#the apes of wrath

[sea-buns]

I went to go take screenshots of K2's divine intervention but then Zac became the DM and K2 might be pregnant and Brennan has to navigate this and he sounds so much like a parent who was done with this shit YESTERDAY and idek where to start

[14tev]

[tuttle-did-it]

'Murder in F Sharp,' Murder She Wrote (s7 e10) guest stars

Ricardo Montalban (Khan in Star Trek, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Fantasy Island)

James Sloyan, (ST: DS9, ST:VOY, ST:TNG, The X Files, Diagnosis Murder, Matlock, The Love Boat, etc)

Aired 16 Dec 1990

[koraichalcum]

but he really do be having personal beefs with Raging Bolt, Gouging Fire, and especially Walking Wake--

[redraven25-stuff]

worst way to annotate ever!! it’s grapes of wrath and i’m dying :)

[defleftist]

Absurdity is doing a project on Grapes of Wrath in 12th grade AP Lit and playing the song Ghost of Tom Joad during it (a great Bruce Springsteen and Tom Morello version) and then getting a lesser grade because your conservative radio listening teacher apparently hates Tom Morello lol.

[blushouyo]

happy bday lucifer 😘

[mygrowingcollection]

Gary Combs

[high-theyre-frendough]

Bugs Bunny

Growing up, I watched quite a lot of Bugs Bunny My dad had a lot of old episodes downloaded on iTunes. He also had a collection of old LaserDiscs that I grew up watching with additional Looney Tunes content. Today, I saw someone using a gif of a French cartoon chef, and immediately recognized it as a Bugs Bunny skit called French Rarebit part of which can be seen here on YouTube. The clip is about 4 minutes long, with part of the start and end of the skit cropped. That skit isn’t what this post is about. I watched these Bugs Bunny skits on iTunes as a kid, and on iTunes, there is a collection of old Bugs Bunny skits labeled as “Bugs Bunny Volume 1” where various skits are grouped together with two skits per episode. Along side French Rarebit (1951), the iTunes bundle has the Bugs Bunny skit Gorilla My Dreams (1948). I remembered the two being grouped together as I associated them with each other as a kid. Which makes sense, considering how I originally watched them.

After I saw that gif, I wanted to look up the cartoons so that I could rewatch them now as an adult. I looked for ‘the gorilla episode’ of Bugs Bunny. I remembered that clip being first when you went on YouTube, and I decided to find it first. Various clips popped up. I watched this one which is uploaded by the official WB Kids channel. It is titled as ‘Bugs and the Gorilla Baby.’ The skit shows Bugs Bunny in a barrel being scooped up by a female gorilla who declares herself to be Bug Bunny’s mother. Bugs Bunny agrees to be her baby, and is brought home. The clip is about 2 minutes long, which make sense. Warner Bros isn’t necessarily going to upload full videos to YouTube, but then I started thinking. There was a lot more to this skit than what was shown, and I remember it was one of my least favorite episodes.

Then I looked for another clip, to find more of the episode and found this clip (the title is mislabeled, saying that the episode the clip is from was from 1986 even though it was released 38 years earlier) which takes place immediately after where the official upload is cropped. In this clip (which again, takes place immediately after the clip in the original upload) Bugs is brought home by the ‘mother’ gorilla where he is confronted by the ‘father’ gorilla… who is an extremely aggressive man. I also found this clip which takes place a bit after the previously mentioned clip. This scene depicts the ‘father’ gorilla being extremely violent with Bugs, contrary to what the ‘mother’ gorilla said (treat him like a baby). Finally, there is this clip which shows the opening scene to the video, along with a random one-liner from the end cause whoever uploaded it did that.

Now, as you’ve probably figured out, this skit contains a bit of a racist stereotype. If you’re not sure, maybe go back and watch some of the clips and/or read the Wikipedia summaries linked. For the most part, the designs of the gorillas is similar to other animal designs in classic Looney Tunes. The proportions of the limbs are similar to characters such as Tasmanian Devil oddly enough if you ignore the face and other cosmetic differences (I have never watched any Tasmanian Devil cartoons as far as I remember, but his first appearance was in 1954). I can remember other, more ‘obvious’ depictions of racism in other Looney Tunes cartoons with more exaggerated features. This skit probably would’ve gotten away with having these just be gorilla characters, however the hair and certain visual changes in certain sight gags (using that term loosely here) along with the mannerisms and personalities of the gorillas is where a lot of the racism lies. The mannerisms and violent depiction along with the characters being you know, gorillas, is where the racism lies. I’m not going to go too in-depth on the racism. I think we can all recognize the content for what it is. If any POC wanna reblog with their takes on that aspect, feel free. I don’t want to go in depth on this aspect but wanted to acknowledge it.

Now at this point, I was noticing some things in the search results and in the Wikipedia article as I continued hyperfocusing on this episode. There was another gorilla-themed Bugs Bunny episode. Titled Apes of Wrath, and released in 1959, this episode of Bugs Bunny recycles the plot of Gorilla My Dreams 11 years later. The remake can be found on YouTube split up into part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4. After watching these two versions of a recycled plot, I’ve been thinking about and analyzing the differences between the versions. Typically, when a plot is recycled, it is between different media (like a movie being adapted from a book). Sometimes movies in the public domain are remade with different interpretations (like Cinderella). Sometimes animated will be remade as live action. Sometimes there will even be movie adaptations of old movies with a modern twist. However, all that being said, I don’t think it is all that common for a short story like this to be remade in the same format by the same studio. The only example I can think of that is even kind of like this is Fantasia, released by Disney in 1940 (the movie contained a racist caricature and in later releases, the content was censored).

I think that it is really interesting to see two versions of a similar story written in different decades of Warner Bros cartoon history. Sure, you can look at some older episodes, and compare them to newer episodes, but with these two versions, more direct comparisons can be made. I want to analyze these two pieces of media and some of the differences to be found.

First of all, references. Bugs Bunny has always parodied relevant popular media. The original Gorilla of my Dreams skit is a parody of films like Tarzan, and other ‘jungle’ movies which were popular at the time. I’m not going to go too much into this as its not overly important. If you want to know all the little easter eggs, you can check the Wikipedia, which lists it. I’m bringing this up to show the difference in formatting. The original is more of an original story structured as an homage to what was relevant. The remake, Apes of Wrath, takes a lot of aspects to various ‘stock’ storylines which became more common in Looney Tunes stories over time. Apes of Wrath starts out with a drunken stork, a character not present in the original story. The stork loses a baby gorilla he was meant to deliver. He knocks out Bugs Bunny with a baseball bat, and brings Bugs to a pair of gorillas. Similar to the original, but with different set up, the ‘mother’ gorilla immediately accepts Bugs as her baby. Bugs immediately submits, and agrees to the roleplay. Halfway through, the actual baby gorilla is brought to the family. The ‘father’ gorilla, who had been hostile towards Bugs throughout the skit, finally has an excuse to chase him, now that he thinks Bugs decided him by pretending to be a baby.

Before I continue, I want to point out that in both versions, Bugs Bunny ends up dressed in a baby bonnet, and a diaper. In Gorilla of my Dreams, both are pink. In the sequel, the diaper is plain white, while the bonnet is blue. It’s a small change, but I can’t help but think it was deliberate. I can’t find much information on any controversy that would’ve been around at the time of the remake (to be honest, I’m not sure how I would find that) but I find it interesting if this change was on purpose.

The original also introduces Bugs Bunny as reading Esquire (which was considered an Adult magazine at the time) while he sings, sitting in a barrel drifting along in a body of water with a bottle of alcohol at his feet. The remake introduces Bugs as singing the song Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair as a play on the words ‘hair’ and ‘hare.’ So right off the bat when watching these two versions, you can see there are some differences in how controversial they want to be. The depiction of the drunken stork added to the remake isn’t really trying to be controversial, in my opinion. It feels more like an excuse to have a dumb character that talks funny which is a whole other issue. Its less “trying to be edgy” and more “depicting alcoholism as silly.”

The differences between the era are not only shown through the difference between the story structure (original parody vs commonly used formula) but through the comedy as well. While slapstick is more present in both versions, it along with exaggerated cartoon violence takes up more screen time in the original. The remake has less visual gags (such as written puns) than the original, and also includes more dialogue-based humor. This it not to say that one version is wholly without the other, this is just generally what I noticed. The sequel also has this gag, clipped in a 5 second long YouTube upload. I would recommend watching it. It is from Apes of Wrath, and is a funny little gag I did laugh at.

The shift in animation styles from Gorilla of my Dreams to Apes of Wrath is also something I wanna note. The way the characters interact with the background is different due to the changes in animation styles. I haven’t done research on it recently, but hand drawn animation is just fascinating to me. I’m not very good at drawing and techniques confuse me, but I think its cool looking at old animation rigs and stuff.

I realized that I didn’t talk about one of the big differences cause I was getting focused on the smaller stuff. In Gorilla of my Dreams, the ‘mother’ immediately decides that Bugs is her baby, and she insists that the ‘father’ be kind to Bugs. The ‘father’ gorilla has some ‘alone’ time with Bugs where he throws Bugs in the air in an abusive manner, until Bugs retaliates and fighting ensues. (This part of the episode is what I remember scaring me a a child. My father would show me that scene as an example of how I should feel lucky he wasn’t ‘as bad’ as this depiction of a father. Considering my father would toss me around as a kid, and dangle me by my ankles for fun - which was some of the tamest physical abuse from him - idk but that’s kind of fucked up. Anyways back to analyzing this old cartoon and not my childhood.) In Apes of Wrath, Bugs is watched by the ‘mother’ gorilla for most of the episode. Whenever the ‘father’ tries to be violent towards Bugs, who clearly is not a baby gorilla - he is an adult rabbit, the ‘mother’ commits acts of violence towards the ‘father.’ It is not until the actual gorilla baby is brought to the parents by the stork does the ‘mother’ stop protecting Bugs Bunny. Another note is that in the original, Bugs continues to wear the diaper and bonnet for the duration of the chase scene fight with the ‘father’ gorilla at the end of the episode. In the Apes of Wrath remake, he almost immediately ditches the baby clothes. All of this is to say that the main violence of the episode switched from child abuse to more of a domestic violence and ‘betrayal revenge’ scenario.

An additional change I would like to remark on is the change in how the gorillas are portrayed in-universe. In Gorilla of my Dreams, the gorillas are introduced at the start of the episode as extremely humanlike. A group of gorillas are depicted at the start of the episode reading magazines and books with various puns on the covers. The titular gorillas live in a house made of reeds(?) or dried bamboo(?) with appliances. It’s basically a cartoon ‘jungle’ aesthetic that closely resembles a ‘typical’ American household. The gorillas are depicted as mostly humanlike, but with a gorilla twist (for example in the establishing shot of the gorillas sitting outside, they are holding the newspapers they read with their feet). In Apes of Wrath, the gorillas are depicted like cavemen. They have a stereotypical cartoon ‘cavemen’ aesthetic, alongside similar personas. The character design is also slightly different.

All of this is to say idk how to finish this post. I just found this all interesting in a historical sene. I went to watch an old cartoon out of nostalgia, and found a different cartoon which had been remade, and went down a brief rabbithole of comparing content. I’m not sure if I ever watched Apes of Wrath. I don’t remember the stork character, or Daffy Duck’s very brief appearance at the end of the short story. I might have seen it as some time. I don’t really like either video, but I just thought this all was interesting.

The official clip upload on the Warner Bro’s YouTube channel is very clearly from the original Gorilla of my Dreams. It is carefuly cut around any depictions of the hyper aggressive and abusive ‘father’ gorilla, and it makes me wonder what is the point of having a new version? I cannot find a clip of the Apes of Wrath version on that channel. Plus, the clip that was uploaded doesn’t have the episode title. The clip for French Rarebit has the actual title, and it was uploaded to the same, official channel.

I forgot what the point was. Bye

[death---dealer]

Scolding. ( Noa x Human!Reader, POTA Oneshot. )

Title: Scolding. Fandom: ( Kingdom of the ) Planet of the Apes. Pairing: Implied! Noa x Human!Reader. Rating: T. ( Sexual implications, talks of a naked human body. ) Words: 4.5K+ Summary: What would Noa's reaction be to seeing you in a dress for the first time?

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・●・○・

It was long faded; your eyes scanning the yellow tinted fabric of a dress you had scavenged only a few months ago when Anaya, Soona and Noa had taken you to the Echo ruins for the first time. Faded but in the dim orange glow of your hut, you could still see the vividity of the flower pattern that once clung so happily to the threads. They appeared blackened now and barely outlined the shapes of petals, but your imagination did its due job and filled in the blanks for you.

It was like it was barely clinging to whatever hue it had been for the last three-hundred years, beaten and soaked by the sun’s wrath until it came into your loving and reminiscent possession. It would have been easy to explain to the three Apes if they had captured you admiring it. You liked Echo things. You were Echo to them in most regards despite the constant reassurance that you were also a part of the Clan. It would be easy to just tell them that you found the pattern interesting and leave it at that but something yelled inside of your mind to take it. 

Humanities self-loathing jealousy for things more beautiful than the nature that surrounded you day in and day out.

Humanities seething love for things that would make themselves outwardly more appealing.

Hesitantly at first, you had no reason to tuck it into your rucksack that Autumn day and take it back to the Eagle Clan but something spurred you to do just that, it was as if the other bodies it had once been placed upon were seeping into you and telling you stories one by one from over the generations of who had owned it up until its time with you. Stories of firsts kisses in the dress, chaste and afraid, stories of love and adoration as the wearer was showered in compliments from their significant other, closer melancholy of another Human finding it and never realizing the value….

You were a romantic and it pained at times that the world you found yourself in, especially from your Human lineage, tore that down and destroyed it into a lacking ghost of what it could have been. Human’s did not love the same way Apes did, and it was apparent from the first day you came to be with Noa. 

It was different.

You folded the crinkled fabric gently between your fingers and never looked back on it, no intentions made for the garment as it was shoved into the sack against your hip. You washed it the day after and it did nothing but sit as a folded pile in your hut, a shimmered reminder of the remnants of Humanity, a sweeping caress you would place your hand on when you wanted to remember a time before your own.

A time where there swirled nothing but vanity and the self-absorbed nature of individuals that would ultimately and always lead to the downfall that began generations ago. No need for it in the climate of the Winter when you had taken it, no need for it in the political position that the world sat in, teetering between intelligent Apes and the smaller, dwindling aspect of intelligent Humans.

But still… Your eyes admired the garment for what it had been once as it was splayed on your animale hide boasted nest. Faux wooden buttons against the bosom that were chipped around the edges, the silky texture of the thinned straps as you lifted the dress upwards, wrinkling in on itself and let it drape down your body and pressing at the crevices of your shape, stopping at mid-thigh with a shrill of exhilaration trickling down your spine.

It felt strange to be so exposed to the air, your arms tucked in on themselves out of censored defense and it took all your willpower to relax a bit as your heart ran a marathon against your ribcage to the point of self-inflicted hardened breathing. 

Your entire life centered around safety and keeping yourself alive, something that you loosened control over once you became more associated with the Eagle Clan. Once… Noa had taken you under his Eagle’s wing and secured your survival by always being at your side. A dress was juxtaposed to that, no armor and no shield against otherwise delicate skin and that felt guilt filled and sinful in your mind. There was nothing telling you that it was appropriate.

There was nothing assuring you that Noa would even like it. He’d probably think it pointless. Clothing were clothing to him, such an Echo aspect of privacy that did not exist to Apes who wore no clothing and only accessories with cross body bags, thinned twine belts and the armbands that signified they were a Clan, together and not apart. 

There was screaming from your appendages fully cased in the firelight, the heat being a gift against the otherwise chilled Summer air that surrounded you, there was no guarantee that a snake wouldn’t sink its teeth into your leg after popping out from the tall grass of the meadow, there was nothing stopping a bug from landing on you and trailing around as if you were one with nature. Not that those things would be an issue. 

You’d let Noa sink his sharp canines bouncing against the moonlight straight into you without reserve if that’s what he so chose to do upon seeing flesh that had never been seen, you’d let Noa’s hands trail your bare arms, fluttering and calloused like the tiny legs of a beetle in an attempt to keep you warm and there was a drop in your stomach that you were… Wearing what you were in order to garner some semblance of attention from the otherwise occupied Master of the Birds. Would he… notice? Your fingers trailed against the bottom hem of the dress, wavy and bumpy as the fabric was coming undone in spots and it had obviously been repaired by inadequate sewing. There was a small hole right above your belly button, beckoning even the most docile eyes to look at it and it captivated you to see the color of the dress against the tone of your skin.

The things that could happen to you for being so bare would not happen, they persisted as improbabilities against the larger scape of what would happen when you finally mustered enough courage to tug your equally worn jacket over your shoulders and trailed to meet Noa once the sun had fully set in the field adjacent to the Village. 

Quiet and peaceful, the two of you could enjoy each other's company without the prying stares from the other Chimps, without the constant pestering from Anaya or the curious glances from Soona that told you all you needed to know about the Eagle Clan’s leaders intentions towards you.

Ignoring them was the way to go around it but it was hard at times when you found no time alone with each other, finally yearning to use the dress for what you imagined its intended purpose might have been at one time in the past. To impress. To dazzle against the wearer and show their intended what might lay underneath. It did just that, not to boast about yourself. It clung to you like a second skin, stretching the fabric as you took a deep breath in and held it carded in the depths of your lungs. 

No bra, your breasts perked against the thinned textile as you trailed a hand upwards to adjust the right sleeve against your suddenly heady skin. It felt so… Human to wear. The drawing in your mind and imagine that Noa would want to tear it right off of you. The growl he’d release for you upon seeing what was underneath as if it weren’t evident enough from the way the yellow garment was hugging the right places. You doubted that it would make a difference, you were both too shy to act upon impulse but it was a tasty delicacy you were using to hype up the anxious sensation in your limbs as you released the breath you had been holding in. 

The gravity at the center of your being felt unbalanced as your feet shuffled themselves into your boots. Not adequate for the rest of the outfit, you had no way to tell how the dress might have looked actually put together with the proper accessories but you did your best and flattened the fabric against your hips and sighed. Whoever had worn this before… Who ever fitted it against themselves like you were doing must have felt the same, right?

The blood rushing in your ears with silenced anticipation, the jittering of fingers right under your breasts as you smoothed the cloth there starting from the buttons lining down your sternum and out towards the flare of your ribcage. This was fruitless, Noa would not care, you mind was convinced of that and you had no idea what you were even thinking as you grasped your jacket with your right hand and faced the exit of your hut. 

Noa would not care and that was alright. As long as you felt good about yourself wearing it, that was all that mattered as you trailed right out the entryway. 

The gliding of your thighs against each other was an odd sensation outside of them ever kissing when you washed yourself. They were often carded in the thicker fabric of your cargo pants or pressed together without release when you slept and you never took notice of the lick of arousal it garnered from just your mind running with the idea that Noa would want to touch you there. The way his leathered touch would feel against them as they were pried right open with very little strength. How hot he’d be against you as he slotted his tapered waist between then and urged you to tighten and stay secure as he rocked into your body. 

Your mouth fell open at the absurdity of the thought but it was persistent and called for you to walk a bit faster, feet trudging through the scape of the village to the east. Noa was waiting. The Chimp was always waiting for you, the outline of his body finally captivating your minored night vision that was aided by a few of the fire stakes that scattered the perimeter of the Clan’s edges. He would not care, your mind replayed itself over and over again but there was the excitement of the Ape seeing you for the first time so vulnerably. You hoped that’s how it came across. A sense of comfort, a sense of understanding that you felt… Safe with him to wear such absurd and impractical garments. You had no idea what he found so interesting about you, heart racing inside of its ribcaged home as you came to walk more gently against the ground, eager to not step on anything that might alarm yourself like an innocently placed twig begging to be snapped under the weight of your body. There were obviously unspoken things that were of interest to both parties, the way that Noa looked over at you upon your impending arrival, shoulder fur rising in acute absorption as was the case when you made your presence known to the Ape who had to have known of your arrival before you hit his peripheral.

Noa’s vision was greater than your own; the sweep from your feet all the way up to your head, the Ape loomed over every small detail he was able to detect against the backdrop of the village itself. You could almost feel the dilation of his gold and green irises, blown to proportion from the lack of proper lightly and more so… You were desperate to think that it was more from how you looked in his line of vision rather than the strain his gaze needed to present to see things about you in detail. 

Noa’s mouth parted naturally as was his natural default expression, something you found so amusing as it casted a light right against the sheen of his sharpened canines when under the right circumstances before they drifted back into the home of his gums. But this… Your heart fluttered a bit to crazed in your chest as you came a bit closer, grasping the hem of the dress once more to keep the nerves that were bursting out at bay.

This time out of more surprise at the appearance of your… Arms. Longer than his own, he was able to see the build of your flesh against what smaller muscles you had to his own. There was the delicate coating of your thinned hair that he was able to detect as the flushed light behind you seemed to set your skin aglow at the angle of which he was peering up at you with. 

So… Strange… Noa felt a jolt inside of his navel and it blossomed upwards to rest right beneath his diaphragm. Uncomfortably, he shifted his position and tried to get it to go away as Noa’s mind collapsed in on itself. Has… Has he seen them like this before? Your legs! Had he seen… Your legs been like this before? Tangling in on themselves as if you had just learned how to walk? Your calves shone as they caught the light. They were so new, he wanted to touch them. Noa’s brow hardened at that thought. He wanted to do more to them than that, but was he willing to relent the control he had over himself to admit? 

Noa wondered… If they felt any different than his own set of legs. They were more proportionate to your body length and seemed to stagger here and there against the terrain, balance was never your forte and Noa was on alert even now to make sure you did not take a tumble. On the flip side, Chimp legs  were shorter and more attune to heavy lifting and were incredibly centered to allow him to balance and hold with the help of his dexterous feet.

He could lift you and force you to let him admire you. To sink into the flesh that was teasing him so ardently along with the overwhelming fragrance that rivaled the meadow’s speckled wild flowers. The scent between your legs that was so clear in regular clothing was smothering to him and caused a stifled jostle for the Ape that was hard to ignore as you walked nearer and gave him a small brisk smile of affection and adoration. 

“So-Sorry I’m late. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to wear.” 

That sounded so Human, you wanted to slap yourself, tucking a piece of your hair behind your ear as you tried to set aside the everlasting notion that Noa was perplexed beyond belief and it was hard to see otherwise when he was coiling himself into a tightened ball of nerves beside you. The hackles of fur along his broadened shoulders rose from interest at the lack of clothing. At the lack of privacy you were showcasing. It was forbidden in his mind to ever think about your body like that, Noa had no self-control to stop and the one time he allowed himself to go down that road, he couldn’t look at you for an entire week out of shell-shocked embarrassment.

Noa was stagnant and amply watched as you dropped your jacket first onto the ground for you to sit on before following suit with your delicious frame. It was like it was slowed down and dilated for him to take in every detail. The ripping of the fabric against your skin as you stretched your thighs apart to seat yourself properly, the way that drifted up ever so slightly and gave witness to a piece of your hamstring as your legs lifted and rested into a crossed position, the strap that was holding the garment up drifted downwards and stopped right above the bend of your elbow and the Ape found it difficult to not gawk at the newly exposed piece of your jugular. 

It was heavily beating implying nerves on your end from the quickened pace. Implying want and desire as Noa felt his mouth run dry with temptation to place his teeth against the beating vein. Right away and without any reserve, your arousal was drifting around the young Ape like a ripened fruit best to pick off the branch at the moment than to wait any longer. He had not seen what you were wearing before. Ever.

It was obvious from the pulling and drift of your breathing which catapulted the fabric against and away from your chest that you weren’t wearing anything underneath, scratching at the inner part of Noa’s conscious mind that he did desire to see what lay there, bare and without fur. Sure, Female Apes had the same characteristics you had, there was nothing… Special about them, Noa fluttered his eyes to the side in an attempt to keep the morbidity of his train of thought at bay. 

So why would the young Chimp be so… interested in seeing you… Without anything on? Sure, the fabric seemed interesting enough, mildly see-through Noa had to admit to seeing that when you first beckoned your arrival with a blushed smile. At least where the textile was thinner did it appear to cling closer to your skin, Noa’s mind felt like it was set ablaze with a trace of jealousy that he wanted to cast his body against yours in such fashion---...

There was the small hole of wear and tear that tugged right below your right breast, against the ridge of what Noa imagined to be your ribs… It expanded and shot back in with every breath you took as if it were teasing the Ape that it might just burst open if you inhaled too aggressively.

Maybe it was the primal part of Noa’s mind that yearned to see you exposed as a form of acceptance, that you were Ape just like he, just like Soona, Anaya and Dar. You were after all, with a roll of his shoulders at the satisfaction of the thought itself, Noa chuffed, you were a part of the Eagle Clan. There was no need for the pesterance of clothing, but you insisted and Noa never argued against the Echo logic which held privacy and embarrassment so highly. 

Maybe in some sick twisted way, Noa just wanted to know what your reaction to being bare would be. Would you try to cover yourself up, much like you were doing as you drew your arms to fold against your sternum, ultimately bolstering your breasts against the cap of the dress collar. Noa looked at that briefly and puffed his cheeks out before gazing out at the stark field that now held very little interest for him.

You’d try to cover yourself up was the deduced fact just as Noa was trying to sly away from the fact that there was a part of him that was yearning to just stare at you instead of the darkened landscape to figure out the purpose of your choice. It was warm enough, Noa figured, feeling a heated breeze through his thinner fur of the Summer and colliding with the skin beneath. 

“What… Is it? Have not seen you-... Wear…. That.”

“I found it… A couple months ago…” Your voice was hushed as you looked down at your own body and shuffled your butt a bit to get comfortable against the ground below. It was mildly cushioned from the bent grass that conformed against your lower half, tickling a bit at your bare legs and left a ricochet shiver to run up them and let it linger between your legs. There was no way to play faux confidence even as the yellow dress dragged itself upwards and displayed more of your thigh for Noa to take delectations in. You wanted to do nothing but pull it down and apologize for the mis-understanding and scuttle back to your hut for the night and tear it off with no intentions to ever wear it again.

All futile attempts at thinking that Noa’s opinions did not matter were lost. You… Cared, your heavy eyelids fell shut slightly as you looked at your lap where your hands were tangled in on themselves, pulling into knots with your fingertips and releasing them out of anxious desire for either one of your to say something that was going to be beneficial instead of sitting in what felt like bated and intensely scrutinized judgment.

What… Was Noa thinking? Did--- did he like it? Did the Ape think it was just a stupid Echo aspect, to worry about what you wanted to wear? To worry about your outward appearance? You drew a deep breath in but that did nothing to help your mind from falling into a pit of its own despair.  There was a pull in the center of your chest that hurt more than you cared to admit at the time that you wanted Noa to say something about it, even if it were critical so you could retaliate as if your words were going to convince him otherwise.

“I-I think we…” The tapering in your voice was relaxed and flowed into eased correction, “Echo… used to call it a dress.”

“You have not,” Noa muttered softly, and shifted his body ever so slightly so his shoulder brazenly drifted against your own and it felt like your skin was set aflame that rivaled even the bonfire in the center of the village at its peak during the evening meal. “Worn before.” That was said previously but in a different way and this time, it was accompanied by a swinging of Noa’s right arm to translate it into signing as if that were going to help the intended thoughts that now danced around the inside of his mind as frenzied contact between your stares was made and Noa felt a shattering of your clear scent radiate down into the depths of his nostrils once more and he turned back forwards, leaving your mouth open as if you were going to say something but ultimately decided against it at his reaction. It was an astute observation by an already obsessive Ape who took things apart at times to cure whatever seeped inquisitiveness that possessed him at the time.

That… You tilted your body inwards and captivated the very tips of Noa’s darkened fur against otherwise virgin skin that Noa himself started to enter by shifting his larger body towards your own.  That obsession was something you always found so attractive about Noa and it appeared it dove even deeper by your underlying desire to be the puzzle that he could not crack but attempted time and time again.

“Not much… to cover Echo’s… arms and legs.”

“Not really.” It was getting more difficult to hide the disappointment in your voice as you uncrossed your legs carefully, feeling the cracking of your kneecaps as you did so. Sitting up so you were able to pull the dress down enough to cover yourself better, you tugged the fabric to the point of the stretch against your thigh and carded your knees inwards so you could curl into a defended ball of nerves that now leaked uneasy confidence. “I think it was used more for celebrations and stuff… Thought it would… be nice to wear. Something different, you know?” The words felt empty and shallow now that you were explaining it in verbalization. Noa pressed his mouth together into a tightened line of discernable emotion. He knew you well enough to notice the shift in your tone. The body language that you paraded here with was gone with whatever semblance of self-assurance you had when you told him that you were unsure of what to wear and ultimately choose what was laying against your flesh that Noa wanted nothing more than to sink his own canines into. Forget the fabric, he'd be able to rip that off without any notice if it chose to get in his way---...

There were things the Ape could say, his teeth bared themselves in a small grimace of frustration aimed towards himself only while the fur along his longed collarbones rose in agreement to the emotion that ravaged around. The only coping mechanism Noa had was self-deprecation at times like these when he lacked the Echo understanding of what you were begging him for. Gritting the blunted top and bottom set of his teeth together for a split second, Noa relaxed his jaw and glanced towards you as you actioned your neck upwards to look at the sky and the twinkling of the lights that dotted along the midnight navy backspace.

There was such innate interest in you, Noa wanted you to know that but how… Could he just come out and say it? There was no way that you’d be receptive… Right? “Think it is… Nice. Something different…” 

Noa nodded his head assuredly at his own choice of words, hoping you recognized them as having a dual meaning. One towards the yellow scorned dress that had been faded and brought back to life by a captivating body and movements that flushed against your hips, bustled against your chest and waved invitingly at the Chimp, and the other towards the wearer itself. The hold of your shoulders that seemed to perk with anticipation, shoulder caps flushed with red that was from the heat of Noa’s proximity.

“Something different… is always… Nice.”

The smile that Noa gave you was rushed but held enough tenacity emotion for you to notice that it was bashful as if he were unsure of the cadences of his statement. As if he were… Afraid that you would not understand. Noa’s mouth parted once more, dripping his hot breath against the warmed skin of your bicep as the breathing was rapid but paced and not sporadic. You found yourself in a mimicked position, your lungs being crushed in by your position but it felt good and soothing against the knowledge that Noa was… Attempting to give a compliment, if you so chose to be optimistic about what the Master of the Birds was uttering to you.

And optimistic you stayed.

“Do you think so?” You whispered hushed, bringing your face down to kiss your forearm as you wrapped your arms around your knees and kept yourself positioned to longingly peer up at the sky. Noa felt jealous at that, shuffling once more to bump his shoulder against yours in an attempt to keep you grounded and focused on only himself. Selfish, he knew that but the way that you tore your eyes back into his foliage irises was something that lit Noa on fire, the smile that tugged itself across your expression was something the Ape longed to see over and over again. And he wanted to be the only one to stir it from you. 

“I think… It is welcomed. Especially when it is… You who brings something… Different.”

[14tev]

[lynbichiots]

𝐄𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬!

pairing: Satoru Gojo x Fem!Reader

tw: hate sex, abuse of power, manipulation, shower sex (stimulates you with the showerhead), dirty talk, spanking, dehumanization, (incorrect use of curses), sadism, misogyny, light choking, age gap of 21 (reader) and 28 (Satoru), (reader has 0 survival instincts)

wc: 7,1k

The night fell heavy, laden with a dense air that barely left room to breathe. The shadowy streets stretched toward the horizon, but Satoru's footsteps echoed with a steady rhythm, each one soaked in a restrained anger that had matured over time. Under the waning moon, his silhouette cast dark shadows that seemed to take on a life of their own. As a special grade sorcerer, his power over curses was beyond imagination.

And you… you had awakened his wrath.

Two months had passed since a special grade curse had taken the life of his best friend without mercy, and now he had been assigned a special task: to watch over the person who had unleashed that curse.

You.

You were the one who had killed his best friend.

And the most sinister part?

You didn’t even realize it. You did it just for fun.

Sighing in exhaustion, his heart heavy, Satoru straightened up, momentarily closing his eyes as he tilted his face toward the sky where the moonlight was kind to him, illuminating his face. Halloween night wrapped the city in a shroud of shadowy mystery. The lights from jack-o’-lanterns lit his path, casting dancing figures on the walls of the buildings.

The laughter of costumed children echoed like an enchanted chorus across the sidewalk, but even their joy couldn’t calm the storm that raged within Satoru.

As he opened his eyes and took one last glance at the sidewalk, his teeth clenched in fury as new curses emerged from unexpected places, embedding themselves in the small bodies, oblivious to the demonic entities. Each laugh, each joyful scream, was a dagger stabbing deeper into his resentful heart.

Seconds passed, and with them, new curses sprouted, one after another, like cockroaches crawling out of the sewers, infesting everything in their path.

And all of them, provoked by you.

He knew it.

He could see you, smell you, and sense you from miles away. Thanks to his six eyes, which burned with unquenchable hatred in your direction.

He could feel your energy expanding like pheromones in the air, trapping him without escape despite his resistance to your charms. Each beat of his heart was a reminder of the betrayal, of the darkness that consumed him.

Satoru, the embittered villain who swore he wouldn’t rest until he saw you fall, until every curse you had unleashed was repaid in full. His obsession with revenge had transformed him into a shadow of what he once was, a being whose only purpose was to see you suffer.

A few weeks before Suguru’s tragic death, the two friends had shared a secret conversation, filled with topics so dangerous that they could have been executed or silenced by the higher-ups. Being the strongest had led them to question why they practiced sorcery. In those moments of confidence, Satoru revealed the depth of his hatred, a hatred that had grown over years of feeling used and betrayed.

They were always seen as monsters, weapons meant to protect the defenseless souls of humans. But why should they, when the world was full of humans like you? Humans who, in their eyes, deserved nothing but contempt.

To Satoru, all humans were cursed, sinful apes.

And he wanted to exterminate them all.

You were first on his list.

With his long arms reaching towards the sky, Satoru closed his eyes one last time, letting out a breath as he stretched. Every muscle in his body tensed and then relaxed, releasing his pent-up fury. A satisfied smile spread across his face as his eyes focused on the distant house at the top of the last mountain in Weverpoond.

There, in the distance, he saw you.

His gaze filled with a dark determination, a silent promise made the moment he met you, and his hatred turned into obsession.

Resuming his steps with a twisted joy, Satoru crushed each of the curses in his path, swallowing them and making them disappear instantly, his eyes locked on your figure as you sat on the black carpet of your room.

He watched you, completely mesmerized, his mind focused on a single purpose:

Revenge.

•

"Come on!" you laugh with a mix of defiance and nervousness, rolling your eyes and bringing your index finger to your chin, tapping it lightly as you slowly make your way toward the shelf filled with stuffed animals from your childhood. "I know you're here, stop hiding."

Without taking your eyes off the shelf, you furrow your brows in a mix of frustration and confusion, glancing sideways at the black wooden board lying on the floor. The small quartz triangle remains motionless, and with a contained fury, you return your gaze to your stuffed animals.

"If you don't show yourself by the count of three," you say with a trembling but firm voice, biting your lower lip to hold back the laughter bubbling in your chest, "I'll say goodbye tonight and won’t play again until tomorrow."

The threat hangs in the air, thick and palpable, but not a single curse stirs.

Feeling disheartened and disappointed, you complain with annoyance and begin to count.

"One...”

Nothing.

"Two..."

The wind howls and wails, filling the quiet room with an unsettling noise.

"Don't make me reach the end," you whisper with desperation, holding your third finger with your thumb, giving the curse one last chance to appear. But seeing nothing, you exhale in defeat, feeling your hope fade into the darkness of the night.

Silence took over your room, interrupted only by the whispering wind that seemed to mock your frustration. You remain still, your gaze fixed on the stuffed animals, waiting for movement, a sign, anything to break the tension squeezing your chest.

Suddenly, a faint creak broke the stillness, and your eyes widened with a mix of excitement and terror as your heart began to pound. The sound came from the black wooden board on the floor, and you quickly ran toward it, freezing as you witnessed the scene unfolding at your feet.

The small quartz triangle began moving rapidly, tracing letter by letter to form a sentence. Your eyes anxiously followed its movements, and you nervously swallowed as the triangle slowed down, finally completing the sentence.

“Be careful, he’s watching you.”

You shivered.

“Who?” you murmured, feeling a spark of excitement as a chill ran down your spine.

The triangle pointed to the letter “S” and then stopped. You cracked your fingers in anticipation and raised an eyebrow, crossing your arms in boredom. You stared at the Ouija board for a few seconds, and nothing happened. You even leaned toward it, letting the cool October air brush against your bare thighs under your short skirt.

With the wood and quartz in your hands, you examined them closely, searching for any imperfections but finding none. Everything seemed to be in perfect condition, but an idea crossed your mind, and an ironic smile formed on your lips as you let out a scoff.

"You’re messing with me," you muttered, directing your gaze toward your stuffed animals. You squinted, watching for any movement, any sign of life in those inanimate toys. "Come on, it’s Halloween. Don’t make me think there aren’t spirits in every corner of the house."

The silence grows heavy, and you wait, but nothing happens.

Pouting, you glance back at your Ouija board, hoping for some response, some hint of the supernatural. But the board remains still, inert. Frustration wells up inside you, and you're about to throw the Ouija out of sight when, suddenly, a dull thud behind you paralyzes you.

You quickly turn your head toward the shelf, and there, on the floor, is one of your favorite stuffed animals. The old bear, Berry, with its missing eye, stares at you from its position on the ground. A chill runs down your spine as you drop the Ouija onto your startled feet. You blink, your lips parting, and your tongue feels heavy and dry in your mouth. Swallowing with difficulty, you straighten up, sensing an ominous air, different from the curses you invoke every night.

With determination, you ignore the fallen Ouija and step toward the affected stuffed bear. Each step you take toward the bear echoes in the room, and with them, you feel a thousand eyes following your every move.

As you pick up the bear, a more intense chill runs down your spine, as if an invisible presence were watching you. The atmosphere thickens, charged with a palpable tension that makes you want to vomit.

With the bear in hand, you feel trapped in a macabre game, where every shadow and every sound seems to conspire against you. Reality and the supernatural intertwine, and for a moment, you doubt your own sanity.

You spin around abruptly, but see no one. The room seems empty, the only thing moving behind you are the sheer purple curtains, stirred by the breeze from outside. With determined steps, you rush to close the windows, feeling the hairs on your body stand up in fear. With the window now shut, you feel a little calmer, but the sensation of being watched doesn’t go away.

“Who’s there?” you ask with a trembling voice, trying to keep calm.

You scan every corner of your room, leaving no spot unchecked. You see nothing, but fear still pulses through your veins like a poison without an antidote.

The sensation of being watched lingers, and a shadow in the corner of the room seems to move with every blink.

Perhaps you’ve already gone mad. A side effect of playing with spirits.

Silence is your only response. Your room feels cold, though no cool air is circulating inside. You close your eyes, trying to let it go, and once again, you bend down to where the Ouija board lies on the floor. The black, fluffy carpet tickles your legs as your fingers quickly move to close the game.

When it’s finally over, you breathe a little easier.

You sit, chest heaving, trying to calm your breath. Suddenly, the silence is broken when the record player on the small table near the window begins to spin, emitting an eerie crackle before the song Run, Rabbit! Run fills your room ominously. The sound seems to wrap around every corner, making the air feel heavier, thick with mystery.

Your eyes snap open and your heart pounds, stuck in your throat as you slowly rise, your eyes fixed on the record player. Every step you take toward it resonates in the silence, as if the house itself were the only thing listening.

With trembling hands, you try to turn off the record player, but the task is impossible. A broken whimper escapes your throat in anguish, and in your fear, you end up smashing the player. But to your horror, the melody continues, growing louder as if the lyrics are offering you the solution to this horrific mess that’s driving you mad and making you want to wet your panties.

Desperate and with your body turned to jelly, you clench your fingers together into a tight fist and begin pounding on the broken device. Yet, none of it helps, and you only succeed in hurting your hand, drawing blood, while the song keeps playing, making your eyes well up with tears.

Biting your lips and backing away from the record player, you take a few steps back until a playful laugh brushes against your right ear, prickling your skin. Your eyes widen in terror and you scream, spinning quickly in the direction of the laugh.

But when you turn, there’s nothing there again, and this time, you’re truly frightened, knowing that whatever is causing the disturbance is not a simple curse like the ones you’re used to.

So, with your mouth dry and fear gripping your voice...

You speak.

“Who’s there?” you repeat, this time in a firmer tone, though the tremor in your voice is still evident.

You turn slowly on your heels, scanning every dark corner of your room with wide eyes, stopping abruptly when you see a shadow dart past. You blink, squinting to focus on the figure, but fail, as the fast-moving entity disappears from your view again.

Then, it passes right in front of your nose, and when you turn your head, your hands tremble, for there is nothing. Fear mixes with a strange sense of curiosity that makes you break out in a cold sweat.

Snapping out of your mind, your senses return, allowing you to hear and pay attention once more to your surroundings, where you realize that the song is still playing, repeating over and over. Frustrated and with fear buried deep in your chest, you approach the record player again, and just as you’re about to touch it, the music stops abruptly, leaving an unsettling echo in the air.

Staring blankly at the ruined player, your shoulders sag with less tension in your body, and your lungs fill with air again. But as soon as that feeling of relief arrives, it vanishes when you feel a cold breeze on the back of your neck, as if someone were breathing behind you.

You spin around quickly, but once again, find nothing behind you, only the oppressive sensation of being watched by millions of eyes that burn painfully against your skin, sending a shiver down your spine.

“T-This...” you whisper, your voice barely audible. “It’s not fun anymore.”

Silence is your only answer. The room, now plunged into an eerie twilight, seems to take on a life of its own, a life that threatens to swallow you whole, leaving nothing but your bones behind.

Finally, accepting your fate, you realize that you’re not alone, and whatever you summoned with the Ouija board is still here, lurking in the shadows.

Or maybe...

Your mind flashes images from the past few weeks, where you’ve encountered that man more times than you’d like to admit; they no longer even seem like coincidences. His appearances had become borderline stalking. But no, there was no way that mysterious man could be some kind of weird stalker.

He’s far too handsome for that.

Returning to the present, you reach one of your hands to the back of your neck, which still tingles from the entity’s breath, and scratch it hard. Nothing answers your pleas, and with your heart pounding wildly in your chest, you decide to leave your room to take a breather and try to ignore your new curse.

Your legs tremble with fear, but you force yourself to move forward. Your hands reach for the doorknob, which slips due to the sweat covering them, but you manage to open the door and stumble out of your room. Finally in the hallway, you walk towards the bathroom just a few doors away, each step echoing through the silent house as you head for the last door at the end of the hall, hoping to find some refuge in the familiarity of hot water.

Standing before your goal, your hands tremble again, but you manage to open the door. As you enter, you close your eyes for a moment, sighing with relief, though the invisible eyes still make you shiver with fear.

At this point, you’re unsure if you’re imagining things.

It’s not as if you could confirm you weren’t crazy—your skin burns from the sensation of a hateful gaze over your entire body, a gaze that multiplies several times, leaving a pair of eyes watching every move you make, ready to turn into fangs that would swallow you whole if you took a wrong step.

Finally opening your eyes, you let your fear subside just a little as you approach the large pearl-colored tub in the center of the bathroom. Your fingers brush against the golden taps, and with a subtle motion, you turn them both, letting cold and hot water slowly fill the tub where, after washing your body, you plan to relax for a while.

The sound of water flowing provides a moment of calm, and without further thought, you head to the shower just a few steps away from the cold porcelain beneath you. Inside the glass enclosure surrounding the shower, you find yourself silently wishing that when you turn on the faucet, the water will wash away not just the cold sweat clinging to your skin, but also the fear gripping you.

With one final, shaky sigh, you quickly strip off your clothes and step under the showerhead, placing it against the wall above your head. The hot water envelops you, relaxing your tense muscles, and for a brief moment, you allow yourself to close your eyes, letting the steam wrap around you like a blanket.

But then, a dull noise echoes inside the bathroom, causing your eyes to snap open. Breathless, your gaze darts around, struggling to focus on anything through the steam.

Until, amidst the artificial mist, you see something. And when you do, the urge to cry has never been stronger. Your mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water, your legs buckle, and you cling desperately to the bathroom tiles in a pathetic attempt to find comfort.

You hesitate to blink, afraid that if you do, the entity will disappear. But even so, you blink involuntarily, and when you see nothing has changed, you remain frozen in place, staring into the fogged-up bathroom mirror, where a large, blurry figure stands behind you.

You turn your head quickly, but no one is there.

Fear grips you once again, and you feel the air grow heavier. The figure in the mirror fades, but the sensation of being watched intensifies.

With your heart pounding loudly in your ears and your pulse racing, you hurry to finish your shower, knowing even the water offers no comfort. But despite the lack of comfort, you’re terrified to leave the one place where the entity hasn’t fully manifested.

The water runs down your body, turning cold as the seconds pass. You realize you’re not alone, and whatever you’ve summoned has no intention of leaving you in peace.

The room, now shrouded in unsettling gloom, seems to take on a life of its own. Shadows in the corners shift with every blink, and the water in the tub continues to fill, nearing the point of overflowing. The sound of water falling onto you mingles with the frantic beating of your heart.

However, you can’t shake the feeling that someone else is in the room with you, watching from the shadows like a predator, waiting for the right moment to reveal themselves.

The silence becomes oppressive, each passing second heightening the sensation of thousands of eyes on you. You turn slowly, scanning every corner of the room, hoping for a logical explanation. But logic seems to have abandoned this place.

Suddenly, a barely audible whisper breaks the silence, sinking your stomach. You can’t make out the words, but the tone is unmistakable: someone is there, and they’re speaking to you. This time, fear takes hold of you with no intention of letting go.

“Is s-someone there?” you ask, trying to keep your voice steady.

The whisper stops, and for a moment, everything falls into absolute silence, allowing you to take one last breath. Then, you feel a presence behind you, and you know you’re done for—a large, strong shadow looms over your back, grabbing both your hands and pressing them against the cold tiles on either side of your head. You try to turn your face to the side, but your body won’t respond, as if you’ve gone into shock, leaving you paralyzed.

You’ve never encountered a curse this strong, let alone one that could physically touch you.

Sure, a few weeks ago, you released Sukuna, but even he couldn’t touch you or do anything against you.

This was new, and it scared you.

But before you could process what was happening, he sifted through your memories, and a spark of curiosity surged through you, making the blood in your body flow with more force, tinged with excitement.

“Hmmm, riddle me this,” you say mockingly, closing your eyes, still feeling his cold skin against yours. Those unmistakable blue eyes ran nostalgically through your mind with every furrowed line. “Are you who I think you are?”

The room seems to breathe with you, every corner filled with a palpable tension. And then, you open your eyes, and finally, you see him.

It’s that man.

His tall, ominous figure barely visible in the shadows. His terrifying eyes glow with a strange light, and an enigmatic smile spreads across his face, followed by a low chuckle as he presses his body closer to yours.

“Smart girl. I’ve been watching you,” he says, his voice soft and melodic, yet laced with an implicit threat.

His rough fingers massage your hands, and his mouth descends on your exposed neck, sinking his teeth into your pulse, making you scream. Your body jerks involuntarily as his hot tongue laps at the wounded spot, and you sigh when his lips brush against your ear as he speaks in a low voice, “I’ve been waiting for this moment.”

His body trembles against yours, as if holding back thousands of years of frustration. His erratic breath falls on your ear, and you swallow a gasp as you feel his bulge pressing against your bare buttocks.

“Why?” you ask, trying to stay calm.

He pulls away from your neck, where he had found a comfortable spot, and his blue eyes lock onto yours, hypnotizing you. Seeing the effect he has on you, he smiles—a smile both comforting and terrifying.

“I just want to play,” he replies, and with one hand, he gathers both your wrists, pinning them above your head, while his free hand begins to playfully trace your neck, his thumb brushing against your pulse as you inhale sharply, doubting everything.

You look at him with fear, and his smile widens. His face lowers toward yours, and his sweet breath brushes your lips. “Will you play with me?”

He pressed his body even closer to yours, and his hand tightened around your neck. Your eyes widened, staring at him in terror as his eyes scanned your face with a mixture of interest and frustration. His smile grew more enigmatic, with a hint of frustration, making it harder for you to breathe.

“Play?” you repeat with effort, barely able to draw in the little air left in your lungs. You close one eye in discomfort from the choking, trying to understand his intentions.

“Yes, play,” he replies, his voice soft but filled with restrained emotion, as he releases your neck and moves his hand away from the affected area.

You lower your head, gasping for breath, careful not to let the water still running down your body enter your nose. You stay still, unsure how to respond.

“Why are you doing this?” you ask, trying to remain calm. “I don’t even know you. What is it that you really want?”

The figure lets out a low, almost mocking laugh, and his eyes narrow as something dark flickers through them.

“I want many things from you,” he says, his tone shifting from the hatred it once held to something more seductive. “But first…” His thumb and forefinger pinch your nipple hard, and you gasp, feeling his lips once again on your neck. “I want you to pay attention to me.”

A shiver runs down your spine. There’s something in his voice that both draws you in and terrifies you at the same time.

He takes a step back, his expression shifting to one of mild irritation.

“It’s not that difficult, you know?” he says, his tone now more serious. His hand strokes your stomach, moving lower until it reaches your mound. His fingertips begin to tease the area, while his lips place soft kisses along your collarbones, and you moan, unable to move your body. “I just want you to answer a few questions. Nothing complicated. I know you already know the answers.”

Dizzy in an inexplicable way, you stop paying attention to his words, focusing instead on the way his fingers feel so close to your heat. You realize you’re playing a dangerous game, one where the rules aren’t clear.

But there’s something in his gaze that captivates you, something that makes you want to know more about him.

You must have definitely lost your mind.

“And if I don’t want to play?” you ask, challenging him.

He smiles, and his eyes gleam. But this time, his smile is colder, more calculated, and finally, he lets you see the hatred and rage that he can no longer hide.

“I’m afraid you don’t have a choice,” he replies, his voice low and threatening, as his thumb begins to circle your clit. “Because you’re already in the game, whether you like it or not.”

With those words, and locking eyes with him, you know there’s no way out.

But it wasn’t like you were really looking for one.

That was your biggest mistake.

You really should have run when you had the chance.

_______

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

You screamed one last time before another slap landed on your already red and bleeding buttocks. Your voice was just a whisper after so much time spent crying out. Still in the shower, the water had stopped long ago, and your arms remained pinned to the tiles, held by shapeless dark curses that burned your skin, while Satoru continued punishing you for your recklessness.

You wanted to protest and hate him, but that was impossible. After all, you were the one who freed Sukuna.

Sukuna killed his best friend, and now, Satoru was determined to make you pay for it.

“Did you think you could pull that shit without consequences?” His voice was barely a whisper, but it echoed in your ears like thunder. Satoru’s eyes, cold as steel, were fixed on you, and in that moment, you knew there was no escape.

“It wasn’t personal,” you mumbled, more to yourself than to him, but you knew it was a lie.

You had unleashed those curses out of curiosity, for fun, and the chaos they caused had taken lives, left irreparable scars. Satoru had witnessed it all, and now he was here to balance the scales.

“It wasn’t personal…” Satoru repeated, a bitter smile curving his lips. His cold hands began to knead your wounded buttocks, and you hissed in pain, pressing your cheek against the tile in front of you.

Suddenly, his hand moved down to your sex and began rubbing it slowly, bringing you pleasure. His calloused fingers expertly found every spot you liked, as if he already knew where they were.

“Do you feel that?” His voice was low, almost calm. You glanced in his direction and let a tear of frustration fall when something flickered in his eyes, momentarily erasing the hatred there. Then, with a tense blink, he clenched his jaw and slapped your heat as punishment, leaning into your ear to whisper, “That desperation and pain are nothing compared to what Suguru suffered.”

The pain coursed through you like an electric current. It was as if every shadow, every creature you had summoned, was claiming a piece of you, hungry for vengeance over your betrayal. You could feel them, an unbearable weight crushing your body and soul, whispering promises of destruction in your mind, while their master tormented you sexually.

“Did Sukuna also torture Suguru sexually?” you laughed tiredly, smiling triumphantly inside when you saw Satoru tense. “If so, I don’t think he suffered as much as you’re making it seem.” A pout crossed your face. “I could even admit that he probably enjoyed it.”

The bathroom fell silent, the only sound being the water droplets falling from your body onto the slippery floor. Your gaze remained locked on Satoru’s, your neck beginning to ache from the uncomfortable position you forced yourself into just to connect with his eyes. His eyes, full of frustration, shimmered with the reflection of hurt tears.

You immediately regretted what you said, but the apology forming on your tongue had no chance to escape. Satoru’s hand shot out in fury, grabbing a fistful of your hair and yanking it harshly, arching your back. Your hips jerked upward, and your neck strained painfully from the forced stretch.

A moan escaped your lips as you felt his heavy erection press against your heat. His hips moved with force, making his presence undeniable. Even with one hand pulling your hair, his free hand gripped your jaw roughly, his thumb brushing over your lips before he crashed his mouth onto yours in a messy kiss.

And when you tried to keep up with his disordered kiss, an unbearable pain erupted in the soft flesh of your mouth.

The sharp pain of his teeth sinking into your lip shook you like an electric shock. Satoru pulled back just enough for you to feel the warmth of his breath but not enough to free you from his hold. The metallic taste of blood filled your mouth, a blend of pain and desire that confused you even more.

In the darkness, his eyes gleamed with a mix of challenge and something darker, something you couldn’t quite decipher.

You could have pulled away, could have tried to escape, but deep down, you knew it would be useless. Satoru had you exactly where he wanted, and every move he made seemed designed to destabilize you even further. You stayed still, your breathing uneven as you struggled to regain control of your thoughts.

“Owww,” his long fingers tangled in your hair, pulling with the intent to leave pain in their wake, waiting for your response to his questions. “Does it hurt?”

He whispered against your skin, his voice laced with cruel softness. The question seemed sincere, but behind it, you sensed a twisted satisfaction, as if he was savoring every second of your confusion.

You didn’t want to give him that satisfaction. You forced yourself to swallow the pain and keep your gaze fixed on his. “I’ve felt worse,” you replied, your voice coming out more firm than you expected.

Satoru let out a low chuckle, barely a murmur escaping his lips as he locked his eyes on you again. “I hope so,” he replied, as he ran a finger over the spot where he had bitten you, lovingly wiping away the blood with an unsettling calm. “Because this is far from over.”

The tension between you was palpable, like a tight rope that could snap at any moment. And though part of you felt the urgency to act, to do something to regain control, another part of you recognized that he was playing a far more complex game than you had anticipated.

Your body still trembled under the weight of his proximity, but you forced yourself to stay calm.

“You’re filthy, pet,” a smile tugged at the corners of Satoru’s lips. Then, without another word, he stepped away from you, allowing the invisible curses on your arms to tighten their grip, bruising your skin. “I need to clean you off so I don’t dirty myself by touching a filthy monkey like you.”

“What are you—”

Your eyes widened in surprise, and your legs buckled. If they hadn’t been held in place by two curses beneath them, you were sure you would have collapsed onto the floor. A moan escaped your lips, and you bit them to stop your traitorous mouth from betraying you.

Pleasure surged through you as you felt two of Satoru’s fingers spread the lips of your sex, giving it a judgmental look. His lips clicked together in disapproval. You lifted your head and glanced at him over your shoulder, shuddering when you realized he had already been waiting for your gaze. With a cruel smile, he gave a teasing flick to your clit, making you squeeze your eyes shut as you lost control.

“How pathetic,” he said, his thumb quickly massaging the swollen nub, followed by a sadistic chuckle echoing through the empty bathroom.

Before you could respond to his insult, your toes curled, and your hands clenched into fists when the showerhead above you was ripped from its place and positioned over your clit, releasing a strong, warm stream of water onto it.

You were left weak and speechless as small moans betrayed you, escaping your lips.

“Mmm, just like that, good girl,” Satoru said, his voice filled with more mockery than anything else. His eyes gleamed with amusement that made you want to growl. But then, he lifted the showerhead again and aimed it directly between your legs, silencing all the protests in your mind as the stream of water hit your clit once more.

“Ahh… shit,” you groaned in frustration, incoherently screaming as you tried to cling to the slippery tiles, your hands grasping at nothing.

“Wait, please!” The water beat against your sex mercilessly, the pressure so intense it was about to numb and burn your skin alive.

But then, Satoru started moving the showerhead in small circles, massaging your clit from all angles, and the pain quickly transformed into pleasure, making you grit your teeth in frustration.

Somehow, he made you feel dirty and unworthy, made you wonder if you truly were a horrible human being like he had told you so many times. After thinking about it for a while, with your mind turned to mush from the pleasure, a few tears escaped, falling onto the floor, mixing with the water that was spreading across the room.

Satoru, seeing your pitiful state, paused for a moment, allowing you to breathe again. The two of you exchanged glances, with thousands of emotions swirling in your hearts—emotions and feelings neither of you were willing to let out.

But unlike you, Satoru wasn’t swayed by the fleeting connections of a single night.

He had come seeking revenge, and he wasn’t going to leave your bathroom until he got it.

So, pushing his left hand between your folds once again, he tugged at your clitoral hood, exposing the sensitive tip. With one last look of pity in your direction, the water fell onto the exposed spot, and a tremor ran through your entire body, igniting your nerves as if you were being electrocuted.

Your scream echoed in the bathroom, followed by Satoru’s delighted laughter.

“Stop!” you sobbed, shaking your head frantically as you involuntarily tried to spread your legs wider and raise your hips. With shame coursing through your entire being, one last plea left your lips, with nothing left to lose. “Stop, it’s too much, too much…”

Satoru didn’t respond, and you couldn’t open your eyes enough to see his expression. For some reason, the pleasure flooding your body made your eyelids contract, preventing you from keeping them open.

Your mouth hung open, letting gasps and cries escape without shame, blending with Satoru’s satisfied laughter as he continued to stimulate you from behind. Soon, the showerhead wasn’t the only thing stimulating you, as his thumb returned to your abused clit, rubbing it slowly, mixing pain and pleasure in a confusing swirl.

“Please…”

“Please what?” The water stopped falling onto your swollen heat, and relief washed over you.

Your heavy tongue worked hard to answer Satoru’s question, but the words struggled to form in your mind. Still, he noticed your effort, and with an exasperated eye roll, he released the curses from your body, causing you to collapse onto the cold floor like a rag doll.

From your pathetic position, lying on the cold tiles of your bathroom, Satoru made you turn to face him. Your tired eyelids opened, and for the first time that night, you could see him clearly.

It was a sin for someone so twisted to possess such a beautiful face.

His white hair clung to his fine, delicate face, and his unique eyes stared at you, filled with a whirlwind of emotions. But you didn’t pay attention to the details. You just wanted this torture to end. You didn’t even care if he killed you.

You just wanted to be free of his control.

“Finish this,” your naked body, compared to his fully dressed and imposing figure in his rolled-up black shirt and black dress pants, only highlighted the power imbalance between you two.

Satoru didn’t respond to your request. Instead, with adoration in his features, he ran his hands over your weak body, his fingers trembling as he held back from breaking you. You gasped at his touch, too corrupted to care about how sick the situation was.

“Do you want me to finish this, pet?” His hand moved up to your cheek, caressing it the way a master would pet their favorite dog, and you simply leaned into his touch, lovingly pressing your cheek into his palm, smiling softly in response.

“Yes…” you swallowed when his fingers wrapped around the hair at the nape of your neck, pulling you up and pressing your face to his. Frustration was all that filled his eyes, while in yours, there was only one word.

“Mercy”

His fist tightened in your hair, and with a curse slipping from his lips, he pulled you toward him, kissing you fervently. Each time his lips clashed desperately with yours, he made sure you felt, in every kiss, just how much he hated you, how much he despised you for making him obsess over you when you were the one person in the world he was supposed to hate until the end.

When you returned the kiss with the same intensity, crossing your hands behind his neck, Satoru let out a desperate moan against your lips. His arms wrapped around you, pulling you closer to his body as he stole your soul with his kiss.

Both of you became a mess, you pulling on his hair in desperation, drowning in the kiss, while he clawed at your body, clinging to it as if he might die the moment he let go.

“I hate you,” he whispered against your lips, and you smiled.

“I know,” you said, looking at him, stroking his cheek, planting one last kiss on his swollen lips.

You closed your eyes when you felt his teeth sink into your already wounded mouth, but you accepted it all, even as you bit him back, and both of you began to kiss again, tasting each other’s mixed blood.

Then, the situation shifted completely.

You gasped when you felt your chest touch the cold tiles of your bathroom. You couldn’t explain or analyze the moment Satoru had you on all fours, your upper body collapsed while your buttocks were left exposed to his intentions.

Feeling exposed and with your cheeks flushed, you tried to lift yourself onto your arms, but his foot on your cheek stopped you.

With his long leg stretched out, Satoru smiled in satisfaction from behind you, pleased that he didn’t need curses to have you at his mercy. And the last warning he gave of what was to come was the sound of his belt buckle being unfastened.

“You’re so fucking perfect, pet,” he said, and without another word, he fully entered your heat, making you scream from the brutal stretch.

“Aghhh… wait!” your voice broke, and you frowned as his foot pressed harder into your cheek, leaving a dirty imprint before he stepped away and returned to a comfortable position.

To your misfortune, Satoru being comfortable behind you only made his massive erection bury itself completely inside you, bringing tears to your eyes.

“Shit…” Satoru let out a growl of pleasure, his hands intertwining with yours, stretching your arms out in front of you still pressed to the floor, your buttocks in the air being pounded fiercely, the sound of slapping the only melody within the four walls enclosing you—“So fucking perfect, pet.”

“Satoru…” your mouth could only release the albino’s name, mixed with your ragged moans each time the man thrust into you hard, intent on causing pain.

“Yes, pet?”

His hands released yours, and you clenched your fists as he assumed a new position.

Everything was wrong. Everything was incorrect.

Both of you were breaking your own moral codes for each other.

And still, neither of you cared.

His arm coiled around your neck, choking you, while his free hand began to stroke your wet hair lovingly, giving you light slaps on the face whenever you closed your eyes. With his free hand, he held your chin, forcing you to look at him, and with all your attention on him, he shoved three of his fingers into your mouth, invading the small space without permission, making you gag as his thrusts became faster.

Each of his thrusts was a painful punishment you received with pleasure.

Oh, both of you were so fucked up.

Your moans and gasps were muffled by his hand in your mouth, while his loud, unabashed moans echoed throughout the bathroom, especially in your ear, which he nibbled whenever he felt like he was losing control over you.

“Nghhh,” you closed your eyes before they could even roll back, feeling everything you couldn’t express coming all at once.

“Owww,” his fingers left your mouth to give you a slap, forcing you to look at him. When you did, Satoru began to stroke your hair lovingly, the mockery evident in his words—“Are you gonna come, pet?”

“Mmmhm,” you nodded eagerly as his thrusts quickened.

“Then come, pet,” his lips pressed a kiss to your salty cheek, and you cried out in pleasure—“I give you permission.”

That was all you needed.

When his hips trembled, signaling his release, his moans mixed with yours, growing louder and more intense as you both came hard, soaking each other. His mouth latched onto yours, and once again, he bit your lips in promise, in a messy kiss filled with blood, betrayal, and hatred.

For a moment, neither of you moved, only your rapid breaths escaping your noses and mouths while both your hearts beat so hard they seemed ready to burst at any moment.

But the need for analysis was unnecessary for either of you.

Not when Satoru sedated you and dressed you, opening a portal in the middle of your room, a portal that took both of you to his house outside the city, far from the sorcerer’s school.

He didn’t stop to analyze things either when he locked you in his basement, chained you there, and placed a gag in your mouth so that when you woke up, you wouldn’t hurt yourself screaming for help.

Because no help would come.

Even with his heart still beating wildly in his chest, Satoru gave one last look at your sleeping, bound figure in his basement. Then, with a satisfied smile on his face, he turned around, closed the door, and left.

There was nothing left to restore his morality.

He had succeeded in corrupting you.

But you had nothing to fear.

Because you had corrupted him, too.

And the scream that echoed through his mansion once you awoke…

Confirmed it.

[ohwaitimthewriter]

Look at me if you dare

Pairing : Noa x human!reader

Warnings: angsty fluff? Fluffy angst? (you chose!)

Words: 4.3k+ (for real?? 😳)

Requested:

A/N: So! I didn't plan it to be this long but HERE WE ARE. I had to remove the 'getting angry' part but for good reasons, and only if you'd be interested in,: I'm thinking about a part 2 🫣 I need some time to ponder about it, but it is still a possibility! Thank you for your request, I really enjoyed writing it and I hope you'll like it! 😁 (even if it took me forever and I'm so sorry for this 🥺)

Enjoy your reading 😁

Planet of the Apes Masterlist.

Crouching at the river's edge, you watched your reflection ripple with the waves of the peacefully flowing water. You observed the gap between your eyes and the shape of your nose, which marked the boundary between the two. The little dimple formed by your upper lip just below the bridge of your nose and the plump of your lower lip. The thin line they formed, neither a smile nor a sad pout, a straight line free of expression.

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

The hunting had been good that day. A stag, one of the biggest bucks in the deer herd. Euphoria had spread throughout the colony when none other than Noa, the leader of the Eagle clan, had returned from a long day's hunting with a few of his own. Anaya and Soona, of course, were part of the group, and you watched the two friends squabble with Noa over who had the best approach to killing the deer. Anaya was certainly trying to take more of the credit, puffing his chest out, but he quickly shook it off when Soona gave him a light punch in the ribs, complaining that he had no right to take full credit for the success of the hunt.

It was, of course, a team effort, and success depended largely on following the instructions given to each individual after agreeing on the best strategy. And this time, the best strategy was Noa's.

You watched them bickering, bragging about their feat, and could only smile at Noa's proud face, knowing full well that he had been the most astute on this hunt. The most astute and therefore the best provider for his clan.

And then his gaze met yours.

The cocky restlessness that radiated from his stance subsided. He glanced at the carcass strapped to his horse's saddle before locking his green irises into yours again and untying the animal, which fell to the ground with a thud.

Noa grabbed the animal by its antlers and began to drag it with one hand behind him, as he made his way towards you.

It seemed you were the only one who didn't quite understand what was happening. Anaya wanted to follow Noa, but it only took one look for Soona to understand and stop Anaya in his tracks. Anaya gave her a quizzical look before his mouth formed an 'O' in realization.

Dragging the animal's carcass seemed effortless, even though it was obvious that Noa was trying to hide the uncomfortable strain he had to exert on his arm muscles. Despite his thick fur, you could easily see the strength he was capable of, his muscles becoming more prominent with the 200kg of inert weight he had to pull behind him. He moved on all four, really only using three of his limbs, and the force of the pull made his shoulders even bulkier. The whole scene was rather impressive, but you had question marks plastered all over your face as Noa drew closer and closer to you.

Earlier in the afternoon, you had sat down by the big communal fire to work on making a spear more suited to your build. You didn't leave the log you were sitting on until the hunt was over. For a brief moment, you thought Noa wasn't really coming to you, but rather dragging the animal to the bonfire to share it with the rest of the colony. You wanted to believe it, because the wrathful looks of some disapproving apes were beginning to weigh heavily on your shoulders and you didn't quite understand what you had done to endure their judgment.

The carcass fell in front of you, and at the same time you heard an ape… Ezio, if you remembered his name correctly, who had taken part in the hunt, utter a muffled growl of… protest?

If you heard it, Noa must have too, but he decided to ignore it, preferring to keep all his attention on you. His stunning green eyes landed in yours and, like every time he gazed into the immense depths of your irises, you were afraid he'd discover a secret you'd been keeping under lock and key ever since you'd discovered it yourself. A secret that drew you irrevocably to him, but which you suppressed and buried deep inside yourself when the eyes of apes like Ezio landed on you.

You chose to avert your gaze towards the dead animal in front of you and prevent him from discovering it. Noa placed his hand firmly on the beast, pushing it further towards you until it touched your feet.

Why… was he bringing you the carcass?

You looked up at him again, and though you tried to give him an unsure smile, the silent question could be read in your eyes as they settled back on Noa.

No matter how much Noa saw you doubting, he couldn't help but feel proud to have brought you such a trophy. He wanted you to see it, to realize the strength it had taken him to kill it, bring it back and drag it to you. He wanted you to see his qualities as a leader, his qualities as a hunter, qualities that made him a perfect mate and that he would be perfectly capable of providing for all your needs… whatever they might be. He'd killed that deer for you, as proof that he was the best match for you. And any doubts you might have had could only be swept away by those 200kg of fresh meat he'd hunted.

At least, that's what he told himself in the back of his mind. That's what he wanted you to acknowledge in him.

In front of his attentive and expectant gaze, you remained unable to understand why he had placed the body of this animal at your feet.

On closer inspection, the stag was of impressive size, and there was no doubt that its remains alone could feed the entire colony. Your eyes followed the animal's shape and you couldn't help imagining its life before it unfortunately crossed the path of Noa and his hunting team. The animal must have been majestic. Its antlers were broad and you could count 14 points. An old creature. From the way its body was laid on the ground, you could only see one of its eyes, and the lifeless black iris squeezed your heart. A wave of empathy for this beautiful animal swept through your body and you instinctively leaned towards its corpse. With tentative fingers, you stroked its shoulder, as if to soothe the soul of the animal that had just given its life to provide for others. Its light-brown bristles were rough against the delicate skin of your fingertips, but it didn't matter, especially as you were certain to feel the gazes of the entire colony scanning your every move. Some approving. Others tolerant. And the last, disapproving.

You tried to push away the burning sensation in the back of your head caused by all those eyes on you, and uttered in a whisper addressed only to that deer, and perhaps, to Noa too, a heartfelt "thank you" for this animal's sacrifice.

Noa tilted his head towards you, seeking your gaze as he tentatively brushed your fingertips to capture your attention. A cloud of tingling ran up your fingers, from your hand to the hollow of your collarbone, creating a mass of tingles there that spread down your spine.

"He fought well."

Noa's gruff voice was meant to be reassuring. He understood your sympathy for the deer and wanted to be sure to let you know the animal had given everything to survive, but that Noa had been the strongest of the two.

You nodded silently and quickly wiped away a tear you hadn't felt rolling down your cheek. You took a deep breath, sharing a glance with Noa.

"Now it can rest." You say. " It'll serve us well."

Noa breathed through his nose proudly at your approval. It was all he needed, all he asked of you, and he grabbed the deer's antlers again to take it away in preparation for dinner.

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

You ran your tongue over your teeth, and if you weren't showing them off to the little fish that passed by, oblivious to the giant you were compared to them, you made a mental note of the shape of each of them. Smooth, not particularly sharp, and even the teeth you used as canines weren't particularly well-suited to forcefully shredding any fish or animal flesh.

Not… suitable.

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

That evening, Soona joined you for dinner. Sitting cross-legged, you had set a bowl of vegetables and fruit in front of you, and on a thick piece of cloth was a piece of meat from the deer that Noa had brought you earlier.

Crouching beside you, Soona was biting into the animal flesh, and you admired the ease with which she was able to detach the raw meat and chew it as she would on the juicy flesh of an apple. Your meat, on the other hand, was cooked.

Soona glanced at the sharp little blade lying delicately next to your meat. Even though she was used to seeing you use it to cut small pieces of meat or fish, there was still a kind of fascination in her eyes. The Echos jaws weren't as powerful and efficient as those of chimpanzees, and while she didn't think they were very practical for everyday life, she was fascinated by your ability to find tricks to make life easier.

Her gaze was always benevolent, and you were never afraid to show her all the human tips and tricks that enabled you to navigate your daily life without too much trouble. Even in the troubles your three friends sometimes got you into.

Something as simple as biting into a piece of meat became a challenge, in all proportion, for a human, and this was quite fascinating for Soona.

But tonight, there was a glitch. Like a feeling of discomfort towards this piece of meat. Normally, you would have started by eating meat, or fish depending on the day. Meat, then vegetables, then fruit. A very specific order that you followed at every meal, even if Soona didn't understand the point of always having to "start with what's salty and finish with what's sweet", as you'd explained to her when she'd asked you. "I prefer to have a sweet taste in my mouth as a last bite." Soona hadn't had the heart to argue otherwise, if that was what you preferred then so be it.

And tonight, you had left your meat aside.

How odd.

Soona briefly moved her hand to show you your meat before signing.

" Not eating?"

Your eyes fell on the untouched meat. Usually, you would have taken the time to cut it up before starting your meal. But not this time. The blade you had taken out of your satchel after cooking the food over a fire had drawn more than a few questioning looks, some almost suspicious.

How long had people been watching you like this? Had it been a long time? And if so, how had you managed not to notice before?

Maybe you'd been blinded by the kindness and acceptance that Noa, Soona, Anaya and even Dar - who more than once had left you stunned by Noa's mother's tenderness towards you - had granted you. Your human condition had never been called into question, and although it had taken several weeks - months for some - for your presence among the clan to become as natural as taking a breath, you had never felt… rejected.

So why now? Why were you suddenly aware that maybe… your mere presence was perceived as that of a virus that needed to be contained. Like an underlying disease that had taken several months to blossom into its first symptoms.

Ezio and his gang of three other apes were stationed right in front of you, on the other side of the communal fire. The contemptuous look they gave you knotted like ropes around your wrists and you found yourself unable to move them to grab your blade and cut your meat.

You didn't know what to say to Soona because you really weren't eating your meat. Not because you didn't like it, nor because you weren't hungry, but because the judgment weighing on your shoulders blocked any will to move a muscle in the pit of your stomach.

Your gaze stopped for half a second on Ezio, who took advantage of your brief attention to challenge you, a small huff piercing through his muzzle, letting his cheeks formed a light puff.

You chose not to dwell on it and focused instead on Soona, who was looking at you with concern. You hesitated over your words before blurting out:

"I… I wouldn't want to… wouldn't you feel awkward watching me cut up the meat?"

Your question was genuine, but Soona widened her eyes, astonished by the implication of your sentence. She almost wished she'd laughed at you, because in all the time she'd seen you do it, it was about time you started worrying if that was really how you felt.

"Why would I bother?" She asked back.

And you sighed. Point scored for Soona. Your question made no sense as far as Soona was concerned. Of course she didn't care, and if she had, you were almost convinced she'd have asked you about it by now.

Seeing your defeated face, Soona went on to sign.

"I understand." And she gestured to your jaw. "Weak. Easier in small pieces to chew." She paused for a moment to gauge your reaction, and you seemed to accept her silent words. "I understand." She repeated aloud this time, her voice slightly rocky on the edges. "Anaya understands." She went on, and as if she could read the real reason for your concern in your eyes, she finished by directing her gaze towards the clan leader who was sharing his meal with Dar. "Noa… understands."

But Ezio and his friends didn't understand.

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

Your hand plunged into the river, shattering your reflection, which had suddenly seemed too hard to look at. You didn't like what you saw. The water seeped through your fingers and its coolness slid under your skin in a vain attempt to bring some sanity back to your brain.

The delicate nature of your skin suddenly jumped out at you. Your hand bore various scars, large ones from sharp stones, small ones from bramble thorns, scratches from tree bark…

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

You'd looked for it everywhere.

Earlier in the morning, you had wished to go outside the village boundaries in search of a particular plant. It was about to be that time of the month when your period pains would start, and valerian, a plant with small white flowers, could help ease those painful cramps.

Soona would usually accompany you, but today she was busy with Dar. So you decided to go alone, but to your surprise, Noa refused. He argued that it was too dangerous for you to venture outside the territory of the eagle clan, almost forgetting that you had been living outside its boundaries for several months.

After extensive negotiation, he gave you permission to go, on one condition: that you take your spear with you and that Eagle Sun go with you.

But the spear you usually left at the entrance to your hut had disappeared. After spending an hour looking for it, Eagle Sun became restless and an unfamiliar ape, whom you'd seen hanging around with Ezio, informed you that he'd seen a spear… in a tree.

So you ended up right there, and the longer you stared at the top of the tree, the more you felt dizziness creep into the back of your skull.

Your spear was probably 8 meters, maybe 9, above your head. The ape who had shown you the way had pretended to have urgent business to attend to, and left you to ponder how you were going to climb a tree whose first branches were 3 meters above the ground.

After a minute's thought, you decided that with a sufficiently high first support, you'd certainly be able to pull yourself up onto the first branches and climb to your spear. There was only one effective way to do this: a horse.

Surprisingly enough, it had worked. It had worked so well that it had angered Ezio, who had been watching the whole scene in the hope that you'd end up making a fool of yourself and proving that you had no place among the eagle clan.

A split second was all it took. You had begun climbing down, having previously dropped your spear to the ground, when a sudden jolt made you lose your balance. The branch your foot was aiming for slipped away, and your hands suddenly clutched the trunk in a vain attempt to hold on to your body, which you felt falling like a mass toward the ground. The bark burned your skin and cut into its surface as you tried to slow your fall and, fortunately, your feet hit another branch before your body finally hit the ground with an impact you could only imagine would cause severe pain.

Okay, 5 good minutes.

Your forehead pressed against the rough trunk, trying to calm your suffocating breathing. You felt as if your heart was threatening to burst out of your ribcage, its beats hitting your ribs so hard. Your trembling hands, still clasped around the trunk, curled in on themselves, leaving only the bottom of your palm touching the bark that had bruised them.

You didn't want to make a move. You closed your eyes, unable to bear the sight of the ground a few meters below you. You didn't want to move, and anyway, even if you wanted to, the pain radiating from the inside of your hands prevented you from gripping anything. You didn't even dare examine your hands, for fear that the mere act of bringing them towards you would cause you to lose your balance again and end up on the floor.

And even when your name rolled off Noa's lips, you didn't react. You tried to breathe deeply, trying to calm the heart that had started a race faster than it could keep up with, but you couldn't get rid of the fear that had gripped your insides the moment you fell.

Fear. You felt it keenly now. It ran through your veins and forced you to hug the trunk as tightly as you could, undeniably tightening your legs around the branch you'd suddenly found yourself sitting on. It was fear, too, that made you jump when a large hand came to rest gently on your shoulder.

Noa.

Unlike you, he had climbed with incredible speed and fluidity. His build was made for it. His hands, his feet, all his muscles - everything was designed to enable him to pull himself up any structure without difficulty.

He gave your shoulder a gentle squeeze, urging you to look at him, but you stubbornly kept your eyes closed, your forehead almost wishing it could sink deeper into the bark which would most likely leave a mark on your skin.

A soft hoot escaped his mouth, hoping that this time you'd turn your head towards him, but fear gnawed at your stomach too much to dare move a muscle.

And yet, you had to.

You wanted to rage at yourself for your inability to move, for your stupidity in climbing that tree, for your stupidity in not being smarter and realizing that your body wasn't made for such a feat. For not having enough strength or balance or dexterity. But your trail of destructive thoughts ended when you felt the knuckles of Noa's fingers brush gently against your cheek, carefully beckoning for your attention.

His thicker, rougher skin turned out to be much more tender than it first appeared, and your eyelids fluttered at his touch before opening fully, allowing your eyes to look at him.

His cheeks puffed up slightly letting out a gust of air, twice as content that he'd got what he wanted and that you'd accepted his touch. How about thrice as content when his scent, faint as it was, had just mingled with yours in the exact spot where his knuckles had landed.

His hand clung to the tree trunk again, and your skin felt quite cold all of a sudden as it lost his touch.

"Come." His low voice danced in your eardrums.

He locked eyes with you and promptly adjusted his posture to match with where you stood, making it easier for you to slide onto his back. And if fear had made you reluctant to leave your pitiful safety on that branch, it was quickly swept away when Noa gently grabbed your wrist and wrapped your right arm around his neck.

The sudden proximity of your face to his enclosed you in a protective bubble that belonged only to the two of you. You couldn't remember ever having seen him look at you in such a warm, loving way, and the softness of his green eyes felt like a barely perceptible touch, only leaving you longing for more. A brief floating moment in which you were both ready to lose yourself as his fur tingled the skin of your bare forearm, and you almost thanked it for keeping your feet on the ground.

What could he possibly see through you to look at you in this way?

When you took the time to look at him, you saw strength, benevolence and an insatiable desire to meet the needs and expectations of his clan; you saw reliability, commitment and, more than anything else, safety. He didn't have to do much to make all these things shine through in his features. Through it all, Noa was radiant to your eyes. And you were easily swept away in languid admiration if you weren't careful.

And then there was you. Unable to climb a tree. So what did he see within you?

You left the safe mental bubble in which you'd both found yourselves entangled inside to finally hoist yourself fully onto his back, wrapping your legs around his slimmer waist and your arms around his powerful shoulders.

In less time than it took to say it, you were back on solid ground for an inspection of your wounds.

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

You hadn't been here very long, but you could already feel your thigh muscles screaming with discomfort, in this position so unnatural to you.

Not wanting to fight the tugging sensation, you let yourself fall on your bum, choosing a cross-legged position, more comfortable and less demanding for your… weak muscles.

The water clung to the fabric of your pants with little splashes, gradually flooding the inside of your shoes in the process. Although the coolness sent shivers down your spine, it didn't stop you from contemplating your body's constitution with a certain contempt.

An unsuitable jaw. Delicate skin. Weak muscles. It was an inevitable conclusion shared by many.

You could see them now. Those stares.

Those stares that said "weird".

Those stares that said "weak".

Those stares that said " not belonging ".

And the more you saw yourself in the waves of that river, the more you realized they were right. You didn't belong.

A raindrop slammed into your reflection, just above your cheek, creating a halo of tiny waves that distorted the features of your face. Then another raindrop clattered with a silent " splash ", and yet another, until it blurred your vision.

It was only when you had wiped the tears from your eyes that you noticed the reflection of a second figure appearing beside yours.

Without bothering to look directly at him, you let out a deep sigh when his shoulder brushed yours as Noa came to crouch beside you. His eyes were glued to your reflection as it danced in the gentle swell.

What did his irises see within your reflection?

You sensed a form of understanding, as if he knew what was going round and round in your head, and in a slight moment of comfort, you felt his shoulder press so lightly against yours that, if you didn't know better, you might have thought it a mere happenstance.

"you belong here." The light touch on your shoulder seemed to tell, and a tear dropped down your cheek again, "Look at me," it seemed to tell him. "I'm looking at you," his careful gaze told you. A second tear joined the first, " Look at me properly." and he huffed through his nose, confident but eventually his eyes acknowledged and conceded to your human condition. Another tear rolled down your skin, clinging for dear life to the tip of your chin before crashing into the water, "you see it now". Noa shifted his eyes away from your reflection, "I see it", putting an end to the silent talk.

His reflection disappeared from the surface of the water, leaving only a sensation of emptiness as his massive body moved from its spot beside you.

Noa glanced back at you, watching you curl into yourself, still sadly obsessed by a reflection he could only find beautiful.

[jd07201990]

So… Does anyone know how many bouquets of roses, or how many boxes of chocolates it’ll take to survive my new Wife’s wrath, when she see’s her adorable, creative, intelligent boy… after I accidentally shipped him off to the equivalent of Football Boot-camp, so we could have our honeymoon alone in Cancun. Honestly! We were all going over the options, the two last resorts being we don’t go on our honeymoon, or Jason would have to stay at his grandpa’s house in the middle of nowhere a few states away. Clearly, we were desperate, so when I found the pamphlets for what looked like a regular old summer camp out in the woods, with a lake, and a whole slew of other activities, I jumped on it, especially since the price for the entire summer was $2100 bucks! Where I really screwed up, was not reading the pamphlet I was filling out, which was absolutely not the super happy fun time in the woods experience… It was ROTC for Football Jocks. I learned this only when I drove out to pick him up, 3 months later, and well… you can see what trudged up to me from across the parking lot, huge battered old sneakers pounding the pavement as he absentmindedly gnawed on a protein bar in his meaty, calloused fist, while his other hand absentmindedly adjusted his shorts. Just like all the other bulked up brutes marching off to their dads and coaches, his chest was bare, and bouncing with every step. When he’d crossed the distance, he grinned this dim, dopey grin, and grunted, “Thanks for pickin’ me up Dude. Can we stop by Wendy’s? I’m fuckin’ starving!” He punctuated this by stuffing the last of the protein bar in his mouth and yanking the door to my car open, the fiberglass handle cracked in his hand. He looked at the two halves, chuckled with that deep, rumbling Jock tone, and got in, dumping the pieces on the seat next to him. It didn’t take long for the car to fill the distinct funk of athletic prowess, especially when he kicked off his size 14’s and put his feet up on the dash. I nearly gagged, and despite the heat outside, rolled down the windows to air out. As we pulled into the driveway, my wife was on the lawn, waiting with a little bag, excited to see her boy again. When the sweaty ape of a jock got out lumbered up to her, wrapping his beefy arms around her, she looked terrified… for a second… then her eyes narrowed on me. When Jason finally let go of her, he gave her that same, blank, dopey grin, all the intelligence gone from his big wide eyes, and held his fist out… she looked at it incredulously, and he chuckled, “You’re supposed to bump it, Ma… with your fist” Well, the last 6 months have been tough, but Jason, or, “Jay” as he reminds us often, has absolutely blossomed at school. Although his grades could be better. The shock of his summer “glo-up” or as his oafish, grunting new friends like to tease, “blow-up” hit a few of the teachers harder than others. Although the Coach of the football team had nearly offered me his ’69 Camero to have Jason on the team after seeing him plow through reps in the football team’s gym.  I said it was tough, because our house is essentially a second Locker Room for Jay and his small army of sweating, smelly behemoths. There is a never-ending pile of laundry from countless practices, the gym, and just hanging out with his friends. My wife has somewhat gotten used to her little boy calling her, “Bro” accidentally… every other day… and despite the change, he’s still her boy, there’s just, a good bit more of him to love. I will say, he’s a great kid, kind of dumb, a bit crass, and stinks like a gym bag more often than not, but when you dig a bit deeper into those dim, wide eyes, there’s still that adorable boy, underneath a pile of muscle.