#series: ari and his angel

[late-to-the-party-81]

The day after tomorrow

AN: I’ve been planning this part of the story for a long time and only just been able to commit it to paper. Additionally, it ended up longer than planned, so I decided to keep this one as fluff and put the steamy stuff in another instalment that hopefully won’t take too long to get out to you. This takes place immediately after 'Tomorrow is not too late', and forms the third part of the series.

Feel free to send asks about Ari and Angel.

Not beta’d, but a big thank you to @christywrites for letting me bounce ideas off them.

Moodboard by me and dividers by @firefly-graphics

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Master List | Series Master list

Summary: You’ve realised you were ready in your heart to change the relationship between you and Ari, but the realities of what that will mean in a physical intimacy sense leads to old insecurities raising their heads.

Relationship: Ari Levinson x Female Reader (Angel)

Word Count: 3.7k

CW: Fluff, Angst, Self-esteem issues, Ari being the biggest teddy bear.

The pair of you didn’t announce anything when you walked back into the building, but it seemed as though everyone already knew. Rachel threw you a smile and an eye roll that seemed to say ‘it’s about time’, and Max came up and just bumped his arm against Ari’s with a knowing look. And for anyone who hadn’t managed to immediately work it out, the way that Ari was in constant physical contact with you the rest of the evening was a dead give away. In fact, the only alone time you had for the rest of the party was when you excused yourself to the bathroom. Ari had looked at you with puppy dog eyes, as though he was afraid you were about to make a break for it, and his fingers had continued to hold onto yours for as long as possible, until the physical distance was longer than both your arms. As soon as you returned, his thick arms wrapped straight back around your waist and dragged you down to your previous place on his broad lap. You didn’t mind though. Your body was still awash with endorphins, and your heart was light and you enjoyed being snuggled up against his bear-like form, your nose full of the scent of his aftershave.

You stayed pressed against him during the lighting of the Menorah and the recitation of the brachah, observing him with a new kind of wonder. It was amazing to you that just uttering a few words between you could make just a massive shift in your relationship. That and a few kisses. Your bows drew together at that thought, because you knew what came after kisses and not only was sex something that had felt performative, it had also been quite a while. Almost five months. Also, Ari was, well Ari. Sex on legs. A wet fucking dream. You had no doubt he would be good at it. No. Strike that. Not good. Absolutely fucking amazing. However, you were just you. 

Unwelcome thoughts intruded into your head. What if you were so rubbish compared to his previous girlfriends that he changed his mind about wanting to be with you? Kyle had never really had anything positive to say. The sounds of the conversation around you faded into a background hum, and all you could hear was the rapid beating of your own heart. Ari seemed to realise something was wrong because one of his large hands shifted from your waist to gently squeeze your thigh. However that brought to mind more sexual touching and your feelings of inadequacy grew even more. Would he be disappointed by the way you gave head? Would he think you too loud in bed, or not loud enough? What if, when he finally saw your body he was completely turned off? With your heart pounding in your chest, you leapt up from his lap with such suddenness, that the others lapsed into a surprised silence, the dreidel they’d been playing with coming to a stop. All of them looked at you intently - Ari most of all.

You took a little step back, your hands twisting together in front of you. “I… erm… it’s getting late…” You raised your arms above your head  and affected a broad yawn. “I probably ought to go to sleep. Not used to these late nights.” 

Ari’s lips twitched up into a little smile. “You know what, Angel? I’m pretty beat as well.” He reached out and snagged your hand with his, linking your fingers together and grabbing up the present bag with the other. “I think I’ll join you in hitting the hay. See you guys tomorrow.” With a small wave he bid the rest of the group goodnight, garnering a series of similar sentiments in return, and before you even had a chance to get your thoughts in order, he was drawing you out of the room and towards the stairs.

“Ari… wait.” You tugged on his hand and he came to a halt, turning around to look at you. He must have read the uncertainty in your face, or noticed the way your eyes darted, anxiety ridden up the stairs and into the darkness.

”Hey, sweetheart. Shit. I’m not trying to be presumptuous. Or at least not in that way. I’m just not ready to let go of you yet.” He took a few steps back down, in fact passing past you, just to stop below you so your eye lines were more level. “I promise no funny business, I just wanna hold you.”

You nibbled on your lower lip and looked down at your feet, and the bits of sand still clinging to your shoes. 

“But,” he continued, “if you really aren’t comfortable I can call you a cab.”

You considered his words, but must have taken a little too long to respond, because you saw the smile leave his eyes, if not his face, as he reached into his pocket for his phone. He looked awkward, something unusual for such a self assured man. Realising what he’d interpreted from your silence, you reached out, placing your hand over the phone clasped in his much larger one.

”You got a t-shirt and shorts I can borrow?”

At your words, the light returned to his eyes and his smile broadened into a grin. He shoved his phone away and then, without warning, scooped you over his shoulder, taking the rest of the stairs two at a time. You squealed in amused surprise and gave him a light spank on his ass, given it was so close to your face. You felt his chuckle rumble in your abdomen, and you couldn’t help but giggle in turn. In a matter of moments you were back on your feet at the top of the stairs, and Ari was dragging you down the hall towards what was presumably his room. 

When he pushed open a door at the end and gestured for you to precede him, you walked across the threshold full of curiosity - you’d never been here before and had no idea what to expect. However, it was just… normal. There was a desk holding a computer and a few notepads and pencils, a small bookcase with an eclectic selection of books, an easy chair placed close to the window that looked out across the beach, a dresser and a king-size bed, with cream and light blue covers. A door to the left of the bed presumably led to his en-suite. Overall it gave off an air of masculine functionality. There were a few framed pictures sitting on flat surfaces - ones of Ari and his friends and others that were presumably of his family. You turn a slow turn around the space, your fingertips trailing over surfaces and along the spines of the books. You could see Ari leaning against the doorframe leading to the bathroom from the corner of your eye, his arms crossed and a small smile gracing his pink lips, before he pushed away, placed the gift bag on the floor and began to rummage in his dresser.

Your short tour ended up at the side of the large bed, and you looked down at it, your anxiety fluttering once again in your stomach. This was Ari’s bed. The bed where he slept, probably naked. Where he touched himself. Where, no doubt he touched others - women more beautiful and experienced than you. You couldn’t imagine him not wanting to use his bed. But you trusted him, you reminded yourself, and he’d said there wouldn’t be any funny business. He was standing behind you - you could feel the warmth of his body radiating across the space between you, so with a deep breath you turned toward him, a smile plastered on your face.

His expression was soft, loving, as he looked down at you. He held a small pile of clothes in his hands. “Here,” he said, holding them out to you. “You can use these. There’s a spare toothbrush in the drawer in the bathroom, along with a fresh washcloth. I’m afraid I don’t have any make-up remover.” He stopped and cocked his head to the side. “I could go ask Rachel if she has any spare if you want?”

You took the proffered clothes and shook your head gently. “It’s fine. I presume you have soap in that bathroom of yours. I’ll manage.” You stood up on your toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek, still trying to bury your nerves. Ari stepped to the side as you edged past him and made your way into the bathroom. It was only when you shut the door and looked at yourself in the mirror that you let out a deep breath.

You were in Ari’s bedroom. You were his girlfriend and were going to spend the night in his bed. You! You peered at your reflection, trying to see what he saw, but of course, you could only see what you thought were flaws - how your right eye was just a little bit higher than your left, the small scar on your chin from when you’d fallen off your bike as a kid. You’d always thought your top lip a little too thin, and the space between your eyebrows and your hairline too wide. And, despite braces as a teen, two of your top teeth were still a little crooked. However, backing out now would be far too awkward, so, with another large inhale, you determined not to critique yourself anymore and damage your self-esteem further as you hurriedly shed your clothes and changed into the soft grey t-shirt and shorts Ari had loaned you. 

As you removed your shoes for the second time that evening and shed your bra, you couldn’t hold back a small sigh of relief. Nor could you resist the urge to hold the t-shirt to your nose before slipping it over your head. It smelled of Ari and beach, and you thought that scent could entice you to relax any day of the week. You were glad of the drawstring on the waist of Ari’s shorts, otherwise they’d have dropped right off you, and although his shirt was big on you, it didn’t completely cover your ass and you would have felt too exposed without the second item of clothing.

You found the toothbrush and washcloth with ease and set to removing your make-up as best you could, before brushing your teeth. Your skin felt tight from the soap, and another rummage through the drawer turned up a small travel sized tube of moisturiser. You tried not to think about any previous conquest of Ari’s it may have belonged to as you smoothed it over your cheeks. Eventually though, there was no more putting off of the inevitable and you bundled up your party clothes and hooked your shoes over your fingers and returned to the bedroom.

Ari was sitting, perched on the edge of his bed, waiting for you. He’d also drawn the curtains, and swapped the lighting from that ceiling to the small lamp on the table next to his bed. He held his own bundle of clothes in his lap. You really shouldn’t be this nervous. It’s not like Ari hadn’t seen you looking worse than this on many occasions before. But this was different, and both of you knew it.

“You’re all sorted?” he queried, and you nodded. 

“Yup, squeaky clean. Thank you.”

”I’m just gonna…” he pointed toward the bathroom you’d just vacated and you felt heat flood your cheeks at his chivalrous action. It was his room, he was well within his rights to get ready for bed where he wanted, but it was obvious he was giving you the space you needed. “You pick a side and I’ll be back in a moment.”

Alone again, you stepped over to the window, placing your clothes on the chair, and your shoes underneath, before pulling back the edge of the curtain and looking out across the beach. Lights from downstairs spilled out across the sand for a few feet, and some of the waves picked up reflections as they danced to and fro, carefree. Returning to the bed, you lifted the edge of the coverlet and slipped onto the left side of the mattress, lying on your side so close to the edge your ass was almost falling out.

True to his word, Ari was only a matter of minutes in the bathroom and when he came out you had to tamp down a jolt of desire. Even if he did normally sleep naked he wasn’t doing so tonight. He had on a light grey tank top and a pair of black, long legged pyjama pants, and somehow made the combination look like the most sexually slurring outfit ever conceived.

He looked a little shy as he slid into the bed next to you, turning on his side to face you. The soft yellow light from the lamp played over his features, and you didn’t even notice that you’d reached out to tuck a lock of his hair back from his face until the silky strands were between your fingers.

”I meant what I said out on the beach, Angel. I love you, and have for a long time. I was happy to wait for you to catch up with me, and as I’ve said before, I’m happy to wait until you’re ready for anything else, but I would love to hold you for a bit, if that’s alright?” His expression was so earnest, and you couldn’t lie that you yearned for his touch.

”I’d like that too,” you replied, and shifted toward him. He opened his arms and you lifted your head to allow the lower one to become your pillow. Your face pressed into the crook of his neck and shoulder, his shaggy hair tickling your nose, as his arms wrapped around your waist. The pair of you had cuddled many times before, but it had never felt this intimate before, despite Ari’s attempt to be gentlemanly. Your breasts just touched his chest, but below your waists, your bodies were angled away from each other. You felt his lips press against the top of your hair and you tilted your head back to look into his ocean blue eyes. He was so fucking beautiful, it almost hurt, and you felt a need grow within you, a need to feel his lips on yours once again, even if you didn’t feel worthy of his affection. “Kiss me,” you murmured before you could lose your nerve.

Ari’s lips turned up and his eyes crinkled as he closed the scant space between you. This kiss was as electric as that first one on the beach. His large hands held you gently, but firmly as his lips trailed across yours. He didn’t deepen the kiss until you opened your own lips with a soft whine, inviting him into your mouth. However, even then you could tell he was tempering his lust. Was he only holding back because you’d asked him to, or, the insidious voice in your head asked, was it because he didn’t actually want to be close to you? Your doubts rose in volume, a cacophony inside your mind, and you pulled back, shrinking away from him.

Ari looked at you quizzically. “Angel? Are you alright? I didn’t go too far did I? If I did, I didn’t mean to.”

”Oh? No!” You didn’t want him to feel bad about himself, and you felt silly, second guessing his intentions. “Nothing like that.” You pulled your lower lip between your teeth and looked up at him, shyly. “I just realised you haven’t opened your present yet.”

Ari raised an eyebrow. ”If you were concerned about that, then I obviously wasn’t kissing you properly. Nice try, but I think you’re deflecting. You actually wanna talk about what’s going on in that beautiful head of yours? If you’re having any second thoughts - any doubts - maybe we ought to talk about it sooner rather than later?”

You knew it made sense, but lying down like this felt far too intimate - far too intense. You pushed yourself up into a sitting position, back up against the headboard and the coverlet pulled up to your chin. Ari followed your lead, sitting up next to you, but he turned his body to face you better. You twisted the fabric you held in your hands and opened your mouth to speak, but the words wouldn’t come, you let out a sigh and shut your mouth again.

”Sweetheart?” Ari said softly, and then leaned forward to brush the back of his hand against your cheek. “Whatever it is, we can work it out. I love you, remember? You’re my Angel.”

He was being so sincere, you could tell, but your own mind was twisting you around. “What if I’m not good enough?” you whispered, and a tear, unbidden, started to roll down your face. 

In a moment Ari had closed the distance between you, and he had you wrapped once more in his arms and pulled to his chest, and it didn’t feel awkward, it just felt like all of those previous times, back when you and Ari had just been friends. Best friends. “Hey,”he cooed. “Of course you’re good enough. You’re the sweetest, kindest person I know. I hope you’re not telling me that I’m not a good judge of character?”

You let out a ‘harumph’ sound at his gentle teasing. “Not like that. I mean, what if I’m not good enough… at sex?” The admission flowed out of your mouth like water over a cliff edge.

Ari eased you backwards, so he could look at you, disbelievingly. “What on earth are you on about?”

You wiggled in his grip and he let you go easily. You got up from the bed and started to pace back and forth in front of the window. “It’s been a long time for me. And I’m just me, and you’re…well, you! I’m a frigid cow, and you’re a sex a god.” 

Ari bristled. “Who told you that? No. Let me guess. Kyle?”

You couldn’t meet his eyes, just wrapped your arms tighter around yourself. It was all the answer Ari needed.

”Sonofa… You know, if I ever meet this guy, it’s gonna be the worst day of his life. Angel, please come sit down. You’re making me dizzy with all that pacing.”

You climbed back onto the bed, but stayed atop the covers, your legs curled under you. Ari unwrapped your arms and held your hands with his own. “Now, let me know if I’m in the right ballpark… I’m guessing that foreplay was a foreign word to that douchebag? I bet he never took the time to warm you up. Touch you just right until you actually desired intimacy? He probably never worshipped this beautiful body of yours and made you feel like the most precious thing in the universe. Did he ever give you an orgasm? Or did he just use your body to get off and then roll over and start snoring?”

You peered at Ari, wondering how he knew so much, and at the same time you couldn’t help but imagine Ari doing all those good things to you. “I had orgasms,” you argued, not wanting to come off as a total doormat in your previous relationship.

”Ones that weren’t ’happy accidents’ or self-induced?” Ari was obviously psychic, and the way you ducked your head and looked away from him gave him all the answers he needed. “I promise you, Angel, when you’re ready for more, I’ll treat you right. I’ll treat you the way you deserve to be treated. As for your comment about me being a sex god…” his thumbs stroked over your knuckles and you couldn’t ignore how tuned-in you were to the softness of his touch. “I’m not going to do myself a disservice - I know what I’m doing, how to give my partner all the pleasure they’d wish for, but I need you to know that since I moved here, you’re the first woman to ever be in this room.”

Your eyes widened at his admission and a slightly shy expression crossed his face. “I mean, Rachel has been in here, but strictly in a platonic sense. And I’m not saying I was living a monk’s life, but there’s never been anyone special enough to bring here, and you know there was no-one at all after we met.”

”But…but…,” you stammered, feeling completely poleaxed by his admission. Yes, he’d said it, but you hadn’t thought he’d actually meant it. You wouldn’t have blamed him. “You’re so… I mean… women throw themselves at you all the time.”

Ari chuckled. “Yeah, they might, but I have standards, and to be honest, these last few months, all my attention has been solely on the most angelic woman I ever met.” You ducked your head again, feeling heat rise up into your cheeks in embarrassment at his words.

”So,” he continued, “I mean it when I say I will wait for you to be ready, and when you are, I’m gonna prove to you how good it can be. Now, will you let me hold you, and maybe give you another kiss before we sleep? I need to make the most of it, before you leave me for a few days.”

Tears of joy, mingled with a little shame at the way you’d second guessed him, gathered in your eyes. “Sure. And I’m sorry for being such a mess.” You pulled your hands from his to clamber back under the covers, allowing him to then pull you close once more.

”I’ve seen you worse than this, Angel,” he teased with a smile.

You grinned back ”Gee, thanks. Now, what were you saying about kisses and cuddles?”

As Ari’s lips descended on yours again you decided you need to trust both him and yourself as well as the love between you.

Tag list: @alexakeyloveloki, @doasyoudesireandlive, @goldylions, @crayongirl-linz,

@nicoline1998enilocin, @king814318, @blackhawkfanatic, @scram1326,

@steviebbboi

@km-ffluv, @wheezy-stucky, @kmc1989, @kombatfather1796

[proxylynn]

Every birthday I could find for every visual novel character I play on this blog (and the other game characters too)

[Okay, so this is every character's B-Day that pops up here. If I couldn't find it, it's hidden really deep. To make this clear, I'll post them in by series. If there's any I missed, please, tell me about it so I can add them.]

YourBoyfriend/YourGirlfriend:

Something's Wrong With Sunny Day Jack:

Sunny Day Jack - June 15th, 1958 (Gemini) Ian Duff - March 3rd, 1997 (Pisces) Nicholas “Nick” Herrera - January 18th, 1997 (Capricorn) Shaun Durand-Cofer - October 7th, 1997 (Libra) Barry - ???? ("That’s it. He’s just your manager!")

The Groom of Gallagher Mansion:

Elias Declan Gallagher - April 19th (Aries-Taurus (cusp)) Taylor Anthony Potts - August 24th (Virgo)

DachBo:

Bo - ???? Simoun - ????

Br<3ken Colors:

Ace - ???? Angel - ???? Catherine - ???? Delivery Guy/DG - October 31, Scorpio, Chinese zodiac: Rabbit Diana - ???? Gunther - ???? Janne - ???? Jester - ???? Leevi - ???? (Cancer) Mike - ???? Milla - ???? Mimic/Mic - ???? Pearl - ???? Rasmus - August 13, Leo, Chinese zodiac: Ox Richie - ???? Salvador/Sal - ???? Shadowman - ???? Skye - ???? Stalker (Damon) - January 6, Capricorn, chinese zodiac: Rooster Venni - ????

MalcontentGame:

Malachy Doe/Mal - January 1st "Antichrist" - ???? [There are two more characters but they left the project when things went south, so I won't be including them despite having the info]

JohnDoe:

John Doe - November 35th

FrostBite:

Tate Frost - April 28th Vic - ????

House Hunted:

Maison: ???? (planted in the 60s) Heim: ???? Mayor's Assistant (Ivy) - ????

14 Days With You:

[REDACTED]/Ren - February 14th (Aquarius) Moth - January 2 (Capricorn) Violet Gacia - June 10 (Gemini) Elanor Creston - July 5 (Cancer) Conan O'Rourke - August 27 (Virgo) Jae-Hyun Kim: September 28 (Libra) Leon Davis - November 30 (Sagittarius) Teodore Alvarado - July 29 (Leo) Olivia Dhawan - ????

Angry Boy Pedro and His Friend:

Pedro - ???? (He does not like to remember his birthday or his childhood in general but they plan to tell his birthday in the game)

My Dear Hatchet Man:

Alan Orion - January 14 Stuart Cassidy/Stu - February 6 Erika Vivián Ramos - May 5 James - August 7 Jules - June 22 Claude - November 11 Carver - ???? (doesn't remember his birthday, so he made his birthday December 15) Stitches - April 4th

Lurking for Love:

Jacob Alden: October 26 Austin Lepley - ????

Apples to Ashes:

Douglas Owens - September 20th Xamira Othman - ????

Your Dearest Boyfriend:

Victor A. Anderson - ???? Lizzy - ???? TK - ????

See Thru: Need a Friend?:

[unkown]/Friend - May 10th Z - ???? Carter - ???? Diane - ????

GLASS MIND:

Liu - ???? Dr. Fischer - ???? Nurse Sara Evans - ????

A Double Sided Mirror:

Charlie - April 8th Charles - ???? (possibly Mother's Day) Cameron - ???? Lein - ???? Jeremy - ???? Stella - ???? Jacob - ???? Lucy - ????

[astro-royale]

AstrologyObservations:pt13

Writers

Writer Agatha Christie was a Virgo sun with 22 degrees. The “kill or be killed” degree, she wrote murder mystery novels (also libra moon)

Author Lemony Snicket wrote “A series of unfortunate events” , Venus in Pisces at 18 degrees “the evil degree”

Dostoevsky,, Venus in Capricorn at the 1st degree of Aries. His moon was in Gemini at 12 degrees (Pisces degree)

Friedrich Nietzsche- Libra Sun, 22 degrees, Scorpio ascendant at 29 degrees (Leo, fame degree) Philosopher, He explored themes of good and evil.

“He believes that there is no objective meaning in the universe, that existence is meaningless, and that our values are nothing more than products of our own perspective”

22 degrees seems to be coming up a lot

Dostoevsky- Scorpio Sun (18 degrees) , Gemini moon (12 degrees) Jupiter in Aries 22 degrees

Edgar Allan Poe- Capricorn Sun, Capricorn Mercury, Scorpio Rising

F Scott Fitzegerald- “the great gatsby” Libra Sun

North Node 22 degrees Aquarius

Ascendant in Capricorn at 29 degrees

Jupiter 29 degrees Leo

I’m also noticing a lot of prominent Sagittarius placements or Sagittarius degrees (9/21 degrees) for writers:

Lemony snicket - Moon In Sagittarius

Dostoevsky-Mercury in Sagittarius

Agatha Christie- Sagittarius rising, Mars in Sagittarius

Edgar Allan Poe- Moon& Venus in Pisces at 9 degrees

Nietzsche- Moon in Sagittarius at 9 degrees

Maya Angelou- Venus in Pisces , 21 degrees

Sagittarius, Pisces, Capricorn, Libra , Gemini, Virgo seem to be quite relevant for writers

[kqutie]

THE PRINCESS' SEVEN MERCENARIES

CHAPTER SEVEN : AN AWAITED TRUTH

relations. : cevans various/reader -- steve rogers/reader ; curtis everett/reader ; ari levinson/reader ; lloyd hansen/reader ; andy barber/reader ; jake jensen/reader ; ransom drysdale/reader

chpt. sum. : You're forced to tell the truth but it comes at a price Ari refuses to pay.

tags. : snow white and the seven dwarves au ; fairy tale au ; fluff ; domestic fluff ; angst if you squint ; a/b/o universe but it's not the central point ; disney princess reader and her seven sexy mercenaries hehe~ ; world building ; the truth comes out ; apologies are made ; steve is a good captain ; lloyd has conflicting feelings ; discussions on you becoming theirs ; ari makes everything better ; reader makes everything better too

length. : 8.4k

navi. | series masterlist

← six. the foolish genius

“I didn’t lie to you that first day; I told you my real name.” You look up from where you usually sit at the dinner table with pleading eyes. Seeing the transparent honesty in your expression and mannerisms, Andy nods when Steve looks to him for confirmation. That was all he needed. Over their time spent together on missions, Andy had become a reliable human lie detector. He knew what signs to look for in people they needed to interrogate or seek knowledge from — he worked with Ransom for quite some time until he was able to impart his knowledge to the Beta, who used it alongside his charm on overt missions. 

“It doesn’t explain who you are,” Lloyd huffs, still openly belligerent towards you that it makes you flinch. If he saw the effect he had, he didn’t draw attention to it; his gaze narrowed as much as his mind. 

“I understand your hostility, but I was only trying to escape and start a new, peaceful life for myself.” You avoid everyone's eyes, ashamed of your origins despite your ambitions of ruling one day and helping your kingdom thrive. Which had all now been tarnished by someone you didn’t dare cross while growing up. 

“... what do you mean by that?” Steve asks quietly, worry involuntarily spiking within him and making his chest ache. Were you in danger? That was the singular thought on everyone’s minds, and they simply couldn’t believe it— rather, they were in complete denial of the fact. Apart from the omissions of your true identity, you were a sweet, loving and kind individual, they can’t picture you wishing harm upon anyone. Nevertheless, because of the work they do, they cannot simply let it slide that they don’t know more about your background anymore, especially with the behaviours and knowledge you’re displaying, all of which aren’t typical of any normal person. 

“I-It’s hard to explain.”

“We have the time,” Andy says gently in an attempt to comfort you. However, there isn’t a significant change in your stiff posture, rather, you remain all the more rigid. Curtis, offering his silent comfort, reaches for your hand, where it rests on your lap beneath the table. In return, you muster a small but still rather stiff smile.

“I’ll make some tea first. It’s all too tense here, and our angel can’t comfortably talk to us if that’s the case.” Ari stands from his seat and easily moves to the kitchen, where he goes about putting the kettle on. 

“O-Oh umm… I made a relaxing tea blend earlier,” you helpfully point towards a small tin at the corner of the kitchen counter.

“What’s in it?” Ari asks curiously, opening the tin and taking a moment to smell the blend. 

“There’s lavender, apple, chamomile and vanilla. It goes well with honey.” You smile as Ari turns to you with approval written on his features, quickly closing the container again. 

“It smells really good.” He turns to the team. “Who else wants tea?” Everyone except Lloyd raises their hand and Ari scowls. “Majority vote, eh?” Ari smirks at their grump of an assassin, “I’ll just make tea for everyone then.” Lloyd huffs, tensing his already folded arms. 

“Why did you even bother to blend such a tea?” Lloyd asks without thinking and is caught off guard by your thoughtful response. 

“Everyone was looking a little tired recently, so I was hoping to invite you all for some tea after dinner. Hopefully, you’d be able to have more restful sleep with it,” you admit softly, looking down and playing with Curtis’s large hand in your lap. The silent giant of a man manages to smile warmly at you and lean forward to press his face into the side of your head. It’s a small, affectionate gesture that makes you look at him with gratitude and squeeze his hand in silent thanks. He’s a man whose actions speak louder than his words, and you hope that by engaging in his silent communication, you’d be able to understand him better. 

“Thank you for your consideration,” Andy expresses from across the table, sitting beside Steve, who looks conflicted but grateful for Andy’s utterance. The captain doesn’t feel as though he can comfortably voice his opinions right now, and not until you’ve revealed your true identity and that they can confirm you bring no danger to them. You’ve been a great presence to have around the cottage the few days you’ve been here, and you’ve made such a positive impact on everyone, but he just can’t risk the safety of his pack. He just hopes that, when the dust is settled, and you turn out not to have bad intentions, you can forgive him for raising his voice. He’s ashamed for doing so towards such a gentle-mannered lady like you. For now, he isn’t Steve, he is the Captain and the leader of his incomplete but complete pack. He needs to keep a level head to make the best decisions for his team. 

“Yeah, thanks a lot, princess!” Jake cheers positively from where he’s sat. “You’re always so considerate and sweet. Not like anything we’ve known.” Lloyd clicks his tongue and looks away, finding offence in such an innocent and truthful statement. He’s going to stand his ground on this, he knew you were too good to be true. There’s just no way someone could be so kind without having hidden intentions, he needs to nip this in the bud before the rest of his idiotic, whipped pack gets negatively impacted. 

“It’s alright.” You smile sweetly, and everyone waits in silence as Ari prepares the cups of tea. It feels slightly odd that you weren’t the one serving everyone for once. No matter how short your stay is, you’ve already become accustomed to the routine of attending to the men here. You weren’t complaining, though; you enjoyed helping them unwind after a long day, and they were all very sweet to you, too. Hopefully, they’ll be willing to let you stay after your explanation. It saddened you that it has to come to this, but it’s only fair that if you want to stay longer, there needs to be trust on both sides, and that means being honest with each other. 

Finally, Ari returned with eight cups of tea, a teapot if anyone wanted to refill their cup and a jar of honey so that anyone could sweeten their drink to their liking. Jake and Curtis were the first to reach for the honey pot. Words of gratitude for Ari’s gesture were muttered around the table, even from Lloyd, despite having no intention of drinking from his cup. 

“Take your time,” Andy assures you once again whilst everyone (except Lloyd) sips at their tea, and you give him a look of gratitude. It took a while, but your nerves finally calmed, and you felt as though you could speak again without stumbling over your words. 

“I am the princess of this proud kingdom...” You deduce that it’s best to just come out and say it as it is. It will make it easier to explain everything else as soon as everyone’s reactions have settled. 

“Th—… that can’t be…” Steve utters, eyes wide with disbelief as he takes you in. Ari collapses into his chair as Andy runs his fingers through his hair. In your lap, you feel Curtis’ large hand squeeze around your own, and when you look up, it’s hard to read his eyes or expression. 

“I’ve been calling you princess all this time—” Jake stumbles over his words, looking lost and confused, “I didn’t even...” he shakes his head and tries to distract himself by stirring more honey into his tea. 

Ransom furrows his brows at you, his eyes searching, “It must be a lie.” But when you shake your head and give him a solemn look, he bites his lip and looks away, muttering incoherently to himself. 

“Isn’t the princess a myth? The King never had a daughter, did he?” Lloyd breaks the tense silence in stubborn denial of your truth, but you know it’s just a hard fact to process; the queen made sure your existence faded.

“That’s just what she wants you to think.” 

“By ‘she’, you mean, the current Queen?” Andy asks and hums when you nod in confirmation. 

“My stepmother, yes.”

Andy tuts in disgust with a shake of his head. “Her ambitions are too high.” He meets eyes with Steve, who takes on a pondering stance, covering his mouth with his fingers and rubbing at his chin. This was a turn of events he was not expecting.

However, with your words and the bits of information he’s piecing together, Steve begins to speculate, “Then was the King actually killed in battle?...” or was it murder?

You sigh, “I don’t know... the war did happen, and my father did participate, but I never found out whether my father’s death was a fated event or one that was manipulated into a reality.”

There was another silence as everyone digested your existence. They want to deny it for how preposterous it sounds, but as they pondered deeper, it all began to make sense. You know things normal people couldn’t so easily divulge, and when asked to explain why, your default explanation is that you’re a well-read person who fostered knowledge from books available to you. However, such knowledge couldn’t possibly be obtained from readily available books found in common libraries — even their tech genius, an expert in all things magic-related, couldn’t match your understanding of magical artefacts and their history. From your warm lunches, they know that you have a high affinity for magic and can use it safely and consistently — a trait found in most high-standing people, especially the nobility. You’re articulate, and your mannerisms are too elegant for a normal individual to have; you move with a grace and presence that is gentle but powerful all at once.

Of course, you’re the princess. It makes too much sense that you are. On the other hand, there are also traits to you that aren’t typical of a royal. Primarily, you know how to do common chores, cook, clean, do laundry and repair clothes. High-standing people, especially the nobility, wouldn’t know how to do any of these things as they had servants for such minimal tasks. 

Despite that, it can’t be denied that you had the traits of a princess. But that begs the question of why you’re all the way out here and not at the royal palace.

“Then what was your life at the palace like?” Lloyd interjects eyes hardened into a disbelieving stare, “How did you survive under someone who clearly despised your existence?—”

“Lloyd!” Ransom hissed at his fellow mercenary’s harsh words and kicked his shin beneath the table, but Lloyd continued, undeterred. 

“Surely the Queen wanted you gone, especially when you finally reached adulthood. How did she even manage to keep your existence a secret for that long?” 

“I had already come of age and was hoping that I’d finally be able to inherit the throne,” you confessed, biting your lip from how naive you had been in retrospect. Your 21st birthday wasn’t even grandly celebrated as it traditionally should have been, but then again, you were never able to make your debut into high society between 11 and 15 years of age. You shouldn’t have set your expectations so high. “But it was foolish of me to think in such a way.” They wait for you to continue with bated breath, not wanting to stress you out even more when it looks like you would collapse from just having to relive what you had to go through. “The staff took care of me after my father died, ensuring that I was well educated and kept up with noble practices despite the Queen standing strongly against my education and development as a royal. She made sure that I wasn’t treated like a princess by giving me chores around the palace, making me sleep in staff quarters and constantly overlooking my presence despite having many eyes on me, reporting back to her regularly. Slowly, she had turned me into a common maid.” Andy shook his head in disbelief and met eyes with Lloyd, whose expression looked unreadable — even the assassin couldn’t begin to comprehend what he was hearing. 

“The Queen guaranteed my existence was wiped from public knowledge by imprisoning the staff and swearing them to secrecy. She went so far as to develop a new knight order who were loyal to only her and had them replace my father’s original order of knights. Thankfully, not everyone on the staff wanted to be ruled by her, and they rebelled silently by supporting me behind the scenes.” A small smile grew on your lips as you recounted fond memories with the staff while the mercenary group looked on with a tightness in their chests. “I will forever be grateful to those kind-hearted, courageous people, who I’ve grown to see as my own family. They truly only wished the best for me, and yet—” you couldn’t bring yourself to continue and face the reality that you had been forced to abandon the one true family you have grown to know since young. 

“You said you had to escape and build a peaceful life for yourself.” Ari begins, seeing that tears fill up your beautiful eyes and approaches the topic gently so as not to upset you further. “What do you mean by that?”

“My 21st birthday passed without celebrations, and I believed I wouldn’t be acknowledged at all in the months that followed. The world had gotten so dark, and my false hopes had resulted in failing my people; I didn’t know what to do. But it all came to a head when the Queen sent me out with Sir Remfrey, a huntsman of the palace who was loyal to me in secret. He had been tasked with killing me somewhere secret.” The group sucked in a breath. Unbelievable. Jake couldn’t believe what he was hearing and sought Ransom’s hand beneath the table for comfort. Thankfully, the Beta complied without complaint; admittedly, Ransom also needed comfort after knowing the terrible fate that had been orchestrated for you. None of them could believe someone could have such bad intentions for someone as kind and sweet as you. But that was a reality their occupation fulfilled, and the actualisation of it was harrowing. 

“Sir Remfrey took me to the outskirts of the city, under the guise that he would escort me for my first excursion outside the palace in belated celebration of my recent coming of age. He was meant to bring my heart back as evidence of his deeds. Thankfully, rather than follow through on her orders, he set me free with a basket full of essentials collated by the staff — my family. I will forever be grateful to Sir Remfrey and the staff for the second chance they have given me... a chance at a new life, a peaceful one.”

Steve meets your eyes when you look up at the end of your explanation, and his heart clenches painfully. He readily ignores it, however. As the captain, he needs to be the responsible one who weighs out all sides before making a final decision, even if that means being black-hearted, leading up to a settlement. Remaining silent and keeping his thoughts locked, Steve turns to Andy and Ransom with a pointed look; they would know if you were telling the truth or not. Andy nods solemnly. Ransom follows with a stiff nod of his own. 

So this was the truth.

“And in your escape from the palace, you happened upon our cottage,” Steve asks, meeting your eyes once more to watch as you nod affirmatively. 

“I really didn’t mean to stay as long as I did but—“ you give a bashful look and stare down at your lap once more, thinking it best not to explain further. 

“No need...” Steve raises his palm and offers a soft look, happy to finally be able to comfortably lower his guard again. At that moment, he realised how wrong it felt to be guarded around you. “We’re partly to blame.”

“It was great coming home to a warm dinner each night,” Jake grins widely, eager to dispel the thick tension of your interrogation. “And you’re so nice and kind, we love you!” he blurts without thinking, making his teammates tense up as they wait for your response. 

Ransom’s glare conveys his thoughts at the Beta clearly: You’re so stupid, Jake! You can’t just say that! What if she gets weirded out and leaves us for good?! But Ransom’s glare is cheekily ignored. 

They don’t expect your sweet smile, but it makes their shoulders relax instantly. “I love you all too.” Lloyd looks at you with a frown, fully expecting to be excluded due to his harshness but is surprised when you take a moment to meet his eyes as well, your loving expression unchanging. And as much as Lloyd would hate to admit that he enjoys the image of you looking sweetly at him, he looks away with a huff, his mind conflicted but his heart warm. 

“Thank you for your honesty.” Steve begins, fixing you with a soft stare as he silently solidifies his resolve on a significant decision. Now, it was a question of how he should go about approaching it. “…Now that you’ve been honest with us, it’s only fair that we be honest with you as well.” The implication of his words has all of the mercenaries snapping their heads towards their captain, Lloyd is the most vocal in his protests but everyone else remains silent, eyes wide and mouths agape; silently pleading for some sort of explanation. 

“Captain,” Andy cautiously starts, looking at Steve with somewhat narrowed eyes, “are you sure about this?”

“Of course, I am,” Steve hums. “Trust goes both ways and I believe in her, don’t you?” From across the table, Steve takes a moment to meet eyes with each of the pack. It was a silent, two-way communication that waited for gradual acceptance of his decision for the team; slowly, they gave their consent in a small nod. Lloyd is the most defiant in his narrowed stare and stiffened stance but he doesn’t outright refuse, he only looks away grumbling. He’s seen that everyone but him has already come to match Steve’s resolve, all he can do now is trust in his pack, even if every cell in his body is stubbornly screaming to go against them. It would be for their own good that Lloyd protest but would it really, when they feel so strongly towards you? 

“Wh…what is it?” you ask in a soft voice that barely rises above a whisper.

“We’re more than we appear.” Steve’s statement comes off a little cryptic and you don’t quite know how to comprehend it. 

“We aren’t don’t work on fraud cases.” Jake provides, referring to your earlier conversation when discussing replicas of magical artefacts. 

“So, what do you do?”

“We’re private hires.” Lloyd snaps firmly, looking at you with daring eyes. He dares you to challenge his words, dares you to look shocked, dares you cower in fear. Lloyd isn’t the type to feel ashamed of his and the pack’s occupation; it’s what’s kept them alive, after all, it’s also the reason why they’ve bonded so closely. No, he will never be ashamed of the truth, and he isn’t about to let the pang of anxiety in his chest consume him entirely. “Mercenaries. We’ve been hired to do many bad things in the past, Princess. And we have a lot of blood on our hands because of it.” Ari doesn’t know why Lloyd is acting so hostile but doesn’t step in, no one does. They all seem to silently agree that giving you the harsh reality of their true background would be for the best — there’s no use sugarcoating things. “Are you sure you still wanna stick around? We’re dangerous, cold-hearted mercs, this cottage is no place for a Princess.”

The expression you hold is unreadable. It’s as if you don’t know what to say, and while you contemplate what you should say, time slows to a painful pace for the tea. Being transparent with you means many things to them and different things to each person. Unanimously (even Lloyd), however, they cherish your presence; it gives them a break from their harsh way of life because you make them feel like they deserve more than what the world has so harshly given them. You’re their reprieve, a safety and peace they have no hope of finding elsewhere. You’re the final missing piece of their incomplete pack — their omega. It would be hard to let you go if that’s what you choose, but this is why Steve chose to be transparent with you and why they agreed. It’s to give you a fair choice and a rightful say. This is how it should be, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t secretly hoping you make one decision over the other. Holding their breaths, their hands clench into fists as they await your answer. Even Curtis has slipped his hand out of your hold so that his touch can’t influence your final decision. 

“But… did you not give me a safe place to live while I was seeking refuge?” you ask, and they don’t quite know if it’s a rhetorical question or not. Regardless, all of them are too stunned to even answer you. What were you getting at? “Did you not treat me kindly during my stay? Did you not share your food with me? Did you not give me a warm place to sleep?” they watch as your beautiful face slowly brightens with a smile. “I’m afraid I can only judge you on what I’ve been able to see thus far. Regardless of the truth in your occupation, that is not your defining factor, and I can see that you don’t let it be the defining factor, either. Of course, I’d love to stay for longer… as long as you’re willing to have me, that is.” You look adorably bashful by the end, and most can’t believe their ears or eyes at the sight. You truly couldn't care less about their background. 

Jake laughs, bright and loud, cutting through the tension, making it evaporate with hardly any effort. “Of course we want you to stay! You can stay as long as you need and want!” the tech genius turns to their captain with shining eyes and a wide grin, “Isn’t that right, Cap?”

Chuckling lowly to himself, Steve nods, eyes glowing with affection as he looks at Jake before trailing his eyes to you. What a relief this all is — things went better than expected; Steve fully believed you would take the chance to pack your things and leave. “That’s right, Jake.” Steve sees you flash him a grateful smile and his chest warms with affection. 

“Great!” Ari laughs, the weight on his shoulders and chest immediately lifting. It looks like you were here to stay. He couldn’t have asked for a better outcome. “This is the best news we’ve had all day!” Ari gets up from his seat and makes his way over to stand behind your chair. With a self-satisfied grin, he leans down to meet your eyes as his voice drops into a low whisper. “Greedy as we are, I’m glad we get to have you all to ourselves for longer, sweet angel—” As Ari turns his head to speak directly into your ear, you turn to give him your full attention and unintentionally meet his lips with your own. 

Gasps echo about the room as everyone freezes in place, unable to comprehend what’s happened. They’re all waiting for someone to react some way and break them all out of their shock. Unable to resist, Ari is the first to respond and leans into the kiss further, his hand coming up to hold your chin in place as his eyes close slowly, urging you to do the same and get lost in the kiss with him. You don’t know what comes over you, but it’s far too easy to reciprocate — it just feels right, somehow. Ari feels it, too, and smirks into the kiss from the amount of glee he feels in that moment. He was right. You’re destined to be theirs. And, them, yours. You complete their pack; you’re their missing piece, their omega! Their luna!   

“Ari! You can’t do that!” Andy shouts, rising from his seat but it’s clear that Ari isn’t eager to let you go anytime soon, rather, he angles his head to deepen the kiss further and hums with deep satisfaction when you wrap your arms around his neck. It seems you haven’t registered the chaos that has broken out around you.

“Unfair!” Ransom huffs, “How come you get to kiss her first?“ 

“This isn’t about who goes first or not, Ransom!” 

“Let her go,” Curtis growls lowly but is ignored and intensifies his glare at Ari’s broad figure. Oh, if a look could kill a man… 

“This is not how things are supposed to go, Ari!” Steve protests through clenched teeth. He had been fully on board with potentially making you a part of their pack, finally completing their circle with a worthy Omega. However, with the discovery of you being the princess, Steve had hoped to discuss this with Ari— a vocal supporter of the decision —a little longer before taking any action. 

“Not to the Princess, Ari! This has to be treason!” Jake’s whining cry reaches your ears and you finally pull away, panting slightly. You were already quite flustered from the sudden intimate act but the image of Ari licking his lips and giving a pleased grumble at your lingering taste on his lips makes your chest want to explode. Now that your lips are no longer attached to Ari’s you can fully comprehend the havoc of the room and gasp silently at the amount of attention fixed on you. 

“I-I think I better get started on dinner,” you smile at everyone shyly before hurrying to the kitchen, but not before Ari catches your hand and brings your knuckles to his lips. 

“Thank you for letting me be the first to kiss you properly, darlin’.” He whispers with such affection against your skin that you can barely speak up in response. The only thing you had the strength to muster was a hurried nod before pulling away to distract yourself with dinner preparations. Glimpsing the clock face on the wall, you sigh in relief — just in time, not too late but not too early. 

Ari was subsequently scolded and glared at by many of his pack mates, but he doesn’t care. It was all worthwhile. Honestly, he didn’t expect to steal your first kiss with them in such a way, but it still went better than he could ever imagine — perhaps the surprise element was a contributing factor. Nevertheless, Ari could, at least, put up with this much, especially when still on a high from the taste of your sweet lips. He’s never tasted a sweeter candy in his life and, as much as he loves his pack mates, he already knows it’ll be hard to share you. 

“You’re a pig, Ari!” Ransom snaps at him, huffing and sulking away to a corner with Jake when Ari does nothing but look smug in return — he’s unfazed with taunting eyes that say, ‘I know you’re just jealous, Ran~’. Away from Ari and the other alphas, the two Betas get lost in their respective books, both pouty and sharing in the feeling of unfairness. They couldn’t even blame you for it because everyone could tell that it was an accident. 

Lloyd is nowhere to be found, but by the shout that comes from their back garden area, followed closely by the familiar sound of an axe hitting a tree, Ari can hazard a guess as to what may be happening. “I will join him,” Curtis announces in his usual low voice, deep and mellow but the irritation behind his words are tangible. It should make Ari feel, somewhat, guilty since Curtis is usually the stoic type but he just couldn’t. No, Ari could never feel guilty when it comes to you.

In the far corner, Steve and Andy were discussing something heatedly. There’s a tug in Ari’s chest that pulls him forward and urges him to join the discussion. “You’ve put us in a difficult position, Ari,” Steve sighs as Ari smoothly slots himself in between the two. 

“Oh yeah?” Steve and Andy narrow their eyes at Ari’s laidback attitude and smug grin. 

“And you’re happy about that, aren’t you?” Andy sighs, eyeing you in his peripheral as you potter about their kitchen.

“I have no regrets. But you can’t blame me, it was an accident. And weren’t you accepting of her becoming our Omega?”

“Yes, but that changed when we found out she’s the princess,” Steve hisses under his breath, his mind racing with potential future scenarios. 

“This can go one of two ways, either she continues running away from the throne—” Andy starts, aided by Steve with helpful remarks along the way. 

“—which she seems reluctant to if given the option to return to rule rightfully,”

Andy nods at Steve who leans against the living room wall with his arms crossed, brows furrowed in thought. “Or she returns to the throne after banishing the Queen.”

“If it’s the former, we can make her our omega but if it’s the latter, she cannot.” 

“Don’t most monarchs rule better when in an established pack?” Ari argues, receiving a pointed look from the two. 

“Yes, but it’s not appropriate when we’re mercenaries, and she’s the Princess and future Queen. She deserves to be surrounded by a decent council of high-standing nobles as bachelors, to be supported by a pack who are familiar with that type of word. We aren’t that, Ari.” The emphasis in Steve’s words cuts through Ari’s chest. Maybe he was being too optimistic, but he couldn’t let the feeling go. It feels too right to have you in their lives, it feels too right to have you in his arms, it feels too right to be kissing you. He just needs to make them see it too.

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

The evening ended with full stomachs and a warm atmosphere, while the next morning began with grumbling stomachs and a quiet peace. It appears as though everyone has decided to carry on as normal. The group have unanimously agreed that it’s a blessing to have you in their lives like this despite knowing their background and occupation. They weren’t going to spoil the one good thing in their lives for something as little as their own insecurities. It’s a good thing you were willing to go along with them on it too, oblivious to the silent turmoil in your eyes. 

As much as you were happy to extend your stay with the group, you had been tossing and turning the whole night. When left in the quiet alone with your thoughts, your mind couldn’t help but return to the topic of the 'Mirror of Aleth’ replicas. It didn’t sit well with you that they were being created in the first place, and it was a fight with yourself to bring the topic up or not. Yes, you can only speculate on the intentions, but there’s never a good, moral reason for their creation no matter how speculative your conclusions. The issue needs to be addressed with the same amount of importance as the truth of your identity — this underground scheme poses a great risk to your kingdom and its people.

With a deep breath, you interrupt breakfast with a soft call for their attention. Despite how gentle your voice comes, all movement stops, and the attention turns to you without question. It’s a similar respect they demonstrate towards Steve, their captain. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I have something important to say.” They nod firmly as Steve silently urges you on with an encouraging look, “I understand that it’s not my place, but I have a horrible feeling about the replicas Jake mentioned yesterday. Would you mind telling me more about them? Maybe I can offer some assistance…” your voice remains soft and, somewhat, shy but not hesitant. There’s a firmness in your words as you break the peaceful silence at the breakfast table. The mercenary pack share a look but there aren’t any outright protests to your question, not even from Lloyd. It appears as though he and Curtis had quite the productive talk the evening before, bonding as they threw axes at trees together. Even going so far as to cut more firewood for the fireplace together. 

“We were hired by the King of Okisha to retrieve the stolen magical artefact, the mirror of Aleth.” Andy provides after sipping his morning coffee. 

Your eyes widen in horror. “It was stolen?”

“That’s right.” Lloyd cuts in surprisingly, his focus remaining on the plate of breakfast before him. “And, judging by the high security surrounding their royal vaults, it was done by a skilled individual.”

“Do you have any suspects?” You ask, tone serious and eyes hardened by the gravity of the situation. It was an appearance the mercenaries weren’t used to seeing on you but it was a welcome change. They can discern your education and royal class through that look alone and it was comforting, in a sense. Andy’s sure that you’d be proud to know such a trait has become a permanent mark on you despite the struggles of oppression you’ve faced in your own palace. 

“Our investigation so far points us to the current Queen of your kingdom, your stepmother,” Steve announces but you’re not shocked. Rather, you only appear to grow more worried, the food on your plate remaining mostly untouched. 

“And those replicas… are they related to her too?” 

“We don’t know but they might as well be,” Ari answers this time as Jake hums in additional confirmation. 

“If it’s not too much to ask—” the entire pack give you their full attention, even Jake stops chewing on his food. “Please may you destroy all the replicas you’ve found? If my stepmother is truly a part of this, I don’t think it would bode well for her to get her hands on a successfully made replica.”

“What are your suspicions?” Steve asks, curious as to how deeply you think the Queen’s association will go. 

“If she is involved, it must mean she was the thief. That’s a guarantee, knowing her.” Your eyes wonder as you contemplate deeper, your mind flashing with memories of the Queen’s somewhat unusual behaviour leading up to your attempted assassination and eventual escape. “I remember her beginning to spend hours in a singular room at the palace leading up to my escape with Sir Remfrey. Yes, she likes to be on her own and rule fully independent of the royal council, she doesn’t even have a pack to rely on — she’s very self-sufficient. And while many of the staff knew her to spend hours alone, across various rooms, this particular room was located in the depths of the palace, somewhere isolated and barely touched by the staff. It was ominous but no one dared to question her, she’s the Queen after all.”

“What do you think she wants from the mirror? What truth does she seek?” 

You give a weak shrug of your shoulders, your brows furrowing further, “I don’t know… but she must have realised that she can’t make the true mirror work. Though I’m not sure she’s fully informed on the reasons why. Abraham was always reluctant to impart his knowledge on ancient, magical artefacts because he had always sensed that the Queen was, somewhat, unwell.”

“Unwell?” 

“Abraham didn’t elaborate on it further, but I suspect it concerns her psyche. He was only adamant about withholding as much information from her as possible, that was what was important to him as the royal mage. Thankfully, he’s been able to get away with it using the excuse that, although she has lived past my father, she will forever be the Queen Consort only, meaning that she remains lesser than a Queen and will forever be without full constitutional power. That would also include knowledge of things that would be otherwise confidential. Only I am allowed those privileges as the rightful, living heir.”  

“And these replicas?” Jake asks, searching your eyes for some kind of answer. If they can pinpoint a firm motive, it’ll kick their asses into better gear for tackling the assignment swiftly. They’re already feeling the drive from the precious intel you’ve provided them atop the current conversation. The sooner they complete the mission, the sooner they get to their retirement. 

“Replicas can’t function as well as the original. I don’t think she’d settle for a half-truth or a truth that’s told in a roundabout way. I think that, as long as she can get one, coherent truth out of a replica, she’ll be satisfied.” You conclude and the boys have to hand it to you, your theory makes sense. If she doesn’t know the truth about how the Mirror of Aletha works and that it only answers to true descendants like you had told Jake the day previous, she must be pretty desperate to go searching for that truth elsewhere, squandering the royal funds as she does so. 

“You want us to destroy those replicas then?” Steve deduces, his eyes becoming firm with resolve when you nod your head. 

“Please…”

“Sounds easy enough,” Lloyd comments as Curtis hums in agreement beside him. 

With one firm nod, Curtis’s eyes also become focused on the decision. “We will do it today.” The pack’s designated assassin and guard turn to each other and share a similar look. It appears a commodore has been reached between them. 

“Thank you.” You speak with such sincerity and with the sweetest smile on your face that Lloyd has to look away. He couldn’t bear the sight of you. And he only had himself to blame for that. He had been too impulsive and aggressive — the typical, doltish alpha who acts before he thinks. Many believed that the pheromone suppressant jewellery current laws required the public wear, helped individuals conquer their secondary gender’s instincts but Lloyd was not one of them. He has to accept that truth. His talk with Curtis the previous evening was a much-needed one. That was the most he’d ever heard Curtis talk, but he appreciated it — not that he’d openly admit the fact, but that’s why Curtis was the perfect one to have such a dialogue with. Lloyd didn’t need to say anything because he could tell that Curtis knew what he wanted to say. The stoic giant of a guard was a man of few words himself, so he understood the fundamentals of body language and often expressed more with his own body than with his words. 

‘Thanks,’ was Lloyd’s silent message that night. 

‘Any time,’ was what Lloyd could comprehend from Curtis’ stoic but kind stare. 

“Even if the replicas are incomplete or said to not work, destroy them all.” 

“Roger that!” Jake grins, doing a small salute as Steve huffs a light chuckle to himself. Many others about the table also give a short laugh, grinning wider when they see the curious tilt of your head to one side. You would have laughed too if you knew the teasing jab Jake had made at Steve’s last name. 

“They can do all of that while I stay behind with you, Angel~” Ari smirks and winks at you from across the table as glares swiftly point at him.

“What do you mean, Ari?” Andy asks with furrowed brows. Admittedly, the group’s appointed negotiator was mainly protesting because of what had happened the night before and had become overly cautious (and jealous) about how close Ari was getting to you. “We need you out there to help locate the replicas.”

With a simple shrug, Ari leisurely leans back into his chair and smirks, “Jake knows everything I know, I even made sure to write it all down for him. Besides, don’t you think our princess needs to be protected while you’re all away? Especially after what the Queen had planned to do with her?” That was a reasoning Andy (and everyone else) couldn’t argue with and he could do nothing but sigh in defeat. 

“Gear up; it’s time to leave.” Was Steve’s only instruction as he moved away from the table and prepared for the day ahead, quickly followed by the rest of the team. 

As was routine, the group prepares to leave as soon as breakfast is finished. Despite the civil atmosphere, however, Steve didn’t want to get too hopeful as he finished lacing up his boots by the door. He was the first ready to leave as always and yet, you weren’t by the door for the usual farewell. It was too optimistic a thought to expect things to continue as they were after the frightening confrontation he had put you through the day before. Steve was, at least, grateful that you were willing to pack them lunches again, though he doubts they’ll still be receiving your sweet notes. Looking at the faces of his team, it appears as though they were coming to the same realisation and acceptance as him. Only Ari appeared unfazed as he stood behind. 

The confrontation was a much-needed one but Steve admits he could have handled it much better…

“Right, we’re off,” Steve announces before eying Ari directly, “Keep her safe.” Turning, Steve reaches for the door with his lunch in hand, determined to follow through on your request. It would be the beginning of his apology. Once he’s done that, he would be able to face you sincerely with a proper apology — his behaviour the day before was appalling; even though that was how he felt like he had to act, there was a better way. Determined, Steve already configured a solid plan for how he wanted the team to go about dealing with today’s assignment, and his shoulders straightened from the resolve behind it. 

“Wait! Steve!” Frozen in place, Steve can’t bring himself to turn and meet you. What were you calling him for? He waits stiffly by the door with a racing heart as you hop up beside him. 

“What about our usual goodbye?” you ask with pouty lips. “You can’t leave without it, none of you can.” A sudden wave of timidity comes over you at Steve’s obvious hesitation and lack of response. “A-as long as that’s okay with you, that is… it’s quite the routine now so…" 

Steve’s body takes over as he turns his full body to face you despite his slow-to-comprehend brain. “No no, you’re right. It’s routine now.” he gives you a soft look and leans down, “It feels wrong to leave without our usual goodbye.” Smiling once again, you cup Steve’s jaw and hold him in place as you press a lingering kiss against his cheek. Although it was nice to feel you this close for a little longer than usual, Steve couldn’t help but be suspicious of the oddity in your kiss ‘farewell’. Usually, it was a quick peck and he was swiftly on his way after. But he doesn’t complain. Just as you ease up, he finally leans away but is caught off-guard, yet again, when you suddenly wrap your arms around his neck and pull him close enough to place your lips beside his ear. 

“I forgive you…” You whisper before pulling away to look at the mercenary captain with a gentle smile. Shocked, Steve didn’t know what to do. For once, the captain was stunned into silence, his entire world coming to a stop at the sight of your beautiful smile and sweetness. You didn’t even let him say ‘I’m sorry’. But you must have been able to sense it coming from a mile away. Steve’s awe turns into a smile of gratitude, and kissing your temple before he leaves. The same way you allowed your lips to linger on his cheek, he allowed his to linger on your temple. As he steps through the door, the warmth of his lips remains imprinted on your skin.

“Take care, Steve,”

“You as well, Princess,”

Up next was Andy, whose earlier shock melted into a warm smile when he realised you weren’t going to hold yesterday’s hostile confrontation against them. As a man of habit, he goes over his usual farewell routine with you. He takes your hand and brings it to his lips before leaning down to savour the kiss you deliver to his cheek. At the last second, he turns his head and buries his nose into the intimate space just below your ear and whispers a soft but sincere ‘thank you’ into your hair before he follows Steve outside the cottage with an easy smile on his lips.  

“Have a great day, Andy,” you call as he steps out the door, shooting you a proud grin from over his shoulder. 

“And you, sweetheart,”

“I’m next!” Jake cheers as he surprises you with a hug from behind. Turning in his arms, you smile and prompt him to also lean down so you can kiss his cheek. Happily, Jake obliges but doesn’t untangle his arms from around you just yet. He quite likes the feel of you tucked up against his chest, getting on your tip toes to press a kiss onto his cheek. It makes him smile like a goof but gets pouty when you have to pull away finally. With a whine, he nuzzles the crown of your head and tries to monopolise the short moment with you for as long as possible. He would have stayed there the whole day if he wasn’t inevitably dragged away by Andy, who was prompted by Ransom’s impatient grumbling. 

As soon as Jake is gone, Ransom steps up and pulls you close by the waist, where he kisses your forehead first before kissing both of your cheeks as you giggle in his arms. The twinkling sound of your laughter makes him smile warmly and aims a kiss for your lips but pouts when you turn your head, mistaking it as your turn to finally kiss him on the cheek too. 

“Get home safe, Ran. Take care,” Ransom doesn’t stay pouty for long, however, not when you’re so sweet to him. 

‘I’ll get home safe as long as you’re there to greet me at the door,’ Ransom is tempted to say but leaves with a silent smile and a similar greeting instead. “You take care too, sweets. Make sure to keep Ari in check, will you?” Ransom tuts, directing a pointed glare at the bearded man in question, who simply smirks at him. 

“Will do, Ran!” at least the Machiavellian knows you’ll put in the effort and can leave with a level heartbeat. 

Curtis approaches you next. Like the previous day, he hugs and picks you up around the waist so that you’re looking down at him and have to stabilise yourself with your hands on his shoulders. You search each other’s eyes for a moment before you finally lean down to kiss his cheek, and he takes a moment to affectionately nuzzle your neck. Ever since the day he escorted you into town and had to be calmed by your scent, he’s grown quite an addiction to your fragrance — he will take every opportunity to bring you closer and take in your aroma as intimately as possible. Never has he felt so calm and at peace than when he’s breathing you in. 

“Have a good day Curt, please get home safe,” you whisper, smiling sweetly as he finally lowers you down. 

“Yes, ma’am,” the stoic guard answers with a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. 

The last one to leave was Lloyd, who holds your packed lunch for him in his large, calloused and shaking hands. He’s no longer entitled to a sweet farewell by the door, he knows that. So he avoids your gaze and shakes his head— almost apologetically —as he gently brushes past you. Unlike your usual routine, he hadn’t taken the time to lean down or hurry you for his kiss farewell. It makes you stutter in place, not knowing what to do or make of his dismissive behaviour. Lloyd, however, cannot make it past the door because of Curtis. As the designated guard, Curtis’ stance is firm and wide and Lloyd knows that there’s no way he’s getting past him without Curtis moving aside voluntarily. 

“What are you doing, Curt?” Lloyd asks, his voice sounding more tired than irate, “Step aside, we’re wasting precious daylight here — we’ve got work to do in the city!” Curtis doesn’t flinch at the rise of his pack mate’s volume and simply gestures with his eyes to whatever’s past the assassin’s tense shoulders. Lloyd swiftly turns and frowns. There you are with a small frown and downcast eyes. Never before has Lloyd or any of the group seen you look so downhearted and the aching grip of guilt around Lloyd’s heart only tightens at the sight. He knows what needs to be done, but it’s not deserved. If he leans down and you don’t kiss him, that’ll prove to Curtis that he’s only wasting everyone’s time by insisting on this. 

Lloyd doesn’t let it show how happy it makes him when your expression brightens when he returns to you. He doesn’t let his happiness show when you call his name lovingly as he leans down. He doesn’t allow himself to smile when you don’t hesitate to wrap your arms around his neck and press a kiss against his cheek so hard that you're practically burying your face against his own. For once, he doesn’t sigh or protest or show any sign of disapproval. But this only makes you smile brighter once you pull away and his heart does a stupid flip in his chest over it. 

“I forgive you, Lloyd,” you whisper loud enough for only him to hear, just like you did with Steve earlier. Lloyd doesn’t know what to do, freezing up as he stands before you, dumbfounded. “Be safe, have a nice day,” 

“…yeah…” Lloyd replies simply, an unfamiliar expression drawing itself onto his face as he looks at your much smaller frame. His once cold eyes shine with a warm fondness as his lips stretch into a handsome smile for your eyes only, “We’ll be back soon, princess…”

navi. | series masterlist

eight. the lumbering repairman →

a/n : i'm so sorry this took such a long time, my lovelies but i hope you still enjoyed the read and hopefully the longer chapter can make up for the longer wait time haha! this was supposed to be the Ari-centric chapter but it was getting too long and i want to give Ari a chapter all to himself. nevertheless, a lot has happened in this chapter so feel free to tell me your thoughts. hopefully, the next chapter won't take me too long to write and post for you but we'll have to see how life treats me (⸝⸝⸝╸﹏╺⸝⸝⸝)

taglist : @imyourbratzdoll @lovinglimerence @saturdayrj @baw1066 @whereismymindnow @urmomw4ntsme @oneandonlybbygrl @graciehams

[thegoodwitchsworld]

Ari softly approaches you, as you sit huddled in the farthest corner of the room, shaking like a leaf all over. Your face holds the expression of a lamb about to be slaughtered, your lips trembling, your eyes wider than dinner plates. Ari crouches down in front of you, your tiny body still somehow dwarfed by him. He raises a hand towards you to touch your cheek, and you flinch. So hard, that you stop breathing for a second. Ari drops his hand.

"Hey angel, it's just me, Ari," he whispers. "They're gone. They're all gone".

You slowly open your eyes again to meet his, your eyebrows scrunching up nervously.

"Y-y-you promise?"

He looks into your eyes. You aren't crying. Not yet. You're too terrified to cry.

"I promise. I'll die before I let anyone hurt you, my love."

Your face crumples up like a sheet of paper then, and you finally burst into tears of relief. You lean into his body as you cry, and his big arms finally wrap around you, pushing you into his chest, keeping you safe. He will die before anyone hurts you.

But before that, he will kill everyone else on earth.

((If this gets enough notes, like idk 50? I'll make this into a full series. Lemme know of any fanfic ideas too please you guys, need to write some so my heart and head can settle down through words.))

[bigtreefest]

Chapter 7: Then Again

From: Bigger Houses Series

Pairing: Mountain Ranger! Ari x Reader

Summary: Everyone’s got regrets they might wish to go back and change, but then again, you would have never gotten here

Word Count: 3,304

Content/Warnings: MINORS DNI, 18+ ONLY, SMUT, honest conversations, hiking, cuddling, soft intimate shower, oral sex (f receiving), p in v protected sex, lotsa kissing, praise and lowkey size kink, swears

Author’s Note: O. M. G. This is the first time I’ve written smut, so I wanted to make it super soft and loving like I feel really pairs for this couple. Nine months into the relationship, wowza. Talk about true love, somebody pls find me a bear of a man like this.

Likes, comments, reblogs, and asks are sooooo welcome and appreciated!!

Dividers by @animatedglittergraphics-n-more

Below is the song which inspired this chapter. It’s my favorite on the entire album. It just kinda puts warmth and longing into my chest, so I hope the vibe matches what I’ve written.

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“Yes Mom, I promise I’ll be safe.” You looked into the camera of your phone as your mom looked right back at you.

“As long as you promise. I don’t want you eaten by a bear, but apparently you’ve got your own bear of a boyfriend to ward them off.” You laughed along with her own chuckle at that joke.

“Yes, Ari knows these woods well. I have no doubt he’s taking us on a good and safe route.” Your head turned away from the phone at a knock at the door.

“That’s probably him now.”

It was Sunday morning and Ari had asked you on a nice hike with him. The weather was set to be sunny, yet brisk, perfect for a rigorous walk through the mountains.

You opened the door and Ari greeted you with a kiss on the top of your head. “Morning, Duchess.”

He turned to see you were on the phone. “Oh, good morning Mrs.—“

“Ari, please. Call me mom. How many times do I have to tell you?” You both smiled and blushed at that as Ari went into your kitchen and dropped off his things. You sat on the couch, continuing your phone call.

“I knew there was something about that boy the first time I saw him. I’m so glad the two of you are so happy together. I can’t wait to come visit and officially meet him in person soon.” Ari had spoken to your mom on several occasions over FaceTime now, each time garnering more of her respect and adoration, which was rare for her. She always had sky high expectations, and you were her daughter after all, but she didn’t want you to have to face the same struggles she did, both career and romance-wise.

You rolled your eyes, thinking she wouldn’t catch it, but of course she did. “Don’t roll your eyes at me, young lady. You know I’m right. I’ll let you go have fun on your date, though. I love you!”

You smiled back. “Love you, too, Mom.”

Once the call ended, you walked over to Ari, watching him bent over and looking through your fridge. You just couldn’t resist the urge to smack the plump, ripe piece of ass in joggers before you. Just as you were winding up, a large hand went and covered both cheeks.

“I know what you’re, thinking, Angel. You’re not gonna get me this time.” He rose from his hunched position, and towered over you, eyes glinting with mischief, pairing with the sly grin on his face. Before you knew it, Ari had scooped you up and plopped you back on the couch, peppering your face with kisses and tickling your sides. You were helpless, kicking your legs from under his body, doing your best to fight off the attack.

“Ari, quit it! I give, I give, you win!” You squealed through your giggle.

Ari’s hands and lips stopped their assault, but he didn’t pull away, instead, leaning in and putting a fat kiss on your lips. “Get on your hiking boots! We’ve gotta go before it gets hot.”

You nodded and looked up at him through your eyelashes. “Help me tie them?”

Ari’s head drooped down as he sighed and grabbed your boots off the floor. He could never say no to that look. He kissed each shin as he slid the boots onto your feet. “Anything for you, Duchess.”

You helped by tying one of the shoes as Ari tied the other. He was just such an expert, having to do this everyday for however many years now. Looking at the single knot you had made on your right shoe, he untied it and pulled the laces tight, making his own double knot in its place.

“You’re so much better at that than me.” You huffed. He laughed back, kissing the wrinkle away from your forehead that showed up when you were frustrated.

“Nonsense. You’re great at it. I just like ‘em extra secure.” He grabbed your hand and helped to lift you off the couch, the two of you putting on your hiking backpacks and heading out the door, ready for the trail.

Your hike was filled with amazing views and sightings of so much wildlife. You truly loved seeing Ari in his element, as well. He constantly checked on you as he led you through the winding trails, pointing out his favorite spots and, of course, stopping for snacks and photo ops.

He could tell when the exhaustion was starting to creep in, but luckily by that point, the two of you were nearly home.

As you came back, Ari started on heating up the leftovers from dinner the night before. You went out to your back porch which overlooked the rolling landscape, rich with colors of green and rocky gray, mountains graced with snow caps when you looked up at the peaks surrounding you.

Ari came out carrying two warm plates of Thai food from the good place in town and you snuggled up on the couch of your patio furniture and ate together.

He grabbed your plates and set them aside, as the two of you chatted, the sun casting a warm glow over the landscape. Ari pulled you close so your back was against his chest, his strong arms tight around your waist. He wiggled to scoot until his back was up against the arm rest, finally placing his head on your shoulder as the two of you settled.

Ari kissed your neck, his beard lightly scratching the sensitive skin, as you sat there pensively. “Ari, do you ever wish you could go back and change things? Go back to a time that was simpler, where you didn’t know what it was like to live through so many hardships? Do it all differently?” You felt his chest heave with a sigh and he exhaled out of his nose, the warm air hitting your collar bone.

Ari let the question hang in the air for a moment, thinking over everything in his life while he formulated an answer. “If I could go back, I probably would’ve held onto my old Bronco. It used to be my grandpa’s, and it was getting old, so I traded it in for the truck. I probably would’ve visited him down in Atlanta a little more, too, before he passed.”

You nodded as he hummed, thinking of more things. “I probably would’ve stuck around for graduation, finished my degree so I could become rich.”

You giggled as his chest rumbled behind you. “I’d probably apologize to Savannah for wasting her time, would’ve hung out and vacationed with my childhood friends a little more….”

“Had a little more patience, or sent a few more prayers to heaven, but I don’t know if that all was really in the cards. If it were up to me, who knows where I’d be? I look back at all of that. The heartbreaks, the hard goodbyes, they led me here.”

You turned to look up at him, his gaze distant in thought before he looked down at you. “If it was all different, though, I wouldn’t be sitting here with my whole world in my arms, stealing kisses on a Sunday afternoon. Sure, there are a few things that I might’ve changed if God put me in charge, but then again, I would have never met you.”

Tears began to well up in your eyes at his words. “Why? Is there anything you regret?”

You laughed and sniffled as you shook your head. “No. Not at all.” He used his thumb to wipe the tears falling down your cheeks.

“I feel really dumb right now. I was gonna say something stupid like buying bitcoin to be rich. Or like, maybe just not date at all until I found you. But you make a great point. I wouldn’t have come up here if it weren’t for all that. I think I love you too much to regret anything that led me here. Anything that I thought was a wrong turn definitely turned out right.”

He shook his head, laughing along with you, kissing away the rest of your tears. “Trust me, I love you more.”

The two of you sat there, basking in each other’s presence, before you began to become overly aware of the dried dirt and sweat that sat on your skin.

“I, um…. I think I’m gonna go take a shower. Get the outdoors off of me.” Ari nodded and helped you up off his lap, preparing to head home and do the same when you lingered before heading inside.

“Do you want to….join…me?” Ari sprung up out of his chair, head nodding vigorously. He grabbed the plates off the table and ran to drop them in the sink. He watched as you sauntered, hips swaying while you discarded pieces of clothing, one by one, completely naked before reaching the barn door that closed off the master bathroom from your bedroom.

Ari shimmied down his pants with much less grace, shucking off his shirt and socks, before joining you in the steamy room. He watched in awe as you stepped into the water and it ran down the curves of your body. Ari reached his hand under the stream and immediately retracted at the sting of the heat.

“God, Duchess. I love you, but I don’t think I could stand it if the lava you’re standing under burns my skin off before I even get to touch you.”

You laughed and rolled your eyes. “Bear, it’s not that bad.”

You begrudgingly turned down the temperature as Ari joined you. This wasn’t the first time you and Ari had done anything, but it was the first time you had seen each other fully naked all at once, since you hadn’t fully had sex yet.

You turned around as Ari grabbed your shampoo, gently rubbing it into your scalp. You moaned in satisfaction at the feeling of his fingertips massaging your head, basking in the intimacy and ecstasy of the moment.

“Angel, if you keep making noises like that, I don’t think we’ll ever get clean.” You laughed as you leaned back to wash the shampoo out of your hair.

Ari leaned under the stream with you to wet his hair. You squeezed the shampoo into your hand and began to massage it into his scalp, scratching your nails through his hair just the way he liked.

“Oh, fuck Angel, that’s good.” You giggled, hitting him in the chest.

“If I’ve gotta stop, so do you, mister.”

The two of you continued to wash each other, sharing kisses and feather light touches here and there before getting out and drying off.

Once you had brushed out your hair and Ari’s, the two of you made your way to your bed, sheets freshly washed just the day before. You had your towel wrapped around your body while Ari’s hung low on his waist. Ari held your hips, looking into your eyes, as you slowly backed up until your knees gave out from hitting against the bed.

Ari moved to crawl over you, his towel coming undone as he did so. Your eyes trailed down his firm chest, to his chiseled abs, until you could see how hard he was. You moaned at the sight, watching how his dick twitched in response.

His eyes stayed locked with yours until he leaned down and kissed you, trailing away from your lips and down your neck before retracing the path with his tongue.

You shuffled under him, removing your towel and discarding it on the floor with his, adjusting yourself so your head laid against the pillows. He kissed you again, deeply, passionately, before smiling and pulling away.

“I love you. I’d never change anything about my life unless it meant I could have met you sooner just to love you that much longer.”

You could feel his heavy cock tap against your leg as he kissed down your chest, eyes never leaving yours. You watched intently, lips parted in a light gasp as he finally reached where you were yearning for his touch.

Ari’s biceps bulged when he pulled your legs apart, placing a gentle kiss on your clit. Your breath shuddered at the sensation.

“Is this okay, Angel?” You nodded and whispered back.

“Yes, please. Please keep going.”

Ari’s tongue darted out of his mouth licking a stripe up your slit. Your back bowed as he dove in, licking and sucking. You knew he called you Angel, but his tongue was heavenly.

You let out a high-pitched moan, entangling your fingers through the wet strands of Ari’s hair, using the leverage to grind against his face. He inserted a finger into you, pumping it and curling it against your spot just right. You felt your legs began to shake, but pushed Ari’s head away before you could reach your peak.

“Wait, hold on.” You spoke while still trying to catch your breath. He looked up at you in bewilderment, beard glistening with your arousal.

“What’s wrong, Duchess? Did I do something?” You shook your head, still gasping for air.

“No, no. It was so good, I just, uh…..I want you to be inside me when I come.” Ari nodded, coming back up your body to kiss you.

“Okay.” He whispered back, a soft smile on his face. “Gimme a sec.”

He ran over to his discarded joggers and fished in the pocket to find his wallet where he pulled out a condom. He returned to you in bed, taking his spot between your legs again, and rolled it on. You knew he was huge, and you’d only taken two of his fingers before, but you couldn’t help the anticipation to feel all of him.

“I’m gonna open you up first, okay Angel?”

You nodded and immediately threw your head back as Ari scissored two of his long fingers against your walls, preparing you and stretching you out for what was to come. You wailed when he added a third and Ari swore he had never heard or seen something so beautiful before. The movie that was you feeling this level of bliss from him made him feel warmth and pride through his chest. He needed to be inside you.

Ari pulled out his fingers, swirling his tongue around them and sucking them clean, moaning at the sweet taste. His eyes rolled back and he nearly came from the culmination of partaking in your pleasure up to that point. You couldn’t help but clench against nothing, watching the specks of lust within the love in his gaze after that as he leaned down and framed your face with his large hands. He leaned in to kiss you, then pulled away as his dark blue irises, thin around his blown pupils, shifted between your eyes.

“Are you ready? Are you sure?” It came out breathy and strained. He wanted this as badly as you, after taking everything step by painfully slow step for nine months together.

“Yes, Ari. Please. I just want to feel you so close.”

He nodded and ran the head of his cock

up and down your folds, gathering your arousal before perching at your entrance. He kept one hand at his base, the other on your cheek as he looked deeply into your eyes. You felt the bulbous tip breach your entrance, almost with a pop as your tight warmth welcomed Ari.

“Ah, oh, Angel, you’re so tight.” Ari nearly yelped at the feeling of being inside you. You watched as he couldn’t help but let his eyes flutter closed from the overwhelming pleasure. “I’ll take it slow, promise.”

All Ari wanted was for you to enjoy this as much as him, and when he was able to pry his eyes open to see the way your face was contorted, your eyes as sincere and pleading as his, he knew you were. He slowly pushed in further, accompanied by a deep moan from you. Neither of you were virgins by any means, but something about this moment with Ari felt like being born again, straight into delectation.

He pushed another inch in, slowly, and your hands flew to his broad back, nails digging in the muscles that firmly blanketed his scapulas. His hips jumped at the sting, pushing him in to the hilt, causing you both to brace against each other at the fullness and all encompassing warmth.

His head dipped into crook of your neck, breath fanning your collar bone and beard sending tingles through your body as he sucked on the spot that gave you chills.

Your hands ran down his back and to his ass, pulling him in closer to you, if that was even possible.

“Ari, I need you to move.” You felt him nod against you and his hips pulled out only a few inches before rolling back in.

You breathy moans were close to his ear, spurring him on to keep going faster, pulling out farther and pushing in deeper until the warmth from your core began to climb up your body again. He found a rhythm and could feel as your pussy began to clench.

“Duchess, I can feel you’re close. It feels so good. You’re always so good to me.” His praise pulled you that much closer to the edge, hands grasping for purchase across his back, slipping slightly from the thin layer of sweat.

“Fuck, Angel. So tight. It’s okay, you can let go. Let go for me.” Ari needed you to come for him. He needed to feel your body sucking him in, holding him tighter. He pulled his head from your neck to look into your eyes when it happened. He moved his thumb down to your clit, rubbing tight circles and sending you over the cliff you were hanging on.

“Oh god, Ari!” You keened, your ankles locking around his narrow hips as your entire body contracted in ecstasy. Ari wasn’t far behind, the tightness surrounding him causing him to drive his hips all the way forward and spill into the condom. He collapsed over your chest again as he grunted lowly into your ear.

The two of you stayed there for a few minutes as you caught your breaths. He pulled back, his now dry hair draping over the sides of his face and framing yours, making a small world where it was only the two of you. His silky brown locks blocked everything else out. The only thing in existence was your shared gaze, filled with hazy satisfaction and dopey smiles.

Ari leaned down and kissed your lips, and then your forehead before he whispered to you. “I’m going to pull out, okay? You stay here while I go get a washcloth.”

You nodded and gasped as you felt the sensation of the ridges of his dick passing against your walls until you were empty. On instinct you rolled over to your side and closed your legs, still sporadically convulsing from the orgasm. Ari returned and cleaned you up, pulling up the covers and crawling into bed behind you, wrapping his strong arms around you and pulling you closer.

He kissed you shoulder and muttered. “I’m so happy to have you. I love you so much.”

You turned over and tangled your legs with his, pulling him in for a lazy, filthy kiss. “I love you, and I’m the luckiest person in the world. Or more like, my whole world was just in me.”

You winked at Ari as his shoulders bounced in laughter at your ridiculous statement. You were drunk in happiness, but neither of you would have it any other way. You slung your arm around his waist and nestled deeply into his chest, a satisfied smile on your face.

Next >

Bonus A/N: as Paris Hilton says, “that’s hot”

Series Taglist:

@patzammit

@hawkeyes-queen

@identity2212

[sstan-hoe]

𝒊𝒗. 𝑪𝒖𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒓

𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 — (incubus!)ari levinson × fem!reader

𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒚 — all you wanted was to go on vacation but your car didn't have the same idea. A handsome stranger and his friends offer to help you. They're devilishly handsome…or almost demon like? Something about them entrances you. Today it's Ari's turn...

𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 — SMUT; dumbification, throat fucking, p in v, rough sex, unprotected sex, brat taming (light), oral (mostly male receiving/ female only short), dom!ari, dirty (filthy) talk, belly bulge, allusions to cream pie, spanking (like twice)

𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆 — THIS CAN BE READ AS A STANDALONE!!! if you only want smut then this will be it! Ari fucking you for being a brat. Reblog, comment and/or follow! I sometimes feel like there should be more plot? Does anyone want drabble on this series? Do you have ideas?

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐋𝐒 𝐃𝐄𝐍

When you woke up the next morning everything was quiet, you could only perceive the sound of Bucky’s even breathing. For once in a long time you felt at peace, nothing bothered you.

As you laid there, you replayed the events of the previous night. You had sex before but this? It was the best sex you ever had, Bucky looked after your pleasure instead of using you to get his dick wet.

You cuddled deeper into his embrace, he was so warm and comfortable. Instinctively Bucky wrapped his arms tighter around you, holding you close.

Then a heavy knock on the door pulled you back into reality, “open up punk, we have a meetin’, remember?” It sounded like Steve, but you weren’t completely sure. The incubus next to you groaned in protest, “fuck off,” he shouted to his friend.

On the other side of the door Steve shrugged and opened the door without warning anyone. “Good morning, Angel,” he greeted you smiling before turning to Bucky, “get up or I’ll help ya,” he said in a type of voice that left no room for arguments.

Grumbling something under his breath, Bucky got up from the bed…split naked. Steve pinched the brick of his nose, sighing. You couldn’t hold back your giggle, which made Bucky smirk.

“Seriously?” the blonde questioned his best friend, keeping his eyes shut, “please, don’t act like you haven’t seen it before, or should I say sucked it?” Bucky answered in a teasing tone.

You gasped at the reveal, it didn’t quite surprise you however it still shocked you. Something inside you even found it hot.

“Yeah, Stevie here is a bit smitten with me you know?” the brunette added and walked to the bathroom, leaving you and Steve alone. “I’m not smitten with him, it was ages ago,” he tried to explain himself, but you shook your head. The demon didn’t need to explain himself, you knew how handsome Bucky is.

You didn’t say anything, just chuckled and went to turn back around. Steve however had other plans, “ah, no, Ari made you breakfast, come on Angel,” he nudged your shoulder.

Rather unwillingly you wrapped the blanket around your body and stood up, following Bucky into the bathroom. Your expression was grumpy as you hated being forced to go out of bed, if it was so comfortable why should one leave it?

“Move,” you muttered to Bucky, who frowned but moved aside without hesitation. Begrudgingly you went to take your toothbrush, it was only then you realized you had none.

“I have no toothbrush,” you stated, looking around before walking out to Steve, “I have no toothbrush,” you repeated and looked at him expectingly. Steve took a second to understand, but then quickly left the room to get you a toothbrush.

Meanwhile, you went back to Bucky who had gotten in the shower. Once you had stepped inside you were pulled inside, you found yourself in an all too familiar situation.

“Bucky,” you whined as he began kissing down your neck. “How about we relive the moment from last night, huh?” he muttered against your skin with a little smirk. You threw your head back as you felt his flesh hand slip to your cunt, two fingers teasing your clit. He pulled a whine from you which only spurred the brunette on.

Suddenly Steve busted in, “I have a toothbrush!” he called out and ruined the moment you shared with Bucky.

“Fuck, Steve,” he cursed and glared at his best friend, “couldn’t have taken a bit longer?” Once Steve saw what he had walked in on he closed his eyes instantly, “sorry, sorry,” he laid the toothbrush on the counter and walked out with both hands up.

Bucky went to kneel down, but you stopped him, your hand rested on his cheek, “the moment’s ruined,” you told him. Even though he didn’t want to accept it, he had to agree.

As you showered Bucky helped you wash your hair, massaged your strained muscles, and made sure to take good care of you. For a moment you could give everything up and enjoy the moment.

After showering and putting on the clothes borrowed from Lloyd you walked downstairs to find Ari while Bucky went with Steve.

You were still not in a cheery mood, you hoped it was only Ari in the kitchen. If there was anyone else and he’d make a remark you’d normally brush off, you would explode and snap at them.

The warm smell of pancakes, fresh tea and bacon filled the air, you stomach growled, a clear signal of the hunger you felt.

Stepping into the kitchen you saw Ari flipping a pancake, the table already set. As if he sensed you – which he probably did – he turned around with a smile, “mornin’ Angel,” he greeted you, “I made you some pancakes, bacon, tea and-,” “do you have hot chocolate?” you cut him off, eyes wide.

Ari was taken back a little, but then shock his head, “no, Angel, we don’t, but I have tea,” he tried to make a compromise. You pouted and walked past him, searching through the cabinets.

“I do not want tea, I want hot chocolate ,” you said and went to climb onto the kitchen isle to reach the higher cabinets.

Shaking his head Ari walked over to you and picked you up to set you down, “I told you we do not have hot chocolate, I made you a whole breakfast. Is that not enough?” It was enough but you were persistent on your hot chocolate.

“I didn’t ask you to make me breakfast,” you countered tilting your chin up. Ari towered over you, he tried not to give into your actions knowing it would only rile him up.

“I know you didn’t, I just wanted to make a nice gesture,” the demon explained, and moved you to sit at the table. You grumbled something under your breath as you sat down which Ari could hear very clearly but chose to ignore.

“You’re quite moody when you wake up,” he jested as he put a pancake onto your plate. “I ain’t moody, just not a fan of people forcing me out of bed,” you snapped at him, a little voice in your head told you to be nice. After all he made you breakfast and only wanted your best. However, you couldn’t bring yourself to be nice.

“No one forced you Angel, you could have stayed in bed,” he cooed while stroking your back gently. You weren’t stupid, you realized he was trying to butter you in.

“Well tell that Steve or no, I will tell you because you are the reason I’m here,” you stated turning away from him. Ari sighed, with every passing second his fuse got shorter and shorter.

“Angel,” he tried again but was interrupted by you, “no, I just wanted a hot chocolate, and you couldn’t even give me that!” you whined, now right back with the hot chocolate.

“For god’s sake, woman,” Ari muttered under his breath and stood up cupping your cheeks in his large hands before pressing his lips to yours in a heated kiss. You gasped loudly in shock, but quickly fell into the kiss.

Ari was a drastic change from Bucky, his lips felt warmer yet rougher however felt as addicting as his.

“You’re such a brat,” the incubus told you as you parted for a breather, “you haven’t seen me bratty,” you retorted and wrapped your hands around his neck to pull back in for a kiss.

If Ari wanted a brat, he would get a brat. Never would he imagined that you being a brat would turn him on in the way it did. He hated it when the people he slept with would get snappy, but with you…god he would fuck the brat out of you.

He picked you up, wrapping your legs around his torso and walked into the direction of his bedroom.

“No, no, I don’t wanna go back to bed,” you protested, needing him right here as you didn’t want to wait any longer. “Angel I ain’t gonna fuck you in the kitchen,” Ari told you in a dark tone.

“Ari, you fuck me here,” you snapped at him, he didn’t listen instead he threw you over his shoulder and slapped your ass. Ari kept walking to his bedroom, he kicked the door open and shut behind him. Meanwhile you had began talking his ear off on how you didn’t want to go into the bedroom but rather stay in the kitchen.

You were thrown on the bed by Ari and silenced, “shut that pretty mouth of yours or I will make you,” he threatened you. His words made you clench your walls together, they excited you.

“Then make me,” you smirked at him. That set him off, he ripped your clothes apart and left you completely naked for him, at his mercy.

Hands gripping your ankles Ari pulled you to the edge of the bed, “you look magnificent,” he whispered as he trailed his hands along thighs. Your cunt was pulsing with every centimetre he came closer to your heat.

Grinning he rubbed over you bundles of nerves with the pad of his thumb as his middle and pointer finger stroked over your entrance. You whined, his fingers were bigger than Bucky’s and it was already hard to take him in.

Pushing his fingers in Ari pulled a moan from you, “mhm, you’re wet, like a bitch in heat.” You clenched around his digits which caused him to groan, “fuck, you’re tight, does it hurt Angel? My fat fingers fucking your tight cunt.”

It did hurt, but the feeling turned into pleasure. When he curled them against your sensitive spot, when he drew you closer and closer to your high.

Just as you were about relish in the pleasure Ari stopped and retrieved from your cunt. “What are you doing?” you asked him the moment he denied you your orgasm, sitting up to glare at him.

“You think you can be a brat and not get punished? I thought you were smart, but in fact you’re just a stupid little slut,” Ari spit and gripped you by the back of your neck to pull you forward.

He had you sit at the edge of the bed as he pulled his shirt over his had and removed his pants. Now standing there naked, in all his glory.

Your mouth almost watered at the sight, your eyes roamed over his hairy chest and suddenly felt the need to trail your hands through it.

Then your eyes casted down to his large cock, if you thought his fingers were big you hadn’t seen his cock yet. “Cat caught your tongue?” he smirked and began stroking his hard cock that leaked with precum.

“Now, be a good little Angel and suck my cock,” Ari commanded, in all honesty he already expected you to talk back and not do as he said.

“No, you just take my orgasm away and expect me to suck your dick? Fuck you, I will-,” “enough,” with that he had your face shoved onto his cock, you couldn’t take him all the way. The tip of his cock hitting the back of your throat causing you to make a gagging noise, instead of lifting your head he pushed you down deeper.

Just as you settled, he pulled you back up by your hair, with your mouth agape and spit dripping down the corner of your mouth you looked up at him.

“Lookit you, don’t you look pretty?” Ari had the upper hand and pushed you back down his thick cock. You let your tongue run along his veins, his sensitive veins that made him moan when you licked them.

God, the sound he made only spurned you on. You found it one of the most attractive things in a man when he moaned.

Once he noticed how you tried to take control, he started moving your head at a fast pace, fucking throat raw. “My little cock slut, that’s what you made for, being a dumb little cock slut,” Ari closed his eyes, head fallen back in pleasure.

As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t cum in your mouth just yet. Pulling you away from him fully, you looked fucked out and it was the best sight he had ever seen.

“Look at you all fucked out, now what do you want huh? Little Angel wants my cock?” he questioned you as he picked you up and pushed you closer to the headboard.

You tried to answer him, opened your mouth but no tone came from your tongue. “Have I fucked you silly already? My that was quick,” he teased you as he spread your legs open, “where has my bratty little angel gone, huh,” it was more of a rhetorical question.

How bad you wanted to snap at him so bad, but your mouth felt too sore, “think you can fit my thick cock inside that tight little cunt? ‘Course you can, you’re my dumb cock slut after all,” he chuckled to himself.

Ari lined himself up with your throbbing heat, the tip of his cock gently stroking your entrance before he pushed in. Only the tip, you whine as he slowly kept entering you.

“Ari, oh god,” you found your voice again as the began stretched your tight cunt with his large cock, almost ripping you open. “Gonna split you open, fuck you even dumber than you already are. Won’t remember a thing, not even your name,” it was a promise he intended to keep.

“Please, as if you could,” your fire wasn’t yet extinguished, you wanted to continue riling him up. The way he manhandled and wasn’t soft on you did wonders on you.

“Fine Angel, you wanna test me,” Ari shrugged and entered you without mercy, his full length, thick veiny cock pushed inside you not caring to ease it into you. “Fuck!” you moaned as he filled you up.

At first, he gave you a steady pace, his large hand gripped your wrists together and held them above your head to keep you from moving. “That all you can do?” you gasped, and it seemed like something snapped in the brunette.

His pace became hard and irrational, your whole body was shaking at the impact. “You dumb slut, all you can think of is my cock. Riling me up just so I would fuck you harder…let’s see if you can take it,” Ari wouldn’t slow his pace down, in fact he only fucked you harder.

Moan after moan slipped from your lips as he hit your spot with every thrust. His unoccupied hand gripped your shin pressing it against your stomach.

The new angle causing you to grip Ari tighter, “Angel, if you get even tighter, I won’t be able to move,” he warned. “I-, I can feel-, feel you in my be-, belly,” you stuttered getting the sudden urge to touch the bulge in your belly.

Ari heard you perfectly and let go of your leg to press down on your stomach where he felt his cock moving inside you, “see how big I am, feel my fat cock in your little belly.”

You bit down on your lip as your eyes rolled in the back of your head. Ari felt you clench around him again, a clear sign you were about to come, “if you come without tellin’ me first, I’ll punish you again,” he warned you, not slowing down his pace. This was part of the punishment, if you wanted to say something then you had to while he was fucking you like an animal – okay you hadn’t been with Lloyd yet.

“Ari I’m about to-, to c-come!” you shouted arching your back, “hold on tight,” this was the only warning you got from Ari.

In the next moment you were flipped around, hands on the sheets and ass in the air. Ari didn’t break his rough pace, the change in position has his thick cock made him keep hitting your soft, sensitive spot.

“Please, please I’m coming, Ari I’m coming!” you let out a pornographic moan as you fought hard not to come without his permission.

“Then come for me, dumb slut,” he demanded and rutted into you like a desperate man. Your hands gripped you’re the sheets, head pressing against the mattress as your orgasm washed over you.

Ari had a tight grip on your hips, moving them along with his thrusts, “Ari, shit, fuck,” you cursed. You were fucked through your orgasm, the high was intense, and you wished it never deceased. For a moment you forgot that Ari still hadn’t come, but you were fast reminded of it when he groaned and started breathing heavily.

“Gonna fuck you full of my cum, make you my offical cock slut,” Ari hissed and slapped your ass. Ari cursed when he reached his orgasm, painting your velvet walls with his seed.

His pace became slower as he filled you up, slowly he pulled his cock out of you and a little of his seed dripped from your cunt. Once again Ari manhandled you, turning you on your back. “Look at that pretty cunt filled with my cum, doesn’t it look pretty?” he adored the view, then lifted his eyes to meet yours.

You however were completely out of it, barley understand what he was saying. Only when you felt his hand on your neck you reacted, “what?” you asked weakly.

“I fucked you that stupid huh, my stupid little Angel, did so good,” Ari softly stroked your cheek, he turned back into the soft teddy bear you first met. Before he went to get a cloth to clean you, he covered you with a blanket to make sure you stayed warm.

When he came back, he cleaned you up and out you into one of his shirts which looked more like a dress on you.

He laid himself down next to you, snaking his arms around your shoulders while you cuddled up to him. “Did I tire you out that much?” he chuckled as he traced patterns on the small of your back. You nodded into his chest, right hand trailing over his chest.

Touching him gave you comfort as your eyes became heavier, “it’s okay, when you wake up, we will have lunch and just relax for the rest of the day, deal?” “Deal, teddy bear,” you mumbled against him just before sleep overcame you.

𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 | I do have a taglist however it has conditions that must be followed — you can follow @sstanhoe-updates for updates without anything

𝑫𝑬𝑽𝑰𝑳𝑺 𝑫𝑬𝑵 — @smile1318 @georgiapeach30513 @alina02 @broadwaybabe18 @jobean12-blog @buckymcu12 @shara-ne @lou-la-lou

[late-to-the-party-81]

Like Jello

AN: Thank you, darling Holacia, for this sweet attack. He looks totally smug in this gif - like he just fucked you real good…. Set in my Ari and his Angel ‘verse, have some PWP.

Unbeta’d.

Divider by @firefly-graphics and moodboard/banner by me.

Master list | Series master list

Relationship: Daddy!Ari x Reader (Angel)

Word Count: 500

CW: Unprotected P in V sex, Dirty talk, multiple orgasms, aftercare, smug Ari

“Oh fuck! Yes! Daddy! Like that! Please! Like that! I’m gonna… gonna…”

Words failed you as static filled your brain, and your body convulsed like an electrical current had passed through you.  You could only register three things; the orgasmic pleasure coursing through your body, threatening to shut it down, the steady pounding of Ari’s hips against the back of your thighs, not missing a beat for a single second, and his deep chuckle as he watched you unravel beneath him.

As the waves of ecstasy slowed, all the tension disappeared from your body. Your arms and legs felt useless, refusing your commands. The only reason your legs weren’t lying like overcooked noodles on the mattress was due to the fact that they were still hooked over Ari’s hips, around his frankly sinfully slim waist.

Your boyfriend shifted his position, leaning fully over you, his large hands planted either side of your head. Ari’s shaggy hair flopped forwards, falling into his face, and it took all your strength just to reach up and brush it back with a dopey smile. 

Your big, beefy boyfriend grinned back, his white teeth a contrast against the dark blonde of his beard, before he sped up his movements, seeking his own moment of unbridled pleasure in the warm embrace of your body. You writhed under him, the new rhythm and angle seeking to draw more pleasure from your wrung out body.

Ari dipped his head and nipped at your earlobe.

“You got another one for me, Angel? Gonna come for Daddy again? Need to feel you milking me, baby. Feels so fucking good on my cock. Come on. Give it to me. Let me feel you.”

His breath was warm on your skin and his words were sweet like honey. There was no way your body was going to refuse him.

You cried out again, the waves slower but deeper, a soft suffusion of pleasure this time, covering your body like a blanket.

Ari groaned in your ear and pulsed inside your pussy, and you managed to hook one of your legs over his, anchoring the two of you together. You welcomed the way he gently collapsed on top of you. He might be big and heavy, but sometimes you enjoyed the feeling of him pressing you into the mattress while you both came down from your highs.

As your brain came back online you managed to raise your arms to wrap around his neck. You turned your head and pressed kisses to any patch of his skin you could reach. Ari raised his own head and faced you, dropping a kiss in return to your lips, before reluctantly drawing away from you and getting up. You watched him walk across to the bathroom while you lay in the remains of your bliss in the tangled sheets, shamelessly ogling the play of muscles across his back, as well as his tight ass.

When he returned he kissed you, soft and sweet, as he wiped a damp cloth through your folds, cleaning you up. Your eyes were hooded, a smile on your face as you watched him pull on his briefs, shorts and sleeveless tee.

“You getting up, Angel?”

“Nuh-uh.” You slowly shook your head. “Can’t. Been fucked to good. My entire body is now jello.”

Ari just smiled smugly.

“My work here is done.”

Tag list: @jobean12-blog @tuiccim @yarnforbrains @sidepartskinnyjeans @flordeamatista @krissy25 @bodeckersdiamonddoll @goldylions @luxeavenger @wheezy-stucky @doasyoudesireandlive @chemtrails-club @marvelstarker-mha98 @peaches1958 @pono-pura-vida @writing-for-marvel

[luciddaydreamsstuff]

Desert Duo Doodles! I am in way too many fandoms to count, including content creators and whatnot. It wasn’t until a doodle of some CCs that I realised how many were MCYTs. But I wanted to draw these two cause I liked how I drew Scar in the other original doodle and have drawn Grian a bunch but constantly changed the design. Now I have one that I like.

Under the cut are the individual drawings plus stickers that I forgot to add to the original but decided fuck it it’s done, plus some explanation about design choices and headcanons. (Does anyone even care about that?) Idk and idc, I’ll ramble anyways.

(you don’t have to read the stuff, I don’t really care, but you can if you want)

First off, this one was annoying since it was supposed to be a hug. I was too lazy to draw the Third/Sercet Life outfits, so they are in their default outfits with crowns representing the fact that they won at least one of the Life games.

Ramble: For Grian’s design, I wanted to keep the bird/avian hybrid but also reference other series or past friend. The Life series has the poppy has memorabilia, the blue and red bracelet represents YHS/TS, and the eye necklace is for Evo. The tail is more so a mix of Watcher magic and Avian DNA, bird feet cause why not. The wing ears are hidden to look similar enough to his regular hair, I like to imagine that wing ears are a rarer trait and to not draw too much attention, he would use Watcher magic to change the colour of the wing ears to match his hair. The freckles are based off of the idea that Angel Dust’s freckles are actually just eyes (which were shown in the show), and I liked that idea. He didn’t have freckles before Evo but after in Hermitcraft he did, they are just eyes that are always closed though he can see out of them. It’ll be clearer in the next piece, but his eyes are based off of some bird eyes so a black sclera with coloured pupils. Grian just hides his eyes under his hair since they are more sensitive than normal. Also I didn’t wanna draw his eyes cause it was one of the things I kept changing before.

I’ll go into Scar later since it’s just a half body but he goes by the same rule of his outfit showing where he’s been. So the poppy and lavender for Third Life and the heart necklace for Secret Life. The earrings are based off of the crystals from Season 7.

Alter Egos! Or at least Hot Guy and Arianna Griande. Not much here, but you can see what I meant with the eyes beforehand.

Also, I can’t be the only one to notice or at least point out that Ari and Cute Guy have like the same or a least a very similar colour palette of pink and white.

Final one, and the two are taking a much needed nap. This could take place anywhere though I like to imagine somewhere in Double Life or somewhere between Season 7 - 10

(also I find it very funny how close these two’s bases were for Season 6 - 10. both were near each other in the futuristic district of season six, then next door neighbours at the start of season seven, I don’t need to mention much besides boatem in season eight, again near the start and most of season nine with Scarland and Grian’s timejump build, then finally again in season ten with Magic Mountain. just funny to me for some reason)

Ramble: Scar is like a hybrid between an elf/fae creature and a cat centaur (that I cannot remember the proper name for). The cat half is based off of Jellie, RIP, and his body is scarred because well I mean the dude is accident-prone it’s bound to happen. I imagine that Scar would wear slightly baggy outfits, like they hang off just a bit to not hug his figure. His hair is more based off of Season 9 with him leaning into the whole elf aesthetic, and I both hate and like the hair but whatever. Idk, I kinda just wanted to make him centaur based cause that visual isn’t something I see often. I imagine that hind legs are weaker than the front so he would switch between a cane and a wheelchair that you would see for animals. I might draw that later idk, but yea

If you actually took the time to read this incoherent mess, idk comment a content creator you like, no matter how niche they may be

[definitely-not-a-wasp]

Why Angel should face Consequences

Okay, so I mentioned this offhandedly at one point, but I'm circling back around to it because I honestly feel like it could solve multiple character arcs.

First off, I'm saying CONSEQUENCES, not punishment. I don't think Angel should be punished, because she's a child who's being given a horrible amount of power, she doesn't understand how the world works (see: child), and she's really trying her best, all things considered. However,

A) this would be good for Angel's character. She's a powerful character who makes increasingly big decisions, and if the world isn't effected at all by those changes and they get reset at the end of the day, then she not only doesn't actually feel powerful, but she cannot grow. She's stuck being Max's little girl instead of her own person.

B) this would be good for Max's character. Throughout the series, Max has a tendency towards getting incredibly upset whenever the flock disagrees with her, any of them leave, or their dynamics change. This is a fun and good, realistic character flaw, but it is never challenged. However, if her little girl were to do things and then have to actually deal with the fallout (instead of doing things and then getting kidnapped for unrelated reasons, thus needing rescue), this would push her to confront that her flock is not a group to be ordered around, but a collection of living, changeing individuals.

C) this would be good for narrative tension. A big flaw of Maximum Ride is that, if the stakes get higher and higher but the flock is never truly impacted in the longterm, then it's impossible to maintain tension.

So: consequences. Consequences would be good for most of the characters, but Angel is a particularly egregious example because she's really powerful, makes HUGE decisions by the late series, and still maintains Max's Little Girl status despite being a literal prophet by the end.

Starting in the early series, I think it's completely in-character for Max to continue to gloss over Angel's mind control and willingness to use it, and I think it's equally interesting for Angel to not understand what's wrong with manipulating people like that. That's fun. That's dysfunctional. I love it. However, when Angel fake-betrays the flock, I'd love to see more dysfunction over that, and some anger at both Angel and Max for not communicating that plan. Maybe one of them (not Gazzy, because that's his sister, obviously not Max, but any of the other three) tries an escape attempt and genuinely hurts Angel, and they all have to live with the knowledge that they would be willing to hurt her if they thought she betrayed them. Maybe Iggy goes with Fang not because of Ari, but because he doesn't trust Max or Angel, anymore. Something small, not at all earth-shattering, but enough to make everyone uncomfortable, and to permanently shift the flock dynamics a little.

The Final Warning Happens. Angel wanders off, gets hurt, but nothing changes between her and the flock. Max happens. Angel wanders off, gets hurt, but nothing changes between her and the flock. Things steadily ramp up, and Max doesn't do anything, because that's her little girl and she doesn't want to admit that anything's changed.

Fang happens. Angel performs a coup, accidentally poisons the flock, wanders off, teams up with Dr. Hans, and kills Fang. But Fang is brought back, so nothing will change, right?

This is where I suggest Captial-C Consequences.

I have kept circling back to the idea that Fang leaves the flock not because of their relationship with Max, but because they died and were brought back and couldn't handle the strain. I would say that, if that were made explicitly the case, it would immediately make the flock dynamics more interesting, and force everyone to realize that their actions affect the world. Regardless of her intent, Angel helped kill Fang, and Fang isn't going back to "all is normal" like they're expected to. In fact, I would take it a step further, and not only disrupt the flock dynamics, but change something that is incapable of being reversed.

Imagine: after a few weeks apart, Fang reaches out, as they do, and the flock reunites! Yay, everyone thinks, things will go back to normal after this! Fang is acting normal, too, and not at all standoffish towards Angel. Sure, Fang has a new posse, but that can be worked through.

Fang, Angel says, visibly freaking out, why can't I read your mind?

Fang looks at her, a little bewildered. Because I died, Angel. Don't you remember that?

A mechanic that, if a person dies for any amount of time, their brain and body is changed enough that Angel can't read their mind anymore, means that no amount of forgiveness or brushing over the issue would be able to restore the dynamic she used to have with Fang. This could also be foreshadowed earlier with Ari in SoF, but the important thing is that this is a consequence that doesn't directly hurt her. There's nothing for Max to save her from, her family isn't shunning her, she's not being punished, but for someone whose entire view of the world is based on mind reading, Fang is now a blank wall. And everyone has to accept that something happened that cannot be undone.

And because this ISN'T a punishment, I think she'd be able to work through it. I think eventually Fang would forgive her and tell her not to feel too guilty about what happened, and eventually she'd learn how to talk to them without the aid of reading their mind. She'd heal. But she'd also change— maybe a little more cautious, more withdrawn, more scared of herself. The flock would change, too. Maybe, despite Fang's forgiveness, they never let themselves be alone with her again. Maybe Max takes the opposite approach and is more reluctant to let Angel out of her sight, not because she doesn't trust her but because she knows Angel feels guilty and worries for her. But either way, they cannot stay the same. And that's more important.

[the7zees]

Huh

Rose Tinted Wings

Gn! Reader x Sanguinius . Warnings: none

First time posting stories here. This will be a series I think. Here we go! *claps hands once*

"Captain!"

CHAPTER 1

The lights on your navigational panel flickers its blue light apon your face. It's been a while since you've heard a thing from the battalion sent out what now feels like an hour now. As Captain of this vessel ,you see too it that all make it back to this ship in an orderly manner, blood, viscera ,unknown splatters and all. It isn't new to you by now. The waiting. The listening. The nagging thought that something has gone ary down there and you will need to scout them yourself or else-.

The voice breaks you from your worry as you stumble back to your station. "Yes, I am here. Moving to extraction location now". You know what you're doing. This isn't new to you by now.

You were tasked to the retrieval of of a handful of The Emperor's angels . Blood angels that is, a task you had done many of times before however only now it was different in a way you never expected it to be. That you never would have ever even thought about. 

Skillfully you maneuver the ship to its landing point, it lands with a hard thud as it kicks up dust and debris from the recently ravaged battlegrounds.  Just as you make your way down to the deck you spot a figure in the dust as it clears. "Welcome back, Lieutenant! I-"

Ah, wait. The figure is much bigger than the usual marine and ... growling?

Oh...great. The large lizard like xenos beast raises its head through the dust revealing it's large grotesque mouth full of awful teeth and let's out a roar that shakes the ground itself.  Quickly you grab your pistol and shoot away from the beast ,hoping to distract its attention to the fired bolts. There's no way your little pistol can damage a thing like this. But It only shifts its eyes for a moment before focusing straight on you, huffing a growl and scrathing at the ground below it.  You sink back into the doorway of the deck as you prepare for it to charge you only to hear something else entirely. I loud swooshing sound and a pained roar from what could only be that horrible beast. You peek out the deck hatch as it falls ,it's neck spewing black blood, landing with a hard thump. You eyes follow down below it suprised by the sight of a large pair of white wings.

You stand there. In awe at the sight as the wings fold back to the figure that owns them. Clad in shining gold that reflects the very sunlight above making the figure glow in a way that feels almost ethereal.

"Captain, Are you alright?"

You stand there still, dumbfounded.

"Captain!"

You startle back to your bareings apon the sound of another voice. The blood angels you came here for , marching up behind the now fallen beast.

"I- you- uh" you stumble your words unable to look away from the man standing in front of you . Hair as gold as the sun with armor to match , eyes a vibrant shade of blue with a hint of red, and most noticeably a pair of beautiful wings, almost stark white if not for the light grey dusting at the edges of the lowest feathers. "Forgive us capitan, it seems this beast found you before we did" the man looks back to the men that now stand in rows behind him. "The xenos nesting site has been destroyed and without a single loss " the man spoke and a triumphant tone. But you were still in awe. "Y-yes! M'Lord! Of course!" You studder as the battalion march into the loading bay. Standing next to you was the very man you thought you would never see with your own eyes. Only hearing about his feats of bravery and strength, only seeing quick images from time to time. Sanguinius himself.

This was definitely new to you.

[iceprincessviviane]

Last will. - Heritage series prologue.

Paring: poly!BTS (Demons) x Female!Shy!Skinny!Chosen!Reader

Type: dark romance, horror au, soulmate au, poly relationship, slowburn, yandere.

Warnings: Horror themes, some religion themes (mostly demonic), gore, blood, manipulation, witchcraft, magic themes, death (side characters), mentionings of forced marriage, mentioning about past, loss, yandere, obsessive, possessive, swearing, low self-esteem,dealing with grief, sugestive content and silly jokes created by me. (If there is more to add let me know.)

Next chapter.

Summary: When old, lonely lady is dying, some mysteries are revealed, which none is expecting. Someone is going to take advantage of that for sure.

Author's note: It was around Halloween and I was getting inspired and decided to try something in good, old scary mood. I might be not good at it, so sorry! And it's based kinda of my strange dream. Action is supposed to be in northen Canada in make up city, this is how it was in my dream so I will let it stay. Sorry if that has no logic at all. Dream was really strange and first chapters are mostly based on that, rest it just written by me as continuation. Introduction is long and whole mansion is based on one from Tonb Raider series (Legend/Underworld). English isn't my first language so sorry for all mistakes.

Dedication for the @aris-ink meance (angel) which supporter me all the way along and mostly I'm posting because she gave me a wings 💖

MINORS DNI

In modern office was sitting very old and elegant lady. She had old-fashioned dress and her white hair were in tight bun. Fine jewllery was on her neck, same was for wrist and ears. The stones were shinging in light of the lamp. She sat opposite young notary, which was writing somethine with pen on his documents. Dame was visibly getting impatient, her assistant was making meaningful glances at worker, but he didn't even noticed. After few minutes she sighed and tapped her emaciated on light brown desk.

"I am sorry ma'am, it has to be perfect."

She rolled her eyes and looked around. Office was big and bright, outside was raining heavy, wall of water and sometimes the sky was pierced by thunder. There was computer on the other side of the desk and big bookshelf filled by documents and books about the law. On the wall was hanging put some awards and certificates which notary finished successfuly.

"My boy, I am sorry to interrupting you, but in fact I don't have much time. I am going to die very soon and I need to do a lot." Old lady said bitterly.

"I am sorry ma'am." He gave her sympathetic smile and put down pen. "I have ended your last will as you wished."

Notary handed her document. She read it with little frown. It was strange for her, but the time has come and she had to take care of last things in this world.

"I have concated the curator of museum you have mentioned. He is thrilled by your proposition and agreed to all your terms."

"I am glad then. I hope this will do good for next generations." Old lady smiled warmly.

"But there is one problem. Being specific about the mansion in Grand Hillsam." Man said looking at the name of the town.

Immediately old lady's glance became cold and suspicious. "What about it?"

"I have found that in fact it's part of Canadian heritage and it was just under your custody ma'am. It can't be given to any museum or anyone unless the government agree or the owner can't take care of it. I have tried to contact the office in Grand Hillsam and they have sent me to someone higher."

Old lady scoffed and waved her head with annoying expression. She tapped desk again, looked like wanting to light a cigarette.

"But they have stated that, after your death it will become clear what will happen to the mansion. It can't be made into museum if it's not proven that mansion would be left all alone."

"But I wanted to avoid passing it to anyone. That's why I wanted to make museum there and give all historical stuff away as gifts."

"They are very thankful, but your family last will is above that. You were not living there in fact, only someone who lives there can decide about mansion." Young man sighed taking out some documents. "I have searched it very carefuly, but can't do anything about that."

"That's bullshit." She cursed not like a lady. "I have paying all the bills and sending money to take some care of this mansion. I just didn't want to live there." She frowned.

"And as your family stated, only person who lives there can decided to such things as selling or giving up the mansion. After your death your family and far family will be informed about it. If they won't be able to take care of it, it will be made into museum." Notary said shrugging with helplessness.

"But I have no family. That's why I am giving away the money and things."

"Well... that's not true ma'am... the office searched through documents as did I. You have a very distant family, here in Europe."

"But they have been thrown out of my lineage almost three hundred years ago. The testement didn't include them in any case."

"Well... the office in Canada have stated that unless your famil won't care about mansion or simply can't because of money, then yes it will be made into museum."

Old lady sighed slowly, but then nodded. "If it's all, please let me sign it and let's end this farse."

Soon notary handed her all necessary documents. She signed them with diligence. They have left office and her assistant helped her by softly holding arm. He was middle age man, who served her long time. When they were in the car, driver almost immediately pulled into driveway.

"Damnit, it was so close to get rid of this stupid mansion and it's secrets. I am sure they have had their word in this." She said staring at the window and terrible weather.

"So what now? Your distant family will be called to Grand Hillsam that's for sure." Assistant said with worrying tone.

"I will make sure, that they won't want to stay there and will be protected. I need to be at home as fast as possible."

}*{

It was dark outside and was raining almost all time. Week has passed since old lady was in the office. Now she was lying at bed, weak and in fact annoyed. She lighted a cigarette and took a deep breath. Her assistant just left bedroom. It was quite big one, with canopy bed, balcony, big wardrobe and high bookshelf.

"You shouldn't be smoking." Happy voice said with concern.

"I am dying, I can do whatever I want." Old lady's words were horase. "I don't care how I am going to die, I am going to enjoy life till my last breath."

"You are still the same." Green eyes flashed in dim room, just on the bookshelf.

Small, dark as night cat hopped on the floor and made it's way to the bed.

"Thank's God, I was thinking that Harry was making you suspicious." Old lady said bitterly.

"It was hard to make my way here and this form." Cat said and stopped near the bed, that lady could see him.

"I need your owner'a help." She confessed.

"We know. That is why I am here, but don't know the details."

"I wanted to give up the mansion. To get rid of it, make family free. But of course they have stepped in." Old lady frowned with disgust.

"Well it was sure, that it won't be so easy."

"Officials said that until my last family won't be proven that don't want to take care of the mansion or simply can't take care, because of money, there is no way of making of it museum."

"So they even messed with office." Cat said perking it's ears.

"Yes. There is a threat, that all will start again. I have no time to meet my distant family and tell them about our messed up past. Pretty sure that they won't believe me anyway. So you will have to take care of that. They can't stay there and they have to give up this stupid building."

"Well it's not like when the building is gone, all the problems will disappear. The bond will be still there."

"Yes, but the ritual place will be no more, all the knowledge and items will be gone. Some spells will break. Even town might get free from dark influence. It will be hard for them go rebuild that somewhere else.

"I will go and tell my owner about everything." Cat promised and licked it paw. "But now let me keep your company."

Animal jumped on the bed and sit on old lady's lap demanding headpats. She gladly provided them till her hand stopped and last breath left her mouth. Cat purred softly making sure that her soul is safe.

}*{

Namjoon stepped out of the car and looked at building in front of him. He put his hands in the pockets. The gate was closed and strong walls were protecting land inside. It looked old and untreated. Through a gate you could see entrance to the garden and main entrance to the big manor. It was already late, moon poking from behind a clouds made a little light. He walked to the gate and put a hand in shadow place then

walk

through

the

darkness till he reached other side. He did the same with big doors and found himself inside. There was dust, unplesant smell and silence, but he remembered those halls too good. There was big, main space and staircase which were splitting up, leading up and to the left and right where were rooms. Entrance to the basement was also through this room, same as kitchen and second part of the manor. He wasn't alone.

Shadows shifted slighty and into his view came six characters. Wide smile appeard on his handsome face.

"Is thar true hyung? That's why we all are here?"Jimin asked coming closer.

"Better be that or I will throw hands." said Yoongi and leaned on pillar in opposite.

"Our man has confirmed that there is another descendant. They have rejected idea of the museum for now and have stated that it must to be prooven that descendant can't take care of mansion to make it museum." Namjoon has spoken quietly.

"So we have chance to take it all back?" Jungkook's wide and bunny smile appeard.

"Maybe, now they have to brought here this person."

"All right let's go back to the work guys." Jin stated and they all have disappeard in the blink of the eye.

[menacinmasochist]

My absolute favorite DL characters in no particular order:

🌸 YUI KOMORI 🌸

Never understood the hate towards Yui. Again the anime is a promo for the game and it did not do her character justice at all. The prequel and sequels for some of the mangas did her character justice. She’s a very kind and compassionate person, she’s HUMAN and grew up in a church, she’s a soft girl who doesn’t like violence so y’all can only imagine what this girl has to go thru meeting a bunch of bloody thirsty horny vampire boys, who have severe parental issues and a bunch of other abusive behavioral problems, but she is very patient with each and every brother in all the routes and I love that about her, she’d be a really good therapist too lmao. She’s an Angel, must be protected at all times. I won’t tolerate any Yui hate on this blog.

❤️‍🔥 AYATO SAKAMAKI ❤️‍🔥

Poster boy for the entire franchise. A lot of people find him to be annoying, he is annoying and we love his Aries self for that. While Ayato is a menace to society he’s got a good side to him as well and for the most part knows right from wrong, more than some of the fandom gives him credit for. I also really like his character design, he kinda looks like a mean little bat. They give him a lot of cute and playful moments with Yui and I think that’s beautiful especially in a dark themed game series, they have serious moments but also a lot of light hearted moments and I think that’s important to lighten up the mood sometimes.

👨‍🌾 YUMA MUKAMI👨‍🌾

First off, I absolutely love his character design, the messy long hair and he’s a giant too plus they gave him realistic human hair and eyes to show that he used to be human, maybe I’m thinking too deep on it idk. I absolutely love the identity crisis he had due to his amnesia and the connection with Shu, it brought that twin flame connection back, I love those best friend tropes a lot, his voice actor also is Mako from Free! So I have no choice but to Stan Yuma. Yuma also has a lot more self awareness then the rest of his adoptive brothers and thinks ahead due to his past experiences, he knows that he’s a vampire now but still has a garden for food and has sugar cubes with him at all times, he uses his past experiences and acknowledges that it happened then moves forward he doesn’t dwell on it too much.

🔪AZUSA MUKAMI🔪

He’s a lil creepy, and socially awkward at times but he’s just so relatable sometimes. He’s very soft spoken and he a lil wild with his pain tolerance and some of the out of pocket shit that he says, but I think he’s such a sweetheart, protect him at all costs as well, even his brothers know to protect him at all costs.

🎻 SHU SAKAMAKI 🎻

Shu will forever be my favorite DL boy, he doesn’t like doing anything but can do everything and do it perfectly too. He has severe ptsd, depression, and detachment issues. No you can’t fix him even Yui realizes this and just accepts him for who he is because that’s the only way it’ll work. He’s also hilarious without even trying to be, he says some mean shit at times but it’s so unhinged like damn Shu you don’t have the energy to eat, shower, wipe your ass but you got the energy to completely disrespect all your siblings with a few words. Also his beef with Reiji is somewhat familiar grounds especially if you have a sibling that is constantly irritating your soul. I always felt like I could relate to Shu the most due to him having a hard time getting close to people after losing his best friend, he can’t just get over it either, I don’t like when people would say “oh it happened a long time ago” yes it did but everyone heals at their own pace and it’s important to acknowledge that as well.

[rulerzreachf4n7]

Hi guys, I need your help with something,

No I'm not in danger or anything just hear me out,

I don't usually talk about private or personal stuff just because if my school, parents, or sister would find out I'd be absolutely fucking cooked,

But today whilst in the shower my body just had the urge to need to come onto Tumblr and share this with everyone so I am

If you are interested please DM me or add me on discord (it'll be linked at the end)

More underneath ~

As NONE of you know since im very private, my main goal in life is to become a showrunner, yknow, just to make shows and movies

I've considered other things like graphic novel/comic book author or just an author in general, artist, animator, voice actor, hell even a therapist or someone who has a psychology major

But those things just didn't bring out who I truly am

And I've been doing this for the past 5/6 years but I really only got the idea 3 years ago in late 2022/early 2023

I have a show concept very inspired from the owl house and tangled the series

It has no name, I've gone through 3 or four but none have stick, and I really need help with this idea and more,

If you yourself or you know anyone who's talented in these things I'm going to listen PLEASE TAG THEM:

Art

Animation

Characters designing

World building

Voice acting

Sound affects

Marketing

Writing

Or anything that needs to be done to make a show

I have a ton of show ideas, some with that are half fleshed or some that are none, if you are interested or know anyone who is please tag them through reposts or through comments, just liking this gives me enough reassurance that people care

And I don't post on tiktok (my sister know I have it and I don't think she'll be supportive) I have a Pinterest but not the audience I need

I intend to be very diverse with my characters being people of color, having disabilities, and being primarily lgbtq and queer

Here are some show ideas with the concepts if you are interested,

Golden hour

The show revolves around a pansexual 15 year old called Lucy Solace, a Puerto Rican and African American teenage girl, the show takes place in the year 2015 and in Gatlinburg Tennessee, after technology from an otherworldly universe, a universe with witches, wizards, sorcerers and sorceress' gets transported into Lucy's universe, she uses her class field trip to an artifact museum to find out what it is, after accidentally triggering said device, Lucy gets teleported to the kingdom of Fey, which is going through a war, teaming up with Hunter Cameron, a trans and genderfluid sorcer, they team up to find peace with all kingdoms and get Lucy home.

The name Golden Hour is subjected to change cause I feel like there could be better

Writers block

13 year old demi girl Irene has the dream of becoming a famous showrunner, but lacks everything to to make it successful, after going to a fandom convention and meeting her most idolized showrunner + voice actor, Aries Chambers, they accidentally had left behind some concepts for her show, Aries finding these, he and deciding to help Irene on their indie animated pilot over the summer months

7th Angel

After moving to Florida, 13 year old Japanese American Hiro gets enlisted into a private Christian school while being a closeted gay, through those months he becomes friends with Milani and Cassandra, a Hawaiian and Greek student, as they learn more about they're school and the mysteries within a local graveyard and library ran by their teacher, Miss Barbra, Hiro falls in love with Caleb, one of the more popular students who isn't an asshole

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THESE SHOW CONCEPTS OR MORE, PLEASE DM ME OR CONTACT ME AT MY DISCORD!!!

Account name is mezzo_paintings, if you see my profile and name, no you didn't, shut the hell up he is fine as fuck

And I'm tagging all my moots, ALL, NOT THE SAME TWO ONES, ALLLL YOU LITTLE BITCHES AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

@your-fav-stalker-200k

@shadowwolfmemes

@yourl0calanti

@hearts4ayame

@sincerely-aaliyah

@hexaround

@shayshaylee

@v3noumouspyth0n

@rainbow-starheart

@fictionisnotharmless

@syltheanti

+ I will add more once I get the chance

I will also be tagging my posts about my show concepts on

#Calebsdelusionalidea

:3 thank you for your time

[bigtreefest]

Chapter 8: What Took You So Long

From: Bigger Houses Series

Pairing: Mountain Ranger! Ari x Reader

Summary: Finding forever took forever. Now it’s time to slow it down.

Word Count: 3,414

Content/Warnings: moderate alcohol consumption, mildly negative self-talk, looking back on the past, poking fun, mild swears, entirely too much affection, learning to cook, mild allusions to adult fun times, pet name usage

A/N: hehehe, the thought of grocery shopping with a SO has been eating me up recently. Also, a good friend of mine thinks I’m becoming disillusioned to what real-life romance is like. Oops

Likes, comments, reblogs, and asks are sooooo welcome and appreciated!!

Dividers by @animatedglittergraphics-n-more

Below is the song which inspired this chapter. Talk about sappy.

< Prev | Series Masterlist | Next >

You and Ari were grocery shopping when it hit him. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with you. A part of him had known the whole time, but this moment had really made it click.

You weren’t even looking at him, your eyes instead favoring the rows of produce, mentioning facts about how to determine when each fruit or vegetable was ripe. It was beautifully mundane, it was you sharing a little more of yourself and your wide breadth of knowledge he could never get over, and it was everything he ever wanted to love for the rest of time.

He was in awe of the way you moved through the aisles, your natural understanding of everything a person could possibly need, and how well you knew his preferences.

You pulled out spices, describing the dishes that utilize them. You explained the importance of salt, but not too much, and why a person could possibly need more than one kind. You walked him through different ways to make a balanced meal. The entire time, he was enthralled. He was completely taken by you and hung on to every word like it would save his life. Well, it sort of already did.

The two of you went to the checkout counter with your full cart, Ari pushing it as you began to load the items onto the belt.

Ari helped the cashier bag them up, and before he could even think to pull out his wallet, you’d already swiped your card. Ari cocked his head to the side, his long hair that peeked out from under his hat swaying. The ball cap looked so funny in juxtaposition to his ranger uniform, which he still wore as a product of you picking him up from work. His eyebrow raised as if to say ‘seriously?’

You smiled and shrugged as you took the receipt, skipping off in front of him as he pushed the cart out of the store and to your SUV. You slowed to allow him to catch up.

“You know I could’ve gotten that. These groceries are for my house, after all.” You laughed before reaching the car and pressing the button for the lift gate.

As the trunk began to open, Ari parked the cart and you felt arms wrap around you from behind. His beard bristled against your neck as he nestled in with his chin on your shoulder and kissed your cheek.

A soft smile remained on your face. “Consider it a gift. Welcome to independence, and official adulthood.”

He laughed into your hair. “Well it hardly counts as independence if you just took care of me. Swooping down to save the day again like the Angel you are. If you’re not careful, people are gonna think you’re my sugar mommy. Then I’m definitely not independent or much of a full-on grown-up.”

You rolled your eyes before turning around to start placing the bags into the trunk, keeping your head down doing your best to hide your blush at what Ari just said. You loved that he thought the world of you, and loving Ari like that was easy. Now, in terms of the sugar mommy comment, you both knew your job paid better, but neither had an issue with it, so any time it came up, he loved to joke like that, despite him having some savings from living so modestly.

Once you finished loading, you looked up into his sparkling eyes, creased with the smile he always wore when around you, finally replying. “I’ll give you sugar, you just have to wait until we’re home for it.”

You winked before giving him a chaste kiss, far too short for his liking, closing the trunk, and hopping up into the driver’s side, leaving Ari to return the cart.

When Ari returned to you, you started the car towards his cabin. You drove with one hand on the wheel, the other holding his over the center console. His thumb absent-mindedly stroked the back of your hand as Ari looked out the window, thinking about how he was going to pick out a ring.

Ari was finally losing his bachelor fridge. Gone were the days of it only housing lunch meat and beer.

You had just helped him finish putting away the new haul as he had gotten changed out of his uniform. Everything had a place and he had never seen the cabinets so full. You had a methodical system he really appreciated.

Ari’s hands were on your hips as he was about to set you on the counter before you stopped him, placing a hand on his chest.

“Wait, stop.”

He looked at you confused.

You removed your hand from his chest and held a pointer finger up. “One more thing. Gimme a sec. I left it in the car.”

You dipped under his arm that had you barricaded against the counter, running towards the front door and slipping on the first pair of shoes you saw, Ari’s massive boots clopping as you ran on the driveway. You opened up the back door of your car, looking under the seat to pull out a small package wrapped in brown paper and a twine bow.

You ran back in to where Ari was still standing there with his mouth agape, one hand on the countertop, the other on his hip. You cautiously crept towards him with the package tucked behind your back.

His face morphed into a suspicious smile. “Whatcha got there, Duchess?”

You giggled, toes meeting his as you looked up at his towering form. He made a move to reach behind your back before you quickly slid out of his reach.

“Ah ah ah, surprises are meant to be given, not stolen, ya little klepto. Now close your eyes.”

Ari’s head fell forward with a sigh before looking back at you through his eyelashes. “Fine.”

His eyelids fluttered shut as he held out his hands and you pulled the small package out from behind your back, carefully placing it.

“Okay, open.” Ari looked down at the brown paper intently.

“What is it? What’s the occasion? You already bought my groceries.”

He set it on the counter before propping you up onto the island like he had tried to before. You shrugged, your hands gripping the edge as your feet swung.

“Open it. I know we didn’t really discuss gifts or anything, but happy one year of me almost hitting you with my car.”

He laughed, picking it up again and untying the twine. “The first or second time?”

He knew which time. It was the first one. He marked the day as soon as he’d gotten home from your first coffee shop date, counting back the days to that fateful run-in on the mountain pass.

You kicked his thigh lightly before silently urging him to tear open the paper. It revealed a small cookbook.

“‘Cooking for Two?’ What-“ His eyes grew wide. “You’re not…” he looked around before ducking his head slightly and whispering. “Pregnant…are you?”

You shoved him back. “What!? No. No!”

You shook your head frantically. “Absolutely not. That is not what this means.”

The two of you were more than careful enough to make sure that didn’t happen—at least not right now. You’d made sure to find the right birth control and Ari took proper precautions on his end, as well.

You laughed uncomfortably before going silent. Ari let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, okay, that’s good- I mean, not that I wouldn’t….like, well, kids….um.”

You calmed him, placing both hands on his shoulders. “I-I get it trust me. I want kids, too someday, just not right now. It’s okay, we’re on the same page about that.”

He nodded and placed his head on your shoulder as your hand moved to stroke his hair.

“Thank you for understanding me. Where have you been all my life?” Seriously, he couldn’t believe that heaven ever let him find you.

You placed a kiss on his temple. “I was getting prepared to meet you.”

You leaned back to catch his gaze. “Now let me explain. This book, which is most definitely not a pregnancy cookbook, is because I’m hoping to start spending more dinners here now that you’re all stocked. As much as I love cooking for you, I think it’s important we both know how.”

You gestured your head to the single book that sat on the shelf in the corner of his kitchen. “Plus, I think you’ve earned an addition to the collection. You’ve graduated on to the next best thing. The pizza incident is a thing of the past.”

He shook his head reminiscing on the memory. “It’s not my fault you distracted me.”

You looked at him with feigned shock and disbelief as he leaned in for a kiss. “But as my present to you, let me cook you dinner?”

You nodded, leaning in to meet him. The kiss was soft and slow before it became needier. Ari tried pulling you close, his one arm falling from your waist down to your hip, the other still holding the book, before you placed your hand on his chest again, pushing him away.

“Nice try, Bear, but I’m starving. As much as I wanted to see where that kiss went, I want food more. Chop chop.”

You grabbed the other end of the book still sitting in your lap and gently raised it, pushing it towards his face and turning him towards the stove.

“You pick out a recipe while I get some drinks started for us. Sound good?”

As much as Ari would’ve grumbled at anyone else, he was happy to oblige you, flipping through the pages as you pulled out two glasses and began pouring.

Ari was so happy with the way you took over his space. Everywhere he looked, he saw you. Every room in the small shack had been filled with laughs and memories that filled his chest with warmth. Gone were the days that pained him to even look at the walls as the darkness seeped in. All that existed was light. It shined off of you and stayed reflecting off every surface, leaving an imprint of contentment in Ari’s brain, even when you weren’t here.

Ari leaned back against the counter next to the stove, arms crossed as he simply watched you. Over the period of him preparing the meal that was nearly finished, you had changed into one of his old wildlife conservation hoodies he’d gotten from working a fundraiser.

You danced without a care in the world, swaying with your arms above your head to the music you had blasting through the small cabin. Your one hand held your second cocktail of the evening.

As much as Ari hated to, he had to pull his gaze off you for a second to check the roast on the stove. When he opened the pot lid, you caught a whiff of the truly delectable scent. The sweetness of carrots swirled with the seasoning blend over the braised beef.

You set your glass down on the island, dancing over to him and stepping up behind the wall of a man. No spanks in the kitchen was a long-standing rule, which was a shame for the sweatpants he was wearing, but nothing was ever contested about hugs.

Your arms snaked around his waist and up under the front of his shirt as you rested your cheek between his shoulder blades. You could feel the ripple of each muscle as his arms expertly maneuvered and he breathed steadily, it was like marble that moved. Yet, there was a softness to it, maybe from the sensation of the chest hair under your fingertips, maybe from the smell of the fabric softener he used. There was always a softness to Ari, especially around you.

He hummed, reaching to pull low-rimmed bowls down from the cabinet, serving up the meal and setting it aside before running his hands up his shirt to meet yours. He turned around and pulled your hands between the two of you, placing a kiss on each hand, right on the ring finger. Starting forever was at the forefront of his mind, unbeknownst to you.

“Ready to eat?”

You nodded with wide eyes, grabbing silverware and dancing over to the dining room as Ari followed with your meals, dancing along.

As the sun fell, you and Ari were still sitting at his dining room table. His small work-provided cabin didn’t offer much room to move around, but there was just enough for the two of you and you didn’t mind being cozy.

You were putting together a puzzle under the warm lighting, newly donned fuzzy socks on your feet that he’d tucked away as a surprise for this very special day, finally giving them to you after dinner.

The two of you moved quickly, but not hastily, as you passed Ari the outline pieces and you worked to piece together the internal scenery. Your movements were paired with witty banter and discussions about past lives. No matter how much time you spent together, you could never learn enough. You wanted to know everything.

“So that was the spring break I spent doing cleanup work for a tornado. It’s not like I had any plans otherwise besides going home, but my mom understood it was what I needed to do.”

Ari nodded along. He enjoyed learning about the road you took that led your hearts to each other. All the things you did with your hours and your minutes. Seriously, what didn’t you do? Even now you were constantly on the move, filling your schedule with valuable, enriching things. You chased your dreams even if they took you far away from your hometown. At least, that was how he saw it. How could you always find the time to be with him? To dedicate to him when you had so many other things on your plate?

He didn’t want to question it too much, though, for fear that you’d catch on and think he didn’t live up to how amazing you were. But Ari thought to himself more, realizing the good he really had done. What took him so long? Where had this version of him been all his life? You had awoken it in him. You had pushed him to become a better version of himself.

He was roused from his thoughts by your question. “So what about you? Ever do anything fun for spring break in college?”

Ari’s eyebrows rose as he thought back to it. He hadn’t finished college and it honestly seemed like a lifetime ago. He blew out a breath and leaned back in his chair.

“Well, I only had two spring breaks. I remember going down to Daytona beach with some buddies of mine, getting drunk on Coronas and them all being drunk on love with whoever they met down there.”

You took a sip of your drink, nodding as you swallowed. “Sounds about normal. I bet you were a charmer back in the day, too. Sometimes I wish we’d met then.”

Ari shook his head vigorously at that, taking the drink from your hands and finishing it down. “Ehhhh…I’m not so sure about that. I do not think you would’ve liked to have met me then. I probably wasn’t deserving to be in your arms.”

Your brows pinched together as you took the drink back, going to Ari’s fridge and getting a fresh round of beer, hunching over to reach the shelf. “I don’t agree that you weren’t deserving. Sure, we lived different lives, but you were still you.”

Ari thanked you as you placed the new bottle in his hand, taking your seat again and shuffling the puzzle pieces.

“I mean, Bear, I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who actually cares about being a ranger as much as you do. You go to all those little conferences and retreats and trainings and actually enjoy them. That’s not just a trait that develops overnight. It’s character.”

Ari blushed. Not even the cold beer was enough to counteract the warmth in his cheeks that came around when you said little things like that. When he could see how much of the little things you noticed. When you saw him.

He scoffed and tried to brush it off, though. As much as he loved to hear your praise, he respectfully disagreed with your assessment of his college self. Sure, if it had been up to him then, he would’ve been ecstatic to meet you a lot sooner, but God knew what he was doing making Ari wait all this time.

“Nah, I was a bit of a punk. And I wasn’t ready then to meet someone like you, but I think I’m ready now.” It was true. Right when Ari met you was when his world started spinning, but he wouldn’t have been able to handle it as the immature, reckless, and restless young delinquent he was.

“I definitely wasn’t doing humanitarian work like you. Trust me, Duchess, if you would’ve seen me…let’s just say…I don’t think I would’ve ever gotten the opportunity like now to kiss you every morning with the sunshine. I would’ve blown it pretty early on.”

You shrugged and continued to snap pieces into place with one hand while the other reached for his, pulling it to your lips for a kiss. “Agree to disagree.”

The puzzle was shaping up now, as you worked to slide your solved chunks in towards the middle with Ari. Only a few pieces were left to be placed.

Ari continued to work on the task at hand, but it took a back seat in his mind to the main show that was you. Sure, he loved little activities, but mostly, he just loved you and the time you could spend together. He’d do anything if it meant just stealing another moment.

As you were close to finishing, there were two spots open, but only one puzzle piece left. You stood up, looking on your seat, spinning around to check the floor, and even peeking under the mostly-solved puzzle with no luck.

“Bear, stand up. Do you see the last piece anywhere? Can you please help me find it?”

He stood up and cleared his throat. “Sure thing. It’s gotta be here somewhere. This was a new set. Couldn’t have gone far.”

The two of you looked over every nearby surface, Ari even checking the fridge to see if you’d tracked it into there somehow, and to get himself another drink after looking for the piece at the bottom of his bottle.

Somehow this hunt had turned into a dance, though. Or…more of a hobble?, as Ari had wrapped his arms around your neck, hugging you from behind and resting his head over one shoulder, taking big, goofy, swaying steps with you.

He lived for this. Really. Where had you been all his life? This night was another quotidian moment he wanted to bask in. He felt like it had taken him forever to find the one he wanted to spend forever with, but now that he did, he just wanted time to slow down. He wanted to drag out this night just a little bit longer.

You turned around in his hold, hands rubbing his chest and abs over the old hoodie he wore. Your nails raked up and down, sending tingles to the firm muscles under the plush fabric. Ari held you close, large hands splayed against your lower back. As your hand brushed over the pocket in his sweatshirt, you felt something small and flat with sharp edges.

“Hm, that’s suspicious.” Your head tilted as you looked up at the tree of a man, a sly smile on his face, looking back down at you.

“Oh, Angel, I’m just excited to see you.”

Without breaking eye contact, you reached into the pocket, finding exactly what you’d expected, mouth open in a small gasp of fake shock.

“As much as you wish it were, not everything is about your dick, Levinson.”

You winked and leaned up to kiss his cheek. Ari simply gave a shrug as you shimmied out of his hold and back over to the table, sliding the final puzzle piece into place. This was a mimetic moment for him; a visual representation of what you’d done in his life, and he planned to never let you go.

Next >

Bonus A/N: Bro, a lil sap who thinks the world of me? That’s all I want. Fr Fr.

If you agree, I’d love to hear about it. Drop me a comment or reblog. Thank you for reading!!

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[late-to-the-party-81]

Daddy makes it better

AN: This is a longtime request from the lovely @christwrites. Love you my darling. Here’s something soft with our lovely Daddy Ari.

And look at me, updating two of my series in quick succession!!

Not Beta’d, so I apologise in advance.

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Summary: When work kicks your ass, your Daddy knows just what to do to get you to relax.

Relationship: Ari x Female Reader (Angel)

Word Count: 2.1K

CW: Daddy kink, Soft Dom Ari, Body Worship, Bathing together, Vaginal Fingering, Ari’s chest and thighs

“Angel!” Ari’s deep voice rumbled through the beach house. “Are you here?”

Sometimes you wondered if you’d made a mistake, moving in with Ari so soon after getting together, but on days like this you realised that the reverse was true - that it was the best decision you’d ever made.

You raised your head from the pillow just enough so you could let out a loud groan, and then flopped back down, your arms and legs akimbo.You were still in your work clothes and shoes, so exhausted after your stressful day that you’d just thrown yourself down on the bed as soon as you’d got home.

Within a few seconds, you heard a low chuckle from behind you before the mattress dipped under Ari’s weight. You felt him place his large hand on your head and when he started to stroke your hair you immediately began to relax.

“That bad, huh?”

“The worst,” you mumbled into the bedclothes, before you turned onto your side and made grabby hands at your massive bear of a boyfriend. With a smirk on his face he lay down next to you and pulled you into the circle of his arms. You immediately tucked your head under his chin, burying your nose in his neck, and inhaled the calming scent that was uniquely ‘Ari’.

“My office is so cheap. It’s clear that not only do we need updated software, but hardware too, but they just keep insisting that it isn’t cost effective. However, when I lost my spreadsheet for the third time today I just wanted to fling the goddamn computer out of the window. And then Janice…”

“We hate her, don’t we?” Ari interjected, questioningly.

“Yeah, we do,” you confirmed before continuing, “Janice helpfully came over and made a comment about how I should just ‘save’ more often, like I don’t have autosave turned on. I’m the one who taught her…”

“Taught her keyboard shortcuts, yes. You might have mentioned it once or twice,” he teased, completely used to your work-related rants by now. “What I’m hearing is that my Angel needs to have a relaxing evening, so how about I go and run us both a bath and then after that we can get takeout and snuggle?”

You lifted your head and dropped a kiss to his lips. “Sounds perfect, Daddy.” It was easy to slip into the headspace of being Ari’s pampered princess.

“Anything for you, baby girl.” 

He rose from the bed and in a deft move that made you squeal with laughter, he lifted you up in his arms, returning your kiss with one of his own. Then, in a few strides of his long, powerful legs, he walked through to the bathroom and placed you down on the marble bench that ran the length of one of the walls. You watched as he lit a bunch of candles and set the bath to run, giggling as he picked up each of your bottles of bath bubbles in turn and sniffed them carefully, like a sommelier selecting the right wine for a meal.

Once he’d made his decision and poured a generous amount into the water along with a handful of rose petals, Ari turned back to you and dropped to kneel in front of you. You felt your cheeks heat with the care this hulk of a man was giving you. He lifted each of your feet in turn and pulled off the shoes that you’d been too tired to remove yourself, tucking them carefully under the bench. He then urged you to stand, and his broad hands skimmed up your thighs and under your skirt, gently tugging down your pantyhose. He tossed them over his shoulder and threw you a wink for comedic effect, before turning you so he could pull down the delicate zipper of your skirt. As the fabric fell away, you felt him brush a kiss across the small of your back, his beard prickling your skin through the thin fabric of your panties, and you couldn’t help but shiver. When you turned back to face him, you could see the darkened expression in his eyes, and despite your lethargy, you felt the initial curls of lust start to build in your belly.

Ari’s fingers worked over the small buttons of your blouse next, undoing them from bottom to top, and he pressed more reverent kisses to your body as each patch of skin was revealed to him. The giant tease that he was, he bypassed your breasts, only deigning to worship the upper swell of them, although his beard did rub lightly over your nipples as he did so. He gently unclasped your bra, drawing the straps down your arms, and smiling as you let out a sigh of relief as it was removed.

“You know,” he said, a teasing note to his voice, “that if you gave up work and let me look after you as you deserve, you’d never have to wear a bra again.”

You rolled your eyes. He kept bringing this up, and you knew he’d be more than happy to support you living a life of leisure if you so desired, but he also knew that for the most part you enjoyed your work, and would feel guilty if you became his kept woman. He liked to remind you it was an option though, especially when you had days like this.

“Tempting,” you replied with a smile. “But someone has to keep Janice in her place.”

Ari slid your panties down your legs, and pressed another kiss to the very top of your mound, while looking up at you from under his sinfully long eyelashes. God, he was going to be the death of you. You stepped out of your underwear and Ari discarded them with the rest of your clothes, before standing and making quick work of his own clothing. You didn’t even try to hide your ogling as he revealed inch after inch of firm, sun-kissed skin.

“It’s rude to stare, baby,” he chastened you, but you just took your lower lip between your teeth and stepped forwards. You placed your hands on his chest and scrapped the blunt tips of your nails over the thick coating of hair covering his pecs.

“It’s only rude if I don’t promise to do something about it later,” you replied coyly, and you felt his cock, thick and heavy, twitch against your thigh.

“Touché. But let’s have our bath first and get you all relaxed and taken care of.”

He stepped over the side of the tub and held out his hand to help you do the same. At the feel of the warm water lapping around your legs, you let out a decadent moan, causing Ari to smirk. The pair of you sank down, with you finding your place between his thick thighs and your back pressed to his chest. You let your head rest against his shoulder as he picked up the sponge, added some body wash, and started to soap up your arms. He loved to take care of you like this, and who were you to deny him.

The bath started out fairly innocently, Ari requesting you to raise your legs in turn so he could wash them, and asking you to lean forward so he could get to your back, but after that things started to heat up. As soon as the soapy sponge made its way over your breasts your nipples pebbled and you heard Ari’s low growl rumble in his chest as he watched them stiffen. When he brushed over them a second time, you didn’t even try to hold back your sudden intake of breath. 

Ari lifted the sponge in the air and squeezed it, sending a shower of water over your chest that was then followed by a cloud of soapy bubbles that dropped down in clumps to land on your skin with wet splats. With his free hand your boyfriend drew patterns across your skin in the white foam, swirling the tip of his finger around each of your nipples in turn so he could watch them pucker and feel you squirm against him.

“Ari…” you whined, but he apparently wasn’t having any of it.

“Nah-ah, Angel. That’s not my name, is it?”

You huffed at his teasing tone, but when he decided to tweak your nipple in retaliation you arched up into his touch and cried out.

“Daddy!”

“That’s better, baby girl. You want Daddy to take care of you? Make you feel good?” He abandoned the sponge, which floated for a moment before sinking to the bottom of the tub, and rested his hand on your stomach, fingers splayed and curling gently into your soft skin.

“Please Daddy!” You turned your head so your lips could mouth at his throat and you shifted your hips, trying to rub against his partially chubbed up cock where it was wedged between you. Ari stopped playing with your breasts so he could tilt your head up and bring his lips to yours. He kissed you slowly and deeply, the hand on your abdomen moving lower to push your folds apart and cup your sex. 

Your hands found the tops of his thighs, and you gripped the firm muscle to anchor yourself as his tongue pushed its way into your willing mouth, just as one of his fingers pressed inside your pussy. The whine you let out seemed to spur him on, and he pumped his finger slowly in and out of your channel as he relinquished his gentle grip on your chin to return to stimulating your breasts.

Needing more air, you pulled your mouth from his and panted and moaned into his neck.

“That’s it, Angel,” he encouraged with a drawl. “Let Daddy hear you.” He pressed a second finger inside you and placed his thumb over your clit, and the pitch of your sounds increased in response. Your hips rocked of their own volition, causing the water in the tub to roll like the tide, some of it spilling over the sides. However, you didn’t care. In fact you barely noticed, as your eyelids drooped and you observed what little you could see of Ari from between narrowed eyes.

You were getting close now, your orgasm building in the pit of your stomach.

“Daddy, I need to come. Please!”

Ari pressed a kiss to the top of your head, the tenderness of the action in stark contrast to how his fingers were playing your body as though it was his own personal instrument.

“You come when you want to, Angel. I’m just here to make you feel good.”

You nodded against his throat and took your lower lip between your teeth again, whining and whimpering as the fingers buried inside you started to press and stroke against your g-spot.

“Always make me feel good, Daddy.”

His thumb rubbed circles over your clit as you rocked yourself on his hand, lost to the sensation of pleasure coursing through your body. When your orgasm came it washed over you like a warm ocean breeze, making you tense for a moment before you fell lax against Ari’s torso. When he pulled his fingers from you, you turned to straddle his lap and nuzzle up against his hairy chest, his cock trapped between you, pressing against your sensitive pussy.

You heard him chuckle indulgently before he gathered you in his arms and stood straight up, letting all of the water cascade off the pair of you. Somehow he managed to snag a towel and wrap it around your shoulders so you wouldn’t get cold as he walked back through to the bedroom and deposited you on the bed.

As he laid you down you clung to him and tried to grind against his erection.

“Daddy! I need… you haven’t…” 

“It’s okay, baby girl. I’m alright. That was just for you. You deserved it after such a difficult day. You stay here and I’ll be right back. We’re gonna snuggle and enjoy our takeout, and if you want to return the favour later, you can, but no pressure. You know I like to take care of you, Angel. Now, do you want Thai or Mexican?”

As you pondered the choice, you thanked whichever deity had seen fit to make Ari notice you that first day and for all of the things that had come since. You were so lucky to have found a man as perfect as him.

“I love you, Ari.”

“And I love you too, Angel.”

Tag list: @christywrites, @alexakeyloveloki, @doasyoudesireandlive, @goldylions, @crayongirl-linz, @km-ffluv, @wheezy-stucky, @mrs-illyrian-baby