#sleep consultant near me

[katiekovaleski]

Why Hiring a Paediatric Sleep Coach is the Key to Restful Nights

In this Blog by Katie Kovaleski, we'll look at why engaging a paediatric sleep coach may be a game changer for your child's health and the happiness of your entire family.

[littledarlinghush]

Best Pediatric Sleep Doctors in UK

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[nebulaafterdark]

The Succession (Part 2)

Summary: After the battle of Rook’s Rest, Queen Y/N is forced to rule alongside Prince Regent Aemond, in an attempt to keep her children safe and eventually seat her mother, Rhaenyra, on the throne. While attending her husband, on what appears to be his deathbed, she begins to unravel the dark truth of his near passing.

Aegon Targaryen x Velaryon(Strong)!Reader

Part 1

Y/N wakes to a knock at the door. Rubbing sleep from her eyes, she sits upright. Aegon is still there, unmoving beside her. “Come.”

“Good morrow, your grace.” Her lady in waiting, Chérie, bows her head upon entry; a powder blue gown draped over one arm. “You must break your fast.”

“What ungodly hour is it?” The Queen grumbles, stretching both arms above her head.

“Nearly midday, my Queen.”

Y/N nods, taking her hand. “I need a favor of you.”

“A bath?” Chérie smirks.

Y/N stares down at herself, nightgown stained with blood and gods know what else. She huffs a laugh, “that as well.”

“I will ready the tub.”

“Chérie?”

“Are you seeking comfort, your grace?” She has lost her grandmother and her husband’s good health, “I could tend you.”

“No.” Y/N stares down at her hands.

“Forgive me for assuming.” She takes a step back, “I only want to help.”

Y/N moves forward, closing the space between them. “It was kind of you, Chérie. I appreciate your devotion, more than you know. There is something different I need of you.”

“Name it.”

“You know things…I must know them.”

“What is it you need know?” Chérie wonders.

“The truth of what happened at Rook’s Rest. I do not pretend to understand Aegon’s motivations. Gods willing, I may be able to ask him one day. But for now, I need know what befell him. Cole dances around it, the Hightowers will never be truthful with me.”

“Is there anything you do know? A talking point that might be of use as I consult the servants?” Chérie wonders.

Y/N leans in. “Helaena and Aemond stood at the foot of his bed last night. She asked if it was worth the price. Aemond denied any knowledge of what she meant. Still, Helaena does not speak to cause upset, she speaks when she has something to say. If he’s done this…the whole of our line may be in danger.”

Chérie sighs, “somedays I am glad to’ve been born a commoner.”

“For that I do not fault you.” Y/N forces a smile.

Chérie steals a glance at the king. “Will he live?”

“We’ve no way of knowing. I pray to the gods for his recovery, but it is a long road. He will never be as he was, so long as he lives, it matters naught to me.”

————————————————————————

“There’s been word from King’s Landing.”

Rhaenyra’s head snaps up.

“Aegon has fallen, the stranger looms over his head. With Vhagar weakened in the attack, now is the time to act.”

“And what of my daughter?” The Queen ticks a finger against the table. “Has she been spotted since Aegon’s coronation?”

“We believe the princess lives, your grace. But upon second hand testimony, smallfolk in the streets, we cannot say for certain.”

“What was she doing?” Rhaenyra wonders, “my girl, when they saw her in the streets?”

The lords look to each other, “she marched beside the carriage with Aegon’s body.”

“That is proof enough. I must send word to her, she cannot think we have turned our backs on her. With Aegon gone, she may very well be Aemond’s next attempt.” Rhaenyra is sick over it.

“You must trust, as we have, that Aegon will care for her.”

“He cannot care for her, upon his deathbed. Should he pass, we leave her to whom? Aemond and Alicent? She will be put to the sword.” Rhaenyra shakes her head.

“Meleys was our largest dragon, your grace.” Ser Alfred reminds her.

“Which is why I must go.”

“You cannot, my Queen. You are the crown.”

“I will go.” Jacaerys fists the hilt of his sword.

“No,” Rhaenyra scoffs. “It is out of the question. You will be taken or slain.”

“Would you rather my sister or me?” Jace squares his shoulders. “Those are your choices.”

————————————————————————-

Y/N forces her meal down, spending the evening in her children’s rooms.

“Mama,” Visera calls to her, “I’ve made something for father.”

“I helped!” Dahlia chimes in. “Laenor wanted to, but he rubbed his hands all over it. The painting was nearly ruined.”

“Say it isn’t so, my loves.” Y/N lifts her eldest son onto her hip. “Shall I kiss his head off?”

“Yes.”

“Do it.”

Y/N smiles, peppering Laenor’s sweet face with kisses as he squeals, thrashing wildly in her hold.

Dahlia and Visera giggle, entertained for the moment.

“And you, my prince, best have learned your lesson.” Y/N says, releasing her son onto the floor.

He scampers away, still screeching with glee.

“Mother?” Dahlia tugs at her mother’s skirts.

“Yes, my darling?”

“When will we see father?”

Y/N sighs, “come, sit with me.” She pats the cushions on either side of her.

Her daughters look to each other, then join her on the settee.

“Do you remember what Papa told you about sickness? How it is a war we wage alone, within our bodies?”

“Is he ill?”

“Not exactly,” Y/N explains, “nevertheless, his body is at war now. Battling to repair itself from great wounds, some we cannot see. Every hour, he is fighting his way back to us. But he must remain abed for now, in a state of sleep.”

“May we watch him sleep?” Visera wonders.

“I fear you might be saddened by it.”

“Why, Mama?”

“He looks a bit different, on the outside. But on the inside he is the same.” Y/N says, fighting for composure, “we mustn’t touch him, lest we cause more pain. And it is hard to keep our distance, when all we truly want is to wrap him in an embrace.”

“Mayhaps when we see him, we might hold each other instead.”

Y/N looks to her eldest daughter. “On the morrow, after his bandages are changed, I will bring you. And if it is too much for you, there is no shame in saying so. We love him dearly and he knows it.”

“That is what matters, I think.” Visera says, “if I were waging war, I would want to know someone loved me.”

————————————————————————

Y/N sneaks down to the kitchens for a bit of cake, heading to Aegon’s apartments to eat it. The doors open onto Aemond, leaning over Aegon’s body.

“What are you doing?” She has no weapon, if she’s to kill him now, it will be with her bare hands or a serving spoon.

Aemond turns to her, with sly smile. “My brother was asking for you. He woke in pain, I was merely supplying him with milk of the poppy.”

Y/N forces her mouth to turn upward, “very kind of you, I thank you for looking in on him.”

Aemond nods, setting the empty cup on the bedside table. “Of course.”

“When he asked for me, what did he say?” She wonders, lying her plate of cake beside it.

“Only your name.”

Y/N nods.

“You have been a good and faithful wife to him. Aegon is blessed to have you.”

“Aemond,” Y/N breathes, “might I ask you something?”

His eye flickers about her, “of course, sweet niece.”

“What do you think was his undoing?” She motions to Aegon, “if you had to say?”

“Vanity…pride.”

“It would be suited,” Y/N forces the awful words past her lips, “for someone to take that from him.”

“You should not say such things, my Queen. The thought alone is truly depraved.”

“Of course, forgive me.”

“What befell my brother is nothing short of a tragedy.” Aemond purrs, “you must keep your wits about you.”

“Were they locked in battle?” Y/N asks, “when my grandmother gave Meleys the order?”

Aemond purses his lips, “when dragons fly to war, it is men who burn. Aegon is not the first, he will not be the last. You should be grateful he returned to you.”

“I have lost a brother to war.” Y/N says, as if he needs reminding. “I know its cruelty.”

“A shame, indeed.” Aemond hums.

“I hope it was worth the price.”

“Y/N.” Alicent calls, “Aemond, what are you doing here?”

The prince looks to his mother, “I was merely checking in on our king.”

“You are kind to do so,” Alicent swallows, “as his wife is now here, you are relieved of said duty. Unless you wish the three of us to hold vigil.”

“Perhaps another time, mother.” Aemond nods, “I’ve more pressing matters to attend.” He brushes past them, closing the door to Aegon’s bedchamber behind him.

“What were you thinking?” Alicent demands, in a hushed whisper. “My son pleads for your life and you stand here tempting the very man who-”

“The very man who what?” Y/N dares her to say it. “Killed my brother? Or are you referring to some other atrocity I am not privy to?”

“Your children are in danger, my grandchildren, let me help you.” Alicent reaches for her.

Y/N bats her hand away, “don’t you touch me! My children are in danger because of you.”

“You know what Aemond is.” Kinslayer. Alicent swallows, hard. “My only concern is keeping you safe. What is to stop him from taking out the whole of Aegon’s line to make room for his own? The smallfolk riot in the streets, demanding we open the gates. Even they wish to flee, it is all going to ruin. They need to see you.”

“They will see me as you parade my body through the streets after my murder, not a moment before. I will not betray my mother or her claim.”

“I am not asking you to stand against Rhaenyra, I am asking you to stand for my son. Before it is too late. You owe him this. You forced him onto that saddle as much as I forced him upon the throne.”

“I?” Y/N snaps, “I am the one you blame for this? You think I would have my husband reduced to ash over a fucking chair?”

Alicent presses her lips together, “all Aegon has done is in your name. He rose and he fell for you alone.”

“I wanted this to be peaceful, you know. I truly did and my mother did, then again and again I was taken for a fool.”

“Aegon loves you. He went to meet Rhaenys for you, in hopes of creating new terms with your mother. Mayhaps others have used you, like a pawn to carry out their own agenda, but not Aegon. He never plotted, he never wavered, even in his condition, you are the agenda.”

“And I love him for it, but please know I did not ask him to meet with her. I would have gone myself rather than risk his life. That is why I have not fled, or stole away with my children to Dragonstone. Aegon is equally important to me.”

“You must ready yourself then, in the color of our house.”

“No,” Y/N narrows her eyes, “this is for my husband, who hangs precariously in the balance of life and death. I will attend this procession in the color of mourning, not Hightower green.”

————————————————————————

In the absence of Daemon, Rhaenyra turns to Mysaria for counsel. “You know the ins and outs of King’s Landing better than any. I need an in.”

“Criston Cole made a mistake, parading a dragon’s head through the streets, like a prize of war. The people see an ill omen.” Mysaria tells her.

“Yes, as do I.”

“They are afraid, bread is scarce. The king has fallen, they whisper to each other that when Viserys lived there was peace.” They question the succession.

“But will whispers tear down stone? Break shields?” Save my daughter?

“Do not underestimate them, to the discontented, rumors are feed.” Mysaria continues. “What you cannot do, let others to do for you. There is more than one way to fight a war.”

Part 3

Series Taglist: @oh-you-mean-me @barnes70stark @lovelyteenagebeard @niyahnotnia @narwhal-swimmingintheocean

[koolades-world]

Demons and Humans not understanding each other

Inspired by several other posts I read about this same thing <3 honestly even if the brothers insisted it was safe, I would consult Satan, Lucifer or Barbatos

this is mostly mammon freaking out

Humans think the deadliest things are like, adorable, like Cerberus. Mammon especially does not understand why Mc wants to run towards the very dangerous, very mad three headed dog. A few times he has had to throw Mc over his shoulder to keep them from staying behind

“MC CERBERUS BEING THE BEST BOY DOES NOT JUSTIFY HIS ACTIONS HE WANTS TO KILL US”

“But he’s so cute! He just needs a snuggle buddy”

Humans can also be very stubborn if they’re too hot or cold but refuse to admit it. It’s fine with Lucifer does it because he’s one of the most powerful and therefore resilient demons in Hell, but not so much when Mc does it. Beel and Mammon love playing in the Devildom snow, but given that it’s the Devildom, it’s definitely a lot colder than it is in the human realm. Even after ten layers, Mc is still freezing but refuses to admit it.

“Mc, are ya shivering? I thought ya would be too warm under all that”

“I’m sweating with this one jacket”

“I’ll live! Let’s go back to the snowman”

“no I don’t think you will”

On the same note, sometimes demons forget humans can’t withstand crazy temperatures. Asmo will invite Mc to a popular bathhouse, sauna or hot springs, forgetting that the temperature would literally boil Mc alive

“Hey Asmo this is the place you wanted to go, right?”

“Yes! Isn’t is cute?”

“Everything except the part where I boil alive”

“what!”

Some foods can kill humans just by being near them so imagine how the brother would feel when they learned this, it’s giving that lunatic pudding incident with Diavolo from that one card

“Mc! You’ll love this. Open wide!”

“Asmo I feel funny”

“DO NOT FEED MC THE TAKEOUT LUCIFER SAID ITS DEADLY FOR HUMANS IN LARGE AMOUNTS”

“FUCK NOT AGAIN”

In retrospect, humans probably sleep a lot compared to demons. Some demons probably don’t sleep at all, except Sloth demons. Setting aside about eight to nine hours of the day just to sit idly might not make sense to them until they learn they will shut down without it

“How are you feeling about the exam we just took? Exam week is finally over.”

“Mc? Mc, Satan is talking to you. Why are you on the floor”

“MY HUMAN IS DEAD”

“No, I think they’re just asleep idiot”

“oh. wait, THEYRE ASLEEP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HALL lucifer is gonna kill me”

I’d say both demons and humans are social creatures, but humans will go insane without social interaction. Yeah a demon would probably be upset if they didn’t talk to someone for thousands of years but I don’t think a human could last more than ten without losing grip on reality. Humans tend to copy each other, which is probably bizarre to demons. Humans don’t even understand yawning so demons definitely won’t

Going back to the food thing, demons can probably go ages without eating, besides Gluttony demons. Humans need to eat so frequently compared to them

“So you’re tellin’ me that if Mc doesn’t eat for a whole week, their insides start to eat themselves?!”

“Yes. But, Mc ate a few hours ago.”

(Mammon was already gone when Satan turned back around)

Demons probably also play game that would definitely kill humans. My brother and I used to play crazy games when we were little (our favorite game didn’t have a name but we would put Barbies in the toy train tracks and see what would happen when different Thomas and friends character would hit her. The train tracks would glow in the dark! I did not let him put my favorite doll in the train track and he had to listen since I was the older one, she was not a barbie and had bendy feet? that’s not for now) but we never seriously got at each other throats. I cannot imagine what games demons and demon children must play. Satan was born fully grown but imagine if he was born little and the brothers had to play his favorite games with him. I feel like they would find the Barbie game I played a little weird too. Like, they would probably tell me that I should’ve done it in real life since that would be better experience or something batshit like that

“Aww, Satan, do you remember all the times we played “Five minute eye stab” with Lucifer? You were so cute. Sometimes I think Luci let you win.”

“Do not talk to me Asmodeus.”

“I’m sorry, you played what?”

“One time we gave him an actual knife by accident and since he was good, he ended up stabbing Lucifer’s eye.”

“You’ll be next if you don’t shut up and let me read”

“HE WHAT”

“Oh he’s fine now, clearly. Only took him a few hundred years to regain normal eye functions”

“Can we not talk about this anymore?”

Babe it is a miracle Mc is still alive

[vickyvicarious]

"He is young and strong; there are kisses for us all."

May 16

"He is so young and strong and of blood so pure that we need not defibrinate it."

September 8

Thinking about this echo, and the way Lucy and the suitors + Van Helsing provide a kind of opposing force to Jonathan and the vampire ladies + Dracula.

In both cases, we have the young, appealing innocent who is soon to be married and has entered a new phase of their life (Jonathan/Lucy). Both have an older foreign man become very interested in them and very fond of them in their own way (Dracula/Van Helsing). Both have three 'admirers' who want to 'love' them (vampire ladies/suitor squad).

Of course, noting this is nothing new. Plenty of people (and I myself) have pointed out these and other parallels between all these individuals. But I want to go a little farther with it today.

A vampire's 'love' is one of corruption and consumption. Jonathan was held captive in Dracula's castle, and forced against his will to adopt a largely nocturnal schedule*; he had to adapt in this and many other ways to his captor's way of life. The vampires had him in their control from the start, and he had to behave in certain ways to please Dracula lest he suffer consequences of his displeasure. Dracula was extremely possessive of Jonathan, right up until he wasn't going to be around anymore, and then he was happy to throw him aside for the others to devour. Despite this 'sharing', he and the vampire women are at odds and dismissive of one another (he spends most of his time shooing them away from Jonathan, they scoff at and mock him), and whatever love may have been there in the past is clearly long gone.

Human love is one of dedication and trust. The suitors (and later Van Helsing) all come to Lucy. Both initially, in visiting her to make their proposals at her house, and then later on coming to her home when she is ill; they come to her side when she is in need, and they drop what they're doing to adapt to her. When Lucy has to turn two suitors down, she feels awful about not being able to please them all, but each of them emphasizes that they don't hold it against her at all, and they will remain devoted to her friendship. None of them are possessive of her. (Admittedly, Van Helsing does somewhat frequently work to keep Lucy's loved ones apart from her, ushering Arthur away or drugging her to sleep when he's there; but he also invites them to come and help her with their transfusions.) Arthur, the one she has chosen at the exclusion of the other suitors, is notable for being especially welcoming to the others. It is on his behest that both Jack and Quincey arrive to help Lucy in the first place, and he is extremely grateful for and welcoming of their efforts in that vein (pardon the pun):

"Young miss is bad, very bad. She wants blood, and blood she must have or die. My friend John and I have consulted; and we are about to perform what we call transfusion of blood—to transfer from full veins of one to the empty veins which pine for him. John was to give his blood, as he is the more young and strong than me"—here Arthur took my hand and wrung it hard in silence—"but, now you are here, you are more good than us, old or young, who toil much in the world of thought. Our nerves are not so calm and our blood not so bright than yours!"

And this quote brings me to the next detail I find so interesting. In order to finally escape alive, Jonathan turns many of Dracula's tricks against him. Just to name a few, he does things such as: wall-climbing, sneaking around while Dracula is asleep, stealing Dracula's belongings. There are a lot of reversals between them in the last few days, both in Jonathan's explorations and his attack on Dracula. He's 'fighting fire with fire', so to speak, and it works to get him out of the castle. Later on, we see even more of this when he is hunting Dracula down near the end of the book.

He's far from the only person to do such a thing. Dracula himself is very deliberately doing this sort of thing throughout much of the book, from imitating Jonathan in the Castle to innovating ways to work around old vampiric limitations. And Mina is of course a whole example on her own of weaponizing the enemy's own tools against him. But so is this Van Helsing + suitor squad group in a really interesting way. Even Lucy herself, though due to circumstances, she's not the most intentional/active participant in doing so. Let's look back at that quote above again. Van Helsing says that Lucy "wants blood, and blood she must have" - in order to stop her from becoming a supernatural vampire, instead they willingly perform a sort of medical vampirisim. Here we once again see the contrast between modernity and the supernatural, and interestingly, how they overlap to cross purposes.

Dracula takes Lucy's blood away. Van Helsing (by proxy at first) gives it back. Dracula wants Lucy to become a vampire, and drink the blood of those around her. Van Helsing, in giving her transfusions, enables her to drink in their blood in order to prevent her from becoming a vampire. The three vampire women wanting to gang up on Jonathan and drain him of his strength. The three suitors join together to take turns sacrificing their own strength in order to supply Lucy with more when she's in need of it.

Dracula wants her to take, just as he and the vampire women do. In fact, almost everything he does to turn her involves depriving her of things: restful sleep, blood, eventually her mother. But in her friends, Lucy is surrounded by people who love her and give freely, and this saves her (at least temporarily). They all work together and love one another in a way deeply at odds with Dracula and other vampires' form of consumptive 'love'.

And so their vampiric actions of transferring blood between bodies are life-saving instead of life-taking. Jack and Van Helsing even remember a version which is all the more a mimic of vampiric body language and leans way into the vampire-as-disease metaphor, with the reference to the time Jack sucked "from [Van Helsing's] wound so swiftly the poison of the gangrene" - it's got the mouth on skin, the sucking, but it's taking away illness rather than infecting someone. It also fosters a long-standing dedication and love, which in turn lends itself to the saving of someone else. This too ties in to the way vampiric love isolates, while human love connects.

* Lucy, meanwhile, in fighting against her terrible dreams, often attempts to be awake at night and is unable to do so. A more nocturnal schedule would make her safer, since her sleeping state is where Dracula has the most influence over her.

[glossysoap]

(Quick rant—I’m sorry but I have to get this off of my chest. Pls ignore it if it bothers you)

Welp my whole street is flooded and I’m stressing myself bc I have an important appointment tomorrow and I can’t cancel it without paying the full price of the consultation. I also can’t really use any public traffic because most of the streets are shut down. It’s really bad in my district bc we have a big river near us and it’s overflowing so there’s also the fear of black outs and such. I’m okay but I haven’t had a wink of sleep and am literally on survival mode. (Istg this week can’t get any worse🫠)

Anyways to cope I was just thinking of firefighters 141. Just big burly men helping reader evacuate a certain area but reader is too stubborn and wants to get to their car bc they have important things in it and can’t risk loosing everything. And reader is just so devastated that the firemen 141 take care of them til they get relocated. Having reader hanging around the base and like a strange bond starts blossoming. The 141 firemen get so used to reader being there that they are reluctant on letting them go.

Anyways; To cut a long story short—Reader just gets comforted by big burly firefighters.

I hope atleast your week isn’t half as bad, Glossy. It’s always a treat to see your posts. Love u🫶

oh my god anon??? i’m so sorry that’s terrible!! you can’t catch a break 😭

i really hope things get better for you!!!

ohhhh SAVE ME big burly sweaty musky strong ass men SAVE ME. (forgive me, this took on more of a ‘they rescue you from a fire’ type of a thing but it’s not very specific so it’s still very much up to interpretation)

nah bc somehow i would have it end in a gangbang. a poly relationship for sure. maybeeee they see you at a bar later that night after rescuing you and they take you back to their place? that they all share of course because. poly.

like it’s not even dirty at first, they just genuinely wanted to talk to you again bc they were concerned after seeing you earlier.

somehow it ends with them all splitting you open on their cocks, in their spacious bed.

it’s not rough per se. it’s heated and passionate but not really rough.

price would be fucking you first and last. like always, captain’s dibs.

soap and gaz are laid on either side of you, watching price fold you in half. watching the tension in your face melt away, watching your eyes become dazed and your tongue lolling out.

simon took place near your head, letting you lay your head in his lap. he watched price’s body cast a shadow over yours as he pounds into your tight cunt, pulling you apart and yanking every shred of stress out of you.

“you’re alright, doll. everything’s alright now. it’s all over. there you go, let yourself go for us.” price murmurs against your lips, all warm and comforting as you feel your first orgasm of the night wash over you.

[drsbutmakeitspicy]

Got some more sad news today, so y'all know what it means

Have some brain vomit - I didn't proof read this so I'm sorry for any mistakes

What about a Carcar fic:

Future au

Single dad!Carlos

Carlos retires in 202x cause he didn't find a seat, everyone had hopes he would come back but he didn't

After a couple of years he is back but as something in McLaren, since Ferrari didn't want anything to do with him anymore and Zak always had the doors open for Carlos.

He doesn't go to a lot of races, mostly stays working in the MTC as a consultant or intern job or any office work

Carlos appears in some marketing videos, as Carlando brings views and watching him and Oscar get extra competitive is always funny

He has a daughter only McLaren crew knows about, Lando is always begging him "This picture of us is so cute! C'mon Carlos let me post it ! No one will know who she is! They will think it's a little fan or maybe one of my nieces!"

The answer is always "No. I want to keep her safe." Still he ask for the pictures so he can save them.

Most times when Lando 'steals her' while Carlos is busy (with his approval) she endup in the care of Oscar, Lando doesn't know what to do when she cries and just pass her over since Oscar calms her down, Oscar who grew up with 3 sisters and knows exactly how to take care of a baby, Oscar who plays and talks with her sweetly but can also tell her no when needed, same Oscar who sometimes can be found inside Carlos office napping with Lando and the little girl on his chest in the kid mat on the corner. (Carlos wakes Lando up first to tell him they will both hear a lot from Andrea for sleeping during work. "Why you never wake Oscar first?" "He sleeps like the dead"

Carlos feels lucky to have both of them, he is a single parent but doesn't think it's fair to leave his baby girl with a nanny all the time. He doesnt bring her everyday, his sister is living near by and suggested to look after her 2 times or more a week "She needs to interact with other kids close to her age." Blanca is right.

His nephew and nieces love his baby girl and it sure helps her learn new stuff

Oscar always point out new things she does and how she is probably copying her cousins "She will be the smartest girl of pre school" the Aussie says while spinning around with her in his arms to a baby tune playing on Oscar's phone while she giggles

And Carlos tries his best to school his expression, tries not to let his gaze focus so much os the Aussies face, he is completely fucked, he has a crush Oscar.

[strwberri-milk]

What if reader had trouble sleeping and it got to the point where he started to hallucinate? What do they do and think for Thoma, Childe, and (separately). Thank you

i got your other ask about the pronouns so dw!! also i was really worried this would happen to me bc i also went through a period of time where i literally just Could Not Sleep and it was acc so fucking miserable lol

Thoma notices right away that you're not sleeping well. Despite how busy his day is he does try to get to sleep at a reasonable time and the aversion that you start to develop towards sleep doesn't go unnoticed by him.

He hopes that it's a one off thing the first time he notices it but when you wake up repeatedly with bags under your eyes and the inability to even take a nap he starts getting more concerned.

When he starts noticing the abnormal symptoms you're starting to have he can't help but get even more concerned. He broaches the subject with you after consulting a few people, wanting to make sure he's got the right idea before approaching you with possible solutions.

He sits you down with an herbal tea and some pills you haven't seen before, tired eyes barely able to focus on him. You try to tell him that you need to try and get some sleep or else you won't hear a thing he's saying but once he confronts you about being unable to sleep you can't help but break down.

He holds you as you explain what's been happening to the best of your ability, asking if the tea and drugs were meant to help. He nods and you gratefully take a sip as he explains that it's basically a mild sedative that should hopefully knock you out.

It does as he expects and he basically becomes your personal nurse, telling you to go back to sleep whenever you wake up and hoping that you can make up for all the hours you've missed like this. He makes sure you take it easy for the next little while, taking some time off work to stay home with you.

Childe doesn't notice right away that you can't sleep because his own hours are odd. He's just been assuming that you nap whenever he's gone from home or something.

It's not until you're practically swaying on your feet or saying something nonsensical that he realises something is wrong. Unfortunately, you bear some resemblance to some of the experiments Dottore would tout around and Childe is adamant to make sure that you don't get anywhere near that bad.

He sits you down and asks you what's wrong the next time he sees you, brows furrowed as you try to brush off his concerns. It takes him no time to get it out of you, telling you that he doesn't want you to hide it from him and to just be honest. When you finally tell him what's been happening he's glad that at least there's a solution he can easily figure out.

He starts helping you sleep, going to get you some medication just in case you need the extra support. He'll take the next little bit off to make sure he can monitor your sleeping, making sure that you're sleeping through the night and staying active in the day to make you tired enough to sleep at night.

[katiekovaleski]

Reasons to hire a Baby Sleep Specialist by Katie Kovaleski

[mikachacha]

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚆𝚊𝚢 𝙸 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚈𝚘𝚞 (𝙱𝚊𝚍𝚊 𝙻𝚎𝚎 𝚡 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛)

Synopsis: It has been months since you and Bada called it quits when you found out that she has been seeing Redy behind your back. Moving on was hard, but you're slowly getting there. Meanwhile Bada, despite being with Redy, began realizing that it was a stupid mistake to leave you like that.

Warnings: language, angst, some drama, mentions of cheating

(A/N: so this is the part two for Traitor because i feel sorry for u guys 🥺🥺)

𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝙾𝚗𝚎 | 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚃𝚠𝚘

����💮🌸💮🌸💮🌸💮🌸💮🌸💮🌸💮🌸💮🌸💮🌸

Bada tossed and turned as she tried to sleep but she couldn't. Every time she closes her eyes, all she could think is you. It has been a few months since you two split and the guilt she felt from doing what she did is eating her alive. Yeah, she could say that she's happy with Redy but there's a voice at the back of her head saying that she'll be happier if she's with you instead of Redy.

"Bada? Are you okay baby?" Redy asked as she felt how restless Bada is. She noticed that Bada hasn't been herself for quite some time now. Restless and often seemingly in deep thought.

"Yeah. Go back to sleep." Bada replied and decided to get up to get a glass of water to drink. Even when she's in bed beside Redy, all she could think is you. She often thinks about all your silly fights, your craziness.. All the things about you and it's driving her insane. She knows it's impossible but she wants you back.

Meanwhile, you're moving on and meeting new people. You've been going out with Haechi lately and she has been amazing. She's everything Bada is not but despite that, you'd still find yourself thinking about Bada and how everything was so different. You feel bad for Haechi but what were you supposed to do? Chase after Bada when she's happy with Redy?

So when you received a text from Bada, asking if you guys could talk, you immediately consulted with Haechi who just smiled at you and patted you in the head like she always does. You feel so bad because Haechi has been nothing but be wonderful towards you and you just couldn't bring yourself to love her like she deserves.

"Go on, pretty face. I knew from the beginning that you're still in love with Bada and it's okay. Go and talk to her. If ever she breaks your heart again, you can always come back to me. I'm always here for you, Y/N." she says and you couldn't help but cry at her words. Even right now, Haechi is still sweet and kind and you know you don't deserve it. If only you can magically erase all your feelings for Bada and transfer all of it for Haechi, you'll do it in a heartbeat, no questions asked.

You decided to meet with Bada at a café near your apartment. When she saw you, the guilt she felt came to her in ten folds. You still looked beautiful as ever but the shine in your eyes is gone, replaced by sadness that she knew she caused.

"Y/N.." Bada greets as you sat across from her. She already ordered your favorite drink for you which made you a little bit happy since she still remembers.

"What do you want to talk about, Bada?" you asked but didn't meet her gaze because knowing how weak you still are for her, you're just gonna cry and you didn't want that.

Bada sighed and studied you a bit. You're still the very same girl she knew and loved. The girl that put up with all her bullshits and the same girl that she hurt.

"I know that I caused you so much pain and I want to apologize for that. Really, Y/N.. I regret everything I did a few months back. It still haunts me to this day. I thought I would be happy if I got back with Redy but I wasn't. All I could think is you, your laugh, your smiles.. Everything about you.." Bada started and you just balled your fists on your lap. You willed yourself to not cry and just continued listening to her.

"I know you may not be able to forgive me right away because who would, right? But Y/N.. All I want to ask of you is to give me a chance. Give me a chance to earn your forgiveness.. Give me a chance to prove to you that I have changed. I will do anything and everything in my power just so one day, you can find it in your heart to forgive me." Bada says and you took a shaky breath before looking at her. Bada was already crying and it took all the strength you had to not get up and hug her, assure her that everything will be fine like you always did.

"I don't know, Bada.. I don't know what to say or what to think right now. I'm sorry but I don't have any answers for you at this moment.." You said and walked out, going back to your apartment to cry your heart out. You thought you could handle seeing her and talking to her again but you were wrong. It still hurt you.

Bada was left in the café all alone. She wasn't disappointed or anything, she was a bit relieved that she was able to get that off her chest. Even though you didn't give her an answer regarding to her asking for another chance, Bada was determined to keep her words this time. She wouldn't give up on you like how you didn't give up on her until the very last.

Every day, Bada would message you good morning and would have your favorite meals with some flowers delivered to your doorstep or your workplace. She would also often leave voice messages for you and just doing everything she could to ask for your forgiveness, winning you over is just a bonus. You and Haechi also settled to being just friends but she's there whenever you need someone to talk to or a shoulder to cry on. At this point, you're still unsure whether to forgive Bada and let her back in your life or not. The only thing you're sure about is that she's not giving up any time soon.

[streets-in-paradise]

Loving in the Shadows

Troy (2004) Reader insert fanfiction / Achilles x Mycenaean Princess! Reader - Part 24

Word Count 14 K

Warnings: Stalk(ish) behavior, unwanted posessive thoughts driven by anger. Possibly bad geography (I needed it for plot reasons).

Summary: During the absense of men, the women waiting in Ithaca find themselves fearing the presence of a mysterious shape that had apparently managed to abduct the visitant princess.

Playing with the two halfs of himself to keep the locals unsuspectfull, Achilles has secretly returned for his loved one in an improvised visit of uncertain motives driven by longing and a partial awareness of the difficult context she faces as he deals with his feelings regarding it.

Tags: @yerevasunclair @mysticaldeanvoidhorse @spideyanakin @spideyanakin-interacts @awakenedevildays @alaysha-of-middle-earth @zoegarfield @helie-brain

Awakening late in a palace temporally led by women, the young girl discussed with her handmaid the events of the previous night. The tale ended with the details of her talk with the seer. Despite she couldn't be as honest and precise as she would have liked to be, Polydamas was still convinced that her dream had been divine Intervention.

 The maternal aura mixed with marriage related symbology made him suspect it was the work of Hera, but the princess wasn't convinced of that. The approach of the divinity was too humble for the queen of the gods, who would have never accepted to take the form of a deceased mortal that once was a cheater queen. On top of that, it would be expected from Hera to simply deliver strict commands meant to be obeyed instead of testing the suitability for marriage of some mortal girl. 

It didn't make sense, but it wasn't his fault. She wasn't honest with him, or otherwise she would have seen herself forced to tell the great friend of Hector about her feelings for Achilles. He was a seer, but also a rival of her interests who wished to watch her rule Troy. 

Ereny was her best friend and longest term confident, together they could create their own conclusions. 

" isn't it obvious? ... You have survived your first encounter with your mother in law!" Was the girl's conclusion. " Cheer yourself, my friend.  Maybe you won her blessing. " 

The princess stopped searching on her things to decide the dress she wanted to wear that day in order to turn back and face her. 

" The Nereid Thetis ... Do you think it could be her? I suspected it, but I thought it was giving myself too much importance. She is his mother, she wouldn't visit me unless ... " 

The dress she had picked fell on the floor, a sudden surprise made her drop it. 

" ... Unless her son is thinking of making it official" Her friend finished the sentence for her. " Maybe Achilles is one of those men who secretly consult their mothers for everything. Wouldn't that be sweet? He is the most feared greek warrior, but he just has to know what she thinks before taking any big steps ... And maybe he has been telling her all wonderful things about you! He wants her to love you like a daughter because he is so in love with you ... " 

" Or maybe she has heard me talk about him, I have prayed near the sea quite a few times. " The lady corrected. " I don't want to have high hopes yet. " 

Ereny picked the clothes and handed those to her.

" I bet he misses you as much as you miss him. " She sweetly comforted her. " The borrowed clothes you sleep on need washing. " 

The lady chuckled and threw the garment on the bed. 

" I'm very careful ... Of all the times I had it on, only once I was naked underneath. "

The servant girl wheezed and it took her an instant to recover. 

" Behave like a wife washing his clothes. Why wait until being back when it's safer to do it here? " 

She had a great point, in the domains of her relatives she couldn't be seen washing men's clothing that didn't belong to her father and they had a perfect excuse to do the task without delayments.

" Alright, I'm going to offer Polydamas fresh clothes as payment for his services before he could suggest making me go on a date with Hector ... That should be enough to disguise it, trojans wear a lot of blue. "

It was a beautiful day, ideal to spend time outside. With the sun shining so tenderly clothes would dry perfectly and they would have plenty of time for relaxing activities. Penelope had the kindness of offering her a group of her own maids to accompany them and the princess allowed Ereny to select them by herself among her freshly made friendships in the palace. 

Lucky for her, Polydamas was among the trojans that remained in Ithaca while the princes were gone. His insistence regarding her must have upsetted Hector or perhaps he chose to stay because of not being well rested after she woke him up in the middle of the night. The offer for payment surprised him, but he didn't refuse and handed the handmaid the clothes he preferred to get washed. With their baskets full and in a great mood, the girls left the palace searching for the rivershore.

Only then the princess realized that she missed the chance to make connections with noble girls of the area. Meeting the trojans had completely distracted her from that goal and she have been spending more time dealing with problems that didn't concern her than actively helping herself. Perceiving the practical effects of her rank in her interactions with the servants made her realize her mistake. While Ereny moved with complete naturality around them, the maids of Penelope would distance themselves from her. Although understandable, their attitude was making her feel out of place. She was almost like a mere observant of the work they were doing for her.

She missed the disruptiveness of Melantho, that little girl wouldn't doubt in coming to her as a friend careless for sounding improper. Favorite of the queen, she was a slave girl with the mindset of princess somewhat stuck in between the two worlds through her privileged position. Her absolute lack of humility was concerning and could reach annoying límits, but at least she was fun to be around.

The silent humility of the eldests was a boring extreme, guessing that it wouldn't be like that for all the royals they served but the specifical weight of her crown was the cause of the awkwardness. Mycenaeans were guests to handle with caution, even if she had proven to be nicer than the king. Her personal choice of doing the walk to the river instead of requesting for a charriot that the slaves would have to follow on foot already showed she was a grounded woman. However, the bits of her personality they knew weren't enough to make her fully approachable in that particular context.

Waiting for the clothes to dry was going to take forever, not because of the weather but due to the odd interpersonal climate. Despite she insisted on washing the men's clothing by herself, leaving them space to work on some of her dresses, the girls hanged everything all by themselves on the rope they had securely tied from its extremes to two threes. Doing so, they noticed some oddities worthy of being questioned that Ereny couldn't explain.

" Do you happen to know by chance why has Polydamas handed us the clothes of two different men, if your debt is exclusively with him ? " She shamelessly asked her, taking the initative for the group hoping the princess will know how to cover her tracks better than what she could cover for her. " The girls may be a bit shy, but notice details."

Noticing that she wasn't angry when presented with such singular question relaxed them out of their initial fright and at least one of them dared to speak up.

" The seer is not broad shouldered. " Cora pointed out. " Well, he is, but not enough for that. "

The connotations in the comment expressed more than the simple meaning of the words.

" Not at least to nicely fit in that. " Lena added, testing waters with more mischievousness. " I don't doubt the trojans must be formidable warriors, but only Prince Hector has a matching physique."

It was the worst possible guess, but unfortunately a very sensical claim despite being far from the truth.

" Don't slander our new friends, trojans are fascinating." Ereny corrected, trying to deviate the speculation. " They have this weird accent, i think Hesione must have lost a bit of it with the years. It's very thick in some of them and they minspronounce my name but it sounds so fancy. "

The princess chuckled at the observation and followed her.

" Sounds more like Eirini . "

" It's fabulous! " She agreed. " I love it, wish i could keep it."

" I have been told by the man himself that I mispronounce his a little bit sometimes. " The lady confessed. " Specially when I'm angry or just want to piss him off, the continental greek accent makes it a bit stronger. More like Hek-tor, Hektor .... but he said i have a musical tone, so i think he likes it. "

Some of the ithacan maids giggled, slowly loosing the shyness.

" Is that what you want to believe? Fine, I don't mind. " The princess simply replicated. " I have nothing to prove, rumours only increase my fame. Penelope says that if people choose to assume the prince wants me, that will attract good prospects in the country even if it's just to assure the mycenaean throne stays greek."

" You won't find someone better, such man doesn't exist at least in this country. " Lena teased her." I know every greek prince, they all come here sooner or later, and they are all rubbish compared to Hector. If you don't want to marry him … Who are you waiting for, princess? A god to come down and impregnate you? "

It was such a well crafted joke that she couldn't get angry.

" It's hard to tell, I just don't think he is the one. "

An autentical disbelief reigned among them, so great that it compensated for their initial shyness.

" What's left for you to consider?" Clio asked, with surprising honesty. " Your highness, he is the perfect husband! Hector is handsome, brave and strong, but soft tempered when he has to … "

" … Incredibly rich, of a good family and you have already dominated his only brother. " Someone else followed. " He is also the miracle of a man that, having a recognizable advantage as a warrior, still chooses to behave like a polítician when the chance is given to him."

They had made an interesting point. It wouldn't work as intended, but she wanted to admit it was a good one.

" He has the power to get whatever he wants, but chooses not to. " The mycenaean recalled, with certain wonder. " If you put it in that perspective … I have never meet a man like him, that's for sure."

The girls got a bit excited for the wrong reasons and their approbal began to flow inmediately.

" Just for that?" Alaia interrupted, curious judging in her wondering tone. "If you grant us the pleasure, Hector would be one mycenaean king I would gladly kneel for. "

" … The most beautifull brown eyes I have ever seen. " Lena admitted, deep admiration slipping away in her slightly inconected words. " Imagine waking up every morning to find him staring back at you. "

The comment became a startpoint for a full conversation collectively constructing ideas for hours. Sitting in a round where the princess remained as center, the servants were doing their best to tempt her through their own romantic ideals. Unattachable for them, but a believed posibility for her.

Excited girls that didn't turst in her negatory, they believed to be helping her case.

" Horseback ridding through the trojan landscape! " Clio imagined out loud for her. " I bet that would be fantastic. "

" Or watching sunsets on the beach. " Cora corrected her. "That would be so romantic! I have heard their shores are magnificent. "

" Forget the shores! … Princess, think of the wedding night! " Lena shamelessly remarked, making many of the rest giggle. " I can't imagine a better way to spend it than giving yourself to him. Prince Hector respects slave girls, in all his time here he hasn't seeked to sleep with any of us. He must be of the rare kind of man that reserves all his passion for the wife. I bet he would love you like no mycenaean queen has ever been loved. "

A choir of complicit chuckling followed, but she remained unaffected.

" Regarding Hector I have only one curiosity and it is that I want to see his loose hair. "

The strange claim caused a bit of dissapointment, but all the questioning glances were begging her to explain it further.

" He is always wearing that wonderfullly crafted hairstyle, you never see him looking casual. It shows that he can't relax, he can't breathe. The ties are allways there, even if battle gets those a bit loose. "

Her eyes deviated from the group, staring in direction to the river before she would deliver her self reinforced conclussion.

" I don't want to marry him, I don't want to bed him. I just want to untie his hair. Metaphorically, I want to see how a carefree Hector would be like and nothing would change from that. Just two good friends sharing understandment of the represive nature within their roles in a world that constantly pushes them against themselves. "

Teasing stares followed her, proving the audience remained skeptical.

" Don't worry, my friend. I believe you. " Ereny rescued her while standing up to go check the drying of the clothes. " I know how you act when you have a crush, nothing like this. The mycenaean lioness turns into a kitten for the one she fancies. "

The accuracy of her words made her chuckle, since her servant was the only one there who had a precise idea of how to spot her feelings for a man.

" Take it from me, girls. If she still has the energy and focus for clever comebacks, he hasn't impressed her enough. "

And with that being said, Ereny patted her on the shoulder as she passed by. Little did she know that the cheerfull spirits were soon to fade.

An horrifying discovering surprised her as she intended to fullfill the task, the two companions she had on that had ran for the fear of it.

Behind the extended clothes, lurking between some trees, they believed to have seen a misterious masculine figure stalking all of them.

Panick took over and only the lady had remained calm.

" Maybe it's the god who came down to impregnate me. " She sarcastically teased the servants. " Any wanderer coming down from the hills can cross our path, we can't control it. "

" But it could be a satyr attracted by the sound of girls laughing carelessly. " Ereny theorized out loud. "… maybe hoping to get one away from the group. A dark cloak kept the face hidden and i didn't look down, but i don't want to risk it. "

Normally, the princess would have remained skeptical. However, the amount of strange events pilling up made her reconsider it.

" Fine, let me see by myself if the clothes have already dried, or you will have to carry the extra weight if there are still wet. "

Things got considerably worse once she raised up to finish the checking and ended up discovering an actual proof of their tale.

The garments of Achilles were gone and whoever scared the servant girls was the only possible thief.

" Man, satyr or olimpian god, he will have to get back what he stole. " The lady concluded, her fury beating the chances for developing panick. " I'm not leaving without it and, ríght now, I don't care what any of you have to say against that."

Silence reigned among the scared ithacans, warning her that she wouldn't count with any help from them.

" Fair enough, I'll get it back by myself. "

Her loyal servant intended to follow her, not only out of brave will to share the danger but because she knew what she meant. Those clothes were the reminder of her distant lover and the promise of seeing him again to return the borrowed item. Recklessness was an unusual attitude on her lady, allways measuring the costs before venturing into anything, but in that moment she was willing to risk herself for that simbolical meaning.

The princess was already running in the described direction and her friend felt powerless to make her stop.

" PLEASE, GET BACK!"

" I have to do this. " The lady explained herself. " Stay with the girls, Eny. If something happens to me, I want you to tell Achilles and Agamemnon to join forces in vengeance on my name. "

The joke wasn't nearly as funny as she thought she was making it sound in order to tranquilize her.

" I'm SERIOUS! " Ereny insisted. " Don't do this, he will understand. "

" We are on Ithaca, nothing ever happens here! " The lady replicated. " Why do you think Odysseus goes to create chaos in other kingdoms? He rules a happy, quiet island were he gets bored. "

A cracking sound got her wary, suspecting it could be the footsteps of the nameless shape she was chasing. She followed it on a rush, smirking with triumphal satisfaction.

The atmosphere got thetric enough as she advanced, increasing the sensation of being watched in a game of cat and mouse where she wasn't sure of really being the chaser. Thinking the shadow couldn't be far, but was yet nowhere to be seen made her feel uneased.

" Show yourself!" The princess demmanded in a slowly shaky tone. " It's me who you want, I feel it. You stole something I care about, you knew I would follow you for it."

She swallowed hard, then concluded.

" That belongs to the man I love. If you hurt me, you will have to face him. He fears no one, men or gods equally … and I trust no one to avenge me like I trust in his rage."

Inmediately afterwards she was looking arround in search for any sort of reaction to her threat. Nothing happened, and just when she was starting to accept the posibility of being alone, the misterious stranger emerged from behind with an overpowering grip.

The young mycenaean tried to scream, but a hand pressed against her mouth had silenced her.

Her eyes went wide when she recognized the metalic wristband of the kidnapper.

" Got you. " He taunted her, whispering close to her ear. " Miss me, princess? I couldn't wait any longer to be with you."

That husky voice, she would recognize anywhere. Part of her wondered if it was trully happening or a supernatural being had assumed the shape of Achilles for her. Both posibilities seemed equally unrealistic, but she had no way to explain it.

His hand stopped the pressure to keep her mouth shut, tracing her lips with his fingertips instead. Within the same action she felt him sniffing the scent of her hair and as he captured it, his exploring touch began travelling down to caress her neck.

" My love … " She purred, ecstatic like in a trance. " Is this some sort of illusion? Last night i dreamed of being in your arms. "

Her confession didn't seen to surprise him as much as it should.

" Was it a good dream? "

Telling him about it would have pushed the topic of comitement too soon, since in her dream she was about to get betrothed to him. Despite she remembered very well her conversation with Penelope and intended to follow her advice, she simply couldn't admit to him ríght there that she dreamed of being his wife.

Even less she could question him regarding the divine inspiration she suspected it had. If it was trully a visit of his mother, he may not know it or wouldn't admit it.

" A very good one. " She vaguely told him, with sweet excitement. " My mom was there, I remembered of her face! And she was approving our relationship! It was like if you were plotting to convince father of something ... "

Achilles turned her over so she could watch the dark hood of his cloak fall back, revealing his face.

" That sounds wonderfull. "

They remained in silence for an instant, just gazing into each other's eyes. He dedicated her his most charming smile and she returned the gesture.

Her beauty grew with each reunion, his imagínation was never enough to capture it completely. Time and separation had increased his desire, but that wasn't affecting his perception. He did find her even more breathtaking than the last time he saw her.

Achilles would never understand the country's obsession with Helen, when her lovely niece was ríght beside her. She was an underrated gem, and if other men would ever discover it, they were too late already because she was his.

The sweet confussion in her eyes made him melt. His lovely princess was looking at him as if she still wondered if he was real. He would have gladly provided a proof she wouldn't easily forgot, but she searched for it herself.

The mycenaean pushed him against a tree, taking her turn of trapping him with her body as she crashed her lips against his. The passionate kiss released all her longing, her hunger almost knocked him over. Such intensity was surprising coming from her, even for him.

Her ferocity was protective, as if she feared she could loose him at any moment. He sensed it, but tried to limit himself on just enjoying of it.

Blessed he would be of being kissed like that on every welcome back from war, he couldn't wait to have that.

She took his breath away, metaphorically and literally.

" It's me, i'm here. " He calmed her once he recovered. " I'm feeling we have learned a lot from each other. Your strategic mindset to twist rules brought me here, listening has taught me of your tricks … Did I teach you to kiss like that? "

She gave him a few more pecks on the lips as inmediate response.

" I must have learned with you, there is no one else who had ever given me mind blowing kisses like yours … among other things I never did with anyone else. "

He smirked to her subtle provocation.

" Do you think I haven't thought of loving you? Context is very tempting, here we don't have to worry about your father discovering us. "

Her glance adquired a glimpse of pretended innocence, acting as she didn't mean to hint that.

Achilles grabbed her hips to emphasize his point and keep her still, struggling to not ruin the moment.

" You said I couldn't follow you to Ithaca because he would suspect of us, but nobody knows I have arrived. "

Proud of himself as always, he revealed his clever twist on their problem thinking it would impress her.

" Who would believe it? Mighty Achilles, harvester of death, doing a secret appearance just for me? " She teased him, evidently flatered. " Some say you can't go anywhere without causing a scandall because you can't stand being unnoticed. Staying hidden, keeping a lower profile, is almost like torture to you. "

" Not a worst one than being without you for so long. " He simply confessed, making her heart race. " And in this way my presence will not outshine you … I heard men had started fighting over you. "

The specifical tease didn't sound like a jealous reproach, but she was worried for the transgiversed information he may had get from the people.

" Has your own fame never taught you that you must not believe everything you hear? A lot has happened, but new suitors aren't part of that despite how badly Odysseus wants it. He tricked me and i'm dealing with the consecuencies, but good things are coming out from that."

" I'll deal with that treacherous bastard later. " Achilles promised to himself out loud. " Can't say I'm not proud of you for cultivating your fame, I love that. I want the world to see how wonderfull you are, to overhear fools believing they have a chance with you … but they are saying the princes of Troy have came to dispute who will marry you. "

" I'm attending a diplomatical meeting, Ithaca is representing the greek islands regarding some commercial tensions with Troy. " She attempted to explain him what he already knew. " Odysseus has deceived my father and me, he kept hidden his real political and personal reasons. "

She removed his hands from her body to hold both with hers.

"I have nothing to do with that, I won't allow it. "

" Neither will I … and you are coming with me. "

Tables turned once more as he picked her up and started walking in an unknown direction.

" Are you insane? We can't just leave like this!!" She sensically protested. " This counts as an act of kidnap, even if i'm not resisting it. "

His childhish side emerged, refusing to admit jealousy but acting under its influence.

" Then those maids can go cry for Hector to save you." He mocked her in return, proving to have heard at least part of the conversation she had earlier with the servants of Penelope. " I'm glad to know Ereny is still loyal to me, scaring her wasn't my intention. I was aiming for the others."

" Turn back and apologise yourself. " She intentionally suggested. " You will make her suffer if i dissapear. "

" Don't worry, we won't leave without her. " Achilles tranquilized her. " … She is my gift for Eudorus. "

Being in his arms again in such unexpected way was like a dream come true, but that didn't make the situation less frustrating.

" STOP!!! YOU CAN'T DO THIS!! WHO DO YOU THINK FATHER IS GOING TO BLAME IF I GO MISSING? "

" Your dear friends the trojans will be alright, they have a plausible excuse to get away. "

" Agamemnon will call it a complot under the complicity of Odysseus. He would seek to destroy Ithaca and Troy alike! … He has once attacked Phtia for way less."

Achilles stopped in his tracks, but still refused to release her.

" I didn't tell you about that for you to use it against me. "

" I had to find out through Hector that you were born a prince, your father was friends with his." She quickly replicated. " You clearly haven't told me everything. "

" So you have been talking about me. " He teased her, deviating the topic. " That's sweet, you take our deal very seriously. "

" Why didn't you tell me that, Achilles?? " She insisted. " Were you afraid it would have given me vain hopes? "

The snarky reproach hitted him, but not as the callout she intended it to be.

" I feared you would have rejected me." Achilles confessed, not with ease to talk about such intimate fear. " … I don't care about that damn throne, I want you, but you could have believed otherwise. Experience has made you cautious, you have been hearing for so long about the traitor that seduced the queen. I didn't want you to see me as that man, to push me away thinking I'm with you because I want to get back the crown that Agamemnon stole from my father. He can keep it, I rather steal you from him to make amends."

Concious as she was of how things had once trully played out, the mere comparison felt disgustingly wrong to her.

" You are nothing like Aegisthus, i'm perfectly aware of that. " She conforted him. " You would have killed that despicable man if you would have meet him because that's how you are. Protective, ferocious … And i'm proud of you, proud of loving you."

" Yet we are loving in the shadows … and i'm growing sick of it." He admitted, then concluded. " I want the world to know you are mine. "

She caressed his cheek, then softly lifted his chin and gave him a peck on the lips.

" And you know how I wish to be forever yours! But trojans don't deserve to be blamed, neither ithacans pay for the trickery of their king going wrong. "

The warning didn't matter to him, used as he was to shred blood to get what he wanted, but he understood it was a limit she wanted to avoid. Still, that wasn't enough to stop him from resuming the march in the direction he had previously settled.

" People will keep dying anyways, you know it." He corrected her. " Where did this sudden strike of righteousness came from? Perhaps an active concience is what you get for spending too much time with Hector."

She didn't fall for the provocation, but teased its intentionality instead.

" He has the habit of accidentally inspiring people into doing the right thing. That's exactly why your friend has picked him for me behind my back."

Temporarily careless for the protests and attempts of persuation, Achilles kept advancing with his precious load in arms. Unlike she kept stating, kidnapping her ríght then wasn't his inmediate intention. Still, that didn't mean he wasn't going to steal her away for a while and he had yet to decide what was he going to do with her.

Impulsiveness brought him to the shores of Odysseus' kingdom. He needed to see her and they were not going to have a better chance for safe encounters any soon. The father wasn't there to get in his way, and his soldiers were easy to fool. His mother had brought him the news of the trojan presence, but he didn't mind about that untill circunstancies changed his mind.

He was taking her deep into the wild. There he had improvised a temporal hideout in the deepness of a cavern that looked like a tent of war camp in peacefull times. Once they arrived, he placed her on top of some extended furs on the ground while briefly admiring her understandable cluelessness. Vulnerability was bringing back some of the innocence that he stole and she looked lovely.

So dreamy that it was simply impossible not to kiss her before any glimpse of explanation would start to flow.

" Odysseus showed me this place, we stayed here when bad weather ruined our hunting. " He said ríght afterwards. " Not good enough for a princess, but is the best I found to secure some privacy."

She was looking at him attentively, reflecting great curiosity.

" How did you find me? You couldn't possibly know I was going to be outside washing clothes. "

Achilles took off his upper garments as if he considered to change back into the freshly dried ones she provided.

" Thanks for cleaning it, … but I do wonder why you had to. "

Some more sweetly delightfull shame got painted on her face.

" I wore those to sleep many times, hoping to dream of you. " She simply stated. " Don't try to distract me, you know what I mean. Eny thinks I have been visited by your mother last night. "

" She wants me to settle down, but she never says it. " Was his vague reply. " Seeing me get commited to a stable relationship has made her very happy. "

She attempted to hide her excitement with her typical jokes.

" I think my father would die on the spot after hearing about us."

He sat close to her while following the joke.

" One more reason to do it as fast as we can. "

She gave him a reprobatory look while also stiffling some chuckles and he exposed his back to her in a playfull way.

" Mind giving my sore muscles some attention? Besides from carrying you all the way here so you won't escape me, I had a few adventures on my way to you. "

The sample of her post battle cares he received in Mycenae had clearly stiked with him.

" If we would have stayed like i told you, the girls would have reached me scented oils to work on your skin. " She commented, tracing patterns on his shoulder with her fingertips. " Here i have nothing i could use to give you a proper massage. "

" Don't be so sure of that, I have something you will like. " He purred in response, pointing in the contrary direction . " Over there, in that vessel. "

The princess followed his instructions and found a small amphora containing perfumed oil of a foreign fragance.

" Where did you get this? "

" During my adventure. " He innocently recalled. " I had to take a bath afterwards so you wouldn't see me all messed up. "

He felt her pressing soft pecks on the back of his neck as fast as she returned to his side.

" Not like I haven't noticed how you enjoy of your warrior freshly arrived from the fight, but I thought my special girl deserves more of my effort in looking good for her. "

He almost had her exactly where he wanted her and she seemed so happy about that.

" You are effortlessly handsome, but I appreciate. " His princess thanked, before starting whispering close to his ear. " Now lay on your stomach and start telling me all about that while I fix you up. "

The occurence surprised him even more.

" Is that how you want to do it? "

Achilles smirked as he obbeyed her command, very satisfied with the outcome of his mischief that was about to get even better.

In order to perform the task, she got on top of him and straddled him with her legs.

The hero groaned at the sensation and she started rubbing his shoulders, slowly working all the way down to his back.

" I think I dreamed of this before. " He seductively confessed. " Only your hands were on my chest … and you were completely naked. "

She chuckled and pressed a bit harsher.

" Is that all you think about? How dissapointing. "

Achilles grunted in response to the touch and words and she kept laughing.

" You know that's not true. " He sweetly corrected her. " … But you also must be aware that being without that for so long has its hardships. "

She caressed the sides of his abdomen before keeping the focus on his back.

" I don't know, I have been without it my whole life. "

The innocent sounding comment was a total tease.

" Don't taunt me. You are barely a maiden and I'm unused to abstinences of any kind. "

She reclined enough to place a few kisses.

" I know, the sacrifice you are making Is more than what any woman could ask from you. No other man would have done such promise to me. "

She dared to take her confession a bit further.

" It does make me feel special when I think about it, you know ? « Achilles refuses to have any other woman on his bed because of me » Who am I to get such honor? "

" The one I love. " He sweetly answered. " … I bet you wish you could brag. "

The hero closed his eyes, allowing her to relax him with her so longed touch.

" So, aren't you going to brag about your feats? " The girl reminded him. " How was the journey? "

" I took a secretive route, so I expected dangers stumbling with bandits. " Her beloved began his tale. " My intention was not to leave trails, but things got complicated. "

She reapplied on him more of the absorbed oil to make the caressing more effective.

" How much? Did those fools hoped they could capture you and sell you as a slave because they didn't know who you were? "

His princess sounded like an excited little girl awaiting for the details of some epic story and he feared the reality would dissapoint her.

" They enraged me and i lost patience. " The myrmidon admitted. " Contrabandists, very eager to get rid of the evidence of their lootings in asian shores because the trojans were too close. I gave them a chance thinking I could get something nice for you, but part of their sale strategy was telling me that the princes were not going to interfere because they were too bussy with the pretty princess brought from the continent for them. "

She stopped the massage out of sudden, spontaneous reaction to realizing of the terrible coincidence.

" … You didn't kill them, ríght? "

Achilles noticed the change in her attitude with subtle concern.

" I let them talk, they were worried that the outcome would let them out of business. " He continued, forcing himself to adopt a cassual tone. " Those men were completely sure that the heir Prince of Troy would want to take that girl for himself, because only a few of them had seen her and they kindly described her to me with lascivious adjectives. That, I didn't mind. I had a few I could think about, but what I couldn't tolerate were their metaphores for the fear of commercial and political penetration of trojans in greek land. "

Time to fool arround was over, so she released him to clean her hands and lay down beside him.

" My love, you already know I don't have interest in that route. "

He refused to look at her for a instant, keeping himself still in the previous position.

" I didn't care, hearing them suggesting it made me loose judgement … My mother warned me about insulting the goddess of marriage and in their mocks I felt the threat of punishment. "

The princess touched his arm to get his attention back at her.

" Do you really think Hera could make Hector want to marry me just to curse you?" She stopped his trail of thinking. "Only unless she would want me in an unhappy marriage with a man nice enough to not be cheated on free of guilt. My bloodline is stained, two generations of cheater queens preceed me and everyone wonders who is going to be the next one. "

Achilles rolled over to face her and embraced her by the waist.

" No one will take you away from me. "

She smiled and snuggled against him.

" Trust me, he won't. I got him on our side. " She reasured him, then sniffed the scent of his skin. " You smell nice. We are going to need more of that. "

His criptic answer came on the form of a dubious mock.

" Sorry, love. I believe they will be unavailable for a while. "

She looked up in shock.

" Are you telling me you did kill them over those stupid comments? "

The ask left him feeling helpless, and very surprised of her reaction.

" I wanted to fight only two, but all the rest would have joined in aid of them. " The warrior defended himself. " They were despicable anyways, not a big loose you should take sorrow in. "

Her initial excitement transformed into frustration, but he could not find the reason for her to be upset.

" I didn't think you would care … Is there something I missed? "

" They were the lead Hector has been chazing since he got here and I intended to help him track, now we have nothing. " She confessed, with resignation. " We were close to discovering a thread of the network that has been threatening the Route of Copper, what could have been greater for the bilateral relationships than a stupid marriage."

He started to play with her hair before she could began to loose her temper.

" Don't worry, I bet some must have escaped. " He sweetly tried to comfort her. " I couldn't have killed everyone, could I? If the prince is smart enough without you, he would find them. And if he isn't, we will get rid of him. "

His calm tone only upsetted her more.

" I have goals of my own too, Achilles. I'm working hard settling political bridges. "

He would never display any sort of open jealousy, but what he had to point out was a logical concern from his perspective.

" I can't believe you are being so naive. What do you think is going to happen afterwards? They will demmand a wedding to close the deal, they allways do. "

" The would love to, but it won't work because in Hector's eyes i'm no different from a diplomat. " She insisted. " He doesn't have the slightest regard for my womanhood! I won his respects in the way a prince does in the council, not a princess in the feast, and that's hard to understand for many. "

For a brief moment he had a half smile of approval.

" I admire you as a strategist and as a woman … I love all of you. "

Her temper got slightly softened, but she had found a practical use for the advice she had received earlier and she was going to try it.

Behaving like a wife could sometimes mean to call him out.

" Could you then respect my work even when it doesn't serve you? I have enough of that in home and I know that's not what we want for us. "

She caressed his cheek to soften the blow.

" I won't blame you for what happened, there was no way for you to tell those men were of any importance … but I will, if from now on you try something on purpose. "

Achilles gave her his most innocent smile.

" I won't bother him, I promise. "

She tried to cheer him up pointing out her findings in his field.

" … Aren't you curious for other sorts of information I got for you? When I tell him about what you can do, he believes i'm exagerating, and he is the best warrior among the trojans. My father will never be able to replace you with him, no matter how badly he may want it. Hector thinks that your feats are impossible, the fantastical descriptions of a girl who doesn't understand how fighting works. "

She gave him a peck on the lips ríght before the conclussion.

" You are the best fíghter in the world, no man alive compares to you and your legend will outshine his. "

Achilles seemed lethargic to the good news.

" That won't matter if I end up under his command, and wanting his wife as if I needed her like the air I breathe. "

Even after all the lovefull words and sweet moments they shared, he still had the hability to surprise her like the first time.

" I know how important it is to you, but if peace with the trojans comes on the price of letting you go, then I don't want it. " The blond demigod concluded. " I will fight as many combats as it would be enough to keep you by my side. "

She leaned her head against his shoulder while giving him her sweetest look.

" You won't need that: Hector wants to go back home to his princess and this time I feel no amount of political pressure would be enough for him to accept sacrificing himself. "

" He clearly doesn't know of how persistent Agamemnon can be. " The myrmidon pointed out, speaking from his experience. " When I was a lad I despised the idea of fighting for him, yet here I am. "

It made her chuckle, probably remembering similar examples in her own past.

" For once, we will have a victory of mine to celebrate. Think about that" She recalled, changing the angle of the topic. " If i help Ithaca to get a good deal with the trojans, that would prove my father I'm not useless and Hesione will see i'm not failing her cause. For me, that's the equivalent to when you make entire armies surrender showing off your talent in the art of giving death. "

The description got his attention and he didn't let it pass.

" The muses would have a lot to say in your definition of art."

" Giving a good death takes skill, precision, and even kindness. " She cutted him off. " You are not a fighter known for leaving your enemies agonizing, or their corpses disfigured in grotesque scenes. In war, you kill to win, and that makes you the most lethal. While others paint messages on the bodies of the defeated like begginers, you mastered the most effective fíghting tecniques to reach the highest numbers in the shortests spans. Being killed by you is an honor, this balance between brutality and care is an art you have perfected like no one. "

She was once more about to trap him in his own words.

" I too love all of you: the fighter and the man. "

" Arguing with you is very frustrating, so I think I will grant you the win again. " Achilles concluded while caressing the side of her hip. " I will not try to force an encounter that could possibly ruin your mission just to brag, even tho I would love to present myself in front of that trojan prince and prove I'm the best. "

The sincere claims could not be not followed by some teasing.

" I shall let him enjoy of what he will never have " The warrior said, in a lower tone that sounded almost like whispers. " Although I have to admit I'm dissapointed of him. Part of me hoped you would have to break Hector's heart with your love for me. "

She followed his game, trying to figure out if the jokes trully masqueraded some jealousy.

" Seriously? It didn't sound like that to me a while ago, when you confessed you killed some men for doing vulgar metaphores about Troy dominating Greece that had me on the bed of Hector. "

" That's wasn't jealousy, I was sending a message to every mortal and inmortal considering standing in my way. " He defended himself. " I always knew Odysseus wouldn't support me inmediately, but now he acts as if he is trying to shield you from me. That means I'm running out of political allies, but I hope my old friend will get the message and change his mind. "

It sounded insane, but it made perfect sense to her and she was amazed. As a warrior, the only source of political pressure Achilles had was the sword, so in that improvised massacre he was subtly telling Odysseus to stop his scheme because he wanted her for wife.

" Don't play with me! I'm a silly girl in love that would hold on to the slightest hope, and you couldn't have figured out what you want so clearly this fast. "

Achilles had only to answer her with the simple discovery he had arrived to in his homeland.

" I can't stand returning from war and not find you there … Something is missing, for the first time ever I came back home and didn't feel fulfilled. "

The short moment of autentical vulnerability led to a sweet request. He couldn't keep talking, not at least without exposing himself too far, so he encouraged her to share instead.

" Tell me about your victories. I want to know everything."

While she understood the need to temporally close the topic, his demeanour reminded her of an encouraging detail. He valued his capacity to keep himself unpredictable knowing her as a perceptive behavioral reader. If he would ever seek to propose, he would want to do it in the most surprising cricunstancies. Signals showing he wasn't against the idea were given to her, but Achilles would only confess clearly a desire of making her his wife at the precise moment he would pick to make it real.

Not too soon to keep her in a frustrating waiting, neither too late when some suitor could get the upper hand.

In a matter of instants the dynamic of their encounter changed completely as he prepared to become a listener of her tales. Initially, she intended to emphasize the points of her political labour that were benefitial to both. For so, she started telling of the long whiles trojans would stay after dinner hearing her share his stories presented as harmless entertainment. In the response of the new public there was a profile being shaped that they needed to discuss, given how she was already working on a design that would better respond the objectives he settled. However, the warrior insisted on how he wanted her to speak of herself and the trojan reaction to meeting her.

Getting in details about the pointless pursuiment attempt of Paris happening at their time of meeting was a waste of time, so she only narrated the warning phrank on Odysseus' welcome knowing that would make him laugh. After that, she confidently admitted to have charmed the crew while keeping a friendly and respectfull approach of its leader.

All her anecdotes gave him the impression of hearing she was like fish under water arround the people of Hector. Everything Mycenae kept banned for her, they encouraged. From them she was receiving the kind of admiration she deserved, judged as herself and not as an extention of her father with nothing remarkable to present.

It was her big moment obtaining good fame on her own and even when he was very proud, his heart secretly broke a bit hearing her. Insisting on keeping her for himself sounded like a harmfull whim when Troy was offering her everything she ever wanted before meeting him. The prince didn't love her, but his city wanted her, and among them she had a chance to shine the way she deserved.

Her feelings for him were as strong as allways, but Achilles started fearing their love could be an obstacle in her own road to greatness. How could he, of all men, ask her to leave her ambitions behind to follow him? Him, crownless prince of a wild kingdom fighting his way into history. How could she still pick him over the chance of being the mighty queen she was born to be?

And yet, there was no glimpse of doubt in her choice of the path to pursue. When speaking of her businesses with Troy, it was always implied she was helping to clear the way for negociations others would have develop further. Falling víctim of the process escaped her thoughts, always keeping the hope of creating alliances that would make of those people their friends.

The invincible warrior could tell by the phrasing that his princess kept him in her dreams of all kinds. She was thinking of xenia bonding visits to the city where the two greatest heros in the world could befriend each other. Of meeting Hector's wife as the woman who already belonged to the rumored demigod and strategically befriending the couple meant to become the next royal marriage of Troy.

There was no thought escenario where he wasn't the man of her life, where they wouldn't be together sharing triumphs.

Before sunset would ruin their chances to move anywhere else, he had to accede in taking her back to a populated area and he did under the promise of sneaking to see her later as soon as possible. What he trully craved was to get at least one more night before safely deliver her back to the palace, but such prolongated absense would raise questions that she wouldn't be able to answer. If escaping with her wasn't a viable option, then he had to start serously thinking what was he going to do.

Returning to his homeland alone knowing what had been going on wasn't even considered. He could always show up to receive the hospitality of his friend, pretend his presence was a coincidence and claiming himself the author of the slaughter to frighten the trojans a right amount without ruining the political labour that have been made. It seemed a good idea, untill he considered he wouldn't stand the enviroment of the palace without succumbing to a possesive breakdown.

Having to endure constant irruptions of unaware people claiming she was the perfect match for Hector, teasing from his friends and other forms of harmless insistence while pretending to be an outsider neutral in the matter would make him loose his mind. He would recklessly throw away the secrecy out of pure rage, just to shut their mouths, kissing her roughly or pulling her to his lap. Any resemblance of self control would abandon him and he would end up ruining everything by sneaking into her room to take her like a desperate madman, spilling her virginal blood over foreign sheets with no honor.

Following her like a ghost untill the danger would pass and they could get at least a few quiet days to be together before her inevitable return to Mycenae was the best option. Untill he would get what he needed to make the impossible plead to Agamemnon, that was still better than seeing her so close to his vigilance.

However, that didnt mean he was going to let her go completely clean. Once they finished discussing the serious matters, speeches were replaced by a passionate silence. Achilles took his time to taste her with all his senses untill getting drunk of her to temporally saciate his own longing. The smell of her hair, the softness of her skin, the taste of her kisses and the sight of her beauty all combined to calm the beast inside of him. His extended teasing was followed by some carefully crafted marks he purposedly left on the side of her neck. Her loose hair would be enough to cover the evidence in case of trouble, but it was his peculiar way of self expression.

Achilles was self confident to the point of arrogance, no man was capable of making him feel threatened. Nevertheless, the situation was an increasing source of jealousy. He hated having to hide his love for her while hearing that the prince was receiving her on a silver plate and yet dared to reject her. If at least Hector showed signs of wanting her, he could just come out from the shadows and face him to compete for her like heroes were meant to. It would be a legendary contest that would put to shame the one once developed for Helen's hand. Something bards could sing about, but the trojan had no interest in competing against him.

Not even for the glory or his spot of stardom would the son of Priam react the way greeks expected from him. He simply didn't care despite the comparisons between them must have reached him too. He never intended to get in his way, not even to prove himself the best. For that, he was leaving him without reasons to justify his feelings of unease whenever it was being implied he could wed his princess. Could he be blamed for gossips working in functionality with the political needs? Even if an arrangement would be made later between the kings behind his back, the man did nothing wrong.

Precisely because he couldn't simply blame him and fight his way out of the problem, the righteouness of Hector made the situation very frustrating. Achilles felt jealous of his position as a prince finding such easy public and possibly familiar approval, but not entirely of him. He secretly wished for the gossipers to discover her marks with no possible explanations linking those to the Prince of Troy, even risking the sort of questioning that could raise.

His anger was with the world surrounding them, and his circunstantial powerlessness to let them all know that girl was his in a context where he couldn't just conquer her by the sword.

They pretended to part ways in public, but he still kept watching her movements from afar to make sure she would arrive safe. The citadel was not that far from the place in which he acted as he was leaving her, so her walk should have been an easy one. For most, it was, untill a small escort of magnificently dressed warriors intercepted her.

Trojans, he could tell by the foreign aspect of their armors. One of them, a lad of smaller frame, rushed to hug her enthusiastically. Achilles had no idea of what they were talking about, but the young man seemed very happy to see her.

Out of sudden, her route changed as that stranger guided her somewhere else with all the other men behind them. The myrmidon had no option but following them out of protectiveness, even despite she seemed trustfull of them.

The way in which the warriors obbeyed him implied that man had some sort of power over them, but he didn't look like he could be their leader. Guiding them inside a tavern, he made them look like security escort.

The warrior in disguise entered subtly after them and picked a solitary table with a good spot to watch his encounter with the lady. A closer viewpoint revealed the delicate features of a face never touched by war blatantly contrasting with the military uniform. A wearing for appearances, since he wasn't even carrying any visible weapons.

That had to be Paris, he thought, the useless little brother of Hector. His attention was completely focused on the princess, keeping a body language that invited closeness without being necesarily flirty, yet still touching her more than he was used to see. She didn't seem to mind, chuckling from time to time to his comments. The relaxed scene was of two friends sharing the latest news outside the límitations of the palace, nothing that should annoy him, but he simply disliked him.

Focused as he was, Achilles didn't realize he was staring too intensely at them as he cassually drank the wine brought for him. While the dark cloak offered some coverage, it also gave him a mysterious feeling that fed curiosity on the trojan once becoming aware.

She tried to stop her contextual companion from approaching, but he finally stood up and confidently walked towards the watcher.

In his perspective, the flamboyant attitude of the presumpted prince was hilarious. Achilles had the impression of being in front a peacock showing off his feathers, a man whose self determination was focused on keeping a royal appearance reflecting a nobility that was performative. It was a sad attempt to compensate for his lack of trully noble qualities, a spectacle.

" I must ask … Which one of us have you been looking with such intense interest? The lady, or me? " The trojan whispered with discretion, taking the empty seat in front of him without asking. " … I would understand if it was me. I have the blood of Ganymedes, so that's an expected price to pay for my flawless face. "

The eyes of Achilles were turbulent water burning with anger.

" Don't make me punch you, that girl looks stronger than you. " He warned at the provocation. " … Is she with you? "

The brunet smirked with complicity, quickly overcoming the fright.

" Wish she was, but we are just friends. " He confessed. " Are you not from here? That's not a mere merchant's daughter, she is the princess of Mycenae … "

Achilles simulated a mild surprise and sipped from his drink before replying.

" Mycenae? I pay my taxes to them, so maybe I have the ríght to a little peek. "

" I suppose that's true, but I have been looking for free. " The young man added, feeling at ease. " Courtesy of King Odysseus, since i'm staying in his palace."

The bragging inspired in the hero a way to give back some of the effort his princess was putting into the shaping of his legend.

" Lucky of you. I have never seen beauty like hers, and I have been in Sparta. " He cassually commented. " Trust me, the saids about their queen are a magnified fame. Menelaus exposes his wife everywhere, but Agamemnon doesn't let his daughter leave his palace often … Now I see why. "

His criptic phrasing intrigued the prince, but he reacted quick on trying to dissapoint him.

" Her shine is gelid, like the gold the Atreide hoards. " Paris warned through metaphoric language that Achilles found useless. " Never before I have been rejected so coldly and I doubt you could succeed from the ashes of my failure. "

The prince gave him a path on the shoulder, as if he seeked to comfort him.

" She is far away from your reach, don't expect much from a lady who has remained careless in front of the most beautifull man in Troy. "

Achilles gave him a taunting skeptical glance , then charmingly smiled for her as she arrived among them.

" I'm not sure of what you are doing, but I beg you to end it now. " She kindly scolded Paris, indirectly extending the warning to Achilles as well. " Stop fooling arround, we should be in the palace. "

Paris took the warning too lightly.

" We don't have to, I'm trying to escape from Hector. " He reminded her. " He has lost his mind when we arrived back only to find out that you were missing. Penelope is dealing with him because Odysseus requested us to stay out of the matter, and he has valid reasons. Something out of our understanding has infested this lands, all travellers must beware. "

The grim warning clearly incluided the man of the dark cloack and piercing blue eyes, but he seemed as careless for danger as Paris was of responsability.

" I shall not get intimidated by the colorfull tales of a pretty boy prince. "

" You should, some speak of an angry god claiming lives. " The trojan insisted. " We found an entire pirate crew slaughtered in one of the neighbor islands, no initial sight of survivors untill we did an extended search. "

The princess, still standing i'm front of the middle of table and in between them, managed to notice a strange change on his voice. For the first time since she meet him, the youngest son of Priam was speaking in a dark tone, as if he shared an horror tale.

" A wounded criminal embraced my brother's knees begging for protection of the very same people he was escaping from in the first place. He claimed the massacre was done by just one man, and King Odysseus mysteriously supports this theory … Some of my men, and so do I, believe no mortal could have done it. How could a single warrior attack with the ferocity of an army? "

It took a great effort for Achilles to turn his pridefull smirk into a fake expression of intrigue. His pride was raising to the sky hearing trojans could be mistaking him for a god.

Unstopable cockiness elevated his provocations.

" If I was a god coming down here, I would do it only to put some demigods in her. "

He glanced in her direction bitting his bottom lip, and she skillfully pretended to be disgusted.

" Unforgivable! What kind of man would do such vulgar claims for a woman that could easily get him beheaded? "

The glimpses of masculine complicity in the behavior of the trojan temporally faded as he protectively pulled his friend to his side. That action secretly granted him a bit of respect from the warrior, who expected him to drag her away.

Yet, the prince got a better idea than simply leaving the place to avoid the discomfort.

" In fact, we can properly judge that. "

She realized that he spoke of submitting him to the Judgement, but she couldn't do that to him the way she wouldn't hesitate with any other man. He was the onlyone whose answer she didn't want to know, partially because she was almost sure of knowing it. The riddle weaponized as test to know the priorities of a man between the most common masculine ambitions could reveal that Achilles would choose war over her.

It would prove Odysseus ríght about him, even despite that wouldn't be enough to completely break her heart. She knew him as a warrior, never expecting he would have to change for her. However, not wanting to get in the middle of his dreams with eternal glory wasn't the same as being ignorant of what those implied. If she would get told in the face that there will be something else always above her that would hurt her, even if she wouldn't mean to feel hurt. Aware from childhood that her father would allways pick his thirst for power over her, she didn't want to find herself repeating the cycle with the man she fell for.

" Paris, it's a game to play in feasts. Helen and I conceived it to cheat noblemen into revealing their truest ambitions so other girls of nobility would stay warned. " She recalled, trying to stop her friend while pretending she wasn't invested in the matter. " It looses its purpose being used like a simple game for the tavern, wasting it on vulgar men. I don't need to know the answer of this nameless errant traveller. "

Over time with her, Achilles learned to recognize patterns of her lies. Exagerating her royal demeanour was one.

" Don't need or don't want?" He teased her. " Are you afraid this vulgar man may surprise you? "

She kept the arrogance as an acting, but also as a shield for her fears.

" I already know what you will answer, so it would be a waste of time. "

Catching glimpses of the strange tension going on in front of him, Paris decided for them.

" I'm up to waste time, so let's play! "

Achilles finished the rest of his wine in one long take and raised up in acceptance of the challenge. The three went to the table that the royals shared, but the feeling of surveilance coming from the foreigner didn't allow the greek lovers any secretive exchange.

By indication of Paris, the princess sat in the chair placed at the center and each man took an extreme of the space. Then, the trojan prince assumed the role of narrator, commanding the mycenaean to play the voices of the goddesses describing their gifts. Hera, offering a throne of limitless power; Athena presenting her bliss to triumph in all battles. The myrmidon noticed how the girl changed manners, phrasing and voice tone matching her mental image of each deity.

For an instant, he found it increíbly cute. Even tho he never thought much about it before, he couldn't help imagining her acting like that for her children at storytelling time. Their children, if he would get to be with her.

Distraction out of the sweet thought happened when she represented Aphrodite seductively claiming she would give him the love of the most beautifull woman in the world. Exactly as beautifull as she herself was.

He chuckled to himself, aware of what she meant with that.

" Would I get to choose who that woman is, or would Aphrodite pick her for me? As a judge of beauty, I should be able to extend this faculty on mortals. "

Impressed by the clever move, Paris banged the table with his fist in frustration.

" That's not how it works! It was never said you could choose! "

The princess tried hard not to laugh to stay in character.

" Silence, mortal! The bargain is still on going. "

Eyes settled on the warrior once more, she put on her most charming expression for him while twirling strands of her hair.

" So, who do you think that woman would be? "

He smiled, resisting the impulse of chuckling a bit for her exagerated flirty mannerisms in the impersonation.

" The princess of Mycenae, only her I would take. "

Sticking the the role, she pretended dissapointment.

" Well, it's not of my concern if you would rather go for a lesser prize. " She mocked herself, in fake annoyance. " Fine, she would be yours as long as you choose me. "

Paris was mad with himself because that flirtatious twist didn't occured to him before.

" Who would you choose? " He asked directly. " That's what the riddle is about, and remember that the justification matters as much as the choice itself.

Achilles stared at the side in contemplative silence, carefully calculating his response. Guesing the purpose that the creators had given it, the game was pretty revealing on itself. Clever masterwork from the women of the Atreides, but he had the advantage of knowing them quite well.

" It's alright, you can say Athena and I won't get mad. " The princess interrupted his thinking. " I see it in the bright of your eyes, you appear to me as a man who craves glory above anything and wouldn't give it away for a wife. "

The conclussion confused Paris, who was thinking the opposite based ln the lustfull commentary that the stranger had made about her.

" Would Athena make me the next Achilles? " The cloaked man asked in a provocative tone. " Or Hera turn me into Agamemnon? Do the ones that choose Aphrodite get in the same box as Menelaus, who gave up his ríght to question his brother for the pretty wife he got him? The problem you present is too simplistic. Did it never occured to you that one man could want two gifts exactly as badly? "

The question raised an alarm in her.

" Life forces us to choose, so the rule is taking only one. "

" I want it all. " Achilles cutted her off with passionate arrogance. " Except for the throne, at least. Tell Athena and Aphrodite that I find them both equally beautifull because endless victory in battle leaves you empty if you loose love as a result of it once you already found it. No amount of wine and lust unions with beautifull concubines obtained in war would fill that void. "

The answer broke the rules, but he was staying true to himself and his rule breaker nature. She shouldn't have expected otherwise, but the well thought and heartfelt argumentation remembered her once more of exactly how she fell for him.

On the opposite perspective, Paris started to perceive there was something greater hidding in the strange appearance of that mysterious man who didn't even bothered in telling him his name.

His thoughts were deep, and he didn't speak like the brute he appeared to be moments before. The youngest son of Priam felt a weird fright believing he was coming out to them, and specially to her, as someone or something else.

" Who are you?" He interrupted them before she could comment anything on the given answer, visibly amazed. " I feel as if my eyes have been tricked by a spell all along just of listening to your reasoning. "

Achilles suddenly remembered of his existence.

" Carefull, Prince of Troy. Chasing reflections keeps deceiving you." He mocked him. " Now, if you excuse me, I would like to answer further to the lady with another riddle. "

Inmediately afterwards, his attention was fully back with her.

" Imagine you are commanded in a divine mission to judge who is the strongest of the gods. " Achilles started twisting the format of her game into a new reverse version where the judge would be a woman. " Three gods come down as contestants for the title and, given that you are a mortal, they compete bribing you with gifts. "

She chuckled and rolled her eyes, believing his try was pointless.

" That makes no sense, everyone knows Zeus is the strongest of the gods. "

" That's precisely why he shows up first to defend his title. " The warrior corrected her. " He tells you that if you choose him, you would get the chance to be the mother of a new bloodline, the most magnificent royal house the world has ever seen. Given that your family already has ancestry in him, this doesn't imply he would make you the children. He would find for you a perfect king, and together you would raise blessed princes for a new powerfull kingdom. This would make you a legendary queen, remembered by your glorious descendants shaping the world. "

She smirked, getting a precise idea of where he was going with that option.

Hector, her politically choosen perfect king.

" Next comes Apollo, offering the gift of prophecy. Highest power a woman can have over men. " Achilles continued, not missing her reaction. " Unlike the crown of Queen, this is one you can weild on your own. Kings, warriors and heroes would come to you consulting their fates; asking you what they should do with their lives. You would get to live free from men, but influencing their choices as a virgin oracle. "

His way to make each gift sound tempting was excellent, and she couldn't deny it showed great understandment of certain feminine sensibilities.

" Last, but not least, Ares appears knowing his typical gifts don't appeal to many women. "

Pretending that the hood of the cloak was starting to annoy him, Achilles tossed it behind to expose his face before continuing.

" Because of this, the god of war gives you an instant to admire him in all his glory before announcing he would find for you the mortal who resembles him the most. A blood thirsty beast, irascible and whimsical, but passionate for you as he is for Aphrodite. "

Emotional investment made him break character, explaining himself deeper than what was contextually necesary.

" … A man that would give it all to you, warrior that would make of you his inspiration to fight. When he will be at your side, you will be fill of affections and the treasures of his conquests. Without a throne, you would still be a Queen, because he would make the men he commands see you as one. When he would be away leading them, he would lay alone in his tent on long nights thinking about you. His every victory will be glory that will raise you up among the women of lesser husbands. Yours will be the strongest, most manly out there, yet he would never forget his softness with you. "

It made her blush furiously at the speed of a sweet embarasement impossible to hide.

Achilles saw his mission accomplished, but provoked her even more.

" What do you say now, princess ? Whose offer would you take? "

She appeared to be speechless, but her answer began with a simple critic.

" Well done, but you failed to acknowledge that an essential part of the Judgement implies the options you reject would later become your punishments. " She tecnically corrected him. " There are two levels of reasoning to consider in your answer: what would you wish to obtain from your choice and how would you rather your doom to be seiled."

Her cleverness would never stop amazing him.

" What a wicked sense of fun you have … "

" I come from the House of Atreus. " Was her simple reply. " I have seen how a royal house born under the bliss of Zeus can corrupt itself on human action, so i'm not really invested in that. Despite it's true that oracles are the only women of true power, they have no one to look after. More powerfull and free than Queens, but their lifestyle is even more isolating. Being courted by a warrior, on the other hand, seems the merriest and less determinating out of the three fates."

Her efforts to make the theorization feel autentically rational, as if she would be playing with a stranger that had just challenged her, were flawless.

" Now, at the next level, we have the punishments. If Apollo gives me the prophecy, Zeus could easily take away my capacity for persuasion and my gift would be useless. If I take his gift instead, Ares could feed the flames of war before the perfect kingdom promised to me would get its chance to raise and my perfect king would despise me for that. The offer of the god of war would make me loose my position of royal, and walk into an uncertain fate, but I would be doing it following a man of intense feelings who wants me at his side above any other. "

The lady made a brief pause, merely to tease her hero.

" … I would definitely pick Ares and his short-tempered, hot blooded warrior husband. "

Before the trojan prince could cheer victory and mock her claiming she had picked the equivalent of the same path he took, the course of events took a twist he found unexplainable.

Suddenly, the stranger raised from his seat and headed towards her. Without any explanations beyond the overwhelming force of his glance, he took her hand and pressed one harsh kiss on her knuckles ríght before leaving.

Passionate twist of a respectfull gesture, so intense that it perfectly replaced a full mouth kiss. Her lips parted slightly within the action, as if she would have instinctively responded like that could have been about to happen.

A miracle has been performed in front of his eyes: caught in her own game, the cold minded princess of the mycenaeans was left burning from inside out. For as much as he wanted to mock her about it, Paris was still trying to understand what had just happened.

By the time they were back at the palace, he had enough to present a working theory to his brother.

" Worry no more, Paris has saved the day! Ahhh, i love how that sounds, so comforting. Turns out I got the answer to all riddles! " He arrogantly claimed as he approached him. " She got lost and I found her safe, you can follow me ríght now to see her if you wish. It was definitely an accident, but I believe hers and ours are connected. "

Hector sighed with relief, yet remained cautious of the observation.

" What are you talking about? "

" Ares took down our enemies from one strike to show he is stronger than you because he wants to have her first, and the wedding rumours may have angered him. " His brother informed. " … I think the god of war is flirting with our beautifull friend. "

[sharksupermacy]

k.

k. - jihyo x trainee! reader

synopsis: you and jihyo were dating but now you aren't, what happened?

genre: fluff, angsty?, not exactly a defined relationship, no communication, hand holding (the scariest thing of all), broken promises 1.1k words pt2. pt3.

she was 16 and so were you. both attending the same high school oddly enough while being a trainee for jyp. maybe it was nice to have a friend just as involved as you were with hers. you at least seemed to think so during the time.

both of you leaning on each other especially during the hard exam time, or when examination was coming near. your friendship was almost amicable to the point of jeongyeon and nayeon always holding each other, knowing each other to the point of being able to guess how the other felt without a single word, and being sappy as hell when it came to it. but in strong contrast of pair before you both were dating.

of course the company didn't know. you were both girls, trainees, and almost set to debut in a new group with nayeon, jeongyeon, and sana. that was all until it wasn't. the new group was cancelled. you and jihyo drifted apart slowly not seeing each other in school, practice schedule never aligning with each other, and her not responding when you reached out.

maybe you should have seen the signs of a huge heart break that was going to be handed to you by her. but being the slight optimist towards yours and hers relationship you thought this was just a rough patch that could have been smoothed over.

you can fondly remember back on the 2 year relationship where you and jihyo went out of the entertainment just to head to a park with ice cream from a convenience store to just talk to each other. both parties holding each other hands and making embarrassing flirty remarks to the other.

but at last you had jihyo had been found out and ratted out to the company. the trainee who told on both of you was kicked out of the entertainment of course but you and jihyo was still called into jyp office. he looked between the both of you and visibly you could see his forehead wrinkle before he started rubbing it before saying, "ah... you guys aren't going to make this easy on me. you and jihyo exchange looks of confusion as you had not even talked to eachother in the past 2 weeks. jyp gave you to the ultimate decision either breaking up and never see eachother again, or quit the company. it wasn't helping that 2 of his best trainees were put in this position jihyo being one talented vocalist meanwhile you on the other hand was an amazing dancer and producer.

jihyo made her decision right then and there without your knowledge or consultation, "we will break up pd-nim." you looked at her as she had a look of earnesty towards jyp.

"well if that is what you so choose, both of you from now on are banned from seeing each other. we will keep this secret between us 3. i hope you two can keep your promises to me, lets never talk about this again," jyp states as he gathers a file walking out of his office with jihyo following him 30 seconds after.

you were left in the office for a good minute trying to process what had just happened in brief 5 minutes. tears slowly dropped to your palms as you were trying to calm down. you walked out of that office 2 minutes later trying to look the most calm expression you could muster walking out of the jyp building to the trainee dorm.

it was only there at the dorm you were able to process and breakdown whatever was built up in that 20 minute walk. you were lucky that none of your roommates were in the dorm yet as it would have been slightly awkward to explain to one of jihyo friend what just happened. you gathered yourself in an 2 hours and headed off to bed at 5pm just as your roommates were back. all of notice that you were sleeping shrugging it off as some type of cold you may have caught.

a cycle of just sleeping, training, school came forth to light. you were of course still eating but you never seem present during anything for the past 9 months. it came over you that should get over your ex in the best way possible so you threw yourself into the studio and made an entire 2 albums worth of songs about her. by the time you were done with the albums that you had put together a total of 2 years have gone by after the break up day.

you took a breath of fresh air outside your dorm and started you 20 minute walk to jyp company building. by this time jihyo had debut of course you went you had to see your favorite girl debut and leaving her flowers back stage with a small pink card stating how proud you were the girl had come.

now it was your turn to part ways with the company that you had used to love and return back to a normal of life with university and such. you knocked on jyp office and when hearing a little come in stepped in jyp office a little bit different than it was 2 years ago. jyp still buried his head into his paperwork and he looked up at you puzzled why you were in his office. "yes?" he said.

"hi, pd-nim i would like to quit being a trainee," you said bluntly while to smiling in his direction.

"may i ask why? you were one of best trainees this entertainment has ever seen," jyp looked up at you from his paperwork with concern.

"i just figured i'm just not cut out for the idol life. i just want to live a normal life, you know go to university and have a nice job," you kept picking at your hand a bit a nervous tick you had developed in the past year.

jyp looks at you with slight disappointment in his eyes, he says a little dishearten, "fine, but will you consider taking up a job here maybe as a choreographer or maybe even a exclusive producer?"

"thanks for the offer pd-nim but i will think about it," you said as you turn and head for the door. slowly heading back down stairs turning the corners to the locker as you empty yours for the last time. you peer over a bit around the corner seeing jihyo sipping a juice talking to her fellow members laughing a bit. you smiled a bit at the sight and returned back to your packing. it was july 18th 2016 when you had left.

a/n: YOOO KILLING ME GOOD IS GOOD- STREAM IT (i mean this as a threat) also this got way to long. so i broke it up to made it easier to read. jeez didn't actually think i would surpass 1k words

[sseomtada]

being [ruben dias]

your move to Manchester signifies a triumph - the result of nearly a decade of relentless, hard work. However, your sweet victory is quickly turned sour when you reencounter the person you once deeply loved.

a/n: remade secretly only to be back on my bs...here's to praying for me to finish this fic? | 1/??? | 4191 words

This weather was nothing short of an utter atrocity.

It was the kind of bone-chilling freeze that overpowered even your skin's ability to raise its own flesh. Every ounce of energy repurposed instead to turn that evolutionary feature inwards. A futile effort, at least in your case. Even back home in Amadora, you suffered from genetic lack of internal warmth.

Miserable environment aside, the move would be worth it. Everything that you’ve done for the past few years - nearly a decade of sleep deprivation, being the brunt bearer of power trips and clinging to the slimmest sliver of rarely presented opportunities - had led to this.

Not the brutalist view spanning the length of your new floor to ceiling living room windows, but what it signified. Growth. The expansion of your firm here, in Manchester.

“Estou exausta…”

You pulled your eyes from the endless clouds to see your right hand, Aki, draped limply over the last of your boxes.

“Careful.” You bent to rip open the tape sealing the one near your feet.

“Oh, sorry.” She blew her overgrown bangs up to no avail. “Am I crushing your precious CB2 ceramics?”

“Actually, you’re slowly sinking onto my very sharp surgical steel kitchen knives.” The box cutter in your hand gestured vaguely to the label beneath her hips.

Aki’s yelp echoed off through the empty loft as she sprang from the impending mockup of a medieval torture method. Your laughter joined in when she grimaced and muttered something threatening to the thick cardboard that remained dent free.

“Thanks for helping me with all this.” You exhaled. “I owe you.”

“We’re even when you think about it.” She fetched a box opener of her own.

Your eyes widened. There was never a moment in your lifelong friendship when she didn’t take up on an IOU card. Not even when she purposefully served a suspension for knocking the lights out of a girl who blew gum into your hair in the fifth grade.

“I mean, you brought me along with you to open Bana. Full executive package, no less.” Aki beamed and then sneered upon unboxing her newfound arch nemeses.

That was true. Since she was the company’s Head of Finance, her immigration to Manchester was completed covered. Housing located right across the hallway, a brand new car of choice and an increase in salary to accommodate for the higher price of living wasn't the worst package to receive.

It didn’t feel like much of a repayment for her efforts when all things were considered. Bana wouldn’t be close to what it was today if it wasn’t for her. Any business was only as successful as how well they manage their finances, an aspect that she can solely and proudly take credit for.

Not to mention that you both would be extremely busy while trying to fully establish this new branch. If anything, she at least deserved the building’s penthouse suite for the headaches bound to come throughout this journey.

“So…is that a pass on the 1982 Bruno Giacosa?” You dangled the proverbial carrot.

Aki didn’t miss a beat, “Don’t be ridiculous.”

Getting ready for your first day at the office never felt this good.

Perhaps it was due to the fact that your first ever job was, understandably, anxiety inducing. Being an intern for a well-known marketing firm wasn’t known to be a glamorous position - the multitude of reasons for that not stopping at being a coffee gopher.

After climbing the ladder to a mid-level position within your previous company, it became painfully obvious that the older leaders had no intention of making room for you soon. To eradicate any dreams of that from your mind, they even outright said it.

That led to your next go at a first day, the start of your own consultancy which would then go on to become Bana. Even though you had established your presence in the marketing world and had a few loyal clients, no amount of seminars you’d attended or books you’d read could’ve prepared you for the monster of a task you’d taken on.

This time felt different. There was always going to be an element of nervousness when stepping into a new venture. Even though this was a new branch on a tree you knew well, there was a lot to learn about operating in a new country and little time to do so.

What you had now, however, allowed you to convert that nervous energy into excitement. Experience, establishment and esteem. Those things among the equally as important trustworthy team behind you left you more confident than anything else that this could potentially only be the beginning.

“There better be a good reason why you’ve got me out early on a morning like this.” Aki’s poor facial muscles have yet to relax since the move it seemed. This time their scrunch was due to storm clouds looming in the distance.

“I think our very lovely AD has something exciting to share.” You nodded to give her the go ahead.

“Ladies, as you know I’ve been working on getting us an in with a certain business through my various sources and I’m happy to report that Bana was among the firms selected to pitch.” Cindy could barely contain her excitement.

Her optimism was infectious and part of the reason you recruited her. Another reason for bringing her into the fold to establish the new office was the insane network she had.

The blonde Londoner was in a similar predicament to you when you were starting out not long aog. Even hungrier, if you admitted it. Her former employer didn’t see the potential she clearly possessed, so you had no problem poaching her from them.

“And do we finally get to know the name of this state secret level business?” Aki leaned forward.

“Nike!” Cindy couldn't hold back any longer.

Even your face dropped at that. Not in the way that one’s expression would if they just found out that they’d been rejected from their dream school. It was something akin to finding out you’d won a fucking Oscar.

Among the celebratory cheers and shimmies, you thanked Cindy greatly for her hard work. And although it was a moment of uncontainable joy, the wheels had already began to turn in your mind.

There was absolutely no room for error if you wanted this pitch to be chosen. Being a newer firm undoubtably going up against major competition, Bana’s proposal had to be more than just that.

It had to be a statement. One that said you were not only a major player in this field, but that you also were to be seen as a direct rival.

You got to delegating tasks quickly. The sooner you got the bare bones of the pitch down, the quicker you could work on perfecting it. Aki was on budgeting as always - pricing presentation materials, researching and pricing the estimated budget for the product rollout for Nike.

Cindy was mostly on recon regarding the target audience. The product being launched was a new pair of their iconic AirMax, so you anticipated her using historical data as a guideline.

You’d have to do a fair bit of research yourself - getting into market research, the brand’s positioning and messaging - all while putting your firm’s spin on where you think Nike is hoping to go with this launch.

It was needless to say that the midnight oil would be burning. You set up a co-working space in the conference room to make communication seamless in brainstorming and building. This was the energy you missed so much, and a more sentimental reason behind your expansion.

Back home in Amadora, Bana was a well oiled machine. With a strong staff beside you, the hands on aspects of marketing were placed on the back burner by your own doing. In order for your employees to grow, you had to let them lead projects of their own and you trusted them to do so.

Now, you were back to inhaling concerning amounts of dry erase marker fumes and getting carpal tunnel from extensive mood boarding. That along with a side of meal deliveries and an equally as hard-working coffee machine made the long hours seemingly fly by.

“I’m so tapped, I need to power down for the day.” Aki stretched her back dramatically.

“Feel free to head out too, Cindy. Get some well deserved rest.” You took a moment of your own to release tension in your neck. “I’m good here for the next few hours.”

She was visibly grateful to be given the go ahead to clock out. From past experiences, you were able to sympathize all too well. You also made a mental note to have a conversation with her regarding working hours. There was never going to be an obligation of staying behind under your watch.

Cindy and Aki neatly organized materials for their return in the morning while you made your way to your office to continue outlining. With all of the research required collected, all you had to do at this point was place the information into their allocated areas.

There were three short raps at your door before you called her in.

“Still being here wasn’t exactly what I meant by rest, Cindy.” You chuckled, not looking away from your monitors.

“I’m on my way out now! Just wanted to bring you over the client mailing list I got from my source a minute ago.” She slid a USB drive onto your desk.

Your brows raised appreciatively, “Thank you, really. I mean it when I say that your presence here is essential and invaluable.”

Cindy waved a hand, her head shaking in time.

“I’m just happy to be helpful. See you tomorrow!”

You bid her goodbye and immediately got to taking a look at the information she left behind. It would be very useful in filling in some gaps you needed to flush out ideas that would attract the goal audience for the new product.

Influencers, Performing Artists, YouTubers…Athletes.

The last of those categories was obviously a given considering the brand. It also wasn’t the first time you’d come across that group in your line of work. This time though, seeing the label suddenly formed a knot in your stomach.

You were brought back to all of the avoidance in the aftermath - everyone in your life completely air-gapping the football world from your path. They did that to protect you, a gesture you still couldn’t bring yourself to thank them for verbally.

The mouse beneath your hot palm slowly shifted as you moved the cursor to click and expand the list. That knot grew to the size of a boulder. It squeezed your insides painfully within and forced a broken little noise past your lips.

One look at the name Ruben Dias was all it took to rattle you to your core.

o passado

At the age of seven, you moved to Portugal.

There wasn’t much you missed about your hometown, or even remembered for that matter. All you knew was that you were eerily calm for a child whose entire life up until that point had been uprooted. It was possible that your serene state of mind came from your mom.

She was all you had in the world. There was virtually no relationship had with her family - the only photograph you ever had with your grandparents was at your christening.

When it came to your dad, she put it as kindly as she could for a kid. You were smart enough to read the inference in her tone and the look on her face in the handful of moments he was brought up. He wasn’t in your life because he didn’t want to be.

Yet still, none of that made you sad or shaped you into a person defined by traumas. You intended to live the life that your mother encouraged you to. Be a kid, climb trees and get dirty, make friends along the way.

And that was just what you did. The first of them being the girl in your class that waved you over to the empty seat beside hers when you transferred. My name’s Akenna, but I hate it so I make everyone call me Aki instead.

She was the only person other than your mom who made you feel safe enough to confide in, just as easy to talk to as it was to listen to her wild recounts of her own life story.

Aki quickly became a regular in your home and you in hers. The giggles and secrets held in the various forts sprawling from your living room to bedroom would stay under lock and key until long after you both passed.

The next person you met would be the one who arguably shaped you the most. Loud shouts and tussling with a ball in the neighborhood park with his siblings was where you met Ruben. His tattered football rolled to your feet that touched the ground after you’d leapt from the swings.

With a weak kick, you returned it. Ruben shook his head in disapproval before he shot it right back at you. Try that again, with the left this time. You didn’t know if it was anger at being challenged by some random kid or genuine hidden talent, but when you hit the ball with your instep, it flew powerfully and directly into his own.

She’s on my team!

Inseparable wasn’t a strong enough word to describe you two. After finding out that you lived only one house down, he would come to your school to walk with you back home. On many of those occasions, Aki was there too. Your mom would be waiting with snacks and a warning, don’t play too long out in the sun, patifes.

Somewhere and somehow along the years, you and Ruben had become so close that it seemed you two were dating. Ivan jokingly asked one day as you were sharing a vanilla ice cream cone, ew, are you boyfriend and girlfriend? Ruben grabbed your hand, laced your fingers with his, and simply said, yes.

And that was that.

As for when you began to realize you loved him, that was harder to pinpoint. Maybe it came once you began to notice how helpful he was to you and your mom.

Ruben was always willing to lend a hand with repairs around your house, even if it meant searching up how-to videos when he thought you weren’t paying attention. Or how he’d go out of his way to walk your mom home when she worked night shifts.

Aki often griped and rolled her eyes at how you two were making her feel like a third wheel. Those complaints were always quickly followed with rebuttals that she’d spent a grand total of fifteen days as a single girl since she was thirteen.

Just make sure my maid of honor dress isn’t fugly at your wedding.

It was all but a given that marriage was pending in the future for you two. Ruben never had eyes for any other girl and you…God, you were terribly devoted to him. Even your posters of Justin Bieber found themselves catching dust in the closet, replaced by a collage of photos you and Ruben had taken together over time.

Five years saw graduations, proms, college acceptances and many, many firsts experienced together. His arms were the only man’s you’d ever laughed in, cried in, slept in. His eyes were the only one’s you saw when you closed your own. His lips were the only thing you wanted to taste on the good and bad days, and everything in between.

So, what happened on September 15th 2017?

To this day, you still had no answers to the why behind that question. Nor could you allow yourself to wrack your brain for them any longer should you want to hold onto your sanity.

As for what. Simply put, it was the worst day of your entire life to date.

On the eve of his debut for Benfica’s first team, an event he’d dreamt of and worked so hard for, one that become just as significant to you by extension, Ruben broke up with you. Over the phone, no less - which added humiliation onto a violent erupting volcano of destructive emotions.

Cold turkey, brutal, cruel. It’s over, don’t contact me, I don’t love you anymore.

There were no warning signs, no moments in retrospect left unturned during your spiral, that could’ve possibly made what you read true. You initially thought it was some sick joke. Maybe one of his teammates had taken his phone. Or perhaps there was some girl that wanted him and was jealous that he was yours, so she decided to play dirty.

It was none of that or the million other scenarios you came up with on you walk over to his home. You came to learn that it was, in fact, not a joke. Ruben meant it when he said he was done with you.

He made that painfully clear as he looked at you standing under the faint glow of the lantern on his front porch through the window. Those eyes you once dreamt of fondly seemingly someone else’s as he drew the curtain and shut off the light.

You don’t recall much of time that passed in the months following that night. Every now and then you’d get flashes - Aki crawling in and out of the bed you temporarily became one with, your mom scooping you up to help you bathe and wash your hair.

It was better that way, you think. A blessing in disguise to not be able to clearly recall the most devastating period of your existence.

When your memory resumed, it always picked up at the same place. You siting with Aki on the steps of an abandoned subway station in total silence.

In your mind, you were there with him years ago when the line was still functioning. The rush of the train brought wind along that rose your hair like lightning was about to strike. Ruben grinned toothily as he smoothed it back, tilting your face upwards.

He said I’d always be home when I was with him. Where am I supposed to go now?

The silence returned even louder following the question that neither of you had the answer to.

Instead, you sat there in it with your best friend and shed the last tears you ever would over Ruben Dias.

o presente

Seven years was a long time.

It came with two college degrees, laser focus and an ability to compartmentalize so strongly that it would terrify artificial intelligence.

Whatever threatened to upend you at the sight of his name was snatched up and contained to be dealt with sometime in the future. You didn’t put literal blood, sweat and tears into your career to let one old wound derail it at such a pivotal moment.

With the same vigor you scrapped up to move on with your life, you poured every ounce of energy you had into absolutely nailing your pitch. Five all nighters, thirty six edits and ten complete run throughs later resulted in Bana being chosen as the firm to brand the newest AirMax.

“I always knew you were a genius, but this project was just,” Aki kissed the air as she took the next left to drive back to your shared building.

“Team effort, Aks.” You mumbled.

The thing about throwing yourself entirely into one project was that when the hard work was done, all the was left was the shit you were avoiding. You could feel it there, gnawing at the back of your head like a mice on a fresh piece of cheese.

“What if we watched an old coming of age movie like we used to on nights like this? Pop out some wine, get in our pj’s…real wild stuff.” She nudged your elbow with hers.

You casted a fond glance at her. Aki would never come outright and say it, but it was her way of checking in with you. The client mailing list was no secret to her since she needed it for the budgeting, so there was no way she missed him being on there.

The mice grew hungrier. Throughout all of your breakdowns and pain, she held all of hers in unselfishly and arguably stupidly. You weren’t the only one who lost someone important to you on that night.

“We do that after product launches. The deal has only just been sealed.” A smile was managed to form on your end.

“Ah…best not jinx it then, huh?” Aki blew a raspberry.

In order to keep her worries at bay this time, something you silently promised to do ever since your senses had returned, you squeezed her arm and doubled down.

“Besides, I haven’t had a proper night’s sleep in nearly three weeks. I think I’ll just go for a short run, take a shower and hibernate.”

She nodded, liking the sound of that plan. You would’ve felt proud of your disarming skills had you not known the real reason for her shoulders relaxing. She was looking forward to having the next two days off more than anyone else.

“Don’t forget to text me when you get back.” Aki stuck out her pinky.

“Always.” You locked yours in tight.

The repetitive beat of your feet meeting the ground had the ability to still your mind nearly as much as pouring yourself into your work did. Left, right, left, right, left. When you added in the accompanying swing of your arms, the constant reminder to keep your breath in control and music that made you feel like you could punch a hole through a wall - you were nothing short of a machine.

It was one of the healthier coping mechanism you’d clung to back home. Every day, you’d take to the streets of the new neighborhood you moved to and then to the track at you university.

You’d gotten so good at it that you were scouted to run for the school’s team. Going pro was never a part of your plan, though. You only accepted the offer because it came with a free ride.

A drop of water hit your face, but it was cold.

Your treads slowed a bit as your eyes turned skyward. The clouds illuminated against a murky purplish background with the warning of distant lightning approaching. You refocused and pumped your legs faster. Fucking Manchester.

In between your songs transitioning, you heard a faint rumble. It made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, the sound distorted by the headphones muffling your ears playing tricks that twisted the noise to sound partially human.

Whether it was or not, you weren’t trying to stick around to find out. It was late at night and the weather was going to get hellish soon.

From the corner of your eye, you spotted a shadow ripping behind the streetlights - closing in on yours with each meter. Lactic acid built painfully in your muscles as you pushed even harder, breath control thrown to the wind.

It was gaining on you while rain began to fully fall.

Within a matter of seconds, which is all you had, you came to a decision. You were too exhausted from sleep deprivation and being nearly an hour into your run to beat whoever was chasing after you. The only option you had now was to steel your nerves and use the keys in your pocket as a last line of defense.

Your right hand blindly reached down and was met with lint. Terror hadn’t been felt until that very moment. A thousand and one scenarios raced through your mind with you reaching for the ones that would allow you to leave this situation at least narrowly unscathed.

The one you got a firm grip on using the element of surprise to hopefully distract them from whatever intentions they had for an instant. You took one last deep breath before spinning around swiftly and throwing out a fist.

A man in a baseball cap dodged the punch to his credit, albeit not very ideal for you. His balance, however, was in your favor. He slipped on the slick sidewalk and landed flat on his back with a pained groan.

You were the last thing you should’ve been given that you’d been granted an escape - frozen. On your behalf, you would’ve been halfway down the street and barreling towards your building had it not been for the wide eyes staring up at you.

Those eyes…Ruben’s.

[billthedrake]

Note: This is a hypnosis story co-written with @josmith1718

THE PROTOCAL (CHAPTER THREE)

I woke up the next day to find the bed empty again. I don’t know what it was, but I usually woke up early with Dad and we both had breakfast before heading to our jobs. This weekend, it seemed as though I was catching up on the sleep I had not been having because of the increased workload from the promotion. I was also sleeping like a baby because of dad’s increased libido and his breakthrough, finally let me go there... have a taste of that beautiful furry ass. I was already sporting morning wood, feeling like a teenager again when I realized I should get up and see what was on today’s docket.

I roused up and slipped on some shorts and a T-shirt. The dildo was there on the nightstand but cleaned and standing up, like Dad had set it ready for future use.

I padded down the hall and saw the door to my office was closed. I realized Dad must have been doing another session with the Company when I heard him talking with the Tech Bro. I didn’t know he’d scheduled anything, but I figured he’d fill me in later. Meanwhile I went to fix some coffee for us, hopefully he would not be in there too long.

I checked my phone and saw the email from the Company:

"Hello Kyle,

I hope the Protocol is going well for you! Just checking in to see if everything has been going well with you and Brian. Let me know if you’d like to have a virtual follow up. We like to make sure our customers are finding success in their lives after using our service.

The Company"

They were definitely getting a five-star rating!

Dad finally came out, a relaxed smile on his face.

"Morning son," he greeted me. I was surprised he had done his consultation shirtless, but it was the weekend, no need to be so formal.

"Hey Dad. You talked to the Company?" I asked as I got our mugs out and ready for the coffee. He looked at me, smiling before nodding, "Yep. It was a debriefing consultation to make sure everything was going well."

I leaned on the counter, eyes heavy on him, smiling, "And...?"

A part of me was still worried Dad might think it was not working or it was a hoax. Every time I put him under, I always ensured he was unaware that he went under, so how could he even know if he was actually being hypnotized?

He grinned. "And... I’m getting some incredible sex. Having you eat me out was incredible. I guess I had too many hang ups to realize how good it could be. Not sure if it’s like the placebo effect because I haven’t done anything except for listening to those audio files. A month ago, I would not have let you near my backdoor and last night you ate me out and shoved a dildo in me and it wasn’t bad. I actually enjoyed it.” He grinned, blushing a bit. He was adorable.

"It was amazing for me, too, Dad."

Dad had a knowing smirk as he walked towards me. He gave me a kiss and then lowered his shorts and turned around, bracing himself on the island.

"I, um, cleaned myself out again, son... you think you could rim me?” He blushed.

My first thought was uh oh, I created a horny monster. My second thought was fuck it, Dad’s ass is meaty as hell, and I wanted nothing more than to bury my face in there and munch away.

I crouched down and grabbed those meaty cheeks, slapping them a bit. Dad let out a small grunt.

“You have such an amazing ass, dad. Beautiful, muscled, hairy... a real man’s ass.” It was like tawdry newlywed sex, fucking around with Dad in every room of the house.

The man reached back and parted his buns. Dad’s trench was hairy and I loved that Irish Spring smell and the way his hairs there were almost fluffy soft. I licked the crevice. Dad liked that, but he LOVED it when my tongue made contact with his pucker.

"Oh God, son. Rim me, buddy.... Aw yeah, just like that."

Like the night before, he hiked his ass back and rode my face. But unlike the night before I had a good position to grip his ass to hold him steady when I wanted to power drill that hole with my tongue.

I probably alternated my rim approach and ate him out for ten solid minutes before I pulled back. I pressed a finger against his ring and watched it sink in. Deeper than that dildo last night. I wondered if Dad played with that toy while I was asleep, practicing as I slept next to him, unaware that my old man was fucking himself in preparation for my cock. Fuck, that turned me on, and I tried inserting two fingers with some extra spit. It was too much but Dad loved the combo of one finger inside and one finger along the outside of the ring.

"Come on buddy, stand up," he finally said. Not angry or scared about my exploration of his ass. He sounded out of breath, "Your turn stud, let me take care of you."

I pulled back and did what he asked as I pulled down my shorts. I had a pretty good idea I was going to be getting serviced by Dad.

“I think you may be obsessed with my ass just like I’m with your cock, huh.”

He was such a great cocksucker, something I would never say aloud to him. I don’t think we were there yet, but the man gave the best head. He knew exactly what I liked, and my favorite was how he would be on his knees with his eyes on me, looking up at my reaction to gauge how fast or slow he should go.

Of course, Dad did not disappoint with his performance. The big beefy guy got on his haunches and just went to town on my dong. I still remember the first time he blew me and surprised me at how amazing it was to have my father’s lips and tongue and throat on my cock. It just got better with the longer he and I fooled around. Steady bobs as he gave the base of my shaft a slight twist with his hand. The man was a milking machine and every time he sucked me off, it made me feel like the only man in the world.

"Oh SHIT!" I cried when dad deepthroated me out of nowhere. I was already horned up and had my eyes closed with my hands on his shoulders, rubbing them as he did his thing. The deepthroating was unexpected and that tripped my wire and got me firing my morning load.

Dad gulped it down expertly and stayed with my cock in his mouth while I rode the orgasm, which went on longer than usual. I had to pat his hair, urging him to slow down and finally pull off. He had a big grin when he did.

"That going to last ya, buddy?" He asked as he got up, his cock obscenely stretching the fabric of his shorts.

"How long does it have to...?” I nervously asked. I was already thinking of an afternoon quickie. If my dad’s ex thought he had a crazy libido, I must’ve inherited it as well and then some. I was ready to jump him again as he scratched his pec and with his thumb cleaned a bit of cum on his chin before putting it in his mouth and sucking it off.

"At least till tonight," he laughed at my reaction watching him suck off his thumb with remnants of my cum. He gave me a pat on the shoulder, "Go ahead and shower up son. I’ll fix some breakfast."

“Don’t you want to come and shower with me instead?” I asked as I tried to grab his cock.

He laughed and slapped my hand away before he spun me around and held me in his arms, “We’ll run out of the hot water if I go in with you, bud.” He gave me a kiss on the cheek and then slapped my ass, “Get in the shower, son, that’s a fatherly order.”

“Yes sir.” I did a half ass salute and left.

****

Later that morning, I set up in my office and met the Tech Bro for a consultation. Their customer service was exceptional. I replied to his email and within minutes, we had set up this meeting for the same day.

It was a great conversation. I was a little embarrassed to talk about all the sex stuff, but I figured that’s why we went with these guys. So, I told him about the progress with rimming and toy play.

Tech Bro gave me an "attaboy" smirk. "Glad to hear, Kyle. Is that what you wanted to get out of this?"

He knew there was more both sexually and otherwise, but I was hesitant to admit it.

"A lot of it, yeah," I replied, "I don’t wanna push D—uh, Brian to do something he doesn’t wanna do." I almost referred to him as Dad but had to stop myself.

"Like I mentioned before, Kyle, this just taps into Brian’s deeper desires, not run against them. Keep reminding yourself that if he doesn’t want to do something, he will not do them."

As he explained, I noticed Tech Bro was wearing a slim-cut navy suit without a tie. But my attention was drawn to his pocket square. I don’t know why I was so focused on that. Maybe because it looked old fashioned. Or something my CEO would wear or something. Or maybe it was just the pattern.

"Good," Tech Bro said. "You feel confident with the Protocol going forward." More of a statement rather than a question.

"Yeah," I responded confidently, "It took me a while to get the hang of it, but Brian seems really receptive and that helps."

Tech Bro smiled and nodded, "I’ve not met a more receptive subject in a long time Kyle."

I was strangely proud of that comment and a bit horny. I would definitely need Dad to help me out if he wasn’t tired or busy. I absentmindedly rubbed my crotch until we finished.

"Well, you guys are the best," I gushed.

He laughed, "Always glad to hear a customer is happy."

We wrapped up and signed off. I felt a little lazy that afternoon and though my cock was straining my shorts, my tiredness won out and I took a nap while Dad watched golf.

***

I hated Sunday evenings, since it meant the end of the week, but it had been an amazing, relaxing and unforgettable weekend with Dad. I sometimes worried if I’d ever get sick of this domestic life with my father. I smiled and decided no, I would never get sick of being with Dad. Only wish I could openly show him off as my husband rather than just my father...

I did the dishes after dinner, and he put them away. As he was finished with the last one, I dropped the trigger word. No need to have the theatrics of waiting it out or planning. After the conversation with the tech bro, I owned it, using the trigger that made dad into this beautiful zonked out hunk wherever we were.

"Power down."

Dad entered that relaxing state easily and readily.

Before, I’d been focused on specifics, but now, it was like a switch in mind shifted and now, I just wanted to get him under.

"You are in that white room, Brian." I said with confidence.

I was getting hard in my shorts as I stood a couple feet in front of him, matching his vacant stare with my own.

"Yes, it’s bright in here." He replied. It seemed like dad was beginning to be more confident in this state as well. He sounded as though he were awake and not under. I had to check and grabbed his hand, raising it and letting go. His arm fell and hit his side, but he did not register anything. My cock was beginning to hurt from straining my shorts.

"Yes it is... It is blindingly white. Soon, though, you are beginning to feel a faint breeze. Do you know where it is coming from?”

“No, I’m alone in here.”

“That’s not completely true, Brian. Kyle is always with you.” I grabbed his hand and he looked at me and smiled, “Kyle is here.”

“He is and he is going to be with you always, making sure you are safe and happy. Even now, you and Kyle realize that there is water coming into the room. It’s slowly filling the room until your feet are under the water.”

“Son, we have to leave. The water could rise.” I felt him tighten his grip and try to pull me in.

“As long as you are in the room with Kyle, nothing will happen to you, Brian.”

“But my son... I don’t want anything to happen to him.”

“As long as you are with Kyle in the room, nothing will happen to him. Both of you are protecting each other. Why is that?”

“We love each other.”

I smiled and caressed his hand. He lightened his grip, and his thumb began to caress my hand.

“Now Brian, the water is up to your ankles, the water is a beautiful blue, it is relaxing to be in the cool water flowing beneath you."

"I’m feeling relaxed." Dad said.

"You are safe in this white room. With the cool water, Kyle and his voice."

Dad was smiling, “My beautiful son... a real stud.”

I was breathing hard, this was really hot, dad’s innermost thoughts verbally expressed and, in his mind, I was ‘beautiful’ and a ‘stud,’ "You are safe with him." I said in a raspy voice.

Dad nodded.

"When the time is right, Kyle will guide you." I reached out with my free hand and touched his arm. As soon as I had made him feel safe and he felt my touch again, I could see dad get fully erect. He was chubbing a bit when I held his hand, but he lost it when he went into protection mode. Now that we were ‘safe’ he began to get hard again, sporting an equally angry boner like mine.

"With his body and his voice, he will lead you through this water safely."

"My son is such a good boy.” His breathing was getting heavy now.

If dad kept whispering sweet nothings to me, I would cum hands free.

"On the count of three you will return to your kitchen, once again following all instructions and suggestions and being unaware that you were under.” I let go of him and kept my close proximity with him.

"One... the water is drawing away.... Two.... the white is darkening, the water receding fully now.... Wake up...Three."

He blinked and smirked, mistaking my proximity with wanting to initiate something.

"Someone horny?" He asked.

Maybe he wasn’t so mistaken. "A little," I admitted.

Dad grinned, “Duty calls.” Dad crouched down in front of me and fished out my cock. I placed my hands on his shoulders and let him take care of me.

***

The work week hit in the worst way. My promotion meant I had more responsibility at work, which was translating into longer hours. Dad had dinner ready for me when I got home, but I was tired and stressed. I even begged off one of his blowjobs one night. He was sad but bounced back by giving me a foot rub as we watched T.V. and then another massage before bed.

I did make sure to put Dad under a couple of times, to reinforce the Protocol. Maybe it wasn't quite the rush of a turn on to do so now, almost a routine. But I didn't want to lose our progress. The novelty was wearing off, but I can’t deny it was working wonders.

I noticed the dildo had moved a couple times during the week. I guessed Dad was using the dildo on his own for his “bottoming exercises,” and I made a mental note to ask him about it later. Now, each time I came home, I would play “Where’s Waldo” with the dildo see if the dildo had traveled between rooms while I was away.

By the time Friday rolled around, I was ready for a special date night. Dad was in a giddy mood too, his eyes almost twinkling in excitement when he asked if I had anything I wanted to do that evening.

"Why don't you get cleaned out, Dad?" I asked. "That is, if you can wait a little for dinner."

The man undid the buttons on his plaid shirt. Damn he had a hell of a lot of muscle, more defined than before. He had been hitting the gym with more frequency now. He wasn’t jacked but was getting some real definition. Honestly, I loved my dad’s body before, but if he was hitting the gym harder AFTER we initiated the Protocol, well, that’s a nice bonus I thought.

"You got it, buddy," he said. Chipper as hell. This from a man who wouldn't even let me touch his ass a month ago. "Any chance I could get a taste of ya first? You know, as a preview?"

I grinned and unzipped my suit. Friday was business casual, but I was still trying to dress for success in my new role. I sat on the couch and let Dad scarf down my dong, slobbering on it, and working my length, before he pulled off.

"You're gonna cum soon, aren't ya?"

"Probably, yeah."

Dad gave another quick suck then pulled off. "Let's hold that thought, buddy."

As Dad got up, he walked away but stopped and looked back before saying, “I love when you wear your suits, son. Turns me on like no other seeing my executive stud in his tailored suits.” I bit my lip and grabbed hold of the cushions and concentrated on my breathing. This man was about to make me cum. God, I was the one that needed to get in a quick cold shower if I was going to survive without cumming.

While he showered and cleaned himself out with the new douche, I went to the bedroom and stripped down. I hadn't gotten off the day before and was hard as a rock and dad’s comment and oral service didn’t help at all. It felt like I had taken several Viagra pills for lunch.

I reclined on the bed naked except for a tie around my neck that dad had given me. It was funny, I never gifted dad with ties or socks for Father’s Day, but he would give me ties almost always on special occasions. I didn’t mind, especially since I wear a tie daily at work. Thinking of the ties helped me take a breather and get my erection under control until I started thinking about dad in a different light. I thought of when I would put dad under and what new suggestions I’d plant in his mind.

Finally my old man strutted in. All of his hot, blue collar muscle and his graying hair made him look incredible. Coyly, he had a towel wrapped around his waist, but he took it off and tossed it on the back of a chair.

"All ready for ya, son," he said as he got up on the bed, “Damn, buddy, you are pushing my buttons tonight, alright.” Just him saying that made me leak some pre.

"Could I eat a proper meal from that ass, dad?" I asked in a whispered voice. I was trying really hard not to shoot prematurely but dad was so fucking hot in that moment. His eyes ate me up, his hand was hot on my skin, and his fresh smell was intoxicating.

He straddled my waist, facing away, before backing his body towards me, "I think you could, son. I washed really well, bud, squeaky clean just for my boy."

"Let me show you my appreciation for cleaning yourself out..." I said as I kissed his left ass cheek, then his right. Dad leaned over some and reached back to pull his own buns apart.

Dad's hole was beautiful. Tight, puckered ring, just the right amount of fine hair around it. I leaned up and started licking.

"Buddy..." He pressed back into my munching mouth. I couldn't believe my father had gotten so into being eaten out. I think I surprised myself too by how much I loved to rim him. I was eating him, finally something to get my mind off my own leaking erection. I was in fucking heaven in that moment, munching on dad’s beautiful hole.

But as I worked his sensitive hole fast and slow, deep and shallow, I wanted to try more. I pulled back and teased the rim with my finger. The spit lubed the way and I watched Dad's hole open up enough to swallow my digit to the knuckle. Still tight as fuck but accepting. I prodded the entrance more. What surprised me more was that dad didn’t object in the least, letting me finger him. I needed to kiss him, show him how much I loved him.

"I wanna kiss you, Dad," I hissed.

"Yeah," he grunted and as he pulled away and turned around, I saw he was not only very erect, he was dripping mad. Like father like son, both men leaking like faulty faucets. He repositioned his body and I met him halfway, our mouths crashing together for a deep, wet kiss.

"Love ya, buddy," he growled into my lips.

"Love you too Dad. So much."

We kind of wrestled on the bed. Dad was bigger and stronger but he let me take the top position, my younger body positioned above his. Once I was there, Dad's eyes widened and he let out a choked groan. And like that, I felt his legs wrap around my waist and his hands clutch at my arms.

This was the hypnosis kicking in, I guess. I gave a sexy smirk to him as I reached over for the lube. Then I wedged my hand beneath our bodies to find that magic spot beneath Dad's legs.

"Damn!" he hissed the second I touched his pucker.

"Feel good, Dad?" I asked. I probed deeper. My fingers were extra lubed and soon Dad's hole would be too.

He nodded, urgent and vulnerable. "You have no idea, buddy."

I slathered the rest of the lube onto my cock and scooted in place.

"You're big," he hissed as I smeared the greasy liquid around his entrance, stimulating him in the process.

His eyes rolled back as his head hit the pillow under him. "God..." He grunted euphorically.

It was an awakening, the point of no return, he was getting that promised ‘pleasure tenfold’ I suggested to him before. He was being bombarded by pleasure from everything; my touch, my weight on his, my cock entering him, his ‘secret spot’ in his ass, amplified by his need to make me happy and deliver me pleasure with his body. Everything was perfectly aligned for dad to have an unforgettable date night.

I took in his momentary, out of body experience at the chance to power my hips forward. And like that, my dick was pushing into the tightest most wonderful sleeve. Wet and hot. I was wedged about four inches inside my father's cherry. Me, his son, I was breaching his cherry for real.

"Fuck!" I growled, overcome by the feeling and the knowledge I was taking Dad's virginity.

The man's eyes opened up and looked at me in a silent plea. His hands were gripping my arms too tightly and his tree trunk legs were crushing my sides, but I didn’t care. I saw fear on his face. Not pain, not discomfort, but something more primally psychological. I was going to help him through it, even if I had to endure this moment of discomfort too.

"Listen to my voice, Dad," I urged. My dick held dead still inside his guts as I looked down on him. "You're making me feel good, Dad. Feeling really great, thanks to you... I want to continue... I need to fuck."

I started sawing in and out with gentle, micro thrusts.

"God, son," Dad grunted. He was feeling a range of intense feelings. My cock, his stretched hole, the novel sensations of having his guts opened up. His eyes focused more intently on me, trying to follow the hypnotic suggestions that had been planted.

"This feels right, Brian," I grunted. This was the first time I'd called Dad by his first name outside of the hypnosis sessions. I was thrusting in and out of Dad now. Getting deeper. The man was still tight as fuck. I was getting a hell of a first ride. "Tell me this feels right."

Dad's voice was soft and deep. "It feels right, Kyle."

I fucked him faster, deeper. "I'm gonna try to hit your spot, Brian.... you gonna let your son all the way in?"

"I want you to, Kyle," Dad said. Eyes still trained laser focused on my face, his attention still craving my voice.

I slowed the in and out motion and jabbed at that deepest cherry spot with shallow thrusts. "Right there, Brian... Dad... feel it?"

He tried to keep his eyes on me, but his body was going into overdrive. He was sweating a lot. His legs were still pressing me tightly but with the sensation of my cock in his ass, I didn’t care. Dad soon screamed, "YES!"

His fingers tightened even more around my biceps, it actually hurt how with powerful his grip was.

"Oh, Kyle... son!"

"Feel it, Dad," I urged. I graduated from shallow jabs to full deep strokes into Dad. Giving him the full fuck his first time out. His face turned red and his body grew rigid. And hands free, his cock fired off. Heavy jets of Dad's seed shot out, all over his body, reaching his cheek and forehead even, his cum was that strong.

I couldn't hold off either. I was orgasming the hottest orgasm of my life. The load flooding Dad's no longer virgin guts matched the size of the one he was shooting. The whole time, his hand gripped me and his legs wrapped around my ass greedily.

We both broke into a smile as we came down from our mutually timed high. I didn't want to pull out yet, and Dad didn't want to unclench his legs just yet.

"That... buddy... was fucking amazing," Dad said.

"Dad... I didn't even dream it could be so good," I said.

We kissed and embraced. His legs and hands let up finally, letting our make out session be a comfortable experience for me. But, after a minute of this romantic kissing, we were both getting horned up again, wanting to experience what had just happened for a second or third time. We looked at one another and knew, we were going to fuck again.

[bit-dodgy-innit]

The More The Merrier - Part One

Set in The Shape of Youniverse

Summary: Doctor Strange’s wedding gift allows you and your husband to fulfill your wildest fantasies 

Pairing: Marc x afab!reader, Steven x afab!reader and Jake x afab!reader, Reader is married to the system 

Word Count: 3.3k 

Rating: Mature (for now!)

CW/TW: Mentions of pregnancy, reader experiences anxiety and mild body insecurity, Marc is ~protective~ and not afraid to threaten violence to protect his fam, discussions of group sex, making out  

A/N: Okay y’all! Everyone loved Group Effort so I thought there was no better way to celebrate 1000 followers than to write a follow up! I am currently burnt to a crisp creatively, HOWEVER I figure if I post what I have so far this lovely community’s support and reactions may just invigorate me to get the rest of this naughtiness out! 

Translations at the end of the fic as usual!

You thought you were dreaming. You must have been, because why else would Doctor Strange be in your living room talking to your husband? The sound of voices had awoken you, and when you saw that Marc’s side of the bed was empty, you followed the hushed but heated voices to their source. 

You could hear Marc insisting lowly, “I told you I can’t…”

“And I told you his new avatar is miss–”

“Honey?” You interrupted, your voice raspy from sleep, “What’s going on?”

You’d rubbed just enough sleep from your eyes to be able to take in the sight before you. Marc, in his pajamas, mid-argument with Doctor Strange, red cape and all. 

You blinked furiously. Up until that very moment, all of Marc’s stories about being the white knight dude–Moon Knight, he told you he’d been called, were just that. Stories. You liked it that way. That way, there was plausible deniability. Seeing him talking to an Avenger in your flat made things startlingly real. 

“Go back to bed sweetheart,” your husband urged you, trying and failing to keep his mounting frustration from bleeding into his tone. 

Like hell you were going back to sleep. “What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing,” Marc answered immediately. His pointed look to the Avenger meant that Strange wasn’t going to divulge anything either. 

“Sorry to wake you, Mrs. Spector,” the sorcerer offered instead. 

“I’m not going anywhere until one of you tells me why he’s here in the middle of the night,” you informed both men plainly. It was perplexing to think that the men in charge of your planet’s safety, like Doctor Strange and your husband, were such shit liars.

“It’s Khonshu--” Strange began. 

“He’s retired,” you interjected. Your husband resuming his superhero activities, especially when you’d just found out you were pregnant a few weeks ago, was your worst nightmare. 

“I know,” he assured you, “I had a question for Marc, that’s all.” 

“And I told him that I can’t be involved with any of this shit, in any capacity,” your husband fumed, “Twice now.” 

“Well excuse me,” the sorcerer snarked, “and here I thought you’d become a consultant.” 

You couldn't stifle the giggle that Strange’s comment brought forth. Marc bristled, “Please sweetie, will you wait for me in the bedroom? I’ll show Stephen out.” 

Hearing that your husband was on a first-name basis with an Avenger made your head swim. You nodded, but didn’t completely comply, going only so far as the hallway so you could eavesdrop on them unseen.

“Did I just get you into trouble?” Strange inquired. 

“Yes,” your husband confirmed. “Out of everything wrong with me, her only hang-ups are my ex-wife and the avatar shit, so summon one of those portal things before I have to kick you out myself.” 

“Wow, okay, so Steven’s the one with the manners then,” he noted wryly. 

Marc sighed so deeply you could hear it from across the flat. “How many times do I have to say–”

“Congratulations by the way.” 

Your heart dropped. Did he know? He couldn’t know. You were nowhere near showing, how on earth could he know? Doctor Strange flew and did magic and traversed the multiverse, but there was no way he could tell that you were pregnant, was there?

“I’ll tear you limb from limb and rent your stupid cloak out for birthday parties,” Marc threatened in a snarl, “I didn’t want anyone knowing that we're together, let alone that we’re expecting. If that information leaves your lips, so help me–”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Strange promised him, “though it explains why I can’t convince you.” 

“Use that forgetting spell on yourself,” your husband ordered. 

“I’ll do you one better,” the sorcerer offered, “I’ll put you two under the protection of the London Sanctum. It’ll keep her safe while we sort all of this out…though it’d go a lot quicker if you–”

“Want me to re-introduce you to Jake?” Marc growled. 

Now it was Strange’s turn to sigh. “You realize you don’t have the suit anymore, right?”

“Nunca lo necesité,” the man in question interceded, “Disfrutaría el desafío.”

“You really love her, don’t you?” the Avenger observed. 

“She’s the reason I left Khonshu,” Marc confessed. After observing him so tight-lipped and protective about your relationship to Strange just now, your husband’s candor shocked you. 

“I’d say you traded up,” the sorcerer remarked archly. 

 Marc stood firm. “Yeah, and I’m not looking to downgrade anytime soon.”

“Can’t blame you. Well Marc, it’s always a…time.”

The faint hum of what you assumed was the magic he conjured for the portals Strange used alerted you to scamper back to the bed and dive under the covers, so that when Marc returned you could convincingly feign sleep. Moments later, you felt the mattress dip under his weight and his arms wrap around your waist from behind. 

“Are you mad at me?” came his timid question, murmured into your hair.  

You didn’t open your eyes. “That you told Doctor Strange to fuck off for the sake of our marriage? For our family? No, hun.” 

“I’m sorry,” he apologized anyway, “I hate how that this part of my past won’t let me go.” 

“This wasn’t your fault and you didn't get involved,” you pointed out, implicitly urging him to let it go. “Can we go back to sleep? Need to rest up for my inevitable morning vomit sesh.” 

Marc held your tighter and pressed a kiss to a notch of your spine. “‘Course baby.”

You weren’t exactly proud of how quick you were to brush the encounter off, but being a newlywed and a surprise pregnancy meant you had enough on your plate. There wasn’t any mental or emotional space to entertain the thought of your ex-avatar husband having to risk his life to ensure your, your unborn baby, and Earth’s safety, because if you did, the Hulk would look like a teddy bear in comparison to the state it’d send you in.  

Luckily, Marc was even better at sweeping uncomfortable moments under the rug than you were. You didn’t give the late-night meeting with Doctor Strange a second thought until a few weeks later when you glimpsed a headline about another global calamity averted emblazoned across a fellow Tube passenger’s copy of The Guardian. Your first trimester made you incredibly motion sick, so you had to look away and deep breathe at once, since the last thing anyone wanted on their morning commute was a woman spewing all over the car. 

Work served as the perfect distraction, until you received a particularly cryptic and distressing text from your husband mid-afternoon.

From: Hubby 

Can you come home please? 

From me:

Now? Are you alright?!

From Hubby: 

Yes, I’m fine. Just need you to come home right away. 

You huffed. That answered absolutely nothing and only made you more anxious. The periods at the ends of his sentences were a dead giveaway as to which alter you were texting with, so you pressed: 

From me:

What’s wrong Marc? 

From Hubby:

Everything’s fine, I promise. 

From me: 

Are you sick? 

The three dots appeared that he was typing, but you’d already sprung from your desk chair at that point. You hurried over to a superior’s office to let them know you were leaving early, claiming a spousal emergency, and you didn’t even wait for a proper response from your boss before you returned to your office, collected your things, and dashed for the door. 

From me: 

Just told Graham I’m heading home. I’ll be there soon!! Do I need to call 999? Harry? Dr. Moorhead???? 

Marc never asked for help. He'd rather eat all ten toes. It was a point of contention in your relationship, something you were working through, so the fact he’d texted you in the middle of the afternoon asking you to come home freaked you the fuck out. You’d just gotten into a taxi - it’d be faster than the Tube this time of day - when he finally responded. 

From Hubby:

No. See you soon. 

You slammed your fist, still wrapped around the rectangle of your phone, down against the upholstered seat in the cab. If Marc was alive when you got home, you were going to kill him. 

After one of the most fraught cab rides of your life, you breathlessly burst through the door of your flat. “MARC?! Jake?! Steven?! You okay?” 

Your husband sat on the couch, appearing to be perfectly well. “Hi baby.” 

You rushed to him, instantly putting the back of your hand to his forehead to check his temperature. “What’s wrong? God, would it kill you to tell me what’s going on? I nearly gave myself an ulcer on the way here.” 

Marc caught your hand and brought your palm to his lips, murmuring “I’m sorry” into the skin there.

“Is someone going to tell me what the fuck is happening here?” you demanded. 

“It’s okay, everything’s okay baby,” he tried to soothe you. 

“Then why did you send me those vague bloody texts telling me to come home ASAP?” 

A sound from the bedroom momentarily distracted you before Marc captured your other hand in his grasp and gently tugged you to take a seat next to him. He continued to apologize, “I’m sorry, so sorry baby. We didn’t know how else to do it, plus we wanted it to be a surprise.”

You regarded him warily. “For what to be a surprise?” 

“Remember when Stephen – well, Doctor Strange came here?” 

“Of course I do.” 

“Well, he um…he knew you were pregnant–I didn’t tell him, he just…I don’t know he mystically sensed it or something–and he felt bad about implicating you in our business. I ended up helping him–nothing really, just told him some stuff he wanted to know about my time as Khonshu’s avatar, and he wanted to thank me–well us, I guess? He said to consider it a belated wedding or early–”

“Ay…I think I’ve missed a birthday with how long you’re taking!” 

This was it. Forget your husband’s mental health struggles, you’d officially had a psychotic break. Because Jake had interrupted your conversation by walking into the room. In a separate body. 

“Fucking hell!! You couldn’t wait thirty more seconds?!” Marc snapped at him. 

Thank goodness you were already sitting down. The room swam. Your husband – wait, husbands?-- kept bickering with each other while you stared at them, glassy-eyed and slack-jawed. 

“No voy a perder otro segundo teniendo que escucharte un parloteo. No tenemos todo el día aquí.”

“What the fuck is going on?” you asked yourself in an awestruck whisper. 

“Honey?” Marc turned to you, “you’re okay.”

“Todo esta bien,” Jake added, rushing to your other side. 

You were grateful that there were two of them, otherwise you would’ve collapsed. The thought made you laugh. Wow, you’d lost your mind with a stunning efficiency it seemed. 

“Sweetheart, can you hear me?” Marc’s eyes searched yours, desperate for you to focus. 

“Uh huh.” 

“What este pendejo was trying to say,” Jake interjected, “is that el doctor did a spell where we all get our own body for twenty-four hours.” 

“He can do that?” It was a stupid question, given that you were surrounded by two of your husbands, but your brain was all but fried. 

“See! This is why I wanted to do it like this! We needed to ease her in!!” Marc lamented. 

“Where’s Steven?” you asked. He had to be here somewhere too, right? 

“You can come out now!” Marc hollered toward the kitchen, and lo and behold, the last third of your husband shuffled into view, complete with his individual body as well.  

“Why am I always the only one who follows the plan?” Steven complained, then after taking one look at your ashen face, joined his counterparts tending to you. “Oh darling, are you alright? Sorry, I know this all must come as a terrible shock. You want me to put the kettle on? Make you a cuppa?”

“The only thing that could help me right now is a stiff drink, which I obviously can’t have because of…” you trailed off and gestured to your midsection. 

“Right, sorry. Marc and I wanted to do this differently, but leave it to Jake to muck things up, as per usual,” he groused. 

“Oye, vete a la mierda pequeño–”

Marc tried to stop them. “Shut up, both of you, this isn’t hel–”

“Oh my God is this what the inside of your head is like?” you wondered aloud, unable to squash a delirious chuckle. 

“Yes,” Steven confirmed, trying to maintain composure, “a small sampling of it, I’m afraid.” 

Your chuckling escalated to full-on unhinged laughter. What else were you to do when each of your husbands were given their own body and argued in front of you?

“Am I high? Or at the very least awake?” 

“No and yes,” Marc replied. 

“So this is why I had to come home early,” you surmised. 

“Sí, we only have twenty-four hours, and we weren’t going to waste anymore on waiting when we could–”

“We could what?” 

“Well, with the baby coming, naturally our sex life is going to take a hit,” Marc said, “so, this seemed like a perfect, one-in-a-lifetime opportunity to um…fulfill some fantasies.”

“You faked an emergency and made me ditch work so we could all have group sex?” 

Steven groaned, “It sounds so tawdry when you put it like that.” 

Marc buried his head in his hands, but Jake puffed up his chest. “Por qué no? Vas a trabajar cada día, ¡pero tal vez nunca volvamos a estar así!”

“No one is touching me…” you protested, heaving a labored breath as overwhelmed tears brimmed in your eyes. “No one is touching me until you all apologize! Properly! You scared the shit out of me just now! You can’t…you can't keep me in the dark like that…I can’t take the stress between your past and the baby and work…it’s too much! So guess what? The last thing I want to do right now is have sex!” 

Three flummoxed faces of concern stared back at you as they each realized they’d severely miscalculated the reveal. Apparently you looked so pathetic it dispelled any of their urges to argue about it, the reminder that you were pregnant seemingly enough to shut them up and send them straight to contrition. Plus, they were probably still hopeful they could get some action later if they apologized right away. 

“I’m sorry baby,” Marc began, pulling you to his chest, “We wanted this to be fun, but…”

“Somos estúpidos,” Jake finished for him, “Even with separate bodies, we all think with the head between our legs.”   

Steven spoke next, “Take all the time you need, my love. We don’t even have to…do anything naughty. We just want to be with you like…as…as us.” 

“Uh, no. We have to fuck,” Jake disagreed. 

Before you could snipe back at Jake, you remembered something Marc had told you about the last time they were separated. Their entire journey through the Duat, Jake had been trapped in a sarcophagus. Despite being married to them, you couldn’t begin to imagine what it would be like to share your body, your life, with two other people the way they did. 

So of course having a body of your own, especially if there was a clock on it, would be a momentous occasion, and it warmed your heart in a funny, roundabout way that Jake wanted to share this precious time with you as intimately as possible. 

Therefore, you found yourself cackling at his remark. The three of them watched you dumbstruck. 

“I think we broke her,” Marc muttered under his breath. 

When you finally regained your breath and a modicum of your senses back, you proposed, “How about this…we make an early dinner to fuel up for um…the night ahead, shall we say? It’ll give me some time to adjust. Deal?”

It took about an hour, but you did calibrate to having multiple husbands in your flat. Jake and Marc were parked on the couch flipping between games on the telly and arguing over scores, players, and stats while Steven and you camped in the kitchen. 

Steven had volunteered to make dinner, and you instantly offered to assist him, figuring that keeping your hands busy would help quiet your racing mind. The pair of you chopped vegetables and, in everyone but Steven’s case, chicken, to make a soup that would be hearty enough to sustain any physical exertion later but light enough so as not to hinder it. 

“This is bizarre, innit?” Steven asked while he stirred the broth. 

“Bizarre doesn't even begin to cover it,” you confessed. “I mean, I know crazy superhero magic shit like this happens, but never to me.”

“When Marc first told me he served Khonshu, I thought it was the stupidest thing I’d ever heard.” 

You laughed at Steven’s frankness. “I love you.” 

“Love you too,” he echoed, his face splitting into a beatific grin. The two of you leaned across the stove to kiss each other. Neither of you hurried to break it. In fact, Steven slipped his tongue between the seam of your lips, while you turned to wrap your arms around him properly. 

You nearly forgot the other two men were there until you were both startled apart by Jake whistling and crowing, “Ey! Save it for later!” 

“Entonces vas a ayudarnos con la comida?” you shot back at him without any real heat.  

Several moments transpired while you ate in which you lapsed into an astonished silence. Though you were no stranger to your husband being co-conscious, there was something even more wondrous about all three of them having to interrupt each other to speak, though despite their separate bodies, each man tended to talk over the other still. 

Marc and Jake were put on cleanup duty, and Steven captured you in his arms once again. He dotted kisses from your clavicle, up the length of your neck, culminating at the extra sensitive spot behind your right ear. “How do you want to do this?” 

You mewled at the pressure of his lips on your skin. “Mmmm, I wanna take a shower and primp a bit. Marc had a point earlier, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, might as well make the most of it, right?” 

“Whatever you want,” he rumbled into your ear. You could feel Steven’s cock stir as he pressed himself into you. 

A devilish smirk danced across your lips. “Wanna look extra fuckable for all of you.” 

“Bloody hell, babe,” Steven’s hips stuttered against your leg. He leaned in to kiss you more, but you dodged him, instead scampering away toward the bathroom and throwing a cheeky look over your shoulder. 

Beyond the fact that you knew that Jake would want to fuck you in the ass and you needed to prepare accordingly, it occurred to you that your insistence on getting dolled up was just as much for your benefit as it was for your partners. You were about to be more vulnerable than you’d ever been in a sexual situation, and though it was with the people you loved and trusted most in the world, sometimes confidence was best found from the outside-in. So you shaved your legs, styled your hair, made up your face, and slipped into the lingerie that you’d grabbed from your dresser before you retreated into the en-suite. 

You examined the finished product of your efforts in the mirror. Your bump wasn’t quite a bump yet at just over twelve weeks, you just looked perennially bloated. You tried to smooth the frown from your face, reminding yourself that you weren’t fat, but instead growing a little life inside of you, the culmination of you and your husband’s love. Nevertheless, you adjusted the straps of the microscopic thong you’d squeezed yourself into to try and create a more flattering shape. After fluffing your hair one more time, you decided you were as ready as you’d ever be.

READ PART TWO 

A/N: Eh? We like? Y’all are always so encouraging but if you feel compelled to leave any feedback I could really use it this time around!!! 

Translations:

Nunca lo necesité - I never needed it

Disfrutaría el desafío - I will enjoy the challenge

No voy a perder otro segundo teniendo que escucharte un parloteo. No tenemos todo el día aquí - I'm not going to waste another second having to listen to you babble. We don't have all day here

Todo esta bien - Everything is ok

Este pendejo - This asshole

Oye, vete a la mierda pequeño - Hey, look here you little shit

Por qué no? Vas a trabajar cada día, ¡pero tal vez nunca volvamos a estar así! - Why not? You go to work every day, but we may never be like this again!

Somos estupidos - We’re stupid

Entonces vas a ayudarnos con la comida - Then are you going to help us with the food?

Taglist:

@twwcs​, @rmoonstoner​, @hot-mess-express1​, @murdickdocked, @toracainz​, @saahmi, @unspokenmoon​, @winterbiipp​, @avatarofseshat​ @ilikeoldermenhelp, @losers-club6​, @harrys-tittie​, @ninebluehearts​, @lucianadraven32​, @dawnsutopia​, @strawberry1042-blog @nikitawolfxo​, @weirdo125 @damnzelsoul​ @missmarmaladeth​ @welcometostayingawake​ @my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction​, @thatgirlshady​

[writerswhy]

Can you talk more about your davron hcs? like his religious guilt? you said he’s jealous of davos, is it because aeron’s more repressed? 

and more angst please and thank you 🙏

How fun! Thank you for the ask anon, I really needed this today <3

can you talk more about your davron hcs? like his religious guilt?

So I like the religious guilt, I do, but I also feel like Aeron recognizes that the gods can and do still love him despite his sexuality. Same with his family (if they were ever to find out), they may not “approve” or fully accept but they love him. (Think of Ethel Cain’s “God loves you but not enough to save you.”)

That being said, he still feels “wrong” — and he can’t help but feel bitter and angry (that’s where the shame comes in) over it. His wants and needs will always come second. It’s the part of him he needs to keep hidden.

is it because aeron’s more repressed?

It depends on what you mean by repressed. I hc Aeron as someone who’s actually quite cheeky and playful with those he feels comfortable with. I don’t actually think he’s a bad swordsmen or rider (maybe by Bracken standards he falls short) either. He’s very much aware he can hold his own and is proud of the work he’s put in to get there. 

(Imagine on the day of the burning mill Aeron just surprises the group of boys guarding the boundary and says something like “I heard you were in need of a knight” only to get them killed lol.)

And you know he jumps at every opportunity to tease Davos. He’s gotta keep his man on his toes. 

and more angst please and thank you 🙏 & you said he’s jealous of davos [because he’s repressed?]

Yesssssss~ I love angst. Give me all the angst. I think Aeron’s jealously is a little more complicated than that, though. Sure, he’s definitely jealous of how easy it is for Davos to just go for what he wants—and I mentioned that it scares him because it can get them caught—but I feel like Aeron wants to reciprocate with the same level of intensity, and with that comes the guilt when he can’t. 

It’d be easier to pretend that what they have is fleeting, or that Davos really is just another Blackwood, but it’s near impossible when Davos frees all the horses from the stable just so he can send everyone away to get Aeron alone, or when he sleeps beside him all open and vulnerable, like he knows Aeron would never hurt him (which lol, between the two I think Aeron is the one who could destroy them both). 

Idk, I like the idea of Aeron being someone who thinks he knows better. He’ll make that choice for them without consulting Davos. And it may be that he’s making the right decision, but he’s taking that away from Davos. All Aeron has to do is ask and Davos is more likely than not to concede. As long as he knows that it’s what Aeron needs/wants, Davos would do anything. But there’s a reason Aeron doesn’t come to him as a partner, and it’s probably because he knows he can have it all. Deep down he knows that what he desires is within reach. It’s not ideal, but it’s not impossible either. All Aeron has to do is trust, and that’s easier said than done.