#or uh get this high iron horse off

[cedarsmoke4]

Brb boutta get off this high (iron) horse—

[rei-ismyname]

X-MEN #7 From The Ashes

Possibly the biggest downside to the circular, repetitive nature of X-Men comics is that real life is awful enough. Jettisoning the hope of the Krakoan age for the misery porn of From The Ashes feels kinda callous and depressing in a world where there are multiple ongoing genocides and the USA just said yes to fascism again. Nevertheless, join me in some light escapism - a little Magneto goes a long way. Spoilers for X-Men #7.

I've also been spelling Jed Mackay's name wrong. Sorry

Running throughout this issue is Magneto's flashback to The Iron Night. The 'this is Logan behaviour' exchange from the previews has been all over my dash and it's great to get more of this dynamic. It's fantastic to see someone in universe say it out loud - Logan is a whiny little bitch, often a hypocrite, and can be blind to his immortality privilege. Scott knows that better than anyone - his wife's boyfriend throws a tanty like no other. They love him, but it's another reason why he's not the best Wolverine. I hope 'Logan behaviour' sticks around in the fandom.

This is Logan behaviour, Idie

I appreciate the informal nature of the Piper discussion. For one, you don't want to scare the kid or make her feel unwelcome. Idie said that she 'couldn't wait for you (Cyclops) and Magneto' re: Idie - having Psylocke be the one to spell it out for her is effective. The X-Men IS a team and the stakes are incredibly high. Besides, as Beast said in my first screenshot they have a Cerebro. This test could have been done from afar without the risk, and it's implied that it was.

I'm enjoying seeing Idie behaving compassionately, but it looks like she's got some serious anger and mistrust of authority (both justified) from Krakoa. It's great she's getting this kind of character focus and I hope it's followed up on. So many threads and beats have been setup that are likely to be disrupted by the Raid on Graymalkin event kicking off next week, but I'll reserve my judgement on that for when this first arc is concluded.

This is Logan behaviour, wild sentinel.

Gotta love Max and Scott's friendship being shown as they drink crappy beers and bask in Magneto rhetoric. I don't want to question the expert, but is this sentinel Wild or wild? It's clearly not an ORCHIS Iron Man model, but Wild Sentinel has a very specific meaning.

Okay, clearly Wild. It's not attacking either of them, though. Kind of Cyclops to spell out the Star Trek Borg adaptive schtick they've got going on. This is the action scene of the issue, the mandated violence.

'Why is that leopard eating our faces?'

I don't mean that entirely pejoratively either. I'm just as susceptible to the Magneto and Cyclops power fantasy as the next person, though it's a bit of a dirty trick to wait until issue 7 to show it.

This is NOT Logan behaviour, Magneto.

Sigh. I love your sense of drama Magneto. Play to the crowd, old man. I hope your monologue doesn't become ironic. Oh wait, we already know it has. This could have been a clever moment.

Uh oh, looks like his knees are weak and arms are heavy. Vomit on his sweater already...

So we see the moment Mags' powers start to shit the bed, right after a Wild Sentinel attack. I'd be suspecting Cassandra Nova's involvement just off these two data points tbh. Which idiot resurrected her anyway?

Oh, fuck off. Logan behaviour, Mackay.

R-LDS sounds like horse shit to me. Scott says 'we don't know that for sure' so how does this speculative condition have an acronym already? Mags is speaking as if it's a fact, but he doesn't even have the same body The Five resurrected. Maybe he has Umari-Key-Waiting Room-Brashear Portal Syndrome. Obviously he's scared but this feels like an idiot ball moment, and a cynical jab at Krakoa. The Five was something they got right, even with Sinister in the mix. The implications would be insane. 16 million Genoshans were resurrected, 250k Krakoans (give or take), a whole bunch of vulnerable human children via The Phoenix Foundation, Captain America, and 1000 fucking years of Sinisterized clones etc that had nothing of the sort.

No, there's way too many data points that apply to Magneto alone to make seriously considering The Five's resurrections as the source of patient zero's malady. It would be scientifically irresponsible to get to the point of naming it and then an acronym for that. Mags is good enough at science to know this, and Beast is too. I'm no scientist, but it manifested during a fight with a Wild Sentinel. I assume they have better resources than the Marvel wiki I'm using, but that robot/Cassandra Nova is my prime suspect - the lady they know for certain to be involved in ongoing genetic fuckery - activating X-Genes. Though not Piper Cobb...

Or yes Piper Cobb? Smash cut cliffhangers aside, this would be a great time to retcon Homo Sapiens Superior right the fuck out of existence. It's never made sense, and not just the 'Superior' part. Again, I'm not a scientist but I'm certain that's not how phylogeny works. They're mutated humans, but I don't live in 616 which canonically operates on impossible physics, so idk. My fingers are crossed but my expectations are nil.

That is Logan behaviour, masked kidnapper

Okay, we'd known from solicits that Beast would be getting beat down in captivity at Graymalkin. I had speculated he'd give himself up to get inside, but the ol' bag over the head works too. I dig his outfit.

X-Men #7 is worth reading IMO, and it's one of the better ones based off Magneto content alone. Last issue I wrote that the formula was becoming easier to spot, and I stand by that. A handful of character moments, some new information about one of the ongoing mysteries but it piles more questions on top of half answers and speculation. For example, we get to see Scott and Max fight a sentinel and be friends. There's new information there but a LOT more questions. The characters are at the point of absurd speculation which raises tension but doesn't make them look very competent. To kick off the event 'Raid on Graymalkin' they went with a final page bag over the head instead of any choice and comic book events notoriously derail everything so friends can argue and punch each other.

All that said, it's only *just* acceptable in my opinion - and that's the best I can say for the rest of the line too. We know that there's been ongoing issues with writers simply not knowing major Krakoan plot points, though they probably have the excuse that they were writing before FOTHOX/ROTPOX ended. Surely there's someone in charge of overseeing all this, like Hickman was as Head of X. *Looks at the credits* Tom Brevoort - Conductor of X... That's a fancy way to say 'line editor/hatchet man.' I'll stop there and save it for the From The Ashes piece I'm doing, but spoilers: I'm not impressed with how this guy keeps failing upwards.

What did you think? Thanks for reading.

[littlestkoi-n]

a much too whiny rant about fic icks

I die a little every time pup, cub or Prongslet comes up in a wolfstar raising Harry (together or separately) fic. especially cub - it makes literally no sense????? are you sure it's Remus John Lupin I'm reading about??? it's his evil doppelganger, I'm telling you. I'm not even sure I could stomach that word ironically.

Prongslet is fine in moderation, I guess, but only as an inside joke, only coming from Sirius and only when Harry's a smol bean. but when it's Prisoner of Azkaban compliant I wanna claw my eyes out.

it's even worse when those terms are used not just in dialogue but in Remus or Sirius' internal monologue as if pup and cub are Harry's freaking pronouns or something. my cub, my pup, cub did this, pup did that... just call him boy or kid or his name for god's sake. I once saw sprog pop up and was delighted cuz at least it's actually british slang.

and don't get me started on Hadrian(us) James Orion Potter-Black (which is just... why the fuck would James give his son the name of his best mate's horrible father AND the last name of his horrible family?? and why would Lily agree to that?) who's simultaneously Lord Potter, Black, Peverell and Slytherin (and, sure, I have a visceral reaction to aristocracy wank in general but even ignoring that - the last 3 literally make no sense since "Lord Black" is Sirius until his death; and both Peverell and Slytherin lines bled into other families ages ago. so being a Potter automatically means you're descended from Peverells as well as being a Gaunt - from Slytherin. and the last of those is Tom Riddle Jr. but that wouldn't make any Potters "Lord Peverell"s or any Gaunts/Riddle "Lord Slytherin"s. those last names are dead. smh).

but, uh, this tangent technically has nothing to do with my initial complaints, it's just that at some point I started thinking of this naming stuff in tandem with nonsensical nicknames as they began appearing in fics together. which is a double homicide, truly.

and look, I definitely understand the desire to make Harry's original name something else cuz it fits nicely with POC Potters headcanon and Dursleys being racist dicks about it, but... Hadrian? I mean, it's not really a big deal when the fic mentions it being his full name but both narration and characters still refer to him as Harry for short - that makes total sense. however when after the name reveal Hadrian replaces Harry completely, it feels super weird and uncanny, making it hard to identify Harry's character in the story altogether.

although I guess you should all knock me off my high horse for being the biggest hypocrite ever, cuz I myself have a headcanon for Harry's name, even if it's less elaborate than Hadrian. also less Roman? that's another thing I don't get - if you want to create a better connection between Harry and his roots, why choose a name of a Roman emperor for a desi kid? since he's usually explicitly desi in all the Hadrian fics. so it's not that I have a problem with renaming him, per se, I just don't understand the choice of Hadrian.

for example, I recently read a fic where he was Pakistani and his name was originally Hami, which is a nice idea, actually, and makes sense for such headcanon. mine is Hari btw (हरि in Sanskrit), since I headcanon Potters as Indian, but I didn't come up with that name myself - just saw it somewhere a couple years ago and liked it. I think it's actually a pretty popular hc now? anyway, it's closer to Harry than any other name I've seen and has many beautiful meanings that resonate with what I think James and Lily felt towards their son. now, even though I still prefer his name being Harry regardless of ethnicity, I do entertain this silly headcanon from time to time - so yeah, I'm one to talk, boo me.

now, I probably should shut up since this rant has been entirely too negative already, but while I'm on the topic of icky names/nicknames I should circle back to wolfstar cuz gods know I'll never be brave enough to talk about this particular pet peeve in its own post.

Siri, Remu and Remy make my blood boil. Siri could be kinda cute when it's a silly childhood nickname from Regulus, but if any marauder or Lily calls Sirius that - immediate death. Si and Re are a teensy bit better in moderation and if used ironically, but still stab me in the chest. a couple times for good measure. the only somewhat acceptable short form of any of their two names for me is Rem, albeit with a stretch and only because it's an actual version of the name Remus in Catalan and Russian. I know I'm being way too dramatic about this (just like with all of my previous points) but I just don't understand the need to shorten their names. at all. they're only 3 and 2 syllables long and so mystical on their own that any shortening just makes them simultaneously more nonsensical and less remarkable.

both characters literally have established quirky nicknames in canon that you can play with and even shorten to Pads and Moons if you want. Sirius is not a digital assistant and Remus is not the main character from Ratatouille. stop this madness.

plus James is right there. his name has a ridiculous amount of diminutives - Jamie, Jimmy, Jim, Jam, Jem, Jay and even Jimbo if you're into that. why strip Remus and Sirius' magical names of their charm if you can have fun with common names? but I digress.

at the end of the day, my pet peeves are mine only and I should live with them in fragile peace. this post is a personal rant first and foremost and if you disagree, I'm genuinely happy that you enjoy the things I can't. fandom is a playground and we can all find some fun in different corners. I'd also like to point out that I'm not trying to take a jab at fic writers who use any of the aforementioned terms, names or diminutives. I'm only one person, so if I stop reading your work because of my petty biases, it's only my loss and not your problem. hundreds of other fans will enjoy it instead. so keep doing what you love and writing those characters however you want, it's your right!

so yeah, writers and readers - don't take it personally and have your fun! don't listen to me being mean! I'm just making my fandom experience way too convoluted for my own good.

[tobyyobyy]

carl grimes headcannons because we lack of anything for him and i can (most, if not all, are just non-apocalypse headcannons):

- autistic (we are starting off strong here)

- vocally stims vines sometimes (“road work ahead? uh yeah i sure hope it does”, “look at all those chickens”, “i wanna be a cowboy baby”) (he does that last one in front of rick a lot and rick never understands it’s from vine)

- judith: “daddy?”

- carl: “DO I LOOK LIKE-?”

- glenn taught him a lot of stupid jokes like “ligma” and “joe mama” (the usual college kid jokes)

- would use the “joe mama” joke on judith a lot

- judith would retaliate with ligma jokes (“we have the same mom idiot”)

- no one knows where she learnt that one

- loved science as a kid

- switched between wanting to become a cop like rick or an astronomer

- thought about being a palaeontologist but couldn’t see himself doing it for the rest of his life

- didn’t have a lot of friends but was still liked by other kids anyways (doesn’t mean he’s popular, people are just neutral about him)

- is on a swim team

- just likes swimming in general

- MOMMA’S BOY!!!!!

- then lori died so he made that transition over to his dad…yeah

- keeps his hair long and went through that teenage grunge phase

- listens to bands like oasis, los campensinos, nirvana, foo fighters, etc etc

- his parents music taste would sneak in sometimes tho like fleetwood mac, abba (lori) bob dylan, johnny cash (rick), any 80’s songs and old country (below the 70’s)

- because of that grunge phase he’d 100% play the electric guitar

- his grandpa taught him a bit of acoustic whenever they’d visit

- he plays the acoustic sometimes for judith, or anyone in his family who asks, but mainly judith

- plays more chill songs like something you’d find in the ‘life is strange’ soundtrack (bright eyes, angus and julia stone, iron & wine) (most of those are from enid’s music taste)

- rick and michonne let him use the garage but it still drives them up the walls when he jams out with friends

- doesn’t understand the superbowl but because his dad likes it he makes an effort to watch it with him because no one else will

- jump scares any unsuspecting victim when they turn the corner of a wall

- to calm down whenever he’s stressed/overwhelmed/overstimulated he’ll either go swimming or ask his grandparents to come over (they own a farm) to ride some horses

- allergic to peanuts (not pecans because they had to eat some when they met Gabriel so)

- hates anything deep fried except for fish

- terrible in any form of skating

- roller skating? keeps slamming into the wall

- ice skating? uses those kid-balance-crutches-thingys

- he just has terrible coordination

- obviously gets worse when he looses his eye

- he’s good at bowling tho

- even tho he’s a moody teenager he’s EXTREMELY kind

- switches from sciences to arts and english in high school

- started making little family portraits drawings

- can actually understand old english/shakespeare

- makes blanket forts with judith 24/7

- actually does have a southern accent it’s just more like loris (less noticeable than ricks)

- would 100% watch minecraft youtubers

- bisexual little shit (duh)

- when he was a kid he didn’t have a fear of needles but as he grew up he just DESPISED them like shaking screaming crying and throwing up type deal

- hums a lot to judith, usually the song “baby mine”

- snapchat user

- embarrassingly so. especially when he uses the filters

- has a diary and calls it a diary not a journal

- drops trauma like it’s nothing, like a silly joke (this is basically canon but i’ll still include it in)

- headphones on 24/7 might as well be glued to his head (his ears are too small for earphones and he likes soundproof headphones anyways)

- an entire shelf in his closet is just for comics (and some comics are thin so you can imagine how many he has)

- likes reading other things too instead of just comics

- refuses to wear elastics/tie his hair up even if it gets in his way a lot

- let’s judith put silly hairclips in it

- sometimes forgets to take them out when he gets to school but he doesn’t care much

- would watch: the office, brooklyn nine-nine, the breakfast club & moral orel

[sewersewersewercouch]

things from the psychonauts art book that I found interesting

putting this under a cut so people who are getting it but don't have it yet don't get spoiled! also some of these might have been said outside of the art book and I just forgot

Tim wanted to go inside Lili's head but they decided not to for time

There was a concept involving rescuing a dying brain

One of the unused concepts was aura reading, where "Truman's" aura would be around his suitcase rather than his body, and Milla's would change when she was around Sasha...hm

There were also plans for Claymation style animations

Gristol was, ironically, based on Grigori Rasputin

Maligula wasn't always going to be Raz's "grandma"

The Psychic 7 were originally going to be all from different time periods

An early concept of Compton was blind

Nikki Rapp drew from her own experiences of losing her dad when voicing Lili

Adam almost had facial hair, but it made him look too much older than the other interns

Character artist Zahra Amirabadi, who's from Iran, came up with Gisu's name and the cultural aspects her design

This isn't a fact really, but it's important to me that Dona is described as "a loving mother and talented performer" and "deeply attuned to her family's feelings" thanks for that Ashley Esqueda

Quote from Tim: "Dion and Mirtala might still be hiding something" hello???

Frazie originally had a bigger role and I know they had to cut it for time but I'm still sad!!!

Tim won't confirm or deny whether Queepie is psychic

Unused enemy concepts include "death wish" "root of the problem" "high horse" and "defensive turtle"

The restaurant is called the Noodle Bowl because noodle is slang for "brain" which...I honestly did not realize until now and I've been into psychonauts for about 2 years, oops

A concept for Millas room had candles everywhere, which, uh, I can see why that one didn't make the cut

Coach originally had his own garage where he made his mech

The through line they had for Hollis' brain was being a woman in a male dominated profession

The initial concept of Compton's mind was a trivia battle between the Booles and the Aquatos where we'd learn more about their families--man I'd kill for that!

They originally took Raz's powers away in Ford's mind, but decided that made for boring gameplay

There were plans for an abandoned summer camp in the Old Colony

Part of the reason you're locked in the Old Colony after Tomb of the Sharkophagus is because if there was an option to talk to the Aquatos then Raz would have to lie to his family's faces about Lucy and that just seemed too cruel

Cassie's mind was modeled off of 1920s Shanghai

They recorded voice lines for the moth dragging Bob into the sea during the Truheltia Memonstria battle, and Amber Hood cried while recording them, which, fair honestly

[yue-muffin]

And we are onto chapter 4!

One, I love that they have a pilot group chat lol. There is something deeply satisfying in bitching about work to your colleagues who Get It.

However, I forgot last chapter that what is said on the radio frequency is heard by every other pilot tuned into the frequency...so everyone in the airspace that day heard the whole argument lol.

Two, don't forget this is a danmei! Was that KLM pilot flirting with Fang Hao lol? Even if you want to thank the guy for saving you from a much bigger potential disaster, "let me treat you to dinner" is a little...much for just being friendly ha.

Three, this story has plenty of women and they're not all flight attendants! In fact, they play various roles, such as Lu Yan being childhood friends with Chen Jiayu and the one he thinks to vent to. There are a few others as the story goes on as well.

I think the interesting part of this chapter (and the biggest red flag lol) is that Chen Jiayu is still angry about the argument. Ok, yes, tension can rise in those situations and the incident is understandable from both sides, but the real kicker is the fact that he lets it carry over once he's off work and the moment has passed. It's not like Fang Hao made him wait maliciously, or put anyone in danger by doing so.

(to be clear...I actually really like his character, it's just these few initial chapters before you get to know him that he kind of comes off as self-important and on his high horse)

But the narrative doesn't forget to give credit to the ATC folks! "They are the unsung heroes when everything runs smoothly and are often the first to be blamed when something goes wrong." I wonder if this comes back into play later on or not...But well, same actually goes for the pilots too.

There are quite a few similarities between our MC and ML being set up here...

Also, I finally looked it up to see if their workplace is real...and indeed it is! Beijing Daxing International Airport is actually real. The interior is very modern and sleek, but uh makes me a little dizzy staring at the pictures of it. I mean, look at it!

Though, you wouldn’t be staring at the ceiling while walking around. Very nice and open though. I haven’t flown that many times in my life (since I actually hate flying lol…ironic isn’t it), but I like looking at the airport interiors. La Guardia is my least favorite of the 6 I’ve been through. It looked so cramped inside, reminded me of a food court lol… Though I don't really remember JFK at all. They were renovating parts of the building when I went through it, so there was scaffolding everywhere.

[ailelie]

Congratulations

This is a follow-up to this, btw.

"So," Damian Foster says, sidling up next to Eddie outside the school, "I heard congratulations are in order?"

Eddie's eyes narrow, not liking the utterly shit-eating grin on Damian's face. "What did you hear?"

Damian shrugs with feigned nonchalance. "It's all Amalie's been able to talk about."

Amalie. Eddie recognizes that name and groans, knowing where this conversation is going.

Damian laughs. "How dare Chris get a second daddy before her?"

"We're not dating. We work together. Christopher is just--" Eddie searches for a word.

"Premature?" Damian offers.

Eddie glares at him. "How are you so blase about this?"

"We made a rubric," Damian says. "After all, Amalie deserves the best, no? Soulange and I worked to make sure it impossible for anyone to actually meet. God forbid Amalie decide to rate us by it. Anyway, Amalie can look as much as she wants, but no one is going to get a high enough score."

"Papa!" a little girl's excited shout cuts over the crowd. She's tugging a boy by the arm. "I found him! Grant, tell him!"

"Papa?" Damian says. "She's never called me papa."

Eddie claps Damian on the shoulder. "Tough break. You could just tell her you're straight?"

"Yeah? How well did that work for you?"

Eddie winces, remembering Chris' innocent face and his bewilderment when he asked, "But why does that matter?" "Right," he says.

Amalie tugs Grant all the way to her father. Another man calls out to his son and jogs over.

Eddie steps back. He can see Chris walking out now, but he's also invested in this conversation.

"Papa," Amalie says, stopping with a hop in front of her father, "This is Grant. He's going to be my new brother. His daddy scored a full 10, Papa! We played rock-paper-scissors and decided his daddy will be our daddy and you're our papa now." Then she turns to the other man who has his hand between Grant's shoulders. "Hi, Daddy!"

"Amalie, this is not, that man is not your daddy." Damian glances up at the other man. "Sorry, uh,?"

"Theo."

"But Papaaa, you and Mommy said that if I found someone who scored a 10 he could be my daddy and Daddy does! He's super nice and he can cook because he's a chef and--Grant, tell him."

Theo is trying to tug his son closer, but Amalie has an iron grip and refuses to release her new brother.

"He's really smart and he knows how to ride a horse--"

"--which definitely counts as being good with animals," Amalie interrupts. "And he can dance."

Chris is close enough now that Eddie has no excuse not to go meet him, but before he walks off, he calls out, "Hey, Damian?"

Damian looks over at him, his face is burnished pink.

Eddie deliberately flicks his gaze toward Theo and says, "Congratulations."

He laughs when Damian flicks him off and jogs over to his son.

[actiniumwrites]

BLURRED LINES

synopsis: the defining moment that changed the course of your relationship with them from being enemies to that of lovers

characters: kaeya, yelan, scaramouche, ayato, cyno, dottore, and alhaitham x gn!reader (separately)

warnings: enemies to lovers, angst, fluff, injuries, blood, fighting, harassment (not from any of them), not proofread

notes: idk man i just wanted to write some enemies to lovers scenarios. each of these get longer as they go, so uh, sorry if you wanted some of the first ones to be longer cause i don’t really know what happened 😭 enjoy <3

Kaeya watched how you laughed so loudly, so confidently at him as you fought somewhere behind him. It was as loud and recognizable as usual. He felt his heart beat faster — flushed, annoyed, and fed up with your constant need to one up him, laugh at him for no reason, and point out each and every small mistake he makes. As the Cavalry Captain racked his brain for a comeback, anything to take you off your high horse, his ears began to hurt as your laughter faded into that of dreadful screams. Blue eyes caught yours in an instant, turned so fast that his body almost gave him whiplash. No. He couldn’t lose you. Not like this. Not when he hadn’t realized his hatred for you was nothing more than a guise for his buried love.

Yelan’s faint laughs scared the people on the harbor. Such an intimidating women, softly — yet arrogantly — laughing to herself was certainly an odd sight to see. She had bested you once again, and you hadn’t even known it yet. And Archons she couldn’t wait to see the look on your face when you realized it. Her laughter quickly subsided at the faint sounds of desperation and begging, coming from somewhere within a nearby alleyway. Nearly walking past it out of the need to be in other places, Yelan stopped in her trail when the whimpering cries turned into your voice. Fury festered throughout her body in an instant. Nobody was allowed to mess with you, not unless it was her. Maybe she hadn’t realized it yet, but she would do anything to protect you — even if it meant giving her life.

When Scaramouche fell limp out of the robot, falling from great heights as he plummeted to the ground, he held no beliefs he would be caught — no less by the hands of you, his sworn enemy. Yet, there you were, arms wrapped tightly around him as the traveler and Paimon stared at you in shock. Something about the way your heart felt the moment you saw him fall was deeply painful, like weeds growing around your heart. Though, the strong heat from your love was enough to burn those weeds, enough to propel yourself forward without thought and save the man you had unknowingly come to love. And as Nahida watched the scene play out in front of her, a knowing smile crossed her face.

Ayato loved nothing more than to argue and debate with you. It came as a package deal alongside the fact that you were from the Tenryou Commission and he was from the Yashiro commission. Because god you were so smart and always had the perfect comebacks, even though it was infuriating when you would win. What he didn’t like, however, was when he would watch you argue with someone else. Especially when you lost to them. Ironic, right? He hated watching his enemy lose? So when his eyes spotted you around the corner of Ritou, backed up against a wall as a rude man berated you, his eyes filled with fury and his heart was racing. No one was allowed to treat you like that. So he took care of them for you, even though he knew you were fully capable. And as you stormed away from him, he was left with a single question: if you were supposed to be his enemy, then why the hell did he care so much about you?

The moment Cyno saw you fall backwards, he scoffed. Honestly, when were you actually going to beat him while sparring? But then you didn’t get up. Cyno swore he felt his heart fall out of his chest. And oh archons, the moment he saw blood, the weapon fell out of his hand and his feet propelled him forward. His knees scraped against the rugged bricks of the floor as his arms wrapped themselves around your torso and hoisted it against him. But then your eyes opened and the laugh he always thought was so beautiful fell from your lips. Stopping when your eyes met his serious expression, you joked, “What? Don’t tell me you were actually worried about me?” Cyno’s eyes pierced through yours, a serious, yet genuine, expression painted across his face, “Don’t scare me like that, it’s not funny…I thought I lost you for a second.”

Dottore felt annoyed the moment he heard you knock on the door. So he ignored it, knowing only you would be stupid enough to get hurt and go to him at such late hours of the night. You could’ve seen another doctor, but he knew you loved to annoy him more than anything else. But then the knocks came again, weaker and more fragile this time. Sighing, he opened his door, only to find you. Your eyes were kept on the floor, but he could see the tears that pooled in them. Blood adorned most of your body, and your clothes were all tattered and torn. The arm that was holding you up against the door gave out and you collapsed, but not before Dottore caught you in his arms. You were mumbling, shaking, and absolutely terrified as you leaned against him. And yet, for some reason, Dottore couldn’t help but feel a small feeling of warmth spreading in his cold heart at the thought of you coming to him when you were most vulnerable. Though, it wasn’t enough to stop the anger he felt for the person that hurt you.

Alhaitham sighed for what felt like the thousandth time that day as he spotted you in the library late at night. Shouldn’t you have already gone home? Or were you just trying to get ahead him again? Perhaps aiming to steal his position at the Akademiya this time? He never knew with you, but at least the competition kept things a little more entertaining each day. So, he made another sarcastic comment toward you on his way out. He couldn’t see your face from the way you were sitting, but your silence stopped him in his tracks. No rebuttal? No comeback? Not even an annoyed sigh? And then your shoulders started to shake, and small whimpers fell from your lips. Shit. Alhaitham didn’t know what to do in situations like this. But even so, he stopped and walked toward you. Sat down next to you and stayed quiet, only offering a few tissues and some water he had on him — which you hesitantly, but gratefully took. Maybe you were his “enemy” and maybe he didn’t know how to deal with people crying, but for some reason it felt natural with you and he sure as hell wasn’t going to leave you alone.

[writingforatwistedworld]

Phantom bride event-Player is their last option Pt. 3

Characters: Jade Leech, Lilia Vanrouge, Deuce Spades

Self-aware au

I do not take any responsibility for you reading this no matter which age group you are from!

WARNINGS: Yandere themes, imprisonment, kidnapping, violence, murder, religion, fighting, marriage

Well well well, would you look at that?

Our usually high and mighty sir “nothing-can-shake-me-up” is shaken up!

What a rare sight to see

If it were just you being there bad enough but now you are also the last option

Which means that you are in even greater danger!!!

It's angwy eel time

Oh yes, I call him angwy because what is he supposed to do? The worst that can happen is him biting the air

Ok to be honest one guard was freaked out by the sound of his teeth snapping shut (you know, that one) and put a piece of cake in his face

God he looks pitiful...

But *ahem* you stand in front of the bride and all he can think about is how defenseless you and your lips are

No matter if you are considered a God, a almighty sorcerer or something else depending on the place, that is going to kill you!!!

Jade just wants to protect you ;_;

Depending on whom you ask (Jade or the rest of any world) but “protecting you” has a different meaning

For the rest of the world: making sure that you are safe

For Jade: locking them up in a house under the sea without any contact to outsiders

But oh well, he has experience taking care of others because of his job in Azuls *cough* shady businesses so yeah... you will live at least a comfortable life... with a lot of manipulation....

He is so proud at you.... whilst crying of disappointment in the Headmage

He trusted him!

This couldn't go unpunished! After he was free he will chop his head off as if he was the servant of a different Queen!

Burn the sinners!!! This was heresy!!!

Easy Lilia, your blood pressure! You are not as young as you once were even if you don't look your age!!!

But back to the subject!

Lilia is oddly silent

I mean, yes, he is heartbroken that he is not the one you are proposing to

But at the same time, go betray dead lady! “YOU GO YOUR HOLINESS!!!!” - Lilia Vanrouge, a very old person

At the same time he is worried to bits

Lilia trained all his life so that he could protect and safe you

And now you are saving him!

Did he just die from high blood pressure or why is he seeing you and himself on a white horse, in wedding attire, riding into the sunset...

And then you... you have to duke it out with a ghost in the parking lot...

Ok jokes aside, not in the parking lot but you had to show them all that yes, you were able to throw hands if enough adrenaline was in your system

Ah, maybe he will order that banana and mango cake Deuce is just munching on because a guard shoved that into his mouth to shut his screaming up....

Poor poor Deuce...

He was already heartbroken enough...

AND NOW YOU ARE ALSO IN DANGER!!!!

Nu-uh! Not under his watch

He had already been screaming because he wasn't the one you were proposing to (which earned him mouthful after mouthful of cake)

And what was he supposed go do now??! Watching you being in danger of dying??!

My friend just blue screens

As if some sort of treat in his head snapped he suddenly snaps his mouth closed

For a entire minute (scary is all I can say)

The guard beside him is already checking if he is just about to join their ranks

But no. Congrats Deuce, you live another day to witness this madness

He is in truth planning what to do after all of this with you

He has been taking care of a lot of things to help his mother so you surely wouldn't mind if he also did that with you, right?

Even though you are looked into a house with only one door and iron bars in front of the windows in the middle of nowhere, right?

You don't mind being completely dependant on him, right??!

But hey, you got a loving partner... and that is everything positive I can say about his plan.... Good luck! Do I get invited to your wedding when that happens?

[unusual-raccoon]

Honeybee, Horse Thief by Unusual_Raccoon

Fandom: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)

Rating: Explicit

Pairing: Arthur Morgan/F!Reader, Arthur Morgan/You

Additional Tags: Chapter 3: Clemens Point, Medium Honor Arthur, Deputy Arthur Morgan, Bandits & Outlaws, Blackmail, Power Imbalance, Oral Fixation, Blowjobs, Face-Fucking, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff and Smut, My First Work in This Fandom

Word Count: 5k

Link

Summary: You and your sorry crew intend to steal a man’s horse - turn’s out to be the wrong man’s horse.

A/N: Been on a little hiatus from writing and am desperately trying to get back into it. Diagnosed with Arthur Morgan brainrot. Also, forgive the quality, all of this was put together on my phone. This was based on an in-game encounter, where a girl tries to steal your horse, with a twist.

P.S. I don’t own the characters, obviously, just the idea~

It was supposed to be an easy score, a lone target. Ol’ Jimmy said you wouldn’t even have to lift a finger, just play the lost little damsel long enough for the boys to grab the feller’s horse. Easy enough.

You didn’t watch as they positioned the dead cart horse to make it look like you were stranded. You didn’t like to look at the beast’s big lifeless eyes.

You smoothed out your simple dress and waited in the Lemoyne heat. The sun was particularly unforgiving today as you shielded your eyes from the bright midday sunlight. Squinting beneath the shadow cast by your hand, you studied the shape of a rider coming up over the rise.

Jimmy and Carter had said the score would be easy, a dainty little racehorse that would fetch y’all a good price and an even softer rider. You gaped at the feller that came riding down the reddish dirt path. The rider was a mountain of a man, built like an ox, seated upon a hulking shire that looked like it could rival a moose in size.

Your stomach twisted as you sucked in a breath. The show had to go on.

You waited for the man to ride closer before you collapsed by the dead horse - you hadn’t bothered to ask where the fellers got a dead horse from - you cued the big blubbery southern belle tears and waited.

“Y’alright?” A gruff voice called as you heard the shire’s big puffs of air waft by you. He’d stopped.

“Erm…Miss?” He called a second time, voice a tad concerned and just barely exasperated.

You make sure to smear a little dirt on your cheeks as you melodramatically wiped away your tears. You blink up at the man through glassy eyes, he looked the farthest thing from soft.

“Oh, Mister!” You bellowed, tears cutting through the dirt now smeared on your cheeks.

“Oh thank heavens,” You huffed in a voice that wasn’t quite yours, a little too high, a little too shrill, “My sweet girl, my darling Jenny, done and died on me.”

You watched as the stranger’s scrutinizing gaze flickered between you and the dead horse.

“Uh huh,” he grunted, assessing that the horse behind you was, in fact, dead - damn thing was startin’ to stink.

“Oh, I hate to be a burden - you can ask my daddy ‘bout that, mister, God’s honest truth - but could I trouble you for a ride into town? Just into Rhodes down the way.”

He seemed to consider the request, long enough that it made nervousness twist in your belly.

Easy score, your shapely behind. They were a pack of fools and this was the last damn job you’d run with ‘em.

The man eventually let out a sigh, “sure,” he grunted, extending an arm to help you onto his massive mount. That was when you drew iron on him, a rusted navy revolver borrowed from Carter, who’d lifted it off of a war veteran. ‘Course they stuck you with the shitty sidearm, while they polished nickel plated pistols they never fired.

The man paused, eyes narrowed on you while Carter and Jimmy sprang from the brush, weapons trained on him.

“Get off the horse, mister,” You drawled and something in his blue eyes glowed hotter than the sun.

He let out a deep, rumbling bark of laughter before dutifully sliding off the saddle. He impacted the dirt, kicking up a little dust cloud. It was only when he was on the ground that you registered just how big the man was, he towered well over you. That was a side of prime beef, lord in heaven.

You held the gun on him still, right in the middle of his broad chest. His hands were settled on his hips, drawing attention to the twin brass framed revolvers waiting for him on either side.

Jimmy came at your back, weapon aimed at the man.

“Don’t even think about it,” Jimmy barked, his goddamn voice cracked, he sounded like a wild turkey.

“Grab the horse,” he muttered to you through his side teeth.

Your brow creased and you turned to your soon to be, former partner in crime.

“Me?” You asked, barely remembering to hold your gun - yeah, Carter owed you the damn thing after today - on the man.

“Yes, you.” Jimmy hissed earnestly.

“Why me? Why can’t he do it?” You asked, jerking your gun towards Carter, who was holding a lofty double barreled shotgun on the stranger y’all were doing a very poor job of robbing.

“We’s gotta watch ‘em.” Jimmy said, gesturing between himself and Carter.

“I’m watchin’ him right now!” You groused, and the man, the mysterious, giant man chuckled.

“Y’all didn’t plan this out too well, didja?” He asked, a big, smug smile on his face.

You held your gun on him firmer, willing away the tremble in your hands.

“Shut it, mister.” You growled, feeling something in your chest shrink at the way the playful glimmer in his blue eyes vanished, and something cold replaced it.

“You watch that mouth a’yours, Girlie,” he intoned a low, gravelly timbre, “‘fore I watch for you.”

Jimmy gave you one last look before inclining his head toward the horse.

You huffed, revolver in one hand as you struggled to scramble onto the big shire’s back.

“Need a hand back there?” The stranger asked smugly, and you shook off the thought of those big hands hoisting you around.

You managed to get your foot into a stirrup, revolver jammed into a cinched tie around your middle. You kept a hand on the horn of the saddle as you settled onto the worn dark leather.

You took the reins in both hands, tugging at them as you kicked at the horse’s sides, sending the beast into a loping gallop. The ride was rough and you gritted your teeth through it, bouncing up and down on the saddle that had grown used to one rider.

“C’mon,” you whined, “you big fool,” while the horse tried its damndest to buck you off. Your thigh muscles clenched, struggling to keep yourself on.

You didn’t get far, trying to stay on the massive, ill-tempered horse while Carter and Jimmy dealt with the rider.

You glimpsed Carter holding up that massive shotgun at the stranger, squeezing the trigger only to be outdone by the recoil, ensuring the only thing he grazed with his buckshot was the treetops. The recoil sent ‘em flying back, smacked his head on a rock and didn’t move no more. Moron.

Still bouncing on the horse, you watched as the man drew iron, smooth as you had ever seen it. A single brass framed revolver trained on Jimmy.

“You run now, n’ I won’t kill ya,” He grunted and your partner, the lily-livered sorry excuse of man, left you without even a second look. 3 years of scores together and he couldn’t spare so much as a thank you.

You struggled with the reins, just barely tugging the horse in the direction you wanted to go. Sweat shimmered on your skin, your thighs ached, still tense. Maybe, just maybe, you still had a shot at making some money.

“Hoss,” the stranger called and suddenly the horse went still as the grave, huffing into the dirt. You were dizzy sittin’ on its back, shaking hands still holding the reins. You dug your heels into the beast’s sides, but it didn’t budge.

You heard the approaching jingle of spurs as the stranger drew near, your muscles felt rubbery and tight all at once. For a moment, you couldn’t unclench your thighs, you felt stuck on the damn horse.

You squinted ruefully down at the man, spotting the glimmering blue of his eyes from behind the worn leather brim of his hat.

“Howdy,” he called, seeming quite pleased with himself.

“Oh leave off, mister,” you grumbled sourly.

“Well now, is that any way to talk to a feller you was gonna rob?” He asked, hands braced around the shiny belt buckle of his gunbelt.

“‘Cept I didn’t actually rob you,” You gestured down to the horse beneath you, “didn’t take nothin’, just borrowed…”

He chuckled, it was a deep, rolling sound that made your skin pebble tight even in this Lemoyne heat.

“My, you are a consummate liar, aintcha Girlie?”

“Y’almost had me for a minute there,” He admitted, there was no sign of Jimmy and you were pretty sure Carter had gone and split his skull on that there rock, so for the moment, you were at this man’s mercy.

“What gave me away?” You asked, and he tilted his head to look at you better.

“Darling Jenny,” He said, gesturing towards the dead horse.

“What about her?” You asked nearly defensively.

“Girlie, Jenny ain’t never been gelded,” He said with a little laugh, your cheeks flushed warm, had you bothered looking at the damn horse it’s gender would’ve been obvious.

“Oh,” you exhaled dumbly.

You paused, realizing that for all of your efforts the man hadn’t truly bought your charade.

“Why did you agree to help me then?” You asked in return.

His face crinkled in a smile that made your stomach tingle, “You’re pretty.”

The tingle traveled lower and pulsed briefly between your thighs.

“For a horse thief,” He added and you felt spite sear in your belly. Your jaw tensed tight until it hurt.

“Aw, did I hurt your feelin’s, Girlie?” He asked with a feigned sympathy and you wanted to shoot him so bad, air him out with so many holes there weren’t a broad chest nor strapping shoulders to distract you any longer.

“Only fair, you did point a gun at me.”

“And I’ll point it at you again, old man.” You sneered, feeling your blood swiftly run cold once more as his expression turned severe.

“That ain’t no game, Miss - you draw iron on me again you best be ready to use it.”

Your cheeks throbbed hot with an embarrassed blush and you stubbornly wished to pull the revolver tucked into the sash around your waist, if only to prove that you could.

“Get down off that horse now.” He ordered and despite your stubborn streak that stretched about as wide as the Lannahechee River, you listened.

You felt small pinned between him and his horse.

“You gonna shoot me?” You asked, chin held up boldly.

“You gonna give me reason to?” He asked in return, and to be honest, you didn’t have an answer to his question, yet.

You shrugged softly in return, face still twisted in a mean little scowl, but it didn’t seem to bother him none.

“You’re a mean little thing, aintcha?” He grumbled, eyes squinted in a way that made it look like was amused.

“Apologize.” He grunted after a moment, and your surprise nearly snapped your neck with how hard you whipped your head to stare at him, all wild eyed.

“‘Scuse me?” You asked incredulously.

“You heard me, Girl - Unless, you’d rather take that trip down to Rhodes after all and we can talk to ol’ Sheriff Leigh Gray?”

“Boy, I really did hurt yer feelings with all this horse stealin’ business, didn’t I mister?” You asked coyly, throwing in a hint of your southern belle performance from earlier.

He laughed, eyes lighting up brighter than an oil lamp.

“Not mine, honeybee, gave Hoss a scare though.”

You looked back at the horse, at its big gentle face and funny shaped convex head and felt a twinge of remorse. ‘Course then that tingle in your belly came back with a vengeance when you recognized the fond pet name that dripped from his lips, sweeter than a cold breeze in that sticky heat.

“Honeybee?” You echoed curiously, watching a big, hard hand tug gently at the faded sleeve of your dress, you marveled down at the sun-bleached stripes with renewed wonder. You should’ve hated him somethin’ fierce, making you apologize n’ all.

“Honeybee,” he said with a nod, lips lifted in a smirk.

“Go on,” he ushered, “show me you’re sorry.”

You folded your arms over your chest petulantly.

“Sorry,” you huffed very, very insincerely.

“C’mon now, Girlie, you can do better n’that.”

You rolled your eyes, making a show of pressing a hand over your heart, “I ain’t never gonna steal again, mister-“

He held up a hand, cutting you off.

“Didn’t say to lie to me, Girl.” He said brusquely.

“I said show me,” To clarify his meaning, he widened his stance, pointing to the space between his feet with his other hand poised on his belt. Your stomach tightened, he couldn’t mean for you to -

Your rage returned in a fitful, hot wave.

“I ain’t a whore, mister!” You were a thief certainly, a scoundrel frequently, but a whore? No, never.

“‘Course not,” he agreed in a nearly placating tone and you felt some of that tension in your belly loosen.

“I ain’t payin’ you for this.” He added with a bit more bite. He straightened his jacket and in that unbearable heat, you were nearly blinded by the glint of sunlight off of metal pinned to his chest. Your sore legs went numb and your hands shook somethin’ awful. You were gonna be sick.

“Y-you’re a deputy?” You asked, voice small in the back of your throat.

He stared down at the badge then back at you, “that I am.”

You had tried to rob a goddamned Sheriff’s Deputy. Oh, when you got your hands on Jimmy, you were gonna kill him. The fool.

“See, one word to Sheriff Gray and you’d be swingin’ ‘fore supper.”

You pressed a hand to your naked throat with a shudder.

“But,” He intoned with a tilt of his head, “I don’t wanna do that, not to you Honeybee - you got a gift, betcha could talk the skin off a cat, be wrong a’me to snuff that out.”

“Alls you gotta do is show me you’re sorry, that’s it, then you and me are square.” He explained, the timbre of his voice was soothing.

“That’s it? Then we’re even?” You asked nervously, wringing your hands together, not once considering reaching for the gun at your hip. You couldn’t shoot your way outta this, not with him, not if you intended to keep breathing.

“God’s honest truth.”

“So, what d’ya say?” He asked, and you loathed how damned handsome he looked. You swallowed thickly, struggling to find your voice, so you nodded.

“Okay.”

His lips lifted in a wide, wolfish smile.

“Attagirl.”

—

You settled in a nice shady spot under a tree, the Deputy, Callahan, is what he told you to call him. You had passed by the dead horse, and by the big pool of Carter’s blood in the road too.

The Deputy hitched Hoss to a low hanging branch, giving the big shire plenty of room to graze. He even took time to remove the horse’s heavy saddle, and brush his coat until it gleamed black as a raven’s feathers under the dappled spots of sunlight.

“You got a woman, Mr. Callahan?” You asked as he peculiarly set his jacket down, the one with the shiny star pinned to it, for you to kneel on. You scrambled onto the supple, broken in leather. Felt soft while draped over the plush grass.

He was dealing with his belt, peeking up at you from under his hat with a silly sorta smile, “No, Miss, I do not.”

“That why you wanna put your pecker in my mouth?” You asked as you fiddled with your dress while knelt on the ground.

“Nah, that ain’t the reason,” he said, that same silly smile on his lips as he worked on the clasp of his pants, shrugging off one suspender then the other.

“Told you to mind that mouth, didn’t I, Honeybee?”

A shiver raced through you.

“Ain’t never heard of a feller wanting to fuck a lady’s mouth,” you admitted.

“Ain’t been ‘round enough fellers then. And yer hardly a lady, Girlie.”

You offered a brief scowl, before watching as he freed himself from his trousers, thick and hot in his palm. He stroked himself a few times, easing back the supple stretch of foreskin over the bloated, drooling head of his manhood. His girth was frightening as his cock swelled up, all throbbing and the like, you thought that monster might bust your jaw.

“How am I supposed to fit that in my mouth?” You asked with a hint of horror.

“Same way you fit all that shit you talk in that mouth, I suppose.” He retorted, tugging at himself around the base where there was a lush nest of dark blonde curls.

Something sticky and translucent dripped like morning dew from the thick flushed tip of his cock.

“Hot out, ain’t it?” He asked conversationally as he continued working himself in his palm. There was sweat making some of your hair cling to the back of your neck. You nodded in agreement.

“Come get you somethin’ to drink,” He rumbled, giving his cock a shake so another pearl of clear fluid dribbled from the flared slit.

Your mouth grew oddly dry and damp all together as you leaned forward, stomach churning nervously as you curled a hand around him. He felt searingly hot and the skin supple as the leather of his jacket. You couldn’t fit him in one hand, and after a few tugs your wrist started aching. So you switched to the other palm, working him over, this part weren’t so unfamiliar.

“Give them hands a break, Girlie,” He instructed and you nodded. You opened your mouth a bit, as you drew closer towards his cock, licking your lips to provide a little moisture as you wrapped your mouth around the crown of his manhood.

You expected it to taste…well bad. It didn’t taste like much, like skin and sweat and something musky. Your tongue innocently pressed at the weepy tip of his cock, squeaking out a sound muffled in your occupied mouth. Your tongue watered at the taste, it weren’t sweet, but sorta thick and sticky like honey.

“That’s it, Honeybee,” He praised with a groan, a heavy hand settled on your head, your core flexed all tight.

You’d just started to feel like you were getting a handle on things, playing your tongue over his tip in circles when he eased his cock out of your mouth. You glared up at him, but it didn’t last. He gently rolled his foreskin over the bloated head, you could see a bead of your spit glistening wetly there. He gathered the skin back and forth, before grunting, “Get yer tongue under there.”

Your head felt foggy, so it took a moment for you to realize what he was asking, but the moment things clicked, you obeyed. Your tongue slipped and wriggled beneath his foreskin, while he slowly stroked himself, your hands writhed in your lap. You felt warm all over, hot in the belly with more musk washing over your tongue. You felt drunk on the taste like you couldn’t get enough, better n’ any whiskey or beer you’d ever had.

He pulled back, the thick tip resting against your lips, twitching as you lathed the tip with wet kisses. Your brain was still all fogged up but in a way it was like your body still knew what to do.

You swallowed around him and a pleasant spurt of that nectar slid right down your throat. You groaned a small grateful sound right down his shaft. His hand continued stroking at your sweat-dampened hair.

“You know, Girlie, you ain’t so bad with that mouth all stuffed up,” He teased and your foggy brain didn’t allow for anything, ‘cept for you to whine around him.

“I’m just teasing, Darlin’,” He cooed, and you felt him slide along the flat of your tongue, “you’re a natural at this.”

Warmth knotted all hot in your belly, burned and twisted right above your navel. Your eyes watered all pleasant and your throat chafed, your hands smoothed over your lap, searching for a hint of friction to chase away the ache building there.

The motion of rocking back and forth weren’t unlike riding a horse, the irony certainly weren’t lost even on your fogged up brain, with a hand in your hair, tugging you this way and that like a pair of reins.

You’d gone all soft-headed and docile with him in your mouth, you’d never tell ‘em that you liked it, but ya did. Oh lord, you liked it a lot. Felt so right having somethin’ in your mouth, having a man in your mouth. Made ya hot all over, inside and out.

In that moment he coulda had Leigh Gray string you up after, and you probably woulda thanked that strange Deputy Callahan.

Much of your work, thieving and the like , well it had roughened you up. More often than not you wore trousers, slept with a gun, and drank harder than the men you ran with. You’d never really felt like a woman, hadn’t had the luxury of it in your young life, but now? This man, he’d gone and made you feel delicate, kneeling on his jacket, eyes damp with tears, wet between the legs, senses hazy with the taste of him - his Honeybee.

So, you poured your apology into every clever curl of your tongue and hollow of your cheeks.

Every wet descent, your head brimmed with: I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.

The thick head of his cock pushed at the snug opening of your throat, catching at the spasming rim of constructing muscle. A gag worked its way through you. Your eyes flew open and you glimpsed his gaze beneath the brim of his hat. Your hands grabbed frantic fistfuls of your striped dress where they rested in your lap.

“Easy, Darlin’, that’s it - relax. Just breathe, Girlie. Gonna learn that pretty throat real good, Honeybee - dontcha worry.”

You liked the sound of that. You nearly melted between his feet.

—

Time had gone sideways since you had settled on his jacket. Your legs had gone numb and knees ached, not terrible, but they still ached.

Your throat was fucked raw, with the thick, pulsing manhood of that Deputy crammed into it. Your sex hurt worst of all, all wet and puffy and neglected between your thighs.

You didn’t gag no more, ‘cept when he fucked into your throat real hard and mean, and even when he did it made your whole body clench real tight and your drippy cunt get even wetter.

He slid back into your throat and you gurgled a little sound around him before going pleasantly limp, his hands were in you hair, stroking and scratching until you were pure bliss wrapped around him.

His thrusts grew rougher, sharper, you damn near busted your nose on his pelvis with the way he was hammering away your throat.

His grip tightened in your hair, your eyes watered and you whined. A growl tangled up in his chest, the blue of his eyes looked otherworldly.

“Gonna empty the chamber, Girlie,” he growled lowly, and your body tensed, you clawed at his hip, feeling the hard sinew there beneath freckled, pale skin.

His heavy balls impacted with your chin, and the thick head of his cock musta been halfway down your throat when he spilled. His balls tensed hot against your chin, warm spend filling your belly up. Each hot spurt hit the back of your throat like a live round.

You were dazed, coughing wetly when he pulled all the way out, a sloppy mess of slime from your throat dripped from his softening cock. He gave himself a shake and the mess splattered on your dress and on the grass.

You melted, having lost the tension in your legs, landing right on your rear.

You stared up at the Deputy as he did up his trousers properly, lazily slinging one suspender over his shoulder to keep them up. His gunbelt went on next, secured around his waist.

He worked on the clasps of Hoss’ saddle and you felt something cold twist in your belly: he was gonna leave.

He paused and stared down at you.

“Gimme your gun.” He said, and that warm tingle that had been eating you from the inside, out, died.

“What?” You asked numbly, voice hoarse.

He pointed more certainly to the gun stuffed through the sash around your waist, “Your gun.”

“I- Mister, I did what you wanted.” You exhaled nervously.

“You did,” He agreed, with an almost stony expression.

“I,” You sucked in a breath that made your throat burn, “I can try again,” You offered.

“Ain’t no need - you sucked all the venom outta me.” He said with a small, filthy smile that sparked some of that dying fire in your belly.

“You gone and put me in a good mood, so I’ll ask again, gimme the gun.”

You stared down at the weapon now sitting in your lap, and back up the man you had tried to rob with said gun.

With a shaking hand, you acquiesced, handing over what was your only means of self-preservation, save for gettin’ on your knees.

You watched as he rummaged through his saddlebags, offering an oatcake to Hoss, before returning to you.

He settled down on the ground with a sigh, your revolver in hand, all rust-bitten, a rag and a tube of oil in his grasp.

Your heart pounded a little harder in your chest as he methodically emptied the cylinder, dumping each bronze bullet onto the skirt of your dress.

“Where’d you get this?” He asked, setting his supplies down to fetch a cigarette from his satchel. He struck a match against the sole of his boot, puffing out little twin curls of smoke from his nostrils.

“Carter,” You said, internally counting the rounds he had dropped into your lap.

“Which one was, Carter?” The Deputy asked as he opened the tube of oil, wetting the stained rag with it.

You gestured over to the body and the man gave a knowing grunt.

“It’s a fine weapon, just needs a little lovin’ is all.” He explained and your belly got all tight and warm again, watching those big hands tenderly clean the old navy revolver.

“Here,” he grunted, cigarette pinched between his lips as he passed the revolver back to you, “y’got small hands, better for getting in the tight spaces.”

He was right, it was what made you a damn good thief.

You resumed cleaning the weapon, trying to mimic what you had seen him doing, while he smoked his cigarette. Every now and again a big hand would reach over and guide you.

You worked in relative silence, watching him, watching you. In that moment, with the sky a heavenly shade of violet, and that curious stranger next to you, his spend sitting in your belly, you felt more at ease than you had in years.

“There,” he grunted wiping away any residual gun oil and the weapon nearly gleamed brand new, “now if you stick a feller up, you’ll do it with well maintained weapon.”

It felt odd being told how to rob a man by a Sheriff’s Deputy.

“And next time you go to rob folk, do it with a crew that knows how to shoot.” He suggested and you nodded, “okay.”

He gave you a long that made you ache for him in your mouth again, a long fond look.

“You gon’ behave now, Honeybee?” He asked in low, sultry tone.

“Hardly,” You answered, “Not when you gone and showed me how to rob folks proper.” You said, toting your freshly cleaned revolver and a devilish smile.

He laughed, leaned back against the tree, lips lingering in a smile when he looked at you again.

“Shit,” he huffed, eyes terribly blue in that light,“That’s my fault ain’t it?”

You nodded back with a little smug smile.

He helped you load up your revolver and you gave it a shaky twirl.

“There y’are - a regular Black Belle.”

You giggled and it sounded awfully feminine, there he went again, making you feel all soft and delicate.

He looked up at the sky and let out a sigh, it had cooled off a few degrees as night approached.

“I was right about somethin’,” He grunted as he got to his feet, pulling you up with him.

“What’s that?” You asked as you handed him his jacket back.

“Not shootin’ you.” He admitted.

He shook his jacket out, dusting it off before throwing it on.

He strode over to Hoss and stepped into the stirrup effortlessly, made you a little embarrassed over how much trouble you’d gone through trying to get on that massive horse.

“You gon’ tell the Sheriff about me, Mister?” You asked indulgently.

“Nah, I ain’t,” he sighed, holding the reins in one hand.

You smiled all wide, pulling out a bit of that southern belle persona.

“You sweet on me, Mister?” You called after him, watching as he tilted his head back to laugh out a low gravelly sound that hit you right between the thighs.

“Sweet on that fool mouth, more like it.” He called back.

“I think you like me,” You said matter-of-factly, a coy smile on your lips, you could still taste him on your tongue.

“I think you’re a pain in the ass,” He retorted without any malice, a big, dumb smile on his handsome face. Leigh Gray was as dense as a rock if he thought hiring a Deputy that looked like Mr. Callahan would deter crime, feller like that made ya wanna misbehave.

Hoss started off in a trot, before the Deputy tugged on his reins to pause. His head tilted back over his shoulder in your direction.

“You need a ride back to town…Honeybee?”

Oh, he was definitely sweet on ya. You owed Jimmy a beer when you found that weaselly shit later.

You gathered your skirt into one hand, “That’s mighty kind of you, Mister.”

“Shut up,” He groused but you could hear the smile in his voice as he hoisted you up onto his horse with minimal effort.

You grinned, lips lingering near his ear, your voice entirely your own, full of snark and challenge, one that you knew he’d gladly rise to “make me.”

[beels-burger-babe]

With You Always

***So I really really really love this idea, but I'm going to tweak it just a little bit so rather than only seeing them in mirrors, MC can just always see them when the brothers aren't around. This one is going to take place after they return to the human realm. I'm also going to be using he/him pronouns for the crush that'll be mentioned. I figured since all the dateables in the game identify as male, it'd be a safe bet. Thank you so so much for this creative request @gender-less-lemon (also I freaking love your profile picture. Monster Camp/Prom is hilarious)***

Summary: An average day of high school with MC...and the seven pact manifestations that haunt their vision.

TW: Bullying You were awoken not by an alarm, or your guardian, or even some random noise from outside, but rather a phantom gnawing on your arm. With a groan, you blinked open your eyes and saw just your regular old room, with one minor difference; a spectral red bear was happily teething on your elbow. You chuckled and pet the manifestation, noting the brightly glowing symbol of gluttony resting in its stomach. "Okay, Beel," you mumbled to yourself as you dragged yourself out of bed, pushing the purple translucent calf sleeping on your stomach, in the process. "I hear you." Ever since you had returned to the human realm, you had been followed around by spectral manifestations of the seven pacts that you owned. By the looks of things, no one else could see them, and they only appeared when the connected sin was active or needed, but it helped you feel less alone. You missed the brothers more than you had anticipated. It was more than a little bit of a culture shock to go from being loved and spoiled every day to being the misfit in your high school. Speaking of which, you needed to get going if you weren't going to be late. As you rushed around our room frantically grabbing the things you needed to get ready, the calf-like manifestation of sloth sat on your bed mooing in complaint. You sent a glare over to it as you finished collecting your belongings. "Trust me, I rather stay home and sleep too, buddy. But I have to go." Grabbing some fruit on your way out the door, you just managed to make it to school on time. Now it was simply a matter of surviving the day.

In all honesty, you preferred RAD to high school. In RAD, the subjects were interesting and grasped your attention without any problems at all. You had friends, even outside of the brothers. Sure there were always demons that would talk down about the kid human that clung to the demon lords, but you had the brothers to protect you. It was nice.

Now that you were back in the human world, you had none of that. In fact, you were even more of a misfit than when you were before. The teenager that vanished for a year and came back weirder than before; that was you. At first, you couldn't get people to leave you alone, but once they realized you weren't going to give them answers they backed off. You would occasionally laugh or whisper to the manifestations, which would earn you some more than weird looks, but you didn't care. These weird little ghost-like creatures were one of the only things you had connecting you to the Devildom. They meant more to you than anything else. As you entered your classroom, you had to bite back a laugh at the sight of one of your classmates looking around in confusion as, unknown to them, a golden yellow crow flapped around their head and pecked at the shiny earrings they were wearing. You took your seat in the back of the classroom and watch in amusement as the crow continued pecking at the various belongings of students, causing subtle chaos and confusion. Leave it to Mammon to make your day even when he wasn't actually there. Your teacher walked in and sat down in his chair. "Alright, class. Today we're going to continue with our history presentations. Remember these were subjects of your choice, so I do hope that you can at least pretend to be interested," he sighed and pulled out a clipboard. "Looks like the next person presenting is...MC." You winced and looked down at your notes. The topic was definitely one you were confident in, but to present it in front of your class. What if no one liked it? What if people laughed? What if- You felt a nudge on your arm. You glanced over to see a dazzling blue peacock, straightening its long neck out high as it puffed out its chest. The pride manifestation gestured forward with its head and almost seemed to smile at you. You smiled gently as you felt warmth grow from his pact mark on your inner wrist and stood up beside the peacock. It cawed and began to strut forward, leading the way to the front of the class. The mental image of Lucifer doing the same almost caused you to burst out laughing. You finally turned to the class and held your head up proudly as you began to speak. "My presentation today will be on biblical demonology and the way it has evolved throughout the eons of its existence." It was the best presentation you had ever given in your life. Riding off of the high from history class, the day seemed to fly by. Before you knew it was time for lunch. The bear was back, this time just softly moaning it continued butting your back with its head in an attempt to get you to go to the cafeteria faster. With one particularly heard shove, you were sent stumbling forward, directly into the chest of someone. "I'm so sorry! I'm a total clutz. I just tripped, I hadn't meant to-" you cut yourself off as you looked up and noticed you were looking at your crush. Your jaw snapped shut as you felt your face suddenly become uncomfortably hot. He smiled and waved off the apology. "It's alright. Just an accident right?" Your face became even hotter as you noticed a bright pink rabbit jumping up and down happily behind him. "I- Uh...Ehm...Y-Yeah! Yeah, t-totally an accident. I'm seat so I should go find my hungry. I-I mean!" He chuckled and nodded. "No worries, I get what you're trying to say. Enjoy your seat, MC," he gave you a wink, causing you to squeak as he walked off. You glared down at the rabbit running happy circles around your feet and the red bear that was sulking guiltily in a corner. "I blame you two for this." With an embarrassed huff, you entered the cafeteria and found yourself instantly wanting to walk back out. Everyone was laughing and talking with one another in their friend groups at their tables. Some gossiped eagerly over a magazine. Others sat silently with one another while they gamed or read books. There was even a table where a group of theatre kids were drumming out a soundtrack beat on the table while singing their favourite

songs. You ducked your head down and grabbed a tray of food before moving to the lonely table in the back, doing your best to ignore the giant orange snake that slithered between the tables, occasionally hissing and tripping students. You tried not to think of how you could be just like those groups of laughing friends, if only you were still at RAD. Your heart ached as you thought about the brothers. Maybe you could call them tonight. You let out a heavy sigh as you stood up and went to leave. You had almost made it to the door when a familiar face stopped you. Standing just a couple inches taller than you, surrounded by their groupies, was your tormentor, Taylor. You weren't entirely sure why they hated you so much. You just knew that they did, and that it got even worse when you came back from the Devildom. Taylor smirked with their arms crossed over their chest. "Where do you think your going? You haven't come to say hello yet." You scoffed and tried to walk past them. "Leave me alone, Taylor. I'm not in the mood for this today," before you could get very far, you were harshly onto the floor, stealing the breath from your lungs. You gasped and glared up at them. "What the fuck?!" The bully just sneered down at you. "You may not be in the mood for this, but I am. You know I heard about your weirdo presentation. Demons? Really? What are you, a satanist?" Their word choice was really ironic, for at that moment you noticed the large, white unicorn with flaming green hair and eyes appear behind them. The beast stomped its hooves and whinnied dangerously. You gulped nervously and looked up at Taylor. "Even if I was, it's not your business. I just find the topic interesting is all." You went to stand up, and therefore force the angry horse with a horn away from Taylor, but were stopped as they placed their foot on top of your chest. "I bet that's why you have all those weird tattoos, huh? What did you run away and join a cult for a year? Freak!" You could feel Satan's pact mark on the back of your neck grow hotter and hotter to the point that you were concerned the manifestation may be trying to summon him. Your eyes widen as you noticed it back up a few steps and point its horn at Taylor. You knew that the creatures normally could do small interactions with others, such as tripping or pushing, but you had never seen them attempt anything so violent. You couldn't just let it kill someone. "STOP!" The cafeteria fell quiet, but you weren't looking at them or even Taylor, you were looking at the unicorn. The manifestation neighed in frustration and jumped around, but obeyed your command. You slumped in relief. Looking back over to Taylor, you found them glaring down at you like you were nothing but a bug. They opened their mouth to degrade you even further when a teacher finally stepped forward. "What is happening here?" You walked over to the unicorn while Taylor fed the teacher a handful of lies. You leaned over to the manifestation and whispered under your breath. "Thank you for trying to protect me, but you can't hurt people. Just leave it be." The creature snorted and nuzzled your shoulder. In comparison to the hectic lunch hour, the rest of the day passed by with ease. In no time at all, you were back home in your room. You had just plopped onto your bed, when you heard a familiar ringtone. You smiled brightly and quickly grabbed your D.D.D. before immediately answering the phone. "Hello?" "Oh, you answered that quite quickly," you grinned at the surprise in Satan's tone. "I was just calling to-" "IS THAT MC?! GIMME!!!" You laughed as the sounds of Satan yelling and running from Mammon came through the other end. There was a yelp, a bang, and a victorious whoop before you could hear the device get picked up by someone. "'Hey MC! How was your day? I hope you didn't miss the great Mammon too badly. N-Not that I've missed you or anything just wanted to know how you're doin' is all." Belphie's purple calf climbed its way into your lap once more as you gently patted its head.

"I miss you too, Mammon. And today wasn't bad. I'd say it was pretty average overall." You could hear Satan growl in the background before there was a loud thud followed by a scream from Mammon. Satan took the phone back. "Just average you say? Nothing special?" You frowned and narrowed your eyebrows in confusion. "No, why?" To your right, the unicorn neighed softly and plopped down beside your bed. "Well, I could've sworn I felt our pact become triggered at some point today and...Well in all honesty I was concerned. We worry about you getting hurt without us there with you, MC." You couldn't help but smile softly as one by one each of the manifestations of your pacts made their way to your bed and laid down. "I know," you replied affectionately. "Though I'm never completely alone. So long as I have my pacts, you guys will always be with me." ***This was such an interesting concept to toy around with. I hope this wasn't too confusing and actually makes sense 😅😅 Thanks again for the amazing request @gender-less-lemon!***

Taglist @thegrimgrinningghost

@henry-and-the-seven-lords

@satans-beloved-riv

@cosmixbun

@sufzku

[starsfic]

Spicynoodles?- MK gets a knock at the door... Pugsy tells him to answer it, and he does

But as he opens it, he sees Iron fan and a few quick words, "Go on a date with my son-" Before he quickly on instinct closed the door on her

...wait.

Qi Xiaotian threw open the door. "Excuse me?" And now Red Son, who looked very angry, was being held by several Bull Clones. Princess Iron Fan still stood there, looking a touch desperate. What in the world was going on?! "I...assume there's a reason."

"Okay, listen," And she was coming in. "Jade is coming to the city and I need Red Son to look like he is a well-adjusted young man." Well, at least she was admitting he had issues. "And you, besides the Dragon-Horse girl, are the only youths his age I know he's interacted with." Red Son looked as embarrassed as Xiaotian felt for him. "I asked the Dragon-Horse girl but she's not interested in men." She wasn't. "So I need you two to go on a date."

Okay, but…

"Who's Jade?"

"Jade Face Princess," Red Son said. He had stopped struggling and now just looked annoyed. There was a gasp from Tang that everyone ignored. "She's a fox spirit, a former friend of the family. When I was younger, I preferred her over Mother, which made her much more upset when she found out Father and her were having an affair." Oh. Ouch.

"And she is coming to the city and I refuse to allow her to be a better mother!" Iron Fan's hair was starting to float in some unknown wind as she paced back and forth, looking furious. Pigsy opened his mouth and Tang clamped a hand over his mouth before he could say what was probably going through Xiaotian’s mind. "So I need to get my son a date!"

"But, uh-"

Then she was suddenly there, gripping his shoulders tight enough to make him wince. Her eyes were desperate. "I'll make it worth your while."

Xiaotian raised a brow. "How?"

She dropped his shoulders. Iron Fan paused and peered out the doorway. At… across the street? Then she pulled herself back in and looked around. Then she pulled out a checkbook and a pen and started writing. “I will give you enough for you to buy out the other noodle shop across the street.” There was the sound of something being dropped from Pigsy’s hands. “I will also spread the word of Pigsy’s Noodles to the rest of high society.” She finished writing off the check and passed it over. Xiaotian took it and looked down.

…oh wow.

That…that was more than enough to buy out Pigsy’s rival. That was enough to completely renovate the shop. With a bonus! Then Pigsy was snatching the check out of his hand. "We- Wait…" Pigsy paused, clearly struggling with the urge to make the choice for Xiaotian. He finally set the check down. "No. Nope, you're not using my son in your contest." Even as his face twitched. It was one of his biggest goals to best the other guy. But Pigsy loved him too much to force him to go on a date.

Which left Xiaotian to it.

"I'll do it."

[high-functioning-lokipath]

All About Eavesdropping - Loki x Reader - Words: 1,835

“You want us to what?” You yelled. 

“I need you and Elsa here to go to Greenland for about a month,” Tony said. You stared at him from across his worktable in his lab. 

“Why in Valhalla would we need to do that, Stark?” Loki retorted. “And don’t call me Elsa.” Tony had called the two of you in there right after breakfast saying that he had a very important job for you. This, however, did not seem to be all that special.

“For purely scientific purposes, of course,” He replied, mouthful of blueberries.

“And those would be?” You sighed, facedesking. 

“The new winter stealth suits I designed. I need them tested in the field. I’ve run as many lab tests as possible but,” Tony shrugged. “Field tests are absolutely necessary. Everything you’ll need is either in these boxes or in the house in Greenland. If you want to take any other personal stuff you’ll want to grab it before you leave.”

“And you think we’re the best for the job?” You asked.

“He’s already a popsicle so if it gets too cold he can deal with it and you can heal yourself or him anyway,” Tony said like it was the most logical thing in the world. Loki tensed at his words but didn’t say anything about it.

“Fine,” Loki grunted. He grabbed the box Tony had marked for him and headed for the doors. 

“You leave at 6! Don’t be late!” 

“I wouldn’t dare disappoint you, Stark,” Loki sassed before finally stalking out. 

“Have fun!” Tony grinned at you, wiggling his eyebrows. 

“First of all, perv. Second of all, ain’t gonna happen!” You replied. “Why are you doing this? This whole thing is a direct attack on a part of him he doesn’t like to address!” 

“Well I figured he has to grow up one day and deal with it. We all have inner demons to fight. I figured I’d help him.”

“A bit not good there, Sherlock.” Tony snorted in laughter and shook his head. 

“Would you rather I send him with Steve?” Your eyes widened comically.

“Nope!” You exclaimed, popping the p. “I think we’ll do just fine.” You grabbed your box and headed out as well.   

By 6 o'clock, the two of you were flying out on one of Tony's jets. "So, what do you think of the new suits?" You asked Loki, trying to make some conversation.

"They are no match for true Asgardian leather and would be greatly improved by at least a cape," He replied sounding rather bored. 

"Oh," You said. "How exactly are we to be testing the suits again? I forget what Tony said."

"He said nothing, darling. It was all in his infernal little packet." You blushed lightly at the pet name and nodded. 

"Alright, well, I guess I'm just going to," You paused, unsure of what to do. It was obvious Loki was not interested in conversation but there wasn't much to do on the jet. "I'm just going to sit over there," You said, getting up quickly and moving to the other side of the jet. The rest of the flight was quiet, Loki only speaking up to alert you that you were about to land. 

"Surely the man of iron could not possibly want us to stay here," Loki said, getting out and seeing the small house.

"Maybe it's bigger on the inside," You said hopefully. Gathering your few things, you both headed in. "Oh this is so much worse," You groaned. The large main room consisted of the dining and living rooms and the kitchen. However, it was very sparsely decorated. You could see a stack of groceries in the kitchen along with a note. Loki wandered off to explore the bathroom and bedrooms, you assumed, while you read the note. 

"Find anything of interest?" Loki called out, surprising you.

"Just that Tony said if we didn't like the food or somehow ran out there's a grocery store about 10 miles away."

"And just how does he expect us to go there?" Loki yelled, getting increasingly frustrated. 

"The note says our transportation is out back." You walked down the small hallway to the back door and looked outside. Stifling a laugh you called out, "Hey, Loki! I think your ex is here!"

"My who?" Loki replied, very confused. "I have no 'exes', as you call them, on Midgard." You smirked and moved aside so Loki could look. When he saw what was in the backyard, a strange look crossed over his face. "Run," He said in a dangerously calm voice. 

"I beg your pardon?" You replied.

"Run if you don't want to lose your phone," He smirked back. You laughed but you did take off running. He chased you back out to the main room but you ran out the front door. "Don't think you can escape me!" He called out. 

"Wanna bet?" You called back, running to the backyard. You quickly jumped on one of the two horses you had seen and took off. 

"Oh, you'll regret saying that, my dear," Loki grinned, getting on the other horse and taking off after you. 

The next few days continued in a similar pattern. There wasn't much to do so you and Loki would often spend your time exploring the woods behind the house or riding the horses or just talking. Loki had warmed up to you quite a bit, pun intended, and you were quite happy. Of course, you recorded the events of each day in your diary. Well, it was less of a diary and more of a collection of special moments you wanted to remember and sketches you'd made. You had just finished writing today's events when you heard a loud clatter and Loki call you from the kitchen.

"Y/N!" He said. "Can you come here please?" You quickly put your notebook in the nightstand drawer and hurried out to the kitchen.

"What in the world happened, Loki?" You exclaimed, holding back a laugh. Loki was laying on the floor, covered in a mixture of flour and eggs it seemed, with various cups and bowls around him. 

"I was attempting to reach a mixing bowl on the top shelf when I slipped on an egg and pulled the shelf down," He admitted.

"You're telling the truth!" You gasped, openly chuckling at the situation now.

"Of course, love! I couldn't lie to you." You blushed brightly, as he often made you do with those pet names. 

"Uh, well," You stuttered. "Why don't you go wash up and I'll finish," You paused, glancing around. "Whatever you were making."

"I was attempting to make breakfast," He grinned. "But I think I should make myself clean instead, hm?" 

"Yes, you should," You smirked. "Wouldn't want anyone thinking you were greying early."

"You-" He exclaimed, standing quickly. For a moment you thought he was truly angry, but his eyes sparkled with mischief. He reached onto the counter and threw a handful of flour at you before running off to the bathroom. You laughed, dusted yourself off, and got to work on breakfast.

About an hour later, he came back out and sat across you at the counter. "Your breakfast, my prince," You smiled, presenting him his plate. He smiled and you ate in silence for a time. 

"I've been reading a lot lately," He commented. 

"Mhm," You replied, mouthful of syrupy pancakes. 

"The last book I read had some rather interesting sketches in it too."

"Really?" You asked, truly interested. "I love art. Can you show it to me?" You took a large gulp of milk as he replied.

"My dear," He said, setting down his fork. "I read your diary." You coughed, almost choking on your ill-timed drink. 

"You what?" You screeched. "How dare you invade my privacy like that and-"

"Don't you care to know what I thought?" He interrupted.

"Why? So you can laugh at me, oh Mr. High-and-" He cut you off by leaning over the counter and kissing you earnestly. "Oh, that's nice," You said once you pulled away. 

"Just nice?" He smirked. "I guess I'll have to work on that." He kissed you once more before you pulled away, cheeks flushed and eyes wide.

"I just remembered something!" You gasped. 

"What's wrong?" You quickly pulled out the pamphlet Tony had made you about the suit testing. You then gestured to a paragraph under a subheading of RECORDING ANY AND ALL TEST RESULTS

ALL TEST RESULTS MUST BE RECORDED BY THE TESTERS USING THE STEPS LISTED. TO ENSURE NOTHING IS MISSED, HOWEVER, THE HOUSE WILL ALSO BE UNDER 24/7 SURVEILLANCE TO TRACK ANY UNRECORDED RESULTS.

OUTSIDE - AUDIO/VIDEO

INSIDE - AUDIO ONLY

Loki grinned and leaned into you, lips brushing against your ear. He whispered something and you giggled. "Loki!" You gasped. "We can’t do that here!"

"Oh, yes," He purred. "We can do it anywhere we want if we're creative enough." 

"But outside is so much more exciting," You grinned. "So," you paused, struggling to find the right word. "Freeing!"

"Please do not do anything outdoors where I can see!" You heard a loud voice yell. You both quickly realized it was coming from the monitoring system.

"Steve? Is that you?" You called back with a chuckle. 

"Yeah, Tony insisted I take a turn on guard duty," He grumbled. "Look, I'm sorry I interrupted," He paused awkwardly. "Whatever you were doing but could you please not do it outside? Outside has cameras." Loki laughed loudly and you did too. 

"We really didn't mean to prank you, Cap. I thought Tony was on the other end of that mic."

"I however have no objections to how this turned out," Loki added. You whacked him arm lightly and shook your head. "Truthfully, though, we were only speaking of testing another aspect of the suit. I whispered to Y/N my idea and-"

"I get it," Cap replied quickly. You couldn't see him but you could tell he was embarrassed. "I'll make you two a deal. Behave yourselves, finish the tests, and get home early and I'll help you prank Tony here in the tower. Ok?"

"You have yourself a deal, Captain," Loki grinned. 

"Alright. I'm going to take a nap now. Don't do anything stupid."

"Oh we won't," Loki smirked, wrapping his arms around you and planting light kisses on your neck.

"Loki!" You squealed.

"Do you want to prank Tony or not?" Steve yelled. "I can't see you but I can hear you! And that didn't sound like suit testing. Get to work! If you do as you're supposed to, you'll be done in a week."

"Yes, sir," You both grumbled. Loki, ever the mischief maker, wasn't about to let up. He grabbed a towel and twirled it, smacking your backside with it as you walked away. 

"What was that for?" You asked.

"Loki, did you just-"

"For purely scientific purposes, I assure you," He replied. Steve groaned in frustration.

"This is gonna be a long week."

Loki Taglist

@lucywrites02

@delightfulheartdream

@serpentargo

@khena

@nyx2021

@kaz11283

@weasley-main-lover

@up-to-mischief

@lokislittlesigyn

​Marvel (all characters) Taglist

@bartv21

@another-crazy-fangirl

@whatafuckingdumbass

@ladylulu143

@lokislittlesigyn

[queenxxxsupreme]

Hello! May I please request something with a reader who's hosea's daughter and she starts a romantic relationship with either Charles or Arthur? (I can't decide I love those both those boys too much)

AN: Hi babe! I chose Arthur for this! 

Warnings: implied smut

***

The moon hung high in the night sky and thousands of stars littered the empty space surrounding it. There wasn’t a cloud to be seen. 

Cicadas and crickets chirped. Raccoons chattered from high up in treetops. Occasionally there was the sound of a coyote as it strayed too close to camp then scurrying away upon realizing that there were people nearby. 

You made your way through camp, finishing your braid over your shoulder. 

Everyone was settling down for the night after having a few drinks. 

You moved towards the tent you shared with Karen and Sadie when a hand suddenly wrapped around your mouth from behind. An arm latched around your waist. Panic was just about to set in when you heard his voice in your ear. 

“Easy there, pumpkin.” Arthur whispered. “Don’t want anyone to hear you.”

He let you go but held on to your wrist as he tugged you around to the backside of the wagons. 

“Arthur Morgan!” You whispered his name loudly, hitting his arm. “Don’t you do that again! I almost had a heart attack!”

“Shh.” He chuckled, holding a finger to his lips. His hands found your hips and he backed you up against the wagon. “Don’t want anyone to hear you.”

You grabbed fistfuls of his shirt, pulling him down to kiss him. He pinned your hips against the wagon with his own then brought his hands up to cup your face. 

“Let’s go for a ride.” Arthur pulled away from you, his hand finding your wrist once more. He started to pull you away from the wagon but you stopped him. 

“What has gotten into you tonight, Arthur?” You asked him, a little smile playing on your lips. You enjoyed his playful moods, but they were rare and it wasn’t often that they came about. Usually it only happened when he was drinking. 

“I just wanna spend time with you without worryin’ about anyone, pumpkin.” He tugged on your hand. 

“And you wanna go for a ride?”

“Yeah.”

“How much have you had to drink?”

“How much could you taste?” He countered. You rolled your eyes. 

“I’ll only go with you if you let me control the horse.” 

“Oh, pumpkin. Come on. I wanna take you somewhere.” 

“You can tell me directions.”

“Fine.” He grumbled. “Come on.” 

Arthur guided you across camp to his horse. He helped you up onto the saddle and then got up onto the back of the horse himself. 

***

Slipping past Bill on guard duty was easy. 

The place Arthur took you to was just on the other side of the border of Lemoyne and New Hanover. The spot was along the shore of Flat Iron Lake. 

“What’s special about this place?” You looked over your shoulder to Arthur as you brought the horse to a stop in the grass. 

“Huh?”

“You said the spot was special. What’s special about it?”

“Well…. it’s away from camp.” He held his hand out for you. You got down from the horse and passed him the reins. He tethered the horse to a tree so it could eat grass while the two of you went closer to the water. 

Arthur held his hand out for you again, making a grabbing motion. You furrowed your brows together before putting your hand in his. 

He walked alongside you with your fingers laced together. 

“I been doin’ a lotta thinkin’.” 

“Uh-oh.” You giggled. “Should I be worried?”

“Yeah, probably.” He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. 

Arthur was silent for a few moments, so you looked over at him. He was looking out over the lake. 

“Arthur, what is it?” You stopped walking and turned to face him. 

He shook his head, eyes flickering down to his boots. 

“It-It’s nothin’. Just stupid thoughts.” 

“It ain’t stupid if it’s got you thinkin’ so hard I can see the smoke coming out of your ears.” You reached up to cup his jaw. You brushed your thumb along his cheek. “Come on. It’s just me. You can say whatever it is you’re thinking to me.”

His eyes met yours and he nodded, a little smile tugging at his lips. 

“I…. Y/N, I want whatever it is we got…. I want it to be real.”

You furrowed your brows together, tilting your head to the side a little. 

“I thought…. Well, I guess I thought it was real.” Your voice was quiet. 

“No, not like that.” He shook his head. “I meant that I-I want to be real. To have a real…. a real thing with you.”

A smile spread across your lips as you realized what Arthur was struggling to say. 

“A real relationship, Arthur Morgan?” 

He nodded his head. 

“Now I-I put a lotta thought into it. Even talked it over with Charles. He’s a smart feller.” 

“He is. You want this?” 

“I want you.” Arthur slipped his arm around your waist and pulled you against him. “I ain’t felt that way about somebody in a long time.” 

“Only if you’re sure–,”

“I am sure.” He cut you off, pressing a kiss to the corner of your lips. “Is this what you want?”

“Yes.” You answered without hesitation, holding his gaze. “Yes.”

“Okay then.” He grinned, large hands slipping down to your backside. 

***

The sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon when you and Arthur returned to camp. You parted ways where the horses were hitched, leaving with only murmurs of goodbyes. It was bad enough you’d spent the entire night out. You didn’t need to risk being caught just yet. You’d tell everyone when you were ready. But neither of you saw Hosea Matthews–your father–watching from the opposite side of camp as you slipped into your tent. 

Arthur wasn’t very fond of romance from the get-go, and being that you were Hosea’s daughter made him ever more hesitant to start anything with you. However, that changed when he got to know you better. 

Being that you didn’t grow up in the Van Der Linde Gang, you didn’t know the outlaw the way everyone else did. 

Though Hosea was your father, he didn’t raise you. He and his late wife and your mother, Bessy, had agreed that the life they had wasn’t suitable for a baby. So they gave you to Bessy’s sister and brother-in-law so that you could be raised in a proper setting and have a chance at a good life. Hosea and Bessy made sure to visit you when they could, and even after Bessy passed away Hosea continued to visit you and let you know that he cared about you. He wanted what was best for his only daughter. He didn’t want you to have the same life as him or to be subjected to the horrors he had faced.

But here you were, the newest member of the Van der Linde Gang. 

***

You managed to only get a couple hours of sleep before Karen nudged you awake, warning you that Susan would be by to raise hell if you weren’t up soon. 

You got dressed and went out to get a cup of coffee. You spotted Hosea sitting at a table reading through a newspaper, so you decided to join him. 

“Good morning, Hosea.” You greeted. 

“Good morning, dear.” He gave you a smile. “How’d you sleep?” 

“Not too bad. I’m getting used to the nighttime noises so I’m not waking up so much. Anything interestin’ in there?”

“Not yet.” 

“Mornin’, Hosea.” Arthur crossed through camp, heading for his tent. “Mornin’, Y/N.”

“Good morning, Arthur.”

“Good morning, Arthur.” You smiled just a little before looking down at your coffee. 

You wanted to tell Hosea about you and Arthur. Now that things were serious between you two, it felt like you needed to tell him. Before, you were just flirting and messing around. There was no need for anyone to know what was happening because it was just two grown adults keeping each other company. But now…. Now it was different. 

You sat with Hosea for a bit, chatting about what was in the newspaper. 

Then you noticed a group began to form around the horses that consisted of Javier, Charles, Arthur, Sean, and John. 

“What are you staring at, sweetheart?”

You turned your head look at Hosea. You didn’t realize you were staring. 

“Nothing, Hosea.”

He looked in the direction you had been staring in. 

“Which one is it?”

“What?”

“Which one of them numbskulls were you gawking at?”

“None of them.”

“I don’t believe that for a second.” He shook his head, eyes lingering on you. When you made no effort to carry on the conversation, he reached into a pocket on his vest to check the time. “Your mother used to get that same look in her eye when she saw somethin’ in a shop window she wanted.”

Curious, you glanced up from your coffee which you had been staring at rather intently. You weren’t really reading anyways. 

“She would?”

“She would.” Hosea nodded, a fond smile coming to his lips as his eyes left you to look out over the lake behind you. “And usually, I’d go back to the shop some time later when she wasn’t with me and steal it for her.”

“How romantic.”

“She thought so.” He chuckled. “She certainly knew how to put up with me and my antics. But she was about as good of a liar as you are, my dear.”

You put the book down on the table.

“I really wish you’d stop reading me like I’m one of your marks.”

“I can’t help it, sweetheart. It’s a bad habit. A very bad, nasty habit.” Hosea turned his head to look at the group of men gathered around the horses. “I don’t think it would be John. He’s far too dim for you. But if we go by brains, I don’t think any of them have a lick of sense. Well, except for Charles.” Hosea paused to gauge your reaction. You kept your lips pressed together in a firm line, adamant on not giving him any reaction. “If it was Bill Williamson, I’d be disappointed in you.”

“Ew, no.”

“Good girl. Javier?”

You didn’t answer.

“Hmm. Arthur perhaps?”

You shifted in your seat and took a small breath. The actions didn’t seem that big, but apparently they meant something to Hosea. 

The con-man leaned back in his seat, rubbing the back of his neck as he let out a little sigh. 

“That dimwit, Y/N?”

“He’s not a dimwit, Hosea.”

“I swear, Y/N, I’ve seen fish with more sense than that boy.”

“Hosea.”

“I’m serious. Me and Dutch were real concerned about him. Well, that was until John came along. Made Arthur look a goddamn genius.”

You stood up and picked up your coffee cup. 

“Sweetheart, I didn’t mean to offend you.” Hosea put his hand out to stop you. “I know you’re sweet on him. I saw you coming back into camp together this morning.” 

Your eyes immediately met his, panic finding its way into your veins. Then you looked over to Arthur. Did your father know what you were doing with Arthur while you were gone? 

“I’m a little hurt neither of you told me, but I know why you kept it to yourselves. This camp ain’t the place for romance.”

“Hosea.” You whispered, eyes meeting his once more. “Don’t…. Don’t let Arthur know that you know, okay? I-I think he wanted to tell you himself. We just…. We didn’t want everyone here to know, and he’s…. Arthur’s a funny guy when it comes to being sweet on a lady.”

“Oh, I know. He’s had his heart broke real bad before. Don’t you think about breakin’ it, you hear? You’re my daughter so I’ll be sure to tell him the same, but he’s like a son to me, you know.”

“I know, Hosea. Don’t worry. I have no intentions of hurting him.”

“Good.”

Taglist:  @winterwolf @doggone-cowgirl @lauramb7 @caraqas @bluscryn @nonodino @krenee1drful @thefirelordm @sargeantsea @sokkasdarling @thecollection @mayday1284  @kashasenpai

If your name is in italics, it wouldn’t let me tag you :(

[little-mad]

Downsides of Thievery Pt. 8

~ Previous Part ~ Next Part ~

Maybe after all the shit Gavin had experienced ever since he’d been dragged from his prison cell back on Earth, he should have been used to giant related weirdness. He’d been held in a fist, toted around in a cage, and pinned down to the ground by a massive hand. In theory, riding around in Rael’s hand wasn’t that much stranger in comparison. And yet, Gavin felt unimaginably uncomfortable with his current position.

It wasn’t really that Gavin felt he was in any particular danger. Weirdly enough, he actually believed Rael’s claim that he would be careful. No, he wouldn’t say he was necessarily afraid. What he was feeling had more to do with the fact that he was almost surrounded on all sides by one single person. He was sitting on Rael’s palm, with the alteon’s chest behind him and his other hand directly in front of him. Not to mention the fact that the guy’s head loomed far above, able to look down at the person in his hand whenever he wanted. Long story short, Gavin felt smothered. And what was weirder than being smothered? Being smothered by the same person who had so far expressed nothing but distaste and disinterest in him since their first meeting.

“I guess it's an improvement from threatening to crush me,” Gavin thought to himself. He supposed this was preferable. The problem was, he didn’t know how to respond to this kind of behavior. Gavin was an expert at reacting to people not liking him much. Even if he knew Rael did like him, he might have some idea of what to do and what to say. However, Gavin couldn’t make heads or tails of how the big guy felt!

“Uh, I guess I should thank you for saving me,” Gavin finally said, breaking the silence that had developed ever since they’d departed from the stream. He fidgeted, trying not to think about the fact that the thing he was sitting on was literally alive. “Maybe this would seem less weird if I’d ever ridden a horse before…”

Rael didn’t take his eyes off the path in front of him aside from shooting a quick glance down at his passenger. “I was just doing my job,” he stated.

Maybe Gavin was getting ahead of himself thinking he’d made any progress with Rael. Maybe the guy really was just doing his job, and any increased kindness Gavin had detected was just an extension of his job.

As pathetic as it undoubtedly was, Gavin didn’t want to believe Rael really didn’t give a rat’s ass about him. He was completely alone in this dimension, cut off from anyone and everyone who had given at least half a shit about him. And so maybe Gavin was desperate to find someone he could imagine was on his side. He wanted a friend, and Rael was quite literally his only option. “God, I need to snap out of it! I’m supposed to be a hardened criminal damn it!”

Gavin craned his neck to look up at Rael’s face. “Well, I gotta admit, you were pretty badass back there.” It was very uncommon for Gavin to root for any type of law enforcement, for obvious reasons, but for once he was on the side of authority. How ironic was it that he, a thief who had been undone by his own greed, had almost been abducted in order to satisfy someone else’s greed? Fate really was a funny thing, huh?

A perplexed expression crossed over Rael’s face. “Badass? That’s intended as some form of compliment, correct?”

Gavin had to stifle a chuckle. He kind of forgot the alteon only had a very vague knowledge of human slang. He suddenly felt like he was holding a conversation with Spock, Rael even had the pointy ears to match. “Yeah...it sort of means you were impressively tough,” Gavin explained.

Rael gave a small nod of understanding. “I see, well...thank you I suppose.” The little note of awkwardness in his voice was enough to cause Gavin to break out in a grin. Rael sounded like a person and not some giant robot of formality and meanness.

Unwilling to let the break in Rael’s facade go to waste, Gavin initiated his mouth’s blab feature. “You know, next to that Kaydin guy, you’re like a saint,” he started, not even realizing he was now reclining back in Rael’s palm. “I’d pick hanging out with you over him anyday.”

With a light scoff, Rael rolled his eyes. “Being preferable over a brigand like that man is not as high of praise as you seem to think it is,” he said, though his tone was lacking in any real bite.

Gavin snickered. “I guess so, but to be fair I’ve only ever met three alteons.” None of them had made an especially great impression though, so he was beginning to think a part of alteon culture was just being naturally shitty at introductions. Of course, Gavin couldn’t really judge, he wouldn’t say he was all that great at first impression either.

“I’m surprised you weren’t more taken with the ruffians, considering you’re both criminals and all,” Rael replied, a nearly imperceptible smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“Hey, not all criminals get along. That is a very common misconception,” Gavin stated matter-of-factly.

Rael snorted. Gavin was surprised someone like him could even make such a casual sound. “How very educational you are,” he said, sending another brief glance down at the human in his hands.

Gavin could hardly believe what was happening. He was actually taking part in back and forth banter with Rael, the guy who had seemed like an impenetrable stone wall of crankiness. If Gavin closed his eyes and ignored the feeling of flesh beneath him, he could almost imagine he was talking to a human and not an eighty foot colossus.

-

Rael had no idea what the hell he was doing. It was almost as if he’d been possessed or something, because he never would have imagined himself engaging in repartee with a human of all people. And yet somehow, it felt so natural and effortless. Rael would never consider himself a particularly talkative person, but with Gavin carrying the bulk of the conversation, it was easy to keep banter going.

Honestly, Rael wasn’t even sure what had triggered the change in his own behavior. Perhaps seeing the human’s life threatened by another alteon had had some kind of mirror effect. It was possible that witnessing the fear Kaydin inflicted upon Gavin had given Rael a new perspective on his own threatening behaviors.

Kaydin had obviously been the villain in the scenario. Did that mean Rael was the villain in his previous interactions with Gavin? He was a member of the Imperial Guard, he was supposed to be a hero--but it was becoming increasingly clear that he hadn’t been acting as such.

“I do not get paid enough to do this much self reflection on the job,” Rael thought sourly. This whole situation would be a lot simpler if he could just keep on ignoring Gavin and disregarding his feelings. It was a shame his conscience had gotten so loud all of a sudden.

“It is kind of flattering that I’m apparently so valuable that that guy was about ready to risk it all to get his hands on me,” Gavin said. Rael looked down to see a playful smirk on the little guy’s lips.

While Gavin had obviously been intending to be humorous, Rael couldn’t help but frown slightly. It was troubling how desperate Kaydin had been to get a hold of a human. What was even more troubling, was that Rael knew the desperation was sensible. Gavin would fetch a hefty sum on the black market, and Rael could only imagine the sort of things one might want to buy a human for. After the encounter with Kaydin and his partner, Rael wouldn’t be assured of Gavin’s safety until they were within the palace walls.

“You’re currently the only human in this realm, that makes you something of a rarity,” Rael told Gavin.

Most alteons had never seen a human in real life before, and unless things changed drastically, most never would. Typically, only those close to the Emperor were able to even catch a glimpse, hence why it was something of a status symbol. Of course, Rael had never really seen it that way himself.

“I guess I should feel honored,” Gavin quipped. “Although, the fact that I’m a prisoner kind of ruins things.” Rael fought the urge to twitch as he felt the human reposition himself on his palm. He still couldn’t believe such a tiny body could hold such a large personality.

“Perhaps crime doesn’t pay quite as much as you thought,” Rael retorted. He still found it stunning that the little guy he was currently holding in his hand had managed to rob an alteon.

Gavin scoffed. “Hey, it paid just fine until I took the diplomat job.” That caught Rael’s attention. He had been under the impression that Gavin had stolen the ring from the diplomat for himself, likely with the intention of selling it. However, the way Gavin had phrased it made it seem as though he had done it at someone else’s request.

“Wait, someone hired you to steal that ring?” Rael inquired, his gaze jumping back and forth from looking ahead and looking down at Gavin.

A dry laugh came from the human as he leaned back on his hands. “Like I ever would’ve thought of stealing from an alteon myself,” he said sarcastically. “Obviously someone hired me to do it.”

Rael’s eyebrows shot up. So Gavin had just been doing someone else’s dirty work? What he’d done had still been illegal, but still, wasn’t the one who had employed him the one truly in the wrong? “You took the fall for the one who hired you?”

Gavin gave a shrug. “Not exactly, but I didn’t know the real name of the guy who gave me the job, so there was no point even bothering to tell the cops.” He said it so nonchalantly. Did he not realize he might not be in the situation he was in, being escorted to the Emperor by an alteon, had his employer been identified and arrested?

“You don’t seem to care all that much,” Rael noted.

“I chose to take the job when I didn’t have to, blaming it on someone else isn’t gonna help anything,” Gavin replied. Rael was stunned by how...mature he was being. Initially, Gavin had struck him as nothing more than an honorless thief, devoid of any sense of responsibility. And yet here he was, accepting culpability for his own actions even when there was a perfect scapegoat right there for him to blame.

“Will wonders never cease,” Rael breathed.

“What?” Gavin called up. Rael had forgotten how sensitive to even the quietest noises human ears were.

“Nothing, don’t worry about it.”

[whaleofatjme1920]

On Your Bedroom Floor with Her By Your Side (Kate the Chaser X F!Reader)

On Your Bedroom Floor with Her By Your Side

[Kate the Chaser/Kate Milens-Hayes X F!Reader]

[Warnings: slight language, minor violence, none really]

[AN: I started my oneshot book on quotev because I loved Kate that much]

You weren’t supposed to even know she existed. In fact, the way she found you was entirely an accident over winter break your freshman year of college.

Your parents had been out on a well needed vacation and left you home to handle the house. That was fine, you needed the time off and wanted to relax as much as you could before getting back into the swing of school in January. You spent most of your time moving about, pleased that you had the space to branch out and do what you pleased. This included listening to your music without headphones and generally, being weird without anyone to judge you.

A few days into your well needed alone time, you had laid in your bed watching videos on your phone. The house was dark and quiet, easily giving off the appearance that no one was home. On your own, you were naturally pretty silent when night fell over the land.

That’s what led Kate to make her first mistake.

Somehow, she had gotten separated from her group. It was supposed to be a simple clearing, a one and done it kind of deal, but they were essentially ambushed. Masky got shot pretty bad, so Toby’s priority was getting the group leader out and to safety. Hoodie stayed behind with Kate to finish the clearing, but they were swarmed. They had to abandon the operation and return to it later, or perhaps, another group would take it over. Hoodie yelled for Kate to scatter and that he’d get them off her trail. What a selfless guy, always watching out for the proxies in his group. And she obeyed him because he was Masky’s right hand. On her way out, she’d gotten shot. From what she could feel, it wasn’t fatal, but it still hurt like hell.

She stumbled while sprinting through the woods and found her sense of direction totally shot. This was a relatively new area to her and her group; she hadn’t committed it to memory just yet. No matter, she could return to them in the morning. She was probably too far to send out any mental notes to her comrades, but she attempted anyway just so they wouldn’t stay up worrying about her. Kate eventually stumbled upon this empty looking house and quickly deduced that the owners must’ve fled this cold place for somewhere warmer for the winter. Perfect! She’d spend the night there, fix herself, and leave without a trace.

Kate grit her teeth as she trudged through the snow and eventually, dragged herself to the back door. The wound on her side felt like ice, and the freezing temperature was not helping her feel any better. With a slight grimace, she pulled her coat sleeve over her fist and punched through the glass of the door. It shattered surprisingly easily and that alone made her raise her brows. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Kate opened the back door and threw most of her caution to the wind as she shut the door behind her. There were no neighbors, so she could turn on the lights and no one would care. Kate flicked on the kitchen lights and began working her ‘in real life magick’ after she shed her coat haphazardly on the counter.

Upstairs, you heard quite a commotion going on downstairs. Immediately alarm bells rang in your head. Your parents weren’t due to come back until much, much later. There was an intruder. You slipped out of bed, phone in hand and began to creep out of your room. From where you stood at the top of the stairs, you could see the lights turned on and someone’s shadow dancing across the floor followed by pained muttering.

You took a tentative step down and immediately panicked when it creaked. Time seemed to slow.

“Shit,” you heard your intruder mumble.

A tense second later and you heard they were running towards your direction. You screeched in surprise when you finally caught a glimpse of them and high tailed it back up the stairs, the image of their mask burned into your skull. After all, there was no way a human looked like that.

They chased you up the stairs when you narrowly made it back to your room, accidentally dropping your phone in the process right when you slammed your bedroom door shut as it acted as the only barrier between you and the intruder.

“What the fuck do you want from me?” You cried out as you locked the door, then quickly worked on piling various things in your room against it.

They didn’t pound on your door, nor did they try to violently enter the room, but the doorknob did jiggle a tad too much for your comfort. “Look,” the feminine voice said. “I’m in a lot of pain right now. I don’t have the time to deal with you. If you stay in there and don’t try running or telling anyone about me, I’ll do what I have to and be out of your hair before the morning.” You heard her tap at the door a few times. “Besides, where are you gonna go in a snowstorm like this? Your phone is out here with me, and as far as I can see, no one is coming for you any time soon. Even if you did have your phone, authorities wouldn’t be able to reach you,” she said as she tried to reason with you. “Don’t do anything stupud, and I’ll be gone before you know it.”

“Don’t even think about taking anything-” you began, eyebrows furrowing in rage. You balled your fists and glared at the door while you attempted to control your breathing.

“There’s nothing here I want but medical supplies,” she waved off, clearly exhausted. “I got shot, princess.”

Your eyes widen slightly. “You got shot?”

“I’m not explaining this to you; I don’t have the time,” she sighed in an exasperated tone. You heard her pad away from your door and to the direction of the upstairs bathroom. “You got first aid in here?” You heard her ask.

You wonder if you should answer her or not-

“Never mind,” she said, effectively cutting you from your thoughts.

An awkward silence falls between the two of you for about half an hour as she works on herself. You’re almost certain she’s ready to leave when you hear your phone ring. You instinctively glanced down at your hand only to remember she still has it.

“It’s your mom,” she said, voice on the other side of your door. “Do you uh, want to answer it or not?”

Of course you wanted to answer it.

“Look, I’m not gonna hurt you or anything. You can literally just stick your arm out and I’ll hand you the phone.”

You find yourself more than apprehensive.

“Tell you what,” she said, verbally looking down at the ringing device. “I give you the phone and you let me leave and I won’t hurt you so long as you don’t tell anyone about me.”

Hesitantly, you found yourself cracking the door open to get a good look at the woman who broke into your house. She’s still wearing that mask, but her eyes are so dark it’s like looking in the recesses of the universe and getting pulled into them. She’s not terribly tall, but she’s still taller than you. She looks tired - her body sags slightly. The shot must’ve taken it out of her.

“Give it to me,” you mumbled.

Without any words, she handed you the device, momentarily stopping you before you answered it. “I’ll be back soon to ensure you’re not talking about me. Have fun talking to your mom,” she nonchalantly stated, then nodded for you to answer it.

You shot her a more than confused look before finally answering your mother’s call.

And that was the start of your very strange relationship with the woman you came to know as Kate the Chaser. Though, she preferred you just called her Kate. Kate was a very odd woman, and she was only like, a year or so older than you. The second time she visited, she still had a mask on - something about privacy. You wondered often why she wore it, but she always claimed she had a reason, just could never tell you.

It was odd to admit how you had grown used to her visits. After the first few rocky visits, the two of you had established a schedule. Kate would only visit on the weekends, and your parents could never know she was here. That was fine - she often climbed up to your bedroom window anyways. Sometimes, the two of you would sit on the roof and star gaze. It became all too apparent that Kate enjoyed spending time with you. And slowly, you found yourself enjoying your time with her as well.

The two of you grew to like each other’s time so much that right at the eve of your graduation, she was the first person to wish you congratulations.

She had come into your room like she normally did, by climbing and knocking on your window with a special knock before you let her in. Truthfully, she could have just lifted the thing herself, but she felt it rude and an invasion of privacy (which you found ironic.) After hoisting herself into your room, she took her spot on your bedroom floor, thankful you had a mug of warm tea waiting for her.

“I graduate tomorrow,” you say with a small smile, plucking your mug up from your desk. “I’d kinda like if you were there.”

“I’d love to be, you know that,” Kate replies before taking an appreciative sip of the liquid. “I… I don’t think my boss or my coworkers would be pleased, though. Besides, I’m kinda nocturnal,” she chuckles, making you giggle in response.

In the back of your mind, you wondered why she couldn’t do so many things with you. Everything had been chalked up to her boss, her coworkers, herself. And any time you tried to pry it out of her, she went tight lipped, like she was afraid of telling you anything relating to her. Still, you knew enough of her. She was sarcastic, had a smile like the stars in the sky. And was incredibly knowledgeable on topics you’d never even thought to consider in your daily life. You knew her work, that much was apparent just by looking at her, but you wondered what type of work it was to keep her from you when the sun was out. You knew it was shady, but in order to keep her, you had to resist pushing. “It would be so much better if you were,” you continue, throwing your best puppy dog eyes.

Kate playfully rolls her eyes before ruffling your hair. “Not this time, princess.”

“I legitimately only graduate once,” you reply with a smirk painting itself onto your lips.

“It’s why I came tonight,” she continues as she gestures to the two of you on the floor. “Thought I’d bring you some little gifts to celebrate.” She slings the backpack off her back and opens the biggest pocket. Her hands rummage for a moment before she procures a medium sized leather book. “Here’s the first thing,” she places it in the space between you. “And the next.” out pops a set of high grade art supplies. “This,” now there’s a small little gift basket full of treats you enjoy. “And this thing.” It is a plush giraffe and is donned with a graduation cap.

You smile widely and look over the objects with fascination, gently holding them. The leather journal fascinates you the most. “Where did you get these?” You ask with that same smile.

“Here and there,” Kate answers, her eyes looking over the things she’s gotten for you.

“Thank you so much,” you say in a grateful tone, closing the gap between you and Kate with a hug.

She quietly giggles and hugs you back, her lips pressing to the side of your head. “I’m proud of you, y’know that?”

The two of you chat for a bit more before finally turning to a streaming service. Your parents thankfully, haven’t heard either of you over the sound of some anime playing on the screen, so you’re able to cuddle next to her on the floor and giggle about the world and its happenings as she holds you in her arms. You stay like this until her gaze goes blank, like she’s getting a message only she can hear.

“Have to go,” she says softly. It’s nearing 4 am.

“So soon?” You whisper back, hand holding hers like she’s the only thing grounding you.

“Yeah, work,” she mumbles, quietly standing up to not make too much noise in the quiet house (save for that anime that’s still playing in the background). “I’ll be back before you know it.” She tries to reassure you, her hand gently cupping your cheek.

Your hand meets hers and gently squeezes before she reluctantly leaves your side, heading towards the window. You stand and pad over to her, arms wrapping around her waist and face burying into her back. She smells like the forest. “No,” you mumble.

“His word is law,” she sighs while attempting to turn around to hold you properly. When she can’t get free of your iron grip, she tries something else. “Hey, first thing, you need to rest before the graduation ceremony and, second, just remembered I wanted to give you this.”

You look up from her chest and see she’s unclasping the necklace that’s captivated your attention since you first met her. Your eyes widen slightly when you realize she’s putting it on you. Your hands instinctively reach to look at the pendant, and with it, she’s able to move.

“Promise I’ll be back, so, take good care of it for me,” Another kiss to the top of your head and she’s out the window faster than you can even look up.

You rush to the windowsill to see her running towards the forest with three figures waiting at its edge for her.

She momentarily turns around, waves to you, then disappears into the woods with them.

You feel a slight pang in your heart, but holding the pendant between your fingertips quells it until she returns.