#the privilege of seeing something someone else drew

[reverend-meat]

I hate fandom drama but:

*Starts fandom drama*

Just saw someone very popular in a fandom that I'm in post this big huge rant about how no one is characterizing their fave character "correctly" in fanfic? And how its clear "Nobody who writes him has played his spinoff game!"

Its like

chill out.

It's fanfiction. Literally the nerdiest fucking thing worldwide. It is so 100% such a completely unserious way to spend our time?

We are all literally grown ass adults playing makebelieve with our favorite characters. We are smashing these fictional characters around like Barbies and making them do dumb stuff for our own amusement.

ITS FINE.

ITS LITERALLY FINE.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO CHARACTERIZE SOMEONE "PERFECTLY".God, you don't even have to write "good" fanfiction? You can literally just write total dogshit and post it and so long as it makes you happy thats fine??

Write bad fanfiction. Write dumb takes. Mischaracterize someone for fun. Make them do dumb shit they wouldn't do in canon. Write 100k words about two characters in different timelines doing shit that is literally impossible in canon. ITS FINE. LITERALLY NO ONE AT ALL IS BEING INJURED BY YOU WRITING MAKE BELIEVE SHIT.

ITS ALL FINE.

YOU'RE NOT BEING PAID TO DO THIS WHY WOULD YOU LISTEN TO SOMEONES SOUR ASS TAKE?? Especially on something you decided to dedicate your own time and effort to and post for free?? Radical self love is the future babes.

[amongemeraldclouds]

The Slytherin Boys as Disney Princes

Ft. Theodore Nott, Mattheo Riddle, Blaise Zabini, Tom Riddle, Draco Malfoy, and Lorenzo Berkshire. Also features x f!Reader as their equivalent Disney princesses.

© amongemeraldclouds I do not consent to having my work shared or reproduced elsewhere. Please do not claim as your own, tumblr is the only place I share my written work.

✿ Masterlist | 1.8k words

From the Wizarding World to magical fairytales, let’s crown our beloved Slytherin boys as the following Disney princes:

Theodore Nott as Prince Charming (Cinderella)

Note: Prince Charming doesn’t have much personality in the original 1950s film, but we learn more about him in later films, where I drew information from.

✭ Raised in privilege as a prince, Theodore Nott lived a very charmed life just as the name Prince Charming suggests.

✭ With only royals and commoners to distinguish class, he is less prejudiced and more accepting of others. His father taught him at an early age that they have a responsibility to their people just as their people serve them.

✭ Because of this, he is open and friendly to everyone, including animals. He was once hunting down a deer only for it to be a game in the end, him and the deer are actually friends. (Note: Yes this is canon Prince Charming and is very Theo as well.)

✭ If Disney were less wholesome, Theo as Prince Charming would have regular lovers, but it will only always be physical. He has not yet found a connection with anyone, but it doesn’t matter because he enjoys sex. He certainly never runs out of women to sleep with.

✭ Beneath all the charm, he secretly hopes to find a love match. The kind of relationship that transcends strategy and status. He longs for passion and romance, much like in the books he reads in the castle’s library, though he’ll never let anyone know.

✭ His father in the meantime is keen to see him married to an eligible maiden so he threw a ball. He rolled his eyes and yawned when no one was looking, initially bored because he still couldn’t find the connection he longed for. At this point, he doubted he’d ever find it. 

✭ Then he met you. You in your light blue dress and glass slippers. Everything about you sparkled and it ignited something in his heart. He never knew romantic love before you, but he recognized it right away.

✭ He wouldn’t care that you were a commoner, he’d admire your courage and kindness once he got to know you. Besides, true love was far more valuable than any precious metals and gems.

✭ After you ran off, your glass slipper gave him hope. He was going to stop at nothing to find you, his true love.

Mattheo Riddle as Flynn Rider (Tangled)

⋆☀︎. Left to his own devices, Mattheo Riddle would go on countless adventures across different kingdoms and forests, thieving only as a means to an end so he could survive. 

⋆☀︎. He enjoys the rush, being chased by the authorities and not being held down by rules or responsibilities. (Except they can never get his damn nose right on Wanted signs despite the distinct cut he has on the bridge of his nose iykyk.)

⋆☀︎. With his charming personality and irresistible smolder, he’s an expert in banding together with fellow criminals and often smooth talks his way into ladies’ beds. All temporary partnerships for his on-the-go lifestyle.

⋆☀︎. Until one day he comes across you, the girl with golden hair and big eyes — not to be underestimated with your ferocious pan wielding tendencies. He learns the last part a little too late, the hard way.

⋆☀︎. As he promised to take you to see the floating lights in exchange for the crown, he finds himself having fun swinging his fists and learning about your power to bring out the good in people.

⋆☀︎. You managed to charm tough guys in a bar, getting them to talk about their dreams—of being a florist, of performing on stage, and of falling in love. He realizes it may not be so bad to go on adventures with someone else.

⋆☀︎. He was already mesmerized before he learned about your magical hair. He saw the light within you long before that enchanted night when lanterns floated through the air like stars hung low just for you. And of course, they were always meant for you.

⋆☀︎. Before Mother Gothel could plunge the weapon in him, he already knew he was a goner. He knew he could never go back to who he was. He was now and forever going to be a moth to your flame, your soul as radiant as the sun even long after your golden hair turned brown.

Blaise Zabini as Kristoff (Frozen)

•❅*ִ Much like Kristoff, Blaise Zabini exudes a quiet confidence that does not need to declare itself.

•❅*ִ As an ice harvester who works with ice picks, hooks and ropes, he has an athletic build and a tough exterior, but do not be fooled for he has a soft heart within.

•❅*ִ Having grown among trolls and reindeers, he sometimes gets frustrated when interacting with people. He believes reindeers are better than people, but all that changes when he meets you.

•❅*ִ He is very practical and honest, but when he is blunt he often means well. He is quick to call you out on the fact that you’re about to marry a man you hardly know.

•❅*ִ He initially agrees to help you end winter to save his ice business and get a new sled. However, the more challenges you face together, he grows to admire your fearlessness and determination.

•❅*ִ While you initially find him to be annoying, you soon discover his charming and funny side.

•❅*ִ He will however suppress his feelings for you, thinking it’s better to let it go because you’re already engaged anyway. But when truths are revealed and no one is who they appear to be, you’ll melt his frozen heart with a kiss on the cheek.

Draco Malfoy as Li Shang (Mulan)

✿ To Draco Malfoy, loyalty and family legacy is important, just like Li Shang who aims to be just as great as his father, the head of the Imperial Chinese Army.

✿ He is disciplined and has mastered both physical and strategic ways of waging war. He has a lot of traditional beliefs, including making a man out of his troops using elaborate physical training.

✿ He starts questioning those beliefs when he sees your determination as Ping, using both weights to climb up the pole even though it took you countless failures throughout the night. What were these confusing feelings in his chest?

✿ Yet he couldn’t deny it, nor would he try. He was ready to lay his life down for you even before you saved him. It didn’t take him long to return the favor when he found out you were a woman and so he spared your life.

✿ Despite his firm upbringing, he was always loyal to his heart. Even though you betrayed the army, he knew your intentions had been good and that your hard work made you a skilled soldier.

✿ He listened and trusted your last ditch efforts to save the Emperor, even resorting to cross dressing as part of the plan. It all paid off as you saved the Emperor and all of China. 

✿ In the end, you were absolved of your deceit and honored for your heroism, finally letting your reflection show who you are and what you’re made of. Your final crime was stealing his heart.

Tom Riddle as Aladdin (Aladdin)

✶ Tom Riddle grew up as an orphan and resorted to a life of crime to survive in Agrabah. Secretly, he enjoyed it too.

✶ Smitten by your beauty, he saved you from a merchant at the market and he was impressed with your agility when it came to dodging the authorities.

✶ When you reached Aladdin’s home, you revealed you were from the palace and left thinking you’d never see him again. He longed to visit the palace to get another glimpse of your beauty.

✶ Named as a diamond in the rough, Jafar recognized Tom’s talent and recruited him to steal the magic lamp from the Cave of Wonders. Encouraged by the promise of riches (therefore power) and a subconscious need to please Jafar, he takes on the task, saving a magic carpet in the process.

✶ Back at the palace, your father sought to marry you off to find a successor to his throne. You met suitors, including a flashy prince called Ali from Ababwa.

✶ On a magic carpet ride, you trick Ali into admitting he’s the thief you previously met at the market. He manipulates you into thinking he’s the prince and the thief persona was just an act for him to get to know the city better.

✶ When Jafar uncovers Tom’s identity, he steals the magic lamp and wreaks havoc using the genie’s wishes. Understanding Jafar’s ego, he tricks him into wishing to be the most powerful being in the universe, which imprisons Jafar in his own lamp as a genie.

✶ Instead of using his last wish to continue being the rightful prince who can marry you, he used it to free the genie, as he has now learned how power corrupts others. It wasn’t worth it.

✶ Crowned as the next sultana, you recognized how our actions and choices defined us. Despite Tom’s manipulations, he showed up and was willing to learn. He was not afraid to look into the dark and make the right decisions when it mattered, a husband fit for a ruler.

Lorenzo Berkshire as Jack Frost (Rise of The Guardians)

Before you come at me, I know Jack Frost is not a Disney prince, but I’m a Jelsa truther so here we are.

❅ Lorenzo Berkshire mirrors Jack Frost’s love for mischief and games. As the guardian of fun, he enjoys playing harmless tricks on children and hearing them laugh as a result.

❅ Beneath the playful exterior, he deeply cares for those around him, having saved his sister from a frozen lake. His ultimate sacrifice led to his untimely demise, which the Man in The Moon rewarded him by making him immortal and granting him powers. 

❅ He never found much need for romance, opting to spend his days playing with children and visiting his fellow guardians instead. Until one day, he visits the Enchanted Forest and comes across you, its mighty protector.

❅ Despite the initial distrust, he wins you over with his easy smile and sincerity. You never realized it until then, how lonely it was to be an ice queen without her king.

❅ Jack was also amazed to find someone else who could play with the magic of snow. He felt seen and understood like never before. For once, the loneliness in his heart melted away.

❅ So you spent your days together, laughing over silly jokes and exchanging stories. The cold never bothered you, but being with him made you understand why people enjoyed the sweetness of hot cocoa and why they cuddled close to a fire.

❅ Both your friends and family were happy for you. One day, Jack asked you to invite everyone so you can have a contest on who built the best sculptures. Your audience and judges comprised of Jack’s fellow Guardians, Queen Anna and King Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven.

❅ You showed off with iced gardens, towers, and even the shape of Sven, but none was more impressive as when you turned around to find Jack on one knee, a gleaming diamond in his hand. It was a picture perfect moment with ice sculptures in the background, celebrated with loved ones. 

❅ And soon, the ice queen would never be without her king.  

✿ Masterlist <- read more!

[erenjaegerwifee]

Don’t tell him

Survive the Night: Day 1

Paring: Lo'ak x Fem!Omatikaya!Reader

Warnings: Cheating, kissing, masturbation, manipulation (just a tiny bit), rough sex, explicit language, mentions of blood, squirting, fingering, degradation, dirty talk, choking, knife Play,

Word Count: 5.3K

Disclaimer: All characters are aged up! if this makes you uncomfortable, do not read

Event Masterlist

Your mate Tsu’ti is a wonderful man. He works so hard to keep you safe and provided for, so much so that he’s the second in command to the clan’s new Olo’eyktan, Neteyam. He is kind and smart, and these are only some of the qualities that drew you to him. However, since he moved up in rank, he has been much busier than he was before. He leaves your kelku before dawn and comes back after eclipse when your fast asleep. The only time you get to feel his body against yours is when he snuggles into your neck at night.  

You are very happy being married to him and you have never regrated your decision, but you are extremely sexually frustrated now. He isn’t around the way he used to be. Back when he wasn't second in command for Neteyam, he was around more. Always home for dinner, always there to snuggle together before bed every night. Now you have no such privilege.  

You don’t know when this started but you can’t seem to stop yourself from doing it. Your kelku looks over a part if the warrior training ground. You always liked the high view of the forest it gave you but it always gave you access to look at your husband. Since you do not really have a job in the clan, your duties consist of making sure your quarters are kept in top shape and to take care of your husband. But he now trains in a different part of the grounds so you no longer see him. However, you do see all these other muscular men.  

They’re perfectly sculptured bodies, honestly you feel bad you've never had eyes for anyone except your husband. Though now that you are horny all the time, you notice things you didn’t before, people you didn’t before. One of these people just so happens to be Lo’ak Sully. 

Neteyam’s younger brother took up the mantle your husband held before, training young warriors, which just so happen to be right under your window. You know the brothers well now; your husband grew up alongside them and introduced you. They are always welcome for dinner and used to join you both a couple times a week.  

You feel like you have mapped out his routine from the moment he arrived to the grounds until the moment he leaves. You can’t seem to keep your eyes off him. Lo’ak has grown much over the years, his lean body, slutty waist, his huge biceps and hands. That man looks like Eywa herself carved him; you can’t believe you never noticed him before. It is not the only way he has grown but also emotionally, he matured a lot from the stories you heard about him in the pass. He is not as impulsive or reckless as he once way, there is even talk of him getting a mate in the near future.  

Today however was different, he wasn't meant to have training for the next few days because he was supposed to go on a hunting trip on his brother and your husband who has left early dawn. Here he was though, sat on a rock under the shade of a tree, sharpening his knife. You were practically drooling over him, watching his arms bulge with the movements, his grip on the knife exposed his veiny forearms. You felt like you were getting more turning on by the minute watching him.  

Lo'ak wasn’t even doing something remotely sexual, yet here you are soaking up your loincloth, essence messing up your thighs. You gnawed at your lip until it turned cherry red, ready to burst. Without thinking you slump down to the floor eyes still above the window so you could see his figure and you hand stuffed down into your folds lathering up the wetness before inserting one of your fingers. It is been so long since you have touched yourself let alone someone else touch you. You are surprised at the level of slick you feel around your fingers and thighs. 

Your other hand fiddles with the beads in front of your breast before you move them aside pinching and pulling at your nipple. Your eyes still haven’t left his frame, you aren't even sure you’ve blinked in the pass few minutes. You were so close to your first relief, thinking about all the things that man would do to you. All the positions he could effortlessly fold you into, all the ways he could make you scream using his hands, his tongue, his cock. Oh, you bet his cock is huge, you’ve heard women talking about their sexual escapades with him and it sounded fucking amazing, all the ways they described he made them cum so good.  

Lastly that big knife that looks small in his huge hands but you know you couldn’t wrap yours around the handle...you just know his handle would look so big in your hand. You roll your eyes at the thought, the wet noises coming from in between your legs as you thinking about him pressing down the cool knife on your tummy while he fucks you, feeling him run it over your body sending chills all over you. Maybe he’d drawn a little bit of blood and press his tongue down on you to clean it up. You near your release thinking about how good his tongue would feel pressed down on your skin like that- 

“Fuck!” he hissed, snapping you out of your dirty thoughts. You raise your head alarmed above the window sill, fingers still snug inside your pussy. He shakes his hand out watching the blood splatter in the green grass, he cut himself. “Lo’ak are you ok?” you say without even thinking. He looks up towards your voice taking note of your messy hair, blushed purple cheeks and sweet red lips, and just your overall fucked-out look. He’d be lying if he said he never thought about fucking those sweet lips- “Yea I'm fine just cut myself” he smiles softly, “you don’t happen to have a first aid kit?”  

You do have one, your husband made it a point to make sure your kept one in the house, he always said ‘you’ll never know when you get a little cut.’ Again, without thinking you nod your head and watch him stand up shielding his knife on his hip and walk up to the tree that your kelku is built on  

‘Shit oh no’ 

You rip your hands out of your loincloth and spring up, stumbling around to clean yourself up before he walks through that doorway. Lo’ak is a very skilled climb shouldn’t take him more than a few seconds to reach- “hey”  

You spin on your heel hiding your hands behind your back as you use a cloth that was thrown aside to wipe your juices off. Unfortunately for you, your hair was still messy and your clothes were shriveled and there was a wet stain on your lavender colored loincloth, as if you had spilled water on yourself, or something else. You aren’t as slick as you thought you were cleaning up. Lo’ak could smell your essence on the cushion you were previously sitting on, you didn’t even realize you leaked.  

“Hey- sit, sit I'll get the-” you stumble around looking for it through the shelves as he sits down on the cushions situated against the wall. “How’d you cut your hand?” you ask him as you walk over to him with the kit. “Sharpening my knife, not that it needed it I was just tryna relief some frustration” he sighed out.  

“What happened?  Is it because you didn’t go with this this morning?” you ask about the hunting trip. “Yea my brother told me to stay home, that I'll go on the next one so Tsu’ti can stay home then” he tilts his head back eyes still on you as you open up the kit and pull his hand into your lap. You skin is feverish, hot to the touch, ‘when was the last time your husband touched you?’ The thought crosses his mind. 

“I bet it’s been tough huh, not having him around?” you move in closer to get a better angle to clean his cut. “Yea it’s weird not having him around, sometimes I wonder what keeps him so busy” you chuckle a bit making him laugh as well. You finish up cleaning his finger and you feel his hand move up to tuck some of your loose hair behind your ears. Only then did his closeness invade you, his scent hit you like a truck ‘Eywa did he always smell so good?’ 

Your eyes raise to meet his and your noses always touch. Without another thought you brush his lips into am impulsive kiss. His lips felt so soft and warm, his hair tickled the side of your neck when you tilt your head making you squeeze your thighs together, the action doesn’t go unnoticed by Lo’ak, he felt it. You didn’t continue the kiss though, pulling away just as quickly as you kissed him.

You look up into his eyes panicked trying to decipher what he might be feeling. What have you done? No did you just ruin your friendship with him? Is he going to tell your husband? Did you just ruin your marriage? Thoughts fly through your mind at full speed as you blabber out apologies to him. 

“Sorry Lo’ak, ‘m so sorry, I didn’t mean to do that. Please don’t tell tsu’ti, he’ll leave me I'm sorry! I’ve just been so frustrated and he’s not around to help me and I’m sorry!” Tears spill just as fast as your words when you try to explain yourself, begging him to keep it a secret. You didn't want to end your marriage, you let your frustration get the better of you and you never meant for this to happen, especially not with someone your husband is so close to.  

“Woah- woah baby don’t cry” he pleads with you, his hands move up to your shoulder holding you in place as he tries to calm you down, continuously telling you ‘Its ok’ and ‘don’t worries’ spew from him, but none of it seems to stop your rambling. “Hey- hey y/n sweetheart, I won’t tell him.” 

 Now that gets your attention. You’ve somehow ended up half way into his lap with one leg thrown over his behind him and the other folded between the both of you, “you’re not going to tell him?” you sniffle looking up at him with wide eyes. Lo’ak brought a hand up to your face drying your tears while he shook his head ‘no’. “Not gonna tell him, I know you're not used to having him around, it is ok” he shushes you down and pull your head to his chest.  

What you don’t know is Lo’ak has wanted to fuck you since the day he met you, but you were always off limits being his friend's girl. But all things chance, never mind the fact and you are still happily mated to one of his friends, you are not satisfied. It would be wrong of him to not help you right? It would be wrong of him to leave you here in a little puddle of horniness. He knows you can’t help yourself the way your husband might be able to. So maybe if he offers his help...you wouldn’t have to tell your husband.  

Maybe you’ll take it and he’d be able to fuck you like he always wanted to. He'd be able to get down in that cunt and ruin it for you. He just knows you’d love that from the drunken conversation he once had from your husband, he knows you like it rough. Lo’ak inhales deeply, his nose buried in your hair as you rest on his chest. His skin is warm, almost hot. He’s always loved the way you smelt, every time you pass by him, he gets a whiff of your sweet conditioner, make from sweet flowers and fruit essences.  

Lo’ak shuts his eyes before making his little moves, nothing too obvious but he just wants to make sure you don’t say no when he asks you his pending question. One of his hands run up and down your back soothing you, but this time it runs a bit lower to the base of your tail. His index and middle fingers open to curly around it subtly. Curtius of your drunken husband again, there is a lot of things Lo’ak knows about you that he shouldn’t.  

This for instance, he shouldn’t know playing with and pulling on your tail turns you on. He also shouldn’t know you like it when your mate starts you off gently then rails you roughly until you cum. But Lo’ak isn’t gonna stop just after you cum, he’s never getting this chance again he’s gonna give it to you until you passing out cock drunk on him, or until he’s shooting blanks.  

Your thigh tightens a bit around his hip and you sniffles come to a minimum as you feel his hand on you. Your tail thrashes a bit feeling the tinges his fingers send down to your hole. Your lips part slightly and you breathe through your mouth. Hot breath hits his chest and he knows he has you exactly where he wants you. His fingers then grip the base of your tail and with small squeezes until he runs it up to the fluff at the end before letting it go and starting over again. His other hand moves down to your ankle that is folded in his lap, his fingers brush over his before softly gripping and messaging the bone. 

 Because of your compromising position, that hand, those fingers are dangerously close to your pussy, to where you want him the most. You have to continue to remind yourself of your husband but it doesn’t really help you. Your mind runs circles around only one thing, one person. Lo’ak  

His hands feel so good on your skin, so warm. Your mind runs to the times your husband touches you with cold fingers and you subconsciously compare both men. You feel bad you really do, this is wrong. Sitting in the arms of another man and letting him touch you in ways only your husband should. A sharp tug to your tail pulls out of your thoughts and your body shifts up instinctively making your clit brush against the knuckle of his hand. The double stimulation makes you moan pathetically and you raise your head to look at him with wide eyes.   

Lo’ak can see how conflicted you are, on one hand you want to be loyal to your husband and he doesn’t blame you at all for that, but on the other he knows he want him to put his cock down on you just as much as he does. “Lo’ak-”  

“Shh... I know you miss your husband sweetheart, but he left you like this, alone and horny right? Wanna let me help you out” his voice sound so sweet but you push down the thought immediately protesting. “Lo’ak that cheatin-” 

“Baby, today is only the first day of the hunting trip, he’s gonna be gone for a week most likely, maybe longer if they don’t hunt enough, are you really gonna suffer yourself for that long, let me help you out, I know you want me to” 

Lo’ak hand moves from your ankle to your loincloth smoothly, rubbing the wet spot you created over your clit making you pant through parted lips, “Look how wet you are sweetheart? I've barely even touched you...you don’t really want me to stop to you” he asked sweetly rubbing circles on your swollen nub. 

You bite your lip looking up at him and eyes water. You aren’t sure if it is because if how guilt you feel letting him feel you up in such an inappropriate way or if it is because you don’t want him to stop. “You didn’t answer my question sweet girl you want me to stop?” he asks again. His movements slow down a bit as if he's about to stop. 

You don’t know what to say. He fingers feel so good on you. This is wrong your married. But he’s gonna make you cum. But this is cheating. But your finally gonna get some relief after so much weeks of waiting for your husband to be available.  

Screw it. You stretch your head up bringing him into a heated kiss, he immediately reciprocates and kisses you back. His hand starts moving faster on your clit drawing out whimpers into his mouth. He takes the opportunity and sticks his tongue in exploring your entire mouth, his tongue is long maybe he’ll stick it in your- 

He uses the hand that was playing with your tail and wraps it around your back pulling you further into his lap. Your legs stretch out and curl around his lower back. Your hands move up to his arms squeezing the muscle between your fingers. You moan and whimper into his mouth before he picks you up off the ground effortlessly and places you down on your sleeping mat.  

Thanks to your husband you have a big seven-foot mirror sitting right in from of the mat. You watch your flush reflection, messy hair, purple blush now down to your neck, tear-stained cheeks. You look like you just had sex when in reality you haven’t even started yet. You find yourself comparing both men again, you never look like this when your husband fucks you, or when he is about to fuck you. 

Lo'ak moved his body behind yours, legs spread and he pulls you back to his front. You lean your head back on his firm chest making eye contact with him in the mirror as he runs his hands over your body. “You won’t tell him I touched you right?” you shook your head no. “Because you that if he finds out that will be the end of me seeing you, forever” the thought makes you pout slightly but you nod anyways.  

He smirks in the mirror as he unties your loincloth from around your hips and toss it to the side, he spreads your legs throwing both your knees over his thighs then he wastes no time bringing his hand back down to your clit, circling the bud before running his fingers down your wet slit. 

You mewl and shut your eyes when he inserts his middle and ring finger into your hole. You feel like you are about to cum and he just started. “You look so pretty baby” he says watching you in the mirror as you moan and squirm in his lap. 

“Taking my fingers so well” his voice deep edges you on more, “Does your husband do this with you baby? Does he finger your sweet cunt?” you feel his chest vibrating behind you, almost like he’s purring when he speaks to you. “Ah- yea, so-sometimes he does yea.” you mumble out. 

“He doesn’t stretch you out before he fucks you sweetheart?” his free hand moves your beaded top to the side to play with your perky tits. “no- no time” you moan as you near your release. “Coming! Coming Lo’ak” without a reply you squirt on his fingers, juices spray messing up the mat and a few cushions, some even end up on the mirror across the room.  

“Fuck I didn’t know you could do that sweetheart” Lo’ak says in awe of what he just made happen. You pant trying to catch your breath as you lean your head back on his shoulder and closer your eyes, “never done that before, first time” you blush bringing your hands up to cover your face.  

He grabs a hold of your hands pulling them from your face and looks down at you, “So, if that enough can I go?” you look at him shocked, he’s leaving you like this? Just like that be burst out laughing in your face. “Oh no sweetheart you don’t really think I’d leave you like this? What kind of man do you think I am” he buried his face in your neck kissing and sucking but being careful not to leave any marks. You pull your hands away from him and elbow him int he ribs before sitting up and facing him.  

He was about to protest but when your hands untied the string holding your top and let it drop to the ground, he suddenly had no complains. Lo’ak looked at your tits wickedly, as if he had planned beforehand what he would do. He did, you just didn’t know that yet. He pulled you closer by your hips, pulling your chest right into his face. He sucked on your nipples one by one, pinching and pulling on the other that wasn’t in his mouth. You whimpered and wiggled in his grasp. 

You sat yourself down on his lap feeling his bulge through his loincloth, you grinding down on him moving back and forth making yourself feel good on his body. Lo’ak started moaning from your movements, his grip on you becomes tighter.  

You bring both your hands up to the sides of his face, threading your fingers through his braids. You pull his head away from your chest and you to your face to kiss you. For the first time since he’s been like this with you, Lo’ak moaned. You felt that you could cum untouched from the noise he just made. It made you giggle against his lips thinking about it. He pulled away looking at you confused, “Why are you laughing?” he smiles at your sweet laugh.  

“You sound really sexy when you moan” you smile before going back into the kiss, this time he laughs and mumbled a ‘thank you’ against your lips. Your hands moved down his chest and abdomen slowly, soaking in the feeling of all the ridges down his abs as your soft fingers move. You eventually make it down to his loincloth trying and failing to untie it. Lo’ak makes no more to help you though, he finds your struggling entertaining.  

You give up pulling away from the kiss and looking down at his knot trying to undo it, ignoring the sound of his amused laughter. You glimpse the knife he has shielded away on his hip and pull it out of the protective strap. “Woah-” his eyes flash in panic like you were about to hurt him but quickly calmed down when all you do was cut the string holding his loincloth together and he lets out a breath of relief. 

You hold the knife up in the air next to your faces as you watch his cock spring out of the confinement and slap his abdomen right under his belly button. Your eyes widen slights are you watch his sheer size; you have never taken anything that big before. “Like what you see?” your eyes follow the voice back up to his face to see him laid back against the wall smirking at you.  

You bite your lip looking at him prettily, “Yea it’s really big” your free hand moves to stroke him a bit. Your fingers don’t touch because you can’t full wrap your hand around his cock but you still give the head a nice squeeze, hearing him let out a deep groan and throw his head back.  

“You know Lo’ak, earlier before you came up, I was watching you, I was watching you sharpen your knife, and you looked so hot doing it...you handle it so well I mean, look at it in my hand...” you bite your lip gesturing the knife that is the size of your entire head in your other hand. Lo’ak was so engrossed in watching your small hand pump his cock he almost didn’t realize you were speaking to him.  

His eyes raise up to your other hand watching your small hand wiggle it in the air, your fingers couldn’t fit around that either. “Gosh baby” his big palm came and covered yours holding the knife and he smirked while it took it out of your hand. “You wanna play with this?” he asked you as he moved the hand with the knife behind your back pressing the point to the top of your neck. 

The cold metal made your gasp for air as you lean forward closer to his body, both your hands now pumping his cock together making him feel good. Lo’ak begins to move the knife so the sharp tip is pressed up against your soft skin, but not enough to actually cut you. The slight pinch for the blade feels so pleasurable, you had no idea you would have liked it so much, but here you are. 

Lo’ak drags the knife down your back slowly, making sure you feel very bit of the drag. Your tail comes up to wrap around his forearm as you tilt your head back slightly, still looking him in the eye. “You liked that baby?” you quickly, and a bit desperately nod your head. “Listen I’m going to do something, if you don’t like it, I need you to say to work ‘red’ ok?” he speaks in a serious tone making sure you understand and when you nod your head once more, he takes it as a sign to continue.  

“You are going to make me cum with those pretty hands yea? And if you don’t, I’m gonna start cutting” he’s tone changes quickly back into a very seductive one. “Cut what Lo?” you pout dumbly. “You sweetheart” he brings the knife down to one of your thighs and press to metal tip down into your skin, not enough to draw blood but just so it will hurt a bit, and leave a small dent.  

Your breathing picks up as you tilt your head down and let a heavy drop of spit fall on the head of his cock, he whimpers at the feeling before his jaw went slack watching you pump for slit all over his entire length. Lo’ak feels like his body lagged by the way you so effectively made him want to cum all over your pretty face.  

He moves the knife around your body, occasionally pressing down leaving small dents and marks all over. The process makes your cunt slick, and creates a deep purple blush on your face. Finally, he draws blood, the knife kinked right beneath your collarbone making you whimper. Lo’ak brings his head closer to the part of your body that now slowly drips blood.  

Now you have imagined this before, but you never thought it would feel like this. His warm tongue makes contact with your skin, you get chills down the length of your spine. Your hands stutter before continuing the fast movements bringing him closer to his release. It feels so good, you throw your head back, mouth ajar as you pump him faster and faster.  

Lo’ak groans into your skin when he shoots his cum all over your tummy and hands. He pulls away watching you pant as if you just came, you bring one of your hands up to your mouth and licked it clean making eye contact with him. “Fuck baby you are just perfect aren’t you” he roughly grips your neck as he pulls you in for a kiss.  

The roughness catches you off guard but you welcome it happily. Your whimpers are cut off by this tightening grip on the sides of your neck, the way he presses down on your windpipe is just so fucking good. You break the kiss tilting your head up so he can have full access, “Oh you dirty bitch” he chuckles darkly, “you like getting choked, you want me to cut off your air and make you high sweetheart...damn does your husband choke you like this to get you off baby? You like feeling his one hand cover your entire throat?” Lo’ak smirks, laughing softly while he speaks. 

He finds it very amusing the way you, turn into a full-blown freak when he thought you were such an innocent little husband pleaser. You are fucking perfect. If he has known all this time, you’d be this nasty he would have tried to fuck you a long time ago. “Lo’ak please-” you wheeze out. 

“Please what baby?” he teases you. He loves hearing your sweet voice beg him, he has no intention of wasting time though. He lets go of your neck and grips your hips before spinning you onto all fours. You are facing the mirror now and you watch him get up on his knees behind you. “I want you to watch yourself take my cock. I want you to make sure you remember no one else can fuck you the way i do, not even your sweet husband” he rubs your ass and up your back as he speaks, gripping and spreading your cheeks to get a better view. You don’t even get a chance to reply when you feel his cock rubbing between your wet folds.  

Lo’ak pushes in slowly glancing from your reaction in the mirror to the sight of his dick disappearing inside you inch by inch. He watches your body drop down onto the mat head still facing the mirror. Now he has more than one perfect view off your arch. When he bottoms out, you both moan in unison. Feeling his grit stretch you out like no one ever has, he is quite possibly the biggest cock you’ve ever taken, and you're loving it.  

When he stars moving you feel like you're seeing stars, your mouth gaping just like your cunt and you mewl loudly at his rough thrust. He is quite literally fucking you into the mat, you can barely breath as he pounds into you. “Fuck- Lo AH!”  

“Yea you like that baby- like feeling my big cock fuck your little hole, yea I know you like that you slutty little thing” his words come out through gritted teeth and his hands come down to around your neck, effectively pulling your head off the mat and pulling you back into his thrust the same time. You scream as you look at yourself in the mirror, new tears fall down your cheeks but this time from pleasure. You aren’t sure if you're coming because of his vulgar words, or because he is fucking you so good.  

A combination of both feels right. He looks so sexy, he looks like he was meant to be the man fucking you, he looks like he’s gonna come. You watch him throw his head back his grip on you somehow becomes stronger when you gush all over his cock and thighs. He looks down at your leaking pussy, “Shit baby, came so fucking good for me” he pants out and speeds up his thrust ready to come. “Where do you want it sweet girl?” he lets your head go and it falls back to the mat, he bends his head down to your ear when he asks his last question.  

“Mifa Lo’ak pleaseee” you beg. He is 100 percent not in his right mind, he is definitely not thinking about the detrimental consequences this could have on you both. But who cars right now it feels good. It feels right. When he releases his load, he kissing your neck and whimpering sweetly into your ear, “fuck, fuck, fuck” then your both fall to the side together, his body curling around yours. Your eyes are shut as you both lay in silence, you know what you’ve done is beyond wrong, but you can’t find it in yourself to be guilt, at least not right now. Oh well that’s tomorrow's problem.  

✨thanks so much for reading! Likes, repost and comments are always appreciated!

Taglist:

@strongheartneteyam @rivatar @delusionalwh6re @nilahsstuff @xylianasblog @quicktosimp @xrollingmyeyesx

[moon-lit-petal]

From Chaos to Comfort Pt2

George Weasley x Fem!Hufflepuff!Reader

Summery: George becomes acutely aware that sometimes, people aren't the biggest fans of his and Fred's pranks

Warning: enemies to lovers(?) George fell hard and fast. I tried to do a slow burn but you can tell I gave up lol Also Y/N is a little mean to George ngl

Word count: 3.3k

Notes: N/A

Part 1 Part 3 Part 4

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For the first time in his life, George Weasley found himself at a loss. It wasn’t a prank gone wrong or a mischievous scheme that had backfired. This time, it was his own feelings that tangled him up, leaving him uncertain and confused. He had never meant to fall for Y/N—it had started as a vague curiosity, something small that grew each time he saw her, each time he noticed something new about her that intrigued him.

At first, it had been her quietness. She was unlike anyone else in their chaotic world of Hogwarts, someone who didn’t seek attention or the spotlight. Then it became her strength—the way she handled herself, always composed even when the world around her erupted into laughter or chaos. He noticed her resilience, the way she would stand tall despite the pranks she had endured. But it was her mysterious nature that had really captivated him, the way she seemed lost in her own world, as though there were secrets she held close, secrets he wanted to understand.

The more George watched Y/N, the more he realized how much she had begun to mean to him. He saw her in moments of solitude that he felt privileged to witness. Sitting by the Black Lake, her eyes focused on the horizon, Y/N had an almost ethereal quality—completely absorbed in her own thoughts, a peacefulness surrounding her that drew George in. He’d catch glimpses of her curled up in a chair in the library, lost in a book, her brow furrowed in concentration. She never looked more beautiful to him than in those quiet moments when she thought no one was watching.

But George was always watching, and each time he did, his feelings deepened.

The problem, though, was painfully obvious: Y/N despised him.

Whenever he worked up the nerve to approach her, she would pull away. She would tense up or avoid his gaze, and in her eyes, he saw nothing but wariness—anger, even. He had tried, time and time again, to catch her alone, to explain that he wasn’t like that, that he hadn’t meant to hurt her. But every time he got close, she shut him out, cold and distant, as though she had built walls around herself, walls that George couldn’t break through.untill recently. He had begun to see the cracks in thoes wallsand was willing to wait for them to crumble completely. 

It frustrated him, this constant push and pull between what he wanted to say and what Y/N seemed to think of him. She still saw him as one half of a troublemaking duo, equally responsible for every prank that had caused her humiliation. And George knew that Fred’s relentless antics weren’t helping his case.

George’s internal struggle gnawed at him. He wanted to tell her how he felt, to let her know that he admired her, that he had fallen for her despite everything. But how could he, when she clearly disliked him, she barely tolerated him. He knew that if he tried to confess his feelings, she would shut him out completely, maybe even think it was another prank.

So he kept his feelings hidden, silently watching her from a distance, hoping that one day, she might see the truth—that he wasn’t Fred, that he wasn’t the person she thought he was. Until then, he struggled, caught between his growing affection and the wall of misunderstanding that stood between them.

----------

Y/N had always lumped the Weasley twins together—Fred and George, partners in pranks, equally responsible for her ongoing torment. It was easier that way, to think of them as a single, mischievous entity, both of them causing her misery and feeding off her humiliation. She had spent weeks avoiding them, shutting down any interaction with either one, her anger growing with each new prank Fred managed to pull off.

But lately, she had started to notice something different.

George had become quieter around her. Unlike Fred, who seemed to delight in keeping up the mischief, George no longer laughed as hard, no longer grinned when a prank went off successfully. There were moments when he seemed almost hesitant, as though he were holding back or unsure of himself whenever she was near. It was subtle, but Y/N’s sharp eyes caught the difference.

It happened again on one particularly stressful day. Y/N had been dealing with an overwhelming amount of homework, her nerves frayed, and her patience running thin. She was making her way to class, trying to keep her mind focused on the assignments piling up in her bag, when she noticed something odd about the floor ahead of her. It shimmered slightly, almost imperceptibly, and she recognized it instantly—one of Fred's classic tricks. The enchanted floor would send anyone stepping on it flying into the air with a loud "pop!" and land them in the middle of a roaring crowd of students. Y/N, already exhausted, couldn’t handle another public humiliation, not today.

But before she could turn around or find a way to avoid the prank, George appeared, his eyes darting between her and the enchanted floor. Y/N tensed, waiting for the inevitable, fully expecting George to let the prank unfold.

But to her surprise, George stepped forward, his wand flicking with a quick movement. The shimmer disappeared, and the trap was gone as if it had never been there. He looked at her for a moment, an unreadable expression on his face, before he turned and walked away, leaving Y/N standing there, shocked and confused.

It wasn’t like George to undo a prank—at least, not the George she thought she knew. Why would he help her? Did he feel guilty? Was this some kind of trick? The questions raced through her mind, but the answers eluded her. Suspicion gnawed at her. It could easily have been part of a larger joke, some elaborate setup to make her drop her guard.

But something in the way George had looked at her—his eyes steady, not mocking—made her pause. Maybe, just maybe, there was more going on than she realized.

That thought lingered in her mind long after the moment had passed. She tried to shake it off, but later that day, in the Great Hall, she felt George’s eyes on her again. When she glanced up, she found him already watching her from across the room. For a second, their eyes met, and the world around them seemed to fade into the background.

There was no smirk on his face, no mischievous glint in his eyes. Instead, there was something softer, something hesitant, almost vulnerable. He held her gaze longer than necessary, and Y/N felt her pulse quicken for reasons she couldn’t quite explain. Her instinct was to look away, to brush it off as another moment of misunderstanding, but something about the way George was looking at her made her pause. It was as if he wanted to say something, though no words were spoken.

Y/N felt an odd pull toward him—an unsettling feeling that she wasn’t used to. It wasn’t anger or resentment, but something unfamiliar, something she wasn’t ready to acknowledge. The idea that George might be different from Fred, that he might not be responsible for all the pranks, threw her off balance.

She finally broke the eye contact, her heart still racing, but the confusion remained. Could she have been wrong about him? Could George be more than just Fred’s partner in mischief?

Y/N didn’t have the answers yet, but one thing was clear: the more she noticed these subtle changes in George, the harder it became to hold onto her anger. And that realization only added to the swirl of emotions she wasn’t ready to confront.

----------

It was almost curfew, and the library was nearly empty. Y/N sat hunched over her parchment, her quill scratching furiously as she tried to finish an essay for Transfiguration. She was startled out of her thoughts by the sound of footsteps approaching.

Looking up, she saw George hovering near the bookshelf. He wasn’t looking at her directly, but his presence wasn’t accidental. He had been passing by more frequently these days, always offering her a smile or a casual greeting that didn’t seem forced.

“You’re out late,” George remarked casually, glancing over at her table. “Mind if I join you? I’m hopeless with this Potions essay.”

Y/N hesitated, but after a moment of contemplation, she sighed and gestured to the chair across from her. “If you don’t talk too much.”

George smirked, sitting down and pulling out his parchment. “I’ll try to contain myself.”

For a while, they worked in silence. The quiet between them was comfortable now, and Y/N found herself more focused on her essay than on the awkwardness of his presence. Every once in a while, she would glance up to see him frowning at his notes, his tongue sticking out in concentration.

Without realizing it, Y/N broke the silence. “You’re doing it wrong.”

George looked up, surprised. “What?”

“Your essay,” she said, gesturing to his paper. “You’re using the wrong order for those ingredients.”

He blinked, then glanced at his notes. “Really?”

Y/N nodded, and before she could think twice about it, she reached across the table, turning his parchment so she could scribble a few corrections. George watched her with quiet admiration, a soft smile playing on his lips.

“Thanks,” he said when she finished.

Y/N shrugged. “You’re welcome.”

They returned to their work, but something had shifted. The silence between them wasn’t just comfortable now—it felt like the beginning of an understanding.

----------

One late afternoon, Y/N found her usual spot by the Black Lake occupied—by George, no less. He sat on the grass, his legs stretched out in front of him, lazily tossing pebbles into the water. He noticed her standing a few feet away and smiled, patting the space next to him.

“I didn’t know this was your spot,” he said, tilting his head in a half-apology.

Y/N hesitated, but after a moment, she sat down beside him, leaving a respectful distance between them. “It’s quiet here.”

George nodded. “Yeah, it is.”

For a while, they just sat together, the soft sounds of the lake lapping at the shore filling the air. The late-afternoon sun painted the sky in hues of gold and lavender, casting a warm glow over the water.

“I never thought you’d be one for quiet places,” Y/N said, her voice barely above a whisper.

George chuckled. “I have my moments.”

They both looked out over the lake, the easy silence stretching between them. For Y/N, it was strange but not unwelcome. George’s presence didn’t disturb the peace she usually sought here; in fact, it almost added to it.

After what felt like hours, George finally broke the silence, his voice soft and thoughtful. “Do you ever feel like you’re trying to figure out where you fit in? Like, even in a place like Hogwarts, where everyone seems to know their role, sometimes you’re just…lost?”

Y/N glanced at him, surprised by his honesty. She didn’t expect such a vulnerable admission from someone like George Weasley. But she found herself nodding. “Yeah, I know the feeling.”

George looked at her, his expression earnest. “I didn’t mean to make things harder for you, you know. With all the pranks. I didn’t realize…what it was like for you.”

Y/N didn’t respond immediately. Instead, she turned back to the lake, watching the ripples spread out across the surface. “I know,” she said eventually, her voice soft. “I’m starting to see that.”

Another silence fell between them, but this time it was different. There was an unspoken understanding between them now, a sense that they were both beginning to see each other for who they really were.

----------

A few days later, Y/N sat in her favorite spot in the library, a window seat tucked away behind a row of dusty shelves. She had always loved the way the afternoon sunlight filtered through the glass, casting warm patterns across the worn pages of her book.

To her surprise, George appeared again, though this time he didn’t sit across from her. Instead, he stood near the window, looking out at the grounds with a contemplative expression.

“I’ve never noticed how nice the view is from here,” he commented quietly.

Y/N glanced up from her book, surprised. She hadn’t even realized he’d seen her here before.

George turned to her, his hands in his pockets. “Mind if I sit?” he asked, nodding toward the spot next to her.

Y/N hesitated for a moment but then nodded. “Go ahead.”

He sat down beside her, leaving a respectful distance between them as usual. For a while, neither of them spoke. They just sat there, side by side, the soft rustling of parchment and the distant hum of the library the only sounds around them.

After some time, Y/N spoke without looking up from her book. “Why do you keep coming around?”

George didn’t answer right away. When he finally spoke, his voice was softer than usual. “I like being around you.”

Y/N froze for a second, her heart skipping a beat. She turned slightly to look at him, but George was staring out of the window again, his expression unreadable. His confession hung in the air between them, quiet but significant.

Y/N didn’t know what to say, so she didn’t say anything. Instead, she let the moment pass, and they returned to their comfortable silence, their shoulders almost—but not quite—touching as they sat together by the window.

----------

It was a rare sunny afternoon when Y/N found herself in the courtyard, sitting on a bench beneath the shade of a large oak tree. She had her nose buried in a book, as usual, when she heard footsteps approaching.

Glancing up, she saw George again. This time, he didn’t ask to sit. He just stood there, looking at her with an amused grin. “Do you ever take a break from reading?”

Y/N rolled her eyes, though there was no malice in her expression. “Do you ever take a break from bothering me?”

George laughed, sitting down beside her without asking this time. “Fair point.”

They sat in silence for a moment before George spoke again. “I wasn’t bothering you, was I?”

Y/N hesitated but then shook her head. “Not as much as you used to.”

George grinned at that, clearly pleased. “Progress.”

Y/N couldn’t help but smile, just a little. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, surprised by how easily he had started to grow on her. Despite everything, he had a way of breaking down her walls—slowly but surely.

For the first time, Y/N didn’t feel the need to push him away.

----------

The atmosphere in the Quidditch stadium was electric, students buzzing with excitement as Gryffindor faced off against Slytherin. Y/N sat among the Hufflepuffs, trying to immerse herself in the thrilling game, but her mind was elsewhere, tangled up in the confusion of her feelings toward George. She had tried to shake off the memory of their charged moments together, but the flutter of uncertainty remained lodged in her chest.

As the match progressed, however, Fred had other plans. He’d been plotting something big, something he believed would be the ultimate prank—one that would draw the attention of everyone, including Y/N. She noticed Fred whispering to some of his fellow Gryffindors, a glint of mischief in his eyes, and her heart sank. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she was the target, and she wasn’t wrong.

With a loud bang, Fred unleashed his prank just as the match reached its peak. A loud cheer erupted from the stands as a massive enchanted banner unfurled above the pitch, displaying a giant caricature of Y/N, her face comically exaggerated, with the words “I Love Fred Weasley!” written in bold, glittering letters underneath. The banner was charmed to hover above her, casting a spotlight of shimmering light down on her, drawing the attention of everyone in the stadium.

The laughter from the crowd rang in her ears, a symphony of mockery that made her heart drop. Her cheeks flushed a deep crimson, both from humiliation and anger. She sat there, completely exposed under the glaring light, her worst fears coming to life as her peers erupted in laughter.

“Look! It’s Y/N, the love-struck Hufflepuff!” one student shouted, and the crowd roared with laughter.

Y/N wanted to disappear, to sink into the ground and escape the relentless eyes fixed on her. In that moment, her fury toward the twins reached new heights. Fred’s laughter, buoyant and triumphant, cut through the air like a knife, while George’s horrified expression, watching from the sidelines, only added to her anger. Why hadn’t he done anything to stop it? Why did he let his brother humiliate her again?

As the enchanted banner began to twirl around her, she felt her heart racing. The fabric flapped loudly, and it felt like the entire school was watching her, waiting for her reaction. She squeezed her eyes shut, wishing she could vanish from the spot where she sat, utterly covered in embarrassment.

Immediately Y/N stormed away, her heart racing with a mix of fury and shame. She barely registered the teasing remarks from her peers, her mind a whirlwind of betrayal and anger directed at the Weasley twins.

Just as she turned to leave the stadium, she felt a gentle grip on her arm. It was George, his expression filled with concern, his blue eyes wide with remorse. “Y/N, wait! I’m so sorry—”

“Don’t!” she snapped, pulling her arm away from his grasp. “Don’t you dare say anything to me, George! You’re just as bad as he is! You both think this is funny!”

“Y/N, I didn’t know—” he started, but she interrupted him, her voice raw with hurt and betrayal.

“You didn’t know? You didn’t know what he was planning? You’re supposed to be his brother! How could you let him do this to me again?” Her voice trembled with emotion, tears threatening to spill over as she felt the weight of the humiliation crashing down on her.

George’s heart sank. The guilt he had been carrying since the day of the library prank intensified, and he felt it clawing at him now. “I tried to stop him, I really did! I didn’t want this to happen to you! Please, just listen—”

Y/N shook her head violently, her anger boiling over. “Listen to what? More excuses? I can’t believe I thought you were different, that you actually cared. You’re just as cruel as Fred! I hate you both!”

With that, she turned on her heel, her heart racing, and stormed away. George stood frozen, helpless, the raw pain in her words cutting deep. He could feel the weight of her accusations like a leaden weight on his chest. He hadn’t meant for any of this to happen, and yet here he was, unable to prove to her that he wasn’t exactly what she thought.

“Y/N, wait!” he called after her, desperation creeping into his voice, but she didn’t stop. He reached out as if to follow her, but the chasm between them felt insurmountable. His heart raced, guilt washing over him as he realized just how badly he had failed her.

He watched as she disappeared into the distance, the echoes of laughter from the crowd still ringing in his ears, and at that moment, George understood—things had changed between them forever, and he wasn’t sure if he could ever repair the damage that had been done.

Part 1 Part 3 Part 4

[perfectlyoongi]

SOULMATE!HOSEOK who was looking for you even before he met you. in the streets and in books, in songs and in flowers, Hoseok excitedly looked for you wherever he went, no matter what he was doing; there was eagerness in Hoseok's pursuit, a trivial need to fall into the charms of love that drove Hoseok's every action and every desire. “i know my love is waiting for me. the sooner i get to know them, the more time i will have to love them.”

SOULMATE!HOSEOK who already knew it was his destiny to love you. the days were more colorful with the thought of eternal love filling Hoseok's life; the colors were vibrant, the sounds melodious, the world more beautiful with the certainty that Hoseok was destined to love and be loved — it was fate, something already drawn in the stars a long time ago, there was no way to deny it. “i feel like the stars whisper to me every night that my future is about to begin. all it needs is for me to start loving who i was destined for.”

SOULMATE!HOSEOK who only discovered the meaning of life when he met you. and it was when the stars aligned and the gods drew you that Hoseok was finally able to understand why he existed; it was in your soul that Hoseok found himself, it was in your essence that Hoseok heard the answers from the universe, it was in your person that Hoseok discovered that he was born to love you. “now i understand why i exist, because why else did they create me if not to love you in this life and the next?”

SOULMATE!HOSEOK who loved you loudly. Hoseok was made of love; pure euphoria and appreciation moved Hoseok, his heart expanding with each day he spent with you, the love he felt for you growing with each memory shared with you; Hoseok loved you, simply that, and he reminded you of that every day, always letting the infinite stars illuminate your relationship. “i just want the whole universe to see how happy you make me. i want everyone to know that i love you, always and forever.”

SOULMATE!HOSEOK who swore that every flower and every star were fragments of your love. Hoseok knew that what you two felt for each other was something ancestral, something as old as the stars, as abundant as flowers; in this life, you and Hoseok deprived yourselves of fully expressing your devotion, but that didn't matter, not when the flowers told your stories and the stars guided your love. “we have been sowing affection and devotion throughout our lives to always remember us that in each and every life we will always love each other.”

SOULMATE!HOSEOK who thanked the gods for you being together. he knew you were destined for each other, he knew you already loved each other in past lives, but that didn't stop Hoseok from feeling so happy, so lucky to have someone like you by his side; the gods cherished Hoseok, they considered Hoseok the best human they created, because if not for that, what other reason was there for them to have guide him to the purest soul in the universe? “having the privilege of loving you and being loved by you is something i will always cherish. and i thank all the gods and stars for giving me this opportunity.”

SOULMATE!HOSEOK who would love you until the gods do you part. there was nothing more natural, more tender, more genuine than Hoseok's love for you; as if following a celestial script, your relationship was beautiful, authentic, dotted with all the bright stars and adorned with all the colorful flowers, completely perfect in this life and the next — and Hoseok swore he would love you in as many lives as he share with you, until the gods get tired of your immaculate love. “the gods may separate us today or tomorrow, but i want you to know that in that future, my love for you will continue to exist in every star, every flower, every particle of the universe.”

[kyshiwarrior]

WORD VOMIT RE: Jet's attitude towards his decisions.

another reason i wanna kiss whoever wrote and directed jet's episode is the fact in the cartoon, jet was absolutely hyped about blowing up the dam and knew deep down it was bad because he shielded the gaang from it even if he was upfront with the freedom fighters and confirming with the duke that innocents would die but thats the price --- but still later smiling and saying theyre going to have a great victory over the fire nation after sokka is taken away.

in the liveaction, the cockiness jet has is when he's amused the gaang thinks they're slick for trying to sneak in, when he's helping them sneak in because he thinks its amusing and a helping hand, and the face of a threat: when the fire benders are found waiting for him in the forest to kill him for spying on them and hes ready to fight them back. Then, he's smiling at the camp when he's announcing who they are and what their goal is: freedom and protecting their home because no one else has their back.

Outside of this, Jet is very somber and expresses a lot of stress. For example, when he stops Katara from making herself known too early when Sai is talking to the spy then when Katara confronts him. What really stood out to me was when Katara walked up and Smellerbee was exchanging a look with him. They both looked really stressed and uncomfortable before she even came around the corner, but then especially. The look Smellerbee gave to Jet really said a thousand words, like they've been having a lot of discussions about involving her in their mission and an almost 'I told you so.' (sidenote: they did a wonderful job with nonverbals). Jet immediately puts his foot down about it not being the time then also not denying what he was doing when confronted. When he explains why he’s doing it, even as he smiles a little when saying they know how to take out the trash, its spoken with so much ire because he’s doing what he feels he needs to — and it hurts its your own people that let you down. He smiles because he’s in pain and overall feeling of ‘This is what happens when these people think they could get away with it. They have us to reckon with.’

What was significant to me was the lack of ego. This was someone who had full understanding that what he was doing wasn't something to boast about, but a building frustration tying with "IF NOT US, WHO?" What Katara didn't understand was the difference between herself and Jet, what defines being 'the good guy.' Jet was someone so acutely aware of his lack of privileges and the fear that drives the 'hard decisions' for the sake of collective. Hard decisions that put the very people you're trying to protect at risk because they were in the wrong place and the wrong time, but more would be at risk if they didn't act immediately. It's ugly, messy, imperfect -- and Jet is aware. He is not excited about any of this. Instead, he's pissed he feels he has no other choice because no adult after his parents did anything to help him. So it's all up to him, to him. ((cartoon implied these attitudes but I still spent years trying to get it through jet anti’s heads ))

And assassinating a KING and almost effortlessly succeeding is ... quite something. Impulsive, but pretty impressive. Sad, too, that it would be so easy. Everything Jet had to say about Bumi in this universe was true. Bumi lost his nerve, he was surrounded in privilege, he wasn't doing anything to really stop the corruption, and he fell into despair. Sure, Aang got through to him. Sure, Sai changed his ways and drew away from his treason with risk following. Sure. But we know what's going to inevitably happen, unless they decide to change it: Bumi happily lets Omashu get overtaken by the Fire Nation and orders all his guards to "do nothing" without any explanation. We better see Jet in Season 2 talk about his perspective here because the changes they did have me buzzing with theories. He would be livid and seemingly 100% right about King Bumi. ((Unfortunately, he is also destined to die before finding out about Bumi's plans to take Omashu back the day of the solar eclipse, but it doesn't matter because Jet would not have forgiven him for that terror.))

Anyway, they did a great job humanizing him while making him a foil to her. In the original, Jet was Sokka's foil, but I think it works so well to make him Katara's -- as they both become the most vocal and impulsive social justice activists. So seeing them fight and discuss what it meant to be a 'traitor' and 'unforgivable' was fascinating. They were actually able to have two separate discussions on the matter -- one where Katara confronted Jet to call him a traitor and when Jet confronted Katara to call her one in return.

I love how in the original, Sokka was able to prove he is a good leader in his own way by showing empathy for all and not willing to risk innocent lives ever, which gets Aang and Katara's respect after so much ridicule and comparisons. In contrast, I also love how they decided to go an alternate route because with Jet's impact on Katara that had such a lasting impression, this change did their dynamic justice. It sets up season 2 very well in how they'll engage with each other again.

I also love how Katara is able to reflect on Jet with criticism, but also understanding and a moment of gratitude. It feels a lot better than his simple flattery followed with manipulating her for her powers, and audiences feeling unsure how much of his flirting was genuine. Mind you, helps her story and establishes trust issues around being used (factors into her other plotlines), but it's such a disservice to Jet in return. I'm a big advocate of 'you don't have to completely demonize and ruin a character for the sake of uplifting another, the other should be able to stand on their own.'

[monstaxdirtywonk]

Heaven is a place in hell with you.

Member: San as Hades x Reader Persephone

Plot: It's not the typical myth although it does share some similarities I've made some changes too to fit what I had in mind.

Genre: Angst, Fluff and eventual smut (not in this chapter)

Endless darkness. That's all his eyes have been seeing for the eternity of time. If only someone could imagine the depth of time combined with the depth of the darkness, they'd lose their sanity. Being a God grants you great power but being the God of the dead might not be seen as attractive as other God's kingdoms. Poseidon, ruling the vast sea or Zeus, ruling the mortal world. But death is the most powerful of all, Hades thinks, for it holds the power to diminish everything else. Whether someone was rich, privileged or one of a kind, after their passing, they are just part of the soul parade, a group of shadows with no purpose, just lurking around till the dawn of time. Maybe even after that. Hades has a bit of a reputation if you will, hated by most, if not all the living. The God's aren't fond of him either. He is too monotonous for their liking, keeps mostly to himself, he is on his own, just like what he rules, a lonely experience by default. His body is as immortal as it can be, a vast contrast between his surroundings. He stood tall and proud, well shaped and proportionate. His face chiseled and enigmatic, his prominent bone structure and intense gaze making him intimidating in a striking way. Appearance wise he looked no older than 25, but his soul felt awfully old. Maybe others were right to despise him. He can't stand himself either at times. A gloomy haze was his life, that seemed to have no end.

"A girl is playing around the lake, Lord" Thanatos, his trusted winged friend mentioned.

"She comes here often. She doesn't look human, but not godly either. More like a mixture of them too, not ordinary enough for a mortal, not divine enough for a goddess".

Hades decided to take a closer look after Thanatos' description. He is someone that likes to keep his thoughts and opinions independent, but he couldn't agree more. Her beauty was like something he'd witness before and something entirely different, all at the same time. She appeared delicate and gentle, her hands brushing through the bush, as the wind blew against her face. She seemed beautiful, but in a very different way than Aphrodite is. He didn't feel an ounce of lust for her, her vibes innocent and pure, almost angelic. The type of person you want to protect with your life, if he even had such a thing.

"Maybe she is a nymph? But she is someone I've never seen before and I keep up with them to say the least" Thanatos laughed, confirming his womanizer nature.

Hades laughed as well. His friend had a charm that drew others to him. Maybe they liked getting a taste of death while still alive, literally.

"That's true, you'd know her by now. I'm sure Artemis despise you, my friend. You are ruining chaste virgins left and right."

"Well what can I say? I'm popular with the ladies. I guess they might have a thing for my wings? I mean there aren't that many of us, even in the immortal world. But speaking of getting down and dirty, you haven't been laid in such a long time, Hades!"

The latter's eyes grew at the realization. He had some needs but they never bothered him to that extent. Keeping busy did the trick so far and he was more of an old fashioned man to say the least. His mistress was the night but he grew sick of her. They were too similar, he thought. He wanted some light to enter his world, a blinding brightness to shake him up and warm his icy heart. Or at least that was his persona, his mask. He knew, better than anyone, how much he felt and loved and longed for it. But he could wait for that, he had time, that's for sure.

"Mind your business boy" he said in a teasing tone but failed at intimidating his friend. Hades looked dark, dangerous even, until he became familiar to you. Once you made a place for yourself in his heart, he couldn't be further from that.

"Okay okay, I was just saying that it's a pity for you to go like that. But whatever makes you happy." He answered and raised both of his arms in a defeating manner. Thanatos knew that he was basically a brother to Hades, but he still wanted to keep their relations good, because he had the tendency to say more than he should.

"It's all good, I'm just teasing you!" Hades smiled his way and showed his dimples, the sweetest sight his kingdom had to offer.

Thanatos smiled back and took a look at the lake again, which they were able to see from the inside, as it was the main portal for the underworld. His smile quickly turned sour, and worry played over his handsome features.

"What is it?" Hades asked.

"The girl...seems to be in danger". Thanatos pointed out and Hades took a closer look. A wolf was some meters away from her, moving eerily elegantly for such a creature. Given the area the lake was, it seemed unlikely for an actual wolf to be there. It's size was extraordinary large too, all this made him believe it was one of Zeus' tricks again. A sudden surge of protective energy took over him and he wanted to save this poor girl from Zeus. She didn't deserve Hera's wrath either. None of them did. Hades took a hold of his scepter and pushed it on the ground. The lake started waving and it turned dark as if it was raining during a perfectly sunny day. The girl gasped at the sight in front of her and took a step back since she was almost right next to the lake by now. The waters were divided and a set of stairs showed up. When Zeus realized that the girl was about to escape, he started running towards her and she felt such an overwhelming fear that made her run without even realizing that this was probably a bad idea. She followed the stairs which turned to water again after each of her steps. As soon as she touched the ground, she broke down in tears and hid her face inside her hands, too scared to open them and face her destiny. But sometimes our destiny isn't as scary as we think it is, because there, in this dark and seemingly unwelcome world, she'd find a man with no soul, but more capacity to love than anyone else with a soul ever could.

Next chapter:

[d1onysusw1n3]

★ Daughter of dionysus ★

┌────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──────┐

𝐓𝐡𝐞 ���𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐲𝐬𝐮𝐬 - 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞

↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺ 1:35 ───ㅇ───── 3:47

"𝓘'𝓶 𝓯𝓮𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓭𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓸𝓾𝓼"

"𝒴𝑜𝓊'𝓇𝑒 𝓁𝑜𝑜𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑔𝓁𝒶𝓂𝑜𝓇𝑜𝓊𝓈 "

└────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──────┘

Tw: crazy with a mix of mania, heated make out, and slight sexual themes not the whole Shabang tho. 🦭🍇

You know as the daughter of Dionysus, I wasn't expected to be sane.

"Yo D whaddup!" I lazily smirk down at my dad while dapping him up.

"How's it going favorite." He returns dapping me up with a crisp smack.

Me and him don't have the most normal relationship, but  i'm okay with that, At least it's not like daddy issues over here.

I look over to some curly blonde haired kid with blue eyes, he goes on about wanting to see his father and if Dionysus could help him.

I turn on my heels immediately uninterested, actually i was thinking bout the time i drew a dick on clarisse's forehead with a black paint marker, now that was legendary. Imagine trying to scrub a giant penis off your forehead realizing that it wont budge a inch, dessert privileges were lost, but seeing clarisse with her usual smug smile wiped off and beautiful art work plastered on her forehead, was like a full course dessert table served in front of me on a golden platter.

I walk over to the black smiths to see my friends Jake and Amy, we were known to be the outcasts, we aren't children feining over glory or some bullshit praise from the gods, we were looking for trouble instead.

"Yo Jake" I slide onto the desk he sketches his new weapons project for Amy, the daughter of Hephaestus, Jake hisself was a Hermes boy, not my proudest moment befriending one of them, but he's cool in my book.

You see we're the trouble trio, my charm mixed with Jake's amazing ability to steal and Amy's ability to craft anything we needed for our stupid ideas, we were practically unstoppable.

"Whatcha drawing?" I quirk my head to the side as he quickly scrambles his notebook closed.

"Birthday surprise, don't push it anymore, Mr. D threatened to chop off my toes and feed them to tartarus if i snitched this time." Jake shuddered at the thought of my dad threatening his life. 

"Pshh light work, i would've unleashed tartarus in your room instead" I smirk at his mouth dropping wide open.

"And there goes Astrope, always one upping Mr.D's unstable craziness, somehow" Amy rolls her eyes at our bickering.

I push my wine colored hair out of my face and into a pony tail. My sea green eyes with specks of violet in the iris trails back to Luke Castellan the camps golden boy, He defines the word glory, always trying to prove something to someone, if you asked me, i think he's a garde A loser.

"Who else is gonna carry on the legacy" I say booping Jake on the nose.

"Wow very mature of you princess" Luke rolls his eyes.

"Why thank you, I think I'm rather mature myself pretty boy."

I look over to see him slightly blush and look down.

Cute.

"Anywayyys, I'm throwing a party later, thanks giving and all, who's joining." Amy takes a seat next to Jake leaning her elbows on the table.

"Why thank you for the personal invitation, but you're only throwing this party so you can scout out the new ares boy this year." I roll my eyes at her.

"And so what, the new curly brunette is fine." She says with dreamy eyes.

"Your type is brunette curly hair daddy issues and anger management." I say taking the apple Jake was eating, he prostest me with a small 'hey', but that doesn't stop me as I chomp a fat bite in the middle of said apple.

"Hands off, troglodyte. Getcha own apple" Jake huffs while snatching his apple back.

"Booo tomato tomato tomatooooo" I blow a raspberry at him as we get up to head to dinner.

Luke follows Amy on her trail like a lost puppy, everyone suspected he was whipped for her,what they didn't know was my deep crush for the boy ever since I met him, it's a horrible love triangle.

"Well if you want me to get the goods you're gonna have to distract the camps janitor." I say sitting down at the Hermes table with the three for dinner.

"Huh why?" Luke questions.

"Well Luke, Chiron find alcohol In my cabin, bad." I say slowly shaking my head.

"But if Chiron finds alcohol in the janitors cabin, he'll just think he hates his job or something." I shrug.

"So basically you're saying you hid alcohol in dito's cabin." Jake grinned at the challenge.

"That's his name?" I raise my eyebrow.

"Yeah.. what have you been calling him the whole time.." Luke looks at me crazy.

"Irrelevant.." I roll my eyes.

"So we need a plan we can't just walk into the janitors cabin and grab wine out a hiding place" Amy says munching on her celery sticks.

"Righttttt about that. I hid the alcohol there two summers ago and forgot the hiding place so we're gonna need two on watch out and two on rummage duty" I cringe.

"Astrope I should slap the living shit out of you right now. But in the fear of Tartarus and what Mr D would do to me, you are off the hook." Jake says straight faced with a finger pointed at me.

"Look here goes dito right now." Amy whispers.

"We could distract him now, then three of you can head to his cabin?" Jake said shrugging.

"How are we going to distract him." Luke says with an eyebrow raised.

I chuckle sarcastically then go straight faced looking into his eyes.

"Watch the master do her job." I say getting up from the table and turning around hitting dito on the shoulder on accident.

"OH DEER, IM SO SORR-"

I cut him off pulling a spoon out of my pocket, gripping the back of his head and pushing it to his jugular.

"ARE YOU THREATENING ME, CHUCK." I scream.

This takes everyone's attention allowing the three to sneak away.

"MY NAMES NOT CHUCK.." his voice wavers.

I pull the spoon back pointing it in this face while walking backwards.

"AND DONT FORGET IT." I yell turning around so I could sprint to dittos cabins.

┗━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━┛

I slide the window to dito's cabin open abruptly falling face first onto the floor scaring the three to death.

"JESUS ASTROPE A WARNING NEXT TIME" Jake yells.

"Uhhh warning?" I shrug laying on my stomach kicking my feet back and fourth.

"How bout you get up and help look, you lost it princess." Luke says rummaging through cabinets.

"Right, check the floor I remember putting it in a secret wooden floor board that slides open." I sigh getting up looking under the bed for it.

Instead I find skimpy lace panties and diamond earrings.

"OUU EARINGS." I say dangling them by my head.

Out of no where the lunch lady walks into dittos cabin wearing a skimpy silk robe and.. I don't want to know what's under.

She clutches her heart and gasps.

"DITO GET IN HERE!!" She yells.

"FOUND IT!" Amy screams throwing the box out into the long cushioned grass.

Quick I need a distraction.

I take out my blow torch lighter and fire it over by the sheer curtains hanging by dittos bed.

"YEAH DITO GET IN HERE! SO YOU CAN WATCH ME LIGHT YOUR HOUSE ON FIRE." I scream back at her.

I look around to see Luke scramble out the window so I jump out with him and close it behind me.

Amy takes the box and run with all of us behind her we make our grand escape behind Zeus's cabin deep into the woods where a bunch of the people in on the party we're helping us by decorating.

"REALLY? LIGHT YOUR HOUSE ON FIRE ASTRO?" Jake yells at me waving his hands around.

"Well it worked I didn't see you making a distraction?" I roll my eyes.

Everyone just looks at me stupidly shaking their heads. Jake even started to boo me, followed with a train of boos.

I hop on a log pointing at them all.

"GIVE ME YOUR BOOS I AM NOURISHED, BY YOUR HATRED." I yell.

┗━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━┛

Luke pov

To say Astrope was crazy is an understatement. To be honest I don't know how I even developed a crush on her.

It just happened, her crazy and flirty attitude just draws me in somehow. It's like a drug, you taste some and it's never ending.

To say she was the daughter of the god of ecstasy was an understatement.

She just seems so carefree and untouchable. It's hard to make a move on someone who never takes anything seriously.

┗━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━┛

Astrope pov

Surprisingly the party so far was a success.

even after our scandalous breaking and entering fiasco.

Many people were having fun, except for Amy. The ares boy she had her eye on, and even asked out, had ditched her to talk to a pretty Aphrodite kid.

I see her and Luke talking, him resting a hand on her shoulder for comfort. It kind of ticked me off, but bros before hoes yall.

I sigh grabbing my dagger out of my holster sitting down next to Luke and her by the lake in the sand.

a couple of feet away from the party in the woods. Nobody could really see us, but I noticed her running off and Luke trailing behind her, so I followed.

"Who are we killing. I won't do kids that's a rule. BUT the rule is negotiable if the kids a dick." I say wiggling my eyebrows.

And to my success it makes her laugh, I smile putting my dagger back into my thigh holster.

"How do you do it astrope" Amy sighs looking down.

"If you mean being absolutely funny and the hottest one in the room, don't stress it comes natural babe. Ya either got it or ya don't" I smirk flexing whiling grunting.

"You see that, you seem so care free all the time, I don't know how you do it."

"I don't." I shrug

"What does that mean." Luke questions.

"I just don't, I don't care nor have I ever, I just do me"

"If it was up to me, I'd push the girl aside tell him that I like him and that he can either take all this or shove it." I say with a trashy Jersey accent.

Amy lunges over luke to hug me tightly.

"I don't know what I'd do without you girl." She whispers in my ear. Then hopping on her feat she takes a deep breath and starts walking in her crushes direction.

I chuckle laying down in the sand, a small tide washes over my bare feet as the full moon pushes the river.

"You know you're right princess" Luke says.

I turn my head to see him already looking at me.

"Yeah and what about pretty boy." I whisper sitting up leaning closer to him.

"About caring too much." He sighs looking down.

I frown scooting over to push some of his hair back, he leans his face into my touch. I blush deeply, luckily the moons shine wasn't too bright.

"Princess, I like you." Luke whispers to me, his hot breath dusting my cheeks.

"I like you more pretty boy." I smile.

He leans in closing in the space between us kissing me deeply with need.

The kiss was sloppy and fast. It was heavy with need, not really caring who took control, just needing an outlet for these suppressed feelings.

Laying down as he crawls on top of me. His fingers slip around my throat grabbing hold of my jaw with his finger tips, his other hand sliding up the side of my thigh griping it with such strength I knew bruising would definitely show up int he morning.

I slide one of my hands under his shirt feeling his defined stomach, the other hand snaking around the back of his head to grip onto the back of his curls slightly tugging on them.

He groans into my mouth as I push my hips up into his allowing me to release some built up tension while he marks my neck up and down with sloppy kisses and bites.

"Fuck, princess I need you." He groans panting and sweaty.

I sit up immediately taking his hand leading him to my cabin.

As soon as we get in he grabs me by the back of my thighs. I wrap my legs around his waist slamming the door closed behind us he lays me down on the bed taking no time with slipping our close off discarding them around the room.

"Are you sure about this princess" he says just when he lines up collecting slick from how wet I am.

"Yes Luke jus need you." I whine arching my back when he finally pushes in.

Our groans almost pornographic as I could only see straight stars. I wrap my arms around his back scratching down.

He groans snapping his hips harder with more force.

I'm definitely gonna be sore in the morning.

┗━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━┛

I wake in the morning with Luke laid on his stomach arm wrapped around my waist as I lay on my back.

I get up leaning on my elbows looking at all the scratches left on his back from the previous night. As well as the hickies running up from his jugular down to his stomach.

I smile tracing all of the cute little reminders to all the girls that might think that have a chance, that they don't.

"Morning princess" his deep morning voice grumbles out.

"Morning pretty boy, how'd u sleep?"

"Good" he gets up kissing me on my temple.

"You know sooner or later you have to get up and sneak back to ur cabin before my dad throws a fit." I say tolling my eyes.

"Yeah I know" he sighs getting up slinging on his shirt and pants sitting back down on the bad to give you a kiss.

"See you later princess" He says opening my window and escaping into the back of the cabins.

I sigh not really believing yesterday happened. All of a sudden I hear an obnoxious banging on my cabin.

I get dressed with Luke's hoodie and my shorts underneath. Only to open the door face to face with my father.

"Burn your house down.. really?" He scoffs.

"So you're angry?" I squint, just happy the topics not about a cute tall muscular brunette who just hopped out my window moments ago.

"Where is it." He whispers looking around frantically like someone would hear him.

"What?"

"The alcohol I know you have it."

I shake my head smiling.

"Well halfway into the party Chiron busted us and took it, sorryyyyy" I say slamming the door in his face laying back down to sleep.

It's six in the morning and too early for this, I'll deal with the mess I made later...or never.

Sooo ts is long and messy I'll fix it later.

Words: 2,545

Can you tell who inspired this whole chapter 🤗🤗 guess in the comments lmao.

[teenandbeyond]

Gojo x Sub. Fem Demon Reader

This resulted from a misread request lol

Want the subby Gojo version? Here.

Want more from meh? Masterlist!

☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆

🕶 Disobedience 🕶 (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Warning(s): College AU, flirty reader, smut, a lil gore, public sex, dirty talk

It's your second semester at a new college and you've already got a guy trying to impress you, not doing too good so far when he's wearing shades indoors...

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

He could feel you before you entered the room.

As you entered, he lowered his shades, like he couldn't see you clearly past them.

You were beautiful.

You immediately met his eyes, you could feel his power, too.

And when your lips lifted into a smirk, he decided.

He wanted you.

The next day, he made sure to make a point of falling into the chair next to you.

"Mm, are you here to dispose of me, curse user?"

"Not necessarily," he drew out his syllables, leaning on a palm, "I just wanted to get a better view."

"You're not going to get that from the very back of the class."

He met your gaze over his shades after turning his head your way, "I didn't mean the lesson. I'd much prefer to study you, instead. Better view than that geezer any day."

"Sacrificing your grades for me? I'm flattered," you offered a shark-like grin full of sarcasm.

"No need to worry about me. I have the best grades in this school," he smiled.

You rolled your eyes, kicking up your feet, "Of course you do."

"Miss [Name]! Put your feet down, right-"

Your professor cut himself off with a glare from you, your head tilted back, challenging him to say the rest.

All he did was clear his throat, "I'll let you off this time since this is your first day, but don't expect such leniency next time."

"Well, aren't you the rebellious one? Someone should tame that disobedience of yours," he purred out.

"I don't get tamed. It's not in my nature."

And every day after that, he finds something to brag to you about.

Trying to impress you, you supposed.

But he wasn't your type.

He was pretty, sure, but you weren't into men who weren't worth what they bragged about.

He just seemed like another egotistical pretty boy who was used to having his way in life.

And why hasn't he reported you yet? You were a demon, his type doesn't let you cruise around innocent people so easily. It's why you had to transfer quite a few times.

His answer?

"I mean, other than a few little pranks, you don't mean much harm. Just another student trying to get their degree. As long as it stays that way, you'll be fine."

He seemed to care more about getting in your pants than much else.

He even brought you your favorite drink from some cafe a few minutes away.

"How the hell do you know I like this?" you ask after an experimental sip.

"I watch."

"Creepy. And I'm a demon."

All he does is smile.

You have a strange dynamic of banter, Gojo not really getting past your wall.

"We can't go on one date, beautiful?"

"My dates include an exclusion of clothes."

"I certainly wouldn't mind that," he smiles, flashing his pearly whites.

"You haven't earned the privilege, human."

"I will..."

Things change one day when a sleazy student decides to grope you on your way out of your last class. Even after you tell him to stop.

You both end up in a hidden corner with you tugging hard on his ear, threatening him.

"Listen here, human. You have two options...You can either use this pencil and stab yourself in your poorly endowed genitals. Or I can tear off your ear for your poor listening abilities."

"You crazy bitch, you think you scare me? I've had crazier girlfriends."

"Oh, have you, now? Well, I don't like being second best to anybody. May I show you why I'm the one to fear?"

You mute him with your power, he's unable to be heard by powerless humans. And you slowly tug further and further away from his head.

He tries to struggle away, but your power holds him in place.

"You don't deserve these ears anyway, much too pretty for that attitude of yours," you grin as he begins to scream.

"Stop! Stop! It's going to tear off!" he shrieked.

"That's the point."

You silently glance at the ear in your hand, then back at the screaming young man.

And you laugh. Tossing your head back, hard.

"Fascinating! Humans are very expressive."

"What's going on here?"

You blandly glance over to see Gojo moving closer, "You're not blind. I think it's blatantly obvious."

"Gojo! Gojo, help me, man! This bitch is crazy!"

"Silly human, he can't-"

"Help you? Lovely [Name] here doesn't seem like the type to do something without reason."

He could hear him? Right...his power.

"So what did you do, Kimura?"

"Nothing! All I did was flirt a little and she went nuts!"

You stab a pencil into your desired area, getting another satisfying scream out of him, "You touched me without my permission. And even after my merciful warning, you kept doing it...You were confident, too. I can only imagine how many human women it took to gain it. What do you have to say about that?"

All he could do was groan in pain.

"Well, at least now you can live alone like you deserve. Only desperate little humans would get with a sleazy man lacking an ear and a hard-on. Now, get out of my sight," your power releases him as you dismiss him with a hand.

You don't turn to look at him as he rushes to hobble away.

But before he can turn around the corner, his body freezes in place and shatters like glass.

"Foolish human. I don't let scum like you live."

"Well, well. Interesting to finally see your power in action."

You jump at the voice next to you, when did Gojo get that close?

"You didn't try to help him."

"He was weak anyway. But I told you not to harm anyone, or we'd have a problem."

"I have selective hearing," you smirked, leaning against a brick wall.

"Selective hearing, huh? Of course, you do," he hummed.

Before you could blink, he was pressed into you, arm against your throat.

"I should kill you."

"Will you?"

"Hmm," his gaze bore through you, "It'd be a shame...I like you."

"I am quite the charmer," you don't break his stare even as his thumb brushes against your cheek, red staining it when it leaves you.

"Red suits you," he muttered, looking down at the blood.

"It suits anyone."

"But I like it on you, I'm not talking about everyone else," he drags his thumb over your lips. Teasing it between them.

You tease back by accepting it inside when he meets your gaze again.

He sucks in a breath, "Damn, you're beautiful."

"I know," you kiss the pad of his finger.

"And a tease."

"So are you."

"And you need to be put in check. I can't have you killing whenever you feel like it," he glares.

"Even the strongest of your human warriors failed to do so. You're no different. All bark, no bite."

His grin is wide and dark, "I'm always happy to bite if you want me to, princess."

He was willing to prove it.

Your back was slammed against the wall, your legs tightening around his waist.

All hints of his normal nonchalance were gone and so were his shades, he couldn't let them get in the way.

As he sucked on your breast, leaving hickeys behind, he made sure to stare into your soul.

He wanted to make a point.

Especially after a statement you made.

"I don't have very high expectations for you. I've lain with many mortals and demons alike. And I've forgotten all of them, no one can sate my hunger enough to be remembered."

He lifted you higher, he gripped your thighs as he kissed down your stomach.

You thought he was a little weakling, but he lifted you with ease...

...looks can be deceiving.

You bit your lip as his breath hit your inner thigh, "Hm...do you deserve my mouth there? You've been very disobedient. Disobedience shouldn't be rewarded..."

Your breath hitched as he nipped the plush of your thigh.

"Sensitive. Have you been neglected here? No wonder your hunger hasn't been sated. They're basic."

You groan in frustration as he goes everywhere but where you want.

"You asshole."

"I'm well aware, you've called me that a few times already."

"You think you're so great just--Oh my--!"

"Ironic coming from a demon," he giggles lowly, before getting back to work.

You grip his hair tight, and you briefly think about it being painful, but he doesn't say anything to indicate it is.

All he does is groan, syllables drawn out, "Mmm...a delicacy."

You try to keep quiet, eyes squeezed shut, your pride not allowing you to give him what he wants.

But then his hit tongue hits the right spot just as he adds a couple fingers.

Your legs squeeze him closer as you moan, louder than you'd like.

You can feel him chuckle and you know his ego is boosted a little.

"D-don't get too big-headed, there's plenty of people that've made me-" he cuts you off again after sucking hard.

Your back arches against brick and you look down at him to find him already looking up at you.

He looks like...he's starved.

You look away, you've never done such a thing.

And just when you're about to reach your peak of pleasure, he pulls away.

It both relieves and infuriates you.

You didn't want to admit that this human could make you do something few have done.

But on the other hand, this asshole. How dare he deprive you?

A hand leaves your thigh as he reaches for his pants with it.

"Impatient are we?" you mock, in between breaths.

"If it tastes that good, I wanna know how it feels..." he muttered.

You watch openly as he reveals himself for you to see.

"Ego now makes sense."

"Hm."

And soon he's rubbing between your folds, watching intently.

"Are you just going to sit and watch all day?"

"You don't deserve it, so don't expect me to go easy on you."

"I can handle you just fine. Just put it in already-"

And he does, in a single motion he's as deep as he can get.

With a whimper, your nails dig into his back through his shirt.

He groans into your collarbone before sliding out just to slam back in.

"W-wait, Goj-ah!" you gasp out a strangled moan.

He slams into you again, and again, slowly.

He grins into your neck, "I've been waiting for someone like you. I can go all out and not hold back for once. Should I stop holding back on you? I did say I wouldn't..."

And you stiffened at the words, "That was holding back?"

"Wanna tap out now before it's too late, pretty girl?"

"Fuck you."

"Already doing that, but fine."

And once he sets his merciless pace, sounds won't stop slipping past your lips. None of which you're proud of.

"Shut up, you pathetic demon, whimpering like a dog on my mortal cock that you don't deserve," he growled into your ear, gripping your neck tight.

Your eyes roll back, drool escaping past your gaping mouth.

And quickly you have a shaking climax, before it can end, he's still going. It's not long before you can feel your body on the edge of approaching another.

"Look at you. Chanting my name like you worship me. Drunk on how good of a fuck it is. Weren't you talking shit not too long ago? Now you're acting like my desperate little whore."

Usually, when people talked to you like that, you'd disintegrate them...but at that moment, you forgot how to speak, only able to say the same words.

"Satoru, Satoru, Satoru...ohhh. Please, oh, please!"

He gripped your chin, roughly tugging it down, he met your eyes, "You're never gonna be able to stop thinking about me. You're gonna try, but then you'll give up, and have your hand between your legs until you accept that your destiny is to be my little toy...and come crawling back to me."

"I-I-I'm..."

"Do it."

You collapse on top of him when you do, clenching around him so much he moans with you.

He eases you back from your high, kissing your neck.

"Since you were a good little toy, you can help me finish. Not that you're worthy of it."

And the second he puts you down you're on your knees taking him.

He groans, looking down at you as he pets your head, "So eager... Did I tame you that quickly?"

Gojo knew he'd win this challenge. All that annoyance he'd pent up from you playing hard to get he put into you.

But unlike he thought, that burning desire for you didn't go away even as you went down on him.

Even when he reached his own high.

Perhaps you'd have to be his toy for a while...

[phytochorion]

How the Forest Finds the Island

Chapter Sixteen - Boom and Bust

The sun was wobbling fat and red just above the horizon. Sen had a soft landing in a tangle of Cullodena's herbaceous trimerophytes, hopping down from their springy stems and picking his way through the undergrowth. Whereas once the fort had dominated this whole space, now plants scrambled in such profusion that it couldn't even be seen from the ground.

There was someone, no, two someones, standing by the base of the trees that held up their communal home.

Sen slowed down. Short tresses, pointed crown, huge boots… Phonso was back.

"Good evening, Schuppenbaumer, looking for Nathair again?", queried Sen as he drew closer. He didn't know the man standing just behind Phonso. Of indeterminate age, with wings reminiscent of Simon's and tresses in a box braided style, he regarded the two of them wryly.

"If you must know, I just came over to meet with an old friend. Have you met? No? Very well, this is Gongsun, this is Wesley."

"A pleasure." Wesley gave a quick bob in response to Sen's bow.

"Hang on, you're…"

The mechanisms of Sen's mind were whirring.

"You're not Wesley Candock?"

"The very same." His smile grew at the recognition.

"Oh wow, I… I've dreamed of meeting you since forever! It really is a privilege!" Sen was vaguely aware he might come across as cloying, but any cautionary thoughts were drowned in his excitement.

"What a stroke of luck that you're here!", he continued. "I'm just back from a visit to Simon, he mentioned you'd made the crossing but I didn't expect we'd cross paths!"

"My limp-leaf brother, huh?" Wesley's smile stiffened and one eyebrow rose. "Don't waste your time with him, mate. Suffers from a critical lack of ambition, he does. At this rate he'll be stuck in that swamp forever, but me? I've got a vision to chase."

Sen's trail of speech faltered. Simon had seemed to bear his brother no animosity, but then again, he was always the forgiving type. Had something transpired between them?

Thinking he should change the topic, Sen asked, "So. Ahem. How long have you known Mr Schuppenbaumer?"

Phonso stepped in to answer. "We've been friends since the Triassic!"

Ugh, thought Sen, exaggeration, but Wesley's smile brightened again as he clapped the lycopod fairy on the back.

"Yeah, Phonsy and I must have combed every inch of Epiphyllia, and with any luck, there'll be plenty of secrets to uncover here!"

"And I've been honing my skills, day in, day out."

Phonso gave a demonstration, light magic springing to life in his hands like a pair of miniature suns. Wesley whooped in admiration.

A weird feeling was blossoming in Sen's chest. A bad and unfamiliar feeling, like the mycelia of a fungal parasite infiltrating his nervous system, except it wasn't growing into him, but out of him. It took him a minute to put a name to it - envy.

Sen tried to think of some excuse to back out of this conversation, to go anywhere else. Before he could, Wesley addressed him.

"So how about it, Gongsun? Wanna join us sometime?"

Sen's focus snapped back to the conversation, his tongue feeling heavy as he tried to decide on an answer. He could see Phonso glaring daggers at him from behind Wesley, daring him to crash the party.

He was spared when something else caught the horsetail fairy's attention.

"Is it my imagination or… is someone there?"

Sen and Phonso swivelled around.

"Now that you mention it…", began Phonso, "I sometimes get the feeling I'm being watched when I come here." His usual bravado had diminished a tad.

Wesley took a curious step towards the darkest corner of the undergrowth. There was a twitch of movement and for a split second, they all saw the same thing; a pair of large eyes in the shadows, discreet yet intent. They were gone in a flash and a rustle of leaves. 

"Who was that?!", yelled Wesley, not waiting for an answer as he bolted after the runaway. Sen and Phonso exchanged a glance and followed.

Making a sharp corner at a hollow log, they nearly tripped over Si-woo, who was flat on his back with another fairy on top of him. A perplexed Askarya observed from a few paces back.

The fairy atop Si-woo sat up slowly, wide eyes looking from one face to the next. Between an ornate mask and long robes, not much else could be seen of them. All were silent for a moment.

"Guys, you scared them," tutted Askarya, breaking the spell and helping the small figure to their feet.

"Um. Ok. Who's them?" Wesley voiced what was on all their minds.

"This is Noori," replied Askarya. "And you should all be grateful for the work they do, I don't know a single fairy who remineralises so much detritus."

"Well, good to meet you, Noori," ventured Sen. Noori returned his bow without saying a word.

As Askarya introduced them to the rest of the group, Sen tried to figure out where Noori's limbs were. It was difficult with their frame completely obscured by their robes, but Sen found their movement intriguing. They seemed to glide across the ground rather than walking, which was especially strange as, like all fungus fairies, they had no hint of wings.

Sen shrugged and leaned against Si-woo.

"Hey rénxiōng. It's getting late. I'll sleep here tonight, what's your plan?"

"Yeah, I'll join you. Night all."

Phonso waved an offhand goodbye, then returned his attention to Wesley as he too made to leave.

The two friends fluttered into the quiet recesses of the fort. It was open and airy, warm and dry. Compared to the early days when they'd slept in a pile on the floor, it had become very comfortable, with silk, straw and twine hammocks strung from the rafters, while feather and moss mattresses lay below for those who didn't fly.

It was quiet, with few occupants around. Over the years, accessory rooms and levels had been built, housing everything from Nathair's growing library to Jess's frock collection. Live vines and stems grew through the construction, replacing dead branches as they rotted away and turning it into a growing, ever-changing structure. More than a structure in fact, but a living thing in its own right, and a home.

Sen and Si-woo looked out through the slats towards the horizon. The sun had just vanished, leaving the sky burnished rose and copper. Heavy clouds were building closer to the ground, threatening storms. Sen pointed to them.

"I don't like the look of those. Hope the river doesn't sweep away all of Simon's hard work."

"The look of what, sorry?", queried Si-woo, surprising Sen. He was normally the first to spot rain.

"Those clouds!"

"There's no clouds there." Si-woo rubbed his eyes. "Oh, so there are. Strange."

Sen gave him a puzzled look.

"Clouds come from the sea," added Si-woo.

"I know," responded Sen, and hesitated. "While these ones are… coming from over the mountains…"

An uneasy feeling hovered between them.

"There's a telescope in the admiral's room," suggested Si-woo. They raced there right away. Sen rapped the door.

"Admi- I mean, Sirichai?"

No answer. They pushed in, sorting as respectfully through his belongings as they could, then rushing back with the telescope in hand. Si-woo shakily put it to his eye & adjusted it.

"What do you see?"

Sen felt like he didn't want to know the answer.

"Oh crap. Oh FUCK this isn't good!"

Si-woo looked to his friend and spoke a single word.

"Locusts."

⸙ ⸙ ⸙

"Sound the alarm! Sound the alarm, damn it!"

Si-woo scampered up and down the fort at breakneck pace, half climbing, half flying, banging Glen's pots and ladles together. Cullodena emerged from her quarters, looking furious, but her expression softened when she saw the fear in Si-woo's eyes.

"Byun, dearie, whatever's the matter?"

"Locust swarm, headed this way," he gasped. "Round up everyone you can find!"

Sen stood in the crown of the fort's tallest tree, telescope trained on the dark mass with shaking hands. A lichen-covered head emerged through the foliage.

"Nobody gonna tell me what all the fuss is about?"

"Askarya!" Sen blushed and fumbled the spyglass, embarrassed that he'd forgotten all about them in the confusion.

"See for yourself."

They trained the eyepiece on the horizon and scowled.

"That's not good. What's the plan?"

Si-woo fluttered up beside them, followed by everyone else present; Cullodena, Nathair, Glen, Jake, Kai, Elei and, to Sen's surprise, Noori.

"Well me old chum, I'm glad you asked," cut in Nathair. "Our goal is to stop that swarm settling on our fair demesne."

Askarya smiled despite their situation, nudging a fretful Si-woo and mouthing, I think a bit of the Admiral’s rubbed off on him.

"What can you tell us about locusts?", asked Sen. "That's relevant right now, I mean."

"Okay, they typically fly by day. As ye can see, the sun's going down." The fern fairy folded his arms. "That means they'll be looking for an overnight stopoff. Wherever they land, they'll strip it clean of greenery by morning. That's what we stand to lose."

The others shifted uneasily. From one perspective, it would be easier just to abandon the fort and rebuild once the swarm had moved on. But no one voiced this. That option meant abandoning years of work, all the investment of time and energy that had gone into this place, not to mention the likely destruction of every treasured possession they stored inside. It was common knowledge that Nathair would lay down his own life if it meant preserving his library.

"Well, no time to lose," prompted Sen. The others switched their attention to him, faces resolute. "Jake, Kai, Elei, you'll be our first line of defence."

Kai cracked his knuckles.

"Glen, Askarya, reinforce the fort however you can. Nathair and Cullodena, you'll help us coordinate." He handed Nathair the spyglass. "And Si-woo and I will be in the air to deal with locusts that get through the outer defence."

The group nodded and quickly dispersed to their positions, Sen waiting to make sure all vulnerable points were covered.

Noori walked over to Sen and looked him in the eye.

"Oh. Sorry Noori, I… ahem, if you want to help, that's great! What kind of magic do you have?"

Noori opened one fist and revealed a sprig of moss. A dingy, stifling aura slowly leached out from Noori's shrouded silhouette. The little moss sprig withered and died.

Sen felt like a lead weight had dropped into his stomach. His breathing hitched and he forced himself not to step backwards.

"R-r-rot magic? That's-"

He swallowed.

"Hold on. That's precisely what we need right now!"

Sen looked over his shoulder. The swarm was less than a kilometre away.

"Noori, will that work on animals?"

The fungus fairy nodded once.

"Oh holy souls, superb. And can you, er, direct it? So that it won’t catch plants in the collateral?"

Noori wavered, then gave an unconvincing thumbs-up.

"Er. Alright. Whatever, it's our best option. Si-woo!"

Si-woo dived to meet Sen.

"What's up?"

"I need you to carry Noori."

Si-woo blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Noori's got amazing rot magic, I think it could take out half the swarm if we time it right. I need you to get them to the centre of it!"

"No way, no way, you're out of your mind," muttered Si-woo, pacing. "You want me to carry a disease causing fungus - no offence - into a plague of leaf stripping bugs on my own?!"

"Well, when you put it like that…" Sen sighed.

"Who's doing what on their own?" Kai alighted alongside them, arms crossed and eyebrow raised.

"Perfect, now he won't have to!", Sen exclaimed. "Kai, Si-woo's going into the swarm. Keep him safe."

Kai happily agreed, while Si-woo spluttered in indignation.

"Don't just go along with him like that! And Sen, may I ask why you're not the one carrying Noori?"

Sen froze, face flushing green in embarrassment.

"Well… you're a much better flyer than me. And my magic will be little use out there. And- and I'm scared."

Si-woo's expression softened, just a tad. "I know. But what makes you think I'm not?"

Sen didn’t know how to respond. After a pause, he simply went with, “I’m sorry.” Clearing his throat, he continued, “I’m trying to do what has to be done to protect everything we’ve worked for. But a good leader leads by example. You’re right, really I should be the one going out there.”

He took a deep breath and turned to Noori. “You ready?”

The little fungus fairy nodded.

“Alright,” replied Sen, trying to stop his hands shaking. “Hop on.”

Kai pressed his hands to a cycad leaf, drawing in magical vivacity while Noori clambered self-consciously onto Sen’s back.

“Let’s go.”

The three of them dropped from the branch and veered out from the dense stand of trees, into the evening air that was all that lay between them and the storm. At that moment, a voice rang out behind them.

“Dang and blast it, wait for me!”

Si-woo had caught up with them in an instant, his wings flowing like banners. He caught sight of Sen’s knowing smile.

“Well, after all that talk about leading from the front, I could hardly just sit back and watch. You’ll stand a better chance with two pairs of eyes on you.”

“You know I couldn’t ask for more, Si-woo.”

⸙ ⸙ ⸙

Nathair watched the thrumming storm of wings grow until it blotted out the horizon. His fingers clenched, trying not to let the spyglass slip from his sweaty grasp. Beside him, his mother called something down to Elei, who answered in the affirmative as she geared up for battle. In the distance, the little shapes of Sen, Si-woo, Kai and Noori looked as though they were to be swallowed up without a trace.

⸙ ⸙ ⸙

Sen briefly took his eyes off the wall of jointed legs and compound eyes ahead, looking into Noori's eyes. Up to this point, their composure hadn't faltered, but he saw terror in their eyes.

"Hey, Noori, look at me. It'll be ok, you hear me? We'll get through this. I promise I won't let you fall."

Noori shifted nervously, inhaled deeply and sat up a bit straighter, their mood settling.

"That's the spirit."

They were so close that the sound of chitinous wings and hungry mouthparts nearly drowned out Sen's voice.

"Alright, this is it! You ready? Kai, Si-woo? Got your magic ready, Noori? Yeah? Here goes!"

All at once, the swarm surrounded them. Locusts rushed by on all sides and from directly ahead. Kai reacted in a flash, swift strikes of his toughened limbs and wings sending orthopterans raining from the sky, keeping the path clear for the others.

"Now?", shouted Si-woo.

"Wait until we're at the densest point!", answered Sen. "Our friends will take care of the rest!"

Si-woo gave a grim nod and fell in line beside Kai, calling up his water magic to create a shield of droplets that deflected the ravening grasshoppers around the quartet.

"Noori, it's up to you now. I'll give you as much help as I can."

Sen focused, grateful that for the moment, he didn't have to swerve around locusts as he did so. Breathing deeply in and clasping his hands as his wings powered onwards, he drew on a flow of inter-promoting and overacting magic. It was an atypical combination, but it would allow Noori's magic to feed off the energy Sen provided. It wasn't without risk, as if Noori overstepped their boundaries they could begin draining Sen's life force directly, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Noori locked themself in place with their legs, raising their arms with robes trailing. Flakes began to crumble and spill from their skin, a grey pallor extending all around. Sen nervously took a deep breath as the spores surrounded him, but they appeared to do no damage. The locusts weren't so lucky.

The moment the ashen dust touched them, the insects went into disarray, legs jerking and bodies spasmodically careening into each other. With every collision in the densely packed cloud of wings, another plume of spores went up, enveloping the sky in a grim haze.

"Will that be enough?" Sen shouted to Noori, who shook their head and pointed upwind. Sen nodded and flew on, to where the first spores had difficulty reaching. The locusts were beginning to disperse, flying in chaotic patterns as they avoided the cloud of death, and making it hard to get a good shot in. Noori took their best shot, sprinkling the infectious powder over another portion of the hungering plague, but it was clear that they weren't catching all of them.

Kai and Si-woo closed in on their location.

"At this rate, too many will get through, the fort will be overwhelmed!", hollered Kai.

"I know! Blast and damn it, we should have had a plan in reserve!"

"Guys, why is the moon rising on the opposite horizon to normal?", Si-woo chimed in.

"Now's really not the time-", Sen began, but trailed off as the ball of yellow light in the distance rapidly grew in size and intensity.

"Pretty sure that ain't the moon," observed Kai.

Something about the light was familiar, and Sen felt a twinge of premonition in his gut.

"I think we should shield our eyes."

Kai shrugged. "Hey, it's not that bright, it might help us corral those bugs more easi-"

"Cover them!", snapped Sen.

The light exploded.

Beams as piercing as the noonday sun burst forth, bathing the landscape with saturated shadows and cold fire. There was no noise, no heat, just a white glow that granted Sen the chance to get a look at the back of his own eyelids.

As quickly as it had arrived, the light blinked out, leaving nothing but its technicolor afterglow across their vision. Sen slowly got his bearings, wings continuing to beat on instinct as he turned in midair. Noori was still on his back, Si-woo still beside him. Kai was gone.

[valandhirwriter]

Shadows of Spring then. OR anything Lux I don't know yet 😂❤️ (LUUUUUUX)

LOL, you hit an Erland story actually. ;) So i honestly went looking for a Lux piece you do not know. Which is not easy, because you know most of them. I take one where I am fairly sure, you didn't see it, or only the opening paragraphs. It is one of my crazier ones, so forgive me for that one. It was this one, or the time-travel one.

Chapter 1 – Enfant perdu

The hooting of a grey owl drew Lux out of his slumber, and the rolling hoot, almost like laughter rang through the early spring night air. He blinked against the pale moonlight filtering through the tall window illuminating the room. 

Tall Window? His mind startled from the haze of sleep. His quarters in the bastion of storms had the privilege of a window - a small slit in the vaulted wall letting some vague light filter through. It was a privilege that only officers had, and Lux as a captain only made the cut because he was Captain of the Royal Impera. Everyone else had quarters deep in the underground vaults of the bastion. He blinked again. Definitely his quarters - his armour on the rack, the three glass holders for prayer candles, the clear glass discoloured from flame and ash, remnants of his past, and the shelf on the wall, stacked with books, this was his room - it did not change the straight walls and the high double lancet window with the complex tracery in the upper arches. The type of window was found in parts of the old palace wings, certainly not in the barracks. He pushed himself up on one arm, ready to swing his legs out of the bed, when he noticed, that he was not alone, someone’s arm was draped over his side, and his legs were partially entangled with someone else's.

He almost jumped up but forced himself to go still. If this was a dream, then a very real one, and if it was real… it couldn’t be. He had returned to his quarters in the bastion a few hours ago, after an angry and scathing dressing down from his Majesty, who had been deeply annoyed about the safety measures for the journey to Rowan. He had wished Lux to the other end of time and gotten truly vexed when Lux had dug in, he did not compromise where his Emperor’s safety was concerned, even if it meant risking the man’s ire. He still might see punishment for insolence - not the first in his career either. He carefully extricated his legs from the tangle, careful to not wake the person who was with him and then turned around. His hand brushed over the blanket. He frowned. His quarters were comfortable, but he most certainly used no sheets like these… what was going on here? Had he been drunk and landed in a guest suite? No, his things were here. 

He sat up, and looked at the person lying between him and the wall, and he had to hastily balance himself to not fall out of the bed inelegantly. For tightly snuck in between him and the wall, buried in two comfortable blankets was the familiar figure of a very asleep and also very naked Emhyr var Emreis, resting peacefully on the thick bedroll Lux preferred in lieu of cushions. 

Lux froze in place. This had to be a dream - a very vivid dream for sure. But a dream. Maybe brought on by the recent trouble? Had he been exhausted enough to allow his mind to slip to thoughts otherwise forbidden? Panic rose inside him, or had he been drugged with something? A magic delusion? Truth drug his mind supplied. They gave you the test of loyalty again after you were too recalcitrant. He sighed. He had been through that test by the court mages a number of times, they had trouble reading him correctly and thus had resolved to test his loyalty to the Emperor using a concoction of powerful drugs. The problem was - the drugs worked on one’s feelings towards the subject. He had passed those tests always with flying colours, but they buried at things that should better not come up to the surface. 

He sighed, time to get out of here. He carefully moved off the bed, moving across the room noiselessly. The room was too big to be his quarters, even as it contained his familiar things. The floor felt cool under his naked feet, and there was a soft brush of air from the window, pebbling against his skin. He stepped to the small table holding the candles, lifting one up to smell it - prayer candles were usually scented. But instead of the familiar scent of sandalwood, the soft scent of blue lotus and moon orchids tickled his nose. He closed his eyes letting the gentle scent brush against his senses. The mages had really messed it up, or the mage administering the test had expensive tastes. Moon orchid candles were pricey on the best of days, not to mention that most makers reserved their moon orchid oils for making more marketable things than prayer candles. 

He checked over his shoulder, the Emperor was still asleep, nothing was moving. Definitely a test. The mages could not fully see what happened inside the test, or they would have known about Lux years ago, but sometimes they tried to force it. He picked up the long pine chip, lit it at the dying fire in the open grate - since when did a Captain’s quarters warrant a fireplace of one’s own? - and when a small flame licked up the chip he ignited the prayer candle, a small flame rising. 

While the light of the sun is beyond doubt or debate, the flame of a single candle is of greater danger, as every power needs a proper focus. The words long taught to him whispered in his mind. He put the pine chip aside after extinguishing it and took a deep breath to centre himself. Exciting this test was usually a matter of control of one’s own mind. He placed both hands in fists crossed on his chest, and directed his mind inward… to his core…

“Nightmare?” A warm voice asked from behind.

The Emperor had woken. Lux turned around, suddenly aware that he was in a state of full undress, and very well visible in the moonlight. Not to mention the candle casting a cone of light right on him. 

Emhyr had propped himself up on one arm, warm brown eyes shimmering, reflecting the light of the candle. “Kaer Sion again?” he asked softly.

Lux almost took a step backwards, he could feel the colour drain from his face. How in the world did the Emperor know about this? No one - no one - knew what had happened in those dark days in that mountain fortress. He had managed to escape, and he had never told anyone of what had transpired there. 

His mien must have confirmed it, for Emhyr extended a hand towards him. “Come back to bed, there are better remedies for nightmares, than prayers,” 

Sun above, what kind of drug cocktails had the mages given him? Hesitantly Lux stepped back and touched Emhyr’s fingers, feeling them curl around his hand. “It was just a dream,” he said, trying to sound normal. 

Emhyr pulled him down, so he came to sit on the bed again. “I know those ‘just a dreams’ too well,” he said, pulling Lux down onto the bed and feathering soft kisses along Lux’s jaw. “The kind of dreams, that has you pray warrants distraction,” he interspaced the words with more kisses, his lips trailing over Lux’s throat, and Lux threw back his head, to allow for that wonderfully warm touch. A part of him was panicking, if the mages saw that he’d be in for it. Their cocktail must be off by a lot this time. 

“Sometimes a little focus helps,” he replied, biting away a Sire at the last moment. If this was just his own mind, he might as well behave normally. His fingers found Emhyr’s dark hair, slowly running through the silky locks. Lux couldn’t help it, the sudden closeness was intoxicating much as it was forbidden. 

Emhyr interrupted his ministrations and looked up. “I prefer you without that focus, without the walls you build up, the man you hide beneath,” he said his hands gently but very insistently roaming Lux’s naked body. 

The entire surreality of this hit Lux full force again. He was in bed with the Emperor, not that he would mind, but it was not likely to ever happen. And yet his mind and whatever drugs the mages had given him, had conjured this up and he did not manage to break the dream’s hold. He might as well…

“Walls protect, Emhyr,” he said, throwing all nerves to the wind, wrapping both arms around the other man, to kiss him in return. His hands wandered up Emhyr’s back, to the shoulder blades and he could feel the slender body strain into his touch. 

Emhyr groaned, his hands running over the entire length of Lux’s body possessively. “Just a reason to crumble those walls again,” he said, before capturing Lux’s lips in a very deep kiss.

Lux’s closed his eyes, just letting the sensations wash over him, it was like a dream - a very forbidden dream - but his will to resist the dream’s lure was waning rapidly. He responded to Emhyr’s kiss slowly, not that it seemed to perturb him and let his hands slowly discover the lean body above him. When their kiss broke, Emhyr smiled at him, a hungry, brilliant smile. “Never let it be said, I could resist a wall in need of breaking down…”

***

When Lux woke again, he honestly expected to find himself tied to a testing chair in the bowels of the dungeons, with a good chance to throw up the rest of the potion. Instead, he found himself in bed, warmly snuggled up with a certain Emperor, and the first light filtered through the high window. Warm lips traced his scalp, Emhyr was already awake. Lux blinked up at him and was greeted with a smile, he could barely imagine Emhyr was capable of. “You slept like a marmot,” he said his eyes sparkling. 

There was a closeness and intimacy in the words that seared itself directly into Lux’s heart. Even if his Emperor, like others before him, chose to sate his baser urges with one of his soldiers, physical affection would have been the most Lux might have hoped for. This… this was different. He tilted his head to feather a kiss on Emhyr’s lips. “You were right, the best remedy for restless dreams.” 

He had hit it right, his Emhyr, this Emhyr they both liked to win and to be right because the slight smirk said told you so without words. Lux cast a glance at the window, registering the sunlight and sat up. “I better get moving or the General is going to have kittens…”

Emhyr chuckled. “One day, Lux, one day you will tell me what happened in that hole in the ground that convinced you Aeron is capable of that feature.” 

“One day,” Lux echoed, he had no clue how such mornings were supposed to go, the usual cases gracing the Emperor’s bed were escorted out by morning at the latest if they had lasted all night. An Emperor in the quarters of one of his officers… there was no protocol in the world to rule that. 

Emhyr misread his glance. “I know - it is this day - having to listen to Voorhis sniffling widow for hours will not be good. But it must be handled before we depart for Rowan.” He cast a glance at him. “Keep the helmet off today, my hunter, I want her to remember who gutted that treacherous curr for all the capital to see.”

He had killed Prince Voorhis? Publicly? Lux did not doubt he’d be capable of it, he had learned to kill and not ask questions when he had gone to the hills and joined those fighting the usurper, but… this sounded like a spectacle. He could not ask. “I best get myself scrubbed,” he said, having slipped into breeches and a light tunic. He’d have to find out where in the palace he was first, and then work out the rest. 

His luck persisted, because his quarters were obviously situated near the hidden stairwell leading down into the bastion, and he could easily get to the communal baths from there. It was early enough for the baths to be not overcrowded and give him time to wash thoroughly. He was almost done when Bran, his Lieutenant, occupied the tub beside him and made a face. “Curd soap, Lux? Do you want to bring a bad mood down on all of us, one day before we ride - one day before he too has to be in the saddle all day? Don’t be cruel, please?”

Lux looked at his old friend, wondering what he was thinking. Were they friends? Or did he despise him for sleeping with the Emperor? What were they here? “Bran?” He asked, not quite sure what he meant. Everyone used curd soap down here, it was provided by the army in large quantities to keep the soldiers clean. Scented soaps were forbidden in military bathing houses - if everyone used them the stench would be enormous and every blind assassin would find them by the nose alone. 

To his surprise Bran got out of the water, padded across the tiled floor and grabbed something from a basket and threw it at Lux, it was a bar of soap smelling of Winneburg orange blossoms and a small flask of oil from the same source. “You alright?” He asked with a hint of worry in his voice. “You know how he hates the ‘soldier stench’, so what made you revert to…”

“Just not thinking,” Lux replied, realising he’d have to play it by ear. “I was tired and went by…” habit he wanted to say, but he saw Bran’s arched eyebrow.

“Take a boy out of the hills, but you’ll never get the hills out of the boy,” Bran teased, before falling serious and letting himself drop into the water again. “Do us all the favour and avoid needless upheavals will you?” he said, “The whole Voorhis case will have him in a mood up and down the walls and the ride for Rowan…”

“So no carriage?” Lux asked, before diving under to clean his hair. When he came up Bran arched an eyebrow. 

“Lux, please - there is no need to revert to that facade again. I have known since… well since ever I should think. I know he will travel horseback, much as he dislikes it, and use the chance to hit the communities along the road with surprise visitations. So keeping his mood somewhere bearable will be your prime mission objective from here on out. I guess the General isn’t saying it any more, because he can assume you know.”

Lux got out of the water, drying himself off, and swiftly got dressed again. He made a bit more haste, so he’d be at the guardroom before Bran, which gave him a chance to hastily flip through the guard log and get up to speed on the daily operations of the Royal Impera. He noticed it was run as a double company, each led by a Lieutenant, and the shift patterns were odd. So he’d have to find out the reason for it. Caio de Varderaan, the golden Peregrine, was another surprise. He led the secondary company, coming off the night shift, and he, like Bran, seemed to be an old comrade of Lux. “Word has it, that the Emperor intents to visit the extended var Emreis lines, once he has dealt with that Roweni Duke in Dun Fionn,” he said, “now that we are back here, he intents to crush all the traitors, much like he crushed the north….” he stopped and his eyes fell to Lux’s belt. “Gods above, why did you dig that blade out? Where’s your gear?”

Lux frowned, he wore a regular Impera belt with a familiar blade by his side, it was the same sword he used at home. A simple appearing blade, that had never failed him in many years. Before he could react, Caio had turned around. “Sergeant! Hailey - run over to the armourer and ask why the Captain’s gear isn’t back here. And make him work faster if he forgot it.”

Lux leaned against the windowsill covering his surprise. There had been no other weapon’s belt on the armour rack in his quarters. He was sure of that. He had grabbed the gear he had seen there, it was the usual gear Impera Officers used. Hailey - how in the world had he ended up in Impera? - came running back. “Trouble, Sir,” he said “The armourer says the gear vanished, armor and weapons. He had it last night and now it is gone. He swears it was right there.”

“Could be a matter of theft,” Lux said, “run to the master-at-arms and ask, maybe one of the helpers dropped it off with him when delivering the repaired gear this morning. Otherwise, we’ll make do.” 

“Why in the world would someone steal your armour?” Caio arched an eyebrow. “It couldn’t be sold anywhere, without getting the person in trouble and no one can use it obviously.”

“Assassin,” Lux replied, “get a man of the same stature, put him into the armour and you’ll walk through the gates before someone wonders.”

“Now I know again, why you got this post,” Bran quibbed, “you are paranoid. Someone pretending to be you, wouldn’t last long in here, and if he is anywhere close, no five minutes. And I mean it.”

Not very encouraging words, Lux thought, though he kept any thought carefully wiped off his mien. “Let’s go over the day until Hailey gets back,” he said, and the next half hour was spent on planning by letting them talk, and listening Lux managed to fill in a lot of blanks that would allow him to function, at least in his role for now. 

Hailey came running back with two helpers. “Weapons master says only your battle gear is stored with him, I had him break that out, to give us time to find out what happened at the armourer’s.”

It was an idea that made sense, or at least some sense. Again Lux played along, just enough to not give himself away. “Warn the other guards that someone might try to pretend to be me - just in case an assassin gets smart. And have the armourer check the basement - if one of his helpers decided to reorganize his stocks again…”

The words elicited a groan from Bran. “Then we might find your armour in three years behind a pile of steel bars. I’ll have someone on it.”

Alone in the narrow side room, Lux took the time to change, and examine the armour brought up. It made sense to split field gear and palace gear, as Impera’s Armours for court duty tended to be just a tad more ornate. But this chaos felt ridiculous. He worked fast the layer of leather first, they fit perfectly, and then the armour pieces. At first sight, they were typical Impera - black armour, the left pauldron engraved with the winding silver band indicating his rank, but when he assembled them he realised they were anything but. Two intricate layers of chain and steel were perfectly moulded to his body, allowing for flexibility while providing maximum protection. Some changes were subtle, like the much finer structure of the armour gloves, to allow the hands more movement range. 

Lux almost dropped the bracer he was holding, realising it was not a one-piece lower arm bracer, but layered from several leaf-shaped plates. It wasn’t possible. This armour only made sense if he had ever let anyone know of his training. Jarcai demanded that style of flexibility. And the entire point of his military career had been to not let anyone know where his training had come from. Jarcai was not meant for war, it was meant to master mind and body and transcend the boundaries of the flesh. And like many others, Lux had used it to fight back against the Usurper. Like often before, those who had done so, would join the armies pretending to be good, but normal fighters, dispelling any fears that a sect had the potential to raise an army that could wipe regular forces off the map. He weighed the bracer in his hand - he usually used the excuse that he was trained in sword dancing, which had Vattier search up and down the garden districts for the remnant of an ancient knightly order. His fingers traced over the black steel, perfectly shaped to fit his body, to fit his movements. He could not have told the secret? Could he have told the truth to the Emperor? Lux had luckily never been in that spot. The Emperor did not care where the lethal skills came from, as long as it was used in his service. 

Again a cold question rose inside him. Was this a test? Were the mages digging for a secret? No, it was unlikely. Then what was happening to him? Was he dreaming? Or was this a dream of another life? Lux had read about such experiences, but he knew he had never shown any talent for dreaming, be it prophetic, or transcendental. Worse even - he had no time to consider all variables. He was seemingly trapped within another version of his life, and one where he must have made very different choices. He sighed and finished donning the armour. Once it was assembled it fit like a second skin. He put the helm on the armour rack and walked out. He could only see what the day would bring.

[scribble-dribble-writes]

Loveless - (23)

<<<Prev Next>>>

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Word Count: 1900

Warnings: none

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Chapter 23

She wanted to be alone. So she dove into the water, never having felt feelings this viscerally before, she didn’t have the privilege or the right. Luck never seemed to be on her side, pushing her from one fight to the other. The reef welcomed her like a mother would, with the corals stretching wide as though it were out stretched arms. Colours swirled around her, a remnant of home, here she could be who she was without an excuse. Here she could cry and never have anyone see it or hear it. This was her domain, where things had a certain degree of control. Unlike life on land, that swayed and changed with the wind or sun. She thrived in brutal weather, in the eye of a storm. But for the tempest she was, her heart was begging for one soft glance from him, It felt like a crime, an unforgivable sin, to be near him. Even more so now having known his history and his situation, her yearning of any kind was pointless.

She felt the bile resurge in her stomach, disgusted with herself for wanting, for desiring and this is what you get with hoping, you turn weak and pathetic with stars in your eyes. She screamed, a gorge of bubbles escaping her mouth, water engulfing the sound. She knew life was unfair, so when anything good turned up, it was a trap, a lure to pull her in to hurt her deeply. The rejection that comes from having reached out cuts even deeper, making you remember it in the late hours of the night. She didn’t like her lion fins anymore, her chip on her shoulder now a reminder of him.

He was too soft, he could never handle someone like her. She straightened her back, her eyes resetting to their siren lids. A woman who knows her worth is the most formidable creature on this planet, he could never have a sway with her. The scales were never in her favour, the imbalance, the unfairness, she wanted to crush the world to the ground. She raised her spear, swimming around to find a barren area. She propelled herself, taking aim, beginning to swim towards a target in the distance. The tip of her spear ready to sink in, like fangs. The flames beginning to burn, the dot ahead of her holding the image of the world.

But as the target grew bigger, her mind drew pictures of him. His smile. His eyes. His kids. His home. She pulled herself to a stop, her flames dozed by the remembrance of his cool touch. She lowered her weapon, defeated. She had only heard of the stories, the invaders, the fear, the pain, all of it. She only knew of it from Namor’s retelling, from his paintings, from his point of view and it was enough to warrant growing up with a hate for something she did not witness herself. That it was easy to use and blame everything but based on her first interaction, her own emotions she experienced with having dealt with a surface dweller, someone who was from the very place she swore to destroy. She had a shift within her, she didn’t want to harbor vengeance in her heart anymore, she wanted to make room for something else. “Sister.”, she heard Namor, turning to see him swim up to her.

“You left half way through the meeting.”, he approached her. Her mannerisms very different to what it had been usually.

“Is everything ok?”, he asked entering her zone cautiously.

“Why wouldn’t it be?”, she asked evading his question. Her usual gesture, a cold shoulder. With everyone else, the coldness would keep them away but not with him. He saw her grow up, so whatever camouflage she tried to hide behind, it wouldn’t work. She swam towards an empty spot amidst the corals, her mere presence shooing away the small fish like she was a predator.

“No, it just seems like you’re angry.”, he followed her, taking a seat on a protruding rock.

She envied him, he had his purpose set and everything in life navigated in a way he wanted it to. All his deals were struck well, people were receptive to him. Unlike her, they scatter at the sight of her, like she was a monster the sea gurgled up. Her fierceness too sharp to get close, so they admire her from afar. She caught his gaze, as he tried to understand, he was reaching out. But she only knew best to attack. To bare out her teeth, spread out her fins, the ability to lash out her basic mode of survival.

“Not everyone’s like you.”, she furrowed her brows, the cold water couldn’t control the anger she felt within.

“Having it so easy.”, she looked into the abyss, the same melancholy that even he can’t understand.

“The Wakandans tolerate you, you’ve got the princess to like you”, her tongue sharp like a spear, knowing well these words we’re going to sink into his skin.

“Everything is going your way.”, she bit the inner corner of her lip. Angry, with herself, for being unable to fit in. For being remarkably different, that for someone who had a plan and loved stability. All this change was too much to comprehend.

“So I don’t expect you to understand.”, she shrugged her shoulder. As much as she could never understand his life entirely, he could never begin to understand how it had been for her. To be by his side, to hide in his shadow, for people to revel in his grandeur that in the end she will never be known. But the only difference was, she never admired his position or the power he held. She loved being by his side, but it hurt when people never looked at anything beyond him. He was the star and she was anything but. She was the darkness that held him. In all her pain, his hope shined through.

“Ah”, he nodded his head as he walked to take up the spot next to her. He sat down staring at the sunlight that filtered from above, through the soft waves.

“Yes I’m having the time of my life.”, he admitted but it didn’t hold any significant value in the way he said it. She turned to him, confused, that her accusations and brutal words were met with acceptance.

“Watching her suffer because of my actions.”, his shoulders slumped and it was when she saw through the weight he carried, so that it would not spill over to her or anyone else. Her heart ached, she and Namor were well off being alone. And yet they found themselves here, broken and vulnerable.

She sighed, regretting her phrase of words. “I’m sorry.”, she took a deep breath. She was never like this, her attacks were precise on targeted opponents, now she was a squid squirting her messy ink on everything and everyone. Her baggage from within clouding the water, making it difficult to fight through it.

“I didn’t meant it, what I said.”, she told him to which he gave her a tired smile. “I know.”, he nudged her shoulder. The fishes were back, swimming around them, the waters now calmer than what it had been.

“You know you can confide in me.”, he said softly. “You’re not alone.”, he placed his hand on her shoulder, the mere solace of a safe space, it unwound her strings.

“You already carry so much.”, she looked at him. Even if she were crying he wouldn’t know. “I don’t want you worrying about me.”, she folded her arms.

“I always worry about you, sister. Even without the mantle, even without everything else. I will always worry about you.”, he pulled her in, for her to lean her head on his shoulder.

“That’s what family is for.”, he said and she looped her arm around his.

“It’s this fight.”, she searched for words but ultimately the truth was, “I don’t know what I want anymore.”, she admitted finally.

“You must feel happy about that.”, she said chuckling dryly. But again, in the moments he could wield his superiority, he didn’t.

“No.”, he responded. His reaction much sober to his past reactions and the confusion on his face conveyed that he was in the same boat as well.

“How did we end up like this?”, she sighed to which she saw his eyes light up, looking at the beauty around them.

“My whole life, I sought to protect this.”, he waved at their surroundings.

“But I had been so engrossed in it, that I never sat to enjoy it.”, he looked away but an absent minded smile grew on his lips.

“But when I saw Talokan through her eyes, the way she sees my people and strives to protect them.”, he stopped. His gaze turning to her.

“For the first time in centuries, we have been shown goodness.”, he laughed, joy taking over his mannerisms. She smiled quizzically, although he continued to bear the same burden, now he looked free and light.

“How do you do it?”, she asked instantly, curious.

“Process your emotions.”, she thought of the agent’s gaze as he searched for her in the crowd.

“Accept the kindness”, her mind replaying his voice, beautiful. She needed to know the secret to the ease of moving on.

“How do you reciprocate it?”, she asked finally.

He turned to her, “I try to be kinder to myself.”, he raised his eyebrows trying to reiterate a point he had been making all her life. The person she was incredibly brutal with was, herself.

He turned away, his expression growing sober and hopeful. “I try to believe that I too can deserve happiness.”, he said slowly.

He let it hang amidst the bubbles and she let her heart sink with him. All the time she had pressured him for a fight, criticising him for his decisions, urging him to give more, when he was just like her, working through life. Maybe this is how she begins to understand it, to practice it, to lead with the feeling that blooms in the pit of her heart.

She clasped his shoulder. “You do, brother.”, she told him. He smiled as he tilted his head as though he remembered something.

“The war you’ve been asking for, it has found us.”, he told her. She had lived for this moment much like himself, when she would join him in battle, but her chest only tightened anxiously. The peace that she had witnessed for the past few months seemed like a precious entity to lose again.

“Yes I heard.”, she nodded.

She fidgeted with the edge of her dress, unsure on whether she could share with him, these growing feelings. He hated the colonizers. If she were to tell him, she knew he would combust in disgust and shame. She wanted a career change, she will protect Talokan but will put her incessant desire for war to rest.

"But I don’t want to destroy it anymore.", she told him to which a small smile was beginning to form on his face.

"I can’t destroy someone’s home.", She paused not telling him the truth, instead for it to linger in the silence to understand his thoughts. But whatever the scenario, she knew he will not be tolerant of it. His eyes found hers, with a sense of knowing. As through if he heard it, he would rain down the suns fury to cast her out of the sea. But when she looked at him, there was a sense of knowing.

"He is a good man.", Namor dipped his head. This wasn't now she thought it would go.

---

Namor himself is a Romora shipper haha

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[lostinthewiind]

Brink of Extinction: Chapter THREE

Attack on Titan

Rating: Mature

Warnings: sexual themes, death, gore, mature themes, extreme violence, body horror, blood, weapons, major character death

As the first full day of being a scout drew to a close, Siv tried her hardest to adapt to her new life. That being said, even for those who welcome change, it isn't always easy to fit into a new routine in the blink of an eye.

Usually, after the work day was done, Siv would spend another few hours alone in her office working on her passion projects. Then, she would go back to her modest quarters, figure out something quick and easy to eat, and go to bed. Six hours later she would get up and do it all over again.

The Scouts, however, operated very differently. Hange was quick to impart the importance of camaraderie to Siv, meaning that the scouts ate, trained, and spent most of their free time together. The younger members even shared sleeping quarters, but the scouts with more prestige and experience under their belt were awarded separate rooms in the headquarters. Thankfully, despite having neither prestige nor experience, Siv was spared the discomfort of bunking with a bunch of strangers.

What she wasn't spared from, on the other hand, was everything else.

"It's quite loud in here." Siv had to raise her voice to be heard over the numerous conversations taking place in the mess hall. "How do you even hear yourself think?"

"Nothing shuts this baby up." Hange tapped on their head a few times with their fork. "You'll get used to it."

Siv sighed as she stared down at her meal tray. "It seems I'm finding something I need to get used to around every corner."

"You really didn't spend time with your colleagues at your old position?" Siv nodded and Hange took a moment to ponder that reality. "Seems very lonely."

Siv didn't see her old life as lonely. If anything, she would have described it as 'quiet' or 'peaceful'. Loneliness was never something that crossed her mind. "I like being alone," she said. "It's soothing."

Hange snorted. "You sound like someone else I know."

"And who would that be?"

Hange scooped a pile of vegetables into their mouth before scanning the bustling dining hall. When they didn't find who they were looking for, they shrugged. "I shouldn't be surprised he's not here," they commented. "He might like being alone more than you do."

"So eating alone is an option?" Siv inquired.

"Not for you." Hange pushed Siv's tray closer to her. "Now eat up. You're going to need your energy."

Siv didn't like the sound of that, but instead of diving into a million questions, she tucked into the meal of vegetables and potatoes as Hange instructed. 

After finishing her meal, which was about as hardy and bland as she had expected, Siv rested her head in her hand. "You know, I never thought much about the differing lifestyles of the regiments before now. Though, I suppose that's my privilege talking." 

Hange, who had been lost in thought, perked up at that. "Do elaborate."

"I can't help but notice the distinct lack of meat in this meal."

Hange smirked. "Or the distinct lack of taste?"

"I wasn't going to kick a meal when it's down, but yeah."

"For us, meat and good alcohol is saved for special occasions. On regular days, we're just happy to have something that'll stick to our bones and carry us to the next meal."

Siv nodded as she glanced around at the other long tables full of patrons in the dining hall, taking note of the animated conversations and cleared plates. Clearly, the lack of quality was doing little to keep the scouts down. "And what constitutes a special occasion?"

"Usually Erwin tries to scrounge together something nice on the night before a mission," Hange answered. "He wants his troops to have a good meal before risking their lives; especially since for some, it will be their last meal."

Siv felt her blood run cold at the way Hange stated something so sinister in such a neutral way. "I knew the Scouts had a higher death rate than the other regiments, but is the danger really that great?"

"Every mission we return with fewer scouts than we left with."

Siv swallowed the lump of fear in her throat. Thankfully, as far as she knew, her position had nothing to do with going beyond the walls. "Guess I'll have to get used to that too, huh?" She forced a lighthearted smile.

Hange's features darkened a little. "It's hard to get used to losing friends. I'm still trying to figure that one out myself. If you find a way, let me know."

Siv was silent for a moment as she tried to decipher what the best thing to say next would be. "Perhaps it's better not to get used to that aspect then," she suggested. "If I were risking my life so selflessly, it would hurt to know my friends would be fine if I died."

Hange ruminated on Siv's words for a minute. "You know, I think you're gonna fit in just fine here." Their expression suddenly lifted and they raised their arm to wave at someone who had just walked in. "Oh, Levi! Over here!"

Siv looked over her shoulder to follow Hange's line of sight, and when she did, she caught sight of a short man with pin-straight black hair and a look of disinterest that could kill a man. "You know him?" Siv gauged the distinct difference in expressions between Hange and this Levi person. 

"He likes to pretend I don't, but yes, I do." Hange huffed and pouted when the man continued on his way, thoroughly ignoring the display altogether. "That's Captain Levi, the man who might give you a run for your money when it comes to being alone."

"He does seem thoroughly disgusted by the mere existence of other human beings." Siv watched as the man effortlessly wove his way through the crowded mess hall before disappearing out the back door. "He might have me beat."

Hange sighed and waved their hand dismissively. "His bark is worse than his bite. Unless you're a Titan."

"Good at killing then, I take it?"

"They call him 'Humanity's Strongest Soldier.'" Hange cringed at the title alone. "I call him 'The Man with Humanity's Largest Stick Up His Butt.'"

Siv chuckled. "I'm sure he loves that title."

"I'm sure he would too, if I ever called him it to his face."

Just then, a boisterous group of four individuals entered the mess hall. Instead of ignoring Hange as the former arrival did, they made a beeline for the research duo and quickly joined them. 

"Did you see the Captain?" a man with tired eyes, prominent smile lines, and an undercut asked. 

Hange jabbed their thumb over their shoulder. "Sulked off somewhere that way."

The man began to inspect the back half of the mess hall, eyes peeled for the raven-haired captain. "If he wasn't so small I'd have a hell of an easier time picking him out in a crowd."

The three other people the man had entered with laughed under their breath, obviously finding the jab funny but wary in case the captain was lurking over their shoulders. 

"He went out the back door," Siv provided more detailed instructions. 

"Of course he did." The man groaned. "Probably cut through here to throw us off."

With that, the man marched off in the direction of the back door. Siv watched him push his way through the crowds before turning back to the table and noticing that she had three new sets of eyes trained on her.

"Care to introduce your friend?" A man with blonde hair and a slight goatee settled in next to Hange. 

"Levi Squad, Siv Grier. Siv Grier, Levi squad." Hange made the introductions quick and painless. "Minus Oluo who just stormed off."

"We actually prefer the title Special Operations Squad." The man next to Hange stuck his hand out toward Siv. "Eld. Nice to meet you."

The other two quickly introduced themselves as Petra, a woman with kind eyes and straight red hair, and Gunther, a serious man with his dark hair slicked back to a point on the back of his head.

"Nice to meet you all." Siv gave a friendly nod. "So you all work with Captain Levi?"

"More like for Captain Levi," Eld corrected. "But yes, the five of us are a well-oiled machine."

After getting to know Eld, Gunther, and Petra a little—and, eventually, Oluo when he returned from his fruitless search of Captain Levi—Siv finally felt the call of sleep reach out to her. Worn down from her first day and everything it had to offer, she politely excused herself and took the path back to her room.

Or, at least, she had thought she was taking the path to her room. When she came upon a dead-end without a clue where she had made a wrong turn, she felt foolish for not asking Hange or one of the others to escort her.

Siv tried to retrace her steps and make it back to the mess hall where she could admit defeat, but even that task proved much too difficult. Another five minutes later, she was in a completely different part of Headquarters and everything she passed was unfamiliar territory. 

When Siv briefly thought she might have found her way, she was quickly thrown back to square one when the door she tried to open ended up being locked. 

"Oh, for crying out loud." Siv tried another door. Also locked. 

Finally, after some trial and error—which was the most scientific method Siv could come up with at that point—she finally stumbled across an unlocked door. When she pushed it open and realized it led to a room and not another hallway that could possibly take her back to her room, she let out a deflated exhale. 

Before turning around and closing the door again, however, the sight of a crackling fireplace and shelves of books caught her eye. Taking a moment to admire the beautiful little library she had stumbled upon, and trying to recall how to get back to it should she wish to return, Siv didn't even notice the figure sitting in the dimly lit corner of the room until they were speaking to her.

"Can I help you?"

Siv nearly jumped out of her skin. "Shit!" she hissed, hand flying up to grasp at her chest. "I thought the room was empty."

Standing up from the red upholstered armchair he had been half-asleep in, Captain Levi emerged from the shadows. "Well, it's not." He pointed out the obvious. "Find somewhere else to contemplate the great misery of being forced into the Scouts."

"I-" Siv wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. Clearly, Captain Levi knew a lot more about her than she did about him. "I can't."

Levi scowled. "What do you mean, you can't?"

"I don't know where I am," she confessed. "I don't know how to get back to my room. I'm lost."

Levi let out a frustrated groan as he ran his hand down his tired face. "Go back down the hall you came from, make a right, go up the stairs, make a left."

It took a second for Siv to register that he was giving her directions. "Oh, you mean-" She peered back over her shoulder down the dark hallway. "Right, stairs, left. Got it."

"Think you can handle it?" 

Siv's polite demeanour shifted when she realized that Captain Levi wasn't just a prickly person; he was deliberately choosing to be condescending. "You know, I didn't walk in here because I had some master plan to personally ruin your night."

Levi furrowed his brows. "What?"

"You're acting like me being lost is a direct attack against you." Siv pushed the door open wider and let go of the doorknob; a subtle but effective way to imply she wasn't planning on leaving as soon as he would like.

Levi folded his arms across his chest. "And?"

"And ..." Siv took a couple of steps into the library and began to casually browse the books, "I've done nothing to warrant such cold-shouldered treatment."

Levi didn't respond. Instead, he kept his eyes glued to Siv as she slowly paced down the length of the shelves, occasionally picking up a book to flip through a couple of pages before putting it back. Finally, she spotted a title she recognized and plucked the book from the shelf. 

"Word of Prey," she read the title out loud before holding up the book. "Have you read it?"

"No."

"Shame. It's good."

"I bet." Levi deadpanned. "Are you done now?"

Siv smiled to herself. "You don't want to hear what it's about?"

"No."

"Another shame. I think you'd like it."

"You don't know nearly enough about me to know what I would and wouldn't like."

Deciding that it was time for a re-read, Siv tucked the book under her arm. "I don't know. I'm pretty good at predicting things. And my theories prove to be true more often than not."

"Well, I guess only time will tell." He glared at her, a wordless challenge for her to prove her worth—not only as a valuable member of the Scouts but as a person worthy of his time and energy. 

"I guess it will." Siv accepted the challenge, not quite sure what she was getting herself into. 

With that, she bid Levi a good night and deliberately went in the opposite direction he had told her to go in. After she heard him huff and slam the door shut—the door she had purposefully left open—she quickly jogged back in the correct direction and hoped he had been telling the truth earlier. 

As she turned right and spotted the staircase she was supposed to take, Siv couldn't help but think one thing: Captain Levi really did have humanity's biggest stick up his butt. 

[stingslikeabee]

sender kisses receiver to show off for someone else. How scandalous.

varying kisses prompts . not accepting

Ever since a salacious publication had covered one of Rufus’ galas and his interactions with Melissa in a rather delirious fashion, the two of them had been keen on trying to determine the author of the piece and whoever could be sponsoring such paper. The president’s reputation was not the key concern (and it was unlikely to be tarnished given the circulation of that type of magazine mostly among underplatters, a place where he never ranked high to begin with), but having it undermining Melissa’s popularity in the slums was not ideal. 

The real issue, however, was if this was being fostered by the same person (or group of people) they were investigating behind the scenes - therefore, pinpointing the identity of these creative writers and their true intentions was important if only so Rufus and Melissa could properly estimate and gauge preparations for the next moves. Considering the details of the original article, someone had been feeding information from the inside - and their strategy was to break the original guest list into several smaller ones and have everyone invited to similar events under closer surveillance of the Turks.

Luckily, Rufus’ ‘new era’ propaganda offered plenty of occasions for public appearances and celebrations - the announcement of some foundation, donations to a humanitarian cause, expansion of a famous weapon line, honoring trade partners and small diplomatic meetings: there was a never-ending list of excuses for Rufus to dish out invitations (which were always sought after) and then had increased vigilance over the people who showed up to see if the president (whenever he did something alongside Melissa) drew in any particular looks and actions.

They had been unlucky during the first three attempts - apart from tedious small talk and different iterations of Rufus’ trademark white suits (the madame, of course, rotated the colors of her gowns in order to break monotony), no one had really walked into their trap. But things changed on the subsequent event, where Rufus had announced a charitable auction for a foundation to support retired Shinra employees: the two of them did their combined dance and moved to talk in what looked like a more intimate way, then drifting outside for a moment.

As soon as they were at the same balcony where Rufus had originally showed Melissa the privileged view of the Shinra Building of all Midgar (although it still did not compare to the one from the very top), the president softly pressed a finger over something in his ear, and smirked with some satisfaction next. Turning icy blue eyes to his companion, the man wordlessly invited her closer to the railings, a gesture that should further draw their prey in and allow the pair to converse without any fear of anyone overhearing them (but for Tseng).

“It appears we have a candidate - Tseng has confirmed there is someone who has been following us during the entire night, and is now right outside the glass doors. He appears to be using his phone to send messages, but he could be recording or taking pictures.”

“Finally,” Melissa laughed, oddly pleased with the turn of events; the clock was ticking and they had serious matters to look into; the sooner the mysterious, scandalous writer was identified, the better, “Are you bringing him in for questioning?”

“Not yet - we need to be sure this is our man,” Rufus turned to her then, eyes shimmering with the light provided by mako coming from the skyline around them despite the absence of direct illumination in that balcony. “We need to give him something worth publishing immediately to confirm suspicions - he doesn’t realize we know he’s staring, so we make our move now.”

Melissa arched an eyebrow at the president - less due to the determination of his words and more because he looked strangely amused; as if this entire charade was somewhat invigorating or stimulated his brain. It dawned on the brunette that her companion was fiercely competitive - and very much unwilling to allow anyone else to control the narrative. As innocuous as that magazine could be, Rufus Shinra did not accepted unnecessary risks.

“Follow my lead, my dear,” the president said before using his hands to gently steer Melissa close, and going for a kiss. Well - that surely worked as bait and would prompt whoever was stalking them to try and take pictures, but for some reason the madame had not expected Rufus to go for such a bold (yet effective) action. The woman no longer had any resistance to him being close - in fact, she had come to appreciate the current Shinra president; but there had been a second of full, undiluted surprise in Melissa at the feel of his lips on hers.

But as soon as that second was gone, she responded. Rufus had placed a hand over her waist and the other on the back of her neck, enlacing the inn proprietress as if she was one of the coy maidens that often tried to draw his eye during these social functions. But Melissa was neither from the upper plates or shy - and if they wanted to make it convincing, she had to play her part too.

As a result, the madame’s hands slid around his neck - no clutching at the fabric of his tailored suit or feigning modesty would work. A former prostitute turned brothel manager knew a thing or two about physical desire - which included kissing. If the idea was of showing their mysterious observer convincing proof of the affair it had been insinuated to exist, then Melissa offered her contribution by bringing the president further into the kiss by adding pressure over the nape of his neck, twirling in his arms to have her back against the railings - the madame’s only protection (should the architecture of the balcony fail) being the strength of Rufus’ own arms holding her from the precipice.  

The angle was also a prime one for a candid shot - it would be impossible to sustain that they were whispering or engaging in anything different from a bonafide lip lock, particularly with her arms so very clearly holding Rufus captive and with their profiles meshed together. When they parted, a hand of hers went to his face - a possible tender motion from the view of a bystander, but in fact it was done to prevent the man from immediately breaking their hold or looking at the stalker which was definitely entertained with their fabricated display.

“Don’t turn around or break the enlace - a man in a clandestine affair will take every second of solitude to extract everything he can before returning into a crowded room. Trust me, my dear,” she offered the same term of endearment in return, “I am quite the expert on these matters.”

“I suppose so,” Rufus replied after a pause, and a movement of his eyes which indicated that something had been whispered into the earpiece; whatever the Turks murmured, it caused the president to sigh shortly, as if annoyed. Melissa wondered if Reno was in charge of the comms and making some ridiculous commentary, but it would be a question for later - Rufus’ expression returned to something more neutral, even if there was a vaguely intriguing look in his blue eyes, a free hand of his now reaching to place a strand of hair behind her ear in what was a nice touch.

“You reacted rather well given the absence of any warning,” Rufus observed then, and there was a small, wry smile on his features. Melissa chuckled, and allowed the hand which had been resting over a shoulder following their kiss to travel up, finding his hair and pretending to help comb it back in place, considering the wind that was playing with the fabric of their clothes and accessories at the balcony.

“Well, I’m committed to our plan, I’ve said this before. Besides, Mr. President, you are surprisingly not a bad kisser,” her look then was evidently filled with mischief, the curve of her painted lips carrying a lot of genuine satisfaction at his expense, of course, “A decent effort for someone with a lifetime among protectors, paperwork and these intimidating hallways - sir.”

At Melissa’s bold commentary, Reno laughed so loudly that even the madame was able to hear it through the earpiece - well, after all these extra shifts they were pulling with cover events to draw in their suspicious author, at least someone was unafraid of having fun.

[septmilleneurones]

As an arospec trauma survivor, I have Thoughts about the discourse on “girlboss” Cinderella adaptations. I’ve always been upset by people saying “she’s so pathetic, she had to be rescued by someone else!” for reasons that have been thoroughly covered on here, but some of the objections about “girlbossy” adaptations are...a little amatonormative.

“Every adaptation these days is about her being a Strong, Independent Woman Who Doesn’t Need A Man!”

Let’s fact check this one. Cinderella roll call!

Disney animation (Ilene Woods, 1950): heartwarming romance with the prince; the stepfamily try to keep them apart but there are no complications in the relationship itself

Rodgers & Hammerstein version (Brandy, 1997): heartwarming romance with the prince; the stepfamily try to keep them apart but there are no complications in the relationship itself

Ever After (Drew Barrymore, 1998): she gets spicy with the prince, including overt commentary on how the rich oppress the poor, until he overcomes his privileged cluelessness

A Cinderella Story (Hilary Duff, 2004): she tells the prince she’s disappointed in him and dates him after he overcomes his privileged cluelessness

Disney live action remake (Lily James, 2015): heartwarming romance with the prince; the stepfamily try to keep them apart but there are no complications in the relationship itself

Amazon version (Camila Cabello, 2021): appears to be a major girlboss version, but a) Amazon is not known for handling stories respectfully (*cough* Lord of the Rings) and b) of COURSE one of the worst wealth thieves in the world is going to want as many people as possible to drink the “downtrodden people just need to HUSTLE more (by being the best at capitalism, not by unionising my warehouses)!” Kool-Aid. And according to Wikipedia, she still ends up in a happy romantic relationship with the prince at the end.

So there actually appears to be about a 50-50 split, and ALL of them ultimately depict a romantic relationship as the happy ending.

“The ‘girlboss’ versions don’t appreciate love!”

For starters, see my point above about how all of them end with a romantic relationship.

Secondly...was that really you guys’ takeaway from the Hilary Duff version? Rhonda is a surrogate mother to Sam (Cinderella) throughout the whole movie, giving her emotional support and advice and eventually letting Sam move in with her. Do you know how much I goofy smiled at the scene where they arrive at Rhonda’s place and Rhonda hugs Sam? That was a modern day Cosette and Jean Valjean. How can you say that version doesn’t respect love when there was such a beautiful found family relationship right there?

“The ‘girlboss’ versions are toxic positivity about abuse!”

Let’s be real, the "girlboss" versions and the traditional versions both engage with the topic of abuse like an employer saying “so how did you make yourself Marketable during that brief period when the government actually did something about covid?” Is it really that much fairer to say “this survivor deserved to be rescued because she was cheerful/kind” than it is to say “this survivor deserved to be rescued because she was feisty/got good grades”? Maybe you lot were able to be unfailingly uwu during and after the years of being treated like shit, but I sure as fuck wasn’t, and I still deserved better.

And I have yet to see a single version, “girlboss" or traditional, where she has any lasting trauma. You know what would be a trauma-friendly, heartwarming adaptation? One where she’s shown being supported through her trauma after she gets out of the House of Hell instead of immediately being fine. “It’s a kids’ movie!” So is Encanto and that whole movie is about a traumatised family healing from a massacre that displaced the older two generations and killed the grandfather.

Like, by all means criticise the ways in which Cinderella movies do survivors dirty. But the presence or absence of a particular trajectory of romance isn’t the be-all and end-all of whether an adaptation is respectful to survivors or how the adaptation regards love in general.

[limalatina]

Giselle's request to keep their lessons tame prompted an eye roll from her, to no surprise. She mulled it over anyways, despite knowing full well that she wouldn't last ten minutes before saying something inappropriate. So many things about the other woman made her attractive in Santana's eyes, often causing her to stumble over her words and lose focus. Her intelligence was a major one. She'd lost count of how many times she'd not paid attention in class just so they'd have an excuse to get together for a study date. In fact, most of what initially drew her to Giselle in high school had nothing to do with her appearance. The exception to that being her smile, which still made Santana's heart soften every time she saw it. "I'll think about it," the Latina responded finally, smirking at the idea of her ex trying to resist anything she said in Spanish, R-rated or not. "To clarify though, quiero sentarme en tu cara  is still on the table, right? Because you used to love that one, and I do have the tendency to ride you pretty hard." Santana knew if she'd kept this up, Giselle would revoke her teaching privileges entirely, but she never was very good at shutting her mouth. Ironically, that proved to be a curse everywhere else except in the bedroom. "We can have a pop quiz on Monday to see what all you remember. I'm curious to know what's stuck with you over the years, and it'll help me better plan for lessons in the future." For some reason, the thought of the other woman using Spanish expletives turned her on more than she cared to admit. Talking dirty had always become a competition between them, so she could only imagine what sort of tactics Giselle had up her sleeve for later. "I'm happy to jump overboard with you and hightail it to the nearest shoreline, as long as you're fine swimming with the sharks," Santana noted. As someone who surfed and had gone snorkeling countless times, she wasn't squeamish when it came to the ocean. Her ex might be another story, considering she'd already vetoed her request to get married on the beach. Negotiations for that were still ongoing however, whether she liked it or not. "Baby, you don't need to thank me every time I compliment you. I do the same thing though, so it's okay," the Latina admitted. She'd never known what it was about her that drew people in, but she seemed to have a knack for leaving an impression on everyone she met, for better or worse. "Sometimes I just want to see you smile. Which, I'll admit...does leave me speechless."

For Santana, battling her insecurities felt like pushing a boulder up a mountain, only for one setback to send that boulder tumbling down to the bottom. It was tiring always having to start over, but she knew she couldn't keep repeating the same old habits. Giselle was the only one able to get through to her in the past, so maybe with her around to push her again, she'd finally be able to make some headway. "Or we could make it an end of the school year thing?" Santana suggested, before downing some of her champagne. She was basically asking her to move in, without actually saying those exact words. They'd done the same thing fairly early on into their relationship in high school. It'd always been hard for them to be away from each other, and she suspected this time would be no different. "I'm convinced spending the night at my dad's disgusting bachelor pad was a bad omen. Remind me to never let us do that again. Even if that massage you gave me did work out all of my kinks, and the shower afterwards was nice too. That might need to become our weekly ritual, now that I think about it, preferably with us actually having sex in the shower this time." Given what transpired that night and everything they talked about, Santana hardly thought it was fair to blame her for reacting to their kiss during the blackout the way she did. It'd been the first time they connected in three years, and barely even a week later she found out someone else had kissed Giselle. The whole thing not only felt disrespectful to their situation, but it had all of the Latina's jealously bubbling to the surface. "It's kind of hard to let it go when it seems like you two are bffs now. I'm not saying you did anything to encourage her, I'd just appreciate it if you would acknowledge my feelings instead of brushing them off. Believe me, if I could contain my jealousy, I would," Santana countered, unable to stop her eye roll at the Winter Ball being brought up. "We're going tit for tat now, is that what's happening here?" Wanting to avoid an argument as much as possible, she let out a heavy sigh and took a moment to collect herself before answering. "We danced to one song together, and I was so intoxicated at that point it wouldn't have mattered who I was with. If I'd known she had feelings for me, I never would've agreed to even go with her as friends." Santana didn't want to lead anyone on, especially when she'd given her heart away to someone a long time ago. However she felt about this conversation though, all of her thoughts went out the window once she heard Giselle repeat her previous Spanish saying back to her. Then she dropped the word girlfriend, and Santana's brain short-circuited. She would've conceded any argument at that moment, only so she could live longer in this momentary bliss. Words were useless, as she found herself simply eyeing the other woman curiously. "You could've led with that, you know? It would've saved us a lot of time, and fighting," she added, stunned but also overcome with a hundred different emotions. In that moment, Santana swore she saw her entire future. "God, I love you," she breathed out, her lips curving into a smile, "and I want to rip your fucking clothes off."

She could hear Giselle talking to her, no doubt still on the topic of food, but her words went in one ear and out the other because all Santana could think about right now was picturing her naked. Her ex's- no, girlfriend's latest revelation had her wanting to capture those lips between her own and kiss her until they were both breathless. The Latina's eyes trailed from Giselle's mouth down the length of her torso and back up again until their eyes met. She hoped they conveyed to the other woman everything she was thinking, as she swallowed hard and tried to subdue those thoughts as best she could. Thankfully, they'd moved on to other topics. On a less positive note, those topics delved into things she'd rather not address. As much as her relationship with Mrs. Clarke had improved, the idea of sitting through one of her patented lectures still made her anxious. She didn't want their dynamic to change, and with dating her daughter, it surely would. No one understood Giselle's heartbreak the first time around more than her parents. Santana knew if the roles were reversed, her mother would be on her side if things ever went awry. "I know we'll have to tell her eventually, but do you think we could hold off until we've solidified our relationship a bit more? It's not that I think we won't work out, I just don't want that extra pressure on us right now." They haven't proven yet that they can make it longer than a week without fighting, so until they fixed their issues, Santana would prefer to keep outside influences and potential obstacles away from their relationship. That went for her own parents as well. "No, I haven't thought about it much, if I'm being honest." Therapy had covered a lot, but the topic of her sexuality and coming out to her parents had never been brought up. Santana steered clear from that discussion on purpose. "I don't know when I'm going to be ready to come out. Things are still pretty fucked up at home. It's easier to be myself on campus because I'm not as worried about my parents finding out, but I'm not entirely comfortable with PDA yet. I'll get there eventually, I just...need you to be patient with me, okay?" It was the sincerest plea she could make in her situation. As much as Giselle deserved a public declaration of love, Santana simply wasn't there yet. "If you put your faith in me, I promise I won't let you down."

While Giselle knew she'd have to become fluent in Spanish eventually, at least if things kept going this way, she also hadn't put much thought into making it happen lately either. She had envisioned being bilingual in the future, whenever she settled on a career path and stuck with it that was, but avoiding it along with her feelings for Santana had simply been easier. "As you can see, what hasn't changed is my inability to think straight when you say anything in Spanish, so you'll have to keep the lessons completely PG-13 if you expect it to stick." She warned, though she didn't think Santana could manage that even if she'd wanted to. As their high school Spanish teacher was mentioned again, she smirked at the confession. She hadn't known at first that the phrase hadn't translated so something appropriate, but the sexual one on one lessons had quickly taught her otherwise. "Thank you for that reminder — you're rude for trying to trick me with that one. But that was also a terrible mistake because if nothing else, you taught me how to say any and everything sexual so I figured that one out not long after you tried to play me." She sassed, and she was beyond grateful that her mind lived in the gutter and she'd been able to translate that before saying it to Mrs. Herrera. The woman knew she was trouble anyways, and she could normally charm her way out of anything but she didn't know how she would have been able to spin that one. When Santana reassured her that she never annoyed her, she couldn't bite back the grin that appeared on her face. The only woman in the world who could leave her this smitten hadn't lost her flare in their time apart, that much was evident. "How long does this cruise last? I can't handle blushing and grinning like the Cheshire cat the entire time, Lopez." After all, she hadn't been like this since the last happier moment she had with Santana before the break up, so she'd have to get used to this again. Giselle would never understand why the Latina thought so highly of her, and she didn't see herself the way she did, but she'd never protest it either. "But thank you, and you're welcome too. I wasn't trying to leave you a little speechless, but I meant what I said."

While they had both changed over the years, the revelation that most of Santana's insecurities hadn't improved, even with therapy, had initially been a lot to process. She'd dealt with it in high school and while she had handled it as delicately as she could, Giselle wouldn't deny that it had taken a great deal of patience to put up with. Even to this day she wasn't sure how she'd managed it all, but she'd have to sink back into that now too. Somehow. She rolled her eyes at the joking, knowing it was a defense mechanism, as usual. "Then so be it, we make it an all-week thing. I'm not expecting us to magically cure all of them in a week, but we do need to start working through them at least. We tried that when we were at your dad's condo, but considering we made shit worse since then, we have to start that process over." It wasn't a lot to ask for, in her opinion, and pinpointing a starting place so they could keep Santana's meltdowns and jealousy at bay were going to be crucial if they wanted this to work again. She was stunned that Santana was offering to help put in some work to combat her jealousy, which was one of their bigger obstacles, she was at least grateful for the compromise. At her comment about the kiss, she chuckled dryly. "You gotta let that go. I didn't ask for it, and I didn't kiss her back. But since we're pointing fingers at Giselle now, you need to refrain from doing whatever you did at that Winter Ball thing to make one of your bffs fall for you." Giselle challenged back, though there wasn't even the slightest hint of jealousy in her tone. Maybe one of her own flaws was that the other woman had stroked her ego enough over the years that she couldn't even recall a single time that she'd ever been envious of anyone else Santana gave any attention to. Unlike her other half, she'd always been a little too secure in their relationship, and her mom had repeatedly told her that way why she'd been so gutted when they broke up. "Forgive me for not wanting us to jump into bed before we really established what we were doing. And yes, I know that was on me too, but..in your own words..es agua bajo el puente." She repeated proudly with a wink. "And I'm taking that as a promise, so if I'm not even limping from your bed to your bathroom by midnight on Monday, you're gonna have one very pissed off girlfriend." Girlfriend. The word rolled so effortlessly off the tip of her tongue that she hadn't even realized it until after the fact. "Or..whatever we are."

Attempting to revert back to the food, she decided to just let Santana and her avocado craving have this round. "Fine, you're excused. And for the record, I know you hate that, but it's the truth this time, not just me being indecisive. I could eat just about anything since I don't have a taste for one specific thing, so we can get the fish tacos." Giselle decided, and she wasn't really in the mood to spend another ten minutes going over every other option on the menu, so that would have to do. Noticing the way Santana reacted to her suggestion, she already knew it was out of the question but that solidified it. Her mom would've loved hearing it from either one of them just before she started rambling off her opinionated advice, which she didn't want to sit through personally. "I wasn't serious, San. I'm sure you'd pop a blood vessel if I made you have that talk alone. I'll do it myself, but when she starts her lecture, I'm forcing you to sit through it too." Giselle decided before she flagged down their waiter and ordered their food, including the avocado. Once that was taken care of, she topped off their glasses once more before she took a sip of her own. "Speaking of parents though...have you gotten any closer to you know, being ready to come out to your own?"