#the longer you treat animals as a means to an end. the more likely you'll mistreat them and ignore their needs.

[snekdood]

unfriendly reminder to humans:

animals dont exist for you.

[kasagia]

A powerful man

Pairing: dark!young Gamemaker!candidate for president! Coriolanus Snow x fem!Capitol! reader Summary: You thought he was different. That he would never cheat on you. But apparently Coriolanus who came back from District 12, became Gamemaker, and ran for president was not the same man you knew. And you'll soon find out how wrong you were about him. Requested by: @tastycakee Taglist: @aoi-targaryen @il0vebeingdelulu @chelseyyouraverageluigi Warning: 18+; My first time writing a smut scene, so please be gentle. I hope you will like it...🙈🙈; Coriolanus Snow, toxic behaviour; smut; Coriolanus Snow's Masterlist ~•♤♤♤•~ Main Masterlist

"Mr. Snow is busy…" you slam the door to Coriolanus' office behind you, closing it in the face of his secretary, who wouldn't let you in.

You cross your arms, glaring at your boyfriend in pure fury. Coriolanus stops writing something and looks up to enter just as you loudly shut the door behind you.

He raises his eyebrows slightly in surprise at the sight of you, then frowns at the pure anger in your eyes and clenched fists. He hopes your anger isn't caused by what he was trying to hide for you... otherwise, he will have some heads cut off.

"Y/N, darling, what are you doing here?" He asks with a charming smile as he gets up from his chair and walks over to you.

"Livia Cardew?" He stops at the mention of her name. He plays confused, frowning as he slowly responds to you, pretending to try to understand what you mean.

"I have no idea..."

"You could at least have some decency and admit that you slept with that whore!" His secretary must have heard your scream. He makes a mental note to talk to her when he's alone and to make sure he sends to the district and hangs any maid from the Cardew's house who spilled his secret.

"Look... it's not that I wanted it." He starts out gently; he tries to calm you down and explain his actions, but as soon as he takes a step towards you, you move away from him and growl like a rabid animal.

"Oh, of course not! After all, it's your dick that makes decisions for you, not your brain!" You shout at him angrily, pressing an accusatory finger into his chest.

He can no longer control himself after you cross the line. His calm, collected mask falls away to reveal his own rage and iritation. He grabs your arms tightly, making you gasp softly in pain as he shakes you lightly and pins you against the wall.

But he controls himself enough to not physically hurt you… at least not more. He just holds you there tightly, taking advantage of your moment of shock to explain his motives to you.

"Listen to me. She was a means to an end. I needed some information from her. I had to get closer, sleep with her, and sneak around her house, especially her father's office. End of the story. Considering it, it wasn't cheating. It was more like business than anything else. Besides, you're way better than her, petal. And I kept thinking about you all the time and how I'd rather have you wrapped around me than that thoughtless, naive bitch."

You feel sick when you hear it, when you imagine him in bed with her, and even more sick when you hear that he doesn't think that he did a bad thing at all. You feel like throwing up, just remembering how you let him touch you and how you treated him, worshipping him as if he were your whole world. You were so stupid and naive.

"You only prove that you are as disgusting, cruel, and manipulative as I thought. You can play with other people and their feelings, but not with mine. Not anymore. It's over. I've already moved out of your apartment, so you can continue running your campaign and exploiting other people all you want. I just fucking hope you won't win." You say it angrily, pushing him away from you.

You take advantage of the state of shock he is in, and you get out of there as fast as you can. The scent of Coriolanus' perfume clings to you, and you already know you need to take a very long bath when you get home to brush it away. As well as the felling of his hands on you. You only hope you won't have any bruises after his very tight and painful grip.

You practically run all the way to your car. You get in, not noticing that your ex-boyfriend is watching you carefully from his office window.

Coriolanus' eyes don't leave you. He watches carefully as you get into the car with his hands in his pockets.

He chastises himself for being so gentle with you. He promised himself after Lucy Gray that he would never fall in love again. And you appeared, breaking his iron resolve with one smile and a kiss. He should have made sure that he had enough control over you so that you would never think of leaving him before he started spoiling you.

All the dinners, sweet words and compliments, and thoughtful dates... he had rewarded you for nothing, and now his disobedient brat thought she could just walk away from him. Yes. He had given you too much freedom.

He should immediately clearly define the dynamics of your relationship, instead of leaving you under the illusion that you have something to say in any matter.

He remembered you from the Academy, even though you were a year younger than him. You were ambitious, like him. You always followed your own plan and ideas. Little rebel. It was cute then, but now he realises he needs to temper your personality. After all, his First Lady had to obey him at all times. You might have had a strong character and fought like a lioness, but absolutely not against him. He will destroy you or teach you obedience. You could be his wolf on a leash or his faithful dog. He didn't see it any other way. And he definitely won't let you go.

Coriolanus has already lost his one bird. He won't let another one do the same and escape from him.

And he even knew who would help him with it.

"I don't understand why they're starting a campaign when there's still a good half a year left until the elections." You grumble to your labmate as you two work on a new tranquillizer for peacekeepers to use on rebels.

"They have to check the identity and background of the candidates, and so on. My father said that the process itself was a good three months of work. Besides, considering that a president usually stays in his seat until he dies of old age, it's better that it lasts longer. Let them at least work hard to earn our votes if they are about to rule over Panem all their lives."

"That's six months of seeing that son of a bitch's face on TV, on posters around town, and on practically every fucking corner. Don't be surprised that I would prefer it to be shorter."

"I don't want to be on his side, but I think he can win. You know very well that he has charisma, money, and... well." She interrupts, blushing a little. You roll your eyes at her. You know that Coriolanus is... breathtakingly handsome. His cold beauty will steal the hearts of many. It will be useful for his media image to hide what a boor he was.

"Big cock?" You joke, no longer vulnerable to the charming side he has been showing the public.

"Y/N!" She hisses at you, laughing softly and looking around the lab. Meanwhile, the rats you were testing on became... too calm. At least Dr. Gaul's snakes will have something to eat.

"What? I'm stating facts. I wouldn't be surprised if he slept his way to the top." You say, as you are preparing new test subjects and reducing the dose of preparation a little.

"Shh! The viper is coming here." She whispers and goes back to work.

Out of the corner of your eye, you notice that, in fact, Dr. Gaul enters the laboratory. She might be getting older, but she still held up well. The only thing that changed was that she walked with the aid of a cane, which only added to her intimidating appearance. And the fact that she was no longer the main organiser of the Hunger Games. Coriolanus performed this role for her. Although the title was still hers.

"Dr. Gaul." You both greet her and step away from the examination table. She watches you and your work closely, mumbling something under her breath, and raises her cane, pointing at you.

"Y/L/N. My office."

"Yes, ma'am." You say and follow her. You feel your friend's eyes on your back as you follow the woman to her office.

You close the door behind you and take a seat in front of her desk as she nods towards you. Dr. Gaul takes some pills from his desk and swallows them. One of her snakes slithers between your legs and climbs up the desk to wrap around her owner's hand and then her cane. You have not only the piercing eyes of a woman but also the eyes of a snake.

She smiles, seeing that you didn't even flinch, still maintaining your calm demeanour.

"You're not a stupid girl." She says this while examining her pet. "And yet you find yourself in situations that only cast you in this light."

"I beg you pardon?" You ask, not expecting your conversation to become so... personal.

"I always said Mr. Snow would achieve something great. At the beginning, I thought he would be a Gamemaker like me. After all, he is not suitable for being a scientist like us. He has no patience; he needs new challenges, experiences, and adrenaline. But now... you know that you can have the president as... a person who is not entirely favourable to you, right?"

"I understand that there may be some difficulties…"

"Difficulties? Child, do you know him? You must be aware of what he is capable of. Or at least have some suspicions." She interrupts you, looking at you pointedly.

You bite the inside of your cheek, trying to calm down. You were fed up with the topic of your ex. Apparently, you couldn't just break up with him without making a fuss.

"What did you want to talk to me about, Dr. Gaul? What is it all for?" You ask, slightly annoyed, and she just laughs mockingly, shaking her head in amusement.

"I like you, child. I hope you won't disappoint me. Therefore, think about what is good for your future. Pride is fatal. Money and influence bring opportunities. But you probably already know that. After all, no one who gets into my lab is a saint. Especially not you and Mr. Snow."

"I'm not a whore like him." You defend yourself, crossing your arms, making Dr. Gaul laugh again.

The snake moves from her cane to the desk and nests in your lap. Out of habit, you stroke his head, gaining interest again and a gleam of approval in Dr. Gaul's eyes. After all, this one was a particularly venomous specimen.

"Each of us is. We may not do what they do, but for money... people can do everything. Don't you remember how you sold your dear friend? How did you knock her out of the competition for a spot in my lab? How have you done everything—play every dirty card to make sure that you will become a victor? Just like Mr. Snow. I heard there was a... misunderstanding between you two, but life isn't a fairy tale, Miss Y/L/N. You can go bankrupt and ruin your reputation while waiting for your prince. If you want to achieve something, be known as a great mind like me, and be relevant in this city full of rats and snakes, then you will do the right thing for your future."

"Dr. Gaul, with all due respect, I am acutely aware of what is good for me. And it's definitely not Coriolanus Snow." You say, standing up and letting the snake slither onto her desk again.

"Pity. So prepare a contingency plan. After all, I won't live forever. It is not known who will take my place or whose name will hang above the entrance to this laboratory. It's not my choice. But if it was, I would choose you as my successor. Unfortunately, the future president will have the most impact on that. And then... it may turn out that there will be no place for you here."

"It's not certain who will win."

"Are you sure, child?" Her question can't help but make you doubt. Coriolanus wouldn't give up so easily. You know it. Just like if Coriolanus wins, you're finished. Your entire career… "Go. Think about it. I hope you will prove that you have some mind. It would be such a pity to lose such a talented scientist as you. Especially because of stupid love affairs."

You mutter goodbye to her and leave the office. You're long back at your table in the lab when the secret door opens and Coriolanus steps out.

"Is that what you wanted, Mr. Snow?" The woman asks, turning to face him. Coriolanus moves closer to the desk, but enough to be out of her snake's reach.

"You could have been more intimidating. After all, her entire career depends on her submission."

"If you want her to truly obey you, she must come to you herself. Like a pet. Like a snake. If she sees that your relationship will bring her further benefits, she will come back to you. She's not stupid enough to waste such an opportunity. At least I hope so. You should focus on your campaign."

"I'd like that too. But currently… something else is on my mind." He says, walking over to the tinted window that overlooks the lab. He puts his hands in his pockets and watches you carefully as you work.

"You're wasting your potential. Maybe your children will be wise enough to follow in my footsteps more. One is running for president, and the other is a military chemist. Such a waste."

"Don't worry. One of our children will definitely continue your legacy, you have my word." He assures her while observing you.

You lean over the table, strands of your hair falling into your eyes behind your safety glasses, as you test another biological weapon on rats. You look hot in that scientist outfit. He grunts, feeling his pants getting a little too tight. He regrets that he never took the opportunity to visit you here...

"It better be that way. And for God's sake, don't stare at her like a love-struck puppy like you did with your tribute from 12. Patience. Or you will have to train her to make her obedient."

"You know I like a challenge, Dr. Gaul." He replies with a sly, cocky smirk and turns his head towards Doctor Gaul once he has calmed down a bit and composed himself.

"Go away now. Your last Hunger Games must be amazing and unforgettable, or I'll tell her what you have planned for her." He laughs at this, shaking his head.

"I appreciate your attempts to intimidate me, but you know I'll be happy with any outcome. Whether it's keeping her on a leash or reshaping her to meet my needs as my First Lady."

"But we both know which one you would prefer more." They share a sinister smirk. Coriolanus owed her a lot. He's learned many things under her tutelage... things that he uses to make sure you know that your place is always with him.

"As I said, I love a challenge. I will be expecting you as an honoured guest at this year's Hunger Games and my wedding. Of course, right next to my fiancée."

"Don't scare her away, Mr. Snow." She reminds him when he receives a package from her with the latest biological weapon. He will test it at this year's tributes. He smiles, thinking that it must have come from your talented fingers.

"Snow lands on top, Dr. Gaul." He assures her and says goodbye, leaving through a secret passage.

He still had a lot of things to do.

It started innocently… if that's a word you could use to describe Coriolanus Snow.

You knew he wouldn't give up so easily after your breakup and that he would want to come back to you. And that he will use every means to make sure this happens. After all, he was an ambitious bastard who thought he could do anything if he tried hard enough. And Coriolanus had big plans. Plans that you only became aware of when it was too late for you to try and rescue yourself from him.

It started with roses.

Not just any roses. The most beautiful ones Coriolanus could find in his grandmother's garden. Beautiful white roses. A symbol of love, affection, innocence, and loyalty. Everything that Coriolanus lacks.

They were delivered together with a letter in which he deeply assured you of his feelings and asked for a meeting.

You happily threw them into the fireplace.

Then he started sending you roses to the lab. And from the smiles Dr. Gaul was giving you, you knew the bastard had won her over to his side. At least you and your co-worker had some fun destroying them in all sorts of strange ways, starting with burning them with a laser, throwing them into toxic waste, or even breaking them down into the substance you needed for your experiments.

One day, gifts came along with roses. Jewellery, books, clothes (even underwear, if you could call a thin set of strings that), concert tickets with invitations from him (you'd rather cut off your ears than sit next to him in the concert hall or stand by the stage), he did everything to get your attention. Which you happily denied him.

You avoided him like the plague, missing every event he was supposed to be at (even your little sister's graduation from the Academy). But there was one event your family wouldn't let you miss.

"Mr. and Mrs. Y/L/N. Miss Y/L/N and Miss Y/S/N. How nice to see you all together. May the odds be ever in your favour." Dr. Gaul greets you as you arrive at the official opening gala of the Hunger Games.

"Dr. Gaul. Happy Hunger Games." You say back.

"You too, dear child. I can steal you from your parents and sister, can't I?" Your parents nod quickly before you can speak. Dr. Gaul takes you by the arm and leads you to the upper lodge.

"I believe I should sit somewhere else…"

"Nonsense. Mr. Snow made sure your family sat near Mr. and Mrs. Plinth. They have good company, so you can make us that pleasure and sit with us." he says, taking her seat. You see that on your seat is a small piece of paper with your name on it.

"Us?" You question the woman suspiciously.

"Hello, petal." Coriolanus' voice behind you confirms your suspicions. Before he sits down next to you, he leans down and places a long, wet kiss on your cheek, while he tucks the rose behind your ear. One that matches your dress perfectly. You have no idea how the bastard did it. "You look stunning, as always. I was worried you weren't feeling well when I couldn't find you at your sister's graduation."

"I've actually been feeling bad for a few days now. The smell of roses makes me sick." You tell him, not hiding the hostility and coldness in your tone. He frowns at this, obviously not happy with your allusion.

"Maybe you are pregnant?" He replies mockingly, and you glare at him. He smiles at this, placing his hand on your bare knee. You regret not wearing a longer dress. At least you wouldn't have to endure the feel of his skin against yours. Reluctantly, you remember the time when you dreamed of his touch.

"You wish." You say, shaking his hand away as you place your leg over your knee. He doesn't care and instead places his hand on your other knee, making sure the railings of the lodge cover his hand as he gently slides it under your dress. You shiver as his cold hand presses against your warm thigh.

"Oh, you have no idea." He leans gently towards you to whisper in your ear.

Before you have a chance to push him away (or slap him), Coriolanus stands up and gives the opening speech of this year's Hunger Games. You glare at Dr. Gaul, and she just shrugs and turns her attention to the tributes. Only now do you notice that the cameras are focused on your row... and especially on you and Coriolanus.

"Aside from our little jokes… it hurts me that you didn't show up to any of the events I invited you to." He says, sitting down again as the reaping of the tributes begins.

He rests his elbow on your armrest and leans in to whisper in your ear. You know that, from a distance, it looks like he's flirting with you. And you don't like it one bit. Especially since the lives of 24 young teenagers are crashing down at the same time.

"Are you talking about your political events?" You ask, trying to shrug him off and move away from him. He doesn't let you, though, taking your hand in his and placing his hand on your knee, pulling you closer to him.

"I'm talking about our dates, darling."

"We are not together anymore. And we are not going on any dates." You remind him dryly, with great hostility in your voice. The bastrad doesn't even tremble.

"I dare to disagree with you. I never said I was done with you." He says dismissively as his hand roams freely under your dress, tracing patterns on your thigh. You shiver, despising him and yourself for the way your body responds to his touch.

"Well, I am done with you." You say it firmly, with all the confidence in your voice.

"Are you sure? Your sister is a hell of a smart beast. What a pity if the university did not accept her due to... the increased number of applicants."

"Are you trying to bully me? Threaten?" You ask incredulously, finding the strength to push his hands away from you. He gives you a slightly offended look, but instead of taking your hint and moving away, he tucks your hair behind your ear.

"I'm asking for a little cooperation. The Capitol would see me better if I was... in a committed relationship. And now all eyes are on the two of us and the tributes. They'll disappear as soon as they stop transmitting, and then the eyes of the Capitol will be only on me and you. And because you're sitting very close to me, people will think you didn't come here alone... even if that's what you originally wanted."

"You bastard..." You hiss at him angrily, and he just smiles, half amused, half cocky.

He raises his hand and caresses your cheek tenderly. You want to move away from him, but he holds your jaw tightly with his fingers. He tilts your head up slightly, forcing you to look into his icy blue eyes. He smells of roses and cigars... you wonder if he started smoking after your breakup or for business, to increase the number of contacts during these smoking encounters on the balcony.

"Just one kiss and a smile, sweetheart. Is that so much to give to ensure your younger sister a secure place at university?"

"And what later? Will you force me to get engaged to you? Get married? Create a fictional family?" You ask him furiously, knowing full well that if you give this devil a finger, he will soon demand your entire arm.

"I'm not asking you to marry me. Just about pretending to be my date... for now. You don't want your sister to suffer just because you didn't want to place a kiss on my cheek, do you?" You sigh, knowing he doesn't leave you much of a choice.

"She will choose whatever field of study she wants." You make sure by bargaining with him before you agree to anything he wants you to do. He nods, and you can only hope he has the decency to keep the agreement.

You smile sweetly at him and place your hand on his cheek, turning his face towards you. You press a kiss on his other cheek, making sure to leave a trace of your lipstick. You hear people whistling and clapping in applause.

You pull away from him and keep a fake smile on your lips, ignoring his happy, cocky smirk and tone of voice as he stands up and says an ending speech. As did the shocked looks from your family and Dr. Gaul's mischievous smirk.

You have no idea that this is just the beginning. And even if you do, you try to convince yourself otherwise.

You've had enough.

For a month now, Coriolanus has been showering you with various gifts, following you around like a shadow, taking you to the laboratory, and bringing you home. He forced you to get into his limo once. The next day, it took you an hour to cover the hickeys he left on your neck.

You weren't together; you pushed him away as much as you could, and he tried at all costs to get you back into his arms or bed or into your pants. But now he has crossed the line.

That's why you stormed straight to his office again, bypassing all the secretaries and security with your natural grace.

And what unnerved you the most was how the bastard had the nerve to smile in amusement as you barged into his office.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" You snap at him angrily, closing the door behind you. You walk over to his desk, the click of your heels echoing around the room as you throw your purse onto the chair and cross your arms, glaring at him.

"I have the impression that your greetings have become more and more dry and aggressive, haven't they, petal?

"My sister failed her first exam, even though I know she wrote it damn well. As it turns out, her professor is a dear friend of yours. Do you have any explanation for this?" You ask him accusingly, and he just smirks and shrugs, not even hiding the fact that he wasn't involved at all.

"Perhaps she didn't study enough?"

"Do you want to take it out on someone? Take it out on me, but leave Y/S/N out of it!" You shout at him madly, pointing a finger at him. He tilts his head at you in curiosity and stands from his chair, walking around the desk and standing in front of you.

You don't feel comfortable about him being so close to you, but there's no way that you'll show him that he's making you feel nervous and anxious.

"Calm down, sweetheart. This is exactly the reaction I needed from you." He says, his icy blue eyes piercing right through you, making you almost shiver under his intensive gaze. Even when you were in heels, he was slightly taller than you.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" You growl menacingly, crossing your arms defensively. He just smiles and gently brushes your hair away from your face, smiling softly. He is not gentle. You know about it. He's waiting for your slightest slip or show of weakness.

"I've been trying to contact you for weeks, sending letters, calling, leaving notes, and trying to start a conversation."

"You push me into a limo and molest me." You say, defeating all his attempts to make you feel guilty.

You won't have any Stockholm syndrome. He is the one who pursues you; he is the one who harasses you and won't let you move on after the breakup. He didn't even fucking acknowledge your breakup! The problem was with him, not with you. And you know he saw it fully in your eyes—the certainty that what was between you was far from a healthy relationship. And he doesn't like the direction you're going with your conclusions. That's why he resorts to heavier measures.

You hold back a gasp as he suddenly closes the gap between you with one step and places his hand on your cheek. You let him stroke it tenderly as he leans towards you to whisper seductively in your ear.

"You moaned so beautifully for me that even a deaf person wouldn't think you were forced. Admit that you miss me, just like I miss you. You'll make it easier for all of us."

He pulls away from you just enough to look into your eyes again. You decide to try and play his game and lick your lips, moving your gaze between his eyes and his mouth. You tilt your chin up and lean in, your lips almost brushing against his as you whisper.

"Listen to me carefully, because I'll only say this once. I. Will. Never. Come. Back. To. You. So take a hint and leave me alone." As you finish speaking, you reach for your bag and step away from him. You're walking towards the exit when, halfway there, you hear his quick footsteps behind you.

"Not so fast." He grabbed your wrist and turned you towards him, holding you close to his chest. His eyes turn a raging ocean colour with anger and annoyance at your teasing and mockery. "Do you really want your sister to have to take thousands of exams? Work harder because you couldn't commit one evening to me?"

"Evening?" You ask indignantly and in outrage, at which he laughs.

"Nothing dirty. Although I like your way of thinking..."

"Coriolanus." You interrupt him before he can continue the topic. He rolls his eyes at you, clearly not appreciating you interrupting his fun.

"I need a date for one evening. And after the successful show we put on at the opening of The Hunger Games, people are hungry for... well, more of us. What do you say? Will you find enough courage and willingness to accompany me, my love?"

"And you'll leave Y/S/N alone? No more creating problems for her to get my attention?" You make sure. He smiles... differently. With a strange, dangerous glint in his eye that makes you feel more uneasy than how you were since he pulled you to his chest. And you realise how close he actually is when he leans in, forcing you to look him in the eyes.

"Have I ever broken my promise to you, Y/N?"

"Surprisingly not." You answer after a long moment, trying to remember any such situation. He always did everything he promised for you. You didn't know if it was his advantage or… a more disquieting trait.

"You see. You have my word. I will fulfil everything I promised you, my little petal. Everything." He whispers softly, making you shiver as he gently takes a rose out of his jacket pocket and places it behind your ear. You knew this supposedly sweet act of his very well. It was the importance of his territory.

After his words, there is a long silence between the two of you. You hold your breath, mesmerised, as you stare into his icy-blue eyes. He was always so… composed around you. It was as if he was always able to do and say exactly what he wanted and planned. It was as if your entire interaction was just a game for him, a game he was convinced he couldn't lose. He lost his temper with you only once—when you surprised him with that break up…. but you aren't sure if he acknowledged it.

You come to your senses and out of his strange charm the moment he leans in so close to you that your noses gently brush against each other.

You pull away from him, much to his displeasure, and clear your throat. You keep your eyes on him, and in a challenge—one of the few acts of rebellion you can commit—you reach for the rose in your hair and take it out.

"When and where is this event?" You growl through clenched teeth.

"Friday evening. I'll pick you up at 8 p.m." He says it nonchalantly, putting his hands in his pocket. He acts as if nothing happened, and he was just inviting you to the party. As if he wasn't threatening your sister's future to force you to hang on his arm as an ornament for one evening... or maybe even longer.

"I'll go there myself."

"Not happening. You're coming there with me. Transportation is on me. After all, you're my date. It would look bad in public opinion if I didn't treat you like... a princess." He says it firmly, with a delicate smile on his lips—not the pleasant, warm one, but the cunning, cold one he showed when he won over his opponent. The one you were starting to get used to.

And you think while looking at him that if you were the princess in this story, then he was the dragon, keeping you in your palace or tower away from other people. To make sure you were completely at his mercy.

"I'm not sitting next to you in the limo or any car. And if you lay your hands on me, I will cut them off with those dull knives they serve to people with the dinner." He's more amused by your threat, but nods obediently. He takes a few steps towards you but stops, leaving a decent distance between you.

"I'd like to see you try. But you have to behave yourself. Or little Y/S/N will repeat her first year at university. Are we clear?"

"Yes. And I already have a dress, so don't you dare send me anything, understood?" He chuckles mockingly at your words, his pearly white teeth gleaming in the sunlight. You know him too well to be enchanted by such a sight of him. After all, the wolf seems beautiful too, until it attacks you.

"Perfectly. I can't wait to see you then." He says it in a sweet tone of voice. You shake your head and walk towards the exit. "And Y/N." Reluctantly, you turn towards him, your hand on the doorknob. "If I were you, I would have stopped ignoring my calls."

"Go to hell." You say it in an equally sweet tone of voice as his.

You smile at him and throw a rose towards him, bowing. Just like Lucy Gray. You smile victoriously and walk out, slamming the door behind you. You're glad you were able to finally throw him out of control and get him angry.

You leave the building with your head proudly held high. But the truth is that even though you try to pretend that you are controlling your situation with Coriolanus, the truth is that you are not. And you are absolutely terrified by it.

"You look beautiful, Y/N." your sister says as you are walking down the stairs of your house. It was Friday evening, and you were waiting for Coriolanus to come pick you up.

"Thank you, Y/S/N. Revise for the exam?" You ask, walking over to the mirror and putting on your earrings. Your long silver dress hugs your curves perfectly, revealing just enough skin that you don't have to worry about feeling Coriolanus' touch on you.

"Yes. I don't have a handsome boyfriend who would take me to the Capitol Gala. I envy you so much."

"You have nothing to envy, honey. Besides, Coriolanus is not my boyfriend. We broke up." You remind her, maybe a little too harshly judging by the way the younger girl flinches. You sigh and walk over to her with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. I just... don't like to remind people about it all the time. Coriolanus and I... we are just friends."

"But you were together at the Hungry Games opening ceremony! All my friends say that you two are a sweet couple and are perfect for each other." She says, adjusting the necklace around your neck, at which you smile fondly. You hug her and place a kiss on the top of her head.

"Sometimes people just… aren't meant to be together. Even if they think otherwise, remember how our parents wanted you to start dating John?" You ask, wrapping one arm around her. She winces and flinches at the memory, making you laugh out loud. You haven't laughed honestly in quite a few weeks.

"Is Coriolanus a self-absorbed idiot? That's why you don't want him?" She asks, comparing him to the boy who courted her.

"No. Not at all. He is... extremely attentive." You say it thoughtfully. And maybe other people would take it as a compliment, but to you... it was a dangerous trait. Alarming. Worrisoming.

"Well, anyway, I hope you have a nice evening. Maybe you two can talk, so he'll stop calling and sending you all this stuff. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to get jewellery from you every other day, but it must be... tiring for you if you don't love him anymore."

You smile at that. She was so… innocent; you, too, once were and believed in love. That's why you were with Coryo. He was gallant, elegant, and handsome. A true gentleman. Until he showed his true side—the side you are now afraid of. He was capable of doing many things to make sure he would get what he wanted. And now he wanted you.

"I want you to be careful..." You say, stroking her braids.

"Of what? Overworked because of studying all night?" She asks teasingly, clearly amused by your serious tone and sudden thoughtfulness.

"Of powerful men." The silence in the room after your words clearly makes your sister anxious, as does your depressed mood.

"Y/N... is everything okay?" You put on a fake smile and hug her one last time before putting your shawl around your arms and grabbing your bag.

"Of course. Don't worry about me. I'm going to have a fun night. Study. I promise it will be worth it." You say, placing a kiss on her forehead, and leave the room and house as you hear the car horn.

"Do you enjoy yourself?" Coriolanus asks, leaning in behind you and whispering in your ear as you stand at the table with alcohol and sweets.

"The champagne is delicious." You turn to look at him, to not have him behind your back, and finish the rest of your drink. You lean on the table, setting the glass down as you look at him carefully. "When can I go back home?"

"Just a few more moments, my petal." He places his hands on your shoulders, massaging them gently. You let him, leaning further into his side and closing your eyes tiredly. "Do you like it?"

"You're a poor masseur, but for lack of better hands…"

"I meant tonight. All those people who fawned over you and looked at you with respect and awe. All these women and men who wanted to fulfil your every little wish... don't you like this feeling of power? Superiority? Knowing that they will do anything to gain your favour?"

"You do it every day around me. This is nothing new." You say it dismissively and turn your back to him, taking a piece of cake from the table and eating it.

"I can stop. And I will stop if you keep pushing me away every time I try to get closer to you, every time I put my hand on your waist, every time I lean in to kiss you, and every time you push my hands away from under your dress. If you continue to insist that you are not mine, I will do things you have never imagined... even in your darkest nightmares."

"What do you want so desperately?" You ask him, irritated, putting the empty plate on the table and looking at him with an angry look as you are sick of whatever game he was playing with you.

"You." He says, taking a step towards you and grabbing your chin. He traces his fingers along your jawline, staring at your lips before returning his gaze to your eyes. "We had a good time together. You won't deny it."

"We had. And then you cheated on me." You remind him, feeling furious and hurt.

"It didn't mean anything. I told you. I'm sorry. I could have told you before it happened, let you know what I had to do… or found another way..."

"It does not matter. I don't want you anymore, Coriolanus." You tell him honestly, as you are fed up with everything that has happened between you over the past few months.

"You will change your mind."

"No. I won't." You shake your head, making his confident demeanour fall. He stares at you coldly, processing a plan in his head as he gently tightens his hand on your wrist.

"You'll do it if you still want to matter here. Do you think that if I win, I'll let you work in the lab on secret government projects? After you broke my heart so savagely in front of the entire Capitol? Do you think your family will still be willingly invited to social parties? That your family will have any future?"

"Are you threatening me?"

"I'm warning you. You can either accept me, become my wife and First Lady, or I will make sure you get kicked out of the lab and sabotage all your research for the rest of your life."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Are you sure?" You stared at each other for a moment. You sigh, angry and frustrated, and shake your head, not believing what's happening. "Let's go outside. You could use some fresh air to calm down." Before you can answer him anything, he leads you outside, his hand on your back and suspiciously close to your ass.

You sigh, feeling the cold air of the Capitol on your hot cheeks. Reluctantly, you take Coriolanus' arm as he leads you deeper into the garden to a more secluded spot.

"You wouldn't have a bad life with me. As my First Lady, you would have everything you wanted. I would fund your research. You could leave Dr. Gaul's lab and build your own, not wait for her to die, so you can inherit her legacy. You could have built your own one."

"No, Coriolanus! You can't bribe me! If you really think that I am shallow enough to agree to marry you and to play according to the illusion you have created in your head, then you are delusional. WE. ARE. DONE."

You turn around and try to get away from him. But before you can, Coriolanus grabs your hand and spins you around, causing you to bump straight into his chest.

Before you can even think about slapping him, he captures your lips with his. You moan even more in shock into his mouth when you feel him place something cold on your finger.

You somehow manage to wriggle out of his grip enough so that his hands and mouth can't reach you. You stare at the ring on your finger in shock. A big fucking diamond that probably glows in the dark and you could gouge out his eyes with if you hit him... which you really wanted to do right now.

"What are you doing?! Corio-mph!" He cuts you off with a kiss before you can get anyone's attention with your scream or really hit him.

You struggle against his grip, your nails digging into his arms, but he just groans and pins you to the tree, ignoring the pain you caused him. Before you can even realise where his hands are, he reaches back and unbuttons your dress. The material slides down to your hips, giving him a perfect view of your bare breasts.

You shiver as you watch him lick his lips and lean down to fuck the skin of your collarbone with kisses, holding your hips in an iron grip as he pins you to the tree. The cold air hits your bare skin, in contrast to Coriolanus's hot breath and tongue.

"I missed you." He whispers in your ear as his hands cup the curve of your breasts and squeeze them.

His touch is everywhere, slithering over you and clinging to you like a snake, wrapping itself around you tenderly and greedily, taking advantage of every opportunity he has. His mouth is as dynamic as his hands, biting at the tender spots of your neck, licking and sucking, marking you as his own when all he can think about is your body, pressed against him.

"I can give you everything. The whole world. For your touch, kiss, and moan when you come around me. All you have to do is accept me, me, and our future. It only takes one yes from you to make you my equal... and it only takes one no from you to make me destroy everything you love and everything you know. I will be the only one you can come to and the only person you will remember. I will destroy you if that is the price of having you, Y/N. I promise you that."

His whispered words against your skin, the hot touch of his tongue in all the right places on your neck, his hands teasing your breasts, and your quick, heavy breaths are distracting. You can't think straight, not when he's stimulating your senses, teasing your nipples, or when he's whispering his dark promises you should've been afraid of.

You come to your senses the moment one of his hands cups your abused breasts and slips under your dress, cupping your pussy. His long fingers tease you through the fabric of your panties, collecting the wetness he caused, and that's when the gravity of the whole situation hits you.

"No. Stop it. Stop! Help!" You scream, trying to push him away, but he covers your mouth with his hand brutally, drowning out any screams. You squeal as he presses his knee against your clothed cunt in an attempt to tease you.

You look at him with wide eyes as you freeze when his knee begins to rub against your most sensitive, wet (to your defeat and disgust) at his attention, part of your body.

"It ends only with me inside you, so you can either be a good girl for me or continue to be a stubborn brat and delay and deny us our pleasure. You have no idea how many times I came just from watching you from afar. You have no idea how much I want, crave, and desire you. I can't think or function normally. I can't create any plans without thinking about how wonderfully this tight pussy felt around me and how I need your soft walls to tighten around me again. So shut up and let me bring pleasure to us both, or try to keep fighting. Your stubborn struggle only excites me more, my petal."

To confirm his words, he presses himself against you, making you feel his hardness pressing through his pants and pressing against your lower abdomen. You breathe quickly, trying to think of a way out of this situation. You were in the fucking garden in the middle of a party—the gala of the year! Someone must have come here. He couldn't have just... taken you here.

"So? Will you finally accept your fate and place by my side, or do I need to break you? And trust me… I'll have even more fun."

His hands move to your hips. He changes your position, pressing you against the tree, his length rubbing through his pants against your clothed and wet core. You are trapped.

You could resist him, and maybe he would let you go... but then what? You and your family will be destroyed in the eyes of the Capitol if he wins and becomes president. You'll be finished, and your whole career will go to hell if you don't do it.

So you sigh, defeated. You close your eyes, place your hands on his shoulders, hold him for balance, and nod your head, surrendering to him.

"Look at me." You reluctantly comply, meeting his icy eyes with yours. His pupils are fully dilated, a faint blush decorates his cheeks, and you see the glint of victory and satisfaction in his eyes as he delights in his prey. You. "I need your words, my little petal." You bite your lip, furious that he's making you beg for him like a bitch in heat. As if he wasn't the one who desperately needed you all this time.

"I... please." You spit out, not looking at him. He grabs your neck in his grip and forces you to meet his gaze as his clothed body presses against your naked one, only in panties, your dress having slipped completely off of you at some point in your... conversation.

"Please what? More conviction and self-confidence, darling. Continue to be my little brat."

"Just fuck me, Coriolanus." You say it angrily, meeting his smug look. He smirks cockily, and in one quick movement, he cups the cheeks of your buttom with his hands and lifts you up, pinning you to the tree with his hips. You moan as he rubs against your clothed pussy and squeezes your ass tightly.

"Gladly." He growls, crashing into your mouth hungrily.

You gasp as he tears your panties in half, the cool night air hitting your exposed, hot womanhood. He moves his mouth to your breasts, sucking hickeys there as he teases your slick folds, making you blush with embarrassment at how wet you were for him.

He's not trying to stretch you or prepare you for taking his thick length after... such a long time of separation. The undoing of his belt and the zipper of his pants are the only warnings you get as you feel the tip of his cock with pre-cum rubbing at your entrance.

As he begins to enter you, you lower your head and bite into his neck, ignoring the collar of his shirt that covers most of his skin. Your saliva soaks his shirt as you moan into his neck.

"You know, I could have fucked you raw the day you thought you could leave me. I guess I should've done that. Put you over my knee for being a brat, give you a few spanks to remind you of your place, and fuck the baby inside you so you can focus on something meaningful. After all, your womb belongs to me, as do all of you. Although I don't know if you'd moan as sweetly and loudly as you do now… What kind of feeling is it? Having someone who you swore you despised wholeheartedly inside you? You take me too well, darling. Your smart, stubborn mouth may call me the worst names, but as long as those wet and tight down there welcome me like home, we both know what the truth is. We both know you want it as much as I do." He says, grunting as he pushes his cock into your tight pussy.

You both moan as he buries himself up to his balls inside you.

He grabs your hair and pulls your face away from his neck, capturing your lips in a bruising kiss as he gives you time to get used to the feeling of him inside you again. You mockingly think to yourself that he's waiting because he's afraid he'll finish too soon.

He fucks a line of kisses along your jaw as he begins to move. You hiss, digging your nails into his shoulders as you hold on to him. You think you've made a few little holes in his shirt with your nails, but that's your last concern now as he pounds into you faster and faster.

You both try to be quiet, trying not to attract anyone's attention, although, judging by the loud music coming from inside the building, it's unlikely that anyone will be looking for you. And hearing your grunts and moans is rather a huge challenge, but still, the last thing you want is for someone to walk into both of us...

"Mine. Only mine." Coriolanus growls into your neck; his thrusts are faster and more precise, making you bite your lip to hold back your moans, but he doesn't let you do it for long. He wants to feel and hear all of you. He wants to revel in his victory. That's why he kisses you, biting your buttom lip to the blood. He pulls away and leans his forehead on yours as he listens to the little sounds you make as he fucks the brain out of you. "Can you feel how deep I am? How well am I filling you? You will be a beautiful First Lady. Fuck. My future First Lady. My future wife. The mother of my children." He moans in your ear. You don't answer; you take ragged breaths, listening to the squelch of your joined bodies echoing around this secluded part of the garden.

You think about everything. About how perfectly he fills you, what a bastard he is, how he drives you crazy with his words and moans and touches and thrusts, and how bad it is that you enjoy having sex with him and despise what he has done. But you have some needs too...

Unfortunately, Coriolanus was the only one who could meet them and satisfy you.

"You were meant for me. Just like I was for you. We are the two sides of the same coin… WE. ARE. UNITY." He growls, making one last few hard pushes into you, making you both cum. He captures your lips in a kiss, muffling both of your screams as you fall apart around him, feeling his warm seed flood your womb.

You shake, wrapping your arms around him tightly, trusting him to hold the weight of both of you as you see nothing but white light in your orgasmic haze. You can't feel your legs, but you know you're still clenching them tightly around him. Your mind is empty; you feel amazing, electric bliss, but it is immediately followed by the realisation of what you have done.

You gave yourself to him. You agree to be engaged to him. The entire Capitol will be watching you. You will have to marry him if he wins the elections.

You're snapped out of your thoughts when he starts to move. But you don't open your eyes. You don't want to see him in his post-orgasmic state. You don't want to see his smug smirk and the twinkle in his eyes. You feel him press a kiss on your temple and slowly pull himself out of you, making you both moan.

You shiver as he sets you on your feet, supporting your waist with his hands. You feel how his seed, and your juices are lazily oozing down your thighs, reminding you of what you agreed to. About your deal with the devil.

You whine, grabbing his wrist in protest as he swipes the excess of your combined cum from your thighs and cunt.

"Don't worry, I know your limits." He says, pulling his hand away from your grip and licking it off. He gives you one of his fingers to suck, which you reluctantly agree to as he stuffs it into your mouth. "Good girl."

"Screw you."

He laughs at your hostility and zips up his pants. He reaches for your dress and helps you get back into it. After he rips your panties, you have to go without them, clearly feeling... the effects of your hot little moment.

"And what now?" You ask him as he puts on his jacket and buttons it, trying his best to hide the bloody marks you left on him.

"We go back to the party, I say goodbye to everyone I need to, and we leave. I have some rings for you to try on in my apartment. The one on your finger is only for a moment. It's big enough for them to notice it and start gossiping. You can choose which one you like more. My bed was also rather lonely and cold without you in it." He suggests, seductively, running a finger along your bare arm as he places the straps of your dress over your shoulders, making sure they don't slide down.

"Don't hope for more moments like this. I can play the doting fiancée in front of the Capitol, but behind closed doors, I'm not going to pretend that you're anything more than a pathetic, cold man who needs affection from someone who despises you with all her heart." You growl and push him away from you. You put your heels back on and take out your lipstick, powder, and mirror from your purse, fixing your appearance.

"It didn't look like you despised me when you cum around my cock just a few minutes ago." He points it out and walks over to you. He fixes his hair and yours and offers you his arm once you fix your makeup. You roll your eyes when you see in the mirror that he has tucked a rose behind your ear. AGAIN.

"Oh, shut up. I'd come around anyone. I haven't had sex in months." You say it angrily and place your hand in the crook of his arm as he leads you back towards the building and to the party.

"Same here." You snort derisively, not believing his confession even for a second.

"As if I could ever trust you again. Besides, you can fuck with Cardew and the others as much as you want. I don't care."

"I prefer to be with you, my little petal. Smile. We'll have company soon." He puts his arm around yours, pulling you closer to him as you walk down the path. In fact, Lucky Flickerman comes around the corner, talking with some women and men. They all giggle. The man stops when he sees the two of you.

"Oh... well... it looks like our future president is a womanizer." Coriolanus grimaces at his last word but is clearly happy that Lucky believes in his victory, so he smiles politely at the man.

"Quite the opposite. We just celebrated our engagement." He announces it proudly, and you hear the rest of Flickerman's company gossiping livelyly, watching you even more closely.

For the first time, you appreciate Coriolanus' strong arm wrapped around your waist. It's rather hard for you to stand after what you two did together a few minutes ago. You're glad you were able to finish before the group left for their walk.

"Oh! Congratulations! You have to come to my new show. People will go crazy when they hear about how Capitol's most popular couple is taking the next step in their relationship! And I think we are all very curious about your beginnings. And the wedding will come soon! I guess right after the election, am I wrong? Oh, it doesn't matter, lovebrids. It is indeed an amazing year for the society of Capitol and Panem."

"We will, Lucretius. Maybe as a presidential couple? Who knows... What do you think about it, my darling? Would you like an interview about us?" Coriolanus turns his head and looks at you questioningly, with mock concern and affection in his eyes. Only you can see how false his act is... or at least you think he is just pretending.

You hear one of the women gushing over the look and the way Coriolanus addresses you. The clever bastard plays the card of a guy who is head over heels in love to gain even more sympathy from society before the elections.

"It would be amazing, honey." You reply with a smile, leaning more into him as Flickerman and the others say how adorable the two of you are.

And you just stand there smiling, playing your part as the happy bride. Out of the corner of your eye, you notice Coriolanus stealing glances at you, and you can't help but wonder... is he really that good at acting, or is he serious in his desire for you and your feelings?

Coriolanus's arm wraps around your waist possessively, like a snake, as the two of you pose for photos. Camera flashes blind you, but you keep a fake smile on your lips.

Several months have passed since your... interaction in the garden. You continued to play his loving fiancée in front of the Capitol, but you remained cold and uncaring towards him. You haven't fucked in the garden since then. You made sure to push and move away from him whenever he got too close to you in private.

Luckily, you didn't have to move into his apartment, and you still lived with your parents. You managed to convince him that moving would be pointless if you were about to move into the presidential palace. You prayed every day that this wouldn't happen.

Out of the corner of your eye, you notice that he turns his head to look at you. You automatically do the same without thinking much about it. And that's your mistake. When you meet his intense gaze of icy blue eyes... you can't look away. You feel like he's holding you tightly by the chin and forcing you to look into his irises... But how can you look away when you see emotions in his eyes that they would never dare admit to you? And judging by the way it sent photographers into a frenzy as they screamed in excitation, you know you're not the only one who saw it.

You still can't figure out if it's just an act or if he actually has feelings for you. Something more than a sick obsession. Maybe you were really starting to have symptoms of Stockholm syndrome?

He pulls you from your thoughts as he leans towards you to tell you something, trying to shout over the crowd around you.

"Are you ready? Shall we go to our seats?"

You nod at him. He takes your hand in his and leads you inside the building, where the official announcement of the results is to take place. The crowd around you whistles in delight as he sees how protectively he treats you and how he guides you through the crowd while making sure you keep up with his pace and don't follow him. He has you beside him, gently distant away—enough for him to be able to cover you in case of any danger.

He leads you to a place of honour next to Dr. Gaul. He kisses you on the cheek and leaves to take his place on the podium in front of the cameras with the other candidates.

"Nice ring." The woman next to you says, a teasing smirk on her lips.

"He would put a collar around my neck with his name on it if he could. I suppose you would help him with that." You snort indignantly and furiously, at which she laughs.

"I can't deny that I'm rooting for you two." You roll your eyes at her and focus your gaze on Lucky, who opens the event.

You know very well that if he becomes president, you will lose everything. All your freedom. You will have to play the role of his devoted wife and mother to his children for the rest of your life. It is true that you will have funds at your disposal to conduct your own research in the laboratory, but will it make you happy? Could you live like that?

"But there can only be one winner…" Lucky's voice snaps you out of your thoughts. You and the entire Capitol are waiting for the results. To hear the name of your new president. "And that is CORIIOLANUS SNOW! Ladies and gentlemen, let's salute our president!"

The world is dying around you. People shout and chant the name of Coriolanus; there is a huge noise of applause and joy. You won't leave your seat. You sit there, frozen, realising the harsh truth. Now, nothing can stop him. He can do anything he wants, and you know damn well that he, like all these people, has no boundaries.

"But where is he? Where is our president?" Before you can look around, you feel hands cupping your face as someone pulls you to the left. Coriolanus' lips crash against yours, and you can only moan into his sudden, passionate kiss and let him do whatever he wants. "Oh, yes, that's where he is! Where else could a man be after hearing that he had won? Of course, at the side of his chosen one, his life companion, and his beloved! This is how it should be, my friends! This is who the Capitol has chosen! A man who loves his woman above all else and shares his joys and sorrows with her. That's the real power, my friends. The power of love. Ladies and gentlemen, our president, who is heading right this way, Coriolanus Snow!"

You don't remember what happened next or what speech he made. Strangely enough, consciousness fully returns to you after a few glasses of champagne and wine. You are standing near the bar, away from the large crowd. Coriolanus is already giving another interview when Dr. Gaul approaches you.

"I warned you." She says, and you raise a questioning eyebrow at her. "When you started dating. That there is nothing more dangerous and beneficial to women than powerful men."

"You knew since then?"

"Of course. He is obsessed with power and control. He had his little songbird, but she ran away. Then he met you and you became his new... love interest or obsession. This boy is hard to read sometimes." He tells you as you both look at Coriolanus. Somehow, he feels your eyes on him. He nods at Dr. Gaul and throws you a smirk before his attention returns to the journalist.

"So... it was never true?" You ask, placing your empty glass on the bar.

"I think he cares about you... on his own way." She tells you, which doesn't make you feel any better. You sigh deeply and order a glass of vodka, which you immediately drink. "Oh, don't be so sad. That's life, my child. My husband was just like him. He was a controlling manipulator, but he had one thing that I didn't, the thing that helped me achieve greatness and be where I am now. To be a legend. An icon."

"And what was that?" You ask resignedly, focusing your attention on her.

"Money. A rich and, above all, powerful man is able to do anything if he is madly in love. And Mr. Snow is a perfect example of this. Tell me... how much money has he already put into you? How much did you get in return for the ounce of attention and closeness he so desperately craves? You didn't want to be a whore, but we women have to act like one sometimes."

"There must be another way." You argue, unable to accept such a… cruel truth, but she just laughs bitterly, mockingly.

"There is not. This is the world of men, my child. It is their pride that guides and makes all important decisions. Behind every man, however, there is a woman who... has the strength to overshadow his pride and direct him the way she wants. Unfortunately, you have to seduce him if you want to get what you want. But I know you. And I know you will be able to do it. I know that you, of all people, are the closest to following my path and carrying my legacy."

"I am not like you." You respond quickly, outraged by the ideas she's giving you and her opinion of you.

"Of course not. There are no women or men like me. Besides, you may become the First Lady. The most powerful woman in all of Panem. Take it. Accept his proposal and the ring that you think will be your prison. Use it wisely. To your advantage. It's a chance that not many of us have. Think about it."

You don't have a chance to answer her. Coriolanus approaches you with a huge smile on his face. He places a quick kiss on your cheek and wraps his hand around your waist before turning his full attention to Dr. Gaul.

"Congratulations, Mr. Snow. Or should I say... Mr. President?" She asks him teasingly with a smug, proud smirk. Eventually, her student became president.

"Dr. Gaul, you, of all people, can call me whatever you want." He responds with extreme happiness—a sight that is truly rare. You also think that he is more clingy than usual.

"I shall leave you two to celebrate then, President Snow." She says it with a smile and walks past you, giving you a wink.

You sigh, which doesn't go unnoticed by Coriolanus. He rubs his hand gently over your back and stands in front of you, leaning against the bar.

"We have to go. Photographers and papparazi are dying to take a picture of us both." He says, adjusting the necklace around your neck. You grab his hand and place it against your neck, staring at him from under your eyelashes as you lean towards him and whisper seductively.

"Don't you want to accept my... very warm congratulations first, Mr. President?"

You see that he is surprised by your behavior. He freezes for a moment in shock, looking at you carefully. He licks his lips as his thoughts race, and you casually run your hand over his vest, supposedly straightening it but actually caressing him gently, especially his abdominal muscles through the fabric of his clothes.

"What do you mean?" He asks shakily, swallowing as you intrude even further into his personal space.

"You know what..." You whisper, pressing your leg against his crotch. He hisses, feeling you rub your knee against his cock, which is hardening from your attention. He looks around the room quickly, relieved to see that no one is looking at you.

"Why such a sudden change?" He asks, quickly grabbing your hand that was getting dangerously close to the waistband of his pants as he begins to lead you out of the party and into a more… secluded room.

"There is no change. I still hate you and despise you. But what can I say... I am very drawn to a powerful man, my darling..." You mock him, calling him cute nicknames as he closes the door behind you.

You gasp, surprised, when he pins you immediately against the door. You feel his length press against your hip as he leans over you to whisper in your ear.

"You're going to fall in love with me again. I promise you this, my little petal." And with that, he captures your lips in a passionate kiss, sealing his oath.

And as he pushes his tongue into your mouth, swallowing your moan as his hands roam and tease your pussy with his fingers, preparing you for him, you wonder if even despite your dislike for him, he'll be able to do it. After all, he was a powerful man... but you were an equally powerful woman.

[twst-drabbles]

Silver 8

Summary: Silver wouldn't stop touching you. When you're injured and recovering from another overblot, Silver breaks into your room.

(Alrighty, almost finished emptying out the inbox. Silver Silver Silver, what a treat of a person he is. I can only hope I did him justice in this yandere little thing.)

Silver started touching you.

You didn't mind, at least initially. He'd tap you on the shoulder or speak into your ear while lightly holding your shoulder because conversations between you two are often only for you two. But they were always brief. Short, short touches could easily be forgotten in the blink of an eye.

There was a weight to Silver's hands. He's not expressionless by any means, but he often takes his troubles and stuffs them as far from his mind as he can. He would smile in reassurance, and his hands would be death-gripping the sword at his side. When he would wake from another narcoleptic episode, he would smile as though basking in the beauty of the morning light, before gently tugging at your shirt as though you'll vanish into the wind.

His hands speak his worries, and he's been touching you more and more.

When you had gotten up from the bench to grab a snack from a nearby cart, Silver had the corner of your shirt pinched between his fingers. You didn't say anything beyond just tapping his hand to get him to let go. He did, and he apologized, so you figured that was that.

When you were sitting at a library table, reading away at your notes because you had a test next class, Silver sat besides you without word, hand landing right next to yours. You didn't mind, because this was something you both always did. It's nice to have company, and Silver was someone you liked being around. His arm twitched and suddenly the back of his hand was touching yours. You moved away, again, without a word.

He'd apologize with a tightness to his lips. You figured that would be the end of that.

But it just kept happening.

Light taps against your fingers when walking too close, grasps on your arm when you already have your attention on Silver, brushes against your shoulder when there's nothing there.

Many would say, "Silver is flirting, don't you get it?"

But every time he would do that, for just the briefest of moment, Silver would look like a scared animal, waiting for the inevitable to tear through everything he holds dear.

You figured if you ignored it long enough, if you swatted at him enough times, he'd get the message that he's pushing it.

But then you got injured, and all that weirdness festering in your brain went out the window. Plum forgot it, because overblot was a way more worrying event than whatever was going on with Silver. You didn't have anything broken, but you did have stitches and too many pulled muscles. So much so that the ghosts had to assist you in getting up the stairs.

People came over, giving you gifts and other things to help with the recovering process. Some even decided to stay in your dorm for a time. Ace and Deuce were the first to camp out here, but were also the first to leave, mostly because they sucked at healthcare and Riddle forced them out. Jack stayed a little longer, but you shooed him out when it was clear that your dorm was located in a spot that forced him to get up way earlier than he should be for the sake of his routine. Vil wouldn't allow Epel to stay here longer than a week, and Ortho had many other responsibilities that also didn't allow for him to stay.

And Sebek couldn't bear to stay away from Malleus's side, and so he sent Silver in his stead.

Silver stayed. He helped you around, gave you food when you needed it and when you didn't, reminded you of your medication and even collected your notes for you.

Really, it felt as though nothing had changed.

And then you woke up to fingers stroking your cheek, trailing right over the back of your neck.

You seized the empty glass cup on your nightstand and threw it behind you. It missed the frozen Silver and shattered against the wall.

There's that look again, that look of guilt and fear. He knows. Silver knows what he's doing.

"Get out," you growled out, because you're tired of his shit. Chance after chance and he just kept pushing.

"Wait," Silver's knees thudded against the floor, "wait please."

His voice was nothing more than a pleading whisper. You couldn't hear it, not after realizing that your locked door was missing the knob.

"You're fucking with me," because what else are you supposed to say to that?

You pushed yourself to the edge of the bed, almost about to fall off when Silver's hands and landed on the sheets, about to touch your thigh.

"Please, I promise I didn't mean any harm," Silver breathed out, eyes and voice full of tears, "I needed to see you, to see if you were okay."

You grabbed your lamp, yanked it out of it's socket, and bashed it against Silver's skull.

He fell, but was still conscious, murmuring a stream of apologizes as you slowly walked over to him. There wasn't any blood, and something about that only made you angrier.

You crouched with the help of your bed and yanked Silver up by the hair. He wince and grasped at your wrist, but didn't pull or fight. When his gaze connected with yours, tears finally fell over his cheeks.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I needed to feel if you were still real. That I wasn't living in a dream."

Excuses, excuses, excuses.

You're tired of them.

"If you're so sorry, then let me break something."

"Please, so long as I can still see you," Silver said past sobs, hands tenderly stroking your arm.

"Put your hands on the floor."

You'll be breaking those first.

[v-anrouge]

This is a queued post and it includes talks about transphobia and mentions of self harm and eating disorders

Im here to talk and announce a break, first thing's first j relapsed, in literally like everything sh ed and didn't try to kill myself is because of a few people and the fact my pills ended. For a very long time in this blog u have not been feeling like human, it's like most of you don't even actually like and just come talk to me when im being funny and fun or when i post something rook related that you like, ive really been trying to get rid of that feeling but it keeps on coming back and it's unbearable to be in this blog at this point. this situation with Shiba only really confirmed it for me, I saw about like 4 mutuals referring to this as drama, and complaining about seeing it on dash and while obviously you have all the rights to be displeased with a constant show of negativity in your dash, i beg of you to try and think how i, a trans man, must feel seeing you refer to me and other mutuals calling out transphobia and have to read you refer to this as drama and not as a literal crime. I understand if you got annoyed by me talking about it constantly and to that i ask that you please block me, because i have been literally beaten, bullied, harassed and even doxxed by transphobes, I do not take anything that displays even a bit of prejudice against my trans siblings lightly, hence why i was so "histerical and obsessed" and was being so "stupid and acting like an idiot" as someone people would claim. I do not care what view you have of me i really don't, im used to this shit, ive been trans and alive in the most transphobic country for 20 years, it's no news, but it still hurts. And it hurts even more when I see someone say i was an idiot for blocking someone immediately and calling them out when they side with a transphobe, and it hurts even more when I see a person i thought liked me complain about "drama still going on" rest assured that i won't be "bitching" about it any longer

For soru, who cant possibly process why i have blocked you, your take on that situation and your friend have both brought me terrible flashbacks of my own past as a child dealing with transphobia, of being told people like me are sick and are the seeds of the devil and that we are animals or that there's something wrong with us, like your friend said, their apology is both not genuine and extremely poorly made as they still can't accept the fact that yes, they are transphobic, and you soru, can't imagine how it broke my soul to see your post saying you had given them a chance, but seeing the post you made after, in which you literally agree with your mother you should've stayed away from trans people, that's what broke me the most, and j couldn't even speak about it, because it's "too negative" or im "drama chasing" im sick of this, you can hate and insult me all you want soru rest assured you're not the only one you're not the first nor the last one, maybe this will come off as a surprise to the people that are sure im obsessed with drama and chasing people around but i genuinely did have a lot of respect for you, if the hours ive spent crying over this say anything at all, it's sad that this had to end this way, but not for me, I don't care, this isn't the first or the last time this happens to me, but to my mutuals who i am very sure many are angry that i have made this situation happen, perhaps i should've stayed quiet and keep being funny as people like me best, well it is too late, but i hope that you'll forgive me mutuals, for once again ruining something good.

I don't know how long this break will last or if ill ever even return to this account at all, but i sincerely thank the ones that did treat me like a human, as an equal, that actually saw the person behind v-anrouge. you can't possibly believe how much you mean to me

That's about it, do have a great day

[pacifymebby]

peaky blinders hc for what it would be like to be dating them/married to them!! xx

So i did married to them, hope thats alright xx

Tommy

🌿 Determined to make sure things are different this time, good and true, he wanted to marry you with the gypsies. So you had your wedding in the fields at the Golds settlement.

🌿Dangerous goes without saying, naturally, however somehow its worse than you imagined. You always thought Tommy was being dramatic when he said it would get worse once you were married

🌿 But it got worse, there have been multiple attempts on your life and Tommy is more protective of you than ever

🌿 He doesn't always show it in the best or most romantic of ways, sometimes he stays late at work, hours late because hes trying to pull together a plan that will keep you safe. He doesn't tell you often enough that its you hes thinking of, its yours and his future which keeps him going.

🌿Puts a lot of pressure on himself for things to be different this time. Hes been married in the past and failed to treat people right, he won't let himself go wrong again.

🌿When things get bad and youre scared - though you try to be brave for your husband - Tommy tries to get you to talk to him and admit your fears, says its good to be scared, shows youre still innocent, shows you're still alive.

🌿That kind of talk scares you more though and so he ends up bringing you into his lap/arms, cradling you to his body and whispering promises to keep you safe, to never leave you.

🌿Tells you stories, that if things get really bad you'll get a wagon together and dissappear never to return. You'll chanhe your names, leave everything behind, just you amd him together. You know it will never happen like that but the story comforts you every time.

🌿 Doesnt involve you in the business at all, determined to keep you pure and innocent. Even if he knows deep down its impossible.

🌿Spoils you, mostly with pretty jewellery and animals. Buys you dogs, always takes you with him to buy horses.

🌿Has a horse he keeps just for the two of you and takes you riding as often as he can.

🌿 Sometimes in the summer the two of you dissappear for days on that horse, living like gypsies where no one can reach you. These are his favourite memories. Brings himself hell from the rest of the family upon your return, but its worth it every time.

🌿 Youre one of the only people who can talk any sense into him, hes always talking to you about "mutual respect" and how hes heard its the most important thing in a marriage. So whenever you argue, and if you step out of line, he'll stop you and remind you.

🌿 "What is it we have love? Remind me eh i think I've forgotten?" "respect Tommy," you sigh. "Mutual respect, that means it goes both ways... Right," he pats your cheek lightly, his cheeky smile gets under your skin "that'll be that then eh."

🌿 The longer goes by the less he feels haunted by Grace. You're a mother to his children and he talks to you all the time about having a baby with you. Whenever you have sex he tells you thats what he wants.

🌿 Still calls you his angel, still believes you were sent from heaven to heal him.

Alfie

🐻 Good, quiet, stable and steady. Alfie treasures you and isnt going to let anything happen to you. Which means you lead a remarkably quiet life for a ganstas wife.

🐻 He keeps you out of business, and for the most part, keeps himself out of business too.

🐻 He made a joke at the wedding saying that if anyone tried to joke around and ask if he was the father of the bride, he'd cut them. You know he wasn't really joking, you know he occassionally does worry hes too old for you.

🐻 "Sure you wouldn't rather be out there with handsome young men your own age?"

🐻 The plain and simple answer is no... The longer answer is still no, but followed with lots of questions. For one, why on earth would you want to be with any of those arrogant younger men who waste all their money on snow and whiskey, who dont care for their women and sleep around... Your alfie is so good to you, devoted to you, takes care of you, hes your gruff and grumpy bear. You like thats hes a little old fashioned, that he has manners, that hes your old man.

🐻 Takes baths with you, candle lit, when the rooms all steamy he makes you lie back against his chest whilst he washes you. He hums you little tunes, tells you he thinks hes gonna write an opera one day. You joke and ask who will be his muse, you or tommy shelby. And when you make jokes like that he takes your wet hair and wraps it round his fist, tugs on it gently but harsh enough to pull your head back so that youre looking up at him.

🐻 "Remember our rules right ziskeit, you don't mention the name of the devil, we dont talk about cursed men right in this here home of ours" its like hes almost superstitious about it. Doesnt want you to say Tommys name because the man is cursed and the curse catches.

🐻 When you apologise you kiss each of his finger tips.

🐻 He bakes you bread (actual bread) all the time, especially when hes stressed, the kneeding is theraputic for him. Sometimes he gets you to help him, teaches you the proper way to do it with his hands over yours.

🐻 Eventually you move to margate together, he likes it better that way, thinks you can really be safe, thinks you'll finally be away from Tommy Shelby for good. He misses his old friend but he's glad to keep the curse away from you.

🐻 Can't sleep at night without you resting your head on his chest. Likes to comb his fingers through your hair until he falls asleep.

🐻 Likes to help you dress in the mornings, brushes your hair, lets you teach him how to make it pretty, but complains his fingers are too big and clumsy, not dainty like yours. But you like it better when Aflie does your hair for you, you feel prettier knowing his hands made you up like that.

Arthur

🍂 Tumultuous to say the least. This is one traumatised man and you accepted the ups and downs of your relationship a long time ago. Your one rule is that he never suffers alone.

🍂You want to go through everything with him, you never want him to be alone snowed up and sad drunk so even when he gets himself in a terrible state, even when he begs you to leave him because he doesnt want you to see him like that, you stay with him, you hold him whilst he cries, you weather his temper knowing he will never hurt you.

🍂 He does scare you, when he breaks things it scares you, but you know he loves you, you know its not really him but his illness, you've stood and watched him destroy a room before and then said "You gonna come here now and let your wife look after you?"

🍂 You hold his head to your chest and soothe him to sleep. Kiss his hair, tell him you know hes a good man. You tell him you love him all the time.

🍂 Despite the fact youre married he still has a complex, still thinks he doesnt deserve your love still thinks hes ruining your life, is terrified of corrupting you, but you never let those thoughts linger and refuse to take him seriously when he tells you.

🍂 "Dont be daft my darling husband, you deserve all the love in the world and I'll be damned if you get it from any woman but me..."

🍂 His heart is always in the right place even if his romantic plans dont always go to plan. Sometimes he buys you flowers but forgets to give them to you until theyve already wilted. Hes tried to cook for you and nearly set the house on fire.

You find it funny and endearing however, it means all the more to you that he tries so hard for you.

🍂 The sex is so good, and maybe a little relentless, because hes determined to be an honest man now he takes his full sexual appetite out on you and its exhausting in the best way possible. When hes pissed off you like to tease him into taking his frustration out on you sexually.

🍂 Naturally being the wife of a peaky blinder is dangerous, you and arthur both know that and your being so precious to him does mean that he is sometimes a little zealous trying to protect you.

🍂Men have lost teeth for looking at you.

🍂 And men who have actually tried to harm you... You didn't witness every death so you couldn't possibly say what happens to them...

🍂 Does make you feel powerful, you like how it makes you feel like a dangerous woman. You try to keep that secret though as arthur would hate to think he'd corrupted your morals in any way other than sexually.

John

🌼 John is a good husband because hes a good lad, a decent, honest, caring lad. He always did have a little more good in him than his brothers.

🌼 He takes being your husband seriously, he wants to provide for you, protect you, wouldnt see himself as a man if he couldnt keep his wife and home happy.

🌼 Wants a big happy family with you. Finds great comfort in sitting down at the kitchen table with all the weans running around, playing games like him and his brothers used to when they were kids, seeing you his wife there too. Its comforting to have this heavenly little bit of peace, even if its a kind of peace which is pure chaos.

🌼 Hes attentive, always checking in on his flower. He wants you to always be happy.

🌼 He's also still got the heart of a boy, hes childish and silly, likes playing games with you, will chase you around the garden, through the house, sling you over his shoulder when he catches you.

🌼 Plays with the kids, is a good father as well as a good husband, but definitely is the kind of father that ropes the kids into his tricks and uses them to help wind you up.

🌼 Cuddles up to you all the time, likes to catch your hand as you walk past him and pull you into a hug. Refuses to let you go, makes you put up a fight.

🌼 Lowkey always horny, is looking for any excuse and opportunity to fuck you.

🌼 Brings gifts back for you from the city, brings you flowers. Threads them through your hair.

🌼 Always trying to steal kisses from you.

🌼 At family meetings he stands by you, with his arm around your waist and his hand holding yours. He wont let anybody talk down to you. He takes protecting you very seriously.

🌼 Would throw himself in front of you, take a bullet for you, run into a burning building for you in a heartbeat. He takes being your husband very seriously.

Bonnie

🍀 Bonnie is the sweetest husband and he takes being your husband very seriously indeed, sometimes a little too seriously, which is adorable.

🍀"I'm your husband, I've got to look after you," "Got to keep my lovely wife safe and sound haven't i..."

🍀Makes you all these promises of how your life will be when hes a world famous fighter.

🍀 Treats you like youre still courting, picks you wildflowers, takes pride in catching good meat for you. Brings you little gifts back from the city. Sometimes he steals you little gifts from the city.

🍀 A boy of tradition, couldn't see you the night before the wedding...

🍀 The wedding was in spring, it was pure and blissful, you danced the whole night with him around the fires. It was a raucous celebration by all accounts and when it came to consumating

🍀 Now he dreams of having children with you, wants to be a father to your babies so badly... And telling you that when hes burried inside you makes you both hold onto one another even tighter in your passion.

🍀 He used to be nervous to have you at his fights but now youre his good luck charm... Not that he needs any luck but still, he likes to be able to look over and see his little dove rooting for him.

🍀 You insist upon being the one to help him prepare for the fight, youre the one who wraps his hands carefully. You put your forehead to his and your noses brush when you tell him to make sure he wins. 🍀You also insist upon being the one to patch him up afterwards. He doesnt like you getting your hands dirty like that, says you shouldnt be the one cleaning him up but you always argue. "Womens hands are more delicate and careful than mens, and I'm not having any other woman back here with you..."

🍀Besides its a good way of getting him alone after the fight. You love seeing the animalistic side of him that the fights bring out in him and watching him in the ring makes you want him pretty desperately...

🍀 Especially because its the only time you can trick him into being anything but careful with you. You like how hard he fucks you when he's still burning with adrenaline.

🍀And then afterwards when youre both coming down together how gentle he is with you, how concerned he is that he might have gone too hard and hurt you.

🍀He'll hold you in his lap, still burried inside you, scatter you in kisses, especially if you happen to have bruises on your neck and shoulders from his bites.

🍀"I'm so sorry little dove, do you hurt?" "Its a good kind of hurt Bonnie, it feels good," but he'll make sure to kiss every one better multiple times whilst he tells you how precious you are.

🍀Its not that he's insecure, he isn't at all, he knows you'd never pay another man any mind whatsoever, but its the principle of things... He believes in his morals and traditions and thinks other men should too... You don't hit girls, you show women respect, you protect them... And you don't flirt with other mens wives.

🍀 So if someone isn't respectful enough of you for his liking, he'll teach them a lesson.

🍀 And when he catches other men looking at you with lust in their eyes, he makes a cheeky little display of kissing you and holding you and letting everyone know youre his.

🍀 Puts his cap on your head sometimes when youre walking. Just to let everyone know youre the wife of a peaky boy.

Isaiah

🐀No one thought they'd see Isaiah married so young, but when he found out you were carrying his child he didn't exactly settle down but he did show everyone how serious he was about you.

🐀His father did the ceremony, it was small but lavish. A family and peakys affair, with a roaring party at the Garrison afterwards.

🐀He has you give up working, won't have his wife and the mother of his child going to work when he can provide plenty enough for the three of you by himself.

🐀You worry about him a lot. Not because you dont think hes capable of looking after himself but because you know just how capable he is of getting himself into trouble.

🐀And he does get himself into trouble, especially over you, doesnt hesitate to pick a fight with anyone whose eye you catch, now that youre his wife he takes his role as your "protector" extra seriously, not only that but he views you as his property, and no one else should be laying a finger or glance at those which belong to him.

🐀You tell him all the time you wish he'd calm down a little, get into less scraps but he says "What kind of a husband would i be if i didnt defend the honor of my wife"

🐀Really likes reminding you that youre his wife... As if you could ever forget it. Tells you youre his all the time. Makes you tell him that youre his.

🐀"Who do you belong to?" when hes fucking you, "You Isaiah, you..." "And only me..."

🐀Just because youre his wife and an honest woman doesnt mean youre having pure and honest sex... Hes rough with you, fucks you hard and fast and mercilessly.

🐀Although he likes seeing you in his jacket, he sees it as a status symbol that his wife should have lots of glamourous things of her own, so you have your own coat, which he always reminds you to wear. "What kind of husband lets his wife leave the house half dressed?" you tell him hes being dramatic.

🐀But he doesnt see it that way, he thinks you deserve the whole world, all the glamour and riches you could ever wish for, he isnt going to give you and his baby anything less than just that.

🐀Is definitely a dominant husband, has lots of ideas about the way a marriage should be and he is determined to do things properly.

🐀Tells you youre the reason he takes on dangerous jobs, that everything he does with the peakys is for you, to get a better life for you and your baby.

🐀Doesnt listen when you say you dont need anything other than him, that you only need him alive and healthy and there with you. That success and wealth mean nothing if you can't have him with you.

Michael

☘️ He comes off as cold to you sometimes. He doesnt mean to but sometimes he upsets you when he gets distant, too focussed on impressing Tommy Shelby and living up to the family name.

☘️ But when he realises what hes done and how hes hurt you he softens and warms to you immediately. Doesnt apologise for the way he has been because this is Michael and he never apologises, but he does remind you why, tells you its all for you.

☘️ Youre not sure you completely believe him there, you know some of it at least is feeding his ego, he wants everything his cousin has and more, but youre happy to let him believe that you believe his lie.

☘️And he does spoil you, youre his wife and so you must have the best, be the most spoilt woman in the room, he buys you the most beautiful dresses, has them made special for you.

☘️ His favourite thing is to buy you jewelery, especially necklaces. He has you stand in front of the mirror and watch whilst he puts it around your neck and fixes the clasp.

☘️ Then he takes the rest of your clothes off one by one, until youre only wearing the necklace, and he fucks you in the mirror, "look at all these pretty things i own," hes talking about you, "my beautoful wife, isnt she good letting me dress her up and fuck her whenever i choose"

☘️ Loves the symbolism of marriage, that youre his property that he owns you and can corrupt you. Likes that youre a well behaved, good girl who does as her husband tells her.

☘️ Kind of enjoys seeing how other men lust after you, enjoys knowing that he really does have the most beautiful woman. If he catches tommy admiring you he is both smug and pleased with himself whilst also pissed off and possesive.

☘️ In other words he has crossed a line and threatened Tommy for admiring you.

☘️ He's arrogant and it gets him into trouble a lot. You spend a lot of time soothing his wounded ego and talking him down from potential fights and bad ideas

☘️ You use sex to distract him a lot, worshipping him and really showering his ego with praise.

[jane-john-doe-tournament]

John Doe (Malevolent) Propaganda:

Spooky gay eldritch disaster (am I doing this right?)

Could have chosen any name for himself and picked John because a kind person called him that :)

fractured piece of an eldritch god that shares a body with a private eye after being fractured. chooses the name John Doe after said private eye goes into a coma

Because he's an eldritch god who wants to feel human and who overcame a lot of obstacles and dangers!!! He sincerely cares about the main character!!! And he chose a name himself! Isn't he cute??? He lost his body, he almost lost his memory, he fought for his right to exist, he loves animals, he loves his friend Arthur and I love him!

Being an ass, friendship, spooky supernatural stuff, he’s got it all

My man heard the name John Doe, realized he didn’t actually have a name, and just. Took it for himself.

I LOVE HIM. MY SON. HE'S TRYING TO CHANGE AND BE BETTER AND :(((( He's a fragment of the soul of the King in Yellow (god of trickery and suffering iirc??) that gets trapped in a book in our realm while the rest of the King stayed in his own separate realm. When a human named Arthur Lester opens the book they get linked and John gains control of Arthur's eyes & kills his partner (oops!). They proceed to go on a quest to find a way of separating them because neither likes the situation, and at first John (or The Entity, which is what he's called at first) just wants to trick and use Arthur, and control his entire body (through the first season he also gets a hand & a foot) even though he doesn't remember being The King In Yellow at the time, but Arthur makes him change and become more human. His turning point is when Arthur is shot and falls into a coma for a month. They get treated at a hospital and while John waits for Arthur to wake up so they can carry on, the body itself still gets taken care of. The time John spends alone, contemplating on humanity & everything he's seeing and learning from Arthur, as well as the way a certain nurse speaks to him every day (specifically, she greets him good morning and good night, despite the body being unresponsive, John still hears because he is an entity linked to the body) and calls him John (they didn't have ID on when they were found so they were classified as John Doe), changes his outlook and plans for good, and he asks Arthur to call him John; from this point on he admits he cares for Arthur, looks for his wellbeing too, and in general attempts to be a better person and to live for himself. The rest of the podcast (ongoing!!) explores Arthur & John's relationship, struggle to survive, adventures in the eldritch… All while tackling each of their issues with themselves and each other and watching them both grow. John in specific learns to be the person he wants to be, how sometimes you'll take a step forward and two backwards; he can be cruel and manipulative sometimes but he still tries. Personally I love his journey, it's very realistic and you can see he is trying his best, and how he wants to be better than he was as the King In Yellow, and how much Arthur has changed him and how much he cares about him because of that; and how he's slowly growing into being his own person :) if it ends badly ill cry so hard but!!! he's John Doe because that's the name he was being addressed as, and he's made it his, and being John means he's no longer the King and that he wants to be different, and John can fail or make mistakes but it's part of who he is now, and that's what matters. I am So Normal About Him

JOHN DOE (Malevolent) SWEEP

John Doe (Ace Attorney) Propaganda:

technically John Doe is the fake name he uses to hide his identity as an assassin but uh, that's still the name he goes by. its because his real surname is literally "de killer" so.

His real name is Shelly de Killer, but he uses the pseudonym John Doe. Does that still count?

[kharia-adarkim]

Erenville groaned and pinched his forehead. "Let me see if I have this right. You brought a Coerthan Dwarf Rabbit to Tural, and left it to roam an open air cabin unsupervised the entire time we were helping Lamaty'i with the Rite of Succession, and it did not occur to you at any point that this may have been a bad idea?"

"That's... yeah," Kharia replied somberly. "But you'll help me find him, right?"

"Of course I will, but I need to ask - why didn't you leave him with Fordola? Or G'raha?"

"Fordola's allergic to alfalfa, and he doesn't like Raha."

"The rabbit... doesn't like G'raha."

"He bit him on the tail once," Kharia stated matter-of-factly. Erenville groaned.

"Well, as an alpine breed, he probably went away from the shore," he reasoned, "and the western gate sees far too much traffic for him to have escaped Tuliyolal that way. Does this rabbit have any favorite foods?" Kharia pondered a moment.

"Beets, turnips, strawberries - wait, maybe that's why he bit Raha..." she mumbled.

"Beets? Good. They should have some at the alpacakeep. Pick a few up and meet me near the Resplendant Quarter aethernet shard. I'll see if anyone's seen him - or had problems with their gardens."

"Got it. Thank you hon'," Kharia said as she left the cabin.

"Once we find him, we're having a long discussion on proper animal care!" Erenville called after her. A moment passed, and smiled and shook his head as he began to head for the aethernet shard.

-----------------------------------------

"This is definitely the work of a rabbit," Erenville mused.

"How did one get into my garden?" the elderly mamool ja woman asked, "I thought they lived in Xak Tural." Erenville raised an eyebrow at Kharia, who declined to respond.

"Luckily, I'm fairly adept at capturing animals, and my partner here has some snacks to lure it out of wherever it's made its burrow." Kharia passed a sack of shredded beets to him, and he spread them loosely across the stone porch before pulling a vial from his pack and pouring the contents onto the veggies. "Low grade sleeping potion," he explained, "when the rabbit comes out to feast, he'll fall right asleep and we can get him out of your garden."

"Want to get a meal of our own while we wait?" Kharia asked, "My treat!"

"Oh! Why thank you dear! That sounds lovely," the mamool ja beamed.

------------------------------------------------

A few soft metallic clicks echoed through the cabin as Erenville fastened and unfastened the latches before he stood and wiped his brow.

"And there we have it," he sighed, "one rabbit-proof hutch for your little friend so he doesn't get out again."

"Thank youuuuu," Kharia said, embracing Erenville from behind. Erenville chuckled.

"You did most of the work, I just gave you the specifications. How did you learn to work metal like that anyways?"

"When I was living in Ishgard, I'd ended up joining the newly founded Machinists' Guild. We..." she paused, briefly. "A pair of close friends had just passed, one after the other, and I needed something to occupy my hands and thoughts."

"I'm sorry," Erenville apologized, shifting awkwardly to return Kharia's hug. "I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories."

"No, it's alright," she replied. The two held each other before a few moments more before a knock came from the door. Erenville toussled Kharia's hair as they released each other. "It's open," Kharia called to the visitor.

"Sorry this can't be a longer visit, my love," G'raha Tia apologized as he opened the door. "Y'shtola and I are busy studying the- Ah! Erenville! I suppose I should've expected to see you here." His gaze drifted to the hutch on the floor and his smile vanished. "Guisarreaux."

"Guisa..." Erenville turned in confusion to see the dwarf rabbit glaring at the miquote visitor, its fluffy coat puffed to its fullest size. It let out a few sharp grunts. "Kharia did your rabbit just bark at him?" Kharia sighed.

"I thought I was onto something with the beets, but I must've been wrong..."

[deeper-x-deeper]

I've been considering exactly what it means to me to be dominant.

what exactly is it that draws me to it? which aspects of it do I enjoy more than others? I can tell that my dominance style isn't exactly the kind you see often, so it leaves me wondering.

so many dominants out there relish the ability to bend and break a submissive through tactics that are a little more forceful. exerting their power and demanding respect, relying mostly on the submissive's consent to the dynamic in order to uphold it.

obviously there's nothing wrong with this style. it appeals to quite a large audience, considering how prevalent it can be.

but I find myself taking a somewhat different approach.

I prefer using a soft touch, a gentle guiding hand, the only force lying within my words, and only to indicate through tone of voice the difference between a statement and a command.

and I'm also delving into the why of all of this, of course. always looking for the why.

why do I prefer it this way? especially since, when I have the chance to be submissive, I do also enjoy the more typical approach.

I think I may have the answer, so if you'll allow me to ramble for a little bit I'll try to explain as best as I can.

it starts with a book I was obsessed with from a young age.

my favorite novel when I was between the ages of about 9 and 13, was White Fang by Jack London.

I remember reading it over and over and over and over, devouring every line on every page, captivated by every single word, and no matter how many times I read it, I would always want to read it again.

because, you see, even though the book describes itself as a gripping tale of a wild animal desperately fighting against nature and the Wild to survive, that's not at all what I got out of it.

to me, it wasn't a story of trials and tribulations, of trauma, of abuse, but rather a story about the nature of respect.

it was a story of a wild animal, yes, but one that found itself living among humans who all have different meanings of the word respect.

his first handlers used him as a tool, as a means to get something done, respected for his usefulness, but violently beaten down at the first sign of disobedience. respect out of fear, but a respect nonetheless.

his next set of handlers turned him into a killing machine. one so effective that he was removed from the fighting ring not because he failed, but because he was too successful, too efficient of a killer to be entertaining anymore. respected out of fear, his handlers communicated in the same language of violence he faced every day in the ring.

this isn't a book report, but this brief summary is important for my point.

because my point is where our wild animal finds himself at the end.

after a lifetime of being beaten to submission, forced to respect others out of fear of punishments so violent and frequent that they no longer served as a deterrent

only for the man to finally make him submit

to finally make him obedient without fault

is the one that decides to treat this creature with kindness, and make an effort to build trust.

a gentle hand, a kind word, is all that it takes to make this lethal force of nature bend to someone else's will.

while his punishments before were usually enacted through brutal physical violence, this new handler only has to say a firm word, or give a light tap

and it's far more effective than any beating ever was.

because to be chastised by someone who is more commonly kind means more than to be beaten into submission by someone known to be aggressive.

and that's exactly the energy that I like to bring to my own style of dominance.

I may be gentle. I may not use much force, unless of course I am asked to.

but that's because I don't need to.

I don't dominate by creating fear, I do it by building trust.

of course a submissive will obey if you threaten them with punishments, because fear is an effective motivator.

but consider a submissive that obeys their dominant, not out of fear or even respect

but because they trust their dominant so completely that they know it will always be safe and fun for them to obey.

they can trust that when they submit to me, I will provide an experience that falls within the things they enjoy. that if I push a limit, that the push is all it is, and I will never actually cross the line. that even if my command seems strange, that I have a purpose for giving it at all, one that has only your best interests in mind.

because dominance, to me, isn't about the power or the authority, but in having someone trust me to handle them with care.

and that kind of trust is the highest form of respect for me.

because how can you believe someone truly respects you if they don't trust you, too?

[chaifootsteps]

hey chai, found some shit that aged like milk while digging around.

tl;dr evidently viv was aware of how animators were mistreated / uncredited during sausage party's production and spoke about how their hard work deserved support.

(all the below is circa 2016)

she made a bunch of sausage party fanart that she apparently "gave to a friend at Sony" who "knew some of the uncredited animators" and said they wanted people to "respect" and "admire" the hard work they put into the movie.

she wrote the following on the page of fanart...

additionally, viv made a video about her thoughts on sausage party, and she made some interesting remarks in the comments...

...i can't watch the video myself as i also don't want to hear viv's voice,

but here's some tid-bits from the transcript...

she's seen "all of family guy... all of south park... and all of drawn together..." and thinks drawn together is "the most offensive" thing she's seen to-date

the only r-rated content she dislikes is ren and stimpy's adult party cartoon. she thinks it is the "apex of shock value... has no reason to exist... is painfully unpleasant to witness... not funny... not well done... just complete and utter garbage."

sausage party's stereotypes "didn't bother" her bc "everybody in the entire world is equally made fun of," it's "so offensive it's no longer offensive it's just stupid," none of the stereotyping is "mean-spirited," and the stereotyping "serves a purpose in the setting"

she says that it's "not fair" for artists to be... "uncredited... expected to work overtime for no money..."

she talks about how sausage party was this company's first film and they were using a very small budget that they should've used more carefully, but it went to other areas that were not the animators, who were expected to work nearly for free and without proper credit (that all sound familiar?)

she laments how these animators put "such amazing work" into the movie and "really cared about it" and that she "can't imagine doing that and not being credited"

she talks about how the company probably wanted sausage party to be "as good as possible for as cheap as possible" but that "doesn't excuse" how they treated their animators.

"the animators sold this movie, without the animation this movie would not nearly be as good or charming"

she felt the sexual humor "wasn't as uncomfortable" as other sexual humor can be simply because the characters weren't humans

she generally *really* sucks sausage party's dick saying it's an "existential allegory" and "critique of religion" and "going to be part of history" (these are of course subjective opinions ppl may or may not agree on but since it's what she thinks i'm including it.)

God, I almost hate to admit this, but I actually really liked Sausage Party in a vacuum. It's nice looking, the character designs are worlds better and more distinct than what you'll find in most Disney movies, and it's a nice balance of South Park-esque raunchiness and some genuinely interesting existential stuff about life, religion, and the human condition.

But...no, it's not high art, and it's not going to be part of history. Any slim chance it had of being part of history was blown to bits by the disgusting, unforgivable way it treated its animators.

Watching it now, you can absolutely see how Vivzie attempted to follow its example in all things, from crudeness to commentary on religion/human nature. The difference is that Sausage Party doesn't pull its punches when it comes to the former and is at least sort of intelligent when it comes to the latter. The result is that even at its dumbest and worst, it has a better understanding of what it's doing and what it's trying to be than Vivzie's stuff.

In the end, the only thing Vivziepop succeeded in taking away from Sausage Party was how to treat the people working for you.

[autistictaylorhebert]

Just backgenned this for a power idea I thought was funny, curious what you'll make of this:

You are the leader of a minor unpowered gang. Circumstances being as they are, you have a lot of trouble keeping control of your territory, but you’re a fantastic leader- the core of your gang implicitly trusts you, and you have full confidence in their abilities. Unfortunately, between the more powerful parahuman gangs and the threat of the cops, you’re hemorrhaging money, and you’re constantly threading the needle between solvency and bankruptcy. You spend most of your time juggling confidence schemes and protection rackets, and each one requires the skills of both you and your gang, but no matter what, you cannot escape the specter of insolvency. After years of chasing after enough money to keep your gang running, you finally catch on to a massive lead- you hear the location of where a bank is temporarily storing a huge amount of gold. You immediately jump on it, and when the operation begins, everything goes smoothly. But just as your gang is about to take out the last of the gold, the cops report to the scene. You can stop right there, distract the cops and get your gang out of there, but that would be the end of your career, even if it means you keep their respect forever. Or you can sneak out, jump into the getaway van, and make out with enough gold to make you filthy rich, but that would mean abandoning most of your gang. You trigger as you frantically puzzle over your options.

ooooooooo 👀

This definitely feels like a tinker trigger. It's a problem over a long period of time that is treated like a puzzle that the triggeree can't solve. Resource and binary/multi-threaded tinker makes sense, but to me it's interesting to view the choice at the end as a continuation of a lose-lose situation they were facing over the longer period of time as a gang leader?

So maybe it's a conflict of "take on more dangerous jobs and step on more of the toes of heroes and more powerful criminals/take the van and betray your friends," vs "take the L, take the smaller payout and don't take risky jobs (while slowly going bankrupt)/distract the cops and lose out on a personal level in return for respect and social standing"?

Which in other words could mean a mastery/social focus and a more violent focus with risk/reward mechanics built in? So maybe emotion/"esteem"-affecting speciality (with a big power drain), and a cutting weapon/small vehicle speciality that can blow up randomly when overheating or pushed too far.

The resource they need is gold, or alloys similar to gold/coloured gold. When they have it all their gear is better, they can build tech that fits both specialities extremely well. But, when they don't have it each of their builds can only fit one of their specialities, and the drawbacks of both sets of tech is worse (bigger power drain from the emotion effecting tech, and higher chance of dangerous explosion in the cutting weapon/vehicle tech).

Alternatively...

...if you were interested in a non-tinker read, I could see this being a breaker power? They know that distracting the cops is the right thing to do, but their body is fully of fear and an animal need for control over the gang. From mind vs body incongruity, they trigger as a breaker with mover and master capabilities. In breakerstate they're a kind of 2d image or icon of themself (that looks the same whatever angle you view it from), slightly exaggerated and larger than life, able to fly and pull attention (and some emotions/attitudes) towards them.

However the form has an energy resource mechanic: spending time in breaker-state (or using the powers the state gives them) requires spending from a measure of energy that they are aware of at all times, and that energy can only be recovered through the gang "winning" territory and money, with the shard deciding what counts.

[scotszoologist]

Now that I've just about finished my PhD (just need to submit corrections yay!), I now have the headspace to be a bit more active on reddit...which for me apparently means trying to help first time fish owners on r/aquariums and r/bettafish.... I always make the effort to stay cheerful in my responses, but boy it gets tiring

PSA - If you ever want to keep fish, please, please read up on the nitrogen cycle! Both r/aquariums and r/bettafish have some excellent community built and maintained wikis and care guides, with step by step instructions for cycling (pro tip, if your local pet shop tells you that you can cycle a tank by just leaving it running for a day, they are wrong!).

In fact, overall PSA, if you plan to get any animal as a pet, please spend at least a month (preferably longer!) actively researching how to care for it. Do some searching online, read some articles and caresheets, watch some youtube videos. Find online communities, like those on reddit, and see if they have guides or links. Spend some time lurking and you'll gain so much knowledge, such as basic care requirements, important foundational concepts, signs of disease or stress and how to treat them, common issues, etc etc. Taking a bit of time to be patient can save you and your future pet so much pain and heartbreak. You'll probably find a lot of conflicting information, but if you take the time and spend some effort you can usually figure out which sources are more reputable, and at the end of the day you can also choose to err on the side of caution and aim to exceed care requirements.

It is a pet owner's responsibility to do everything in their power to provide the best welfare for their pet. You can only do this if you actually know what to do, and you need to go out there and find this information out. You also need to be aware that we are constantly learning, and so the minimum care requirements of 1990 probably aren't well regarded in 2024, and the standards of 2024 might not hold up in 2030. You need to be willing to keep learning and willing to accept that you might have made some mistakes and you might need to change the way you do things.

[devizakura]

Do you have a ship song for dariya x Kazuha?

Actually yes, and it's an original one too!

Also, I have a Dariya playlist ordered chronologically that covers all her Canon Events™ (is that how the cool kids say it these days?), some of which pertain to the ship in one way or another.

1. Numb little bug - represents the starting point of Dasha's arc. Having lost her beloved mother and stuck in an abusive Snezhnayan household, she's grown numb and is slowly slipping into depression.

2. Could have been me - this is THE Dasha song. Her "I want" anthem. She yearns to not feel numb. To not be stuck in her horrible situation. To be alive and feel as such. And after receiving a Vision granted by that one last glimmer of hope inside her, she takes matters into her own hands and leaves, promising herself to only stop once she finds her place. Unlike most other songs which would need to be changed a little or are more symbolically representative, this one can be taken word by word.

3. La Seine - this is the one song that is ENTIRELY symbolic. It just fits her vibe and represents her stopping by Fontaine for a bit.

4. Téir abhaile 'riú - this song represents the period between Fontaine and meeting Kazuha on Liyuean waters. It's an internal battle between her curiosity and will towards a better life and those inner voices (whom I always envision as dark scribbled lines behind her, sometimes taking somewhat humanoid shapes and grabbing, pulling on her, not letting her go) taunting her, saying "go home, you'll never find your place elsewhere". I like to imagine her strutting the wilderness and then Liyue harbor to the first two verses, then arriving by the shore and joyfully sprinting on water (an ability she has) as far as she can in the instrumental break between verse 2 and 3, only to be struck by lighting and rescued by Beidou by the end of that break. 4th verse specifically has me envision her sitting in the ship's recovery bed with Kazuha by her side, and suddenly the voices are no longer mean, their representation no longer dark and tangled, but turning into a glowing line flowing around them. She's found her home.

5. World's Smallest Violin - represents the recovery period during which Kazuha and Dasha have bonded by talking about their lives, both having a lot of trauma going on and yet both kind of undermining the importance of their own pain because "they've dealt with it" or "others have it worse". While the lyrics don't apply literally, I like to think Dasha sings the first verse while in the recovery room, telling Kazuha about her mom disappearing and presumably being dead, while Kazuha sings the second after having taken her to the crow's nest (after she's recovered enough to move), telling her about the burden of his family's broken legacy that he doesn't like to admit still weighs on him despite trying to be free, as well as the fact that despite being treated well on The Alcor, he can feel that he's still an outcast, no one understanding his eccentric ways, of course making light of it so Dasha doesn't feel bad for him. "Somewhere in the universe, somewhere someone's got it worse" is Dasha's line, while "wish that made it easier, wish I didn't feel the hurt" is Kazuha's (boy acts like "it's all in the past" but if the previous summer event is anything to go by, for a long time he very much represses those emotions rather than process them). The last chorus, if it were an animation, presents a reimagined scene of the time Dasha sees Kazuha drinking. The pause shows Dasha's "heart drop" moment, then as the music picks up the pace, she's running off, pushing past people in a daze, but Kazuha notices and runs after her to make sure she's okay. The last beat has her turn around after he's grabbed her hand, and that leads to their deepest conversation yet, about Dasha's family's alcohol problem and how much it ended up affecting her.

6. La Da Dee - represents (mostly symbolically) both their early relationship and how they miss each other during their break after Kazuha's returned to Inazuma to help the resistance. The first verse represents Dasha's side more while the second represents Kazuha's.

7. Shooting Star - this song reflects the rest of their relationship after they're reunited. There have been bad times but now they're facing any challenge together and looking towards a bright future

Sorry for the word vomit, haha. Hope you enjoy all those!

[mindfogs]

Ok I'm very curious about your thoughts on the features for dreams do please say

kissing you on the mouth anon thank you i love giving my opinion on stuff so

DISCLAIMER

If you like the app, if you find it easy to use, if it's more accessible to you for any reason at all (INCLUDING THE CHEAP PRICE) i'm so happy for that, more power to you! if it makes it easier for people to approach animation that's great! i just think there are some really really awful features and limitations maybe especially if you never animated some thy in your life. for reference i studied animation using toon boom so maybe it's just too different from what i use, maybe in a week of getting to know it better, dreams will be my best friend and i'll feel stupid for this post, but also i animated stuff in the supposed "professional way", even complete, rendered stuff (specializing in storyboard and rough animation) so here's my first impressions after using it for less that 24 hours with no visual tutorials only the written ones. if i say something wrong or missed something or if any of the things i say below has an easy solution PLEASE LET ME KNOW i'm. plenty happy to be proven wrong :)

ok now, time to be a bitch

Startin with the biggest offence imo:

WORKING WITH FREE FRAME TIMING IS HELL

in animation you got your frames right? 24 each second yall know the gig. once upon a time, in disney golden era you used to do one drawing for each frame but nowdays you hardly do that. most people just put a drawing when needed which means one drawing could last 2 frames, one 4, one 8 up til as many you could need. more often than not you'll change the duration of each frame many times as you are doing your animation, making them longer or shorter and adjusting each frame before or after based on that. most programs will let you make a drawing shorter or longer and automatically adjust the frames around it, meaning it'll move them as needed.

procreate dreams doesn't do that. if you shorten a drawing it'll leave a space between the one you shortened and the one after. if you elongate a drawing..... you can't do that. yes. you. can't. do. that. to be more precise, you can't do that if there's a drawing right after because it'll just won't let you move past it..... "but that's fine" i hear you say "just move the damn frame blocking it", great idea! you can't do that either. you can only move one frame at a time. even if you select more of them you can only move one at a time (WHY). to move more of them you need to group them and ungroup them all the times. hope you understand how tedious that is.

tied to this point: THE TIMELINE OCCUPIES HALF THE SCREEN you'll see why in a minute

you can zoom in and out of the timeline as you please but it occupies half the screen regardless. you can't possibly shorten it to occupy less space even if you have only one track. "you can go into *whatever i don't remember the name* mode-" NO YOU CAN'T. whatever mode let's you draw full screen, with a supposed "timeline" limited in a corner. this timeline only offers you 3 frames to flip from: the one you're working on, the one before and the one after. if you paid attention you noticed i said frames and not drawings. this means that if your drawing occupies more that one frame you'll have to flip through all of them. no, you can't enlarge them. can you imagine what could be like storyboarding like this? where a panel of a rough board usually last around 2 seconds? can you imagine flipping through 48 frames til you reach the next panel?

so the choices of interface are: timeline where you can see more frames at a time but it occupies half the screen or full drawing but only one frame at a time... ok

YOU CAN'T MOVE LAYERS UP AND DOWN

with layers i don't mean tracks, i mean layers, the ones procreate has. this program treats each frame as a drawing with layers but you can't move the layers up and down from each other. the first layer you make is always going to end up on the bottom because it creates the next layer on top so good luck if you want to color your lineart. (you could i guess prepare each drawing beforehand with multiple frames but i think i'd go insane)

"just make the color/shadow/whatever on another track" if you have frames for each drawing it's an ok solution, but again, if you work in anything other that one drawing each frame it'll be hell matching the timing.

so, in conclusion and also TL;DR: you either are a master animator that does one frame per second, animates without sketching (you also can't lower opacity on tracks, only layers in drawings), keyframes (adding in-betweens seems equally tedious as moving a frame for the points said before), and never makes mistakes or you'll find it extremely difficult i think to do frame by frame animation.

it could maybe be a good program for motion grafic and video editing. make those animation after effect style? not my field so can't really make a statement on that.

i know it just came out and they'll probably fix some stuff in the future, but for now? looks extremely tedious and user unfriendly. i'm extremely grateful for the procreate team to try and make animation more cheaper/accessible and i'm aware it can't have all the features toon boom has for obvious reasons. they surely had their limitations but for something that (if i recal correctly) was supposed to revolution the animation industry and was supposed to be a program where you could do ANYTHING from pre, to post production i was extremely disappointed... will probably continue to try and make it work while i wait for updates!

thank you for coming to my ted talk, please don't hate me. this is mostly coming from sadness rather than rage

EDIT: WHERE IS THE SELECTION TOOL I'M GOING INSANE

[jjraderftw]

Aggretsuko (Ep #1.1, 1.5, 1.7, 2.2, 2.5)

Aggretsuko is a pretty tame and charming slice of life anime. You’ve most likely heard of this show because it's kinda like The Office of anime, in the sense that just a bunch of non-avid anime watchers have seen it and self proclaimed themselves as quirky and different. If you take away the “basic” association with this show, you'll actually find something that brings up a couple of laughs. The show follows Retsuko, a 25 year old woman working at an accounting office job. She is a mostly reserved and quiet person who is trying to get by, make money, get married, and retire. The usual, tired employee trope. Living up to the trope, the boss is this very angry, unfair, and otherwise bad person who overworks and harasses employees. Retsuko is made fun of for being a woman, called incompetent, and overworked heavily, resulting in her usually tired personality that just wishes to get married to end the vicious cycle.

A prominent theme shown in the show is the idea of the woman in the workplace. Women are often critiqued, called out for “not being as good as men” in the show, and expected to be perfect in order to simply avoid harassment. This is evident through Ton and Retsuko’s relationship. His verbal comments on everything she does is purely due to the fact that she is a woman. The rest of the male workers seem to get treated pretty neutrally, but since Retusko is a timid lady, she is targeted unjustifiably (if there ever is any justification for this) for harassment. This shows the struggle women have gone through in a world that used to idealize the separation between workplace culture and women. The breaking of these boundaries may seem like common sense now, but there are often those opposed to this idea and who see a difference in power solely due to sexuality and gender identity.

Another issue addressed is the idea of what it means to be a woman. Retsuko loves death metal karaoke because it's a way for her to express her frustrations with the world. It's who she is and it is a form of expression she likes. There is no shame in having an interest in any form of media (given it’s legal of course) but there have been many barriers put up by society imposing gender norms. As a result, Retusko feels as if she cannot show that side of herself to anyone because it's not lady-like. This is a massive issue that I have always struggled with as well. There are many people, often of the older generation, saying how certain acts, interets, gestures, and even words are exclusively for a gender binary. This is not the case anymore as our society, people, and means of differentiating between people have changed and evolved. We no longer should see people as either fitting one mold or another, but instead allow anyone to like anything, free of ridicule. If a girl likes death metal music, that's perfectly fine, just as it would be okay if a boy loved watching My Little Pony (this is an entire rabbit hole btw). Nevertheless, Retsuko shouldn't feel ashamed.

A final quick topic I want to bring up is Japanese work culture. I’ve talked about it several times but the office setting really makes the idea of Japan having a rigorous work culture evident. Workers like Retusko get to their jobs early in the morning and grind all day, at times until like 9pm, showing how all encompassing a job there can really be. You have long hours, high volumes of work, and no time for recreation nor the participation in any daytime activities like sports, hobbies, or anything of the sort. Japan has a salaryman mentality where constant work is considered the norm and the devotion of one’s entire life to their jobs is expected. I find this demeaning for people as it prevents them from not only enjoying the pleasantries of life, but also makes people more depressed and less eager to learn and work, wasting the primes of their lives under constant stress (after already experiencing even more stress during school and college which is no walk in the park).

[turtletaubwrites]

Numbers Game ~ Part 16

Anything for a Friend

!!! SPOILER WARNING !!! This chapter, and the following chapters will contain a spoiler for the end of the Wano arc. This spoiler occurs in the anime before the Cross Guild is formed, but I realized that some readers aren't caught up with the show yet, and are just enjoying Cross Guild fics for the "vibes" 🥵😅 I apologize if this means you'll have to wait to continue. I detest spoilers, so it didn't occur to me until I was editing that there might be people reading Numbers Game that haven't made it to the Cross Guild yet. I'm not sure if you'll care about this spoiler or not, but you have been warned!

Pairings: Cross Guild x Fem!Reader

Numbers Game Masterlist

Word Count: 9686

Ao3 Link

Ongoing Series Playlist: Youtube Music Link | Youtube Link

Summary: Red Haired Shanks comes to visit with an interesting request, and you learn a bit more about your lover's past.

Author's Note: Sorry this one's extra long, I hoped you'd prefer longer with smut vs less long with no smut, lol. I hope you enjoy it!

Flashbacks from reader's past are bracketed between these symbols: ~🌲🌲🌲~

Rating/Warnings: Author has Chosen to Exclude some Smut Warnings for this Chapter to Avoid Spoilers, Explicit Sexual Content, 18+ ONLY, MDNI, AFAB!Reader, She/Her Pronouns for Reader, Reader-Insert, Dark Content, Swearing, Alcohol, Cigars, Smut, Fluff, Manipulation, Humiliation, Pet Names, Power Imbalance, Cross Guild boys are VILLAINS, Possessive Behavior, Teasing, Threats, Size Difference, Daddy Kink, Overstimulation, Degradation, Hair-Pulling, Vaginal Fingering, Cock Warming, Unprotected Sex (stay safe out there), PIV Sex, Rough Oral Sex, Comeplay, Inappropriate Use of Akuma no Mi | Devil Fruit Powers, Shameless Shameless Smut, Other Additional Tags to Be Added

| masterlist | about me | rules | ao3 |

Shanks and Mihawk shared pleased laughter while your mind reeled, shocked to be face to face with another terrifying pirate, this Emperor of the Sea. 

This cheerful, flirtatious man that was bringing his eyes back to you, still holding your fingers in his hand. 

Cold metal pulled at your wrist, a golden hook chilling your blood as it passed between you and the red haired pirate, breaking your contact with him. 

“Miss Y/N isn’t his ‘bunny,” Crocodile warned, his hand tensing against your back before he led you to the couch. You sat in your usual spot, with his arm draped around your shoulders. Shanks stared at the two of you, then caught eyes with the swordsman before cracking up. 

“Don’t be sour, Crocodile,” Mihawk coaxed through smug, fading laughter, “I’m sure our little rabbit wouldn’t mind a new nickname.”

“She’s got plenty,” he growled, pulling you in against the warmth of his body. “I won’t have you loaning out my sweet girl to every lowlife that comes to visit.”

Shanks grabbed a heavy, velvet chair, dragging it close before lounging across from you. His eyes gleamed while he grinned at you, and Crocodile’s body was stiff beside yours while you were still too dazed to speak. Mihawk took his seat, chuckling when you jolted at the touch of his hand on your thigh.

“We can talk business,” he soothed, looking over your head at the larger man, “but it seems cruel to deny our little vixen a treat. You’re already dripping with excitement, aren’t you, darling?”

A tiny sound left your throat, your eyes wide as Shanks tilted his head, looking down at your tensed thighs before meeting your gaze.

“It’s alright, darlin’,” he purred, that deep voice doing too much to you. “I don’t like to scare my bunnies as much as ol’ Hawk Eyes over there. I bet he’s real mean, isn’t–”

“That's enough,” Crocodile warned. He wrapped his arm around your side now, practically squishing you against him, bringing another small noise from your lips.

“Why don’t we ask Y/N what she would like,” Mihawk taunted, leaning down to pour his vicious words into your ear. “I know your body is just aching for another owner, isn’t it? Would you like his sweet tongue to taste you? Want to give us a pretty show while another man has his way with you on the table?”

Your body was quivering, and you were almost grateful when Shanks cut in, until his words shook you more.

“Mihawk, it’d be a shame to have my first time with such a beauty in front of an audience. Surely Miss Y/N would prefer some privacy.”

“Not happening,” Crocodile spat, and you couldn’t believe how calm Shanks seemed when he gave a little shrug, imploring the larger man. 

“I’m just shy, Crocodile. I’ll take good–”

“You are the furthest thing from shy,” Mihawk laughed, his fingers digging into your thigh as he leaned toward the red haired man. “You just enjoy making your toys fall in love with you before you break them.”

For the first time since he’d sauntered into the room, Shanks was frightening. It was so fast, so subtle, but something dangerous flashed in those deep, brown eyes when he looked at you. A wicked purr filled his voice as he spoke to Mihawk, his eyes never leaving your face.

“Hush now, old friend. Don’t scare the little bunny away before we’ve even gotten acquainted.”

“Fuck this,” Crocodile scoffed, kissing the top of your head. “We’re leaving. You two can enjoy your–”

“Just a moment,” Mihawk prodded, dancing his fingers along Crocodile’s wrist. “It’s Y/N’s decision. Tell me, little rabbit, would you like to enjoy some alone time with this delightful, old friend of mine?”

Shanks’ eyes gleamed at you until you clenched yours shut, nails digging into your palms to stop yourself from moaning “yes,” fighting to remember why you shouldn’t.

“No, thank you,” you croaked, trembling as you wrapped your arm around Crocodile’s waist, burying your head against his silk vest. He gave a surprised hum, smoothing his hand along your side. You kept your eyes closed, but could feel the stares from the other men crawling up your skin. 

“Good girl,” Crocodile praised softly, the vibration of his voice letting you sigh with relief. 

“Oh, I don’t think our little treasure is being good for you, Crocodile,” Mihawk taunted, patting your thigh a few times before playing with the hem of your dress. “I think she’s valuing the clown more than her own desires again. I thought we fucked that out of you, darling. We even let you keep him in our bed, our little toy. Yet you’re still going to deny yourself–”

“Buggy’s your…” Shanks interrupted, sitting up a little straighter. “You didn’t tell me he–”

“Shanks, please. After how you went on about him, and how Miss Y/N can't seem to let him go, you can’t blame me for being curious,” Mihawk sighed, taking a large swig of wine. “Even if he is a clown.”

You coughed, trying to pull away from Crocodile, but his arm held you in place. Shanks started to speak, but turned to watch as steely words rolled over you.

“Is it true, sweetheart,” Crocodile questioned, leaving your mouth dry. “Don’t lie to me, Y/N. You really want this stranger to fuck you right now, don't you? But you’re pretending to be a good girl because you don’t wanna hurt the clown’s feelings?”

Blinking away tears of overwhelm before they could stain your cheeks, you caught the soft smile of the red haired pirate across from you. There was no lying to Crocodile. The thought of what he might do if he ever caught you in an outright lie made you shiver.

“It’s true.”

“What a sweet, little bunny,” Shanks hummed, leaning over the table to grab your chin with a gentle touch. The red haired man just looked at you, his eyes too soft for a stranger’s. Before Crocodile’s anger could boil over, the large door creaked open, and you watched a painted smile go taut.

“Shanks?”

“Buggy, old friend,” he beamed, looking over his shoulder to see your clown slamming the door shut. “Just who I was hoping to see.”

Buggy moved forward, his eyes flaring at Shanks’ hand on your chin. That hand pulled away as the pirate stood, holding his arm out wide, but the gesture went ignored.

“Friends? In what fucking world, shithead,” Buggy scoffed, getting a bit taller in his stretchy clothes. You couldn’t hold in a gasp as Buggy got in his face, looking down at the other Emperor. He was going red under the light coat of paint, his voice more vicious than you’d ever heard. “Did you forget the last time I saw you, asshole?” 

“I don’t know what you mean, we–”

Buggy fisted his hands into the collar of Shanks’ cloak, pulling him even closer, and you would have tried to stop him if strong, dangerous hands hadn't pressed you further into the couch. All you could do was watch. 

“You lied to me, AGAIN,” he seethed, Shanks’ face not showing a hint of reaction, just a bland smile as Buggy continued. “And now you’ve got the nerve to come into my own fucking house, and touch my girl…”

All that rage died in his throat when Buggy’s wide eyes looked to you, then to the two men with their hands on you. 

“Your what, clown,” Crocodile scowled. He was as cold as stone while he watched Buggy reconnect, returning to his normal height. 

Buggy opened his mouth but nothing came out, until Shanks patted him on the back. 

“Miss Y/N’s your girl,” Shanks asked, whistling as he shook his head. “No need to worry, friend. She already shot me down.”

Anger had coursed through Buggy's body again at Shanks’ touch, but those words sent confusion flying across his face. He risked another glance at you, tentative pride pulling his lips into a tiny, crooked grin. 

“Really?”

A split second of warmth, and Buggy’s sweet disbelief made you smile so freely for him. 

Forgetting that you weren’t quite free.

“I believe that was still up for debate,” Mihawk drawled, lightly pinching your thigh. “Now, if you’re done acting like a blowfish, pull up a chair. Unless you’d rather leave your girl all alone with three, scary men.”

As everyone settled, you held your breath. Crocodile had found your forearm, tracing his fingers down your wrist until he held your hand in your lap, so tiny encased in his. He wasn’t hurting you, but the pressure of that large hand gripping yours felt more like a trap than a comfort. 

You leaned against him, looking up until those stony eyes met yours. 

He gripped a little tighter. 

“You haven’t even been here for thirty minutes and you’ve already caused chaos,” Mihawk scolded, the faintest hint of twisted delight in his words as he pulled your attention. “Since you refused to tell me anything over snail, I can’t imagine what sort of ‘business’ you claim to have on our little island.”

Buggy had pulled up a chair as far from Shanks as possible, and you couldn’t look at him on the other side of Crocodile without moving your head, so you didn’t. Instead, you stared at the easy smile of the stranger as he unhooked his cloak to lay across the back of his chair. His loose shirt was tied off at the left sleeve, showing that he was without a left arm. 

How often does that happen to pirates?

You started to turn your head to glance at Crocodile’s hook, but caught yourself, not wanting him to think you were looking at Buggy. 

But Shanks was looking at Buggy. 

“It’s time, old friend.”

“Stop fucking calling me that, dickskin,” Buggy grumbled, only making the man smile wider.

“I wasn’t ready back then,” Shanks confessed. 

You didn’t know this man. You hardly knew anything about him, but somehow you knew this was important to him. It tasted like reverence was dripping from his words as his eyes implored Buggy to listen, to be happy. 

“I know it’s been a long time,” he continued as the world seemed to freeze, “but I’m going now, Bugs. I’m going after it, and I’d like you to join me.”

The silence was thick with things you didn’t understand, even Crocodile and Mihawk going taut beside you.

“You fucking ASSHAT,” Buggy fumed, almost screeching as most of his body parts flew toward the red haired man who just covered his face with his arm. “You think you can just show up, and say that shit after TWENTY FUCKING YEARS? You sick fuck. Piece of shit. You trying to fuck with me? Think I’ll forgive you after all— OW.”

Crocodile had released you, making you yelp as his hand shot forward to grab a piece of Buggy’s floating body, squeezing it until Buggy went quiet. You were trembling now, unable to stop after Crocodile let go of Buggy to sit back, wrapping his arm around your shoulders again. 

“Calm down,” he ordered, his voice steadier than you expected after all the anger he seemed to be holding back since Shanks walked in. “You’ve talked yourself into enough trouble today, don’t be more of a nuisance than usual.”

Buggy pulled himself together, breathing heavily while he stood beside the source of his rage. You started to understand Buggy’s frustration when the red haired pirate just gazed at him, as if the clown had been showering him with compliments instead of insults. 

“So,” Mihawk changed the subject, waving his hand as if to brush the moment away, “it seems you’ve come to steal away our colorful leader so that you can sail off into the sunset together. To find the One Piece, if I understood that correctly?”

“I don’t think our clown wants to go anywhere with you,” Crocodile rasped. Your trembling stopped at what sounded like a possessive note to his voice, as your brain took in Mihawk’s words without fully processing them in the face of your other lover's exchange.

Buggy blinked at Crocodile a few times, mirroring your confusion before rage took over his features again, his gloved fists clenching when he met Shanks’ doe eyes. His next words came out through his teeth, almost growling as he held himself in. 

“You scum sucking liar. You expect me to believe that you’ve finally stopped being a coward? You betrayed everything we–” his voice cracked a bit, and he coughed to shake it away. “How dare you use the One Piece to trick me. To use our dream– my dream... This is a new fucking low for–”

“Buggy,” Shanks soothed, grabbing one of those gloved hands. Buggy took a step back, but his hand disconnected, held firmly by the other man. “I’m not lying to you. I’ll even show you my proof if you like, it’s on the ship... I stayed with you back then, remember?”

Crocodile let out a quiet sigh, as if he’d rather be anywhere but here, while Mihawk seemed to have electricity running under his skin. The emotions and pain running across Buggy’s face sent an ache into your chest, but you couldn’t reach for him yet. 

“I didn’t ask you to stay with me,” Buggy sneered, though his voice was weaker now. 

“I didn’t wanna go without you,” Shanks coaxed as he stood, moving close to place Buggy’s hand back on its wrist before gripping the clown’s shoulder. “I know it’s later than you wanted, but there’s room on my ship if you’d like to join me now. For old time’s sake?”

Buggy’s mouth went slack, his shoulders slumping, even under Shanks’ touch. A touch he didn’t shrug off. 

Then he looked at you. 

Your chest caved in, a hammer of pain and guilt hitting deep. 

Buggy's going to leave me. 

The selfishness you felt in that moment made you sick. You hadn’t known anything about their relationship besides Buggy’s rage, but their connection practically radiated off of them. Who were you to keep him from that? 

People like me don’t get love after all.

Bile hit your throat at that self pitying thought. Crocodile and Mihawk startled you, their hands moving in soothing motions at the same time, everyone waiting for Buggy to speak. 

He didn’t.

“I heard you’re throwing a party,” Shanks broke the silence, his relaxed voice a bit tight as he patted Buggy on the back. “Could I stay for a few days to enjoy the festivities? You can think on it, and we can all have a bit of fun, eh?”

“Was all of this simply a ruse so you could drain us of all our liquor, Red Hair,” Mihawk cut in, his sharp tease giving Buggy a chance to step away as Shanks’ attention was pulled. Buggy plopped down in his chair beside Crocodile, and you didn’t care this time, tilting forward to look at him, but he had leaned back to stare up at the ceiling. 

“Worry not, Hawk Eyes,” Shanks laughed, "we made sure to stock up before we came. In fact, I even brought a few vintages worthy of your refined palate.”

“I’ll let Y/N be the judge of that,” Mihawk praised, helping you breathe again with a soft kiss to your temple. “My little rabbit is more skilled at detecting quality after a couple of weeks than you've been your entire life.”

“Miss Y/N does seem to have good taste,” Shanks grinned, catching your eyes again. 

“Can we drink now,” Buggy groaned, earning laughs from everyone, even Crocodile who stood, walking around to pat him on the back. Buggy gasped, but there was no violence in the touch, or in the larger man’s eyes. 

“Come on, let’s go grab some more bottles. I doubt there’s enough in here.”

It took him a long moment, but Buggy agreed, and you couldn’t help but stare after them. Crocodile never “fetched” anything. Buggy didn’t need to either, there were servants in the hall. You didn’t know whether to feel touched or scared on Buggy’s behalf. 

“Why do you always make such a mess,” Mihawk complained. He wrapped his arm around you, and you let the scent of him calm you down as he pulled you against him. 

“This is actually me trying to clean up a mess,” Shanks laughed, propping his feet up on the table. 

“Are you going to hurt him again?”

Those words rang through the air, and your eyes went wide when you realized that you’d let them escape your lips. Mihawk squeezed you to him gently while Shanks gazed at you. His eyes were so damn pretty, and it felt impossible to think of him as anything other than sweet and handsome. Another slow smile almost took your thoughts away, but you dug your nails into your palms to ward off his charms. 

“I don’t think you’ve made a good impression with our numbers girl,” Mihawk purred, his voice not filled with the usual warning it held when you were doing something he didn’t approve of. 

“I’m glad he’s got someone like you to look out for him,” Shanks praised, and the jovial tilt to his head pissed you off. 

“You don’t know what kind of person I am, and you didn’t answer my question.”

Mihawk chuckled, pulling back from you as if giving permission. 

“You’re right,” the red haired pirate agreed, dipping his head. “I never meant to hurt Buggy, and I don’t plan to do it again.”

“Then why didn’t you say you were sorry,” you snapped. 

I really do have a fucking death wish. 

The Emperor of the Sea finally showed something else on his face besides humor, his brows furrowing as if he didn’t understand. He paused for too long, so your voice went high, fear almost getting in the way. 

“Even if you didn’t mean to do it, you hurt him,” you explained, hoping there was more behind those soft eyes than charm. “You know you hurt him, you just said it. Even if you hurt someone by accident, and especially if you care about them, you should fucking apologize. Otherwise, you’re just an asshole.”

You held your breath. 

Shank’s eyebrows raised, and his lips parted just a bit, while Mihawk laughed openly now, taking a sip of wine as if he were having a lovely time. 

“Let’s get shitfaced,” Buggy yelled as he crashed through the door with a case of wine, the bottles clinking like chimes. Crocodile followed close behind, his face unreadable as he offered you his hand. Confused, you stood while you watched Buggy’s hands fly to the bar to grab more glasses. Crocodile pulled you to the side, pressing another kiss to the top of your head.

“Take your spot, clown,” he ordered, gesturing to your normal seat. Everyone paused while Buggy sat down, leaving you to stand awkwardly while Crocodile sat, until he smoothed his hand along his thigh, giving you one of those smiles that made you shy. “Take your spot, sweetheart.”

Even with the tension in the room, Crocodile’s attention washed it all away until you bit your lip, your body swaying slightly. You leaned in for a kiss, and he didn’t let you pull back. His large hand grasped your waist, his thumb tracing up and down the fabric of that expensive, purple dress he’d picked out for you. 

“Come here, babygirl,” he whispered, helping you climb onto his lap. He guided you to lie back with your legs stretched out across Buggy’s thighs, but ordered the clown to grab the cushion from his vacated chair to prop up behind you. You hummed, perfectly comfortable laying across all three men on the couch. 

Mihawk’s cool fingers tracing over the tops of your feet made you shiver, while Buggy’s grin, and his gloved hands running up and down your bare legs warmed you up. Crocodile supported your head with the base of his hook, hidden behind that velvet cushion, while his hand reached down to your hip, smoothing and holding your dress in place as he stared down the man you’d completely forgotten about. 

When you turned to look at Shanks again, he wasn’t holding that perfect, jovial smile as he took you all in. Instead, his eyes held some of that danger you’d seen before, but there were no emotions that you could read. 

Except for hunger. 

Those soft eyes that were suddenly anything but soft met yours.

“So, Y/N, how long have you known Buggy?”

Thank gods for alcohol.

~

You thought drinking wine from your relaxed position would be difficult, but your lovers kept taking turns holding the glass to your lips. Laughter grew in the room, but it didn’t quell the rotating guilt, sadness, and anger that kept moving through you every time you looked at Shanks, every time you heard his welcoming voice, so full of joy. 

He said it’s his dream. He needs to go. I can’t let him stay. 

Buggy was wiggling in his seat while he told a story, swaying back and forth as he pinched and squeezed lightly up and down your legs. He looked so happy and cute, and seeing him this way between Crocodile and Mihawk made you close your eyes, sighing as you pressed your head back against the cushion. 

“I’m going to take my little rabbit out for some fresh air,” Mihawk announced, still massaging your ankle. 

Crocodile looked down at you as if to disagree, but nodded, helping you to your feet. 

“I’ll join you. Could use a smoke.”

You couldn’t argue as Mihawk's strong arms carried you out into the hallway. Buggy’s wide eyes followed you, and you caught a glimpse around the swordsman's shoulder of that red haired pirate standing up to move closer to your clown. 

Throat tight with trapped emotion, you held yourself up, knowing that relaxing into Mihawk’s warmth and scent might make you lose what control you had. 

The stars were out in full force, sparkling over the balcony like stage lights that were just a tad too far away. Nothing interrupted that silence except for a few small sounds as Mihawk set you comfortably in his lap, and the flick of a lighter followed by the thick scent of smoke as Crocodile sparked his cigar, his silver eyes never leaving your face. 

“Want us to make him stay?”

“What,” you choked out, not sure if you’d imagined that deep voice.

“All you gotta do is tell me what you want,” Crocodile reminded you, that curling smoke hypnotizing you as you tried to understand. “I’ll even fight our hawk eyed friend if he disagrees. Do you care more about making our sweet girl happy, or impressing your red haired ex?”

A tiny sob squeezed from your chest as you closed your eyes. You didn’t have the energy for one of their fights right now. 

“Shh, rabbit,” Mihawk hummed, tracing fingers through your hair. His voice went listless as he stared into the stars, holding you to him. “Shanks is one of my oldest– ha, maybe one of my only friends... But he’s also a grown man with a trail of mistakes. I can’t promise you that his request will lead to joy or sorrow.”

Words couldn’t pass through the threat of tears in your throat. 

This isn’t real.

Those long, dangerous fingers kept playing with your hair, pulling you back into the moment as he tugged and scratched at the strands at the nape of your neck.

“I won’t trap him,” you declared, voice rough as you sat up straighter. “If he doesn’t want to be here, then I would feel sick to make him stay. It’s… I want Buggy to live the life he wants.”

“Caring more about the clown’s feelings than your own desires,” Mihawk scolded in a whisper after a heavy pause. You waited for a threat, for a punishment, but all you got was a gentle kiss to your forehead. 

Crocodile snuffed out his cigar, reaching with those smoke scented fingers to trace along your cheek. 

“You really are sweet, aren’t ya?”

You choked out a laugh, still waiting for the ax to fall, gasping when Mihawk sat you on the table. They both stood to look down at you, and you tried not to be empty. 

“So,” Mihawk waved his hand again, his sharp voice driven toward his goal, “Buggy gets to decide if he stays or goes, and we still have a few days until the party. What would you like to happen in the meantime, rabbit?”

Mouth hanging slack, you jolted a bit when Crocodile rested his hand on your shoulder, his eyes so far above you from this angle.

“What do you…”

Mihawk grabbed your hand, bringing your knuckles to his lips with an almost wistful smile.

“Would you like to partake in a ridiculous amount of fun with the man that might take your clown away? Or would you like us to make him sleep on his ship?”

Soft shock hit your face, and those golden eyes just narrowed in a tease. 

“If it helps your decision, he is a phenomenal fuck.”

“Don’t pressure her,” Crocodile growled, squeezing your shoulder. 

Laughter broke through that dam of emotions in your throat, bursting through you to echo up toward those shining stars. 

Those pretty stars. 

You pressed away the hint of tears from your eyes with the meat of your palm, laughter like a drug to cleanse those bad feelings away. 

“Why do you care about me so much,” you coughed, unable to keep that risky question in. 

“Get over here,” Crocodile ordered, Mihawk helping to lift you into his arms. “Didn’t I tell you already? When I find something of value, I protect it.”

Your laughter bubbled down to quiet giggles, shy once again as that frightening face smiled down at you. Mihawk tugged at your hand, guiding you both down the corridor. 

“Come along now,” he purred as he pulled you back toward the lounge. “Let’s find out how our little rabbit wants to get fucked tonight.”

~

Mihawk crashed through the door more violently than you’d ever seen, slamming it wide. Buggy was leaning back into the couch, those crystal eyes wide as he looked toward you. Shanks was laying across the coffee table, propped up on his elbow while a floating hand held a glass of wine near his lips. 

“Here comes the party,” Shanks called over his shoulder as he sat up. You noticed his knees intertwined with Buggy’s when you were laid out in your new spot, and he was close enough to your clown that you were now laying across all four of their laps. 

“Thank you,” you breathed, trying to read Buggy’s overwhelmed face as he brought a glass to your lips. 

“Look at you two,” Shanks teased as those playful eyes went back and forth between you. He was so close to you now, and you found yourself pressing your legs together to avoid touching his bare chest, or flashing him as he mirrored Buggy around your knees. 

It was hard to focus on any coherent thought with so many idle hands on you. Mihawk was slowly massaging your feet, Buggy still using your legs as a fidget toy, and Crocodile eventually gave up on or forgot about holding up your short dress as he cradled your hand in his. You caught Shanks’ eyes dragging across the exposed skin of your hip, smirking at you when you pulled the fabric up.

The conversations twisted and turned, until he brought it back to you. 

“I’ve never met anyone that had such a hold on so many powerful pirates,” Shanks laughed after downing another glass. “At least not at the same time.”

The night had loosened you all by now, and you felt pulled by his smile. He snagged your free hand, rubbing his fingers along yours while he studied you. 

“Just where did you come from, little bunny?”

“A snooty little tavern–”

“She’s a mystery actually,” Mihawk cut Buggy off, trailing his hand up your shin. “Our numbers girl has secrets.”

“Secrets you’ll be sharing in a few days. Right, sweetheart?”

“Right,” you gasped, meeting Crocodile’s stare as he nudged your face toward his. The press of lips against your palm tore you away to find the red haired man kissing your hand as Crocodile released you. 

“A mystery girl, huh? No wonder you’ve got these three wrapped around your finger.”

“You don’t know her,” Buggy huffed, folding over to lay his head against your stomach. He tugged your hand from those foreign fingers to hold you close, and you couldn’t help but smile. 

“Why don’t we all take a walk,” Mihawk suggested, making you sigh again as those deadly fingers worked the muscles of your feet. “I’d like to give a tour.”

Mihawk carried you down the halls, and you weren’t the only person that noticed the direction he was leading you toward.

“I think the tour of the bedroom can wait,” Crocodile complained. 

“You can just stay in the hall then,” Mihawk taunted. You heard a disgruntled noise from the larger man, but before he could complain again, Mihawk stood before his old suite, across the hall from the one you shared now. 

“Korris,” he called, tapping the bottom of the door with his leather boot. 

“Yes, sir,” came a rough voice through the door. He cleared his throat before opening the door, just a crack. “Status report; Adam has continued to show preference for wet food, the litter was changed this morning, and play time has–”

“Thank you, Korris,” Mihawk hurried, and you pretended not to hear the stifled laughter behind you. “We’ll be visiting with Adam, you may take a break.”

“Of course, sir.”

The bearded man that emerged from that cracked door was large enough to match that deep voice. He wore aged leather armor that carried an array of scratches and tears, and you smiled at what you thought might be the source of some of the more recent additions. Korris left the room quickly, holding the door closed to prevent an escape attempt that didn’t arrive. 

The changes to the suite were drastic, and you couldn’t keep from laughing as you all rushed inside. The large space meant for multiple humans to live in had been altered into exactly what Mihawk had called it.  

A cat paradise. 

So many interesting toys and surfaces, covered beds, endless shelves, scratching posts, and plenty of couches for humans and cats to lounge on together. 

And there was Adam. 

Mihawk kissed you before setting you down, and you went straight to the ground as your sweet tabby came right up to Mihawk to rub against his ankles. 

“You assigned the cat a servant,” Crocodile deadpanned while you gave chin scritches in exchange for head bumps. 

“This is nothing,” Shanks smirked, patting the larger man on the arm before plopping down on a couch. “I’m amazed there’s only one cat in here.”

Buggy choked out a laugh before joining you on the floor, already snagging a toy for Adam to focus on. Those cute, little eyes went massive as he wiggled his butt before pouncing. 

“No more cats,” Crocodile sighed, shaking his head softly as Mihawk walked up to him. 

“Everyone should have someone to curl up to at night,” the swordsman teased, turning his back on Crocodile to face the rest of you. “Speaking of that, Shanks, you may have Y/N’s old suite. It’s the door on the left when you leave Adam’s room.”

You and Buggy glanced at each other, and you grinned at the impulse.

“You two can decide which of these three suites you’d like to sleep in tonight,” Mihawk announced, drawing everyone in. “I’m sure Adam would enjoy some company, but we’ll be across the hall if you need us.”

“Mihawk–”

“Come on, Crocodile. Let’s take a nightcap in our suite. Let the little one’s play for a bit.”

“No,” your scarred lover insisted, walking around Mihawk to offer you his hand. “I’m not leaving Y/N alone with a stranger.”

“I’m no stranger,” Shanks started, but Mihawk reached for Crocodile’s hand before you could take it. 

“Don’t you remember our brave clown last night,” Mihawk praised. He gestured to Buggy, whose lips parted as he stared at the swordsman, until Adam pawed at that faded paint. “He won’t let anyone hurt her, not even us. Such a loyal little toy.”

He patted Buggy on the head before rounding on you.

“Besides, our little rabbit has a safe word, and you know I’ll hear it if you say it. Tell us your safe word, darling.”

“Hopscotch,” you managed, each surreal moment making you question your grip on reality. 

Maybe he did put me away. He said it wouldn’t be that hard. Maybe this is all just a drugged, fever dream, and I’m strapped up in an asylum somewhere.

That could have sent you into the worst sort of spiral, if not for your next thought. 

I don’t fucking care. It’s a good dream.

A gasp left your throat when Crocodile took a knee, tugging you up off the carpet to scan your face. 

“You’re my sweet girl, huh,” he whispered in your ear, making you melt against him. 

“Mhm,” you promised, falling into his kiss. 

“Be good.”

You were left with your mouth agape while Crocodile walked toward the door, Mihawk nudging your chin before leaving a wicked kiss, a kiss that made you dizzy. 

“Be bad if you like, little rabbit,” he purred, making your eyes roll back before he sauntered out of the room. 

“Well,” Shanks stood, wiggling a half-empty bottle toward you. “I’ll trade you a drink for a tour of my suite.”

~

As soon as Crocodile and Mihawk left you alone, Buggy had his hands on you. Giggling as you squeezed through the door, you smiled at Korris who’d returned to keep Adam company. 

It felt strange stepping into that suite. You’d only stayed there a few nights when the new regime had taken over, but heat rushed to your cheeks at the sight of the bed.

The bed you’d buried your face into, trying to relieve the aching need they’d stirred in you, trembling under the desperate fear of being heard. 

“You like this bed, huh,” Shanks rasped, leaning to breathe those words against your ear before lounging on the mattress. “Seems pretty normal to me. Care to show me–”

“Lame,” Buggy mocked, letting go of your waist to give two thumbs down while he blew a raspberry. You laughed a little too loudly at the face Shanks made before you kissed Buggy on the cheek.

 “You’ve got such a great sense of humor,” Buggy grinned, lifting you by the hips until you wrapped your legs around his waist, giggling as he covered your neck with kisses before leaping onto the bed with you beneath him.

“I’m not used to being the third wheel,” Shanks laughed, moving closer to smile down at you while Buggy kissed along your collarbones.

“Get used to it, shithead,” he mumbled, rubbing his face down your chest, that purple dress about to get smeared with grease paint. 

“Stop,” you breathed, grabbing his hand when he pulled away with worry in his eyes. “No, keep doing that, please! Just– Crocodile likes this dress.”

A half second of confusion was followed by that look of ownership you’d missed in his eyes until recently. 

“Can I take it off for you? Or does my pretty star wanna put on a little show?”

The normal, giddy nerves you would have felt were magnified when you caught Shanks’ eyes. 

“I’ll take it off,” you decided.

“Hold on,” Buggy yelled after letting you off the bed. He dug through both nightstands until he pulled out a tonedial, holding it up with a triumphant laugh.

“I forgot about those,” you squealed, leaning toward him to press the shell. Cliche “sexy” music filled the air, which Buggy had deemed vital to place in every suite. 

“Never know which room you might fuck in,” the two of you joked simultaneously, devolving into silliness until Shanks snagged the dial. 

“I might need to borrow one of these, Buggy,” he teased, holding it in his palm while he gestured toward you. 

“I wouldn’t trust you to return it.”

Buggy’s mouth had opened, but it was your lips that delivered that harsh quip, earning you a raised, red-haired brow, and a red-painted grin.

“We’ve only just met,” Shanks studied you, the corner of his lips teasing into a wicked smirk, “but I think I need to earn your respect, don’t I?”

“Good luck,” Buggy snorted, but you got caught by his old friend’s soft, and dangerous eyes. 

“I hope luck is on my side,” Shanks rasped, dropping the tonedial onto the bed to grab your hand, pulling you toward him. Your pulse got heavy as his breath got close, his fingers leaving featherlight touches along your arm, your shoulder, your neck. “Can I try to make it up to you?”

Shanks breathed that question against your ear, his fingers teasing into your hair as you swayed. 

“I don’t…”

“Of course,” Shanks backed off, sitting beside Buggy. “I don’t want to overstep.”

“Yeah, you do,” Buggy rolled his eyes, sending a hand to hold against your cheek until you looked at him. “Star, we can leave if you don’t want to–”

“Do you want to?”

A tiny hint of fear touched your words, but you pushed it aside, willing Buggy to see nothing but your gentle smile.

He’s with me right now, and right now is good. 

“Yeah, Buggy,” Shanks purred, a shit eating grin taking over his face. “Do you want to?”

“Fuck you,” Buggy grunted, frowning at his own choice of words before studying your face. “I only want to if you want to.”

Letting out a breath, you leaned forward to click the button on the tonedial. 

The air shifted as it filled with that cheesy music, and with the heat of consent that left goosebumps along your skin while they watched you dance. They hardly moved, but their eyes that had just been so playful and bright were now heavy with promises you weren’t sure you were ready for. 

But as the purple dress fell to the floor, and hunger filled both of their faces, you stopped caring about anything except for those eyes on your skin. 

“Fuck,” Buggy breathed as you tossed your lingerie to the side. 

“You like to watch, don’t you,” Shanks asked, wetting his lips while his eyes stayed fixed on you. “You like watching Crocodile and Mihawk fuck your girl.”

“I–”

“Yes,” Buggy surprised you, cutting you off with his quiet, but firm agreement.

“Wanna watch me take care of her for you,” Shanks rasped, your body reacting before you could think. “One apology isn’t nearly enough, is it, Buggy? I need to make it up to you. Need to make your little bunny come ‘til she cries, huh?”

Buggy pulled you onto the bed when you gasped, your knees going weak before he set you down next to Shanks.

“I want to if you want to,” Buggy teased into your ear. The tension in your body relaxed as you nodded, smiling when he addressed the other man. “Take care of her for me.”

“Of course,” Shanks vowed, cradling your face as he leaned toward you. “Anything for a friend.”

“Idiot.”

Buggy’s grunted insult had Shanks pressing a smile against your lips, and after a moment of tightness, you let yourself give in. A satisfied hum left his throat, as if he knew he’d finally caught you. Like a trap slamming shut, he deepened the kiss, his fingers tracing along your bare skin until you whimpered for him, tugging at his loose shirt. 

“Want me this bad already, mystery girl,” he taunted, his words burning along your cheeks. That didn’t stop you though, and you hid a smug smile at the little gasp he let out when you started pulling at his waistband.

“I wanna put on a good show for my captain,” your challenging words rolled out in a purr. You couldn’t recall feeling this wickedly powerful before. The danger that flashed in his eyes should have sent you cowering. 

Fuck it.

“I was expecting more from the ‘Great Red Haired Shanks,” you risked, looking him up and down as he hopped off the bed. “You’ve been pretty underwhelming so far. No offense, of course.”

You didn’t dare look away from Shanks, even as Buggy started laughing so hard he was wheezing, his body parts floating lazily around the room as if he couldn’t hold himself together. The red haired pirate’s face was frozen, staring at you as if you truly were a little bunny that had somehow learned to speak.

Then he smirked, dropping his clothes to the floor. 

“Ugh, seriously,” you complained, rolling your eyes at the sight of his nude body.

Not even a heartbeat passed before he was straddling you, pinching your cheek while a frightening grin pulled at his lips.

“Hey, hey,” Buggy calmed, grasping the other man’s wrist.

“Mihawk must–”

“Do all pirates have perfect cocks, or do I just keep getting lucky,” you cut Shanks off, breathless as adrenaline buzzed through you. You flicked your eyes toward Buggy, giving your clown a wink. 

Shanks sucked his teeth, releasing your cheek to tilt your chin up toward him. 

“I’ve got a whole ship full of pirates that would love to help you test your theory,” he warned. You couldn’t tell if he was teasing or not, and the potential threat made your mouth dry.

“You can barely handle my pretty star,” Buggy taunted as he wrapped himself around your back, sticking his tongue out at his old friend. “I doubt any of your underlings would last a minute.”

Buggy’s kisses and praise along your cheek brought more breathless giggles, and you relaxed back against his chest. Shanks paused to watch you both before his retort. 

“I don’t know,” he hummed, brushing hair from your face. “Ol’ Benn has taught me a thing or two about dealing with bratty little bunnies. Seems like Mihawk’s been going easy on you. Never thought I’d see the day.”

A nervous laugh escaped you at that terrifying thought.

“Y/N,” he soothed, tracing his thumb across your lips, “I know I’ve made a bad first impression, and I’ve been a bad friend.”

“A terrible friend,” Buggy corrected softly, earning another little smile. “A shit friend, actually. Dog shit friend.”

Shanks stayed quiet for a moment, his lips quirking as though a laugh or an argument could come flying loose at any moment. He took your hand, his gentle touch carrying too much heat. 

“Please, Y/N,” Shanks started again. Those pretty eyes implored you, and all that ungodly charm weighed your body down. You knew you were falling for it, but didn’t care enough to resist. “Please, let me make it up to you, to both of you.”

The corner of his lips picked up when he noticed your body react, that cocky gleam shining in his eyes when he scanned your features. 

“How about I sweeten the deal for ya, gorgeous? Let’s put on a helluva show for our favorite clown, and if you promise to be a good little bunny for me, I promise I’ll make you scream my name so loud, you’ll forget why you didn’t like me in the first place.”

“I remember you being better at this,” Buggy deadpanned, while you failed to hide your snort with a cough. 

“Tough crowd,” Shanks sighed, studying you.

I’d like to get fucked sometime tonight.

Laughing at your own impatient thought, you took Shanks’ hand in both of yours, kissing his knuckles, tracing along his rough, calloused fingers. Just your breath moving across his skin was enough to shift the air, and you tried not to gloat.

“Here’s the deal,” you hummed, pausing to drag your lower lip down with his thumb. You gave him wide, innocent eyes, letting your body melt under his gaze. “If you can fuck me dumb enough that I can’t say another bad thing about you tonight, then I’ll let it all go. But if you can’t, then I get to drag you through the dirt tomorrow, however I see fit.”

You ended your demands by sucking two of his fingers into your mouth, your body finally giving in to that desire. 

Holy fuck, I am insane. 

Buggy was shifting, gasping softly as he kissed your hair, while Shanks stared down at his fingers in your mouth. Your needy, challenging eyes trailed lower, but you choked before you could find what you were looking for, rough fingers shoving down your throat. 

“You didn’t say anything about me getting some help,” Shanks taunted, winking at Buggy who let out a soft moan. The red haired pirate kissed the corner of your lips while you fought not to gag around his fingers, his next evil words whispered into your ear. “Could have been so nice and sweet. Could have taken all night to tease and taste you. But my friend’s girl needs to learn some manners, huh?”

Buggy grabbed your wrists, already trapping you for Shanks without needing to be asked. Shanks laughed when your eyes rolled back, the smug sound making you shake. You'd forgotten to tell Shanks what your hand signal was if you couldn't use your safe word, but Buggy was right there.

Buggy's right here with me.

Shanks' commanding voice ripped you back into that edge of fear and need, that loss of control.

“I agree to your deal, little bunny,” he taunted, fingers still invading your throat, “but here’s mine. I’ll do all of those wicked things you want me to do to you. I’ll even let you have this pretty mouth back. But if anything but sweetness falls from these lips, we’ll find out how many body parts I need to shove down your throat until you learn to shut the fuck up.”

Hot tears flowed down your cheeks as you tried to meet those “soft” eyes, struggling to relax while four of his fingers fucked your throat now.

“Don’t piss me off, bunny. I’d hate to fail my own challenge, but if this sweet mouth spills anything rotten, then we'll be too busy cleaning it out to give your pretty pussy any attention. Do you understand?”

“Mnngnm,” you moaned around his hand, drool trailing down your strained lips. He released you slowly, pulling free to smile at the strands of spit connecting his hand to your lips you while you gasped and coughed.

“So pretty with all that mess,” he praised, his thick voice making Buggy pause before wiping your chin with a gloved hand. “It’s alright, you can clean her up. It won’t be the last mess on that beautiful face tonight. Would you like that, darlin?”

A needy moan left your raw throat at the sight of Shanks’ sticky fingers reaching down to trace along his perfect, dripping cock. Mesmerized, you watched his thumb tease that bead of precum around his swollen tip. He hissed softly at his own touch, eyes feasting on you as you started to struggle and whine under their weight. 

“Bunny wanna taste,” he offered, holding his thumb in front of your face. Satisfied laughter left his lips as you wrapped yours around his thumb, desperately sucking in the taste of him.

“Mm, is that what this is,” Shanks soothed as he pulled away, freeing your legs to sit beside you. You slumped back, melting against Buggy’s chest while Shanks traced fingers down your thighs. “You really are just a sweet little bunny, aren’t you?”

“Fuck,” you gasped, back arching against Buggy as Shanks plunged two of his fingers into your dripping cunt, his thumb teasing over clit until you moaned for him. 

“I knew it,” he laughed, never letting up. “You only acted like a brat because you’re such a good girl, wanting to make Buggy happy. Isn’t that right, old friend?”

“My girl’s so good for me,” Buggy praised, his name now pouring from your lips. 

“What a cutie,” Shanks chuckled, curling his fingers up until your eyes rolled back, then he froze until you stared up at him. 

“Please–”

“Uh uh uh,” he tutted, tearing a surprised yelp from you when he lightly pinched your clit. “Even though you were acting out for the right reasons, you still need to learn your fucking manners.”

“I’m s-so—”

“You were so mean, and you're already saying sorry,” he wondered, pressing a few teasing circles over your clit with his thumb before leaving another pinch. You recognized a bit of Mihawk’s manic glint in his eyes as he watched you squirm for him. “It’s too bad, huh? Could’ve just shown me what a good girl you were, and I would have helped you.”

“Shanks–” Buggy warned, still holding you against him.

“All you wanna do is please him, don’t you, sweetheart?”

“Yes,” you cried out as he gifted you with pleasure again. “Wanna please you, Buggy. So bad, please…”

“Fuck, baby,” Buggy moaned, meeting your half lidded eyes. It was Shanks’ fingers that were bringing you, but you couldn’t look away from the shocked smile on your clown’s face, ignoring the other man, yet again. Buggy ate your screams, his faded red lips on yours while you came on those wicked fingers. The pleasure stretched on and on, until you gasped at the change in pressure. 

Shanks palmed your dripping cunt, still twitching from his work. Both you and Buggy turned to him as he raked his fingers through your core, before dragging all that slick over his cock. Your eyes rolled back, returning to find Shanks’ manic eyes searing into Buggy’s now.

“Can I help her please you, Buggy? Let me do it for you, please?”

The tiniest slip of need from his voice made you shiver, Buggy freezing behind you. He just blinked at the red haired man, until you whispered his name.

“I want to if you want to,” you smiled, giving permission for your lovely clown to enjoy whatever Shanks’ needy request had promised. 

“So darn sweet. Come on, Bugs. Let me show our bunny how it’s done.”

~

“That thirsty, even after our little water break,” Shanks teased, smirking as you crawled across the bed with bare need on your face. He had his back against the headboard, lazily stroking himself while you and Buggy joined him. 

“Yes,” you admitted, fighting the urge to grab his veiny shaft when you sat beside him.  

“What are you waiting for then? Let me feel that hungry, little pussy.”

Buggy kissed your shoulder as you shuddered, crawling over Shanks’ lap until you hovered over that pretty cock. If not for the last couple weeks of your wild life, you might have been timid. Instead, you moaned as he teased his tip through your folds, dragging all that wetness down his shaft. You didn’t pause when he lined himself up, shoving yourself down slowly. 

“Oh gods,” you choked out when you’d taken all of him in.

“Mm, this is what you needed, isn't it,” he rasped, tracing his lips along your neck before chuckling softly, nibbling at your ear. 

“Yes, please,” you moaned, starting to move over him, until floating hands appeared at your waist, holding you down. Buggy gave a soft laugh with Shanks’ cruel one as they watched you whine and fight for friction on that swollen cock.

“Come on, little bunny,” Shanks laughed, teasing his thumb over your clit for a brutal moment before smearing it across your lips. “I’m gonna show you how to please Buggy, just like you wanted. Be a good girl, and you might get to do more than just warm my cock tonight. Do you wanna be a good girl for me, Y/N?”

“Mhm,” you panted, catching eyes with Buggy as he sat beside Shanks. The slow, satisfied look in Buggy’s eyes let your body go loose as you glanced back and forth between them. “I’ll be a good girl.”

“You heard her,” Shanks growled as he held his hand in front of your face. His eyes were wide and hungry as he stared at your lips, until his hand was suddenly full. He tilted his head back, letting out a deep laugh while your brain processed that Buggy’s cock was now gripped in his friend’s hand. 

“Let me show you how it’s done.”

Shanks kept taunting eyes on yours while he licked and sucked Buggy’s cock like he was born to do it. The sight of him taking your lover down his throat had you clenching around his length inside you, until all three of you reacted to each other, a loop of pleasure and need that had only just started. 

“Your turn,” Shanks rasped, planting a sloppy kiss on your lips before shoving Buggy’s dick down your throat. 

Digging your nails into your thighs was the only thing you could control, besides relaxing your throat to let Shanks use you. Buggy’s fingers tightened as he kept you in place, your body going frantic with the need to fuck yourself onto that thick cock.

“There ya go, bunny girl. Relax just a bit more for him, and we’ll give you what you need. Mm, that's good. Is she pleasing you, Buggy?”

“F-fuck yes,” Buggy groaned, the press of his fingers only adding to your need. 

“Do it, Buggy,” he purred, guiding a little more force down your throat. “Fuck her onto me. Show me what a sweet little cunt you’ve got– gods damn…”

Buggy’s hands on your waist went from pressing you down to lifting and slamming you onto Shanks' cock over and over until you forgot you were human. All the pressure and discomfort of waiting, of getting throat fucked so thoroughly, turned into blinding pleasure as Buggy used your cunt like a toy for his friend. 

“I’m gonna–”

“I feel you, Bugs. Fuck, yes. Let me see you make a mess on her.”

Shanks pulled him out, holding that floating dick above you just in time for hot lines of come to paint your face and neck, dripping down to your chest. You were still gasping, relearning how to breathe, but you licked your lips clean. The way they both looked at you made you want nothing more than to please them for the rest of your life.

“Come here,” Shanks growled, before pulling you in for a kiss. He dragged his tongue across your chin first, sharing the taste of Buggy’s come while he ate at you, moaning as he sat back. Your clown’s hands still used you like a fuck toy for the other man, and your body loved to be used.

“That’s right, bunny,” Shanks praised, fisting his hand into your hair. “You’ve been so good for us. Such a messy girl. Mm, what a sweet little pussy, milking my cock like this. Gonna stuff you so fucking full.”

Buggy’s hands returned to holding you down while Shanks groaned, forcing his friend’s come as deep inside you as possible. Your voice was almost lost by the time you could remember language. 

“Got anything to say about me now, little bunny,” Shanks threatened, a dangerous laugh leaving his lips as he trailed his fingers down your skin.

You fell against his chest, shaking your head as you took in the scent of him. He kissed your temple, chuckling as he wrapped his arm around you. Sleep felt suddenly urgent, but Buggy’s lips tickled up the back of your neck until you shivered. 

“Shower time. Unless you want another hair care lecture in the morning.”

“You know he can still hear you,” Shanks teased over Buggy’s hushed tone. 

“Now he can, asshole!”

“Why do you care anyway, clown? Don’t you have your own sense of style?”

“Crusty gizz hair might still be your style, Shanks, but some of us have actually grown up.”

“Crusty?” 

“If I don’t go to bed now, I might get grumpy, and say grumpy things.”

“Can’t have that,” Shanks agreed, and you let these two old friends carry you to the bathroom. Buggy asked you both to wash him while he sent his hands out to change the sheets. 

Of course, the bed was a mess since he’d done it blind, and you had to interrupt before Shanks finished claiming he could have done a better job one handed.

“Sleeeep,” you chanted, laying down on the plush carpet until they got it together. Humming through the air when Buggy lifted you, you let out a contented sigh as he laid you down in the middle of those clean sheets. You curled up against his chest as you had so many times before, but instead of Crocodile’s large form, it was Shanks that wrapped himself around your back. 

Exhaustion hit hard, and you enjoyed the soft, silly banter as you all drifted off. 

So comfortable. So happy. You’d almost forgotten about the painful question this man had brought with him. You almost let it go, relaxation so close to winning out.

But even after Buggy drifted off into light snores, Shanks’ hand didn’t stop reaching for him. 

The red haired pirate’s arm was curled around you, but he couldn’t seem to pick a spot to rest. 

His hand gripping Buggy’s shoulder.

His thumb tracing along Buggy’s hip. 

His hand wrapped around Buggy's waist. 

His rough fingers teasing across Buggy’s skin until goosebumps rolled over him, until Buggy shivered in his sleep beside you.

Now that Buggy’s snores had grown louder, you doubted you’d get any sleep tonight.

“You can come if he wants you.” 

The almost sound was timed with Buggy’s snore, and you jolted when you felt that breath in your ear. 

“Wha–”

“Shh, little bunny,” Shanks urged, pressing his hand over your lips until you froze. “Let’s let him rest.”

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Part 17

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| masterlist | about me | rules | ao3 |

[anemia-rp]

And people still consider me unpredictable because it's the truth. I tend to let negative emotions get the better of me or I act without thinking. I like to make people keep their distance and push them away. I don't feel the need to control myself all the time even though I can do that and think before lashing out.

Back in the other world I see time and time again how people pretend to be friends and care about each other to then backstab each other in the end. It's in the human nature to put themselves first and their instincts simply kick in. If someone wants to pretend they want to become my friend I let them, but I won't start pretending myself. If they let me use them it's their own fault.

It would be the first time that someone would be willing to show me all sides of them. It could be that such openness will make me think about showing more of my sides too. But I won't make any promises like you can't promise this will happen. I'll go as far as to admit that I'm curious about you and the sides you have to offer. And I'm very rarely curious about someone so take that as you will. Time will be able to tell how much we end up opening up to each other. Maybe my opinion about you'll change over time or maybe it will keep changing forever if you keep showing more sides of yourself.

I guess it will always show that I was a human once. A monster that has still a tiny part of his heart not poisoned, who would have thought. If I left it to others to decide they would tell me to go to hell without thinking twice. There is no doubt in my mind about that. I don't think people said ever anything good about me or at least didn't say it if I could hear it.

I may be an asshole but I don't hurt animals and children are a no-no too. I still can remember my own childhood and I would never want to scare the soul of an innocent child. As for woman I guess I treat them okay, but I'm sure you'll be the judge of that at some point. But if there so much you want to see of me then you'll have to stick around for quite a while. Feel free to do so, because it means there will be more opportunities to see more of your sides.

That's fair because I'm sometimes against things as well, just for the fun of it. It can be entertaining if people try to change your mind to no avail. I start to wonder whether I can give new experiences for people... maybe I can if I show them the other world.

I'm some pessimistic fucker as well mostly. But when someone appears to be pessimistic as well I tend to kick their butt. Though I'd say I'm not the kind of type who easily lets go and allows myself to lose control. Only when it's about punching someone who deserves it I just do it. But my demeanor is important to me.

Lots of people are pretty gullible in fact. This can be funny but it turns boring really fast. Anyone you can have your way easily with is boring after a while, no matter in which situation this is. It's way more intriguing if someone is an equal opponent.

Guess no one stays the same over a longer period of time. We change with your experiences. Or become what we actually are. We break, we maybe heal, we grow. But it's possible though to grasp someone's core. Anyway, I tend to show my other sides more easily if I don't have another choice than dropping my attitude. It's rather that I have to be forced somehow.

Yeah, it's because they don't think about the reasons for why you are how you are. They don't try to understand you. I know how that's like. People may see a vain dude with a fucking ego, but they don't know that I assert dominance, intimidate others and act like I'm better than them because I have to prevent others to make fun of me of all costs. And that here is something I usually don't tell others.

I've been sure you're not a complete asshole. Guess what? If I wouldn't look how I'd look and be a vampire and like my lifestyle I probably would work in an old folk's home. No one really pays attention to old people, but I help them when I can, like carrying their bags.

The other world. Although I'm skeptical I guess I'll gonna come with you one day. Simply because this world seems to mean much to you.