#thanks folks - I'll try to be around a bit more and get something written to celebrate the follow count soon

[the-bed-gremlins-reading-list]

Happy (belated) NEW YEAR!

Here's hoping this one somehow manages to be better than the last. I mean, it being worse, is a fairly steep bar to clear because of events in my personal life but:

Goals this year include:

Finish the prologue and Chapter 1 revamp of MMttCR, which if my estimates are right will probably double the length of the current content but also give me a better footing for what comes later. (It will make the MC more of a character than a self-insert, but that's fine by me.)

Redraft TPK's outline to replace the one lost in Lu's Puppy Teething Phase

Learn to keep my notebooks out of reach of the sometimes bored German Shepherd Mix so I stop having to rewrite my outlines.

Continue training Lu because the 60+ pound GSD-mix jumping on people because she gets excited to be paid attention to is not okay. (I'm trying to get her to the point she can pass the CGC evaluation, at the least, I also like to set up Rally courses in my backyard for us to do when the weather's nice.)

Get my first planted aquarium up and running without reenacting Commander Shepard in ME2. (I'm in the planting stage and slowly building it up. Once they're established and I get the water consistently in a safe range for them I plan on getting a small colony of Neocardinia.)

Grow potatoes.

[serickswrites]

Hey!

You reblogged that post asking for people to ask about your writing process and I'm trying to get to know people better, so tell me about your writing process! Your ocs! Your favorite little bit you wrote recently!

Hello, friend! (I'm answering this out of order because it made me smile!)

Thank you for the questions!!!! So exciting!!

My writing process is a little higgly piggly at times in that sometimes I just have a fully formed vision completely in my head and will not stop writing it until its completed. Other times I get bits and pieces. I draw a lot of inspiration from music. Sometimes I'll see/read something and wonder how I would write it and that makes something happen. Other times prompts save my life. I love, love, love prompts/requests/asks because some of my best inspiration comes from those. I will say with most things I write I know the ending and the beginning and have to work backwards. So for those of you who are like why the mcd, it hit out of nowhere, for me it started with the death and I worked backwards. Which really sucks sometimes because I will grow to love and adore characters that I have brutally murdered lol. I hurt my own feelings just as much as others lol.

As for my ocs, well I have quite a few floating around in my head. In 'Make Me Your Villain', Liam is my precious cinnamon roll, but I love Nova and her drive. Henry or Jude are the most fun to write though. In 'Lonely Place of Longing', I originally wasn't going to have anything written from Dylan's perspective when I envisioned the story (still from the end first), but as I wrote the penultimate chapter, I had more and more of his voice in my head so I had to try it. Then I realized I needed to write more of his voice because he had a lot to say. He's definitely one of my more tragic characters I've written and posted on here--though things do look up for him with Halle and that is just so lovely to write--(not my most tragic as the main character in my giant WIP probably wins on that one, but he's a pretty close second). Giant WIP was a frenzied writing project (I did for Nano in 2021? I think?) that I was feeling a little burnt out by (wrote 60k works in 30 days and plotted the remaining chapters that needed to be written) but still wanted to keep writing every day and write ideas that didn't fit into the narrative, so I started this blog! I would say Mal is my favorite character to write in that (she's one of my two narrators), but honestly I adore writing my two villains, Leo and Oliver, are so deliciously evil, I love writing them more.

Here's a little excerpt from giant WIP that I wrote last week that I'm actually really proud of (not because the writing is great) because I connected the dots on something that I was stumped on how I could connect them (this is why pantsing and working backwards are hard, folks).

She heard a shuffled scrape. Slowly she turned her head and saw grim reaper carrying Danielle away. Grim reaper? Not a grim reaper, Mal. Get your shit together. Pay attention. Who was that? Who was here with us. Who took her away? That wasn’t Leo. Leo didn’t move her away. There was someone there. He was there sometimes. When we were alone with Danielle. We were never alone. Who was that? The grim reaper—man—had dark brown hair, a hood hid his eyes, his features, but he was lean, so painfully lean. Of course we thought he was a grim reaper this man is so skinny. Not as tall as he looks, his leanness is deceiving.

Her eyes were barely tracking his movements. The haze was dragging her back under. No, no, no. Shitshitshitshit. Stay awake. Come on! Focus. Who was that? Was there anything else? Come on, Mal. Come on. She could hear Leo’s voice calling from somewhere else in the apartment. A name. What was his name. COME ON. WHAT WAS HIS NAME.

Thank you so much for the questions! And for anyone reading this, please always ask. If you aren't sure if I want to answer, you can always ask it and I can always just not answer it. If you're shy, you can PM or Anon ask, that's all good! I love interacting with people and talking about writing :D

Tags: @mousepaw @jumpywhumpywriter @knightinbatteredarmor @hufflepuffwritingstuff2 @anightmarishwhump

@steh-lar-uh-nuhs @celestialsoyeon @st0rmm @ay5ksal @pedro-pedro-pedro-pedro-pe

[scarlet-traveler]

secretly holding hands under the table; ‘not wanting to let go hugs’; hard kisses? for whatever pairing springs to your mind, but i lllllooooove krbk

(they don’t have to be connected)

(obviously nothing /has/ to happen at all anyway)

Coincidentally I already had 'secretly holding hands under the table' written for krbk, I just hadn't posted it yet, so here you go! Thanks for the requests, I'll get to the other prompts soon :D

~

Katsuki wasn’t nervous.

He wasn’t!

…okay, maybe a little bit. It wasn’t every day that he was announcing to his parents that he had a boyfriend, and yet here he was, his folks on one side of the table, him and Eijirou sitting on the other, plates from dinner empty and yet to be cleared away.

Katsuki wasn’t worried about telling them that he was dating a guy. Even if he’d never had a boyfriend before, he knew they would be accepting of him. But that was the thing. He’d never dated anybody at all, so it was a wild card for how they would react. Would they be chill about it? Would they freak out and pester them with a bunch of questions? Would they even care?

(That last question was stupid in hindsight. Of course they were gonna care. After all the sappy stories his parents had told Katsuki about their own relationship in the past that had made him gag, they’d be fucking ecstatic. But how much they would show that excitement was still a big unknown.)

“Didn’t you have something to tell us, Katsuki?” his dad’s calm voice said, snapping him out of his thoughts. He had a tiny furrow to his brow from concern, but he was still watching him openly, as was his mom. Their nonverbal cue that they were ready to listen.

“Ye-“ His throat closed up before he could get the word out, his heart jumping up to his throat. Damnit, why was he so nervous?!

Suddenly, there was a brush of fingers against the back of his hand, making Katsuki jump. Glancing down, he saw Eijirou’s tanned hand wrapping around his paler one, their fingers interlacing and locking together tightly. His gaze jumped up to his boyfriend, bright red eyes already there to meet his. A small, crooked smile ticked up on Eijirou’s lips as his hand squeezed Katsuki’s in silent support.

Just the one look was enough to calm him down some, and Katsuki took a steadying breath, willing his heart back to its proper place as he squeezed Eijirou’s hand in return. He looked back at his parents, steeling himself. Rip off the bandage. “Eijirou and I are dating.”

Silence. His parents stared at him stunned for all of two seconds before they both smiled, his mom’s more on the shit-eating side of things as she leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms. “Well, it’s about damn time you told us.”

That certainly wasn’t what Katsuki was expecting her to say. “Wh- you already knew?! We’ve only been dating for a week!”

That just made her laugh, a loud cackle not unlike his own. “You could’ve fooled me! With how starry-eyed you get when you talk about Kirishima, I would’ve thought that you’ve been dating him for the last year!”

Katsuki’s face immediately burned, and out of the corner of his eye he could see the red rising on Eijirou’s own. When he looked over though, his boyfriend’s eyes were sparkling, a wide smile already on his lips, and Katsuki couldn’t even work up the effort to try and refute his mom. As he squeezed Eijirou’s hand again, a tiny smile of his own growing, he knew it would’ve all been a lie anyway.

[sapphire-weapon]

Favorite ships in RE verse (Remake included)? Ik you like Ashley/Leon so feel free to scream about them. I'm also curious to know if you have any ships among the side characters.

oof. aight. so.

Leon/Ashley is the only "real" RE ship that I have, in the sense that it's the only one that I actively create and seek out content for. I'll go into the whys and hows of that a little later, but. In case anyone was curious why I go so hard for Leon/Ashley --

Actually. When I reblogged this post initially, I almost tagged it as #WHEN PEOPLE ASK ME WHY I SHIP LEON/ASHLEY #THIS IS WHY

I restrained myself because I don't like doing that to other ppl's posts, but. It's a pretty accurate representation of what drew me to the ship initially 18 years ago. Queen/Knight ships are my absolute favorite dynamic for a ship ever ever ever ever. Hands down. No contest. And what are these two -- especially in OG -- if not that?

My second favorite kind of ship? Doomed ones. Missed opportunity ones. "If only things were different" ones. "Our roles in each other's lives will never allow this to happen" ones.

And that's also them.

Real talk? I would actually like the ship way less if I thought for a second that there was a chance that Leon and Ashley could/would actually get together in canon. I'd still like it, but not nearly as much. (which is why it's really funny when people try to be like "it'll never be canon" YEAH NO SHIT I HOPE IT NEVER IS)

So I was cursed to fall super hard for this ship from day one. Like, there wasn't even a chance in hell I wasn't going to ship these two. No other two characters in this series have a dynamic that's even kind of similar to this.

And then the remake happened and it poured even more of the shit I already liked about it on top of what was already there and I was like "mmm yes it's delicious thank u capcom"

So that's my whole thing with those two.

And outside of those two? Well.

Back in the days of early RE fandom, we were so small and so starved for fan content that it was commonplace for people to read fics for ships that they didn't care about or even like lmao. I once read like 80,000 words of a Wesker/Leon fic because that was all I could fucking find that I hadn't read yet (and also wasn't weird monster dog porn -- late 90s/early 00s RE fandom was fucking weird ok).

Those early fandom days were also kind of magical, though, because so much of the canon was wide open to so many different ships and interpretations and scenarios. Like, as time has gone on and RE has grown larger and larger, the world of RE has started to feel smaller and smaller. It's way way WAY harder to write a canon-compliant fic these days, because there's so many moving parts to the story now, and a lot of details have been cemented in place that never used to be there.

Like, it's rad that the canon has so much to consume in it. But it sucks because it feels restrictive as a result.

So, like.

I have actually written fics for so many different, random ships over my 25 years in this fandom, because this fandom used to be more of like a... swap meet, sort of? Where we'd all just take requests from each other and write fics for each other and share them around -- because the fandom was so, so goddamn small back in the day.

I have actually written fics for:

Leon/Ashley (of course)

Leon/Claire

Leon/Luis

Chris/Jill

Chris/Rebecca (seriously)

Chris/Leon

Steve/Claire

Billy/Rebecca

Wesker/Ada (this one was fun, actually. I'd fuck with this one again)

Of course, there were people who were ride-or-die OTP folks (though this actually didn't get really bad or become any sort of real majority in the fandom until after RE4's release, and that's only because RE4 just dumped so much gasoline on the Aeon vs Cleon war holy fuck. RE fandom became a fuckin minefield after RE4), but a lot of us really just dabbled in a bit of everything. So I never really got like... super attached to any one ship, if that makes sense?

There is actually something very nostalgic about Leon/Claire for me, if you can believe it, because the ship was only viable until about the time of Degeneration, so we're going way back. That movie made it very clear that these two were not at all going to stay as active parts of each other's lives, so the ship basically died upon its release.

But prior to that? That was one of THE BIG SHIPS in the fandom. So, the vast majority of fics that I wrote back in the swap meet days were Leon/Claire, because the majority of my fandom friends fell more on the Cleon side of things.

Today, I don't like where their dynamic has gone in later canon. There's nothing there anymore, and I've lost all interest in it.

But... at the same time... when RE2make happened, it was something I thought about revisiting just for old time's sake. I haven't pulled the trigger on it yet, but I do still think about it from time to time. Maybe I'll actually go ahead and do the thing one of these days, now that I'm back in the habit of writing RE fic again.

But anyway.

The point is. Any side ships I have, I really just enjoy in passing. Like, if I see nice art of Chris/Jill or Billy/Rebecca I'll definitely reblog it because I do enjoy it, but I have never even one time gone out of my way to find it or any fics of them. Most of my contributions to side ships are thinkpieces and meta analysis.

Leon/Chris is one of the ships that I've done deep dive meta analysis for -- and half of that was just to piss off fanboys who were already mad about RE6 to begin with, because those fuckers made the fandom UNBEARABLE in the early 2010s -- but I still don't go super hard for them.

Same thing with Remake-verse Leon/Luis. I've done meta for them because people have asked me for it, and I do find their new dynamic absolutely fascinating from a literary/storytelling standpoint. They're another ship I do enjoy, but... again, mostly in passing.

So. idk if this actually answered your question. RE ships are just kind of a weird topic for me in general most of the time, because I went so, so, so long just looking at characters' individual arcs as opposed to engaging in actual ship content.

I've talked about this a little before, but I did go through that period (around 10 years) where I tried to pass it off that I had no ships in order to seem like an "objective" source for canon information (which, in hindsight, is so fucking stupid because I could've just done what I'm doing now and kept objective facts about the series/canon differentiated from my ship shit, but w/e), so in those 10 years, I didn't really engage with RE ships, like, at all.

So now I'm just kind of at the point of "dude whatever idc as long as we're all having fun."

[neurodecadence]

hmm. prime numbers be upon ye

Emily I value you as a friend, but this is evil. I am just a poor sleepy dame and you want me to do maths? to find Prime Numbers? how dare you.

Anyway, let's do it.

2. Do you like to use the term queer for yourself? Or just LGBT, etc? Love queer as a term, adore it. My whole... deal is messy and not easy to discern and being able to say "ehhh you know that whole thing" is nice and easy.

3. Which pronouns do you use? So it's complicated a bit thanks to plurality (we have slightly different pronoun sets), but the shortest answer is "It/It's* for strangers and new people, It/She for friends and closer people". If I ever use She referring to myself, it's specifically one part referring to the other. *(yes I know the apostrophe is grammatically incorrect but the grammar was not written with the idea of it as a person pronoun in mind, so suck it, I am keeping it)

5. Are you "out" publicly? I mean I'm a six foot tall, broad shouldered entity in a wheelchair when I go out, who gave up on voice training because it's too much effort. I don't exactly have much choice BUT to be out, which is fine. I get a lot of kids being curious and I think that's sweet, when they look at me and are trying to process a LOT of thoughts all at once.

7. Are you the "token" queer person in your family? I don't have much of a family tbh. That's not just and edgy statement, my biological familia consists of me and my mother, every other person who shares my bloodline is not welcome near me ever again. I'm glad I don't have contact with them tbh, because I know I WOULD have been a token queer to a few of my family members, and I don't wanna be used like that.

11. Favorite (or just one you love) piece of LGBT media? Shiiiit, hard to narrow it down to one, you know. I might have to give it to The Last Girl Scout, by local tumblr legend Natalie Ironside. It's a story about queer love and building something beautiful in the ashes of the old, about healing, really healing, from trauma and pain, it's about connections and learning who you are through others. It's also about shooting fascists, a cool polish vampire, and communist political arguments. It's a good read, changed my life.

13. Do you choose to reclaim slurs, why or why not? I do it, but it's sorta tricky to express why. It's partly for the same reason I prefer It as a pronoun, it's about taking assumed power. What I mean is, as a visibly trans person, people are always playing the pronoun guessing game before I talk to them, running those guess and assumptions and deciding what they'll use at me. By using "It" as the preferred pronoun, there's a part of stealing that back, a bit of "you cannot have guessed that, and also if you intended to use that to misgender me, oooooh too bad bitch". In the same regard, calling myself a slur feel like taking power out of people's hands. Hands that may seek to wield it against me. I have faced institutional transphobia more than once, but it was always simple chafing microaggressions stacks atop one another. By saying out loud "yeah I'm a fuckin' tranny, what're you gonna do about it", it's like bringing a KS-23 4 Gauge Shotgun to a watergun fight (that's a very big gun by the by). Maybe I've overthought it a bit, and I'll admit, I don't make people in public use It pronouns for me because I don't really get out much (also a Pin for that might save some time), but that's my thinking on the topic.

17. Have you ever attended Pride in a big city/ large metro area? I really do not get out a lot. Also I forget that Pride month is february in Aotearoa and by the time I remember the parade happened weeks ago. So that's on me.

19. Do you feel safe and accepted in your local community? Pretty damn safe tbh. Folks around here practice the stance of "ain't gonna let that ruin my day". Doesn't hurt it's on the edge of a Uni district, lots of 20 somethings doing weird cool stuff. The only times I've dealt with problems have been petty bureaucrats with a lick of power exerting it at me. Then I go holler at higher ups and make their life a living hell. I'd feel bad, but maybe don't misgender me seventeen times in two minutes and verbally attack me on at 9pm on a monday night.

23. Do you prefer loud parties or quiet? Yeah I really don't get out a lot, and especially not enough to go to parties. Still I like a quiet gathering, if it's on the table. Everyone brings some food, there's music playing, no expectations but to be yourself. That kinda vibes.

29. Are you currently partnered, or if not are you interested in having partner(s)? I have two lovely partners, and I adore them to the end of the world and back. I'm not actively seeking any more romantic attachments, but I'm also not saying it's off the table (fate has a funny way with these things). My only problem atm is my dear partners are aaaaaall the way on the west coast of the USA, and I'm down here in kiwi-land. I'm not saying the distance isn't worth it, but I am saying I would like some more hugs in my future. Or sex. That'd be cool too.

31. Post a pic in your pride gear (or it can just be a selfie or anything else lgbt):

Have an image of this beast.

Okay that's everything, done, complete, kaput, finito. This is simply way too many words about myself but I can't NOT complete this order, especially since it's from cool pal Emily. If you read this far, please send me wishes that I get a good nights sleep at some point in June, I feel like I'm going nuts.

Well, Nuts-er, I mean.

[rivendell-poet]

Good *time of the day at your country*

I would like to make a request now that you posted a list full of ideas.

Could you write from the Fluff/romance list 7 and 19 with Legolas and a human!reader?

Soo the idea is that reader have body image insecurities ( because she doesn't have flat belly or something idk) and.. since Elves are literally the image of Perfection, reader often feels that Legolas deserves better. Even for the humans reader isn't something special. She feels unworthy every time people look at them surprised about how they ended up together and that an elf deserved better. One night when she cries about it in her room Legolas happens to hear her when he comes back (you can't never be quiet enough to hide form an elf) So yea i think i gave too much information, I'll shut up and leave the rest up to you :) have a good day.

Hi anon! First of all, thank you so much for your request - and trusting me to write this! The greeting made me smile as well, so thank you for that. Secondly, (and more importantly), I'm so sorry for the extended wait. Hopefully you still enjoy it, although be mindful of the angst.

(also don't worry about the info - as long as you've not written how the fanfic should go line-by-line I welcome more detailed requests <3)

❝𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 (𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭) 𝐲𝐨𝐮❞ « one-shot »

Pairing : Legolas X Reader

Wordcount : 2.6k

Gender-neutral reader | TWs : Crying, the first half of this fic centres around negative body-image & reader disliking their body. Although this is countered, if it's something you're struggling with please don't force yourself to read <3

Summary : As a human, you sometimes struggle when comparing your body to Legolas. And sometimes it can get bad. Luckily, he is always there to reassure you that he loves you - no matter what.

A/N : Was feeling angst-y at the start, so if you want to read but skip to the comfort keeping going until you see the ✧ paragraph break (although this will skip some fluff/a good portion of the fic). Also sorry if this is somewhat disjointed. It has been edited, but was written over a longer period of time.

Looking at yourself in the mirror, you try not to wince as you eagerly let the fabric fall back down over you. You don't look like you've been a member of the Fellowship, like you've fought Sauron's forces directly, you look like you've sat around and done nothing. Even after days of running and taking part in battles, your stomach doesn't lie flat - let alone have defined muscles. And the parts of your body that are more curved don't have that extra weight in muscle.

Even the bits that are more elven, more lithe and made of muscle, are still marred. This time by scars, a few raised and rough but most simply discoloured. All are eyesores, drawing attention immediately to the imperfections on your skin. It's even more obvious when you stand next to Legolas, his skin glowing and youthful. Even from centuries with a bow, his fingers remain uncalloused and smooth like silk. He doesn't seem to mind the contrast when he holds your hand. The silkiness against the craters on your skin. He also doesn't seem to mind the stares you two get when you're together. When he's close to you, and you're so obviously in love.

There are two types of stares you notice when people see you two like that. The first starts off fawning and admiring, and then you enter their gaze as well as Legolas. Then the positivity changes to more of a sneer, looking at the flawed shape of you compared to his perfection. The second type of stare is confusion, when their eyes flicker back and forth between the two of you as they wonder how you managed to convince him to like you.

It's even worse when you and Legolas go to the more formal dinners, when folks have to be polite with their words - so show even more disdain with their actions. The ones who know of Legolas's social status are even worse; how could someone of his noble lineage marry a commoner? It's one of these dinners you're about to be forced to attend, and one of these dinners you're dreading.

A soft knock on the door breaks your eye contact with the mirror, and you step away just as Legolas enters your room. His eyes light up when he sees you, looking you up and down before smiling. "You look beautiful."

"You're only saying that because I'm dressed in your colours." You tease, trying not to let your worry - that that is the reason he said - seep into your voice. He looks gorgeous in your colours, of course, they only serve to compliment his natural colours, making him look even more gorgeous.

"Not at all." He offers you his hand, immediately holding you tightly when you put your hand in his. "I hope you will enjoy this ball, some of my kin will be here."

"Elves?"

"Yes, from as far as my home." He pauses for a second, then smiles, "From Eryn Lasgalen."

"That's great news. Do you know any yourself?" You ask, trying to put the conversation on him. He thinks for a second, before telling you of the first elleth - a captain of the guard. In the meantime, you attempt to listen while trying not to think about what elves being with you means. If humans judge you as being unworthy of an elf, how will elves judge you when they find out you are with their prince?

Eventually, you manage to listen to Legolas again - hoping you haven't missed any vital information. His stories, and genuine enthusiasm, soon manage to lift your spirits and distract you from your worries. It works so well you're able to walk into the ball, not even noticing the others as you get to your friends. Aragorn welcomes you with a smile, you can tell he's grateful when genuine friends come over, and looks at the two of you. "By Valar, with the two of you and my wife I think everyone on my council has outdressed me."

He's lying, of course, dressed in a beautiful robe of wine red and forest green that somehow does not clash on him, but the words warm your heart. Aragorn has reason to lie about your appearance, but not as much as Legolas does. You offer him a compliment as well, "Nonsense - you both look lovely tonight. If you were not King of Gondor I'm sure many would think you an elf."

"Except for the beard, of course." Aragorn points out, eyes briefly flickering to where you assume the elves are.

"Then we have found an advantage for you not to be an elf." Legolas smiles, "It suits you."

The three of you begin to talk, not quite flouncing etiquette with the time you're spending with him, but getting close. Arwen catches your eye, and you see her begin to move towards you - Legolas murmuring in your ear that he will be back soon, unless you need him. You wave him off, before offering a smile and small bow to Arwen. With a laugh that sounds like music, she returns your gestures. "There is no need to bow to me. Your actions have put your standing well beyond mine."

"And the scandal when I don't bow to the queen?" You respond, trying to keep the mood cheerful while anxiety begins to swirl in your stomach. Realistically, Arwen doesn't mean anything by it - but the dip where velvet sits on scar tissue instead of regular skin goes from unnoticeable to uncomfortable. The wound on your finger almost seems to catch on something, even though it is long healed, and you're reminded of the perception of elves. It is said that scars tell a story - does that mean your mistakes are imprinted on your body for any elf to read?

At exactly the wrong time, Legolas appears again with an elleth maiden. No - not a maiden, a captain of the guard; except you would be forgiven for mistaking her to be a noble, or a muse for some talented artist. You recognise the name when Legolas introduces her, and your mind connects her to stories he's told - stories of grave danger. Except they've made her glow while they would have made you bruise. What would have been a scar on your face is not even an imperfection on hers. Taking a deep breath, you bow before introducing yourself.

You can see recognition in her eyes before she bows back, eyes flickering from you to him as she stoops. The action only worsens your nausea, and not even the presence of your love can alleviate them. Surrounded by three elves (and a man who is so fair he may as well be one) you feel even worse, and you duck to excuse yourself from the conversation.

Lost in the ballroom, you try to judge where you should go based on the presence of people. There are very few people near the food, and you realise you've missed the window. Not that the nausea would help in keeping any food down. Instead, you gravitate to a place with a manageable amount of people - easing into making small talk with other humans. As the conversation ends, a shock greets you as your next companion appears. Another elf.

She's just as beautiful as Legolas' friend, and is wearing a tight-fitting robe of pure white. Keeping up conversation decently well, you manage to hide your nerves until Legolas suddenly appears by your shoulder, holding a plate of food. It's a mixture of proper meals and canapes, but nonetheless a gesture that warns your heart. Swallowing whatever he'd been eating, he holds the plate closer, "For you."

"Thank you." Going for whatever he's eating, you come away with only a small bite - a biscuit-type thing that's thinner than a coin with a patte that tastes like spring. Perfectly elvish food. He doesn’t need to eat as much either, yet another difference. Finishing it, you swallow and smile at him politely while somehow hoping for the elf to come back. To your surprise she does, and you take advantage of the opportunity.

Some architect in Gondor was looking out for you, and you’re soon able to slip away from the crowds. You almost bump into a few people, but you’re elegant enough to not cause too many difficulties. None of the servants running the place stop you either, although there are a few eyebrows at someone dressed in such finery being around there. In fact, you make it all the way to your room before the first ragged breath makes it way out of you - tears threatening to spill, while breathing heavily to stop them. Not that anyone could hear you in your chambers. More tears water your eyes, and you think about letting them escape when a servant knocks on your door.

“Prince Legolas has sent up food, if you would like it.” You can hear the awkwardness in the messenger's voice, “And he wishes to inform you that there is no pressure to rejoin the event. He shall be up with you soon.”

“There’s no need.” You go closer to the door, “Tell him he can be as long as he wants. And you can take the food, I’m not hungry.”

“I will inform him now.” The servant leaves, and you listen to their footprints slowly fade away until you're alone again. Which is when you feel ‘safe’ enough to begin to break down.

✧ ✧ ✧

It feels like only a second ago you were by his side, but when Legolas looks around the room he cannot see you anywhere. The plate of food he still has for the two of you feels heavy in his hand, but he keeps hold of it while scanning the ballroom and walking around it. The two of you need to eat, after all. On his second lap of the ballroom Legolas realises that you’ve left, properly, and goes to one of the servants - asking for them to deliver the food and inform you that he’ll come to you shortly, and that you should feel no pressure to attend this event.

He excuses himself as quickly as he can, citing the ball as becoming overwhelming to the few who ask and hurrying up the stairs. The turns to your shared chambers are becoming muscle memory to him, although normally the two of you make this trip together - sharing your thoughts on whatever you’d just done, or talking about nothing in particular to not focus on the stresses of the day. As he approaches your floor he realises he hears no movement, and the only sound is him opening the door.

Until Legolas keeps moving forward - and his ears begin to pick up the stifled sound of sobbing. Of your crying. It makes him hurry up, going towards you as fast as he can until he truly realises that something is seriously wrong. The steps are still quick, but not running, and his mind begins to pace through what could be happening so that he may try and comfort you.

When he sees the plate outside your door, untouched and discarded, an idea of what’s happened begins to come to him. He knows the food that he’s picked out is your favourite, and so it won’t be that that’s stopping you. Getting to the door he gently knocks on it, and hears your cries suddenly begin to halt. He can hear the constricted breaths, and rushes to reassure you, “You can cry, meleth nîn. And please, may I come in?”

There’s silence at first, and he adds to his statement. “If you truly don’t want me here you can say, but I cannot hear you cry and do nothing about it. I want to help.”

Although there’s still no verbal response from you, he can hear a slight shuffling - and there is no voice of protest. Legolas begins to open the door, just enough to slip in before letting it shut behind him. As soon as he’s in the room his eyes go to you, heart slightly breaking as he sees the red rim around your eyes - the way they are still glassy. He can see your light tremble, as you stop yourself from crying in front of him, and he instantly goes to your side. “Please, never be afraid to cry in front of me.”

Legolas begins to pull you into him, and that’s what finally breaks the dam as you feel yourself begin to sob as tears stream from your face. He still holds you close, pulling you into a warm hug - letting you hear his steady heartbeat. He doesn’t force you to stop crying, merely humming and gently tracing circles on your back. “You can let it out… I’m here… don’t worry, I’m not going to leave.”

He holds you in his arms for as long as you need, until you finally stop and begin to shuffle out of his grasp - realising you’ve wept all over his shirt. He begins to let you go, but doesn’t let you stray far. Watching and waiting for you to be ready to talk. “I’m here for you.”

“I know.” You try to give him a smile, but it comes out watery - and you can feel the puff around your eyes, the fact they must be red and horrible. Some of the thoughts must show on your face because he frowns slightly, pulling you closer again.

“You know you are beautiful, meleth nîn.” When Legolas says it to you he says it with such sincerity, gently kissing you on the forehead. “You are beautiful like this as well, and I love you like this.”

Although it makes you smile, you try to protest. “I’ve just been crying-”

“And?”

“And my eyes will be horrible and red-”

“They look perfect to me.” His interruptions are gentle, but you can tell he means them. “All this shows is emotion, emotions like sadness, or like love. If you stop your eyes from shining in happiness it will be a bad day for all.”

“I’m not crying in happiness.”

“I’d rather your eyes show all emotion than none.” He seeks out your eye contact, and now that he’s mentioned love being visible in your eyes you can see it in his. In the way they round slightly with care, but have a faint shine in them that gets larger as you begin to smile - a shine you can only interpret as love. It is steady, and ever present, but seems especially obvious now.

“I wish you could see yourself the way I see you.”

“When all my imperfections disappear?” You try to put on a teasing tone, but it falls slightly flat.

“Imperfections?” His head tilts in genuine confusion, eyes searching your body but never landing on a specific place, almost as if he cannot find them. “If even elven eyes cannot see them, I begin to doubt they are there.”

The gesture makes you laugh, but you still hold out your hand to him - palm up for him to see the callouses. When he sees them a hand instantly closes around them, his fingers joining and resting against yours in a familiar position. Simply, he says, “The callouses by which I know it is your hand I am holding? The ones that show the dedication you have, the time we’ve spent together?”

Eyes searching, he follows your gaze to the other parts that stick out to you, resting a hand there or giving it a small kiss - each time with only love in his gaze, and no disgust. Then you realise you’ve run out of places, and Legolas can look into your eyes again. “I don't think I've ever loved someone like I've loved you."

A/N : Hopefully you enjoyed, and the comfort at the end as worth it. Finally getting back into writing one-shots, so will be attempting more of my inbox. Thanks so much for reading to the end, and feedback is always welcome!

thank you for reading *･༓˚✧ Taglist : @starwars2222 / @xiaoseminence / @withasideofmeg / @ferns-fics / @chewgazellechew / @recordofragnarokfan2 / @stormchaser819 / @raikan624 ✧ wish to be tagged/update your taglist?

[musekicker]

Fic: Helluva Dating show 1

Finally got a opening written down for Helluva Dating Show.

A note, this takes place after Blitz and Fizz are friends again but before the clown pageant.

The greed ring was as much a shit hole as the rest of hell. Hell was hell after all. But at least the space for the try outs were only slightly better then the out side. This ware house was a bit too small for the number of folks trying out for Mammon's newest and biggest show to date.

At least, that's how Mammon himself described the reality dating show he was putting together as. And Blitz supposed he shouldn't be calling the whole thing stupid given that he was also trying to join in on the show.

Even if the big so called prize was to end up dating (or more the call sheet promised) Mammon himself.

Blitz very much did NOT want to date Mammon. But there was a good reason for Blitz to be here even if he had no wish to date mammon. And the reason that Blitz had even heard about the casting for this reality show was walking right towards him right now.

"Hey shit face, glad you made it." Fizz said as a way of greeting.

"Fuck you too." Blitz replied, just as chipper.

The two then laughed. They laughed for quite a bit before Fizz finally managed to ease into a few giggles and then able to speak fully.

"Really though. Good to see you." Fizz said.

The fact that Fizz was genuinely glad to see Blitz was something that Blitz had not known for so long. It almost felt like a trick of some kind on him. Like any moment he would wake up and what he thought was fact was only in the realm of dreams.

But it was indeed real. And being friends again, it gave him some form of hope he hadn't had in some time. This was not the time to be emotional about that though.

"Thanks for telling me about this opportunity. You're SURE they pay for just getting on the show?" Blitz asked.

Fizz nodded. One arm stretched over towards the table where a stack of the sign up papers were stacked. He grabbed a paper from the middle of the stack it turned out, making a mess of papers all over the table and floor once retracting his arm. The paper retrieved he handed it to Blitz.

"Say's it right here. Along with all the other information you need to know." Fizz said.

Blitz looked down to the paper. He was not a fast reader but Fizz was kind enough to point out where the information he was most interested was.

"I don't think I really have a chance to even get on the show." Blitz said with a shrug. "But hey, worth it to try."

"The whole thing is stupid honestly. Mammon's probably just doing this to get attention and the brand deals." Fizz said.

"Eh, long as I get paid if I get on the thing I'm fine with that." Blitz said.

Fizz was going to continue the conversation when another imp hurried over. They were wearing a shirt that identified them as part of the crew.

"Excuse me, but the casting director wants to talk to you before casting starts, Mr. Fizzarolli." the imp said.

"Okay. Tell him I'll be right there." Fiz said.

The crew imp hurried off and Fizz looked back to Blitz for a moment.

"I got to go. Good luck." Fizz said.

With that, Fizz hurried off as well. It left Blitz to look around more at his competition. Even if really it was too early to see anyone as real competition. Not unless he actually got on the show. He still doubted that would happen.

There were just too many demons here to really have a shot. Many of them looking neater or in more fashionable clothes then his. And some in less clothes then him honestly. Maybe he should had gone that route.

Well too late for that now. He had to hope that as he was was enough.

There were succubi approval he would need to get on the show it turned out. There was a main casting director, the one that was a bright red color and wearing a tight, black sweater with black jeans that had heart shaped cut outs on the legs. But there were also two other succubus that were at the casting directors table. Most likely for the main casting director to bounce thoughts and opinions off of.

Their table was a mess of paper stacks. Blitz did note that there was also a paper shredder on the table, along with a already full trash can. He had no idea how many times that trash can had been emptied and then refilled.

The main casting director pointed to a simple, fold up chair set in the middle of the room in front of a camera.

"Okay, we have a lot of demons to get through today so let's make this quick. Just tell us something about yourself to the camera." the main casting director said.

Blitz strolled over to the chair and sat in it, looking a more at ease then he felt. "I'm Blitz, the o is silent." Blitz started with. "And I run a company called IMP."

"So you run your own company? Interesting... What are you proudest about in your life?" the main casting director asked.

That question was the right one to ask, Blitz quickly launching into the answer.

"I have a daughter. She is just the sweetest thing. Adopting her was the best decision I ever made." Blitz said.

If Loona could hear him right now she would have her face in her hands and be telling him to stop. Instead Blitz only heard the sound of pencil writing on paper quickly.

There were a few more questions, one of which ended with Blitz telling a joke that did not seem to really amuse the casting directors as all he heard once more was the sound of writing.

"Okay, I think we have what we need. There will be a call within a week if you are chosen." the lead casting director said.

As soon as Blitz left the casting director on the left of the main casting director spoke.

"What do you think?" he asked.

"He's loud, crass and looks like he be a wild card. I think he be perfect for causing some drama for at least a couple of episodes." the main casting director said. "Put this guy on the yes list."

[indignantlemur]

Thanks for the tag @the-lady-general!

fic author q&a

1. Why do you write fanfic?

A lot of my ideas begin with 'what ifs' and 'why nots' - and then from there they often take on a life of their own. I'll watch or read something and sometimes I'll ask - what could the characters have done differently? Did the scene have to go like that? What else could have been? Other times, I'm fascinated by a character, a setting, or some other element and I want to play around with that.

2. Which of your posted stories do you think about the most, even though the story is “finished”?

Technically, the only story I've properly finished is Deck the Halls (and Not The Vulcans) - but yes, I do think about it. I think about possible seasonal sequels, and whether or not there are more stories to tell in that vein or not.

3. If you could give yourself fic advice from when you first started writing fic, what would that advice be?

I would probably tell myself - read more. Read everything. Read things you love and things you hate. Learn from both and ask yourself, what would you do differently?

4. What’s your relationship to fic stats?

Oh, probably a little more codependent than it should be but vastly better than it was. Feedback and comments feed the happy little dopamine cycle that, in turn, fuels internal my writing machine. Kudos are lovely, too! I could go into a whole thing about not getting enough praise as a kid and the nuances thereof, but I won't. Suffice it to say, when I was a much younger and much less mature person I used to be devastated when I posted something and never got any kind of response. It would completely kill my desire to write for a while. I've since learned that putting that much weight and power in strangers' words is unhealthy and have learned to distance myself more. I still adore everyone who takes the time to review, and I treasure every question and comment, but they can't be my whole world when it comes to writing anymore.

5. Is there a pairing or scenario or friendship you miss writing? If so, why? If not, why not?

This one doesn't really apply, so I'mma skip it. <3

6. What motivates you to write?

A combination of a natural progression of years of maladaptive daydreaming, high creativity levels, and a talent for storytelling, combined with a genuine enjoyment of playing around with characters and worlds.

7. Why do you write for the fandom(s) that you write for?

Because those are the ones I have stories for! 😊 While I love many fandoms, I don't always have stories I want to write for them. Other times, I have stories but I don't feel like I'm ready to write them, or that I have sufficient education or experience on a topic the story centers around yet to do the idea justice.

8. If you’re stuck writing a WIP, what do you do?

I tend to try to take a break from the project for a bit and then ease myself back into it. I'll reread what I've written previously to try to pick up the threads, listen to the playlists I've made for the various characters, themes, and pairings, and rewatch or reread sources of inspiration as well.

9. What do you wish people knew about comments?

Folks who take the time to comment, even just to say that they liked X detail, or Y character, or even just a particular turn of phrase, are worth their weight in gold. It was actually a dedicated, chapter-by-chapter commenter who revived my desire to continue Emigre (@the-lady-general <3) by reminding me why I loved writing it in the first place. It felt like rediscovering my story through someone else's eyes, and suddenly I had the motivation to salvage all my notes and my documents after so many years.

10. Maybe there’s a question you wish had been on here. What’s that question (and answer)?

Hm. I can't think of any, I'm afraid. Thanks again for the tag! I'm terrible at tagging, but I figure I'll throw in a few here: @emilie786  @horta-in-charge @creature-of-the-stars @unknownfacelessfanfictions and anyone else who'd like to participate!

fic author q&a

@curator-on-ao3 thank you so much for tagging me! 💚✨ It's taken me a little to answer (almost) all the questions, but here you go:

1. Why do you write fanfic?

Sometimes I need to get an idea out of my head, sometimes I need to get an idea down on the page, sometimes I want to write for the sake of writing.

(The REAL real reason why I write fanfic instead of original fic is so that I don't have to come up with names and physical descriptions for a bunch of different characters. *shoves all-oc wip back under the floorboards*)

2. Which of your posted stories do you think about the most, even though the story is “finished”?

For now it's Change the World. That one was a lot of fun. I re-read it loads because it makes me laugh.

3. If you could give yourself fic advice from when you first started writing fic, what would that advice be?

You don't know English yet, but once you start learning: on eff eff dot net, cock means penis, not rooster. No advice on the writing, your Gerudo self-insert Mary Sue is already perfect. 💚

4. What’s your relationship to fic stats?

I don't care at all, unless I'm being sulky. I like to think that getting it out of my system relatively quietly makes me the charming ray of sunshine that you, kind and radiant reader, knows and loves. 😁

5. Is there a pairing or scenario or friendship you miss writing? If so, why? If not, why not?

I miss Joseph/Hemmer, that was fun to write. I couldn't stick the fix-it part of the fix-it fic, so I abandoned it in my wips, but I like coming back to it and rereading the more coherent scraps.

6. What motivates you to write?

Mostly jokes! My latest, Life, When It Gives You Lemons, is based on that genius Darmok and Salad at Tanagra pun.

(That's probably the reason why nothing ever came of my Joseph/Hemmer or Una prison break fics: there's enough dead kids and dead parents in SNW to stop me laughing.)

What motivates me for my current WIP is mostly "Can I do this?". The answer so far seems to be yes, provided I can string enough jokes together.

7. Why do you write for the fandom(s) that you write for?

For Star Trek it's mostly friends (hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, hi! 👋🖖), for LotR it's because somehow, there's still not all the stories I want to read out there, and for 40k it's my desire to throw war dollies around without ever having to memorize a different codex every time I blink.

8. If you’re stuck writing a WIP, what do you do?

I give up and add it to my ~private library~ or I ask for help. The bragging rights of producing something of AO3 quality makes editing worth the hassle. That's my hoard, that is. 🐲

9. What do you wish people knew about comments?

I'm really bad at answering them, so if you, smart and elegant reader, want a reply, trick me into a conversation by asking me questions!

If I don't reply that means your comments ended up as a coal on the warm cozy fire in my heart that's keeping the "Not A Talentless Hack" feelings at bay and I never figured out how to adequately repay that kindness. Thank you. 💚

10. Maybe there’s a question you wish had been on here. What’s that question (and answer)?

I couldn't think of any since getting tagged, so in the interest of finally answering the other nine questions: No, but thank you for asking!

This was fun! I've lost sight of who's already played and who might like to join in, so without pressure: @cicaklah @ichayalovesyou @indignantlemur and anyone else who wants to give this a shot!

[idrellegames]

Hey there! I come bearing a question, and I'll be honest. I don't know if you've answered it in the past, and Tumblr is a pain in the ass when it comes to trying to look backwards to see if something has been asked before.

So here goes: With how widely the lifespans of the different races vary, how common is it for the longer lived races like elves and dwarves, to actually be romantically involved with the more 'fickle' races? I can see it swing both ways honestly depending on the person of course, but I'm primarily curious whether it's something people in general don't care about, or if the longer lived races are more reserved due to the inherent differences in life span? I'd imagine a dwarf who can easily be expected to reach well past 200, being apprehensive about being involved with a human that won't even reach half of that.

Obviously that's very much a person by person situation when it comes down to it, but what's the general view on that? Like do the dwarves and elfs in general tend to stick with one of their own, if only to avoid the inevitable heartbreak of out-living their partner, or are they all "share the love" heartbreak be damned? Granted that obviously won't influence player romances, but I'm curious about what it looks like for the average person in the setting of your game.

Reading your FAQ too, I noticed that conversations with RO's will involve compatibility in terms of romance and sexuality etc. so I won't beat around the bush. Can an allosexual MC, still get in a viable relationship with our favorite savant? I'm personally the type of person who isn't overly concerned about sex in a relationship, so although I enjoy and like sex quite a lot, I'm also more than willing to put it aside if I really connected with someone who's asexual. If there's a genuine connection between me and them, then sex isn't all that important to me in determining the longevity of a relationship. So I guess my second question boils down to whether or not we'll be able to address it that way, so that our character can still be allosexual while also being fine with a potential relationship without sex. You don't have to spill the tea so to speak, as for how that conversation goes in the game though. I just don't want to get my hopes up for a romance with her, if I'll end up heartbroken because her asexuality is written as to her only wanting to be with other ace people 😩

Sorry if that last bit was a bit of a ramble, it's kinda a subject close to my heart, since people somehow often find it hard to understand how I can both love sex a lot, but simultaneously also be completely fine without it if the person I'm with is worth it. So I guess I'm a little self-conscious about it, which tends to lead to rambling. Especially since I don't really know if there's a label for how I feel about it, since it hasn't really been something I've looked into in the past x3

So now I'll just quietly shut up, before I embarrass myself further than I already have 😖

Hi! Thanks so much for your ask. 💕 Hopefully I can clear up a few things!

Different Lifespans

The majority of people in long-term relationships in this world tend to find themselves in relationships with other members of the same species. But, like most things, it does depend on culture, location, and the individual person. Cross-species relationships are more common in urban areas and large cities, as are mixed family units. The general understanding in most Rhesainian cultures is that some folks may have more than one "life partner" and it's not something to bat an eye at.

Ace/Allo Relationships

I don't want to spoil anything, but this will be a topic of conversation on most romance paths. Allosexual MCs who want to romance acespec characters (Alexia and Ren) will have a chance to talk about what they want their relationship to look like. The same is true for asexual MCs who want to romance allosexual characters (and, on a related topic, monogamous MCs who want to romance polyamorous characters and vice versa). Romantic and sexual compatibility is a theme for all romanceable characters. Some characters are fine with pretty much anything, others are not. If it doesn't line up between the MC/LI, there will be a conversation to be had, compromises to be made, and things to work out.

Hope that makes sense!

[britishsass]

T-Time lord AU? I am going to assume Dr. Who, but my knowledge on that is WOEFULLY near 0 sooo *pulls up a chair and popcorn* TELL ME ALL ABOUT WHOMST IS THE TIME LORD AND WHAT THEIR TELEPHONE BOX TARDIS IS XD (legit tell me more am curious)

OOOH MAN I'M HYPER TO TELL YOU IT ALL

It is, in fact, Doctor Who based! However, since I'm too much of a DW nerd to actually make someone the Doctor (That'd be getting their characterization all weird, and I don't want to do that rn, there's so much stuff in DW I don't actually know--) I made my own time lords.

Yeah, that's right, time lords with an s. There are three in this au. I'll detail all three of them under the cut-- This is gonna be a long one.

First off, the main character is a time lord known as "The Ranger." His TARDIS is actually stuck as a Ford F-100 truck, so he goes by Ford to seem a bit more normal to regular folks.

[Image ID: Ford as a time lord, drawn with lighter skin, a red vest, a green cape, and a white collared shirt. He has a gear-shaped brooch and a pocketwatch chain as well. Next to him, his name and a list of quick details ("2nd Regeneration," "About 450," and "QPPs with Otto (the Mechanic)") are written. End ID]

His regeneration was a bit more of a mess, but it's mostly focused on him in this regeneration, so I'll let that part sit for a while. Just know that this is not his first face. He's the second Ranger. His last name was based on the first name he saw, so it wasn't much better, but he does enjoy changing his name.

The story I'm currently working on has his companion as Bob, with Helmut only just joining the TARDIS team.

(Also, yes... This is the AU where Ford drifts a truck.)

The interior of his TARDIS is rather rustic, with strange branch-like structures to make it feel more natural. At least, that's what it's like in this regeneration.

~

The Mechanic is the second of the three, and doesn't actually have a concrete design yet-- I'm still trying to decide how he dresses, after all. This guy has had at least 4 regenerations already, mostly caused by scientific experiments going very wrong. This is Otto. He's basically normal Otto, to be honest, except now he's a time traveler, and he accidentally/on-purpose took Compton with him solely because he wanted to properly thank the nice guy at his favorite restaurant.

He does show up around the Ranger a lot! However, he isn't as well-known for interfering, since he finds much more interest in just watching events, trying food, and learning new things-- Not saving the world or anything like that. Think of him more as a passive observer, except he's chaotic if they ever do interact with him.

Also, he likes to take an extremely long time to decide on a new name for each new face. The name "Otto Mechanus" was his goal, but it got misheard as Mentallis, so now he's stuck with it.

His TARDIS tends to look very out-of-place, a lot like something you'd find in Otto's lab. And the interior is... Well, it's what you expect.

~

The final time lord of the trio is one who hasn't been seen in quite a while. They had at least two different regenerations, both of whom were quite the troublemakers for the Ranger and the Mechanic.

This time lord is known as the Ruler, and he's also known as Gristol, since he required a "normal" name for humans to trust him in his most recent known face. There's been multiple incidents with him causing trouble in the attempt to take charge of various places, but at the moment, he's not been seen for a while... Maybe he's finally gone?

Or maybe he's just wearing a different face now.

~

Anyway, thank you for the lovely question! I'm happy to talk more about the other regenerations too, but I think it's better to just focus on the current ones I'm writing about, hah.

[askourweavetalecharacters]

Wow, what an awesome thing to wake up to! I was actually about to go back to sleep, so I'm glad I checked my phone first, haha.

First and foremost, thank you so much for the kind words! I've shared the post with the others, but this is pretty early for them (and for myself) so it'll probably be a bit until they see it. Back when I made this blog in 2019, I really wasn't sure how it would go. Will people be interested? How many asks will we get? And for the next some years, the answers seemed to be "no" and "none." Having very little Tumblr experience and absolutely zero ask blog experience, I honestly thought that no one really cared to ask anything. Not that it mattered much, though; I'm more than content to keep this between me and my friends.

So the blog laid dormant for a long time. I'd occasionally come along and post some wacky textbox to keep it from being totally barren, but again, nothing ever really came of it. Earlier last year... god, that's a weird thing to say with it being January 1st. Happy New Year! As I was saying, earlier last year (2024), I revisited the blog after not having touched it for quite a long period of time. This time though, I went over the entire thing, looking for anything I may want to change/fix; having made the blog so long ago, my writing skills have improved DRASTICALLY since then, so I thought the blog may be in need of updating. Then it hit me. "Oh my god, I haven't been using TAGS this ENTIRE TIME?!?!" Yeah... I don't know how I managed that for so long, haha. After that, I whipped together a new introduction (because the old one sucked ass), started using tags in every post, and people were "suddenly" interested!

After having that sorted out, it was incredibly cool seeing just how many people ended up getting a kick out of the blog. It's so cool seeing folks enjoy our silly little passion project. I never would've thought it would gain a following like it has, even if it isn't a particular big one. Like you said, the ask blog format can be fairly disorganized, but honestly? For an AU like this, it's perfect... because WeaveTale is exceptionally disorganized as a whole, haha. With the nature of it literally just being a roleplay between friends on Roblox of all places, I think it comes naturally when you try and turn it into something cohesive. And it honestly just makes me even more surprised by the following it's gotten. In a good way, of course! I'm glad people can enjoy it and its characters, no matter how disjointed it may be.

I'll end off by saying that the majority of the main story can be found on our respective DeviantArt accounts, told through in-universe journal entries from our characters. Though, to anyone who's already read the introduction post, they probably already knew that... so it gives all the more reason to read it for those who haven't already! All our accounts are linked there. We haven't made many journal entries in a while though, so there's a sizeable gap between then and now where things have happened in the story that haven't been properly written down. They're still worth reading, though! Even if... the quality of the writing in the early days (especially mine) isn't all that good... anything from me pre-2020 isn't that good, haha. Again, still worth reading if you wanna know the story!

And again, thank you to @aus-from-undertale for the post and the kind words! We'll definitely be around for a while, so here's to a great 2025 for WeaveTale! If the others wanna say anything, they're more than welcome to. (you hear that, @snowey-the-snowster and @chaoscretin527?!?!) But that's all from me! Thanks again!

- Iggy

Weavetale

So, if you've been here for a while, maybe you would realize that i don't really recommend ask blogs anymore for a few years now, not because I didn't want to, but because is a difficult thing to recommend when its not organized.

Like what am I supposed to say? Read the whole account that's been running since years ago? Good luck?

But I wanna break this rule I made for myself this time because this is a really cool au!

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

After a collision that happens with every au and multiverse, a lot of people lose their home, family and friends.

The group that this au is centered is a found family after this disaster, formed by characters that we already know and OCs!

And they are answering questions 🤘

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

Honestly, this is a pretty fun ask blog and premise, but if someone asked me what I like the most about the au, it would be the mods💕

The mods are so good at writing and presenting their characters with witty conversations and jokes. At the same time, they are clearly passionate about the au and their OCs, so it's really touching to me.

I won't tell you to read the whole blog haha, but I recommend you the check out the aus existence at least by reading their pinned post:

But of course, check out the @askourweavetalecharacters account if you want to get to know more about the characters!

When I saw the premise of a bunch of au colliding in one it really reminded me of Warverse! You should check it out :)

[nuclearforest]

Hello phrend. 😎 2deep4me writer asks:

What's the fic you're most proud of?

13. Do you take pride in your writing, or does it embarrass you? Why?

14. Do you compare yourself to other writers? In a positive or negative way?

15. How do you think your writing has improved over time?

Thank u for the ask!! Makes me very happy and lets me ramble abt stuff!

1, Honestly hard to say. Like, I'm proud of One Dog Night because it was the first thing I ever posted and like, really snowballed me into doing more and putting myself out there more. But on the other hand, Month to Love a Werewolf is the first multi-chapter piece I finished! And now Sirens' Guard Dog is on the way. I think those are my big three-- but as far as picking one goes?

It's really hard to say. I can't pick my favorite child lol.

13, Depends on if it is anon online or IRL.

Online? hell yeah i'm proud of being fully unhinged for my blorbo. almost at 350k in 2 years and like. ~300k of that is hans. my really sad sack awful blorbo who i love with all my little heart. stinky, stupid wolfman with a flair for the dramatic.

But IRL? I am a professional with a career you wouldn't catch me dead bringing up writing or fanfic in public. like, my folks asked me once over a holiday why I was on my laptop and what i was writing and i immediately had to bullshit that it was some stupid literary analysis to keep my skills sharp when, uh, it was really werewolf smut. very, very close to being busted but they aren't curious enough to press and i'm a fool not a coward.

THE ONLY EXCEPTION is when i am around those friends that are my enablers and don't care lmao. They think it's funny and it's on brand. Alternatively it's just one facet of the strange little gremlin they've let into their lives. I mean well--promise.

14, yeah. like, healthy or not i'm always out here comparing myself in both good ways and bad. some for learning new styles and tricks and broadening my horizons, but some for like. competitive purposes. and there's nothing to be competitive about but i've been in competitive schooling all my life and for a kid who grew up with little self confidence feeding on the praise of being "gifted" it really sticks with you. so there are many a conscious reminder that it's all for fun. that i shouldn't stress and that it's for me, even if some of that is a lie (i mean, come on--sometimes i'll write shit to brighten somebody's day but generally it's whatever catches my fancy).

but like, old habits die hard and i'm hungry for kudos and comments lmao. usually it doesn't get bad but if it does, i just bury my head in a different crafty pile of sand.

15, I HAVE A TIMELINE. we'll summarize it as exponential improvement and development tho lol.

nobody here will see the shit i wrote in middle school. we're talking paper journal self insert fic that i wrote chapters and chapters of (granted these were like, 100-ish words a chapter). talk about humble beginnings.

move to highschool and i have some fanfic and also a bit of OC work that I share in my school's creative writing club (bruh I STILL wasn't sharing fanfic).

in college I didn't write much. too busy under an engineering course load but i have a few things here and there. mostly fun little snippets of fluff to keep myself occupied.

but that said, now that i'm working and trying to live my best life, i've definitely gotten better in coherent plotlines, length, and fleshing out the details. i still have all the old stuff (even the paper journals, somewhere) and a decade+ later it's meteoric improvement lol. when i wrote One Dog Night that was the longest single story I'd written by a mile. and now i'm on a long chapter work i've updated weekly since i started it following an outline. i'm boggling my own mind.

but that said: i've always been creative and colorful, have not always been able to actually finish a story. funny enough, i've also never had a formal, regular beta and something tells me that won't change soon. (altho sometimes I do ask for a second set of eyes-- so thanks to y'all that have done it for me!)

can't wait to see how i keep growing!

[nakachuchu]

Medusa | Miyazawa Kenji

chapter eight of the Fairy Tales and Myths series

SYNOPSIS: Medusa inspired AU.

READER: female

WORDS: 1006

WRITTEN: 03/02/2021

Kenji lived in a small village where all the folks were nice to each other. There was the occasional bad seed, but they'd simply get sent to the dark cave in the part of the mountain that no one went to—except for Kenji.

He heard rumors and legends of a woman who turned men to stone. You were never seen leaving the cave, but you did at night to hunt for food.

Kenji decided to visit you. No one in the village knew because he knew they would try to stop him.

He brought a basket full of fruits and meat as an offering to you because he thought it would be a nice housewarming gift.

"Hello?" he called out.

He had his eyes closed because he heard that her stare was deadly. He could hear the hissing of snakes.

"You shouldn't be here. Are you a criminal?" you asked.

"No, I'm here to bring you food! I thought you'd be hungry and lonely," said Kenji.

"What? Why would you do that?"

"Because it's a nice thing to do. Plus, you must be lonely. I would be if I had to live in a cave all alone."

"I don't have to. I just prefer to," you said.

"Why?" he asked as he took a step forward.

"Don't come closer. I simply don't like men. That's it. Please leave. You seem like a nice person, so I'd rather not have something happen to you."

"You seem like a nice lady! Let's eat together," he said as he sat down on the floor, mindlessly opening the basket and taking the food out.

"Wha—Did you even listen to me?"

"I should be fine as long as I keep my eyes closed, right? Easy peasy."

"You're not listening to me at all," you muttered.

You gave him a wary look and your snakes hissed softly as you sat in front of the young man. He seemed innocent with his dirty and ruined overalls and the straw hat strapped around his neck.

"Here ya go!" he chirped as he handed you an apple. "My neighbors grow these apples and they're super tasty."

You took it from his hand and sniffed the apple for any poison. When you determined there was none, you bit into the apple.

It was sweet like he said. You didn't get to eat much fruit since it only grew in the village. You mainly ate bush berries and animal meat you hunted yourself.

"Why don't you come down to the village?" he asked.

"People aren't very fond of me, but neither am I of them," you said.

"How come?"

"You aren't afraid to ask questions, are you?" you asked.

"Nope! You seem like a really nice person to me."

"Peculiar," you murmured.

You weren't comfortable around men. They had ruined you in the past and laughed at your pretty tears as they had their way with you.

You had been cursed by the gods when you killed those men with a rock nearby. It was an atonement, they said.

You scoffed whenever you thought about it. You were protecting yourself but received a punishment instead.

From that day on, Kenji came at least weekly, if not every day. He would tell you stories about his day and his childhood, then ask you about yours.

You rarely responded at first but started opening up. Even a few of your snakes greeted him whenever he came by.

You found yourself waiting for him every day, and you even made a blindfold out of your clothes for him.

You didn't want to take the risk of him opening his eyes for any reason. You learned Kenji was not like those men. He was much more pure and happy, like a cute pup.

"Can I touch you?" he asked.

"I'm sorry?"

You were bewildered by his question and didn't know how to respond. You weren't ready for that.

"I want to picture what you look like," he said. "Can I touch your face?"

"Oh, yes, you can," you said as you tried to calm your racing heart.

With the blindfold on, he reached for your face. He patted your cheeks, silently in awe at how cool you felt.

He could feel a few patches of scales on your jawline and cheeks. He twitched when a snake bumped its nose onto his hand but continued to feel your face.

"You're so pretty," he breathed.

"I'm not," you retorted.

He shook his head. "You're the most beautiful person I've ever met. I wish I could see you."

"You can't," you said. "But...thank you. You're pretty too."

He smiled, retracting his hands. "Thanks!"

He didn't come to see you for another few days. You wondered if something happened to him, but forced yourself to wait.

Whenever you were feeling sad, your snakes would nudge their noses against your cheeks for comfort.

They were part of your curse and your friends at the same time.

On a particularly windy night, Kenji came by. The snakes heard him before you saw him, and you were happy to see him until you turned around.

"Kenji, what have you done?" you asked, taking in his bloody appearance.

"I killed everyone, Y/N. Now, we can be together in the village! You won't have to worry about anyone else ever again. I'll protect you," he promised with a closed-eye smile.

“I didn't ask you to. I never wanted you to get your hands dirty.”

“I don't mind. This is the least I can do for the person I love. Besides, look on the bright side, Y/N. You don't have to live in this cave anymore. We can grow fruit together and raise pets together. Maybe we’ll even have children,” he added.

You didn't know what to do. You had killed many men because of your curse and you never felt bad about it.

“You're right,” you murmured.

You had lived in the cave for years by your lonesome, but now you had someone who loved you regardless.

[magnuslightwood-bane0414]

Passed down like folksongs, our love lasts so long

Read on a03

Mornings with Malec because Taylor Swift makes me want a love story likes theirs 🥰 this was supposed to be tooth rotting fluff, and most of it is, but you can thank Alec for loving his husband so much he makes it a bit angsty. I had no part of this 😉 let me know what you think!! Prompts are open!

Alec wakes up alone in bed, which is practically a sin. Alec grumbles and reaches over, his hand flattening against Magnus' side of the bed. The sheets are still warm, but his adorable husband is nowhere to be found within them.

Alec slips out of bed, searching the floor for his clothes that were shed by Magnus' magic after a date night last night, but he can't find those either.

So now he's without clothes and his husband.

Alec grabs Magnus' kimono robe that was hanging from a chair, and slips his arms through it, tying a messy knot that rests against his stomach. Then he braves the cold of the open balcony doors to search for Magnus.

He finds him in the kitchen, pressed against the oven, wearing just boxers and a hoodie. He's humming gently and mixing a bowl of something. Upon closer inspection, he's making blueberry pancakes. Alec's favorite breakfast food in the whole wide world, which makes a smile spread across Alec's face as he moves closer.

"Why'd you leave me alone in bed?" Alec whispers, pressing a lazy kiss to Magnus' earlobe and setting his chin against his shoulder, wrapping tight arms around his toned waist.

"Because after all the calories we burned last night, I figured I should get up and make my wonderful husband some blueberry pancakes."

"You have magic for that." Alec grumbles, relaxing against the warmth of Magnus' back.

"I do," Magnus admits, "But aren't you always telling me I should embrace my inner mundane and do things by hand?"

"Not when it involves cuddling your touch-starved husband."

"Oh, I see." Magnus murmurs, turning around to press a chaste kiss to his lips, "Still feeling neglected even after last night?" Alec still finds himself blushing when Magnus brings up their rather adventurous nights, and last night certainly fit in that category.

"I'll always feel neglected from your touch. You're just too damn gorgeous and it's sad that I can't have you all to myself."

Magnus hums happily at that, and runs his free hand up Alec's arm, pausing when he feels the silk sleeves of his robe.

"Is that my robe?" Magnus flips the pancake over and then snakes his hand further up Alec's arm.

"Yeah..." Alec blushes, "You somehow misplaced both my shirt and pants last night so I found this lying on the chair and just decided to put it on."

Magnus hums, "I would never just misplace your clothes on purpose, must've been a grave mistake. However, your body is attractive enough without clothes, so honestly that can't be considered a mistake..."

Alec scoffs and chuckles, saying, "Magnus, how could it have been anyone other than you? You're the one who wanted to rip my Henley off as soon as you saw it last night." Granted, that's how many of their nights end these days, with fiery passion that stills feels like a dream or a scene from a movie. But it's not, it's just Magnus and Alec, which feels so much better than his wildest dream.

"Can't blame me for wanting to enjoy the view. But darling, lavender looks stunning on you. It is officially yours, now."

"We can't share?" Alec pouts. He dips a finger into the batter and then licks his finger, smirking when Magnus gasps.

"I've corrupted you. But back to your original question, love, I suppose we could share. As long as you keep wearing it through breakfast."

"We have a deal." Alec says sweetly, sliding onto the counter beside the stove, gripping onto the string of Magnus' hoodie.

Magnus goes back to concentrating on his pancakes, placing one on the plate and then pouring a cup of batter onto the sizzling pan. Alec is content to just watching him, studying how relaxed he is in Alec’s presence, and how the rising sun holds no candle to Magnus’ own brilliance.

He would never get bored watching Magnus, but his eyes catch the sunlight hitting the exposed skin of Magnus’ golden thighs, and he gets an idea.

"Too many clothes." He mumbles, grabbing the seam of the hoodie and beginning to lift. Magnus laughs and swats his hand away playfully.

"Maybe you just have too few clothes on." Magnus counters, winking and adding a handful of fresh blueberries to the plate of pancakes.

"Now you know that's simply not true. Especially after what you said earlier." Alec leans closer and nuzzles Magnus’ neck, breathing in the scent of sandalwood.

"Shush and stop distracting me, I'm trying to finish breakfast. Here’s your plate, I will join you in one moment.” Magnus hands him a plate and gives him a gentle shove.

Magnus presses a kiss to the corner of his mouth in a silent thank you as he slips off the counter and sits down at the table.

With a lazy wave of Magnus’ hand, a bottle of syrup and a glass of orange juice appears beside Alec’s plate.

Alec waits patiently as Magnus finishes the last of his pancakes, turns the stove off, and joins Alec at the table.

Alec leans over the table and squeezes Magnus’ hand, saying, “Thank you for breakfast. It smells delicious.”

“Well, by all means, don’t wait for me to dig in.” Alec smiles and cuts into one of the fluffy pancakes. He always loves anything Magnus makes, because it’s made with love and mouthwatering flavor.

They sit in comfortable silence, save for the scraping of forks and sounds of delight at just how tasty the pancakes are. Alec finishes one of his pancakes within five bites, and looks up to see Magnus glancing at him with a fond smile on his face.

“I knew you were hungry. If we stayed in bed you would’ve been complaining within ten minutes about how hungry you were.” Alec blushes and glares at Magnus, but doesn’t deny his statement.

Both Magnus and Alec has the entire day off, and Alec is enthusiastically prepared for a lazy day, with movies and cuddles and more junk food. It’s been awhile since they’ve been able to have something as domestic as a day off with just each others company, but it is one of Alec’s favorite things in the entire world.

“I never want anything different than this.” Alec says, causing Magnus to pause and tilt his head in confusion.

“What do you mean, my love?”

“I just...I want this forever. I want lazy mornings like this. I want wild nights like we had last night. I want to love you, and be loved by you, forever. We learn about heaven and the afterlife in the Academy, and it’s supposed to be perfect, but I feel like this is as perfect as it gets. I never want to let this slip out of my grasp.”

“Alexander...” Magnus starts, feeling tears well up in his eyes. He sets his fork down and gets up, the need to be touching his love too strong to resist. Alec normally gets reflective and romantic during simple mornings and late nights, and Magnus knows this, but it doesn’t help prepare his old warlock heart for whatever sappy thing Alec says.

Alec scoots back, opening his arms as Magnus climbs onto his lap and rests his cheek against the top of Alec’s head.

“I want that too, Alexander. I want that more than anything.” Magnus whispers, closing his eyes as warm tears fall down his cheeks.

No matter how much we want it, we can’t have it.

Those are the words that are left unsaid by either of them, but they’re still spoken in the emotional silence.

Alec wraps an arm around Magnus, holding onto him with a grip that’s strong but necessary. “We’re going to have that, Magnus. I promised you that in my vows when I said I am and will always be your loving husband. I promised you that in Edom when I said I’m never leaving you again. And I don’t break promises.” Magnus sniffles and Alec moves away slightly, to take Magnus’ face in the palms of his hands.

“Alexander, even though I wish you could, you can’t promise that.” Magnus shakes his head, his heart screaming at his mind to believe it, but happiness has never had permanence in Magnus’ life.

It is the closest it has ever been now, but with the weight that one day it will end, it still drags him down to only temporary, fleeting bouts of joy.

“I can. You’re going to be able to take me on dates all over the world for as long as you’d like. You’re going to be able to tease me about the things I wear and the dumb things I say until you get tired of it. You’re going to have me for as long as you want.” Alec says resolutely, speaking like the very words spilling from his lips are being written in stone.

“Even forever isn’t long enough with you, darling.”

“But it’s a good start.” Alec says, with wet eyes and a sad smile. Even after a poignant revelation that left them both with red eyes and sadden hearts, Magnus thinks he is still the most gorgeous man that has ever walked the Earth. And he is all Magnus’, which is a revelation in of itself.

“Alexander, I would be the last person to stop you and your passionate heart after chasing something you want.” Magnus smiles back, his hand playing with the hairs at the nape of Alec’s neck. “So, yes, Angel, forever seems like a good start to me.”

“Well, then we’re going to make it happen.” Alec declares. In regards of their differing lifespans, for the first time Magnus feels a sense of peace wash over him with Alec’s words. After all, Alexander Gideon Lightwood-Bane has been known to blow up the very ground he stands on to make something right.

And if Magnus is sure of one thing, it’s that Alec and Magnus are unexplainably and wholeheartedly right together.

[katedrakeohd]

A Stolen Moment - Part 3

A The Royal Masquerade Fanfiction

Part One / Part Two

...................

Cast of Characters: (MC) Julia Aster, Kayden Vescovi, Teapot the guard, various marketplace folk.

Rated: PG

.................

Part Three : The Mariner and the Maiden

I nudge my horse to follow Kaydan as he pulls away from the line of carriages. After turning a bend in the road the sound of the carriage wheels and trotting horses fades and as I look over at Kaydan he seems to have relaxed a little.

"A change of scenery is nice." I venture, still feeling uncertain about where Kaydan is leading me.

When he looks over at me his usual stoic, unreadable expression has fallen away, and he gives me a happy smile that lights up his whole face.

"This kind of change is welcome. It feels like a lifetime since I've explored town as a free man without responsibilities."

I laugh, "You're still responsible for me, and to get us back before we're missed."

He nods, "Be that as it may, for now I don't want us to be Crown Shield or Lady Aster. Let's escape from that life and choose to be other people, if only for a short time."

As the bustling marketplace on the edge of town comes into view I feel a sense of wonder at the crowd of people and the brightly colored awnings.

"Who shall we be then?" I ask, as I look at the various people in the market for inspiration.

Kaydan looks at me for a long moment and then leads us toward a hotel next to the market. He dismounts his horse and ties it to a hitching post and then secures my horse before offering his help to get me down.

The slippery fabric of my dress causes me to slide sideways out of the saddle too quickly and with a yelp of surprise I find myself falling down on top of him. Somehow he manages to catch me in his arms, although he has to shuffle his feet a bit to not end up on the ground himself.

As he holds me tightly against his chest I can feel him start to laugh. "If I remember correctly this is the second time you've fallen into my arms."

Trying to catch my breath from the shock of falling I suddenly realize how close my lips are to his. I touch his cheek and smile, dropping my voice to a whisper, "Thankyou Kaydan, now perhaps you should put me down. People are staring."

I can feel his body stiffen momentarily, as he blushes and gently puts me down on my feet.

Fixing my skirt and then brushing my hair back over my shoulder, I try to push aside how intimate it had felt to be held in his arms so tightly. "So what were we talking about?"

Kaydan is busy putting his riding gloves in his saddle bag, and I notice he's having trouble meeting my eyes. He's so cute when he gets all flustered. Clearing his throat he straightens up and takes a quick glance around the market.

"We were going to choose new identities so we could escape court for a moment."

"Oh that's right, such a clever idea. You choose for me and then I'll choose for you." I say.

He looks at me for a few seconds, and I can only guess at what he's thinking. Finally he starts walking toward the lineup of shopping stalls and I hurry to catch up.

"I'd choose an Artist or Painter for you. As a scribe you're no stranger to holding a quill and making intricate designs on paper. I can easily imagine you as a Great Master's apprentice walking around the market looking for inspiration."

I quirk an eyebrow, "That's oddly specific, you think I'd be a good painter?"

"You're highly intelligent and are used to working independently just as a painter would. I've seen your creativity in action as you easily adapt to any situation, just like a painter might improvise with colour to make something uniquely their own creation."

I can't help but smile at his unexpected compliments. "Why thankyou kindly, I accept. Just like a painter, as a scribe I was no stranger to having my fingers stained by my medium. So you've chosen well."

He nods, offering me his arm, I smile as I tuck my hand in the crook of his elbow. As we stroll toward the market vendors together he asks, "So what's my story then? Julia the artist. Paint me a picture."

"Well let me see. You're a mariner on leave and looking for some fun before you have to go back to sea. And while you're ashore you meet a beautiful young painter in search of her next masterpiece."

"A mariner you say?"

"Yes, a mariner and a poet. Your fellow shipmates are so jealous of your prowess with words, and demand that you tell them stories every night as they lay in their bunks."

Kaydan laughs, "I'm hardly a storyteller, definitely not a poet."

I smile and give his arm a squeeze, "Oh I don't know about that. I've seen you with your fellow guardsmen, and there's no doubt they're a colorful bunch. I bet you could tell me a story about each of them."

Kaydan chuckles, blushing a bit as he lowers his voice. "None fit for a Lady's ears I'm afraid."

"I don't know Kaydan, what would you tell them about today? Is your company not worthy of inspiring a few words?"

He looks at me as if his story is written all over my face, and as his eyes linger on me I see a smile tug at the corner of his mouth. "I say that story hasn't been written yet. And if I were to put quill to paper I would surely keep this story for myself."

Between the kaleidoscope of sights and sounds of the market and the pleasure of having Kaydan at my side I feel positively giddy with excitement. But I can't resist the urge to take my 'Mariner' off of guard duty.

"Well this muse needs to stretch her legs a little. There's plenty of market to see so let's split up, and explore. Come find me later and we'll see where our story goes."

"Are you ok wandering the market alone? You know this goes against every bit of my training as a guard." He warns, looking concerned.

"Aha, well you're not a guard at the moment. You're a mariner out looking for treasures. Besides like you said I'm independent, capable and smart. And in this dress I stand out like a sail on the horizon anyway. I'm not going to run away, just keep an eye on me and I'll keep an eye out for you."

With a sigh Kaydan steps away from me, "Ok fine, we'll explore the market separately. But only for a little while."

"I promise if anything bad happens I'll scream and make a fuss, so that you can come running and be my knight in leather armor."

While Kaydan reluctantly blends into the crowd of people. I choose a parallel path of market vendors and check out the wares. Under an awning woven with a colorful design, I approach a lady wearing flowing robes. She's standing behind a display of delicate glass bottles. Some have wooden or glass stoppers and others are open to be smelled or sampled. From the mixed spicy, floral and musky aromas I can tell she's selling perfumes.

She smiles at me, "Good morrow to you M'lady, would you care to sample a new scent today?"

"Yes, that would be lovely."

"Something sweet and floral or something musky with a hint of spice?"

Being around Kaydan I'm reminded of the strong scent of musk and leather. Which works nicely on him. My own toiletries table always has rosewater and citrusy scents for me to wear thanks to my sister Annalise. Today I want something different.

"Do you have anything spicy and floral? I'm trying to draw someone's attention."

The lady smiles and picks up an empty bottle, she adds a few drops from various other bottles and then a clear liquid to dilute them. After placing the stopper she gives it a little shake and then hands me the dampened cap to sniff.

"Tell me what you think of this." She says with a grin.

Bringing the cap to my nose I'm assaulted by a heady dizzying scent of flowers and some kind of unknown spice. It makes me cough at first, but then as I catch a whiff on the breeze I inhale deeply and the scent mellows to something more pleasant.

"I like it. I'll take the whole bottle."

I hand her the cap and she secures it to the bottle and then I give her some coins from my purse. She wraps the bottle in a scrap of cloth and then hands it to me. As other people gather around me to look at her perfumes, I nod my thanks and move on.

Undoing the cap I dab some of the perfume on my neck and into my hair at the nape. I'm hoping Kaydan notices it, but I feel a knot in my stomach at the thought of Hector smelling it too. I have no interest in being matched with another strange suitor, but my duty to the Crown requires it. I tuck the bottle away in my pocket, and move along the row.

Looking across through the crowd I search for Kaydan. A catch sight of a pair of broad shoulders and a head of dark hair but he's turned away from me and I'm not sure if it's him.

I quickly pass by a group of vendors hocking various meats and roasted animals on sticks that make my stomach turn in unhappy ways. And then I come across a kindly middle aged woman sitting quietly and knitting behind her display of various handmade objects of leather and wood.

I still have a few coins left and I want to buy something for Kaydan. The objects vary from hand carved wooden chess sets, boxes of gambling dice, various leather belts and pieces of braided jewelry and a collection of small leather bound books.

I'm hoping any of these things might bring him some enjoyment, whether he played games with his fellow guards or needed replacement leather pieces for whatever. But as a lover of books myself it's those that catch my eye. I run my finger along the spine of a brown book with an embossed leather cover.

The lady smiles at me, and sets her needlework aside. "Good day to you Ma'am is there something that catches your interest?"

I smile as I pick up the book and hold it out to her, "Yes, what can you tell me about these books?"

"They're books rescued from the private library of a nobleman who had no heirs to pass them down to. The new Duke and Duchess of Valtoria had no use for them when they took over the manor and decided to renovate."

Looking down at the book in my hand, and at all the other books. I can't believe my good fortune at finding these lost treasures, but alas I only have enough coins for one. Opening the book I see it's a handwritten journal containing snippets of poetry. Apart from the first handful of pages the rest are blank.

When I had given Kaydan the book from my sister's collection, he had admitted to not owning any. With this journal he would have two, and hopefully he'll be inspired to write down his thoughts when he has time alone. I don't know how often he gets the chance to read, especially amidst the company of his fellow guards. But I want him to have something else to remember me by once my marriage to Hector takes me away from him. Thinking about Hector makes me feel uncomfortable, but I shake it off and offer to pay for the journal.

The lady smiles, holding up her hand and shaking her head. "You were kind enough to show interest in a piece of someone who was dear to me, please just take it and give it a loving home."

"Are you sure? I can offer a few coins for your trouble."

"I'm sure, pass it along to someone you love so that his words aren't forgotten."

I smile and shake the hand of the woman after she wraps the book up for me. "Thankyou so much."

With a nod she goes back to her chair and resumes her knitting.

Tucking the wrapped book under my arm I continue to the end of the market and find myself in the middle of the town square. A small crowd has gathered to listen to a trio of stringed musicians. Their lively tune has many people clapping hands or tapping their feet. A few brave souls have even paired up to dance.

I'm thoroughly engrossed in the entertainment and don't hear Kaydan approach me from behind. When he places his hand gently on my arm I gasp and stumble back into him. "Kaydan! You frightened me."

He leans down and whispers in my ear, "That's the fun part, because catching you off guard means you end up in my arms."

I grin and nudge him on the arm as he steps in next to be, "Is this the mariner talking? Be careful there Kaydan, lest your verbal innuendo earn you the same nefarious reputation as your brother Cyrus."

"Half-.."

"Sorry, half-brother."

Kaydan shakes his head looking slightly offended, "I would have to crawl on my belly in the muck in order to stoop low enough to reach his level of depravity."

"Relax I'm only playing with you. I know you're a much more honorable man than Cyrus could ever hope to be."

Continue on to the next

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@gardeningourmet @samihatuli @jovialyouthmusic @sirbeepsalot @dcbbw @mfackenthal @bobasheebaby @pedudley @be-still-my-aching-heart @krishu213 @ibldw-main @chaotichuman0090 @addictedtodrakefanfic

[oro-e-diamanti]

Okay, I've been excited for this story ever since I first heard about the briefest idea of it and I'm 100% sure it will exceed all my expectations, I'm almost scared to start so it doesn't end but ahhh I'm more excited to read what you've come up with so let's go!!

love the setup already

I already read this part of the story and it still made me giggle gdkhsjagdf love these two

"They don’t talk about it, it’s just between them, but something changed - Victoria knows. Thomas only blinks at her when she presses her lips to his." I shouldn't be losing it so early into the story but HERE I AM

I love the idea of them communicating nonverbally so much

Aw Vic cuddled under his blanket

The way they involve her as well 😭 I already have too many feelings

Big fucking sigh of love

"His heart gets so close to exploding everytime, and so embarrassedly heavy, when he sees you two together." CRYING I LOVE IT

Aw Thomas, not stupid at all

HE MAKES A NOTE IN HIS PHONE, I love one (1) man and it's Thomas written by Foxy

Sounds like Vic is hiding some things too!! Whether she's aware or not haha

"How your bodies would work together. That maybe one of you would invite him in." damn

"He moans, in a room full of people, just like that." you really know how to throw those kinds of sentences in the middle of a scene where they make perfect sense and yet catch me off guard so much and it's TALENT

love the ringing in his head overpowering the ringing of his actual phone haha

need me someone to be that protective of me thank you

Damiano stop pretending to be the voice of reason, if that's what Thomas is all over the news for, I'll have even more reason to love him

"when Vic and him are testing how long they can kiss without suffocating in a crowded place" 👀

"At least one person he can hold." 😭

yeah that's 100% something Thomas would watch on youtube

ASKFHJdskgjds

I am losing my mind

help

"“Her.”" DEAD, DECEASED, GOODBYE

Ethan being Ethan

100% the type to sit them down and go "ok what is happening"

WELL NOW I CAN'T POST MY STORY, NOT JUST BECAUSE THIS IS REALLY GOOD BUT ALSO BECAUSE ITLL SEEM LIKE I RIPPED YOU OFF EVEN THOUGH I FINISHED IT BEFORE READING THIS hahahahaha

still cackling at the pussy line

Pure, adorable Thomas googling, I love it

saffdhad the way it was thrown it that not having a threesome was not for lack of trying

Ethan hahahaha

god I love this so much

can I have this?? I think I'd thrive haha

Very stupid lol

ETHAN hahaha

awww

oh Thomas, my heart

oop awkward lol

"Thomas bites his lips again but he says yes with so much confidence that Vic tiptoes a little bit and kisses him on the lips. The shock on the woman’s face who is showing up behind Vic almost has you giggle but you don’t when you feel how Thomas grabs your hand." BIG SIGH I LOVE IT

VIC HAS PLANS

Thomas has his own definition of romantic

god this is amazing, I think this might be one of my favourite stories of all time

ok that's all I'm craving, I need a moment lol

I LOVE the scrabble scene haha

Thomas and his googling ahhhh hahaah

ashdjkgss KISSING

not the passport story lmao

I adore those little details so much

jesus I'd die if I got sent those vids personally

Ethan once again being the voice of reason

sdfhkljhsf Thomas kissing the screen

SHE'S MINE I'M GONNA DIE

OH MY GOD I LOVE THAT YOU REFERENCED THE SCENE FROM THE VIDEO DIARY THING BECAUSE IT'S ALL I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT FOR DAYS OKAY

Ethan just constantly running around tearing at his own hair like "CAN'T YOU FOLKS FIGURE THIS OUT"

Ethan I love you

just intervening like "come onnn"

he's just everyone's relationship coach in this

oops Thomas watcha doing

bit of tense ride this time hm

oh dear oh dear these three REALLY need to talk

my heart aches

you know a story is really good when your heart skips a beat just from reading a kiss getting ever slightly more heated even before anything else happens so CONGRATS AS ALWAYS, I FEEL THINGS

adhlkfd love that she's not explaining but demonstrating

oh god I love it

Ethan saying he had to earn his present hahahaha god you write them so well, there's so much nuance and humour in your writings and you really capture the essence of the band, I'm in awe, always

A REEINDEER I LOVE REEINDEERS I REALLY WANT TO ADOPT ONE FROM SCOTLAND THAT I MET

aaaaand the necklace just killed me

help that's sexy

JESUS YEP

I feel that Thomas, I feel that

(I wish I could really feel that ghdjak)

in bed huh

oh VIC

a disclaimer hgjkdfads why is that me

jeez Vic

having trouble commenting which means it's really really good

having Vic holding her legs open for Thomas is 10/10 content and I will not elaborate

asdfsxfhlg brain dead, me

I'd kill to have this jesus christ

who wouldn't want to start the new year like that lol

dead, deceased, why can't that be me, I feel this story so hard lmao

THE PRESENT

I KNEW ETHAN WAS HOLDING BACK UNTI LTHEY FIGURED IT OUT BUT I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT IT WAS GONNA BE

AND IT WAS PERFECT

EVERYTHING WAS PERFECT

I don't know what to do with my life now

My Partners Know About Each Other

Pairing: Thomas x Reader x Vic Description: You are in love. Thomas is in love. Vic is in love. It all could be so easy if you would all understand what you want and from who. Wordcount: 9.7k Warnings: Some fluff, some angst, some smut (threesome), polyamoury

.#####.

It's summer, just before the festival season starts. The bar is loud, people craming into a space that's way too small to be comfortable. Music. People talking, screaming, singing. Bass that vibrates through Victoria's body. And Thomas laughing next to her, a little bit too close, wine glass in hand, bangs hanging into his eyes, his cheeks light pink. Maybe she's staring, but she was already staring when he was dancing with you ten minutes ago. And five minutes ago when he went to the bar, his eyes darting around to look for you and now that he's looking down at her.

"Do you think she's into …"

Victoria looks at Thomas.

"Do you think she's into …"

Thomas looks at Victoria.

"What?" Thomas asks.

"I wanted to ask if you think she is into girls."

"Oh."

"What did you want to ask?"

"I wanted to ask if you think she's maybe into … me."

"Oh."

They both laugh. They still laugh when you're taking the wine glass out of Thomas' hand, questioning look on your face. But they don't share, it's their little moment, you're used to it. To them. They don't talk about it, it's just between them, but something changed - Victoria knows. Thomas only blinks at her when she presses her lips to his.

.#####.

Thomas can never say no to a party. He especially can't say no to a party when Vic is asking him to join. In most countries, in most cities, after most of the festivals they play all summer, Vic will look at him and he will just nod. And if she's too tired, looking at him and shaking her head, he'll still go out and dance the night away - people laughing how his long limbs are flying around. He doesn't care and he has too much energy, adrenaline spiking through his body. Talking to people he has never seen and will never see again. Here a drink and there a drink. More people. More dancing. Some touches here and there - some innocent, some not so much. His lips on someone elses. But in the end, he still ends up in his own bed every time - Vic cuddled under his blanket already sometimes. Her arm sneaking around his waist and instead of the adrenaline it's Vic's bodyheat that's travelling through his body.

"Did you have fun?"

"Hmmmm."

"Are you drunk?" She would ask and laugh against his neck.

"Hmmmmm."

She would laugh a little bit more and then breath Goodnight against his neck. Thomas would pick up his phone, to say Goodnight to you, via text or via voice message. Vic sometimes laughing a goodnight into his phone as well. He doesn't know when he started this, he just knows it has become his - your - little ritual, Vic sometimes wiggling her eyebrows at him. There will always be a good morning from you whenever you wake up. He also doesn't know how this with Vic started. He just knows that the cuddling is more. Vic's lips are on his more often now. She's in his bed more, even when they have their own. Thomas doesn't know how it started but he knows that something changed. They always were close. Always going to party, they never had a problem to be close with each other, or Vic to touch him, strolling through cities they never been to together. But their closeness changed in such way it makes Thomas head spin, him dizzy and he doesn't know where all this feeling is coming from or what it means. And then there's always you, even when Vic is next to him, there's always you in the back of his head. It confuses him even more. It's a feeling he can't explain.

Thomas isn't complaining. He enjoys every second of it - only his thoughts can't keep up with his heart that's racing too fast in his chest. When they are going out for lunch together, or for dinner alone. When Vic posts a picture of him and captions it date night - it makes his heart skip a beat. When they have drinks in their hands, are dancing, and Vic tiptoes to sing into his ear. When they gaze into the night sky together. When they are at the beach, watching the sunset, he cuddled up in Vic's arms - when he sees that she's taking a picture and how she's sending it to you. A picture of the sunset, a picture of him in her arms. When Vic shows him your answer and she smiles at him. There's always Vic, and always you.

He loves that you have gotten more comfortable with Vic. That Vic got more comfortable around you as well. How you text and talk and dance when the opportunity is there. He loves to see how much you love each other. His heart gets so close to exploding everytime, and so embarrassedly heavy, when he sees you two together. There's that feeling in his chest he just can't get rid off anymore.

.#####.

One afternoon Vic is chosing Ethan over him when he wants to pick her up for lunch and a trip to something local he wants to see. It stings, he isn't jealous, it's Ethan after all, but something isn't sitting quite right with him. Maybe it's the fact that they agreed to this days ago, maybe it's the fact that Vic knew how anxious he was the last couple of days, maybe it's because he feels like a second choice for a moment, maybe it's the thought that Vic isn't thinking about him the same. He scolds himself then, they're best friends. Nothing more - his feelings are just stupid.

"I thought you're enjoying the city?", you say when he calls you, "With Vic?"

"No, she decided to fuck off with Ethan."

"Sorry." Your answer is short, Thomas notices. Short and not like you would usually react. He realises that you might feel like a second choice too, and he feels sorry. It's not what he intended to do and he makes a note in his phone.

"But who cares?" He says and laughs. "I wanted to call you anyways. More time just for you and me."

.#####.

Vic has a talent to find girls that look just like you everywhere she steps. Thomas noticed it a while ago. The first time just after the conversation they had, and since then he sees it - he can't unsee it. He sees them dance with her and all his brain manages to do is to think how much he wants to see you dance with Vic. How your bodies would work together. That maybe one of you would invite him in.

Another party, another girl.

"He could join us," Vic suggests.

The girl giggles and puts her hand on his arm, stroking over his skin: "Oh, how exciting. I wouldn't say no to a real dick either."

Thomas feels how his cheeks are heating up, he's sure he looks like an overripe cherry. His head and his heart say no, his dick says yes. It's definitely interested, bulging his jeans so quickly, it's almost embarrassing. Vic's hand under his shirt isn't helping, she's scratching over the sensitive skin of his belly. He moans, in a room full of people, just like that. Vic grins, while the girl bets her eyelashes at him.

"And?"

He's ready to explode when there's a thigh between his legs putting pressure on his groin. Ready to give in and say yes. But it isn't right, it doesn't feel right, there's something off. It hits him that the constellation of people is wrong, that he's enjoying whatever Vic is doing to him but that the girl playing with the button of his jeans and making heart eyes at him should be you - and not just look like you, not whatever random girl Vic pulled for the night. The alarm bell in his head is ringing so loud, it takes him a second to make out what Victoria is saying.

"Thomas, your phone is ringing."

In the end his only saving grace is you calling. Crying.

"Hey, hey, hey," he says over the loud music of the club, "Breath."

He mouths a sorry in Vic's direction. And then he's escaping the music, four warm hands ripping him apart and Vic's gaze.

"I didn't know who else to call."

It's still haunting him, that sentence. Despite his non-violent and pretty chill nature, he swears that he'll punch the guy in the face when he's back.

"He just didn't go away and …" Thomas can hear how you burst into sobs. His heart is heavy in his chest. His ass almost ends up on a plane that night, he wants to hold you, he doesn't care about the rest. But in the end it's you who tells him not to do it.

"No, I tell you," he says to Damiano the next morning over coffee, "I'll punch that guy so hard."

"Sure." Damiano rolls his eyes at him. "And then you're all over the news in Italy, or what?"

He clenches his teeth: "I don't care."

It's not like anyone cares anyways, he's sure. He isn't the one ending up in the gossip headlines every week even when Vic and him are testing how long they can kiss without suffocating in a crowded place - that's still Damiano.

Vic isn't anywhere. They have an interview in about two hours, it's not like her to be late. He is, but Vic always makes it on time somehow. He's between, she's probably doing round two or three or four with the girl she pulled and being worried. When she isn't there ten minutes later, he goes to find her. There's shuffling behind the door, only Vic in the room - her eyes are swollen.

"Did you cry?"

She only nods and clings to him when he puts his arms around her. At least one person he can hold.

.#####.

Can you come over? I need your help with something.

Thomas stares at the text, it's the middle of the night and he can't imagine what his help is needed for. He's tired as well, he almost fell asleep over a Youtube video of three guys melting thousand chocolate bars into one a few minutes ago. His brain can't keep up anymore with anything tonight - still he gets his keycard and Vic's. She gave him the spare one after checking in.

He isn't afraid to use it but he almost turns around slamming the door shut again when he sees Vic in her bed, the sheets crumpled and her naked. Vic is faster, telling him to come closer. And he does, he just obliges until he ends up next to her in bed. He doesn't know what's expected of him, he's blushing.

"That's cute." Vic puts a hand on his cheek, moans. "And hot."

He can hear the buzzing sound of the toy she's using on herself.

"What …" He clears his throat. "What do you even need me for?"

"Just don't want to be alone when I cum."

He whimpers slightly when she pulls his hair. She isn't alone, Thomas lets her look at him until she calms down completely again minutes later.

"What did you think about?"

"Her."

Thomas doesn't need to hear more, he knows exactly what Vic means. But still, he's here and also thinks about you. Of the three of you together. He doesn't know why he can't shake the thought. It's not lust, not really, not only. He feels like a freak.

.#####.

"What is going on between you and Vic?" Ethan asks a few days later.

"Nothing?"

Ethan raises an eyebrow: "Sure. I have eyes, Thomas."

"I'm confused, okay?"

"Okay. So what are you confused about?"

"We are making out."

"Cool." Thomas just stares back at him. "It's not like it's the first time, right?"

Thomas wants to strangle him for bringing it up. He definitely wasn't sober when he told Ethan that Vic was his first kiss. She insisted and who was he to say no. They were both stupid teenagers drunk on the bottle of alcohol Thomas stole out of his dad's shelf just to look cooler than he was.

"We were 15, that hardly counts, does it?"

"What's the issue here, Maso?" Ethan tries again. "Then you're making out, so what?"

"I'm in love with someone else."

Ethan raises an eyebrow again, isn't saying anything.

"So is she."

The eyebrow raises a little higher.

"It's the same person."

Ethan's eyes go big for a few seconds and then he laughs. He just sits there and laughs at Thomas.

"Why the fuck is that so funny?"

"Let me recap this?" Ethan is gasping for air a little. "You both figured out that you are into the same person and then started making out with each other?"

"Yes?" Thomas doesn't understand what's so funny about his misery.

"You're both fucked up stupid," Ethan tells him. "Did you tell the other girl?"

"No. And why do you think it's a gi-" It's not like Ethan to make an assumption like that.

"Sorry, but with both of you it would be stupid to assume that anything else than a pussy is involved."

Thomas even has to laugh a little bit at that before he gets serious again: "Do you think I can be in love with two people?"

"Oh Thomas," he looks at him, "Welcome to the world of unconventional love, I guess. Took you a while."

He isn't quite sure what Ethan means but the conversation puts him at ease. When he's laying down in bed late at night, he's opening Google. He feels a little bit stupid bringing his question there.

Can you be in love with 2 people

Google is autofilling it for him after the first few words already and his hurt jumps a little bit. Okay, so he's on the right path. He skips through definitions of polyamoury and polygamy and goes into a rabbit hole until he can't concentrate on the words he's reading anymore. But his mind is still racing, so he switches to Youtube. He's watching a video about Woodturning but halfway through he puts polyamoury into the searchbar. He's fascinated but it isn't giving him what he needs. He needs something different, something more.

A few evenings later, he's laying on a couch in some backstage, he can't remember where they are, smoking. The Youtube algorithm seems to do him a favour this evening. There's different videos in his recommended ones, like "Our Three-Way Relationship Is A Beautiful Thing" and "Here's What This Throuple Wants You To Know About Polyamory". He clicks on a few of them, his heart races when he sees people talk how they love each other equally, how it works, everything. He soaks everything up. The feeling and the tingle reaches even his toes. He craves this, it's exactly what he wants. He doesn't know how he got here. From never have had a threesome - not for the lack of trying on his part, but it never worked in one way or another, to falling in love with two people and wanting them both.

"You're welcome." Ethan says next to him. And Thomas jumps, his phone ending up between the cushions of the couch, his cigarette almost falling out of his mouth.

.#####.

Against all odds, you make it for one festival weekend. Thomas is so happy to see you that he jumps at you, wrapping his long legs around your body which almost has you loose your balance. Vic standing next to both of you, laughing and filming.

"A wild Thomas appeared."

You do have your own room but you end up in Thomas' anyways. Together with Vic. Thomas makes sure of it. It doesn't matter that he's high or maybe it makes it better, or maybe his feelings are intensified because of it. It's all he wanted for months.

His face is buried at your shoulder and one of his arms is around Vic's waist. You're closer to sleep than to being awake somewhere between them.

"I love you." Thomas whispers against your sweater.

Minutes go by. Until Vic whispers as well.

"I love you too," she yawns. "And him."

Thomas thinks it was the weed the next morning.

.#####.

"How stupid are they?" Damiano asks Ethan one evening when Thomas and Victoria are out and about.

Ethan sighs and shakes his head.

"That stupid?"

"You can't even imagine how stupid all three of them are," Ethan sighs again, "Not one brain cell to be seen, or at least the understanding that they all love each other equally and that they have to do something about it. Especially Thomas, like he gets it, but he's so incredibly stupid, Dami, it's almost astonishing."

Damiano giggles. Then he goes back to stirring his tea, while Ethan goes back to reading his book.

.#####.

Thomas turns up in front of your door unexpected. They did tell you that they are back before going on tour in the group chat you have with Vic and him but nothing else. It was even a little bit disappointing, but you got it. They were tired, jet-legged from too many different timezones and exhausted from countless festivals and parties they went to.

"You're coming with me." He smiles at you. "Pack your bag."

There are some dark circles under his eyes but there's a sparkle in his eyes.

"What?" You ask confused.

"Pack your bag, young lady." He claps his hands together. "We are going away."

"And what do I have to pack?"

"Just some summer clothes and whatever you need for a few days."

"Where's Vic?"

It's unlike Thomas to just show up to your doorstep, even more unlikely to do it without Vic. From the beginning you could see that these two had a connection that was special. You were never jealous about it, but it made you think you would never have a chance with Thomas. Or with Vic. It always would be them against the world, and that's okay - maybe that was lying to yourself but it didn't change anything in the end. Thomas draw you in with making you laugh in any situation, wrapping his arms around you and humming into your ear, when he was looking at you, you felt like you could fight everything and you thought that's how Vic is allowed to feel every second. That's how it started - you thought they shared everything and a bed already anyways. And then you started looking at Vic from a different angle. How she made you feel when she was stroking your arms, how silly and free she could be and how serious when she had to, the beautiful noise when she laughed. And that Thomas had it all. You are confused that she isn't here.

"Home," he says. "I guess."

You don't say anything. He bites his lips nervously.

"It was supposed to be only for you. But we can pick her up if you want me to."

"Yes."

The drive is quiet, but it's never awkward silence. Music coming from the speakers, Thomas driving and your head against the cooled down glass of the window. Thomas has the window down on his side, it's still warm outside. You yawn, it's 2:48 - the middle of the night.

Vic opens in the door, wrapped into a fluffy towel, her hair wet and her lips swollen like they look when you make out with someone for some amount of time.

"Vic?" There's a woman's voice coming from behind her. "Who's there?"

"Friends." Vic shouts back and then she looks at you two. "What do you want?"

"We are going on a roadtrip." Thomas says and ignores Vic's furrowed brows. "And you're coming with us."

"Am I?"

"Yes." Thomas and you say at the same time.

"You expect to kick out the best fuck I had in a while to go along with your dumb ideas?"

Thomas bites his lips again but he says yes with so much confidence that Vic tiptoes a little bit and kisses him on the lips. The shock on the woman's face who is showing up behind Vic almost has you giggle but you don't when you feel how Thomas grabs your hand.

"Uhm?"

Vic lets go of Thomas' face and turns back to her: "Sorry, it was fun, but you have to leave. I'm going on a roadtrip."

It's weird when you go back down to the car after Vic packed her stuff and closed the door behind her. Vic is talking, chewing on a gum, everything is normal. But the girl next to her eyeing Thomas and you for the whole way down is making you uncomfortable. You don't even notice that Thomas is still holding your hand or that Vic has her arm wrapped around his waist. Thomas looks at you and rolls his eyes a little bit, you smile at him, it puts you at ease.

You take your seat next to Thomas in the front, while Vic is getting comfortable on the backseats.

"Thank you," Vic says just before you fall asleep, "For taking me with you and for saving me from that person. The sex was amazing, but god she was annoying bugging me for a date."

Thomas looks at her through the rearview mirror: "That's a problem?"

"Not what I want," Vic says, "Or who I want, you should know. I have other plans."

She sticks her tongue out to Thomas. This time he really rolls his eyes but he smiles at her. Your heart jumps a little bit, they might not notice but you love being part of the little moments they share with each other.

You fall asleep and when you wake up again, Vic is sleeping stretched out in the back of the car. It's slowly getting light outside again. Slight panic raises in your chest when you realise that Thomas isn't in his seat and you almost jump out of yours when the door is opening.

"Sorry," he whispers, making sure not to wake Vic. "Run out of fuel. You need anything?"

You shake your head. You're tired, you still can't think really straight. Thomas gets you a coffee and something to eat anyways, keeping a bag for Vic when she's waking up. At first you don't know why he's not driving anywhere until the sun rises and he sighs next to you.

"Really?" You slap his arm. "I have to watch a sunrise with you from a gas station?"

"You don't have to," he looks away, "you can also close your eyes."

Your eyes stay open, if you could you would lean your head against his shoulder - you lean it against the window instead. Thomas hand ends up on your thigh, in the rearview mirror you can see Vic smile at him and at you but when she sees that you're watching her, she closes her eyes quickly.

Later when you're half asleep again, you can hear them whisper or maybe it's a dream. You can hear how Vic boxes his shoulder, how he huffs out an Victoria, I'm driving and how she chuckles.

"You're an idiot."

"Huh?" He sounds confused.

"A romantic idiot, but an idiot nonetheless," she says.

You can even hear that he smiles: "Just wanted to watch the sun."

"I know, I had to watch so many sunsets with you this summer."

"Yes, and you will have to watch some more with me this year."

"And is your hand also wandering around my thigh then?" She laughs.

He hums happily, you can hear the satisfaction: "Maybe."

You wake up abruptly when the car stops and hurls you forward a little.

"Here's nothing." Vic grimaces when she looks out the window.

There's only sand, the sea. Some birds, grass and the dunes. It's endless. There are some cars parking already, some people lounging in the sun. All three of you are carrying your bags until Vic dumps her bag on Thomas.

"Hey, I'm not your packinghorse."

"You also said this is a roadtrip," she complains, "Not a fucking hiking trip."

He just stalks away without a word, Vic and you looking at each other shrugging - but you still follow him. Until you end up in front of a tiny house that's hidden in the dunes.

"Better," he asks.

Vic and you smile, first at each other, then at Thomas. Who smiles back, before he dumps Vic's bag on her feet and she jumps into your arms before it hits them for real.

.#####.

During the days you drive around coastal towns, walking small cobbled streets and drinking wine in tiny restaurants. Getting wine drunk in the sun, Thomas and Vic always next to you. In the evening, you come back to the house, playing cards and a bizarre game that they made up during their first tour and show you how to play. They trust you, you realize. They trust you to be silly around you. They trust you to be intimidate around you. They trust you, to kiss your forehead and to share a bed with you. They trust you enough.

One evening while you cook, you can see Thomas and Vic on the couch, napping together. Hugging each other. Thomas has his arms wrapped around her waist. There's still no jealousy when you look at them. It just makes you love them more when you see the love they for each other. You enjoy to see how Thomas is snoozing, how Vic is drooling into his shirt.

More often than not you fall asleep in one bed together. After a day of walking, exploring. After a day at the beach. After watching the sunset. After you spent a day in Thomas' shirt and Vic spends the day after it in it. The bed is too small for all three of you and more often than not your limbs are tangled together. Thomas head in your lap, your head on Vic's shoulder, Vic's fingers twirling strands of Thomas' hair. It's feet everywhere, an elbow in your ribs, and Thomas almost falling out of the bed countless times - until he ends up on the floor.

"Bigger bed next time," Vic says next to you, cuddles closer and falls asleep before Thomas even makes it up again.

One night Vic finds a scrabble game and a dictionary in one of the cabinets of the house. You can see how much it takes to convince Thomas to play. Only after a few drinks he lets himself being talked into it.

"Only words that are in the dictionary," Vic says and you nod, but Thomas pouts.

It works until the last round when Thomas looks at you both, smiles and puts his little tiles on the board. He looks at Vic expectantly to count his points. Vic and you both look at the board and then at Thomas. You sigh and stick your hand out to get the dictionary from Vic.

"What?" Thomas asks.

"This isn't a word Thomas." Vic rolls her eyes. "That's zero points for you."

"But …," Thomas looks at you. "But that's how I feel when I have you two with me."

You squint at the board again, Vic looks at the board then at you before she finds her voice again: "Thomas, this is gibberish. It sounds like you have a stroke, not like a word."

Thomas doesn't say anything but he takes defeat when Vic gives the tiles back to him. He does look sad, you can't see it, so you have a look at his tiles and he smiles at you while Victoria shakes her head. After looking at the board, you make sweethearts out of your sweet and the loverboy Vic made out of love earlier becomes loverboys and all his tiles are gone.

"If you cheat again," she sighs but still counts his points, "You're kicked out of this polycule."

He blinks at her, blushes and pouts. So do you, you pout at her.

"She won by the way," Vic says on the way to get more wine, "The game and the pouting."

You think, you see him googling polycule but he hides his phone so quickly when he sees you looking, you can't be sure. Still, you see the blush deepening high on his cheeks. You don't ask.

A few days later you almost cry when it's all over and Thomas is driving you back home. Vic on the backseats again. You already miss the boardgames, their banter, the warmth and them.

"We have something for you," Thomas says when you're standing in front of your door.

It's a plush toy, a giraffe you can see after closer inspection.

"I named it Thomas," Vic says, "because he has a giraffe neck and a giraffe personality."

"Yeah," Thomas says theatrically, "We won it at a fair, I couldn't find and win anything tiny enough to call it Vic, except an ant and guess who wasn't happy with that?"

Vic whacks his head, but she hands you the giraffe smiling. You kiss him on the cheek and once again, you don't want to let them go.

"Thank you." Vic presses her lips to yours first, then Thomas presses his to yours right after. Your heart skips one too many beats in your chest. "We have to do this again."

.#####.

Vic has the feeling she turns over in her own bed only once and then they are on tour. In the US, for the first time, it doesn't feel real. What also doesn't feel real, is her passport she can't find when they land in Mexico. Thomas looks at her when she's looking through her pockets, and then her bag. He's drumming his fingers against the desk he's standing at, she just shrugs. And then ends up somewhere where she didn't think she would end up today.

If she would have her phone, she would text him. And you. She would write in your groupchat, make a joke and hope that you would both laugh. At least she knows that Thomas can text you, and she hopes he does, she can just sit there and wait.

Thomas is making fun of her later, but even then Vic knows that he was worried. She can see it in the little things, she always sees it in those small things when it comes to Thomas. The telltale signs that give him away. He can call her a dumbass, joking in front of everyone, all he wants, she can see that he was stressed. His nails and his lips are bitten more than usual. His hands shake slightly different when he puts a cigarette between his lips and lights it. He hugs her closer. There's a text from you only for her that says that Thomas called and told you. And he's guiding her to his room without her asking for it. They fall asleep tangled in each other. Vic nuzzling her face into Thomas' neck, she presses little kisses to his skin, it makes her sleepy. So does it when Thomas caresses her back with his hands and his cold feet are entangled with her legs.

"I was worried about you." He says the next morning when they both just opened their eyes.

"I know." She kisses his forehead, down his nose, until she reaches his lips. Vic's phone is interrupting, vibrating on the nightstand.

Thom said everything is okay again. Break a leg! You'll rock it.

She smiles. It's nice to have you thinking about her as well. Even without Thomas, texting only her. Texting him only, texting them together.

.#####.

Hi from Thom

She texts you after their Seattle show. Vic feels electrified, even with the jetleg, and she knows Thomas feels the same, he's bouncing up and down beside her. The video she sends is from the show, it's Thomas and her, scissoring on stage. You probably just woke up, she thinks and hopes that she looks hot enough. That Thomas looks hot enough, that they both look hot enough.

There's photos more often. She takes more photos of Thomas to send them to you, some selfies, some of them together. But there's always Thomas. Thomas at lunch with her, Thomas with Ethan, Thomas at the beach, Thomas driving, Thomas with a drink, Thomas playing guitar, Thomas dancing, Thomas and her in the pool, Thomas Thomas Thomas.

One afternoon she manages to take a sneaky photo of Thomas while he is signing something for a fan. His hair is tosled, he looks tired - he is tired Vic knows - but has the biggest smile on his face, cigarette in hand. Vic sends it to you, Damiano is looking at her, raising an eyebrow.

The other afternoon Thomas and her are sitting in yet another backstage and she goes through old photos on her phone. There are old photos of them together. One of the photos exceptionally unfavourable for him, Vic shows it to him while laughing loudly. And then she sends this one to you as well, under loud protest from Thomas, he even kicks her legs.

.#####.

Ethan joins them for a party one night. Thomas is already slightly drunk when Vic goes to get them new drinks. She doesn't wants to eavesdrop, she really doesn't but she can't help herself. Her curiosity is stronger.

"I don't have time to unpack any of that," Thomas says.

"Thom, you have to unpack all of that. This isn't healthy." Ethan sighs. "You're clever, but you're close to an identity crisis. You really have to unpack all that, and what you want."

Thomas waves at her when she sees her, the conversation is over for Thomas with that.

At an even later hour, Vic pulls out her phone. It isn't her initial plan, she had no plan at all to begin with, but when Thomas shows up next to her, she video calls you. To Victoria's surprise you even pick up. Thomas has a party hat on his head, she doesn't know where it came from.

"Hi party girls," you say smiling.

First she thinks that Thomas is going to blow you a kiss, but he leans forward close to her phone, and closer, and even closer until his lips touch the screen. She knows he went from slightly drunk to drunk, he tumbles a bit next to her. Victoria can hear you laugh, Thomas satisfied purr and then Thomas kisses her. Usually it's her kissing him, it takes her a second to kiss him back. Vic can see you blushing and she feels satisfied, both of you looking at her with this gaze in your eyes.

A few nights later, Thomas comes to her rescue. The whole night she danced with another girl, she knows that she looks like you. But there's this guy she can't shake off. He's there when she dances, when she kisses the girl, when she goes to get another drink, when she talks to Thomas.

"Leave her alone," Thomas says the next time she comes around to him and the guy is once again only a few steps away. "She isn't interested."

Victoria hates it. That he has to speak for her, that everything she did on her own didn't work to get rid of him. But even Thomas' words don't seem to impress him, he just stares back at him. Vic knows that there's something about that night when you called crying and Thomas texted her I'm flying back. He loses his patience more easily now when guys are hanging around too long, when they don't get a hint, when they ignore what she says. But it isn't like he behaves like she needs him, she doesn't - not for this, and he knows.

"She's mine." Thomas says confidentely, wrapping his arms around her and Victoria takes the invitation, hiding her face on his chest. "And now piss off."

.#####.

Thomas face is almost too cute to ignore when he looks at her after she said that Ethan and her watched his solo, as they do so many times. She's all too aware of the camera, why she isn't leaning down down to him, instead constantly stroking his arm. She can see how Ethan is watching them.

Later Ethan pulls her aside. Kind of she almost waited for it, she knew it would come some day.

"What's going on between you and Thomas?"

"Nothing." It's not the truth but it isn't a lie either.

"Victoria," he scoffs at her, "I'm not stupid, you're pining for him."

"I am not," she gets out. She sounds offended even to her own ears, "I'm not pining for Thom. He's my friend, Ethan."

"Yeah, a friend you fuck." Ethan rolls his eyes.

"We … we … don't fuck."

"Okay," he sighs, "But you do have something, right?"

Vic nods, she knows she can't hide it. She's surprised that she got away with it for so long.

"Do you want more?"

"Yes," now it's her sighing, "But it's more complicated than that."

"You should tell the girl. Thomas too and then you can go from there."

For a second Vic is confused, but only for a second: "You already talked with him."

.#####.

Tour is almost over. You're feeling silly, almost stupid, for counting the days until they're back. It's not long anymore. You text everyday, with Vic, with Thomas, with them. But you crave one of their hugs and a night cuddled close together, Thomas reading from a book Vic bought.

There's a picture from a plane. It shows Vic and Thomas, both of them sleeping. How Vic managed to get one of her legs on Thomas' seat, his head on her leg. Ethan sent it to you.

Here, your boyfriend and your girlfriend.

You blush furiously. You wish that would be the case, but it's only that, a wish.

Can we talk?

"What's going on with Thomas, Vic and you?" He asks a few hours later when he calls.

"Nothing." As much as you want the answer to be something else, there's nothing.

"Okay," he almost sounds annoyed, "You three really deserve each other."

"I don't know what you're talking about," you say - no less annoyed, "They fuck, or something, what does that have to do with me?"

"They don't," Ethan is calmer again, "And you love them both. It took me a while but I remembered the festival in the summer, and it's you."

"Yeah, but where do I fit into this?"

"Between them." You splutter your water all over yourself. Ethan snorts. "Or Thomas between you two, I don't know. Whatever you are into, I guess. You're all so sure of each other, and still you're idiots."

And then he hangs up.

.#####.

It's not long until New Years' Eve when Thomas and Vic bang on your door. You just fell asleep, your orientation has you almost ran into the door and then into Vic when you open the door and the glaring light of the corridor is blending you.

"Oh," Thomas looks at you - at the giraffe in your arms. "Cute, you sleep with the stuffed animal I won you?"

"Yes," it's only a little bit embarrassing, "It's my second pillow."

Another roadtrip. Colder than during the summer. And this time it's you on the backseats, trying falling back to sleep. Vic looks out of the window and you can see how she takes Thomas' hand that isn't on the steering wheel into hers. You smile. But Thomas is shaking it off when he sees your gaze, not only to your surprise and shock, also to Victoria's.

"So I'm allowed to kiss you and hug you?" Vic asks, but she doesn't look at Thomas. "But I can't hold your hand?"

"Vic, it's not … it's not like that."

"No? How is it then, Thomas? Tell me."

There's no answer, his eyes fixated on the street ahead. No word spoken anymore for the rest of the drive. You want to hold Thomas' hand, he looks miserable. But you also want to hold Vic's, who's looking out the window, with balled fists. Thomas does grab your hand for a few seconds, squeezes it and lets go again.

"Who's sharing?" Thomas asks when you reach the destination, and the house. You're somewhere in the mountains, snow all around you.

"You two can share," you tell them but Vic shakes her head.

"No, you two should share. I'm sleeping alone." And then she's gone. She's not coming for dinner when you knock on her door later. She isn't joining when Thomas and you are going outside strolling down narrow alleys filled with lights or when Thomas and you warm up with mulled wine and doing a jigsaw puzzle. It isn't the same without Vic, she doesn't answer to your texts either. She sends you away the next time you knock on her door.

Thomas and you are sharing a bed. How you often did, but always with Vic. The bed feels too big and even with Thomas close enough, it's not warm enough without her. Thomas scoots closer to you when he sees how you shiver. None of you is filling the silence, Thomas puts on a Youtube video - This Is Your Brain On Shrooms. But you find the recommendations you can see on his laptop more interesting and you change to one of those videos when he's climbing out of bed to turn the heating up. You can see him swallow when he comes back and looks at the laptop. He isn't saying anything - bites his lip and hugs you close.

"Thomas," you whisper against his chest, "Your recs are full with videos like that."

He stops breathing, before his breath goes faster.

"Thom?"

"Do you think I'm a freak?"

You take his hand, hug him closer: "No. You're not a freak, you are not, okay."

"Do you think Vic thinks I'm a freak?"

"She doesn't." He finally looks at you. "You aren't a freak, neither is Vic, neither am I. Whatever people say, you aren't a freak, Thom."

"Thank you."

"I thought the same," you tell him, "but there's nothing bad about it."

He presses his mouth to yours and when you lick over his lips he willingly opens them for you. He's heavily breathing after you break away to gasp for air. You kiss for a long time after that, you have waited for it. Maybe you do fit in, just like Vic and Thomas do. Only soft kisses, some of them with tongue, and Thomas' cold fingertips that find their way under your shirt that belongs to him.

The next morning Thomas stops Vic to go back to her room when she sees you two. He takes her hand and isn't letting go: "I'm sorry. I'm just so confused."

"Me too," she says, "I'm confused too, and it hurt."

"We kissed," Thomas says when you're all sitting around the table.

"You kissed before?" She looks at both of you, and she's right. Technically, you did, but not like this. This is why you get up, lean down and Vic is opening her lips for you as willingly as Thomas was the night before. "Oh, you mean like that."

Thomas is still holding Vic's hand.

.#####.

A full day of sledding. You're surprised that no one broke their necks or hands or legs or anything in-between. A whole day of laughter, small touches, everyone falling of the sled at least once. Thomas putting snow into the back of Vic's jacket and throwing a snowball directly into your face. For a moment you think it broke your nose. You can hear how Vic scolds him next to you. When the pain subsides you take your revenge before he knows it's coming and put snow down his pants.

"COLD!" He screams. "Hey, I still need what's in there."

Vic and you both laugh.

When you're back, you're warming up in the bathtub together. It's just big enough for the three of you. There's Vic's hands on your shoulders and your boobs. Your hands in Thomas hair, who's happily sighing. His hands trailing up Vic's thighs and his lips on your collarbone. You stay in the water until it's almost cold.

When you're wrapped up in blankets in front of the crackling fire place, Thomas gives Vic and you both some oddly wrapped presents - you instantly know that he wrapped them himself.

"I got you both something," he says almost shyly. "Ethan the fucker didn't get me anything and then I realized that I do want to give you something."

"But …," you gulp, "I also have nothing for you."

"Neither have I," Vic admits.

"It's okay, I don't want anything." Vic and you look at each other. "He said, I have to earn my present, what the fuck? I should have used that fancy book I got him to smack him."

Vic unwraps hers first, it's a stack of paper and she looks at him annoyed until she has a closer look: "That was a joke Thomas."

"I know, but you know … you can visit it," he smiles, "I mean, … we could visit it. But it's yours."

"Thank you," she says excited, "I now officially own an adopted reindeer. Which I can visit, yes?"

"Yes!"

Vic jumps into his arms, kissing him on the cheek before she kisses his lips while you unwrap your present. It's a photoalbum, pictures of the three of you, there's little scribbled notes on some pages. And there's a tiny box with a necklace in it. It's lock shaped as a heart but there are two keys instead of one. There's a V, a T and your initial engraved on the back of the lock.

"Where's my necklace?"

You know it's a joke but you put the necklace around her neck: "We can share." You know it'll be around her neck as much as it'll be around yours or around Thomas'.

"I wanted to give you something because we are always away." He hugs you from behind.

.#####.

It's New Years Eve, the three of you are still in bed by midday. It's all lazy and slow. Thomas pulling you closer but not opening his, still half asleep. Vic placing kisses on your neck, on your shoulders, your ears. Thomas lazily kissing your face.

"Don't want to get up," he whispers.

Thomas looks like the prettiest mess an hour later when Vic and you let go off him. Hot lips pressed to even hotter skin. Vic leaving hickeys on Thomas' thighs, you nibbling on his stomach, then on his neck. Thomas gasping, and moaning, and whimpering, until he asks you to stop. His eyes are closed, his breathing goes shakily.

You're getting slowly out of bed, getting ready for a party Vic and Thomas want to take you too. When you're all ready and you're already searching for the keys in Thomas' and Vic's very own chaos, Thomas holds you back.

"Wait, how are we doing this with the New Year's kiss tonight?"

Vic kisses you, then you kiss Thomas, Thomas kisses Vic.

"Like this?" She asks. "Or maybe … more like this."

She pulls both of you really close, Thomas has to lean down. Her mouth is open and she's poking her tongue out, her nose is bumping into yours - so is Thomas' one when he comes even closer. You can feel Vic's lips against yours slightly, Thomas' stubble. And both their tongues when you stick yours out as well. It's thrilling, it's arousing - having both of them this close, being able to taste both of them. You moan slightly when Vic licks over your tongue and even louder when Thomas does the same and lets his tongue wander a little bit deeper into your mouth. When you break the kiss, you can see that it hasn't left Thomas unaffected.

"Those jeans got ridiculously tight on you," Vic laughs into Thomas' direction.

"Maybe we should practice this some more," you say. You can see that Vic's cheeks are rosy and her breathing faster. "In bed, perhaps."

"Such a shame I didn't pack my strap," Vic says and winks at Thomas, who's deeply blushing, and then at you, "but I would love to get out of these clothes again."

Thomas is gently pressing against you from behind before Vic takes both your hands to take you back to where you were getting ready mere minutes ago. There are kisses pressed to your neck, Thomas licking your skin, sucking a hickey into it. Vic opening the zipper that's on the side of your dress. All before you make it back to the bed - your mind is racing and it can't keep up with your hands which found their way under Vic's transparent shirt. And then you're pushed on to the bed, Thomas next to you, Vic towering over both of you.

"I…," the blush from earlier is still on Thomas' cheeks, "Just as a disclaimer: I have never done this … Like with three -"

Vic interrupts him by pressing her lips to his, just this little bit longer, it makes your head spin and lust pool low in your stomach: "That's okay, honey," she says and then looks over to you, "You ever had a threesome?"

You shake your head.

"Cool," Vic laughs against Thomas' throat and you can see him shiver, "That makes me the only one, but we'll start easy."

"How does th-"

"… this work?"

Thomas laughs - a laugh that turns into a moan when Vic pinches his nipple.

"You two could fuck," she suggests, "And before that we could start with undressing each other."

"What about you?" you ask her. And now her hand is on your cheek. Thomas hums in agreement.

"Watching is participating," Vic tells you. "And I'm sure, you will be able to pleasure me as well. I want to see you both naked first, preferably now."

With that she pulls Thomas closer to herself with his belt buckle. She opens it, opens the zipper, Thomas breath hitching. Vic is sitting between his legs, his head ends up in your lap - he throws his head around when you start opening the buttons of his shirt, you can only moan when he presses his lips to your stomach, there's still the fabric of your dress between his lips and your skin but it's already overwhelming. Just after you opened the last button of his shirt, Vic presses her lips to his happy trail. The noise Thomas makes isn't quite a moan or a whimper, it's something better - and it makes you wet. You're sure Thomas knows, can smell you. His shirt flies off the bed first. It isn't taking Vic long and his pants are following. It takes a bit of coordination, shuffling around, a bit of laughter but Vic and you switch positions while Thomas gets rid of his shoes and his socks.

You want to tease but as soon as your fingers dip under the waistband of his briefs you can't. It's another item of clothing that's thrown of the bed. He's hard, you can see how his grip on Vic's thighs tighten. She licks her lips. He's beautiful naked, laying between you. You blow over the shaft slightly, lick over the tip of his cock a few times, to see how he reacts. You aren't being disappointed. He throws his head, groans, tries to keep you there with his hands but you move up, over his stomach, his chest, until you reach his lips.

And the next second all the attention is on Vic. In contrast to Thomas, she is helping you with opening the ridiculous amounts of buttons her skirt possesses. While Thomas frees her from her shirt. There's no bra and after you take off her thights, you can see that there's no panties either to your surprise, but not to Thomas'.

Both of them are naked when they put their hands to work on your body. If everything before was overwhelming, this is shattering. Thomas takes advantage of Vic's earlier work and lets his hand dip into your dress. In the end you aren't sure anymore who of them gets you to raise up your arms, who lifts your dress, but it also leaves the bed not even seconds later. You do know that Vic is pulling down your thights together with your wet panties, you can hear her sweetly coughing into your ear and Thomas has his hand on your boobs, gently massaging them, slowly going down on you. You almost kick his chest, his shoulder, but Vic is holding your leg. And then she's holding your legs open for him. You whimper, you moan, you almost forget to breath. Both of them have to hold you down - Thomas your hips, Vic grabbing your legs.

A hint of a touch is what Thomas gives you with his tongue. The tip of his tongue licking through your folds, slowly pressing it against your clit. You bury your hands in his hair, throwing your head back. There's Vic kissing you passionately, and then Thomas kissing and licking and biting all over your body until he reaches your lips.

"Lube?" He whispers against your lips but you know he's talking to Vic. Who seems to be giving him the item in question because you can feel two of Thomas' wet and cold fingers between your legs, and then in you, a few moments later. Your breathing is rough and everytime you try to fuck yourself more onto Thomas' fingers, Vic is there and holds you back.

When he hits that one spot in you, you yank his hair and he screams. It's so loud it startles even Vic before she laughs. But he's the one asking if you're okay and then he pulls out his fingers and the next thrust it's not his fingers, it's his dick. Slowly, he's slow when he pushes into you, Vic having one hand in his hair and one hand playing with one of your nipples.

"You can be a bit rougher if you want."

"Oh, is that how you like it?" Vic whispers into your ear.

Thomas doesn't even wait for an answer. Picking up speed, his thrusts getting harder - deeper, his fingernails digging into your skin. Hard, and harsher. He's so harsh with you, how you like it, how you want him to be in the moment, that you moan so loudly that Vic has to cover your mouth with her hand until you only whimper. You don't know where up or where down is.

Then Vic is leaning over you, first she is gentle, sucking on your nipples, licking over them, touching your boobs softly before she's rougher. Scratching over them. You suck on Vic's nipple when she starts doing it. One of your hands on her neck, the other hand on her other boob. Thomas nails digging even more into your skin. And then Vic leaves a bitemark on your boob. It hurts. You can hear how Thomas moans. You know that he's looking at you, at Vic - at Vic and you. It's what gets him off and the realization has you whimper against Vic's body, the necklace Thomas' gave to you dangling from her neck - brushing your skin, and you cum.

Thomas pulls out of you, slowly again. Vic sitting up, a spark in her eyes. And then he cums all over your lower stomach, moaning and shaking. His breathing so irregular, and loud, for a second you're worried he's going to pass out. But then he smiles at you, kisses you first and Vic just after before you kiss her.

"And you?" You ask her.

"You could eat me out," she grins, "Both of you. And then round two."

.#####.

"Any regrets?" Vic asks.

Thomas and you both shake your heads. Vic and Thomas both left marks all over your body. You left marks on their skin and they left marks on each other. You don't regret anything.

"So, we fucked into the new year," Vic tells you when she throws her phone away again, "Good that I cooled a bottle of champagne. Sorry no party today, Thom."

"I'm my own party," he laughs and Vic and you laugh with him, before she gets out of bed.

Thomas and you are entangled with each other, still naked, when Vic comes back. She pops the bottle of champagne right in bed, she didn't bother to bring glasses.

The bottle is between Thomas' legs when Vic talks again: "We need some toys."

"What?" Thomas looks at her, there's some kind of shock in his face.

"Yes," she says firmly, "I can have you every day, but she can't when we are away and I have some ideas for some remote vibrator stuff we can try and some more things because some people here apparently like it rough."

She smirks at you - you grin back.

Thomas who just took a sip from the bottles, slightly coughs, the champagne dripping down his chin. You lean over to him to lick it away and he moans.

"That could be fun," you tell him.

Vic hugs him from behind: "Round three?"

.#####.

It's only a few days before Thomas' birthday when Ethan comes over to Thomas' place uninvited. You're half naked, Thomas already lost his jeans and Vic didn't have much clothes on to begin with. At least that's what Thomas tells Ethan when he still opens the door for him.

"So?" Ethan looks at all three of you from the armchair he's sitting on.

"So?" Thomas parrots him and Vic laughs, you stiffle your laugh hiding your face at Thomas' shoulder.

Ethan only shakes his head, rolls his eyes, but he gets something out of the pocket of his jeans. It's small, it's wrapped and has a ribbon bow around it. It looks tiny in Ethan's hand and in Thomas'.

"I think, you deserve this."

Thomas struggles a tiny bit, his hands shaking and then he laughs when he sees it. It catches Vic's and your interest in the item. The item that he's pinning to his shirt. It's a little pin.

yes, my partners do know about each other

Vic smiles at you: "Yes, we do."

"We do," you smile back.

And then you both kiss Thomas on his cheeks.

.#####.

END.

.#####.

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