#their tiny ha n ds

[veebeeboo109]

Cleaning up the Timeline

{The other men have some thoughts about Caleb. Zayne has a bad dream, and corrects some assumptions when he wakes up.}

Read on ao3. Part One.

Tags: Reader/L&DS Men, Romance, Caleb-centric, Polycule, A touch of angst, Feelings, Threesome, Voyeurism, Guided

Chapter 26: Connections

Sleep is a commodity in your household. Not one of you shares the same schedule, or the same sleeping habits, and it makes sleeping a struggle to claim and to hold most nights. Despite its difficulty, no one in the house complains– the closeness of sharing your nest of a bed too good to pass up. 

Zayne sleeps on his back. Sure, he cuddles and snuggles up just as sweetly as the rest of you, but when it’s actually time to sleep, he has to draw away and rolls to lay on his back. It’s funny– how easily the rest of your group maneuvers around this. Rafayel, drawn to the coolness Zayne emanates, follows like a moth to flame, rolling alongside the dark haired man even in his sleep. 

Rafayel is like the princess and the pea. If the princess was a centuries old thalassic deity who couldn’t sleep if it was too hot and needed his own blanket to make sure no one stole his. And the pea was too much noise, too much light, or too much movement. A light sleeper if you’ve ever met one, but once you’ve figured out his preferences, he snores so soundly. 

Xavier can sleep anywhere, and it’s kind of crazy to witness. Leaning against a wall standing up, he might nod off. They’re power naps mostly– tiny handfuls of time that he slips into a kind-of sleep mode. During the day, he’s a light sleeper, and can be darted back into precise lucidity at the slightest provocation. At night, he sleeps like the dead. A deep, immovable sleep that not even the weight of one of his lovers draping across his rouses him from. 

Sylus is a dead weight, and while he talks a big game about sleeping on his back for security he’s been flopping onto his stomach more and more. With little regard to the poor prince, Zayne, and you that find yourselves squashed beneath him. 

It’d been years since you’ve shared a bed with Caleb, and he’s worse than you remember. Not that he’s bad to share a bed with, but he’s clingier now. He holds onto you tightly. When you move, he moves. Following you like a baby duckling through the murky waters of sleep. By touch and scent alone he finds you through the void, and you realize how much you’ve missed him. 

Zayne’s arm is across the both of you is like the bar on a door of your peaceful sleep. It’s hours since the three of you have called it a night, and it’s the slightest twitch from Zayne that has your mind stirring. 

Caleb is holding you across the waist tightly, snoring softly into your chest where he’s resting his head. He’s deadweight, and doesn’t seem to be roused from whatever it was that prickles at the back of your mind. 

Zayne. Your sleepy mind whispers. Calls like a reverent prayer, the call of someone seeing the person they loved for the first time in a long, long time. 

You turn your head towards Zayne, and find his eyes barely open. He’s blinking slowly, rising out of sleep like he’s being dragged slowly out of it. Confusion knits his brow, and you’re not sure what it is, but you know in your gut that somethings wrong. 

Damn. You’d warned Caleb of it just in case, but you hadn’t really thought it would happen. Holding your breath, you wait. Wait for whatever version of Zayne this is to manifest. If he’s the first thing you see, maybe you can coax Dawnbreaker down before he lashes out. Ease him into tranquility before anyone gets hurt. 

Dawnbreaker is scary, because he wears Zayne’s face. And because the fear in his eyes breaks your heart. It’s hard to see and harder still to help, because there’s nothing you can do for him besides hold him. Let him grasp at you with hands that act like they’ve never touched you before and are terrified to– once again– feel you slip away. 

Zayne’s eyes lift, following the line of your chest and neck, up your chin and your jaw to finally land on your face. You're anticipating the jump of shock, a lash of icy cold air that burns when it hits you. 

Only it doesn’t come. Confusion paints his face, but he doesn’t look scared. If anything…he looks relieved. Like the sight of your face before him has eased some heart-wrenching burden from him. 

“It’s you…” He whispers, and the edges of his voice are tinged with an accent that you haven’t been lucky enough to hear in this life. 

It’s Zayne. It’s your Zayne. The Zayne who taught you to read and gave you a home. The founder of your sanctuary, and the one who wrote the scripture of this very world you exist in. 

Tears are blooming in the corner of your eyes, and you nod softly. “It’s me. Is it…Is it you? Do you remember me?”

Zayne breathes out a shuddering sigh of relief, “It worked…By the divine, it worked. You’re alive. You’re safe.” 

You have to reach out to him, but Caleb is pinning your arms. You jostle your childhood friend and mumble for him to wake up. The brunette groans and fights you for a moment before reluctantly relaxing his arms. He lifts his head– eyes barely open– and whines, “What is it, pips? It’s still dark out….”

“It’s Zayne.” You hush, and your voice breaks when you speak. Drawing your hands up to hold the sides of his face in your hands, “I remember. I remember everything. Your spell worked.”

Zayne nods slowly, sleep or some other malevolent force keeping him subdued. “The others. They remember too?”

You nod, trembling as you try to keep him with you through willpower alone, “Yes. They remember. Why don’t you? Zayne, please – No, don’t close your eyes. Stay with me please. How do I get you to remember? How do I help you?”

“You look well.” He comments with a gentle smile, bypassing your concern in favor of examining you closer. You only have moments. Minutes at most, before he slips away.

“Zayne, please.” You beg, “There has to be something I can do. Something you’ve thought of…”

Zayne’s expression hardens slightly, “There is no thinking. I wake up at times like it is the very first. For me, I believe I ceased to exist when the spell was cast. The last thing I remember is writing.”

You sob softly, and Zayne uses what little strength he has to draw you close. Like moving through syrup, his movements are sluggish and clumsy, but he’s able to maneuver you to his lips. A kiss deep and longing, and feels too much like a goodbye. 

Caleb has withdrawn– pulled away a few feet. His mind has caught up to what’s happening, but he’s having a hard time deciding what to do. Your voice is stricken with emotion, and it makes it impossible to just leave, but if Zayne sees him? Will this Zayne forgive him? 

“Do not despair, little one.” Zayne whispers warmly, smiling contently, “I knew there would be sacrifices for the magic I hoped to invoke. My memories are something I would happily sacrifice, for your continued safety.”

Zayne settles into your touch, nuzzling softly into your palm, and his submission to his fate makes you choke. Throttled by desperation, “No! No please. It’s not fair! I can’t!”

Caleb whispers your name, something in his DNA adverse to seeing you cry. Invoking some holy rite that overcomes his better judgement when tears appear in your eyes. 

You scramble for something– anything to fix this. Images of your cottage and its stone walls. The tapestries of ivory and indigo. The crystals of jade and emerald. A whole life that you had built with him, and you think you might break to feel it slip away again. 

A stroke of inspiration– or perhaps mercy from a god– as an image of that night-blue protocore flashes in your mind. The last final piece that had led to your memory returning, and it feels like a death knell in your mind. 

“Resonate with me.” You whisper urgently, grabbing his hand tightly. You press one of your hands to his chest, and press to yours. “Resonating with a protocore gave me my memories back, maybe resonating with me now will bring back yours.”

“My love,” Zayne says hoarsely, “There is no need.”

“No! There is a need!” You shout, pushing him into the mattress and pressing your palm into the flesh over his heart. “Don’t leave me! You can’t leave me again! I won’t allow it!”

Zayne’s eyes widen slightly, unused to this version of you and your demands. He licks at his dry lips and nods softly. “Alright. We will try. Show me how.”

His voice is weak and whispered, and you push your Evol into him with more force than you should. Alighting the room with the pale blue of his icy energy being forcibly drawn out. The air in the room drops several degrees and the breath that pants past your lips is visible as steamy clouds. 

Zayne grunts softly at your indelicacy, but quickly adapts. His breath cuts through gritted teeth as he attempts to withhold his Evol from lashing out at you, from turning your skin to frost and the bed to a block of solid ice. 

Caleb is up on his knees, heart pounding in his chest. His instincts are telling him to intervene. To grab you and draw you off the dark haired man for your own safety if nothing else. You’re going to get yourself hurt, or killed– Zayne’s evol has harmed you before in this life, and Caleb is not willing to see it happen again. 

But he doesn’t. He bites his tongue until it bleeds and forces himself to remain still. You need to try– and he wasn’t to give you the chance to. Even if Zayne recalling his memory means he loses his childhood friend. 

The light subsides as the connection is made. The settling of two reactive chemicals in a beaker becomes something benign and potable. Your resonance overcomes the unruly nature of Zayne’s evol and makes it tame– nothing more than a little baby seal covered in soft white fur. 

“Did it work?” You breathe, so filled with hope. You relinquish your hold on him and go back to holding his face, jostling the sleepy doctor, “Zayne, please. Look at me. Did it work?”

“Kiss me.” Zayne begs breathlessly, and you do. You fall into him, whimpering softly because you feel like you failed. 

Is this another goodbye? Who knows when this Zayne will come back. This was agony. This was torture. 

Was this what Dawnbreaker felt as you slowly slipped away? Back to whatever timeline he belonged to, existing without you. Without the parts of him that felt like they were as vital as his heart and lungs. 

A sundering feeling cracks in your chest when you see the heaviness in Zayne’s eye. 

Failed. It failed. 

There’s nothing more you can do but hold him as his eyes close, and though your rational mind knows he’s just asleep, it feels like death. Like you’ve lost him again. Ripped away from that man you knew in another life– the one who had spent so much time learning to braid your hair and teaching you the magic in the runes that kept you safe. 

You love this Zayne. You love your calm, collected doctor and the memories of him as a child, but it feels like a piece missing. Like you’re continuing to lie to him by omission. Zayne hated not knowing things– in this life and the last. 

Zayne slips back into a sound sleep and you move off of him. You sit back on the bed at his side and a moment of heavy silence covers you. You’re more than a little stunned, barely a minute from being asleep to being dragged through the mud of emotional anguish and back to this tenuous normalcy. 

You hear your name, and Caleb’s fingertips barely brush against your shoulder. You turn, surprised by the warmth in his touch. Tears collect and spill over your treacherous eyes, and helplessly you whisper, “Is this what it felt like? When I didn’t remember?”

Caleb’s face fills with pity, and he pulls you into his chest. Letting you weep quietly for the memory of Zayne that he took from you. Caleb feels nauseous again, the evidence of his treachery being so horrifically stabbed into his chest. 

In the past life, the idea of hurting Zayne was distant. Zayne was a stranger– they all were. The dragon. The siren. The prince. They were strangers to Caleb, and therefore their suffering was simply an unfortunate byproduct. 

But now? Now he knew them. Knew the great depths of their bonds and how deeply intertwined their fates were. The devotion. The dedication. Words Caleb was sure only he knew the meaning of, but no. They understood it too. 

Zayne was his friend. His companion throughout childhood that had pushed him to become better, to working harder, to just being a child and being able to play. Now, the idea of hurting Zayne made Caleb sick.

“It didn’t work.” You whisper mournfully into Caleb’s chest, “It didn’t work…”

“I’m sorry…” Caleb whispers. “I’m so sorry.”

No more words are exchanged. Nothing more to discuss in the thickness of the night. Slowly, Caleb is able to coax you back to laying down. You’re exhausted and so is he. He coaxes the two of you to Zayne’s side. Lets you lay your head down on the doctor’s chest while Caleb curls around your back. 

Caleb watches as you place your palm over Zayne’s chest, and silently he reaches out and places his hand over yours. The beat of Zayne’s heart beneath your intertwined hands. It feels like something that should have been for longer than this. Like this was somehow inevitable because it’s that same feeling again that leads him to falling asleep. 

Xavier was not a forgiving man. Perhaps it was beaten out of him as a child, or perhaps he never possessed that ability to begin with. Regardless of the reason, there were few times in his life Xavier forgave someone of their trespasses– not without seeing them duly punished first. 

In a world of war, ruthlessness is a necessity. A merciless hand prevents further suffering for those he cares about. It made him an efficient and skilled fighter, but a poor friend at times. 

Not to say he was not capable of benevolence or mercy at times. There had been occasions that he had been persuaded to forgive, or forget. To move one from some injustice he could do nothing about. He recalled one instance of you persuading him to forgive Rafayel for accidentally burning down one of the smaller barns which stored some grain. That had been hard, but out of his love for you he allowed the siren to go unpunished. 

Xavier was resolved to not let that happen this time. You would not persuade into some love-addled act of mercy for the villain that now occupied his house. Caleb would not receive his forgiveness– not for anything. 

Only…you were right. The more he thought about it. At one point, Xavier had been your enemy. His father had made him into a weapon, a machine for war and conquest. If the timing had been different, and Xavier had come upon your sanctuary…

He doesn’t like to think about what he might have done in his ignorance. 

So, Xavier ponders forgiveness as he cuts apart Wanderers a thousand miles away from home. Called on this mission on such short notice was bothersome, but he was dutiful to his core. If nothing else. 

Does Caleb deserve forgiveness? Does the treacherous snake that uprooted the seed of your tranquility deserve to exist among the new garden you had built? Maybe. 

What would it look like? Forgiveness?

Would it look like earlier this week? The depravity of Sylus knew little bounds, and dammit if Xavier was thrilled by the knowledge of the two of them just outside the door. The meticulous way he could take you apart was worthy of an audience. And the succulent way you responded to Xavier should be studied– for surely there could be no other body that reacted so perfectly. 

But knowing what was occurring just outside the door? The ripened and peeled manifestation of desperation had Xavier biting his tongue to prevent calling out to them. Letting Caleb and Sylus inside the room to get a front row seat. 

The idea of it was lingering in the back of Xavier’s mind. What the house puppy might look like on his knees, begging for a morsel of your attention. Appealing. Is what it was. Downright tempting. 

Perhaps that is why Xavier held onto his grudge so tightly. For if he relaxed an inch, then he knew Caleb would inevitably slip into their home permanently. Slide into their bed and into their lives like he’d been there the whole time…

They had spent the better part of a year finding the right place to live. After Zayne joined in, the rest came to the consensus that they wanted a proper house to live in together. Until that point, they’d be in the wind. Meeting up where they could reminisce and reconnect and remind themselves they weren’t alone. 

Sylus was happier for it. There was something deep in his chest that was settled to know his group— his family— was there when he got home. Safe and protected by the boundaries of his territory. 

It was easier in this life to satisfy the primal, less-human part of him. There were surveillance cameras, electric gates, and a plethora of underlings under his command to assure his mind that his hoard was safe. 

Rafayel laughed at him for treating them like his hoard, but in his past life he hadn’t been able to find a place to actually start one, and so the people he loved became his treasures and filled up the void in his greedy draconic heart. 

It had been years since Sylus had let any of the dragon features surface. His talons, his scales, his tail– they’d all been meticulously hidden behind layers of control. Something he had never had the time nor desire to do in his past life. But with the knowledge of the previous timeline, Sylus was able to work to disguise himself as perfectly human. It made his earlier years remarkably easier.

However, the catch was that the dragon manifested in different ways. A hunger for wealth and gold. For monetary, tangible goods that he could hoard underground and hide away. It was never enough, not until he was able to find his mates again. 

That proved to be another challenge. The desire to leave marks was stronger in this life, to keep them close and to keep them safe as deep an urge as thirst or hunger. Xavier couldn’t stand it, and Rafayel teased him for it. Only you and Zayne seemed to understand and indulge him, and you didn’t even remember why. 

With so long to come to terms with these heightened urges, Sylus thought he knew everything there was to know about himself. He preferred carbon fiber to gold, bites to hickeys, and the shimmer of flower petals to precious stones. 

A newcomer disrupted that peace. Caleb was not a treasure, but for some reason— his instincts wouldn’t consider him a foe either. No matter how much his logical mind reasoned that Caleb had been and continued to be a threat, the fiend inside him was drawn to the scent. 

A clean,fresh scent— like cut apples and clear skies. Maybe it was the desire for flight inside the brunette that made him feel a kinship. There was a way someone held themselves that showed they had felt the exhilarating dread of a dead drop. The zero gravity of plummeting through the sky. Gravity’s lover and their victim. 

Was it kinship? Or something else? 

Sylus wasn’t like the others– he wasn’t interested in denying himself things that he desired. And so when opportunity struck, Sylus pounced. 

Caleb really was nothing but a puppy. Panting and wanton beneath his fingers. The sublime way Caleb rutted up into his hand had altered something in Sylus’ mind, and at the slight tangy taste of his spend the poor man’s fate was sealed. 

The others could piddle around deciding what to do about Caleb, but Sylus didn’t need to. He was one of them. One of the pack. One of the family. The coo of the beast inside him preened at the idea of crowding all six of you into bed, getting the mattress soaked in the mingling scents of all of you together. What a concoction that would be. 

Sylus was already picking out a matching bracelet for Caleb. Deciding whether the bedroom he was in was suitable or if they should just find a different house. He could finally have one built– maybe he should consult with some builders just to see…

Rafayel didn’t like Caleb. Mortals interfering in the works of deities was always a recipe for disaster. It was like the dumb kid had never read a book. What did he think was going to happen? Sacrificing anything for love was the textbook formula for a tragedy…

So cliche. 

Though, the boy had his uses. Caleb was careful with his studio like you had been, and didn’t offer half-baked opinions on art. Though, he did spend enough time admiring his series of abstraction Rafayel had been working on recently. 

Did Caleb somehow recognize the lines of colors as the curve of your spine? Rafayel’s reference photos from the beach were only one of many, and he was stuck in a creative tar pit of painting you. Never portraits, and never in a way that would lead the layman to know who or what it was. 

But Caleb would linger by those paintings, and stare at them like he understood them. The violet of his eyes following the figurative curves of swirling color, and Rafayel swore he saw recognition there. 

Rafayel watched as the eagerness in Caleb’s eyes slowly chipped away at both Xavier and Sylus. His enhanced senses were able to feel the moment Sylus was done for. Like a switch being flipped, Caleb went from housekeeper to another member of the hoard. 

Xavier wasn’t so obvious. A subtle sort of acceptance of Caleb’s presence that the prince showed through a lack of murderous intent. Xavier resigned his hatred the moment Caleb began to ply him with premium cuts of meat, marinated and slow roasted. It was like Caleb had placed Xavier in the oven, letting him slowly smoke until the meat of his animosity fell off the bone and finally the puppy could chew on them. 

With incredulous eyes, Rafayel studied Caleb. Offering a playful jab here and there just to see the taller man flinch a little. In an effort to peel away that candy coating of Caleb’s, Rafayel was relentless. Digging deeper and deeper into his figurative flesh with taunts and insults. 

There was something unhinged in Caleb’s eyes. A fragmentation in the way he smiled or the way he would try to pretend like he wasn’t itching at every opportunity to touch you. To be touched by you. This man had flayed his soul open for you, and so Rafayel wasn’t buying the sweet and innocent lover boy act. 

His suspicions on Caleb were only confirmed when Rafayal saw the tapes. Sylus had stripped the shaky video footage from Ever’s biotechnical facility and compiled them into one long sadistic snuff film. Over a bottle of wine, Sylus offered the artist a first viewing. 

You would never see these videos. And they’d be destroyed afterward, but Rafayel and Sylus would sit back and enjoy the carnage for a moment. See with their own eyes the people who hurt you die. Watch with satisfaction as those who had tried to take you left this earth and the light faded from their eyes. 

It was brutal. The horror of it was only tempered by the shaky and sometimes staticky footage. Caleb held you close to his chest, curled up around him as he carved through the facility with a cold, vacant expression. 

You were unconscious the whole time, sleeping soundly and safely in Caleb’s arms. Completely oblivious of the crimes being committed in your name. A blood sacrifice to the altar of your name.

That was it. Rafayel realized. There was something unhinged in Caleb. A desperate, violent edge to his moral compass that could justify the unfathomable if it meant you were safe. There was no length too far, no price too heavy. Where one might hesitate to pull the lever on the trolley problem, Caleb wouldn’t. 

What made it worse, was the utter tender sweetness in the way Caleb would look at you. Pausing every floor to make sure you were okay, and cooing softly as he wiped away specks of blood from your face. Caleb’s voice was garbled and barely audible as he mumbled apologies like he’d spilled tea on your skirt and not blood against your cheek. 

Damn if it wasn’t the tiniest bit impressive. And damn if it didn’t make Rafayel think a little harder on the weight of Caleb being here. 

Not a puppy at all. Rafayel decided, but a feral guard dog. Imprinted on you at birth like a baby duckling but grown into a beast of legend that would decimate the earth to protect what he loves. Why did that sound familiar?

So, when Sylus showed up reeking of salt and come and looking oh-so smug, Rafayel didn’t comment. The feeling of disgust that Rafayel had assumed would stir inside him was nowhere to be found, and instead he felt a sense of envy. Disgruntled by the dragon dining before the rest of them had been served. Gluttonous, greedy beast. 

Rafayel would not lower himself by seeking Caleb out. The fruit ripening on the branch was tempting, but he could control himself. He would wait until Caleb had been peeled and sliced, roasted slowly and taken apart by the others until he was nothing but a sugary, melted treat. 

Warm, restorative sunlight streamed in through the sheer curtains of your bedroom. The pale cream and ivory tinting the sun a touch warmer in color and casting everything in the room in a soft aura. 

Rising without an alarm is slow, languid. The lazy approach of dawn that is not rushed nor hastened. 

But Zayne is awake the moment his consciousness slips the slightest towards waking. Suddenly his eyes are open, and the ceiling above him is a warm white, smooth and plaster. 

Not wood and stone. 

The scent of the hearth and boiling herbs is not what reaches his nose, but the soft citrus scent of the pillow beneath his head. The air is cool and sweet, shifted by the air conditioning unit above the door. Carpet, upholstery, drywall. Nails on the wall hold wood frames of photos, and there are a string of soft lights draped over the headboard. Off, for now. 

Zayne sits up. Forehead feeling like he’d been struck across the brow with an axe. A deep, slicing headache that makes his world spin. His hands ache– the joints of his fingers stiff and cold. Looking down at them provokes a sense of wrongness, for he doesn’t remember seeing the skin of his palms look this way before. 

There are scars missing on the left side. The burns caused by his escape from Astra that should be there, covering his knuckles and traveling up his arm all the way to his neck. Reaching up, he finds his neck, too, is smooth. Scars litter the pale skin of what he can see, but not in the same pattern. Like looking at the stars in a foreign sky. 

Where am I? He wonders mildly. There is not fear in his confusion, as another part of his mind supplies the answers. The images of a life filled with study, of reading and sterile medical equipment. As his memory shuffles like a deck of cards, finding the right order amongst the chaos, Zayne can smell the ghosts of antiseptic. Of charcoal. The burn of magic against stone. Of dark chocolate in a lava cake. The sweetness of an over-sugared tea. Sensations from two lives lived combining to make a confusing pictogram. 

He catches movement out of the corner of his eye, and he turns. Leaning on one hand to look at the expansive bed. You are there. Resting curled on your side and sleeping soundly, and behind you as another. Caleb one part of his mind reminds him, but he’s not sure anymore which one. 

Zayne’s heart lurches. The last thing this locked away part of him remembered was terror. Fear at the thought of losing you, of losing everything. The spell has sundered him down to the last atom, and Zayne couldn’t believe he was getting to see your face again. 

Only, this wasn’t the first time. More memories flooded again, reminding him that he had known you for the better part of his life. Known you as a girl, as a child. Seen you grow from a timid little thing into a force of nature. Into a hunter worthy of her weapon and title. 

So, when he reaches out to touch you, Zayne has to remember it isn’t the first time he’s done so– even though it sort of feels like it. He finds your hand, relaxed on the bed in front of you, and he lifts it gently. 

Your palm is rough, and your fingertips calloused. The use of your equipment painting you, the lines of your palm are different in this life. Your life line is longer, and your heart line strong. 

Vaguely he recalled voices assuring him that it had worked. That he could rest because all was well. Sylus and then you, both telling him that the spell had worked but…but to see it. To observe the outcome with clear eyes and a mind that could recall the finer details was…it was overwhelming. 

Waking you felt like a crime, and so Zayne remained quiet. Everything was still piecing together in his mind, the chips falling in random ways they do– predetermined serendipity. He could take some more time just to rest, laying his head back down and lying on his side to watch you. 

The young man at your back was no surprise to Zayne. Not to this Zayne at the very least, and the dark haired doctor could almost laugh as he recalled the chaos of the past few weeks. The way in which this resolute individual had cut into their lives so dramatically. If only Zayne had been whole then, he could have made a case for Caleb. Poor thing. 

Zayne waited until the sun had risen more, and the light from the window finally started to reach your eyes. Your lashes casting soft shadows against your cheeks. They were fuller in this universe, a life without harsh malnutrition and scarcity. What a blessing that was.

Your eyes open slowly, blinking away sleep and fighting the light. And it’s like seeing the color of the sky after months of storms. A life living in grey suddenly bursting into brilliant technicolor. 

Zayne whispers your name, suddenly too eager to wait another moment to speak to you. He’s never felt so on edge. Teetering on the knife’s point and trembling in anticipation of getting to speak to you again. To speak to you as him— whole and unbroken. 

“Zayne,” You whisper in confusion, opening one eye and then lifting a hand to rub sleepily at the other, “What time is it? Don’t you have work?”

“Work.” Zayne repeats, suddenly reminded but too caught in the flush of your cheeks and the way the sunlight strikes your hair to particularly care at the moment. “Right.”

The arm banded around your waist tightens as Caleb rouses just enough to pull you snugly back into him. 

Zayne waits until you’re looking at him fully, and the dreams of the evening have fully escaped your mind. When he speaks, he feels hoarse, admitting something he can hardly believe aloud. “It worked.”

“Hm?” You say in momentary confusion. “What worked?”

You blink once, and then all of sudden you jump, startling both him and Caleb in your sudden explosion of energy. Zayne can’t help but smile as you scramble against both Caleb’s sleepy arm and the blankets entangling you. 

“It worked!?” You squeal, and reach out to him. Grabbing the sides of his face and squeezing him tightly, “Don’t mess with me, Zayne! You have to say it plainly!”

“I cannot speak if you squeeze me,” Zayne mumbles through your hold, and you immediately release him. Your eyes are wide and so full of hope. 

Gently, Zayne sits up and brings you with him. Holding onto your wrists and keeping you close, “I remember. Our Sanctuary. I remember.”

Your face breaks. The giddy excitement cascading into teary disbelief. Your eyes swell and spill over, tiny crystal tears dripping down your cheeks. “R-really? Y-you’re not messing with me, right?”

“Of course not.” Zayne assures you sweetly, drawing you in, “I…do not recall what it is that happened to return my memories, but I am whole again. Tis’ not all there yet…pieces are still coming together.”

You laugh through the tears, which he realizes are tears of relief and joy, and not of sorrow. “Tis? Really?” You tease him, with another bout of happy giggles you throw your arms around Zayne’s shoulders and squeeze, “Don’t worry. It took me a few days to get everything straight. It’ll get easier.”

Zayne only hesitates for a moment, arms wrapping around your waist and pulling you securely into his chest. Embraces like this were rare occurrences in the life before, but with both versions memories swirling in his head– Zayne was realizing that this modern one was a bit more liberal with affections. 

With his head resting on your shoulder, Zayne looked up to see Caleb. Resting at the edge of the bed now several feet away. He was sitting like he might take off at a moment’s notice, and Zayne could hardly blame him. 

When Caleb’s eyes met Zayne’s, the brunette jolted moving to stand, “So, you remember….” The words are dry as Caleb speaks. “Do you…do you remember me?”

You loosen your hold on Zayne’s shoulders to turn, a sudden tension blooming in the air. Zayne keeps an anchoring arm around your waist and nods back to the other man, “I do.”

Caleb takes a small, almost imperceptible half-step back, “O-oh. You…you do that’s–”

“I am not angry at you.” Zayne says cooly with a small shake of his head. “I was aware of you for quite a while, Caleb. Your interference in the spell was not intended, but not surprising.”

Caleb pales, “W-what?”

You turn, glancing between the two men in confusion, “What?”

Zayne looked up at the confoundment stirring between the two of you, and he sighs, “I was aware of Caleb in the previous timeline. I kept tabs on all the higher members of Astra’s priesthood. Though I only knew you by name until you started to spy on the Sanctuary.”

You pull away, moving to sit down on the bed next to Zayne and look up at him with uncertainty, “You never said anything…”

Zayne shakes his head, “There was little I could do. Any action I did that directly affected Caleb would have alerted Astra. There was no route I could take that Astra could not foresee– it jeopardized all of the Sanctuary. If you knew, you would have taken action. Invited him in, or sent him away– I did not know.”

“So you knew? You knew I was–” Caleb cuts himself off, one knee back on the bed. “You knew I was watching you, but you didn’t do anything to stop me.”

Zayne couldn’t help but chuckle at that, “I kept an eye on you. The paths of the future I could see for you never involved anything worth intervening in. I, unfortunately, underestimated your impulsiveness. As I did not foresee your actions to Astra until it was too late.”

“And you aren’t mad?” Caleb pushes a little harder. Like he’s trying to taunt the other shoe into dropping. “I ruined it. I destroyed everything. I betrayed you.”

Zayne quirks a brow at him, “Are you wanting me to punish you? Haven’t you received enough of that?”

“Just get it out already!” Caleb is back on the bed, “I don’t deserve to be here, just say it.”

“Caleb,” You say weakly, reaching out to the trembling man.

Zayne moves across the bed, gently moving you out of the way so he can grab ahold of Caleb. Hands on his shoulders and it takes pitifully little effort to drop him onto his back. Zayne moves his hand to the base of Caleb’s throat and rests it there. He doesn’t squeeze, but adds the tiniest pressure to the other man’s adam's apple so he can hear the strain when he swallows. 

“Is this what you want?” Zayne whispers, “Is this what you think you deserve?”

“Zayne! Wait!” You squeak, moving to kneel next to him and placing a hand on his shoulder. Your heart is hammering in your chest. You’d been so eager to see Zayne remember that you hadn’t thought of this at all. Hadn’t considered what Zayne might do with Caleb when he could finally see all the pieces again. 

“I see words are useless here.” Zayne says and relinquishes his hold on Caleb’s throat, “My love, will you help me?”

There’s darkness in Zayne’s eyes when he turns to look at you, and it’s the kind that usually has you sitting on his face or taking two men at the same time. The kind of hunger he saves for special occasions and special meals. Though, for a moment, you second guess intentions. Does he mean help in the way that makes your tummy feel tight? Or help him with some sadistic torture?

Your hesitation is answered as Zayne grabs Caleb by the tshirt and hauls him roughly upward, yanking the clothing from his form and tossing it aside. 

“Hey!” Caleb shouts, scandalized by the rough treatment. The chrome of his prosthetic arm shines in the morning sunlight, and Zayne takes a moment to admire it before continuing. 

“Remember,” Zayne says in a low warning, “I know much more about you than you realize. Past and present.”

Caleb whirls around, and reaches to place a hand flat against Zayne’s chest, “This is– If this is some kind of punishment, it’s too far Zayne!”

Zayne stops. Freezing in place at the halt in consent he’s been given. His gold-green eyes flicker over to you, and you’re moving without thought. Drawing up behind Caleb and wrapping your arms around his torso.

“I don’t think he’s trying to punish you, Caleb.” You whisper into his ear, and he shudders. A full body shiver as your fingertips meet the defined divots of his abdomen, trailing down ever so lightly, across his belly button and down to the hemline of his shorts. “If you don’t want to. It’s okay.”

Caleb is putty in your hands, melting at the feather-light touch you give him. His eyelids flutter as you press against his back, and Caleb has to reach out and grab Zayne’s arm to stop himself from teetering. “Pips…”

“No further.” Zayne says, and you stop moving the instant he says it. You hum softly and press your face into Caleb’s shoulder, eager to continue with the direction things are going but obedient to the command in the doctor’s voice. 

Zayne pulls Caleb’s attention back to him by grabbing onto his chin, “This goes no further until you consent to it. Until you give up this pursuit of self-flagellation and decide this is what you want.” Zayne pauses, letting his words settle like a winter frost across Caleb’s simmering skin, “Is it?”

Caleb swallows, overwhelmed by not just the idea of touching you but getting to touch both of you. Getting to unwind the years of guilt and longing knotted in his gut. What would it even look like? Caleb is so blinded by the very idea that he can’t envision what proceeding looks like. What positions and debauchery might unfold if he says yes. 

But he says yes. Of course he says yes. There is no lifetime where he would deny you. And Caleb is beginning to believe the same for Zayne as well. Caleb had thought he was supposed to be with you. That fate had somehow missed a line in the story that led the two of you into each other’s arms. Only…maybe it didn’t. 

Maybe you were right, and this was always going to happen. An inevitable conclusion to any choice he might make is falling into this den of vipers coiling around each other for warmth. He hadn’t been wrong about you and him being destined– there were just more stars in the constellation than he thought.

Zayne moves to his front, a cool wall pressing against him kneeling on the bed. Caleb shivers at the contrasting sensation of you at his back and Zayne– large, intimidating, aloof Zayne– holding the sides of his face and pressing an oddly gentle kiss to his lips. 

It’s hardly the scalding, clandestine kiss he expected. It’s the kind of first kiss you share with a childhood friend. Hidden behind an oak tree in the park. Soft and brief. A little taste of something that asks for permission before continuing.

Caleb initiates the second kiss and the third dissolves into the fourth, until lips and sliding against one another in a haze of chasing something larger. You gasp behind them, watching them with rapt attention.

Zayne grabs the sides of Caleb’s face like one grabs the collar of a dog, holding tightly to stop movement. “I won’t be the first.” Zayne whispers against Caleb’s lips, “I’m not who you want first, right?”

His words are benign, but there’s a challenge in his words. A taunt that provokes Caleb’s hips into a stuttering jolt. “I don’t understand.”

Zayne grins softly, “Turn around. I’ll help you.”

Your heart begins hammering in your chest, thumping like the inciting incident of a war drum, and you can feel your pulse all the way down your chest, to your tummy, to your wanton cunt, throbbing with the dark promise in Zayne’s words. 

Caleb’s breath catches, and Zayne practically manhandles him into turning to face you. Your childhood companion is now face to face with you, and there’s  a moment of hesitation where you’re overwhelmed by the raw desire in Caleb’s eyes. The gold center of his eyes is almost entirely gone, swallowed up by the void of his dilated pupils. He breathes against your mouth, and you feel like a virgin all over again. 

Despite the hedonistic acts you’ve committed with your other lovers over these past few months, this is different. Neither this nor your previous body have felt Caleb’s touch like this, a new and exciting avenue of exploration that your panting to discover. 

“Can I…” Caleb has to lick his lips before continuing, “Can I kiss you, please?”

“So polite.” Zayne hums from behind him, running a cold palm up the line of Caleb’s spine. “Answer him, love. You can give him whatever you want, or nothing at all.”

Such kind permission is making it hard to focus. Hard for your tongue to form words, and so you only nod dumbly. The space between you and Caleb disappears as the two of you collided. Too harsh and too excited at first. A kiss with so much woven into it that your mind short-circuited, failing on how to move or what to do. 

You met his movements, the way he was so gentle yet ravenous. Slobbering in his eagerness to taste your tongue, yet holding the sides of your face with barely-there pressure. Sweet, loving, and scalding. 

“Slow down,” Zayne said cooly, and grabbed Caleb by the back of his neck and squeezed, “She isn’t going anywhere. Slow down, take your time.”

Caleb moaned into your mouth, and obeyed. Slowing down and no longer fighting against some unseen clock. You felt his lips tremble slightly as Zayne kept a firm hand on his neck.

With Zayne’s guiding arm, he moved the two of you down onto the bed. Letting you lie on your back beneath Caleb. This new position allowed Caleb to press his body fully against you, from sternum to hips, using his knee to hook your leg up and over his hip in a movement so smooth it must have been practised. 

Lost in the haze, Caleb begins rutting against you. The thin material of his sleep shorts leaves little to the imagination as he glides his hips against your sticky core. Mewls of appreciation escaping your lips as he provides slow, deep pressure. 

Caleb swallows your sounds like he’d been starved of them, pulling away in time with his dry humping just to make sure he can hear every little noise he pulls from you. Greedy for it. He’ll never have enough. He’ll never get enough of the breathless pants of pleasure that you make.

The hand on the back of Caleb’s neck trails up into his hair, grabbing onto the brunette strands and pulling his face away from yours. A raw, ragged moan leaves Caleb’s swollen lips, a noise of agitation and confusion for why he was drawn away from his meal. 

“Good,” Zayne hums, “You’re behaving nicely. Now, let go for a moment, and sit up.”

You watch the muscles in Caleb’s neck swallows as he swallows the vestiges of your taste from his mouth, “W-why?”

Zayne’s chuckle is sinful, and he uses a harsher grip to pull Caleb up and onto his knees. Sat between your legs and panting, “You want to come in your pants? Is that it? – No, you don’t move.”

You fall back flat onto the bed from where you’d started to rise up onto your elbows. The last sentence is clearly for you. 

Caleb whines. “I want more. Please, god, I need more. Pips…please.”

Zayne relaxes his tight grip on Caleb’s hair and then pets the back of his head, and Caleb practically nuzzles into the movement.  Zayne leans in to whisper in Caleb’s ear, “Take off her clothes. Slowly. Don’t rush it, or you’ll ruin the fun.”

Caleb’s hands shake for a moment, and he nods like he’s been given a military command. With his flesh hand, Caleb reaches for the hem of your shirt, and then uses his metal one. Slowly dragging the worn-softened material up and over your head. 

Next comes your shorts, and Zayne slaps Caleb’s hands when he tries to grab both your shorts and panties at the same time. He moves slower with the shorts, and throws them to the side.

“Oh god…” Caleb groans like it’s punched out of him, and he doesn’t move to take your panties off. Instead he lets his hands rest on either side of your hips, thumbs brushing against the hem of the simple black cotton pair you wear. They aren’t lacy or frilly. A simple, plain pair of panties who’s only redeeming quality is a little satin bow at the top. 

But Caleb’s face dives down, mouth dragging along the fabric and he’s grabbing at the elastic bad with his teeth, groaning when you lift your hips to help him slide them off. You’re dumbfounded, and even Zayne looks a little glazed as Caleb’s full attention is on the crap of fabric he holds delicately in his hands. 

“Can I keep them?” Caleb whispers, eyes locked on the panties dangling from his chrome fingers like they’re a diamond necklace. “Just for a little while?”

You can hardly breathe, “S-sure…”

Caleb fists the panties and wads them up, stuffing them into the pocket of his shorts and then turning back to you. “You’re so beautiful. So perfect. I can’t believe I get to touch you oh…You’re so soft. “

More reverent praise spills from Caleb’s lovely lips as he brushes his hands up your body. Tickling you more than fully touching you. He’s bolder with his left arm than his right. The flesh and bone of his left hand presses fully against your skin, sticky with the sweat he perspires. The metal of his right hand is featherlight, barely the barest of pressure before it backs away. Zapping you with its cool temperature every so often. 

Zayne moves behind Caleb, and the latter is too busy studying the curves of your body to notice. Not until Zayne is grabbing a pillow and gently coaxing you to lift your hips does Caleb even see him. And you watch as Caleb’s mouth goes dry as you instinctively move as Zayne wishes you to, without need of command. 

“There,” Zayne says, having propped your hips up satisfactorily. Grabbing Caleb by the back of the neck, he hardly has to add pressure before Caleb is diving down, falling flat on his belly. “Do you think you can manage this? Be careful with your teeth.” Zayne paused and looked down at you, “You alright, love?”

“Great.” You mumble, twitching with anticipation, “I-I’m great.”

Caleb’s eyes are locked on your dripping cunt in front of his face. Wild depravity swimming in the darkness of irises, and his jaw is open, tongue twitching to taste. But Zayne’s hold on his hair is firm, keeping away until you’ve given the okay. 

Then Zayne pushes Caleb into you, and Caleb meets your quim with his tongue, lapping at the syrupy dew with loud, shameless slurps. Tongue digging in between your folds to indulge at the excess of slick, making you jolt and unconsciously grab at Caleb’s hair. Your fingertips smack against Zayne’s and you feel Caleb’s broken moan against your core. 

“So good…” Caleb mumbles drunkenly, pressing his maw into you and dragging his tongue in a long stripe all the up, sucking on your clit before returning back again. “How do you – mmh – how do you taste so good, pipsqueak? Oh you feel so good.”

He’s singing your praises like you’re the one servicing him, and you don’t have the conscious mind to correct him. You voice is nothing but high moans, “Ah! Oh god! C-Caleb….Oh…fuck….Caleb!”

“That’s it honey,” Caleb growls, lips still pressed against you, “God, you sing so pretty. Fuck you just keep getting wetter…”

Through hooded eyes you look up and find Zayne. His eyes are dark– the green of a forest just before nightfall. His gaze doesn’t linger in one place long, distracted by the rise and fall of your chest, the flush on the back of Caleb’s neck, the pleasure painting your face, the wet slurping of Caleb’s tongue taking you apart. Zayne’s face is red and a little dazed looking, clearly not an unaffected observer. 

Leaning down, Zayne whispers in Caleb’s ear, “Take your fingers like this– yes, that’s it. Good. Now slide them in– ah, hear how much she likes it? Now hook them slightly.”

Caleb is pliant under Zayne’s command, following his hushed words like they’re gospel, and they might as well be. Caleb can taste divinity on his tongue, and feel it squeeze around his fingers. 

“Ahn!” You squeal, quickly piloted straight towards orgasm. Caleb’s fingers are thick, and the two he’s got pressed to the knuckle inside you are crooked just right. “I’m gonna– oh fuck! Don’t stop! I’m gonna come…Caleb!”

At your plea, Caleb is even more dedicated to the pursuit. “Oh fuck, really? Please Pipsqueak. Please come for me. I can’t– I can’t believe it. I’m gonna make you come. I’m gonna feel you come…” 

His voice devolves into pleading whines as he plies you with his tongue. Caleb is dizzy. He’s drunk. He’s lost in the blissful taste of your pussy and he couldn’t stop even if he tried to. 

Zayne moves. The sudden cold on your tummy just above your naval was your writhing. The roll of your hips as you ride Caleb’s face stutters and when you look up, you see Zayne. He drags the tips of his middle finger upwards, leaving a cool line in his wake. The shimmer of his evol fluttering in the air. Sinful in the slow way he traces your body. 

He reaches your breast and gently circles your nipple. You’re teetering right at the edge– biting your lip to stave off your peak for just a little while longer. 

Only Zayne is not so patient. He pinches your nipple, and rolls it between two fingers. The icy touch of his fingertips and the spark of pain running like a lightning bolt down your spine and right to your cunt. 

“Oh!” Is all you can manage before your gushing around Caleb’s fingers. An onslaught of slick for his greedy tongue to lap up and Caleb whimpers and pushes even harder. You jolt with the waves of your orgasm, pressing your cunt into Caleb’s mouth and arching your back up into Zayne’s hands. 

“Perfection.” Zayne growls in dark satisfaction, letting your poor nipple go but then moving to other one, sending another wave of twitchy pleasure through your tiring body. 

Caleb dives his tongue as far as he can reach inside of you and groans, trying valiantly to prolong your pleasure. The way your perfect pussy squeezed around him was too much, and he’s addicted. He needs to feel it again. Needs to feel your walls flutter again. “C’mon honey. Just a little more. Just a little more.”

Your moans start to become strained, pleasure edging into overstimulated pain. Zayne sees it as much as he hears it, and he has to drag Caleb away from your cunt. 

It’s obscene. The way your slick drips down his chin and he laps at his lips like he still can’t get enough. There’s a fog in his eyes, and he’s sloppy when Zayne drags him upwards and kisses him. Open mouthed and stunned. Loose and boneless.

“You want to fuck her now?” Zayne whispers in Caleb’s mouth.

“Oh god, can I?” Caleb begs, grabbing onto the nearest part of Zayne he can. “Can I please?”

Zayne chuckles softly. And you’re gifted with the image of the two of them, kneeling between your legs. Zayne’s got a hand resting on Caleb’s collar bone, and one of Caleb’s hands holds onto Zayne’s bicep, while the other rests heavily on your thigh.A rosy hue to their cheeks and affection in their eyes. 

“Ask her politely.” Zayne states softly, and nods in your direction.

“What about you?” Caleb says without thinking, to which Zayne shakes his head. 

“Not this time.” Zayne says, “Maybe next time. For this time, you can have her all to yourself.”

Caleb turns back to you, detaching from Zayne and swallowing hard. “C-can I pipsqueak? Can we…Can we make love please?”

Your heart swells, blown up into a sugary bubble like a tooth-rotting bubble gum. You reach for him, and he comes into your arms, body covering yours. “Yes. Yes. Please, Caleb. I need it.”

Caleb’s eyes flutter closed and he nods enthusiastically. He tilts his head down, to yank down his shorts and his boxers, kicking them away with a little assist from Zayne. “I can’t believe this is real. I can’t believe I get to…I can’t believe I get to have you.”

You moan as the heat from the tip of his cock meets your sopping entrance, kissing it softly but not yet pressing in. “I’m yours.” You whisper to him, wrapping your arms around his neck to keep his face close to yours, “You can have me….whenever you want.”

“Fuck,” Caleb hisses and presses your lips together, “I’m not gonna last. I’m gonna be done for. I can’t–”

You kiss him to stop his nervous rambling. “It’s okay. If you don’t last…it’ll be perfect. No matter what…”

Caleb pulls away to slowly nuzzle your noses together, and you use the opportunity to wrap your legs up by his hips, using the pillow as leverage to press just the barest tip of his cock into you. 

“Take it slow.” Zayne encourages with a gentle hand to Caleb’s back, “There’s no rush.”

Caleb slowly presses in, and fuck you should have looked longer at him because you remember him being decently sized when you were younger but this…The serenity in your expression crinkles into slight shock as the fat head of his cock pops inside you. And it’s thick. 

Sylus is thick. Zayne is thick. All of your lovers were decent, but Caleb is….

“Oh…” You mewl as his hips instinctively thrust. He’s breathing through gritted teeth. His flesh hand is holding onto the side of your neck and tangled into your sweaty hair.

“Y-you’re…nngh– Really tight.” Caleb groans, “Does it– Does it hurt?”

You’re panting, grateful for the slow pace because yeah it does hurt a little. It’s a stretch but fuck if the stretch isn’t sublime. Your previous pleasure has left you a glutton for it. The sparks of pain that fall into decadent pleasure. Stardust exploding behind your eyes. 

Caleb blinks at the expression on your face, “Do you…Do you like that it hurts?”

You don’t answer, but the thought alone has him rutting further into you. Oh god, how much is there of him? You squeeze your arms around his shoulders tighter, letting him fall against your chest and hide his face in your neck. 

Caleb groans, rolling his hips in half-thrusts, “I can’t— If it hurts…Oh god…I’m so s-sorry. Pipsqueak I can’t stop. You feel so good. You feel too good.”

“Caleb…” You sing for him and he’s fucking you harder. The breathy sigh in your voice is too much for his mind to handle. The Toring chip nothing but a waste of silicon when battled against the catalyst pleasure in your cunt.

“So sweet…” Caleb moans, a little higher now. Pleasure filling his voice as his finally bottoms out, “Mmh…yes….yes, hold onto me. Hold me tighter. Just like that. Fuck.”

Caleb’s pace is slower than the virginal jack-rabbity you’d almost expected. It’s long, heavy thrusts. Using the pillow and the mattress to bounce in and out of you and smacking against your ass in sinful slapping. 

He enjoys the sounds. The wet slaps of skin meeting skin. The scent of musk and the taste of salt as he mouths at your neck. His kisses are wet and open, letting you feel the steamy brush of his breath as he fucks you. 

Caleb lifts his head from your neck, and you’re now face to face. Jostled by the power his hips, but keeping a startling eye-contact. You clench when he meets your eyes, and he gasps when he feels it.

“You’re so beautiful.” Caleb breathes, like he’s momentarily distracted by your face to feel his cock pounding into you. The dichotomy of the gentle love in his eyes and the bruising punch of his cockehead against your cervix has your eyes going blurry.

“I– I– I…” You stutter out as your breath is pushed out of  your lungs. “Please. Please. Please.”

“Please what, pipsqueak?” Caleb’s hips slow, “Do you need me to stop? Am I hurting you?”

Zayne’s hand presses to the bottom of Caleb’s back, pushing the other man’s hips until he’s shoving back inside you. “She’s asking to come again. Keep going. Go a little harder– she’ll let you know if it’s too much. Good boy.”

Caleb keens at Zayne’s praise and fucks you harder. Cock pummeling inside you. Thick and unrelenting. Your walls welcome and squeeze him for all he’s worth, tightening in anticipation of your fast approaching orgasm.

“Yes, yes yes! Oh god, you’re gonna’ make me come. I can’t–” Caleb’s words are cut off by a moan that threads out of him, “W-where? Where do I…”

You blearily meet Zayne’s eyes over Caleb’s shoulder, silently asking for what you want from the dark-haired man. You can’t manage words right now, strangled by the suffocating pressure of Caleb’s plundering cock and the weight of his chest on yours. 

“Inside.” Zayne hisses, sounding a little restrained himself. “She wants it inside.”

“Ah!” Caleb shouts, startled by his body’s response to such lechery. “Oh god really? Really, pipsqueak? I can come in you? I can put it in? F-fuck…I’m so close. I’m so close. Please, please pleas please please.”

He’s begging wildly now, and you feel the air thin as he begins to unknowingly use his evol around your torso, dragging you down harder onto him. His rutting is primal, thoughtless. Seeking out a peak that ends with your perfect, heavenly pussy filled with his come and twitching.

He makes eye contact again with you, grabbing the sides of your face to make sure you’re looking at him. It’s intense. Rocking you to your core at the passions and raw vulnerability in his eyes. 

It’s the shimmer of tears brimming at the edge of his lashes that does it for you. The realization that this is so very important to him that it’s brought him to tears has you clamping down around him, coming in keening moans and clawing down his back. You cling to him, holding onto him like a life raft out at sea. 

“Oh god is that it?” Caleb pants, “You’re coming. Oh fuck you’re coming. I can feel it. Nggh. Fuck, I love you. I love you. I love you!”

When Caleb comes it’s with one final sharp slap inside you. And you feel his cock jolt as it spurts his hot come as deep as he can get it. He rolls his hips slowly, pushing further and further into you and refusing to budge and inch out. 

He’s trembling. Arm twitching and the muscles of his back rippling with the shocks of his orgasm. 

It takes a moment to catch your breath and when you finally do Caleb is snatching it again with a searing kiss. Still seated inside you, he holds the sides of your face and kisses you madly. Like he hasn’t seen you in years, like it's the first or maybe the last time. 

“Let her breathe,” Zayne’s amused voice says, gently prying the two of you apart. “Take a moment.”

Caleb turns over to Zayne, grinning, “That was amazing. How often.. How often can we do that?”

You giggle beneath him, “Already thinking of next time? At the very least pull out first.”

Caleb flushes and looks down to where you’re joined, and turns another shade darker. “Oh. Right. Sorry.”

With a little help, you sit up and hiss on an inhale when Caleb slowly drags his cock out. You take the moment to properly look at it, and yikes. It looks big even when it soft, and when Caleb notices your slack-jawed look, his cock twitches. 

“You did very well.” Zayne says sweetly, pulling your attention over to him with a gentle touch on your chin. He kisses you slowly– a reward for the job well done. You laugh into his kiss and push against him a little harder. 

When Zayne pulls away, Caleb is sitting on his heels like a puppy waiting for his treat, “Thank you. For…um…I’ve never done anything like that before.”

“I know.” Zayne deadpans, “I didn’t want to overwhelm you during your first time.”

“First time?” You mumble, a sinking feeling in your chest, “You mean like…with multiple people right?”

Caleb chuckles sheepishly and looks away, “Ah…no. Like any of it. I mean I kissed that one girl in fifth grade…and I kissed Zayne for practice when we were fourteen.”

“Which was supposed to remain a secret,” Zayne cuts in.

“Like it matters now?” Caleb says with a hearty laugh, “I never wanted anyone else but you, pips. It felt wrong being close to anyone else.”

You jolt up, throwing the soiled pillow beneath your hips down onto the floor and sitting on your knees, “No way! You’re kidding right!? I just took your virginity and you didn’t say anything! I would’ve– ahh, I don’t know– lit candles or something.”

Caleb shakes his head with a laugh and with his evol pulls you close to him again. Pressing a kiss to your nose and then over to your cheek, “It was perfect. Exactly what I wanted, and then some.”

“You had such a reputation in college!” You argue, “How did that even happen?”

“To be honest, I have no idea.” Caleb’s shoulders shake with mirth, “Should I have corrected them?”

“I just…” You mumble, “It’s a lot to take in.”

Caleb smirks, “I could tell.”

“Alright, enough you two.” Zayne intervenes. “Love, how are you feeling? No pain?”

You turn to Zayne and nod, “I’m all good. He wasn’t too rough.”

“And you Caleb?” Zayne asks. 

“I am a-okay. Better than okay.” Caleb sighs, “Is this really okay? Can we really be together like this? I know the others don’t really like me…Well, Sylus might but…”

You place a hand onto his nuder shoulder, “It’s fine. It’s perfect. Its exactly how it was always meant to be, right Zayne?”

“As she said.” Zayne concurs, “Now, we should dress. I need to call in to work, and I’d like to see the others.”

You’re suddenly giddy. The idea of getting to be with all of them– oh they’re going to lose it! The excitement on the other’s faces when the learn that Zayne remembers has you jumping from bed, stumbling and nearly falling to the floor. 

Caleb laughs at you while Zayne grins softly. 

“Careful pips,” Caleb says as he turns to sit at the edge of the bed, “I really did a number on you.”

You stick your tongue out at Caleb playfully and you can see him debate grabbing it, but you scurry off to the bathroom to clean up before he can catch you. 

“Caleb.” Zayne says once the two of them are alone. 

Despite the rigorous reinforcement of Caleb’s place here, he can’t help but feel his heart jump a little– halfway expecting to be kicked out by the low tone in Zayne’s voice. “Yeah?”

Zayne brushes his fingers across the nap of Caleb’s neck, “Do not worry about the others. I cannot foresee as I once did, but I am sure you will be accepted. That is…if that is also what you want.”

Caleb turns his head towards the bathroom door, listening as you hum a tune off-key and start up the shower. Then, he turns back to Zayne. He searches the dark-haired man’s eyes. The gold flecks and bits of rust among them. The edge of forest green expanding into something wholly otherworldly but familiar. 

Two lifetimes….Caleb had spent two lifetimes tearing himself apart trying to have something he didn’t feel he deserved. Intervening in the preternatural and predetermined to try and have just a single taste of what he desired. 

He dreamed of it, but never…never truly thought he could have it. That he could hold you in his arms and feel deserving. How could he ever stand in your arms and feel like he had not tricked you into loving him?

This dream…this story…it was twisted into a way his feeble imagination couldn’t fathom. Into one where he was loved not only by you, but by more. Surrounded in a nest of devotion so thick that there were no spaces for doubt. 

So, the question Zayne asked him felt rhetorical. The answer was branded into his skin. Into his bones. This was where he was always meant to be. 

With a resolute nod, Caleb answered. “Yes. More than anything.”

<- Previous Next ->

[another-lost-mc]

NAUGHTY OR MICE

FEATURING: Barbatos with Diavolo, Solomon and the Little Ds

SUMMARY: Barbatos feels pressure during the holiday season and takes it out on everyone else. With help from a certain meddling sorcerer, the Little Ds find a creative way to get some payback.

CONTENT/WARNINGS: Holiday humor and shenanigans. Barbatos-centric POV while Solomon and the Little Ds take advantage of Barbatos' fear of rats. Diavolo just wants everyone to embrace the holidays (with mixed results). The opening poem is taken in part from A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Clark Moore. 1.9k words

A/N: This is a gift fic for Anima as part of the @obeymeholidayexchange! I'm finally getting around to posting it outside the Discord server. 👀

‘Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, except for a mouse –  It turns out that seven little demons have changed their shape, Magically disguised as the rodents you hate. Turn that frown upside down And indulge in some holiday cheer; Or else, you may find your steps haunted By a swarm of furry menaces you fear. It’s the season to be festive and merry So my dear Barbatos, consider this warning: Seven feisty rats will haunt your steps Until they wake at dawn on Christmas morning.

Barbatos stares at the paper in his hands, his expression flickering from confusion to annoyance to abject horror. Solomon’s familiar penmanship, scrawled across a piece of torn parchment, was left on the kitchen counter exactly where the butler would find it. Unsurprisingly, it was left in the same room Barbatos found him in earlier that day, standing at the stove and shaking an unfamiliar bottle of spice into what was supposed to be tonight’s stew dinner. Solomon was still clutching the wooden spoon, dripping liquid that had turned a nauseating shade of orange, and protesting Barbatos’ rough treatment as he was led by the arm through the castle towards the front door. He trusted that Solomon could find his own way out and cause mischief somewhere else, and he left the sorcerer alone in the entrance hall with a sticky-and-stained apron and a childish pout on his face.

The Christmas poem-turned-riddle is utterly ridiculous, and yet Barbatos is glad no one can see his shoulders tremble or the way his eyes dart around the room nervously as if he expects a small army of rats to launch at him in a flurry of whiskers and tails and needle-sharp teeth.

It wouldn’t be the first time Solomon has used magic to cause mischief, and apparently he felt emboldened to enlist the help of the Little Ds behind Barbatos’ back. He knows the lesser demons better than almost anyone else. They’re helpful and infuriating and charming and chaotic, each of them brimming with energy - the perfect embodiments of the sins they represent. 

Normally their tricks and disobedience are mild annoyances, but as Barbatos pushes open the kitchen doors and peers into the hallway, scanning the floors for any signs of those familiar-shaped pests he loathes so much, he wonders if there’s some truth to the accusations laid out in Solomon’s poem.

Every holiday is cause to celebrate in the Devildom, but this year, Barbatos feels more pressure than usual to ensure that everything is perfect. The demon lords, the other realms and the exchange students representing them - he feels their eyes on his lord keenly, searching for any sign of imperfection, of weakness. He would do anything to ensure its success so that the Devildom, and his lord Diavolo, are given the praise and respect deserved.

There’s a series of small scritches against wood nearby, the nearly-silent pitter patter of tiny feet on the carpet runners that cover the hallway floor, followed by high-pitched chittering with the familiar cadence of the Little Ds’ mischievous giggles. Barbatos can feel eyes on him as he lifts his head high and stares ahead despite the urge to search high and low for those little pests. The castle is ancient and despite its updates and repairs over time, it’s full of nooks and crannies and hidden passageways - the Little D’s know most of them nearly as well as he does.

Would they spy on him, wedged between gaps in old, wooden baseboards that line the old stone walls?

Would they climb up and peer at him the shoulders of decorative suits of armor or the twisted figures carved from marble that line the halls?

It’s a small miracle he manages to get anything done at all. His messages to Solomon have gone ignored, his attempts at calling him ringing endlessly. He manages to salvage his lord’s dinner (after disposing of the awful stew Solomon tampered with). It seems that the Little Ds offered him a small mercy by avoiding the kitchen - the sight of a rat in the heart of the castle would surely send Barbatos into an early grave - but everywhere else he goes, he sees dark shapes in the corner of his vision.

His young master must surely know what Solomon has done by now, but as Diavolo eats his dinner in silence, sympathy and smugness at war in his gaze, he only offers Barbatos a good night and the hope that everyone will be in better spirits tomorrow.

By the time Barbatos reaches his bed chambers, he’s twitchy with anxiety. There’s a fine sheen of sweat on his brow and inside his supple leather gloves. For once, he’s sure he looks exactly how he feels: frustrated, unbalanced and disheveled.

Judging by the high-pitched squeaks that followed him here, this is exactly the sort of entertainment the Little Ds hoped to gain from this ridiculous farce.

He strips as quickly as he can and throws his dirty clothes carelessly into the hamper. He snuffs out the wall sconces that light his room as the levels of twisting staircases throw harsh, angular shadows across the walls and floor. Part of him wonders if it’s better to leave his room brightly lit, reducing the places they can hide. Another part of him wonders if darkness would be worse, where he won’t know for certain if each shifting shadows is simply a trick of the light or a foul demon-in-disguise rodent scurrying about in the dark. The room feels suffocating and his private sanctuary is disturbed by the unfamiliar presence of seven little troublemakers that seem to think this is sufficient punishment for his earlier behaviour.

But maybe, he reluctantly thinks, they have a point.

Perhaps he shouldn’t have scolded his young master earlier when he disappeared from his office without a word. Barbatos frowned at the stack of neglected paperwork and set off immediately to find his wayward lord. He eventually found Diavolo in one of the parlors, Number 3 and Number 7 dozing in his lap while he read them holiday story books from the human world. Lord Diavolo’s accusations that he was a “heartless Evengeezer Snooze” fell on deaf ears, and Barbatos ignored his young master’s complaints (and the whiny cries of the Little Ds that toppled unceremoniously from his lap) as he grudgingly returned to his office where his duties awaited him.

Perhaps he shouldn’t have thrown Solomon from the kitchen even if he was a culinary disaster in the marking, and perhaps he shouldn’t have thrown Number 6 from the kitchen after that. (Barbatos couldn’t fathom how hungry the little demon was, who was slurping Solomon’s stew concoction straight from the pot as if he would waste away without it.)

Perhaps he shouldn’t have accused Number 2 of attempting to steal the tree ornaments painted with flaky gold leaf and encrusted with sparkling gems. He asked Number 5 to keep an eye on things, but as Number 2 attempted to float away with an armful of priceless heirlooms, the other lesser demon was too distracted by his own reflection in a large glass bauble dangling off one of the branches. Number 2 fled the room with a shrill little scream as Number 5 followed, drifting away from the tree while sniffling sadly and whining it wasn’t his fault.

After separating Number 1 and Number 4 earlier that morning for arguing so fiercely that it nearly started a brawl in the dining room during breakfast, Barbatos could admit he was already at his wit’s end. The overwhelming stress of everything made him more irritable than usual and had clearly taken its toll.

Perhaps, in the spirit of this joyful holiday season, he owes them all a rare apology. His young master and even Solomon, but especially the Little Ds whose help and company he appreciates. He’ll do whatever it takes to reassure them that this sort of punishment won’t be needed ever again; one evening of rat-shaped ghosts haunting him is more than enough for him to learn his lesson.

Things will be better tomorrow, he promises himself desperately. Tonight, a hushed, “I’m sorry,” is all Barbatos can offer anyone that might be listening. He falls asleep not long after, comforted by the silence of his room rather than the squeaks and scratches he has grown to dread, and in the quiet peace marked by the Little Ds’ absence, it almost feels like forgiveness.

It’s early the next morning when Diavolo walks into the dining room where he prefers to take his private meals. Barbatos is nearly finished laying out a small but hearty breakfast. They aren’t expecting guests at the castle until the festive brunch planned for later in the morning, but Barbatos wants to make the most of the peace and quiet while it lasts - after the night he had, he’s grateful for it.

“I see the Little D’s are back to normal,” Diavolo says cheerfully as he takes his seat at the table. Even though Barbatos can easily serve him breakfast without assistance, the lesser demons are helping set the table or observing the butler work while others admire the glittering tree in the corner of the room. 

“I think we’ve all learned a lesson from this,” Barbatos admits with a nod. “Personally, I thought last night was–”

“Fun?” Number 4 pipes up helpfully. Number 6, who’s staring at the tray of food with a hungry gleam, offers a toothy grin in agreement.

“That’s not quite the word I’d use,” Barbatos says slowly, “but it was certainly an experience I won’t soon forget.” He pours Diavolo a fragrant cup of coffee and watches the prince take a sip with a quiet hum. “Although I may speak to Solomon and the sorts of spells he casts on them in the future. It appears that Number 5 hasn’t turned back to normal yet.”

Slowly setting his porcelain cup back on its delicate saucer, Diavolo frowns as he follows Barbatos’ gaze. Underneath the elaborately decorated tree sits a dark grey rat, its face obscured by a large frosted glass bauble, staring at them both with its beady black eyes.

“That’s not Number 5,” Diavolo says slowly as his brows pinch in confusion, glancing uneasily between Barbatos and the grey rodent peering at them curiously from the lower branches of the tree. “It can’t be. I passed him in the hallway on my way here. He was arguing with one of the statues again.”

The warm, joyful ambience of the room shifts into something cold and uncertain as the prince’s words hang heavy in the air with a touch of foreboding apprehension. Barbatos’ body freezes and he suddenly can’t bring himself to look anywhere near that tree.

“But my lord, if it’s not Number 5 under the tree, then who–?”

Squeak!

Read More: Obey Me Masterlist

[m3-kk]

Sharing my TCF notes because sharing is caring 😬 ⬇️. (All of them… so far)

Ch. 086- sad time for Raon :(. REVENGE HAHAHA LETSGOOOO

Ch. 335- Eruhaben protect Roan & Cale from ugly WS 😆

Ch. 352- Cale’s greatest fear…😭

Ch. 378- Choi’s uncle (DS) left info book written in KOREAN?!?! 😵

Ch. 394- Letter from Death & shiz show😬

Ch. 395- CALE IS AFRAID?!?! 😱

Ch. 401- “Plavin was laughing on the outside but crying on the inside.”😌

Ch. 404- “And Miss Cage, please cuss out the God of Death for me.” -Cale 😇

Ch. 411- They were talking about the Lion King (person) and I thought they were talking about the movie 😭

Ch. 414- Choi Han woke up crying “Kim Rook Soo” 😰

Ch. 415- “What am I supposed to call the friend of my nephew once removed?” -Choi Han 😳

Ch. 423- “Oh, by the way, the original owner of your body is living well too. He said he is happy.” -Lee Soo Hyuk ☺️

Ch. 423- CALE CRIES! BABY NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! 😰

“It's a new record! You were unconscious for 20 days, 1 hour, 32 minutes, and 19 seconds!”- Roan Miru🤠

Ch. 431-

“You son of a bitch!” -Bear King

"Why am I your son? Such an idiot.”

-Whale Archie🫡

Ch. 434- Which Henituse sibling wants to become what?🥱👑⚔️

Ch. 435- Sworn brothers 🤞

Ch. 455- Ron says he has a cute young master (Cale) who he doesn’t want to disappoint.🥹

Also that Roan is cuter than Cale 😂

Ch. 457- “This is nice.” Beacrox commented before swinging his greatsword horizontally.🙂

Ch. 461- Cale’s merchant name is Bob XD

Ch. 465- The Sound of the Wind was a top underneath a boulder surrounded by whirlpools.

The Indestructible Shield was a pit under the tree.

The Scary Giant Cobblestone was a stone in the Super Rock villa.

The Fire of Destruction was a sculpture at the center of the magma.

The Vitality of the Heart was a stone pillar at the center of a whirlwind.

The Sky Eating Water was a chained spear.

Ch. 476- More Dragon Family Drama wtf

Ch. 481- To the Fake World Tree

Ch. 501- Illusion of Other World..RAMEN!

Ch. 504- Stick from World Tree (Cale’s blood is special?!)

Ch. 515- Vampire Duke Fredo (seems nice)

Ch. 516- Demonic Race, Rosalyn, White Star after cookie prince?! NOOO

Ch. 520- WEAKLING. Alberu is a mage swordsman badass dark elf

Ch. 526- These brothers are so cute OMEGALUL

Ch.555- Sealed god test, wtf this is so sad I’m crying I’ve never been so genuinely sad

Ch. 559- CHOI HAN OUR LOVE THANKS🙏

Ch. 581- AWW BESTIEEE

Ch. 584- Cale saying he could beat 3 strong peeps

Ch. 589- Alberu goes to Blood Boulder

Ch. 601- AHH CALE BDAY AHHH

Ch. 612- THEY GAVE ALBERU A GUN!!

Ch. 618- Cale explains to LeeSooHyuk the truth

Ch. 622- HOMEEEEEEEE AYYAYAAY

Ch. 627- @Capital w/ Dad y Alberu YAY

Ch. 628- BUBBLEGUM PINK DRAGON

Ch. 629- We are a big family!

Ch. 631- 5 FUCKIN DRAGONS AHHH-

[THE AUTHOR STARTS SAYING SHIT LIKE “IN THE FUTURE.. “ LIKE F U MAKIN ME ALL SAPPY N STUFF WTH UGHHH!!!]

Ch. 640- 2 Cats are Molan house’s future 🥹.. They can’t go berserk?..

Ch. 645- Roan & Cale Solo Fight letsgo!!

Ch. 646- Cale uses ‘instant’ to destroy 2 unranked monsters.. I’m crying actually..

Ch. 647- wtf I’m crying, goosebumps fr

Ch. 649- Roan has grown so much 🥹

Ch. 652- COM. WITH EARTH 2 AHHHH—

Ch. 655- Cale is healing❤️ OG Cale!KRS

Ch. 656- SOO much info from OG Cale!!

Ch. 658- CALE IS AWAKEEE YAYA

Ch. 662- OMG Cale’s BioMom was cooking

Ch. 663- WE KNOW HOW TO KILL HIM HA

Ch. 670- World Tree-nim

Ch. 677- Explaining ALOT lore dump!!

CB. 681- WOW the end of that chap tho

Ch. 682- I stan Cale’s hatred for the White Star. We love the PJs! Alberu is moon that’s so *legs in air kicking*

Ch. 683- So are we gonna kill WS or whatt?

Ch. 684- HAHAH OMG CALE’S BDR POWER IS SO SCARY EVERYONE THINKS ITS THE WS!! HAHAH ITS CALE’S THOOO

Ch. 685- omg.. DANGGG!! Our Cale is truly terrifying! New Pokémon acquired! White star!! 😏 wait we have a tiny WS in our pocket how cute! 🥰

Ch. 686- HAHA BOOM BOOM 💥

Ch. 688- Rashell says he wouldn’t be able to sleep if many humans died 🥰

Ch. 689- ROCK SHEILD LETSGOOO

Ch. 694- DEAFEATED! Alberu faints and thinks he’s like Cale now 😭

Ch. 695- NAHH WE LOVEEE

Ch. 699- ENTERED THE TEMPLE! We can’t leave…? CALE IS GHOST AND WATCHING OTHERS TESTS HUHHH?!! (DespairTest2)

Ch. 700- This chapter is just amazing, these people are so smart ughhh I’m screaming! In a happy way tho

Ch. 701- OK we have Choi Han, Clopeh, Rosalyn and Cale so far.. MARYYY

Ch. 702- +1(Roan) Cale can use the cintamani to contact other world. PEOPLE CAN SEE HIM YAY!

Ch. 705- Talking with Cale & others through the Cintamani :>

Ch. 706- Tonka! And Dark elf Tasha&Alberu

Ch. 707- My heart, Alberu was so sad and lonely back then…

Ch. 709- Eruhaben! WS is badddd

Ch. 710- Whyyyy I’m actually feeling despair it’s so complicated ugh and no ones receiving correct info ughhhhh

Ch. 713- Mary is #GIRLBOSS for not being tricked! ❤️❤️

Ch. 717- So glad that was settled 😮‍💨

Ch. 718- So the test Cale was in wasn’t the original one so now we are doing the actual sadness test ok 👍

Ch. 719- WOW NOT CALE ALREADY FINISHING BLUE TEST.. also someone else?

Ch. 721- Toonka left the test, Cale met Choi Jung Gun, I’m I’m scared 😶

Ch. 722- Rosalyn finally put the tests goals into words! She’s so smart. I love herrr

Ch. 726- Cale confronts CJG and he’s being used as bait bc a hunter is here oh no. Cale is going to cause chaos ialrk

Ch. 727- WOWW Cale was about to be isekaied lol. Good thing we have ancient powers! 2 Hunters?! 🫣

Ch. 730- Cale actually skipped a level bfr

Ch. 731- Cale has to observe past Roan (during the night) and Alberu (during the day)

Ch. 732- FLIPPING OVER THE FIRST PRINCES PALACE HAHAHAHAGA

Ch. 735- Freeing Roan! Again Again?

Ch. 739- Still loving how Choi’s test is taking care of tiny KRS. Alberu test completed!!

Ch. 740- I’m loving Clopeh during this test so far. He knows his goals and he sticks to them. He’s crazy!

Ch. 744- Damn Dodam Miru. I think DM’s world is not an illusion. Cale “tricking” the Wrath test is crazy I love that sly bastard!

Ch. 745- Cale hates when the children hate their side dishes ahah! The Wrath test is actually really difficult it surprised me frfr! Clopeh & Cale are angy

Ch. 749- How dare this low-life Dorph ever consider sacrificing the great and mighty Roan Miru. I pour all of my hatred and anger toward him. He needs to die. 😡

Ch. 750- Finally! Flipping every over heh!

[animalcrossingshowdown]

I am LOVING the furniture brackets!! If it's not too much work, coule you maybe include what games the items are from/in? (Dw about it if it's too much though, the brackets themselves are probably very time consuming already)

I think maybe it is too much work but I'll list all the ones I know without googling here for you. I'm extremely familiar with NH's and NL's catalogue, and I mostly know which items are new to those games, but the older games I'm less sure about. if you wanna know a specific one, nookipedia is pretty good. I pulled all the images I'm using for the NL items from there

for the stand alone items, all of them except balloon dog, snail clock and lovely phone are available in NH

this isn't true 100% of the time, but here is a gist oh how items have progressed through the games:

the original game was developed for N64, and was ported to gamecube in the west. as a result these items have like 6 polygons and needed to be remade for the jump to DS. I believe most items made it to the DS, but I definitely know of a few that didn't make it (rip lovely stereo).

from DS to Wii, many items were ported directly as they were & use the same models (the ones with round parts were mostly remade though), so most items returned. same thing from Wii to 3DS, the 3DS has a tiny screen so the items could be reused again and most items returned. at this point though you can start to really tell the difference between the new and old furniture, since the new stuff has so much more detail and is generally less boxy

from 3DS to Switch EVERY item had to be remade. NH is an HD game and you can't be using models from 2005. as a result, less than half of the items in NL made it to NH (682 out of 1764) and many that did return look noticeably different

anyways here's a list of the tournament items and sets and where they're from to the best of my knowledge:

Items:

froggy chair - all games

leo sculpture - NH, NL (but it was stone and had glowing eyes in NL)

balloon dog lamp - NL

eggplant cow - definitely NH and NL, idk if it was in other games

dreamy wall rack - NH

throwback skull radio - NH

dried flower garland - NH

rose bed - NH

creepy skeleton - NH, NL, CF

elaborate kimono stand - NH

pergola - NH, but a similar item called "wisteria trellis" was a public work in NL

mom's plushie - NH

greenhouse box - NH, NL

soft serve lamp - I think all games? definitely NH and NL, but I think it's one of those classic forever items

cherry-blossom pond stone - NH

rocket lamp - all games, but it was called lava lamp in every game except NH

snail clock - NL

imperial dining table - NH, but a similar item called lazy-susan table was in NL. not sure if the lazy-susan table was in older games. possibly CF?

decayed tree - NH

lucky cat - all games

ACNH nintendo switch - NH (duh)

spooky cookies - NH

virgo harp - NH, NL, but it was wooden in NL

rescue mannequin - NH

kerropi bridge - NH, NL

tiny library - NH

scattered papers - NH, NL

lily record player - NH, NL

skull rug - NH

mom's cake - NH

star clock - NH

anatomical model - I think all games

moon - I think all games

hyacinth lamp - NH

cancer table - NH, NL, but it was all gold in NL

paper tiger - NH, NL, idk about older games

colorful juice - NH

music box - NH, WW, though it didn't play KK songs in WW, it just had one unique song that it played. I think it was an item for reuniting Katie and Kaitlyn. idk if CF had it too. one of the VERY FEW items that were in previous games to not appear in NL

bathtub with yuzu - NH

plain party lights arch - NH

cinnamoroll sofa - NH, NL

dreamy rabbit - NH

elephant slide - all games

fortune teller set - NH (though NL & CF had the creepy crystal)

cucumber horse - definitely NH and NL, idk if it was in other games

dessert case - NH, NL, maybe CF???

peach chair - NH

starry garland - NH

bonsai shelf - NH

afternoon tea set - NH, NL (NL girlies remember the struggle)

my melody clock - NH, NL

monster statue - NH

hamster cage - all games

wheat field - NH, NL, CF

dragon zodiac figure - NH, NL, CF, but it looked different in NL and CF

lovely phone - all games except NH

toy duck - NH

crescent moon chair - NH

retreo stereo - all games

titan arum - NH

resetti model - I think all games?? I think it's been the groundhog day item in every game. maybe not WW since it didn't have real holidays

rattan towel basket - NH

cherry blossom branches - NH

sets:

I'm gonna skip any "ACNH redesigns" since obviously they're only in ACNH. I don't consider any sets other than the sanrio sets and the mermaid set to be truly the same between NH and NL (all 7 of those sets were new to NL, so NH has NO SETS that are the same from older games)

dreamy - NH

wedding - NH

patchwork classic - NL

spooky - the version in the tournament is only in NH. the old version is in NL, CF and PG

throwback - NH

mush classic - NL, CF, WW

rococo - NL

elegant - NH

diner - NH

flower - NL

glowing moss - NH

ruined - NH

fruit classic - all games except NH

sweets - NL, CF

my melody - NH, NL

cabin - all games except NH

log - NH

green - all games except NH

modern wood - NL

insect - NL

mario - NH, but every game has had some version of a "nintendo set". NH is the only game to only have mario items

motherly - NH

kiddie - every game except NH

ironwood - NH

hello kitty - NH, NL

kerropi - NH, NL

house plants - every game except NH

stars - NH, kinda NL. NL had the zodiac items but they all looked different, while NH made the set more cohesive and added the glowing star items

gorgeous - NL, CF

nordic - NH

alpine - NL (very obviously added to show off the new customization feature)

construction - all games except NH

modern - all games except NH

chess - all games except NH

shell - NH

blue - all games except NH

cherry blossom - NH (but the clock was in NL)

cute - NH

lovely - all games except NH

rattan - NH (redesign of cabana, which is not in this tournament but was in every game except NH)

astro - NL

plaza - NH

fish - NL

moroccan - NH

kiki & lala - NH, NL

harvest - NL, CF, PG

mermaid - NH, NL

gracie - NL, CF

imperial - NH (redesign of exotic, which is not in this tournament but was in every game except NH)

cinnamoroll - NH, NL

regal - every game except NH

sloppy classic - NL

ranch classic - every game except NH

cardboard - NH, but NL also had a cardboard set

robo - every game except NH

classic - every game except NH

antique - NH

card - NL, CF

princess - NL, CF

[misc-obeyme]

oh I love talking abt tbwse my creativity block is go n e

I like to think most of them don't live at the castle, though. Like they just work there and come and go and have varying shifts. Uhh but that's if they're just normal people and not criminals lol!

this too! in my hc Lil Ds, Maidservants, cooks & scullions and others with a criminal past lived at the castle while others worked shifts. some also didn't need shifts since their jobs weren't that heavy. some of the ones who's family live far away from the castle also do live there, younger ones as well. oh to be a teen wingless demon running erands at the castle and knowing Barbatos....,,,

I suppose whether or not they actually did something terrible has to do with how deranged you want Diavolo to be. Like if he was really kinda off the deep end, he could absolutely just obtain people he thinks are pretty and for no other reason. That's real villain behavior generally speaking. But if you want him to be a little less that way, you could say they were criminals. Then at least there's a legit reason for it, even if the punishment is a bit intense... they are demons, so really there's a lot of ways you can go with it!

My Diavolo is the villain.. in other people's stories lol /j i just love my man being a tiny bit cruel. he's actually pretty kind, and way kinder than the older kings. they ruled with iron fists and even something as small as stealing bread for your hungry child was punished with amputation-

the past devildom was horrible to say if you weren't a noble. When Diavolo took over the throne it became way better and even commoners could live a comfortable life.

most of those "I just thought they're pretty" staff are from the timed either he was a child or still new to the throne. he did learn, although still sometimes he can't help it. plus, demons are hard to rule, they're not like humans. one sign of weakness and you're done for. if it wasn't for Diavolo showing his power, MC & the angels were possibly dead at the first weeks lol (although, since RAD .. is a royal academy, the students are nobles or have family members work at the castle, similar things. also its smth like all grades are there so Luke makes sense >:( RAD isn't that populated as well- but itsbpopulated with famous people >:) )

but that doesn't mean the whole city RAD takes place in is like that though!. RAD may be safe, but the outdoors are not.

Ohh it sounds like you've worked out quite a bit about how these things work! It definitely makes sense for there to be a lot more people living and/or working at the castle.

Okay I dunno how I missed the part about Luke... if he's really supposed to be ten why is he attending school with everybody else?!?!? How did I not realize this previously?!?!?!

Anyway... that just isn't something I really thought about before, but now it's gonna bug me lol.

I think it makes sense for previous demon kings to be... well, demons. Then you get Diavolo who is still definitely a demon, but unique enough to have his own ideas, which makes him just a tiny bit softer than the others. I like the consideration of the fact that demons are harder to rule than humans. That makes sense to me. And I think canon could use a little bit more expansion on that in general. Just because they aren't humans, but sometimes the stuff the characters say makes me go hmm.

But anyway, I quite like your worldbuilding here, expanding on canon in a way that makes it a little darker, but also more realistic. Since we are dealing with demons!

I don't mind the demons being fluffy at all, but it's also interesting to explore them being more villainous in general!

[widowshill]

A-Z Fandom Asks: N, P, R? (that wasn't planned, just. happy accident?) please and thank you!

A -> Z FANDOM ASKS.

N - Name three things you wish you saw more of in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice).

my number one is r/v obviously <3 i do actually feel kind of spoiled with the shippy stuff ive found in some old blogs though, i tend to adopt the rarest of rarepairs so i'm not complaining. but more is always better! and i'm steadily converting people to the cause 🏴‍☠️

generally speaking i think the pre barnabas episodes could always use more love. it's quite different tonally to later on and I can understand why folks might skip it for those reasons, but I fervently protest the idea that they're boring ! I'm biased of course because my faves are the 1966'ers, but there's so much delicious character work going on, and I think ... you need the rotted b&w gothic foundation for the technicolor house of horrors built on top of it, if that makes sense. i also think barnabas is kinda :/ it should be pre and post laura collins if we're all being honest with ourselves here.

hmmm. possibly a symptom of like, only being here / a tiny bit on twitter and not on like, actual forums, but i would love to see more long ass ds metas. love to read the insanely smart things b.lack s.ails people (and p.otc!) post on the reg. need that about haunted maine ppl

P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas).

okay well you can guess where i'm going to go with this west indies piracy au go

The Collinses are descended from merchant wealth in England and currently control a small port city in the Bahamas. the family's connections to the Marquess of Winchester manages to land Roger an appointment as governor, although everyone knows the title is only a formality: his sister runs everything, including Roger. once prosperous, a combination of over-fishing, hurricanes, and an earthquake twenty years past has left the town desolate, and the sand beneath their feet liquefied. rather than abandon what she has built, Elizabeth is determined to hold on, but without any support from England for what they feel has no hope to turn profitable, the family turns to investing in forced trade.

enter Burke Devlin, a privateer employed under a letter of marque signed and sealed by Roger Collins. Devlin is the best, most profitable, and most infamous of their captains, often dining with them at their table and a close friend of the governor. For a while they enjoy mutual prosperity with Spain's wealth, and pirate labor. But the world is growing more respectable around them, and what was once the fringes of civility is gradually becoming its center. The way to survive is no longer with the pirates. When Burke is captured and tried for piracy, his benefactors turn their back on him: he is sacrificed, essentially, as a figurehead for the port and governor's respectability (vaguely à la Kidd). Even his wife sends written testimony against him, and remarries before her husband officially swings, to his former friend and sponsor, Roger.

Burke manages to escape before his hanging, and turns to piracy in the Mediterranean – after ten years, in 1698, he comes back to raid the Collins shipping fleet, with the eventual goal not of razing Collinsport to the ground, but of installing himself as governor there. One of the ships he captures carries a special passenger – the new governess, sent for from England – and he personally delivers her to their doorstep, but not before she can witness how different Captain Devlin is from the terrifying stories about him and his crew.

the governess also brings news from England: William III has passed a new law against the pirates in the West Indies. any person to aid and assist, or maintain, procure, command, counsel, or advise the pirates, are condemned to the same loss of property and life as the pirates themselves.

meet also:

maggie evans, the no-nonsense tavern wench, and her sweetheart, the honest merchant sailor joe haskell that hates pirates and everything they stand for

carolyn stoddard, who has a copy of Exquemelin in both French and English and has memorized every word, and is violently jealous of vicki for dining with a scary pirate captain. she'd like nothing better than to be kidnapped out of the governor's mansion. her cousin david loves the stables and knows everything about horses ... including how best to spook them.

sam evans, former court painter, now art forger

julia hoffman, naturalist (and other sciences as required)

bill malloy, who oversees the merchant fleet and the warehouses, and carries carolyn home from the docks or the tavern by the scruff of her neck, if he has to.

laura collins, sent away to bedlam for hysteria, managed to come back, and is now setting boats on fire as a hobby

the blairs, hailing from massachusetts: james, a well-respected lawyer eventually revealed to be working with devlin, and his cousins, nicholas and cassandra, political and religious exiles who spent some time in maritinique, where they both adopted quimbois practices.

jason macguire, irish smuggler, and willie loomis, former indentured servant working out his sentence in america. they have a run in with cousin barnabas, who's been making his questionable fortune in the east indies rather than the west, and who definitely does not do any cannibalism.

R - Which friendship/platonic relationship is your favorite in fandom?

ROGER AND JULIA. in other places, eleanor and flint >>>> also elizabeth and barbossa. i feel like this is forming a pattern of some kind hang on

[oswednesday]

i was actually in this row for a purpose i was looking for certain parts that are sometimes in baby toys but there was a surprising lack of that like, i guess it was just The Day for like the Fancier higher end stuff, like this thing! it was above my sight line, like a shelf over my head i had looked up in like ugh i cant believe im striking out like this and like look! at this thing, i have a fantasy about tabling and stand working for art stuff again that would be nicey, like a little gacha mini zines or tiny beasts as this thing was once intended for, so i got it with that dream in mind! i have not yet tested it out but the battery fob has zero corrosion (despite still having its old batteries in it, the scream emoji!!!) it takes ds which i dont have on hand! the sticks move perfectly fine, it only seems to have some wear n tear around the branding and the top side plastic

it even still has all these play coins!! ive already started to peel at the sticker but it was like five something or other and it appears to be this thing!! [link] of course what makes it more costly is all the branded beasts that come with it which were obviously absent but o m g, i hope the price point doesnt mean it doesnt work but unless its some kind of nightmare horror show in there like, ive seen people repair things in much much worse condition but a!! everyone manifest that itll work when i get the right kind of batteries!!

[meganuzlockediary]

Pokemon Black! Already Worked up!

20th June

Ok it is decided! I got excited about playing these games so I chose Black over Platinum for now. I loved Black when it came out and in my opinion this genration is the best in the series. So much thought was put into it! It really was the pinnacle of the DS era. It is also probably one of Pokemon's toughest era. Fortunately with 150 new pokemon to use plus the old ones in Black and White 2 im not so worried about my losses!

So here goes nothing!

My starter choice is Tepig this game. A strong Fire Fighting type which was my brother favourite in the past. I have never been a fan but a strong and guaranteed fighting type for the famous run killer Lenora will be useful. I name him El Piggo he has a -Speed nature which I am already feeling but Emboar wasn't horrendously fast anyway.

Honestly, I breeze through the opening. Tepig is a great start and blasts through all opponants. I feel bad because there are so many cool touches at the beginning. The little scene with Bianca is literally 7 lines long but is very well written. The battles at the start walking onto route 1 together and Ghestsis' speech are really engaging. With that I battle N. His purrloin ain't much to my level 7 tepig at this point. I actually get my girlfriend to fight him. A rare video gaming occurance.

With that I head to route two and get a Patrat I name Alvin. Honestly He is just fodder again in preparation for Lenora especially with the worse ability but we shall see. Last but not least I head to the dream yeard for Pansage as it really is the only answer to the upcoming Panpour and honestly when else am I going to use one.

This is going to be tiny on mobiles but these are the three. The new format sucks for this unfortunately.

With that I handily beat cheren with Pansage and Tepig before heading into the gym... OK a bit of a power increase. I ahve to grind on patrats and lillipups for bloody ages to get to level 14. The xp just doesnt go up! I'm glad I do though because the battle against Cress does not go as planned.

So yeah, When I said this is when pokemon starts to actually get hard. I wasn't kidding! I send in Tepig against Lillipup because thats what you are meant to do and I start tackling. Unfortunately it can only do chip damage about 25% he is doing 20% with his bite and didnt use work up. So, I'm happy I'm chill. He gets down to about 50% and then pulls off a critical hit bite! Which Flinches me! activates my berry! Which he then steals at the end of the turn and ALSO HEALS!!!! WHAT! I blame Cheren for this! Since when did pickup do that! I am astonished. Whats worse is I have another pokemon in the back with another Oran berry! I sneak in a few more tackles before I am forced to switch into Patrat! Who I did not train. So I spend the time using leer, I eventually go for tackle fearing a work up that could wipe the team. But it doesnt hit the range and procs a potion. Patrat goes down but I bring in Pansage and finish it off with a vine whip. Which fortunately does finish it off. Enough monkey business! Pansage basically can't be beaten now. As water gun deals practically nothing and vine whip is dominating the panpour!

That insane combination can't have been a high chance but I'm fuming. I was mere inches from losing my starter there and would have been furious! I can't believe how lucky I had to get there! Never again!

Gym badges won: 65

Pokemon Used: 140

Pokemon Defeated: 31 (didn't like Patrat much anyway)

[jrueships]

JCPennys Karen

[puppys-rhythm-heaven]

tbh the funniest thing to me about ds' reading material lying about the racing fans in freeze frame to avoid referencing tengoku is that glee club 2's reading material mentions the clappy trio BY NAME-

like.

here's this part of the supporting cast 1 reading material.

n here's the clappy trio LITERALLY BEING NAMED IN GLEE CLUB 2'S READING MATERIAL-

i don't fully understand why they did this honestly-

[ne0nlightzz]

Creepypasta halloween headcanons 🎃

THIS IS ALL FUNSIES!! ALSO ARE MORE MY HEADCANONS FOR MY OLDER STORY RATHER THEN LIKE MY ACTUAL HEADCANONS- I DUNNO BUT ENJOY

CW:Cursing

SALLY WILLIAMS

• she 100% makes at least the few creepypastas that suck up to her [toby,jeff,L.J and semi shockingly Nina] dress up in costumes with her

•She walks around the "mansion" knocking on everyone's doors saying "trick or treat" because just about everyone set up a mini trick or treating thing since she can't actually go out on Halloween but is a literal 7year old girl who deserves to have some semi normal experiences such as their own versions of Halloween, Christmas, etc.

•she probably dresses up as a princess but also puts Charlie/Mr.D[her teddy] in a tiny suite/formal etire

•Jeff probably bought her Charlie/Mr.D's suite from build-a-bear because she wouldn't stop pestering him about it.

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

-

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JEFF [THE KILLER]

•He ends up being forced to dressing up as the joker[/hj] by Sally[obviously]and hates it but only does the minimal amount of complaining because it makes Sally happy

•It was partially his idea to set up the indoor trick-or-treating thing for Sally

•He walks around the hallways with Sally as a chaperone but is just downing beer or some sort of liquor/alcohol like one of those red-neck dads who are forced to go with their kids on Halloween and wish they would have left to get a 6pack and never turned the truck around.

•I'm out of things for this man- everything I've ever read with him in it only has minimal character development so it's hard because though he's what some consider a "classic" he's still not in my top 5[sorry Jeff fangirls/boys/ppl!]

•He also probably blasts "Thriller" while standing in a dark hallway being just really fucking weird and creepy

[it concerns Ben a bit on the days he gives a shit.]

[this also just goes all throughout September and October-]

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

-

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

L.J[LAUGHING JACK]

•He stands in the hallway with Jeff just being a creepy ass weirdo too while "Thriller" is blasting.

•He just walks around chucking handfuls of candy at people.

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

-

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

BEN[DROWNED]

•Probably forces Jeff and Toby to play horror games with him and uses the month as an excuse.

•100% is a part of forcing the others to watch horror movies all night long but also gets bored haft way through and ends up playing games on his DS

•Just stands there staring at Jeff and L.J having a full "bro wtf" moment before either walking away or picking up, turning off and throwing their speaker at them [depends on his mood-]

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

-

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

--

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

Moral of the story.

Sally=The baby

Jeff=Sally's big brother

Jeff n L.J=Fucking weirdos

BEN=Oh baby I'm barely even here

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

--

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Authors note-

I don't know what the hell I've made--

I think I'll make supernatural ones next-

If anyone has any requests let me know!

Please go drink water!

-Luv Lee&lt;3

THIS IS NOT RLY PROOF READ OR EDITED-

10/29/22

PART TWO HERE

[ceasarslegion]

Ive finally been playing breath of the wild. I know im about 6 years late to the party. The last zelda game i played before now was spirit tracks on the DS, but my games of choice were phantom hourglass, twilight princess, and ocarina of time. That big of a time gap between the franchise and i has made a few things stand out to me about breath of the wild

-"sheikah slate" my ass. They made link an ipad kid </3

-no epona?? No more special pony??? N-no, no its... its fine :(( yeah no its fine man. Yeah ill just tame my own wild horses now i guess

-the zora got fucking bimbofied !!! Sidon can stay though

-thank you nintendo for giving link a little ponytail under his hat. Thank you also for showing me the one and only instance that a tiny rattail doesnt make me want to gnaw my own arm off like a feral beast in a bear trap. If youve ever seen the jesus camp documentary links rattail is like the anti-jesus camp kid's. Im up past my bedtime

-loving how when drafting the english speaking voice actors nintendo clearly wanted to make zelda and mipha sound regal and sophisticated and just ended up accidentally implying that only women can be british in hyrule

-im sorry but the beginning is so good. Imagine waking up from cryosleep with no memories of anything and the first thing that happens to you is some 100 year old guy tries to scam you. Dont even know your own name anymore but you do know that that old guy was a piece of shit

[kaaytea]

How about being the manager of Inarizaki, Nekoma, Seijoh and Shiratorizawa and how the boys would feel when they finally finally get a manager? :0

New Manager

⤷Includes: Nekoma, Inarizaki, Seijoh, Shiratorizawa

A/n: I haven't written for the HQ boys in a hot minute so I was sUper hyped for this! Thank you for the request, dear 💕

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

Nekoma

Nekoma has been manager-less for so long that literally the entire team was dumbfounded when they spotted you chilling next to Nekomata

Like hello??? Who are you and what are you doing in their gym???

There's a good few seconds of silence when Nekomata introduces you

Despite being cats, they greatly resembled their Fukurodani rivals as they blinked back at you with big curious eyes

That is until Yamamoto slumps to his knees and starts tearing up, blabbering on about how they've been blessed with a manager while a quiet Fukunaga pats his back in an almost humouring manner

Yamamoto's out burst is what loosens up the team and they start making their way to introduce themselves to you

The first is Kuroo, who approaches you with a welcoming smirk which was quickly followed by a gentle smile from Kai and a reassuring pat on the back from Yaku

The first years are VERY eager to meet you! Lev and Inouka are bouncing around you spewing out questions to the point where Yaku has to kick them both and send them off to warm up

Sweet Shibayama very nervously bows at you and thanks you for taking care of the team (what a baby 🤧💕)

The entire team absolutely loves you by the end of your first day (yes even the aloof creature that is Kenma, though he'll never admit it)

Nekoma's inner team dynamic is very familial and you're immediately sucked into the little family vibes they got going on

The first years love to be around you! (Specifically Lev bc you're not as mean to him as everyone else)

The first years are always volunteering to help you carry equipment or water bottles

You once caught one of the jokes Fukunaga muttered during practice so now the two of you bounce little puns and jokes off of eachother to see who can get the other to laugh first (he is currently winning. although, you got him to tear up from laughing so hard once which you've been counting as 10 wins)

The third years tend to mother hen you a bit, specifically Yaku and Kuroo

Kuroo made it very clear to you that you're apart of the team even if you don't play on the court, so as captain it's his job to make sure all his players are ok (mentally, physically, socially, you name it! He's always looking out for you and is basically your big brother)

You and Yaku bond over the fact that you're both the unofficial team moms. The two of you are very organized and have a whole ass check list that you BOTH go over at least twice before the team leaves for a game or training camp

Kai is like your calm in the storm that is Nekoma. The two of you have had numerous conversations about anything from books to cafés and he's always willing to lend an ear if you need to rant

Kenma is a fairly distant person but he warms up to you when he notices how caring you are. He even let's you play his DS on the train rides to and from Nekoma

Inarizaki

You're a brave soul if you are willingly becoming the manager of Inarizaki

Kita is actually the one who asked if you wanted to be the teams manager

He saw you cleaning the board in a classroom during lunch break and was impressed by how well of a job you did

It doesn't matter if you said yes out of fear from Kita's blank stare or because you were genuinely interested bc now you're standing in the volleyball gym, clad in Inarizaki's signature maroon tracksuit

The team notices you instantly, particularly a certain blonde Miya

Before Kita even got a chance to introduce you to everyone, Atsumu had wandered over to you with a lazy smile tugging at his lips

Atsumu introduced himself and then started asking what you were doing here

"Are ya lost?" "Ya here to admire me?" "Ya dating one of the players?"

You didn't get a chance to answer his questions as Osamu lovingly threw a Volleyball at Atsumu, cutting off any moment you had to respond

The only problem was that Atsumu noticed the volleyball rOcketing towards him and scrambled out of the way like a startled cat, leaving the ball to hit you instead of its intended target

The silence that hung over the gym was deafening as the younger team members watched Kita and Aran rush over to assist your now bloody nose

Just as quick as it had started, the silence was broken by Atsumu yelling at his brother for hitting a helpless person in the face and the gym quickly descended into madness

Aran held a towel to your nose and gave you a few encouraging pats on the back as the both of you watched Kita chew out the twins (safe to say Kita was hard on them during practice)

Osamu approached you during a water break to apologize and, to the surprise of the entire team, gave you the extra pudding he had as a peace offering

Since that incident Osamu and Atsumu stopped throwing volleyballs at each other's heads (at least when you were around that is)

The team is also surprisingly protective of you

The glares people get at tournaments if they try to flirt with you are terrifying

You become pretty close with Suna as the both of you tend to sit back and watch Atsumu and Osamu fight (you tried to step in once but they literally only respond to Kita so it didn't do much)

Suna also pats you on the head whenever he passes you

(it's something he does to his little sister to show some form of affection/appreciation and now he does it to you for the very same reasons)

This goes with out saying, but the twins love you

Osamu still feels bad about the whole hitting you in the face thing so he always shares any snacks he's got on him with you

Atsumu truly just likes being babied by you

Any ounce of praise or happy smiles directed at him has him acting like a puppy

(does 'Tsumu have a tiny crush on you? Yep he totally does!)

Kita and Aran are absolute sweethearts!! They are both very grateful for all the work you put in and treat you to boba every other week as a thank you :))

Seijoh

It was a new school year and you decided to push yourself out of your comfort zone a bit

What better way to do that then be a manager for a sports team!

Apparently one of your classmates let it slip that you were looking to be a manager for a sports team because you were approached by a very buff and very attractive guy a few days after asking if you'd be interested in helping the volleyball team

You happily agreed to do a trial day that afternoon, to which the player, who you now know as Iwaizumi-san, breathed a sigh of relief and said he'd pick you up after school to take you to the gym

So the school day is over, Iwaizumi meets you outside your classroom and you're off!

As you walk to the gym he fills you in on some of the tasks the manager would have to do

The job didn't sound that terrible so you were a bit confused as to why Iwaizumi was having such a hard time finding a manager

"Let's just say that the applicants were more interested in staring at our captain than the actual job." He had told you

Ok so first unofficial rule....don't stare at the Seijoh volleyball team's captain? A bit odd but who were you to judge, maybe the guy was shy and didn't like attention

Your thoughts were cut off by the crisp slap! Of a ball hitting the floor followed by a few short yells from the players littered across the court

Your attention was then caught by the sensation of someone draping their arm over your shoulders and a tangy apple smell invading your senses

"Oh? I didn't know you were dating someone, Iwa-chan~"

Iwaizumi shoved the brunette off of you and quickly explained that you were just here to test out being the manager for the day

The player's eyes lit up and he turned to you with a bubbly smile, introducing himself as Seijoh's captain, Oikawa Tooru

Ah, Captain.... Now you knew why they were having trouble finding someone who didn't stare

Your first day went fairly smooth, just a few blunders that were quickly forgotten by the team after Oikawa cheerfully told you: "Everyone has to start somewhere, (y/n)-chan!"

After the first week you had to admit that the Aoba Johsai volleyball team were quickly becoming some of your best friends, you all fit together like a dysfunctional family

Makki, Mattsun, and Iwa would always agree/praise you when you joined in one the daily Oikawa roast session

Oikawa (when he wasn't pouting about how "mean" you are to him) was fairly sweet to you

He spent the first month helping you learn the rules about volleyball and explaining the lingo the team often used during plays

Although, he does jokingly flirt with you about 40 thousand times a week so...

Kindaichi is a nervous wreak around you the first few weeks. Eventually his nervous demeanor melts away. Now he goes to you whenever he needs someone to toss the ball up for him so he can practice his spikes

Kunimi likes you simply because you let him get away with napping during water breaks

Kyotani acts like you annoy him but if anyone made you cry or hurt you in some way he would burn the entire gym down in a heartbeat

Did I mention that Seijoh are also very protective of you?

When at tournaments they travel in a small pack with you in the middle to reduce the chances of you getting hit on

Shiratorizawa

Shiratorizawa is a very nice and prestigious school so you thought why not participate in an extracurricular that would be beneficial for, not only your resume, but you yourself as well!

Out of all the clubs you chose volleyball which you're starting to regret a bit since one of your friends informed you that the team is a powerhouse school

Which means you can't make a bad impression or silly mistakes.....at all

That entire philosophy is thrown oUt the window on your second day as the official manager

You somehow managed to trip over your own feet and slam into a cart full of spare balls AND spill the water bottles you were carrying all over yourself

You were hoping that the team, by some miraculous reason, didn't notice but the stifled giggles from a certain red head said otherwise

You would give anything for the ground to just swallow you up and disappear forever

But then you saw a pair of gym shoes standing in front of you and when you looked up you were met with THE Ushijima Wakatoshi, captain and ace of shiratorizawa, offering you help to stand up

You hadn't seen Ushijima be more than a stoic and intimidating guy so you were even more surprised when he gave one of his spare shirts to change into now that you had spilt water on yourself

I guess you could say your little clumsy episode was what broke the ice for you and the team

Tendou loves talking with you

You're an interesting person to him and he finds great pleasure in teasing you (in his own words it's "out of love")

Ushijima ended up not being as intimidating as you originally pegged him to be. Instead, he was just a quiet guy who surprisingly could say some pretty funny things (whether or not he intended it to be funny)

Goshiki just loves you. Period.

You praise him and give him head pats so he couldn't be happier!

Tendou and Shirabu tease him all the time about how he has a case of puppy love for you (which Goshiki aggRessively denies no matter how red his face is)

Semi is someone who is grateful for your assistance with the team and does his very best to get Tendou out of your hair when you're trying to do your manager work. He also shares his headphones with you on long bus rides so you can listen to music together!

[justthehiddleswrites]

The Ties That Bind | Chapter 3 | Plans

A/N: This is unlike anything else I have ever written.  It is dark fic.  It is a Mafia AU. There may or may not have a happy ending.  So read at your own risk. The chapters are likely to be shorter in this fic from time to time.  Also writing credit goes to @fadingcoast , @lokifae42 , and @emeraldrosequartz​ . Not only did they write parts of the first few chapters, but they created the inspiration for the entire premise and fic.  And I am forever in their debt for it.  Thank you.

Pairings: Tom Hiddleston x OFC (Jae Birichinata), Tom Hiddleston x OFC (Madison McMahon), Loki Laufeyson x OFC (Jae Birichinata)

SERIES MASTERLIST HERE

Summary: When a one night stand with the only daughter of one of New York’s biggest crime bosses results in a pregnancy, Tom is trapped. Fast forward, now 10 years later, Tom is stuck in a loveless and cruel marriage with four kids (only one is his), a cheating wife, and no escape.  The only bright spot is in his life is his love, Madison, the sweet bookshop clerk working a block away from the university he teaches at.  Going on four years sneaking around with Madison, Tom is certain Madison’s important news is she is breaking up with him.  The truth rocks his core.  

Now Tom has only one goal, getting his son, William, and himself out of the hellscape called his life alive.  A vindictive wife, in laws with access to money, resources, and brute force, and not to mention his wife’s lover who is more than meets the eye, Tom is starting to wonder if his father-in-law is right. No one leaves the family alive.

Trigger Warnings:  Violence (both graphic and implied), forced marriage (sort of), infidelity, mentions of pregnancy, mentions of childhood physical abuse and sexual abuse, implied in*$t, smut, torture, death and more as I can continue to write it.  

READ WARNINGS BEFORE YOU INTERACT WITH MY WRITING. IT IS YOUR OWN RESPONSIBILITY TO MONITOR YOUR MEDIA CONSUMPTION.  MINORS DNI, THIS IS AN 18+ STORY.

Taglists are open, please let me know if you want to be tagged.

~

After her bath, Jae got dressed and then went to wake the kids for school. She first went into Magnus and LJ’s room, softly opening the door. 

“Wakey, wakey eggs and bakey.” She smiled as she rubbed their backs. “Time for school.” They groaned and rolled over. 

Jae repeated the process in Frigga’s room, which was decked out in full mermaid regalia. Finally, she reached William’s bedroom, really more of a glorified closet, and she banged on the door, yelling. “WAKE UP, TIME FOR SCHOOL! THE KIDS NEED BREAKFAST!” She walked away, not even bothering to open the door.

While the kids get dressed and William made them all breakfast, Jae stood in the bathroom doorway, inspecting her nails while Tom showered. 

“You’re welcome.”

“Excuse me?” Tom popped his head out of the shower.

“Ew, your hair is dripping on the floor, Tom. I’m taking the kids to school on my way to Dr. Schulman. Say thank you.” 

He resisted the urge to smile. “You’re not feeling well, I’m sorry to hear that.” He went back into the shower.

Jae snorted. “Dr. Schulman is a plastic surgeon. I’m thinking about getting my boobs done.”

“What that…” Tom turned off the water and stepped out, not bothering to wrap a towel around him. “Didn’t you get your boobs done a few years ago?”

She gagged at Tom’s naked form and spins around. Tom grinned, knowing he had his desired effect, only now drying off and wrapping a towel around his waist. He tried to get in tiny victories when he could.

“That was a boob LIFT, Thomas. This would be an augmentation.” Jae scoffed as she picked at her manicure. “I thought you were smart or something. Lucy thinks I would look better with Triple Ds.” She pressed her boobs together and grinned. “It’s not like you look, anyway.” 

Tom walked past her and dropped his towel. “You’re right, I don’t.” He paraded naked in the bedroom, taking his time. “Is ‘Lucy’ paying for this augmentation?”

“I figured I could dip into the kids’ college funds. We have time to put it back…” She glanced up and frowned. “For fuck’s sake, Tom!” She shoved past him. “Put on some fucking clothes. What if one of the twins saw you?” Jae slammed the door shut as she stormed out.

Tom took as long as he could to dress and headed out to the kitchen in hopes they would be gone. He heard the blessed sound of silence as he stepped out of the bedroom. He sent a quick text to Will to apologize for not saying goodbye before they left. 

It’s okay, Dad. Love you too.

Tom teared up at the simple text. He made his coffee and surveyed the wreck of the kitchen. Their most recent housekeeper quit three weeks ago, and Jae hadn’t bothered to either clean or hire a new one. Tom and Will did what they could, but the rest of the family made messes faster than they could clean. 

He sipped his coffee and for the first time in years; he felt hopeful; he dared say, possibly even happy. The love of his life was pregnant with his child and he was finally going to get out of this train wreck, nightmare marriage. 

“Freedom…” he hummed to himself. But it was going to take work. And a very detailed plan. The Birichinatas, probably the third biggest criminal family in New York, made it clear to Tom on the day of his wedding, it meant this marriage to be forever.

“Now Tommy, you mind if I call you Tommy?” Mikey, Jae’s dad, commented as they waited in a small room at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. “My number one concern is my daughter’s happiness. She’s my precious baby girl and my princess. And should anyone decide to hurt her, I would feel obligated to hurt that person back.” He smiled at Tom as he tightened Tom’s tie. “And I hate hurting people, but I will do it because my family is the most important thing to me.”

Tom cleared his throat. “Of course, sir. I am thrilled to be joining your family today, sir. I will do my best to make your daughter happy.”

Mikey chuckled darkly and patted Tom’s chest. “Oh, you’re not family, Tommy. Just because you are marrying my daughter doesn’t make you family. Family is committed. Family is loyal. Family would die for you, Tommy. Are you willing to die for me, Tommy?”

Tom paled. “Die… for… you…? You can’t be serious.” He chuckled nervously, glancing at the door, praying for someone, anyone, to interrupt.

Mikey smiled at him. “And that’s why you’re not family, Tommy.” He smacked Tom hard on the shoulder. So hard, Tom winced. “Let’s go get you hitched.” Mikey headed for the door. “Did my little love tap leave a bruise?” His laugh echoed off the walls as he headed out.

The first thing Tom was going to need was money. Specifically cash. And lots of it. Frugal was not a word he would use to describe Jae. She demanded the best of everything, even that meant Tom worked summer school or did private tutoring from time to time. And he couldn’t leave cash around the house. She could sniff out cash like a bloodhound. 

After searching his study and the rest of the house, he collected about five hundred bucks that won’t go missing. It wasn’t enough to leave, but it was a start. He had a few hours before his first lecture. He grabbed his phone.

Meet me before my first class. Usual spot. 

-

Maddie spent most of the night after Tom left crying. She couldn’t pinpoint whether it was hormones, despair, or a bit of both. 

“I don’t understand why she won’t agree to a divorce. You hate each other. She has ‘Lucy’ or whatever the fuck his name is.” she asked him that night.

Tom sighed as he pulled her tighter against his chest, smoothing down her hair. “It’s not about happiness, my princess. It’s about ownership. It’s about control. She takes some sort of sick pleasure in torturing me.”

“She’s a fucking bitch.” Maddie clenched her fist. “And I ever get the chance…”

“Please don’t, my love.” He kissed her. “She’s not worth it. None of them are. You are worth a thousand Jae Birichinatas.” He kissed her again.

She saw Tom’s text as she stepped out of the shower. 

I have work. But I will be there. 

She quickly pulled on a pair of faded jeans and floral off the shoulder top. She slipped on a pair of black Chucks, grabbed her slouchy no name purse and locked up, heading to her first of two jobs, working at an independent bookstore in Tribeca. 

Twenty minutes before she was set to clock out, a woman with slightly too much makeup, skirt slightly too short, and boots definitely too high approached. 

“You.” The woman snapped her fingers at her. “Mousy girl. Come here.” 

“I have a name, ma’am.” She moved towards her. 

The woman sneered. “So do I. Ever heard of Michael Birchinata? That’s my father. Now…” Jae glanced around the place, not touching a thing. “My… son… has a birthday coming up, and he’s into this sort of stuff.” She waved her hands around.

It took every molecule of self-control in Maddie’s being to not lunge at Jae and pummel her into a pulp right there in the Young Adult section. She took a deep breath and exhaled. 

“You mean books?” Maddie crossed her arms and pursed her lips. “Or did you mean the shelves?”

Jae shot Maddie a condescending sneer. “These shelves wouldn’t be caught dead in my home. And I don’t appreciate your tone. What’s your name, Mousy?”

Maddie bristled. She chewed on her lip, contemplating what to say. “Madelyn.” She lied, but a white lie. “McClary.” Another lie. 

Jae leaned in. “Any relations to the McGregor-McClary clan of Rockaway?” 

“I’m Canadian.” Maddie added.

“Oh, well. Aren’t Canadians supposed to be friendly or some shit.? I’ll be speaking to your manager. Humph.” She spun on the heel and headed to the front of the store.

“Shit!” Maddie hissed and weaved her way through the shelves to spy poor Marshall, the assistant manager, getting an earful from Jae.

“If that insolent little twat of an employee isn’t fired, I am going to sue this place for emotional distress! Do you know who my father is?!”

Whatever Marshall said placated Jae such that she left the store with a smile, catching Maddie’s eye and giggling. Maddie counted to ten and approached Marshall, who sighed. 

“Madison.” He beckoned her over. “First off, why did you tell that… Karen your name was Madelyn McClary?”

“You didn’t tell her my real name, did you?” She yelled. “Do you know who she is? Who her family is?”

Marshall narrowed his eyes. “Birichinata? Don’t they own that gigantic gold building 5th and 56th?”

“And her father is commonly known as Mikey the Mook. He runs one of the largest crime families in New York, possibly the United States. That Karen is Jae, his only daughter.” Maddie huffed.

Marshall raised a brow. “How do you know so much about her and her family?”

Maddie turned bright red and chewed on her lip. “No reason, I just read the papers.”

“You are the worst liar, Madison. I told her I would fire you.” She sighed and headed towards the counter to grab her purse. “But I never agreed that you would stay fired.”

“Marshall!” She ran up and hugged the goateed man. “You are a good man.” She shook him.

“No, I am a stupid man, but you’re like family, Madison. And the best sales worker I have. Take a two-week vacation, paid. That should be long enough to convince Ms. Birichinata I fired you.”

Maddie grinned. She hadn’t taken time off in two years. “Thank you. Oh, and she’s a Mrs.” She grabbed her purse and hugged Marshall one last time before skipping out to meet Tom.

“I don’t want to know how you know that, MADISON!” he yelled after her. 

-

Tom’s foot bounced as he waited for Maddie. The roar of the waterfall did nothing to soothe his nerves. He kept glancing around at the few other people milling about Greenacre Park, seeing if anyone looks familiar. Tom assumed these days he was being followed. A wide grin came over his face when Maddie plopped down in the chair next to him. 

“You never mentioned how pretty Jae is. In that sort of Jersey Shore, Snooki kind of way.” Tom’s mouth fell open. “How did… what… What happened today at work, Maddie?”

“Your wife came into Dashwood looking for a birthday present for William. She called me mousy, I might have gotten sassy.” Maddie winced.

Tom tugged at his curls on the nape of his neck. “You met her? Like talked to her? This is bad, Maddie. She has seen you. She knows where you work.” He swallowed hard to keep from hyperventilating. 

She reached over and grabbed Tom’s hand. “Hey, hey, hey. It’s fine. Everything is fine. The whole thing was maybe ten minutes, and I didn’t even tell her my real name.” Maddie chuckled. “She had me fired.”

Tom’s mouth dropped open. “My bitch of a wife got your fired and you are laughing. This is serious, Madison. We can’t afford—”

“My boss gave me two weeks’ paid vacation, instead.” She grinned and pushed a curl behind his ear. “Two weeks to plan.”

Tom took several moments to process everything Maddie just said. A grin grew and grew over his face. “That’s my princess.” He squeezed her hand. “I love you.”

“I love you too. Now why are we meeting?”

“Right.” He dug through his satchel and pulled out two thick envelopes. “Here.”

She opened the first one to find a flip cell phone. Maddie raised a brow. “I already have a phone.”

“I know. This is a burner phone. I have one too.” He waved an identical phone in the air. “I want you to communicate with my only through this phone until I tell you otherwise.”

“You make it sound like someone is tapping our calls.”

Tom gave her a stare. 

“Okay…” she opened the next envelope with a stack of tens and twenties. “Tom?”

“It’s the first feathers of our nest egg, darling. It’s not safe at my place. Jae is a goddamn bloodhound. Keep it at your place.” He watched as she tucked both envelopes into her purse. “The first steps to us being together.” 

“The family… the life you deserve, Thomas.” 

“WE deserve.” He took the risk and gave her a quick kiss. The moment broken by his phone buzzing. “It’s time for me to go.”

Her eyes turned down. “Then you should go. I wish you were coming over tonight. We have so much to talk about it.”

Tom sighed. “Believe me, princess, I wish I was too. It is my preferred evening activity, eating a good meal cooked by you and me than the pretentious affair that is dinner with my in laws.” He stood up.

Maddie quickly got to her feet. “Well then, to help you get through dinner, just think about me naked, on the bed, wet and ready for you.” She smirked. 

He groaned and pulled her into a passionate embrace. “My father-in-law is going to wonder why my pants are so tight all evening.”

“And your mother-in-law?”

“Is going to want to get into my pants. Did I tell you about the reception?”

“No….?”

Tom pecked her lips. “Another time. I have to go, princess. I will call you. Soon.” 

“I can’t wait. Stay safe, my prince.” 

“What could go wrong? They ignore me anyway.” Tom gazed over his shoulder one last time at Maddie before heading back into reality.

[gracifleur]

okay i'm kidding, more seriously: what drew you to shaymin in the first place? do you have any favorite and least favorite theories and concepts regarding it?

i hope ur ready 2b emotional on this good monday bc this, is the saga of me & shaymin.

so ive been a fan pkmn since the good year of 1998, u could not for the life of u me n dupree get my gameboy from my tiny child fingers n make me put down red or blue. my fav pkmn was pikachu, instantly. i still have my fav pikachu shirt from childhood ok listen. so thru the years watching the anime, seeing the movies in theater, playing the games time passes n we get to rse & admittedly i was burnt OUT. BURT THE FUCK OUT. but also, & pls no hate, i wasnt the biggest fan of the 3rd gen. i loved the sprites, the pkmn, the location, but the story itself just wasnt my thing & i rlly just felt the pang of man idk if im into this as i used to be which sucks when u lose a hyperfixation but also something that u rlly love n enjoyed n brought u immense joy. so i decided to be a wee bit edgy n be all bleh pkmn for babies as i totally very much still replayed rby & gsc etc etc. im a lil hypocrite if nothing. so when the ds came out n news of a new gen was on the horizon, i ignored it. however one of my high school besties did not & got diamond. it was also my birthday( fun fact i do share a release date birthday with platinum in america i will let u look it up ) & pal was like 'i wanted pearl so here take diamond as ur gift n lets go get my game n play together i kno u love pkmn' he was right. i do love pkmn n wow, wow. the first moments of diamond rlly just SNAPPED something within me. it was like falling in love with this series all over again. something about the world, the characters, the story, the pkmn it all fell into place n really really made me remember why i loved this franchise in the first place.

so, naturally i start paying attention again to pkmn news & more importantly: event pkmn. which lead me to this advertisement from toys r us. also fun fact: i have the shaymin image from this ad bc i cut it out, it's in my 3ds case at all times safe.

now, i saw this lil fella & i was like oh my god ur so adorable i need you. && so me n one of my high school besties who was as fanatic abt pkmn as me rushed off 2 our local toysrus n download the mystery gift. i go n open the summery of my shaymin & that was that. idk what happened. suddely pikachu was #2 in my heart( tho nowdays i do consider both shaymin & pikachu as my all time favs, but shaymin is like slightly higher on the list ). idk what it was ! this lil fella made me appreciate grass types, a type i normally dont care for at all but turtwig had started to fix that. i always had them in my party, i got a secondary diamond copy just to hACK TO DO THE OAKS LETTER EVENT. i loved them idk why something about the fact that this lil friend shaped creature is thankful to me in spite of everything was like the franchise itself saying thank you for always loving pkmn, for giving it a second chance, for like idk being a good friend. && that rlly resonated with me.

pkmn has been a franchise that has rlly helped me thru some shit & has always just been consistently there. every game since diamond ive loved more n more n more. && i think like gen4 will always be special for me & so will shaymin bc like as grateful as i am for pkmn it sorta feels like pkmn is grateful for me too & thats just like makes ur heartgut go emotional huh cause it does me too its ok anyways shaymin rules actually

aND FOR THE SECOND PART UHH IDK ABOUT THEORIES I HATE or concepts, its kinda hard to like rlly delve into more than whats there bc shaymin seems to embody the coming of spring, the change of the seasons, to start anew, refresh & rejuvenation all of those are sick as fuck concepts but i guess if i had a criticism i would def say sky forme looks stupid kdJHASKJDhsa IDK THATS JUST ME LAND FORME BEST FORME #HATER

oh uh, pet tax: here is a photo of that said toysrus shaymin currently chilling in my copy of x

[sea-tempest]

if the slayers & hashira were dads | DS edition

headcanons including: Tanjiro/ Inosuke/ Zenitsu/ Genya/ Sanemi/ Giyuu/ Kyojuro/ Uzui/ Iguro/ Himejima

a/n: first time doing this, hope you enjoy!

Tanjiro

Lives in the mountains for the rest of his life because he loves the peace and quiet, but will bring his kids often downtown to meet with uncle Zenitsu and aunty Nezuko

Kids are kinda scared of Zenitsu cause he’s so noisy and hide behind him

Firstborn is a boy, but he will have a lot of children

Sometimes cries at a strange time and place, tells people it’s for no reason at all, but it’s actually because he loves his family so much and can’t picture his life without them

Hand-crafts toys for his children and tools for his wife all the time

Spends at least a brief amount of time with each of his children and listens to their aspirations and dreams with interest

Piggyback rides all day all night

Throwing kids in the air because they find it hilarious and giggle a lot

Tucks them up at night and gives them forehead kisses

Zenitsu

Lives in the town suburbs with Nezuko

Will only have daughters. A lot of them. Probably 4.

“KYAAAAA they are all so gorgeous I am keeping them for myself, Nezuko why are you so beautiful, look what you’ve done askjfkasfha”

Screaming and crying simultaneously every time he talks about them

Gathers all of them in his arms protectively and continues to scream

His daughters respect him, but his reactions always make them laugh

“Papa calm down, please stop crying, we’re not going to leave you”

They group hug him a lot

He buys them clothes and jewelry all the time

Every time Nezuko mentions how they will marry well because they’re indeed very beautiful, he gets triggered. The air around him starts to crackle.

Inosuke

Lives in a hut in the heart of the mountain

Has no idea how to be a parent

Something weird and small is following him around all the time, it kinda looks like him

Annoying, can’t keep up, always needs saving

Predators often think the baby is food. Predators end up sliced in pieces.

Baby ends up being a daughter. A very stubborn one.

They end up fighting each other for 10 hours a day. Fights end with blood and heavy breathing. There’s a lot of yelling.

Daughter loses fights up until one day when she wins and he’s silent for a week

She later finds him pig assaulting a tree, tears in his eyes. She doesn’t ask him why.

Tanjiro’s firstborn gets stuck in a snow-drift at some point and Inosuke’s daughter ends up saving his sorry ass.

Tanjiro’s son is enamored

“I’ll cut your throat, that will shut you up”/ “You’re so beautiful...”

Genya

All babies magically calm down when he’s around

He definitely finds it very weird, but doesn’t say anything about it

Tries to lull his baby to sleep, ends up falling asleep before it

Babies sleep all over him throughout the day, but he’s fine with it. He can remain perfectly still for hours if he has to.

Protec™

Probably great at singing lullabies

Doesn’t mind playing with pink and glittery stuff

Wakes up every day, trying to convince himself he really has a family that loves him

Openly aggressive if someone hurts his kids

Sanemi

Protec Intensifies

Will try to train all his kids for battle from the moment they can walk

But in the brief time between their birth and walking moment, he’s immensely soft

Spends all his time with baby in his arms, shows it off to people

Enjoys having walks with it in spring

“Aww, so cute! Can I touch it?”/ “No.”

Will break your limbs if you decide to touch after all

Intense staring at the baby as it sleeps next to him on the bed, for a few hours

Will play a princess/commander if asked, on condition there isn’t anyone else in the house

Giyuu

Started crying the moment the baby was born, three years later still crying

Can’t believe he has a family

Thinks he’s trapped in a good dream and is anxious that it will end some time

“I did nothing to deserve this”

“Is it okay to be this happy?”

Probably has twins, boy and a girl. Cries about it.

Poor at handling basic baby-care tasks, but his love is profound and the babies feel it because they rarely cry for long

Spends hours watching over them, makes him cry

Sometimes takes both of them in his lap and sits outside on the engawa, watching as it rains or snows

Thinking about their future makes him nervous so he holds them close and sighs, promising to be there for them no matter what

Kyojuro

The most fun dad ever

Drops everything to spend time with his kids, no matter how important his task is

Goes into wild places and teaches them how nature works and how they have to be in harmony with it

Always tells the most intriguing, cool stories at night before bed. Kids make him tell more and he never refuses. It always ends up very late before anyone falls asleep

Has unnecessary amounts of pets in his house, always shelters strays and kids love it

Gets incredibly sad seeing any of his children fight and never says anything about it, but they notice and apologize to one another and to him

A just dad, every game and every chore is done and assessed fairly

Uzui

Has at least 8 kids

Probably has favorites and it shows

Forgets birthdays, sometimes names

Mostly annoyed cause there’s less time for sex and it’s inconvenient around so many kids

Devoted tho

Will do anything for his kids

“All my kids need to learn how to be more✨flamboyant✨”

The great amounts of love he receives from everywhere makes him very, very happy

When he’s surrounded by this warmth, he’d forget how annoying kids are most of the time and he’d find any of his wives right away

“I want another one”

“Uzui, I told you yesterday Suma is already pregnant again”

“But you’re not.”

Iguro

Secretly hopes none of his kids look like him

Only first one out of two does so he’s only semi-bitter

Feels very guilty and sorry to put Mitsuri through pregnancy both times

Is extremely anxious for 9 months, falls ill with worry while she’s near labor date

Mitsuri ends up taking care of him and thinking it’s very cute

Labor goes smoothly every time because she’s strong, but he can’t help the worry

Is constantly fascinated with the very concept of having kids and that they love him unconditionally

Ready to die for them any time

A harsh and strict dad

Self-loathing intensifies after he’s being harsh and strict and he goes to Mitsuri’s and his room, where he can be privately upset about it

Himejima

Externally, calmest dad in the history of calm dads

Internally, in eternal agony over past memories of personal failure concerning kids

Spends a lot of time trying to banish fears that some events might repeat and thus punish him for his failures

Will protect his children with his life, of course

Loves hearing them laugh or just being noisy around him

Smallest daughter loves sitting in his lap and babbling to him about tiny bugs she’s seen in the forest

Sometimes she’d bring said bugs in her hand and place them on his palm so that he can feel them and tell her what he thinks

Most of his children dream of life in the city so they all end up living there except the smallest daughter

Her love for her dad and nature is too strong so she remains with him and looks after him till he’s old

Eventually marries, but she and her husband still live in his house