#so I already knew the regions inside and out and they didn't even change the echo location

[au-wannabe-the-very-best]

Oh man, now I have brain worms about this AU.

They'd have to remember the exact date they were pulled away to Hisui by Arceus. And then, they have to make a choice. Either they pretend to be missing to explain their changes, which would subject their friends and family through fear an terror and grief. Or they just show up after their 'old' self was teleported away. But they have lived for centuries now, have lived through horrible things they only knew from history books. Things changed for them, things changed them.

Akari was ripped from inside her bedroom at night, so she either has to break into her own room, or pretend to her parents she woke up super early and left for a walk. But it's the first time in centuries she sees her parents again. Same for Ingo, he hasn't seen his twin or his friends in ages. Wouldn't they be weirded out if their daughter/brother was suddenly clingy or their tastes for things had changed seemingly over night?

I think, what with the fact that Akari and Ingo would both have pretty bad amnesia, they don't actually... remember. When they disappear. And I was imagining that they only realize they're finally back in their own time when they start noticing that Akari is actually aging. By then, they'd have already missed the dates the two of them disappeared— and since Akari showed up a couple years after Ingo did, it's been years since Ingo has gone missing.

They're in the middle of one of their fake lives in Paldea, Ingo's become a guide around the outskirts of the Great Crater, Akari's attending school, it's been a good three years... They have about another year before they'll have to "move away" for a new identity.

One night Ingo gets woken up by Akari whimpering in pain. They don't realize what's wrong until the lights are turned on and there's a big ol puddle of blood in the middle of the bed. They're hit with the Oh Shit realization that. They've made it. They're in their own time.

And they still do not remember where they're supposed to be.

Over the years, they have regained some memories, but some things were just completely lost. Akari's pretty sure she was from Sinnoh, and that she worked with a Professor, but she didn't remember the Professor's name or where exactly she lived in Sinnoh, or if she had any friends.

Ingo remembers having a brother, Emmet, and a best friend who liked electric types, and that he worked with trains, probably. But he doesn't actually remember which region he's come from, and he's under the belief that he wasn't anyone famous or anything because if he works at a subway, that's just. A normal job. Train workers don't exactly get famous.

So it takes even more time for them to finally discover their missing persons cases. Ingo is actually shellshocked when he finds out he's a battle facility head. Akari doesn't find this surprising at all and thinks it's hilarious that he honestly didn't guess as much. His Path of Solitude is fucking brutal. He has to be a professional in the field to come up with shit like that.

[writeroutoftime]

Could you write a fic where the reader shows up at Jamie or Roy’s house unexpectedly and needs comfort after a break up? 🫶🏻

words: 0.4k

a/n: decided to go with Roy and give him some love! also, I didn't know if you wanted this romantic or platonic, so I made it a bit ambiguous (though more romantic leaning)

oOoOo

“You’re not the fucking Chinese deliveryman.” Roy spoke, surprised to see you standing outside his apartment as the rain fell around you in buckets.

At his words, your already sullen expression, fell even further and Roy wished he could kick himself for, once again, speaking without thinking. Hurriedly, he ushered you inside, locking the door behind him, and took the opportunity to observe you. The way your clothes were drenched, to the way your arms wrapped around your shivering form, and how your eyes looked just a bit duller than normal. Who did he need to go and pummel?

“I-if you’re busy, I can go.” you offered, suddenly snapping Roy out of his own thoughts.

“Fuck, no.” he asserted. “Just wasn’t expecting anyone in this weather. Not that you’re not welcomed here anytime, what are you doing here?” he asked, guiding you to his room where he knew you had left clothes the last time you spent the night.

Of course, Roy would love to believe you just missed him and wanted to be close, but he would never voice those thoughts aloud.

“Oh, uh, well Jonathan and I broke up.” you whispered gripping your clothes and avoiding the way Roy's eyebrows shot up.

“I’m sorry, but Mr. Fucking Assistant to the Regional Manager broke up with you? Alright, let’s go and you can watch me smash his face in.” Roy ranted, face growing red as his fist repeatedly clenched and unclenched. The man had the most perfect person in the universe, and he had decided to throw that all away.

Roy stood up and began to march towards the door, grabbing his keys on the way, but you rushed to block his path. “Wait, wait, Roy! Calm down!” you shouted. “I actually was the one who broke up with Jonathan.” you admitted, wrapping your arms around yourself.

“Oh.” Roy breathed. “Well good for you then.” he congratulated, pulling a completely 180. "'Bout time you ditched that fucking loser. What made you change your mind?"

"Actually, it was you."

"Me?" Roy asked, incredulous.

Suddenly, you became very bashful and forced yourself to look into Roy's eyes. There was something in them that always brought you a sense of comfort even if they intimidated others. "Yeah, Rebecca told me what you told her that one night. About finding someone who makes you feel like lightning. And I just realized that no matter how hard I tried, I just didn't feel that way with Jonathan. I don't think I ever would." you admitted.

"Of course, you deserve to fell that way. And I know you'll find it. " Roy whispered, gently reaching up to cup your cheeks. You leant into the touch and allowed yourself to enjoy the warmth, before you were harshly snapped back to reality when the doorbell rang. "But for now, let's eat all the fucking Chinese food we can and watch shitty TV, huh?" he asked, quickly walking away.

With a sigh, you headed towards the couch wondering how to (or if you should) tell Roy about the way electricity crackled whenever he touched you. Maybe another day.

[talesfromtrigadora]

Timing

When you have a bad boss, there's always a part of you that hopes you'll get to witness their eventual downfall. Samantha was one of those bad bosses. She was only an assistant, but she seemed to pride herself on making her team members miserable. I was lucky when it came to my dealings with her because I happened to only work with her and our manager, which kept some of the worst of her habits in check, but I knew from hearing the whispers and the quiet no call/no show quits that she changed quite drastically the moment our manager left for the day.

I wasn't looking forward to our manager heading out of town for the weekend. It meant that I would finally get the brunt of Samantha's attention since we were scheduled to work the entire morning both Saturday and Sunday together. I had been hearing in the break room and on the front end of the store that she was looking forward to the chance to "finally put her in her place." The ways she was apparently going to achieve this ranged from straight-up harassment (constantly bossing me around, setting me up for failure, etc) to passive aggressive neglect (leaving me alone on register no matter how long the line got or abandoning me at the returns desk to deal with all the complaints). From the specifics, these were all things she had done to other people.

Showing up fifteen minutes early for my Saturday shift wasn't my habit. When I opened with our manager, she encouraged me to stop for coffee on my way in, claiming she liked me caffeinated and the couple minutes of quiet more than she liked me early. I wasn't exactly changing my habit with any hope of it making a good impression on Samantha, but having a few minutes of quiet for myself just seemed like a good way to start the day. I was not happy to see Samantha's car already in the parking lot, and especially didn't like seeing Samantha herself standing next to my usual spot with her arms crossed, foot tapping, and pale face bright red with what I could only imagine was anger.

"Where the hell have you been?" she said the moment I got out of my car. "You were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago!"

I kept my face blank as she shoved her phone in my face. The schedule -- which I had looked at last night to confirm I was still scheduled at my normal time -- showed that I was now working 6am-5pm instead of my usual 6:30am-3pm. She continued to berate me for my lateness as I followed her inside.

Inside was not the usual bustle of other team members in transition nor the quiet of a too early, waiting-for-the-caffeine-to-kick-in openers. Instead, those team members who were already present were gathered in a circle in the main entrance to the break room. Most had their arms crossed, expressions of uncertainty on their faces. That uncertainty was all directed at a petite red-head who seemed to have gathered the circle.

"That's Mindy's boss's boss," Samantha said with that entitled, all-knowing tone she adopted far too often about far too many insignificant things. "I'm sure she'll be thrilled you're late."

The boss's boss's boss smiled at them when they found spots in the circle. "I think we're just waiting for one more person, then I'll explain why I'm here."

I used the delay to take another look at the team members who were present. I recognized almost none of them, which mean they were closers. It was clear from how they acted toward Samantha (not to mention in how she acted toward them) that the common theme here was her.

The one more person showed up, someone no one except the big boss seemed to know, and the big boss clapped her hands together once to get everyone's attention even though she had never once lost it. "All right. I think only Samantha knows who I am, so very quickly I'm Felicity Sharp and I am the regional manager, so Mindy's boss's boss. The person who just joined us," she gestured at the new comer, who had taken a seat out of the way but now smiled and gave a small wave, "is Georg Pollar, one of our many representatives from our Human Resources department. We are here partially because of Mindy being on vacation this weekend, but mostly because it has come to our attention that there are some serious concerns from all of you about how your assistant, Samantha Connors, has been treating you, treatment that myself and Georg have actually witnessed over this past week. We are here to solve this behavior problem right now."

Samantha went quite abruptly from smug to pale to bright red. And all I could do was thank God for His timing.

[missishishi]

A Chance To Recharge From Academics

After a challenging month in the Regional Science High School 02, it was finally the start of the semestral break. This is the opportunity for the students to recharge themselves after a hard and rough month as they can enjoy their week without the thought of the academic pressure. It is also the chance for the students to rest their mind, body, and soul, and the chance to explore various hobbies and new interest such as, playing a musical instrument, playing a new sport, gardening, traveling, etc.

On the first day of the semester break, I slept comfortably in my own bed after a week of getting two hours of sleep everyday just to review for the periodical exams.

Waking up refreshed after my five hour nap, I immediately grabbed my phone and started scrolling through social media and checking out the latest post from people I follow.

I chatted with my friends all day through messenger instead of socializing with kids in my neighborhood because I really didn't want to leave the house for the sun was really hot and I couldn't risk of getting a sun burn and damaging my skin even more.

The day slowly went by and I got really bored. So, I tried finding my sister's guitar that she never used, and tried to play it. As I strummed the guitar I easily felt that playing the guitar was not for me, but I still continued to learn if ever I change my mind. With every awkward stroke on the strings, I knew that playing the guitar was not for me.

The next day, I really felt recharged because I kept on getting ten hours of sleep for the past two days.

I decided to hang out with the kids in my neighborhood but, when I went outside, I wasn't familiar with any of the kids there. It makes sense because I couldn't remember the last time I even went outside the neighborhood and socialize with others.

I decided about exploring another hobby, painting. When I opened the very vibrant 12 multicolor paint set, I was greeted with a somewhat foul smell from the paint. With a lot of thinking, I decided to draw a house.

With every proud stroke, the house didn't turn out the way I expected it to. It was not proportionate and turned slanty like the leaning tower of Pisa.

I stopped trying to discover new hobbies that day because I didn't feel like it. While looking around my room, an item reflecting the light caught my attention, I came closer to the item and picked it up. In my hands, I was carrying the Harry Potter books. With it, I started reading the books from book 1-2.

With evey turn of the page, I found myself captivated by the wizarding world and the plot of the whole series. It felt nostalgic reading the books again because it was all I did during the COVID-19 quarantine back in 2020.

When I got tired of reading, I turned on the TV and watched the Harry Potter movies this time. The characters and the spellbinding scenes came to life on the screen. The movies were more familiar to me than the books because, I mostly prefer watching than to read, so I didn't feel anything while watching the Harry Potter 1-2 movies because I've seen it a hundred times already.

On day three, my dad took me to my grandfather's farm and said that I should have experience in planting which I thought is unnecessary. He handed me a shovel and instructed me to dig. While trying to make a hole, something came out of the soil that scared me to bits! It was a frog! I dropped the shovel and ran far away from there. I just patiently waited for my dad to finish up planting the plant.

On that day, I took an afternoon nap because I felt like I deserved it after my encounter with the big frog farm.

The next day, I really wanted to go out with friends to the mall but I didn't have anyone to go with because I didn't have friends in my city. Therefore, I stayed inside and chatted with my friends all day as they tell what was happening with their lives.

On the fifth day of the sembreak, I got a notification that my Disney plus subscription was about to end on the 31 so, hmm what I did the whole day. I watched movies and series' the whole day and slept at 4 am the following day because I stayed up all night just to finish the Disney series that I watched.

The next day, I felt a little down because it was my last day in my city and I had to go back to my dorm the following day.

I decided that I would spend time with my grandparents instead of locking myself in my room.

After a few hours, I wanted to explore another hobby. Before that, I looked around my room for items available for calligraphy. As I swiftly stroked the pen, it suddenly broke. I guess it means calligraphy was not for me and I pressed the pen a little too hard.

I decided to find a new hobby to explore. I decided to cook a meal but instead, I burned the food along with the pan.

On the last day of the break, I felt sad because I had to go back to school.

As a person, I chose to sleep because I'll be sleep deprived again the following weeks and I wanted to make the best out of the break.

I learned that breaks are important because it was really the chance to relax, refresh, and let the mind, body, and soul rest. It's the opportunity for students to advance in lessons if they wanted to. I had the urg, but I didn't do it. It was also the opportunity to find a new hobby, unluckily, I haven't found a new hobby that I like this sembreak. And, it was also the chance to spend more time with family, friends, and loved ones.

[myrulia]

Clear View - Kokushibou

.｡.:*✧Warning: Smut, mirror sex, slight size kink suggestion, rough, degrading, lewd words, 18+

.｡.:*✧Synopsis: You bought a mirror for your wall only to plan for it to be used for other purposes, yet Kokushibou thought all the same

Saying you were needy was beyond what you felt in that moment. Your insides felt like they were burning in desire for your one and only, but you didn't know how to approach him about it.

Unfortunately you were too embarrassed because your Upper Moon of a lover was simply sitting on the bed as you yourself was busy with your own little thing. You had bought a mirror large enough so that it would cover your entire wall in front of your bed. It filled the empty space that you intended for it to do so, so once you were complete with setting up the little surprise you had in store, you turned around to your still sitting lover, yet walking past him in order to grab the "clothes" you set on the bed.

`` I am going to get in the shower, `` You stated calmy whilst grabbing your towel and making your way to the bathroom door before you felt a strong hand pull you towards his masculine, bare chest. `` Do not take to long, I wish to hold you afterwards, `` Kokushibou whispered in your ear, rather seductively even.

Feeling a small shiver down your spine, you merely forced yourself to smile as your felt heat pool at your core which was becoming unbearable. Now walking into the bathroom and closing the door behind you, you felt like clothes were becoming suffocating on your aching body, so stripping your body quickly, you switched on the steaming water and entered the shower.

All the while you were semi-enjoying your steamy shower, Kokushibou, who noticed the lingerie set you grabbed especially in his color, was waiting for you idly on your shared bed, in his hakama only. He knew your intentions by setting the mirror in front of the bed, for Kokushibou is indeed a smart man and not easy to trick, so it was no surprise he knew your intentions and is going to give you exactly what you want.

Your shower was brought to an end hurridly, because at that point you were needy beyond belief and needed some sense of release from the one man you wanted it from. So, getting out the glass encased shower and slipping on the lingerie that seemed to hug your beautiful body perfectly, you grabbed your dirty clothes along with your towel and abruptly opened the bathroom door, taking slow strides to the bed while tossing the towel on a nearby chair and your dirty clothes into a basket.

Upon hearing your sudden entering, the male looked up from his little daydreaming only to have all 3 pairs of his eyes to widen, but quickly relax because all of his hypothesis' were proven correctly. His eyes wandered all over your body, seeing the lace hug your breasts, how your curves perfectly fit the set, and the fact that his kimono color was on your body, it caused the demon's limp appendage to rise slightly. `` Well hello there. ``

`` Hello to you too, `` you replied back as you immediately placed your ass onto his clothed thigh. To say he was taken aback by your sudden boldness was an understatement, yet he was not complaining because it gave him even more of an excuse to make sure your mind was foggy from pleasure.

A veiny hand made its way onto your waist, pulling you flush against his body as both your gazes were on each other through the same mirror you set up not to long ago. Leaning your head back against your lover's masculine chest, you spoke in a gentle manner, knowing that he also knows your intentions. `` What were you doing while I was in the shower? ``

`` I was just waiting for you love. ``

`` Well it would be rude of me to let you wait any longer, `` Your tone changed a little, feeling the confidence surge through your veins. Moving your face closer to his exposed neck, you ghosted your lips against his skin, all the while you kept your irises fixated on every small reaction of Kokushibou's face. His grip only tightened on your waist until you felt his fingers slither down to your barely clothed ass, giving it a light squeeze in reaction. `` It would be rude. I have waited long enough, so let us get into it shall we? ``

`` Mmm.. but teasing is much more fun, `` with those words you ghosted your fingers up and down his exposed chest, stopping at a few veins that seemed to pulse and twitch in anticipation. While tracing one, your hips seemed to roll themselves on the male's strong thigh which Kokushibou took note off instantaneously, all the while his own golden irises never left yours.

`` Just you wait my love.. `` The demon ended up whispering in your ear, bouncing his leg up and down slightly to give your clit some added friction and vibration from the constant rhythm he set. `` Do not be angry with me once you can hardly walk after I am done with you. ``

`` Why would I be angry at such a thing? I enjoy it every single time so do not be afraid to do so more. `` You stuttered on your words a few times, letting out small whimpers here and there because of the stimulation your clit was getting from his clothed thigh. Without another word your Upper Moon of a lover pulled you into a heated kiss, his lips soft against yours yet his movements rough and passionate. Parting your lips once more, he took the chance to practically shove his tongue down your throat, needily groaning upon tasting your addicting flavor.

In the midst of the heated make out session, both of Kokushibou's hands were now holding onto your waist, the tips of his fingers touching all the while pulling you flush against your body. Your hands moved away from his body and uo to his face, holding his only to pull him ever so closer to your face, deepening the already heated make-out session.

His leg never faltered on your clit that you needily grinded yourself on, but a small whimper escaped your parted lips once Kokushibou finally pulled away, his chest heaving up and down as he desperately tried to regain oxygen, you doing the same. Staring at each other, not through the mirror, but into each other's eyes, there was a small smirk plastered on your lover's face. `` So no boxers huh? ``

The string of saliva connecting your lips to his own quickly dripped own onto the demon's tent in his hakama. The imprint was too detailed for him to be wearing boxers so you took that guess yourself, which you presumed from the way his smirk only grew. `` None, do you have an issue with that star? ``

Just as suddenly as his leg started bouncing, it just as quickly stopped. Since Kokushibou's hands were on your waist, he repositioned you so that your back was flush against his chest, his tent of an erection pressing against the curve of your ass. You were able to now face the mirror clearly, Kokushibou's hands moving from your waist to your thighs to spread your legs further, spreading you on display for his eyes and his eyes alone.

Maintaining eye contact with you with all 3 pairs of his eyes, his hand moves from your thigh to your panties, pushing the damp fabric near your dripping slit, two of his masculine fingers teasing your slit until they slowly enter your tiny hole. `` I shall take good care of you, my [Y/N]. ``

Kokushibou's fingers curled ever so slightly, and seeing your toes curl at the tiny bit of pressure inflicted into your precious little spot, it only encourages him to further curl his fingers that seemed to stretch you out so easily. Small moans and shallow breaths escaped your parted lips, tilting your head back onto the Upper Moon One's shoulder, the one thing giving you support, other than his freehand holding up your leg to spread you out on full display for him even more.

The slur of dirty words coming from his mouth only made your already wet slit drip even more with your delectable juices, only coating his fingers even more. You couldn't help but to become oh so red from the lewd things coming from his mouth, yet his hand that was previously on your thigh pulled your face down rather harshly, making you look at your whorish body coat his fingers in your slick. `` You k-know.. you seem more needy than me right now..~ ``

You've never seen your 6 eyed lover look at you with such darkness and lust in his eyes before. Buying that mirror definitely awoken something within him as all his darkest and most sexual fantasies really began surfacing. Without another word, Kokushibou shoved yet another finger inside your squelching mess of a cunt, and in natural reaction you moaned his name rather audibly. The demon smirked evidently whilst moving closer to your ear, whispering ever so slightly so that you could hear him. `` And yet.. you, my little star, are moaning my name like a filthy slut. ``

`` Not my fa-fault..~ `` You mewled out in utter bliss as the temperature seemed to rise in your core from slowly reaching your climax. Rolling your hips ever so desperately did not go unnoticed by Kokushibou as his fingers pressed against that oh so sweet spot inside your driplingly needy cunt. Moans after moans were spewed out from your agaped mouth, trying to hide your embarrassment yet the six eyed demon was not going to allow such disobedience. He kept your gaze on his and vise vera, wanting you to see just how desperate and whorish you looked in that goddamn mirror.

`` Cum for me [Y/N], I know you are close, it is written all over your beautiful face, `` Kokushibou appealed as a thumb was quickly pressed against your puffy clit, sending electric shocks of pleasure all throughout your lower regions. That was all it took for your pleasure fogged mind to finally let your climax snap, releasing your delectable cum on his already wet fingers. The moan that escaped your lips was mixed with relief of finally getting a release rang through the both of your ears, your chest rising in falling as his eyes never faltered from yours, and yours to his. `` You know me sooo well.. `` you teased.

`` I know I do, because if I did not, I would not have left you on cloud nine with just my fingers darling, `` the male then pulled his fingers slowly out of your sopping pussy, bringing the cum coated digits up to his mouth and licking them utterly clean. The sight itself was erotic since his eyes never stopped peering into your own, making sure his fingers were clear of your addicting substance.

`` You seem to still be needy, so why not ride me instead, if you wish to desperately get off. ``

You scanned the 6 eyed demon's face, for your next choice of words were sure to get you the punishment you were hoping for. `` And what if I don't? What if I make you s-suffer? ``

Your tone was already shaky from the orgasm you had merely seconds ago, sending you into such bliss that left your mouth salivating to feel more from your demon of a lover. So, in wanting more from him oh-so desperately, you slowly roll your hips which caused friction between your ass and Kokushibou's still clothed length. You felt the rock hard erection become somehow even more turned on, but it was not until you felt a warm substance on your exposed skin and the hot breath of his tickling the shell of your ear that you knew how bad he desired you.

`` Then I might press you against the mirror and fuck you like that instead. `` The grip on your hips suddenly increased, which caused a hilt to your movement against his covered length, glaring at you through the reflective surface, his eyes blown wide with lust at your exposed body being at his disposal. `` If I order you to do something, you do it like the good demon you are. ``

The grip itself caused you to flinch in such shock because you were always the type to disobey his orders just to watch Kokushibou struggle to keep in a breathy moan from your teasing. Following his orders, you ride up ever so slightly, just so that you can finally rid of that difficult hakama that was getting in your way the entire time, discarding of it by throwing said fabric onto the tatami mat flooring and repositioning yourself so that your cunt was barely hovering over his reddened tip. `` I do not think I can do much if you are holding me this tight darling..~ ``

There was a small smirk on his face, finally loosening his grip on your thighs that left nail creases in your hips due to him holding you that tight. Now having your freedom you ever so slowly lowered yourself onto Kokushibou's cock, a breathy moan emitting from the both of you because you finally felt the penetration of his tip slide further inside you. It took everything inside the 6 eyed demon for him to not push his throbbing length inside you fully, for he was painfully needy and filled with desire for you and you alone.

Feeling the male stretch you out so easily caused your head to tilt back onto his muscular shoulder, still continuing to lower yourself until you can feel his tip kiss against the entrance of your cervix, meaning you were fully bottomed out inside you. Although while you were in your own mini euphoria, Kokushibou was seemingly disappointed that you had broken eye contact with yourself and your body, so he then grabs your face with a calloused hand, all the while his other prys your leg open. `` Look at yourself as you get off on my cock so desperately you fucking slut. ``

The amount of degrading that went through your ears only caused your filled pussy to drip even more in obvious desire, your slick dripping down a protruding vein that went down his hardened shaft. Prying your eyes open, you eye your sweat-covered bodies as you slowly rise up once more, then slamming yourself down to a hilt once more and letting another, more louder moan to escape your gaped mouth. 

Once you finally set a good rhythm, you felt like your stomach was churning at how you desperately bounced up and down on his hard on, the groans coming from your own lover as his hand that was previously on your face now made its way onto your chest, fondling with your pointed nipples while his other hand guided your hips, slowly losing any control he had left of letting you actually take over since his grip only hard on. The rhythm of your hips, the moaning coming from the both of you, the grip on each other as you hopelessly tried to chase your own release, it was all becoming too much and your knees were buckling while tears formed in your eyes. 

Kokushibou could tell you were growing tired from the way your pace slowed down, so moving his hand from your nipple, he grips your face once more, making sure your gazes are on each other. `` Growing tired on me already? ``

You were a reddened mess by that point, so nodding your head, but since you did not answer the Upper Moon One, he suddenly thrusts into your squelching mess of a cunt, causing a loud - and surprised - audible moan of his name to be ripped from your esophagus. Looking at him slowly through teary eyes, you barely utter your plea of desperation. `` I can b-barely hold myself up- Love please..~ `` you mewled out in bliss because that one thrust was able to make you see stars at that point.

`` Please what darling? Be clear if you want me to do something, `` Kokushibou asserted, his hand now moving from your face back to your chest and giving the ball of fat a firm squeeze, another moan emitting from you at the action. The demon removed his hand from your waist, no longer giving you the support you lusted after so you tried leaning back on his chest, yet that earned you a hard slap to your thigh. `` Please fuck me already I can't  t-take it anymore..! ``

The whine mixed with a moan at the end of your plea was more of a turn on than what the male wanted, so in view of the fact that you did such things, he is only going to be even more cruel. 

Kokushibou finally holds you up, meeting with your thrusts which made your hips collide each time, his cock bottoming out inside you, plunging his length in and out until he could evidently see where his tip was - even from your stomach through that accursed mirror.

`` Look at you, so pathetic trying to get off on me. `` You could care less how you looked, a slobbering mess with your eyes slowly rolling to the back of your head, it was the obvious show of deep pleasure you were experiencing from your one and only. Even though the demon was finally moving himself, you still had to bounce yourself whorishly, just to get off and get the release you desire. `` You're going to ride my cock like a good girl and maybe you'll deserve to be fucked like one, hm? ``

The moan he purposely let out towards your ear was aggravating, along with the shiver down your spine that you flinched from. Saliva dripped from the side of your parted lips, breathy moans after another coming out because it was becoming unbearable to keep up a decent pace. `` Darling ple-please I begged like a good girl I ca- Kokushibou..! ``

Your lover ended up snapping his hips into yours harshly, the loud moan of his name coming from your unexpected reaction. His cock invaded your sopping pussy over and over again, finally giving you what you want yet at an even rougher pace that had you moaning multiple times, feeling like the wind was knocked out of you from the speed alone.

Kokushibou had stamina, you knew that for a fact, and he does not rest until he is satisfied and you are nothing but a drooling mess impaled on his dick. Your nose scrunched at the sight before you,, forcing yourself to watch the sight of your insides being violently ravaged. A shaky hand of yours seized your clit, rubbing the love button and trembling once you finally felt your orgasm slowly build up in your core.

`` Going to cum already? We can't have that now can we [Y/N]? ``

You simply nodded at his words, your senses being too overflooded in the scorching pleasure that excited every nerve in your body. Unfortunately your pleasure fogged mind did not go unnoticed as you hoped, for you felt your nipple being kneaded, and it was not until you felt a wet muscle on the flesh that your breath hitched in utter shock. `` Cum.. cum- fuck I'm going to cum..! ``

`` If you cum we will stop immediately, and instead you will watch as I get myself off. Just wait a little longer than we can cum to-together, `` Kokushibou asserted once more. You writhed and whined, that being the only thing that could stop you from letting your orgasm snap and release the built up tension that you had. The demon's tongue moments never faltered as the wet muscle continued to glide across your nipple, his saliva bathing the erected flesh that he sucked on like his life depended on it. Your senses seemed to skyrocket, your pussy becoming too sensitive to hold it in any longer, so the loud mewl of his name finally pushed the Upper Moon over the edge. 

`` [Y/N]- Fucking hell cum for me..! `` And just like that, you felt lightning shoot from your clit to your entire body, your legs spamming as you felt Kokushibou's own load pierce your cervix and fill your tiny wet little hole so effortlessly. His breathy groan was quickly turned into a moan, feeling his own pleasure build up and be finally released within your depths. The delicious sight of your cum mixed with your lovers dripping from your cunt was delectable. The excess white silky substance dripped down his shaft until it landed on the floor in a small puddle on the floor beneath the two of you. 

His pace finally slowed within you, along with his tongue on your nipple, giving you a chance to catch your breath and regain some consciousness - simply because he has a way of bending your mind until the only thing you can comprehend is his cock ruining your pussy until it is achingly sore. `` I take it that you learned your lesson as to not take a certain tone with me, my star. ``

You hardly heard what he said, for his words went through one ear and out the other due to your mind just thinking about how much he filled you in one go. Although you did hear a small "tsk" come from the demon, so you turned around slowly to meet his gaze, which was instead on the sight of the amount of cum he could not keep inside of you. It was definitely more than enough inside you, due to the fact that there was a small bulge in your stomach just from one load of his little demons alone, but there was also some still leaking from your insides that you wanted to keep in and savor. 

`` What a shame, all that perfectly good cum gone to waste don't you think [Y/N]? Why don't we just go for another round and see how much you can truly handle. ``

Before you could even utter another word, Kokushibou fulfilled his desires, seeing the bulge in your stomach double in size and your eyed rolled so far in the back of your head there was only white in place, your lust blown irises barely being seen. You were left a shaking, cum filled mess for him and him only.

[mochikeiji]

Troublesome Baby

↠ Pairing: Akaashi Keiji x Reader

↠ Warning: SMUT! Slight size kink, nipple play, overstimulation, hint of breeding, Akaashi wanting to make his baby know how pretty she is and how wrong people are about her.

↬ Word Count: 4.5k

Summary: Pissing a delinquent is never a persons choice. And what pisses off Akaashi most was when people picked on you instead of him.

⇢ Day 2: Delinquent

A person's feelings can be confusing. One minute they're saying they like a good guy who knows how to keep track in time and hs his future planned out and the second they're liking someone whom their parent's had warned them about.

If you like someone who was always up to no good, are you a masochist? They would ask. Are you out of your mind? They would scold. Do you have any idea how this'll affect your life? They would judge.

You'd like to think otherwise of people who wore tattoos, have so many scars, are always picking fights or having that gangsta stance and aura. You prefer to see them as still a human being with a cold outer shell in order to protect themselves from the cruel world, shielding their gentleness deep within.

It was cliche; a bad person getting soft for one person. But that's how it is even in reality. Sometimes, we can only be vulnerable to the ones we trust the most. And the ones we trust the most are the loved ones.

And those who we love, never deserve how they spit at the world.

That's how Akaashi was with you.

Everyone was shock by the time the former first year had a drastic demeanor change. He was timid, reserved back at his first year in highschool. Polite, and what you'd expect to have an astounding school performance. Hey never would've thought that joining the volleyball club would change someone so idly.

They always thought they were a team filled with passionate players who loved to play fair, but it turns out they loved to get rough around games and outside matches.

Roughness was never Akaashi's agenda. But with a stoic facade and built, athletic feature, he fits in perfectly to look like someone you should stay away from. Still, he kept on being the reserved person he was by hiding his wounds underneath his uniform or volleyball jacket. He doesn't admit it outloud, but he was insecure about his beating wounds.

The times where he and the team would go on random beatings after losing a bet or if someone dares to mess with anyone close to them happened often. Now that word was spread that you, sweet little you, happened to be the pretty faced setters girlfriend is targeted by many disgusting comments.

No man would want to tolerate that or will tolerate their beloved pummeled onto the ground. From all the members of the team he was voted to be the most terrifying one, he doesn't stand down from a fight especially for his baby, he wouldn't stop until the person who made a worthless comment about you, the person who would make you look down at yourself, the person who would make you cry is at their mercy.

His delinquent phase soon carried on until he reached his 20s. Even though now he was an editor and his teammates had their own domestic lives and jobs ahead, they kept up with their ways to earn a bit of cash during the night. Minus Bokuto on some occasions due to his volleyball tournaments world wide, it was mostly just him and the former third years. Even the two females had managed to know their ways into the dangers in joining as long as it helped them raise the cash up a bit.

And that leads the scenario now, you cleaning up his wounds again at the peak of 1 am in the morning after a misunderstanding beat down the past hour. He came home more bruised and bloodied than before— that meant they were outnumbered. Usually, it's Bokuto who would bark at the people who would mess with them. He was known to be feared due to his popularity, but inside the group, it's really just Akaashi who was the monster amongst all of them when he was angry.

You didn't know how long you were going to tolerate this. Him always coming back to you with new scars drawing his skin and you patching him up. It was always like this since highschool, but as you grew, people get tougher, bolder. This was too much.

"Keiji, please stop doing this."

Dabbing the cotton on the alcohol a little and tapping his skin gently to avoid stinging him, you were sat on your study chair whilst he was sitting on your shared bed. You were already trying to hold in the dam from breaking as you had been cleaning all his wounds for the past minute, but as you do, they only seem to get bigger and painful for you to bear.

"I don't want you to keep getting hurt."

Finally putting ointments on his arm, he uses his free hand to cup the side of your face, and raises you too look into his eyes. Ones that weren't feral as they were a couple of hours ago.

"They were bad mouthing about you, I wasn't letting that slip."

"But it's fine! People bad mouth about me a lot even before.."

Inside it still stung. To be growing up mocked by society in any way they see flaw in you. You were always an insecure woman up until now, any little words from others can make you into a brawling mess. What more if some threatened you, you'd be a fleeting coward.

Akaashi knew that about you when you began dating. At first he didn't pay mind into it, but the more he got to know what a kind and loving person you were, he realized just how cruel people can be to those with soft hearts. He hated those to the bone, he would never tolerate that kind of person throwing a pile of crap to someone above them.

"I just don't want to keep thinking one day you won't be coming by the door because of this..I'd rather you just stop being like this after years than to get more bruises. I don't care about the money, Keiji, I earn a lot too."

Your trembling figure was obvious, he knew how emotional you get for whenever he gets reckless, and how you over think of the things the people he has placed back in their place said about you. He never liked the fact you tried to be strong for him so many times and not even reaching out for comfort from him.

"Baby."

He cooes softly, moving away the medical kit from your side and hoisting you up from your chair with ease, allowing you to straddle his lap. You were easy for him to carry considering the height difference, thus making him more protective of you seeing as you look like a small child in fear.

Protesting softly at him to put you down since he was just freshly fixed up, Akaashi let's your head fall on his naked shoulder blade with his hand behind your head, giving your hair a slow stroke down to your back.

That's where you started to cry on his skin.

"I don't care about the money that much, I just hate it when someone threatens or mocks you without even having to know you."

He hears you sniffle at his skin, your tears wetting a small patch on it along with your face. He hushes you for a second before patting your bum, indicating he wants to see your face. With head lowered, you pulled away from his shoulder, sniffling down the tears while roughly using your wrist to wipe your eyes.

He grabs one of your wrist as his soften eyes met your red ones. He lowers your hand down to your lap, with your other one following as he was the one to wipe your tears away.

"It hurts me to have them say such things and have you crying like this. You have no idea how far you are from what they say."

The both of you took a small pause, letting him squish your cheeks with his thumbs rubbing underneath your eyes as small, left over tears escaped. Your hands below pressing against his bandaged abdomen, wondering how much trouble he's gone through just for you with a new batch of tears ready to fall.

"You don't cause me trouble, baby. I did this because you didn't deserve it. It was my decision, not yours or anyones. You will never be the reason for my troubles."

He was an observant guy, any little sign of of your body he knows what's going on. He slides your hands up from his abdomen, to his chest and placing them on his shoulders for you to hold onto. Tilting his head a bit to get an angle of your view, he gives you an adoring smile at the sight of your lips slightly pouting out and your eyes wide and glossy.

"You look cute right now."

Blinking away the blurred vision, your heart thumps a little from the way he was looking at you and his small compliment. You loved it when he gave you a lot of assurance and reminders about yourself. Even in times where they seemed unnecessary.

His finger tracing your cheeks to your nose, tapping at the tip making you shut your eyes and crinkle a little. When he groaned at the shift of your hips now snugging against his growing bulge, he quickly places his hands on your hips to hold you in place.

Your eyes popped out, stammering apologies saying you didn't mean to do it on purpose while gripping his shoulders. You hear him sigh out, worried you might've hurt him but soon vanished when you felt his hands sliding down once again to your bum.

"Why don't I show you how pretty you really are?"

He moves from his position. By instinct, you wrapped your legs around his waist as he lays you down on bed and pushes himself up.

"W-wait, your wounds."

"I'm fine, baby, don't worry."

His hands found their way down to your pajama shorts and pulls them down with ease. He let's his shirt that you were wearing on as it only fueled his arousal at the sight of you looking smaller compared to him.

Thighs shaking and biting back a moan when his index finger slid down on your clothed slit, he repeats his actions upwards and downwards until you shortly got the middle part of your panties wet.

"Just enjoy and relax for me." 

You clutched the pillow underneath your head when his finger started to press in your clothed slit, his warmth radiating strongly against your sensitive regions, it made you grind shyly on the finger teasingly trying to intrude your entrance. 

He bites lip at the delicious sight and pulls his fingers away, spreading your legs apart so that he could settle himself on his stomach and his face near your lower lips. Sliding your panties down almost too quickly, he pushes your inner thighs to spread for him, giving him a better view of what his teasings done to your body and blowing cool air on your twitching hole, drooling with more arousal.

He hears a small whimper from you and looks up, you covering your mouth with the back of your hand, and your other fisting the sheets. Giving your inner thighs a kiss to calm you down, he winks at you before repeatinf his early ministrations on your now bare pussy.

"You're so easily aroused."

It came out like a breathy whisper from his lips as he watches his finger slide up and down. The thought of you tight and clenching to nothing makes him want to plunge in immediately.

He hums pleasingly at the sight and slowly inserts his index finger in. You moan out loudly in surprise, hiding your face to side and not wanting to look down thinking you might just cum from the sight. He began pulling his finger out and then pushing it back in, he wiggles a little inside of your hole loving how warm and wet it was, until he inserted a nother finger in to stretch you.

"Keiji!!"

He thrusts both fingers in with a decent pace, not wanting to go fast knowing how sensitive and easily you'll cum. His mouth was watering at the sight of his fingers being swallowed in your small pussy, and leans his face down with his other hand spreading your lips and giving it a small kiss that made your hips jolt up as he began to attack your clit.

"K-keiji! Too good!"

His free hand holds one of your thighs way to keep you spread amd at his mercy. The two fingers inside of you thrusting erratically when you tightened around them, now hearing the sloshing noises and his mouth sucking you to death.

He watches your head move from side to side and your chest heaving from his treatment. He can feel his own cock painfully erect inside his pants and moves bit, moaning against your clit at his boxers friction, and your hands finding their way to his hair and begging him not to stop.

"Keiji! Please, please, don't stop! Please, I'm close!"

His fingers beckoning inside of you knowing what he was now pressing at and flattens his tongue on your pussy before smirking up and saying,

"Go on, pretty girl, cum for me."

Hearing his voice was like a knock out for you as your hips arched up and the grip on his hair tightened. The pads of his fingers pressing and teasing your sweet spot until you were cumming hard for his mouth to take in.

He pumps a few more thrust until your orgasm faded. You whimpered from the additional thrust and grabbed his wrist to stop.

"Too much, Keiji.."

Hungry eyes raking your sweating body and wet folds, his pants getting unbearable at the moment and zips it down immediately along with his boxers, letting his cock free and breathes in the cool air as it hits his cock that made it twitch in need.

How much he wanted to keep eating you out despite being sensitive, but the need to be inside of you caves in as he hovers above your quivering body and attatching his lips with yours. He slips in his tongue to deepen the kiss, grinding his cock against your wet slit as you moaned inside his mouth from the much needed friction and something inside your needy cunt.

But Akaashi wanted to savor the moment, he knows you were a virgin. He's only fingered and eaten you out during the years of relationship. Even though the thought of having his cock a taste of your cunt drives him insane, he wanted to make sure every part of your body was touched, kissed and adored like he promised.

"Mmh!"

Fingers now tweaking your right nipples as your legs tried to close themselves from now having to be stimulated from your torso, to his hard cock still grinding tantalizing. But his body was in between them, and his mouth was practically eating your whines and mewls for him. Seeing how sensitive you were getting over the little touches he was giving made him moan against your lips. His hand moves to tweak your other untouched nipple and pulled a little, your back arching as he releases his mouth from yours letting you moan loud.

Your back still arched giving him a quick access to suck on your erected nipple, biting softly yet playfully in synch with his pinching on the other nub.

"KEIJI! HAH— PLEASE!"

Trying to move away from his mouth and fingers by pushing his head gently, he uses other hand to pin both of your smaller ones above your head and releases your nipple with a pop, shivering from the air.

He stops playing with the other one and moves there to suck on it. His finger moving to the soaked one and pulling it softly. You trashed on his hold as he continued to assault your breast. Not seeing the way his eyes are now getting half lidded at the sight of your teary ones from the amount of pleasure and the sound of your pleading singing in his ears.

"AH! Keiji!! Please— no more!"

But he knows how much you didn't want this to stop. If you really did want to stop, you would've used your safe word. But just smiles at you fondly, letting his finger move from breast to breast and pulling and pinching quickly.

"Mm, I just love," he pulls a little harder on your left nub, but not to painfully for you, "How your body reacts to me." you hear his chuckled laugh when he stops to massage your breast alternatively, leaving you whimpering from how skillful his hands were.

"You're getting cuter and prettier as time goes by."

Shamefully, your walls clenched from his words. He knows judging by how you bit your lip and shutting your eyes and grins at you. He knows how much you loved getting praised and told all the lewd things he wants to do to you.

"You'll be prettier with my cock stuffing inside you, won't you, baby? 

Hands trying to pry his stronger ones away so that you can hold him, hide on his skin and let him ravage you. He does however, using both his hands, he separated your arms and pins them at the side of your head and proceeds to attack your neck.

"Baby."

He cooes at the side of your skin, cock now lubed from his pre cum and yours with the tip just poking on your lower lips impatiently.

"Please..inside, Keiji, please."

Yours legs widened themselves, preparing for what you've both been wanting that evening. He laces his hands on yours, the position you now had more vulnerable for him and he wanted nothing more than to take you and make you feel protected and pleased.

"Tell me if it hurts, okay?"

Lips pressing on your forehead as you relaxed on the sweet sensation, but as seconds went by, your body tensed when he entered the head of his cock in, inching slowly his hard length.

Akaashi's hands gripped yours harder when he feels your cunt fluttering and hugging his member tighter than he expected. His breating becoming ragged so he started leaving trail marks of love bites on your neck to calm the both of you down from the foreign feeling.

Each mark he gave came with a soft praise, telling you how good you were doing taking his cock perfectly and how beautiful you were breathless underneath him. He told you, you were doing a good job holding in and with that you let out a shaky breath before telling him he can move.

Thrusting out slowly, letting your juice slide freely on his cock before thrusting back in with force, enough for you to choke a moan. His hips taking their pace into what he knows is bearable for a first timer like you, but the way he was clenching his jaw tight indicates how much he wants to have his way and fuck you like he was on a rut. You were so tight and small compared to his impressive length that it was getting painful for him to be in a vice like grip down there.

It was a struggle to take him, but at the back of your head as you feel his cock move in and out of you felt so right, you wondered if it could be more pleasurable as it is. His face was alarming to you so you rubbed your thumb on his hand letting him pause and exhale harshly. He didn't know he was holding back so much to the point he forgot how to breathe.

"Are you okay?"

He panted above you as you stared in daze and in euphoria from being stuffed. Trying to stay grounded, you attempted to grind your hips to rile him up, only for him to growl and thrust in, forcing your hips down with a squeal from your lips.

"Don't do that."

"But you're struggling."

He breathes through his nose, he hates to admit it but he had to hold himself together not to take you like a freak in bed. He reminds himself that tonight was about you and only you. How wrong the words were of the people he's beaten for you.

"It's fine, I don't want to hurt you."

Nuzzling his nose on your cheek, he hums happily on your skin when you press your cheek in reply. As your eyes stared at each other, you knew how gentle your Keiji was with you. You knew he would never hurt you even if he could. He wasn't going to.

"Please Keiji."

Moaning wantonly when your shifted your hips in a good angle for his cock to thrust on, you looked at him with pleading eyes and drooling mouth.

"Please go harder."

Groaning on your skin, he thrusts in suddenly, lettinf your back arch once more as he placed his chin on your chest and licks his lips in hunger.

"You asked for it, baby girl."

The thrusts he was making was now audible inside your room; his balls slapping below your bum, your cunts lewd juices being messed up on both your bodies and your moans slowly becoming screams.

"KEIJI!!"

His mouth found their way back on your nipple, biting roughly and licking away the pain followed by a good sucking. Hips never faltering or holding back anymore and engulfs your shaking body.

"Fuckers were so wrong about you, love. Look at you,"

Your mouth was drooling from the side, hair messed up in display on the pillow that made  them look soft and angelic on you, eyes, your hands holding onto him tight with your body jiggling up everytime he thrusts in.

"You look absolutely ravaging."

He lets go of your other hand and places his on the back of your leg, hoisting it up and placing it on his shoulder, letting his cock piston deeper into you and making a mess out of you.

"I can't even move a lot from how small and tight your cunt is."

He laughs breathlessly as he aims to find your sweet spot again. You were trying to pull away from his hold but with your thigh up on his shoudler, you were stuck taking this all in like a good girl.

"I think I may be too lucky to have you in my life."

The tip of his cock was now kissing that spot that made you scream out in the blue, Akaashi cursed when your cunt clenched his raging member as he kept aiming at your precious spot.

"Fuck, do you like that, baby?"

"AHN— YES! PLEASE, PLEASE, I WANT TO CUM!"

Sobbing for the much needed orgasm, your body gives up and lets the male above you use it to please you both.

"Fuck, my hips can't stop."

He buries himself at the crook of your neck, moaning near your ear, edging you close to your release to the sound of him. He lets out small whimpers and groans, his cock twitching violently inside you with his thrusts losing their rhythm.

"Baby girl."

"KEIJI, SLOW DOWN! AHH— I'M GOING TO CUM!"

The heat in your stomach felt different from your previous orgasms. This felt hotter, tighter, and a whole lot messier. But Akaashi showed no mercy and carried on,

"Cum for me, baby."

The freed hand he had a minute ago now being a teasing bastard and rubbed your swollen clit. Pinching and rolling all four of his fingers on, making you scream and thrash. Panting with the thought of dying frkm the immense sex he was giving until the last line made you scream without a sound,

"I'm going to cum inside."

Your eyes rolled sinfully at the last line, your bodh ascending above not hearing Akaashi gasp from the way you came and groan as both his cock and abdomen get soaked from your cum and your stomach filled with his thick load and kept thrusting in a slower pace. Your cunt spasming on his member, milking him dry until you were taking all of his load in.

Exhausted, his body stills and lays a bit above you, not wanting to squish you with his member remaining inside you. Sniffles can be heard coming from you as you calmed down from your high, Akaashi stroking your hand that was still clamped on his and peppered you with small kisses and sweet confessions.

"You did so good."

"That's my baby."

"Always so beautiful even like this."

You other arm came and wrapped themselves on his neck, pulling close to you as you inhaled his masculine scent, anchoring you down back to earth before coming to realization on how damp your bottom was.

"I—"

"Squirted?"

Blushing, you buried your head on his neck followed by a laugh from your boyfriend, listening to you blabber multiple apologies.

"I'm sorry!"

"It's okay, I liked it," He captured your lips with kiss, kissing you lovingly and a little longer before pulling away only to give you small pecks repeatedly, "It was sexy."

"You sound so different when you use that word, Keiji.."

"But it's true."

He didn't bother pulling out after you pleaded him not to. Even if it was your first time, it was addicting to have something fill you up to the brim. It made you feel snug and full, and it felt right. Akaashi wasn't complaining on the cock warming, in fact he held you closer to his chest and twirled your hair nonetheless.

"You're really not what they describe you, love," he admires how the dim light from your room manages to create a good lighting that made your skin glow. The hairs that sticked to you forehead after the intimacy you both caught up made you look like a soft baby with eyes looking at him full of love,

"I can't even describe you anymore."

Your eyes trailed down to his wounded torso from his face. Even though he was tainted, Akaashi was sculptured beautifully like no other. But inside you prayed that he wouldn't go home another day with freshly opened wounds just to defend you as you traced your fingertips on each bruise and scar.

He spots on and grabs one of your hands and pulls it in for a kiss on the knuckles, "I promise, I won't make you worry anymore."

Smiling, you snuggled on his chest pleased and full of bliss, feeling his lips kissing the top of your head repeatedly and his arms hugging you closer to his body.

"Keiji?"

"Hm?"

Pressing your cheek on his chest, you looked up to him and asked, with a small tint of blush on your face in embarrassment, "Um..W-why did you you know...In me?"

For a second he blushes as well, but in the end he seemed to be smiling excitedly as you missed the way his eyes glanced somewhere down your stomach.

"So I can have another pretty baby to love."

[jaeqtstuff]

vampire!BEOMGYU x READER (YOU)

➸ word count: 572

pls note that there will be lots of grammar errors but do enjoy reading it, MOAAAA!!

will be written in your pov

【 11:35 pm 】

the mission was simple. get an insider statistics from undercover hunter and move out. upperhand will take the rest because they were the one breaching the truce― vampires. numbers of people who went missing near hiking track was outrageous. fifteen in less than two days and no trace of them too.

headquarters were a mess as the west region has always been their favourite place when it comes to sending new hunters for a mission. so if the vampires really outgrew the human population there, it will be bloody for us.

the cabin was quiet when i first arrive but there was a cold warning when i hopped out from the car. i briefly checked my phone to see if the undercover was here but nothing was confirmed. he didn't pick up my calls either. "for goddamn sake, i just got here." rolling my eyes out of annoyance, my hand find its way to my back, holding the silver gun firmly as i walked closer to the door.

a cold breeze welcomed me as i stepped into the cabin.

someone's here,

my eyes scanned the hall,

cleared, but there was a sudden move, quick like lightning passed me, causing me to hold the gun out from my back and firmly pointed the gun to a tall figure just beside the curtains. next thing i knew, the hall suddenly lights up, revealing not one but there of them. one behind me and another one behind the counter in the kitchen.

i almost gasped when i saw the one with longer hair hold the gun that belongs to every hunter. its the gun that we get once we completed our training.

"so this is what the fuss is all about."

"where did you get that?"

"isn't it obvious?"

i noticed how the colour of his eyes changed. from black to a crimson red, almost like a blood pierced through me. are they descendent from the first Lamia? only the first purebloods have that colour.

the corner of his lips turned upwards.

"yes i am." he could read my mind even after taking potions that could block vampires from reading us. my eyes narrowed to the stairs where i saw blood stains covered the wood. my heart beat faster and i grabbed the gun harder.

so this is why they were almost no trace of them.

"do you wanna know where's your friend at or did you figured out already?" a sinister laugh escaped from his lips, making me shudder at the thoughts of dying at his hand.

if you wanna kill me then do it

"i'm not going to kill you. not yet." he came forward, just enough for him to whisper it to me. his eyes traced me down before taking the gun away from my hand. he tossed it away and signal the others to leave.

the air was even more colder when i was left alone with him. i tried not to think of anything but the sudden graze from his longs nails startled me. my breath quickens and i could see how he was enjoying it under his watch.

"careful." he hissed under his breath near the ear lobe before vanished into the dark foreboding forest with the rest, leaving me with no choice but to scream mentally in my head, still trying to accept the fact that i wont be getting any insider information.

"i will get back at you."

i'll be waiting sweetheart.

[knaite-solo]

Dear Lee - Zuko x Reader

Summary: After being rescued from prison, you discover that you fell in love with a lie.

Pairing: Zuko x DaiLi!Reader

Genre: Angst

Warnings: Swearing

Word count: 2105

“Hand me the prison keys.” Zuko ordered to the semi-conscious warden that he found in front of his uncle's cell. 

Warden Poon was barely able to open his eyes due to the hard confrontation he had with Iroh.

“But, Prince Zuko…”

“Just do it.” Zuko didn’t even try to use a calm tone this time, even threatening Poon with one of his fists on fire.

With no other choice, the warden handed the bunch of keys to the prince. He no longer wanted any conflicts, mainly because he didn’t have enough strength to do so and also because he knew that his firebending was inferior.

With the keys in hand, Zuko began his plan, starting to free the remaining prisoners from the tower. Initially, his intention was just to free his uncle, but as he had failed to do so, he decided not to let the opportunity go in vain.

Most of the people who were there weren't dangerous, but very prestigious. Big business owners, high-ranking military men, former rulers. Even his uncle was only there and not in the Boiling Rock, as he was part of the Royal Family. Fortunately, thanks to this foolish choice, Iroh had benefited from the average security prison to escape.

When Zuko finally thought he had just opened all the cells, he came across one that was different from the others. It wasn’t surrounded by iron bars, but by large metal plates with a small window in the middle, apparently where meals were placed. Not even his uncle had been put in such a bad place. Could someone really be there?

With some caution, the firebender turned the key in the lock and subtly opened the door, placing his head inside the small gap he had opened.

“Hello?”

Unfortunately, Zuko identified someone lying in the back of the dim cell. 

And that someone was you. 

But since you hadn’t responded to his call, he was uncertain if you had heard him. So, the prince decided to enter the cubicle and shook you gently, trying to awake you.

“Hey. Wake up.”

It all seemed too confusing in your head when you started to wake up. A familiar voice rang in your ears and a small amount of light illuminated the cell, but the brightness irritated your eyes since you hadn't been dealing with it for weeks.

“Hey.” He called you again and then you finally remembered who that voice belonged to.

“Lee?” You questioned in an uncertain but hopeful tone.

“Y/n?” Hearing your name coming from his lips filled you with happiness.

Without restraining yourself, you wrapped the prince in a tight hug and he reciprocated you a bit shyly since he didn't expect that demonstration of affection, much less to find you in a place like that. But you didn't care about his shyness. Just having him in your arms was good enough.

“I'm so happy that you're okay, Lee.”

You called him Lee again. After all, he was Lee to you.

For you, he was the guy from the teahouse you used to go to after your earthbending training. The guy who had caught your interest so suddenly that when you noticed you would show up to see him even when there was no reason to.

For you, he was the guy who made you laugh even when he didn't mean anything funny. He had such a weird and grumpy way of looking at things that you couldn't help but think it was cute.

For you, he was the guy who had taught you a bit of swordsmanship and when he wielded those double swords, you were even more attracted to him. He always seemed to dance with them. And he made it look so easy when you knew it wasn't.

For you, he was the guy you had your first date with. In fact, you weren't even sure if it was a date, but you always treated the memory with the amount of affection you think it deserved.

You couldn't forget when you had dinner with him and he yelled at one of the waiters, apparently a little embarrassed by a silly comment. You also couldn't forget how you tried to hold his hand and he allowed it, walking with you like that for a while. You couldn't forget the fountain where you took him to and how the candles magically seemed to light around it. It was the perfect place and the perfect time. You could almost feel that he wanted to kiss you just as much as you wanted to kiss him. And suddenly, he left, leaving you with a coupon for the teahouse he worked at.

Shortly after that small step in your relationship, you graduated as part of the Dai Li. You wished you could protect your people and you felt that that was the right way to do it. You had grown up in the Lower Ring and aspired to bring some justice to this region. It is a pity that you got it all wrong and chose the worst way to achieve it.

Before joining the other agents, you had a last cup of tea at your favorite spot. You already wore the typical Dai Li costume and you expected the farewell to be kinda hard. But to your surprise, that day, Lee didn't show up, just his uncle. You said goodbye to Mushi and asked him to deliver the message, but it always hurt you that Lee wasn't there to hear it in person.

So, you met again. And you had so much to say to your dear Lee.

“Why didn't you come to say g-”

“Not now.” Zuko interrupted you a little roughly, but it wasn’t intentional. He just was in a hurry. “I’m sorry. We need to go before they find us.”

He cautiously broke away from your embrace and lifted you, pulling you by your hand. However, you were so weak from the hard days in prison that you almost fell backward. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and held you tightly by the waist so you wouldn't fall.

“What’s wrong?” Zuko asked worriedly.

“Nothing. Let's go.”

You broke free from him politely, trying to prove that you were well enough to walk alone and get out of there on your own, but deep down, you knew it was all just a lie. You had been tortured during so many days that you didn't even know how you could still speak. You didn't even know how you could still pronounce the word hope. Perhaps it was the fact that you were from the Earth Kingdom. Your people were known for being enduring and strong and so were you. You had to go on despite everything.

“Let me help you.” Zuko offered again but you denied.

However, when you started to leave the cell for the first time in weeks, your body again lost its balance. You were so thrilled to finally be able to touch something other than cold metal walls that you didn't look at your steps. Until warm hands held you again.

“Please, I just want to help.” He practically begged this time and you could feel his hands tightening around you. 

“Fine.” You said it reluctantly, knowing that he wouldn't take no for an answer.

Zuko was pleased to finally get your consent and cautiously, he put one of your arms over his neck, supporting your weight against his body. The prince could easily carry you on his back, but he knew you were a proud person and would be offended if you were treated that way. He wanted to give you the proper respect. After all, you were a fighter just like him.

“Now, can you tell me what happened?”

Zuko wanted to ask that question since he found you in that cold, dark cell. It never crossed his mind that you could be so close to him and he never noticed. And if it weren't for his change of heart, you might have rotten there and he would never know.

He wanted to know why you were in that tower since you weren’t a relatively important person.

He wanted to know why you seem to be a thousand times more mistreated than the other prisoners he had released. You could barely walk without stumbling and that didn't match the determined person he met at Ba Sing Se.

He couldn't help but look at the injured extension of your body. All he could see was a large number of bruises, burns, and marks. You looked like a macabre work of art and probably the artist of this work had a mind as macabre as.

He wanted to ask so much. Zuko was immensely concerned about your condition, but at the same time, he was more concerned with how he would say he wasn’t who you thought he was.

“Fire Nation happened.” You finally responded sarcastically. “Do I really need to tell you that, Lee?”

Zuko didn't dare to say anything. Every time he heard his false name, everything seemed to get worse. So he decided to go down the stairs with you in silence. If he could take care of your safety by pretending to be Lee for a while, then he would do it.

“Why are you wearing these disgusting clothes?” The red suit with golden details annoyed you a lot since it looked a lot like the clothes of that woman you despised so much.

Zuko remained silent. You couldn't help but be irritated by his attitude, but you knew you were dependent on him at that moment. You could either adapt to his sudden silence or return to your unhappy cell. Although even if you wanted to return, Zuko would never let you go back.

You finally made it out of the tower and your eyes shone with excitement. How long have you been since you breathe some fresh air?  You were so happy that you would have jumped, screamed, and even danced a little if some guards hadn't shown up.

You quickly let go of Zuko and placed yourself in front of him.

In your mind, you were stronger than him. You were the person who had been blessed with the ability of bending. You were also the person who had been trained to be an elite fighter and serve Ba Sing Se, even it was all a big fat lie. You couldn't change the fact that you joined Dai Li and were manipulated to do bad things, but you could use your strength to do things differently from now. And so you would protect Lee.

You took a rigid stance and levitated some blocks of earth. You were ready to attack until you hear them communicate with Lee.

“Prince Zuko!” One of them spoke up trying to communicate with the man behind you, but that didn't make any sense. He wasn't this Zuko guy.

A woman ran towards you with fire daggers in her hands, but that didn't make you back off. You knew you were superior and even if you weren't, you would force yourself to be.

When you tried to throw the rocks at her, you were stopped, with your hand being held behind your back.

Only one person would be close enough to you to act that fast.

“Lee, what are you doing?” You tried to get loose in vain. 

“I’m sorry.” Zuko whispered.

Before you could answer or try to earthbend something with your feet, Zuko threw you over one of his shoulders, almost like you were a sack of potatoes.

"Stop."

You didn't understand why he told you to stop until you realized that the order wasn't for you. He was talking with the guards.

“But, prince Zuko, she’s the Dai Li agent that princess Azula-”

“I don’t care. I’m ordering you to stop.”

You couldn't understand anything anymore. Why did Lee seem to have authority over those guards? Why weren't you being attacked? Why were they constantly calling him prince Zuko?

“I’m afraid we can’t, Your Highness.” The guard with fire daggers replied.

And then, a battle of flames started.

You were outnumbered. You knew that Lee was good with swords, but that would be insufficient. You would have to fight. Only you could defend the two of you.

"Lee, please." You practically begged, pulling his shirt with as much strength that you could. 

"I'm sorry, Y/n. For everything." And when he started to firebend, your heart shattered into a thousand pieces.

Lee never existed.

Maybe I will write a part 2 since I liked this theme so much. Please let me know in the comments  if I should continue. Suggestions for the next part are also accepted! To this imagine, I inspired myself with the song Natalie - Milk & Bone.

Request made by @bucky-blogs​ Thank you so much for requesting this!

Since English isn’t my native language, please be kind. Any criticism is appreciated.

[majesticbrownjawn]

Halloween

This is a throwback and may be the first Erik-ish fic I wrote more than two years ago. 

Reader (like me), isn’t a fan of Halloween, her boyfriend tries to change her outlook. 

NSFW, boo.

I hate Halloween; you thought to yourself angrily as you woke up on the morning of October 31. 

You had a bad experience when you were younger and had been scarred ever since. Your boyfriend Jason loved it, though, especially after Black folks decided we'd make Halloween all about the culture. He was excited about his costume but refused to share what it was. He said it was a surprise and would make you have a heart change about Halloween. You doubt that highly. One of his best friends threw a big party every year, so you were headed there tonight. 

Thankfully it was Saturday, and you didn't have to rush to get yourself together after work. You wanted to have lunch with Jason because you knew even though you'd be at the party together tonight, he'd be too excited to pay you much attention.

————

"Hey babe, you wanna grab some lunch with me?"

"Aww, I'd love to, but I have to put some final touches on my costume."

"Really?! I haven't seen you all week Jason," you whined. 

"I know, baby, but I gotta finish this. I promise I'll make it up to you tonight."

"Ok, fine," you said, disappointed, and hung up. 

You waited until the last minute to decide what to be for Halloween because you and your boyfriend usually coordinated what you'd wear, but because he was being so extra this year and didn't want you to know who he was going as, you had to figure things out on your own. By the time you made it to the Halloween store, the only thing left in your size was the cliche slutty French maid costume. You bought it without trying it on and went on with your day. You were out later than anticipated, so you had to get home and get ready quickly. As you were putting on makeup, you heard your phone buzz. It was a text from Jason. 

Hey baby, I'm running behind, so I won't be able to pick you up. I'm sorry. Text me when you're ready to leave, and I'll have an Uber pick you up and bring you. 

He was really annoying you today. 

You arrived to the party about an hour later and was surprised to see the mansion was already packed with people. You picked up your phone to call Jason but saw that you didn't have service. You walked around for a while, observing the detail in the partygoers’ costumes. A blue Avatar and headless horseman caught your eye and impressed you. After looking for Jason for much longer than anticipated, you decided to stop at one of the bars to get a drink. As you stood in the line, a rough tug at your hips and warm breath on the back of your neck startled you. 

"What the fuck are you wearing?!" A deep voice said. 

The slutty French maid costume lived up to its name. Your full breasts were spilling out of the top and the dress barely covered your ass. You added fishnet stockings to cover your deliciously thick thighs and to add to the overall hoe factor. You rarely wore heels, but tonight you decided on a  pair of clear, stacked, 5” sandals. You knew Jason wouldn't like your body on display at the party, but he would just have to get over it tonight. He was lucky you’d even showed up. 

The voice in your ear sounded familiar. You jerked away and looked at the man from the ground up. He wore combat boots, a pair of camo pants that hugged him in all the right places, a vest with metal breastplates, and a thin shirt that hugged his muscular arms perfectly. His hair was cut low all over, except for in the middle, where he had short dreads that sprung up and away from his head wildly. Two of his lower teeth were dipped in gold. The look in his eyes was one of pent up anger and rage. 

Jason had transformed himself into your own personal Erik “Killmonger” Stevens. 

"Jason?" You were surprised at how much he actually looked like Killmonger. He knew you had a not-so-secret thing for him, which is probably why he was so confident you'd love his costume this year. People frequently stopped Jason to tell him he resembled the fine ass actor who played your fictitious, homicidal movie boyfriend, but you never saw it--until tonight. He'd been growing his hair out since the summer, and you hated it so much that you barely let him touch you. You told him he could get some cut when he cut his hair, but he refused to, so you’d been finding other ways to get what you needed the last few months. 

"Answer my question. Who gave you permission to come out dressed like a slut tonight?" 

"OK, Jason, this is cute, but you not gon' talk to me like that."

You turned to walk away, but he grabbed your wrist so tight that your body involuntarily stepped back towards him to ease the pressure on your arm. 

"Where do you think you're going?"

You realized at that moment he wanted you to play along, so for the sake of your wrist and his fun, you went along with it. 

"Nowhere Killmonger. I'm all yours," you smirked at him. 

He grinned devilishly and replied, "You better be. And you can call me Erik."

He grabbed a bottle from behind the bar and instructed you to follow him until you reached a pair of plush couches in the atrium of the mansion. People were all around, dressed in costumes, seemingly entranced by the music and the free-flowing alcohol. 

"Drink," he demanded. 

He started to pour liquor in your mouth before you could respond. 

"Wait!" Alcohol was all over your lips and chin and quickly trailing down your to your breasts. 

He quickly sucked it off your neck and licked the top of your tits in plain sight. 

"What are you doing, Jason?" You were angry and turned on at the same time. 

"You got one more time to call me by another nigga's name. You understand me?"

You nodded your head and squirmed a little, realizing how wet you were. 

"Now drink up. I want you loose tonight."

Erik wanted to dance, so you joined the crowd on the floor. His camo pants were thick, but you could feel how excited he was to be grinding behind you. In character or not, he hadn't touched you like this in months. As your bodies moved together to the music, one of his hands crept up your waist and palmed your breast. You loved the way his hands felt on you. He turned you around to face him and gave you the nastiest, sexiest kiss you’d ever experienced. He was really in character and you loved it. 

After grinding on each other a while longer, he whispered in your ear, "I'm ready to fuck you."

Your eyes bulged out from your head and the tingling in your pussy that had been happening since you laid eyes on him tonight intensified. You were ready to fuck too. 

"Go upstairs into the second door and take off everything. NOW." He dismissed you, confident you’d obey his order. 

You trailed up the stairs and waited for him. 

"The fuck you still got clothes on for?!" Your boyfriend was always firm, knowing how to lovingly put you in your place when I needed to be checked. But the tone he used tonight was different. It almost made you afraid of him.

"I'm going to teach you how to listen today. Bend over." You looked at him with questioning eyes to see if he was serious. 

"Bend the fuck over," he repeated. You leaned onto the bed in front of you, ass straight up, listening like a good girl. He ran his hand down your ass before giving it a firm smack. 

"When I tell you to do something, I mean that shit." You could hear the lust-filled anger in his voice. 

You flinched in pain, but your mouth let out a needy moan, encouraging him to continue. He hit your jiggling backside again just before you heard the sound of your fishnet stockings ripping, leaving your ass fully exposed, save the thong you wore. You felt the string being pulled away from your center and onto your ass cheek. 

His fingers circled your clit from behind, making you arch your back, pushing your pussy deep onto his fingers. You wanted them inside. You were so wet, and they’d slipped in a few times already. 

"Not yet, baby," he growled. He replaced his fingers with his mouth. 

He gave you a good tongue lashing from behind and licked up your slit towards your ass. He slowed down as he made his way upwards, and you tensed up, knowing where he was headed. Your boyfriend loved your body and gave all of himself to you when you had sex. He was attentive and genuinely desired to pleasure every part of your body, but you were never comfortable with him pleasing that part of you. It was still so taboo. Would it even feel good? With him thinking he was Killmonger tonight if he tried, would you be able to stop him? Would you want to stop him? 

As his tongue reached that small region of flesh between your pussy and your other hole, your reflexes caused you to reach one of your hands back, trying to swat him away. 

"Wait, Jas-Erik, whoever the fuck you are." 

That was the worst thing you could have done. He grabbed the arm that tried to push him away and held it on top of your back with his hand, leaving you to balance all of your weight onto the single arm below you. His other hand firmly gripped your upper thigh and pulled you closer to his face. 

"Ahhhhh, Erik." You were gone at the first stoke of his tongue in your no longer forbidden area.

He ate you mercilessly, giving you a pleasure you'd never experienced before. Your arm gave out on you, and you finally just planted your face into the bed. Your ass never moved, though; you were enjoying his tongue too much. He released your arm. The noises you were making was assurance you wouldn't try and stop him again. Your eyes rolled back in slow motion when he opened your pussy with his fingers pushing them deep into you and twisting them as he moved in and out of you, mouth still teasing your ass. 

"Oh my gosh, Jason. Fuck!"

"What you just call me?" His words vibrated against your hole, sending a shiver up your spine. He smacked your ass hard. "What's my name?" 

Smack. 

Your body shuddered, but you didn't answer. 

"Hmm?" He struck you again and laughed. 

"Erik," I whispered. His fingers moved to your clit, sending shockwaves through your body, making your pussy jump from the inside. 

"Louder," he demanded. 

"MmmmErik!" Unintelligible sounds left your mouth as he stroked your clit and ate you from behind. Your climax overtook you, pushing the balls of your feet deep into the soft carpet and making your toes point back up towards the bed. Your body went stiff before going completely limp. You flopped stomach-first onto the bed below you. 

He leaned over you on the bed and whispered, "We ain't done yet, turn over." 

You lazily rolled over on your back as he carefully took off his costume. You watched his beautiful body in awe when he removed his shirt and revealed dozens of scars across his chest and abdomen. He was committed to this costume. 

You were on autopilot and didn't realize you were pleasuring yourself until he growled, "That's a good girl, keep that kitty wet for me." 

Your fingers continued massaging your pussy as he stood over you, stroking his dick and chewing his bottom lip. "You look so good, baby, rubbing your clit like that, but I thought I told you to take your clothes off." He reached down and snatched the top of your dress open, making your breasts spill out and sending buttons flying across the room. 

"Yeah, that's better. Now play with them juicy ass titties." You stuck your fingers in your mouth, trying to get them as wet as possible before moving them in circles around your deep brown nipples. His dick slid up and down your slit as you continued giving special attention to your sensitive breasts. 

Finally, he entered you with a loud grunt, spreading your walls with his healthy girth. You inched up the bed a little trying to adjust to him; it had been a little while. 

"Uhun, where you going? Ain't no escaping this dick tonight." He cupped his hands under your thighs and lifted your ass off the bed, pushing himself further inside, using your legs to pull you up and down his juicy dick. 

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, Erik." 

"Feels better now?" 

"Yes, baby, yes," you whimpered. He twisted in and out of you, pausing every few strokes to stop and lick your clit before entering you again. His pace sped up as he looked down on you with dark eyes. 

"Ahhhh got damn, girl. This pussy so fucking wet." He inhaled deeply like it was going to keep his nut from coming too soon. 

"Of course it is, daddy. You keep tapping my spot," you moaned. He shifted his hips a little, hitting it straight on. 

"Where is it?"

"It's right there. Don't stop, right there, please!" Your fingers gripped the sheets below you as you came hard around him. He rubbed your clit midway through your orgasm, intensifying and extending your high. He came inside you heavy before falling to your side, breathing deeply as you traced your fingers along the raised scars on his chest. 

"So, you like my costume?" Your boyfriend was back. 

"It was aight." He raised an eyebrow at you. 

"I can give you another spanking if my performance wasn't convincing enough." 

"No baby, my ass hurts. But I have a question. You think Killmonger cuddles after sex?"

"Fuck no!" He yelled. "I do, though."

He wrapped his arms around you, placing kisses in the crook of your neck. 

You couldn’t stop grinning as you laid there in his arms. The experience with him tonight was overwhelming. It felt like you fucked someone else. 

You fucked Killmonger. 

-----

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[joezworld]

Mind Reading, Soul Stealing, Red Eyed, Diesel Electric Monsters!

June, 2000

A new millennium dawned on the Island of Sodor, and with it came many changes that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.

British Rail was no more, and the North Western Region was now the North Western Railway, free to operate as it pleased.

One of the first things that The Fat Controller did was purchase a new express train.

Gordon was apoplectic at this news, but the Fat Controller explained that this new service was to be a through train to London - steam engines hadn’t been allowed on the mainland rails for decades, and under British Rail, a new locomotive would take the coaches to and from London. Now that BR was no more, it was more economical to purchase a dedicated trainset and avoid the locomotive change at Barrow.

Furthermore, Gordon would still be rostered on the midday express and the Limited, both of which only went as far as Barrow.

Pip and Emma had visited Sodor once before, and had been well received by the other engines. However, once it was revealed that Gordon would be displaced from some of his trains, some engines became suspicious...

The engines had speculated that the Fat Controller would purchase a new diesel locomotive to haul the train, and were very surprised to discover that he had instead bought a high speed train!

-

"Ah canno' put ma buffer on it," Douglas admitted. "But they're doing something! Just look at how they act - the lasses must be scheming or something!"

"Ah'm tellin' ye - they are up ta something!" Douglas said to the other engines in the shed.

"And wha' might that be Douggie?" Asked Donald. Unlike his brother, he had no issue with the diesels, and was confused as to why his brother was so vehemently against them.

"Those two have been nothing but polite and cordial this entire time, and- oh bollocks." Duck began, before his eyes widened in realization. "Do not tell me that you have been listening to Oliver again!"

The other engines groaned - Oliver's escape from the mainland had put him in contact with some of the worst diesels that BR had ever fielded, and he still didn’t trust them as a result. Furthermore, his relatively isolated duties on the Little Western meant that his only real contact with diesels was limited to BoCo, Bear, and Delta - three engines who had all 'escaped' from the mainland in one form or another. He held a pessimistic view towards other diesels, and most of the engines had learned to tune him out as a result.

Apparently Douglas had not. "Ah have - and he's right! That's how it starts - they come in all peaceful and nice, and then Boom! All diesels all the time! Ah saw it happen once and ah'm not about to let it happen again!"

"Oh my god" said Donald and Duck in unison. They were going to have words with Oliver the next time they saw him.

-

Across the yard at the newly-built diesel shed, the diesels were listening to Douglas' ranting.

"Well, I'm glad that we haven't actually done anything to upset him." Pip said after a moment.

"I was worried that we'd said something." Emma chimed in from the back.

Bear rolled his eyes. "Yes, well, let me be the first to say that I am glad that you aren't actually evil monsters out to destroy steam traction."

Everyone laughed at that, and evidently did so just a little bit too loud, because...

"AH KNEW IT! They're conspiring against uz!" Douglas shouted from inside the shed.

The diesels stopped laughing and stared at the shed, while the steam engines began berating Douglas.

That brought a fresh wave of shouting from within the shed, while the diesels looked at each other incredulously.

The other engines weren't audible, but Douglas certainly was. "Well maybe no' on purpose! But ye don' know what these new things ken do! They might 'ave mind control powers or something!"

"Mind control powers?" Bear said with a raised eyebrow. "Where does he even get that from?"

"Is that normal?" Said Pip, suddenly concerned about having to work with these engines on a regular basis.

"Not especially." Said Delta. "But when it does happen, they're like this until they suffer a karmically appropriate pratfall, at which point they realize that they've been stupid and apologize."

The others stared at her.

"What?" She protested. "Why do you think I never get too big for my wheels if I can help it? I've read the books! I know what happens to the rest of you!"

Bear and BoCo exchanged a significant look, while Pip looked thoughtful.

"So, that pratfall," she said slowly, a sly look spreading across her face. "Do you lot feel like speeding up when it happens?"

-------------

And so they did.

Henry and James were soon involved in this scheme by virtue of being 'involved' with Bear and Delta, and spent the next several days figuring out exactly what Oliver and Douglas were saying about Pip and Emma. They eventually compiled a long list of imagined abilities, including mind control, telepathy, soul-stealing, invisibility, and the ability to lie with a straight face.

(The steam engines disputed that last point, but all the diesels agreed that it was the only thing on the list that was true.)

-

A week later, they first sprang their plan. Douglas was idling at the big station as Pip and Emma loaded their passengers. He made a conscious effort to ignore the HST set, which was helped somewhat by Bear backing into the track in between him and them.

Then things began to go strangely.

"Oh, not much. How about you?" Bear said in response to nothing.

Douglas looked around to see who he could be talking to, and found nobody else.

"Very interesting." Continued Bear. "I'd never considered that before. Is that new?"

After a moment of silence: "I see."

A pause.

"I wonder how that would work on this Island?"

Silence.

"Really?"

More silence.

"Well I would have never guessed!"

Douglas began to wonder if he was losing his mind when Pip's guard blew his whistle and the HST rolled away towards Barrow.

After a long moment, Douglas spoke up. "Bear, who were ye talking to?"

"Pip?" Bear said, confused.

"No ye weren’t!" Exclaimed Douglas. "Ye were talkin' to thin air!"

"I was not! We were having a most interesting conversation. I'm surprised you didn't hear it, considering we were right next to you."

"Ye said nuthin!" Douglas protested.

"I think you need to get your hearing checked." Bear said as he pulled away with his goods train. He broke into a wide smile as soon as he was out of sight.

--

Next it was Oliver. He made a rare trip beyond the Little Western to collect a train of China Clay from Wellsworth. BoCo was asleep in the station's bay platform when he arrived, so Oliver quietly collected the clay wagons.

As he waited at the signal to leave, Oliver noticed that BoCo was mumbling in his sleep.

"No... mustn't... listen... to... evil... no one... controls... me..."

"BoCo?!" Oliver yelped, suddenly concerned by the diesel's mumbling.

"Huh?!" BoCo sprang to wakefulness suddenly, and Oliver would have sworn that for a split second, there was a red glint in BoCo's eyes. "Oh, hullo Oliver. Fancy seeing you out on the main line."

"You were talking in your sleep!" Oliver said, forgoing any pleasantries.

"I suppose I might have been." BoCo confessed. "I haven't been sleeping very well recently - none of us diesels have."

As Oliver began even more concerned than he had been mere seconds ago, the home signal on the main line dropped to 'clear', and Pip and Emma roared through the station bound for Tidmouth.

As they passed, Oliver jumped slightly - Pip, who was facing him, glared at him as he passed. It was especially unsettling because modern diesels had their end-of-train lamps built into their eyes, so Pip's pupils were bright red as she glared back at Oliver and BoCo.

"She's up to something..." Oliver said to BoCo.

BoCo said nothing in return, and when Oliver looked over, he almost jumped off the rails - BoCo's eyes were the same red colour as Pip's and he was staring into the middle distance.

"She isn't up to anything Oliver..." BoCo said hollowly. "Why would you say that...?"

Oliver squealed in terror, and fled onto the main line as soon as his signal dropped.

BoCo waited until Oliver's train had vanished from sight before turning his lights off and laughing hysterically.

----------

This continued for some time - Oliver and Douglas would see one of the diesels, and the diesels would act strangely at the mention of Pip and Emma.

By the end of the week, Oliver was jumping at shadows, and Douglas was telling his conspiracy theories to any engine that would listen.

"So then Delta gets this faraway look in ‘er eye an' she clams up!" Douglas crowed one morning at Knapford station. “An’ there was no other engine there! She musta’ been talking to them while they wuz invisible!”

Thomas was spellbound. "And then what happened?"

Henry was not. "And then Douglas discovered that there was a reasonable explanation to whatever just happened and learned not to tell tales to impressionable tank engines."

"Ah am not! They. Are. Up. Ta. Somethin'!" Douglas railed at the green engine. "Look, there's Bear now! Let's just see - he's gonna do somethin' if we watch him close enough."

Bear tooted his horn in greeting as he rolled by with a slow goods train. Seeing Oliver and Henry, he quickly flashed his red lights and dropped his engine down a gear as he rolled between Henry and Douglas.

"Play along!" He whispered to Henry as he went by, the noise of his engine masking the words.

Henry blinked. That was an unexpected move... He watched the goods train roll by - it didn't feel right, pranking Douglas like that.

The goods train hadn’t even gone past yet, and he could already hear Douglas ranting about how Bear was a "red-eyed scheming devil!"

Oh, so that’s how it’s going to be. He thought as he listened to Douglas make blameless accusations about his fiancé. To hell with it then.

"What did he say?!" Douglas bellowed after the train passed. "Ah heard 'im say something to ye Henry! What did the devil say to ye?!"

Henry, trying his best to keep his face neutral, looked at Douglas in shock. "Oh hello Douglas! When did you get here?"

Bear's train cleared the signal block, and Henry steamed out of the station, leaving Douglas raving about "memory alterin' beasties!"

The engines looked up as Donald steamed up to the diesel shed. 

“Ah knoo ye lot are doin’ this - knock it off before ma brother completely loses his marbles.” He said firmly. 

“Is he going to stop saying that we’re mind controlling demons?” Bear retorted. 

The steam engine sighed deeply. “Ah want ye to know that he wasnae sayin that before ye started, but ah’ll talk to ‘im. Mebbe we can work something out.”

He steamed back to the sheds. Within a few minutes the sound of Scottish-accented shouting burst from the sheds. 

This continued for some time, to the point where Henry had his driver pull him out of the shed to escape the noise. 

Eventually, both twins emerged from the shed, Donald looking aggrieved and Douglas much more subdued. 

“Ah’m sorry.” The twin eventually said. “Ah think that ah might have let this whole ‘new diesel’ thing get to me a bit more than ah should’ve.”

There was some muttering from Bear and Pip before BoCo shushed them. “We accept your apology Douglas. Sometimes we can all go a little overboard -”

“I don’t.” Interrupted Delta.

“You hid from the Thin Clergyman.” BoCo glared at her before continuing. “We all can go a little overboard at times, so I’m glad that we can now put this behind us. Friends?”

“Friends.” Douglas said after a moment.

“Good!” Cried a voice from inside Donald’s cab as Siobhan poked her head out. “Now that we’re done torturin’ me Da’ for being thick, I wan’ to know somethin - how did all of you manage to make yer eyes turn red like that?”

“Oh, this?” BoCo said as he turned on his red lamps, making his eyes glow red. “It really is just something we were built with.”

The other diesels blinked theirs as well to show that it was not an unusual thing to be equipped with. 

“Oh that is so creepy.” Siobhan shivered. "I love it!"

--

“Oh no.” Oliver gasped as he watched the diesels flash their mind-control rays at Donald and Douglas. “They got to them.”

“What do we do?” Whispered Thomas from the next platform over. 

“I don’t know!”

-------

After the truce between Douglas and the Diesels, life became much more peaceful on Sodor. 

Unless you were on Thomas’ branch line. 

Because only Thomas and Daisy regularly travelled down to the big station at Tidmouth, the rest of the engines on the line learned most of their news from the main line engines when they met at Knapford station. This meant that information was slow and sometimes unreliable on the best of days. 

Now that Thomas actively believed that Pip and Emma had mind-controlled the rest of the engines, that information stream became warped and distorted very quickly. 

Matters were made worse when Daisy was sent to the works for several weeks to have her engine rebuilt. To keep up with traffic, The Fat Controller sent an engine to assist, and Oliver was the first to volunteer. 

The branch line quickly descended into hysteria.

Looking back on this series of events, it is mind-boggling that none of the big engines noticed, however, they had assumed that Douglas had told Oliver that it was all a prank, and that Oliver was an engine that could be reasoned with. 

Furthermore, Gordon, now displaced from the morning and evening express, was insistent on trying out other passenger runs to see if he enjoyed them. This meant that the engines who normally pulled those trains were also displaced from their duties, meaning that the engines who usually met Percy, Thomas, and Daisy’s trains on a regular basis were instead arriving at Knapford on random days and times. The sudden paranoia of the branch line engines was therefore overlooked or dismissed as ‘tank engines being tank engines’.

Matters were made worse when Daisy returned from the works, allowing Oliver to return to the Little Western. 

Daisy was due to return around lunchtime, and so Oliver took his train to Tidmouth, and then immediately continued on with a train to Arlesburgh, while Daisy took the return service to Ffarquhar. 

The other engines on the branch were busy with trains at the north end of the line, and didn’t know that Daisy was returning that day. From their perspective, Oliver was ‘vanished’ by ‘them’, and replaced with a diesel interloper. 

The fact that Daisy had been on the branch line for almost fifty years at that point was immaterial. 

“How do we know that you’re really Daisy?” Percy asked late that night. “What if you’ve been mind-controlled by them to make us into your thralls?”

“Because if I was,” Daisy hissed, acid practically dripping off of her tongue. “I would have done it already. Go. To. Sleep!”

No more was said that night, but the other engines continued to view Daisy with suspicion. 

Daisy, now thoroughly unamused, began asking the big engines if mind control was something that she could actually do - just so that she could get some peace and quiet! 

This did not ease the branch line engine’s concerns at all. 

Daisy found that sleep was much harder to come by as a result.

-

Things eventually came to a head when an extremely sleep deprived Daisy backed down onto the milk van a little bit too hard. The shunter had failed to set the van’s brakes, and it rolled away down the hill towards the next station. 

Percy and Thomas had, as the result of a lost bet, switched jobs that day, which meant that Percy, Annie, and Clarabel were halfway up the hill behind Daisy when the milk van rattled into view. 

“Horrors!” Percy cried as his crew applied the brakes and jumped clear. 

The damage to Percy’s front wasn’t catastrophic, but it was bad enough for the breakdown train crew to put him on a flatbed so he could be taken to the works to be looked over. Clarabel, who was behind Percy and took a nasty bump in the collision, accompanied him. 

Wendell was sympathetic as he collected them, but Percy was still wary, especially because his flatbed had been coupled up to Wendell facing backwards, meaning that neither he nor Clarabel could see if the diesel had been mind-controlled. 

Wendell’s shocked laughter when Percy told him this was not encouraging. 

-

The trip went normally until they arrived at Kildane. There, another engine was waiting, and attached itself to the back of the train. Percy and Clarabel eyed it suspiciously. It looked like a diesel, but one they had never met before, and had a strange metal contraption on its roof, which it lowered before they set off again. 

“Hi!” The engine chirped as the train set off. “I’m Abbey! Who are you?”  

“Percy...” He said cautiously. Clarabel stayed silent.

As it turned out, Abbey was an electric locomotive. She wasn’t new to the island by any means, but she had arrived after Percy had begun working on Thomas’ branch full-time, so they’d never met. She was very chatty, very curious, and had no idea what Percy and Clarabel were talking about. 

“Mind-Control Rays?” She laughed as they rolled towards Kellsthorpe Road station. “How would that even work?”

“I don’t know, but what I do know is that if their eyes turn red and then they look at you, you’re done for!”

“Red eyes?” Abbey looked thoughtful. “Do you mean reversing lights? We have them built into our eyes so we don’t need lamps!” 

“What?” Percy was baffled. 

“Yeah! It’s something that all engines have nowadays.” Abbey’s brows scrunched together in thought. “I think that mine has an emergency backup battery... let me try...”

After a moment of squinting, the pupil of Abbey’s left eye flickered into a very familiar red gaze. 

-

Wendell was not paying attention to the conversation behind him at all, and was startled to attention when Percy and Clarabel began screaming. 

“What in the world is going on?!” He shouted, trying to look behind himself and see what was happening. 

“I don’t know!” Cried Abbey. “They just started screaming!”

The commotion drew the attention of Wendell’s driver and second man as well, which meant that nobody on the train noticed as the Kellsthorpe Road home signal suddenly dropped to ‘Danger’ as they drew nearer to it.

The train rumbled past the signal without stopping, and approached the station at speed. Wendell finally looked forward, and saw members of the station staff waving their arms at him as they tried to right a massively overloaded porter’s trolley that had fallen over on the foot crossing. 

“Diesel and Oil! Stop the train! Stop the Train!” He shouted, drawing his driver’s attention, who applied the brakes as they entered the station. 

“I want you to tell me what happened one more time.” The Fat Controller said as seriously as one could while standing ankle deep in tin foil. The station was covered in the stuff, as was Wendell, Percy, Clarabel, and Abbey.

“The porter’s trolley was a consignment of tinfoil going to a restaurant supply store in town.” The stationmaster started. “It came in on the last train, and then it fell. We tried to make them stop-”

“I threw the signal! I did!” The signalman interjected. “They just didn’t see it!”

“No, we didn’t.” Wendell’s driver admitted, shamefaced. “We were trying to see why -”

“Percy was screaming.” Finished the Fat Controller.  

“Yes sir.”

“Why was Percy screaming?” 

“We don’t know sir.”

“Abbey might!” Wendell chipped in while trying to blow flecks of tin foil out of his nose. “She was talking to them when they started screaming.”

-

As it turned out, Abbey knew exactly why Percy (and Clarabel) had been screaming, and was willing to talk about it at length. 

The Fat Controller's eyebrows rose into his hairline and stayed there as Abbey kept talking. Percy and Clarabel remained silent, although it was impossible to determine whether it was out of fear, stubbornness, or embarrassment. 

“Mind Control powers? Really?” The Fat Controller wanted to be upset, but just could not manage it. “Where on earth did that come from?”

“Oliver sir!” Percy finally spoke up. “He said that the diesels were taking over the island with their evil powers!”

A surprised sounding "oh no!” rose from the next platform - Henry was waiting with The Limited, and had heard most of Abbey’s explanation. 

“Do you have something to add to this?” The Fat Controller asked Henry, unsure how this story could get any more ridiculous. 

-

Henry did have something to add. 

-

“Sir, are you all right?” His assistant asked as they returned to the car. 

“I’m fine.” The Fat Controller managed. “I just need a moment.”

He shut the door to the car behind him, and as soon as he was alone, he laughed until he cried. 

[rosy-wooyoung]

[12:31]

🎄 Day 11 of the Christmas project🎄

pairing : san x fem!reader a/n: ngl i’m quite happy with this one. maybe bc it’s kinda personal? idk

You had just arrived at the cottage you inherited from your grandparents when they passed away, and, after driving for so long, you were happy to finally cut the engine. Months had passed since you last visited this small house filled with beautiful memories, and you had this strange feeling of happiness mixed with nostalgia overrunning in your body. The cottage was a small wooden house at the edge of the forest next to a lake, now frozen, the ground and the naked and lonely looking branches of the trees surrounding it covered in snow. You parked your car in the driveway and slightly shook your best friend's shoulder to wake him from his slumber. After a few minutes of constantly shaking him, San finally stirred up, softly rubbing his eyes as he looked around him.

"Are we already here?" he mumbled and you bitterly chuckled, unbuckling your seat belt and opened the door. "What do you mean already? You've been sleeping since we stopped at the gas station. It's been two hours dude," You poked his ribs before stepping out. San shook his head and got out of the car as well a few seconds later, letting out a sigh before helping you clear the trunk filled with things to get comfortable enough for the long weekend you had planned to stay together. 

The end of the year was coming, so that meant a lot of things to do at work: closing cases, checking details before sending files to your boss, preparing some others for the new year, it was everything but calm when you entered your workspace each morning. Fortunately, you had worked quite hard during the week, so today before lunch, San and you took your leave of work and hurried to your car, getting ready for a few hours of driving to get to this beautiful place where you had just arrived.

"Gosh, I've missed this place so badly," you said as you looked around you, eyes roaming as you observed the trees and your surroundings. You started getting a bit emotional as you recalled the hazy yet wonderful memories you had collected while growing up until it was time for them to leave.  

You remembered spending some of your Summer holidays here with your siblings when your parents grew "tired" of the three of you. They always claimed to need a break from being parents for at least a week, and so did you from them. When you were at your grandparents' house, more fun was allowed than when you were at home. It was an exciting feeling, and you were always looking forward to coming and visiting them at every opportunity you had. You never truly minded because you loved your grandparents and spending time with them. But for your younger siblings, it was a whole other story: they were constantly yelling about missing mom and dad, while you were just loving being there, catching up with your granddad

You had your little secrets with him, things that you hid from your family and your siblings. For example, you and your grandfather would secretly take two easels, always feeling that rush of adrenaline before escaping from the yells of your siblings to find a good spot to start painting for a major part of the day, hidden in the mountains hovering above the cottage. Each time, you came back from your getaway with a brand new piece of art, and a memory to cherish for the years to come. You entered the cottage, and a wave of nostalgia crashed onto you, a sense of comfort wrapping its arms around your shoulders. In the dark, you could still distinguish some of the pieces of art your granddad did when you were together. You opened the shutters and drew out the curtains your grandmother had sewed by herself, making the natural sunlight warm up the place. You then went behind the house and opened the electricity and water conducts while San took care of putting all the things your truck you carry inside the small house.

"It's a gorgeous little place that you hid from me," he teased, and you gently smiled, elbowing him in the ribs as you kept on putting everything in the right place. "It's my sweet escape," you replied as your best friend rested for a few seconds in the middle of the entrance, hands on his hips as he took in the decoration of the place.

When you had some rough times in your life - which happened more often as your grandparents fell sick one after the other -, you came to this little house in secret to unwind and spend some time alone, crying or just chilling. It was a bit like your secret garden, the spot that you had indeed kept hidden from everyone. Even your parents didn't know that you frequently visited here and spend some time in nature. That's why it wasn't as dusty and dirty as one can imagine an abandoned house to look like. Yes, it was a bit straggly, but to your defence, you haven't come to this place in weeks.

As the day went by, it was finally the afternoon, and it had started snowing as soon as you finished setting in the cottage house. You were quite tired from driving for a few hours, only being used to run a few errands for maximum 20 minutes, so you just wanted to chill and maybe take a nap on the burgundy, corduroy couch. San, on the other hand, since had slept a major part of the journey there, was just a human dynamo. Looking around, all smiley and excited as he watched the snow falling from the sky.

"Do you wanna do something outside? We could make a snowman, have a snowball fight or go for a walk?" he suggested as he let himself fall next to you on the couch, tickling your side with his left hand as the other remained against his chest. You stifled a giggle and squirmed, trying to escape from his touch. He stopped for a while, his eyes lingering on you as you were getting your breath back. "And what about going sledging? I just saw that there's a hill on the other side of the lake, we can go there," your best friend offered, but you shook your head with a pout. "San, I'm too tired for all of this," you whispered, and his eyes widened, taken aback that you declined his offer, again, "and where did you even find a sledge?" you added, not even knowing that your grandparents owned one. "There was two in the small storage unit, but don't try to change the subject. Why don't you want to go sledging?" he said while sitting up, laying a hand on your knee, shaking it a bit. "It's the best thing you could do when we have a type of weather like this!" he exclaimed while pointing outside, making you sigh and as you looked out the window. Yes, it was still snowing, and it looked quite consistent enough to sledge on it, but you could see some patches of blue sky appearing here and there, telling you that the good weather wasn't as far as you thought it was.

"Come on, Y/N, just for me," he said as he watched you stifling a yawn, happy that he managed to catch sight of a small nod in your actions. "Really? Let's go then!" he enthusiastically got up, not even waiting for you to run into the bedroom to get dressed. "The things I'd do for him," you whispered to yourself as you tiredly got up from the couch, making your way up the small stairs as well. Once you had slipped on your fleece-lined pants and warm coats, you made your way out the door, San trotting to the small storage unit behind the house to get the sledges. Those were made out of old wood, a thin rope attached to the tip of it. They looked quite old and dusty, but they would do the trick.

"So Y/N, since you're the expert of the region," San teased as he looked over, only to have you staring back at him with a fake bored look, "how can we reach this side of the lake?" he said as he pointed the side opposite the cottage, and you smiled. That is where you used to go painting with your grandfather. "Come on, follow me," you said as you confidently started walking, the memories colliding in your brain as you trusted your guts to get to this side of the lake. In the course of your walk, with San by your side, you told him some of your memories while pointing at different things.

"You see that tree over there?" you gestured to the naked weeping willow a bit further into the stroll, San nodding as his eyes followed your finger, "when it was getting either too hot or too noisy because of my siblings during Summer, I'd take a book and spend the entire afternoon reading underneath that tree," you explained with a soft smile on your face, remembering the great souvenirs as the leaves crunched under your moon boots as you stopped. "And my grandma had a whistle, and she would blow four times when dinner was ready, and I needed to come back," you told your friend, who had a sincere smile on his face. "This is adorable, it sounds like a Studio Ghibli plot," he said while taking your hand, making you walk slightly faster to pass the tree. San knew you well. He knew that if you spent too much time in front of this willow, you'd start getting emotional and probably cry, and that was the last thing he wanted to see.

You silently thanked him with a faint smile as you understood his sudden change of behaviour and you cleared your throat, keeping on telling him happier souvenirs as you finally arrived where San wanted to go. "I can't imagine how beautiful it must look here in Summer," he mumbled as he stared at the cottage on the other side of the lake. "It's even more incredible in fall," you said with a smile, "I came here mid-October and you're just surrounded by yellow and orange trees, you can really feel the fall vibes," you giggled with your friend, letting go of his hand, feeling suddenly nervous. You hadn't even noticed that San had kept your hand in his the entire time, and you were even hotter when you realised that he didn't even look bothered or shy of it.

You took a few pictures of each other going down the sledge, laughing and pushing each other around as the other took an unflattering photo of the other. The powder snow eased your falls every time you pushed the other too hard, sometimes shrieking as you could feel some snow slipping under your clothes and reach your skin. At some point, you were too tired to get up, so you stayed well muffled in your clothes, looking at the sky clearing above your heads. San was also in the snow, ignoring the freezing sensation of water against his neck and the goosebumps travelling his entire body. Instead of staring at the sky as you did, he seized the fact that you were too busy getting lost in your thoughts to stare at you. He loved seeing his best friend at peace like you currently were, it looked like all of your worries had vanished as soon as you pulled up by the house, the stressed Y/N getting replaced by the one that San imagined was the Y/N of your childhood.

The young man shifted in the snow, close enough for his hand to grab yours. As you felt pressure on your glove, you turned your head to the side, looking at him. He was already looking at you with a fond smile decorating his lips, and you raised your eyebrows, silently asking him why he was staring at you like that.

"I wish for this moment to never end," he spoke softly, the density of the snow under you two muffling his words, only for you to hear. "Me neither," you uttered, and San squeezed your hand as an answer, shooting you a wink before looking at the sky like you did just moments ago. He felt your gaze on him, and he started rolling towards you, miscalculating the number of rolls he had to do to come near you, resulting him almost crushing you as he was about to land on his back. You clutched your abdomen, anticipating his weight landing on you, but he swiftly moved around to land on his stomach, his mouth arriving millimetres away from yours.

None of you recoiled, getting lost in the other's eyes. Your breath had quickened up, something going noticed by San. He gulped but kept staring at you, your breaths forming one trail of steam above your heads, unhurriedly vanishing in the atmosphere. San pulled his thoughts and doubts to the side for an instant, his mouth colliding with yours in the gentlest way possible. Despite the dryness of his lips, the kiss released millions of butterflies in your stomach, sending warmth straight to your face. With your mittens slightly covered in snow, you cupped his face, and he groaned into the kiss, the cold against his face attempting to bring him back to reality.

But it wasn't enough to make you two stop kissing each other. You had both been secretly waiting for this for too long, and you didn't want to end the kiss right now. Making the most of it was the key point of the situation, and you let your lips linger on San's as if it was the last time before pulling away. The man gave you mere seconds to catch your breath before pulling you in another kiss, your hearts beating furiously against each other as your tongues danced together, head spinning and getting mushy due to all the emotions you were experiencing.

[hoodwinkd1]

Your Eyes Whispered Ch 11-13

Ch 8 - 10 here. Ch 14 here.

Chapter 11: morning, her place

Eris jumped out of sleep the next morning, waking suddenly to the pressure of someone attempting to break down his wards. His body tensed immediately, an instinctual growl rising in his throat at the perceived threat. His mind reacted a moment later, recognizing the scent currently trying to break down the front door.

“RHIANNON HARMONY OPEN THE DAMN DOOR.” Interesting. Eris had made it this far without ever asking Rhia for her last name.

He waved a hand, removing the additional wards he had placed on the house last night. Grabbing his tunic from the chair and throwing it over his head, Eris strode downstairs just in time to watch Sofine burst into the front room.

She gave him such a ferocious glare that he froze in place without meaning to. “I suppose you’re the reason Rhia left town mysteriously for two days?”

“I, uh, yes.” Eris really wasn’t used to anyone scolding him. “Rhia helped me out with a...situation at the palace. Coffee?”

He vaguely remembered Rhia owed him a thought from last night. All this relaxation and peace had done some damage on his sharp, cunning mind.

Sofine’s eyes widened momentarily. Whether she was surprised at the gesture or suddenly remembering who she was scolding, her tone calmed considerably. “She keeps the beans above the stove, if you didn’t know.”

Eris nodded, accepting the small olive branch she offered. He lit the front burner with a flick of his pointer finger while filling the kettle under the tap with a flex of his other hand. The movements came quickly, naturally, and some of the tension left his body at the small expulsions of magic.

Quick footsteps skittered to a stop at the bottom of the stairs as the love of his life took in the scene in front of her. Shit. Eris’ thoughts had become pathetic and obsessive without his permission. He would have scowled if the sight of Rhia treading into the kitchen nervously hadn’t been so damn endearing.

“Shit, Sofi, I’m sorry.” Rhia embraced her friend tightly. “I didn’t mean to leave so abruptly; you must have been so worried.”

Sofine laughed softly, kissing the top of her head. “Oh I was very calm. Other than yelling at the High Lord first thing this morning.”

“I’m sure he deserved it,” Rhia hummed. She then made her way towards Eris, who finished steeping the beans at exactly the right second, handing her a steaming cup of coffee as she reached him. “What did you do?”

“Other than drag you into my mess?” Eris inquired, repressing the bolt of guilt that shot through him at the idea of Rhia in danger at the palace. “I placed additional wards up last night.” He looked over her head at Sofine. “I’ll make sure to include you in them next time.”

Rhia raised an eyebrow. “Who gave you permission to place them in the first place?”

Eris noted her light tone and twinkling eyes. “You tried to break into the most heavily guarded building in the Autumn Court yesterday and branded yourself as an enemy to the crown. What if someone tries to arrest you for that again?”

“Rhia,” Sofine gasped. “You tried to break into the palace?” Swiveling her glare to Eris, she demanded: “Why didn’t you let her in?”

At least she was scolding them both now. Eris held his hands up in surrender. “I didn’t know she was there!”

“And I didn’t try to break in, I actually did break in,” Rhia grumbled. “You should really upgrade the security on the eastern external wall.”

Sofine huffed. “Will you both disagree on every little detail? I want the full story.” She sat herself down at the kitchen table, making a big show of getting comfortably situated. “I have time.”

Eris sensed that now would be a lovely time to retreat and leave Rhia to her own devices. “I have to return to the palace and the horrors of bureaucracy.” He leaned forward, giving Rhia half a second to adjust to his closeness, before placing a chaste kiss on her lips. Her mouth upturned into a small smile, one he wished he could spend hours exploring. “I’ll come back when I can, good?”

“Very good,” she replied. “I expect a full report of our Court’s political situation when you return.”

Eris sighed dramatically. “If you insist.” He waved to Sofine. “I hope you won’t be too disappointed in my abilities after hearing the full story.”

“To be determined.” Her face flushed lightly, a female still unused to the High Lord’s presence, but he only felt gratitude at her attempts to treat him as normal as possible.

Eris blinked and appeared in his chambers, taking a minute to change his clothing and wash his face. He uttered some choice words at the pile of paperwork littering his desk, rifling through the to-do lists, save-the-dates, business contracts, and personal correspondences to see if any of it required his immediate attention.

One of his spies, Jyn, had sent him a list of potential candidates to fill the vacant adviser roles that Eris skimmed quickly. He had a half-baked plan forming in his mind to let people vote on the Fae listed on the sheet, maybe even ensuring that each region had specific representation. Gerwin had helped him draft a few new pieces of legislation that Eris would announce during the Autumnal Equinox ball, so one more shouldn’t cause any additional havoc.

“Fuck,” Eris swore again, remembering that his Court’s largest annual celebration was only a fortnight away and he had no idea what the hell was going on with the event.

He already wanted to check on his mother and Liang would know the most about the upcoming celebrations. Two birds, one awkward acknowledgement that they shared a bedroom.

Eris walked down the corridor, stopping to chat with one of the servants to make sure everyone on staff last night had received additional pay for working through an attempted coup. The slender male named Yuri had confirmed that the throne room was completely cleaned of any body parts and that to his knowledge, everyone had gotten the money before heading home.

The Lady of the Autumn Court lived in a different wing of the palace than her husband and sons had, a different wing than where Eris now lived basically alone. As he approached the white double doors, he ignored the urge to open the door automatically and knocked instead.

“Yes?” His mother’s tone was curious and wary, until she laid eyes on him. “Oh, darling! Come in, come in.”

Eris followed her inside, observing how much lighter and joyful she seemed in the glow of day. Her decorations had always used softer colors and more patterns than typical Autumn design; even the gold that adorned the soft blue curtains looked brighter than the gold that detailed his traditional red decor.

“How are you?” he inquired. “Did the healers take a look at you last night?”

She herded him over to the seating area. “Yes, and you have nothing to worry about. I wasn’t harmed by the Night Court.” Eris let out a deep exhale. He hadn’t known how to delicately ask what she’d experienced in captivity, and her warm gaze confirmed that she hadn’t been tortured. “I might not be feared or even respected by the other Courts, but Keir knows exactly who my allies are. And who my family is.”

“If Rhysand hadn’t finally taken care of the trash ruining his terrority, there would have been a list of us ready to kill Keir for him,” Liang grumbled, joining them from the bedroom. “Eris.”

He returned her nod. “Thank you for insisting on the healers.” Eris turned his body to face her more directly. “I actually had a question for you, as well. The Autumnal Ball is supposed to be in two weeks and I--”

“Hadn’t planned anything for it?” Liang teased. “Not to worry. The High Lord typically shows little to no interest in the event planning.” Her words had a bitter edge to them, and Eris knew he wasn’t the High Lord she spoke of. “I can send details to your rooms later today for your approval.”

Eris held his hands up. “I trust your judgement much more than my own. I would be interested in seeing the plans, though, just for my own knowledge.”

“Of course. I’ll at least want your opinion on the guest list, make sure I didn't’ miss anyone important.” Liang sat next to his mother, who raised an eyebrow.

“Is there anyone she wouldn’t have thought to invite, darling?” she asked innocently. “Do you have any new friends we don’t know about?”

Her words made him feel like an adolescent. “You know I don’t have friends. But I might send invitations to the other High Lords; see if they’d like to send a delegation.”

“Just let me or my assistant know if anyone needs to be seated separately to avoid a fight,” Liang offered. “We have over a thousand guests confirmed, so a few more won’t require much adjustment.”

Eris’ eyes bulged out of his head. “A thousand? Where did you find that many fucking people?”

“Language,” his mother admonished. “And we’ve always had a large attendance, though never quite this large.” She grinned at him. “I believe the host might be a bit more popular this year than in previous years.”

He fell into his thoughts as the two females ordered tea and went through some of the other details with him over the next hour. The annual ball was one of the only events that sent out a certain number of tickets to each regional capital, instead of inviting specific Fae individually. During Beron’s reign, only the required attendees who sat in governing roles showed up, but almost all of the optional invitations had been reserved this year with family members, friends, and colleagues. Eris hoped that meant his Court felt more comfortable with him than his father, and not that they all wanted a front-row seat to his inevitable failure or demise.

Liang sent him off with a few blank invitations, spelled to deliver themselves immediately after being addressed. He stopped by his rooms and scrawled out all the High Lords’ names, except for the Night Court’s which he addressed to Carina. She probably wouldn’t throw his letter directly in the fire. He also added a personal note, letting her know that he still owed her a very fancy dress for her help in finding his mother, offering to send his best tailor her measurements if she wanted to call in that deal.

Either through a simple mistake or a stroke of ingenuity, Liang had handed him 7 invitations, leaving Eris an extra blank one. Inspiration hit him like a brick. Rhia.

Would she want to come? See him in his role? Watch the entire fucking island scrutinize him? Normally, Eris would have let his thoughts swirl in a self-deprecating river until he’d talked himself out of the idea. He chose to stop himself this time, however, and practice healthy communication by just asking her.

Would they be able to hide their bond at such a large event? Any daemati would know, if they didn’t maintain their mental shields perfectly the entire time. The thought of hiding his feelings for Rhia, avoiding her gaze and looking at anyone else when perfection was right in front of him, drew a low growl from his lips. For her safety, though, he would do anything. Even if acting like he didn’t care felt so uniquely miserable.

Carina’s response drew him out of his thoughts. Cauldron, he was getting irrationally dismal in his old age. Maybe that was a side effect of patricide.

He snorted internally at the bleak joke.

Of course I’ll be there, idiot. Bryce is coming too. Something about how I never have any regard for my own safety blah blah blah. I’ve attached detailed instructions for your tailor, and I’ll be bringing a backup gown in case it’s not up to my standard. I have a reputation to uphold.

Eris let relief wash over him that he’d have at least one ally present. At the mention of Carina’s mate, he considered asking her for help with the whole mess of emotions that he went through daily. At the very least, she was one of the very few people in Prythian who understood the dangers of power, the sharpness of panic that came with putting loved ones in danger from enemies that normally wouldn’t spare them a second glance.

Hours of meetings and too many decisions stood between Eris and sitting in his favorite chair in a too-small kitchen. He gave himself one minute to hope that the violent chapters of his life had closed permanently, gave himself one minute to dream of what happiness and peace might actually look like, before re-entering his role as High Lord.

Chapter 12: spent their whole lives trying to put it into words

One small TW for abuse (past, nothing graphic). I've put the usually XXX before and after, but as always please let me know if I can make these warnings better and if you want a summary of that section.

“Hold that position. Yes! Exactly like that!” Rhia gasped. Her cheeks were flushed with excitement

Her student’s tiny arms began to tremble slightly at the exertion. Aliar’s face remained focused, however, as he used his leg muscles to push the wave of water higher and higher, until it touched the ceiling.

He dropped it suddenly. “Was that good?”

Rhia grinned. “That was wonderful . Did you see how much higher you raised it using your entire body instead of just your arms?”

He nodded quickly, a slow smile building on his face. Much quieter than the other two students he trained with, Aliar’s smile was equivalent to jumping with joy.

“Go grab some water, then you all can stretch and go home.” Rhia herded the trio of younglings toward the counter dividing the studio and her kitchen, where she always laid out a pitcher and cups. Raquel immediately stole Aliar’s attention, bestowing compliments and advice all in the same breath, at a speed too fast for anyone to follow along. They had a few more weeks before they would master water, all three of them did, but had made good progress nonetheless.

Rhia shuffled past Leyora carefully, from where the female had begun stretching in the most inconvenient spot, towards the dining room table. She eyed the blank parchment sitting there. The memory of the last time she had been waiting for a message from Eris while teaching this same trio hurt to recall, but she shook off any negative thoughts. Today had been good, her sleep undisturbed and her breathing easy.

It’s only been a day, she chided herself mentally. Give him time to respond, you needy wench.

“What is that?” Raquel demanded. Rhia barely stopped herself from jumping at their voice and shoved her hand away from the parchment. “Are you being sneaky with something?”

“What?” Rhia replied. “I’m an adult. I don’t have to sneak anything.”

Leyora raised her eyebrows. “Sounds like something a sneaky person would say.” Alair humphed in agreement.

“You’re all menaces. Raquel, finish your water.” Children could be eerily perceptive when they wanted to, usually when adults didn’t want them to.

As they grabbed their coats and ambled out, weather already turning gloomy before the Solstice, Rhia watched them go with a strange bittersweet feeling. Would she continue teaching if she became Lady--

Shit. That was not a road she had ever gone down and certainly didn’t need to go down. As if she would ever officially court Eris, nonetheless marry him when they hadn’t done anything more than kissing yet. When they still hadn’t talked through their pasts, their hopes, their darknesses.

Still, the thought lingered.

Rhia busied herself with making dinner as the sun set, drawing graceful golden designs on the walls. She sensed Sofine coming up to her door, grabbing two wine glasses as the Fae burst into the room.

“You read my mind,” she purred. Her gaze turned flirtatious as she noticed the wine Rhia had selected. “Feeling fancy tonight, are we? Expecting special guests?”

Rhia clicked her tongue. “You’re special enough for a nice bottle of wine. Sit, sit.”

Telling Sofi the full story, including how the mating bond had shared the agony of Eris’ stab wound, hadn’t been fun. Rhia had let her friend scold her, had let Sofi get out all of the frustration and worry she felt. Of course they both hoped that being Eris’ mate wouldn’t put Rhia in harm again, but the ordeal had created an entirely new set of anxieties.

So tonight, they stuck to pleasant topics. Rhia’s students, Sofine’s attempts to make a new kind of bread (Rhia secretly wondered how one could create a new kind of bread, but didn’t question it). The roasted vegetables turned out perfectly, a lucky feat when one’s best friend could cook better than anyone for miles.

And of course, the parchment glowed at exactly the wrong moment when Rhia had turned her back to bring the dishes to the sink. She heard Sofi’s gasp and whipped her head around, groaning when she saw her reading whatever message Eris had just sent.

“I’m a bit scandalized.” Sofi winked. “Is he always this dirty?”

Rhia gaped. “What the fuck? Give me that!” She moved at the speed of light, snatching the paper.

May I stop by tonight?

“Ugh, you’re such a bitch,” Rhia grumbled.

Sofine shrugged. “You should’ve seen your face. Maybe you wanted it to be a dirty message.”

That was the problem. Rhia would have loved a dirty message. Or she would have run screaming for the hills and never spoken to anyone ever again. It was a toss up.

“Do you mind if he crashes our plans?” she asked, stopping her perilous thoughts once more. Eris had never looked at her that way, at least not that she had noticed.

Sofi waved her glass of wine like a queen would her scepter. “Please. We hang out every other night. The male presence spices up the evening.”

If you don’t mind Sofi and I after two glasses of wine, Rhia wrote back.

Excellent. Shall I bring something from the royal cellar or do you have more than enough alcohol?

Oh definitely bring something. A fruity red, if you really want to win her over.

She couldn’t have counted to thirty in the time it took for Eris to appear in the kitchen.

“How did you possibly grab wine and winnow here that quickly?” Rhia demanded.

Eris shrugged. “I’m incredible like that.”

“Or he was sitting in the wine cellar, waiting to drown his sorrows if you said no,” Sofine piped up. Her cheeks flushed. “Sorry, I’m still not sure if I’m allowed to treat you normally and such.”

“Please,” Eris smiled. “Put me through all the shit you would normally put a male through.” With a mischievous look at Rhia, he added: “And feel free to tell me about those males while you’re at it.”

Rhia snatched the bottle from him. “Absolutely not.” She checked the label. “Cauldron damn me, this is 600 years old! Wait -- Eris, when exactly were you born?”

“I will not be age-shamed after procuring some of the finest wine in Autumn tonight,” he growled. “You know damn well how old I am.”

Sofine sighed. “I hope I’m not that grumpy in four hundred years.” She raised her now-empty glass up to Rhia, who gladly filled it.

---

Eris flicked his wrist and pulled out a glass for himself, then threw his body into the unoccupied chair. He let out a mock sigh at the females’ teasing, hiding his genuine joy at the playful conversation and quick remarks that flew across the room.

XXX

“I’m never throwing myself a birthday party again,” he insisted. “It’s just depressing at this point. I would’ve stopped throwing them years ago, if we hadn’t been...required to.” Eris trailed off. He’d almost shared the darling fact that Beron had forced all of his sons to host birthday galas, as an excuse to demand gifts and promises from various lords and nobility. Beron also loved nothing more than to use the annual occurrence as an excuse to run through the boys’ failures that year. The harsh words stung, but the sharp blows that followed drew a special kind of agony.

XXX

Rhia’s brow furrowed slightly at his sudden change in tone. “I throw too many birthdays for my students anyway.” He appreciated her attempt to lighten the mood, and appreciated the warmth of her hand on his that followed.

“That reminds me.” Eris squeezed her hand quickly, the other darting into his jacket pocket. “I have something for you. Both of you.” Inspiration struck as he handed the ball invitation to Rhia.

Her eyes danced across the sturdy parchment. “The Autumn Solstice Ball? In two weeks?”

Sofine jumped up. “What? Give me that!” She squealed as she read what Rhia had just spoken. “By the Mother, Eris!! Oh, you are such an improvement on anyone Rhia’s brought home.”

“Sofi’s always wanted to attend a ball,” Rhia shared. Eris tried to judge her expression, but he couldn’t figure out what she was thinking.

“And you? Would you be interested in attending?” he probed. “I, I know it might be complicated for you to attend with the whole...situation.” He gestured between the two of them. “We can do this any way you’d like.”

Rhia worked her bottom lip between her teeth. “I want to, I really do.” Eris had to restrain himself from running his thumb over her forehead until the skin relaxed. “I’m worried people will know, but I’m also exhausted already at the thought of hiding it all night, but I know it’d be strange for you to pop up with a mate randomly, and I--”

“I have an idea,” Sofine interrupted. Her eyes narrowed as her brain doubtlessly worked out some scheme that Eris would either detest or fancy. “It would save you both some trouble. You wouldn’t have to hide your feelings, but you wouldn’t have to come up with a backstory about how you met.”

Oh, Eris would definitely love or hate this.

Sofine took a sip of her wine. “Spit it out, you dramatic tart,” Rhia complained after a moment.

“Write your own fairytale.” Sofi let a smirk play on her lips. “Pretend like you’ve never met, as if Rhia and I just received the invitations through some mistake or some administrative process. And then at the ball, poof! The bond.”

Eris let her words run through his mind once, twice. “You think we should act like the bond clicked into place...at the ball?”

Shrugging, she defended her plan. “I can’t say whether or not you both want to bring your relationship into the public domain, but it would be wonderful, wouldn’t it?” Eris would have snorted at the dreamy look in her eyes if he hadn’t gotten the same look whenever he thought about a future with Rhia. “The new High Lord...hosting an extravagant ball...seeing the most beautiful woman grace his presence...falling love with her-”

“Cauldron, Sofi, are you a writer now?” Rhia stopped her friend from writing an entire novel aloud. Her gaze darted to Eris. “It feels a bit over-the-top, though.”

“I hate to even say this, because you know it isn’t a priority for me, but Gerwin would murder me if I didn’t consider how good of a public relations boost this could be.” Eris winced. It felt unbelievably shallow and inconsiderate to worry about his reputation while discussing his most intimate relationship.

Luckily, Rhia waved off his concerns with a hand on his arm. “Well maybe that’s something I care about.” She turned to her friend. “Do you mind giving us a moment?”

“I’ll give you all night,” Sofi smirked. “Take all the time you need to...talk. Bye!”

Her joke left them both groaning. However, Eris did take advantage of Sofi’s absence to pull Rhia away from the table and towards the much comfier couch across the room. She sat facing him, tucking her legs underneath her as she always did.

“Can I?” Eris stretched out his arm. Rhia gave him the softest smile and nodded, pulling herself closer until they were properly cuddled up next to each other.

“We obviously don’t have to this,” Eris began. “There’s ten other ways you could attend, not attend, whatever you want.”

She scrunched up her face. “Don’t ever repeat this, especially not to Sofi, but I’m completely in love with the idea,’ Rhia confessed. “It’s so silly, I know, but it feels nice to create some fake story. We could keep everything else private.”

Eris loved the idea for entirely different reasons, pretty much of all of them that he would get to dance with the most delightful Fae in this world in front of everyone without having to explain himself to anyone. However, he could work with this.

“So then? Should we do this?”

Rhia rolled her eyes. “Why does it feel like I’m signing my life away to some top-secret mission? Yes, let’s do it.”

He stayed over again that night, except this time they stayed awake talking until an obscene hour. Eris fell asleep with images of their future lulling him into peace.

Chapter 13: your eyes whispered (have we met) take 2

Eris threw himself on his bed, letting out a dramatic sigh that no one could hear. It had been a week and a half of pure stress that saw every kind of crisis, from interviewing potential advisers that ended up having criminal backgrounds to finding out the ballroom floor had somehow deteriorated and needed a fix immediately. Now, the day before the Solstice, Eris found himself wishing Auster had succeeded in his coup, if only for the fact that dealing with these logistics seemed a fitting punishment for treason.

His thoughts, as always, drifted to Rhia. They’d only had a couple nights together since, and Eris had to run back to the palace both times after a couple hours. The last interruption came at a particularly inopportune moment, right as he finished telling her the story of his darkest moment.

“Fuck,” Eris swore. Gerwin’s note made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that he had to come deal with a fight that broke out between some of his people. “I--”

“Go deal with it,” Rhia commanded, her voice unnaturally calm.

Eris let out a loose breath. He had literally just told her about Mor, about leaving a dying woman alone in the woods rather than offer her any aid because she had dared defy their fathers. “I don’t want to leave like this.”

Rhia hadn’t dropped her gaze at any point during the conversation and held his stare even now. “Are you worried that you’ve upset me beyond reproach? That this conversation is my breaking point?”

“Maybe.” He broke first, using the excuse of throwing on his coat to look away. “It’s what isolated the Autumn and Night Court permanently; why the precious Inner Circle will never tolerate me beyond my usefulness as an ally.”

Rhia snorted. “If we had more time, I’d spend all of it convincing you that this most certainly is not my breaking point. But we don’t.” She moved closer into his personal space. “So go deal with your drama and I’ll prove to you that the bridge between us is unbreakable another time.”

She always complained about his cheesy one-liners, but that sentence had carried him through the entire evening and subsequent morning. It wasn’t until that night, until he lay in his bed alone, that doubt began creeping in.

Eris’s mind raged a violent battle. The logical, rational part of him argued that Rhia had insisted they were fine, insisted she wasn’t upset at him. The dark, twisted part of him sneered at that optimism, insisted that she would never look at him again. Why would she, after hearing about his tragic engagement? After all, Rhia looked up to the Inner Circle as if they were deities, the same people who declared Eris a mortal enemy.

Sleep finally stole him from his painful journey through his memories, but his dreams offered little comfort. They swept him from memories of kisses and laughter to visions of tragedy and heartbreak at terrifying speeds.

---

Rhia finished her cup of tea. Sofi stood in front of her, buzzing with excitement, as they both eyed the sheer bags in front of them.

“I can’t stand it anymore,” Sofi declared, throwing her hands up in an overly dramatic gesture. “I’m opening them.”

She untied the lovely ribbon keeping their gowns wrapped in the protective shields before Rhia could protest. “Oh my goodness, Rhia, look .”

“Treya outdid herself,” Rhia agreed. One of her student’s guardians had offered to make them dresses for the Ball for a heavily discounted price, claiming that she had overstocked on specialty fabrics that weren’t selling.

She ran a hand softly over the gold silk. It felt luxurious, obscenely so, and Rhia found herself questioning if she deserved this. Not just the dress, but the entire situation. After so many years stuck in one place, doing one job, with basically one friend, the thought of changing her life overnight seemed beyond daunting. For Eris, though, she would try to step out of her comfort zone.

If only I could step far enough out of my comfort zone to jump his bones, Rhia thought to herself, half-humorously and half-miserable.

Sofi played with the straps of her sparkling red gown. “Where did you go just now?”

“Just wondering how the hell I got here,” Rhia answered. They played this game whenever either drifted too far into their own heads, a way to mindfully reenter the present. “It’s like a fantasy, isn’t it? Finding true love and prince overnight.”

Her tone must have struck bitter, because Sofi stopped admiring the fabric and looked her dead in the eye. “What are you worried about? That you don’t deserve this?”

“Yes, but it’s not...” Rhia fiddled with her gown once more. “We’ve talked a lot about what our life after tonight will look like, and it’s not like we’re about to get married or anything, but is it strange that I wish we were further along in our relationship? How can we just declare ourselves to the entire damn continent at this point?”

Sofi raised an eyebrow. “I would say this is a completely normal stage to tell your circle of people about a relationship. Eris’ circle just happens to include the general public.” She refilled her own mug, then froze. “When you say further along, you don’t mean sex, do you?”

“And what if I do?” Rhia challenged. Her cheeks flushed a bit. It’s not as if Sofi hadn’t seen her at her worst moments and through every failed relationship since, but this admission felt more embarrassing, for some reason. “I’m about to meet his mother and we’ve barely felt each other up.”

One beat of silence, then:

“I’m sorry,” Sofi cackled. “What is your logic here?” Her laughter grew as Rhia frowned, making her words difficult to decipher. “‘Hey Eris! I know everything’s just peachy emotionally, but I can’t go public with you until we’ve fucked!’ Rhia, you’re smarter than this.”

Rhia was smarter than this. “It sounds worse when you say it like that! I just...I’ve never waited this long before and it feels like I’m failing somehow.”

Sofi stopped giggling. “Hey,” she said softly. “You can’t compare relationships, or males, or even yourself in different situations. You’re happier than I’ve ever seen you, and that’s all that matters.”

“I am,” Rhia agreed. She took a deep breath, letting her thoughts settle. “I am, and you’re right.” Saying it out loud had helped calm the tornado of insecurities, helped her realize the fallacy of her worries. “Honestly, I think it’s a good sign we both overthink every tiny thing. As if we’re both terrified to damage what we have.”

Her friend clicked her tongue. “As long as that overthinking doesn’t create any damages itself.”

---

Eris was definitely overthinking their plan. Rhia had written him a short note about an hour ago, letting him know that her gown was perfect and she couldn’t wait. Somehow, her simple positivity had sent Eris into a swirl of anxiety that led him to interrogate Liang about every last logistical element.

“You’re hovering,” she snapped, as he followed her down the hallway. “Why are you asking me about the greeting line? You’ve done it a hundred times.”

Eris usually found her temper refreshing. Not today, though. “Yes, but we don’t normally greet everyone. How long will I be in line?”

Liang gave him a bemused look. “I don’t know, thirty minutes? How chatty do you plan to be? And it’s only for the appointed representatives from each village, like every single other time.” She turned sharply, narrowly avoiding a group of Fae carrying large trays of food to the main hall.

“Don’t follow me,” she called out, not bothering to turn her head to look back at her High Lord. Eris stopped walking, but still heard her mumble several profanities under her breath.

He ran a hand through his hair. Somehow, he had to conclude official introductions and make it into the main party before Rhia showed up, so their “first-glance” would seem authentic, without offending any local politicians by cutting their discussions short. If dinner began too soon, they’d have to wait for dancing, but would it even make sense to lock eyes after two hours at the Ball?

“Pull yourself together,” he mumbled to himself. Eris hated feeling out of control, but he simply couldn’t force a thousand people to move exactly how he wanted.

The plan stressed him out immensely, yet would provide political protection for their relationship. Technically, the law required Eris to disclose any “personal liaisons” to the palace staff and advisers, for security reasons and to allow advisers to approve any potential marriages. He obviously hadn’t done that under Beron to protect his lovers, and really didn’t want anyone saying a damn thing about his future spouse. Luckily, Prythian held mating bonds in the highest regard, and no one would dare say shit about him and Rhia, especially if the bond seemed to appear at an auspicious time of year.

“Talking to yourself now? I heard that’s a sign of mental exhaustion.” Eris turned to face his brother. “Why aren’t you up in your chambers getting pampered and prepared?” Lucien asked.

“I’m going there now,” Eris grumbled. “I was checking on any last minute issues.”

Lucien placed a hand on his shoulder. “How dedicated. Funny story, though, I had only just stepped into the entrance hall when Mother accosted me and demanded I send you back to your chambers.” He let out a small chuckle. “I believe the words ‘nuisance’ and ‘in the way’ were used.”

“It’s my party. I think I’m allowed to help out-”

“You don’t give a shit about event planning,” Lucien interrupted. “Go do your hair and make yourself pretty for your...special guest.”

Eris started. He hadn’t mentioned anything to his brother about Rhia. “What are you talking about?”

Lucien stepped back and put his hands in his pockets. The prick had spent way too much time in the Night Court. “Only that Carina seemed a little too excited for you. Anyways.”

Eris watched him walk away. Of course she had blabbed to his brother, probably immediately after Eris had confided in her last week. She was dogmatically good at keeping secrets when necessary, but notoriously good at gossiping about personal matters.

Still, he winnowed to his chambers and started a bath. His hair did look a bit a shabby, now that Lucien mentioned it.

----

The trees lining the cobblestone path twinkled with golden light, leading the way to the palace. Rhia and Sofi did their best not to gape at the scenery, at everything from the decorations to the masses of people. While they both had visited cities before Amarantha’s reign, the influx of sounds and sights overwhelmed their small-town sensibilities.

Rhia craned her neck to observe the massive double doors that were flung open to allow entrance. “Do they truly leave the doors open all night? Seems dangerous with all these crowds.”

“The only Fae who might break in has an invitation tonight,” Sofi snorted. She nodded at the thick parchment in Rhia’s hand. “Don’t even think about scaling the west wall.”

“East wall,” Rhia corrected automatically. Her heart had begun to race as they neared the doors, the entrance hall now visible over the other guests’ heads. The guards worked efficiently, splitting the crowd into three lines to check their invitations and scan for weapons.

The duo exchanged no further words until they reached the checkpoint. The guard let them through with no hassle, and Rhia let out a small breath. She didn’t expect to be denied entry or thrown in a prison cell, but her last encounter with palace guards had tainted her memory. Hopefully none of the members on staff tonight had arrested her previously.

“He certainly has taste, you think?” Sofi commented as they swept down the spacious hallway. Rhia nodded, enjoying the bright colors of the Autumn Court represented on ornate curtains, plush carpet, and detailed murals. On another occasion, she might have taken her time to admire the artwork like the other guests, but Rhia dragged Sofi quickly through them, with only one beautiful thing on her mind.

An extremely tall Fae stood at the end of the hall, in front of another set of large doors. Unfortunately, these were closed shut.

Rhia frowned at the sight. “Did we have the time wrong?”

“Oh, they just have to finish up the greeting line.” Rhia and Sofi jumped at the sudden comment. “They should open them shortly.”

Rhia grinned when she recognized the Fae next to her. “Gerwin! What are you doing out here with the rabble?” She placed a hand on Sofi’s wrist. “This is my dearest friend, Sofi. Sofi, this is Eris’ weapon master and all-around savior, Gerwin.”

He bowed slightly. “May I get that glowing compliment in writing? Pleased to meet you.”

Sofi laughed. “Likewise. I always think it’s good to know someone who knows where all the weapons are, in case of emergency.”

“The doors are now open,” droned the lanky Fae. Indeed, they swung open slowly behind him, revealing orchestral music and overlapping conversation. Gerwin shot them a quick wink and entered first, careful to act like a friendly stranger rather than an insider on the biggest secret of the year.

“Are you ready?” Sofi whispered under her breath. She slid her hand into Rhia’s, giving it a quick squeeze. “Last chance to run for the hills.”

Rhia scoffed. “Keep walking.” She forced her breath to come out evenly, slowly, hoping her body wouldn’t betray her by fainting before she even saw him.

The lights seemed even brighter, the music swelling to unprecedented volume, as she took those final steps into the ballroom, her eyes darting across all the irrelevant people and things. She only wanted to look at one person, only wanted to think of one thing tonight.

And then her eyes met his.

---

“Do you think you’ll make a trip to the Southern cities this winter? I spoke with the company maintaining your Milton estate, and it couldn’t be in better condition.” The dark-skinned representative beamed.

Eris attempted to return his enthusiasm. “Possibly. There’s still quite a bit of work to do around here. Thank you for coming.”

“Of course, my Lord. Have a wonderful evening.” As the Fae moved towards the dance floor, Eris dared to look back at the closed doors behind him. The official representatives had been let in forty minutes ago, and finally, he could see the end of the greeting line. If he could get through the next two conversations without screaming in frustration, he’d treat himself to the largest drink he could physically hold. Unless she arrived before he made it to the bar, then he’d settle on treating himself with a dance with the love of his life.

“The doors are now open.” The doormale’s voice sent a shot of adrenaline through Eris’ blood, grabbing his attention from the last group of dignitaries from the Dawn Court. His mother’s smile tightened, but her face remained diplomatic as she took over the greeting from her distracted son.

Eris strode away from the politicians and foreigners, away from his role as High Lord. As he walked, his prior thoughts and insecurities rose like a cloud of poison, choking him with doubt. This was the last time he could dream about what would happen when they saw each other’s faces again, the last time he could wonder if she’d come to brighten up his dull palatial life. The last time he could hate himself for offering her a choice to stand by him publicly, as if that wouldn’t put her in danger of scorn and harm.

Eris could barely breathe as he approached the edge of the dance floor. The string octet transitioned to louder music, meant to pull the crowds to their feet and into the arms of a partner. The first line of general guests darted in, chatting excitedly about the extravagance and the notable Fae already in the room.

He truly did stop breathing the moment he saw the tail of a silk golden gown. His eyes raked up the flowing skirt, small sections twisted into rose-like shapes until they reached the tight bodice. Then, his eyes devoured the low neckline and bare shoulders, stopping to note the one sleeve slipping down a smooth, brown arm, mocking the hand he wished to brush down that same arm.

Finally, after several seconds or an eternity, his eyes locked in on the most beautiful face he would ever see. Eris prayed to the Mother that he wouldn’t slip out of consciousness in that moment, when he looked his unbelievably perfect mate in the eye.

Rhia offered him the smallest smile, her hands rising to sit delicately at her stomach. She took a step towards him and--

Eris held back a snarl when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Gerwin mumbled an apology.

“You were standing so still that even I believe this was the moment the bond clicked in,” the weapons master remarked. “I think about half the room has noticed so far.”

“Good.” Eris turned back towards her, towards the angel he would never deserve. And yet, his doubts had completely vanished in her presence, leaving behind only the desire to hold her immediately. “I want them all to see this.”

With a final grin to his best friend, Eris walked across the floor. Fae jumped out of his way, and the gossip increased by a tenfold at his determined pace.

Sofi stood proudly next to her, failing to hold back her grin. She leaned over to whisper something in Rhia’s ear that Eris barely managed to catch. “I think you’ve caught someone’s attention.”

He was now close enough to inhale her scent. Cauldron, he must look like a besotted fool. Luckily, that was his role to play.

“My Lord.” Sofi bowed. Eris shot her a glance that might have appeared disdained to onlookers. She pursed her lips to hold back laughter.

“Have we met?” Eris asked. His tone came off light, casual, hiding the turmoil of love and desire flooding him. “You are absolutely enchanting.”

Rhia blushed and he almost gave in, almost kissed that blush right off her cheeks. “I haven’t had the honor, my Lord.”

“Eris,” he breathed. “To you, always Eris.”

“Rhiannon,” she countered. “Rhia, if you’d like.”

He held out a hand. “Will you do me the honor?”

She took it, and the warmth of her skin blazed across his body. Eris led them out to the dance floor, which had emptied in his journey across it.

The musicians changed their tune mid-note, slowing the tune down until a sweet, romantic song claimed the room. A few cautious couples stepped out from the edges of the crowd, but most of the room stood completely still and held their breaths, straining to figure out who had stolen their High Lord so abruptly.

Eris pulled Rhia close with one hand on her waist, keeping the touch gentle for her comfort. Their intertwined hands rose as their feet moved.

“Why aren’t they dancing?” she asked nervously.

“Don’t look at them. Look at me,” Eris urged. “It’s an old Court tradition, letting the highest ranking nobles have the first dance. They’ll join soon.”

“Why did you ask me to dance?”

He smiled at the question. She was still playing the game. “You must know that you’re the most flawless person in this room. I was wonderstruck.”

That beautiful blush appeared again. “I’ll guess you didn’t pass any mirrors on the way down here, then. I can’t take my eyes off of you.” The hand on his shoulder flexed as Rhia dared to let one finger brush his neck. He shivered.

“Please tell me you felt it too.” Eris’ instincts kept them from crashing into other dancers, since his eyes couldn’t be bothered to leave her face. “Tell me I’m not alone here.”

Passerbyers heard that one. His words spread across the crowd, the gossip faster than his flames ever could.

“Everything vanished when I saw your face,” Rhia replied. Her tone softened, her head tilted. “Yes, I felt it.” She leaned in, lips brushing his ear. “You’ll never be alone again, my love.” The words were murmured too softly for anyone else, an admission that was for him alone.

Gerwin would never let him forget it if he cried in front of everyone, so Eris swallowed back the rage of emotions in his throat. “Thank the Cauldron. Literally, since you’re my-”

A roar of thunder shattered the room, followed by a flash of darkness right in the center of the floor, several feet from where they stood. Some guests screamed, and the guards surged, but Eris merely sighed and held up a hand.

The night black vanished, leaving behind an unfairly attractive couple. The female waved to the crowd, flipping a lock of her raven hair over her shoulder. Her partner stood impassively next to her, his Illyrian wings marking him as obviously other.

Eris inclined his head. “Thank you for coming, Carina.”

[ateezsbabie]

“ 𝘼𝙥𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙮𝙥𝙨𝙚 ”

✛ 𝘚𝘮𝘶𝘵 (03)

✛ 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑖 𝘹 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨

✛ 𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳

Mingi really miss the peaceful world he had seen before the apocalypse occured. He wondered if the people could bring back those times. He wanted to see playing children on the street not the dead.

" Hey Mingi! I guess you're thinking again about the past, we should accept the truth that there's no cure in the virus spreading around the world. It's been 3 years, we should accept and survive as we can. " Rosé shouted, running up to Mingi as she smiled softly.

" Ahm no, o-of course not! It's already getting darker, we should find a place where we can stay until the morning comes. " he replied, trying to change the topic and hide the pink tiny on his cheeks.

" Oh! Look, there's a school, our old school. " he added, pointing to the building.

" Alright, c'mon Rosé, Mingi, run fast it's already dark. Get your flashlights and guns ready. " Jennie said quietly, holding her gun to her body.

The group ran as fast as they could until they reached the gate of the old school. When mingi walked inside the school, he was hit with his old memories..

" Hey, find a safe room. Please take care of Rosé, I'm going to find a safe room for us, too. " Yunho requested. He started walking with Jennie to the other side of the building, leaving Mingi and Rosé alone at the entrance.

Rosé grabbed Mingi's hands and started walking towards the direction the two were supposed to look at.

" Min, this was my room before. I really miss studying and having fun with my old friends. How about you? Of course you really miss it. You were popular in our school before, right? " She asked.

" Actually, I really hated being so popular. I can't even make a move with someone I like before because of the girls who liked me. " he said while rubbing the back of his neck, mostly from being nervous but also because he hated the atmosphere he felt within the school.

Mingi was about to close the door when he felt Rosé pull his shirt towards her until his thighs his the teacher's desk.

" Someone you like? Who was that? " She said aggressively, when mingo didn't answer, she stood on her tip toes and whispered against the males ear

" I have something to tell you, Mingi. Actually I like you, well,  since the freshman year, but I guess saying words like this is already late. " Rosé confessed.

" Ahm, Rosé- " Chaeyoung cut Mingi off by connecting their lips in a rather heated but soft kiss.

" Oh gosh Min! I'm so sorry. I didn't meant to-- " She had managed to turn Mingi on, so he pulled her towards his chest and kissed her back. Their tongues fighting a battle that Mingi won in the end.

He couldn't control the feelings he was feeling inside, so he pulled her hips until our lower regions touched. A slight gasp from Rosé left her body when the taller male moved to have her pinned against the teachers old desk.

"Mingi... "

" Come on, Rosé. No one is here we can do whatever we want. Whatever I want. " he said with a husky and low voice.

Mingi had thought and dreamed of this moment for years, but no one knew.

Pulling her into another rough kiss. He placed his hands at her lower half, gently pushing the fabric of her shorts to the side, his fingers inside her short, his thumb gently rubbing her clit, her soft and breathy moans filling his ears.

Slowly removing her undergarments, all while still kissing her, he rubbed her sensitive clit quicker, moving his other hand to slowly push one of his fingers into her entrance. He can hear her sweet moans and it really turned him on, so he move his fingers back and forth faster.

" M-Mingi, please be gentle " she requested.

The cold ambiance and quiet place really suited their warm bodies. The actions however, were changed when Chaeyoung pushed mingo back against a student's empty desk, her hands working to unbuckle mingi's belt and jeans.

She worked on removing his underwear, soon grabbing his hard and throbbing member. The taller let her do whatever she wanted, at first she started with a simple hand job, before lowering her head down and taking his full length into her mouth. This caused Mingi to hiss.

While sucking his length, Rosé kept on looking at the boys eyes, making sure she was doing it right. Each time mingi would look down and gently stroke her cheek.

As soon as he felt he was nearing his high, Mingi pushed the panting fenale back against the teachers desk, moving to work on removing her shirt and bra.

" I like you. " he heard her sweet voice whisper. This caused mingi to look up and smiled before he slowly pushed his tip into her entrance, a small whimper from her made him halt as he let her adjust.

He looked down so he can see her beautiful face. Leaning down once more, the tall male started to kiss her lips as he pushed his full length into her, her cries muffled by the others lips.

" tell me when to move.. " he whispered as he held his body still, before slowly starting to thrust once Rosé gave the O.K

" fuck mingi...  " she whined while gripping the others shoulders, her lips between her teeth as she arched her back at the sudden foreign feeling.

She pulled Mingi down and started kissing the male again, muffling her moans.

This  caused Mingi to thrust faster and slightly rougher, her walls squeezing his length as she bit her lip roughly to hold in her screams of bliss.

All mingi could do was slow down slightly to let her relax before moving to grasp the desk and almost pound into her, only thrusting a few times before emptying himself into her, this caused Rosé to squeal from the pleasure of being filled.

While they were relaxing, howeverx the door slammed open and mingi held his breath as he grabbed his pistol and aimed it right at Jennie and Yunho who both looked grossed out but proud.

"Get dressed. Both of you. This place is clear but we have to look for supplies. Nasty asses." Was all Jennie said as she dragged and very happy Yunho who was giving mingi a thumbs up.

With a roll of his eyes, Mingi worked on dressing both himself and a red and flustered Rosé. But in the end, he had the girl of his dreams.

"Oh... Rosé, I love you." Was all the male said before grabbing his gun and holding his hand out for her.

[monstaxardeur]

Warnings: Mature, Angst

It was a little chilly at night, there was only so many rations to last you two but help was on its way, it's just he wasn't sure if there was any rescuing left. You seemed long gone at least that's what he felt, despite you being physically and mentally alive and stable looking. He wasn't surprised though, chimeras could do that to you and your ordeal had been no ordinary one. As if on instinct at your movement he turned his head to look your way, you were awake, pale and weak, still in that mecha uniform in which he had last seen you in. The battalion's finest soldier close to losing her sanity..he couldn't bear to see you like that and he held you close cradling you in his arms. The intimacy was different, physically it felt and looked romantically inclined, sexually inclined definitely but only you two knew in this moment it was way beyond that. You two had become each other's bane of existence. His lips brushed against your bruised cheek and he tried to keep you warm. You were still recovering mentally from the chimeras mental assault to your brain breaking your sense of reality and illusion. He could see it in your eyes when you struggled to tell it apart and he would speak softly in his deep voice and calm demeanour.

"as long as i'm here, no one can hurt you

don't wanna lie here, but you can learn too

if i could change the way that you see-"

He was cut off by your voice, a soft meak voice but you spoke after what seemed forever, 'Changkyun' you said, you never called him that. He choked up unable to hold it anymore his silent tears made you shift uneasy at his discomfort and you broke free from his embrace holding his face in your palms, his face that was scarred and muddy from the whole mission and you touched foreheads and repeated softly.

"as long as i'm here, no one can hurt you.."

And he saw the firm conviction, the fire to fight, the soldier that he had come to known. He didn't hold back any more and closed the gap sealing a kiss like he had when he had gotten you two the rose gold bands, rings that hung from both your necklaces, a memoir of each other. Your hands habitually helped him out of his mecha suit and he did the same to you. Clothes were strewn around leading a trail to the bath, you both helped each other with the sweetest self care, making love and tending to one another. The shower was hot as it washed the worries away along with the dirt and blood stains. He had been inside of you so raw and deep leaving your legs quivering, your mind for those few minutes forgot the past, the present and the world around you. The bliss put you both in a trance of a former life you both yearned and missed. Leaving blooming marks over your chest he let go finally. You were in a bathrobe and had just helped fix his stitches over an old wound that was almost healed. He gently lifted you off the counter top you were sat on for a better angle and steadied your footing. The night was spent huddled in each other's arms in the little checkpost cabin amidst the torrential rain of the region while you both waited for help to to come, that or you two would have to travel by foot to the next checkpost but if any of you were honest, none of you had it left in you to venture again. You were together, with each other, in this time, you both had made promises to each other and the rings were a reminder. Then whether you lived or perished here it didn't matter. Your souls were tired. The memories of the former life already left that seed of despair. It was a miracle to have made it this far. You lay your head against his heart beat and he caressed your back with his gentle touch, he could still feel the scars and it only made him hold you even more closer, more firmly, through the rain..~

"i had a dream..i had everything i wanted,

but when i wake up i see, you with me.."

moodsong: everything i wanted by billie eilish

[riderdrauggrim]

Day Unknown. Sat, Sep 26, 2020.

Nervous about randomly hiding in 4G Motorsports parking lot, I'm awake a few short hours later around 6:30. I have the tent packed by 8:30, and huddle beside the bike, waiting for staff.

9:00 rolls around and I approach the doors, making my way back to the Parts/Service desk. A young woman who's family shifts her between Alberta and Toronto seems thrilled to meet someone else from Ontario. We check if they have a replacement battery in stock. They do not. And their mechanics are not in on the weekends.

But!

There's a MAGNACHARGE Battery megaemporium RIGHT across the street!

Heartened my luck might be improving, I trot over.

Nope.

They're closed on weekends.

I trot back to 4G, on the way calling Riverside Honda in St. Albert, the blokes who'd changed my tires. They sold their last YTZ14S on Friday. BUT they'd ordered more and they should arrive at the start of this coming week.

I run over my problems with their parts guy. He suggests I remove the battery and try starting the bike with another random battery attached; That might be able to isolate if it is my battery or my starter system/charging stator/rectifier/words.

Sounds good.

Back at 4G I ask if they have a charger or a booster. The parts girl knows where a tender is, but not how to use it. It's okay, I do. They graciously let me push the bike inside their service bay so I can tinker on it, good thing too as it starts to drizzle outside.

So! My battery: Out and Charging.

My bike: New battery hooked up to test the ignition.

My key: In the ignition, turning to activate the bike-*Crack*.

One of the few flaws I've found with the NC750 design is the key is needed in a secondary lock. Turn one way to unlock the frunk (front trunk) where the gas tank USUALLY sits on a motorcycle. Turn the other way to unlock the latch securing the passenger seat, this allowing you to lift it up to reveal the gas cap to fill the tank, which sits under the rider. The problem with this lock is the key does not fully insert. It's about 3/4 depth to the ignition proper.

Over time, this has created something of a weak point on the key itself, occasionally twisting ever so slightly if too much pressure is applied, if the latches are sticky, or the frunk is overfull and a bit jammed. This was usually corrected by sticking the key in and turning it the other way, straightening the blade out again. For this trip, due to the tail luggage making lifting the passenger seat incredibly difficult at best, I had opted to outright remove the pillion cover, leaving the gas cap exposed for easy access. All I needed the secondary lock for was to get in and out of the frunk, which I was doing several times a day to fetch out Goose and Hat, or store drinks, or change power banks.

Perhaps it was this excess of one direction twisting that finally did the blade in.

Perhaps it was just six years of use and wear.

Perhaps life just wanted to take the difficulty level up a notch.

In any event.

I was left holding the top quarter of my key. The remainder still inside the ignition. Even if I can get a new battery, I can now no longer turn on the bike.

My coworker who helped fund this adventure texts me to see how things are going. I tell him my key just snapped in half. He says if I didn't have bad luck, I'd have no luck at all. We discuss options. I'm 3,505 km from home. I'm 427 km from the nearest Honda dealership. I just want to Abandon Quest and Hearthstone out of here, but that's not an option. So I work through various plans.

I call Riverside back and get the Service department. Nick remembers me. I fill him in on the last twelve hours. "Wow." Indeed. He puts me on hold and consults his coworkers. If I can get it there, they'll try and squeeze me in and get this sorted. Some people have good luck using super glue to get broken keys out and then jury rigged back together. With my luck, I'll make a mess and fuse the tumblers and need an entirely new ignition system. The key is also a newer blade style, not a normal tooth house lock key. It's supposed to be stronger, amusingly enough. But it's not the sort of thing local locksmiths should be able to replicate, it needs a Dealership. So even if I got a Fort McMurray locksmith to fish the main part out, if he can't make a new one, I still can't Go.

AND there's the pressing matter of the battery.

During all this my battery on the tender has completed charging. I restore it into the bike, or try to, as the damn nut in the contact for the red lead slips out of the holder and falls precisely through the ONE (1) hole at the bottom of the compartment and somewhere onto the engine block. I don't hear it hit the belly pan, and wedging my fingers into every nook, curve and cranny yields nothing but grimy hands.

I call CAA anew. I get the same woman as the night before, so that helped since she already knew the first part of this story. I now have Multiple Problems that can not be fixed locally. St. Albert is outside the Alberta tow range of 350km. But my membership is from Niagara, and I'm covered for 500km. She calls them to approve it. They say 'of course'. One hurdle down.

She contacts the tow company. New hurdle.

Due to the nine hour round-trip commute, they don't run every single broken vehicle south to Edmonton every time someone breaks down. They wait for multiple items, load them all on a long truck, and do a couple runs a week. So. Yes, they can get my bike to St. Albert. Eventuallllyyyyy.

I get it; from a logistics and efficiency and financial perspective it makes perfect sense.

From a "but... my bike..." and waiting for a nebulous amount of time in a hotel somewhere just for it to get TO the mechanics, nevermind the unknown timeframe of the shop having time to look at it, figure out what's wrong, order new parts if needed, and install them.... Hrrrggggnnnnn.

So EMI came with the short bed and picked up the bike from 4G. The logic being, now it's in their secure compound, ready to go, and when they have a load ready, they'll shove it on and take it south for me. Solid.

How do -I- get back to Edmonton.

Well, there's several buses that run the corridor, presumably for the mine workers to get up and back around their shift days. Awesome!

Oh but they don't run again until Monday. Less awesome!

But what can you do.

My bike won't leave until monday at the /earliest/ anyway, so me being there any sooner really makes no difference.

I book a ticket - cheap at 65$! For a nearly five hour trip? I paid 85$ plus tip for the 20 minute taxi ride from Supertest Hill to Fort McMurray the night prior.

Leaving Monday at 8:30am, arrive near downtown Edmonton. Found a hotel for 80$ within a block of Riverside Honda, not as cheap as my beloved Whitemud, but Whitemud Inn being at the south center of the Edmonton bubble, I'd be paying more than the 15$ a night difference in a cab to get up to St. Albert region. So I'll be right nearby the bike if we can get it going, or I need something from my bags.

In the meantime.

I found an RV campsite literally next door to the bus stop. I called the owner and explained my experiances, and my need for somewhere to simply hide in a tent until Monday morning. Sure, I could try and hide -anywhere-, but for my own safety, and nerves, if I can do this cheap and legal, the better for it. She says she can help me out. She offers a site for a price considerably cheaper than the nearby hotels, which I of course agree to. It's a twenty minute walk from 4G, made longer by hauling two drybags of tent/sleeping bag and essentials, and a third partial of food. Plus wearing my gear. And being somewhat small and scrawny. I take several rests. I drink my Gatorades. I make it. She has the sweetest tabby cat with white socks, no tail, and the SOFTEST fur. Name 'Trouble'. Awwww.

Transaction complete, I set up my tent, kindly serenaded by a curious magpie.

I hear a nearby RV owner pull up, truck doors closing, and then I see a giant white monster making a beeline straight for me. My best guess would be Lab/Samoyed. The head was very much the rectangle block and jowls of a lab, but the pelt was definitely a living cloud. It gives an very quick sniff at my tent, and promptly accepts me petting it. I realize I've been pet-starved during my journey. All my stress is put on pause as I scruffle the heck out of this random dog's sides. In fact, twice I tried to move one hand to teach for my phone for a photo, and he turned in annoyance to see why I'd partially stopped. I hear a woman calling, and ask if he needs to go. He makes no move. In fact he tries to push backwards closer. On a whim, I drop to my rear and make a bowl with my legs. He promptly fills said bowl with his rump. Me on my butt and him on his haunches, I came up to his shoulders.

Good dog.

A woman shouts again, more insistent. I give him a bump with my leg. He resigns himself to getting up and heading home. I realize the owner can't see us, so I pop up and apologize for stealing her dog. She realizes he hadn't just ran off for no reason, and laughs, saying he loves people. Yes, I had learned this.

I needed that.

There's a valley beside the camp ground.

The trees are spent matchsticks, grey and charred and empty against the sky. New growth slowly fills in around the dead wood. I don't know if this is a remainder of the BIG fire of 2016, or another more recent event. It's a staggering amount of devastation, and only a small fragment of the damage done.

The clouds out here... I love skyscapes.

Beautiful.

[paricreations]

NATURE IS A TEACHER...

I recently had a vacation to a stunning region in Portugal. Located in the centre of a national park, we stayed in a renovated farmhouse. In a valley was the farmhouse. The birds were just beginning to roost when we got there in the evening. The weather was still warm, and pollen-scented air was in the air. The sound of crickets was audible. That valley has a small river running through it. We walked across a narrow wooden bridge after opening a flimsy gate. I could clearly picture my morning routine for the following 14 days as we made our way up the winding route to our home. I had put in a lot of effort over the previous few months,. I was worn out because I had been working hard for a while. I wanted this vacation to be a quick getaway. Every morning when I awoke, it was still rather cool, and I would meditate for a bit. I visualised myself in a serene setting, my body at ease and my mind at ease. As the early morning sun rose over the top of the hill, I felt its first rays hit my face as well as the river flowing and the birds and other wildlife beginning to stir. Present. It sounds like paradise to me even as I write this.

The following morning, I got up early, and everything was exactly as I had anticipated. Nothing compares to the quiet of the early morning. I experienced a soft, serene sense surrounding me. Although it didn't originate with me, it appeared to come from the ground, the river, and the mountains. More so than usual, everything seemed obvious. The mind wasn't constantly running like it usually does. Despite the fact that I had never been there before, it seemed warm and comfortable. I located a place to recline peacefully.The inconspicuous murmur of insects was audible. There was barely any movement in the extremely quiet atmosphere. My face was stung by a fly. After a short while, I softly lifted my hand and ushered him out of the room. A second fly then landed on my face. then another then another I no longer felt what I had only a moment ago. The first morning was about thirty minutes of mild torture before I gave up and went back to the farmhouse.

I tried out several strategies throughout the next few days. To try to get away from the flies, I moved to a different location. I visited at various occasions throughout the day. I had been practising meditation for a long time and had previously overcome a variety of distractions and challenges. I was positive that this would be the same. I had heard many tales and parables about similar events, with the "lesson" being that "the underlying cause of your sorrow is your resistance to things not turning out the way you want them to. Let go of the resistance. Give up the need for things to be a specific way. Words. I frequently said the same thing to other people. I could understand the words.I tried to change my perspective. I tried to simply experience the movements of each fly as pure sensation on my skin. I reminded myself that flies are an important part of the ecosystem and tried to appreciate each fly. I was lying to myself. Things weren’t going the way I wanted them to. I really hated those flies. I just felt irritated and tense. I was in a constant state of vigilance…waiting for the next fly to land on my skin, knowing that I would have to “mindfully” endure its presence for as long as possible until finally, when I could take no more, I would choose to “mindfully” flick it away… knowing also that in a few moments it would inevitably return. I thought about abandoning my plan to practice outside in nature and moving inside to the farmhouse. I’m stubborn though and I endured several more mornings of mental torture.

The fact that I couldn’t drop my resistance to things being a certain way was making things worse. I was also annoyed with myself now. The more I “tried” to be patient and accepting about the flies, the worse I felt. All this effort was adding unnecessary layers of suffering to my experience. More words. I already knew this. I had heard this advice many times in the past: “Stop making effort. When you practice just allow everything to be exactly as it is.”

On this morning, I was sitting in a sheltered spot near the river under an old Holm Oak. If you observed me from a distance you might think that I was in heaven. I didn’t feel like I was in heaven as a solitary fly methodically explored the back of my hand and several more buzzed dangerously close to my face. A question came to mind: in this moment what would actually happen if I did nothing and allowed EVERYTHING to be exactly as it is? I began conducting my experiment.

First things first – what was my actual experience in this moment?

I was tired. Fine, allow that to be as it is. Don’t resist it or ignore it or try to change it. You’re tired. Don’t even intentionally explore the experience of being tired.

I noticed some tension in my shoulders and face. Fine, allow there to be tension in your shoulders. That’s the way it is right now.

I noticed an urge to relax my shoulders. Fine, allow that urge to just be there. Don’t follow the urge, don’t resist the urge, just acknowledge it.

I noticed a recurring thought – “when will the next bloody fly land on my face!” Fine, allow that thought to be there. Don’t cling to the thought, don’t push it away, don’t try to change it.

I noticed the tension in my shoulders softened a little bit as if by itself. Fine, I just noticed that feeling of relaxation.

I noticed more thoughts – “ok Barry, you might feel more relaxed now but just wait until the next fly lands on your face, you’ll be back to square one!” Same approach. Allow the thoughts to just be there. Let them come and let them go. Don’t interfere. Don’t analyse.

I noticed the fly which had been meandering on my hand suddenly take flight and a moment later land on my cheek. This was it! What would happen if I just allowed that fly to be there on my face?

I noticed all kinds of things. I noticed a feeling excitement, as if I was a scientist reaching the pivotal moment of his experiment. Fine, allow that feeling of excitement to be there. The initial tiredness I felt at the start was gone.

I noticed very intense, unpleasant sensations on my face as the fly moved around. Fine, allow those sensations to be there.

I noticed thoughts telling me how I “should” react to the fly with imperturbable equanimity. Fine, more thoughts. Don’t try to stop them. Let them be there.

I noticed other thoughts telling me to abandon this stupid experiment and try to whack the fly… even if that meant slapping myself in the face! Fine, allow those thoughts to be there.

As I followed this unfolding series of experiences an interesting thing happened. The fly was still on my face but because the focus of my practice was simply exploring what would happen if I allowed it and everything else to be there exactly as it was, there was a natural softening. Whatever happened was fine. If I felt irritation about the fly…fine. If I felt acceptance about the fly…fine. There was no longer any effort, just awareness.

I started to notice other things which I had not been aware of before. I could hear the steady sound of the river flowing. I could feel the subtle change in temperature on my skin as the wind increased in intensity and then stopped. I was aware of the weight of my body and the contact between my body and the earth. The fly was no longer the focus of my attention. Whatever I was aware of, the approach was the same. Let it be exactly as it is. There was a naturally occurring state of peace and deep stillness. If I had tried I could never have experienced this. It didn’t last. It never does. As always some random thought about the past or the future came along and carried me away from the present moment. I was lost in a daydream for a while. No longer aware of my experience.

What brought me back to the present moment?

The familiar feeling of a fly landing on my face. Except this time my natural response was to smile: “thank you for reminding me to bring my attention back to the present Mr Fly”! I noticed the feeling of gratitude and appreciation. The sensations were no longer unpleasant. With each movement the fly was reminding me to stay here with my present moment experience. That fly was my teacher. Nature was my teacher.

So you’ve read this short story. More words. More intellectual ideas. Maybe you agree and you have decided to accept the idea or maybe you disagree and have decided to reject the idea. It doesn’t matter. An intellectual understanding of something is not the same as a lived experience.  Trust me… you need to find out for yourself. Carry out your own experiment. Sit quietly under a tree and see what happens when you allow EVERYTHING to be exactly as it is.

Note: I feel that it’s important to clarify that I’m not advocating apathy and passive acceptance as a life philosophy here! We are all agents of change in our environment and the choices we make and the actions we take (to a large extent) shape our experience and the world in which we live. Living a conscious life is about taking wise action where necessary and sometimes making difficult choices. If we just allowed everything in life to be exactly as it is without ever trying to consciously influence things, it would be an abdication of responsibility as a human being. However, there are still certain things which are completely beyond our control (especially in the short term). When something is completely beyond your control see for yourself which causes you more suffering… resistance or allowing it to be as it is?.