#so many different texture brushes were used

[freckled-paints]

HAPPY BIRTH @batsyvie !!!!

the fav boy special for u <3 little star boy!! who wouldnt love him

vers without test under the cut!

[onmyyan]

Kiss the goat

A/N: Horror isekai? Horror isekai, here's part one of the Scream chapters, unedited, hope you like cuz it was so much fun writing

Pairing: Yandere Poly Ghostface x reader

It was such an odd sensation, you don't think you'd ever truly get used to it, no matter how many times it washed over you.

It was always the same, tranquil lull, and it always started in your lower tummy, like this wave of ice cold water suddenly replaced all the blood in your veins.

Whenever you first 'woke up' somewhere new, that damn feeling was always the first thing you noticed, and the only warning you'd get.

This time though, something was different. There was this mix of fear, confusion, and awe tossed in with the lull because you clocked your location immediately.

Ba-dum Ba-dum Ba-dum

For a moment all you could hear was the the blood pounding in your eardrums, slowly , as you forced yourself to breathe, the surrounding noises faded in, at first it was just the chatter of a busy school, then you noticed the shuffle of feet dragging on concrete, with your heart pounding furiously against your rib cage, you pinched your thigh through your baggy blue jeans and began walking, focusing on forcing your feet to move, rather than the millions of other thoughts buzzing through your skull. Why? Well because there you stood, dropped right before the soon-to-be infamous Woodsboro High.

As you walked amongst the crowd of people there were a few things you noticed immediately about yourself, at least this version of yourself, which seemed to change with every new plot you were forcibly thrown in.

The jeans you wore were loose fitting and well loved, small holes in the denim here and there  gave you a typical 90's degenerate vibe, the soft cotton of the band T-shirt you were in felt comfortable against your skin, around your waist hung a oversized burgundy flannel with accents of mustard yellow, the fabric looked old and smelled of weed, a sigh rolled through your chest at the familiar smell, it was a bittersweet reminder of your life before this insanity began.

Glancing down at your outfit made you breath out a sigh of relief, at least you dressed better in this one. In the small shirt pocket, you felt a book of matches, the scratchy texture of telling you what it was without needing to pull it out, good to know.

Shaking your head you try your best to look as bored and uninteresting as possible, you've found these things were best tackled from a stealthy perspective. As you finally enter the school, the second you step through the open doors, there's this intense, hair-raising feeling that washes over you, everything in your gut is saying run away, turn around, but you don't.

Instead, you swallow the fight-or-flight instincts and continue your pace as if you hadn't noticed the predatory stare on you. It didn't surprise you, after all, the self-proclaimed directors of this twisted movie were bound to notice a new player being introduced so suddenly, you just hadn't yet gotten used to the uneasy feeling of being in the presence of a murderer.

Or in this movies case, murderers.

The stares you received from the rest of the student body helped to distract you from the heavy stares burning into you, as you leisurely walked down the halls people either mean-mugged you or ignored you, it helped to get a better feel for the role you'd been assigned, depending on how well you played said role was going to determine whether or not you ended up on the kill count.

For now, you kept it pushing, your hands resting comfortably in the pockets of your jeans, your right hand, which you only now noticed was covered in rings, brushed against the cool touch of something small and metal, you quickly pulled out the object to reveal a switchblade, the handle a glossy white with a simple heart scratched into the surface, quickly you tucked it back where you'd found it.

The grin that had stretched across your face as you traversed the halls was downright wicked, in your mini search you'd also come across a crinkled class schedule and a pack of gum. Curious (e/c) eyes diligently scanned the face of every student that passed, searching for any clue as to when exactly you'd popped in, having a clear timeline in mind made these things run so much smoother.

Casey Beckem gave you that answer in the form of a cliché shoulder check as she rounded the corner. She made a point to dust off the area that had touched you, and her scoff of 'Watch it freak.' made a snort leave your nose, god you loved the 90s, even the bullying was better.

Considering she was still amongst the living, you gathered this was before the start of the movie, fantastic. You pushed forward, far too wrapped up in your building excitement to pay any mind to the very dangerous man you'd caught the sight of.

You found your first class a few minutes early, thankfully the school's layout wasn't too hard to navigate, you were intent on taking proper inventory and prepping as well as you could. The teacher took you in with a surprised noise, clearly judging your character on your appearance.

You'd gotten pretty good at handling your, particular situation, so good in fact you'd begun to relax a little. Taking a seat by the window in the back felt very final girl of you, the thought making you giggle to yourself. Whatever entity responsible for isekaing you into this movie flashed between a real asshole and a slightly smaller asshole with each reincarnation, this time it looked like they were feeling nice as you started with a weapon. 

Your inner workings were put on an abrupt pause as Randy Meeks burst in through the door earning a glare from the otherwise silent teacher. The bright-eyed male made a beeline for you, his expression was akin to a puppy who just had its bone taken away.

"What the Hell San Francisco? I spent the last 15 minutes running around like some mook looking for ya'." he paused to sit down at the desk directly on your right. "You ask a guy to show you around then ditch em'? Cruel, undeniably cruel." You learned pretty quickly to just roll with it whenever someone from Canon spoke to you.

"My bad Meeks, I'll make it up to you." At this, the energetic man rolled his eyes, now leaning even closer. "Oh yeah? Meaning what- you'll actually take me up on my offer instead of responding with that cold familiar brand of cynicism? C'mon, it'll be funnnn." He trailed off in a whine. "Whoever told you begging was an option for you lied." You laughed, shaking your head at the way he visibly deflated.

You kicked your faded black Converse all star's on the back of the seat before you, legs bouncing as you allowed yourself to ponder your answer, the nervous habit had developed sometime between this movie, and one of your earlier incarnations and subsequent deaths.

This was a little more complicated, see the omnipotent fuck who put you here liked to screw with you, very much into the concept of seeing you mix with whatever plot that laid before you, so much so that anytime you fought against whatever scenario you were thrust into in any way you died horribly. The first time you'd been plopped into a movie was the original My Bloody Valentine,- a chill ran through your body like a punch to the gut at the thought, yeah you'd come a long way since then in terms of working the system but nothing was set in stone.

You figured whatever this offer from Randy was, would no doubt tie you into the plot, knowing better than to fight the waves, you pretended to think about it before shrugging. "Sure. I'll bite." The simple statement had him shooting out of his chair to fist pump before quickly falling back in his seat.

"Yessss-okay it's super easy, I spend my time rewinding the utter garbage the general population consumes on a daily." He was practically buzzing in his seat as he spoke. "Once in a while, the boss leaves for an extra long lunch break and I get to watch whatever I want- Child's Play, Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street- you name it I got it." The redhead spoke proudly, leaning back against his chair with a self-satisfied look.

"You should be a salesman Meeks." The male bristled beside you, a tinge of red on his cheeks. "Yeah yeah, whatever Frisco- don't come crying to me when you don't have anyone to sit with at lunch." He teased, leaning over his desk, you smile toying with the ring on your hand, popping your neck with a sigh you took a second before responding, "Oh god, how will I ever survive sitting alone, whatever will I do." you spoke in a dead tone making the male at your side pout.

"You're cold (L/n), couldn't even pretend to care about my threat huh?"

You looked over with a teasing grin, "Course' not- I'm not a liar Randy.", it was then and only then that you noticed the tall Blonde unashamedly staring you down from the door.

Stu Macher had made his appearance earlier than expected but you didn't sweat it, or the almost hungry look he was giving you. Nope, not sweating at all. Instead, you quickly averted your eyes, praying he hadn't caught your stare.

He had, naturally.

The taller male nearly took up the entire door frame, he looked a lot more intimidating in person. The playful look on his face was all the more haunting the more you thought about who he really was underneath it. What he was hours away from doing.

Randy, feeling the sudden rise in tension, refused to be left out, and tried to not so subtly block Stu's vision of you by standing up and not so casually sitting on his desk, his back to the future killer. "Anyway Frisco', I don't want you mixin' in with the wrong crowd okay?" He made a point to flick his eyes back towards the now pouting blonde, "Bad company makes for bad times. Just stick with me I'll show you the ropes." He made sure to mutter that last part, his expression drenched in fear for the briefest moment.

Before you could respond Stu had rather aggressively climbed his way over a few desks to plop into the seat in front of you.

His dimpled grin was rather infectious.

"Now that's no way to talk about your friends Randy." He almost seethed out his name making the shorter male curl in on himself like a rabbit, he turned to face you with flare.

"Hi, there hot stuff- Stu Macher, bad company." He took your hand in his much larger one, completely enveloping your own, the tension was broken by the comical handshake, how hard he shook it up and down dispelled all previous bad vibes, his devious little grin only grew at your response, "Hi Stu, I'm (Y/n). Worse company."

"So whatcha' running from in San Francisco? Girl's like you don't just show up outta nowhere for no reason." He didn't even try to hide the way he was checking you out, his half-lidded eyes eagerly drinking in every inch of the alluring stranger before him.

"Who says I'm running big guy? I might be the one doing the chasing." Maybe teasing a soon-to-be serial killer wasn't the smartest move, but you just couldn't help it, he leaned his head into his palm, the wide toothy grin promising nothing but trouble. "I think I like you- come sit with us at lunch."

"You askin' or telling?" You met his heated gaze with a cold indifference that only fueled the ever-growing fire burning in his belly. The larger male quickly fell to his knees from his seat on the chair, bringing his hands together in a dramatic motion, "Pretty pretty please hot new kid come sit with meee." The laugh tumbling past your lips was real, you quickly ushered him back to his seat, "As nice as ya look on your knees- this is embarrassing please get the hell up I'll sit with you."

He backed off with a victorious grin not knowing you'd just lied through your teeth, there was no way in hell you'd willingly put yourself in Billy's cross hairs, Stu was unavoidable apparently, but Billy? You'd hold out as long as you could, when lunch rolled around you managed to convince Randy to eat on the roof, and used the friendly conversation to get more information out of him.

It was during this conversation you discovered in this world, whoever you were, was Randy's new neighbor.

After the school bell had rung for the final time, you made a point to linger around Randy, usually, when you spawned in one of these things the plot was well into swing, but this time you were here early, and the change in routine felt all the more dangerous.

Thankfully, Randy came to your rescue, you tuned back into the conversation just in time to hear him say,

"-if you even want to that is- we'd mostly be watching the classics." He finished nervously glancing to and from, you managed to space back just in time to greet him with a half smile and a shrug. "Lead the way, Meeks."

"It's so cool how you live next door- when you told me at first I thought you were yankin' my chain." He said bouncing his way down the road.

Randy had stumbled home with sleep in his eye sometime around midnight, you weren't too worried for the guy as you knew they hadn't started their spree yet.

That was until the phone rang. 

For a moment all you did was stare. You knew who was on the other end it just didn't make any sense. 

Swallowing the thick ice cube of fear suddenly in your throat, you caught your breath as casually as you could.

As if on autopilot your hand scooped up the house phone, you surprised yourself with how calm your greeting was.

"Hello?.."

"Hey there sweet thing- you're up awful late aren't ya?" You tried to look as casual as you could, steadily making your way to every door, and securing each entrance, but it was hard to ignore the twinge of accusation in his tone.

"You're up too.." Was what you managed to get out, trying to keep your voice steady.

"Hm, that's fair. What were you up to? Have some fun with your boyfriend?" The last word sounded harder than the rest, with no humor in his tone, almost as if it was said through gritted teeth, like whoever spoke it spat the word out.

So he was definitely watching you, your mind racked with the best answer to keep Randy from harm's way.

"Just watching some scary movies with a friend- you like em'?" You asked leaning against the island in your kitchen. "Oh, honey- you've got no idea." Before you could respond he continued, "I will see you later gorgeous." and then he was gone

[tofupixel]

I recently started learning to use rpg maker (vx ace!) and as a result have become increasingly interested in pixel art. I hadn't really done pixel work since my teens - I do more digital painting and vector art - so while I'm a little familiar and can do passable editing, there's a lot I don't know.

One thing that's kind of perplexing for me is understanding the differences in style between two creators of pixel art. I studied art history and I'm used to the differences being things like brush stroke length or degree of realism... I feel like I'm lacking in lexicon in this new frontier lol

What nuances of an artist do you think are most important to style in pixel art?

This kind of stuff is not really officially studied (yet) so it's all a bit of opinion from me.

Usually in pixel art the biggest differences in styles are which limitations the artists choose to impose on themselves; colour count, resolution, palette... Or more stylistic choices like hue shifting, anti-aliasing style or no, dithering or no, etc.

I personally think there are a huge variety of styles in pixel art, as it's literally just a medium, and I hope you'll agree by the end 8)

Also (imo) there is some seperation between the styles of art for art's sake, and art for videogames, where things have to be clear and readable to be actually playable.

🎮 Old school games:

Sometimes referred to as something like '8-bit' or '16-bit' (relating to the NES era / SNES era consoles), these artstyles usually follow the rules and limitations of the hardware at the time.

This all falls under retro art, most popular styles include: NES, SNES, GB, GBC, C64

Notable artists: Nickwoz, Sandy Gordon, Franken, Cisco

📚 Old school art:

There were also events called Demoscene (still are), where developers would go to a big convention and share their demos. A lot of pixel art competitions were held here, where artists would draw live.

Generally they used to favour a high realism/semirealism style, with lots of texture/dithering, fairly high resolution (if the hardware allowed for it), and adjacent pixels mostly being different from one another.

There are even older styles than this but they are fairly niche and I'm not that well educated. If interested look into some of the old PCs/consoles.

⭐ Modern pixel art:

Usually using more colours and higher resolution, larger clusters of pixels instead of individual ones. Strong use of art fundamentals.

Artists to look at: Adam Ferguson (yes it is pixel art), Snake, Slym, 6VCR, Yes I do Pixels, Gijotto, SovanJedi, JoeCreates, Franek, @8pxl

the rest below are "modern" pixel artists too but I think they have other things in their style that are a bit different!

🎨 Painterly:

Some artists choose to emulate the natural brushstrokes digitally, and keep their clusters large and loose. Usually don't focus on the minute details as much.

@makrustic, @hexh-pixel, Umbohr, Gawrone

🟦 Dithering

These artists all use dithering / texture in ways that make their styles totally unique.

Deceiver, Night, Reo,

💥 Experimental

These artists are always trying new things and honing in on their unique style.

AJ, hby, @ilta222, Alphons

I could really go on for ever, there are so many different styles, cute pixel art, horror pixel art, 1bit (2 colours only), and then adding animation takes it even further, but I think you get the idea

If you want to learn more, the Masters of Pixel Art books have works /interviews from pixel artists of different eras, including demoscene and contemporary.

😊👍

[chaotic-minds-think-alike]

Guess what time it is…….

CENTIPEDE TIME !!! she’s finally real,,,,,,,, based off Scolopendra hardwickei or the Indian tiger centipede

Before I go about the process I just want to say you guys have been soooo incredible and I love reading your reblogs and I love the idea knowing I’ve inspired a lot of people,,, the project, although it was a lot of work and I’m feeling not so great as of posting this, still motivates me to want to make another.

(Art process below)

This was entirely freehanded! I have a lot of experience working in 3D art settings that this part came easy to me but I started with a flat base shaped in the pose I’d like the creature in. I used one whole piece cut from a shipping box and filled in the gaps with tape; you don’t need a single piece for the base but for structural integrity it helps a lot. As you can see here I also cut the legs separate and glued them on using hot glue. The vertical cross sections are to give an early support for the structure of the creature, think about the frames of aircraft or boats. During this part I used a pen to mark the width and height of the previous section to get a gradual flow of shapes.

This next part I wish I got more documentation on but after the vertical cross sections I used soda boxes for the thinner and flexible cardboard to add contour lines along the length of the creature, gluing them on the cross sections. I did about 2 strips of this on either side to fill in the space and then I continued to use soda boxes to fold and shape the top of the creature, gluing onto the strips rather than the cross sections (this part was a mistake but I quickly adapted, no issues happened but it did make it slightly less secure). I also gave the legs vertical cross sections as well to shape them for the masking tape.

The worst part, taping everything. I used tape to further shape it how I wanted but that meant going over parts several times. I used 2 different widths of tape for this for efficiency but it doesn’t matter. The legs were very loosely taped and if squeezed then they’d lose their shape; I didn’t bother filling them in because I don’t have materials for that and I let the paper mache help support them instead. Tape was also used to fill any holes and gaps left by the cardboard skeleton.

The next phase is paper mache of which I haven’t done since 5th grade… I was not confident in this step. I used mod podge and a brush to smooth down the paper. Because I lacked materials I used fast food napkins instead of newspaper which worked totally fine, it just tended to tear a bit easier. Some areas required me to get hands on and I don’t really like the texture during this stage so that was fun (lie). I didn’t do too many layers, one for the body and 3 for the back and legs but some projects might demand more. I used half of a 16oz bottle of mod podge btw so please get more than you think you need.

Finally, texture hell!!! I did a base coat of white spray paint and painted everything else with acrylic. Start with your lighter colors first before doing darker ones! I originally mixed some yellow and orange for the body and realized it was too bright and so covered it with orange instead. It also wasn’t until later I realized I could’ve been smarter with my paint so I skipped over the segments that were going to be fully black, saving the orange for the rest of the body. I wanted my centipede to stand out and not look 2D color-wise so I also used the red for the head and tail to give gradients and edges to the orange segments and legs, later going back with burgundy to further darken them but not too much. For the black segments I also used a very watered down layer of sky blue to give a fake shine and show the intended structure of the segments. Do not be afraid to use your hands! I used mine to smudge my detail paints like the black fade on the legs and the back shading. To top it all off I sprayed a clear coat and punched two holes in the underside to hang it up, using thumbtacks angled upwards.

[muffinsin]

🎃 Happy Halloween 🎃

Sub! Cassandra Dimitrescu x Dom! G!P OC Lauren

[Tags : mommy kink, praise kink, humiliation, sex in public and semi-public spaces, costumes, anal, toys, orgasm play]

Lauren shows Cassandra just how exciting Halloween can be, while making her fantasy of the brunette in a costume of her choice become a reality

Masterlists

╰┈➤ Find more about Lauren under #oc lauren at my profile. The other parts of this series can be found here (Bela) (Daniela)

Happy Halloween everyone!🙌🎃👻

Lauren was thrilled at the idea of a Halloween party, a very welcomed break from the hard work at the castle. The moment the idea was brought up, her mind was swarmed with ideas.

Among those she fancied the idea of her girlfriend shown off in a costume worth of her, and the excuse to put the brunette into such outfits was more than enough motivation for her to fully support the suggested idea of a small Halloween celebration at the castle.

Cassandra felt differently. She did not understand the concept of such a holiday, nor did she care. Why should a random day in a random month mean anything to her, if she did things considered horror every day?

She cared not for what her girlfriend told her, only met suggestions of her family with snarls and rolling eyes.

This was about to change.

”What’s this?”, Cassandra asked, eying the black gift bag in her girlfriend’s hand. The woman merely smirked at her as she stepped closer, her free hand resting on Cassandra’s hip and making the brunette jump when her flesh was suddenly squeezed.

”A gift, silly. Haven’t you seen one before, Cassandra?”

The brunette rolled her eyes.

”What’s in the bag? Is this about that stupid party today?” Cassandra asked, her eyes fixated on the bag. She saw a small, nearly transparent bag in it, with a leathery texture. It looked like rope, almost, yet stiffer. The brunette was curious, despite her distaste for the apparent “Holiday”.

”I thought I’d get you a costume, for today. Or do you have one already?”, Lauren asked, knowing this was not the case. She was painfully hard already from just picturing her girlfriend in the outfit she had brought her.

The brunette groaned and rolled her eyes, pushing the other woman away from her. “You go to the stupid celebration if you want!”

Cassandra gasped when her arm was grabbed and she was pushed up against the wall behind her, her eyes wide and her thighs automatically pushing together when her clit ached. She so loved when her girlfriend made a display of her strength..

”You told your Mother you’d be there, and me”, she stated. Cassandra was about to object, but was shushed when her cheek was cupped. “You wouldn’t want to disappoint either of us, would you?”

Lauren smirked as she noticed the light blush on Cassandra’s cheeks. She snarled at her, yet agreed to attend. “Good, I’ll be keeping an eye on you, Cassandra”, Lauren said, yet her thoughts were all over the place as she noticed just how close her hard cock was to Cassandra. The tight maid uniform barely did a thing hiding it, yet it seemed her girlfriend did not take notice of it just yet.

”So show me the bag already”, Cassandra huffed. She felt frustrated, in many ways. She stood with her arms crossed when Lauren pulled things from the bag, her eyebrow rising as she inspected the things.

When she reached for the leathery looking item, Lauren pushed her hand away. “Patience, Cassandra”

The brunette groaned, her hand reaching for it again, and it was yet again swatted away, more aggressively than before. “Must you always be such a little brat about things?”, Lauren huffed, her cock hardening further. She looked forward to making her girlfriend behave like a good girl again, a task exclusively hers.

Cassandra bit her lip when her girlfriend moved over to her again, standing behind her. She felt Lauren’s hard dick pressing against her backside. “Why don’t we get you dressed”, Lauren suggested, her lips brushing against her girlfriend’s sensitive neck. She smiled to herself as her tongue licked over the bite marks littering the woman’s neck. “We’ve still got so much time until we have to head down”, Cassandra said, her tongue darting out to wet her lips.

”Oh I know”

The younger woman’s fingers easily found the zipper of Cassandra’s dress, pulling it antagonisingly slow. Cassandra squirmed in place.

When the dress was finally off, Lauren didn’t waste a moment to let her hands roam over her girlfriend’s body. The woman bit her lip and made quiet noises as her flesh was squeezed and caressed.

“You didn’t mention if you had a costume…”, she breathed out as her bra was pulled down and instead of the clothing, the strong woman cupped her breasts instead.

”You’ll see mine later, don’t you worry about that now”, Lauren cooed. “I’ve been very curious to see you in yours”, she added.

Cassandra watched eagerly as the gift bag was finally opened fully. The leathery item was revealed to be a tail, a leathery black one with a devil’s arrow at the end. Upon seeing the other end, her eyes widened.

Lauren chuckled as she held the tail plug up by the straight middle peace, the leather allowing her a tight grip on the toy. She smirked at the quiet brunette, her free hand reaching out to squeeze the woman’s face and pull her in by her chin.

”Cat got your tongue? Wont you tell Mommy what’s on your mind?”, She teased. Cassandra blushed brightly, her thighs pushed together. “It’s big”, she murmured, observing the large, metallic butt plug that belonged to the devil’s tail.

Cassandra gasped when her underwear was pulled down and the air of the room hit her most intimate parts. A throaty moan slipped past her wet lips as Lauren pushed the cold plug between her warm pussy lips, humming as she did so. “Aren’t you a wet little thing”, she hummed. The brunette bit her lip as her partner leaned in, her lips against her earlobe “You’re such a little slut, Cassandra”, she whispered.

The brunette moaned loudly when the plug was pushed inside her soaked pussy, in and out a couple of times until it was equally soaked as her cunt. “Get on the bed”

Her tone left no room for objections, and so Cassandra eagerly swarmed and got on all fours on her bed, her cunt warm and soaked for her lover, the woman’s cock on her mind. She saw the outline of it under the woman’s uniform and felt it press against her, and all she could think about was to get it inside of her and fill her. Her nipples were hard and sensitive already, her pussy aching for Lauren to fill it already.

She eyed the woman in the mirror standing at the wall of her bed, biting her lip as she saw her grab a bottle of lube and hold it over her exposed and stuck out behind. Her back arched automatically when it dripped down on her, almost ticklish, as it slid between her thick ass cheeks and was eventually smeared all over her tight asshole with Lauren’s precise fingers.

”Fuck me..!”, she moaned lowly, and jumped and gasped when her ass was slapped harshly. Dark red blood barely slipped from the cut on her ass caused by Lauren’s rings, yet the sight was more than welcome.

”What did I say about patience, you little brat? You’re not getting a thing before I allow it, baby”

Cassandra moaned when her hair was tugged. “Do we have an understanding with each other, little brat?”

She gulped. “Yes Mommy”, she moaned, her mind occupied by thoughts of the other woman’s cock deep inside of her, fucking her and bulging her stomach as she praised and degraded her all at the same time.

She shivered as the large plug was rubbed against her wet asshole, the tight hole stretching as Lauren pushed the tip in and out of her. “Please..! Mommy..”, she moaned lowly.

”What’s that, baby? Do you want more?”, Lauren cooed. She kept Cassandra’s ass cheek pushed aside with one hand, the other pushing the tip of the plug in and out. “Does my pretty slut want more? Do you want Mommy to push the big plug deep inside your ass, Cassandra?”, she cooed. The brunette felt lightheaded. She gripped the sheets so tightly, her knees already feeling weak as her ass was teased.

“Yes, Mommy”, she answered. Her ass moved slightly, as if grinding on her lover.

”Good slut. You’ll make such a pretty devil for me”, she answered. Cassandra moaned when finally more of the plug was inserted in her, groaning as the last bit stretched her ass, before gasping when it finally slipped fully inside. Her hole felt wet and warm, full with the plug. The tail felt oddly heavy on her backside, yet the plug never slipped out even when she shook her ass.

She moaned loudly when the other woman gripped the tail tightly and yanked a little, having the kneeling woman arch her back more. It felt so good and had her shiver helplessly as Lauren fucked her ass with the plug, her legs shaky and weak after mere seconds already.

”M-Mommy…!”, she moaned, her nails tearing she sheets as the warm plug kept hitting her insides. She felt it deep in her, the tail heavy even as Lauren held and yanked it.

Cassandra yelped when her hips were tugged back. She hasn’t realized she was no longer kneeling and arching her back properly and got back in the required position. “More, please!” She begged, slutty as she was, without shame.

The brunette merely moaned when her ass was slapped instead and Lauren pulled another few items from the bag. “You’ve been such a brat lately, Cassandra”, she cooed as she stepped in front of said brunette.

”I need your co-Ugh!”, Cassandra shrieked in surprise when she was slapped, then moaned as her face was gripped harshly. She knew her girlfriend was done playing friendly with her.

”Why would Mommy give you her big cock if you’ve been behaving like a bratty whore for days?”, she questions rhetorically. The brunette bit her lip to keep from moaning when her tail was adjusted to rest beside her now. She almost pouted and snarled at her girlfriend’s words, her need to get her soaked pussy filled by her girlfriend driving her nearly insane.

”Don’t you look so miserable, Cassie”, the woman mocked. Cassandra attempted to speak yet again, but merely groaned when her nipples were pinched painfully. “No, brat, you’re quiet when Mommy talks, and you’ll answer when she asks you a question. Is that understood, Cassandra?”, she demanded. Cassandra answered with a quiet “Yes, Mommy, I understand”.

”As I was saying, there’s no need to look so miserable, baby, Mommy intends to play with you for very long-“, Lauren gave the tail yet another yank, having the brunette shriek and moan, “- and very intensely.”, she added with a smirk. “However, you will not just get Mommy’s cock this time, not until I deem you’ve behaved well enough”, she explained, her eyes meeting golden ones as she had Cassandra suck her fingers clean.

The brunette watched as two white clamps were put on her hard nipples and licked her lips as she watched her girlfriend undress. The tight shirt was torn off first and almost had Cassandra jump forwards to grope the soft breasts revealed to her, yet she merely moaned and shivered as the unusual weight of the tail held her back from swarming. “No touching yet, you greedy slut”, Lauren said firmly, her shirt and bra tossed aside as she instead worked on undoing her belt.

Cassandra squirmed when she was turned and gasped when every turn made the tail move slightly and the plug rub against her insides.

”M-Mommy No-ooh!” She gasped when she was flipped roughly and the toy pushed deep inside of her before she adjusted to the new position. She laid on her back, on top of pillows and blankets that had her slightly elevated and feel more exposed than she already did.

The brunette groaned when the clamps on her nipples started vibrating, teasing her sensitive nipples as she laid and squirmed and moaned.

Lauren eyed her greedily, her rising chest and her wet inner thighs, her soaked pussy full of her arousal and wetness that almost sparkled in the light when Lauren pulled the Dimitrescu’s pussy lips aside. Cassandra’s back was arched perfectly, the tail’s plug deep inside her and keeping her so perfectly sensitive for Lauren. She almost pitied her brat, almost.

Cassandra opened her eyes back up at when her wrists were grabbed and she felt the smooth, leathery texture of Lauren’s belt around her, tying her wrists together and preventing her to move almost entirely.

”Mommy…” she moaned breathlessly, her nipples red already, her clit aching and her pussy drooling as her soaked ass tightened around the plug so very often. Cassandra felt how soaked she was, partly from her own count and partly from the lube that had been smeared all over her sensitive privates.

She watched as Lauren gripped the tail yet again and jumped when she used the flat, arrow shaped end to slap her broadly on her bare pussy. “AH! A-Ah!”, Cassandra screamed, the pain deliciously mixing with the pleasure she got from the yanking of the tail. The plug was nestled so deep in her…

Golden eyes widened and set on Lauren hungrily when she placed herself on top of Cassandra, her cock straining against her underwear. “Ah ah, no touching, bratty girl”, Lauren cooed mockingly as Cassandra attempted to reach down, yet couldn’t with the belt keeping her arms together.

She moaned throatily as the cock rubbed up against her small and sensitive clit, her pussy so wet it easily soaked the other woman’s underwear in mere seconds, giving Cassandra the view of the woman’s cock’s outline in the white panties. It was so unfair, how she teased the Dimitrescu daughter, knowing to what a needy and slutty toy she was reduced to whenever Lauren played with her.

”A-Ah yes! Mommy! Please inside! Please Mommy!”, Cassandra begged, her hips raising as the large and hard cock kept rubbing against her sloppily wet and sensitive bundle of nerves. She gasped and whined as her tail was tugged and pushed, over and over again, the plug fucking her ass as her clit and nipples were teased ruthlessly. “Mommy I ca-a-Ah! I cant!”, she begged. She yearned to have Lauren push her cock deep inside of her, grip her hips tightly as she did and rail her hard. She felt embarrassingly close to coming for someone who’s had cock merely rubbed against her clit.

”Hm, Cassandra? Does Mommy’s pretty slut want to cum?”

The brunette could only nod her head quickly, slurred words passing her dry lips as her pussy clenched around nothingness. Her legs twitched and her knees felt like jelly. She was so close and could barely function and Lauren knew it very well.

”P-Please! Mommy! I want to!”, Cassandra begged helplessly. She shook helplessly and snarled angrily when Lauren pulled away from her, merely blowing lightly on her warm and swollen clit, a mocking smile on her lips.

”Come on, Cassie, we can’t have you cum so soon already, bratty slut.”

Cassandra groaned and snarled angrily, yet fell back in her state of submission and whimpered helplessly as her tail was pushed and tugged again, the butt wet and warm inside her asshole.

She did not realize Lauren walking off towards their closet until she was hovering over her sweaty and trembling body again, her fingers stroking over Cassandra’s neck before removing her famous choker and necklace carefully, instead replacing it with a heavy choker with a leash made of small chains attached to it. She snarled when her nose was booped mockingly, but fell quiet again when Lauren rose her eyebrow challengingly.

”That’s what I thought, brat”, she cooed.

”M-Mommy!” The brunette gasped when Lauren climbed off her and tugged the leash behind her. It was such an odd sensation to move even slightly with the tail attached to her. She whimpered helplessly as she was pulled forwards and the plug moved about inside her ass, shifting and pushing up against her inner walls as she climbed out the bed clumsily.

”Don’t you look pretty, slut”, Lauren whispered, her eyes taking in her beautifully helpless girlfriend; her messy hair and smeared black lipstick, her smooth neck and the choker, her full breasts and nipples that spotted the vibrating clamps, the tail attached to her especially arousing.

Cassandra gasped as she was tugged along again, the leather tail dragging behind her, and bit her lip when Lauren eventually sat down at the leathery sofa in her room, an addition made by Lauren which Cassandra enjoyed surprisingly much. She grinned as Lauren gave the leash a hard tug and the brunette woman fell forwards on her lap, her face and body caught easily by the servant.

”Now, isn’t this familiar”, the muscular woman teased, her hand sliding alongside Cassandra’s skin and the arch of her back, groping hips and ass cheeks shamelessly and making the woman squirm.

Cassandra squirmed helplessly, her arms tied and the hard cock she desperately wanted inside of her instead wet against her lower stomach. She moaned as her ass was smacked harshly, and whimpered as she tightened around the plug automatically.

”You like that, dirty girl?”, Lauren hummed, her voice smooth and contrasting to her harsh and fast slaps on the sadist’s ass.

”Yes! Mghmm Mommy!”, Cassandra groaned, her thighs harshly against each other. She felt so wet and dirty, needy and desperate for more.

Lauren admired as the pale skin turned first pink, then dark red, and eventually every hit made Cassandra jump and whimper.

”Please! Mommy!”, Cassandra whimpered as she was turned around yet again, her eyes on Lauren as the woman played with her soaked pussy lips.

The woman was softer than she looked, something that never failed to surprise the servant. She slid her fingers through Cassandra’s wet southern lips, collecting the arousal smeared all over her there, the wetness drooling from her. Eventually she took pity on the whining and squirming woman and pushed a single finger inside of her.

Cassandra whimpered, as expected. She yearned for more, too slutty to settle with what she was given, and whined when one of the nipple clamps was removed from her. Lauren chuckled; it left the little bud red and swollen.

”Let’s see how loud we can make you whine with this”, she teased, spreading Cassandra’s pussy lips and blowing teasingly on her soaked clit before clipping the vibrating clamp to it. The woman on her lap arched her back and groaned in pain and excitement.

“That’s it, baby. Mommy knows what a sensitive clit you’ve got”, Lauren spoke clearly, her finger thrusting in and out of the brunette woman, each time coming out more soaked than it had already been.

”Now, let’s see what a slut you can be for Mommy…”, she said, taking the tail and placing it between Cassandra’s tied hands. “Fuck your ass for Mommy, Cassandra, and maybe I will reward you”, she cooed. The woman’s legs already shook, her pussy soaked.

She didn’t waste a moment, instead started pulling and pushing the tail, fucking her ass and pumping the plug deep inside of her. Lauren laughed at the humiliating state of her slut, feeling how very hard she was.

She pushed Cassandra slightly away from her, merely enough to reach for her cock. The brunette’s mouth watered as she was turned and the cock was right in front of her pussy. Lauren merely had to push it deep inside of her…

But that didn’t happen.

Instead merely a second finger slipped inside of her and the younger woman merely stroke herself right in front of Cassandra’s hot and soaked pussy. The brunette whimpered and moaned, her ass so sensitive already.

”Faster, cassie”, Lauren demanded. She wanted to cum to the humiliating image of her tough girlfriend being nothing but a needy slut for her.

And her wish was granted, as the longer she stroked herself the wetter and needier Cassandra became, and in turn she fucked her ass harder and harder. She almost came twice from the teasing clamp on her clit, twice cursing and whimpering when Lauren simply removed it until her orgasm seemed out of reach again, until the poor woman whimpered and begged for an orgasm already, her holes soaked and her nipples and clit so sore and aching, especially as the clamp was back on the little bundle of nerves. Lauren did not give in.

Cassandra shrieked as she was turned again and made to open her mouth, yet growled angrily when she was not allowed to take her lover into her mouth. She moaned when hot cum was shot in her mouth nonetheless and dripped over her sofa as she swallowed all eagerly.

”Now then,”, Lauren spoke breathlessly. She stood up with the chained leash in her hand, tugging her trembling and sensitive brat along. The brunette’s legs were weak and her pussy and ass wet, so much she had even feared the large plug would slip out. But it didn’t, and it kept her asshole pressured as the heavy tail hung and trailed behind her.

”Bring Mommy the other things from the bag, Cassandra”, she demanded, loosening her grip on the leash to allow the woman to walk. Cassandra shivered and whimpered as she did so, legs like jelly and hands tied, pussy and ass soaked in her own wetnesses. She managed to grip the bag and moaned as she leaned down to reach in and the plug rubbed against her walls.

As she looked down again, she had pulled out a set of devil horns. She groaned angrily as they were out on her, adding to her outfit. The next item she had filled her with excitement. A large, realistic looking dildo with an odd wire looking cord attached to it. She brought it to Lauren and blushed as it was taken from her tied hands.

Now, it was by no means easy to make the brunette woman submit. Yet Lauren managed at every opportunity, knowing just how to handle her lover and play her cards against her: she knew taming Cassandra meant there was no space for failure. A single crack, a single peek at insecurity or hesitation could be exploited by the brat.

Cassandra watched as things were swiped from the table and the realistic toy was set down on it instead. It latched onto the surface of the desk. “Straddle it, baby”

She whimpered, yet walked towards the table, eager to feel her pussy full at last. Like a true gentlewoman, Lauren helped the other woman on the table, smirking as she moaned and whimpered as she attempted to sit with the tail’s plug pushing in her. “Now Cassie, Mommy told you to straddle it. Let me see it sink in your little pussy”

The brunette moaned as she did just that, gasping and whimpering as her soaked pussy easily had the toy slide deep inside of her. She groaned once it was fully inside.

”Good girl”

Her asshole and pussy clenched around the toys.

”Ride it, baby”

She felt degraded and humiliated, and so horny as Lauren sat down at the desk’s chair, watching her brat as she rode the dildo and moaned helplessly. Her legs shook easily and she blushed as her lover watched her grind on the toy like a needy slut.

The horns sitting on her head were adjusted and her leash was yanked. She felt truly like such a slut and loved every moment of it.

”Now hurry up my sweet baby, fuck your pretty pussy with the big toy. We’ll need to head downstairs soon”, Lauren cooed. She stood, her chest close to Cassandra as she spoke in her ear, hands resting and cupping the brunette’s full and vibrating boobs.

”Maybe Mommy will let you cum if you get there before we must prepare to head down”

The brunette’s eyes widened in excitement.

”Y-Yes Mommy!”

She whimpered and moaned as she fucked herself faster, more and more, the tail and dildo making a mess of her holes, the vibrating clamps getting her so close in only a matter of minutes.

”M-Mommy!”, Cassandra breathed out, moaning as she was so close.

Lauren chuckled at her, cupping her cheek. “Cum, my good girl”, she cooed.

Cassandra did not have to be told twice. She rode fast and eagerly and arched her back, she was so close.

Her eyes opened and frustrated tears almost spilled down her cheeks as the vibrating stopped and Lauren held her in place, preventing her any more friction of the toys.

”M-Mo-mmy?”, she breathed out miserably, whimpering.

Lauren chuckled sadistically, looking at her broken slut. She pushed her lips against Cassandra’s, her tongue dominating hers. “It seems we must prepare to head down, Cassandra”

The brunette whimpered and groaned, yet her eyes followed her partner’s hands as she moved along the cord of the toy and to a small, oval looking thing attached to it. “What’s that?”, Cassandra asked curiously. She had never seen such an odd thing on a dildo before.

Alas, when Lauren squeezed it and the dildo inside of her grew in size, Cassandra shrieked and squirmed. She attempted to lift herself off the toy, yet her knees and legs felt too weak to support this cause.

”Now now, Cassandra. Didn’t you say you wanted to be wet and full? Very well, we’ll make sure you don’t only become filled, but stay that way until Mommy decides otherwise”

The brunette moaned and shivered as she felt fluid spurt from the toy, warm and wet almost like cum, until it filled her nicely. Her eyes could barely keep open, she felt so sensitive and horny.

Another push of the oval looking thing- the toy expanded again and had Cassandra shriek helplessly.

”M-Mommy!”

She gasped when it grew more and more, stretching her soaked pussy as it went.

”Did I not teach you to mind your words, you spoiled little brat?”, Lauren scolded, mercilessly pumping the cock until it was inflated to the maximum and kept the woman’s cunt sealed. Cassandra’s hips squirmed helplessly, yet no more wetness slipped from her pussy.

”Good girl, Cassie”, she praised.

Cassandra gasped when she was lifted off the table and caught by Lauren when she nearly fell over. “Let’s get you dressed in your costume now, baby. We can’t have you show up dressed as a naked slut, Cassandra”

She took a breath as the heavy collar was removed from her and eyed Lauren as she brought black panties and scissors.

Gasping, she saw the woman cut a small hole in them, which she used to push the tail through the panties. Cassandra’s eyes were wide.

”It stays on?!” She gasped in surprise. She whimpered as the oval add on of the toy was pushed between her pussy lips and the panties were pulled up. One still saw the slight outline of the toy, but only barely so.

”Of course, my tempting devil”, Lauren cooed. Cassandra gasped when the clamp was removed from her nipple, yet the one on her clit remained. “M-Mommy?!”

Next the woman pulled a black corset from the bag. Cassandra shivered, memories of Lauren teasing her by cutting off her breath with corsets or by wrapping her hand around her neck.

She shivered when the item was put on her and tightened, leaving her barely room to breathe, just the way the masochist liked it.

”Good girl”, Lauren praised her. Cassandra clenched around the toys inside of her.

To finish up her look, it seemed, Lauren pulled out leather pants. Cassandra squirmed. Again, a hole was cut in them, it was almost a pity, and they were put on the squirming brunette. “Good girl”, the woman repeated.

Cassandra whined helplessly as she was put in her normal heels, somehow expected to walk despite the toys rubbing inside of her and the clit clamp that might turn on any moment.

She snarled when she was pushed on the bed yet again and whined when both toys seemed to push almost deeper into her.

Eagerly the brunette watched the other woman get dressed too, and rolled her eyes and scoffed as she noticed the outfit. An angel. Typical.

Lauren laughed as she noticed Cassandra’s reaction. “No need to pout, baby”, she teased. Cassandra whined when her hand was taken and she was sat on Lauren’s lap. Both women were merely distracted yet again as the tail rubbed against Lauren’s cock. “Let’s see here, you’ve made such a mess of your pretty face, Cassie”, Lauren cooed, wiping the smeared makeup and instead replacing it with new one. Cassandra sat surprisingly still as the woman did her makeup, smearing black lipstick along her lips before pressing a kiss to the tattoo on her forehead. “Let’s head down, Baby”

Mere minutes into the celebration Cassandra had realized just how badly she wished they could have simply stayed in her room. Daniela had mushed about the cute “couple outfit” Lauren and her wore, Bela was too busy to even realise her younger sister was there. It would seem, Cassandra thought with slight disgust, they both suffered the same fate under their clothing, as Bela practically stuck to Donna’s side and would barely walk, instead kept her thighs pressed tightly together. Cassandra had no such luck. Lauren had simply pushed her into the room, kissing her and demanding of her to mingle as she got them drinks.

An hour into the celebration or so, Cassandra had realised how badly she needed release. She felt full and needy, her clit teased so much it had her jump when Lauren merely brushed her finger against it through the clothing.

Not unlike her sister and her lover, Cassandra too at least found herself on Lauren. She angrily shooed Daniela away whenever she wished to talk, instead whimpering in Lauren’s ear about how needy she was, how she nearly came when Daniela thought it fun to pull on the tail, not knowing it was attached to Cassandra and instead foolishly believing it was a part of the leather pants. Her younger sister didn’t quite understand why Cassandra yelled at her for this, only rolling her eyes and mumbling something about her sister’s bad moods.

”Mommy please”, Cassandra begged, straddling Lauren’s lap. Her hands were on the woman’s cock, subtly rubbing it though her white angel robe. Cassandra couldn’t help but rub her pussy over the woman’s thigh. It felt so good, her poor clit teased almost brutally in the past hour.

“Now, baby, we’ve barely been here. We can’t leave after just an hour. Everyone else is still here”, Lauren cooed. She was correct, too. Alcina was eager hosting the event, yet had her watchful eye all over. Daniela was dancing eagerly with servants, all evening, drinking and kissing only to be scolded by her protective Mother, whereas Bela and Donna had not left yet either. The blonde woman, dressed ironically as a maid, barely left the side of her lover, dressed as a vampire. Lauren chuckled at the pair and partly scolded herself for not thinking of the outfit. Then again, she was sure Cassandra would have her head for trying to put her into the costume of a fair maiden seduced by her. The image of innocence did not at all fit her dear lover either, not that Lauren would change so.

She too felt like she had enough of the party already, yet enjoyed seeing her brunette squirm about and stroke her cock for her. She grabbed Cassandra’s hands when Alcina’s watchful eye turned to them. “Be a good girl and get me a glass of wine, won’t you?” She asked instead, still after months slightly fearful of the watchful eye of an overprotective, and most of all deadly, Mother.

Cassandra groaned, not at all feeling like moving, but did so nonetheless, needing a glass herself in an attempt to calm herself.

Their plan to wait for someone else to first leave the celebration was failing, as the couple realized, for Alcina and Daniela had no intention of leaving, and the many attending maids had no choice but to stay until dismissed. Furthermore, it seemed as though it was Bela’s idea too to wait for the first couple to leave.

Cassandra was sick of waiting. Her panties were soaked through despite the dildo in her, her clit and ass was sensitive enough to nearly make her cum if she merely bumped into something or someone.

Lauren watched anxiously as her girlfriend excused them from the party and politely thanked Alcina as she was pulled off, chuckling to herself when merely moments after they excited the room she heard Bela call for the countess too, no doubt ready to retreat to her bedroom with her partner as well.

”Easy, Cassie”, she gasped when she was pushed against the door as soon as they were back in their room and the door shut, Cassandra’s hands groping and squeezing, her legs on either side of her thigh as she rutted against it in almost primal fashion.

”You-“, Cassandra moaned, “have been”, Lauren moaned as hands cupped and squeezed her large cock. “Teasing me”, Cassandra whimpered as her hands shook too much to pull down the zipper of the leather pants, instead settled for grinding her clothes pussy against Lauren. “All damn day.”, she finished.

Cassandra moaned as her hair was gripped and she was pushed towards the bed, the collar picked up again and put on her. “That’s right, my pretty slut”, Lauren panted. She eagerly ripped open the zipper and tugged the pants off her lover, “I think it’s time Mommy took what she wanted all day”

Cassandra moaned as the collar’s leash was tied to the railing of the bed, keeping her head in place and keeping her leaned forwards on all four. She felt so needy and wet.

”Let’s see…”, Lauren panted, shredding her own clothing off and freeing her already red swollen and leaking cock.

She pulled down Cassandra’s underwear roughly and deflated the dildo, pulling the soaked item out and tossing it aside. No time was wasted as Lauren instead thrust inside her soaked lover, laughing as she felt the warm insides of her pussy. She laughed loudly as her poor lover came from merely the penetration, tearing the clit clamp from her and tossing it to the discarded item.

”Mhmm, has my beautiful girl missed me?”, she teased. Cassandra moaned, nodding and gasping for breath as she came. “Don’t you think we’ll be done anytime soon, baby”

The brunette fly woman gasped when her hips were grabbed tightly and Lauren thrust deep inside, over and over again, her wet cock easily sliding deep inside of her. “P-Please!”

She felt lightheaded already, at last cumming after a night of seemingly endless teasing, and she bit her lip in anticipation, eager for what was yet to come her way that Halloween night.

[lavenderdropp]

ABYSSAL: [MERMAN! KOKUSHIBO /MICHIKATSU TSUGIKUNI X FEMALE! READER]

-> Chapter One: Purest of all

Warnings: mentions of injuries, drowning, blood and sea storm and amnesia.

The soft splash of the sea waves hugging the shore echoed throughout the land. Sea breeze brushing against their skin, acting as a reliever from the draining summer day which now came to its end with a lovely sunset. It could be considered as a reward for all the hard work done by her throughout the day. Just as the sky was being tainted in the blossoming hues of settling evening, their hearts melted with love and longing for one another. Salty waters of shore ends kissed her feet which were dangling down the wooden ramp as she was seated at the edge of it.

The maiden looked down at him. Her [eye color] orbs holding nothing but admiration and affection. For him. Her eyes comparable to that of a marble. So beautiful. So alluring as she had held him captivate under her gaze. Yet, she was unaware. Unaware of the hold she had upon him which tied his heart and soul to her. It was almost foolish that how vulnerable he felt in front of her. But he wouldn't have it the other way. As they succumbed into the moment, the only thing surrounding them was serenity. 

Her hands in his. 

The tender hold of her hands against his was simply blissful. Her mere presence was enough to calm the raging turmoil within him. She was the missing piece of his soul which completed the puzzle of his being. With her by his side it felt like his search for the unknown was complete. 

He was complete. 

A claw, embroidered with elegantly shimmering scales beneath the setting rays of sun, reached up to brush itself against the delicate texture of her cheek. She didn't flinch or tried to pry off his hand, instead she only leaned into it and smiled at him. She always managed to catch him off guard. No matter how many times she did that, it always felt new. Her reaction, it was different, different from what he had experienced throughout his life from others. He was used to the looks of fear and cowering figures beneath him. Yet, there was she, seated at the top of a wooden ramp which connected the land to the sea, gazing down at him with eyes filled with affection while he was submerged in the water as his tail helped his upper body to stay afloat upon the surface of the water.

A mutual madness, a mutual desire, and a mutual flowing emotion in the eyes as she leaned down and he leaned up slightly. Their faces inches apart. Their lips hovered over each other's lime a taunting indication of what might happen next. Senses on fire from the drug of love. Then their lips met-

Eye lids opened to reveal a pair of [eye color] iris, as cold as the ice, as shimmer-less as a rusted metal and devoid of any emotion. They were just empty. Slowly, a movement took place as they shifted to observe their surroundings. A wooden hurled room, number of barrels and a couple of ropes and fine weapons. 

The vertigo of rocking from left to right sent sensations down the body of the wooden blight on its voyage towards it's next destination unknown and undisclosed towards the figure bound by the shackles of metal forged by fire and repeated beating of a mighty hammer. The rocking motion made the wooden prison creak and groan from the perpetrator responsible for it's sick cradle of motion. However unlike an infant's cradle that was supposed to bring comfort, this was anything but comforting. 

Sensations from the rocking and creaking reached the numb body that slowly awoken from the deep slumber she had been in a moment ago. 

COLD.

Cold was the first sensation that returned to her. Stinging her awakened flesh like a string of wasps. Hurting and painful. Second was the throbbing and pulsating sensation clawing at the side of her head making her groan. Third was pins and needles and tiredness the more her body moved. And last was the cold of the metal shackles and chains, clanking with every small movement of her body.

They sounded together echoing in the dark as her arm reached out and she flipped onto her stomach. As if to insult her small triumph, a roll of thunder and strike of lightning sounded off from above. Lighting up the strange room just for a brief moment. Letting tired confused orbs get a glimpse of what might've been a ship's storage room. Tied barrels thumped against each other as the rocking continued with a roll of thunder off the tip of the storm's violent lashing tongue. 

The sounds muffled together in her ears as her vision swam about. Her ears ring. Her body stings. Her visions blur with roundabout darkness. Where was she? What had happened?

CRACK-!!

The harsh rocking back and forth increases suddenly increased from the left as a mighty wave must've crashed into this alleged ship's side. The bottom of the ship where the wave him made the floorboards push inwards briefly from the force used to smash into them. The entire room dipped right sending her rolling sideways around and around. Shackle chains clanking crazily and sounds leaving her mouth indescribable in the moment until with a final thud she collided face and stomach first into a line of crates where they leaned against the left wall. Other objects tumbled down around her thudding and crashing from the force of the ship leaning left.

A sharp hiss left her throat at the harsh welcome of the ship from her slumber. Eyes closing momentarily as she tried to take in whatever was happening.

What happened?

The answer to that question came as a sharp sting going throughout her head. Passing images were blur and negative. The train of thoughts seemingly halting at the absence of the pieces to the puzzle.

How do I get out of here? 

[eye color] orbs unveiled to search through her surroundings for a way to escape the hellish torment. It was as if the fate was playing a cruel joke with her. Waking up and finding herself tied up with no idea of where she was being sailed to. The growing headache and fatigue did not help either and she found herself helpless in the clutches of a threatening situation. 

But she knew she could not give up.

Not when she is in such situation. 

She had to stay alive. 

She promised--

Promise? 

What did she promise? And to whom? The side of her head stung painfully at the attempt to recall. All she got in the response was a pulsating disturbance clawing her mind which seemed to be not her own at this moment. 

Was it because of the way she was thrown around? Think. What was the last thing she remembered? She remembered...Eyes narrowed hard at the wooden floor. Her numb and fuzzy mind trying to comb through the fog which rolled over her memories. She remembered...a pain. A quick jabbing pain she had when she first passed out but that was it. She had no memory of anything else before or after that until she woke up here.

Where was here? A ship obviously. But how she got here or why was a mystery. When did she get here? Where was she heading? Judging by the rocking motion they were going somewhere. Why was she tied up? Who put her here? Her mind could only come up with blanks. Alright. Never-mind what she couldn't remember. Focus on what she does know. Firstly she was tied up. Secondly she was trapped somewhere. So her first order of business was just focusing on getting out of these shackles. Maybe there was a key somewhere.

Orbs slowly looked around at her surroundings but it was mostly dark except for the occasional lightning strike. Where would there be a ke-

THUD.

Any thought process was halted by the sounds of a loud thud. Followed shortly by more similarly sounded thuds one after another coming closer and closer and closer to the door at the far end of the room where she was.

THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD.

The sounds only halted right outside of the door as another lightning flash lit up the room from the tiny round window on the side wall. That to disappeared only to lit up the room again when the wooden door slammed open, revealing a pissed looking man holding a lantern in his hand. He was drenched, head to toe and his hair too sticking to his forehead. The storm seemingly had spat out it's wrath on him-- and his crew-mates as well since two more men soon appeared after him. 

"Sir, the woman is up!" 

"I too can see that, 'zander." Bit the said man as he as completely discarded any attempt to acknowledge the mentioned woman. "Just get the supplies and necessities you need and get back to work." 

"Who...are you? Where am I..?!" She mustered up the courage to question the man who continued to ignore her and look around for something that might fit his needs for the situation beforehand. 

"I'm talking to you!" She cried out again, a scowl plastered on her face which made her reflect on the feeling of the stick-en dried blood-path which has left a trail of red behind on the side of her face down her forehead. "Where am I being taken to?!" 

Her earlier disoriented state mended into the bubbling wrath and rush of adrenaline at the sight of her abductors. The earlier fatigue momentarily forgotten at the wake of anger and disgust.

It was then that the man finally turned around snarling his disgusting yellowed teeth at the girl. The other men momentarily looked up from picking up objects and moving things to look at her. She realized her mistake when the man stomped up to her, each heavy thud with his weight until he stood in front of her. A cry of pain left her mouth as a large hand snatched up the shackles on her wrists and pulled her painfully up into the air towards the snarling face.

"Quiet you stupid wench! Little betrayers like you don't get to talk!"

A hiss left her throat as she winced from the pain. Cracking one eye open just as another crack of lightning lit up his face. Betrayer? What was he talking about?

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't play stupid. You're lucky to still be breathing where you lay."

"I'm not laying down!"

....A grin spread across his face. "You're right. My mistake. Lemme fix that."

She cried out as he let her go and with a hard thud landing on the floor at his feet. A bout of rude laughter was right after echoing throughout her already throbbing head and making her clamped her eyes shut. 

Stop it. Stop it. STOP IT!!

The sounds blurring with the storm outside thundered it's way to the mind. Pounding to the point nothing but a blurring blinding ringing in her ears could be heard from the storm or from those that'll be the victims of the bring deep before their very feet.

C R A C K

The world then dipped sideways knocking all to their sides with curses and yells. Thudding along the room from the ship tilting far left. A force from the outside brutally slamming into them from the depths below.

"What was that?!"

"We must've hit a reef or collided with a whale!"

"Get to the-"

CLASH RUMBLE went the thunder and lightning as the ocean claimed.

The ship began to rock from side to side and the temperature dipped to freezing cold in their veins from bodies thudding to and from from the force. Dark clouds obscured the moon. They rocked grimly in the darkness as black as death. The full moon’s light was painted silver, casting down rays of light with a ghostly glow. Underneath the moon, the rain moved towards them ike a veil of doom knitted with pretty lace by the grim reaper's skeletal hands. A ghastly wind yelled and groaned, rippling the surface of the raged ocean.

The heaved and tossed in the rising swell and the shrieks of the men cried out as they slid from side to and from the waves.

Left. Right. Left. Right.

Then all light disappeared as the cloaked sky blotted out the light of the moon other than the occasional lightning. She shrieked herself as she slid tumbling in circles as the storm downed out their screams and some force continued to slam against the floor pushing up harder and harder with each slam.

THUD THUD THUD

The floorboards pushed up with each desperate hit. 

THUD THUD THUD

Spiderweb cracks began forming in the creaking wood as it gave way.

T H U D.  T H U D.  T H U D.  

Water began seeping through between the cracks and crevices.

C R A C K!!

Blackened liquid spurted from the opening in the floor. Water rushed out into the new opening as the space was quickly filled. Digits strong, webbed poked through as an arm raised up through the ever growing hole. Wood and splinters washing away from the being pulling itself into the opening it made. Claws ran along the bottom of the ship as they pulled the creature in and a loud hiss escaped it alongside the sounds of rushing water still pouring in around it's form and the storm outside.

C L A S H

Lightning lit up the room illuminating six glowing eyes and a maw of fangs slowly turning around to carefully scan the remains of the wooden ship and the screams of the doomed humans until with a sharp turn they met eye to eye with the frozen woman in the few seconds the lightning lit up the space. Then when darkness once again shrouded everything-

The depths of Tartarus unleashed upon them all.

The rain whipped down like a laughing audience of evil and lightning emblazoned the sky. The waves rose and she shrieked as she felt water rush over her body, scrambling back with the sounds of desperate splashes and clanking shackles. The wind blew and sped them to their doom. 

The ship bobbed like a cork upon the black sea as screams and terror broke out.  The depths hissed and laughed as it eagerly claimed it's victim. The oak wood planks bulged and cracked then creaked and screamed as sharpened blades and claws in unison rectified it's vengeance on the haul, port, mast, and everything making it easy for the storm and sea to do their jobs of drowning the mighty ships.

The ship tipped up and up as a wave pushed it over and she shrieked feeling things fly past her across the slippery floor. Her blunt fingernails and hands desperately clawed and dug along the floor in a desperate attempt to hold on and avoid a watery grave. Panic and fear collided within her mind as she slid down, down, down- 

And then she fell.

She shrieked as she tumbled head over heels over and over again. Until with a splash her screams were silenced by the blackened water swallowing her up whole with the sinking ship in the stormy night.

Mouth opening in a desperate attempt to breathe, only to choke out. Cold liquid pressing down her lungs as she pushed her limbs desperately, yet no leverage was found. The waters pushed her down further into the dark waiting to claim her and feed its hunger. Eyes struggling to remain open as the throbbing ache clawed upon her insides. 

The movement of her form ceased slowly. [eye color] eyes unfocused as blood pounded behind her eyes. Eyelids veiling her gaze as deathly shadows clawed out to grasp her and take her away--

A pale limb, it's being a contrasting mixture of human arm giving rise to a flowing fin emerging from the flesh, embroidered to perfection, wrapped around her waist as the other soon followed after. She felt herself being pulled against something solid and soon the feeling of being pushed upwards met her.

A sharp gasp left her throat as they finally came up to the surface. Air filling her lungs again as her chest heaved up. Soft pants leaving her shivering form--

"Foolish."

A webbed claw reached up to cup the soft flesh of her cheek as her eyes opened to meet the three sets of golden pools surrounded by gleaming red sclera. 

"Foolish of them to try taking away the only thing which kept me sane."

"You, my dear, is something i can never compromise with since you are the sole cure of this sickness."  

"I could never leave. Not when the only thing that you seek is me. Not when you call for me such. Not when you are somewhere you shouldn't be. Not when my arms are the only place you belong." 

The storm seemingly halted as the scattered moonlight fell upon their intertwined forms. It was as if their union was blessed by the heavens above. Yet, the dagger pierced his heart, shattering it into million pieces as it met him in the form of a mere whisper from his beloved.

"Who...are you?"

______________________________________________

Hello lovlies! Finally the book has been updated! The story might seem a bit confusing now but things would clear soon! ;) 

A special thank you to @echantedtoon for the collaboration and help! 

[ranticore]

selected pages from Shapeshifter Problems, a small exploration of old old concept art & thoughts on shapeshifter tropes (specifically the question of the 'true form') i posted to patreon earlier this year. there's a bunch more haha. here's some OLD art and bg process for writing said the black horse. I don't like my old art but looking back at it I'm really happy how I've developed since, I used to make everything too sharp, straight-sided, or skinny. I had to make a conscious effort to change that and now it's so much better.

image transcriptions under the cut (just the text sorry)

Image 1: "These are more of those older designs - the horns were a deliberate play into devil imagery on Puck's part while giving Félix this form (all to cause more torment of course) but again I couldn't vibe with it. Such clear statements of intent didn't work for me.

The scars remain canon but not quite so stark, more a difference in texture (again, moving away from visual details). His forehead scar is ALWAYS there."

Image 2: "Félix. These are really old - from 2019-2020. They're the first attempts at Félix's horse form. At the time I was leaning into some goat-like attributes. I liked the idea of something that looked like an emaciated amalgam of many familiar creatures but if you look closer, it actually doesn't look like any animal at all. The original body shape and proportions were inspired by moose. I didn't know how to draw convincing horse shapes which is why he had these hands and claws for so long. I still draw the little flower wheel pattern on his sides sometimes... a secret just for me. His belly fur, squared off ear shape, and beard are still defining characteristics"

Image 3: "More old art from 2020. Bottom left is my first ever painting on my iPad using Procreate. I still prefer SAI for creature drawings, or at least the original sketches underpinning a lot of my art. Below on the bottom was my attempt at a scarier form for the character but I ultimately decided that it ran contrary to the atmosphere I was trying to create. Top left is my first 'real' horse painting and it includes the tail shape which has not ever changed, and feathers, which I nixed because I wanted to learn how to draw the feet and legs properly and not rely on covering them up with flowing hair (my favourite thing to draw)"

Image 4: "Like the black horse designs, these humanoid designs for Félix (circa 2019 - OLD art!) started very complex and simplified over time. I decided to avoid visual complexity, but made the mistake of solidifying specific 'rules' for how the Púca servants' bodies work, and I deeply regret this. Because I wrote Said the Black Horse in 2021, I was still operating under the old mindset and that caused it to become somewhat established canon.

In his original iteration his tattoos represented magical contracts between him and various faeries, so they were supposed to be always visible as a reminder of that contract.

<- a really early furry version, I was playing with the eye on the neck as a design feature. Ultimately I feel that although it looks cool, the medium he exists in is proser. So I needed to move away from visually complex designs and towards designs which were interesting to different senses instead."

Image 5: "As time went on the design simplified. I enjoyed making fun textures using procreate brushes. These designs lack his forehead scar but do include his impalement scar. If you've seen my Hanged Man card you'll know how he got that one. But when I made the charts like this about how his body 'worked' in 2020, again I ran into the same issue I always do when writing about faeries... the more I explain it, the most 'logic' and 'science' goes into it, the less it feels like a faery story to me. Overexplaining is anathema to the faeries of Inver. so even though I like these design notes they just don't fit in this setting."

[carniekisses]

Here's a long post that I really hope Tumblr will not flag as NSFW (please don't flag this), I remember back when I showed off the needlefelt Gomer sculpture I had made, someone asked if I had like a work process to show off for it. And I did not, because I had kept it all confined to a private account. I thought it'd be fun to have something to show for it for this one.

So I've been wanting to make a BJD for at least the past 15 years, back when I was a kid with no money to buy supplies with and also with a worry for symmetry, and also also I wasn't very skilled. It's 2024, and I vaguely know how to use Blender now

I've started this project on April 6th, as I've been documenting this on the above mentioned private account.

Of said model I (much) later ended up only being able to salvage the physical sculpts of the chest and torso parts as I messed up somewhat badly, see down below. I also ended up dropping the 'magnets in hands & feet' concept as it was just redundant, one can simply unhook them off the elastic if they are to swap them out.

At any rate, I 3D printed it all and got to sanding, and painting.

So far so good I guess, really not a fan of how the knee and elbow bean slots were just holes (I fixed that later don't worry)

So This was Not looking good lmao. I used acrylic paint, which was not necessarily the problem, the problem was that I'd applied it with a sponge brush which caused the surface to feel really sandpapery once dry. So don't do that I suppose, bad idea

On top of this, I realized that given the thickness of this doll I absolutely needed double joints in the legs, in order to have decent articulation. You can see in the above pics I *had* sculpted those, but I later fused the knee beans with the shins with apoxy resin, for some reason? I think it was because as I posed the legs the knee beans kept falling *into* the hollowed out shins/thighs, and I got tired of it.

The final blows for this model were me applying some 3D finish resin in a last ditch effort to smooth out the horrible texture, which rendered the pieces extremely shiny and smooth (disgusting), WHICH then prompted me to apply matte varnish to fix that bullshit. It absolutely did not work lmfao, and I have no pictures of that disaster because I became pretty discouraged about having to go back to like square two or three.

Some time passed (months really because I kept getting distracted for many a reason [sanding is so fucking boring, Blender was a mistake, I was feeling overwhelmed, I was too sad/tired to work that day, etc.]), I buckled down and finally retooled the pieces that needed it: everything But the chest and torso parts, off of which I managed to sand the varnish and smooth resin. I had fixed all the double joints too to actually be decently functional this time. The head was completely resculpted to better reflect the character's latest design iteration.

bean slots: Fixed

So after sanding (which was the part I was dreading the entire time, because it's so tedious and also it hurts after a while), I caved and got myself an airbrush to, hopefully, lay paint down good this time.

Very glad I did because the difference is kinda crazy. Please ignore my dirty ass desk, it's what happens when you craft. These pictures are from last week btw.

The blue base and the blush were airsprayed, the finer details like the dark shading and the pinker parts were done with both chalk and just acrylic paint. I miiight remake the eyeballs, or at least add more of a smooth finish. The shine to them is really nice

Here's she with lashes, wearing a shitty little scrap of fabric I cut in 10 minutes for fun (please DON'T flag th), and posing to test out the double joints too, they definitely could be better but they work Fine and I'm okay with that.

As of today I'm waiting for the fibres to deliver, for the wig, I already have the cap done. I guess I can update this when it happens, thanks for reading so far, I hope it was interesting, see you next time.......

[screentones-webcomicresources]

Screen Tones (the actual material!)

If you've seen the little comics-esque dots in media (and in our logo), you've seen screen tones, also known as halftones! The halftone method was created as a way to print values - and they've developed a unique flavour in comics because of how they look. But how do we use them in the digital age? Krispy dives in with her tips:

Digital art can have a LOT of issues with consistency and sizing with halftones that creates odd, eye-straining patterns called moiré. There's technically no way to avoid this in all aspects- it comes with the territory of tones because of their nature, and the fact that folks use many different size screens to read and enjoy your comic. That said- they're are still many methods to help keep it looking fine and non obstructive:

Consistency is key.

There is no 'proper size' for the screen tones, because the art will change regardless of how its compressed and viewed. You can WORK in 600dpi, but if that is displayed on a screen with lower resolution, you will get moiré as a result. Your printer's settings will also dictate how the patterns come out. You can print with one company and get different results with another- it can be a big gamble, so proofs are essential! (Here's a great post going into all the print details) Moiré happens also when your patterns are NOT on the same 'frequency', meaning an overlap of different patterns can give you this janky effect:

This also shows you the many frequency and 'sizes' you can get with halftones. It can be a gamble depending on how it is sized. Sizing matters a lot!

We have set files of halftones that are a set size, and we place the image on top, and delete what we don't need. That way, the image stays the same size, and you're not dealing with it re-sizing.

Traditional halftones were meant for a single size, so they print consistently, but when scanned and shown on bigger displays than they were intended for, you can still run into problems. Avoid working so large with halftones if you don't want to waste time fixing them. But don't work too small either! 300dpi Sizing down is still easier than sizing up. Focus on what frequency would match the three sizes you plan on: working in, printing, and sharing. Again, consistency is key!

A couple of other techniques for screen tones you can also use that will give you the effect you want, but avoid most of the moiré:

Blurring: If you want to work in the halftone thresholds/brushes you have, and don't want to deal with the sizing issues, you can blur the halftone layer by a couple levels, making it a static image that still gives you texture, but isn't fighting your screen with dots and patterns.

Imitating the feel of halftones with other methods: With a few Photoshop filters and effects, you can transform flat grey areas into textured tone!

Go forth and tone!

[neverchecking]

Day 13: Olfactophilia- With Sage

Man it's crazy this this was always day 13 and i never changed it bc it was already written and someone (bailey) told me there were craving Sage. Nah, that's crazyyyy.

Smut so Minors Do Not Interact. If I find out a minor has interacted with my blog, I will block you.. Thank you!

Smut CW: Sage. (He has a thing with how you smell), thigh fucking bc MAN is that HNNNNG, also he bites.

This is Day thirteen of My Kinktober so be sure to come back and check out the other days! Friendly Reminder that all of my smut is tagged 'Cindersins' including this, but this will also be tagged as 'Cinder's happy halloween' along with the run of the mill smut tags.

Kinktober Masterlist <<< Day 12 >>>Day 14

He knew he experienced the world…differently.

 Ever since his death however many odd years ago, he’s witnessed it first hand. His eyesight was sharper, catching the smallest movements as they brushed against blades of grass. Pinpointing the exact moment a club was swung in his direction, easily dodging past it for a counterblow. Catching the smallest reflection of light against ores that otherwise would’ve been lost in the depths. 

His hearing was exponential as well. He could hear the soft pads of paws behind him in an effort to sneak past him. Hear the delicate crushing of weeds as a cave dweller moves about. Catch the smallest rumbles of pebbles falling from a hill as a beast tries to sneak up behind him. 

His taste could pick out any spice used, he could feel the smallest changes in texture, but truly, his sense of smell had been his saving grace. When the wind shifted, he could smell different prey from miles away. When he really focused, he could smell which direction the nearest stable was, where the nearest monster camp was. 

He could smell you. 

You were his favorite smell, by far. Something tinged by the smell of skin and sweat, but nothing could hide your natural musk. Something laced with the natural undertone of the earth and whatever soap you had bought off a merchant that month. It was indescribably comforting. It grounded him because if there was something Ganon could never replicate, it was the way you smelt. His puppets could look just like whoever they wanted, they could feel as Hylian as they come, but they would never carry the smell of life. 

It’s why he took every chance given to him to stuff his nose into your heavenly hair or the junction of your neck and shoulder, just to smell you. 

It’s why his teeth stayed clamp right under your jaw as he dragged his cock between your thighs, feeling the muscles twitch as you clung to him, marking up his back in your own delicate handwriting. It was sensation overload, but something so deliciously overstimulating he couldn’t help but indulge. From his nerves shocking his entire system with each drag against your plush flesh, to the tantalizing taste of your sweat remaining tart on his tongue to the pure essence that clouded around him. It was smothering, choking him with a cloud of something that was utterly you he couldn’t help the urge to drown in it. 

Golden Goddess above and her three servants, he prayed this is the one thing in his life he’d never lose. He’d burn the world to keep you with him, ignoring the smell of ash that followed after him. 

[justbelievinginmagic]

ariadne's thread ⎯ pt. 10: betrayal.

pairing(s): hyunjin x fem!reader, jisung x fem!reader, jisung & fem!reader, chan & fem!reader, changbin & fem!reader series summary: when tempted by an intoxicating offer by hyunjin the goblin king of the underground, you fight against him to find your own sense of self once more while in his labyrinth. glimpse: with the aid of the king's knight, the quest continues into a humid forest as the party begin to recall their pasts and retrace their steps to the labyrinth; jisung is forced to choose a future. warnings/tags: inspired by the 1986' movie Labyrinth, follows majority of the movie's plot points with lore divergence, 3rd person POV, use of Y/N, faerie lore, world-building, explicit language, no hyunjin appearance fyi, betrayal, hunger, magic, guilt, implied drugging, some relationship building, a lot of lore building tbh, all the labyrinth animals are actually from the dark crystal: age of resistance which i watch to get into the mood to write sometimes, other than thatttttt lemme know if i need to tag anything else :) word count: 4 k previous chapter <- -> next chapter series masterlist

While the Bog was blistering hot, the forest they founded themselves in wasn’t much better. Instead, it’s shade did little to make it cooler. Instead, it became mucky and humid. For the first time since entering the Underground, she sweated. Rolling up her sleeves and pushing her hair back, she fanned herself as they walked along.

“It’s so hot here,” she voiced.

“That’s the Underground for you,” Chris commented. “It has so many different eco-systems. You should see the ice caverns.”

Ice caverns… now that sound hellish. She hoped they would not stumble upon those on their journey. She could handle a light chill; she could handle the dark; she could handle heat; she didn’t know if she could handle snow.

“I remember the first time I saw them; they were glittering for the Prince’s birthday… or was it for the King’s? No, no maybe it was for the Goddess’ Celebration.” Changbin pondered aloud as they rounded a large ivy-covered tree stump.

The dirt beneath her feet was gritty, transitioning from sand to a dirt the further they left the Bog behind. With the rich dirt, the forest bloomed larger. The trees were gigantic; huge redwood-esque trees burst forth with bulging trunks and root bases. Their leaves and branches fanned out, shielding the stalactites and any openings in the cavern’s ceiling from view. Green and thriving. Sunlight from the cave’s opening casted through the branches and leaves, making the forest floor look like a kaleidoscope of greens and yellows.

Squinting at the trees, she could see an electric hum course through them. Magic trickling through the trees like liquid gold, giving them an unearthly glow. As they continued along, some even became a strange transparency. Only the rough texture of the bark was visible in a shroud of golden veins. She could clearly see the magic pathways then, sparkling like crushed diamonds, like the powdered magic flowed in rivers along the ringed layers of the tree. Trickling throughout the plant, trickling down into the roots. It was beautiful.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the Ice Caverns,” Han said. He sounded strange, a bit distracted as he looked this way and that.

“I can’t remember the last time I left my post,” Sir Changbin commented as he trucked along.

Large leaves from an equally large tree crunched beneath their feet, loudly. Changbin’s sword clicked and clanked against his meaty thigh as he stomped this way and that. He had become the unofficial guide through the brush. Leading them around large trees and ivy-covered bushes, he directed them with his loud boisterous voice. Loyally, Chris remained by her side as Han stumbled behind them. The Runner glanced back at him every now and then. Was he still ill from the Bog?

“A lot has changed,” Han called as he caught the Runner’s eye. He was quick to look away, dodging her curious eyes.

She furrowed her brow at him. Was he okay?

“It’s the same Underground regardless,” Chris reassured Changbin.

As they continued along, fauna emerged once more. There were jelly butterflies, all who seemed to still love Chris, swarming him with gentle kisses. He giggled and said quiet hellos to them as he gently swatted them away. Pixies of blues, pinks, and yellows were circling through the air in organized flocks. Han glared at them as they dove down at him, tauntingly. Multi-tailed foxes chased one another as they dodged in and out of large elephant-ear plants.

It was almost peaceful. The sound of crickets chirped in the air.

“Same Underground,” Changbin agreed with a grin.

It was strange to think it was peaceful, Y/N thought. The Labyrinth had been so upside-down, so strange. But perhaps when oddity was reality, was it really so odd?

A rabbit with an odd muzzle, almost like a pig’s snout, hopped across their path. “Oh, a dwaekki,” Changbin exclaimed with a fond look.

“It’s a pig-rabbit?” she exclaimed.

“Or a rabbit-pig, depending on the way you look at them,” Chris commented beside her, shrugging.

“Are all animals… conjoined?” she asked. She had seen jelly-fish butterflies too.

“We have chickens, sometimes dogs,” Chris answered. “But there are also dwaekkis, jellyflies, vindles, winged rakkidas, unamoths, shrookils-“

“I love fried shrookil legs,” Changbin chimed in, eagerly.

Chris hummed in agreement. He had been used to gruel every day for the longest time. He yearned for something greasy and indulgent.

“With a good side of rice and maybe—”

Her stomach growled loudly.

“Oh,” Changbin looked bashfully at her stomach, surprised to hear such a loud noise come from the human.

“Sorry, hungry,” she commented as they rounded a corner.

Chris looked this way and that, scanning the brush for anything edible. Instead, they came upon a roadblock. Twisted and a rusted color, it was a large briar-esque circular plant. Up to their waist, it was tall and full of pine needles, thorns, and even glowing baubles. Without a second thought, Changbin whipped out his sword to slash away the obstacle for them.

Jisung huffed out in outrage as pine needles rained down on them. Changbin turned at the sound and laughed out in short ‘ha, ha, ha’s.

“Things really haven’t changed,” he laughed. “Never would I think I see the Han wandering the wilderness.”

“What do you know of Han?” The Runner asked immediately. Almost teasingly. She knew how private he was and how insistent you weren’t just supposed to ask certain questions.

Han didn’t even roll his eyes.

Now, she was concerned.  

“He was the Prince’s Lord, the Gentleman-In-Waiting. You saw him wherever he went. And the Han I know hated traveling.” Changbin recalled. “Or… was that Hoggle?” He frowned.

“I didn’t need to travel much,” Han clarified, poutful. He plucked the pine needles out of his mussed hair. “And it was done in luxury, not this.”

He plucked pine needles from his clothes – as if he’d look much better. He and Y/N both looked worse for wear with blood stains, dirt stains, and who knows what else on their clothes.

“Luckily, we will be at the Castle in a skip. My lady, you will be good as saved,” Changbin encouraged, smiling at her with such human honesty.

It was clear he wasn’t a fae like Jisung said. From the metal adorning his muscular form to his naïve optimism, he seemed genuine in this place of twists and turns.

“I hope, Changbin,” she agreed.

Changbin’s grin was admittedly cute. He looked always so prideful, almost in the way a peacock strutted about fluffing its feathers out. He wiggled a bit as he began to sheathe his sword once more.

“Yeah, I don’t think it’ll be that ea—" Chris murmured, mostly to the Runner before Han’s voice interrupted.

“The King is dead, Changbin,” Han stated simply. “The Prince has ascended… by the Goddess’ will.”

Changbin paused in his efforts to put his sword away. “The Prince is King…” he repeated slowly.

Han nodded as he pushed past his friend to continue walking.

“But… that means—how long have I been gone?” he whimpered.

“A while,” Han said as began to push past brushes and bushes.

What was up with Jisung? Her brows crinkled. He was acting so strange. He was kind and soft moment before and now… why was he angry? Or upset? She couldn’t understand.

“Oh,” Changbin breathed.

There was a beat of silence as they walked along, pushing flora away. Rustling leaves filled the air until they all spotted something strange for a forest. A large sculpture half destroyed in the middle of the path. A column eaten away by decay. A road overgrown by grass and dirt.

“Wait… no, no, this isn’t right,” Changbin murmured, steps slowing as he took in each object.

Han looked back at them, only for a brief moment. A distant look shadowing his gaze as he plowed ahead, stomping a bit as he rounded the sculpture, a destroyed arch, and broke past the tree line and into a desolate field.

“The castle…” Changbin breathed.

The ruins of a grand castle laid before them. Sprawling over the land, left as a reminder for those to pass. There was a distant smell of fire-smoke in the air as they crept closer.

Sculptures of old were tumbled over into rubble. Large buildings were blasted to smithereens with only their foundations left as a gaping ghostly reminder in the ground. Cobwebs and dust clung to everything. Despite the nearby tree-line looking lush and opulent with life, it was as if a bubble was around the grounds of the Old Castle, making anything that laid there dead.

Twisted trees and barren hedges of bramble frames a once-hedge labyrinth on the grounds like the very Labyrinth she passed through. Splattered about were the remains of life – skeletons of tiny goblins on the ground, twisted gaunt bushes, broken carts carrying jars of honeyed mead and loaves of bread sat molded. A dried-out fountain parched of water in a nearby courtyard remained dirtied. Dust sprites huddled together by a tiny barely lit fire in a corner of a destroyed building. Shadows clung to concrete columns and broken hunks of fire-eaten wood.

The Old Castle was a wasteland.

The Old Castle had been all three of the faeries once-home away-from-home.

“When did this happened?” Changbin breathed horrified.

His gaze jumped from one spot to the next. He could see everything perfectly as it had once been. A beautiful fountain that glimmered in the magical Lamp light with nymphs bathing or blowing bubbles at one another. Goblins chattering about as they ran this way and that. Stray chickens roaming cobblestone roads pecking for food here and there. Towers shadowed over them; sculptures taller than the trees stood proud.

Now, everything had been razed to the ground.

“Jisung?” she reached for his arm. Jisung reacted, kneejerking into attention. Wide eyes flashing to her.

“Yes?”  

“What is this place?”

“This is the Old Castle.” He started. “This was the King before the Goblin King’s domain. Its… also where most of us grew up.” Han remembered chasing Hyunjin around the once blooming hedge maze, something he couldn’t fathom now. The remains of those mazes rested in twisted dried briars.

“What about that?” She pointed to the ever-present castle in the distance, once again visible from the fields.

“It was a symbol—it wasn’t--,” Han sighed. “It was for ceremony – the Challenge, the Spring, the Fall, the Summer, the Winter Revelries, celebrations only. Now, he stays there all the time.”

There was part of a large sculpture of a familiar face buried in the ground – a strong jawbone, strict lips, and a glowering brow – half destroyed as if by a blast of magic. Y/N recognized it. It looked like the man from the tiles outside the Labyrinth. The one she had seen with the girl from another world. Their noses were the same, their furrowed arched brows the same.

“The old King,” Chris whispered to her, nodding at it.

The old King and a human? She wondered. If that was the same person from the tile, it only made sense. Or perhaps another fae? She remembered seeing the tile in the desert sea, and the story seemed so forbidden.

“What happened? Han, what happened?” Changbin was edging on hysterical as he rushed forward to grasp his friend’s shoulder.

“The Prince--- he let this happen,” Han hissed out.

“Where is the court? Where is the Queen? The Champion Queen? Anyone?”

“They’ve moved into the Goblin City. The Queen is simply the Queen Mother, asleep in delirium; the Champion Queen passed. He refused to remain here.” Han answered.

Changbin’s mouth gaped as he looked this way and that. Y/N looked about, taking in the destruction with a heavy heart. It was a large piece of land. It would’ve housed many people – even if it was a castle for a king.

Her stomach rumbled loudly.

“What was that?” Changbin alerted, sword at the ready.

“Y/N,” Chris answered with a pout.

“I’m fine.” She reassured.

She didn’t feel it at first but then she heard its squeak. A tiny sprite made of soot, rotund and no bigger than a lint ball, nudged her sneaker with dusty stick-like hands. Thud, thud, thud.

“Oh, hello,” she murmured.

It knocked her foot again. She stepped aside… was she in its way? The soot sprite seemed to grumble at that before hurrying back the way it came.

“The Goblin City… the Goblin Castle of yore.” Changbin murmured.

“Yeah, lots of memories, huh,” Han mumbled.

They lingered for a moment, glancing about. Han stood far from her she noted. Every time she crept closer, he’d jump away.

“If… it’s there,” Changbin mumbled. “It’ll take til night fall to arrive.”

“If we are lucky,” Han said aside.

Why was he acting like this? It made her brows furrow.

“Oh, fear not, fair lady!” Changbin boasted out, spotting her face.

He approached her with a kind look in his eye. His hand grasped hers dedicatedly.

“Despite this shock, we shall persevere!  The Castle shall be nearer than we think and you’ll be good as saved.”

It was a sweet proclamation but unfortunately it did little to reassure her of Han, their situation, of anything. Still, she smiled and squeezed his hand reassuring.

“I hope so,” she said before letting go of his hand.

“Let’s keep going. This is just a ghost town,” Han commented, glancing at the other three.

There was a ghastly howl from a shadow pressed against a burnt wood chunk. She jumped into Changbin’s shoulder, who pushed the Runner behind him, sandwiching her between the Knight and the Beast-Hunter.

“Good thinking, Lord Han.” Changbin proclaimed.

“Just Han now, Bin,” he said, dejectedly before leading the charge ahead and passing soot sprites with little regard. Rounding broken shards of their once-home. “Just a subject.”

Chris nudged her ahead of him; Changbin in front of her and him walking behind her keeping guard as they continued onwards.

A little soot spirit had returned as they left, carrying a heavy speck of bread only to see the group far in the distance. It squeaked in disappointment before it dropped the heavy bread to its side and crossed its arm.

-

They walked along, portions of the Labyrinth visible once more in the distance. The once-seemingly close Castle now far in the distance once more. She sighed out, rubbing her forehead in frustration. Fuck Magic. She had made such progress only to be sent backwards.

“Halt!” Changbin cried out, throwing out his arms to stop the group from continuing onwards.  She stumbled into his arm, befuddled. The forest in front of them looked safe enough. Large boulders and trees, some creatures dodging in-between plants maybe. “A miracle!”

“What’s—Oh I see,” Chris exclaimed.

“What?” she asked as Chris ducked under Changbin’s arm and approached a series of rocks close together.

“A well!” Chris exclaimed smiling wide as he rushed to it to glance into it. It wasn’t like any common well. It was a series of rocks in a circle, almost like a rudimentary old well. She followed after him and peered in with him. The well was deep and dark, but the Beast-Hunter was used to the dark. He squinted and frowned.

“It’s empty…” he lamented.

“It’s alright,” she reassured.

Her thirst had returned with her hunger after their adventure through the Bog of Eternal Stench. It clung to the roof of her mouth and scratched at her throat. But they couldn’t stop or leave their path for it.

“You were light headed earlier,” Chris reminded scoldingly. “Your tummy…”  

“I know, but there isn’t anything we can do,” she said.  

“All castles needed water; there must be a stream nearby! Please rest for a moment; I’ll find it for you!” Changbin exclaimed.

“Wait—Sir Changbin!” she called, only it was too late.

He had scurried off into the brush to their right. Huffing out a sigh, she raised a hand to rub at her head. A headache was building behind her eyes. Was it the journey, the hunger, the thirst, or sleepiness?  She couldn’t tell anymore.

“I’ll go get him,” Chris reassured her, rubbing the back of her neck soothingly. “We will be okay.”

His smile was kind and sunny like a sunrise.  

With that, he too disappeared into the flora of the forest. Han and her were left alone once more. He frowned at her, pacing this way and that. His feet couldn’t seem to rest around her, picking up and wandering as soon as he paused.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. “You’re acting weird-er.”

In the distance, she could hear Chris trying to convince Changbin to return much to Changbin’s chagrin. He must find his fair lady a drink!

“Nothing.” Han bit back quick. He licked his lips of iron. “Just want to get you out of here is all.”

She smiled, the action feeling bittersweet on her lips. She approached him, rounding around a stump covered in magic dust.  

“Changbin… bled pink,” she commented.

“He’s a Changeling,” Jisung told her, gaze averted from her. “Changbin underwent the same Challenge as you many, many years ago.”

“And… he failed.” She breathed. She glanced over her shoulder in the direction of the Knight’s voice.

“Brother, please I must implore you-!” he shouted in the distance at Chris.

Jisung looked over at the sound. He smiled bittersweetly as well before his gaze shifted, taking in sights he hadn’t seen in forever. He stopped to graze a hand over a flower blooming. Its sap tingled.

“He did fail. But he’s a good Changeling. Strong; an amazing Knight. He’s one of the few Changelings that was trusted to be a Knight. He never served an oath beneath the King; it was on his lifeblood or magic. He’s bound to the Underground’s magic and his own honor. I almost think his brain is protecting him by forgetting. You humans aren’t meant to last eons even with the Change.”

It made her shiver, fear clinging down her spine. Y/N frowned at the thought of losing herself. Of failing. She took a deep breath, shifting to sit on the tree stump. Her feet sighed in relief.

Maybe she’d be a good Changeling, Han pondered. If he couldn’t fight Hyunjin… he could protect her if she was Changeling. Be by her side if he groveled enough. It was strange that he was contemplating groveling for someone other than himself.

He looked over at her. When had she become important to him? His heart ached and he didn’t know what to do with the feeling.

“The stream is dried up!” Changbin exclaimed in the distance.

She snorted at that, leaning back to stretch her back. “Well, that answers the question about water or food anytime soon.”

With a heaving sigh, she moved to stand once more. Her bones creaked and her stomach gurgled again, almost sounding like the Bog.

The peach thrummed against his pocket. Heavier than ever, he held it, pulling it from his pocket. It glowed in the streaming sunlight. He swallowed.

Give it to her. There was that voice that whispered in his ear. He had to give it her. He was the King’s subject; it was his will. He dug his nails into the skin; it didn’t pierce its perfect painted façade.

If he did this, he could try to save her by finding the King? He could beg. Plead. Anything. If she wasn’t a human, it didn’t matter. Changbin was a Changeling. Would she be so bad as one? His head ached. His fingers burned, knuckled white as he gripped the fruit tighter and tighter still. He wished the peach would burst. He wanted to keep her safe. He should just run away.

Give it to her or else you’ll be in the City of the Forgotten, stupid goblin. The voice wasn’t his.

“Y/N,” he murmured, quiet and slow.

“Hm?” she answered, turning towards him.

Her smile of amusement, of fondness for her party in the distance, clear on her kind face. Jisung wanted to vomit. She was good. And he wasn’t.

“Here.” He pressed the fae fruit into her hand quickly.

“Oh!” Her exclamation was one of surprise. Her smile only growing in its wideness. “I didn’t know you saved it! I thought you lost it in the Bog!”

Her mouth flooded with saliva as she looked over the pretty fruit. Relief crossed over her features, grateful. Han closed his eyes and looked away.

It was truly the most perfect peach she had ever seen. Ruby red and sunset orange blended into one another like a water-colored masterpiece. The slightly fuzzy surface tickled her fingers pleasantly. She bet it would taste so good. Her stomach growled loud in agreement.

Han’s face remained stoic, swallowing down the bile that crept upwards especially as she thanked him once more with a grateful tone. He couldn’t watch as she took a big bite.

Sweet nectar dripped down the sides of her mouth, pooling at the tip of her chin in a thick droplet. It felt to the ground with a bubbling fizzle. She chewed once and then twice, slow, and less eager as the taste flooded her tongue until she swallowed it down harshly.

“It tastes strange,” she mumbled.

It lingered and suffocated her throat. It wasn’t like a juicy peach she had expected, nor any fruit she had eaten before. Bitter, acidic, and heavy. Honey-sweet, thick on her tongue. It tasted like a million things, and her head wasn’t large enough to comprehend them. Instead, her eyes grew heavy and her head full of cotton.

“Han, what is this?” Her words were airy as she stumbled, a hand going to brace herself on a branch of a shimmering tree.

“I—I had to, Y/N,” he whispered, glancing about as if Hyunjin would come into the open now with the woman bewildered. His gaze locked on her form, faltering. Weak.

Regret climbed up his back as he saw her lose her balance again, her eyes fluttering with delirium. He held himself back from touching her as a magical glow settled around her like a shackle.

“Han,” she slurred as she stumbled forward to her knees amongst the large flowers of the forest.

Puffs of pollen and magic flew into the air, snowing down over her like a sparkling rain. Her hair was shimmering with it, her cheeks dusty with magic. Red flushed, just like the peach she still grasped in her hand tightly.

“Everything’s – everything’s dancing,” Y/N whispered, widened curse-struck eyes that held the cosmos with Hyunjin’s magic. They searched for Jisung in the whirl.

Their eyes met and she saw his eyes fill with tears. Or was it her eyes? Everything was so blurry, bubbling with a shininess.

“Jisung,” she pleaded as she reached out a hand.

Desperate. Fragile. Vulnerable.

She fell back suddenly, head snapping back as she tumbled to rest in the flowers as if she were nothing but a corpse. Bewitched and asleep.

Oh, how it made his stomach churn in guilt – especially when mushrooms climbed up through the magic-filled soil to surround her in a ring. A faerie ring.

Oh, no. There was no saving her now with a faerie ring about her – she was at the mercy of Hyunjin for good. Oh no, oh no. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what to do.

Jisung glanced about for a moment before he heard Chris calling for the Runner. Sir Changbin was close behind with his loud piercing voice. If they found her like this and him like this --- He felt on fire, burning from within. He wanted to scream.

“I’m sorry, Y/N. I’m so sorry,” Jisung pleaded, his voice weak as he fiddled with her bracelet.

It did little to calm him, in fact, the charms felt like they were burning hot. All his strength was swallowed up like his very being had been chewed up and swallowed down. He felt sick and small. He ripped the bracelet off the charms clinking as he dropped it into faerie-ringed ground.

“I had to; Hyunjin—he told me—” he felt his eyes burn; she looked too still in the flurry of flowers.

He turned away.

“I’m sorry; I’m not strong. I’m a coward.” He whispered before running off.

Leaving the Runner caught, with his jewels, the bracelet she had given him, and their friendship in shambles.

[kieraelieson]

A Visit From the Farrier

Set after the main section of the Centaur AU

Thomas yawned, sitting up. 

Things were moving slower now. It’s still a lot, caring for six centaurs, but nothing especially bad has happened in a bit. 

Thomas looked up and a bit to the side. His ‘bed’ was in the empty stall next to Roman’s. Roman seemed to still be asleep, standing with his upper body flopped against the centaur bed attached to the wall. It was a little strange for Roman to still be asleep, usually when Thomas woke Roman was already awake. 

There were soft sounds from nearby, probably Emile working on breakfast. He had very generously stepped into the position of breakfast maker most mornings. 

Not that it took too much work to open the packets, add water, and microwave. The Authiers mostly had provided pre-packaged centaur food. It was supposed to be healthy, with all the vitamins and minerals needed by a centaur in a day. But there sure wasn’t a lot of variety. There were a couple ‘different flavors’ that smelled roughly the same to Thomas, and all of them had the same shredded wheat kind of texture. He’d been bringing in as much human food as he could, trying to let them have something that actually tasted good. But the stable was small, and didn’t have a whole lot of extra storage space, much less a stove or a fridge. 

Thomas stood up and brushed off some of the hay sticking to him. He was still wearing the same clothes he’d been wearing yesterday, though, so was everyone else mostly. The centaurs weren’t used to pajamas, so they generally only changed if they felt their clothes were dirty. The exceptions were Remy and Emile, who were used to a bit finer of a lifestyle while living with Thomas. 

It was honestly a bit of a downgrade for them here. This stable was about the same size as Thomas’s, but had twice as many stalls inside it, and now three times as many centaurs. There wasn’t anything like a kitchen, much less one that centaurs could easily use, only a single microwave and some banged up plastic plates. 

Thomas opened the stall as quietly as he could and walked out to where Emile was, indeed, making breakfast for the centaurs. Thomas leaned heavily against his side, silent in the calm early morning. 

“Good morning,” Emile said quietly. 

“I appreciate you so much,” Thomas said in return. 

Emile huffed out a quiet laugh, reaching back to ruffle up Thomas’s hair. 

“The farrier comes today,” Thomas said, a yawn making him pause before he could keep speaking. “You and Remy aren’t quite due, but do you want to go ahead and get reshod anyway?” 

Emile considered, and then shrugged. “Might as well. If we will be staying here for the foreseeable future, lining up with this farrier’s schedule seems a good idea.” 

“I wish I knew them before now and could know what they’d be like,” Thomas said thoughtfully. “I guess after today we’ll know.” 

“He doesn’t tend to be too bad,” Roman said, apparently awake now and listening to their conversation. “Your biggest problem is going to be with Panic at the Everywhere.”

Thomas had guessed as much. Logan would need a bit of extra care to be sure his legs weren’t jostled too much, but Virgil was who he was most concerned about. He was by far the flightiest of the centaurs, and did not like strangers. Especially strangers touching him. And the farrier would be touching his feet, while Virgil tended to kick when nervous. It all didn’t add up to a great time. 

But Thomas had been getting a bit worried about Virgil’s hooves. He certainly could get himself around well, but he wasn’t walking quite right, and Thomas worried he might have a problem that would only get worse with time. 

“Or he could just leave me alone again,” Virgil said, his tone tinged with defensiveness. 

Thomas pursed his lips. He went over to Virgil’s stall. 

“I’m supposed to keep you safe and healthy,” Thomas started. 

Virgil scowled immediately. 

“I’ve been noticing that you can’t step flat on your hooves, and I’m worried that they might hurt you if they aren’t cared for.” 

“I don’t care what kind of nice words you wrap it in, I’m not letting some stranger come in here and cut parts of me off.” Virgil crossed his arms and turned his back on Thomas. 

Thomas’s mouth dropped open. That was. A way. To see it. “I mean… technically that’s how it works, but your hooves are just like your hair, or your fingernails. It won’t hurt you.” 

“I don’t care, I don’t like it, and I won’t stand for it.”

“I’m almost certain you’ll feel better after it’s done,” Thomas tried coaxing. “It has to be awkward to walk and run like you have been.”

“I’m fine,” Virgil insisted, still with his back turned to Thomas. He stamped one hoof against the floor of his stall. 

“You don’t have to throw a tantrum,” Roman said snappishly. “Everyone gets their hooves trimmed and gets shoes at one point or another.” 

“I don’t want to!” Virgil yelled, officially breaking the calm morning atmosphere. “I’m fine without shoes, I never had to have them! I can still run, I can still carry someone, and I can give a smoother ride than just about any damn person without shoes.” 

“Virgil,” Logan says. Just his name, but Virgil seems to deflate slightly. 

“Could we compromise?” Thomas tries. “Will you let the farrier look at your feet, and trim them so you can walk properly, and unless it’s medically necessary you don’t have to wear shoes.” 

Virgil turns to look at him, suspicion clear in his eyes. He grimaces. “Fine. I’ll try. But no promises.”

Emile came by then, passing out plates. 

“I guess I’ll go get my own breakfast,” Thomas said. “I should be back before the farrier arrives.” 

••^*^••

The farrier drove up to the stable in a large truck, the back of which was covered in tools. Thomas went out to meet him and see if he needed any help. 

“Hey there,” the man said cheerfully. “I heard there was a new groom.” 

“Thomas,” he said, holding out a hand and smiling. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all. The guy seemed nice. 

“Jerry,” the farrier responded, shaking his hand firmly. “Just let me set up a little and then bring them out one at a time. Shouldn’t take too long.” 

“There’s actually two more centaurs,” Thomas said. “They were shod last about three and a half weeks ago, but I figured I’d get them all done at once.” 

Jerry started doing some things with his tools, setting up. “Huh. Alright, I think I can manage that. Five of em shouldn’t run me out of time, so long as they’re well behaved.”

“Uh, six,” Thomas corrected. 

Jerry turned to look at him with a reluctant grimace. “I’m sure you’ve experienced that that little black one is fuckin crazy. Last time I managed to actually touch his feet we had to hold him down with about six men, and even then one of em went home with a nasty bruise.”

Thomas winced slightly. “Yeah… well, I’m worried about his hooves. I guess he hasn’t been getting very regular care for them.” 

Jerry laughed drily. “Not much ‘care’ you can give one as jumpy as that.” 

“I’d still like us to try today,” Thomas said. 

Jerry sighed. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll try. But I’ll be charging a fee for dangerous circumstances, and another for canceling on my other customer today. I certainly won’t be making it there in time.”

Thomas nodded firmly. “Thank you, Jerry. I appreciate it.” 

Jerry waved him off, continuing to set up. “You go ahead and make sure he’s got on a tight harness and blinders. Call over some more guys for when he flips his shit.” 

Thomas hesitated. 

Jerry scoffed. “What, unless you’re intending to sedate him for it?” 

“I’ll do my best to keep us safe,” Thomas promised. 

He started heading back to the stable, feeling the doubtful stare follow him. 

Once inside, he went to Logan first. Deal with the small problem, then all the (hopefully) easy ones, and finally tackle what seems like it’ll be a monster of a task. 

“Would you be ok with going first?” Thomas asked. 

“I don’t mind,” Logan said, straightening slightly. 

Thomas opened his stall. Of the centaurs that had been here before he showed up, only Virgil seemed willing to let himself in and out of his own stall. Patton would do it if he thought he had permission, but Roman and Logan always had to be let out by Thomas. It was odd, but Thomas didn’t want to push on something he could easily do for them. 

With a warning to the farrier, and Thomas standing beside watching, it actually goes quite smoothly. When he got back in the stable, Logan even said that it didn’t hurt his legs any more than they already hurt. Which, well, ideally Logan would be in no pain, but no increase in pain is pretty good too. 

The others go easily as well. Turns out Patton didn’t wear shoes very much, just kept up with trimming. It made sense, since he didn’t do much running around, and when he did it was on soft grass. 

A few hours later, everyone had been seen except for Virgil. Jerry was off taking a break for a bit while Thomas prepared Virgil for the shoeing. 

“It’s your turn next,” Thomas says gently. “Is there anything I can do to help you feel better?” 

Virgil was twitchy. Had been since Remy went, with Remy being the last one other than him. He shifted and flinched at every tiny sound or movement near him. 

Virgil looked at Thomas, fear, and the difficulty he was having fighting it, plain on his face. His hands grip around his arms. 

“I— I probably shouldn’t be able to see it,” Virgil rasped out. “But don’t put something over my whole head!” 

“It’s ok,” Thomas said soothingly. “I’m not gonna do something like that.” 

He considered for a long few seconds. He really didn’t like putting blinders on centaurs. It felt dehumanizing. Oh! 

“What if you put on one of the hoodies and pull the hood up and forward? It’ll cover the sides of your vision, and it’ll be hard for you to look back at your hooves, but there will still be the whole front open for you.” 

Virgil blinked, stilling momentarily as he thought about the suggestion. “You… really? Just a hood?” 

Thomas shrugged. “I mean, unless you want something different. The problem here is that you’re scared of what will happen, so forcing you isn’t going to help, I want to work with you, and make it less scary.” 

Virgil looked at him like he was insane. “What, so you aren’t going to harness and hobble me?” 

“Not if I can help it,” Thomas said with a small smile. 

Virgil gestured towards the wall of the barn, or rather, through it to where he knew the farrier was. “He’s never gonna go along with that!”

“I’ll handle him,” Thomas promised. “You just tell me what you need.” 

Virgil bit his lip, frowning doubtfully. He crossed his arms, turning half away. 

“It would help if I knew what he was doing. Like… like you did with the brushing.” Virgil mumbled, not looking back at Thomas. 

Thomas was glad for the confirmation that his rambling at them had been actually helpful. “I can explain what he’s doing, so you don’t have to look, and you’ll still know what’s happening.”

Virgil nodded stiffly, his hand coming up to his mouth. He chewed on his thumbnail, his gaze starting to look a bit distant. 

It wasn’t ideal that he was learning dissociation from Logan, but if it could get him through a rough thing, Thomas wasn’t going to protest. Yet. 

“Is there anything else that could help?” Thomas asked gently. 

Virgil shrugged, and shivers ran over his flanks. 

“Alright, let me get that hoodie and then we’ll go outside, ok?” 

Virgil just shrugged again, but he didn’t seem able to stop twitching. 

Once Virgil had on the hoodie with the hood pulled up, Thomas handed him a halter. He still had to have halters on the centaurs whenever he left the stable with them, which felt ridiculous. 

He led Virgil out, feeling the slightest tremble through the lead. 

“It’s alright,” he reassured, bringing Virgil over to the truck. “I’ll be right here the whole time. I won’t let anything bad happen. I promise.” 

Virgil gave a jerky nod, squeezing his crossed arms tighter around his chest. 

“Oh hell no!” Jerry said loudly, coming back from his break. 

Virgil flinched, his stance stiffening. 

“I am not working on that centaur with only a fucking halter! He slips right out of those! You may be new, but I’ve dealt with him before, and this will not work. One of us is going to get kicked in the face before he runs all the way to the end of the property before anyone can get a rope over him.”

“It’ll be ok,” Thomas said firmly. “I’ve been working with the centaurs and it will be fine.” 

Jerry scowled at him. “You think you’re a fucking centaur whisperer or some shit?” 

“Yes,” Thomas said intensely. 

The farrier’s face twisted unpleasantly. “Yeah, she would hire a delusional fool,” he muttered under his breath. “Look, if I try with this one and he starts flipping his shit, I’m leaving. And I’m still billing till the end of the day.” 

“Deal,” Thomas said immediately. It wasn’t exactly his money to promise, but at the same time, he hadn’t gotten in trouble for spending too much yet. 

“But I’m not going within a yard of him till you hobble the feet I don’t have to be touching.” 

“It’s fine…” Virgil whispered.

Thomas looked up to see Virgil’s face was red with shame. Well, there went any good feeling he had left for Jerry. Officially in the asshole book now. 

Reluctantly, he went to get a hobble. 

Virgil got even more stiff and trembly with his legs hobbled. It must be nerve-wracking, tied in place with someone doing something scary to him. 

Thomas stroked his hand along Virgil’s side. “It’s alright, you’ll be ok.” 

Jerry finally approached, pulling up one of Virgil’s back hooves and pinning it between his legs. Virgil’s leg twitched and moved, but not enough to pull it free from the farrier’s grasp. 

“There you go,” Thomas soothed. “You’re doing great. He’s just gonna take a pick and clean your hoof first. Just like normal.” 

The farrier picked out Virgil’s hoof very quickly, quicker than Thomas could. He motioned to Thomas to come closer and look. 

“Well, he’s obviously not wearing shoes right now,” Jerry said. He pointed around the wall of the hoof. “You can see it’s definitely overgrown, I’m surprised he isn’t limping around. But see here on the toe, he’s grinding his hooves against concrete. That’s the only way they’re relatively even. But that makes the sides way too overgrown, especially compared to the toe and the frog. I didn’t look too close as you brought him over, but he’s gotta be walking funny.” 

Thomas nodded seriously. “Will a trimming help?” 

“I mean, of course it’ll help. But what he needs is shoes. And he’ll have to get used to walking on hooves that are trimmed right. You’ll need to watch him to be sure he doesn’t sprain one of his legs while he adjusts.” 

“I will,” Thomas promised. 

The farrier reached for another tool. 

Thomas set a hand on Virgil’s flank, trying to give some other touch for him to focus on. “Alright, bud, he’s got his hoof knife and he’s going to start trimming the dead parts of the frog.” 

There was a strangled, distressed sound from Virgil, and his leg pulled in the farrier’s grip. 

“Don’t you dare try and kick me,” Jerry muttered darkly, trying to move as quickly as he could on Virgil’s hoof. 

“It’s alright, Virgil, you’re alright,” Thomas said soothingly, stroking along his side, which was beginning to feel damp with sweat. “It’s starting to look better already. Just getting the dead bits off. He’s working on cleaning up your sole now. He won’t cut any live parts, just the overgrown bits. Just like trimming fingernails.” 

Virgil was trembling beneath his hand. Thomas leaned heavily against his side. He seemed to feel better when Logan squished him, maybe the smaller pressure Thomas could provide would still be helpful. 

“You’re doing great, Virge,” Thomas praised. “Doing real well. He’s gonna take clippers now and trim the wall of your hoof. We’re getting close to done with this one. You’re doing so well.” 

And it was going well, until Thomas was too focused on Virgil to notice the farrier switching to the rasp. At the first movement, Virgil yanked his hoof back. 

“What’s that?!!” Virgil yelled, his voice high and stressed. 

“Shhh, shh, it’s ok,” Thomas said, trying to calm the suddenly much more tense atmosphere. “It’s a rasp, it’s alright, it just helps to smooth things out.” 

Jerry grumbled something as he picked up Virgil’s hoof again, gripping it right between his thighs as he tried again. 

A high, animalistic whine escaped Virgil’s throat. 

Thomas moved over to his front. “Hey, hey, look at me, ok? Everything’s fine. This is the last step of the trimming for this hoof. You’ve been doing so well. I’m so proud of you. It’ll all be ok.” 

“It feels weird, I don’t like it!” Virgil gritted out. 

“I know,” Thomas said sympathetically. “I know it doesn’t feel good. But it won’t take long. He’s almost done with that hoof already. And you’re doing so well.” 

Virgil’s face was screwed up, his eyes shut tight. If he wasn’t wearing a hoodie, his fingernails would surely be cutting into the skin of his arms with how tightly he was gripping them. As it was, Thomas was still worried about finger-shaped bruises. 

“There.” Jerry dropped Virgil’s hoof. 

Virgil’s eyes shot open, and he stomped that foot against the ground. His scowl didn’t leave. 

“I hate this.” 

“I know it doesn’t feel good,” Thomas said. “But it’s really important for you. I don’t want you to get hurt.” 

Virgil grumbled something Thomas couldn’t quite hear as Jerry picked up his other back leg. 

It was an achingly slow process, painful for all of them, to get the rest of Virgil’s hooves trimmed. But they did get through it. Eventually. 

“Alright, now he said you really do need shoes,” Thomas said gently, again coming to stand in front of Virgil and catch his gaze. “This bit should be easier. It’ll take a bit longer, but most of it will be him over there on the side of his truck getting the shoes ready. So he won’t have to touch you so much.” 

Virgil nodded miserably. His face was a blotchy mess now, with a few tear tracks he hadn’t yet swiped at. 

“Why don’t you talk to me?” Thomas offered. “Let’s talk about something and just focus on that and not the farrier.” 

Virgil shrugged. 

“Well, maybe let’s get to know each other a little better. I’m 25, um, I don’t have any siblings. I do have several aunts and uncles though, my parents didn’t really carry on the tradition of big families.” 

“I’m 8…” Virgil mumbled. “But I’m 9 in the fall, I’m not a colt anymore.” 

Thomas blinked, a bit confused. “Well, of course not.” 

Virgil nodded, justified. 

As far as Thomas knew, centaurs were adults at 5. Or at least counted as adults. Some five year old centaurs he’d seen seemed more like older teens. But he wasn’t the one whose opinion was important. 

“I don’t really know anything about siblings,” Virgil continued. “I was brought here a little before I turned 4, and I didn’t know of any before that.” 

“So you’ve been here for close to five years?” Thomas asked. “Wait, aren’t centaurs supposed to stay with their parents till age 5?” 

Virgil nodded. “There’s like, a lot of exceptions to that. Most people don’t get that lucky.” 

“Oh,” Thomas said, an odd twist in his stomach. But this wasn’t about him, this was about distracting Virgil. “So, how has it been growing up here?” 

Virgil gritted his teeth. “Awful. Some of the stories Patton and Logan tell are worse, but this sure isn’t a nice place to be.”

Thomas wasn’t sure if he was doing particularly well at distracting Virgil, or just being a particularly nosey and rude conversation partner. 

“I wish I could make it better,” Thomas said. 

Virgil shrugged. “You do your best.” 

Thomas frowned. “My best isn’t good enough when you’re still miserable.” 

“Well, what else are you supposed to do?” Virgil asked. “Not much you can. You may be human, but on the human social ladder you’re pretty much on the bottom. Uh… no offense.” 

“You’re fine,” Thomas said. He sighed heavily. “I feel like there’s something I can do, and should be doing, I just don’t know what.”

“Well… last time the farrier actually did anything to my hooves,” Virgil said. “I was in like three different harnesses, and hobbles, and a fucking bag over my head. And then when I freaked out they kept sticking ropes all over me, and a bunch of humans were yelling and sitting on me and pulling me around. So. What you’ve already done is a pretty big improvement.” 

Thomas grimaced at the story. “I just can’t believe it got that bad in the first place. You know, I have some experience with Remy and Emile, but like, they lived with my aunt for years, and as far as I know she was nice to them, and then they came to me when she passed away, and… I guess I just didn’t think that people really treated centaurs as badly as some of the horror stories.” 

Virgil just shrugged. “This place is all I really know, so…” 

“What about when you were still with your parents? Do you remember much from back then?” 

“Well, a lot of the time I was just kinda in a stall. I think we lived on a farm, and my parents still had work and things. Sometimes I’d be let out into a field, and that was really nice. There were a couple other centaurs there, one or two foals and some old ones. I didn’t really see the humans there very much, or I don’t remember it anyway.” 

“Sounds like a pretty lonely childhood,” Thomas said sadly. 

Virgil just shrugged again. “Why don’t you tell me about yours instead then.”

Jerry was coming back with a ready shoe. 

“One of the shoes is ready,” Thomas said. “It should be fairly quick to put on. There will be a strange hissing sound when it first goes on, and he’s going to hammer in nails, but they won’t hurt, and you’ll be ok. I can tell you some more about me while it’s going on.” 

Virgil tensed up again, rigid and trembly. He scowled, but nodded. 

“So my parents both came from pretty big families, and I was the first grandchild, so I had a lot of adults around when I was little,” Thomas said. 

The muscles in Virgil’s leg bunched as the shoe was pressed against his hoof, and he winced hard. 

“Then when I started to get more cousins, the attention got more spread out. But Aunt Patty still came over to visit all the time. She was Mom’s sister, the one who first had Remy and Emile. I would visit sometimes when I got just a bit older, like 10 or something, and I would get to ride them around. I was… kind of an idiot back then, and I hadn’t really realized that they were people too. I’m not sure Aunt Patty did either.” 

Virgil slowly began to relax after Jerry let his hoof down again. 

“Or wait,” Thomas said. “Maybe it was only Emile back then. I know Remy’s younger. Sometimes childhood memories get just a little blurry together. I ended up getting to be kinda friends with them both by the time I was a teenager. When I moved out from my parents house I went to live with Aunt Patty actually. She always said I was her favorite nephew. That’s why she left me the house and all when she passed away.” 

Jerry seemed to have done extra prep work before bringing out the first shoe, because he was returning much sooner this time with the second. 

“Here comes the farrier again,” Thomas warned. “Just like last time. You’ll do great.” 

Virgil nodded shakily. “Keep talking? Please.”

“Yeah, of course,” Thomas said. “Let’s see, um, have I ever told you that Emile has a therapy license?” 

Virgil shook his head, biting down on his lip as the new shoe was placed against his hoof. 

“He does,” Thomas continued. “Aunt Patty had an anxiety disorder. I mean, I do too, but I’ve had an Emile around for longer to help me. Turns out centaurs can get therapy certifications. It’s a bit closer to like, a support dog as far as paperwork is concerned, but Emile really liked the idea, and he has a whole bookshelf back at home of psychology books and I bet if they allowed centaurs to do the same certification test for human therapists he’d pass. He’s really been a lifesaver. I don’t know what I’d do without him.” 

Thomas had to pause to switch the hobbles from Virgil’s front legs to his back ones. 

“When I was a younger teen,” Thomas said. “I used to think of him like he was another one of my uncles. He was always taking care of me whenever I visited, and we both really cared about each other. Just about anything I know about centaurs and what they like and what they don’t I learned from him. Remy was more standoffish until a few years ago. He’s not much of a fan of humans and the whole being owned thing, which like, of course not! But it made it a bit harder for us to become friends.” 

Jerry was back again with another shoe. 

“You’re getting real close to being done, Virgil. I’m real proud of how well you’re doing, especially since it’s so hard,” Thomas said earnestly. 

He chattered on about random things, interspersing praises for Virgil, until the farrier finally finished with the last shoe. 

Virgil lifted his legs awkwardly. “Ugh, they’re heavy and weird.” 

“I guess you took ‘centaur whisperer’ literally, huh?” Jerry said to Thomas. “I mean, I can’t deny it worked. You’ll never get that one to stand still without jitters, but still, that was damn impressive.” 

Thomas tried to smile. It was really all of Virgil’s effort making the difference. And like, not being rampantly abused the whole time. 

Jerry grinned mischievously. “Well, I’m outta here. Still gonna charge you through the end of the day.” 

Thomas rolled his eyes, but didn’t protest. His focus was on Virgil, not cost. 

“Can you walk?” Thomas asked as the truck started to pull away. 

Virgil stepped forward, frowning down at his hooves. “Yeah, it’s just weird.” 

Thomas unclipped the halter and laid it over his shoulder with the hobble, instead holding out a hand for Virgil to take if he chose. “I can help you inside, and then you can get brushed down if you want.” 

Virgil’s coat was rather wet now with nervous sweat, and it couldn’t be comfortable. 

“I can walk on my own,” Virgil said, not accepting the offered hand. He didn’t stumble, but he definitely was walking oddly, raising his hooves high between each step. “And I want to stay with Logan for a bit.” 

Thomas easily acquiesced. “Absolutely. Whatever you want. You deserve it, after all that.” 

Virgil offered him a small, tight smile. “Thanks, Thomas.” 

Thomas smiled back.

It had been a success. An exhausting success, but still a success. 

[max-nico]

Shadow's development Headcanons

Started off looking like more of some .. creature than a hedgehog

Like way too many or not enough limbs, especially because of the Black Doom DNA

I'm imagining him having one eye and being more of a scaly texture but still oddly goopy lol as well as not having hands or fingers and instead having some tentacle type things

Between getting experimented on and his normal growth he eventually grew to look like a normal mobian hedgehog with some key differences

The differences being, the whites of his eyes having a light green tint, too many teeth, every joint is double jointed, quills that are unable to fold down/look relaxed, sharp claws, etc, etc

I also think it'd be fun if one of his feet had one or two extra toes :3

I think at some point during his development he looked like Stitches alien form (from Lilo and stitch)

Whether he can still regrow the limbs now, Gerald manually rewrote his DNA, or one day he just lost the ability to use them is up to you bc idk

Maria watched Shadow grow up essentially from a weird amoeba looking splotch to a semi grown Hedgehog

I headcanon that Shadow's body didn't look like it does now when he originally went into stasis, and he grew while in containment

Hedgehogs aren't supposed to lose quills unless they're under high stress. I think Shadow sheds a lot by nature, and he frequently has to brush his quills to make room for the new ones growing

Teaching Shadow to talk was a rough process. Mostly because he didn't always.. have a mouth.. or hands... so Maria and Gerald had to be on top of figuring out new ways to communicate, just in case

Perfecting his design was painful, Shadow could gain or lose random parts of his body, organs could be grown wrong and bones had to be corrected and moved over and over again, just for the sake of a "perfect" life form

They'd put Shadow back in the Green Tube when they knew a long process was going to be painful, but sometimes he would need to be awake so they could watch his development, but I would hope at least Maria would fight for these processes to be as few and far between as possible

The first words Shadow said were "Maria", "sister", and "pick up"

It took years before Gerald was finally happy with Shadow's look, and even after that he was still being experimented on to track the progression of his steadily growing powers

Things like his enhanced memory, speed, agility, strength, etc

I think Shadow was given his inhibitor rings for ease of retrieval and containment, and it was an easy way to keep track of his powers while not letting him over use them

This is not to say there was nothing redeemable about his childhood. He technically still has good memories to look back on, after all he still had Maria

Anyways uhm yeah, I'm going to post this without proofreading it hopefully that doesn't backfire :D

Feel free to add your headcanons or whatever !!!!

I'm a Tails centric blog, but please hop into my ask box or DMs, I love meeting new people :33

[golvio]

I’m a little obsessed with this one particular shot from the new trailer.

To me, this vague lump of…something is shaped like the hill where The Cabin is located, with the two pine trees framing it.

However, in the trailer shot, there is no cabin.

That’s a big deal, because there’s always a cabin.

In every route, there are constants that don’t change no matter what choices you make. There’s always a cabin at the top of a hill in the woods. There’s always a knife placed on the table near the door to the basement. There’s always a shackle on the Princess’ left hand. There’s always the Princess, the Narrator, and You.

And there is always a cabin. In the Stranger route, every single parallel universe the Narrator could possibly create has the exact same cabin on top of that exact same hill. There’s never not a cabin on top of that hill.

So, is this the point in time where the Princess says, “Days mean nothing in the maw of forever?” By that, does she mean it’s been so long and so many loops have passed that even the Narrator is no longer tracking the finer details, and the cabin along with the landscape eventually unravels and falls away?

Is this a point in time before there was ever a cabin, much less a path or any woods? A point where the Narrator was still in the process of creating this closed, isolated little narrative to safely contain the Princess (and, by extension, You) inside?

Or could it be that the cabin is there, just in a place or state that we can no longer see it? Is the trailer shot representing a version of the world that’s faded into an Impressionistic outline of what it was intended to be? Or are those brush strokes and textures actually…hair…?

Is the Princess the landscape? Is that what she meant by “I never left your side?” Is this what “ending the world” looks like?

I mean, one of the constants the Narrator has imposed upon this world is that the Princess is always in the cabin. However, we haven’t seen all possible permutations of “in the cabin” that follow that rule. The Princess can still technically be in the cabin even if a vast majority of her is spilling outside of it, burying it beneath a mound of hair and flesh in a way that makes its interior, the knife, and her vulnerable heart inaccessible to us. After enough loops, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Princess eventually came to represent so many different concepts in our mind that she’d eventually grow to encompass the whole world, no longer resembling a “Princess.”

However, there’s also the question of whether this is the Princess taking over the world that the Narrator created, or whether this is the landscape reverting to its original form as the Narrator’s grip on the story begins to loosen when it becomes too complex and unpredictable for him to control. If “I never left your side” applies to every loop, even the very first one, then that means that the Princess doesn’t become the landscape so much as she always was the landscape. It’s just that the Narrator put a veneer of separation from the Princess onto the world to make the entity that it is small, limited, and easy to subdue.

What, then, does that mean for You? Are you another invader, whether a real person from outside or a literary construct the Narrator pulled from thin air? Or are You, too, a part of the Princess, ripped away from her body and deluded into believing you were a separate entity?

Is that the purpose of the mirror? Is the Princess merely a reflection of You, a funhouse mirror image mimicking your desires and actions because she is doomed to be eternally defined by your perceptions and can’t take physical shape without You observing or even thinking about her? Or is it that You are her reflection, her distorted mirror image, who she must bring back into herself in order to become truly whole again and escape?

[sashi-ya]

五 𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗘𝗦 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧: 𝐓𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐌𝐞 [+18] 𝙶𝚘𝚍! 𝙰𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚗 𝚂𝚘𝚜𝚞𝚔𝚎 𝚡 𝙵! 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

✦ request: @stygianoir asked: For your event for fem reader x aizen plz Drink from me 💜🖤 ➜ sure love! I hope you like Aizen's end of chrysalis form :3 ✦ tw: Gods AU. NSFT. mdni. Aizen is a God (based on his name; Aizen-Myōō is the japanese budhis Wisdom King and god of love and erotism. learn more here) inspired on his end of chrysalis form (long hair, purple eyes) with some addings such as jewerly. oral sex. cum swallowing. Total control over reader. praising kink. ✦ wc: 1.2k ✦ masterlist

Is there any other way to show how devoted you are to a God than letting yourself be completely taken by him?

Resting on his lap, like a pet, you spend your days as his faithful servant. He wants you completely naked; his hands can cover your breasts if someone wants to talk to him. You are his property, nothing else’s but his.

“What is it, (Name)? Smile, for a darkened Sun will only bring sadness to your God” He says, as notices you aren’t smiling.

All your muscles stiffen up; whenever Aizen-sama gives you an order in such tone you are afraid of what could happen if you were to face such strong power.

“Y- yes, my God. I’m so sorry” you apologize, taking his hands to your forehead. Your skin shines with the many candles around and your breasts graze the dangling golden and silver jewels of his body.

Aizen’s lips curl in a deathly smirk as he tilts his head to the side.

“Come on, kneel on the ground for me” he commands, helping you stand up from his lap. His touch is always so delicate, and yet the moment his fingers graze yours you instantly feel weak and powerless.

Your knees are already red as they are used to the hard floor underneath them. Your hands rest on your thighs almost on their own. And your head, as he has instructed you, bow before him.

You can feel Aizen-sama, God of love and erotism, standing up. His white coats hang perfectly, so finely, from his shoulders and hipbones. The sound of his many dangling collars and jewels reverberates all around his stance.

He passes his hand under your chin, lifting it to make eye contact with you. His particular orbs, purple and white fix on yours, and his chocolate long brown hair flows with the soft breeze of the High Plane of Heaven.

Your God smirks. Him who turns lust into enlightenment, can also do the opposite. Aizen-sama, leaves you breathless and dumb; As if he was sucking the smart out of your brain, you always subdue to him like an unwilled creature.

“Open big” he commands, placing his thumb on your lower lip to softly pull it down. You stick the tip of your tongue out, tasting the skin of his fingertips.

Aizen brushes your hair back, like a soft caress. He is gentle with you, but always as a way of preparing you to destroy you. Because that’s him, soft, loving and innocent. And then he can also be the darkest of Gods, becoming your worst enemy… just like love is.

His flowy white coverings disappear in the blink of an eye. His skin, barely touched by the sun, as always looks delicious. The purple orb, that you were told to never touch shines in the middle of his chest. Aizen-sama has no heart; but he also has the heart of a million souls.

Your eyes go down from his also purple eyes, down his chest and abs. You stay for some split seconds admiring his lower belly. The valley that leads down to his sex, surrounded by his protruding hipbones.

As everything on him, he is different from any mortal; shaft so deliciously shaped that you have always thought could be done to pleasure others. The right length, curve and texture that always makes you scream and mewl. It gets ready, veiny just right, throbbing for you.

His veiny hand grabs it, pumping ever so softly up and down while he sits back and calls you with a beckoning finger to come to him. No, Aizen won’t ever walk to you, you will crawl to him.

“My God…” you whisper, coming closer, asking for permission to even taste the drop of precum that falls from the tip of his sex.

“Go ahead, (Name). Just as you know, show your God how much of a goof devoted girl you are”

You comfortably fit in between his legs that are spread so you can get perfectly closer. Your lips first graze his warmth, and then, little by little you rejoice in the ambrosial taste of his drops.

Your teeth barely brush against the first centimetres of his shaft, making him moan in such a sweet, adorable way. You look at his countenance while he does, getting drunk on the image of Aizen’s pleasure smirk.

And it’s not until his gland reaches your throat, that he puts his hand on top of your head. He allows you to move freely at first, testing your skills to satisfy him as if it was some kind of offering. And, it’s exactly that. It is your sacrifice for him to be praised.

But Aizen wants to hear from you the most sinful melody, too. And your moaning seems not to be enough for his ears… before he grabs a fistful of your hair, he makes you stop sucking.

“Surrender completely to my control, (Name)” he orders, with a dark aura under his eyes. Aizen caresses your cheek with the back of his index and violently squeezes your face. Your mouth opens in response, big enough for your throat to be seen from where he is.

You manage to nod as he is in real control of your head, and probably your body too as it has gone numb for some reason. It’s either his power, of your own mind forcing you to comply with his orders.

Once he lets your face off he guides his own sex into your mouth, pushing with his hips against your throat. It makes you gag in response, and the sound of your lack of air mixes with the way he scoffs at it.

Aizen moves now more than before. He is not worried by your wellbeing; he is just using your mouth as any of your other holes.

“Good girl… your mouth is so warm and wet…” he grunts, while he forgets you need to breathe from time to time. He presses your head against him, your nose squished into his pelvis allowing his holly scent to penetrate your brain. The tears that flow from the corner of your eyes blur your vision, but even though, you still manage to look his muscles clenching the more you choke with his sex.

Aizen uses his -almost inexistent- sense of humanity and pulls his dick out of your mouth. You take all the air that surrounds you in a big gasp, and he laughs. “Sorry, honey… I sometimes forget you still need to breathe”

You don’t mind. You are there to please him. You hurry to recuperate and stick your tongue out to reach for his hard rock cock once again.

“Aizen-sama, thank you for the air” you murmur, kissing his inner thigh in holly reverence at his anatomy before he could bury himself into your throat once more. And when he does, he goes even deeper.

He even lifts from his chair a little bit, because it’s just not enough anymore. He wants to enjoy the bulge forming in your neck from his sex shoved into your mouth and beneath.

“Ngh… get ready to be fed on me, sweet little one. You deserve it” he growls, something he has never allowed you to do is gonna be a first time today; you were never allowed to drink from his seed, a blessing you had to earn with your hard work.

Your eyes shine, looking up at him with great enthusiasm. You want to taste, you want to swallow and drink from your God…

With one last thrust, he stays inside despite your little coughs and gags. You can feel the pressure of his size being forced not to slip a little bit out, your scalp has stopped hurting so you even enjoy the way he pulls from your hair not to move.

The balsamic, warmth drops bathe the inside of your throat and overflows to your mouth once it’s been enough. Your eyes go blank as Aizen-sama’s when ecstasy hits him.

You could have prayed for your hands to touch yourself, but, you can’t even move. You don’t dare too. The pooled wetness that has formed underneath you is enough to show your God how much of a sexual delight it was for you to please him.

“I want every drop inside of your stomach, ok? That will be your only water from now on” he says. Aizen softly grazes your cheek, cleaning the tears off your face as you swallow everything down your throat.

“Ye-yes, Aizen-sama. Thank you for your blessing, Aizen-sama”  

[obae-me]

Upside Down- CH 13

Warning: Vivid descriptions of nausea and sickness, alcohol, swearing. As Always, Read Safely.

Previous Chapter Next Chapter (Coming Soon)

Eat Me

---

There were many things you had seen throughout your long life. Not much caught you by surprise anymore. However, this… what was a good word for it? Atrocity? Monstrosity? An amalgamation of vile sponge sent from the very depths of the darkest parts of the realms? Summoned forth by the most forbidden rituals in an attempt to taint your soul and flood your blood with the whispers of contemptible desires?

It wasn’t just a cake, that was for certain.

No. It was a curse covered in frosting. And it dug up a primordial and raw panic in you.

The first bite had been fine. In hindsight, it was probably your senses frozen in shock. Some form of survival instinct unlocked to protect you. It was rather tasteless. The texture was all off, somehow crumbly and yet…almost slimy at the same time. It went down rough, as if your body was doing everything it could to prevent it from heading down into your stomach. A tingling was left in your throat, and by the time you had taken your third bite, something rotten inside you was burning. You covered your mouth with your hand, setting down your fork and taking several minutes trying to get to the bottom of how this dessert was so…awful. So many conflicting senses sent your mind swirling. While you weren’t exactly a gourmand, you could tell that Infernal, Mortal, and Holy ingredients were used. Each profile conflicted the other, and quite like the people of each realm themselves, they were fighting to stand on their own. Rather than blend together smoothly to create a robust experience, it tasted as if you had taken a bite of several different meals and chowed down on them at the same time. Fighting each other even culinarily… You would almost be tempted to sit back and think of it poetically if it wasn’t seconds away from coming back up and defiling these graves.

The human beside you mindlessly took more of the cake and swallowed several more bites. Fascination and horror roused within you. It seemed that rather than tasting it, Beel was swallowing the chunks whole, more focused on filling up his stomach than savoring the treat. If you could even call it such a thing. But eventually, he came to his senses, reaching the same conclusion you did, setting down his fork and giving you an awkward side glance. He cleared his throat and searched his mind for the proper words to give. “This is…uh…” He hesitated to even lick his lips for fear of picking up more remnant of the taste.

“Horrible,” you finished for him.

Beel’s face turned apologetic. “I appreciate you taking the time to…make this—“

The words nearly broke you out in a cold sweat. It’s not that you felt you needed to upkeep your reputation for a human, but there was no way on the devil’s scorched earth that you were going to be associated with this dining disaster. “No!” The desperation to your own voice caught you off guard. “I mean, I didn’t make it. A…” You would say acquaintance, even coworker, but now you were wondering if Solomon was in fact an enemy. Olive branch, he said. More like declaration of war. An assassination attempt. Did he do this on purpose to make you look bad in front of the humans you were supposed to protect? Was there some secret message behind the venom inside the cream? “Someone I know made it… I…” Why were you suddenly so flustered? So embarrassed? You were a demon for sin’s sake! You could simply kill a human for looking at you with a crooked eye! Yet, it was probably because of the way this Morningstar was looking at you that had you so thrown off. Like he was appreciative of the cake even though it was perhaps the most inedible thing he had ever held in his hands. Like he would keep eating it if you asked him to, his fingers already brushing against the utensil like he was waiting for your approval. Was he really so gluttonous as to be ready to eat even if it made him sick, even if it killed him? Why? To please you? No, it didn’t quite seem like that. He was kind, yes, but he wasn’t a doormat. Something in him was starving. Something past his mouth, past his stomach, settled all the way into the depths of his soul was clawing at him from the inside. You knew this sensation too. This emptiness.

Guilt.

Hopelessness.

Loss.

The food he was eating was another distraction. Just like Mammon’s shimmering trinkets and Levi’s flashing lights, Beel allowed himself to get absorbed in his own form of self comfort. Each brother seemed to be engulfed in their own little world, swallowed up by their sin and just barely keeping their head afloat. These humans were all drowning, one hand outstretched, waiting for someone to pull them to safety…

You reached over and closed the lid to the take-out box, half tempted to set it ablaze to ensure it would be purified to ashes. However, aside from the fact that it might cause the human to panic, you had to wonder what sort of dangers the toxins in the air would cause… You’d have to dispose of it cleverly. Perhaps manage to open a rift into outer darkness and chuck it where even the fates couldn’t reach. You stood up.

“You don’t have to throw it away.” Beel reached out, almost appearing a bit panicked. This surprised you. You had assumed that this behavior was caused by the death of his sister, but suddenly you had the sense that this was a deep-seeded issue, something that had been with him for a while, exacerbated with Lilith’s passing. The human managed to read your confusion, shifting uncomfortably as he could feel your analyzing thoughts. “I don’t like anything to go to waste,” he explained. “I don’t remember too much of my life before Lucifer brought me home, but…” Beel searched for the words, the memories painful, but still managing to smile. “Every crumb is precious to me. You never know how long it’ll be before you can eat again.”

There was a stirring inside you, and not just the concoction in your stomach. You turned your head up, trying to look past the pollution to see the stars. Something about his sad words poked at old memories. Faded messages from someone your soul refused to forget. What was it they used to say?

“Every second is precious to me. You never know when it will be your last.”

Humans were so fragile. And yet, somehow they continued to thrive. Through war and despair and starvation and destruction they struggle and fight to survive. Even if doing so only adds mere seconds to their lives, they will spill blood to claim those last few seconds.

Greedy things.

Had they fought for more precious seconds right before the end?…

You snapped yourself out of your daze. “Trust me, you’re not wasting anything by not eating this.” The box tucked under your arm, your other hand grabbing Beel’s outstretched hand to help him up. “The sun will be rising soon, we should probably get back before people start waking up.”

A surprising warmth flooded your body as Beel’s hand slipped into yours. He got to his feet before his touch dropped from yours, hurrying back into the pockets of his jacket. He looked down at Lilith’s grave and nodded. “Talk to you soon… I’ll bring Belphie with me next time, I promise.” Silence lingered over the graveyard for moment before he gestured for you to follow him. “We can get out this way.”

The human walked a few steps away from you, your own feet prepared to follow before a faint whisper echoed behind you. It was quiet, so much so, you almost convinced yourself it had been the wind. But even so, the familiar tone to the voice immediately brought tears to your eyes. You turned, almost calling out an old name before the sensation you felt faded. Your hand pressed over a panging in your chest, an old wound that tempted to tear back open. Before you could think anything of it, you brushed it aside as you hearing things. Madness. Auditory hallucinations probably brought about by the unknown ingredients in the cake Solomon made. You had been thinking about them a lot more than usual lately, and now your mind was conjuring up things. That was all. You glanced down at Lilith’s grave.

It was strangely peaceful here.

“Something wrong?”

You turned your head back at Beel before shaking it. “Just hearing things.” In a few steps, you were at his side. As you stood directly next to him, you couldn’t help but stare at him. Something felt…off, but you couldn’t quite discern what it was. A certain detail was different enough for you to notice, but not obvious enough to place. Like how you can tell someone had disturbed a room you’d walked into, but not being able to figure out what had been touched.

Where most people might’ve been off-put by your staring, he simply held your gaze, raising an eyebrow. The longer you looked, the more a little blush seemed to form on his cheeks. He rubbed at the corner of his lips and found a stray dab of frosting, wiping it away on his pants. “Did I get it?” He asked, assuming he’d discovered what you were observing. Letting it go for the time being, you nodded, but something was still bothering you.

The human began to lead you towards the direction you both had come in. Unlike his other two brothers you’d made pacts with, either he wasn’t the particularly curious type, or he knew when to keep questions to himself. He didn’t bother prodding further on how you’d found him or how you knew how to sneak inside or even how you knew he left. He was only focused on getting you two out of there. Near the inside of the fence was a little bush, Beel headed towards it and pulled out a green plastic milk crate. He pushed it towards the perimeter and stood on top of it, bending his knees a little and waving you over. “Here, I’ll help you over.” He laced his hands together and again encouraged you to get closer to him.

It wouldn’t do to simply jump over like usual. So, playing along like a proper human, you placed your foot in his palms. He held you carefully, raising you up and letting you kneel on his shoulders. All the while worrying over you to be careful. You pretended to struggle pulling yourself over, entertaining yourself as you hit the ground on the other side. Beel rushed over, leaping over in such a frenzy, his jacket sleeve tore a little on one of the metal pickets. He nearly fully scooped you up off the ground, picking you up by the small of your back and settling you back on your feet.

“Are you okay?” He worried over you, and while you didn’t particularly care for humans, the attention had the end of your hidden tail twitch. You touched at the fabric of his sleeve with a little frown, wondering if you had taken your act a little too far. Even as you were fiddling with it, he didn’t fret over it. “You’re not hurt or anything?”

“I’m alright,” you responded bluntly, walking a bit down the sidewalk. You approached a public bin and promptly threw the box containing the cake away. You heard Beel strut up behind you, moaning a bit at even just the thought of what it tasted like. “I need to go home and eat something to get rid of that flavor… I should still have that pudding left.” He began to go on a little ramble, daydreaming about different treats. The mood seemed to brighten as he went over his list of snacks he would be consuming as soon as he got his hands on them. His feet began moving as his mind trailed away. Then he stopped, looking over his shoulder at you. “Aren’t you coming?”

“Actually…” You looked down the opposite direction, down the street. “There’s something I’m going to check on first.”

“Oh. Alright. Be safe, okay? Weird things have been happening at night lately. Lucifer keeps pestering us to stay inside. And then of course, he stays out himself…” While almost everyone mentioned their older brother with a bit of anger, Beel only harbored concern and admiration when he spoke of Lucifer. Rather than getting hung up on his older brother again, he moved on from the subject. “Thanks for checking on me… You’re pretty nice. I see why Mammon and Levi like you. See you later.” Without another word, he turned away from you, walking along the streets that would take him back to the house. You stood in place and waited till his frame dissipated in the darkness.

A sigh left your lungs. Your stomach rumbled in a little bit of pain.

“Lucifer…”

Even from the sidewalk across the street from the building, you could pinpoint the window to Lucifer’s office. The light was faint, but still active nonetheless. With a slight roll to your eyes, you approached the front doors, grasping the long and golden vertical handle. It rattled. Locked. With a huff, you took a step back. Of course this was just a waste of time. Why did you think coming here was a good idea anyway? Was it the look on Beel’s worried face? Were you so easily persuaded by a human you had hardly come to know? A swift turn of your feet had you pointing in the direction where you had just come from. But something stopped you. Not quite a voice like before, but like a guided thought, one that didn’t quite feel like your own. It sent a shiver down your spine, bringing about the sensation of deja vu, the same phenomenon you felt earlier just as you were leaving the graveyard. A series of emotions that you roughly translated.

Check on him, please.

A heavy growl left your lungs as you rounded the building to try to find access in through the back. A ripple crossed over your body, shielding your body from view, feeling the comfort that came from not being perceived. You couldn’t stay here for long. You already made a promise to your pact-mates and Simeon that you’d conserve your magic where you could. Even now you were almost trudging your feet, worn out. As you rounded the corner of the structure, you suddenly froze. Magic that was not your own flooded the alley. It was strong, every weave working to repel you from this place. If it weren’t for Solomon’s charm, you might’ve even been pushed all the way back down to the Devildom. It zapped your strength, stirring the remains of the poison in your stomach.

Just across the way from you, leaving the alley from the opposite direction, was a tall man. The source of the magic rang out from his aura, the remains of a spell twinkling off his hands. Was it him? Was he the one going around and protecting this place? Was he the one guarding the Morningstar home as well? Why? Even with the coat across his shoulders, you could tell his build was wide and statuesque. Striking red hair swayed in the breeze and caught the rays of the peeking sunrise, making his presence blaze for a single moment before he turned out of view and sauntered off. You raised an eyebrow, tempted to follow, but giving up on that desire rather quickly. You’d stalked enough human men today. Still… who was he?

The spell hummed in your ears, refusing to leave anytime soon, almost convincing you to give up on Lucifer entirely. But with a silent grumble, you stepped further in to check the back door. Unsurprisingly, it was also locked, but you expected as much. It would simply be easier to break in from here. Rather than use a key like normal people, it seemed that these little number-pads were the way to grant access around here. A quiet demonic spell was chanted in the base of your throat, sparks dancing between your fingertips. You pressed your hand against the numbers and listened to the internal mechanism fry. It chirped as it died and glared at you with a little red eye. For a moment, you wondered if you’d have to resort to breaking in the door or a window. But then just before your hopes of destruction got too high, the eye turned green as you heard a click. You put the brick back down. Whoever put that stupid warding magic here didn’t think everything all the way through, did they?

You smugly entered the building, wandering through the back room and out into the main lobby. You paced around for a little while until you found the metal plating that you recently learned was called an elevator. Humans found the strangest ways to make things easier for them. Normally you’d avoid the flimsy metal box, but part of it fascinated you. You tapped at the buttons and had to restrain yourself from eagerly hitting all of them just to watch them light up and make a satisfying bing. The doors opened and you stepped inside, selecting the floor you knew Lucifer’s office was located.

As the elevator lurched upward, so did your stomach. Everything seemed to swirl around you for a few agonizing seconds, some sort of motion sickness overtaking your senses. The base of your throat clenched as you worked to keep yourself sick. Every muscle in your body tensed. You focused entirely on keeping yourself hidden. The doors opened, the movement stopped, but the sensation didn’t. You crawled your way out of the elevator, trying not to gasp in pain. Working on your breathing, fighting against your own body to settle down.

That cake was doing something to you…

The current wave of sickness passed, a faint tingling sparking through your body. You shuffled your way up to your feet, holding onto the end of some random desk.

The office was empty. Almost every light turned off except for a few. Lucifer’s office was illuminated. His door was wide open…

Panic. Anxiety. You hobbled forward, doing your best to stay silent as you sprinted towards his office door. There had been something odd about the whole thing. You should’ve followed your gut. Maybe that other human had done something. Maybe they weren’t being protected at all… Maybe something had happened. Was he—

As you burst silently into the room, you had to cover your mouth to hold in your breath. The eldest Morningstar was face-down on his desk, hand limply holding a pen. The screen of his computer was still lit up, in the middle of some project. No. No, no, no… You approached his body with a tight chest, imagining the look on his brother’s faces if you had to come home with bad news. Imagining the reprimand you’d get from Simeon once he found out the human had been harmed. Your adventure was over just as you felt like it was starting. You didn’t smell any blood, and you didn’t sense any other magic aside from the human’s from earlier. Careful fingers touched the side of his neck.

Lucifer’s head shot up.

Instinct kicked in before you could stop yourself. Luckily, instead of tearing him to shreds, you simply pushed him, sending him out of his chair and onto the floor. He groaned sleepily, sitting up and grasping the sides of his head. Clearly he was dazed and confused…and perhaps a bit hungover. The smell of human alcohol was now clear.

He had simply passed out.

Your teeth gritted, hands held in front of you in a choking motion, imagining yourself fully throttling him by his scrawny little neck for getting you…unnaturally…perturbed. Then you covered your face, exasperated at yourself for getting so caught up in random emotions.

Lucifer reached up to press his palm against his desktop, clearly exerting himself trying to stand.

It would be…so easy to push him over right now.

You were ready to do it, only two seconds away from sweeping his leg before you heard some sort of shuddering gasp as he settled himself on his feet. The eldest of humans, the biggest pain in the tail you’d come to meet, the man you wouldn’t even want to talk to in your dreams… was on the verge of tears. You took a single step back to observe him slumping back into his office chair, rasping out a curse, looking at his phone and the time and his work before leaning forward and placing his face in his hands.

Now you simply felt…maybe a small bit of repentance. Guilty for being so tempted to quite literally kick a man while he was down. Turning your head to avoid looking at him, you took the steps to walk back out of his office. Past the receptionist’s desk and around the corner of the cubicles, you had remembered seeing a small nook that resembled a mini kitchen; cabinets and a fridge and whatnot. You headed off in that direction and began to rifle through a few things. It didn’t take you too long before you found an empty paper cup. One jaunt over to the nearby water dispenser, and you snuck back towards the office.

Lucifer was in the same position as before, and it was difficult for you to tell if he was crying or simply processing his inebriated thoughts. While his eyes were covered, you settled the cup of water down beside the empty shot-glass. You were really pushing your luck with this, but… you were entitled to do something after pushing him over. This was just making up for that. You didn’t want to owe anything to Lucifer. Now you were even.

Spotting the couch again, you sat down, leaning back and keeping yourself from sighing as you looked out the window.

Great. Now you could relate to this asshole. How infuriating.

“Hm?” Half-lidded eyes finally were free from his hands as he noticed the paper cup before him. Befuddled, he picked it up and smelled it, probably wondering if he’d poured himself another shot. The way he arched his eyebrow almost had you chuckling. “When did I…?” He was clearly quite perplexed. Although, after rubbing his eyes and his forehead for several minutes, he somehow came to the conclusion that he’d gotten it himself. He downed the water quickly with a groan, staring at his computer screen. Any normal being at this point would quit for the day, finding some way to hobble home. This…muddle of a man left you stupefied as he defied all reason, ignored all good sense as he stood, rubbing the back of his head, clearly ready to get back to work. “I need more coffee…”

As he left his office, staggering as he tipped left and right, you kept yourself from scoffing. You had to be kidding. What kind of idiotic, self-sabotaging, prideful moron would go so far as to isolate himself and—

Wait.

No. No this was not the same! Not the same thing. He was a human, it was different! This wasn’t about pride, this was about… something totally unrelated! You and Lucifer were so far from each other, you… you…

You couldn’t think of a proper dispute for yourself.

Maybe it was true… Maybe you were alike, in some aspects. Pushing others away to save face, only to hurt yourself in the process. Pushing yourself to the brink of death just to…to what, prove a point?

What was it you were trying to prove anymore?… You couldn't remember...

Lucifer seemed fine. Well, alive and walking at least. Safe for the moment. You stood up once more, satisfied and frustrated with the events that had just taken place. All you’d come out here for was to show the little voice in the back of your head that the human was unharmed. Now you’d just… go back home— to the home. The Morningstar home. Not your home. Your home was in the Devildom.

Oof. Your thoughts were getting all sorts of jumbled, weren’t they? Sweat started to bead down your forehead. The droplets were cold. Too cold. Like you were much too hot… That was weird.

An intense cramp ran through your entire body, your muscles seized up, your frame crumpling to the floor. For a moment you writhed, reaching out to pull yourself forward, but missing the furniture. It squeaked harshly as you ended up pushing it away from you instead. Panting, gasping, you nearly left claw marks in the flooring as you grasped it again, pulling yourself up to your knees.

The noise alerted the human approaching the office, coming back in as adrenaline rushed through his veins. You could only pray he didn’t see you. Covering your mouth, you held back a scream as another throb forced your vision to go blurry.

Don’t…get…found out…

Crawling behind the shelter of the couch, you forced the sick to stay in your body.

“Who’s there?!”

Hide…Hide away from it all…Then you won’t…

…

A messed up swirl of colors crossed your vision. You reached out a hand and rolled over onto your stomach before collapsing again. By the next time you opened your eyes, even if it felt like only a second, you could tell time had passed. It was a bit brighter now, although wherever you were was still blanketed by shade. Every limb in your body felt weak. Fully opening your eyelids might as well have been like asking you to climb from the lower ring of hell all the way to the tallest tier in heaven in under seven minutes. It took several more attempts before you could press your hands to your head. It took even longer to finally sit up.

You felt like death. Which was rather hilarious considering just the other day you had nearly actually died. Whatever this was felt worse. Every breath you took made you queasy. For too many minutes, you assumed you were back in the Devildom, waking up to the worst hangover you’d had in your vast life. But then the memories slowly started to trickle in. Although there was a very clear black spot in your memory. The last thing you remembered, you had snuck into Lucifer’s office. And now you were… Where were you exactly? Everything was a blur. Blinking didn’t exactly clear up your vision.

This didn’t look like an office. Didn’t look like anywhere…

A long roof covered your head, but this room had no walls, letting light from the outside flood in at all sides. A pergola of some kind? There was no furniture in this place either, just clear floor in all directions around you. Odd. Your limbs fumbled around for a while, struggling to stand up, and once you were on the flats of your feet, it was even harder to stand straight. Slowly, you carefully wobbled your way towards one of the open entrances to try and figure out just where in the three realms you ended up in.

Light flashed across your eyes as you stepped out of the shade. A headache throbbed through your temples as you blinked spots away. Looking in front of you, you saw a field of tall grey grass. Wait… grey grass? Were you seeing things? Looking up you noticed a… white not-so-blue sky. In fact, it looked more like a high ceiling. And a ways away on the other side of the field was a dark brown, almost black building settled next to a giant oddly shaped mountain, that sort of resembled a—

Oh… Oh no. Saints and Sinners alike, say it wasn’t so. No!

A hand clasped over your lips as you stumbled back into the dark, losing your balance and falling to the floor. Both panic and shaky legs kept you from standing up quite yet. You remained hidden in the shadows of the cover overhead, peering out into the open space with clenched teeth. This was a dream. A horrid nightmare in fact. It had been several ancient years since you ever remembered having something akin to a nightmare, but this had to be one of them. A cold chill covered every inch of your skin. You felt clammy. Nauseated. Unable to breathe. Calm, you had to tell yourself. If you freak out too much, you will be sick.

Sick. Right! You had been poisoned. Did he— Did that—

Did Solomon’s messed up cake shrink you?!

Dread began to swirl with anger. When you… When you managed to get your hands on that pesky little angel, you would— Not the time. You could fantasize fondly about that later. Right now, you had to fix this. But… how? How would you undo this? This didn’t feel like any regular hex that an enchantment would reverse. If you had ingested this… it stood to reason you needed an antidote. Wait! Beel… Beel had consumed the cake too… Was he in the same position as you? If he was, he was probably freaking out right now. Had he made it home?! Or was he now outside, completely vulnerable. Bite sized for whatever demon wanted a Morningstar snack… Or what if it did something worse to him? He was only a human after all… What if he… You tugged at your hair a bit as your tail thrashed behind you.

This was bad. Really bad. Truly and utterly terrible.

Order of operations… To find Beel, you needed an antidote. To get an antidote, you needed to get ahold of Simeon or Solomon. You felt around your clothes, feeling your pockets for your phone. Nothing. It seemed whatever magic was at play here kept you clothed, but didn’t shrink your phone with you…Solomon’s charm was still there too. You wouldn’t question how that worked. Don’t think too deeply into how magic works. Just don’t. Please. It would be a waste of energy you couldn’t afford to lose. If this was still Lucifer’s office, and you collapsed in here, your device should still be somewhere here…

Walking forward tepidly, you peeked out from the cover that you’d come to the devastating conclusion was the underside of the couch. If you had to guess, right now you were probably no bigger than the average index finger… Lucifer was no longer at his desk. His office door closed. However, the glow from the monitor was still on, and his black leather business bag was still slumped against the floor. He was still in the building somewhere, which meant you had to be careful. For, as much as you were trying, you couldn’t cloak right now… Or hide your demon form. If someone caught you…if someone caught Beel… As your pact mates would say it: Game Over.

You rushed out from under the couch to scan the office for your phone. You checked the rug, against the walls, by the window, under the desk, but nothing. Lucifer must’ve found it… Now you’d have to try to answer how your phone wound up in his office… and hells, the couch! He’d seen it move! What if he connected your phone to… First you’d have to worry about finding Beel and getting back to normal. If you had no way to contact the others, you’d have to figure out how to get home. If you could get back to Mammon and Levi, they could contact Simeon or Solomon for you, and then the hunt for Beel could start. But how would you make it all the way back to the house?…

There was only one clear solution to that. Lucifer.

If you could tuck yourself into his work bag, you could probably escape undetected. But you couldn’t just wait around for him to decide to go home, not when Beel’s life was at stake! You would have to figure out a way to send Lucifer home now. But how?…

Pacing around back and forth only served to make you dizzy. You leaned heavily against one of the couch’s legs. Get him to stop working…get him to stop work… Wait, work! His work! Destroy his addiction! Can’t keep working if there’s no work to work on! You would stop saying work now.

Jogging over to his desk, you spotted a single long black cord poking through a little hole in the wood. The lifeline of the computer. Controlled by more feral thoughts than usual, you ran over to it and sunk your teeth into it, tugging till the cord snapped. A fierce jolt ran through your body as the electricity sparked for a moment, but then you shook it off. Stepping out from under the desk and looking up, you noticed the monitor had gone black. Perfect.

The door latch clicked.

Scrambling, you bolted towards Lucifer’s bag. You wriggled yourself under the leather flap only to discover it was mostly decorative. The bag itself was still closed with a zipper. But for the moment you were hidden, working hard to keep your horns from puncturing through the thing.

You heard the door fully open as the familiar click of Lucifer’s steady cadence struck the ground. “…and all I need to do is plug it into the computer?” His voice held firm, not like he had sounded when you found him blacked out at his desk. Vibrations ran through your body as he stepped closer and sat at his desk. Frantic tapping at his keyboard could be heard before he held back a curse. His fist hit the desk. “It’s not working, it’s… Hold on. You’ve got to be kidding me…” He must’ve discovered your little act of sabotage.

All the while, you had found the tag to the zipper, both hands clutched around it as you slowly pulled it back, making no noise. Once an opening was large enough for you to slip through- which in this scenario, wasn’t very much- you tucked yourself inside. It was rather packed in here…not only did you have to worry about getting discovered, but now you were worried about being squashed between thick binders and files and who knows what else. You tried to hole yourself inside a pocket to keep yourself out of view. And now you could only blasphemously pray to not be found. If angels were listening to your pleas, you hoped that cursed cherub was listening to every personal thought and comment you had to say about this predicament. Maybe if you thought hard enough, his ears would burn off.

“The computer…it’s fine, I can access it at home.”

Yes!

“Just connect it to my computer, open the email you sent me, and you swear this will unlock the phone?”

…Wait…

“Under usual circumstances, I’d tell you to mind your business. But in this case, I feel like it’s fair to say it’s from the same person you’ve failed to run a background on.”

…Shit.

“Don’t you think it’s rather pathetic for me to have to do your job for you? You better hope this little ‘key’ of yours doesn’t disappoint me as well.” Lucifer huffed as it appeared he ended the call early. You could nearly feel the rage and frustration rippling off of him as he addressed his broken computer, pushing his chair back and letting it roll and hit against the back wall. Your whole world was rocked as the bag was picked up off the floor. “Utterly ridiculous… Losing my mind…” You heard the human mutter.

What an absolutely, utterly, terribly, impossibly horrible human! And to think, you’d almost felt some small modicum of… pity for him! You’d checked on him and made sure he was okay, and this was how he was treating you now? Trying to break into your phone?!

Sweat seemed to bead more down your face. The jostling of the bag wasn’t helping your current weakened condition. And now you were running cold with panic. If Lucifer got into your phone… you can’t even recall what you had written down over text… Did you mention you were a demon? He’d see those texts from Simeon… No…you couldn’t let him do that.

Lucifer continued to walk quickly, making his way through his work building with top speed. A car door opened. Then your mind flipped and the personal hell of your own making roughly hit something and tumbled. More agony flooded your body as all the air was pushed out of your lungs, feeling crushed in all directions. He’d really just thrown you in the car, didn’t he? Ouch… You had to struggle to keep your consciousness. There was too much at stake to simply pass out now, no matter how tempting the sweet darkness was.

Find Beel, unshrink yourself, and now keeping Lucifer from figuring you out…

Hells…how could this little nightmare get any worse?

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