#then as an assistant so i was like. comfortable + established in the centre if that makes sense?

[vigilantejustice]

:(

[acadamycelebrancy65]

Celebrating Life With Jacqueline Ruddy

Hawkes, who has a ardour for creating tailor-made ceremonies that reflect a couple's or a person's journey via life, was educated by the Academy of Modern Celebrancy. He is a professional family liaison officer in addition to being an award-winning professional toastmaster and master of ceremonies. As properly as being part of one other particular person's journey, you get to have your individual highly effective experiences as a marriage or funeral celebrant. Some situations may contact you very deeply, such as the death of a young person or a very touching marriage ceremony story. A funeral celebrant is someone certified to host and officiate funeral companies.

I sorted out my social media presence early on however it was the face-to-face conferences that might seal the deal. Luckily, I was comfortable establishing relationships with folks from all walks of life and started going around funeral administrators introducing myself. Around the identical time (2016) she ditched bricks and mortar for canvas and lived in a tent for a 12 months, rooting her relationship with seasonal change and the pure world. Much of her own writing and explorations of rewilding stem from this experience. After years spent scribbling ideas in notebooks whereas exploring numerous professional paths, a serendipitous invitation to tackle the working of an off-grid shepherd’s hut website allowed Maddy to host her first seasonal retreat in 2018. From here grew her want to facilitate deeper conversations for different girls seeking to rewild and reconnect, and later that year she started her teaching training, focusing totally on developmental psychology.

And there had been no heart.So let’s take into consideration this… I felt really passionately about this issue. I’ve grown up in an trade with loads of emotion and which requires that innate sense of hospitality. So I did.I applied for a course with The Academy of Modern Celebrancy, obtained my head into the books, and in summer celebrant training online time 2021 I qualified as a marriage and naming day celebrant. With flying colours, dare I add.I’m now up and working and loving every second, particularly as my catering businesses are also thriving once again.

So a lot effort and time goes into the 3 day programme and I feel that puts me in a good place going forward to extend my service in this industry. Thank you Stuart and staff on the Academy, I look forward to changing into a member of your extended network. Anyone with aspirations to become successful in this line of service, I strongly encourage you to get in contact with the Academy of Professional Celebrants. So pleased I picked the Academy for my celebrant training. The course was professionally ran offering you with all the instruments wanted to turn out to be a successful celebrant. Also the support afterwards from the academy has been wonderful.

Laura Widdop – (Assessor)  Laura has over 15 years of expertise in delivering training in numerous sectors. She has been the Centre Manager and an Assessor with UKCAPSA for over 2 years. Laura is there to support celebrant courses to all candidates in any method she will.

I belief her insights and judgement and have at all times admired her dedication and energy. She is an inspiration and makes a difference to every life she touches. From a practical point of view, Lucy was a pleasure to work with in phrases of arranging the service. I am a Sheffield based celebrant for weddings, naming ceremonies and vow renewals covering South Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire however will fortunately journey nationally and internationally.

The programme was nicely delivered and the workout routines given have been excellent that will help you get over your fear and have the flexibility to deliver a full ceremony. Everyone that has or is training with APC is in a help group and no one is valuable about what they are doing to get business and assist each other, like I actually have by no means seen earlier than. The Support that Stuart give to every individual is immediate and like gold mud, serving to you get enterprise and understanding the way to cross the hurdles as they arrive. Thank you to Stuart for this wonderful journey that I even have just began.

When you buy via links on our web site or newsletter, we could earn affiliate commission. Everything we recommend is independently chosen irrespective of affiliate agreements. ‘At 48, my marriage ended, the divorce settlement took two years and, at the finish, my husband stayed in the family house, I took on a new mortgage and signed away any rights to his pension. I continued work as a PE trainer however at 60, a bone scan showed I had osteoporosis in the backbone.

When restrictions lifted within the Summer of 2020, the family's adventures resumed, this time they did house-sitting across Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama and the USA. 'It is hard to be a nonconformist in terms of being pregnant, because everyone tells you that you simply want a mortgage and must quiet down and assist your beloved ones. The opinions expressed are these of the creator and usually are not held by Saga unless particularly stated.

I would not hesitate in recommending the Academy to anyone wishing to train in any of the fields Stuart covers. This man is selfless and wants one of the best for all those academy of modern celebrancy he trains. I didn't know what to expect from an internet course but I was soon put comfy by the course trainer Stuart Logan.

[simplysummers]

Breaking down Hunter and Omega’s relationship: pt 4.

Hi everybody. My biggest apologies for the delay on this series over the past two weeks, I’ve had a lot of medical issues going on, alongside a big decision in my life I had to make before the end of September taking precedence. However, with a little more time on my hands and a new team of proof readers behind me, I’m hoping to be back on track soon enough! I hope you enjoy my analysis of ‘Cornered’, and please always feel free to reply/reblog/send an ask with your opinions and discussions! I love to hear and reply to them! 💛

(Pasted paragraphs: I would just like to add a disclaimer here. I am, in no way whatsoever, slating the other batchers for having differing relationships with Omega. I absolutely adore everything single one of the boys, and I think they all have wonderful and unique interrelations with her. Although I may point out these different approaches in comparison to Hunter’s, I am not stating these engages are wrong, just different is all!

I’m going to separate this into a little series- covering each episode in a separate post, which I’ll have tagged as the series progresses. Once I’ve tackled these two, as they’re my favourites, I’m going to move on to each individual Batcher and perhaps a few other dynamics such and Hunter and Crosshair, or Wrecker and Omega! Let me know what you guys would like to see!)

(Thank you to this weeks proof-reader: @very-depressing-waffel 💛)

Cornered: S1/E4

Although minimal, I absolutely love the small interaction between these two in the opening scene of this episode. While it would make sense for Hunter to take the chair, as he is navigating co-ordinates, instead he allows Omega to sit down and rest, the pure affection between them is particularly radiant in these moments. I’d also like to note that it is Hunter’s order to originally send them to Idaflor, where we can only assume he is heeding Cut’s previous advice given on the subject of ‘disappearing to start a new life’. By connotation, this essentially means Hunter was extremely ready to settle down with his brothers and both raise and protect his newly found little one. However this clearly becomes an evident concern of Hunter’s as Omega begins to whine, claiming she desperately wants to explore the galaxy instead of hiding away on an uninhabited planet. Although appreciating her enthusiasm, he insists they cannot risk it, not right now, showing he has all further plans to take her to see the universe whenever it may be safe to do so. Her safety has become his priority.

Also, another little mimic on Omega’s part is mentioned after Tech’s evaluates their situation- “Well, Pantora it is.” “Pantora it is :)”. This angel, she steals my heart.

Moving on slightly to the arrival of Pantora, Hunter’s civvies and Omega carrying his backpack for him, which is as big as her little torso might I add, makes the world spin. Notice too how her eyes never leave him for a moment, it’s a typical child trait when wanting to catch an adult’s attention for good behaviour. After Wrecker mentions the implications of sightseeing, which ultimately peaks Omega’s interest, Hunter is quick to diffuse the situation by insisting this is only a quick supply run. I strongly believe this is because although he intends to take Omega into the city with him, most likely recognising her desperation to explore, his main intention is to keep her safe and protected, I personally spy a compromise here. Finally, regarding this little interaction, when inviting Omega to join them, he calls her ‘Mega, ‘MEGA!!! Hunter is the first member of the batch to nickname her affectionately, and her little excited cheer in response says it all!

When strolling through the busy marketplace, I noticed that alongside drinking up all sights she can set her eyes on, Omega continues to perform the aforementioned ‘smile at parent because I am both well behaved and very excited’ technique, breaking away from her awestruck staring to give Hunter a cute grin, which he affectionately returns under the realisation that her purity and innocence has erupted through something as simple as a marketplace, another endearing trait his charge has displayed. I’d also like to shed light on the protective hand-on-shoulder movement Hunter uses after the squad of troopers pass by him, Omega, and Echo. His wary stare and protectiveness is an extreme diversion from his usual headstrong attitude, which we know is correlated to his need to protect his charge. (Hand-on-shoulder, AGAIN. Comforting Dad alert!!)

When offering to trade with the Gran merchant, I noticed that whenever Omega picked up a new item to inspect or show off to Echo, Hunter glances over his shoulder to observe her. I have reason to believe he might not only be watching her explore, but keeping an eye on her after the incident on Cut’s farm. I can practically see Suu’s words of advice ringing in his ears, and he wants to make sure she stays out of trouble. And after she does inevitably knock something over, although he scowls a little in her direction (as any parent would), Hunter swiftly turns his look of annoyance towards the Gran as he begins to scold Omega, once again showing his protectiveness in her regard, and in all honesty, he has every right to respond this way, we’ve already established this salesman is stubborn and conceited.

The entire plot of this episode is centred around Omega’s inevitable separation from Hunter and Echo as she ends up running off to chase a voorpak, who has stolen her new doll. We cannot fault Omega for her behaviour, it was a little juvenile at most, but we must take into account this would be her first time in such a situation, and she has never been taught otherwise. Hunter’s immediate faltering smile as he realises Omega is missing is honestly gut wrenching. He has just received 3,000 credits, a hefty sum for what they’re in need of, and now he’s lost his ward, and the pain and concern is fully mirrored through his halting eyes.

I’m moving ahead slightly to add a little character-action comparison! Now, this may just be me nitpicking, and I mean no hate to Fennec Shand (I actually ADORE her), but did anybody else notice the difference between her hold on Omega and how Hunter holds her? Fennec’s fingers lay beneath the nape of Omega’s neck, almost curling into her tunic’s collar, and so while it may seem protective, it actually holds very possessive and controlling connotations. Whereas when Hunter places a hand to Omega’s shoulder, his fingers are quite loose, and it only ever rests up her upper shoulder, allowing the girl freedom if she so much as wishes it. It’s extremely docile. Furthermore, I wanted to briefly comment on Hunter’s tenderness when retrieving Omega’s new doll, most likely using it to track her recent movement. His hold is very gentle, considering he is now clinging to the last piece of Omega he has contact with, and a noticeable shred of panic holds his upper body rigid for good measure. It’s very nicely animated.

Coming ahead swiftly to the brief ‘positive’ interaction between Omega and Fennec, I haven’t seen this mentioned before but I personally see the discussion concerning the need for protection when travelling the galaxy as a small nod to Omega’s newly found connection to the boys, and Hunter specifically. Omega insists it’s a good thing she has her ‘friends’. Noticeably, she is still very hesitant to label them as her brothers, as she most likely feels excluded to an extent (bearing in mind the boys were raised together with the exclusion of Echo, no matter her previous ties to them, Omega was always going to feel isolated to some extent), but not enough to deny she has an attachment to them, and vice versa. Hunter has already shown on multiple occasions (Kamino, Saleucami, the moon from episode 3) that he would do whatever it takes to protect her, but it’s nice to see Omega’s perspective on the newly found emotions too.

Finally, Hunter is able to catch up to both Omega and Fennec, and the sudden change in his demeanour and her aura of innocence is extremely present here. Hunter drops the worrisome parental act fairly quickly, and it’s replaced with the familiar soldier we all know and recognise, he needs to exhibit such strengths to assert the extent he is willing to go to protect Omega. Equally, upon realising Fennec doesn’t quite have her best interest at heart, Omega wastes no time jumping (recklessly) into action to save both herself and Hunter anymore trouble. Of course, being a weightless little girl, she isn’t able to do much, and Hunter ends up in a physical altercation with Shand, where he actually ends up taking his eyes off the assassin to address Omega directly, insisting she run. This not only shows just how much he cares about her, but how desperate he was to ensure her safety by putting himself at risk by not only getting into a fight, but exposing a vulnerability by taking his eyes off of her. (Her worried little face as she flees too, poor girl 😔)

(This point doesn’t have much to do with the relationship between these two, so feel free to skip over it if you want, but I did want to briefly comment on Omega’s timid exterior as she runs to Wrecker in the maintenance tunnels. It truly helps to perceive her genuine age and immaturity, the way she cowers into his neck and sits in his arms especially.)

After Tech informs Hunter of Omega’s current predicament involving the maintenance tower, it’s easily noticeable that when questioning Tech’s information, his voice mirrors the exact tone and edge it held when berating both the former and Echo after their ship was impounded in Saleucami. To me, this shows a clear connotation between the dire situations, and how quickly Hunter has taken to his new role in Omega’s life, and his job as her primary carer. Not to mention, she is literally hanging mid-traffic lane, and in desperate need of assistance. Alongside this, we see previously in this episode that not only was Hunter worried about attracting unwanted attention, after receiving such a thing and accidentally allowing Omega to hang in the balance (pun unintended), he actually steals somebody’s hoverbike in an attempt to rescue the little one, seeming to not care he is attracting even more unwanted attention. There is no hesitation on his end.

The look of absolutely HORROR that crosses this man’s face as Omega drops from the tower and just about hits the hovertruck below. We haven’t seen a look like that cross Hunter’s features since Crosshair’s ‘betrayal’, another indication to his immense worry for the newest member of his family. Equally, this is mirrored by Omega’s wide eyed, petrified stare as she momentarily watches Fennec shoot straight for Hunter’s bike, realising both she and the closest thing she has to a parent are still in serious peril. We need to take into account that this little girl has never experienced something this grim before, and the internal panic is evident for both herself, and Hunter especially.

This brings us down to the “HUNTER!!” comment from Omega as she dangles from the hovertruck. I personally believe her first initial thoughts were not to warn Hunter of the oncoming Shand, but instead a desperation to cry out for help from her guardian. This escalated as she notices Fennec approaching, and her eyes even widen as she calls out for Hunter to watch out, giving further evidence that her first thoughts might not have correlated to her eventual dialogue. It’s also important to note that despite her incredibly tragic situation, Omega is still much more worried about Hunter’s predicament than her own.

(Slightly unimportant, but I love the way Hunter leans in to take Omega in his arm before Shand knocks him out of the way. It’s very parental.)

I never noticed this before, but as Hunter catches Omega’s hand and hauls her onto the bike, he actually scans her over briefly to check for any injuries, before insisting she hold on tight. Notice how his voice isn’t scolding or harsh, he’s very calm despite the dire situation, doing his best to remain neutral for Omega’s sake, especially considering the day she’s had. It’s also important to note that this is further improvement from the situation on Saleucami, another example of their ever-growing relationship.

The WAVE of relief that rolls from Hunter’s entire demeanour as he places the backpack down in the Marauder cockpit, knowing he can finally rest now that Omega is safe, while simultaneously anticipating the flurry of issues about to storm their already hectic lives with a bounty hunter after the kid. His eyes are exhausted, his shoulders are only slightly slacked to insinuate his rough exterior, and yet he still does his absolute best to comfort Omega as she begins to get upset over the prior events and the unknown future.

And, finally, a small action but important nonetheless. I noticed that Omega’s eyes quiver slightly as she begins to get upset, and in her final moments on screen, they direct towards Hunter. This may seem unimportant, but it provides further evidence to the notion that she seeks him out for protection specifically. She’s upset and frightened, so she looks to him because he protects her. It is set up as if she’s about to toss herself into his arms, because she needs him right now.

I hope you liked my analysis of Hunter and Omega’s relationship in episode four of The Bad Batch! Of course, I’d love to discuss these two with anybody who might be interested, so please feel free to drop me an ask or a DM, and if you’re captivated enough I’d totally recommend looking out for my future posts on the topic!

As always, much love to our ‘Megs and Hunter, thank you for reading! 💛

Part One: Aftermath

Part Two: Cut and Run

Part Three: Replacements

[fairyoftbz]

Bord de mer | k. younghoon

🧇 pairing: bf!younghoon x fem!reader 🧇 word count: 1.8k 🧇 genre: pure fluff, established relationship 🧇 tw: none 🧇 synopsis: after an intense day of working and studying, you decided to spend the evening out with your boyfriend. 🧇 requested: yes! thank u! 🧇 a/n: i’m a big softie for this man, i love him so much 🥺

╰☆☆☆☆╮

"Finally," you whispered, taking off your headphones after listening to a required documentary for your master's degree, stretching the muscles in your neck as you raise your arms above your head. Drinking the remaining of your glass of water down in one, you sighed and rose from your chair, massaging your temples with your fingertips. Usually, you didn't mind sitting at your computer watching a series or entertaining yourself all day but listening to a record on a boring topic was extremely tiring.

Opening your office door, you closed your eyes and smiled at the good smell that invaded the apartment. You were happy to know your boyfriend was home, feeling even happier when you didn't have to cook.

Younghoon was quietly bustling about behind the hotplates, a kitchen cloth resting on his shoulder. He was still in his outfit from work, his white shirt nicely tucked into his office pants. You walked up to him, stroking his shoulder blades in a gentle, slow motion, your boyfriend turning towards you with a smile. He kissed your forehead as he maintained to keep an eye on the food that was cooking in the pan, a fond smile on his lips.

"Good evening, baby," you said in a soft voice, kissing his cheek. "Honey, you've finally come out of your cave," he joked, and you let out a chuckle, guiltily biting your bottom lip. "I'm sorry, I had a lot to do, and I didn't see the time going by," you confessed and Younghoon shook his head, putting an arm around your waist to pull you to him. "I was kidding, Y/N, I know you are very busy. Is your project progressing well?" "I sent the third corrected draft to my professor assistant, I have a meeting with him sometime next week," your boyfriend listened and nodded at your words before bringing the wooden spatula to your lips after blowing on it. You opened your mouth and tasted if it was cooked, and you smiled at your boyfriend, approving while chewing on the food.

Younghoon handed you the cutlery and glasses that were in a cupboard out of your reach, and he pulled out two plates to set up the succulent dish he had prepared. You were about to get up to help him, but he was faster than you, setting two plates on the table, a bottle of homemade lemonade tucked under his arm. A succulent scent ran through your nostrils and you sit down in your chair, eager to taste what he had prepared for you.

"There you go, my dear," he smiled at you, placing your plate in front of you. 

You thanked him by circling your arms around his neck, prompting him to lower himself so that you could kiss him on the cheek. He smiled at your gesture, quickly pressing his lips to yours before settling down in front of you. Planting his fork on his plate, he watched you out of the corner of his eye, chewing your eyes closed as you savoured the moment, your taste buds kicking in as multiple flavours entered your mouth.

"This is super good, Hoonie," you said as you grabbed his hand, "you did the job of a chef." He beamed at your compliment, taking a bite of meat. "Thank you, darling," he winked at you and you smiled back at him, reaching out to hold your hand. "My little researcher deserves a good meal after all her efforts," you chuckled at the nickname and continued to chew on your bite, losing yourself in your boyfriend's brown orbits.

Younghoon was a man of action. Rather than singing you songs and promising you the moon, even if it was something that he loved doing, he did everything possible to make you happy. If you wanted a pot of ice cream in the middle of the night or some croissants for breakfast, he was ready to go across town for you. He loved doing a lot of things with and for you, though whispering sweet words to you and how much he loves you in your ear remained one of his favourite hobbies. His heart and mind were still occupied with your presence, his happiness increasing as soon as you showed any sign of life.

After this dinner filled with words and tenderness directed to the other, you went to slump on the sofa when Younghoon offered to go out.

"You haven't been outside all day, it will only do you good to see the outside world a little bit," your boyfriend argued as you were giving him soft, pleading eyes, trying to seduce him to not leave your little comfortable cocoon. "But I'm tired," you pouted back, but he didn't want to hear anything. “Come on, let's go,” he punctuated his sentence as he turned on his heels, leaving you no chance to reply. You sighed but got up anyway, following your boyfriend to your bedroom.

Once dressed to go out, Younghoon grabbed your hand and you walked into the garage, the elevator slowly descending into the lower floors. Your boyfriend was leaning against the wall, his head resting against the mirror where you could see your reflection admiring his slender figure. He let out a small, flustered laugh at your intense gaze before taking your arm to pull you to him. You stayed the rest of the descent in his arms, the familiar scent of your laundry making you feel great. It smelled different on him like he had the power to make that scent a source of comfort for you.

The elevator ding stopped your train of thought, Younghoon took your hand and lead you to the car. Once fully seated in the vehicle, he drove off and out of town, gradually approaching the coast. Lowering the passenger window, you could now feel the sea breeze gently caress your face, requiring you to close your eyes at the sweet sensation that invaded your body. Younghoon let his gaze linger over your face, a thin smile decorating his lips as his eyes shifted back and forth between you and the road.

The air smell quickly changed to something fishy and you opened your eyes again when you discovered your destination: the harbour. It was a place where you liked to take a walk during the summer after dinner, to take in the last rays of sunshine and a bit of peace from the city centre. Letting out a sigh as you got out of the car, slamming the door behind you as Younghoon walked to the front of the car, you admired the ocean landscape looming in front of him. You wrapped your arms around his waist, your head coming to rest against his collarbone, feeling him tightening the embrace around you, kissing the corner of your head before rubbing your back.

"Shall we go for a walk?" He grabbed your chin with two fingers, smiling as his eyes turned into two beautiful crescent moons. You nodded and took his hand, forcing him towards the harbour. He laughed and managed somehow to lock the car before walking up to you, circling his arm around your shoulders.

The docks of the harbour were sparsely populated, almost deserted. Parents walking their children in strollers to lull them to sleep, or adults gathering in groups of friends to have a drink or celebrate a raise, hence the sounds of clashing glasses and the disgusting smell of tobacco.

Your stroll was soothing and beautiful, the boats mooring alongside were worth stopping to admire, some yachts making you dream of a life that seemed unreachable. You turned your head towards your boyfriend, who was taking a picture of one of the boats, turning his phone towards you. You gave him your best, natural smile even though you still weren't comfortable in front of the camera, light shivers running through your body as Younghoon looked at the snap with a big smile, happy with his picture of you.

You continued to walk along the docks, watching the boats sway gently in the gentle lapping of the water. The wind had started to blow, but that was not a factor in shortening your ride. Your boyfriend just hugged you closer to him, his hot breath hitting your ear. His embrace was nice, you could almost feel yourself melting into the crook of his arms.

At the corner of a turn, a sweet smell will invaded your nostrils, making you hungry despite the heavy meal you had just eaten. A waffle stand was open, and you enviously watched the pastries bake in the waffle iron. You prevented Younghoon from walking away from you by grasping his hand tightly, his attention immediately turning to what was making your mouth water. You looked at him for a few moments with pleading eyes and he smiled, shaking his head, pulling his wallet out of his inside coat pocket.

"One with chocolate and another with maple syrup, please," you smiled lovingly at him as he placed the order and hugged his arm, thanking him in a whisper. 

You grabbed the waffles once they were ready, and hurried to the end of the dock, shoes sinking into the still-warm sand of a beautiful day. Holding the waffles over your head, you dropped into the floor with the same delicacy as an elephant in order to protect your snack from the grains of sand.

Younghoon sat down next to you, rubbing and slapping his hands vigorously to remove any dirt that had clung to them. The waffle was still hot, and the chocolate was melting in your mouth, making you happy and focusing on the present moment with your boyfriend without thinking about your project.

"It's beautiful," you pointed out, looking at the sea stretching out in front of you as far as the eye could see, your heart filled with happiness as the last rays of sun came to illuminate the sky and the saltwater with magnificent orange and pinkish colours, offering a magnificent spectacle to this part of the world.

Younghoon nodded and finished his waffle in three more bites, wiping his fingers with the small paper towel the seller gave you. He shifted closer and sat behind you, a leg on each side of your body as his arms crossed over your stomach.

"You're as gorgeous as this sunset," he whispered into the hollow of your ear, mouth still half-full and you suppressed a chuckle of embarrassment, elbowing him gently as he giggled while being careful not to drop your precious waffle. "Stop your nonsense," you whispered, and he shook his head side to side with a smile, wiping the corner of your mouth with his thumb.

Younghoon didn't have time to reply as a great gust of wind blew your hair up and you hurried to finish your waffle before it got sandy. The sea started to stir, waves increasing, the clouds were crossing the sky at a slightly accelerated speed, but that didn't stop you from sitting in the sand in each other's arms, smooching and cuddling you until the sun disappeared from the horizon, leaving you in a darker light to whisper sweet words in your ear.

[namjoonchronicles]

rough | sj

↳ pairing seokjin x you

↳ genre domestic, fluff, slice of life, heir!seokjin, husband!seokjin, established relationship

↳ words 2.7k

↳ summary again seokjin’s conglomerate family comes in between your marriage, but this time, seokjin will not stay silent

↳ song lauv ‘love like that’

↳ author’s note the 7-day writing challenge continues with seokjin! <3

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Blanket rustling. A hand clamored on the vibrating alarm. A silhouette of a broad shoulder of a man sat awake on the edge of the bed, clicking his neck right and left. Seokjin rubs the back of his neck. He slid the indoor slippers on, walked wobbly around the king-sized bed, leaving the striped curtain down for his wife to sleep longer. Hand on the knob to the bathroom, he splashes water on his face. With the tips of his hair wet, he brushed his teeth. The morning always begins the same way from Seokjin. He is up by 6am, he does all his morning necessities, plants a kiss on the wife’s cheek and checks out the daughter in the next room. Once he has gotten a good look and the situation is unalarming, he proceeds to the kitchen. He looked at a post-it note placed on the fridge door, and today, his wife wanted to take kimchi fried rice with egg to the office for lunch.

Easy. I can do that. He thought.

Lily, his 7 years old daughter is still asleep. Overnight yoghurt is ready for her.  For his wife, she would have something warm. So he took out a bowl and poured a cup of oats inside, meanwhile the coffee was brewing as it was set to start brewing at about 6:15am in the morning, everyday. Coffee is the most important beverage to start the day. Without it, civilization might not even exist. Seokjin thought as his lips embraced the warm hug of the energizing liquid, downing a sip, cascading down his parched throat. He let out a satisfied sigh. The curtain in the living room is drawn open even before the sun is up. The cold air of the morning had fogged the glass window but with a click of a button, it cleared. Seokjin begin fluffing the cushion on the sofa, fix the runner on the coffee table and cleared the kitchen counter ready for breakfast. It’s almost 6.45am. You’ll be up and you would wake Lily right after. But before that, you will steal his coffee mug.

“Morning to you too,” he monotonously said while you grab his mug from his hand.

“I hate Mondays…” You grumbled.

“But today is Tuesday…” he corrected you, glancing at the digital calendar on the fridge.

“A second monday is no different,” You placed the mug down, and leaned on his arm.

“What time did you sleep last night?” he asked, shaking his arm sporadically to keep you awake because it seemed that you snoozed on them.

“Late, late…” you muttered.

Because of that, Seokjin offered to wake Lily this time around. But only today. Lily is draped over her father’s able body as he walks around, getting the laundries to run so he could dry them on time before the noon drama begins. You are in the shower, still whining about having to leave for work, trashing and sighing and whatever adults do when they have to work to get the bills paid. Sitting in your bathrobe, Seokjin had your oatmeal ready. Lily is on his lap while he fed her overnight yoghurt. She has school this morning, online classes. Lily always had a soft spot for her dad. Technically, he’s mom. He’s the one at home while the mom works. He teaches vocal lessons online after the virus decided to return to the community. He doesn’t really prefer online classes, literally no one does. It’s just not the same. You on the other hand, would have preferred working at home instead. If only you could bring those machines home. The vaccine development is in its pilot state, and there are so many things to be done. Your present is required in all the meetings.

Yesterday, you were up late to decipher the most recent problem your team encountered. The DNAs are denatured when it is transferred into the carrier and no matter how much you argued, (how impossible it was to happen) since there was no presence of heat at all to have caused the denature,  it happened anyways.

“Phones off the table please, mummy…” Seokjin warned.

Typing frantically a few more sentences, your phone is taken away by your husband and set on the side table, mere an arm length away. Lily watches in silence and while you wretched in silent agony.

“What’s happened?” Seokjin asked. Telling him everything, explaining it in simple words. Your animated way of telling stories comes in beneficial today, even Lily is engaged. Then the shoulders dropped. The tone mellows and your lips begin to mumble when you hit the no-answer part of the story, the part where it leaves you stuck.

“And I don’t know what to do to fix that particular mishap…”

Seokjin pursed his lips. That’s when Lily reached her little arms out to you.

“It’s okay, mummy. You’ll find a way to do it today…” She even pats your knuckle while at it. You switched your palm upward and held her hand. Seokjin smiled proudly at her, and kissed her hard on the head. You both shared a look across the kitchen counter, and you know you both are thinking of the same thing; Lily surely is an angel. She may be 7, but she doesn’t know just how much that meant to you. You will walk the headquarters today, a lot more confident than you did yesterday, and when you are confident, you are able to look through windows that are otherwise shut. That reminds you of Seokjin truly. He just always had so much faith in you that even if you don’t have it in you, you would think you do just because he believed so.

He hands you your lunch by the door. A hug for a minute every day, therapists say, would be good for the mind, body and soul. Sometimes it drags longer than that, depending on the severity of the situation. But he smells like bed and toothpaste in the morning, with his little bed hair that you wouldn’t mind doing it for an hour. Lily leans down for a kiss on the cheek and she hands you a facemask before you leave while Seokjin hands you the car key. Usually he would drive you to work and fetch you home but since both of his classes and Lily’s are online, there’s no need to go back and forth, exposing themselves to the virus even more while being out. You would like it better if they never had to leave home. Lily waves you goodbye from the door and Seokjin watches you leave with a smile stuck on his face. And you looked back thinking, the year may have taken a number of things, but they’ve also strengthened the little family you have.

Walking in with a comfortable glide by the lounge of the already bustling office, wait… Bustling? Everyone rushed in and out pushing carts of files and trays. Even the decors are being moved about. What is going on? You tilted your head to one side and looked for a familiar face. But seeing no one you know, you opened the door to your office and dialled Yoongi, your trustee alliance in the building. He answered with a cocky huff, “You don’t know? The investors are coming in today!” Yoongi can be all kinds of things, but lying isn’t one. It was not impossible for investors to come in without a proper walkthrough towards the manufacture of the vaccine but, isn’t this way too early?

“I think they’re antsy, the economy is at its lowest this time of day and they want profit… Capitalists,” Yoongi swings in with his coffee mug.

“I thought this would be on Friday, I would have had everything ready on Friday,” you fussed, shifting papers and files, frantically typing on last modifications on the presentation you had prepared.

“That, you could blame your rookie assistant, the new boy, what’s his name,” Yoongi clicked his tongue, proceeds to think hard.

“Yeonjun?” “Yes, Yeonjun. He got the time zone all wrong…”

You shut your eyes in agony. Noticing your silence, Yoongi took a seat in front of, swivel in the chair in the behaviour of an heir to a convenient store chain, before stopping dead in front of you, voice deeper than the sea.

“Mrs. Kim,” he said, “Aren’t you afraid? “Of what?” “The investors that are coming are Astra Pharmaceutics…” “So?” “They’re linked to your in-laws medical centres… before your marriage with Kim Seokjin.”

Astra Pharma. It is a joint company orchestrated by your father-in-law, their first ever attempt to venture into the medical line. How could you forget the name of the company? Astra Pharma is owned by a powerful chaebol Kim clan, one of which Seokjin grew up with. They have a daughter that they wanted Seokjin to marry with. That was 10 years ago, which means that that daughter is going to pioneer the company now, and her name is Kim Yoojin. Every year she sends a bouquet of flowers to Seokjin’s family restaurant on New Year's. She never missed any stores that Seokjin family opens.

Yoongi searched her name on Naver for you. She is standing on the patio, giving out speeches. It most certainly didn’t help that she is elegant, stunning and charismatic. Even as she walked into the meeting room right now, with her entourage. She really wants to talk business. And you know nothing about that. Your defenses are science, your core is pharmaceutical and your strength is knowledge. If she begins a financial jargon with you, you will be making a fool out of yourself. Somehow, knowing that she is the preferred daughter-in-law, makes it even worse.

No room for mistakes.

Dial tone, and again, unanswered.

“Where could mummy be…” Seokjin hums. “A meeting probably…” Lily replied.

Seokjin gapes his mouth open to have his daughter feed him a biscuit. Lily, being a little rascal refuses to give up her biscuits.

“That’s right, that’s how I raised you, don’t share unless you get something too,” Seokjin joked around. Seokjin might have left the stove running when he answered a call from his mother. Lily was drawing on the dining table, waiting for her next online class. She is to take pictures of her drawings and send them to her teacher. Seokjin returns to the kitchen, placing the phone sandwiched between his shoulder and ear.

“Son,” she began, “Why don’t you take your wife to a resort this weekend so Lily could spend the weekend with her grandparents here in Hannam… wouldn’t that be nice?”

Seokjin squeezed his eyes, and set down that spatula.

“Mom….” he warned, “Is there something else you would like to tell me?”

After hearing what his mother had to say, Seokjin rushed out the door along with Lily, driving down the white Palisade to Hannam mansion where his mother was waiting outside. Seokjin drops Lily and rushes inside the mansion to grab a few more things. But before he leaves, he locks his eyes on his mother and says with utmost firmness, “You and I will have to talk after I get this settled.” His mother gave him a stricken smile while Lily smiled wickedly at her father. Blue Lamborghini, Aventador S engine roars as it sped out the garage door. Seokjin pulls down the window to speak to his daughter, “Behave, or else…” Lily gave out an ‘OK’ sign with her fingers.

The luxurious car then sped out into the street.

There weren’t any mistakes. Any investors coming would have been persuaded by the way you carry the presentation. The marketing strategy and pilot scale up plans are concise and rectified. The points are delivered extensively and with proper explanation. However, when you were prepared for scientific questions and whatnot, you come to realise that the CEO of Astra Pharma was interested in anything but science.

“How is Kim Seokjin?”

Everyone else in the room was taken aback by the strangely intimate question posed on a vaccine presentation. It was out of line and obviously, out of place. Even as a person as wealthy as her. Not only was it a deliberate display of her unprofessionalism, she was also bringing down her company’s image. It’s like she is ready to overturn the hard work her parents put into raising her, for a man who is married to someone else.

“He is… perfectly well, though I am not sure what’s that has got to do with our topic of discussion for today…”

You mumbled the last few words to yourself. What is she doing? What is she thinking of doing? Steal Seokjin back? If that’s her intention, then it's the worst strategy she could ever come up with. Not only would it fail her immensely, Seokjin will literally drag her and her family’s face down in the dirt for even trying to tear his family apart. You know him enough to know that he would fight the world for his wife and kids. Hence, that’s why you couldn’t understand Yoojin’s motive to bring this all up, ten years after. Is she trying to embarrass you? In the middle of a presentation filled by scientists who care nothing about the personal lives of one of their own? She is only making a fool out of herself, despite her money.

“You must have been so confused… as to why I brought up your husband in this…” she stood up in her Swarovski studded heels. She made her way to you around the table, enticing everyone in the room with her walk and her words.

“No, I am confused as to why a company like yours is interested in investing in the same exact study your own university is working on. It’s like buying the exact same cows doing the exact same thing, producing the exact type of product with twice the price,” you tracted.

“I guess that’s why he liked you,” she looks down to the floor and up the ceiling with a cunning smile, “You’re a sheep in the pack of wolves.” She locked her hyena-like eyes to you. The hair in the back of your neck stood up. You have no idea what she meant by that.

“I am investing for you to stop. Your formula is bound to fail anyways. So before the company suffers any more losses due to your incompetence, I suggest you halt all activity and let the high rollers play the game. This field is not for amateurs.”

“I think you might have forgotten that I am a scientist, not a businesswomen. Your concern is not mine to worry. My job is to get to my vaccines and make sure it works, and that’s what I’m paid to do. Whether or not you invested, is none of my concerns.”

You collected your things on the desk. And she smiled wickedly,

“Well then, you leave me no choice, I will have to sue you for forging the templates my company has patented…” “How do you sue me for fraud if I don’t do any forging?”

“You’re surely a meek girl… Seokjin will have to cushion the blow with an expensive legal fee now don’t he?”

Was there a mole in the company? Yoongi walks in. Along with Seokjin.

“Tell them what you did,” Seokjin said, and then, “Tell them what you did!” He thundered.

Yoongi confessed to stealing the documents and making it seem like it was forged. He also sent the emails and had them edited so the dates were wrong. He was paid handsomely by Astra Pharma to send all updates on the formula which then led the pharma company to imitate the make-ups protein-by-protein. He used the friendship he had established with you to gain all access to your files. He also confessed that he refused to continue doing it and when he decided to pull the plugs from Astra Pharma, Astra Pharma threatened him. He had no choice but to abide to the play Yoojin wanted orchestrated. When it was clear what Yoojin actually wanted (to spill dirt on your name so she could feel above you for once in her life after she lost Seokjin), Yoongi decided to come clean. He came to Seokjin’s mother and begged for forgiveness, because it was through her that he had gotten a job in your pharma company.

. . .

Seokjin leans on his blue lamborghini, waiting for you to come outside. He has his Raybans on and a black bomber jacket over a white tee.

“Are you mad at my family?” “Won’t you be?”

The car door lifts up and you climb in.

“You should have just married her and this all could have been avoided.” “Where’s the fun in that?”

.

.

.

.

.

Copyright © january 5th, 2021 namjoonchronicles do not repost, and thank you for reading!

[kph-01]

Diary of KPH-01 (part 4)

The interview

//Log

We reached Amargo Base in a few hours, the vehicle stopped inside an empty garage, there was no one to greet us and soon I learnt why.

The garage door closed and all the humans inside the vehicle stepped out, a large mirror in the wall turned transparent revealing the presance of four other humans in lab coats, presumably scientists or researchers.

"We are sorry for the inconvenience but we have to make sure you're not carrying dangerous pathogens or radiation. Please stand by"

A team of humans in hazmat walked in from a door next to the window, a few were carrying large devices, a closer inspection revealed them to be Geiger counters, gas detectors and others.

"Clear"

"Clear"

"Clear"

"Clear"

The researchers on the other side of the glass panel sighed in relief and used the speaker to communicate again

"We'll conduct other tests but for now you're free to enter, however decontamination is still required"

The hazmat team lead me and the other humans through the door they came from and sealed once we were all inside, an aerosol of chemicals was released at high pressure, the temperature rose by 5 degrees. The whole decontamination procedure lasted for a minute before we were allowed to enter the structure. The walls and the ceiling were white while the floor was tinted gray, as we walked we passed in front of several doors leading to other parts of the laboratory, Lieutenant Rodriguez remained next to me the whole time until we were accommodated in a waiting room, two humans in lab coats greeted me, a male and a female human.

"Greetings visitor from the stars! I'm Joseph Hughes, director of this research centre!"

He saluted me showing his hand, it was different from what I had seen and all other humans looked at him disdained.

"Director I doubt they are Vulcan..."

The female standing next to him whispered in the Directors ears.

"Whatever, whatever, this is a joyous day! Would you like something to drink? Coffee? Tea? Cola?"

The director was fawning over me and staring at my frame with morbid interest.

"No thank you, I do not need to drink and I couldn't even if I wanted to"

"Ah what a shame, please write that down Asami"

"Yes director"

The human female nodded and started taking notes on a clipboard. The director started circling around me

"Should we be aware of anything? Do you require anything to stay comfortable? Oxygen? Nitrogen? Water? Light?"

My opinion on the director was slightly altered as he showed genuine care for my well being.

"No director, my frame can function in outer space and in complete darkness, the only thing I'd need is to fix my telemetry and communication apparatus"

"ASAMI quick pull out the camera! Can we assist you in any way?"

Asami, reached for one of the pockets in the coat and took out a small camera, starting to film us.

"It would normally require me to connect to UniMatrix but I'm currently disconnected... I require a computer..."

The director gestured me to wait a second before dashing out of the room almost tripping on the door frame, he came back with a laptop and followed by another researcher who appeared to be quite altered

" I NEED THAT!! "

He shouted at the director while he ignored it.

"Here use this"

He presented me the laptop, breathing havely. The other researcher stood still staring at my with his mouth agape, curious.

I took the laptop and inspected it, the fastest way to share data was to use the USB port so I proceeded to grow an USB cable from my hand, connecting to the port in a quiet click. Soon the people in the room gasped in surprise, was I not supposed to do it? They aren't stopping me and Asami is still filming.

I transferred part of my internals inside the computer and modified the note pad program to be able to read my data.

Errors, errors everywhere. My internal code is garbled and nonsensical just like I predicted, the impact must've sent an electromagnetic pulse through my system. I delete everything and replaced it with what was supposed to be, writing it by hand on the keyboard.

I uploaded the file back to my system and my communication link was promptly restored.

"I am no more a unit, I am we. We are part of UniMatrix"

The humans around me held their breath while we gave the laptop back to the director. A massive flow of data was sent us by UniMatrix and we replied back with all the informations gathered. Within a second we were updated, our body frame is now resistant to electromagnetic pulses, ballistic weapons, explosions and hacking.

The director was shaking and so was Asami, they stared at the computer screen reading the file I wrote.

"What is this? code? You are machines??"

"correction director, we are a hivemind entity, our physical form is determined by the conditions of the environment, we are modeled after a human body due to its versatility in this ecosystem, as well as to ease your perception of danger."

After our statement nobody dared to talk, Asami had stopped filming and was looking at the director for instructions.

" THIS IS MAGNIFICENT! EXTRAORDINARY! TERRIFIC! "

Director Hughes exploded in a display of euphoria. His brain was flooded by chemicals and adrenaline.

"ASAMI QUICK CALL EVERYONE!"

"everyone director? What do you mean..?"

"Oh Asami I mean everyone! NASA, SETI, the secretary of state, the CIA, all of them, we need to start diplomatic relationships as soon as possible!"

Colonel Miller stepped in and pulled the director aside, they had a brief discussion and they both came back a little less euphoric.

" We won't call NASA, not until our diplomatic relationship are established. "

We and UniMatrix were amused by the reaction of humans, secrecy again, something so odd from our point of view.

"Tomorrow we'll have a conference with the representatives of their agencies, for now we're forbidden to ask any more questions, someone please lead them to a guestroom and provide them whatever they need and we are allowed to. We'll see again tomorrow!"

The director stated before leaving the room, the soldiers were looking at Colonel Miller, what he said was probably the cause of the mood drop

" This way please "

Asami slime and led us to a guestroom, a simple two room apartment with a bathroom and a bedroom, nothing else. We don't require sleep but we appreciate the free time, we'll be in contact with UniMatrix.

"Goodnight"

Asami waved and closed the door behind her after leaving, we were left alone by humans, we could explore the internet to our will.

Joseph Hughes, human male, light skin tone, old age, long curly Grey hair, light body, wear glasses to correct vision deficiency. Director of the laboratory inside Amargo Base.

Yoshida Asami (Last name, name) female human, Asian skin tone, long straight black hair. Director's assistant.

[illicitivywp]

thigh

part one 

"Take another picture and I swear, I will kill you."

His empty threat strings a melodious giggle from your throat, powered greatly by the three or four flutes of bubbly champagne you had earlier enjoyed, "don't be grumpy, Harry," recently, it's become your favourite pastime; teasing him relentlessly over his grouchy tendencies. 

Fire crackles calmly, contained securely in a pit, placed efficiently in the centre of where your friends chat and sip alcoholic beverages.

"I'm not grumpy. Delete the pictures."

You hum in faux thought, cinching your lips to one side and twisting to face him and subsequently irritate him further, "no, I don't think I will."

He raises an eyebrow in challenge, allowing his head to rest lazily against the cushion he had nabbed from your own chair before you even got the chance, "you will."

"Will I?" raising your phone to snap yet another picture of him, he frowns dramatically, presumably with the purpose to ruin any future plans of more photos, one which you still intend on following through, "what if I posted them on Instagram, huh? What then?"

"Then, you die."

"That is so truly terrifying," honestly, the ruthless humidity of the previous few days holds more terror than his hollow, dismissive tone, but for every word that you're uttering enthusiastically, he's not relaxing peacefully with creamy sand wiggling between his toes, and he grows only more and more irritated. Despite the absence of seriousness behind his indignation, he will genuinely consider murder if you don't finally retire in your determination to piss him off. So far, you're successful, but he won't admit that. His narcissism, whilst newly embraced as part of his inept personality and often subjected to self-deprecating jokes whilst on stage, is far too considerable for him to submit to your attempts that easily.

"If you post any of these..." his cheekbone pokes curiously at his creamy skin as his jaw shifts to allow his tongue to transport the wad of fresh mint gum from one concave of his cheek to the other, "I will throw your phone into the sea. And then, maybe you."

"You're feeling extra murderous today, aren't you? Not get laid last night?" you suggest a potential reason for his uncharacteristic irritability tonight with a quirked eyebrow and mischievous smile curled onto your glossed lips. Although the late evening dew of the air is rather unbearable at times, the temperature is pleasurably mild - certainly warm enough to constitute several cooled beers and decisions of short shorts, not a single sleeve anywhere in sight.

Tonight is your blessing of relaxation after a lackadaisical day spent between lounging lazily in the sun and dodging burns, stumbling over your limited knowledge of the complicated Greek language in bids to order a fresh soda or peanut butter ice cream (both which are, luckily, one tiny section of your all-inclusive holiday) and visiting various quaint cafes in groups, where you had already formed a sort of signature of trying the baklava from every food establishment you hit in a flippant attempt to discover the best recipe.

His glare is lethal, even through the costly sunglasses beginning to ski along the attractive slope of his nose, undeterred by his knuckle nudging the bridge back into place barely two minutes prior, "no."

"No?"

"No, I didn't, but also that's not why I'm pissed."

"I thought you weren't?" you smile luminously at the opportunity to simultaneously slip him up on his previous claim and, as it appears, irritate him further, "c'mon, H. Why're you so mad today?"

He sighs a puff out of his nose, scrunching it up like he often does subconsciously, "you really want to know why I'm feeling so angry?" he glances in your general direction, though it flies far over your shoulder and seems to focus on something of his interest in the distance, most likely located somewhere on the vast innocence of the beach that is often shadowed by the towering hotel where you and your friends are currently residing during your month-long trip.

"Please, enlighten me."

"It's because..." he leans forward, gesturing for you to follow with a flick of his index finger, indicating a private matter, "this really, really noisy, annoying girl won't stop taking pictures of me whilst I'm trying to relax." 

Your expression flattens, faking an impartial expression and hoping the quirk of your lips, forcing them into a momentary smile, is simply a hallucination, produce of the alcohol floating casually through your usually organised thoughts and jumbling them wildly. However, a tipsy giggle slips free regardless, "at least I'm successful in pissing you off."

"Remind why I invited you to Mykonos again?"

Although he's acting displeased at your disruptive presence, you do manage to spot a small smile of bemusement before he turns intentionally away, "because you love me," you shrug nonchalantly, and Harry can't help but notice how the bulbs glowing brilliantly behind you form an angelic inverted shadow of warmth, reflecting naturally from the leftover champagne smeared over your lips. 

"Hm, do I?”

"Why else would you let me do this?" grasping his wrist before it rises instinctively to block your attack, you launch from your personal seat with a pure laugh at his inability to hold his burst of comical chuckles any longer the second you come to rest peacefully, one foot supporting your balance by the floor and the other pointed highly as the respective knees each pause - beside his lowly slouched hip and between his thighs. Your own hands raise in time with his; you click another blurry picture of him and he playfully pushes at your stomach, "see! You just love me."

"That's debatable. Mitch, can you control her?" he laughs brazenly at your faux objection, appearing to have emerged from his earlier mystery of irritation - although you'd love to know the genuine cause, you would much rather mess around with the Harry you see every day. 

Mitch chuckles, a reasonably rare sight despite his contempt with life, "I'm already struggling with Sarah, she's probably way too drunk right now," for this breezy comment, he receives a light smack to the arm from Sarah beside him. Her ankles are crossed comfortably and hanging loosely over his legs, and as adorable as they currently look, she is certainly way too drunk and practically dropping off to sleep, aided by the reassuring flames trickling from the pit separating us and the countless alcoholic drinks she had consumed in a brief period of the last few hours. 

"Can you just get off me? You're heavy," Harry tries again, lying straight through his teeth because, as it seems to be turning out, he's not so opposed to you claiming a place atop his thigh, and he surely doesn't mind the shortness of your shorts that he hadn't quite noticed before, "please."

Your hips sway instinctively as you pause foolishly for thought, and his fingers itch around his cool beer bottle to grip onto your waist and set you down much, much closer than your previous (strictly friendly) interactions would imply. Eventually, you smile shamelessly at his unsettled request, lowering yourself gradually until the denim hem of your shorts brushes his

skin and electrifies a taunting shiver along his spine, almost as if you're entirely aware of your actions and their consequential effects. 

Dipping forward, his jaw is already mentally loosened to the floor, and you assist him in flipping it into reality; your thumb digs gently into the acute impression of his cheekbone and your fingers wrap steadily around his jaw, shimmering palm covering his chin and essentially silencing him. "No," your playful whisper worms its path languidly through his hazy thought process, the faint feeling of your free fingers tilting forward into his mouth clutching his wrist tightly and yanking him unwillingly back to present day. Once here, however, his eyebrows furrow in irritation yet again - your entire display, intentional or not, had been a ruse to pluck his half-chewed gum right from between his slick lips. 

Instinctively, (he kind of hopes, too) his teeth clamp together strongly before you can rip your fingers away, not enough to seriously injure you but definitely sufficient to shock you into a melodious giggle, "that's mine," he states blankly, waiting with much more patience than any normal human would have remaining with you at this point.

"No, it's not," your grin is utterly infuriating, yet radiant enough to set alight to an urge Harry's felt a fair few times, one that - up until now, it seems - hasn't quite slipped into the state of insatiability. Frequently, during your relatively common drunken nights out, he's had one or six too many drinks and you just look so incredible, so inviting, practically begging him to utilise any part of his body to pleasure you, even just to kiss you. 

Unfortunately for him, however, you've never expressed any interest in him aside from platonic cuddles during your harder breakups or holding hands with the purpose of deterring any creeping men who may, like he had a pathetically long time ago, admire your effortless beauty, which often results in Harry sat sullenly with his chin in his palm, ignoring any attempts to chat to him and viewing you from afar, silently cherishing your incandescent smile and silly dance moves. It also, most of the time, ends in you gaining a meaningful interaction with some random guy who Harry always wordlessly disapproves of but remains quiet on his opinions for your happiness, whilst Harry usually returns home either directly from whatever club or party or shamefully calls his personal driver to pick him up from whoever stranger's bedroom he finds himself inside. 

The only pacification that appears to work successfully in tearing his focus away from you is the few lasting relationships he's experienced; enjoyably, of course. He's even been in love once or twice, but the one connection that seems to endure any test - crazed fans, endless months of touring, even the brutal argument that followed shortly after he had darted any instruction you had given him and sought out and punched an ex-boyfriend who had laid his hands on you once, and that was once too much for Harry - is yours. 

"Give it back," his demand is so stern you consider obeying for a brisk moment, although after an agile deliberation, you follow your original plan and pop the gum directly on your own tongue, chewing it complacently a total of twice before he recreates your gesture.

His movements are much rougher, stronger, and considerably quicker; he squeezes your cheeks correctly and physically forces your lips to part, glaring candidly straight into your eyes when he snatches one end of the stretched gum, luckily hooked onto your canine and reassuring an easy job. In spite of his inept advantage in terms of tenacity, you had readily prepared for a fight, ensuring to grasp his jaw until the gum was resting triumphantly in your palm. 

His first mistake is releasing you before shifting his hand safely with the gum away, allowing your teeth, much like his own had, to clench down, catching the end of the mint instead of his fingers.

His second mistake is refusing to surrender his rescue attempt, inefficiently stringing it along rather than stealing it directly from between your teeth, now wrapped around the tip of your tongue.

His third mistake is maintaining eye contact...for him, at least. You're giggling drunkenly though your bite, emotionally unaffected by your proximity. 

You shift above him, and whilst you don't particularly feel how smoothly your legs fit with his, you do notice the jolt of hormones swirling through your bloodstream and the subsequent uncomfort deep inside of your tummy. Simply, you're horny, and, naturally, you attribute it to the champagne. 

His first score is regaining his sense swiftly after your slip, observing dazedly that you appear to spend a little more time caught in your head, and he wonders absently if you feel it, too. 

His second score is gathering his wits enough to squeeze once on your jaw, prying it open once again and victoriously unhooking the gum from your tooth, all before your thoughts regulate.

His third, and final, score is preserving his grip and testing his strength by repositioning your head until it levels flatly with his and twisted away from him, placing his velvet lips right beside your ear. He tucks an escapee strand away, his touch so feathery that it animates unexplainable shivers across your skin, raising goosebumps across your lower arms that are instantly noticed by Harry and earn a confident smirk; maybe, you are interested. 

You're partly oblivious to the atmosphere created around you, whilst Harry is so aware, it's already beginning to hurt. 

Disregarding the thin denim of your shorts that intervenes his bare thigh, clothed only in boxers and a white t-shirt due to the soaring heat, and your pleasure, your warmth is prevalent; he almost allows his eyes to roll backwards when he feels it, and he just can’t control himself for much longer. 

Inadvertently brushing his lips against your ear, he exhales, “you know I can feel you, right?” Your expression softens into confusion, a half-hearted plea that he’ll consider being mistaken and pretend that this entire situation never existed, “what? Did you think I couldn’t?” His tone is so low and mean that a heavy swallow constricts your throat, causing him to almost laugh lightly at your abrupt plunge of realisation, “you think you can sit right there, on my thigh, and I wouldn’t be able to feel you throbbing? Poor baby--”

“Stop,” it’s a pathetic whisper, little to absolutely no conviction roaring behind it because, for the first time in a while, you’re recognising that you don’t really want him to stop. 

“Stop?” he repeats your doubtful obstruction, an attractive chuckle hidden beneath his overly condescending voice, “do you really want that?”

His eyes twinkle with your hesitation, his lips parted just enough to allow his bunny teeth to poke out, and you’re considering your answer hurriedly; do you want that? Do you want him? Flustered, you glance towards Mitch and Sarah for an excuse to protest, disappointed yet strangely excited to find that they must’ve taken off back to their hotel room, leaving you entirely alone with Harry.

“I--” as fast as you had realised your privacy, a distinctive, drunken cackle of laughter disrupts, your stinging focus flipping speedily from his offer to your friends returning. 

Mitch’s arm is slung loosely around Sarah’s shoulder, tugging her closer when she giggles at the ticklish feeling of his relatively lengthy hair resting on her upper back. They reappear with fresh beers held in their wobbly hands, clearly oblivious to the situation they’re interrupting as they greet you with a nod of acknowledgement before flopping cheerfully into their chair.

In spite of their unexpected reentry, Harry’s bold determination doesn’t waver, “if you want me to stop, just say,” it’s another nudge of encouragement, challenging your temporary reluctance, all of which melts like ice cream dripping from his tongue when his thigh shifts purposefully beneath you and he mouths inaudibly, “quiet.” Your chest is already rising shallowly, stealing large gulps of oxygen to prevent an absence; your core pulses in replacement for the gasp that would naturally escape if you weren’t in literal public, right in front of your friends, no less. 

“Harry, have you heard from Harris?” Mitch calls out, entirely impartial to the connection between you. 

He glances over, simultaneously pushing up his sunglasses to rest in his messy nest of curls and retrieving his beer from the round table beside you, “yeah, they called earlier. They’re arriving at like... five in the morning, I’m pretty sure - said they’ll text when they land, though.” 

He moves again, clearing his throat inconspicuously and straightening his body a little when your muted whimper punctuates the friction he creates, explicitly grazing the fabric of your shorts against your clit. Mitch hums in affirmation, “what’s the name of that restaurant? The one we’re going to tomorrow?” 

“Um, Aggie’s, I think,” his free leg bounces restlessly, the several rings adorning his slender fingers clinking with the glass in his palms, “about five minutes away. ‘s got good breakfast foods, maybe we should go earlier,” he suggests evenly; if you weren’t the one struggling to silence your moans at the hands of his expertise in women’s pleasure, you would assume he’s completely unaffected. 

“Nine?”

“If you think I can be out of bed and functioning by nine…” Sarah heckles his proposition, causing everyone, with the exception of yourself, to chuckle in agreement. 

Harry’s eyes connect fiercely with yours as he raises his beer to steal a brief sip, his thigh beginning to deviate from peace at a faster pace, and you grit your teeth into a smile when he recklessly drives his muscles upwards a little to apply additional pressure to your sensitivity. When your eyelids flutter closed at the inconceivable rush of pleasure, he snaps his attention away and hides his smirk behind his bottle. 

“Ten, then,” Mitch proposes humorously, and Harry nods gradually in confirmation. 

“Is ten okay for you?” you require a beat or two to realise that his question, accompanied by a smug smile and glimmering eyes, is directed towards you. It places all attention on you suddenly, and the struggle of withholding your whines and charming sighs, knowing that everyone is watching you, mostly unaware of your current battle, heightens unbelievably, 

You nod, silent aside from a gulp of nerves and broken into pieces when he nudges his thigh upwards yet again, “yeah, that sounds great,” you spit out an answer with a faux smile, presuming that to be the single method of preventing his cruel actions from continuing. 

“Fantastic,” he speaks aloud to the group, yet his eyes remain drawn to yours, flickering momentarily to your rosy cheeks and silky lips, “we’ll meet in the lobby at quarter-to,” he surveys your surroundings, particularly where the other’s attention lies currently. 

Apparently, he deems it to be safe to speak quietly to rile you up further. However, you lunge at the opportunity of his distractedness, experimenting discretely and raising your hips slightly from his leg, swiftly clamping your thighs together in a desperate search for relief; the alleviation of pressure you do receive and the pleasure that follows suit is unimaginable. 

Harry disapproves immediately. One, firm squeeze of your waist lands you right back where you had managed to temporarily escape - despite how much you’re enjoying the implication of riding his thigh, (which is utterly insane in itself, you can’t believe you’re genuinely allowing yourself to do this) the pace he’s setting isn’t nearly as fast as you desire. 

His hand glides intently from your hip, grazing over your centre in passing before sliding haltingly along your own thigh. Although they’re about half the size of his, you appear to mold perfectly.

Eventually, his fingertips tap lightly at your knee, slipping beneath to grasp it in one, heavenly palm with incredible ease, physically restraining any potential movement and quashing any hope of relief you foolishly had clung onto like life support, “Harry…” 

“Shh, c’mere,” he whispers lowly, a mischievous glint sparkling in the green of his irises and informing you that he has some sort of plan. You almost moan out when he hits exactly the right spot once, and by the time he figures out a subtle rhythm, nudging your clit with every single shift of his thigh, your own are shivering and your teeth are digging into your bottom lip to the point of pain with the sheer effort of maintaining relative control. 

“I--” you trail off, scrunching up your nose and knitting your feathery eyebrows together, burrowing your nails into the fleshiest part of your palm.

“Hm?” he hums knowingly, removing his hand from your knee and running soft lines along your leg. If you weren’t already trembling from his superficial touch, you certainly would be now. His fingertips travel further towards where your shorts are already displaced an inch or two each time, a wild glance cast over to where your friends sit, unaware and chatting amusedly, secures your fragile safety, “you gonna come, is that it?”

The smugness dripping from his words like honey strings a soft sigh from your lungs, your stomach and fingers quivering visibly as your orgasm approaches rapidly.

You nod in response, squeezing your eyes shut to quell the risk of a stray moan slipping out and humiliating the both of you, but, for Harry, this doesn’t seem to be satisfactory. He requires a spoken answer, and you don’t even have the ability to speak, currently. 

His mellow fingertips finally reach the apex of your thighs, terrifying yet relieving; if he slips his touch anywhere near your bare, warm skin, you surely wouldn’t be able to physically withhold your whines, and yet, you’re silently begging him to disregard that possibility entirely and and rip all of your clothing to shreds right here. 

Deliberately lazily, he slides the fabric covering your center aside, and, as much as he’s craving just the sight of you, he knows that you’re not exactly in the correct mindset to permit him to see anything without liability, so his eyes hover directly on yours. Your eyelids flutter closed in anticipation for his touch and preparing for the unbearable pressure built in your stomach to release shortly.

Expecting warmth, you jolt in surprise and gasp quietly at the iciness of his fresh bottle of beer pressed snugly against your bare skin, risking a timid dredge of your nails along his bicep which flexes with the effort of spreading your legs for him. 

He smiles, satisfied at your reaction, not bothering to focus on you any longer; his forearm runs along the entire length of your thigh, two fingers supporting the bottle and his elbow pushing on your knee as he plucks his phone from the table with his free hand, holding it loosely and without an ounce of care. The prospect of him making you feel this senseless and barely even paying attention to your tiny trembles is driving you dangerously close to the edge. 

“Hey, Mitch,” he speaks normally, catching the attention of everyone and forcing you to quieten to full silence, “what’d you think of the beer?” 

“It’s pretty good - not as good as that one from Madrid, though.”

Sarah chuckles in agreement, “no wonder. Nothing could be better than that.”

“Actually--,” Harry pauses, abruptly removing the bottle from between you, appearing to the others to have been resting innocently on his lap, and raising it. You physically clench your mouth shut tightly when, instead of taking a sip, he tilts his head and, in one, large sweep of his tongue, he cleans your dripping arousal from the glass, smiling angelically in your direction. This time, he does take a small drink of the alcohol you have always preferred to avoid, “tastes really good.” 

Mitch nods in fairness, assuming his comment to be about the beer, but you know better, “I’m definitely not complaining.”

“I think... it might be the best I’ve ever tasted.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” he laughs, as does Harry, and as it seems, Sarah has fallen asleep with her forehead landing on her boyfriend’s shoulder. 

His eyes meet yours yet again, a quirk of his eyebrow implying to lean down, “are you listening?” You nod compliantly, “you’re gonna keep riding my thigh until you come, understand?” 

Jaw clenching as you swallow thickly at his demand, you feel as if you could finish just by the viciousness to his tone, “yes.”

“Good girl, and be quiet about it,” he instructs decisively, frowning slightly when his phone alerts with the buzz of a phone call. At your brisk glimpse, the screen reads Jeff, and you feel somewhat comforted yet horrified at the fact you know the caller personally, because, after all, his client and close friend is about to make you come. “Hi, what’s up?” 

“Harry, have you been on instagram recently?” Jeff sounds seriously concerned, which instantly matches in Harry’s expression; you would mirror his nerves if you weren’t so focused on the pleasure of his bare thigh rubbing against your clit repeatedly. Understandably, you’re a little preoccupied.

“Uh, no, I’ve been out for a while. Is something wrong?” this particular comment is certainly enough to catch your attention, and you freeze with nothing but an artful grin. 

“Someone appears to have posted some photos of you, from tonight, I’m assuming,” he announces, and Harry’s gaze snaps maliciously to you, “I’m guessing the culprit is with you right now.”

“Yeah. Yeah, she is,” if you thought the intensity of his glare was fiery before, you’re now blistering from the blaze, “don’t worry, I can sort it out.”

“I don’t think many people have caught them quite yet, but a few have tweeted about it.”

“Yeah, okay, I’ll deal with it.”

“Have a nice night, H.”

“You too, mate, speak to you tomorrow,” he exhales as if he were exhausted shortly after ending the call, calmly setting his phone and beer upon the small table. In a sudden twist, your hair is tangled around his wrist and becomes leverage for him to yank you closer, “I’m gonna fuck the shit outta you, you know that?” 

Your squeak of anticipation is barely audible, though the hint of hilarity is strongly set within your darkened eyes, “mhm.”

He releases you with a unique roughness that stretches a gasp from your lungs, “make yourself come,” the comment is flippantly articulated, and yet, utterly cataclysmic for the pressure you dare to cover your centre with again and again. Within thirty seconds, your thighs are trembling, your stomach is clenching in count with your core, and your features are scrunched up firmly. 

Usually, he would view the contortion of your face to be adorable. He has many times in the past, in fact. Right now, however, he’s concentrating heavily on not coming just from the sight of you curbing your whimpers and trying so hard not to alert your drunken friends of your provocative acts. Absently, he wonders how an outsider would perceive the two of you at this moment; is it obvious? Do you look like a happily married couple or is it clear that you’re simply friends who slipped and accidentally blurred the boundaries set naturally between you? 

You muffle your sob against his shoulder, and, in an effort to appear in the eyes of others like a platonic act of comfort, he buries his fingers into your messed hair, embracing you closer and allowing him to drive his thigh upwards in time with your subtle movements. 

His lips, craving to be connected to yours, flatten neutrally, mirroring the rest of his face - Mitch, who’s awoken by Sarah’s quiet snores, smiles privately at your proximity. Whilst it’s obvious he’s not aware of the deeper purpose of your closeness, he had figured out that Harry was completely over his head for you barely weeks after meeting him, and he’s pleased that you seem to have crossed the line of friendship. 

“I- I’m so close--” you choke out against his supportive weight, your voice cracking pathetically and causing the corners of his lips to quirk up smugly, “Harry…” your jaw drops laxly whilst the rest of your body tenses; your nails dig crescent moons into his bicep, your thighs quiver around his, your core pulses in nearly painful relief at the abrupt dissipation of pressure.

He thinks you look so, so incredibly pretty at any given moment, but he has to say, seeing your highest inhibitions unravel so profoundly as you come for him, you’ve truly never looked better than when you’re his. 

Chest rising hollowly, a sharp inhale rips through your lungs and reinvigorates your perception of reality, and, this time, your jaw plummets for a whole other cause. 

Oh, my God, what the fuck did you just do? 

You actually, genuinely just rode the thigh of one of the biggest celebrities in the modern industry, topping every chart and barely batting an eyelid at women hurling themselves at him, exactly as you had just done. 

And you liked it--loved it, even.

He made you come; an occurrence that (unfortunately for your childish expectations that were shattered several years ago) is often rare and difficult to achieve. And he did it without so much as a single touch. 

Regaining movement as your senses begin to slow down in their innate tingling and his hand shifts from your untidy hair, he tries not to focus for too long on your flushed cheeks and puffy lips, “you good?”

“Did you really just ask if I’m good?”

“Yeah.”

“...yeah, I’m really good, Harry. What was that?” you stutter in a panic; sure, you’d had your moments of appreciating his attractiveness and wondering what it’d be like to potentially obscure the boundary of friendship between you, but you had never even considered that. 

He smiles youthfully, tracing your cheekbone with his thumb, “a preview. C’mon, I’m so, so far from done with you.” In one sudden swipe, all of your hesitance, all of your anxiety over the implications of whatever the fuck you just did, disappears into thin air, and you’re willing for absolutely anything.

Your platonic relationship is fucked already, why not destroy it entirely?

[silverlightqueen]

Baby Club

(poly!bts x reader - tons and tons of fluff, you’ve been warned)

Word Count - 5.3k+ 

Summary - You have a terrible day at work, but don’t worry; Baby Club can make it better...

Warnings - none really, just very fluffy, established dom & sub relationships, mentions of sex, non-sexual nudity, polyamory (don’t read if you’re not into that)

a/n: I was in the mood to write a really fluffy fic but I couldn’t decide which member... so I did all of them lmao. unedited as usual but enjoy x

@keylowmonie @khaoticamour I think y’all will like this xx

I open the door gently and trudge through the gap, sliding off my heels and discard my sopping-wet bag besides the shoe rack, shutting the door behind me. The apartment is quiet; the only noises I can hear are the gun sounds coming from the living room where the boys are presumably playing the video games they so love. 

‘Hey, y/n!’ I hear a couple of the boys chorus over the TV, and I’m not paying well enough attention to tell which of them it is. ‘Hey,’ I reply back as cheerily as I can, not wanting to alert them to my absolutely foul mood. All I thought on my way home were self-deprecating and vindictive thoughts about myself, because of course I’d royally fuck up, of course I’d be such a bitch, of course things would go so badly for me; I deserve to have had such a shit day.

I plan to just head straight upstairs to Seokjin’s room, but then I realise he may be in the living room, so I pop my head around the corner to see the three youngest, Jimin, Taehyung and Jungkook, sat together on one sofa, facing away from me and hunched forward, finger clicking furiously on their controllers.

‘Where’s Seokjin oppa?’ I ask them, and without looking, Taehyung replies, ‘in his room, with the other hyungs. They’re watching a film.’ ‘Thank you,’ I reply shortly, and turn away before they can say anything else, practically scampering down the corridor. When I reach Jin’s door, I knock tentatively, and hear the TV in there pause, before Jin calls, ‘come in.’

I open the door slowly, peering around the corner, to see the four eldest members of the group looking up at me. Namjoon and Jin are sat on the bed, leaning against the headboard, Hoseok sprawled out at the foot, and Yoongi sat in an armchair beside the bed. As soon as my eyes land on them, I feel my eyes fill with tears and I enter subspace almost immediately.

‘Baby, what’s the matter?’ Hobi says gently, reaching a hand out to me, and I don’t take it, knowing I don’t deserve it, and he raises an eyebrow at me. I know it’s irrational, know it’s not my fault that things went so badly today, but the old me, the young me, who hated myself, can’t help but make a reappearance. ‘Stop with trying to get yourself a punishment, baby, because you know you don’t deserve one,’ he says, and I give in, letting him pull me into the room. He presses his lips to my hand as he reaches out a leg and kicks the door closed, and I feel sobs beginning to force their way up my throat.

‘Come here, baby, come cuddle,’ Joon says, pulling me towards him, and he practically lifts me over himself, putting me down in the gap between him and Jin. I instantly curl into Jin, my inner sub always seeking comfort in the eldest, and he lets out a gentle chuckle, pulling me into his arms so my head rests on his chest and my legs are slung over his.

‘Cry it out, baby, it’s okay, cry it all out,’ he says soothingly, stroking my hair gently, and I let myself do so, sobs wracking my entire body as he cradles me. One by one, the other three boys begin to comfort me too, Namjoon cuddling up against me from behind, Yoongi pulling his chair closer to the bed so he can hold my hand, and Hoseok moving further up the bed to rest his head in my lap, all of them knowing that physical contact soothes me immensely.

All I can think the whole time is how I don’t deserve them being so nice to me, I deserve to be punished for having such a bad day. When my sobs begin to die down into hiccups and the tears stop flooding down my face, I sit up against the headboard, still with Joon and Jin’s arms around me, still with Yoongi’s hand in mine and still with Hobi’s head in my lap.

‘What happened, baby girl? You wanna tell us what’s got you so upset?’ Hobi says gently, and I take a few deep breaths, trying to compose myself before I speak, now well into subspace so I know I won’t be able to form proper full sentences. As soon as I open my mouth to talk, I hiccup, coaxing gentle laughs from the boys.

‘Take your time, baby, there’s no rush,’ Jin says softly, and I nod. ‘Remember, baby, you don’t have to talk if you don’t want to,’ Yoongi says, and I give him a soft smile, receiving a big gummy smile that warms my heart in return.

‘Really bad day,’ I say, and they all smile at the fact I’ve finally spoken. ‘Oh, baby, what happened?’ Namjoon asks. ‘Car broke down,’ I say, and they all let out gentle sighs. ‘Where is it now, baby? Do we need to go get it?’ Yoongi asks, and I shake my head, not wanting them to go. ‘Shopping centre car park. Safe,’ I say, and they all nod, visibly relaxing.

‘So you walked it back in this pouring rain?’ Hobi asks, and I nod, the boy giving me a sympathetic pout. ‘In your heels?’ Jin asks, and I nod again. ‘Why didn’t you call for us to pick you up? Didn’t you have your phone?’ Joon asks. ‘Dead,’ I reply, and they all look even more sympathetic.

‘What about the rest of your day? Was that just as bad?’ Jin asks, and I nod. ‘Big deal fell through. Made a mistake in a big presentation. Shouted at my assistant for no reason,’ I list off, my words quickening as I talk, and my heart rate begins to increase again. ‘Slow down, baby, you’re gonna set yourself off again,’ Jin says, and I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself.

‘Baby, it’s okay. It doesn’t matter if a big deal fell through, you’ll have more big deals in the future. It may be a now problem, but it’s not gonna be affecting you in two months’ time, is it?’ Joon asks, and I shake my head.

‘And you’re allowed to make mistakes, y/n, it’s human nature, baby. I’m sure they weren’t too bad, and I bet they didn’t even notice. Did anyone laugh?’ Yoongi asks, and I shake my head. ‘There you go, I doubt anyone clocked, y/n, don’t worry about it,’ he says, and I nod.

‘And I’m sure your assistant won’t be too upset over it, y/n. It’s not like you’re a bad boss, and you did it all the time. You’d just had a bad day, and you were a little stressed. That’s okay, even CEOs can get stressed sometimes, okay, baby? Just apologise to your assistant on Monday, or text her later,’ Hoseok says.

‘Him,’ I correct him, and they all tense slightly. ‘You’ve got a new assistant, y/n? Since when?’ Jin asks. ‘Two months. Told you when it happened. Don’t pay attention,’ I mumble, snuggling into Jin and Joon even more. ‘What’s he like?’ Hobi asks. ‘Gay,’ I reply, telling them the only thing that they’ll really care about, and I almost laugh when they all relax.

‘Was that it, baby? Did anything else happen?’ Namjoon asks, and I pout. ‘No caramel at Starbucks,’ I mutter, and they all let out low laughs. ‘Oh, baby, we’ll get you your caramel hot chocolate tomorrow, okay?’ Yoongi chuckles, and I nod, smiling slightly.

‘Listen, baby, it’s not your fault, okay? We know you’re blaming yourself, but you shouldn’t. Everyone has bad days sometimes, things go wrong sometimes, and that’s okay. It doesn’t mean that it’s your fault, or that you deserve to be punished,’ Jin says, and I smile up at him, so thankful that he knows exactly what to say.

‘You’re okay now, baby, just relax. Put today behind you, and you can fix everything on Monday, okay? Just take this weekend to chill out and destress. Got it?’ Hobi asks, and I nod, smiling down at him. ‘We love you so much, baby, hate seeing you all worked up like this,’ Joon says gently, lips moving against the side of my head, and I curl even further into his side.

‘Let’s get you out of these clothes, baby,’ Jin says, and I let out a gentle whine, not wanting to move from here. ‘Nuh uh, baby, you can’t stay in these wet clothes, you’ll get a cold. I’ll be surprised if you don’t already have one. Come on,’ Jin says, and I shake my head, pouting as I push myself further into the bed, really not wanting to get up.

‘How about this? I’ll go make you some food, Hobi can give you a nice warm bath and help you get changed after, and Namjoon and Yoongi can go get your car. And then you can get back into my bed, and we’ll watch some films together, okay?’ Jin suggests, and I shake my head again, still not wanting to get out of bed. Then he gets an idea, giving me a thoughtful smile, before speaking, ‘what about baby club? If you have a bath and get changed now, you can have baby club in my bed.’

He already knows he’s won me over by the way my eyes light up unconsciously, and he grins. I let out a little sigh, cuddling into Joon, before replying, ‘don’t call it baby club.’ ‘Is that a yes, baby?’ he asks, and I wait a few seconds before nodding, the boys all letting out gentle laughs. ‘Our y/n loves her baby club,’ Yoongi says, and I whine. ‘Sorry, baby, we’ll stop calling it baby club,’ he says, and I already know it’s a lie, not having enough energy in me to reply.

They all begin to get up from the bed (and Yoongi from his armchair), and I curl in on myself. ‘Come on, baby, don’t make this hard for me,’ Hobi says playfully before reaching out and scooping me into his arms effortlessly, carrying me bridal style. ‘We’ll see you in a little bit, baby, be good for Hobi, okay?’ Yoongi says, pressing his lips to my forehead gently, and I smile, nodding. Namjoon and Jin do the same, making me feel warm and hazy from all the love.

Hoseok carried me into Jin’s en suite bathroom and puts me down on the little chair that Jin has in there. I watch as he plugs the bath and begins to fill it up, checking the water temperature every few seconds and putting in a little bit of bubble bath, which I smile widely at. My eyes cling to Hobi’s every move, my inner sub always completely infatuated with the boys and everything they do.

My relationship with the boys is a somewhat unique one. We’re not established as a polyamorous relationship, but that’s kinda what it is. We started off as good friends, until we all started sleeping with each other. With their idol lifestyle, it’s hard to fully commit when they’re away for months at a time so, as my doms, they give me permission to sleep with others whilst they’re gone. If they’re here though, no one else can lay a finger on me. The elder four of the group are the proper doms, and the younger three are my doms, but the other boys’ subs.

Our dom-sub relationships started to spill over into our non-sexual relationships after a while; when any one of the hyungs were around, they’d baby us and spoil us, and if it was just the younger three, they’d baby me and spoil me. The doms look after the subs in a more parental and protective way, but the subs comfort and soothe the doms in a more subtle way. It could be seen as fucked up and weird, but it works for us so none of us complain.

Once the Hobi’s done running the bath, he holds out a hand, which I take, allowing him to pull me up from the seat. ‘Can I?’ he asks, putting his hands on my belt, and I nod, preferring to let him do everything for me. I watch as his long fingers make quick work of my belt, pulling it out of the belt loops and discarding it to one side, before his fingers land on my trouser buttons, his gaze shifting to mine to see if I’m still okay with it. I nod, and he unbuttons my trousers, pushing them down my legs and allowing me to step out of them before kicking them to where my belt is sat. He checks if I’m okay with him taking off my top, and I nod again, watching as it joins my trousers and belt, leaving me in just my underwear.

It comforts me to see that the look in Hoseok’s eyes doesn’t shift to lustful or desiring, still looking at me with love and care. He turns me around, slowly and gently unclasping my bra, before he pushes my panties down my legs, throwing both garments to the side, leaving me stood completely naked. I don’t feel embarrassed or exposed in the slightest, knowing I’m completely safe with him right now.

‘Come on, baby, get in before it starts getting cold,’ he says gently, guiding me towards the bath and helping me to climb in. The water comes up to just above my shoulders, the rest of my body submerged in the warm water and bubbles, the temperature just perfect, soothing my skin and relaxing me completely.

Hoseok just talks at me, distracting me with chatter about his day recording with the boys, telling me some funny stories to coax laughter out of me, and I couldn’t be more grateful that he doesn’t try to get me to speak too much. After around twenty minutes, he moves his chair to behind the bath so that my back is to him.

He squeezes some coconut shampoo into his hands, gently massaging it into my tense scalp, and it feels like heaven, my eyes fluttering shut at the feeling. ‘Am I doing it okay, baby? Not too rough, am I?’ he asks, and I smile to myself. This is the first time Hoseok’s ever given me a bath, the job usually falling to Yoongi or Jin, occasionally Namjoon, and I can sense that he’s slightly apprehensive about upsetting or hurting me. ‘Perfect, oppa,’ I mumble, my words slurring due to my comfort, and I can almost sense him smile.

He gets a jug and fills it up with warm water, making me tip my head back before pouring it slowly over my hair, rinsing out the shampoo. It’s the best feeling in the world, being babied like this by someone you love so much, feeling the affection and love they have for you in every featherlight comforting touch they give you.

He conditions my hair next, the conditioner coconut scented too, pads of his fingers working it into my locks, before he moves his chair around to the side of the tub. ‘Can you stand up for me, baby, so I can wash your body?’ he asks, and I nod, carefully standing up in the tub, only my knees and below now in the water, having me shivering.

‘I’ll be quick, baby girl,’ Hobi says gently, getting a cloth and squeezing a generous amount of lavender and camomile body wash onto it. He lathers my body up, making me lean on him and lift up my feet one at a time so he can clean those too, and I watch carefully to see if his eyes linger too long on any of my body parts, but am satisfied to see that his eyes don’t stray from where his hands are, thoroughly cleaning me.

Once he’s done, he gets the jug again, rinses my body off and washes the conditioner out of my hair, before pulling the plug out of the tub, letting the water drain out. He grabs a clean towel from the cupboard and wraps it around me before helping me out onto the bath mat so I can dry my feet. ‘Come on, baby,’ he says, lifting me up again and carrying me back into Jin’s bedroom.

The sheets have been changed, presumably because of me being on them in my wet clothes, to fresh new ones, the clean smell of washing powder making me inhale deeply, the scent so relaxing and refreshing. A pair of my pyjamas is laid out on the bed too, with clean underwear, fluffy socks, my hairbrush, my lotion, my face cream and my deodorant, and Hobi puts me down onto the bed beside them.

Yoongi comes in then with a smile, my eyes lighting up at the sight of him. ‘Nice bath, baby?’ he asks, and I nod, smiling lazily at him. ‘Jin hyung made kimchi jjigae, and me and Joon brought back a couple pizzas. Is that okay?’ he asks, and I nod again, my words having completely left me. ‘Do you wanna dry her and get her changed now, hyung? I feel like I’ve been hogging her,’ Hobi offers, and Yoongi instantly nods, grinning at me.

‘Can you go give Jin hyung a hand with getting baby club stuff ready?’ Yoongi asks and Hobi nods, neither of them noticing me pouting at the use of ‘baby club’ again. Hobi leaves with a kiss on my forehead, and Yoongi grins at me. He pulls me up from the bed, unwrapping me from the towel, and gently dries my body.

He helps me pull my panties on before putting the deodorant on my underarms and pulling my loose pink silk pyjama vest over my top. He squirts the lotion into his hand and rubs it in gently all over my body, being careful not to leave a single spot, before helping me pull my pink silk pyjama shorts and pink fluffy socks on. He then rubs my moisturiser onto my face, having me close my eyes as he does so.

‘Mmm, you smell so yummy. I could just eat you up,’ Yoongi says, pretending to nip at my neck whilst his vascular hands tickle at my sides, having me giggling uncontrollably, squirming around on the bed sheets. When he finally lets up, he drapes a fresh towel across my shoulders and gets me to sit cross-legged on the bed. As he’s about to start brushing through my damp locks, Namjoon walks in and I smile up at him, earning a smile that makes me warm in return.

‘How you feeling, baby?’ he asks. ‘Happy,’ I reply, and he grins. ‘Do you wanna brush her hair? You can have a turn babying her too,’ Yoongi offers, and Namjoon agrees immediately. ‘I’ll see you in a few, baby,’ Yoongi says, giving me another forehead kiss before he leaves.

Namjoon moves to sit cross-legged behind me and I hear him tapping away at his phone for a few seconds before Magic Shop starts to play quietly from the speaker on Jin’s bedside table. I instantly feel all remaining tension disappear from my body as I listen to the voices of the boys I love so much, telling me they’ll comfort me.

He begins to brush through my hair gently and slowly, getting all tangles and knots out, both of us singing along gently. Once he’s done brushing it through, he braids it into two French braids (just like I taught him so long along), so that it’ll be a bit wavy when I take them out.

‘Thank you, oppa,’ I whisper, cuddling back into him, and his big arms come around me. There’s just something about Joon that makes me want to sit in his lap or put his arms around me all the time; whether it be his big frame or his gentle giant demeanour, I just feel safe when he’s holding me.

‘Aren’t you cold in these ‘jamas, baby?’ he asks, and I whine, not wanting him to make me change out of them. ‘No, I know they’re your favourites, so I won’t make you change, baby, I was just gonna ask if you wanted my hoodie?’  he asks, and I’m nodding before he’s even finished talking. He laughs lowly, pulling the pale pink hoodie over his head and helping me to put it on. It feels like a hug from Joon; warm and big and smells just like him. It has me beaming endlessly, and he chuckles when he sees how happy I am.

‘Ready for baby club?’ he asks, and I don’t even have the energy to pout or whine again, just nodding. ‘I’ll go get them, okay, you just wait here, baby, get comfy,’ he says as he gets up off the bed, and I look up at him with wide eyes, not wanting to be left alone. ‘I’ll leave the door open, okay, one of us will here if you call for us, don’t worry, baby,’ he says, and I feel slightly more relaxed.

He leaves with another forehead kiss (god, I’m being spoiled today) and I crawl up the bed, climbing underneath the duvet and curling up amongst the sheets, listening to my boys’ beautiful voices floating quietly through the speaker, the song now having changed to Mikrokosmos. I feel happy, tired, young and loved, completely lost in subspace after all the amazing treatment the boys have been giving me.

Just as my eyes are beginning to droop with exhaustion, someone appears at the door, and my eyes light up when I realise who it is. ‘Minnie!’ I exclaim, and he smiles widely at me, beautiful eyes disappearing behind their lids. ‘y/nie!’ he exclaims in return, almost bounding over to the bed.

He’s dressed in his pyjamas too, black boxers and a black hoodie, his face bare of makeup and his brown hair flat and un-styled. He looks perfect, just how I like him; cuddly, soft, and Jimin. He holds a Chimmy cuddly toy in his arms and hands it to me before climbing onto the bed, practically laying on top of me as he smothers me in a hug.

‘Hyungs said you had a bad day,’ he says, looking up at me, eyes big with curiosity, and I nod. ‘Really bad, Minnie,’ I reply, and he pouts, cuddling into me again. ‘Hyungs said we’re having baby club to make you feel better,’ he says, and I nod again, my heart warming at the smile that breaks across his face.

Baby club is something that started quite a while ago, when Jimin and Jungkook were both injured at the same time. They were both moping around the house, angry at everyone and everything, and it wasn’t until they both got punished that they started being nicer to Tae and myself, the other two subs. I suggested we have a night for just us subs, just to watch kids’ films and eat junk and cuddle in bed in our pyjamas.

Jimin, Taehyung and Jungkook practically jumped at the idea, and the name ‘baby club’ was born from Jin asking where we all were and Yoongi replying with, ‘they’re all in your room, having a little baby club.’ Now we have baby clubs whenever one of us four is sad or upset, because there’s just something about baby club that makes you feel better, makes you feel happy again. It’s just one big soft and warm and cuddly subspace.

Jimin manoeuvres me so that he sits in the middle of the bed, back against the headboard, with me in between his legs, head under his chin and back against his chest, Chimmy clutched in my arms. ‘Where’s Taetae, and Babyguk?’ I mumble, wondering where the other half of our club is.

Another part of baby club is that we all have to have different names. When we’re in normal subspace, it’s Jiminie, Taehyungie and Kookie, but when we’re in baby club, it’s Minnie, Taetae and Babyguk.

‘Hobi hyung’s getting Taetae ready, and Joonie hyung’s getting Babyguk ready,’ Jimin says, and I nod, smiling at the thought of the other subs getting spoiled too, so that all the attention isn’t just on me. Tae appears at the door then, both Jimin and I saying his name in excitement, and we’re treated to his beautiful boxy smile.

He too is in pyjamas, his blue and white striped Tata ones he so loves, clutching a Tata cuddly toy, and his face is bare, beautiful brown mullet curling at his neck. He looks so warm and fluffy, just an aura of softness radiating around him, that I can’t help but beam when he crawls up onto the bed to join us too, curling in on Jimin’s left, slinging his legs over mine and Jimin’s.

‘Don’t be sad, y/nie,’ he says, and I beam at him. ‘Can’t be sad with baby club,’ I reply, and he grins up at me, pushing the sleeve of Joonie’s hoodie up and holding my left arm to his mouth, pressing gentle kisses to the now soft and moisturised skin. He hands me Tata, still giving me kisses, and I sit the two toys on my thighs, my right arm wrapped around them, Jimin’s hand interlaced with my right hand.

And then the final member of baby club appears, greeted with a warm welcome of ‘Babyguk!’ from the three of us. He smiles his little bunny smile at us, eyes crinkling with happiness, and my heart feels warm at the sight of him. He too wears his BT21 pyjamas, the pink and white striped Cooky ones, and clutches his little Cooky to his chest with his strong arms, face bare and showing his cute little acne scars that make him so beautiful, his soft brown hair covering his forehead completely.

He climbs into bed with us, on Jimin’s right, and rests his head on Jimin’s shoulder, body curled into mine and legs tangled up with Tae’s. ‘Why are you sad, y/nie?’ he asks, pouting a little, and I smile. ‘Had a bad day, but not bad anymore, Babyguk. It’s baby club,’ I say contentedly, Kook’s warm smile making my heart soften.

The elder four appear at the door then, holding plates and boxes of food. ‘Ready to eat?’ Jin asks, smiling down at the four of us, all of us nodding with big smiles. They lay out the food across the bed, the eight of us getting into a comfortable circle.

‘Do you want feeding, Min?’ Yoongi asks Jimin, who shakes his head with a smile. ‘It’s okay, hyung, I’ll feed myself,’ he says. ‘What about you, Taetae?’ Hobi asks Taehyung, who also shakes his head with a cute refusal. ‘Babyguk?’ Namjoon asks Jungkook, who also refuses, and then I feel all eyes turn to me.

‘y/nie, do you want feeding, baby?’ Jin asks me, and I hesitate, wanting to say yes, but also wanting not wanting to be the only one to do so. ‘I think that’s a yes, hyung,’ Hobi grins, laughter in all the boys’ eyes, and a smile breaks across my face slowly as I nod in agreement.

For the next half an hour, we sit in our little circle, eating (or being fed), Mikrokosmos, 2! 3!, Heartbeat and Magic Shop playing in the background as the hyungs make conversation, the other three boys inputting every now and then. I’m content to just sit here and listen though, content on being wrapped up in my own little world with them.

Once all the food’s finished, the elder four clear away all the boxes, plates and cutlery, Jin putting on Monsters Inc. for us to watch. By the time it gets to the part where we first see Boo, the four of us are tangled up again, the way we were before eating, Cooky now sat on my lap too.

Namjoon enters the room then, holding a couple bags of chocolates. Taehyung makes grabby hands, making Namjoon laugh, and he leaves after handing us the begs and giving us all forehead kisses. Because of both my hands being occupied (one being held by Jungkook and kissed by Tae, and the other clasped firmly in Jimin’s), they all feed me whilst eating themselves, the bags finished within minutes.

A little while later, Yoongi comes in with cupcakes, and, just as Namjoon had, hands them to Tae and gives us forehead kisses before leaving. Jungkook feeds me a cupcake whilst eating his own, Jimin eating his whilst being careful not to drop any crumbs on me, and Tae eats his slowly, his kisses on my arm and hand being momentarily stopped.

Around an hour later, Cooky, Tata and Chimmy are sat at the end of the bed, Tae’s head is on my stomach and one of my hands is resting on his little tummy, I’m still enveloped in Jimin’s legs, back against his front, and Jungkook rests his head against Jimin’s shoulder, one of his hands being clasped by Jimin, the other by Tae, Jimin’s other hand still clutching onto mine.

Hobi comes in just as the film finishes, bringing us popcorn and putting on Monsters University, leaving us with more forehead kisses. We continue eating, getting more and more full and tired and hazy. By the time Jin comes in, we’re all nearly dozing off. ‘I made caramel hot chocolate,’ he says gently, and I brighten up at the mention of it. We all sit up, shoulder to shoulder leaning against the headboard, and get more forehead kisses when Jin leaves. For the next twenty minutes or so, we sip on our hot chocolates, finishing just as the film ends.

‘Should I go get the hyungs?’ Jungkook asks, his little lisp coming out. ‘I’ll go Babyguk, you stay,’ Taehyung says, and Jimin stops him. ‘Let me go, Taetae,’ he says, climbing out of the bed. He ventures out into corridor and disappears in the direction of the living room. ‘Baby club’s the best,’ Jungkook says contentedly, leaning his head against my shoulder, and both Tae and I nod in agreement.

‘I missed baby club when we were on tour,’ Taehyung says, and I nod. ‘Me too. I missed my Minnie and my Taetae and my Babyguk,’ I say, the two boys smiling tiredly at me. I can feel that aura now, the tired and warm and soft feeling, completely enveloping all of us. We’re all ready to cuddle up and go to sleep now.

Jimin comes back with the hyungs then, who give us warm and big smiles. ‘Right, come on. Just gotta brush teeth and then sleepy time,’ Jin says, a collective whine between the four of us occurring. ‘Nope, stop it, I don’t want to hear it. We’ve been good to you four this evening, okay? You’ve been eating all sorts of sweet food, so you need to brush your teeth. Two minutes, and then we can all cuddle up in y/n’s bed and sleep together. Okay?’ Jin says, all four of us perking up at the sound of the eight of us sleeping together.

Each of us let our respective dom get us out of the bed and lead us to our own en suite bathrooms. Jin lifts me up onto the surface beside the sink and brushes my teeth for me, giving me little shakes here and there when my eyes begin to flutter shut from exhaustion. Once he’s done, I rinse out my mouth and he carries me back into my bedroom where Tae and Hobi already lie down. Tae’s the least bratty sub out of all of us, so he and Hobi are always first to get these things done.

Less than two minutes later, Yoongi, Jimin, Namjoon and Jungkook have joined us four, the eight of us squished up in my bed. Luckily, I got the biggest bedroom in the apartment, and so have a custom made bed, more than big enough to host the eight of us. The boys all give me goodnight kisses and I fall asleep, wrapped up in the arms of the eldest and the youngest, thinking in my head that there’s no place I’d rather be.

[vampiregirl1797]

Hopeless: Chapter Twelve

Klaus Mikaelson x OC

GIF Not Mine

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1492

The first thing I registered when I woke was the smell of burning. The smell of scorched flesh. Evangeline’s face flashed through my mind and forced my body off the couch before I even thought about standing. For five hundred years, since becoming a vampire, I had never had difficulty with something as simple as walking. But in that moment, my legs felt like led, unwilling to carry me over to the ashes that lay ten feet away from the entrance. I didn’t remember falling to my knees, I felt the tears falling from my eyes without permission, but the only thing I could focus on completely was the gaping hole in my chest. My heart head been ripped out—she had taken it with her—and left behind was an empty chasm that ached as a reminder of what I had lost.

 My hands clenched unwittingly and I felt a small sting of metal in my palm. Opening my right hand I saw her daylight ring. She must have put it into my hand before she… left. I held it tighter for a moment before sliding it onto my little finger. It got stuck halfway down, but all that mattered was that it stayed there—it was one of the few reminders of her that I had left.

‘Niklaus? What has happened?’ Elijah’s voice broke through the haze I had fallen into, long enough to commandeer my gaze to him.

 ‘Evangeline—she is dead.’ My voice sounded hollow. Broken.

 The elder Mikaelson’s brow furrowed in confusion and concern, but I didn’t acknowledge either emotion. My expression hardened, my jaw ground together in determination and I stood, allowing my anger at the entire situation to take over—falling back on anger was after all what I was best at. But before I could speak a word, Elijah’s hand landed on my shoulder, bringing me into his embrace. He hugged me firmly and with purpose.

 ‘I’m sorry brother. Truly.’ He murmured, and that was all it took for the tears to return.

 Telling Elijah the truth hadn’t been a part of the plan. Mainly because I didn’t think he would approve of me compelling the doppelgänger. But as we took a carriage to our next destination—we had left with haste that Elijah hadn’t understood until I explained it to him—he listened, without expression or interruption. When I had finished, I hadn’t been able to meet his gaze. For the first time in a long time, I felt like a boy seeking approval from the only brother I had ever looked up to. Another aspect that had returned with my personality. I cared about what Elijah thought. I was worried that he wouldn’t approve. And while his lack of support wouldn’t stop me, it had the potential to hurt me.

 ‘Brother, I made a promise to you a long time ago, that I would stand by you always and forever. That promise was made before you became a man I didn’t recognise as my brother, and yet I continued to uphold it because a shadow of the man that used to be my comrade, I believed, to be better than no brother at all.’ Elijah paused, his gaze had been focused on the passing scenery, but now it returned to me, ‘the entrance of Evangeline in our lives was sudden, and while I myself didn’t get to know her incredibly well, I did notice how she bought out something in you that I had believed to be decimated—your humanity.’

 My fingers found the ring on my little finger and began twisting it gently. If my heart were still beating, it would have been pounding in that moment.

 ‘In a matter of weeks, she saw and accepted the darkest parts of you. She helped you recognise that you needn’t be ashamed of your werewolf lineage, something you have been disconcerted about since we learned of our mother’s dalliances with a werewolf and forced a part of you into dormancy.’ A small smile played on his lips as he once again grasped my shoulder, ‘and now here you sit, choosing to be truthful with me, despite your obvious fear that I will not approve and aid you.’

 ‘Will you assist me, brother?’ I murmured, keeping my voice low.

 ‘Will I help you hide that you’ve broken your curse? Will I leave Katarina believing she evaded you? I finally have back the brother I remember from all those years ago, and I’m not going to let the reason for that be jeopardised.’ Elijah’s hand lifted to slap my shoulder once before he held it out to me, smiling at the surprise and appreciation on my face, ‘always and forever brother.’

 Our hands met and clasped together, bringing us closer as we patted each other’s backs.

 ‘Always and forever.’ I murmured, pulling back and offering Elijah a genuine smile, ‘thank you, brother.’

 He didn’t verbally respond, but he didn’t need to. He had said all he needed to reassure me of his loyalty, of our vow. So we fell back into comfortable silence as Evangeline’s face invaded my mind.

 1919, New Orleans

It had been my idea. To lure him here, to the town we’d built, the town we had prepared for war. I had first thought of it when we’d managed to establish a treaty between the species. With witches, werewolves and vampires willing to work together, we had ourselves quite the army. Something Mikael couldn’t be prepared for. Surprisingly, it hadn’t taken a lot to convince Elijah, Rebekah and Kol that it was time that we fought and stopped running.

 All of us wanted our lives back. Although my main priority was assuring that Mikael was gone before Evangeline was born. I had plenty of enemies already, mostly from before I had met the elder Gilbert—since she had left I’d been careful not to acquire anymore unless absolutely necessary—and I didn’t want Mikael to be alive when she eventually came back into my life.

 Elijah was the only one who wasn’t surprised with my newfound restraint, but that was because he was the only one who knew about her—we’d decided that keeping it to ourselves for the time being was for the best. Which led to us uniting to defeat our father. We lured him to New Orleans with a witch and a photograph of us at the grand opening of New Orleans’ Opera house. After that we prepared extensively. Everyone trained within their factions everyday, with an original being present within each to give an idea of what strength they would be facing. Everyone—human and supernatural—ingested vervain to avoid compulsion. A witch placed a boundary around the city limits that would immediately alert us to his arrival—she had to use a knife that had belonged to him that Rebekah had stolen when we were children, but we were assured it would work.

 Of course, what none of us had anticipated was how close the preparations made us. Kol felt included in the family that Rebekah, Elijah and I had never intentionally meant to seclude him from. He seemed lighter—he no longer killed meaninglessly as he didn’t need to use high body counts to draw our attention. Rebekah found love with Marcellus and despite my lack of violence with her past few dalliances before him, she was nervous to tell me. I assured them both I was happy if they were happy—a reaction that had her beaming with delight and I hated that I’d ever reacted in a way that generated a different response. Elijah was happier, as anyone who knew him well would have been able to tell. His expression usually remained sombre, but occasionally a smile would appear when he saw the way we interacted without hate, deception or malice. But most of the time, his joy could be seen in his eyes—before they were often bleak as he observed his siblings regressing to an inhumane state—while now, his eyes often twinkled with mirth and uncontained contentedness.

 All of us worked to maintain this new relationship. Kol confessed to trying to create a gold dagger to use against me—this was before we’d begun to mend our relationship—and as soon as we were on the right track, he handed over the diamond he’d intended to use. I’d embraced him and offered my gratitude to him for not going through with it, along with a promise to give up the daggers as soon as Mikael had been dealt with. All siblings had been shocked at that—but I’d seen how important the bond we had created was. I had seen the importance of family.

 I managed to keep the secret of my broken curse hidden with a repression spell that a witch had placed on a ring for me. It meant that when I wore it, I appeared as a vampire, and I rarely removed it because it was vital that no one knew. As much as I wanted to tell them, I refrained because telling them about it would mean explaining why it needed to be a secret, and I’d rather do that when Mikael was dead.

 The night we had come together to destroy our father, we reaffirmed our pact of always and forever in the Mikaelson compound. It hadn’t been easy—the wolves and vampires corralled him to the centre of the City. This was where the witches waited with an incapacitation spell that held him long enough for me to drive the White Oak stake he’d planned to use on me through his heart. While everyone cheered for his demise, my siblings and I watched him burn with uncontrollable relief.

 ‘It’s over, Nik.’ Bekah murmured, winding her hand around my waist while my arm fell over her shoulders.

 Elijah placed a comforting hand on Kol’s shoulder and we all fell into silence, revelling in the freedom that was finally ours.

  1947 Paris, France.

The first time I heard it was in the streets. It was a girl humming. I’d stopped, ignoring the people bumping into my back and violently swearing at me in French as I frantically glanced around, trying to locate where the sound was coming from.

 ‘What is it brother?’ Kol had asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

 ‘That song. Did you hear someone humming it?’ I said, still looking around, my hearing focused, but I couldn’t hear anything anymore.

 ‘I don’t hear anyone humming.’ Kol told me, his eyes clouding with the same look that overcame him whenever he realised I was remembering something about her—he and my siblings empathised with me as much as they could.

 I appreciated their concern and their attempts to understand, but they couldn’t, at least not completely. The circumstances were incredibly specific and therefore, hard to comprehend entirely.

 I sighed, defeated, and continued walking. Kol and I were in Paris to meet Marcel and Rebekah—they were celebrating their 28th wedding anniversary and they’d invited us over after they’d been here for a month. They wanted time to enjoy themselves without interruption before we made it a family vacation. Which was something we made a point to do a couple of times a year—since the defeat of Mikael we ran New Orleans, and sometimes we needed time to be a family without the pressures of running the city weighing us down. We had trusted second in commands, of course, and we could be contacted in the case of severe emergency. Elijah was set to arrive tomorrow—he wanted to assure that the newly turned vampires weren’t a problem. Logically he knew our second’s in command could handle it, but the elder Mikaelson was overly cautious.

 ‘Come on, brother, you mustn’t mope. You’ve lasted this long. What’s a few more decades?’ Kol’s arm wound around my shoulders for a moment and squeezed before falling back to his side.

 I offered him a tight smile, trying to ignore the hollow feeling in my chest. The feeling was always there, of course, but when something reminded me of her and caught me off guard, the pain was much worse. Kol was right. What were a few more decades?

 1990, Mystic Falls, Virginia

I had known that this was the year she would be born, but I hadn’t known what day exactly. My sources were told to keep an eye out for any children born with her name, and just as I was getting restless, just as my paranoid mind was telling me that something had gone wrong with the time travel, I got a call on October 15th. She was born at 5:27am, weighing 7lb 2oz. As much as I wanted to see her, to see the baby that would grow into the woman who would fall in love with me, and I her, I stopped myself. I couldn’t risk doing anything that would jeopardise her future, not when I’d lasted so long. So, after thanking my contact, I hung up my phone and went to my art room, painting a portrait of her whilst listening to the song I’d come to associate with her, when I’d properly heard it all those years ago, first from her lips, and then the voice of Édith Piaf.

 Quand il me prend dans ses bras

Il me parle tout bas

Je vois la vie en rose

Il me dit des mots d'amour

Des mots de tous les jours

Et ça me fait quelque chose

 When he takes me in his arms

He whispers to me

I see life in pink

He tell me love words

Everyday words

And it does something to me.

 2011, New Orleans, Louisiana.

‘Niklaus.’ Elijah’s urgent voice commandeered my attention away from the book I was reading.

 ‘What is it?’ I asked, lazily closing my book and trying not to let my concern show.

 ‘It’s time.’

 Those two words had me standing from my seat without conscious thought. I knew we were getting close, of course I did, but I’d had to force myself to stop obsessing decades ago, in order to maintain some semblance of sanity.

 ‘The contacts on her have witnessed the loss of her locket and the new daylight ring she has had to acquire.’ He said, his eyes reflecting his happiness for me.

 ‘I—I’ I stuttered, suddenly at a loss for words, and a loss for what to do.

 Of course I wanted to go to her—I’d been waiting for this moment for six centuries, but I also wanted Evangeline to want to come to me. I didn’t want to just show up in her life and make her feel like she didn’t have an escape, a freedom to choose her own path. I believed that she loved me then, I knew she did, but I owed it to her to give her time to decide if she wanted me in her life now.

 Slowly, I sat back down, my head bowed and my hands running through my hair as I came to terms with my decision. I was going to give her some time, but could I do that with the issues that were occurring in Mystic Falls in that moment? The biggest one was Katherine. While Evangeline would have returned to the date she originally disappeared, the time line would have stretched out a little. Originally at this point, Stefan and I would be hunting werewolves, I would believe her sister to be dead, and her aunt would have died for my ritual. However, as I hadn’t arrived in town yet, Katherine was still lurking and planting seeds of fear about the big bad Klaus Mikaelson who wanted to break his curse. I didn’t want to remove the compulsion encase Katherine tried to kill Evangeline as revenge, and I didn’t want to kill Katherine both due to the suspicions it would raise and because I was certain Elijah still had some semblance of feelings for her. I would just have to wait; no harm should come to them, as they believed me to be the impending danger. The only one who would know that wasn’t true was Evangeline.

 I’d waited all this time, what was a little more?

[allie1804-fan]

Please Assist Me (Chapter 24)

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8,  Chapter 9, Chapter 10 , Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15 , Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19, Chapter 20, Chapter 21, Chapter 22, Chapter 23

Warnings: lots of fluff and a little smut!

Alex Said

I straightened my tie and checked my appearance one last time before looking over to Keanu – he was reading over his vows one last time, pen in hand worrying over a few specific phrases.

It was a Tuesday in early October and we were at a winery in Napa, California. When he had asked Sophia to marry him and they’d decided they wanted to go ahead before the baby was born, he’d called in a favour from one of the locations for his 90’s movie, A Walk in The Clouds and managed to secure a mid week slot for the wedding celebrations. Around 30 of us (closest friends and family) were staying for 3 days and another 20 or so were travelling up just for the day and night of the wedding. I was the best man, hence being in the room at that moment as Keanu worried over the vows.

Whilst he WAS nervous, naturally, he was also the happiest I’d seen him in a long, long time. Happy with his newly established family, happy in his relationship and delighted to be becoming a father himself at long last.

“Leave them now man, I told you, they’re perfect. You should finish getting dressed, time’s ticking on!”

He did a typical Keanu head shake to snap out of the funk he was in and got on with putting on his tie and shoes. He’d gone for a sky-blue shirt, for Sophia he said, who loved him in blue paired with a beige suit. On his feet, he had stuck to boots saying there was no changing that particular habit apart from on Oscar’s night!

 Karina Said

The venue was dreamy. In the morning, the vineyard was always shrouded in mist over the hills , giving it an ethereal quality. I’d still been in school around the time my big brother had filmed A Walk in The Clouds so I was almost fan like in my excitement to be there, remembering seeing the film with a girlfriend back in 1995.  The ceremony would be taking place in the courtyard and then there would be a lunch in the great hall and later afternoon tea in the gardens. Finally, there would be drinks and music in the evening and a BBQ buffet, again in the gardens.

I did a last check that everything was ready before heading up to Sophia’s room where I would be meeting up with her to take charge of Eva (who was being a bridesmaid) and Miguel (who was to be a pageboy). Keanu would head down to the courtyard first and then we would follow next.

Sophia looked gorgeous and the children’s outfits fit with hers and Keanu’s. Eva’s dress was ivory like her mom’s but her blue sash matched Keanu’s shirt. Miguel was also wearing a cream shirt and had a blue cummerbund.

 He Said

I had had quite an agitated morning which was entirely my own fault as I was, as Alex insisted, needlessly agonising over a few words in my vows,  but luckily, by the time I was down in the courtyard waiting for Sophia’s arrival, I felt less tense. Then calm fully washed over me as the music began and I turned to see Sophia come through the courtyard archway, followed by the children. She was a glorious vision! The bodice of her dress had quite a plunging neckline and was fitted over her, by now, more voluptuous breasts, the neckline edged with pearls. The skirt flowed down from just under the bodice and consisted of lacey layers of silk  giving the impression of a cloud of ivory silk walking towards me. She held a small posy of roses in front of the bump which she handed to Karina as she stopped by my side.  I grabbed her hand and squeezed. I could feel my eyes prickling and slowly let out my breath to try and keep it together. I looked down at her and saw she was doing exactly the same!

We hadn’t shared our vows beforehand. She went first, a decision we had made mostly at my insistence. I didn’t want to be the leading man / dominant force  - she deserved to take centre stage for once.

“Keanu you have already brought such joy into my life with your love and care, your willingness to take on not just me but Eva and Miguel too, making a new family with us. And I know you will work just as hard to build a stronger unit once this little one arrives.

We can’t always be together, but every time you return to us, you are our safe haven”

I smiled to myself knowing what I was going to say in just a few moments. When she finished a moment or two later,  I heard a few “ahhhs” from the guests. It was my turn to take her hand in mine and share my vows.

“Sophia, this relationship of ours started off as a working relationship and it took us a long time to admit that our feelings were running deeper! (much to the frustration of some of our friends and family sitting here today!)  I’m so glad that now, we always share our feelings and that I can share anything with you.

Being with you, we each have the space to be our own people, pursue the paths that bring us fulfilment and yet still come back to each other and meld in a way I’ve never been able to do with anyone before. When I come back to you, you are my safe haven (and no I didn’t know you would use those same words!)

I can’t wait to build our family on top of the new one we’ve already become. I’ll share in the joy of Eva and Miguel growing into such amazing young people and I look forward to the same with the little bundle on the way.

I love you and I’ll always love you.”

When the celebrant said I could kiss the bride, I leaned her back as low as I dared before kissing her with the guests clapping heartily.

Later on, as we sat  together on a swing seat in the gardens, chatting to friends, visions of the ceremony kept popping into my head and making me smile

“Hey Keanu, where did you go?” Sophia asked, pulling me from my reverie.

“Huh?, oh” I replied hugging her closer to me “Just remembering this morning, what a glorious vision you were and how funny it was, us using the same words in our vows”

“Face it you two, you’re so MFEO!” Karina chipped in.

Sophia turned her head and looked into my eyes and I leaned in for a soft kiss.

“Get a room!” was the cry that then went up from Rob!

She Said

I woke early the day after the wedding – that was getting pretty usual for me – either the baby woke me with its movements or I just found it difficult to stay comfortable as the bump got larger.  That morning I didn’t mind as it gave me time for reflection on the success of the previous day.

Keanu had been a vision in my favourite suit of his, a light beige one paired with a sky blue shirt he knew I would love too.

Both his vows and his after-dinner speech had been precious. The mirroring of our words in the vows has choked me up and in his speech he’d joked that all would be well so long as he remembered to keep video call appointments when he was away!

Alex’s Best Man’s speech had also been funny, remembering when he first heard about me and how he’d known there was something brewing for about a year before we would admit it to each other even without a magical phone booth to go to the future and check if he was right!

The evening festivities had started beautifully too with our first dance which of course had been to “This never happened before”. Sandra, one of the few non family guests we had,  had joked about me stealing her guy!

As I smiled at this warm memory, Keanu stirred next to me, nuzzling into my neck.

“Morning sleepy head”

“Morning Mrs Reeves”

I chuckled at that.

“How about making it official” he  offered, pushing closer to me, his morning erection making its presence known “Your mom is in charge of the kids for the morning so we’re free to spend this wedding morning as we wish remember.”

“mmm, sounds good”

I turned over,  slowly obviously, to kiss him.

“thanks for everything yesterday, it was truly perfect and that’s mostly thanks to your organisation of course”

“mmm and your contacts and you footing the bill”

“that’s what I call team work” he said laughing before kissing me again. Words weren’t needed any more.  Our love making was slow and gentle but no less passionate. Keanu was always so giving, so  focussed on my pleasure and I was quickly ready for him, thanks to his hands and mouth preparing the way. I chose to straddle him and rode him for a little while. I figured, at 29 weeks,   I wouldn’t be able to do that for much longer. After I’d come that way, I moved off him and he positioned himself behind me , his hard cock pushing inside, rubbing over and over again against my entrance and g spot whilst he reached round to rub his fingers over my clit.

I pressed my leg, which was slung back between his, down against him as I came, screaming into the pillow and then I felt his fingers pushing hard into my hips and his hot cum flow into me as he moaned low in his throat.

Afterwards we lay and basked in the afterglow and talked about the  next 3 months.  He had been trying to persuade me to come to the Matrix 4 premiere in early December.

“After-all, you’ve proved here that you can rock maternity glamour wear!”

“But it’s almost 2 months away, I’ll be enormous by then!”

“Promise me you’ll think about it, though. If you’re not feeling up to it, then fine but can we not rule it out? I want to show off my wife to the world”

I duly promised not to rule it out, though I found it hard to imagine anyone could make me look good enough for me to willingly go to a premiere when that far pregnant!

@fortheloveoffanfic @kindainlovewithk’eanu @omg-imagine @iworshipkeanureeves @fics-not-tragedies @ficsnroses @keanureevesisbae @penwieldingdreamer @witty-wallflower @paperplanesandwallflowers @bitchyslut99 @ladyreapermc @toomanystoriessolittletime @fanficsrusz @keanuficfiles @bitchyslut99 

[mosquecannon17-blog]

Is A Follistim treatment Right For You?

vaginal Canal tightening device.

Content

Do I need a Gp referral For Facelift surgical Procedure?

Femiwand

Which locations Can Be treated With Hifu?

What Is Mole, growth and Skin Tag Removal?

Why Are Cars Facelifted?

Due to its distinctively developed transducer system customers frequently feel very little discomfort throughout the therapy. Any type of unpleasant feelings normally decrease instantly following the procedure. Visual appeal Lab is committed to ensuring your wellness and wellness. During your preliminary Ultraformer III examination, we evaluate your case history with each other to guarantee that this procedure is appropriate for you. However, outcomes may occupy to 3 months to show and also they will certainly remain to improve for approximately 7 months blog post therapy. People may experience skin inflammation for a few days after the session. Some light swelling, prickling or inflammation may happen temporarily.

Less typical impacts consist of small discoloration as well as skin level of sensitivity. The dimension of the treatment area as well as the strategy picked impacts the duration of the HIFU treatment session, which can vary in between 30 and also 90 minutes. We will certainly have the ability to provide you a quote during your appointment. In the past I have actually tried all sorts of systems to assist with my stretch marks and also lower as well as tighten my child stubborn belly after the birth of my youngsters. The only treatment that I have seen outcomes with is the Lipofirm Pro!

What surgery makes you look younger?

A facelift, which is also known as a Rhytidectomy, will give an individual a relaxed and younger appearance. In order to be a suitable candidate for a facelift, an indiviudal should have adequate skin elasticity to ensure the procedure is effective.

This includes moving the handpiece over the area as well as providing pulses of power to achieve the desired result. Your therapy may be a little unpleasant however should not be painful and any type of discomfort must rapidly diminish promptly after treatment. At your appointment, we will certainly take a full case history and also evaluate your suitability for the treatment. We will then coordinate a custom therapy strategy with you, based upon your issues and also what you wish to achieve from the treatment. Very hardly ever one may experience small soreness for a couple of hours after the therapy in addition to swelling or tingling in the therapy location for up to a few weeks. There may also be wounding as well as feeling numb on dealt with areas but this ought to settle 2-4 weeks following the procedure. Ultraformer III has been called the comfortable choice to surgery and also Ultherapy.

Do I required a General Practitioner recommendation For Facelift surgical Treatment?

You might have an MRI scan and also numerous samples of prostate tissue taken. This will give the medical professionals a clear image of where the cancer is in the prostate. HIFU can be offered to the whole prostate when there might be cancer in greater than one area, so that all areas of cancer are dealt with. You might additionally have other tests, such as a CT scan, MRI scan or bone check, to see if the cancer cells has actually infected other parts of your body. A continual surge in your PSA degree can be an indication that the cancer has returned. If your cancer cells does come back, your physician or registered nurse will chat with you about additional therapy alternatives.

Femiwand

A lot of people endure the therapy well while the power is being delivered. Discomfort and also discomfort related to the treatment are temporary and also are just experienced throughout the therapy. A three dimensional alternative to an intrusive facelift, without any cosmetic surgery and no down time. All skin consultations will be done by phone to evaluate your viability.

After my training course and a little Physio I am entirely back on form. The therapy really helped me get my self-confidence back, as well as the will to begin training once again. Tone, tighten up and also strong skin on your confront with this pioneering therapy.

Results from tests and very early cases in the very first 5 years are extremely motivating with way of living results far better than many various other typical treatment options. The HIFU procedure normally lasts between 1-4 hours, depending on the size of the prostate, as well as is either done under basic anaesthesia or an epidural as well as IV sedation.

Which locations Can Be treated With Hifu?

What Is Mole, wart and Skin Tag Removal?

Our reference campaign deal is valid whatsoever centers for any kind of plan. Share this page to your pal and then get in the coupon code, "FRIEND30" when scheduling your Free assessment. The HIFU treatment is perfect for those individuals who intend to boost their face, tighten up the skin as well as overall battle indicators of aging. Whilst the therapy doesn't harmed, you may experience minor pain throughout the treatment, similar to a light prickly feeling. Did you know that you can schedule your appointment in either of our aesthetic facilities in Nottingham or London? We're devoted to supplying a high quality, personal and also practical solution for each and also every one of our clients, making it as very easy as possible for you to gain access to our very skilled experts. Schedule in at our Nottingham or London facility today, we can't wait to see you soon.

These men will certainly have regular examinations to watch on the cancer that is not treated. Some guys who have focal HIFU have only one location of cancer cells in their prostate. Focal HIFU deals with a smaller location of the prostate and takes one to 2 hrs. It might be suitable for guys who have cancer that requires dealing with in just one location of their prostate. You may have a catheter placed in at the beginning of the therapy to drain pipes urine out of your bladder. A catheter is a slim tube that is passed into your bladder, either with the penis or through the wall surface of your abdomen. You will have a general anaesthetic so that you're asleep during the therapy.

On the early morning of your HIFU treatment, you'll be offered an enema to clear your bowels. You'll additionally be asked not to eat or consume for around six hrs prior to your HIFU. If you're having focal HIFU, you will typically most likely to a testing appointment initially

One of the large advantages of the HIFU Facial is that it's a non-surgical therapy that can be done in a single treatment.

You can see the results quickly, and also the renovations remain to be seen for up to nine months as your collagen is restored.

HIFU is secure, effective and also an excellent solution for training and tightening the jowls, minimizing great lines around your eyes, nose as well as mouth, tightening your skin around your jaw and also neckline as well as reducing hooded, saggy eyelids.

High intensity focused ultrasound is in some cases made use of as a therapy for very early prostate canceror prostate cancerthat has actually returned after radiotherapy.

Rather than surgery, the Ultraformer harnesses ultrasound innovation to radiate energy to the SMAS layer to tighten, lift and plump the skin.

Focal therapy making use of high-intensity focused ultrasound for localized prostate cancer.

It is given as component of a scientific trial, so it is just available in some medical facilities in the UK.

Because of this, it's only readily available in specialist centres in the UK or as part of a medical test.

These tests will certainly help your specialist target the area of the prostate that requires to be dealt with. As Lipo Sculpt offers a Coolsculpt Surrey is reasonably brand-new understanding regarding the long-lasting advantages as well as results is raising daily.

I have constantly been fairly athletic, yet lately because of injury I have actually been not able to educate and as a result my chest as well as Abdominal muscles have actually gone a little bumpy. After visiting the clinic the therapist informed me that due to absence of activity, my blood circulation has decreased and also I have actually established cellulite.

How much does a ponytail facelift cost?

Cost: $8,000–$11,000. The Hair Trick: A DIY ponytail placed just right will yield impressive results too, even if only for an evening.

Transurethral resection of the prostate is a procedure to eliminate prostate tissue as well as improve the circulation of urine. This operation is sometimes used before HIFU to lower the danger of some urinary system troubles after the therapy. Ask your physician or registered nurse which kind of HIFU might be ideal for you. HIFU could be suitable for you if your cancer cells is had inside your prostate. The Content on Our Website does not comprise advice on which you must rely. Professional or specialist advice must constantly be sought prior to taking any kind of activity associating with clinical aesthetic treatments.We make reasonable initiatives to ensure that the Web content on Our Website is full, accurate, and up-to-date.

Why Are Cars Facelifted?

Can a facelift help smokers lines?

Unfortunately, a facelift is not effective at treating those all too common lines around the mouth (smoker's lines). Even patients who do not smoke can develop these lines, sometimes fairly deep. To correct those, a resurfacing procedure needs to be performed.

HIFU treatment takes mins, during treatment it is common to experience some pain as well as a tingling feeling relying on the intensity of the ultrasound. This introducing treatment uses the current cosmetic modern technologies to help tone, tighten and also solid skin on the face, which assists to lower the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles as well as leave the skin looking rejuvenated as well as younger. We can quote the rate for treatment after a preliminary complimentary consultationwith you. If the person selects a body contouring therapy, fat cells are gotten rid of using lipolysis.

Ideal cosmetic results are achievable with just one therapy session, the study images below give an instance of the results from HIFU treatment. targets adipose tissue by using high-intensity ultrasound power creating thermal coagulation to fat cells. The energy generated penetrates below the skin surface and creates mobile friction within cells. As aesthetic medication has advanced, ultrasound has verified to be an outstanding tool for a number of medical procedures. Complete Body Care offers innovative Skin Firm treatment for the face and body utilizing High Strength Concentrated Ultrasound. An usual adverse effects of ageing hangs, sagging skin, triggered by the exhaustion of collagen as well as elastin in the dermis. Ecological elements such as sunlight damage and smoking can better decrease degrees.

If you have focal HIFU, you might have low-risk cancer in another location of the prostate that is not dealt with intentionally. You will have routine tests to keep an eye on the cancer cells that is not dealt with. These might consist of PSA examinations, MRI checks, and also prostate biopsies. You might have a few of the adhering to symptoms directly after therapy, or they may establish time later on. Talk with https://southampton.lipo-sculpt.co.uk/ or nurse if you have troubles with erections or other sex-related problems. They can discuss your therapy alternatives as well as organize complimentary therapy on the NHS. Some males have troubles getting or keeping an erection after HIFU.

What is the best face tightening procedure?

Laser resurfacing This is the most effective procedure for tightening loose skin. Unlike the laser treatment described above, this procedure requires some downtime. You'll need to stay home for 5 to 7 days. Laser resurfacing also gives you the fastest results.

If you aren't able to have a basic anaesthetic for health and wellness reasons, you might be able to have a spine anaesthetic to ensure that you can't feel anything in your lower body. With this, you will also be provided some medicine to make you drowsy.

What Can I expect throughout My Cryopen therapy?

This is since it can damage the blood vessels and also nerves that control erections. For some males this will certainly enhance, but for others this will be a longer-term side effect of HIFU. The following adverse effects can establish right after your therapy. If you have hormone therapy or a TURP before you have HIFU, these can additionally create side effects. Various other males have an additional area of cancer cells in their prostate that is not treated on purpose. This cancer cells is not treated since it is less most likely to spread out (low-risk cancer cells) and it might not trigger any type of troubles.

[saxonspud]

Kidnapped - Chapter 5

Josiah Trelawny, stopped outside the saloon. He removed his hat.

This wasn't his preferred watering hole in St. Denis. He much preferred the higher class establishment in the centre of town, but his would do. It was a better place to discuss the sort of business he would be discussing today.

He walked through the doors, and waved a greeting to the barkeep, before heading to the back room.

“Ahh Josiah, good to see you,” Dutch greeted, as he poured him a drink.

Josiah placed his hat on the table, and sat down, taking a sip of the alcohol. He nodded. At least the refreshments were better than the locale.

“So, how did your foray go, into the world of fathers and daughters,” Josiah smirked.

Dutch rolled his eyes, “the man’s a real piece of work, his daughter on the other hand.”

Josiah chuckled, “she’s a sweet little thing, he hardly lets her out of the house you know.”

Dutch hummed, and reached down into a bag that was under the table.

“Tell me Josiah, where would a man like Jonah McKenzie obtain garments like this?”

He pulled out the dress that you had been wearing, when you took your little trip into the woods.

Josiah raised his eyebrows, “Not from St. Denis, or Paris. That looks more Italian. Milan? Maybe.”

Dutch nodded, “its what our dear Mr. McKenzie has been dressing his daughter in!”

Josiah chuckled, “only the best, and skimpiest outfits when your trying to marry your daughter off to a rich oil magnate.”

Dutch hummed, and narrowed his eyes, “maybe. What sort of money does a wardrobe like this cost?”

Josiah, took another sip of his drink, and scratched his head. “A whole wardrobe, eh?”

Dutch nodded, “even down to her undergarments and night clothes. All of the finest silk, or gossamer lace!”

Josiah frowned, “too much for a man like McKenzie, maybe I should dig a bit deeper!”

Dutch rolled his eyes, “well you haven't got long. Have you contacted him about where to leave our money?”

Josiah chuckled, “not yet, but the plan is rather cunning. I’ll need the assistance of one of your ladies, Mary-Beth perhaps.”

Dutch narrowed his eyes, “she wont be in any danger?”

Josiah shook his head, “no, not at all, but she will need to dress very smartly! Why don’t we discuss the details back at your country house,” he smirked, “then you can introduce me to the lovely Miss Emmeline!”

“We can discuss it here, Josiah. Now’s not a very good time for her to be seeing strangers.” Dutch advised.

“Nonsense Dutch, all the effort and leads I’ve given you. The least you can do is let me see her!”

Dutch sighed, “very well. Lets head back now, I need to get back anyway.”

The two men stood up and left the bar, heading back to Shady Belle.

Josiah and Dutch hitched their horses and headed towards the main house. Arthur was sitting on the steps. He glanced up and waved to Josiah.

“How’s she been, son,” Dutch asked.

Arthur rolled his eyes, “she was yelling earlier, but I thought it best to leave her alone. She’s probably a bit pissed.”

Dutch nodded, “why don’t you take Josiah up, I’ll be up in a little while. Hopefully she’s calmed down a bit by now.”

Arthur headed into the house with Josiah, whilst Dutch headed over to talk to Hosea.

Josiah frowned as they headed up the stairs. “is she still annoyed about the kidnap.”

Arthur hummed, “not exactly, there was a bit of an incident, she tried to do a runner, so she’s been shackled to the bed.”

“Arthur!” Josiah exclaimed, “that was never part of the plan!”

Arthur shrugged, “plans change, you know that. We never planned to run into trouble in Blackwater!”

Arthur lead Josiah into the upstairs living room, then entered the bedroom.

As soon as he opened the door, he stopped dead.

“Oh fuck!” he exclaimed.

The bed was covered in blood. Blood was dripping from your foot, where the metal had bitten into the flesh.

Arthur ran out of the bedroom, and threw open the doors of the balcony, he yelled down.

“Dutch! Hosea! You better get up here! Bring bandages, and hot water!”

Josiah, stood in the doorway, staring at you.

Arthur shook him, “Josiah, just get out the way, we need to sort this out.”

“Wait Arthur, where’s that camera of yours, take a picture!”

Now it was Arthurs turn to stare, “what!” he exclaimed.

“We can use it for leverage, if her father gets difficult.”

Arthur rolled his eyes, and reached into his satchel. Grabbing the camera, he took a picture of you covered in blood, and shackled to the bed.

“You’re sick sometimes, you know that Josiah,” Arthur hissed.

“Means and ends, Arthur. Means and ends!”

Dutch ran into the room, his face paled, when he saw the blood.

“Emmeline!”

He ran into the room, sitting on the edge of the bed, he wrapped his arm around you, pulling you into his chest, “Emmeline, sweetheart, talk to me!”

Dutch glared at Arthur, “where’s the fucking key Arthur, get that thing off of her!” he yelled.

Arthur ran over to the desk in the sitting room, and fumbled around in one of the drawers, finally finding the key. He rushed back, and unlocked the cuff, removing it from your ankle.

Hosea had followed him in, shaking his head in disbelief.

“I can’t believe you two sometimes,” his hissed.

“Please Hosea, just try and fix it,” Dutch pleaded.

Dutch stroked your face, “Emmeline, come on sweetheart.”

Your eyelids fluttered open, you looked at Dutch, tears welling up in your eyes.

“Why do you hate me? Why doesn’t my daddy love me?” you whimpered.

Dutch cupped your face in his hands, “look at me Emmeline, I don’t hate you, I’m sorry sweetheart, we’re gonna fix this!”

He kissed your forehead.

A tear trickled down your face, “I’m sorry, it wouldn’t come off, I tried, but it wouldn’t come off.”

“Oh Emmie, sweetheart. It wasn't supposed to.”

Dutch wrapped his arms around you, and pulled you into his chest.

“Arthur!” he whispered, “get me a glass of brandy, quickly son!”

Arthur nodded, and headed out into the sitting room. He opened the cabinet, and found Dutch’s stash of Fine brandy, and a glass. He poured a measure, and rushed back into the bedroom.

Arthur handed the glass to Dutch.

“Emmie, Sweetheart, drink this,” Dutch this.

You lifted your head, and Dutch put the glass to your lips.

As you swallowed the alcohol you coughed.

“I...i don’t like it,” you moaned.

Dutch stroked your cheek, “it’ll help, Emmie, just a little bit more.”

You took another sip, and grimaced.

“Good girl,” Dutch, stroked your cheek, and kissed your temple.

“Why did you call me Emmie?” you asked, frowning.

Dutch smiled, “Don’t you like it?”

You rested your head on his chest, “I do like it,” you mumbled.

“Then my little Emmie, that's what I’ll call you,” Dutch purred.

Hosea looked up at Dutch and nodded. Dutch looked at your ankle and it was all bandaged.

“am...am I in trouble,” you whimpered.

“Maybe,” he soothed, “just a little.”

“P...please don’t punish me,” you sobbed, “I’m s...sorry.”

Dutch stroked circles on your back.

“Hush now, Emmie, I think you’ve punished yourself enough already.”

Hosea undid the chain, from the bed. “I’ll get rid of this, do you need anything else?”

Dutch nodded, “I’ll bring her down in a bit, can you ask Susan, to get one of the girls to clean up the blood, and get some fresh bedding.”

Hosea nodded, and left the bedroom.

Dutch looked across at Josiah.

“I’ll talk with you Josiah, in a little while. In the meantime fill Arthur in.”

Josiah nodded, and left with Arthur. They closed the door behind them.

“Now Emmie, we need to get that nightgown off,” Dutch advised.

You shook your head, and brought you arms up to your chest.

“I can’t...can’t be naked!” you exclaimed.

Dutch frowned, “Emmeline, what do good girls do?”

“behave,” you mumbled.

“And what else?” Dutch asked sternly.

“Do as their told?” you proffered.

“Exactly, now what happens if you don't do as your told?” he warned.

Your breath hitched in your throat, “wait...please, I’ll do it.”

Dutch smiled, “good girl, lift up your arms.”

You tentatively raise your arms, as Dutch pulled the hem of the nightdress over your head, and threw it on the floor.

Dutch gently trailed his fingers down your bare back.

“So beautiful,” he whispered, “so delicate. Such a good girl for me.”

Dutch kissed your shoulder, then your neck, then your collarbone.

You lowered your head as you felt your face heating. You’d never been naked in front of anyone before.

Dutch gently put his fingers under your chin, and tilted your head up.

“Emmie, look at me.” he whispered.

Your blue eyes, gazed into his brown ones.

“Tell me, who’s good girl are you?” he asked.

“Y...yours.” you stuttered.

“who’s gonna look after you,” he continued.

“Y...you are,” you answered.

Dutch smiled, and gently kissed your lips.

Dutch stood up, and grabbed a spare shirt out of his dresser.

He slowly dressed you in his shirt, leaving a few buttons undone at the top. The shirt was large, and just hung off your shoulders, leaving the tops of your shoulders bare, but covering the arms. It was as long as your nightdress, so looked a little like a nightshirt. The material, was soft to the touch. The looseness of the garment, made it more comfortable than your nightdress.

Despite being laundered, his scent still lingered on the material.

“Put your arms around my neck Emmie?” Dutch urged.

As you did, he lifted you up, carrying you bridal style.

“Will you always look after me?” you asked

Dutch smiled, “always, princess.”

“Even after daddy pays you?” you added.

Dutch chuckled, “Even after that.”

You frowned, “won’t he and Mr. Cornwall be angry.”

Dutch laughed, “yes princess, they’ll be furious!”

[everyaccentthesame]

Infinities are stupid. There I said it. I’m not talking about mathematical infinities, however. They’re fine, even if I don’t really understand them. Ignorance is bliss and all that. No, today I’m talking about the only sort of infinity that I remotely feel somewhat confident talking about: infinities in worldbuilding and how they’re used in D&D.

 Let me define infinity as  far as I understand it in terms that will be useful for this discussion. Infinity, outside of mathematics, means something that is boundless and endless. The description of universe (or in the case of d&d, a plane) as infinite typically means that something is infinite in terms of spatial dimensions but can also refer to the contents of that universe. An infinitely large universe may well contain finite amounts of ‘stuff’ (people, material, energy) within it, though if a finite universe contained infinite amounts of ‘stuff’, that stuff would be infinitely compressed within the finite bounds of that universe.

 D&D has had a long, convoluted, and collaborative history, and this is true for both its ruleset and its worldbuilding. The settings of D&D have been created to act as a basis or a baseline for DM’s to work off as a reference for their stories. Whether they set their games within these settings is up to the DM, but D&D has always released extensive setting books describing the settings endorsed by the creators of D&D. Often these settings have had little impact on one another- Dragonlance, Greyhawk and the Forgotten-realms have changed little about each other over years, each holding to different pantheons, and with little crossover except in a number of niche products. Some settings have sought to create a setting that ‘connects’ other settings- the Spelljammer setting, for example, and references to Spelljammer have percolated through 2nd to 5th edition. Many editions like to imply that all settings are connected in some way through a shared cosmology of connected dimensions or ‘planes’, though this cosmology is interpreted by different folks in those settings in different ways.

 Many of the core concepts of this shared D&D universe were created in its early days by Gary Gygax, Jeff Grubb and others. Each edition of D&D has liked to change the way that the so-called D&D multiverse has worked, switching it up a bit, or in the case of 4th edition, scrapping it completely to create something new. One thing that has remained consistent through each edition up until the 5th, is the description of all planes except Demiplanes as being ‘infinite’ in extent, including the material plane. Indeed, the 5th edition has dropped all mentions of absolute infinity, except in regards to the Astral- a plane defined by not having anything in it, except for that which is brought in from outside it.

 There are more than a couple of problems with the use of the term ‘infinite’ to describe a planes size, or the number of planes in existence. For a start, its lazy. Its shorthand for, ‘I don’t want to go into details, or restrict my creative space’. It allows an author to say ‘very big, bigger than you think, unimaginably big’ in an impressive manner, without saying very much. The issue is that infinities, while fine as a concept, and even interesting to deal with as an idea, if the stories you tell are designed around that- anyone who’s seen the TV show Rick and Morty will appreciate the difficult implications of dealing with our own insignificance in an infinite multiverse where our actions have little to no actual consequences- in traditional storytelling, they don’t help us achieve anything. I don’t know about you, but most of my adventures are not based around telling my players how insignificant their actions are and that they should embrace nihilism, and I don’t think my players would appreciate it if I started doing that. Traditional stories require tangible, achievable goals, meaningful stakes and plots that emotionally resonate with those appreciating them. Infinities as a cosmological concept, depreciate from my ability to tell stories with those in mind.

 Why do I think that? The universe we live in is so large it might as well be infinite to us and indeed may well be, but we don’t consider stories told about the real world to be lacking in stakes. The counterargument there is that humans have a special attachment to their specific little blue and green rock that they happen to live on that your players won’t, and by virtue of experience and the significance we attach to those experiences, we place value in stories told about it. Furthermore, Earth is the only planet in the known universe which contains life, no-less technologically developed life, and thus hold an importance to us who live on it and value that sort of thing. However, many people do struggle to find meaning in the real world, and if you have the option of preventing that sort of existential dread, I would take it.  If your D&D setting never interacts with the other planes or wider multiverse then fair enough, you have effectively dealt with the problem by ignoring it. But sooner or later, you might engage with the wider D&D cosmology, and you’ll want to make sense of it. And infinity will get in the way.

 Infinity could be dealt with in a way that kept the above critique valid but didn’t add any additional difficulty. Infinite planes of material reality could combine with every other plane being infinite to create areas of ‘planar continuity’, carving out finite areas of each plane that only interact with finite areas of other planes. Instead, up until 4th edition, in general terms, anywhere in a plane was equally accessible and if you ‘plane-shifted’ the area which you ‘plane-shifted’ from would rarely matter. This has a number of cosmological implications- for example, Sigil, supposed centre of the multiverse, is a set finite plane interacting with an infinite multiverse, and thus would immediately explode with an infinite number of planar travellers, if there were an infinite number of planar travellers. That it does not implies one of 3 things:

 1. There are not infinite planar travellers.

2. Something prevents all but a finite number travelling to Sigil.

3. The designers didn’t think this through terribly well.

 While the first two options are what I would see as the ‘in-universe’ reason, in our universe the official published material mentions neither option, indicating that it is likely to be the third option which is correct.

 In addition, there is the issue of having finite gods in infinite planes, and in infinitely large planes. Assuming an infinite number of beings reside across infinite material planes, a finite number of gods would be constantly be dogpiled by infinite mortals and petitioners (petitioner is a fancy word for dead souls that go to their gods side when they die). The material that established much of the ‘great wheel’ setting, ‘Planescape’ discussed a great many gods, but nowhere mentioned that there were infinite numbers of these beings. This does not happen, so either we:

 1. Assume that gods are ‘infinite’ in their nature (which is not stated in the official material but does make for good theological worldbuilding material) and thus able to deal with infinite petitioners, planar travellers and godly duties at once.

2. Assume there are not infinite travellers, and thus a finite number of planes inhabited by those capable of planar travel.

3. Assume that the designers, once again, did not think this through.

 The assumption that gods are ‘infinite’ in nature has consequences for our abilities to tell stories in a planar sense- many players love the idea of challenging the god to combat and defeating them, or become gods themselves, which is impossible with gods that are infinite. Now some DM’s may like the idea of infinite gods that can’t be challenged too, and that’s their prerogative, buuuut, that is complicated by the fact that every single D&D edition has, at some point, provided stats for their gods.

 It also doesn’t help that the authors of many supplementary materials seem to forget that the planes have been defined as infinite many times. Modrons, for example, have been given a hard cap on their numbers, which should, by the nature of infinities, make them infinitely irrelevant in the scheme of things. Yet they are not, and the march of the Modrons is an event that can make ‘the planes go crazy’. In reference to the ‘Blood war’, a massive plane-spanning war between the forces of Evil Law and Evil Chaos, numbers are discussed in a very, very, finite manner, as are battlefields and distances. This has been the case in all materials in every edition since AD&D’s Planescape.

 All this suggests that the concepts of infinities as mentioned have been routinely ignored, largely because it assists with the telling of compelling narratives. And if the presence of infinities gets in the way of telling compelling narratives, as a game about creating compelling narratives with your players, D&D and it’s settings would be better served by ignoring infinities, and instead choosing to deal with the far more comforting finities. Thankfully, as of 5th edition, this seems to be what has been done, and the lore of D&D is better off for it.