#so I also wonder if the red genetics make them smaller

[kedreeva]

I picked up some additional rosies from a nearby pet shop, since I wanted to get them a head start on the pond this summer. I added them to the 50g, and they have integrated with the ones from last year, though most of them are much smaller. I know that they're considered feeder fish, and I know there's a bottom line to uphold when feeding fish that only cost like $0.20, but they are always basically emaciated at every store I've ever seen them at.

My tanks have pretty strong currents, so some of them struggled for the first day or two, sticking to the shelf that's mostly blocked up by plants and equipment. But I noticed today that almost all of them had moved out and are in the center area of the tank, where the current is strongest, schooling up. Tonight when I went to feed them, I started with the 4 still in the soft corner, making sure they got a bunch (the snails will clean up anything they miss), and when I went to feed the rest, they had all emerged and come to the front and top, waiting. It's only been about a week of regular feeding, but they're already learning body outside tank = food time, and I just find that very endearing.

They're also utterly unafraid of the net... I had to remove one that had an abscess forming, and they didn't flee. There's a million places to hide in this tank, but they just kind of chilled or even swam right up to the net. I wonder if that's been bred into them.

[mintharabaenrelore]

Today we're analyzing Minthara's appearance.

(This post contains a lot of screenshots. Thank you so much to all the people who took them!)

Height

Drow, on average, are smaller than other elves, shorter and thinner, with "wiry", "athletic" bodies.

"Reports varied on the physical differences between the drow sexes. Some purported that females were generally bigger and stronger than males, while others claimed that males had superior strength. Both sexes varied in height from 4 feet and 7 inches to 5 feet and 5 inches (140 to 170 centimeters), averaging at 5 feet (150 centimeters). Males weighed between 87 to 157 pounds (39 to 71.2 kilograms), averaging 109.5 pounds (49.67 kilograms), while females were a bit lighter, weighing between 82 to 152 pounds (37 to 68.9 kilograms) and averaging 104.5 pounds (47.4 kilograms)."- Forgotten Realms Wiki.

@krembruleed made a lovely height comparison between of the companions based off in-game models.

Astarion is a good reference, as he is canonically aproximately 5'11. Larian has confirmed he is only 5'9.

I'm just speculating here, as (I think) Shadowheart, Jaheira, and Minthara share the same heights and the same body model.

According to lore, though, Minthara is quite small, and this is backed up by the scene directly after Act II, when the whole group is gathered. She looked significantly shorter than the others there, in my game.

It also makes sense genetically- take Triel Baenre, who was less than 5 feet tall, or Jarlaxle Baenre, who is rather slender.

Hair Length

Her hair has to be long. Have you seen the size of that bun?

(Picture above by @northernolddragon!)

(Picture above by @swordopera!)

Drow generally keep their hair long, often decorating it with pins and webbing made of precious medals. Also take note of the color of her hair, as drow women's hair turns pale yellow with age, and this is a useful clue. (Canonically, she is quite young, Emma Gregory says this herself, so I personally think it's white and just looks yellow in certain lights.)

When you click on a mirror as Minthara, she says, "Not a hair out of place," so I assume she has a reason for keeping her hair as it is- that reason being practicality. If her hair is anywhere near as long as I think it is, fighting with it down would be a hassle!

I think there is also some psychology to be found in her hair, though. Her choosing to keep it as a messy bun could be seen as an act of rebellion, when compared to elaborate Menzoberranzan hairstyles such as Triel Baenre's... or it could be seen as her holding onto her past.

(I can't get enough of seeing pictures of her with it down, though.)

Scars

Before we discuss her scars, I just have to mention that she has freckles. I love her freckles.

The wonderful @mogruith checked out Minthara's unmodded face and did not see any noteworthy markings.

It's hard to tell what are sunspots/freckles and what may be scars, but I did my best.

I looked at a screenshot by @missgamerin and circled what seem, to me, like scars.

That potential scar on her cheek can also be seen in a screenshot by @ilikedetectives.

Eyes

Drow eyes could be of any color, with bright red being the most common. [...] The color of a drow's eyes could also be indicative of their current mental or physical state; drow eyes reddened when they were angry, and turned yellow when they were sick, poisoned, or under some negative magical influence."- Forgotten Realms Wiki

This information suggests Minthara's eyes should have been yellow while under the Absolute's control, and perhaps even all the time, as she doses herself with poison. I haven't noticed her eyes changing color during the game, but perhaps you have?

Tattoo

We've reached what I deem the most fascinating part of Minthara's appearance- the tattoo on the right side of her neck.

(The picture above is by @exehtml!)

(The picture above is the same one you saw earlier, by @ilikedetectives!)

Her tattoo, as I assume you know, is the seal of House Baenre, her family and the First House of Menzoberranzan.

"A drow house insignia was often crafted as a brooch with a sculpted image on it. This image was the glyph of the noble house the drow was attached to. [...] A drow house insignia's powers could only be safely employed by someone who received an attunementspell, which was part of the attunementritual, which was a well-known fact among priestesses of Lolth. The powers of an insignia were activated by touch with bare flesh while concentrating on which power was to be activated or with a command word. [...] A drow house insignia was a reliable way to locate an individual, provided the diviner was taught how to trace it—usually by the Matron Mother, High Priestess, or House Wizard. This was because each insignia was slightly different, even those from the same noble house] The wizards, who were also the insignia's creators, were capable of protecting themselves from such tracing."- Forgotten Realms Wiki.

A drow house insignia is a magical item, and I have never seen a mention of a tattoo functioning as one. Uthegentel Del'Armgo, as @lunastrophe says in a post on Minthara's tattoo, which I highly recommend, wore his house emblem pinned to his bare neck. That still isn't the same as it being part of his bare neck, though.

In Menzoberranzan, is it truly safe to flaunt your family's status on your neck?

"Drow took special care to keep their drow house insignia safe. Only the nobles from the First House wore them openly while all others wore them in ways known only to their households."

Minthara is a noble from the First House; this could explain it. I personally think it is a mark of pride, as- based on how often Minthara quotes her family's saying and discusses how powerful they are- Minthara is, or used to be, very proud of her heritage. Is it the wisest decision? No, but Minthara herself has said she is aware of her flaws, and knows pride is certainly among them.

What are your theories? I hope you enjoyed this post!

[beemochi-art]

*slides in $5* id like to order one 'bees thoughts on the brutality of cybertron and its society' please

I CANT GET THE MONEY!!!! IM SCRATCHING THE SCREEN!!

(WARNING I SHOULD HAVE POSTED THIS A LONG TIME AGO SO SOME OF THIS RANT IS Irrelevant . Or I just guessed right! So imma post it anyways, cause why not.)

Regardless! I’m going to turn this into a tfone tangent on how their society works and other things: because not having tha ability to transform in a transforming world is really interesting. Is that even natural?

In other continuings your class is based on your alt mode. Because in the society of functionalism everything works like a big cog in a machine. To me not having a cog seem ani functional in a way. Cause all they can do is walk, no taking bigger loads of cargo no flying. Does that make cogless bots the lowest low. Both Megs and Orion are significantly smaller than any transforming bot so I think it could make sense that they are miners, they could get into tight places to get minerals. Makes me wonder how the caste system works for transforming bots. I also couldn’t help but notice that the cogless bots have a lot to entertain them and keep them happy, like the races or here Red alert isn’t working (guessing) it looks like he is playing a game. The fact there are Monitors everywhere playing the race for them to watch, or that there are so many cogless bots actually at the race.

Do you think they are trying to distract them from their shitty situation? Maybe it’s not natural to not have a cog, or the fact they don’t let them to the surface or interact with other cybertronians with cogs. But most miners don’t both cause they are content with their simple life without knowing what natural rights have been taken from them. Maybe it’s like bananas, like how bananas used to have seeds but have been genetically alter to not? Maybe it’s like like that. Is it the quintissions fault???

[rainey-arts]

Okay this is rather random and I'm making this while I'm like half asleep so if I ramble I apologize i just like to get silly lil thoughts out

I e seen some theories regarding Usurna's relations with the gum-gums and her potential relations with Gunmar and Bular (such as her mabye being blood related to atleast one of them) for example her being Gunmar's daughter because she has certain traits simaler to Gum-Gums. Like her face shape and eye color.

I personally like the idea.of her being part gum-gum for one reason or another but I don't think she's related to Gunmar or Bular

I think and here me out on this

she's related to this guy

Orlagk

I have a few reasons as to why, some of them are very loose but still there reasons

1. They boy have red eyes

This is one of the weaker points . Every other Krubera has green eyes, but not Usurna. You could argue that it was just a design choice to make her look different or something but I mean maybe the more reddish eye color was something she picked up for her dad

2. Hands

Most the other Gum-Gums have claws,. including Gunmar and Bular.

However Orlagk does NOT have clawed hands

He has normal hands with black nails. Which means if he hooked up with a Krubera there would be a smaller chance of them getting clawed hands like Bular unlike if Gunmar hooked up with Krubera because genetics

Now you might be wondering. If she's related to Orlagk why would she help Gunmar cause wouldn't that mean he killed her father?

I don't have a very good answer for that besides that mabye she wouldn't know that's really her father or that she just didn't care for him and didn't mind if he died (I Mean Orlagk is called the OPPRESSOR so I highly doubt he was like by any of the other tribe leaders. Frankly if that was my dad I wouldn't say anything either). Given her character and status both could make sense

Why would the Krubera let her rule if she was half Gum-Gum?

This would also play on her not knowing, but if she was hypothetically related to him I doubt her mother would have said anything. A Krubera queen sleeping with Orlagk the oppressor? The next heir to the throne being related to a warlord? Yeah that's not a good image. Either that or she just didn't say anything herself.

Anyways that's my silly little rant thank you for your time 👍

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I think I may be overthinking this but ever since I read a translation of Vil's new bday line that mentioned that his dad was magicless, it made me wonder if the magic gene is reliant on the mom (kinda like how in pokemon, the baby takes after the mom's species). Think abt it: Ace's dad is magicless so he likely got his magic from his mom, Azul's grandma is said to be a powerful mage so he gets his magic from his mom's side, Epel's grandma has magic (and I think his great grandma too, not sure abt his mom tho), Kalim's mom has magic while his dad doesnt, I think Im sensing some sort of pattern here with the one magical parent+one normal parent pairs, seeing as the magical ones are usually the moms/on the mom's side.

But what do you think? Am I overthinking it or nah?

While I see where you may get the idea from (you listed some good examples, and TWST overall has more prominently magical mothers than prominent magical fathers), genetics is never as easy as that. (Also!! Some of the family members listed aren’t strong instances since assumptions were made about them; for all we know, Papa Trappola’s dad could have been able to use magic or the magical mom’s own moms may not have had that magic gene.)

The examples only go as far back as two generations; to get a more accurate read on the influence of maternal genes on magic acquisition, we’d need a lot more data (ie great grandparents, great great grandparents […], environmental factors, consideration of other genes, etc) or a family pedigree to reference. Otherwise, it could be a conflation of “lots of characters have mage moms” and “magic is reliant on the mom”; those two statements don’t actually mean the same thing.

Below the cut I will go into much more technical detail about basic genetics and how genes are sorted and then are expressed as traits. If you don't care for all that, then you can peace out now ^^ This isn't a mandatory read!

If we used a Punnett Square model (think of it as multiplying the genes of the mom and the genes of the dad to predict possible generic combinations for their children), we may be able to better illustrate how likely it is for a male vs female child to have the capacity for magic. I think we could maybe guess magic is a recessive trait for humans (since it only occurs in 10% of them). “Recessive” means that the trait is easily “covered up” or not expressed if a dominant gene is present.

In genetics, recessive is a lowercase letter and dominant is an uppercase letter. Thus, a mage would most likely have “mm”, as “Mm” and “MM” would have dominant genes that mask the magic of “m”. However, it’s not clear whether the magic gene is autosomal (on the first 22 chromosomes) or sex-linked (on the 23rd and final set of chromosomes), which further complicates things. If magic is autosomal, then I can kind of see why “mm” is feasible, but it doesn’t mean it’s necessarily mom dependent, since the dad also contributes a recessive m.

Here is an example Punnett Square; blue is the dad’s genes and red is the mom’s genes. R is the dominant trait which masks magic and r is the recessive trait which expresses magic. We need a rr in order to have a magic using child, which occurs 25% of the time.

If magic is sex-linked, then it poses a strange situation. Sex chromosomes are XX for women and XY for men. If their child is a girl, the mom gives 1 X and the dad gives 1 X. If their child is a boy, then the mom gives 1 X and the dad gives 1 Y. So if magic is truly dependent on the mother’s genes, the mom’s Xs truly matter, right?? But if you do the Punnett Square to see if it’s possible, it makes no sense.

To the left is the mom’s genes and on top is the dad’s genes. The r that accompanies one of mom’s Xs carries the recessive trait for magic. (I know it says “disease” there, but just pretend it’s magic.) In the real world, note that many hereditary diseases are X-linked. This is because the Y chromosome is so much smaller than the X; the Y is mainly known for carrying genes for sex differentiation for male body parts.

If you cross X^rX mom with XY dad, you’ll see that it reads as 50% of men can use magic and 50% of men cannot use magic, and 100% of women can’t use magic. (To be a carrier means the child has the magic trait to pass on to her future kids, but she as the mom is totally incapable of expressing that magic herself.) This is just… not true of the TWST world which has a number of female mages (look at the Great Seven), so it seems like magic can’t be sex-linked to the mom??? (If we made magic linked to the dad’s genes then this still would not make sense because daughters would not receive dad’s Y^r; this would make all boys mages and no girls mages.) Maybe this would work if the mom was X^rX^r, but then that would make 100% of their sons magical which also is not true.

dbjsbsksndksns That was all a very simplified breakdown + rambling about magic and how genetics might influence that 💦 I’m NOT saying what I shared was entirely accurate it’s been a while since I did studied genetics so my recall may be rusty; understanding and “calculating” genetics is a LOT harder than slapping some squares together and calling it a night. Likewise, it’s probably not as easy as saying “the one magic gene is reliant on the mom’s side”. As I said before, we’d need a pretty extensive family history to more accurately figure this out! It would also be useful to consider other genes (because genes can influence other genes) as well as environmental factors.

Side note: What I don’t really get (and this may just be a function of the game’s target demographic being women instead of men) is that if we accept the speculation that women are supposedly the ones that pass on their magic genes and many women (parent-wise) appear to be magical themselves, then why is NRC specifically an all-boys school? Even the other private magic institutions we see (RSA, NBC) appear to be all-male. Wouldn’t there be more women?? More co-ed or even at least one big all-girls school mentioned??? It may be just me overthinking what is a meta concept totally not related to in-game lore, but you'd think even a passing mention would be warranted...

[docthechaosking]

OC world lore time

Working on this sort of modern magic/scifi magic world so I’ve written down a lot of notes for it. Since I’ve shared a few OCs for it, I thought I’d at least share what I’ve brainstormed so far.

There are five islands surrounded by a barrier to protect the inhabitants from being overtaken by wild magic.

These islands were formed by five powerful magic users that they deemed their gods. However, the gods disappear and the people start to wonder how long the barrier will hold without them. Each island has a representative. The largest island houses the castle and the academy. The Royal family was said to be blessed by the gods and such everyone one of them have been extremely powerful. The family has been tasked with maintaining peace and trades between each island. They also watch over the barrier and help supply it with magic. However… the current family has disappeared… Now there’s no one who could manage the barrier.

Magic is the ability to create certain things from energy. Everyone has magic. There’s five different classes of magic determined by the soul: Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, and Purple. Each of course have their own subclasses. It’s actually quite hard to actually make things. At the very least, one can conjure up energy. Those that can go beyond that go to attend Spectrum Academy to be able to acquire higher magic related jobs, one being able to explore beyond the barrier or even research it.

Some special jobs, besides Beyond Explorers and Researchers, are Royal Staff, Royal Knights, League Players, Bounty Hunters(not a real official job but one people are aware of), or one of the five teachers of the Academy. The teacher teach in five different categories to assess one’s magic capabilities: How hard it can hit, how hard of a hit it can take, how far can it travel or be casted, how it enhances one’s mobility, and how it can support their fellow teammates. Students are put into groups of three until graduation.

There are three species of human: Human(of course), Tints, and Shades. There’s one other but there’s only like five of those. Though the barrier prevents wild magic from reaching the islands, a small level still passes through and have greatly affected human genetics. These magic impurities infected the body and caused two different mutations: Tint and Shades. Tints have a low level of impurity so their blood is the lighter color of their soul. They’re more humanoid as they have strange features such as skin pigmentation or animal characteristics. Magic is normally casted away from the body. A Tint can from themselves and alter body parts. A Shade is a further mutated Tint. They actually start as one until young adulthood where they go through a drastic change. Their blood is a lot darker due to higher impurities. They can still cast away and from the body, but there’s catch to them; magic can activate inside throughout the body and alter their entire being. They’re shapeshifters… some are monstrous. A Shade usually trade magic control for physical prowess when they shift, but there’s a large drawback. Such as the creatures they turn into, their minds shift with their bodies. A craving slowly forms upon their initial mutation: a craving for purity. And what could possibly be so pure…? Humans…

Laws were set in place to prohibit such things and there’s even treatments and medicine. Most of the time, it actually breaks people out of the cravings. But others aren’t satisfied. Some sneak around through illegal deals…. Some just hunt…. The more one gives in, the more one loses their human. They become similar to what’s beyond the barrier. However, Shades make up a very small percent of the population and even smaller have fully lost their humanity and even less actually give into these desires. It’s harder for Shades to get higher up jobs but there’s been a few exceptions. They’re not trusted as much. They’re almost seen as diseased. It’s harder for them to get partners too. There’s an increased chance they could pass their mutation to their children. However, humans can’t pass on or receive the mutation.

[not-that-dillinger]

...Ed should not have been surprised that Turning Turing opened the cage. She was far too smart for her own good, but. Ed wouldn't have been surprised if she felt his distress. Clever bird, the little menace. The sensation of warm and soft under his fingers was grounding and something to focus on besides the turbulent thoughts that threatened a dangerous downward spiral.

Beautiful was not how many outside of those he knew from the pigeon shows he rarely attended would describe as beautiful. Funky, if they were being kind. Poorly drawn cartoons brought to life, if humerus. Worse from others who were too shortsighted to see past LA's feral pigeon population problem.

"Oh. Thanks." Ed gave Alan a small, nervous smile. "They- they're chaotic little gremlins and wonderful companions." He set down his empty mug of tea so he could scritch Aegis with one hand and Turring with the other, in an effort to keep the two birds from fighting.

Growing up, there had been a short list of subjects his father had thought appropriate interests for a boy, of which, exactly of Ed's equally short list of actual interests had lined up with, and another that had been... grudgingly tolerated. Between that and the school bullies who had been bent on snuffing out any spark of joy from the few things that Ed enjoyed, he learned quickly to guard those small joys carefully. Those interests only diverged more and more from what his father thought appropriate in high school and college, and by the time he started at Encom, trusting anyone with those things had been nearly impossible. Even if he could, his work had quickly encroached on so much of his home life that refusing to talk about any of his interests during the work day was one of the few ways he could keep them separate.

His birds were one of those small joys, and he'd named them with the confidence that the only people that would ever know them would be him and any god that had the embarrassment of witnessing. And, of course, Eve and Yori. He trusted them with his life (he was slowly, cautiously working his way toward giving that same level of trust to his brother, but their bond was still new, and getting there was going to take time if Ed didn't want to panic and disappear).

But. He wasn't at work, and Alan had thus far proven that he could be trusted with the small bits of his life that Ed had been willing to share, and he told Alan about Heli and Sebai. He could trust him with his birds' names.

Ed gstured to the white bird with splashe of red feathers and an exaggerated ruff of feathers around it's neck that was attempting to grab Ed's hand with it's beak. "This little menace is Turing. She's too smart for her own good and will get out of the cage to cause mischief if it's not locked. Her sister in crime over here--" he gestured to the smaller white bird with brown wings and short beak begging for attention at his other hand. "--is Aegis. Sometimes I swear she's Eve's sister in pigeon form. The one currently trying to endear Sam into giving her food is Dwar Ev. She's a clown and will show off for you almost always."

Dwar Ev was almost entirely solid, seemingly metallic gold in color, except for her wings which were an iridescent black that shimmered with emerald green undertones. She also looked like she was trying to make herself taller, with long legs and a nearly vertical body. She also had an exaggerated blown up crop. Dwar Ev was a cross between a Brunner Pouter and an Archangel, and Ed was convinced the breeder had crossed the two either as a joke or for a bet. How the breeder Ed had gotten her from had managed to get birds that were perfectly Brunner Pouter shaped, and archangel colored was a feat of genetics that was both awe-inspiring and terrifying.

"And the last but certainly not least, the one that decided Eve is friend shaped" --the most normal looking of Ed's birds, and the epitome of pigeons, the largest by far and silver in color with red bars on her wings and iridescent green around her neck-- "is Clacks. She's probably the most cuddly out of all of them." Ed shouldn't have been surprised that Clacks had essentially decided Eve was part of the flock. She'd been particularly fond of Nitro when he first visited, and probably sensed that Eve was part of his 'flock'.

Ed paused, then stood up, muttering apologies to the birds, and retrieved a bag of dried fruit from a cabinet by the cage. He took a handful, and offered the bag to Sam and Alan. "They can have some of this, if you want to befriend them," he offered.

@not-that-dillinger Continuing from here, because why not :

Eve, meanwhile, is having a grand time flying around and giving everyone flashes of the bright pink feathers on the underside of her wings. She disappears for about an hour and comes back with a shoulder guard so she can ride around on Ed's shoulder (where did she get it? No one knows and she's not telling), and makes a swoop at Ed's father when the man shows up offering (hired) help to shoo the pesky bird away (direct quote).

She makes off with most of his tie, and pointedly puts it down and turns around to poo on it, before delicately picking the soiled tie up and dropping it on Dillinger Sr's head.

[is-the-primate-vid-cute]

Hi! My favourite primates are lemurs (closely followed by gibbons), and I was wondering if you’ve gotten to work with any lemurs? If so how do they differ from monkeys? What’s their behaviour like? Any neat stories you can share?

Yes I have! I absolutely loved the ruff lemurs I worked with! They're beautiful, personable, sweet, curious and silly guys. Red ruff lemurs are also the largest pollinator in the world! Their ruffs collect pollen as they use their long tongues to get nectar from flowers. They're roughly the size of a small cat.

Photos via zoo Atlanta and wikipedia

I also really liked working with common brown lemurs- they are very chill and sweet and there was one ex pet brown lemur in particular that I made a special bond with and while I deeply wish he had the social skills to be integrated into a troupe, our daily social time was my favorite part of the day.

Photo via Duke Lemur research center

I can't say the same about ringtails

Photo via National zoo (USA)

I don't want to be a hater but basically all the ringtail lemurs I've worked with are extremely reactive, aggressive animals. The only primate to bite me was a ringtail lemur! I believe this is found in other facilities as well. These guys are just far less tolerant of stress and instead of shrinking or hiding they lash out. I can't blame them of course and I highly respect an animal who can communicate a desire (or desire to stop) to me. Even so, their temper makes making with these guys, uh, challenging. In my own personal experience.

Alot of people don't know this, even some people who (shouldn't) have pet lemurs, but lemurs actually produce their own vitamin C! We are still learning about this, but we do know that foods high in vitamin C can cause an overdose in vitamin C levels and this can affect lemur iron levels. Lemurs have some genetic predisposition to depositing excess iron in their tissues over their lifetime and this can lead to some pretty serious and deadly health conditions so limiting vitamin C is very important as we don't know if there will ever be a way to relieve the lemurs of iron deposits.

A few more interesting facts: ringtail lemurs are matriarchal! And like spider monkeys (who are also matriarchal) female lemurs have elongated clitoris that to an untrained eye, may look like a penis. Male lemur and spider monkey penis are much smaller and not easily seen like the female clitoris, often leading the public to get their sexes confused. I've wondered if these two things could be related as matriarchal social organization is pretty rare in the primate world.

Male ringtail lemurs also have a unique structure:

Wrist spurs!

Those black hairless spots on the inside of the lower arm is a "spur"- it feels like an extra hardened fingernail, and this spur is constantly growing. Male ringtail lemurs will use this spur to make a "pop" sound by snapping it against vines or other materials and this pop is an attempt to scare off a threat. They also accompany this threat with a high pitched "wheeeee" sound. It's exactly as scary you imagine that sound to be (it's not).

[dragoncityinteriordesign]

[This post has been sitting half-done in my Drafts for a long time, because I keep hoping that I’m going to find something more about these images, and then I just keep not being able to. If you recognize any of them, please tell me!]

It’s very hard to identify the framed works on Shen Wei’s walls, mostly because a) they’re small, and b) we never get good closeups on any of them. After a lot of squinting, here’s my best take on them.

Let’s start with the easy one: The large framed print back in the little nook is a reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist, a 16th-century charcoal. This is the only piece that seems to match the Renaissance theme going on in the DCU hallways. Ignore the part where all this art confirms the existence of Christianity in the Guardian universe. The theological implications are staggering.

The wall opposite that has a lot of what appear to be certificates and diplomas that somebody familiar with Chinese higher education could probably make sense of, but that someone is not me. Look, I know trying to make sense of the Guardian timeline is a fool’s errand, but I still have to wonder how Shen Wei got all of those. He had to go through some schooling, right? Even if you have a super-absorbant brain, one does not simply pop out of the ground after 9,997 years ready to lecture on genetics at a university level. And he and the Nice Doctor are supposed to be college buddies, so unless she’s lying, he actually knuckled down and earned a couple letters after his name. I’m suspecting he magically fudged the undergraduate credentials, but calling him 沈教授 somewhat implies he’s a full professor with a Ph.D. I’m sure one of those framed certificates is praise for his groundbreaking dissertation on having there is a monster in the wo.

...Also, there’s a convenient great big blank spot right above the fish tank! Almost like it was waiting for an embarrassing spy-banner-slash-love-note!

The wall opposite the door has four images, none of which are very clear. The one all the way to the left looks like some kind of cloud formation, with a row of people all along the bottom looking up at it and either raising their fists or pointing. The next one over, the largest, looks to be an old man and a young child, both squatting on the ground and looking upward. There’s a much smaller one next to that, and that one may be two children standing in front of a group of adults. Finally, there’s a long image of something I can’t even start to identify, lines of what looks like lumps of contoured, colored ... sand? clouds? And is that a little owl perched at the bottom of the frame? Tell you what, that’s the one that’s been driving me up the wall, because I can’t even begin to tell what I’m looking at.

Finally, there’s the wall by the door. Some of them look like they might be by the same photographer, but they don’t look like they’re all by the same photographer. The cafe with the red seats has a lot of similar pieces hanging on its walls. Left to right, the images look like: at least one person standing on a street corner under a streetlight; a set of developed islands surrounded by canals, two of which are connected by a bridge; a person seated at a table, either looking at themselves in a wall-length mirror or looking at someone else through a doorway; a sky-perspective view of tall buildings; several balconies overlooking a courtyard, taken from the middle one of the balconies; a young boy on a smoky street with an old-fashioned car behind him; a person alone on a street, maybe in the rain; a man carrying rice seedlings for planting; and a seated, smiling person peeking out from behind a pillar.

I assume every art choice here (except maybe the certificates) is 100% a case of, we had a blank wall, so we grabbed the nearest framed objects we could find. But it’s kind of nice imagining these being deliberate choices on Shen Wei’s part, with no overarching theme in mind. He has no idea what’s “supposed” to go up in an office like this, but he knows what he likes.

[oliverandrews]

The Magical Thong

by Oliver Andrews

Chapter 1

I was hanging out with my friends, and doing some shopping at the mall. It was all fun. I got myself some new clothes at the thrift store and went to drink a smoothie, the shit you do when you're in college and not partying. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a nerd or anything. I weighed 210 pounds or 6ft 3. I was the monster of the baseball team, but I wasn't that terrifying with my cute face, pale skin, and brown wavy hair. I tried to look clean and be a little fashionable. You're probably wondering then what's the problem... I was being blessed by genetics, but too freaking much. My butt was so huge I couldn't keep underwear for more than a week, any boxers, briefs, or jock are instantly ripping. Fucking glutes. I also had wide shoulders but that's fine. The second problem is my boobs. My pecs were so round, so bulgy and squishy it felt like I was a fucking woman. And the cherry on top was my oversensitive nipples. God bless America so I can find 4xl shirts.

At a moment, my two homies, Tyler and Josh decided to follow a group of chicks, they were clearly gonna get rejected, like who makes a move on a girl while she's with her group?

"Come on bro, we have more chance to get a date if you come with us," Tyler said

"I'm telling you it's dumb, they're just gonna laugh at you"

"Damn dude, you're such a pain in the ass when it's bout girls"

"Man, for real, we've been friends since middle school I've never seen you get laid like are you... sus" Josh clapped back

"Stop saying shit, they are five you don't do that the fuck. And I am the one sus do I need to remind you of Elijah's party"

"SHUT UP!" both answered immediately, Tyler followed "It happened once and we were both drunk"

"You joking y'all spent all night making out" I laughed as they turned red.

"Come on bro, we're gonna show them how straight men get pussy" Josh took Ty by the arm and went to see the girl group.

As I expected the girls just laughed and left. They came back pouting. I burst into laughing

"I guess Tyler the only head you're getting tonight is from josh" they both turned red

"Stop it man" I stopped joking when I saw they were uncomfortable but for my defense when you see your homie sitting on your other homie's lap and they make out the whole night, there's something more than friendship.

We went back to our shopping and they told me about the girl and stopped in front of a store.

"The fuck is this" Josh said

"It looks so fucking cool" Tyler was gasping, the guy despite being on the baseball team was also a little emo/punk boy. Currently, he was wearing a bleached buzzcut but he once arrived with pink hair and I'm telling you we made fun of him. But he kept on his project and got a couple piercing like in his nose, some on each ear, and his nipples too. When he showed us his bare torso and the metal shining on his pecs, I was how can he resist like mine are too sensitive for this.So Tyler ran into the shop, the place was dark with a lot of pink neons someone was getting tattooed, you couldn't see it but by the "buzz" it was obvious. We were on the clothing/accessory side and a Korean guy went to greet us.

"Hello, welcome, what can I help you with" the guy was fit with short jet black hair in a tight t-shirt and jeans also black his arms and neck were tattooed.

"We're just looking, thanks," Josh said smiling at the clerk.

Tyler already disappeared into the shop while with Josh we looked between the rows full of emo-punk cloth. There was some cool ass shirt. It was all fun and game until josh spoke to me

"Can I tell you something Aaron?" he said almost whispering

"Yes..." I looked concerned, scared of what he was about to say. I look at his green eyes. Josh was a cute boy for real, he was smaller than us but was on the gymnastic team, he was pretty classic, the hoodie and shorts kind.

"You know what happened at Elijah's party, I just want to tell you that, I just had been doubting a lot about my sexuality at the moment and I talked about it with Ty and you know with the drinks it ended like that but I'm not gay so I just wanted to ask you if we could like just forget this."He was totally embarrassed and was avoiding my eyes.

"I'm sorry dude, I never meant to embarrass you, it's all forgotten"

"Thanks, man," he said and we hugged.

"OH... MY... GOD..." Ty said loudly, we found him in the underwear section, Holding what seemed to be a g-string. I looked a Josh.

"What were we talking bout?" he slightly punch my shoulder and went with a "shut up bro"

"Aaron, I bet you 50 dollars you won't try it," he said to me determined.

"Why would I even do that"

"DUDE! you are LITERALLY complaining 24/7 about the size of your HUMONGOUS ROYAL BEHIND" He said in the last part with a very cliché/distinguished voice.

"Okay, I'm in" still I don't what I am gonna do with the 50 bucks. I took the slutty thing and went to the fitting rooms. The clerk was there folding clothes. Stay calm I thought It was just a thong.

"You found something you want to try on"

"Yes I'd like to try this" I showed the thong and heard my fellow dumb bros giggling behind.

The clerk started grinning and said "You know there is currently a special offer on this brand 3 for the price of one and I think the two gentlemen would like to try some on, you can go number 6"

"No, we're going-" Ty did not have the time to interject that the clerk disappeared into the storeI laughed and went into the stall. I rapidly got naked and put the small piece of fabric on. I looked at the poor triangle of fabric and realized it was written "See THE truth" on it, a weird name for a thong collection. Actually, Ty was right it fitted me perfectly I tried the ultimate exercise and squatted, The string rubbed onto my asshole which sent me to shiver but the whole thing was still intact and my junk was covered.

"Guys I think I'm buying it" I got outside the stall, I took a couple a funny and sexy pose while they were sitting on the black velvet couch. we all laughed.

"You're sure you want to buy it, you know it was a joke," Josh said more concerned.

"Yeah for real dude look my junk is maintained, that means no cock jumpscare like at Andrew's party, and look, I can fucking squat." I then proceeded to show them my ass.

"OH BOY! Man get this pussy out of my face" Ty laughed

The clerk came back and handed a baby blue mesh brief to Josh and a Hot pink bikini to Ty.

"Damn I like it feels reminds me of my old hair," Ty said entering the stall. Josh did the same.They both came out at the same moment.

"Those fit you really well" the clerk sat and I couldn't agree more but my mouth gasped when Josh took his hands off his groin. The Dudes cock was so heavy and huge. The mesh was doing nothing more but revealing the huge yet soft piece of meat.

"Man your packing," I said to him and he blushed. We all went back and changed.

"Do you need more or do you want to check out now?" the clerk said.

"I'd like to pay please," Ty said, I had won the bet though.

"Do you want to sign up for a membership for more offers?" We all looked at each other. When my turn came and I gave him my contact details, I felt a sizzling down my back.

"Oh, and because you signed up the store offers you this" He added three black see-through crop tops in our paper bag.

It was getting quite late so we decided to get back home.

During the drive home, no one talked and we just enjoyed the music. I drove my two mates to their places and then got home. I did my laundry fast so I could have the thong for the next day. I started making dinner since my father and brother weren't home yet. My brother worked for my father that was a lawyer so we had a pretty comfortable life.

I grew up in an athlete family my father was the quarterback in Uni, and my Brother was an elite-level swimmer, so it was in my genes to shine in baseball.

Our family photos ended up looking like those calendars with the hot men.

My mother was the same age as my father, they had us really young. They were eighteen when Adam was born and 22 when I was. My mother backed off really fast and disappeared from our lives when I was two so it was taboo to talk about her.

My father, Michael, was 43 and was a real dilf, I never saw him date someone but he could grab any chicks he wanted. And for my brother, he kinda looked like superman but the speedos he wore were much more filled.

We had dinner, and after saying everyone goodnight, I went to get my fresh laundry back. God bless technology.

I got back to my bathroom which was adjacent to my bedroom, I tried the thong again and it really suited me, it made my bulge look really nice u could distinguish my heavy shaved balls and soft cock.

I was getting horny so I got into the shower. I pinched my left nipple, and massaged my balls, the hot water was softening my muscles, and as my cock was hardening the uncut head appeared. I always percummed a lot so it was already all lubed. I slowly jerked off-hand on my chest and I don't know from where but I saw the lube bottle I generally used with girls. I took the lube, pour a little on my hand and I rubbed my finger against my hole. I felt an electric jolt.

"AaAAh" I moaned, iI was really an amazing sensation, I jerked harder and I felt it. There was this itch deep inside of me. I didn't think twice and pushed my finger. It was good but I could do more. I added a second finger then a third.

My hole was really hot and tight but my fingers weren't big enough. I turned the water off and dried myself completely frustrated. I put the thong back and it hit me, like a vision.

The thing I needed was in my drawer. So I locked the door and went to open my drawer and by surprise where I used to put my outstretched boxer (never forget the size of my butt), there were jockstraps, every color possible. I searched through it and found it. A hot pink realistic dildo.

The thing was like 7inches which is a very noble size. I wasted no time, lubed back my hole and I squatted on the neon pink cock. When the fake head entered me my eyes turned white, my knees weakened and the unexpected arrived, I fell. The 7inches of the dildo impaled me in a second

. My cock that wasn't in the thong pouch shot the biggest load of my whole life.

I needed like 20 minutes to get back on my feet the orgasm blew my mind, it was like fireworks inside of me. When I checked myself in the mirror my hole was like opening the closing quite fast. It was pretty hot actually. I cleaned everything and got to sleep.

Hello, Thanks for reading. This is a new story and I hope u like it. Actually it was an old story of mine that i posted under another name on this website but I wanted to improve it. In the comment tell me what u would like to see or what u thought.

If y'all want to chat or get the exclusive draft do not hesitate and send me a message on my twitter or by mail.

@oli_AndrewsgayD

oliverandrewsautor@gmail.com

Lots of love.

Oliver Andrews

[corvus--rex]

So, to start off with, these are a little rough. Mostly cleaned up for spelling/grammar, but there are things that are more like placeholder notes in exposition form that would be written out if I went back to it.

This one's working title is Quantum Fracture, is "in universe" non-canon compliant, and is set both near the end of s.2 after ep.9, and a few years post s.8. It's also only semi-abandoned. I like it and want to keep going with it, but I've hit a wall and just can't do anything with it right now. It has (sort-of) time travel and "Galra genetics are weird" resulting in Klance kids. It does also switch between times, but those sections have punctuation separators.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Lance, Pidge, keep watch on the area. Keith, Hunk, and I will go down to check it out,” Shiro said over the comms.

“Got it.”

“Copy that.”

Green and Blue split off from the V-formation, flying over the asteroid while Black, Red, and Yellow landed on its surface. Lance and Pidge kept a visual track on their friends while keeping their scanners active for anything in the area. Team Voltron had been on their way back to the Castle after liberating another planet from the Galra Empire when Pidge’s more finely-tuned scanners picked up on what looked like an abandoned Galra base embedded in an asteroid. Shiro made the call to check it out and let Allura and Coran know what was going on, keeping Lance and Pidge on watch. The Black Paladin took point, with Keith right behind him. Hunk brought up the rear, man-portable cannon ready for whatever might try to sneak up on them. The facility was powered down, a layer of dust on every surface.

“Looks like it really is abandoned,” Keith said, “I don’t think there’s anyone or anything left here.”

“Agreed, but I want to complete a sweep of the facility. Never know what might have been left behind,” Shiro replied.

They continued on, not making any real effort at stealth, but only made it about another 20 feet before a side door creaked and flew open, Keith finding himself blown out into space, despite Hunk’s effort to prevent it. Keith tried to use his jetpack to redirect himself and head back to the facility, but there was just enough gravity generated by the density of the asteroid field to pull him toward the nearest surface. He bounced off the next asteroid, damaging his jetpack in the process. It sent him away from the asteroid field and into open space.

This isn’t how this was supposed to go, Keith thought as he floated in the void, then realized just how much Lance was rubbing off on him. His back hit a second, smaller asteroid, and he bounced off into the nothingness. Come on, Red. Where are you?

He felt the shift in the vacuum an instant before the sensors in his armor picked it up. The short chirp announced the sensors’ findings, bringing it up on the HUD. The display’s minimal capabilities showed the slight variant, a faint ripple in the fabric of space.

“The fuck is that?” he asked the void of space.

He hadn’t expected an answer, and didn’t get one. What he did get was the familiar mental pressure of the red Lion, immediately followed by the equally familiar golden glow of the robotic cat’s eyes. Red swallowed the paladin’s free-floating body, and he rolled through the slowly pressurizing corridor before the artificial gravity activated. He had only just taken his seat in the cockpit when he heard Pidge shouting across the comms.

“Keith! Are you ok? There was a spatial-temporal fluctuation right next to you.”

“Yeah, I felt it, but I'm ok,” he answered, exhausted from the mission and subsequent launch into space.

Green came up alongside Red, guiding them back to the Castle, Blue right behind them. Once the three Paladins were back aboard the Castle of Lions, Pidge insisted that Keith go to the medical deck, just in case.

“Ok, fine, Pidge. But I'm fine. Really,” Keith protested while simultaneously giving in.

She didn’t trust him to really go, but she was also concerned with the anomaly she found, so didn’t question it when Lance volunteered to make sure Keith went.

“Keith, what were you thinking?” Lance asked when they were alone.

“I don’t know what happened. It wasn’t anything I did and Hunk and Shiro will figure it out. Pidge is more worried about the space-time ripple we encountered. But I'm fine. Really.”

Blue’s Paladin stopped in the middle of the empty corridor. “You scared me, cuervo. I saw you get ejected into empty space without Red or any of us nearby. Pidge said she was going after you, but still…it scared me.”

“I don’t think we should hide anymore. I think it’s time to let the team in on our secret.”

The pair had been dating secretly for a month at that point, intentionally keeping their relationship from the rest of the team. Keith didn’t think they would have been taken seriously to begin with, and Lance agreed. After a late-night talk, they both decided to give it time and let themselves settle into their budding relationship. But it was beginning to make them behave differently, especially on missions. They became focused on where the other was and it was causing mistakes. This last mistake could have been deadly, although Keith was right, he hadn’t done or not done anything that led to the deserted Galra base’s small side door opening and pulling the Red Paladin into the cold vacuum of space.

“Yeah, I think you might be right,” Lance admitted.

Keith took his boyfriend’s hand, linking their fingers together, and headed toward the medical deck. Coran met them there, no doubt having been called by Pidge. Keith was thoroughly checked over by way of the Castle’s scanners, and as far as they could tell, not a molecule was out of place. After finding out that Keith was at least partly Galra, Pidge and Hunk had thrown themselves into a reprograming project to the medical deck’s scanners, integrating human biological standards. They were surprised to find that the scanners were already programmed with Galra standards, and that was when Coran told the entire team about the original Paladins, Zarkon included.

Instead of the lounge or one of their bedrooms, Lance and Keith instead went to one of the Castle’s many observation balconies. Once they were alone, Keith let himself crumble, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend and holding on as tightly as he could. Lance gently returned the physical connection, understanding that the events of the morning had affected him more than he would let on in front of anyone else. He waited until he could feel the tension drain and knew that Keith was just sneaking middle of the day snuggling.

“You better now?” Lance asked.

Keith sighed softly against Lance’s neck. “Yeah, I think so. We should probably go see what Pidge found before anyone wonders where we went.”

“I don’t wanna,” he protested, holding on tighter.

Keith laughed and pulled away. “Well, if we stop keeping all this a secret, we won’t have to worry about where and when anymore.”

“Ugh. I guess.” Lance’s tone was overdramatic as usual, but his blue eyes sparkled with excitement at the idea of being open about his relationship.

Stepping backward out the door, Keith led the way toward the Lions’ hangars and Pidge’s lab. Halfway down the second to last corridor, Keith tripped over the smooth floor. He caught himself mid-stumble and stopped completely.

“Keith?” Lance asked, “Mi cuervo, you ok?”

_~*~_~*~_~*~_

“Keith! What the fuck was that?” Lance called over the comm.

“Dunno, but my speeder’s sensors caught it. Heading back now,” Keith answered from inside his modified speeder.

Modified, that was, by Pidge, who had retrofitted all of the Lions’ speeders to be able to fly in space. They were still fairly short-range, not capable of straying far from the Lions. It meant that Keith was still in visual range of Red when the Lion’s sensors spiked with the anomaly’s fluctuation.

Lance was waiting at the door to the cockpit when Keith came in. The tail of the raised French braid that normally ran halfway down his back was draped over his shoulder. Lance had insisted on braiding his husband’s hair that morning. Keith had groaned and asked why, seeing as it was just a simple recon mission. “Because you’re pretty, the twins are at school, we have time, and I felt like it,” was the list of reasons Lance rattled off as he made Keith sit. He didn’t mind it, but they usually saved more complex braids for diplomatic missions, not “drive down the street for space readings” missions.

Keith had had his second puberty while in the Quantum Abyss with Krolia, and it ended up being a good thing she was there. Alone, he would have assumed that the abdominal cramping, chills, fever, nausea, and full-body pain meant that he was dying. Krolia, however, recognized the symptoms of the shift in her son’s body to that of a Carrier and becoming physically capable of conceiving and carrying a baby. She told him that his half-human status may well have rendered him infertile, but they didn’t have the resources to look into it at the time, and the middle of a war wasn’t the time to worry about it. So it surprised both Keith and Lance when he found himself pregnant not long after the war ended, and they welcomed their twins Andra and Ori five and a half months later after a normal Galra-length pregnancy. The twins birth records had their names down as Andromeda Artemis and Orion Fenris Kogane-McClain, names that were called with increasing frequency now that the twins were five.

Keith sat himself in the pilot’s seat, pulling up the sensor readings from both Red and the speeder. They looked the same to both himself and Lance, but Pidge would be able to make better sense of them. But something about the anomaly was bothering Keith. It took a good minute of staring at the readings to realize that it was similar to how spacetime behaved near the core of the Quantum Abyss. And something about thatbothered him even more.

“You ok, cuervo?” Lance asked, leaning against the edge of the display panel.

“Yeah,” Keith sighed, “Just something about that anomaly reminds me of the Quantum Abyss. We’ll get it to Pidge and figure it out.”

The trip back to the new Castle was short, Red bypassing the reconfigured IGF-Atlas and heading directly for his hangar on the original Castle of Lions. After the end of the Galra War and the brief, but intense, war with Honerva, the Voltron Coalition needed a permanent – and mobile – base. The Atlas reshaped itself, wrapping around the Castle like the defensive walls of an ancient castle around its keep. Its completed size rivaled that of Galra Central Command, now the seat of the newly-formed Galra Collective.

Team Voltron’s power couple – beating out Shiro’s marriage to Adam – crossed the distance to Green’s hangar, where Pidge still maintained her personal lab. They found her buried in her multi-screen setup, one screen dedicated to the call she was on with her long-distance Olkari girlfriend Malyn, the others covered in technical readouts, diagrams, and blueprints.

“We’re back,” Keith announced when they walked in.

“Oh good. Anything weird happen out there?” Pidge said, taking Keith’s comm.

“The anomaly is behaving like the core of the Quantum Abyss.”

Pidge shoved the device into her computer a little harder than she intended. Except for her ongoing call, she wiped everything off the other screens, replacing what was on them with the readouts from both Red and the speeder. Her amber eyes flicked from screen to screen, already analyzing.

“I’m really sorry, Malyn. I have to call you later.”

“Of course. Is everything all right?” Malyn asked, concern laced in her voice.

“I’m not sure yet. We found a spatial-temporal anomaly, but it’s behaving differently from anything similar I’ve seen. Maybe…there was one…nah, that was different…”

Malyn laughed, she always found her girlfriend’s analytical mind adorable. “I’ll let you get to that. We’ll talk later.”

“Hm? Oh, yeah. I'm sorry, Malyn. We’ll talk again later, promise,” Pidge apologized again, but Malyn waved her off, still laughing, and cut the call.

“So, you'll let us know when you’ve found something?” Lance prompted.

“What? Yeah. Right. This is weirder than anything I've ever seen like this…”

Lance and Keith shared a look, knowing that Pidge was fully invested in the data and that she wouldn’t leave her computer unless she was physically removed. Deciding on the tactical retreat, they left her to it, heading back to their apartment on the Castle.

The Atlas hadn’t been the only thing to be reconfigured. The Castle of Lions had undergone its own renovations, the old single rooms turned into apartment-like suites. Shiro and Adam maintained Garrison positions onboard the Atlas, but retired to the Castle at the end of every day. Lance and Keith settled into their apartment after their two month long honeymoon. Hunk was splitting his time between the Castle and Balmera, sharing his space with Shay when they were there. Pidge mostly used hers as an excuse for more tech and a separate workspace, but Malyn stayed there with her when she could get time away from rebuilding Olkarion under Ryner’s guidance. Coran had decided to keep his old room the way it was, and Allura felt that her own rooms didn’t need the upgrade. The rest of the rooms stayed the same for the new Altean crew running the ship at a proper capacity.

It wasn’t until they got back that Keith realized Pidge still had his comm. “Well, shit. I’ll be back,” he said, heading for the door.

Lance decided to follow him out into the corridor.

“Why?”

“Because,” Lance answered, “I have nothing better to do and I can watch you walk away all day.”

“What the fuck, Lance?” Keith groaned in mock frustration.

“No, that’s after we get your comm.”

Keith turned, intending to call Lance out on exposing him like that, but stumbled, relieved that Lance was close enough to catch him.

“You alright, cuervo?”

“Yeah, I'm fine. Just tripped,” he said, but stopped. Something was wrong. He could feel the braid hanging over his shoulder from when he stumbled, felt the strength in Lance’s arms. No, this was wrong. He looked up. There was a small scar he didn’t remember being there, and the blue Altean marks were definitely new. His own body felt foreign. It was shaped differently, taller and broader than it should be. His voice was different, a little deeper, a little huskier than it should be. “Lance?”

“Keith, love, are you really ok?”

“I…I don’t know.”

Lance helped him to stand, leading him back to their apartment. Once inside, he sat Keith on the couch. “What happened? Exactly,” he asked.

“What does – is this about the anomaly? I told you before that I'm fine. We had Coran check me out. There was nothing wrong. Where are we anyway?”

“We didn’t have Coran check you out. There’s an entire medical crew for that anyway. We’re home, on the Castle. What do you remember from this morning?” Lance’s entire tone was cautious. Something was very wrong with his husband, but he wanted to have at least some answers before bringing it up with anyone else.

“We were coming back from a mission and stopped to check out an abandoned Galra base in an asteroid field. One of the side doors opened and I got blown out. There was a ripple in space-time, and I got close to it in nothing but my armor before Red came to get me. But I'm fine. I told both you and Pidge that.”

Lance remembered that mission. Overall, it was unremarkable. The base didn’t have anything useful. But there hadn’t been any temporal fluctuations. Yes, Keith had ended up floating through the void, but nothing happened other than that. The only reason he remembered that mission in particular was because that was when they decided to tell the team that they were together. It had been ten years since that mission.

“Ok. I do remember that. But, that was ten years ago. That was when we decided to tell the team that we’d been dating for a month.”

Keith’s face flickered between shock, bewilderment, and terror. Ten years? There was no way that could be right. But the evidence was right there. His own body and voice were different. He could see and feel how long his hair had gotten. And then there was Lance. He was beautiful as ever, and it certainly seemed that they were still together, but he was different. The scar, the Altean marks – how and when the fuck did that happen, and why? – and there was the fact that he was broader, more muscled, not slender and willowy like he had been. He processed everything in real time, not saying a word in that time. It had apparently been longer than he thought, because Lance was looking up at him from where he’d tilted his head to the side.

“Keith? Mi cuervo? What is going on?”

“You…you still call me that? It really has been ten years?”

“This has to be related to that anomaly,” he muttered. “Yeah, it’s really been ten years. And, yeah, I do still call you that. A lot’s changed in ten years, but not that. Stay here. I need to show you something. It might help.” Lance stood, leaving the room for their bedroom, coming back in less than a minute. He extended his free hand, bringing Keith over to the table where they both sat. Lance placed a ring of smoothly twisted and woven silver metal and carved crystal that shifted between blood red, cobalt, and vibrant violet on the table between them. “Do you remember this?” he asked softly, “Do you remember when I gave you that?”

Keith stared at it like if he could untwist it mentally, he could remember what it was. But he couldn’t, because Lance had never given him anything like it. It was definitely something he could see Lance picking for him, but as far as Keith knew, he never had.

“No, I don’t,” he had to admit.

Lance sighed, a tinge of sadness to it. “Ok. Something happened with the temporal anomaly we found earlier and that Pidge is still analyzing. I know you’re really Keith, but I don’t think you're my Keith. What you said happened this morning happened ten years ago for me. We need to go check in with Pidge and see if she’s figured anything out yet.”

“Ok,” Keith agreed, rising to follow Lance, “I shouldn’t know anything else. Not yet. But at least I know we’re still together.”

“We certainly are,” Lance agreed, taking Keith’s hand, “We’ll figure this out. That anomaly might have fucked with your memories somehow, but we’ll figure it out.”

_~*~_~*~_~*~_

“Yeah, fine.” Keith stood on his own, suddenly realizing that they shouldn’t have been a corridor and a half away from Green’s hangar, they should have been close to their apartment in a completely different part of the castle. Everything seemed ever so slightly bigger, except for himself and Lance. His braid was gone, and he was wearing clothes he hadn’t seen in years. And Lance looked so young. This was the thin, wiry boy he’d fallen in love with more than ten years before. The one without the Altean marks he’d gotten when Allura revived him after saving her from an energy blast. But he heard Lance call him by that familiar pet name. That alone left Keith with more questions.

“We need to see if Pidge’s gotten anywhere with that anomaly,” Lance said.

“Yeah,” Keith agreed. When had his voice gotten higher?

Keith stopped when they walked into Pidge’s lab. It wasn’t what he was expecting. This was the lab of a decade earlier. The one with the laptop she’d brought from Earth along with the equipment she had either repurposed or built from scratch. It startled him, and he froze in place.

“Keith, seriously, are you ok?”

“I…I don’t know anymore. Everything is wrong. Where is everyone else?”

“Hunk and Shiro are heading back from the abandoned base now. That door just malfunctioned after going so long without maintenance. And there was absolutely nothing important there,” Pidge answered, still focused on her computer screen. She realized part of what he said and turned around. “Wait, what do you mean ‘everything is wrong’?”

“You’re looking at a spatial-temporal anomaly, but it didn’t happen now. There shouldn’t have been one here. I…I think I might be from your future. Or, at least, sort of. I don’t look any different to you, do I?”

“No. You don’t. Get back to the part where you think you're from the future.”

“I don’t know how much I should tell you. I don’t know if it could upset the timeline. But I know when I am now.” He turned to Lance. “It’s been about a month now, right? And we had that talk?”

Lance nodded, trying to understand just what his boyfriend was saying about the future. “Yeah, and we did talk about it. Just a few minutes ago. But if you're from the future, I don’t know if talking about that now will help. It also doesn’t answer the question of if you’re Future Keith, what happened to Present Keith?”

“I don’t know. Best case, he switched places with me. He’ll be confused and probably a little scared, but I know he’s in good hands there. Fuck it feels weird talking about myself in the third person. Have you found out anything about the anomaly here?” he asked Pidge.

“Well, I think so, but I've never seen anything like this before.”

Keith came up behind her, looking over their temporal disruption. It was identical to the one he’d found in his time. He had no question now that he had switched bodies with his 18-year-old self. But at least there were a few things he didn’t need to worry about hiding. He knew he was at least partly Galra at this point. He wouldn’t meet Krolia for a little while, so he would have to keep that one to himself. But it also meant that he hadn’t been through the Quantum Abyss yet. There was no way he could tell them about that without explaining everything. He would have to be subtle with asking about the war.

“I have, but I can’t tell you anything specific. Like where, why, or how. And even knowing what it is, I don’t have your science brain, Pidgey. I have no idea how it works.”

Both Pidge and Lance were staring at him. Not because of what he said, but how he said it. He’d picked up a lot of linguistic quirks from Lance over the years, and no longer gave it any thought at all.

“You sound like Lance,” Pidge said finally.

“We’ve all spent a lot of time together over ten years,” Keith replied, avoiding the real question.

“Sure. What canyou tell me about this?”

Keith pulled Hunk’s usual seat over, sitting beside her. Lance perched on an empty spot of desk space, suddenly wanting to be closer to his boyfriend, or whatever he was at that point.

“It’s specific to a single point in space, but not this one. But that’s the problem. I can’t tell you anything about where it is or what it is because you haven’t gotten there yet. All I can say is that space and time work very differently there due to massive fluctuations in gravity, which is why this doesn’t make any sense.”

“Because there’s something there that affects the gravity in a way that it doesn’t where we found it.”

“Basically. It’s more like what affects gravity there doesn’t exist anywhere else, especially where this anomaly was found. It’s also far smaller here than it should be. Like the difference in scorch marks between Lance’s rifle and Hunk’s autocannon.”

“So, this anomaly is a precise shot, and where it should be is a huge mess,” Lance said.

“Pretty much,” Keith agreed, “But I really can’t tell you about it because there’s something vital to the war there and I don’t know how it would change things if you found out about it now. It wouldn’t be good. There are other players you don’t know about yet.”

Pidge continued typing away at her laptop, the 3D render of the anomaly rotating on the screen. Lance wanted to watch the progress, but he couldn’t focus on it. His attention was solely on Keith. Except for his earlier phrasing, he didn’t think Pidge had picked up on just how different he was. Body language, mannerisms, almost everything had changed in some way except for his physical appearance. And there was one thing Lance had noticed almost immediately after Keith started talking about the anomaly. He was pretty sure Keith wasn’t aware of it, but he had been running his left thumb across the ring finger of the same hand, like there was something missing. Lance thought about bringing it up, but decided not to, heavily suspecting Keith would just say that it was something else he couldn’t talk about.

~*~*~*~

Links to the rest of the series:

1 | 2 | 3* | 4 | 5* | 6* | 7 | 8 | 9* | 10 | 11 | 12* | 13 | 14 | 15* | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19*

[alia-turin]

After me pooling you guys yesterday it was determined that now I need to post that Caranthir fic I have been writing for weeks now and I’m very much unsure about. By popular demand here it comes. It will  be multichapter, it is actually mostly finished but it does need some polishing and final touches, I would try to post at least one chapter per week if not more. Not sure how many chapters will be overall, but I do promise some more Aen Elle action later. Thank you for reading. The fic is kind of a follow up on this story HERE but you don’t have to read it, things will make sense either way.

Fic Title: Somewhere in Time (Chapter 1) Fandom: The Witcher (Aen Elle) Pairing: Caranthir/F/OC Warning: Canon typical violence for this chapter AO3 Link

She could hear noises around that she was not familiar with. The forest had always been silent beside the songs of birds and the occasional animal passing by. Wind or rain, but not that. Footsteps, many of them.

Aine looked through the window, she could see shadows in the distance and hear muffled voices. It wasn’t too stranger for a hunter to find himself that deep in the woods, but it was not usual. Based on the number of voices and steps, that was not just one hunter. Then there was another sound she had not heard in the forest - horses running and dogs howling. She felt fear running through her body, she was alone and that had never scared her, although she had wondered what she would do if someone was to come and try and harm her. For five years that has not been something that never happened, nor she had reason to think it might actually happen. She ran to the door to make sure it was locked and that was when the screams started. Those were not animal screams, those were elven or human voices wrapped in fear. She stepped back from there as if being away would stop the horrible picture that was growing in her head and disappear, but that did not change, it just became louder and more violent.

She made another step backwards when something hit the door. It sounded as if a tree trunk was thrown against it. Another hit and she jumped, as it happened, on the third hit the door fell open. Her breath stuck in her throat when she saw what came through the door. What she assumed was a man was dressed in armor taller and larger than any elf or human she had seen.

“You are a pretty one.” he said as he walked toward her, she could not see his face as he was wearing a helmet but Aine could swear she could hear a chuckle even if whatever rational part of her brain was working told her that was not possible. She tried to run away, right through her table, but as soon as she turned her back on him he grabbed her by the hair and yanked her toward himself. She screamed, she tried to reach for his grip, but her nails painfully dug in his armor. He dragged her out of the house as if she was nothing, his grip pulling cruelly on her hair, her legs trying to keep her somewhat standing, but that failed. She was just a rag doll, she could feel her clothes tearing as they rubbed against dirt and stone, her skin started burning.

Caranthir dismounted his horse in the midst of the chaos. Humans were screaming around him, dogs howling and the smell of blood filled his head like a long needed drug. Part of him felt pity for the forest being disturbed by the sounds of violence, but it was going to be over soon. When they captured the escaped humans he could just open a portal to Tir na Lia and they will be done with that pitiful task. He looked around as their men were already lining the humans next to a small wooden house. Strange, he had not been that far in the woods recently, but a house here? It looked more like an old hunting lodge, a very small one, maybe that is why it was abandoned. It wasn’t too far from the nearest town, but it wasn’t close either. As he was musing over the place he saw Imlerith march from the entrance, dragging someone after himself. A woman, she couldn’t keep her balance, her legs and feet were just trying to keep up with the mountain of a man that was pulling her. At first Caranthir ignored it, that was not something that caught his attention anymore, Imlerith can do whatever. He was about to walk away, he didn’t need to see that, although he was going to hear about it no matter if he wanted or not. That woman better preyed for quick death as he was sure Imlerith won’t show an ounce of mercy. Then something caught his attention. Caranthir turned very slowly and just now noticed what Imlerith was dragging. The first thing he saw was the bundle of red hair in the man’s fist, a spark of green eyes with delicate features.

It couldn’t be. Memories rolled in his mind like an avalanche.

He rushed toward Imlerith, he was in fact running, but he realized that only after he reached the other man.

“Stop.” he placed a hand on Imlerith’s shoulder. He was sitting on top of her already, her body looked so small and fragile compared to him. “Stop!” he repeated louder and Imlerith did stop, he couldn’t see his face because of the helmet but he could imagine the annoyance. Foolish of Caranthir to stay between a beast and his prey.

“Want to join?” Imlerith tilted his head, the woman tried to push him off herself, silly girl, even Caranthir wasn’t sure if he would be able to move the other man if he was in her place.

Caranthir didn’t say a thing, he was struggling with his own confusion, she was nothing to him, just some girl that for a second brough painful memories to his mind, but he knew it wasn’t her, so why did he even bother what happened?

“We don’t have time for that.” Was the first thing that came to Caranthri’s mind. They had time for...everything they were not running on a schedule, that could take them days if they wanted to no one was going to tell them a thing.

“You want her for yourself.” Imlerith started laughing. He pushed himself up and stepped away. “Go on then.”

The girl saw her chance and tried to run, but Caranthir used his staff to trip her, she fell face down, and he pressed his foot on her lower back so she couldn’t escape. Imlerith walked away laughing as if he just witnessed a hilarious joke. It was a joke just not a very funny one.

“Please…” the woman pleaded as he moved his foot off and knelt next to her. He grabbed her face, his armoured hand gripping her jaw hard and forcing her to look at him.

He observed her carefully, hair was the same blood red color, but that was about where the similarities ended. Two very different women, not much in common between them, his mind was playing tricks on him, she was dead while the girl in his hand was very much alive. It wasn’t her obviously, but why was he so bothered? She was pretty, very pretty. Half human half elf, frame was smaller and shorter, more human, but even frozen with fear it had the Aen Elle grace. Her face was also just a mix of both races, still beautiful despite the tears and then there were the eyes. Once upon a time he had tried to figure out how exactly Avallac’h had made him. He read about so many genetic oddities, including the mismatching eye colors, a rarity, certainly just nature doing its thing in her case, unlike all the malformations on his body. Then he sensed something he had missed before. He tilted his head to the side and smiled. “You can use magic.” it wasn’t a question.. Her tears had stopped, but she still looked at him like a doe that was about to be devoured by wolves. “You should have defended yourself.”

She continued to look at him with these scared eyes and for a second time today he had to fight with his own mind. Part of him wanted to end her here, she was half human, humans should not be allowed anywhere near magic, they were too weak. But she was also Aen Elle. Even more importantly something in his chest was feeling so tight that it almost hurt physically. That was stupid. She was dead, that was just some random girl Imlerith dragged out of nowhere.

“Caranthir!” it was Imlerith shouting somewhere behind him, but he ignored him. He had to decide what to do. She wasn’t one of the humans they were hunting; he knew that, but he could not leave her here either. Half human, half elf with magic, that she probably didn’t know how to control, otherwise Imlerith would have had a very bad day. No, it was irresponsible to leave her here. Too dangerous.

“You will be coming with me.” as soon as he said that she tried to pull away from his grip but he was holding her jaw firm if she yanked any harder she was more likely to break it than run away from him. Caranthir released his grip for a second, but then moved his hand to her throat, her neck so small in his hold, he could probably break it with little effort. He got up, pulling her with himself, she choked, fighting for breath even if he did not think he was holding her too hard. She tried to say something but the words just didn’t come.

He started opening portals to Tir na Lia, as he watched her lose consciousness.

When she woke up she was lying on a cold stone. She wanted to believe everything that had happened was just a nightmare, but her surroundings hinted to the opposite. Aine lifted herself up slowly, her legs and back were burning from the way the stone and earth had scratched them. Standing all the way seemed like a difficult task but she did it. She was in a room, certainly not one she had ever seen before. There was a bed, table with a couple of chairs, a chest of drawers and a window to the far end. The space was almost as large as the log cabin where she lived. Floors and walls were solid stone and all the furniture was dark old wood. She walked slowly to the window, that should help her figure out where she was. Even that little walk, no more than 3 feet, was painful. Her knees have been badly bruised and every attempt to bend them was just jolts of pain and discomfort. Slowly she made her way and all she could do was stare. Tir na Lia, that was where she was, she knew the city, but she has never seen it from that point, that high up...she must be in the castle. Fear ran down her spine, why was she alive and why was she here…

That was when the door opened and Aine turned not sure she wanted to face whatever might come from there. A man walked in, taller than her, but that wasn’t really a surprise, being only half elf almost everyone was taller than her, even some humans. The elf started walking toward her and she pressed her back against the wall wishing she had more space to avoid him. It took him just a couple of steps to get to her and he grabbed her throat, painful from this morning, using his fingers to turn her head left and right as if observing a horse he was about to buy. She was terrified. Her heart was beating hundreds of kilometers per hour and she could barely breath and the reason was not his hand on her neck. His touch was almost gentle if anything in this situation could be gentle. Even from the weird angle her head was turned she could see his face. Pale hair and cold eyes, tattoos were crawling on his neck and disappearing under the furs of his cloak. Terrible scars were covering half of his face which despite the strands of hair over them she could see.

Caranthir looked at the marks his gauntlet had left around her throat, the skin already turning blue and purple. That was uncalled for, he could have been more careful. On the other hand why did he even bother about some half bred mutt? He should have broken her neck in the woods and ended it there. Instead he had taken her in Tir na Lia, for what? Because she reminded him of someone he had lost so many years ago that he could barely recall her face? But he did not need to remember the face, he remembered the feeling. Mostly the hate he felt when he lost her, the need to destroy and hurt, but when he saw this half-breed’s face something else made him stop. A feeling he had buried so deep in himself that he did not even know it existed anymore. A need he had convinced himself over so many years to be childish and unnecessary. He was imagining things, he was overthinking it.

“Please...let me go…” her voice came through broken, he couldn’t determine if it was the fear or the fact he had hurt her too bad this morning.

“Cannot let half human mage just roam around Tir na Lia.” his answer was not that much directed at her, he had no interest in her plea, it was mostly a thought he vocalized. That was too dangerous. But if that was dangerous, why was he unable to just kill her? All he had to do is snap her neck as he was holding her, push her through the window next to them, or any manner of magic that he could think about. No, not unable, he was more than able. Unwilling. His mind was conflicted for unknown reasons and all he could do was stare at her. The long red hair, complete mess from Imlerith dragging her in the woods, her face dirty but still beautiful and the mismatching eyes - green and brown. Somehow she also looked equally Aen Elle and human. When he tried to point to a future that was more human to convince himself that she is nothing but a cockroach that needs to be killed, he would find something that made her look as elven as he was.

“I’m not a mage…” there were no tears in her eyes but her voice sounded more like a cry than anything else.

Caranthir did not comment on that, he knew what he was feeling, magic is one of the things he knew better than anyone. She was either lying to him or she was not aware she had powers. But she had....she was not as old as he was, definitely much younger but an adult nonetheless. She should have felt something or done something that would make her experience the power she had no matter how weak it might be.

“Ever moved an object that you couldn’t reach but it somehow ended up in your hand?” she shook her head at the question. “Ever destroyed something just with thought in a fit of anger?” again shaking for no. “Ever had a dream that became true?” Again no.

He wasn’t wrong. That started bothering him and he could feel an obsession growing in him. He had to figure that out. He removed his hand from her throat and ran a finger through her cheek, wet with tears. She was beautiful. Not like her, it was a different sort of beauty, less...polished. Caranthir was hurting and felt excited at the same time, it had been years since something could provoke so many strong emotions in him.

“I will ask someone to bring you food and new clothes.” he stepped back just to see her frame visibly sink in relief. He knew he had that effect on people but somehow he felt a bit disappointed. He could have done worse, much worse.

[sephirothisaslut]

Hypocratic Oath

(Featuring doctor/researcher!Cloud)

Cloud was 8 when he first found the library in the Nibelheim Mansion.

Through his childhood, Cloud often stayed in the mansion. Hiding from bullies, staying the day to pass time, or just simply to explore. No one would bother him here. All the kids think the place haunted, and all the adults fear it just as much. It made the perfect place to relax or hide.

Cloud thought he had already seen every nook and crany in the mansion. But was surprised when he found a library full of scientific text. It's doors made to look like any other wall, making it hard to spot.

There arent much books in Nibelheim. There's a library in the school, but it can more accurately be described as a classroom full of books instead of a proper library. And it's not like the custodian would let him in.

So as soon as Cloud entered, he immediately started reading.

At first, Cloud was very confused. He had a very limited understanding and comprehension of the text. But even from the little information he was able to gather, he was able to piece together the horrifying things ShinRa has done.

It spooked him so much, it took him a full week till he decided to read more.

He read them all. Project S, Jenova, and Sephiroth.

At that time, Cloud didn't know who this Sephiroth is. All he knows is that he must have led a painfull life.

-------

Cloud was 10 when he first saw Sephiroth on the television.

A general leading a war.... A fourteen year old general.

His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Cloud's mother immediately noticed this.

"Cloudy you look pale, are you ok?" Claudia stroked her son's forehead, looking for any sign of fever.

"Y-yeah I'm good" Cloud managed to hide his shock.

"Really?"

"Yes ma. Really"

That night, Cloud thought of how it must have felt. His mother is warm and kind, he'd feel lonely without her. He wondered if Sephiroth felt any semblance of kindness or tenderness in his life.

The very next morning, he immediately raced to the mansion to find more. To find answers.

He found his answers in the form of Vincent Valentine.

He almost quite literally fell on him.

The man loomed over Cloud. His glowing red eyes and equally blood red cape screamed 'vampire'. And Cloud was rightly frightened so.

"What are you doing here child?" The man said with a glare.

"T-the library! Sephiroth- I mean-"

"What do you know about Sephiroth?" The man demanded.

Cloud stiffened both in fear and surprise. His face draining of color. The tall man seemed to notice this, and slowly crouched down to Cloud's level, now attempting to look non threatening.

"I'm sorry if I scared you, but can you tell me about Sephiroth?" The man asked kindly.

Cloud only nodded, his fear slowly evaporating. "I can show you the library" he said quietly.

"Take me there? Please?" The man asked almost desperately.

Cloud just nodded again, and took the stranger by his hand and led him to the hole he fell in.

Vincent looked at the child. How curious that this kid would choose to guide him by his misshapen hand.

"I'm Cloud. Cloud Strife" the child said in a shy tone.

"Vincent Valentine"

The child's small smile made him think there's hope for him yet.

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

Years passed and Cloud and Vincent's friendship grew.

Vincent was able to teach Cloud a number of things. He helped him comprehend the numerous scientific texts in the library, and even taught him about science and self-defence.

Vincent also helped distinguish truth from lie.

Cloud learned the truth of Sephiroth's true mother. How a scientist named Hojo betrayed them, and what he did to Vincent. In turn, Cloud told Vincent about Sephiroth's role as general, frequently updating him on the situation in Wutai. And sometimes bringing him home cooked meals.

With Vincent's tutoring and the library's numerous texts, Cloud grew smarter. He read because of curiousity. But now read to learn. This brought him to the top of his class, sparking an interest in biology and science. Though this didn't change the town's view on the Strifes.

His Ma, on the other hand, felt proud. And so did he.

-----

Cloud was 14 when he decided to go to Midgar.

Not to be a SOLDIER, no. But to be a Doctor.

After learning all those things about how SOLDIER was made, he couldn't stomach possibly being one.

It was a week after his birthday that he decided he'd help Vincent in any way he can. At first, Vincent disagreed. Saying it'll be dangerous, and that he'd be safer away from him. But Cloud is stubborn and fierce. There's a reason they're called Strife.

So, after some reluctance, Vincent eventually agreed.

Cloud is but a child. He's abysmal at fighting, and his aim with a gun is barely passable. The Turks wont suit him, and neither will SOLDIER. The only thing he has is his intelligence.

So Cloud steeled himself, and made the decision to join ShinRa's Science Department. Bringing him closer to Hojo, and by extension, Sephiroth.

"Oh my little raincloud, I'm going to miss you!" Claudia hugged her son. Silently praying to Odin for a safe journey, and thanking him for blessing her with Cloud.

"I'll miss you too ma." Cloud said, hugging back. Who would have thought that his grades would be enough to grant him a ShinRa Science Program Scholarship.

With a wave goodbye to his mother, Cloud Strife set out into the harsh world.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

"Professor Hojo, the President want's to see you" Cloud said behind the man.

The greasy scientist only tisked. And angrily dumped his clip board on Cloud.

"Keep track of the the data. Do not take your eyes off the specimen" Hojo snapped.

Cloud held back a snarky remark and politely nodded instead.

He looked down into the enclosure. The creature thrashing around in it's own blood. Choking on the mako gas.

He only continued to record data.

-----

"I'm Zack Fair! SOLDIER extroidinaire!" The newest SOLDIER First Class saluted at Cloud. His cheery smile a stark contrast to the rubble behind him.

Cloud had headed out in civilian clothing hoping to meet up with Vincent and Aerith. (Aerith was scared of him at first, learning that he apparently worked for Hojo).But instead somehow got caught in an AVALANCHE explosion.

"Name's Cloud. Cloud Strife" He somehow was reminded of a puppy as he studied Zack.

"Oh! You're Aerith's friend!" Zack shook his hand enthusiastically.

"And you're her boyfriend"

"Yup."

"You know as her friend, I'm obligated to say: if you break her heart, I will break you"

"Yeah yeah I know the drill"

Cloud only smiled at the raven-haired puppy's antics.

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

Two dark figures walked through the dark alleyways of the slums.

The smaller one knocked on the door of a closed bar.

"It's me"

The door opened and the pair walked in.

Both of them shedding their cloaks revealing two SOLDIER First Class.

"Ok he's here now explain" Zack sat on a stool facing the rest of the room.

Angeal and Genesis are there. So is Aerith and Vincent.

"Yes, do explain. As I recall, you two told me that you'd 'never show you faces' to me ever again." Sephritoh said, clearly hurt from Genesis and Angeal's defection.

"Seph, please wait-"

"I did my waiting Genesis! Now explain before I leave."

"They were dying" Vincent said from the corner of the room. "The J-cells they had were degrading"

"And how did you cure this? Even Hollander couldn't save them." Sephiroth asked suspiciously, still mad from the previous interaction. "Unless you asked Hojo"

"Before we do, we need to talk about Jenova-" Angeal was cut off by Sephiroth.

"We can do that later. Now answer my question."

Both Zack and Sephiroth looked at the group expectantly. There is weight to Sephiroth's words.

"I cured them" a voice from the door suddenly said.

"You" Sephiroth hissed.

"Cloud?" Zack gasped.

"I work for Hojo. I'm his primary assistant"

"What?" Zack tensed

"And you trust this man?" Sephiroth turned to Genesis and Angeal, gesturing to Cloud.

"Will you stop and listen!" Cloud snapped. "Listen here you pompous asshole, I risked my ass making you three that cure in Hojo's lab!"

"Wait three-"

"Yes, three. As in even Sephiroth needed one. So you better sit down and listen to what we have to say" Cloud growled, staring Sephiroth down. Daring him to say something.

As the silence permeated, Angeal cleared his throat, as if to ask permittion to continue.

"It started with Jenova"

------

They burned the Nibelheim reactor to the ground.

Sephiroth and Zack defected with Genesis, taking with them the rest of SOLDIER and a bulk of the infantry division.

They recruited Tifa on the way. Along with Yuffie -a Wutainese ninja, Cid - a pilot with a penchant for tea, and Nanaki -one of Hojo's specimens that Cloud helped escape, and AVALANCHE.

Cloud stayed in ShinRa as their spy.

But ever so often, he'd still meet with his friends just to chat or drink.

"Strife"

Cloud looked at Sephiroth questioningly. "What can I do for you?"

Sephiroth almost looked bashfull. His body language looked shy.

"I would-... I would like to thank you"

"For what"

"For...everything, I suppose" If the Silver General could blush, then he might have been now.

Cloud's breath hitched. "You're Welcome, General"

"Please, call me Sephiroth"

"Well then, call me Cloud. Sephiroth"

That day, Zack endlessly teased Sephiroth about his tiny smile.

---------

Cloud tended to Sephiroth's wounds. Careful to make sure it didn't hurt the man any more than necessary.

"You really need to take care of yourself"

"I'm fine"

Cloud sighed, "Sephiroth, you're still human. You need rest."

"After what Hojo did, I'm surprised you can still call me human" Sephiroth said bitterly.

Cloud grasped the man's shoulder, turning the general to face him.

"Sephiroth. Look at me" Cloud asked sternly. "You're as human as everyone as us"

"But-"

"Humanity isn't determined by your genetics, you know that" Cloud gently insisted.

"I-...Thank you" Sephiroth whispered, sounding broken.

That made Cloud realize how much Sephiroth must have wanted to hear that.

To hear confirmation of his humanity.

--------

It took several aching years till they finally took over ShinRa.

SOLDIER readily supported their generals, and the Turks soon defected after Veld and Vincent told them everything.

It didn't take long for Hojo to fall, and ShinRa to be taken over by Rufus.

Scarlett, Heidegger, Palmer, and even Hollander died. All of them officially coincidentally died of heart attacks. Confirmed by the new head of the Science Department himself.

"We finally did it huh?" Cloud leaned against Sephiroth's shoulders.

"Hmm, you think this will work?" Sephiroth moved to wrap his hands around Cloud.

"Well me and Reeve are working on alternate energy sources right now. It should be fine"

Sephiroth nuzzled Cloud's neck. "For now we should rest"

Cloud sighed into their embrace. "Yeah...we should"

(Loosely based on Professor Strife)

[theprinceofflies]

Dapperstache summoning au part two!!

Warnings: Blood, Murder, inuendos.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The door opened with a bang. Jameson jumped and peered over his book as Wilford strode into the room muttering something under his breath. He kicked the door closed and walked over to the other side of the room. He leaned against the window, taking deep breaths. Jameson hopped out of his chair and approached the demon carefully. He wrapped his arms around Wilford's waist. Wilford sighed and looked at Jameson. His eyes softened as he stared into his boyfriend's blue eyes. "I had a bad day," he whispered.

Jameson smiled and nuzzled into Wilford's shoulder. Wilford smiled softly, leaning back. "I missed you," he said, turning around to hug Jameson.

"You were gone for six hours," Wilford groaned and pressed his face into Jameson's neck. "Too long."

Jameson smiled as Wilford's moustache tickled his neck. He silently giggled when his boyfriend pressed open mouth kisses up and down his neck. Wilford paused for a moment. "Did I ever tell you how pretty my mark looks on you?"

Jameson rolled his eyes and nodded.

Wilford was a higher demon, as he assisted the lord of the west side of hell. When Jameson had gaped at the mansion that he apparently lived in Wilford had laughed. "I usually don't get summoned. It must have been a very good book."

Jameson had just nodded. The mark had been given two him two days after he arrived when a servant girl had tried to kiss him. Jameson still insisted that she wanted to eat him rather than make out with him but Wilford would have killed her either way.

After that Wilford had pressed Jameson against the wall and markered him. It wasn't really flashy, just a squeeze to the throat and burning. Or that's what Jameson felt at least. It wasn't like being branded, it was warm and comforting. Pleasurable even. After that, he had been out of commission for two hours. Wilford had explained that it was a bunch of fancy genetics and biology he didn't care to explain. Of course, Jameson had read at least three books on it later.

Jameson's soul wasn't attached to his body anymore. His body was still on earth, dead. Though he had a body here it was solid and he could definitely feel things. From what he could understand Wilford could control his every move and thought. He never did though. His soul had basically rewritten itself or something along those lines.

The mark itself was almost a fancy W with a curled moustache though it. Jameson gasped when Wilford kissed it. It was extremely sensitive and Wilford loved it. "How was your day?" Wilford asked, pulling away.

Jameson shook his head, trying to recover enough to get his train of thought back. I found a new book in the library. Wilford nodded. I also ran into the hive.

Wilford giggled. There was a group of children in the mansion who everyone called the hive. Some were children of powerful demons and others were humans who had been bargained for things. The children adored Jameson who had become their unofficial caretaker of sorts. Of course, only the children had a say in that.

At one point the head of soul transactions had tried to replace Jameson with an actual nanny. This had resulted in a full-scale war. Paperwork was destroyed, the mail was burned and food had been poisoned. After that, no one had tried to replace Jameson. Of course, the head of soul transactions had refused to make anything official.

Jameson usually laughed and shook his head at this. Jameson cared immensely for the children and could never actually scold them. He always sat back as the children wreaked havoc, favouring reading to trying to put a stop to anything. Of course, he did reprimand them from time to time when they decided to bug Dark, who was usually holed up in his office calling or texting his mystery lover.

"What did they do this time?"

Stole sweets from the chef and tried to prank the Host. I stopped them.

Wilford laughed. "The Host is scary when someone makes him mad, let alone touches his books. I'm surprised you can take them."

I don't spill jam on them.

"It was one time." Wilford cried.

Jameson unhooked Wilford's arms from his waist and walked over to the bed. Tired come cuddle.

Wilford grinned. "What if I don't want to?"

Jameson shrugged. Fine but I won't kiss you for a week.

Wilford scoffed. "You wouldn't."

Jameson smiled, seeming to consider the idea. Wilford laughed and walked over to his boyfriend. He wrapped his arms around Jameson's waist and rolled onto the bed. Better?

Wilford hummed in agreement. "I wish you could stay with me."

That bad?

"Dark made me sit with him judging souls. He got a call from his boyfriend halfway through and left me to deal with them," he mumbled.

Sounds awful.

"Oh, they beg for me to send 'em to heaven and all that. I can't do that. The reasoning is so boring too. Oh, I've been good. I've always worshipped God. Well, I'm sorry to say you were a major homophobe who burned down someone's house. Or paedophiles and rapists wondering what they did. I used to be in charge of torture here. A lot more fun. Whips..." Wilford trailed off.

Jameson shifted so that he was laying on Wilford's chest. "Are you going to fall asleep on me?"

Jameson went limp. Wilford rolled his eyes, running his fingers through Jamesons hair. "I will never understand how you do that." He muttered, snapping his fingers to turn out the light and closing his eyes.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

"You!"

Jameson turned around to see what the shouting was about. An orange-haired demon was glaring and pointing at Jameson. Jameson pointed at himself and cocked his head to the side. "Yes, you!" The other shouted.

The demon in front of Jameson walked toward him quickly. Jameson looked around to see that he was the only one standing in the hallway. He groaned internally knowing if the demon chose to attack him he wouldn't be able to fight back. Jameson could stand up for himself but he had to admit in a match of strength he would fail every time.

Jameson took a step back eyeing the demon warily. "What do you think you're doing here pet?" The demon hissed.

Jameson flinched at the word pet. It's what other demons called their humans or lost souls. Jameson waved a book he had gotten from The Host. Usually when he did this demons would leave him alone. The Host never parted with his books and if he did then that person was protected. Lest you want to be narrated into oblivion. This demon however wasn't getting the hint.

The demon stood in front of Jameson so that they were almost chest to chest. Their eyes narrowed when Jameson didn't cower. Jameson tilted his neck to show the demon his mark. The demon scoffed. "I knew you were a pet but I didn't think you were a bratty one." The demon smirked. "I'm sure your owner would mind if I showed you a little discipline."

The demon sunk its knife into Jameson's side or tried to. Jameson seemed to melt into a teal mist. The book that was in Jamesons hands fell to the floor with a thud. The mist floated to an area behind the orange-haired demon. The demon turned around quickly. Wilford stood only a couple meters from him holding an orb that seemed to be made of the same smoke from before. "You must be new here," he growled, his eyes flashing red.

The demon gulped and took a step back. "I don't know where you're from but here we don't touch each other's pets!" he spat the last word out as though it disgusted him.

The demon hung their head and stepped back. "Apologies, sir, I didn't think he belonged to you."

Wilford giggled. "Didn't think he belonged to me?"

The demon blinked and suddenly Wilford was standing in front of him. He wrenched the knife from the smaller demon's hand and thrust it into their chest. "Here's a lesson," He whispered, "don't," he twisted the knife, "touch things," he pulled it from their chest, "that doesn't belong to you," he growled and dropped the knife next to the book.

The demon fell backwards, dissolving into a puddle of black tar. Wilford picked up Jameson's book and turned around. A small child peeked around the corner and stared at him. He had blonde hair and blue eyes with small bat-like wings sprouting from his back. "Is Mr. Jameson ok?" he whispered.

Wilford nodded. "Oh he's right as rain but I'm sure he'll be mad at me for a little while." The child nodded and gestured behind him.

Two other children walked out and around the corner. One looked very human, he had on a tie and glasses as he glared at the other two. The other had two foxtails and fox-like ears. Her amber eyes shined as she stared at the orb in Wilford's hands. The human-looking one stepped forward. "Daddy doesn't like it when mommy does that for a long time, you should let him go."

Wilford nodded and dropped the orb to the ground. It shattered on impact as the mist swirled around condensing in the air. Jameson appeared and looked around. He took a step forward and collapsed. Wilford quickly caught him before he hit the ground. Jameson glared at the pink demon. I hate it when you do that.

Wilford giggled quietly. "I knew you would sign that."

Jameson shook himself off and tried to stand again. Wilford giggled and picked him up, holding him in his arms. Jameson glared at him. Wilford handed him the book so he could hold onto Jameson better. "I know that you can fend for yourself and I love you for that, however you literally can not stand."

Jameson sighed and leaned against him. Wilford smiled at the kids. "Run along now I'll take care of Jameson.

The fox tailed child glared at him, her tail twitching. "You'd better."

Wilford laughed. "I will."

Jameson waved at the kids as both he and Wilford vanished in a puff of smoke.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Jameson flipped a page in his book. He was sitting in bed, his legs still felt numb, he tried to ignore them and continued to read. Wilford walked in with a teacup. "I got tea.''

Jameson looked up from his book and smiled. "Are you doing all right?" Jameson nodded and Wilford sucked in a breath, placing a hand on his heart. "Oh thank satan."

Jameson placed the book next to him and held out a hand for the cup. Wilford handed it to him and hopped onto the bed. He kissed Jameson on the cheek and laid on top of him. He pressed his face against Jameson's middle and sighed. "I'm sorry my love," he mumbled.

Jameson ran his fingers through Wilford's hair. Wilford raised his head and stared at him. Jameson smiled softly. "What did I do to deserve you?"

Jameson took a sip of his tea and placed it on the bedside table. He gestured at Wilford to come closer. Wilford dragged himself up so he could nuzzle into Jameson's neck. Jameson pushed him away gently. I think it's more what did I do to deserve you?

Wilford laughed. "You deserve everything."

You've given me everything.

Wilford's eyes glowed red. "Oh, my blue jay."

Jameson shivered. "You have such a way with words." he purred. Jameson flushed. Wilford shook his head quickly. He groaned. "Sorry love."

Jameson giggled. I am not afraid of you.

Wilford traced the mark on Jameson's neck. "I love you."

Jameson nodded. I love you.

Wilford giggled. "I'll fuck your brains out when you can feel your legs again," he whispered and laid back down on top of Jameson.

Jameson rolled his eyes. Two days without being able to feel my legs.

"Problem?"

Jameson shook his head and shifted so he was laying on the bed. Wilford snapped his fingers and the lights turned out. Jameson quickly fell into the arms of sleep. Wilford grinned and raised his head. He watched his boyfriend, red eyes glowing in the dark. "I love you so much, no ones going to take you away from me."

[plainbrunettelbl]

(Shifter AU) Panther Aizawa Shota x Bobcat Reader x Lion Yamada Hizashi (Chapter Two)

Word count: 4465

Warnings: None

Title: (Shifter AU) Panther Aizawa Shota x Bobcat Reader x Lion Yamada Hizashi (Chapter Two)

Summary: You get started at your new job and hang out with the duo a bit more. 

(gif not mine) 

💤🎤-You had been nervous going into the interview. You put on your best clothes and walked your way into the interview room. As soon as you pulled up to the building you instantly knew why their previous assistant was throwing themselves at them. 

💤🎤-The building was huge and elegant. The blue glass building sparkled brilliantly against all the other stone ones. They clearly had money lining their pockets. You felt a little intimidated now that you knew they had money. 

💤🎤-You had exchanged numbers with them when they dropped you off the other day but you hadn’t texted with them much. Hizashi would text you songs that he really liked and wanted you to listen to. Shota would constantly ask if you were eating enough. 

💤🎤-They were both sweet. You were glad to have met them, they seemed to be looking out for you. It was comforting considering you had no one else in this town to talk to. 

💤🎤-You walked into the interview and gave it your best. 

💤🎤-Now, a few days later, you were waiting by your laptop to see if they emailed you telling you got the job. The stress alone was gonna cause a shift. You were lounging in a soft white shirt and pajama shorts. 

💤🎤-You were laying on your bed on your stomach refreshing your inbox every few minutes. You really hoped you got the job. You tried to distract yourself with reading comics on your phone but it was no use.   

💤🎤-Finally, your laptop chimed. We are glad to inform you that...

💤🎤-You squealed, excitedly bouncing around on your bed. You quickly shot off a text to your new bosses saying you were looking forward to working with them. They congratulated you and wanted to see if you would like to go to dinner to celebrate. 

💤🎤-You were more than happy to agree. Your bobcat missed the big felines. 

***

💤🎤-They had picked you up thirty minutes after they had texted you about getting dinner to celebrate they had pulled up to your apartment complex. It was in a decent neighborhood so they were both relieved. 

💤🎤-They didn’t get to come up and get you at your door. You had walked down your two flights of stairs before they could get out of their expensive black car. It was a shame. They wanted to sniff out what shifters lived there. 

💤🎤-They shot you smiles when you climbed into the car. 

💤🎤-“Hey, Y/N! I  swear thought Shota would bite my head off before we found your place. The man gets grumpy if he doesn’t get fed every few hours.” Zashi leaned over in the driver’s seat ignoring his mates glare. 

💤🎤-“I was not about to bite your head off. I was simply telling you that we could have gotten here faster if you took the turns I was telling you to take.” He grumbled, shooting his mate a look before turning around to greet you. 

💤🎤-“Hello, Y/N.” He calmly greeted, sending you a gentle look. 

💤🎤-“Hey guys! I am so happy to hang out again. I was going crazy in my apartment.” You chuckled, leaning up against the leather seat and buckling yourself in. 

💤🎤-“We were talking about that. We were wondering if you wanted to spend the night at the cabin this weekend to shift a bit and show you the ropes. I may not be the best at tree climbing but Shota is an expert at it.” Zashi pulled out of your apartment complex and headed towards the restaurant they had picked out. 

💤🎤-You made small talk the rest of the drive but soon you were pulling up to a burger joint. It was not something you expected them to bring you to considering their wealth but you were glad. 

💤🎤-You didn’t want to make a fool of yourself if they took you somewhere fancy and you didn’t know which fork was the right one to eat with. Soon you were sat in a big red booth looking over the menu. 

💤🎤-“What do you usually get?” You asked, peering over the big menu to look at them. 

💤🎤-“I usually the deluxe cheeseburger with a side of fries. They have onion rings as well. They have a great dipping sauce here for them.” Zashi hummed, sipping on the cola the waiter had already brought over. 

💤🎤-You had a Sprite, Shota ordered a sweet tea. 

💤🎤-“That does sound good, I could go for some onion rings right now. And you?” You turned to the dark-haired male, his obsidian eyes met yours. 

💤🎤-“I usually get the mushroom Swiss burger with onion rings. Zashi is right, the dipping sauce they make here is really good.” He agreed, leaning back in his booth and stretching. 

💤🎤-Shota was wearing a black turtleneck shirt with matching black jeans. Zashi was wearing a white band t-shirt with ripped jeans. It was not something you expected to see them wearing taking into account their wealth. 

💤🎤-You thought it was refreshing that they didn’t flaunt their money. 

💤🎤-“Mmm. The cheeseburger sounds good. I’ll get that and some onion rings.” You put the menu down and looked over at them. 

💤🎤-“So how are you guys doing?” You asked, taking a sip of your soda. 

💤🎤-“Work had me running wild this week. I do some of the designs for our company and things kept getting messed up and delayed.” Zashi sighed, rubbing his head. 

💤🎤-Shota scoffed, twirling his straw in his drink. 

💤🎤-“You only had so many problems because your office is a mess. I swear every time I go in there it is a even bigger mess.” He scolded, siding eyeing his blond mate. 

💤🎤-“It’s an organized mess! Just how I like it!” Zashi defended, moving his hands around to get his point across. 

💤🎤-You just smiled at their loving banter. They made a nice couple. Soon the waiter came by and took your orders. Even sooner a huge burger and pile of onion rings were sat down in front of you. 

💤🎤-Your eyes couldn’t have gotten any bigger. 

💤🎤-“You could have told me the serving sizes were huge! I don’t even know if I can finish half of this.” You gasped, looking at your mountain of onion rings. There had to a least be two full-sized onions on your plate for you to have that much. 

💤🎤-The burger had to be held up by a wooden stick so it didn’t collapse onto itself. 

💤🎤-Zashi had already taken a fry and started munching on it. His golden eyes taking in your shocked face. He suppressed a grin that wanted to crawl on his face. He imagined your bobcat making the same expression when you saw his form. 

💤🎤-You still didn’t know what type of shifter he was. 

💤🎤-“We already told you that you should be eating more. This seems like a lot but once you start eating it disappears fast. Even if you can’t eat it all, I am sure me and Zashi would be more than happy to finish off what you can’t.” Shota reassured, holding his big burger with two hands.  

💤🎤-You meekly nodded before picking up an onion ring. You bit into it with a crunch and it was like your plate was suddenly half empty. You were down half a burger and onion rings. 

💤🎤-Once again your eyes widened. 

💤🎤-“Sho, she is too cute. She reminds me of when I was a teen and my appetite had just started to pick up as well.” Zashi nudged his stoic mate. 

💤🎤-You had caught his words and lifted your head. 

💤🎤-“You both were born shifters right? What’s it like growing up? Do you have any pictures of when you were cubs? Oh, I bet you were adorable when you were little!” You excitedly rambled, already picturing Shota as a panther cub.  

💤🎤-Zashi’s mood immediately dampened, he scowled at his mate. Shota already knew why he was getting a dirty look from his mate. 

💤🎤-“I wouldn’t know. Sho refused to show me a picture of him as a cub. Even though I showed him a picture of me when I was a scrawny cub.” Zashi huffed, he reached over and stole an onion ring from his mate just to irritate him. 

💤🎤-He didn’t even like onion rings. 

💤🎤-“What is so important about seeing me as a cub? I don’t see a reason in showing you.” Shota rolled his eyes, letting his mate take more onion rings off his plate. 

💤🎤-“What’s the difference between a shifter and a turned one like me?” You asked, taking a sip of your Sprite. 

💤🎤-“There is not really much of a difference. We are born and can shift when we turn about eight or so. Since you are turned that is a bit different. Right now your bobcat is still in its early stages.” Zashi explained, taking on a serious tone. 

💤🎤-“It is a bit dangerous for someone to be turned. For one, not everyone who is bitten lives through the change. A lot of genetic makeup is twisted around so some people can’t handle that and die.” His golden eyes took on a metal-like coldness. 

💤🎤-His lion was unsettled at the thought of never meeting you if your body had not accepted the change. 

💤🎤-“Shifters are not supposed to turn humans because of the chance that they might die. You are only allowed to change someone when you are taking them as your mate.” He paused, looking over at you to see if you were understanding. 

💤🎤-Shota picked up from there. 

💤🎤-“Since Hizashi is already a shifter I didn’t need to do this but a shifter would have to bite their human mate in order to turn them. It is a bit more detailed but basically a mating bite is unique since has a zero percent chance of the person dying while their body undergoes the change.” Shota continued, eyeing his mate, love clear in his eyes. 

💤🎤-They still carried each others mating bites on their necks to show other shifters that they are mated. A little of their scent mingled in each others just to push their status as taken. 

💤🎤-“So I was bitten and since my body was about to handle the change I survived. What do you mean when you say my bobcat is still in its early stages?” You asked, putting your elbows on the table and leaning on your clasped hands.

💤🎤-“It basically means that your animal half is not fully mature yet. You seemed a bit on the smaller side when we found you so that is why we assumed you were a cub. Your mannerisms also led us to believe you were a lot younger than what you are.” Zashi answered, remembering the way you rubbed up against him without a second thought. 

💤🎤-He shuddered at the thought of you rubbing up against a bear shifter you just met. A certain temperamental blonde he knew would have eaten you for lunch. He shoved the image of your small cat standing under a big brown bear away. 

💤🎤-“Don’t worry, it doesn’t take too long for your animal to mature. With a bit of socializing with our animal halves and more experience shifting you should be well on your way to becoming a fierce female feline.” Shota acknowledged, swiping a fry from his mate’s plate. 

💤🎤-“Speaking of fierce female felines, we were planning to introduce you to a friend of ours. She is a panther shifter like Sho, she should be able to answer any questions we can’t when it comes to being a women shifter.” Zashi hummed, bring a napkin up to his face. 

💤🎤-Even though they had been talking they still had enough time to finish everything on their plates. You looked down at your plate. You ate way more than you thought you would but there was still a decent amount of onion rings on your plate. 

💤🎤-You would have asked for a to-go plate but they would lose their crunch by the time you went home. You slid your plate in Shota’s direction, he was more than happy to get to work on the plate. 

💤🎤-“So is that why you invited me out this weekend? So you can help me mature my bobcat?” You questioned, looking at Zashi. 

💤🎤-“For the most part, we knew that starting a new job can be stressful so we figured after your first week you could use a shift to release a bit of stress,” Zashi explained, pulling out his wallet. 

💤🎤-“Oh, that’s smart.” You agreed, reaching for your purse. “I’ll pay for my meal.” 

💤🎤-Shota had just polished off the last onion ring before cutting in. “Nonsense. We invited you out so we will pay. Plus this was to congratulate you on getting the job. It wouldn’t be right to make you pay.” 

💤🎤-You felt a little uneasy about having them pay but they had a point. You would treat them to something when you got the chance. Just because they had money didn’t mean they had to spend it on you. 

💤🎤-You would return the favor. 

💤🎤-After some light conversation and playful banter they dropped you off at your apartment. You had fun hanging out with them. They cleared up a few things which was nice. 

💤🎤-Now it was time to prepare for your first day at work.

***

💤🎤-In truth, you didn’t really think you would get a job that required formal wear. You had only seen a little bit of the building and workers when you had came in for your interview so you were unprepared for their fancy skirts and button-up shirts. 

💤🎤-You worked at the library in your old town so you had an abundance of soft sweaters and comfy slacks. You quickly realized you looked out of place among everyone else. 

💤🎤-You tried to keep your confidence up but it was quickly dwindling. 

💤🎤-Luckily, the lady at the front desk was waiting for your arrival and sent you on your way with directions as soon as you walked through the revolving glass door.  

💤🎤-Soon the elevator you were in opened up to the top floor. You didn’t see anyone at the front desk to greet you but then you remembered that would be your job. You saw two wooden doors behind your huge desk. 

💤🎤-You assumed Shota and Zashi were behind them. 

💤🎤-You sat your stuff down and walked over and knocked. An excited voice yelled to come in. You opened the door and tried not to gasp. Shota was right, Zashi’s office was a mess. 

💤🎤-You supposed it was your job to organize everything. You found a hyper blond drawing away on a digital art pad. The top portion of his long hair was pulled back with a clip while the rest flowed down his back. 

💤🎤-He wore deep emerald slacks with a half buttoned-up white shirt. He had a suit jacket to match his slacks but it was tossed over the leather chair he was sitting in. 

💤🎤-He looked up and smiled at your entrance. 

💤🎤-“Hi, Y/N! I am glad you found your way here just fine.” He grinned, setting aside his pad and pen. 

💤🎤-“The lady at the front desk told me where to go.” You said, shuffling around stacks of papers on the floor.  

💤🎤-“I’m sorry about the mess. I tried to clean some of it up before you got here but it seems to be a two-man job. Since our last assistant was more focused on Shota’s ass than doing her job my office got a little out of hand.” Zashi sheepishly explained, twirling his thumbs. 

💤🎤-His lion still wanted to claw the tall red-head apart. Never trust a tiger shifter. 

💤🎤-“It’s okay. You are paying me to work right.” You smiled, loving his shy expression. 

💤🎤-“Before you got started on my office lets get something from the break room. We have one to ourselves up here so don’t worry about being shy when taking the donuts.” He chuckled, leading you out of his office and down the hall into the break room. 

💤🎤-“Shota should be answering his emails right about now. I’ll show you how he likes his coffee so you can take it to him. You can never add enough sugar packets for him. The more the better.” He smirked, leading you to the expensive coffee machine. 

***

💤🎤-The week had gone by before you knew it. Shota and Zashi were on their way to pick you up and take you to their cabin. You had asked them if they lived there since it was so far out of town but they said they had a house in town and just used the cabin when they wanted to shift and get away from the hustle and bustle. 

💤🎤-You were only staying for the weekend so you packed light. You were standing on the sidewalk outside your apartment complex with your overnight bag slung over your shoulder. 

💤🎤-You didn’t have to wait long before a familiar black car pulled up. You climbed in with a happy grin. You were excited to hang out with them again. They were your only form of friendship in this town. 

💤🎤-You had gone out to cafes and even checked out the library but no one seemed interested in befriending you. You knew it probably wasn’t the best idea to hang out with your bosses but they didn’t seem to think anything was wrong with it so you didn’t either. 

💤🎤-They were just showing you a bit of guidance when it came to being a shifter so you didn’t see the harm. 

💤🎤-“Hey, guys! How’s it going?” You chirped, settling into the back seat and putting your bag on the floor. 

💤🎤-You noticed Zashi had a pair of yellow sunglasses on, they really brought out his golden eyes and blonde hair. He looked at you in the rearview mirror, his smile just as dazzling. 

💤🎤-“Hey, Y/N! Glad you are joining us today. Are you ready to find out what type of shifter I am?” He teased, putting the car in drive. 

💤🎤-“I am surprised you weren’t insulted when she asked if you were a sand cat.” Shota cracked a grin, shooting you a look in the rearview mirror. 

💤🎤-Shota hadn’t gone against his mate’s wishes and told you what type of shifter he was but he made sure to give you guesses to ask him that he knew would tick off his blond mate. 

💤🎤-It was payback for the tooth-achingly sweet coffee you kept on giving him. You always had such a bright smile when you handed it over so he couldn’t quite tell you he found the sugary beverage repulsive. 

💤🎤-He grinned and bared it. Every sip he took making him internally wince. 

💤🎤-“I take it as a compliment. Those things are adorable.” He boasted, sticking his tongue out at his mate.  

💤🎤-“We were gonna stop by the store before we headed to the cabin,” Shota informed, turning in his seat. 

💤🎤-“Yeah, someone forgot to pick up coffee last time we went.” Zashi teased, playfully nudging his mate. 

💤🎤-“Whatever.” Shota scoffed. 

💤🎤-“Sounds good to me. I can pick up a few snacks while we are there.” You hummed, looking out the window and watching the building pass by. 

***

💤🎤-You went off to the snack aisle while Shota and Zashi went to go get the coffee. You were eyeing the vast array of chips when someone stepped beside you. You looked over nearly gasped at the hulking man. 

💤🎤-He had to be at least 6′4. If his height wasn’t intimidating enough he had muscles stacked on muscles. He looked like he could crush you with his hand, his grey hair and fanged teeth made him look even more intimidating. 

💤🎤-He gaze was still focus on the chips in front of you but it was clear he was talking to you. 

💤🎤-“I didn’t know we had any bobcat shifters in town.” His voice was deep. 

💤🎤-You instantly stood straighter. “I just moved here so you wouldn’t have seen me around before.” 

💤🎤-“Welcome to town, it’s always nice to have more feline shifters in town. The bears and wolfs take up most of the population here.” He growled, his eyes narrowing. 

💤🎤-“Oh, well I am glad to be here. Everyone has been more than welcoming.” You gave him a fake smile, wishing he would pick his chips already and leave. 

💤🎤-“Glad to hear. Us feline shifters have to stick together.” He advised, finally taking a bag off the shelf. 

💤🎤-“Hey Y/N! Shota wanted to know if you wanted shrimp Alfredo for dinner or spaghetti?” He walked towards you, not fully noticing who was next to you until he was close enough to smell him. 

💤🎤-Cougar. 

💤🎤-Zashi hid his distaste for the man standing beside you. His lion snarling at the slimy feline next to you. 

💤🎤-“Oh spaghetti sounds nice but whatever you want is fine.” You answered, plucking a bag of salt and vinegar chips off the shelf before turning back to the ashy-haired man.  

💤🎤-“It was nice talking to you. See you around.” You polity said, beginning to walk off with Zashi.  

💤🎤-“See you around.” He sent you a sly grin. 

💤🎤-You walked down a few isles before noticing Zashi’s tense shoulders. 

💤🎤-“Everything okay?” You questioned, lifting a brow. 

💤🎤-“Yeah, I just remembered I needed to send an email before I left the office today but I forgot. It can wait till Monday though.” He recalled, scratching his head. 

💤🎤-You could tell it was something else but you didn’t press him on it. You hoped whatever was bothering him would go away though. You didn’t like the tight look on his face. 

💤🎤-Zashi was glad Shota had sent him to find you and not the other way around. 

💤🎤-“Oh, that’s good. So what do you want for dinner?” You changed the subject hoping to put him at ease. 

💤🎤-“I am a sucker for spaghetti and meatballs so looks like we are having that. Shota just wanted to ask you in case you didn’t like it. He knows if it was up to me we would eat it all the time.” He responded, losing some of the tightness in between his brows. 

💤🎤-You chuckled, walking with him to find Shota. 

💤🎤-You hoped this weekend went okay. 

***

💤🎤-You had gotten to the cabin and helped unload all the groceries before going outside and getting ready to shift. You had your back turned while Zashi and Shota got undressed. 

💤🎤-“You ready to finally see what type of shifter I am?” Zashi called, pulling his shirt over his head. 

💤🎤-“I am betting on cheetah shifter.” You theorized, thinking of how fast he can talk.  

💤🎤-He chuckled before shifting into his big cat. The first thing his lion did was stretch and yawn. Once he got that out of the way he padded over to you. He brushed his head against your open hand. 

💤🎤-You were quick to turn around and gasp. He was a lion! 

💤🎤-“Wow! I should have guess you were a lion considering your long hair! Your mane is so pretty. Can I touch it?” You asked, looking the lions golden eyes. 

💤🎤-He nodded his big head, giving you permission. 

💤🎤-Your fingers threaded through his thick fur. It was coarser than you imagined but it was still pleasant to touch. You petted him for a minute before he walked off and nuzzled against Shota. 

💤🎤-They looked so cute together. Like night and day. You wished you had some to be with. You pushed your lonely thoughts aside. You made sure they had their backs turned before quickly taking off your clothes and shifting. 

💤🎤-Your bobcat was all too eager to dash towards the big felines and nuzzle against them with a purr. It wasn’t really appropriate if you were a regular bobcat but since your bobcat was still young they allowed it. 

💤🎤-You only really nuzzled or rubbed your scent on family or close friends. While you fit the friends part it was much too soon. Zashi had no problem with it and went straight to lightly nipping and batting at you. 

💤🎤-He hadn’t played with a cub-sized feline since he left the pride. He forgot to hold in his strength since his big paw dwarfed you and sent you tumbling a few feet away. 

💤🎤-He dashed towards you, letting out concerned moans. 

💤🎤-Shota was a bit concerned but didn’t think the tumble did you much damage. His mate was just a worrywart. He thought of the future pups they might have and how he would turn into a major mother hen with them. 

💤🎤-His panther purred at the thought. 

💤🎤-For now he watched you hop onto your feet and pounce on his mate. You wrapped around Zashi’s neck like a scarf before falling down on your back. You happy chirps made his panther rumble. 

💤🎤-The panther turned and headed off into the forest. 

💤🎤-Your bobcat had immediately noticed his departure and bounded towards him. The lion was quick to catch up, playfully nipping and rubbing up against his mate. 

💤🎤-Soon you were in a large clearing. The sun was still up in the sky but everything had started to take on a yellow color. 

💤🎤-Shota had nudged you with his bulky shoulder and led you to the trees on the outskirts. He gave you a look that said he wanted you to watch him while he climbed and jumped down. 

💤🎤-You watched him for a few minutes observing him scale the tree before leaping down it. You tried to replicate what you saw and you seemed to get the hang of it after a few times of crashing face-first into the dirt. 

💤🎤-After you were sure you had gotten it down you nuzzled up against the dark feline and gave him a gentle purr. Then you shot off and went to play with Zashi, who was stalking a butterfly. 

💤🎤-Now that Shota got his teaching out of the way he laid down in the middle of the clearing and started cleaning himself before laying back and taking a nap. His panther was a lazy one, he liked soaking up the rays while drifting off to dreamland. 

💤🎤-Once you guys got all your energy out you and Zashi strolled over to the sleeping panther. Zashi leaned down and gave Shota a big long lick right over his face. 

💤🎤-Shota didn’t even opened his eyes and just lazily swatted at his mate. Zashi plopped down behind him and started grooming him even more. You felt like you were intruding so you curled up in a ball not too far away and dozed off as well. 

💤🎤-Your chest was light and fluffy. You hoped every weekend would be this peaceful. 

💤🎤-You didn’t realize that the next morning would be the last time you shifted for a while.

I had so much fun writing the dynamic between Sho and Zashi. They are a trip. Don’t worry the reader will get added into the mix soon enough. What do you think is going on with the cougars? Why do you think the reader won’t be able to shift for a while? 

This chapter was a little longer than I normally write so I hope you guys enjoy! Please reblog my work if you enjoyed it. It really helps me stay motivated to write more for yall. 

Don’t forget to leave a note too! 🖤💛

[penwieldingdreamer]

Princess of Zion

So this is my second entry for Steph’s Birthday Writing Challenge with an Arranged Marriage AU in the Matrix Universe and this time I got it done, even though your birthday is nearly over, I hope you will still enjoy it, happy b-day again @toomanystoriessolittletime​ and thank you @ladyreapermc​ for proofreading and being my beta this time. Also I hope you all enjoy this little piece.

Summary: You are the daughter of Councilor Hamann, who arranges a marriage between yourself, one of the only real born children of Zion and Neo, The One

Warnings: NSFW, +18, virgin!reader, first time, oral sex(female recieving) fluffy smut

Words: 4233

"You will do as I say, no more arguments." Councilor Hamann called after you as you left his office. 

Zion had been your home ever since you could remember. Being the daughter of one of the council members was a curse and a blessing. You were able to help the people of the rebellion, but you also were meant to follow the rules of your father. 

"I will not do it, father, not this time." you cried, the tears already filling your eyes. Ever since your mother had died he was bitter, grooming you to be the next councilor of Zion. "You can't pressure me to do your bidding, I'm not a breeding machine to repopulate this city." 

Standing up from behind his desk, he moved into the large living area, watching you as you paced, the flowy fabric of your gown fluttering behind you. "Y/N, you are the last natural child of Zion, your heir will be powerful, but you need someone by your side to strengthen that, the genes must be passed on."

"Oh, so marrying me off to the One is the best option here?" you asked, sarcasm lacing your words. "You know as well as I do that Neo will never agree to that." 

Slowly your father walked towards you, his hands reaching for yours, his old eyes filled with a mixture of regret and satisfaction. "He already did, the wedding will take place five days from now." 

Every muscle in your face lost its power, no way to smile or cry or do anything. You were numb, feeling like the goods sold at the market, no free will to decide your own life. 

*** 

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Neo watched the Oracle pouring tea for herself, a task so periodical that he believed it was what she always did with her guests wanting to know their future. 

"You know I cannot answer that question for you." she told him, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. 

Neo hadn't even had to ask her what was on his mind, she already knew the second he stepped into her home. "What can you tell me, then?" 

"Only that you will find a way to make this work. Y/N is loyal to a fault, but she also knows what she wants. I have seen your future, Trinity was there, but things have changed now. You ARE the One, Neo and you are going to change your own future."

He sighed, leaning back on the wooden chair, looking around the tiny typical American kitchen. "But at what cost? I agreed to the councilor's terms because it would mean that there was hope for us, the machines wouldn't be able to reproduce, but Y/N is going to resent me for trapping her in this arrangement."

"Oh Neo, she's going to have a brighter future once she lets her heart see you for real." the oracle smirked, taking a sip of her tea. "I don't doubt you will show her." 

Cocking his head to the side, he send the Oracle an incredulous look. He didn't want to talk about his love life with her when he needed to focus on fulfilling the promise he made to the chancellor. 

***

Your hands were clammy as they held onto Neo's larger one, a red band fastened around them. 

"Are you alright?" he whispered calmly, his thumb softly caressing the skin on the back of your hand. Neo had been watching you since the ceremony started, feeling the nervous jitters coursing through your body. 

Looking up into his dark eyes, you felt the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, a bead of sweat making its way down from your temple to your chin, the humid air in the holy caves not helping and making the fabric of your dress stick to your body. It was the same style as you usually wore, long and wrapped around your body like a cocoon and yet you felt like it was cutting off the air from your lungs. 

All your life you had prepared to one day take over your father's seat on the council but then he started to study the genetics of the people made in the Matrix and of those born naturally. He wanted soldiers to fight the war against the machines and you would have to provide them. "I might be once this is over." you answered him, your voice barely audible over the speech Morpheus held in your honor. 

Neo squeezed your hand, giving you a gentle smile as his captain came to an end of the ceremony. 

"Just like this ribbon your lives are now tied together. May your days be full of love and healthy children." 

The crowd roared and you saw your father smile. Your husband leaned in, kissing the corner of your lips as you felt everything pass by you in a blur. Life had changed the moment you put your hand in Neo's. 

"Y/N, Neo." Morpheus looked at you both, his arms raised to the roof of the caves. "You are now husband and wife, bound for eternity."

Taking a deep breath, you both turned around, your hands still tied together, the former hacker pulled them into the air, a tight smile on his own lips. The people of Zion celebrated your union, erupting in cheers and clapping. Thoughts were racing through your mind, everything surrounding you turning into a blur of color and sounds. Morpheus pulled the red ribbon away from your conjoined hands and gave it to Trinity, who stood behind him and watched you closely. 

You were the reason she couldn't have him anymore and you'd definitely understand if one day she came and would kill you in your sleep. 

"Neo, Y/N, congratulations." your father said, pulling the savior as he secretly called him into a tight embrace. 

Lightly clapping his hands on his shoulder, Neo quickly pulled away from the older man. "Thank you, Councilor Hamann. I am lucky to have such a wonderful woman as my wife." He turned to you, his fingers tracing the back of your hand, the skin cold underneath his. "But I think we shall retire now."

"Are you really leaving already, Neo? The festivities only just started." Morpheus pointed his arm to the people dancing to the music in the caves before he turned to his friend again, a smile on his lips. 

Nodding his head, the One gently pulled you after him, telling the dark skinned captain and his former lover that he would see them in a few days. Looking back at your father one last time you saw the proud smile on his face return, proud that you now would start your new life as Zion's breeding machine. 

***

"You're silent, are you alright?" 

You had stepped onto the private loft taking you to the suit you would now share as married couple, eagerly taking up on side of the enclosed space so you could breathe again, laying your head against the cool metal wall. 

Watching you, Neo felt the guilt spread out over his chest, squeezing his heart like a vice. He should have never agreed to the marriage, already your life turned miserable in the last few minutes and he had added to that. "I'm sorry." 

"Why are you sorry?" you asked, turning to the savior and leaning your back on the wall behind you. "You haven't done anything wrong yet."

Shaking his head, Neo moved closer to you, his hands finding your smaller ones and his dark eye staring at your own. "I should have never agreed to this arrangement. Your father was wrong to force you into it, who knows if we're even compatible."

"Believe me," you started, a humorless laugh leaving your lips. "My father was prepared. He studied us both for a while, we are compatible. I'm just sorry you had to leave Trinity because of me."

Leaning his forehead against yours, he lightly brushed his lips over your own, hoping you'd respond. Your hands twitched, feeling the urge to move them to his neck. Something sparked inside you, telling you to let go and just feel. 

The Oracle once told you that there would come a time when you needed to follow your heart. You had a feeling the time was now and she was never wrong. 

Pulling your hands free, you moved them over his biceps, feeling the coarse fabric of his sweater under your skin. His tongue begged for entrance, lightly parting your lips to move closer and deeper. Neo's hands laid on your cheeks, his thumbs brushing over your cheek bone, making shivers run down your spine from the sensation. 

"I-the lift," you mumbled against his lips when you felt the metal elevator come to a stop. 

Neo grinned, his mouths never leaving yours when he spoke against the soft skin. "The ride is too short, I was just enjoying kissing my wife." 

"You can enjoy it once we're inside the suit." you told him with a giggle. "The maids will have prepared everything." 

The doors opened and you were greeted by a familiar sight. Instantly your mood sobered when you came face to face with Seren, who had been your maid since you were old enough to dress yourself. "Y/N, come." She held out her hand for you to take and smiled back at your husband. "We need to get you changed and prepared."

Looking at Neo, you felt the anxiety rise. Soon you would have to lay together as husband and wife and you didn't know if you were ready. Nodding his head he moved toward the open space in your quarters, the windows opposite the bed enhanced by pictures of a tranquil mountain lake. Taking a deep breath he looked down at the sweater he wore, holes on the bottom and the pants were the only good pair he had. When Neo had seen you walking up to him, wrapped in the light fabric he had seen you dressed in on so many occasions, he couldn't believe that you really agreed to your father's terms. 

Yes, he was the savior and the One, but still felt like he belonged to the lower levels of Zion. Hopefully you wouldn't hate him after tonight, because he could see himself enjoying your company and probably falling in love with you along the way, even if Trinity would always have a small part of his heart. 

*** 

"Is this really the right thing to do?" you asked Seren as she helped you dress in the satin nightgown your mother had worn on her wedding night. The skirt was split in the front, showing your bare legs, while there wasn't really much covering your cleavage. 

Your maid smiled at you, her gentle eyes looking down from the mirror. "Your husband may be the savior but he is just a man. And he will be gentle and love you." 

"But what if I can't love him? What if all I do is regret agreeing to my father's plans?" 

Giggling, she placed a sweet kiss on the top of your head. "You will love him in time." 

Taking a deep breath, you nodded your head. Seren had never been wrong before when she gave you advice, so why should she now. You got up, everything on the table abandoned to meet your husband again. With jittery legs you walked back to Neo, watching him, his back turned to you and studying the scenery played on the holo windows. 

Clearing your throat, you saw him jump by the unexpected entry. "Y/N, you look-I-well." Neo shrugged his shoulders, lightly scratching the back of his head, clearly speechless. You could feel his eyes taking in your body and clasped your hands together in front of you, hoping he wouldn't see them shaking. 

"I-It was my mother's. She wore it on her wedding night so I, I thought it was fitting." 

Holding his hand out, Neo walked up to you. He lightly brushed his fingers over your bare arms, feeling the pebbles break out on your skin. You closed your eyes, the sensations raking through your body at lightspeed. 

"You're beautiful." he whispered, his lips right next to your ear. His hands moved down to your waist, lightly squeezing your body. "It's going to be alright."

Breathing in his musky aroma, you leaned back against his body, slinging your arms around his neck as Neo leaned down, letting his lips glide over your skin, suckling on the spot where your neck met your shoulder. "N-Neo, I-I've never…there's never been" 

"It's okay, there's no rush." he said, pulling you farther back into his body. "We have all the time in the world."

His hand moved under your chin and lightly pulled your face to his own, sealing his lips with yours, soaking up the soft moan that escaped your mouth. His hands played with the clasp of your dress on the back of your neck. You felt it slip down your body, the fabric sliding over your chest, rubbing against your nipples that grew harder with the action. Gasping you leaned your head back onto his shoulder, your dress pooling at your feet and Neo's hands found their way to your chest, brushing over your breast and nipples. His lips laid on your neck, suckling on your pulse point. 

He moved with you to the large bed and turned you to face him. Biting your lower lip you stepped back, feeling the edge of the mattress in the back of your knees. Neo watched your every move as you lowered yourself onto the bed. 

"Just lay back and let me do all the work. I want you to enjoy it." he murmured, leaning over you and stroking his fingertips along your bare arms.

Nodding your head, you moved back on the bed, laying down on the pillows Seren had rearranged before you arrived. Inside your chest your heart was racing, your breathing sped up and you felt your stomach knot in anticipation. Neo's eyes darkened as he looked down at you, licking his lips and kneeling by your feet.

"Relax, I'm going to take good care of you."

Gently, his hands glided over the smooth skin of your legs, feeling the pebbles under his fingertips. His lips followed the path, laying open mouthed kisses along your legs, over the waistband of your panties. Little mewls left your lips, as you felt his hot breath on your skin, moving up over your stomach and to your breasts. His mouth closed around one nipple, lavishly sliding his tongue around the tip, while his hand kneaded the other, the coarse fabric of his sweater brushing against the skin of your belly. 

Moaning, you closed your eyes, leaning your head back against the pillows as the sensations washed over you, pooling in the pit of your stomach. Your hands found their way into his hair, lightly scratching along his scalp and burying your fingers in his dark strands. 

If this was how it was going to be every time you laid together, you would really enjoy being married to him. 

Once he had feasted enough on your breasts, Neo looked up at you, seeing the half closed eyes and a smile on your lips.

"Are you okay?" 

"Mhmm, yes, I really enjoy that." you said, brushing your fingers along his jaw, seeing the desire reflected in his eyes. 

He smiled at you, laying a soft kiss on your lips. "Good, because there is more to come." 

Lazily, Neo moved back over your body, kissing and suckling along the curves of your body, his hands clasping yours, letting you guide him in his pace. Instinctively, you pulled your legs up, bending at your knees to anchor your body. He leaned his head against your inner thigh, his dark locks brushing against your skin, tickling you lightly. Looking up at you, Neo watched you carefully, seeing the pleasure reflected in the little moans that left your opened lips, eyes closed and enjoying his ministrations. With a smile he leaned back down breathing in your arome that came to him from your still clothed core. 

Letting go of your hands, he pulled the panties off of your legs, smiling down at you as felt your self-consciousness rear its ugly head. No man before him had seen you completely naked and you felt a deep blush creep over your body. 

"Don't, you are beautiful." Neo murmured, taking the hand that was laid over your core and kissed the back of it. Pushing your legs open with a soft hand, he lowered himself back between them, kissing his way from your inner thighs to your middle. His hands moved to your hips and with just one look he asked you for permission. Drawing a deep breath and pulling your lower lip between your teeth, nodding your head. 

Neo's mouth descended onto your core, breathing in your sweet aroma while his tongue lazily licked at your entrance. 

You felt tremors course through your body at the foreign yet pleasing feeling, your head thrown back into the pillows. Every fiber in your body was taut, you feared it would break in a thousand pieces. "Neo." you keened clenching your hands into fists, not sure if you should grab his dark hair or leave them by your side. His mouth feasted on your moist heat, his tongue playing with your nub before he moved to your cavern, moaning as he tasted your sweet juices. 

"Fuck, I can't get enough of you." he mumbled, his thumb drawing circles over your clit and smiling as you bucked your hips into his mouth. "I'm going to prepare you for me, so you really need to relax."

Swallowing the lump in your throat you felt one of his stocky fingers enter you, brushing against your inner walls. The groan leaving his mouth vibrated against you, enticing a loud moan yourself. Feeling the wetness coating his hand, Neo added a second finger, opening you even further for him. His ministrations brought you closer to the edge, the muscles in your legs trembling as your hand reached down, carding your fingers through his dark hair. "Please, N-Neo, I-I can't, it's too much." you pleaded with him, the knot in your belly tightening. 

"Good, just let go, I want you to let it go." he whispered against you, leaning his head against your thigh, still stroking his fingers in and out of you. 

His reassurance was all it took to push you over the edge. Closing your eyes tightly, your muscles contracted and every nerve ending sang with pleasure as you felt your release, wetness coating his hand and chin. Your hand was still fisted in his hair when you came down from your high, breathing harshly. 

Smiling, Neo laid soft kisses on your lower belly, heated middle and still trembling thighs before he removed himself from you. Being the only one naked in the room, your husband wanted to finally feel your soft skin against his own. He pulled his sweater over his head, his dark hair sticking up at odd angles from the way your hands had held onto the strands as well as removing his clothing. Next followed his pants and shoes, baring him to your own eyes. 

He moved back to the bed, smiling as your legs readily parted for him to lay between them. Your eyes darted down to his hardness, the blush on your cheeks deepening. You weren't naive about the difference between men and women, but still you were uncomfortable with all this for the first time. 

"Relax." he whispered, kissing along your jawline before he finally settled on your lips. "I promise you will enjoy it, it's going to hurt at first but it will fade." 

Biting your lower lip, you nodded your head and lightly stroked your fingertips over the numerous plugs on his body. You had seen them often enough but never this close and never on the body of your husband. "Do they hurt you?" 

"No." he shook his head with a smile, laying his hand on your chin, as his chest rested against your own. "It was an odd feeling but I have gotten used to it now." 

Returning his smile, you put your arms around his neck, drawing him into a deep kiss, trying to stop the little nervous tremors when you felt his hard cock rubbing against your entrance. 

Breaking the kiss, Neo gave you another reassuring look before he turned his head down to where your body would meet, lightly tugging at his cock. "Are you ready?" 

"Y-Yes." you whispered holding onto his shoulders, his eyes never leaving yours as he sank into your tight virgin caver. A soft gasp left your lips as you felt his girth stretch you out, wincing at the discomfort but remembering what he had told you before. It would pass. 

Your husband leaned down, pushing his nose into your neck and breathed in your sweet flowery fragrance mixed with the sweat on your body. With shallow thrusts he opened you wider for him until he finally was able to bottom out you, groaning deeply into your ear. Shivers raced down over your spine as you listened to his responses, raking your nails over his taught back.

You knew he was holding back to not hurt you and make it as pleasant for you as it would be for him, but feeling his weight on top of you, his hardness surrounded by your wet heat and you needed more, the sweet knot in your belly tightening again.

"Neo, please, I-I need, just-ugh-move, please." you mumbled against his hair, losing the ability to form the right words. 

He smiled into your neck, kissing the tender spot behind your ear before you felt his hips shift slightly, drawing back from you before he moved back down. His arm that had leaned next to your head on the mattress, shifted and pulled your legs up higher on his waist, pushing him deeper into your core. Moaning you closed your eyes, one hand finding its way into his hair again as he feasted on your chest, the nipples hard and puckered from the pleasure and cold air in the room. 

Neo pulled his head away from your neck, smiling down at you as your hands held onto his shoulders, your breasts jiggling from the movement of his hips against your own. "You're so beautiful." he murmured, harsh puffs of air leaving his lisp as he leaned down to kiss you again, savoring the sweet taste of your lips. "Fuck, everything about you is beautiful."

Biting your lip, you mewled at the sensations of his cock rubbing against your moist walls and that special spot he had found before, making your legs tremble from the pleasure. The knot in your belly tightening again and you knew it wouldn't be long now. Neo's hand tightened on your waist pulling you closer against him before he moved his upper body away from yours.

"I'm close now, love." he said and you felt his hips jerk against you. His hand made its way down to where your bodies were connected, his thumb drawing circles over your clit, making your legs tremble from the pleasure coursing through you. Your hands pulled away from his body and you reached up, holding tightly onto the pillows ad Neo pushed you further over the edge, his own climax washing over him like a tidal wave. 

Groaning, he closed his eyes and tightened one arm around your lower body, his fingers still working you towards your own orgasm. You could feel your walls tightening around him as he spilled his hot seed inside of you, hitting you deep inside. With trembling legs you felt the could in your belly explode, pushing you back against the bed from the force your climax as it washed over you, gasping loudly and trying to breath in all the air you could get. 

Harsh breaths escaped you both in rapid succession, feeling the tremors course through your bodies. Neo laid down on top of your body, brushing his fingertips over your sweaty forehead and down to your jaw, softly kissing your lips. "Are you alright?" 

"Mhmm, y-yes, I guess so." you mumbled against his lips, tightening your grip around his shoulders, enjoying the weight of his body on yours. You felt safe with him, love spreading inside your chest as you gazed into his brown eyes. He was gentle with you and you hoped he would stay that way, to often had you seen the families of Zion destroyed by the war where men had returned differently as when they left. 

Neo slightly pulled away from you, turning onto his side and drawing you close to his body. "I can't promise you that everything will be alright with the war, but I promise you that I will do everything in my power to keep you and everyone else safe." 

"I only want you to come back and keep me and our future children safe." you told him, brushing your hand against his cheek, feeling the sweat under your fingertips. 

Smiling he leaned in and brushed his lips across your temple. He had a feeling the Oracle had been right - again - there would be love blossoming between you both. 

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