#this ONE MADE MY HEART LITERALLY GO WHOOSH

[entomolog-t]

The Shadow We Cast - 4

Two guys and too many beers leads to more shenanigans.

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Previous Chapter: Chapter 3

Next Chapter: Chapter 5 (Coming Soon)

Word count: 2998

CW: Adult language, substances (beer/drinking), animal death (fishing/hunting)

It was beyond crazy to me that the most normal I’d ever felt was drinking beers with a weird little man who stood no more than, what, 6 inches tall at most? How many years had it been since the last time I had this much fun? The last time I felt like I could talk and laugh this freely? It just felt so… normal? The thought seemed ridiculous- I mean, the situation was anything but… and yet here I was, thoroughly buzzed and listening intently as if we were old friends.

Sal paraded around the table, reenacting some grand adventure I could only wrap my head around with the help of however many tallboys I’d downed over the past few hours. Tales of hunting monstrous beasts and climbing unfathomable heights. He wove wild stories of a world so foreign yet so familiar… quite literally a world in my backyard.

As I nursed another drink, Sal set the scene, recounting a day-long trek he'd made out to the lake. Mist rose off the water as loons called to one another, their haunting voices echoing off the calm water. He watched intently as they slipped under the water, barely even a ripple disturbing the surface of the lake.

As if he was painting a picture in my mind, I sat enthralled, feeling as if I could feel the crispness of the water washing away the heat of the sun as he spent the day swimming in the shallows. The way he spoke… It didn't feel like I was imagining his retelling from my perspective- but his own. His perspective felt like something … almost fantastical.

"I tried to lure some of the minnows, but I couldn't get close enough to spear them without them darting off.” As if still wielding a spear he eyed the non existent minnows, patiently following some unseen motion as he remained poised to strike. “The bigger minnows seemed slower, but they wouldn't come near shallow enough. I ended up using some of the dried grub rations I'd brought with me as bait, and boy did it work like a charm. I swam I bit farther out with the bait and-"

Spear raised, I could practically see the imaginary impact- watching as the massive fish- or minnow, thrashed against the sharpened twig. I was enthralled- the way his muscles moved with the motion was almost… intimidating, bringing forth thoughts of him human sized, spearing a monster of a fish while swimming in some dangerous Amazonian river. 

“The damn thing was a bitch to swim with,” he groaned, annoyance clear on his face, “For one- it was heavy. But worse,” Sal huffs, “It was still moving.” Despite the exasperation on his face in recounting the ordeal, the man’s face couldn’t help but return to grinning. 

“So then I’m swimming back, right? Honestly more like flailing with the stupid minnow in tow, but I’m keeping above water for the most part… but I keep hearing this clicking… almost squeaking noise? Weirder yet- it's coming from below me.” He pauses, lowering his voice and I’m quite literally reeled in by his story, leaning forward on the edge of my seat. 

“Then- whoosh!” 

Sal grabs at the air. My heart jumps in my chest as the man’s hand lashes out just inches from my face. 

“This monstrous bastard of a creature - absolutely huge,” He pauses, shooting me a cheesy grin, “Second only to you, big man.” I snort and Sal picks right up where he left off, “It was all murky brown with thick these thick… whiskers? And it just sucks me into its mouth with this horrific gulp. Next thing I know I’m being dragged underwater, half in its mouth, pounding on its head just hoping it’ll let me go if I hit it hard enough.”

My breath hitches, a shudder running through me as I make the connection- A catfish. 

“With nothing to lose, I stab it. The spear goes right through its eye and-” Sal pauses, making sure he has my full attention.

“And?”

“Nothing!” Sal laughs as if it was hilarious and not down right horrifying, “That stupid thing didn’t even flinch! I don’t know if it didn’t go deep enough or if I just missed any vital enough part, but it did absolutely nothing!”

He leans forward, no longer laughing as his face takes on a grim expression.

“At this point I start to get worried.”

“Start?!” I scoff. Sal dismisses my interruption with a wave of his hand.

"My lungs are burning, and the thing’s clamped down hard on my stomach. I'm stuck holding that stupid spear for life as it keeps doing this.. this…” He shudders, face twisting in disgust, “-weird gulping thing,” Sal shakes his head as if banishing the memory, “So I ripped that spear out and using everything I had I-” His fist came down, “- drove that spear right back into its head.” 

Sal pantomimed a gruesome show-  stabbing again and again in the world's most horrific display of charades as he brutalised the memory of the catfish. 

“Finally,” He says, voice filled with a mix of relief and exasperation as if he’d just relived the whole ordeal, “it dies.” 

I, stupidly, sigh in relief, as if somehow I couldn't have predicted the outcome with him quite literally standing in front of me.

“My lungs are on fire as I swim to the surface- and man, air never tasted so sweet.” Looking down at Sal, he's beaming, laughing like a kid as he recounts his victory over the massive fish. “And then it hits me- tasted!” 

I furrow my brow, not quite following. Sal continues, frustration returning.

“No spear- and no fucking minnow! As if, after all that, air was gonna be the only thing I’d be tasting!”

After a brief pause I couldn't help but laugh. His smile grew even wider as he raved on, swinging his hands as he continued on about his harrowing ordeal.

“I refused to swim back empty handed after that shitshow- So I spent the whole afternoon dragging that giant bastard back to shore!” 

Fuck. I stare at him, eyes wide. I can’t shake the disbelief as I try to think of what would be the equivalent feat- Dragging an orca back to shore? …Something bigger? I’ve never been an avid fisherman (nor did I have any plans to start) and really had no concept of how big the catfish in the lake got aside from the notion that they were definitely bigger than Sal.

“I get that monster to land- spend about 30 minutes on a fire that just won't start, until I'm finally able to start cooking that beast!” 

He paces along the length of the table, his steps not nearly as sure footed as they had been a few hours prior. Even with his tiny frame I can easily make out the sheer rage simmering behind his eyes.

“And y'know what?” His voice, now starting to slur, is teeming with all the theatrics of a man at his absolute limit. I swallow, desperate to hold back a laugh I know is coming.

“What?”

“That fucking thing tasted awful!” Each word was spat with such ferocity it was as if he was trying to spit out the memory of the creature's taste.

There was no helping it.

With my inhibitions long since drowned, I laugh. I laugh louder than I have in years. I laugh until my sides ache- until tears prick at the edge of my eyes.

And he laughs with me.

“Pond scum! Tha' shtupid thing tasted exactly how pond scum smells!”

My vision blurs, tears threatening to spill over as he continues to rant and rave, but the sound of my laughing completely drowns out whatever critical opinions he was espousing on catfish edibility. 

Wiping at my eyes, my brain takes a few tipsy seconds to focus back on the little man. Still shirtless, Sal had sat back, reclining with his back against one of the many empties as he lifted up what was arguably the equivalent to a very generous pitcher to his mouth with little effort- the relative ease of the action catching me by surprise as I imagined myself fumbling at doing the same. 

He… he was built. 

Quite literally a brick shithouse, if said shithouse belonged to Barbie.  

Broad seemed like a fitting word. Broad chested, broad shoulders, broad smile- Hell, even his legs had a width to them. Sal looked as if he had stepped directly out of an instagram fitness post, with his … excessive biceps flexing under the weight of the shot glass, the act a paradoxical effortless display of effort. Even at his diminutive size, I could tell this man was anything but small. He-

He coughs.

My eyes dart away from his body in an instant, snapping back to his face… accompanied with heat rising in my own. As my eyes meet his, I’m again struck with the absolute absurdity of the situation.

I'm here… getting drunk… with a tiny man… He’s right there- arms reach in front of me… 

And yet he still doesn't seem real.

My hand twitches at my side.

Touch him.

As my hand slides towards him, his gaze quickly flicks from my face to my hand and back to my face again. Confusion flashing across his features for a brief moment before his lopsided grin reappears. My finger tips barely graze him as he sidesteps my hand, shoving my fingers away. 

Huh. There's a surprising amount of weight behind his push. 

“Hands t'yourself, Big Guy.” Sal laughs, “You gotta take me to dinner first.”

It takes a moment for my brain to follow his words, and I snort. 

“Is that not what I did?” 

Sal blinks.

His own brain seeming to lag as realization dawns on him. After a moment's delay, he laughs. 

Sal takes an unsteady step forward, the sway in his weight more noticeable than before. He’s still smiling, but a look of concern crosses his features as he stares at the ground in front of him.

“I feel weird.” 

“You’re drunk.”

He looks back up towards me and I point to the drink. After a moment', Sal nods, seemingly cluing in. Maybe? I really couldn’t tell.  For all I know, that nod might have been him nodding off with how stunted the gesture had looked. 

“It…” He starts his sentence and seems to forget it half way through, taking a long blink in between words “... makes you dizzy?” 

I lean forward to rest my head on the table, starting to feel all too alike. 

“Mmm- yeah, when you’ve had a bit much.” 

With that, I slid the shot glass away from him- An act which was apparently the most egregious party foul ever to have been committed. Shouts of protest erupt beneath me, as he trails after the glass. 

With a laugh, I try to shoo him away, but man, the little guy can move. Despite the sway to his stride, Sal ducks my hand with ease.

“Dude,” I laugh, opting to pick up the glass, “You.. uh, you’ve had 'nough- you're gonna get sick.”

My words feel thick, almost sticky, in my mouth, and the thought crosses my mind that I should probably be taking my own advice.

“'m fine.” 

I snort. The man didn't even know what beer was all of two hours ago, and here he was thinking he knew his limits.

“'s if you’d know,” I chuckle. “You're stumblin' 'round.”

Sal narrows his eyes.

“I am not!”

“Oh really?” My words slur together, thick with condescension and alcohol as a smile down at him. I shove a finger to his chest, I give a little push. Sal shoots glare as he staggers back.

“See?” I chuckle, “You're totally shtumbling!” 

Eyes wide, he stares up at me, brain seeming to short-circuit for a moment before a goofy grin plasters itself across his face. I feel my own face mirror his expression as we break out into drunken laughter. 

The laughter hit me hard. 

I laughed at Sal's near cartoonish drunkenness.

I laughed at how he stumbled with a push from a finger.

I laughed at the strangeness- the reality shattering strangeness- of his very existence.

This... this is really strange...

As our collective laughter died down I took in a deep inhale. I needed to know more. I couldn’t keep up the half assed charade of normalcy. 

“Sal-”

In the brief moment I’d let my guard down, the tiny man quite literally pounces. I yank my hand away a fraction of a second before he lands, Sal stumbling as his weight falls forward. Before his face makes contact with the table, Sal seemingly just… goes with it? Just flowing with the momentum as if stumbling forward had been completely intended. With surprisingly little effort, his would-be fall morphs into a drunkenly graceful forward roll, carrying him to a stand- albeit, an unsteady one. 

For a moment, I’m at a loss for words, and before I’m able to react to whatever odd show of athleticism I’d just witnessed, he’s already at it again, eyes locked onto the shot glass like a cat locked onto a mouse. I move to shoo him away with my free hand, yet I’m met with nothing but empty space as Sal scrambles underneath the gesture. 

Again, he tries for the glass. 

Launching himself at my hand, I feel his hands graze my own before I lift the glass out of reach. Sal lands with a stumble, a lopsided grin sitting smugly on his face as he looks from the glass to me. 

Sal lowers his stance, looking something between a sprinter at the blocks and a mountain lion set to pounce. 

Seeing the gears in his head turning (albeit, slowly), I clue in. Before he gets the chance to scale me for the beverage, I make a grab for him. 

And yet, despite my efforts, somehow Sal winds up on top of my hand. It was like trying to grab at water- with him just flowing out of my grasp. Abandoning the shot glass, I grab at him with my free hand- watching dumbstruck as he drunkenly pivots, turning to jump at my in coming hand.

I freeze- Trying and failing to keep my hand steady as Sal hangs off my fingers. 

With my lack of reaction, Sal takes the opportunity to climb my fingers like some sort of rope ladder. 

To my horror, he climbs all of them, heaving himself to a shaky stand on the side of my index finger- Hands on his hips and grin on his face. 

I meet his gaze and he laughs, his expression smug as he wags his finger at me.

“Too shlow.” 

Arms out in a stumbling balance act, Sal begins walking across the edge of my hand looking oddly similar to a failed roadside sobriety test. Pausing, he frowns, pouting in frustration before bending over. For a moment, I think he’s about to throw up. Instead, he plants his hands firmly on my forearm.  

My stomach drops.  

With no effort whatsoever, Sal switches to walking on his hands- somehow just as drunkenly. Swaying side to side, every “step” seemed to overcompensate for the last, looking as if he was perpetually on the verge of tipping over.

And then he did.

In a split second, I’m sober.

My hand darts out, closing awkwardly around his form with all the grace and fine motor skills of a man marginally less drunk. Unmoving and unblinking, Sal stares up at me, a strange sound escaping him… almost as if a hum got caught in his throat. I could have almost been convinced he was nothing but an action figure with the way Sal went rigid- if not for his heart beating wildly beneath my fingertips. 

My own heart drummed in my ears, and for a moment, just a single moment, it didn’t bother me that he was sticky. 

He swallows. The tiny, but very human action feels uncanny at his size. The rise and fall of his chest, the strangely sizable weight of him in my hands… all of it is just so… strange. He feels solid - tense beneath my grip. Fuck- even at his size he felt strong. My eyes trace over the myriad of scars that marred his skin, gaze lingering over the clear bite mark that covered his shoulder and chest…

I hadn't even noticed my thumb tracing over it until I felt him try and push the digit away.

“Mark-” 

“Oh- sorry.” I adjust my grip into something I assume is more comfortable, opting to hold him in a way that left him semi-seated in my palms rather than awkwardly dangling from a first.

It's a weird sight, seeing a grown man sitting in your hands. Every small movement I make has him sway, his head drunkenly lolling back as he slurs a few indistinguishable words with a chuckle. Up close like this he looks just about as drunk as he sounds- red in the face and eyes struggling to stay open. 

Adjusting my grip, I cringe.

He was more than just a little sticky.

His pants clung to my skin, peeling off as I moved like a Band-Aid being removed. The mental image sends a shudder down my spine.

I consider taking the opportunity to wipe off the concerningly sticky little man while I have the chance, though a more rational voice in the back of my mind argues that a good host doesn’t assault their “neighbor” with wet wipes. 

Below, Sal grumbles something unintelligible, clearly displeased with me as he swats at my fingers. Though despite his attempts, my fingers lingered. 

Ugh- He left a stain on my hand! 

I glare at the dark smear of sauce he’d wiped off onto his pants, silently reconsidering the option of dousing the man in dish soap, let alone wet wipes, etiquette be damned. 

Instead, I opted for another drink.

[scarlettscribbles]

prologue

PART OF neither the angels in heaven above, nor the demons by the sea DRABBLE SERIES ↠ masterlist

- Lucy Gray Baird & Daughter!OC, mentioned Lucy Gray Baird x Coriolanus Snow

Summary: 1.7k words - The words were on the tip of her tongue before Coriolanus had let it slip that he'd killed three people.

As Lucy Gray became a ghost lost in the wind, so did her secrets.

a/n: i cannot stop thinking about snowbaird !! inspired by my visenya-verse and also bc i love writing about children being loved :)

also, shout out to PlayingTheGameOfThrones' It's Quiet Uptown! i was reading snowbaird fics and i was so happy to find a secret kid fic. literally squealed in excitement bc i was like, that's what's literally in my brain rn

In truth, Lucy Gray was too young to be doing this. Halfway eighteen, with her heart broken by a man — a boy, really — who almost killed her. Ironically, the suspect of her current predicament was the same person. Oh how Lucy Gray hated it that he still haunted her now.

She had Lucy Gray’s tan skin, her baby girl. The wisps of her hair stuck against her forehead were bright blond. Lucy Gray wondered if her hair would darken eventually.

Annabel Rose Baird was a sickly baby. Her heart was weak and every night, Lucy Gray would have trouble sleeping, afraid that she’d wake up with a cradle gone cold. But she was a survivor, her Annie. Much like her mother. (And father.)

But they could not live on that alone. Lucy Gray, barely recovered from birth, wrapped her baby tight on her back with a sling and took their meager belongings in a bag, setting out to find the community up North Billy Taupe had once talked about. Lucy Gray walked for miles and miles, sometimes wishing she hadn’t left behind that lovely orange scarf her lover gave her. It would’ve made for a more comfortable sleep in their journey. She could’ve given it to Annie as her baby blanket, something to remember her childhood by — the one piece of her father she would ever know or keep. But alas, Lucy Gray had left it behind along with the broken pieces of trust she once thought she could rely on.

Lucy Gray found them eventually. Or rather, they found her. It was in the middle of the night and she’d just put Annie to sleep when flashes of light shone through the gaps between the trees. Cradling her whimpering baby close to her chest, Lucy Gray raised a hand in surrender, hoping that she was saying the right words for them to not shoot her.

They took them to their leader and gave them a small cabin. It was cozy and comfortable but it wasn’t home. Not when their leader, with his calculating eyes and access to Capitol broadcasts, look at her and her baby with such intense scrutiny. Lucy Gray’s paranoia increases every time he “accidentally” chances upon her with questions about the Capitol, about the Hunger Games, about Annie. He’s not as subtle as he thinks he is. Lucy Gray endures his questions, answering casually to alleviate the suspicion upon her. Her heart threatens to beat out of her chest every single time. She could only properly breathe again when she’s back within the four walls of their cabin, with Annie safe in her arms, her little puffs of breath warming Lucy Gray from the inside out.

The one saving grace of the place was Dr. Hartree. She was training under some big shot Capitol doctor when she fled, so she knew more than the District healers did despite the meager hospital equipment she had. She diagnosed Annabel Rose with something called moderate Ventricular Septal Defect; a heart disease she had since birth. Dr. Hartree let her listen to the whooshing sound of her Annie’s heartbeat through the stethoscope. Her baby’s got a hole in her heart. Lucy Gray wept.

Dr. Hartree said that the hole might yet repair itself, that she could look for some medicine that could help strengthen Annie’s heart muscles. But if it did not, Annie would need heart surgery which Dr. Hartree was neither qualified for nor equipped to do. In that scenario, going to the Capitol would be Annie’s best hope, said the doctor. The community’s leader approved Dr. Hartree’s request for getting the medicine. In exchange, Lucy Gray had to take on additional work on top of what she’d already been assigned with to earn her keep. Lucy Gray was both thankful and suspicious. She was no fool, a big favor like that didn’t come without heavier strings. But her baby was alive so Lucy Gray kept her head down. (For the moment, at least.)

Annabel Rose grew up a happy child. She was small for her age but her presence filled the room and her heart was so full of love. Whenever she smiled, a deep dimple showed on her cheek and her warm brown eyes would shine like stars in the night sky. Her baby never did grow out of her blond hair, riotous curls tumbling down her head. She looked like an angel; Lucy Gray’s own angel.

She was truly heaven sent. There were no words to describe how much her daughter made her happy, which was something, coming from a songwriter. Oft Lucy Gray wished the Covey had a chance to know her daughter. Annabel Rose fit in alright with the children of the community, but children can be cruel sometimes. Annie’s body was weak and she ran out of breath fast, making her unable to be included in strenuous physical activities. Lucy Gray was not deaf to the whispers of “runt” that surrounded her daughter, whispers that eventually reached Annie’s ears, causing her to come home tearfully, fisting her mother’s skirt and asking what it meant. Once upon a time, Lucy Gray would have been rearing for a fight but everything was different now. She didn’t have her Covey; her and Annie were alone.

Oh, people were nice enough but, like in District 12, they seemed to be able to sense an otherness in her and Annie that made them unable to accept them fully. It didn’t help that the community leader’s demeanor was like that either. The residents liked and respected him better than the strangers they barely knew anything about, so of course they’d follow his example.

Lucy Gray had been missing her Covey so much that she contemplated going back to District 12, back to her family, when she’d heard that an electric fence was put around it, complete with Peacekeepers patrolling the perimeter. They’d never bothered with that area before, but Lucy Gray had an inkling why they suddenly found it important.

So what else could she do but grit her teeth and bear it? Every night Lucy Gray would sing songs to Annie and tell her stories about the Covey, about her family and the colorful nights and laughter they shared. And Annie’s eyes would shine in the low lamplight, humming along to the tunes.

Lucy Gray did not bring her guitar with her during her journey out of District 12, but she was able to obtain a smaller version — a ukulele — from a traveling salesman. His initial offer nearly took all her saved up money to pay for, but she was able to haggle down to a more reasonable price. At 3-years-old, Annabel Rose learned the basic chords from her mother. The first song she learned was to the tune of Lucy Gray's namesake.

It tugged at Lucy Gray’s heartstrings to hear her Annie’s sweet voice in the warmth of their home. She resolved to write a song for her daughter’s fourth birthday as a gift. Lucy Gray had her song, and so did her Capitol boy. It was only apt that Annabel Rose had one too.

It was the night of Annabel Rose's fourth birthday when everything went wrong. Lucy Gray was humming underneath her breath to the tune of a new song, their tiny kitchen fragrant with the smell of a birthday cake she’d stolen half the ingredients for to bake. She lit up a deformed red candle she attempted to mold from whatever melted wax she could find, cupping the flame between her palms briefly to keep it from being blown out. With a satisfied sigh, she wiped her hands on her apron and walked to the bed to shake her daughter awake.

All Lucy Grey felt was the cold skin of her daughter, her breathing shallow and her skin tinged blue. Her heart dropped to her stomach. With shaking hands, she wrapped Annie in a blanket and lifted her into her arms.

On the way to Dr. Hartree’s cabin, Lucy Gray would not realize that she’d been singing the song she’d written for Annie. And she will sing it under her breath while the good doctor examined her daughter, telling her the heart defect had gotten worse. She’d sing it at the back of her mind while Dr. Hartree tells her that surgery wasn’t an option anymore, that the medicine Annie’ll need is only available in the Capitol, that if she wants her baby to live she’ll need to find some way to get her a heart transplant. She’ll sing it and sing it, hoping the girl she’d written it for would awaken long enough to sing it with her.

She would only stop when Dr. Hartree clasped her hands, telling her in a hushed whisper that she’d found a way to get them to the Capitol discreetly. The doctor’s got family among the Peacekeepers in District 12 who was going to go to the Capitol in two days. Some officer fellow that was high-ranking enough to have his own private train cabin, and kind enough to share it with them. Dr. Hartree had given her temporary antibiotics for Annie with an apology that she couldn’t do anything more. When they arrive in the Capitol, Lucy Gray was on her own. Lucy Gray who had no penny to her name, who would probably be shot on sight once the Capitol had caught wind of her existence.

Her mind was racing on the morn she and a barely-lucid Annie snuck out to the gates. They were met with a heavyset man two heads taller than Lucy Gray, driving a military jeep. Time passed quickly and they encountered no hurdles getting to the train station on time. He lent them warm Capitol-style cloaks so they could blend in upon arrival. He’d even made her a cup of tea, noticing the nervousness in her demeanor. Lucy Gray had not been expecting such kindness from a Peacekeeper, no matter how highly Dr. Hartree spoke of him.

It was nighttime when they arrived, snow falling heavily on the ostentatious buildings. It wasn’t only the cold that made Lucy Gray shiver.

Under the cover of the night, Lucy Gray held her Annabel Rose and rapped on the door of the one she’d hoped would help them. If blood was not an enough reason, she could always appeal to their conscience.

The door swung open.

“Tigris, I need your help.”

[finn-m-corvex]

Whumptober 2023 Day 5 - Pinned Down

Day 5! And this one is MOVIEVERSE! I REPEAT: MOVIEVERSE! I wanted a bit of a challenge so a few of these are going to be set within the movie! Also movie!Jay is an absolute bean but he swears like a sailor and I will die on this hill.

@splinnters fifth tag! You better be asleep by now good sir

Words: 2.2k

This wasn’t supposed to happen. 

Garmadon wasn’t supposed to strike during the middle of the school day, his plane wasn’t supposed to get shot down out of the sky, and he was not supposed to crash it directly into a building that was already crumbling from the attack. Jay had tried to hit the eject button only for it to fail, so he had no other choice than to sit tight and hope that the impact didn’t kill him.

It didn’t, but Jay could still feel the whiplash that hit his neck as his head slammed against the console, his helmet the only thing saving him from certain doom. He had been knocked out almost instantly, and when he finally came around there were voices screaming at him over the still-functioning radio and blood trickling down from his forehead.

“Jay!” Cole yelled, and Jay could hear the sounds of missiles detonating over the comms. “What the hell happened?!”

He must’ve been talking for some time, so Jay fumbled to press the button and activate his mic. “Cole? I’m here.”

‘Oh thank the First Master,” Lloyd sighed, and Jay winced from his volume. His mask must’ve gotten shoved up closer to his mouth. “Did anyone see where he went down?”

“He is near the corner of Main and Fourth,” Zane chimed in, and Jay’s heart started sinking. Nobody was patrolling in that direction, which meant that there was no one nearby and they were all still fighting a battle. He was on his own.

Which immediately posed a problem when he tried to move his leg.

A short scream escaped his lips when he tried to pull his leg out, and Jay felt the tears sting at the corners of his eyes. Glancing down, the sight of mangled metal buried in his leg almost made him sick. White-hot pain shot up his thigh from his calf, and Jay bit down on his hand to keep from screaming again as his head hit the back of his seat.

He was trapped.

The others must’ve heard him, because Nya was hurriedly clicking onto the channel. “What the hell was that?”

“I’m stuck,” Jay said, “m-my leg’s pinned. I can’t get it out.”

“How stuck?” Kai asked, and Jay heard the screeching of metal on metal through the comms before Kai’s flamethrower ignited, the whoosh familiar as well as the yells of whoever Kai was fighting against.

Jay really did not want to look at it again, but he did have to assess the injury. His leg was burning with pain, his nerves alight with the sensation as he leaned down to try and get a better look at what had happened. Of course, it looked like one of the pylons had gone straight through his leg; not enough to take it off, but definitely enough to pin him in place and start to cause problems.

Why was he so calm about almost having his leg forcibly amputated?

“It’s gone through my leg,” Jay said lightly, his voice betrayed absolutely none of his inner turmoil, “so I can’t move. I also can’t remove it because I don’t know what’ll happen or if it’s structurally sound.”

Silence rang over the comms, and Jay waited patiently for his team to respond. It wasn’t like he was going anywhere. “Buddy, are you okay?” Cole asked hesitantly.

“Oh yes, Cole, I’m just peachy! I’m stuck in this stupid fucking cockpit and there’s a metal rod stuck in my leg and I dunno how to fix it and there’s enemies everywhere and you guys are across the city and I’m going to flip my shit because what if I lose my fucking leg?!” and there it was. Everything was falling apart around him, literally and metaphorically, and Jay’s vision started to tunnel as he struggled to take a deep breath. He wanted to pull his knees up into his chest and bury his face in them, but any movement of his leg only brought more tears to his eyes.

“Breathe,” Nya tried to say, but Jay only took a harsh inhale through his nose in panic-fuelled rage.

“My jet is fucked! My leg is fucked! I’M fucked!” Jay yelled. “So what do you mean ‘breathe’?!”

“It’s not going to get better if you keep panicking, so I need you to calm down,” Nya said soothingly; the others stayed quiet, trusting her to take control of the situation. “I’m on my way, okay? Just hang tight, we’ll get you out of there.”

He couldn’t calm down. The rod shifted, making him see stars as his head knocked against the side of the cockpit. All it took was one sob to open the floodgates, and suddenly he couldn’t stop. “I’m scared, Nya, I’m scared and it hurts and I don’t know what to do-”

“I know,” Nya said, “I know, that’s why I need you to breathe for me, Jay. In for three, hold for four, out for seven, can you do that for me?”

“Yeah,” and Jay tried, he really did, but the sight of Garmadon’s forces flying high over his head, twisting and turning through the air as they made a beeline for where the others were already fighting, drowned out any common sense that may have stuck around at the beginning of his panic attack.

If they saw him, he was as good as dead.

And they were getting pretty damn close.

“Fuck!” Jay cursed, pushing hard at his shattered windshield. “Come on, come on!”

“What happened?” Lloyd asked, alarmed. Jay kept banging at the windshield, ignoring the shards of glass cutting through his gloves and the pain radiating from his wrists.

“Garmadon’s army is coming!” he said, and he could hear the sharp intake of breath from the rest of the group. “I’m pinned down, and I can’t get out!”

“Cole, Nya, get to him now,” Lloyd ordered, and Jay felt his heart lift when he saw the green ninja’s mech shoot across the sky, already tearing through the hordes of planes flying through the city. “Kai and Zane, we’re running defense. Don’t let them get close until Jay is clear.”

“On it, boss,” Kai said, and Zane confirmed as well. Cole grunted, and Nya was silent, but Jay knew that she was just thinking of a way to get him out of here. Probably. Hopefully.

There had to be something he could do. His brain was racing a mile a minute as he looked around the cockpit for anything that he could use to pry open the canopy, or even something to help him start to free his leg. Adrenaline poured through his veins, dulling any pain radiating from the wound and making him shake with repressed stims. Finally he tore off a control panel on the side, steadying his hands long enough to start fiddling with the wires. Maybe he could get his jet’s cloaking ability to start working; that would buy him some time until Nya got there.

It only took a minute for the wires to start sparking, small arcs racing up his fingers and Jay quickly dropped said wires, but the damage was already done. The tips of his fingers were slightly singed, as Cole would so gracefully put it, and Jay quickly put them into his mouth one by one to soothe the burns. Hopefully someone was still on the line, he thought as he pressed the button to open the comm channel, his finger throbbing in protest.

“Uh, team?” Jay said, flinching when one of the planes flew a little too close for his liking, “I can’t activate the cloaking thing and I think I burnt my fingers.”

“Seriously?” Cole said angrily, and Jay’s heart dropped at his tone. “Don’t worry, Jay, Nya and I are almost there?”

“Can you turn your ‘almost here’ into actually being here, please?”

“Working on it, Blue,” Nya grunted, and Jay could hear the sounds of crabs hitting her windshield with dull thunks. “Hang in there, you’re doing great. How’s that injury looking?”

“Let me check,” Jay leaned down to look again and nearly lost his lunch for the fourth time since he had gotten stuck in this predicament. Nothing had changed, but it suddenly looked a lot more red than it did before. His boot squelched on the floorplates, and something was soaking into it and through his socks. Dizzy, Jay realized that he was sole-deep in a puddle of crimson red, of his own blood.

That…wasn’t very comforting. “There’s a lot of blood.”

“How much blood?” Nya asked.

Jay swallowed thickly, pressing the back of his head to his seat and shutting his eyes. “T-There’s a puddle, and it’s soaking into my shoes.”

An explosion, and Nya’s voice came over the speakers again. “These guys are not making it easy. Is there any way that you can staunch it? Or pull the thing out?”

It warmed his heart that in literally any other situation Nya would be flipping her shit, but she was keeping her cool; Jay liked to think that it was because of him rather than anything else. “I can’t move it. The pylon is attached to the main engine and I’m not nearly strong enough. Plus, this thing is already falling apart; I don’t know what’ll happen if I move too much.”

Case in point, the loud whine of falling metal as a section collapsed behind him, making Jay jump in surprise and stare with wide eyes. “You guys might wanna hurry, I don’t know how much longer this is going to stay up!”

“Going as fast as we can,” Cole assured, and Jay could tell that his best friend was starting to grow frustrated with the situation. He slumped in his chair, trying in vain to keep his anxiety at bay as the planes flew closer and closer. Rationally, he knew that Cole wasn’t mad at him, per se, but it sure as hell felt like it. Honestly, It was a miracle that he hadn’t been spotted yet.

He should’ve never thought about it.

Screaming through the air as they descended, Jay watched as the planes focused on his location with a plummeting heart. Their crab cannons swiveled to face him, and Jay was suddenly very aware of just how cracked his canopy was and the fragility of the cockpit protecting him. It wouldn’t last for very long at all.

“Lloyd!” he yelled, throwing his arms up and over his head as the crabs started raining down on top of him. “I’m in trouble here!”

“On my way!” and Jay saw the green dragon mech zigzag across the sky, tearing through the planes with its mechanical claws and firing missle after missle. “Guys, does anyone have eyes on Garmadon? I can’t see him from here.”

“I do,” Kai ground out, and Jay could tell that the fire ninja was not happy. “He’s on the south side, I’m gonna need all hands on deck to take care of him. He’s got a new barracuda mech? I think?”

“Zane, get to Kai,” Lloyd said, and for First Master’s sake they had to stop sending Jay on these emotional rollercoastsers. He could not function under these conditions! “I’m right behind you.”

“Wait!” Jay exclaimed, because even though there may have been no more planes attacking, there were definitely people on the ground that would be trying to make their way towards him. For the first time he noticed that his weapon was gone; it must’ve gotten lost as he went down. “I don’t have anything to defend myself with, you know! They find me up here and I’m fucked!”

“You’re fucked anyway if we don’t defeat Garmadon,” Kai said harshly, and Jay flinched even though no one could see him. “Cole and Nya are almost there.”

“About that,” Cole said, and for the sake of the First Master could they please stop delivering bad news?! “I’m a bit stuck too.”

“Stuck? How are you stuck?” Nya asked, concerned. “Do I need to go back-”

“No, get to Jay,” Cole insisted, flicking a few switches near the mic and slapping a new record into his turntable. “I can handle it. I’m with you, girl, so lead the way.”

Jay knew that above all else, he trusted his best friend with his life; if he said he was with someone, Cole was going with them. Sighing in relief, the adrenaline finally started to fizzle out, and Jay sobbed as the pain started to set in again. It was blinding; the pool of blood had risen to his ankle and Jay was starting to feel the effects. Woozy, he tried to open up the comm channel, forgetting that he never closed it.

“Please hurry,” he slurred, and the fire racing up his leg made him yelp in pain. Vision blurred with tears, Jay let his head rest against his seat again, shutting his eyes and hoping that the world would stop spinning.

Until a shadow was finally cast over him. He cracked his eyes open, smiling at the sight of the battered water strider mech, the love of his life (even if she didn’t know it yet) giving him the world’s brightest grin as she grabbed her spear and saluted him. “You called, Blue?”

“I did,” he said softly, a chuckle bubbling out of him despite the grimness of his situation, “and they couldn’t have gotten anyone more gorgeous to answer it.”

Later, he would blame the flirting on the blood loss, but only he knew how much of a lie that really was.

[luminousbeings-crudematter]

I’m sorry, but you know you can’t upload another piece to Alford Plea and not expect me to barge into your inbox like it’s not already my home and give you a sentence by sentence report. I mean, i am legally married to it and you did officiate the wedding.

Like an actual goddamned vision, he leans against the wall, still in his chef whites (with sleeves sluttily folded up to his forearms now that service is over, like he knows you like) and completely silent.

SLUT!! No but I can just picture this and it’s perfect 🤤🤤🤤

The most aggravating man in the world and you still want to jump his bones when he looks at you like that.

Ugh!! I’ve never heard anything more true

Ah’m gonna head off—oh!”   It’s Soap.  Of course, it’s Soap.  Who else but Johnny would save your life in this godforsaken kitchen that was run by the actual devil.

I literally squealed!! I love Soap in this series ❤️ my little pot wash 😍😍😍 I’m so happy to see him make a return!!

“Erm…I—I don’t know, bonnie.  You, uh,” he hesitates and his eyes quickly flick to Simon before they come back to yours. “You’re a good friend and ah’love you.  But he pays m’wages.  And the two of ye’re screwin’ so—”

I do not blame soap… not in the slightest but damn no help at all? Traitor!

You do as he says, taking off layer by layer of your clothing.  When you’re done, he stands in front of you with a small smile.  “Beautiful,” he whispers.  “Such a gorgeous girl.  And all mine, yeah?”

“Mhm,” you agree.

“Say it.”

“I’m all yours, Simon.”

“Good girl,” he praises, and you feel your breath stutter in your chest.

When I tell I just melted 🫠🫠🫠 I love him so much!! I swear!!!! He just knows exactly what to say 💕

Simon Riley’s not a man who smiles a lot.  Being with you may have made him soft and a fool in love, but every one of his shy, dimpled grins are so special, so unique, that you feel like you need to earn them.

OMFG!! Dimples!!! I am weeping! I need to see it!!

I loved this piece! I hold it close to my heart with the rest of the story 💕 Every little window into their lives is precious and I savor every one, I think about them often! About going out to their restaurant and seeing what it’s like, what they’d serve. About being a fly on the wall in the kitchen and listening to their heated banter. About what it’s like when the kitchen closes down and it’s just the two of them, packing things up and going home together. When they go home in the evening and decompress from a stressful shift and when they wake up early in the morning just to head back in and start up the prep 💕 chopping endless piles of parsley and tomatoes and onions but they do it together and that makes it all bearable.

I’m sorry, I know I’m rambling, I just absolutely adore these two and their story. Your story.

Anyways… I love you and your writing and I’m grateful for every piece. You’ve got a gift bestie and you’ve gifted us with sharing it. I’m smacking a kiss to your forehead 😘❤️🫶

Babygirl 💕💕💕 ILYSM! And just for you, ONLY FOR YOU, here's a little something. You wanted a sneak peak into what goes on in Simon's kitchen during the mornings when they're together starting prep? You got it!

Takes place during their early early days of dating — not quite in love, but kissing the seams… 

***

It's quiet, but you know intimately of this kind of quiet’s transient nature.  You focus on the soothing, familiar motion of your knife on the chopping board, while he stands behind your station, methodically sharpening his knife.  The only sounds in the kitchen are the low, electric hum of the walk-in, the wet whooshes of his knife moving down the body of the whetstone and your constant chop chop chop of the seemingly endless bunches of parsley in front of you.  

It’s a crisp morning, not quite warm in the kitchen yet but…you’re glowing from the inside.  It’s him.  The cosiest jumper you own and the spiciest hot chocolate you’d ever had doesn’t even start to compare.  His presence warms you from the inside out, and it’s strange to dwell on it for too long, making you feel like the ground under your feet’s been swept away and you’re falling, falling, falling.

When he walks past you, his arm brushes yours, and it’s ridiculous, the speed with which your heart takes off in your chest.  You stand in front of an open flame for a living and still, your cheeks have never been warmer, all from that one action.  He’d loved you for hours the night before—and you him—and still, your heart tries to beat out of its chest at that single touch, maybe the most innocent one you’ve both shared.  

But, oh.  He freezes for a moment when the back of his hand makes contact with yours too, and you wonder if he feels what you feel.  Warmth and electricity and a gentle, insistent voice in the back of his mind whispering yes, this is right, this feels so right, doesn’t this feel so right?

You take a deep, shaky breath and try to bring your attention back to the herb in front of you, vividly green and curly and fragrant and—

“Coffee, love?”

To your utter embarrassment, your breath sounds shaky when you exhale.  When you look up at him, he’s too close.  Clouding your mind and your judgement and god, you want to kiss him.  You want to feel that sharp jaw under your fingertips and his slightly crooked nose against the side of yours, and that shudder in his spine when your tongue touches his—

“...love?  Coffee?”

“Yeah.  Please.”     

You want to chide him for pulling you out of your daydream.  If you can’t make it a reality, then he should’ve left you to it.  But then he smiles, one of those rare ones, with those dimples on display, and his fingers graze your cheek and then he walks away.  You’re not in love, you tell yourself.  It’s too soon.  But if falling in love with Simon is a peak to conquer, then you’re convinced you’re afflicted with summit fever.  

[lizard-shifter-noms]

Still Subject to Change Chapter 30 (NEW)

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Hello everyone! i decided to repost arc 1 of SSTC

(the chapters were way too long and had a bunch of typos but hopefully this will make reading easier)

this Story contains Vore, Dont like dont read.

if there are still any grammatical errors i’m sorry.

——————————————————————————

“If you ever feel like stuff gets too much you can come to me and I’ll try my best to make time and help you, Does that sound good to you?”

He was silent for a bit and I worried if he even heard me but before I could repeat he finally spoke.

“That- you don’t have to do that, i can- i can deal with this myself”

He was clearly apprehensive about the offer and trying to disappear in one of the folds of my pouch.

“Well yeah, I guess so, but you don’t Have to deal with this alone.

Look, I’ve lived a majority of my life alone and I can tell you that needing help isn’t a bad thing, hell I would have loved to have had help sometimes.

I know what it’s like dealing with stuff alone and I think it sucks, Nobody should have to be alone when they need help.

Besides, I’m just offering you that if you do need help you can come to me and I’ll do my best to help and make time for you.

And now that we are at the castle i doubt i’ll have much to do anyway”

I patiently waited for his response, he didn’t HAVE to answer now though, He could take as much time as he needed.

And for whatever Reason, which I was going to blame the Ardua Bracelet on, being able to protect him like this felt right.

While he was there nothing could get to him unless it got through me first, literally.

And there was no way a spider could sneak in, so he didn’t have to worry about his phobia either.

He could just, relax and let someone else do everything, maybe that’s exactly what he had needed.

“Donovan? I don’t think i have enough brainpower to think about that today, Is it okay if I answer some other time?”

“Of course, take as much time as you need, i’m not going anywhere, at least not without you”

Adding a bit of humor at the end wouldn’t hurt right?

Besides he wasn’t feeling the best right now so maybe it would cheer him up a little bit at least.

He just snuggled deeper into my pouch and i had to keep from emitting a pleased hum, man, fuck those Ardua instincts.

This was NOT about me right now!

This was to help Robin, nothing else.

I carefully positioned myself so that my Pouch was shielded from all sides by my limbs and only my back and head were exposed to the night air.

This pose did have a lot of similarities to the loaf form I had taken earlier that day.

Now nothing could get to him, not even near him without me knowing.

Though, my self control really was being tested today wasn’t it?

For whatever godforsaken reason Robin had started rubbing the inside of my pouch, likely spaced out again even if I couldn’t see him.

The sensation practically made me melt like warm butter and I had to really fight to keep from letting out a delighted hum.

I did not want to startle him with a random sound, not when he finally wasn’t trembling anymore.

Instead I just froze on the spot, not moving aside from my tail swinging from side to side.

Then he started to knead into the walls even more.

************************************************************************

Robin had been right, this was helping.

He was just lying in a soft and dim room where the only noises he could hear, aside from Donovan speaking,

were the rhythmic whooshing of the lungs that somehow reminded him of a distant breeze through trees and the steadily thumping Heart that sent blood to every part of the Arduas body.

It was strangely soothing to be surrounded by something alive that had promised to never hurt him and listen to the muted sounds his body made just by being alive.

He briefly wondered why he had two hearts if only one was doing its job already so well, but he was a hybrid so things probably didn’t have to make sense.

And for some reason he actually felt safe in here, logically he shouldn’t, He knew that, but he also knew Donovan wouldn’t hurt him.

He’d promised that back when they were still in the forest, and he doubted he’d break that promise.

He was half Fae, and Fae was bound to their promises.

Somehow he didn’t think that the Fae thing was what made him keep this promise.

And after his… outburst, his energy was sapped, The soft and warm walls didn’t help that either.

He was more comfortable than he’d been in, well, ever, and the texture of the walls was like silk, if silk was even smoother and slightly damp.

Not that he minded that, at all.

And it was so, so soft.

Robin couldn’t help leaning into them and rubbing his hands over the surroundings just to feel how his fingers went over the smooth walls.

The texture really was like the smoothest silk had ever touched, if not better, so he steadily moved his hands over it from left to right, As well as up and down.

That got a reaction, the walls around him twitched in surprise for a second.

Robin huffed and rubbed at the wall again, causing the room around him to rumble and a new sound to surround him.

Donovan was purring… That was kind of adorable.

Encouraged by that nice sound that made his bones thrum, Robin pressed his hand to the wall and started rubbing in a circular motion, now with both hands, turning Donovan’s stilted vocalization into a steady purr.

Should he mention it?

They were all new to this, maybe it was something he wanted to know?

Besides, the sound was relaxing and made his bones buzz slightly.

He liked the sound, Donovan really was like a big cat in his Ardua form.

He decided to mention it and tell him that he liked the sound.

“You are purring”

************************************************************************

“You are purring”

What? What did the little ginger mean? I wasn’t a cat, I couldn’t purr, What was he talking about?

“No im not”

But even as i said this i became aware of the fact that there was a sound that DID sound a lot like purring, and the sound was coming from me.

“Yes you are,you’re doing it right now!”

He yawned as he said this and resumed kneading his tiny hands into the walls.

Damnit.

I really should ask Oakley if I could take a look at the book he mentioned.

“Go sleep already, i can tell you’re tired, and you just had kind of a bad time you should rest”

He yawned again and snuggled into one of the walls of my pouch.

“Hmmkay, i do like the purring though, its relaxing”

He did? Well, since there was no one else around I guessed I could just continue?

If the sound was calming for him maybe it’d help?

While I doubted that he was still shaken from his earlier panic, having some soothing background noise would probably be nice for him.

And I had to admit that this was actually pretty comfortable, somehow.

I was still lying on a rock outside at night while I had a living breathing human person IN my pouch.

Though while he was sleepily snuggled up in one of the folds of my pouch he was still absent mindedly running his hands over the flesh there.

Yeah, continuing to purr was not a problem like this.

Though he went slower and slower, likely falling asleep.

And somehow this was relaxing enough that I also got tired.

Well, it had been a long day, a weird one too, Now it was time for some peace and quiet, Fuck knew both of us needed that after the weird weeks we had.

I yawned and then felt Robin roll over, sleepily mumbling something and then curling up.

While I was kind of disappointed that the internal massage stopped, I was glad that he finally fell asleep, It was late and I knew he was not a morning person.

My own eyelids growing heavy, I let my head dip down to rest on the ground,

using one of my paws as a pillow and falling asleep content with the knowledge that my Friend was safe, even from his own fears.

At some point during the night I was briefly awoken by a rustling sound.

What now? I was tired, whoever this was could pester me with their bullshit tomorrow!

Still, I should probably make sure that this wasn’t a threat.

Looking over to where the sound came from I could see another silhouette stumbling over some bushes.

Oh, wait, in the dim moonlight I could actually see who it was after my eyes had adjusted.

It was Arthur, and he was stumbling his way over to me.

Man his eyes must have not adapted to the dark with how he kept bumping into things, then again it might be possible that Ardua just had better night vision.

Then he walked past me towards the cliff.

Oh fuck no.

I stood up as fast as I could while still being mindful of my worn out passenger.

I managed to snag the back of his shirt with a claw before he just walked off of the cliff.

What the fuck was wrong with him?

Then I noticed it.

His face was flushed pink, like a lot so, he must have had a few too many alcoholic beverages.

Goddamnit, I knew what I was doing when I avoided anything alcoholic.

And it was a good thing that i had been out here and woken up when i heard him.

He could be dead by now, impaled by one of the spikes or drowned in the ocean far below.

That was a very frightening thought, one I did not dare entertain further.

But fucking hell, how much did he have intus?

Well, i’d say not my problem but apparently it was now since it was clear he did not know what he was doing.

I’d better make sure he would not run off again, or worse, and potentially kill himself.

I used a claw to hook his shirt and drag him back to the spot I had been in before but he wiggled out of it with some slurred speech that I had no hope of understanding.

Well, the hard way it was then, I grabbed the back of his shirt with my teeth and dragged him like that.

I did not plan on swallowing him though, he’d only disturb Robin and that was the last thing I wanted.

Speaking of the ginger, I could feel him sleepily shifting and hoped he wouldn’t wake up.

Also he was drunk as fuck, that could be actually dangerous, for both of us as he could injure someone.

Also I doubted he’d appreciate that.

So I carried him by the scruff like a kitten and went back to settling where I was before.

I carefully set him down between my arms and made sure he could not escape, but instead of trying to get out and leave he just settled in the crook of my arm which I had previously used as a pillow.

He was just lying there but before I could ask him anything he shoved a hand against the side of my head and slurred out something barely coherent.

“No, shut up”

Well, i didn’t mind him there, but if he puked on me or disturbed Robin somehow i would put him in a tree.

But I did hope that this was it for nightly disturbances, I needed sleep too.

Settling my head on my arm again I made sure that Arthur couldn’t just get up and wander off.

I did not want him falling of the cliff in his intoxicated state, that would be horrible.

And he kind of already tried to do that sooo, this was for the better.

Checking one last time that he wouldn’t wander off and that Robin was still comfortable in my pouch I rested my head and finally went back to sleep.

And if someone else decided they would wake me in the middle of the night I would chuck them through a castle window.

Luckily I was not disturbed again and could just sleep through the night and into the morning where I got woken by a very confused Arthur who did not remember how he got there.

Yeah, this was gonna be fun.

And now I actually had friends.

Friends that did not mind me being a weird shape shifting Fae Bastard.

Though the fact that I could eat people was probably not something we would talk about, aside from Robin maybe.

But the little rusthead did end up taking my offer of helping when he had a bad brain day.

From this point onward things could only get better, and as soon as Rikaad found that stupid paperwork I could also go to the city and explore without being immediately executed.

I’d wait for a few weeks though, just to be sure that everyone got the memo.

But it was nice to finally know that things would get better, and not just for me, with Rikaad as king it would get better for everyone.

Yeah, I was looking forward to that future.

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

It had been a week now since we had started living at the castle, and the protruding rock on the cliffside had quickly become one of my favorite places.

It was a nice sunspot too, as confirmed by a cat that had showed up sometime and then refused to leave.

I liked the cat, it somehow had no fear of me and even tried to groom my fur.

At some point I even followed it for an entire day as lots of people had said I looked cat like I thought I’d go and see what an actual cat did all day, That had been fun, and now I had a feline friend that sometimes showed up and tried to clean my fur.

While i had spent time with the cat Rikaad had found the papers that dictated how much taxes had to be paid by the citizens.

He was righteously angry at finding out that the wealthy people only had to pay two percent taxes while the poorer people had to pay up to ten or even more.

He immediately put it at five percent for everyone as he thought that rich people should not have to pay less than poor people who sometimes couldn’t even afford to eat, In the end he made it so that everyone had to pay the same percentage.

In his words everyone was worth the same, and that poorer people had to pay for everything while the rich just kept getting richer was not fair.

Of course some of the rich fucks complained while the rest of the citizens cheered.

He then told the rich fucks that complained that they could leave if they wanted, but they had to leave their stuff behind and were not allowed to take what was considered ‘kingdom property’ whatever the fuck that meant.

Sometime after that the funeral for the old king was held, almost nobody attended and i had stayed behind with Robin while Rikaad and Arthur went even if they didn’t really want to.

To be completely honest I really hadn’t wanted to see the corpse of the old git that was majorly responsible for a lot of Misery, and not just my own at that.

Instead I had Worked to renovate the shed for my Ardua form with Robin, that had been fun.

Another day I had helped Barsen out in the garden. 

He had asked for help in uprooting a tree that had rotted from inside out and was a safety hazard as it was near a frequently used pathway and could fall on someone.

I had ended up dragging the thing that was longer than I was tall to one of the walls where it was out of the way, maybe they’d use it as firewood sometime.

And best of all was that now that it was warm again all the flowers had come back in full bloom.

I could only applaud Barsen as the Garden looked absolutely stunning with all the colors.

And Robin made flower crowns with whatever he was allowed to pluck, which meant he befriended Barsen on the basis of talking about plants.

Barsen had even complimented Robin’s name as apparently he was named after his favorite bird which I found a funny coincidence.

While there were a lot of flowers in the garden, not a lot of them were blue simply due to the fact the old king had not liked the color, maybe because it reminded him of Maringand.

But there was one place where i had seen a speck of blue petals, Which led to where I was now.

Standing in front of the cliff near the rock and looking at the spike with the tree on it.

I could see something blue right next to it and I wanted to get it.

Not for me of course, but I wanted to get them for Robin so he could make a blue flower crown.

He said he wanted to, so I’d try and make it possible.

“Mrow?”

At the sound I looked to my right where a cream colored cat with rusty ‘boots’ and tail sat, She was looking as disapproving as a cat could.

“Don’t look at me like that, i know this is a bad idea, but i want to do something nice for my friend”

She just blinked and then walked away, clearly signifying ‘not my problem’.

Eh, whatever, it would be fine, I had practiced jumping just for this and I wanted to get to the flowers before they wilted.

I didn’t even know what kind they were so it was possible that they wouldn’t bloom for long.

Taking a few more steps back until I felt a tree behind me, I made myself ready to sprint like I had learned from the cat.

We should find her a name sometime.

Before I could start to sprint though I was interrupted by a now familiar voice.

“What are you planning to do?”

I looked over to Barsen and saw him standing there with a broken wheelbarrow on his shoulder, he really should get that replaced.

“You already know that anyway, ’m trying to get to the spike with the tree and get those blue plants”

“if you are sure you can jump that far, just make sure to be careful, and bring me a few with roots while you’re at it, i might be able to plant them somewhere safer”

I nodded at him and he carried on with whatever he was doing, hopefully finally bringing that wheelbarrow to get repaired as he had it like that since i’ve known him.

Making sure there was nothing in the way, I readied my muscles and pelted over the ground towards the abyss that was the end of the cliff and jumped at the last moment, feeling the edge crumble under me, and near flying through the air towards the spike with the tree.

I landed perfectly with all four legs on the little island right next to the tree.

The flat top of the spike itself was shaped like a malformed and bent teardrop with the tree in the larger part of it.

But now that I was finally here I could see all the blue flowers, They were bluebells, pretty big ones too.

Robin would love these, so I shifted back into my human form and plucked as many as I could, half of them with the roots still attached like Barsen had requested.

I still left a sizable patch of them so they could regrow next year.

Gathering the flowers in a bundle I went a few steps away to shift back into Ardua form.

As soon as I did that i encountered a problem though, I had brought nothing to carry the flowers, maybe the cat had been right about looking at me like that.

Well, maybe I could carry them in my mouth?

I’ve carried stuff like that before and as long as I was careful not to squish them it should be fine, right?

Welp, only one way to find out, so i put them in my mouth and went to the edge of the spike opposite from the cliff face to get as much runway as i could.

Making sure that I wouldn’t squish the flowers I ran across the limited space and jumped back to the cliff.

Landing with my forelegs on the cliff I tried to heave myself up before the rest of my body followed and failed as my hind legs tried to find purchase on nothing and almost fell down till I could put my claws into the wall of the cliff and hold on like that.

Well, that was really fucking close.

Climbing up the little distance I had slid down I was back onto solid ground.

Only to have the cat stare at me.

I just looked at her with an annoyed expression and walked past her, making sure not to step on her, she really was tiny compared to me so i had no idea why she wasn’t afraid of me.

Well, at least I didn’t have to worry about spooking her on accident with my size as long as I was careful.

Now to bring these plants where they belonged, carefully getting them out of my mouth I shrank back into human form,

sorting the flowers by which ones had roots or not.

Finding Robin was easy, There weren’t many spots he hung out and I knew for a fact that he was currently at Oakleys tower planting some herbs that he found out the winged man liked.

No idea how he managed to though.

Oakley himself wasn’t there at the moment as he was busy sorting through his old stuff in the run down hut he lived in before, throwing everything he didn’t need away and bringing the useful stuff here.

Yep, there he was, making a little space for Oakleys plants and pouring new dirt in a neatly stone enclosed patch.

“Robin! Hey! Looks good, i bet Oakley is gonna love it”

He turned his head to me and I could see a very big grin on his slightly smudged face, he probably scratched his nose with his dirt stained fingers.

“You think so? Oh wait, where did you get those?”

He had jumped up as soon as he saw the bluebells I was carrying and I held a bundle upside down in his direction which he gladly took only to sit down and immediately weave them into crowns.

Yep, as expected, and judging by the wide smile on his face he was very happy about finally having some blue ones to work with.

“Where did you find those? Did you go out and search for them?”

Of course, he HAD to ask, and now i had to tell him that i jumped over the cliff to that spike.

I couldn’t lie after all, but maybe I could omit a few things.

“I got them from that spike with the tree, but don’t worry i practiced jumping and as you can see im fine”

I would not tell him that I almost slid off when jumping back.

“If you are sure, but you don’t have to do something so dangerous for me!”

“Eh Barsen wanted some too, with roots of course, see?”

I held up the bundle that had the roots still attached.

“Oh, that’s nice, but maybe you should bring them to him before they dry out and wilt?”

Looking at the flowers he was probably right, some of them had bent a little too much while I had transported them and I had no idea which ones were good to replant and which ones weren’t.

PREVIOUS / NEXT / OVERSIGHT

[alyosiuscreightonward]

“No, ma’am. You and I made eye contact over there,” she pointed in the direction of the exit door. “You literally just walked over here and decided to start some shit. First, you looked at me and then decided to make a coughing sound. Bitch, please. Get a fucking grip. We’re outside at an airport AND for your information, we’re both likely breathing in more toxic shit than my one fucking cigarette. So, therefore, take your wannabe tree hugging dirt worshipping clean air action hero bullshit self and go fuck a heart lung machine,” Gerta said in such a manner that you’d to want to hug her and give her a cookie, a juice box and a kiss on both cheeks. Just then, she flicked ashes onto the sidewalk, as well as the cigarette and squished it out.

As a rental car Sprinter with a broken muffler approached them, this woman’s male companion cupped his hand and touched her elbow and said, “You’re not going to fuck up this up, Amanda. Let’s go right now.” She was just about to say something, but he snapped at her, “Right! Now!” They walked away.

After 18 hours of flying and what seemed like interminable hours of waiting for connecting flights, she wanted one cigarette. One fucking cigarette. God. Why?! People can be so judgmental, but we can simply point out that there fashion sense hadn’t progressed since the 2nd Grade. Just look at those shoes. Did they snatch them off a shelf at Goodwill or a dead body after they went over the hood of a car? Yes. It’s so very true, an actual living breathing meme: You go, Girl and take those tacky shoes with you was coming for her outside at an airport standing in the Smoking Zone several hundred feet away from everyone else.

She, Gerta Jorde, was enjoying the experience of a cigarette in Long Beach. The perfect waste of time. The gorgeous sun, the slight breeze and California. Don’t knock it until you’ve done it. Gerta pulled out another cigarette and was about to light it as the bright blue car rental Sprinter was slowly coming around the corner. She waved at the shuttle to stop and pick her up.

She shoved the unlit cigarette behind her ear, picking up her vintage Carpet Bag, the rug had originally been found in her grandmother’s foyer, and felt the shuttle van door open with a whoosh sound. Gerta smiled and said, “Hello,” to the driver and he said “Howdy,” back at her. She sat down at the first empty seat nearest the door.

“What’s your final destination,” he asked her while pulling out into the airport traffic. “Catalina.” “Most excellent,” he replied and they were on their way to the car rental area on the farthest side of the airport.

“I hate men,” she thought to herself.

Gerta arrived at the car rental bungalow and the driver had told her to enjoy her time in Catalina as she going inside to get away from everyone and everything. Going through the motions of signing papers and whipping out her credit card, the young man behind the counter said she had a choice of a roller skate or a two story SUV. She grimaced and said, “I’ll take the roller skate and be on my way. By the way, how far is it from here to the Catalina Ferry?”

“Normally, it should be about 45 minutes but it could take you about an hour and a half and of course that depends on traffic,” replied the nice young man as he handed her the keys to the roller skate. As she stepped outside and began to look for her rental, Gerta saw it. A bright purple jellybean on wheels. “Christ,” she exclaimed.

She opened the door and saw exactly how small it is. She sat down and had to find the little bar in order to push the seat all the way back, but she was in luck, the car came with Bluetooth. Gerta fumbled with all the mirrors and figured out how to use the directionals. After a few minutes of adjusting all the necessary things, she started the car and waited for another moment for her phone to connect to the Bluetooth. Rammstein came blaring through the speakers. She picked up her phone and tapped the screen and “Carpet of The Sun” came out the speakers. “Better,” she said to herself as she began to head down to the Catalina Island ferry.

As she was merging into traffic, an unnecessarily large burnt orange pickup truck cut her off and Gerta once again screamed, “I HATE MEN!!” The little purple jellybean of a car headed towards the Catalina Ferry.

[ltpolari]

🤗

[darke15]

Rhymie! My love! 🖤 @rhymingtree

I apologize for this chapter in advance! Please forgive me

Y'know I really don't wanna make myself sad today but... 🤷‍♀️ I'm still here though. I've signed my own death certificate and dug my own grave and I do it gladly.

I’m sorrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Oh fuck straight into the torture huh... like we got a nice lil preamble and then WHOOSH drowning time babyyyy

Gotta get straight to business

Your heart hammered in your chest, freezing droplets of water beaded down your hair before splashing to the ground like pearls tinted pink. They mixed with the blood there, painting abstract crimson against gritty concrete.

Again, very pretty descriptions for really dark stuff.

*dark[e] stuff 😏 ehh? ehhhhhh?

I could write a whole thesis on Novak and how fucking scary he is but how exactly would a panel of professors react if I told them he was a made up character from a very long fanfiction that I like to read at 3 in the morning?

Shhhhhh they don’t have to know 

He was so close, he was just right there. He could get you out if he really wanted to. He could save you.

If he wanted to. If he wanted to. WANTED.

😭😭😭

He’d send you to death’s door—nearly shoving you into Danny’s arms—before injecting you with experimental chemicals and forcing you back to life kicking and screaming.

So he's like the opposite of the grim reaper?

You know that painting of the reaper that’s come to collect a child from their mother? But she’s so soft and beautiful and loving? That’s how I picture Danny coming for Ghost

“Brain function?” “That shit’s optimized,” you mumbled incoherently, “Fuckin’ perfection, motherfucker.” Novak’s assistant raised a brow, “Needs work.” “Douchebag.”

Even at death's door she's a sassy pain in the ass. I love her.

She wouldn’t be Ghost if her sass didn’t come through in the most dire of times

They're already planning on putting her in the chair??

World domination waits for no one, Rhyme. The Good Doctor isn’t getting any younger. 

This would be such a wild ride to read in chronological order. Metal Arm Dude becomes your fuckin' boyfriend.

One of the reasons I wanna go back and change some things in the earlier chapters, but I wanna get through the bunker escape first

“No…” You shook your head, limply fighting against the men as Metal Arm Dude stared after you, “You promised! You promised you wouldn’t leave me!”

Too early to cry, darke.

Never too early. Let it out 😭

They put her in a freezer?

Oh, wait... oh.

😀😀😀

from day 332 to day 393!????!?

THEY PUT HER IN THERE FOR TWO FUCKING MONTHS?

Her own cryo chamber. Possibly some inspiration from that Winter Soldier book. Being stuck in the cold and unable to die but being conscious and able to feel and hear and ‘see’ everything 

A killer. A lover. A someone. Putanginaaaaaa

I’m sorryyyyy 

“And, sir, it's the opinion of the team that they're separated. The Asset is being reported as unstable, even after recalibration. I recommend that—”

Does that have anything to fo with Ghost literally being frozen for two months... was Bucky subconsiously aware of her absence even when the Soldier was on the surface?

He knows something’s up

At what point did hope become so corrosive to the soul that it flickered like a smothered flame before going out completely.

Darke are you sure Juno hasn't summoned the ghost of Charlotte Bronte and had her possess you while you were writing because this is some Jane Eyre classical romantic gothic type writing

She’s sleeping right next to me but i think the big stretch she just did means yes 

Hell wasn’t fire and brimstone. It wasn’t water that seeped into your body. It wasn’t darkness and silence and ice crystals that held your body hostage. It was hope.

Like goddamn. This is World Literature class type of shit I fuckin love it.

I honestly don’t know where it came from but I really enjoyed it

From there you’d be reborn in fire and ice.

STOP. WRITING. WELL. DAMN IT.

No [update, fuck i just came up with a good addition to that line. brb, adding it now]

Your heart nearly froze in your chest as your eyes met his. Somehow, his eyes were darker than you thought they were. Darker than charcoal, darker than pitch. There was no life behind them.

I have goosebumps now thanks

You’re welcome 

I just know Christoph Walsh would eat this role up so fucking much he'd bag an Academy nomination for a superhero movie role.

I just watched spectre again and I just….yessssssssssss

NO NO NO NOT BOONE

DON'T FUCKIN BRING MY BOONIE INTO THIS MEREK.

What i love about this is that she was just about to give Novak everything he wanted but when she realized that boone was still out there somewhere she knew that she couldn’t. 

Her friends are her fuel. 

They’re the only thing that keeps her going 

What's wose is that she's still thinking about Oliver through all of this, worried and unwilling to consider leaving him behin when he knows all this is happening and is more than okay with it. He brought her here. He plunged her into hell but she'd go into its depths to make sure he's with her when she leaves it.

Again, if ollie wasn’t there, this all would have been over so much sooner. They’re biggest mistake was to let him be apart of that team and let her get close to him. 

The rest of that part left me speechless and frozen and numb

I’m sorry 

ANd now I'm about to feel worse because I know what's coming

Ahhhhh i know im so sorry 

 “You are not allowed to mar what belongs to me.”

he scares me so much

Same. you know, i came up with that line on the top of a mountain, just outta the blue. Scared the shit outta myself as i wrote it down 

“Promise you’ll stay,” you said, wrapping your arms around him as he lifted you to your feet, “Promise you won’t go.” “You know I can’t do that.” “Yes, you can.” You nodded against his neck, “You have to.” “I can’t.” You sniffled, wincing as he let go of your legs to let you stand on your own. You were shaky, your legs felt as though they were made of jelly and you were lightheaded, but the soldier held you steady and let you lean against him with a shaky sigh. “Promise me, Soldier Boy,” you whispered, letting your eyes flutter shut as you relaxed against him, “Please.” He said nothing but a sigh huffed through his nose and he held you a bit closer. That was a yes. That was his promise. You were sure of it. You were—

Fuck.

Fuck....

That one hurted too 

Hell was hope.

I'm just... not gonna talk. I'll yell at you when I've gathered my bearings.

Ohtay 😀🖤

CHAPTER 95: FLASHBACK — WRITING ON THE WALL

***This chapter is a lil darker than normal, read at your own risk

To all my live reactors,

Please, please, please, hide your reactions under a Read More cut. I don’t want any spoilers floating around. 

&

To all my Anonymous Avengers, 

If you want to react in my asks, feel free. However, I won’t be answering any of them until at least Wednesday if they contain spoilers. 

Thank you,

Darke

┍━━━━━━━━ ★ ━━━━��━━━┑

“Are you ready to cooperate, my dear?” Novak’s voice was soft, nearly sounding kind and warm.

You didn’t answer, barely able to form thought as your world came back into view let alone words as you stared blankly into the ceiling.

Still, Novak’s disappointed hum filled the room and, in an instant, you were lugged off the table and back toward the center of the room. An IV tower was wheeled behind you, connected by a single needle in your arm that threatened to come loose as you were tossed up onto the hook.

You yelped, awakened by the ache in your ribs and the stretching of sores on your wrists.

Your eyes widened as you took your first deep breath in what felt like ages.

For a moment you felt reborn, like a phoenix bursting through ice shards and flames.

Almost like you had been remade.

┕━━━━━━━━ ★ ━━━━━━━━┙

» CHAPTER 95: FLASHBACK — WRITING ON THE WALL

✪ Bᴀᴛᴛʟᴇ Sᴄᴀʀʀᴇᴅ : Aғᴛᴇʀᴍᴀᴛʜ

♜♠ Tʜᴇ Sᴏʟᴅɪᴇʀ & Tʜᴇ Sᴘʏ

⧗ Tʜᴇ Rᴇᴅ Rᴏᴏᴍ

☞ Bᴀᴛᴛʟᴇ Sᴄᴀʀʀᴇᴅ: Oʀɪɢɪɴs

»Jᴏɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀʀᴋᴇ sɪᴅᴇ Tᴀɢʟɪsᴛ

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***if you have a strike through your handle, it wouldn’t let me tag you 😞

[lutawolf]

Hello Luta,

How are you?

Hope you are alright. 😊

I just wanted to say how lucky I was that I stumbled opon your blog when I was going through VegasPete tags. This couple was the ONE for me. And how I see myself in Pete is mind-blowing to me. And on many blogs how people describe Pete as this innocent guy who was seduced by bad bad guy Vegas, just didn't make any sense for me. As it didn't seemed right how they described Pete.

So when I started reading your through on Pete and Vegas and there relationship, it just clicked, like YEEEESS finely someone described what I was seeing and put in such beautiful sentences 💙💙💙

Also as person who was exposed to 🌽 with element of BDSM in really young age and seeing the way it depiction lady's and women as exposable and useball... and It just broke my heart. When I was a little bit older and I had acseess to Internet I think ob the back of my head I still had that thought that it can be something I'm in to but finding information about BDSM at that time was nightmare expecially in my native language as there where so many depiction of women just being humiliated and put in slave position by man( And that was definitely somethingI was not interested in as child abuse survive and as a woman). So there was second time I gave it a go with 50ShadesofGray that film and before that that books was horrendous and only much later I read somewhere that people from BDSM community who explained why this is not right depiction of life style and community.

So here I am just watching BL KinnPorche expecting nothing, but maybe so hot bed scenes and I just feel like WOW....THIS IS IT. This is something I had pictured in my hear and it resonates with me. ( I do understand that the portrait of BDSM in series wasn't perfect and it is not the real life depiction 😊)

And than I found your blog and it was SOOOO eye opening like no kidding every time I read you post about BDSM I just sit down and trying to figure out is it something I will like. And it just every time 🤯🤯🤯.

You are the first person that I found you shows the reality of this life stile, without glamorising it. And I am SOOO GREATFUL TO YOU. Like you made me feel safe and comfortable even maybe it was or wasn't intentional. And it sooo free of judgment and your taking your time explaining staff it just 💙💙💙

Like I just came here to say THANK YOU SOOO MUCH. Like I cannot express how GREATFUL I am for you writing long metas or reviews of the shows and answering questions.

P.S. Sorry if there are mistakes as English is not my first language 😊😅.

P.S.S. Also sorry if this just doesn't make any sense 😬 😅 my ADHD and high emotions can get better of me.

P.S.S.S. If something I said or mentioned is making you uncomfortable, please ignore this rumbling. It was not my intention, the only think was to show how grateful I am to you writing this blog and how happy I am as I found it.

P.S.S.S.S. Also I hope I don't make you uncomfortable as I'm going through your blog rebloging all your old post. (Please let me know if I do make uncomfortable)

As I said before Thank You for Your blog.

Anna💙💙💙

Hey Hey anna,,

Thank you so much for the time you've spent on my blog 💜💜💜

Yeah.. Pete is far from innocent. He watched Vegas kill people and torture people without flinching. Because he has done the same thing. That's why he could easily forgive what was done to him by Vegas. He is no innocent. Nor kind. His generosity only extends to those in his circle.

You were conditioned. Whoosh. I'm so fucking sorry. I know you don't want pity cause I will literally throw hands at people who give it to me. But I am sorry and feel free to drop in my DM any time. I can't be your counselor but I'm happy to be a companion.

I try to be as real as possible about the lifestyle. It can be a wonderful place with the most accepting people. Real kinksters truly believe in safe, sane, and consensual. However, there are people who prey in the community and people aren't safe if that's swept under the rug. With that said, grooming is going to give you big fat triggers. You need to let anyone you are with know this. If you have any questions any at all, do not hesitate to ask me. Don't take any risks. Be safe.

There is no judgement on my blog. My kinkster flag will fly and I'm happy to give that support to others. Luckily others feel the same and it's built into a warm community. I'm glad you found us. 💜💜💜

Please never apologize for any mistakes. There will never be judgement here. I have only mad respect for all my bilingual peeps. To which all my friends are. Language shouldn't be about perfection but bridging the gap of community, so that we can better understand each other. So that we can lend support and companionship. Not to show how superior we are. So again never apologize about your English. I'm just here to hear you, not judge.

I too am ADHD and often go *bird* at any given time.

There was absolutely nothing that you said that made me uncomfortable. None. You were expressive and I understood everything you were telling me. 💜💜💜

I love when people like and/or repost my posts. It means you like my stuff. That's like a virtual high five or platonic kiss. *looking at you @ellaspore * Dude, I love that shit so spam away.

I used to try to give ad much love on ya'lls blogs as you gave me. You guys always win though. 😆 thank you for the Ask and the love. I truly appreciate it and seriously contact me if you need help with anything. 💜💜💜

Also PS: English is my first language and I fuck up all the time. It's why I don't write fiction any more. So seriously no judgement.

[tommyspeakycap]

again, your new john stones fic blew me away!!! Amazing. Please feel free to write about him all day every day!! <3

thank you again!! here’s another sweet one inspired by my own 1am experience tonight :) i wish I had a john stones

My hero

Your heart is quite literally thundering in your chest. There’s no feeling like it, this kind of fear that sticks you to the ground beneath your feet. You honestly feel like you can’t catch your breath, tears streaking down over your flushed cheeks as you hold your phone in your right hand with trembling fingers, one thumb finally letting go of the little microphone shaped drawing in your iMessages app. Even the whooshing sound of the message you knew was about to send to your best friend catches you off guard, making your shoulders clench and raise in fright.

“Are you seriously alright??”

She texts back, her confusion and teasing is something you know is laced into those letters across the screen creating a glow in the dim room. You roll your eyes at her, trying to keep your vision up while sending another voice note back; “No, seriously. Why does this only ever happen when I’m alone??”

“Probably because you live alone?” She replies back, and you curse yourself for a choice of friends who clearly have no empathy for what you consider to be a very serious situation. You know you won’t hear the end of this teasing once it’s all over. But the fear to you is all too real.

“(Y/n) I got your text! Came right here, are you alright?”

The sudden voice makes you literally clench your entire body, nearly shooting off the floor in fright and making one of those internalised fear noises that sounds like you just been attacked with a taser. You hear keys dropping down by the door and then a pause of his footsteps as you try to catch your breath. Your heart swells a little at the thought of him being here.

“John!” You yelp, your voice coming out something more like a strangled cry. The tall defender hears that sound and finds himself in panic, those long legs carrying him quickly and easily up the stairs of your small home until he spots you standing now in the doorway of your bedroom. He rushes towards you, seemingly checking you over for potential injuries the best he can in the darkness only broken by the lowest setting of flashlight on your phone. The first thing he notices when checking over your face with his hands is the wetness still making its way over your cheeks.

“Are you alright? what happened? Is there someone in there? Are you okay? Did someone hurt-“

You cut off his rambling with a finger over his lips, creating even more confusion for the fluffy haired brunette who had very clearly rolled himself out of bed to hurry over here. He was wearing shoes without socks, dirty shorts from training that he’d thrown off before going to bed only to pull back in to come to your, and an old sweater that usually sat somewhere downstairs in the closet closest to the door. It was obvious he had come in a wild rush the second he got your erratic message.

“It’s a wasp, John!” You whisper, as if the little creature that sitting on your lightbulb unwilling to move from the place you couldn’t reach and wouldn’t dare to even if you could, was able to hear you.

“A wasp?” John repeats incredulously. “Seriously?”

You nod vigorously, and and as much as the exhausted footballer wants to complain or even sigh at you, he doesn’t. Maybe he can’t. Because he’s got his arms around you and he definitely can feel you quivering against him. He had expected something more along the lines of a one night stand gone wrong or even someone breaking it, but as his consciousness began to catch back up with his previously very sleepy self, it made a lot more sense. In the event of a break in, you would probably have been bloody calmer than you are now to be honest. John had seen you after a pretty dangerous car crash completely still and relatively calm as you gave statements to police officers with blood still trickling down your face. But put an insect in your path and you scaled the closest thing to you for protection.

It just so happened that closest thing was often John Stones, and he was happy to be that person really.

It has become a norm between the two of you in the years you had been friends. Winter was the worst for spiders, but he generally didn’t mind the mildly irritating insects. He just got rid of them one way or another while you hid as far as you could get and then he’d come get you when the coast was clean. But you hated summer for this particular reason.

Wasps.

They fly in, fly into things and somehow never make it back on the window on their own despite it being the most easy thing one could ever imagine. Then, they try and sting you as if they aren’t in your house. They just creep you out, even the sight of them with their nasty little bodies. Bees aren’t a problem, they’re fuzzy looking and don’t intrude in your home nearly half as much. Also, they don’t try to sting you all the damn time.

“Where abouts?” He asks, his voice showing no hint of any destain or irritation he may harbour. “On the light,” you tell him shakily, following close to him back as you both enter the room. “Right up there- careful!”

John sniggers a little to himself, much to your dismay. He kicks off his shoes by your bedside table and climbs up onto the bed with ease on those ridiculously long legs. By luck, chance or both, he has some toilet paper in his hoodie pocket that he’d probably used to wipe his nose or something like that earlier, he can’t remember. He holds it out at arms length, only inches away form the unsuspecting black and yellow insect. “Where?” He asks again, “I can’t see anything.”

“There!” You insist, pointing up with a shaking finger. “I don’t see anything (y/n).” He repeats, making you whimper slightly, more tears suddenly appearing as you try to come to terms with the fact it might’ve moved while you were outside the room. The thought of having to sleep in your house while not knowing where it was would send you absolutely mental. “It was there I swear, look-“

“Ahhh, I got it. Stand back.”

He leans forward with relative ease, careful with the force he used so close to a live electric source and grips the buzzing creature in his tissue. “There we go,” he hums, stepping down from the bed. “All go-“

As if on cue, it flies out of the paper and you let loose a literal shriek as you dive backwards, crashing into the wall and then jumping forward in fright at that. “Woah!” John calls, “it’s alright, it’s right there. Calm, calm. Take a deep breath. Look,” he tries to calm you. That deep accent with his fatigue coating each word seeps into you, carefully calming your firing heart as he grabs it tighter from the floor, making sure he squashed it this time and immediately takes it to flush it down the toilet. John doesn’t know if you’re supposed to kill them or not, but at this moment in time he genuinely does not care. Was he fuck going to chase a wasp out of a window at half past one in the morning. Not a chance.

When he returns from the bathroom now empty handed, you still seem upset.

“That was scary.” You announce.

John smiles, pearly whites all on display. “I noticed.” He teases, making you scowl tiredly at him.

That scowl falters when his smile breaks into a light, soft laugh and he moves to stand in front of you. You absolutely don’t mind the fact that he’s babying you a little, using the sleeves of his sweater to wipe your cheeks before pressing a gentle kiss to your forehead and taking you into his strong arms. In fact, it’s very much welcomed. His arms are the safest place in the world to you and even the residual discomforted shivers from the concept of a wasp in your bedroom couldn’t get through that defender. He looks after a lot more than just the Manchester City goal line. No, he’s the sole defender of something much more precious that he doesn’t even realise.

Your heart.

“You okay now?” He asks softly, his tired voice rumbling through you. You nod against him, “Feeling a bit better. Thank you Stonesy.” You mumble, words muffled by the muscled chest that your face his resting against. “Anything for you, lovely.” He responds easily, pulling back from you in a way that aches his heart. The sudden lack of your warmth and presence against him is utterly brutal. He loves holding you, but hates it in the same breath. He would love to hold you if it was something he got to do freely instead of fleetingly.

His eyes are stuck watching you sit down on the edge of your bed to grab your phone and check the time with an element of shock rolling through your eyes when you realise it’s nearly two.

“You got training tomorrow?” You ask sweetly, a yawn following the tail end of your words adorable in a way that makes John’s heart flutter like a teenage boy. He nods, “Not till after dinner though, around 5.”

It’s your turn to nod, seeming to be chewing over something in thought as you lie down in the middle of your bed.

“Wanna stay then?”

John has to pretend to think about it at least a little bit so he doesn’t look like he’s jumping right up at the opportunity, which is exactly what he wants to do. “Why not,” he shrugs, chucking off his hoodie to the foot of your bed, “Scoot over.”

He clambers in, long limbs moving nowhere near as coordinated as they are on the pitch as he lays down by your right. It’s like a familiar dance, one you both know so well as you shuffle around so you can lay against his chest, one leg hooked over him as his arm wraps around you to pull you even closer. A silence falls between you as he feels your eyelashes fluttering shut, tickling his chest. He can’t find that same relaxation, can’t seem to shut his eyes for the thoughts flying through his mind all at once.

“I should teach you how to catch them.” John states, rumbling voice interrupting the peaceful quiet in which you had nearly found sleep. “You know, for the future.” He adds almost flippantly. Almost.

“Why?” You hum groggily, sleep croaking your voice ever so slightly. “I got you.”

John has to pretend your half asleep admission doesn’t send his heart flying into his throat. You do always have him, right there in the palm of your hand. Always.

“I don’t think other guys would appreciate me barging into their house in the middle of the night.” He suggests, making you quirk an eyebrow in question, but you still don’t look up at him and he isn’t even sure if you’ve got your eyes fully open. “No other guys here,” you state, “Single, living all alone.” You add lazily. The words almost make John wonder if he has fallen asleep, each one spoke playing straight into the dream he’s had for years for you to be his.

“Yeah, I know but…but there will be, at some point.” He suggests. You give no response for a moment and he briefly thinks you’ve fallen asleep at some point in this conversation.

“Bet those other guys wouldn’t come get rid of wasps for me in the middle of the night like you do.”

“Maybe,” John shrugs, “but I think there’s plenty of guys like that, especially for you.”

He feels you shake your head against him, your words decisive as you speak;

“There are no guys like you, John Stones.”

His words and his breath are caught on his throat, his heart erupting in his chest as he replays those words in his mind, trying to figure out if he had actually just heard them or if his tired mind was playing tricks on him because it was so late and he hadn’t had enough sleep.

But then you look up at him with tired eyes and a sweet smile. You know what you’ve just done, know the bomb you’ve just dropped and you’re hoping with everything crossed that he feels the same way.

“You’re my hero, Stonesy.” You say softly, your voice now a little sheepish and he can barely just make out the flush of your cheeks in the dim room lighting. “And I love you with everything I have.”

He doesn’t know what to say, his eyes wide as his heart beats as erratically as he had felt yours beating when he first arrived with fear coursing through his veins thinking you were in some kind of mortal peril.

“John?” You ask timidly, voice sheepish as you sit up in fear.

“Sorry,” he rumbles, pushing himself to a seated position, allowing him to lean forward and slide his hand around the back of your head to pull you into him, your lips crashing down onto his.

It’s just about everything he’s ever wanted.

“God I love you.” He says against your lips, a groan leaving his throat from pure satisfaction, pure relief of finally getting those words off of his chest. You giggle, resting back against his chest. “Can we sleep now, please?”

He nods, both of you shuffling so you can resume the position you had been in before a life changing confession that had spun you and the Barnsley brunette into the kiss that had been years in waiting. This was the happiest either of you had probably ever been.

“Guess we have the wasps to thank for this eh?” John lulls just as sleep is about to encompass you. He feels you shiver against him, the hairs on your arms immediately raising to attention at the mention of that which you hate so much.

“Don’t say that! That’s basically an invitation for them to invade my house!” You hiss, giving his chest a gentle swat as he pulls you closer to his side.

“Let them come,” he says almost triumphantly, “You got me now, always.”

You cosy yourself against him, a soft sigh of complete content and comfort tickling his chest as it dances across him. He feels that gentle smile that settles onto your gestures as your heavy eyes allow sleep to truly begin to take you.

“Always,” you mumble, words diluted by sleep “My hero.”

[l0vegl0wsinthedark]

Holding Hands

Just dipping my toe into the "faking a relationship for a holiday party" trope. (And blame @shealwaysreads for this cause she was like do it and so I did it.)

This is unbeta’d. Please be gentle with me.

*

Draco waited. The silence that had fallen a couple of minutes ago was still loud. The fire in the hearth kept spitting threateningly instead of just crackling quietly and sweetly like it should. The fairy lights around the tree twinkled gently, slowly, throwing golden patterns over Potter's skin, his dark hair.

They were sat across from each other in front of the hearth, Draco in his armchair upholstered in silver-grey velvet, and Potter in the plushy green armchair he had conjured when he'd arrived. Their drinks were sitting on the spindly-legged table between them.

Potter looked very politely confused, a tiny smile on his face, a thin line between his brows. He was leaning forward, elbows resting on his knees, his long, strong fingers clasped together neatly, his full attention focused on Draco. He looked...like he was waiting for Draco to finish speaking, to...explain.

Draco licked his lips and tilted his head a bit. "Erm...?"

Potter's smile widened a bit. "Yes?" he said eagerly. Draco blinked and shook his head imperceptibly. Potter's confusion deepened. "I'm...waiting for you to...you know--" he waved his hand vaguely and then grinned, "--laugh," he finally said, a tad lamely.

Draco frowned. "What's funny?"

Potter's mouth fell open on a stupid gape. "I mean... I thought..." He pushed his glasses up his nose and then scratched the back of his neck. "So, what was it you were saying? What are you asking me?"

"Did you not hear me, or are you feigning stupidity?" Draco asked coldly.

Potter frowned, bristling a bit. "I heard you, Draco, and I feel like you're taking the mickey."

"I'm doing no such thing. I explained my predicament and asked you a simple yes or no question. Would you be so kind as to grace me with an answer?"

Potter shook his head irritably. "Stop talking like that!"

"Like what?"

"Like... Like a fucking ponce. That's how you used to speak to me." Draco just looked at him. "Can you just be normal, please?" Potter snapped.

Draco spread his hands out. "I am being normal."

"Uh huh." Potter was still frowning. "So, you're saying--" He broke off and shifted in his seat, straightening up. "So, you're saying..." Trailing off, he just sat there looking like a fucking idiot. "What are you saying?" he finally asked.

Draco picked up his brandy and took a sip before leaning back in his chair and crossing his legs, lifting his chin high. "Fine. I will ask you again. Since you're a bloody troglodyte, apparently." He had to gather the will and courage all over again to repeat himself. "Will you accompany me to my parents' Christmas party as my boyf- partner? Meaning, they'll think you're my partner. We’ll just have to pretend."

"You...said something before that earlier."

"Oh. Yes. Well, when my mother asked me if you and I are lovers, after she read that article about us in the Prophet, I simply said yes." He'd managed to say it without displaying any emotion the first time. Now, however, Draco could feel heat rising up his neck and face.

Potter was looking particularly stupid as he stared with his mouth open. "Your parents think we're dating?" Draco nodded. "And they want to...meet me?"

Draco brushed imaginary lint off his trousers. "If you consent."

Potter leaned back, slumping in his chair, knees spreading, his arms hanging over the sides of the chair. He blew out a long breath with a whooshing sound, his lips very pink as they formed an 'o'. Then, rather abruptly, he chuckled, rubbing his face and making his glasses jump onto his forehead.

"Which bit did you find amusing?" asked Draco with feigned politeness.

"The whole thing."

"Oh?"

"Draco," Potter said on a laugh, "can you stop talking like that, please? It's fucking hilarious right now. Especially because that's not how one talks to their 'lover'."

Draco knew he was probably purple in the face by now. It was embarrassing. He ought to have told Potter right after he'd confirmed the rumours to his parents. They'd have laughed about it, and then asking him to go to this fucking party now wouldn't be such a fucking task.

Because they're friends. Close friends even. And Potter was probably going to say yes. He never denied Draco anything. He was always indulging Draco; taking care of Draco. Siding with Draco when that fucking Weasel ragged him. Always promoting Draco's label in his interviews, endorsing his little boutique. Trusting Draco enough let him dress him for important events even though Draco knew Potter had the most basic, unadventurous sense of fashion.

Draco wanted to roll his eyes. Potter was the softest, most indulgent person and he was probably going to say yes. But that didn't make any of this any easier. Because obviously Potter thought it was funny that the two of them might be lovers. He found this whole thing really amusing.

There was a thin strain of hurt somewhere in Draco's chest but he ignored it.

"So how long before you say yes like we both know you're going to?" Draco drawled.

Potter grinned widely. "What am I going to be wearing?"

*

The Manor was an absolute wonder to behold. Draco was sure even Hogwarts was never this heavily decorated for the holidays. Fairy lights, glittering icicles, ice sculptures, wreaths, ostentatiously decorated Christmas trees, more lights - the whole house, inside and out, was dripping in red, green, gold and white.

Potter stared around in silence, his expression very serious. He was dutifully holding Draco's hand (just like a lover might) and was taking in the sight of the gigantic ballroom they were in, guests milling about sipping golden champagne from crystal flutes, house-elves trotting around between people's knees holding up trays of hors d'oeuvres; the four gigantic, glittering Christmas trees in each corner of the room, the ice sculpture of a delicately carved fairy, her wings spread, in the centre of the room, sparkling fairy dust falling from her hand and disappearing mid-air.

To Draco this was just about normal, if a tad bit overdone (for the enjoyment of the guest of honour he'd brought along with him, he supposed), but he still blushed in embarrassment when he looked around with Potter's eyes; he was probably convinced now that his parents were pretentious or something. Feeling a bit timid, he glanced sideways at Potter.

He was looking very, very handsome tonight. He had on robes of deep, royal violet - dark enough to nearly pass off as black - with intricate gold embroidery that Draco had spent hours working on himself. He'd let Draco clip a matching cape, embroidered and lined along the hem with fur, onto his shoulders with matching brooches that glittered under the light of what had to be at least a thousand candles hovering above them. He'd made a decent attempt at taming his hair - not a successful attempt, but Draco gave him credit for trying anyway. He'd switched his usual clunky glasses out for the vision correcting spells that Draco knew he hated but it meant his eyes were shining so bright and green that it made Draco's stomach clench a bit with something he’d always staunchly ignored.

Then, his parents spotted them. Lucius was in black as usual - the material expensive, but still black - and Narcissa looked decades younger than she was in robes of pale lavender and silver. Draco smiled as she beamed at them, gliding over alongside her husband.

"Darling." She feathered her lips over Draco's cheek. "Fashionably late, I see. And fashionably dressed," she added, turning to Potter and holding out her hand, her smile small but her eyes warm.

Potter bent over her hand and brushed his lips over the back of her hand briefly - just like Draco had instructed him to - before straightening up and smiling politely. "Thank you for inviting me to your wonderful party, Mrs. Malfoy."

"You are very welcome - literally. And please call me Narcissa."

Lucius had watched and listened in silence, his hands clasped behind his back, his serious gaze fixed on Potter. When Narcissa stepped back, he slowly extended a hand to Potter.

Draco held his breath. They hadn't discussed this. He had no idea how Potter was about to behave with his father but he knew he wouldn't blame him for anything he said or did. Potter was a much better man than his father. This was fact.

But Potter simply shook hands with Lucius and nodded. Draco felt his shoulders relax.

They mingled. Draco had to repeatedly 'introduce' Potter to people as though they all didn't already know who he was, who his fucking parents were. It was laughable. But this was a stupid fucking formal Pureblood soirée and Draco still had his manners. What surprised him was how well-mannered Potter was being.

Potter was also being very loyal to his role as Draco's partner.

"He was such a little terror as a child, bless his heart," said some old crone, patting Draco's cheek with one wrinkled hand. Draco wanted to hiss at her like a cat.

"Aren't we all, at that age?" Potter said calmly, smiling.

"Oh, you're very dedicated to him, I see" she simpered. "Such a pleasure to see. You hardly ever find this in you youngsters these days."

"He doesn't give me much reason not to be dedicated to him."

Potter was still holding his hand.

"Draco doesn't tell us anything about how the two of you put your rather unhappy history aside in order to accept your...softer feelings for each other." Narcissa looked like she'd been bursting to ask Potter this all evening; she'd finally gotten a chance now that she was done making the obligatory rounds amongst her guests.

Potter looked at him, and Draco, his face hot, returned his gaze, trying to apologise wordlessly. But Potter just grinned.

"Well, I don't know about him but," Potter smiled down at Narcissa, looking handsome and charming and, well, fuck, "it was just a natural, automatic thing for me, really. The more I got to know the real Draco Malfoy the deeper I fell in love with him."

Draco felt his eyes widen a bit. He wanted to look at Potter to figure him out, to try and discern just how much he was bullshitting. He wanted to read Potter because Potter was supremely easy to read. The man wore his heart on his sleeve. Draco could always tell, just from one glance, the kind of mood Potter was in.

Trying to appear casual, like Potter hadn't said anything that made Draco's breath catch, Draco looked sideways at him. Potter was smiling, his eyes honest and soft and crinkled at the corners. He was nodding along to something Narcissa was saying.

And he was still holding Draco's hand.

"Very well done," Draco muttered, once his mother had wandered away into the crowd.

Potter smiled and squeezed his hand. "You said you'd give me a tour of the gardens," he said. Draco nodded and led him out.

They strolled in a leisurely manner. It was snowing but there were charms in place which meant that the snow never actually touched them, instead disappearing about a foot over their heads. The gardens were decorated too, lights twinkling everywhere, lighting up the paths.

"This must've been a great place to grow up," Potter eventually said.

They turned the corner and in the distance was the turret-shaped gazebo, hung with white-gold lights. Narcissa, when the weather permitted, loved to paint in the gazebo. Draco smiled.

"It was." Then, guiltily, "I mean... I don't mean to brag or any--"

Potter laughed. It was a low, deep, familiar sound that made Draco break out in gooseflesh.

"Draco," he said gently. "You don't have to feel guilty every time you talk to me about your childhood."

Draco lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "'m not guilty," he mumbled.

"No? You're still that insufferable, obnoxious little shit you were in school?"

Draco actually felt his face fall. He turned to Potter, unbothered about sounding vulnerable. "That's what you thought of me?"

Potter laughed. "Can you blame me? Do you remember you back at school?"

Draco slumped a little. "I suppose." They were nearly at the gazebo now. Together, they turned onto the path that led to the steps leading into it. Then, "That's...not what you think of me now, is it?"

"Draco," Potter's voice was gentle, yet teasing, "Everyone thinks you're a prat. You have to know this."

"Yes, but you?" They climbed the two steps and walked into the gazebo.

"I think you're a prat too." They were still holding hands. "But you're my prat."

Draco turned to look at him but Potter, with a sharp yank, was pulling Draco to himself. With a soft 'oof', Draco hit Potter's chest. Now they were holding both hands.

He quickly pulled himself together although Potter could probably feel his heart galloping in his chest. "Am I, now?"

"Isn't that what we've just spent the last hour and a half proving to people?"

"Well," Draco said slowly, "I was under the impression that it was an act."

"Well," Potter said quietly. "I'd rather it...be real."

They were standing pressed together in the centre of the gazebo, fairy lights surrounding them, Potter's green, green eyes reflecting them as he stared intensely at Draco. He looked like he was challenging Draco, like he was daring Draco to laugh in his face and carelessly brush aside what he'd said. Because that's what Draco Malfoy would do when Harry Potter declared something like that, right? He'd stomp on Harry Potter's proffered heart and revel in it.

Draco couldn't even imagine doing something like that. Especially not when Potter was holding his hands and smelt so good and looked at him like he was promising him so, so many things.

"You were very convincing tonight," said Draco.

"It was really easy," said Potter.

"You held my hand throughout."

"I wasn't about to give up the chance I had."

"Thank you for coming with me tonight."

"I wasn't about to give up the chance I had."

"Potter?"

"Shouldn't you be calling me Harry if we're together?"

"Would you like that?"

"I would love that, Draco."

"You've called me Draco for years now."

"I have."

Draco looked down at the lines of gold thread on Harry's chest, gleaming against the violet silk. "I think I'd like to call you Harry," he admitted.

When his gaze lifted back to Harry's, he was smiling at Draco. Then he looked up above them.

"Mistletoe," Harry said simply.

Draco's ears were ringing as though he'd been struck.

"Oh," he said, his voice quavering.

Harry just smiled again, and slowly let his head drop forward so that their foreheads touched. Then he brought his mouth up to Draco's brow and kissed it.

"Oh," repeated Draco.

They were just gazing at one another now.

Damn it, thought Draco as he broke first and kissed Harry full on the mouth.

They were still holding hands.

*

[nikrangdan]

roommate!heeseung pt. 1

pairing: roommate!heeseung x female reader

genre: mini fic(?), fluff, comedy, tiny angst(one little sad part)

warnings: cursing!!! 

word count: 4.3k

description: i guess you just didnt realize you were in love with your roommate...... who has a girlfriend

————

“ow!”

you had just hit heeseung over the head after he said he would burn all of your plushies

your Precious. Plushies

hell no you’ve been collecting these since you were 11 no way in hell heeseung would threaten ur babies

you rolled your eyes and started to walk to the kitchen to get a snack

stupid heeseung

hes always saying stupid shit🙄

before you walked out though you noticed the look on his face

like he was contemplating something

“y/n... can you do me a favor?” he nervously uttered out before you walked out his door

“....what kind..?” you furrowed your brows

why was he being so cryptic

“uhh i need you to get flowers and chocolates for me from stacys....”

STACYS?????????

stacys was this fancy store 45 MINUTES AWAY..

“ur fucking serious?” you deadpanned

this was something new

in all your 8 months of living with him he had never asked you of a favor this big

for context.., you had moved to this city apartment for college 8 months ago but you couldn’t afford it without a roommate

but luckily you overheard a certain boy praying for an apartment while you were on campus

and you guessed it!!! it was heeseung

you two clicked easily and you were very thankful he was your roommate

after 4 months of living together he told you he got a girlfriend

you didnt really know about his campus life since you didnt have classes together and you never saw him walking around

you dont know why you were surprised when he told you... i mean have u seem Him.....

but nonetheless

u were like “Omg heeseung!!! thats great<3” like the supportive friend u were

yeah and that was that

you didnt meet the girl until another month later

Now that..... that was an experience......

FLASHBACK WHOOSH

*knock knock knock*

who tha hell was knocking at 7 in the morning.........

you staggered your way over to the front door with your matching hello kitty pajamas

and u open the door to see a blonde Lady who looks around your age

Why did u forget to look thru the little peephole in the door...... ur probably just tired whatever

anyways ur like

“uhm....”

and shes like

“? who are you.?”

and ur like

??!!?[\^€]€\¥,_[+{*}*

“i live here....”

and shes like

“?...? oh sorry i thought my boyfriend lived here..”

and ur both just standing there like ;-;

shes all dressed up and u look like a childs room threw up on u

And thats when it hit u

“OH”

“are you heeseungs girlfriend?!!???” your hand raises up to point at her unconsciously

“ yes.. i am” she looked so lost it was so funny

“oh then you have the right place im sorry! hes my roommate” you scurry back into the apartment, gesturing for her to come in and close the door behind her

“what? he didnt tell me had a roommate..”

poor girl 😭😭😭

you quite literally pounce into heeseungs room and smack him while shes still standing outside awkwardly in the living room

“fucking idiot” smack to the face

“wake up” smack to the chest

“heeseung i swear to god” you shake his head

“are you fucking dead???? wake up!!!!” you pinch his ears really hard

that woke him up

“Ow ow ow ow OWWW y/n what the hell???” his eyes are forced open but theyre squinted due to the sunlight

“your girlfriend is here” you whisper-yell at him

“what???” he sat up so quickly you almost laughed

you were 90% sure she heard everything

oh well

his problem

he just stares into space for a second before his eyes go wide

ur just sitting on his bed waiting for him to do something like Uhhh

“shit i planned a date today oh my god” he jumped up from his bed and hastily told you to “stay put” before throwing on a hoodie, walking to see his girlfriend, and slamming his bedroom door leaving u sat on his bed

yes u were nosy Muahahahahah

so u pressed ur ear against the door to listen to their conversation

“sora, im so sorry i slept in late i promise ill make it up to you please baby dont be mad”

you had to stifle your laughter with your hand

God this was gold

“heeseung why didnt you tell me you lived with a girl.”

oooooooh hes in trouble you laugh to yourself

“ah about that.. im sorry i didnt tell you.. dont worry though, you know i only like you! shes just my roommate”

ouch

Why did that hurt 😪

“whatever heeseung.. ill call you later” and then you heard the door slam

already???? you were ready to get ur popcorn :///

you didnt even notice it had been a while before the door opened with you still leaning on it

boom u fell on the floor

“ow”

“shut up” he said before jumping face down on his bed

you stand up to lean against his door again, staring pitifully at the boy

“you okay?” you cross your arms

“mmm” he mumbles into his pillow

“you know i think i deserve a treat for being woken up at 7am on a sunday by your little girlfriend”

“little? shes taller than you” he turned around to lay on his back and chuckle

“oh so you’re making jokes right now when your girlfriend might break up with you?” you glare at him

“shes not gonna break up with me over something this little” he rolls his eyes and grabs his phone from his nightstand

“you know you’re a little piece of shit heeseung!” you yell out to him after you walked out of his room

“how?!” he yelled back

“treat your girlfriend better!”

he kept his mouth shut after that

yeah you two didnt talk for the rest of the day because he stayed in his room sulking or whatever

fast forward to now

Right after he asked u to get him the chocolates and flowers

“please y/n, sora is gonna be here in 2 hours and i need to get everything ready and i dont have enough time to do everything” he begged

WITH THOSE CUTE LITTLE PUPPY DOG EYES OF HIS GOD

“do you really need them from stacys though???” you whined

he just huffed and glared at you “yes! sora only likes them from there.”

“nuh uh mister dont give me that look” you narrow your eyes at him

he immediately stops his glare and tries to look neutral

it almost made you laugh

you just looked at him for a few seconds before giving up

“fine. but what am i getting in return?”

his eyes lit up and traveled up as he was in thought

“hmmm ill buy you food whenever you want for a month”

Wow

“woah thats more than i bargained for but deal!” he didnt realize that until after you shook his hand, very enthusiastically might i add

Lol

so now you were on your way home with the MASSIVE bouquet of roses and beautifully wrapped chocolates sitting nice and snug in the passenger seat of your car

these two things costed $115

oh well its heeseungs money not yours

you found it amusing because heeseung was nowhere near rich so where was he finding this money to blow

over an hour later and ur finally back home

u open the door

u struggled very much btw

almost dropped everything haha

but woah......

your eyes widened and your mouth fell open

“heeseung? you didn’t tell me you two were having the date here..”

as soon as you walked in you smelled a pretty scent and the lighting was dim

it was beautiful

there were candles lit on every surface

rose petals were scattered messily everywhere

the two seater dining table was topped with elegant decor

there was quiet jazz music playing from his speaker

the familiar aroma of your favorite food hit you

standing there in your apartment didnt feel real

it felt like you were in a dream

you couldnt believe your apartment could turn into room from a fairytale

you were never one to be into disney princesses and fantasies

but for the first time ever you almost wished for a prince charming yourself

you almost got lost in a trance

and then....

the boy himself walked out

donned in an all black suit with a sliver of the white undershirt peeking underneath and the white tie

his bangs were covering his forehead and you noticed he styled them to be wavy

he had his earrings in and rings were present on 3 of his fingers

he looked absolutely dazzling

you dont know how or why.. but your heart began to race

why did this feel like it was for you...?

you wanted to be his disney princess

staring at him wistfully, it felt like time had stopped

“oh thanks y/n, i almost thought you ditched me” he chuckled quickly

he was frantic and out of breath as he snatched the things out of your hand

“right!” he began as he sped around the room setting everything up

“im sorry but i forgot to ask if you could leave for today. im such an idiot, im sorry y/n.. you can stay at a friends house or something for the night?” he didnt even look at you as he perfected the chocolates on the counter and the plates on the table

you couldnt help but notice your heart clench and your stomach twist at his words

you were still glued to your spot infront of the door

“o-oh! yeah, okay thats fine ill get my stuff now” you scurry to your room

you speedily threw some clothes and necessities in a bag before walking back to him

“hey..”

he didnt look at you

“helloooo”

“heeseung” you poke him

he finally turned to you

“sorry what?” he gazed down at you with big eyes

“its okay.. just wanted to let you know im leaving now” you give him a small smile

“oh right! thank you y/n again” he grinned

his pretty smile

“you look great by the way... have fun” you manage to say before slipping out the door

you didnt let him reply back because if you stayed in there a second longer you think you would’ve fallen in love with him

where did these feelings come from...?

you smack yourself on your forehead as youre walking down the steps to your car

ur probably just feeling like this because no man has ever done anything like that for u

and seeing it in real life made u want a bf 😟😟

yeah... thats it

so now ur at sunoos house

a close friend from your finance class

he lives in his parents house but theyre never home so he basically owns the place and doesn’t have to pay for it

Yeah u kinda envy the boy

but you love him because hes great

“y/n ..do you like him????” sunoo gasps

you guys are watching tangled for the 10th time and you were explaining what happened back at your apartment

“what? where did you get that from?” you snort, your eyes still focused on the movie

you could literally feel his eyes piercing into your soul with that stare

“the way you were telling me that story.... you sounded a bit jealous if i do say so myself..” he raises his eyebrow and leans back into the couch

“i do not like heeseung, sunoo” your eyes roll and you turn to look at him finally

he has a little smirk as he looks at u suspiciously

“hmmm okay, i get it” he raises his arms in defense and surrenders “you don’t wanna talk about it”

you scoff and laugh at his actions “you’re so annoying”

so ..*time skip* lol

you slept at sunoos for the night

it wasnt anything new bc u used to stay at his alot while u were in the process of moving into your apartment

one of his guest rooms is practically urs bc u have some decorations and spare clothes there :P

when you woke up that sunday morning you realized you forgot to set an alarm

so now its like 11am

well its not like you needed to be home so you shrugged it off

“morning” u said to sunoo when u saw him sitting on the couch watching wreck it ralph

boy loves his movies

“when are you going home?”

“wow rude.... not even a good morning back??” you found him amusing

“sorry, good morning. when are you going home” he turned his head to look at you

it made you laugh

Sunoo is so funny u love him

“do u wanna get rid of me that bad??? i hate you”

“ni-ki and jungwon are coming over today and i dont want you smothering them like you always do” he playfully glares at you

NI-KI AND JUNGWON???!!!??!!!!!!

“MY BABIES????” you exclaim and jump on the couch next to sunoo

“yes” he exasperatingly says

“now leave before they get here”

“WHAT?? no im staying because i wanna see them”

“NO!!!! now get out of my house y/n”

“why not?!!???! sunoo please i bet they miss me so much”

“y/n please.. they do NOT miss you”

“they literally do i always make them cookies and theyre like y/n ur so cool we love you”

“u mustve been hallucinating....”

“sunoo please please please i dont wanna go home” u tried to muster up the cutest puppy dog eyes ever

he looked at your face for a moment

“no u look ugly”

“YOU’RE SO ANNOYING” you push him

“theyre coming back tomorrow you can come then! today is boys night”

“boys night?” you snort “what the fuck are u kids gonna do that i cant be around for?”

“SHUT UP Y/N get out of my house!” he just starts to drag you out of his house himself

“ow oW OKAY fine ill leave... have fun doing.. whatever you’re gonna do” you grab your bag and start to head for the door

sunoo slams the door in ur face after he says “bye dont come back please” 😭😭😭

“asshole!” u yell to him thru the door

you just huff and stand on his porch for a second

you wonder if heeseung still has his girlfriend over and decide to text him

y/n🦧: hi can i come back home

welp

now ur sitting on sunoos porch waiting for a reply

10  minutes pass while ur scrolling on your phone and still no reply

you look up when you hear the front door open

“why are you still here?” sunoo frowns at you

“heeseung didnt answer my text and i dont wanna go back if his girlfriend is still there” you reply

“go home y/n plz.... i lied jungwon and ni-ki arent coming over.. my grandparents are” he tries to shoo you away

“why would you lie about that” you laugh

“theyre really mean! but you can come back tomorrow because the boys are actually gonna be here.. now go because my grumpy grandparents are gonna be here in like 5 minutes” he guides your shoulders down his porch

“ugh.. if his girlfriend is still there its your fault” you pout

“wha- how is that my- whatever y/n go home!!!”

when you drive off you dramatically wave your hand to him trying to show how desperately you did not wanna go home

sunoo just giggles and runs back inside

you drove home extra slow Lol

and now you were at the door contemplating whether or not you just make a run for it

but u said fuck it because u missed the comforts of ur own room

well u knocked a little before unlocking the door

how embarrassing to be knocking on the door of ur own home 💀

you didnt get an immediate answer so u just stood outside in the apartment hallway....waiting....

after waiting for like 30 seconds (because ur impatient) you knock again

well i tried to be nice you thought

you finally gave up and unlocked the door with your keys, kind of slowly opening the door to peek in

hmmm.... nothing

the sun was emitting some rays of light through one of the windows but none of the lights were on

and why was there food still on the table..?

you were kind of afraid to go see heeseung 

but

you did notice one thing

there wasn’t a pair of shoes u didnt recognize sitting on the rack by the door 

so... is his girlfriend not here or did she bring her shoes to his room lol..

“hello?” you unconfidently called out to nobody in particular

no answer

you slipped your shoes off quietly and tiptoed towards the hallway that included both of your rooms across from eachother

the kitchen and living room looked untouched 

to describe u being confused would be an understatement

you set your bag down on your bed and then made your way to heeseung.. just to check on him

you were genuinely so confused rn

you thought they would be cuddling on the couch or talking in his room or something but it was dead silent throughout the house

“heeseung?” you soft knocked on the door of his bedroom

surely he couldnt still be asleep.. it was noon on a monday and heeseung would normally be up by 10 because he said he would “start being a more productive man” as he said it

you always laughed at him because he used to wake up at like 3pm on days he didnt have class

anyways you didnt get an answer which was slightly concerning because you didnt forget to take note that you saw his car in the parking garage when you arrived

“i’m coming in” you called out to him before twisting the knob and pushing the door open

you realized you might be crossing a line and he’d get upset at you for invading his privacy but you were honestly worried for your friend

at first you didn’t see him

his room was empty, not a single person in sight

that is until you further examined the big lump on his bed

“heeseung? what...” you walked over to the lump that you only knew was him because you could see a bit of his hair peeking out from the top

“um.. am i interrupting something..” you awkwardly said, debating whether or not to go closer

he wasn’t saying anything so you guessed he was sleeping

how odd for him

you wanted to just check real quick and then you’d leave his room

so your feet padded softly against his wooden floor as you made your way over to him

and you bent down a little to kind of tug the huge blanket away from his face

as you got closer you also noticed his girlfriend wasnt here

the first thing you noticed was that he was definitely not asleep

your eyes widened and your hand instinctively went to his face to cup his cheek

“are you okay?! why are you crying?” you quickly asked, your eyebrows were furrowed in worry

in your months living with him you have never seen him show any emotional feelings in front of you and it almost made you panic

his eyes locked onto yours before he looked away from you and closed his eyes

he still hasnt said anything and you really didnt know what to do in this situation

you took your hand off his cheek before sighing

now you’re just sat on the side of his bed just looking at him.. wondering what to do

you were sure he wasn’t sleeping even though his eyes were shut and he wouldnt move

but you sat there for 5 minutes and he didnt seem to mind

“sora broke up with me” 

he finally broke the silence

...

you didnt know what to say

you couldnt ask if he was okay when he obviously wasnt

“do you wanna talk about it? you looked over to heeseung to see him staring at you

“not really” he broke eye contact once again and looked up towards the ceiling

“later i will.. just not now” he breathed out

you nodded at that, understanding his situation

you felt terrible for the boy

his eyes were red and his voice was all nasally like he’d been crying

“i’ll leave you alone now..” you patted his big blanket fluff to lighten the mood and walked out his stuffy room

hours had passed while he was stuck in that room and you didnt know what to do 

it was 7pm already

you spent the day watching tv in the living room 

but it was dinner time and you made ramen (his fav!!!) in hopes that he would come out of there

“heeseung you’ve gotta eat” you knock on his door again

you had told him to eat at 2 earlier but he insisted that he wasnt hungry

you were surprised when he instantly opened the door and your hand was still in midair as you were knocking

if your hand moved an inch you wouldve been knocking on his chest which you found very funny but you didnt think this was the right time for jokes

“hi” you looked up at him

he was wearing his purple beanie with sweatpants and a long sleeve shirt

he definitely looked better than he did this morning which you thanked god for

“hey” he gave u this look :]

“you okay? i made ramen.. can you smell it” you kinda giggled

“yeah, thanks” he tried to send you a small smile which you were thankful for

“okay well come eat because i worked very hard on it” you turned on your heels and went towards the tiny kitchen island with two seats

he followed you and sat next to you as you gave him his bowl and chopsticks

“bon appetit!” you clapped your hands before digging in

you were proud of urself ngl... the ramen was smacking

“thank you y/n” he said softly

you refused to admit it but he was.. So Cute

“no problem, just eat” you grinned

and you two ate in silence for a good 15 minutes

he said he would do the dishes after you were done which was relieving because you wanted to go jump in your bed and watch tiktoks very badly

there was a slight awkwardness in the air too so you wanted to let that cool off too

so now you were cuddled up in our bed with your phone very close, almost too close, to your face

and you could hear the sink running as heeseung washed the dishes

you silently prayed he was feeling better and that he would be over it soon

the sink turned off and you could hear his footsteps coming towards the hallway

what surprised you was that you heard knocks on your bedroom door

“can i come in?” he asked

“yeah its open” you replied

u had to get out of ur blanket cocoon :///

you watched him stride over to sit next you on your bed

he even got under the covers and laid down like dang lmao u getting comfy i guess

“whats up?” you were sitting up while he was laying on your pillows

“so.. she broke up with me last night” he spoke while hugging one of your plushies

oh OHH so this is what this is about

“oh.. are you feeling better now?”

“yeah i think.. we only dated for 4 months but i really liked her....”

“did she say why she did?” you asked

“she said she found someone else. i dont know if you know this but shes a year older than me and she told me she wasnt into younger guys which doesnt even make any sense because her ex was younger than her too and-”

“okay heeseung” you laugh “people are like that, you just gotta deal with it”

“yeah yeah, i know” he sighed “i dont know.. i dont know if im sad i lost her or if im sad over the fact that i dont have a girlfriend anymore”

“was she your first girlfriend?”

“me? y/n” he laughed “ive had plenty before”

“oh” you didnt even wanna ask

“why? have you never had a boyfriend or something?” he joked

“no....” you trailed off, unable to look him in the eye out of embarrassment

you were never even embarrassed about that but for some reason admitting it to heeseung made you shy

“what?! no way” he was actually shocked

“yes way now can we change the topic this is terrible” you roll your eyes and shove a plushie in his face

“awee little y/n” he teased you

“get out” you snickered

“okay okay fine.. but yeah i think i’ll be okay. she broke up with me as soon as she got here so all of my planning was for nothing. i think that was what devastated me the most, i had no one to eat with”

you wanted to yell I LITERALLY EXIST soooo bad

Why is he so stupid....... 

“thats sad...” you said

you wanted to laugh at your reply bc what else could you say

“yeah anyways you dont have to worry about taking care of me while im sulking or whatever im cool now’

“well that was quick.. you were acting like a baby this morning now ur this tuff guy” you tease

“yeah yeah i dont even know why i was acting like that” his cheeks went pink

“im just kidding” you send a small smile his way “you know im always here for you right? dont be afraid to be a little emotional sometimes” you reach over to pat his head

“thanks y/n” he smiles “you’re a really great friend”

ouch

yeah.. friend

[cheekygreenty]

Little Witch - Part 8

The Darkling x Reader

'Are you busy?' You had taken to looking for Aleksander to entertain yourself. You had already done the usual routine for the day and were bored. You had been intending to speak with him for a while but he always seemed to be busy when you asked for him. You had an inkling he knew what you wanted but was scared to approach the topic. Your wandering around the Palace and acting like a leader surely hadn't gone unnoticed by him.

You finally found him in the courtyard hopping off of his horse, looking as regal and handsome as always. The way he stood while talking to his stable boy gave you a clear view of the embroidery on the back of his kefta. The weaves of black shadows seemed to have grown since the last time you had such a close look. Magnificent

'I think I can find a moment out of my day for you' He briefly took your hand in his and lightly traced your knuckles with his thumb in a soothing manner. He always does this.

'Fantastic, I've been meaning to thank you for welcoming me back into the Palace, I feel I owe you big time.' Butter him up first.

'Nonsense, this is as much your home as it is mine' He said and started to walk towards the entrance.

'Well, in that case, is it possible for me to take up my old position?'

You studied his face while a knowing smile replaced his emotionless expression. He didn't look in the least surprised.

'How long have you been waiting to ask me that?' You couldn't help but laugh. I knew he knew.

'I have nothing else to do. I can't just sit and pamper myself for the rest of my life as lovely as that sounds.'

'Do you think you're up for it? It has been a while since you commanded an army.'

You'd be surprised. You were about to give him all the reasons you were even more suited now but he abruptly stopped and looked deep into your eyes, catching you off guard. He looked at you with longing and love. It suddenly rendered you speechless.

'So?' he quirked his head and wore that boyish smile that you loved so much.

'As a matter of fact, yes. If you wish, I'll even take over those boring council meetings with the King to prove myself.' He raised his eyebrows and let out a short hum.

'That does sound like a very advantageous proposition.'

'So I'm assuming that's a yes?'

'I shall think about it.' He looked away, away from your addicting stare and those beautiful eyes.

'Thank- what?'

Did I hear that right?

'You're going to think about giving me my own position back? I made it in the first place! It was made for me!' If anybody walked past the two of your right now, they would surely think you were about to rip his head off.

'A lot has changed since then Y/N' He attempted to walk away but you had other plans.

'Where do you think you're going? We're not done here!' You ran in front of him.

'Y/N I have business to attend to'

'So do I, and it's this' He let out an exasperated sigh.

'I said I'll think about it, I never said no'

'But you never said yes'

'I'll have to run it by the King and the rest of the council. How do you think they'll respond to me appointing a brand new Grisha as Deputy-General? A Grisha like you nonetheless, they’ve never heard of your kind'

There it was. A Grisha like me. He was scared.

'I'll talk to them myself then, maybe even tell him a story or two.' You were so enraged you considered going to the King right then and there. With a little pressure on his old heart, you would be sure to get his approval.

His demeanor suddenly changed. You were talking to the General now. Great, you thought he's talking to the Deputy-General.

'Don't you even dare.'

'You're not leaving me with much of a choice. I'll reduce this place to ash if you're not careful with your words, Aleksander' You went to turn and leave but he gripped your arm and he pulled you closer to him.

'You are so sure of yourself. Did all those years alone make you so arrogant, or were you always like this?' His words were like venom to your heart but fuel for your rage. You shook his hand off.

'That is very rich of you to say don't you think?' Your hands suddenly felt very fidgety and hot.

'Y/N I suggest you calm down before making threats to your General. You should be glad I haven't chained you thus far.' His own hands balled into fists as he restrained himself.

This was your last straw, with a loud whoosh, you sent a stream of fire his way to distract him while a nice gust of wind knocked him to his knees in front of you. You grasped his hands in yours and slowed his heartbeat, relaxing him. His eyes swirled with fear.

'Go on, send the shadows, I'll gladly take them' you said through your teeth.

Suddenly you saw movement out of the corner of your eye, oprichniki. Aleksander looked at them and shook his head. Ivan looked livid. Good for him.

You roughly let go and took a step back, disappointed that he didn't make a move.

'You better think quickly' You warned and walked off.

Suits him right.

******

Your chambers were trashed, the mirrors smashed and the bed overturned. Screams and shouts still echoed over the walls yet nobody came to check on you. The whole reason for your return was to take back your title, to be yourself again, and leave your nasty past behind you.

You swore you were better now, that you could control your impulses, that power wasn't a temptation anymore, but you were wrong. You undermined Aleksander today, embarrassed the General in front of his soldiers. But he didn't punish you. You always knew that wherever Aleksander was involved, your loss of control followed. You never understood why.

He got one thing right though, you needed to calm down. Your mind couldn't get over the feeling right before the guards came, the feeling of almost having his glorious shadows. Of almost having that part of him again. There it is again, the temptation of power. You shook your head to rid of the thought.

You had momentarily thought about taking Alina and some of her power, but quite frankly you didn't feel the need anymore. Shadows were your thing, you always had an air of darkness. So does he. You didn't fit the light, but she did.

Sleep wouldn't come to you, not even briefly. You stared at the damage of the room in the moonlight and thought back to the image of him on his knees in front of you, fearing evident in his eyes. He looked so good on his knees.

You shot up from the bed and yanked the door open, walking with a purpose, your rage having a strange effect on you. You needed him.

******

Aleksander sat at his desk, halfway through a bottle of whiskey. He couldn't stop thinking of what you did. How such a small thing had affected you and made you snap. Your eyes held darkness he had never seen before, not even in himself.

He hoped your intentions were pure, it was better than the reality he imagined in his head as you held an iron grip on his hands and slowed his heart. You looked hungry; ravenous for more.

There was a time when your power made him more attracted to you, you were his equal in his eyes. Together the two of you were unstoppable, a force to be reckoned with. But all of it changed when he seen how little you understood the power you had. Your powers were always ruled by your emotions and not by you. Today just proved to him that even after 98 years of practice, you were still a loose cannon.

He couldn't bring himself to use the shadows on you, not because you would've taken them, but because he didn't want to hurt you. For a split second, he was scared you would do something to him, but it was overpowered by the fear of what you could do to his life; turn it upside down and inside out. And he would let you.

He couldn't decide if he hated you for undermining him or whether he wanted you even more than he ever did. The tension between you two was always thick, but when he was on his knees in front of you, he couldn't help but think back to all the times he'd done it willingly, worshipping you at your feet. Rightfully so. You were a goddess in his eyes.

A door opening and shutting tore him away from his thoughts. He looked up and there you were, in nothing but a nightgown, flushed and breathing hard.

Part 9

ITS COMING sorry I’m making u wait but there’s nothing better than post-fight (literally) sex 😊😊😊

@theonelittleone @searching-for-gallifrey @0-artemis @lostysworld @xceafh @fire-in-her-veinz @cleverzonkwombatsludge @wizardwheezes @aleksanderwh0r3 @tomhollandisabae @hotleaf-juice @justmesadgirl

[sprinklesandshatters]

A Review on NCT 127′s 3rd Album <Sticker>

So NCT 127 just came back with their 3rd Full Album <Sticker> and this is my first 127 comeback since I became a fan last year! Neozone is such a special album for me as it was their first album that I explored entirely. I've known NCT as the group who never fails any expectations so I've kept mine up although I know they'll exceed it anyway. And guess what, they did! I absolutely love their new album hence this review~

This isn't a technical music review—as I am not a musician myself—but rather a listener's honest takes, goofy notes, and interpretation on each of the tracks in the album. I admit I've also struggled to build my own opinions on some of the tracks until I listened to them over and over again.

I have also heard there are mixed opinions on the title track <Sticker> and a lot says it's another acquired taste. But I think it's not just that, as it can be a grower, just like how most of NCT's songs were for me. Maybe after a few listens and a right passage of time, it will grow on those people. The bottom line here is, I like it a lot! 😛

So I listed down the songs according to their respective track numbers and followed each with a bulleted list of my opinions and interpretations.

(Viewer/reader discretion: before you continue, minors, do not interact as there are few 18+ contents under the cut. Thank you.)

1. Sticker

THEY DIDN'T JUST PUNCH A NEW NOTCH ON THE BELT LIKE THAT

THIS SONG SLAPS, LITERALLY SLAPS… AND WHIPS 

The recorder at the intro boyyyy I thought something was wrong but then I remember it’s NCT lmao

It already stuck in my head from my first listen from the Instagram audio.

With Taeyong opening the verse with his divine rapping, I knew I'm in for a new ride.

STICK-UH STICK-UGH STICK-UGHGHGH

To those complaining it sounding like noise music, imagine it sounding generic. I don't think it would fit as the title track. Not a b-track or in their repertoire, even. They are called NCT because they define the NEO in the music culture and music technology!

It honestly was an unorthodox, just like all of their title tracks, which I’m inherently here for.

Literally, no one does it like them!

The growls and the vocal flexes and adlibs! (You can tell it has Yoo Youngjin's brand.)

The crisp metronome sound that’s consistently ticking except for the pre-chorus and the dance break adds depth to the soundscape. I love how it’s used instead of the usual snaps.

The production quality blew my mind. Like how can someone think those melodies would sound so exquisite? CAN I CALL THEM GENIUS?

The piano at the back, oh my God—Yes! It adds this mystifying element to the song.

I'm not sure if it's a midi violin at the pre-chorus, but it added thrill to the song. It was a great transition from the bass line in the verses to the combination of the flawless harmony with the same instrumental.

"You treat me like a boy, like a grown-up child chasing a dream" JUNGWOO BABY NO MORE HUH

Taeil, Doyoung, and Haechan—the bridge vocal trinity!

But why the heck are they cowboys? I dig the concept, but why? LMAO

BTW GUNSLINGER MARK I’M ON MY KNEES YEEHAW

This is easily one of my favorite tracks from NCT 127's entire discography 💚

2. Lemonade

(⌐■_■)

Jaehyun starting off this song with his deep voice eee

The song opens to a verse oozing with chill confidence. They're like, yeah you're lurking because we’re cool.

This is such a huge slap to their haters. NCT's not chillin' like a villain, nah they're the main characters!

Well maybe they’re villains, but still ya not cooler than them ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Funny enough how they could have just referred haters as simply lemons whose sour/bitter to the taste, but 127 squad's success is sweeter than all the haters' spiteful remarks so yeah, SIPPY SIPPY LEMONADE 🧃

"WOOF"

I might have just barked too wOW

Yuta’s vocals hooooO his voice just sounds so glamorous mhmm

Also Mark referencing their previous title tracks such as: Firetruck, Cherry Bomb, and Regular (it's Irregular in the lyrics) in his rap part 👌💅

I just love Mark's energy when he raps. HE RESOLUTELY BITES AND STRAIGHT UP EATS EVERY TIME HE DOES.

3. Breakfast

Now breakfast time, oh jeez!

AAAHAHFU—

Summer 127's bestie!

If Summer 127 talks about dancing all night long, Breakfast is the morning after.

You know what it is.

"Even if I gulp and drink you, it's not enough for me." oho Taeyong no you ha—STOP

Sexual innuendos aside, isn't it just sweet if someone tells you they'd want to have breakfast with you every day?  Okay maybe I'm melting at the thought 😩🙈💞

And I can see myself dancing to this song as I make breakfast (in the afternoon or at midnight bc I’m crazy)

This was an okay b-track for me at the first skim on the album, but boy it grew on me wildly.

Honestly one of my favorite tracks in this album.

4. Focus

Did I just invade a private call? LMAO

The analog voice filters make it like so.

Dude, this feels intimate in the level of eavesdropping a phone call between seasoned lovers. Then you realize you hear them whispering their kinks over the line and you're ooh, that's sexy! hfgklhfhf

My first listen to this, I almost went feral because,

"I can't wait to eat you…" when it's actually "I can't wait 'til we chill…" aahaha

"Baby call me when you want me." OKAY!

This sounds relaxing and chill. I'd love to play this on a late night drive or just before bed time along with Fly Away With Me, Sun & Moon, My Youth, and Long Flight.

Belongs to ‘make out session’ playlist  ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

That was lowkey a playlist recommendation, huh?

I'd be kidding if I don't say I could touch myself while listening to this song AHAHAFGHFJFJ

I didn't know this would grow on me this much lol I love love LOVE THIS!

5. The Rainy Night

Ooh, the holy melancholy!

Piano at the intro—I knew I'd cry to this.

This song isn't just about break-up, but the heartbreak after one.

The yearning; the remnant pieces from the shattering of what was once there.

I think I crumbled from this one.

This hit so hard I felt like I fit in the shoes with the lyrics throughout the entire song.

What’s fascinating is I clearly forgot the title when I mentally said this sounds like a sad rainy day song from the first listen.

Something I’d turn up when it suddenly rains, just because I want to feel the blues.

Taeil and Haechan singing in lower register? I wanna cry :( they’re just one of the best vocalists in K-music industry right now.

Could have been also nice if they added Yuta to the vocals.

"My selfish heart who waits for you to come back," OKAY WHO HURT THEM?

And the fact that they sang it so good that it translated every ounce of the emotions well even before I looked up for English translations is the reason why I love this song too.

6. Far

Hmm… What the hell?! Do I like this? Wait...

Alright!

The jumpy vibe from the first verse to the pre-chorus set the mood for this song. It sounds merry and heavy. It was honestly too much to take until I’ve reached the chorus part.

Honestly, I think this song could fit NCT Dream better, as it gives off a vibe similar to Hello Future's b-tracks. If some credible source say this could have made HF’s track list, I might believe you too fast.

Also Dream’s Deja Vu where they go na nananananana na na na~

Playful yet confident! That’s what I mean!

As usual, the vocals are insane! Vocal flex from left to right!

I swear Jungwoo sounded a bit like Taemin at the second verse that I had to replay it hahaha

I love hearing Johnny as a vocalist! SM, how many signs do you need until you utilize his vocal talent???

Taeil's part where he sings, "go nuts, go nuts, 'til we go bust, go bust" IDEK BUT I SNORTED A LAUGH AT FIRST LISTEN HFCAHKFHK

Not my favorite, but still great though!

But wait it’s actually stuck in my head???

7. Bring The Noize

Yes, they never beat those noise music allegations

HERE'S SOME NOIZE, BITCHES

I love me some noisy percussions. AND THE BASS YO

This screams so much confidence!

The build up from the pre-chorus to the chorus—FIRE!

This song reminds me a lot of SuperM's Super Car, especially with the engine roar samples and the battle cry-like singing at the chorus.

JAEHYUN RAPPING? You mean Jaehyun the visual, the vocalist, the actor, the model, the funny dude, aka my everything?! (markie bb look pls look away for a moment)

THEY DELIVERED IT STRAIGHT FROM NEOCITY THAT'S SOME NCT MUSIC RIGHT THERE NO ONE DOES IT LIKE THEM

When I said I'd play Focus on a late night drive, and if I add this in the playlist, VROOM VROOM SPEED LIMIT WHAT

OUTTA MY WAY

“We got no shame” ouh TAEYONG’S FLOW IS JUST VERY HIM AND HE’S IN A LEAGUE OF HIS OWN

You know what's so clever about this song? It's how it ended with Mark's final rap without any instrumental, leaving you  standing there with a doppler effect-like post experience.

A super car on a super speed just whooshed past you and you look its way as it zips through the road. It's gone in an instant but you're floored dumbfounded at a sidewalk. That's how I describe this song.

8. Magic Carpet Ride

This song… Wow. Oh gosh it's so beautiful.

Their harmony in the chorus—it makes me want to kiss someone so passionately that I'd cry.

This makes me want to feel love that transcends the universe. Literally, just please take me on a magic carpet ride :(

The background harmonies too oh my goodness—HEAVENLY.

Jaehyun's voice is so warm and soulful it fits perfectly with songs of this genre.

Okay alright Doyoung Grande!

And Taeil makes me feel like I'm listening to old school R&B.

The first time I heard this from the track video, I can't stop replaying because it's just that great.

This makes me want to love. I think that sums it up.

9. Road Trip

This is such a soothing song for me, especially how I easily become nostalgic thinking about the road trips I've had.

Whenever I listen to this, my brain immediately conjures up thoughts of my ideal getaways. Gazing at the sky through the car window, stirring up from a nap in the middle of the ride, and   eventually reaching your destination.

Oh, to travel around anywhere... (curse you covid-19)

Okay that's it. I'M PACKING UP.

But where do I go—

I could also imagine Mark playing this on the guitar and the other members sing along together, something like that.

Just Wholesome™ vibes.

I love how it evokes such a nice emotion within me effortlessly.

This isn't my favorite, but I still love this.

10. Dreamer

Eyyyy such a refreshing song!

This song is so bright it makes me want to dance. I play this first in the shower!

It reminds me so much of Elevator (from Neozone)

The horns make it more lively I think!

Yuta and Jungwoo's voice suits lively songs like this.

The background vocal in low register in Taeyong's part in the first verse is so good ahhfhf

Taeil, the R&B vocal king you are...

There's this part where Doyoung and Johnny harmonized, that at first listen they seemed to clash, but it sounded actually fine after a few listens. Maybe it's just that I've never heard them do it before.

And I think it's Doyoung's laugh at the end of the bridge? Oh my goodness I really love this too!

11. Promise You

MY FIRST LOVE AND MOST FAVORITE SONG IN THE ALBUM!!!

The first time I heard this from their NCIT Sharehouse Sitcom, I fell in love with the song already.

It sounds like something you'd feel from a warm, welcoming hug.

The lyrics are so beautiful and endearing. It's definitely a be-there-for-you type of song that will touch your heart.

It definitely sounds like a promise.

A song about platonic intimacy.

This really fits to be the closing song of the album. It's like the end of it but holds a promise that says “see you soon.”

Because they cherish their fans like that.

It's also like I've watched a movie with a happy ending, where the camera pans up to the clear sky and this song starts playing.

Speaking of ending, I would love to hear them sing this as an encore stage in their concert. You know, that moment just before the stage lights die down at the end of the concert where they send final blows of flying kisses to NCTzens. Then you come home smiling and crying.

This wasn't supposed to be this long since I originally planned to write this with just simple phrases and emojis but I got too engrossed lol. I also meant to include my own ratings but I figured it’s pointless since I can’t really decide about them hahaha

I really enjoyed the whole album and I love how they're progressively defining what NEO means by breaking through standards. It's not NCT music if it doesn't make you say "WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?" But then you realize it’s stuck in your head and you’re enjoying it already.

✨ OVERALL RATING: 127/10 💚

if you’ve reached until here, thank you for letting me share you a braincell or two 💞

[rocwylde]

SO I HEARD YOU LIKED MY LEGENDS ORRE AU AND WANTED TO BRAINROT…I actually made several other posts since the one you reblogged but I wanna hear more of your thoughts lol

AAAA YES HELLO!!! I am so sorry i was staring at this ask for a few days like "omg pokemon friend??? has appeared in my inbox with a poof???" and proceeded to hide away under blankets for two days. HOWEVER! yes I will brainrot with you because I'm rolling on the floor dramatically i NEED pokemon legends orre. ALSO SORRY.. I talk too much uh... there's a lot of rambling down here.

Since Orre is based on United States of America's Arizona and we know Unova is based on New York, I love to imagine them both together because both are like my favorite regions. There are also some perfect quirks about both games that can fit into an overall larger storyline like the legends game. In Pokemon XD, Colosseum's sequel, there are three locations called pokespots. they are the only place you can get wild pokemon and even then, the pokemon you find there are very little.

I like to imagine these spots are very important. and, perhaps, guarded by three certain pokemon. Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion. AND ITS LIKE PERFECT BECAUSE

The Oasis pokespot is obviously very green and one of the only places of respite in the brutal desert of Orre. Boom, Virizon. The cave pokespot? BAM, Cobalion. And Terrakion in the desert pokespot. sidequests there to meet the legendary pokemon. It's absolutely perfect.

Agate village is a village that lives peacefully and holds the Relic forest where Celebi is respected (one could say... worshipped? Kind of?). I like to imagine the Harmonia family ancestors reside here. Some even have the gift to understand pokemon, or see shadow pokemon. Just funky little humans with funky little abilities tied in with pokemon because they live in such harmony with the creatures.

Pyrite town is known for its hoodlums and crooks and while it is charming in its own way, The Under is located just beneath the scorching sands of the town. Maybe its uninhabited at the moment. Or maybe, its where the conflicts of the games can be found. Finding perfect conditions in the practice of shadow pokemon creation. Ghetsis seems like a right perfect ancestor to throw in here, after all his Hydreigon despises him (it was forced to evolve at a VERY early stage. He clearly did not treat it well).

Perhaps they want to stake a claim over Agate? Who knows, its up to the protagonists to find out B)

And I was reading back on your blog and saw the shadow pokemon link you made with mega evolution. There's a really solid idea there. And it can bring about a very interesting discussion on morals and dare I say, truth vs ideals but much more black and white?

Imagine having the ability to make your pokemon shadow pokemon. They will be considered stronger much faster than say, evolving your pokemon and raising friendship. However, just like in the games Shadow Pokemon originated from, they cannot get stronger from the moment they become shadow pokemon. They can't evolve or level up. They can't learn moves or you cannot swap between moves. And if you don't make your pokemon shadow pokemon, they can surpass those with closed hearts with some honest love and effort.

Truthfully, is there an issue with having stronger pokemon? Perhaps not. But ideally, you wouldn't want to make your pokemon suffer. Idk I can't think of it right now, I'm actually working out as I type this out, but there's really GOOD possibilities to having reshiram and zekrom involved in our little legends orre version.

More randomness, I NEED A FLYGON RIDE POKEMON. In Hoenn there's literally a desert sandstorm you can't cross without your go goggles. The goggles are Flygon colors, people!! Look at these funky little things

Riding Flygon in the desert, so fast, so whoosh, I need and require it. Imagine your other ride pokemon can't traverse it, only flygon can because it is specially equipped with the gear. I also like the idea of the Blitzle line being in hypothetical legends Orre. It's a zebra, yeah sure, but just like Mudsdale is used to navigate rockier terrain (ie: mount battle), Zebstrika is the speedy boi! Watching the scenery pass you by... ugh so pretty. But also maybe its me who is just really obsessed with this art someone drew of N with a Zebstrika

{Link to the OP of said art here!} Vaquero N!!! Vaquero N!!!

Ok Ok I can't think of other things or expand on ideas just yet my brain is not here rn, i'm tired BUT I AM BRAINROTTING. And I might send you some more in an ask, if you don't mind me brainrotting about legends orre in your inbox of course!

AlsO the Outskirt Stand is literally a train. In the middle of a desert. Yeah trains may not exist in the past HOWEVER, Ingo and Emmett run it. Sorry I don't make the rules. It's perfect. Ideal. A nice little location off in the desert for weary travelers.

And ngl, Wes is like my favorite pokemon protagonist, he's so cool and morally grey. Perfect for his ancestors to be smack in the middle of a battle between shadow pokemon and two families. Perfect to start off again with Eevee as your starter. ESPECIALLY since three eevee evolutions evolve based on friendship. Imagine if another eevee evolution is released in legends orre. Or tied into this whole "you can choose between making a shadow pokemon or purifying the ones you find." ITS SO GOOD

[its-deputy-caleb]

would u possibly do some NSFW morbell? where they're up in colter ( i loved ur original morbell post on them ) pls do more as i love ur blog 💛

this is an absolute mess oml i literally have no idea how to write anything smutty but here we go i guess. I love this pair but i kinda went off topic and centred this on a praise kink for micah. ANYWAY this is probably terrible since i'm melting, its literally 40 degrees and the aircon is broken so its unedited af and i wont look at it again until i have a cold drink. but pls enjoy some morbell <333

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

‘Cold up in Colter’

Fuck, what a mess Blackwater had been. The Pinkertons were on them faster than ever and they found themselves fleeing from a blood bath.

That was almost three days ago and Micah hadn’t had an ounce of sleep. He’d been sent out with John to scout ahead, having found a homestead which ended up burning at the hand of O’Driscoll’s. Okay maybe house burning down was his fault but he tends to make stupid decisions when he’s had little to know sleep. And it was so fucking cold.

That didn’t stop heat rising to his face when he felt Arthur’s hands on his shoulder, pushing him back with a roughness he could only wish for in another way. Damn Arthur Morgan and his ability to have Micah curling in on himself and blushing like a virgin at the mere thought of a hand on his shoulder.

He should hate Arthur, really the two are nothing more than rivals, competing for the spot of Dutch Van Der Linde’s right hand. At the beginning, almost six months ago now, Micah couldn’t stand the sight of the man but somehow that anger tapered off into something more akin to admiration and that admiration slowly turned to desire.

He’ll never admit to how badly he wants Arthur but he won’t deny however that he’s pushed the man’s buttons more than once just to have an interaction with him. All he had to do start a silly argument over camp earnings or a bet at five finger fillet to have the man shaking him by the collar and threatening to break his nose.

It almost always ended with Micah sneaking off into the woods with half a bottle of whiskey and his pants bunched around his ankles as he thought of the way Arthur roughed him up by his shirt collar. Fuck he was pathetic sometimes.

There were other occasions where the two had actually managed to get along and that’s what pissed Micah off more than any threats of violence. Arthur just had to go and bring him a beer as he grabbed one for himself, letting their fingers touch accidentally. Or he went and offered him a seat by the fireplace where they ended up much to close for his comfort. Damn Arthur for always leaving him short of breath with a hole in his heart.

Despite what Micah did to impress Dutch, Arthur was still the camp’s favourite by a mile and he never failed to outcompete him in the eyes of the gang. Micah never minded much, not looking for anyone’s approval, but the thought of proving himself to Arthur, of being worthy of his praise is enough to have his wild side reined in.

Naturally that didn’t stop Micah from losing it from time to time and wasn’t surprised when his jealousy shot up again as Miss Grimshaw announced Arthur got his own cabin while he shared with the rest of the fellers. And he’d be damned if he had to share a room with Williamson who didn’t stop snoring.

That’s why he found himself huddled in the makeshift stables, choosing instead to wrap himself in his coat and down a bottle of whiskey to wait the night out. He cold planks he was sitting on offered little comfort and the draft in the room had his lip shaking. But at least he wouldn’t have anyone in his hair and he’d be left alone, just the way he liked it.

Of course that didn’t last long when the cranky wooden door was barged open, spooking some of the horses in the opposite end of the room. A broad figure entered the room, blocking most of the door way but that didn’t stop to whoosh of cold air flood into the room, draining even more colour from his face.

It wasn’t until the door was closed and the man stepped closer when he realised it was Arthur.

“Micah? What the hell are you doing in here?”

Arthur sounded surprised, with only a hint of concern in his voice.

“Sleepin’— what the hell ya doing here Morgan?”

There wasn’t much of a response from Arthur, only a quiet noise which was barely heard over the whistle of the wind between the planks. He walked over to the horses, checking over them and ensuring none of them were freezing to death. Micah watched in silence, scared to disturb the man as he patted along Taima’s neck.

It wasn’t until after Arthur had checked over all the horses did he turn his attention to Micah.

Micah watched as Arthur’s gloved hand extended out and offered itself to him, he hesitated before taking before taking it and being pulled to his feet. Arthur’s hand draped over his shoulder which he didn’t realise had shaking in an effort to keep warm, having drunk the remaining whiskey from the bottle.

“Common now, yer gonna freeze in here alone.”

Micah dug his heels into the ground, not allowing Arthur to pull him any further to the door as he tried to hold his voice steady. He’d be damned if he ever let Arthur know just how much he affected him.

“I ain’t sharing a bunk with Williams—“

Arthur tutted, pulling Micah out the door as he pushed him towards his cabin in the snow storm.

“Quit yer yapping, you’re sharing with me and I ain’t having any more folk die tonight. Now let’s go.”

Arthur didn’t utter another word until they were well and truely in his room, wrapped in a blanket that was barely big enough for the two of them. The bed wasn’t much bigger, having been made for one person which was evident by Arthur pressing against Micah’s back in efforts for them to fit. The only thing that kept them apart was the fabric of their jackets, otherwise Arthur would probably hear Micah’s heartbeat which was beating much to fast for his liking.

The uncomfortable silence was broken when Micah cursed under his breath which caused his teeth to chatter and Arthur spoke up.

“Yer still cold, c'mere”

Micah’s breath fell short as Arthur’s hands slid under his coat, resting his hands on his tummy to use his body heat as a source of warmth. In doing so Arthur had moved even closer, ensuring Micah’s back was flush against his chest.

Despite that Micah wanted to protest, to go straight to his default of arguing he couldn’t help but feel as he began to warm up and he slowly relaxed under his hands.

A blush rose high on his cheeks as Arthur also relaxed into their embrace, accidentally letting his hands drift lower until he felt the hard press of Micah’s straining erection against his knuckle.

Micah instantly sucked in a breath, panicking and trying to push his way out of Arthur’s hold.

“Shit Arthur I—“

Micah froze as Arthur gently pulled him back to the bed and rubbed slow circles along his stomach.

“S’alright Micah, I’m not mad…”

Arthur held him close, letting him relax before talking again before he whispered right into the shell of his ear.

“…This what you want? Is this why you’re always staring at me from across camp, why yer always picking fights and asking me to robberies?”

A high pitched noise left Micah as he shivered, feeling Arthur’s hot breath against his ear. His blush deepened as he pushed back slightly into him, whimpering at the feel of Arthur’s own erection pressed against his ass.

Fuck it, he thought as heat pooled in his abdomen and he finally allowed himself to have the one thing he’d been craving for months. He nodded frantically, grinding back onto Arthur’s clothed dick and squirming in his grip.

“Relax boy, gonna give you everything you’ve been waiting for— just be good and you’ll get it”

Micah nodded in agreement, a needy, desperate sound leaving him at the promise of praise. He wanted, no needed to be praised by the man so badly that he’d do anything for an ounce of it from the man.

“Oh god Arthur! I need it, need you. Fuck I can be good I promise.”

He knew he was probably being too loud but apart of him didn’t have it in him to care. He moaned softly as Arthur moved him to roll onto his back, towering over him but ensuring they were still kept under the blanket.

Arthur spent the next ten minutes undressing him without exposing much of his skin to the cold. He unbuttoned the lower buttons of his leather jacket, enough for Arthur to work his fly down and pull one pant leg off. He whined pitifully, grabbing at the lapels of Arthur’s coat in a silent plea for him to undress him properly.

Micah mentally scolded himself at just how desperate he was for Arthur to rip his clothes off and fuck him like a bitch in heat but he knew that wasn’t happening any time soon. Arthur however caught on pretty quickly to what he wanted, it seemed the man knew just what made him tick.

“I know sweetheart, once we’re well and truly outta here I’ll get us a room and we can do this properly.”

Micah’s eyes beamed at the thought of Arthur taking him to a hotel in the future, panting as his mind raced with images of Morgan making him fall apart on his cock for hours on end.

While Micah was busy in his mind, Arthur took the opportunity to retrieve the gun oil from his satchel. It certainly wasn’t the best option but it was their only choice with their limited supplies.

Arthur draped himself back over Micah’s body, kissing at his jaw and nibbling as he coated his fingers. The air was cold, only making the oil feel colder as he slowly dipped his index finger past Micah’s rim.

A devilish grin came to Arthur’s face as he heard Micah sigh and take his finger easily, deciding to work his way up to two sooner than he was expecting.

“You’ve wanted this for a long time haven’t you? I saw you once, bout a week ago. Head down, ass up with three of yer fingers inside you while you cried out for me to fuck you. It all clicked in my head then when you started acting different around me at camp.”

Micah flushed a deep red, coughing on air as he realised Arthur knew about his little crush. He tried to think of an excuse, to weasel his way out of it but his thoughts died in his head when Arthur twisted his fingers, scissoring and stretching him open before adding a third.

Arthur dragged a lip along Micah’s cheek to his lip, ghosting his lips over his before kissing him properly. This time Micah didn’t even try to fight for dominance, opening his mouth instantly for Arthur’s tongue to enter. Instead he sighed into it, pulling his legs to wrap around his waist as his hands wrapped around his lover’s shoulder.

It went on like that until Arthur was satisfied that Micah was well prepped enough, simultaneously rubbing against Micah’s prostate while he kissed him deeply. He only pulled away to pull his own leaking member out, bunching his pants around his thighs so he had enough room to move but could stay warm. He coated the rest of the oil onto his member, jerking slowly as he stared down at the sight of Micah below him.

Micah looked like an absolute mess against the pillows already, his face was flush and the scarf around his head had unwrapped slightly, revealing his disheveled blond hair. His chest was heaving as he panted and his thighs shook from pleasure as the weakly wrapped around his waist.

“You look so pretty like this sweetheart”

To say that Micah hated the pet name was a lie, one that he didn’t try deny as he moaned softly. His back arched and he gripped Arthur’s coat tightly as he felt his cock slide between his cheeks and over his hole. He’s wanted this for so long now and yet somehow it still didn’t quite feel real as his mind was clouded with arousal.

Micah’s toes curled and he moaned when he felt Arthur push into him, slowly inching forward until he felt him bottom out.

“Ah— ah! Oh Arthur fuck! Please fuck me, I’ll be good I swear.”

Micah practically sobbed with pleasure as Arthur set up a fast pace, pulling almost all the way out till just the tip was left inside his tight hole before pushing back in quickly, brushing his prostate in the process. His cock twitched from where it rested against his tummy, pinned between Arthur’s jacket which caused a string of moans to fall from his mouth.

“Look at you, so good for me— fucking perfect Micah. Such a good boy”

Arthur’s hands came to hold onto Micah’s hips for leverage, pulling on his slight muffin top under the jacket to help pull him back to meet his thrusts. Beneath him he heard Micah whine and whimper at the praise so desperately needed to hear.

Micah bought a finger up to his mouth, biting on his knuckle to silence any more noises he deemed to be pathetic from slipping out of him. He hated how close he already was just from being praised by Arthur.

It seemed Arthur wasn’t having any of it when he pulled his finger away from his mouth before kissing him like he had done not that long ago. He swallowed every one of Micah’s noises, mindful of Dutch sleeping next door and slowing his thrusts to something deeper and slower.

His hands roamed all over Micah’s clothed body, breaking away for air and whispering praises down his ear.

“That’s it, make those pretty noises for me sweetheart.”

Micah eye’s rolled into his head as he cried out.

“You’re mine, all for me— my good boy.”

More moans slipped from his lips.

“Atta boy— taking me so well, so good.”

His back arched and he withered in his embrace

“So eager to please aren’t you? I’ll take care of you now boy.”

“—Arthur! I’m close— Ah, I’m gonna—“

“Go on sweetheart cum for me…that’s it good boy.”

Micah’s whole body when rigid as he finally came. His mouth hung open, tongue lolling out as his orgasm dragged out with each thrust Arthur delivered, eager to chase his own.

He collapsed into the pillow, thighs shaking as he whined at the oversensitivity. It didn’t last long before Arthur’s thrusts changed pace to something more erratic, picking up the pace as he spilled his load inside him.

Arthur groaned into his neck, pulling him close and collapsing into him as he regained his breath.

He pulled out slowly with a wet and obscene pop, sitting up and helping Micah put his clothes back on. Micah only weakly managed to fiddle with the button on his jacket while Arthur gently manhandled his jelly-like limbs to fit back into his pant leg. He used the blanket to wipe the cum off his tummy, a weak attempt at cleaning up and something they would both no doubt regret come tomorrow morning but for now they were keen to sleep after such a horrific and chaotic few days.

Arthur pulled Micah into their original position for the night, the only difference being that his face was now tucked into his chest. Arthur rested his chin of Micah’s head, littering his hair with kisses as he played with his hair between his rough fingers.

Micah was the first to fall asleep, curled up with his forehead against Arthur’s collarbone. Arthur wasn’t far behind him either, finally letting himself get some much needed rest but not before he pressed a soft kiss to his hairline.