#stuck them all together and drew the rest around it. which was not a good idea.

[bowling-alleycarpet]

Stardew Valley Inktober day 30: Prizes

For today I drew Caroline having a teacparty with my favourite prize from the prize machine, Stardrop Tea!

no worries, the trio is putting the green leaves to good use out back

[777heavengirl]

the one with the family matter

sirius black x reader ! - 2,157 words masterlist bags masterlist A/N: Early chapter today! i usually post rlly late at night... what would you guys prefer? morning/afternoon like this one/the usual night update? lmk <3

Most mornings at 717 were nothing short of blissful. Or at least they used to be.

More often than not Sirius and you got lost in your cloying domestic bubble. The early morning hours passed by you like the rest of the world simply did not exist. By the time you crawled out of bed, which wasn't late by any means, Sirius had been up for a while. He rarely slept, properly that is, always restless and full of adrenaline. Sometimes he'd make breakfast, or fetch something from a nearby bakery, greeting you with a smile and teasing nicknames. His record player hummed songs that were engraved behind your tongue, the repetition of them causing them to be forever in your mind. Like a reflex. Other times, when you could tell he felt poorly, dragged by the weight of his family and his nightmares— you'd wake up to an empty apartment and a note on the counter. The neon pink Post-it from the muggle office supply store stuck to the handle of your coffee cup.

At Prongs's!

or the more vague,

On a ride!

He always signed it off with an - S, his quick slanted cursive and the small smiley face he always drew on it made the corners of your lips twitch up. Every morning your mug with coffee, prepared the exact way you liked, waited at the corner of the table, regardless of his presence. A heating charm on it so it'll never grow cold. 

Recently, this pattern had vanished. When you had work you’d still do it, make his coffee, two sugars with cream, and stick a post-it on the handle. Sometimes with a happy face drawn right in the middle of it, other times with a small message,

don’t forget to help James build the baby’s crib!

picking up pastries for tonight!

have a good day!

But they largely went unmentioned, but Sirius didn't say much these days anyway. You both danced around it, good mornings and the rare good nights were said but not much else, there was no baking together on your off days, no impromptu trips to the fresh market, no rides on the tube clinging to each other. No, you went alone now, and when he did go with you— only when the apartment was finally completely barren of food, the two of you apparated in and out. Silently. 

On your off days when your eyes watered looking at his closed door— you didn’t even know if he was in there or not— you’d go knock on Remus and Peter’s door. Sometimes only one of them would be there, sometimes both of them, they’d greet you with tea, or sweets, and Peter would ramble on about his shitty lower-level ministry job while stuffing you full of cookies, Remus would talk to you about his mother’s swaying health and how his job at the muggle supermarket was actually kind of enjoyable, how he was trying to quit smoking, but I keep smoking the whole bloody pack the closer it gets to the full moon. Other times, Remus would see you through the peephole and knock back, Sirius is there. You’d slink back up to your apartment without further refute. You missed him, dearly, you hadn't woken up to a coffee or a note since you told him about your job. You didn’t dare say anything.

The two of you still sat, on opposite sides of the couch now, to watch your soaps every other night. It was the small bit of comfort you held onto. Sometimes he left halfway through, like water slipping through your fingers. 

You kept finding empty cigarette packets all over the apartment.

It felt kind of silly, you didn't understand what his problem was. He should be happy he isn't pouring his entire trust fund down the hatch with you. He was disowned, whatever money was in his safe at Gringotts was it. No more. To be fair you had not a single clue about how much was in there anyway- but it really isn't any of your business.

This morning was one filled with his absence. You tried not to worry, but you couldn't help it, his absence feeling like an omen. The apartment motionless and cold, the way the air feels right before the rain. This morning wasn't any different, the darkness of the sky settling a gloom over you. You hugged the coffee close to your chest between sips, your fingers twirling the red marker as you completed the crossword on the Daily Prophet. You pondered calling your mom briefly or going down a floor to pester Remus and Peter— What use is it to live in the same buildings as your closest friends if you can't bother them? As you resolved to do just that, a harsh knock rang through the apartment. You faltered, Sirius had a key, not only that but he'd never knock that way. It was particular, heavy and urgent. 

A second round of knocks broke through your thoughts, so you padded over to the door.

If you didn't know better you would've said it was Sirius. But you could see, even through the small opening of the peephole, their clear differences. You swung the door open.

"Oh- my apologies I must have the wrong place- good day" He was quick to do a quick bow and turn away.

"Regulus?" The younger boy's eyes widened, and there was a stutter in his step as he turned back towards your door. It was startling, to see him. They were so similar, the high cheekbones, the darkness of their hair. Regulus sported a white streak, combed neatly along with the rest of his short hair. You could hear Sirius through your thoughts, mommy's boy. It was uncanny, to look at him, the roundness of their lips, the way their brows twitched in confusion. His eyes were greener but not any less piercing than his older brother's. They missed the warmth that emanated from Sirius’s gaze.

"What are you doing here" 

He opened his mouth and closed it quickly, piercing eyes analyzing your face as he finally figured out who you were. You tried not to take any offense. 

"Are you looking for Sirius?" The boy simply nodded and approached the door as you motioned him inside. "He's not in right now but I can- just come in I’ll find him for you-"

"I'm sorry I thought this was where he lived" You motioned him to sit at the stools of your high kitchen table as you closed the door behind him, the wood creaking as he hesitated between standing and sitting. It was strange to see cold, quiet, and clean-cut Regulus, with his dark sharp tailored coat between the warmth of your house. Between the mismatched furniture and portraits on the walls. So out of place, but you supposed he and Sirius were always out of place when compared to one another.

"He does, he's just out" You gave him a sweet smile as you started brewing some tea, marking the phone Lily insisted on installing in their house, and pressed your ear against the phone's receiver. 

"Hello?" Lily's crackly voice came through as she picked up, but you could hear Sirius and James chatting animately even through the static of the phone line.

"Lilykins please tell me my roommate is at yours… he has a visitor-" You stretched the cord as far as it could as you walked to get a mug out, the cable rolling back into its curls as you walked close again. 

"Tell him it's urgent please" Regulus spoke up as you spoke, and you could hear it now, the small twinge of panic in his voice. His foot bounced sporadically as if he was reminding himself he shouldn't bounce it but would still forget to stay still.

"Urgent matters apparently-"

"Get him out of my house please- I don’t know what lover’s quarrel you two are going through but hash it out soon will you? my sister's coming soon and I need to clean-" You chuckled, forced and breathless, and ignored the fact that she knew something was wrong between the two of you, you wondered what he had said about it. You didn’t ask. You bid goodbye and hung up the phone back in its holder. Regulus’s quiet dragged you back down, you could feel his eyes burning holes in the back of your figure as if he was analyzing you. You pursed your lips as you worked on his tea, mulling over what you’d say to him, it wasn’t often he came around. Or ever. He had never been in your home.

You had met, if you could call it that, Regulus Black exactly two times. 

One was at school, during your sixth year when Evan Rosier’s taunts finally broke through Sirius’s hard facade and he finally swung at him. It wasn’t pretty, the long-haired boy pinning down Rosier as they both landed blow after blow at each other. Both you and Regulus pulled your respective friends away, the boys bloody and bruised. It wasn’t much of an introduction nor did you even speak, but you could see even then the soft, blue state of Regulus as he looked at Sirius. Sad and alone. 

It reminded you of Sirius when he was younger. Of when you first met.

The second time you saw Regulus Black was at graduation, right after Sirius handed you the matching key. Between bubbling excitement and clinging to each other, Sirius’s face broke, a flinty stare taking over. I’ll be back love, his lips pressed against your temple as he moved away. You could see him arguing with Regulus behind a pillar, mirrored expressions on their faces. 

It was eerie, like watching Sirius through a funhouse mirror. The same but- not. Almost but not quite. 

Reflections of one another, but neither measuring up.

“Can I ask what brings you here?” You poured the tea into his mug, bringing it over to him. His hands immediately wrapped around it and he took a sip.

“I’m afraid it's a private family matter-” you hummed in acknowledgment, brows raised as you asked:

“Thought Sirius wasn’t family anymore,” You didn’t mean to be hurtful, you knew how hard Sirius’s disownment had been on Regulus too. It was quite possibly the only thing Sirius ever spoke about regarding leaving his family. How heartbroken he was to leave his brother, how shattered Regulus had been too.

“Sorry that came off harsher than I intended-”

“No- you’re right, but I reckon he still deserves to know,” Regulus refused to meet your eyes, staring deeply into the liquid in the deformed pink mug you had made with Sirius sometime last spring when he insisted on taking a pottery class. Your skills weren't quite there. 

The two of you stayed quiet for a beat, fighting the urge to ask again. Regulus fought not to tell you. 

“Are you engaged yet?” You almost spit out your tea.

“W-what?”

“Did Sirius ask you yet? To marry him?”

“Sirius and I aren’t together-” You felt your cheeks warm, you were lucky if Sirius even spoke to you these days.

“Oh…” His expression paled, eyes wide as he tried to understand what you were telling him. “My apologies I just thought… never mind-” He looked away again, taking slow sips of the tea again, “I’m sorry,”

“It’s okay…”

“I just- he’s always talked about-” The air crackled with a small crack and pop, interrupting Regulus, Sirius stood in the middle of the room now. Regulus stood up, the tea abandoned on the table as he faced his older brother.

“Sirius-”

“What do you want? How do you know I live here-” Regulus took a step back, a deep breath inflating and deflating his chest as he looked at you, and then back at Sirius. Sirius got closer, barely two steps away from his brother. Looking at them now, side by side, you could see the differences. Not physical, no in that aspect they were two sides of the same coin. But Sirius stood tall, proud, and defensive like he was made of iron like nothing could hurt him. Teeth bared, ready to bite his way through. Regulus stood the opposite, straight but restrained, almost as if ready to take a hit, arms behind him and clutching his wrist with white knuckles. 

“May we talk in private?” 

“I’ll leave-” You made to move, 

“Stay put- No, just spit it out Regulus-” You could see the sadness crack through Sirius’s tough demeanor. You could tell from the red rim in his eyes, and the way he stood straighter, face raised ever so slightly. As if ready for a fight. You knew he could never physically fight his brother, but if Regulus stood in your kitchen any longer Sirius might break and cry. 

You thought of calling James.

“Mother is dead… didn’t wake up this morning”

[deckedcards]

──── ❝ humans do whatever they can to save themselves. even if it means sacrificing others. ❞

⌗ pairing: squid game x gender neutral! reader

⌗ this work includes . . . lowercase intended, third person pov, typical squid game warnings, short scenarios, nanno! reader, general warnings for nanno characteristics, platonic relationships, reader replaces young-mi in order to make hyun-ju’s parts work, teenage! reader, readers age isn’t said but they are mentioned to have a young appearance, parental issues, weapons described, reader is mentioned to be twirling their hair in some parts, manipulative! reader, readers a little weird, slow burn with readers actual personality, “major” character death, supernatural themes, set during (and follows the story of) season 2, some scenes have been rewritten or just aren’t mentioned, self-indulgent, possible grammar and wording mistakes ❨ not proof read ❩

“sawadee ka, nanno na ka.”

⸺ NANNO! READER getting confronted by a man in a fancy and clean cut suit while they’re sat on a bench in the subway station, waiting for the train to go ‘home.’ staring at him innocently as he asks if they would like to play something with him, a game of ddakji.

midnight was rolling around the corner, the school uniform was chafing against their limbs once they had thrown down the colored paper in their hand against the other on the ground. grunting in failure with how they were unsuccessful in turning it over, the ruffle of a hand was planted against their head. a much more softer approach compared to the slaps that others would get from the salesman. even with how cruel he was, he would never think once of hitting a child.

“good try.” he says with a friendly grin planted onto his lips, reaching down to grab the abandoned paper. (name) clapped as they watched him win again. so far they had already done five rounds of this game, all of which they had lost. more hours have passed by like a blur, more people watched the two with confusion as they squished past them, some stepping off the train and others stepping on.

an ecstatic yell exited (name) as they directed the last hit downwards, the square flipping over at last with a loud smack. the corridor echoing with them hitting their palms together as they bounced off their heels. “well done.”

money was carefully placed into their hands, their eyes only scanned the card that was given to them. the salesman quickly nodded his head before taking off in the opposite direction. a feline-grin curled at the sharp corners of their mouth, storing away the decorated cardboard with shapes into their breast pocket. (name) glared their focus against the disappearing figure, twirling their index finger and wrapping a strand of hair around it like a ribbon.

“—(name), 6.66 billion won in debt.” a deep voice rang out, the screen stuck on the wall showed someone their own familiar face. (name)’s eyes stared back at them, watching as the hand of the salesman patted their head tuning out all the gasps filling the place when the remaining 455 players steered their heads in search for them.

“eh… who’s that?”

“they look awfully young to be here!”

“what exactly is this place for you to have to drag in minors?!”

“that sounds like a lot for someone like them.”

a blank expression drew onto (name)’s face, stepping from where they hid to stand next to a woman with poorly applied makeup that clashed with her skintone, player 044. a conniving glance was sent their way from her. the guard infront with a white square imprinted on his mask shut everyone up as he continued to speak, (name) shifted slightly as they felt 044 nudge her shoulder into theirs.

“theres something unique about you…” she whispered, “you have something that you’re keeping from the rest of the world. i can tell you’re not actually what you make yourself out to be.”

(name) spun their hair, moving the strand to hide their lips. the stoicness of their face broke as they turned to meet her uncanny eyes, the sly grin on their face making itself more apparent. “you’re here for your own gain, a purpose you could say… the gods aren’t very fond of you—”

“—what you see now—“

the lights dimmed, hints of yellow graded the room as everyone directed their attention upwards hearing the dotting of music. the ceiling opened up, eyes darted to the empty piggy bank ascending downwards. people started speaking up the moment the guard told them of the money that would be stashed in it after the six games. (name) tsked hearing him tell everyone of a consent form they’d have to sign if they wished to participate.

they pouted, peripheral vision catching the woman move alongside them, “how sad, looks like our conversation will have to be cut short,” (name) dropped their voice, the quietness of their words picking into 044’s ears, “…see you on the other side.”

nanno! reader catching the attention of a certain player… 456. furrowed brows mixing with his gaze of anxiousness as he caught glance of them on the screen. distress washing him over as he thought of the scenario they didn’t ‘know’ they had volunteered to be in, a high school student thrown into a place filled with death games.

a protective instinct was embedded into him once he heard the specific number that was given to them, the flooding memories of someone familiar who was teamed along side him the last time he was here. scenes of her corpse still imprinted inside his head like some kind of bleach stain that refused to come out no matter how many times you tried washing it, the remembrance of the deal she had given him of her brother…

kang sae-byeok, player 067.

nanno! reader ignoring all of the questionable stares they’ve gotten as they stepped through the area where the photo booth was located. different players of mixed ages, all of which were sending concerned glances their way the moment they had walked past some of them. the youthfulness of their face and young stature not going unnoticed by anyone as they whispered to each other, ‘what could a teenager possibly be in debt for?’

‘PLEASE LOOK INTO THE CAMERA.’

SMILE!

nanno! reader playing the façade of a scared teenager once the frenzy of red light, green light happens. watching as everyone sprints around in fear. yelling in terror once they had seen player 196’s bleeding corpse, loud bangs bouncing off the walls with every player getting sniped.

‘flinching’ as they slouched cowardly behind another player, 149. a frightened whimper left them with fake tears building in their waterline. their hearing irritated with gi-hun’s yelling, reminding everyone to stay still, “are you okay dear?”

the caring and motherly sound of 149’s voice made (name) stiffen, hands tightening on the cloth of her jacket, “ma’am…” the light in their eyes flickered, sentences sputtering out as their mouth dryed, “i’m scared…”

“i know, it’s alright. just stick to me, okay? we’ll be fine…” she said moving her hand slowly to connect with theirs, (name) sharply inhaled at the soft grip of her hand. pupils darting between her and the doll a few feet away from them, different thoughts running through their head at her action. blinking with creased brows but regaining their focus as they picked up the sound of repetitive dialogue coming from the piece of plastic—

GREEN LIGHT!

“move!”

nanno! reader watching the remaining players beg for their lives behind one of the bunk beds. body remaining still like a gargoyle as they felt player 120’s tender arms wrapped around them. she had dragged them with her the moment the lights flickered and the pink guards entered the room with their flashy guns, laying them flat against her chest incase of any harm with a sympathetic glance.

“there seems to be a misunderstanding…”

ears brushed out the guard reassuring everyone of what was actually going to happen, their vision catered itself to the side hearing the recognizable voice of the man who helped them in the first game. monologuing and persuading the square guard into letting them take the vote now, obliging in doing so. “miss..” (name) spoke up, gaining the attention of hyun-ju as she looked down at them realizing the firm grip she still had planted around them.

“oh! uh—sorry…” she responded, tugging her arms back to her side. (name) examined her embarrassed exterior, the way she rubbed at her forearm made them narrow their eyes. a glint of sorrow washed over their iris—bottom lip quivering, toying with their fingers, “actually, i—”

words wobbled out of them throwing themselves onto her with a frown, tightly wrapping their arms around her middle and digging the side of their face in between her front, “miss… can i stick with you? i don’t wanna be here alone and you seem nice… please, i won’t ask for anything else!”

they shuddered, fists digging into her back and tears staining down their cheeks causing foggy marionette like-lines. hyun-ju hesitated slightly before shushing them, rubbing their head with assurance, “it’s fine— it’s fine, don’t worry… you can stick around me as much as you’d like, it’s no problem at all.”

(name) brightened as they wiped any fallen snot from their noise and bowing their head repeatedly at her, hands incased in hers, “eh—thank you miss! thank you… so much..”

“it’s surprising to see someone of your caliber here.”

nanno! reader making player 222 jump at the sudden noise of their voice, interrupting the quietness of mealtime. the two stared at each other, jun-hee sending an eye signal to them questioning them on what they meant.

“you don’t have to play dumb with me,” (name) whispered, pointing to her stomach. “i’m talking about that.. growing inside your stomach. it’s not safe for you here y’know?”

she looked down, playing with the food in her box moving the metal fork she had against it seemingly ignoring (name)’s words. (name) exhaled through their nose, waving their hand to move jun-hee back from where she was sitting. placing themselves on her previous spot, “if it makes you feel better… i know exactly how you’re feeling.”

(name) cocked their head as she connected her eyes with them, urging them to go on. a half-smirk deepened on their lips, leaning back with their hands planted flat, “he wanted you to get rid of it, but you decided last minute that you wanted to keep it. that’s how it was for me.”

jun-hee raised her brows, posture straightening at the sentences that filled her ears. a thought stuck in her head with their continuous monologue, they don’t mean…? “—it’s hard, being given the responsibility of another life. especially when you’re so young…

.

.

.

“then what happened?”

(name) raised a brow at her, “oh? so you do speak..” they joked, smacking their lips together seeing the way jun-hee sent them a tiny glare. they rolled their eyes, standing up and digging their hands into the pockets of their jacksuit with another exhale leaving them, “kept it.”

…

“don’t look so down.” (name) said pinching at one of her cheeks, “it’s cruel to leave a parent without their child. besides, it’s not like he had a choice anyways.”

a maniacal laugh ripped from their vocal chords before they sighed, moving a strand of hair from their face and leaving her by herself. jun-hee followed them with her eyes, watching them walk away with pep in all of their steps as she sat there uncomfortably. blinking, finally processing the entire conversation.

eh—

“he?”

nanno! reader eavesdropping on player 456 and 001’s conversation during lights out, hiding in the shadows, furrowing their brows as they heard 001’s ‘reason’ for choosing blue. a tiny cough left them before speaking up, letting the older men know of their presence, “you’re a good man.”

young-il and gi-hun tore their attention from each other to the teenager leaning against the bed frame behind them, darkness overcasting them. (name) gulped stepping forward, eyes flickering between them with nervousness, “my apologies, i didn’t mean to intrude— uh… may i?”

they asked pointing to the empty space on gi-hun’s bed. he nodded, following them with his gaze as they stepped over young-il. crossing their legs on the bed with a smile, “i’m sorry again, its just— i think you guys are really cool… i’ve been admiring you two for the past hour now.“

they stated, the bright specks of light made itself more noticeable as they perked up, leaning forward to gi-hun with their hands clasped together in fists. “especially you mister, without you i don’t think i would’ve been able to make it through the first game! i was waiting for the chance to properly thank you for that.. so, thank you!”

they bowed their head at him, shutting their eyes with a generous open-mouthed beam. a small smile drew onto gi-hun before fading as his gaze shifted down to the annoying blue on their jacket. the circle mocking him as his eyes met with it, “—and you! the way you fought those guys earlier was so awesome, it was like you were a superhero or a movie character!”

(name) whisper yelled towards young-il. nodding eagerly as they saw the way he smirked at their compliment, shaking his head with a flustered chuckle. “(name)...”

they blinked, steering towards gi-hun with narrowed eyes as they saw the way he grimaced at them. the air around them shifted uncomfortably, young-il noticing the way they’re breath hitched as (name) picked up the question spilling out of gi-hun’s mouth,,

“do your parents know you’re here?”

nanno! reader avoiding all the conversations of people asking them of their parents and their whereabouts, ‘you’re parents must be worried about you,’ ‘are you here because of them?,’ ‘how’d you get here without them noticing?,’ ‘you need to go back to your family,’ all of this constant interrogation irritated them.

changing the conversation or topic, laughing it off as if it was joke and ignoring the worried looks given to them. sometimes the place would coincidentally call the players for the next game or tell them it was time for lights out before they could even respond.

“what a weird thing to ask someone…”

nanno! reader continuing to choose blue after the end of the six-legged pentathlon, watching as the numbers of ‘O’ increased. standing next to hyun-ju with one of their arms wrapped around her bicep, not caring of the gazes given to them by gi-hun and young-il.

one of frustration and the other of content.

nanno! reader watching player 230 kick out one of his men when the robot on the pa called out four during mingle. running with hyun-ju as they kept their vision on him, a frigid stare being sent his way before fidgeting once the remaining three of their group found themselves a room to stay in.

eyes widening when they looked through the rectangular peephole, seeing gyeong-su be shot down by a pink guard. only separating when geum-ja detached them from the door, telling them to not worry about it too much in the caring voice she always gave them. brows furrowed with an emotion they’ve never experienced before.

distraught.

nanno! reader having a numb gaze towards player 149 as they saw her comfort her crying son once they reunited after the groups of three. tilting their head, body tense and eyes blank, thoughts filling their head with various amounts of envy as they saw them embrace one another. a loving mother caring for her child, something they’d never be able to experience.

nanno! reader getting separated from hyun-ju as everyone scrams around in groups of ten, the countdown lingering around everyone as they scattered into unlocked doors. running behind geum-ja and yong-sik before getting shoved by another player getting kicked out of an open room. knocked onto the ground as they connected their eyes with hyun-ju through the entryway, her vision filled with worry.

“(name)!”

“hyun-ju!”

they yelled towards each other. (name) toppled up, sprinting towards her before getting shoved again, blurry eyesight making quick contact with the number on their perpetrators jacket, player 333.

the group inside the room stared at him with shock before steering away towards (name)’s cries, their stammering voice stabbing the middle of their hearts like a knife, “hyun-ju!”

“(name)!” hyun-ju whipped her body towards the cut in the door, pupils watching the glistening diamond-like tears run down their face. her rough hands tugging at the lock on the door with desperation, grunting with failure when it glued itself together, “(name)…!”

“i don’t wanna die, please! don’t leave me out here, hyun-ju!”

she flinched, the tears she had building up fell when the sound of gunshots filled her ears. breath trembling as she watched (name)’s body collide with the ground, the loud thud their body made only worsened it for her.

———

gi-hun furrowed his brows as he saw hyun-ju and her team walk back towards the platforms, looking between the three trying to find the figure that’s been here since the beginning.

noticing how dae-ho and jun-hee kept their heads down as they walked towards him, hyun-ju forcing her stiff body to walk, and geum-ja and yong-sik holding each other like a family attending the funeral of a loved one.

young-il spoke up for him, “where’s (name)?”

hyun-ju shivered at the name, preventing a sob from leaving her bitten lips, useless cries won’t bring them back. geum-ja shook her head, arm tightening around her son’s arm with dry tears on her face.

gi-hun and young-il shared looks with each other, young-il driving his hands through his hair as grief painted his face. gi-hun only stood there, chest quickening in its pace as his heart thumped.

he had ‘lost’ player 067… again.

“dude… either these pills are making me see double.. or that kid we’ve been seeing walk around here, has had a secret twin we weren’t noticing before.”

nanno! reader surprising everyone as they went back into the main area after finishing the third game. gasping in shock, seeing them sat on hyun-ju’s bed, alive and breathing like everyone didn’t see them die hours prior. even the guards were shocked! if you could see their faces through their masks that is… ( how would someone who covered their face be able to show emotions? that’s for you to figure out ) looking between each other and at the ones that stored their body in a casket. nothing but confused body language went over them, they could’ve sworn they were dead.

(name) brightened as they saw their team standing there with confusion, waving their hand as they ran towards the three. wrapping them in a tight hug, “hyun-ju! geum-ja, yong-sik! you guys won, i’m so happy to see all of you again!”

they laughed with a smile, shaping their face into a worried expression as they looked over their faces then at gi-hun’s team. all of them were staring like deer in headlights at them, “what’s wrong? i’m back now, aren’t i? there’s no point in being sad anymore.”

they cracked their neck to the side slightly, grabbing hyun-ju’s quivering hand as they dragged her with them, “c’mon, let’s go back to our beds.”

“(name).”

nanno! reader turning away from the scared trio sat infront of them towards the calling of their name. finger intertwined with a hair strand as they looked at the man before them, player 333.

myung-gi shifted uncomfortably at their face, seeing the person he left for actual death come back to life didn’t feel.. real. “i… i wanted to apologize for earlier—“

“shh, sh sh.” they clicked their tongue at him, separating their finger from their hair to place it against the middle of their lips. sparkless eyes staring at him as their smile turned into a menacing pout, “there’s no point in apologizing now.. i don’t blame you for doing it, of course. we all wanna survive in this world. but, the damage has already been done-”

they leaned closer to him, pressing their hands onto his shoulders as their whispers flew threw his ears like wind. he loathed at the touch; goosebumps painting on his covered skin at their cold words, seeing the patch of blood forming onto their white shirt in the form of holes. “and you’re gonna have to live with that.”

nanno! reader smirking towards player 044 on the hightops of one of the beds. the blue overcasting her as they made eye contact, lips mirroring the grin on their face. her eyes stuck on the blue patch on their jacket never once changing as they made it through this game, “i see your true colors are finally starting to show.”

seon-nyeo said as she lowered herself down to where (name) sat, gesturing to gi-hun and the rest of their remaining team on the red side. (name) blinked at hyun-ju, her head stuck down not moving at the feeling of their eyes on her, “is that so?”

“yes. but just so you know, the god’s still aren’t welcome in favoring you. if i were you, i’d be worried.” she spouted watching as a man and woman looked at her with their hands rubbing together in a praying motion, indescribable words leaving them with low voices. a prayer perhaps?

(name) sighed, crossing their arms at her statements with nothing but annoyance. moving their eyes to the lights on the ceiling, soulless pupils darting around them, “as if i need their pity...”

nanno! reader staring at player 124 after he and the other ‘O’ choosers came back from the fiasco that happened in the bathroom, eyes unblinking like a machine. flickering, noticing the way his red-stained hands shook as he held a cross-shaped necklace in his grip. quivering breaths left him as he shielded the pills hiding inside it, covering the blanket he had over the fork that was previously jabbed into thanos’ neck. “those eyes of yours piss me off.”

he spat, attempting to make himself intimidating towards the teen. (name) exhaled through their nose, puffing out their cheeks side by side as if they were lost in ‘thought,’ “if you have something to say… then say it, don’t waste my time.”

(name) pushed their lips outwards, blinking as they heard the woman on the pa counting until bedtime, “i’ve noticed how close you and thanos have become… it was such a shame, hearing him get eliminated. you must be in so much pain at losing your friend.”

nam-gyu sent daggers their way, irritation filling his eyes wanting to interrupt them. shout insults at them or something, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it… he felt something keeping him from speaking, an invisible force making him listen to the rest of their speech.

“if i were you.. i’d do something about the people who tried to get in the way of the two of us.” they said directing their gaze towards player 380 across the room, enhancing the seething of their tongue, “i hate people like her, always so full of themselves. she must think she’s better than us, better than you.”

(name) pulled out the fork nam-gyu was hiding in his sheets. he sat up, uncovering himself as he saw the utensil in their hand. noticing the one he had was gone, “how did you—“

“i’d make my way towards her when she’s off guard. catch her when she least expects it.. gives you more of an advantage.” (name) said tossing the metal back towards nam-gyu, walking away when the robotic voice gave the last warning for lights out, the faint grin on their lips carving into their mouth as usual.

“hey, min-su.”

nanno! reader appearing behind player 125 as he stares at se-mi’s corpse with guilt in his eyes, poorly guarding her body with his figure seeing how they shifted their gaze at the two.

“don’t worry, i won’t hurt you.” they assured moving towards him with slow and careful steps, standing infront of him with the constant smirk they had glued onto their lips

“you’re too kind for this world, min-su.” (name) said cradling the sides of his face with glints of remorse in their iris, his body trembled at the feeling of their dead hands against his warm skin. “you did your best in protecting her, but this is just how life is..”

min-su’s bottom lip shuddered, his nervous shell cracking through. squirming as (name) pressed a small kiss to one of his cheeks, “you can’t always save the people you care for.”

“congratulations on your ‘win,’ frontman.”

nanno! reader making the frontman flinch as they clapped their hands together, turning on the lights inside his room. sitting on his chair with documents in their hold, flipping through the files of previous players. “or would you prefer it if i called you, player one?”

player 001 stared at them through his sharp mask. the large screen infront of them was on, showcasing the players that were still left. (name) stood up, dragging their hand against the top of the sofa. the noise of their nails sketching against the leather filled the air with an annoying sound, “no? how about, young-il?”

young-il didn’t respond, his hand hovered over the gun hidden in his dark pocket as he stared at the teenager. “not much of a talker are you?”

he hadn’t noticed the mask he had covering himself was gone, not caring that his vision was more clearer than before. ignoring the black disguise he used in the grasp of (name)’s hold as they looked at him with that condescending grin of theirs. not the one infront of him, but…

in the hands of their clone.

his eyes ran over the two, different thoughts ramming into his head at the one standing infront of him with his mask and the other with the folder, both having the same bloodied number printed onto their green clothes. the same face, the same person with the same memories of before.

the person who was supposed to be burnt to a crisp in a coffin somewhere but came back with no explanation, not minding all the terrified looks people were giving them as they made the mistake of catching their eyes.

“who…. are you?”

“(name) is (name).” the one with the folder stated, the lingering silence of the room made him feel uneasy as they continued to stare at him with those flat eyes of theirs. “sorry. i don’t think i’ve had the chance to properly introduce myself.”

they readjusted their body, planting their hands together never once letting the files fall from their hold as they bowed at him. “hello, i’m (name). it’s nice to meet you...” bright teeth flashed him, dull hands reaching up to show him a specific paper. breath accelerating with the recognizable face that stared back at him, the face of who he was before.

“hwang in-ho.”

nanno! reader who’s actually older than everyone residing in the games despite looking the youngest; having the gift of immortality had its perks. nobody knew of this, of course. how could they when they had the ability to change their appearance at will?

male or female, young or old, short or tall, owning one body or multiple. even with this, a high school student just happened to be their top pick to walk through this world; it just wasn’t possible for anybody to suspect a teenager of being a monster, right?

nanno! reader who makes themselves vulnerable in order for people to let their guards down around them. putting on the act of an innocent and scared teenager, the type who would flinch at the loudest of noises. the type who acts dumb and confused at the simplest tasks, letting people get frustrated with them when they can’t seem to figure something out. the way they constantly change their personality in order to fit with whoever their around with, making them feel ‘safe’ and ‘comfortable’ just to get stabbed in the back by their lack of awareness of the person around them.

you whose sole existence is to expose the true colors of abusers and reveal the lies they drown themselves in. you don’t care about how you do it, it doesn’t matter if you drive people into commiting murder against others or ruining their minds and destroying them to the point they get the idea of ending their own life. as long as it gets the job done, you’re all for it. after all… there was no ounce of care or remorse found in your lifeless heart.

it’s your purpose to torture those who are evil. bringing them karma over the horrible misdeeds they’ve kept secret and tear down the walls they’ve built to hide they’re selflessness.

it’s what they deserve.

nanno always punishes those who deserve it.

❝ but check your window . . . he's at your window ❞

© @deckedcards 2025 all rights reserved ☆ please do not repost, translate, copy or share my work on other platforms without my permission, thank you.

[redcoralpot]

Can you do Daryl finding out reader is trans? Early season 4, perhaps? :3

Attentu - Daryl Dixon x FTM Reader

Your wish is my command!!

Warnings: Gore, murder, violence, blood, cussing, mentions of transphobia and death, and addictions.

Word Count: 2.6K

You eagerly join in on the medical supply run, despite the group's awful luck. A confession from Bob has you feeling quite guilty about a personal matter...

-

It was dead.

You threw the car battery to the side, sick of the luck your supply group had. Daryl was on the other side of the room, shuffling through drawers in an attempt to obtain the right part. For an auto repair shop, it was horribly disorganized.

“Got anything?” you called over, impatient.

A grin took over your face as he tossed the find at you, catching it in a firm grip, “Nah.”

The car was not in terrible shape, not really. Some rust here and there, with paint scratched off from long road adventures before the outbreak. Your father had a similar car when you were just a child, and he was insistent that he passed on his knowledge, despite your mother’s constant objections. It was not fit for someone like you; that your hands should never be calloused from the tough ground nor covered in grease, she said. He always ended up laughing in her face.

So as he would have it, the two of you got in all sorts of trouble. Hijacking cars, picking locks, prying cabinets open with a pocket knife; all things he said would come in handy one day. Daryl seemed like he had the same type of upbringing, all rough and tumble, and perhaps that’s what drew you to him. That, or he was just really damn good with surviving.

Daryl’s footsteps creaked as he led the way out of the building, shining his flashlight on any possible threats around. Someone had to, as you weren’t keen to look after Bob found an old walker stuck under a desk, ending that misery. It was the only one left. One by one, you circled out of the building, with Bob’s silent trepidation behind you as you arrived back at the car. Daryl opened its hood again, and you both set to work.

His voice was muffled around his cigarette, “You never told us about the group you were with, before.”

You glanced up as Bob replied, “Which one?”

“You know,” he continued, when Daryl gave him a look, “when you found me out on that road, I almost kept walking.”

“Why’s that?’

“I was done being a witness. It happened two times, two different groups.”

…

“I was the last one standing, like God intended for me to see it over and over; a curse,” he shook his head, pursing his lips, “but, when it’s just you out there with the quiet, I used to drink a bottle of just 'bout anything just so I could sleep at night.”

“The run to the big spot, I only did it for me.”

You froze, a jug of clear liquid still in your hands. Daryl took it from you, completely unfazed, and managed to get a swig out of it.

He licked his lips, “You gotta keep busy somehow.”

“No, I did it so I could get me a bottle, a bottle of anything. That’s what got Zack killed.”

“That’s bullshit,” Daryl peered at him, “why don’t you get in there and try the engine? Should be the red and green wires, it ain’t rocket science.”

Even as Bob walked away, you stayed silent. Your fingers burned as you rigged the working car battery back in, but never as much as your thoughts. The other man nudged you, urging you to take your hands off as the engine roared in front of you. He clapped his hands and brought them up to his mouth; a sharp whistle rang through the air. Bob’s alcohol troubles seemed to be forgotten by Daryl, since he gave you a rusty smile while you slammed down the hood.

“Nobody coulda’ known, and you ain’t gonna be standing alone. Not anymore,” he reassured Bob.

You huffed, swinging a few plastic bags of gas in the back seats, ducking to join them. Tyreese and Michonne got the rest and the three of you squeezed together with the luggage, closing the door. With that, you left the burdensome place behind.

The ride to the college was short, but Bob still parked a little ways out, and the group set off to walk the rest of the distance. You passed most of the buildings on campus; dull brick that plants jumped at the opportunity to outgrow after a year of inactivity.

“Looks like the building we want is up ahead,” Tyreese stated.

For the first time since Bob’s confession, you spoke, “Are we splitting up? We’ll cover more ground that way.”

“Is that safe?” Michonne questioned, and Daryl eyed you.

“I know I can cover myself, if I end up alone.”

The brunette scoffed, and you shifted a glare at him, “You know I can, too. You’ve seen me.”

“I think,” Bob uttered, “it’s a good idea.”

“We don’t have a lot of time, I’ll shoot if I run into any trouble. Meet me back at the car.”

Outside of the Learning Resource Center, you split from the group, sneaking close to the ground. You heard the rest shuffle in the opposite direction with a soft “C’mon, c’mon.”, and let out a shaky breath. Two pairs, then three pairs of footsteps faded away.

The lights of the wing flickered and let out fading sparks as you padded along, dust pillowing up from wherever you stepped. God, the outbreak sure did a number on this place. Shadows grew as abundantly as the plants, but never dulled the smears of blood along the walls, floor, and shattered glass. It cracked and snapped under you, somewhere behind you, and you hissed as you looked at the walls alongside you. There were several doorways leading to different rooms, most likely supply closets or classrooms. Carefully, you dipped yourself into the nearest doorway, a heavy feeling on your back. Your heart pumped wildly in your chest and your stomach had a sick pit of anxiety as you thumbed through the biggest drawers. There were plenty of jars, containers, and vials, but none of them had what you needed. You read all the labels once, twice, the text in messy handwriting or tiny fonts.

Testosterone, in its liquid form made for injections, should be a clear liquid. You knew that much from what your provider told you, and from your own studies. Any colored liquids, or any with particles floating inside, you discarded from your search immediately. You were taking too long, you started to think, or were you? You didn’t know if you were gone for ten or if you have been here for thirty.

Once again, you slid back into the trashed hallway, trying to make your way towards the next doorway. The only things you could hear were your quick breaths and a creak, most likely from the forgotten building. A set pattern was in your mind as you dove into the room, and the haze of adrenaline made it hard to think. Walkers, as the prison liked to call them, were not your biggest concern. Even before the outbreak, it was dangerous for you to step outside; to live your life. If you passed by the wrong person, your face would be on the hot topic of the community for the week after. Getting caught was not an option.

You blinked, trying to clear the thumping in your ears. The vial’s label looked like a foreign language, though you knew it wasn’t, so you peered closer at it. A gust of hot air hit your neck, and again. Hot air. This place was cold.

Your fingers scrambled for the knife at your side, it was there, wasn’t it? You slashed before you could think. Hair scratched your fingers; your knife dug into a warm crevice. The hot air turned into a raw, groaning noise. The hot air stopped. 

You pushed the body to the ground and your blade was released. The blood trickled hot down your wrist. Instead of the red you expected, it was a sludgy, filthy brown. It dripped in slow droplets on the floor beside your shoes. This was the first opportunity to look at the thing, and what a sight it was.

The knife had caved in a part of its skull, which itself was like a rotten, stomped on pumpkin. It oozed and dripped the same muck over the tile, muddying the disfigured face underneath. It made Osbourne’s stage trick look like simple child’s play to anyone who witnessed the act. Its eyes were still open; bulging out in that manic, hungry way only a madman got before the outbreak. You looked away from the mess, your breakfast seizing in your throat, and you busied yourself with getting more testosterone vials in your bag. The most important thing was that it was not human, not anymore.

Stuffing your full hand in your bag, you made a beeline for the doorway.

You should have learned your lesson.

A weight tumbled over you and knocked you to the floor, breathless. It screeched, rabid, like some sort of fucked up dog. If a dog hadn’t eaten for a month, that is. It stunk, too. It stunk so bad that you thought you might die from suffocation first.

It clawed at you, gnashing its yellow teeth. Your hands were pinned underneath the mass and you heard your knife land across the floor with a clang. This was going to be it. The end. It’s funny, isn’t it? Dying searching for your lifeline. You almost giggled at the irony.

The teeth were close to your neck, aiming to kill. To eat until you were nothing but an unrecognizable pile of flesh and bones. You had to do something, and soon. The only part of your body you could move were your legs, and you tensed them up. You were going to survive this, you were going to get back to that car. 

Three.

You struggled to prop your shoulder up, knocking the danger away from your neck. Its eyes were bloodshot and cloudy. As empty as a corpse.

Two.

The walker got more desperate to bite you, wiggling around harshly on top of you. You tried your best to keep your face far away from its own, but it successfully nipped the edge of your nose. This was going to hurt.

One.

Its final noise was a gurgling one, close to your ear. The weight flopped to your right side, stilling its frugal attempt to destroy you.

“You got yourself covered, huh,” a voice remarked.

You wheezed, “Christ.”

“What were you doin’?”

“Shit.”

Daryl stepped over you, pulling his arrow out of the corpse, “I’m serious.”

You finally got your legs under you, and the first thing you did was back a good distance away from him. There was no getting out of this, you both knew that Daryl would know if you lied to him. Yet, he was one of the last people in the prison you felt comfortable telling. Daryl was a classic redneck, with a bigot older brother and a taste for mysteriousness. There was so much you didn’t know about him, and the hair on the back of your neck stood up like a wildfire. You would have much rather told Carol or even Michonne, if you had to choose. 

“You know what Bob said.”

“Yeah,” he stated, “but you ain’t an alcoholic. I know that much.”

“I’m not, but that wasn’t the point. I only came on this run for one thing, and it isn’t medicine. It’s testosterone.”

“Why do you need that? You’re strong enough without that steroid shit.”

“I don’t get as much as you do naturally.”

“So a medical condition?”

“Kind of.”

“Even if it was, that don’t explain why you had to sneak away from the group to get it. What’re you hiding?”

“I’m transgender, Daryl. I wasn’t born a boy like you,” you murmured.

There was a parade of footsteps down the hallway, and Tyreese burst through the door, the others close behind. He looked spooked, with sweat dripping down his disheveled face. Michonne and, speaking of the devil, Bob looked no better off.

He exclaimed, “Jesus, there you two are. We gotta go, now.”

“What, why?”

“Walkers. Tons of ‘em. Let’s go!”

You gladly took this chance, shoving past Daryl to dart out into the hallway with the others. Everyone else was rushing, but it was a minute before you also heard footsteps behind you. The infected corpses swarmed the building, even though it wasn’t like that before, and it made you wonder what the hell released them. Your group ran up the stairs with walkers not too far behind, and those trapped banged on whatever surface they could reach. 

“There was a ledge near the fire escape,” Michonne hissed, “we can go through there.”

No one responded unless a quick nod could be considered one, and you were off. Michonne went first, then Tyreese, you, and finally Daryl. Your legs were shaking, and you paid Bob a glance. He tensed up, seemingly trying to gauge the distance, before jumping. He was barely right, and landed a little too close to the edge, teetering off. His arms flailed and an army of bodies from below swarmed up to grab his heavy bag. You rushed to catch him, attempting to pull the man up, but he refused to let his backpack go. 

Finally, you ripped both the man and his bag away from the grasp of the walkers, panting, “What the fuck were you doing? What’s in that bag that could possibly be so important?”

“He’s right.” Daryl took the bag from Bob, zipping it open.

Bob rushed to stop him, but it was too late. Daryl dropped the backpack as quick as he picked it up, and he seized Bob by the collar.

“If I ever catch you puttin’ a bottle before a need, I’ll feed you to the walkers myself. You hear me?”

You froze as Daryl let the shorter man down, pushing him as he did so. Everyone else shot him a disappointed look or a glare, and Michonne waved her hand. You were all to keep moving; the run was over, and on an especially sour note.

The group arrived back to the prison safe and sound, the most daring of injuries being bruises, or small cuts. Tyreese and Michonne left to do their own activities, while Bob left to lick his wounds. This retired Daryl and yourself alone, to an awkward silence. With nothing else to do, you picked at a particularly nasty cut on your forearm. It was starting to look infected.

You cleared your throat, “Do you have anything left in your bag?”

“Yeah.”

“Mind if I use some?”

“Nah.” Daryl tossed you his bag.

Carefully, you peeked inside. There wasn’t much left, some disinfectant spray and vials of a clear liquid. No, that couldn’t be, could it?

Testosterone. At least three good vials of it.

You raised them up to your face, not believing your eyes, “Daryl, where the hell did you get these?”

“Grabbed them from that drawer you found the others in,” he refused to make eye contact, “after you left.”

“Why?”

“You might’ve needed more than you got.”

That… meant a lot to you. You had expected him to at the very least ignore you, or even worse, disgusted by you. What were the chances he would grab extras for you, just in case? Instead of yelling or hitting or kicking you out of his life, Daryl did that. If you were being honest, this was one of the weirdest coming out stories to date, but nothing can really beat zombies being included.

“You aren’t mad?”

“Nah. I’m a little confused, though.”

“On the topic?”

Daryl sighed, “Yeah. Wasn’t educated that much.”

“Well, if you want, I could help with that.”

Just for a second, he looked you in the eyes. In that moment, you didn’t see hate, anger, or anything negative. Only a sharp, beautiful glimpse of curiosity.

“Yeah.”

-

[sparrowrye]

Alastor x Fem! Reader {soulmates} Part 5

Synopsis: soulmate AU where you have the same mark on your body as your soulmate, and if your soulmate dies, you die too. Alastor needs to make sure that his soulmate is safe so he can continue his reign - whatever that takes.

Part 5: digging deeper

Part Pilot | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

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

I stared at my reflection in the bathroom. I opened my mouth and ran my tongue, which was a little longer than usual, along my sharp teeth. The sharpest ones were my canines that slipped past my lips when resting.

I touched around the base of my horns. The skin was tight near the bottom and paler than the rest of my skin. My horns jutted up, curved down a bit, then back up to a point at the very end. I tried bending them but they were sturdy, even near the tip.

I clicked my claws together then on the counter. It felt strange to have something that felt like elongated nails. I poked my arm until I drew blood, noting how quick it took to do so. My toes also had claws. They weren't as long as my fingers but they were definitely sharper. The skin on my feet felt extremely tough, almost rubbery.

I turned off the light and sat on the cushions by the window. I rested my head on my arm and stared off into the ocean. For the first time in a long while, I tried to think back into my memories.

I was only able to get snippets, though. I could envision myself in small, specific scenes but I couldn't remember anything past my first rounds of fighting. What did my parents look like? Did they give me to the rings? Did someone kill them? Was I born in hell? How much magic did I have and what kind was it?

I had so many unanswered questions.

I met Husker for dinner again. I couldn't stop looking at my claws as I tried to go about normally. Using a fork was new; long nails made it surprisingly difficult. Husker tried not to laugh and I caught him smiling several times.

"Did you know?" I asked him.

"No. Alastor told me he thought you might be a demon but I was skeptical."

"Why?"

"Well it takes effort to have a human appearance yet you always had one when you were asleep or unconscious. Plus you only used Slight magic when we fought."

"So Alastor knew."

"It was more of a theory." The Radio Demon materialized at the end of the table. "No one had ever heard of a human and demon being soulmates." My eyes fell to my plate. I hated looking at him and I hated hearing the word soulmates. "Once you've finished we'll head back to Rosie's."

"Tonight?"

"Yes, tonight.” He almost sounded annoyed. “She wants to unravel your curse as quickly as possible. She said something about it putting a strain on your mind." He touched a pointed claw to his lips. "I'm sure it's nothing."

Husker rolled his eyes and took a gulp of his drink. I offered to help clean the dishes but he refused. Alastor wrapped an arm around my shoulders and practically dragged me outside. I peeled his hand off and walked up to the scorched symbol on the ground. It didn't look like anything I recognized but it was always there.

He pulled me against him by my waist and stuck his cane into the ground. The ground gave way and I held my hair to my neck. We teleported to a different location this time and I soon discovered it was behind Rosie's store. The quiet town had all their indoor lights and radios turned on.

Alastor knocked twice on the glass door before it opened for him. We walked right into the same meeting room as before. Rosie was setting down a hot teapot.

"Welcome back dearies," she curtsied. "Come in come in. I just took this off the stove. You'll love it."

"I have a matter to attend to but I'm sure you'll take good care of my darling," Alastor said. My darling?

"Oh of course. Go off and do your man's work. Us ladies will get to know each other better." She hooked her arm around mine and lead me to the chair again. "I'm sure you've got lots of burning questions." This time I accepted the warm tea. "But I have to warn you sweetheart. This time, when we go back into your memories, it's going to be a lot more dangerous."

"Dangerous how?"

"If you get too wrapped up in the emotions and feelings of your memories, you can get stuck there."

"Stuck? In my own head?"

"I'm afraid so," she sipped on her tea, "When I feel you starting to fall down that rabbit hole, I'll touch your leg to let you know. When you feel me touch you, I need you to reel your emotions back in. Do you think you can do that? If not, there's no shame in waiting for tomorrow.”

"No," I said quickly, "I'll be okay. I can do this."

"I believe you. Now. Let's begin."

She sat beside me on the stool and took my hands in hers. I stared down at my black claws as she asked me to go back in time. I closed my eyes and skipped through my teenage-hood and into my early childhood. I tried to push away the sinking sadness of my first friend's death.

"What did your first master look like?" Rosie asked.

"I know he had white hair. Long, white hair. He always had a scowl on his face and he dragged me around."

"What about your very first fight?"

"I was...I was against another kid. Another girl. She had short brown hair and looked...inhuman."

"Inhuman, how?"

"She...her eyes...they were red and...she just looked insane. Her hair was all matted and she was down on all fours. She was drooling a lot too. I remember she...she ran after me and started clawing and biting my arms. She went for my face and I shoved her off. She chased me in circles around the ring. I can still hear all the men cheering above. They were laughing."

"What did you do?"

"I uh...I grew tired and she eventually caught up to me. She grabbed my foot then went for my face. I don't remember much but I...I remember kicking her off then kicking her head. It bounced off the walls and then she didn't get up after that."

"When did you start to learn how to use magic?"

I paused for a moment. “I…I had a master before him? He…he was the one who taught me. Every so often he would come back during the day and take me into the ring. He showed me how to use it. First it was with wind. He told me to throw sand and dirt in my opponents' faces."

"What else did he teach you?"

"He taught me...how to use my sweat as a weapon...how to pull apart the earth so their foot would get stuck or so that they would trip...he taught me a lot."

"Did you warm up to him?"

"When he was teaching me I was happy. I loved learning how to use my magic. And he praised me all the time when I did well. Eventually he stopped being rough with me. It felt like...like he cared about me."

"But?"

"But..." I felt my heart sink with sadness. "But...he...gave me up...to someone not nice."

"Do you know why?"

"Yeah...he was...apparently just someone who trained children in basic magic then...then sold them off to the highest bidder. I was...I was so angry at him...I thought I was going to make him proud and live to be set free but...but I was nothing to him."

"Very good. Now, what can you tell me about when you first met him? When you first saw his white hair?"

I paused. "I remember...I remember looking up at him. He was such a tall man. I was holding someone's hand but I can't...I can't see their face."

"It's okay, don't push it. Tell me about the hand you're holding. What does it feel like?"

"Soft. But...tough? It's definitely tight."

"Good what about-"

"No. Wait...there was another man with white hair. But his...his was shorter."

"Tell me about him. Where were you?"

"I was...I was in a cage. I was...with someone. I remember seeing him come to the cage often. I was...the person I'm with would always get tense when he did. Why can't I see this person's face?"

"It's okay. Take your time. Tell me what this person is wearing."

"A short sleeve. Her skin is...covered in scars and bruises. She's...she's always stroking my hair."

"What else does she do?"

"She...she hums a lot. There's a small radio in the corner and she hums to it a lot. And...I can feel it in her chest when does. She rocks me back and forth until I fall asleep." I suddenly grew very sad and angry. My hands tightened and my hair on the back of my neck stood up.

"What is it, doll? What's happening?"

"He's...the man...he's wearing a white suite...exactly the color of his hair...and he's yelling with her. They're fighting. There's yelling. He hits her. She's arguing back but not fighting. Why won't she fight?"

"Stay with me dear." She touched my lap. I tried to lower my tense shoulders but it was hard.

"He picked me up and...he closed the door on her. She's screaming. Why is she screaming? Why is he taking me away from her? I can't...I can't reach her. I don't...where is he taking me? I don't want to leave her."

"Enough sweetheart, come back. Come out of the memory." She touched my shoulder this time. "Come back to my store. Come back to this world. It's all just a memory."

"I can't stop crying. Why...is that my mother?"

"Sweetheart, you need to come back. You're going in too deep. Stop the emotions."

"But...I want to see her."

"We'll look next time. We can come back next time but you need to take a break. Come out of the memory. Come back to the store. Blink twice and look up."

I stared at the figure reaching out to me through the bars. I was so close. I just wanted to touch her hand one more time. But it was just a memory. She wasn't really there. She might not even be alive at all.

I blinked twice and looked up to meet Rosie's dark eyes. She let out a huge sigh and patted me on the head. "That was a little too close for comfort."

I felt something brush against my leg. I looked down to see a black tail that ran all the way to my back. I stood up and spun around in an effort to look at it. I felt something pulling on my back and realized I had a pair of black wings to go with it.

"What the..." The black on my hands had stretched all the way down to my elbow now. I found the closest mirror and noticed a pair of long ears sticking up from my human ones. Was I a type of dragon?

"I see you're making lots of progress." Alastor's staticky voice cut through the silence.

"Quite a lot, actually," Rosie answered. "I must say, you sure got lucky, Alastor. She looks like she's got a lot hidden away in her."

"Which is why you're the perfect person to help pull it all into the light."

"How do I hide them?" I asked Rosie, still turning in circles to look at myself.

"Oh, uh..." she tapped her sharp finger to her sharp teeth.

"Picture them receding into your back," Alastor answered. I grimaced at the thought of listening to him but gave it a try. The tail shivered but did nothing.

"I'm sure it'll take getting used to," Rosie reassured me. "But I'm sure you're absolutely exhausted. You should go home and get some rest. We can figure out more later."

"Good idea," Alastor agreed. "Come along, darling." He put his hand on my back but I pushed it off. I thanked Rosie and walked out of her store, my wings hitting the edges on the way out.

"So, what did you learn?" he asked as he shut the door.

"What's it to you?"

"Just curious is all."

"You can stay that way," I mumbled. He grabbed my waist and sent us back to the cliff side manor. As soon as my feet touched solid ground, I pushed his hand off and walked inside. My wings hit anything and everything, frustrating me even more.

"Whoah, ain't you something," Husker commented from the sitting room. I didn't respond, clambering up to my room and locking the door behind me. My legs buckled and I collapsed onto the floor. I sobbed into my arms as the new memories replayed themselves in my mind.

Who am I?

[stevesjockstrap]

During Pride Month

@stcreators event 09: Pride

@steddiesongfics June: Blondie - Heart of Glass

Steve/Eddie • rated T • mentioned Robin/Vickie and Argyle/Nancy/Jonathan • alcohol, getting together, idiots to lovers • read on ao3

It was a wonder Eddie even hung out with this group anymore, honestly. It was usually entertaining at the very least, but he was starting to question his life choices. Their normal bar had been hosting Pride month events, which wasn’t the issue, Robin had lead their team to victory during a trivia night and Eddie and Steve had won the Newlywed game last week. They hadn’t told him tonight was karaoke, though. The later it got, the more the bar had steadily filled up and the performers turned to either pretty decent singers or at least those who knew they were drunk and off key enough to encourage the heckling from their friends and the crowd.

Sinking into his buzz enough to consider staying now, he looked around their booth. Robin and Vickie were cuddled up in one corner and Nancy was sandwiched in between Argyle and Jonathan.

Steve always drove Eddie crazy on their nights out. Either utilizing his scary dog privileges when he didn’t want any attention, sitting under Eddie’s arm all night and dragging him to the dance floor to plaster himself to his front. Worse were the nights when he did want the attention, flitting enthusiastically between whoever struck his fancy around the bar. Robin would send him sly looks on those nights, knowing where Eddie would rather have him, but since they weren’t actually together Eddie couldn’t keep him on the stool next to his.

So when Steve disappeared, Eddie tried not to let it bother him and instead lined up the shots for the table, keeping his eyes down and making himself not search out the gorgeous mop of hair. To who was touching or looking at him.

Until the next song started and the amplified voice drew all their attention to the stage. The sassy walk across the stage to send their far table a look made Eddie gasp and Robin yell out. Jon chuckled from next to him.

“Once I had a love and it was a gas

Soon turned out had a heart of glass.”

Steve usually stuck to Springsteen, safe power ballads or dramatic duets with Robin when they felt extra goofy. Nothing like this. Eddie couldn’t tear his eyes away from him, not looking at all at the screen for the words, putting much more emotion into the song.

Eddie clinked his shot quickly with his friends’ then tapped it on the table before finally breaking eye contact with Steve as he threw it back.

“What I find is pleasing and I’m feeling fine

Love is so confusing there's no peace of mind

If I fear I’m losing you it’s just no good

You teasing like you do.”

“Fuck,” he breathed as the alcohol burned its way down, Steve winked at him and one handedly pulled his shirt over his head revealing a tight tank top.

“Maybe this’ll finally get his attention,” Vickie stage whispered to Robin who quickly shushed her, both of them dissolving into hysterical laughter.

Eddie didn’t know what that meant, but immediately directed his gaze back to the crooning man on the stage.

“Once I had a love and it was a gas

Soon turned out to be a pain in the ass.”

“Hey, does he mean me?” Nancy huffed and Jonathan coughed into his beer, but Eddie ignored them, too.

Standing, he walked closer to the stage, getting a thrill as Steve’s eyes followed him as he sang, paying no attention to the other patrons who were definitely taking interest. Steve wouldn’t be leaving with anyone else tonight if he could help it.

As the last chords died out from the song, Steve couldn't hold back the smirk twitching on his lips watching Eddie approach the steps to the stage.

The polite clapping from the crowd crescendoed as he opened his arms for Steve and instead of taking the steps, jumped from the stage and wrapped his legs around Eddie. With a small ‘oof,’ he caught him around the waist and met his open mouthed kiss. The rest of the bar joined their table in their screaming but Eddie was focused on Steve.

“Took you dinguses long enough!” Robin screamed over the noise when they broke apart and Eddie had to kiss the somehow shy smile from his lips.

Maybe karaoke hadn’t been so bad after all.

Many thanks and kisses to @lawrencebshoggoth for like this entire prompt and song choice 😘🖤

Pride stars divider by @steddiecameraroll-graphics 🤩

[thedvilsinthedetails]

wrote a quick, just fluff, slice of life microfic w rosekiller (679 words)

wrote it pretty quickly so the description is #entirelynonexistant

Oh for the record ‘grunkle ford’ is a gravity falls character bahaha

also ten things I hate about you I LOVE THAT MOVIE thats the literal only reason I have them watching it is just bc I love it lmao

CW: reference to background sexual stuff but nothing depicted (its Barty btw bc Evan is ace in this)

Evan got back home at around seven, rain soaked and shivering from shitty London weather. He leaned against the door with a sigh, throwing an angry glance at the umbrella he’d decided he wouldn’t need today and left in the doorway this morning. Then he heard it. 

Barty softly groaning from the bathroom, then a gasp and then…

“E-Evan!”

Then silence. 

Evan just chuckled, sitting himself down on the sofa, smirking bemusedly when Barty emerged a minute later from the bathroom. 

“Having fun?”

Evan joked. Barty stuck his tongue out his boyfriend. 

“I tried to do it before you got home.”

“Don’t worry it’s fine, I don’t mind hearing it. I mean I kind of like the fact that you think of me when you…I just don’t want to do it.”

Barty’s smile softened and he reached his hands out to cup Evan’s face. Evan hesitated, moving his head back for a second.

“Sorry just…you’ve washed your hands like a lot right?”

“Course baby. Hands cleaned thoroughly with scented soap.”

Evan relaxed and let Barty’s hands slip around his face. Barty leaned down and pressed a kiss gently on the top of his head, nestling his face in Evan’s hair for a moment.

“Just so you know though.”

Barty whispered softly in Evan’s hair.

“I may have said your name but I was actually thinking of Grunkle Ford. Ultimate DILF.”

Barty chuckled before dropping his hands and running to the kitchen, giggling at Evan’s indignant expression.

“First of all. RUDE. second of all, he’s a literal old man.”

Evan chased Barty quickly with a laugh.

Barty just shrugged, turning and pulling Evan into his arms. They swayed there for a moment, holding each other in the soft glow of the kitchen light. Barty curled his head against Evan’s chest, looking up at him with soft eyes. 

“DILFS only improve with age.”

“Barty!”

Barty laughed again. He had a strange laugh, one that alternated between complete gaping silence and something that resembled a hyena’s shriek. It warmed Evan up from inside out to hear. 

“How was your day?”

Evan pressed their foreheads together gently as he asked.

“It was good, boring. You?”

“Same. Wanna watch a movie?”

“Ten things I hate about you, ten things I hate about you, ten things I hate about you…”

Barty began to chant it, dancing around the kitchen excitedly as Evan got snacks for the movie ready. Evan threw a handful of pretzels at him at one point which Barty tried and failed to catch in his mouth. In the end he just picked them up off the floor, blew on them (like that would even do anything) and shoved them in his mouth. 

•••

They were curled up on their sofa, Barty had his back pressed against Evan’s chest, one hand resting on Evan’s knee. Evan had an arm slung over Barty’s shoulder, other one wrapped around his waist. Evan tried to focus on the movie but it was sort of difficult when Barty kept throwing Evan not so subtle glances. 

“What is it baby?”

Evan murmured. Barty’s eyes widened and he dropped his gaze quickly. He took his hand off Evan’s knee and began to rub his knuckles against one another nervously.

“Bee?”

Evan asked again, hugging him just slightly tighter. 

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Hey.”

Evan whispered.

“You don’t have to tell me but I won’t judge you or anything.”

Barty glanced up at him again. He drew in a shaky breath before speaking.

“I’ve been thinking recently, you know about us. And I didn’t know what it was but I just figured it out and well…look I think I love you. I know I love you.”

He blurted it out quickly, tripping over words as he spoke. Evan just froze slightly.

“Oh.”

Barty shifted awkwardly, eyes fixed down in his hands.

“I love you t-“

“Ev you don’t have to…”

“Bee.”

Evan pressed a soft kiss against Barty’s cheek.

“I love you too.”

Barty looked at him for a moment, then hummed happily, snuggling even closer to Evan. 

[sluttyten]

You In My Arms

Chapter 2: In the Dark

full masterlist || haechan masterlist || YIMA chapter index

summary: You want to be the star of your own love story instead of watching your friends fall in love around you. Just one night opens your eyes to a method to put yourself in a starring role, even if it's not quite in the way you'd always imagined.

length: 11,005

tags: slowburn, friends to lovers, voyeurism, exhibitionism, masturbation (public & in private), general perversion, smut

previous chapter || next chapter

Haechan was your first love. 

You met him at a formative time in your life, when you were getting your first true taste of freedom after moving away to attend the university of your dreams. 

At first Haechan was just the funny guy in your orientation group, but then you started seeing him around campus from time to time, noticed that he sat in the middle of the large forum classroom your Psych class was held in, and then you discovered that his friends were friends with some of yours. Your circles overlapped, you were actually both studying for the same degree, and you took full advantage of both of those facts to ingratiate yourself into his life. 

His name was Lee Donghyuck, but his friends called him Haechan. 

The first time he smiled at you with his full, bright smile and told you to call him Haechan, you felt like your heart liquefied in your chest, filling you with this molten feeling of happiness. 

But despite how hard and fast you fell for him, Haechan didn’t look at you as anything more than just one of his friends. You knew why. There was another girl in the group he had his eye on, though he never made a move on her either. You watched for years as all of you danced around each other. She dated several guys and slept around; Haechan slept around a good amount; and you did your very best to fall out of love with a guy you were fairly certain wasn’t interested. 

Your mutual group of friends wasn’t one that necessarily drew lines when it came to relationships. Pretty much everyone had kissed or slept with everyone else, either directly or indirectly. You’d had your share of flings with some of the guys. A whirlwind romance over the summer between your second and third years at university with Mark, then a good portion of your third year you and Xiaojun had been fuckbuddies. 

But through it all, your foolish heart was set on one man. Haechan. 

It wasn’t until your last year at school that you finally saw an opportunity, a little chance for Haechan to move on from your other friend. She started sneaking around with Shotaro, and though no one called them out on it, you thought they were being pretty obvious. Disappearing together at parties, suddenly hanging out together a lot more. 

But they kept it secret, so you never said a word, figuring they would tell all of you when they were ready. 

Your fourth year of study was nearing the halfway point, and this semester felt the most brutal yet. The finish line was nearly in sight, and that was equal parts exhilarating and terrifying. Your whole future lay on the other side of that line, and sure, you still had the rest of this semester and the next before graduation, but really that was only a few short months away. 

On a long holiday weekend, your friend group planned a camping trip. Someone in the group knew someone who knew someone (a dad’s cousin’s brother-in-law’s kid type of situation) that had a lakefront property that they usually rented out to tourists, set up for glamping and boating and all sorts of things that could keep all of you well preoccupied for a weekend. A deal was made with that distant acquaintance, and your group of friends was given free rein of the property for the weekend. 

You arrived late Friday night with the last of your friends. Of course, the ones that had gotten there earlier in the day had claimed the best rooms, and since you were among the last, you were stuck just wherever, which meant that you were meant to sleep in the room with Karina and Winter, which wasn’t the worst place you could think to sleep, but it wasn’t the best either. They were fine, usually friendly, but among all of your friends, you were probably the least close with them. 

So you slept in the room that night, feeling like you were invading the two girls’ space, and first thing on Saturday morning, you were up and ready for the day to start. 

It was a beautiful day. Since Xiaojun was studying culinary arts, he made a very nice breakfast for all of you, while YangYang – who spenting most weekends bartending – made mimosas. 

Starting out, everything was great. 

It was sunny and warm, the water was perfect. There was a nice little beach, a boat, a dock. Some people played in the water, a few people left to hike on trails in the woods around the lake, you played a round of beach volleyball. 

It was a fun day except that Xiaojun kept sticking rather close to your side. It would have been fine if his intentions were just friendly, but it was the way he kept trying to flirt with you that put a slight downer on the day. Every time you tried to put some distance between you and him, he would find you again. 

You liked him as a friend, but what you’d had with him the previous year was in the past. You weren’t interested in being anything more than friends with him right now. 

At one point, you’d gone out to the end of the dock, hoping that you’d finally get the chance to be alone. Karina was floating on a fancy blow-up pool float that she’d somehow tethered to the dock to keep from floating off into the lake, but she was minding her own business, and you didn’t think she would bother you. 

But then you hear footsteps behind you, and you’re ready to turn around and fuss at Xiaojun to just leave you alone, but then Haechan plops down beside you. He calls over to Karina, and you watch her flick a mildly irritated look at him, but true to character, Haechan doesn’t let that deter him. He slips into the water, and swims right over to her. 

You try to ignore both of them as you lie down on your back on the weathered boards. A light breeze keeps the heat off the sun from fully baking you, and your feet are in the lake water, helping a bit with combating the heat too. You can hear Haechan and Karina talking, hear them laughing, hear voices carrying over the water from the beach behind you. 

Eventually, Haechan lifts himself back up into the dock, spraying you with tiny droplets of water. You’re about to complain about that when Haechan speaks instead. 

“Hey, man!” Haechan calls out in greeting. You don’t even have to look to know who it is going to be. “That breakfast this morning was great.”

“Thanks,” Xiaojun says appreciatively as he approaches. “I have plans for dinner tonight too.”

“He’s using us as a test for his restaurant plans,” you say, tilting your head and squinting in the sunlight. The shadowy figures of Xiaojun and Haechan stand there above you. “You’re both blocking my light.”

Which is how you come to be sunbathing and cloudgazing with Xiaojun and Haechan. Xiaojun’s arm rests against yours, he keeps tapping his foot against your ankle every few minutes too, and you know exactly why he’s being like this. Maybe if he would just come out and ask if you would have sex with him, you would, but he’s just constantly trying to initiate contact and being clingy instead, and you’re not enjoying that. But Haechan’s presence, on the other hand, is something you are enjoying. 

He’s in a particularly good mood, chatty and laughing, pointing up at the clouds to tell you what shapes he sees. 

“I used to do this a lot when I was younger,” he tells you. “My family lives in Jeju, and sometimes my younger siblings and I would just lie on the beach when we got too tired of playing, and we would look up at the clouds.”

You turn your head, resting your cheek on the warm boards beneath you as you look over at Haechan. He’s just gazing up at the sky, one arm lifted to point at a specific cloud that you have no interest in gazing at right now. You’re looking at him beside you, sunlight personified with his golden skin and bright smile. He’s talking and Xiaojun is too, but you’re not listening to either of them. 

And then Haechan looks over at you, and you snap your head around to look up at the clouds again. 

The rest of the day passes. Dinner preparations begin. You disappear inside to shower the feel of sweat, sunscreen, sand, and lakewater off of you. As evening sinks in, the air cools off, so you dress warmer before you return outside to sit by the fire. Most people are gathered out here, though a few of your friends are still inside cleaning themselves up or finishing up preparing food, but you find Haechan sitting in a foldable camp chair with an open seat right beside him. 

You take it. 

He flinches, startled at your sudden appearance, but he relaxes as you start talking. You talk about school of all things – you’d not thought ahead to figure out anything else to talk about right now, only knowing that you wanted to talk with him. But you do end up offering him some study help, and your heart beats a little faster when you think about the chance to be alone with Haechan in a study room in the library or at his dorm maybe. You enjoy Haechan’s presence, so you’ll take any opportunity to be alone with him, even if it is just to study.

“I might take you up on that. But like you said, this is a nice break,” he sighs, and tips his head back, looking similar to how he’d looked earlier on the dock. “I feel like this weekend we can all just relax and let loose.”

You want to let loose, really. To be a little careless tonight and just let your walls fall down, maybe use the excuse of some alcohol to kiss Haechan, to entice him into bed, and if it’s weird in the morning then you can just blame it on the alcohol. Your mind plays with the idea of drunkenly kissing Haechan tonight, sliding into his lap here at the bonfire to kiss him in front of all of your friends. You can already imagine the hoots, whistles, and catcalls, the sounds of surprise because none of them would expect something like that of you. 

You want to let loose, to look as carefree and relaxed as Haechan does. 

Haechan looks over at you, and you realize you’re smiling. He smiles too, an almost involuntary curve of his lips to match your own. 

"When do you ever hold back from letting loose, Lee Donghyuck?" You ask, feeling a happy laugh bubble from your lips. He always seems so carefree, very go-with-the-flow and happy. The idea of Haechan needing to become more loose makes you laugh. 

You see a hint of surprise in his eyes before he’s laughing with you. And then you’re laughing even harder, both of you leaning in towards each other with the gravity of the emotions. 

To no one’s surprise, least of all your own, Xiaojun appears to take the seat on your other side, wondering what you’re both laughing about. He does his very best to steal your attention away from Haechan, and it actually works. 

You do like Xiaojun, he’s a good friend, which is why your friends with benefits relationship had worked out so well for so long last year; he knows the right things to say to you, so you are fully swept into a new conversation with him, and when you next look around, Haechan is gone. 

You try not to let your disappointment show, but you think it must anyway because Xiaojun seems to make it his purpose for the rest of the evening to cheer you up. The food does a good job of that, and then Xiaojun and Chenle’s company does well at keeping you entertained as night falls, a chill creeping in off the lake, and YangYang’s alcoholic creations – as well as a typical cooler of beer – make their rounds. 

You don’t really pay too much attention to the rest of your friends while Chenle is regaling you with a tale of a trip he took, and you’re definitely not paying attention to how much other people are drinking, until you start hearing raised voices, teasing laughter, and Haechan’s voice cutting above the rest. You turn to look. 

They’re teasing Shotaro again, that quickly becomes obvious. 

He’s sitting there in his seat beside your friend he’s secretly been hooking up with for weeks now, and he looks a little embarrassed, but he’s still in the stage of not minding it. But Haechan is the one leading the teasing, and as you watch, you can tell that he’s setting Shotaro’s girl off, she’s getting rather prickly. 

You can tell Haechan is a bit more drunk than most other people. There’s a flush to his cheeks and his neck, a hazy gleam to his eyes, a slight slur to his speech. He’s not wasted, but he’s more drunk than not. He’s just teasing, and as you listen to him, you realize that he’s throwing a few barbed points in there, like he knows something most of your friends don’t. 

Does he know about the secret relationship too?

She gets all defensive, throwing some shots back at Haechan, and that’s when you see the drunken haze clear in his eyes, replaced by an angry heat as she calls his skills in bed into question. The teasing has become an argument, and you watch as Haechan rises to his feet, ready to face off with the girl, and he likely would have if it weren’t for Shotaro and Renjun stepping in. 

Renjun propels Haechan back into the cabin while Shotaro leads his girlfriend off towards the dark lakeshore. 

“Wow,” Xiaojun whistles beside you. “What the hell was that about?”

Chenle laughs. “Taro and her have something going on, don’t they? And Haechan is jealous.”

You keep glancing towards the house, looking for any sign of Renjun and Haechan returning. It was both a little bit scary and also arousing to watch Haechan get so heated. He had been a little bit of a dick, trying to out the secret couple to everyone, and also for really getting in there with teasing Shotaro. 

You’d once talked about it with Shotaro, and he told you that he usually didn’t mind the teasing, because he knew it was lighthearted and it’s just the way that all of the friends teased each other. But you also knew that sometimes it got taken a bit too far, and it was clear that tonight the scales had tipped more in that direction. Haechan had almost pushed it too far tonight, and you knew he was drunk so his judgment was perhaps a bit impaired in that regard. 

Eventually the happy couple returns to the bonfire, receiving congratulations from your friends, and a while after that Haechan returns. 

You keep looking at him, unable to keep your eyes off of him for too long. The flush has faded from his cheeks, and he keeps drinking water for the rest of the night while he snacks on leftovers from dinner, on s’mores YangYang makes, on snacks that people had brought down from the cabin earlier. 

Slowly everyone turns in for the night until only a few of you remain, the number dwindling down to just you, Xiaojun, Jeno, Mark, Haechan, Shotaro, and Shotaro’s girlfriend. 

Haechan has been moodily staring into the fire for the past fifteen minutes. You’ve been watching him do that while ignoring the way that Xiaojun has his hand resting in the armrest of your chair, palm-up like he wants you to take notice, as if he’s hoping that you’ll take his hand and go into one of the fancy glamping tents that are set up sporadically between the cabin and the lakeshore. 

It’s gotten a lot colder as the night has drawn on. Even with your pants and sweatshirt, with a blanket draped over your lap and the blazing fire, you still feel chilled every time that a lick of wind blows in off the lake. It doesn’t help that your feet are bare, so you pull them up beneath your blanket as you shiver. 

Xiaojun notices of course, and he grabs the blanket someone had left on the chair on his other side, and he covers your lap with it. If you’re this cold that you need a second blanket, you think maybe it’s time that you go inside the warmer cabin for the night. Besides, it’s getting late.

Jeno, who you’re fairly certain has been in a competition with himself for how much he can drink tonight without getting blackout drunk, grins crookedly, and suggests, “Maybe before we head in, we all take a dip in the hot tub?”

“Nah, I think I’m done for the night,” Mark sighs and rises to his feet. “It’s too cold.”

“I’m sure it helps that you’ve got someone new to warm your bed though, I bet, Mark!” Jeno laughs as Mark gets up and starts to walk away. 

You laugh along with the rest, knowing that Jeno’s referring to how Mark and one of the girls had disappeared into the cabin for a while earlier tonight. Mark just flips you all his middle finger. 

To your surprise, it’s the new happy couple on the other side of the fire that agrees with Jeno. Haechan lifts his gaze from the fire, brushing it over the couple, his gaze lingering on her for a moment before he looks at Jeno. Haechan shrugs and agrees, and from there of course you’re going to agree too. Xiaojun, to your complete surprise, decides that he’s just going to head to bed. 

Xiaojun trudges back to the house alone, wishing you all a good night. The five of you follow the path back up to the cabin’s deck, walking around the side of the deck to the hot tub. 

You feel only slightly embarrassed as you watch the others quickly strip their clothes off. Shirts, sweatshirts, pants until they’re left only in their underwear. Haechan at least still had his swim trunks on from earlier today when everyone had been in the lake, so he’s provided a bit more coverage than the rest of you. You feel his eyes dart over to you as you’re the last to let your shirt fall, the last to shimmy your sweatpants down to your ankles, slipping them off along with your socks. 

You’re too aware that the bra and panties you’re wearing are mismatched. Panties white (a horrible choice for wearing into a hot tub, but it’s not like when you’d dressed earlier this evening you’d expected the night to go like this) and your bra just a lacy bralette that hugs your tits and does very little to hide the way that your nipples peak in the cool night air. You quickly step into the hot tub and dunk yourself in up to your chin, hoping the bubbling surface will hide you. 

It doesn’t take long for you to relax. None of them care or notice. Shotaro and his sweetheart are too enamored with each other. Jeno is finally teetering on the edge of dozy drunkenness. Haechan keeps alternating between looking up at the night sky and trying not to look at the girl tucked against Shotaro’s side. He’s sitting beside you though, and his knee keeps nudging yours under the water. 

One of the jets sits between you and Haechan, and it keeps brushing your side and your thigh, tickling you in a way that thrills you more than anything else. A different wet heat builds between your legs, especially when Haechan leans over to laugh at something you’ve said and he rests a hand momentarily on your thigh. 

You try to ignore your desires. To push it all down and tell yourself that you’re being stupid right now. 

But then his arm drapes over your shoulders (and Jeno’s on his other side, but you pretend that doesn’t matter) and all thoughts vanish except for your brain making a static moan at the feeling of his body warm and hard against your side, his fingers resting against your upper arm. His laugh sounds right beside your ear. 

You don’t even remember what it is that all of you talk about. Maybe classes. Maybe finals coming up or plans for the winter break that follows. It’s not until you smile at the cuddly couple across from you, until Haechan tenses up and withdraws his arm from your shoulders that your mind snaps back into place. 

He stands up and you lift your gaze in awe of him. Water drips from his shoulders over his chest and down his stomach to his navel and his hips. The swim trunks hang low on his hips, weighed down by the water soaking them, drawing your gaze even lower. You bite your tongue as you notice the slight bulge in the front of his shorts, and again you feel a pulse of need and want in your core. 

Haechan doesn’t say a word, just climbs out, grabs his clothes and disappears around the corner of the cabin. 

Is that it? He’s done for the night? He’s had enough of the happy couple rubbing it in his face?

You immediately want to follow him, but you give it a few minutes before you bid the others goodnight, and you hurriedly pull yourself from the water, cursing as the bitter air bites in deep. Even once you’ve bundled your dry clothes against your chest and made a run for the back door of the cabin, you’re shivering and wishing one of you had at least thought to grab towels. 

Jeno’s only a few steps behind you. He looks happy as he comes through the door, a loose grin on his lips. He drops his armful of clothes into one of the chairs around the small kitchen table, mumbles a goodnight, and then he vanishes through the doorway that leads to the room several of the guys are sharing tonight. 

There’s a vent blowing warm air positioned right beside the kitchen table, and as a shiver wracks your body, you collapse into one of the chairs right there. You fold your arms on the table, drop your forehead onto your arms, and you try to purge your mind and body of the lust you’re feeling from the sight of Haechan emerging from the hot tub like a sea god. 

It doesn’t work. 

Your mind’s eye keeps honing in on that bulge you’d seen. You’ve heard tales before of Haechan. He’s a little bit of a manwhore at times, slept with plenty of girls you’ve been friends with, so you’ve got some awareness of what he’s like. You’ve got a mental image painted by a very descriptive sex-positive friend of yours majoring in the liberal arts. She has an emphasis in painting and poetry, both of which she has created for almost all of her partners including Haechan. 

So you have a somewhat specific idea of what his dick may look like, and a more general idea of what kind of skills he might possess, and neither of those things are what you need right now when you’re desperately horny and stuck in a house with all of your friends and zero privacy. 

But they are all sleeping, right? Karina and Winter had turned in rather early, so they’re probably deep into REM sleep, so if you just quietly come into the room, maybe you can try to quietly rub one out before sleep. Or you could try to sneak into the shower. It would be nice and warm in there, private too.

Before you can make a decision, you hear the squeak of a floorboard, and the soft sound of bare feet on the floor. You turn your head so you can see who it is. 

Haechan. 

His eyes land on you, a glimmer of surprise and then his face lights up.

“Are you just gonna sleep out here?” He teases. “You know the King bed upstairs is still open if it’s the idea of rooming with Karina and Winter that has you scared to sleep in there.” 

You have nothing against those two. They’re nice and friendly, but you’re not terribly close with them, and when you’d placed your bag on the bottom bunk the previous evening upon your arrival, they’d exchanged looks that made you feel like they’d rather share the room themselves without your presence. Last night had been fine, and it’s not the reason you’re lingering out here at all. 

Haechan looks at you, like really looks at you, and suddenly you remember that you’re still in just your bralette and panties, still clinging wetly and semi-transparently to you. All of you is exposed in that moment. A blush rises hotly to your cheeks as you rock up to your feet. You press your clothes close to your chest again.

“Why is no one sleeping up there?” You ask, glancing at the set of stairs that leads up to the only King bed in the cabin. 

“A few of us played for it last night. Winner got the single room.” He grins, and proudly tells you. “I won. But I’m not tired yet, so you’re definitely welcome to sleep up there if you want.”

Your heart stutters briefly in your chest. “And what about when you do get tired? Where are you gonna sleep then?” 

He shrugs. “That’s a problem for then. I’m gonna head back outside. Fire’s still going so someone should probably keep an eye on it.”

Haechan reaches for the doorknob of the door, and right as it turns in his hand, the words leap out of you: “When you get tired, Haechan….” He turns to look at you, and his eyes are gentle and deep, and you forget your words for a moment. “Uh, well… it’s a big bed. I'm happy to share.”

You’re definitely a little bit in love with the way he smiles then. This slow smile, surprised and leaning a little bit towards a smirk. His eyes sweep over you quickly, from your bare toes curling on the floor up to your face which feels hot right now.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Haechan says, and then he’s gone, stepping out into the night. 

Goosebumps rise on your skin, and you’re not entirely sure if it’s from the cool breeze that snuck inside or if it’s just a chill running down your spine at your own boldness in inviting Haechan to join you in bed. Maybe not necessarily in the way that you want him, but certainly in more of a way than you’ve had him before. 

Almost as soon as the back door clicks shut again, you’re off, hurrying up the stairs and taking the turn to the King bedroom. The other doors up here are closed, and when you step inside this room, immediately you’re assaulted with the smell of Haechan’s favored fragrance. You’ve asked him before what it is, but you never remember. All you know is that this room now smells like him. 

You close the door behind you, and you don’t even bother to turn on the lights. This room is situated on the corner of the house, and with windows on two of the walls, you’re provided just enough light to see by. The flickering of the firelight barely comes through the window to your left, and the window right ahead of you is filled with the glow of the lights strung through the pergola over the hot tub. 

The bed is still unmade from when Haechan left it this morning. His bag is on the desk, several of his clothes flung around. There’s a door slightly ajar that leads to an en-suite bathroom. You should probably shower again after being in the hot tub, but now that you’re this close to the bed you’re not feeling like doing anything more than just crawling into bed and passing out. 

Before you succumb to the lure of sleep, you take a moment to peek out the window facing the lakeshore and the bonfire. You can see the bonfire still going, see the chairs still circled around it as well as the two fancy glamping tents that no one has used yet, except Xiaojun when he took a nap earlier. 

But you don’t see Haechan. 

You scan the shadows, wondering if you’ve somehow overlooked him. 

And then you notice a shadow stretching across the deck beneath you. A long shadow originating from the corner of the house, just out of sight. It’s definitely a man-shaped shadow, the lights over the hot tub cast the shadow diagonally backwards across the deck until it fades in the light coming from the back door. You notice the shadow isn’t moving, and you’re curious as to why. 

You just barely manage to not stub your toe or trip over anything as you move across to the other window, the one looking down just around the corner of the house. 

A quiet gasp leaves your mouth as you look down at the hot tub below. 

Assuming that it’s Haechan’s stationary shadow at the corner of the house, you can understand why he might be frozen right there. 

Shotaro and his girlfriend are having sex in the hot tub. She’s riding him, his hands all over her body as she moves on top of him. You’re sure if the window was open even a little bit you might be able to hear them. 

Is Haechan down there just watching them? Like a pervert?

That’s gross….

… But you also kind of like it. 

Your mind gets absorbed into a fantasy, imagining him standing there touching himself while he watches his friend fuck the girl Haechan wishes he was fucking. Haechan the voyeur, the pervert, masturbating while watching two of his friends fuck. 

Thinking of that just sends you farther down the path, and you step away from the window, sliding into the bed without delay. 

The sheets definitely smell like Haechan. You slide into the spot where the sheets look most rumpled, rest your head on the pillow that looks slept upon. You bury your nose in the fabric and breathe in, wrapped entirely in that scent that reminds you so much of Haechan. 

Your mind still swirls with the fantasy of him down there touching himself, the images in your mind turn to just Haechan stroking his cock, maybe a scenario where he’d found you alone in the hot tub, touching yourself and he stands beside the tub, jerking off while you make yourself cum on your fingers.

You can’t help yourself when you slide your fingers down your body, dipping them inside your damp panties to touch yourself while you breathe in Haechan, while you let the scent intoxicate you and build your fantasy, although your mind can’t settle on just one. A fantasy where you’re tangled with him right here in these sheets, one where he comes up to go to bed and finds you with your fingers buried in your cunt and his name a chant on your lips, another where you joined him out at the fire to blow him while the crackling heat of the fire warms your back, and one where you’d dragged him into one of those unused tents out there and let him ride your ass until you can’t fucking move tomorrow. 

You cum on your fingers, making your panties just that much wetter as you drip around your fingers and rut your hips against the bed. Your moan of Haechan’s name is muffled against the pillow as you bite down on it and wish that it was his shoulder you were biting. 

Your body goes so relaxed, boneless after your orgasm. You don’t even pull your fingers away, leaving your hand inside your panties as you breathe and wait for your pounding heart to return to normal. The house is quiet around you, though you swear you hear a moan from outside the window. 

You don’t know what drives you to do it, what filthy part of you thinks it’s okay, but once you regain some mobility in your limbs, you slip your hand from your panties. Your fingers are still wet and slick, and you lift them to wipe them on the pillow case, mingling your scent right there with Haechan’s. You breathe it in, and your heart thrills at the combination, the perfect perfume. 

Just as you’re about to roll over, to slide onto the other side of the bed to leave Haechan’s already slept-in side for him again, the door of the room opens. 

You jump slightly. 

“Sorry, it’s just me.” Haechan apologizes. 

You sink back into the sheets on his side of the bed. He closes the door behind him, and you hear his shuffling footsteps cross the floor. You hear the soft whisper of his sweatshirt being pulled over his head,  a similar sound when a moment later he drops his swim trunks. He steps into the en-suite for a few moments, and when he emerges you can just see the shadowy shape of him moving over to his bag on the desk. He pulls out some sweatpants, slips them on and then crosses back to the other side of the bed. 

“You smell like lake water, bonfire smoke, and chlorine,” you mumble as he slides into the bed. Not that it’s a bad thing that he smells like that because even under it all, you can still catch that definite Haechan-scent. You still wish you could pull yourself closer and bury your nose against him, breathing it all in. 

“I’ll shower in the morning,” Haechan says, his words already half-muffled. “You’re on my side of the bed, by the way.”

He shuffles a little closer, and although this bed is big, you’re still very aware of him when his foot bumps against yours. 

“You’re the one that invited me. Guess you should’ve been more specific about where you wanted me.” You flip over onto your side to face him. His eyes gleam slightly in the dim light still coming in from the lights over the hot tub. 

“Next time I’ll make it clear where I want you,” Haechan says. 

You don’t know what exactly he means by that, but you’ll take it as a promise that there will be a next time for you to end up in his bed. 

“Do you want to go on a date with me?” 

Xiaojun asks it so casually that you almost don’t even hear the question. 

Since the camping trip just two weeks ago, you’ve given in to his desires, slipped back into your old ways. Reentering into your friends-with-benefits sort of situation with him. 

You’re currently in the process of extracting yourself from his bed, dressing yourself as you sit perched on the edge of the bed. You pause what you’re doing to look back over your shoulder at him. 

Xiaojun is reclined among the messy sheets, carefree with his sex hair and his bare chest dotted with hickeys and marks left behind by your fingernails. He’s watching you warily. 

“A date?” You ask. He nods. “Where’s this coming from?”

He shrugs. “I just thought maybe it might be nice to hang out just the two of us without it only meaning sex. Plus there’s that Halloween party tomorrow night. Most of our friends are gonna be there. There’s booze, movies, music. It should be fun.” Seeing the apprehensive look on your face, Xiaojun says, “It doesn’t have to be like a date-date. I just want to have someone there to have fun with, y’know? A date for the party.”

You like Xiaojun. He’s hot, handsome, fun. He’s nice too and he treats his dog like his firstborn child which is kinda endearing, but you’re not really into him like in a romantic sort of way. You’re too hung up on Haechan to allow yourself to truly develop feelings for anyone else. And truthfully, that night during the camping trip when you’d shared Haechan’s bed is part of the reason you’d so eagerly thrown yourself back into Xiaojun’s arms. 

You’d woken late the next morning on the trip still in bed with Haechan. Your nose was buried against that spot on the pillow that smelled like you and like him, and you’d maybe let yourself watch him sleep for a few more minutes until you decided that it was creepy to watch him. So you’d left, fleeing down to the kitchen.

Haechan hadn’t even acknowledged you sharing his bed. He’d only spoken a few words to you for the rest of that day, and then that night you hadn’t dared return to that bed, too worried that you would throw yourself at Haechan and be faced with outright rejection or maybe he would accept your horny advances but that’s all it would be. Just sex, like this with Xiaojun. And you might end up heartbroken. 

So you’d turned to Xiaojun. 

Maybe he’s exactly the distraction you need. 

“Do we have to wear costumes?” You weren’t planning to do anything like that this year, and with Halloween only a day away, your choices are probably pretty slim. 

“Please?” He wheedles, giving you a sweet smile. “I’ll make it worth your while.”

The following night, you’re walking arm-in-arm with Xiaojun across the long lawn in front of one of the nicer buildings on campus. The air is rather nippy, so you wish you’d dressed warmer considering this party is outdoors, but at least there are the large bonfires to put off a bit of heat. And Xiaojun is kind and considerate and keeps you close to his side with a jacket draped over your shoulders. 

The jacket kinda ruins your costume but you don’t really care. You came dressed in contrast to Xiaojun’s devilish costume, so you’re an angel tonight, wearing just a short white dress, white shoes, a hastily made halo, and enough sparkly highlighter on your face and collarbones that you seem to glow when any amount of light touches your skin. 

You wander around with Xiaojun for a while, just chatting and strolling around the bonfires, stopping to grab drinks, even briefly dancing together where there’s a DJ. Eventually you find a small cluster of your friends – Renjun, Jisung, YangYang – but you visit with them only briefly before moving on. 

You want some excitement tonight, and you know that Xiaojun had invited you on this not-date with a promise of seeing each other in a non-sexual way. But you want sex. That’s your favorite thing to do with Xiaojun.

So once you’ve led him away from your friends, you pull him around the side of the building that presides over this long lawn where the party is being held. Everyone is too focused on the party being held in front of the building to notice the couple sneaking around the side, so you pull Xiaojun against you as you lean back against the wall, dragging his mouth down against yours for a kiss.

He falls into that easily enough, succumbing to your kiss instantly. But you don’t want just a kiss. You want more.

Xiaojun moans softly when you curl your fingers around his wrist, when you pull his hand to your thigh. You lift the short skirt of your angelic white dress, and you guide his hand higher until his fingers find the soft warmth of your panties. 

“Been thinking about your fingers, Xiaojun.” You press the words against his lips between kisses, begging a little when you say, “Need to feel your fingers inside me. Now.”

“Now?” He repeats, pulling his mouth away. “Here?”

You hum, nodding your head, using your fingers against his to massage them against your clit. Xiaojun just watches you, a curious look on his face when he asks, “Won’t we get in trouble if anyone catches us?

“No, Xiaojun, it’s kinda hot, right?” You tug him forward by the lapels of his jacket. “Please?”

“But what if someone sees?” He looks around, peeking right around the corner to the steps up into the building not so far away at all. Currently there are a few people clustered around the base of the stairs, chatting over their drinks, their laughter loud enough to mask any sounds you might make. They’re so close by, and that thrills you.

You want to know what it feels like to have sex somewhere that you might be caught, somewhere that someone might be able to watch. 

Xiaojun still looks hesitant.

“Look,” you sigh, patting his shoulder lightly. “We don’t have to if you really don’t want to. I just thought it might be something fun and different.”

The way Xiaojun looks at you then tells you a lot without him even having to say any words aloud. He thought tonight might be fun and different too, different than you just wanting to fuck him.

But you’re feeling the urge to do something slightly dangerous tonight, and maybe it’s because ever since that night at the cabin about two weeks ago, all you’ve been thinking about has been the way that Haechan stood down there on the deck, peeking around the corner at Shotaro and his girlfriend. And you’ve wanted someone to watch you. Of course, a part of you kinda wishes it would be Haechan, but when you’ve actually thought about it over the recent days, you’ve realized you really like the idea of anyone watching you.

Maybe you’re an exhibitionist. It’s a new thing that has never occurred to you before, but lately it’s all you’ve been thinking about.

“I can’t.” Xiaojun shakes his head and takes a step back. “I have some… different things that I’m into, but I just can’t get into this. Public stuff is not a thing for me.”

That’s your cue to ask him what is a thing for him? What sorts of different kinks is Xiaojun into?

But you don’t ask because you realize in that moment that you don’t care. This is why you’d ended your friends with benefits relationship the first time around. The sex was generally good and fun, but there were some differences in what you wanted to try out even that first time around. You’d forgotten that.

“It’s fine, Xiaojun. You can leave.” Your words are maybe a little too cold and dismissive, but Xiaojun doesn’t react in any way other than simply walking away, leaving you there around the dark corner of the building. 

You sigh and press your shoulders back against the stone. It’s still slightly warm from the sunlight earlier, though the night air is still sharp against your exposed skin. You don’t care that you’re alone. Maybe you’ll just stand right here and get yourself off. Your clit is swollen, pussy throbbing with need, so all it takes is just that thought that you could get yourself off right here, and your hand is already drifting in that direction.

Your skirt is hiked up around your hips now, and your fingers visibly disappear down the front of your panties. You don’t care what you look like right now with your head tipped back against the wall, the motion of your arm and fingers making it very obvious what you’re doing if anyone were to look this way. You’re playing with your clit, dipping your fingers back to your slit to gather up your wetness, slicking your fingers between the folds and just teasing yourself.

The thin strap of your dress slips down over the curve of your right shoulder. You rock your hips forward against the slide of your fingers.

You’ve never done anything like this before. The closest you’ve gotten was masturbating at your apartment when your bed was in front of the window, but your window didn’t face any neighbors, just a solid, windowless wall of the building next door. Tonight you’re horny and feeling risky and adventurous. Thus, the semi-public masturbation.

Just around the corner, you can hear people talking and laughing. 

You lift your free hand to your chest, palming the curve of your breast, and with the other hand, you finally give your pussy what she really wants. If you can’t have Xiaojun’s fingers, you’ll certainly settle for your own.

There’s not a free hand left to cover your mouth to hide your gasps and small whimpers of pleasure. You bite your lip, but that only works so well as you finger yourself and imagine that it was someone else, or imagine that someone is hiding in those bushes a few feet away watching you, touching himself as he watches you edge yourself closer and closer to orgasm.

That thought makes your pussy pulse hungrily, your breath coming out sharply. You want to pull your dress down, bare your tits so you can touch them properly. You wish Xiaojun hadn’t left you because you would get him down on the ground right now so you could ride him, feel the night air on your skin under the not-so-distant glow of the nearest bonfire. So you do squat down right there beside the building, spreading your legs a bit so you can get a better angle with your fingers buried in your pussy. 

“Fuck,” you moan under your breath. Your ankles wobble, and you lose your balance, flopping down onto your ass, your shoulders come to rest against the wall, but you don’t stop what you’re doing. 

You don’t stop until you feel your orgasm mounting, you don’t stop until it is coursing through you, your head tipped back against the wall, heart pounding, pleasure curling your toes and flushing your skin with sweet heat to combat the night’s chill. 

You gasp then sigh, catching your breath as you slide your fingers out of your panties. You wipe your hand on the grass, drag your dress back down to cover you, and you take a moment to just come back to yourself. You can feel the heat settling under your skin, your panties sticking wet against your pussy lips. Exhilaration at having just done that makes it all the more enjoyable. 

You liked that a lot. 

Getting off in public. 

A branch cracks underfoot nearby, and you look up. 

A police officer is walking across the lawn from the closest bonfire, making for you. He freezes when you get to your feet, then he takes a few wary steps closer. 

When he’s close enough, you realize who the officer is. 

“Haechan?”

He pulls a cocky grin onto his face. “Yes, angel?”

You flutter your hands over your dress, making sure it’s all properly pulled back into place. 

Haechan cocks his head a little to the side. “What’re you doing way over here? By yourself?”

You shake your head. “Nothing. Just needed a moment to breathe.”

“Are you alright?” The look of amusement on his face fades, replaced with one of concern. 

“I’m fine. I promise.” Truly, you’re more than fine after an orgasm like that. “Xiaojun asked me to come with him tonight and I think he’s thinking of this more as a date than just us casually hanging out. I needed a little space from him.”

Haechan watches you, his gaze running over your face and your posture, and you feel like he’s picking you apart, but you’re not exactly sure what it is that he’s seeing. After a moment he just looks away, back over his shoulder to scan the lawn. When his gaze returns to you, he’s back to wearing his cocky expression, “Well, I’m looking for a naughty schoolgirl. Have you seen one come by here?” 

Not recently, but you saw one earlier tonight. You vaguely recognized her as a friend of Mark’s. She’d come around the group a few times, but she wasn’t a regular. 

“Why are you looking for her?” You ask. 

Haechan just grins. “Oh, you know how naughty schoolgirls are. I’m just doing my job as a truancy officer, looking for her to punish her.”

You roll your eyes and walk around him, making it only a few steps back towards the light of the front of the building when Haechan’s hand closes around your wrist. 

“What were you doing over there, little angel? Your ass is covered in dirt.” He laughs, and you halfway twist around to look down. Sure enough, the butt of your white dress has dirt on it, but you can’t really reach it very well. Haechan offers, “Do you want some help?”

The moment that his hand touches your ass, patting to remove the dirt which puffs away in small clouds, you feel your core reignite with hunger. Haechan’s hand comes down again, a light pat that you wish was a bit harder, though at the same time, you’re grateful it’s not any harder or else you would probably moan aloud. As it is, your face feels very warm when Haechan finally takes a step around you.

“There,” he says proudly, “All better. But your halo is a little crooked too.”

He reaches up, readjusting your halo. You take the moment to look at him, to stare at his handsome face, so light with amusement right now. And then he lays a hand on top of your head, right beneath the halo, and his gaze lowers to yours. 

“You make a good angel. Perfect and innocent as you are.” Haechan smiles, a real soft smile. 

“I’m not innocent,” you immediately shoot back. 

He shrugs a little. His fingers pet your hair a bit before he removes his hand. “Well you’re certainly no naughty devil. I’ve never heard any wild stories about you, which makes you an innocent angel in my eyes.”

You frown. 

Haechan just smiles, then says, “Well, I have a naughty schoolgirl to look for, if you’ll excuse me.” He walks away without another look back, and you decide that you’re done for the night. You’re done with this party. You’re probably done with Xiaojun, honestly. And you definitely don’t want to hang around and find out if Haechan is going to find his naughty schoolgirl.

You take the winter break to give yourself the opportunity to put some distance between you and Xiaojun, and some distance between you and your useless crush on Haechan. Most of your friends leave campus for the break, but you hang around to work and get a little bit of a head start on the new semester. It’s your final semester, so in a few months you and most of your friends will be graduating. 

You also take the winter break to explore that side of you that you’d started to see during October. The exhibitionist side. 

You start small at first. 

Going out with no panties, no bra just for the impropriety of it. 

You test the waters by touching yourself while you drive back to your apartment from the grocery one day. You build yourself up very, very slowly. Scared of getting caught, but also thrilled with the idea of someone seeing what you’re doing and maybe them getting turned on too. 

As soon as the semester resumes, you begin taking your exhibitionist thrills onto campus itself. No panties and a short skirt while you’re sitting in class or in the library, legs spread just enough that the students or even a professor could see. You rub one out in the restroom between classes a few times, and you’re almost certain that you were found out at least a couple times by others using the restroom when a moan or other such sound escapes you.

As your last semester begins to tick by, you finally begin taking more risks. Such as a picnic in the park with a guy you’d met online who seemed interested in hooking up and doing it in public. He’d fingered you while he fed you cut up fruits with the other hand, which was really more of an excuse to let you suck on his fingers to keep quiet. Just a one-off because, although you liked the experience, there was something lacking with the guy. 

So you’d tried again with another – a guy that actually did see up your skirt while you were studying late one night at the library, and as soon as you noticed him keep sneaking glances, you decided to tease him. One hand slid down to tease yourself, and when he caught you watching him watching you, you’d silently invited him to join you for a quick fuck in the nearest restroom. Again, the experience was fun, but there was something missing about him.

And then one night you’re over at the rented house of several of your friends. It’s midterms, so everyone’s trying to study together for various classes, or at least trying to drink away the stress. Jeno and Haechan are studying for their Econ exam in the kitchen, taking up the majority of the space although there’s still just enough room for YangYang and Renjun to make a mess in trying to be chefs and bartenders for the rest of you. 

You know that YangYang has already given up on studying for any of his midterms. Renjun already knows that he’s well-prepared. They’re just trying to make sure everyone else is having a good time. Mark, Shotaro, Jaemin, and a few of the girls are in the living room attempting to study with you, but you’re on the verge of giving up for the night. You have a bit of a buzz going on from the boozy drinks that YangYang keeps passing around, and you have a full belly from the snacks Renjun keeps making.

“Should we watch a movie instead or something?” Renjun suggests when Jaemin also complains about being bored with studying.

“Maybe we should all just go to bed.” Jaemin frowns a little as he says it, casting a look first towards his bedroom down the hallway, and then looking towards the kitchen where Haechan and Jeno have just loudly begun bickering over some Econ lesson. 

Shotaro’s girlfriend leans her head on his shoulder. “I agree. I’m tired, and I have a project due early in the morning tomorrow.”

“I told you not to take such an early morning class,” Shotaro teases, slipping his arm tight around her shoulders. He puts on a cutesy tone as he asks her, “Do you want to leave, baby? Should we go?” 

Gross, you think. And then you almost laugh.

You’re grossed out by their cutesy, romantic display of affection in public, and yet you’re the one with actual exhibitionist tendencies. 

Jaemin disappears to bed. Shotaro and his girlfriend leave. Everyone else in the room gives up on studying to instead settle in and watch a movie. You look towards the kitchen again as you settle in comfortably between Renjun and YangYang on the sofa, lights off, movie on. Jeno and Haechan aren’t paying any attention to the rest of you; they’re still in the other room diligently studying, and you can’t help watching Haechan.

He’s clearly frustrated. The glasses he's wearing keep sliding down his nose, his hair is ruffled from him running his fingers through it. He’s pushed the sleeves of his shirt up to the elbow. He’s wearing loose basketball shorts, and he has one foot resting on his chair with his knee bent up which has caused the leg of the shorts to bunch up, revealing so many inches of beautiful bare thigh. 

You’ve been trying so hard to get over this crush you have on him, but right now you’re epically failing. All you can imagine is sitting on the floor beneath that table, licking and biting at his thighs, pulling his dick out of the shorts to suck him off while he continues studying. Give him a reward for behaving so studiously. 

“Hey.”

A finger pokes your cheek.

You return to reality, and the fantasy of having Haechan’s cock in your mouth fades away. Renjun smiles at you. 

“You’re not even watching the movie right now. Is Haechan really that much more interesting?” His voice is just a whisper, but it’s still loud enough that you feel a minor surge of panic. You glance around making sure that none of your other friends have heard, that Haechan couldn’t have possibly heard even though he’s all the way over there in the kitchen. Renjun laughs again, leaning closer until his lips are right against your ear. “Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me.” 

“What secret?” You play dumb, and Renjun just rolls his eyes. “Really, Renjun. What secret? I was just staring because, well, if I’m being honest –” Which, for the record, you’re not being honest. “ — their talking is distracting me.” 

Renjun cocks an eyebrow and looks back over towards the kitchen where Jeno and Haechan are sitting in silence, poring over textbooks and notebooks and Jeno’s iPad screen. The only sound coming from them is the scratching of pens on paper. 

You sigh, momentarily letting your gaze wander to Haechan’s thighs as he now brings his other leg up. The shorts on that side also slide down so both of his bare golden thighs are on clear display. Maybe you let out another day-dreamy sigh.

Renjun looks back over at you, a quick up and down. He looks like he doesn’t entirely buy your story. He snorts, “Why don’t you just admit it?”

You know exactly what he’s referring to, but you refuse to admit to him that you have a crush or whatever on Haechan. Not happening. 

“I’d have to be blind to miss that horny gleam in your eye,” Renjun whispers. 

The call-out feels like a wallop to your chest. You actually flinch, struggling to find the words until you eventually mumble, “It’s just been a while, okay? I’m… lonely, Renjun.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.” Renjun promises.

On your other side, YangYang loudly laughs at something that happens on the screen, and you realize there’s no way that he’s paying even the slightest attention to the conversation you and Renjun are having. There’s no way that he notices as you shift yourself a little bit closer to Renjun, and Renjun doesn’t even comment on the way that you reduced the inches of space between you to now just a few centimeters. He turns his attention back to the movie without another word about you staring at Haechan or you confessing to him that you’re lonely. 

You try to watch the movie too. You try to forget Haechan with his beautiful thighs sitting right over there in the kitchen, try to forget the way that in the brief fantasy you’d allowed yourself, you’d somehow made yourself very horny. You try so hard to suppress that horniness, and it works for a little while as you get sucked into the movie.

But then a sex scene comes on. 

The atmosphere in the room changes slightly. 

You shift a little – bunching your hands up in the blanket that covers your lap, you move your legs, shift your weight trying to get a little more comfortable.

Renjun’s hand lands on your thigh. “Settle down,” he murmurs out of the corner of his mouth. 

You look over at him. The way he’s not even looking at you, but still watching the scene playing out on the screen. Then your gaze slides down his arm to the place where his hand disappears beneath your blanket, to the lump beneath the blanket that is his hand on your thigh. Renjun seems to notice your gaze suddenly, and he begins to remove his hand.

His head snaps around towards you the moment that your hand covers his, keeping his palm flat against your thigh. You make eye contact, and his lips part slightly. His eyes dip down to your lap before sweeping around the room to make sure that no one is looking, and then his eyes settle on your face. 

You nod, squeeze his hand.

YangYang sits just half a foot away from you on your left side. Blissfully unaware as Renjun’s hand begins inching up your thigh, as his fingers trace along the center seam of the athletic shorts you’d worn over here tonight. On the small loveseat perpendicular to your sofa, Mark and one of the other girls sit entirely oblivious even when Renjun lets out a tiny gasp of surprise when his fingers dip inside your shorts and find that you’d foregone panties tonight. The other two girls are stretched out on their bellies on the floor, and they don’t have any clue that you spread your legs a little wider, casually draping one over Renjun’s leg to open yourself up for him to touch you in the presence of all of your gathered friends.

You can’t believe Renjun is doing this. Yeah, you’ve heard a couple stories about him, but nothing like this. Just a few tales about him, but none of the handful of stories had mentioned him having any interest in anything like this.

His eyes shine in the light coming from the screen when you reach a hand of reciprocation over into his lap. Unlike you, Renjun is wearing underwear, but that doesn’t get in your way too much. Soon you have him in your hand, and he’s circling his fingers at your clit. 

You both touch each other, taking it slow and building up that tension and heat. You want to keep it unnoticeable, but also you feel a zing of excitement when you think about YangYang beside you or your friends on the floor or the other sofa. Of course, it’s when you think about Haechan looking over from the kitchen that your body buzzes a little more extremely. You imagine him looking this way and seeing the way that you’re leaning your head on Renjun’s shoulder now, staring at the movie playing on the screen without really seeing it; him noticing Renjun’s hand disappearing beneath your blanket, noticing your leg draped over Renjun’s, noticing the way that you’re both moving your arms slightly, both a little flushed in the face, lips parted and eyes glazed.

It’s that thought of Haechan looking over, seeing everything and knowing what you’re doing, him getting hard and watching because he’s a pervert like that. That is what makes you cum around Renjun’s fingers. Your thighs snap shut around his hand, and it’s only by nearly biting through your lip and through sheer will that you keep from moaning.

Renjun keeps his fingers moving, stroking that soft spot inside you that makes your belly tingle even more. You can feel the way that your pussy is dripping around his fingers, and as soon as your thighs relax around his hand, Renjun slides his hand out of your pants, out from beneath the blanket.

His fingers shine with your wetness, and when he pulls his fingers apart, you can see your stickiness there. And then Renjun brings his fingers up to his lips. He makes direct eye contact with you as he licks his fingers, then as he stuffs them into his mouth to clean them up. You’ve halfway forgotten that you’re meant to be jerking him off as well, but his free hand drops down to cover yours on his cock, getting your hand moving again while he sucks the taste of you from his fingers.

And just like that, Renjun cums too. You can only just barely hear the sound of a slight groan escaping from around his fingers. His cum pulses sticky and warm over your hand, dripping down your fingers, slicking your palm as you smear it around his leaking tip. 

Your hand is still around his cock when you lift your head from Renjun’s shoulder to touch your lips to his ear so you can whisper, “Next time, I want to ride you. Okay? Right here, like this.”

Renjun visibly swallows, his throat bobbing. “I don’t know about that.”

He reaches down, pulling your hand away from his cock, out from beneath the blanket. He doesn’t look at you, and it’s not like you really have feelings for Renjun or that you’re super attracted to him, but his rejection still stings a bit. He quickly stuffs his cock back into his pants, stands up, and heads upstairs. 

Renjun doesn’t come back.

You wipe your hand clean on the back of the little throw pillow tucked on your end of the sofa. You lay down over Renjun’s abandoned spot, stretch your feet out into YangYang’s lap, which makes him frown over at you slightly. He doesn’t move your feet though, so you lay your head on the throw pillow that you just wiped Renjun’s cum on the back of, and you watch the movie.

The two girls on the floor say that they’ve got to leave when that movie ends. Mark puts on the sequel to the movie you’d just watched. Still Renjun doesn’t return. Still Haechan and Jeno study in the kitchen, conversing in low voices. Halfway through that movie, the girl sitting with Mark falls asleep, and when he carefully lifts her into his arms to carry her upstairs to his bedroom, you remember that they started officially dating recently. 

YangYang moves over to the empty loveseat now that it’s empty, giving you the entire sofa to stretch out on. You fall asleep before this movie even ends, replaying the fun with Renjun, but wishing too that someday you’ll be able to sit on the sofa surrounded by friends with someone’s cock buried inside you, all of your friends none the wiser. 

previous chapter || next chapter

a/n: she's a little bit of an experimenting exhibitionist lol, just as much a pervert as Haechan honestly, though I don't think she realizes it yet. As I said a while back when I was posting about my writing process with this series, this is definitely a slowburn that gets there eventually, like obviously if she's trying to start something with xiaojun and then with renjun it might take a minute for that burn to really get going between her and haechan, but hang in there for the ride! I hope you enjoy it!

[rabbitsrams]

memories -- jschlatt x reader

warnings: ANGST. that's all

wordcount: 1.2k

a/n: WOOHOO STELLA WROTE A LONG FORM FIC

It's been two years since the breakup.

You were mostly over it, having moved all of your stuff out of your shared apartment and blocked him everywhere. The breakup was amicable but you had a feeling that 100% cutting him off would be easier for you.

You were now in the process of finally moving out of your parents' house (again) and into a new place. They let you move back in following the breakup and with that plus struggling to find a decent job, you were stuck there for a while. But this was a good sign, a sign of change. A sign of moving to the next thing.

As you went through your childhood bedroom for the last time, searching for anything that you may have left behind, you came across an old picture stuffed away in your desk drawer.

It was from that photobooth from the zoo. The zoo that you went to with Schlatt all those years ago. All of a sudden, memories began flocking back to you the more you stared at it.

The thing itself was a strip of four photos, four photos that made it seem like the two people in them were hopelessly in love. Which, at the time, they were. Two young, naive kids who were completely oblivious to what was going to come.

“Schlatt, come in here! There's a photobooth!”

”Wait, we don't wanna leave the group behind!“

”Come on! It'll be quick! I wanna have a memory from today.“

”Oh, alright.“

The photobooth was pretty small. You could only just fit together. Schlatt lifted your leg so it could rest on his and so you could be closer. The machine's garbled voice instructed the two of you on what was going to happen, telling you that four photos will be taken in intervals.

The first photo was simple, with the two of you smiling together. Schlatt had his arm around you and you leaned close to him. The flash completely blinded you two, so the second picture was of you covering your eyes, laughing at the circumstances.

The third photo had you kissing him on the cheek, his face crimson and a smitten expression on his face. And finally, the fourth one had Schlatt kissing you on the lips.

The machine was waiting for you to pay for the photos, asking in that same garbled voice for you to insert cash or a credit card. But you were too busy kissing each other to pay attention.

You eventually broke away when an angry father opened the curtain, demanding you two hurry up so him and his daughter could use the booth. You apologized to both of them profusely as Schlatt took his card out and paid for the photos.

You each got a copy of the photos, grinning at how good the pictures turned out. There was a permanent marker lying on the top of the photo dispenser. You grabbed it and wrote the date and drew a little heart with your initials on his. He took the marker from you and did the same.

You turned the strip over, seeing Schlatt's familiar handwriting. It got you wondering if he still wrote his e's like that, still added a little smiley face at the end of his notes, still had the photo like you did.

You wanted to throw it away. You wanted to completely free yourself from those memories. Memories that made you smile but hurt you at the same time. Memories of a relationship that was no more.

But there was something inside you that urged you to keep it, to bring it with you to your new place. It didn't have to be displayed on your corkboard or on your fridge. You could hide it away with your other hidden things and look at it if the urge was there.

You could still hold on.

——————————————————————————————————

Schlatt had returned to New York for a family party. It's been a while since he's been back after moving to Texas a few months after your breakup. His childhood room still looked the same and had a lot of old memories from his life.

He decided to do a little video for his second channel, giving his audience a little tour of the space they were familiar with before moving to a new space. It was going to be fun looking through old stuff from making videos at that time and

As he was going through a drawer by his desk, he saw a folded sheet inside. Putting his camera down, he took the sheet and unfolded it, surprised to feel it was camera paper as opposed to notebook paper. And he was met with quite a surprise at what the photo contained.

Seinor prom. He was dressed all nice in a tuxedo, smiling at the camera as his arms were around your middle. You were beaming, your dress being that same dress he helped pick out because it was his favorite shade of blue. You had a corsage on your wrist that he remembered the petals tickling your wrist every time you moved it.

You looked so beautiful.

He was surprised that he kept the photo, considering he made it a vow to get rid of everything. He must not have brought this photo with him when moving into that apartment.

He shut the camera off, planning to go back to recording soon. He exammined the photo, remembering that entire night.

He picked you up that night, sheepishly smiling as your parents gave him looks. Looks that would guarantee something happening to him if he ever hurt their daughter.

You looked so beautiful in your dress, in your makeup, with your hair styled so nicely. He almost forgot to give you the corsage because he could not stop staring at you.

The limo was also so nice, with you, him and your shared friends all chatting as loud music blared from the speakers. He loved how you made conversation with the driver after being dropped off, thanking them and apologizing if the group was too loud.

He dragged you to the line for prom pictures, to which you sighed because of how long it was. But the time went by fairly quickly because of how engrossed you were in a conversation.

He laughed at how cheesy the backdrop was, multi-colored fringe foil decorations barely covering the gymnasium door. The photographer, completely uninterested in what he was doing, simply told the two of you to pose and do whatever. He wrapped his arms around your torso, holding you tight as you both grinned.

"Ah! The corsage tickles!"

Schlatt folds the photo back up, this time stuffing it inside an empty pill bottle by his desk. He couldn't bring himself to get rid of the photo. He knew he still had some feelings for you even after all this time. He hated himself for hurting you so much and wished that things could have worked out.

He was hurt when he saw you blocked him, but he knew it was crucial for you to heal. And he hoped that you were doing well with everything you wanted to pursue. Your happiness was all that mattered.

He swore that he was over you, swore that he would be okay without you. But after seeing that photo, he wasn't sure if he was.

[edgymcedgerson]

It’s 3AM where I live at the time I’m writing this, and I am once again thinking way too much about the Hexsquad. Don’t know where I got the idea to begin with, but I was thinking about all the games we see on Luz’s laptop and then started wondering what it would be like if she introduced the rest of the Hexsquad to the world of human games, and what games they’d all enjoy.

I’ve not really seen this discussed anywhere, but these are just ideas I’m having in the moment of my sleep deprivation that I wanna share and yap about in my usual rambling fashion. I’d love to hear peoples thoughts and head-canons if they have any for this idea too too!

Amity:

I personally don’t think Amity would be that into gaming, at least not compared to the others. But if she were to have games she enjoyed, I can see her liking visual novels first and foremost as there’s something fun about throwing yourself into the story and having a choice in the direction things go/how you interact with the characters that she found so appealing; this idea kinda comes from the episode where we found out Amity had a secret collection of Good Witch Azura books and how she drew fan-art of herself with one of the characters.

I can also see Amity enjoying a rhythm game once in a while as they’re easy to pick up and put back down without having to worry about remembering a story; it isn’t too hard to learn them in the begining but the want to get good at them can become addicting. I feel like she’d love the casual competition in them and that she’d work hard to get the highest score she could so she can place in the leaderboards. Her enjoyment of rhythm games would soon lead her to get heavily into DDR and she’d enjoy going to play it at the arcades with Luz on their dates, I think she’d pick up on it astonishingly fast.

Gus:

Sandboxes all the way! I can’t explain why this is my first thought for the life of me, but I can see Gus really enjoying The Sims and Minecraft particularly in the sandbox genre. I especially love the idea that he’d play MC on splitscreen mode with his friends if there was a console in the Noceda house. I think Gus would also really enjoy RPG’s too, especially if he found one or two of Luz’s old JRPG games lying around. I feel like he’d love the flashiness of the fights and ‘all of the amazing stories humans come up with’.

If he got into Sims, I feel like he’d create a household based on him and all his friends living together in a giant house, maybe he’d even make a household based on the crew in Cosmic Frontier. I like to think he’d excitedly drag the rest of the Hexsquad to come see the things he’s made/done in the game too.

At some point he’d wonder if it’d be possible to make a ‘real life sims’ with illusions, though he’d hesitate to try it out as he was worried something would go wrong (as it seems illusions sometimes do the opposite of what you want, as seen with his illusion clone in one of the episodes, I don’t remember which one rn lol).

Willow:

I don’t know what this genre would be considered, and I feel like this is totally obvious, but if she were to get into games I can see Willow absolutely loving the games that require a lot of player-movement, think things like Just Dance, Wii Fit Ring, Beatsaber, etc etc. Anything to get the blood pumping. She’d find it fun how she could get her friends to join her on the multiplayer ones and enjoy the playful competition of it all.

In her down time/when she needs to cool down from some intense training/exercise if she wanted to play games she’d probably enjoy a good cozy game such as a gardening simulator. For her, while it wouldn’t be the same as taking care of real plants, it’d be nice to have her own little digital garden she can look at and make as big as she wants (especially while they’re stuck in the human realm, I can’t remember if this is canon or fanon but I feel like she’d have a greenhouse back at home in the Demon Realm? And she’d miss it a lot; so it’d be nice to try and recreate it in a game.)

Last of all, Hunter!

I will admit, some of my ideas for Hunter in this is partially me projecting some of my fave genres, but I can genuinely see Hunter being big on puzzle and strategy games! Basically anything that requires him to think and or learn tactics on how to best play the game. I feel like he’d enjoy a good mystery once in a while too.

I think Hunter would probably enjoy the idea of stealth games too, but he’d struggle playing them either because it reminds him of his time as Golden Guard too much, or he gets way too anxious trying to stay stealthy in them and it ruins all the fun for him. I can see him also maybe getting into rougelites/likes or dungeon crawlers because of Luz. They’re easier to get into than stealth games as they don’t cause him as much stress.

At some point he’d find a game he loves out of all the ones he tried and focuses on that one and that one only, he just completely obsesses over completing/getting good at it as he needed something to keep him occupied as having nothing to do makes him nervous. So much so he ends up 100%ing it in a shockingly short amount of time. Everyone is worried because his eye-bags are getting worse, but it’s thankfully not nightmares keeping him up this time like they probably assume. He just got way too into the game and would forget to sleep.

[chrissbluehat]

Nervous

Pairing : y/n and Chris Sturniolo 

Summary: you lived a pretty standard life, you kept to yourself mostly, and never felt you drew the eyes of anyone. Though this always felt conflicting when comparing yourself to friends. This was until a boy came into your life and flipped it completely around.

I hope you guys enjoy this, the later parts will get more interesting and I'm starting to write part 2

Warnings : drinking

Part 1 

I was stuck at Lily's party. I hated every aspect of parties, call me a loser, nothing will change my mind about them. I didn’t see the appeal of being around drunk, messy teenagers claiming to be having the time of their lives minutes before spewing their guts in a corner and joining the lot that were already passed out. If you ever catch me in this state, please know I'm probably going through some kind of personal hell. I only came to this party because Lily is my friend and I didn't want to reject her invitation and look like a bad friend for not going and enjoying the comfort of my bedroom while everyone else was there.

I headed towards the kitchen and grabbed a drink and retreated towards my friends,  I was a social drinker, in the sense that I only drank if practically forced to, my friends claimed “no guys are ever going to like you if you look like you don’t know what fun is”, so I would carry around the same bottle the whole night and take a couple sips out of it to avoid judgement from my friends. As I returned I noticed that each of them had a guy around their waist, clinging onto them as if their lives depended on it. I had no clue who they were really, I knew they were on one of the sports teams because that's all Chloe knows about her little fling, clearly the two didn’t do much talking. I would say I don't blame her but he’s a hunch blonde, so not really my kind of guy, but you can’t be too picky in this day and age especially me. I stand awkwardly with the group, feeling isolated around this gathering of people looking for the one person that makes me feel any comfort in situations such as these.

“Jenna!”, I exclaim, with a sigh of relief. She was probably my closest friend, I confined in her for everything and she was like my other half and I would never let anything come in between that and neither would she. She was like an extraverted version of myself which is why we probably got on so well, we balanced each other out in ways others didn’t. She was the one that introduced me to the girls in my group after she started going to more outgoing extracurricular activities at school that I'd avoided. Though at times I felt I didn't understand the girls, I still loved them.

“Y/N!” She hugged me, being careful not to spill the drink in my hand. 

“Where have you been? I've been looking for you all night”. Honestly I was kind of lost without her, but I'd never admit that to her because I don't want her to feel obligated to be around me.

“Hayden”, she rolled her eyes with a giggle causing me to reciprocate her expression. “He told me to come and get him from his house so I've driven all the way there and guess what?”, she pauses

“What?”, I laugh.

“He’s fast asleep and totally forgotten about the whole thing, I tried to get him up and force him to come but the lump wasn’t barging”. We laughed together at the course of events. Jenna and Hayden had been together for 2 years and of all the high school relationships I've seen they’re the only pair I bet will last, touch wood. They gave me a little bit of faith in the men of today as he clearly loved her for much more than the average teenage boy would. I honestly didn’t even mind third wheeling around them, probably because the both weren’t keep on PDA which was good for me, they weren’t a cringfest like the rest of my friends with their boyfriends, you could tell they were just very comfortable around each other as as Jenna’s friend that made me happy to see.

Jenna looked down at my half full drink and gave me a smile, “are you still on your first one?”,

“Of course, I'm not drinking more than I need to”, I laughed, Jenna slightly grabbing my arm as she laughed on me. 

The topics between us changed fast and ended up on school, my focus slightly drifted as I noticed a brunette approaching the group of boys. I felt like I knew him for somewhere but I couldn’t figure it out which bothered me slightly, but I think that was showing on my face and I focused back on what was around me and realised the boy was smiling at me, a lightly blushed in embarrassment at the fact he noticed I was staring at him so hard. He started consuming my thoughts, an unfamiliar feeling as I never particularly cared for guys the way I was right now. I tried avoiding eye contact with him but I could feel his eyes burning into the side of my head, god the power his stare had on me and I didn’t even know him, it didn’t help that they were a pretty blue shade, not the shade that terrifies and beams at you, it was gentle. His hair covered his face slightly and was ‘long’ but didn’t look neglected which was different, I couldn't imagine that suiting anyone other than him. It looked soft and kind of bouncy. He was overall pretty handsome. He wasn’t too tall but he was taller than me so that's all that mattered. I laughed to myself, regaining my attention on Jenna. 

“What are you giggling about, were you even listening?” she raises her eyebrows, smiling, she could never pretend to be mad at me. 

“Oh nothing”, smiling to myself still, I had no idea what this guy was doing to me, I had been around him for no longer than a minute and he had been acting like an idiot. I could feel my cheeks burning up again and decided I should probably go and step outside and reconnect with nature. “I’m going to go outside on the porch for a bit”. 

“Okay. We will probably still be in here when you come back”, we smile as I step out of the room and down the hall. The evening air hits me as I step outside, the loud music bassless from here and overall more peaceful, apart from the small gatherings that were also outside, mostly just smoking which didn’t bother me too much as long as they didn’t exhale near me. I walk towards a bench by the house and sit, resting my face in my hands contemplating that whole situation. Why was he looking at me like that? It all felt weird and different, a good different though. I wasn't exactly opposed to the feeling, I just simply wasn’t used to a guy looking at me like that. While lost in thought footsteps began to approach from behind me, I then heard an unfamiliar voice.

“Hey”, I looked up to see who it was and jumped a little realising it was the same guy that was looking at me back in the house. 

“Hi”, I tried not to blush as the realisation hit me. I needed to control myself, the blushing was getting ridiculous. “What are you doing out here?”,

“Oh I just came to talk to the mysterious pretty girl from earlier”, I giggled in response. In that moment the thoughts in my head were spiralling, he just called me pretty. I thought to myself, I must have misheard him. Maybe he wears glasses? There's no way he's talking to me. I then looked away from his blue eyes and to his hands and there laid his drink. He didn’t mean it, I knew it. I was so stupid for thinking that, even giving the thought a chance. 

He smiled at me and sat down next to me, a little too closely. I would have enjoyed the moment if it wasn’t for the fact he was drunk. I half smiled back at him and went back to looking forward. 

“You don’t seem like your friends”, he suddenly said. My head snapped as I heard this. I knew I wasn't but I didn't realise it was that obvious to outsiders. 

“What do you even mean by that”,

“Well for one you’ve been holding the same drink in your hand all night,” his head tilting towards the bottle that I'd abandoned on the floor next to the bench I was sitting at. My eyes followed him to the ground and then I looked back at him furrowing my eyebrows slightly. 

“I’m just not much of a drinker”,

“Do you pretend for them or something”,

“No, I'm not some people pleaser,” turning my head away from him, slightly annoyed at his words. “How do you know those guys? I know they are all on some sports team, but I know you don’t play”.

He smirks slightly “how do you know that?”,

“I go to the games because of my friends, get over yourself,” I laugh slightly and so does he. 

“I actually used to play but stopped a while ago. That's how I met them in the first place, and we played lacrosse. I get why you wouldn’t know that it's not widely popular I guess,” he tilts his head down slightly as he talks about playing. 

“Why did you quit?”, I say looking for his eyes.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” He turns away slightly, his pretty eyes starting to glass over, his eyebrows furrow and he looks as if he is about to cry. 

“I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude”,

“No you’re good you wouldn’t have known,” he turned his head back to me and gave me a faint smile. “Anyway what’s your name, I forgot to ask?”, standing up and offering out his hand.

“Y/N, yours?”,

“Chris,” and it flooded back. I knew him from homeroom, that’s why I was so sure I'd seen him before, I knew not to mention this to him as I didn't want to come off as obsessed or something for realising so quickly, or even noticing him as he clearly hadn’t noticed me before. I stared at him for a moment.

“Well I guess I’ll see you around pretty girl”. 

My face started to heat up again. “I’m never getting over him”, I think to myself.

[adhd-merlin]

“Merlin… Does it even occur to you that what you just did is not mortal magic?”

“Of course, it’s mortal magic. I’m doing it.”

Carefully – slowly – Arthur told him, “I have read almost every book on magic in Geoffrey’s vaults over the past year, and not a single one of them mentioned what you just did. The only other time I saw that was in the cave of the disir. And I’m pretty sure that those senile women weren't the ones that did it.”

Merlin drew back on his feet. “What are you accusing me of?”

“I’m not accusing,” Arthur placated. “I’m…suggesting.”

“Suggesting,” Merlin sneered. “Suggesting what?”

Arthur realized too late, the conversation he’d led them into, but he couldn’t backtrack now. Merlin would only hound him, either verbally or with glares across rooms for the next fortnight, or for however long it took Arthur to capitulate. “You implied it before, yourself. At the wellspring. You don’t die mortal deaths. It took an enchanted blade to stop your heart. Dorocha can touch you, and not kill you. Mortal poisons didn’t kill you. You’re not even the only person who's said it. Even Hubert suggested it.”

Merlin’s face wasn’t really doing anything, and neither was the rest of him. He could have been blank parchment, or an unused wax tablet. “I’m not human? Is that what you’re saying?”

“I don’t know,” Arthur admitted. The cold nothing of Merlin’s voice disturbed him, but not as much as the glint in his eye that spoke of smothered storms and affront. Arthur felt as if saying the idea out loud were unwise, or perhaps it was only unkind. Forbidden words best left in the dark reaches of the mind where inconvenient suspicions lay fallow, unspoken for the good of all. “Are you?”

The only indication of something amiss was that Merlin tried to hide the amber glow of his eyes by lowering them and letting his hair obscure part of his face. Arthur blinked, felt a lightening-tinted brush of air past his ear, and then he was standing alone in an empty hall.

“What – Merlin?” Arthur went to uncross his arms, but they seemed stuck. When he fumbled his cuffs around, he found them buttoned together. “That…sneaky little – childish – Merlin!” He had every intention of pursuing Merlin through the castle somehow, never mind that he hadn’t the slightest idea where to start looking, but the moment he tried to take a step, he came to his second realization. He tripped and pitched forward, thankfully not near the stairs, caught himself on his tangled hands, and rolled up against the wall. “He tied my bootlaces together, the poxy – ”

“Sire?”

Great. Yes. Witnesses to his embarrassment. That was all Arthur needed. He shoved himself to sit upright as two of his castle guards ran over to him in alarm, and grabbed at his boot laces. There were at least a dozen knots in them, which…yes. Wonderful. Point taken. 

— from The Dust of Hope, Chapter 5 by fourleggedfish

[h-didanart]

Hello everyone! Can I interest you in some Age Swap stuff with my Bloodmoons?

No? Well I’m dumping the stuff on you anyways!

But first things first, I will say this isn’t exactly a full on age swap, most of my Bloodmoons are in the 20s age range with three exceptions who are all teens.

So! I exaggerated the age differences.

There’s the elementary age kids, the middle schoolers, the dead teens, and the two almost 30 adults.

Now enjoy the rambling!

Ocean is literally the reason I started this to begin with, I wanted to draw them being a badass pirate or something. They would sail the seas alongside their family, exploring the oceans and islands as they did so. Generally I could see them toning down on the impulsiveness, probably from a couple more close calls with death, and since they’d be around FC a lot I could see them becoming surprisingly patient for a Bloodmoon. Also I wanted to make them have dreadlocks but I don’t know how to draw that hairstyle :(

Now the other adult here, Amnesiac. I didn’t know where to even start for their design but I got the idea to give them those crutches that aren’t called crutches because of their issues with mobility, and the rest of the design was easy to make after that. I don’t see them changing a lot personality wise, mainly I could see them acquiring a more grumpy attitude due to the situation with their family, but they’d generally still be one of the kindest Bloodmoons around. And about their disability thing, I have actually been contemplating giving them mobility aids in their canon. I just feel like it might be good for their character and story since their issues stem from that lack of sync they have which is not something they’re going to fix just like that or at least to the point the previous Bloodmoon was at, so Ruby and Vermillion would look for ways to manage their issues which could then be interpreted by their family and the Celestials as them giving up on ever learning to cooperate, when in actuality they’re both on the exact same page for this and are actively working together to better their everyday life.

Anyways— those are the responsible adults here. There technically should be two others but they’re kinda… uh, dead and stuck in a timeless plane of existence or something, so no age swap stuff with them

So it’s just Amnesiac and Ocean taking care of 7+ small Bloodmoons, with emotional support from the Musical duo

Let’s take a look at what the kids are like, shall we?

Starting off strongly with Lone. He’s a very very angry kid, aggressive, rude, mean, generally unpleasant. This would 100% stem from his trust issues and the death of his twin, and then the adults around him not caring enough to look under all the anger. But he would manage to have one friend through all his lashing out, and they’d become very close despite the adults around them trying to keep them apart. That one friendship might be enough to pull him out of the self destructive pit he’s sinking into.

(And now I want to draw little Sprout and Original running around, great)

Next up, Magic. I literally just drew them when they were younger, right before everything went wrong in their life. They’re very excitable and energetic, looking forward to their special duties as a magical girl and very grateful that they got a chance to still be together. They’d actually be in the intended magical girl age range from the system I’m using, I think, I haven’t watched the anime yet, I will someday I swear—

And now swap! Little swap is a kitten, highly energetic and absolutely adorable. They would steal a lot of Kill_Code’s stuff and misplace it, kinda not their fault cuz ADHD + blind, but still. Though they kept the hat, they really like the hat. And unlike their canon version, they wouldn’t be maliciously aggressive, it’d just be a thing that happens sometimes. Y’know, because cat.

OK LIStEn liSten— They are my favorite, they are being included.

Retired would be a concerningly easy kid to handle, though still labeled troublesome due to their propensity to zone out at random and just kinda fall asleep wherever. They wouldn’t talk much if at all, but they will hiss and growl if anyone ever gets too close to them. Despite their very distant exterior though, they’d be very clingy towards those they do trust. And though untrusting of others, they would try to do small things to cheer up any sad people they find. Follow in their older brother’s footsteps, y’know?

Lord BM, oh boy. This is basically a Collector Owl House situation, a kid with the powers of a God who uses them to play whatever games they wish to play. Would they understand how strong their powers are? Absolutely not. Would they wreck chaos on the world because of that? Yes. But can you really look them in the eyes and stay mad at them for it?

The next one’s design I messed up, they’re supposed to be their vampire form, not the demon one. Regardless, Fantasy would be a chaos wrecker, very hyper and very easily bored, they will cast dangerous spells just because they think they’re neat. They would 100% set several houses on fire and then flee the scene cackling wildly into the night. And they would pull off the innocent act very well too, especially in their bat form. They’re just an innocent wittle cweachur who’d do no wrong whatsoever :3

Next up is Horror! They would change outfits constantly, mostly sticking to hoodies but playing around a lot with whatever clothes they can find. They would retain their love for scary stuff which would be freaky and definitely make the adults around them concerned about them, but they too would retain their kind and optimistic demeanor. The two AIs would generally get along better, though they’d still have their disagreements, mainly about how to treat others, Hatchet is way too blunt and rude while Heaven is a bit of an anxious wreck. And I like to think that in this scenario Eclipse would be their younger brother while Dear would be their older sister, it’s funny to me.

Second to last Bloodmoon, Withered Hopes! They’d be a very happy kid, which is weird because they do//know a lot of stuff that’s extremely concerning. They can survive on their own, find their own food and make their own shelter, they can even make haphazardly thrown together weapons, which is good but also a really bad sign that their environment isn’t exactly friendly to them. And their reactions to violence absolutely do not help that, they could hit someone over the head with a pan and shrug it off as not a big deal, they could see a fox tearing into a chicken and not feel any disturbance whatsoever. They’re kinda messed up actually… well damn, now I feel kinda bad for them. Funny scenario to lift the spirits up, older Stitchwraith looking after them and Buzzsaw and trying to parent them but being very bad at it.

And finally we have the Separated twins! They’re very clingy to one another, no surprises there, and they’re arguably the best chaotic duo around. They’d tag team people with their pranks, often orchestrated by Harvest and activated by Hunter, they are menaces together. The least harmful menaces around, that is. They’d do their best to match one another mainly wearing similar clothes, and often taking turns on choosing what to play, Hunter liking tag and general physical activity, Harvest liking video games more. Should be worth mentioning that they do have a couple dietary restrictions//requirements, Harvest can only eat red food while Hunter needs to eat meat, this is also the case in their canon.

[talonandelilah]

5

“Tal, why were you hiding a neck tattoo earlier?  Does it mean something?” Lightly Del traced over it with one finger, the pattern ornate and flowing, she found it beautiful.  “Am I not supposed to see it?”  She looked at his face again and met his eyes.  He looked confused and that made her a little scared.

He didn’t HAVE a neck tattoo.  What was his girl…no…she wouldn’t tease him about....oh fuck!  Without saying anything Talon was up off the bed and into the attached bathroom in an instant and flipped on the lights which were way too fucking bright after being in the two dim rooms.  As his reflection greeted him though, there it was and he couldn’t deny what he saw.  Holy FUCK!  

“Uh, Red Hot, ya wanna come here?  We need to talk, sweetheart.”  Yeah…that was an understatement, genius.

He heard her coming behind him before he saw the red hair over his shoulder and when he turned around he saw it.  Fuck yeah!  “Babe, I got some good news and some bad news.  Which ya want first?”

Del’s eyes searched his face and she felt like crying.  After what had just gone on between them and now there was bad news of some kind?  Had she done something?  Was there something about Talon that Brie hadn’t told her?  Did he hate her?  Was she just a pity fuck?

“Bad.”  She choked out and tried not to cry. He really needed to get better at teasing her. She was going to break his heart if she kept crying when he was trying to to tease.

“K, if you say so.”  He got down right in her face so that their noses were touching.  “You’re absolutely and positively, 100%, without any doubt….stuck with me.  Yep, can’t get rid of me.  I mean, you are literally going to have to put up with my fucking ass for…well, ever.”  He saw confusion cloud her eyes and she did that thing where she looked back and forth between his eyes and her little eyebrows drew together.  FUCKING CUTE!  God, he was falling for her in less than five hours, and that was without the nifty magic tattoos they now had.  

Talon leaned in and kissed her softly.  “There’s more bad news.” Her eyes went wide and before she could react, he deftly moved behind her and pushed her forward so she could see herself in the mirror.  “You got one too.  Only yours is right over your heart.  Kinda cool.”  He grinned as he put his chin on her shoulder, watching her stare at herself in the mirror in disbelief.  “Ya do know what this means, right?”

There it was, he wasn’t lying.  She did have one, and it matched his.  And, he was almost giddy over it.  He was happy.  She was afraid to be happy and could nor be more shocked if he’d said she’d sprouted a second head.  They. Were. Mated.  Married.  Bonded.  Paired.  Suddenly her eyes met his in the mirror and she still had a look of shock as she tried to take it all in, but as their eyes met the joy in his eyes was not debatable.  

“You’re happy about it?” She was hesitant. 

“You’re not?”  Now he looked unsure, but his arms came around her waist to hold her.  He was trying to comfort her, she could tell but she honestly wasn’t sure what she needed.

“I’m overwhelmed.”  She was honest, but she was happy and she put her arms over his to keep him from pulling back.  This caused his arms to tighten.  “I am happy, but this whole immortal thing is new.  Like a week old new.  And now, I’m married…ish…and…I just….well…I…” Del closed her eyes and took some deep breaths.  Her anxiety was kicking up.

“Red, shh..  You don’t have to explain any more than that.”  He understood now.  He had been afraid she hadn’t wanted him, but now he got it.  It hadn’t occurred to him how new all of it was and then this.  “We’ll take everything as slow as you need it to be, ok?”  Her head nodded and he kissed her cheek before turning her around and pulling her against him, then reaching over and flipping off the light.  “Come on, let's go back to bed.” Tracing them over to the bed again, they climbed in and he laid on his back, letting her choose where she wanted to be.  Her head came to rest on his chest and it made him smile.  “You can stay in here, or have your own place.  I’ll leave it up to you.  Or you can go back and forth depending on how you feel most comfortable.  Delilah, I’m not going anywhere.  Even without this new shit, I liked ya.  I liked ya A LOT.  I didn’t want what just happened to be a one time thing or just something casual.  I know we just kinda met and all, but I had a feelin about ya.”  Talon’s finger’s were gently caressing Del’s arm as he talked to her.  “Del, babe, I was gonna be all yours even before we knew about this.  From the second I saw ya and Brie told me about what ya liked, I just wanted to get to know you.  No one else.  Just so ya know.”  He stared up at the ceiling.  He had wanted her to know, to understand.

He was HERS?  Even before?  This sexy as sin man was hers?  He could have walked into any bar in any city and walked out with some hot chick and he had wanted her?  She found it hard to believe and just about said it, then her brain kicked in.  What was it he had asked her about when they’d left breakfast?  Gaming.  Hot as he was, how many women complained about their men being heavy into gaming?  And being immortal, how many women were going to want a man who was heavy into gaming and killing things?  Two things that were her passions.  

“Right now, I’m liking right where I am.”  One of her long legs moved to lay atop his and she heard a light chuckle and felt his chest move.  Her fingers played lightly in his chest hair.  Unlike so many of the “pretty boys” that her friend had dated, Talon was not smooth chested.  He was fuzzy, and she found it sexy.  “And don’t you ever shave, Feathers.  I like the fuzz.  Only place you can shave is the face.”  That earned her an outright laugh.

“As my lady wishes, Red Hot.”  His free hand rose to press her head briefly into his chest as he placed a kiss on the top of her head.  HIS  “Any other demands that I must obediently follow?  I might have a few demands of my own for you, you know?”

“Whatever this cologne is, wear it.  I think I could just smell it all day.  I might be addicted.”  She pressed her nose into the center of his chest and did a sniff and a slight sigh.  “So, what are your demands, Feathers?”  She liked their names for each other.

“Darlin, I’m not wearing cologne.  Welcome to matehood.”  He chuckled and kissed her head again.  Damn, this was gonna be good.  He might have to ask Brie to put him off of duty with the guard for a while and take her to the tropical area of Imperium for a bit of a honeymoon, a naked one.  

“I saw that sports bra and panties combo,” he felt her shift a little uncomfortable and he grinned knowing she wasn’t anticipating what was coming, “get more of those.” She froze. “Like lots.  When we’re gaming together, I want ya in that.  God, that would be so fuckin hot.  No lace, no strappy shit I gotta figure out.  Just that. K?”

“Are you serious?”  She sounded like she didn’t believe him.  She probably didn’t.

“Dead.  Get sets in every fucking color.  And do you mind just either sleeping in that or naked?  I want to feel your skin on mine when you’re with me. Like right now is heaven.” Another kiss to her head.  

“You’re being serious?  No sexy lacey stuff with heels?” Del asked again, still sure he was joking with her till he tipped her head back using his fingers under her chin and she saw his eyes.  No, he was serious.  “Okay, cotton panties and sports bras it is.  Every color of the rainbow and then some.  And I’ll steal your hoodies and shirts.”

“Now you’re talkin, Red Hot.” Talon grinned and she swore she felt herself start falling for him.

“If you hold me like this, I have no problem sleeping naked with you.”  Her hand again skimmed lightly over his chest.  Him being naked next to her was a pretty nice thing all on its own.  “In fact, I’m pretty happy to stay just like this until it’s time to get ready for the ball.  Unless you have other plans?”

“Fuck no.  Darlin, I am all yours in every way.  You and me are going to make plans for things for any time I’m not on duty with the legion.  Even if it’s just sittin on the couch and watchin a movie with the door locked and a privacy ward so everyone else can fuck off.”  His arm tightened around her.  “And tonight I’m talking to the boss and getting some time off.  You and me are gonna go to a private place I have here in Imperium on a honeymoon.  I’m going to take care of ya.  I told ya, I wanted ya before the mating thing.  I’m not changin a thing, cept I might be a bit more possessive.  Can’t help it, it kinda comes with the territory.”  Talon kissed her head, his own still reeling a bit from being mated. “I like the sound of that, Feathers.  We have a lot to learn about each other, but we have all the time in the world to do it.” 

banner by @cafekitsune

[cybrpwup]

ᴀᴡᴋᴡᴀʀᴅ || ᴋʀʏᴏᴢɢᴀᴍɪɴɢ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

John x f!reader

content warnings; smut, language summary; John and Y/n’s first time Requested?; Yes ! ↳ can u write a kryoz smut where its him and the readers (fem) first time and theyre all nervous and awkward !

For weeks Y/n and John had been navigating awkward flirting and nervous dates. John had a crush on her from the moment they first met but was too shy to do anything about it. When he first asked her out, it took her a good thirty seconds to answer because of the shock. Of course, he mistook her silence for denial and almost started nervously backtracking until she blurted out, “YES!” a bit louder than she intended.

It made him laugh.

After the first date, the two spent as much time together as possible outside of just videos. Most of the time, they hung out at his place since she lived with her mother, so privacy wasn’t in abundance. Not that the two really needed much. Both of them wanted to go slow.

But the more time spent with together, the more attracted to each other they became, and eventually, watching TV turned into slow make-out sessions and curious hands. Which is exactly how tonight started.

The air felt different that night - the energy was more charged than usual and Y/n found herself wanting more than just his mouth on hers and his hand on her hip. Though, both were wonderful on their own.

“John,” she panted as he drew back to catch his breath. “Can we…?” Her hand grabbed his, fiddling with his rings.

“Can we what?” he asked, reaching up to stroke her cheek.

“Can we…you know…” She felt her face grow hot and mentally cursed herself for being so nervous, “Maybe go further than kissing?”

He stared for a moment until his brain caught on and his eyes widened. “Oh! Um, yeah. Sure. I mean, I’d like that a lot but I don’t want you to feel pressured or anything.”

She giggled. “I don’t feel pressured at all. I just…I really want to go further.”

“How much further?”

She slid her hand into his hair and pulled him into a slow kiss, attempting her best at pouring her heart and soul into it. His body melted as his arm slid around her waist to pull her in close. When they parted, they both were panting.

“As far as we can go,” she breathes, “I-If you’re okay with that, that is.”

He nodded and she watched as his Adam’s apple bobbed when he swallowed thickly. “Yeah, yeah, I’m good with that.”

“Good.”

She kissed him again before losing all her nerves as excitement drowned out any unwanted feelings. He’d been nothing but gentle with her from the beginning and she knew her feelings for him were already bordering on love. Her excitement seemed to fuel his because suddenly, neither one of them could keep their hands to themselves.

Her fingers fumbled with the buttons on his shirt, until she got frustrated and pulled away from his kiss with a swear. “Goddamn buttons!”

John tried to help, “Here, let me…”

After several seconds of awkward fumbling, and with the help of both of them, they finally managed to get the damn shirt open and off. His white undershirt came next, running her hands up his tone chest before pulling him into another kiss. The rest of the clothes pretty much came off the same way, with someone or something getting stuck and the two having to fix it in between self conscious giggles and kisses. It’s especially difficult to do on the couch, yet neither thought to move to the bedroom.

Once clothes are discarded, all laughing stopped as the gravity of the moment took hold and they allowed themselves to fall into each other’s embrace. She could feel John’s body trembling and she pulled away, holding his gaze

“Do you want to stop?” She asked, nervous she’d already did something wrong, “We don’t have to—”

“I want to,” he blurted out. “I just…I don’t want to mess this up.”

“Me neither.”

John cupped her cheek, bringing her forward so their foreheads rested against each other’s, “I really care about you.”

“I care about you too, John. Please make love to me?”

She heard the breath rush from his lungs, making her eyes open and stare into his. He looked at her with such adoration and rapture, she felt her face grow hot again. He drew back to feel around for his pants, eventually drawing out his wallet and a condom. Her body shuddered at the sight of him rolling it on, this time with excitement.

"You're soaked." John praised, his forehead gently resting against hers as he slid a finger through her wet folds. She let out a pathetic whine, trying to grind her hips against his hand. John chuckled softly.

"I know, I know." He whispered, pressing his lips against hers as he gently circled her clit. He was being so soft, so careful, and yet so curious. He kept his face close to hers so he could feel every pant she made, hear every whine and moan that left her angelic lips. His fingers rubbed gentle circles, causing more wetness to gush out of her. She gasped against his lips as he flicked her clit, and she lifted her hips to try and entice him for more.

He kissed her again, settling back between her legs. When he slowly pushed into her, his eyes never leaving hers. Her felt her eyelids droop, but she forced them to stay open, not wanting to look away. Sweat started to bead on her skin as a rush of heat flowed through her. John’s cock was wonderfully thick, stretching her in a way that made her gasp.

He paused, “A-Are you okay?”

She nodded frantically, wrapping her arms around him in encouragement, “Keep going.”

John bottomed out and moaned, the sound thrilled her more than she ever realized it would. He started to move, moving slowly, peppering her cheek and throat with soft kisses - his skin hot to the touch and she couldn’t stop running her hands over every bit of it she could reach. She’d never felt so alive in her life. Every single nerve was firing off random signals, overwhelming her senses. But John’s solid form kept her grounded, his soft kisses and sweet words making tears form on the corner of her eyes.

“You’re so beautiful,” he panted in her ear. “I’m so lucky. So fucking lucky…”

“John,” she moaned out, “John, I think…”

Her words were cut off when he picked up the pace, his mouth sealing over hers to muffle her confession of love. It’s okay. She’ll tell him later.

Time melted away and everything was lost except for the sweet boy making love to her. Her orgasm was a slow build but rocked her body, curling her toes and stealing little breaths John hadn’t taken with his kisses already. His hips sped up, solid body rocking against hers until his hips stilled and he threw his head back, which was the most beautifully erotic sight she’s ever seen.

When both came down from their high, whispered promises and sweet kisses following quickly after. And Y/n knew, at that moment, that not only did she love John, but he loved her too.

[fountainpenguin]

Since they're similar questions, how about 16-19 for the ask?

[Current Ask game]

What is your best piece of advice for writing action scenes?

Tension, quick sentences with sharp words and snappy dialogue, and focusing on things like adrenaline, racing hearts, fear, and things that might hurt you. Bare bones description in most places (with more in areas where a character pauses to recover). Basically, keep the "camera" on the character. Unless the character is actively looking around and thinking about other things, the story shouldn't either.

Trying to put unique flair in action scenes, especially if your story has a lot of fight scenes, is a good idea too. You don't want them to feel repetitive. Also it's a good idea for your POV character to have a reason to be the POV character; i.e. let them be the one who comes up with the way to achieve victory (if they're going to win) rather than someone on the sidelines giving the winning suggestion.

If you want to have lots of description (especially if you're in a new setting or early in the story) then having your POV character be an outsider watching a fight works too, I think.

[Examples from my work + the other questions under the cut]

---

Some ways I've used this advice:

Frayed Knots - Anti-Cosmo in "Deep" witnessing Cosmo and King Northiae fight Snowball the dragon, and Anti-Cosmo committed a cultural taboo by shapeshifting (His soul strings were also tangled with H.P.'s during this time so they were stuck together). Anti-Cosmo wasn't super involved in this fight because he screwed some things up, but that's fine... this fight scene is doing everything it needs to do. It's showing the reader Anti-Cosmo's attempts to be strong, how it flops, and what he learns from this experience.

The focus here was in putting pressure on Anti-Cosmo. We see his anxiety, we see his genuinely good desire to help, and we see the moment he decides to bend the rules. He carries the consequences of his taboo situation throughout Act 3 (begging Prince Eastkal not to tell anyone he shapeshifted).

Anti-Cosmo has good ideas, but struggles to execute them and/or hurts people while executing his plans. That's his whole theme in Frayed Knots... and this one fight is a representation of that. After all, you can't say Anti-Cosmo hurts people if we don't see him hurting them! In this situation, he deliberately drew more energy from H.P. than he needed to because he got greedy... which plays into his character in general and aligns with his behavior in later chapters where Anti-Cosmo makes a lot of bad choices because of his anxiety and greed.

It's who he is and that always stays consistent. He doesn't suddenly get to be cool just so he can fight a dragon and save a city. Nope.

Factor It In - The Narrator making a suggestion to WordGirl in "Tree Diagram" but WordGirl being the one to come up with a solution that won the fight. The fight was actually split between two chapters and I used Chapter 1 ("Order of Operations") to set the scene so the reader had context before WordGirl rushed back into the fight.

The focus here was in showing WordGirl and Huggy working as a team without Kid Math (who was mind controlled and attacking them); the rest of the story focuses on how WG and KM clash emotionally.

We showed how WordGirl and Kid Math are closely matched in strength. We set the scene (winter, traffic, bystanders pulling the fallen heroes from the road). We also set up things like WordGirl's super hearing and how overwhelming that can be for her. She also had a brief moment to look at her bruises and chat with civilians (Brent and Chuck, in this case). We also see a hint of a superpower that KM has that WG has never used before.

The fight scene does a lot for the story, and I try to shift deliberately in and out of "reflective moments where we pause" and "fast-paced action moments." For example, there's a moment where WordGirl tackles Kid Math and they both go rolling in the snow and get dazed until a civilian (their art teacher) drags them to the sidewalk. That's a shift out of the action and into a reflective moment, yet it feels natural and keeps the tension high because the reader (hopefully) is wondering if they're hurt or if they're about to get hit by a car.

Dog's Life - In "Flicker," BigB stands on the sidelines fretting while Scar fights a creeper. As the outsider, BigB has the full perspective of how Scar is dancing around, and it's scary for him when Scar leaves his view. Scar keeps denying any offers of help, yet BigB and the others get increasingly anxious when Scar gets backed against a cliff. BigB also counts how many hits the creeper has taken (and loses count when Scar and the creeper go over the drop).

The focus here is in feeling out of control or feeling like you don't have information (which pairs super well with my take on BigB in this 'fic, since BigB's entire thing is "the quiet guy who knows everything about everyone"). His anxiety goes up when things get unpredictable, so this was an action scene that paired well with this particular character.

The creeper fight is also a good contrast to the opening scene for this chapter, where BigB stood at the top of a hole with his hands behind his back and watched his friends fumble against a zombie spawner... We saw him watching a fight in his element first (comfortable, keeping tabs on the situation, staying aloof) because that little skirmish wasn't something that was supposed to stress the reader. When it was time to up the tension, the fight was something that made him nervous even though he wasn't the fighter.

What is your best piece of advice for writing angst scenes?

I think the important thing for angst is the build-up: the swing before the punch. To understand the pain, you need to have seen the sweet. I personally think opening a story in the middle of an angst scene wouldn't be the best move in most cases, as I think it works best after the scene has been established as "normal."

The goal of angst isn't a jump scare... it's the layering on of things that get worse and worse. Doubt, mistrust, betrayal... these things need to stem from something else. You need to see the slow break.

What is your best piece of advice for writing hurt/comfort scenes?

For hurt: Similar to angst, build-up is important, although opening with the hurt in something that's specifically mild hurt/comfort works well, probably. I'd say take your time to show the hurt and explore the concept of the hurt before you turn it around. Focus on the pain. Emphasize what's hurting so the reader is rooting for the comfort. Hurt/comfort is all about taking the time to settle down and breathe, and you can do that by showing a slow healing process.

For comfort: Slowing down... Focusing on details, especially in regards to physical touch. This is the time for softness, paying attention to other people or objects, and roaming your eyes around the room. Thoughts can wander and you have very slow, meandering, thoughtful moments in a safe space.

What is your best piece of advice for writing comedy scenes?

I don't know if I'd say I have comedic scenes, usually, though I have jokes sprinkled in my work. For me, I try to set characters up in situations I know they work well in. H.P. is snarky and Anti-Cosmo is paranoid, so they're a great comedic pair. H.P. likes to carry a joke a little too long and Anti-Cosmo gets easily flustered. I also played Anti-Wanda as someone who uses a lot of innuendo, which is another "flustering Anti-Cosmo, which is funny" situation.

H.P. and Anti-Wanda bounce really well off each other too because they don't take anything seriously and they'll make fun of everything (There's a scene in "King Me" I've had written for like 5 years that I can't wait to share... you'll know it when you see it).

I like to put characters in funky situations that the reader doesn't commonly find themselves in... I feel like that's inherently funny. For example, in "Flypaper," WordGirl had to rescue Super Why from a vending machine. He's 3 inches tall and that was the funniest place I could think for him to get stuck. It's inherently bizarre.

Another of my favorite moments from "Flypaper" was Becky asking Rex if he wanted to go to the beach and he was like "Aww man" because "he's not supposed to fly 30 minutes after eating." I think just... thinking about what a normal human would do in a situation and then asking yourself "how can I make this funny and specific to THIS character" helps a lot.

I think Dog's Life has some good examples of larger scenes that are funny. Here are some highlights:

Scott walking with Scott down the hall to drop off paperwork and Scar spends the whole time lightly bantering and/or flirting with him in an attempt to make Scott give him "banned blocks" from outside the city walls so he can have cool ceiling tiles. Eventually Scott gives in to a little bit of roleplay and they banter back and forth, and Scott finally says the one thing that makes Scar break character, which was implying that he actually WOULD give Scar ceiling tiles if he made it worth his time. Scar gets excited and Scott has to walk away rolling his eyes... it's silly to me.

It's funny because it's... ridiculous. No reader would ever be in that situation. For ceiling tiles. And the inherently roleplay nature of these two, who live in a society where everyone switches naturally in and out of their roleplay hats, is very funny and adds layers to every interaction. But while a reader won't find themselves in this situation, this set-up is extremely in character for Scar, who's always looking for good ceiling blocks.

I'm particularly fond of a scene I'm dropping in the Tuesday chapter which involves Martyn. Martyn has a knack for being silly in serious situations, so I deliberately put him in a serious situation and made him break the tone of it. Which means he sprints across a cave in the middle of a fight, screeching at the top of his lungs that he needs a time out because he "hasn't put his crocs in speed mode yet."

It wouldn't be funny if he said that line while he was just exploring in the cave... It's the fact that he's running from a guy with a sword that seals it. It's the funniest thing I could think for him to say and I set the situation up to make it as silly as I could. Just... trying to catch the reader off guard in little ways that feel true to the character.

In each of these scenes, the funny thing matches perfectly to the character's personality. If you want to write a funny character, you should take the time to figure out what exactly they think is funny and in what situations you could put them that would let them shine.

For H.P., it's snarky deadpan, so he often gets put in serious situations (such as council meetings). For Anti-Wanda it's innuendo, so she often gets paired with Anti-Cosmo who considers himself above such humor (and gets flustered easily). For Scar it's flirting and pretending to be oblivious, so he gets juxtaposed with someone who will let him get that far without cutting him off early. For Martyn it's having the wrong vibe for the situation.

I don't plan too much humor in advance, though if I come up with something funny, I like to add it. I have a certain tone I like and then I try to think what the funniest, sensible thing that could happen in a situation is :)

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