#thank you viv for the brain worms

[metaphorical-goblin]

I really want Trucy and Edgeworth grocery shopping for a sick Phoenix together

FIRST OFF, he just deserves some pampering, but secondly, as the only Person Who Knows How to Grocery Shop between them, Phoenix tries his best to make a little list, but he is absolutely not thinking about cooking for the week, so he's just like "...you know what, you guys will figure it out"

So cut to Miles and little nine-year-old Trucy slowly going through every single aisle of the grocery store, and Miles is almost entirely dependent on Trucy to pick out the stuff she normally eats. (Of course, she sneaks a few extra treats in there... Poptarts and French toast sticks... mmmm), but of course Miles is like "wait we should probably get some fruits and vegetables, right. You eat vegetables with most meals." "Oh, yeah, sure"

Neither of them know how to pick vegetables that are ready, but Miles does his best picking the ones that aren't bruised or anything

Finally getting home and they unload the car, and when Phoenix shuffles in in his slippers, wearing a big blanket around his shoulders, he's like "...Miles, I think this is more than we can eat in the week."

(It's like a month's worth of food. It's so much food)

Trade a glance with Trucy, he didn't know it was just for the week! Luckily Trucy's all "maybe we can have a dinner party and have some friends over! Or Mr. Edgeworth can stay and help us eat it all >:)" She's a wizard, she knows exactly what she's doing

Cut to her and Miles trying to cook dinner later, Phoenix zoned out on flu medicine, and they end up finding a very nice little recipe for some cheesy chicken and rice. It's delightful, it tastes good, they have a nice time, and Miles starts thinking "maybe I do like cooking..."

Phoenix tries it and smiles and says it's so good, and his heart tightens in his chest and cooking, it's definitely cooking, that's it

[chaifootsteps]

Not necessarily Viv related, but I used to be a huge anti proshipper way back (Kinda still am but not as extreme, if that makes sense)

Granted, if someone does ship adults with minors or anything like that, yeah, I may not like that... but I'm not going to send them death threats or harass them. I simply block and move on. (Other times I don't even care. Do what you want.)

And as long as they're not going after kids or animals, they can do what they want, I suppose.

The only reason I was a big anti proshipper was because I once got an ask telling me to "clear the worms from my brain" because I said I didn't like adults being together with minors, etc. And I guess it kinda made me think "oh they're all gross people who want to see kids getting fucked with adults" or something like that.

While I may have different opinions on ships, it's not something to send death threats or get so heated about. And while people can care about more than one thing, I feel like real people getting hurt is more important than some lines and pixels. (Is it still weird to me? Yeah. But just don't go after real kids or anything, you guys. Thanks)

(Sorry if this made no sense. I'm bad at explaining my thoughts. Stay safe, Chai)

- Molasses Anon (I guess. First thing that came to mind)

That's an extremely fair stance to take, and that was a fucked up thing to say to you just because you didn't like something. I would have been bitter too.

My thinking is that everyone's got their story, and nobody knows what Rosebud moment led someone to like a particular ship. How they like a ship is something I might have a problem with...for example, I once saw someone say that a ship was fine because "14 years old is on the cusp of womanhood" and NOPE. Bail, bail, bail.

I won't lie and say that I've never been an asshole about shipping discourse, but one thing that's come of being so deep in the Viv critical world where a ton of people identify as anti is realizing that not all people who call themselves anti are gumming up the child predator tip line with stuff about Naruto porn and telling strangers that they deserved what happened to them as a kid. We're all just people, here to play with our paper dolls.

[macabr3-barbi3]

New Love, New Skin (Chapter 5)

I realized I hadn't updated this fic since June and the brain worms finally decided to start earning their keep again!!! Just so y'all have an idea going forward- we've got 5 more chapters in this fic, which will land us just before the events in Heart Reset. Then we move on to 'Memory vs Time,' which will be from Kora's POV and give us a little more of her backstory and her side of things before we move past the events of the oneshot and onward💕 Thanks as always to my love @fraugwinskaFrauGwinska for her love and support (and the awesome banners she makes for me out of the goodness of her heart 😭) Also: you can see the playlist I made for this fic and series here!

Chapter 1 📺 Chapter 2 💛 Chapter 3 📺  Chapter 4  💛 Chapter 5

January 1960

After this year’s extermination, Vincent made plans to take Kora somewhere nice. It’s not any sort of real anniversary- though he realizes he’ll have to figure out when exactly they had started officially dating, so he wouldn’t miss the real thing- but it had been officially two years since they had met, since she had rescued him from the streets and gotten him on his feet. She deserved to be treated, to see how those that looked down on them lived.

It would, hopefully, be a nice little sneak peak into the life that he wanted her to have- the life that they would have, if he could keep his head in the game like he planned. Vincent was making headway at the station, finally actually on the screen with Rich and Joy. Sure, it was as a meteorologist, and his lines every day were, “it’s hotter than Hell; watch out for that acid rain!” But it was something. It was progress. That was what mattered, and the slight pay bump he had received was fantastic as well. His savings were untouched, growing steadily at one of the least shady (and least robbed) banks in Hell; he wasn’t doing quite as well on the ‘one year’ plan he had set out on, but these things took time! And he was happy to take some time off to spend with Kora, to thank her, to show her how much she meant to him.

She was everything. The reason for his drive, why he worked so hard, why he wasn’t rotting away in a ditch somewhere with a still busted screen, instead getting to come home to this beautiful woman in their cozy apartment where he was happy and safe. He would do anything for her- a nice night out for dinner would just be a small token of his affection for her.

When Kora came home from Viv’s and spotted him still on the couch, her brow had creased with concern and she was immediately on him. “What’s wrong? Are you sick? Can… can a television get sick?” She worries her lip between her teeth, running her hands along the sides of his screen. “Do you feet hot? I can’t tell.”

“I’m fine, Goldie,” he tells her, and takes her hand in his to press a kiss to her palm. “I asked for the night off to take you somewhere- if you’ll come with me, of course.” He flashes her his smile- his real one, soft and sweet, not the one that he used for the news that was wide and would make his face hurt if he had a real one. “Got a special evening planned for us.”

She eyes him in suspicion. “Really? You’ve been kind of tight on spending lately- not that there’s anything wrong with that!” She assures him, stepping closer to drape herself across his lap. “I just don’t want you to waste money on me-”

“It’s not a waste,” he immediately interrupts, and he can hear the click of her teeth with how fast her mouth closes. “Really, baby, it’s not. I wanted to treat you- you deserve it. And it’s been two years since you pulled me out of that scrapyard so, it’s kind of a special occasion, yeah?” He pulls her closer so her head is resting against his screen, the heat of her breath fogging the glass. “Let me do something nice for you tonight.” Forever, his mind corrects, but he doesn’t want to spring that on her so early into their relationship.

Kora smiles, the lines under her eyes crinkling as she does. “You’ve convinced me,” she says, pressing a kiss to his casing. “Where are we going? Somewhere nice?”

“Upper Ring, baby- I’m taking you to Dante’s.” It was one of the higher class places in the Pride Ring, where Overlords held meetings on neutral ground and the security was tight, and the chaos of Hell around them was left at the door- he had practically begged Rich to vouch for him when he made the reservation, needing personal references before he would even be allowed within a mile of the place, and Rich had done him one better by offering a reference for Kora as well. 

She does an excited little dance in his lap, twisting to face him properly. “You really broke out the big guns, huh? I’ve been looking for an excuse to wear this dress Eris gave me- but you’re sure it’s okay to spend that much money on a date?”

“I had to pay to make the reservation, sweetheart; we’re not backing out now.” He pulls her closer, chest pressed to his and letting his tongue trail softly along her neck- she shivers in his arms, adjusting her seat in his lap to settle more comfortably against him. “We’ve got a little time before we have to get ready,” he murmurs against her throat. “How about you let me treat you a little more?” He runs his hands down her sides, slides one up into her hair to pull her into a kiss- when she nods her affirmative, he stands, wrapping her legs around his waist and carrying her to the bedroom, depositing her onto the bed where her hair fans golden across the sheets. She lifts her hips up, slowly shimmying her bottoms off, and reaches to twist a hand into his shirt.

Vincent wants to spoil her. They could fuck now, but this night was about her,  what she meant to him, what he was becoming for her.

Her eyebrow quirks when he drops to his knees, rising up on her elbows to look down at him. She can’t even get a question out before he’s ducking his screen between her thighs, pulse pounding at the cry of his name as he circles his tongue around her clit and sucks. His cock throbs at the sweet sounds that she makes for him, but he ignores it in favor of holding her hips down with one hand and using the other to slide a couple fingers into her wet heat. Kora clings to his arm, her own claws scratching tiny marks into his skin as she’s overwhelmed by sensations while he fucks her on his fingers and tongue.

He keeps an eye on the clock, and keeps her on edge for a while- bringing her right to brink before easing off. She’s cussing above him when he finally pulls back and presses a kiss to her thigh, glaring down at him with glazed, teary eyes. “Keep in mind where your throat is,” she remarks, “because if you don’t make me come I’ll strangle you with my thighs, and the reservation won’t do us much good.”

“What a way to go,” he says with a dreamy sigh, leaning down to nip at her sensitive nerves- she jerks in his hold with a halfhearted pull at his hands. “But don’t you worry, baby, I’ll get you there.” And he’s back to the task at hand, careful of his claws as he crooks his fingers and sucks harder, wishing he had hair she could yank on as she came with a low whine and her fingers scrabbling at his casing. He cleans her up with his tongue, licks the remnants of her release from his fingers while holding her gaze, pleased when she finally flushes and looks away.

He makes a show of looking at the clock, like he hadn’t known exactly how long he had the whole time. “Look at that! Just enough time to get around, who could have guessed?” He stands, holding a hand out to his girl to help her up on her unsteady legs.

“Wait, let me-” She reaches for his zipper and he stops her, threading his fingers through hers. “Vin- let me do you, please?”

And it’s hard to tell her no when she makes that fucking face, but they had a schedule. If he let her get a hand or a mouth on him, it would be blown to shit. “Not yet,” he tells her, and lands a kiss on her forehead. “You can ravish me after dinner, okay? The cab is prepaid, we have to be out the door by nine thirty- and even though you’re perfect as is, I know you think you need time to get ready so I accounted for that.”

He can almost feel plastic melting inside his screen with the smile she gives him. “Maybe if I’m quick enough we’ll still have an extra minute,” she offers, squeezing his hand before she steps back and heads towards the bathroom.

Something Vincent was thankful for since coming to Hell was that ‘getting ready’ for him took a lot less time- without hair, the time it took to head out the door was cut in half. He had been horribly vain about it when he was alive, meticulously grooming it, going to the barber every other week to maintain the shape and length. And he missed it sometimes, but he couldn’t deny it made his life a little easier at times like this. He stepped into one of his news suits (borrowed from Rich until he could justify buying his own), laced his shoes up, and he was all set. He caught a glimpse of Kora in the bathroom mirror as he left the bedroom- she had some sort of shimmery shit on her eyelids and was lining her eyes with a dark pencil that looked like a torture device until she spotted him and stuck her tongue out as she worked. He rolled his eyes fondly and went to wait on the couch for her.

He wished he had a cigarette. He had taken up smoking at the station, stepping out when everyone else went out for a break and thinking it would be rude to decline when someone offered him one. He kept it social though, only lighting up when he was with his coworkers so that Kora wouldn’t find out about the habit. But after doing it for months the craving for one would hit him out of nowhere, when he was bored or waiting like he was now- even though he knew Kora would be worth waiting for.

Vincent had never been more correct in his life. When Kora stepped out of the bedroom she glowed; she was wrapped in fitted gold and silver, folds of fabric that reached outwards from the center like sun rays and looked stunning with the soft tan of her fur, the blonde of her hair. Thick straps came over her shoulders, a couple thin, golden chains dangling off her shoulder on either side, drawing attention to the soft curves of her. The makeup she wore was light and ethereal, her hair in soft curls pinned back with a little clip that had the sun on one end of it.

She crosses one foot behind the other, a simple gold heel that she rocks on nervously. “Do you think this is okay?” She asks, like she doesn’t look like a Goddess that had lost her way and ended up in Imp City by mistake. “I got it from Eris, it was a little too big for her- do you think it’s nice enough for Dante’s? I don’t think I have anything else that would work-”

“Kora.”

Even Vox is surprised by the roughness to his voice, and he clears his throat before he stands and approaches, gently crowding her against the wall with the bracket of his arms and brushing a piece of hair back from her face. “I need you to understand how beautiful you look right now,” he says seriously. “And I also need you to know that if the cab outside and the reservation weren’t already paid for, I would have you against this wall right now, Dante’s be damned.” 

She flushes under his intense gaze, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “You don’t have to go overboard, jeez,” she mutters, but her smile is still firmly in place as she ducks under his arm and escapes towards the door; he takes a deep breath, willing his body to get it together before he follows her into the dark outside their apartment.

Vincent fights to keep his hands off her on the drive to Dante’s, something that Kora enforces by sitting all the way across the seat from him. He’s just managed to pull her closer when the cab rolls to a stop and the driver hops out to open Kora’s door for her. He shoots the bug a glare- he was being the gentleman for Kora tonight, not some lowly chauffeur- but still takes Kora’s arm and leads her to the velvet rope in front of the restaurant.

There was no line because they didn’t allow walk-ins, the Hellhound bouncer at the front more for appearances than anything else, since everyone knew that you just didn’t mess with this place. He gives them a nod as they approach, the photos he had submitted with the references from Rich enough to verify their identities and let them into the establishment.

Kora’s gasp at the crystalline chandeliers that dangled above them was worth every penny that the night was going to cost him. The blue of her eyes fucking twinkled in the soft amber glow from the candles that reflected the lights, casting it across everyone else that dined in the building. She clung to his arm as they were lead to their booth, her smile warm and genuine and fucking perfect in it’s sincerity as he guided her into her seat. Immediately there was a waiter at their side offering them wine, which Kora gladly accepted a glass of and took a sip while casting her eyes around the room.

She looked at ease in the environment as they looked over the menu and ordered, and he wondered distantly if Gideon had ever taken her out like this; dressing Kora up when he couldn’t appreciate her beauty, just to keep up appearances for the people around them by showing off his ‘pretty wife.’ His eye twitches thinking about the bat that hadn’t deserved her, his mood easing when he reminded himself that it didn’t matter- once he had accomplished what he was setting out to do, they could be regulars here at Dante’s. He would spoil her to no end; she could primp and pamper herself on a weekly basis if she wanted to, he would take her anywhere she wanted. The power he would have once he got where he wanted to be at the station- next to Rich, in Joy’s place, or even front and center on his own- was inconsequential compared to the thought of having her beside him, taken care of, happy.

They ordered some fancy appetizer, something that Kora was resisting the urge to dig into with her fingers if the look on her eyes was any indication- thankfully she resisted, using her fork to spear the croquettes that were placed down, her eyes fluttering and a soft, pleased moan escaping her lips. “You’re sure this is Hell?” She asks him, stabbing another and holding her fork out to him to sample- he minds his teeth to avoid the screeching noise that he knows her ears are sensitive to as he takes it into his mouth, and yeah, people weren’t kidding when they said the food was good. “This tastes like heaven.”

“I’m sure you’d know all about that,” he says softly, trailing a claw down her arm, “considering you look like an angel tonight.”

The blush that takes her face over has perhaps a little to do with the wine, but it’s charming nonetheless. “You’re too sweet,” she says earnestly, and takes his hand across the table. “And you know how to show a girl a good time, because wow.” She gestures out across the restaurant, the other patrons that dined and laughed under the soft light, alongside the sweet music that played. “Come on, stop holding out on me- what’s the real occasion?”

They’re interrupted by the waiter coming over with their dinners, placing steaming plates piled high with food in front of them. He takes his time before he answers, taking a few bites of his meal- rich, decadent, everything he wanted from a meal, from life- while he thinks about the ‘occasion.’ He wants to sound genuine but not sappy, a thin line that he seemed to constantly balance on when it came to Kora. “I wanted to thank you,” he tells her, and she pats her mouth with her napkin so she can properly listen to Vincent. “It’s been two years now since that first extermination when you found me, and without you I would probably still be a pile of busted parts in the street. I probably wouldn’t have my job at the station without you helping me get back on my feet. I definitely wouldn’t be here, at a high end restaurant with a beautiful woman at my side that I can’t wait to ravage when we go home.” He releases his fork to slip his hand under the table and trace his fingers up her thigh, grin triumphant when she blushes before he backs off. “You just… you deserve so much more than Hell has to offer you- more than I have to offer you. I just wanted to show you that I’m thankful for you, and glad you’re in my afterlife- you’ve made it a hell of a lot better than it ever was up top.”

He thinks he catches the glint of tears in her eyes- fuck, fuck, had he said something wrong? Hurt her feelings somehow?- before she takes his screen in both hands and kisses him soundly. Perhaps not an appropriate display for a restaurant like this, but Vincent wasn’t going to complain right away when Kora was being so enthusiastic in her thanks. He does catch a couple whispers from nearby tables within eyeshot, so he eases her back into her seat and towards her meal. “Easy, doll,” he murmurs, and she chuckles while she brings a finger up to gently wipe the unshed tears away without smudging her makeup. “That wasn’t too much?”

“No,” she sniffs with a chuckle, “no, Vin, that was beautiful. Thank you.” She keeps one hand placed firmly in his even though it means she has to eat with her non-dominant hand, something that she manages to do rather well still. And throughout the meal she keeps releasing these soft, pleased noises- relishing in the taste of the food, the atmosphere, his presence beside her. Vincent wants her to make those sounds next to him forever; not even anything sexual, but auditory confirmation that she was here and she was happy with him.

She releases him for dessert, a decadent affair of chocolate and cream and sinful cake, and when he calls for the check she rests her head on his shoulder with a contented sigh, trailing her finger up and down his forearm and sending pleasant tingles across his skin. He pays the bill, ensuring that Kora doesn’t see how much the evening cost- it actually wasn’t as much as he had anticipated, but he knew she would still make a fuss about the number- and has the waiter call for their cab to come back. He escorts her outside, draping his suit jacket around her shoulders, and they stand there in the dim street lighting while they wait.

She huddles into his chest, her hands never ceasing in their movements as she slides them along his back, his casing, his waist. “I cannot wait,” he tells her earnestly, “to get you home and take this off of you.” He emphasizes his point by fingering the golden chains that hang over her shoulders, and she smiles brightly at him. 

“If you really can’t wait, there was a bathroom inside,” she offers, probably only teasing, and she laughs when his face glitches as he seriously considers it.

“You deserve better than that,” he tells her earnestly, and cups her face in his hands to press his screen against her forehead. The wine he’s drunk has gone to his head, everything tingly and light and radiant when he looks at Kora. “You deserve better than all of this. You deserve Heaven.”

She looks away from him, hiding her face in his chest and fisting her hands in his shirt. “I love you,” she says softly, it feels like everything in his body simply freezes- biological and mechanical grinding to a halt at the words, the sincerity that she whispers them with. “You don’t- you don’t have to say it back, I know it’s early. I just want you to know.” She burrows further into him, so all he can see is the top of her head, the little sun pinned to it on the side. “After marrying Gideon and then ending up here I didn’t think that I would ever find that, this happiness that I have with you. So thank you.” She falls silent, her breath heated through his shirt as he processes what she’s said.

I love you. I love you. I love you.

It’s not the first time he’s heard the words from a woman before; when he was alive they were usually whispered late in the night between silk sheets from someone that he had taken out a few times, and he used it as the indicator that Vincent needed to end things before they got too serious. It was usually met with a laugh or a lewd joke, so he could play it off without hurting the girl’s feelings (or even acknowledging them).

They’ve never shot through his entire nervous system before, leaving him reeling at the revelation and struck speechless.

How did she continue to do this? To catch him off guard with her words and her actions, her goodness. First with taking him in in the first place, when she could have easily left him to die; announcing their relationship publicly before he had even fully defined it; and now this, shyly declaring her feelings for him after a beautiful night out, somehow confident and demure about it at the same time, refusing to take the words back even though she had buried her face in his shirt as she said it.

I love you. I love you. I love you.

He’s saved from having to answer when the cab pulls up, that same bug driver leaping from the front seat to open Kora’s door for her. He guides her in gently, throwing a leg up onto the seat so he’s semi reclined, creating a flat surface for Kora to lay against on the drive back down towards Imp City. He runs his hands along her waist and she snuggles further into him, releasing soft breaths that tickle his neck when she exhales. She doesn’t fall asleep, but he thinks it’s a near thing, and he keeps her present with the hint of his claws through her dress as he trails them over her frame.

They head inside after he pays the driver, Kora’s arm looped through his, and he thinks he should say something as they climb the stairs, as Kora unlocks the door to let them into the cozy darkness of their home. But what to say? He couldn’t say it back- just thinking the words makes his throat burn unpleasantly, like he was going to cry if he forced them out, and what would she think of him then? But he doesn’t want to let them linger between them, unacknowledged, because what if she interpreted that as a rejection of her feelings? He’s distantly aware of her helping him remove his jacket, slipping her shoes off by the door, and it takes her saying his name a few times before he registers it and is pulled back to the moment.

“Vincent?” 

He blinks hard and looks down at her, her eyebrows creased in concern like they had been when he came home. “Are you okay? Was the date more expensive than you were planning? I don’t have much as far as savings, but-”

“No! No, you don’t have to worry about that, Goldie. The date was perfect, you don’t need to pay me back for anything. And I’m fine, I just-”

“You’re thinking about what I said.” It’s a statement rather than a question, but just like usual for his girl, she doesn’t back down from his stare. “I’m sorry if that made you feel uncomfortable. But I’ve just.” She cuts herself off, bringing her arms up to fold across her chest, like she was protecting herself. “I’ve spent so much of my life and my afterlife letting emotions just bottle up inside of me and I don’t want to do that anymore. I won’t take it back, but I won’t say it again if you don’t want me to.”

“God, Kora,” he breathes, and he pulls her into his arms again like they had been on the street. He holds her tighter than he had been, enveloping her completely and mindful of the way she shivered in his embrace. “It’s not anything like that. You caught me off guard, yeah, but that’s not- I just can’t-”

“It’s okay.” Her arms come around his back as well, a complete link between the two of them. “You don’t have to say it back- and I won’t say it again.”

“Please do.” The words spill from his mouth before he can stop them, his arms tightening around her. “It’s- I’m not uncomfortable. I like it; I like hearing that you feel that way about me, that I haven’t irrevocably fucked all of this up somehow. I just have my own shit to sort out before I can- you know. Express feelings like a normal fucking person.”

He wants to say it. He just knows that her face would simply light up with joy at him saying that he loved her back, but something dark and ugly claws at his mind and prevents him from doing it- does he love her? Surely if he did the words would just come forth, not get stuck in his throat like bad bread, thick and cloying and making him feel like he was going to choke. It wouldn’t be so hard to tell her if he did; she had made it look so easy.

Kora pulls back, looks him in the face this time with a smile so soft it makes him ache. “I love you,” she tells him again, and something whirs inside his head at the sound. Hands on either side of his screen she pulls him down, kisses the words into his mouth. “Take me to bed now?”

Vincent is looking down at Kora, spread naked beneath his hands atop the sheets of the bed, and wondering how he got so lucky.

I love you. I love you. I love you.

The words rattle off the parts and components in his head, as he takes his time in kissing her from head to toe. She sighs contentedly as he works, his fingers gentle where they touch her as he moves down her body, his lips pressed to her collar, her wrists, her navel, her thighs. His head is still a little fuzzy from the wine but even with the excitement of the night, here he knows what he’s doing. 

He lets his fingers part her folds, groaning at the slickness he finds waiting for him and relishing the sharp breath she takes in anticipation. He presses one into her, slow and deliberate the way she likes it best, before he adds another to crook against the sweet spot inside her that always makes her whine and tremble. Thumb pressed gently against her clit, he works her to a swift climax that leaves his fingers drenched, his name having never sounded better when torn from her mouth.

“Please,” Kora whines, and uses a gentle hand on his screen to try to guide him up towards her mouth. “Please, I need you.” Her hips rock against the bed, eyes glazed and needy while she looks down at him, and suddenly he can’t bear to have her gaze on him.

I love you. I love you. I love you.

He guides her to flip over, her hips in the air and her head buried in her arms as he slowly sinks into her cunt, his breath catching at the way she shakes in his hold with his cock reaching so far inside her. Kora was so tight like this, her slick walls clenching and fluttering around him with such intensity he found it hard to focus on thrusting and not just staying buried as deep into her as he could get. He focuses on his breathing when he pulls out and slams back in so he doesn’t immediately finish, determined always to make sure she got there before he did. He keeps his pace steady and his thrusts hard, muffled sounds of pleasure escaping from Kora’s mouth to be lost in the pillows.

I love you. I love you. I love you.

He leans forward presses his screen against her back, closing his eyes against the words while he fucks her, hands roaming over her body; pulling her harder into his hips, running his thumbs over the peaks of her nipples, spreading the wetness from where they’re connected to her clit to rub at the sensitive nub with care. She had come for him twice this evening already but he needed it again, the sweet clench of her on his cock when he brought her to the edge before he would allow himself to spill inside of her.

“Say it,” he murmurs against her skin as her volume increases, still stifled into the pillows- he fists his free hand in her hair and tugs back so she’s lifted from her auditory protection, her whines and cries now out in the open with nowhere to hide them. “Tell me again, Kora- please.” 

“Fuck, Vin, love you- oh God, there…” She might have been crying, likely overstimulated by the two orgasms he had already wrung from her, but her hips still rocked back against him, chasing the promise of a third. Her tail moved jerkily, pressed between them as it was with little room to move with how close Vincent was holding her. “There, there, there,” she chants as he angles her hips ever so slightly, pulling back enough that he has the leverage he needs to ram the tip of his cock against the tender expanse of nerve endings inside of her. 

I love you. I love you. I love you.

Her voice is a tethering thread to keep him in the moment as their orgasms crash into them at the same time- Kora’s cunt ripples along his length as she comes, his name a keening cry from her lips while he fucks her through it, finally spending himself with a drawn out groan against the delicate heat of her back. The rhythmic clenching of her walls draws it out, as do her soft mumbles against the skin of his forearm when they both collapse forward, her lips sweet and gentle against him.

They stay like that for a moment, stuck in the position of their frantic coupling until Kora wiggles her hips beneath him- his cock twitches inside of her, making them both gasp. “Come on,” she whispers hoarsely, and he realizes he definitely is going to owe her some sort of honeyed tea after how loud he he had made her with pulling her hair like he had. “We can’t stay like this all night.”

He nips his teeth against the back of her neck and she shivers. “Why not? Seems optimal to me- when I get hard again we can start over, and then you only have to clean up once.” He doesn’t actually think he can go again. His nerves are shot, a slight tremor to his frame that he hopes she can’t pick up on with their positioning, and the alcohol has left his system. He no longer feels tingly or buzzed; he feels raw, exposed, vulnerable in a way he wasn’t familiar or comfortable with.

He pushes it aside in favor of gently pulling out, smoothing his hand down her flank and helping to flip her over again. Her hair was a disaster from being wrapped in his fist, tear streaks beneath her eyes from the stimulation, but she’s still a vision of beauty as she watches him with softened eyes and a sweet smile. She lifts her fingers up to trail them down his screen, down his arm, to tangle their fingers together and lift them to her mouth to kiss before she gets up from the bed to clean up.

When she comes back, she’s dressed in the ‘fuck’ t-shirt, the one she had let him borrow his first night, and his chest aches at the sight of it. She clambers back onto the bed, flops herself down on his chest with a giggle and a contented sigh. “You okay?” She asks, concern lacing her voice, and he kisses her before she can ask anything further.

“I’m great,” he whispers into her hair, despite the frantic kick of his heart inside his chest. “Tonight was perfect. You’re perfect.” 

She hums happily and settles down, and it isn’t long before her breathing slows and her body goes limp against his. He extricates himself from her weight, making sure she’s comfortably settled in the bed before he goes to the bathroom.

I love you. I love you. I love you.

Finally alone, he watches his reflection- there’s a tremor to the pixels on his screen, and his breath is coming in faster. He thinks he might be freaking out a little, bent over the sink and trying to breath as steadily as he can, the sound of it a harsh rasp to his auditory processors. And fuck, he knows this isn’t a normal reaction; Kora loved him. He should be fucking ecstatic, because that meant she wasn’t going anywhere and all the hard work he had been doing wasn’t a waste, that there was something he was working towards and doing it for her meant something.

But his dad’s voice creeps back in, like it had been since that conversation with Eris. Telling him that when someone loved you, you could disappoint them. You could hurt them. It wasn’t Kora’s confession that had rattled him- it was the idea that her feelings might inadvertently turn against her if he fucked up. And Vincent would never forgive himself for that.

He watches himself in the mirror and slowly, finally, he calms. He would just have to work harder, he reasoned- if he was perfect, made the right moves at the station and got where he wanted to be, Kora’s heart would be safe. He would be worthy of her then, and there would be no risk of hurting her.

And hopefully, he could repeat it back to her.

Chapter 1 📺 Chapter 2 💛 Chapter 3 📺  Chapter 4  💛 Chapter 5