#there's no need for her to break an ankle

[makeitmingi]

Destined To Be A Girl Dad

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Cute, Fluff

Pairing: San x Reader (y/n)

Characters: Mom!Reader, Dad!San, Daughter (Choi Haeun)

Summary: When San found out you were pregnant with a girl, he could not be happier. You knew that she'll have him wrapped around her tiny finger but he'll gladly be a fool for his princess. And from the moment she was born, he prove it to be true.

Word count: 8K

Warning(s): Mentions of bodily fluids, giving birth, medical procedures, postpartum hemorrhage, (y/n)'s very stressed, scared, anxious and overwhelmed.

[A/N: This is a little 'flashback' chapter to when Haeun was born. I came across a lot of parents showing their newborn daughter and the dad's reactions just reminded me of San so much.]

San was rudely woken up by the sunlight that was streaming in through the gap in the curtains. Before he could even wake his brain, he got out of bed and went to close the curtains. He turned to make sure the sun wasn't bothering you. Thankfully, you were still fast asleep, unbothered by the sun.

"I love you." He leaned over to kiss your head, eyes scanning you to make sure you were comfortable and okay.

"San, I'm fine." You mumbled into your pillow, having felt his gaze on you despite being asleep. San chuckled, pressing his forehead against your temple lovingly.

"Just wanted to make sure you're comfy and safe, baby." He kissed your cheek.

"I'm the size of a whale, I don't even know what it's like to be comfortable anymore." You groaned.

"Don't say that about my princess. She's perfect, you're perfect." He laid down beside you, letting your rest your head on his arm. It was the best was to have you close to him since your belly was in the way.

"At this point, I just want my water to break already." You sighed in slight frustration.

"She'll come when she's ready. I know it's hard, baby. I'm sorry." He pouted, rubbing your arm.

"Want me to massage your feet or get you something?" He offered. With you going to give birth soon, your ankles have been swelling and bothering you so San has been very kind in giving you foot rubs whenever he can.

"No, can you just hold me?" You asked.

"Of course I can do that." San let you move on your own at your own pace to get yourself comfortable. You tilted your body so you could press your face against his chest.

"This should make you more relaxed." San whispered, reaching up to massage the back of your neck and shoulders.

"That feels good. You take such good care of us and she isn't even here yet." You melted into his touch.

"She's not born yet but she's here, she's a part of you. And I'll always take care of you and princess." San chuckled. With the massage and the sound of San's heartbeat, you slowly fell back asleep again.

"Sleep well." He stroked your hair.

Since you were due soon, San had taken some time off work. He still did his practices but there was less travelling just in case you went into labour.

Another thing is that ever since your pregnancy started, San has become a very light sleeper. He was always hyper vigilant and aware of your movements. Not that you wanted him to help you 24/7, he was just worried, he couldn't help it. So when he felt you stir and struggle to sit up, he opened his eyes.

"What do you need, baby?" San asked, sitting up just as you managed to stand on your feet and get out of bed.

"I'm just going to get more water, my bottle is empty. Go back to sleep, Sannie. I can manage it on my own." You giggled and put on your house slippers.

"I can get it for you, baby. I should have filled up your bottle for you before going to bed." He said.

"San, it's really okay. I can get my own water. And you did fill up my bottle, I just drank it all." You assured with a soft smile.

"Okay, call me if you need help." San told you. You hummed and left your shared bedroom to go to the kitchen. He didn't go back to sleep, he just sat there, waiting for a bit before going to help you.

"Sannie, do you want coffee?" You asked.

"I'm good, baby. I want you back in bed with me." He replied. He could hear you laughing.

CLANG!

"Baby!" San shot out of bed and rushed to the kitchen. You were standing there, the glass of water that was in your hand was shattered on the ground. You winced, knees starting to wobble as you held your back.

"Sorry." You groaned amidst the pain that you were in. Now San was worried you hurt yourself.

"It's okay, it's okay. Come. Careful." Holding both your hands in his, San guided you over the broken glass. He was grateful you were wearing the slippers Seonghwa bought you.

"Did the glass get you?" He sat you down and checked you, looking for any signs that you were cut from the glass.

"No, it hurts." You held your back.

"Braxton Hicks?" He bent down in front of you, helping you to rub your back. San knew that you have been having Braxton Hicks since you were going into labour soon.

"No, Sannie. I think it's real. The Braxton Hicks have never hurt so badly and it never reaches my back." You groaned.

"Oh........ OH!" It took a while for your words to sink in as San jumped to his feet.

"We should go to the hospital. Or should I call an ambulance? What should I do?!" He asked.

"Sannie, calm down. It's okay, breathe. It just started so we don't have to go to the hospital yet. But I should start timing how long they last and the intervals between them." You squeezed his hand as you reminded him of what the doctor told you, trying to maintain a smile as you felt him beginning to panic.

"Right, right. I'll help you. Let me clean up the glass first." San was reluctant to let go of your hand but the broken glass on the floor was a hazard to both you and him.

"I'm sorry I made a mess and can't even help clean it up." You sighed.

"No need to apologise, baby. You're in labour. You just focus on yourself and princess." He looked at you with an excited smile.

"You're such a goof." You chuckled. San shot you a flat look with a playful pout before returning back to cleaning. After he was done, San escorted you back to bed to rest.

"Are you timing your contractions? Are they getting more intense?" He asked as he retrieved towels.

"Still manageable." You groaned.

"Alright, come here, baby." San laid out the towels for them, knowing you would be stressed out if your water broke all over the sheets and the mattress.

"Careful. Easy..." He cooed, adjusting your pillow for you so you were comfortable.

"Shall I get you some food? A drink?" He asked.

"No but after the princess comes, I want a big coffee. A BIG coffee, Choi San." You held his collar to show how serious you were. With your pregnancy, you had to severely cut down on your coffee intake, which you did not really like.

"Of course, baby. Anything you want." He kissed the top of your head and went out to the kitchen to fix you snack. You did your best to stay distracted, watching San fancams on your iPad.

"Hey! I'm here!" You heard noises outside and put the iPad down. In came Wooyoung with a big grin.

"So, how's my god daughter doing?" He asked, reaching over to hug you.

"She's not here yet but soon, she'll be here in our arms. Just a little more." You chuckled, patting his back. Wooyoung was also very involved in your pregnancy.

"Even with the man right here, in the flesh, you're still watching his fancams?" He raised an eyebrow, seeing your iPad.

"It distracts me, okay?" Your cheeks heated up, closing the iPad before San could come in.

"Well, it definitely distracts you in one way because that's how my god daughter got here. And perhaps my future god children." He teased and you slapped his arm in embarrassment.

"Anyway, I brought you some food. San's too panicked to cook now but you should get some food in you." He told you. You laughed and nodded your head. Just then, San came in with a tray, plating up the food that Wooyoung had brought along with him. He placed it on the bed for you.

"Come on." Both San and Wooyoung helped you sit up properly so you could eat, even if San insisted on feeding you.

"Ah... Damn it." You cursed under your breath as another contraction hit you. San rubbed your back and let you squeeze his hand until the wave of pain would pass.

"So, how long can this last? Or rather, how long should it last until you go to the hospital?" Wooyoung asked.

"Dude, did you not read the parenting books I got you?" San asked his best friend in disbelief.

"Look, I tried my best to read two! I couldn't continue reading the other five." Wooyoung groaned and whined. You laughed and patted San's shoulder.

"It's fine. Basically, we time how long they last and the intervals between them. Then we go to the hospital." You replied.

"I already texted our OBGYN that the labour has started. She's ready when you are." San informed.

"When I am ready? More like when your daughter is ready." You chuckled. San cooed and kissed your temple. Even if you were full, you tried to eat at least half of what Wooyoung brought you. And you made sure both Wooyoung and San ate too.

"Trust me, you'll both need your energy too." You told them, holding the wall and slowly walking around. San had his bowl in his hand, his other hand held out to support you in case you fell.

"San, eat your food. It's fine, I'll manage on my own for a few minutes." You assured.

"No, I'd rather just be here by your side." He shook his head as he chewed his food.

"Is your go bag packed?" Wooyoung asked.

"Oh, I need my phone charger and the book from my nightstand." You replied. San was going to go but Wooyoung held his hand out to stop him, going into your room to retrieve the items for you.

"Don't know if you're going to be able to get much reading done with the princess here." San laughed.

"That's why I have you and Woo, right?" You joked.

"That's right. I am not leaving my princess' side." Wooyoung declared as he came out with your items, tucking them into the bag that you had packed and ready on the couch.

"You mean, my princess." San corrected with a glare. Wooyoung rolled his eyes. You laughed with a shake of your head. If the two were already fighting before your daughter was born, you can only imagine how much worse it was going to be when she actually gets here. Not the mention, the 6 other uncles waiting.

"She's not even here yet and you two-" You stopped mid sentence as you felt a pop.

"What?" San asked in confusion and worry. Until you both looked down and saw the trickle of liquid go down your leg.

"I think now's a good time to go to the hospital." San said and you nodded, feeling your cheeks heat up. You were frozen in your spot as the trickle was consistent.

"Text my parents. Tell them her water broke and we're going to the hospital now." San told Wooyoung as he pulled on clothes and grabbed you a hoodie that he knew would keep you comfortable.

"What's wrong, baby? Does it hurt?" San frowned, wondering why you haven't moved.

"It's dripping..." You mumbled, hiding your face in your hands.

"Hey, it's okay. It's okay, it's normal." San hugged you, rubbing your back. Tears welled up in your eyes, you didn't know what was happening, you just couldn't handle it.

"It's so embarrassing, I'm going to die." You cried. Even if you expected this to happen and knew it was going to happen, it still felt so embarrassing to have your bodily fluids leak out of you, especially in front of Wooyoung.

"(y/n), listen to me. This is normal, you're giving birth. There's nothing to be embarrassed about." Wooyoung assured.

"It's alright, hmm? Don't worry." San kissed your cheek, wiping your tears away. You nodded tearfully and squeezed San's hand as he slipped your shoes on for you and guided you out of the house.

"Careful, easy." San placed a towel on the passenger seat for you to sit before loading up the car and driving to the hospital.

"Oww..." You took deep breaths, feeling the pain become more intense and frequent.

"Sir, you can't park here." The guard said as San stopped his car.

"I know! I know! But my wife is in labour, can you help her? I'll move my car right after." San came out and opened your door. He watched as the guard called nurses to come with the gurney.

"I'll see you inside, baby." San squeezed your hand. You nodded and shot him a small smile before he got in the car and went to park.

Of course, you were slightly freaked out that you were now alone and without San, you were scared and nervous. But a part of you didn't want to make him panic even more so you took a deep breath and tried your best to calm yourself down, telling yourself that he'll be back by your side soon.

"Hey, (y/n)." Your OBGYN came into your delivery room. Since your water broke, the nurses brought you to the delivery room right away instead of checking you into a ward.

"Dr Min, I'm glad to see a familiar face." You smiled tearfully.

"Hey, I'm here for you and your baby. You're in safe hands." She patted your shoulder and began to check you.

"San's parking the car but he said he got you up to speed on everything? My brain's just a little foggy now." You admitted honestly, watching her put on her gloves.

"Yes, he did. Don't worry. I'll just check you now to see how dilated yet." She told you.

"I'm here! Is she born yet?!" San burst into the room, breathing heavily. The nurses in the room giggled at his outburst.

"Sannie, shhh. No, she's not born yet." You chuckled, opening your arms for him. As San made his way over, he smiled at Dr Min and gave you a hug.

"Looks like we're getting there but not yet. We'll have to wait a little more." Dr Min said, standing back up and removing her gloves to throw them into the bin. You let out a long, defeated sigh and San stroked your head.

"Thanks, Dr Min." San bowed his head.

"Don't be discouraged. Baby girl will be here soon." Dr Min smiled softly at you. You nodded and waved as she left the room. San pulled up a chair so he could stay by your side as the wait began.

"Are you sure you don't want anything for the pain?" San asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

"I'm okay. It's all on our princess, we'll wait until she's ready." You said, reaching up to hold his face in your hands.

"But you're in pain and I don't like seeing you in pain." He kissed your hand. One of the options that you and San had discussed was inducing or speeding up the birth but you wanted to push through.

"You're so strong, baby. You're a good omma." He smiled softly, rubbing the back of your hand with his thumb.

"You do whatever makes you feel comfortable, okay? It's your decision." He assured.

"Thanks, Sannie. I just feel better with you here." You said. There was no other person you would rather have a child with. San was always there for you, always supportive and encouraging. He never pushed you to do anything you didn't want to do, he trusts your instinct and decisions for both yours and your daugher's wellbeing.

"You know I'll always be here for you and for the princess." He pressed your hand against his cheek.

"I just want her to be okay." You teared up. Hearing your suddenly serious words, San stood up from his seat, leaning over you. His eyes searched yours.

"Hey, hey. Where's all this coming from? Baby, you'll be okay. Both you and princess will be okay. I've got you both." He frowned.

"I know, I just suddenly feel so scared." You rubbed your eyes like a little child crying to her parent.

"It's normal to be scared. But don't be. Dr Min and everyone will take care of you." He comforted. As another contraction hit, you winced and squeezed San's hand. He rubbed your back soothingly.

"Let me get you some water. Breathe, baby." San poured cold water into a cup for you and held the straw out for you to drink.

"Thank you." You coughed slightly and grabbed a towel you bought to wipe your tears and sweat.

"Princess, I know you're comfy in there but omma is dealing with a lot of pain. Be a good girl and make it easy for omma." San said, pressing his ear to your stomach like he always did throughout the pregnancy. You ran your fingers through his hair.

"Ooh, she did not like that." San chuckled as both you and him felt her move and kick where his ear was. San pouted at your daughter but still planted a kiss to your belly.

"I'm gonna miss her kicks." San pouted at you.

"Alright, I don't know what you're implying but slow down, cowboy." You pushed his forehead.

A few more hours passed with San staying by your side and helping you through the contractions. Your parents and San's parents came, both mothers making sure you were okay and comfortable.

"Okay, omma. Let's see where baby girl is at." Dr Min came in again. San wiped the sweat off your forehead for you.

"Looks like we're ready to start pushing." Dr Min's head popped up.

"We'll be outside. Call us if you need anything." Your mom and Mrs Choi said, leaving the room to give you and San some privacy. They didn't want to overwhelm you further.

"I've got you okay? Don't be afraid, you can do this, baby. I know you can." San looked down at you and you nodded. With the guidance of your OBGYN, you began to push. San squeezed your hand and you tried your best to push. Even when you got tired, all the staff were encouraging to you.

"I can see the head. You're doing great, (y/n). Just a little more." Dr Min told you.

"She's out, she's out." Dr Min announced and clamped the cord, separating your baby from the placenta. You both watched as she handed the baby to the nurse practitioner.

"She's here." San excitedly looked over but still remaind by your side. Even as your daughter let out her first big cry.

"Go, see your princess, comfort her." You patted his hand. All you had to do was deliver the placenta.

"Cut here." The nurse handed San the scissors to cut the umbilical cord. He couldn't even stop the huge grin from forming on his face as he watched his daughter.

"Hi there, it's okay. Appa's got you." San cooed as the nurse placed the baby in his arms.

As much as San wanted to hold her longer, he knew skin to skin with you was more important. So he brought her to you immediately.

"She's perfect." San smiled as he lowered her down to you. You smiled tired and weakly, eyes blinking slowly. And before San could release her into your arms, your eyes closed and your head dropped. San's eyes widened in shock.

"She's hemorrhaging! Doctor!" The nurse yelled and Dr Min ran over as the machines beeped in alarm.

"Baby?! (y/n)!" San yelled out in fear. Your daughter began to cry and San felt tears in his eyes too. What was happening? What was going on? All he could see was your pale face.

"BP dropping. Someone take Mr Choi and the child to another room." Dr Min ordered.

"Please, save my wife." San begged as the nurse led him to another room.

"We will try our best, Mr Choi. Dr Min is the best. But now, you need to have skin on skin with your daughter." The nurse advised calmly and San handed the baby to her.

"Like this?" San removed his shirt, letting the nurse lay the baby against his chest. The moment she did, the baby calmed down.

"Please go save her." San cried. The nurse nodded and left the room. His parents and your parents came in, all panicked. Of course, San wanted this to be a joyous occasion, he waited so long to meet his daughter and now she was here, in his arms. But he just couldn't, knowing you were unconscious.

"What happened?" Your mother asked worriedly.

"I don't know. I think they said she's hemorrhaging. She was fine, all she had to do was deliver the placenta. I shouldn't have left her side." San cried.

"San, San. Calm down. (y/n)'s going to be okay. You need to be strong for her and your daughter." Mrs Choi told him.

"Okay." San took deep breaths. He and his daughter seemed to be able to calm each other down.

"She'll be okay." Your mother assured, wiping San's tears. San looked down at the baby that was sleeping on his chest. He gently kissed the top of her head.

"Omma will be okay." He whispered. Soon, another nurse came in with a baby basinet.

"How's my wife?" San asked.

"I'm sorry, sir. I don't know. I need to bring the baby for her checks." The nurse apologised. San didn't want to let his daughter go, even with his mother around, he felt like your baby was the only thing that could comfort him now.

"Can it wait?" San pleaded. The nurse looked conflicted, unsure of what she should do.

"I'm sorry. But if there was a birth complication, we need to check. I promise I'll bring her back as soon as possible." The nurse said. San reluctantly handed the baby to her.

"Mr Choi?" Dr Min came in and San immediately stood up, even when his shirt wasn't fully buttoned up yet.

"Doc, how is she?" San felt like he couldn't breathe.

"She's fine. Out of the woods. Bleeding after birth is normal but she bled a lot. But don't worry, she's okay. She's recovering. I'll need to keep her here for a few days longer though." She informed.

"Of course, anything. We'll stay for as long as she'll need. Thank you so much." San bowed deeply to the doctor.

"Now go be with your wife. I had the nurses send her up to your ward already." Dr Min smiled and San went up to the ward where you were wheeled up to.

When San entered, you were fast asleep, probably tired for the birth and the huge loss of blood. But San knew you were a fighter. He hovered over you and kissed your forehead, feeling another round of tears threaten to fall. Obviously he didn't know the severity of the bleed but he knew he almost lost you.

"I love you. Thank you." He pressed his head against yours. As he took a chair to sit, he held your hand the entire time.

"You did good, baby. You did so good, you deserve to rest. She's perfect, an angel just like you. Sleep for as long as you want." San said to you, even though you were asleep.

When you woke up, you looked around in confusion. Until your eyes fell upon San, walking around with a bundle in his arms, singing softly.

"Look who it is, baby girl." San turned and realised you were awake.

"San..." You began to cry. San put your daughter back in her basinet and came over to you.

"It's okay, you're okay. I got you. I got you." He hugged you tightly, his hand resting on the back of your head. You cried into his shoulder and San felt a lump in his throat too.

"You did so good, baby." San continued to comfort you for as long as you needed.

"Can I see her?"

"Of course you can, baby! You're her mom!" San laughed and went over to pick up the baby that was beginning to fuss. But as San gently laid her on your chest, the baby calmed down. She blinked up at you and you smiled softly.

"Hi there. You're so cute... You're perfect. Did you name her yet?" You cooed and looked up at San, who was smiling at both of you. He shook his head.

"You should name her. You've let me make a lot of decisions in the pregnancy, you should name her." You told him.

"Baby, I let you make those decisions because it was your body, you were the one going through the pregnancy, not me." San laughed.

"But I do have one name that I like. Haeun." He added.

"Haeun, Choi Haeun. I like it. It's perfect for her. Welcome to the world, Haeunnie." You smiled at her. San gave you a kiss then kissed the top of Haeun's head.

Since you woke up, San called Dr Min to come and check on you. At the same time, the nurse taught you how to feed Haeun.

"You gave us a scare earlier but you're fine now, (y/n). Nothing major. However, I was mentioning that I would need you to stay in a little longer just for observations." Dr Min explained. You nodded obediently, too preoccupied with staring at your daughter that was drinking from you hungrily.

"Thanks, Dr Min." You and San bowed your heads as she took her leave. You smiled softly, watching Haeun grasp your finger in her hand as she drank.

"You must have been hungry, my love." You cooed.

"She has a big appetite like her dad." San grinned proudly at you, making you scoff.

After Haeun had her fill, she fell asleep. You couldn't get up so the nurse came in to help you with cleaning her and changing her diaper before wrapping her up in a swaddle.

"Oh, so that's how you do it." San said, looking over at the nurse's actions, his glasses on as he took notes on his phone.

"Hey, grandpa. Can I get a glass of water, please?" You teased. San's head whipped around to glare at you.

"You're lucky you're cute." He glared with a pout as he handed you the water. You grinned cheekily as the nurse placed the swaddled Haeun in the basinet and wheeled her by your side. But San constantly hovered over her.

"Let her sleep. Nothing will happen with her a few inches away from us." You chuckled. You and San enjoyed each other's silence, well it was more like San not being able to take his eyes off Haeun.

"Knock knock." The door opened and Wooyoung poked his head in with the others, all carrying flowers, gift baskets and balloons.

"She's sleeping." San quickly shushed everyone.

"Sorry, overprotective dad over here." You snickered. Hongjoong held up a huge cup of iced coffee for you and you swear you nearly cried at the sight.

"Lifesaver." You whispered gratefully and received the cup in your hands to take a big sip.

"Slow down, baby. You shouldn't finish it in one go." San stopped you, placing his hand to push the cup away from you.

"I pushed a bowling ball out of me. Please just let me have this." You begged. San sighed in defeat and let go, letting you enjoy your coffee. But of course, you did heed his advice and drank slowly.

"Oh my gosh... She's the most perfect little angel." Wooyoung cooed, trying to contain his squeal, leading to him slapping Seonghwa's shoulder. Seonghwa hissed and pushed Wooyoung away. Before they could all get too close, San stepped between them and the basinet, pointing to the sink.

"Wash first." San ordered.

"How are you?" Jongho asked, taking a seat by your side. You assumed San had told everyone about the complication after birth.

"I'm okay now. I think it gave all of us a scare but the doctor stopped the bleeding and I'm fine, just have to stay in here a little longer for observation." You shrugged.

"That's good." Yeosang hummed. You watched as San reluctantly let the boys carry Haeun.

"She's so cute when she sleeps." Yunho cooed over Wooyoung's shoulder.

"I have a feeling everything she does is going to be cute to all of you." You laughed. You trusted San to watch out for Haeun and help the boys properly hold her so you could relax.

"You should rest more. I'm sure you've been through the wringer. We brought you food too." Mingi told you, adjusting your blanket properly. You smiled gratefully, watching Seonghwa take a rice porridge out of the container for you.

"We didn't even ask her name yet." Seonghwa said, wheeling the table close to you so you could eat.

"Her name is Haeun, Choi Haeun." San smiled proudly.

"What a perfect name for a perfect princess." Wooyoung cooed softly at the baby in his arms. After a bit, Haeun woke up and began crying. San patted your hand and went to retrieve her from Wooyoung.

"Don't worry, appa's got you." He swayed, patting her back softly to soothe her.

"He's got it. Eat up, get your energy back." Jongho encouraged. You took a spoon and began eating, glacing over at San and Haeun.

"We should go, give you three time to rest." Hongjoong said, checking his watch. The boys came over to give you hugs while San watched with a frown.

"Stop hugging my wife." He whispered harshly, careful not to disturb the now calm Haeun. Only when he placed her back in the basinet, he happily hugged the members who congratulated him again.

"I can't believe she's finally here. The princess is finally here." San let out little squeaks of happiness as Wooyoung hugged him. Wooyoung nodded with a soft laugh and patted San's back. Everyone was waiting for your baby's arrival, even more so when it was announced that you were having a girl.

"We'll see you soon. Take care." Yunho waved as the boys all left.

"She's asleep, Sannie. You can put her down." You chuckled. San looked up at you with a disappointed smile.

"You can watch her. I want cuddles." You held your arms up. At that, San placed Haeun down and came to you. Luckily the hospital bed was big enough.

"Are you feeling ill? You have to tell me or inform the nurse." He said as you laid on his chest.

"I'm fine, Sannie." You squeezed his arm, snuggling closer to him. San He reached over you and rubbed your back.

"I love you. You did so good, baby. Thank you so much for giving me my princess. Really, thank you. I can't thank you enough." San repeated, planting many kisses on your head.

"There's nothing to thank me for, San. I'm lucky to have you with me and to be the one to have your daughter, you've been the perfect partner. You're such a great dad, she's lucky that she'll have you to raise her." You smiled up at him.

"You always speak so lowly of yourself, my love. I'm lucky to have you and her now. And she has the best mom in the whole wide world. So she's pretty lucky." He said.

"Yeah." You nodded, the both of you looking over at your sleeping child.

"Is it weird that I already love her so much? Like looking at her makes my heart hurts." San asked.

"Not weird, that's called being whipped. Or being a fool for your daughter. She's a few hours old and already has you wrapped around her tiny finger." You lifted up your pinky finger.

"Don't make fun of me." He whined.

"But she's finally here, San. She was inside of me and now, she's right there. She's laying there, sleeping, breathing on her own." You said.

"All thanks to you, baby. Now, you should continue to rest. You're not 100% yet, take all the time you need to recover." San reached over to lower the lights so you could sleep. Since you were still feeling weak, it didn't take long for the tiredness to wash over you and you fell asleep in San's hold.

You were woken up by Haeun's crying but San already jumped out of bed, going to her to scoop her up into his arms. As you turned up the lights, you watched San try to soothe her.

"She could be hungry." You rubbed your eyes tiredly.

"Are you okay to feed her? We can use formula if you still feel weak." San asked with a worried frown.

"I'm fine. I just need the pillow." You said. San nodded and let you carry Haeun while he put the 'U' shaped pillow under Haeun and around your waist so you wouldn't have to carry her full weight.

"Is this okay?" San asked, adjusting the pillow properly. You hummed and fed a fussing Haeun.

"Good girl, Haeun. It's okay." You stroked her head as she drank from you hungrily.

"My poor baby must be tired." San came and reached over, cupping your cheeks. You smiled tiredly, knowing that this is going to be your routine for a while. But it was comforting to see Haeun peacefully drinking and staring up at you.

"Awww, now you're nice and full, aren't you, angel?" You cooed as she released you so you could cover yourself up. Since you were still feeling weak, San helped you with changing her diaper.

"Post birth poops are awful." You groaned.

"Nonsense, my princess' poop doesn't smell at all." San grinned dreamily, cooing at Haeun who squirmed.

"There we go. All done." San gently lifted her up, pressing a kiss to her cheek before placing her back into your arms. Haeun stared at you and you smiled at her.

"Your dad has become such a fool for you, hmm?" You tapped her cheek and she grasped your finger.

"Don't call me a fool in front of her." San scoffed. You smiled cheekily and San reached over to pinch your cheeks for teasing him.

"She's asleep." You shushed San.

"You should sleep too, baby." San waited for you to be ready to hand Haeun over him. Once you did, he placed her back into the basinet and tucked you back into bed, getting in beside you. He couldn't sleep without you by his side too. San softly sang to you until you fell back to sleep.

And over the next few days, San took great care of you and Haeun. He prioritised your recovery and took over so many tasks, making sure you were not pushing yourself.

"Hello?" Wooyoung came in.

"Shh, they both just went to sleep." You said from your spot on the couch, nodding over to where San was asleep in your hospital bed.

"Stealing the patient's bed?" Wooyoung tilted his head with a snort as he looked at his best friend. Despite being asleep, San's hand rested on the edge of Haeun's basinet.

"How are you?" Wooyoung asked, sitting beside you.

"A lot better. Can't wait to discharge tomorrow. But I couldn't have done it without Sannie, he's been taking great care of us." You smiled.

"He is a good partner and dad." Wooyoung agreed with a hum. With San and Haeun sleeping, Wooyoung decided to cut up some fruit for you to eat.

"I'm grateful that Haeun is such an angel baby and I'm not just saying that because I'm her mother. She's so patient and loving, rarely cries except for milk or diaper changes. But I can 100% say, she's a daddy's girl for sure." You giggled.

"Of course she is. San must be ecstatic." Wooyoung rolled his eyes.

"I haven't seen the smile leave his face since the day she was born. Everything she does, he thinks it's the best thing since sliced bread." You smiled at a sleeping San.

"He's a fool for her already. But I can't blame him, she's perfect." Wooyoung shrugged and you pushed his shoulder.

"You are just as big of a fool for her." You accused. But deep down, you were glad that Haeun is going to grow up with love from everyone.

"Look who is awake." You were washing your hands when you realised Haeun had woken up and was just laying there without making a fuss.

"Uncle Wooyoung is here to see you, baby." You lifted Haeun out of the basinet and kissed her cheeks.

"Ack. Luckily we're in a hospital because she's going to give me a heart attack." Wooyoung fangirled as you placed Haeun in his arms.

"Haeun." San shot up, having realised the basinet moved slightly from when you picked Haeun up. His sudden movement had made you jump. He sat up and looked around in slight panic, only to see Wooyoung holding Haeun. He let out a sigh of relief and you went over, standing between his legs.

"She's fine, appa. Wooyoung's got her." You chuckled, running your hands through his messy hair. San put his arms around you to hug you and pressed his face against your middle.

"I didn't even know I fell asleep." He murmured.

"You've been working so hard, taking care of us. You deserve to rest too, Sannie." You comforted him.

"Look at your parents. They're gonna make uncle Woowoo puke." You both looked up to see Wooyoung talking to Haeun, holding her in a way that elevated her to see you two.

"She's smiling." You pointed at Haeun's brief, lopsided smile.

"She just loves uncle Woowoo the most." Wooyoung cooed. San didn't take too well to that comment and marched over.

"My baby." He emphasised, taking Haeun out of Wooyoung's arms. He smiled down at her, planting a kiss to her head. You just shook your head at them.

When it was time to feed Haeun, Wooyoung took his leave. As you sat against the headboard to feed Haeun, San massaged your feet, noting that your ankles were still slightly swollen so he put on compression socks for you.

"Are you still feeling sick?" He asked worriedly.

"No, I feel fine actually. So we can go home tomorrow." You smiled excitedly, looking down at Haeun.

"A-Are you sure? Because if you don't feel right, you should stay for a few more days until you're sure you're 100% well again. Maybe we should speak to Dr Min." San suggested.

"Sannie..." Luckily Haeun finished feeding so you could put her back in her basinet. You moved closer to San.

"What's wrong, Sannie?" You cupped his cheeks with a concern frown. You searched his eyes and all you saw was fear in them.

"I was just really scared. When you lost consciousness, there was so much blood. The doctor and nurses were rushing..." San struggled to breathe and you hugged him, letting him lean on your shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Sannie..." You hugged his head.

"I thought I was going to lose you..." He muttered softly, hands gripping your waist. You rarely see San cry so seeing him cry and be so vulnerable around you was indicative of how scared he really was. And for San, he always believed that he has to be your rock so he really tried to keep it in.

"You've been through a lot too, Sannie. But we're here for you, both me and Haeun. You don't have to go through this alone." You stroked the back of his head.

"You won't lose me, lose us, so quickly. I love you." You lifted his head and gave him a kiss, caressing his cheek.

"I love you too." San wrapped his arms around you, pulling you to sit on his lap.

"Baby girl's smiling at us." San chuckled. You lifted your head from his chest to see Haeun looking at the both of you, squirming in her wrap but her head turned to smile at you and San.

"Our baby. That's our baby." You smiled softly and San turned his head to meet your eyes, nodding in agreement.

"I still can't believe she's here. No more talking to her through the tummy." San chuckled.

"Well, before you know it, she'll be able to reply to you when you actually talk to her." You said. At your words, San held his chest dramatically, squeezing his eyes shut like he was going to implode at the thought of Haeun growing up.

"Alright, appa... Breathe. Don't have a heart attack here or I'll need to call the nurses." You patted his arm. San pursed his lips and just pressed a kiss to your shoulder.

"Thank you so much, Dr Min." You said as you hugged the doctor, who patted your back.

"Take care of yourself, (y/n)." She chuckled.

"Do we have everything? I feel like we're forgetting something." You heard San in your room, trying to pack up everything, making you and Dr Min giggle.

"You and baby girl will be just fine." Dr Min squeezed your shoulder and left while you entered your ward.

"Everything okay in here?" You asked.

"Just fine, baby. Whatever we forget, we can buy again. As long as I have princess and you, that's most important." San grinned, holding the baby carrier basket with Haeun sleeping soundly inside.

"Want me to carry her? Or get the bags?" You offered. San shook his head, holding Haeun away from you as if you will steal her and run. Even if the doctor cleared you, San didn't believe you were entirely recovered so he didn't want you doing any heavy lifting or anything strenuous. You just walked beside him.

"Also, baby. Even though the news is out that baby girl is born, KQ says that they'll do whatever it takes to keep her picture and name out of the press." San informed.

"Great, remind me to send them a thank you basket." You chuckled as you both walked to the car.

"Are you excited to finally go home with us, princess?" San cooed to Haeun.

"You're asleep and probably don't care as long as there's milk, right?" He continued to talk to her as he loaded the basket into the car seat inserts that he had already installed previously.

"She's so cute when she sleeps." You adjusted her blanket as you sat in the backseat with her while San drove.

"She's cute doing anything, please. She's our child, of course she's cute." San scoffed from the front seat and you shot him a flat look.

You stifled a laugh to yourself, imaging how things are going to be when Haeun grows up, she'll definitely be leading her father by his nose. Well, in his defense, he did warn you about how he would be if you got pregnant with a girl.

"We're home, princess. Home sweet home." San cooed as he helped to remove the carrier from the seat clips. You unlocked the door to your home and took a deep breath.

"Feels good to be home." You let out a content sigh. San chuckled and leaned over to kiss your cheek.

"I need a shower." You groaned. San hummed and let you go. But you didn't want to shower too long, wanting to relieve San for a bit.

"Sannie, I'm-" You came out of the shower to see him fast asleep on the couch, sitting up and holding Haeun to his chest, who was also still asleep.

"Aww, look at you two." You whispered and took your phone to snap a picture, a smile on your face.

Only when Haeun woke up and fussed then San woke up, immediately patting her back to try and soothe her.

"It's okay, appa. Take a break, I've got her." You smiled and took Haeun from him. San nodded with a tired smile and leaned back into the couch to rest. You leaned over to kiss the top of his head before walking to get Haeun's diaper changed. Then you checked if she was hungry before feeding her, sitting in your rocking chair.

"My love. You are so beautiful." You gently stroked her head as she drank from you. You softly hummed 'Mist' to her with a soft smile on your face.

"Thank you for being born." You giggled.

When she was done, you burped her and walked around with her in your arms, still humming to her.

"Look at your appa sleeping. He's been taking such good care of us, baby. He'll protect you and love you forever, you're such a lucky girl." You spoke to Haeun, who blinked up at you.

"My two girls." San woke up, stretching his limbs and yawning as he caught you and Haeun.

"You should sleep more, Sannie." You said, sitting by him.

"I'm good. You should rest more, the birth and everything must have been tiring on you." He stroked your head. You handed Haeun over to him, letting her rest on his chest.

"I'll heat up some food for our dinner. You should skin on skin with her if you can. Dr Min says it'll help." You patted his thigh and went to the kitchen to heat up the food that your mother and San's mother had helped stock in the fridge.

"Auh, go to sleep, precious. It's okay to sleep. Appa is here." You could hear San speak to Haeun.

"You're really destined to be a girl dad, San." You stood at the kitchen entrance, seeing San coax Haeun to sleep. He sat there, shirtless with the small baby against his chest.

"I am. I am destined to be this girl's dad." San agreed, smiling down at Haeun, who was slowly going to sleep.

"ATINY will eat this up if they saw you." You joked. San rolled his eyes but still posed for you to take a picture of him to save.

"So, we're establishing here that you'll be the one to discipline her while I'm the good one that comforts her when she cries right?" San grinned cheekily.

"We'll see about that." You scoffed.

"Thank you, baby. For all that you did and went through for my princess to be born." San leaned over to kiss you.

"You know despite everything, I would do it again. Couldn't have asked for a better partner and we know this girl is the luckiest little girl in the world with such an amazing dad and 7 chaotic, silly but great uncles who will always dote on her." You smiled softly and laid your head on San's shoulder.

"Yes, she will definitely grow up with a lot of chaos. I mean, look at her godfather. He's the definition of chaos." He chuckled.

You nodded, San was right but you knew the boys, especially Wooyoung, would make sure your little girl grows up with all the love in the world.

And that proved to be right because after a day of hanging out with Wooyoung, Haeun came back home and said her first word.

"Sannie!" She lifted her arms up with the biggest grin on her face.

"What did you say, baby?" You stifled a laugh. She repeated it again and you saw San freeze, unsure of how to react. She didn't call him 'appa' but his name was her first word.

"She said her first word." You reminded San.

"Still..." San gave you a look. He was big on respect and traditions, he didn't want Haeun going around calling him by his first name.

"No, not Sannie, princess. Appa. Can you say 'appa'?" San pointed to himself, bending down to her height so he would be at her eye level. You were having a field day and didn't have the heart to correct Haeun, she was just so cute.

"Sannie!" She giggled bashfully. San playfully lifted her up, making her squeal with laughter.

"I'm going to kill Jung Wooyoung." San turned to you.

"Sannie! Sannie!" Haeun gleefully wrapped her arms around San's neck, burying her face against his chest.

[a-shade-of-blue]

Hi everyone. I've been asked by Hamdy (@hamdigaza) to share his story with you. Hamdy is only 19 years old but he has already witnessed the deaths of so many family members, including 3 young children: Omar, Nada and Zeina. None of them had even reached 5 years old when they were killed by Israeli missiles.

Omar was an intelligent boy who dreamt of becoming an engineering. He was killed, along with his parents, in the same raid by the occupation forces. He did not even get to graduate from kindergarten.

Omar's little sister Nada was also martyred. She was only 4 years old. She looked up to her brother Omar and wanted to attend kindergarten with him so much. She was a kind soul and wished to become a doctor when she grow up so that she can "treat the sick and the blind". She never got to grow up. She was only 4 years old when she was killed.

(This is a photo of Nada and Omar. They were both so young when they were brutally murdered)

Baby Zeina was born in the first week of this war. When her mother was pregnant with her, they were displaced to an area in the South where Israel designated as a safe zone, and it was in this 'safe zone' that Zeina was born. She was the youngest child in Hamdy's family, and a bright spot in their lives in this otherwise horrific genocide. Zeina was only 5 months old when the occupation forces killed her, along with her father.

(This is a photo of baby Zeina. There aren't a lot of photos of Zeina because she was only 5 months old when she was killed)

Hamdy lost most of his family members in the same bombing that killed Zeina and her father. Hamdy has lost his mother, his aunt, his siblings, his cousins, his nephews, and his nieces in this year alone. Of all his family members, only he, his father and his sister managed to survive.

This campaign is shared by @/gaza-evacuation-funds, #263 on the vetted fundraiser list created by el-shab-hussein and nabulsi. Please, please help Hamdy. He has already lost so so much and he is only 19 years old. The things he told me... this is not a post I find easy to write and I can't imagine how difficult it must be for him to go through all that.

Only €3,914 raised of €50,000 goal! Last donation was 17 hours ago!!

Tagging for reach because he has only received 1 donation in 24 hours and my heart breaks for him, please dm me if you want off the mailing list! We thank you in advance.

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[beauregardlionett]

so jump and i'm jumping (just a human)

AO3 Link

Beau broke free of the numbing buzz blurring her thoughts to an intense ringing in her ears and a blinding flash of white.

Usually, Beau could break free of mental suggestions with ease, but it had taken her longer than usual to shake this particular spell off. The threads of the unfamiliar magic clung with more stubbornness, more of a ‘fingernails digging into her brain’ kind of way, compared to other spells Beau had experienced.

As she blinked her gaze into focus, her gut swooped in a moment of weightlessness, the air rippling the way transportation magic usually felt, before the sensation and white-out ceased. The world tumbled hazily back into focus as Beau stumbled over her own feet and crumpled gracelessly to the ground. She coughed around the tight breathlessness grabbing at her ribs and attempted to lift a hand to her face.

Something at her wrist rattled, restricting her movement and digging into the base of her thumb. With a wince, Beau peered down at her hands, only to find them stuck behind her back with shackles around her wrists. She distinctly did not remember obtaining them. There was a phantom ache around her ankles that made her think she might have had shackles around her ankles recently, but those were now absent.

Exhaling a sharp huff of frustration, Beau twisted around to quickly inspect the metal, searching for runes and finding none. She managed to slip her lock pick free of her belt with deft fingers and got to work. It was challenging, trying to pick a lock she couldn’t see, but this was far from the first time Beau had done this. Working against a power like the Cerberus Assembly landed one in a variety of situations, after all. Once she got her first wrist free, it was much easier to swing her other wrist around in front of her and keep working. Beau was almost done freeing her second wrist when a heavy shift sounded behind her.

Whirling around as she spun to her feet, Beau ground her back foot into the ashy dirt, ready to kick off into a fight. Instead, she found herself staring down at Caleb a few feet away as he pushed himself off the ground.

“Caleb,” Beau said, relieved, as she finished removing the second shackle. “Shit, man. Are you okay?”

Beau shook out her wrists and strode over to his side, hooking a hand under his arm to hoist him upright. He leaned his weight into her, trusting the familiar strength of her grip to keep him steady. Caleb’s mouth moved, but no words came out. He paused, brow furrowing in confusion, before he tried again.

“What’s wrong?” Beau readjusted her grip, sliding her hand to his elbow and holding fast. Her eyes flicked over his face, throat, chest - scanning for injuries but finding nothing.

Caleb’s hand drifted up to his neck, fingertips knocking against the heavy weight of the mage collar encircling his throat. His eyes went wide, locking onto Beau’s face with poorly concealed panic.

“Shit,” Beau swore with emphasis, running a hand down her face. “Fuck…I need to get that thing off of you. How did we do this last time?”

Caleb pointed a trembling finger at her lock picking tools still gripped in one hand. Beau held them up and raised one eyebrow, surprised.

“No magic involved?” Caleb shook his head at her and gestured to the back of the collar where the clasp sat below the base of his skull. “Okay, hold still.”

Beau stepped up behind Caleb, inspecting the lock for a moment before setting to work on it. It was more intricate than most locks Beau worked on, designed to be untouched and scarcely removed. Determined, Beau kept working at it until one of the picks almost slipped from her grip.

“Fuck, I can’t get it,” Beau sighed, stepping back and pocketing her tools. She twisted her fingers into the sleeve of Caleb’s coat as he turned to her, expression complicated. “Let’s figure out where we are and settle down somewhere, then I’ll try again. I promise.”

Caleb hesitated for a moment, then gave Beau a sharp nod and folded his arms tightly over his chest. Beau chewed on the inside of her cheek as she finally looked around, taking in their surroundings for the first time.

Everything around them was shaded unnaturally. They were within a shallow ravine, standing in the middle of a familiar graveyard battlefield they had encountered before. The sky above them was threaded through with multicolored lines, the ley lines made visible by the solstice and whatever had occurred at the Key. 

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Beau grumbled. “We’re in Blightshore.” Caleb’s lips thinned as he nodded his agreement, peering around them beside her. “At least we’re back on Wildemount, but this isn’t exactly the most helpful place to be.”

Turning to look over her shoulder, Beau pointed to a large rock nearby, sitting just over the cusp of the ravine slope.

“Let’s just…sit over there and regroup, come up with some sort of plan.”

Caleb stuck close to her shoulder as they navigated out of the ravine. He was usually not the most talkative, but they had gotten better at talking to each other at least over the years. Caleb was rarely so quiet with her, and his silence in such a desolate place did nothing for her nerves.

Beau kept up a steady scan around the area as they approached the rock, not wanting to be caught up in anything dangerous while Caleb’s magic was restricted. She bullied Caleb to sit with his back against the stone as she took another scan around them. Seeing nothing that had the intent to kill them, Beau flopped down next to him and pulled her tools out again. 

“Let me try the lock again.” Caleb twisted so she could reach the lock without protest, clearly eager to be divested of his invention. Beau couldn’t blame him.

A couple minutes later, Beau swore, resisting the temptation to chuck her lock picks as far as she could in frustration. Instead, she shoved them back into her belt pouch and tucked her knees toward her chest.

“I’m sorry, man,” Beau muttered. “I can’t get it.”

Caleb slowly leaned back against the rock once more. He reached over and settled a hand against her arm for a moment. Beau couldn’t be sure if he was reassuring her or himself.

“What do you think happened to those other assholes? Bell Hell or whatever?”

Caleb straightened, fumbling with his pocket for a moment before pulling out a Sending stone and thrusting it at Beau.

“Shit, that’s right,” Beau muttered, grabbing it and smoothing her thumb over the rune.

“Hey, it’s Beau. Did your group survive? What happened? We ended up in Wildemount. Where are all of you?”

Beau waited, watching as the soft glow of the stone faded away, indicating her words Sent and the spell drifting off. A moment passed before a faint buzzing began to itch at her ear, pressure swelling rapidly behind her eyes with it. Startled, Beau dropped the stone and pressed a hand to her brow, digging in to try and alleviate the pressure. Caleb’s hand tugged at her elbow as he soundlessly worried.

The buzzing and pressure built and built before abruptly cutting off. Beau blinked, vision fuzzy from the pain as she stared down at the stone.

“That didn’t work,” Beau croaked. “I just heard buzzing and got a killer headache.” She glanced up at the sky, staring at the bright, pulsing ley lines Caleb had often described to her where they sat visible, taut and streaking across the sky.

“Seems like something is fucking with magic,” Beau muttered. “Let’s not try that again anytime soon.”

Caleb glanced up at the sky alongside her, lips thinning with displeasure before he nodded his agreement.

“Sucks that it couldn’t fuck with the magic on the collar and turn it off,” Beau grumbled, glancing at Caleb.

He smirked and reached over to shove gently at her shoulder.

It was a sobering thought, though. To think that if the collars had been affected, it would mean a lot of dangerous mages - including one Trent Ikithon - would have suddenly been free to utilize their magic. Beau didn’t even want to think about the numerous wards in the Soul, hoping against hope that those hadn’t been damaged.

“Well,” Beau sighed after a heavy few minutes of silence, tipping her head back against the rock and pressing the heels of her hands into her eyes. “We have a few options. If I remember that crusty map right, there isn’t much in the way of civilization out here. There’s that one Cerberus Assembly outpost, New Haxon, not far from where we are. I think another place up north - Ghor Veil? No that’s not it. Fuck, what was it called?”

Beau waited for Caleb to say something before remembering he couldn’t. She grumbled about their luck as she dug out her notebook and shoved it and a writing tool into his hands. He didn’t need to be told what to do with the items, immediately flipping to a blank page and scrawling the name of the town out.

Ghor Veles.

“That’s the fuck,” Beau nodded. “Ghor Veles. I know nothing about that place, but it’s somewhat walkable from here.”

Caleb scribbled out a quick note beneath the prior one and nudged her elbow with the journal.

Both are less than ideal.

“Yeah,” Beau sighed, raking her fingers back through her hair. “We take a huge risk by attempting to find help in New Haxon given its affiliation. Our other other option is we trek through the mountains to get to Rosohna, hope the Bright Queen is home, and willing to help. Third option is Ghor Veles but like I said, we know next to dick about what really goes on there.”

Caleb stared into the middle distance for a long moment before writing in Beau’s journal. He tipped it her way, twiddling the pencil between his fingers.

The risk of going to New Haxon is too great, especially for us. I agree that Ghor Veles is not worth it either. I do not love the idea of hiking through the mountains without my magic, but we have faced worse before. Rosohna is our best bet.

“Yeah, it’s looking that way,” Beau agreed. “I guess we should start hiking, then. It’ll almost be like that time we walked to Xhorhas chasing Yeza.”

Caleb leveled her a flat but faintly amused look. He wrote another note as Beau pushed to her feet and stretched out her limbs, wrists still aching slightly from the cuffs and chains. She paused mid-stretch when Caleb extended the journal up to her.

At least then we were sheltered underground and had Jester reading that porn book to entertain us.

Beau laughed, short and loud, the sound echoing slightly in the open space around them.

“That’s fair,” Beau chuckled. “Unfortunately, I didn’t think to bring entertainment along this time.”

Caleb huffed with a smirk as he pushed to his feet and pocketed Beau’s journal and pencil. He paused long enough to pop his back before looking at her expectantly.

“Alright, let’s get this shit show on the road,” Beau sighed, bouncing on her toes. “Which way is north?”

Caleb pointed and Beau grabbed his wrist to point him slightly off to the left. “Northwest, then. To Rosohna.”

Beau clocked the moment Caleb took to mentally pull up the map they had poured over together a while ago. He blinked and nodded, falling easily in stride beside her as they headed for the mountains in the distance.

There was a pit in Beau’s stomach as they walked, her thoughts wandering to the other side of Wildemount, out to the Lucidian Ocean, and drifting distantly to wherever their wandering companions were. The solstice left a lot of things up in the air, how it might have affected the rest of the world. She wished she could at the very least contact Yasha, to make sure she was okay.

She glanced sidelong at Caleb, reaching over to tap his elbow.

“How’s Essek? When did you last hear from him?”

Caleb furrowed his brow at her in question even as he reached into his pockets to pull out her journal.

I saw him a few days ago, before we left. Why do you ask?

It was infuriating how neat his handwriting was despite the fact they were actively walking. Beau shrugged and tucked her hands into the deep pockets of her pants.

“Just asking. I was thinking about Yasha, and I realized I hadn’t asked you about Essek in a while.”

Caleb turned his face forward as they kept walking before he wrote another note for her.

We will see them again, Beauregard.

“I know,” Beau said, voice gone quiet with the weight of otherwise. “I just…”

She gestured at their dismal surroundings bitterly. “Not great odds, is all.”

Caleb’s hand landed on her shoulder, a familiar, welcome weight. She glanced over out of reflex, expecting him to be holding her journal out with another comment. Instead, he stared back at her with that familiar depth of understanding in his eyes, squeezing her arm. As much as they had gotten better at talking to one another over their years working together, they were even better at communicating like this, with conspiratory glances and silent gestures. They weren’t always afforded the safety of being able to speak on missions, so their silent language had developed as a necessity and stuck around out of comfort and ease of use.

Beau nodded her thanks, the gesture saying everything she didn’t know how to.

It took them the rest of the day to get closer to the mountains, the unnatural shadows around them giving way to complete darkness in a slow crawl. Beau found them a collection of misshapen boulders to hunker down by for the night. Even if Caleb hadn’t been lacking the ability to light a quick magical fire, Beau figured they were better off in the darkness. They didn’t know the extent of what creatures might lurk in these barren plains, so it was better not to provide a target. She bullied Caleb into sleeping first, pulling her goggles over her eyes to keep watch.

The silence pressed in, broken only by the occasional, quiet howl of the wind through the ancient graveyard.

Beau didn’t mind camping out like this - it reminded her of their early adventuring days. But she missed the rest of their friends and the cozy cramp of the dome with a fierce ache.

Caleb’s back was pressed against her thigh, his breathing even and slow. Beau carefully pressed her thigh a little harder against his back and dropped a hand to his slumbering shoulder, grounding herself with his presence.

They would make it home, one way or another.

–

They spent the entire next day trekking through the barren, ashy dirt of Blightshore, drawing steadily closer to the mountains, before hunkering down for the night. It was a repeat of the night before, undisturbed except for the wind. The day after that, it was midmorning, according to Caleb, when they came to a brief halt at the base of the mountains.

They had managed to avoid actually hiking through the mountains to get to Xhorhas when they were chasing Yeza, instead trekking through tunnels beneath the peaks. They didn’t have that option this time around. Beau turned a wry smirk to Caleb and gestured in front of them.

“Ready?”

Caleb shook his head even as he shrugged - a clear, silent commiseration of no, but we have no other choice.

Beau knew that painfully. She had tried to unlock the collar again after waking up this morning, and nearly broke her lock pick for her efforts. So, magic was still out of the question.

The rest of their day was spent hiking up the gradual slopes of the Penumbra Range, Beau chatting aimlessly at Caleb, pausing every now and again to allow him to write a response or give her a look. He seemed relatively unbothered by her stream of consciousness - almost amused by it even.

She had never said it out loud to him, but Beau had a feeling Caleb knew anyway. She never did well with silence unless it had a purpose - like when they were in the library or sneaking around somewhere. Silence when there could be chatter grated on old wounds and frayed childhood nerves. Growing up, it meant someone was mad - usually her father. Beau would never dream of likening Caleb to her father, but the ringing, weighted silence was an easy comparison.

So Beau talked and Caleb listened as they hiked.

She fell silent a few times, ducking behind trees and sparse underbrush when creatures prowled past. The last thing they needed was an encounter with Caleb defenseless.

Soon enough, the shadows were deepening and Caleb signaled to her that sunset was upon them. Beau scouted out another sheltered place for them to hunker down for the night, grateful for the lack of excitement during the day. Her legs and back ached with a low muscle burn after a whole day spent moving. It was familiar and almost comforting as she stretched out once they were settled.

Caleb silently insisted that she sleep first this time, gesturing empathetically for her goggles and all but tucking her into her bedroll.

The space behind Beau’s ribs ached with something hollow and longing as she settled, missing their friends and the dome yet again. She reached out, fumbling the darkness, to snag and twist her fingers in the hem of Caleb’s coat. His warm fingers settled over her wrist in response, squeezing once and resting against her pulse as she drifted off.

–

“I mean, I can’t really speak to neighborly etiquette based on how I grew up, but I think inviting herself over to dinner once a week is a bit much.”

Caleb snorted at her shoulder as they trekked up a slow incline, still heading steadily northwest. He scribbled as they walked, Beau glancing around them as she waited for his reply, staying ever vigilant despite their lack of encounters thus far.

It is not proper, I can assure you. I’m surprised Yasha hasn’t cursed her out of the house yet.

“Me too, actually,” Beau laughed, twirling two ball bearings in circles around each other in her palm. “I think she actually finds Martina’s cooking advice helpful, though, so she’s trying to stay somewhat on good terms. But if she makes one more underhanded comment about our living room decor, I might actually put my foot up her ass.”

Caleb smirked, shoulders twitching with repressed laughter as he shook his head fondly, likely picturing Beau doing exactly that.

Beau opened her mouth to say something else, intent on making him laugh again, before she paused, eyes flicking sideways and steps faltering. Caleb froze beside her, instinct taking over as he shifted closer to Beau’s shoulder, one hand instinctively twitching for useless spell components as the other tucked the journal away.

She thought she had heard something, but a quick scan revealed nothing. Beau knew better than to let her guard down. She reached for Caleb, fingers curling around his wrist, tapping out a coded pattern they were both long familiar with.

Heard something, nothing in sight. Stay alert.

Caleb tapped back an affirmative and shifted so they were back to back, scanning in every direction. Beau kept her hand around his wrist, a point of contact and communication.

A twig snapped off to Beau’s left, her head whipping around at the same time as Caleb’s. She had a moment to clock where the underbrush shivered and push Caleb behind her, before the beast exploded out of hiding. Beau had no idea what creature she was looking at, but it was snarling and had claws extended toward them.

She whipped out her staff just in time to push it up against the claws, taking the gouges to her forearms above where her bracers ended, rather than her torso. Beau grit her teeth through the sting and shoved the beast away from her with a solid kick to its soft underbelly. Before it even landed, she whirled to gain momentum and cracked the staff across the creature’s head, driving it further back.

Her arms throbbed with the new wounds, the edges of them already a sickly looking color, Beau realizing with a sharp shock that the beast’s claws were poisonous. Dancing back a few rapid steps, Beau breathed deep and focused on neutralizing the numbing poison in her veins.

Beau had sacrificed her grip on Caleb to fight back. She took half a second to shoot a look over her shoulder to locate him. He was nearby, back pressed flat against the trunk of a tree and eyes wide. He was unscathed, which was all that mattered in that half second to Beau.

“Don’t let it scratch you,” Beau shouted at Caleb, rushed and breathless. “It’s poisonous.”

The creature snarled as it lunged toward Beau, refocusing her. She ducked sideways under the swipe of claws, shifting her staff to one hand as she rolled to free up her fist as she lashed out, attempting to stun it. Beau narrowed her eyes as the creature groaned and stumbled before shaking off her attempt. She cursed herself for not spending more time trying to find information about the creatures that lived in this area - not that she could have prepared for this situation.

A decent sized rock suddenly struck the creature in the back of the head, jarring it. The beast twisted around with a low growl, stalking toward where Caleb was still pressed against a tree, hand extended.

“Oh no you don’t,” Beau said, voice laced with venom. She lashed out as the creature stepped away, driving the metal of her gauntlet into the joint of its back leg. She was rewarded with a howl of pain and the beast’s attention back on her. 

As it turned, she swung down with her staff, managing to get a good strike on one shoulder before it lashed out, Beau scarcely dodging what would have resulted in a shredded abdomen. Caleb launched another rock at the beast, Beau seeing it happen this time, understanding that he was able to throw it so hard because he was using magic. Baffled, Beau missed the beast slashing at her, claws finally catching her in the side, cutting deep. A second swipe caught her without claws on the shoulder, but sent her sprawling to the ground and knocking her head against something painfully solid.

“Shit,” Beau wheezed, stumbling sideways a step as she dazedly scrambled to her feet, not quite out of its reach. The beast in front of her went fuzzy at the edges, the world tinting gray as her fingers somehow went numb and flared with painful heat simultaneously. Her head throbbed as her ribs ached fiercely and her muscles screamed, the wound stinging in the cold, open air as new poison coursed through her bloodstream. “Shit.”

The beast prowled in a wide arc, clearly still trying to get past her reach to Caleb, likely seeing him as weaker, easier prey. Beau stumbled through a hasty side-step, putting herself firmly between the beast and Caleb. Beau hacked a painful cough as she did, tasting coppery blood on her tongue. She could practically feel his silent glare of protest boring into the back of her head, but Beau didn’t acknowledge his displeasure. This was an old, familiar dance - putting herself between Caleb and the danger. She couldn’t look away from the beast until it was dead or gone. 

It couldn’t be allowed to get to Caleb.

Tightening her grip around her staff, Beau bared her bloody teeth back at the beast and tensed the muscles in her legs, waiting. She exhaled, shaky and painful as the beast’s muscles rippled beneath its hide, coiled to strike again.

After another tense moment of stillness, the beast leapt, claws extended and jaws parted. Beau flipped her staff deftly and swung it like a bat in a desperate surge of strength, catching the beast across the lower jaw and miraculously sending it sprawling off to the side with a yelp. She stumbled sideways, vision spinning, before grinding her heels into the dirt and putting herself back in place in front of Caleb.

The beast got up slowly, glared at Beau, and clearly decided this meal wasn’t worth it. It turned and limped quickly away, tail flicking as it vanished into the underbrush.

Beau heaved as her knees buckled, staff clattering out of her hands. Her vision went mostly gray, entirely unfocused. She struggled to find her mental footing for a moment, anchoring herself to slowly neutralize the poison eating away at her insides.

Warm hands grabbed Beau’s upper arms, a body encompassing her available vision. Beau looked up, the simple action of lifting her head taking nearly all of her remaining energy. She was confused by her fatigue for a moment, knowing the poison was no longer a threat. Then she spotted the amount of blood on her clothes.

Caleb’s frantic face swam into view, unscathed.

“Oh,” Beau wheezed. “Hey.”

Caleb huffed, one hand moving to the side of her face as his eyes flicked over her, his hand coming away heavily stained with the blood in her hair. The skin at the corners of his eyes tightened, saying more than he ever could with words.

“I’m good,” Beau mumbled, earning herself a patented exasperated Caleb stare. He shook his head at her before glancing around. Beau didn’t know what he was looking for and she was too tired to try and talk again. His hand was still on the side of her face, warm and steady, so she leaned more of her weight into his palm. Caleb wasn’t nearly as physically steady as she was, but Beau trusted him to catch her.

Caleb’s bright blue eyes flicked to her as she leaned into him, shining with concern as his free hand moved to brush her hair off her forehead. The motion was so achingly gentle and foreign it almost made Beau cry. He had done it a few times before, usually when Beau was sick or gravely injured, a gesture borne of comfort and a reminder that she wasn’t alone. With Jester, Yasha, and Caduceus all chasing after Beau with healing at their fingertips, her suffering never lasted long. Those few times she had to wait or ride an illness out, Caleb was there.

Beau could almost hear him, his usual comfort phrase of, ‘just breathe, Beauregard. I am here.’

Beau grabbed at his coat, twisting her numb, bloody fingers into the worn fabric.

Caleb tapped his fingers rapidly against Beau’s cheek, prompting her eyes open. Beau hadn’t realized they had fluttered shut as she got lost in thought, alarmed at the realization but unable to find the energy to show it.

He stared back at her, face drawn even as he flashed Beau a tight grin when she focused on his face. Caleb pulled back to point at an opening in the nearby rocky slope of the mountain. His wordless gesture was clear enough, but Beau already ached knowing she would have to move. Usually Caleb could just form the hut around them so they wouldn’t have to bother, but his silence meant that wasn’t an option.

Beau exhaled through her teeth and nodded. She tried to sit up straighter, muscles screaming as pain flared through her wounds.

“Okay,” Beau said, voice shaking. “Okay. I got this…let’s go.”

Caleb slung the arm on her uninjured side over his shoulders, letting her lean heavily against him as she stumbled to her feet. Beau bit down on her lower lip so hard she thought she might bite through it. There was already blood in her mouth from the fight, so she wasn’t sure it would matter if she did.

They limped slowly to the opening, Caleb peering inside before ushering her in. Beau sunk down heavily to the ground, back against the smooth inside of the tiny cave. Caleb sat in front of her, digging through his pockets and producing a few rolls of bandages. He had long ago given up the practice of hiding his scars, but he continued to carry bandages around for moments like this. He didn’t have any background in healing or medicine, but Caduceus and Jester had both insisted on showing everyone how to wrap a wound to keep it covered after one too many close calls due to being separated.

Beau sent the both of them a mental, weighted thanks.

She watched the rhythmic, cyclical motion of Caleb wrapping her forearms through heavy lidded eyes. The furrow between his eyebrows was deep and telling.

With her free hand, Beau reached up and poked the furrow, Caleb staring back at her with a painful expression as he paused his task.

“Don’t look at me like that, man,” Beau sighed. “This is nothing.”

Caleb pursed his lips, staring pointedly at her wounds as if to remind her they had no healers to help them.

“We’ve survived way worse,” Beau mumbled, thinking darkly of their trip to the Astral Sea and Lucien. “I’ll live.”

Caleb huffed and returned his attention to his task. Beau let him finish wrapping her one arm and move on to the second before she spoke again.

“You used magic—in the fight.”

Caleb made no acknowledgment of her statement, finishing his wrapping of her second arm before he wiped his hands clean on his pants, smearing her blood against the dark fabric. He dug out her journal and pencil and wrote something, his handwriting not as neat as usual with the way his hand trembled slightly.

I had forgotten before now that the collar only acts as a Silence spell, not as a complete magical suppressant. Spells that can be cast without speaking still work. Unfortunately, I only have three in my repertoire that fall under that specification.

“And one of those happens to be magically throwing rocks?”

Despite the tension lingering in his shoulders, Caleb snorted. He shrugged as he set the journal aside and dug out another roll of bandages.

He scooted around to sit beside her, gingerly inspecting the claw marks on her side. Beau held back her comment about his terrible bedside manner when he failed to suppress a grimace. She instead held her arms up and out of the way as he wound the bandages around her ribs to cover the wound. He tied the bandages off tightly, making Beau wince and her vision spin.

As she blinked back into focus, Caleb sat in front of her, one hand on the side of her head and the other gently parting her blood matted hair to check for the source of the bleeding. Beau tipped her head forward, giving him a better vantage point. Her eyes slipped shut, fatigue weighing her down with the warm familiarity of his hands.

What felt like a blink later (shit, was she losing time?), Caleb tapped Beau’s knee and held the journal out to her. Beau struggled to focus on the scrawl for a long moment before it made sense.

The wound on your head is not too big. It is doing as head wounds do and bleeding more than most cuts of its size.

Beau grunted a response, too tired to bother with anything else. Caleb’s concerned expression filled her vision as he cupped her face, tilting her chin up so they could make eye contact.

He tapped her cheek in code, their check in system when they couldn’t otherwise speak. It was a simple code, a series of taps to ask are you okay and conscious?

Beau wheezed out a painful exhale and fumbled her hand forward to rest at his elbow, tapping her response that she was with him. Her wounds smarted, she was dizzy and exhausted, but she was mostly conscious.

“Give me like…an hour. Then we should keep walking before it gets dark.”

Caleb frowned at her and shook his head, making Beau frown back at him.

“Caleb, if we don’t keep moving we’ll be stuck in these stupid mountains longer than necessary. We have to get to Rosohna so we can get that thing off you and get to the others. I’ve literally fought monsters in worse shape than this. I can handle some walking.”

Beau watched as Caleb snatched up her notebook and scribbled a furious message beneath the whole page of other ones. He thrust it in front of her, still frowning.

While that may be true, we do not have any healers with us this time. We cannot be reckless.

“If this were literally any other situation, I wouldn’t fight you on this,” Beau said, pressing a careful hand to her tender ribs as she shifted, fingers catching slightly on the fibers of the bandages. “But we don’t know what happened to the rest of Exandria, and I don’t know about you, but I’m a little fucking terrified not knowing what might have happened to our friends - to Yasha. You can’t tell me you haven’t been thinking about Essek and the others the past few days. I wouldn’t believe you even if you did.”

Caleb frowned again, first at her, then down at the notebook in his hands. He tightened his grip, the papers crinkling quietly with the force behind his fingers. Beau spotted the moment she won the argument, his grip loosening as he leveled her with a stubborn lilt to his mouth. Beau flashed him a tight grin and settled in to rest.

For the first ten minutes, she observed Caleb as he took off his jacket and sorted through his components. Most of them were useless to him with the Silence of the collar still in place, but Beau knew he was more looking for something to occupy his mind and hands than anything. He was somewhere between adjusting the fastening tie on a bundle of herbs and counting his pieces of phosphorus when Beau drifted off.

She woke to Caleb’s hand lightly tapping her shoulder, reaching from just outside her striking range. It was a habit he had learned to form the hard way. Beau only felt a little bad about it.

Glancing out the entrance of the cave, Beau could tell by the now familiar dim gray light pouring in that Caleb had kept his promise and not let her rest for too long. She felt a little better, but the second Caleb helped her push to her feet, the lightheaded woozy swoop of her vision returned. Beau grit her teeth and blinked hard to focus.

Caleb raised a pointed brow at her, supporting her weight on her good side when she came back to her senses.

“Shut up,” Beau grumbled. “Let’s get moving.”

They managed to limp along for the rest of the day without drawing more attention from the resident fauna. Beau helped Caleb seek out a place for them to hunker down, going for something more sheltered than previous evenings due to Beau’s wounds. 

“I can take the first watch since I slept earlier,” Beau said once they were settled. Caleb, scarcely visible to her in the encroaching darkness, shook his head and gestured for her to lie down.

“Nope,” Beau said, staying stubbornly upright as she reached for her goggles. “Trust me, man. You aren’t going to want to wake me up in the middle of the night for watch. Get some rest.”

Caleb contemplated this, glaring at her as he did, before finally settling down beside her, a hand on Beau’s knee.

Once his breathing had evened out in slumber, Beau tipped her head back against the rock behind her and exhaled, shaky. Her training thankfully meant the poison from the beast and further infection were not a concern, but Beau was still susceptible to pain and blood loss. Her wounds ached and the lightheaded sensation hadn’t left her alone ever since the attack. She was a paltry shield between Caleb and the mountains outside their sleeping place, but she took comfort in the weight of his hand on her knee.

Beau would rather ache and bleed than have Caleb injured and poisoned, unable to fight off the toxin and without healers.

She stared up at the pieces of the sky she could see, the ley lines gone somewhere between the previous night and now, but magic still strained and strange if the malfunctioning Sending stone was anything to go by. Hopefully it wouldn’t last much longer.

Beau dropped her hand over Caleb’s and controlled her breathing, reassured for the moment by the knowledge of his safety.

–

Leaning against her staff, using it for support so Caleb could focus on hiking himself through the mountains, Beau stood at his shoulder as they examined the river before them. The current didn’t seem too strong as the water flowed sedately around the protruding rocks.

“Stepping stones or wading through the water?” Beau asked, shifting her weight and wincing only slightly. Wounds tended to heal rather quickly on her, but the combined lack of rest from all the hiking and their attempts to ration their food was not lending to feeling better quickly. Her arms felt stiff and her ribs smarted if she breathed too deeply or twisted the wrong way. It was annoying. Beau counted her blessings that her head felt better and less fuzzy, at the very least.

Part of her wanted to stop and wash her bloody, matted hair out in the water, but this high in the mountains, she was more likely to give herself hypothermia instead. Beau was used to traveling and being a little filthy, so she pushed the thought aside.

Their boots, however, were waterproof, so trudging through would be fine - supposing the water wasn’t deceptively deep. Caleb seemed to be pondering the same thought as he glared down at the current. He glanced sideways at her, eyes critically scanning the way she was leaning on her staff before shaking his head.

Beau raised an eyebrow at him in challenge as he pulled out her journal to scribble. Their conversations had bled over to additional pages of Beau’s journal, documenting one side of several discussions. The disjointed comments and questions would likely remain after all this was done, secretly sentimental as Beau was.

We should wade through - carefully. I don’t think you want to be jumping from rock to rock just yet.

Beau sighed with a wry quirk of her lips. “Yeah, that’s fair.”

Caleb nodded and tucked her journal away in his pocket, turning back to the river and wading into the shallow bank. He paused to peer back at her, watching dutifully as Beau shuffled her way down the embankment into the water. They shuffled carefully along together, clenching their teeth at the frigid sting of the water when it came up to their knees near the middle. As the riverbed sloped up again, toward the other side, it was almost worse with their wet clothes clinging to their legs in the open air.

Beau was debating the merits of sitting around waiting for their clothes to dry out instead of hiking and drying when Caleb slipped. Her hand darted out to grab the back of his coat on instinct, keeping him from going face first into the current.

Caleb scrambled to get his feet underneath him, hissing out a sharp exhale through his teeth. Beau maintained her steel grip on his coat collar, braced against his momentum and the current.

He took another moment to get his footing before they hobbled the rest of the way out of the river together. Caleb was favoring his right foot, expression drawn tight with pain he was clearly trying to swallow.

“Sit,” Beau ordered gruffly, still clinging to his coat as she hobbled him over to sit against a tree trunk. She flopped down in front of him, carefully pulling his foot into her lap. Beau never claimed to be a healer, but she was intimately familiar with the types of injuries that came with her training.

She carefully persuaded his boot off his foot and wrestled the wet fabric of his pants away from his ankle. There was already a faint bruise on the outside of his ankle, just below the sharp bone. Beau prodded at the area with a light touch, wincing in sympathy at the swelling and the pained hiss she earned.

“I think you sprained it, man,” Beau sighed. She grabbed the bottom of the dusty cloak she had donned specifically for the environment of the Hellcatch Valley, tearing a strip of it off swiftly. The cloaks were luckily heavy enough to be useful in the mountains now, but Beau was content with ripping it up a little. “Lucky for you, I know how to wrap these bad boys.”

Caleb grunted as if to say, lucky me.

Beau shot him a smirk before focusing in on the pattern of her wrapping, pulling the stiff fabric as tight as she could to support his joint. He grunted every now and then, the noise suppressed into the fabric of his scarf, eyes squinting with every wince. Beau tried to wrap his ankle as quickly and painlessly as possible, guilt gnawing at her gut with every pained reaction she drew out of him.

Tucking the fabric in firmly, she secured the wrap and glanced up at Caleb.

“You okay?”

Caleb sighed and stared miserably at his ankle, looking like he was judging it for failing him. Beau snorted and stretched to pat his leg above the wrapping around his ankle.

“We’ll find you a nice stick to walk with.” 

Beau laughed loudly, clutching her aching ribs when Caleb pouted at her and flipped her off in response. Shoving to her feet with the use of her staff, Beau limped over to some nearby underbrush and dug out a fallen branch from the foliage. She held it up to her staff, comparing the heights, and shrugged, figuring it was good enough.

“Here,” Beau said as she set the branch down beside Caleb. “Do you need to rest for a bit, old man, or do you want to keep going?”

Caleb, halfway through tugging his boot back on, paused to look down at the stick beside him appraisingly. He laced his boot up before wobbling to his feet, testing the strength of the branch. With a nod, Caleb looked up at Beau and gestured for them to continue on.

“Alright,” Beau said, adjusting her grip on her staff. “Let me know if you need a break.”

She caught him raising his brow pointedly, as if to turn that request back on her. Beau waved him off, grumbling. He should know better by now that trusting him came easy, but Beau would rather eat glass than be vulnerable. It wasn’t within Beau’s nature to admit weakness. If asked, she would rather stare directly into the sun than tell someone she was hurting.

They limped along together for the rest of the day, pausing only once in the afternoon to rest their feet and eat something. Beau noted with concern that their rations were nearly gone. When they had set out for the Hellcatch, they had only anticipated being gone for three days at most. They certainly hadn’t planned for not having access to a quick escape via Caleb’s magic. Beau would suggest they resort to hunting, but between their injuries and the attention lighting a fire would draw, it was more a risk than anything.

A few days of sparse meals wouldn’t kill them.

As they settled down for the night, Beau noted it was colder than usual. She pulled her cloak around her shoulders firmly, glancing down at where Caleb was curled up beside her. They had brought a blanket along in one of their bags, knowing they would likely be sleeping rough in the Hellcatch Valley. They shared it now, draped more over Caleb than Beau as she adjusted it to encompass him.

Pressing into the rock at her back, Beau tipped her head up to stare at the few stars she could see through the canopy above. Mentally tracing back through their journey, it was both surprising and not how much had happened in the past five days. In fact, compared to their previous adventures, this trek had been going relatively well. Despite being slowed by their injuries, Beau was fairly certain they were only another day or two from the outskirts of Rosohna - barring further complications.

Exhaling slowly, Beau kept staring at the stars, and hoped her family was safe.

–

They were pushing themselves. Beau would readily admit to that fact, and she was almost certain Caleb wouldn’t deny it either. It was stupid, but the Nein had never claimed to make smart choices. They made the choices that were most likely to keep them alive, even if they were a little dumb.

It was getting late, and both of them were leaning heavily on their respective walking sticks, breathing labored. They had paused for a brief respite, debating if they should walk a little longer before settling in for the night.

Caleb was favoring his sprained ankle still - more notable than earlier. Beau wasn’t going to say it, but she was pretty sure the wounds on her side had opened again from the strain of the day. Hidden beneath her traveling cloak, Beau was going to keep it a secret until she couldn’t.

“We should be close,” Beau said, breathless. “If we don’t make it tonight, we’ll get there by tomorrow. The question is, how much longer are we going to keep going now?”

Caleb stared at the ground as he overtly began doing mental math. To most people, he probably looked like he was trying to glare a hole in the dirt, but Beau could see the minute flick of his irises moving back and forth, scanning over numbers, mental maps, and rationale only he could see. She waited him out, familiar with this process.

After a minute, he looked at her and gestured ahead of them. Keep going.

Beau nodded, steeling herself to move through the smarting sting of her reopened wound.

They made it another half hour through the forest, hiking cautiously down the gradual decline, when they encountered a creature as it burst abruptly from the underbrush.

Beau cursed, shoving Caleb behind her and flipping her staff into a defensive position. She swore at herself viciously, knowing she had slacked on her attentiveness because she was tired and in pain. Now, they were paying the price, facing off with this thing.

This beast looked a lot like the one they had encountered the other day, but it was bigger, and there was something sharp at the end of its tail that hadn’t been on the other one. Beau thought it was a safe bet to assume that part was poisonous, too.

Which was just fucking great.

Beau fumbled a hand behind her and pushed at Caleb blindly, frantically. “Go, hide somewhere. I’ll drive it off.”

Caleb’s warm fingers caught her wrist, squeezing fiercely in silent denial, a solidarity that was as brazen as it was stupid. His sentiment to not abandon her wasn’t helpful in this situation.

“Caleb, I’m not fighting with you on this, man. Just hide!”

He lingered at her back for another second before Beau felt him move away, his reluctance loud in the weighted quiet at her back. Beau could deal with his petulance later, for now she had to focus on this beast.

She caught the way its sickly green eyes tracked Caleb’s movements, but it seemed to know better than try to get past Beau at that moment. Beau startled back a step when the creature lunged suddenly, claws splayed and teeth bared. She widened her stance and exhaled forcefully as she swung. 

By some strange stroke of luck, they both missed each other. Beau rolled with her failed strike, pain lancing through her side as the old wound on her ribs protested. She grit her teeth and scanned for Caleb, finding him several paces back, tucked halfway behind a tree. It wasn’t great, but it would have to do.

Breathing heavily and with shaking hands, Beau lunged through the pain and struck with her staff, catching the beast on the side of the head. It growled, low and fierce, before lashing out, Beau dodging nimbly backward. Her head spun, cluing Beau into how much blood she was probably losing from her reopened wound. She planted her feet, intending to strike again, when a new searing pain flared to life in her stomach.

Beau couldn’t help the scream of pain that was punched out of her, knees going weak. Her staff clattered out of her hands as a pulse of numbing heat shot through her. Hands fumbling toward her stomach, Beau’s fingers scrabbled over the pointed tip of the beast’s tail where it sat embedded in her stomach. Fierce and half delirious with pain, Beau wrapped tingling fingers around the slim appendage and yanked it free before twisting to snap it over her shoulder. 

The beast howled. A screeching wail of furious pain that echoed through the trees. Beau dropped the broken tail and stumbled back a few steps as the beast writhed and clawed at the dirt. A rock came sailing through the stretching shadows to nail the creature in the side of its head, drawing another screech from it.

Beau pressed a hand to the newest wound on her torso as she fumbled for her staff. They had to get out of here before the beast recovered or Beau passed out.

“Caleb,” Beau croaked. “Let’s go.”

His hand was suddenly on her shoulder, pulling her away from the furious, distracted beast. They fled between the trees, heedless of direction for a minute before Caleb suddenly turned sharply, bringing Beau along with him. Barely managing to keep her feet under her, Beau followed blindly.

When the screeching faded behind them, Beau gasped and stumbled, the adrenaline abandoning her as she listed heavily into Caleb’s side. He managed to keep her upright long enough to settle between two closely growing trees. Beau all but collapsed, vision graying out as she strained to purge the poison from her system.

Sliding back into clearer consciousness what felt like a lifetime later, Beau winced at the sudden realization that Caleb was pressing heavily against her new wound. His face was mostly obscured in the darkness, but Beau could see enough - and knew him well enough - to spot the frantic, terrified lines of his expression.

“Hey,” Beau wheezed, numbly tugging her goggles over her eyes. It wasn’t entirely dark yet, but she was too tired to focus her eyes enough to work in the dim. “Y’okay?”

Caleb’s disbelief was blatant now that she could see through the shadows. 

“Shut up,” Beau said, instinctive. “‘M gonna be fine. Are you okay?”

Caleb stared at her for a long, frustrated moment before he nodded once, sharp and short.

“Good.” Beau exhaled, pained and shaky. “Ow.”

A frustrated exhale from Caleb was her only answer as he pulled one hand back enough to dig around in his coat pockets despite his bloody hands. He produced a roll of bandages, pausing a moment to stare at it forlornly before rapidly getting to work on wrapping Beau’s stomach.

“What was that look for?” Beau wheezed, blinking hard to stay conscious.

Caleb finished his task by tying off the bandages firmly, again making Beau’s vision white out and ears ring as it tightened over her wound. She came back to Caleb holding her journal out, his scrawl just barely visible thanks to her goggles. His handwriting was cramped and uneven, written almost on top of the previous message since he had written in the encroaching dark.

My last roll of bandages. Do not get injured again.

Beau exhaled a wheeze in place of a laugh. “I’ll do my best.”

Caleb tucked her journal away, movements jerky and annoyed. Beau had the distinct impression that if he had his voice, he would be grumbling under his breath at her. She slumped against the tree at her back, watching him fumble through the darkness. Beau reached out to snag his wrist, making him pause. Tugging off her goggles, Beau pressed them into his hand as she blinked against the sudden weight of darkness.

A minute later, Caleb’s hands against her shoulders tipped her forward into his chest. The heavy material of the blanket they packed settled around her before Caleb nudged her back again. He fussed with the blanket, tucking it firmly around her shoulders and staying mindful of her wound. Beau went where he directed her, far too tired to protest and just tired enough to trust him with this much vulnerability - she grit her teeth and stared into the sun just this once.

He didn’t bother writing a note for Beau to tell her she wasn’t taking watch. Caleb tucked her against his side, one arm slung over her shoulders and keeping her firmly close. Beau puffed a drawn out, put upon sigh - her token protest even as she settled gratefully against him.

They were so close to Rosohna, to getting out of here - Beau figured she could let Caleb have this one.

-

Unfortunately, they didn’t wake peacefully.

The beast from the night before found them minutes after Beau drifted back to consciousness, still feeling fuzzy from blood loss. The slim end of its tail hung limp and broken still, identifying it to Beau.

Caleb, with sleepless bags under his eyes, had just slung their bag over his shoulder, having finished wrestling their blanket back into it when Beau launched to her feet. They were so close to Rosohna and Beau was injured enough that it wasn’t worth staying to fight. She wrapped her shaking hand around Caleb’s wrist and fled, letting Caleb point her in the right direction by tugging on her arm as they went.

The beast gave chase, which was unsurprising.

Beau wheezed, clutching her abdomen weakly, trying to press her hand down over the bandages covering the gaping wound in her stomach. They hadn’t made it terribly far yet, weaving through trees and underbrush as they were, but her vision was starting to blur. Her knees went weak, suddenly stumbling over her uncooperative legs and failing to get her feet under her to keep herself from tripping. Caleb’s bruising grip on her arm was the only reason she didn’t eat dirt.

He pulled her close, dragging them over to a thick tree trunk and dropping to sit, pressing back against the bark. Beau went with him, breathing heavily as he gathered her close, one arm around her shoulders and his free hand bunching up her cloak to press against the wound that was now bleeding through the bandages. Beau’s vision went white as she cursed long and colorful through the pain.

When her vision swam back into focus, she was staring up at Caleb, her upper body in his lap as he held her. He was mouthing something, the same few words over and over again, if Beau wasn’t hallucinating. She squinted, studying the shape of the silent words as he focused on keeping pressure on her wound.

A moment later, she recognized the simple Zemnian he was frantically repeating.

Es tut mir leid.

Beau groaned, reaching up to wrap her hand over the one he had pressed to her stomach. His wide, terrified blue eyes shot to her face, litany faltering.

“Caleb,” Beau wheezed. “It’s not your fucking fault.”

His face screwed up, displeased and upset. Beau shook her head, squeezing his fingers as tight as she could.

“I’m serious,” Beau insisted. “This isn’t your fault. If you keep saying it is, I’m gonna punch you.”

Caleb huffed a wet laugh, more a miserable exhale than anything, and shook his head at her. Before Beau could say something else, a growl ripped through the air. Caleb tensed, pulling her closer and glaring at the creature despite the tremor in his hands. Beau’s face was against his shoulder, but she pushed herself to pick up her head and locate it through her whirling vision and the crowded foliage. 

It was prowling closer with slow, measured steps - confident in the kill. Beau hated to think that this was how and where she was going to die, but she wouldn’t go quietly.

The creature paused, crouching low as it prepared to pounce. Beau shifted in Caleb’s hold, trying to cover him despite her wound and his stubborn insistence on holding her close. She contemplated if she had the strength to push herself and Caleb out of the way once it leapt, allowing it to brain itself on the tree at their backs.

It never got the chance to pounce. A large, dark colored arrow embedded itself in the creature’s neck. The beast howled, garbled and wet as it died quickly writhing against the ground.

Beau blinked, sagging into Caleb’s hold as he wheezed tremulous, rapid breaths above her. He gathered Beau closer again, her head lolling onto his shoulder, thoroughly exhausted.

The sound of hooves and humanoid feet drew closer, coming to a halt nearby among a clamor of surprised voices. One voice, gruffer than the others, spoke up, calling out to them.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?”

Caleb’s hand tightened on her shoulder, Beau knowing she had to speak up for them both now. Twisting her head away from his warmth, she found a small party of armed Drow staring down at them in a mix of caution and surprise.

“Hey there,” Beau mumbled, tasting blood in her mouth. “We’re members of the Mighty Nein. Got a little lost a few days ago…is the Bright Queen home?”

The Drow glanced between each other, clearly baffled. Beau wanted to scream, frustrated at the hesitation. It hadn’t been that long since they checked in with Leylas Kryn.

“Wait,” one of the Drow spoke up, coming up to stand at the shoulder of the one who spoke first. “The Mighty Nein…the Heroes of the Dynasty?”

Beau grinned, knowing her teeth were probably pinkish in the gray light filtering down through the treetops. “The very same. Think we could…get a lift to Rosohna? And some healing?”

“Of course,” the first one said, gesturing to the rest of their group. Beau didn’t stay conscious long enough to see that promise through.

–

Beau woke up in an unfamiliar room, lit with pale light, and Caleb asleep at her bedside. His upper body was folded over to rest on the bed where he sat in a chair, his hand at her wrist with the tip of his fingers trailing over the groove of her wrist where her pulse thrummed.

“Caleb,” Beau rasped, not bothering to try and sit up when her head felt like it was stuffed with cotton.

He stirred, turning his face into the mattress with a quiet grunt. He went still for a moment before his fingers tightened around her wrist and he raised his head, blinking blearily. Beau stared back at his sleepy expression with amusement, waiting for him to register his surroundings.

Caleb blinked at her. Blinked again. Then his eyes went wide and he sat all the way up, spine straightening so quickly Beau heard it pop. She smirked at him and chuckled, her side aching dully. She glanced down at herself, covered in a blanket but surprised at the lack of pain.

“Beauregard,” Caleb rasped, reinforcing his grip on her hand. Beau’s gaze snapped back to him, her eyes going wide now.

“You got the collar off,” Beau croaked, moving to push herself upright. “Fucking finally. How long was I out?”

Caleb swept forward to support her shaky arms, but again, there was no pain. Beau diverted her attention long enough to brush the blanket aside and expose her torso. There were faint scars on her ribs and just below them where the beast had got her, but she was otherwise fine.

“How’s your ankle?” Beau asked, curiosity of her own wounds now satisfied.

Caleb twisted his fingers through her own and squeezed as he stared at her. 

“It is fine, Beauregard. The healers were able to set it right quickly. We were more worried about you. They said you are lucky you have your ability to handle poisons…most who are struck by the beast we met do not live long enough to make it back for healing.”

It was a sobering thought, but Beau couldn’t really grasp the severity of it until she imagined Caleb in her situation. If he had been the one hit instead of her, Caleb would have been dead long before they made it here and Beau wouldn’t have been able to help at all.

She was doubly glad now that she had the forethought to put herself between the beast and Caleb.

“It has been a full day since we were found. The Bright Queen stopped by yesterday evening to help with the collar removal. She is willing to send us home when you are able. I also tried the Sending stone again - it still does not work. The Bright Queen said it is getting worse as the days pass. It began with divination and communication magic first, and sporadic dispelling of long-standing enchantments. More magic is becoming strained and ineffective, including resurrection magic.”

Beau’s thoughts had started racing when Caleb informed her they could go home soon, diverting momentarily when he mentioned the stone. She had thought maybe it was just the days following the solstice since they hadn’t bothered to try again after a few failed attempts, too concerned about their own journey. But the fact it still wasn’t working meant something was lingering.

Her thoughts ground to a halt when she registered his comment on resurrection magic.

If Caleb had been hit by those poison claws, he would have died quickly. And he wouldn’t have come back.

Beau’s eyes met his slowly, lingering in horrified silence.

“Shit,” Beau croaked. “I’m extra glad it hit me, then.”

Caleb stared at her for a long moment before he leaned back, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply. Beau stared at him with one eyebrow raised. She had seen this reaction from him before, usually when he was searching for patience.

“What?”

“I cannot say I don’t understand,” Caleb said, slow and measured as he kept his eyes closed and head tipped back. “You are better able to handle this type of damage. But Beauregard.”

Caleb straightened, his intensely blue eyes locking on her face, making Beau feel young and understood in a way she thought she had long grown used to.

“Beauregard…you cannot die for me. Do you understand? I will not allow it. You have to promise me that you won’t go away. Do not leave me behind because you are protecting me in a fight.”

Beau blinked at him, speechless and frozen before she scoffed, unsure how else to react. She thought they were long past this - this skittish, tentative thing from before they truly knew each other. This felt similar to the way Caleb’s hand used to fumble against her shoulder, the uncertain weight of his fingers against her clavicle like he was worried she might shake him off. They were both stronger than before, more certain in their standing with the world and each other. Beau didn’t know where this was coming from - but she supposed she understood.

Caleb had lost his magic under the weight of that collar, rendered near powerless and probably feeling a lot like the version of himself that had first met Beau. Meanwhile, Beau hadn’t faltered, because her abilities had been unaffected, and she had done what she always did - stand between Caleb and danger. Only this time, they had no clerics chasing after them to brush the hurt away, and Caleb had been completely reliant on Beau to keep him safe. He had nothing to protect himself with, save a single spell that let him throw rocks around.

Beau blinked again, nodding slowly.

“Promise me,” Caleb said again, low and fierce. He stuck his pinky out to her, expression far too serious for such a gesture. Beau didn’t laugh at him for it. The last time he made her do this, she had promised not to go poking around the hidden floors of the tower when he entrusted it to her and Yasha for a night.

She refrained from poking holes in his request, because they both knew Beau couldn’t guarantee this. Instead, she reached out and wrapped her pinky firmly around his, purposefully meeting his gaze.

“Yeah, I promise.”

Caleb nodded, firm and resolute. He released Beau’s hand and sighed, long and exhausted.

“I should be able to get us to the Blooming Grove, once you are up for it. We can figure out our next steps once we are with the rest of the Nein.”

Beau’s thoughts snapped immediately to Yasha, her heart skipping in her chest with anticipation and fear in equal parts. It had been a while since they had been apart this long, and they never had no idea where the other one was and a complete lack of communication. As worried as Beau was, she was certain that Yasha was worse off by spades, despite Caduceus’ company.

“I should probably find the Bright Queen and let her know I’m conscious and grateful for her help before we go, huh?”

“Ja, that would be the diplomatic thing to do,” Caleb said with a smirk, shifting out of the way as Beau swung her legs over the edge of the bed. “You should probably get dressed, too.”

Beau glanced down at her clothes, blinking at the simple gray base of her robes, all her other vestments and accessories absent. Caleb pointed to the neat pile of them across the room knowingly. She stood and stretched out her stiff, aching limbs with a chuckle.

“I mean the first time we met her, you and I were in those weird harnesses. I don’t think me showing up like this will change her opinion of me.”

Caleb snorted, standing and grabbing his coat from the back of his chair as Beau rapidly donned her miscellaneous items. Finally slipping her bracers into place and securing them around her wrists, Beau reached up to where her hair spilled down her shoulders, gathering it into her hands before she paused. She turned slowly to where Caleb was adjusting the fall of his coat across his shoulders.

"Did you wash my hair? The blood's gone."

Caleb glanced up from his coat for a moment before focusing in on fiddling with one of the buttons. "I asked one of the healers to magically remove the blood and dirt, as it was easier that way. But I did brush out your hair, ja. I could tell it was bothering you before."

Beau deftly twirled her hair into something like a bun while she stared at Caleb. She walked over and lightly punched his shoulder, still managing to draw a wince from him.

"Thanks, man," Beau said, haltingly. She was better about accepting this part of the whole 'being cared for thing', but she still floundered when it came to showing her appreciation without cringing at herself. Her consolation was Caleb was almost as bad as her, too. "Let's get this meeting over with."

Their audience with the Bright Queen was brief, as she was overtly preoccupied with the fallout of the solstice. Beau and Caleb were not keen to keep her long, any more than she was to keep them. They thanked her for her aide and hospitality, promised to be in touch when they could, and promptly exited the throne room. Shoulder to shoulder, they walked briskly to the outer courtyard, intent on being out of the way and gone soon.

“Ready?” Caleb asked, standing in the middle of a stone-laid terrace, chalk in hand and transportation sigil nearly done.

Beau bounced on her toes as Caleb put the chalk back to the stone, waiting for her word to draw the last piece of the spell. The lines were already glowing faintly, primed and ready. Beau adjusted the fit of her sash at her neck and nodded, looking down at where Caleb crouched beside her.

“Let’s go home.”

[tideswept]

WIP Wedneday

Kingsman in my Star Wars? Star Wars in my Kingsman? It's more likely than you think! and yes of course it's Obikin

(Set a few decades after The Golden Circle, but knowledge of Kingsman isn't necessary. All you need to know is that Obi-Wan chose Anakin to be a potential agent in what's called 'the world's most dangerous job interview.')

“Your boy is doing well.”

Obi-Wan smiles politely without lifting his gaze from his tablet. The lounge had started to feel strangely empty without someone swinging by. “Is that so? I’m heartened to hear it.”

Shaak Ti bores holes into his head while dissolving a sugar cube into her tea. “He’s wondering why everyone else gets to spend time with their mentors.”

Ah. That.

Clearing his throat, Obi-Wan lays the tablet down on the table and crosses his ankle over his knee. He adjusts the cuff so that it folds smoothly. “Yes, well. Rather. I’m not surprised. Somewhat of a glaring omission that I haven’t been down to the barracks, I imagine,” he allows lightly, as if that would spare him from the dressing down he’s apparently in for.

(If he’d known this was to be his fate, he would have ordered a whiskey, not an Earl Grey. But as he doesn’t make it a habit to break out the brown liqueurs before ten in the morning, it’s all the woes of hindsight.)

“Obi-Wan,” Shaak Ti chides. She’s not so much older than he is, yet has the ability to instantly thrust him back into schoolboy sheepishness, as if he’s all of ten years old and called to the carpet.

When he fails to reply, she sets the spoon down with a threatening clink.

Ask not for whom the bell tolls…

“Why choose him if you were going to behave like this?”

“You know why,” Obi-Wan answers wearily. If it had been up to him, he would have taken a long-term undercover op and not surfaced back for months. A year, ideally, if he could get away with it.

Sympathy softens Shaak Ti’s expression, which he greatly dislikes. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No, that’s quite alright, thank you.” He’d rather pull out his own tongue.

“Very well.” She draws herself up in her seat, gaze a scalpel slicing through bone. “Then, as your Merlin, I hereby order you to do right by your candidate. Are we clear, Galahad?”

For it tolls for thee.

He lifts the teacup to his mouth. “Perfectly.”

[canadiannationalfox]

Murder Drones - Tessa x J Drabble - The flight before returning to the cage

(continued from here)

The sun's light grew golden around the Elliott Manor. The crickets were already starting their evening symphony, the fireflies began their cosmic dance in the tall grass along the edge of the garden which lead to the cemetery path Above all of it, sitting on part of the roof, was the heiress to the JC Jensen brand, and her ever-so loyal drone, Serial Designation J.

They had discovered they were in love with each other a day ago, and today had essentially been them having fun and making memories, capping off the day now by watching the sunset and listening to the last songs of the birds in the garden.

"I am sad that our freedom has to come to an end, Jaybird," Tessa mourned softly, tears dropping from her grey eyes like glistening pearls rolling down her face.

J hugged Tessa from the side, taking the girl's left hand in her right. "We had a wonderful day though, and next time your parents go out, we can do all of it again," she responded lovingly, pausing before saying with a slight laugh, "Aside from breaking a vase."

The ebony haired girl giggled a little, wiping away her tears with her right hand. | She spoke in an Aussie accent, yet her voice was gentler than an angel's wing, "Oh, J, you always know how to make me feel better." Resting her head on her drone's, she asked, "Would you want to go on a walk with me, before mother and father get home?"

Serial Designation J smiled as she nuzzled into Tessa's hug. The usually very stern drone responded in a gentle voice, "I'd love to. Where do you want to go?"

"The graveyard, actually!"

"You went there on Thursday to find more hair after Cyn gave herself a pixie cut again," J inquired, letting out a laugh, "God though, we need to keep Cyn away from scissors, kind of like you.."

Tessa laughed a little, and nodded in agreement to J's statment. She sighed happily as she let go of J, holding a section of her hair that was secured at her waist by a bow. "I was thinking of cutting off some again, anyways."

J looked worried, she smoothed her hand over her girlfriend's onyx tresses as she scolded in a warm and caring tone, "Tessa, no, you know how much trouble you'd get in."

Tessa responded back with a giggle snort, "I'm not gonna cut it short-short, I wouldn't dare... I was thinking of taking some weight out by adding some short layers at the very back," she twirled at one of J's silvery side bangs and teased, "It would make the tangles easier to tame... I know how much it stresses you out when it's all knotted."

J couldn't say no to Tessa. She sighed as she relinquished her attempts to make Tessa obey, "Alright... but I'm going to cut it then, I can't risk you making it obvious that you've been playing hairdresser on yourself like you did around 5 years ago." which caused her beloved to giggle. Tessa stood up, helping up her protectress drone maid. "Alright then, let's go." She asked as she and Tessa headed back inside through the attic window, "So are we going on the walk first or doing your hair?"

Tessa responded thoughtfully, "Maybe we could cut my hair in the forest, then the birds could use it to build nests." She giggled happily, "I know I say to not be wasteful, but is it really wasting it if the birds get to use it?"

The silver haired drone smiled a little at Tessa's reasoning. She found it sweet that all these years later, she still cared about the birds. "Alright, I'll meet you downstairs, I'll go get what we need from your dresser." She headed down the attic stairs and ran to Tessa's room while Tessa made her way to the back veranda.

Tessa and J made their way along the garden path, through the hedge arch, past the patch of clovers and the rose bushes. They walked over the slight hill and through the ankle deep grass, and past the stump where Tessa liked to practice playing the harp. They walked through the long hanging branches of the weeping willow, where the songs of blue jays trilled.

And once they were through an iron gateway, they were in the graveyard. The limestone mausoleums and tombstones glittered in the summer twilight glow, making the usually scary place feel almost magical.

The girl, who was now in a black velvet dress adorned with a pink bow at the back, hopped up and sat upon a short tombstone, crossing one leg over the other before pulling all the tied-back sections of her hair over her shoulders. One by one she untied the ribbons and let the length cascade over her shoulders until they hung down her back.

J ran her hand carefully across the silky onyx waist-length curtain of slighty wavy locks. "And to believe this is the very same hair my wig is made of." Her internal compressor kicked on, making her breathe. "Are you sure you want me to do this for you, Princess Tessa?" J asked as she pulled out of the pocket of her apron a pair of scissors and a comb.

"Don't be scared, Jaybird, it's just hair," the young lady trilled reassuringly as she sectioned away the higher tresses, draping them back over her shoulders leaving the hair that hung from between her nape and the mid-ear area hanging down.

J took a breath and ran the comb through the hair gently, detangling the section one last time before she'd cut it. "How high did you want it, Princess?" J inquired lovingly, taking a break from the brushing to use her right index finger and thumb to rub Tessa's earlobe gently.

The ebony haired lass glanced back to J and suggested, "Maybe to about my shoulders? Then I can hide it easier in the length if I flat iron it."

J teased to Tessa, her nerves nodes were still going off, "I guess this time I have to be your brave girl, huh? Your little Jay bird is a little scared." She mustered up her courage, gathering in her hands a chunk of the soft ebony waves. She brought out the glistening silver sewing scissors, their blades shining in the sun's warm glow. She opened the scissors, slid the section into their sharp jaws and sliced through. "SHIK!"

J looked to the chunk of beautiful hair in her hands. The drone's fear melted away as she heard the voice of her love. "Keep going Jaybird, you can't go back now. Make me feel pretty."

J reassured lovingly, "Oh Tessa, you're always the most beautiful." J watched as she let the section of hair fall to the forest floor, drifting down like feathers from a molting crow's wings. She positioned the scissors again and sliced off another chunk, letting it too fall.

Tessa relaxed her shoulders, enjoying the sound of the blue jays in the willow nearby as well as the snipping of the shears and the slight hum of J's internal motor. She reached back and ran her fingers through a freshly chopped section. She reveled in the feeling, exclaiming eagerly, "J! It's so soft, feel here!"

The maid drone who stood behind Tessa reached her free hand up and ran her fingers through the shoulder length sections of hair. "That is really soft," she assessed before playing with the waviness that had appeared now that the weight was lessened on it. She twirled at it, almost causing the section to form a very loose ringlet, like J had in her ponytails. "You have such beautiful hair, Tessa."

Tessa sat tall, feeling proud. "At least you notice," she teased lovingly, her tone changed softer as she lovingly cooed, "Thank you, my lovely J."

J resumed her handiwork, snipping away section after section, making ebony ribbons of keratin fall into the grass. "Kind of funny, usually the ones who get haircuts in this part of the property are dead people," J joked, trying to find humour in Tessa's morbid hobby of graverobbing.

Tessa couldn't help but laugh a little at her Jaybird's joke. "I guess you're quite right." In that moment, each snip of the sewing scissors, and Tessa's head feeling lighter, she felt a sense of control and freedom. She felt trapped by her life, like Rapunzel in the ivory tower, but the fact she had some autonomy right now, by getting J to change up her looks a little, it made her feel free as a dove.

J looked to the almost finished shoulder length layers, she took the last section and pulled it straight but not taut. She closed the scissors around the section and pulled it away from the now severed ends. She looked at the glossy hair in her hands and slipped it into her pocket where she had put Tessa's hairbows. The maid drone wanted to keep a lock for herself, because she loved Tessa so much, so she'd have a little token of their love even if they were apart ever. J remembered what to do next as she point cut into the bluntly chopped layers to give it a more textured and natural look. "Almost done, Tess."

The ebony haired girl in the black dress giggled in delight. She ran her fingers through the hair that was draped over her shoulders, "This is exciting! I can't wait to see how it looks."

"And how are you going to? It's getting too dark to see your reflection in the pond, and there's probably no mirrors-" she was interrupted by her beloved human girlfriend.

"There's late Aunt Margaret's mirror in the mausoleum," Tessa stated, she laughed a little.

J responded as she put the scissors away once the haircut was perfect in her opinion, "Leave it to Little Miss Elliott, the graverobber."

Tessa hopped off the tombstone, and pushed the long sections of hair back over her shoulders, before she headed to a mausoleum. She walked over to a shelf with an urn, grabbing a fancy gold plated mirror. She held it up, fluffing up her hair as she admired her modified hairstyle. "Oooh, I look really good!" she marveled joyously, "I love it, Jaybird."

J came into the mausoleum, she kissed the back of Tessa's hand like the knights in the fairytales she used to read to Tessa. "You're always the most beautiful girl, I'm just happy I could help you feel as beautiful as you are already."

Tessa squealed in delight, she set down the mirror and lifted J off the marble floors. She held the drone close by her waist, spinning around holding the silver haired bot. "Oh I love you! I love you so much!" she sang excitedly before setting down a slightly dizzy J. Her joy fleeted a little, she sighed as she remembered that her parents would be home in an hour, "I guess we should head back to the house."

J offered gently, "Do you want me to tie your hair back into it's normal style?"

Tessa kissed J on the forehead gently. "I think I'll wear it loose this time, I mean, yes it'll hide your beautiful work a little, but, like you said, it's best if I don't get caught." She got down to J's level and kissed the drone on the lips.

J counted the seconds silently as she kissed back, praying for time to be a little longer in that moment. She wrapped her arms around the neck of her human girlfriend, leaning into the kiss more. The beautiful Elliott girl eventually broke the kiss after 15 seconds. She fanned herself with both her hands and giggled in excitement, "That was effervescent!"

"You still won't give up those vampire romance novels, will you, Tess?" J giggled back.

The two headed back to the house, the sky now turning a deep teal with pink outlined clouds and stars starting to appear above.

---------

J sat in the landing pod, she ran her thumb over the chunk of ebony hair in her hands. It was still as soft as that lovely summer evening. She held it one hand by the little bow holding the chunk together as she used her right index finger to twist and twirl until the lock of her late lover's hair had become curled.

"I... I need to do something... I need to do something," J muttered to herself, glancing over to the control panel. A small microchip glowed a beautiful pale blue, she had found it in the snow as well as some bone fragments from Tessa's remains. She knew what she had to do. She had to find drone parts and put them back together. She said under her breath as she put down the chunk of beautiful ebony hair in a gentle manner, as if it was an angel's feather, "I will put her back together...."

The End?

[gillianthecat]

They finally let Kuina trade her platform flip flops for sneakers! They won't let her (or Ann, or anyone but the two leads) change the rest of her outfit, but that's ok. Mainly I was worried about this poor girl having to do all this running for her life in fucking platform flip flops.

[bacchuschucklefuck]

[attractthecrows]

i just. need a place where i can assess w/o crashing my phone or trying to export samsung files to my laptop

[galaxycunt]

I landed wrong after climbing this weekend so my ankle is fucked up n I’m so mad bc I been doing endurance hikes n now I need to rest 🤡 and the day I was gonna go on a 10 mile hike is predicted to rain 🤡

[timetravellingkitty]

I'll just get straight to the point.

SIRAJ NEEDS TO GET TO 40K CAD BY THE END OF THIS WEEK

If you don’t know already, Siraj ( @siraj2024 ) is a devoted father to his three children and a writer and journalist from Gaza. He did a bachelor's degree and completed his master's in journalism and media just an year before the genocide began. He even wanted to get a doctorate! But his dreams were shattered when when the genocide started in October 2023.

In November 2023, the IOF destroyed his beautiful home which took ten years of love and labour. Ever since October 7th, he has been displaced seven times. Do you know what that has done to his three beautiful boys? In his words:

“My children have lost their childhoods among these makeshift shelters. They don’t know how to play or learn. Instead, they help with hard tasks like fetching drinking water from long distances, cleaning around the tent, and much more. They deserve better.”

One of his boys contracted a serious infection from the unhygienic conditions of the tent his family lives in. This is not how his children should be living! They should be in school, they should be playing, AND THEY SHOULD BE SAFE.

Forgive me for invoking her but within 24 hours of her candidacy Kamala Harris’ campaign raised a record breaking 81 million USD with the help of small-dollar donations. Clearly even the smallest amount goes a long way! If you can give your money to a candidate enabling a genocide, you can give your money to people escaping genocide

Please do not forget his family.

He is currently at $31,759 CAD / 40,000

He needs to get $8,241 to reach his goal.

Help him reach his weekly goal of 40k by Sunday.

He is #219 on this spreadsheet of vetted fundraisers by el-shab-hussein and nabulsi so please don't hesitate to donate anything you can spare. Don't let Siraj and his kids be forgotten. Again, if you guys can donate to this coconut of a vice president you can donate to him

@deathlonging @briarhips @dirhwangdaseul @mahoushojoe @rhubarbspring

@socalgal @ghelgheli @chexcastro @velvetys @komsomolka

@terroristiraqis @turian @malcriada @zindagood @buttercuparry

@biconicfinn @xinakwans @vakarians-babe @transmutationisms @feluka @khanger

@imjustheretotrytohelp @marnota @anneemay @pcktknife

@kahin @that-one-queer-poc @amygdalae @ankle-beez @communistchilchuck @dykesbat

@strawberrysnipes @yaoimurder @tortiefrancis @omegaversereloaded @vague-humanoid @aristotels

@wellwaterhysteria @fromjannah @opencommunion @toiletpotato

[thebubblesareevil]

UNO Reverse

So we all know Danny is batbait right?? But what if after vlad the fentons have developed a method to combat billionaires trying to adopt Danny.

So the fentons are in Gotham for some reason or another and they refuse the let Danny’s grades slip so they have him at Gotham prep.

Everyone knows Danny’s parents are mad scientists but Tim is really concerned about his new classmate that keeps coming in with new bruises everyday that he barely tries to hide.

He brings it up to Bruce after doing some investigations and Bruce decides to look into it.

Next thing Danny knows he keeps running into different members of the Wayne cult and the batfamily. It takes him longer than he’s care to admit to figure out they were the same people but in his defense he was exhausted from school, helping his parents with their clean energy project and training with fright knight.

That’s also his excuse for why it took him so long to realize they were trying to assimilate him. Once he does realize he starts going out of his way to avoid them, trying his best to keep his parents from finding out but he realizes it’s too late when his mom gleefully hands him a card one night and sends him on his way.

The next time danny encounters Batman he completely ignores his gentle encouragement and promises to protect him as he pulls out the card and throws it at batman.

Danny sighs and says “I’m sorry it’s come to this, but I need you to know you’ve brought this upon yourselves.” He turns and leaves behind a confused bat holding an UNO reverse card.

The next day Wayne manor is invaded by Jack Fenton carrying a stuggleing vlad over his shoulder and a giant tray of fudge in his other hand while Maddie gleefully hugs alfred proclaiming how happy she is to see her family getting bigger while Jazz is dragging Danny in behind her by his ankle while reading a book. Danny is snoring.

The Wayne’s are confused.

When Vlad finally breaks free he gives Bruce a pitiful look and asks if he also tried to adopt Daniel.

Jack then yells UNO REVERSE!! Instead of adopting Danny we have adopted you!!!!

This just popped in my brain so I thought I’d share

[kat-ryn]

God can I just like magically get a good full time job without any of the work to get it. I just can’t stand one of my part time jobs it’s just the worst

[januaryembrs]

BLACK CAT GIRLFRIEND | Spencer Reid x reader

request: Hey Congratulations on the 2K! Do you think you could write something with Spencer Reid and a Reader who has lots of tattoos and/or piercings? Like she's the whole "bad girl" stereotype but Spencer and her complement each other so well and have a very sweet and mature relationship. I would love something like that.

description: the team meet Spencer's new girlfriend and she doesn't look quite like they'd imagined

word count: 1.1k

main masterlist

authors note: I officially hit 2k followers this morning!! see my post here for requesting but lets start this milestone off with a bang!! thankyou so much :))))))

Morgan had to admit, you weren’t exactly what he’d envisioned when Pretty Boy had been talking his ear off for months about the girl in his apartment building that had slipped him your number. He wasn’t judgemental, not by a longshot, but Spencer had always seemed like the type to date the preppy, library geek, or even the cutesy geneticist if Maeve had been anything to go off of. 

It’s not like you weren’t hot, he could see that you were a mile away, but you looked like you’d sooner break someone’s wrist for so much as talking to you than fall for their resident genius. 

You smiled tightly, shaking Derek’s hand with a crushing grip, as Spencer introduced you to his team, the obnoxiously loud bass almost drowning out his words as the six of you stood in the bar. 

“Nice to meet you, Spencer talks about you all the time,” You said politely, and no sooner had you let go of the man’s warm hand, two arms were thrown over your shoulders and you were tugged into a hug. 

“I’m Penelope- oh you’re so pretty, Morgan isn’t she so pretty? You should marry Spencer then you can be boyfriend girlfriend for, like, life-” The perky voice was all a jumble as the blonde pulled away, cupping your face, rubbing down your arms kindly, sweetly, like you were swallowing a warm spoon of honey. 

“Penelope, newbie rules, remember,” Emily chimed in, seeing your eyes widen at the sudden intrusion of personal space. She could see this ending with the pretty pink bows Garcia had plaited her hair in torn to shreds on the sticky floor, right next to her long barbie locks if your intimidating figure was anything to go off, “Not everyone likes hugs,”

“No, no,” You replied, smiling gently at the woman who was softer than cotton candy, “Hugs are nice,” 

“We’re going to be very best friends, I can feel it, which is funny because my tarot actually said I’d meet a strong Taurus woman- or are you a Scorpio-” Penny’s smile was dazzling, but she was soon ushered to let go of the bear like grip she had on your shoulders by a chuckling Morgan.

“Let the other kids play with her, babygirl,” He said, and you were pulled in another direction towards Emily who gave a polite handshake. 

“Nice ink,” She said with raised brows as she saw the intricate sketches that covered the back of your hands, trailing up your arm and under the band tee you wore. She knew who they were, though they only dragged up memories of her own days of thick eyeliner and rebelling against her mother. “They must have hurt like a bitch, I got one on my hip and could barely sit for one hour,” 

You snickered, nodding, seeing her eyes trailing over the ones on your ankles and knees where your ripped jeans flashed them all. 

“Bones hurt the most, though the one on my ass is up there for the worst ones,” You replied, and Penny’s brows shot into her hairline, though she giggled like a schoolgirl being told a secret.

“I think we’re gonna need to see the proof on that one,” Morgan teased flirtily, the way he always did, the way he did even with JJ who had a whole child and partner, because it was his natural state of being. 

Spencer smiled as his team warmed to you, though he was quick to pull you to him with a gentle arm around the waist. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Derek, that man was practically his brother, he’d taken bullets for the guy, but he liked having you close, even if to just remind himself that you were all his, including said tattoo on your buttcheek that he’d seen plenty of times. 

The team didn’t need to know that, but you could tell your words had reminded him of it as he pressed a shy kiss behind your ear.

He was careful to avoid the studs and links that glittered from your ear lobe, wrapping over the cartilage on your helix, though he loved to stare at them on nights where you tied your hair up and he could count every one of them. To him you were a work of art, complex and detailed with every glance he stole. You were an illustration in one of his many books, everything he imagined for himself times a million. 

“I’m going to go get a drink, do you want one?” You said, looking up at him with puppy eyes, like a lovestruck teenager, fat adoration in your gaze. It oozed out of every inch of you, and JJ thought for a moment that you looked nothing like the scary doberman woman that Spence had originally brought over to meet them. You looked in love, the saccharine, soft and dazed kind of in love. 

“Let me get it for you,” Spencer rooted around his pocket for his wallet, turning to see Morgan’s beer bottle running low, “You having another one?”

“I’m good, my man, you just sort yourself and your lady out,” Derek flashed him a thousand watt smile and clapped him on the shoulder as you entwined your fingers with his, pulling him through the cluster of people and towards the bar, “What a stud,” 

Penelope giggled again, leaning towards her adonis best friend with honeyglow cheeks, watching their genius get led like a dog on a leash. 

“Oh lover boy had got it bad,” She drawled, watching Reid, their Reid, develop an uncharacteristically protective stance as a few men at the bar shot looks up and down your body. She couldn’t blame them either, you were a sight for sore eyes. “Okay, so do I have to be the first one to point out how hot she is or have I maybe had one too many margaritas?” 

“She seems nice,” JJ chose her words carefully, still not entirely sure she would have ever put the two of you together but she saw the way Spence’s eyes got round and longing when he looked over you. He’d clearly said something to make you laugh, and an inked hand raised up to brush his chocolate curls out of his face lovingly, “She seems good for him,”

A murmur of agreement ran through the four of them, Emily taking one more sip of her martini as her eyes roved over your figure returning with something fruity and colourful, “Anyone else dying to know what’s on her ass?” 

-

[norrisjpg]

novacane - ʟɴ⁴

in which, lando is completely and utterly obsessed with his girlfriend, and can't seem to keep his hands off of her - especially when she's in that dress.

contains: NSFW; smut, oral (f recieving), fingering, body worship, p in v, unprotected sex, squirting, cockwarming; tiny bit of fluff at the end.

lando norris x unnamed female character

...

...

lando thought he was actually going to die. there in rome, he was sure of it. they had been together for two years at this point, and don't get him wrong, she always looked good - but something about the air in rome was making him fall in love with her all over again, and he was going feral.

the couple had decided to spend a few days in italy together, first venice, second maranello, and last rome.

venice had been brilliant, spending a few days with max and pietra, exploring the city together, and many other late night activities. maranello had been nothing if not wholesome, that being where his beloved girlfriend's family lived - lando having rekindled his bromance with her dad and older brother, and not to mention seeing his favourite dog again.

"can you help me with my heels, baby?" her voice snapped him out of his trance.

fucking hell.

she had walked out of the bathroom, looking like a divine treat for him to devour. it was a sundress - her sundresses always did unholy things to him - of course, and her tanned skin looked particularly endearing against the flimsy white material.

his mouth hung agape, eyes flitting over her body rapidly. his mouth could have (and almost did) water at the sight of his girlfriend, looking oh-so-innocent with her pretty eyes and glossy lips.

again, lando thought he was actually going to die.

"yeah, come here." lando gestured with his fingers, getting up so she could perch on the edge of the bed.

he got to his knees before her, grabbing her ankle gently and delicately tightened the clasp until it clung to her skin snugly, repeating the same action on her other ankle.

"thankyou, sweetheart." she responded, running her fingers through his hair briefly.

yep, he was definitely going to die.

...

if he thought he was going to die earlier, he was dead now.

she was sat there, fiddling with the necklace he'd bought her a few months ago, blinking at him through her lashes as she spoke about their plans for the rest of the summer break.

he could have actually fall to his knees in the restaurant right there and then - she looked utterly and completely irresistible.

"can we go now, please?" lando pleaded for around the third time.

he had asked her after they had finished his main course, and then after they'd finished their desserts, and now when they were having another drink.

"god, what's gotten into you?" she laughed as she swallowed the remainder of her wine.

"nothing, i just want to go home." he shrugged, trying not to let her onto the fact he was planning every single thing he was going to do to her once that hotel room door was closed.

"okay, weirdo." she shook her head with another laugh, before politely asking for the bill.

technically, it was her turn to pay for dinner - but lando never let her pay anyway. his credit card was being swiped across the card machine before she could even get hers out of her purse.

"let's go, come on."

...

as soon as that hotel door had latched shut behind her, lando turned into some sort of rabid animal with no self control.

she found herself pinned up against the door very quickly, dress bunched up at her hips as he began his assault on her neck.

“god… needed you since i seen you earlier.” lando murmured, hoisting her legs up around his waist.

“yeah?” she nodded, arching her eyebrows as her eyes fluttered shut.

“mhm.” he hummed, his hand shifting to her lower back as she was then moved to her feet. “look so pretty — turn around for me?”

she spun her heel slowly, allowing lando to effortlessly pull on the delicate white bow, the thin straps loosening and falling below her shoulders. his hand trailed back down her arms, pulling the dress down and allowing it to fall to a puddle at their feet.

“so gorgeous.” he whispered, hot breath fanning the back of her shoulder — before his hands whipped her around to face him again.

"you think?" she responded quietly.

"of course, pretty girl." he pressed a kiss to the side of her neck, before spinning her round and walking her backwards to the bed - eye contact very, very intense.

a gentle shove rendered her flat on the bed, propped up on her elbows shortly after her back hit the soft mattress. just as he'd done earlier, lando dropped to his knees and now started to remove her heels.

god, she looked divine.

she was now only wearing the prettiest white lace underwear, but lando was trying not to focus on it - due to the fact that he was painfully hard, and that if he looked at her, all of his self-control would fly out of the hotel door (not that she would have minded that.)

a quick toss of the heels behind him made soft thuds in the room, but lando was already softly kissing up from her ankle to her inner thighs, rendering her unable to think about anything else.

"god..." she breathed out, tossing her head back as he skimmed his nose over the delicate fabric of her panties.

a soft chuckle reverberated through her from lando, he was literally laughing into her pussy - how hot could this man get?

"someone's needy." he whispered, lips brushing against the lace once again, resulting in her clenching around nothing.

"shut up." she whined. "just do something, please?"

"as you wish, baby." he mumbled, tugging her underwear down effortlessly and discarding them across the room.

he was like a man starved, denied of watching his girlfriend squirm underneath him for a mere few hours - that seemed to feel like years.

not that she needed any sort of lube, she was soaking wet by the time lando's thumb circled over her clit agonising slowly, but lando felt it necessary still to let a string of his saliva drip down on her aching cunt, spreading it adequately around with his tongue.

she was just about to beg, but he latched his lips onto her before the pleads could leave her lips. the noises made between his lips and hers were disgustingly hot, his fingers slowly beginning to prod at her entrance, teasing her tightness. his tongue drew shapes on her clit, he was spelling his fucking name, and she was seeing stars when a thick middle finger slid into her.

over and over again the same shapes danced over her heat, and lando slowly began to curl his finger to push against her g-spot. an almost pornographic moan left her lips as she felt the pressure of his index finger alongside his middle finger inside of her - whines and whimpers now a constant sound in the room.

they weren't just from her either, when her hips pushed into his face, lando wasn't ashamed to let a low groan out, the vibrations making her back arch up off of the bed - only for her to quickly be pushed back down by a veiny hand.

"fuck.. lando..." she moaned airly, a hand clutching onto his hair for dear life.

the soft bite to her clit was what sent her over the edge and into space. her legs shook around his head, the most lewd moans tumbling loudly from her lips. he pumped his fingers in and out of her and kitten-licked her through her orgasm, allowing her to float on her cloud of ecstasy for a little longer as she spasmed around him.

"you with me, pretty?" he softly spoke, now having moved his hands from her heat to her ribs, gently rubbing his thumbs up and down.

"yeah." she panted, nodding her head. "so fucking good."

he laughed airily, pressing soft kisses from her lower stomach up to her pillowy lips - swollen from how much she'd bitten down on them over the past few minutes.

their kiss was soft and gentle, she could taste herself on his lips, making her grow all-the-more wet again.

"take this off." she murmured into his lips, making a small noise resembling both a laugh and a whimper leave his lips as she tugged at his shirt.

he began to unbutton his shirt, while her hands frantically made their way down to his dress pants, unbuckling his belt and unzipping his trousers. both items of clothing were quickly a puddle on the floor, his boxers swiftly following.

lando's necklace dangled down and rested just below her chin, then sitting comfortably on the centre of her neck as he kissed her again - teeth clashing and tongues pushing against each other for dominance (lando won, obviously.)

the hand that wasn't holding his body up above her, made its way down to his erection, running it up and down her slit to lube it.

breaking the kiss, the look in his eyes asked her the inevitable, and a quick nod followed.

the tip of his cock pressed into her, still stretching her out. you would have thought that after almost three years of very frequent sex, both would get used to the other - but no, every time they felt each other, it was like the first time all over again.

she quite literally fluttered around him, eyes squeezing shut as he bottomed out a few moments later. a low groan escaped his lips, cut short when he realised her eyes were closed.

"hey, eyes open, baby." he whispered, tapping her cheek gently. "want to see the look in your eyes when you fall apart, yeah?"

pretty eyes met his once again as she blinked up at him, some form of a moan leaving her lips as he spoke to her - how could such dirty words come from a man who looked like a fucking angel?

"good girl." he nodded, pressing a small kiss to her nose as he began to slowly thrust in and out.

now, usually, rough sex was lando's thing - but there was something about the way she looked up at him, it made him want to fuck her nice and gentle, slow and deep - so he did.

his strokes were fucking delicious, taming the fire in her lower belly in just the right way - a way that was building the indescribably incredible knot thick and slow. something was different, it was overwhelmingly good - the softest yet neediest moans tumbling from her lips at an almost alarming rate.

maybe every other deep thrust, she'd clench around him, even more blood rushing to his throbbing cock - he wasn't really sure if it was her that was pulsing around him or it was himself, but either way, it felt fucking good.

his lips made their way to her boobs subconsciously, feeling as if he'd neglected them. swirling his tongue around one hard nipple, he slid two fingers inside of her mouth to wet his fingers - before returning them to the nub his mouth wasn't paying delicate attention to, pinching and pressing the pads of his fingers to them.

sensitive from her previous high, the next one was encroaching quickly, warmth spreading to her inner thighs and lower tummy. he could immediately tell she was close. there were tell-tale signs - loud moans would turn to quiet, short, sharp whimpers, she'd become grabby with her hands - needing something to clutch onto as she fell into the abyss of ecstasy - simultaneously clenching around him so tightly that sometimes she'd accidentally restrict his movement - and all were currently taking place.

"go on, pretty girl, cum for me."

she was so gone.

lando's back suffered as her nails scratched into it, leaving red lines painted across the muscles - his trainers wouldn't ask any questions, it's not as if they hadn't seen worse marks before anyway.

she tried so so hard to keep her eyes open, but it was just too hard. her eyes fluttered closed as her mouth hung agape, eyebrows arched as her nose scrunched up a little - lando wanted the image etched onto his retinas.

she gushed all over him, pretty liquid squirting from her cunt, painting his abdomen shiny as the juices splattered on him.

she thought she was going to die, and she would happily like this.

that was actually all it took for him. hot ropes of cum spilled deep into her, stuffed up against her cervix as he tried his hardest to keep thrusting into her - his hips stuttering as he started to get a little overstimulated.

slowly but surely, the two came down from their mind-blowing highs, lando rolling them over so she was laid on top of him, her walls still unconsciously clenching and fluttering around him.

"you good, baby?" he whispered, his hands rubbing up and down her back.

"think so, tired now." she smiled wearily, pressing a soft kiss to his lips, before letting her head roll down into the crook of his neck.

"want to sleep or clean up?" lando asked softly, running his fingers through her hair.

"sleep, definitely."

[vampireyuuta]

includes: f! reader, aged up! characters, dom! maki / sub! yuuta, cunnilingus, bondage, overstim

maki using you to teach yuuta how to eat pussy !!（〃∀〃；）

well, teach might not be the right word. it's kind of like when parents throw their kids into the pool and force them to learn how to swim.

her hand has a vice grip on the roots of his jet locks, shoving his pretty face between your legs — legs that are tied by the ankles to either side of the bedframe. yuuta clearly has barely any clue what he's doing, but, to his credit, he can barely breathe.

his tongue is lapping at your sopping cunny so so so desperately, no direction or technique in sight. it's not even close to enough to make you cum, it's barely even stimulation at all. ugh!!

maki can tell you're dissatisfied — it's written all over your face and clear in your lack of moans — and it brings a scowl onto her face. "yuuta," she hisses, dragging his face against your sex, "try harder."

yuuta tries to mumble some sort of apology from his useless mouth, though it comes out as just a weak whine.

"listen to me," she scolds. and, again, it's just a whine in response.

though, he seems to actually listen. you can almost hear the cogs of his brain turning as his tongue tentatively flattens on the underside of your throbbing clit. the moan the bubbles from your parted lips is enough confirmation that he's finally doing something close to right. so, he does it again. and again. and again. until your choked moans and the lewd, wet sounds of his tongue lapping at your weeping bud fill the room.

"that's better," maki grumbles, and you can feel yuuta's lips curve into a smile at her half-hearted praise.

it's not long before your strangled, pitchy moans grow louder and yuuta's slurping the cum you're despoting onto his eager tongue. maki smiles a little as your squirm and whine through your orgasm — though your writhing is heavily reduced by your restraints. she uses her free hand to gently rub up and down your trembling thigh in a stark contrast to how hard she's gripping yuuta's hair, forcing his mouth onto your twitchy, overstimulated cunt again.

"too much, maki! tell 'im i need a — ah! — break," you gasp out when yuuta's tongue doesn't let up, flicking your throbbing clit like it's all he's ever wanted.

she almost laughs in your face at that. too much? no. he won't be done until he's mastered the art of making a pretty girl cum. "not yet," she says with a small head shake , "put your tongue in 'er, yuu," she instructs the boy.

and, he is so obident to her every command — she has him on the shortest leash, you think — sinking his hot tongue into your hole. he moans against your pussy when it excitedly clenches around the pretty pink muscle. he fucks his tongue in and out of your spasmodic entrance, a small smile on his lips as another climax seems to crash over you.

and, true to maki's word, yuuta spends hours learning between your legs until he is an expert! though, unfortunately for you, you end up a shaking, sniffling mess after far too many orgasms (o^▽^o)

[disgustingtwitches]

MDNI

Working at a restaurant with 141! (pt.2)

As the weeks went on, Gaz and Soap would constantly try to pull you into the walk-in. But Simon's stare made you stop dead in your tracks every time. You've resorted to going over to their place, it's always a surprise who's gonna end up on top of who. During breaks between rounds, you'll catch up on a show you were all watching or playing video games and eating snacks. It's light, fun, young, energetic.

"The boys keeping you satisfied?"

Price asks during one of your smoke breaks, he's leaning against the railing again. Your eyes dart to the floor, embarrassed.

"I could take proper care of you."

The words drip from his mouth and run up your legs, making you squirm. He chuckles, a deep rumble from his broad chest.

"I'll pick you up 7 tonight."

Flicks the butt of his cigar onto the wet cement before walking back into the kitchen. Your hand shakes as you finish your cigarette.

The outing was nice, he took you out on a real date. You wore a tasteful dress that he was obsessed with the moment he saw you in it.

Made you order something expensive from the menu.

"Gotta keep you well fed, hm?"

You couldn't argue with him, he held an air of authority even outside of the kitchen. Conversation was pleasant, he kept it appropriate. Actually, that whole time he was an absolute gentleman. Walked you up to your flat. You gave him an anxious kiss that made him laugh softly and you quickly slipped into your studio. You pressed your back to the door, heart pounding. You squinted through the peephole and watched as he turned around, walking away. As soon as you swung your door open, he was stepping inside your place and scooping you up. He gripped your ass while holding you up, his hands positioned in a way that allowed him to rub your folds through the thin fabric of your dress.

"Already wet? Knew you'd be a good girl for me."

You melted in his arms at those words. Gently laid you right on the bed, pulling back to slip off your heels and left kisses from your ankle to inner thigh. He moaned when you giggled from his beard brushing against your soft thighs.

"Fuckin dogs, markin you up like your theirs."

His lips grazed over the hickeys Gaz and Soap left on your hips and thighs. He pulled the dress up and over your shoulders.

"Those sexy fuckin eyes of yours, Christ."

He kneeled over you, taking you in. Your moans, touch, smell, all that was left was your taste. He sunk back down between your legs and had you coming faster and harder than Soap or Gaz. He was down there for hours, only coming up to briefly cram his thick dick into your tight hole just long enough to leave you being for more when he pulled out. So much restraint he had. Only reason he finally finished was because he had to get up early tomorrow. Painted your sore walls with thick ropes of his spend,

"G'na take it all like a good girl, yeah?"

He held your face to muffle your moans with his mouth while he finished pumping into you. Wouldn't even clean you up, just gently pushed whatever leaked out of you back inside. Then he held you close and fell asleep, effectively trapping you in his arms. He ends up driving you to work the next day, taking you in early so he can prep with Ghost. Simon seems more grumpy than usual (it's because he's the one who's supposed to drive you to work, creature of habit he is).

"I'll let you pick her up next time. Don't get mad at me for being a gentleman."

Price sighs while portioning out meat. You swear you see Simon huff.

The drive home was silent as usual, but there was a tension that wasn't present before. Sure, there's been an uneasy or awkward air in the car before, but this was different. You needed it to stop being quiet.

"...sorry for not telling you about John taking me today."

You sat on your hands, staring at the veiny hand gripping the gear lever.

"S'alright, he told me."

His tone was unreadable as ever. He parked in front of your building, looking at you with those dark, intense eyes. You shifted uncomfortably, about to open your mouth to say something.

"G'night."

He interrupted, you nod and step out of his car to your door. You fumble with your keys and turn around to invite him in, he's already locking his car door and headed towards you. Oh fuck.

He doesn't even let you take your shoes off, just flops you onto the edge of the bed and haphazardly pulls down your jeans and underwear, folding you in half.

"Open."

He grunts, shoving two fingers into your mouth, getting them slick with your spit. He roughly fingers your sweet spot until you are overwhelmed with pleasure, then he undoes his pants. You gasp. Literally gasp at the sight of his length.

"That's not going in me."

You blink at him. He looks at you, stroking himself.

"Alright."

He shrugs before slapping his shaft on your wet folds, then rubbing himself against you. He goes at this for what seems like forever, occasionally his tip catches in your entrance before he slides out and continues to grind against you. It's maddening. Finally, you break and beg for him to slide himself in. He does so with no hesitation or concern for your poor walls. Bullies his way inside you until you physically can't take anymore and pounds into you ruthlessly. He covers your mouth with a rough hand while the other toys with your nub. You squeal, yelp, moan. It's all muffled; only to be heard by his ears.

"Atta girl, takin it like a champ."

You were barely keeping it together, each hit to your cervix made you see stars. It hurt. It was heaven. Your eyes rolled back.

"Don't look away from me."

He grabbed your face, making you stare right into his brown eyes. That's what pushed you over the edge, he rode out your orgasm before reaching his. Your heavy breaths filled the room. That's when he finally decides to pull off your shoes and pants. He was surprisingly good at aftercare, made you both some tea (why did he know where everything was?), wiped you down, and put on some cooking competition show. He was into it. Very into it.

"How do you fuck up beurre monté?"

He says to himself, shaking his head while the contestant on TV cried about messing up a sauce. It goes on like this for a while, shitting on chefs choices and mistakes. Your stomach rumbles, he looks at you. Offers to make something. You remember how the food at the restaurant gets sent back. A lot. Decline politely. He walks to the kitchen, rummaging through the fridge and cabinets. You'd say something, but you know you can't stop him. Twenty minutes later he hands you a plate,

"Shakshuka."

It looks...edible. He sits at the end of your bed, eating and watching his show. You take a spoonful into your mouth. Fucking delicious.

"Best I could do with what you had."

He made himself home, slept like he paid the bills, splayed out and snored louder than a Harley. Pinned you right under his arm, mouth right next to your ear. You barely get any sleep.

The next day you drag your feet back and forth from the kitchen.

"Fuckin hell Simon, you kept her up all night?"

John shook his head, burning another steak. Simon grunted, plating the meat and placing it on the window. You served the food to the customer and walked back to the kitchen.

"That's my hoodie."

Soap pointed at Ghost. It was obviously Soap's, they were both well built but Simon's arms and chest stretched the fabric.

"So?"

Simon shrugged, sweeping the floor.

"So? I gave it to her."

"S'fine, she has enough of your shit."

Soap looked at you, betrayed. You shrug, you were too tired to even notice what Simon was wearing.

"Didnae ye notice yer favorite hoodie was gone?"

He looked at you, eyes sad and blindingly blue.

"Give it a rest Johnny."

"'But it's 'er favorite. Right bonnie?"

You nod (you don't have a favorite, but obviously he needs this) and he sighs in relief, smile plastered on his face. Pesters Simon to give him back the hoodie.

"Keep it somewhere safe, aye?"

He hands it to you, holding it like it was a damn fabergé egg.

While Simon and you were walking to his car, Kyle and Johnny run after you, insisting on seeing your place,

"What, only they get to see your flat? It's not fair."

So puerile, Ghost rolled his eyes.

They oohed and aahed at your flat, fawning over your decor. You're thankful for splurging on a king sized mattress. Gaz slept like an angel, but Johnny? Even in his sleep he was restless, kicking and talking. You make a note not to have Ghost and him over at the same time.

Two days later, Johnny almost drops to his knees when he sees Simon in your 'favorite hoodie' again.