#some lines shamelessly stolen from king himself

[slashyrogue]

Hannigram AU: Pet Sematary

Will Graham moves into Wolf Trap after a breakdown at his job and brings with him his dog, Winston. He’s happy to be out in the middle of nowhere and away from the world, though his neighbor is a bit too interested in becoming friends.

Dr. Hannibal Lecter, former psychiatrist and surgeon, lives just as alone as Will. He’s easy to talk to, almost too much, and as the weeks go by Will begins to feel normal again for the first time in a long while.

They open up to each other, sharing stories, and Will learns about the rundown little cemetery behind his house.

“It’s a place where the dead speak,” Hannibal says, frowning, “The...local legend says that it was built on sacred burial ground. Promise me you won’t go there, Will.”

He smiles. “Why would I?”

“It’s a cemetery for pets that’s gone unused for a very long time.”

“I don’t plan on having a dead pet, Dr. Lecter.”

“No one plans on death, Will. That place, it’s...not meant for anyone to use.”

“You speak like you have experience with that.”

“I had a pet,” Hannibal sighs, “Artemis. She was a cat I had when I was a boy. We moved here when I was eleven and she got loose. I buried here there and then one evening she came back.”

“She came back to life?”

“She was outside waiting for me, covered in dirt, and she...was different.”

“Different how?”

Hannibal sips his wine. “Not herself,” he said softly, his fingers gripping his glass, “I should not have buried her there, but I did.”

“And she...”

“She’s in a better place now,” Hannibal said, taking another long sip, “And even when my family died I did not bury them there no matter the temptation. Sometimes, dead is better.”

Then three weeks later Winston is hit by a car. It’s late when he lets the dog out that night, and the bunny that runs in the road comes out of nowhere.

So does the truck.

Will doesn’t even think.

He just goes.

Winston won’t be like Hannibal’s cat.

Will knows how to handle him. He’s a good trainer. All a difficult dog needs is good training. He buries Winston in the middle of the Pet Sematary with ran pouring down, his hands aching as he digs in the mud, and when he finishes the tears are still flowing.

Hannibal is waiting outside Will’s house when he returns.

“Will...I heard you yelling,” he says, running up, “What’s happened?”

“I had to,” Will whispers, his voice shaking, “I...I had to.”

The look Hannibal gives him makes Will’s chest ache.

“I’m sorry I told you.”

“Winston will be different than Artemis,” Will says, pushing him away, “He’s a good boy.”

Hannibal says nothing and Will crashes exhausted on the bed.

He wakes up to the sound of barking and runs to find Winston standing on the porch.

“Hey boy,” he says, tears in his eyes, “Hey...you hungry?”

The growling is guttural, angry, and when Will takes two steps toward him Winston tries to bite him. He pushes him back, heart hammering in his chest, and tears fall down his face.

“Winston, it’s me,” he whispers, “It’s...”

“Will, DON’T!”

Will turns to see Hannibal walking toward him carrying what looks like a steak. He tosses it over to Winston who runs to start eating. The mangled growls seem less feral now, and while he’s distracted Will runs over to Hannibal.

“What did you give him?”

Hannibal sighs, wiping his hands. “I need to show you something.”

Will nods, looking back at the dog, who doesn’t seem to even notice he’s there. He follows Hannibal into his house, still the nicest place he’s ever been.

“What’s going on?”

“I should have told you,” Hannibal says, “When I told you the story I shouldn’t have kept the rest from you.”

“Hannibal, what are you talking about?”

Hannibal sighs and walks toward his basement door. “Come.”

Will hesitates. “Just tell me what’s going on? What did you give Winston? What’s in that steak?”

“I’ll show you.”

He shakes his head. “Tell me now.”

Hannibal doesn’t move. “If you want to be able to control your pet you need to come down to my basement. This situation is not ideal but if you truly love him, your Winston, you’ll trust me just this once.”

Will takes a deep breath that he lets out slowly.

“Fine.”

The basement is dimly lit when they get down, and mostly empty save for some freezers, a metal table, and one other thing.

A gray cat lies sleeping in a cage.

“Artemis?”

“Yes,” Hannibal says, walking over, “She’s been a constant companion for me these many years though the only times she’s affection are when I bring her what she desires.”

The cat lifts her head on his approach and Hannibal reaches into his pocket for a bag of what seems to be raw meat. He crouches down before tossing in a few pieces and she eats them, letting him rub his hand along her flank.

“What...does she desire?”

Hannibal turns to him. “Human flesh.”

Will backs up. “What?”

“It’s all they know, Will,” he says, as Artemis purrs, “And what they need. Artemis...is the only family I have left. I couldn’t let her die, you see, and in time...I grew to enjoy the taste myself.”

Tears fill Will’s eyes. “I...”

“How much do you love your pet, Will?”

Will thinks about seeing Winston lying in the road not moving and a tear falls down his cheek. “More than I’ve ever loved anything.”

“So far,” Hannibal says, standing up, “More than you’ve loved anything so far.”

He laughs. “What’s that mean?”

Hannibal walks over to Will and reaches out to touch his cheek.

“The soil of a man’s heart is stonier: a man grows what he can and tends it,” he purrs, fingers brushing Will’s cheek, “Men like us...once we’ve grown to love something...we tend to that love, hoping it never ends.”

Will shakes his head. “I...”

Hannibal leans in so close that Will can feel breath across his lips.

“The world is full of people who deserve to be meat, Will. I promise you that it won’t be hard. Your darkness...I’ve seen it since that first moment we met. All you needed was a reason.”

Will can barely see for his tears. “I don’t want to be a monster,” he says, his voice thick, “I don’t...I can’t...”

He watches Hannibal’s eyes seem to turn black in the light. “Monsters are just like everyone else, Will. They need love too.”

[luxekook]

cream | knj

❯ pairing: namjoon x fem!reader

❯ genre: established relationship au, pure smut

❯ summary: you thirst over the outline in the pants of kim namjoon’s iconic cream suit just one time too many, and he’s ready to make you pay for it

❯ word count: 1.8k

❯ warnings: 18+, pwp, basically 1.8k words about joon’s d, cursing, dirty talk, mentions of masturbation, dom!namjoon, sub!reader, oral (m receiving), dry humping, spanking, KIM NAMJOON’S CREAM SUIT PANTS

❯ dedication: this fic is for my darling lindy @ppersonna​​!!! happy (early) birthday! i hope you enjoy your brand hehe ily!

The outline of his cock will be the death of you. Despite already knowing what it looks like uncovered, the subtle tease of its hardness - its thickness - just does you in.

You’re alone, spread out on your shared king bed and scrolling through your top secret compilation that you tastefully dubbed “Namjoon’s Cock Outline Thirst Folder”. It hadn’t been your best work or your finest moment, but you had been distracted - and rightfully so.

Namjoon’s dick is a thing of beauty, a work of art. It’s a sculpture just waiting to be made, and you curse the gods every damn day that you are not blessed with artistic abilities because that thing deserves to be enshrined in multiple mediums.

Your boyfriend is currently out of the apartment, deep in preparation for the upcoming tour. In fact, Namjoon is gone more often than not lately, and you miss him. You miss his warmth, his dimpled smile, his gentle caress in the darkness of your bedroom. You miss his sweetness, his affection, his rambled 2AM thoughts.

You miss his cock.

Your fingers just aren’t cutting it anymore - even while you scroll through the various pictures of Namjoon’s beautiful crotch and the bounty of gifs of him bodyrolling in that goddamn cream suit.

As you fixate on the image of him looking like sin in his cream suit, you fail to hear the door to your apartment open, signalling Namjoon’s return home.

No, you’re too entranced by the undulations of your boyfriend’s body - the sensual nature of his movements, the fucking outline of his cock. A soft moan slips out of you as the gif replays over and over, taunting you.

You’re still too busy thirsting over Namjoon’s clothed dick to realize that he is now standing in the doorway to your bedroom with his eyebrows raised and an amused smirk gracing his full lips.

Your traitorous hand is still down your shorts as it continues to fail to substitute for what you really want.

“Having fun, baby?”

You let out an inhumane screech, chucking your phone clear across the room in some sort of attempt at self defense.

“Kim Namjoon, are you out of your mind?” You slap a hand to your heart, feeling its erratic pulse beneath your fingertips, “You need to wear a bell around your neck, I swear!”

While you’re still ranting, Namjoon picks up your thrown phone from where it lays face down on the floor by his feet. He begins to move towards you but then halts as he notices what you’ve been looking at on your screen.

“Baby,” he chuckles, interrupting your continued rant on how he should announce himself each time he enters a room. “What is this? Do you really have a folder full of pictures of me that you thirst over?”

Embarrassment washes over you. You had never meant for him to find out about your desperation. There is only one way for you to attempt to gain the upper hand. “For your information, I have thirst folders for all of the boys,” you sniff, crossing your arms across your chest.

The sad truth is that you’re not even entirely lying. You do have a group folder with pictures of the entire group that you drool over during stolen moments. Lately, your attention has strayed to Jimin and how good he looks in tight jeans…

Which brings you right back to how Namjoon looks in well-fitting pants. Damnit.

As your inner turmoil rages on, Namjoon’s face is darkening rapidly. “You’re thirsting over my friends, (y/n)?”

You gulp as he stalks towards you and sets your phone down on the bedside table. “Am I not satisfying you? Do I need to remind you who you belong to? Whose cock you’re desperate for?”

“N-no,” your voice cracks, totally betraying your attempt at being nonchalant.

Namjoon’s palms rest on the edge of the bed as he leans over you. “You know,” his deep voice washes over you, “I just don’t believe you, baby.”

Words fail you as he chuckles just once at your wide-eyed expression.

“I want you naked and kneeling on the ground facing the foot of the bed by the time I get back, (y/n). Don’t disappoint me.” Namjoon brushes a thumb across the seam of your lips, his dark eyes bore into your own. And then he’s gone, stalking across the room and into your shared walk-in closet.

You spring into motion, tugging your shirt off before you’re even fully standing. You don’t know what your boyfriend is up to, but you do know that there would be hell to pay if you don’t listen to his orders. And although sometimes you revel in being disobedient, you’re way too impatient for that right now.

Bad girls may get deliciously punished, but good girls get fucked.

Your knees barely hit the soft carpet before you hear Namjoon re-emerge into your bedroom. Silence envelops you as your ears strain to catch his movements, but all you can identify is the harsh staccato of your own breathing.

The lightest touch across your bare shoulders causes you to jolt. You’ve been so touch-starved that even the smallest brush of Namjoon’s fingers sends a rush of heat through your body.

“I’m surprised you listened, baby,” his words sound from right over your shoulder, but you dare not look. “Gave me so much attitude before… What happened?”

You don’t answer. He’s baiting you, and you know it.

Namjoon’s lips press into the nape of your neck, and you can feel the smile grow with each passing moment that you refuse to rise to his challenge.

“Fuck, baby,” his hands glide up your waist, stopping just below your breasts. “You really missed me this much? You don’t even want to talk back? Get spanked? Ride my thigh?”

A shiver rushes down your spine at the thought of riding him, and of course Namjoon catches it.

“Ah, that got your attention, didn’t it? You want to ride my thigh, baby?” His hands are cupping your breasts now, thumbs circling your nipples.

Your head shakes before you can stop yourself. And just like that, Namjoon’s touch is gone from your body.

“No?”

Your eyes widen as your boyfriend sounds more amused than annoyed with your refusal. The reasoning becomes clear as he continues, “My baby wants to ride something else, doesn’t she.”

The lack of questioning in that statement alerts you that you are so, so fucked.

That conclusion is confirmed when Namjoon steps in front of you, standing between you and the foot of the bed, in nothing but his goddamn cream suit pants.

A low whine bubbles up as you unconsciously sway forward; you’re unable to think as the shamelessly prominent outline of his cock is inches from your face. Your eyes shoot up to meet his for the first time since you knelt down.

He’s already looking down at you with pure hunger. His eyes are the darkest you’ve seen and his hair is in disarray. The muscles of his arms and torso flex as his hands clench and unclench as if he’s trying to hold himself back from throwing you onto the bed and fucking you into next week. Not that you’d have a problem with that…

And so you decide to test the waters. “Sir, can I taste you? Please?”

You’re playing dirty by using that honorific. It’s Namjoon’s favorite after all.

But you’re a girl on a mission, and that mission is worship that cream covered cock in every way imaginable.

And your boyfriend knows it as he curses quietly before sliding a hand through your hair. “Yes, baby, you can— fuck!”

The only words you register are ‘yes, baby’, and you lunge forward, hands gripping the backs of Namjoon’s thick thighs as your mouth latches onto the head of his clothed cock. The heat of him is overwhelming despite the layer of linen in between you and his skin.

Your hand comes up to palm the base of his cock while your mouth continues to kiss and suck the tip. You’re not sure who’s moaning louder at this point - you or Namjoon.

He lets out a particularly low growl as your grip tightens. Your other hand travels down your own body to begin circling your clit. You don't even realize you’d done it, but Namjoon does.

Your boyfriend tugs you up onto shaky legs before he sits on the bed, legs spread wide. Your eyes fall onto the mess you’ve made of his pants and a surge of pride rushes through you.

Thwack. Your ass stings from the impact of Namjoon’s palm.

“Someone’s pleased with themselves, aren’t they?” He murmurs, his hand now kneading your ass before gripping it firmly. You nod, not even attempting to hide it.

How bad would he punish you if you just sat on his dick right now?

As if reading your thoughts, Namjoon chuckles lowly, “Hop on, baby.”

Well, he doesn't need to tell you twice. You straddle him instantly, using one hand to line up his barely clothed cock with your wet pussy. And when you sink down onto him, you almost come just by the sheer context of the situation.

How many times had you replayed the image of Namjoon in these pants and wished to be right where you are now?

Your hips roll once. Twice. Your pussy sliding over hardness of his cock feels fucking incredible, and it seems that your boyfriend agrees by how he grips your hips, thrusting up against you.

“Fuck, you’re so wet, baby. I can feel you soaking through to me.” His forehead falls onto your shoulder as you continue to grind down onto him. With every shift of your hips, your clit rubs against him, pleasure building.

There barely feels like there’s a barrier in between you now. You can feel him throbbing beneath you, his fingers digging into your ass, lips pressed to your neck.

“Joon,” you moan, your movements becoming more and more urgent.

“You gonna come for me, baby?” Namjoon growls into your neck, and you nod frantically. Each roll of your hips brings you higher and higher. Your legs shake, your back arches, your eyes slam shut.

You barely register Namjoon telling you to come when you unravel completely, coming with a scream. You are lost in him, drowning in the sensation, the bliss of finally fulfilling your thirstiest dream. He’s whispering sweet nothings in your ear as you return to earth, panting.

Your limbs feel like liquid as he eases you off of him, setting you gently on the bed beside him. Namjoon stands, looks down, and laughs. Your eyes follow his gaze and you immediately groan, a sound that your boyfriend interprets as embarrassment but in reality is of mourning. His pants are ruined.

“It’s okay, baby,” Namjoon’s voice draws you to look back at his face. “I’ll just buy another pair.”

“No, buy at least three! No, four,” you immediately insist, “In different colors, too.”

It’s Namjoon’s turn to gape at you before his smile returns in full force. “You’re going to be the death of me, baby.”

“You love me,” you grin back at him as he looks at you like you hold his world in the palm of your hand.

“I really do.”

© luxekook. please do not repost, modify, edit or translate.

[maliby]

hey, could you write a yoongi smut and make it angsty (but with a happy ending)? please. i love your stories, thanks

↬ Pairing: Yoongi x Fem. Reader (ft. Namjoon and Hoseok) ↬ Story Genre: Medieval!au, ANGST, fluff and smut ↬ Warnings: explicit language, explicit sex scenes, minor character death ↬ Word count: 11.7K ↬ Summary: You father, The King, wanted to marry you off to someone you didn’t know but you wanted to find love so you decided to run away. You became a wanderer and luck would have it that you’d wander right into what you were looking for.

A/N: I usually don’t do requests (partially because I don’t get any lmao), but I was feeling so inspired that I decided to do it. Hope this is what you were craving anon, and thank you for loving my stories <3

“Y/N! Y/N! Wake up!” A distant cute voice you recognized as your younger sister, Miri, came through the door to your chambers.

“Mmm…” You turned around and covered your head with one of your pillows, trying to block out the noise. You never enjoyed waking up early.

“Y/N come on! The man with the pretty horsies has arrived and mommy said I could only play with them if you came along!” You felt your mattress slightly dip on your right and suddenly her cute small hands were tugging at the pillow on your head.

“Ugh, why me? Ask cousin Yuri.” You said in a whiny tone.

“Because it’s your birthday, and you should always play with horsies on your birthday!”

Your heart melted at the cute way your little sister said that. How could you say no to her? You couldn’t. She was the most precious thing to you in this world.

“Fine, I’ll go, but only if you survive this tickle attack!” You jumped out from underneath the covers and grabbed her tiny body to lay her on the bed and mercilessly tickle her.

You woke up with tears running down your face. You’d just had another nightmare about the last time you were truly happy. Another nightmare to remind you of the moments before everything changed and your parents, The King and Queen, decided to send you away to marry an unknown man. Another nightmare of the day you left everything behind and ran away.

“Having trouble sleeping again?” The man laying right next to you asked, startling you.

“I see that I’m not the only one,” you said right after wiping the tears off of your face with your sleeve and turning around to face him.

“The problem with sleeping out on the floor of the forest, Wanderer, is that you risk losing out on a good night of sleep.”

This had been your life since you’d run away from home: travelling around with a group of three guys, going from town to town selling anything from stolen goods, to food and craftwork. Sometimes that meant having to camp out in the forest, while others (provided you made good money) meant that you could sleep at an inn.

“Well, we could be sleeping at an inn if someone hadn’t been too distracted by a pretty girl to let himself get robbed.” You sent dirty looks to the snoring tall man by the name of Namjoon that was right to your left. His left foot was dangerously close to the fire you had made to keep the group warm but you weren’t really worried, he’d move away if it burned.

The man with the black hair chuckled, his gummy smile calming your still racing heart from your nightmare. “I kind of like sleeping outside.”

“Really? Don’t you prefer the comfort of a bed?”

“Well, in those regards of course I do, but where can you have such a beautiful view at an inn? You just open your eyes, look up, and a sea of stars are twinkling down, just begging to be observed.” He looked up to the sky and you couldn’t help but follow his gaze, seeing what he had just mentioned.

“I didn’t take you for a romantic, Suga.” You looked back at him and lightly pushed his shoulder in a teasing matter.

Suga had joined the gang just a few days before you. You didn’t know his real name and story, but that’s why you liked to hang out with him so much - he wouldn’t ask questions about your life. 

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Wanderer.”

Suga was the one to give you your new name - Wanderer - ever since, on a night just like this one, you were wandering in the forest, right after running away from your castle, and tripped on a sleeping Namjoon, falling right on Suga’s arms. 

“I think it suits you,” you turned your eyes away from him and focused on the starry sky, being fully aware of the way Suga fixated his gaze on you.

Suga and the other guys - Namjoon and Hoseok - quickly accepted you in their little group, seeing as you had some crafting skills you had learned in the Castle, and you got along great with all of them. You would be lying though if you said you didn’t favour Suga over the others.

You didn’t know what it was, but there definitely was this heat between you two. Maybe it was because he was so handsome, or maybe it was because you both had mysterious lives, but he definitely had the ability to cross your mind several times a day and stay there.

“Thanks,” his volume was so low that you could barely hear him.

“Now go back to sleep, Wanderer. We have to get up early for the Narymya Market.” His tone was now back to his normal volume.

“Mhm,” you hummed, looking right back at him, “you too! You don’t want Hoseok to punch you again for not getting up.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” he said as he massaged his jaw, probably reliving the pain of Hoseok’s punch.

“Good night Suga,” you got back in your sleeping position, this time facing him, and gave him one last smile before closing your eyes.

“Good night, Wanderer.”

“Come in! Come in! The best rabbits in town! You can’t get a better product than this!” Hoseok usually had a very loud voice, but when he was in the markets trying to get everyone’s attention he cranked it up to the maximum. Your ears wanted you to complain (seeing as you were right next to him), but you knew that this way he would get the attention of potential clients much easier.

“Hoseok! Buyers won’t come if you make them deaf!” You teased him. You and Hoseok had a very push and pull kind of relationship. You bickered so much that people either thought you were brothers or in love.

“You know nothing about selling my dear, learn with the pros.” He waved his finger around like he was making fun of you and turned to the clients.

You marched towards him with your hands on your hips, not giving a damn about the people around you. “Oh yeah? I bet I can sell more than you by today.”

“That’s cute.” He laughed at your proposal and you knew that his overconfidence and arrogance would make you enjoy your victory so much more. “You think you’re gonna sell more makeup products than I’m gonna sell food? We live in a time of hunger.”

“Alright then, if I win you have to pay for my next meal.”

“Fine,” he agreed after brief consideration, “but if I win you have to give me a kiss.”

“What?” You took a step back. You were thinking maybe he would ask you for the same thing but a kiss was something that never once crossed your mind.

“Are you scared? Come on, I’ve been told I’m an excellent kisser.” He wiggled his eyebrows up and down and you felt the immense need to slap his smirk right off of his face. 

“Deal,” you shook his hand in agreement, wanting nothing more than to show him who’s the boss.

“Perfect, can’t wait to kiss those pretty lips, Wanderer,” Hoseok teased once again.

“What? You’re gonna kiss him?” Suga’s voice sounded right behind you, making your heart jump.

“Guess I’m gonna beat you to it, Suga.” Hoseok winked at the male standing right next to you.

“It’s nothing like that,” you responded as you saw Suga’s conflicted face, “we just made a bet to see who can sell more-”

“And when she loses she’s gonna have to kiss me,” Hoseok interrupted you making you snap.

“I’m not going to lose! At the end of the day, you’re still going to have to kiss your pillow like you do every night. You’ll see!!” You turned away and stormed off back to your table.

“That was harsh,” Suga joked as he made his way to his table, which was right next to yours. “You should have seen his shocked face.”

“Well then he shouldn’t have come up with such stupid prizes- Hello pretty lady, may I interest you in this wonderful rose water?” You interrupted your conversation with Suga as a young lady passed by your table.

“No thanks, I don’t need such things,” she barely even looked at you and walked right past, giving you no attention at all.

“Yes, because not even rose water could fix that ugly face.” You mumbled through your teeth as soon as she left.

“If you want I can buy you the products,” Suga offered, making you feel grateful.

“Don’t worry Suga, I can do it, I just have to turn it up a notch.”

You noticed another young woman approaching your area, so you cleared up your throat and went to her. “Oh dear, he was right!”

“What? Who was right?” The woman asked, feeling worried.

“You see that man over there?” You pointed at the most popular seller in the markets, a man so handsome that he had a line of women ready to empty out his table every day.

“Yes, I just came from there.”

“He told me,” you paused a little for dramatic effect, “in secret, that he liked you and that you were really pretty.” 

“Really?!” She seemed so excited that you felt bad for deceiving her, but you needed to win this bet no matter what.

”Yes, but he also told me that, as you can imagine, he has a lot of women interested in him.”

“Yeah, it’s hard to get his attention,” she put her head down, clearly remembering all the times she tried to catch his attention but failed.

“I wish there was something we could do, you seem like such a nice girl...Oh, I know!” You shamelessly turned around and pointed at your products. “I have a tonne of products that could help you stand out from the other girls.”

“Really?” She opened her eyes wide open and looked towards your table, making you feel optimistic.

“Yes! Here I have this rose water mixed with dried roses, clove, nutmeg, watercress and galangal. All you have to do is dip your comb in this and run it through your hair and it will smell so nice that he’s never going to want to leave your side!” You handed her one of your bottles for her to smell.

“Oh my, that smells divine! What else do you have?”

“This is a new product I have, it’s wine boiled with bilberry leaves, you just dip a cloth in it and apply it under your arms and they won’t stink. This is perfect for when you get a bit nervous, maybe when you’re gonna talk to him. You’ll be so fresh!”

“Oh, that sounds amazing!”

“I also have this mixture, all you have to do is put it in the fire and when it’s lukewarm, smear it on your face, but don’t let it touch your eyebrows. Leave it for an hour until it becomes cold and then remove it. Your skin will be so refined and beautiful! Plus you can use it in other parts of the body to remove unwanted hairs and clear any blemish. You just know a man like that likes his women smooth-”

“Okay, I’ve heard enough, give me all you have!” She picked up her pouch full of coins and gave it to you. You turned around to look at Suga, who was staring at you with a surprised look on his face, and gave him a wink as you handed everything you possessed to that woman.

“You really have no shame,” Suga said as soon as the girl left.

“Listen to that,” you put your little pouch full of coins near his face and shook it so he could hear them clashing against each other, “that’s the sound of success, my dear friend. I’ll offer you a glass of wine at dinner, it’s on Hoseok.” You winked and made your way to Hoseok’s table to announce his defeat, unaware of Suga’s affectionate eyes staring at you.

“To Wanderer!” Namjoon toasted as he clinked his cup with the rest of the group’s cups.

“To Wanderer!” Suga and Hoseok repeated (the latter less enthusiastically) before all of you poured the wine in the cups down your mouths.

“Don’t be so sad Hoseok, you also did a good job! Thanks to our little bet we can sleep and dine at a good inn tonight!” You gave him a warm smile and placed a kiss on his cheek, feeling a wave of sympathy that may be attributed to the combination of your victory and wine.

“Yes, my back really thanks your stupid bet,” Suga mumbled as he drank more wine, his mood suddenly becoming more grumpy. 

“He’s just sad he didn’t get to kiss Wand- OUCH!” Namjoon revealed before he got stepped on underneath the table, presumably by Hoseok.

“So that’s why you’re like this?” You turned to the man with the black hair, your heartwarming up at the thought of him being jealous. “Here.” You reached over the table and gently placed a kiss on his cheek. He looked so shy at that moment that you couldn’t help but feel giggly, and this time it wasn’t because of the wine.

“Wanderer, I’m also sad I didn’t get a kiss!” Namjoon said, clearly trying to also get a kiss out of you.

“Shut up you idiot, she’s not kissing you,” Suga protested.

“Somebody’s jealous,” Namjoon teased in a half-singing voice. You felt like you were burning up, and placed your hands on your cheeks being sure they were tinted red.

“Just eat your food before it gets cold,” Suga snapped back, taking another sip of wine and picking up his chicken leg to take a bite out of it.

“Hey, boys,” a young beautiful woman approached your group, interrupting your conversation.

“Hello,” Hoseok promptly responded, getting over his loss to you and becoming instantly infatuated.

“Hey lovely,” Namjoon also answered.

“Do you boys need some company?” 

She was clearly a prostitute looking to make some money tonight. You didn’t have anything against her until she ogled Suga up and down and decided to put her arm around his shoulders. Your body immediately stiffened. Suga was a single man, (or so you thought since, after all, you knew nothing about his personal life) so you couldn’t put it against him if he decided to go with her. The thing was you didn’t want him to and, to your likeness, it seemed like he also didn’t want to.

“We have company, or are you blind?” His stare was so deadly that you felt kind of bad for the girl. The tension instantly got so thick you could cut it with a knife.

“I- Sorry to bother you,” she removed her arm from around him, quickly apologized and left, Hoseok running after her.

“Wait! I don’t have company!”

“I’m not going to do it!” You screamed at both your parents as you left their presence and made your way to your chambers.

“Y/N get back here!” You heard your father yell. You could tell he was about to follow you, but your mother’s pleas to leave you alone made him stay put.

Miri was asleep on your bed, probably waiting for you to come and read her a bedtime story. 

You didn’t want to do this. You didn’t want to leave her behind, but you had to. You couldn’t get married to someone you didn’t know. You had dreams. You dreamed of living your life as you saw fit. You dreamed of meeting a nice guy wherever and fall in love with him. You dreamed of starting a family someday. A family filled with love and trust, and not one built on convenience. You hoped someday Miri could think of her big sister and have the courage to also follow her dreams. That’s why you had to leave.

You took whatever you could carry, gave your sweet little sister a kiss on the forehead and made your way to the door, tears streaming down your face.

“Y/N?” her sweet little sleepy voice said. “You’re back, I was waiting for you to read me a story about the nice prince who fell in love with the princess.” You dried up your tears with the sleeves of your dress and turned around to look at her - she was getting out of bed to get near you.

“It’s late Miri, you need to go back to sleep,” you tried to control your voice so she wouldn’t realize you had been crying, but it was much too difficult.

“Okay…” she gave you a cute little pout that broke your heart, “but can you sleep with me?”

“Of course Miri.”

When Miri turned her back on you to get back to bed, you put your things near the door and lay next to her. You looked out the window and noticed that it started to rain, so you grabbed your blankets and tugged your sister in tightly.

You started to hum her favourite lullaby to her and as she looked adorably at you your heart sank. Her eyes started to gently close and that’s when you realized: she was probably never going to see you again.

You woke up with your heart racing and your cheeks wet. As you looked out the window of your room you started to doubt yourself and wonder if all of this was worth it. If you’ve made the right decision. Then you started to imagine what Miri would be doing now: she was probably sleeping with the little bunny toy you had sewed for her in one of your classes. Fortunately, someone interrupted your thoughts with a knock before you cried even further.

“Yes?”

“It’s me.” The voice of the man who made your heart race sounded from the other side of the door.

You dried up your tears with your sleeve and opened the door to the handsome man. 

“Is everything alright?” You asked as you saw his worried expression.

“Well, I was awake because Namjoon was snoring and then I heard noise coming from your room so, I decided to come to see if you were alright.”

“I’m fine.” You tried to dismiss his thoughts but, by the way he was attentively looking at your face, you knew you weren’t going to be able to trick him.

“Then why were you crying?” You sighed in defeat and sat on your bed, Suga joining you right after closing the door of your room.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to..” He placed his hand on top of yours, letting you know that you could feel safe and comfortable with him.

“I was dreaming about the last time I saw my little sister.” Suga didn’t say anything, but he gave your hand a gentle squeeze, letting you know that it was okay for you to go on. “I- I had to run away from home and… I just miss her so much.” You took a deep breath, trying to contain the tears that once again threatened to spill but to no success.

“Hey, don’t cry Wanderer,” Suga’s warm palm touched your left cheek so it could turn your head in his direction. “Why did you run away?” His voice was soothing and low, something that, in combination with the calming circles he was drawing in your hand, managed to calm you down a bit.

“My parents wanted to marry me off to some guy I didn't even know…” You confessed as you avoided his gaze.

He chuckled, and the look on his face gave you the impression that he was amused somehow.

“Why are you laughing? You think I’m a spoiled little brat that threw a tantrum just because she didn’t get her way?” You took your hand from underneath his and removed his other hand from your cheek, feeling hurt that he might actually think that.

“No! It’s nothing like that, Wanderer. I swear.” He sounded so sorry that he had given you the wrong impression that you started to believe that you were the one with the wrong impression. “I was just thinking...What are the odds we both ran away from home?”

Your eyes shot wide open in surprise. “You also ran away from home?!” 

This was the first time Suga had mentioned anything about his life to anyone. Even the other guys knew nothing about him, just that he showed up out of nowhere as you had. But the fact that he was confiding in you made you feel tingly all over.

“Yes,” he smiled. “And that’s why I know you are not stupid. You are the bravest woman I’ve ever met.” He placed his hand once more on your cheek, a gesture that, in combination with his adoring and warm smile, made you feel warm inside. The fact that he had gone through something similar and that he understood you made you feel like you were valid somehow, and that was the most precious thing he could have ever given you.

“You really think that?” You shyly looked at him and his expression turned from an endearing one to a very serious one.

“Not only that - you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met.” 

Everything stopped.

Suddenly your heartbeat rose to a million beats per minute and your eyes couldn’t stop staring at his lips. It was like they were calling out to you. Like something between you two was pulling you closer and closer until you (being the impatient woman you were) just threw every bit of self-control you had to the wind and kissed him.

No kiss you ever had before had felt like this. It felt like love and adoration were flowing through you both. It felt like you were connecting on all levels possible. It felt safe and real but hot and dream-like.

“I can’t tell you-” kiss “how many times” kiss “I’ve dreamed about these lips” kiss “and how it would feel to kiss them,” kiss kiss kiss.

“Why did you take so long?” You whined as he covered your neck with soft kisses.

“Because I’m a stupid man.” 

His hands instinctively grazed up your thighs, sliding under your nightgown, but abruptly stopped when he reached your centre. He left your neck alone and looked you in the eyes with a very flustered expression. 

“May I?” He asked, the red tint that emerged on his cheeks making him look adorable.

Now you were the one chuckling. How could he be this perfect? If you already were feeling hot, now you were flaming up.

You took his hand and guided it to your wet folds, immediately moaning as his fingers grazed your clit. “You may.”

Suga’s hand pressed on your shoulder so he could lay you down. Once your back reached the mattress you further spread your legs to give him better access, the gesture making you feel excited.

His fingers moved slowly, gliding through you with the help of your growing arousal. You felt good. So good that your mind kept having impure thoughts of the things you wanted him to do to you.

“More,” you moaned as he skilfully fingers toyed with your bud. He knew what he was doing, and he was doing it so well that you instinctively pulled him for a needy kiss.

He chuckled into your mouth, his middle finger immediately obeying to your request and sliding from your clit down to your little hole, slowly entering it.

“I want you so bad Wanderer,” his mouth moved away from yours and down to your neck. “You have no idea how many times I dreamed about having you.”

Suga inserted one more finger, making you cry out due to the stretch.

You were a virgin, as it was expected of a princess until her wedding night. You’d be lying if you said you had zero sexual experience - the time you sneaked to the stables at night with the son of the Minister of Coin as a teenager and dry-humped his crotch until the both of you came undone suddenly came to mind. That boy came dangerously close to “taint” you, and you’d say he would have succeeded if he hadn’t been promised to the daughter of a Duke and shipped off before he could do it. You were bummed at the time, being the rebellious teenager you were, but now you were glad he didn’t do it.

“Does it hurt?” he lifted his head so he could look you in the eyes, his lips starting to get swollen from all the kissing he was doing on your neck.

“No, it’s fine,” you grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him close, whispering against his mouth: “I want more.”

Your right hand released his collar and travelled down between your bodies, palming his erection over his clothes. Suga closed his eyes and hissed, his hand following your requesting and adding one more finger in.

“Fuck,” you cursed at the mix of pain and pleasure. 

“Shhh Wanderer, you don’t want to wake up the people next door,” Suga said with a mischievous look as he started to pump his fingers faster into you.

“Well, I don’t care,” you dismissed him as you remembered the several times your ‘neighbours’ Namjoon and Hoseok didn’t let you sleep because of their snoring. “All I care about right now,” you added, moving your hand inside his pants and grabbing him raw, “is you.”

Suga ceased all movement and practically growled. He removed his fingers from inside of you and quickly disposed of all his clothes, you following him suit. 

“Have I told you you’re the most beautiful woman in the world?” He questioned as he observed your naked body with an infatuated look on his face.

You blushed and giggled, “twice.”

“Well,” he lay on top of you, your skin touching his like they were one and the same, “I mean it.” 

Suga reached down for a kiss and you swear you could feel yourself emotionally crumbling into pieces at his hands. His lips were quite literally taking your breath away and you were honestly getting scared at how fast you were falling for a man you knew barely anything about.

“Are you really sure about this?” His eyes were honest and kind, and you could tell he was really worried about you and not asking just because. “Losing your innocence to me-”

“I left home because I wanted to be the one to choose who I’m going to be with,” you interrupted him, already knowing what he was going to say. “I don’t plan on being sold to someone who cares more about my so-called ‘innocence’ than me. I want to be with someone who worries about me and calls me beautiful without second intentions. I want to be with someone who truly wants me. I-” you paused, feeling a bit insecure about your next words. “I want to be with you…”

Suga didn’t say anything. He simply stared at you with an unreadable expression on his face, leaving you completely terrified.

“If you’ll have me…” you added as you took in his expression, scared that you had screwed everything up.

Without warning Suga attacked your lips, passion overflowing between the two of you. “I want nothing but you, Wanderer,” he confessed to your lips.

You grabbed his hardness and placed it at your entrance. “Then have me.”

Suga grabbed his penis and slid it through your folds, collecting your slick, before he slowly entered you.

“Mmh,” you grunted, the stinging feeling being a bit overwhelming to you. Suga noticed your discomfort and placed gentle kisses on your skin while he delicately ran his fingers over your thighs to try and ease you.

“Tell me when it feels better,” his voice was caring and sweet and you swore you immediately felt better.

“You can go.”

Suga went slow at first, but as soon as he noticed your change of expression he started to pick up his place.

“God, you feel so perfect.” 

His mouth was working on your chest, his tongue playing with your erect nipples, making you moan out his name and squeeze tighter around him. “Oh, Suga.”

“Fuck Wanderer,” he revolved his eyes in pleasure, his expression driving you wild. “Excuse my crudeness, but if you moan my name again and keep squeezing me tight like that I’m going to fuck you so hard that this bed is going to break in half and you’re not going to be able to walk straight tomorrow.”

“Mmh Suga,” you moaned in response, partly because you wanted to tease him but also because you were just so turned on.

Suga didn’t even say anything, he just nuzzled his face on your neck and started fucking you like crazy, the bed making squicky noises in return.

“Oh, fuck, I’m not going to last very long, you’re too much.” He grabbed one of your breasts and pinched your nipple, trying to get you closer to your release. “Touch yourself for me, beautiful.”

You had touched yourself before. It was something that, as a princess, people would frown upon if they ever found out but, then again, you weren’t like most princesses. Touching yourself in private was never a problem. Touching yourself in front of the man you liked on the other hand, was a completely different story. It felt dirtier, nastier and exposing. Something that even you, as out of the ordinary for a princess as you were, felt ashamed of, but you were so inebriated with pleasure that you didn’t even have to think about it, you simply reached down and started rubbing yourself for him.

“That’s it, rub yourself until you cum, Wanderer.”

He didn’t even have to say it because almost as soon as you started to pleasure yourself you could feel that sweet feeling building up in your core. It was only a matter of time before you came and when you did, you couldn’t help but scream.

“Mhm, oh Suga…” You didn’t care if the whole damn inn heard you at this point, all you cared about was that he heard you and that he knew just how good he was making you feel. 

As soon as you came though, he removed himself from inside of you and pleasured himself until he released on his hand.

“Why didn’t you cum on my belly or something?” You asked as soon as his panting subsided.

“I didn’t want you to get dirty,” he picked up his shirt and cleaned his hand on it, quickly joining you in bed with a gentle kiss on your forehead.

“I don’t mind,” you kissed his lips and stared him straight in the eyes, getting entirely lost in them.

“I didn’t think you were this naughty,” he smirked.

“To be honest, neither did I. I guess you just brought it out of me.”  You looked down, trying to hide the blush you were sure was present on your cheeks but Suga had other plans.

“Are you being shy now?” He placed a finger on your chin and turned your head back up.

“Shut up,” you lightly slapped him in his firm chest, making him laugh in return.

Suga wrapped his arm around you and pulled you in close, your head resting comfortably on his chest.

“You seemed to really know what you were doing…” You didn’t mind if he had had other girlfriends before, you just wanted to know a little bit more about his life.

“Oh, yeah, I’ve...done it before.” You could tell that your statement made him uncomfortable because his muscles quickly tensed up. “Sorry…”

“Why are you sorry?” You left the comfort of his chest and looked him straight in the eyes, his apology seeming completely ridiculous to you.

“Well, I was your first and you deserve your first time to be with someone who had you as his first.”

He was the sweetest. He was actually the sweetest. If there were any doubts that he was right for you then they were out the window.

“Suga...I don’t care,” you touched his cheek and ran your thumb over it. “You already know I ran away because I didn’t want an arranged marriage, so I’m not exactly a conventional girl. Plus,” you moved in closer and whispered in his ear, “this way my first time gets to be much better, don’t you think?”

Suga quickly flipped you around, so he was on top of you, and gave you a kiss. “You really are trouble, and I don’t think I can get enough.”

------------------------------------- 1 month later ------------------------------------------

The sound of someone knocking at the door woke you up from your sleep. You were pissed since you were having a nice dream about Suga and you rarely got nice dreams.

“Who is it?” Suga yelled. If you were pissed then he was more than pissed, he was not a morning person, and it was way too early to be getting up.

“Hoseok!”

You scoffed, leaving your boyfriend in bed and coming to open the door to your friend. “Do you even know what time it is? You know Suga, he might actually kill you for this.”

“I’m sorry, I know you had a...busy night,” he winked right before earning himself a kick in the shin. “Ouch!”

“What do you want, pervert?” You sighed, thinking he had woken you up for some stupid reason like so many other times. One time, when you were sleeping in the woods, he had the audacity to wake you up because he saw a shooting star. You loved shooting stars, it’s true, but you loved sleeping even more, and that action earned him some words that your royal family would definitely not approve.

“Arial just told me that the Guard is coming early to the inn for breakfast.”

“Fuck…” You realized that you had started to curse a lot more the more time you spent with these guys but, it was something you found liberating and, in this case, appropriate. The Guard was the big authority in the Kingdom you were currently at and you bet they would be very happy to find a bunch of casual criminals like you and your friends.

“Wait, who’s Arial?” You heard the sleepy voice of your boyfriend ask from behind you.

“The daughter of the innkeeper, the one I slept with last night.” He winked at Suga. He wore a mischievous look on his face, telling you he was probably remembering all the dirty stuff that poor girl let him do to her.

“You’re disgusting.” You noted, realizing you had a disapproving expression on your face.

“Hey! We don’t have time for this, you can call me disgusting all you want when we’re out of here.” Hoseok pointed out, making you realize he was right.

“Fine, you’re right.”

“Alright, I’ve already warned Namjoon. Meet you in the back in 10 minutes, Arial will let you through.”

You wanted to nag your friend for telling one of his conquests about your ways of living, but not only did you not have the time to do that you also didn’t want to admit it to him that his adventures with women were saving you. So, you just ignored it and moved on.

“Okay, see you.”

“Where the fuck is Namjoon?” Suga hated waiting for other people, it got him very grumpy, but you found his grumpy face adorable.

“I told him 10 minutes, not-”

“I’m here, I’m here!” Your tall friend announced just as he walked out of the inn in a rush. “I’m sorry, I- I went against the servant and made her spill everything and she made me help her clean it up…” He looked away, feeling embarrassed that once again his clumsiness was causing problems.

“It’s fine Namjoon, what matters is that you’re here and we can finally leave.” You patted him in the back, trying to make him feel better.

“How come you’re being so nice to him? I bet if it was me you’d be yelling!” Hoseok protested. You knew he was right but, honestly, you didn’t feel like bickering with him right now. You wanted to get out of there safely.

“Now is not the time Hoseok, we need to leave,” Suga came to your defence and you felt so grateful that he knew exactly what you were thinking.

“You’re right. Let’s go.”

The group started walking to the (stolen) horses you had left in the back and when you were getting ready to place your belongings in the bag the horse carried you noticed something was missing. “Oh no…”

“What is it, Wanderer?” Suga asked.

“I forgot my pouch.”

“Really Wanderer?” Hoseok sighed, revolving his eyes.

You were feeling bad. Especially because Suga reminded you 3 times about the pouch and you just ended up forgetting it on your bed anyways.

“I’ll go get it, just wait here for me.”

You turned around to leave but your boyfriend had other plans and grabbed your arm. “No, it’s dangerous. I’ll go.”

“Suga, no. You know as well as I do that as a woman I have more chances to get away, especially when it comes to the guards.” It pained your boyfriend to admit it but he knew you were right.

“What if I ask Arial to go get it?” Hoseok’s idea wasn’t bad, the only problem was that you didn’t know Arial and so you didn’t trust her with this.

“No offence, but I’m not trusting all our money with some random girl. Just wait here and I’ll be back soon.”

“Be careful,” Suga said as he gave you a quick kiss on the cheek.

“I will,” you smiled back at him and turned around to leave, giving a quick run back to the inn. You couldn’t go back through the back door as it was already closed and locked, so you had no choice but to go in from the front. It was still early, so there was barely anyone walking around but it would soon be breakfast time and the Guard would be there, so you had to be quick and careful.

First, you needed to find Arial, as she had the key to the room. That was the easy task as she was in the kitchens preparing breakfast with the other servants, the smell of freshly baked bread filling up your nostrils.

“Hey, Arial,” you called as soon as you spotted her making fresh juice.

“Oh, hi,” she let go of the fruit and cleaned her hands on her apron, pulling you to a more secluded place. “Is something wrong? Is Hoseok alright?”

You were honestly surprised she was so worried and found it kind of sweet of her. Maybe you judged her too quickly, but you were still not going to leave her alone with your money.

“Everything’s alright, I just forgot something in the room and was wondering if you could give me the key so I can quickly go get it.”

“Oh, yeah sure,” she put her hand inside the big front pocket of her apron and took out the key to your’s and your boyfriend’s room. “Here.”

“Thank you so much, Arial.” You grabbed the key and gave her an appreciative smile.

“You can leave the key under the rug after you’re done, I’ll come and pick it up after.” You gave her a nod and turned to leave, but not before you heard her warning: “But be careful, the Guard should be here any minute.”

“Thank you!”

You left the busy kitchen and its wonderful smells and made your way to your room. There was no one in sight yet, so you decided to be as quick about it as you possibly could. You quickly ran up the stairs, unlocked your door and walked right in, immediately spotting the item you were missing. “There you are.”

After collecting your forgotten belongings, you placed the key under the big furry rug - as Arial had instructed you - and opened the door to leave but the voices down the stairs quickly made you run back inside.

“Fuck,” you whispered to yourself. It was the Guard.

The Guard’s voices were loud and you wondered how someone could be so loud in the morning, but that also meant that you could hear when they were no longer in the way. Soon, their voices dissipated and you figured they must be in the dining room getting ready to eat. The good news was that you could finally go downstairs, the bad news was that if you wanted to leave you had to pass by them. Not knowing what to do, your eyes quickly scanned the room and caught something that gave you an idea.

This inn was the fanciest you had ever stayed on, your group deciding to enjoy the good amount of money you had been gaining (partially thanks to your healthy competitions with Hoseok). As a result of that, the decoration of the room was also, in itself, really fancy, having deep green velvety draping curtains, both on your bed frame and the windows - curtains that you could use to hide your identity. You reached under your skirt and grabbed the sharp knife Suga had given you and made sure you always had with you. You felt bad for ruining such pretty and surely expensive curtains but your life depended on it so, without hesitation, you grabbed one of the curtains and started to cut it. Once you were done, you left two silver coins on the table (in compensation for the damage), wrapped the fabric around your head (as a lot of ladies did) and made your way out of there.

As soon as you neared the dining room you spotted them. They were 4 in total, all on the same table, swords near their reach.

They weren’t in a corner of the room (as you wished). They were right in the middle, as if they did it on purpose to make your life that much more difficult. You could see the exit, you could almost imagine Suga waiting for you, but you had to go through them first, so, you took a deep breath and slowly entered the room, keeping your head down and adjusting your improvised scarf to cover part of your face.

They were practically the only people in the room, which wasn’t ideal for your situation because it would be much easier for them to pay attention to you, but lucky for you, they seemed to be entranced in conversation.

You entered the room and walked straight in their direction, as calmly as you could. Your whole body was on edge. Sweat was starting to form and you could hear your heart frantically beating in your ears. As you got closer, their conversation started to become clearer to you.

“We’ve looked for Princess Y/N everywhere but nothing.”

Everything stopped. 

They knew who you were. Who you really were. And they were looking for you. If your heart was already racing, well now you felt like it was going to come out through your mouth.

Why would they know who you were? And why were they looking for you? You were reasonably far from your own Kingdom and they only roamed in here. Then you remembered that maybe there was some type of reward on the line. Part of you knew you had to get out of there as quickly as possible and you were almost there, you could practically smell the fresh air. The other part, on the other hand, was dying to know about your family, especially your little sister, Miri. The latter part won.

You stopped in the middle of the room, just near their table, and pretended to look for something in your pouch, when in reality you were just listening in.

“Yeah, I think it’s useless that we still look for her now. With the King’s death, I’m sure she’s bound to show up. Especially since I’m sure she doesn’t want little Princess Miri to be Queen and get married at such a young age.”

You wanted to throw up.

It couldn’t be real. It couldn’t. Your father couldn’t….no. No. Your father was...dead?

You fell on your knees crying, not even thinking about the guards. Not even thinking about where you were. Nothing mattered. You didn’t agree with a lot of your father’s decisions but he was still your father and you loved him. And now he died while you had run off and you were never going to see him again…

“Hey miss, are you alright?” One of the guards was on his knees trying to help you and he was that close to seeing your face and honestly, you were going to let him. You wanted him to take you home. You wanted to be there for your family. You needed to be there.

“Leave her be!”

Just as the guard was about to see your face, Suga's voice reached your ears. He punched the guard in the face, making him fall to the ground and pulled you up to run with you. “Wanderer we need to run!”

At that moment you ran. You ran for love. You ran for Suga.

You heard them yelling and coming after the two of you, but a loud noise seemed to make them stop. You turned your head and saw that Arial had run on to them (by the smile she was giving you, you presumed it was all on purpose) and caused a commotion, giving you time to get ahead and manage to escape.

As soon as you got to your horses it was over for the guards. They were left behind and you and your group rode into the forest. 

The rest of the day you didn’t really say much. You had gone to a nearby city and tried to sell stuff at the market, but this was by far the worst day in sales for you. Understandably, your brain felt like complete mush, and you could tell that Suga noticed and was waiting for you two to be alone to ask you.

“Are you okay, Wanderer?” Suga asked into your ear as soon as you were both alone in your tent. Since the little run-in with the Guard that morning, and due to your poor sales, you decided that an inn was out of the option and opted instead to go deep into the forest.

“I’m fine Suga.” You lied.

“You don’t seem fine. You were weird all day.” He came closer to you and brushed a piece of hair out of your face, placing it right behind your ear.

The look on his face almost broke you. You were ready to just hug him and cry into his chest. You were ready to tell him everything, but you couldn’t.

Today you made an important decision. You were going to leave them all behind and go back. You were going to take over your father, become the Queen and marry to a King, and you were doing it all for your sister. All throughout the day you couldn’t stop thinking about her. How sad she must be. How scared. You couldn’t let everything fall down on her. You wouldn’t. Unfortunately for you...that meant leaving the man you loved behind.

“It’s nothing. It’s just the shock of almost being caught by the Guard. But, you saved me.” You put your arms around his neck and did your best to smile at him.

“I would never let anything bad happen to you.” Just like a moth to a flame, you were drawn to each other's lips. The kiss was sweet, tender, safe, loving - everything you ever wanted and everything you were going to lose.

“I love you.”

This was the first time you had said it to him. This was the first time you had said it to any boy. You didn’t expect him to say it back, you didn’t need him to say it back, you just wanted him to know it before you broke his heart.

“I love you too.” His lips were back on yours, but this time with much more emotion. “So fucking much.”

It hurt that you found everything you were looking for and had to give it up. It fucking hurt. You fulfilled your wishes, the entire reason you ran away, and now you had to go back and you couldn’t help but shed a tear, something that Suga noticed right away.

“Don’t cry my love,” he brushed your tears away and gently kissed the place they were at.

“I’m just so happy.” You lied once again.

“And you deserve it. You deserve everything.” He pecked your lips lovingly. “God, you make me the happiest man alive.”

You started to kiss him, your hands tugging at his shirt almost immediately.

You couldn’t have him forever, but you could have this night. How many people wished for a chance, one last chance to be with their loved ones and can’t? You knew this was your last time, and you planned to take in every single second of it.

As soon as his shirt was off you started to kiss his toned and firm chest. You didn’t want to miss one bit of skin, you wanted to taste it all, you wanted to have it all. You went further down his body until you reached his pants, which you skillfully untied and removed so you could have access to his penis.

He was already getting hard. He was always ready for you, and you were always ready for him.

You grabbed his penis and gave it a gentle lick, your eyes fixated on his every expression. You wanted to see it all. Every lip bite, every eye roll, every hiss, every moan, every burning gaze...you wouldn’t lose a thing. You would engrave it all in your mind and remember it until you took your last breath.

“Fuck love, you do that so good,” he moaned as you sucked him off with all the dedication in the world.

You didn’t answer him. You just sucked and sucked until he couldn’t take it anymore. You wanted to taste him one last time. You wanted for him to come undone in your mouth like he had so many times before, and you didn’t care if your jaw hurt or if you gagged as he thrust himself deeper into your mouth, entering your throat.

“Fuck, Wanderer stop. I don’t want to cum just yet.”

You didn’t listen to him. You simply used one hand to pump his base as you swirled and sucked the tip and another to massage his balls, having him spilling his sweet milk all over your mouth.

You loved watching him cum. His eyes closing, his brows frowning, his mouth opened in the perfect ‘o’ shape showing his sinful pink tongue... If you could, you would have a painter paint his beautiful face at that moment and hang it right on top of your bed.

“Shit Wanderer, that may have been the best fucking suck I’ve ever gotten in my life,” he confessed as soon as he regained his breath. 

“Fuck,” he cursed as soon as he saw you swallow his semen, “I just came and I feel like I’m ready to cum again.”

Suga went into beast mode. He removed your clothes and lay you down on your mattress, kissing you all over your body until he reached your sex.

“Mhmm,” you moaned as he flicked his tongue on the most sensitive part of your body.

God, you were going to miss this. You were going to miss the way he looked at you while his head was between your thighs. You were going to miss the way he could get you to Heaven and back just with his tongue. You were going to miss the way he clawed your skin as he sucked and licked your pussy and you were definitely going to miss his fingers - his long and rough fingers. You could try, but yours could never compare to his. He seemed to know you even better than yourself how, where and when to touch you. How to rub your clit in the right measure, how many fingers you needed, how hard he needed to go and how to make you cum so hard you’d be able to see stars.

You grabbed his black locks and pressed him harder against you as he ate all of you up and finger fucked you to fucking oblivion. You were pressing him so hard against you that you knew he probably couldn’t breathe but, by the way he just went harder and harder, you knew he liked it. That fact edged you out even more, so much so that you were screaming his name in no time, your body convulsing in the sheer ecstasy of your orgasm.

“Yes, Suga! Oh, Suga…”

“I love it when you moan my name like that.” He got out from between your legs and sucked the fingers that were soaked in your arousal. “Fuck, you’re so fucking perfect.”

Suga was now on top of you, his body pressing against yours and his lips kissing your jawline and neck as he whispered sweet nothings against your skin. He was busy slowing it down, adoring you, but you needed something else. You needed to forget everything. You needed to think about him and only him. You needed him to be inside of you and you needed it now, so you switched positions (putting yourself on top of him) and placed your dripping centre right on top of his erection, rubbing yourself against it.

“Fuck, I’m so fucking lucky,” he moaned as he gripped your thighs.

“You’re wrong. I’m the lucky one.” You lowered your torso and got your face as close to his as possible, your lips, though, were barely touching, just grazing one another and causing tingling sensations that made your heart race. “I ran away from home because I didn’t believe in arranged marriages. I ran because I wanted love, true love...and I found it.” Your boyfriend’s gaze was so intense that it made you go crazy. He was looking at you like you were the moon and the stars but little did he know that tonight, the stars would go out and the moon would be eclipsed by dark dark clouds. “You’re all I could ever wish for: gentle, sweet, loving, trustful...my safe haven.” You closed your eyes and filled the tiny little gap that existed between your lips, “I love you so much.”

“Love you…” you raised your hips a little bit, lined up his dick with your pussy and simply sank right in, involving all of him and making him moan the rest of his sentence “...too.”

As you rode him and looked him straight in the eyes, his hands gripping you harder out of pure lust, you felt like you would never feel this complete in your whole life. He fit you so well that there was no way God didn’t make you for each other.

“Suga…” you moaned, reaching down to kiss him hard. “You feel so good inside of me, I wish you could fuck me all day.”

“Maybe someday we could try it, I definitely wouldn’t oppose having you wrapped around my cock all the fucking day.” His hands moved from your thighs to your ass, a gesture that, in combination with the love bites he was leaving on your neck were making you so fucking horny that you picked up the speed.

Moans and the sound of skin slapping on skin were all you could hear and, for now, you were in pure bliss. You were so in trance by him that you weren’t even capable of thinking about other things. But suddenly, your own body couldn’t respond to your needs. You needed to go faster, you needed to reach that high, but your muscles were getting too tired. Noticing this, Suga flipped the both of you so you’d be on the bottom, locked your legs around him and started fucking you like an animal in heat.

“Oh fuck, I’m so close,” you moaned, your nails digging into his back.

“Cum for me Wanderer, show me those pretty little faces you make.”

Just like that, you were cumming around him, your walls clenching so tight around him that you thought he might cum too.

Part of you wished he’d cum inside of you this time because if you got pregnant at least you would have something of him. Something to remind you of him. Something real and physical, and not just memories. But as he left you empty to ejaculate on your breasts you realized it was probably for the best. You didn’t want Suga’s child to never meet his father and vice-versa. You could never do that to him, one heartbreak was enough.

As Suga cleaned up your breasts - after he had recuperated - you couldn’t help but look at him, and your heart started to hurt again.

“What?” He asked, noticing your emotional eyes.

“Nothing,” you fake smiled. “Come lay with me.” You grabbed his hand and pulled him in close, guiding him to lay right next to you.

Suga pulled you in closer, wrapping his arm around you and making you place your head on his chest. In this position, you could hear his heartbeat, something that managed to calm you down for some reason.

“Don’t ever leave me,” Suga said, making you freeze completely. 

“W-why would you say that?” You asked, completely glad that he couldn’t look at your face right now because you’re absolutely sure that you wouldn’t be able to hide your emotions.

“Just...promise me.” He inhaled deeply and placed a gentle kiss on your hair, something that managed to break you even more.

Tears were starting to emerge. You wanted more than anything to not only promise him that and so much more but to also keep those promises. You wanted to give him everything, and it was killing you that you couldn’t give that to him. 

“I promise.” A silent tear ran down your face and now you felt truly broken.

You waited for Suga to fall asleep. It usually wouldn’t take long. He once mentioned that he was normally a fast sleeper, but when he was with you he felt so at home that he would drift off even quicker.

As soon as you heard his heavy breathing you tested it out by calling his name, just in case, and when he didn’t respond you slowly got up. You got dressed, covered him with the blanket and placed a letter you had written that afternoon right next to him. In this letter, you explained everything to him. Who you really were, every little detail of why you left home (even though he already knew the general idea), what happened this morning and why you had to leave. But most importantly, you confessed your whole feelings for him and told him this was the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do.

You looked at his serene face one more time and gave him a small kiss on the lips. “Goodbye Suga.” You were starting to cry very hard now and you felt that if you didn’t leave right now you were going to wake him with your sobbing. So, you opened up your tent, gave him one last look and left.

“Where are you taking me?” Suga had made you close your eyes and promise to only open them when he told you to. You were curious as to where he could be leading you in a forest in the middle of the night but you decided to not peek.

“Shhh, we’re almost there.”

Suddenly the ground felt a lot more earthy and less bushy and the sound of water running could be heard.

“Alright, you can open them.”

You opened your eyes and the sight completely blew your mind. In front of you was a beautiful lake with some rock formations and a small little waterfall. The water twinkled with the reflection of the moon and the stars shone in the open sky.

“Suga, this is so beautiful.” You turned around and kissed him as a thank you for showing you this beautiful place, his arms snaking around your form.

“There’s a reason I wanted to bring you here.”

“And what’s that?”

“When I look at the reflection of the moon on this water I can’t help but think how the moon and the water are eternal companions. Some nights the moon shines for the water and the water sees it and receives it, but sometimes the moon can’t be seen or it’s covered. That, though, doesn’t mean that the moon isn’t there. I want to be your moon. I want you to know that, even when dark clouds are around, I’m always going to be there for you. So…” Suga released his arms from around you and got down on one knee, pulling a ring from his pocket. “Will you let me be your moon, Wanderer?”

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Suga placed the ring on your finger and immediately got up on his feet to kiss you, as happy tears ran down your cheeks.

You woke up crying again.

It seemed like ever since you left home that was all you could do. The first time it was due to dreams about your family and the past and now, it was all because of dreams about Suga and the future you could have had.

It’s been a month since you left everything behind, once again, and returned to your broken family. Everyone was relieved to see you, which came as a surprise to you. You thought everybody would have resent for you and even hate you, but the hugs your mother and sister gave you proved you wrong. Your mother said she understood perfectly why you did what you did, and so did your father, but they had to do it. They were worried about you, but somehow they knew that you were too strong and smart to let anything bad happen to you. And your little sister...she was so happy to see you that she wanted to be near you at every second, being scared that you would disappear again - something that truly tore you apart.

Your father had died of a fever, your mother had told you. She also confessed to you your father’s last words: “Please tell Y/N I’m sorry and that I love her.”

It was really hard not to blame yourself for letting your father die with resentment, but your mother made sure to reassure you that you couldn’t have known and that no one blamed you.

Ever since his funeral you barely had any time to think, which you were kind of grateful for because you knew that if you’d start thinking, your mind would go down on a spiral. You had to take care of all the affairs of the Kingdom, plus your coronation and your marriage. The coronation and the affairs went down fairly smoothly, you had to adjust a bit to being the new Queen, but it wasn’t anything you hadn’t been prepared for your whole life. Your marriage though...was a whole nother story. You knew you needed a suitable King and heirs, your Kingdom needed it. But the idea of marrying a man that’s not Suga completely broke you and all you could do was to push it deep down inside of you and repress it. Your mind though made sure to manifest your true feelings in the form of dreams.

The choice for your husband was quite a simple one. Your parents had already approved of him - the whole reason you ran away from home - so you decided that there was no better choice than him - the prince of Slavynia. You heard he was good, kind, handsome and more than willing to marry you. You didn’t care if he was handsome or not - your heart already belonged to another - but the fact that he was portrayed as kind definitely eased your mind. You had enough problems as it was, you didn’t need an evil husband added to the list.

The wedding preparations went down smoothly. You let your mother take care of everything except for the dress. Your sister Miri begged you to choose your dress and you just couldn’t say no to her.

Right now, you were standing in your room all ready to go. Your wedding dress was made of a deep red velvety fabric - embroidered with golden flowers - and it had a golden corset, with golden details and encrusted rubies and emeralds. The skirt was huge and you felt like it must weigh as much as a bear, but it did make you feel beautiful. Your crown was also really heavy but beautiful, it’s big ruby crystals on the gold metal matching perfectly with your gown.

“Your Majesty, it’s time to go,” one of your handmaidens said as she came into your room.

“Give me just one minute.”

“Of course,” she bowed down to you and left the room, closing the door behind her.

You made your way to your bed and sat down on its edge looking at the top drawer of your bedside table. You opened the drawer and pulled out its only content - the knife Suga had given you. You caressed the handle and remembered his sweet smile. You thought about how he was doing. Was he alright? Had he moved on? Did he think of you? Did he...hate you? Or did he understand what you did?

Tears were threatening to spill and you didn’t want to ruin your makeup so you kissed the handle, placed the knife back in the drawer and closed it shut.

This was it. As you stood in front of the big white and gold doors of your ceremonial hall and looked at the excited look on your little sister’s face you couldn’t help but feel nervous. This didn’t get to be the wedding of your dreams, with the man of your dreams but you wanted it to work out. You wanted the future King to be good to you and your family. You wanted him to be good to your people and help your Kingdom prosper. You wanted everyone to be happy, even if that meant that you were sacrificing your own happiness.

“Her Majesty Queen Y/N!” The announcer said, the big white doors soon opening in front of you.

Your little sister went in first, with her tiny little crown and her cute red velvety dress that she picked out on purpose to match yours. You couldn’t help but smile as you watched her enter the room while she threw red petals on the floor you were about to walk in.

Now it was your time to go. You held your head up high, straightened your back, took a deep breath and off you went.

As soon as you entered you looked straight ahead at the altar, wanting to see what your groom looked like, but he weirdly had his back turned on you. Was he against this wedding? You were so caught up in your feelings that you didn’t even imagine that your suitor could have the exact same feelings. But then you remembered that people told you that he was more than willing to marry you. Then, why wasn’t he looking at you? Maybe he was just nervous.

You were getting closer and closer to him and each time you could observe more details. His black hair, his long fidgety fingers that he kept behind his back. Then, suddenly, he turned around and extended his hand to help you climb the stairs. It was then that your heart stopped.

“Suga?!” You almost fell to the ground, but thank God he had your hand.

“Hello, your Majesty,” he bowed to you, kissing the back of your hand in the process.

“W-what’s happening? What are you doing here? W-what about Prince Yoongi?” Your head was spinning and you truly felt like you could pass out at any minute.

“I am Prince Yoongi,” he got closer to your ear and whispered: “Wanderer.”

You wanted to say something. You had one million questions, but the truth was you were barely capable of breathing properly right now, much less speaking. 

Suga saw your difficulty in talking and decided to explain everything.

“Remember I told you I also ran away from home? Well, my parents wanted to marry me off to some Princess I didn’t even know and that didn’t sit right with me. Sound familiar?”

You laughed. You laughed so loud that everyone in the hall was looking at you like you were crazy but, how could you do anything but laugh?

“So you mean to tell me that we both ran away from home because we didn’t want to marry each other and ended up doing just that?”

“Yes.” You both started laughing, this time not so loud.

“You can’t imagine how I felt when I read your letter…” he placed his hand on your cheek and you leaned into his touch. God, you missed him so much. “As soon as I figured out who you were I picked up everything and went back home, and…” he leaned in once more to whisper to you. “I took two idiots with me.” He nodded his head to the back of him where your friends Namjoon and Hoseok stood.

“Who’s that with Hoseok?” You asked, referring to the young blond he was holding hands with.

“Ugh, don’t even ask…” He rolled his eyes and you just couldn’t help but smile. You couldn’t wait to hear him brag about how he conquered her and what he and Namjoon have been up to.

“You’ll tell me later. For now, I can’t wait to get married to you,” you kissed him on the cheek.

“Let’s do it then, Wanderer.”

[magicmastered]

What Universe does Thor: Ragnarok Take Place In? Part Two

I repeat my disclaimer from the last post in this series. If you don’t want to see criticism of Thor: Ragnarok, then a) don’t read, b) filter your tags, c) block me, or d) any combination of the previous.

For Part Two I’ll explain the characterization discrepancies between Thor: Ragnarok’s characters and those it shares through the MCU. These characters are Thor, Loki, Odin, and Bruce Banner.

(No, I didn’t forget Heimdall and the Warriors Three. I don’t see any issues with Ragnarok’s portrayal of Heimdall—correct me if I’m wrong, I’d love to discuss it—and unfortunately we don’t have enough time with the Warriors Three to tell.)

I’ll start with pre-Ragnarok Thor.

Thor, as I pointed out in Part One, has a violent temper, and his recklessness endangers his brother and friends. He starts out Thor (2011) arrogant enough to try to pull rank on Odin. He cajoles his friends into joining him on dangerous missions. He tends to look down on Loki, but doesn’t visibly enjoy seeing him in pain, and cares what happens to his brother to some degree (he’s distraught when Loki seemingly dies in both Thor movies, and saves Loki from the implosion bomb). He eventually learns to cool his temper to some degree (come later in Thor (2011) and later movies), though he still has lapses (when he Mjolnirs Tony for getting between him and Loki, then Cap for telling him to drop Mjolnir in Avengers (2012); when he nearly punches Loki in the face in TDW, when he chokes Tony in AOU). He learns to talk things out before fighting (he talks to the Kronan in TDW before they...uh, fight, and he tries to talk down Ultron in AOU with “no one needs to break anything”). Thor starts to question Odin’s authority (when Odin basically says he’d let all of Asgard die if it meant killing the rest of the Dark Elves in TDW) and defy his decisions. He takes situations seriously when they warrant it (note his face when Ultron starts snarking). He cares about Jane quite a lot (he gets her notebook back in Thor (2011), comes to Earth when he thinks she’s in danger in TDW, and brags about her to Tony in AOU).

Now, Ragnarok Thor.

Thor has always patiently put up with Loki’s assaults (will get to these in Loki’s section) without fighting back, losing his temper, or doing anything to prevent them. He openly, shamelessly manipulates Bruce/Hulk (telling each that they’re the one he prefers), Valkyrie (shaming her when she doesn’t want to help him), and Loki (the elevator speech, and the one with the obedience disk). He grins when Loki’s twitching in pain on the ground from the obedience disk, and leaves him there for an unknown length of time where Loki could’ve easily been found and executed. Thor’s back to attacking other realms on suspicions without negotiating (he goes to Muspelheim and kills the king and anyone who tries to protect him). His violence is back—he effectively threatens to smash Loki/Odin’s head in if he doesn’t reveal himself, backs Loki into a couch with Mjolnir to his chest, and looks like he’s about to attack Loki when Odin dies. He’s back to worshiping the ground Odin walks on (after learning that Odin conquered and slaughtered his way through the Nine Realms, he still looks to him for guidance). He quips constantly, no matter the situation (see...the entirety of Ragnarok). He dismisses Jane with a line about a mutual dumping.

Huh?

Loki’s turn.

Loki, as I pointed out in Part One, prefers to negotiate rather than fight, and tends to think ahead. He’s highly intelligent and strategic (he realizes in advance that Thor will get them into trouble on Jotunheim and works out how to get out alive, he realizes that the relics in the vault are stolen, he doesn’t buy Odin’s initial story about taking him in out of compassion, he quickly figures out how to overpower Odin/where to put him/how to get him there/how to get Thor’s friends out of trouble). He has legitimate reasons for everything he does (see Part One). He’s generally loyal to Thor, outside of extreme circumstances like experiencing a mental breakdown or getting anything from coerced to tortured by a mad Titan (his betrayal in Thor (2011) comes as a shock to Thor, and Avengers (2012) didn’t really have anything to do with Thor). After Odin and Frigga lied to him, and Sif, Heimdall, and the Warriors Three betrayed him (as did Thor by agreeing to come with them, technically), Loki doesn’t trust easily, and is always on guard. He refuses to tolerate manipulation from his family (he denies that Frigga is his mother when she makes acknowledging Odin as his father a condition of that, and doesn’t accept for Odin’s hypocrisy). He’s quite skilled at psychological manipulation and lying (he knows exactly what will keep Thor down when he lies that Odin’s dead), and knows how to act (he plays Odin flawlessly enough that Thor doesn’t notice in TDW). He’s anything but lazy (he definitely works at his plans in his first two movies, and in TDW...Svartalfheim and after speaks for itself). He’d make a good ruler (“for all his grave imbalance, Loki understood rule as I know I never will”). After Odin and Thanos, he’s not great with authority figures (he’s...less than respectful of the Other—“if your force is as formidable as you claim”—and he sasses Odin relentlessly in TDW). He feels fear but doesn’t act on it (he’s scared on Jotunheim but fights anyway; he’s scared of the Other but doesn’t run; he’s cool and collected upon his defeat in Avengers (2012); he’s poised with Odin during the trial). He only acts egotistical in Avengers (2012) under the influence of the Mind Stone; otherwise he wants to be accepted as Thor’s equal. He’s genuinely mentally ill (he attempted suicide, and probably has serious PTSD after Thanos—if only the movies showed that kind of thing).

What’s Ragnarok’s Loki like?

Loki’s needlessly violent (the snake story), and has no planning ability whatsoever (he doesn’t have a better plan than ‘get help’). He’s pretty stupid (putting Skurge of all people on Bifrost duty, calling the Bifrost to get away from Hela when she was in Bifrost-range, not noticing the obedience disk, etc.). He doesn’t have a reason for doing anything other than “I’m a trickster, I can’t help myself”. He’s always betrayed Thor compulsively. He’s...not exactly on guard (he doesn’t think to carry a weapon as Odin, and he trusts that the Grandmaster will keep his word and not execute him if he brings in Thor). Loki does what Thor wants when Thor tries emotionally manipulating him. He doesn’t notice when Thor tried reverse psychology on him. He’s terrible at acting (he completely foils Odin’s speech and behavior). He’s remarkably lazy (he’s laying on a couch eating grapes when Thor shows up). He’s pretty bad at ruling (the Nine Realms are in chaos). He’s fairly obedient to authority figures (he ingratiates himself to the Grandmaster and doesn’t talk back once). He’s a bit of a coward (he was scared when Thor showed up, “bring us back”, he’s visibly afraid of the Grandmaster, “I have to get off this planet”). He’s an egomaniac and attention hog (the statue, the play). He “tries...to embody this idea of a tortured artist, this tortured, gothy orphan”—no real problems at all.

Are these supposed to be the same person?!

Okay. Odin.

Odin is massively hypocritical, manipulative liar with tons of blood on his hands (the first part needs no explaining besides “watch the movies”; for the second, Loki first implies, then states outright, that Odin’s responsible for a lot of death, and neither Odin nor Frigga correct him). He doesn’t let Thor make his own choices (he doesn’t even consider that Thor might not want to rule; he wants Thor to be with Sif instead of Jane; he won’t listen to Thor’s suggestions about the Dark Elves). He’s worn down Loki’s self-esteem his whole life by favoring Thor, and he’s outright cruel to Loki later (“No, Loki”; “your birthright was to die”; “Frigga is the only reason you’re still alive and you will never see her again”). He never admits his own faults (he never takes any responsibility for any of the death he’s caused, never admits to the part he played in Loki’s downfall) except to hurt people (“yes, I was a fool—to think that you were ready”). He doesn’t express affection to his sons, and any he has is hugely conditional—as soon as they step out of line, he gives the guards permission to kill them (“by any means necessary!”).

Time for Ragnarok Odin.

Admittedly, he’s still a massively hypocritical, manipulative liar with tons of blood on his hands (see: everything involving Hela). After death, Odin controls Thor’s choices even more than before. He praises Loki aloud (“Frigga would’ve been proud”). He admits a mistake (“I’ve failed you”) in a way that, well, doesn’t immediately hurt anyone. He shows open affection to both Thor and Loki (“I love you, my sons”). He’s generally considered wise and benevolent.

Wait, what?

And now, Bruce. I don’t know as much about him, so his will be short. I’d love to see more on him if anyone has suggestions.

Bruce is very intelligent (he’s a physicist who can keep up with Tony). He’s not panicky; he’s usually quite calm and mild-mannered (see Avengers (2012) and AOU). He hates killing people as Hulk (he’s unhappy after the Hydra bust at the beginning of AOU, and he’s miserable and guilty enough to leave after Johannesburg). After he de-Hulks, he knows he’s most likely killed someone or at least caused a lot of damage.

Then there’s Ragnarok Bruce.

Bruce has 7 PhDs, but his shown intelligence is...questionable: on an alien planet where no one knows who he is, he thinks he’s supposed to disguise himself as Tony Stark. Without Hulk he’s considered useless. He’s openly anxious (“I think I’m freaking out”; his reaction to Sakaar in general). He doesn’t mention the fact that two years straight of being Hulk is probably going to mean a lot of damage and a lot of people dead. He shows no grief or distress due to it.

Yeah...no issues at all....

Odin’s sudden appearance of warmth isn’t without explanation. It could easily be his attempt to make Loki guilty for his anger (since Odin’s last words would’ve seemed kind), thus encouraging him to help with Hela to make up for it. Other than that, they’re irreconcilable.

Thor cannot be both sadistic and non-sadistic.

Loki cannot be both completely stupid and smart.

Odin cannot be both “wise and benevolent” and cruel and controlling.

Bruce cannot be both ignorant of the damage Hulk causes and deeply distraught over it.

These sets of traits cannot exist in the same characters in the same universe without reasons for the change within that universe. Ragnarok provides no such reason, which creates a stark gap in continuity.

There is no cinematic universe without continuity.

Ragnarok clearly disregards the canon of the MCU. Therefore, it cannot be part of that universe.

As I’ve suggested to @lucianalight, I propose that we use the term “Ragnarok Cinematic Universe,” or RCU, for all movies that use Ragnarok’s personal canon.

[ladylouoflothlorien]

Unexpected Destiny #4

Dwalin x Female!Reader

1358 words

AN: This part is another shorter one. I’m sorry, Uni has really been kicking me up the bum but I’ve only got one week to go before my spring holiday so I’m looking forward to being more creative over the course of that. :) 

This part is a little bit of a filler, granted. There are more exciting plot developments to come, but for now this is just a little insight into the company and their time in Rivendell. Also there is some Khuzdul in the following chapter and there’s a translation at the bottom. Please enjoy part 4!

The next day, the whole company seemed to be on edge. They were still in Rivendell, surrounded by elves – never a comfortable situation for a group of dwarves. Apart from that, they knew the elves and Gandalf were discussing something behind their backs. There were whispers of a powerful elf witch being in Rivendell, as well as the head of the Istari Saruman.

Thorin was angry that he was being left out; this was his quest after all, and he was a King in his own right. He deserved to be involved. The rest of the dwarves didn’t particularly mind, but their leader’s foul mood affected them all, and Dwalin was grouchy that he’d been given no opportunity so far to corner Lord Elrond and demand answers.

[Y/n] was totally unbothered by all of this – for someone who’d been trapped in a sleep-like state for hundreds of years, she sure was a late riser… that’s right, the sun had been up for hours and [y/n] was still asleep. The company had started to get concerned, but a healer elf had appeared for long enough to reassure the incredibly protective dwarves (plus the hobbit) that this was a perfectly normal reaction for coming out of the spell she’d been under.

By the time [y/n] finally awoke, the dwarves had built themselves a campfire and had stolen almost half of the meat the elves had stocked in their kitchens.

“Ah, [y/n]!” Balin had noticed her sitting up with a blank half-awake expression on her face. She blinked, trying to get her eyes to focus properly as she returned to the land of the living.

“Mmmmhhhnnnggg…” It seemed that [y/n] wasn’t yet up to giving a reply in any intelligible language. Fili and Kili chortled loudly and settled on either side of [y/n]. One of the two handed her a hairbrush – she wasn’t awake enough to recognise which of the two it was – and they nudged her shoulder with a joking ‘you need it’. They weren’t lying… [y/n]’s hair was practically a rat’s nest. Even so, she glared at the miniscule wooden brush and was just about to chuck it into the fire when the other prince snatched it back.

“Come on sister, we’ll sort your hair out for you.”

Confused on two accounts, [y/n]’s mouth fell open and then snapped shut as she struggled to form any kind of response.

“I thought that hair touching is .. uh .. special and intimate for dwarves?” She asked, perplexed, as each brother began to focus on untangling the hair on either side of her head.

“Correct! Touching hair is reserved for family members and our ones.” Chirped Kili. The two princes made quick work of the tangles in her hair – they were used to working with their own wild manes after all.

“So – but… I’m - ” [Y/n] was still too sleepy to be coherent when she was so confused, but luckily she was understood anyway.

“Mum’s always wanted a daughter.” Fili winked, dipping into his pocket to take out a small carved box.

“We’ve always wanted a sister, too.” [Y/n] felt her cheeks flush and her eyes widened as she glanced around the seated dwarves for any indication of how to react, but she only got encouraging gestures. Well, being adopted by a dwarven family wasn’t the worst thing that could happen… after a moment to get over the shock she found that she was actually quite touched.

“Okay… but why me?”

Kili grinned as Fili opened the box to reveal that it contained several different beads.

“We figured after last night you’re more than strong enough and fiery enough to deserve a place in the line of Durin.” Fili explained, his chest puffing up in pride a little as he mentioned his lineage. “Besides” Kili cut in, feeling his brother’s explanation was just a little impersonal. “We like you.” After that, both brothers nodded enthusiastically.

[Y/n] was – for once – silent, but she gladly let the brothers continue combing through her hair. After a few minutes they stopped brushing and started intricately braiding her hair instead. Their warm, calloused, careful hands working in her hair were almost enough to lull [y/n] back to sleep, so when Dwalin and Thorin walked back into the common room, both nursing mugs of ale, the woman had her eyes shut.

Almost instinctively Dwalin’s eyes sought out [y/n], and he promptly spat out an entire mouthful of ale all over the floor at the sight of both young princes burying their fingers in [y/n]’s thick locks. The warrior felt his blood boil, his face turning bright red with anger, but he patiently waited for Thorin to loudly reprimand his nephews for acting so shamelessly. Thorin didn’t. Instead, the King set down his mug of ale and took three great strides across the room. Thorin plucked the bead Fili had chosen from his nephew’s fingertips and fixed it at the base of one of the new braids in [y/n]’s hair.

“Welcome to the family.” His took both of [y/n]’s hands in his and he bent down to rest his forehead against hers. [Y/n] – who’d opened her eyes by that point – beamed up at the King, enjoying his happy attitude when he was usually so stoic. Dwalin was just about ready to explode.

“Call me uncle.” With that, Thorin pulled back to re-join his friend, completely missing the tell-tale signs of his friend’s anger. Fili and Kili hadn’t missed it. They had no inkling of what was causing it, of course, but it seemed to be aimed at them. The safest thing for them to do was to get away from him before he blew up.

“Come on sister, show us around Rivendell!” Both of [y/n]’s hands were caught up by her new dwarven ‘brothers’ and they jumped up, rushing out of the room and dragging [y/n] along between them. By the time they’d left the room, the anger they were trying to escape from had disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, only to be replaced by confusion.

“Sister?” Dwalin’s head turned and his gaze burned into Thorin’s face as the King merely laughed at him.

“They came to me before [y/n] awoke to asks my blessing on bringing her into the family. I had no objection – she appears to have no other family and she’s been mistreated enough by the elves. What of it?”

The gruff dwarf puffed himself up a little before replying, feigning confidence. “Well I thought tha-” He cut off abruptly when he saw Thorin eagerly waiting for an explanation and the warrior drew back into himself. “Nothin’.”

Dwalin made to push past the other dwarf, but Thorin put a hand on his shoulder and held him still; he had a rare look of amusement and intrigue on his face. Though prone to getting frequently lost – which often led those around him to question his judgement and abilities – Thorin was by no means a stupid dwarf. Quite the reverse, in fact. Thorin was as quick-witted as his eyes were blue.

“Bâheluh… Don’t think I’ve known you all these years for nothing. I believe I know what’s going on behind that thick skull of yours.”

Thorin didn’t need to say more for Dwalin to realise he’d been figured out. Curse his great friend Thorin for always being quick on the uptake – Dwalin had only just figured out he felt anything for this mysterious woman and Thorin had already seen right through him.

Dwalin huffed and pretended like his ears hadn’t just turned a few shades redder. This earned a hearty guffaw from Thorin, who simply pat his friend on the shoulder before turning his attention back to his ale.

The tattooed Dwarf really didn’t feel like sitting in a room with the smug Thorin at that moment in time. He downed what was left of his ale and puffed himself up a little, trying to force his usual confidence back into his body. It was time that he sought out that blasted elf Lord . . . and he didn’t care if he had to interrupt some ridiculous secret meeting to get his attention.

Bâheluh - my friend of all friends

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you were made to suffer

Prologue, Ch. 1

A big thank you to @zacksfairest for the initial Ardyn ask she sent to me. Without it, I would not have found the inspiration for this fic nor have opening lines of his dialogue to shamelessly pilfer for my own use. Thank you, bb!

Chapter 2: Intra Insomnia

Two weeks later, Melody consigned herself to a Hammerhead visit. Her truck desperately needed repairs, and she'd run out of reasons to put it off. The Hammerhead's lead mechanic, Cindy Aurum, inspected Mel’s truck with a raised eyebrow, her arms akimbo. "I swear, you go through cars like a rich boy runnin’ ‘round with his daddy's money. I ain't never seen the like." "At least I didn't total it," Melody said, keeping Talcott's role in the whole thing a secret. With more seriousness, she asked, "It isn't totaled, right?" "Naw," Cindy said, rapping a knuckle against the hood. "I can fix it. Just gonna take a bit 'a time. We're real backed up right now."

"That's okay. I have nowhere in particular to be." But Cindy kept studying the truck, a pensive purse to her lips. "Say, weren't you drivin' an old Fusion last I saw you?" "Was that what it was? You know I don't know car models, Cind." "Where'd you get this one?" Melody settled for the simple answer. "I found it." Cindy threw her a hard look. "Am I about to be workin' on a stolen truck?" "Not exactly," Melody reasoned. "I found it by the side of the road near the chocobo tracks, keys tossed in the dirt. I waited for a good two hours for someone to come get it, and that's a long time in Terra Daemonica. When no one did, I took it." She shrugged. "I've been needing a good truck. 'Sides, left the Fusion there, keys in the ignition for a quick getaway in case someone needed it." Cindy sighed. "Well, ain't heard 'a nobody reportin' it stolen, so I guess you're off the hook. Again." "Different rules when it's the apocalypse, Cind." Melody beamed and waved before making her way towards the diner. "And thanks!" Melody went on a few hunts with the resident hunters, including Gladiolus, Iris' brother. She didn't know him particularly well, but the man seemed to be more introspective lately. When she told him, "Prompto told me to tell you hi," he got quiet. Almost broodingly so. Melody left it alone. She wasn't close to any members of the Crownsguard, but she did know they used to be inseparable. With Noctis vanishing, everything had changed. Part of her wished she knew what had happened, but her sensible side firmly reminded her, "It doesn't concern you. Keep moving."

What did concern her was scoring a decent bed to sleep in and perhaps a fine hunter to share it with. This trip, she managed it, hitting it off with a man named Hector, all smoldering green eyes and arms that knew how to handle a broadsword. They were living in fast times, uncertain times. Melody saw no sense in waiting around and hopefully not die before she got what she wanted. She saw even less sense in enduring a dry spell on top of Armageddon. Only so much for one person to take.

The Citadel's two towers loomed above all other buildings in sight, glass gleaming an ominous black in the dark. Approaching it was like passing through the gates of death; once you were there, there would be no going back. She didn't even hesitate. Though the entrance stretched a forebodingly long distance, every nerve in her telling her to turn back, she kept jogging forward. Up the dark front steps. Inside the atrium. Down the hall until she found an elevator. She didn't question why the lights were on within the Citadel, why the elevator still worked. For some reason, that didn't matter. Out the elevator. Down the winding halls and into… The Throne Room. Light from the wall lamps illuminated the high throne rising above the room. Beyond a set of stairs, the black throne was inlaid with gold filigree and a back of red velvet. A wall of gleaming gold surrounded it, the color subtle instead of gaudy, only shining where the light reflected off its surface. Her breath caught at the sight. She placed her foot on the first step, wanting to approach that glorious seat of noble kings, to pay her respects. A hand seized her wrist, and before she could turn to look, a deep voice said in a deceptively dangerous lilt, "There you are, my—" A snore ripped violently through the camper, and Melody's eyes snapped open, only to glare at Hector's still-sleeping form, sawing enough logs to build a small city. Which meant she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep. Throwing his arm off her, she rose and attended to her normal morning routine to make herself presentable. All the while, her latest dream nudged and prodded her, but the more she tried to remember it, the hazier it became. At last, she considered. Should she just go to Insomnia and check the place out? Would the dreams stop then? She was willing to try. Anything to get a good, dreamless night's sleep for once. Melody shut the door of the camper behind her, stretched, then waltzed over to the diner. Takka's Pit Stop was gradually being converted into a hunter stronghold. Many of the booths had been removed to make room for crates of weapons, medical supplies, and a few sleeping cots. But the bar was still operable, and Takka himself manned the counter, still taking food orders and providing information when he could. "Oh, didn't see you there!" Takka said, startled at the sight of her leaning against the bar. "What can I get you?" "Sorry to bother you," said Melody as casually as possible, "but I was wondering if you could tell me the best way to get to Insomnia from here." "Insomnia?" His brow furrowed. "Why on earth would you want to go there?" "Just trying to stay prepared. You never know what can happen, and Lucis isn't exactly the most secure right now, you know?" "Yeah, I hear ya," Takka sighed. "Normally, you'd just take the bridge in, but we haven't managed to clear all the vehicles yet." "What'd'ya mean?" Takka leaned on the counter, looking much older than his forty years. "When Insomnia was seized, a lotta people evacuated the city into Lucis, but the Nifs put up a blockade on this end, and a lotta folk didn't make it out. We thought now that the Empire is largely no more that we'd start seeing some people fleeing from the daemons, but no one that was still in the city has been seen since." Takka straightened, eyes boring into the counter. "Nothing left but empty cars." "Damn," she muttered. "I didn't even consider that." "Anyway," Takka said, changing the subject, "you might make it a mile driving past the blockade, but after that, you'd have to walk the rest of the way, and I don't recommend it." No, that definitely wouldn't work. Too many daemons along miles and miles of vehicle-clogged, narrow bridge surrounded by water. She'd have a death wish going that way. "The only other way I could recommend is by boat," Takka went on, "but you'd have to leave out of Galdin Quay, what's left of it." And for that, she'd need to find someone with a boat. "I gotcha. Thanks for the help, anyway, Takka." It took Melody the better part of a week to locate anyone with a boat much less a person crazy enough to take her to Insomnia. In that time, she'd discovered that the topic of the Crown City was a dangerously touchy subject for most people, the worst experience coming from Gladio. "You've got no damn business being there," he'd told her fiercely, like she was a misbehaving child. "It'll be a cold day in hell before I let a stranger tell me my business," she said coolly. Cognac brown eyes flashing, Gladio grit his teeth and flexed his large hands into fists. "Look, just take it from me. Even going to the city with back-up is a death sentence. The daemons there are on a whole other level." "I hear you, I hear you. Sorry I asked, sheesh." Gladio watched her very closely over the next few days, suspicious and rightly so. But he couldn't just hang around the Hammerhead, and Melody didn't want or need a permission slip from him. Still, she was more discreet, and she soon found a man named Benjamin who could sail her to Insomnia. "For a price," Benjamin said, his skin tanned and pockmarked from the sun, white whiskers beginning to grow in amidst his brown beard. His head was bald save for the baseball cap he wore, and his clothes implied he was still more of a fisherman than a hunter. "How much?" "For a journey like this, one hundred big ones." One-hundred thousand gil. A steep price, but she was asking for a steep risk, and right now she had more than enough to cover the expense. Who could say things would stay that way if she waited? "Fine, but you'll get half now and half upon delivery." "Seventy now," he argued, blue eyes never flinching, "and that's my final offer." Good enough for her. They shook on it. The next morning, she found herself stepping out of her repaired truck, staring out at the once luxurious pier of Galdin Quay. Daemons roamed the beach, the hillsides, so many everywhere she looked. She hurried down the pier, hoping her truck would stay safe until she got back. She'd parked next to Ben's as there was strength in solidarity. The bar and luxury suites were almost too sad to look at, having been broken into and stripped by looters and squatters so many months ago. There were no more lights on at the pier, so she mostly felt her way down the stairs using the handrail, feeling relieved to see Ben's flashlight blinking towards her as he finished prepping his motorboat. "You came prepared, I see," he said in his gravelly voice, nodding toward her, or more accurately the weapons she carried. Daggers in her boots and inside her knee-length coat. Sword and satchel of curatives at her side. Bow and arrows between her shoulder blades. "I overpack sometimes," Melody quipped as she paid him what she owed then boarded. Ben untied the last rope and stepped on after her. "A good thing in this case." He started up the motor, and they were gone in minutes. He let her watch him captain the boat, and soon he was showing her how things worked to pass the time. Several compasses and maps were spread along the dash, a necessary measure now that there were no stars to guide sailors at night. Melody noticed he'd brought his own sword and several firearms. "You've been wanting to go back, too." "Just needed an excuse," Ben confirmed. He adjusted their course slightly, turning the wheel clockwise. "You from Insomnia?" "I grew up there," he replied. "Moved out to the country with my wife, Astrals rest her soul, about seven years ago. We both fell in love with the simple life. But my son and his boyfriend still lived in the city when…" When Niflheim had come. "I'm so sorry," she said. "I been makin' my peace with it," Ben said, voice gruff in a way that had nothing to do with the sea salt in the air. "But I just… I need to see it." Melody nodded. "I understand." "You had family in the city?" Not a soul. But wanting to maintain the air of camaraderie, she said, "I'm the same. I need to see it, too." A few hours later, the outer wall loomed on their starboard side, the city as dark and gloomy as all the rest. Benjamin followed the bridge in, drifting the boat to a stop once the street grew level with the water. All was quiet as they stepped onto Insomnian soil. A few street lights still flickered on and off. Melody paid him the rest, as agreed, and she asked, "Want to stick together?" "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather do this alone. You're a hunter, so I feel I can count on you to not get in over your head." "And what about you?" "I can handle it. I won't be lingerin'." He pointed towards a side street, a restaurant on the corner with its windows busted out and a dead, neon sign ripped halfway off. "Just a few blocks from here is where Lucas lived. I should be back within an hour." That's all the time she cared to take here, too. "Okay, I'll meet back with you then. Stay safe." He nodded and started off. Melody watched him go then took her own path, heading towards the city's center. Insomnia looked exactly as her dreams had unveiled it, with a minor difference. Magitek troopers patrolled the streets, and she played a dangerous cat-and-mouse game to avoid them, ducking down side streets and skirting around their routes as they passed. It wasn't long before she ran into her first daemon, too, a monstrously huge Iseultalon, its jaws opening to roar and power up its deadly laser attack. "Yeeeeah, no," Melody said and took off at a sprint. The ground erupted where she'd been standing, the behemoth's red laser beam cutting through the concrete like butter. Melody didn't stop to look back, darting down an alley too narrow for the beast to pursue. In doing so, she drew the attention of two Nagarani whose ghoulish female heads hissed at her, their serpentine bodies lurking between the buildings, rearing back to strike. Daggers were in her hands in a snap and she kept low, weaving a path towards the first and slicing a long horizontal cut along its exposed underbelly. The thing screeched but didn't retreat, slashing at her with its tail. Melody ducked, barely avoiding it, and hurled a dagger at the second Nagarani as she ran past. It connected, but she was acutely aware that all she'd done was piss them off, radiant magic or no. Fine with her. She wasn't here to hunt daemons. Just get in and then get right back out. She left the alley behind as quickly as possible and tried to remember the details of her dreams. Beautiful subway station, where, oh, where could you be? She found it a few minutes later, avoiding another behemoth in the process. Lights were still on in the tunnels, the white walls almost blindingly bright compared to the darkness she left outside. Leaning against a wall, Melody caught her breath and drank some water out of her canteen. Already, she could hear the mechanical stomp of Magitek troopers echoing down the tunnels. She wasn't out of danger yet, not by a long shot. Before she dove back into the fray, she thought about what she was doing, what could possibly be waiting for her at the Citadel. Probably nothing, and I'm going to look very foolish and be out 100,000 gil, she told herself. But maybe… Maybe not. Maybe there was something there, something that could help her, could help all of them. An idea bloomed, fragile but full of hope. Could Prince Noctis be there? Was this maybe where he'd vanished to? If that was the case, future king or no, she'd kick his ass for making his friends wait, for making them all wait. When a trooper rounded the corner, she attacked with renewed vigor in her step, dagger cleaving its head off before it could blink. Gunshots fired in her direction. She answered the challenge with military-grade arrows. Ten minutes later, she limped from the subway, swigging a potion from her satchel and wincing as she felt the bullets exit her shoulder and thigh wounds, her skin knitting itself back together. The sight of the Citadel before her was its own balm, and she picked up her pace, jogging all the way to the front steps. "I finally made it, thank Bahamut," Melody said, slowing and checking her watch. "Oh, I wouldn't be thanking the Draconian yet, my dear."

Melody hadn't glimpsed a soul standing on the steps of the Citadel before looking down at her watch. She hadn't seen another person in Insomnia besides the company she’d brought with her, but suddenly here was this man. And his voice, she had heard that lilt before. Even if she'd never seen him, a cord of familiarity was plucked inside her the same time a voice whispered run. Though she wasn't sure why. He appeared outlandish rather than threatening. Indeed, the man's sense of fashion was perhaps slightly more of an anomaly than his presence in an abandoned city. A charcoal gray coat billowed around his boots as he walked slowly down the steps, the upper half of the coat sporting patterns of black along the inner line of his torso and light gray around his shoulders and upper arms. His green pants with light blue and gray pinstripes appeared almost black and gray in the dark. Two suit vests—one navy blue, gray, and burgundy, the other a striped green and light blue to match his pants—were layered one over the other atop a white, high-collared, pleated shirt. A red and orange cravat rested at his throat below the collar, and a dark gray hooded scarf with a white brocade pattern perched atop his coat, the two ends of the scarf trailing behind him. The finishing touch was a black fedora hat resting upon the unruly locks of his plum red hair. "Melody, dear. How lovely to finally meet you face to face," the man said, maintaining eye contact with her, his tone airy and unfailingly polite. Her pulse quickened, fear flooding her at the sound of her name on a stranger's lips. He strolled to the base of the stairs, stopping a few short feet from her. "A shame that it took snatching the sun from the sky to bring you to my doorstep, but now I have a kingdom laid out before me to present you to." He waved his arm in a majestic arc, as if surrounding them was a glorious Crown City rather than a sad ruin of one. The more he spoke, the more Melody realized she’d made a mistake. Noctis wasn't here, her dreams were folly, and if what this man said was true… A shame it took snatching the sun from the sky.

“You’re the reason behind all this?” Her voice was flat to her ears but spoken with an undeniable edge. "Who the hell are you, and how do you know me?" The man clucked his tongue, smiling at the expression on her face. "Don't look so surprised. I've been watching you for quite some time, but my attentions have been turned elsewhere—until now, at least. I have some free time on my hands as I wait to officially take my place on the throne after so very long." His tone was wistful and still so cordial, but when it dipped into a slightly deeper register, Melody's hair stood on end. "I think now is as good a time as any to get acquainted." With a broad hand wrapped in a black fingerless glove, the man reached for her.

Melody snatched herself back, fear and rage tangling within her, fueling her magic, and she pulled from somewhere deep. Without hesitation, she outstretched her arm and cast Holy Light.

She didn't need to know anything further. If this man wanted to consort with daemons, fine. He could die like them, too. 

Melody cried out in sudden pain. Her wrist became clasped in a bruising grip, her magic sputtering out, and the man towered over her, moving much faster than any human could have. Déjà vu struck her, a hand around her wrist in another time, another place, and now she remembered why that lilting voice was familiar despite never seeing him before. There you are, my—

Except this time nothing was going to wake her up, for this was not a dream.   "Now, now, none of that," he lightly chastised her. "I haven't even gotten the chance to introduce myself." "I don't care," snarled Melody. Then she lit him up. Blinding white light surged into the air, the center where the man stood—if he was still there—too bright to look at directly. It was enough to kill most daemons on contact and heavily damage the stronger ones. And it took everything Melody had to cast it. She fell to her hands and knees gasping, her body shaking with bone-aching fatigue. An invisible knife stabbed into her forehead, pain ricocheting through her skull, and she felt like she would vomit. But it'd gotten his hand off of her. The light slowly died down. And the man still stood, head bowed while his hands brushed black matter off his coat. Miasma. "One healer tries to cure me. The other, to kill me." He laughed to himself, delighted. "Such curious things. But I appreciate your attempt a little more." Melody stared and stared at him, seeing but still not believing. The daemon taint was clearly running its course through him—he claimed this darkness as his—and still he stood after a divine attack, undamaged. "What are you?" the hunter breathed. "Why, I'm your king. Ardyn Lucis Caelum, at your service," he said, removing his hat and dipping into a regal bow. The action would have been polite if he hadn't also pronounced his name slowly, as if speaking to a simpleton.

Then he backhanded her. The blow happened so fast, so hard, Melody barely felt it, her body lying prostrate on the ground, her head twisted at a sharp angle. "This sight is a tad bit familiar," Ardyn mused. "Though you're in much better shape than the Oracle was, and I do prefer the black. Oh my, did someone not drink enough of their potion?" Melody's eyes fluttered, and she fought to stay conscious. She hoped Ben had made it back to the boat, hoped he would leave without her. The last thing she remembered was Ardyn crouched down beside her, his voice drifting to her while she faded into the black. "Yes, I think I'll keep you for a while, my dear. After all, who knows how long that darling prince is going to be?"