#the hare with amber eyes

[megafaunatic]

"a bundle of asparagus," edouard manet • the hare with amber eyes, edmund de waal • "a sprig of asparagus," edouard manet

[heavenlyyshecomes]

But some objects do seem to retain the pulse of their making. This pulse intrigues me. There is a breath of hesitancy before touching or not touching, a strange moment. If I choose to pick up this small white cup with its single chip near the handle, will it figure in my life? A simple object, this cup that is more ivory than white, too small for morning coffee, not quite balanced, could become part of my life of handled things. It could fall away into the territory of personal story-telling; the sensuous, sinuous intertwining of things with memories. A favoured, favourite thing. Or I could put it away. Or I could pass it on. How objects are handed on is all about story-telling. I am giving you this because I love you. Or because it was given to me. Because I bought it somewhere special. Because you will care for it. Because it will complicate your life. Because it will make someone else envious. There is no easy story in legacy. What is remembered and what is forgotten? There can be a chain of forgetting, the rubbing away of previous ownership as much as the slow accretion of stories.

—Edmund de Waal, The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance

[youritalianbookpal]

Ten Questions Book Review - The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund De Waal

What is it? Ceramist inherits family netsuke, and decides to investigate the history of his family (the Ephrussy) throughout two centuries.

Who should read it and why? I think this book is perfect for collectionists, history buffs, and all the people in between.

Which genre(s) is it? Non-fiction, biographical.

What is the setting? The netsukes travel from Japan to Paris to Vienna to Japan again, between the Nineteenth and Twentieth centuries.

How are the characters? No characters, but I loved how the people in the story were described. There is a love for knowledge and research behind this book that is enchanting to me. If they feel so real it's because they are and were real, and it's the magic of this book.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the novel? Again, the most prominent strength here is most definitely the depth of the research. We follow Edmund De Waal through the years, we follow his family through the centuries. And the images evoked, knowing that they come from random pieces of paper or family stories... To me it's so beautiful. A weakness, if so I have to define it, is that I would have preferred even more photographs. We hear all this talk about the netsuke and then... We see maybe two? I would have loved to see more, more family members, more letters, more photographs of how the places described look today. Maybe it's my edition, I don't know, I just felt like I needed something more.

Did I cry and/or laugh? I have cried, I'm not going to lie. Especially for the depictions of anti-Semitism, both in France and during the Second World War in Vienna. I don't think I laughed.

Who shouldn’t read the book? If anti-Semitism and narrations of the Holocaust trigger you, I would not suggest reading the biography of a Jewish family in general.

Any random comment? I would just LOVE to see the netsuke in person.

Which quote stuck with me?

All these cousins can start a sentence in one language and finish it in another. They need these languages as the family travels to Odessa, to St. Petersburg, to Berlin and Frankfort and Paris. They also need these languages as they are denominators of class. With languages, you can move from one social situation to another. With languages, you are at home everywhere.

[codenamebooks]

My 2022 Book Ranking

For about three years now, I rank the books that I read throughout the year as I read them. For the most part, it's based on general vibes and a quick comparison in my head. There's not much to it: no official system with specific details that I look for. Star ratings have a bit to do with it, but if I didn't give it a high rating, it's not going to be high up in the ranking anyway. Here are my 2022 rankings, from lowest to highest, out of the 18 books I read with one liner explanations (a little late, I know):

18. The Hare With Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal | Goodreads | 1.5 stars

I read this for class, didn't finish it, but didn't like the pacing of it anyway.

17. Clash of Civilization Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio by Amara Lakhous | Goodreads | 2.5 stars

Also read this for class, but did finish and didn't hate it because it was more entertaining than I expected.

16. Stand-Off (Winger #2) by Andrew Smith | Goodreads | 3 stars

This is a great book for teenage boys who need t unlearn toxic masculinity early.

15. City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments #6) by Cassandra Clare | Goodreads | 4 star

The last book in the series and it actually wrapped up the circumstances very well.

14. Passing by Nella Larsen | Goodreads | 3 stars

I read this for class and it was such an interesting concept, but it wasn't always super engaging.

13. Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Wayward Children #2) by Seanan McGuire | Goodreads | 3 stars

Star rating mostly because of how long I took to read it, but Jack is one of my favorite characters ever.

12. Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella | Goodreads | 3.5 stars

A really interesting story about mental health, heavy but constantly remaining lighthearted and funny.

11. Shadow and Bone (Shadow and Bone #1) by Leigh Bardugo | Goodreads | 3.8 stars

I feel like I've heard a lot of negative reviews about this book/series but I enjoyed this as an introduction to the world.

10. Beneath the Sugar Sky (Wayward Children #3) by Seanan McGuire | Goodreads | 4 stars

This one was extremely fun and expanded the world of this series so much more.

9. We'll Always Have Summer (Summer #3) by Jenny Han | Goodreads | 3.75 stars

My least favorite of the trilogy but I read it all in one setting so it was definitely an interesting plot... Albeit a little absurd.

8. The City We Became (Great Cities #1) by N. K. Jemisen | Goodreads | 3.75 stars

Takes a lot of concentration to understand what's going on, but an amazing and intricate concept.

7. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry | Goodreads | 4.5 stars

My first proper romance (in a long time) and it was so funny although I didn't love Poppy as a main character (but she had great growth)

6. The Summer I Turned Pretty (Summer #1) by Jenny Han (reread) | Goodreads | 4.5 stars

Reread this to finally finish the trilogy and it was so much fun to relive all of the emotions of this rollercoaster love triangle.

5. It's Not Summer Without You (Summer #2) by Jenny Han | Goodreads | 5 stars

This second book literally had me screaming, crying, gasping, angry, happy, little everything every other second.

4. Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward | Goodreads | 5 stars

Read this for class and it is by far the best book I've read for academic purposes.

3. Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass #3) by Sarah J. Maas | Goodreads | 5 stars

This book made me scared to go on with the series but also so desperate to get to it immediately.

2. The Assassin's Blade (Throne of Glass #3.5) by Sarah J. Maas | Goodreads | 5 stars

Had a friend say this was her favorite in the entire series and I completely see why, the stories were so intriguing.

Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2) by Sarah J. Maas | Goodreads | 5 stars

Whew, did this book constantly have me in shambles almost entirely because of Dorian.

[suchananewsblog]

Edmund de Waal: Decoding stories of exile

Twelve years ago, I discovered The Hare with the Amber Eyes, a memoir by celebrated British ceramist Edmund de Waal, in a book store in Edinburgh. It was another year before I read it and it became my all-time favourite book. Over the years, I have gifted it to friends, family, those I met at work and oftentimes to complete strangers. I’ve given away over 300 copies to a mix of people whose…

[occultfox7]

PAC: How do your friends view you

PILE 1

Signs: Aries, Gemini, Cancer / Gem: Red Tiger's eye / North node / 4 of Pentacles r, 6 of pentacles r, the Moon

Your friends think you are a positive person, who is strong and charismatic. Someone who knows where they are headed to. They view you as someone generous and giving. Maybe you like to spend money to buy gifts (your love language might be gift giving). You are open and love to take care of your friend group. They love how supportive you are and how understanding you are. Sometimes there are misunderstandings and on negative note they can view you as someone who is too anxious.

PILE 2

Signs: Gemini, Taurus, Aquarius / Gem: Garnet / Full moon in Sagittarius / 9 of pentacles, 10 of pentacles, 6 of cups

Your friends think you are a fighter who doesn't give up. Someone who seeks adventure. They see you as someone successful and secure. They see you not only as their friend but also as their family. You have had a lot of happy memories together and they think about them a lot.

PILE 3

Signs: Cancer, Aquarius, Scorpio / Gem: Turquoise / New moon eclipse / 10 of pentacles, the Emperor, the Moon

Your friends think you are unique, complex and harmonious. Someone who doesn't dwell in the past but looks towards the future. They see you as the backbone of the group or the leader. Sometimes you might act too much as the mom/dad of the group and that might annoy them. They see you as someone who keeps secrets well and doesnt reveal them, or maybe you are shy and secretive.

PILE 4

Signs: Pisces, Capricorn, Gemini / Gem: Rose quartz / New moon in Capricorn / 9 of swords r, the Moon, Page of pentacles

Your friends think you are compassionate, kind, peaceful and love to ake care of other people. Someone who makes good plans and sticks to them. They view you as someone who has went through lot and that has made you closed off and uncertain. But also they see you as someone who they can depend on and find help and support and vice versa. They see you as someone goal oriented and ambitious who loves to plan things.

PILE 5

Signs: Aries, Scorpio, Capricorn / Gem: Unakite / South node / Page of pentacles, 9 of swords r., 10 of swords r.

Your friends love many aspects about you. They love how you don't dwell on past mistakes, how grounded and loyal you are, how you have learned to depend on them and seek their help. They know you have been going through a lot and how you survived and you are recovering. They feel really proud of you.

PILE 6

Signs: Scorpio, Libra, Gemini / Gem: Snowflake obsidian / First half / the Moon, 6 of cups, 4 of cups

Your friends love how emotional you are and that you arent scared to show it. Someone who commits to their dreams and works towards making them real. They see you as someone secretive, but also keeping secrets well, they love your past memories that you hared together and think about them a lot. Maybe they miss the past you and are a bit melancholic. At this time you may be growing apart and they might feel a bit indifferent.

PILE 7

Signs: Taurus, Libra, Aquarius / Gem: Amber / Waning moon / the Sun r, the Star, 7 of pentacles

Your friends love how positive and energetic you are, that you act as leader and they can trust you. Someone who is always living fully in the present. They see you as someone really bright and positive, enthusiastic, happy, full of hope and inspiration. Someone who is faithful to them until the end. Someone who has grown a lot since you met. Someone patient.

PILE 8

Signs: Leo, Cancer, Libra / Gem: Garnet / South node / Queen of wands, 10 of cups, 9 of wands r.

Your friends think you are a fighter who doesn't give up. They love how you don't dwell on past mistakes. They see you as someone confident and self-assured, passionate, determined, social, extroverted. They see you as someone happy, the life of the party, someone secure and charismatic. They might think you are too stubborn sometimes, too defensive or someone who refuses to compromise.

PILE 9

Signs: Pisces, Leo, Sagittarius / Gem: Green Fluorite / Waxing moon / King of pentacles, 8 of pentacles, Knight of cups

Your friends love how knowledgeable and curious you are. They love how sure you are of what you are doing and where you re headed to. They see you as someone ambitious, safe and kind, someone who is very skillful and helps them a lot. Someone protective and ready to defend their friends at all times. Someone idealistic ready to fight for their ideas, someone charming, tactful, diplomatic, who can mend any fights in the friend group.

[druidwolf21]

Leman russ x f reader

Return

Ugh I had to, I love him so much

I need this man carnally

Everyone Please lemme know your thoughts!!

Warning for LEWD NSFW

I tried to include some (what Google says) Norse words but they could be wrong please don't yell!

Drottning-queen

Feilan-little wolf

Ástin min-my love

@moodymisty @beckyninja @cosmic-cryptid-from-beyond @lemon-russ

I'm tagging you guys because I love you from afar and need your opinion 🥺

You carried yourself high, head raised and back straight as you walked along the halls of the Hrafnkel. The iron walls of the battleship were sporadically peppered with tapestries of great battles, wolves and glory, but they were of little interest to you as you strode onward, your hand gently gripping the dense fur of the fenrisian wolf who prowled beside you.

Astartes nodded to you as you walked, some muttering "Feilan" as you passed.

You shook your head slightly and slowed. "little wolf" you muttered to yourself "A fitting name I suppose, don't you agree, Frenki?"

You looked to the large wolf and cocked your head. It's large amber eyes stared back at you as you as you scratched its shoulder before setting off again.

No time to dawdle

"let us go to our Lord then, shall we?" You smile picking up the pace as you draw closer to the ebony doors. You reach out a hand to grasp the silvered handle when the wood swings open and you are faced with the fur and steel armour of a marine.

"Dróttning" he greeted, slamming a ceremite fist to his chest in greeting, the noise ringing down the hall.

"chapter master Grimnar, it does me well to see you" you smiled in return at the man towering over you "I assume your business with my lord is concluded? I have urgent matters to discuss"

The grizzled warrior raised a brow before speaking "indeed my lady, I now have other duties to attend" He dippes his chin and passed by, roughly scratching Frenki's head as he did so. "I shall advise our brothers Lord Russ will be indisposed until further notice"

"my thanks, chapter master" you flitted through the gap in the door and closed it softly behind you.

Frenki lapped a long wet tongue against your arm before bolting past you to leap at his brother, rolling in the pile of furs as he rejoice at the reunion.

Your eye however, was drawn somewhere much different.

You watched as leman slugged off his heavy furs and dropped his leather tunic to the floor, the muscles under his skin working as he stretched, running a callused hand through his hair, stood only in his woolen trousers, he knelt to remove a boot.

Walking over you ran a hand over his back, following the line of his muscle and scars up his back until your hand found his hair.

You gently began untwisting one of the braids in his hair as your lips met his ear.

"my wolf" you whispered, gently biting at his lobe.

You gasp as you are suddenly lifted into the air, feet dangling as lips meet yours, arms wrapped around your waist holding you close. You feel a tongue run across your lips, tasting you. You moan into the touch and pull away, panting slightly as eyes the colour of ice stare into you before dropping you onto a bed of soft sheets and furs.

"I have missed you, my lord" you sigh, pulling gently at his hair. Leman grins at you, large canines bared as he looks down at you. Heat rises up your neck and into your cheeks, feeling like a hare caught by the wolf, you sigh again as he presses his face into your neck, biting and sucking at your skin.

A hand snakes it's way up your dress, following the soft skin of your thigh before stopping at your core and you moan at the contact, pressing yourself into his hand.

"I can tell" he smirks "so wet for me, before I have even touched you" He presses a finger slowly inside you and you moan, arching into him as he slowly moves in and out. "So eager to please, such a good girl"

His other hand find the front of you dress and pulls the fabric down, your skin prickles as the sudden chill, until he brings his mouth down and drags his tongue across a sensitive nipple.

"p.please" you gasp, reaching for him, only to have both of your wrists grasped and pressed down to the mattress above your head

"please what?"

Again with that throne damned smirk

You feel a familiar sensation rising as he continues to finger in and out of you, his thumb circling your clit as your heart beat is like a hammer in your ears and you cry out as pleasure washes over you

"you sing so sweetly when you cum" he sighed, releasing your wrists and stripping his trousers, before leaning over you again

"russ please" you beg, breathless "I need you.."

Your begging is silenced as He bites into your shoulder, easing himself between your wet folds. You gasp, feeling yourself being filled to your limit as he slides inside you.

"such a good girl, your pretty little cunt takes every inch" he growls, fully sheathing himself in you. You moan and arch into him again, hands clawing at his back before falling back to grasp the sheets as he begins pumping into you.

His arms are either side of your head as he gazes down at you, his thighs hitting your ass as he drives himself deep inside you, you turn your head to the side, only for him to grasp your chin and turn you back to him.

"look at me" he panted "I want to see your pretty little face as you cum"

You feel the heat rising in your core again and whimper, trying to keep your head unclouded, but God's, he's so big, and the way he looks at you, the moans as he fuck you...

Leman spits a curse as feels you tighten around him, cumming.

"already?" he grumbled, thrusting into you more erratically " you must've been so lonely if you cum for me so easily" he grunted as he leans closer, lifting your thighs up and grabbing your ass roughly to hit deeper, if that was even possible.

"only for you my wolf" you cry, feeling as though all sense is being fucked from your brain "I am only yours"

Leman snarled and pounded into you harder, fucking you into the mattress, his eyes wild and he tangled a hand in your hair, pulling your head up so he could run his tongue along your throat.

"mine, all mine, little wolf" he moaned as you felt him cum inside you, his breath erratic and his hips thrust to drive it as deep inside you as he could before he finally stopped, resting in his forearms above your flushed body, his blonde hair tickling your skin as he slowly raised himself off you, pulling himself out of your warmth and you sighed at the suddenly empty feeling, wishing already to be filled again. You sit up and feel a heavy fur being pulled across your shoulders to shield you from any chill.

"I have missed you, my sweet" you smile tiredly, staring up at the Primark as he adjusted the pelt.

"Ástin min" he smiled sweetly, sweeping a hand across your face " would that I never have to leave your side" he winked at you "or your bed"

You rolled your eyes and laughed, before standing and reaching for him

"come my lord, let me finish your braids"

[themanicnami]

💖Witchcraft Correspondence: Love💖

Love is one of the parts of life humans chase after in many ways. Not just in ways of romantic desire and sexual interactions but the love of family, friends and love of oneself. It is a common topic when it comes to magic and divination so with that - may this be an easy reference for all of you looking to incorporate love of any kind into your craft. Please note: this isn't every possible correspondence out there - this is more a quick reference guide. Happy witching~

💖Herbs for Love: Anise, Basil, Bay, Catnip, Chamomile, Cinnamon, Coriander/Cilantro, Clove, Damiana, Dill, Fennel, Ginger, Hawthorne, Hibiscus, Jasmine, Lavender, Lemon Balm, Meadowsweet, Myrrh, Parsley, Rose, Rose Hip, Rosemary, Saffron, Sage, Spearmint, Thyme, Vanilla, Valerian, Yarrow

💖 Flowers for Love: Aster, Baby's-Breath, Bleeding Heart, Carnation, Cherry Blossom, Daffodil, Geranium, Hyacinth, Iris, Jasmine, Lavender, Lilac, Orchid, Rose, Sunflower, Tulip

💖 Fruit for Love: Apple, Apricot, Avocado, Banana, Cherry, Cranberry, Fig, Guava, Lemon, Lime, Mango, Nectarine, Orange, Papaya, Passion Fruit, Pomegranate, Peach, Pear, Plum, Raspberry, Strawberry

💖 Vegetables for Love: Artichoke, Asparagus, Beet, Carrot, Celery, Cucumber, Endive, Leek, Lettuce, Onion, Peas, Pumpkin, Radish, Sweet Pea, Tomato, Zucchini

💖 Foods for Love: Chocolate, Pistachio, Rye Bread, Sugar (sweets), Wine

💖 Crystals for Love: Agate, Amber, Amethyst, Aquamarine, Carnelian, Emerald, Garnet, Green Aventurine, Kunzite, Lapis Lazuli, Malachite, Moonstone, Obsidian, Onyx, Pink Topaz, Pink Tourmaline, Pink Quartz (dyed), Rhodochrosite, Rhodonite, Tiger's Eye, Rose Quartz, Ruby

💖 Oils for Love: Anise, Basil, Bay, Birch, Cardamom, Clove, Ginger, Grapefruit, Jasmine, Juniper, Lemongrass, Lemon, Lime, Marjoram, Mints, Myrrh, Rose, Rosemary, Vanilla

💖 Incense/Scents for Love: Amber, Bamboo, Catnip, Cedarwood, Chamomile, Cinnamon, Dragon's Blood, Ginger, Jasmine, Lavender, Patchouli, Rose, Rosewood, Sandalwood, Vanilla, Ylang-ylang

💖 Colors for Love: Pink, Red, White, Orange, Purple, Gold, Silver

💖 Moon Phase for Love: New Moon, Waxing, Full Moon

💖 Day of Week for Love: Friday

💖 Elements for Love: Fire, Water

💖 Zodiac for Love Virgo, Taurus, Cancer, Leo, Gemini, Pisces

💖 Planets for Love: Venus, Moon

💖 Animals for Love: Beaver, Butterfly, Cow, Crane, Dolphin, Dove, Elephant, Flamingo, Hare, Horse, Ladybug, Lion, Lovebird, Owl, Penguin, Starfish, Swan

~~~~~

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[cc-tinslebee]

Gojo and Nanami's class years adopting orphaned teens as a canon event (the playlist)

a playlist inspired by Gojo & Megumi, Nanami & Yuji, Geto & Nanako/Mimiko, and my own au of Shoko & Junpei (they are NOT beating the adoption allegations)

listen on spotify!

Harpy Hare - Yaelokre she can't keep them all safe / they will die and be afraid / mother, tell me so I say / Harpy Hare, where have you buried all your children?

Mama's Boy - Dominic Fike half of my heart is in your chest, I’m not a mama’s boy

Mama - My Chemical Romance mama, we’re meant for the flies / and right now, they’re building a coffin your size

Taking What's Not Yours - TV Girl you know where to find me / and I know where to look

Reflections - The Neighbourhood I see my reflection in your eyes (I sold my soul for you, I know you see it too)

Devil’s Advocate - The Neighbourhood I’m the devil’s advocate / you don’t know the half of it / good luck tryna manage it / if a god is a dog and a man is a fraud, then I’m a lost cause

I Bet On Losing Dogs - Mitski I know they’re losing and I’ll pay for my place by the ring / where I’ll be looking in their eyes when they’re down

everything i wanted - Billie Eilish as long as I’m here, no one can hurt you / don’t wanna lie here, but you can learn to

This Night Has Opened My Eyes - The Smiths a shoeless child on a swing / reminds you of your own again / she took away your troubles / oh, but then again she left pain

New Person, Same Mistakes - Tame Impala feel like a brand new person (but you’ll make the same old mistakes)

The Archer - Taylor Swift screaming, who could ever leave me, darling? / and who could stay? / you could stay

If We Have Each Other - Alec Benjamin if we have each other, then we’ll both be fine / I will be your mother, and I’ll hold your hand / you should know I’ll be there for you

Beautiful Boy - John Lennon the monster’s gone / he’s on the run and your daddy’s here

1985 - Bo Burnham my dad was happier than I am / if I could be anyone, dead or alive / I would wanna be my dad in 1985

The Future - Bo Burnham is it gonna end? (Yeah) / When? (Never) / It’s just another day of hanging with my daughter / and I’m living in the future

United in Grief - Kendrick Lamar I hope you find some peace of mind in this lifetime (tell them, tell them the truth)

Daddy Issues - The Neighbourhood go ahead and cry, little boy / you know that your daddy did too / you know what your mama went through

Cinnamon Girl - Lana Del Ray there’s things I wanna talk about / but better not to give / but if you hold me without hurting me / you’ll be the first who ever did

Euphoria - Kendrick Lamar y’all think all my life is rap? / that’s hoe shit, I got a son to raise, but I can see you don’t know nothin’ ‘bout that

She Knows - J. Cole, Cults, Amber Coffman bad things happen to the people you love / and you find yourself praying up to heaven above / but honestly I’ve never had much sympathy / ‘cause those bad things, I always saw them coming for me

Almost (Sweet Music) - Hozier I got some colour back / she thinks so, too / I laugh like me again / she laughs like you

I Hear a Symphony - Cody Fry I used to hear a simple song / that was until you came along / now in its place is something new / I hear it when I look at you

Duvet - bôa I am hurting / I have lost it all

[falling-star-cygnus]

...i've gotten four asks about this sorta thing -> which i'm super grateful for!! thank y'all so much for wanting to see more of my writing!!

i've just sort of been putting these specific ones off until i felt i could adequately display it and even now I feel iffy about the characterization, but I really didn't want to seem like i ignoring y'all either :( -> Masterlist

i have some semblance of a plot now, so... i sincerely hope you all enjoy? this might be the push i need to get out of my funk, and i put in the very best effort for all of you!!

"You were a WHAT?"

"Is now really the time to be surprised!?"

The Ethereal- they kinda looked like one the Ballerina Twins actually, if the Ballerina Twins had galactic glitchy orbs for heads and rainbow glowy nervous systems- warbles at them impatiently. Anby's barely keeping them at bay with her sword.

It's practically a toothpick compared to the giant weapon Thanatos was wielding... They raise their shield-

Billy fires.

It doesn't land, of course it doesn't, but the smaller Demara doesn't get bludgeoned either so the android counts it as a win.

Especially when the bullet ricochets off the sign previously behind the larger than necessary Ethereal and back towards him. Billy tilts his head left just in time to miss it, and pivots on his heel when Thanatos shrieks and flails back. Bullseye.

"It's showtime!" he announces, and lines The Girls up somewhere where their jaw would be. Only about six of the bullets- 12 in total, the android was counting- actually hit before they teleport away again.

Billy reloads.

None of them, except the Boss, used the right typing to properly take Thanatos on.. but there was little to be done until they could carve an escape route out.

The Hares' ready their weapons, turning in slow circles as they wait for Thanatos to appear again. Were they gone..? He knew better than to assume they were, of course, but-

"Billy- behind you!" Nekomata points; he whirls around.

And takes a blade to the head.

There's not much to say for this part, aside from pointing out how cliche and underhanded it was to get him from behind like this, but bits and pieces float around to the surface with just enough clarity to be worth mentioning.

The pavement cracking under the android's weight.

Sparks fluttering out of the cleaved out gash.

Thin oil leaking out of his head like a halo.

Isolation.

Billy stands in the inky abyss of his own mind. His memories- his memories of the Hares'- play out before him like a movie: braiding Anby's hair, putting Nicole's into pigtails, napping in the sun with Nekomata on his chest, warmth-

Fighting as a team, Anby helping him up, Nicole calling his name, the restaurant they all went to after successful raids, fighting alone, Being alone in that truck bed, sand clogging up his joints.

Chill.

The memories fade away, leaving the android with the stilted thought of:

Don't- take them.. from me.

Nothing.

Billy Kid wakes up, and points the nearest weapon- a gun, by the feel of it- at their forehead. The hands reaching for him still, too pale to be anybody from the Sons.

Calloused enough to be Caesar's, though, so they must be some form of blade user. Electric, if the Lichtenburg scars on their finger tips have any weight to them.

The android sits up, ignoring the stab of pain behind his right video processer. He could deal with that later, after figuring out where the actual hell he was. And dealing with whoever it was that moved him.

They're small, surprisingly so, but Lucy and Piper were also small so that didn't exactly mean anything of value. Brilliant white hair, amber eyes, and green and black tech wear.

And a backpack packed with enough thrumming energy to kill the Dead-End Butcher.

Definitely a threat.

Billy Kid doesn't lower the gun, even as he's sure the human's fleshy arms were getting tired of being raised. Or maybe they weren't. He knows their type, he's cut from the same cloth himself.

A weapon.

"Billy, d-"

"How do you know my name," he interrupts, praying to a god he didn't believe in that he wouldn't have to shoot someone so small, "and why are you only using part of it."

He was Billy Kid, the feared enforcer of the outer ring. The only people that occasionally just called him Billy were the other Sons of Calydon. Not strangers.

"We work together," his potential captor calmly says, lowering their hands by their sides, "We're friends. Partners in crime."

"The hell we are."

"We are," they insist.

He doesn't buy it. Billy Kid didn't have friends, he was an android. A weapon and tool for whoever his boss was. Big Sis, the drifters, whoever had him before that.

He cared about them all, more than he should considering what he was made for, but he wasn't built to receive that kind of care in return. Pain spikes behind his processer again, and his free hand instinctively moves to grasp at it.

The stranger jolts forward as the gun dips.

Billy Kid shoots on instinct, even as something like worry[?] coils the wires in his lower torso too tight. There's a click, but in the end nothing but dry fire. And relief[?]

Billy Kid curses at the opening he's provided, and braces himself for the inevitable attack. He doesn't know where the other gun was- because there had to be one, Burnice only ever made things in pairs- and..

Why did he assume Burnice made these...?

Small hands, calloused and scarred, gently- why was he being treated gently- bat his hand away from his video processor. The empty gun is sandwiched between them.

More carefully than he deserves for shooting at them, the stranger inspects something on his face, and the android swings his lanky legs over the side of- it looks like a cot[?] to make it easier for them.

"You took a bad hit to the head," they inform his forehead, only pulling away when Billy Kid starts to get twitchy at the proximity, "an Ionized - Thanatos. It most likely messed with your memory bank."

"Sounds convenient," he scoffs, lowering the gun to his side, "Most likely messed with my memory bank?"

"It definitely did, we were friends," the stranger presses, strangely insistent, "What's the last thing you remember?"

They take off their backpack as the android thinks back on it. Whether to prove they weren't a threat or gain his trust to attack later, he wasn't sure.

What he was sure of was the fact that the harder he thought about it the harder his head pounded. Everything dating up to the past year and six months was just- blank. Corrupted files that spat static and made him want to lie down for a while.

More than that, he felt... lonely, for some reason. Like a big chunk had been carved from his sternum and left to burn in front of him.

"Billy?"

"I don't remember you."

And oh. He'd take it right back if it meant that look never crossed their face again.

It's barely there for a second, but it's a look of pure hurt. Hurt that makes something close to guilt roar where his mechanical heart sat. He never wanted this stranger to look at him like that again.

He never wanted anyone to look at him like that, to be honest. Fighting was fun- it was what he was built for- and the thrill was something that almost nothing could replicate- but...

Flashes- memories- of Lucy and Piper flit through his head, images and phantoms of them tucked into his sides on warm days and colder nights. A rough hand carding through his hair.

...being sent.. off?

“I’m-”

The door cuts him off with a bang!

"What's taking so long!? Is he ok?"

"Nicole! Anby told us to wait-"

Long pink hair and calculating green eyes bully their way into the room. Something in his programming wants to stand at attention all of a sudden...

The stranger- the white-haired stranger, because now there were three- moves away from the confused android. It looks like they want to say something but apparently thinks better of it and turns towards Billy Kid.

"I don't think I should be the one to say it," they- the thiren said her name was Anby[?]- announce, with all the enthusiasm of a dry rock. Which seems to be her MO, endearingly enough. Endearingly?

The pink haired- Nicole puts her hands on her hips.

"Say what?" she demands, before turning her critical gaze onto the android, "Are you ok or not, Billy?"

Again, shortening my name... Who are these people?

"All systems are operational," he reports anyway, because despite her brash words she sounds worried, "Except my memory banks, apparently."

Side-eye.

Anby's nose just barely scrunches at his tone.

"What do you mean your memory banks?" Nicole prompts, gaze flicking between the two.

"He doesn't remember us."

The Cunning Hares freeze. Silence rules the small space they've tucked themselves into- which... kinda looks like a garage? A nice garage compared to whatever you'd find in the Outer Ring.

Much too nice to be anywhere close to the Outer Ring.

"Where did you take me?"

Nobody answers for a good while.

Until the thiren lets slip:

"...it's so weird to hear you talk like that.."

She shudders from her fluffy ears tips to the sleek finishes of her tails. Were they prosthetics? Why were they blue at the at the base-?

What was wrong with the way he talked?

And why didn't she answer his question-

"Not- not in a bad way!" the thiren is hasty to tack on, "you just... you don't sound happy anymore.."

...happy? He wasn't built to sound happy. He wasn't even supposed to talk much outside status reports and communications. Although- sure, the android often broke that somewhat unspoken rule when Piper and Lucy needed a bit more help to drift off at night, or when Burnice needed someone to bounce a new design off of, or if Lighter was talking about something that happened while he was out in shops, or-

...you got the idea. Caesar hadn't explicitly banned him from talking with the other Sons, not by a long shot, he just- didn't want to push it.

The silence surrounding the ragtag four stretches into something distinctly uncomfortable.

"That.. aside," Nicole- who he assumes is the Boss- eventually starts, "We.. ahem. We got your wound patched up just fine, but... we ended up needing some help to get you back here."

Billy Kid tilts his head.

It made sense, of course, he was an android made of reinforced metal. And while he didn't doubt the strength of these people- especially Anby- he had an itching feeling that their strength was.... not particularly rooted in the weight-lifting sense.

So who-?

"Well. This isn't exactly the reunion I was hoping for."

....there was no way.

Caesar, the Big Sis of the Sons of Calydon herself, walks through the- admittedly abused looking door. Billy Kid shoots to his feet.

And severely underestimates the refractory period required following the repair of a head wound. He stumbles.

A sturdy arm catches his middle with ease.

"Easy, Kid," Caesar reprimands, hauling him back to his feet, "There's no reason to do that, I'm not your boss anymore."

Her words are oddly quiet, as if the other three in the room weren't supposed to hear. Big Sis had always been good at that. Quietly being reassuring without being coddling.

That achingly hollow feeling returns.

From behind Caesar's large frame, he can see the Hares' lower their hands slowly. Their faces are oddly stormy..

Anby bullies her way between them.

"Quite the team you've found yourself, by the way," Caesar continues as if she hadn't, "I'd ask you to fill me in, but.."

...right. Her pale eyes lock onto his, and-

She gives him a single nod of approval. Something loosens in his wiring.

"You'll be alright, Kid."

"Of course he will." Anby cuts in, squaring her small shoulders, "Even if we have to remake all the memories he lost, Billy will always be a member of the Cunning Hares."

And-

Billy finally believes it.

[hircines-hunter]

WIP Wednesday

I’ve been sick. And struggling. Originally I wasn’t going to post anything. And I will get around to proper responses and reblogging when I’m much more coherent. Bc my brain is absolute mush and words are moving when I read. Tagged by @umbracirrus @lillxart @skyrim-forever @sanza-17 @theoneandonlysemla and @thequeenofthewinter thank you all so much!!! I love you so much!

I will tag @madamefluffnstuff @bougainvillea-and-saltwater @pocket-vvardvark @sulphuricgrin @mavariel and anyone else that wants to do this! Feel free to tag me! And no obligations! Got some more blood moons for you.

“Sif….” Farkas whispered.

Sifkni stirred against the warmth of her husband. She pulled herself closer and hummed against him.

“Everyone’s asleep….” He whispered again. “This is your chance…. Our chance.”

Sifkni groaned and moved. She looked at him and smiled. She leaned over and kissed his face. “Thank you. I’ll never ask for something so outrageous from you again.”

Farkas reached up and ran his fingers through her hair. “Even if you did, I’d probably still say yes.”

Sifkni leaned into his touch. “Whatever you need from me, ask.”

Farkas laughed. “We are a team, my love. You asked me….”

Tears welled in her eyes. Sifkni leaned over and kissed his face all over. “I did. But you could’ve told me no.”

Farkas sat up and cupped her face. “And I know you would’ve gone alone.” He laughed and kissed her. “I’d rather us be dumb together.”

Sifkni laughed. “You are hardly dumb.”

“I’ve got you fooled enough.” Farkas stood and helped her out of the bed. “Let’s go. Quietly. Jergen is on watch.” He ushered Sifkni out of the tent. He nodded to Jergen, who nodded back. Both Sifkni and him fled the campsite. They trekked through the thick forest, avoiding trails as they made their way towards the clearing with the statue. Wispy, thin fog covered the clearing. Birds and bugs chirped and sang in the night. Farkas held her hand as they crossed the field to the Shrine. “Should we kill something else?”

Sifkni stared at the glistening unicorn heart. “I think we should be okay. It is still something I killed for the prayer. Unicorn hearts seem to stay fresh.” Sifkni walked to the shrine and stared up at Lord Hircine. She reached out and touched the spear point. The cold stone sent an eerie chill down her back. She looked at Farkas, who nodded. They both sat down, holding each other’s hand. Sifkni interlaced their fingers and took a final glance around before she prayed.

Farkas watched her for a moment before looking around and keeping a lookout for stray Hunters. He shivered as a gust of wind brushed past him. A chill went down his spine. He squeezed Sifkni’s hand. “Sif.” Her name was barely a whisper. His heart skipped and pounded. A bead of sweat dropped from his brow as he swallowed.

“Well met, Moon-Blessed hare.”

Sifkni jumped. She looked up as the statue moved. It creaked and crumbled as the Daedric lord moved. His eyes glowed eerily amber. Sifkni stood slowly and placed herself in front of Farkas. “I’ve come to make a deal.”

Lord Hircine knelt and grabbed the unicorn heart from the altar. “What do you have to offer? What can take the place of your beating heart?” He stared down at the Hare. His eyes pierced through her soul. He turned his head slowly. His head tilted in an unnatural way. Glowing eyes landed on Farkas. “What about your other beating heart?”

Sifkni growled. Her transformation was fast and quick, at the cost of pain. She bore through it as her maw clamped down on the statue’s arm, breaking it off. “I will find you a suitable sacrifice. It will not be Farkas.” Sifkni jumped in front of Farkas, protecting. Her teeth bared as she snarled. The hackled rose on her back. She snapped as the Hircine statue moved.

The stone leaned forward. “You could offer another.” He looked lower to her stomach. Two more heartbeats.

“To Oblivion with you!” She launched her at the stone.

[shadowpuppetteer]

Hallu, I was just thinking, I know that the gargoyles all have black eyes cause that was the style for the animation at the time, but! Imagine if they had colored irises~

Goliath: Dark brown

Hudson: Hazel

Brooklyn: Amber

Broadway: Dark blue

Lexington: Sepia brown (think 2k12 Donatello)

Angela: Deep green (shared with Demona)

That's a fun thought. For the series it's really hard to see everyone's eye color who is not a gargoyle (especially since the series mostly takes place at night)

I always head cannon it as they have black eyes because they are nocturnal creatures, so their eyes need to catch as much light as possible. And they keep the whites of their eyes because they are social creatures, and the movement of eyes is another form of non-verbal communication. When I was reading "Survival of the Friendliest" by Brian Hare, they touched on our eyes, and I thought about the gargoyles 😆

But it is fun to think about iris color for sure. Especially when they are in human form!

But that's just me. It's always fun to see how other people in the fandom write and draw all these great characters! I just like the black eyes bit because then my special interest for biology gets to peek out and infodump 🤣

[heavenlyyshecomes]

Ownership seemed transposed. These objects seemed to induce insatiability, to own you, make demands on you. Collectors themselves speak of the intoxication of hunting and buying, a process that could send you towards mania: ‘Of all the passions, of all without exception, the passion for the bibelot is perhaps the most terrible and invincible. The man smitten by an antique is a lost man. The bibelot is not only a passion, it is a mania,’ claimed the young writer Guy de Maupassant. A haunting self-description of this comes in a strange book written by Charles’s scourge, Edmond de Goncourt. In La Maison d’un artiste de Goncourt describes each room of his own house in Paris in painstaking detail–the boiseries, the pictures, the books, the objects–in an attempt to evoke each object and picture and their placement as an act of homage to his dead brother, with whom he had lived. In two volumes, each of more than 300 pages, de Goncourt constructs an autobiography and a travelogue, as much as an exhaustive inventory of a house through objects. Japanese art saturates the house. There are Japanese brocades and kakemonos, scrolls, in the hall. Even the garden is a carefully curated assortment of Chinese and Japanese trees and shrubs. In a moment worthy of Borges, his collection even incorporates a grouping of Chinese art put together by a seventeenth-century Japanese ‘bibeloteur exotique’. There is endless play in de Goncourt’s display between pictures, screens, scrolls on open display and those objects held in vitrines.

—Edmund de Waal, The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance

[tikkunolamresistance]

Parochet, (curtain of the Torah shrine), 1833, Silk damask, metal threads, cotton, Donated to the Stadttempel, Vienna, by Hermann Todesco, Jüdisches Museum Wien, Vienna

Installation view of The Hare with Amber Eyes. The Jewish Museum, NY. Photo: Iwan Baan. 

[wouldntyou-liketoknow]

Quiet Moments

Hhokay.

This recent ask, right? Well, even though I still stand by the boundaries I explained…I do feel like I might have come off a bit more passive-aggressive than I would’ve liked. If that’s the case, then I apologize. 

Even if all the irl holiday stress is over, I’m still dealing with seasonal depression. I’ve just kinda been in a haze all month. That’s the reason I’m struggling with my current WIP (which was supposed to be a Christmas gift for certain friends, but now will hopefully be posted on New Year’s Eve because I just really want to contribute something to celebrate).

In short, my head is a mess at the moment. However, since I’ve had a few minutes to think…perhaps fulfilling that little request will help get the juices flowing again. Help me regain focus, y’know? 

So, to the anon who sent that ask last night: here ya go! STILL NO SMUT, BECAUSE I JUST DON'T WRITE LIKE THAT. Admittedly not much in the way of spice either. More like…lightly-seasoned Hurt/Comfort, I guess? Either way, don’t say I never did anything for you.

(Disclaimer: both of the characters in this snippet belong to me. For more information on R.D., go here. For more information on Caliban, go here.)

(Trigger Warnings: stress/anxiety, slightly suggestive themes, blood/gore, broken bones, dislocated joints, implied violence, descriptions of illegal business, mentions of cannibalism, mentions of cravings/hunger-pangs, mentions of eating/drinking, mentions of illegal experimentation. Please let me know if I missed anything.) 

___

Scrrtch-scrrtch

The sound was so light, so timid. 

R.D. had only just left the office upstairs, only just walked into the bedroom. Her head was still buzzing with all the notes she’d had to memorize and record for her latest experiment. 

(Though, she had to admit that the typical stress was followed by satisfaction. The test subject her team had abducted nearly a week ago was still alive. Certainly not well, but at least somewhat stable. His blood had already shown such interesting reactions to those chemical samples…no doubt there would be plenty more reactions on the way…)

At first, she had to pause and wonder if she’d actually heard anything at all. 

And as if to drive the point home… 

Scrrtch-scrrtch, sccrrtch-scrrttch

There it was again: the faint sound of little nails dragging along wood. 

And it was obviously seeping into the air from the walk-in closet.

Brow furrowing, R.D. approached that corner of the room, flicking on the closet’s light as she entered.

Scrrtch-scrrtch

The door to Caliban’s den was well-camouflaged among the wallpaper in here, but more than enough time had passed for her to have no trouble finding it. 

R.D. reached over and eased the hidden threshold open, revealing a steep concrete staircase.

She found Snare on the first step, one of his feet lightly thumping against the floor as he fidgeted with his forepaws. 

The pale hare was usually full of energy, and in a way, she supposed he was right now. 

But this was a different type of energy. 

His long ears were nearly touching his back, flattened almost like those of an upset cat. When he craned his neck to look up at her, his weird, beady little dark amber eyes shone with what could only be a clear, almost human-esque sense of worry. 

Snare leaned close, pinching the cuff of her pant-leg between his buck-teeth and tugging a few times. He then dropped to all fours and scurried down the stairs.

R.D. didn’t hesitate to follow. Snare’s quirks made it difficult for most people (except Caliban, of course) to fully understand him, but he was a clever little thing. He’d been trained in a way similar to a dog, and you just got the sense that he knew what he was doing. (...Most of the time, anyway.)

R.D. shifted her weight, keeping her footsteps soft, holding one hand against the cold cement wall to keep her balance. She paused on the final stair, peering into the den.

What she saw…well, it wasn’t unfamiliar, really. 

Caliban stood by the block-island, his back turned to her, in the center of all the kitchen and butchering equipment he’d set up down here so long ago. 

There didn’t seem to be anything off with the functional chaos around him…

R.D. silently walked closer, coming to stand just a little ways from his side. 

There was a severed human arm lying on the block-island, probably having been fished out of the chest-freezer a little while ago. Again, not all that surprising; though she’d obviously had a few questions about Caliban’s lifestyle when they first began seeing each other, that didn’t mean she’d ever had a problem with it, mind you.

There was a bit of blood here and there, but it wasn’t much compared to the messes Caliban usually made for his work. 

In fact, the gore here only seemed to be the result of leaking, not cutting. There were no knives (butcher tools or medical blades) strewn about. Even Caliban’s favorite meat-cleaver was nowhere to be seen…

As R.D. watched, she realized that Caliban’s knuckles were white as he gripped the arm’s wrist to keep it steady. His free hand, meanwhile, was busily tugging at the victim’s fingers: he bent the index back with a sharp, sickening little snap!

The thumb and pinkie both looked just a bit too long for comfort, both laying at awkward angles. It only took a second or two for R.D. to conclude that they’d been forcefully dislocated, likely having been gripped at the knuckles when the joints inside were pulled out of their sockets. 

R.D. blinked, and Caliban had already moved on to the middle finger now. He pulled it harshly, bending it back just like he had before…only now, he kept snapping the phalange, slowly-but-surely folding the digit into a fleshy, uneven rectangle.

She tilted her head at the display.

Caliban was a guy who knew how to keep a system. He took pride in organizing all the stuff he harvested from The Pentas Family’s targets, whether they were his or the ones his peers brought to him for disposal. Even smaller pieces like this arm had enough stuff to be divided evenly between what he kept for eating, and what could be cleaned and sold on the Black Market. 

Sometime after they’d first moved in together, he’d been honest with R.D. about not having much in his youth; he usually balked at the idea of wasting resources—human flesh or not. 

She looked around him, slightly craning her neck to see his face. 

Caliban’s eyes were narrowed, all puffy and red. His jaw was clenched, lips pulled back to reveal rows of gritted teeth; his silver canine-cap wasn’t glinting like usual. His skin shone against the flickering light from above; translucent streaks ran down the length of his features. A tiny speck suddenly slid down his cheek, soon hanging off his chin and then plummeting down onto the block-island’s surface.

Something cold and clammy slithered along R.D.’s ribcage. It suddenly felt like there was a jagged hook digging into the bottom of her heart. 

Thinking quickly, she turned away, trekking up the stairs as quietly as she’d come. After that, she exited the closet and made for the space next to it.

The master bathroom was calm, clean, tidy; everything just seemed to have a little gleam to it. 

She pushed the shower curtain aside, then stopped the drain. 

As the water flowed, she’d check it with her wrist every now and again. Not too hot—only warm enough for thin veils of steam to curl through the air. She fished out some bubble bath from under the sink. Not too fragrant; just sweet in a delicate way, kind of like jasmine tea. 

It was an uncommon, expensive brand that she normally wouldn’t share with anyone, but…

Sooner or later, the tub was full enough. After twisting the faucet off, R.D. hurried back into the closet and down the stairs. 

Since the arm’s fingers were all in a very bad way by now, Caliban had turned his attention to the wrist. His hands were shaking as he held it in a vice-like grip, turning it every which way, eliciting all sorts of pops and cracks that would’ve been stomach-churning to anyone else. 

“Caliban..?” R.D. called out, marking sure to keep her voice low and even. 

Her husband still flinched, freezing in place before slowly glancing over his shoulder. The tears were still sliding down, one after another. 

R.D. walked closer. 

He wasn’t avoiding her eyes—that was a good sign. A very small one, but better than nothing...

“It’s…it’s getting pretty late.” R.D. stopped right beside him, reaching over to put her hand over his. Unless you counted a slow nod, he didn’t budge to stop her. 

Caliban tilted his head; even with all the concrete between his den and their house’s first level, there was no way he hadn’t heard the water running 

Slowly, carefully, she lifted his left hand away from the gruesome project. “Why don’t you take a break, huh?” 

Caliban chewed his lip, finally glancing away. A concoction of anger and pain was still very much present in his eyes, but now they were looking more and more tired by the second.

Exhausted, really…

“Okay,” he murmured. His voice was nearly inaudible, so much smaller and choked-up than R.D. was used to. As though his lungs had been buried in layers of something viscous and rotten and wrong. 

...Aaaaaannd that was a bad sign. She’d technically handed a pun right to him, and he didn’t even seem to register it.

He moved to go through the block-island’s drawers, but R.D. kept her hold on his hand, shaking her head. 

“No, don’t worry about that—I’ll take care of it. You go ahead,” she mentioned, nodding to the stairs.

Caliban sucked his teeth, then took a deep breath and trudged up the steps, head hanging. 

R.D. watched him go, then fished a few sheet of butcher paper from the drawer. Once the arm was wrapped up good and tight, she carried it over to the refrigerator. 

The bones inside obviously weren’t in a condition to be sold anymore. Plus…however much time had passed since Caliban had returned, he clearly hadn’t eaten anything. Even if he wasn’t in the mood at the moment, she knew he’d be hungry later.  

After making sure the den’s door was locked, R.D. flicked off the light and headed back upstairs. 

The bathroom door hung open ajar; Snare was pacing back-and-forth just in front of the threshold, almost like a sentry, his little face still screwed up with worry. R.D. reached down to scratch at the hare’s chin. Once he moved to the side, she lightly rapped her knuckles against the door. 

The response she got was a questioning hum, so she moved to look inside. 

Caliban lay against the far side of the bathtub, one elbow propped up on the side so he could rest his head on his hand. Though pretty much everything was covered in a thick blanket of soap-suds, it was still easy to see the scars littered about his shoulders and chest. Some were older than others. 

That was just life in the underground businesses: tough. Even if you had the right (or wrong, depending on the perspective) unhinged mentality for it…

“Are you feeling sick?” R.D. inquired, since it would’ve been pointless to ask if he was just okay. 

“...Not exactly,” Caliban replied after a long few seconds. “My head hurts, but that’s about it.” 

R.D. nodded. “Is there anything I can get for you?”

Caliban shook his head. The vague hurt was still clear as crystal on his face, but a good chunk of stress had clearly vanished. His shoulders were less tense than earlier; his brow wasn’t furrowed, he wasn’t grinding his teeth. 

That was the simple magic of warm water, R.D. supposed.

“Alright, then.” She took a step back, then added, “I’ll be right outside if you change your mind.”

“Thanks.” His voice was still a little weak, but not as tight as it was a few moments ago. 

R.D. stepped away, pulling the bathroom door shut with a soft click. 

After that, she let out a small sigh and head down the hall, making sure all the house’s blinds were closed and all the locks were engaged. 

What could’ve happened earlier..? 

Caliban hadn’t said anything about a hit-job lately. He’d just been focused on a few clients, harvesting and cleaning specific parts for them to eventually collect. 

He usually approached his stress a few different ways—butchering and eating was one of them, which made sense. Giving your stomach something to concentrate on could break up whatever storm was going on in your skull. 

But for something to just…make a cannibal lose his appetite like this? 

Whatever it was, it had to be serious, had to be awful. 

Once the house was secure, R.D. returned to the bedroom, closing the door behind her. She rummaged through the drawers of the mahogany dresser that stood across from the bed, quickly fishing out a set of fluffy pajamas. The fabric of the bottom-half was tinted pale shades of pink, covered in purple splotches that you’d have to squint at to recognize as a pattern of microscopic basal cells. 

R.D. settled down on the bed, untying the side-braid she pretty much always put her hair in each morning, pushing the pillows on either side against the headboard. Reaching over to the nightstand, she produced the novel she’d recently brought home from Barnes & Noble. 

The Edge of Sleep; she was a little over halfway through it. It’d seemed like slowburn at the first couple chapters, but then it just…took so many turns. Really morbid, investing stuff. It truly seemed like the perfect combination of a psychologist’s worst nightmare and dream-come-true.

R.D. wasn’t sure how much time passed since she cracked the book open; immersed as she was, her ears didn’t pick up on the gurgling sound of a bathtub draining. 

Soon enough, however, she felt the mattress dip under foreign weight beside her. And then there was an arm wrapping around her waist, and then another, both gently pulling her close. 

She looked up from the story, glancing to the side.

Caliban had already changed into his own sleepwear: a soft tank-top adorned by a little picture of a grinning venus fly trap, printed to look like it was blooming out of a breast pocket. 

His face was freshly-washed. 

He still looked less than happy, but more calm than before; the tiredness had grown a little. Hopefully he’d get plenty of  rest tonight. 

“So…what happened?” R.D. ventured, sidling closer to him. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

“No.” Caliban answered. In that split-second, his voice sounded so bitter, almost acidic.

R.D. didn’t flinch. She knew she didn’t need to…as well as how he needed to see that.

“No,” he repeated, much softer this time, shaking his head and holding her a bit tighter.

“Well, that’s just fine.” R.D. nodded and shrugged at the same time. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

He’d tell her in due time, when he was ready…or, maybe he just wouldn’t tell her at all. She knew he wouldn’t lie to her, wouldn’t try to hide anything perse. Some things just had to be buried. 

They would just have to see. 

Caliban shuffled against the pillows before resting his chin on her shoulder.

Snare hopped up over the foot of the bed, walking in a small circle before curling up by his owner’s ankles.

R.D.’s focus went back to the novel…for a moment, at least. Even if she couldn’t see his face, she could sense the hesitation he was feeling now. It would’ve been pretty hard not to, if she was honest. 

She quietly raised a hand to brush her hair away from her shoulder. She then tilted her head ever-so-slightly, opening access to her neck. 

Almost immediately she felt teeth grazing her skin.

Nowhere near enough pressure to draw blood, or even leave any markings. 

Not biting. Just…light nibbling. 

Just something to let her know that Caliban was being careful. That he’d stop if she signaled for him to, that he wasn’t going anywhere no matter what was happening. That he was just here. Thinking and processing…

Lips quirking a little, R.D. reached around until her fingers settled in his hair. 

After all, she had to show him that she was here, too.

Time seemed to slow down after that. 

Sooner or later, the nibbling stopped, and she felt him press a kiss to the same spot. Like that was to make it better, despite no damage having been done at all. 

“Love you…” Caliban murmured, leaning even closer to her. 

“Love you, too,” R.D. replied, pushing the book away and guiding him to lie down with her.

@sammys-magical-au @the-matpat-ever @b-is-in-the-closet @im-a-weird0

[ladyantiheroine]

From Bludhaven, With Love

Summary: Late one night, Selina gets a call from Gotham City. Read on AO3.

Pairing: Selina Kyle x Bruce Wayne

Warnings: Explicit sexual content.

Word Count: 4.1k words

Tags: Phone sex, mutual masturbation, voice kink, sweet/hot, set after the movie

Selina returned home just before it started to rain. After dragging her weary body up the rickety stairs past the broken elevator, she let her apartment door shut and lock behind her. All noises were muffled, and she let out a long, airy sigh.

It had been a long day. A long day of scoping out the city, looking for new targets. She came to Bludhaven hoping to con some hedge-fund types, but it seemed like all the rich guys had taken their money and fled further from Gotham, which meant there were fewer opportunities for her. 

So far, she’d been getting extra cash from guys she’d scam at bars when she wasn’t working her regular job. It was a trick she learned while working at the Iceberg Lounge. Get them drunk enough to not remember anything, but sober enough to sign a check. It was all cheap tricks, but it was all the city had to offer her since she showed up.

Selina rested her back against the door and rubbed her face. Between her new day job and trying to find some thrills, Bludhaven was draining her, both with exhaustion and boredom. She needed some sleep.

Her apartment was dark and cold this time of night. Spring was getting close, but the chills of winter were still lingering behind. She didn’t bother turning on any lights as she sauntered toward her bedroom.

In her room, Selina changed out of her day clothes and into her pajamas, which were really just a dark hoodie and cotton shorts. Her apartment was still a haphazard mess from her sudden move. Clothes were scattered around, groceries still sat in their plastic bags. She was still settling in, but all of that could wait until tomorrow.

Selina set her phone down on the bedside table and then collapsed onto the bed. Her warm, soft duvet caught her and she let her back sink into the thick mattress. Her new apartment wasn’t the fanciest place, but she got a great deal on the bed. She wanted to burrow inside it like a hare into its den.

Outside, the drizzle turned into a downpour beating against her window. Selina closed her eyes, but despite how exhausted she was, she couldn’t sleep. Ever since she got to Bludhaven, sleep had become more elusive to her. She was never great at keeping still, keeping her eyes shut, but somehow Bludhaven unsettled her more than Gotham did. Gotham was hard, but in a perverse way, it was still home.

Selina glanced at the digital clock on her bedside table. The glowing red numbers blared 2:56 AM. She sighed then turned her eyes to the ceiling and listened to the distant sounds of the city beyond her window. Bludhaven was quieter than Gotham, but the quiet did little to soothe her. As dangerous as Gotham was, its noise was familiar, like a reliable lullaby that came every night.

Selina lay still in the dark silence of her bedroom. There was hardly any light except for the faint amber glow of the streetlight beyond her window blinds. The rain was pattering harder against the window and kept the room from total silence.

She shut her eyes, ready to let sleep take her away.

And then, she heard a buzz.

The sound startled her, snapping her from her sleep and her eyes opened. She turned to see her phone alight on the table, buzzing with whoever was calling.

Selina was tempted to ignore it. Who the hell called at this ungodly hour? It wasn’t like she had many friends. At least, none that were alive and knew her number, anyway.

She closed her eyes and tried to ignore it. But something kept pricking at her head. She couldn’t remember the last time she got a call from anyone. The last person was Annika, and, well, it wasn’t for a good reason.

Selina sat up and reached for her phone. The bright screen hurt her eyes in the dark. She didn’t recognize the caller ID. It wasn’t a number she recognized from Gotham, meaning it likely wasn’t the police. Still, she couldn’t sleep, and she was just as curious as the proverbial cat of her name.

She slid her thumb across the screen to answer then brought the phone to her ear.

“Hello?” she said.

“Selina?” 

As soon as she heard her name, Selina recognized the voice. That low, gravelly, chill of a voice that spilled down her back like ice water.

Selina slowly sat up.

“Vengeance?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “It’s me.”

It had been several months since they last spoke to each other. Several months since he escorted her to the edge of the city before she left. He frequented her thoughts and dreams, but it still felt surreal to hear him now. His voice was familiar, like the echo of a ghost from beyond the grave, and it sent a shiver across Selina’s skin.

“Hi,” she said. Her mouth scrambled for something to say. “How did you…get my number?” She let out a chuckle. “Have you been stalking me?”

“You handed me your phone during the investigation,” he said. “I saw your number on it.”

Oh right, that. Selina had tried her best to not think about the Mitchell investigation too much. The last thing she wanted was lingering thoughts about the time her best friend was killed by her father. More specifically, the voicemail of her being strangled.

“I’m sorry for looking at it,” Batman said. “I just…I thought it would be good to have on record. In case I ever needed to contact you.”

Selina wasn’t exactly sure what he would need to contact her for. The case was long over, and she hadn’t been back in Gotham to stir trouble. A part of her knew the real reason he’d memorize her number when he saw it, but she didn’t say anything. 

She pursed her lips.

“It’s fine,” she said. “I thought of leaving it to you anyway before I left. I guess I figured you wouldn’t need it.”

There was a pause on the other end. Selina could tell Batman had a response on his tongue, but he kept it between his teeth.

“Why are you calling me this late?” Selina glanced at her clock again. “It’s three in the morning.”

“I know,” Batman said. “I’m sorry to wake you.”

“You didn’t wake me. I couldn’t sleep.”

“I thought maybe you were…out.”

 Selina grinned.

“Thought I was out on the street beating up assholes?” She leaned back on her pillow, one hand behind her head and the other holding the phone to her ear. “I have to say, I’m almost flattered you’d think that.”

“What have you been doing in Bludhaven?”

Selina sighed.

“Found some work at another club,” she said. “Nothing fancy, but better than working for Oz.”

Another pause. When Bruce spoke, his voice was so soft Selina almost didn't hear him.

“And what do you really do?”

Selina smirked and fixed her eyes on the ceiling.

“You want to know if I’ve been getting into any trouble?” she asked. “Stealing from safes? Terrorizing cops? Swiping money from under rich guys’ noses?”

“Are you admitting to those things?”

“I’m not admitting anything, because a lady never tells.” Selina smiled. “I’ve been scoping the place out. Making plans. Settling in.” She raised an eyebrow. “Why do you want to know? Are you going to drive down here and arrest me?”

Selina said it as a joke, but a part of her didn’t hate the idea. She imagined the Batman riding into town on that motorcycle, showing up at her door, maybe without the cowl…

Selina’s wandering thought was interrupted by Batman’s voice.

“Bludhaven isn’t really my jurisdiction,” he said.

“Jurisdiction?” Selina teased. “I thought you were a vigilante, now you’re a cop?”

On the other end of the line, Selina could sense a small smile on Batman’s face.

“And how’s Gotham?” she asked to break the silence.

“Still flooded,” Batman said. “Bella Reál is working on repair plans.”

“I guess that’s a start. And you?”

“Hm?”

“What are you doing?”

There was a long pause. Batman wasn’t exactly the chatty type, but the way he measured his responses always made Selina’s ears prickle. She wanted to know what words he was considering before he spoke. She wanted to take needles and a board and pin down his elusive thoughts.

“What I’ve always done,” he said. “Anything I can.”

Another long pause stretched between them. Selina listened to Batman’s breath on the other end of the phone.

“Why are you calling me, baby?” Selina asked. “Why are you up this late talking to me?”

Selina listened to the sound of his breath for several minutes before he responded.

“I can’t sleep either,” he said.

“I guess that makes us both night owls.”

“I’ve been thinking about the last few months.” He let out a sigh. “And then I started thinking about you.”

Selina felt a warm trickle in her chest, one that was strange and unfamiliar. No one ever thought about her. No one ever gave her a passing thought. The only people who did were both dead.

A long stretch of radio silence passed between them, louder than the rain pattering on the window.

“Selina?” Batman said.

“Keep talking, baby,” Selina said. “I’m still here.” She crossed her ankles. “Why were you thinking about me?”

Selina heard a small sound on the other end.

“I guess I was worried,” he said.

“Worried about what?”

“I just thought when you left Gotham…you left alone for upstate very suddenly, and I…”

Batman ran out of words, which was strange even for someone as monosyllabic as him.

Selina couldn’t help it. Her face broke out into a playful grin.

“It’s okay, baby,” she said. “You can say you missed me.”

She listened for his response, but the other end was just the crackle of static.

“Baby?” Selina said. “Are you still there?”

“Yeah, I’m here,” he said.

“Something wrong?”

“No, I just…”

Batman was never an easy man to read. In the times they spoke in person, Selina had to get close to try to pry anything from him. His eyes, his mouth, his body language. Most men she met were easy, open as a book, and happy to open wider for her. Everything Batman did seemed to hide something. Even his voice was cloaked in shadows.

“Just what, baby?” Selina said, then smirked and rolled onto her side. “It’s getting late, you can’t keep me waiting.”

Batman exhaled through the phone.

“It’s good to hear you again,” he mumbled. “It’s good to know you’re okay.”

Something warm bloomed in Selina’s chest. She parted her lips, not sure what to say. She pictured him standing in her apartment right now. A tall, cloaked figure in a mask and cape and layers of armor to protect himself.

“I wish I could see your face,” Selina said.

She meant two things by that. She wanted to see him right now, but she also wanted to see his face under that mask. It had been a question rolling around in her head longer than she cared to admit. She thought about that masked avenger she met in the city, wondering who was hiding under all that leather and metal.

“I wish I could show you,” he said.

“Are you wearing a mask now?” 

A long pause. Selina listened to the subtle shift in his breath.

“No,” he said.

Selina felt something warm rush down her body. If only she could look at him right now. His real face was just out of reach on the other side of the phone, and that thought drove her crazy. No way he’d turn his camera on and show his face. Still, there was that temptation in his voice. She could practically feel him in the room with her, yet she couldn’t imagine what he looked like under that cowl.

“So you’re home,” she said. “No crime fighting tonight?”

“No,” he said. “Just…focusing on other things.”

“Like some girl living miles away from you?”

Selina swore she could feel Batman blush on the other end, and it made her giggle. As much as he loved to put on a stoic face, Selina got around enough to know the bigger a guy’s bravado the more he had to hide.

“I just wanted to see if you made it to Bludhaven,” he said. “I wanted to know if you were safe.”

“Well, I’m in Bludhaven, and I’m perfectly safe.” Selina bit her lip. “I told you already, baby, I can take care of myself.”

“I know you can,” he said. “I just...“ His next words came out as soft as a breath. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking of you since you left.”

His voice was low like a confessional. Selina’s heart lurched against her ribcage. For a moment she wasn’t sure what to say. She never exactly made her attraction to him a secret, but it still felt strange to hear him say that to her.

“I keep thinking about everything you said to me before you left,” Batman continued. “I looked back, you know. I took my eyes off the road to watch you drive away. I thought I saw you at Mitchell’s funeral on Falcone’s arm and…it just scared me.”

This was the most Batman had said to her at once. His words were droning out in a sleepy, late-night ramble. Selina listened closely.

“I thought about when we met in the Penguin’s office,” he continued. “When you delivered those dropheads. I thought about us on that sky tower…”

That’s when his voice trailed off. Selina’s lips alighted with the memory of their moment on the roof together. The moment she asked him to help her find Kenzie, she couldn’t take it anymore and kissed him. She remembered how cold yet soft his mouth was, the prickle of his whiskers on her upper lip, the way he smelled like rainwater and leather.

Selina’s voice softened, and the corner of her lips quirked into a small smirk.

“So that’s why you called me?” she said. “Can’t get the taste of me out of your mouth?”

Batman was silent on the other end. Selina smiled and rolled onto her back again.

“No need to be embarrassed, baby,” she said. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ve been thinking about you too. For a guy who doesn’t seem to get out much, you’re a pretty good kisser.”

Selina’s face flushed hot and her lips tingled remembering that kiss. The way she took his face in her hands, the way her heart and stomach bolted at the contact. Kissing was nothing new to her, but with Batman, it felt like a force she could feel in her bones.

“I wanted to kiss you,” he said. “Right before you left the city.”

“Why didn’t you?” Selina asked.

Another long pause.

“If I did, I would have left with you,” he confessed. “I knew I couldn’t make you stay in Gotham. If I kissed you, I would have followed you out of the city and never came back.”

Selina’s body surged hot and her heartbeat picked up.

“Really?” she said.

“I can’t leave Gotham,” he said. “And if you kissed me before you left, I wouldn’t have been able to stay.”

Selina felt warm all over, and she felt a particular heat creeping from between her legs. It didn’t help that Batman’s voice was like dark velvet, pouring from the phone. The back of her neck prickled and there were goosebumps along her back.

“That’s…” Selina said. “That’s sweet, Vengeance.”

“I wish we met differently,” he said. “Without the investigation, without all the mayhem. If the circumstances were different.”

“What if the circumstances were ‘different’?” she asked.

“If neither of us had been pulled away by other things. Not the Riddler, not Annika, not the investigation and GCPD.” He paused. “I know you think Gotham is hopeless. But things are changing here. You’d be surprised what can happen in this city.”

As Bruce spoke, as his voice whispered to her from miles away in the dark, Selina felt a warm, curling feeling fill her body.

“Maybe,” Selina said.

Without much thought, Selina’s hand moved slowly down her stomach and down the front of her shorts. Her fingers slipped under her underwear and over her folds. Her breath hitched as her fingertips made contact with her clit. A sound that Batman seemed to hear.

“Selina?” he said.

God, even the way he said her name made her blood rush hot.

“I’m here,” she said. Her voice came out low and breathy.

“Are you…?”

Selina paused her hand. What was she doing?

“Nothing,” she said. “I just…has anyone ever told you you have a nice voice?”

Batman’s response was a puzzled silence.

“I guess you don’t talk much,” Selina corrected herself. “It’s just that I don’t think you’ve spoken this many words to me before. And it’s quiet where I am, and…I just like listening to you.”

Selina bit her lip, wondering if maybe she said too much. She was about to pull her hand back out when Batman’s toe-curling baritone came crawling back through the phone.

“You like my voice?” he said.

He wasn’t teasing her. Nothing in his tone suggested that. But there was an enticed curiosity in his tone.

“Yeah,” Selina said. “I mean, I don’t really know what you look like, so your voice is all I have to go off of.” She chuckled. “That, and your mouth, I guess.”

Selina’s face went hot, remembering her fingers running along his jawline just below where the leather of his mask ended. She heard Batman let out a long, hot breath from his lips.

“I’ve missed your voice too,” he said. Now his voice was different, coming out in a low, breathy tone. “Keep talking, I love the sound of it.”

Selina lay completely still in bed. The darkness of her bedroom suddenly felt hotter. She couldn’t see anything, even with her eyes open, but she could hear his voice hot in her ear.

“What do you want me to say?” she asked.

“Anything,” he said. He sounded almost out of breath, like he was talking while running. “Say anything you want.”

Selina’s heart hitched when she realized what was happening. Her voice was having the same effect on him as his voice had on her.

“Vengeance,” Selina said carefully. “Where are you right now?”

It took him a second to respond.

“Home,” he said.

“Are you…lying down right now?”

She heard a small gulp from deep in his throat.

“Yes,” he whimpered.

Selina couldn’t quite believe it. All it took was her speaking to get this man groveling for her. And having that kind of power over someone like Batman sent an excited surge through her.

Selina shoved her hand down the front of her shorts again, with no hesitation this time. Her finger fumbled down into the dark until they found her opening, wet and hot. 

She pressed two fingers inside and let out a small gasp, one she was certain Batman heard.

On the other end, she could hear his measured yet desperate breathing. Batman was a man obsessed with control, but right now his grasp on it was thread-thin. Selina released a warm, sultry sound into the phone and right into his ear miles away.

“Selina,” Batman moaned.

Selina bit her lips to keep herself from keening. Her hand worked between her thighs. He sounded exquisite. The deep, thunder-like gravel of his voice, but punctuated with the high-pitched whimpers of a man coming undone.

“Baby,” Selina said. “If you keep moaning like that, you’re going to make me do something. You’ve already got my fingers in me.”

Those words sent something off in him. Batman’s breathing became louder, gruffer, his moans hungrier. Selina closed her eyes and tried not to let the phone slip from her grasp. Her fingers pressed deeper and faster over her clit, sending waves of pleasure up from between her legs. She imagined him in that pitch-black bedroom with her, hovering over her with his ungloved fingers inside her and his warm sighs in her ear.

“I wish you were here,” Selina breathed into the phone. “I want you in this bed with me.” Her voice came out in breathless wisps. “I want you on top of me. I want to be on top of you . And I want you without that damn cowl on .”

There was a feverish rush to her demands. On the other end, Selina heard every breath flush hotly from Batman’s throat. She imagined his lips parting, his Adam’s apple moving, his pale face going red. Her fingers moved quickly over her clit, the thoughts of him sending her body into a hungry surge.

“I want to show you my face too,” he said. His words fumbled thoughtlessly from his lips. “I want to show you, so I can lay on the bed, and you can ride it.”

Those words sent shock waves through Selina’s body. Her hands worked faster in her pussy. Her lips parted as she let a low moan percolate from her throat to the phone. On the other end, she heard Batman suppress a groan that came out as a grunt. She imagined him in a similar position as her, lying on his bed, with the phone in one hand and his cock in the other.

“Baby…” Selina cooed into the phone. Her voice grew higher and louder as her body started rushing hotter. “Baby…I’ve missed you so much…”

“Selina,” he whimpered. “I…need you here…I can’t stand being away from you…”

Selina’s back arched over the bed as every nerve in her body burned. His voice was so close she could practically feel him next to her, beneath her, on top of her. She could feel his body heat and his hot breath on her neck. They were miles apart but they may as well have been rolling around in that bed together.

Batman’s breathing was getting louder, growing from a groan to a whimper. Selina felt herself getting close too. Each breath from the one brought her closer to the edge.

“Tell me your name,” she said. “Tell me your real name so I can say it.”

Batman’s heavy breathing paused.

“I…”

“Vengeance, I’m so hot and I’m about to burst, tell me your fucking name so I can scream it into the phone.”

Selina wished he was there with her more than ever at that moment, so she could slap him across the face and then bite his lip.

Batman was quiet in the other line, but she could still hear his ragged breath grow more desperate as he continued to work himself. She could hear him panting in time with her.

“Tell me,” she demanded.

Her body was rising to a climax, and based on the sounds he was making, he was too.

Batman groaned on the other end.

“Bruce,” he said. “My name is Bruce.”

“Bruce,” Selina repeated. Then she repeated it again. “Bruce…” Then louder. “ Bruce… ”

His name on her lips sent him over the edge. Selina heard him shiver from the other end.

“ Selina ,” he whimpered. “Fuck…I’m gonna…”

The two of them came at the same time. Selina’s chest rose and fell with every breath as her body ricocheted into a burst of pleasure. She let herself fall apart on the bed, uncaring if her sleeping neighbors heard her. On the other end, Bruce let out a shuddering moan. Both of them were quiet for several minutes, save for their heavy breaths, sitting together in the heated silence between them.

Selina sighed then grinned.

“You really missed me, didn’t you?”

Even through the phone, Selina could sense him blush. Selina pulled her hand out from her shorts.

“So,” she said once she caught her breath. “Your name is Bruce?”

“I’m…” he said, his voice still shaking. “I didn’t…” Pause. “I’ll…I’ll call again in the morning.”

And then, he hung up. Selina lay quiet in the dark for several minutes. Batman—no, Bruce’s —voice seemed to linger in the air like a scent. After a few minutes, she set her phone aside and then curled up under the blankets. His name turned over in her head. Bruce. Where could she connect that name in Gotham? It was right at the tip of her tongue, but she was exhausted and her brain was still warm and soupy from everything that just happened.

Selina closed her eyes and pulled her duvet up to her chin. Her body felt warm and light now, and she could feel sleep finally creeping its way under her skin.

She made a note to visit Gotham again soon.