#there's supposed to be more but everything went wrong for me yesterday so i couldn't finish it in time

[galactaknightyaoi]

🎃🦇 Happy Halloween!! 🦇🎃

Anansi (He/him) and Erebus (He/him), and their weird freakish creatures, Galacta and Dragato, are all ready to recieve some candy!

They're representing the first kind of Halloween costumes this year. Generic Concept (but with a Cute Execution).

Anansi is a pirate, with a Galah on his shoulder as his parrot.

Erebus is a ringleader, and that Gato is his fierce lion.

What's the other kind of Halloween costume? Well, it's pop culture references of course...

[mountainsandmayhem]

BDSMaid - Chapter 5 Part Two

Series Summary: After recently graduating you take what is supposed to be a job to save money before you go back to university to get your law degree. Your best friend offers you a job cleaning luxury homes for clients you’ll never know. Easy. Simple. Mundane. Until one of your clients is home and everything you felt was missing in your life starts to fall into place. This goes against the NDA you signed and you could get fired. Or worse, you could fall in love.

Chapter Summary: You and Joel go to a Shibari class together; an innocent date, or is it?

TW: age gap (Joel 45/reader 22), reader does have some descriptors so more of an OC. Reader has longer hair and Joel can lift her. Mutual pining, kissing. Spoiler triggers below the cut in red.

WC: 8.2k

AN: Ok fiiiiiinnnneeeeee I couldn't wait any longer and I left you all on kind of a cliffhanger. As always, thank you to my lovely @lotusbxtch for reading and encouraging and helping me grow. Thanks @mermaidgirl30 , @littlevenicebitch69 and @joelmillerisapunk for being my lil cheerleaders. @for-a-longlongtime thanks for stoping me from working on that bull rider series LOL. Ok, enjoy this slowly because I haven't even STARTED chapter 6 yet, so I doubt it will be out until late October. Dividers and banners by the oh so talented @saradika-graphics

Masterlist || Series Masterlist

TW: complete sensory deprivation (tied down, blind folded and has hearing blocked), multiple orgasms, denial

Joel

Joel has tried to keep his distance since referring to tonight as a date. He left another large tip for your clean this week and then made sure he was as busy as possible to stop himself from going home to see you. As he coaxed you into drinking the orange juice and the water he kept hearing “it’s a date” over and over again in his mind, and he’d cringe internally. He wouldn’t have blamed you if you had leaped out of that bed and ran home. The thought of you wanting him in that way is ridiculous. Not only because he’s over twice your age, but you came to him for help with building self confidence and for an escape, and then he went and said something so fucking stupid. 

He shakes his head and pulls up his emails, trying to distract himself for what feels like the one hundredth time. Of course he wants to date you, he’d be crazy not to, but he can’t blur those lines. Furthermore, even if there was the slightest chance that you felt the same way he can’t risk breaking your heart the way he’s broken so many others.

She’s going to break yours, old man. Not the other way around.

Wednesday has been absolutely crawling. Time almost mocking him with how slow it’s ticking by. As he goes over the list of tonight's guests, Tess knocks on his small office door at the club.

“Hey,” she says, plopping down in the arm chair across from the desk. “You coming tonight?”

“Of course. Looks like a good turn out. Did the instructor make it in ok?”

“Cap picked her up from the airport yesterday and got her all settled at the hotel. Do you think you’re going to need me tonight?”

Joel cocks an eyebrow at her. He’s known Tess since she was ten. Her and Tommy are the same age, Joel being two years their senior. Aside from a few months when Tess and Tommy were sixteen, the three of them have been inseparable ever since. Tess was usually the undeclared leader of the group due to her bossy nature, but she kept the Miller brothers out of trouble most of the time. 

“What’s wrong, Tess?”

“Nothin’,” she crosses her arms across her chest. “I am the planner, you and Tommy are the personality. I’m fine to stay behind the scenes for this one.”

“You’ve been acting strange since the poker night.”

She rolls her eyes at him. She’s probably the only person ballsy enough to do that to Joel besides Tommy, but Joel’s almost convinced his little brother is more dumb than ballsy. “I’m fine, Joel. The staff is all in good morale, and that’s my department. Remember?”

Joel just stares as she continues, lowering her voice to mock his. “I need you to be the people person. Hire them, train them. I’m not patient enough because I’m a big scary dom who will just want to spank them for not listening. I also can’t plan anything because I have a man brain.”

“Hilarious,” Joel deadpans as Tess laughs at her own jokes. “I’m being serious though, are you sure you're ok?”

“Yes, you don’t need to be concerned about me. I’m actually a little gutted I’m gonna miss it. Tommy told me there’s been a very pretty young lady hanging around you lately.”

Joel puts his reading glasses on with one hand and pointing to his door with the other. “Out.”

You

Joel referring to tonight as a date has been on loop for the last few days. He has this amazing way of shutting off your brain and then leaving you with so many new questions. Either way, when a few more college letters came over the last few days you convinced yourself that right before leaving for the shibari-demonstration-slash-date was the best time to open them. 

Odette and Jamie sit on the couch across from you as you slide open the first letter. The thick eggshell parchment stamped with the Yale logo pops open easily. You close your eyes as you open the paper, the only sound in the room is the thundering of your heart behind your ribs. 

You peel your eyes open and read out loud. “We regret to inform you that you have not…” your voice falls off, fingers shaking as you put it back in the envelope.

“Hey, we expected a few no’s,” Jamie says gently, always the optimist.

Odette takes the other approach, “Their fucking loss, bunch of stuffy old cunts! Next!”

You laugh at the juxtaposition of your friends' responses and reach for the Harvard letter. “We regret to inform you…”

“Keep going babe,” Jamie says softly.

You pick up the bright white Columbia letter. “We regret to inform you…fuck.” You feel the defeat start to creep in, like thick morning fog. It’s suffocating, choking all the happiness and excitement you had for tonight. 

“What the fuck is wrong with these schools!” Odette says, snatching the letters up so she can check for herself. “Do the Toronto one, Canadians are supposed to be nice.”

“I can’t open anymore,” you say as your head falls back into the sofa. The fog starts to spread through your body, shutting you down inch by inch. You know you have to open the rest. You’ll spend the rest of the night wondering what they say if you don’t finish them. “You do it, Jamie.”

She shuffles in her seat uncomfortably. She’s not the kind of girl who likes to disappoint others; she's bright and happy but at this moment she’s the only person that you can take bad news from. As if she can read your thoughts, she grabs the University of Toronto letter. The sound of the envelope popping open slices through you. She clears her throat as she opens the paper and then reads aloud the same sentence you did. The letters from Duke and Notre Dame follow the same painful routine. With each rejection your stomach swirls, nausea building on top of self doubt and anxiety. 

Six out of the eight universities you applied to have turned you down; Berkeley and the University of Austin are your only chances left at reaching your dreams. The silence in the small rental unit has you on edge, so much so that when your phone vibrates beside you you jump. A sunset beach photo from your last trip to California is the background from a text from Cap telling you he’ll be at your doorstep in about twenty minutes. 

“I gotta finish getting ready,” you say, dragging yourself to the bathroom to touch up any makeup and brush your teeth.

“Babe?” Jamie says, following you down the hall. “You wanna stay here instead of going to that mixer?”

The reminder of the lie sends a new wave of nausea through you. Tonight you became a law school reject and an even bigger liar. Don’t forget that you’re also falling in love with an unattainable man, says the glittery pink box. You mentally lift a single finger in its direction, it usually doesn’t turn on you like that. 

“I need the distraction.” You say, deciding that that’s not really a lie.

Your friends look at you with sadness in their eyes and even though you’re sad too, you wish you could tell them about Mister Miller and the club. You know they’d be excited about whatever this thing is and it would really help to have someone to decipher all the moments that live in your mind.

“It’s a date”.

When you walk through the large door from the lobby and into the club, you’re welcomed by a completely different atmosphere. It’s not all dim lights and sexy music like it normally is; instead the overhead lights are on and all the people are dressed in regular clothing or athletic wear and not the sexy outfits they’d normally pick to come here. Joel is no exception, dressed in dark wash jeans and a fitted black t-shirt. You catch the glint of his gold ring while he’s engrossed in deep conversation with a blue and purple haired woman along the edge of the dance floor. As if you’re his due north or the other side of his magnet, after just seconds of being in the same room as him, his eyes collide with yours. He mouths an ‘excuse me’ at the woman without looking away from and his long legs eat up the distance between the two of you. He meets you just before the bar and immediately wraps his arms around you, one hand coming to the nape of your neck, silently guiding your forehead to his strong chest.

“What’s wrong, sweet girl?” You love how easily he can read you, but you hate that this is the second time this week that he’s seeing you like this. You know you have moments of weakness, but you don’t let anyone see that and you DEFINITELY don’t inconvenience others with your weakness. 

“Hasn’t been my best day, but I really don’t want to talk about it.” You don’t want to dump all of this on him now, not when he looked so excited when you said you’d attend tonight. 

“Ok, I’m here for you if you want to talk about it though. You don’t have to deal with this on your own.” His lips come to the crown of your head and you breathe him in letting his ash and leather scent break down your walls. 

“I didn’t get in,” you mumble and he holds you tighter for a brief second before his hand moves to your chin and tilts up to meet your gaze.

“All of them?” he asks gently but something akin to anger flares in eyes for just a second. 

“Six of them. I haven’t heard from two.” His thumb feels like heaven as it runs along your jaw.

From across the club the blue and purple haired woman, who is now on the stage, claps her hands. “Good evening, everyone! I’m Starr. If you and your brave partners could start making your way to the floor, we can get started right away!”

“Do you want to leave?” Joel says, his warm coffee and chocolate eyes dancing around yours. No one looks at you like that; no one ever asks what you want. This is one of those looks that you wish you could talk to your friends about.

“No,” you say truthfully. “I want to be here with you.”

“I wasn’t going to let you leave without me. Do you want to go somewhere else together?”

You step back and grab his hand, his fingers thread through yours as if you do this everyday, as if this is normal, and you pull him towards the floor. He stands behind you, an arm wrapped protectively around your middle, similar to how he did the first time you went through the voyeur room. Starr introduces herself and her wife and then begins explaining rope safety and terminology like rigger and rope bunny, before launching into a step by step on tying a beautiful star harness across her wifes clothed chest. The two women hand ropes to the person who will be doing the rigging and as the rope lands in Joel’s hand your pussy flutters at the realization that you’re about to become Mister Miller’s rope bunny. You knew that coming here tonight, even if it did include lying to your friends, would help you feel better. The disappointment of being rejected is slowly replaced with an excited anticipation of learning something new with a man who has done nothing but choose you since laid your eyes on each other.

Starr projects step by step instructions up on the back wall of the stage and Joel clears his throat behind you as he begins. The sound of the rope running through his hands as he folds it in half sends a shiver up your spine. You try to distract yourself by clipping your hair up and out of the way. 

“Arms up,” he rasps, and places a light kiss on the soft curve of your neck as he wraps the rope around your ribcage, just below your breasts. You purposely wore a tight t-shirt and leggings tonight. If anyone asks, you’ll say you just assumed it would be easier to be in something form fitting rather than loose, but the truth is that you did some research on Shibari classes and it was recommended to wear clothing that was tight to the body. As he walks around you to make the first diagonal cross of your chest he says, “Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?”

You lock your eyes with his as he loops back up, crossing the rope over your other shoulder and walks behind you. “Yes, at least not yet.” 

“Alright,” he says softly, pulling the rope back through the first band he made. “What do you want to talk about then?”

Your daughter. Your wife. The guitars and books of lyrics. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Do you like me or do you like like me? How do you feel about an age gap romance? Your brain races with a million things you could ask, and maybe would ask on a date. However, this is anything but a date, right? A dom and sub don’t date, there are strict rules. He tells you what to do, you do it. You don’t date.

The silence between you two feels like it’s lasted forever, you flinch as you ask the first thing you can think of. “How old are you?”

“Almost forty five. It says that on my profile, sweet girl. For someone who likes research…” His voice trails off. Is he flirting?

“I refuse to look at it in case you try to pawn me off to Tommy again,” you tease. You bite your cheek to hold in all the questions you want to ask as he chuckles behind you. You lift your arms as per the next slide and he brings the rope up towards your armpit as you settle on a neutral topic. “Baseball,” you say flatly.

Joel laughs silently as he walks around your body, the rope coming across to your other armpit and he’s behind you again. “Baseball?”

“Ya, it’s America’s favourite pastime.” Joel's fingers feel warm through the fabric of your shirt as he continues to work the ropes. 

“Ok, so what do you want to discuss about baseball?” He wanders in front of you again, following the instructions perfectly.

You shrug a little, lifting your arms again as you follow along with the slides. “Did you ever play?”

Starr circles around the two of you, “Great job, Joel. You ok, honey? Not too tight anywhere?”

You shake your head no and then you and Joel get lost in each other again. “Yes, I played for most of my childhood. I was pretty good too.”

You chuckle, “Why am I not surprised.”

“What?” he says, half laughing.

“Seems like Joel Miller is good at everything,” you say lightly, almost in admiration. He’s behind you again, feeding the ropes through themselves. The back looks beautifully intricate, and you can see other couples getting frustrated before either Starr or her wife comes and helps them. You continue, “Let me guess, you were like a big all-star pitcher or something?”

“No,” he answers.

“What position did you play then?” You glance down at your chest at the star shape across your chest, the rope scrapes gently on the exposed skin of your neck with the movement. It’s stunning, exactly as the demonstration and the picture. Yep, Joel Miller is good at everything. 

A new voice joins your conversation, “Best first baseman the school has ever seen.”

You crane your neck over your right shoulder towards the source; Tommy. You clench your molars when you see him with Jade; the beautiful icy blonde woman that Joel had tied to his desk the first time you met him. Joel shifts uncomfortably as she flutters her lashes at him. “As I was saying,” Joel huffs in his brother's direction before turning his attention back to you. “I played first base and Tommy was the back catcher. Our mom pretty much put us in any sport she could afford to keep us out of trouble.” 

“That’s kind of fascinating,” you say, looking back towards the stage and trying to get back into the safe little bubble you and Joel have created. 

“I dunno about that, sweet girl.”

The combination of him using that nickname and the feeling of his fingers on your body cause another shiver to roll up your spine, and suddenly it’s just the two of you again. It’s so easy to get lost with Joel, every ounce of that fog from earlier has dissipated. He’s like the warm morning sun, chasing away all the thick haze that coated you in the darkness. “I think this is a safe nickname space only, Sweet Cheeks.”

He swats your bum gently eliciting a giggle to pass your lips before getting back to weaving the rope in and out along your spine. “Careful. Now why is it kind of fascinating?”

“I mean, Tommy played at home plate, you played at first base.”

“I don’t know where you’re going here, Freckles.”

You smile over your shoulder at Joel. “Well, don’t you see the connection? You don’t have sex with your subs, Tommy does. He goes to home plate, you stay at first base.”

Joel arches an eyebrow at you as you flash him a cheeky smile and then he lets out a laugh. A real laugh that sounds like it’s coming straight from his stomach. His big beautiful smile draws up his cheeks causing the skin around his eyes to crinkle. The sound is almost enough to make you weak at the knees. “I swear to god, Freckles, I love the way your brain works.”

The rest of the group finishes off their harnesses and Starr begins the next part, explaining now how to tie the arms around the biceps and secure them to the harness. They hand out the ropes again and you reach behind yourself to criss cross your arms and grasp your opposite elbows. Just as Joel begins folding the rope over in his hands, Jade speaks.

“She sort of hit the nail on the head with that one, Mister Miller.” Envy flares in your eyes as she steps towards Joel, leaning into him. “I can’t wait for tomorrow. I’ve missed you.”

You glance towards Joel, expecting to see him looking angry but his soft eyes meet you with guilt written all over his face. You watch his throat as he swallows hard and the happy, sparkly bubble you built bursts and the fog returns. Your heart drops to your feet, it was too good to be true, you knew it was too good to be true and he almost had you fooled. You don’t think, you just act, you need to get away from this space and all these people as bile rises in your throat.

Your feet feel heavy as you walk quickly toward the voyeur room, slipping past the closed sign that's propped up outside the curtain that conceals it. Darkness surrounds you, the rope harness feels like it’s smothering you as you try to take deep calming breaths. A flash of light from the otherside of the curtain fills the room as someone follows.

“Go away, Joel.” You say quietly, trying to force air past the lump growing in your throat. 

“It’s Tommy.” He says, flicking on a dim light and noting the way you’re pulling at the rope closest to your throat. “Let me untie you so you don’t hurt yourself.”

You step back, a wall slamming down around you. Tommy raises his hands, “Please, just let me untie you so you can breathe.”

You spin slowly, giving your back to him and he approaches. His fingers pulling and working the ropes and the irony of him removing knots as you start to mentally tie yourself up in them is enough to make you nauseous. You retreat into your mind, looking for that stupid box. I fucking told you! You practically scream at the shadow you know it’s hiding in.

“Try to slow your breathing for me,” Tommy says softly as the rope begins to loosen and fall away from your body. Tonight felt too normal, too comfortable. You started to feel like maybe Joel was feeling the same way you do, but now you feel like you’ve been slapped across the face with yet another reminder that you are not enough. Six out eight universities and the man you completely misread. 

“I’m so fucking stupid.” It doesn’t come out self deprecating or angrily. Just as if you’re stating a fact, similar to how you’d say you like the colour green. 

“No, this is on me.” The rope falls away from your body and you step away, spinning to face Tommy. “I shouldn’t have said yes when she asked me to bring her here tonight. I assumed Joel had ended it before they were in Europe.”

“What?” You breathe out in disbelief. Even though you can see the rope in Tommy’s hands, it still feels like it’s around your throat.

You wander towards the nearest couch. All those pictures, all those flirty texts and she was there the entire time? You hear your mothers voice again, ‘You might be the smartest one in this town but the real world is going to eat you up and spit you out.’ Nothing has felt more true, especially today. Six schools rejected you, selecting smarter shinier applicants and now the same thing is happening with Joel. You knew you didn’t hold a candle to her, he wanted you to go with Tommy so he could keep her, didn’t he?

‘It’s only you.’ His desperate voice from the day in his office comes out of the shadows of your mind. But it’s not only you. If he didn’t end it with her then it’s her too. You’re constantly in competitions that you have no business being in. 

“No, not ‘they’. Not like that. They were there for different things, not together,” Tommy’s voice has a hint of panic. “...I’m really fucking this night up, aren’t I?”

Just then, Joel and Jade come through the curtain. “Sweet girl….”

“No,” you say, cutting him off with a wave of your hand. You want to yell and scream and ask him what was with all that “it’s only you” bullshit.

“Baby, please, just listen to me.” Joel kneels in front of you and you stand up. His hands come to either side of the couch, keeping you there. “Please?”

You can feel his eyes on you but you keep staring straight ahead, the curtains of all the rental rooms are drawn shut. “Please just go, Joel.”

Jade steps into your line of vision and you can feel the jealousy twisting at your stomach. She’s fucking beautiful. Long icy blonde hair that looks silky to touch, slender limbs and a perfectly symmetrical face. Her make up is done to perfection, and to top it all off she was kissed by an angel in the breast department. 

“I’m sorry. I left the country a few days after I saw you for your birthday celebration. I went to Germany to get married and I wasn’t coming back.” Her eyes go soft for a second as she looks down at her bare left ring finger and then back to you. “Clearly I didn’t do either of those things. I haven’t spoken to Joel and I just assumed our regular time slots still stood.”

Even without looking down, you know Joel hasn’t looked away. From the moment you met him, you’ve been able to feel his gaze on you. It’s one of the things you like so much about him, the way he looks at you. You feel warm and seen, and most importantly, safe in his gaze.

Tommy clears his throat gently and you glance his way. “Ending things with a sub is tricky. It has to be done in person. I know Joel better than anyone else, he ended things with everyone else. He’s gonna beat the shit out of me for this, but he’s crazy about you and he’s only ever looked at one other person the way he looks at you.”

“Tommy,” Jade's voice cracks as she says his name. “I think you should untie me so I can leave. I really am sorry, to all of you.”

You watch the two of them disappear back into the main area of the club before you finally allow yourself to look down at Joel. His eyes are big and soft, he looks so vulnerable. Is this real though? When you think about how easily he can slide on his dominant mask you aren’t sure what you can and can’t trust, and that’s really fucking horrible considering trust is the most important thing between a sub and dom. He could be lying, he gains blow jobs and doing whatever else he wants to your body by keeping this up. 

But what does Tommy gain from telling you what he just did? Tommy has no skin in the game here.

Joel  

His heart is flying wildly behind his chest, blood coursing through his ears. He never thought he was going to see Jade again. Neither of them talked about it really, but after that session that you walked in on she canceled the next one and told him she was moving to be with her fiance in Germany and was getting married. He continues to look up at you; the ever growing pinch in his neck be damned, he’s not looking away. Even at this angle you manage to take his breath away. It feels like hours have gone by when you finally speak.

“I thought it was only me,” it comes out as a whisper and immediately shatters the little bits that were left of his composure. 

“It is, sweet girl. I promise you it is.”

“I want to believe you,” your voice is so calm. He doesn’t deserve you being calm right now. Or does he? You came into this very methodical. Maybe these are just sub-dom transactions to you.

“What can I do?” He says hopefully. “I’ll do anything you need, sweet girl.”

You let out a shaky breath and he can see the wall building behind your eyes, that fun goofy girl who isn’t afraid to crack a joke is slowly locking herself away. He prepares himself for you to tell him this is over, or that you need time. He reminds himself that this was always going to end in heartbreak for him, so may as well get it over with now instead of when he’s fully in love with you, before he’s learned how those warm walls of your pussy feel against his cock. Because there really will be no coming back from that if that happens.

As he tightens the muscles in his core, physically preparing for the metaphorical blow to the gut he watches your long lashes flutter shut and when you open your eyes again the wall is gone. The shimmering pools of the eyes he’s enamored by are back and relief washes over him. 

“Nothing, Mister Miller,” your voice is saccharine sweet. “Trust is the most important thing between a sub and their dom. I can’t let my own anxiety ruin this, but I might just be a bit guarded until I’ve calmed all those thoughts.”

He whispers your name, biting back a groan as your hands meet his hair. “I’m so sorry that happened, baby girl.”

“I know. So am I. I shouldn’t have gotten jealous. It’s just…”

“No, you can be jealous. I told you one thing and -.”

You tug at the strands of his hair and shush him. “I’m not done,” your voice is stern. Joel isn’t used to hearing your tone like that and he suddenly feels his chest swelling with pride. This sweet bubbly person in front of him is morphing into a confident badass. That’s probably the exact tone you’ll use in boardrooms or courtrooms when other lawyers try to talk over you and he can only hope that one day he’ll get to witness that. “I shouldn’t have gotten jealous, but I really like the way I feel around you. It’s selfish of me, but I’d like to keep feeling like this for the few months I have left here before I leave for law school.”

Selfish. He lets that word wash over him. The most selfless person he’s ever known is worried about being selfish? No, he thinks, she deserves this. Hearing you say that you’re leaving makes him feel like his chest is caving in on itself. He’ll deal with the inevitable heartbreak when you leave him. He knows those rejection letters were hard on you, but he helped you to feel better and he’s going to hold on to that and give you that for as long as he possibly can. 

Your fingers release his hair and he watches you walk the few steps to where the rope Tommy untied for you lays on the floor. He licks his lips as you bend to pick it up, eyes trailing over the delicious curves of your ass. “It would be my pleasure, sweetheart.”

You turn, walking back towards where he’s kneeling and holding the ropes out to him you say, “Is the workshop over?”

He stands up, his fingers grazing yours as he takes the rope. Electricity tingles up his forearms at the feel of your soft skin. Your body is so close to his that he can feel your soft warmth radiating against him. You being at this proximity immediately put him at ease.

“No, there’s a bodysuit tutorial right now,” he says. You nod, stepping around him. Suddenly, Joel grabs your elbow to stop you, lowering his lips to your ear, and lowering his voice to that gravelly tone he knows you love, he rasps, “I should punish you for letting another dom untie what’s mine.”

You smirk up at him, “I’d like to see you try, Sweet Cheeks.”

You

Joel works silently around you and you lose yourself for a bit in the events that unfolded tonight. Joel has knelt in front of you before, but never like that. The sad, helpless look in his eyes, the slight slump of the shoulders. He was submitting to you, and when your fingers met his scalp, he leaned into your touch. The way his body melted at your touch was intoxicating. He wasn’t Mister Miller in that room tonight, he was Joel, and the dichotomy of this man is astounding. 

After about thirty minutes of Joel twisting, turning and pulling he has your upper half tied into a zigzagged bodysuit of rope. Joel steps in front of you and bends slightly to reach between your legs. When he brings the rope between your thighs and as he feeds it through the bottom of the chest piece, the seam of your leggings brushes against your clit. You jolt at the contact, your cheeks flushing crimson as Joel's eyes meet yours in a flash of onyx and honey. He begins shaping the bottom part of the bodysuit, bent in front of you the entire time and locking eyes with yours every time he tugs the ropes into place. 

You glance nervously around the room to see if anyone else is having the same reaction. You expected this night to be fun and silly, the way a date should be. And it was for a while, but now it’s taken a very erotic turn. The blush of your cheeks warms down your chest and neck as you hold off on what could be a very vocal orgasm in front of a room of people who you don’t necessarily want to witness it.

Joel finally finishes the body suit and moves to stand behind you, his patchy facial hair brushes the shell of your ear as he whispers, his voice full of gravel, “Hands behind your back, my sweet girl. We aren’t done.”

A shiver races up your spine and your arms fly back. “So eager,” Joel says softly, grazing his teeth along the lobe of your ear, adding gasoline to the small fire that’s been building between your thighs.  

You’re sure the arm restraints only take about three minutes to complete, but it feels like hours. The three knots that lay around your wrists, forearms, and biceps keep your posture nice and tall, and your breasts pushed up through the body suit. Once he’s finished, Joel spins you to face him, and that rope works its way in between the lips of your now absolutely soaked pussy. You squeeze your thighs together, the soft expression on his face only intensifying the growing ache. He’s such a fucking tease, you think, and now he’s looking at you as if you put the stars in the sky. Finally, his dark brown eyes settle on yours and he gives you a closed lip smile.

“What?” You ask breathlessly.

“I jus’ thought that I’d go all caveman seein’ you like this,” he steps into you, one hand cupping your cheek, the other tugging on the rope near your waist, which jiggles the rope that has you on edge. Joel’s voice lowers, this next part just for you to hear. “But you just look so beautiful.”

He tugs up on the rope and pleasure courses through you as you gasp quietly. He gives you that sexy smirk that makes that dimple carve into his cheek. 

Yep, he’s a fucking tease. The little box says, confirming your thoughts. 

“You like that, sweet girl?”

He tugs again and your forehead falls to his chest. “Please, Mister Miller,” you whisper into his expensive cotton t-shirt. 

Starr interrupts the two of you, but you can’t peel yourself away from Joel right now. The slightest move of that rope might make you explode. “Well, based on that reaction I’d say you tied it just right, Joel.”

“Thank you for coming, Starr. I’m sure we’ll host one of these again soon. Tommy is by the bar, he can help you kick everyone out.”

“Joel,” she says, a slight hint of amusement in her now hushed voice. “Your rope bunny is on the verge of having an orgasm, go.”

With that he hoists you over his shoulder and walks towards the door that leads to the private rooms. “Fuckfuck, I’m gonna -” you whisper into his broad back and squeeze your thighs tighter as Joel walks. 

The second the door shuts, separating you from the others Joel puts you on your feet and jiggles the rope around your waist. “Come, baby.”

You fall into him for support, his other arm wrapping around you to hold you up as stars blur your vision. “That feel good, my little rope bunny?” 

“Yes - oh god, yes.” Your arms pull at the ropes restraining them behind your back and you can’t hold it anymore. Your orgasm practically slams through you as you gasp and moan into Joel's broad chest. “Fuck, Mister Miller.”

 “You’re so beautiful when you let go for me. I’ll never get sick of watching you like this.” He continues to work the rope as your high crests and your legs start to go weak and boneless below you.

“I can’t…p-please Mis - Fuck.” Joel lifts your lax and quivering body over his shoulder again and makes his way to his room, placing you at the foot of the bed, spinning you and pushing between your shoulder blades until your chest meets the mattress.

“Spread your legs,” he commands and you listen, moving your feet to be shoulder width apart. He wraps two cuffs around your ankles, and attaches them to the bottom of the bed posts before doing the same to the ropes around your arms. You’re trapped, stuck bent over the end of the bed and even though you’re fully clothed under all of these ropes, this is easily the hottest thing you’ve ever done. “Fuck me. How are you so goddamn sexy even when you’re fully clothed.”

You hear Joel’s footsteps around the room, gathering whatever he has decided to use on you tonight before you can feel him behind you. “Sweet girl, I do believe I read that you would be interested in sensory deprivation. Is that correct?” 

“Yes, Mister Miller,” you hum.

“Do I have your consent to blindfold you and then have you listen to music in noise canceling headphones?”

Fire erupts in your stomach, your core pulsing at the thought of him doing whatever he wants to you. “Yes, Mister Miller.”

A silky black blind fold slips over your head, Joel's large body covering your back. “What’s your safeword?” he growls, his lips brushing the shell of your ear. 

“Stegosaurus.” Just once you’d like that to not leave your lips in the whiny, desperate tone it does when he asks you that question. 

“Good girl,” he praises before the plush headphones cover your ears. All you see is black, all you hear is soft decorative piano music, and all you feel is the warmth of Joel over your buzzing skin. There’s not a single thought in your mind, everything is silent. This is what you need and you start to worry that you’ll become addicted to the way Joel makes you feel everything while thinking nothing. 

The warmth of his body disappears from you and you whimper at the loss. Your eyes clench closed as if that will help you be able to find him. A thin, pulsing vibrator hits the back of your thigh and you jump. Joel's large hands rubs your opposite hip and every muscle relaxes under his touch. The vibrator pulses softly as he moves it up your thigh, tickling along your hip, and then down the other leg. You can’t hear the sounds that you’re making but you’re sure they’re desperate, needy gasps.

After teasing your arms Joel slips something small and hard between your body and the rope that’s been torturously teasing at your clit before you feel him pull away. You adjust so your forehead is resting on the mattress before it dips with the weight of him sitting beside your head. His warm fingers wrap around your neck and he kneads the muscles.

“Mmmm, thank you Mister Miller,” you hum. 

Whatever Joel slipped against your clit comes to life, a dull vibration that is sure to be your undoing has you attempting to arch your back, but you can’t move. Your breathing quickens, short little puffs of air passing your lips. 

“I’m gonna come,” you murmur quietly, or at least you think it’s quiet since you can’t hear yourself or anything else. Joel’s strong fingers continue the delicious swirling patterns up and down the sides of your neck as you begin to shake. “Oh god - I’m so close!”

Just as you’re about to slam head first into another orgasm the vibrating stops and Joel’s fingers disappear from your skin. “No,” and this time you know it wasn’t a whisper or a whimper.

The mattress jostles and then you feel Joel behind you again. A hand comes to one of yours, coaxing it out of the fist you’ve apparently clenched before doing the same to the other. The vibrating starts stronger this time and both his hands come to yours, his thumbs massaging at your palms. It doesn’t take long this time before you’re right on that edge again.

“Fuck, Mister Miller. Puh-please don’t stop!” Your legs start the familiar shake that happens right when you’re about to tip over the edge and he doesn’t follow your wishes. The hand massage stops, quickly followed by the vibrator being switched off. You groan in frustration and he lays a quick, sharp spank over your legging clad right ass cheek. “Hnnng - sorry.”

You can’t be certain, but based on the warm puffs hitting your core you’re pretty sure he’s knelt down behind you. The vibrator comes to life again, stronger than the last two times and his hands work at massaging the muscles along the back of your thighs. This is torture; wonderful euphoric torture and as much as you want it end, you also don’t ever want him to stop making you feel this way. 

You let your eyes flutter open behind the blindfold, it’s still just as dark but you see that little pink sparkly box. The one that’s overflowing with emotion for Joel. You should push it back into the shadows or light it on fire, but instead you let it come out of the shadows completely. You see your hands reaching for the lid just as the white hot pleasure in your core gets close to the breaking point.

“Please please…Mister Miller - fuck!” You whimper and whine as it begins to burn hotter and then it’s gone and it feels like the air is being sucked forcefully out of your lungs. 

“Nonono, I can’t. Please, I need you..” Joel's large body is across your back in a second. The hard bulge in pants pressing against your ass and the memory of how good he felt and tasted in your mouth the last time has saliva pooling under your tongue. You swallow hard as one of the padded ear pieces is lifted from your ear.

Joel’s voice is deep and gruff as he says, “What do you need, my sweet girl?”

The little box of feelings vibrates at him calling you his and you kick it back into the shadows. “I need to come, Mister Miller.”

“That right? How bad?” He says teasingly before placing a feather light kiss on that sensitive spot right below your ear.

“So bad. Please, it hurts, Mister Miller.” You are pouting into the fluffy sheets, a completely whiny mess, and you realize that you’re always a mess for him. Be it a horny or depraved one, a whiny or a pouty one, he doesn’t care and if anything you think he likes it that way, likes you that way. “I want to hear you. I miss your dirty talk, please, baby!”

“Fuck,” he breathes. “I should spank you until you can’t sit tomorrow for calling me anything but Mister Miller. You know that, right?” 

“I can’t think straight. I’m sorry, just please. Please!”

He whips the headphones off of you and the vibrator hits at an intensity you have never felt before. Your pornographic scream fills the room. His large body above yours intensifies everything that was already killing you.

“That what you need, huh?”

You cry out and try to say yes but you’re sure it’s all just an incoherent mix of sounds at this point. 

“God damn, baby girl. You should see yourself right now. All tied up in knots that I made. The way your leggings hug the curves of your hips and soft, creamy thighs. You’re going to be the death of me one day.”

Tears start to flow behind your blindfold as the pleasure almost becomes too much, you haven’t come yet, and at this point you aren’t sure if you’ll survive it if you do. You have half a mind to ask Joel if an orgasm can physically split you in two because that is how you feel right now. 

“I’m - oh god - I’m…” You try to form the words but you can’t. 

One of Joel’s hands slips between his front and your tied up arms, his hand wrapping tightly around yours. His lips come to your ear as whispers. “I got you, sweet girl, just let go for me.”

“Need to see you,” you say between gasps of air and the pleasure begins to burn in your. 

Joel peels the blind fold off. You blink him into focus, his warm eyes searching your face. “Let go, you’re ok.”

As per usual, it’s his words that seem to be that final push and you let your orgasm consume you. It starts as a cold spark, a shiver up your spine and then heat flushes through every since cell in your body. You moan and writhe beneath Joel who whispers your praises like a prayer. Talking you through the intensity of the feeling. Your pussy clenches around nothing and you’re sure your panties, leggings and the rope are ruined.

“I can’t!” You gasp and Joel slows the vibration to help you ride out the decresendo of your orgasm. As the jolts of your body slow, he follows suit; the vibrator going to a dull blip and eventually nothing. Joel's thumb traces soothing patterns on the hand he’s still holding between your bodies. You take a deep and shaky breath, trying to calm your racing heart. 

“Are you ok, angel?” he asks quietly and goosebumps somehow spread along your too hot body.

“Better than ok,” you say with a small smile.

Joel’s lips meet yours, soft and pliant and so full of passion. Your eyes shut as you part your lips for him and when your tongue strokes gently against his he lets out a small whimper that causes your pulse to leap. Mentally, you grab a bigger box, stuffing it with the realization that you’re falling for this man. But you will deal with that later, right now you just need to let yourself have something that is for, well… yourself.

Joel 

He breaks the kiss, even though he doesn’t want to. Even though he knows that by breaking this kiss it’s only going to mean you going home sooner.  “I need to get you out of these ropes and get some sugar into you.”

The two of you sit in a comfortable silence as his nimble fingers work to undo your restraints, then the intricate knots that bind your arms, and lastly the bodysuit. He really did think you looked stunning all tied up. He didn’t plan for this night to go the way it did, but when he saw the slight flush of your cheeks and the way your eyes glazed over he couldn’t resist giving you what he knew you needed. He stays close, one hand protectively on your hip as you crawl onto the bed. Once he has you seated, he pulls a fuzzy grey blanket out from a basket beside the night stand and then opens the small fridge to grab you an orange juice and water.

He cracks the top of the orange juice. “Drink this for me, please.”

He watches your eyes do a quick half roll but you don’t fight him, fingers just barely grazing his as you take the juice from him. “I had fun tonight,” you say between sips as he walks to grab the coconut oil. 

Joel stands beside you. “So did I, sweetheart. Arm, please.”

You take the orange juice in your left hand and give him your right. Both of you watch as he puts oil on the few pink marks the ropes left behind. “Do you think I should change my safeword?”

He lifts one eyebrow at you and as he tends to your other arm says, “Why do you ask that.”

“I don’t know. It’s just…well, originally that little dinosaur on your coffee maker seemed so out of place. It intrigued me. Your home is beautiful, but the parts you let people see don’t give away any hints about you, except for that little dinosaur. But now that I know the whole story, it just seems too special of an item to be tied to what we do.”

“I don’t think we need to change it. You’re right, that little stegosaurus is special to me.” He sits sideways on the bed, grabbing the empty orange juice container and handing you the water. His jaw flexes once before he continues, “But so are you. I love that you felt a connection to that part of me. Ultimately, it’s your safe word, sweet girl, so you can make it anything you want, but I think it’s perfect for us.”

The soft look in your eyes as he speaks is almost enough to kill him, and when your lips twitch up ever so slightly at his words he knows he’s done for. He shouldn’t fall for you, especially since he’s sure there’s no way you’d ever feel the same way, but he can’t not fall for you.

Your name passes his lips with a nervous tremble, because he knows that what he’s about to say next is going to be his undoing. If you say yes to this next thing, if he continues spending actual time with you, he’s done.

“Ya?” you say before sucking your bottom lip through your teeth.

“Friday night is the five year anniversary party for the club. It’s a black tie event for all the VIP guests. Would you like to accompany me?”

He watches as your eyes land on your lap, your lips pressing together as if to suppress a smile. When your gaze floats back up to his, your eyes give you away. Try as you might to hide your expressions with him; he'll always know when you’re happy based on the glitter of your eyes.

“I’d really like that, Mister Miller.”

His forehead meets yours. “This might be a Sweet Cheeks moment.”

Thank you soooo much for reading! Remember to follow @mountainsandmayhem-updates for future chapters xo.

Next Chapter

[we-were-beautiful]

Unraveled Ends Chapter 2

Pre chapter Shenanigans 

a/n: Sooooo long time no post but I'm here now and that's what matters. Writers block hit me like a brick wall after my last piece that I did for the riders quadrant fic exchange back in July, that piece was only supposed to be 3k in words but ended up around 7.8k. I had been working on this chapter at the same time and had roughly 2k words but after I got through the edits on the gift fic couldn't seem to string together a coherent sentence much less moving the plot forward. all my photos for the moodboard/aesthetic come from pinterest. Last bit of info is that we did pick up two beta readers for this story( but I am always open for more if people want to hop in). So big Thanks to @loving-and-dreaming and @curse-bearing-hips for reviewing this chapter. That said we are all still human so there is more than likely some mistakes. And a huge thanks to @whisplion for inspiring me to write this fic. Hope y’all enjoy  

Summary: A tailor in the heart of Velaris finds herself mated to the two most powerful fae in Prythian. Unfortunately for her the mating bond only snapped for her, leaving her to question on how to move forward. Should she wait for her mates to feel the bond or should she go ahead and reject it and live with the gaping hole in her heart  

Poly!Feysand x Reader 

Warnings: None but there is angst

WC:3.1k

The next few weeks are nothing short of hell. I didn’t know pretending like nothing is wrong would be as exhausting as it has been. It was a never ending cycle of waking up, getting ready, going to work, and coming home. At work I was dancing a fine line of hiding everything from my seamstresses and sister and failing miserably. The only small mercy that I have had was that I haven’t had to see my mates. Thank the mother for that; I don’t know how I would have reacted to seeing them so soon after the bond had snapped. Not seeing them however did nothing to dampen the feelings that the two of them would throw down the bond unknowingly. Deep down  I know that they didn’t mean to send those memories and feelings to me, but on a good day it makes me sick to my stomach. I don’t know why it has gotten worse. I was fine for a year of burying the feelings that I have for the two down.

They were so happy together, and I don’t have a place in their perfect lifestyle. I thought that I had seen them around town a lot when they were just my customers but now it felt like every time I turned around they were there. It has increased since they came in to get their outfits for Starfall designed. I swear I ran into Rhys yesterday when I went to get lunch for myself. I ran into Feyre the other night while I was getting the groceries for my sisters and me. The two of them had actually approached me a week ago while I was at the park with my baby sister. They had little Nyx with them then and it felt like someone had taken a hold of my heart and started squeezing. The babe was adorable at two years of age. He's starting to reign terror on his parents who had apparently decided he needed to run off his energy at the park. The two of them are far more friendly with people than I would have liked, but mostly that friendliness was targeted towards me. As they joined me on the bench sandwiching me between them. They ended up chatting my ear off for the better part of an hour. There brushes of hands against my body that were too well placed to be incidental. It felt like a vice clamping down around my heart as I left the park with my sister to head home. Feyre had wanted me to stay a bit longer so that she could continue talking to me about my sketches. 

The physical interactions with them weren't the worst thing though. It was the images and emotions that the two had unknowingly sent down the bond. It wasn’t unusual to get a flash of lust from one of them at any given time of the day. It was inconvenient to just get hit with the overwhelming need for someone when I’m with clients. Late at night though I get the images. Of my mates tangled up in pleasure. Sometimes it was flashes of Feyre's face screwed up in pleasure; other of Rhys’s eyes alight with lust and desire. Those nights sleep was hard to come by. A few of those nights I found myself back in the shop working on my clients orders, anything to keep my mind from lingering on the two people that didn’t know I was bound to them.  I was surprised to be receiving so much from them down the bond given that both of them are powerful Demati. I figured that they would be skilled at keeping to themselves. 

Last night was one of those sleepless nights. It was a damn near endless barrage of want and need coming from both of them. If I hadn’t known that their mating bond had been accepted between them I would have assumed that they had accepted it last night. I left a note for my middle sister in the kitchen before heading to the shop in the dead of night. Being the night court, plenty of people were milling about the streets and shops in the palace of thread and jewels. Thankfully it isn’t one of the nights we keep the shop open for those who live under the stars, I could work in peace and not be bothered by anyone. No customers, no seamstresses, no nosy sisters, and most importantly no over friendly mates or their friends. 

It was wonderful to sit in the shop and do what I love with my shadows dancing around me. The shadows had been my friends since I was a very small faeling. They were more shy when I was out in public but when it is just me they come to life and sing. I had only seen two other people like me. One was my maternal grandfather who was from a court that had long since been lost; and the other was Azriel. Grandfather was able to teach me how to control the shadows and use them to my advantage. But he also told me to keep the gift to myself. Shadowsingers had long been coveted by the courts to be used as spies; and he and my parents were worried that the former High Lord would have conscripted me into his spy network if it was ever found out. I had successfully kept it a secret for nearly 400 years. Though times like this, when the shop is closed and I have the room to myself, I let them loose. A soft smile grows on my face as I watch the playful shadows dance about the room. A few of them try to be helpful by handing me tools and instruments that I need as I work on Feyre’s Starfall gown. 

Feyre’s dress had been coming along beautifully. She had come in for a fitting last week where we were checking the fit on the mock up. The High Lady had all but begged to have a similar fabric to my own. We had more of the fabric left; thank gods for that; the last thing I wanted to do was take a trip to the Autumn court to source more. I lose track of time working on the dress; so much so that I didn’t realize the sun had risen until I heard the lock on the door turn. 

“Sis, are you still here?” Genevieve calls out. Of course she came here. “I saw your note on the counter this morning. I dropped Itty bitty off at school and brought breakfast.” 

I sigh and set my things down to make my way out of the work room. Genevieve stands in the room looking so much like our mother; hair tied up in a worn red scarf, a dark red linen shirt and comfortable leather trousers. Ready for a day at the blacksmith. In her hands she balances a bag of what I assume is the breakfast and two cups in the other. 

“Your shadows are so helpful I’m jealous.” She passes me one of the cups and I take a sniff and immediately am greeted by the comforting scent of coffee “ Were you here all night again?” 

It's not hard to hear the concern in her voice as she takes a once over of me. 

“Yes” I responded, taking a sip of the delicious coffee that she had brought. 

“Ok what is going on with you.” She cocks her head to the side “It seems like you have been stressed this past year. Well more so than normal. This is starting to get worrisome. The number of times you have left the house in the middle of the night and worked through to morning is ridiculous.”

“What’s going on? I know it's not money since I help with the books and we have two sources of income coming in.” She takes a breath. “You can talk to me Sis.” 

“Let's go into the office. The ladies should be coming in soon.” I led her into my office not wanting to state what was going on when one of my employees could walk in. Once we are in the office I gesture for her to take a seat in front of my desk. I take a seat and my chair, bones creaking as I sit on the soft leather. She fixes me with a look telling me to start talking. 

“So I met my mates.” I sigh running a hand through my hair 

“You met your mate. That's good news right.” She starts rifling through the bag of food 

“Mates. Two of them.” She stops looking up at me 

“Two. Is that possible?” Her eyebrows nearly disappear into her hairline. 

“It is.” I lean back in my chair. “Incredibly rare but possible.” 

“So let me repeat my earlier question. That’s good news right?” 

“It’s complicated.” I bite my lower lip “The two of them are already mated. Sealed the bond and everything. But the bond only snapped for me.” 

“They don’t know.” Her voice drops in concern 

“No,they don’t.” 

“So what is stressing you out about it? You wouldn’t be leaving the house in the middle of the night over nothing?” 

“They are sending things down the bond. Images, emotions; it’s driving me crazy Gen.” 

“Shit, well can you block them out.” Mom had taught the two of us how to shield from Demati when we were younger. 

“I’ve tried; it only is able to dull it.” I fidget in my seat.  “It also doesn’t help that I keep seeing the two of them every time I go out into the city.” 

“Oh..” She hesitates “Do you mind if I ask who it is.?”  I quickly sent a few shadows out to make sure that the shop was still empty and that there were no busy bodies lurking around the shop. 

“It's the High Lord and Lady.” This was the first time I had ever said those words out loud. I guess I had thought that if I didn’t say it then I could pretend it wasn’t real and that it didn’t bother me. Gen lets out a low whistle.

“That does complicate things. I was going to tell you to grow a pair and tell them but fuck. The High Lord and Lady that… that makes things way more complex.” 

“You see why I am stressed now.” I can feel the ugly emotions filling my chest.

“Yeah, you are in the world's shittiest situation.” She lets out a sigh “It's not like you can go up to them and say hey I am your mate. Fuck I am sorry Sis.” 

I let out a wet laugh, a few tears escaped my eyes and rolled down my cheeks “ There’s nothing for you to apologize for. I just got dealt a shitty hand by the mother.” 

“Are you going to…” She trails off. I know what she was going to say though. It wasn’t something that was talked about often and not in polite company. Rejecting the bond. 

“It’s an option, and I am considering it. I want to ask a few friends of mine in Day about it first though. Since it hasn’t snapped for them they shouldn’t notice but I would like some confirmation first.” It helped that I had friends in other courts that I could gather information from; and there was no better place for information than  the Day Court.

“I will support whatever decision you make. You deserve to be happy Sis, and if your happiness is achieved by breaking the bond then do it.” 

The conversation between us dies after that as she passes me a blueberry muffin from the bag. Seems she stopped by our favorite bakery before heading over here. Time seems to fly too quickly and all too soon Gen has to leave for work leaving me here by myself. Although I’m not on my own for too much longer as my employees start trickling in.

The day seems to stretch on and on as clients make their way into the shop for fittings or to pick up their orders. The dull chatter of my employees and the various customers buzzes in my ears as I methodically pull a small needle through water-like silk. It's hard to make out any distinguishable conversation from behind my office door. Today seems like one of those days when time is just suspended and I can work in peace. There is a quiet content hum from my mates bond; one of the few times that I haven't felt heightened emotions from either of them. 

A soft knock shatters the silence of the office, effectively breaking the spell of tranquility that had fallen over me 

“Come in.” My voice cracks just a bit from not using it. The door squeaks open as a familiar head of midnight hair pokes in. Violet eyes twinkle in amusement as a smile grows across his stupidly handsome face. 

“Sweetheart!” The door swings open the rest of the way as Rhysand swaggers his way into my office like he owns it. I am quick to stand from my desk. 

“High lord.” I give him a polite curtsy, slamming my mental shields up before meeting his gaze

“How many times do I have to tell you it's Rhys?” He laughs before taking a seat in one of the leather chairs in front of my desk. “ So are you ready for my fitting or should I come back later.”  

Shit… Shit shit shit. I had completely forgotten that he was on my books for his second fitting today. It wasn’t like I was completely unprepared. No his suit was ready for the fitting but I was nowhere near mentally prepared for a fitting and not having slept the night before was going to be the actual death of me. 

“No, you are fine.” I move from behind the desk “Let me go grab your suit and we will get you out of here in no time.” 

“No need to rush, I quite enjoy your company.” I cannot afford to focus on my racing heart right now. I need to get him out of this shop as quickly as possible. I move through the back of the shop with practiced ease quickly locating the High Lord’s suit hanging neatly next to the High Lady’s gown. The two pieces were works of art in themselves that compliment each other. The suit as dark as the night sky embossed fabric giving the illusion of swirling depths. The dress flowed off the hanger like liquid moonlight, the delicate silk the identical twin to my own gown. Small gems sewn into the bodice catch and reflect the light like the stars that will make their journey across the sky on Starfall. For as much as I don’t want to care about the two, these pieces tell a different story. If I wasn’t just a little bit attached to the two of them I would have passed the designs along to another dressmaker and been done with it; but now I painstakingly designed and sewn these garments for my mates. I let out a small sigh before reaching up to grab the suite. Once I get back to my office I am quick to pass the suit off to Rhys directing him to the small changing area at the back of the office. I quickly begin to route around my desk for my supplies.  

An hour, all I have to do is make it an hour and then I will be free of Rhysand for the time being. It feels like forever before he walks out from behind the curtain. It is only years of working with Rhysand that keeps me from gasping out. If the suit was beautiful on the hanger and dress form it is absolutely stunning on the male it was made for. Rhys makes his way over to the platform and mirror in the office stepping up before moving to fuss with the cuffs. 

“This is a beautiful suit Sweetheart.” He moves to pick off the smallest piece of lint on the  collar. I move to stand behind him to begin the process of adjusting the way the suit sits on Rhysand.

We continued the song and dance that we had done for many years to get the suit to fit him perfectly. I can't help the small ache in my chest as I circle around him placing pins and chalk lines where minute alterations need to be made. Rhys is beaming the whole time chatting away like we hadn’t seen each other just the other day. I can feel the long day in my bones, my hands ache from the countless hours of work. My fingertips are raw from the amount of times I have jammed pins and needles into them. While I try to appropriately match Rhys energy, it's easy to tell that he isn’t buying the act. 

“You seem tired.” He arches a brow at me as I move to pin the hem of his pants. 

“My mates kept me up last night.” A mischievous glint grows in his violet eyes.

“Oh. They kept you up .” He teased but hidden in the back of his teasing tone seemed to be a bit of jealousy… possessiveness. 

“Yeah the two of them kept sending all of their emotions down the bond last night.” I sigh looking up at him from my spot on the floor 

“Two mates…” He stumbles with his words. He hasn’t done that since he was a teen and I was helping my father with his fitting “The mother has blessed you.” 

“Blessed or cursed.” I put the pins down. 

“Cursed.” He questions

“The bond only snapped for me.” A small sad smile grows on my face.  My mental shields are intact and stronger than ever and it's not like I can tell Rhys that he and Feyre are my mates. 

“Have you told them?” He questions, holding a hand out to help me from the floor 

“No. The two of them have already sealed the bond and have started their own perfect little family.” It feels like an Illyrian has punched me in the gut as I make this confession to him “I don’t want to ruin that for them.” 

“So what are you planning to do?” He tilts his head looking at me in sympathy “ Because you seem to have wilted these past few months. 

“I have a few things I am thinking about doing. I want to seek out a few friends in Day first before committing to it.”

“Committing to what Sweetheart?” he gazes at me with concern 

“Breaking the bond.” And as those words leave my lips you can see the color drain from his face.

Tag list: @rachelnicolee @goldenmagnolias @jesssicapanigua @sweetorangeblossom @cat-or-kitten @alowint @dream-alittlebiggerdarling @coldpeachkitten @esposadomd @araneea92 @saltedcoffeescotch @persephonesalvatore

[sammysbrokenheart]

Infinity.

Summary: You and Billie met before the fame and the fortune, but some things aren't always meant to be. (written in your pov)

Billie and I have been attached at the hip since we were 14. We did everything together and that's how we like it.

When we turned 15 it turned into something flirty. It was so innocent though. Two best friends seeing each other differently. That was also around the time Ocean Eyes happened.

Billie's life changed rapidly, but your bond stayed exactly the same. Somewhere during all the chaos you two fell in love and your best friendship turned into your first ever relationship.

"Baby I miss you," she says over the phone. That was the only way that we could communicate lately because Billie became so busy.

"I miss you too my love," I say sitting up from my bed. It was the middle of the night, between all of the touring and craziness she always tried to call. She sometimes forgets that timezones exist.

"When I get home I'm gonna spoil you rotten baby," She said and I could feel my heart skip a beat.

She's supposed to come home in three days and I can't wait to finally see her again. In three days is also my 18th birthday and in all the years of dating (all two years) she always made sure to make your day special.

I remember last years birthday was so romantic. She filled my bedroom with balloons and other cute decorations. After the shock died down we had dinner and watched Spirited Away. That's our favourite movie to watch together.

~~~next day~~~

"Why the face?" my brother asked when we were busy washing and drying the dishes the next day. I almost cut my hand from shock because my mind was so occupied.

"Yesterday Billie and I were talking and I don't know... I feel uneasy," I say handing him the knife in my hand.

"Why?" my brother said with a confused look on his face.

"I don't know I haven't heard from her since then and I know it could be nothing, but it doesn't feel like that..." I say scrubbing the plate in my hand.

"Come on it's Billie we're talking about... She loves you," he said slowly taking the plate out of my hand.

I could feel tears forming in my eyes and my heart felt heavy. She did love me. I kept repeating that to myself

"Heyyy stop doing that! It's gonna be okay," he pulled me into his arms and I couldn't help but cry.

~~~next day~~~

I woke up bright and early. I couldn't sleep from excitement anyway. I spent the better half of my morning picking something to wear and when I finally did it was 10 am, I spent 3 hours picking something to wear.

My parents and brother surprised me with a very sweet birthday breakfast. After the birthday breakfast my best friend Allan and Britney came to drag me away to some surprise.

I tried not to be too excited about it. I kept thinking that maybe Billie was waiting at the destination, hidden away somewhere to surprise me, but that wasn't the case. The surprise was a lovely picnic with all of our other friends. They sang for me and baked me the most delicious cake yet somewhere deep inside I was disappointed.

I looked down at my phone, no message.

"Come in birthday girl let's go take some pictures by the lake," Britney pulled me up from where I was sitting and dragged me to where the others were standing. Allan brought her camera and she was super excited to take some pictures.

After another hour they took me back home. At home my mother and father were in the backyard chatting and my brother was nowhere no be found.

Time passed slowly and before I knew it, it was dark. I stared up at the ceiling. Every second felt agonizing because they were seconds without Billie. Maybe I jinxed myself? Why did I say what I did yesterday?

I picked up my phone and tried to call her. What if something was wrong and she wasn't okay? Her call went straight to voicemail which was very unlike her and that made me panic even more.

The next morning came slowly. Anxiety kept me awake all night, this horrible feeling landed in the pit of my stomuch. I slowly dragged myself out of bed and went straight to the bathroom.

I decided to freshen up and take a shower immediately. There was no use in trying to sleep again. I went to pick up my phone and saw that it's off, it must have died in the middle of the night.

After placing my phone on charge I went down stairs to make myself some breakfast. Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

"I know I fucked up and I know you're probably mad at me, but I swear I can explain," Billie said as soon as the door opened.

I could feel my heart melt. All the anger and disappointment disappeared the moment I saw her.

"Y/N..." she said again and I realized that I must have zoned out.

Without any warning I wrapped my arms around her holding her tightly. It felt so comforting to be in her arms again like finally coming home after a long trip. Billie was my home.

"Let me make it up to you?" she asked and I nodded immediately. I didn't care what we were doing or what she had planned as long as we were together.

She was recognized all day and because she has such a big heart she made sure to give every fan equal attention. It made my heart swell to see her interact with her fans. It made me proud. At the same time spending time with Billie made me realize that I had no idea who she was anymore.

In the middle of our outing to the movies she got a call. She apologized profusely whispering frantically as she quickly got up and rushed out of the movie theater.

I sat there frozen staring at the screen. For some reason I couldn't move and for a moment it felt like I couldn't move at all.

This was her way to make up for missing my birthday and she left. She left.

That night she was on a plane back to wherever, I didn't care to ask, when she told me she was gone I immediately ended the call.

~~~two months later~~~

I broke up with Billie a week after that incident, I didn't want to, but it was for the best. I refused to watch us slowly drift the way I've been doing. My girlfriend became a stranger to me.

"Okay sis this tree is ugly as hell," my brother said with a judgemental look on his face as he examined my tree decorations.

I stood back looking at my Christmas tree.

"What do you mean!? This is the prettiest fucking Christmas tree ever," I said defensively.

My father peeked through the door, "He's right sweety..."

"Dad why would you take his side!" I said just as the doorbell rang.

I hurried to the door, it was probably Allan coming with her gift for me. I opened the door and immediately closed it and ran back to the living room.

"Who was it?" my brother asked then suddenly the doorbell rang again.

"Don't you dare!" I told him, but he didn't listen.

"Oh my gosh Billie!? Come on in baby!" my mother beat my brother to the door.

My brother bolted along with my dad. Suddenly it was just Billie and I alone in the living room. I quickly walked to the tree and started to remove the decorations. It was fucking ugly.

"This is a God awful tree," she said standing next to me and started helping me remove the decorations.

"Shut up..." I said.

I could feel her look at me every once in a while, but I didn't dare to look at her.

"So... Fuck Y/N look at me!" she said cupped my face in her hands forcing me to look at her.

"Billie I don't know what you're doing here-"

"I am here to get my fucking girlfriend back. At first I was a smart ass and I wanted to prove to myself that I'm alright but I'm fucking not. I'm not fucking alright Y/N," she said. I pushed her hands off of my face and took a step back.

"Y/N I know I get busy and I'm sorry for not always bringing you along on my journey, but I want you here. I want you with me, please let me prove to you how much I want you around," she said and I sighed. I had no idea what I was going to do.

Cliffhanger ♡♡

[paracosmic-murdock]

i still got love for you

part four: i hope for you

pairing: francesca bridgerton x fem!reader

summary: leaving for bath out of the sudden was the hardest thing you had had to do, not particularly because you had left your parents and home behind, but because your friendship with francesca bridgerton was ripped away from you a sudden summer morning.

five years later, francesca arrived in bath for the season to practice pianoforte with her aunt winnie, and finally, you see her again after thinking you had forever lost her. how much you wanted for your love to live and beat still, how much you wanted for francesca to say so.

warnings/tags: sapphic francesca bridgerton, childhood friends to lovers, mutual pining, am i gay quiz but make it nineteenth century somehow, smut, minors dni, inspired by an emily dickinson intimate letter to susan hunington dickinson, song: seven (taylor swift)

word count: 3.7K

❁ part one | part two | part three | part five | part six

❁ mila's anthology (main masterlist)

“Susie, will you indeed come home next Saturday, and be my own again, and kiss me as you used to? I hope for you so much, and feel so eager for you, feel that I cannot wait, feel that now I must have you — that the expectation once more to see your face again makes me feel hot and feverish, and my heart beats so fast.” (Excerpt from Open me carefully: Emily Dickinson's intimate letters to Susan Hunington Dickinson by Emily Dickinson)

“That is your favorite breakfast.”

You stopped playing with your fork and looked at him. “I am not hungry.”

He ate the last bite of his dish. “Oh, and why would that be? The last time you ate was for lunch yesterday and it was almost nothing.”

“I do not know. Perhaps I am tragically ill.”

“Clearly,” He scoffed sarcastically. “You miss her.”

“I don't miss anybody, Charles. I just feel unwell.” you stated.

“You, Sister, are a terrible liar.”

“And you, Brother, are delusional.”

He shook his head and stood up, putting the napkin you had embroidered on the table before storming off without any explanation.

You rolled your eyes, drinking your berry tea.

As much as you wanted to deny it, you were pensive because you missed Francesca.

You haven't seen her since dinner a couple of weeks ago, and you couldn't help but feel bad about it.

Three days after that evening, you went to her aunt's home but were told she was not there. You left a message for her: she was invited to join you for tea the next day or whenever she wanted to, for you would be at your home every day.

You canceled quite some plans just in case she went, but she never did. And you were devastated.

It was a lovely evening, and you thought everything went really well. Perhaps it was because you had called her darling. You felt it was proper at the moment, but now, not anymore. Now, in your mind, you have made her feel uncomfortable and lost her forever.

Charles’ mind was known for hardly being made up.

Dilemma was almost his second name, and it was no secret. Always a dilemma, and now wasn't the exception.

He hates to see you upset and hurting. You are his sister, and ever since you were born, he vowed to love you and protect you. And after your parents sent you away, it was his biggest purpose.

Right now, he had no choice but to tell Francesca Bridgerton, in front of him, the reason he was there.

Charles cleared his throat. “I suppose you have an idea as to why I am here.”

“Charles…”

“Frannie, did she do something wrong?”

“No, I just…” She sighed. “I have not been feeling very well lately, that is all.”

“Are you sure?” he questioned, not quite believing her.

“Yes.” She nodded.

“My sister has been punishing herself for your absence, and… it breaks me to see her like this,” he mentioned. Francesca felt her heart break at the thought of you hurting. “Why don't you come for lunch at our home? I shall have the cooks do something you like.”

“Uh, we were invited for lunch at the Maguire's home, I am sorry…” she lied.

Charles sighed. “When can we receive you, then?”

“I do not know.” she said, looking down to her hands.

He stood up. “I really hope you know she is hurting because of your absence. She did those five years, and she has these past weeks. She loves you, and I know you love her too. And no, not in a friendly manner.”

And, just like that, he left.

Francesca sighed and watched him leave, not able to decide what to do. To stop him. To ask him. To do anything.

In truth, the reason Francesca has not visited you in weeks is because she was scared of loving you. Not for being you, but for being a woman.

Her aunt Winnie had asked her if Lord Chadwick was courting her, but she didn't quite know what to say. She just said she did not know, but her aunt was convinced he was.

Understandably so, because no man would just invite a young lady to his home so many times if he didn't have any intention to court her. What she didn't know was that the one interested in her was you. Another lady.

After the implications regarding your brother, Francesca's aunt remarked how important it was for her to marry a gentleman, a good man, wealthy, and with title. The only one Francesca wanted was you.

You, you, you… No one else.

It pained her to know that her actions were affecting you, especially because the last thing she ever wanted was to make you feel bad. She loved you, and she knew that when you love somebody, you want that person to be happy.

But you could never feel fine or happy without Francesca. You couldn't deny that. Nor would she, especially now that you have reunited. And now that she knew that you loved her, too.

In all honesty, you calling her darling was unexpected and spooked her more than she was willing to admit. Maybe because it was a term of endearment and no one had used it on her before, or maybe because you used it, confirming she was your darling. Yours. Oh, how much Francesca longed to be yours.

So she thought about you during the lunch at Chadwick House she was invited to attend but wasn't intending to, during the afternoon she would've spent playing pianoforte instead, and during the evening she was supposed to get ready to sleep but didn't. Her aunt went to sleep, and she did quite the opposite, sneaking to the backyard to get you flowers, and leaving her home for the purpose of finding you.

Francesca did not particularly come up with a plan, so when she saw herself in front of the entrance to Chadwick House without a way to get in, she got worried. However, she didn't have to worry for much longer because Charles opened the door some minutes later.

“Charles!” She flinched and hid her hands behind her back as he suddenly appeared in front of her with a confused frown.

“Francesca?” He grinned. “What are you doing here?”

Francesca shook her head. “I- uh… I came to- nothing! I was just- I am going back.”

“Frannie, with all due respect,” Charles sighed, grabbing her forearm to stop her from leaving. “Shut up. My sister is in her chambers. Third floor, second door to the left.”

“Sorry,” She pouted. “I guess-”

“Lord save me! You two are driving me mad!” he exclaimed as he covered his face with his hands. “Get in there, Francesca, and don't you dare leave before resolving whatever it is that you two have going.”

With that, he left her there and got on the awaiting carriage she had failed to notice before.

Francesca sighed, walking inside the house and following your brother's directions until she reached your door.

She knocked, but received no answer, so she opened the door to find your room empty. Francesca guessed that, perhaps, you had gone out for a walk, so she went downstairs and ended up looking at you from afar.

You were sitting in the swing and looking at the night sky in utter silence, and she almost didn't dare to interrupt you. She, however, had a purpose for her visit and wouldn't let the courage she had gathered go to waste.

Francesca sat silently in the swing beside yours without saying a word.

“Charles, I told you to let me be.” you groaned, looking opposite from 'his' face.

She cleared her throat. “This is not Charles.”

You turned around abruptly to face her.

Dear God.

“Francesca-” you whispered, almost not believing it. “Are you truly here?”

“Yes, I am here,” She smiled, showing you the tulip of an unknown color in the dark. “But, firstly, this is for you.”

You smiled weakly.

At the silence, she spoke. “I, uh- I had to see you.”

“What for?”

“To apologize,” she replied and sighed, getting ready for the speech she had prepared the whole afternoon. “For not coming back after dinner. I… I was scared because you called me darling, and it made me realize that I might not be… alone in these feelings I find impossible to name. It felt real out of the sudden, and I was not prepared for it. I thought about them all those days and reached to a conclusion I was dreading: that I love you. Not like a girl who is fond of her childhood best friend or like a girl who has such dear affection for a sister, no; I love you like one loves the person that is to be their spouse, their love match. I know well enough that this is not something a woman is supposed to feel for another woman, but I do, and I have reasons to believe you do as well. Please, tell me I am not alone in this feeling, for I believe that love could never be as profound as mine for you were it not reciprocated.”

You grabbed the rope of her swing and pulled her close to you. “I love you, my darling. I love you so much that I fear the word love is not enough to grasp all that I feel for you. It is pathetic, the way your proximity makes my whole being combust in yearning; it is alluring, the way your eyes can heal all that chaos when they look into mine. Having you here with me, under the full moon and in a field of violets, is the utmost proof of how sacred this love is. How sacred we must treat it. Being yours is the ultimate purpose of my existence, and I would be beyond grateful to you if you allowed me to honor it by loving you devotedly and cherishing you adoringly.”

Francesca exhaled and hesitated for a single, intrusive second. She, right then and there, kissed your lips softly. There was doubt and insecurity, but you managed to wash it out by kissing her back with a passion she couldn't have even dreamt of.

“Would you like to stay for the night? It is far too late for you to return home by yourself and we do not have another carriage available. I fear Charles will not return until tomorrow.” you proposed, standing up and offering her your hand to do so, too.

Francesca nodded, now standing as well, and staring at your lips.

You smirked, closing the distance promptly.

You did not know how to kiss, but the two of you would certainly learn that night.

Of course there was an extra room, but there was no need for that. Despite the last sleepover being five years ago, there was still this feeling of comfort and intimacy shared between you and her.

“I know that sharing a bed has never been an issue for us,” you began. “But, if you wish, I could have the help bring another bed for you.”

“No!” she exclaimed, regretting the haste and reluctance of her answer. “I mean, no. It is not necessary, for your bed is big enough for the both of us.”

You nodded with a smile. “Would you like for me to get a maid to help you get ready to sleep? I might as well call-”

“No, There should be no need. We could help each other, is that not right?” she answered shyly. You were surprised to hear that, but thought nothing of it, ignoring the warmth taking over your body at the mere idea. “I- well, I- I did not mean it like… if you… if you want to. I do not have a problem. If you do, it is alright if you-”

“Yes, it is alright.” you agreed, approaching her and pointing to the bed with your head. “I had a maid bring a sleeping chemise for you… should you like for me to-?”

She nodded, undoing her coiffure before you got to her. “Yes, I should like for you to help me now.”

Francesca didn't know what was going on in herself. Her words seemed to come out before she could process them and her intentions were rather unclear even to herself.

Now, she was in front of you. Your hesitant hands trembled lightly as you started taking her dress off. Francesca let out a soft gasp when your fingers grazed her skin, noticing your closeness as she leaned closer to you, not creating contact just yet but desiring so, so very anxiously. You started undoing her corset slowly, trying to take in every second of proximity existent between you, the fervid hunger invading the moment.

Francesca let out a shaky breath, leaning toward you and, this time, she was actually resting her weight on you timidly. She whispered your name, almost silently enough for you to not hear.

But you always heard her.

Her head was resting on your shoulder, touching your cheek with her cheekbones. “I love you.”

You kissed her cheek gently and then went to her neck. You left slight bites on her skin and moaned as she pressed herself onto you slightly more.

“I love you, too,” you reminded her, and it felt as if it was the very first time you told her so. “I will never not.”

You kissed her shoulders and put your hands on her hips.

“I think we are…” you whimpered as she intertwined your hands with hers. “We are doing something we most likely should not.”

She exhaled with difficulty. “What would that be?”

“I saw them,” you began. “Anne and Petunia, my maids, they- I saw them doing this.”

“This?”

“Making love.”

Your answer left her in a place between confusion and oblivious understanding. She knew, but also she did not.

“What does it mean?”

“I went for a late night walk in the backyard and heard some noises,” you told her. “Chadwick House is not as big as the Devereaux Manor, so we do not need as much help, nor do we have enough room for more. Some of the help that stays at the house has to share a room, so my two lady maids do. I know where their room is, so, upon hearing the sounds, I peeked through the window in case something had happened. And I saw them… As soon as my shock subsided, I ran back to my chambers, but not without seeing them like we are now. They were kissing and touching each other, nude.”

Francesca frowned. “How do you know what it is called?”

“A few days later, I asked Charles about it, but I never said I had seen them. I told him I had heard it somewhere,” you answered. “He panicked and told me not to speak of such things ever again. Then, he said those are things men and women do after they marry, but that some men do it without marrying and that it was normal, but respectable ladies like me could not do so under any circumstance… So, naturally, I ended up asking Anna about it and blaming it on Charles. She said that it is called making love and that people do it to consummate their marriage. I told her that Charles said some men do, but that ladies like me cannot, so she explained to me that it is said that women lose their worth after doing that and must be valuable for deserving a marriage. Also, we could get pregnant when doing it with a man, but men do not have to worry about themselves being with child; I, then, asked if men did it with men or women with women, and she said it was possible but not well seen at all, so I should not do it unless I love and trust the woman, but that I must be careful and not tell a soul about it because it was a display of love, goodness, and intimacy that deserves to be cherished and not broken by society's discrimination. Anne also said that it is supposed to feel quite pleasurable. That is how I know.”

She nodded, taking a few seconds to think about it and analyze the situation.

“Can we… do that?” Francesca asked, some boldness whose origin she unfortunately ignored.

“Oh,” Your eyes met hers as she turned around. “Well, if you want to… I mean, I want to, but only if you do as well, uh… Do you want to?”

“Yes, I want to make love with you.” She smiled confidently.

“Are you sure?”

“I have never been more sure of anything in my life,” Francesca assured you, giving you a quick kiss on the lips. “Can I take off your gown?”

A soft exhale left your lips at the thought. “You can take all of me, my darling.”

Francesca smiled a little, pressing her forehead to yours. Your noses brushed each other's before you kissed.

And, when it happened, you could only describe it as mystical. With her, everything felt like magic.

You thought, more often than not, that you weren't built for this world. You weren't built for this society because you wanted nothing but her and to be able to dance with her at balls, to just say ‘this is my wife’ to everyone you met, to love her freely.

You weren't built for a society that kept you away from her.

You wanted to be with her like this always, to feel the tip of her fingers brush your skin and cause goosebumps, to stand naked before her and her before you, just like you were now.

“What are we supposed to do now?” she asked.

You shrugged. “Shall we find out?”

She chuckled nervously, feeling like the fire lighting up the room was actually inside of her. Francesca nodded, giving you the needed cue to end the distance between you two and kiss her.

It was hesitant at first. You didn't know what to do with your hands, so you just put her hair behind her ear, deepened the kiss, and then cupped her face. Meanwhile, Francesca freed your hair and rested her hands on your shoulders, not knowing what to do either.

She ended the kiss, looking at you with a glint of need in her shy hazel eyes. She sighed, all her fears leaving her body with that exhale. Her hands went to the back of your neck to pull you close and began kissing there, imitating what you were doing when you helped her undress.

You held her by her waist and her hands traveled your shoulders and her fingers drew burning, irregular shapes on your back. “This feels good.”

“It does.” She smiled against your skin.

In an attempt to get closer, you put your leg between hers and pulled her until your skin was on hers. Which also meant that you were close enough for your thigh to touch her core.

The moan she let out was almost delirious and the way her hips bucked in response caused her thigh to stumble upon you.

Your eyes met, both silently agreeing that what you just did felt, oh, so good.

Francesca swallowed hard and looked down as she bucked her hips to provoke the same feeling to both of you.

“God,” you moaned, holding her tightly against you and moving like she moved. “My bed.”

When you pulled apart to go to the bed, a strange emptiness took over you. It was not only emotional, as if missing each other a bit; it was physical, too. A warm and wet something was left on your thighs as a result of your pleasure, which came as a surprise because neither of you had any idea what any of what you were doing was, but you did know how good it felt.

Once you were finally sitting on your bed, you looked at each other as if asking for permission, but then you realized how absurd it was to ask, to wait, to hesitate, so you kissed, this time hungrily and intensely. The way you clumsily returned to your previous position gave away how much you needed each other.

You were so clumsy and careless, that this time it wasn't your thighs but your cores that met, and you cried out at how terribly delicious that contact felt.

“This… feels so…” Francesca began, not able to come up with the words that could describe how she was feeling, so she just kept moving with you and moaning your name loudly.

“Good?” you panted.

“Better than- than good,” she replied, her breath labored. “Great.”

Hearing her be vocal about this was unexpected to say the least. However, you found it exciting and hot. “How do you feel, Fran?” you encouraged her to speak, craving to hear her say things about this very wonderful moment.

“Great,” she replied, a strange pressure building inside her very being. “This- I like… this.”

You kissed her eagerly, harshly, to then ask. “Do you?”

“Yes…” She nodded, kissing you again as your hands traveled to her hips and then used the contact to guide her to be faster and pull her close enough to apply more pressure.

Francesca broke the kiss, her head falling back and giving you access to her neck. You sucked her skin, beginning to notice how she had some burning red spots on the places your mouth has been to before.

A desperate moan left your lips when a sensation started to form deep inside you, and she was feeling it, too. You could only describe it as if you were running from a great distance to a cliff, and everything you were doing in the earthly world made the inside you run faster and faster until you reached the edge. And there, Francesca was waiting for you to see how you slowed down for a second, only so she could hold your hand and jump with you.

In both the earthly and imaginary world, you moaned her name loudly as you fell off the edge of the cliff, or as you came with her.

She moaned and gasped, and hid her head against your neck to muffle the sounds she was making.

“Do not hold back,” you told her, feeling your orgasm last so very long. “I wish to hear you, please.”

Francesca obeyed you, pressing her forehead to yours and moaning your name against your lips.

It was so innocent, yet so sensual. It felt right, but, oh, so immoral. And carnal. And fascinating. Scandalous, beautiful, mystical, sinful.

You didn't stop until it was too much. Her embrace didn't end, and she wanted anything but.

“I love you.” you whispered, guiding her to lie on the bed with you.

She smiled. “I love you, too.”

“I am so happy that you still had love for me.” You kissed her softly.

“I will always have love for you.” Francesca replied.

You stared at each other in silence. Her hand was on your cheek, caressing it, and yours drew delicate patterns on the soft skin of her hips.

“Can we do this again?” Francesca asked.

You smiled. “Can we?”

“I should like that.”

“Me as well.”

taglist: @swiftholic-13 @kenzieisgone @urmultifandomfan

[susandsnell]

i saw wicked today too and loved it! what did you think? (was i the only one who went "oh shit" out loud in the theater when That Cameo happened?)

well i may or may not have just gotten out of my second viewing of it in three days some fourish hours ago, so that should be some indication!

hiya bestie! sorry for the delays on this, things have been thinging and life has been lifing. I'll admit that as early as February I was not looking forward to this movie or its promised follow-up. Splitting it into parts confused me, I was dubious over some of the casting, the visuals, the lighting, and the use of CG, and was being a bit of a hater over the trailers. However, every hater worth their salt should eat crow when they're wrong, and wow was I ever wrong. I couldn't have been more wrong, actually, because I'll go so far as to say (though I have high high hopes for Nosferatu later this month)! that Wicked Part One was my favourite movie of 2024. Extended (gushing) quasi-organized thoughts under the cut, because like Elphaba, no I never stop talking.

Bit of background, I've been lucky enough to see the show live twice, plus countless bootlegs/the cast album being the soundtrack to my life since I was nine. I know the script, the score, and the lyrics back to front. So you can imagine how shocked/pleased I was to find that the movie retained just about everything! I know people are giving mixed reviews about the extended scenes/runtime, but honestly the Oz they gave us (which I'll get to momentarily) was so wonderful and the cast so wholly inhabiting of their roles that I could not get enough of the world and these characters. I also thought they fixed several plotholes/added depth and stakes to a lot of arcs from the musical with their changes, especially with respect to the villains.

Visually, the film is an absolute treat; the colour grading/lighting does have the unfortunate modern fantasy film vibe to it, but the sets, practical props/effects, and costumes more than make up for it. That rotating library portico set? Let me live there! The Wizard's invitation?? The choreography was fantastic and every dancing scene was shot so so beautifully. My only complaint really is the CGI; the animals looked really fakey and goofy, particularly poor Dr. Dillamond, to the point that my entire theater was cracking up when his little goat ears wilted at the blackboard scene during my first viewing. Which is...not really the reaction you want to go for with a scene that's supposed to be depicting a hate crime.

The costumes in particular were a standout; Paul Tazewell's work is so stunning (Morrible's gowns, the revised Popular dress, and Elphaba's little pirate academia number when she gets her Emerald City invite) that I feel comfortable saying with the exception of Glinda's Junon-takeoff bubble dress (because it's just so iconic), they vastly outdo the stage version's costumes. He needs an Oscar for this yesterday and I'm not kidding.

The performances!!! Oh my gosh! Everyone sounding great and there being good mixing?? in a musical movie made after 2007??? Who'd've thought!!! My only complaint musically was, unfortunately, during Defying Gravity. In the stage show there's like 2 pauses in the song for plot to happen (Morrible's call-out and making the broom fly), and through that iirc they keep the instrumental going. Today, at my second viewing, I counted like....6-7 pauses where the song just outright stops, including two instances where they play different sad piano music altogether and give Elphaba this big suit-up superhero moment because book cover nod I guess, and healing her inner child, and it was kind of a pain because part of what makes Defying Gravity such a memorable piece is its momentum and when you stop the song to do something else, the momentum really dies. With that said, all eight parts of Defying Gravity were, in each pocket, performed to perfection.

I had high hopes for Cynthia Erivo vocally, but was dubious about an apparently more earnest, innocent Act 1 Elphaba as opposed to the stage version which I'm more used to, where she's a lot more of a Daria type. However, I was so pleased to find that she deepened the aching tragedy of the character with this take, especially opposite a more sinister and insidious Wizard + Morrible, and her takes on these songs, her vocal choices, her runs...heavenly. Ariana Grande pleasantly surprised me as being much cuter and funnier than I expected, and her surprise option ups during Popular were an absolute treat. Jonathan Bailey was as charming and talented as any Fiyero worth his salt (also loved how casually they made him bisexual?), Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard killed me (especially since they played him as simultaneously more of a huckster conman and an Evil Walt Disney, and it worked), but the show-stealer was Michelle Yeoh as Morrible for my money.

From the moment Morrible swoops in to smoothly cover for Elphaba's power explosion, knowing what it would mean to her to be spared social ruin, I was on the edge of my seat with such a different take on what's usually just kind of a comic relief diva character. Michelle Yeoh's effortless grace and elegance command screen presence. But the slow creep of her goading Elphaba into intensifying her powers while playing the sympathetic ear/mother figure/mentor only to make the betrayal hit that much harder (I genuinely choked up during the cut to Elphie's face when she hears her saying that her skin is a manifestation of her twisted nature), to say nothing of dangling her approval over Glinda until becoming the shoulder for her to cry on at the end of Defying Gravity...my god. chills. Forget Gelphie, shoutout to all the teenage sapphics with something deeply, deeply wrong with them who are going to have an awakening over this chillingly manipulative milfy sorceress who presents herself as a twisted maternal figure and intellectual colleague.

On the note of Gelphie -- oh my god??? A homoerotic swordfight during What Is This Feeling - are you KIDDING???? They amped it up from the stage show if anything; the Ozdust sequence brought me to tears, and then ended with them joining hands and running off together and leaving Fiyero behind like???? The amount of times they fell over each other? Glinda's thousand-yard stare during No One Mourns The Wicked, Elphaba's longing/fond glances....the love note, are you kidding me. They were baby's first yuri for me so seeing them on the big screen played with such natural chemistry by Cynthia and Ariana warmed my heart and got me super emotional. Sidenote, okay, not to be the boss baby guy about Carrie, but with the changes/additions, Elphaba is kind of Carrie White now and I'm here for it? From the visions to the explosions to baby Elphie already having her powers in the flashbacks...and then you get to the Ozdust scene, and the extended cruelty towards her plays very much as Elphaba's They're All Gonna Laugh At You Moment...only for Glinda to swoop in and dance with her as the Sue Snell, so yeah, we now have fantasy CarrieSue in Oz. We won so hard.

Last bit, to address your point about the cameos -- I really was worried that I'd be cringing at all the lore tie-ins with the '39 Wizard of Oz or the Broadway cameos or any of the other fanservice, but it all tied in and flowed so smoothly at most I was rolling my eyes affectionately rather than in exasperation (the Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead tie-in to No One Mourns The Wicked was shockingly seamless). Stephen Schwartz being the one to invite them to see the wizard got me properly emotional!! Idina and Kristin were hilarious and 10/10 diva legends as always, and the extended Wiz-O-Mania propaganda play/Grimmerie Lore Dump is both a visual and auditory treat. The original Glinda showing up to tell Ari to shut the fuck up during her song got maybe the biggest laugh of the movie out of me, but then they had Idina doing her end of defying gravity 'aaaaaaah ah ahhhh' Elphaba War cry riff as a heehe gag just like...20ish minutes before Cynthia!Elphaba is going to do it for real. Which had me in stitches because it plays then as either subversion of the wizard's propaganda in finding her voice, or Elphaba's a theatre kid and said yeah that was a sick riff I heard 2 hours ago, I'm going to incorporate it into my political loudmouthing after nearly being assassinated 20 times. Fuck you, Oz man, I'm stealing your propaganda riff!

What an ending. What a movie. Can't wait for part 2.

Thanks for asking! <3 hope you're well.

[superdanverstrio]

Can I request Steve x Sam's older sister (plus size). Steve gets back from a job, and can't wait to see you. He's been pining for you, and all he's been thinking about is telling you how he feels.

And somehow work in the line: "If anybody were to kiss me...I would want that person to be you."

Feelings

Warnings: Sharon being mean for no reason

Parings: Steve x plus size reader

You were hanging out with Sam, your brother. Most sibling hate each other but you and Sam weren't like that at all, he told you everything, and you did the same, and you obviously always trusted him. “So you're seein' anyone yet?” He asked you. You chuckled and shock your head. “Nope, still extremely single. Pretty sure that's gonna be my reality forever.” You say sighing. “What? No it's not gonna be, you'll find someone, I'm sure of it.” “I doubt it, no one likes me like that.” You say. “That's not true.” “Oh yeah, name someone.” Sam looked at you but didn't say anything. “Sam, what do you know that I don't.” You asked, needing to know. He stayed silent for a second but ended up spilling the tea. “Alright, I wasn't supposed to say anything but… Steve had a think for you for a while now, I told him several times, but he was always too scared.” You were shocked Steve Rogers the most charming man and Captain America was into you a plus size and boring girl, you couldn't believe it compared to him, you had nothing special. “You're kidding right?” “ No, it's the truth, he is.”

 

After that, you just couldn't wait for him to come back from his mission. A day before Steve came back, Sharon came back. You walked to the kitchen to go grab a snack. You walked in and saw Sharon and her friends talking, you weren't the biggest fan of Sharon, so you tried your best to walk away, but she saw you. “Hey Y/N did you hear the news me and Steve are dating.” She said, and your heart dropped, 'b-but Sam said he liked me' you thought. “Really that's great. How did you get together.” You asked, you didn't really want to know, but at the same time you did. “Well we were doing our mission you know, and he just kissed me and said he loved me.” You smiled and told her it was great even tho you did mean it and left after that.

You really thought you had a chance with him, but obviously Steve would be more interested with a girl like Sharon, blond, funny and worry a sexier body.

You were walking back to your room, trying your hardest mot to cry apart until you were alone. You didn't notice as you walked by your brother. He couldn't see your face, but you could clearly tell something was wrong. “Sis? Are you ok?” You kept walking without answering his question. He was your brother, so of course he didn't let go. “Come on, what's wrong?” “Steve doesn't like me.” “Yes he does” “No he doesn't he's with Sharon. He even kissed her.” You then left to your room, leaving your brother shocked.

When Steve came back a day later from his mission, he was greeted from everyone but Sam. He went top look for him and found him in the training room. “Hey buddy, I'm back.” Steve said but Sam continued his work-out, barely acknowledging him. He tried talking to him, but he just did seem interested at all. “Did I do something wrong, Sam?” “ I don't know, you tell me.” Sam said bluntly. “What did I do?” He asked. “You lied to me, maybe.” “I lied to you? About what?” Steve asked, genuinely clueless, “You've been talking some much about my sister, telling me you think she is beautiful and that you really like her.” Sam said getting heated. “I wasn't lying, she's amazing, funny, and beautiful. Why would you think I was lying?” “ You kissed Sharon during your mission, and now you're with her.” Sam said, Steve looked at Sam with a shocked and puzzled expression. “I never kissed Sharon and i sure as hell never told her I love her.” “Well, Yesterday, Y/N was crying because you apparently did so fix it.”

When Sam said that, Steve almost sprinted to your room to try to rectify the thing. He knocked on your door and waited a second. “Sam, I'm fine, stop checking.” He heard coming from the other side of the door, “it's me, Steve, I need to talk to you.” A few second passed and the door opened. “ Hey, glad to see you in one piece.” You smiled softly. “Oh by the way, congratulation for you and Sharon.” You said with a smile that didn't fully reach your ears. “Y/N I'm not with Sharon, who told you that?” “You're not! But Sharon told me you guys kissed, and now you were together.” You said, and Steve looked confused. “We didn't- ohh.” Steve began, but then realized. “Listen yes we kissed, but it was only because we had to, if we hadn't our cover would have been blown, so she kissed me.”

“So you didn't really want to kiss her?” You said a little hopeful. “Y/N if anybody were to kiss me… I would want that person to be you.” He said, looking you dead in the eyes. Your eyes widen, in shock. Captain America wanted to kiss you, of all people. “M-me y-you want to kiss me. But I'm like not in your league at all, I'm not pretty like you, and I'm fat.” You say, looking down. “First of all I think you are absolutely beautiful, and I don't care that you have a little more on your body, that's what makes your charm. “ He says looking at you with so much love in he's eyes, then he kissed you. You were stunned at first but ended up getting into it when you pulled away out of breath you looked at him even more in love than you were before.

[sunshinekindof]

I trust you, silly

Timothee and I have been married for several months. Of course, I knew what I was getting into when I said yes to him. Crazy schedule, long breakups, his fame, sidelong glances in my direction. And also rumors. Of course, I knew that all this would happen, and I was completely ready for anything. To be completely honest, I was prone to overthinking, but I honestly tried to control myself. Sometimes it seemed to me that Timothee was going through just as much as I did. He knows that I love him, but, as he sometimes tells me, "I'm just afraid that I'm not worthy of you." To which I usually laugh at the stupidity of this thought. He is everything I wanted and more.

Timothee was filming a new movie in another state. He called me every time he had a free minute. I was happy to hear his voice, but I wanted him to take care of himself and get some sleep. Sometimes he may forget that he needs to do things like sleep and eat. To which he always replied that he was fine and asked how my day went.

Today is my day off, Timothee won't be back any time soon, and our apartment has long needed a thorough cleaning. It seems that I have found something to do with myself.

We didn't get to talk yesterday. In the morning I sent him a message wishing good morning and a good day, to which he has not yet answered. While I was having breakfast, I decided to scroll through the Twitter feed. When I was scrolling through the news, photos of Timothee with his co-star, female co-star began to appear to me. Kristen, if I'm not mistaken. For my taste, she stood too close to him. The photo was accompanied by the caption “Problems in Paradise?”. Then there was a photo in which Kristen put her hand on my husband's shoulder. Timothee was standing with his back to the camera in the photo, so I couldn't see his face. Fans have been waiting for the release of this movie. There were a lot of fanarts that showed Timothee and Kristen together. Like together. Then I saw a short video of Kristen putting her hand on Timothy's chest and laughing. There were more photos, but I refuse to look at them. Ok, that`s enough. Enough Twitter for today. I am not a masochist.

I have no doubts about Timothee, but nevertheless I felt my blood boil involuntarily. Kristen may be the star of this movie, but Timothee is mine. I could not resist and called him, but he did not answer. Okay, enough thinking. He will call back as soon as he can. As always.

Leaving my phone on the table, I turned on the music at full volume and went to clean up. Organizing things helps you relax. After cleaning, I went to the farmers' market. Our refrigerator was empty. While I was away, my phone died. After 4 hours (oops), I finally went home and almost dropped my grocery bags. Timothee was walking towards me, holding a telephone in his hands, and traces of panic on his face.

- How ..., - I began, but he did not let me finish and wrapped his arms tightly around me. Along with packages.

- Timothee! Packages…can't hold…” I started, feeling the groceries drop from my hands onto the floor. In response, he only pulled away from me for a moment, put away his purchases, and clung to me again.

“Hey baby…don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled to have you here, but you weren’t supposed to be back for another month. Baby, are you okay?”

"I couldn't get through to you all day and I panicked," he muttered into my neck.

- Timothee...

I pulled back to look into his eyes and to my horror saw unshed tears there.

- Tim, what are you doing? I was just at the market and my phone died. I didn't mean to scare you. Sorry.

I pressed my lips to his. I wanted to stop the kiss, but he didn't let me do it, but only deepened it. Instinctively, I ran my fingers through his hair and moaned.

- Babe…

Why didn't you answer me?

- Did not answer? You didn't call me

- I did! Look! - he began to show me his phone

- Maybe a bad connection or something. And then my phone died. Look, - I smiled and showed him my phone

“I thought you left me,” he suddenly said and looked away from me.

- What? Timothee! Why did you think so?

- Have you seen the photo?

- You and Kristen? Yes, but...

- That's not what it looks like! Honestly! She just got too close... and I immediately said no... and that if this happens again, then I will leave the film...

- Timothee!" I interrupted.

- No, its true. So, and then I couldn’t contact you and I panicked and immediately came…

- Baby, you are so silly, - I laughed and this time I hugged myself tightly, - I told you a thousand times that I trust you.

- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you.

- You didn`t! Oh baby, I can't believe you came all this way just because I didn't answer you for a couple of hours, - I smiled and kissed his nose

- Not a couple of hours! Almost 24 hours!

-Timothee … what am I gonna do with you?

- Never let me go. And love me,” he said embarrassedly.

"Always," I replied, and kissed him again.

[joy-of-life88]

Damian Priest x Reader ONE SHOT

First published May 17, 2024 on Wattpad

I was just about to go into the pool when I heard my phone ring. So much for a relaxing evening. Annoyed, I grunted and went back into the house to see who was calling me. I could almost have guessed it. It was Rhea.

"Hey nightmare... What's going on?" I asked.

"Hi, sorry to interrupt, but have you heard from Y/N? We were supposed to meet for a workout this afternoon. But she canceled at the last minute and won't answer her phone now," she replied.

I could clearly hear how worried she was. And that was understandable, because Y/N wasn't like that at all. She was the most reliable, disciplined person I knew.

"No, not since I drove her home from the airport yesterday. Who knows... Maybe she's just having a bad day. Even she can have one," I said.

"Yeah, maybe you're right... But... well couldn't you stop by her place to see if everything is really okay? After all, you only live 4 blocks away." Rhea then replied.

"Let me guess. You won't stop bugging me until I do, right?" I asked as I went into the bedroom to change.

"How long have you known me, Damian? You knew the answer before you asked." she said with a laugh.

"All right, all right. I'll head there in a minute. But I'm pretty sure Mitch won't be happy." I replied.

"Oh fuck him. You're one of her best friends and if he hasn't accepted that by now, then he's dumber than he looks." Rhea grumbled.

"Yeah and I'm sure Y/N would love the way you talk about her boyfriend." I laughed.

"I just don't know what she sees in him. He's so different than her. But maybe it's the old 'opposites attract' thing. And as long as he makes her happy, I'll keep my opinion to myself." she said.

*****

The sun was already setting when I parked my car in front of Y/N's house. Luckily Mitch's car was nowhere to be seen. That probably meant he wasn't there. Part of me was relieved. Because to be honest, I wasn't his biggest fan either.

I got out and walked the few steps towards the door. There was no sound from inside. Not even music. That alone was very unusual for her. I rang the bell and waited with my hands in my pockets for the door to open. It took quite a while, but eventually she stuck her head out.

"Hi Feliz! What's going on? Have you been crying?" I asked when I noticed her puffy, red eyes.

"Go away, D. I'm not in the mood for company." she replied in a raspy voice and tried to close the door in my face.

But there was no way I could leave her alone like that. So I prevented her from shutting the door by pushing my foot in between.

"I'm not leaving until you talk to me. You know I'm stubborn, Feliz," I said.

"Stop with the stupid nickname. And if you don't have a bottle of whiskey with you, I don't want to talk." she growled and walked away.

She just left me standing there. Another thing she didn't usually do. If I annoyed her, it was more likely that she would have punched or kicked me.

"Oh hi Pom-Pom! How's my girl? What's wrong with Mommy, huh?" I asked as Y/N's little bundle of fur came running up to me.

She barked excitedly and spun around in circles jumping until I picked her up. The little Shih Tzu licked my nose as I started to go after Y/N.

I followed her onto the patio where I was amazed to see her tearing up photos of herself and Mitch. Then she put everything in a fire pit and lit it. I slowly realized what was going on with her.

"Okay... spit it out. You should get it over with, because I'm not leaving until you did," I said and put the dog back on the ground.

"We broke up. Or I should say he broke up with me. And I didn't see it coming. He didn't even give me a real reason. Just that it wasn't the life he wanted. Before I could ask him any questions, he had already left," she explained quietly, but didn't look at me once.

"Oh Feliz, I'm so sorry. Come here." I replied before pulling her into my arms without hesitation.

Y/N cried on my chest for endless minutes. It was hard to bear to see her like this. She was usually such a happy person. Nothing could spoil her good mood. That's why I had given her the nickname Feliz years ago. Even though she still couldn't really stand it.

Finally, we went back into the house together. Pom-Pom immediately jumped onto the couch and snuggled up between us. Y/N absent-mindedly petted her.

"Three years wasted. Just like that. Poof! Out of the window. That's what you get for falling in love." she grumbled to herself.

"Hey, you shouldn't think like that. Now... Get changed, we're going out! I won't let you wallow in here and mourn after that loser. We'll do something fun. Come on!" I replied.

"No, I don't want to. I'm not in the mood." she whined as I tried to pull her off the couch by her arm.

"All right... I'll let you be for today. But! I won't let you mourn him forever. I'll even get you a new date. Because as luck would have it, I know someone who will be thrilled to hear that you're back on the market," I said as I finally gave up.

"Oh yeah? And who would that be?" she wanted to know.

It looked like I had managed to steer her thoughts in a different direction, at least for a little while.

"Oh, you'll see. But for now, what do you say I get us a bottle of booze after all?" I replied.

[alaydabug2]

Tag list: @sparklenarniawizard @imobsessed123 @thoughtlescat @ilikebookssomuch

Broken heart/Broken mind

Chapter Fifty-seven

(Human AU)

Sophie and Keefe met in the children's hospital when they were little. Because of how long they were confined to the four walls of the hospital, they became very close during their stay.

As the years pass, they wind up being in the same classroom together due to their physical conditions. This makes their bond deepen.

But are they able to handle when life gets tough, throwing problems and complications their way?

Sophie forced herself to walk to the lunch table. She knew the conversation she had ahead of her, and she desperately wanted to avoid it.

She sat down beside Dex. Her friends greeted her, then started to unload rumors going around the school.

Her face slowly paled as Marella said, "Yeah, apparently one of the baseball players is in the hospital. I don't know who. It was someone in Mrs. Delani's class who heard this. I don't know how he ended up there, but it was something pretty bad."

Sophie's throat felt thick. She felt like she couldn't speak.

"Hey," Fitz asked. "What's wrong?"

"Keefe," she croaked. "That's him. He's in the hospital."

Everyone at the table dropped what they were doing.

"Is he ok?"

She shook her head. "He had a heart attack yesterday morning. I found out after lunch, and Edaline checked me out of school to go see him. He hasn't woken up yet," her voice broke.

The tears started spilling over again. She tried to smear them away, but they were replaced with more. The looks on her friends faces tipped her over the edge. They looked like they just saw a puppy being run over.

Dex wrapped his arms around her. She turned and sobbed into his shoulder. Sophie knew she needed to keep it together, but she just couldn't.

The rest of lunch was spent with her and her friends trying to process what had happened. At the end of the day, she jumped into her car and started driving to the children's hospital, which was thirty minutes away.

When she stepped into the lobby, her legs shook. Everything was trembling by the time she clicked the button on the elevator to go up. She took deep breaths to calm her nerves.

Sophie paused when she got to the door. She counted to three to prepare herself for the horrid sight.

When she opened the door, her eyebrows rose when Ro was already sitting in a chair beside Keefe's bed, with red eyes. She wasn't necessarily surprised she was here to see her brother. She just didn't think she would be here at this time.

"Hey," Ro murmured.

Sophie took a seat on the opposite side of the bed. "Hey. How are you holding up?"

She shrugged. "You?"

She shrugged back.

Sophie gently stroked Keefe's face, avoiding the oxygen mask over his mouth. They stayed sitting in the quiet until Ro muttered something under her breath.

"If he doesn't end up ok, I am going to kill my parents." She looked up. "This isn't even a joke, I'm going to end up on trial."

Sophie frowned. "Why."

"Just... for treating him like crap his entire life." Ro took Keefe's hand and gently squeezed it. She sighed. "I'm going to tell you something, but you have to swear to not repeat this."

She nodded. "I swear."

"Good." Ro's eyes trailed up to Keefe's face. Her gaze softened. "Ok, I'm just gonna say this, we're fourteen years apart. That wasn't on purpose."

Sophie nodded. "I figured that was the case, but I always thought that you were the... well." She cringed.

Ro shook her head. "Nope. They only wanted one kid. They were already in their forties when he was born."

"Forties?" Sophie blurted out

Ro snorted. "They're on a first name basis with the botox lady." Her face fell. "But that's why they're so awful to him. They never even wanted him. And, well..."

"What?" She murmured.

She shifted. "Mom drank a lot when she was pregnant with him, even though she wasn't supposed to. Pretty sure she even blacked out on it once or twice." Ro went back to staring at her brother. "Sometimes I blame that for why he has health issues now. I don't have any direct proof, but..."

"It's plausible," Sophie chimed in.

She nodded. "She seemed to even drink more than she did, usually. Sometimes, I even think she was trying to..." She trailed off, and Sophie had to block the horrible thought from finishing inside her head.

"But," Ro sighed and propped her head in her hands. "I don't have proof for any of it. It's not going to do any good."

Sophie was quiet. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to add to that. She decided to nod her head to leave Ro to interpret it how she pleased.

Eventually, she had to ask, "Is he in a coma?"

"Not necessarily a coma," Ro tried to explain. "But because of how much trauma his body went through, it needs time to recoup before he wakes up."

"When do you think that will be?"

"I'm not sure, Blondie," Ro whispered. "I'm not sure."

[firstdeerwife]

Prologue | Adam C.1

Pairing:Adam x Eve

C.2

Secrets

In all the time Eve had spent with Adam, they had never hidden anything from each other they always tried to be honest and deal with their problems.

However, the last few days Eve hadn't told her husband where she was going or who she had met and she didn't think that would be a problem after all, what could happen?

Eve and Lilith, as the days went by, had maintained a cordial relationship where every day when Eve looked for her on the other side of the garden, Lilith waited for her with a smile and they talked until it began to get dark.

Adam had noticed this change in his wife who did not usually go out and now went out for a walk every day and returned almost at dusk,After all, there was nothing in this garden that could attract her too much.

One of those afternoons they were at the lake while Adam was trying to catch some fish Eve was sitting under a tree making more baskets. Adam paused and looked at his wife who was looking at the sky and Adam knew why, in all these days he had paid attention to the moments when Eve went on her walks so he knew that Eve left when dusk began.

Adam came out of the lake and sat next to her.

"Hey Eve, what's wrong, I notice you're distracted." Eve looked at him and smiled, trying to hide it.

"It's nothing to worry about, we should go"Eve stood up and started walking when Adam stopped her.

Adam had grabbed her wrist to stop her from walking.

"We're fine here, it seems like you want to be away from me." Adam's voice was demanding although he tried to sound calm.

"That's not true," Eve alleged.

"Then why do you disappear every afternoon, you're supposed to be here with me Eve"Adam took her by the shoulders to make her look at him.

There was a moment of silence until Adam spoke again. "Sorry, I didn't mean to behave like that,I just don't know where you go every afternoon, you never tell me anything, I worry about you Eve and I don't want you to leave me."

Eve smiled and caressed his cheek. "Adam I will never leave you after all I am your wife "I just need to take a breath sometimes and be alone."

Adam kissed her forehead."Just do not lie to me"

Eve nodded. "From now on, no more secrets, you promise."

Adam swallowed, he still hadn't told her anything about Lilith.

"I promise"

▲•▼•▲•▼•▲〘 ♡ 〙▲•▼•▲•▼•▲

"Why did not you come yesterday"

Eve and Lilith were sitting under a tree chatting while eating some fruits.

"I had a problem and couldn't come."Eve responded while looking at the grass, she felt guilty for having left Lilith waiting but Adam had insisted that she stay with him for the afternoon.

"You're okay, you look distracted."Lilith looked at Eve with concern.

"Uh...no I was just thinking about something,Don't worry."Eve forced a smile.

"You want to tell me, after all we are friends, right?" Eve smiled and nodded.

"It's just that maybe I shouldn't keep coming here with you."Eve spoke almost in a whisper, she didn't want to be rude to Lilith after she had been so kind.

"What are you talking about? I thought you liked being with me."Lilith took Eve's hand.

"Don't get me wrong, it's just that I've moved away from my husband and he says I should stop being here."Eve tried to explain to Lilith.

"Wait, you're listening to your husband."Lilith narrowed her eyes

"Why shouldn't I do it?"Eve removed her hand from Lilith's.

"Well he can't give you orders, you have to decide what to do."Eve looked at Lilith confused, she couldn't believe what she was saying.

"Of course I have to obey Adam, he is my husband and he is in charge of taking care of me, and I come from one of his ribs, of course I owe him a lot,besides Adam doesn't know that I'm here with you and I don't want to lie to him because he never hides anything from me and I don't want to lie to him anymore."

There was a moment of silence until Lilith spoke again.

"Typical of Adam, he has always been an idiot, I didn't think you were really going to obey him and believe everything he says do you really believe that he is not lying? Maybe he has told you about me, why does it seem that you really believe that you are Adam's first wife?"

Eve shook her head

"It's not true, you're lying." Her voice trembled slightly.

Lilith smiled and whispered in her ear.

"Don't believe me but you should ask him"

[punsmaster69]

18/OCT/20XX

Ah.. Hello?

It is Toriel, writing for Sans.

He wanted to do this himself, but he is experiencing awful tremors that impede his ability to do so.

Sans is couch-bound with a strange eye-migraine of sorts at the moment.

——

The results of the X-ray came back. They did not note anything being out of the ordinary, fortunately.

——

Papyrus has been quite anxious all day. I cannot say I am free from similar feelings, seeing Sans in this poor state.

——

"...tori."

"Yes, Sans?"

"can.. can you call for papyrus...?"

"Do not feel troubled asking me for help, as well. If there is something you need, I would be glad to get it for you."

"no, i just need him to check something."

"He ran to the store to get something for you. Are you sure I cannot help?"

Sans quietly sat up and uncovered his left eyesocket.

"...flashing?"

I must have reacted more strongly than I meant to, because he ashamedly re-covered his sockets and fell back onto the couch.

"...great."

"Has this occured before?"

"supposed to just be when i'm using magic."

"..Oh! That is what Papyrus keeps checking for."

"what it's not supposed to do, is light up on its own."

"doesn't also.. hurt, usually."

"It seems your body is forcing you to use up energy...?"

"explains being so damn tired."

With that sentence, he fell right back asleep again.

Sleeping is something Sans does a lot of on his own, yes, but it is ..different.

Like a device when you hit the power switch, he does not respond, move, or do anything.

For lack of a better explanation of what he is like in this state, it is similar to..holding a corpse.

I can only hope that remains nothing more than an analogy.

——

"...AGAIN?"

"I am afraid so."

"DID HE DO ANYTHING ELSE?"

"Something is going on with his eye. It was lit up blue and yellow, and he said that it hurt."

"... THAT'S HAPPENED BEFORE."

"HE.... CAME STUMBLING INTO THE HOUSE ONE NIGHT COVERING HIS SOCKET, SHAKING AND BREATHING HEAVILY."

"SANS REFUSED TO LET ME SEE WHAT WAS WRONG, INSISTING OVER AND OVER THAT HE'D 'BE OK', THAT HE JUST 'HAS TO LIE DOWN FOR A BIT'...."

"..HE DIDN'T EVEN MAKE IT UP THE STAIRS."

"OF COURSE, I RUSHED HIM TO THE DOCTORS, BUT.. THEY COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING IMMEDIATELY WRONG."

"IT HAS TO BE SOMETHING WITH HIS MAGIC. YOU CAN'T... RUN OUT, CAN YOU?"

"There is certainly a limit to how much is able to be used before exhaustion."

"BUT, THAT'S NOT PERMANENT."

"No, it is not."

"Papyrus, is there anything you think he could be doing that uses so much magic in a short period of time?"

"HE DOESN'T USE MAGIC FOR ANYTHING!! NOT EVEN A LITTLE!"

"THE LAST TIME I SAW HIM USE IT WAS..."

"......."

"DURING AN AWFUL NIGHTMARE."

"Do you know what happened in it?"

"SANS TOLD ME THAT EVERYONE WENT ON VACATION, AND LEFT HIM ALONE IN SNOWDIN."

Papyrus had a look like he didn't really believe that.

"...."

"It would make things much clearer if he did not try to keep so much under wraps so often."

"SANS NEVER TELLS ANYBODY ANYTHING."

"He means well by it, I'm sure.."

"I'M AFRAID THAT HE'S DOING MORE DAMAGE TO HIMSELF BY TRYING TO SHIELD EVERYONE FROM BAD THINGS ALL THE TIME."

" 'I'M FINE' HAS BASICALLY BECOME HIS CATCHPHRASE!"

"That is something he tried to say to me yesterday, right before passing out."

"... OF COURSE HE WOULD."

"I have to wonder now if in his explanation yesterday, Sans refused to give me the full picture of everything going on."

And so, Papyrus explained everything to me, proving that Sans did indeed gloss over the more gritty details.

"..Blood, too...?"

"......"

"He.. he will not like it, but perhaps we should let the others know to keep an eye on him as well."

Papyrus looked over his sleeping brother with great worry.

"THIS IS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD, SANS."

[hackerqueen]

Another Love

Chapter 6: Cherry

Previous <-

author's note: sorry for the long break in chapters. there was supposed something else going on in this chapter, but I dragged it out as I was writing. You can expect the next chapter after the weekend. lot of love and i hope you'll like it! <3

I screwed up. I knew it when I slipped out of bed in the morning and put on my dress from the last evening. I did it as quietly as possible so as not to wake up the still sleeping hacker. How come he didn't wake up? In fact, I tried to keep it quiet, but Jake always seemed like the kind of person who never felt safe and secure enough to be in such a deep sleep.

I was already at the door the last time I looked at him. He was lying on his stomach, his arms wrapped around a pillow. He was covered with a duvet from the waist down, so that the newly rising sun shining in pink streaks illuminated his scratched back. My heart sank at the sight. I was wondering who did this to him? His entire back was adorned with scars. Some were smaller, and some were heartbreaking with their size. I could imagine how painful it must have been for him.

I thought about why I was doing this. I had to think about it alone. Without anyone's glance, advice or words. I felt overwhelmed by everything that happened yesterday. I didn't regret anything, but it still felt weird. I needed a moment to think it over and get used to it. Yesterday's emotions and anger subsided, now I had to come to terms with this feeling and wonder if I was able to forgive Jake.

Did I want to forgive him?

I gave him one more look before silently walking towards the bed. The black-haired man let out a loud sigh and then snored softly. I smiled and warmth spread inside me. I leaned in and kissed his hot cheek. Perhaps I've been doing it too long. However, after a few moments, without turning around, I left the room and the hotel building.

I walked for a few minutes, the crisp air caressing my body and hair. I thought about the whole situation. But one thought overshadowed all others. Jake lived and was whole and healthy.

Jake was alive.

Incredible relief and childlike joy filled my veins. At one point, I stopped and leaned against the wall of the building, because it made my head spin. Yesterday's anger almost evaporated and left a place for ... understanding? Of course, I was still outraged by how Jake had treated me, but I couldn't be angry with him for long. My outburst of anger was caused by suppressing my emotions. I didn't let them get to me, I lived in one pattern that suited me, completely excluding feelings. Work, apartment, casual sex. It all went away when Jake came back into my life. He broke a barrier that was deep inside of me.

My mouth twisted into a wide smile. I also felt my eyes fill with tears. But I haven't felt this light in a long time. I looked around and the world around me became... friendlier? The colors became more vivid and the air began to smell like my favorite fruit. July cherries that grew in a Californian park near my house. The last time I felt this happy was two years ago. When I was texting with a mystery hacker. I was completely different then. I sniffed, letting the tears soak my hot cheeks. I was almost levitating off the ground and almost punched myself in the face as I remembered Jake's words.

I'm leaving tomorrow.

He'll be gone in a few hours.

Could I let him go again if I just got him back?

I quickly wiped my face and turned around. I'm not gonna act like Jake. I won't let us be separated this time.

* * *

Jake's POV

I woke up and automatically knew something was wrong. The first one was the fact that I woke up fully rested. I haven't felt it in about six years. Why did I sleep so long?

Because you were with her, you idiot. And finally you felt safe.

Still without opening my eyes, I reached my hand over to the other side of the bed. It was cold. Empty.

Nothing has so refreshed me in a long time and woke me up immediately. I sat up, staring at the empty room. It was nothing new. I was used to solitude and silence. However, the silence had not been as overwhelming as this morning for a long time.

So she left.

I had no right to judge her. After all, I was the one who left her without explanation for two years. Despite this, I felt a terrible emptiness because I didn't have time to talk to her without anger. Without screaming. We parted without saying goodbye again.

I had no idea how long I sat in one place staring at the wall. The ringing of the phone snapped me out of my trance. I furrowed my eyebrows but picked up immediately.

– Hello Lily. – I greeted, and my voice was automatically transformed by one of the changers

– Is MC still with you? – she asked in a shaky voice that sent a shiver down my spine. – Please tell me she's with you.

– She's not here. – I swallowed and my palms began to sweat – What's going on, Lilly?

– There's no contact with her. I wanted to apologize, but she didn't answer which is not like her. I asked others to try too, but that didn't work either.

In the background, I could hear the muffled voices of Jessica, Dan and Hannah. But I was paralyzed with fear. The terrifying, relentless fear of losing the only person I cared about.

I don't know when I hung up, but the phone fell from my trembling hands. Her handbag, which she had forgotten to take, caught my attention. I opened it immediately, looking for something that would allow me to create a plan. I've always had one, haven't I? I never lost my common sense and cool calculation of evidence. However, inside I found only her wallet and a scarf.

A scarf that still smelled like her and her cherry perfume.

[alexandersimpleton]

Cursed

When Prez finds Frederick in the woods, cursed and hurt, she plans to fix him up and make him his family's problem as soon as humanly possible.

Prez starts to realize quickly, however, that sending him back may not be the best idea.

Prez was just wandering through the woods at this point. The club had all been dancing, it had been fun, and then Prez heard a rustling in the woods. She had wandered off to make sure it wasn't a bear or something, and here she was.

Honestly, she thought, if it was an animal than it had certainly run off. Even abush predators didn't take this long to attack their prey.

Prez was about to find her way back when she heard breathing. Breathing so quite that a pain drop would drown it out. And it was nearby.

Prez silently decided to pray she wasn't in a horror novel as she checked behind a tree. But it wasn't a monster. It was a kid, looking to be barely 16. He had blond hair, sticking every way at once, and his eyes were so green she swore she could see them even when the boy blinked.

There were also some.. less human attributes. A long, thin tail swished back and forth, his eyes were wide and dilated, his arms ended with sharp claws rather than human hands and his legs were digitigrade, kind of like a cat's without fur.

Prez didn't really notice any of that. She noticed that he was scared. He tried to get up, but winced, cradling a nasty gash. He tried to back away from her, but he couldn't get away before Prez grabbed his wrist.

"Whoa whoa whoa, I don't wanna hurt you you." Prez sputtered, panicked, as she grabbed the boy. "Let's all just calm down."

The teen tried to yank his wrist away. "L-let go of me!" But he quickly realized the effort was fruitless.

Prez realized something too. Green eyes, messy hair... This was Frederick.

Prez's hand unconsciously clenched harder upon the realization. The act caused the boy's ragged breathing to return, so she tried her best to relax it again.

"Oh, kid, I- uh.." Prez sputtered before mumbling "you know what lying never ends well" and decided to just play it straight. "Look, kid. I don't like you. I don't like you, or what you did to my friend."

Frederick's eyes got wider as he wondered what she'd do to him. "But that's no excuse to leave you out here to die. Come on." The woman lifted him up, giving him her back to lean on. "We're gonna make sure you're all right here, and then we're gonna get you back to your family.

As Frederick staggered, he asked a question. "What did I do to your friend, exactly? I'm sorry, I just don't know who you are and-"

Prez frankly didn't know how he'd react to the news. Maybe he'd be a cackling misogynist psychopath, but now that she had met the boy for more than a singular second she doubted that.

She at first decided to take it show before a realization struck her. "Uhm, you're Frederick, right? Of the plaid kingdom?" "Oh, uhm yeah?" "Okay good. That would have been embarrassing if you were someone else." The two both laughed a bit.

Anyways, back on track. "So, do you.. do you remember that wake you went to yesterday? With the pastel princesses?"

Frederick groaned and slammed his head into Prez's shoulder. "Oh yeah, that dumpster fire."

"What do you mean, dumpster fire?"

"Okay, here we go. Long story short, me and my brothers were supposed to marry these girls, I thought mine was beautiful, turns out I was looking at the wrong princess, I tried to go home to process everything but my family didn't let me, me and Blaine got in this fight, I said something about that princess that I'm really glad she didn't hear and then I had a panic attack in a bathroom. As I said. Dumpster fire." The boy paused for a moment, before realizing one last piece. "Oh, and apparently some witch heard that, somehow, and now I'm stuck like this." Frederick waved his tail in front of the woman.

"Well, uhm, you know how you said you were glad Gwen didn't hear that."

Frederick let out a long sigh. "Let me guess, she did and I hurt her feelings way more than I thought I would?"

"Bingo."

"God damn it."

Prex only heard defeatedness in his voice. Had this happened multiple times? Had Frederick done nothing to stop hurting people?

"Does- does you family just let you get away with this?" That was the only question Prez could ask.

Frederick panicked to correct the misunderstanding. "What!? No, I'm not some spoiled brat or anything, I'm just an autistic freak with the social skills of a senile earth worm! Look" Frederick stumbled forward enough for Prez to see his face. "The mark is still there." There was a red patch on the boy's cheek, slightly faded now but still clearly in the shape of a hand.

His family didn't let him just walk off scot free, but somehow Prez was left more disturbed than if they had.

They faded off into silence after that. That was until Frederick thought of one last thing to say.

"If you know Gwen, than.. am I really just being dramatic? Blaine says I'm just being a baby and that Gwen is a sweet girl, but I still don't.. I don't want her to hurt me-"

Frederick cut himself off as the finally entered the clearing, in which Curtis had seemingly been waiting. He took one look at the gash on Frederick's leg and took him straight to the infirmary, leaving Prez with a sense of dread in her stomach. A familiar sense of dread.

But Prez had to talk to the club. They had stopped dancing, and now stared curiously at the drops of blood that were left on the grass. Gwen in particular looked conflicted. Prez walked to the front of the ground to explain.

"Okay. Guys. Don't freak out, but that was prince Frederick." The club promptly freaked out. "Everyone calm down!" Prez yelled. "Look. I'm just as upset as you guys are, but the only alternative was leaving him to bleed out in the middle of the woods." Some CPC members still grumbled, but most ultimately agreed that taking him here was the right choice. "Now," Prez smiled "that doesn't mean we can't mess with him a bit." The club erupted into cheers, save Gwen, because Gwen. "Mess with him all you want, but there are three rules. One, don't touch him. He's already hurt pretty bad, we don't want to make it worse, Abbi. Two, don't like, bully bully him. Just because he's a bad person doesn't give us an excuse to stoop to his level. Three, only one or two people are allowed in there at a time. Crowding might lead to accidents, and none of us want him here longer than he has to be. Everyone got that?"

The crowd all said yes.

"Cool. Than, go nuts."

Most of the club continued their activity, not really wanting to associate with Frederick. A few chatted about him behind his back, which was ironic. Gwen however, went into the CPC building, not to see Frederick, but to do something in the kitchen.

That sinking feeling him her stomach was still there, so Prez figured she had to acknowledge it some time. So she went to the infirmary to talk to Frederick. He was lying down with gauze on his leg.

"Hey, kid."

"Uhm, hi? Why are you here? Didn't you not like me?"

"Yeah, and I still don't, but I've gotta make some things clear. About that question, the one I never got to answer. I know Gwen pretty well by this point, and I happen to know she's the sweetest girl you'll ever meet." Frederick couldn't help his face dropping a bit. He was glad he wasn't engaged to a witch, but somehow that was overshadowed by that familiar shame. "But if you get to see that for yourself, that should be your choice. If you choose to keep your distance, even after all this is is over, than I won't stop you."

Frederick looked up at the woman with what could only be described as wonder. "Thanks. I know you said you didn't like me, but I think I like you a lot."

"Really?"

"Yeah you just.. you just make me feel like I matter." A soft smile, so small it could hardly be noticed, dropped from Frederick's face. "When I tried to stand up to my father and refuse the marriages he.. he put a knife to my throat." Prez startled, little to Frederick's notice, and started to realize why he was so jumpy when they had first met. "He said that I should "show my devotion to her her or he'd.. y'know..."

Prez put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Your father was wrong."

Frederick nodded, seemingly unconvinced.

Before Prez could say anything else, the door opened, revealing Gwen. The girl looked at Prez, than at Frederick. She was holding a bowl of something.

"Uhm, hi, Frederick. Prez said you got hurt so I made this. I hope it helps." The girl passed Frederick the bowl, which he realized was full of piping hot soup. He hesitated for a moment. He looked at Prez, than at Gwen.

When the boy took a bite he felt warm. It wasn't the burning he felt when Leland or Blaine hit him. It wasn't the shame he felt when he messed up in front of Blaine. It wasn't the acid he felt in his heart when Leland threw a snide comment, or even that fire he felt when Lance got too into training. It was a warmth he couldn't describe. One he hadn't felt before.

Prez smiled at him, and suddenly all of it was gone. Frederick felt drowsy now.

"By the way, I'm sorry for what I said." Frederick looked at the girl, seemingly about to leave, as she tensed up. "Prez said I really hurt your feelings. I didn't really consider you'd take that to heart. Sorry."

Gwen looked back at him sadly. "It's.. it's alright." And then she left.

Prez turned to Frederick, smiling. "Thanks for giving her a chance. You're not so bad kid."

"M hm." Frederick unconsciously leaned on the woman. Part of him registered he should be surprised she wasn't shoving him off and calling him some bad name, but frankly he couldn't bring himself to be.

"Also, you're not a freak."

As Frederick drifted off, he finally realized what that warm feeling was. It was love.

Frederick woke up groggy. He didn't know what year it was. Maybe that soup was poisoned.

He heard two people. One was Prez, and he didn't recognize the other.

"I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes..."

Frederick cracked open his eyes. The man he didn't recognize wore the kind of doctor attire he'd see in one of his kids books.

Frederick sat up in his bed, causing both the adults to look over to him. "I'm up. What are we talking about?"

The two looked at each other. "I can tell him." Prez told the doctor. The man nodded. "I'll get him a glass of water then. He might be dehydrated."

"Okay, so, kid. You know that curse that you got from that witch."

"Yes, I don't see how I could forget." Frederick raised his still inhuman leg.

"Yeah, so, the doctors can't actually cure it."

Frederick's eyes went wide. He stared at Prez, hoping she'd say that it was a joke, but she didn't.

Frederick looked down at his, at least for the foreseeable future, permanently inhuman legs. "I won't be able to go back to my family like this, will I?" The boy brought him legs up to his chest, curling up in a ball.

"Considering how many other long term health issues you had, we weren't doing that anyways." Prez mumbled. No sane adult would let a kid's health get this bad. "Kid, I'm gonna be honest with you. I wasn't going to tell you what this place was so you couldn't rat us out, but that doesn't seem like a problem anymore. So, this place is a support group for people who's curses can't be cursed. And Gwen."

Frederick stared at Prez, confused. "Are- are you serious?" Prez nodded "What are the odds?" "Astronomical. But yeah, you probably couldn't have picked a better place to get cursed. I won't make you stay here with us, but just know it's an option." Frederick nodded as Prez got up to leave the room. Just before she could go, the boy asked "I.. uhm.. could you get me a book? It's fine if you don't want to you're already doing a lit my keeping me here but just-"

"Sure. Anything you got in mind?"

"I, uhm, I like fairy tales. If that's alright..."

"Sure thing kid."

[harmonyckrs]

DAY 4 in Twisted Strangetown: A Curious Family Reunion

THE PREVIOUS DAY

WHAT'S UP GANG? Chloe here, back at it again with another report (Chloe, take this seriously. People's lives are at stake here)! So that basic looking nerd dude with the alien baby asked us to temporarily move in so that he would feel more at ease and make sure nobody else would get kidnapped again or whatever. Dunno why Lola agreed to this but yeah

Anyway, I told Lola about what Ajay and I talked about so now we have to go find this Aktu dude or whatever and figure out where Vidcund went. Speaking of Aktu, that dumbass called me today lol. He gave me some kind of cryptic message about meeting him in the "floating world of colors and clay" as if I'm supposed to know what that means. Wack ass bitch

Also I just found out that the bimbo girl that I thought Lazlo was dating isn't actually in a relationship with him! So I guess there's actually one hot single woman in this boring town (don't even think about pursuing her). Maybe I can snag her for myself since Lazlo seems to be taking his sweet time making a move LOL

Anyway, Chloe OUT! Gotta go solve that fucking riddle

A: And that's about everything. Again, I'm really sorry about what happened.

V: Is the entire town really under someone's control?

A: Yeah. Cyd and I suspected something was off for a while, which was why we came here before it started to affect us. Whoever is responsible for it doesn't have any power here, so he told me to grab any human I saw and take them here. And you were the first person I encountered, since you just ran up to me and shoved me out of nowhere yesterday afternoon.

V: You were spying on me! And you couldn't have just asked? I know at least seven people who would've loved to participate in your little experiment, my brothers included!

A: Again, I'm sorry! We'll help you get back to Strangetown once Cyd's powers are fully recharged. Also reversing that other person's mind control took a lot of energy, so he's also passed out. I can introduce him to you once he wakes up.

V: And how long is that going to take?

A: Probably about a week for both...again, sorry. I can find a way to make it up to you.

V: You better! I'm going to be missing a lot of work because of this! I don't want to lose my job, and Pascal still needs my help with Hecate!...oh, fuck! My family's all still being mind controlled, aren't they?

A: Yeah, probably.

V: Can't you do something about that?

A: I'm not the one with mind control reversal powers. And Cyd already had a hard time reversing yours. He'd probably die from exhaustion if he tried to reverse the entire town, unless if you're fine with moving everyone here and waiting several years.

V: Ugh...

A: Yeah, sorry. The easiest thing to do for now is figuring out who it might be. I'm not really familiar with everyone in Strangetown, but maybe you might have a clue.

V: Actually, I think I know who's responsible...

THE NEXT DAY

---

BONUS:

V: So there's that old lady Olive Specter, who's a witch. I'm pretty sure she could be behind everything that happened. And then there's also that asshole Loki-

A: Loki?

V: Yeah! He sent our town into an eternal winter because of one of his stupid experiments going wrong, and now we're stuck having to wear coats all the time. He's just the worst! And he stole my girlfriend, Circe, from me when I was a teenager. It took me ages to get over that. And he's also one of my coworkers and acts all high and mighty just because he's at a higher rank from us thanks to the strings that his parents probably pulled for him...are you even listening?

[qveenofgluttony]

Beelza had sent a text to her mother sometime during the ball saying she wanted to speak. In private. Both of the women had to wait for a time to be able to sneak away from the festivities in a way that would not draw attention to either of them. They met in a more secluded area of the palace where they would not be disturbed by guests or servants.

Beelzebub, still in her succubus disguise, removed her hat once she spotted her daughter. Her brows were knitted together in concern. Something happened. She knew that much. But she couldn’t begin to imagine what could have made her daughter look so distraught.

“Beelza?” She called out.

The princess lifted her head, shoulders relaxing. “Hey, Mom.”

Beelzebub placed a hand on her daughter’s shoulder, her gaze searching Beelza’s face. “Darling, I know that look. What’s wrong?”

Beelza hesitated and averted her gaze. She thought she had done a pretty good job masking her inner turmoil once the ball had resumed, but she knew she couldn't fool her mother.

She should just spit it out. Her mom needed to know. Even though it took place yesterday, the events were still fresh in her mind and had haunted her all of last night.

“I…I met Dad.”

Beelzebub stared at her daughter for a few moments, her eyes slowly widened. “...I see.”

“I didn’t invite him! He just–he just showed up after my performance. I think–I think he was waiting for me.”

The queen quietly shushed her daughter, brushong her hair out of her face. “I know, darling. I know. I’m just surprised he managed to get past my security.” Or that she didn’t sense him. Then again, her powers were significantly dulled in this form. “...What did he want?”

Beelza sighed and hugged herself.

“He said he was the reaching the end of his fortune or some shit and that he didn’t think you’d replenish it he tried to ask you himself–”

“--So he decided to ask you instead.” Beelzebub deduced.

“...Yeah.” The princess' ears lowered. “...He wasn’t interested in seeing me.”

And that was the part that hurt her the most.

Before she had realized it, tears started falling down her cheeks. The weight of everything crashed down on her all at once.

“Oh, Beelza, my darling…” Beelzebub instantly brought her daughter into a hug, gently stroked her hair and whispered soothing words to her as she broke down into sobs.This went on for a few moments, until the princess eventually calmed down enough to speak at least.

“Is that why you never wanted to talk about him?” Beelza asked, sniffling a bit and rubbing at her eyes now red from crying.

Her mother lowered her gaze and nodded. “When I realized I was pregnant with you I was over the moon. I thought Helios would be too.”

Beelza blinked. 

Helios.

So that was his name.

“...But he made it abundantly clear that he did not share my enthusiasm for being a parent. He grew…cold. He said he wanted to leave and so, I let him. I thought throwing money at him and giving him an estate would leave me be. Apparently, I didn’t throw enough at him the first time.”

Beelza’s brows furrowed, recalling something from her and her father's conversation that stuck with her.

“I remember he mentioned that you ‘made him’.” Beelza pulled away from her mother to look at her with a questioning gaze. “What did he mean by that?”

Beelzebub sighed, reluctantly releasing her daughter. “...I suppose now that you actually met him I owe you an explanation of your heritage. You are old enough now, though I suspect you might already have some suspicions…”

Beelza shrugged, but waited for her mother to continue.

“I’m sure you might have realized that your father isn’t exactly…hellborn. He’s…I, well.” Might as well just spit it out. 

“...He’s a fallen angel.”

Beelza’s brows rose and her mouth hung open slightly.

“You’re shitting me–”

“--Language. But I am afraid not, darling. Though your father was not the first angel to have stumbled into my garden all wide-eyed and oh so easy to corrupt, I will admit that he was the one I had grown the most attached to. I saw so much potential in him and I was never more proud when he proudly turned his back on Heaven and denounced his Lord.”

“I see…” Beelza murmured, still trying to process what she had been told. That explained how her mother and father met in the first place.

“Regardless, I think it is imperative we increase security. He has an awful habit of showing up in places he should not be.”

“You don’t think he’s gonna try to talk to me again…Do you?”

“I would like to think your father is not that stupid, my darling girl.” A pause. “...However, I am not certain. Still, I will keep an eye out.”

Beelzebub cupped her daughter’s face, her expression softening. “I will not let him hurt you again. I promise, love.”

Beelza managed a small smile. “Thanks, Mom. We should probably get back to the party before they start getting suspicious.”

The disguised sin chuckled and nodded, releasing Beelza’s face. “Indeed. We did promise them an event they would not forget after all.”