#the heads of state tea party is in session

[morganali-art]

Not now, sweetheart 👀💦

[twstowo]

Kissing Their Foreheads [Rollo, Che'nya and Neige]

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗SYNOPSIS: You kiss their foreheads.

♡︎Reader is from Noble Bell College in Rollo’s part and from Royal Sword Academy in Neige's part

♡︎I feel that I wrote so much more for these guys than the rest…my bad?

[First Years]☆[Second Years]☆[Third Years]☆[One final forehead kiss]☆[Here]

⋆⋅☆Rollo:

You have no idea how you ended up in this situation, but here you are, stuck in the same room with Rollo Flamme while he is giving you the chills. To be fair, he always had those dead eyes, but surely he isn’t mad at you, right? He doesn't want to burn you or anything... That’s just how his face looks all the time.

Well, you're not so sure about that anymore because now he is approaching you! And he is getting way too close for your comfort. You can hear yourself gulping from the nervousness.

You don’t even know why you’re reacting this way. You and Rollo were somewhat close; you’d dare to call him a friend by now, though you’re not sure he sees you that way. The two of you always ended up studying together after classes. Whenever you had trouble understanding a subject, Rollo would always help you out. He wasn’t that bad of a person once you got to know him.

However, he still had those questionable morals of his, and right now, he didn’t seem very happy. He kept ranting about the students from Night Raven College and by the Seven! He seemed particularly mad at this Malleus Draconia, and he had kept on rumbling about him for the past hours.

At this point, you had just shaken off your feeling of unease. You knew that Rollo was probably just stressed about wanting everything to be perfect for the new students. Yes, that had to be it! In fact, you were starting to pity his state.

So, without thinking about your own actions, as Rollo sat down next to you to continue your study session, you took hold of his face and pressed a quick kiss to his forehead. As you leaned back in your seat, realizing what you had done, you noticed that Rollo was as embarrassed by your actions as you were. Both of your cheeks had a pink tint as you stared at each other, and now you had no idea of how to get out of this situation.

──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────

⋆⋅☆Che’nya:

There you were, invited to an unbirthday party by Riddle himself. You were having lots of fun eating and drinking while talking with your friends when, out of nowhere, Che’nya decided to show up and scared the living daylights out of you with his floating head.

And that wasn’t all. He seemed to have enjoyed your reaction so much that it turned into a contest to see how high you could jump when he scared you. Not fun. Not fun at all.

The second time his head popped up, you spilled your tea all over your clothes. You had to excuse yourself from the party to wash your shirt.

The third time, you almost stumbled against one of the pink flamingos. You swore that if Che’nya hadn't vanished right away, you would have hit him with one of those.

By the fourth time, you were ready to just run away from the party. But you were having such a fun time with the rest of your friends that you didn’t want Che’nya’s antics to get to you. You really needed to find a way to get payback—something that would surprise him so much that he would no longer pester you.

So, by the fifth time he showed up, you didn’t think twice. You grabbed hold of his floating head, not wanting him to escape. Che’nya had a huge grin plastered on his face, and you were so annoyed by his attitude. You did the most unthinkable thing you could think of: you kissed his forehead.

For the rest of the day, Che’nya didn’t annoy you anymore.

──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────

⋆⋅☆Neige:

By now, you and Neige had become pretty close friends. Not that it was very difficult—the guy was a ball of sunshine. He was also such a hard worker, helping out the dwarfs, studying for exams, training for his acting gigs; overall, he was always filled with work. Yet he always made time for the two of you to be together.

You always tried helping him out, whether by summarizing some of the content from your classes to help him study better or by making his lunch so that he could fully focus on his own stuff.

Neige always appreciated your help, even when he kept on saying how much he didn’t want you to overwork yourself because of him. You never listened to him.

One day, you found Neige, the ball of sunshine always full of energy, knocking at your dorm room. Normally, he would send you a message when he had free time; he never showed up without warning. And by the uncharacteristic dark circles under his eyes and that quivering smile of his, you knew he was tired. So you let him in, and you let him rest in your bed as you cuddled him, pressing a soft kiss on his forehead to help him relax.

[romanteacism]

Knight Aemond x Princess Reader Innocent Touch

Synopsis: You and Ser Aemond are starting to come into a routine and each other's good graces until it is rudely abrupted. Warnings: None (yet), Aemond growing fonder of his station, ¿infatuation?, Slight Jealousy PREVIOUS PART / NEXT PART

“Who is this from?” You asked as a squire handed you another bouquet of flowers. Aemond resisted rolling his eyes as he watched you toy with the petals. He stood behind you as you and your brother sat in the gardens. “Lord Triston, Your Highness,” The squire bowed as he left. “I did not know Lord Tristan was courting you,” Your brother frowned and reached forward to take hold of the scroll placed in the middle of the bouquet. 

“This is the fifth one in three days; it’s quite excessive, is it not?” You pondered as you placed the bouquet on the side, not keen on the smell of roses. You turned to your brother, waiting for his response, but he was too busy reading the scroll— you would guess another poem that he had plagiarized from one of the great poets of the realm. “It’s quite a… bold poem he chose,” your brother frowned, and you shrugged, taking a bite of berries and cream cake. “Since when had he started courting you? I do not remember him asking for Father or I’s permission,” He stated, and you shrugged once more. “He began to send flowers, I believe, a week or so ago?” You said uncertain. “Do I recount right, Ser Aemond?” You turned to your knight for confirmation, slowly warming up to him once more as he had aided in a time of desperation. 

“Yes, princess.” He nodded, and your brother turned his gaze upon your sworn protector, seeing his stoic expression severe into a scowl. “I think it best you keep your distance from Lord Tristan,” Your brother said, glancing over the flowers he sent as well as the rather forward poem he had given. “Very well then,” You agreed, not at all attracted to the young lord who was known for his reputation as a rake.

“See to it that the lord does not bother my sister, Ser Aemond,” Your brother commanded as he stood. “Of course, my prince,” Ser Aemond bowed, agreeing without question as he, too, was unsettled by the lord’s quite fervent attention towards you. He had been noticing lord Tristan trailing you for the past few days, even going as far as walking down the halls of your wing at night. Of course, Aemond always stood guard, ready to challenge the lord. 

“I’ll see you at supper, sister,” your brother said, placing a chaste kiss on the top of your head before leaving. As he left, you placed a lemon tart onto a plate and raised it to offer to your knight. “No, thank you, princess. I had just eaten,” He said, and you nodded. 

“Was lady Davenport present during the last tea party I held?” You questioned Ser Aemond as your memory seemed to fail you, but you had learned your knight had a rather sharp one. “I do not believe so, princess,” He replied, trailing his eye around the gardens as he noticed the distant figure of lord Tristan staring at you from above. “Hm, this is the second session she has missed… I noticed that she has been absent in court as of late,” You mussed, not expecting a reply from your knight as you thought out loud. 

“I hear whispers that the lady Davenport is hiding a swollen belly beneath her dress,” Your knight then said, making your eyes widen, and you turned your body to look at him from where he stood behind you. Aemond bit his tongue as he saw the expression on your face. He does not care for gossip, but he did find your reactions to it quite amusing. “But she is not set to marry until a fortnight.” Ser Aemond shrugged as he imparted the talk he heard from the maids. You let out a breath of a laugh. “I always thought her intended was quite the traditionalist,” you muttered, and Aemond smirked, pondering if he should share the next piece of information he had overheard. “He is… but his brother is proven not.” He quietly added and bit his lip. “No!” You gasped in disbelief, turning to Ser Aemond once more, only for him to shrug again. “Again, these are only whispers I hear, princess,” He said, and you narrowed your eyes as an amused smirk rose to his lips that he could not control as he spoke. 

When Aemond removed his gaze from you, he noticed lord Tristan making his way towards your direction. “Princess, you are late for your meeting with your seamstress,” You turned towards the sun and saw that it was past its peak, “Oh, yes, of course,” You said and stood, going in the direction of your chambers and Aemond content as lord Tristan missed your presence. 

Ser Aemond stood guard outside your chambers as you were fitted for your gowns, passing his gaze through the hall and watching intently all the passersby. He clenched his jaw as he saw lord Tristan standing at the end of the hall, observing the commissioned portraits of you that were made each year for your name day. Aemond resisted the urge to roll his eye as lord Tristan inched his way towards your chambers. Aemond wore his most formidable expression as he was met with the lord. “I wish to seek an audience with the princess,” He said, voice dismissive. “The princess does not wish to be disturbed.” Ser Aemond replied curtly. 

He watched as the lord raised a pompous brow. “I do not believe you understood what I said— I seek an audience with the princess.” He gritted, and Aemond’s hold at the hilt of his sword tigtened. “I understand perfectly. It is you who does not comprehend that the princess does not wish to be disturbed.” Aemond resisted succumbing to his urges and showed great animosity towards the young lord. 

The door to your chambers opened, hindering either man from speaking. Your seamstress exited, and Aemond was quick to hinder the lord, who seemed to forget any sense of manners as he tried to force himself into the sanctity of your chambers. “My lord?” You questioned and turned to Ser Aemond, who had a deep scowl on his face. “Princess— I wish to speak with you,” lord Tristan bowed and threw a glare at your knight. “Oh, I am not receiving company at the moment, my lord. I—I wish to be alone.” You say quietly. “Have you received the flowers I sent?” The lord ignored your words, and Aemond’s jaw ticked as you two locked eyes, seeing apprehension in your gaze. “I have, thank you, lord Tristan… but if you would excuse me,” You curtsied and moved to close your door. Leaving your knight and the rather audacious lord. 

Aemond felt a pompous smirk rise to his lips as you shut and barred your door, the hopefulness in the lord’s eyes disappearing quickly. Aemond bit his lip as lord Tristan walked off in a huff. When you hear his departing footsteps, you unbarred your door and peeked your head out. “Is he gone?” You quietly asked your knight, staring up at him, “Yes, princess,” Aemond nodded, and you fully opened your chamber door. “He’s quite… boorish,” You muttered and took your kitten into your arms, cradling it as if it were a babe as you walked through the halls with your knight. “He certainly is, princess,” he agreed, looking towards the kitten who he had hidden days before. There was a glare in the feline’s eyes as Theodore was familiar with the man who had placed him in the confines of the mouth of a gargoyle. 

You hear your little kitten suddenly hiss, making you frown and run your fingers soothingly through your pet’s fur. “What’s wrong, my darling?” You cooed, looking down at Theodore, who continued to hiss. You doubled your efforts in trying to calm him, unaware that the man beside you was the reason for the agitated state of your kitten. You placed a kiss on his little head, and that seemed to be effective. Theodore slowly calmed down. Aemond bit his lip as he feared that his desperate actions would be known by you— implausible since no one bore witness to his actions, but you would certainly question why your pet would be upset whenever in the presence of Aemond.

You were too distracted as you tried to soothe your kitten, growing unaware of your surroundings and where you walked. Aemond sighed as this was a frequent occurrence; he circled his arm around your waist and guided your way. He bit his tongue as he was enveloped with your scent. At your close proximity, Ser Aemond scowled at the continuation of whining from your kitten. Aemond led you to your solarium, arm growing cold as he removed his hold from your waist. He stood guard by the door and listened to you cooing at your kitten. 

Ser Aemond stood straighter as he heard footsteps revealing your brother. “Is my sister in?” He questioned, and Aemond nodded curtly. “My prince,” He called before your brother entered. “Lord Tristan had been proved rather ungallant… just earlier today, he tried to force himself into the chambers of the princess to seek an audience with her even though he was told that she wishes to be alone.” Aemond had no trouble in tattling. He saw a severe frown on your brother’s face, and only when the prince frowned did Aemond finally see the resemblance between you and the prince. The prince hummed, thinking of a way to protect you further; it was silently known by the court that lord Tristan was persistent— stopping at nothing to acquire anything he wanted, and he usually resorts to ill ways to achieve it. 

“My sister’s safety is of utmost importance, Ser Aemond,” Aemond nodded, “I know… and I agree, my prince,” He agreed. “I shall have no choice but to add another guard to her station,” Aemond stilled at the prince’s words. “My—my prince, I am fully capable of protecting the princess,” He said, almost defensively. Your brother’s eyes widened, fearing that he had offended the knight. “Yes, of course— I would not entrust my sister in your care if you are incapable, but with lord Tristan sniffing around her, I fear you would need aid.” Aemond bit back his tongue, not wanting to speak out of turn. “Ser Adam shall accompany you during the day as an added guard to my sister, so no more run-ins like earlier shall occur.” Aemond gritted his teeth and gave a reluctant nod before opening the door for the prince. 

The following day, Aemond stood guard by your door and waited for you to start your morning. He stiffened at his spot as he heard the clank of armor and the image of Ser Adam taking his post on the other side of your door, a teasing smirk on his lips as he saw Aemond's annoyed face. “Ser Aemond,” He nodded in greeting, “Ser Adam,” Aemond gritted in reluctant courtesy. You opened your chamber doors, and two knights straightened their stances. You looked between your two guards, “Good morrow, Sers,” You greeted and walked off, your kitten in your arms and your two guards following you as you made your way to the gardens. 

The once soothing clang of Ser Aemond’s armor as he walked now turned into an annoying bang as his steps were matched with Ser Adam's. You looked down upon your pet cat, who rested calmly in your arms, still drowsy from his sleep. Aemond noticed your attention was placed on your kitten was more and placed his hand on the small of your back to lead your way, as always. Aemond caught the gaze of Ser Adam, the secondary knight raising a quizzical brow at him, but Aemond did his best to ignore his presence, trying to pretend that it was only you and him, just like days before. 

When in the gardens, Aemond moved to assist you to your chair, but Ser Adam beat him to it. He gritted his jaw as the kind ‘thanks’ that was meant to him was addressed to the other knight. As the day went on with Ser Adam accompanying the both of you— you offering him the same refreshments and chatter as Aemond and even gossiping with him, Aemond felt an odd twisting in his stomach that he did not care for. It was as if fire ants were crawling and biting at his skin, and some strong hand was twisting his gut and possibly even his heart. 

“Good night, Ser Adam,” You smiled as the knight went to retire for the night, much to Aemond’s relief. You and your sworn protector walked the halls to your room, and you noticed that he had been rather rigged the whole day— nothing odd, but you did notice that he was starting to unclench the past few days. “You’re scowling.” You mused as you two turned a hallway; Aemond glanced at you who observed his expression. “Am I, princess?” He asked, knowing full well he was.  Aemond feigned confused, as he did not want his annoyance to be revealed. “You are; you’ve had that line between your brows the whole day,” You say, and stood at the tip of your toes and trying to smoothen the furrow between his brows.

Aemond froze at your actions that were not mediated and thought about by yourself, forgetting your sensibilities as you invaded your knight’s personal space. You froze as you realized what you had done, quickly backing away, your cheeks heating at your actions, and felt embarrassment course through your veins. “I… I apologize,” you say, your voice just a squeak, and you hurriedly turn on your heels as you rush toward your chambers. Aemond battled through his shock and followed you through your chambers, the both of you uttering a quick and awkward ‘good night’ before you disappeared behind your door. 

Aemond stood at his post, breathing ragged as his hand fingers went to where you left your soft and burning touch. Aemond tried to calm his breathing, dismayed by his reaction. It was just an innocent touch, nothing to fuss over about, is it not? He rested the back of his head on the cold stone and tried not to let his thoughts be consumed by you even more. 

[eraenaa]

Tea Party (Modern AU)

Aemond Targaryen x Stark Reader Tag List

Synopsis: Aemond convinces you to let Helaena join your group’s exclusive tea party, using any means necessary just for you to agree. 

Warnings: ¿Super Soft Aemond?, Mature, 18+, Stimulation, Aftercare, P in V Sex, {Using Sex as a Weapon}, Not Proofread

Word Count: 2,349

A/N: Based on a request by @slytherincursebreaker

“I have to go,” You sighed and pecked Aemond’s lips as you two were walking along the courtyard of your university. Aemond quietly groaned in protest, “Do you really have to? Just skip it this week,” He said, not letting go of your hand, instead pulling you closer to him, making you laugh. “I’ve already skipped last week’s session, per your request— the girls will have my head if I miss today as well,” You sighed and rested your palm on his chest as he rolled his eye and shook his head. “It’s just an hour… or two,” You added and went to the tip of your toes to peck his lips again, but Aemond took hold of your cheek to deepen your kiss. 

When you parted, you breathed out a laugh, “Now I really have to go,” you sighed and turned away to hastily walk to the hall before your dearest partner could drag you to your shared flat, “Hi, Helaena!” You greeted her as you passed his sister, waving your hand and giving her a wide smile. “Where is she going?” Helaena quietly asked her brother, who sighed and shook his head, “Tea party,” He answered, and Helaena nodded, “That reminds me, we found another for you to add to your collection,” Aemond said as he walked with his sister, reaching in the pocket of his leather jacket and acquire a small, clear box that housed a beetle his sister was overly fond of collecting. 

Aemond gazed at his sister, slightly frowning as she appeared unimpressed by the small gift you and he had acquired for her. Normally, a smile would adorn her lips, and her eyes would twinkle in mirth; now, however, her expression was threading to melancholy. “Are you well? Do you not like it? Or perhaps you already have this variant?” Aemond asked in concern, halting his steps. Helaena shook her head and plastered a small smile, but her brother saw right through her act. “Tell me,” Aemond insisted, and Helaena sighed, her gaze plastered to the ground. 

“I… I want to join their tea party,” She said quietly, but that did not aid Aemond’s confusion about her sullen state. “It’s just… it looks like quite fun. The treats they serve always look so delicious, and I would always see them laughing in the hall,” She explained further. Aemond licked his lips and hummed, nodding in understanding. “Do you truly wish to join?” Aemond asked, and Helaena cast her gaze upward in hope and fervently nodded. “I’ll see what I can do,”

“No,” You responded to Aemond’s query; the both of you were having dinner when he asked you if you could let Heleana join your group’s tea party. “Why not?” Aemond asked. “Aemond, I love Helaena… I do, but she cannot join,” You say, and Aemond’s furrowed brows only severed. “Why not? You’re not giving me a reason. My sister truly wants to join— she noted how fun you and your group have, and she wishes to be part of it.” You sighed and shook your head, taking a sip of wine before speaking. 

“Aemond, they’re not having fun— they’re making fun at other people’s expense!” You explained and stood, moving to clear the plates, but Aemond hindered you and took the empty dishes himself as he followed you to the kitchens. “What?” He asked as he placed the dishes in the sink. “Those girls are vicious. They look sweet, they truly do, but they’ll eat her alive,” You explained, but still, Aemond was just wholly confused. “Aemond, you and I know of your sister’s little quirks… and I love them; I find them endearing, but to others… they won’t be so… welcoming to it,” you said delicately. 

“Helaena is a Targaryen. She belongs in that group with you and the other daughters of the great families.” Aemond insisted, and you drank the finality of your wine. “Yes, I am aware of your family’s standing— your family’s power is not the problem here. It is that Helaena is too… soft to be a part of that group,” Aemond scoffed, “You are part of the group,” He stated, and you shook your head, stepping closer to him. “I have been desensitized by those girls; our familiarity since childhood had prepared me for their harshness,” You said, “You should have been there today; they did a full half-hour making fun of Jacaerys’ posture alone!” You added, and Aemond snickered. You gazed at his reaction, noting that he would do well in that group along with the ladies who had no problem in drawing criticism at the expense of others. “I just don’t think she’ll be comfortable there,” You said quietly. Aemond sighed, not conceding until he had accomplished getting Helaena into your overly exclusive group. 

“Are you not their leader? Can you not just order them to play nice?” Your lips agape at Aemond’s question. “There’s no leader here,” You denied, but Aemond raised his brow, a smirk slipping his lips as he knew fully well that you were practically queen in the eyes of those girls. You breathed out a laugh at the stare Aemond gave you. “Aemond,” You sighed as he wrapped his arms around your waist. “Please, for me,” he said, and your heart grew soft at the pleading in his eye. “Aemond,” You sighed once more and tried to walk away, but he urged you to stay rooted on your spot, burying his face in your neck and placing small kisses upon it, trying to sway your mind. 

“She… she would not like it,” You stuttered, mind distracted and your body filling with the familiar need that only he could conjure and sedate. Aemond hummed as he sucked on a delicate spot that made your knees weak and your whole being wanton. “How are you so certain?” Aemond hummed as his hands squeezed the flesh of your behind, smirking against your skin as he felt the buds of your breast peak and strain through the thin sheet of your dress. Aemond returned his lips to yours, kissing you in the way that he knew would leave you dazed, the two of you stumbling toward the bedroom of your flat, him gently laying on the bed as his hands wandered through your body, leaving fire in the wake of his cold touch. 

You called for his name as his lips traveled from the apex of your neck to your bosom. His hands hiking up the fabric of your dress higher and higher. “Reconsider, my darling?” Aemond hummed as he sucked on your skin, leaving his little marks. Your breathing labored as he bundled the skirt of your dress to your waist. You mindlessly shook your head as he pulled down the bodice of your dress and took the bud of your breast into his mouth, his tongue circling and his teeth lightly biting it. 

When Aemond heard no reply, he knew he should double his efforts. His hands slithered upwards, resting on each of your thighs. He tailed his kisses further south and planted them on the insides of your thighs. “Aemond, please,” You called, and you felt him smirk against your skin. “Reconsider first,” he said, and you groaned. His stubbornness and insistence placed a buffer on your wants. Aemond sighed as he felt you push him away, trying to stir away from his hold, but his arms hooked around your thighs prevented you from doing so. 

“I’m not in the mood anymore,” You sighed and tried to release yourself from his hold, and Aemond started to regret pushing you further. Aemond sighed as he watched you hop out of bed, and he groaned as he was filled with need for you, but he had overplayed his hand. “Darling,” he called as he followed you to the washroom, trying to wash your face with cold water to lessen the flush on your cheeks. Aemond walked behind you and rested his forehead on your shoulder, a grieved sigh escaping his lips, and you felt his need pressed against your backside. 

“I’m sorry,” you hear him murmur and place a kiss on your shoulder. “It is just… I do not want Helaena missing out,” Aemond sighed and brushed away a lock of your silky hair. “I do not want for her to miss out as well— and she won’t! She won’t miss out by not attending this tea party; she’d be saved from their ill topics.” You said and turned around; Aemond flushed against your frame, and you situated between him and the marble sink. You watched as Aemond licked his lips, eye darting around the room. 

“Then let her decide. Let her try it first; if she does not like it, she does not have to return now, does she? Let her see for herself,” Aemond suggested, his hands cupping your cheeks. You sighed and relented, nodding your head as his fingers caressed your cheeks. “Fine,” You sighed and Aemond placed a kiss on the side of your lips. “Swear,” He said, knowing you could never go back on your word. You groaned at his tactic, “I swear to you,” You said quietly, and you felt a smile on his lips as he kissed yours. 

You moaned quietly as Aemond perched you upon the cool marble of the counter, his fingers caressing your back and slyly undid the zipper of your dress, the sleeves of it coming loose on your shoulder. You moaned against his mouth as his hand yanked downward the bodice of your dress, and his hand toyed with you. You wrapped your legs around his waist, pulling him impossibly closer, your need for Aemond severe. You hear a quiet sound emit from his throat as you ground your hips against his, your hands flying to the waistband of his trousers to remove it. Aemond parted your lips as he felt you cup his length, your soft hand lightly moving against the pulsating and stiff bulge. 

“You’re teasing me, my darling.” He warned, his lilac eye turning deep amethyst with want. With your other hand, you reached to remove his eyepatch to see the whole of him, your thumb tracing his scar, and you breathed heavily as he leaned further into your touch.  “You were teasing me first,” came your reply and Aemond smirked before capturing your lips again, him being the one to fully remove his trousers. “Fuck, I missed you,” You hear him breathe out as he sheathed himself inside you. Wetness had greatly gathered and offered no resistance to assist Aemond’s well-endowed length. “You just had me this morning,” You say breathlessly, slightly amused by his statement. 

“That was not enough,” He hissed as he felt the tip of his cock press against the spongey spot in your cunt; his hand rested upon your waist as he tilted your head back and rested upon the mirror of the sink. “Aemond… oh god, don’t stop— just like that,” You moaned as his thrusts were relentless, presenting you with pleasure that consumed you whole. You feel his thumb pressed flatly upon your nubbin, drawing circles upon it, and he hissed as you clenched tightly around his length; you were quick to come undone. You moved and placed your hold on the nape of Aemond’s neck, locking your lips as the altered position had proved to lead his thrusts deeper. Aemond groaned as you bit his lip through your kiss, pulling you close and willing you to do it once more. 

“Aemond… Aemond,” You cried as you felt the familiar knot in your core tightening once more, your orgasms always quick to follow one another. “Will you come again so quickly, my darling?” Aemond hummed as you guided his hand to your tit once more, him smirking as your eyes rolled back and his hands palmed your breast. “Only I can make you feel as this… only I can have you like this,” Aemond gritted in pleasure. You nodded your head, a moan escaping your lips as you agreed. “Swear it. Swear that you are only mine.” Aemond’s thrust began to falter, his own release coming quickly. “I am only yours; I swear.” You moaned and peeled your eyes open to watch his pleasure-etched face as he spilled himself deep inside your cunt. 

You breathed heavily and simply observed as Aemond opened the faucet of the sink and took a towel to run through the water. You bit your lip as slipped out of you, watching as he smirked as he saw your cunt drip of your essences. Your hazy eyes observed as he sank to his knees and cleaned the consequences of your coupling, placing a kiss on the inside of your thighs before hoisting you up and carrying you to your bed so the two of you may rest. He tucked you in his arms and ran his hand through your hair, lulling you to sleep. 

The following week, Aemond observed from a distance as you introduced Helaena to your group, who held their weekly tea party. He watched as a smile was on yours and his sister’s face and you guided Helaena to seat next to yours. He observed for a moment as the girl was rendered silent, and you tried to return them to their conversation to reassure them that the outsider they deemed his sister to be would not be a hindrance to their topics. 

Aemond glanced to his side and saw his brother appear, his brow in a furrow as he observed the scene. “How… what is Helaena doing there?” He asked in disbelief. Aemond smirked, recalling how he had convinced you. “I have my ways,” he said lowly and watched you take a cup to your lips, the conversation of your group continuing once more. “Will she even fit in there? Does their group not just gossip and criticize other people?” Aegon asked. Aemond watched as his sister’s lips began to move, sharing an anecdote with your group, and he noted how the group’s full attention was on hers. “She’ll do just fine.” 

[jqmalikhsgib]

stars

sixteen

*five years later*

yn hears screaming coming from downstairs. she groans before getting out of bed and heading to the commotion of her family.

what she sees is her youngest son whining while her husband cooks breakfast while her eldest son tries to finish his project for school that she’s sure due tomorrow morning.

yn walks over to her son that’s hugging his fathers leg and picks him up gently. “what’s the matter, andy?”

“want, daddy!” he whines.

“daddy’s cooking some yummy, pancakes. you can wait, yeah?”

“kay, mommy.” out of all the boys, andy was definitely a daddy’s boy. yn and aaron think it’s most due to hotch being gone on cases.

yn looks around for her middle child before hearing tiny feet puttering down the steps.

“mama?!”

bryson is definitely a happy child! he’s loud, a complete opposite of his brothers.

“yes, baby?”

“i want bananas on my pancake, please?”

yn shrugs her shoulders as she looks at her husband. he hums before she sets their son down and grabs a banana to cut for bryson.

once breakfast was set, they sit as a family and enjoy. yn phone starts going off which meant jess should arrive any minute.

when she gets there, yn and aaron hurry to get dressed as they kiss their sons goodbye and head out.

when they get to their destination, aaron opens the passenger door for her, grabs her hand, and walk inside the doctor office. aaron checks them in before patiently waiting for their name to be called.

once their names were called, they get up and head to their assigned room. they then wait for their doctor to come in.

“good morning, mister and misses hotchner! how are you feeling today?”

“better than last week. i don’t feel nauseous this time.”

“im glad! are you two excited?!”

both yn and aaron nod happily. aaron holds his wife’s hand as she lifts her shirt. there you could see her baby bump on display. she’d only been four months but she’s looked like she’d been farther. they knew it was due to being pregnant with twins.

todays the day the couple find out the sex of the babies. they were pretty excited to know what they’re having.

yn doctor finally rolls the wand around her bump before smiling. “looks like baby a is a boy!”

aaron smirks. he had a feeling that they were having at least one boy.

“and baby b is—oh, a girl! looks like she wanted to be the odd one out, huh?” the doctor smiles.

yn looks at aaron happily. “a girl!”

aaron kisses the back of her hand.

“her brothers gonna be all protective.” he states.

the doctor soon goes over what the couple needed to be prepared for the next session. the couple soon get themselves discharged before they head out.

when they get back home jess and the kids asked the couple what they’re having.

“finally! i get a little sister.” jack smiles widely.

“least i don’t have to share my toys.” bryson states.

“when sissy and brudder get here?” andy asked.

“im glad you’re excited to have a sister jack!” yn says

“you still have to share your toys with your sister, bry.” aaron states with an eye roll.

yn picks andy up and kisses his cheek. “they’ll be here in just a few more months. then you gotta be a big boy and help daddy and i with your baby brother and sister. can you do that?”

andy nods excitedly. once his moms sets him down jess hugs her happily. “so happy to finally get a niece! i love my nephews but they don’t ever wanna play tea parties with me!” jess explains.

the family continue to gush about the twins before jess leaves. yn and aaron makes dinner before they put the kids to bed and head to bed themselves.

“im so glad i went to that club all those years ago.” aaron whispers.

yn sighs happily. “me too, babe!” she states before the couple fall asleep in each others arms.

and just like that, stars is completed! i enjoyed this story but all good things must come to an end.

[gracev0609]

Easily in Love

Josh X Male OC (Love)

The idea for this fic based on this ask! Thank you for the request @stayinginthesun

I decided to go in a slightly different direction than the usual Dad Josh content, but I really, really love Josh and Love and I hope you enjoy them too ❤️

Once again, thank you, my best friend @lipstickitty for helping me figure out ideas and directions I wanted this to go in.

Josh POV

Once you had gotten home, you fell into a sort of quiet state. One that was peculiar for you if one was to ask your Love about it. You couldn't help it, the mass of information you were given today was almost overwhelming. You both had met with your fertility doctor last week, and this morning you met with the surrogacy agency they were partnered with. There were so many decisions to be made.

"Josh... You okay hon?" He asked, sitting down next to you, placing a hot mug of tea down on your placemat.

"Yeah, there's just so much to think about. So much to decide on, my head hurts from it all."

He reaches up, gently rubbing the crown of your head, tension and worries melting away at the hands of your Love. He leaned in and kissed your temple," You know we don't have to decide today."

"I know but we need to do it soon. I want our baby." You reached forward bringing the beverage to your lips, feeling the steam tickle your nose.

He sits back in his chair, watching you drink the beverage that was lovingly prepared for you just the way you liked it.

"Ya know. It's not a hard decision for me. I want it to be you Josh. I want to use your sperm to make our baby. You're the light of my life, I can imagine how incredible our baby is going to be if you create them."

"Love ..."

He whispers, voice full of emotion," I don't think it needs to be much of a discussion. You're my pick, babe. "

Sitting your mug down on the kitchen table you turn in your seat to face him," But... Are you sure? I don't want you to feel left out."

He chuckles," Left out? Josh, I could never feel left out. We get to experience fatherhood together. I only hope our baby get your eyes, or your smile. Or, oh! Your laugh. I hope they get excited the same way you do over little gifts that others would find meaningless. I hope they find love in every little thing, like you do."

Shuddering out a breath, you feel overcome with emotions, with happiness," You really want it to be me?"

He grasps your hands in his, his touch feeling like home," I do Josh. I do."

💕💕💕💕

Love grasped your hand tightly as you sat, butterflies fluttering in your stomach as your family gathered at your home eager for your news. Weeks prior you and Love had selected the gender of your baby, but you had decided to wait to tell your family. After all, you loved a party. Drinks and laughter were being shared, everyone giddy to celebrate the clans newest member. As the evening went on the reveal was becoming highly anticipated.

Love leaned down, his voice soft asking," Are you ready to tell everyone Josh?"

You turned your head towards him, eager," So ready my Love, so ready."

He grasped your hand leading you to stand in front of the fireplace, where everyone will be able to see and hear.

Loves voice boomed, gathering the attention of your families," Okay okay! We are so happy that you all are here to celebrate our little bean. They're so healthy and strong, and they'll be home before we know it."

You leaned down, grabbing the brown neutral colored gift bag, and stuffed your hand in grabbing ahold of the colored onesie.

You chuffed," Mom's, are you watching?"

You found yours and Loves mom in the small crowd, maintaining eye contact for a few moments with each of them.

Pulling the tiny newborn size onesie out of the bag your family cheered as you and your Love said in unison," A girl!"

💕💕💕💕

You watched your Love with tears in your eyes. It was first night with your baby, your little Evelyn. He paced slowly around the nursery, a little bounce in his steps as he nestled her against his bare chest.

"Do you want a break? Your arms must be tired."

Loves voice was quiet," No. Not tired."

You giggled," Okay, let me rephrase that. Give me the baby it's my turn to hold her "

Love laughed, the rattling of his chest making your tiny baby squirm. He kissed the fuzzy top of her head before depositing her in your arms, her tiny fist clenching around the warm soft fabric of your oversized sweatshirt.

The tiny 6 or so pound warm weight on your chest was breathing deeply, her little legs curled up under her body, you hummed," Our perfect little Evie."

Love placed a tiny pink baby blanket in your lap, smiling," In case she gets cold. Do you want something to eat? I can heat up one one of those lasagnas my mom made us."

Your hands skirted down her little back," I could eat. She's gonna need a bottle soon."

"Okay, I'll make it while our dinners heating up."

You smile, a giggle escaping your lips," First family dinner."

Love leaned down kissing your daughters head before placing a deep kiss on your lips," First family dinner."

After you had a minor struggle with making a mess with the formula powder, you all filled your stomaches with delicious food. Love did the dishes while you burped and changed your little bean. Finally the three of you retired to the living room, you turned to your Love," Hey, what if we have our first Family Movie Night. Put on a childhood classic?"

He agreed, pulling up the newly subscribed Disney Plus.

"So what should we watch. Brother Bear? That was a good one."

"Nah, too new."

"2003 is too new?"

"What about Atlantis?"

"It came out in 2001, is that 'too new'?"

Chuckling, draping a blanket over yourself and Evelyn," Maybe, but I want to watch it."

He clicks play and they settle in, Evelyn fast asleep on your chest.

Giggling to yourself you look between Milo Thatch on the screen and Love, you take in his flowy dirty blonde hair, his glasses, and his mustache," You know. It makes sense that I had a crush on Milo as a kid. You two look so similar, the resemblance is uncanny!"

"Oh shut up! I don't look like Milo!"

Your giggling continues, disturbing Evie from her slumber," You really do!"

Patting her back you tried to soothe her, soon enough her tiny cries subside and she clutches her little hand around your finger. A little laugh/sob slips through your lips, the scene before you one of the cutest things you've ever witnessed.

Love leaned into your shoulder," See, she's holding her Daddy's hand. She loves you."

He grabs his phone from the coffee table in front of you, opening the camera app and taking a few photos. He clicks on the screen for a few more seconds before turning it around showing you the new folder," ❤️Evie & Josh❤️"

After the movie ends Love gets up, stretching out his back and yawning," I guess we better hit the hay. She's gonna be up in a few hours anyway."

He takes her from your grasp, extending his hand helping you up off the couch. Once again the three of you find yourselves in her pretty pink nursery. As Love gets her pajamas out, and a new diaper for her to change into, you take out your phone and press record.

Alright, here's our first Home Video! Here's miss Evie about to get a diaper change and her pajamas on. She's been such a good girl, and we are so so proud of her.

Love! Say hi to the camera!

Hi camera!

You're such an ass!

Pressing the record button again you stop the video, quickly adding it to a new folder titled 'Home Videos'

"Before you put her PJs on I'd like to get some pictures of you two, skin to skin.'

Love smiles, reaching behind his head pulling his shirt off. He scoops up his little girl, sitting down in the rocking chair next to the glowing salt lamp. Kneeling down on the floor you get the best angles, making them look ethereal in the glow. Your two favorite people, your Love and your Evie.

Crawling up to the chair you lean your head down, resting the side of your face against Love's chest. Leaning in you press kisses to the soft pink skin of Evelyn's tummy. All cute and slightly distended from her dinner.

"I love her so much. I'm so happy we have her."

Love tangles his fingers in your curls, scratching your scalp," I'm so happy too Josh.... Thank you. For agreeing to use your DNA. I can't wait to watch her grow and see her resemble the one I love most."

"I love you, my Love. You make it so easy to be in love with you."

[steel-and-fire]

Session summaries: (Part 3) The Night Stalker

And so, the party went to rest after two exhausting days without any sleep. That was the exact moment of vulnerability the 'Bagman', the giant creature that lives in the dimensional spaces created by enchanted bags, was waiting for.

For a reminder, and context, the party found a bag of holding with a distorted face in a store, and deciding to risk it, Horny the bard bought it. Alas, it quickly came to their attention, that some of his belongings started disappearing at night, and by chance came across a witch singing the legend of the 'Bagman', a terrifying night terror creature that prayed on unlucky travelers.

Through some... experimentation, the party realized that the Bagman did not need their bag of holding specifically, and could find its way to them through other bags, even when the holding one was locked away safely. In other words, they were cursed and there was no escape. That's why Ferenir made a basic plan for their safety, and they started sleeping together in the same room since then.

And so, that night, the Bagman made its move, crawling out of the bag and on top of Horny. Thankfully, Aramil is their eternal night guard, as he is an elf and devoid of the need for unconscious sleep. Seeing the gigantic creature lean over his friend, he screamed, waking them up, and drew his bow to strike the creature on the back.

It offered enough of a chance for Horny to run away and get behind Ferenir. Even though Ferenir was not wearing his armor and was much more vulnerable than normal, he was still by far the toughest thing in the room.

The Bagman decided to toy with everyone, still very confident, and clawed Aramil once tearing his chest apart and nearly killing him, and clawed Ferenir as well, who without his armor received the full blow.

It was far from enough to take down the dragon blood though, and he unleashed his new earth skill, awakened after their Feywild trip, hardening his skin, with rock formations covering him like armor. In addition, using his crystal blade that produces radiant light, he stabbed the Bagman twice, making him shriek in pain.

Horny proceeded to heal Aramil and blind the Bagman for a turn, giving us a huge swing in the battle tempo. The rogue shot the creature again, and the Bagman missed all his attacks on Ferenir with the blindness in effect.

Sadly, it seemed like every wound not made by the radiant blade was regenerating, and it was not a battle of attrition they would win, as the monster locked hands with Ferenir in a contest of strength.

That's when Aramil remembered the blade that Ferenir had forged for him a few days prior, a moon touched longsword. Drawing the sword, the room filled with moonlight, and with a powerful slash, he cut off the Bagman's hand. The creature shrieked in agony, and hurried back to the depths of the bag before they could finish it off. Even though it escaped, the party had won decisively.

Ferenir proceeded to threaten the Bagman through the bag's opening, before heading back to sleep, still exhausted. Horny and Aramil weren't in a good state though, and spent the night trying to calm their minds through the terrors of the last days.

Morning come, Ferenir noticed their upset state, and gave them an adventuring reality check...as well as some hope and understanding. It was the first time he actually opened up to them about his past experiences beyond just useful mentions, and it worked in making them feel more at ease, as well as strengthening the bond between them.

For the rest of the day, they took it easy. Ferenir visited the blacksmith to check on the progress of his ultra mega super flail, Aramil went to unwind with his new girlfriend, and Horny bought a Chihuahua with the soul of a lion... literally. Dawg is now a member of the party.

They visited the adventurer market, a bazaar event, bought some silly things and Ferenir checked on the wellbeing of the herbalist witch that was there as well, and arranged a tea and coffee date with her~

While their new missions awaits them the upcoming day, it is time for them to relax...

[vinetae]

Full Circle - PJM

Chapter 5: He loves me, He loves me not.

----

Summary: after spending the night sobbing into Jungkook's arms, you decide to finally be the bigger person.

Genre: Angst, Anger, Smut, Hurt no comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Pregnancy!AU, Roomates!AU

Word Count: 16k

Warnings: Toxic Traits, Hurt comfort, Angst, toxicity, Toxic relationship, unrequited love, stubborn Jimin, Toxic stuff, heavy makeout session with JUNGKOOK, soft!Jungkook, best friend!Jungkook, best friend!Namjoon, Roomate!Namjoon

A/n: had this in my drafts too. Jimin's giving me weird vibes in this..

Full Circle -> masterlist

Main masterlist

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Once you've settled in the warmth of Jungkook’s burning fireplace, your mind slowly starts to mute itself. Jungkook joined you on the marbled fireplace floor, hand extending outwards to offer you a small mug of tea.

You happily accept, letting out a deep sigh while admiring the fire’s crackles of color. A hushed lull flows over the atmosphere, before Jungkook’s awkward throat clearing cut through the silence.

“It’s been a while..” He shifts in his spot, switching to prop one knee above the other. You nod slowly, eyes still trained on the way the fire’s light illuminates the small stone box it had been entrapped in.

His head leans towards you, tilting at the set out quieted tears dripping from your glassy eyes. Your somber aura broke his heart at the sight.

“Y/n.. Are you okay?” Your eyes take a glance to his, sporting the same sadness yours mirrored.

You sniff, the nod your head kept had faltered to a shake instead. More tears spill from your ducts. Feel his warm embrace tuck you between the safety of his large arms.

Your head nudges against his chest, feeling bad about soaking his navy green T-shirt. Once your pity party fit is over, you pull away, locking eyes with his softened chocolatey ones.

His plump lips curve downwards in a relaxed state. He faints a small, pitiful smile, thumbing away your salty, emotional evidence of your pain.

“Are you good now?”

You softly chuckle, nodding. He takes a deep breath, leaning against the couch’s end with you in arms. Your eyes lull sleepily at the warm sensation, daring to let all of this go and just fall asleep right here and now.

Your ear pressed against his chest can feel and hear every single of his heart beats. Drumming a soft melody that makes your mind feel as if you’re wrapped in a security blanket. His long fingers toy with the middles of your hair, petting your crown gently as a soothing motion.

“Wanna talk about it?”

You shake your head, falling deep into the security he promised you with every embrace. You felt safe in his arms. In a world where you felt so cold and alone, he felt so familiar. His darkened locks fall effortlessly in front of his lashed eyes, the fire’s small ignites brightening his features to a beautiful, artsy like-painting style.

You turn around, still being securely held in his arms. Your eyes lock, noticing no rush, no ulterior motive in his dark, doe-like irises. He felt like home.

Carding his fingers through your own dampened locks, your lips pull closer in an unplanned scene. His breath rolls down your padded, bottom lip, tickling at the sensitive, rounded edges.

A certain aura fills the room, like the aroma of freshly baked cookies creeping into someone’s house when they bake. Your palm comes to rest upon his cheek, daring to just get a little closer.

Maybe you’ll feel safer.

Maybe you’d forget all of your problems.

“Y/n..” He hums lightly, lips barely grazing over yours. His chest beats a little faster at your proximity. You push back, just wanting to forget. Even if it’s only for just a second. Soon, your lips are intertwined with one another's. There had been no underlying sensations in this exchange. Just the comfort, familiarity with it all. His kiss had been gentle and soothing. As if someone had swiped your soul away from its turmoil.

However, as the kiss prolonged, it had been harder to resist in noticing how close your bodies had actually become. His hand sat carefully along the dips of your waist, holding you in place as if like a seatbelt for your security.

He moans against the kiss gently, testing the dangerous waters called you. His once settled grasp on your waist had lowered, guiding you into the comfort of his lap. Your legs sit on each side, straddling his body in want.

Your hands had returned the need, trailing up the plains of his chest. His back arches, pressing his body against yours even more in a sad attempt at closing the imaginary gap between the two of you.

Your chest hums from semi-satisfaction, unconsciously guiding your hips to press themselves firmly down onto his. He lets out a deep groan, before pulling away quickly.

You’re caught off guard by the sudden refusal.

“I- wait Y/n..” He tries to calm the situation, even though his head had been spinning like a thousand miles. You try catching your breath, hands kneading through his soft locks. His gentle gaze locks with yours once more, looking for something in your eyes that agrees with what he was trying to send.

Though, there was nothing he saw that would keep him from this moment.

Still, he was a gentleman.

No matter how hard his dick was hurting right now.

“A-Are you sure you don’t wanna talk about it first?” He questions, studying your multi-faced expressions.

You hesitate before leaning back down to capture his lips once more. His breath heavies, pulling away from another breath of words.

“We- Y/n, I just don’t want you to do anything you’ll regret..”

You take in a deep breath, trying to recollect your mind from this passionate fog. After a few seconds, you dismount from his lap, sitting yourself next to his body instead. Another wave of silence washes over the two of you.

“I’m pregnant.”

His head whips to you, eyes blowing wide at the confession. His mouth opens, looking for something to respond with.

“I- Uh- C..Congratulations..” Your head cranes to keep his gaze, eyes blanking with no feeling.

“The father hates me.” He goes silent. You continue, chuckling hysterically at the situation. Tears slipping from your grasp once more.

“I tried killing myself… Fucking jumping from the balcony. Crazy, right?” He doesn’t do anything but nod gently. His features had no reaction, but his eyes said it all.

“Are you… Still feeling that way?”

You think for a second before shrugging. “I don’t know.”

A beat of silence rings before he continues.

“So, who’s the dad?”

You suck in a deep breath, letting go as you answer.

“Park Jimin.”

He nods, trying to put a face to the name.

Then, it hits him.

“The Park Jimin? The son of the biggest skincare’s brand in Korea?” You nod, shoving your face in the dark of your tucked knees. Jungkook lets out a slight scoff, eyes glancing around the room, trying to understand the whole info dump.

“Did sex Ed not teach us anything?” Your head lifts, giving him a sarcastic chuckle.

“We didn’t sleep together. It was an accidental insemination.” His eyes widened like saucers for the second time today.

“Accidental insemination? How does someone accidentally stick a random girl with someone else’s jizz?”

You chuckle, shaking your head at his commentary.

“He was a donor a while back. A couple was going to do it, but they accidentally got the name mixed up. It’s like- a one in a million chance, okay?”

He blows out a breath, eyebrows quirked up in surprise.

“That's just- crazy.” His head cranes back to you, a different aura striking the atmosphere.

“So, I’m guessing he wasn’t very happy about the news, huh.”

You nod, leaning onto his shoulder gently.

“I’m living with my friend right now, and they just happen to be roommates. And-” Tears start welling up again, making your vision go a little blurry. You wipe away the stupid salty pity for yourself, cuddling closer to his arm.

“He brought another girl to the apartment.” He sighs, pulling you closer to his side. Your voice starts to choke, being reminded of the horrible things the two of you had exchanged.

“Hey, hey..” He coos, pulling you back into his lap. This time, in a more soothing way, rocking you back and forth.

“I just- was wanting my baby to have a normal life, you know?”

You chuckle in a failed attempt at covering your voice cracks.

“I know, I know.”

His soothing voice calms you down with every gentle second. Your eyelids flutter in exhaustion.

“Then we had this really bad fight..” He nods, tucking the crown of your head under his chin.

“Maybe you should just give it some time.” You shake your head, closing your eyes gently.

Being pulled into his calming rocks and embrace. The fire’s crackles and his patterned beats had relaxed your body more than you had felt in these past few years. Your head tilts, sleep threatens to shut down your body for the night. He smiles, pecking your forehead gently.

“We can talk more in the morning, Y/n” You nod, nuzzling into the comfort of his chest. His fingers toy with your toussels, lulling you into a gentle transe of slumber. The last thing your ears picked up on was the fire’s crack and his soft register cooing at your exhausted figure, assuring you of the safety you held him to.

-----

Feet trudge through the empty halls. A pitch black stains the atsmopshere, like paint blantently thrown against the canvas. Hours had dripped by, finding yourself in the comfort of solitude.

Your chest rolls out a deep breath, body slinging forwards lifelessly onto the small padded mattress. Your mind trails into it’s preferred conscious.

None.

______

Morning falls in the air, sun rising to greet you a taunting smile. Your body aches with pains you’d never even felt. However, the strongest pain had been in your chest. Heart felt as if it had been drug through the mud of a drag strip track.

You rise off the mattress, shuffling over to reach for the doorknob. Your hands halt on the handle, a hushed conversation echoes through the small complex.

“Yeah, she’s sleeping.”

“Yes, hyung. She passed out last night. Yes, she’s fine. Okay, see you in a bit.”

You shuffle out from behind the wall’s pointed corner, holding the flat surface for a sense of false security as to not topple over from sleep inertia.

Jungkook’s head cranes back, flashing a quick smile before setting his phone onto the counter.

“Morning.” You rub the sleep from your eyes, settling against the counter’s edges for support.

Hips pressed flush against the surface. Your features droop to a sleep-affected slope. Baring no emotions towards the situation. His smile fades at the lack of reaction.

“I left you some eggs.” His bouncy locks spiral with a little sheen of dampness from his early morning shower. You hadn’t been aware, and he’d hadn’t shown it, but his heart ached just as much as yours did over this stupid situation.

You had so many dreams, goals. You two used to sit up all night with a few drinks, night dreamin about the lives you wished you had. How you were going to go into animations and designs, get hired by this super famous animator company and make six-figures a year. He knew your plans had been as big as your heart. So that’s why this pained him to see even more.

“Who was that?”

“Hmm?”

Your hand extends, finger pointing towards his phone on the counter.

“On the phone.”

“Ah..”

You watch as he flips the omlet sizzling in the frying pan.

“Namjoon.”

Jungkook had some history with Namjoon. They’d started working out at the same gym at the time you two had met. Some information was exchanged, and a few years later, they had become friends.

“Yeah? What’d he want?” Your voice registers low, sleep still very prominent. Jungkook quicks a smile, sliding the plate of fuel towards your side of the counter. He leans against the counter, turning the stove’s hot dial off.

“He’s coming by later to let me borrow some of his canvases.” His eyes set on the tiny licks you’d been slurping up on the whipped cream’s tip. His throat dries at the sight. Your stomach had been protruding quite a bit now, but still had just looked as if you had a big meal.

“You? Painting?” He groans, watching as your laugh lines fade into your cheeks, joining in on the smile fits. “Yes, me. And it’s for my sister.”

“Mmmm, I don’t think you can really borrow canvases.”

“No shit, dummy.”

“Then why say borrow?”

“Just eat your eggs.”

____________

“Joonie!”

“Y/n!"

His arm open wide to receive your hug, as you tumble into his wide chest. Your own small limbs wrapping around his large frame, as if holding for dear life. Namjoon let's out a chuckle, patting the top of your head before pressing a kiss to the crowd. His hand slides into yours, as you make your way down the street. Turning back, waving to Jungkook goodbye.

—----------------

"You hungry?" Namjoon had been a lot nicer this morning. No jabs towards the way you look and smell like shit. Having lips cracked from hydration, as he slides the large Figi water over to your side, digging into his Chow Mein noodles. You slouch, pinching your nose in disgust.

The smell of something had caught your attention, making the sense of pile crawl up your throat. Pushing away from the table, you stand, walking away.

"Y-Y/n! Just hold on a- ow!" His body collides into your small one. He leans to the side chewing you out.

"Damn it, Y/n, you have to watch where you're go-"

Then, he sees it.

A little baby stroller being pushed back and forth by it's mother, as she coos towards the small child. Your hand comes to slowly clutch at your belly, rubbing small, unconscious circles.

A smile tugs your lips. "I'm having a baby, Joonie.."

He chuckles, nodding as he wraps you up in a tight back bear hug, pressing a light peck to your cheek.

"And you'll be the greatest mom, Y/n."

____

"Apologize."

"No."

"Jimin-"

His arms cross, turning his body away from you.

"What do I have to apologize for? Im right."

"For fuck's sake, Jimin, stop acting like a whiny little bitch and grow up. You're going to be a father." Namjoon's commanding voice had sent shivers up your spine. Hand reaching low to cuddle your belly, thumbing gently over its protruding bump. Soft coos fall from your lips, in attempt to calm both you and your child's nerves.

Jimin's head turns, heart clenching at the sight. No, jimin. We're still mad. Furious. How dare she come into your room, uninvited, ruining your night.

Baby or not, she's a bitch.

—--

Day had fallen doen from the skies. Being hung with night time's easential and light glows instead. Your hand hesitantly grips onto the handle of his door, waiting for something in your body to tell you 'turn around'.

Nothing.

Before you know if, your knuckles knock thrice against the wooden door.

After a few seconds drip by, it opens. His voice is flat and cold.

"What do you want."

Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry-

With shaky hands and tears threatening to spill over, you awnser.

"I-I wanted to talk."

His arms fold, keeping the door proped open with just one foot. Eyebrow raised.

"Well?"

Reaching into your jackets zipped pocket, you pull out the peice of paper Jungkook had helped you write out to help with the ache you felt in your heart. You didn't want to be mad at him. You didn't want him mad at you. You wanted to be a family.

Your hands trembled, voice beginning to break in confidence as you read off the words like a script.

"J-Jimin, I know we m-might not be the closest of friends, and I-"

Don't cry, Y/n. This is already pathetic enough.

His head tilts, huffing In a deep breath, awaiting.

"And?"

You continue with a tremble in your voice. Barely even being able to keep it high in confidence enough for him to hear.

"And I know that you didn't w-want.." You choke up. Curse these tears. Jimin scoffs, eyes evolving at the pitiful sight.

"Why do women always love playing the victim card, hm?"

Your eyes look up to meet his. His expression changing immediately once he sees the genuine tears that had painted your cheeks. Face flushed red, as your free hand gripped at your baby bump. Mouth dropping, but only cut offs of words spill out.

"I-I'm-"

His arms extending, pulling your small frame into a loose side hug.

"Hey.. it's okay, Y/n." His body comes to front yours, kneeling down to take your hands into his. Eyes focusing on only yours now. Great. He made a pregnant woman cry.

"Just breathe, Y/n.. You're okay." Your whole body felt like it had been on a wild roller coaster ride.

Stomach sore from your dry heaving fits of this morning, throat pinched and coiled as you try and speak, but only small whimpers exit.

You felt weak. Useless. Helpless.

Jimin sighs, standing to pull you close to his chest. Tucking your head under his chin, as he sways the three of you side to side gently. Palms rubbing soothing circles along the center of your back.

"It's okay..

I forgive you."

—----------

[silverinkbottle]

Chapter 3: Promises

Summary: Well, the secret is out.

Chapter 2 <-

Chapter 4 ->

A/N: A long awaited update as I get back into the swing of writing! Please enjoy!

Word Count: 4K

It’s said in life that two things are certain; death and taxes. At this point death was preferable to the seemingly endless mound of paperwork thrown haphazardly over the small tea table. Now ‘taxes’ was the ‘polite’ word for the numerous purses of beli that would land in select Marine pockets. While running the floating brothel wasn’t illegal, but it wasn’t legal in the strictest of senses either. These taxes would be used to have heads turn away from the occasional merchant captain robbed blind after a night of whoring and drinking. It all made sense, but at the same time it was so much fucking paperwork as your quill slashed your signature harshly over another line.

Gently placing the finished paper in the miniscule pile next to the chaos, you couldn’t help but sprawl back against the plush end cushion of the couch. Pressing the palms of your hands to your throbbing eyes as you could feel another headache starting to creep up on you. Stress, this bullshit and a pitiful amount of sleep was a poor combination. Not to mention the start of cabin fever as you all but ordered to be left alone during your hellish session of bureaucracy. Your mood darkening with each passing hour punctuated by barked demands for another bottle of wine. Drinking would make the task less painful but worsen the quality of your work. Joan’s solution was to water down the bottles before their arrival to your cabin, the obvious trick did little to temper your lashing tongue.

Maybe you should find an accountant. It would save you the headache,but cost beli, time and worst of all make the ship remain docked for who knows how long. The floating brothel ran on a migratory path with little interruptions to its flow. New docks and islands meant new customers to empty their pockets into the coffers. Not to mention gave the crew less chances to cause too much trouble. You couldn’t help but grimace as a few select encounters with locals drifted through your memory. Who knew the wives of fishermen could have such deadly aims with cast iron.

No. It was for the best that you continue this mind numbing task. Without wine or anything to make it less painful to trudge through. Perhaps Joan would be lenient to the request for a single glass of whiskey. It was as if the gods were listening as there was the smallest knock on your door.

“Enter.”

“Is this really all you managed so far?” Joan scolded as she stomped into the room doing her best impression of a maid as she tried to organize the fire hazard in front of you.  A hiss escaping her lips as she scanned over one of the documents with the crinkle between her eyebrows sinking with each passing line.

“You forgot to carry the two, here on line eight. Also here-”

“Do I LOOK like an accountant? Joan, it’s not like-” Your snarl tampered out as your face flushed keenly aware of the third party witnessing two grown women bickering like schoolgirls.  Only a single day had gone by, but there he was in the flesh. That hint of a smile that you had grown to adore threatening to appear when you snatched the offending document from your first mate.

“Don’t stop on my accord.” Mihawk said as he too joined the inspection of the documentation as you did your best to improve the bird’s nest of paperwork without outright panicking. He hadn’t seen you in this state before, the distressed Proprietor going through the mundane tasks of business. 

“You can leave us now, Joan.” 

“Because there aren’t distractions in front of you now. Perhaps I should trade the present one for a bottle of wine like you asked for earlier. I imagine your productivity will be at an all time high..” Joan drawled as she quickly took the small pile of finished documents into her arm before departing with a roll of her eyes and the slam of your door.

“That delightful mood seems to have infested the entire crew. What happened in the last twenty-four hours that I have been gone. Another fight at the Baratie? It can’t be that those are as common as-”

“Paperwork, Mihawk, Paperwork. My style of piracy isn’t exactly simple.” You muttered as you sank back down against the edge of the couch. Managing a small smile as gentle fingers brushed over your hair and the feather-like kiss on your forehead. He was less gentlemanly as he pushed your legs off the couch to take their place. He looked exhausted as his body sagged against the soft fabric with a sigh. 

“I didn’t expect you to be back so soon. Or else I would have put this off.” You admitted quietly as one golden eye cracked open at your voice. It was sweet in its own odd way as you knew the man’s insomnia was a benefit and bane to his lifestyle. Making seafaring faster, but at the cost of his health. 

“Why would I delay my return in favor of idleness.” Mihawk hummed as you let out a small yelp in surprise as he moved to hover over your stiff form. Caught between the couch and his arms, you couldn’t help but feel the smallest amount of guilt and could see obvious signs of sleep deprivation. The faintest bags under his eyes, his sigh of relief to your touch as you brushed over the stubble on his cheeks.  Human, he looked so human in this moment as you gently removed his hat with a single flick of your wrist. 

“Now that you’re back. Sleep. You look exhausted now-”

You couldn’t help but flinch as the man took full opportunity in making himself comfortable on your thighs. His prickly face rubbing against your stomach as he stared up at you all but radiating smugness and content as you tried to find the right words.

“The bed is perfectly empty. Laundered-” 

“You aren’t in it. Makes it pointless.” Mihawk yawned as he retrieved his dropped hat and placed it on his face to block out the lights in the room. His fingers edged along your stomach but went slack within seconds. The gentle puffs of his breath were all you needed to hear. Asleep, he was dead asleep.  At least his hat made a decent stand to hold your papers as you cautiously set to work once more.

Despite Joan’s predictions, Mihawk’s presence didn’t hinder your workflow. He improved it as the tense atmosphere of the room seemed to dissipate within the hour. The weight on your lower half is like a comfortable weighted blanket that makes the smallest of movements if you shifted an inch. Even asleep, Mihawk’s senses were honed to a fine point, it made sense given his solo style of travel, he had to be aware within seconds of danger. It was only when he was with you that he truly seemed to sleep. A rare gift from the fearsome Warlord with the lone wolf reputation.

“Whatever am I going to do with you, Dracule Mihawk.” You muttered as the mere infliction of your voice seemed to stir him into action. You forced yourself to remain still as strong hands spread over your stomach as if to answer. Or was it to keep you still, the warlord’s personal bed for the time being. Regardless, you were quite stuck as if you had a fearsome tom cat on your lap that would protest if you moved in an inch. Or perhaps a panther was far more accurate as a smile flickered over your lips at the idea. There were such Devil Fruits out there right? Mixing human features with that of animals. A silken black coated panther would suit your lover quite well.

A mere hour passed in a blink of the eye as the daunting pile of paperwork trickled away as you scratched off one final signature with a flourish of your quill. Carefully easing the paperwork off your make-shift stand as you tried to maneuver yourself without jostling Mihawk. It was a pyrrhic victory as you managed to toss the paperwork onto the tea table but at the cost of losing ground with Mihawk. Now you were a sufficient pillow as his face pressed against your breasts, your body pinned beneath him as immobile as a boulder. It was only by chance that you managed to comfortably recline your head against the couch end as you could feel your eyes getting heavier with each second. A nap wouldn't be so terrible would it?

Alarm bells rang in your head a mere hour later as a rough impatient voice came from behind your bedroom door. Your heartbeat turned into a stuttering mess as bleary eyes caught sight of the time. Five o clock, you had scheduled a meeting to discuss financial dues with the captain of the Baratie, all planned before Mihawk’s sudden arrival. Or the compromised position as your thudding heartbeat stirred the swordsman, if only to comfort you as his grip on your waist tightened. Were you ready to face the reality of going public as Paramour? Yes, but no. The two truths wrestled in your mind as you found yourself facing an impossible trap.

Rouse Mihawk from his sleep, debating with him over hiding. Shit, it was a headache waiting to happen as any arguing would easily eclipse the thinness of the door. Or diplomatically attempt to dissuade the short-tempered chef from entering your domain with some paltry excuse. Fuck, if it was over anything but financial dues you could have had a chance. Zeff was steel-fisted with beli as you were. It was something you could agree on. Afterall the arrangement between the brothel and restaurant was flourishing after a few sessions.

“I know you’re in there, you tight fisted brat. Don’t try to sneak out on this. Your fucking crew drank a premium barrel of booze under the impression some charlatan had a thicker purse than expected. I expect recompensation-”

“Fuck.” Your word came out in a hushed hiss as you tried to find the right excuse to dissuade the ex-pirate from resorting to less polite methods of diplomacy. Your agitation was palpable as you could see faint lines crinkling on Mihawk’s face threatening to rip from whatever dream he had to be enjoying.

“Mihawk.” Your address came out in a low breath as you tried to maneuver yourself out from under his heavier frame. It was like trying to pick shattered bones from a cooked fish, near impossible as his grip on your waist went steely. Reluctant to give up his extraordinarily comfortable pillow. Your breasts threatened to spill out of the loose blouse with each wiggle as you smothered a noise when calloused fingers curled around the right one. As if the simple touch  would soothe you. Instead of making things worse as you could feel your heart leap into your throat as another all too familiar voice came from behind the door.

“Joan said something about paperwork. Let her be, old man. Don’t start trying to lecture on diligence, I have caught you plenty of times napping curled up with a bottle of scotch instead of pen and ink.” Sanji warned as you could hear Zeff’s scoff of disbelief. You could all but imagine his mustache starting to tick as his patient began to count down.

“Mihawk, wake up.” Your voice dared rise in pitch as you could feel your face flush at the close proximity from your face to his. On top of the accidental groping as a sigh slipped from the swordsman as he tried to rouse himself from sleep. Fuck, that was another problem the swordsman had, if he was in this dead of sleep it was like trying to pull a gleaming coin from the depths of the ocean. It took time especially without a sense of urgency. 

Whatever gods were listening to you today seemed to grant boons, but were all too quick to take them away as there was a distinct crack of wood. It was like the world shifted into slow motion as your voice died in your throat. Along with the crumpled remains of your privacy as a fuming Zeff stumbled into the room, followed by an irritated Sanji scolding his mentor without hesitation. About the matters of lady’s privacy that turned into a stuttered mess as the pair saw your compromised position.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. The explicits bounced around your brain as you did your best to fight the crimson stain of your complexion. The secret was out and the fallout lashed out within seconds as Sanji’s misguided chivalry sprang into action. 

“Let go, you leech.” Sanji barked, allowing his foot to strike out over the table. Aiming to lash out at Mihawk’s half-awake expression that turned icy as his hand caught the tempered kick with a single sigh. The off-balanced chef startled backward onto the floor with a scowl.

“Mihawk, don’t do any-” Your warning was cut off by a heated kiss as Mihawk’s hand curled around your blouse, pulling you to him as you could feel bare air hit your chest. The kiss ended a moment later as Sanji’s kick smashed through your tea table. Papers scattered about as you let out a small shriek of rage.

“Is now really the time!” You snarled as the two duelists confronted one another with an exchange of blows. Sanji on the offense as he tried to buckle Mihawk’s left knee, only for the polished move to slam into a vase of flowers. Baiting Sanji to move closer and closer to Yoru, left stationed by the bed. You were quick to intercept the path of destruction as you held your arms out blocking the swordsman from his blade. 

“Not on my ship.” You hissed as Mihawk stumbled back with a grunt as Sanji’s blow landed against his forearm. You could all but imagine the potential destruction the blade could wreak on your small vessel. It wouldn’t last more than a few slashes regardless of how deep they went into its’ core.

“Madam, you’re..” Sanji’s address came out in a surprised, no, shocked tone as your upper half was on display. Breasts and all as the crescent bite marks peeked out from your hips, accompanying a splattered display of purpled markings spotted here and there on your skin.

“Too late to mark your territory, you insolent little puppy.” Mihawk hissed as you could almost taste the venom in his words. Jealousy and sleep deprivation did little to improve his impression of the flirtatious waiter. At least he compromised with your blocking of Yoru, settling for a sharpened letter opener instead as Sanji dodged backwards from an errant swing. Mihawk wasn’t awake and controlled, it was more so the equivalent of rousing a hibernating bear from the depths of winter.

In short. Sanji was his singular target as the apprentice cook hastily retreated. Followed close behind by Mihawk’s wrath down the hall. Each sound of splintering wood made your cringe as you ran your hands over your face. Papers had been strewn across the floor, the door kicked off its hinges and worst of all, an amused Zeff stood at the center of the room. Like a cat that snuck into the cream as you wretched on a robe. Its sheer material did little to hide the torn blouse, but it was better than nothing in the emerging situation.

“So. A Warlord is it?” Zeff teased as you tried to stalk past him with what little dignity you had left.

“OH FUCK YOU OLD MAN.” You screeched as you were quick to follow after the carnage. Curses spilling from your lips with each passing second. Wood planks kicked in, almost cut in half and the social chaos blooming ahead. Shrieks and protesting grunts of prostitutes, clients and the like as you could all but feel your reputation starting to drop into the sea. All because two men decided a ship was the perfect place to have a fucking pissing contest.

You needed reinforcements and quickly. Your half laced boots slammed open the door to Joan’s room as she looked up from her book with little surprise. Her prone ‘furniture’, a nude sailor bound and gagged, made muffled comments as you were quick to point out to the hall. Joan closed her book with a sigh, barking into the hall for someone to come watch her client. Then she too joined the hunt, tossing you a pistol from her dresser as you sheepishly left your quarters without anything to back up your fury.

You weren’t the first spectator on deck as a crowd of crew spectated the duel with visible interest. You were less than gentle elbowing your way to the front as you raised your pistol in the air. The burst of smoke and gunpowder at least dispersed the crowd as it meant you were serious. This stupidity ended now.

“Trouble managing your personal life it seems. Oi, Sanji you need to watch your right flank son. Your liver would have been bleeding out by now if he was actually taking it seriously.” Zeff barked as Sanji let out a hiss of pain seconds later. Mihawk did exactly as Zeff predicted, dragging the tip of the letter opener over the right side of Sanji’s shirt. Crimson flowers of bloom trickled from the wound as Sanji’s right foot arced over Mihawk’s head. The swordsman’s free hand caught it as the blade in his occupied hand poised over his achilles tendon. All it would take was one laceration and the cook would be limping for the next year.

There was a defiant click of the pistol as multiple shots rang in the air. Now you were starting to see red as Sanji managed to twist out of Mihawk’s grasp, clocking Mihawk in the side of the head. Now the swordsman’s movement aimed to cripple as Sanji was once again forced on the defense, narrowly skirting out of the way. 

“Oh fuck this.” You snarled as the pistol clattered to the deck as you put yourself between the pair. A beyond stupid move as you swallowed harshly, the tip of letter opener mere centimeters from your throat. It’s path would have pierced Sanji’s foot that was hastily diverted lower lest he strike your face. It couldn’t stop its trajectory completely as inertia struck your ribs. A soft ‘oh’ slipped from your lips as pain radiated from fractured bone. 

“He fucking kicks like a donkey, you should be proud, Zeff.” You wheezed out as your face drained of color as adrenaline fled in favor of the radiating pain. Mihawk’s hand quickly applied pressure as you tried to even out your breathing. Fighting for the next word as Sanji tried to reach out in apology.

“Get the fuck off my ship. Both you and Zeff. We’re done here.`` You hissed through clenched teeth as Zeff bristled in defiance. It was met with a shrill whistle as there was audible drawing of blades, readying of guns as Joan leaned over the railing of the upper deck. 

“Be thankful for my Paramour’s grace.” Mihawk growled as you could all but feel each of fingers on your left gently probing for fragments of bone. Yet his glare could have struck both men down as Zeff gave a bark of laughter.

“Paramour is it. Really digging yourself in deep there, girl.” 

“Is it true, Ma-”

“As true as the fact you just fractured three or four of my ribs. Sanji, that is quite the congratulations.” You hissed as you tried to take a deep breath, staggering forward as you did. Mihawk was quick to catch you by the waist as you braced yourself against his chest. Your cheeks were ruddied from pain and embarrassment. A complex mess of emotions as you could see some of the spark in Sanji’s gaze flicker out. He meant well, in his own misguided way. But holy shit, did your ribs hurt. Now wasn’t the time for gentle gloves and easy words.

“I’ll let Cooke know you’ll be arriving shortly.” Joan called out as you winced in response. It wasn’t from the pain alone. No, it was the fact that the grouchy cook was going to lord this over you. That you decided to go into a dog scrap and got bit for your troubles. 

The whispers started as soon as the ship began its unexpected departure at full sail. You could all but predict the conversations at hand that wouldn't dare be uttered in your presence. Was it all true? Had you been engaging in a secret affair with the apprentice chef too? Did the Warlord intend to remain on the ship? How would that deter clients? What about their bottom line?

“Bunch of fucking vultures, I swea-” Your rant was cut off by a sharp yelp as the bandages around your ribs tensed around the injury. It was times like these you wished that you had an actual doctor on board instead of a hacksaw type cook that would rather amputate a limb than allow for a chance of infection. Or in this case, tape you up like a trussed bird readying for the oven.

“Don’t use that language around me girl, you won’t be the first silly twit to intervene in a duel over some sanctified attempt of-”

“Would you rather I let them stupidly cause more damage to my ship.” You snapped as the old woman’s wrinkled mouth puckered. Her hands were far less gentle for the remaining wrapping as her gray eyes flickered over to a guarded Mihawk. 

“You brought him aboard, you take care of the issue. Bad enough we get the occasional pack of dogs for clients, no, you just had to claim a wolf as a personal pet. Warlords are trouble, Captain. Gonna bring the Marin-”

“I’ll be handling any complications with the Marines. You have my word, Cooke.” Mihawk rumbled as the old woman huffed at the response. You would have laughed at the woman’s sour expression if it didn’t feel your ribs were on fire at a mere breath, laughing would be out of the question.

“Now, you-” Her long nails jabbed at your forehead.

“And you-” Another gesture to Mihawk who tipped his head to the side with mock attention.

“No rigorous activity for the next few days. You don’t need to make the fracture worse.” Cooke explained with a roguish grin as she finished her wrapping with a final tap of her knuckles against the thick bandages.

“Cooke, you-”

“Of course.” Mihawk smoothly interjected over your protests and was quick to lead you from the galley. His touch was gentle as he eased you down onto the couch. A tick of impatience in his eyes as the mess of the room was hastily swept up by crew members. By far the most tedious process was listening to the whining of hinges as maintenance workers bickered over measurements and the like. Only reaching a compromise when Mihawk’s murderous gaze settled on them after one too many squeaks of the hinges. 

You couldn’t help but melt into the plush couch as blissful silence took over your quarters. Alone, finally you were alone with your thoughts. Well, almost as your eyes widened in surprise as Mihawk’s lips chased after yours. Gentle hands easing into you into his lap as you whined into his mouth. Half from want and the other from pain as your aching ribs protested the action. 

“You said it.” Mihawk muttered against your throat. Almost inaudible, but his fingers curling over the gifted dove brooch was all you needed to guess.

“I did. Now we are already dealing with the consequences.” You huffed as Mihawk’s laugh sent goosebumps down your back. What else did you expect? A quiet and peaceful life after this.

Not by a long shot, after all you were the Paramour of a Warlord.

[sheerfreesia007]

Win A Date With A Naval Officer pt. 5

Title: Win A Date With A Naval Officer pt. 5

Fandom: Top Gun Maverick

Pairing: Robert ‘Bob’ Floyd x OFC!

Author: @sheerfreesia007​

Words: 7,645

Warnings: toxic family dynamic, cursing, steamy make out session

Permanent Tag List: @paintballkid711, @fioccodineveautunnale, @phoenixhalliwell, @linkpk88, @weirdowithnobeardo, @athalien

WADWANO Tag List: @fandom-princess-forevermore

Gif Credit: @skylessnights

The birds were chirping peacefully as the sun hung in the mid morning air while the bees buzzed from blossomed flower to blossomed flower in the perfectly manicured backyard of the Bennett’s home. All of it with the large weeping willow tree created a whimsical scenery for Rachel’s tea party that she was hosting. Unfortunately that peaceful whimsical scenery was shattered as soon as Rachel opened her mouth to shrilly ask about her youngest daughter who was absent from today’s tea party.

“Has anyone heard from Lettie lately? I can never seem to get her on the phone anymore.” Rachel asked like a petulant child as she huffed softly. Viola who sat next to Rachel at the large white painted metal table took a dainty sip of her tea before shaking her head.

“She’s been skipping on some of the charities that I’ve hosted in the past few months. The last one I had to actually hire a bakery to make the desserts for me and the table was done up all wrong by the wait staff!” Viola said disgustedly as she sneered behind her tea cup.

“She hasn’t hosted a charity event either in a few months.” Anise informed them as she set her own tea cup down on the saucer. “And I don’t think she has any plans to host one anytime soon.” Rachel scowled darkly at that information before huffing angrily.

“It’s all because of her new boyfriend. That naval officer.” Millicent said with a shrug of her shoulders. “I remember when I met Thomas. I didn’t want to do anything besides spend time with him. You can’t fault her for doing that, she’s in love.” Millicent smiled dreamily as she rested her chin in her palm on the table with a far off look in her eyes. Rachel frowned at her second oldest daughter’s words before Viola spoke up once again.

“Yes but she’s not helping out the family when we need her.” Viola said disdainfully and Rachel nodded her head in agreement.

“She’s not acting like a proper southern belle. She’s not giving back to the community-”Rachel stated and Nora spoke up suddenly.

“That’s not true. She’s been working at the food pantries in the city, my girlfriends saw her working a few weeks ago at New Orleans Mission. She was giving out boxes to those less fortunate there and then she worked the food line at the St. John the Baptist Community Center. She’s still giving back, it's just not on your terms.” Nora said with a sharp look in her eye. Rachel sat there quietly for a moment wondering where this defiant attitude had come from in Nora.

“Really Nora, sounds like you agree with what Lettie is doing.” Viola said with a twist of her lips. “What’s the matter is Frank getting into that pretty head of yours?” she asked derisively and everyone at the table all sucked in sharp breaths as their eyes darted over to Nora.

“Better that than just following along like a good little girl.” Nora snipped back as she glared at Viola from across the table. Viola smirked evilly over her tea cup and Rachel knew if she didn’t step in there’d be so damage between the two sisters.

“Well what do you suggest we do to get Lettie back to helping us with our charities?” Rachel asked curiously to Nora who blinked at her owlishly for a moment before shrugging her shoulders.

“She’s happy doing what she’s doing. What’s the harm of leaving her be? She was never going to be a proper southern belle like you wanted her to be anyway, why can’t she just be Lettie?” Nora asked conversationally and Rachel scowled at her questions.

“Because that’s not what I want for her life.” Rachel snapped out hurriedly and Nora waved her hand in the air stopping Rachel from speaking again.

“It’s her life Mom. Just because you want her to be a proper southern belle doesn’t mean that it’s going to happen. In fact I’m pretty sure if you keep pushing for this it’ll end up the exact opposite of what you want.” Nora said knowingly and Rachel shook her head hurriedly at her words.

“You sound just like your father! All of my daughters will be perfect southern belles if I have any say about it. They will emulate the perfect sophisticated woman, a pillar of her community who gives back and shares her wealth in any way that she can. A true, honest role model for everyone else to strive to be.” Rachel said determinedly and Nora scoffed softly at her words.

“Mom, while that’s all well and good it’s unrealistic. Out of your five daughters I’m pretty sure Lettie is the closest to that description.” Nora said with an incredulous chuckle and shake of her head.

“Speak for yourself.” Viola snipped and Nora grinned wolfishly at Viola across the table.

“You’re one to talk.” Nora responded gamely and Rachel sat back in her chair as she felt the air grow cold. “You’re the worst one out of all of us Vi. You treat your maids like garbage and work them until they either collapse or they quit due to being worn out. You can’t keep a nanny employed on your payroll for longer than a month all because your children are absolute hellions. And who are you trying to kid with all those posts on Facebook with your husband? We all know he’s banging your next door neighbor’s wife on the side. What happened with his last secretary huh?” Nora said as her tone and volume rose with incredulity as she continued to talk. Viola snapped her mouth shut angrily and glared hatefully at Nora. “We all have our own vices that we partake in and for you to think that we’d all be perfect southern belles is a joke. It’s all a lie. And Lettie doesn’t deserve your disdain all because she wants to work for a living and not be a stay at home mom. She’s got so much talent in just her little pinky and all you do is tear her down whenever she shows you her talents. It’s disgusting how you treat her!” Nora finished heatedly before standing up from her chair and storming off. The table sat quiet for a moment before Rachel huffed and shook her head. 

“Well.” Rachel said haughtily and Viola sat there stunned in silence while Millicent and Anise nodded their head silently along with Rachel. “She’ll regret leaving us. She’ll come crawling back to us and we’ll just tell her no thanks.”

Everyone fell silent then and Viola sighed out a long breath before picking up her tea cup and taking a sip of her tea. The birds still chirped happily and the bees still flew from flower to flower but there was no longer a peaceful whimsical aura. Rachel sat there in her chair staring at her remaining three daughters and wondered if she was doing the right thing by them or if her husband and now daughter were right in telling her that her dream of having all southern belle daughters was a mistake.

*-*-*-*

Lettie sat in one of the outdoor patio chairs at her favorite restaurant Birdy’s Behind the Bower under the white long tent a table tucked away in the corner with Maddie and Charlene. Maddie sat next to her while Charlene sat across from the two of them sipping on a mimosa. The girls had called her up that morning asking if she wanted to go to brunch together since they felt like they hadn’t seen her in a few weeks. Lettie had agreed because she had felt the same way and knew that she’d feel ten times better once she met up with them. It always felt like a breath of fresh air whenever she got together with Maddie and Charlene, it always seemed to ground her when she would start to feel anxious or wound too tight.

“So where have you been hiding lately?” Charlene asked with a knowing smirk and wiggle of her eyebrows causing Maddie and Lettie to chuckle at her antics.

“Working and any time off is spent with Bob.” Lettie confessed with a happy smile on her face.

“As it should be.” Maddie spoke up in confidence as she took a sip of her own mimosa. Charlene nodded her head along with Maddie’s words before speaking up.

“I don’t blame you, he’s a keeper. He’s cute and always looks out for you whenever we’re all out together.” Charlene began to list off Bob’s attributes and Lettie hid her smile behind her glass of sweet tea.

“Not to mention the man is head over heels for you.” Maddie chimed in and Charlene squealed happily at her words.

“Do you remember their first date? I swear I thought Bob was going to swallow his tongue when they were together at the table.” Charlene excitedly relayed and Maddie nodded her head quickly as Lettie began to blush.

“And then that time we were all up on the terrace! You two are lucky I was next to you, otherwise everyone would’ve known.” Maddie said cryptically and Charlene looked at her with a confused look on her face. “Oh you don’t know? These two were screwing like rabbits that night on the terrace. It was actually kinda hot, he had to cover her mouth a few times before they were done.” Maddie informed Charlene who gasped loudly and stared at Lettie in shock before her look morphed into a salacious grin. Lettie blushed from the roots of her hair down to below the neckline of her tank top.

“Lettie you dirty girl!” cried out Charlene who whooped loudly as Lettie ducked her head as other guests of the restaurant looked towards their table. “Oh my, I didn’t think you had it in you for that.”

“She never did until Bob came along.” Maddie teased and Lettie gasped softly causing Maddie and Charlene to burst out into laughter. Lettie ducked her head once again and Maddie took pity on her and gave her a comforting hug. “We only tease because we can see how happy you are with him.” she reassured Lettie who snuggled in her arms for a moment.

“I can’t help it.” Lettie wailed playfully and Maddie chuckled at her pitiful act as she patted Lettie’s head.

“Of course you can’t sweetheart.” she teased Lettie who laughed and playfully shoved Maddie away as Charlene chuckled with them.

“So when’s the wedding?” Charlene teased from her seat and Lettie jolted in her seat causing both Maddie and Charlene to stare at her for a moment. “Did I say something wrong?” Charlene asked cautiously and Lettie shook her head quickly.

“No, no you didn’t. I want to be married to him. Trust me I want it. I want the cute little wedding with all of you there. I want to be Mrs. Leticia Floyd.” Lettie said with passion as Maddie and Charlene stared at her waiting for the rest of her words. “We just haven’t talked about it yet. I don’t know for sure if that’s what he wants and I don’t want to rush something that he might not be even thinking about yet.” Lettie said unsure as she began to fidget with her glass.

“Aww, Lettie. That man is truly smitten with you and if you asked I’m sure he’d drop to one knee tonight when you see him.” Maddie said softly in a reassuring tone.

“Not to mention he’s a service member. They move quickly when it comes to relationships.” Charlene said as she nodded her head while Lettie looked over at her.

“So then why hasn’t he brought up marriage?” Lettie asked insecurely. Just then Lettie’s cellphone, which was sitting in the middle of the table with Charlene’s and Maddie’s, began to vibrate with a slew of text messages. Lettie sighed as she saw that they were all from Viola, her oldest sister and from what she could see on the screen it was all about her charity event that was happening this weekend. Lettie reached forward and silenced her cellphone as she huffed about her sister’s poor timing.

“Maybe because he knows that you’re different he doesn’t want to rush it?” Charlene suggested. “I mean look at it this way Lettie, he’s always in these dangerous situations when he’s deployed and he obviously loves coming home to you. I mean the last time we didn’t hear from you for a week, I swear you were going to tell us you’re pregnant after that week.” Charlene said with a kind smile. “Maybe he doesn’t want to scare you with the way his life is. It’s a hard life being the wife of a service member, heck my mom was one and it nearly put her in her grave a few times waitin’ to hear back if he made it out or not. Gave her so many gray hairs.” Lettie chuckled softly at the mention of Charlene’s mom as she nodded her head slowly.

“The only way you’ll know for sure is if you talk to him about it.” Maddie said gently and Lettie looked at her for a quiet moment.

“You’re absolutely right. I can bring it up to him later tonight when he comes over.” Lettie said with a happy smile. Charlene and Maddie looked at each other over the table and then squealed happily before they began talking rapidly about everything that Lettie would need to start preparing for her wedding to Bob. Lettie sat there grinning from ear to ear happy that her two best friends were so eager and excited for her to get married to him. She sat back in her chair and took another sip of her sweet tea thinking about what her ideal wedding to Bob would look like for her.

*-*-*-*

The knock at the front door had Lettie running down the hallway from the kitchen with a wide grin on her face. Hurriedly she unlocked the door and swung it open to see Bob standing there holding his duffle bag with a smile on his face. Lettie lunged and wrapped her arms around his neck with a happy laugh bubbling up from her chest. Bob teetered backwards a little bit but held her close to him as he dropped his face into her neck.

“I missed you, Lettie girl.” he said softly and Lettie grinned wider.

“I’ve missed you more.” she responded and Bob scoffed softly at her words.

“Not possible.” he countered before pulling his face away and capturing her lips with his in a sweet chaste kiss. He backed her back into her house while still kissing her and kicked the door closed with his foot before dropping his bag to the side. When he had the extra hand free he cupped her cheek and tilted her head to the side while opening his mouth to deepen the kiss while moaning. Lettie squeaked softly when her back collided with the wall and her hands scrambled to get a hold of him while she whimpered against his mouth. Her hands curled around his shoulders and her leg lifted to hook around his hip pulling him in close to her until she felt his flush against her. Bob pulled away slightly and the two of them panted heavily trying to catch their breaths. “Missed you so much sweetheart.” he husked out to her as his hips snapped against hers making Lettie cry out. “Always love coming home to you.” he told her as his mouth dropped to her jaw and began sucking kisses into her skin making Lettie gasp loudly.

Just then the timer on her stove went off and Lettie groaned loudly at the interruption. Bob chuckled against her skin as his tongue darted out leaving a trail of saliva to dry making Lettie shiver in his arms. Bob always knew how to wind Lettie up with kisses and she truly loved it but only when it was uninterrupted. He tapped her ass gently and she lowered her leg slowly while grinding against him to show how much she wanted him. Bob placed both hands on either side of her head and Lettie looked up at him challengingly to see his lustful smirk on his face.

“You’re gonna be in trouble later Lettie girl.” he told her darkly and Lettie grinned while shivering, she’d happily take whatever he gave her. She then took his hand and guided him down the hallway to her kitchen where he took his seat on one of the stools at the kitchen island. Her kitchen island was littered with baking utensils and baking ingredients that she had been using to lock down what desserts she was going to be making for Viola’s charity event this weekend. “So what do we have going on here?” Bob asked as he eyed all the baking mess on the island.

“So I need your help.” Lettie said over her shoulder as she turned off the burner under the large pot of tortellini soup that she had made for dinner for them tonight. She then bent over and opened the oven to take out the garlic bread she had also made for dinner.

“Lettie you bend over like that everytime you ask and I’ll do whatever you want.” Bob groaned out and Lettie laughed at his words. She turned around and faced him then with a wicked grin on her face.

“Is that all it takes to bring Lieutenant Bob Floyd to heel?” she asked sultrily and Bob smirked at her while standing from his stool to walk over to her. He crowded her against the counter and pressed his lips to hers.

“When it involves you all you have to do is breathe and I’m at your mercy.” he whispered against her lips and Lettie moaned prettily for him before capturing his lips with hers. Bob groaned low in his throat and wrapped his arms low around her waist while deepening the kiss. “Fuck, have mercy on me Lettie.” he moaned out to her and she chuckled softly before nipping his lower lip playfully.

“After dinner and dessert we’ll work out this tension in you.” she promised him as her hands glided up and down his biceps causing Bob to flex them much to Lettie’s delight. Lettie kissed him softly before turning to the island with a hand gesture to show him what she had been working on. “So I’ve got that charity event for Viola on Saturday in the morning and I’m in charge of the dessert table again. I wasn’t too sure if I wanted to do cake pops decorated in her theme with large cupcakes to compliment them or if I wanted to do turtle brownies with complimentary cupcakes or even just stick to my beignets. So I’ve made a sampling of each and I’d like for you to pick which one you prefer. The brownies and cupcakes would be the less time consuming option but I like the cake pops and cupcakes idea for her theme of Alice in Wonderland. But then everyone loves my beignets so I’m not sure which one to go with. Plus I’m going to have to do some of the work while you’re here with me so I don’t want to take too much time away from you.” Lettie explained while fidgeting with her hands.

Bob tilted his head while watching her and saw that she was more worried about losing time with him as he walked closer to her. Bob moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist taking a gentle hold of her hands as he rested his chin on her shoulder. He hummed softly and Lettie calmed down almost immediately as she melted in his arms.

“So then let me help you make the desserts. I’m a good helper I swear. Plus we’ll get to spend more time together.” he said softly as he began to sway her back and forth while keeping her pressed to his chest. He stood there swaying with her in his arms and felt her sigh softly before nodding her head at his words.

“Alright, I really appreciate your help. I just don’t like that it’s cutting into our time together. Now I understand why I should be speaking up against my mom and sisters more.” Lettie said softly and Bob wrapped his arms tightly around her body cuddling her close.

“You just need to stand up for yourself a little more. I don’t agree with the way they treat you and I can see how much it brings you down. I don’t want you to ever feel like that and if I can help it I’ll make sure you never feel like that again.” Bob said softly as Lettie turned his arms and wrapped her arms low around his waist as she buried her face in his shirt. “I adore you sweetheart and I only want the best for you.”

Lettie smiled beautifully up at him before raising on her tiptoes to press a sweet kiss to his lips. She hugged him once more before they moved to serve dinner and sit down together to eat. The two of them fell into a familiar routine and Lettie felt her heart soar at the thought that this could be her reality.

*-*-*-*

Lettie burst out into laughter as she turned from the stand mixer to see Bob gazing down into the bowl of dry ingredients with a determined look on his face. Ever since the two of them had set out to make the cake pops and cupcakes Bob was set on making sure he did everything the way she instructed so that they all turned out alright. She grinned at him widely as she moved over to him and gently brushed her thumb across his cheek brushing away the flour that had smeared there. He chuckled softly at her actions before darting his eyes over her face.

“You’re cute when you’re so determined.” she said softly to him and Bob pecked her awaiting lips.

“Gotta make sure these are good. I’m the helper today.” he said solemnly and Lettie laughed brightly at his words.

“I love you.” Lettie said on a soft happy sigh before gasping softly. Bob’s eyes widened before a beaming smile fell upon his lips. She watched silently as Bob almost vibrated with excitement as he reached to cup her face and pulled her to him, capturing her lips with a happy warm kiss.

“I love you too, no take backsies.” Bob muttered against her mouth and Lettie laughed delightedly against his mouth.

“No take backsies.” she murmured to him and Bob kissed her once again as his hands moved up into her hair as the kiss grew heated. Just as Bob was tilting her head to the side to further deepen the kiss Lettie’s cell phone began to ring loudly in the kitchen. Bob groaned softly and pulled away so that Lettie could see her phone. “Why is she calling me?” Lettie asked softly with a weary sigh before picking up her cell phone. “Yes Viola?” Lettie asked wearily and Bob moved to stand behind her while still keeping his arms around her.

Bob was ecstatic that Lettie had said the words first because he had been dying to tell her how he felt about her for months now and was worried that he would be moving too fast if he said them too soon. He wanted to move at her pace and not scare her away, he wanted this relationship to be the end goal for them. He knew that as a member of the Navy that he was going to be put into dangerous situations that could potentially take him from this world and nothing was ever guaranteed but he wanted to make sure that Lettie had control of the pacing of their relationship. But Bob felt as if he was twenty pounds lighter just from hearing her say the words and being able to say them back. He turned to see her frowning into the phone as her eyebrows furrowed on her forehead and he knew that did not bode well for them this weekend.

“No Vi, I was only planning on setting up the table and laying out the desserts for you and your guests. I didn’t want to come to the event, it’s Bob’s free weekend and we had plans.” Lettie said, dismayed as she huffed loudly. Bob moved closer to her and could hear her sister berating her over the phone. “No Vi. We don’t want to come to the event. We’re just going to set it up and then leave.” Bob felt pride swell inside of him as Lettie told her sister no and stood up for herself. He could see that it was hard for her but he appreciated it nonetheless, she had been working so hard through her therapy and he could see that with the way she spoke to her sister now. “I don’t care if Mom and Dad want us there. I told you no.” Lettie said firmly and Bob tilted his head to the side at the mention of her Dad. He knew Lettie had been missing her Dad like crazy lately since she hadn’t had much time to see him and Bob felt slightly guilty for taking so much of her time.

“Hey, maybe we should go so we can see your Dad.” Bob suggested softly and Lettie looked at him with a confused look on her face. He waved his hand at the phone and Lettie pulled it away from her ear for a moment. Bob pressed the mute button on her screen and looked at her adorably cute face. “I know your whole therapy session is so you can stand up for yourself more. And you’re doing a great job, but your Dad’s going to be there Lettie. And I know you’ve been missing him lately, and I feel a little guilty for taking all of your time away from him. Maybe we can go and spend an hour or two with him at the event and then leave?” he suggested to her. Lettie twisted her lips in thought and Bob could see that she was partial to the idea he presented. “Plus we’re free to leave and come back here to do whatever we want. And I’d love to see you in that floral tea dress that’s hanging in the back of your closet. I’ve dreamt of taking you home in it so that it can wind up on the floor.” he whispered into her ear and Lettie quickly pressed the unmute button.

“Vi we’ll come but only for a little bit. See you tomorrow.” Lettie said quickly before hanging up. She lunged at him eagerly and Bob caught her as her lips crashed to his heatedly. “We’ve got about ten minutes left until we can get all of these into the oven to bake. Keep that thought alive for those ten minutes and you can give me a preview of your idea.” Lettie husked out to him before wrenching away from him and hurriedly moving to the standing mixer. Bob chuckled softly at her antics before moving back to the bowl of dry ingredients eager for the baking to be over so they could get to things they wanted to do.

*-*-*-*

Bob sat in the passenger seat of Lettie’s Volkswagen bug watching out the window as she drove down her parent’s neighborhood street towards their large house. The cake pops and cupcakes had been finished this morning before the two of them had giddily gotten ready together in her bedroom. Bob turned his head to see Lettie in her pretty floral tea dress with the pleated skirt that fell down to her knees with her hair curled and style in flowy train down her back. She had even put on cute little heeled shoes that matched her dress. Shifting in his seat Bob felt himself growing desirous of her as his eyes darted up and down her body hungrily.

“Down Lieutenant.” Lettie chastised him gently and Bob groaned loudly at her words. He slid his hand onto her thigh and felt her jolt in surprise.

“You know what my title does to me and yet you still use it.” He teased her softly, watching eagerly as her tongue peeked out to dart across her lower lip.

“I can’t help it. I love it when you go a little wild.” Lettie said sultrily and Bob sucked in a deep breath to try and calm himself down. He slid his index finger over the skirt of her and dragged it up her thighs until her pretty lacy underwear was showing before letting it fall back to her knees. The breath she let out slowly as her hands adjusted on the steering wheel was very telling of how excited she was as well.

“Didn’t peg you for an exhibitionist. Because that’s what you’ll be once we get out of this car if you keep it up, Lettie girl.” Bob told her and watched as she shivered in her seat. He knew she would calm down as he noticed that she was slowing the car before pulling into her parents’ driveway. What he wasn’t expecting was for Lettie to put her car in park and then grab him by his shirt and plant a kiss right on his mouth hungrily as they sat in the car.

“Maybe later tonight you can go a little wild on me and this dress.” she suggested softly as she breathed against his lips. Bob growled low in his throat and watched as Lettie’s eyes widened slightly at the sound. Bob kissed her once more before the two of them moved away so that they could get out of the car together. 

“Hey! You guys made it!” cried out a voice and Bob turned to see Lettie’s Dad walking down the steps of the front porch with a wave of his hand. Lettie grinned over the top of her bug at him before walking around the hood of the car to greet her Dad with a warm hug.

“Hi Dad.” she said softly and fondly, causing Bob to smile at their interaction as he watched.

“Hey kiddo. Glad you’re here. Your sisters and Mom are already upstairs getting ready. You look beautiful!” her Dad greeted her kindly and Lettie beamed at him as Bob watched on. Then her Dad turned to Bob with a happy smile on his face. “Glad to see you again Robert.” he said easily as he stuck his hand out to shake Bob’s. Bob easily and happily shook his hand while nodding his head at him.

“It’s good to see you too, sir.” Bob said kindly and her Dad waved his hand dismissively of his manners.

“Please just call me Michael.” her dad stated and Bob smiled while nodding once at him. “Here let me help you guys with the desserts.” he said eagerly and Lettie stepped in front of him stopping him in his tracks.

“Absolutely not! Those desserts are for the party not for you to sneak.” Lettie scolded him with her index finger in the air. And Bob watched as Michael slumped his shoulders defeatedly as he looked at Lettie with pleading eyes, Bob chuckled at the dynamic between the two of them as he shook his head. “Besides I’ve got a whole container all just for you. It’s in the backseat. Just grab it and take it inside before we start moving all the other stuff.” Lettie told him in confidence and Bob chuckled as he watched Michael light up like a christmas tree as he hurriedly rushed to Lettie’s back seat.

Bob followed a bemused Lettie to her trunk which she opened while chuckling and shaking her head as her Dad rushed into the house with his container of cupcakes and cake pops. Bob nudged her hips with his own when he saw that she was reaching into her trunk to pull out the large containers of desserts before he reached in and grabbed all of the containers for her.

“Just walk me to where you need these.” he said to her kindly and she beamed up at him before shaking her head as she reached into her trunk and pulled out a metal contraption. Bob watched curiously as she unfolded and presented a small hand truck that had enough room for her containers. He chuckled softly at her resilience and she looked proudly up at him.

“I’ve done a few of these before sweetheart. Work smarter not harder.” she told him proudly and Bob smiled at her before placing the containers on the hand truck. He then stood back up and grabbed Lettie around the waist pulling her into him with a surprised gasp.

“Have I ever told you how sexy you are to me when you show off that big brain of yours?” he asked teasingly and Lettie chuckled at his words before kissing him sweetly.

“No, but I love hearing it.” she whispered to him with a smirk.

“Fucking sexy as hell. I can barely control myself around you.” he responded softly to her and Lettie beamed at the praise. She kissed him once more before wiggling out of his arms and turning back to the trunk of her car and pulling out the table cloths she brought as well as the dessert stands that she’d be using today. Bob unabashedly eyed her ass as she bent over into the trunk and had to bite his lip to keep from moaning loudly at the display.

“C’mon let’s go to the backyard and start setting all of this up.” She told him as she closed the trunk and began walking towards the side of the house. Bob obediently followed after her while pulling the hand truck after him, knowing full well that her mother and sisters were at the second story window watching them. He had felt the sensation of someone watching him and had easily seen her mother and sisters peering out of the window upstairs with disdainful looks on their faces. Bob was resolute in keeping Lettie happy today so he hadn’t spoken up about their audience. He knew that today was going to be a struggle no matter what but he had a foreboding feeling that it was going to be bad today.

*-*-*-*

The party was well under way and Bob glanced down at his watch to see that it was already one hour into the party. He wondered if Lettie would get upset if he started hinting that he wanted to leave, so far her mother and sisters had kept their distance from him and Lettie but he could see them starting to inch closer to the two of them. Lettie was standing next to him holding a glass of sweet tea while chatting contently with one of her sisters’ school friends, her bright happy laughter rang through the air and Bob smiled as he watched her tilt her head back with her boisterous laugh. 

Bob was absolutely entranced by her, the way she spoke freely and amicably with everyone she met was so alluring to him that it drew him close to her and kept him there. She was such a sociable woman who was able to strike up a conversation with everyone she met. And she always seemed to remember a small tidbit about the other person and would work it into the conversation which made everyone light up with pleasure at the mention. He loved that Lettie was thoughtful to remember these things about people and to bring it up so that they felt seen by her. 

Just then Lettie grazed her free hand against his and Bob automatically turned his hand to grab onto hers. He intertwined their fingers and raised her hand to press a soft kiss to the back of her hand making her beam up at him and inch closer to him. Bob smiled softly at her and heard the soft gasp of the school friend.

“You two are absolutely adorable together! How long have you been dating?” she asked excitedly and Lettie beamed happily at the compliment. Bob spotted Lettie’s oldest sister Viola walking over with her Mother and the two middle sisters, he tensed slightly but pulled Lettie closer to him protectively. He had a feeling that this wasn’t going to end well.

“Oh we just celebrated her nine month anniversary last week.” Lettie said fondly as she smiled at the woman.

“Oh! That’s so lovely!” the woman said happily before turning to Viola who had reached them with her mother and sisters right next to her. Bob felt Lettie falter slightly but he gripped her hand tightly once trying to reassure her.

“Nine months? That’s an awful long time and you’re still only dating? That’s a shame.” Viola said disdainfully and Bob sucked in a slow even breath trying not to react to her hurtful words.

“We’ve been enjoying each other’s company for the time being. Haven’t talked about the details yet.” Lettie said dismissively as she smiled up at Bob who winked at her causing her to grin and flush prettily for him. “Getting to know each other completely before we figure out what our next steps are.” Lettie said dreamily as she kept gazing up at Bob. He was internally cheering that she wasn’t getting upset over her sister’s words and choosing to turn her sister’s attempt to attack them around on her.

“You need all that time to get to know him?” her Mother asked curiously as she glared at Lettie. Lettie shrugged her shoulders as she looked over at her Mother with a happy smile.

“Before we move forward I’d like to know him as a person as much as possible. To make sure that we’re compatible to take the next step. There’s nothing wrong with that.” Lettie said dismissively and Bob felt pride surge up inside of him as he listened to her words. He also had a moment of satisfaction as he watched her Mother’s mouth drop open slightly in shock at Lettie’s flippant attitude. He also assumed that she was upset that Lettie was essentially not giving them any information about their relationship.

“Yes, I suppose that’s a good idea. But Lettie, sweetheart-” Viola began to say in a patronizing way that had Lettie straightening her posture next to Bob defensively. Bob could feel it too, Viola was setting something up and he knew it was aimed to upset Lettie. He silently wondered what was Viola’s issue with Lettie and why she was so cruel to her, he wondered if it was due to their Mother. Lettie had spoken about her childhood and how it was mostly spent with her Dad and avoiding her Mother and her southern belle agenda. She had told him that she would take the etiquette classes that her Mother had put all of her daughters through and while she was able to successfully pass the classes she was still clumsy and her Mother would grow impatient and angry with her. Suddenly Bob felt Lettie grip his hand tightly and he focused back on her gazing at her profile as she stared at her sister. “Are you going to continue being only his girlfriend just like Robert is only a WSO?” Viola asked disdainfully and Bob whipped his head to stare at her with narrowed eyes.

He couldn’t believe that those words had just come out of her mouth in regards to his career. She had no idea what he had to go through to become a WSO and while it wasn’t an aviator it was still a key job in the navy. Bob felt his own insecurities rising up as well as his anger as he stood there thinking over her words. He could see her satisfied smirk on her face as she crossed her arms over her chest, she knew she had gotten to him. But the silence that had fallen over the group was interrupted by the angry words bursting forth from Lettie’s mouth.

“Excuse me?!” Lettie snapped angrily as she glared hatefully at Viola. Bob turned his head quickly to stare at Lettie in shock, in all of the nine months that they had been dating this was the first time that Bob had ever seen Lettie get truly angry. He’d seen her frustrated, upset and disappointed but he’d never seen her angry. He had to admit it made his heart flutter in his chest as he watched her stance solidify in a protective mode, she was angry for him and she wasn’t going to let her sister degrade him in front of her and all of the guests. “Did you just say only a WSO? Do you even know what WSO stands for Viola?” Lettie spat at distastefully as if the words made her sick. “Let me inform you since you obviously don’t know. It stands for Weapons System Officer, that means he’s the one dropping bombs while his aviator is flying the aircraft. Do you think you could do that job?” Lettie spoke out incredulously as she stared at Viola with raised eyebrows. “The fact that you’re even cruelly judging a Service Member speaks volumes of your character and I’m saddened to find out how hateful you actually are. Bob goes to war just so you can throw these mindless charity events. Get off your high horse Viola you have no right to downplay his accomplishments and achievements when you know nothing about them.” Lettie said heatedly next to Bob and he could see the angry flush forming at the base of her neck and knew that she was truly worked up over her sister’s words. 

The guests were all silent after Lettie ripped into Viola about her disdain for Bob’s career and while Bob knew that Lettie would probably feel bad for causing a scene he could only see her in a new light. She was protective of him and didn’t take kindly to others trying to talk badly about him, it made Bob feel all the love that she held for him and he couldn’t wait to get her home to reciprocate it.

Viola scoffed loudly before turning to the woman that Lettie had been talking to before and stopped instantly when she saw the judging look from the woman. Bob watched as Viola turned her head from side to side to see all the rest of the guests looking at her with judgemental looks, Viola’s smirk slowly fading from her mouth as she took in all of her guests staring at her.

“Leticia Ann Bennett!” shouted her Mother loudly and everyone turned to stare at her as she glowered at Lettie while her whole body shook with untamed rage. “This is not how a southern belle behaves!” she shouted and Bob felt Lettie flinch slightly and he steps closer towards her for comfort. “You are a disgrace to this family and I am ashamed of you!” her Mother continued to rant and rave loudly enough for everyone to hear. Lettie’s hand gripped Bob’s tightly and she sucked in a stuttering breath after her Mother’s words rang out in the air.

“Well that’s a shame.” Lettie said calmly as she raised her head to stare squarely at her Mother. “Because I'm a damn good person even though I’m not the perfect southern belle that you want me to be. And if you can’t see that, that's on you Mother.” Lettie said solemnly before shaking her head at her Mother who gaped at her in quiet shock. Lettie then turned to Bob and smiled warmly at him. “Let’s go Bob, I wanna go home.” she said softly and Bob nodded his head eagerly as he wrapped an arm around her waist and began guiding her out of the backyard. Her Mother began shouting after them saying that they couldn’t leave because the party was still going on and she wasn’t done talking to Lettie. Bob continued guiding Lettie out past everyone, when they passed her Dad Bob nodded his head in silence and her Dad reached out to rest a hand on his shoulder for a moment before they passed him. 

Bob easily got Lettie out of the backyard and guided her to the passenger side door before taking the keys from her and opening her door. He helped her into the car and rushed around the front of the car to get in on the driver’s side. When he was in the driver’s seat he turned to Lettie and saw that she was staring straight ahead quietly. He wasn’t sure if she wanted to talk about it just now or if she wanted him to just get her straight home. He took a hold of her left hand and raised it to his lips pressing a soft kiss to the back of her hand.

“I know it hurts what your sister and mother tried to do. But you did so well standing up for not only me but yourself as well. I am so proud of you and want you to know that I absolutely love you exactly how you are. I wouldn’t change anything about you.” Bob said softly against the skin of her hand before pressing another kiss to her hand. He then started her car and began driving back to her place, still holding her hand the whole time.

“Thank you.” Lettie said softly in such a quiet voice that it made Bob’s heart ache. He knew he would have his work cut out for him to make Lettie feel better about what happened at the party.

[lycantripuwu]

Legends of Barovia session updates!

We've had a LOT of sessions since the last update! Ill post them in chunks since theres SO MUCH

-We escaped and got away from the hags after saving the children and ended up getting to Vallaki!

-on the way Mirre questioned the boy we saved who ran away from Vallaki's orphanage, Reek, about strange nightmares and a strange scary kid named Felix. Mirre, with his monster hunting experience, assumed it was either a ghost or a demon posessing the child and suggested dealing with the issue at the orphanage as soon as possible before it snow balls.

-Reek REALLY likes Mirre and wants to be a monster hunter just like him and has been glued to Mirre's side the whole trip.

-Rhil communed with the entity in her amber shard and learned that this creature, named Pandoryum, was sent by a Mother Night to help her. Aparently Rhil used to be a priestess of Mother Night until she was killed and her was temple destroyed a long time ago by a group of fey named the Rozana. She was willingly reincarnated to eventually come back and end Barovia's cycle/curse. Ravenloft was built ontop of where her temple used to be, so that explains why Rhil hates the castle!!

-we got into Vallaki, Blue flew inside and we settled in the blue water inn. When we left the inn to check out the shops we ran into Baron Vargas Vallakovich and Izek. Izek shoved an elderly woman out of the way and Vargas was attempting to put her in the stocks for "Being in his way" and being "Maliciously unhappy". Rhil and Jace almost immediately jumped in try and persuade him not to, Jace nat 1'd his persuasion attempt and both of them nearly got thrown into the stocks on day 1 in vallaki. Mirre managed to settle Vargas and avoid the stocks with some heavy ass kissing and "forcing" Rhil and Jace to openly apologize to Vargas.

-We did some shopping and selling. had some fey mushroom tea from the herbalist and Mirre shrunk down to 1 ft, Ireena started hearing whispers and Jace got.. more muscular? Nothing happened to Rhil cause she has insane wisdom saving throws xD Shes been getting a cup every time we stop by in hopes something happens, but nothing yet. The effects went away eventually but that was so fun!

-We stopped by the orphanage to investigate the issues we learned from Reek, Mirre did his monster hunter investigations and took notes from what the kids and orphanage care taker told him, after finding infernal runes on the bed posts and seeing the state that Milijov is in, he determined that the monster is a Nabussu. He and Rhil also came to the conclusion that if we hold off any longer, Milijov would die and the kids would become a bunch of ghouls, so we prepared the best we could and headed up to the attic where Felix was located.

-It turned into a fight quickly and it whittled the party down fast, Rhil went down first and nearly got turned into a ghoul until a voice spoke to Mirre and offered him power to prevent Rhil from being turned and to kill the Nabussu, what ever this is HATES undead. Mirre accepted and ended up with draconic bone wings, a spirit shroud AND a skeletal form of dread, which he used to obliterate the Nabussu. Felix was too far gone and couldn't be saved but we did save the orphanage.

[mrspasser]

10. Wishes

Let's talk about sex, baby (sing it)

Let's talk about you and me (sing it, sing it)

Let's talk about all the good things

And the bad things that may be

Salt-N-Pepa

Cover made with fanart by @donlemefo​

It’s all a bit of a daze when they’re on their way back from the Christmas party. They sit in the back of the automated cab, both properly buckled in per Nines’ request. It makes resuming their little make out session from before a little impossible, though the android is still capable of rendering Gavin to a useless pile of sappy gay, a state Gavin never thought he’d possibly achieve. Yet here he is, desperately trying to choke back all the little noises that are caused by Nines, who has made it his mission to worship Gavin’s hands.

He traces his long fingers over every tendon and vein, pausing at every freckle, scar or other mark he can find. Every now and then his long fingers disappear underneath the cuff of Gavin’s jacket and that shouldn’t be so hot, but it is , and if Nines would perform a scan right now he would notice how Gavin’s core temperature has raised several degrees.

When Nines raises Gavin’s hand to his mouth, kissing his fingertips reverently, one by one, his tongue darting out for a quick taste of the index finger, Gavin’s brain practically combusts on the spot.

Nines has to actually open the door of the taxi for him, taking him by the hand to get him out. Gavin could blame it on the alcohol, were it not that the whole mistletoe situation sobered him up quite a bit. No, this is purely Nines’ doing, with his wish for a romantic relationship with Gavin and immediately tipping it over to the point of body worshipping. And these are just his hands! At this point, Gavin doesn’t think he will survive any of Nines’ other wishes.

As if he can read Gavin’s mind - although, let’s be honest, he probably just read his off the chart vitals, Nines gives Gavin a change to catch his breath when they are inside the apartment. He directs the detective to the couch, disappearing into the kitchen to make a cup of tea.

Gavin sits on his couch, too wound up to sit back into the cushions. Sid looks up at him from his place in the armchair; he blinks at his owner’s distress and yawns exaggeratedly, before tucking his paws in and resting his furry little head on the pillow again.

He can hear Nines in the kitchen, talking softly to Tiny over the sound of the water cooker. Cabinets open and close, there’s the sound of the tin that holds the tea bags and the voice of the android who gently scolds the white cat for jumping up on the counter.

Things are the way they always are. Or, at least, the way they have been for a while now. Gavin’s new normal, with the cats and his partner as a permanent fixture in his home.

Except, everything is different now.

Even through the vast, blank space that is his brain at the moment, Gavin knows he likes it, he likes it so much his heart is soaring through the clouds. In fact, it is soaring so high that it has him terrified. He has lost his footing, he is grappling for something to anchor him, something to help him navigate this new situation.

The tall android appears in his vision, rounding the sofa with a mug of tea in his hand. He places it on the coffee table and sits down in his usual spot to Gavin’s right. Nines rests against the back of the couch, stretching his long legs out in front of him.

Gavin can only stare.

Calmly, his partner brings his right hand up to loosen his tie. The gesture is entirely human, just like the way he places his left arm along the backrest, his hand coming up near Gavin’s arm.

He expects the touch, Nines long fingers curling around his bicep, squeezing gently before loosening again, his thumb rubbing softly over the fabric of Gavin’s dress shirt. Still, it has Gavin tensing up, goosebumps spreading out over his back, all the way up to his neck.

“Are you alright, Gavin?” Nines seeks his eyes, his hand stilling on the detective’s arm.

He swallows heavily, forcing himself to nod. Then he nods again. “Yeah,” he croaks, his face flushing terribly. This whole thing has him flustered like a high schooler.

He reaches for his tea, just to give himself something to do. When he moves forward he loses Nines’ hand on his arm and the sudden feeling of loss makes him brave enough to scoot over when he sits back. Nines gives a pleased hum when their thighs touch, Gavin leaning back in the open space within Nines’ arm. It feels good to sit there, it feels right. Yet Gavin’s heart is still beating like it wants to slam through his ribcage.

“God, this is awkward,” Gavin mutters, trying to will his cheeks to settle into a more natural colour than fire hydrant red.

Long, deft fingers find their way into his hair, gently scratching the shorter hairs at the back. He can feel the android’s gaze on him, though he doesn’t dare to return it yet.

“Is it?” Nines hums thoughtfully. “I think it is a very natural extension of the situation we already created. In fact, it is a very logical step.”

It is such a Nines thing to say. And he is right. Everybody else already thought they were a couple, the way they were practically living together should have been a clear sign to the both of them too. And yet it took some fucking mistletoe to get them this far. A huff of amusement escapes Gavin and he leans his head back, feeling the tension slowly flood out of him. Nines’ hand comes up over his head and a finger boops his nose, making him laugh for real. His partner moves so he can wrap his arms around Gavin’s torso, careful not to disturb his hot tea. He noses the side of Gavin’s face, his nose cool against Gavin’s hot cheeks. “I like this,” Nines says quietly. “I like this very much.”

Gavin rubs his head back against Nines, sighing contentedly. “Me too.”

He’d be lying if he said he didn’t imagine shit like this before, when they were each still sitting on their own side of the couch and touches were only perfunctory and practical. You know, like the platonic work partners they are. Were .

He drinks from his tea, the last bits of tension seeping out from him in Nines’ embrace. Tiny jumps on the couch, wriggling and pushing until she is in Nines’ lap, pressed in between them. Gavin reaches over to scratch her behind the ears. “You’re gonna have to share now, young lady.”

That incites a laugh in Nines, a quiet rumble in his chest that Gavin can feel now he is flush against said chest. It warms him to be privy to the android’s happiness, to feel the proof of it. It takes him back to his thoughts earlier this evening, about how much Nines has grown over the past months. If he is being honest with himself, he knows he has changed too. He is milder, not as quick to anger. Who knew all he needed was a stoic android to get him to be less of an asshole?

Although, he can still be a bit of an asshole. To his - their cat, for instance. Gavin puts his tea mug away and turns towards Nines, pushing Tiny off his lap. “My turn now,” he grins smugly, hooking his leg over Nines.

The android’s LED circles yellow once before settling back on a steady blue. He accommodates Gavin in his lap, holding him steady with his large hands on his waist. “I don’t have any mistletoe here,” he says when Gavin crowds him against the back of the sofa.

“Don’t need it,” Gavin answers dismissively, throwing his arms around Nines’ neck and closing in towards his goal. He ghosts his lips over the android’s jaw, feeling the smoothness of the synthetic skin there. It’s warm to the touch, making it feel real, alive , even though Gavin knows, somewhere in the back of his mind, it is all tech and machinery.

The lips that find his are perhaps a fraction less pliant than those of a human, yet they fit perfectly against his own. And when he nips at the bottom lip, the hands at his waist grab him just a tad firmer than before.

Their kisses alternate in speed, from languid, slow kisses that make Gavin melt against Nines, to heated kisses that have him pressing himself up against the android’s chest. Gavin has unbuttoned the top three buttons of Nines his shirt, allowing him to splay his hands across his neck, throat and shoulders. When he goes for the next button, Nines moves one of his hands from his waist to his wrist, gently holding the hand up to his mouth like before. He kisses every finger, from the bottom to the tip, taking the fingertip between his lips shortly before moving onto the next.

Gavin watches in awe and the feeling of Nines tongue against his fingertips has a heat pooling in his stomach. The touch of Nines’ other hand over the fabric of his shirt suddenly isn’t enough anymore and Gavin roughly pulls the shirt from his pants, catching Nines’ hand underneath it. The android’s hand stills, pulls back to hover above Gavin’s heated skin for a moment, before he surges back in, fingers splayed wide across his back. He arches into the touch, caught between the android’s front and his large hand on his back. He catches Nines’ face between his hands and captures his mouth again, licking into the hot, wet space.

A second hand joins the first and now two hands rove his back, the fingertips ten hot points against his skin. His breath becomes more laboured as he moves with every touch, the need of wanting to feel those hands on every part of his body becoming more prominent. Never breaking their kiss, Gavin hastily unbuttons his shirt, pulling it down his shoulders and arms impatiently. He wants to do the same with his partner’s shirt, feeling the need to get these things off, off, off , yet Nines’ eyes grow wide at the sight of his skin and in the next second his lips are no longer on Gavin’s mouth, but on his throat, his shoulders, his chest, anywhere the android can reach without losing his hold on the human.

“Woah there,” Gavin chuckles breathily. He is nearly knocked backwards because of Nines’ sudden fervor.

Lips on his throat, his shoulders, his chest. Heated kisses, almost rough in their nature. His throat, his shoulders, his chest. Nines is maybe on his fourth round when Gavin catches on to the pattern. Throat, shoulders, chest, throat, shoulders, chest.

Fooling around like this has messed up Nines’ usually perfect hair, dark strands hanging almost in his eyes. Gavin tries to move to get the android’s attention, but he’s captured in those strong hands and can’t move around that much. Chest, throat, he frees up a hand , shoulders, chest, throat, he cups Nines face with his hand , shoulders…

“Hey… hey Nines. Easy, babe.”

Red light shines through his fingers, pinking them up unnaturally.

“Tin Can? What’s this? You okay?”

His android partner stills his movements, face hidden between Gavin’s neck and shoulder. He is perfectly still, like only androids can be. Gavin frees his other hand and moves that to the back of Nines his neck, repeating the movements his partner used to calm him down a little earlier. He stretches and curls his fingers through the dark hairs, short at the bottom, longer at the top. It’s a good moment for him to catch his breath too, after the way things got heated between them at a breakneck speed.

Craning his neck gives him the view of a solid red LED, Nines must be really stressed out. Or overloaded. Maybe this was already too much for him? Gavin internally curses for forgetting his partner is new to this, all of this. Not just kissing Gavin, the android is new to kissing. Period.

“You okay there, partner?” Gavin asks quietly, still petting Nines’ hair.

He has to wait a while for the answer and when it comes, it’s in the form of stilted movements that have Nines sit up straight, his hands falling back to his sides. Gavin feels silly sitting on his lap shirtless, yet he doesn’t want to get off right away, afraid Nines will get up and walk away or something.

He adjusts his seating so he is a little more comfortably, careful not to get all up in Nines’ space again. The ring on his temple is still a solid red and his face is eerily blank. It’s not the reaction Gavin was originally hoping to get, a far cry from his own internal debate about whether to ravage Nines on the couch or take him to the bedroom. However, his own wishes quickly take a backseat to his partner’s distress.

He reaches to take Nines’ hand and hold it in both of his own, searching Nines’ face for a sign of what he is thinking. Gavin doesn’t quite know what to say, comforting is not his forte, so he just keeps quiet and waits for Nines to recover a bit. His dick is not really on the same page yet, still eager to get going; Gavin ignores it for the time being, despite being all geared up he can still, well, not be a dick .

“I… I’m sorry,” the android says eventually, his voice uncharacteristically unsure.

Gavin presses a kiss to the hand he is still holding. “Don’t be, it’s okay. What happened? Did you blue screen or something?”

“What?” Nines lifts and furrows his brows a little, showing confusion. A second later comprehension sinks in. “No, I don’t - Well, maybe something like it.”

The human chuckles and shows a warm smile. “You couldn’t handle all of this?” he teases, gesturing to his still naked torso.

The LED is still red, now pulsing instead of a steady warning. Gavin backtracks a little. “You… you’ve seen me without my shirt before, right?”

Nines nods almost imperceptibly. “I was never allowed to touch though,” he answers, sounding a bit more like himself this time.

“Oh, you were allowed,” Gavin rushes out in a bout of painful honesty. “I just didn’t know you wanted it.” He cradles Nines hand against his chest, flattening the palm against his skin.

The android fixes his gaze on his hand and rubs the thumb carefully back and forth over Gavin’s chest hair. “There is so much to want,” he says, his voice trailing off.

Instinctively, Gavin understands Nines doesn’t quite mean there is a lot of Gavin to want. The android seems to refer more to the act of wanting itself. And, well, isn’t that true? The list of wishes can be endless, filled with things big and small.

Nines wished to be in a romantic relationship with Gavin, it is safe to say he wanted to kiss him too. Gavin guesses touching him is also on that list, so they have made good on fulfilling all of those wishes, all within the span of a couple of hours.

“We’re moving a bit fast, aren’t we?” he offers with a rueful smile.

Nines frowns a little. “I should be able to keep up with you. I’m CyberLife’s most advanced -”

“It’s not about that million dollar processor of yours, Tin Can,” Gavin interrupts him gently. He slides off Nines’ lap to fit himself against his side again. Nines’ hands follow him, unsure about what to do until Gavin laces their fingers together.  “Why don’t you tell me about your wishes?” he asks, slotting himself closer to Nines and resting his head against his shoulder.

“My wishes?” There is still a hint of red on the android’s temple and his body feels less pliable than before. Still, Gavin can tell Nines is making an effort to get himself out of the funk he was in a moment ago.

“Yeah, you said you wished to be in a romantic relationship with me. And for the rest of your wishes we needed to get home…” Gavin squeezes Nines’ hand. “Why don’t you tell me about them? Maybe it’s good to talk about them first, before we act on them.”

Nines releases a deep sigh he doesn’t need physically, though perhaps it helps him emotionally. “I wished to kiss you. To pull you close and hold you, kiss you, taste you…”

“Hmm, sounds good,” Gavin says with a smile. “Anything else?”

The android hesitates a moment before answering. “I’m afraid you’d think it all quite mundane.”

Gavin lifts his head to look at his partner. The android looks at their clasped hands, like he is embarrassed about something. “Try me,” Gavin says, giving his hand a squeeze.

It takes some coaxing, but eventually Gavin has the picture complete. Nines’ dreams and wishes consist of fantasies of holding hands, cuddling on the sofa while watching a movie, lazy sunday mornings with breakfast in bed and walks in the park.

“Cute.” He accompanies the assessment with a kiss. “Tell me more.”

And… well… the ‘more’ part is where they touch upon the problem. If you would even call it a problem. Gavin doesn’t see it, but Nines does. “I don’t know how I could have overlooked it,” the android says quietly, his LED alternating between red and yellow. “My premonition software somehow didn’t take your biological needs into account. How could I forget? Humans are primal creatures, sex is a -”

A finger held to his lips stops him and when he locks eyes with Gavin he seems a bit lost. “Sex can be a lot of things. I admit, I enjoy it as much as every other guy,” Gavin chuckles, before continuing in a light tone. “And I get it, you know, you’re worried about not having a dick -”

“How did you -”

“Know?” Gavin smirks. “I’ve got eyes, you know. I’ve been ogling that cute, perky butt for a while now.” If Nines weren’t currently sitting on it, he would have pinched the body part in question. He settles for moving his hands over Nines’ other appealing body parts; his strong arms, his broad shoulders, his firm chest, his toned stomach. “When you’ve got all this,” he says, planting little kisses along Nines’ perfect jaw, “do you think I’ll miss a certain sausage resembling appendage?”

Nines blinks, slightly dumbfounded for a moment. Then he huffs a laugh, LED blinking blue, and Gavin knows they’ve overcome this hurdle. At least for today.

“We’ll go slow,” Gavin assures Nines. “I don’t care if we move at a glacial pace. For now, I am perfectly happy to curl up against you before we go to sleep, instead of pretending to roll over to you in my sleep.”

He gets up off the sofa and holds his hand out to Nines. “Come on, let’s go to bed. I want to cuddle.”

<< 10/10

DBH Partners series masterpost

[justsoohi]

Playing Cards -Epilogue

[Underland] On the day of the live>

Aira: ! Mayo-san, that was the best angle so far...! Do it again!

Mayoi: Eh, W-Which angle? Like this...?

Aira: So close! Turn your back to me for a second. I'll take a picture, just hold it there!

Tatsumi: Aira-san, you really are enjoying the photo session.

Aira: Because the costumes this time are cool. I'm so in love that a few pictures aren't enough♪ rabu~i♪

Hiiro: It's a nice outfit, perfect for our role in "Trump Soldiers"

Just now, when I met the other "Units" who appeared in [Underland], they also complimented me♪

Tatsumi: How was the state of the other "Units" ?

Hiiro: Everyone was very enthusiastic, and I could feel their spirit. It was a tense feeling that made me think we couldn't afford to lose either

In the middle of all that, Mashiro-kun came all the way to talk to me even though he was in a rush because of mitsuru-kun.

He apologized again for misunderstanding the live name.

Mayoi: Mashiro-san has apologized many times to me in our room. I told him not to worry about it, though...

Aira: Mashiro-senpai is so kind... Not like a caring person or anything, just a regular kind person.

Hiiro: Umu. We are so grateful to him

Tatsumi: I would definitely like to see everyone from "Ra*bits" on stage, but It seems difficult considering the order of appearance.

Hiiro: That's why we talked about watching the video together later.

We also encourage each other to give the best performance we can right now... ♪

Mayoi: Ufufu, you had a good conversation.

Mashiro-san has helped me a lot, and if I have the chance to watch the video together, I would like to thank him properly.

Hiiro: Well, let's have a tea party to thank them. Tea party! ..Well, the "Trump Soldiers" won't be at the tea party! though

Aira: ...Hiro-kun, you're in high spirits aren't you? I thought we weren't in a position to produce results at this live?

Tatsumi: From the moment you were selected for the performance, hiiro-san were more enthusiastic than ever about everything.

Mayoi: Even during the lesson for the new song, he already remembered the choreography I wanted to teach... I was surprised at that.

I couldn't afford to fall behind hiiro-san, so I was more enthusiastic about the lesson than usual too.

Aira: It was somehow a tremendously heated moment

To be honest, I sometimes wondered if I would be able to keep it up until the day of the event. But thanks to the refreshment break, I think I was able to bring the peak of my voltage to today.

Tatsumi: Yes, everything is ready. All we have to do now is to release our passion and enthusiasm for this stage—

It looks like it's time to stand by.

Hiiro: Umu, let's get into position and head to where we should stand!

Aira: (Wow ....! The venue filled with audiences is so powerful ! )

Tatsumi: (I thought it'd be a big stage, but this is a spectacle that can only be seen in the actual performance...It's a spectacular sight.)

Mayoi: (Ufufufu. The tension from just before was gone like a wave, and the excitement is gradually surging in...♪)

Hiiro: (The audience is excited by the appearance of ALKALOID.)

(For our fans among us, and even to the hearts of those who don't know us well. We will deliver "ALKALOID" as much as we can to the best of our ability!)

—All members, Charge! <totsugeki

Tatsumi: (With gratitude and joy that I am standing on this stage. "Hallelujah... ☆" And now I will return my feelings from my heart)

(Putting aside Eichi-san's motives for encouraging us to achieve results, I hope we were able to ride it out and grow a step forward this time)

(Like what hiiro-san said in the maze...the four of us will work together to overcome any difficulties that lie ahead)

(Even if you get hurt and confused at times. I will protect this beloved place)

[·····~♪]

Aira: (Cool and brave...! But I won't forget to be cute and be myself!)

(I'm glad Hiro-kun has recovered, but I'm afraid I'll be left behind if I don't always give 120% of my strength...!)

(But my dream and "ALKALOID" dream have only just begun!)

(We will build and polish our abilities and muscles. I hope we can continue to grow toward our dreams together....♪)

Mayoi: [♪~·····!]

Mayoi: (Ah, my heart is throbbing! I was able to confess what I was hiding in my heart, so even my body feels lighter...♪)

(My singing voice also sounds like it's echoing freely.....)

(I am glad that I took the courage to do this because I feel that I am doing something for "ALKALOID")

(From now on, I would like to continue to give a little bit of myself to "ALKALOID." If there is any I can unleash for it, I'll do...)

(Let's make a promise to ourselves. We'll put our hearts and souls into this stage...♪)

Hiiro: [♪~♪~! ♪~!]

(What a magnificent performance, everyone.. Your singing voice and facial expressions are very dignified!)

(Everyone told me that they were drawn in to me... but It's thanks to you all that I'm standing on the stage with my head held high)

(From being a nobody when I first came to the city, I became an idol... I became an idol and the leader of "ALKALOID")

(I know now that the path I need to take is here. And I am here to walk it with my friends)

(And I won't let anyone get in the way of this journey! My answer lies in keeping this will!)

[♪~♪~♪]

Tatsumi: "Thank you, everyone, for your excitement!"

Aira: "what do you think of our [Underland]? Isn't your heart pounding after getting lost in a slightly dark world?"

"But do not worry, we 'ALKALOID' will protect everyone!"

Mayoi: "Because we are the 'Trump Soldiers'—"

"Also. In this reversed world, We're soldiers who will protect you of our own will, and not by doing what others say♪"

Tatsumi: "Please remember the names of the soldiers who will sacrifice themselves to protect you. I am the diamond, Kazahaya Tatsumi"

Aira: "I am the heart, Shiratori Aira!"

Mayoi: I'm Ayase Mayoi , who runs the club "Clover", and our leader is.....

Hiiro: "Umu! I'm Amagi Hiiro, the monarch (leader) of 'ALKALOID' and entrusted with the role of spade!"

"We are new idols who have just been born, but our friends and our will to be idols is second to none"

"We will not betray those who support us. No matter what happens, I will always be strong and play the role of protecting everyone.”

"That's why I'm here, and I'll prove it on this stage! So, please, let it be engraved in your hearts!"

"That we, 'ALKALOID', will shine...!"

Prev

[the-wizard-challenge]

The Wizard Challenge

If you're like me and you have both an unquenchable thirst for roleplaying games and executive dysfunction, then you might also find yourself in a similar headspace of getting distracted and not tackling tasks that are necessary for the average functional civilian.

So, I decided to use my favorite pastime (coming up with D&D characters that I'll never use) as a way to help me motivate myself and trick myself into adopting better habits and routines in the coming year.

I didn't make any major new years resolutions for 2023 other than "do the the damn thing," and generally get around to all the things I should get done. My mental illness often inhibits me from getting into the correct state of mind where I feel motivated enough to start something, much less finish it.

And then I got to thinking, what if I could give myself XP for actually finishing tasks I set out to do? What If I could fuel my motivation with my inherent desire for escapism?

As a millennial with mental illness, I've seen motivational plans and tips like this a hundred times before, and have always felt pretty meh about them or fallen off early. Since I thought of this concept, however, I haven't been able to get it out of my head. Might as well give it a shot!

I first turned to D&D 5e, the TTRPG system I'm most familiar with. It's easy to grasp, and there's tons of materials available online.

Then I started going down the rabbit hole that is creating a character concept, which is my favorite part of starting any game. But I also had to think of how I would apply my task management and routine-building.

I decided to pick a Wizard for my class. Because one of my general goals is to read more often, Wizard felt like a good option; any time I finish a book, I can treat it as a spell and add it to my wizard's spellbook.

I've been playing a lot of Potionomics and I adore the design for Luna, a moth girl with a talent for marketing. I picked Fairy for my wizard's ancestry, and got to work designing a moth-ish Wizard baby. Her name is Phalena, she enjoys green tea, and I'm aiming for her subclass to be Order of Scribes.

Then I sat down to think over how certain tasks and goals should be calculated in terms of experience. I didn't want to make things too easy on myself, so I factored in the idea that most D&D groups are about 4-6 players on average. I looked up some basic enemy stats for 5e (specifically, low CR enemies) and used that to build up my own system.

Basically, everyday tasks like doing laundry, washing dishes, or picking up groceries are equal to low-level monsters like zombies and skeletons (challenge rating 1/4). These are things that must be done, but can still be difficult to accomplish.

The total experience points awarded for defeating a zombie is 50 xp. As I said, though, you'll typically be playing D&D with at least 2 other people. Taking into account a 5-person party, that 50 xp is divided into 10 xp each.

Considering that the average time to actually start and finish one of these tasks is relatively low (15 to 30 minutes being the range), the trick that made the most sense to me was to take the total time in minutes it took to finish something and multiply it by 2 to get my total xp.

The original idea was to just multiply the minutes by 10, which would get me roughly around the average amount of xp in an encounter. For example, washing the dishes would be 150 xp. But if I'm trying to keep my numbers more in line with regular D&D sessions, that number would have to be split 5 ways to account for companions that I would surely need to overcome these encounters.

I mean, we all know how squishy wizards are. Let's be realistic.

So, the system became # of minutes a task takes to start and finish x 2. This also accounts for more arduous and draining tasks like studying or a workout session, which take longer, to have a proportional reward.

I'll be real right now: I haven't ironed out absolutely everything yet. I already have lots of ideas for other things I want to try. For example, I'm currently studying for specific certification that is in my field of work. Rather than just tallying up all experience points from studying sessions and taking the test, I also want to treat it like a side quest for a magic item - maybe a flying broomstick or an upgraded spellbook.

I also have thoughts about how rests should be treated, if I should think of those as self care activities. Maybe activities that I like that should be more moderated like playing video games can be seen as spell slots or once-per-long-rest abilities.

There's a lot of mechanics in 5e I could potentially incorporate other than just xp and new spells, but I feel like this is a good foundation for what I'm trying to do.

I also wanted to share this on Tumblr because I know there are others like me who may or may not find this interesting, and also 2023 is the year of the wizard as I understand it.

I want to be able to sketch my wizard and share her soon, but in the mean time I've already racked up some xp in the past couple days that I'm itchin to log.

[babybluesquid]

Consequences of Karrnath Session 1

The Monster in the Fernian Zone

Our Players this week:

Dagne, Vengeance Paladin, an undead soldier with the curious property of acting like a living person. Trusts nobody and acts as the leader.

Ro, Circle of Spores Druid, a Talentan halfling who survived The Mourning and won’t go home. They tend to not take things seriously.

Nux, Pact of the Fathomless Warlock, a young teen Marcher who is far from the Kyrzin cult who wants to kill them. Personas are Murlo, a preteen orc girl, and Orim, a young adult human boy. Party child.

Vaeren, Swarmkeeper Ranger, a Deathguard sent to investigate Dagne’s nature. They’re the quiet one who helps keep everyone in line.

——————

The party’s been together for a couple months, village hopping and helping them with local problems like monsters in the woods and criminals. Due to this, they’ve gained some reputation in the local area, enough for a local Viscount, Costas ir’Vaneris, who has a monster problem to send a letter to Dagne. The party is invited to the village of Burnfrost, located in a Fernian manifest zone, where the Viscount has his winter house.

Burnfrost is noticeably warmer in climate than the surrounding area, a very nice 40 degrees F compared to the deep Karrnathi winter surrounding it. The houses are all built of stone hauled from the mountains, which is unusual for the area. There’s a General Store and a Gold Dragon Inn, as well as a very large house. The party assumes that’s where the Viscount lives and goes there first. There are no guards, so they knock at the door and are greeted by a dwarf woman. After stating their business with the Viscount, they’re escorted to talk to him.

The Viscount offers the party imported fruity tea. Everyone refuses except for Orim, who has a bit of a sweet tooth. Then, they get to business. The monster has attacked the village three times over the past month, each time carrying off just one of the livestock and heading back into the woods. Once, it trashed a field for no reason. The third time, someone went out to confront it and it killed them, leaving various claw and bite marks on the victim. After that, the town sent out a hunting party to deal with the monster, but it’s been over a week and nobody has returned. One person in town, a woman named Donata, alleges that she saw the monster from afar, describing it as a mass of scuttling limbs, like some kind of huge centipede. This is backed up by the monster’s tracks into the woods, which appear to be made by multifarious legs.

With that, the party heads out into the town to ask more people about the monster and gather supplies. They stop at the General Store and head to the counter, where a warforged stands. They introduce themselves as General Store, and tell the party that the town has set up a night watch for the monster, which they are a part of, but it hasn’t been spotted since it killed that person. They also recommend stopping by the local temple to Dol Arrah to get some holy water, a prospect which Dagne dismisses out of hand. With little new information gained and nothing useful to be bought, the party next heads to the Gold Dragon Inn. The patron, a halfling named Darik, offers the local special, Emberwheat bread. Ro and Vaeren each order half a loaf to try. The bread is dark and dense, as well as slightly spicy. Orim orders berries, and is dismayed that they only have dry berries available, but still eats them. Despite some joking that they’ll try the local Emberwheat Ale, Dagne orders nothing, instead talking to Darik. Darik says nothing new until Dagne asks where Donata lives. Obliging, he says she lives alone on the furthest north edge of town.

Once their late breakfast is finished, the group heads to Donata’s house. She’s home and willing to answer their questions. Her house is strewn with alchemical components, she seems to be a local witch. She gives the same description of the monster, but reveals she also knows where its tracks are, and offers to show the party. They take her up immediately and head into the Ice Woods. Soon, the temperature drops again as they leave the manifest zone, and they find themselves tracking the monster. Vaeren takes the lead, remarking on how the tracks look like they were made by a huge centipede, but with legs from various animals.

Soon, Vaeren notices something ahead, a group of animals in the distance. Closer inspection reveals the truth, they are undead. Two skeletal elk, six skeletal wolves, one zombie bear, and two zombies who appear to be very fresh, probably members of the lost hunting party. The surrounding plant life seems to wither a bit. Never one to leave Mabaran undead around, Vaeren tells the rest they should kill the creatures instead of trying to sneak around.

Dagne goes first and puts some distance between themselves and the rest of the party, intending to tank. Immediately, four of the skeletal wolves surround them and begin using pack tactics to land hits. They use the hammer end of their poleaxe to crush one wolf’s bones before having to use up all their lay on hands to stay up. Vaeren heads up a hill to shoot and a skeleton elk goes after them. Orim and Ro stay on the ground and face a skeleton elk, the zombies, and the remaining two wolves. They take a few undead out. Meanwhile, the zombie bear slowly lumbers toward Dagne, boxing them in against the hill. They use their poleaxe hammerhead and opposite end attack against a wolf and the bear, respectively. The wolf crumbles to pieces, the bear takes the hit. It tries to swipe at Dagne twice, but misses. The wolves crit. An elk charges at Ro but misses. Orim kills a wolf with eldritch blast. Dagne dispatches the last two skeleton wolves beside them. Vaeren shoots a skeleton elk down, a Deathguard spirit pushing it down the hill for them. Dagne smites the zombie bear and it dies.

Suddenly, a woman enters the battlefield and plays a song on a flute, killing a zombie. Dagne rushes over to assess her. She’s human, alive, and armed. The rest of the party kills the last remaining zombie as Dagne demands to know who she is. She introduces herself as Lucia Glamoursinger, a Brel and an agent of the Crown, sent here for work to find an aberrant marked boy in the woods. Dagne is instantly suspicious and dismisses her request for assistance in finding the aberrant marked boy, saying the party is after a monster and they’ll continue their hunt.

With the whole party battered after the fight, they stop for a brief rest. Dagne relays their suspicions about Lucia to the rest of the party, noting that she didn’t actually say which Crown she was an agent of, and a Brel so far from home is strange. Dagne is of the opinion that Lucia is a spy.

Ro and Vaeren head off to forage and find a deer in the forest. Vaeren takes it down with their bow and the two begin to process the corpse on the snow. Meanwhile, Dagne and Nux hear someone walking nearby. They go to investigate and find an elven man wearing a breastplate. Nux throws a pinecone at him. Dagne apologizes and asks what he’s doing out in the woods. He says he’s a hunter from a town further to the north. When Dagne questions why he’s hunting in a breastplate, he says he’s after the monster, which carried off two animals from the northern town. A witness there said it was made of various skeletons, fused together. He offers to join the party on their hunt. However, put off by the earlier encounter by Lucia, Dagne dismisses him, saying a hunter of animals wouldn’t be able to survive an encounter with a proper monster. The man retorts that he served for 20 years in the Karrnathi military, to which Dagne responds “go home, you’re not special. I served for 53 years.” Fully defeated, the hunter heads back north. With the party rested, the session ends, the characters anticipating what they’ll find at the end of the monster’s trail.

——————

Highlights:

Dagne doesn’t trust any of the NPCs.

Nux can’t stop acting like a kid even though their persona Orim is allegedly older.

Vaeren is an attentive ranger who prevented an ambush.

Ro kept avoiding those charging skeletal elk.

The General Store is run by a warforged named General Store.

Session 2.

[aquadestinyswriting]

The Failing of the Seal: Part 4

Summary: Selene is getting ready to leave Toreguarde, but an incident just had to happen while she was packing

Words: 2,334

Warnings: a single mention of persons being potentially suicidal

tags: @druidx, @strosmkai-rum, @homesteadchronicles, @warriorbookworm

Keep reading

It had not taken long for the Council to approve Selene’s request for a leave of absence from the city following the meeting with the Emissary. Whatever the man had said to Schreiber appeared to have greatly chastened the nobleman, who made absolutely no objections and left the council chambers very swiftly after the session was concluded. 

For her part, Selene did feel a very, very small pang of sympathy for him. Vampires could be incredibly dangerous if they were sufficiently pissed off, no matter how ‘domesticated’ they appeared to be. The sympathy didn’t last long. As soon as the session was done, the Grand Magus had teleported to her room and threw herself into packing. Chrackle watched his mistress throw several sets of clothes into a bag of holding,

~Do you really need that many sets of robes?~ he asked, ~We’re only going to Yastromo’s Tower, not the other side of Khull.~ Selene blew a strand of hair that had fallen into her face out of the way,

~Need I remind you that we can’t teleport directly there?~ Chrackle grumbled, scratching at his head with a talon,

~So why not teleport to just outside? The whole area is littered with wards and enchantments to prevent it from being detected.~ he asked petulantly. Selene glanced up at the magpie,

~Those won’t matter if someone gets the bright idea to sneak in here and figure out where my spell took me. The tower isn’t exactly invisible once you’re standing in front of it.~ 

~Who’s going to go to the trouble of infiltrating this place? They’d need to be idiots or totally suicidal.~

~You cannot seriously tell me that the Cabal won’t try it. They’ve already tried to assassinate me at least twice in the last twelve months alone.~

~And you don’t think they won’t try while you’re travelling?~

~Of course they’re going to try while we’re on the road, bird brain! Why do you think I have a second bag of holding just for spell components? To set up a tea party?!~ Chrackle was about to make a very witty and sarcastic retort when he noticed something move at the window in the main office. Selene was immediately on alert the moment her familiar stopped yelling in her head,

“What’s the matter Chrackle?” she asked aloud. The magpie simply croaked, fluttering cautiously to the hatstand next to the door and peering around the corner, eyes lighting up as he looked intently at the window. Selene slowly grabbed her old yew staff and stood, waiting for her familiar’s signal. As long ago as the Demon War had been, she had never forgotten the lessons she had learned. Most of them, the hard way.

~Wait for a signal. Don’t rush headlong into danger. Don’t be afraid to use the most potent spells at your disposal immediately. Incapacitating the enemy is fine, but be ready to kill without hesitation. Run if you can’t handle it; heroic self sacrifice makes for an excellent tale, but won’t stop the enemy unless you take them all with you. Be pragmatic; you can’t save everyone, especially if you’re too dead to do so.~ It almost disturbed her how easily the list came to mind, but running through it helped to keep her calm as she waited.

~Alright, you win. We got a Mage Hand, trying the window out there.~ Chrackle’s voice stated, ~I can keep an eye on it while you locate the caster?~

~Which window?~ Selene asked. Chrackle rolled his eyes and allowed his mistress to see through them. Selene smiled as she saw the mage hand approach the bottom right section of the largest window in her office, ~Nice try, but that’s getting snapped in half and dispelled in three… two…~ There was a loud ‘crack!’ as the fingers of the mage hand touched the window frame. A mousetrap like device snapped onto the magical effect, glowing as the metal bar sliced through the immaterial fingers. The mage hand vanished, the magic making it up coming undone. Selene came back to her own senses and nodded to the window in her bedroom,

“Right, now we’ve established that there’s been a leak somewhere, you go find the caster of that Mage Hand and harangue them for a bit. If you can’t safely harangue, follow.” Chrackle nodded and flew past the wizard and out of the window behind her. Selene grimaced, casting a protective spell on herself even as she swept out into her office, staff gripped tightly in one hand. 

“Don’t think we didn’t know you were planning on scurrying off to your little hidey-hole, librarian.” A disembodied voice greeted, “Did we truly scare the supposed greatest wizard of the age that badly?” Selene snorted,

“I’m not the one using an invisible Sending to threaten people trying to get on with taking a holiday.” she retorted, “Nice try with the Mage Hand, but you’re going to have to do better than that.”

“For all your supposed brilliance, you are a bit dense, aren’t you?” the voice practically sang. Selene’s eyes widened. She swore under her breath as she tried to link to her familiar,

~Chrackle! If you’re in range, get to the bottom of the tower!~ silence met her, causing the woman to swear some more as the tower under her feet shook.

“Well, I’d best be off. Got my own things to do, after all. Oh, and don’t worry about your little traitor friend. I’m sure the demons will deal with him too quickly for him to feel much pain.” Selene glowered around the room,

“You won’t get away with this!” she snapped. The voice chuckled,

“Oh my dear, little librarian. We already did. The Hellmouth exists. We just need to make the opening bigger.” Selene stumbled over to her desk, the floor jolting violently,

“When I find you, I am going to make you wish I would just kill you!” she hissed.

“Promises, promises.” the voice sneered, fading away, “Don’t make any you aren’t capable of keeping.” Selene sorely wished the Sending had at least had a projection of a shadowy figure she could hurl a fireball at. She was shaking out of her seething thoughts by another jolt under her feet, which sent her flying into the corner of the desk. The wizard hissed in pain as the solid wood smacked into her ribs,

~Oh, that’s gonna bruise.~ she thought to herself. Pulling herself to her feet, Selene grabbed the pot of copper wire she kept near her seat and pulled it towards her, immediately broadcasting a general Message throughout the tower,

“All students and staff of the fifth power and lower are to immediately evacuate the tower. Those proficient with Warding and protection spells are to assist those incapable. This is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill.” Magical alarms began blaring throughout the tower moments after Selene discarded the copper dust onto the floor. She tried to pull herself upright, only to feel blinding pain in her right side,

“Alright, so broken, not bruised.” she muttered. She tried to stand once more, only for all the ringing in her ears to get louder. Grunting, Selene kept trying to push herself up, but the pain eventually became too much and she fell to the floor, unconsciousness claiming her before she hit it.

~*~

“...oody lucky it wasn’t anythin’ bigger.”

“I’ll say. You sure that the patch-up will hold?”

“Aye. Galana willin’, it shouldn’t have to fer long.” 

Selene groaned as she finally came to. Her mouth was full of cotton and her ears were still ringing. At least the floor seemed to have stopped moving and was a lot more comfortable than she remembered. The wizard flexed her fingers, feeling soft cotton beneath them. Oh. She squinted her eyes open, trying to blink away the bleariness. The fuzzy shape of a face with a lot of dark brown around it appeared before her,

“Ah, ye’re awake, good.” Egrim’s voice stated happily. Selene huffed irritably,

“Lemme guess. I missed out on all the fun?” she asked as she pulled herself up to a sitting position, noting happily that it didn’t hurt to move any more. 

“If you call having to spend half an hour Banishing a small horde of Dretches from the basement of the tower fun.” Thaddeus’ voice groused from near what might be a door.

“Don’t mind Thaddeus, Grand Magus, he’s just annoyed that he had to miss out on getting lunch first.” Dwena chirped, “You’ll probably want these.” Selene felt something being pressed into her hands and smiled at the gnome standing next to her. Selene quickly placed her glasses onto her nose, blinking as the world finally came back into focus,

“Thank you Dwena.” she said, now realising that she was back in her own bedroom, “So who wants to catch me up on what happened during my impromptu nap on the floor?” she asked. Dwena huffed a sigh, hopping onto the end of the bed,

“We got everyone evacuated and the locals told to stay indoors. Thaddeus and about half the faculty went down to the Seal to deal with the breach while I got a bunch of people together to try and find out if anyone got in to cause it.” Selene frowned,

“I take it you didn’t find anyone?” she asked on seeing the look on the gnome’s face. Dwena shook her head,

“There was no evidence of any tampering with the seal, but Adrian insists that he wasn’t overcome by the Dretches, but by an intruder. He’s not saying who though.” Selene glared into empty space,

“I think I have an idea.” she said, “I had someone try to use a Mage Hand to get into my office before everything kicked off. Turned out that was a distraction to get me to send Chrackle away so the person in charge could use an invisible Sending to gloat.” 

“Well they did a right poor job if their master plan was to get the Seal open early.” Egrim stated, “All it took to stabilise the thing was a Consecration.” Selene shook her head,

“If the seal wasn’t tampered with, then they were sending a message.” she said, “They know the seal is failing and are just waiting in the wings for when it finally gives way. As for the attack on Adrian, that was personal.” Dwena frowned and fidgeted with the talisman she wore around her neck,

“Do you think we should get him out of the city?” she asked, “The Cabal knows he’s working with us, staying is probably getting too risky.” Selene shook her head,

“No.” she stated simply, “As much as Thazaar will probably complain about my decision, Adrian is much safer where there are more people to keep an eye on him.” 

“To make sure he’s not the one feeding them info, right?” Selene sent the skinny man at the door a deadpan look,

“He’s not working with the Cabal, Thaddeus.” she sighed, “Though he very well might decide to start if you lot keep launching accusations at him.” Thaddeus held up his hands,

“I’m not the one throwing the accusations at him.” he stated. Selene inhaled sharply through her nose and closed her eyes, calming her flaring temper. Once she was certain that she wasn’t going to snap at anyone, she opened her eyes again and looked between Dwena and Thaddeus,

“I know everyone other than me has suspicions about Adrian. I am not going to order the two of you to make sure he’s kept safe, but I am asking.” she said, “The last thing I want to happen is for him to be run into the arms of the Cabal while I’m gone. Schreiber is already unhappy enough with me and the way I run my tower as is.” Egrim chuckled, stuffing tobacco into his pipe,

“At least ye’ll no’ have to deal with him fer a bit.” he pointed out, “If ye’re feeling alright, I’ll get back to my church so ye can get on with getting yerself outta here.” Selene smiled at he old friend,

“I feel a lot better, thank you Egrim. The dwarf’s right, though, I’d better make myself scarce before Thazaar comes in and begs me to spare him from Schreiber’s wrath.” 

~Then you better hurry up. Thazaar’s on his way back and got our good friend with him.~ Chrackle’s voice stated just as the bird landed on the sill outside the window. Thaddeus groaned and slumped out of the door, while Dwena rolled her eyes and handed Selene her bags,

“Well, go on then.” she sighed, “We’ve got things handled.” Selene beamed at the gnomish woman, took her bags and waved to Egrim,

“See you lot when I get back. Try not to die in the meantime.” she called, grabbing her old yew staff from the foot of her bed and immediately Teleporting just outside the city. Selene waited by the canal, watching the wildlife and ordinary people going about their day while Chrackle caught up with her. It didn’t take long for the magpie to appear, a worn travel cloak clutched in his beak,

~You forgot this.~ he said, dropping the item onto his mistress’ head. Selene laughed as she pulled the woollen item around her shoulders,

“Thanks Chrackle. There’s always something. Now then, let’s get onto the next town before it gets dark. I’m hearing a good couple of pints of ale calling.” Chrackle cackled as he landed on his mistress’ shoulder, eyes glinting at the memory of the last time they’d done this,

~So long as you save me some!~

The sight of a slim woman in an old, woollen travel cloak, a yew staff in her hand, and a magpie on her shoulder seemed distantly familiar to some of the older folks on the canal. Most didn’t pay them much mind, but to those who remembered, it brought a melancholy smile to their faces as they silently toasted the traveller and the memory of the companions by her side.