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imagine-darksiders · 2 months ago

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Absolute Anarchy - chapter 2

The Bull.

A Darksiders/Scp au.

Cw: Animal death, threat, guns, shooting, references to goring, livestock, abuse, blood.

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Two days.

By your count, it’s been two days since you were pulled from the SCP’s cell and tossed unceremoniously back into your own with Mullins’s gloat echoing in your ear.

“Enjoy solitary, Scuzz.”

A slammed door, a buzzing overhead light, and nothing but your peeling wallpaper and creaky bed springs to keep you company…

Two days is beginning to feel like an eternity.

You have to remind yourself that it’s not.

They’ve only given you four meals, after all.

Taking a mental account of the trays that are shoved through the slat in your door is just about the only way you can measure the passage of time in here. Two meals a day, morning and evening. That’s the facility’s standard. And they’re all ‘served’ to you with the decorum of throwing slop to a pig.

Apparently, you revoked your rights to eat in the mess hall with the other D-Class after you refused to follow orders to shoot at the new SCP, or so you assume.

The first day was embarrassing, to say the least. You spent it in a state of near-complete hysteria, wailing and pitching a fit at the locked door, out of your mind with fear that at any moment, they’d come through it and drag you off to a fate worse than death. When you were hoarse in the throat, and your eyes red-raw from trying to scrub them dry, you hunched over in the corner like an animal, shivering violently in sporadic bursts.

Then the first meal arrived.

You ignored it, and it sat there unappealingly on the shelf attached to the slat on your side of the door until, hours later, that slat scraped open again and the second tray was shoved through, neatly sending its predecessor clattering to the floor.

It sounded so much like the gun you dropped in that thing’s cell.

It takes another few hours to muster the courage to unfold yourself from the corner and stumble towards the food, stepping absentmindedly around the grey porridge going hard on the floor.

The second day is spent on your back, staring bleakly up at a grey ceiling and trying to occupy your mind. Inevitably, your thoughts turn to the SCP. Moreso, the colossal gun fused with its biological arm, and the chambers that had been pointing straight at you, so much like Mullins’s Beretta…

But it hadn’t fired a single round…

Why…?

Well, you suppose you have an indeterminate amount of time to muse on its reasoning. You have no idea how long they plan to keep you in solitary, after all.

However, as punishments go, you think this one has so far been remarkably tame.

Nearly two whole days without being thrown to the wolves! Marvellous, in the grand scheme of things.

You suppose if anything, you ought to just settle in and enjoy the relative peace and quiet where you aren’t being tested against the nightmares of this facility. Why, this isolation is practically bliss!

Of course, no sooner have you thrown that semi-optimistic spin on your situation…

“Oi!”

Somehow, not even complete and total separation from your fellow humans could make you miss the sound of Mullins’s strident shout.

When your door is roughly hauled open for the first time in days, you feel no joy or elation, and certainly not gratitude. All you know is the unshiftable ball of dread rolling around in your guts.

Mullins looms in the doorway once more, his lips moulded around a cigarette that hangs loosely between his teeth.

“Get movin’,” he growls, the dog end of his cig flaring like a red-hot poker, “Dinner time.”

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Is it comedic or tragic to find yourself once again standing rigidly in SCP-8103’s loading dock? Because you sure as Hell don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

When you arrived, you half expected the scientists to shove another rifle in your hands and order you to finish what you never even started. Instead, much to your astonishment and trepidation, they hadn’t given you so much as a by-your-leave before they forced you through the doors at gun point.

No instructions. No way to defend yourself. Just your jumpsuit, and your wits – which seem few and far between these days.

Chewing ravenously on your lip, you wait for the secondary door to start ascending; just another yawning beast opening up to welcome you into an entirely different maw.

You really, really don’t like what Mullins had alluded to when he said, ‘dinner time.’

Are you finally being thrown to the very deadly wolf?

The SCP did have teeth, you recall in uncomfortable detail. Very big, very sharp teeth, suggesting to you that it must have to use them at some point. Though for what, you hardly dare imagine.

You’d convinced yourself you got lucky the first time you were pulled from the cell without being riddled by giant bullets. Now you wonder if your luck wasn’t just biding its time, waiting for you to let your guard down before it suddenly pulls the rug out from under you and abandons you to your fate.

The secondary door of the loading dock whooshes open to admit you, and you have to release a shaky breath when no body flops through the gap. Then it occurs to you that the bodies might not have been removed by human hands, and suddenly you feel like being sick all over again. The blood is still there, of course, dark and dry and crusting over the tiniest cracks in the floor. But at least most of the truly gory viscera is… absent.

With an audible gulp, you tread carefully around the dark patch near your feet and tiptoe to the corner of the dock, bracing your spine to the wall.

Once again, you can’t hear anything inside. But it must have heard the door open. It must know you’re here.

“D-Class,” a scientist’s voice crackles over the speakers.

Almost instantly, a familiar growl thunders to life, spilling across the airwaves and rolling around the corner towards you.

Ah. There it is.

“Stop hiding by the door this instant and step into the containment unit.”

Well… If it didn’t know where you were before, it certainly does now. At least it’s stopped growling.

Biting down on the inside of your cheek, you lean cautiously out past the threshold, twisting your neck about to try and catch a glimpse of the entity before it can spot you.

Of course, that was wishful thinking.

A pair of golden eyes leer down at you from the other side of the room, sending you ducking back behind the wall with a gasp, clutching at the front of your jumpsuit. Whatever courage you’d scraped off the sides of your empty reserves had been entirely spent on throwing your weapon down the other day, defying orders and expecting, genuinely, to be gunned down.

You can’t do this again, not when your heart is on the verge of breaking out through your ribcage. Perhaps you can linger here in the doorway for the duration of the-

“-Now!”

You flinch, smacking the back of your skull against the wall.

“Ah! Shit.”

Right… Foolish of you to forget that in this place, choice is a badly concealed illusion.

You’ve already pushed your luck once, and just because it didn’t result in your becoming a lure subject for the Old Man or some other horrific fate, doesn’t mean that won’t happen if you continue to refuse orders.

You wonder how pathetic you must look to the Lab Coats now, sniffling in miserable resignation as you force yourself to edge around the corner, hugging the wall, with your eyes cast to the floor, falling back into that old childhood mindset that if you can’t see the monster, then the monster can’t see you.

The door you’d crept beneath falls shut with a deafening ‘wham,’ and there’s the familiar whirring of the locks as they pivot back into place.

You’re immediately greeted by a low, throaty rumble from the SCP.

Quaking, you drag your gaze off the floor and venture a glance up at the other end of the cell.

And there it is.

Stooped in a crouch against the furthest wall of its cell, SCP-8103 is lurking, that streamlined tail lifting and slumping to the ground like an agitated feline’s, and its great, silver head turned in your direction, poised to watch you through raptorial eyes.

A lipless mouth peels apart and issues a steady hiss between its blackened fangs, eyelids narrowing to thin slits that bleed golden light.

“Hssss…!”

“…Yeah,” you murmur under your breath, bracing each palm on the wall and pushing yourself away from the security of having a solid surface pressed to your fragile spine, “I’m not exactly thrilled to see you again either.”

The entity’s hiss peters off at the sound of your voice, and for an uncomfortably long moment, the pair of you merely regard each other; it with apparent aloofness and you with the trepidation of a mouse trying to step through a trap unscathed.

There is one imminently glaring thing that you can’t help but notice; the entity has made no move to aim its gun arm at you, which you suppose is a good thing. Evidently, it appears content for the time being to simply glare down at you from the opposite side of the room.

Does it even remember you? It must, if it isn’t aiming a weapon at you, you muse. Implying that it doesn’t see you as much of a threat.

Fine by you.

Hands clasping and unclasping, you somehow find the strength to tear your gaze away from its relentless stare and turn instead to the observation window, noting the several figures muddling about in the dimly lit room, some motionless, some scribbling away on their clipboards, and one hunched over a bank of monitors, no doubt keeping watch over everything that happens in this cell.

Swallowing past a lump in your throat, you flick a hurried glance over to the SCP again, only to go stiff when it turns its head parallel to the wall behind it, regarding you from the corner of one eye. At least it doesn’t otherwise seem inclined to move any more than that.

“Um…” Breathing a near silent sigh, shuddering at the thought of accidentally provoking a reaction, you peel your tongue from the roof of your mouth and shout-whisper at the window, “I… I never got a debrief?”

The inferred question goes unanswered, and you’re just beginning to muse on whether or not they can even hear you when the speakers crackle to life once more.

“D-One-nine-three-five…” comes a female voice this time, clipped and staccato. And cold. Cold like an icy road in winter, dangerous on all fronts for those unprepared to face it.

“Approach SCP and commence interrogation.”

Interrogation?

As if it understood the word just as well as you do, the entity’s tail flicks up to curl over its helm in one, smooth motion, pivoting slowly towards the window as a quiet hum starts to build at the base of its throat.

“So, that’s their game,” you huff, watching the SCP snap its jaws at the scientists, privately pleased that the focus has shifted away from you for the time being.

For as much as they like to try and impress upon you all that this place is a research facility, not a prison, the Lab Coats aren’t very good at keeping a lid on the jailhouse jargon.

You can still remember your own awful interrogation, back before you learned what this place really was. Two men in grey suits, each carrying themselves with the highest level of self-importance…

‘Do you have any family?’ they’d asked you in that too-bright room, a fluorescent light buzzing noisily overhead, ‘Close friends? Are you employed?’

You often kick yourself for not hearing their real question woven between the lines.

‘Is there anyone who would notice your absence?’

You’d been blinded by confusion, panicking from the sudden threat of having your future ripped away from you, bleak as it was. It might have been bleak, but it was still yours.

You answered ‘no.’

It probably wouldn’t have made a difference even if you’d told them ‘yes.’ They’d have soon found you out to be a liar when they inevitably sent agents to administer amnestics to your supposed friends.

And now those same people want you to interrogate an unclassified, highly volatile SCP?

The deliberate echoing of their method sparks an uncomfortable comparison in your mind, and you find yourself suddenly unnerved by the idea that you D-Class aren’t truly so different from the entities in this place, are you?

Both subjected to tests you want no part in. Both locked up against your wills. Both at the mercy of people who believe your suffering will lead to the greater good…

You catch yourself before such thoughts can develop. Dangerous territory to be delving into.

Stupid.

But still, the irony of your paralleled circumstances doesn’t escape you.

Just how on Earth are you even supposed to begin interrogating a gigantic, unknowable entity anyway?

Say ‘How do you do,’ and offer a handshake?

Blowing a slow and unsteady breath through your lips, you elect to ignore the first order to move closer, and instead hope the scientists will be appeased when you open your mouth to speak.

Its attention has already returned to you, its horns jutting forwards like prongs ready to skewer.

You shove aside the visceral thought of your body dangling from one of those horns, and instead clear your throat, resolving to say whatever comes to mind. Even if it’s nonsense, even if it’s ineffectual, even if it’s…

“Er…. Mm. H-hello.”

Smooth as a country road…

The entity just stares down at you blankly for a second before two slitted nostrils open up just above its mouth, flaring widely as it gives the air an audible sniff.

It doesn’t raise its gun though, which is encouraging.

Giving another hard cough to re-clear your throat, you stammer out, “I-I… I like your gun?”

‘Smack.’

Someone must have slapped a palm to their face and left the microphone on for you to hear it. Still, that saves you from doing the same, at least. If you aren’t careful, this will quickly turn into less of an interrogation and more of a social blunder.

Even the SCP looks bewildered. You’re sure that’s the first time you’ve seen it blink – just a quick flicker of golden light as it recoils its head slightly and spares a glance down at the aforementioned weapon fused to its arm, helm cocked in the opposite direction.

“It… it is a gun, isn’t it?” you ramble on, clenching your hands into the overhanging sleeves of your jumpsuit, “I mean, I never actually saw you fire it but… I – I can only assume that’s what… happened to the people before me…” Your sentence tapers off into silence when the entity looks down at you once more, opening its mouth.

You brace yourself, all the breath caught in your lungs whilst you wait for it to let out another snarl… Or worse…

Instead, what travels up its throat and slips between its crooked fangs is less aggression and more… well, you don’t know what. But it’s a far less vehement sound than you’ve heard prior. A hum, you suppose, still deep and hollow, but the intention behind it doesn’t strike with the same chord as a growl.

“I suppose I should thank you for that,” you add with a stilted laugh that doesn’t even touch genuine. When the beast blinks again, you hastily add, “For not killing me, I mean. Not for… Well, y’know.”

A vague gesture at the blood staining the walls and floor says more than enough, though it is odd that the SCP’s gaze follows your hands and glances at each of the dark patches in turn, warbling another strange note from its chest.

“Sooo…~ Yeah.” Drumming your fingertips against the front of your thighs, you click your tongue and reach for anything constructive to say. “Thank you.”

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“Did you see that?”

The scientist’s painted lips crook up, intrigued. The expression is quick to falter as she glances about at her peers, all of whom are shooting her looks of varying uncertainty.

With a sharp tut, she stabs her chin at the SCP. “It reacted to the mention of its gun. Looked right at it when the D-Class referred to it. Which tells us…”

When all she received are several, blank faces, she heaves an enormous sigh and lifts a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose, eyes screwing shut in exasperation. “If it looked to the gun when the D-Class mentioned its gun….?”

“Oh!” It’s her intern who eventually pipes up. “It speaks English!”

Frankly, she thinks her fellow researchers ought to be embarrassed that a greenhorn is the one who makes the connection.

“Or understands it, at least,” she adds, flicking the microphone on once more.

"D-One-nine-three-five. Tailor your inquiries to matters of the SCP’s origins.”

With the instruction dished out, she removes her finger from the switch and steps closer to the observation window, taking a mental note of each expression flitting across the D-Class’s face.

Surprise, then horror, then settling on a grim acceptance, illustrated by the hard line your lips draw themselves into.

At the very least, she plans to get some information about the SCP before the next, real test can begin.

Tossing a look over her shoulder at Mullins, she asks, “Is the specimen ready?”

The guard, who had previously been leering at the scientists from his spot by the door, snaps to attention with a click of his boot before he whips out his walkie-talkie and mutters something into it.

After a static-laden response from the other side, he gives her a nod. “It’s in the crush,” he says, “Prepped and ready to be deployed.”

“Good,” she returns, straightening her back with a satisfied hum, “We’ll give the D-Class a few more minutes to get what little information out of this thing is to be had…. Activate the crush at…” Trailing off, she checks her watch, “- Fourteen hundred hours.”

Bringing everything right up to schedule.

Perfect.

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You wonder if you’ll go down in the Foundation’s history as being the first D-Class who ever thanked an SCP for not killing them.

What you said - that hesitant, ‘Thank you.' - you said with the intent to appease the armoured titan somehow, a feeble attempt at appealing to whatever intelligence might lay behind its silver helm.

Because you’re only too aware that in this cell, placating the enemy is the sole weapon you have in your arsenal. For when the enemy is this much larger, stronger, and deadlier than you are, you’ll never beat it in a confrontation.

You had not, however, expected that this kind of SCP was the type to be assuaged.

And yet…

By some miracle, you’re still alive, and the fact that its thunderous growls have petered out entirely suggests you’ve done something right, at least. Even if that something was just letting your mouth talk while your brain was busy frantically trying to make sense of the SCP’s bizarre behaviour.

Is it the sound of your voice that’s caused it to fall silent and take a single, heavy step towards you – one that you match with a rapid retreat of your own – or is it the words themselves that seem to have piqued its curiosity.

And if the latter rings true, would that imply that this entity is capable of understanding English?

Now there’s a question that befits a proper interrogation.

You have to admit, you’re about willing to ask it anything that’ll stop the beast from backing you into the far wall, something it’s been doing with its slow, measured steps for the past few moments, the pale pupils of its eyes large and round as it angles its head from side to side and peers down at you like it means to take you in from every perspective.

“Hey, um-“ you begin, swallowing your spit when the tail sprouting from its back twitches with apparent interest, “Can you… understand me?”

You almost feel the scientists holding their collective breaths. From the corner of an eye, you see several of them lean closer to the window.

Even you’re waiting on tenterhooks as it pauses, one of those terrible, clawed feet thumping back down in the spot it had just lifted from. You give the SCP a moment, but soon enough, as it raises its snout to the air and gives a few audible sniffs with those slanted nostrils, you realise you’re not going to get a discernible response.

“I’ll take that as a ‘no,’ then,” you finally add, neither pleased nor put out by the revelation. All you want is to leave this cell. Once is lucky, twice is coincidence. You don’t want to find out if you’ll survive your third visit…

It doesn’t offer a response beyond lowering its head and staring straight down at you again, an upsetting display that leaves you feeling as though you’re being pinned by the gaze of a hunter.

“So, can I come out now, or...?” you ask the people on the other side of the window without taking your eyes off the towering brute. There’s only half a containment cell separating you from it.

You don’t realise at first why nobody responds to you.

Their silence is quick to make sense however, when there’s a sudden sound to your right.

At the disturbance, you nearly trip over your own feet in your haste to face the noise, and as you do, the SCP follows suit, its tail hurtling up into position above its head, aimed with rigid precision at a large panel of the otherwise featureless wall that’s suddenly sprung open.

A door, you realise belatedly.

And your stomach drops the moment you remember exactly what kind of door it is.

You’ve only seen it in operation once, in a much different cell with a much different SCP.

D-Class call them ‘feeding tubes.’

The Lab Coats call them ‘crushes;’ close-fitting cages hidden behind the walls of a cell where drugged up livestock are held until the scientists release them into an SCP’s unit for consumption….

‘Dinner time.’

“Oh, fuck,” you hiss through your teeth.

You can’t see around the corner into the crush, but goddamn, you can hear the very recognisable bellow of an animal that’s just come around from sedation, its hooves stamping in confused fury against the metal floor beneath it.

A stomach-lurching snarl punches through the air and draws a cry of fright from your lungs. The SCP’s hackles are raised, bulging and bristling as it snaps at something you can’t yet see, its black fangs protruding from dark gums, and the pupils in its golden stare shrinking down to pinpricks.

And worst of all, bad enough to put the fear of death back into your quibbling heart, is the arm it raises slowly into the air, the all-too familiar whirring of machinery filling your ears as the cylinders near its elbow start to rotate - a gatling gun gearing up to fire.

The animal in the crush snorts madly, and with an abrupt rattling of metal followed by a clang and a thud, it charges from its confines and hurtles through the gap into the cell, a blur of black hair and dark, rolling eyes and a pair of horns lancing forwards from the top of its head.

It’s a bull.

Massive, terrified, furious.

You let out an embarrassing bleat when he bursts into the cell.

Almost at once, he catches sight of the titan in front of him, and he throws his head back with a snort, cloven hooves scrabbling to find purchase on the smooth concrete floor as he skids to a halt just several yards shy of the looming SCP.

You can only reason that he’s burned through the sedative quicker than anticipated. Usually, the livestock are so drowsy, they’ll stand stock still and do absolutely nothing to stop themselves from being killed or eaten alive by the SCPs.

Even months down the line, you still shudder to recall the time you painted the floor of SCP-5031’s cell with the contents of your stomach after witnessing it slice mercilessly into an unfortunate sheep.

You’re really not eager to have a repeated incident here.

Flanks quivering with adrenaline, the bull’s bulging eyes stare up at the colossus in front of him. And then, as bulls are often wont to do, he begins to size up his opponent.

Your heart flips upside down in your chest as you wedge yourself firmly into the corner, blood-shot eyes darting up to the SCP’s gun arm.

Why hasn’t it fired yet?

The gun is still humming, aimed squarely at the poor animal, but all its wielder does is snap its fangs together a few times, not unlike a bird clacking its beak to warn others off its territory.

In response, the bull huffs a breath through wide nostrils, sweat clinging to his glossy shoulders. Then, tossing his horns and turning to the side, he begins a back-and-forth trot from left to right in front of the SCP, who tracks the agitated creature’s movements steadily with its weapon.

But still, it doesn’t shoot.

Your knocking knees can’t hold you up any longer, and they give out quite promptly, forcing you to hunker down instead. The position in your corner is too open, too vulnerable. If bullets do start flying, you need to be as tiny a target as possible.

Breathing fast and hard, your vision starts to swim as you shoot a desperate, pleading glance at the window, praying to a god you no longer believe in that one of the Lab Coats will take pity on you and open the door.

It’s wishful thinking at its finest.

The bull’s moos only seem to grow increasingly frantic with each second that ticks by, shrill and broken as though he too is calling for help the only way he knows how. He paces like a caged rat, looking for an escape even as he continues throwing his head down and tilting his horns in the SCP’s direction. A meagre threat to be sure, but the bull isn’t to know that.

And as for the entity, while its arm continues to follow the bull's path across the room, its only outward acknowledgement of the animal in its cell is to utter a slow, continuous growl that seems to build towards an inevitable crescendo.

“Come on,” you breathe, teeth chattering between the words, “Open the fucking door!”

You shouldn’t have opened your mouth. You shouldn’t have made a sound. If only you’d just shut up and hunkered down in your corner, perhaps you wouldn’t have drawn any attention to yourself.

One of the bull’s ears flicks backwards, and all of a sudden, he wrenches himself away from the SCP and spins around on his hooves to face you, head held high and the whites of his eyes shining clear as day against his jet-black hair.

You meet that gaze; and understand. You’re both cattle here. Just a pair of frightened animals trapped against their wills with a common enemy who outmatches you in every conceivable aspect.

But the bull, of course, doesn’t think like you do. He doesn’t know you’re just as afraid as he is. He’s been brought here by creatures who look and sound and smell like you, and now here’s one of them: standing in front of him like a target, stark against his grey-walled cage with hard floors and no familiar sky over his head.

A bull doesn’t consider the fairness in a fight. A threat is a threat, no matter the size.

Tail whipping madly through the air, the bull leans back on his hindquarters, and before you can blink, he abruptly surges forwards into a head-long charge, nose tucked into his chest, horns aimed with deadly precision at your abdomen.

You don’t even notice when the SCP’s growls cut out. You’re too busy throwing your hands up in front of you and wrenching your head away from the charging missile, letting your jaw hang open around a silent scream. If you had the time, you’d pause to reflect on the irony of being killed by the least likely suspect.

As it is, the bull is only a few strides from you, hooves flying, thick neck rippling with muscle that’s about to thrust forwards and impale you on an entirely new set of horns. He bellows, the haunting din deafening to your ringing ears, and then he –

‘-BLAM!’

There’s an almighty thud, and something wet splatters across your shaking palms.

At last, your scream catches on a vocal cord, and the sound rips out of you like a wailing siren.

Someone in the observation room must have left the microphone on because you can suddenly hear an exclamation of ‘Jesus Christ!’

Your eyes are screwed shut so tightly, it’ll take a crowbar to pry them open again.

Even as the mechanical whir of machinery dies down, even as something with titanic lungs heaves deep, grunting breaths, even as the ground beneath your plimsoles vibrates with the fall of enormous feet, you don’t look.

You can’t.

You can’t… until out of nowhere, in a suddenly deafening quiet, your right hand is promptly and unexpectedly nudged.

Another piercing shriek fills the room as you wrench your eyes open and come face to face with a wall of silver and grey.

“FUCK!” you yelp, collapsing onto your backside but finding there’s nowhere to retreat to with your spine squashed up against the wall.

The SCP’s head is hovering before you, mere feet away, its yellow eyes almost crossing over one another to peer down at you, utterly still and disconcertingly silent.

‘Oh god. Oh god. Oh god….’ The words repeat in your head like a mantra, rapid-fire and frenetic.

But you don’t make a sound out loud.

Your mouth dangles open, not a breath nor a wheeze slipping in through your teeth as you wait, blood pounding in your ears. Somehow, even your body knows to be still. You’ve stopped shaking, too afraid for the adrenaline to control your muscles.

The instinct to play dead has taken over.

Through tear blurred eyes, you can see the SCP up close for the first time, the blank, white pupils floating in pools of gold, the charcoal skin sitting beneath the sockets of its visor, each nick and scrape zigzagging across the surface of its silver helm….

You let out a squeak when it pries its jaws apart and chuffs a hot breath over your face, catching the finer hairs at the side of your head and blowing them off your scalp. The air from its lungs smells acrid, and it burns your nose when you accidentally inhale.

It takes everything in you not to choke.

You wait for the bite. For the agony of those giant teeth sinking into your body and crushing you between them with a flex of its jaws. You wait, and wait, and wait, unheeding of the commotion occurring in the observation room. You only have eyes for the entity now, as though even taking the tiniest of glances away and breaking eye contact might spur it to attack.

Its horns, much like the bulls, jut forwards, each one a massive spear that hems you in on both sides, their tips nearly pressed to the wall to your left and right so that there’s truly nowhere to go.

"Please," you whisper, though it comes out wobbling, "Please, don't..."

A single blink is your only reply.

Then, as suddenly as it had crouched in front of you, the SCP - apparently satisfied with its impromptu inspection - lifts its great, silver head and stands up, moving away from you once more. Its leg stretches backwards, stepping deftly over the dark shape of -…

Oh…

Oh dear.

The bull lays dead on his front, hooves tucked up underneath his stomach. He had died collapsing forwards. And the only tell of what had killed him comes from a still smoking hole in the back of his skull. Murky eyes stare out at nothing and blood trickles in a steady stream from his nose, tongue lolling.

At first, your eyes dart over his entire body in search of wounds similar to those you saw on the D-Classes who died in here, but even with the fluorescent overheads lighting up every angle, you can’t pick out any other damage to his otherwise pristine pelt.

There’s only one wound.

One shot to the back of the head. Quick… Merciful.

Your eyes raise to the SCP’s gun arm and see that from one of the barrels, a dainty wisp of smoke is drifting steadily up towards the ceiling.

SCPs aren’t merciful.

What the Hell is this thing?

Peeling your bone-dry tongue off the roof of your mouth, you tilt your head back and gape up at the face of the entity towering above you. Its arm is reaching out for the bull, and you can do nothing but watch aghast as its clawed hand curls around the animal’s back legs and drags him back towards the opposite wall on the other end of the cell.

Slowly, methodically, it bends down onto its haunches and squares its stance over the bull, hissing at the Lab Coats behind their window like a lion guarding its kill. And like a lion, it doesn’t seem intent on letting the meat go to waste.

By the time the secondary door has begun to rise, you’ve scrunched your eyes shut again and slapped both hands over your ears to try and block out the sickening cacophony of snapping bones and the squeak of flesh being torn from muscle.

Staggering into the loading dock, you barely make it three steps inside before you collapse onto your knees, then your side, a wide-eyed, shivering mess of a human being.

Two guards have to haul you up by the arms, and without prompt, they drag you, crying hysterically, back to your cell.

#darksiders #scp #scp fandom #strife x reader #reader #D Class

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serpentface · 3 months ago

Note

maybe the most difficult worldbuilding question of all, what are some popular jokes in your setting? what about ones based on the vocabulary you have established so far, but which just don't translate to english?

I only have one thing established that is purely a Joke that isn't translatable to english-

A lot of Wardi dick jokes revolve partially around this animal, the long-suffering hippegalga

The name 'hippegalga' means 'little horn'.

Hippe/hippi is a somewhat antiquated word for 'small/little', in contemporary dialect it's still recognizable as having connotations of 'small' but isn't commonly used in actual vocabulary (you'll find it more often in names). Galga was originally one of several words for 'horn', in this case broadly pertaining to the horns of antelope ('meti' is the most generalized word for animal horns, while specific animal groups (antelope, khait and cattle) have their own horn words.

Hippegalga horns are considered to be notably phallic among all animal horns (big male hippegalga tend to have horns approximately the size of an average human penis) and are ascribed beneficial qualities for male development and fertility (taken powdered as medicine and/or worn) while also serving the non-sexual functions of a general phallus when worn as an amulet.

The word 'galga' or its shortened 'gal' tends to be used on its own specifically for this animal's horn (ie: if you're describing a hippegalga's horn, you just say 'galga' instead of 'hippegalga galga', while if you were describing another antelope's horn you Would say '[antelopes name] galga'). Because of this, the word has greatly absorbed the animal's phallic connotations while still retaining the meaning 'horn'. As such, galga/gal has earned additional meaning as euphemistic slang for 'penis' in common dialect.

The name 'hippegalga', which once had absolutely no penis connotations, now sounds to most Wardi speakers like you're saying 'small penis'. It's like if in english there was a very common, well-known backyard bird called the 'little cock'. You'd know damn well that it's not Supposed to mean 'little penis', you'd know that the bird was probably named before 'cock' became more commonly used as penis slang than a word for 'male bird', but it sure is a funny name.

What's more, hippegalga are VERY common wild animals that adapt well to urban environments (they're basically as ubiquitous to urban areas as squirrels) and are very tameable and kept as pets. Their ubiquity and familiarity makes them very fertile ground for dick jokes and innuendo.

So you'll see 'hippegalga' used as a basic slang term for 'small penis' (ie: "I saw his hippegalga the other day"), or used in more complex ways in comedic plays/poetry/etc as a euphemism IE:

"he left to tend to his hippegalga" - innocently meaning "he left to feed his pet antelope" while strongly implying "he went off to crank his (notably small, which is funny) dick" "she was disappointed to find a herd of hippegalga waiting at her door" - innocently meaning "she was annoyed that a herd of little antelopes were blocking her doorway", and depending on the context could imply something like "she found a bunch of disappointing, impotent male suitors lurking around her doorway" or "she's having sex with several men and is disappointed to find their dicks are small"

(TANGENT: average sized penises are culturally considered ideal, with notably large penises implying an outsized libido and un-masculine lack of self control, and notably small penises implying sexual impotence and general weakness. It tends to be assumed that if a woman has an outsized libido she will be interested in men with larger penises)

Gal(ga) as euphemistic slang for penis plays into the name of gannegal soup, which is a dish that contains bull penis as one of its ingredients. 'Gannegal' is effectively a double entendre. You're not saying 'ox penis' soup (that would be 'ganne gemane'), the dead literal translation of gannegal IS 'ox horn'. But this is not the Naturalistic way you would say 'ox horn' either, because 'gal(ga)' is not used for the horns of cattle (you would say 'gannemitla' or just 'mitla'). So like to a Wardi listener the name 'gannegal' is politely saying 'ox horn' while heavily implying its contents of bull penis.

"Gal(ga)" as both a word for horn and slang term for penis has a lot of other applications in jokes/puns/euphemisms.

I don't have the words established for the full Wardi language version, but a phrase that translates to "a hawk carrying a bull by the horns" (using 'galga' instead of the naturalistic 'gannemitla') is used to describe a woman as sexually domineering, or to describe a couple being consisted of a conniving sexually controlling woman and a weak-willed libidinous man. The imagery is a small predatory bird controlling a physically superior, powerful animal, and implying via 'galga' that the control is sexual in nature. It's usage is Kind Of similar to 'henpecked husband' in implying a man as weak and overly controlled by his wife (with acutely misogynistic undertones that he's a failure in that he should clearly be the dominant party instead), just with an explicitly sexual layer.

There's also variants like "he's a bull led by his horns" as something you might say about a superficially powerful man that you're implying is mentally weak (the galga euphemism implies this mental weakness is specifically lack of sexual control, but this phrase is sometimes used in more generalized contexts).

---

This one's less of a joke per se, but "digging out the viper" "digging out the viper's tail" "digging out the tail" is a saying that describes something as a high effort and utterly futile exercise, a doomed vanity project, etc.

This refers to the Viper seaway, which is named for its fat snakelike shape. The 'tail' of the Viper dead-ends about 50 miles away from the actual ocean, which makes this sea ultimately unimportant in the larger sea trade system (you don't have to enter its waters at all to get to any major trade hubs). However, it would become EXTREMELY important to sea trade if someone managed to dig a canal between the Viper's 'tail' and the eastern sea.

This would be very difficult- a lot of the terrain is rocky and hilly (the actual canal might have to be closer to 70 miles long AT MINIMUM to work around the terrain). The people who actually live on this land (mostly Ubiyan pastoralists) are not heavily involved in the sea trade system, and most of their communities have never particularly wanted foreigners digging a huge fucking canal through their lands and building up a sea trade hub around it.

So, there have been at least two major historical attempts to dig the canal, both of which failed. One was through a strained alliance of Royal Dain kingdoms, and one was an attempt by Imperial Bur at its height (in which it controlled all the coasts on the south end of the Viper, among other places). Both failed spectacularly, due to a combination of logistical issues (the sheer scale of manpower needed, feeding this manpower, and sustaining the endeavor), internal political disagreement on the projects viability, and organized reprisals from the Ubiyan population. As it stands, the attempted canal exists as about 20 miles of shallow ditches, heavily eroded and washed out by rain.

The idea of digging out the canal now tends to be regarded as a spectacular and utterly futile act of hubris, to the point that variants of "digging out the Viper" as an expression of futility exist in Wardi, Burri, Dain, Finn, and Ubiyan languages.

The saying itself isn't quite a joke, but can very easily be Used in jokes and wordplay: IE in a play where the stock Arrogant Idiot character excitedly goes off to fight a group of bandits singlehandedly, you could see an exchange between other characters like "What did he say he was going to do?" "He said he has to go dig out a viper's tail" (which would not be regarded as uproariously funny but would probably elicit a chuckle from the audience).

This saying also lends itself to more sexual wordplay in that one partly antiquated word for tail (cunna) is now mostly used as slang for anus (though is still Recognizable as having meaning as an animals tail). (Kind of like in american english how most people Know the word 'ass' has meant 'donkey' for most of its history, but you don't often see it used as such).

The related word 'cunnari' stems from it (this is untranslatable, it dead literally means 'anus person') and is used to describe someone as passive in anal sex. This is Extremely insulting to use on a man (probably the closest approximation to 'faggot' in this language, though with different connotations) and degrading even when not.

A man (at least rhetorically) threatening to sexually penetrate another man is kind of like saying "I'll make you my bitch". So you might see variants on "digging out the viper's tail" which use the word 'cunna' for tail to mock an instance of this alpha male type declaration. IE: in the context of a play, this type of threat might be responded with a "ha, good luck digging out my tail" (your threats are laughably futile) or a more elaborate sort of "do I look like a viper to you? I can see why the likes of you is so interested in my tail" (you must be fucking stupid, you're the type to engage in hopeless endeavors of vanity). Etc.

On the other way around you might see 'cunnari' slipped into reversals of 'digging out the tail', ie: "he'll have no troubles digging out that cunnari", "If only the Viper was a cunnari, he'd have spread his tail wide open and saved Old Bur all its trouble". Etc

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xxgoblin-dumplingxx · 1 year ago

Note

What do you think nights with Jason would look like? I just know my man has a bed time routine with his partner

Jason walked through the house and checked the security system, the door locks and the lights. Making one last round as he listened to you finishing up washing your face and brushing your teeth.

And before he turned back up the hall he stopped and checked the thermostat, turning it down. Not too much. Just a degree or two. Enough to keep him from getting too hot and to keep you snuggling with him most of the night.

In the morning, he'd bump it back up when he started the coffee- enough to shake off the chill. But. He slept better when you were close to him. And if the room was a little chilly it was easier to keep you in grabbing distance. Where he could feel you if he woke up in the middle of the night.

He made his way down the hall and double-checked the bed. Making sure you had the pillow to throw your leg over when you slept on your other side. And made a mental note to get you booked for a massage. A long one. Done by someone that knew what they were doing. You worked long hours on your feet. He worried constantly about what that was doing to your back. And your knees and hips. Those rubbed mats that were supposed to help didn't seem like they did fuck all.

"Bed time?" you ask yawning.

"I get a night off so I figured we'd get a good night's sleep," he said, pulling back the covers on your side of the bed.

"I don't know why I'm so sleepy, I'm sorry."

"Weather's changing," he said shrugging, kissing you on the forehead before you crawled under the blankets. "Less sun, holiday grind- you'll feel better once things die down a little after New Year's."

"It's bull shit."

"Absolutely," he said, tucking covers around you. It started as a joke. Tucking you in before he left for the night. Giving you kisses and putting a stuffed animal in your arms to hold til he got home. But now? He tucked you in even if he was at home. Even if he knew you were gonna wiggle loose to lay on his chest.

It felt right. Making sure that you were safe in bed. Making sure you were gonna be warm enough and comfortable until he got home.

He stroked your hair for a moment when you lay down and then moved to his side of the bed. His arms tightened around you instantly when you reached for him. "I love you, Jay," you murmur, smudging a kiss against his bare chest.

"I love you too, baby girl," he hummed, stretching one arm up just long enough to click out the lights.

#jason todd #jason todd x reader #ask answered #minors dni #reader insert #EC!reader

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therhythmafterthesummer · 1 year ago

Text

In the Labyrinth (M) ~Changbin

Pairing: Minotaur!Changbin x AFAB.Reader Themes: Mythical AU | Angst | Smut | Fluff Word Count: ~14k | AO3 Synopsis: The Labyrinth was an enigma for most people. Its existence was known, but what exactly happened within it was a complete mystery. When you entered the Labyrinth, you weren’t really sure what you’d have to come face to face with… Not even in a million years would you have guessed just exactly what you’d find in here. Warnings: descriptors of the reader such as: having long hair · mentions of murder · mentions of assault · depictions of anxiety · violence (in many different forms) · Changbin is 300cm tall (feels like that warrants a warning) · graphic depictions of outercourse (smut warnings under the cut). - feel free to let me know if i missed any.

Author’s Note: shout out to the anon that sent this ask back in august and ingrained the mental image of minotaur!changbin in my brain. more notes at the end.

Due to all the abovementioned warnings, this story is intended for an adult audience only. Minors please do not interact.

Smut Warnings: size kink · literal monster cock (he’s a giant… and a half-bull, half-man one at that…) · nipple play · mutual masturbation · non-penetrative sex.

Disclaimer: the story presented in this work does not represent Stray Kids in any way; anything described in this story and all actions performed by the characters are purely fictional, this was created just for good fun.

The sound of your footsteps bounced off of the walls. The corridors were more than spacious, well over twenty metres wide, with the ceiling probably twice as high, but even if it wasn’t crowded in here, it still made you a bit claustrophobic.

You supposed that the few holes in the ceiling did help ease that feeling a little bit. Emphasis on a little bit.

Even if you weren’t particularly thrilled about being down here, you still walked, because there was simply nothing else to do.

You could’ve sat down and awaited your death exactly where you had landed when they threw you in here, but you were never one to remain still for too long.

So, after having a good crying session, and after hours had passed since you’d been given your death sentence, you had finally stood up and started to walk.

You knew what this place was, although you’d never really seen it. You hadn’t even known it was here in this exact area.

The Labyrinth.

It was said that the place was humongous, practically never-ending, built by a king in ancient times as an offering to the Gods. Presumably, it’d ended up buried in the earth as time passed, and it stretched over kilometres and kilometres of land, but no one had really seen it and lived to tell the tale. At least, no one you knew of.

Law enforcement clearly knew the place, but you weren’t really sure if you could call them people. After all, they had never taken you seriously when you’d sought out their help. In a way, you felt like it was their fault you’d ended up here in the first place…

Although you’d heard of this place, you never really imagined it’d look like this inside. The brick walls were looking a bit worn down, but still structurally sound. They were lined with torches lit with eternal fire, just like the tales said. The floor would alternate between dirt, gravel, actual flooring, and mud.

As you walked, you saw some ponds, some that even had fish inside. You figured that could be a potential way out, but you weren’t sure how deep you’d have to swim or if that’d be viable at all, so you scrapped the thought altogether.

Sometimes, you’d see trees. Especially in those areas where there were holes on the ceiling.

Some of those holes were partially blocked by metal rods, like law enforcement realised they were there and did the minimum required to keep a person or an animal from falling inside. Others were fully open, they varied in sizes, but they were honestly too high up for a person to reach them.

The trees, the mismatched flooring, and the occasional patch of grass weren’t that odd, though. They fit in well, and their presence made sense. What did feel out of place were the drawings on the walls.

They weren’t on every wall, but there were so many of them it was hard not to notice they were there. Some looked like they’d been there for a long time, the colours were a bit washed out and some of the pigment had probably been absorbed by the brick overtime. Others looked like they could’ve been made a few weeks ago.

Birds, trees, deer, the sun, the moon… They were mostly nature themed, and, in any other context, you might’ve been inspired by the artistry. Even if they intrigued you, it was hard to appreciate them when you felt so hopeless, when you felt so… empty.

As soon as you had stopped crying earlier, you had accepted your fate–how long had it been since then? How long have you been walking for? Hours? How many? It was hard to tell down here…

You realised just how much time had passed once you noticed another hole in the ceiling. You might’ve missed a few before, since it was clearly now well into the night and there was no light to highlight their presence.

The faint stars you could see out of that hole made a knot form in your throat and tears well in your eyes.

This was unfair.

You shouldn’t be the one in here.

If anything, it should’ve been him.

If anyone had paid attention to you, it would’ve been him.

But instead, here you were.

You found a patch of grass under that hole you saw, so you just laid down and curled in on yourself and called it a night.

As the tears started to fall again, you reminded yourself that you had accepted your fate.

There was no going back now.

It was hard to tell how long you’d been inside the Labyrinth for.

The first couple of days, you kept count diligently, but at some point you realised it was absolutely pointless. Why would you even want to know that information, if you weren’t going to be able to leave?

You were on your own here.

You’d seen items that clearly belonged to someone at some point scattered around the many corridors of the Labyrinth, but you hadn’t seen a single soul. Only the fish you’d caught from the occasional pond you found that helped keep your stomach full, or the odd magpie that would come from one of the ceiling’s holes and jump around for a bit before taking off and leaving you alone once again.

You were on your own here… That was, as long as the stories weren’t true.

At first, you thought that the death sentence meant you’d be locked here to starve to death, but that logic started to crumble when you saw just how many sources of sustenance were available. Fresh water, fruit, fish, birds–if one was skilled enough to be able to hunt one of those, or at least have the will to…

You wondered if law enforcement knew this place was like this… Whether they knew or not, you figured it probably didn’t matter. The longer you spent here, the more it made sense to you that the stories were true.

It was said that a beast lived inside the Labyrinth.

A beast that would make the strongest, bravest man cower in fear.

Some people said it had multiple sets of arms, or that it was as big as the royal library building, bigger than any temple anyone had seen. Others said it was such a deformed being that just the sight of it would kill you, and if that didn’t, it would make sure to do so by eating its victims piece by piece.

You knew these were nothing but stories to garner attention, for people to cause unnecessary chaos just because they could. If these people had actually seen this alleged beast, you supposed they wouldn’t even be alive to share their experience with the world.

You had never believed such a thing existed, but as nights and days went by, there was a small–and very scared–part of you that believed it might be true. Maybe this beast was very real, and was roaming the corridors of the Labyrinth.

Even if you’d been lucky to have found a few ponds that were large enough for you to bathe in, you still had pretty much only what you’d been wearing since you were thrown in here. You had used those ponds to wash your peplos a few times, but, unfortunately, it wasn’t even in good shape to begin with, and rinsing it in water seemed to hardly help its condition.

Your feet ached, your sandals were certainly not meant to be used to walk these distances, and the feeling of your dirty garments, combined with the lack of human contact, were steadily driving you crazy with every day that passed. Maybe this was the punishment. To be driven to insanity by what would usually be a minor inconvenience, by the amount of nothing that was happening around you.

The fact that you kept seeing his face in your dreams didn’t help it one bit.

Sometimes, you’d see it even when you were awake. You just needed to close your eyes, and you immediately got flashes of red and the feeling of pure hatred and anger…

You always felt like washing your hands after, like jumping into any pond or puddle you could find. And whenever you could, you did.

Unfortunately, no amount of hand-washing and bathing would make the feeling go away.

You figured you’d have to learn to live with it.

As you furiously scrubbed your palms for the millionth time that day, you started to hear something.

Your movements stopped, but your hands remained submerged in the pond. It was usually quiet inside the Labyrinth, save for the few birds that’d sometimes fly and sing above you, or the occasional splashing fish inside the numerous bodies of water.

But, right now, you could definitely hear something… Not only that, but you could feel something.

You could barely notice while you still had your hands under the water, but the rippling on the surface of it couldn’t have been made by you. Not when the little pebbles on the ground were shaking, too.

Thump…

The sound seemed to be coming from the corridor on your right. It was growing closer, but your body wouldn’t move. You couldn’t move. You were just kneeling there, looking at the flickering torches lining the walls, with your hands still inside the pond, completely paralysed.

It wasn’t until you saw the shadow of something popping from around the corner that you actually came to your senses.

You had to run.

And you had to run now.

You stood up from the ground faster than you could even blink. Taking the lower part of your peplos with tight, wet fists, you just started to run as fast as you could.

You could practically feel your heart in your throat as anxiety started to kick in. You had convinced yourself that this beast didn’t exist, you had thought that since you hadn’t seen it in your time here, it must’ve not existed at all.

But the deep bellow that resonated within the corridor was proof enough that you had been severely mistaken.

It was so loud that the sound seemed to penetrate into your skin and rattle your bones from deep within. A ringing broke free in your ears, accompanying your agitated heartbeat.

Thump… Thump… Thump… Thump… Thump… Thump… Thump…

The whole ground shook with each heavy step the beast took, so much so, you tripped and fell into a path of rough gravel, ripping your clothing and scraping your knees in the process.

You couldn’t stop, though. There was no pain, no moment to think twice, you just stood up and kept running. You ran and ran and ran, turning the many corners of the Labyrinth as you went…

There was a little voice in the back of your mind telling you it was useless, but you didn’t want to hear it. You refused to hear it.

At least, until you turned and found yourself in a dead end.

Thump… Thump… Thump… Thump… Thump… Thump… Thump…

Whatever it was, it drew closer and closer, shaking the ceiling and the walls as it tried to catch up with you.

Maybe you could still escape it somehow. Maybe, you’d be able to run past it and lose it in the many corridors of the Labyrinth.

When you turned around, you realised just how foolish that thought had been.

The air escaped your lungs when your back hit the wall. Your feet weren’t touching the ground, and you could feel pressure on your sides from where you were being held against the wall.

Your vision was blurry from the lack of oxygen, you could barely make out the shape in front of you. Horns, fur, and… and a face.

You’d accepted your fate…

Or so you had thought.

“Please…” Your voice was barely above a whisper, not only due to how breathless you were after running for so long and after being pushed so forcibly against the wall, but also because the knot in your throat was just too big. “Don’t–Don’t hurt me”.

The first tear fell down your cheek, and many more followed soon after. You couldn’t see properly. Whatever was in front of you, was big enough to shield all light from hitting whichever parts you could’ve potentially seen.

The creature huffed, and you closed your eyes tightly as its face moved closer to yours.

Its breath was warm against your face. You almost flinched, expecting the smell of rotten flesh to envelop you, but, instead, all you could smell was laurel.

You could feel yourself tremble in its hold as sobs kept escaping your throat. The creature sniffed you, first your face, then your neck. It got so close in its exploration that you could feel the tip of a textured, moist nose against your skin. You braced yourself for what was to come. You were sure it was getting ready to eat you whole, hopefully in one single chomp, so you wouldn’t have to suffer too much…

The thing pulled away from your neck, and just when you thought it was going to go for it, you were moving.

It was so unexpected you barely registered it.

One second you were pressed against the bricks, and the next your stomach was pressing against firm muscle, and your arms were dangling over the creature’s back. Almost like it… like it had thrown you over its shoulder. And, after a few seconds of shock, you realised it had.

The beast had a strong hold on your back as it started to walk, presumably taking you somewhere.

You tried to blink the remaining tears away, at least enough so you could properly see something, anything.

You caught sight of the ground. You were definitely moving, and, for a moment, you thought you were imagining things.

You could see smooth skin, you could feel it against your arms and hands whenever they hit it as they moved with each of the creature’s steps. Its back was very human-like… However, that smooth skin transitioned into dark fur towards the lower part of its body.

The tail of the creature swishing from side to side was the last thing you saw before you lost grasp of your surroundings.

Warmth.

You felt warm, but it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling. It was more like… a cosy feeling.

There was soft fabric under your hands, you could feel it dragging against your skin as your consciousness woke up.

Laurel… The smell of it filled your senses with that first intake of breath.

Laurel… like the beast’s breath.

Your eyes snapped open. They immediately landed on the patch of night sky that could be seen from the hole in the ceiling, right on top of you. You blinked slowly, taking in the sight of the twinkling stars above you.

Faint chewing sounds brought you back into the room, they made you remember what had happened before you lost consciousness. With quick movements, you sat up, and your breath hitched in your throat when your eyes locked onto the beast sitting a few metres in front of you.

Its eyes bore into yours as it chewed leisurely, on what you assumed to be a deer leg based on the shape of it. It didn’t make any movements, nor did it make any sounds–other than the occasional grunt when the meat was too stuck to the bone.

You were, quite honestly, speechless.

You had heard of the beast, but none of the descriptions truly matched what you were seeing right now.

A big, big creature. Inhumanly tall. Its torso was that of a man. Well defined, smooth, tanned skin, strong–very strong…–pecs, nipples adorned with silver jewellery, even stronger looking arms, and, although bigger than you had ever seen them, very human-looking hands.

That torso transitioned into bovine-like lower limbs–covered in thick, dark fur, strong thighs and calves, ending in hooves. But, most impactful, was its head. Human-looking as well, save for the pair of horns that protruded from its skull and a cattle-like nose. The horns were decorated with thick silver rings that glistened with the very few torches lit around the room.

Its face, though… Chubby cheeks, pouty lips, and a strong, but bull-looking nose, pierced with a thick silver hoop. Objectively, the face of a handsome man, all things considered…

You had truly never, ever seen anything like it.

The way it was looking at you felt purposeful, like it wasn’t doing it just for the sake of it, but more like it was aware of your presence in a conscious, coherent way. It wasn’t just the way an animal would look at another animal, more like a human would look at another human.

You swallowed, suddenly hyper aware of your body. Everything hurt. Your feet, your knees, your arms… you were sore all over. When you finally broke eye contact with the creature–man…?–in front of you, and looked at yourself instead, you were perplexed at the sight of your bandaged knees.

Your eyes snapped back up to meet the beast’s, who was eating the last few pieces of meat off the bone in his hand, but still looking at you.

“Did you…” Your voice broke due to your sore throat. You cleared it before you tried to speak again. “Did you do this?”

You gestured to the bandages, and it nodded to your question.

The beast understood you. It understood you and was able to answer the question.

“…Why?”

It seemed to be thoughtful for a moment, suckling on the bone to leave it completely clean before it threw it on a pile of bones in a corner of the room. Ultimately it simply shrugged, rendering you speechless once again.

The beast stood up from the ground, and walked towards another corner of the room, where a pond was. It knelt on the edge of it, and dipped its hands into the water. After scooping some water into its palms, it brought them close to his face and drank from them.

Was it… washing its hands? And its mouth?

You realised it was, in fact, washing its mouth when it–he…?–finally stood up and walked over to some trees, where he plucked some leaves to eat them–or, more accurately, to chew on them.

“What… What are you?” You couldn’t help the question from leaving your mouth. What you were seeing right now was so absurd you just needed to ask.

He shrugged once again, chewing leisurely as it finally started walking closer to you.

You honestly didn’t even try to move away, you were too in awe of his entire existence for your body to properly send you into fight or flight response.

He was so… big. Even when he finally crouched in front of the pile of fabric you’d been laying on, he just looked huge.

“Changbin”, he said all of a sudden.

Your jaw went slack for a moment. He could speak.

“Ch–Changbin?”

He nodded. “That’s what… my father calls me”.

Changbin spoke slowly, like he wasn’t used to speaking at all. You supposed it made sense, considering the stories surrounding the beast inside the Labyrinth.

But… father, he said? “You�� you have a father?”

He nodded again, but didn’t say anything else. Changbin just looked at you, in complete silence.

You’d admit it was a bit… awkward.

“Do you… Is this what you do with the people that are thrown into the Labyrinth?”

Changbin shook his head, which further puzzled you.

“I usually kill them. Sometimes I eat them if there’s nothing else to eat… Other times, just use them as food for the plants and birds that live here”, he said simply, like it was nothing. You supposed to him it was nothing.

“Why haven’t you killed me?” You had to ask, because you just couldn’t comprehend how you could still be alive.

His eyes jumped from one of yours to the other repeatedly for a bit. Until he eventually shrugged. “Don’t want to”.

You didn’t really feel like asking ‘Why?’ again, so you just cleared your throat, and decided to introduce yourself instead.

Changbin remained quiet for a few moments, until he repeated your name a few times out loud, like he was trying to get used to the sound.

After about ten minutes of prying, Changbin explained to you that this was his den. It was at the very centre of the Labyrinth. He knew this whole place like the back of his hand, every twist and turn, every pond and every tree, he knew where absolutely everything was. Apparently, he’d lived here a long, long time.

You wanted to inquire more, but before you could, his ears perked up, and he looked towards the one and only exit of this area.

“Someone’s entered the Labyrinth”, he mumbled, almost to himself. He stood up from the floor, and wiped his hands on his fur before he started walking. When he reached the entrance, he turned back to look at you. “Stay here. Will be back in a couple of days”.

You didn’t really think you had any other choice.

Coexisting with Changbin was… weird.

It wasn’t uncomfortable by any means, but it was certainly weird.

He clearly didn’t understand human behaviour much. As in, he’d do things people typically didn’t do.

He’d stare at you a lot–very intensely, if you might add–he spoke in short sentences, or was too forward with what he said. For the most part, though, you didn’t mind. Considering the type of men you were used to, Changbin was far from bad.

Was he a huge half-man, half-bull creature that ate humans sometimes?

Yes.

But even then, he was heaps better than other men you’d met.

He had offered his nest for you to sleep on. He’d shared with you any fish he caught, and even brought you fruit sometimes. For the most part, you didn’t leave his den, and he simply let you stay.

Being honest, part of the reason why you didn’t leave was because you weren’t sure if you were allowed to. After all, he’d brought you in here himself.

Whenever someone entered the Labyrinth, he’d always ask you to stay while he left to look for them. Upon his return, he’d also share whichever goods he’d retrieved.

“You want this?” Changbin offered you a lump of fabric. It almost looked like a napkin in his hands, but when you took it and had a good look at it, you realised it was a chiton. And a fairly new one at that.

Your peplos was way too worn by now. You weren’t really sure how long you’d been inside the Labyrinth at this point, but you also figured it really didn’t matter. You’d washed your clothes plenty of times during your time here, but the rips and tears were just too many already, so you accepted the fresh garment.

“Thank you”, you looked up at him, trying not to focus too much on the swell of his chest, or the trail of fur that started from his navel and continued downwards, turning into his bovine legs.

Changbin was, truly, a sight to behold. Roughly three metres of hunk… The longer you spent around him, the longer you just… wanted to look at him.

You supposed you weren’t any different than him in that regard. At least, he didn’t seem bothered by it when you stared at him.

Changbin nodded, and made his way to his makeshift, newer nest. You felt a bit bad that you’d taken his much bigger sleeping space, but when you tried to get him to use it again, he simply told you ‘It’s your nest now’, so you just… kept using it to lay and sleep on.

“Washed it on my way here”, Changbin said once he was sitting on his nest, looking at you. Only then did you realise he’d not only brought the chiton with him, but also a bowl full of what looked like wildberries, and a guest.

The guest sat on the very top of his head, it was a bird. A fairly small one, but one that was clearly injured, if the way it weakly fluttered its wings was anything to go by.

You nodded, and repeated a soft ‘Thank you’. You honestly tried not to think too much about the person this piece of clothing belonged to just a few days ago. There was no point in that… It was yours now.

When you brought your hand to the fabric belt around your waist, you untied the knot that kept your peplos in place. The garment loosened, but before you could remove it, you looked back at Changbin.

He was just… staring at you. Like he always did.

You swallowed, trying to ignore the heat you felt spreading on your cheeks. “Could you, uhm…”

His ears perked up, listening intently to what you had to say.

“Could you maybe look away?”

Changbin blinked slowly, and his tail started swishing calmly behind him. “Why?”

“Because, y’know… I’m going to undress”, you replied simply, bringing the chiton closer to your chest. The heat on your face seemed to intensify.

“And?”

You were slightly taken aback by that. But as you looked at him, you couldn’t see anything other than genuine curiosity in his eyes. “I’ll undress… That means I’ll be naked in front of you”.

“Okay”.

Now you started blinking slowly. Okay he said. Just… Okay. How… odd. “Changbin, I don’t want you to, uh… see”.

His eyebrows furrowed at that. “Why?”

“Because it’s not appropriate”.

“How come?” He placed the bowl on the ground and leaned back on his hands, spreading his legs in front of him. “I’m naked right now”.

Ah… You supposed he was naked.

You tried really hard not to move your eyes away from his face, especially considering the position he was in… You didn’t want your eyes to just wander to improper territories. After all, there seemed to be a lot to look at…

As you pushed aside the chaotic thoughts inside your head, his comment made you realise that maybe it wasn’t inappropriate to be naked. At least not here, not with Changbin.

You weren’t on the surface anymore. You weren’t bound to human customs anymore, not since the moment you’d been sentenced, and the more you thought of that, the more you started to understand.

This was your safe place now. There was no judgement here, or, at least, you hadn’t felt any at all.

So you swallowed, suddenly feeling a bit nervous. With your eyes fixed on Changbin’s, you tried your best to ignore the warmth that took over your face as you undid your peplos.

The garment fell to the floor, and only then did his eyes wander. He looked at you, with his head tilted to the side. You could’ve sworn you saw his eyes twinkle under the light of the few flickering torches on the wall. ‘Don’t like to keep too many in here… Too bright’, Changbin had told you a few days ago, when you’d asked why there weren’t as many torches in his den as in the corridor walls, and his answer had just made sense to you.

You could almost feel his eyes tracing every curve of your body, and you tried to not focus on how that made you feel. Instead, you just threw the chiton on and quickly fastened it with the belt around your waist.

Changbin’s eyes were back on yours as you finished fixing your clothes, before you started to plait your hair.

“Are you cold?” He asked all of a sudden, just as you finished tying your hair.

Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Not… not particularly?”

“Why’d you wear that, then?”

“Wear what? This?” You gestured to the garment you’d just put on, and Changbin simply nodded to your question. You blinked blankly at him for a few moments before you answered him. “I don’t… I shouldn’t be showing my body like that, y’know? It’s inappropriate. At least, on the surface it is. So we just… wear clothes”.

“That’s why humans wear clothes?” He sounded genuinely incredulous, and based on the way his eyes widened, you figured he was. “Thought y’all were just cold all the time”.

You couldn’t help but snort at that. You laughed. You laughed like you hadn’t laughed in weeks, almost madly even.

This was all just so, so absurd. You’d been sentenced to death, and somehow, you’d ended up here, with a creature like Changbin. A sentient creature that thought humans wore clothes just because ‘they were cold all the time’.

“Why shouldn’t you show your body?” Changbin looked beyond confused, and somehow it made you laugh harder. “It’s… well, there. It’s you. Why hide it?”

Your laugh died down, and you wiped the few stray tears that had fallen from your eyes. There was a small smile tugging at his lips, he didn’t seem fazed by your fit of laughter other than looking mildly confused now, so you just composed yourself and answered him as honestly as you could. “It’s… a private thing…”

“Private?” Changbin asked, tilting his head cutely to the side. “So no one has seen you naked?”

You went quiet at that, and started fidgeting with the end of your belt. “Some people have… Y’know, my mum… My–my husband…”

The title left a bitter taste on your tongue, but you tried to ignore it. You didn’t like thinking about him. Whenever you did, you always tried to squash the mental image to the deepest recesses of your mind. It was just… a bit too much still.

“You’re married?” Changbin asked, curiously, leaning forward and resting his arms on his knees.

“Not anymore”, you looked away from him, trying to ignore his peering eyes. You really didn’t feel like elaborating further, so you tried to divert the conversation by talking about literally anything else. The weather, the flowers that had started to bloom in his garden, the bird on top of his head…

Changbin didn’t really pry further, he just followed your chaotic rambling as best as he could, until he eventually started crushing the berries in his bowl and telling you about the bird.

Apparently, he’d found it yesterday when he was on his way back here, and had been trying to nurse it back into health since. While he told you the story, he kept crushing the wildberries in his bowl, and he’d occasionally bring his free hand up to the little critter. It simply pecked his fingertip a few times before it resumed grooming his hair.

After a while, he stood up from his makeshift nest. With his bowl of crushed berries in hand, and the injured bird nestled on the crown of his head among his messy hair, Changbin made his way to a nearby wall. You just watched him curiously from where you were laying on his original nest.

Changbin dipped two of his fingers in the mixture of crushed berries, and then he just… drew a line on the wall.

Then another…

And another…

He was silent for the most part, but low noises would occasionally resonate from his chest when the little bird on his head chirped. It was almost like they were having a conversation.

And you figured they were. Mostly because every couple of lines he made, he’d huff, and the bird would chirp in response. Changbin simply nodded–carefully, as to not let the bird fall with the movement–and kept on drawing.

You weren’t sure how long you spent there, just looking at him doing his thing, but it was genuinely fascinating. The way his tail would sway every once in a while, the way the muscles on his back flexed and relaxed as he moved all sorts of ways as he painted on the walls…

Eventually, his lines took the very distinct shape of a bird, one that mirrored the one on his head almost perfectly.

“Changbin?” You asked after a while. He hummed to let you know he was listening, so you continued. “Did you make all the other drawings throughout the Labyrinth?”

It seemed like a silly question to ask, because, who else would’ve done it, if not the beast doing one just now in front of you?

Changbin added the finishing touches to his drawing, then he turned to look at you. He offered the remnants of crushed berries in his bowl to the bird, just as he brought the two fingers he’d been using to his mouth so he could lick them clean.

You tried not to focus too much on the action by fixing your eyes on his.

He pulled his digits out of his mouth with a slight sucking sound, and nodded. “I did”.

“Mmm… They’re pretty”, you said simply.

Because, to you, they were.

You found them odd when you first saw them, since they didn’t seem to fit the aura surrounding this place, but they were certainly pretty. And knowing they’d been made by him, just seemed to make them even prettier.

Changbin finally put the bowl down on one of the many tall–but flat–rocks scattered throughout the room, and, for a moment, you could’ve sworn his cheeks had reddened. “Thanks…”

You just offered him a smile, even if he wasn’t looking at you.

A cold wind filtered through the hole in the ceiling, it had your teeth chattering and your whole body shivering. You tried to cover yourself further, but the way Changbin had built his nest made it so you really couldn’t pull fabric from it without messing it up, and there was no spare cloth close by that you could use as a blanket.

It made sense, you supposed. He didn’t seem like he needed anything to keep himself warm, and you also hadn’t needed it before during your stay here, so you hadn’t even tried to ask for one.

You heard faint shuffling, followed by quiet thump, thump, thumps, until you felt warmth close to you.

“Tiny human”, Changbin mumbled, pulling your attention fully towards him.

You hummed to let him know you were listening, but you didn’t open your eyes, nor did you feel like wasting energy saying actual words. You needed to use every bit of it you could to try to keep yourself warm.

“You’re whimpering. Why?”

Had you been whimpering?

You hadn’t even realised you were. Maybe you’d fallen asleep without noticing…

You took a deep breath, trying to steady your trembling form, but it only brought a rush of cold air inside your body. “M’cold…”

There was silence for a moment. With half lidded eyes, you could’ve sworn you were seeing your breath coming out of your mouth in little white clouds. It didn’t make you feel any better. If anything, it agitated you a bit more, but you couldn’t even express it fully.

Changbin was quiet for a long while, but you could still feel him close. You appreciated it. It felt like moral support, at least.

Eventually, you heard–and felt–him shuffle closer to the nest. “Can I… Can I keep you warm?”

You immediately nodded. You didn’t care what he did, or how he did it. You just needed to be warm, and if he could give you that you’d honestly take it.

There was more shuffling, and then there was a minute dip in the nest. You yelped when you felt Changbin’s arm wrap around your waist and pull you into him from behind.

His hold was strong, firm, but also… gentle. He kept you close, with his chin resting on the top of your head and a hand pressed firmly against your stomach. He was so close, and so, so warm, you immediately felt yourself relaxing, moulding into his body, almost like… like you’d always been meant to.

Slowly, his warmth seeped into you, until you were no longer shivering. Tentatively, you placed a hand on top of the one he kept on your stomach. You could’ve sworn you felt him jump a bit behind you, but as soon as you started tracing his knuckles with your fingertips, he seemed to relax once again.

You weren’t really sure what compelled you to do it, you had just… felt like doing it. You spent a while just like that, feeling each knuckle of his fingers, feeling the prominent veins on the back of his hand. They were so big… especially compared to your own.

You’d never felt like a particularly small person, but next to him, you certainly looked tiny, you felt tiny. But only physically. Being honest, you’d never felt as equal to someone as you felt with Changbin.

“I think you’re pretty, too”, he mumbled all of a sudden, and for a moment, you felt your heart stop, only to resume its beating at record-breaking speeds. “Like my drawings, I mean…”

You turned in his hold, and immediately buried your face in his neck. Not only seeking the heat of his skin, but also trying to hide the flustered reaction on your face. He just held you closer, further enveloping you in his warmth.

“Thank you…” You mumbled against the skin of his neck, and he simply offered you a tiny sound of content in response.

In the safety of Changbin’s arms, blanketed in his body heat, you finally fell asleep.

You didn’t mind staying at Changbin’s den, but you were starting to get a bit… bored.

Mostly if he was gone. When he was there, you could at least strike conversation, or play some sort of game. Knucklebones was a favourite of yours, for example.

When he wasn’t here, all you did was try to keep yourself entertained with whatever items Changbin had lying around, or by tending to the garden inside the den.

At some point, you’d managed to use some of the numerous pieces of fabric he’d collected to make yourself a proper blanket. Although, to be fair, you hardly ever needed it.

It was a given at this point that he’d snuggle up next to you to keep you warm. Since that very first night, you’d only had to use your blanket when someone had entered the Labyrinth and he wasn’t here.

You’d admit, sleeping with Changbin was… nice. Especially since temperatures seemed to be decreasing by the day.

He was all plush and warm and his heartbeat just helped you relax. Ever since you got married–since you were forced to get married…–you had never enjoyed sharing your sleeping space, but, with Changbin, it was different. You just… felt safe. As odd as that might sound.

“It’s not fair! You got it so much easier to pick those up!” Changbin huffed, clicking his tongue when you, once again, beat him at your game of knucklebones.

“Find bigger pieces, then!” You chuckled, jiggling the small set of bones in your hand. “I’m sure there are plenty of huge rocks you can get in here”.

He just clicked his tongue again, finishing in a cute pout as he crossed his arms over his chest. All that did was bring your attention to the swell of his pecs and the size of his arms, which immediately made you swallow.

Dear Gods, was he big…

You scrambled to fix your eyes on his face. These were thoughts you didn’t feel like entertaining… what would be the point of it if you did? What would you even do with someone like Changbin? It felt a bit too… complicated. But, there was a little voice in the deepest areas of your conscience begging you to entertain the thought… telling you that it’d surely be worth it.

You decided to ignore it.

“Hey, Changbin”, you tried to get his attention back on you, disregarding the plethora of sinful scenarios that were playing in the back of your mind.

Changbin’s ears flickered before he was fixing his eyes on you again, so you took it as a sign to speak. “You think I could… go out for a walk?”

He uncrossed his arms so he could lean back on his hands, once again, making you absolutely struggle to keep your eyes on his face and not on whatever was going on between his legs. “You want to?”

You just nodded in response, nervously tapping on the floor one of the bones you held in your hand.

“Then you can”, he replied simply.

“I can?” You didn’t mean to sound incredulous, but you supposed his nonchalance did take you by surprise.

“‘Course. If you want to, you can”.

“You don’t mind?”

Changbin blinked slowly at you for a moment, before his eyebrows furrowed. “Why would I mind?”

“Dunno… I thought you… thought you might”.

“Why did you think that?”

Huh, good question… Why would you think that?

You supposed there was a part of you that had just kind of… assumed he’d mind. But you realised then that he’d never really said anything about it.

He’d only ever asked you to stay when someone else came into the Labyrinth, and you supposed it made sense he would if he cared for your safety. Which you were pretty sure he did, considering all he’d done for you so far… So you just offered him a smile and a slight shake of your head.

“Ah, it’s nothing…” You stood up from the floor and wiped your hands on your chiton. “‘Suppose I’ll be back in a bit…”

Changbin just hummed to acknowledge you, but didn’t say anything else, so you made your way to the entrance of the room.

When you finally reached it, you stopped. As you looked at the corridor outside of the circle-shaped area that made Changbin’s den, you couldn’t help but feel your stomach sink. No matter where you looked, left or right, the way was seemingly endless. Every direction looked almost the same–save for the few paintings on the walls and the different textures on the floor.

If you left for a walk, would you be able to find your way back? You honestly weren’t too sure, and, truly… you wanted to come back. You were sure there was no better place to be inside the Labyrinth other than here, with Changbin.

So you turned around, finding the beast himself looking at you.

His tail swayed calmly behind him, his ears occasionally flickered, but, for the most part, he looked serene, sitting there on the floor where he’d been just before you stood up yourself.

“Would you… uhm…” You pinched a piece of your chiton between your fingers, and started fidgeting with it, looking in his overall direction but not really looking at him. “Would you like to come with me?”

You finally looked at his face. There was a small smile on his lips, and it honestly made your heart flutter. “Y’know I’ll find you if you get lost, right?”

No.

No, you didn’t know that.

You didn’t know he’d go out of his way to find you if you disappeared. You knew that he cared about what happened to you to some degree, but enough to look for you if you got lost? Even if it could potentially take days?

If you thought about it, maybe that, too, made sense. Maybe he enjoyed your presence just as much as you did his.

Licking your lips, you let go of that bit of fabric you’d been rolling between your fingers. “Would you come with me anyway?”

With a huff, Changbin stood up from the ground. He wiped his hands on his thighs, just before he walked to stand next to you. That was a good enough answer for you.

So, you finally stepped out into the corridor, and Changbin followed soon after.

The farther you tried to look, the more anxiety seemed to pool in your stomach. If the Labyrinth had made you claustrophobic when you first stepped in it, right now, leaving Changbin’s den, you felt haunted with agoraphobia.

The corridors were endless, the ceiling felt like it was way too high–unlikely, since it was pretty much the same height as it was inside the den…–and the fact that you couldn’t see the first turn in either direction you looked had your head spinning. So you turned back to Changbin.

“Is there any place you like? If there is, I’d like you to show me”.

Changbin just nodded, and started walking. You followed him from closely behind, nervously looking over your shoulder sometimes, but, for the most part, you tried to focus on the drawings on the walls, or the flashes of nature around you.

It was quiet, save for the flicker of the eternal fire and the thumps produced with each step Changbin took. They weren’t as loud as they’d been the first time you heard him, probably because he was walking very, very slowly.

Even if he was walking slowly, though, you were starting to get out of breath from trying to keep up with the steps his long legs could take. One of Chanbin’s steps could’ve very well been ten of yours…

You weren’t sure how many turns you took, you simply followed him wherever he would go, asking for a few pauses sometimes when you felt like you needed to catch your breath.

There were parts of the Labyrinth that were dimmer than others. As Changbin explained to you, it was either because someone had taken a torch off its support on the wall and never returned it, or he himself had moved the torches somewhere else.

When you asked him why he’d moved them, he just said he’d get bored, and just found some entertainment in moving things around. Fair enough, you guessed…

Both of you finally came to a full stop in front of a tree. A big, very old-looking one. There was a patch of grass all around it, and it was almost tall enough to reach the ceiling. The hole above it surely provided enough light and water for the tree to thrive even down here.

“This is a place I like. Birds come in here sometimes. They keep me company”, Changbin plopped down at the base of the tree and leaned on it. While he looked at you, he patted the grass in front of him, right between his legs.

Your body reacted before your mind could, and, almost instinctively, you found yourself sitting on the grass and snuggled against his chest. He just wrapped his arms around your frame and kept you close, like he often did.

Soon enough, birds started coming in from the hole high above your heads, and you simply closed your eyes and started to hum a melody to accompany their chirping. You could certainly understand why he’d like being in a place like this, it was peaceful.

“You…” Changbin mumbled after a while, while he softly traced shapes on your arm with his thumb. “You used to pray, didn’t you?”

Your eyebrows furrowed, just before you pulled yourself away from his embrace to look him in the eyes. There was a bird perched on one of his horns already, picking at his hair, but he seemed unbothered by it.

“How’d you… How do you know that?” No one knew you prayed. In fact, you hadn’t prayed in a long, long time. It used to bring you comfort, maybe even hope, but that, too, had been crushed by the heavy weight of reality many moons ago.

Changbin looked up at the hole in the ceiling, which was covered by iron rods. His gaze was fixed on it for a while, and he remained quiet for a bit.

“I think I used to hear you pray”, his eyes were on yours again, and you suddenly felt your cheeks heating up at the attention. “You used to sing, too. Hum, like you did just now… The birds back then used to tell me you brought them food”.

The site you prayed at was incredibly far from where you’d been dropped into the Labyrinth. You knew this place was huge, but you honestly hadn’t realised just how much until this very moment.

“You stopped coming, though”, Changbin looked at you in a way that made you feel almost like he knew… “Was it because of him?”

Please! Don’t hurt me!

The memory was fresh, it wasn’t one you could just forget. Your husband… he wasn’t fond of the Gods, especially not the ones you prayed to. After all, you were praying in hopes they’d just… do something.

When law enforcement didn’t pay attention to you, you had turned to your faith for help.

But they, too, had failed you.

When your husband found out you’d been going to that specific place in the forest to pray, that you had your own humble shrine in there, he made absolutely sure you never returned. The place was now riddled with memories of nothing but pain, sorrow…

You felt a knot swell in your throat, out of fury more than anything else. You refused to let tears fall, though. The damage was done already, and even if you felt infuriated by how unjust everything that happened back then had been, the nightmare was over, and you had no one to thank but yourself for it.

Looking at Changbin, you nodded, just to let him know that it had been, in fact, because of him that you’d stopped going to pray to the forest currently above your heads.

“Even back then… I felt like it was unfair”, Changbin’s eyes jumped all over your face, while his thumb kept caressing the skin of your arm.

“It was”, you replied simply, looking up at him from where you were sitting between his legs. “But it’s no longer a problem. It’s stopped now”.

The bird that had been picking at Changbin’s hair finally flew away when he nodded. You looked him in the eyes for a while longer, until you finally leaned into him once again, and rested your head on his chest, right over his heart.

Thump… Thump… Thump… Thump… Thump…

The gentle rhythm vibrated against your ear, and, right then and there, you knew that it had all truly stopped. You were safe. It was, definitely, no longer a problem. In a way, you’d made sure of that…

You both stayed under that tree for a long time that afternoon, until you asked Changbin to show you anywhere else he liked before you made it back to the den.

Without saying a word, he effortlessly picked you up from the ground, and took you in his arms, making you all flustered when he offered you a ‘Tiny legs. Makes you slow…’ which you supposed you couldn’t argue with. To him, your legs were surely tiny, especially when compared to his own.

When you were back at Changbin’s den, you were tired, so you quickly washed up before you had dinner. Seared fish–courtesy of the eternal fire from one of the torches–with an assortment of fruits that somehow worked together, finished off with the corresponding pile of laurel leaves Changbin liked to chew on often–a habit which you yourself had picked up overtime.

It wasn’t long until you found yourself in Changbin’s nest, surrounded by soft fabric and his warmth. Cuddling had become one of your favourite winding down activities, and you certainly liked to do it for as long as you could. There was something about the closeness to someone else that felt… fulfilling. And you’d never truly felt this close to someone in your life.

Oftentimes, while cuddling, you also found yourself having the most profound conversations with Changbin. Either you or him–or both–would start bearing their hearts out for the other, and it was… nice.

Regardless of what you spoke about, it was nice.

“You…” Changbin mumbled, burying his fingers in your hair to gently caress your scalp. “Why’d they drop you here?”

You took a deep breath, mindlessly playing with the thick fur in the middle of his chest. “I took someone’s life…”

Changbin hummed, nuzzling your forehead with his nose. It was moist against your skin, but you didn’t mind.

“My husband…” You started, stilling the movement of your fingers in his fur to instead lay your hand on his chest. “I was just… I tried to get help. Every time he hurt me, I tried to get help. So, so many times… but no one listened. One night, he was trying to force himself on me and I just… took one of those hideous stone busts he kept around the house and I… hit him in the head”.

The memory wasn’t pleasant. You still remembered the first moment of shock, when you stared at his limp body on the floor. You remembered the blood, how it started to pool and stain that equally hideous rug he’d purchased for way too much money. You remembered the mess left behind when you tried to move your husband’s body out of the house so you could hide it in the forest…

But you were caught.

You were caught and no matter how much you explained what had happened, no one believed you.

“So I was sentenced to die”, you looked away from his chest to look him in the eyes. They seemed to be sparkling under the moonlight shining on you both. His eyes… They were gentle, and had the prettiest shade of brown you’d ever seen. “I should be dead by now. They were expecting you to kill me”.

Changbin’s eyes flickered between yours. They danced around your face for a moment, until they settled on your mouth. “I couldn’t. Don’t want to, either”.

“I know”, you mumbled simply. Bringing a hand to his face, you started tracing his features, his eyebrows, his nose, his cheeks… Changbin just closed his eyes as soon as your fingertips were on his skin, and his ears flickered happily as you did. “You’re way more than the beast people make you out to be”.

“You think so?” He asked it in a way that made it seem like he genuinely cared about what you had to say, like your opinion was valuable to him.

You hummed in confirmation, nodding slowly, because you truly meant it. Changbin was a bit of a brute, he was very capable of harming you, but he was also capable of being so incredibly gentle. Like he’d been with the injured bird he’d brought to his den many months ago. Like he’d been with you when he tended to your wounds when he brought you in here, or when you were shivering from the cold…

“Changbin…” You broke the silence after a while, placing your hand on his cheek and stroking the skin with your thumb. “Do you know what a kiss is?”

Changbin opened his eyes then, offering you an almost shy nod of his head.

“Have you kissed anyone before?” You placed your free hand on his chest, right over his heart. It was beating so incredibly fast… It was almost like you could feel every thump penetrate into your palm and rattle your insides.

Changbin shook his head, fixing his eyes on your mouth once again.

You licked your lips, almost absentmindedly. He was so close, and so warm, and you just… wanted him. “Would you like to?”

Changbin nodded again, so you just went for it.

Slowly, you leaned in, brushing your lips softly against his for a moment before you connected them fully. It was almost shy, just a tender peck on his lips, but it was a kiss nonetheless.

You pulled back a bit to look him in the eyes. Sparkly… Even more so than before. In an instant, his hand was at your waist, pulling you closer against his body as he leaned in to kiss you again.

It was slow, gentle, and it made your heart flutter. His lips slotted so perfectly with yours, you couldn’t even believe you’d ever kissed anyone else. So many kisses wasted, when you could’ve been giving them to him instead…

Tentatively, your tongue made contact with his bottom lip. He seemed to get the hint, since he parted his lips to let you in. With your arms around his neck, you kissed him deeply. He kissed you deeply.

At this very moment, there was nothing else in the world that wasn’t you and Changbin. The only thing that mattered was him and you in his nest, slowly getting your mouths acquainted with one another.

You didn’t know how long you spent right there, but you also didn’t care. By the time the moon had moved around in the sky and left you in partial darkness in Changbin’s den, you could already feel him poking your stomach.

The feeling of him, hard against your belly, set your insides alight.

You’d known for a long time, you’d been trying to ignore it, but you couldn’t do that any longer… You really wanted Changbin. Carnally. Like you’d want any other person.

His hands… His big, warm hands roamed your back, your rear, your thighs… It was like he wanted to make sure no part of your body was left untouched–at least the ones he currently had access to over your clothes. The kiss was turning sloppier and sloppier by the second, and, in no time, low bellows were resonating from Changbin’s chest.

It was just when you carded your fingers through his hair that he stiffened, fixing his hands on your waist and gripping you tightly to stop the grind of your hips you hadn’t even realised you’d started doing.

When had he laid on his back? When had you straddled his waist? You were so lost in your kiss you hadn’t even noticed…

He pulled back fully, offering you an apologetic look while he brought his thumb to your bottom lip and swiped it over the swollen skin.

“Someone’s entered the Labyrinth…” Changbin mumbled, so quietly you wouldn’t have heard him if you hadn’t been so close.

You pouted sadly, but nodded in understanding. With one final peck on his lips, you finally rolled off of him and onto the plush nest, where you curled into yourself as you watched him get up.

Changbin bent down to kiss your forehead. He brushed his textured nose tenderly against yours for a moment, just before he threw your makeshift blanket over your body.

“I’ll be back in a few days. Hm?”

You simply nodded again, feeling your eyes growing heavier as sleep started to cling to your muscles.

After one final smile, Changbin finally turned around and made his way out of his den.

You couldn’t help but sneak a glance at him before he left, and, Gods… You really, really wanted him…

As you let your hand find its way between your legs, and even in your sleepy state, you couldn’t help but fully come face to face with the realisation that you wanted him, more than you’d ever wanted anyone else before.

With the tingles of pleasure you were coaxing from your centre that spread to all of your limbs, your mind wandered, trying to figure out just how you could… take him.

You had to find a way. You were determined to find a way.

You didn’t know how you’d do it, but you were certain you would.

Eventually, you would.

Changbin was taking longer than usual to come back from his last outing, and it was starting to worry you.

The first couple of days went by as usual. You washed any garments of clothing you’d collected over time, you tended to any of Changbin’s friends–meaning, the birds that would come from the surface–whenever they dropped by, or you simply spent it brainstorming all the possible ways in which you could pleasure such a monstrous cock.

Not only that, but how you could get pleasure from that monstrous cock. Because you were set on making the most of it. Gone were the days in which you shied away from your desires. You were a living being with needs, and if you couldn’t fulfil those needs with a literal giant half-bull, half-man creature, you were sure you wouldn’t have been able to do it with anyone else.

Besides, though, you didn’t want anyone else.

And it wasn’t the fact that you were living in the Labyrinth and couldn’t even meet other human beings. What you felt for Changbin was something you’d never felt before. You genuinely cared about him… You cared a lot.

Which was why, by the fifth day he hadn’t returned to the den, you had bitten all ten of your nails almost to the flesh.

Where was he?

You were convinced it was pretty much impossible for him to get lost inside the Labyrinth, but what if he had?

Or worse…

What if whoever had been dropped in here hurt him?

What if he was hurt and you couldn’t help him?

Oh, Gods…

What if he was dead?

Your chest felt heavy, you could barely breathe… What would you do without Changbin? You could definitely survive with all the resources you had here, but the question was… did you want to?

What was the point of staying alive inside the Labyrinth without him?

You wanted to cry just thinking about it.

Tears were pricking your eyes, and it felt like your throat was closing up.

At least, until…

Thump…

You pretty much jumped from where you’d been sitting on the floor, sprinted out of the den and into the corridor. At this point, you could recognise Changbin’s heavy steps like your own heartbeat.

Looking left and right, you were unsure where exactly he was coming from, since the echo seemed to be coming from every direction. After a few moments of panic, you finally saw him to your left, so you ran.

You barely heard him saying your name when you were close, you were too focused on getting to him. When you buried your face in his stomach, he immediately started to caress your hair.

“Shh, hey…” He mumbled, dropping whatever he had in his free hand so he could press his palm on your back. “Don’t cry”.

You were sobbing, and you hadn’t even realised it until he had pointed it out.

When you pulled away, you could barely see him through your blurry vision. With one of his knuckles, he gently wiped the tears running down your cheeks.

It was only then that you noticed them, the cuts and gashes that littered his whole torso. The sight had adrenaline rushing into your body immediately.

“Oh, my dear Gods! What happened to you?!”

“Kid was resilient”, was all he said when he pulled himself away from your hold. He bent down–with seemingly great effort–and took the bag that he’d dropped on the ground. “C’mon, need to… to lay down. Will tell you everything after…”

You took the bag from him immediately, and wrapped your free hand around one of his fingers to gently tug him forward–as if that would do anything…

It took several minutes for both of you to reach the den once again. As soon as you were inside, Changbin pretty much collapsed on the ground, and started instructing you to bring him all sorts of herbs from his garden along with some fresh water.

You got to work, following Changbin’s directions to clean him up, apply the freshly chewed mix of leaves on the open wounds, and dress them with whichever extra pieces of fabric you could find laying around. As you did this, he told you about the young man that had entered the Labyrinth.

Apparently, he was skilled enough to not only hurt Changbin, but also to essentially defeat him.

“All these years, no one has ever come this close to killing me…”

The concept of Changbin being killed made your heart ache, but you pushed the feeling away as you tried to focus on the task at hand, as well as to continue listening to him.

The young man had spared him. He’d told Changbin that he’d come into the Labyrinth out of his own free will because he was looking for something.

“Told him I’d help him find it if he let me live”, Changbin said once you’d finished dressing his wounds and he’d finally laid down on your nest.

“And? Did you?” You asked as you gathered two heavy jugs of fresh water to bring them to him. After all, two jugs were pretty much two glasses of water for him…

Changbin drank both jugs one after the other, each one in one gulp, offering a quiet ‘Thank you’ before he answered your question. “Yeah. Pointed him in the right direction, told him how to find the way to the spot he was looking for…”

You laid down next to him, and snuggled yourself as close as you could. Changbin pulled you even closer, and only then did he seem to fully relax, practically melting into your nest.

“He wanted me to go with him… But I was too hurt”, he mumbled against your hair, sounding just so incredibly tired. “Also… I had to come home. Needed to be here with you…”

You felt tears well in your eyes again. Holding him tight–being careful to not apply too much pressure on his wounds–you craned your neck, just so you could press a lingering kiss on his cheek.

Changbin exhaled a shaky breath with the motion, and, after pressing a few more pecks on his skin, you finally laid your head on his chest.

“Welcome home…” The words came out of your mouth as barely a whisper, mostly because you didn’t trust your voice right now. You were already feeling your whole body trembling as the tears started to fall again.

Changbin held you tight, pressing a final kiss on the crown of your head.

“Missed you, tiny human…” was the last thing to come out of his mouth before he passed out.

Caring for an injured giant was easier than you had expected it to be. Although, you’d admit that helping him wash up was a bit hard.

Not because you had to provide any sort of support when he got into a pond or anything like that, but mostly because Changbin insisted that he needed you in there with him.

He got extra whiny about it, but you didn’t let him coax you into it. Not because you didn’t want to, but because, if you did get naked with him in the water, you knew you’d get distracted and his wounds could suffer the consequences.

After a few days, he seemed to have regained most of his strength, and the cuts scattered over his body were healing nicely. Even then, he kept insisting he needed you to help him.

“If you want to see me naked, just say so”, you couldn’t hold that back any longer. The words just flew past your lips, and you knew they’d had the desired effect as soon as you saw the pink tint on his cheeks.

“I don’t–I mean, I do, but it’s not–” He was tumbling over his words, and it was absolutely adorable.

You stood up from where you’d been sitting cross-legged by the edge of the pond, and started toying with the belt of your chiton. He went quiet immediately, and his eyes zeroed in on the way you played with the fabric between your fingertips.

“Do you want to see me naked, Changbin?”

He blinked slowly for a moment, and his ears flickered cutely. “Maybe…”

“Maybe?” You untied the knot, and the garment immediately loosened.

You saw him swallow. His gaze remained fixed on your belt, like he was trying to somehow make it disappear completely.

“Changbin?” You called him again, and his eyes snapped back up to meet yours, giving you his undivided attention. “Do you want to?”

Changbin stared at you for a moment before he nodded. That tiny movement, coupled with the light blush on his cheeks made you feel… empowered. Which was something you had never really felt before in this context.

You’d heard other people tell you about it, you’d read about it in the romance novels you used to read, but you had never truly experienced it. That feeling, coupled with how pliant a literal giant like Changbin got when you so much hinted at being naked, filled you with confidence.

So you removed your clothes, and slowly, you went into the pond.

Changbin was sitting on the ground, which made it so you were almost at eye level with him. You could practically feel his eyes all over your body, leaving an almost searing sensation on your skin.

When you finally stood in front of him, his hands found your waist. Changbin pulled you closer, so your bodies could be flush to each other. With your arms around his neck, you leaned in for a kiss.

He held you tightly, but gently. You knew he was well aware of his strength, and you knew he liked to be careful so as to not hurt you, which you certainly appreciated.

When you pulled back from the kiss, Changbin brushed your nose against yours, making you giggle. As usual, it was moist, but you didn’t mind.

“You’re pretty”, he whispered the words against your shoulder, where he was pressing lingering kisses on your skin–being extra careful not to poke you with his horns.

“And you’re very handsome”, you replied simply, because it was the truth. Months ago, you hadn’t even known someone like him could exist, and here you were now, absolutely smitten by what most would consider an oddity.

“You think so?” He mumbled absentmindedly, dragging his hands all over your back. His large hands…

“Mm… I do think so”.

He pulled away so he could look at you. A smile had spread across his face, making his eyes turn into little crescents. It always made your heart flutter whenever he smiled, and it was certainly a contagious gesture.

Changbin kissed your cheek once, twice, thrice more, before he was speaking again.

“Y’know… I haven’t… I’ve never…” He sighed, frowning before he shook his head and started all over again. “Want to make you feel good, but I don’t know how”.

Your eyes widened a bit. Not because you didn’t know that he wouldn’t know how to make you feel good, but because he seemed to genuinely care about it.

“I can show you”, you caressed his shoulders briefly before you cupped his cheeks. “Then you can show me how to make you feel good, hm?”

Changbin nodded, rather enthusiastically, and it made you smile.

“There are… many places you can touch to make me feel good”, you dragged your hands down his arms, until you reached his hands and pulled them away from your back. “For example, here…”

You brought his hands to your chest, and he reflexively squeezed the flesh. “That feels nice, but… touch here”.

Taking a hold of one of his fingers, you guided it to your nipple. The rough pad of his fingertip dragging over the sensitive skin immediately had a shiver running up and down your spine.

He seemed to catch on very quickly, because the moment you let go of his hands, he immediately started to stimulate your chest. Between his motions and the cool water around you, your nipples stiffened further, and the first whimper came out of your mouth.

Changbin looked at you for a moment, like he was unsure if he had done something wrong, so you immediately reassured him.

“That’s good… Feels good”.

“Feels good?” He asked, adding a bit more pressure.

You nodded in confirmation, and then took a hold of his wrists. “Pinch them harder between your fingers”.

“Don’t wanna hurt you, though”, he sounded genuinely worried about it, which would’ve made you heart melt in other circumstances, but in these circumstances, you needed him to give you all he had–or, at least, all you could stand.

“Do it gradually, I’ll let you know ‘til when. Trust me?”

Changbin nodded, and immediately obliged. As soon as he reached the pressure that was just perfect, you let him know–in quite possibly the most desperate tone you’d ever mustered.

Your lips were on his thereafter. He tugged and pulled and stimulated your nipples in ways that had you moaning into his mouth, that seemed to be coaxing inhuman noises from deep within him.

Your centre was throbbing, desperate for some attention, so you pulled away from the kiss. You were met with Changbin’s blown pupils and flushed cheeks, a sight so incredibly delectable you started to seriously entertain the impossible. Would he fit…?

“Here, too”, you took a hold of one of his hands and brought it between your thighs, giving him enough space to manoeuvre. “You feel that bump?”

When the pad of his finger made contact with your clit you almost jolted in place, but you tried to stay focused as best as you could.

“Rub in circles. Gently”.

He complied, following the same motions as before, increasing the speed and pressure until you told him exactly how you liked it to be.

It all became a blur of moans and pants and bellows… All you could feel was the pleasure coursing through your body and Changbin’s warmth all around you. His teeth, his tongue, his lips, his fingers… He was working you up diligently, bringing you closer to the edge.

“So good…” You whimpered against his lips, just before your tongues were intertwined again.

Changbin nodded, almost mindlessly.

When you’d finally reached your climax, you did so with his name on your tongue. Repeating it over and over again like it was the only word you knew in this world.

You’d found pleasure on your own many, many times, but it’d never felt like this. You weren’t sure if it was the weight of your feelings for him, or if it’d been the thrill of having this experience with Changbin for the first time, but the way that orgasm seemed to be consuming every single one of your senses was absolutely mind-blowing.

He didn’t stop working you up until you asked him to. As soon as he did, you wrapped your arms around his neck and leaned your weight on him for support. Changbin held you tightly, lovingly caressing your back and pressing kisses on your shoulder as you caught your breath.

“Prettiest sounds I’ve ever heard…” He mumbled against your skin, and it made you laugh.

You felt light, like tonnes had just been lifted off of your shoulders. When you pulled away, you cupped his cheeks, and started peppering kisses all over his face, which made him giggle. So adorably you felt your heart swell in your chest.

“Now…” With one final kiss on his lips, you placed your hands on his chest, squishing the soft muscle. “You show me”.

A smirk made its way onto his lips, and after taking one of your hands, he moved it away from his chest to let it sink further underwater, until it met the warm, smooth skin of his length. He left your other hand on his chest, but instead of just letting it rest there, he guided your fingers to one of his nipples so you could gently rub your fingertip against it and play with the jewellery.

“I’ll show you”, he emphasised his words by using his hand to coax your hold around his cock to tighten. Your fingers didn’t even meet as you held him, and the thought, along with the feel, made you feel dizzy with arousal. “Will show you anything. Everything…”

‘You think this could… fit you?’ Changbin had shyly asked you a couple of weeks ago, when he offered you one of the silver hoops he usually wore on one of his horns. Where he got the idea to do that was beyond you, but it honestly didn’t matter, it made you giddy all the same.

It did fit–as an armlet, at least. It was purely material and maybe even a bit vain, but having this item on you at all times simply made you feel tingly. It made your heart swell in your chest and it had butterflies fluttering in your belly.

It felt significant, in a way. Kind of like… like your own version of a wedding band.

In the past, you had never been excited about being a bride, or about being someone’s wife. But you realised things could change.

Changbin had certainly changed you. You would’ve never imagined that your death sentence would be the thing to actually help you feel alive, and yet, that was exactly what had happened to you.

Did you sometimes have bouts of fury and rage because of how unfair everything that you’d gone through had been?

Yes.

Did you want all those officials to die a very painful death for judging you the way they did?

Also yes.

But at least, here, you found your place. You found love.

Because you loved Changbin. Horns and tail and hooves and all. Even with his annoyingly big cock that you knew you’d never be able to fit inside you without tearing you in half, even then, you loved him. Truly.

It took only a visit from that young man he had encountered months ago for you to fully realise it.

He’d appeared out of nowhere, on a random day. Changbin had put himself between you and the young man, but the boy wasn’t a real threat, he’d come just to ask for help to find something else within the Labyrinth.

It was over supper that he’d talked to you, right there in front of Changbin.

‘Don’t you want to go back to the surface? I know a way out…’

You could still remember how Changbin’s tail started to thrash anxiously behind him, but he didn’t say anything. He’d just fixed his eyes on the floor, slowly chewing his food. He didn’t interrupt or even attempt to divert the conversation. Back then, at least to you, it felt like he was getting ready to accept whichever decision you took.

‘Why would I go back? This is my home. There’s nothing up there for me’.

And when you’d said it, you truly meant it.

This was your home… but it wasn’t the Labyrinth.

It was all Changbin.

You’d wandered the Labyrinth together for a few days after that, helping that young man look for the mysterious artefact he needed. It’d been an adventure for sure…

When you were back in your cosy den after that little adventure, Changbin had given you the thick hoop, your armlet. You’d gotten so used to wearing it, you sometimes forgot you had it on.

At least, until you caught a glimpse of it in your peripheral vision, like you did just now. Somehow, the reminder of its existence further fed the fire that was burning bright in the pit of your stomach.

The feel of Changbin’s hands on your hips, gripping you tightly–as tight as he knew your body could handle–made you moan. The feel of him, hard and warm against your folds had your mind all fogged up and hazy, especially when he was under you like this, guiding the movement of your hips to increase the pressure of your centre grinding against his bare length, trapping it between your core and his abdomen.

“Mmm… fuck…” He whined under his breath, staring at the place your bodies connected, at the way your slick cunt dragged against his cock.

You nodded in agreement, rather eagerly, because you couldn’t bring yourself to say anything. Not when the way you were essentially humping him felt this incredibly good.

With your hands on his chest, both for support and so you could play with his nipples in just the way he loved so much, you chased that sweet, sweet relief that’d been steadily growing closer to you since you sat on him however long ago. The pressure on your clit was just absolutely perfect like this, especially when he was pushing you down and assisting your own movement.

“Changbin, darling, I’m… fuck, want to…” You could barely speak, but you knew he understood you perfectly, because he had you moving faster, he pushed you down harder, making your eyes roll to the back of your head.

Before you knew it, you were trembling with your release. The only thing keeping you from collapsing was Changbin’s tight hold, but you still tried your best to keep moving, to keep providing him with as much pleasure as you could.

With a broken plea of your name, the first of many shots of thick cum spouted from the tip of his cock. The results of his orgasm’s were, of course, proportional to his size. He always seemed to produce bucket-loads of cum whenever he came, drenching his whole torso, and you in the process.

Changbin looked so, so pretty like this. Flushed, whining, bellowing, desperately rutting into you to make the most out of his release. You didn’t care that you were close to the point of oversensitivity, you just wanted to continue seeing him like this for as long as it lasted.

When the final spurt of cum landed on his abdomen, the tight grip he had on your hips loosened. The lack of his support made it so that you simply collapsed on top of him, gasping for air.

Oh, how fulfilling it was to hear his increased heartbeat against your ear, to feel his warm cum sticking to you…

You both laid there for a moment, just enjoying the feel of one another and catching your breaths.

Changbin had to act a bit quickly after coming, though. Otherwise his cock would retreat into its sheath covered in his drying cum, which could not only become a gross mess, but also cause him real, painful problems the next time he got hard.

So as soon as he regained his strength, he was moving, carrying you in his arms and getting you both inside the nearest pond to get cleaned up.

You always helped him, of course. Just like he helped you.

Getting to bathe each other felt intimate, like a bonding experience, so you enjoyed it.

You barely spoke to each other during these moments. You just took the time to further enjoy the other’s body in a more profound way.

It wasn’t until you were out of that pond, dry, in a fresh set of clothes, and huddled together in your cosy nest that he was finally speaking again.

“I really like it when we do it like that…” He mumbled against your hair, softly dragging his fingertips on your back.

You chuckled softly, pressing a soft peck on his collarbone. “Is it better than when you fuck my thighs?”

Changbin inhaled sharply, placing his free hand on your bum. “It’s different. It’s easier to come together this way”.

You hummed, smiling in amusement at the comment.

There was silence for a while, but you knew he was awake. If he hadn’t been, the soft caresses on your back would’ve stopped already.

The armlet shone in your peripheral vision, and you were reminded once again that this was your home. That you belonged here.

“Changbin?”

He hummed to let you know he was listening, not stopping the movement of his hands.

“Why didn’t you kill me when you found me wandering the Labyrinth?”

Changbin was quiet for a while, until he nuzzled your hair before he placed a kiss on the top of your head.

“I recognised your voice”, he replied simply. “You fed my friends. You didn’t have to, but you did it anyway. They always appreciated it, and I couldn’t help but appreciate it, too”.

You pulled yourself away from his hold a bit, enough to look him in the eyes. “Can you imagine if I’d never spoken in the forest? Or if I never fed the birds? You would’ve eaten me”.

He frowned. “Don’t wanna think about that. Besides, you did do it. Why think about the past like that?”

You smiled at him, just before you pressed a quick peck on his lips.

As you buried your face further in the crook of his neck, and started to feel the pull of sleep on your body, you figured Changbin was right.

There was no point in thinking about the past. No point in dwelling on the what-ifs. The only thing that mattered was the present, and the future you hoped to have with him here, in your home.

Author’s Note x2: i came into this expecting this story to be nothing but filth and a horny mess, not... whatever this ended up being. it definitely didn’t go the way i thought it was going to go when i had originally read that ask, but, y’know… the little lizard in my brain just does whatever it wants. i’m happy with it, and, if you made it this far, i hope you enjoyed it, too. especial thanks to @notastraykid and @channieskies for reading this before anyone else and for giving me their valuable opinions and suggestions.

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General Masterlist

#neverendingdreams #stray kids mythical au #stray kids fantasy au #changbin fluff #changbin smut #changbin angst #stray kids fluff #stray kids angst #stray kids smut #stray kids fanfiction #changbin fanfiction #changbin fic #changbin x reader #skz fanfic #skz fanfiction #stray kids fanfic #minotaur changbin #✨🌙✏

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1ckyros1e · 11 days ago

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farmer!dad who’s let me help out on the farm for as long as i can remember! I love it so much I decide to stay there when i graduate rather than heading off to college like all my friends!

farmer!dad who refuses to get a stable boy who isn’t one of his sons, just so he can turn a blind eye when he hears the barn door rattling after he watched my big bro follow me in there

farmer!dad who assures the neighbours that the squealing and screaming they can hear is just his latest breeder getting settled in

farmer!dad who watches my flannel shirts get tighter and knows exactly what’s going on, but he gives me more and more taxing work to do - that’ll teach me for being such a slut

housewife!mum who works hard to keep me oblivious about my pregnancy, telling me it’s perfectly normal and even feeding me some of her milk so I fully understand that women are supposed to have swollen leaky tits

stableboy!bro who slips some of the fertility supplements we give to breeding animals on the farm into my teas, just for fun of course~

farmer!dad who finally has enough of my whoreish behaviours and makes me sleep in the barn, but of course he’s gonna stay there all night and watch as the bulls have their way with me <3

oh to be a simple farmgirl hehe

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blerb-f1 · 4 months ago

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"Documents" - Max Verstappen x NB!Reader

Max finds himself working on Documents for someone.

For more FanFiction, find my Masterlist here

A loud Yawn escaped from Max Verstappens Throat as he pushed open the doors to the Red Bull Hospitality. He was supposed to meet his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, Short GP to talk about some Ideas the Team had regarding the Car’s Performance.

Apparently his frequent complaints had finally gotten on everyones nerves, motivating them to finally get working. Simply Lovely.

As his Eyes passed over the long dining room, he spotted GP carrying mugs. Three specifically. ‘Why Three?’, Max wondered but not too long, as the question answered itself immediately afterwards.

The Table GP was carrying the mugs too, also seated a third person. Their head was hung low over the table, cheeks touching a stack of big folders. He approached the Table with another yawn escaping his throat.

“Good Morning Max”, GP called out cheerfully. Way too cheerfully for such an early morning. (It was 11AM). He placed the Mug on a little paper towel to prevent marks forming on the table while trying to navigate around the third person. Max just gave them a confused look before blowing at the coffee to cool down.

As if reading his mind, GP spoke:” Ah, I totally forgot to inform you, Max. That’s Y/N, our Intern. They’ll be here for a few races.” He wanted to continue speaking but a short check of his watch alarmed him. “Sorry Max, I got a meeting! Please entertain Y/N for a bit!”. If this were an Anime, a big gust of wind would be left behind, with the speed he fled in.

Y/N flipped their head to the other side, bloodshot eyes staring in his. A quiet voice escaped:” Hi Max. As GP said, I’m Y/N.”

He gave their mug a push, shoving it close to their nose. “What got you so tired, Y/N?”

“Coffee!”, they exclaimed like a Zombie, quickly drowning some of the steaming, way too hot, liquid. After trying to cool off their burned tongue for a moment, they continued speaking.

“My internship stuff, the usual. I didn’t do my reports of the last few weeks so I spent the night doing them, Ugh…”

The driver just looked them up and down while mustering the stacked folders. “Aren’t interns younger, normally?”

Y/N sighed. “Nope, this is not a school internship. I go to university, getting my Bacherlor’s in Sport Science and Management. Just didn’t expect to get this spot so I kept lazing around. Suddenly, Boom. E-Mail from Red Bull telling me I got accepted.”

His Team was doing Internships? That was pretty new to Max. He didn’t remember ever being told about that or seeing young, overly excited people scurry behind Team members. But apparently this one was fully endorsed since GP accompanied them. Was accompanying them. Weird.

“And now? URGH”, their groan was louder than before. “Why do all these tasks need me to write endless reports. Can’t even concentrate on my shiny Internship now…”

“If you had done your work earlier, you would have been able to concentrate on it…”

“Shush, as if anyone does their work early.”

“True.” Mental images of still to be paid pills, car maintenance and appointments fluttered through his mind. “No big difference here.”

“See?”, they asked, fully sitting up now. “Who even does that?”

Max chuckled. “Definitly not GP. He’s always late with everything. Like telling someone about the new Intern.”

Y/N led out a Gasp. “That’s why nobody expected me!”

They scurried to fling open their folder of work. “What got you so tired though? I don’t expect it to be paperwork.”

A sense of guilt overcame his mind.

Max loved Racing. A lot. The strategy, the mind games, the Developmental parts. But the marketing and whatnot? He’d be glad if they weren’t a thing but was aware they were a major part. He knew how to behave unlike some other driver when faced with Media Responsibilities. At least most of the time. He knew, Angry Max wasn’t nice-to-be-around Max.

That’s what got him into SimRacing. Spending all night in front of the screen, in a Call with his Mates. And just this evening, a large competition had held him up. Maybe 3 hours of sleep were trying their best to keep him standing.

Y/N waited for him to answer, yet no response came. They laughed. “Don’t say it was Gaming. Really?”

Max stayed silent.

“Media keeps saying that the simulators got your ass hooked, line and sinker. Didn’t expect that to this degree. Well, you do you.” They fumbled around their pencil case. “Because i gotta finish, really now.”

As they procured a little IKEA Pencil, Max just lost it. The sleep deprivation had lowered his limits and the visual of this teeny tiny pen had gotten him belly laughing and table with fist smacking. His tablemate just pouted at that, trying their hardest to work through the loud laughs. As he finally came to stop, little tears were streaming down his face.

Wiping them away, an Offer came: “I could help you”

That’s how GP, tired of a large meeting with major Red Bull Staff, returned to the dining room to find his new intern and his driver seated at a round table holding little Ikea pencils. Mugs upon mugs were stacked in towers next to them, akin to the neatly stacked towers of paper and folders that they had their faces planted on. Both were sleeping deeply, lips curled into smiles. He wondered, how exactly should he report that to the Intern’s supervisor? Maybe just not at all. That sounded more tiring than lying through gritted teeth.

Instead, he tried to clean up around them and pretend nothing of the sort had happened. GP was well aware that Helmut Marko would not be approving of his talent working with those lower than him, so no need to unnecessarily awake a sleeping dragon. If he could call a guy that age a dragon at all…

While trying to carry away the stack of mugs, however, the porcelain let out a loud, high pitched noise as it collided with another. GP reacted with gentil shock, causing everything to come tumbling down.

Loud shattering noises sounded out, awakening the driver and the Intern from their slumber. Max slowly laid his eyes open, blinking once, blinking twice. He would not be hurried, who even would dare to do so, knowing his temper? Taking the time of his life, he yawned loudly. Both arms stretched high, his legs low, just akin to a cat as he finally awoke, blinking at GP. The intern meanwhile, did not awake that softly. With the loud noise, they immediately jumped into the air like a scared crow. This speedy move caused the sorted papers to fly in the air, fluttering around in a manner that was sure to mix up everything as much as physically possible. As last ditch effort to even topple this, they managed to bang their knee against the table, yelping out in pain. They slowly fell to the ground, holding their brused knee in an ocean of broken mugs, mixed papers and coffee stains.

Max didn't say anything, there clearly was no need to do so. Instead, he also got on the ground, slowly helping to collect the flung about pages to sort into neat little stacks while the intern was wiggling about like a worm. Their wide sleeved shirt looked like fluffy antenna's as they managed to now smash their head against the table, holding it in pain. Max pushed the table aside, grabbing the Intern by their arm and helping them up. Gently, he placed them on their previously occupied chair, crossing his arms.

Gianpiero Lambiase stood aside, his chin just dipping lower and lower. What had he done?

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

That evening, Max Verstappen found himself seated in his hotel room, staring at the computer he'd brought with him. The monitor was flickering in it's usual blue light, slightly off colours that had him feel more at home. Yet, he didn't feel the urge to start up a game. To play another round of Asetto Corsa with his mates or to join a competition in iRacing. This confused him. His normal routine was broken, occupied by thoughts of that Intern. Their voice as they screamed out in pain, their scrunched up face while wiggling about. He sadly didn't have the time to look after them as GP, obviously too late once again, informed him that the FIA wanted to brief the driver's on something. As one would expect, the meeting was not very fruitful. It was a stark reminder by the FIA to not engage with sponsors or media accounts talking about things the FIA didn't like. The usual, therefore. Max decided to catch up on sleep during it, which is why he was so awake now. He dreamt off warnings about politics, ongoings military conflicts and people bumping their head against tables.

…

People bumping their head against tables?

‘Maybe Y/N is awake still?’, he asked himself. He was pretty sure the Intern still had a lot of work to do, if not just sorting through the files they had filled out after the stacks fell from the table. Propably also had to read them over, to check if everything was fine. Maybe also to make sure they knew what was written, if asked about it. At least, that's what Max was told Internships were like, not that he'd have Experience with them. His future was been designated before his birth, nothing to choose on his own. Well, maybe the colour of his first racing helmet?

He reclined on the armchair, drinking some of the overpriced Hotel water.

Did Y/N have to worry about the Water's Price? Most likely, he'd heard GP complain about it. They were sure to earn much less than him. But they could pick their own lane, he realised. He absolutely loved racing to his bones but sometimes he wondered. Would Life have different directions for him? He wasn't sure if that was something he should be thinking off, at all. Racing was his life now, nothing would change that. Afterall, not everyone even had the luck to get into racing since the sport is so expensive.

He sighed again, looking through the contacts on his phone. While he was sure not to have Y/Ns Number, GP definitely must have it.

Max dialed.

GP answered, sounding very tired. He could picture the tired, red eyes staring at the phone.

“Max, it's 2AM, what do you need?”

“Y/Ns phone number, please.”

GP sighed before rattling it off. As he read out the last digit, Max could hear his blanket rustle. He was already tucked in, not even saying goodbye as the call ended.

‘Man’s pretty tired’ Max thought to himself as he typed Y/N’s number into his phone.

It rang. Once. Twice. It didn't get to the third time as a wary voice rang through the speaker.

“Who's there?”, they sounded a little drowsy and careful.

“Hi, it's me, Max Verstappen. Sorry to call you this late… Or early?”

A fragmented chuckle rang through.

“Good Evening Max, I'm still working.”

As he thought.

“The document's?”

“Pretty much. I was about to head to the Convenience Store to get some food, you want to join me?”

“Sure.” He felt a bit Hungry. What even was the last time he ate?

Shortly after, he found himself standing in front of a Convenienve Store, fiddling with his room keys. He forgot his phone in the hotel room, so that left him with no clue of when Y/N was sure to approach.

Their arrival announced itself, however. Y/N walked in the distance, the hood of their sweater pulled onto their head. They spoke, sounding very agitated.

Max stared at the person next to them, quite startled as he heard them scream something. The person, a man about his height, stretched their arm out as if to touch Y/N and grab their bag but did not succeed. Before he could even touch them, Y/N had somehow grabbed him and flung over his shoulder. He landed face first on the ground, Y/N pressing their knee into his back.

“Don't you dare try something like that again!”, they called out. Their line of sight swept over to Max, spotting him. “Could you call the police?”

He was startled again. “Sorry forgot my phone.”

Quickly fishing around in their pocket, Y/N produced their phone and flung it to Max, Hands holding the man’s shoulder down.

It didn't take long for the police to arrive, Siren's blaring. Max pulled the cap he quickly bought it the convenience store deeper, trying to hide his appearance from curious onlookers. Meanwhile Y/N had handed the guy over to the police. The police man was surprised as he arrived, not even questioning how they could do this. “He tried to grab my Butt on the Bus!”, they exclaimed. “Then attempted to pull off my hood. I told him, the camera's on the bus were recording and that I'd Inform the police. He followed me from there”

The Policeman nodded again, taking their identity information before looking at Max shortly, clearly recognising him. “I presume we should keep this silent?”

Max nodded, watching the car drive off with one less creep running free.

Y/N stood next to him, dusting their clothes off. Max offered them a tissue to clean their hands which they gladly took.

“That was impressive.”, he stated. “I've never seen a guy go flying like that.”

Y/N grinned. “Thanks, I do a lot of combat sports. Never thought I'd be able to use them in public though…”

“Good you trained then”. Max chuckled. “Remind me to not anger you again. I don't want to get punched.”

Y/N shook their head. “I don't unnecessarily touch people. You don't have to be scared. Not stopping you if you want to be, though!”

They silently entered the convenience store, browsing. Max had picked some instant noodles which he prepared with the provided hot water, Y/N had gotten some sandwiches and snacks. Something green? Papery looking.

“That's Seaweed”, Y/N mouthed before hungrily biting down.

He not-do-silently slurped the instant noodles, warmth hitting his stomach. He felt content, like a cat. He wanted to stretch himself and lay on the soft carpet that you'd find before a fireplace. The perfect life.

As Y/N finished stuffing themselves with food, they also stretched out. With their foot hitting the table, they let out a losu yelp.

Max looked downy seeing them hold their foot.

“I sprained my foot yesterday in my room.” They exclaimed, face contorned as they remembered the stinging pain.

“You keep getting hurt or hurting yourself.”, he realised.

They let out a sad sounding laugh. “Kinda, yeah..”

“You should stop that. Have you tried not hurting yourself?”

Now they were pouting. “Thanks, Doctor. That's real helpful advice here. Anything else?”

Max pondered that. “Maybe drink some water if you're feeling thirsty?”

Y/N reclined on their chair. “WOW, Live-changing. Thank you so much!”

As they got up to chuck the food wrappers in the trash, Max blurted out his thoughts: “I brought my computer with me. Interested to play a round of Asetto Corso?”

“Is that how you invite people to your Room? You should work on your pick-up lines then.”

He scowled. “No I-”

‘He’s quite awkward’, Y/N thought.

“I get what you're trying to say. Gotta finish my work though, Sorry Max. I'll see you tomorrow?”

Max was quite breathless now. “..Yeah. Till Tomorrow!”

As Y/N left, they turned around a last time. “Nice hat you got there! Suits you, Mate!”

He quickly fumbled the hat off, staring at what the hell he'd bought. It said “I'm a saucy boy!”

What the hell did that even mean?

#f1 x reader #max verstappen #max verstappen x reader #max verstappen x you #nonbinary!reader #blerb writes

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fatkish · 6 months ago

Text

Monster Gyomei x Depressed Reader

Part 1 of 2

(I got the idea for this from raysrays Fatal Attraction series. They got the idea from @PammyJammy117)

It was a beautiful spring day. The birds were chirping, butterflies and bees were fluttering about, small animals were starting to come out of their burrows. The flowers were blooming in all kinds of pretty colors, too bad, it’d be the last time you’d see such a pretty season.

You see, you had been deeply depressed lately due to business being slow among other things and had come out into the forest to end things. You left your village that morning and walked out deep into the mountain’s forest. Deep and far from the village. You carried a rope with you, you were going to tie it to a branch and hang yourself.

You knew that people had said that there were stories of a beast that lived in these woods. You knew people feared coming into these woods. They feared meeting or possibly encoring the wrath of such a being. You had heard old tales of the being that lived in these woods all your life.

You had heard stories of the being’s great strength but also tales of his supposed good nature. Long ago, your village prayed to and left offerings at a shrine they built deep in the mountain. They prayed to the supernatural being, the supposed ‘god’ of the mountain. There were stories of his great kindness and how he protected the village. He was supposedly fond of children as there were stories of him taking in orphans and caring for them.

You decided that if this being truly existed, and deemed your life of any worth, then they would stop you, and you would choose to live on if they saved you.

You had found a tall tree and decided to climb up the branches, unaware of the being that had already sensed your approach and was silently listening to you. You climbed up the tree and sat on a thick branch, to which you tied the rope tightly around the branch and then fastened a slip knot.

You picked up the rope and put it around your neck, you took a deep breath, and jumped from the branch. You struggled for a bit as your airways were constricted. As you slowly lost your vision, you must have imagined seeing the large man like being that seemingly appeared in front of you. You closed your eyes as you lost consciousness.

When you awoke, you were nestled in warmth. You heard slight sobs. You figured it was your imagination and that you were in heaven. You snuggled closer to whatever this warmth was. You felt a large hand caress your head and a soft yet deep voice tell you you were going to be okay.

You opened your eyes to see a large man like entity. He had white pupil-less eyes, a large scar going across his forehead, large deer like horns coming from his head, short dark hair and pointy ears. He must’ve been well over 8 feet tall, possibly 9 feet tall.

He was carrying you bridal style in a single large arm. He wore what seemed to be a toga like clothing made of a natural fiber woven cloth. He had a long tail that resembled a bull’s.

After looking up at him he looked down at you. He had tears in his eyes. You couldn’t help but feel compelled to wipe away the tears he shed for some reason. He brought you to a shrine like structure. He brought you over to a nest of animal skins and set you down in them.

“You’re the one who saved me?” You asked.

The large being smiled gently at you and pet your head. “Why yes little one, I did”

“Why” you couldn’t help but ask the man, beast, whatever he was.

“Because I believe all life is precious, and it would sadden me greatly to have left you there” he replied as he held his hands together as if he was praying. You noticed he had some ceramic beads that he constantly rubbed between his palms.

“You think my life is precious?” You asked as you curled up and wrapped your arms around yourself. He smiled gently at you and proceeded to rub your head. “Yes, yes I do.”

“Thank you. Thank you for saving me Mr?”

“Gyomei, and you are most welcome little one”

“My name is Y/n L/n, it’s nice to meet you Gyomei”

“May I ask why you felt it necessary to end your life little Y/n?” Gyomei asked as he sat down in front of you.

You crawled over and sat next to him and began to tell him about how you’ve been feeling, how your craftsman business had been practically nonexistent and how you’ve started to become hopeless that things would ever change. During the entire time you talked, Gyomei listen intently.

You talked about things that you had never told anyone, in fear you would be seen as ungrateful or a wimp. You feared the other villagers would judge you for how you’ve been feeling, but Gyomei merely sat there and wept for you.

You felt so much better after telling Gyomei how you felt. You thanked him profusely to which he just smiled and pet your head.

You realized how late it must be and told Gyomei that you should probably return to the village. Seeing as it was late and you’d surely arrive at the village by nightfall, Gyomei smiled and got up, walking with you to the edge of the forest. He helped you down the mountain, down an old path that led straight to your village.

Before you left to enter the village, you turned and ran back to Gyomei.

“Can I please come and see you again. I don’t really want to say goodbye yet” you confessed.

Gyomei smiled down at you and rubbed your head with his large hand, ruffling your hair a bit. “Nothing would make me happier Y/n”

You smiled and returned to the village, you looked back towards the forest and saw that Gyomei had seemingly disappeared. That night you got home and slept in your bed, remembering the warmth that you felt when you were in Gyomei’s arms. That night you had the most restful and peaceful nights sleep you’ve had in awhile.

The next day you prepared some tea leaves in a small ceramic container and packed it into a bag along with a teapot and cups. You also made some onigiri and packed that as well before you set out and climbed the mountain trail leading to the shrine.

When you got there you saw Gyomei and greeted him. You took off your bag and brought out the tea container and other things.

Gyomei walked over to you and asked. “What’s all this?”

“My offerings to you.. or well… I just wanted to repay you for your kindness towards me.” You sheepishly replied as you twiddled your hands. You heard a sob and looked up to see Gyomei crying.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to upset you” you panicked and got up to wipe away Gyomei’s tears.

“Nonsense little one, you did not upset me, quite the contrary in fact. I’m actually happy but you need not repay me” the gentle giant replied as you tried to wipe away his tears.

“So, you’re not sad?” You questioned.

“No I’m not sad” Gyomei replied.

“Oh okay, we’ll would you like to have tea and Onigiri with me?”

“I’d be delighted to”

Gyomei sat down next to you as you got a small fire going in the wood stove inside the shrine. You got the water hot and got the Onigiri out before serving it with the tea. You and Gyomei sat in comfortable silence together as you both enjoyed your meal.

As time went on, you continued to bring him food and would constantly hang out with him. You’d started a garden near his shrine since you saw how fertile the dirt was. You would visit and tend to the garden whilst Gyomei did his things.

Eventually early spring turned to late spring and late spring to early summer. You would visit when you could and helped fix up the shrine. You’d bring new clothes for Gyomei that you had made for him, to which he cried in appreciation.

Your craftsman business seemed to have picked up. Being one of the few craftsmen in the small village, people would bring things to you for you to fix such as ceramics or metal objects and you would fix them. Some of the older people would ask for you to fix up some things around their houses such as doors, roofs etc.

You had made some ceramic pots that you brought and gave to Gyomei for him to store food in for the winter. You continued to care for the garden you started near his shrine and Gyomei would help you occasionally.

Life had been good with Gyomei and you started to develop feelings for the man/creature/whatever he was.

As the garden grew, you helped Gyomei prep and made sure that he would have plenty of food during the winter to which he constantly told you was unnecessary. You would just smile at him as he cried at your kindness.

You eventually brought him a handkerchief for him to wipe his eyes with since he cries so often. As the days got hotter, Gyomei showed you a small waterfall where he meditates and you would occasionally join him underneath the waterfall. He would teach you things like how to forage and hunt to which you greatly appreciated.

What you didn’t know, was that your life would change immensely that coming fall.

#demon slayer gyomei #gyomei x reader #gyomei himejima #kny gyomei #kimetsu no yaiba #kny x reader #demon slayer x reader

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thelittleangel · 11 months ago

Text

Cowboys are frequently (secretly) fond of each other.

Tags: Dean Winchester x Cowboy! Reader, fluff, flirting, male reader, soft romance.

Warnings: possibly OOC, no use of Y/N, implied violence toward an animal, references to “taking someone home” (I’ll let you interpret that how you want.), romantic-ish interactions between dean and reader toward the end.

Taglist: @agroovygoose @pumpkinhead666

Walking into the bar, I see heads raise. I try not to pay them any mind. I know what kind of impression I give off. I’m tall, shaggy hair that barely kisses my shoulders, dressed like I just wandered off the set of a Clint Eastwood movie.

I know what kind of expectations I'm supposed to fulfill. People look at me and they see a cowboy. A man’s man. A straight man.

I shake my head, trying to rid myself of that entire train of thought. My dad taught me that if this was the way I was going to live my life, I needed to stop worrying about what others thought of me. I walk over to the bar and order a beer. The bartender hands me a frosty bottle. I put my ring under the cap, tilt the bottle and push. The cap pops off and I take a swig. I put my beer on the bar, wrapping my hands around it like it’s a mug of hot coffee. I look around the bar, watching the people.

It’s a habit I picked up. Me and my dad would go to a bar, and he’d order me a Coke and point out all the small details that a quick glance couldn’t catch.

The woman at the bar had just been divorced, the tan line on her ring finger. The couple in the booth are cheating on each other, seen by the way they sit. The man at his table is waiting for his friend, he’s fallen madly in love with him.

I smile for a moment. It’s been a few years, but I'm out. My dad didn’t like that I wanted to leave, but he’d understood. I got an honest job working at a ranch. The hours were long, and the work was hard, but I felt like it was a job I could be proud of.

The doorbell rang and a gust of summer air blew into the bar. I look over at the door. In walks the most stunning man I've ever seen.

He was dressed in a suit, with brown hair that almost looked like gold in this light. Eyes that may have been green, but I couldn't tell from this far away. Freckles and stubble decorated his face in a way that complemented each other.

I clear my throat and look away. A man in a bar like this dressed like that was here for a girl. But, no. His posture suggested he was here on business.

I turn back to my beer. I didn't need to find a man to glance at for the rest of the night. I look down at my drink, trying to clear my head. I sit like that for a moment, savoring my beer. Someone settles into the seat beside me. I look over, and he’s smiling back at me.

My face burns hot, and I hope that the lights are dim enough that he can’t see me. I turn back to my beer. I hear him order a drink, his voice strong and deep. He turns back to me, beer in hand.

“You’re ____, right?” Dear god, how does he know my name?

“Special Agent Hammett, FBI.” oh. That explains it.

“Yeah, I am. Why do you ask?”

“We’re investigating the cattle deaths that are happening at your ranch and we wanted to know if you’ve seen anything strange.”

“Strange?”

“Cold spots, weird smells, crop failures…”

“No, just the cows.”

“And what would you say happened?”

“I just… went into work one day and there was a bull ripped to shreds.”

He nods. “Could I see it?”

The next day, I was showing Agent Hammet onto the ranch. The way the sun hit his eyes was one of the most beautiful things I've seen. Like seeing the way the light hits the trees for the first time. I look away. I need to focus on why we’re here.

I led him toward the barn. Inside a cooler, the bull’s body was resting. The agent pulled on some gloves and started looking through the body. I look away from the corpse and try to suppress the urge to vomit.

Eventually, he pulls out a small tooth. Small and pointed, it was very scary looking. “It looks like a fang…” He turns to me. “Is there anything that lives around here that might leave something like this?”

I shake my head. “No, not that I know of.” He puts the tooth into a tiny bag and pockets it.

He looks up at me, and he must see the sick look on my face, because he stands up and says, “Let me buy you a drink.” We both climbed into his car, a nice-looking thing.

“I can’t believe the FBI lets you drive this car around.” He just smiles, still looking at the road. “They do.”

I shake my head, a goofy grin stretched onto my face. “I don’t know, seems a little conspicuous.”

“You’d be surprised.” I looked over at him. His smile is gone, looking at the road lost in the thought. When I look at him, I just want to reach over and-

I look out at the road. I can’t entertain that thought. I refuse to. I glance over and I find him looking at me. He turns his eyes back to the road.

Eventually, we found our way back to the bar. Walking inside, it was deserted. We chose the same seats we picked last time. Ordered the same drinks. We settled in, sitting in silence for the longest time. It's not uncomfortable, just quiet.

He watches me. I can feel his eyes in all of their silent intensity. I want to look back at him, but I know if I do, he’ll break his gaze. “So, what do you make of this, cowboy?” I laugh to myself. “What?”

I finally look back at him. “The last person who called me cowboy, I ended up taking home with me.”

He gives me a soft smile. “Who says I wouldn't want to go home with you?”

I look away, my eyes wide. My face is a bright burning red. He throws his head back and laughs. I put my face in my hands, trying to make my face normal again. He places a hand on my back, and I startle. I groan to myself. Jesus Christ, this man is making me act like a teenage girl.

I look over at him and he’s still watching me. We fall into another silence, this one not uncomfortable like the last. Peaceful, like the answer to everything was in each other’s eyes. He reaches over and tucks a few stray hairs behind my ears. My breathing began to slow, my heartbeat decreasing.

I slowly place my hand on his face. A few of my fingers gently touched his jaw. I watch his eyes dart around my face, maybe doing the same thing I did last night. Searching for micro expressions, any type of indicator that this was too good to be true. I realized something.

I pull my hand away from his face. “Are you...?”

His brow furrowed in confusion. “Am I what?”

“Are you a hunter?”

His eyes widened for a moment. His chest begins to go up and down a little bit more. He was breathing heavily. I’d caught him.

“How do you know what hunters are?”

I look up and watch as my father enters the bar.

“We have a lot to talk about.”

Part 2

#Dean Winchester x male reader #Dean Winchester x reader #supernatural #male reader #cowboy reader #dean winchester

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mama2bears · 5 months ago

Text

The Storms of Life Chapter 2

Warnings: None...just Tyler and team being sweet

Pairings: Tyler/F. Reader

Chapter 1

Boone had choose to ride in the van with Lily, giving you room in the front seat and the kids in the back seat. Dexter and Dani followed behind.

“You guys like fireworks?” Tyler asked, peeking into the rear view mirror.

“Boom Boom!” Little Harley shouted.

“They're loud! And Cool!” Billy grinned.

“Ready for a show?” he flashed you a grin.

“You really are going to shoot fireworks off the back of your truck?” you asked.

“Yep. I normally shoot them off in a tornado.”

“You're crazy!” you laugh.

“I've been called worse.” Tyler shrugged with a smile.

Dani and Lily stopped their vehicles on the side of the road, “Here we GO!” Tyler make a sharp left and went flying though a open field stopping towards the middle of it.

“Alright...who wants to hit the BOOM button?” Tyler asked. “ME ME ME!” Both kids raised their hands and he laughed.

“Okay...here's what we will do.” he said. “You both come on up here in the front seat. One of you can sit with me and one of you with your mama.”

Billy crawled over to Tyler and settled in his lap while Harley wanted her mama. “Okay guys..get ready... You both are going to mash this button at the same time...then we're going to jump out of the truck to see the show...sound good?”

“Yeah!!” the kids giggled.

Billy put his hand over the red button first and little Harley put hers on top of her brothers. “one...two...BOOM!” Tyler called.

The kids mashed the button and Tyler and you jumped from the truck, each with one of the kids and watched the fireworks shooting off the truck. “AWESOME!” Billy danced around. “Pretty!” Harley smiled.

Tyler held Billy's hand as he walked over to you. “So...am I still crazy?” he asked.

“Yes!” You laugh, “I never thought anyone would even TRY to shoot fireworks off of their truck. And you do THIS in middle of a tornado?” you ask.

“Yep.” Tyler nodded.

“Boys...you all never grow up.” you laugh.

Tyler shrugged, “Maybe we just know how to have more fun.”

Once the fireworks were over he helped you secure the kids in the backseat again and opened the door for you.

“Thank you.” you nodded.

He jogged around to the drivers side and headed out the field, back to the road. “You guys are going to love my mom. Her name is Cindy. You guys like animals?” he asked.

“Yes...” both kids grinned.

“We have about a hundred acres. It was my granddad's farm and he passed it down to my dad. I suppose someday I'll be running it. We used to raise bulls for the rodeo, but after my dad passed, we just have our pets. Sometimes we might board horses here and there.”

“You live there now?” you asked.

“Yeah. My dad passed a few years back. It's just my mom and me now, so I help her whenever I am not out chasing.” Tyler turned into a long gravel driveway, “Well...here we are.”

He pulled up next to the front porch. Dani and Lily parked the other vehicles behind his truck.

Cindy was standing on the front porch waiting for you. Tyler got out and jogged over, opening the door for you and helping you out, then he opened the back door and lifted each kid out.

Four dogs meet you at the truck with wagging tails, “The shepherd is Flash because he's so fast. The blue heeler is Chase because he loves chasing everything..cats, chickens, goats...you name it. The yellow lab is Jake and the black lab is Bear. They'll all friendly dogs unless you are an animal that don't belong here. They protect the goats and chickens from the coyotes.” Tyler petted each dog as he introduced them.

“Mom, this is Y/N, Billy, and Harley.” he smiled. “Guys, this is my mom, Cindy.”

“Hello. Nice to meet you.” you smile.

“Hi Ms. Cindy.” Billy smiles at her.

“Hi.” Harley says shyly from behind your back.

“Well hello!” she greets you and the kids. “You know what...I was just fixing to make some cookies...who wants to help me?”

“Me!” Billy raised his hand.

“I like rocket rip wookies.” Harley smiled.

“Chocolate Chips are my FAVORITE!” Cindy smiled.

“Hey, if I help do I get cookies too?” Boone asked.

“YOU can have dinner if you help make it.” she shot Boone a playful look, “And I suppose a cookie too.”

“Hey, I am gonna show Y/N around a little bit.” Tyler said., “We'll be out in the barn if you need us.”

“You two go have fun. I'll bring the kids out to see the animals after the cookies are made.” Cindy shooed you and Tyler away with a wave of her hand.

“If you don't mind me asking...what happened to your house?” he asked softly, shuffling his feet on the ground as you two slowly walked to the barn.

“We used to have a little farm.” you tell him with a sigh. “It wasn't much, we had two horses, a dog, a few cats and some chickens. The kids aren't old enough to really remember it. After my husband and parents died I had to sell the farm. We couldn't afford the payments. My parents had a loan out on their house so it had to go to the bank. The life insurance just wasn't enough to save either house.” you fight back the tears. “We took the money we got and brought a house just outside of town...six months ago a tornado blew it away. There was nothing left.” you bite your lip and Tyler gives you a gentle hug, “I am so sorry. You didn't have insurance?” he asked softly.

You shook your head, “not nearly enough. A company called Storm Par came by and offered a cash offer. They said they were trying to help and I didn't know what else to do. I took the cash offer but it wasn't enough to get another house. A single parent working a dead end diner job I couldn't afford mortgage payments...so we got what we could fit into the car and that became our home.” silent tears rolled down your cheek. “Later on down the road, I found out that Storm Par pretty much stole the property. Even with the house gone, the property was worth a lot more then what they paid.” you wiped the tears away, “I love it here in Arkansas, I really do, but I just don't know what's right anymore. I married young, had children young, and now here I am a single mom, a widow, and homeless. What's next?”

Tyler offered you a smile, “You just need a few good friends to help you, that's all. It's takes a village to raise kids.”

“I need a village right about now.” you sigh.

“How about a handful of tornado wranglers?” he raised an eyebrow at you.

You shrug, “I'll take what I can get.”

“Great.” he stopped in front of a gate to the pasture. “How about this. I'll give you a ride into work tomorrow and just call me when your done with your shift. I don't expect to be out chasing storms tomorrow. Between all of us we can get you back and forth to work each day until you are able to get another car.”

“Thank you. That would be such a relief. They told me if I missed one day or was late again they would fire me. I definitely can't afford that.”

“Sounds like you may need a better boss.” he said.

“A better boss and a better job, but there's just nothing around here. I married just out of school and then life gets in the way. I never had the chance to go to college or anything.”

“Tell me...if you could do anything...what would be your dream job?” he asked, leaning against the fence rail.

“Photography.” you say without a second thought. “I used to love taking pictures.”

He nodded, “What did you take pictures of? People? Animals?”

“Everything! People, animals, flowers, storms, houses, even food.” you laugh.

“And you never got into photography, why?”

“Couldn't afford a camera, had to start work full time right out of school so never had time to devote to taking photos or taking classes or anything like that. It's like sometimes I wonder if there's life out there or has it already passed me by.”

You turn, hearing Billy and Harley yelling happily, “Mommy Mommy! We made cookies and had milk and now Ms. Cindy is gonna let us pet the horses!”

Laughing, you wrap your arms around your children hugging them close, “You know how I just said that I wondered if there's life out there?” you say looking up at Tyler. He nods and you smile, “This is it. These two little monsters here are my life...and I wouldn't trade them for the world.”

You and Tyler tag along behind his mom as she shows the kids each animal and even gives them a bottle to feed the goats with.

“So, have you always wanted to be a storm chaser?” you ask.

“No.” he said quickly. “I got started off in the rodeo. I was a bull rider. Then I got my head stomped on by one too many bulls and figured collage would be better for my brain.” he smiled, “I still wanted that thrill, that excitement. So I studied meteorology and met my team and then here we are. I love what I do, but definitely wasn't on my radar when I first started out.”

“Can we ride the horsey?” Harley was asking you with her big round eyes. “I love the horsey.”

“What one is your favorite?” Tyler scooped her up in his arms as you both walked over to where the horses were. “Dat one!” She pointed at a paint with one blue eye and one brown eye. “We call that one Baby.” he said. “She's a real gentle horse.”

“I love this one.” Billy was hugging the muzzle of a large black horse. “That there is Tucker. He's a good boy too.” Tyler said petting the side of the horses neck. He pointed to a tan horse out in the field, “That one there is Denver. He's older and a bit more shy, but very gentle.” he turned and looked at you, “You said you had horses at one time...did you ride?”

“Been a few years.” you answer.

“It's like riding a bike, you never forget.” he chuckled, “What you say we take the kids for a ride?”

“Can we mommy? Can we?” the kids started begging.

“I guess so, if it's okay with Mr. Tyler and Ms. Cindy.”

“You guys go have a good time. I am going to help Boone and the guys get some burgers and hot dogs on the grill.”

“Let's go.” Tyler handed you the reins for each horse and you were showing the kids how to put them on while he got the blankets and saddles.

“Harley, since you like Baby so much, would you like to ride with your mama on Baby?”

She nodded with a big smile. Tyler double checked the saddle and made sure it was tightened good, then held the reins while you placed Harley in the saddle, then pulled yourself up in one quick motion.

He handed you the reins then scooped Billy up in his arms, “It's you and me on Tucker. Is that okay with you buddy?”

Billy nodded leaning over to pet the horses long mane. Tyler placed him gently in the saddle then swung up himself, grabbing up the reins.

He made sure to keep the horses side by side as he lead you though the pasture and to a field of wildflowers. “It's peaceful out here.” he said, “I like to ride out here sometimes just to clear my mind.”

“It's beautiful.” you say.

“Can we pick some flowers for mommy's birthday?” Harley asked.

“When's mommy's birthday?” Tyler asked with a sly grin, looking from you to your daughter and back again.

“I...um...I think tomorrow?”

You laughed lightly, “No sweetie, it's not tomorrow. It's Friday, and I don't need any flowers. How about you draw me a picture?” you ask.

“Are you still gonna spend the day with us like you told our baby sitter?” Billy asked.

“Oh honey, I don't know right now, okay? We'll see how things go, but just as soon as I can I will spend the whole day with you. That's all I want for my birthday.”

“You know what.” Tyler said stopping his horse, “I think we need to pick your mama some wildflowers for her birthday now. Then maybe tomorrow you guys draw a picture?”

“Yeah! Thank you Mr. Tyler.” Harley smiled.

“There's no need for picking the flowers.” You protested, even as Tyler was already off his horse and lifting Billy down. “Sure we do.” he grinned, taking Harley from you and holding the reins while you dismounted.

He stood next to you as you both watched the kids running around picking all the flowers they wanted. “I loved growing up here. It was such freedom. Such peace and quite.” he said quietly. “I thought the whole entire world was at my back door.”

“I've always lived in the country.” you said. “I grew up on a little farm too. I don't like cities. Too big, too noisy. I can't hear my self think.”

“Ain't that the truth.” he grinned.

“Okay, we got flowers.” both kids came running back with a handful each.

“They are beautiful.” you hug each one and give them a quick kiss on the cheek, then turn to Tyler. “Thank you for this. You didn't have to do any of this. You have completely taken their mind off of everything that has happened and put them more at ease, gave them a little bit of normalcy in this chaos. How can I ever repay you?” you ask.

“Oh, I don't know.” he shrugged, lifting Harley up into the saddle and waiting for you to mount the horse before handing the reins back to you. He placed Billy back in the saddle and swung up, turning the horse around and you both start heading back towards the house at a slow walk.

“Maybe consider coming to work for me?” he asked after a moment.

“W..what?” you stumbled.

“You said you wanted to be a photographer, right?”

“Yeah, but I don't have any training...”

“Naw, I don't believe in that training crap. No one on my team has a former education, but they got more experience then any storm chaser out there. I could use a photographer on the team. Just get the shots. Boone and Lily handles the videos, but we can always use stills to sell. Also you have a vast amount of experience. You can post to our YouTube channel with support and advice to help others who are facing what you already faced. You've lost two homes, your husband, and your parents. All from a tornado. You know what a rip off Storm Par. You can bring comfort and support to people that we can't. You can reach out to people across the world on You Tube with your story.”

“I don't have a camera or anything. And I don't know who would even care to hear my story. It's just one of many.” you start.

“If you come to work for my team, then it's my responsibility to provide a camera. You'd be surprised at who would want to hear your story and how many people you can help with it. You have actually experienced this, and maybe you could put a dent in Storm Par's scam game.”

“I can't be on the road so long. I can't leave the kids.”

Tyler nodded, “I know and I wouldn't ask you to. We'll talk to my mom and I am sure she'd be happy to watch the kids when you are gone, but we will stay just within a few hours. Even if the team and I travel further away, I'll make sure you are home every night with the kids. What do you say? Wanna join the team?”

“What's the pay like? I don't think it can get much worse then the diner, but I am going to need a another car and I need to start saving to try and find a place to rent or something. I most defiantly can't take any kind of pay cut or lack of work.”

“Let me talk to my team tonight and see what we can come up with, okay? I'll make you an official job offer by tomorrow.”

“Sounds like a good plan to me. Thank you, for even considering me.” you smile

“No problem.”

The rest of the ride was in silence.

“I am going to get the horses put up.” Tyler said, “Then after dinner would it be okay if I took you to the store and got a few things that you will need for the kids?” he asked.

“I couldn't ask you to do that. We'll be okay.” you protest.

“Hey...it's okay to get a little help. It takes a village, remember? You pretty much lost everything you owned in a tornado. Let me help with a few things. Some clothes, toys, things like that.”

“I'll pay you back, for everything.”

“Don't worry about it.” he smiled, “we'll work something out later.”

“Thank you. You are like a angel sent from heaven or something.” you hold back the tears that threatened to fall. No one has ever reached out to help you like this and you truly were grateful.

Tyler laughed, “Oh I know plenty of people that will disagree with you on that one.”

“Y/N...bring the kids and come on over here!” Cindy was calling to you, “I've got those rooms ready for you.”

“Go ahead, I'll meet you at the house in a few.” Tyler smiled, watching you and the kids walk up to the house. 'What the hell has that tornado blew into my life.' he thought grinning. Things just felt so natural with you and he couldn't explain it. It felt like you belonged here.

“My room is downstairs,” Cindy was showing you and the kids around the house. “There's the kitchen, dining room, and living room. The washer and dryer is right behind that door there.” she pointed and lead you upstairs.

“Tyler's room is on the far end of the hall and there's a bathroom next to his room. There's two other bedrooms on this end with a bathroom.” she was explaining. “When they first got started, the team used to sleep here, so there's two twin beds in each room. I've cleaned them up, put fresh sheets on each bed, and got the bathroom cleaned for you. You and the kids can have your own bathroom down here on this end.”

“I wouldn't want to take the rooms away from the team.” you started.

“Oh no, you wouldn't be. That was a few years ago when they were just getting formed. Everyone has their own place within about an hour or so from here now. They don't stay here over night anymore. They take whatever chance they can to go back home between the storms.”

“Thank you so much.” you smile, giving a hug to Cindy. “How much am I going to owe you for all this?”

“Oh dear, don't worry about that. Maybe you can help me around the house with the animals and cleaning, cooking, and stuff. When you aren't working that is. I'll be happy to keep the kids here with me when you're working. You won't owe me a thing for that. This big old house gets empty when I am here all alone. Frankly, I am going to enjoy the company.”

“I'll be happy to help anywhere I can.” you promise. “Thank you so much again. I don't know what we would have done if Tyler didn't come by at just the right time or if you weren't kind enough to open your home to us.”

“We all need somebody, sweet girl.” Cindy patted your back, “Come on now. Let's eat!”

* * * * *

After dinner, everyone helped clean up and then the rest of the team headed off to their own homes for a few days before the next storm system developed. Cindy had offered to watch the kids and get them ready for bed while Tyler took you to the store and picked up some things that would be needed in the foreseeable future.

“Mr. Tyler, this is too much.” You were saying as he loaded two car seats into the shopping cart, which was already filled with clothes, boots, toys, bath stuff, and various kinds of drinks and snacks.

“You can call me Tyler, you know.” he smiled at you, “We are friends now...I would think.”

“We are.” you agreed, “But this is all too much.”

“It's all things you need. You and the kids need pajamas to sleep in, you need several changes of clothes for the week, you need brushes and bubble bath and things like that. Things guys know nothing about, but I know you need it.” he smiled. “It's not safe nor legal to drive without the kids in a car seat. You've GOT to have a car seat if we take them anywhere. The kids will need snacks and juice boxes and things like that. They are going to need several toys. Not just one, but they need several to choose from.”

“They've done without for a while now. We're used to it. We can get by until I get on my feet again.”

“I know you guys can get by and I know you can get on your feet again.” he said, “Let me help you along the way though. This is just some stuff to get you settled into mom's house for a while. That's all.”

You nod and wrap your arms around him in a hug, “Thank you Tyler. You really are a life savior.”

“No problem. I am happy to help out.” he said, “That's how my mama raised me.”

Tags: @emma8895eb

#twisters fanfic #twisters fanfiction #tyler owens x reader #tyler owens fic #twisters fic #twisters x reader #tyler owens x you

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bigboysfalldeep · 2 years ago

Text

support the troops

I was surprised when Daniel slid into my DMs on Grinder. For a soldier to message me felt surreal. I assumed all of them were fucking around with their girlfriends while stationed at home. He was pretty upfront with me about the whole situation. Daniel said he needed to let out some steam and basically asked me if he could use me as a simple tool—an easy way to vent.

I felt weird at first, but something about him made me agree to meet at my place. It was easier for him, and I couldn't disagree. When Daniel arrived at my place, I was even more surprised. He looked handsome in his pictures, but the real one was even more imposing. Still in his uniform and carrying a bag, he entered my home, looking for my bedroom.

I made sure to clean it and remove my dirty laundry and shoes. But Daniel didn't care. He tossed his bag to the floor and turned around. His eyes immediately wandered all over my body, but he didn't seem satisfied. With a low grunt, he ordered me to undress, and I did. It felt as weird as it was exciting. He even smelled good—musky, but good. His body tested the limits of his clothes. All those workouts paid off.

My dick was already hard, and my hole was ready to welcome his cock, but at first, he looked at me again before shrugging. "Not impressed, but it had to do", was something flashing through my mind. I felt embarrassed, but then he smirked at me. My whole pale body turned red, much to his amusement. Without much hesitation, he undressed as well, exposing his well-formed physique.

His abs were so beautiful, defined, and hard that I would have loved to touch and lick him. Follow his hairy treasure trail with my tongue. But the look in his eyes told me not to. I wasn't supposed to even look at him like that. Disgusted, he ordered me to turn around and lie down on my bed. And I did it without questioning anything.

I heard his belt opening, and his tight pants slipped down his thick thighs. His dick hit his skin a few times, accompanied by a low grunt. He must have felt good and in control.

And he was. I tried to turn my head to look at his member with my own eyes, but he stopped me. Easily, he grabbed my neck with one hand and pressed me into my bedsheets. Right away, I let out a long moan, and my dick started leaking all over the place. I couldn't help but whimper once he entered my body with his thick pole. It hurt—so much pain and pleasure.

His deep groans and my high-pitched moans filled the air all around us as he started to thrust into my widening hole again and again. Daniel didn't even acknowledge me at all. For him, I was just another sex toy, a simple means to an end. He kept on fucking me for what felt like an eternity. His dick penetrated me, hitting all the right spots. He was so long and so hard, and his throbbing cock made itself feel at home. Daniel growled like an animal. Like a bull, or something even bigger and more feral. Feeling his hand on my neck and the other on my waist, I felt pain rush through me. But at the same time, I felt better than ever before.

I already came twice when his entire body got stiff and rigid, filling my hole with his steaming cream. Exhausted, I lay there, panting, while his hands ran over my back and his finger along my spine. Now he seemed to care, at least a little. Daniel's entire demeanor changed. He turned soft, like all of this pressure had left his body. His wet cock left my body, making me moan loudly again. And when I turned around, I caught him fondling it lovingly.

Then, however, he asked me something that changed my life forever. "You want to support our troops, right?" He said it eagerly and teasingly while getting dressed again. I enjoyed watching him tuck his member into his briefs, covering the package with his uniform pants. I didn't even notice him staring at me. But he just repeated his question, with his voice even deeper than before.

Our eyes met again, but he changed. They were so shiny, and his voice was so smooth; how was that possible? What was he talking about? Was he asking me to be his fucktoy? But that wasn't it. I was unable to form a coherent thought, and he knew that. He put his shirt back on and asked me one last time. His eyes pierced my mind, and I was speechless. Support the troops. Any way possible.

I nodded slowly, and he smirked. "Good boy." He licked his lips and grabbed his bag, pulling out another uniform. It was dirty and smelly, and just by the looks of it, it hasn't been washed in ages. "This is for you." Daniel grinned, and a spark of mischievous joy flashed in his eyes as he tossed those clothes at me.

Instinctively, I caught them, and their smell was even worse. Was I meant to wash it? Or wear it? I didn't know. I opened my mouth to ask him, but something was already happening. Those clothes were radiating some sort of energy, a warmth, which engulfed my hands at first, but it was spreading quickly. I was trying to ask for help, to yell, but my body didn't obey me anymore.

In fear, all I could do was watch my hands and arms transform. They turned flat and changed color rapidly. That uniform was taking over my body, pulling me into its fabric. Panicking, I looked at Daniel, who was happily watching me, enjoying my despair. He crossed his arms in front of his massive chest before lowering one hand, touching his member through his clothes.

As more and more of my body turned into fabric, he started to jerk off through his pants. He loved watching me cry out in agony. With all of my power, I started to scream, but as much as I tried, I couldn't fight it.

It didn't even hurt as much as it tickled, like multiple hands sliding across my skin at once. Suddenly, I blacked out. Too much pressure, too much stress.

When I came to my senses, I felt myself getting lifted into the air by a pair of beautiful, masculine hands. It was Daniel who looked at me with a playful grin spreading all over his face. As he talked to me, telling me about my new life in his sweaty uniform, I felt his hands enter me and touch me like no one had ever before. If I still had a cock, I would be leaking heavily by now. It felt sensational, free of any problems I had as a human. Even though I couldn't see him, I knew he was happy with me, which caused me to vibrate rhythmically. I wasn't even mad when he pushed me into that old military bag. It felt right, like my new home.

I got used to the smell pretty quickly and started to appreciate it. He washed me from time to time and wore me nearly every day for training, target practice, and missions. Feeling his skin press against mine, smelling his strong musky scent, or humming to his racing heartbeat—yeah, that was my new life. It got even better when he started to tease me, wearing nothing underneath me, so I felt his muscles, nipples, and, most importantly, his dick imprint through me. When I was lucky, he even pleasured himself through me. Anytime he came into me, he made me think about his steaming cream flooding my tight hole.

I sucked him dry—sweat, cum, or blood. No matter what he threw at me, I gladly took it. That was my job, and all I could think to say was.

Thank you sir.

#tf story #male tf #clothes tf #clothes possession #clothing tf #clothes transformation #inanimate tf #inanimate transformation

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drunkoffsmoke · 7 months ago

Note

could I request a 2nd part to the prev riz ask where the reader wants to forgive riz for what he’s done? Thanks!

a/n: of course! this was a but difficult to write, but fun nonetheless! (also super sorry for taking so long to reply, i really hope i made it worth the wait...)

pairing: riz x short!male!bear!reader

fandom: beastars

genre: fluff, headcanons, making amends, yada-yada. you and riz are chill now.

p1 here.

୧‿̩͙ ˖︵ ꕀ⠀ ♱⠀ ꕀ ︵˖ ‿̩͙୨

little story again

─────────────────────────────

You haven't seen Riz for awhile now. Ever since the truth has been found out, ever since Legoshi confronted him that night and blood was spilled, nobody really wanted to talk about the former Cherryton student. It's like he was a ghost now, one that needed to be forgotten. But you couldn't move on.

The news spoke of him, calling him a 'dangerous individual' and a 'heartless monster' for taking Tem's life for his selfish desires. Sure, he was selfish for wanting to continue the chain of 'predators feast upon prey' chain, but he didn't deserve half of the things said about him. You knew that very well.

You refused to visit Riz due to many reasons, one of them being the not-so-pleasant memories you had with him, in which he no longer smiled warmly, but with malicious intent. Yet one of the other students visited him, and said he was a changed bear. So, you clenched your jaws and gathered all of your courage and made your way towards the facility where your friend was held.

It took awhile to get you to talk to him, mainly because you didn't reserve a meeting with him. You waited, seated on a chair, anxiously tapping your claw against your lap. Countless questions swarmed your brain, questions only the future would be able to answer. Before you could get too lost, footsteps could be heard approaching, and you looked up to see one of the guards.

''Follow me.'' The tiger stated, and you wasted no time in getting up and trailing after the taller animal. Before you could enter the room where Riz was held, you were supposed to drop your phone and other metallic accessories in a small tray. You did as told, anxiety bubbling inside of you the longer you had to follow the guard.

You stopped in front of a metal door, which was guarded by two other animals─one of them a bull, and the other a lion. Or a maned lioness? Before they could unlock the door they had to give you the rules. ''No getting too close to the inmate. You are to not give him anything, no matter how small or harmless it is. You will be monitored and your conversation will be recorded. Is that clear?'' The lion's soothing voice caressed your ear, and you identified them as a lioness. You nodded, finding difficulty in speaking at the moment, and the bull turned to unlock the door.

You stepped inside, instantly greeted with a table and two chairs, positioned across each other, and you hesitantly took a seat. There was nothing that you could hear aside from the soft thumping of your heart, and the occasional chair creaking under your weight. You lightly flinched as the metallic door was opened once more, and you turned around to see Riz handcuffed, with a muzzle and the two guards holding him by his arms. They led him to the other chair, swiftly cuffing him to the table, before disappearing quickly and locking the door behind them.

You stared at Riz, and he stared at you. He had an apologetic smile on his face, which you could barely spot due to the restraints he had around his muzzle. He'd be lying if he said he didn't miss you,

And you'd be lying if you said you didn't miss him.

headcanon time !!

─────────────────────────────

He's changed. Drastically.

You've never seen him this calm, this at peace.

Riz spoke to you calmly, and even tried to wave, despite the handcuffs not really helping him.

He talked to you about the past, how he was feeling, and even apologized for the way he's treated you. He said that his time in jail has made him understand certain things that his past self couldn't have ever understand.

He wanted to start all over with you and treat you the way you should be treated.

You were hesitant, you didn't know whether you should or not.

But when you saw the tired look in his eyes, the guilt clawing at his throat whenever he spoke, you knew he truly changed.

And you accepted.

Nearly every week, when time allowed you, you'd visit Riz.

The guards have grown used to you, and they said they might remove his muzzle if he behaved nicely. Obviously they needed approval from their superior, but Riz's behavior was monitored 24/7, they knew he was no longer the beast that they brought in.

Unfortunately you never knew how long he would remain in prison, but you promised you'd wait for him.

Soon enough, due to his good behavior, he was allowed to receive gifts.

You bought him books, poetry, and even paper for him to continue his passion for origami.

He appreciated every single gift you brought him, and promised that he will do the same to you when he's out.

''But we cannot simply sit and stare at our wounds forever,'' - Haruki Murakami

reblogs & likes r greatly appreciated !!

#x male reader #riz #beastars #riz x reader #fanfic #writing #writers on tumblr #sorry i kinda died im back now guys

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wildernessuntothemselves · 2 days ago

Text

Now See Them Burn in Fire | Part 2

Genre: dark fic, future smut, angst

Word Count: 9.6k

Chapter Excerpt:

But you can’t answer them, throat closed shut and eyes glued to the detached orbs on the floor–there in front of you lay the sacred bull’s missing eyes. Its eyes that used to be so bright in life with warmth and light now replaced with icy blue crystals crudely jammed in the middle of the irises to form the evil eye, and its menacing gaze was set directly on you.

You can’t deny it anymore. You are the intended target. If the gods were watching you through the creatures eyes in life then this monster is watching you in death.

He was here again, in your home, in your room, just like he had been in your temple. There is no refuge of your own that is safe from his dark presence.

“Oh dear gods, save us.” You hear your father whisper fearfully, following your line of sight and realising what had alarmed you so.

“It’s for me. I have been cursed.” You say, your voice devoid of any emotion, body going cold with a numbness that can only come about from the realisation that one is utterly doomed. “What am I to tell Kai?”

Warnings: fem!reader, DARK FIC, FUTURE NONCON/CON, gore, mentions of cruelty to animals, character death, iron age au, supernatural au, yandere beomgyu

___________________________________

A small part of you feels guilty about it. You know it hurt him to hear you accuse him of the same hearsay everyone else flings at him. You were supposed to be different, he must've thought, and you’re ashamed to prove you aren’t, but you can’t risk your future and place in the tribe to stand by him when at best he is being misjudged and by choosing him you doom yourself to a future of living as outcasts together, your offspring having no hope of any viable future, and at worst, everyone is right about him and he drags you to the depth of blackness with him.

Beomgyu keeps his distance from you much to your surprise. Given how bold he was in that forest, you half expected him to continue to pursue you despite your rejection but you suppose you finally got your message across.

But you can’t think about it for too long. You and Kai are now official and you have to focus on your future and the future of your family, especially because you still don't know what the fallen star was meant to foreshadow. Your parents weren't able to find much on it, only stumbling across vague warnings of falls from grace, being cast from heaven, ruin and damnation. The doom and gloom of curses–the most powerful of them all–but no more details than that and no way to intercept or stop it.

Was it doom for you? For your family? For the entire tribe? They couldn’t tell you, but you knew that associating with the dark boy was not likely to make things any better.

You had suggested seeking help from the elders, perhaps someone else knew more about it, but your family quickly snuffed that idea out. How could you ask such a stupid thing? You think the others would take kindly to doom tellers? You think they would welcome an inescapable prophecy of blood and death?

No, you were to keep your mouth shut and work in secret to get to the bottom of this. It doesn’t even have to mean anything. It could all just be a coincidence.

You couldn’t believe what you were hearing from your parents. It was borderline blasphemy. A coincidence? There was no such thing in the art of reading the stars. The stars do not simply plummet themselves to death because they were bored one day. This is a sign and you all know it but they choose to turn a blind eye to what they can’t fix, like a mouse freezing in place when it encounters the jaws of the snake.

Still, it is easy for them to forget and brush it off when things have been going so well for you. With the announcement of your betrothal to the future leader, your already esteemed place in the tribe climbs right to the top.

You parents are quite pleased with it. They always thought they deserved more than they were getting. They even thought they deserved more than the leader’s family. After all, you were the spirituals and divinators that guided the entire tribe and the ones who they entrusted their eternal souls with. Why shouldn’t your place be at the top?

It was jarring to see how close and dear your parents have gotten to the leader and his family and how flattering and generous they were being–regaling him with poems about his bravery and wisdom when behind closed doors they would rake him over the coals with their scathing remarks about his intelligence and short temper, likening him to the beasts that live in the forest.

But it isn’t like the leader wasn’t aware of their duplicity or that he didn’t enjoy their excessive flattery. He purposefully encouraged them to continue feeding his massive ego, caring nothing if their intentions were true or not.

Truth be told, this situation was making you see them all in an unfavourable light. You used to look up to them as tough but reliable and wise, only doing what was best for the tribe, but now you see how they're all working for their own favor.

But you can't act too righteously, for you also found it shamefully easy to not care about the hypocrisy or the lies or even the threat of damnation hanging over your heads, not when Kai was your prize–and what a sweet prize he was. Unlike them, he was pure of heart. Beneath his angelic features was an even more generous and kind soul. You actually believe the words he speaks. You know he does not lie and so when he acts loving and sweet towards you, you know to trust it.

You get so caught up with him and your family gets so caught up with his that you start neglecting your calling and your duty to the tribe. Even the search for the star is momentarily forgotten. After all, where was this fabled curse? Here you are having the best time of your life, your fortune more blessed than ever. Maybe the fallen star really didn't mean anything at all.

Oh how arrogant you were. How blasphemous. The stars are not there for your entertainment. They're not little light shows just there to brighten your night, and you should’ve heeded their warning. Maybe if you did, you could have saved everyone.

It starts small, like most horrible inescapable fates do, with the farmers finding odd symbols burnt onto their fields. The shapes strange at first but then vaguely familiar as old runes you’ve all collectively lost the knowledge of. Some similar to the stone pillar in the heart of the sacred temple and others unseen by any of your kind before.

They were written off as youngster mischief at first–the youth just finding new and creative ways to occupy their time and mess with their elders. Even as the farmers started growing more and more anxious as more and more of these strange symbols cropped up, ruining a sizable portion of their crops–done seemingly by an unseen force as no one has been able to catch or even catch a glimpse of the culprit in action despite the numerous watches being set up–they were brushed off and assured it would stop when the culprits grew bored of not getting the reactions they wanted.

But the culprits were not dissuaded. They just took it a step further, and soon the symbols were found not just on crops but burned or carved onto the flesh of the animals. That’s when the people really started panicking. They didn’t understand what this meant but they knew something was seriously awry.

Even the other animals knew, as they seemingly avoided the ones marked by the unseen force as if being near them could infect them too. The farmers refused to consume the goods of these afflicted creatures and no one tried to convince them to–and maybe for good reason as soon these poor souls were slaughtered one by one by that unseen force in the night.

They were found massacred as if by a wild animal, bits of fur and fat and brains scattered around fields. Entire body parts missing. Heads chopped off and found in children’s cots.

This was no mere joke. This was the work of a demented individual or individuals, and no one even knew what they wanted. But this new development finally got the elders to pay attention and take this seriously.

They started by calling for meetings. First between themselves in order to figure out the source and meaning of these runes and how to stop this malicious energy, still foolishly holding onto the hope that this was under control and that they can stop it. But when they came up as empty as your family did, they turned to you and other young apprentices in their desperation, seeking any suggestion that could help them decipher the code. But of course that yielded even less results and led to panic spreading across the tribe when the looser tongues of the less experienced spoke too much.

As more and more crops and livestock gave way under this unseen dark force, there was a widespread fear–almost expectation–of what to do when it reached the people themselves. Again the elders reassured the people–lying through their teeth that there is nothing to be concerned about, still insisting this was the work of a group of troubled youth, all while they used their precious powers and resources to bless and protect themselves and the people and sites most important to them, resting easy for a while in the belief that at least they were safe hiding behind their powers while the rest of their people were left in the open with whatever was out there, watching and waiting to see if it will start developing a taste for humans next.

The good gods will protect them just like they always have, they thought. After all, they were their most esteemed servants and this dark force–whatever its origin may be–could not possibly stand up to the combined powers of such godly men and women, right? It will soon stop and retreat back to the dark groves from whence it came.

It was disgusting to witness it all, seeing the people you admired and respected so much only thinking of themselves. This thing–whatever it was--has lifted the veil of naivety and innocence off your eyes and exposed you to the brutal reality of the world around you–a world you once thought was built on altruism and honour but have now come to realize was all a lie. Your heroes weren't wise, virtuous leaders, but scared, selfish and arrogant hypocrites who hoarded their powers for themselves while simultaneously covering their eyes with their own hands and refusing to see the danger right in front of them.

They completely refuse to acknowledge that the animals weren’t butchered with wanton and random cruelty–there was something spine-chillingly deliberate about the slaughter. The savage cuts may have seemed like the work of a mad spirit hungry for blood at first glance but if they were to look even just a little more closely they would see that they were deliberate, intentional–the missing body parts of the corpses were not mere bits of meat torn away to be devoured. They were key pieces to a gruesome bigger picture–the tongue of a cow, the heart of a deer, the testicles of a bull, the feet of a chicken–these are all ingredients used in dark magic.

You had said as much to your family, and you knew they knew it too but they still arrogantly–or fearfully–dismissed it. After all, who would possess the knowledge to perform such dark arts apart from the priests and priestesses themselves, and not just any of them–this knowledge is only accessible to the most powerful and most respected of the lot such as your parents. There is no way one of them has gone rogue with the others being none the wiser.

But you know that’s not fully true because you have accessed such knowledge secretly after spying on your parents, and if you could do it then someone else could have done it too. Some of the children of the other powerful priests and priestesses could have done the same. Or someone could have let it slip to an outsider…

But even the elders and even your parents can’t shut their eyes and cover their ears any longer when the hand that works in the shadows reaches forward to touch the most cherished and protected, right in their midst.

You were the one to find it–the sacred bull that resided in the heart of the temple–or what has become of it.

It was a gruesome sight. Its body butchered, the entrails pulled out and hung over its altar, the scent of blood and organs heavy in the air and tasting of metal, the corpse posed in a grotesque mockery of the god it represents.

It was such a gentle animal, friendly with wise eyes that often made you feel as if you were being watched by the gods themselves. But it never made you feel judged. Instead you felt safe and protected by the large, strong animal that was only easy to shepherd due to its gentle nature, but was also capable of great force if provoked–as you’ve witnessed first hand when it was handled incorrectly by someone it didn’t deem worthy. You knew it wouldn’t have been easy to take down the majestic beast and it certainly wasn't easy to string it up and flay it in this grisly way. Its eyes that comforted you so much were nowhere to be found, plucked right out of its skull and leaving behind black hollow sockets that stare you down with the ghastly gaze of death itself.

An overwhelming sense of nausea built up in your stomach at the thought of being so alone without the watchful eyes of the gentle creature–even more so than you were at the abominable mockery that has been made of its remains, and you couldn’t even make it more than a few steps away before you fell to your knees on the floor and vomited your guts out.

It kept coming and coming even when your stomach was long empty, your body purging itself as if your insides were trying to escape it and run away from the danger it sensed.

It didn’t take long for someone to be alerted to this catastrophe, and a small crowd soon gathered around the slain animal, sobs and gasps of horror filling the once serene sanctuary.

The elders eventually made their appearance and after getting over their initial shock and revulsion at the sight, quickly dispersed the crowd, ordering them not to mention this to any of the tribes people and instructing some of the other apprentices to take you outside for some fresh air, thinking that only the sight of the slaughtered beast was the cause of your intractable sickness.

But you couldn’t even get to your feet. They had to drag you out as you shook and dry heaved, a cold sweat drenching your body and making it slippery in their grasp, causing them to lose grip and plummet you to your feet more than once, each time your weak body slamming against the ground as you had no strength to break your fall, the impact making you even more nauseous and weak.

The only small reprieve you got is when the outside fresh air met your drenched skin and cooled down your overheated body, allowing you a moment of relief. But that fleeting reprieve was quickly gone as your body went from cool to cold and you started shaking. You curled up into a ball, trying to conserve your body heat and unable to utter any word of reassurance to the poor apprentices who watched you, horrified at your stricken condition. You’re sure their minds were conjuring up all sorts of terrifying tales about what had just happened, but none of it would come close to your bizarrely confident belief in who exactly was behind this.

Because it's not what you've seen that terrifies you, it's what you haven’t. You saw no evidence of this being the work of a group of demented individuals like your elders have been insisting. This was not the work of any human at all. This was something cold and evil, and you think you know exactly who it is–the shiver currently racking your body more a product of breathtaking dread than the cold.

Mercifully, your mind eventually tires your body out, but before all strength leaves you, you become vaguely aware of being picked up by someone–a warm, strong body pressed against your own, grounding you and preventing you from giving in to the terror completely.

________________________

“She's waking up!” Someone shouts, entirely too loudly for you tired and sensitive ears, and you flinch away, trying to nuzzle further into the softness surrounding you in order to block it out.

“She is.” Another voice adds, and you immediately recognize the deadpan voice of your mother. “See, she is okay. You can head home now and we'll take it from here.”

“Darling, can you hear me?” The first voice gets closer, ignoring your mother, and you feel a feverish touch against your face, almost scalding against your own overheated body which makes you pull away.

“What is wrong with her?” The voice asks, and even through your delirious nightmare state, you could hear the obvious concern marring it.

“Nothing. She will be fine if you just let her rest, Kai.” Your father says sharply and you force your eyes to flutter open when you finally realise who the person touching you is. Your vision swims and you find it hard to focus but you can recognize Kai's worried gaze even through the haziness.

“Kai?” You ask, wincing as the sound cracks your parched throat.

“I am here, my love.” He tells you and gets even closer to you but you use what little strength you have to pull away, grimacing at the look of hurt that crosses his handsome face. “How are you?”

“I am okay.” You repeat your father's sentiment, your tired brain still recognizing the need to get him away from all of this–for his sake and yours. You don't want him to see whatever is happening to you and you don't want it to hurt him. “You don't need to be here.”

His blurry frown still hurts your heart, as does the hesitant way he pulls his hand away. “I was just worried. I know about what happened at the temple. I can’t imagine how you must feel having witnessed that dreadful sight. Oh, what they did to that poor animal was heinous. And for you to see it like that… I know how much you cared for the beast–”

Bile rises up in the back of your throat at the reminder, and you cut Kai off. “I’m okay. I was just shocked, is all. You needn’t worry yourself about me.”

“What are you on about? As your future husband and leader of this tribe, I must protect you and my people from the scum who did this. Rest assured, my love, I won’t let those barbarians get away with it.”

Your eyes widen and your heart rate picks up in fear at his words. No, no, this is exactly what you didn’t want to happen. You don’t want him to get involved in this. He is no match for the darkness looming over all of you. It will swallow him whole and spit out bones. You must keep him away from this.

“No!” You blurt out loudly, making him jump back in shock. Out of the corner of your eyes you can see your parents shooting you warning looks, silently telling you to get a grip and not reveal too much.

You clear your throat and try to reign in your terror. “You don’t have to worry about me, my love. The elders have it all under control. We must keep our trust in them. That is how we’ll remain safe.”

“Of course!” He agrees immediately, sheepishly. “I do not mean to doubt the elders. I simply wish to do my part for you and my people.”

Your heart twists guiltily at his innocence and the untainted good in him. He is the one who must be protected. He must remain pure, which is why you have to keep him away from this.

“You always do, my sweet. But we should leave this to the elders. They know what to do.” You reach out to cup his cheek, your soul aching at the way he melts into the touch for a second before he leans forward to press a gentle kiss to your forehead.

You close your eyes, quietly savouring the act of kindness and tenderness before pushing him away. “You should go now, love. I need to rest.”

“You can rest. I'll stay by your side.” He gives you a gentle smile that hurts you even more. You want nothing more than for him to stay by your side and ward the evil spirits away but you know you must make him leave so you can speak to your parents in private about this new disturbing development.

“There is really no need. I will rest easier knowing you are also rested.”

“But I–”

“My lord, you really must allow us the chance to tend to our daughter. You being here will only excite her more and delay her recovery.” Your father says irritably, flustering Kai. Really, must your father be so short with him?

“Oh, I didn't realise that. Forgive me–”

“You are forgiven. Now if you'll excuse us.” Your mother interjects, shooing him off the floor and towards the door. Your heart lurches in your chest at the dejected look on his face. It flings itself against your ribcage and demands for you to follow him, but you can’t.

“Very well. I will see you soon?” He asks hopefully and you nod, mustering up the smallest smile for him. “Very soon.”

He smiles widely at that, but you hardly see it before your mother pushes him out the door and closes it behind him, all warmth suddenly leaving the room with him, and as soon as you are alone with your parents, they are on you, interrogating you about what happened as if you had a clue.

“Did you see who did it?” Your father asks.

You shake your head.

“Were there any clues?” Your mother follows up.

You shake your head.

“What does this mean?” Your father quickly adds and you sigh deeply, feeling the dread gnawing at your bones. “I don't know. But I know it is related to the fallen star. The end is coming.”

You expect your parents to scold you, to tell you to stop your prophesying of doom and gloom–that it really wasn’t as bad as you were making it out to be and that they will find a way to fix this. But instead, they wring their hands and exchange nervous glances, and that’s when the panic really starts to set it.

________________

The elder’s now feel affirmed more than ever in their terrifying conclusion that this was not the work of one demented soul but an organised effort by a group of individuals working together in tandem to bring chaos to the tribe. To what end, they still didn’t know, but they were certain that no one human can achieve this feat of superhuman strength by themselves and that this must mean that there is a secret cult working to undermine the very foundation of this tribe, to take it down from its strongest link and watch everything else will fall apart following suit.

But you have a more terrifying proposal that you do not dare utter. This was the work of a single individual, a dark rotten soul that has crossed the invisible line between flawed but salvageable human to complete corruption into a demon.

But you won't say it. You can’t even bring yourself to fully accept it. There is no way he could have achieved this level of power. There is no way he has forsaken his soul so completely…

But when you had looked into the hollow sockets that had once contained the bull’s gentle eyes, you couldn’t help but conceitedly think that this was intentionally targeted at you. You were one of the privileged few tasked with caring for this most sacred and divine animal, and through its familiar eyes, the gods watched over you and protected you for years. But now that it has been blinded, will they be able to ward off the creeping evil that they can't see?

The elders interrogate you about that cursed day over and over again, along with everyone else that had access to the sacred temple in order to try to piece together who could’ve done this. They reasoned that whoever did this must be someone from within your midst, otherwise how would they have managed to slip in unnoticed and bypass all the protections meant to keep outsiders away?

But who were they and what exactly did they want, is what they’ve been desperately trying to find out, but their interrogations led them nowhere. Sure, suspicions and accusations were flung around–everyone blaming everyone else in their scared and panicked state, any perceived suspicious look or action was reported to the elders and investigated heavily but no concrete evidence against anyone has been found yet and all this inquiring has managed to do is breed fear and mistrust amongst your ranks. Everyone had one eye on their back and one eye on the other apprentices and priests, watching out for any sign of betrayal, fearful of meeting the same fate as the poor beast. You were now more divided than ever, and if the assailant’s purpose in doing this was to take you down from within, then they’ve already succeeded.

The rising tensions are made even worse when things start to go missing from the temple–powerful totems, valuable ingredients, ceremonial weapons wielded by the gods in their battles… piece by piece they start vanishing, further proving to the elders that the assailants had help from someone within the temple.

They start keeping inventory of everything that goes missing in an attempt to divinate the next movement of the culprit, trying to predict what spell or potion they have got planned and what they might seek next, and piece by piece a horrific picture starts to form. They can’t tell exactly what the assailant’s plan was, but they quickly realise that it involved some ancient and dark magic that has largely been lost to time.

Whoever or whatever is doing this has found a way to unlock knowledge no longer available to the rest of you, and you had no way of protecting yourselves against it.

________________________________

Kai tries to take your mind off things. Every day after your morning of prayer and interrogation has finished, he walks you along flowery fields and bubbling river banks and speaks to you of the bright futures and happy endings he has planned for you. He tells you how he can’t wait for you to be married and what he imagines your family life will look like–filled with joy and love and the tinkling laughter of a house full of children. You’ll have many, he says, both boys and girls. They’ll be strong and smart and beautiful, just like you–he says. And when you ask if they’ll be priests and priestesses like you or political leaders like their dad, he says they’ll be whoever they want to be just as long as they’re happy and healthy and you all have each other. His sincerity and earnestness almost brings tears to your eyes. You can tell how much he wants it and you want it so badly as well.

But neither the sweet smell of the roses nor the soft sounds of the water can soothe your nerves. Your fear to touch the roses lest thorns tear your skin. You fear to dip your feet into the water lest it wash you away. And most of all you fear to let yourself step into the enticing dream he has laid out for you lest you fall into a trap and get swallowed whole. You feel severed from the world around you, unable to tell if it would turn against you at a moment’s notice, and even Kai senses it.

“Hey, it will all be alright. The gods will protect us.” He smiles at you, trying to reassure you but your frown only grows deeper.

Will they? They couldn't even protect their own vessel so how will they protect you? But you don’t dare share your worrying thoughts. Kai may be kind but even he must have his limits. He may not tolerate such blasphemy.

You feel his hand on your cheek as he turns you to face him. He brushes the lines of your frown with his thumb gently, his own smooth skin furrowing in response to your distress.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Who might be behind this and what their purpose is.” You tell him truthfully but leave out your one suspect. He may be the tribe outcast but that doesn’t mean that your conspiracies about him wouldn’t sound unhinged to Kai. After all, what reason would he have to be doing all of this? What does he gain from it apart from getting back at you and sowing chaos amongst the tribe’s people? No, you have to have better evidence than this, otherwise you’d be exposing yourself and your connection to him for nothing.

“Maybe the gods are testing us.” He offers, unsure but hopeful. “Maybe they wish to ensure our faith in them is strong and this is our chance to prove this unwavering faith to them, to show them that Gija and his mistakes won’t be repeated again.”

You hesitate. Did Gija face something similar to this? Is this the untold story of why he turned against the gods? Because they had seemingly forsaken him when danger loomed its vicious head?

No. You must refrain from these sacrilegious thoughts. This is precisely the type of doubt and fear these attacks are meant to provoke, and as a woman of religion, you should have more faith than this.

“Maybe.” You answer, wincing at how unconvinced you sound and hoping he can’t hear it.

But Kai, ever the caring and tolerant being that he is, doesn’t strike you down for it. Instead, he meets your doubt and fear with compassion and sympathy. “I wish I could take your worries away… or at least lighten their burden on your precious shoulders. If I could bear some of your worries so you can finally get some rest, I would in a heartbeat.”

You give him a small but genuine smile. He is too sweet, too pure. This world doesn’t deserve him. You know you certainly don’t. “I could never wish such pain on you, my sweet. You're the only thing that keeps me going.”

He sighs, a hint of frustration coming out in his breath that surprises you, and he tangles his hand in your hair and leans his forehead against yours. “I want to help.” He insists, exasperated.

“You are helping.” You maintain, trying to silence his self-doubt, but you both know that’s not the full truth.

“Not enough.” He murmurs sadly, pressing a chaste kiss against your lips–so soft and unsure, beseeching, seeking approval from you, everything that his kiss wasn't.

You are suddenly angry. You don’t want to be thinking of that stolen kiss. You don’t want to judge your future kisses by it, no matter how favourable they appear in comparison. It shouldn’t have happened and you certainly shouldn’t still be thinking about it.

But you can’t stop. Not when he has been on your mind since this calamity has been set in motion. You’ve barely seen him since that night in the forest. He has not made any attempt to speak to you or get your attention in any way again but you still can’t shake the feeling that he’s behind all of this.

Is it superstitious and judgemental? Yes. Should you as a priestess rise above these base accusations that so many of your fellow people so easily fall into without thinking? Yes. But you can’t help it. Not when his mere existence has poisoned your mind–shutting your eyes and plugging your ears to the point that you are barely hearing the sweet sounds the boy in front of you is making. And when Kai tries to press his tongue against yours, you flinch back, breaking the kiss as if you were doing something wrong. As if you’ll get punished if you keep going.

“What is it?” Kai asks, concerned and a little bit hurt at your apparent rejection.

You put on a fake smile for him. “Nothing. I just thought I saw something.”

He frowns. You can tell he wants so badly to believe you and so he tries to lean in for another kiss, hoping this time you won’t reject him, but you instinctively do, taking a step back from him, and now he really looks wounded.

“Are you okay?” He still asks, your well-being still his first thought and it fucking stabs at your heart.

“I am.” You say and his frown grows deeper and takes on a bitter edge, now probably thinking that if you’re alright then you are rejecting him for him and nothing else, and you can’t let that stand. “I mean, I am trying to be but I just feel a bit overwhelmed with everything that has been happening.”

“You shouldn’t worry about that, my sweet. I'll protect you.” He proclaims and a small airy laugh leaves your lips before you can stop it, unintentionally offending your lover further.

“What is it? You don't think I can protect you?” He moves away, finally having enough of your disrespect, and you panic, quickly grabbing his hands and squeezing them tightly. “I do not mean to offend you, my love.”

He scoffs, taking his hands out of your grip, rejecting you for the first time, and just the thought of it squeezes the air out of your lungs. “But you do not deny it. You don't think I can protect you.”

“I am not sure anything can protect us.” You confess cautiously. You wish you could lie and make this better, but you can’t lie to him. At least not anymore than you already are. He has to be warned. “This… thing. It is much too dark and powerful for any of us.”

“Surely it isn't stronger than our courageous religious men and women. They have the gods’ favor. What can prevail against that?” He asks, and you pause. You have to navigate this carefully. You can’t let him see the cataclysmic doubt that threatens the very core of your beliefs. What would you even be if you didn’t have your belief anymore? What is a priestess without her gods?

“Nothing, my sweet boy.” You paint your face with the most sincere smile you can muster and reach out to cup his face in your hands lovingly. What that looks like, you don’t know, but he still leans into your touch, breaking your heart further as he answers your fake smile with a genuine one of his own and stares at you with the night stars’ twinkling in his pretty eyes.

All the stars of the night sky but one.

________________

The panic has now spread to the elders. They can no longer turn a blind eye to what is happening around them, especially because despite all their efforts, they are no closer to finding the culprit whose hands have now reached into their midst and left them scrambling for an answer that would explain this threat's surprising prowess.

Was this the work of a rogue priest? A mythical demon? Were the gods themselves unhappy and smiting you down?

That last one is becoming worryingly and increasingly popular among the tribe's people with every passing day. With no real answers to turn to in times of trouble, this is the one most people eventually fall back on. If the gods are the source of prosperity in good times then naturally the opposite would happen if you fall out of their favour.

But you refuse to believe this. It doesn't make sense to you. If the gods are behind this then why would they target their own vessel? Why would they make it look like an attack on the gods themselves?

But once again, you couldn't say that. It's blasphemous to even imply anyone or anything can harm the gods. And so who do you blame when the gods aren't happy with what their subjects are doing? The leaders of those subjects, of course. If they did their job correctly and faithfully the gods would've protected them from whatever was out there lurking at the edge of darkness.

This is the line of thinking that scares you the most. If people fall into this trap then it could quickly turn ugly for Kai and his family, even you. You're not at the top of the command chain but you're a priestess of the gods and if the people perceive that you're failing in your duty to appease those gods then you are in trouble.

Kai tries to calm you down, reassuring you that the people are just stressed and panicking but that once the culprit is caught, this will only strengthen their loyalty to his family and the religious leaders who have protected them. Which all sounds great in theory, but how in the hell were they going to achieve that when they still haven't the faintest clue as to the culprit's identity? No one knows who is behind this and at this point, everyone has started turning on everyone else around them. Neighbours were suspicious of their fellow neighbours, dear friends no longer trusted each other. Even families were starting to break at the seams with fear and doubt. The whole tribe was on the verge of moral collapse and the elders and leaders could do nothing to stop it.

You, of course, retain your perhaps paranoid inkling about the dark boy. It all makes sense to your panic stricken mind. He knows the layout of the temple from your stupid stories. He knows where the sacred items that have gone missing were kept. He even knows some basic spells and he could learn much more from those stolen artifacts.

But surely that's not enough? You've trained for years and even you could not carry out an attack of this magnitude. There is no chance he could be capable of this. And what would he even be doing this for? What does he gain from it? Just to spite you? Surely not. You’re being delusional, succumbing to the same panic the common people were. You have no proof and going around accusing him will just land you in trouble. It would just reveal your ill-advised past friendship with him and cast you in an even more suspicious light.

You have to keep your diseased thoughts to yourself, but it becomes increasingly hard each passing day, especially when you receive yet another “gift”.

When you first saw it perched there innocently on your table, you thought it was from Kai. He has a habit of leaving you gifts, big and small, here and there to try to brighten your day and make you think of him instead of being trapped in your gloomy thoughts. They ranged from little sweets he liked or a pretty flower he found to extravagant rings or hair ornaments he had made specifically for you.

This one is an ornate, delicately carved wooden box which is one of the most beautiful containers you have ever seen–and for a moment you wonder if that is the gift in itself–already thinking about how you'll surely be using it to store all the precious jewelry he has already gifted you.

But you were curious to see if it did contain anything, and you find yourself eagerly grabbing the lid and pulling it open to see if there is anything inside.

But as soon as you do, you quickly drop it with a scream, your knees giving way under you and plummeting you to the ground next to it, the contents of it rolling on the floor in a bloody trail towards you as if it was chasing after you.

You scramble like a trapped hare away from it, barely realising that your parents have joined you in the room after hearing your cry and the crash.

“What is it, child?”

You can’t deny it anymore. You are the intended target. If the gods were watching you through the creatures eyes in life then this monster is watching you in death.

He was here again, in your home, in your room, just like he had been in your temple. There is no refuge of your own that is safe from his dark presence.

“Oh dear gods, save us.” You hear your father whisper fearfully, following your line of sight and realising what had alarmed you so.

Your beloved will surely abandon you once he finds out and you cannot fault him. Even love has its limits and who would stand by someone who has the evil eye upon them?

“Have you gone mad?” Your mother hisses, grabbing you by the shoulders and pulling you to your feet, shaking you. “No one is to hear of this.”

“But mother–” If you don't tell him, he will be dragged into this curse too and you can’t do that to him. It is one thing to be cursed but it is another matter entirely to be so vile as to knowingly extend the same fate onto your beloved.

“Nothing! If you speak a word of this to anyone, we'll all be cast out. Do you want to kill us?” She asks and you blanch. “No, of course not. I would never wish to hurt you but I do not wish to hurt him either.”

“He will not get hurt. We can fix this.” She tells you and you stare at her in disbelief mixed with a small inkling of hope. “How?”

“Every curse has its antidote. Just as someone put this curse on you, likely a jealous girl who wanted the future leader for herself, we can lift it off.”

“You believe this is the work of a mere jealous girl?” Your father asks, clearly doubtful, and she wrings her hands nervously, not believing it herself. This was too advanced, too dark. “Perhaps. Doesn’t matter. Whoever did it surely cannot stand up to our combined power. I am confident we can dispel this.”

“There is no use.” You shake your head, despairing. “The evil eye is set upon me. I am doomed.”

Your mother slaps you. “Hush you stupid child. Do not speak such things. You are not doomed. This is merely the work of someone who is trying to ruin your reputation. They're bluffing. They may not have even done this correctly. See, they've already made their first grave mistake. Now that we have an item connected to them we can reach across the ether directly to pull them to us and reveal their true face. Then we shall strike them down and end this once and for all.”

Your tears start to dry and you look at her hopefully. You hadn't considered that. Of course! With this–this vile object in your grasp you can finally trace all of this back to the abominable culprit. “Really, mother? We can stop him?”

“Him?” Your father asks sharply and you cringe back, cursing yourself for the slip-up. “Him. Her. It. Whatever is behind this.”

You hold your breath as he scrutinises you. You imagine a look of suspicion in his eyes and you look away in guilt. Oh gods please don't let him see. You would not bear the blame and disappointment. You felt awful enough already.

Finally, after a measure of silence, your father proclaims, “Yes. whoever is behind this has some power. I can feel it. But we have had the blood of the mages in our family line for centuries.” You almost breathe a sigh of relief. If your father says it, then it must be so. But then he continues, “He is no match to us.”

You gulp, nodding.

___________________

Your parents are fluttering about, arranging the final pieces of the ritual. The smells soothe you, the routine familiar. You know this. You're good at this. Even if he is behind all of this, he still doesn't know as much about it as you do. The art of magic has been in your family for centuries while he is a mere novice. He doesn't stand a chance against your family's power. You’ve gotten yourself into such a state over nothing.

You step up to the circle with a smile. This will all be over soon.

Your family places the wreath of weaved Mugwort and Enchanter’s herb around your neck. They bless you with burning sage and mark your skin with precious dyes in divine symbols meant to invoke the protection of the gods. Once you’re anointed and dressed appropriately, you all reach out to clasp hands and start the chanting, calling upon the gods to watch over you during this perilous venture. You feel a cold breeze overtake the punishing heat in the air and cool you down for the first time in weeks, the bone-deep fever that had been hanging heavily over you starting to seep off your skin. You feel your face naturally relax into a smile as the healing, soothing power of the gods you adore touches your soul once more .

This is it. The curse will lift off you. You should have never doubted the gods. They would never let a true believer like you succumb to such vile forces of evil.

But your relief is short-lived, barely there before it is whisked away again as your parents continue to chant, now demanding the evil come forth to reveal itself, and you start to see a black cloud materialise in the air and sink down over you, first clouding your vision then stifling your breathing and eventually coming to wrap itself around your body, paralysing you with its sweltering heat.

You look to your parents in panic, barely able to see them through the steamy haze. You try to open your mouth to say something but it gets swallowed up by the damp darkness surrounding you.

Please. Cast it away again. I don’t want to do this anymore. I’m scared. Please. You desperately wish to tell them, a sense of dread flooding your paralysed body so fully you fear it would drown you.

But they don’t stop, going on with their spell, this time attempting to pull the evil away from you to force it to take shape in the centre of the sacred circle so that they can finally start to attack it without hurting you. But it will not let go of you. It fights back, lashing out and digging its claws into your skin with savage force, making you cry out in pain and almost let go of your mother’s hand, but she holds onto it tightly, not letting the spell break.

You gaze towards her, a fearful look in your eyes as you experience the real pain of your skin being torn into. This thing is even more powerful than you all thought and you can see it in their eyes too. It frightens them but they steel their resolve and chant louder, demanding the evil to let you go and reveal itself to them.

You wish it wouldn’t. What you’ve seen of this force so far has been nothing but alarming. Just the awareness of its malevolent presence is enough to make you want to run away and hide. You don’t want to face it. You know that’s stupid and irrational of you. Even if you can’t see it, you will still know it is there, coiled so tightly around you and blocking out all the goodness and light in the world. It is too late to back down now, not when you have already called it forth.

You hear the strain in your parents’ voices as they grapple with the force, bellowing at it and demanding it let you go, but that just makes it dig its claws deeper and deeper into your body until it almost reaches bone. The pain is becoming unbearable and your head starts to swim with the sensation of losing too much blood. You look down at your body, half-expecting to see it gushing out of the deep gashes you can feel in your skin, but your eyes don't meet any red.

Instead what you do see makes you almost pass out in horror–black leathery hands engulfing your figure in its hateful grip, its dirty claws digging into your skin as it struggles to hold onto you against your parents’ forceful invocations for it to depart. You can feel the anger and malevolence emanating from it and burrowing into your body. It doesn’t want to let you go. It wants to keep you in its hold until it has consumed you whole.

But your parents won’t let it. Their power reaches forth to wrap around the vile creature and pull it off you, brutally yanking at it until its claws tear off your skin and it is finally forced to let go.

You shake like a leaf as you see it standing there towering over all three of you in the middle of the enchanted circle. You cannot make out much of its features–the dark cloud like a veil seeming to shimmer and sway over it, obscuring most of its face and body, but you can see the ghastly pointed horns atop its head and those same deathly blue eyes fixed right on you.

“Who sent you?” Your father asks, but the figure does not answer. It doesn’t even acknowledge your father at all, its cold gaze squarely on you as it reaches forward towards you, desiring to reclaim its grip on you.

You shrink back and try to yank your hands out of your parents grip, wishing desperately to run away from this thing before it manages to latch onto you again.

But your parents hold onto you tightly, your father shouting at the creature, deciding it is too dangerous to try to gain any answers from it and focusing instead on attempting to banish it. “Begone, foul spirit. Cease back to the underworld from whence you came.”

A shock of power springs up and shoves the creature back and away from you. Its cold, dead eyes light up with fury and it finally moves its ghoulish gaze away from you and fixes it onto your father who slowly starts to be surrounded by the same dark cloud that looms heavily around the creature.

“What are you doing?” Your father asks as the cloud sways and slithers like a pit of snakes over his body. “Oh, heavens, please.”

The fear in his voice is almost the most gruesome sound you’ve ever heard, second only to the howl of pain he subsequently lets out as the ghostly tendrils tighten themselves around his body and squeeze, crushing him.

“No, please!” You cry out, once again trying to pull your hands away. You like to think that if you succeed you’d try to liberate your father from the force’s deathly grip, but you know your terror is so great that you’re just as likely to run away instead.

You don’t get to find out however as your mother keeps her grip on you almost as tight as the creature does on your father, her voice ringing loudly around your home, indirectly telling you to focus on the incantation and not break the spell as the black tendrils coil tighter and tighter around your father’s body.

You do your best, you really do, joining your shaky voice with her forceful one to keep the spell going but you know your mind is unfocused–your soul not present fully as you watch the life being choked out of your father in horror.

You see it in his eyes first–the fear breaking through his usually steely and stoic gaze. Then it’s his voice, hesitant and strained as the evil spirit coils tighter around him until the words are barely choked out. Then it’s the horrible crunching noise, like bones getting crushed by a boulder, followed by a strained wail that barely sounds like your father, barely sounds human at all.

“Father!” You can’t do it. You can’t keep the spell going, not when blood starts pouring out of the corner of his mouth and his eyes protrude forward as if they’re being squeezed out of his skull.

The last sound you hear from your father is a haunting low groan that comes from deep within his chest before it gets abruptly cut off as a spurt of blood comes forth from his mouth to drench you and your mother, his hands finally letting go of you as he falls limply to the floor.

“No!” Your mother screams, also letting go of your bruised hand and rushing forward to catch her husband, only to recoil in horror as his body crumbles gruesomely in her arms.

You back away, not looking at them but instead staring at the shadowy figure still standing over them. Your mother is too busy wailing over your father’s corpse to pay it any mind but you cannot take your gaze away from it. The danger is still here and it’s coming right at you.

You try to run away but it is too fast for you. Its shrouded hand shoots forward to grab onto your arm, its oppressive strength keeping you in place.

Oh gods, what have you done? Your ritual meant to bring the dark force forward in order to defeat it has only succeeded in giving it shape and allowing it to dig itself even deeper into your lives.

And it knows it too. It’s obvious in the sinister way it smiles at you before it slowly dissipates back into the night air, unseen but ever-present.

________________________________________

Your father’s burial is a quiet affair. Your mother claims publicly that his death was the result of a terrible attack by a wild animal but you’re not sure if people believe it or not. There are bound to be rumors and gossip swirling around about your father's mysterious and sudden demise in the morning, your family’s name will undoubtedly be in everyone’s filthy mouths as they sling forth accusations and suspicions at you and your mother the same way they did to Beomgyu. You don't miss the irony in that.

They’ll wonder if your mother has killed your father to hide a lurid affair or if you’ve done it because he discovered some terrible secret you’ve been keeping. But those few who have seen his body and helped return it to the earth will know it was neither one of you, because like the sacred bull, what has become of him couldn’t have been done by a mortal hand. They’ll lie down in their homes at night, clutching their families close to their bodies and wrestling with the harrowing knowledge that the darkness is now coming for them and their children.

Your mother stays by your father’s grave all night, weeping and wailing–her cries rattling the hearts of all those who can hear her as if she’s a spirit heralding all the death to come.

Kai tries to stay by your side but you refuse to let him. You’ve seen what you’re up against. None of you stand a chance and you won’t be so selfish as to let it hurt him too. He needs to stay away from you.

But as you lay down for the night, wrapped up in all your furs despite the suffocating heat that refuses to leave you, you selfishly regret keeping him away. You wish he was here with you. He would not have been able to protect you but at least you wouldn’t be alone.

No. That’s not true. You’re not completely alone. It’s here. You can feel its dark presence and yet it toys with you, not making a single move. For hours you lay there staring at a singular spot at the roof of your home, unwilling to let your gaze wander around and confirm your dreadful suspicions. For hours, your body stays as rigid as a dead mouse with eyes just as frozen, waiting for that same suffocating grip to coil around your body and crush the life out of it the way it did to your father.

But it never comes. And slowly the energy drains out of your tense body and your tired eyes can stay open no more, falling down and letting you slip into a dangerous slumber.

That’s when it finally makes its move–when all your defenses are down and you cannot muster enough strength to lift a single finger in your defense, not that you had any delusions of being able to fight it off.

Your mind is sluggish–caught in a state between consciousness and sleep. It can barely process what is happening, just vaguely aware of its presence above you that stifles your breathing, and when your heavy eyes slowly open, your vision dark and bleary, they are met with that unmistakable bright blue gaze. The evil eye. The creature is upon you.

It reaches its hand forward to cover your face, your eyelids growing even more heavy at the touch.

“Please.” Your voice sounds distant and strangled to your own ears but the dark figure doesn’t answer back. It is as silent as death as it coaxes your mind back into darkness.

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A/N: please leave a message letting me how you're finding the fic so far. feedback is what keeps me going and I am so excited about this fic and wanna know if you're excited about it as well

you could let me know what you think will happen next, what you think the ending will be, who you think she'll end up with or who you want her to end up with, if you think gyu is actually involved or not and what he might be doing. the possibilities are endless lol

#txt smut #dark fic #supernatural au #yandere au #i shouldn't be posting this yet but can't hold back lol #please let me know what you think

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