#so that for some reason means he “came out the mud”

[sapphic-agent]

I hate it here.

[ticcitoby-obsessor]

Military school

Toby Rogers x F!Reader [NSFW!]

Summery: You get sent to military school and there is one boy that stands out. Of course that's the boy everybody warned you about.

CW: 18+ content, descriptions of bodily harm, blood, suicidal thoughts, toxic relationship, sexual content, self-destructive tendencies, mention of selfharm, reader gets hurt, consent but everything is not well discussed. Sadism. Reader a bit of a masochists.

Warning for writing: Idk how a military school works, but everyone is over 18, toby has gone with slender (so he is over 19) but mother send him off before. (ofc that means she isnt dead and he didnt burn down their house) long plot before any fun. Dyslexia.

Your eyes flickered back and forth between your crying mother and your stern faced father. It was his decision, that was clear. His fault two men were dragging you out of your own house in the middle of the night. You weren’t surprised but you did not expect it either. It was those god damn rumours that had been flying around about you. He thought you was just like your friends, skipping school, smoking and partying. And sure you had been to some home parties your family did not know about. But that was normal for a teenager, you didn’t do anything bad.

Still two strong men, were hauling you of to military school. The only solution your father ever came up with. First it was your older brother, which made actually sense, but you, a girl, to military school. Had he lost his head. You didn’t get time to ask, to cry or scream at him, for being so horrible. Since you got pushed into a car before you could even get over the pure shock.

Nobody talked to you, instead they talked between each other, seeming as surprised as you. By your side was a bag of cloths, your mother must have packed. How could she let this happened, you thought to yourself. What would happen to you? Looking past the scariness of military school, there was for sure no other girls their. Why would they even allow this?

The car stopped at a harbour, were the two men helped you down into a fishing boat. One of them pointed out to an island just at the horizon.

“That’s the school.” The man pointed out.

“It wouldn't take long” The other stated, standing at the wheel. The first man reached out his hand.

“I am first Lieutenant Price.” He announced, shaking your hand.

“Okay.” You responded unsure, they probably had your name, so you saw no reason to act compliantly. He did not address you again before you was of the boat stepping on to the island.

The island was flush and green, perfectly clipped grass and tall trees encasing the four houses in-front of you. Three of them were gigantic red buildings that stretched out. But compared to the main house they were nothing special, a three story white building with unnecessary amount of windows stood proudly in the middle. Two red houses to its left, one at its right. There were wood flooring connecting the four together. Probably to keep the kids from tracking in mud.

Lieutenant Price stopped beside you, while you awed at your surroundings.

“Its very daunting, I am sure. But I assure you, you are perfectly safe here. Sadly we do not have any girls here for you, not even staff. Regardless you are not here to make friends, so just focus on your self, fallow orders and I am sure you will be home sooner then you think.” He spoke calmly but you sensed the nervousness he held to himself. He the guided you to the closes red house.

“You will be sleeping here, keep your items under your bed, you are given pyjamas and uniforms that you are to wear. They will be on your bed. You will be woken at 06:00 and will have 30 minutes to get to breakfast. You will sleep at 10:00.” He was clearly not focusing on the information he had to give you and neither were you. You clenched on to your bag tightly as he raised his hand to bang on the door. After doing so a ray of upset groans sounded from the room inside. He seemed to almost smile at having disturbed their sleep, before he opened the door.

Inside there were bunk beds filling the room, at least 20 were scrammed, meaning there was 40 or so boys you had to share room with. To think you had complained at 10 to not share room with your older brother. They all seemed rather annoyed as Lieutenant Price shot on the lights.

“This is Y/N” He announced into the room.

“And non of you are to disturb her. Enso!” He shouted out. A boy popped his head up, climbing down from his bunk.

“He is a prefect, you might say” Lieutenant Price whispered at you. Then he faced the boy. He was maybe a year older then you. Brown straight hair, with a short cut. He had a long nose and on the top of it a pair of crocked glasses. He was wearing the same green/blue pyjama as they all were.

“You are to show her, how things are done around here.” Lieutenant addressed to him.

“I trust you” he said in a lower tone. “You have 15 minutes until I shut of the lights. I will be waiting outside.” Then the Lieutenant turned to you. “There’s your bed, you can pick if you want the top or bottom.” He turned to the wall and you fallowed his eye to a red button on the wall. “That’s the emergency button. Do not hesitate to press it. If any of these bastards as much as look at you, press the button. It will sett of a red light in the main house and I will come running.” He smiled as if the opportunity to beat up these kids gave him joy. He then went to face the rest of the room, announcing loudly. “Do not touch Y/N, do not disturb her. All of you rotten low lifers stay away from her, you hear me. I will not hesitate to beat any of you to a pulp.”

“Understood, Lieutenant Price!” Echoed over the room. All 40 or so boys had managed to utter the phrase, though some more intensely then others.

The room filled with chatter when the Lieutenant left, but at least no one was directly shouting at you. Enso guided you to a wash room without speaking, he had grabbed the pyjama from what you guessed was your bed. The wash room looked old and mouldy. With sinks at the right side and toilets to the left, thankfully no urinals. At the end of the room was a couple of shower heads, but no designated shower area. You would have to shower when no one was around.

“You should shower before sleep each day, but you have not done a days work so.” He looked at you questioningly, but leading you to the answer. You shook your head.

“I would rather not.”

“Perfect, change in the toilet stalls, brush your teeth, its not rocket science.” Enso said yawning. He waited patiently for you to finish and then guided you back to the room. He stopped up in front of the bed he had taken to clothing from. The room seemed to go silent.

“Have a good night” Enso smiled at you as he dragged his feet to his own bed.

You climbed up to the top bunk. Feeling as though you were safer up top. It did not take long before the Lieutenant came in and shut of the light. You nervously laid unable to close your eyes, staring up at the celling. The snoring came fast, other more disgusting sounds fallowed shortly. And even when the whole room was sleeping you were unable to relax. How would you ever fall asleep? You plunged your head into your pillow, turning your body around. And though you did not think it, morning came faster the it should have. It didn’t feel like you had slept but without your notice an other adult stood at the door, letting the morning light in. Holding a bell that he shook loudly. You tried your best to lift yourself up, but everything was telling you to stay down. It had not been a nightmare, so it was better to not face it.

“Come on, up with you” Enso shook you bed lightly. You steered angrily at him. He smiled back, he seemed to be in a better mood this morning.

“You need to make your bed, tuck in the corners of the blankets inside and puff up you pillow.” You fallowed his instructions lazily. “Look three beds over, that’s mine, that’s how it suppose to look.”

“Too bad.” You responded back climbing back down. He lifted his shoulders but did not argue.

“Your uniform is under your bed, take that, plus whatever extra, and come with me to the wash rooms” You did as told and as you turned to fallow him you saw the storm of bodies blocking the way to the wash room. They were already starting to undress themself, though not reached the room yet. Enso did not seemed the least face, he took hold of your wrist and dragged you along into the sea of people.

He managed to fight you both though the door. He pushed through a door an other boy had just entered. The boy seemed scared out of his mind, clutching on to his own uniform.

“Get out” Enso shouted at him and surprisingly he did. Enso then opened the door for you to slip in to. It was clear why the Lieutenant had given him the roll. You had hidden your bra and panties inside of the uniform t-shirt and tried your best to put them on fast. You stepped into the green cargo pants and started buttoning the jacket to the best of your ability. Hands started banging of the stalls beside you. But it seemed that Enso was standing watch at yours. You were forever grateful for him.

As you stepped out, the washing rooms seemed to be less chaotic. Half at least had managed to finish up and somehow Enso was standing in front of you fully dressed to.

“Now, you need to clean your nails and behind your ears, that's the places they check.” Enso said, walking over to the sinks. “Hopefully they will give you a brush for yourself” he muttered handing you a small nail brush. “So you don’t need to share with such filth” he said, anger rising in his tone.

“Filth! Is that how the perfect little boy sees us!” A voice roared over the room. Three boys looked angrily over to Enso. “Now he was a girl to impress, the truth reviles itself.!” The other chimed in. “You all are filth, I have never said otherwise.” Enso shouted back. Before any respond came one of the boys flew forward fist first. Hitting Enso hard in the face. He stumbled for a second before an other came at him. The surrounded him, 7 or 8 boys pressed him up ageist the wall. You looked panicked around, seeing if there was any way you could help him.

“Leave it be” A voice sounded from the furthest sink, the only boy to not go in on the attack. He was tall with fluffy curly brown hair (I am not cutting his hair, idc its military school) You meet his eyes, a sweet light brown, then your eyes travelled down his face, to a white bandaged covering his left cheek. Your curiosity kicked in, as he walked calmly past you. The other boys seemed to stop just for a second as he left the room. Thankfully a knocking sounded at the wall.

“Cut it out” a harsh voice sounded and the boys scathed. You fell to your knees in front on Enso, how had bruises both under his eye and high up on his four head.

“Are you okey?” You said worriedly, helping him up on his feet.

“Yea, happens, bunch of monkeys.” He said frustrate. He walked scruffy over to the sink, holding his stomach as he tried to wash his face. Blood from his lip dripped down, colouring the water.

“We need to go fast.” Enso suddenly blurted out, grabbing your hand and pulling you out. He rushed you out of the building and the two of you ran down the wooden path way. It seemed you was heading for the house that stood by it self on the left side. There it was an other crowed of people, pushed up ageist each other, but this time the amount had doubled.

“Is that the new girl” A boy shouted at Enso as he flew past.

“Non of your business.” he shouted back

“So the rumours are true.” An other murmur as they past the second sleeping quarters. You reached the crowds but couldn’t get any further, you were already surrounded by both side. Enso was still holding on to you, though he had given up on moving further.

“As long as we are in the crowed, we will get in.” He explained looking down at you.

“I need air” You said with some panic in your throat. It felt like you were being pushed by all sides. Enso seemed a bit puzzled by you, clearly he did not want to give up the spot. Though he was fine with getting closer. Just as before he started fighting his way forward, punching his elbows in to people and shouting “move” at them. Suddenly you were up by the door, only about 2 meters away, with a fence in your stomach. You breath out, leaning yourself on the fence, people started to give you at least a bit more room with Enso’s constant shouting.

“Thank you.” You breathed out, looking up at him.

“Least I can do, we will be in soon.” He said looking over to the doors. that's when your eyes landed back on the building you had just come from, the letter 2a plastered on the wall besides the door. As you watch the person from before, with the brandade came walking out calmly. You watched how he, in a sea of running people, walked on as if there was no hurry. He lifted a cigarette out of his pant pocket and lifted a lighter out of the other.

“Who is that?” You asked Enso, bumping his hand a bit to get his attention. He sighed as he fallowed your eyes.

“Toby Rodgers” He announced. “Stay away from him. Listen to me he is bad trouble.

“Worst then the rest?”

“Much worst.” He got down closer to you ear and whispered.

“Most here have their reasons to be here, drugs, skipping school, being brats and troublemakers. The worst maybe thief’s and drug dealers. Well Toby, he is murder, serial murder to clarify.”

“What, why isn’t he in prison then?” You continued to stare at him as he brought the lit cig up to his mouth.

“His mother doesn’t want to convict him. She sent him here instead, after he murdered her boyfriend, his own stepfather.”

“What the fuck” you looked up at Enso, who seemed terrified by his own speech.

“that's not the worst, he admitted to killing 10 others, mostly teens. And the cops got no clue. He says the operator tells him to. What ever the fuck that it. He is bookers, mental, full on psychopath. Do not let him know even that you exist, everyone is scared of him.”

“I see” you respond back. At that moment people start moving around you and Enso pulls you in to a huge dinning hall.

The two of you push your way to the most far out dinning table. There are four gigantic tables stretched all the way to the end of the room, where the adults sit. Their table faces the rest, certainly to keep an eye on the kids. Up you see Lieutenant Price sit talking and laughing with some of the others. They table is full of breeds, cut meat and cheese, with a bowl of fruit in the middle. While you look down yours, you can only see a big cooking pot.

“What’s for breakfast?” You ask Enso, who seems a bit distracted.

“Same as always, porridge.” He answers without taking his eye of the door. You fallow his eyes to a group of boys laughing with something in their hands.

“Bastards.” He mutters under his breath. “Your okey here alone, aren’t you?” He asks but before you can answer he is off. He starts shouting loudly making everyone disperse.

“Finally.” A boy comes up, red hair with rounded glasses. You stare up at him, confused.

“Thought he was never gonna leave your side.” He somewhat clarifies.

“Who are you?

“Sam” The boy answers. “But that doesn’t matter. Tell me” His eyes sone in on you, a smirk forming. “How do you like all the attention? Is that why you are here? They say you come here cause you was such a slut, your parents couldn’t handle the shame.” Your eyes widen as you listen to his disgusting insults, you don’t know what to do or what to say, you just stare confused at him. Then you see five other boys giggling behind. You just hope Enso gets back before he continues on again.

“Back of.” A dark voice behind them, different to Enso, but still familiar. The boys scatter like chickens, laughing loudly. You see Toby Rogers is the only one left, why would he defend you, why would he care. Enso’s face pop up at his shoulder.

“Get to you seat Rogers.” He says sternly, but there is little behind the threat, you see he is deathly afraid of him, and Toby knows it too. He stares at you, only for a moment, you study his face, as does he study yours, then he turns and disperses into the surrounding chaos.

Another kid is at Enso’s shoulder, a smaller blond boy. He sits down next to Enso.

“Sorry about that, I shouldn’t have left you.” Enso says looking worried at you. But a hand stretches pass him and into your space. You take it so not to seem rude.

“Emil.” He shakes you hand.

“Y/N.”

“Your fucked, you know that right.” Emil says gravely, drawing his hand back.

“Stop being mean.” Enso says hitting him in the shoulder. Emil quickly goes to stroke it.

“I’m not being mean.” He defends.

“Why?” You ask, both the boys head turns. You know it will be an adjustment, and all you want is to get back home. But you don’t think it’s that bad, just incredible frighting.

“He got the hots for ya, its not good either way.” Emil blurt out before Enso can stop him.

“Who?” You ask, feeling a bit dumb.

“Rogers of course.” Emil says fighting ageist Enso’s hand. “But its not good, you cant reject a murder, they would kill you, wouldn’t they. He has killed for less. And you cant keep him happy either. Your fucked”

“Drop it, both of you, quiet!” Enso says a bit to loud. In the same moment, the man sitting in the upper table, in the middle, had started speaking. He must be some kind of headmaster of sorts, you think to yourself.

There wasn’t much else you could think about for the rest of the breakfast. Though Emil was in you ear giving you the backstory of every student and pressing out every detail about you. Your most used word for that whole interaction was “huh”. Later on you had been put in to a group of 15 who had all been given jobs to cut some wood in the forest. Thankfully Enso was one in that group and told the others that you and him would wheelbarrow the wood back to the designated area, behind the dinning hall. You spend the next four hours pushing the crappy wheelbarrow back and forth but at least you could go as slow and take as many breaks as you needed. You was sitting down, drenched in sweet when Enso started warring you again.

“You seem to interested, I have to say.”

“About what?” You cocked you head up.

“Rogers.”

“I am not, but its not often you cross a serial killer and know it.” You tired to laugh but was meet with a concerned look you knew all to well.

“Regardless of what he was done, or what you think he has not. I have been here since the day he came, he is ruthless and cold. He has not made one friend and he has gotten in more fights then I can count.”

“You was in a fight this morning.” You point up at the bruise under his eye.

“Not the same. Rogers fights too the death, people end up having to be sent to the main land, only reason no one dies, is cause there’s always someone around.”

“If you was to get… romantic with the lunatic and you pissed him off, for the smallest shit, he would with no second thought, bring you to the woods and kill you. No one would dear to go with him, but if you think he is nice and kind you would. He would manipulate you.” Enso was getting louder and louder as he spook.

“I am not planning to get romantic with him.” You reassure.

“You better not.” Enso said a bit more softly, crashing by your side. Neither of you say anything for a while. You swirls moss between your fingers, while Enso starred at the ground.

“You know he stutters?” Enso asks. You look judgmentally up at him.

“What?” You ask cocking an eyebrow.

“He doesn’t say much because he stutters. Was bullied for it before he went crazy. He has some tic disorder or some shit. They called him Ticci Toby.”

“That’s cruel.” You respond. But you see Enso is about to go off on you for defending him or some shit so you shoot in. “But its worst to kill people.” He seem to calm down by that. Goodness this boy, you think to yourself.

The two of you continue shortly after. On the way back both of you are loudly chatting and laughing and it seems Enso has come down from his scare. The two of you seem to be creating a nice bond, which you are happy to have. Enso does not seem to have any other ulterior motives, which you are thankfully for. But you both grow quiet as you see an adult in a uniform similar to Lieutenant Price.

“There comes the chattering couple.” He says sternly.

“Y/N has been talking this whole time, Enso just tries to answer her questions but she never shuts up, you know how women are.” A boy rattles before you or Enso can say anything. You stare blankly at the boy. You had no idea you were not allowed too. Your eyes flicker to Enso, who looks almost ashamed.

“Yes, I do know, well better to not scorn a perfect boy’s paper cause of a girl, is it now.” The man looks condescendingly over to you. Then your eyes lock on someone standing in the distance behind him. Rogers is standing by a tree, axe in hand. Without a shirt, you cant help to study his muscles, and his scars, covering his whole upper body.

“An hour with the rubble, young lady.” The man in front of you announces, bringing you back to the moment. Your about to protest, when you hear a huge dunk into a tree. The man turns around, seeing Toby Rogers putting his full force into swinging the axe into the tree in front of him, but vertically, destroying most of the tree in process.

“He has fucking lost it.” Enso whispers in utter shock.

“Stop that. Rogers stop!” The man roars, but you can clearly see he is to scared to step closer to him.

“You are destroying it, we can not use any of it if you destroy it. It will be only pieces left.” Another kid jammers on, clearly upset. But Toby continues, you can not help yourself as you watch him flinging the axe around. Though he looked incredibly skinny and lanky, he had some insane muscle and they were even stronger then they looked.

“Drop the axe, I am warring you Rogers.” The man continued, we was close to pleading now. Everyone was scared that he would start attacking them soon, instead of the tree. That was everyone but you. You was to fucked up to even realise the danger. But the axe dropped, and Toby turned around smiling at the man, who took a step back. His eyes then landed on you and you had to be blushing, he studied you for a moment. Was he expecting you to look frighted like everyone else?

“Good, good.” The man placed his hand on his heart. “Do not pull any more stunts like that.” It did not sound like a command.

“No p-punish-ment? His head twisted to the side. But he brought it back quickly, still with a wicked smile.

“Of course your getting a punishment.” The man seemed frighted even uttering the words. “I guess you will be helping Y/N in the rubble.”

“What, that deserves much worst, what the fuck are you on about.” Enso shouted out in blind anger. “You would be risking her life, ahh I guess you would rather risk hers then your own, you coward.”

The man did not address the comment, he left as if nothing had been said. You started thinking why it was that Enso could speak like that to an officer and not get punished. Why he could get in a fight and view it as normal, Why he could speak when the head of the school was speaking and though they all seemed so strict on the others, to this point Enso had not even gotten a warning. Your eyes circled back to Toby, who was smirking almost proudly. Did he enjoy pissing Enso off.

Comparably the rest of the day was much more chill. After having finished at the forest, you had eaten lunch and put to fish for the rest of the day. Once more you was on a team with Enso but this time only three others, neither of them you knew. You had not caught a single fish but Enso had gotten four and put two in to your bucket. But as you gave in Enso’s fish, you was separated from him.

“Y/N, you come with me. You will be getting dinner later.” The man in front of you was the same from the woods. He guided you behind the red building you had spend you night twisting and turning in. There was a pile of big rocks stacked on each other. You could see a red square indicating were the rocks were to be placed. About ten meters away from the pile was an other red square.

“There you are, Rogers.” The man said annoyed. “I don’t need to explain this to you, you explain it to the girl.” He looked almost disgusted as he uttered the words. But before you could form an opinion on it, he was gone.

You starred up at Toby, a bit confused. He seemed almost taller, being out here alone with him. A bit more frighting too. He had for sure not been out fishing, rather he already looked dirty and tired. You mind suddenly went back to the forest, seeing him half naked, it made you blush again.

“Well, y-” He stopped him self for a moment, starring down at you.”Why are you b-blushing?” He looked almost offended.

“I’m..I’m sun burnt, not blushing.” You stumbled over your words.

“Y-you put those rock’s there.” He pointed at the other square. “We h-have an h-our.”

“Fuck its gonna take me days.” You exclaimed already feeling tired.

“Good for you, I am here then.” He smirked, then his neck twisted again, he didn’t seem put down by it, he looked rather used to it.

Both of you started working, you tried your best to take as many rocks as possible, but they would all just fall down from your hands. Similarly you tried to copy Toby’s speed but it was impossible, in the span of three minutes, you was heaving on the ground for air.

“Just f-focus on your self, short stuff.” He exclaimed as he past by you.

“Short stuff! Don’t call me... short.” You tried to get the words out, but you needed to breath with ever syllable.

“You are short.” He lifted his shoulders, holding a toon of rocks as he past you for the second time.

“You… You are…” You couldn’t get much out, you wanted to insult him. The warnings from the others had clearly fallen out of your head. Toby smirked as he came back around. He lowered himself on his knees in front of you.

“See, e-even on my knees, I’m higher then you.” He smiled. Placing his hand horizontal to the top of his head and bring forward over yours.

“I’m on the ground.” You cried out in frustration. You felt you was back at being bullied by your brother. Toby raised himself up, and reached down a hand to you. A bandaged hand with signs of bleeding underneath. You took it looking carefully up at him. God he was hot, you thought.

“Why did you do all that spectacle any ways?” You asked as you got to your feet. You would rather do anything else then carry rocks.

“P-prep boy Enso fucked you o-over, he is stupid like that, doesn’t even k-know the rules since he doesn’t have to o-obey them. But there’s one punishment he cant e-escape.” Toby smirked, he was so close you could smell what deodorant he used.

“What’s that?”

“Fear.” Toby looked deep into your eyes, he was way to close.

“Fear?” You was not focused on the conversation at all, would have been more productive to talk to a wall.

“Fear of me hurting you.” He smiled. With that you was punched in the chest by the fact that you was gushing over a serial killer, that just mentioned hurting you. You stepped back a bit, your eyes winding.

“I’m n-not gonna.” He laughed. “The b-boy is pissing h-himself in bed right now imagining all that I could do to you.” God you was imagining it too, but fuck it was probably a whole lot different. “If you do not want me to, that is.” He smirked, turning away from you. You stood there staring as an idiot as he walked over to the pile of rocks. You could not make it more obvious that was for sure.

Coming back down to earth, you sighed realising you still needed to work. You dragged your feet over and picked up a handful of rocks, they dug into your soft skin easily. But that was not what was occupying your mind.

“Wait, why does Enso get away with stuff?” You asked, almost starting to run towards Toby.

“F-finally you caught on.” Toby laughed letting his rocks fall down and turning to you. “Sorry to d-destroy is good boy image.” He started. You had almost caught up to him. “E-Enso will inherent this hell and his proud of it t-too.” Toby stated as you reached him.

“What, how?”

“How do you think?” He rolled his eyes.

“So that’s why your after him?” You asked slowly. A bit unsure how far you wanted to dig.

“I don’t c-care about Enso or his shit of a f-family. But its fun to piss him off, show h-him he isn’t as unt-touchable as he t-thinks.” Toby smiled down at you, walking a step forward to get closer to you. “But you, y-you are more int-tresting.” He lifted your chin, holding it up, while studying your face. His eyes landed on you lips just for a moment then raised up to your eyes. “Why aren’t you scared?”

You had sat with that question yourself, fucked up family, fucked up friends. What should you blame it on, a consistent tolerance for fear cause your life was so unstable. A wish for death cause you did not see much of a future in front of you or a wish for excitement cause while you acted like a good girl, it was all so god damn boring. You didn’t say non of it. He didn’t have a right to know.

“Why should I be scared?”

“Well there’s two s-situations you find y-yourself in that should u-utterly t-terrify you.” He spoke calmly, seductively, so close you could feel his breath on your lips. How you wanted to reach up and take them in your own.

“What’s that?” Stupid question, you knew the answer, but you want him to say it. To say that he was as dangerous as everyone made him out to be. Maybe it would make your hearth beet a bit quicker, though it was already racing.

“Your a girl, surrounded by criminals, the worst men of your age.” He smirked. “And your about to kiss the worst one of them all.” Fuck, you thought. You watched him lower himself down to you, felt his lips just reach you. Then came the hands, clucking around you, pulling you in. He was ravishing your mouth as if he was starving for you tongue. And as if it had not happened he pulled away, you felt cold, alone, abandon only for a second as you opened your eyes to his sniggering look.

“Can’t do all of this h-here.” He stated half closed eyes looking lazily down at you. He took your hand, without agreement or refusal, you was dragged of into the woods. Maybe this was your time to die, as long as you got an other kiss first, you would be satisfied.

Having walked rather further then you thought necessary, he planted his hands on your waist and lifted you up on a big boulder, as if you weight no more then a feather. He pushed himself in-between your legs and finally he let you have his delicious lips once more. There was a flavour of smoke but also something else, something you had previously only smelled.

“Tell me s-short stuff.” He muttered into your lips. “Can I take you f-further?” He asked while kissing down you neck.

“Yeah.” You moaned back. With that there was no more holding him back it seemed. He first started with unbuttoning your jacket, which went surprisingly fast. He threw it behind him, while kissing you deeply, only to pull away again to lift up you t-shirt. He grinned looking down at your chest, surrounding himself in your soft glory. You felt his kisses all over, while his hands reached up to your bra clip. You heard it clip of, much more compliantly to him then it had been to you. But as it fell down and the cold braze hit your nipples, he bit down on your skin. Making you give out a small scream in surprise. He raised his head smiling up at you, he seemed rather more exited by making you scream.

While kissing and sucking intensely on ever skin tissue from your neck to your hips. His fingers found their way down your pants. First he circled around, above you panties, but he quickly grew tired of that. He lifted his head up, meeting your lips once more, you moan helplessly into his kiss, while his fingers dipped under your panty line.

“God, I have n-no patients.” He raised his head up, as if he was truly pleading to a god. But as he lowered his eyes back on to yours you could see that no god would answer. A wicked grin formed over his face. Cruel thoughts you could see form in his eyes. And for some reason you wanted the worst, he could ever give you. You pants came quickly of after that. He gave you a kiss goodbye. Before he lowered himself on to his knees and planted his face roughly into to your pussy. You was already flowing but still it seemed your pussy could produce even more. His tongue flicked back and forth between you opening and your clit. As if he could not decide which he wanted more.

He started to settle in, focusing more on creating louder moans from your mouth then satisfying his own desperation. He first landed on your clit, trying a plethora of different technics. After having found three that made you grasp into his fluffy hair. He worked you until your toes went warm and your caffs started shaking.

“Your torturing me.” You moaned out in a plead for him to put something inside you. And as if he could read your mind, you was meet with his fingers. First that was a disappointment until he started the same with them.

“That’s t-the point s-short stuff.” He grinned into your pussy. When he found the exact angle that made you buckle your hips to him, he started to pump his fingers back and forth into you. While deliciously licking your clit. He seemed somewhat surprised when he was able to put a third one in you, but you were to delirious to even notice.

You rocked desperately on the rock beneath you. Not even noticing that your bare skin was rubbing with the boulder making small abrasions into your skin. He was nothing compared to the lousy sex partners you had in the past. All drunk out of their mind, looking for a quickie to release the pressure. You was starting to understand the whole hype, that your friends had been talking about, though non of them had described the incredible feeling that was flowing through you. Or less the desperation you had to have this man inside of you. It did not matter what he wanted for it. You would give up all, do everything just to feel him in you. Your eyes opened wide, a manic look you had never possessed before. It was dark all around you, to your surprise, but that did not change anything.

“Please fuck me, please.” You begged. Toby laughed, having to back up a bit. His beautiful rough and long fingers slid out of you and you could not help to moan in disappointment. That’s when you realised the pleading had thrown your partner out of the moment. He steered up at you smiling, laughing at your desperation.

“You want to be fucked?” He asked cocking his head. He was gonna make this hard for you.

“Yes, fuck sakes I do.” You grasped his jacket as he laughed on.

“Well what w-would you do f-for it?” He asked looking down at you will unbuttoning his shirt.

“Everything, absolutely everything.” You continued, feeling cold and a bit numb.

“Like drink something poisons after?” He smirked. Your face changed, grew pale and cold. But your mind was made up. You nodded softly, confirming your doom.

“Its not g-gonna kill you.” He laughed as he realised what you was thinking. “But I don’t have a condom and I will not be stopping myself. I know I wouldn’t be able to.” He smiled, pulling his pants down to reveal it, hard and pulsing. You did not have long to look as he grabbed your legs and pushed himself inside. You realised his kindness was gone as he pounded into you with no warring. He gleamed as he saw your shock, when you cried out in surprise he only went faster, deeper and harder.

His mouth clashed into yours, pushing himself passed your teeth. You were subservient, you relaxed into his aggressive grip. There was something, that made you trust him, something that made you think he would never hurt you. Or rather if he did you would be fine with it. Something called delusion but that was not for you to worry about. You rather meet his tongue, pulled him more down on to you. Your ankles locked around his tights. Letting him drive deeper into you as you were desperate to make him be a part of you.

“The sensation you had been reaching for before, but not fully grasping was coming back. He mouth left yours when all it was capable of doing was to moan. You did not realise how loud you sounded but it only seemed to encourage him more. That did not stop him from chomping down on your neck. You felt his teeth, sharp as a vampires, dig into your skin. Intense pain roared together with the pleasure, overloading you with senses.

You screamed out, in an incredible loud shriek. As your own sound died down and his teeth left your skin alone, you head him laughing in your ear. Pumping still intensely fast in and out of your pussy, you realised that the overwhelming pressure was building quickly. You was close to cum. It agitated you how painfully it let you sit, being so incredibly close. Your eyes meet with Toby’s and he seemed to recognise the intense pleading look you gave him.

“Don’t worry.” He whispered into your ear. He drew his right arm back from having been supporting your back from touching the rock, without you noticing. He brought it down to your clit, rubbing his thumb. Exactly as you had enjoyed before. Your head flew back in utter pleasure. Making the man over you even more desperate. He pounded into you, with all his power, making the inside of your thighs bruise. You was sure the same was true for your pussy too.

“Will you scream for me d-darling?” He whispered softly into your ear. You nodded intensely.

“I would do anything for you.” You declared rather desperately. He laughed at that as he reached behind you for just a moment. Still working your clit and your pussy so incredibly. Your eyes went to his hand, in which he had a sharp blade. He smirked down at you, as your eyes widened. To many of times had you have to deal with the threat of being murdered this night, this time you decided not to jump to conclusions. Instead you focused solely on the pleasure you was receiving. The fear only made it more intense.

He lifted your arm gently of his back and stretched it out. Then he placed the blade, pulling it softly into your skin. Somehow he managed to still his hand while still pipping into you. Sadly you had lost your beloved stimulation of your clit. But the pain rushing over you, quickly made you forget that.

“There you go.” He pushed the blade deeper into your skin. You started to scream, tears gathered up in your eyes. But the pain only grew. So did that intense sensation that felt like a bobble about to pop.

“Good girl.” He professed softly as a tear left your eye, travelling down your cheek. In hearing these words, the pressure popped to. You was cumming violently around his dick. He opened his mouth and you heard the first moan he would give you, as the blade feel to the ground. Blood dripped down to the soft moss. While he loaded himself into you.

Both of you laid spread out on to the moss, breathing heavenly. He had helped you sink into the ground as your ears was ringing and the earth felt like it was turning. You felt as though you had completely blacked out and the only thing that had kept you safe was him. You grasped his hand as you opened your eyes. He let you have it, stoking the top off your hand with his thumb. You steered up at the black night sky, filled with beautify shining stars looking down at the atrocities that had just occurred. You were forever thankful that you got to experience it.

After having calmed down, the two of you started to dress yourself again. He helped you with your panties.

“Your keeping that.” He said, lifting his finger out from the lips of your pussy.

“Yes, I am.” You smiled back. You did not even want to think about the consequences of those actions. Hopefully he had been in so many fights, that he had become impotent.

“All your then.” He announced as he slid your panties up. He dressed you carefully, kissing every place he touched. Until it came to your t-shirt. He lowered himself down on to his knees and brought the cut on your arm up to his mouth. He cleaned off the blood with his toung. And then ripped his own t-shirt up to bandage it around your scar.

“You look beautiful with it.” He said softly, looking down at it. Your eyes found their way down to, seeing the scar stand out freshly ageist your many healed once. You had not thought of them in so long, they had almost not existed for you. Still you did not feel ashamed or shy when he viewed them. You more so felt understood.

As you tracked up to the two piles of rocks, one clearly larger then the other. You were greeted with a rather angry officer.

“Where have you been?” He shouted angrily.

“Forest.” Toby responded shortly.

“You should have been here, fulfilling your assignment. Instead you was out raping this poor girl, on her first day. You sick animal.” The officer went furious.

“What?” You shouted out, offended by his words. But Toby lifted his hand up, stopping you from charging up at the guy.

“I did no such thing. We went to the woods to smoke.” Toby lied, fishing out a pack of cigs from his pocket. “She didn’t want any, so we are back.”

“Liar.” He said disgusted looking at Toby then his eyes went to you.

“Tell me Y/N, the truth, I promise you he can not hurt you no more.”

“We went in to smoke, I tough I wanted, but I changed my mind. Toby was very kind and did not push or pressure me to smoke.” You stared angrily at the officer.

“Well that is not allowed either way. Five lashings.” The officer announced like a medieval king.

“What?!” Toby was the one losing his temper now.

“For the girl, ten for you.” The officer starred him down.

[hischierhoney]

Dog Days

dog dad!Nico Hischier x dog mom!reader

masterlist

summary: a dog park meet cute with the potential to change your life. or: months ago, @theemporium & i went down a spiral ab that picture of Nico & the dog with the devil horns. this fic is what came out of it. 10.1k words

warnings: mentions of alcohol, doodle slander (adopt don’t shop)

There’s a guy in the dog park who’s staring at you. Really, you should be more nervous about it, because he’s a large man, and you don’t know him, and he keeps looking at you. But his dog- Bernie, you think he called her- is cute, and she’s getting along great with your dog, so you’re a bit inclined to let it slide. Besides, he’s not being creepy. He’s probably just checking to make sure you’re okay with your dogs playing together. He’s here often- you recognize him well, but it’s the first time the dogs have taken interest in each other.

You watch another dog join the fray, some sort of hypoallergenic doodle, if you had to guess. The type that costs thousands of dollars for no apparent reason. It’s wearing a Patagonia puffy jacket, which makes you laugh. You hide it behind your hand. You watch as the dog bows low between your dog and Staring Guy’s dog, and then the doodle rolls over in the mud, and-

“Excuse me!” Someone yells. “Excuse me- hey, you! Is that your dog?”

You turn and blink, realizing the woman is talking to you. She’s storming your way in her matching Patagonia coat, face red with anger. You stare, eyes wide. Staring Guy is looking, too, not even trying to hide it now.

“Um. Which one?” You ask.

She gestures wildly. “The- that black mutt,” she hisses. You frown. “The one who was in the mud with my Bessie.”

Staring Guy snorts from his spot twenty feet away. Your eyes flicker to his, and he’s holding back laughter. You chew on your lip to keep yourself from doing the same.

“Yeah, that’s Moose,” you say, turning to look over your shoulder. Moose and Bernie have abandoned Bessie in the mud, more interested in sticks. “Sorry, is something wrong?”

“Yes! My dog is covered in mud now!” The woman snaps, and you rear your head back. “I mean, honestly-“

“Oh, yeah, she really seemed to like that puddle,” you agree, nodding. “You know how dogs are.”

She shakes her head angrily. “Not my Bessie. She’d never do that. So.”

“So?”

“So are you going to pay for her grooming? And the dry cleaner for her coat, oh, that coat-“ the woman sighs. “She’d have never done this if she hadn’t been influenced-“

You turn to look over your shoulder, to where Bessie is still rolling in the mud. “I’m sorry. Are you trying to say my dog influenced yours to roll in the mud? And now you want me to pay for- you understand how ridiculous you sound, right?”

She huffs. “Bessie is a well behaved, purebred Bernedoodle. Yours is-“

She stammers, so you fill in the gap. “Moose is a rescue.”

“Right, so-“ she waves her hand. “You see what I mean.”

“No, I don’t.” You say, incredulously.

The woman is so angry, now, that her whole face has gone beet red. She lurches towards you, and you take a couple steps back. Her hands are in fists at her sides. You’re not exactly afraid of her, but you hadn’t been planning on getting into a fistfight in the dog park, and she’s making you feel a little uneasy.

“Hey,” a deep voice says. You turn and find Staring Guy, walking up with his hands in his pockets, brows furrowed. “Everything okay?”

You widen your eyes at him, praying he gets the message. He sends you a smile, turning up the corners of his mouth softly. He has a kind face, warm brown eyes, thick eyebrows that arch over them. The woman goes off on her tirade again, about her precious Bessie and your awful influence of a mutt, and how you hadn’t done anything to stop them from playing in the mud. Staring Guy’s dog comes trotting up as she goes on and on, and Moose isn’t far behind. He winds himself in front of your legs, and you reach down to fix one of his ears, the one that always gets flipped inside out. Bessie isn’t far behind. You chew on your cheek to stop yourself from laughing at the sight of her, soaked in mud.

“Oh, that’s probably Bernie’s fault, actually,” Staring Guy says, dark brows furrowed. “She really loves the mud. She’s the one who started it.”

The woman splutters. “Oh- but- well- I’m not sure-“

Staring Guy shakes his head. He takes a couple steps forward, effectively placing himself between you and her. Your heart melts just a little. Moose looks up at him, and his ear flips back inside out. You sigh at the sight of him- he is covered in mud, and it’s going to be a pain to get him cleaned up.

“I just think she should’ve tried to keep them out of the mud.” The woman says, though she’s calmed down a bit.

Staring Guy’s deep voice and large stature seem to have calmed her down a bit. If you’re being honest, he’s calmed you, too. He’d make a good mediator, you think. He’s soothing.

“It’s a dog park, not a doggy day care,” he says, voice a little bit more tense. “You’re responsible for your own dog. Says so on the sign.”

The woman huffs and looks between the two of you. She seems to realize she’s getting nowhere, and she marches off, leash in hand, headed for poor Bessie, who’s likely in for the bath of a lifetime. You and Staring Guy watch her go, staring as she stomps across the park, to the gate, and all the way out to her shiny car. She steps in a puddle on the way out and splatters mud up her jeans. You hunch over and start to giggle.

Staring Guy lets out a laugh, too. “That was fucking ridiculous,” he says.

You nod, unable to speak as the laughter takes over. Moose sits down on the grass and stares up at you. Bernie sits down next to him and does the same. They both look incredibly concerned. You wipe tears of laughter from your eyes and stand up.

“I mean, she’s probably right, Moose is definitely a bad influence,” you say, cooing down at your dog. “I mean, look at him.”

Staring Guy laughs and tilts his head. “His name’s Moose?”

“Basic, I know,” you shrug. “They were calling him that at the shelter. I felt bad changing it, so here we are.”

Staring Guy shakes his head. “No, I like it. It’s a good name. This is Bernie,” he says, nudging his dog with his knee. “And I’m Nico.”

He sticks out his hand to shake. You do so, and introduce yourself, too. He repeats your name back to you with a soft smile. Bernie seems to take this as a sign, and she walks up to you, sniffing the air, tail wagging wildly. You crouch down to pet her, running your hands through her thick, sandy fur. She pants happily.

“She’s adorable,” you say, looking up at Nico. “Golden retriever?”

He shrugs. “Mostly, I think. She’s a rescue. I thought about doing one of those dog DNA things, but…”

“It never feels important enough,” you fill in. He’s scratching Moose’s head, and he nods, grinning. “Moose is a rescue, too.”

“They’re the best kind of dogs,” he says, finding the spot behind Moose’s ear that makes his left leg thump against the ground. Nico laughs. “No Schnoodles or Whoodles for me.”

You laugh and stand up, wiping your hands on your jeans. Moose looks between you and Nico, tail wagging happily. Not for the first time, you wonder what he’s thinking. You wish you could read his mind.

“Well, we’ve got to go,” Nico says, toying with the dog leash. “But it was nice to meet you.”

“It was nice to meet you both,” you say, giving Bernie one last head pat. “Thanks for your help.”

He shrugs. “Not a problem.”

…..

Weeks slip by, and Nico stays a constant in them. Wednesdays and Fridays, you find him at the dog park in the mid afternoon, Bernie waiting eagerly for you to let moose off his leash. The two of you chat and watch your dogs play and then bid each other farewell to go back to your own lives. It’s nice. He’s nice.

“Are you busy?” Nico asks one afternoon, shoulder nearly touching yours.

Moose and Bernie are playing in a pile of leaves, a week post Bessie-mud incident. You watch as the wind picks one up, and Moose chases after it. Bernie chases after him. You turn to look at Nico, feeling slightly confused.

“Like, now?” You ask.

He nods. “Now, and for a little while? There’s this dog friendly coffee shop down the street. I was going to take Bernie there. Though maybe you’d want to come with me.”

Your heart jumps. He wants you to come with? He wants to see you outside of this dog park, outside of the primary meeting spot. He wants to see you.

You nod. “Yeah, sure, that sounds sweet. You’re not gonna murder me, right?”

He laughs and shakes his head. “No, I’m not. Has anyone ever said yes to that?”

“Nope,” you say. “And I’m still alive, so it’s working.”

The two of you gather up the dogs and head for the coffee shop. They walk together happily on their leashes- matching ones from the same brand. You and Nico chat about the leashes, and dog supplies in general, and your favorite pet stores. By the time you make it to the coffee shop, you’ve run out of dog topics and moved on to other ones. You talk about coffee and New Jersey and home- which is Switzerland, for Nico, which explains the accent. You order coffee and pastries and take a seat at one of the outdoor tables. The early afternoon sun is shining down. There’s an autumn chill in the air, but the sun takes the edge off.

Nico gets dodgy when you start talking about work. At first, you wonder if he’s some sort of politician- he has the face for it- or a business guy. He doesn’t seem like the type to work in the tall buildings in the city, crunching numbers and barking orders. You’re not sure what else would’ve brought him to the US from Switzerland, though.

“D’you watch hockey?” He asks, and you blink.

“Not really,” you shrug. “It was never my thing. A few of my friends are big fans, though.”

“Of the Devils?” He asks, nodding his head down the street, where, if you walked far enough, you’d find the Prudential Center, home of New Jersey hockey.

You nod and swallow a sip of your coffee. “Mhm. S’that what you do for work? You work for the Devils?”

He shrugs, then nods. “Basically.”

You let it go, then. Maybe he’s just trying to be careful- after all, he barely knows you. You’d done the same, been careful about not telling him where you work. He seems trustworthy enough, but you can never be too careful. The two of you move on to more important topics- which donuts are best, and what the best restaurants in town are. The afternoon slips away quickly and quietly, and you only realize you’re late when your friend calls you.

“Shit,” you mutter, standing up. “I know I said I wasn’t busy but- I have to meet my friends for drinks, and I’m probably going to be late-“

“It’s okay,” Nico says, softly. “I’ve gotta go too. But this was really nice.”

You smile softly. “It was. We should do it again sometime.”

You both wave goodbye and take off down the street in different directions- you, back towards your apartment to drop off Moose, and him towards his, you assume. You can’t wipe the smile off your face the whole way, and it’s still stuck there by the time you slip into the booth at the restaurant a half hour later.

“I’m so sorry,” you gush, as your friend Alyssa sends you a glare. “I was out at the dog park with Moose, and then I lost track of time, and-“

Your other friend Nora laughs. “Were you too busy staring at Dog Park Guy?”

Your face grows hot. “His name’s Nico.”

Both of them blink at you. “Did you actually talk to him?”

You let out a long sigh and launch into the story- Bessie and her bitchy owner, Nico’s rescue, the increased interactions, and the cafe today. Their eyes grow impossibly wider.

“Sounds like a meet cute,” Nora squeals.

“If he’s cute,” Alyssa adds.

You roll your eyes and ignore the looks they’re giving you. “We’re just friends. Because our dogs are friends.”

“Like I said,” Nora says. “Cute.”

Eventually they drop the subject. You have your drinks and catch up, and make plans to hang out again the next night. Alyssa wants to watch the hockey game. She’s the biggest Devils fan you know, could name every player and all of their stats. You and Nora agree to watch, as long as she provides the alcohol.

You show up just after the game starts the next afternoon, Moose in tow. You snag a plate and grab some snacks and join Alyssa on the couch.

“Can you grab me a beer?” You call out to Nora, who’s in the kitchen.

She returns with a bottle in hand, passing it off to you. You thank her and curl up further on the couch, turning to look at the TV. You wonder if Nico’s working, if he has to be at the games or if he does more of the behind the scenes stuff. Maybe he runs the charity branch. That would fit him. You take a sip of your beer, and then nearly spit it right back out.

You turn to Alyssa, who has the remote, and make a frantic gesture. “Rewind it.”

“What?” She asks, not looking away from the TV. “It’s a power play, I’m not gonna-“

“Rewind it,” you say again, reaching for the remote. “Lyss, just-“

“What’s wrong?” Nora asks, frowning at you. “You don’t care about hockey.”

“No, I know, I just- I thought I saw someone,” you say, staring at the screen.

“In the crowd?” Nora asks. You don’t answer, so she says your name. “Babe, what is going on?”

Before you can answer, Alyssa throws her hands up in the air and cheers. Goal. The puck is in the back of the net, and the camera zooms in on the player who scored- number 86, the name Hughes emblazoned on his back. One of his teammates comes skating towards him, nearly shoving him into the wall, and-

You gasp when the camera settles on his face. Number 13, Hischier. Nico Hischier, you would assume, unless Dog Park Nico has a doppleganger hanging around Newark. A doppleganger who also works for the Devils. You work for the Devils? Basically. Oh. Nora doesn’t seem to notice anything, but Alyssa turns to you slowly, eyes wide.

“Wait,” she says. “You wanted me to rewind it, to where?”

“It’s fine,” you mutter.

She’s staring at you, while you stare at the TV screen. “You said Dog Park Guy’s name was Nico,” she says, brows furrowed. “What’s his last name?”

You shrug. “Haven’t asked him yet.”

She blinks once, then twice, and when you see Nico on the screen again, you must react, because she leans over and grabs your face. She pulls you to look at her, then at the screen. She grabs the remote and pauses it, and Nico’s face fills up the whole picture. He’s grinning wide.

“What’s happening right now?” Nora asks. “Somebody fill me in.”

Alyssa points at the screen. “That man, right there, is the team captain. Hischier,” she says, pausing for dramatic effect. “Nico Hischier.”

Nora gasps. You shrink down into yourself. You can’t exactly tear your eyes from the screen. It’s definitely him. You’d know that face anywhere. You can see the smile, can picture it in the dog park as he pets your dog.

“Is that Dog Park Guy?” Nora asks. You nod, figuring there’s no point in lying now. “Oh my god, you didn’t mention he was hot.”

Alyssa groans. “I’ve never been more jealous of you in my life.”

“You’re engaged,” Nora reminds her.

“I know,” Alyssa sighs. “But god, he’s dreamy.”

Nora nods. You curl further in on yourself and reach for the remote to hit play. The game starts back up again, and you try to pretend you’re not watching for his number. Nora and Alyssa don’t let it go for the rest of the night. You have a feeling they won’t be letting it go for a while.

When you see him next Wednesday at the dog park, you greet him with, “Hiya, Cap.”

You’ve walked up to stand shoulder to shoulder with him. Bernie and Moose are rolling around in fallen leaves. Nico smiles at you at first, and then, as if he’s realized what you said, he jolts. His brows furrow, and you grin.

“You work for the Devils, huh?” You tease, grinning widely.

His cheeks go red, and he laughs. “You said you didn’t care about hockey.”

“I don’t,” you admit. “But my friend Alyssa does, and she had the game on when I was at her place the other day, and imagine my surprise when I looked up at the screen and saw you on the ice.”

He smiles sheepishly and shakes his head. “Honestly, I didn’t tell you because I thought it’d come off as bragging.”

Moose barks, and you both turn to look, but he’s just playing with Bernie. The two of them have found a stick in the leaves, and they’re pulling back and forth. Bernie has a leaf stuck to her nose, and it makes you smile even more.

“It’s pretty cool, though, isn’t it?” You ask. “Lyss said you’re like. A rockstar. Team captain, first round draft pick-“

“Oh, she went way back,” he teases.

“She’s a Jersey girl,” you say with a shrug. “You’re lucky she’s already engaged or she’d be here, too.”

He laughs louder at that, and his shoulder bumps against yours. Across the grass, your dogs roll around on the ground, happy as can be. It makes you smile wider, makes your heart warm.

…..

Early fall turns into late fall, a change that brings with it colder weather, something you’re already regretting not noticing. Nico frowns when he sees you in the park. He makes his way over as Bernie runs to greet Moose, and he has his brows furrowed. He’s wearing a beanie and a thick hoodie, and you envy him.

“Almost didn’t recognize you,” he says, tugging at the hood of your thin sweatshirt, which you have pulled tightly over your head. “Where’s your coat? And a beanie, maybe?”

You shrug and bury your hands deeper in your pockets- you don’t want him to see you’re not wearing gloves either. “I live on the third floor. It looked warm out, and by the time I got outside, there was no way I was dragging him back upstairs.”

You shrink slightly under the disapproving look he gives you. He sighs heavily, and you smile at him, like that’ll make it better. You want nothing more than to bury your face in his chest, press yourself into his body and soak up some of the heat. You’re sure he’s warm. He just looks like he runs warm.

You don’t stay long at the park, because your hands are freezing and so is your face. Nico bids you farewell with a little wave, and you rush home to your warm apartment.

Two days later, when you show up to the dog park, Nico’s already there. Bernie’s running circles around him, barking happily. She skids to a stop when she spots Moose, and you let him off the leash to join her. Nico waves, a big grin on his face as the two dogs take off together.

“Still no beanie?” He teases, shaking his head.

“I thought the cold day was a fluke,” you mutter grumpily, hands shoved in your pockets. “I worked from home today. I didn’t know it was this cold.”

Nico continues to shake his head. His next move is so unexpected you don’t quite realize what he’s doing until it’s over- he pulls a beanie from his pocket and pulls it onto your head for you, adjusting it carefully with narrowed eyes. You can’t help the laugh that slips past your lips. Then he slips his jacket off his shoulders.

“Nico-“ you protest as he wraps it around you.

“I wore layers, and I’m warm,” he says, holding the jacket around your shoulders and waiting until you slip your arms through the sleeves reluctantly. “Better?”

His jacket is warm and cozy, and you smile and nod. “Much better.”

He grins back, eyes crinkling at the edges. His cheeks are flushed, and it makes your face feel warm, too. You shove your hands in your pockets- his pockets- and turn back to watch the dogs, standing almost shoulder to shoulder with him. The very first flakes of snow of the year begin to fall. Moose and Bernie don’t seem to notice. If Nico notices the way you lean close to him, trying to shelter yourself from the cold, he doesn’t say anything.

…..

The next time you see Nico, he’s stressed. He’s got his beanie off, running a hand through his hair, tugging at the strands. Bernie, as if she senses his distress, is sitting at his feet patiently, even though her leash is off. You let Moose run over. He sniffs at Bernie, then at Nico’s knee, and whines.

“You’re really bringing down the mood,” you call out.

Nico’s head whips up, bottom lip still tugged between his teeth. Something twists in your chest. You don’t like to see him upset like this, you realize. You’re growing far too attached. And yet. Here you are.

You cock your head questioningly. “You okay?”

He sighs. “Sorry. Yeah. Just- my usual dog sitter apparently moved and didn’t tell me until this morning, and I have to be out of town starting tomorrow, and so now I’m trying to find someone to watch her or somewhere to board her and-“

“I can take her,” you blurt out.

His rambling comes to a screeching halt, and he blinks at you. “I don’t want to inconvenience you, or…”

“Don’t be silly,” you say, shaking your head and smiling. “Her and Moose get along great, and I already know half of her routine. And I think she likes me alright, too. It wouldn’t be a hassle.”

Nico puffs out his cheeks, glancing up at the sky. “That would be… are you sure? Because. I mean-“

“Nico,” you say, softly. His gaze flickers back to yours. “I’d love to watch her. How long are you gonna be gone?”

He bites his lip again. “Friday through Sunday.”

You nod. “Easy peasy.”

You should probably be expecting it, just because it seems like something he would do, but you yelp a little when he hauls you against his chest. You hug him back, though, and laugh into his shoulder, and the dogs both bark at your feet. Then Bernie takes off running, as if she knows everything is fine now. Moose follows happily.

“Thank you,” he says, chest rumbling against you, and your breath catches.

“Anytime,” you respond. You mean it.

He drops Bernie off the next morning before you start work for the day. He texts you from the lobby of your apartment building to let you know they’re headed up, which is sweet. You hear Bernie before he knocks on the door, and when you open it, Moose perks up from his dog bed. He’s up within seconds, tail wagging, searching through his pile of toys for one to bring Bernie.

“Look at them,” you coo, watching the two dogs greet each other happily. “We’re gonna have such a fun weekend, aren’t we, Bernie?”

Nico’s smiling, too, when you look up and meet his gaze. He has a dog bed tucked under one arm, and a bag of other supplies in the other. You let the dogs play while he unpacks the stuff on your kitchen counter and tells you what little you don’t know about Bernie’s routine. When she eats, what toys are her favorites, and so on.

“Normally I tell people about the dog park,” he says, smiling sheepishly. “But you already know that.”

You nod eagerly. In the living room, Bernie is sniffing Moose’s dog bed.

“Oh, um. Sometimes for the first bit she won’t want to eat,” he says. “I got her when she was young, and it was during the lockdown, so. She wasn’t used to being away from me. She’s gotten better about it, but… if she goes too long, you can put a little cheese on her food and that usually helps.”

You nod in understanding. “Moose was the same the first time I left him. Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of her.”

Nico laughs. “I think this is actually the least worried I’ve been about leaving her, ever.”

You set up Bernie’s dog bed in the living room, a little ways away from Moose’s to give them each their space. Nico lays out her favorite toys for her, and a threadbare red hoodie that you’d bet used to be his. He wavers in the doorway between the living room and kitchen, watching as Bernie inspects her stuff. It makes your chest ache a little bit. He seems reluctant to leave.

“D’you have time to sit for a little bit?” You ask. “I have plenty of coffee.”

He turns over his shoulder and grins. “Coffee would be great.”

It should probably feel strange, to have Dog Park Guy sitting at your kitchen table, sipping coffee out of a big mug that looks small in his hands, but it doesn’t. It feels almost natural. Like this was always how this was going to go. He tells you about the away game he’s going to play, about their odds and the other team and how he’s stuck sharing a hotel room with Jack, who he loves but who also talks in his sleep loudly and denies it. You laugh and commiserate & complain to him about your work day, which is full of meetings. By the time the coffee is gone, he doesn’t really seem to want to leave, but he tells you he has to finish packing and get to the rink, and you’ve got a meeting anyways, so. You walk him to the door. He crouches down to pet Bernie one more time, and lets out a big sigh.

“I’ll see you all soon,” he says, smiling. “Have a good weekend.”

Bernie sits down and stares at him. You see his smile waver, so you step forward and pat the top of her head gently, then scratch behind her ears the way you’ve seen Nico do so often.

“Be safe,” you tell him. “We’ll be here waiting.”

Bernie does get a little sad just after he leaves. You feel for her, because you’re strangely sad about him being gone, too. You take most of your work meetings from the couch so she can curl up with her head on your lap. Moose keeps bringing over his favorite toys and dropping them off for her, but she doesn’t take much interest. Nico texts around lunchtime, just before he’s getting on a plane, and asks how it’s going. You send back a picture of her head in your lap, your work meeting in the background.

she seems very interested in Carol’s progress report.

Nico sends back a little laughing emoji, and then She looks cozy. Thank you again!

After work, you leash up both dogs and walk down to the dog park. You want to keep Bernie’s routine as consistent as possible. The two of them do so well together, walking happily, never tugging on the leashes. You snap a pic of them, and send that to Nico, too. He probably won’t see it for a while.

Once you’re at the dog park, you let them off leash to run around. They take off together, barking happily, kicking up piles of dead leaves like the always do. You sit on a bench and fight the urge to text Nico.

It’s just that in the couple of months since you finally spoke to him, you’ve found yourself really looking forward to your dog park chats. Venting about your days or catching up or telling fun stories about your dogs. It’s not the first time he’s been gone, but it’s the first time it’s hit you like this. It’s odd.

You take them both home eventually, calling them over and clipping on the leashes. Back in your apartment, it’s dinnertime- you heat up leftovers for yourself and give the dogs their food. You try not to watch Bernie like a hawk. Nico had said she might not want to eat at first. But when you do sneak a peek, they’re both eating happily. You breathe a sigh of relief- she must feel comfortable enough.

They wander off into the living room before you do, and what you find makes you stop in your tracks. Bernie’s got her dog bed in her mouth, dragging it over next to Moose’s. He sits on his bed happily, wagging his tail at you. Bernie drops the bed and immediately curls up on it, letting out one of her signature big sighs, the ones that Nico always copies. You let out a matching sigh, and she wags her tail.

You snap a picture of the two of them curled up next to each other and send it off to Nico.

He replies just before you roll over to go to sleep. Did she move her bed??

Yup, you answer. Ate all her dinner, too

He takes a while to type his response.

Adorable. Thank you. Again.

…..

You’re not a hockey fan. You know this about yourself. You’ve watched games enough times to know this. But when Saturday rolls around, you turn on the game anyway. Bernie should watch the game, after all. She should watch her dad play.

You cuddle up on the couch with both dogs, who are definitely paying less attention to the screen than you are. They both fall asleep halfway through the first period, and you roll your eyes. You could turn it off, but you find that you don’t want to. It’s suddenly different when you have a reason to be invested. Nico’s on the ice, at least for some of the time.

When he scores, you cheer so loudly you startle both dogs awake. They look around, bewildered. You snap a pic of the two of them with the tv in the background and send it to him.

Bernie & Moose say good job!!

He doesn’t answer until you’re in bed for the night, again. Time differences and media responsibilities and all that. He heart reacts to the photo, and then you watch him type for a couple moments, the little dots bouncing at the bottom of the screen.

How’d you like the game? He asks.

You waffle a bit on what to say back. You wonder if he’s paying enough attention to notice you’re taking a while to answer, or if he’s moved on.

You settle for sending back, it’s a lot more fun to watch when i’m cheering for you

He’s typing back nearly immediately. My good luck charm!

You laugh and lock the phone, setting it down on the nightstand. Bernie and Moose are curled up in bed with you, snoring away. You’re not sure why you feel so happy, but you hope it brings you good dreams.

Nico gets back into town late Sunday afternoon.

There’s a knock on your apartment door. From the couch, you call out “Come in!”

You hear him kick off his shoes in the entryway as he calls out a greeting. He pads towards the living room, and you lean up slightly to see him as he walks in.

“You should really lock your door, you know,” he says. “I could’ve been anyone.”

“But you’re you,” you lilt as he rounds the corner of the couch. “Besides, I’ve got my guard dogs.”

He eyes you skeptically. The dogs are in their same spots as the picture you sent him yesterday. Moose is curled against your chest, while Bernie is laid out over your legs. You’re tucked under a blanket, smiling up at him. Neither of the dogs have moved a muscle, from the knock on the door until now.

“Great guard dogs,” Nico teases.

“Well, they know you. Bernie, look who’s here,” you say. His dog lifts her head, wagging her tail slightly. You shrug. “Guess she likes me more.”

“Can’t blame her,” Nico says, stretching his arms above his head. “You guys look cozy.”

“And you look tired.”

You’re not trying to be mean, but he does. There are purple shadows beneath his eyes, his hair is a mess. The scrubs along his jaw looks to be at least a day old, by your guess.

He snorts. “Thanks. I am.”

You pout. “You could join us, if you want.”

You shift your feet slightly to open up a space for him on the other end of the couch. He eyes the spot with a tired gaze, scrubbing his hand against his jaw. You’re trying to ask casually, to pretend like it won’t make a difference to you one way or the other if he stays or not, but you really do hope he sits down. You’ve missed him- it’s almost embarrassing how much you’ve missed him.

“If I do that I’m definitely gonna pass out,” he warns, voice quieter. “Probably for an extended period of time.”

You nod. “I’d expect nothing less.”

He huffs and drops his car keys on the coffee table. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

You laugh when he climbs his way onto the couch. He sits down at the opposite end, his legs side by side with yours. The dogs move to accommodate him, though not without their own grumbling about it. Bernie finally gives in and gets excited to see him, fumbling her way onto his lap. He wraps his arms around his dog and snuggles in, all while you watch, unable to pull your gaze away, heart pounding in your chest. He’s here, in your apartment, on your couch. He looks so soft.

When he falls asleep in no more than ten minutes, it makes you feel even warmer. He trusts you enough to fall asleep here. Bernie is curled against his chest, also falling asleep, reunited at last. You find yourself dozing off, too, brought on by how comfortable it all feels.

You wake up to Bernie pacing back and forth on the living room floor, and Moose standing on the couch, his nose in Nico’s face. You scramble to push the dog away with muffled words and limited success. Nico sniffles and raises his head, scrunching his eyes shut in the face of the sun coming in through your window.

“Sorry,” you whisper, fighting the urge to brush strands of his hair from his eyes. “They're getting antsy.”

He’s adorable when he’s just woken up, eyes barely open, cheeks flushed. He rubs at his eyes with the heel of his hand and pets Moose with the other. You get up and start to gather the dogs’ things while he continues to wake up. By the time you’ve got them both leashed up, he’s sitting up on the couch, brighter eyes than before.

“Best nap of my life,” he says.

You think of how much you wanted to cuddle up on his chest, and you wonder if that would take the winning spot.

Nico puts on his jacket at the door, taps his foot impatiently until you roll your eyes and pull on a jacket of your own, and then the two of you head out, dogs in tow. You keep your hands shoved in your pockets, but when you get to the dog park he hands you a pair of gloves, glaring playfully at you. You put them on, feeling warm and fuzzy, and not just from the fabric around your hands. You let the dogs off the leashes in the fenced in area, and you watch them run off through the light snow.

You bump your elbow against his. “You okay? You’re quiet.”

He nods, leans towards you until you’re shoulder to shoulder. “Yeah. M’good. Just tired.”

You nod in understanding. “C’mon, let’s sit.”

You head over to a nearby bench and sink down. He follows suit. And. It’s cold, so really, that’s probably why he sits so close, his thigh against yours, his side pressed to your side. But then he shifts slightly, and his arm falls to the top of the bench behind you. You try not to hold your breath. Across the park, Bernie and Moose bark happily. You lean your head against Nico’s shoulder, and he sighs happily, resting his head against yours.

He sighs. “Wake me up when they’ve worn themselves out.”

He’s joking- he doesn’t fall asleep, you’d be able to tell. You can feel his breaths, can feel him shift every so often, and he laughs when the dogs tackle each other in the snow. But he stays right there, curled against you, warmer than any jacket or pair of gloves could ever be.

…..

When people say it takes a village, you’re pretty sure it could be said about having dogs, too. You’re amazed at how much easier things are when you have Nico to help out. He’s insistent that he owes you one for watching Bernie, but it really turns into the two of you just trading dog duties.

You get held over at the office on one of the rare days you have to be in person, and he picks up Moose and takes him along to the park with Bernie. Nico gets stuck in traffic on the way home from a game in New York City, and you do the same, leaving a container of leftovers in the fridge for him, too. The dog park meetups and coffee shop hangouts keep happening, much to your benefit. You like spending time with him. Probably a bit more than is healthy, really, but you can’t exactly help it. He’s sweet, and funny, and handsome, too, to top it all off.

When you call him early on a Tuesday evening, you know he’ll pick up, because he’s done with practice for the day. He probably assumes you’re checking what time he’s going to be at the dog park, or letting him know you and Moose won’t be there. He gets nervous, now, if you don’t show up. Texts to make sure you’re alright. It’s endearing.

“Hello,” he says. “Don’t tell me you’re going to break Bernie’s heart and miss out on the dog park tonight.”

“Hi, no- my… my power’s out,” you say, sounding as frantic as you feel. “And like. It’s fine, I’ll survive, but it’s already cold in here, and Moose is giving me evil eyes. But I can’t find any dog friendly hotels, so I was wondering if maybe you could take him for the night-“

Nico laughs on the other end. “Come stay with us. Both of you.”

You pause your digging through the cupboards. “Oh, you don’t have to- that’s okay, Nico-“

“I mean it,” he says, firmly. “I’ve got a spare bedroom. And I just ordered way too much pizza, actually. Come over, bring Moose. Bernie’s bored, anyways.”

“I don’t want to be a burden,” you tell him.

“You could never,” he says. “If you’re not here within a half hour, I’m driving over there to pick you up.”

He hangs up before you can protest again, and you turn to Moose with a sigh. Then you start packing for both of you. 20 minutes later, you’re in the elevator up to Nico’s place, trying not to freak out about all of it.

He lets you in before you even have a chance to knock. Maybe it’s just the fact that your place was cold, but when he ushers you inside, it feels like he’s cranked the heat up a few degrees. Bernie comes racing to the entryway, whining excitedly at the sight of Moose, and you grin down at the two dogs. Then you look up at Nico and find him smiling, too.

“I’ll show you to the guest room,” he offers, nodding his head towards the rest of the apartment. “Pizza should be here any minute.”

It all feels oddly domestic, staying with him. You eat dinner together and watch the news- a habit he picked up from a roommate back in his days playing hockey in Canada, he tells you. Moose and Bernie cuddle up in the middle between the two of you, which you sort of hate. You want an excuse to lean into his side.

You get one when you get up to go to the bathroom. You come back, and both dogs have moved into your spot. Nico smiles up at you and shrugs, patting the spot right next to him. You take a seat without protesting, settling into the soft sofa. He moves the blanket he’s been using so it falls over your lap and rests his arm on the back of the couch behind your head. It probably means nothing, but being so close to him feels nice. Comforting.

When you start to doze off, he nudges you awake and towards the guest room. You fight the urge to lean up and kiss his cheek when he says goodnight. Moose follows you into the room, and you shut the door behind you.

You want to kiss Nico. This is becoming a problem.

It’s just. He’s nice. He’s sweet. He’s a good friend, he helps you take care of your dog, he’s letting you stay with him. But he’s an athlete, and they usually date other famous people, not their dog park friends. You’ve got no chance, probably.

You would roll over and scream into the pillow, but you’re afraid he’d hear it anyways.

…..

You’re standing in his kitchen early the next morning when the front door creaks open. You freeze in surprise- you’d assumed from the fan running in Nico’s bedroom, and the quiet of the apartment, that he’d still been asleep. Maybe he’d gone out for a run already, or had gone to take Bernie for a walk. Footsteps echo in the entryway, and you hear someone trip over a pair of shoes. The muttered swear word is definitely not said in Nico’s voice, and panic bites at your chest. You reach for one of the knives on the counter and hold it at your side. Moose, seeming to sense your anxiety, steps in front of your legs. Your phone sits too far away on the counter, and you swallow. You could yell for Nico, but then whoever is in his apartment would hear you, too.

The footsteps fall closer. The man appears in the doorway to the kitchen, and he jumps nearly a foot in the air at the sight of you, hand pressed to his chest. He looks familiar, with his almost shoulder length hair tucked behind his ears- one of Nico’s teammates. There’s a photo of the two of them hanging on the wall in the living room. You drop the knife on the counter discreetly when he isn’t looking.

“You’re not Nico,” he says, leaning on the counter.

“Neither are you,” you state, heart still racing.

He laughs at that and eyes the dog in front of you. “And that’s not Bernie, huh?”

He leans towards the dog, and Moose presses against your legs and growls. You gasp. Apparently, he hasn’t quite gotten the memo that whoever this guy is, he isn’t a threat. You reach for his collar.

“Moose,” you say in a scolding tone.

“Oh,” the man says, drawing out the noise, a look of understanding washing over his face. “Cool wolf. Is he gonna bite me? I have hockey practice later.”

There’s a flurry of noise before you can respond, and Bernie comes loping into the kitchen. She beelines for the guy, and at that, Moose lets his guard down, his tail wagging happily again. You roll your eyes. A great guard dog until his friend likes the guy, then all bets are off. Nico appears in the kitchen, scratching his head, and his eyes go wide when he spots his teammate.

“Jack,” he says, and the man turns to look at him. “What are you doing here?”

The man rubs his face sheepishly. Your dog scurries over to Nico, sniffing at his ankles excitedly. Your gaze bounces back and forth between the two men.

“You’re Jack,” you say, looking at the early morning intruder.

He nods.

You laugh. “I hear you talk in your sleep.”

Nico sighs while Jack tries desperately to deny it.

Ten minutes later, once Nico’s explained the whole situation, they head off on a run. They take Bernie and Moose with them, on Nico’s suggestion, because both dogs could use a bit of exercise, and, in his words, Jack could use a bit of motivation. While they’re out, you take a moment to tidy up your stuff, and you do the dishes from the night before. Nico had insisted you were welcome to any of the food in the house, so you whip up a light breakfast of cut fruit and yogurt, making sure to save some for him.

He returns a while later, both dogs in tow, minus Jack. He gives you a sheepish smile, sweaty locks of hair falling over his forehead. His t-shirt is clinging to his skin, damp with sweat despite the chill outside. You chew on a piece of strawberry and try not to stare at him.

“Sorry about him,” he says, waving a hand dismissively. “I forgot he was coming over. He called, but I had my phone turned down and I slept through it.”

You shrug. “Nico, it’s fine, it’s your apartment,” you say. “Though I did have a knife ready, so he’s lucky he didn’t get stabbed.”

Nico laughs and takes a couple steps into the kitchen, leaning on his hands on the counter. “The Devils hockey organization thanks you for your hesitation.”

You laugh and nod. “I have breakfast, if you want some.”

When he squeezes your shoulder as he walks by, you try not to let it show how nice it feels.

“Thanks, schatz,” he says.

You don’t know much German, but you’re pretty sure that doesn’t mean friend.

…..

Nico goes to practice a bit later and then comes back. The power at your place stays out for the rest of the day. You keep checking, trying to make sure. Realistically, now, you could call Alyssa or Nora and ask to stay with them, instead, but when you offer, Nico looks offended at the suggestion.

He’s laying on the floor with Bernie and Moose both sprawled over him. “I mean. If you want to go, you can, obviously.”

“I just don’t want to overstay my welcome,” you tell him.

He shakes his head and lets it drop back to the floor. Moose shoves his nose under Nico’s chin. “You’re not.”

That’s pretty much the end of the discussion. The two of you take the dogs out to a nearby cafe for a late lunch, a place Nico tells you is dog friendly. He makes sure you’re both bundled up adequately for the chilly walk there and back. In the afternoon, you get some work done on your laptop, Bernie’s head on your lap, while Nico scrolls aimlessly on his phone and plays tug of war with Moose. The routine feels scarily easy to settle into. You make dinner together, pasta and chicken and broccoli. You move around one another with ease, like moons in each other’s orbits. The dogs wait patiently in the living room while you cook. Nico gives them pieces of chicken for their good behavior, and then you dish out dog food while he refills their water bowls. It’s nice. It’s so nice. You’re trying desperately not to get attached to this, to him.

You wake up the next morning to Moose and Bernie in your bed, a text from Nico saying he took them on their morning walk before he left for morning skate, and an alert from your apartment complex that the power is back on. You sigh, kiss the top of Bernie’s head, and roll back over in bed.

He’s gone for most of the day, today, between practices and media requirements and meetings with the team that he’d complained about to you the night before. You could pack up and leave before he gets back, but then you’d be leaving Bernie alone, and it feels weird to not say goodbye to Nico after he let you stay here. So you spend the day how you were planning to, and gather up your things bit by bit.

Nico comes home in the afternoon when you’re halfway packed, and he stands in the doorway of the guest room, seemingly hesitant. He’s frowning. Your heart lurches.

“My power’s back on,” you say quietly.

“Oh,” he responds. “Right. That’s, uh, that’s good.”

You nod. “Just realized I’ll probably have to clean out my fridge, and get new groceries, but yeah. I’ll be out of your hair.”

He frowns, nose wrinkling. “You weren’t in my hair.”

You blink at him. “I just meant… you can have your own space back. You must be sick of us by now.”

Nico wavers, shifting back and forth on his feet. You’re holding one of your t-shirts, and you pull it close to your chest. There’s something hanging in the air.

“I don’t think I’d ever get sick of you,” he says. A spark runs down your spine. “I liked having you here.”

You blink, unsure what to do with yourself suddenly. “I, uh, liked being here. You’re a great host, you know.”

He shrugs, then nods. He opens his mouth, closes it, repeats the motion. Then he releases his grip on the doorframe and takes a couple steps into the room. You’re sitting on the edge of the bed, and you try to keep your breathing steady as he walks towards you.

“You sure you don’t want to stay for dinner?” He asks, looking hopeful.

You blink up at him, the corner of your lips tugging upwards. “Guess it depends on what we’re having.”

You’re trying to be brave about this. Trying to go with the flow, be casual. Maybe he’s just got a meal planned for two, maybe he needs your help to make it. You don’t want to read into it, even as he comes so close that you could reach out and touch him, that you can smell his shampoo and cologne. One of the dogs barks in the living room. You both ignore it, unable to tear your eyes away from each other. The air feels electric.

His hand comes up to touch your cheek, fingertips featherlight. You swallow. Your heart is pounding in your chest. He’s grinning, like he knows it. So sure of whatever he’s about to say.

“I thought maybe we could go out,” he says, casually. “Just me and you, somewhere nice. Let the dogs hang out here and keep each other company.”

You blink, take a breath, nod. “Okay. I can stay for dinner.”

“Cool,” he says, trying to be nonchalant about it. His wide grin gives him away. “Then it’s a date.”

Your breath catches in your chest, but you nod. “It’s a date.”

When he leans down and kisses your cheek, you swear the world stops spinning. When he pulls away it spins faster than it ever has before. You watch him walk away, dumbfounded, heart racing, skin burning.

All that worrying about it all, and it was that easy?

…..

At dinner, you both come to terms with the fact that you can’t really call this your first date. The two of you are too comfortable already, too at ease with each other. Nico claims the real first date was the coffee shop, months ago. You claim it was the day he came to pick up Bernie and took a nap on your couch.

“So I was asleep for half of our first date?” He says, nose wrinkled. “No thank you.”

“Well if it was the coffee shop, then I didn’t get your number for weeks after,” you retort. “So that would be weird.”

Eventually the two of you decide to agree to disagree. Maybe it happened somewhere in the middle without you even realizing. But now it feels official and real, over seafood and wine and warm bread. Nico’s face is lit by the candles on the table, and he holds your hand half the night.

Hours later, you stumble out of the restaurant, wine tipsy and giggling as you lean against his arm. He’s laughing, too, until he’s not, until he’s holding you by your hips on an empty sidewalk, waiting for a cab to roll by. You stare up at him, the dark night sky and city lights behind his head.

“Can I kiss you?” He asks, quietly.

“Thought you’d never ask,” you reply.

Nico kisses exactly the way you’d imagined- soft and sweet, at first, in a way that makes you feel everything. And then his tongue slips past your lips and his grip on your hips tightens and you wrap your arms around his neck and hold on for dear life. It’s a bit all consuming, threatens to leave you breathless, sends shocks across your skin.

He gets you into a cab and gives his address, and then he leans against you, his lips against your temple, his hand intertwined with yours. He speaks quietly against your skin.

“I’ll follow your lead here,” he says, quietly. “If you wanna take Moose and head home, I completely understand.”

You smile and lean into his touch. “Okay,” you say, deciding to leave him hanging. He laughs against your skin like he knows what you’re doing.

When the car pulls up in front of Nico’s apartment building, you step outside while he pays the fare. He grabs your hand again to lead you inside, through the lobby, and towards the elevator. He’s watching your every move, you can feel it- he’s trying to read you. You think he probably sees right through your little game, but that’s okay.

When the elevator doors slide closed, you turn to him, threading your hand through his hair at the nape of his neck.

“You should ask me to stay over,” you whisper, leaning up to brush your lips against his ear.

He groans softly, his hand falling to rest on your hip. “Yeah?”

You nod.

He swallows. “You want to stay over?” He asks, voice breathy. His stubble scrapes against your cheek as he brushes a kiss there.

You lean in to kiss him again. You think that’s answer enough.

The two of you tumble into his apartment a few minutes later, hands wrapped tightly in each other’s. You muffle your giggles with your other hand, and Nico does the same with his own. The dogs are curled up on their dog beds in the living room, snoring away. You take off your shoes carefully, and the two of you tiptoe through the apartment. If you wake Moose, he’ll be needy, begging for attention. Bernie will be the same with Nico.

You make it to the bedroom, and within seconds, Nico’s on you, pressed up against the closed bedroom door. He latches his lips onto your neck, and you sigh happily. His hands are already roaming everywhere, and your whole body is on fire.

“You’re sure about this?” He asks, between kisses, and you melt.

“Positive,” you say, already gasping for air. “Please, Nico.”

He groans into your skin, and you both start to fall apart.

Later, you lay in bed, your cheek against his bare chest. His hand sweeps up and down your back smoothly. You can hear his heart beating, feel the soft rise and fall of his breaths. There’s a lot of things you want to say, but they all feel far too intimate for a first time on a maybe third date, so you keep your mouth shut. You settle for drawing shapes on his skin until he shivers and laughs.

Seconds later, there’s a dog scratching at the door. Moose whines. Then, so does Bernie. You groan into Nico’s chest.

“They’re so needy,” you grumble.

“Sounds like someone else I know,” he responds.

He pulls away before you can retaliate, reaching for his t-shirt and tossing it to you. You pull it on as he tugs on a pair of shorts. Then he opens the door. Two fur covered, heat seeking missiles come shooting onto the bed, barreling into you, making themselves comfortable atop the covers. Nico crawls back into bed before he loses his spot, nudging Bernie out of the way so he can pull you back into his arms.

Moose rests his head against your side. You rub behind his ears as Nico does the same with Bernie. Something about this moment just feels right. The way the four of you all curl up together, around each other, held tight and warm and safe.

Nico kisses your forehead. “Goodnight.”

You kiss his shoulder. “G’night, Nico.”

In the dark, Bernie whines.

“And goodnight to you too, Berns,” you laugh, reaching over to pat her head.

…..

Nico stops in the parking lot, his arm around the back of your seat. You continue staring out the windshield. In the backseat, Bernie and Moose wag their tails happily. You hope he can’t see where you’re holding onto the seat tightly with your right hand.

“Hey,” he says. His hand brushes against your shoulder. “It’s gonna be okay.”

“What if they all hate me?” You ask.

Nico scoffs. “Then they’re all stupid.”

“Nico…”

“Baby,” he murmurs, leaning over, pressing his lips to your temple. “You met Jack, scared the shit out of him, and he still asks about you all the time. And you’ll have the dogs. That’ll win them over immediately.”

You sigh and wipe your sweaty hands on your pants. “You’re their captain. What if I don’t live up to the… I don’t know, Nico-“

He cups your face in his hand and turns your head towards his. There’s a soft, kind smile on his face. You bite your lip.

“You don’t need to live up to anything,” he says, firmly. “I want you there, that’s enough. And if you want to leave, you just tell me. We’ve got the dogs as an excuse.”

You nod. He pinches your cheek lightly, and you laugh. When he climbs out of the car, you follow suit. Moose and Bernie are itching to get out of the backseat- you each unbuckle one dog and get them ready to go inside.

In the stadium, he stops and helps you get the dogs ready- winter coats for them to wear, little shoes to protect their feet that you’ve been getting them used to for months now. Moose still glares at you a bit when you first put them on, but he gets over it quickly.

Nico laces up his own skates and helps you, too, and then it’s out onto the rink, under the lights, staring up at the big empty stadium. The dogs stay close at first, getting used to the slippery surface.

Everyone is here- his teammates, their families, their friends. When he’d invited you, you’d nearly broken down into tears- you know how much it means to him, how much he loves this team and this sport. You’re honored he wants to share it with you. You were the one who suggested bringing the dogs, too. Now, out on the ice, you’re thrilled it all ended up like this.

“Cool wolf,” Jack says, as he skates by. “Hey, Luke- you know what his name is?”

Luke shakes his head.

“Moose,” Jack says, and Luke sighs. “Which one of you is the cuter one, huh?”

“Definitely the dog,” Nico says, squeezing your hand.

“You all suck,” Luke says. He turns to you and smiles sheepishly. “Sorry. Not you. You seem great.”

Nico hooks his elbow in yours and nudges you gently. “Wanna do a lap?”

You smile and nod, and he starts to pull you around on the ice. The dogs follow happily, having found their footing. Across the ice, some of the kids point at them excitedly. You think back to the dog park, so long ago, now, and the lady and her dog Bessie. If she’d never gotten angry with you, would you and Nico have ever spoken? Or would you have just stared at each other from across the park forever? You’re not sure you want to know. You’re just happy it ended up the way it did.

“I love you,” you tell him, leaning up to kiss his cheek.

He blushes and grins, dimple popping up on his face. “I love you too, schatz.”

He kisses you on the lips, then, a quick peck that still somehow makes your heart skip a beat. At your feet, Moose whines, and Bernie follows suit. You and Nico sigh.

“And we love you two, too,” you say, shaking your head at the dogs.

“So needy,” Nico says.

“Sounds like someone else I know,” you tease, elbowing him.

He grins impossibly wider. You feel warm enough to melt the ice beneath your feet. He tends to have that affect on you, and you don’t think it’ll ever grow old.

thanks for reading!!

[moriitis]

Please! Create a situation with Toby being jealous! For whatever reason, I love it!

have I proof read this? no. so if you see mistakes, no you don't.

Jealous!Toby Rogers x Reader.

"Thanks Brian," you huffed softly, pushing strands of hair away from your sticky forehead. You were coated in sweat and your lungs burnt as you gasped for steady breaths of oxygen. The dampness of the forest floor beneath you cooled you only a fraction as you felt the increasing urge to peel off your hoodie. Whatever happened was a blur, but a blur that frankly hasn't happened in a long time. It had been awhile since anyone has considered stepping foot into the forest and you'd spent an increasing amount of time following their tracks and observing them within the shadows of the trees and shrubbery around you. Only, to your surprise, the person seemed to have a haunch that you were following and began speeding off into the valley before you; heading further and further into dangerous territory. Trespassers were bad news and by all means, they had to be eliminated, so when this person began sprinting off, the chase was on. Despite their speed, the forest was kind to you as you knew all what lurked deep within the fog and just when you were about to grab a hold of them, you slipped and sprained your ankle. Thankfully enough, Brian was on your trail close behind and thankfully this person did not get away so easy.

It was a rookie mistake and admittedly you were a little embarrassed to let it happen, but the rain from the night before made the ground slick with mud and the many holes that dotted the forest soil was dangerous to even the most simplest of Proxies.

"Don't thank me, it's alright," Brian reassured as he knelt beside you, lifting the cuff of your trouser to assess your ankle better. His lips pursed which didn't really give you much hope for the state of your condition. "Looks pretty swollen," he commented as he reached over to gentle probe your skin with his index finger, resulting in a sharp pain that made you hiss out. He grimaced and shot you an apologetic look from under his eyelashes, turning his attention back to your ankle. "I'm no expert, but doesn't look great." Admittedly, you bit back a sarcastic remark because deep down you were just annoyed with yourself and the situation. With a hesitant nod, you sighed a heavy sigh.

"Doesn't feel too great either," you remarked, forcing a friendly smile to hide the level of pain you were experiencing. Brian could only chuckle dryly as he leant back a little, hands on his knees.

"Think you could walk?" he asked, narrowing his eyes slightly at the question. Your stubbornness ignited the spark inside you to at least try, a part of you not wanting to give in so easily. So, with a little grunt, you pushed yourself up from the tree; only as soon as pressure was applied to your ankle, you slipped a fell back down again. Brian's lips pursed and he gave you a look, pitying you a little. "Guess not." He said, trying to add some humour to the situation in an attempt to make you feel better. Before you could muster up a remark, there was a rustle in the bushes nearby and immediately you felt the urge to jump into action. Only as soon as you made the attempt once again to stand, you collapsed with a pained grunt as Brian stood to his feet. You were both on high alert, a rock held securely in Brian's hand and your knife close to your chest as you glanced out into the darkness; awaiting.

Finally the bushes parted and out came Toby, the familiar beige hoodie, his hatchets in each hand and those orange goggles sat atop his messy, brunette hair. You breathed out a sigh of relief, thankful that it wasn't another trespasser but still irritated at the thought of Toby seeing you like this - as if Brian was bad enough. Toby was panting a little, like he were trying to find you and it seemed his shoulders dropped as he relaxed a little upon seeing you. His gaze flickered over toward Brian momentarily as he assessed the situation before him.

Now you and Toby were in no means together nor had you ever considered relationships since becoming a proxy, but you knew deep down if a part of you had to choose, it had to be Toby. His goofiness, the way he looks out for you, his dumb remarks that make your stomach hurt just from laughing, his hair, his muscles- okay, you were getting distracted and quickly you peeled your gaze away.

"Oh, it's you-you- you guys," he began, lowering his hatchets as he stepped a little closer. His gaze faltered over to your exposed ankle and he raised a brow in interest. "What h-hhappened with you?" he asked, trying to cover his worriedness with nothing but plain, odd curiosity. It seemed he completely disregarded Brian as he knelt down beside you, your gaze meeting with his for just a moment until he glanced away.

"I fell, Brian says I sprained my ankle," you muttered, cheeks flushing a little admitting it out loud. Brian crossed his arms securely over his chest, watching Toby.

"I'm just guessing, it could be broken," Brian chimed in, shrugging softly. He wasn't the expert, anything swollen could be broken or sprained. It seemed Toby wasn't too satisfied with that answer and huffed a little.

"Dummy," he teased softly as his fist jabbed you softly on your arm, a smirk tugging at the corner of your lips.

"She can't walk either, so it's good your here," Brian scratched the back of his neck, shrugging softly. He knew he had the strength to carry you, it's just he also knew how damn stubborn you are. Toby glanced up at Brian and back down toward you before standing back up straight, leaving you sat on your damp ass, leaning against an equally damper tree. Pushing his hatchets into the loop on his belt, Toby twitched and cracked his neck before shrugging.

"Alright," he replied nonchalantly. "L-LL-Let's goo," he chimed, Brian and him nodding in unison as they both knelt down to hook an arm under your own. You took support on their muscular frame as they lifted you to your feet, you being mindful not to apply any pressure to your bad ankle. With one arm draped over Brian's shoulders and your other the same on Toby's, you could feel a sense of warmness surround you and your cheeks as you tried to contain yourself. You were between two muscular men and this was the closet they had ever been, you could smell Toby's familiar 'woody' scent, a faint metallic smell that clung to his clothing and with Brian he smelt like strong aftershave. They both handled you like you were fragile, fine china and you could feel their stares on you as you slowly hobbled along in between them. Your heart was beating a million beats per second and you only hoped, prayed that they couldn't hear it. Toby's rough hand was secure on your waist whereas Brian's was more on your upper torso, just almost grazing your breast. Now you knew Brian never had any weird or sexual intentions, it was just awkward placement.. as for Toby, he only had alarm bells going off as he glanced over his shoulder to notice Brian's suggestive hand placement.

Each step you grunted and groaned softly as your foot make gentle contact with the ground beneath you and apparently, it got unbearable as Toby quickly pulled his frame away from you; staggering you slightly and causing you to lean more on Brian's weight. Something that really didn't sit right with Toby.

"This isn't w-wor-w-" he huffed. "Working," he announced, almost agitated as both you and Brian shot him a confused look. You went to open your mouth to say something but Brian already spoke up before you.

"What's wrong?" he asked but Toby didn't answer as he pushed Brian's arm off around you, causing you to almost step back and fall back on your ass. Only before you could, Toby's arm hooked under your knees, his other slipping around your torso and it was there he lifted you bridal style. You squealed a little as he lifted you into the air, causing you to hook your arms around his neck in fear of falling down.

"I can handle this," Toby spoke abruptly as he glanced at Brian, leaving him a little bewildered at what was happening before his eyes. It wasn't all the time Toby acted this way and honestly, it felt a little hostile. Thankfully, Brian wasn't one to lose his temper quick and in fact, caught on to the situation almost instantly. There was a little, smug grin across his face as he crossed his arms.

"Oh, right, yeah, seems you can," Brian remarked, shrugging softly. "Want me to tag along?" he asked but it seemed he already knew the answer.

"No, she's alright," Toby seemingly replied before you could speak for yourself, his grip on you tightening a little. Brian then sent you a smile, wanting to ensure that you were okay with this and frankly, you just nodded slowly.

"Thanks, Brian," you muttered softly, feeling too flustered to form a proper sentence at all. "I'll reach out." Brian only smiled and gave a court nod before disappearing off into the woods, focusing back on his task.

Toby seemed a little distant, cold and frankly it put you on edge a little. So, slowly you glanced up at him and raised a questioning brow. His muscular, tall body swayed a little as he carried you through the forest, where you were going? You had no clue but you had some weird kind of trust in Toby and is intentions, despite his coldness toward Brian.

"What's wrong with you?" you remarked, surprising the brunette a little as he raised his brows. Despite his sudden cold demeanour, there was now a smile tugging at the intact corner of his lips and you only became more confused.

"Why were you t-t-talking to B-Brian?" he asked softly and you were shocked, unsure on what to even say. So your mouth hung agape as you tried to grasp the right words to say, your mind nothing but an empty blankness as you tried to conjure up a remark.

"What? Wh-Wh-" Fuck, you were so shocked you were stuttering yourself! And Toby couldn't help but give you a look that said, 'are you mocking me?' You were flustered and now you were panicking. "What do you mean?" you quickly remarked. "He was just helping." You felt insane explaining this to him, it wasn't like you owned him anything nor did he control who you did or didn't speak to.

Shrugging softly, Toby just pursed his lips before responding: "But you have me."

sorry if this sucks i kept getting distracted heheh

[youraverageaemondsimp]

“My darling.” // CelticSlave!Aemond Targaryen x VestalVirgin!Reader

THIS FIC CONTAINS DARK CONTENT, READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED, DEAD DOVE DO NOT EAT.

MDNI.

block the tag #MAE:DARK!CONTENT to avoid seeing dark content from me.

Summary: Fetching water a little later than usual shouldn't really affect much of your life right? You're wrong, and you wouldn't find out until you found a celtic slave in a bad condition named Aemond.

WARNINGS: extreme noncon to dubcon, unprotected p in v sex, blood kink, degradation, breeding kink, violence, blood, murder, slight angst, stockholm syndrome(?), reader basically falls in love with Aemond even though he nonconned her, manipulation. not exactly historically accurate, this is just fiction so do not take it heart, hoping it isn't offensive, + not proofread // requested by @slytherincursebreaker !!

WC: 3.5k

You were an illegitimate daughter of a politician in your country, taken away from your mother to keep the scandal underground, you never had an easy life and your father only did the bare minimum, and to say your step mother and half siblings did not like you at all, they saw you as a pest more than anything, when the pontifex maximus was choosing vestal virgins to serve the goddess vesta, he had eyes for your family, specifically your sister but she did not want to go, and so they sent you instead, seizing the opportunity to get rid of you.

It did not mean you were fully free from their clutches however, as you grew in the monastery you were always slightly discriminated against but the other 5 priestess, having heard the rumours about your bastardised birth. But you still managed to get by, you remember how earlier this morning your half sister came to visit you, telling you that she is to be married soon, she came to rub it in your face because you were sworn to celibacy, and you could not engage in activities like such. She even bought her suitor along, who you swore looked at you with such lust, and you felt very creeped out.

This is why you deliberately didn't go and fetch water from the spring earlier today, he often came to visit the temple and watched you perform your duties to the goddess vesta.

Choosing to fetch water at such a late time shouldn't have any repercussions right? I mean, you did not do it earlier because you had a reason not to, not wanting to entertain the eyes of your half sister's suitor, so you're doing it now.

Wrong.

You didn't realise the threat back then, when you found Aemond being beaten up by a bunch of other men, kindness was something that came to you naturally, seeing him in such a state made your heart wrench, you shooed off the other men, reprimanding them for their behaviour and used your status as a vestal virgin to scare them off before looking down at the man who was covered in mud, and seemed to bleeding.

He had silver blonde hair, with only one eye as the other socket seemed empty, you wondered what had happened to him.

“Are you alright?” you ask and you he groans, turning over unto his back, you should leave, you shouldn't help him, but here you are picking him up, leaning his body weight against you and bringing him through one of the secret tunnels in underneath the infrastructure of the building, it was connected directly to another country, was made to use it in order to escape from war or to invade other lands, none of the common folk knew about this, and the people who knew didn't come here often either, as there was no such need for it anymore.

You sit him down in one of the 'rooms' which is just a big spacious squared tunnel, he plops down unto the ground weak and tired, breathing heavily, you quickly went back outside and fetched the water you forgot about and gave some of it for him to drink, you watched as he whimpered, swallowing in pain before he finally looked at you.

“T-thank you.” his voice was so weak, he was barely able to get any words out.

You gave him a gentle smile, and you realised that it was probably late, you had many questions for him but you kept it to yourself for now because you didn't want to bother him anymore, so left back to the temple where you resided.

“Why are you up so late?” you heard the head vestal ask, raising an eyebrow as she took in your appearance, mud covering your prestigious clothing, “I went to fetch the water head priestess, but I fell down on the way back.” you lie looking down, hoping she believes it, and to your surprise, she does believe it, she tells you to go to your quarters after putting the water down, so you do just that.

You visit the badly hurt person from yesterday once again, you knew you were not supposed to have any type of contact with a man, to remain pure as they will taint you, but you really could care less when its about helping others, you found him lying on the ground, likely sleeping, but your footsteps woke him up and he looked at you curiously, you gave him a small smile before giving him the bread you managed to sneak out without anyone noticing, along with water, you gave it to them and sat down, he reluctantly ate it before drinking the water. “Why are you doing this?” he asked you and you shrugged, “Is it so wrong to help a fellow human out?” you question back and he goes quiet, “You i never really got your name, or how you ended up in that situation.” you tilt your head as you watch him purse his lips.

“I am a celtic sex slave.”

You froze, he was a slave.

“My mistress threw me out, and I ended up on the streets without any shelter, and those men just wanted someone to mess with.” he sighs, swallowing the bread. You felt pity for him.

“Till you found me of course, I am extremely indebted to you my lady.” he says and you shake your head no, “I’m no lady, I am a vestal virgin that title is not of my belonging.” You said, and he tilted his head, not understanding what you had meant, he nodded but then his eyes widened “This is such an honour to be in the presence of such a being, sorry you must see me in this state, and… You had to touch me as well.” he apologises and you look down, you shake your head and tell him that it's okay and you did not mind.

You and Aemond had grown closer, he would tell you about his life before he became a sex slave, how he was treated, how you felt extremely bad, how your people treated the Celtics. And so you shared your problems in return as well, he provided you comfort which you lacked all of your life, for the first time you felt wanted, and you could not ignore the feeling that was starting to bloom inside you.

But you pushed it down, you are a celibate, you should not be feeling such things.

Aemond had taken a liking to you, you had a pretty soul as well as a pretty face, the way you looked in your white clothing, and whenever you would fix your scarf over the head afraid that your hair or skin would show made him more curious to see what is underneath the thick robes of clothing even more. He knows damn well that he isn't the first man to ever lust for a vestal virgin, there were many depraved others.

After Aemond recovered, you had showed him around the tunnels and dungeons, various routes that if something happens he can use them to escape, and you also showed the route which led to his country, and he noted it, telling you that he can use this to go back to his own people again and you gave him a small smile.

Though the thought of him leaving makes your heart wrench.

“Aemond, I have to go and attend to my duties now, I will meet you later okay?” you say quickly before leaving.

Though the later never came.

“She was caught sneaking around with a slave apparently, she kept him hidden, surely she committed adultery as well.” you heard the voice of the chief priestess tell the priest.

“That is utmost dishonourable, as a vestal virgin you are sworn to celibacy, how can you do this?!” He yells at you and you flinch, tears streaming down your face.

“I promise! I promise on the flame of vesta that nothing happened between us! I was just helping him out.” you plead on your knees.

“How can I believe you? That you are not ruined? You were helping a sex slave out? you want me to believe that?” he questions and you shake your head.

“Order her death by live burial, she will be buried underground with no food or water.” he commands, tone final.

You watched as one of the virgins who snitched on you, she smiled cruelly and your face turned into a scowl. She was the one who wasn't a virgin, yet you kept her secret knowing what would happen if others found out, but the moment she discovered something about you? She had gone straight to the chief priestess and told her, even fed her lies.

“No! No! Please listen to me! Nothing happened between us! You can check for my virginity if you want! Please.” you cried, at the priest and he simply dismissed you.

You were grabbed by his guards and were being led to your doom, dragged out of the temple forcefully and then the trial was processing when you heard a commotion, accompanied by panicked screams.

“There has been a rebellion! The celtics have rebelled against us!” You hear someone yell, and everyone panics, the guards that were holding you quickly let go before rushing off to fight, you run after them and go to the temple as well, eyes widening in horror as you saw the blood and how few of priestesses were being violated brutally by the rebels, their clothes were being torn by the celtic soldiers and you were spotted by two men who came over to you, grabbing you by your hands and shoving you onto the ground.

“This one's pretty, let me have her cunt first.” you screamed at them to let go and they fought against them, kicking one of them in the shins cause the man to stumble and fall, “This bitch–”

“Stop.”

They both immediately froze up and turned around, and you froze as well, recognizing the voice. “This one is mine, unless you want your heads fucking cut off, fuck off.” he spits harshly at them, and they bow their head before scurrying off and you furrow your eyebrows, Aemond looks at you with a smirk, the empty eye socket from before now held a blue sapphire in its place snuggly.

“This would not have been possible without you, I shall spare you for this.” he begins, pulling you up on your legs by the hair.

“W-why are you doing this?!” you asked in fear and Aemond shrugged before explaining, “For the benefit of my people of course, you Romans have treated us as nothing but barbarians, however I do not blame you for that, you are a kind soul.”

“I threw my life away for this, let myself get touched by filthy hands for this moment, and finally, it was all worth it in the end.” he chuckles cruelly, and you scrunch your face in a scowl, “The emperor—” you begun but you are quickly cut off by him yanking your hair and making you face where a body was laying, head detached from the body, he tuts, “This one?” he pulls out a head and shoves it right up into your face and you push it away, screaming, he lets gos of the head and it falls to the ground rolling away.

“He was nothing but a coward, running off in the secret tunnels, letting his people die, unworthy of ruling over the people, so instead, I became the new emperor.” he clarifies.

“If you are going to kill me, just do it already.” you spit, and he looks surprised at this.

“Doll, if I wanted to kill you, I would have done it long ago, besides I said that I would already spare you, since you were a kind soul, and once again, without you, I would not be here.” he smiles cruelly and you feel your stomach twist.

His grip on your hair leaves before it's attached to your forearm, hand gripping the skin cruelly as he drags you somewhere, and you noticed that it was the head priestess room, the nearest one in the temple. You quickly realised what he wanted to do, so you started struggling, annoyed by this, he picked you up and threw you over his shoulder, before carrying and entering the room inside, securing the curtain shut before he threw you on the bed.

You try to get up and run away but he pushes you on the bed, gets on top of you, and yanks your clothes away, tearing at your robes harshly, revealing your body to him, you quickly hide yourself but he pins your hands to your side and takes in your body, he groans at the sight of your chest heaving up and down, you wriggle underneath him, trying to kick him off but he captures your legs and pushes them apart before planting himself in between them.

“No! Please! No!” you cry out but he shuts you up with one of his hands, the other one quickly undoes his breeches, revealing his hard cock, he gives himself a few pumps and lines it up against your entrance. His tip prods at your entrance, he doesn't wait a second before shoving his cock inside of you, ripping your walls apart, making you scream in pain as you struggled beneath him, he watches as your blood leaks onto his cock, and his smiles at that before he looks at you, watching tears stream down your face as he takes what he wants, he immediately sets his pace at a brutal one, ramming his cock in and out of you.

Each movement was painful for you, your cries and screams muffled by his hand, your body jolting up the bed as he brutally thrusts inside, traumatising your walls, the free hand grips your breasts cruelly before he pinches your nipple harshly, causing you to arch your back, and whine loudly.

Using the least amount of strength you have you push him heavily off, and to your luck it works cause he is caught off guard making him fall next to you, and before you could get up and run, he grabs your waist and pushes you back onto the bed again, getting on top of you and choking your neck with both his hands.

“I was going to spare you, but it seems you do not want that, take it or fucking die.” he spits on your face and you wince, crying out once again as he enters inside you.

Your body betrays you, you know it when it suddenly starts to feel good, his tip hitting a certain spot inside of you, and soon you're moaning as well, unable to process this foreign sensation. “Yeah, that's more like it, my brave girl.” he coos and bends down to kiss your neck and you whimper when he bites down at your sensitive area.

You grab onto his shoulders for support, and he hums in satisfaction, one of his hands travel down to your clit before rubbing fast circles it, and you felt your stomach tighten at that, before something snapped and you were moaning extremely loudly, nails digging into his skin as the pleasure hit you like a huge wave.

You cried out his name, and he hushed you and continued to thrust inside of you, grunting, you felt his thrusts become more sloppy before he halted, pushing himself into you as far as he could go, and moaned as his seed spurted out of him, he slowly rode it out, painting more of your walls white.

“I want to see you pregnant.” his hand rests on the lower part of your abdomen, as he caresses it gently with his thumb, before pulling out and leaning down to pepper kisses on the area, as if a kiss will ensure your pregnancy.

His hands fondle with your boobs, thumbs flicking the nipples as he massages the flesh, “they will be filled with milk..” he says in a daze.

You saw him getting hard again and your eyes widened, before you could get up on your elbows, he pushed you down once again again, holding your legs apart and pushing them up, making the knees bend, touching your chest.

He lines his cock before shoving it brutally inside again, he trapped you in a mating press while he thrusted above, your walls drummed with pain at the overstimulation, you were whimpering.

“Fucking it take it you slut, look at how your expression matches that of a whore.” he degrades you, hips snapping at each words, you felt a sting in your heart at his mean behavior.

“This is what you were made for, to be a fucking whore that men can use, not a vestal virgin, having this much of a perfect cunt and wasting it is unbelievable.” he groans and you feel tears start to fall down at his insults.

He pulled back and groaned at the sight of how there was still blood covered on his cock, your blood which coated him so perfectly, and he felt him nearing his edge, his hand gripped your cheeks before forcing your mouth open and then he spit into it, “Swallow, you whore.” he commands and you obey scared.

“Fuck, you're my whore aren't you? my pretty little whore who will let me fuck my children into.” he moans. “I can't wait to make you mine, my empress who will rule along with me, give me children, my darling- oh fuck—”

You felt the familiar feeling of heat arise in your stomach again, as he hits the same spot again and again, and soon enough, you're once again reaching your peak, arching your back at the intensity, he then finishes inside of you again.

That night was a nightmare, he took you multiple times, he made you take him in your mouth, and he did the same, lapping at your cunt for hours on end as he relished in your taste.

You remember passing out, unable to take anymore as exhaustion weighed upon you.

You woke up groaning, you slept like a baby, that's until you moved a little bit and your body aches like hell itself, and you get up, stretching to relieve the pain, you looked over to your side and spotted Aemond fast asleep, completely bare and then you remembered the events of the night prior.

You saw the sheets which were now covered in your blood, your virgin blood, and you were pure no more. You felt doom settle in your core but you felt relieved in a weird sense of way.

Suddenly there was a commotion outside, you gathered whatever was left of your robes before covering yourself with it, hiding your intimate parts and exiting the room.

You gasped as the scent of blood hit your nostrils, and almost threw up, but then what caught your eye made you surprised, you noticed how the head priestess, and all the people who have wronged you in the middle, tied up as the guards lazily kept them in check.

When they spotted you, they screamed insults at you and you winced, anger coursing through your veins at such an intense rate.

“My empress, look at them, look at the people who wronged you.” you heard Aemond whisper in your ear from behind you, and you got startled, you turned to look at him and you watched as he was almost naked except the sheets which were loosely held together by him on his lower body, hiding his intimate part, the same sheets which were covered in your blood.

“Look at them, see how they are still blaming you? What do you want to do huh? Does it not make you mad?” he asks and you turn your attention back to them again, it frankly does make you mad. “I would never treat you like that, I love you. My queen.”

“What do you want, my little empress?” he asks and you make up your mind.

You collect the water in a small dish and Aemond watches you in confusion, but then you make your way towards the flame of vesta, and pour water over it, putting it out and the head priestess' eyes widen in horror.

“Kill them all.” your voice was more clear than ever.

“Spare the head priestess, and that one, for they shall be buried alive.” you say coldly before you walk back to Aemond, who welcomes you in his arms.

“You heard your queen, do as she commands.” he orders his men before he escorts you away from the scene and into the room once again.

He pushes you on the bed and crawls atop of you, “I wasn't joking when I said I want you pregnant, doll.” he coos and you gulp.

“Impregnate me, my king, I want to carry your heirs.”

And that was enough to make Aemond go insane, before he took you once again.

And soon, you fell pregnant.

Giving birth to a girl, who Aemond adored.

Life seemed to be well and perfect.

Maybe you don't really regret this at all.

———

GENERAL TAGLIST ;

@watercolorskyy @cl-0-vr @chompchompluke @namelesslosers @snowystark @spookyaemond @sweethoneyblossom1 @this-isnt-madness @persephonerinyes @eltherevir @sidni3003 @aleidag1rly @cryingforlife @fan-goddess @hannaeditzs @grungegrrrl @thekinslayersswordhand @aemondsbabygirl

Bold is who I cannot tag, DM to be removed!

[aliesbienish]

A study of wolves: part six

chapter one ✩ chapter two ✩ chapter three ✩ chapter four ✩ chapter five

“I’m sorry, but that’s not going to happen Lauren. I’m not interested in you like that,”

“Are you kidding?” She hissed, “and you’re interested in her?” Pointing a sharped clawed finger in your direction.

You prepared yourself for a polite no, but when Paul opened his mouth you thought you had misheard him.

“Absolutely.”

“Absolutely?” You queried as Lauren gaudy heels clicked away. “You didn’t have to say that, I’d have understood if you wanted to see her. We’re done with dinner anyway,”

“Trust me I didn’t say it because we’re busy, my answer would have been a no regardless.”

“And the other part?” Paul cocked in his head in confusion. “Telling her you’re interested in me? Was that just to get her off your case?”

It was amazing how insecure you were feeling, but you couldn’t help compare yourself to the blonde who just departed. The girl, while maybe a tad over the top, was clearly your typical small town beauty queen. Her platinum blonde hair, shiny clothes and pointed nails were of a stark contrast to your mud covered khaki and plaited hair littered with twigs. It felt like you were back in high school and that thought made you nauseas.

Normally you were more sure in yourself, but despite knowing Paul only a few days he seemed to destroy your sensibilities. For some reason your heart, despite your brains best logic, seemed to think that Paul could change the course of your future. You weren’t sure you were ready for the answer.

“Sorry, sorry. You absolutely don’t have to answer that. We can revert right back to before Lauren came over and pretend none of this happened if you like! I totally understand I’m probably not the type of girl you are usually in to, so don’t worry no need to let me down gently,”

“[Y/n],” he stated ending your panicked rambling. Grabbing onto your hand, he used his other to turn your blushing face so you were making eye contact. “Why wouldn’t you be the girl I’m typically interested in?”

“I know you don’t know me very well but this is it. I don’t have a girly, giggly side. I’m not the typical girl guys go for, especially guys like you.”

“Like me?”

“Well yeah. Attractive, smart, funny guys like you. I’m not their go to type,”

“You are assuming a lot about me, while simultaneously undermining how amazing you are. You aren’t doing either of us any favours.”

“What assumptions am I making?”

“My type in woman. Why did you think I was lying? I said nothing but the truth to Lauren.”

“But that means you’re…”

“Absolutely interested in you.”

“Oh. Can I ask why?”

“You can, but just know that it hurts me that you think it’s a valid question. I am interested in you because you are amazingly witty, so much so prior to the last five minutes I haven’t wiped the smile from my face. I’m interested because you are so insanely intelligent and passionate about what you do. I’m interested because you are openly kind and caring, and I can see how interested you are while still carefully respecting my boundaries. And I’m interested because you are the most beautiful woman I’ve seen, mud and all,”

“Right, is that all?” You gulped trying to make a joke, but instead your voice came out shaky and high pitched.

“Not even close. So now that I’ve made it abundantly clear how I feel, just tell me if I screwed up by clueing you in.” It was Paul’s turn to look anxious as he tried to pull back his hand still locked in yours.

You grabbed onto it, linking your fingers together. “No, you didn’t screw up. Quite the opposite really. I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind since we meet. But don’t you think this is crazy, we have known each other for a few days? I’m not sure we should be feeling like this,”

“Just because it seems fast doesn’t mean it’s wrong.”

“I can’t imagine this ever feeling wrong,” You declared, biting your lips in anticipation.

“Me either, so who cares if some arbitrary rules say this is too fast. At risk of sounding like a cliche - if you know you know - and it sounds like we both know,”

“So does that mean we’re all in?”

“Absolutely,” Paul muttered as he placed his hand on the back of your head, gently pulling you towards him while giving you ample time to stop. Instead you leaned in pressing your lips gently to his. You could swear you felt sparks, and somehow kissing over discarded plates of chips in the corner of a small dinner was the best moment of your life.

“Well let’s hope we follow our subject matter.” You muttered as you reluctantly pulled away, “did you know wolves mate for life?”

Paul chuckled, you have no idea he thought.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

"That's hilarious," Jared chuckled moments after Paul shifted for parole and his day came spilling out through their connection. "You couldn't even make it a day without falling head over heels in love with her"

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Hi all, sorry for the delay - but I hope this absolute sap will get me back in your good graces! I am finally finished with uni so actually have some time on my hands now.

Ali x

[babybatss-blog]

A REUNION LIKE NO OTHER

totk!link x f!reader, 2600 words

authors note: Buckle in, it’s a long one! I went against the poll and wrote both the first and second voted pieces WHOOPS. Anyways, took a lot of creative liberties here due to my strong ass baby fever atm hope we enjoy :)

cw: reader is pregnant and married to Link, One used of Y/n.

summary: When your husband goes missing, you're determined to find him no matter what.

Things are never ordinary with your husband Link. Afterall, he is the hero of Hyrule, but from the moment he appeared bloody and battered on your doorstep things have never been normal. You followed him across the reaches of the world to save the society you love, settled in Hateno village together and eventually married there. You even fell pregnant with his child and was happier than ever. That was, until he disappeared.

Your husband was gone on another expedition with the Princess, yet this time he was more reluctant due to your impending birth date. You assured him you would be fine, giving him a sweet kiss on his forehead. Your charming husband, always so compassionate till the end.

Three days later you are knitting some baby mittens when a strong rumble knocks the cottage. Shrieks are heard from the village and birds erupt from the luscious trees, as a sturdy stag leaps out of the brush to gallop on your front lawn. Chaos ensues, but you have no reason to focus on the absurdities. Clutching your heavy belly as you burst indoors, you hide under the table for cover. The cottage still rumbles violently underfoot, but all you can think about is your husband and unborn baby. You can’t live without them, you just can’t.

But the earthquake is gone as fast as it came, and the small quaint town is quiet once again. Deep breath in, deep breath out. You’re safe, you’re fine and everything is normal. But of course, you can’t get up. You struggle and twist, trying to get up but you just cannot seem to. Going against the growing embarrassment in your mind, you call for help. After two hours or so of incessant yelling, Dantz the local farmer appears at your doorstep.

“Ma’am, are you alright?” He asks, after promptly helping you up. “Was that an earthquake?” you ask, expecting a nod or affirmation in response but instead, you are faced with an empty, almost regretful face. “What was it Dantz?” A long silence ensues, as he looks at his shoes, seemingly searching for an answer in their mud and holes.  

Finally, he looks up, meeting your eyes with an intensity and fear you have never seen before in the once solemn man. “The castle it… It floated…” Surely he’s joking right? Because Link just went there with Zelda and- “Link…” You realise, the emotions hitting you like a brigade. “What about him?” “He was at the castle with the princess! Are you sure that’s what happened?” He nods, and your heart sinks. “Yes, I’m sure. I was hunting up in the mountains when it rose, I had a view as clear as day. I swear the thing just lifted up, with the evil smoke joining it and the heavens opening up above. But he must be fine, he is the sworn hero of our land after all.”

Tears swell in your eyes. What does this mean? You’re no stranger to your husband’s strength and talent, but you can’t help but fear the worst in this situation. A few of the village women burst through the doors, surely knowing of your distress with the situation. “Oh sweetheart…” One empathises, sitting you onto a chair and wiping away the now gushing tears on your face as the other sends the man to find out more news. You were never really close to the people of the village, as you were in a strange in-between age and kept yourself in a quiet haven with Link. But in this moment, they felt like mothers to you, reassuring you and keeping you and the baby safe.

The next couple of days were agonisingly slow, with no news of Link or Zelda’s whereabouts. The women assured you that it’s because they are still exploring, but you had the wits to know otherwise. When Link had to go on the mission, he swore he would be back as soon as possible. “I’ll be safe, I promise.” He said, sadness in his deep blue eyes despite your assurance you will be fine.

But now you may never be fine. No one will let you leave the house, pampering you with food and gifts just like Link used to do. Whenever they come to visit you the first thing they say is “no news” because they know that what’s on your mind. So, when you gain wind of a group of people from the village going to Hyrule field to begin a search you leapt at the chance to join them, just wanting to find your husband and return to normality once again.

No one stopped you. You may be nine months pregnant, but you are still the woman who aided Link in his journey and have a piercing stare that could scare a bear into defeat. A complex woman you are, sweet but strong, empathetic but harsh. So, packed onto carriages with others hoping to find Link and supplies to set up a temporary camp your journey begins, just praying for his return to be soon. You’ve heard about falling rocks, sinkholes leading to the unknown and the resurrection of Ganon’s monsters, but it wasn’t until you laid your own eyes on them that it became real.

Multiple bokoblins and some sort of monstrosity lead bokoblin interrupted your journey, causing a few men to become injured. One of these unfortunate men fell into a satanic dark goop, which caused him severe immobility. You pray to Hylia that Link will know how to fix this once he comes back.

And there it was, the castle in all it’s infernal glory. As the others set up the camp, you sit starstruck at the sight above you. Not that you could help anyways, with a human growing inside you. Deep down, you already know what you are faced with. This is a great evil, worse than ever before and ever will be. If Link couldn’t prevent this, you fear no one can.

Although you desperately want to stay hopeful, the week following your arrival shows no light at the end of the tunnel. You can barely sleep, gathering information from those around you on all the recorded sightings of Zelda. No Link though. A chef at the lookout tells you that perhaps it’s just a coincidence no one has seen your husband, although you’re not so sure. He’s strong, so strong in fact that if he was alive, he would be with you right now. But he’s not, instead you are on your own praying for his arrival.

Two weeks have now passed, and you sit in the bunker where everyone sleeps at the dead of night. So many of your new friends have become sick from this substance you now call gloom, it seems as if an apocalypse is upon you. Purah has been making towers to survey the lands easier, which you hope sheds a new light on your expedition. If it doesn’t, you don’t know what to do with yourself. Staring at the goddess statue, you have nothing left to do but pray.

“Oh goddess Hylia, please grant me your blessing to find my husband. Our child will join us any day now, and I do not what them to live without him. Without knowing his smile, his voice or his warmth is something I would never wish on our child. What kind of mother would I be if I willingly raised a child in the pits of hell such as this? Please grant this grace to my child, if not to me.” Tears now stream down your weak face, such desperation you have never felt before this moment. You tried to stay quiet in your prayers, but at this point you just give up, wailing and choking on the force of emotion. A crowd soon surrounds you, failing to sooth your despair, but all it does it make things worse. If Link were here, he could calm you down. In fact, if Link were here none of this would have even happened, and you would be safe and sound at home. You are now filled with intense rage at this fact, because in the end he has left you all alone. How could he? He promised, he promised, he promised, he-

Thick wet liquid drips onto the floor, and your hyperventilation subsidies. Oh no… You’re giving birth! Another woman beside you also connects the dots, and jumps into action effortlessly. “Quick, get the nurse, she’s giving birth!” She says, as you pant at the pushing sensation that overcomes you. A couple of men lead your staggering body over to a bed, where you lie down. “Link…” You call, somehow expecting him to appear at your side. But he doesn’t, your alone, with no husband here to aid you…

You push and you scream and you kick, just wanting this Hylia forsaken thing to get out of you. Someone grabs your hand to soothe you, but you soon push them away. It’s no use, you feel as if you are dying, your insides splitting and spilling forth. Strings of curses leave your mouth as the final wave of pain subsides about three hours later, and is replaced by the piercing screams of a newborn baby.

“It’s a girl!” The nurse exclaims, which is followed by the ruckus applause of the landing members. You were never one to thirst for attention, and now is no exception, as you anxiously await holding your daughter in your arms. As the nurse is cleaning up, she asks what the babies name will be. “Navi. Link has always loved that name, it seems only fair that’s who she is.”

Baby Navi overtakes your life, almost causing you to forget why you gave birth so far from home and without Link. You don’t forget it though, because every moment you look to your side or call his name he isn’t there, and grief over takes your body. A month has gone by, and no one will let you join the search. Therefore, you spend most days sitting with Navi outside of Lookout Landing telling her about her father.

“He has blonde hair and blue eyes, just like you. They sparkle when he laughs like yours too, but he doesn’t scream nearly as much as you do. In fact, he’s quite the opposite. He’s a quiet man, but if you’re lucky he’ll tell you a story about his travels. I’m sure he will tell you everything soon, he won’t shut up once he gets to know you.” The sweet girl laughs, acting as if she understands what you are saying. At only a month old, she already is so cheerful and loud. You wish Link was here to see her.

You get lost in this thought, looking up at the castle. If only they let you join them, you could find him, surely. Although, they don’t have to let you do anything. If there is one think your husband taught you, it’s to do what makes you happy. Despite his great responsibility, Link found joy and determination in the littlest things. He would go on impromptu expeditions and quests, even if it made him seem insane because that’s what he like doing. Helping others, and having fun.

So why do you have to listen to them? You go inside to the camp and stride over to nurse who has been helping you with Navi. “Are you able to babysit for a second? I just want to go on a little walk.” You ask, a sweet smile plastered on your face. She graciously agrees, thus giving you a moment to yourself. Trekking up the hilled path of the castle, you go over in your mind exactly where he may be. If he was underground and the castle lifted up, would he still be underground or was he taken up in the ruckus? It’s most likely that he is underground, but he does often climb up to peaks to survey the land.

“Ma’am, what are you doing here?” Hoz, the leader of the expedition asks, with a group of men in tow. “Oh, I’m just here to help. And no, you needn’t worry about me. I’m perfectly fine to join you” You rebut, giving them no time to argue with you. “Are you, sure? I wouldn’t want you getting hurt, and neither would our hero Link.” “No, I’m fine. I know the most about Link, I even travelled with him. I am the most equipped to search.” “Okay then, if you insist. Well, we are all splitting up into different areas to cover more ground. Why don’t you go with my team to the east?”

You go with the group to the designated spot, leaving no time for pleasantries. Once you stop on an out perch, you deliver the needed instructions. “Okay men, here’s what’s going to happen. Five people are going to go to that section, five there and the rest with me. I think Link climbed to the top of the castle to get a view, and we may find some clues there. Otherwise, checking the armour room may be a good idea. If he’s been inside there will be some weapons missing. Any questions?” You scan your eyes across the group, but no one seems to be paying attention. Instead, their eyes seem to be lying behind you, with a bewildered look on their faces.

Rolling your eyes, you turn around. You should have just gone on your own, instead of with these boys who just want to- behind you stands a man, short in stature but with long blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes piercing your soul. They swell with tears, a soft smile on his pink lips.

“Y/n.” The man says, who could only be your husband. You ponder the idea that he is merely a figment of your imagination, but once he says your name everything crashes down. Blinded by his face you sprint forward, as he runs towards you also. You throw your complete weight onto the man who stumbles backwards, but he doesn't seem to care as he laughs and you cry, spinning you around and around.

Finally he puts you down, eyes stuck on yours and the largest smile on his face. “Oh Link I was so worried! I had the baby and I missed you so so much!” “You, you had the baby?” He asks, stepping back to look at your stomach. You nod furiously. “She’s a girl.”

“Navi?” He asks, already knowing the name which causes another nod in response. Your just so happy, you don’t even notice the crowd forming around you. You grab his arm, looking down at your gorgeous husband to see…

“Link!!” You jump back, shocked by the sight of a green warped arm on his body. He nods, looking down also. “We were attacked. I don’t know where Zelda got to, but she teleported away and I woke up with this strange arm.” You look back up at his eyes. They’re full of regret and remorse, as if he somehow failed a mission from long ago. You know he didn’t fail though, because he tried so hard to keep both her and everyone safe.

It doesn’t matter though, because he is here with you. Your family is reunited, in a reunion like no other.

[gremlinmodetweeker]

Blue Skies on Fire

More cannibal king!König! It's been a while, but I think it's time to get the ball rolling in this story. I think you guys will like where this one goes. Just trust me, it's going somewhere. Either way, have fun with trying to spar with König! He's... Not the greatest teacher.

Tws: cannibalism (mentioned), cannibals, fighting, sparring,

Wordcount: 3.1K

Art from This Post

Rest of the Story Below the Cut

Blue Skies on Fire

The wind whispered through the long grass of the meadow around you. Up above, cerulean skies stretched far and wide as the eye could see. If you squinted, you could see wisps of clouds breaking apart.

“Again.”

You groaned and covered your eyes with your arm. The grass split as heavy footsteps plodded forth. When you opened your eyes, a heavy hand was in front of you.

“Up,” he commanded and grabbed your hand and tugged.

Hauled up to your feet, you looked up to see a familiar golden mask staring back at you. His blue eyes seemed disappointed in what he saw.

“Do we have to?” you knew you sounded whiney but you couldn’t be bothered to care.

He grunted as he swung his club back up over his shoulder.

“You need to be ready,” König grunted, “I don’t want you hurt.”

“Hurt by what?” you asked for what was probably the hundredth time.

“Barren,” he replied as though that made any sense.

“You keep saying that, but I don’t know what that means,” you complained as you readied your stance.

“You will learn,” König snorted, “now try again.”

You thought it was terribly unfair. When you were back in the military, they tried to make sparring matches at least somewhat reasonable. They tried to make things easy for recruits, make fighting an accomplishable task. In fact, you had been rather proud of your prowess before you came here. You’d gotten quite the reputation as a queen of the matts, but here König had you on your knees before him.

“Try,” König repeated impatiently.

You looked down at the club in your hands and sighed.

Again.

You lunged forward and swung your club up and over your head to smack down against his, easily getting swatted aside and getting a devastating kick into your ribs that had you sprawling onto your back.

“You said you were strong,” König muttered as he walked over to you again.

“I was,” you grunted as you got back to your feet, “I was good!”

“Has your time here made you a rabbit?” he shook his antlered shroud sadly, “I have been too nice.”

The ache in your back said otherwise. You wouldn’t be surprised if it was painted black from how many times he’d shoved you into the earth that afternoon.

“You could at least try to give me some tips,” you griped and readied yourself again.

He tilted his head and thought for a moment, pensive as he considered your words.

“You’re small,” he finally said, “light on your feet. Use that to your advantage.”

With a big breath in you drew yourself back upright. Letting it out, you readied your training club again.

König smacked the earth with his club, “Again!”

And so you lunged again. This time you tried running straight at him. He swung his club and you ducked, then smacked him in the chest. He grabbed you by your back and threw you back, nearly making you trip over yourself as you gathered your balance. He didn’t give you a break as he surged forth and swung his club at your legs. You jumped at the last moment to try and overhead swing him on the head but in an instant he parried your attack and thrust you back.

You manged to land on your feet this time, but already he was in your face and shoving you back. Feet slipped on mud, and you fell back on your butt once more.

“Better,” König grunted approvingly and held out your hand.

A smile quirked on the edge of your lips. That was the best you’d heard out of him all day.

“You fight weird though. Like a rabbit,” his eyes narrowed, “you know you can hit me anywhere, ja?”

You let him haul you back up to your feet and stumbled back.

“What do you mean?”

“I am a man,” he said plainly, “aim for my cock? Go for my eyes? You still aim for my chest. If you hit my gut, I will laugh.”

“What?” you scoffed, “okay, if you actually let me get a good hit in, I could make you eat your words.”

“Eat my words?” he scrunched his brows.

“Prove you wrong,” you offered.

He laughed heartily and dropped his club. He puffed out his chest and slapped his gut.

“Try,’ he grinned behind his mask.

You grumbled under your breath but readied your stance. You took in a deep breath, then slammed your fist into his gut and yelped.

It was like hitting a brick wall.

“What the fuck?” you snarled as he laughed at your pathetic attempts.

“Men here are strong!” he patted your head, “I am strong. If you can beat me, you will be safe! No one can hurt you!”

“But aren’t you worried about me actually hurting you?” you said as you shook the pain out of your hand.

He gave you a look that had you withering into yourself.

“Okay okay, fine,” you spat as you picked up your club, “again?”

He took a couple steps back and nodded.

“Again!”

This time you had an idea.

You charged and feigned an attack at his knee, but at the last moment you dodged his swing and struck him on the back. You were about to stop and ask if he was okay but in an instant he was rounding on you and swinging down on you. You dodged to the side and smacked his side again. He swung overhand and you leaped out of the way to smack the back of his knee and he grunted.

Success!

You paused to crow about your victory only to jump back when he swung at you again.

“I got you!” you cried out as you dodged his second swing, “what are you still going at me for!?”

“Not enough,” he grunted between swings.

He managed to grab your arm and threw you back again. This time, you caught yourself and bounced back, this time aiming a for his upper thigh. You managed to nearly get him when he slammed his hand on the back of your throat. Weakly, you looked up to see his bemused expression.

“Very good,” he said, “but too slow! Use your size! Be quick, rabbit!”

“Stop calling me that!”

“Then be strong!”

You rolled your eyes and he slammed you back into the earth.

“Young boys fight better than you,” he crossed his arms over his chest as he stepped close to look down at you.

You glared up at his silhouette.

“You suck,” you spat back.

“Not me,” he said condescendingly, “you suck. You are a rabbit.”

“I’m gonna beat your ass,” you snapped.

“You have failed,” he drawled, “many times.”

You slumped back into the earth. Exhaustion flooded your system. You ran your hands over your face and groaned bitterly.

In a moment of brief humanity, König sighed and uncrossed his arms. He sat by your side and helped you sit upright.

“Drink,” he offered a skin of water, “rabbit is tired.”

You snatched it from his hands and drank heavily. Water pooled heavily in your empty belly. König hadn’t even let you eat anything before he’d hauled you out to the meadows, or ‘training grounds’ as he called them. Once he saw you’d had enough, he took the skin back and closed it tight.

“We will do this again,” he told you, “many times. We must make you strong.”

“I am strong,” you spat, “I’m just not some freak like you.”

“Freak? Me?” König scoffed and clapped your back a bit too hard, “you are a freak! Small, weak! You cannot even sew your own clothes!”

“I’m learning,” you sniffed, “Honeysuckle is teaching me a lot.”

“Good. You need to learn,” König said firmly.

His face softened for a moment.

“You know, I do not do this because I want to hurt you,” he said softly, “I do this to make you strong.”

“But I just don’t get why you’re doing this now,” you sighed, “you never did this to me before.”

König twirled with a few strands of grass at his feet. He sighed, and said, “I must make you strong for the Barren attack.”

“Barren attack?” you asked.

“You know the red man?” he asked.

It took you a moment, but the memory of when he’d confronted the other tribe of men flashed behind your eyes.

“Those were the Barren?” you asked.

He nodded sadly, “They are hungry. They want more food. They want our food. If we fight, they will want you. I need you.”

You put your hand over his and patted his skin.

“You don’t want them to hurt me,” you surmised.

König shook his head slowly. He shuffled to your side and wrapped an arm around your side and pulled you close.

“I want you,” he said softly, “I love you.”

You stilled in his arms.

“That is right, ja?” he checked.

“I mean, it depends on what you’re trying to say?” you laughed nervously, “like, ‘love’ means a lot of things in english. What are you trying to say?”

“I will live with you forever,” he snapped his fingers and said, “I want you always, forever! I will be with you when you’re weak, when you’re sad, when you’re happy and strong. Always.”

“That…” you bit your lip, “well that’s probably one definition of love.”

König lifted his mask to press a kiss against your cheek, “We’ll live together forever. But I can’t promise that if you can’t stay safe. I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.”

“I’ll be okay,” you promised, “I’ll get stronger.”

“It would be nice if you got stronger faster,” he grumbled.

“I’m trying!” you huffed, “it’s hard!”

“Life is hard,” he retorted.

“I mean, yeah, but you don’t need to make it hard,” you complained and your stomach growled, “I haven’t even eaten anything all day.”

König looked up at the dying sunlight.

“Here,” he offered a stick of dried meat, “this will help.”

You took it and chewed on it quietly. It wasn’t much, but it at least helped stave off the sharpest pains.

“Meat makes you strong,” König nodded stoically, “very good for you. We need to go on another hunt soon.”

“What would you catch?” you asked.

“Whatever we find,” König shrugged, “are you tired?”

“A bit,” you admitted.

“Come here then.”

He hauled you and into his lap. You tugged at his mask and he slipped it off and looked down at you fondly.

“You know, not many know my face,” he said.

“Why not?”

“I don’t like people staring at me,” he admitted, “I have to be strong, but if I could, I would never leave my home.”

“Really?” you sat back to look him in the eyes, “I never realised.”

“I must be strong for my tribe,” König stroked your jaw, “I don’t have to be strong for you though.”

You leaned up and kissed the stubble on his chin, “Good. I like seeing this side of you.”

“Do you?” he smiled boyishly.

“Of course I do,” you kissed him again, “you’re perfect. I just wish that we met somewhere else.”

“You wish I was weak like your men?” he laughed.

“No! I mean,” you shrugged, “I miss my old home.”

“But it sounds so sad,” he frowned, “you say there was no fresh fruit, less trees. And if you are strong, I can only imagine how weak your people are.”

“Hey!” you poked his belly, “I’m strong!”

“In mind,” he conceded.

You rolled your eyes and laid your head against his chest. You ran your hands through his chest hair and sighed. The sun was setting fast and being out here in the dark was dangerous. You needed to get home soon.

As if reading your mind, König pushed you out of his lap and stood up. He held out a hand for you as he put on his shroud.

“We must go,” he sighed, “we can be soft at home.”

The next day, König dropped you off with your old friend to go and hunt.

“And what are those?” you asked as you followed the old crone through the trees.

“Blackberries,” she said and plucked one off the bush and held it out to you, “they grow tall. Dewberries grow across the ground.”

“Do they look similar?” you asked.

“Very,” Birch replied, “you can eat both, so it’s not bad if you mix them up.”

“So it’s not like those red berries earlier?” you checked.

“No, not at all,” Birch closed her good eye and popped one of the berries in her mouth. The juices ran through her teeth and down her chin, but with the other side of her face she smiled contently. “They’re some of my favourites.”

“I like them a lot,” you agreed as you took another one into your mouth, “but I think I like the blueberries more.”

“König likes the blueberries too,” Birch mused as she turned to keep walking along the trail.

As you walked, you watched the light flutter through the treetops and down onto the forest floor. Birch carefully harvested a few types of moss and put the clumps in deerskin bags. Occasionally, she’d point out some herbs and get you to pick them for her.

“I like harvesting with you,” Birch said as she walked around a large boulder.

“Do you?” you asked as she harvested lichen from the crevices.

“I do,” Birch said, “it’s easier. You make the work fast.”

“So you only like me as your mule,” you laughed.

“Mule?”

“You like having me around to carry your stuff.”

“Oh!” Birch laughed and shook her head, “maybe, but I like talking too. It’s fun.”

“Don’t you find it annoying?” you asked, “I mean, everybody my age already knows all the things you’re telling me.”

“I like teaching you,” Birch hopped back down, limbs still limber despite her advanced age.

She guided you through the trees once more, only stopping when she came across a small pond.

“This is nice here,” she said and sat by the shore.

You hummed in agreement and sat beside her.

She offered you a stone.

“I’m alright,” you smiled and pushed her hand away.

“You don’t skip stones?” she asked, surprised.

“I don’t know how to,” you admitted, “my friends tried teaching me when I was younger.”

“Not everyone gets it,” Birch flicked her wrist and let the stone fly. Once, twice, three times and it sank.

“Nice!”

“Thank you,” she smiled brightly.

As you sat, the two of you chatted back and forth about going-ons in the tribe, Birch trying to teach you to skip stones along the way. Birch told you that a couple of women were arguing over a rug, and that their husbands had gotten involved recently. König apparently had his hands full with them.

You told Birch about König’s training sessions and she laughed.

“He is a strange man,” she shook her head woefully, “you have a hard fight ahead if you want to beat that man.”

“I don’t get what he wants,” you cursed as your stone sunk on the first skip, “I punched him in the gut and it felt like a brick wall.”

“Brick wall?”

“Like punching a rock.”

“Hah!” Birch adjusted your grip on the next rock, “you tried hitting his tummy? Why would you go for that when you could go for his eyes?”

“That’s what he said,” you grumbled and managed to get a couple of skips on your next throw.

“He fights well,” Birch said approvingly, “he has to if he wants to be our leader. People here don’t listen to weak men.”

“So I hear,” you mused.

“I tell them to listen to reason, but what do I know?” Birch shrugged sarcastically, “I’m an old woman.”

“You’re the smartest person I know here.”

“At least somebody sees it,” Birch snorted, “the only other one who listens to me is Raccoon.”

“A lot of people tell me about Raccoon,” you noted.

“He’s our healer,” Birch smirked, “if he wasn’t smart we’d be dead. He won’t tell anyone, but I told him all about the herbs here.”

“Did you?”

“I told him how to set bones, too,” Birch said and skipped a stone.

“But nobody listens to you,” you concluded.

“Only Raccoon and König,” she paused for a moment, “and you too.”

“I try,” you patted her hand.

“I know you do,” her features softened, “it’s nice.”

She paused for a moment, then turned and asked, “Why is König trying to make you stronger, anyways?”

“I think he’s worried about another tribe attacking,” you shrugged.

“The Barren?”

“That’s the one,” you agreed.

“They’re not too difficult to deal with,” Birch mused, “they’re usually too hungry to make good decisions. If it was the tribless, I’d be worried.”

“The tribeless?” you asked.

“They’re…” Birch’s good lips pursed into a line, “they’re not good,” she said a word in her own language, “sick, you know?”

“Not really,” you admitted, “I’ve never heard of them before. What do you know about them.”

Birch took a deep breath. Her left hand flinched upwards, then curled into a fist and lowered.

“Too much,” she said through gritted teeth.

A part of you wanted to press further, but something held you back. Maybe it was respect for your elders, or maybe it was the worming feeling in your gut that something was terribly, terribly wrong these ‘tribless’ cannibals. Ultimately, it was best to let the subject die.

“If the Barren aren’t so hard to deal with, then why is König so keen on training me?” you asked.

Birch blinked and looked at you strangely. You repeated your question and her good eye lit up.

“König’s just careful,” she said with a soft smile, “he’s a good leader because he’s careful. He’s probably worried some might try to raid the main camp while they fight somewhere else. They do that.”

“Do they?” your eyes widened.

“Of course,” she laughed, “it’s just basic tribe warfare. They try to steal some of the weaker members to eat later. Or something else. I just like to think they’re eaten.”

Chills ran through you. Sometimes it was easy to forget what world you lived in. Other times, you couldn’t feel more alien.

“Do you think they’d go after me?” you asked nervously.

Birch laughed and put a hand on your shoulder.

“If they saw you,” she said, “they’d kill you immediately.”

She skipped another stone as though she hadn’t just warned you of your imminent demise. Birch left you to your thoughts as she skipped stones and whistled a strange tune.

You wished she hadn’t.

Konig Dump

Konig Alternate Universes

Cannibal King!Konig Page

[one-flower-one-sword]

Hello I have a question everyone is going on about Hua Cheng hating Feng Xin despite being loyal to Xie Lian. What do you think of the reason Hua Cheng hatred towards Feng Xin?

Hey Anon! thank you for your question, I'll do my best to answer it :)

First of all, I think it's important to keep in mind that Hua Cheng has reasons to hate Feng Xin outside of his treatment of Xie Lian. Though out of the two, Mu Qing treated Hong Hong-er the worst - arguing that a visibly starved and abused child was lying about having no one caring for him and then later kicking him out of the army out of jealousy - Feng Xin really wasn't much better:

The young child shook his head, but Mu Qing said, “There must be. If he doesn't go back, his family will surely be worried sick looking for him.”

“No, no way! There's nobody!” that young child cried, sounding like he was afraid to be sent back, and he opened his arms reaching for Xie Lian. He was still covered with mud and blood, and Feng Xin couldn't stand it anymore.

“What're ya doin’, kid? Things were urgent earlier, so whatever, but shouldn't you know better by now? This is the crown prince. His Highness the Crown Prince. Do you understand?”

That young child's arms immediately shrank back, but he was still gazing at Xie Lian.

Vol 2, page 362

We see this treatment of Hua Cheng continue all the way to the reveal in Mount Tonglu's caves: because of what Hua Cheng is - a beggar child, a ghost king - he shouldn't be near Xie Lian - a crown prince, a god - and his adoration for Xie Lian and desire to be near him is openly treated by Feng Xin as inappropriate and disgusting, as something Xie Lian needs to be “protected” from at all cost - if Xie Lian wants to or not.

After walking for a while, Feng Xin spoke up. “No. I still don't think Your Highness should hold a strange child for everyone to see.”

“What's the problem?” Xie Lian asked.

“You're the crown prince!” Feng Xin exclaimed. While he spoke, he saw a worn-down handcart further up the alley and said, “Put the kid in the cart and pull it.”

Mu Qing immediately voiced, “Just so we're clear, I will not pull that thing up the mountain.”

”No one's asking you to,” Feng Xin said. He reached out and yanked the child from Xie Lian's arms, and the child started struggling again.

Vol 2, page 364

Because Xie Lian is nobility, in Feng Xin's eyes he shouldn't be seen carrying a child of the lowest class. Keep in mind that it was Xie Lian's own decision to carry Hong Hong-er himself and that the child had repeatedly made clear it didn't want to be carried by anyone else. But Feng Xin still takes Hong Hong-er away from Xie Lian, the only person that the child feels safe with and is being treated well by. Not to mention that he's yanking a child around that he knows has recently been brutally beaten, with no apparent care for its injuries.

Once Mei Nianqing divines Hong-er's fate, Feng Xin treats him like everyone else does except for Xie Lian - as if he's not a human being but some kind of dangerous monster that Xie Lian shouldn't even touch:

The Deputy State Preceptors blocked Hong Hong-er, and the State Preceptor backed away, yelling, “Make him leave the mountain, hurry! Don't touch him, I mean it! That fortune is too toxic; don't touch him!” The Deputy State Preceptors hurriedly moved aside, and Mu Qing and Feng Xin didn't know whether to act.

Seeing that everyone was avoiding him like he was poisonous vermin, the child was shaken and started thrashing even harder, biting and screaming with all his might. “I'm not! I'm not!! I'M NOT!!!”

Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped around his waist, encircling his small form. A voice came from above his head. “You're not. I know you're not. Don't cry, now. I know you're not.”

[...] A while later, the State Preceptor said, “I mean it. It's best if you let go.”

Feng Xin finally came to his senses and exclaimed, “Your Highness! Let go! Be careful of…”

Vol 2 page 380+ 382

So what we've established is that Feng Xin treated Hong Hong-er at best like a nuisance that Xie Lian shouldn't be seen caring for because of the class differences, and some kind of dangerous inhuman thing at worst. Now, since that was the way everyone but Xie Lian was treating him back then, I actually don't think it would stand out to Hua Cheng that much - but what would stand out to him was that Feng Xin, just like Mu Qing, repeatedly tried to separate him from Xie Lian, both through words and through actions, and that he went against Xie Lian's wishes in doing so.

Now we can tackle the other part of your question, Hua Cheng hating Feng Xin despite his being loyal to Xie Lian. And I think to answer it fully, we must first ask ourselves - was he loyal?

It's true that Feng Xin stayed with Xie Lian longer than Mu Qing did after the banishment, but his choices during that time tell their own story:

“Actually, it's… Your Highness, do you still have any money on you? Or something that can be pawned?”

Xie Lian was perplexed that he'd ask such a foolish question at a time like this. “Huh? Why do you ask?”

Feng Xin was sweating, but he replied boldly, “It's nothing… Just… If you happen to have some, can you… lend it to me?”

Xie Lian laughed bitterly. “Do you really think I have anything?”

Feng Xin sighed. “I didn't think so.”

After giving it some thought, Xie Lian asked, “Didn't I give you that golden belt?”

“That's not enough,” Feng Xin mumbled. “Far from it…”

Xie Lian was shocked. “Feng Xin? What exactly did you do? How could a golden belt not be enough to cover what you need? Did you beat someone up and need to pay them off? Tell me?”

Feng Xin came back to himself and quickly said, “Oh no! Don't take this to heart. I was only asking!”

Xie Lian pressed him over and over, but Feng Xin still swore everything was fine. Finally, Xie Lian said with worry, “Well, if there's anything, you must tell me. We can think of a solution together.”

“Don't worry about me,” Feng Xin said. “There's no way a solution will just fall from the sky. Your Highness, you just focus on solving your own problems.”

Vol 6, page 219

While superficially this might look like Feng Xin is trying not to burden Xie Lian with his problems, when we look at the actual context we realize that that's not why he is lying about what's going on. This is set during the time where they're barely managing to scrape enough food together not to starve, and are struggling to make enough money to buy medicine for Xie Lian's sick father. And Feng Xin knows this, knows that anything of value should go towards their continued survival - that's why he rejects Xie Lian's repeated offers of help and lies to him about there being no particular reason he's asking for money. Is that loyalty?

Soon after, he heard the Queen sigh. “If this keeps up, how will my son ever get better?”

Xie Lian could feel something amiss with those words, and Feng Xin replied in a quiet voice. “He's only like this because he's exhausted. Too much has happened lately. Will Your Majesties also keep a close eye on him? Please let me know as soon as possible if there's anything not right with His Highness, but don't tell him you did. Also avoid saying anything that might provoke him-”

Vol 6, page 220-221

Feng Xin told Xie Lian he believed him when he said that Bai WuXiang was back and was stalking him, but behind his back, it's a different story. Not only does he doubt Xie Lian’s grip on reality and his own mind, he urges Xie Lian's parents to also keep up the pretense and then report to Feng Xin behind Xie Lian's back. Is that loyalty?

And we need to keep in mind that this isn't a one time deal but a pattern of behavior that keeps repeating. Feng Xin keeps treating Xie Lian as too naive to be trusted to make his own choices, hence his trying to keep Xie Lian from caring for Hong Hong-er, trying to “manage” Xie Lian like an unruly child, and then all the way to conspiring with Mu Qing to kidnap Xie Lian away from Hua Cheng no matter what Xie Lian wants because they think they know better.

Xie Lian knelt by the stream and puked his guts out for over an hour, heaving until blood came up. After descending the mountain, he walked through the city for a long time, aimlessly wandering the main streets without a destination in mind. Suddenly, a hand gripped his shoulder and yanked him into an alley. Xie Lian looked around and saw an incoming fist before he even glimpsed the other's face.

“Where did you run off to for so long?!” Behind the fist was Feng Xin's furious expression, but by the time Xie Lian saw, he'd already been knocked to the ground by the punch. Feng Xin hadn't expected to knock him down so easily. Confused, he looked at his own fist, then at Xie Lian on the ground. Before he could think to help him up, Xie Lian had already crawled back up by himself.

Feng Xin's face changed, but in the end, his temper was still flaring. “You've got such an attitude! Dropping only a word before running away and disappearing for two months! Do you know how worried Their Majesties have been?!”

Vol 6, page 263

This is after Xie Lian ran away when he found out Feng Xin didn't believe him and was then lured to the abandoned temple by Bai WuXiang and severely tortured and violated. He was obviously not alright when he left and just from the fact that he disappeared for that long it should be obvious that something is seriously wrong - yet Feng Xin doesn't care about finding out, he's so angry at the way Xie Lian is “failing” to be the perfect image he's made up in his head that the moment he sees him again, he punches him in the face. Is that loyalty?

“Why are you being like this? When did you become this way?” Feng Xin mumbled. “I… I really don't know… I'm… Why did I follow you all this time - ?”

“Then stop following,” Xie Lian said.

Feng Xin couldn't wrap his head around that. “What?”

“I said, don't follow me anymore,” Xie Lian repeated. Then he slammed the door.

Four hours later, there was finally some rustling outside the room and low voices speaking. It seemed Feng Xin was bidding farewell to Xie Lian's mother and father. Feng Xin's voice was extremely low, the queen's voice was choked with sobs, and the king didn't say much, but there was a lot of coughing. The door opened a moment later, then closed. Feng Xin's voice vanished, and the sound of his footsteps grew more and more distant. Feng Xin had left.

[...] Before Feng Xin had left, Xie Lian had been afraid. Now that Feng Xin was gone, he wasn't scared anymore. But even though he no longer felt fear, he felt a deeper agony. Xie Lian had initially held a one-in-a-million bit of hope at the bottom of his heart. He'd hoped that Feng Xin would still stay even if Xie Lian admitted he had done things he shouldn't have, even if he became the worst version of himself. After all, the two had never left each other's side since he turned fourteen and Feng Xin was selected to be his personal attendant. They were master and servant, but more than that, they were friends. And Feng Xin had no one to care for aside from the crown prince either - or, at most, him, and the king and queen. But Feng Xin had really left.

Vol 6, page 273-274

And finally, as Xie Lian begins to crack under the weight of his trauma, Feng Xin leaves. Is that loyalty? Or, more precisely, we have to ask ourselves - who was it that Feng Xin used to be loyal to? Because from what we've seen, it was less Xie Lian the person and more the perfect image of a crown prince and a god Feng Xin wanted and repeatedly tried to force Xie Lian to be - a crown prince who doesn't behave inappropriately by carrying beggar children, who doesn't go against the orders of his Shifu, a perfect god who never falters and doesn't show mental or physical strain no matter what he goes through.

Xie Lian stopped eating and said gently, “But I can sort of understand… your feelings.” After a pause, he continued, “There was a period in my own life that wasn't easy. Back then, I'd always think about how wonderful it would be if someone could still love me for who I was, even if they saw me rolling in the dirt and couldn't get up. Though I don't know if there's anyone out there like that. And I'm scared of showing that part of myself too. But if it's someone San Lang yearns for… I think that even if they saw you at your worst, they wouldn't say something like, ‘ah, you're not so great after all'”.

His face grew solemn. “To me, the one basking in infinite glory is you; the one fallen from grace is also you. What matters is you, not the state of you. [...]”

Vol 4, page 182

This is why ‘what matters is you, not the state of you” is the foundation of Xie Lian and Hua Cheng’s love - they love each other for who the other is, not who they could be or should be by any given standard.

Now, someone might say this is all well and good but Hua Cheng wasn't present for the above scenes with Feng Xin and Xie Lian, so those can't be reasons for him to hate Feng Xin. To which I would say, 1. the above examination was about questioning whether Feng Xin really was as loyal to Xie Lian as that discourse seems to insist by looking at what the text actually tells us. And 2., Hua Cheng did encounter Xie Lian several times during his first banishment. And every single time, Xie Lian was alone, in increasingly bad mental and physical states, with no one helping or caring for him.

The first time they meet again, after Mu Qing has just left Xie Lian and Hua Cheng is a ghost fire:

“I won't forget. Your Highness, I am forever your most devoted believer.”

Xie Lian forced down a sob. “...I've already lost all my believers. Believing in me won't do you any good; it might even bring disaster. Did you know? Even my friend has left me.”

The nameless ghost declared as if swearing an oath, “I won't.”

“You will,” Xie Lian said.

The ghost was insistent. “Believe me, Your Highness.”

“I don't,” Xie Lian said. He no longer believed in anyone, especially himself.

Vol 6, page 136-137

After the failed robbery attempt, when Xie Lian gets drunk and falls into a grave:

“God fucking dammit!” He slapped the ground and yelled, “Is anyone there? Is there anyone who can help pull me out?!”

Of course there wasn't anyone. There was only a small ball of haunting ghost fire, blazing unceasingly as it flitted about. After Xie Lian fell into the pit, the ball of ghost fire rushed over, seeming to want to pull him up - but it would never be able to touch him.

Vol 6, page 175

When the group of heavenly officials and Mu Qing drive Xie Lian off the blessed land and Hua Cheng can't help him because he's still a ghost fire:

Xie Lian lay sprawled face-down on the ground in a state of disbelief, his eyes bulging. One of the heavenly officials had shoved him while he was standing there at a loss and made him take that hideous fall in front of so many eyes. It was too humiliating. There were voices all around Xie Lian, high and low, filling the air and invading Xie Lian's ears. He stared with eyes that couldn't be wider at the blackened ground in front of his nose, then he slowly raised his head.

Mu Qing was standing not too far away from him - standing among those heavenly officials, his head turned away, not looking at Xie Lian. Just like the rest of them, he had no intention of lending Xie Lian a hand to help him up. And thus, Xie Lian understood. No one would lend him a hand to help him up.

Vol 6, page 196

When Xie Lian is brutally tortured and violated by being stabbed over and over:

Unwilling to consider this any further, Xie Lian couldn't help but cry out. “Hel-”

Before the phrase “Help me” could leave his throat, the same icy black belt was thrust into his body once again. Xie Lian's eyes widened in horror. The razor-sharp sword was stabbed in, then pulled out. The next person followed without wasting a second, and the next stab was shoved into practically the same spot. The sound locked in Xie Lian's throat finally broke free, and a long, painful scream tore through his entire body.

Vol 6, page 255

And it doesn't stop there - Feng Xin and Mu Qing both ascend again while Xie Lian is lost in the mortal realm, and Hua Cheng is the only one looking for him. That Feng Xin spent so much time in the mortal realm because he was searching for Xie Lian appears to be entirely fanon, as I cannot recall a single instance where the text actually suggests this. And then when Xie Lian ascends for a third time, Feng Xin and Mu Qing are too cowardly to face him, and only seek him out in disguise. And again, they repeatedly try to separate Hua Cheng from Xie Lian:

After a moment, Feng Xin turned to Xie Lian. “If there's nothing else, you’d better hurry back to the Heavenly Court. Many of the heavenly officials have no idea what happened in that ruckus, and they're still waiting for news above. Jun Wu should have been informed by now. You need to report back and give them a proper account.”

Hua Cheng laughed out loud at his words.

“What're you laughing at?” Feng Xin demanded.

“And here I was marveling at how straightforward you are, but it turns out you like beating around the bush too,” Hua Cheng said. “You just don't want His Highness to associate with the likes of demons and ghosts like me, so why not say so openly? Think it's not your place?”

Xie Lian cleared his throat softly. “San Lang…”

“As long as you're aware that he shouldn't be associating with the likes of demons and ghosts,” Feng Xin said coldly.

Vol 2, page 261-262

So, to sum up, when we look at all this from Hua Cheng's perspective - why wouldn't he hate Feng Xin? He's had zero positive interactions with the man, repeatedly witnessed him going against Xie Lian's wishes, and had Feng Xin try and separate him from Xie Lian over and over again. From Hua Cheng's perspective, Feng Xin abandoned Xie Lian to his suffering and forgot about him, while Hua Cheng never wavered in his faith, and didn't give up on looking for Xie Lian even after hundreds of years.

Throughout the entire novel, Hua Cheng is the only one who consistently respects Xie Lian's autonomy - the only times he ever intervenes is when Xie Lian is about to do something that threatens his own physical and/or mental wellbeing. Many other characters, Feng Xin included, repeatedly ignore or even violate Xie Lian's autonomy and the novel makes quite clear how important and profound the distinction is between how Hua Cheng treats Xie Lian and how everyone else does:

Feng Xin glanced at him and couldn't help but say, “...I'm a little surprised.”

“What?” Hua Cheng replied, not turning or showing a single trace of curiosity.

Feng Xin scratched his head. “Since you're so biased against Mu Qing, I assumed you'd think he wasn't worth saving and wouldn't want His Highness rescuing him. I thought you'd prevent him from going.”

Only then did Hua Cheng spare him a glance. “Half-wrong, half-right.”

“Huh?”

“The first part isn't wrong - I certainly don't think he's worth saving,” Hua Cheng said. “I don't care if he lives or dies.”

“Isn't that a little too blunt?!” Seeing that apathetic expression made Feng Xin start to sweat; when he realized that this man definitely held the same attitude toward him, he sweat even harder!

Hua Cheng snorted, then after a pause, he added, “But only His Highness can decide what he wants to do. I will never oppose his decisions.”

“...” Feng Xin had never heard anyone say something like that before - not a man to a woman, and most definitely not one man to another. But he was quite sure that Xie Lian would only get all worked up and flustered again if he'd been here to hear it. “Ah… I see,” Feng Xin said, not knowing what face to make.

Vol 8, page 44-45

And just to make this clear - this is not me hating on Feng Xin. We also could probably all have lengthy but ultimately futile discussions on what loyalty personally means to each and every one of us, which is why when it comes to discourse like this I think we have to focus on what the text says. And I think through this examination it's become quite clear where the limits of Feng Xin's loyalty lay in relation to how it was tied less to Xie Lian the person and more to who he thought Xie Lian should be, and how even beyond Feng Xin's ultimate lack of loyalty Hua Cheng has many legitimate reasons to hate him in regards to how both he himself and Xie Lian were treated by Feng Xin.

Hope this answered your question!

[foundfamily-connoisseur]

PUNCH OUT HCS CUZ I DONT GOT TIME TO DRAW THEM BUT THEY WONT LEAVE ME ALONE!!!

Something something the voices

This is so long I'm sorry

No I'm serious I started derailing I think

LITTLE MAC

Mexican-American! His ma is Mexican and immigrated to The Bronx, where she met Mac's dad (who we have nothing on lol, he dipped before Mac was born).

His ma? Oh yeah, she died :( He doesn't know how, just that he came home one day (latchkey kid) and saw the cops surrounding the apartment. Placed him in an orphanage but got into fights a lot and deemed him a 'problem child' (literally just an autistic kid grieving the loss of his mom)

As said, Lil Mac is autistic! For the most nonverbal and thus uses ASL, but also speaks English and Spanish from time to time(English from Doc, Spanish from his mother and childhood friends who helped him keep up). Spanish is his preferred language tho.

Narcolepsy haver. It usually doesn't interfere much with his actual boxing matches since he's learned to feel when they're coming and deal with them accordingly. Took him and Doc a while to figure out that he had it since they just chalked it up to his prior malnutrition(which also impacted his growth, capping him at a whole 4'9)

Affectionate(?): must be initiated by him. He's very much for hugging and holding hands but if someone else does it first he's like :/. Only people he's ok with is Doc Louis so far.

Trans: transman who figured himself out pretty early when he only played soccer with the boys out in the mud. His mom cut his hair super short as a 'punishment' for always getting dirt in his braids but jokes on her he loved it. Doc has been helping him with hormone blockers, and with the prize money saving up for surgery 🙏 you can do it maccie boy!!! No one else in the ring knows and he'd rather keep it that way thank you (both out of nerves but also why do they need to know 🤨 what are they the fbi???)

Fashion sense: if you try to get this boy in anything but a tank/shirt and shorts he will explode. This man rocks flip flops and sneakers for days and it's all that's in his wardrobe (maybe another hoodie or two). A lot of them are rather worn but he hates the idea of "wasting" money so he uses em till they're literally impossible to wear.

Very spiritual: believes in el Mal Ojo aka Evil Eye and such. (Mostly from his mother and the women on the block that took him in from time to time). If he thinks your vibes are off, he will do an egg cleanse and swears that they work (they do i can attest to that chat).

GLASS JOE

EDS HAVER!!!!! (Ie Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome). This man has glass bones and paper

he don't care he will fight till he's dead! That and boxing actually does rlly help him with his joint pains. He finds it kinda funny when ppl worry about him like "sorry guys i gotta lie down real quick i think my ribs went criss cross". He prefers to get around on wheel chair but can get by with crutches(to which he just lays on the bed forever afterward)

Cat dad!!!!: less him having an actual pet cat than him just tending to whatever feline that crosses his path. May or may not have some scratches on his hands don't worry about it.

Actually really good friends with Mac: (we're going to pretend that they aren't literally thousands of miles away shut up). One of the few to make an actual effort to learn ASL rather than pick it up slowly or have Doc translate. In turn, Mac has gone about learning bits and pieces of French, enough so that both can communicate in their respective language and the other can (mostly) understand them.

This man is such a critic like what do you mean the food lacked a certain "je ne sais quoi" or the movie "insisted upon itself". He really wants to be nice but if it has any touch of French, he is going to murder it because it isn't French enough or actually accurate.

Had an ex fiance to which they broke off for reasons he'd rather not elaborate.

VON KAISER

Tics: he has em. They worsen under stress, but occur randomly or if overstimulated

Served in the military before being discharged. He doesn't like talking about and his tics start acting up if the topic is brought up.

Widower: wife died fairly early into their marriage and he was absolutely distraught. They both always talked about having kids, and a part of him still wants that, but it won't be the same without his Engelchen.

Career: he had wanted to be an engineer, but after serving in the military couldn't bring himself to go into it. That, and being a boxing teacher let's him tend to kids, even if it means getting socked in the stomach. He always acts like a strict instructor, both from his own experience in the military and because he wants to keep the kids at arms length. Also his wife being a kindergarten teacher had nothing to do with it nooooo

Close friends with Hondo and Glass Joe. Bear Hugger is a friendly fella but his loud and boarish disposition gets him riled up. Gets along well with Little Mac and if Doc isn't present for whatever reason, he's good at helping Mac calm down if he starts getting overstimulated and vice versa.

He also totally doesn't have Lil Mac be a pseudo son to him and think about his kis could've been potentially his age who said that.

Emotional support animal: German shepherd called Hugo. That's his baby right there

Disco Kid

That man's a fruit your honor!!!! No but fr tho he's a queer man living his best life.

Also a drag queen! (Name pending). Doesn't really care for how others perceive him and goes with the flow really.

Definitely fought with his dad a lot when he was younger, but as he grew his father came around and now they have a pretty solid relationship.

He's a total mommas boy tho he will literally die for her. He also has a little sister who he plays dolls with. (And yes she asks him to say it in his girl voice iykyk)

Gets along with pretty much everyone besides Mr. Sandman really (Aran Ryan is an interesting case. You heard it from the grape vine but they have an on and off relationship).

An art major for sureeeee. Idk what kind but im sensing something

Really good with machinery though. Usually just so he can fix up his car and stereos.

KING HIPPO

He is for sure not human. I always draw him more beastly but he's probably closer to whales/hippos than actual people.

Like hippos, all that's fat is really just pure muscle. No cuz google up a hippo and remove their skin them bitches are SHREDDED!!!

Naturally very affectionate, although he prefers his pals in the minor circuit (and Lil Mac. Yes this is Little Mac supremacy everyone will be his friend).

Absolutely loves cocktails. They come with fruit how can he not. Funnily enough he despises apples though.

Has multiple wives: a primary wife and secondary wives. Has kids with most of them and naturally, the first born son will take his place when the time comes. (He does love all his kids and wives equally tho so don't worry about them).

Surpringly eloquent" while he can't exactly form human speech, his writing is impeccable, both in letter and in word choice. No one knows how he does it with those claws and big ass hands.

PISTON HONDA

This man has so much manga it's insane. This mf probably has a whole room dedicated to his collection. Yes most of them are Shojo and yes he has a lot of Sailor Moon merch and memorabilia. (although he does also enjoy other such Mangas like JJBA and Inuyasha. I'd say he's embarrassed about it but bro was reading Sailor Moon out in the open so id say he's at least fine with reading it publicly.

Has gotten some of the other boxers to read some of his recs and watch some animes with him (he will force you to watch Madoka Magica and Revolutionary Girl Utena. It's only a matter of time.) It's also how he got into other shows like Candy Candy (by Mac), The Golden Girls(by Disco Kid. He likes his oldies what can he say), and pretty much any and every telenovela ever created (Wow wonder who it could be).

Has a pet Shiba Inu that he loves to bits but DAMN does she test his patience sometimes. And he has a lot of it.

Also began learning ASL when he caught wind of Glass Joe doing it, although he practically forced Lil Mac to learn Japanese because damn it, sometimes the dub doesn't do the show justice!!!

Has two older sisters!!! He's the baby of the family lol and it don't matter if he can pick em both up they'll still pinch his cheeks and tease him.

BEAR HUGGER

Trans: a transgender man who's loud and proud. Never bothered with top surgery he ain't cutting off his girls!!! He could pick up the vibe™️ with Little Mac but he's not the type to try and force the conversation. He'll let Mac come to him on his own time, and if not then that's fine too.

Loads of animals: similar situation to Glass Joe, although now it applies to all animals. Bro is a Disney princess. He sticks his arms out and birds fly to perch on them. Can seemingly hold an actual conversation with animals and no one knows if he's losing it or if they are.

Family: an only child, but with loads of cousins who fill in that sibling role. He's actually really good with kids and takes care of his nieces and nephews from time to time. He has thought about being a dad from time to time (he'd really like to have a girl) but always decides against it.

Affectionate: to the highest degree. That man is always asking if ya need a hug and it ain't just a threat for a grapple/ear clap. He and King Hippo get along swimmingly as a result (if only they didn't die if they went to each other's respective home country 😔)

Prosthethic: ya cant tell cuz of his clothes, but he has a prosthetic leg! (Stops a bit below the knee). If he ever takes it off for whatever reason, he always goes "aw man, guess I'm on my last leg" and the crowd goes mild. Thinks it's the funniest shit ever tho and he won't stop making the joke (Little Mac made it worse by giving an actual chuckle. Mac you've doomed us all with your horrible sense in jokes. I blame Doc)

GREAT TIGER

Loves cats: absolutely adores them. This man has a cat onesie I can feel it in my bones. He hangs out with Glass Joe solely for the cat (also the baguettes).

Gossip: he has a horrible habit of gossiping that he's tried to curb but astaghfirullah sometimes he's gotta talk about Don's receding hairline😔 Mac isn't helping him pinche chismoso!!!

Doesn't like going to parties involving alcohol with the WVBA because almost always he's forced into designated driver. Usually he just teleports away because he's not dealing with that yall are calling an uber!!!!

Actively avoids searching up ingredients in things he eats (like gummies) because if he doesn't know it's not Haram.

Sneakerhead: very proud of his collection. Also really into rap music (we don't talk about his career...that never happened chat) and you will hear it blasting from his car.

Sister!!! Stealing this from a fic but he has a younger sister who works internationally. If she's there with him she serves as his translator.

Magic: not limited to clones or what's seen in the game, but it's his preferred type of magic. He can also transform things and people into other things/creatures. He accidentally made Mac into a rabbit and everyone had a field day with that one.

DON FLAMENCO

Chismoso: this man will shit talk anything and anyone. If you talked with him chances are you're part of a gossiping ring with the older ladies who work nearby. I think they're talking about how you're a puta but idk

Former womanizer: this man banged anything that had a beating heart and a pretty body. It wasn't until he met Carmen that he knew what love really was. Once they got together UGHHHH this man was a fucking loser for his Carmen. Took years to win her over but it was all worth it for his amor.

They talk about kids sometimes, but this mf childish that he sees it as having to share his beloved fiance. (They for sure have kids later down the line tho. Give them a minute damn!)

Beef: tbh he doesn't really get along with anyone; he just dislikes them all to varying degrees. He and Mac hate each other on the principle of one being Hispanic/Latino and the other being a Spaniard. Do NOT leave them alone for any reason. Last time they both argued about the spanish word for 'straw' and sent each other to the hospital where they argued some more.

Telenovelas are his life force. If you interrupt his showing of La Rose de Guadalupe, he will literally kill you.

Got Aran Ryan into it by accident: he was watching Teresa in the living room when Ryan was crossing to go to the kitchen for a bite. An hour later he's sat on the couch hand in heads. They both watch it together now.

Great cook: he makes a means paella and he knows it. Always makes it to show off 'Spain Superiority'. Little Mac hates his guts but he's not gonna turn down a free paella.

ARAN RYAN

People joke and say he has brain damage which is why he's so crazy, but he actually does have CTE so 💀

Family: aside from his general knack for recklessness, having a piece of shit mom and an even worse dad (who of course had to die in a freak accident at work) does not exactly leave you the most sound. He has loads of sisters and brothers, being the second oldest of the bunch (with one older sister of which the hate is mutual). It's a big factor to why he doesn't want kids; he's spent a big chunk of his life working to raise them.

Boxing: to him it was both an outlet for his eventually anger issues and a means to raise money in the same punch. It did lead to fucking him up physically, as after a particularly nasty bout with Mr. Sandman, an eye got knocked out of place so he's working with only 50%.

Very jittery: you can never catch this man staying still. Even in his sleep he either tosses or twitches a leg or arm. Trying to make him stay still just makes it worse.

Repressed Bi it's not even funny. His excuse for his on and off relationship with Disco Kid is "well he's basically a lady!" He'll come to terms with it eventually, but that's one hell of a long road.

Superstitious: biggest thing for him is luck. he breaks a lot of shit but mirrors are not one of them!

Low-key misogynistic: "my sister punches harder than ye, boy!" Like damn your sister must be knocking ppls jaws clean off the freak. If he ever finds out that Lil Mac is trans it's just gonna be him like "SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT" cuz now he's gonna get canceled on Twitter dot com by Super Macho Man😔😔😔

SODA POPINSKI

Married!!! Has a tiny little wife that he loves to bits. She will scold him and he's just all :]]]] wife...I luv her sm... he's a total wifeman

They've been trying for a kid (bro you can't just say that...gross). Naturally this man wants a shit load of them god help that woman.

A major reason to why he's been making efforts to curb his drinking habits! Of course he still hits the bottle every so often, but he's for sure gotten better than his first time in the ring.

Cooking skills: surpringly decent believe it or not! Anything with meat he's killer with and he always makes ridiculously large portions. (Yes it's because he wants to make something nice for his lady let me make a wife guy!!!!)

Really likes Beyonce. Major fan actually he goes to so many of her shows.

Horrible with social cues. This man does not understand when he's being too overbearing (to the detriment of his friendship with many alas😔 especially Von Kaiser and Little Mac). Tries to apologize by offering them a soda like 🥺🥤

Speaking of Little Mac, he once tripped over him (6'7 vs 4'9...oh dear). Flash forward to them in the hospital. They both swear to never speak of this again (also Soda gets him authentic mexican cola so like...we're all good here).

BALD BULL

Anger issues galore: got his father's temperament(don't we all???) And in addition to being bullied a lot as a kid, he hasn't really found the best way to manage. Usually he just goes out to a secluded field or heads out to the sauna, but the press has done little favors to his mental sanity.

Cat magnet: not of his own volition. They are drawn to him like flies to honey. He doesn't really mind them and are a nice way to de-stress.

Music taste: while he usually listens to classical music and instrumentals, he loves himself some girlie pop music. You pull out his ear buds and just catch "Girls just wanna have funnnnn" Before he punches you into the sun

Cattle farm: Inherited from his family, he loves all his cows to bits. They are his pride and joy. He has Glass Joe come over sometimes for some cheese and wine.

Isn't particularly close to any of the boxers beyond Glass Joe and Soda Popinski. He spends some time with Lil Mac, usually just to go out and get some ice cream or something. He likes the kids company cuz he isn't as energetic or demanding in the same regard a lot of teens are.

SUPER MACHO MAN

He for sure has a purse dog named princess. It's a white pomeranian with a pink bow i just known it.

Was a child actor! His family got him into the world early, staring as the sweetheart of whatever show or movie he was in. In his later teens, he was the heart throb before he left the scene as an adult to focus on boxing. His parents were at first disappointed, but after seeing the money roll in? They had no problems after that.

Romance: as expected, nothing permanent. He usually just has loads of flings or one time hook ups that never amount to anything, and he doesn't bother looking for anything "real".

Probably has a kid out there somewhere but if he does, he's denying it till his dying breath.

Similarly to Don, he doesn't really get along with anyone. For him it's just a matter of his own superficial nature. He absolutely detests Mac, but is the only one to know ASL fluently due to a former childhood friend. He doesn't use it beyond wanting to be bitchy in secret.

I know he's super tan but I'm not allowing him to be white. He's a lil something...will figure that out later.

MR SANDMAN

Yeah ngl I don't got a lot for him. I don't think i have anything actually. Huh

He mains Kirby in smash.

He used to have a lisp when he was younger

Yknow how some parents will have kids super far apart? Yeah his parents did that what do you mean he was 22 and he got a new baby sister. What the freak.

He absolutely hates Macs guts but also can't take him seriously on account that he's 4'9. Whose child is this. Literally, when he first entered the ring, he asked whose kid was this and that children weren't allowed in the ring. Lo and behind this was the schmuck that knocked the lights out of 12 other fully grown men, and he was coming for your ass next.

BONUS

DOC LOUIS

Took Mac in when he was around 9, formally adopted him as soon as he could. Heard of a ruckus for a missing child some minutes away and when he came back with Little Mac, he thought he found his parents. Then he got the situation explained to him about how he didn't actually have anyone, everyone just agreed to look out for him. There he officially took him in as his son.

Put the kid back in school after learning he hasn't been in since his mom died. He's considerably behind for his age, but has taken great strides to catch up. He's now just a year behind.

Definitely a major learning curve when it came to raising a child, much less one who barely spoke english(if he spoke at all) and prone to outbursts. It's been years since then and he can't imagine a world without that kid.

Had a wife but they divorced after he found out she had an affair. Sent him on a downwards spiral but he managed to pick himself back up. Having a kid to raise really helps him out.

Close to his sister, but that's about it. She's who gave him pointers on how to raise a kid, as they were about the same age. He doesn't think hes have done as well if it wasn't for her.

Former coach of Bald Bull, but parted ways after arguments on what exactly that wanted to do moving forward. They're amicable now, though.

[knixscythee]

𝐑𝐒𝐓𝐏𝐈𝐌𝐌 𝟑

(𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝)

Dabi is a Sadist and masochist. I feel like he would have a thing for pain. Obviously inflicting pain because he's a villain that likes destruction all that shit. Buuuuut if you (his S/O) were with him alone oh my gosh it would be a different story some days he'll come a little angry from the league or if you guys live with the league he'll go to your room and bring you to his. He'll just go ape shit. Bruises, burns, marks, anything you can think of.

Deep down he does truly care about you but dabi hasn't found any healthy solutions to cope with his emotions due to the years of neglect and that he's an adult man he just assumes nobody gives a fuck about him. so that means most of the time you're the punching bag, only sexually though. He would never actively commit violence on you. He's just rough when he's angry. And when you guys finish he'll give you time for the both of you to chill out and then he'll visit you awkwardly with snacks and drinks and gives you the awkward: "M'Bad doll." Then you guys cuddle and he rubs your bruises gently and uses his warm hands to soothe your belly and whatever's under.

BUT ON SOME DAYS. He'll let you ride him and as you do he'll moan and tell you to slap him. Obviously being the sweet little S/O you are, you were concerned and didn't do it. But when he insisted you were like "Aight, Bet. Bop!" And right across his face was a slap.

"That was a bitch slap I know my baby can slap harder than that..."

To be honest that kinda freaked you the fuck out. Was this a test? Was he going to fold you in half and break you if you slapped him any harder? You didn't know but you were knocked out of your focus by his hips slamming into you.

"Hurry baby, slap me harder...."

You just thought of something that the asshole did and raised your eyebrow at his face it was almost.... Desperate? It didn't matter because you slapped him hard.

"Mmm~ again..."

"Don't have to tell me twice"

And you did it again and again and again. He was blissed out for some reason it didn't make any sense for someone with an ego like him to just be happy about being dragged through the mud. But it didn't stop at slaps he even liked when you choked him until a tear drop of blood came out his eyes. Or sometimes he'll let you pinch his nipples or... Wait till you hear this... He likes when you pull on his staples. It hurts like hell but it feels like heaven.

And after all of this when you guys already stopped fighting he seems more relaxed. Like it's almost therapeutic for him to just get hurt for a little bit. It concerns you but as long as you're the only one who gets to do it and he likes it. It's fine right?

(turned out way too long damn)😭

[yournightmary]

Streamer!Ellie HCs

content warning:: fem!reader, modern!AU, mentions of getting hurt

AN:: Another headcannons, who would’ve thought? Streamer!Ellie was literally the reason I started writing. Enjoy :)

⇢ ˗ˏˋ streamer!Ellie who started streaming as a joke. Jesse was already a streamer and he constantly said she’d be good at it, so why not?

⇢ ˗ˏˋ streamer!Ellie who at first had such a shitty setup. No webcam, mic barely working and her PC couldn’t handle minecraft with shaders.

⇢ ˗ˏˋ streamer!Ellie who randomly went from 30 viewers average to almost 10k one day. Just blew up overnight.

⇢ ˗ˏˋ streamer!Ellie who gets canceled at least once a week. She just says dumb shit without thinking and has to apologize after. and people are just fucking weird.

⇢ ˗ˏˋ streamer!Ellie who lives off of snacks and won’t eat a proper meal if you don’t cook anything. She’s just always on that grind😎🔥

⇢ ˗ˏˋ streamer!Ellie who’s entire personality on camera is just a character. Screams and throws herself off of her chair on camera but goes non verbal every time she’s in private.

⇢ ˗ˏˋ streamer!Ellie who mostly streams games, especially minecraft & fortnite. She might make an irl stream once in a blue moon, but don’t expect it to be good.

⇢ ˗ˏˋ streamer!Ellie who loves her community and wants to talk to them more often but always ends up swearing and arguing with random people in chat.

⇢ ˗ˏˋ streamer!Ellie who gets copyright strikes and warnings from twitch admins almost every stream. Most of the times she doesn’t even know what she did wrong.

⇢ ˗ˏˋ streamer!Ellie who keeps your relationship a secret. She’s scared you’d get a ton of hate. (You would) ((Streamer fanbases are awful))

⇢ ˗ˏˋ streamer!Ellie who buys the most random things she can ‚for the lulz’. Whether it’s for her streaming room or bedsheets, she’s buying the weirdest option. (This made me think of her)



⇢ ˗ˏˋ streamer!Ellie who is definitely a hey mamas girl.

⇢ ˗ˏˋ streamer!Ellie who majorly fucked up and showed her personal instagram account (with your pictures) by accident. Her following went up by 10k almost instantly and she ended up deleting it:/

⇢ ˗ˏˋ streamer!Ellie who after that mistake took a hiatus for almost 3 weeks. I mean- logged out of every account she had and didn’t check any socials for that time.

⇢ ˗ˏˋ streamer!Ellie who came back to streaming thinking she’d get all the hate in the world but people were just joking that ‚she’s too much of a loser to have a pretty girlfriend’.

they were also surprised she was lesbian. She never talked about her private life on stream, not even once.

⇢ ˗ˏˋ In my mind she’s the female version of 2019/2020 Quackity. Is he still relevant? idk

⇢ ˗ˏˋ streamer!Ellie who jokes about selling feet pics and bath water a little too often for your liking.

⇢ ˗ˏˋ streamer!Ellie who once did a handstand for a 100 bucks. Ended up breaking her arm in two places and she couldn’t play games for almost two months.

⇢ ˗ˏˋ streamer!Ellie who gets hurt on stream so often she got flagged for self harm. Apologized on twitter though:)

⇢ ˗ˏˋ streamer!Ellie who definitely thinks loud=funny.

⇢ ˗ˏˋ streamer!Ellie who finds out she’s in some kind of drama every single time she opens twitter. It’s always for something stupid too, like saying she’d win in a fight against some random streamer and their fanbase gets pissed.

⇢ ˗ˏˋ streamer!Ellie who feels bad about having nice things so she just buys you a ton of gifts. Gotta spend that streamer money somehow🤑

⇢ ˗ˏˋ streamer!Ellie who showed you on stream once and the chat went crazy. People made edits of the 10 seconds you were on screen. Ellie watched all of them.

⇢ ˗ˏˋ streamer!Ellie who streams cutting her hair every few months. She says ‚she’s cooking’ while chat drags her through mud.

⇢ ˗ˏˋ streamer!Ellie who streams so much she started saying ‚chat’ in real life, even when she’s alone. Always gets embarrassed about it and apologizes.

Can you tell I was a dsmp kid during quarantine?

[suzukiblu]

WIP excerpt for Jan behind the cut; "Superboys Switch". (( chrono || non-chrono ))

Maybe even the same age, he thinks, and then forces himself not to think about it.

( they’re less than a day old, and they look THIS old. how many years is that? how much of a childhood did they lose? how much– )

Jon forces himself not to think about it.

“I really don’t think not committing murder is being a stick in the mud,” he says, and the kid snorts and then floats up a couple feet into the air, half-tucking their feet under themself as they do. Jon–frowns, for a second. That looks . . . something about how they’re flying looks a little off, for some reason. Like–different from how it looks when Dad and Aunt Kara do it, and different from how it feels when he does it. 

Then again, the kid’s two seconds into flying, so it’s kind of ridiculous of him to assume they’d do it exactly right straight off the bat. 

“Being a stick in the mud is just, like, a vibe, dude,” the kid informs him matter-of-factly, then floats over towards Jay and peers over his shoulder at the screen, then immediately looks bored by whatever’s on it and looks around the lab instead. They still sound nothing like Jon would expect someone made in a lab to sound, and his gut twists a little. 

But also, whatever’s on that screen already made Damian suggest committing multiple murders, and the kid just looks bored about it, one way or the other, so . . . 

So Jon doesn’t know how he feels about that, exactly. A kid who doesn’t sound like they came from a lab and doesn’t act like they came from a lab, but also doesn’t seem even slightly concerned by whatever made Damian seriously consider committing murder again and did not make Jay dissuade him from said consideration. 

It definitely makes him want to get said kid the hell out of this miserable excuse for a basement, though. 

“Just–you guys figure out the theoretical arson, I’ll figure out what to do about the staff, alright?” he says, sighing again. He can probably toss them all in a transport vehicle or two and then just carry those straight to the police while Damian and Jay watch the kid, he figures. Which isn’t great for a “you should send these people to jail” thing, admittedly, so maybe he should actually call the League and see who’s available to help Jay strip the data for damning evidence while removing any damning DNA or anything like that. Or, like, whatever they need right now. 

“I still consider what to do about the staff a fairly simple equation,” Damian mutters under his breath as the kid turns upside-down in the air behind him and peers at the heavy hood of his cape and the sword slung across his back. It’s a sakabato–a reverse blade katana, he means–and the reason that Jon is under pain of kryptonite not allowed to tell Batman anything about anime, like . . . literally ever. It just looks like a normal katana visually, though, especially when it’s sheathed, so he’s not sure why the kid looks so puzzled about– 

“Why’s your sword sharpened on the wrong side?” the kid asks, frowning in bemusement, and Damian pauses. 

Jon pauses, because Damian’s sakabato sheath is lead-lined. Mostly so he has a quick supply of lead in emergencies these days and less because he doesn’t want Jon to know what’s in it, but it’s definitely still lead-lined. There’s no way the kid could’ve seen through it, so how . . . ? 

“It allows the weapon to be used nonlethally,” Damian replies, watching the kid with a neutral expression that screams “suspicion” on a Bat. “As well as making the decision to slay a foe a more deliberate choice, as the weapon must be wielded backwards to cut.” 

“Doesn’t that mean the sharp side’s always pointing towards you?” the kid says, wrinkling their nose. “And like, isn’t it way harder using it backwards, if you gotta?” 

“Yes,” Damian says. “That is the point. The weapon is a handicap meant to keep me from inflicting a mortal wound any way but deliberately, and also to make that wound harder to inflict even once I choose to.” 

“. . . that is so badass, oh my god,” the kid mutters under their breath. 

Jon is still concerned about how the kid found out about Damian’s sword being a sakabato, since if Cadmus had told him he’d think they’d have at least had theories for why it was a thing, but also is now significantly less optimistic about his chances of ending up the kid’s favorite. 

Yeah, he should’ve absolutely told Batman about anime when he was still young enough to get away with it being an “accidental” slip of the tongue and embarrassed Damian out of ever using the damn thing in the field. Like, ever.

[your-oddities]

╭─────────.★..─╮

Backseat

╰─..★.─────────╯

Cautions: None besides fluff!

Word count: ~1.3k

•——•——•——•——•——•——•——•

You press your foot on the gas nearly as hard as you’re able to. Sounds of the car protesting loudly grow by the second, though the vehicle won’t budge. You can almost hear grunting coming from behind the car, just barely audible over the engine’s roar. Several seconds pass and, deciding it’s not doing either of you any favors, you take your foot off the gas. You stick your head out the open window and look to the back of the car.

“Is it working?” You shout, trying to look around the trunk. All he responds with is a groan before you watch as he comes around to the driver’s side.

The bottom of Tim’s jeans and every inch of his shoes are practically caked in mud, his shirt also somehow getting dirtied up by the sludge. He trudges to the driver’s side, shaking his head. “Nah. Wheel keeps on spinnin’ but it won’t move.” When you lean back into the car, he rests his elbow on the open window.

This couldn’t have possibly come at a worse time. You two were taking the backroads home after a tiring day. It’s been all too long since you two have been home, your bed ready to replace the nights spent snoozing in the passenger seat. But things turned for the worse when a deer came from the darkness of the woods and darted in front of the car. Tim successfully steered out of the way, though also managing to drive into a large patch of mud on the side of the road. And now, after a few minutes of trying to force the truck out of its spot, the both of you silently agree it’s time to throw in the towel.

Silent seconds pass, the conversation lulling. Not a car passes by, not a helping hand. So, not sure what to do, you turn to Tim. "Now what?" He keeps on looking down the endless road, and it seems as though he hadn't even heard you. But he finally answers with a sniffle and a simple shrug of his shoulders.

"Dunno." Tim replies before looking back to you. "Text Brian and hope he's awake, I guess." He wipes his muddy hands on his already dirtied shirt, fishing his phone out of his pocket. You watch while he taps away at the screen.

“Hope? So we just, what? Wait here if he isn’t up?” Staying yet another night in this old, beat up truck is less than ideal. But you don’t have the money for a night in a motel, much less the energy to walk to one. So, before he even answered, you knew what the response would be.

He looks up from his phone and purses his lips a bit. “I mean, what else are we gonna do? We don’t got many options here.” He slips his phone back into his pocket and takes his elbow off the car. He quickly climbs into the back of the truck and slips off his grimy shoes. You lean heavily against the back of the seat with a weighted sigh escaping you. Out of the corner of your eye Tim’s hand snatches his pack of cigarettes from the center console, and mere seconds later the smell of nicotine and smoke fills your nostrils.

Silence takes over in the absence of conversation. Inevitably, you’ll have to fall asleep in here. And, inevitably, you’ll wake up with every part of your body hurting in some way or another from staying in the same position all night. You take a glance in the rear view mirror towards the man behind you. He looks to be even more tired than you are. His eyes are almost fighting to stay open, a cigarette hanging from his lips. His eyes meet yours in the rear view mirror, yours swiftly looking elsewhere.

You curse mentally as he speaks up. “You cold?” He asks, honestly sounding bored. You’re almost confused by the question before your upper body shakes as a shiver runs through you. You hadn’t paid much mind to the cold. The heater doesn’t work well, so you two have been dealing with the chilly temperature for nearly the whole ride. You suppose you’ve gotten used to it.

“Oh. Uh, yeah. Kind of.” The words sound awkward coming out of your mouth. There’s no apparent reason behind it. At least, not that you can think of. “But I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

Looking back to the mirror, it’s obvious your words did little to nothing in convincing Tim, eyes fixed on you. But he doesn’t call you out on it. Rather, he scoots over a smidge and gestures with his head as a sort of ‘come on’ motion.

The smiling tugging at your lips is involuntary. You’re not even sure why he’s inviting you back there, but you can’t help feeling pleased nonetheless. Now hopping out of the driver’s seat, you climb into the backseat with Tim. His muddy shoes sit in the open spot for your feet, so you opt for a criss-cross position on the seat. “Sorry about the shoes.” He apologizes sincerely.

You merely shrug. “Don’t worry about it.” You shut the door behind you before looking back to Tim once more. Now, instead of an almost unreadable expression on his face, he’s simply smiling as he looks to you. His hands rest on his legs, the cigarette lazily held between two fingers. If there was just one contagious grin in the world, his would be it.

With his free arm, he opens it up to you. The wave of his hand only further solidifies what he’s wanting you to do. You’re cautious, of course. He’s never been one for physical contact. You lost track of the amount of times your arm or hand brushed against his accidentally and he immediately steps back or puts his hand in his pocket. But this, this is a warm welcome in contrast to the closed off demeanor he has every day.

Hesitantly, you nudge closer to him. He doesn’t rush you. Instead his eyes follow your movements as you edge closer towards his open embrace. Once you’re close enough, he places his hand on your shoulder and squeezes you into a surprisingly comfortable position. Your body is stiff at first, of course. You’ve never been in this sort of situation with him, much less one where you could touch him at all.

His hand rubs up and down your arm slowly. That alone serves to calm you. Your muscles relax and a deep breath escapes you as you realize that you’re gonna be here for a while. You almost immediately rest your head on his shoulder. A quiet laugh shakes Tim a little and he holds you closer.

He brings the cigarette up to his lips, taking a long, slow drag. The tip burns red until he finally breaks away a few seconds later. Smoke leaves his parted lips and his eyes shut. When he opens them again, he looks down to you. “Want it?” He holds the cigarette towards you as an offer. “Might help you feel warmer.”

You’ve smoked before, and so it’s not like this is far too new for you. Wordlessly, you grab the cigarette from between his fingers and bring it to your mouth. Breathing in deeply, eyes shut. Reluctantly, you pull it away and breathe out. Grey smoke leaves your lungs and your eyes open again. Glancing back to Tim, you hold the cigarette out for him to take. But he shakes his head. “I’m good. You can finish it.”

You’re unsure of what this change in his personality is due to, but it’s surely welcome. You lean against him heavily and his arm tightens around you. You take another drawn out drag from his cigarette, eyes shutting. His head rests against yours as a heavy sigh leaves him.

The night felt a little warmer after that.

• . ◠ . ◠ . ◠ . ◠ . ◠ . ◠ . ◠ . ◠ . ◠ . ◠ . ◠ . •

Thanks for reading !! Reblogs appreciated ヾ(^_^)

probably not gonna post for another month … el oh el … so happy holidays ! ♡

[ninjago-clippies]

ITS DRABBLE TIME AGAIN FOLKS

So I started this account to get back into fic writing cause I was struggling, and originally I planned to post one drabble a day but... if that makes me feel like I can't write, then I'm not gonna push myself. I want to WANT to write yk.

anyways, I'm sick today but heres some lava!!! I LOVE THEM

Also I made some of my own banners. LMK if you want me to post them, they're simple but they're nice.

Cole X Kai

Lavashipping

Phantom tags: Cole has no idea what's going on, Kai sniffs a shirt, nothing crazy here tbh

Cole Brookstone was unnecessarily strong. 

Actually, even before he started using his enhanced strength from his elemental powers, he was already unusually strong. The first time Kai had met him, he’d been shocked by the raw strength he demonstrated… and the body that came with it.

That demonstration had involved him being launched through a roof and into the courtyard, but as he recovered from the bruising he’d considered several times over just what kind of a figure he’d have to have to do it so effortlessly. 

The first time he’d seen Cole train without a shirt, he’d had to take an emergency water break to recover. His body was just… fucking perfect! Every dip and curve, every flex… even when Cole was relaxed and his abs weren’t immediately visible, he still looked perfect! Infuriatingly perfect! 

That didn’t mean he was gay, though. Not necessarily. At first, Kai was just appreciating him. A man like that HAD to be appreciated… ignoring him would have practically been a crime. So he’d watched Cole use his powers, learn more about himself, and become an impressive specimen over the years…

And then, one day, like a switch was flipped, he’d realized what the heck he’d been missing out on. And once he realized, he knew he had to have him. 

Unfortunately, around the time that Kai realized what he wanted, Cole became some kind of social butterfly. His serious aura softened, and he started turning heads everywhere they went. Even Kai was surprised by how many people he managed to forge connections with. If he wanted to bag him, he’d have to act quickly. 

Very quickly. 

So, he resolved to just… tell him. Direct action was the best way to woo people, after all. Just get up and go for it. Tell them how it was gonna be. He’d given Jay this advice a dozen times, all he had to do now was take it himself. 

“Hey, Cole.” Kai leaned against a couple of stacked crates, his arms crossed over his chest (a perfect and very chill cool guy pose). With his hands tucked under his armpits, he could feel every heartbeat bouncing through his torso, and the heat building up with his nerves. 

Why the heck was he nervous?? He’d talked to Cole like ten thousand million times! 

“Hey, what’s up?” Cole’s voice was airy and mildly strained, as he was in the middle of a training exercise when Kai went to find him. He was standing in front of a clay basin filled with some kind of mud. It looked nearly dry on the surface, but Cole was plunging his hands into it, parting the mud easily with every decisive strike. 

The fact that he was not wearing a shirt (probably to avoid getting mud on it or something very rational like that) made the show even better for Kai. 

Every time Cole extended his arm back, Kai could watch the muscles in his biceps and shoulders stretch, tighten, and launch his next strike into the mud. Left, right, left, right…

On top of all of that perfection, the sound his hands made as they carved through the wet earth were so totally satisfying. If Cole started some kind of Mud ASMR livestream thing like this, he’d really make a killing…

No, focus! He was here for a reason. And that reason was NOT to gush over cole’s bare back OR suggest incredible ideas for online video channels. 

“Kai?” Cole had paused his exercise, and was wiping the extra mud off his hands. 

“Hah?” Kai shook his head, readjusting his leaning position on the boxes and clearing his throat. “What’s up?” 

“Did you need something?”

“Uuuh, yeah! Right yeah.” He reached up, absentmindedly checking his hair. “Soooo… hooow are you?” 

Ah, great. A strong start. 

“I’m… fine?” Cole stepped away from the basin now, and Kai got a better view of the sweat dripping down his perfect and unnaturally magnetic chest as he came closer. “Pass me that towel?” 

“What towel?” Kai’s eyes were locked onto Cole’s abs, his mouth going a little dry. Was it hot in here? It felt hot. Kai never got hot…

“Kai.” 

“Mhm.”

Cole approached him quickly, rounding the basin and nearly running to his side. Kai sucked in a breath. Was this it? Oh, first master, Cole felt the same as he did! He felt the burn, the passion, the potential, and he was running into his arms, running to-

Cole reached over Kai, grabbing his towel off the top of the boxes and slapping it down onto the top of his head. He spread it out, covering his face completely and patting aggressively at the top of it. “Ah- shit, hold on.”

After a minute of struggling, patting, and dragging, Cole finally pulled the towel off of Kai’s now quashed updo. He put his singed towel over his shoulder, then put his hands on his hips and shot him a thumbs up. “Hair was on fire. I got it.” 

Kai stood there, stiff and disoriented. The fire that had raged to life in his chest was now properly extinguished. 

“You should probably put a little less gel in it.” Cole suggested, reaching out to touch the singed mess. He reached out to touch it, but Kai stopped him. 

“… thanks, man.” 

“No problem.” Cole smiled, slapping him on the shoulder as he walked by. “I gotta shower. Are you coming up for lunch?” 

“Uh… yknow what, you go ahead. I gotta make sure my hair is out.” 

Cole shot him an encouraging thumbs up, which only doused water on Kai’s already dead fire. He watched him walk away, reaching up to pat his ruined hair as he watched him go. 

“… what the hell just happened…?”

The next time Kai tried to talk to Cole, he was much more careful. He had to make sure he wouldn’t be distracted, and that Cole wouldnt be distracting. 

He tried cornering him after dinner, but Cole just took his dishes and offered to do his chores. He tried during sparring, but Cole assumed he was just messing around when he made jokes and innuendos. 

Hed gotten so frustrated at one point that he stormed into the relaxation room while everyone was having breakfast and said “I like you” right to his face. Cole had returned the confession with an “I like you too! I like all of you!” Which had derived into a game where everyone exchanged teasing I like you or I don’t like yous over their cereal. 

Clearly, drastic measures were required. He’d just have to ask him on a date. 

He did some research, planned out an activity, then cornered Cole when he was playing games with Jay. Before he went in, he double checked that Cole was clothed. Fully dressed was ideal. There was no chance for distractions if he was clothed. 

Kai stood outside in the hallway, hyping himself up for a minute before he went inside. “You got this. Just… tell him how you feel. Tell him something.” He took a breath, nodded, and fixed his posture before sauntering around the door and into the room. 

He approached the couch confidently, leaning against the side of it with his hip. “Hey.” 

“Hey Kai.” Jay waved, not taking his eyes off the screen. 

“Hey.” Cole didn’t look up from the game either. He was sitting with his ankles crossed and propped up on the table, tapping away on the controller. “Missed you this morning.”

“This morning?” Kai’s world went sideways. Cole missed him? When did he mean?? At breakfast? Did he miss the way their hands brushed when they reached for the butter at the same time? Was it possible that Cole liked seeing Kai fixing himself up in the mirror when they were taking turns on their morning showers? Or maybe even better… that he’d wished he’d woken up next to Kai…?

“Yeah at training?” Cole tore his eyes away from the game to give Kai a scrap of connection, then turned back to the game. “You’re a good sparring partner.”

Kai nearly set his hair on fire again. He suppressed the urge to grin and giggle, brushing his hair back for the second time in five minutes. “Yeah well… you’re pretty good too.” 

Jay snorted, shaking some hair out of his eyes. “You’re pretty good too~” he mocked, giggling to himself. 

Kai shot Jay a look, which shut Jay up immediately. 

“Aw, thanks. I like to think I’m a pretty alright sparring partner.” The screen flashed with a level completion card, and Cole finally set the controller down to look at him properly. “So what’s up? You need something?” 

“N-not.. really.” He shrugged, clearing his throat. He crossed his ankles, leaning on the couch in what he hoped was a very cool and interesting posture. Then he uncrossed them, putting his hand to his mouth and clearing his throat again. 

“You need some water…?” It might have been Kai’s imagination, but it almost seemed like Cole was laughing at him. Jay, on the other hand, was definitely laughing at him, stifling his snorts and giggles into one of the couch pillows he was now hugging. 

Oh no. Lock in, damnit! You’re starting to look stupid, Kai!  Now that he’d started he just had to go for the whole thing!

“No.” He wiped his face, putting on his best confident smirk. He crossed his arms, noticing that the space under them was a little too hot again.  Was he sweating? Nervous sweating?? “Listen, I’ve been thinking-“

“Dangerous.” Cole accused. He leaned back, stretching out over the cushions and putting his arms behind his head. 

Damnit. Like this, the arch of his body was so perfect! Kai could see every inch of the perfection he’d spent the last few years admiring all on display. His eyes got caught on the curve of something in his great sweatpants. Now he was definitely nervous sweating down the back of his neck. 

Reign it in, Kai! Focus! 

Kai scoffed like his mind wasn’t crumbling to pieces, like his head wasn’t humming with a low burning fire. “Funny. You’re hilarious.” He put one hand behind his back, rubbing the arch of his hips to disrupt some of his nervous energy. “Anyways, there’s this place downtown. It’s all you can eat, and I wanted to try it, so… I got us a reservation.” 

“What?” Coles expression changed a little when he realized they weren’t joking around anymore. “Really? No way. That’s awesome!” He shot to his feet, already heading for the door. “I’ll get changed. How long do we have?” 

“Uh… couple hours.” Kai’s head was thrumming with the sound of his own heartbeat. That was it? Had he done it?! Had he actually gotten Cole to agree to go on a date?!

“Cool. I’ll shower and be back in fifteen minutes. Sounds good?” Cole didn’t wait for an answer, waving at him as he headed for his room. 

“Can I come?” Now that they were alone, Jay didn’t seem to be stifling his laughter as much. 

Kai shot him another glare, reaching for his head with clawed hands and stopping short. “No, Jay.” He gritted out through his teeth. “And stop laughing! I’m doing my best!”

Jay laughed, clamping a hand over his mouth. “Damn! I really wanted to see the train wreck live…” 

“Shut it, Jay!” 

Unfortunately, while the date WAS nice, it didn’t go according to plan… it turned out that Cole didn’t even think it was a date, and Kai had been fantasizing the whole time until halfway through when Cole started making small talk about skylor, and suggesting that Kai should ask her out to try the place too. 

A total dud. Kai was losing hope. 

He spent a few days afterwords just… thinking. Why was it so easy to tell Jay how to ask out Nya, but dealing with his own feelings was so much more complicated? He knew what to do, had a plan, and yet somehow he kept slipping up. 

He thought it over as he shoved his dirty clothes into the washer, so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t notice Cole come in with his own basket. He jumped a little when he noticed him. “Geez- so quiet.” 

“It’s the ninja training.” Cole teased, setting his basket down on the floor. “Looked like you were thinking pretty hard. I didn’t want to bug you.”

“Yeah just… thinking.” Kai echoed, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. 

“Wanna share?” Cole mirrored him, listening to the thrumming of the dryer as he looked Kai over. Kai felt that usual little twisting feeling in his chest that he always felt when Cole was nearby… stupid Cole. 

“Do you know anything about… relationships?” 

Cole looked up at the ceiling, furrowing his brows and pursing his lips. “Mmm… no.” 

He sighed, his shoulders slumping. “Yeah. Neither do I.” 

“Aaaaaah girl trouble.” Cole nodded, running a hand through his hair and looking away from him. “Yeah, I don’t know anything about girls either.”

Kai considered his options for a minute or two, tapping his arm nervously as he stood there. He should have just told him, but every time he tried to do it, the ball in his throat got bigger and bigger, blocking him up. 

“I’ve been trying to… confess my feelings to someone. But they’re not getting it.” 

“Oh yeah?” Cole perked up, obviously excited by the news. “Who’s the lucky girl? It’s skylor isn’t it? I knew it, after that time you two-“ 

“It’s not uh… not skylor.” Kai’s cheeks started heating up again. His tone was short and sharp, his eyebrows raising. He rubbed his neck, leaning his head back against the wall. “Someone else.” 

“Oh.” Cole rubbed at the stubble on his chin, tilting his head to the side. “I didn’t know you knew any other girls… or you know… girls you liked.” He shrugged, patting him encouragingly on the shoulder. “You know, some people are kind of dense. You should just tell her! Be really clear about it.” 

Kai turned his head to look at him slowly, his lips pulled into a tight smile. “… yeah. Good idea.” 

Cole gave him a thumbs up, nudging his laundry further into the room. “I’m gonna go back to jay. We’re still playing games until training tonight. I’ll be back in an hour when your load is done.” He waved as he stepped backwards through the door, pointing at him. “You should join us! I’ll go easy on you, swear.”

“Aaaah… I’ll think about it.” Kai smiled halfheartedly, waiting for him to disappear down the hallway.

He stood in the laundry room, arms still crossed and body stiff. His eyes drifted slowly down to the basket of clothes a few feet away from him. 

…. He really shouldn’t. 

Really, he should not. Cole was kind of minimalistic. He’d notice if any of his clothes went missing. 

But… maybe if he didn’t take anything…

Kai’s knees hit the floor, and he glanced out into the hallway as he started digging through the basket. He pulled out a black Monster World t-shirt he’d seen Cole wear to bed, immediately raising it to his face. He took in a deep breath, eyes fluttering closed. 

Cole smelled like an unusual combination of things. Like the earth he always trained with, a little bit like petrichor from spending so much time outside on the mountain, and like his own natural musk… something purely and entirely him that Kai always tried to get a whiff of when he walked by. 

He breathed it in, then out, rubbing the shirt against his face and covering his whole head with it. Cole was so much wider than him… would the shirt be baggy if he put it on? Would wearing it to bed make the smell linger on him longer?

“Uuh… Kai?” 

Kai went stiff, the shirt still covering his face. He slowly pulled the cloth down, looking up at Cole standing in the laundry room doorway. The earth master looked like he’d just come to some kind of realization, but Kai wasn’t emotionally prepared to try and interpret wether he looked happy or weirded out. 

“Haha… heeey… Cole…”

[autism-autobot]

FloaPS Facts 5

Red Son and Wukong Edition!

Tw: grief, child neglect, coma, near-death experience, mentions of death

Wukong's fur has fallen out on multiple occasions due to grief and stress. He naturally sheds fur with the seasons, but he has a hard time growing fur back

Most of the fur loss is contained to his limbs, but he has a few bald patches on his torso as well

Red Son noticed that Wukong didn't seem to particularly enjoy his furless look, so he bought a henna tattoo kit and offered to draw on him if he liked

Red Son and Wukong now have "henna & spa" days together where they bathe, braid hair, and draw henna on each other

They will both draw wherever the other is comfortable, which is basically everywhere except the privates

Wukong is better at drawing henna than Red Son

DBK once saw Red Son with his hair braided and henna covering every inch of skin aside from his face, looked at his son, and said, "Your uncle got ahold of you, didn't he?"

Wukong used to babysit Red Son on the regular

Wukong loves belly dancing

Red Son used to watch Wukong belly dance as a toddler and would sometimes try to copy him

Wukong noticed and decided to give him belly dancing lessons

Red Son got really good at it and looked forward to every lesson

Despite how proficient Red Son was at it, he was too shy and embarrassed to do it in front of anyone, but Wukong and his husband

After his father's imprisonment, Red Son was forced to cut all ties with Wukong and stopped belly dancing as a result

It was only recently that Red Son worked up the courage to ask for more dance lessons, but by then, Wukong was too weak from his sickness to dance

Wukong is intersex and genderfluid (still uses he/him pronouns as he tends to fluctuate towards masculinity)

Wukong was the one to carry and birth each of his children from both of his past marriages

Red Son used to see Wukong belly dancing while in his third trimester and thought nothing of it at the time. Now, he questions how Wukong was ever capable of such a thing

Wukong's kids would refer to Macaque as Baba

His kids didn't want to refer to their new step-dad as "Baba" because in their minds, Macaque had dragged that name through mud and other disgusting materials and Ao Lie deserved better, they decided to call him Pom-pom.

Red Son thought Pom-pom was his actual name until Wukong clarified it on New Years that he was, in fact, Ao Lie and not some random other dragon that he decided to build a life with

"I'm glad I got the opportunity to meet most of the pilgrims, though I do wish I could've met Ao Lie too." "What are you talking about? You've met him!" "Wait, I have?" "Pom-pom? Do you not remember him? Please tell me you remember him!" "WAIT POM-POM IS AO LIE???!!!"

Then came the talk of "No, Mei is not related to me, she's a descendant of one of my step-kids" and "No, my kids aren't considered part of the dragon clan since they don't approve of me or of Lie's divorce to his previous spouse"

Monkeys often sleep together, so whenever Red Son spent the night at Wukong's house, he'd sleep in a ginormous bed with every member of Wukong's family

At one point, Red Son started spending more days of the year being babysat by Wukong than with his parents. He still doesn't know why

Red Son feels extremely lonely whenever he has to sleep alone, which is often, though he never dares to try climbing into his parents' bed with them

Wukong had a workshop where he'd invented all kinds of gadgets

Red Son took an interest in this, and you can figure out where that led him

The gauntlet was Wukong's idea, but no one knows except them, and they'll never tell

Wukong drew the blueprints, and Red Son prayed that his mother wouldn't recognize the handwriting. She didn't notice

The reason Wukong didn't remove the staff himself was because heaven would get mad and threaten to hurt DBK and his family all over again

If anyone laid an ill-meaning hand on his nephew, Wukong would snap their neck in an instant

He apologized for punching Red Son while possessed by LBD. Red Son held him to no blame

The longest that Red Son has ever stayed at Wukong's house is three years straight

Wukong lectured both DBK and PIF about being present in their child's life after this

They were part of Red Son's life after that, at least until DBK's imprisonment

PIF wasn't very active in Red Son's life after that, and Red Son didn't go to Wukong for help for fear of his mother's wrath

Red Son basically spent anywhere between 85-92% of his childhood without his parents being there for him physically and/or emotionally

Meanwhile, Wukong was heartbroken from the deaths of the pilgrims (especially Ao Lie), and since he can't die of heartbreak, he spent ~400ish years in a coma, instead

Red Son knew that Wukong was in a coma, but his parents didn't find out until long after the fact

Wukong is no longer the only emotionally available person in Red Son's life

Red Son has been scared out of his mind for Wukong since the surgery announcement

Wukong had always seemed like an indestructible and untouchable person to Red Son, and seeing him go through so much has been nearly world shattering for him

Wukong tried his best to reassure him that he'll be fine, but he is almost as scared as his nephew

Red Son suggested that Wukong recover from surgery in the Demon Bull Family Palace, and everyone agreed to the idea

Red Son has been putting together a recovery room for Wukong

The walls are covered in flower murals and filled with soft blankets and pillows

The recovery room looks a lot like the nursery that Ao Lie set up for Wukong when they were expecting their first baby

Wukong loves the recovery room. It's his favorite room in the palace now

4 6

Masterpost

@starrclown @swkbiggestdefender @istopaskingmemate @ainnur @then-be-a-warrior @weaverpop