If there was a low hanging branch ahead on the sidewalk, for instance, Buddy knew how to navigate around it to the point where Morris wouldn’t hurt his head on it.

About this time, Frank, Eustis and several others cofounded The Seeing Eye, an institution set up to train guide dogs and their blind masters. Today, the organization reports that it has, in its 80 year history, trained 14,000 dogs. Buddy is considered the first. In 1978, on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the school, the U.S. issued a commemorative stamp in honor of The Seeing Eye.

Frank worked with Buddy until her death on May 23, 1938; he named her replacement Buddy, as he would all his subsequent guide dogs.

Thanks to Buddy service dogs in the US became a possibility!

The Seeing Eye is located in Morristown NJ

Morris continued to fight for Guide dogs rights in public places until his death in 1980 way before the ADA was finally passed July 26th 1990 by George H.W Bush. (Who later benefited from this Act in his older age)

Thank you Morris

Thank you Dorothy

Thank you Buddy

[ruby-serpentis]

horror au! leighton - head canons

pairing: male! leighton x gn! reader

warning(s): corruption, political corruption, obstruction of justice, coercion, mentions of grooming, nonconsensual voyeurism, guilt tripping

MWAHAHAHA I FINALLY FIGURED SOMETHING OUT FOR LEIGHTON!! enjoy you dirty leighton lovers ;)

this is also like...VERY LATE I’M SO SORRY GUYS. (anyways victorian leighton?)

reader is in their 20s, btw.

please note that i do not condone any of this behavior in real life. this is merely a work on fiction based on another work of fiction.

INTRODUCING...THE LUSTFUL JUDGE

you were born in a rough environment, per say.

living in an orphanage was not ideal especially with the caretaker bailey. she was strict, rough, and cheap. she did not care much about you or the other children.

but you eventually found a caretaker: a lovely man named doren and his spouse, sirris. they treated you warmly and with kindness. you loved your home despite the smallness. there was enough money to keep your stomach full so you didn’t complain.

things in your life went awry so quickly. the good thing that finally happened went away in the blink of an eye.

your father was accused of a crime he did not commit. you didn’t remember what. and he was shipped away, never to return.

you didn’t know what happened to sirris, only that you were then placed in the custody of the judge that sentenced doren to exile. he was never to return.

you knew nothing about the judge other than his name: leighton. that and you remember seeing him quite a few times when you used to live at the orphanage. he would converse with bailey often. there was something he wanted and that he would get, obviously.

he housed you as his new ward and kept you locked within his home. it was a nice home. lots of things to do. and for the most part, he left you alone which made you relieved. something in your stomach told you that the older man was off.

you would be unaware of his interest in you as you grew older. and you wished it stayed that way.

when you came of age, leighton started looking for a spouse for you. after all, you were his ward. it was his job to have you married off and perhaps even take a dowry while he was at it. a little extra money never hurt anyone. not that his pockets were empty. they were far from that.

leighton knew quite a few people in high places. old money, new money, aristocrats, factory owners. he knew them all. after all, they supplied money in his pockets if they needed a favor. some of them he’s been working with since he was a young lawyer.

but you? you showed no interest in marriage, despite your popularity. you had people approaching you for marriage almost every day. proposals flooded the mailbox of your home. people even came up to you on the street to ask for your hand.

and you said no to every one of them.

it was cute when you were young. leighton chalked it up to your spritely young attitude and growing into an adult in society.

but after you turned 20, it was no longer cute. you might’ve ended up being unmarried for the rest of your life.

the judge started getting more involved in your life, much to your annoyance. he even started chaperoning you when you went out. normally you would’ve been chaperoned by one of his henchmen or even a house servant.

leighton started to question what to do with you. if you weren’t going to be married off, then you would be stuck with him. and that was not right...was it? supporting you until he died, passed his properties onto you?

it wasn’t until after your most recent birthday did he start seeing you...differently.

he started noticing your attractiveness, your intelligence, the way your body moved sensually and how the clothes clung onto you. you were sweet and melodic. despite the grayness of the world, you were gentle and kind.

despite having him as your guardian.

he was perhaps one of the most corrupt people to exist in town. well, there were others that could be considered worse. but who had the most influence and power? he did. no one else.

and you seemed to grasp none of it.

you were untouched, untainted. and it was because of his influence that you were this way.

and perhaps, if he had married you off, you still wouldn’t be the sweet, pure soul that he recognized you were.

at one point, this obsession grew to the point he had a hole cut in the wall. it was small and hidden well. you didn’t seem to notice. but he would remove the small painting covering it to spy on you, to watch you.

some nights you read and wrote, working on your novel. (yes he had absolutely gone through your room and desk. your writing was quite exquisite)

other nights you looked wistfully out your window, sketching something on your windowsill. a butterfly, a flower you bought from the florist down the street, a book you took from your shelves.

and then there were the nights you...indulged. in earthly pleasures.

your little moans were so lewd and the way you would bite down onto your pillow to muffle your sounds? so so cute.

he was pawing at his own cock, feeling himself get hard so quickly. he wondered what you were thinking about while you touched yourself. could you possibly be thinking about him? that got him even more hard.

he loved those nights where he would watch you from his study, hand smoothly gliding down his shaft. he imagined how warm your mouth would be around his cock and how warm your hole would be, how the walls would clench around his cock, desperately trying to drain his balls.

leighton had to have you.

you needed to be his.

“i will marry my ward.”

it was a sudden announcement to the servants. even his henchman was surprised. alas, he did not say anything. they were all paid to keep quiet and work on the wedding arrangements in private.

getting measured for new clothes was nothing new. so it was routine for you. you didn’t suspect a thing.

after getting your measurements taken, you went to the market to scout for something to buy. you had a little more allowance than usual and wanted to spend it on something.

as you stared at the inventory, a charming man caught your attention.

he was running the stall and he wormed his way into your little heart. it was for sure a marketing tactic, trying to convince you to buy his potatoes or maybe a bottle of fresh milk.

and yet, it worked. you were practically putty in his hands.

you got his name: alex.

“will you be here tomorrow alex?”

“of course. you’re welcome at my stall any time.” his smile was warm, his voice gentle. not to mention his body.

you came home with a skip in your step, excitement bubbling in your veins. leighton thought it was strange. you never expressed such a thing in your demeanor.

and when he asked what had happened, you didn’t answer. you brushed him off, ignored him.

he had a servant ask you and come to him when they had to answer. and you answered honestly this time.

“they met a man, sir.”

“you are dismissed.”

leighton sat and contemplated. there was no way this boy from the country would interrupt his plans to marry you...right?

oh how wrong he was.

young love was like adrenaline. it pumped through the body quickly and fiercely. except unlike adrenaline, the feeling of love and care for alex didn’t leave so quickly.

you visited the markets every day for two months straight just to talk to him, to get to know him. he even walked you through the park or down the shopping streets. you were getting...cozy.

and you were also moaning his name at night.

leighton decided he had to act quickly.

the same night of your wedding with him, you were going to meet with alex in town. alex had plans to formally court you and he was excited.

he waited in front of the address you gave him, faithfully. he was nervous and dressed in his best clothes.

but you never came out.

he wondered where you were, waiting for hours after you guys were supposed to meet.

and that’s when it happened.

it happened so quickly. he was hit on the head, hard, during the night. no one was around to see. the people that saw on the street turned a blind eye in favor for the money coming from the judge’s pocket. and then he was thrown into a carriage and taken away.

you, on the other hand, woke up in a cellar, locked in a literal cage with your ankle chained to the wall. you banged, screamed till your lungs hurt. nothing. you were weak after hours of trying to escape and decided to sleep.

leighton thanked the woman who made the cage, telling her to ignore your pleas for help and screams. “my ward is quite dramatic. i am doing this for their own good.”

“sure.” she scoffs.

“truly your finest work eden.” leighton presses the bag of money into her hand. “should be enough for you to retire to the countryside.”

she doesn’t say anything, following a servant out of the house.

the hours passed and you jumped when the door to the cellar open and saw your guardian. “leighton!” you exclaim. “please! let me out of here!”

he smiles but it unnerves you. it doesn’t reach his eyes. he dangles the keys to your shackles and cage in his hand. “awww. poor little dove.” he chimes. “all locked up. i’m sorry to have to do this to you.”

...have to do this?

“i couldn’t let that boy court you. if he courted you then you would not be...well, mine.” he lets out a chuckle.

“i am not yours! not even as your ward!” you exclaim.

“tsk, tsk. you misunderstand, little dove. you did not want to marry. i debated if i should just arrange something for you. but why would i do that? i realized that you must not have married...so you can stay with me.”

you scoffed at the idea. you remained unmarried for your independence, something that being with leighton gave. he wasn’t involved in your life. why was he suddenly getting involved now?

“i decided to grant your wish. you can stay with me permanently. it’s a promotion even!”

your stomach sank. “no...no!” it cannot be what you were thinking of.

“little dove, our wedding is tonight. private of course. with two witnesses.” he sighs wistfully. “and you have no choice but to accept.”

“i can still say no!”

“are you sure? do you...want to be alone? thrown out onto the street? no one will want you. your birth parents didn’t even want you and no one else in that barber’s family wanted to take you in. who would dare publish your book? horrendous and cheesy and oudated.” he’s read your book! since when? “you won’t be able to make a living. and then you will get desperate, perhaps turn to crime or sell your body. you’re cute, people would pay to ravish you. but you wouldn’t want to be demoted to such a state, would you?”

leighton steps forward and crouches, staring deep into your eyes. you felt shivers run through your body. you felt like an insect under observation by a madman.

“you have no one but me little dove. i took you in under the kindness of my heart.” he places a hand over his chest. “will you repay with such hostility? i would hate to see you become a whore.”

even if you wanted to reject him, he was...right. in almost every sense.

the worst part about leighton was that he spoke the truth. how many people would want to read your novel? it was pointless to even consider publishing.

your silence was golden and he watched the way the gears turned in your brain, the way he pondered and thought.

you spoke through gritted teeth. “...i will...marry you.”

a smirk creeps onto leighton’s face. he made a mental note to find a publisher for you.

“that’s a good little dove.”

[wackapedia]

Lucerys Velaryon And The Color Blue

Lucerys Velaryon x sea creature! reader You’ve existed for years beyond measure, exploring the known world and observing the tides as civilization changes. Its a lonely life, being the only one of your kind, until a gentle young prince discovers you and keeps you company.

Wordcount: 1,536

Warnings: Just the tides and other sea creatures, a brief mention of what happened at Storm’s End

The water has always been your home. Years and years, maybe even before civilizations you've roamed the vast seas of this world. There was no one else like you. Fish, both ancient and modern, the great golden Kraken herself, sea dragons, leviathan whales, and the drowned god all came and went, but you remained like a stubborn constant of the world. You never really found meaning to your existence, your long life is both a gift and a curse of nature.

Some time ago you found yourself near a fairly new island. There was a volcanic eruption here some time ago that caused this crust of land to rise. They built a castle on it and people came and went. 

and flying dragons, too.

This was the first time you met Lucerys Velaryon.

He was still a small being, clinging to his mother as he disembarked the ship. You kept yourself hidden under the tides as you observe the family.

The first few days you always saw him near the beach, sobbing, if not crying to himself. For the first time in years, you leave the waters, your feet itching at the rough texture of sand. Using the few words you knew of the common tongue, you became fast friends with the young prince and grew up with him until he became a young man.

"Where are you going, Lucerys Velaryon?" You asked him one morning when he came to see you by the shore to say goodbye. He used to ask you to call him with the shortened version of his name, but it didn't feel right, cutting one's name short for your own convenience. In time he got tired of asking you and just rolled with it.

"My grandfather will reaffirm my inheritance as the future lord of the tides." He sighs worriedly. His recent duties have been stressing him out as of late. You didn't understand why things needed reaffirming. 

"I am the lady of the tides! I can reaffirm you here and make you my lord!" You suggest. Lucerys laughs awkwardly.

To prove to him that you weren't jesting, you proclaim him as your Lord Of The Tides, raining sand upon his hair. He quickly pats it away, laughing genuinely this time.

You've grown up together but your mindset remained simple. He doesn't bother correcting you. He thinks of himself as a bad teacher, and he wanted you to keep your innocence of the surface world. With sand still on his hair and clothing, he bid his goodbye and left for King's Landing.

Lucerys knew you weren't like him or the rest of the race of men. From a distance, you looked quite human, but there was a certain gait and cadence in you that was both pleasing and unnatural. His mother once said there are certain wonders in the world that can not be discerned by our minds and it's best not to spoil them with scrutiny.

Upon his return, Lucerys Velaryon rarely came up to see you on the beach. You scaled the walls of the castle to watch him pour over his books and scrolls and lists of things that didn't matter. The first time you called him from the window of the castle, he smiled and pulled you in through the window. And then scolded you for climbing dangerously. "The rocks are sharp and the tides are unpredictable!" He warned.

"Not if they're my friends!" You respond.

You spent the afternoon watching him stare at multiple pages of paper. He said it's called reading.

When you got awfully bored, he tours you through the castle, showing you different rooms and furniture. They all seem unimpressive to you but it felt rude to say it so you kept your silence.

The second time you scale the rocks to his room, he catches you and escorts you through the doors, sternly telling you to never do it again. You do it again several times anyway. 

Mostly he ignores you or shuts the curtains on you. You toss shells and pebbles into the room just to catch his attention, and sometimes it works.

Lucerys Velaryon gathers your little gifts, keeping them neatly piled in a corner of his room. You spend your days looking for nice rocks and shells to offer him, hoping to pique his interest.

You get distracted with your search, bringing you to great distances. You return days later, bringing bags of shells and rocks from different corners of the world. This time you don't toss them in. You make a neat little stack of about five or six shells and pebbles by his windowsill, entertaining yourself by keeping them balanced. Lucerys Velaryon watches you from across the window and he smiles a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes. He smiles but he doesn't speak to you anymore.

The stacks of pebbles and shells grow, filling the lower edge of his window and still, he doesn't spare you a word.

Until one afternoon.

"I am promised to another." His deep voice almost startles you while you were clinging to the edge of his window. 

'Promised' was an unfamiliar word in the common tongue. He must've noticed your confusion.

"I am to marry someone else." He says again, eyes sad and downcast.

Marriage was also a mysterious concept for you, but this was a little more familiar.

"Do you want to marry someone else?" you ask, tilting your head in puzzlement.

"I have to. It is my duty to my family."

He sighs and returns to his books and scrolls when he realized he was making you more confused.

"You don't have to if you don't want to" You offer, not understanding what the conflict was.

"Yes I do but you'd never understand! All you care about are your rocks and shells and the tides!" Lucerys Velaryon storms away, muttering to himself. He was like the tides, constantly shifting and unpredictable. Warm and unrelenting. It was like being caught in a cruel whirlpool with no escape.

For the next few days, unfamiliar ships and small boats rush in and out of the island. There's a lot of commotion with man's scheming and politicking and making their lives complicated. And then you spot Lucerys Velaryon taking his flying-dragon, heading south. As the sun sets, the sea tells you he is in the Stormlands.

While he was away you climb into his study, where your small pile of rocks was. A lot of them have been knocked over, and some of them scattered on the floor. A lot of the more crystalline ones and the smooth-shaped ones were specially stored inside a display cabinet, Along with sheets of paper. At first, you thought they were the things that Lucerys Velaryon studied, but upon closer inspection, they were drawings and renderings of your visage. It's what he's scribbling when he thinks you don't notice.

You were standing at the edge of the sharp volcanic rocks, the sea crashing violently against your feet. Either a warm welcome for you to come back to the tides or a plea to stay on the surface. Lucerys Velaryon left without a word of farewell. He's left, just like the creatures of the sea who were slowly harvested by man's cruelty. Like the golden Kraken's compromise of staying in her cavern for the next hundred years, and the schools of flower fish freezing into the northern ice. Once again, your existence is meaningless.

The wave crashes into the rock, and the sea takes you back.

You were on your way to join the golden Kraken in his hundred-year meditation when a loud crash reverberates and hits the ocean floor. Another soul has joined the waters, the tide whispered. A flying-dragon and his princely rider. You decide to put off your visit for another day and see what's happened southward.

As his weight sinks down, you catch Lucerys Velaryon among the tinted waters. Dark fluids leak from him and his flying-dragon, but you're not worried, seawater heals all wounds.

Lucerys Velaryon doesn't wake. His hair floats around his head like a lionfish's halo. His weight sinks you down closer to the dark depths of the ocean floor. You follow him down until it was almost too dark to see. A few disagreeable fish begin to munch on his flying-dragon. Some of them attempt to approach your Lord Of The Tides but you grant them a rude glare of your bioluminescence, causing them to rush away. 

And then, abruptly, Lucerys Velaryon stiffens in your grasp. Packets of air escape his chest, floating up to rush back into the atmosphere. You both sink faster into the darkness until another pair of bioluminescent eyes, green and familiar, stare back at you.

Rhaenyra Targaryen mourns the loss of her dear son. She stands in silence by the beach with only the crashing of waves to console her. She removes her sandals and walks barefoot, the tips of the waves caress the ends of her dress. Her footprints are quickly wiped away by the waves, pushing and pulling against the rocks and sand.

The queen stops in front of a large rock with a tide-flattened side up. On top of it are two piles of beautiful pebbles and shells, similar to what her son kept in his study.

Rhaenyra Targaryen's silver head swiftly turns to the blue horizon of the sea, as if expecting to see someone there. She is reminded of Luke and that otherworldly friend of his. 

Rhaenyra Targaryen smiles.

[birb-boyo]

FHDHDHDDH

Thank you guys for asking about my Linksona(that word sounds so weird)

This is a very long post just so you all know

Everything is under the cut

The Hero of the Seas (:

My Link would probably fit sometime after Wind Waker, when there are still seas and actual pirates. I guess that I will start with the backstory

Before they were born, at least five hundred years, there was a prophecy, though, through the years, the prophecy has been lost to time.

The only part that Hyrule remembers is,

“A forsaken prince will redefine what it takes to be a hero”

Soon after that prophecy was heard, the king of Hyrule made a law that stated that any and all Gerudo princes were to be treated as royalty.

Time skip to soon after my Link’s birth, the current king of Hyrule disregarded the law and set it aside as if it never existed. This king put a bounty on the newly born Gerudo prince.

When Link was five, his home was stormed and raided by pirates. Link’s mother was murdered and he was stolen.

These pirates were only the first ones to see them out of many. They were traded, bartered, and sold into slavery many times until they were fifteen years old. When they were fifteen, another pirate crew bought them, though, they treated them like they were a human. They fed them nicely, told them thank you, they even cleaned and cooked their own stuff. It took them a full year to realize that they were free and that this crew bought them to free them of their shackles, even though they took off the chains as soon as he left the auction.

It took them a while to learn how to love and to learn how to smile again.

Their adventure started when they were seventeen. It started when the crew bought another slave. They looked to be Link’s age and they never spoke. They told the crew, in sign, that their name was Faro. It took a full month for them to speak, but when they did, it was in private with Link.

“It’s you, isn’t it?” Link’s eyebrows furrowed at the new, foreign voice.

“I’ve never heard you speak before…”

“You’re that forsaken prince, aren’t you?” At this point, Link had no idea of the prophecy. He’d never heard of it before.

“I’m no prince, Faro. I was a slave until two years ago, princes do not scrub decks.”

“The world has forsaken a Gerudo prince. You are the forsaken prince.” Faro extended their hand to Link. “I need you more than anything right now.”

Link looked around the deck. It was the dead of night. Link and Faro were on night watch tonight. It was just the two of them tonight. Link wondered if this is what Faro came here for, just for him.

“What do you need me for?”

“The king is a tyrant. I only recently found out why he disregarded such an important law.”

Link tilted his head. “What law?”

Faro stood up straight and looked at Link with dumbfounded eyes. “What do you mean, “What law?!” That law would’ve protected you! You’d still have your family if my father was such a-“ Faro paused.

“Your…father?” There was a strict rule on the ship. A rule everyone knew but didn’t speak of. Pirates are outlaws. If any royal found out that pirates had bought the princess, their ship would sink in hours. The Marines were no joke. They did not allow anyone important on this ship, no matter how much they said that they would pay.

Faro grabbed Link’s shoulders. “Please! He is tearing this kingdom apart and we need a hero to stop him!”

“I’m no hero! The ones you compare me to all fought a Gerudo man named Ganondorf! If you really needed a hero, go find a Hylian to do it!”

Faro let go of Link. They took a deep breath before get on one knee in front of Link. Faro grabbed Link’s hand and pressed the back of it to their forehead. “Please, Link. I truly believe that you are the only one who can defeat him. Just please, you must help me…”

Link felt a tingle on the back of his hand and drew his hand away from Faro. Sitting a beautiful gold on the back of his hand, were three triangle. The one on the bottom right glowed brighter than the other two. He stared at it in awe. “…What?”

Faro jumped up and cheered. “I was right! It is you!” They laughed and giggled, but Link stared at his hand, a feeling of giddiness and dread filling him to the brim.

“What is this?”

“The triforce of courage Link! You are the next hero of Hyrule!”

Faro told the crew about everything on the next day, it didn’t help that the triangle still glowed brightly on his hand.

“Well, as I hear it, the king tried to murder his next hero. Why?” Nan, basically the crew’s mom, asked.

“Because he is the one the hero must fell.”

Link turned to Faro, his confusion evident on his face. “Aren’t the heroes supposed to serve the king?”

“There is a lot of things wrong about my father. One of those things are his name. His name wasn’t originally Rhodes. It’s a family secret, but he was born with the name Ganondorf.”

Nan hummed. “So the king needs to be dethroned. Tell me, Faro, does that mean that you’ll be leaving us after this?”

Faro sighed. “I would love to stay, really, but this kingdom needs a ruler. I don’t trust my father’s advisers with the throne. I find that my duty is more important.”

Link nodded, a new fire in his eyes. “Where do I start?”

Nan scoffed. “You mean, “Where do we start?”

Fast forward through two of his temples and puzzles and he now stands inside a water temple, the ship near the opening of the cave.

He defeated the boss and opened the chest. He saw a bracelet with what looked like a sapphire embedded on it. It was shiny, maybe made of silver. He could sell this for a good amount of money.

“What is that?” Faro asked beside him.

“You would think that I know?”

“Put it on…?”

Link thought about it for a few seconds before putting it on. Nothing happened. He even felt like the silver and blue didn’t match his darker skin ton. Gold paired with it better.

“So…?”

“Noth-!” Link stood up and grabbed Faro’s hand. They dragged Faro out of the way. Where they stood, a wave of water hit. The splash hit the both of them.

The two of them blinked more times than they could count. “…Did the water just attack us?” Faro asked. Link shrugged.

“The ship.” Link said as they made their way toward the ship.

Link explored this bracelet and found that it was an old relic of the Zora’s. It used to be a Zora heirloom. Did he return it? No. It was a very helpful item. Maybe he’d give it back after his adventure…anyways-

Link’s final fight took place inside Hyrule Castle. His crew stayed at the docks.

Nan decided that she was too old to lead a crew of pirates mid adventure, so she declared that Link was the new Captain.

The king knew that Link was coming, and yet, the king was alone in the throne room. The king laughed, stating that he couldn’t be the hero of he didn’t wield the sword of legend. He said that Link was too scared to touch it because Link knew that he had that same darkness inside him that the sword banished.

In truth, Link drew the sword, he was just better with his usual weapon, which was a double edged staff.

But don’t forget, Link had to go to Gerudo for a temple. They met their sisters and heard the whole story behind his childhood suffering. He knew that all of his problems, all of his trauma, was this king’s fault.

They fought with a straight face the entire time, letting all of that anger and frustration and pain that he held within their twelve year old body out.

He decapitated the king. It was an accident, but it felt so right.

Faro took the throne and left the crew. They were apparently called “Zelda” to the rest of the kingdom.

Link lead his crew through storms and sea monster attacks. Link knew that the crew loved monster hunting, so that’s what they became. His crew became monster hunters who slayed the horrid monsters that threatened the seas that Link called his home. It had been a year since his adventure ended when it happened.

Link stared at the ceiling. It was night, probably midnight. He should be asleep right now. The monster that they had just fought required him to go under water. The Zora bracelet allowed him to breathe underwater as long as he wore it, that wasn’t the problem. It was how much he had used the bracelet to command the water around him. It took a toll on his body. However, it wasn’t a big one, it only made him tired.

He heard a knock on the door before one of his crew mates opened it. It was Jasper, his right hand man. He was on night watch tonight.

“You might wanna see this Capt’n.” Link was on his feet in seconds.

“What is it?”

Link and Jasper stood on the deck. In front of them, on the firm wooden boards was a triangular shape. Link stepped closer to it and walked around it.

“It looks like a portal of some kind…?” Link mumbled to himself. It was a swirl of purple and black. It also blowed an ominous purple. It almost looked like the stereotypical poison.

“That’s what I was thinking.” Jasper said. “It’s been here for quite some time now. What should we do about it?”

“I’m going to go inside of it.” Something was pulling Link toward the portal.

“Wha-“ Jasper sighed. “Okay, just bring weapons and potions with you. You don’t know where it’ll take ya.”

Link chuckled. “I take my staff everywhere I go. Don’t worry about me.”

So, Link gathered his stuff. Potions and their weapons and some spare clothes and stepped through the ominous darkness of the portal.

*Cue Linked Universe*

_______________________________

Pause…I found a picrew with a Gerudo nose and lips?!?!?? You also know that all Links have worn eye liner

The only thing that let me down is that there were no scars…I loved everything else

@cal-the-duende @phthalo-ocorina @mishwanders (:

[pirdmystery]

sylvain jose gautier for the ask game

oiuhgggghhhggggggggggg…

first impression: it is important to note that i literally got into 3h because i knew it as “that game with sylvain in it.” i didn’t even know what to expect from him other than that. so when dimitri introduces him as “a bit of a skirt chaser” or whatever i’m like lol ok?? what??

impression now: if anyone is interested… go through my sylvain tags to get a feel for this. i’ve been spiraling lately. suffice to say i am SO sick about him like more and more every day. christ alive talk about a guy with problems. the way he is so smart and so soft but he is absolutely determined not to let anyone know either of those things… noooo I’m actually just a wacky little guy don’t worry about me… i’m just the comic relief… doing fine… yeah i know i said “burn until we meet again” and “see you in hell i guess” but that’s just because I’m being soooooo funny and normal… i’ve also never cried in my life btw…

fav moment: there are so many blink and you miss it unhinged sylvain moments in this damn game. i’ve talked about it recently but the fact. that if he does badly on a lesson and you pick console instead of critique he gets really bitchy and pissed off. like jesus christ. sorry for trying to extend you some gentleness buddy will not make that mistake again.

also let’s take a moment to recognize the iconic “it killed my brother and now it’s mine.” certified sylvain moment

idea for a story: i have billions. i never stop emotionally tormenting this man. got a 20 years post cf angstfest about he and felix coming. beyond that i am obsessed with the prospect of a sylvain/mercedes/ingrid ot3 and someday i am going write a fic with them that isn’t just the extensive smut that currently exists in my google docs

fav relationship: i have got to go with ingrid. i do very much ship sylgrid romantically and they make me sooooooooo unwell but even if i didn’t their friendship is just so important to me in a way i really struggle to put words to. the way they understand each other perfectly but that makes it almost harder for them to get through to each other because of all the layers of bullshit they have built up around the true version of themselves that the other sees. they bump heads a lot but the way it’s so obvious that under whatever they might be clashing about and the baggage of their years of friendship there is this foundation of unconditional love that is not going anywhere no matter what oh god suddenly i cant see the screen and there’s something happening to my eyes oh god

a fun thing about sylvain is that i could write equally unhinged paragraphs about his relationships with mercedes and dorothea!! something about girls he would normally flirt with and their response is :) hey i see you btw! and sylvain is forced to crumble like a little baby. i cannot get enough of that shit. get seen idiot. i’ve also been known to enjoy some yurivain and dimivain and claudevain for not dissimilar reasons.

unpopular opinion: once again idk what is popular!! i feel like my shipping tastes with him are not the most popular but everyone is nice to me when i talk about them so. it’s all good

favorite headcanon: most bisexual man on the planet. i also love making him work service jobs lmao. he works at subway in my sylgrid fic but there are so many other things i want to subject him to. he should have to sing happy birthday to people at applebees. he should be a barista at a shitty coffee shop. mostly this is because it’s funny but i also think would be deeply in character for sylvain to plant himself somewhere far below his skill level and languish there as if there were nothing else he could do about it.

tysm for letting me go off about him… man. sylvain.

[scryptids]

maika monroe / she/her  ———  no way is that POE CRANE.. they’re a 30-year-old SYNTH notoriously known for being COLD  &  DECEIVING  but there are some people who have seen them being CRAFTY  &  CONFIDENT.  if you ask me, they remind me a lot of fruity drinks sneakily poured out nearby, expensive dresses with the tags kept on for easy returns, soft skin touched by rough hands, and bedroom eyes, but that could just be because they’re considered the BEGUILING around town. just keep an eye on them  &  see if their true colors shine through..

full name: poe emilia crane birthdate: january 1st age: 30 height: 5’6” occupation: high end call girl/con artist ship status: i wouldn’t (open, if you want to get technical) bio:

when the crane siblings came into existence, they made sure to make an impact

poe came to life just five minutes after her twin brother, plato, making it so their ‘birthdays’ were technically on separate days

it was something that their mother found funny, though the humor stopped for them shortly thereafter

the crane household was cold both physically and emotionally

the twins had to fend for themselves most of the time, looking out for each other in the most unsavory situations and doing the best they could with limited resources

their scheming and conning began at a young age, finding that they both had a natural talent in it

while plato focused on his own schemes, poe learned quickly that she could get whatever she wanted by simply batting her lashes

she’d watched her mother do it to men her entire life, and after a few experiments with men who were far too old for her, she had nearly perfected it

poe’s conning had no limitations; she would use her charm to get away with things at school, narrowly avoiding visits to the principal and guidance counselor’s offices

she could get whatever she wanted whenever she wanted, and at the young age of fifteen, poe used her talent to start making money

it was small at first; she’d flirt with boys relentlessly until they offered to buy her lunch, using it as a gateway to go on a date

and while poe would go on those dates and give those boys all of her attention, none of her feelings towards them were ever genuine

and once poe swindled a prospect out of a large sum of money, she would drop them like a hot potato and ghost them, making sure that they forgot her

by the time she was seventeen, poe had perfected her craft, and she’d all but given up on school in favor of bringing home money so she and plato could live comfortably

she dropped out of school entirely, and instead of focusing on getting a real job, she began her career as a con artist

it didn’t take much beyond finding a lonely, miserable bastard to swindle, and the rest fell into place from there

and despite living in the lower district, poe conducted most of her business in the upper district; the wallets were fatter there, and she found that upper district men were desperate for a young blonde to give them attention

poe raked in a lot of cash using her body to her advantage, and by the time she was eighteen, she was contacted by a madame in the upper district

she’d heard about poe through the grapevine, and she wanted her to be one of her call girls

poe couldn’t pass the opportunity up, and before she knew it, she was signing a contract and was given a little black book of names

it was mind-numbing work; some men wanted everything she had to offer, and some just wanted her to keep them company

but because she found it so boring, poe would use her little black book to her advantage and make extra money

she would use her old antics, and the men were never the wiser to it, handing over money blindly and never stopping to think twice about it

it’s been several years, and poe still makes a living using men to her advantage

she managed to avoid any of them getting too attached to her until recently, but she didn’t meet this particular man through work

instead, she met him when she was shopping in the upper district one day, running into him by chance

she could tell right off the back that he had money, but he also didn’t act the same way others did, and he had a personality that drew poe in 

poe found herself hanging around him more and more, trying to convince herself that she was just using him for his money, though she knew better

slowly but surely, poe fell in love with this man, and she let him distract her from her work, which she was never forthcoming about

things got serious quickly, and before she knew it, poe found him down on one knee in front of her, a large ring presented in a lavish box

poe froze immediately and never gave him an answer; she’d never committed herself to anyone before, and the thought of it freaked her out

and so she ran away and never looked back, and so far that’s been the only regret she’s ever had in life

these days, poe is back to her conning, her schemes still just as successful now as they had been when she first started

she makes sure that she and plato can live a comfortable life, as he’s always her top priority

in terms of personality, poe can come off as cold when you first meet her, though she can warm up after a while if she chooses

she’s very much a girl’s girl, always wanting to support the few friends she does have

she still runs into her ex-boyfriend from time to time, but she’s perfected the art of avoiding him so he never knows she’s there until she’s already gone

poe is very good at what she does, but she’s a very deceptive person, and half the time you won’t know that she’s manipulating you until it’s too late

she very specifically targets men, as she doesn’t trust them (unless you happen to be her brother)

[casualjacobwrites]

FFXIV Write 2024 Prompt 07 - Morsel

Continued from last prompt. (Reminder I’m using the prompts to tell a single story versus standalone prompts.)

I’m just going where the vibes take me. Right now I’m telling a story and setting up a crisis that will push our two boys, Emmanellain and Sicard, into each other’s arms.

Reminding myself that I don’t have to be perfect. Just get it done and turned in.

Spoilers for Endwalker.

Word Count: 1,260

Marina paused to draw in a shaky breath. With damp eyes she continued speaking. "If I had known what he did, I never would have agreed to join him. Then again, if I had not, I never would have had the opportunity to save them."

The way she tried to emphasize her goodness made Sicard suspicious. It could be she felt guilt for choosing a bad partner, but it might also be a ploy to distance herself from blame so when the truth came to light she could put it all on her lover's shoulders. He had known his fair share of villains and had a keen sense for manipulation.

"I believed his experiments were agricultural in nature," she continued. "I didn't want to believe the rumors about the island laboratories. No upstanding Garlean wanted to think our late emperor would condone such things." She looked into his eyes as if imploring him to believe her. "The moment I realized what was truly happening, I knew I had to save those unfortunate souls."

Something about the way she referred to the victims as "unfortunate souls" annoyed him. Still, he kept his mouth shut so she might finish explaining how she came to be stranded in the middle of the sea with a deck full of dead sahagin.

"For over a year I tried to plan our escape, but it wasn't until recently an opportunity presented itself."

"The End of Days," Sicard said.

Marina's brow furrowed. "I-is that what they called it? I only know that, over time, we received fewer and fewer communications from Ilsabard. Then, one day it stopped altogether. That was weeks ago."

"An' no one tried to leave to find out what was happenin'?"

She shook her head. "There are protocols in place. The laboratories are designed to operate independently of the Empire, and should Garlemald fall, the legatus in charge will then destroy all evidence of their existence. Only Roland hesitated to issue the final command."

"Just enough time for the enlisted and conscripts to decide they'd rather live."

"How astute of you, Master Spence," Marina smiled, though it was far from happy. "Several fled on supply ships, others attempted to seize command from Roland."

"I assume they failed."

She nodded. "But amid the chaos I was able to free the subjects and board this ship."

"That included the sahagin?"

"Yes, those brave creatures were able to fend off the few soldiers who were still loyal to Roland."

"An' Roland is your, ah, what did you call it? Paramour?"

"Was my paramour, yes." She wrung her fingers together in her lap.

"I suppose he was none too happy to see his lover runnin' away with all his secrets." Sicard tugged at his lower lip as he considered everything Marina told him. "Still doesn't explain what attacked your ship."

"It was Roland."

"As I told you earlier, whatever killed those fishbacks wasn't a man, Garlean or otherwise."

Marina shook her head with such violent force it caused her hair to fly of her shoulders. "No, no, it was Roland. As we sailed away I saw…I saw him…change."

Sicard froze. "Change how?"

"I don't know how to describe it, not exactly. One moment he was on the shore shouting orders. The next there stood a beast unlike any I have ever seen." A tremor ran through her body as he recounted what she'd seen. "He attacked his own men. Devoured them whole and tore through them. Those he didn't kill, th-they changed too."

"Wastgeim is ready to take the passengers across," Emmanellain said, oblivious to the terrifying revelation just delivered by Marina. "Perhaps my lady should be the one to let her friends know they've been rescued." He offered her his hand.

"Oh, yes." She accepted the help and stood.

"After you." Emmenallain bowed and let her pass him. Just as he was about to follow her to the cargo hold, Sicard seized the hem of his coat and yanked. The elezen stumbled backward then fell onto his rump. "What?" Upon turning to see the grave expression on the other man's face, he cocked his head to one side.

"We have a problem."

"I should say so. Do you know how delicate the stitching is? It could have ripped."

Sicard ground his teeth. "Sod your stitchin'! I found out what attacked this ship."

Emmanellain paused in his examination of his sleeve. "Oh?"

"It's a Blasphemy."

"A Blasphemy?" the elezen shouted. Upon being shushed by Sicard, he lowered his voice. "Are you sure?"

"Fairly certain, assumin' Marina is tellin' the truth that is."

"Why would she lie about such a thing?" The way his face twisted in confusion at the suggestion Marina might be dishonest was enough to make Sicard snort.

He's too trusting by half, he thought. "Lots of reasons, but I suspect we'll learn more once we can question those folks hidin' in the cargo," he said. "Here, help me stand up. I need to get back to the ship."

Getting to his feet proved more difficult than Sicard thought it would be. Without Emmanellain's solid form to lean against, he doubted he would have managed on his own. The edges of his vision darkened while his head pounded in a brutal rhythm.

"Are you sure you're safe to walk across?" Emmanellain put Sicard's arm over his shoulder and wrapped a hand around his waist.

The hyur smiled at the apparent concern in the other man's tone. "Well, I can't stay here. There's no grog."

"I don't think a drink will help in your condition."

"It won't hurt, neither."

With a resigned sigh, Emmanellain guided Sicard back to the steps leading up to the deck. Given the narrow space, he had to walk behind the hyur while holding onto his hips to make sure he didn't fall. When they were back on the deck, he returned to his side.

Seeing that her captain was injured, Wastgeim rushed over. "Captain, are you all right?"

Sicard waved her off and gestured toward the hatch with his thumb. "I'll be fine after a drink. You get down there and find out what you can from our new passengers. I want every morsel of information you can squeeze out of them. Once they're settled on the Astalicia report back to me."

Wastgeim saluted with an, "Aye aye, sir," then hurried to the door.

"Perhaps I should also lend a hand," Emmanellain suggested. "Miss Marina will surely feel more at ease with a gentleman such as myself by her side."

Sicard rolled his eyes and shoved the elezen away. He staggered a moment before regaining his balance. "Go on then. I don't need your help." Even to his own ears he sounded like a petulant child. "Take care of your new friend." Hurt and anger welled inside him, though he couldn't understand why. He started toward one of the planks connecting Marina's ship with the Astalicia in what he believed was a straight line only to end up several ilms to the right of said plank.

"What is wrong with you?" Emmanellain darted to his side and quickly put an arm around him again. "You're going to fall overboard."

Despite Sicard's grumbling and complaints, Emmanellain managed to successfully guide him back onto the deck of the Astalicia. Once there, Sicard shoved him away and called for one of the crew who knew a little bit of conjury to meet him in his quarters. A puzzled Emmanellain watched the hyur leave the deck, unable to explain to Honoroit what just happened.

[nicklloydnow]

“The phrase toxic masculinity was coined in the 1980s by a psychologist named Shepherd Bliss. He was a central figure in what he named the “mythopoetic” manhood movement. Bliss had grown up in a punishing military household with a domineering father, and he meant the new term to connote “behavior that diminishes women, children, other men,” a way “to describe that part of the male psyche that is abusive.”

It was a potent phrase, one that expressed something that had never had a name—that there is a particular poison that runs in the blood of some men and poses a deep threat to women, children, and the weak. The phrase didn’t break into the common culture until relatively recently, when the crimes of Harvey Weinstein and his ilk needed to be understood with some kind of shared language. They were men, but they were the kind of men who are filled with poison.

As it is with most new terms that roar quickly and powerfully into the culture, toxic masculinity was a rocket ship to the moon that quickly ran out of fuel and fell back to Earth.

(…)

Why don’t these qualify as toxic masculinity? One suspects it is because murder, rape, and kidnapping are serious, and “toxic masculinity”—as we now use the term—is trivial. Still, I use it in this essay, because in its grammar we find something instructive. If the noun masculinity can be modified by the adjective toxic, then there must exist its opposite, which can be revealed by a different adjective. What is it?

The opposite of toxic masculinity is heroic masculinity. It’s all around us; you depend on it for your safety, as I do. It is almost entirely taken for granted, even reviled, until trouble comes and it is ungratefully demanded by the very people who usually decry it.

Neither toxic nor heroic masculinity has anything to do with our current ideas about the mutability of gender, or “gender essentialism.” They have to do only with one obdurate fact that exists far beyond the shores of theory and stands on the bedrock of rude truth: Men (as a group and to a significant extent) are larger, faster, and stronger than women. This cannot be disputed, and it cannot be understood as some irrelevancy, because it comes with an obvious moral question that each man must answer for himself: Will he use his strength to dominate the weak, or to protect them?

Heroic masculinity is the understanding that someone has to climb the endless staircases in the towers. On 9/11, 343 New York City firefighters died at Ground Zero, and there wasn’t one of them who didn’t know, or at least suspect, that he was climbing to his death. They didn’t do it because of a union contract or an employee handbook. They climbed those towers because they knew that it must be written into the American record that heroes were there that day, and that the desperate people inside those buildings had never—not once—been abandoned.

(…)

These examples are about heroic masculinity at its most extreme. Heroism is usually much less dramatic. You can see it every time a high-school kid puts himself between a girl and some boy who’s hassling her, and every time a man steps up to another man who is screaming—or worse—at a woman. Girls and women do this, too. But the kind of men who harass women don’t tend to listen to them.

Toxic and heroic masculinity can easily exist in the same man. There are plenty of examples of a bad man who sees something unjust and who suddenly—if only for the minutes it takes to stop another man from harming someone—puts a stop to it. For that tiny stretch of time, he is connected to greatness.

(…)

We know from experience, if we have lived long enough—and from thrillers if we have not—that there can be something deeply attractive in a man who is strong enough to hurt but also to protect. It is the knife’s edge of masculinity that women negotiate. No matter how far women have come in the modern world, the fact of male power remains a deep and, I would imagine, primal attraction for many women. How could it not be?

The next question involves the police, the overwhelming majority of whom are male, and the fact that so much corruption and malevolence exist within the ranks. There are many jobs, usually those that involve the possibility of danger and the conferring of power—that are appealing to both kinds of men. The bad cops reveal how malevolent a force manhood can be if exerted against the innocent. The good ones remind us that in the moment of violence, laws won’t protect us, and norms won’t protect us. In the moment of male violence, the best luck you’ll ever have is for a good cop to be nearby.

(…)

What if we understood that boys are born into a destiny, not a pathology?”