#this was before the event so twitch was half corrupted

[applejuiceyjuice-art]

older kik doodle collage ft. twitch.exe

[eli-com]

୧ *·˚ PERFECT — JUDD BIRCH

୨୧ includes — fem!reader, afab, mature content, fingering, oral f!receiving, praise/degrading, virgin!reader, innocent!reader, corruption??

— Judd had been in a state of shock since the moment he stepped into detention and saw you.

He knew you, of course he did, you were the golden girl of Bridgeton High, class president and future valedictorian; everybody knew you. But what were you doing here? You were the last person he’d expected to make eye contact with as he walked through that door, and he was sure it showed on his face. It wasn’t hard to make out how nervous you were, the slight twitch of your eye, the way you gnawed on your inner cheek — he almost felt bad… almost.

Judd would be lying if he told himself you didn’t fascinate him in some way, it was crazy to him how someone could be so consistently ‘perfect’. You volunteered for every school/town event you could, took up a part-time job babysitting for half the kids in the local area, always seemed so cheerful and energetic… how were you not tired? Usually he’d never let himself think about another person for any longer than a few minutes, after all they were all just a waste of his time, but there had always been something about you he couldn’t shake. You’d been that way ever since middle school, and not once had he seen the act falter.

— You’d been feeling sick since the moment you entered the classroom, and it had only gotten worse once he entered. Not that you weren’t surprised to see him, of course he’d be here, this was practically his second home, it was just that there was a part of you that was hoping by some luck he wouldn’t show up. It’s not that you disliked Judd, but he made you oh so very nervous. Especially because whenever you’d look at him, whether it be in class or at some kind of event, he was always looking back at you with those intimidating eyes. In all honesty, something had attracted you to Judd since you were both children, but your mother had always warned you about the dangerous ‘bad boys’ who lured you in only to use you before throwing you away, so you steered clear.

But now it was just the two of you stuck together in a room for an hour… well, you two and Mr Kellings, the gym teacher who at the moment didn’t seem able to keep his eyes open, legs crossed as they rested on-top of his desk, head falling every-so-often and waking him up.

You’d force your eyes away from him as he wondered around the classroom before taking a seat right behind you, and you were sure you could feel his eyes burning through the back of your head. But, instead of turning back you simply focused on the work you’d placed in-front of you, the extra work your father had encouraged you to ask your biology teacher for after he found out you’d already done the rest.

It only took a total of five minutes before you could feel Judd’s feet colliding with one of the legs of your chair, kicking it to the beat of the music playing in his AirPods. You were trying your best to ignore it, not give in to his obvious attempt to annoy you. However, considering the fact you were in detention after an event that was definitely not your fault and your father had urged you to take on all this extra work after knowing how tired you were, your patience was wearing thin. So, despite your best efforts, you ended up turning around to glare at him with those eyes Judd had stared at countless times whilst bored in class.

“Could you not do that? I’m trying to work here.” You’d state with the best firm voice you could muster whilst having his eyes on you. However, Judd would continue to stare blankly, the way he kicked your chair also continuing without missing a beat.

“What? Haven’t finished your homework yet?” He’d raise a brow in question. “Surprised it’s taken you this long, don’t you normally have it done the day it’s set? You’re slacking…” His voice was as monotone as ever, deep and gravelly, almost as if he’d just woken up, which you wouldn’t doubt considering the amount of times you’d caught him sleeping in class. You could only roll your eyes, doing your best to suppress the embarrassed blush that had formed on your face because you knew he was right — you did always have your homework done the day it was set, because that’s what your parents had raised you to do, taking away any other sources of entertainment until they knew it was done, and even without it you never really got to have fun; free time was a luxury you didn’t have.

“I do have my homework done, this is just… extra.” You’d speak quietly now, turning away from him and back to your homework. You could hear Judd let out an unamused scoff behind you, his kicking finally coming to a halt as the room went silent.

The silence was awkward, some sort of tension hanging in the air and for a few moments you felt as if you couldn’t breathe, just staring down at your work in confusion; what was happening to you? But at least it was over, he’d leave you alone now; if you were lucky then you’d get through the rest of this detention in silence… but then again, you’d never really been that lucky.

“So what are you in for?” It was surprising to you that he was actually asking you questions, you’d never heard him speak this much in all of the classes you’d shared. Shaking your head, you wouldn’t acknowledge him — well, not until you heard his bag slam down onto the table beside you, grey converse appearing in the corner of your vision. “Don’t ignore me.” He’d grumble, brows furrowing as he peered down at you from his seat.

“Firstly, I don’t think it’s any of your business, and secondly, the teacher is right there!” You’d gesture to where the clueless teacher who was almost falling off of his chair as he continuously dozed in and out of sleep sat, arms folded over his chest. This had Judd letting out yet another scoff, and you were assuming by now that it was almost his way of laughing.

“I don’t think that old fuck gives a shit what we do… Or that he’d even notice we were doing anything.” His head would nod over to the teacher, and he was right, the man had finally fallen fully asleep; loud snored escaping him. You almost giggled at the sight of how the gym teachers mouth had fallen wide open, you were sure you’d even seen a fly float in there.

“I’m not in here for anything I did.” You’d respond simply, eyeing him for a moment and spotting the unimpressed look gracing his features — not that he didn’t look like that most of the time anyways. It was obvious from the way he stared that he was waiting for you to continue, and before you even knew it you were speaking. “My friends had this idea to uh, play a prank on some of the middle schoolers who attended the introduction day and I got the blame for it.” That was all you were willing to admit, not delving into how your friends had encouraged the poor kid to do an embarrassing dance in-front of half of the school during lunch as some kind of ‘initiation process’. You didn’t feel too bad though, you were pretty sure you’d caught him staring at your tits multiple times during his tour.

“Pretty shitty friends if they let you take the blame.” He’d state, eyes focused on his phone as he scrolled through songs — you could faintly hear the tune changing every time he pressed a different one. “Not that I care.” He’d mumble afterwards.

You’d just shrug, “I guess so…”

It was silent for a few moments before he spoke up again. “You wanna get out of here?” He sounded hesitant for a moment, like he didn’t know if he really wanted to invite you to leave with him. You felt sick again, why was Judd being so nice to you? Well, as nice as Judd Birch could be… He was notorious for his bad attitude and careless nature, yet for some reason he was trying to help you out? “If you don’t want to then you can just say that, shithead.” He’d lean his forearms onto his thighs, attempting to get to eye-level with you.

You’d violently shake your head, something in you was telling you to go, you suddenly felt this overwhelming need to impress Judd in some way. Surely the teacher wouldn’t notice your absence, and the idea of possibly getting into trouble was almost thrilling to you. You were already in deep shit with your parents, so what would another small act of rebellion really do? As if proud, a small smirk would pull at the end of Judd’s lips, but it was gone as soon as it appeared. He’d nod his head towards the door before picking up his bag and walking out, not waiting for you to keep up.

“Wait up!” You’d yelp, quickly rushing to put all of your things together before meeting him in the hallway, matching his long strides as best you could. It was now that you realised just how tall Judd really was, how muscular he was too; surely the result of all his time spent in vocational classes. You’d walked into one once, dropping off something for one of the teachers when you’d noticed Judd working on a car, his arms flexing with each small movement — it was fair to say you stood in the corner for a while simply ogling over his arms. Did he work out too? Images of Judd working out in his room would suddenly come to mind, but you did your best to push them back. He wouldn’t look at you as you both walked, eyes focused on the long hallway ahead, hand clutching at the backpack on his shoulder. “How come you actually showed up to detention? I uh- I heard you normally skip to train your raccoons or… whatever.” Why was your voice so shaky? Why were you so embarrassing?

“Parents showed up to make sure I went in, normally I’d walk out anyways but decided I’d rather come in than have to listen to my dad try explain why pent up anger is bad for my dick.” He’d roll his eyes, your breath catching in your throat at the mention of Judd’s dick. You weren’t really used to such vulgar language, of course you’d hear certain things here and there, you were in High-school after all, but you’d never gotten used to it; your parents had strict rules when it came to ‘potty-mouthing’. Judd would eye you with a smirk as blood travelled up to your face, eyes doing their best not to land on him.

“That’s uh- that’s sweet?” You’d speak in an unsure tone, wringing your hands together in-front of you. “I guess… It’s nice that he cares for you so much that he would worry about your um, genitals?” You’d nod to yourself, unsure of your own words. Was that normal for parents and their children to discuss? You’d known since you were younger that your distant relationship with your mum and dad wasn’t considered ‘the norm’, but you can’t imagine talking to them about such things even if you were close… His brows would knit together as he looked down at you for a moment before shrugging.

“I guess.” He’d shrug his backpack further onto his shoulder. “Your parents not all that interested in your private life?” He didn’t know why he was asking, maybe he was just trying to joke, but something made him want to know more about you; what you liked, what you disliked, why your pretty eyes got sad at the mention of your parents.

“Uh- they’re not really that interested in my life at all unless it’s something about my school work… Not that I have much of a life outside of that anyways.” You’d give an awkward laugh, wrapping your arms around yourself as some kind of comfort. Memories of all the parties, sleepovers, and everything else you’d missed would overwhelm you — you’d never even been able to invite a friend over to your house. You’d been to a few friends houses before, but even then you had to be home by 6 pm sharp.

“Parents are assholes.” He’d declare, turning away from you once again. You’d hum in agreement, eyes darting around the hall as you walked together. This had to be some kind of dream, you were sure of it, it all just felt so weird.

However, you didn’t have too long to worry about that before spotting your headmistress rounding the corner, almost bumping into the both of you. Her head would immediately whip round to face you, eyes wide in surprise. “Miss (l/n)? Are you not supposed to be in detention? What are you doing out here?” As if in perfect timing, the gym teacher who had been ‘watching’ you both in detention would appear behind the two of you, yelling that you needed to get back to the classroom. Before you had any time to think of an excuse Judd had grabbed your hand, shoving past the headmistress and running down the halls, you tripping up every so often as you did your best to run beside him.

You could hear both of the teachers yelling after you, chasing you down like hunters and prey. You thanked god your headmistress had chosen to wear heels and your gym teacher was clearly still fatigued from lack of sleep. After a few minutes of running, Judd would pull you into a small broom closet, placing your back against the wall and quickly pulling the door shut, ear pressed up against it as if in an attempt to listen to the teachers run past.

“Oh my god! I’m gonna get in so much trouble, why didn’t I think this through? Why would I agree to leave with Judd Birch of all people?!” You’d whisper aggressively to yourself, hands pulling at your own hair as you seemingly became lost in your own thoughts. Suddenly all those ideas of impressing Judd and not caring what your parents would think left your mind, the reality kicking in and causing you to become overwhelmed. Judd would turn to look down at you, hands taking hold of your shoulders and ever so slightly shaking you, brows furrowed in what you assumed was annoyance.

“Shut the hell up, if you carry on they’re gonna hear you.” He’d scold, hands moving to pull yours out of your hair and place them at your sides before he held a hand over your mouth to silence you. “You wanna get caught?” You’d shake your head quickly, eyes wide and breathing ragged. “Then keep fucking quiet.” A small whimper would leave you.

It was silent for a while, the only sounds being your mutual heavy breathing. You were unsure what it was, but something about his demanding tone had your thighs rubbing together, doing their best to contain the arousal you felt building up in your core. His dark eyes would stare down at you, roaming over your figure as he tried to listen out for any sign of the teachers possibly finding you. However, his eyes would quickly stop at your thighs, watching you squirm against the wall behind you. Looking into your eyes, it didn’t take a genius to notice how your pupils had become wide with lust, how your chest was heaving with each breath you took. Just the sight of you had his pants tightening.

“You like that, huh?” He’d question breathlessly, and you were unsure whether he’d actually spoken or not for a minute, too lost in your own thoughts. However, he’d quickly snap you back to reality as one of his knees slotted between your thighs, not making any contact just yet. “Like being told what to do? Being told to shut the fuck up?” His head would tilt ever so slightly to the side as he questioned you, speaking to you as if you were some kind of mutt not yet trained, so condescending, yet it had you letting out a quiet moan as you nodded.

A smug grin you hadn’t yet seen until now would appear on his lips as he moved his knee up to meet your heat, running it gently over your panties and causing your knees to almost buckle under you. You’d cling onto his shoulders, head hung low as you closed your eyes, letting out needy gasps into his hand each time he moved his leg back and forth. After a few seconds he’d stop, one hand remaining on your mouth whilst the other moved down to your waist, toying with the waistband of your skirt. “Make such pretty sounds even when I’m doing my best to keep you quiet… little slut can’t keep her mouth shut, huh?” He’d question, grin going from smug to cruel.

You could only whine in response, beginning to rock your hips back and forth on his leg until he pulled it away fully, leaving you frustrated as you let out a cry. “Didn’t I just fucking tell you to be quiet? You want to get us caught? Let those old bastards see you trying to get yourself off on my leg?” He’d mock, removing his hand from over your lips in order to squeeze your cheeks together, lips parting ever so slightly as embarrassment takes over you. You must look so pathetic right now, your own slick trickling down your bare thighs as you stare up at him with selfish need. “You gonna be a good girl and be quiet?” He’d snarl.

“Yes, yes! Gonna be good…” Your voice was muffled due to his strong hold on your face, nodding as best you could. However, he’d only squeeze your cheeks tighter in response.

“Are you that fucking stupid you don’t know what be quiet means?” He’d push your head back against the wall, using his intimidating height to lean over you. This time you only nod, not daring to utter a word — you wanted him so badly, you could still feel where his knee had pressed against you.

“There we go…” He’d mumble, features momentarily relaxing before he leaned down to press a sloppy, desperate kiss to your lips. It was messy, his tongue immediately pushing its way into your mouth and exploring the new territory. Your noses would bump together multiple times, never letting up his harsh grip on your face. However, the kiss had distracted you from the way his other hand had now slid under your skirt, grabbing a handful of your ass before slapping it, causing you to let out a loud gasp. Instead of telling you off again, he’d only smugly grin against your lips this time, continuing his brutal attack on them.

“Shit baby, you’re so wet… can feel you soaking through your panties.” He’d murmur, moving to press kisses to your cheek as he ran a finger over your panties, stopping once he felt the wet patch you’d created on them and letting out a dark chuckle. “Is this what breaking a few rules does to you?… Meant to be so perfect, but here you are letting me play with you in school of all places. What would mommy and daddy think, huh?” He’d scoff, kisses moving down to your jaw as he began to nip at your skin, causing you to do your best to keep your weak mewls in your throat. “Fucking pathetic.” He’d move up to your ear, nibbling on it.

“Judd…” You could tell he was about to tell you off for speaking, but the way you said his name with such desperate need had him keeping quiet as he simply stared, face stoic as ever, waiting for you to continue. “Want more, want you to touch me more.” You’d whisper, head lolling forward to rest on his shoulder as you felt his thumb begin to draw gentle circles on your clit over your now soaked panties; he was making such a mess of you already.

“Want me to touch you?” He’d repeat your words, craning his head down slightly to place gentle kisses over the skin of your neck. “How d’you want me to touch you, huh? You gonna show me?” He’d brush his nose along your jaw, eyes closed as he took in a deep breath of your perfume; you always smelt so strongly of vanilla, it was so intoxicating to him. However, you’d quickly distract him by shaking your head in response to his words.

"Can't." You'd whine, eyes screwed shut as you felt the pressure of his thumb on your clit increase, the small movements halting as it remained stationary in its place. “Tried before but,” You’d pant, “Never feels right, can’t do it.” You’d complain, tears building up in your eyes both due to embarrassment and frustration. Judd would remain silent for a few moments before moving back to look at you, watching how you kept your head hung low, refusing to meet his eyes.

“You can’t touch yourself?” He’d question, hand caressing the side of your face as his thumb made its way under your chin, lifting it so you’d look up at him again. You’d shake your head. “Nobody’s ever touched you like this before?” This had you clearing your throat as you looked off to the side before muttering a small ‘no’ in response. It was embarrassing, at least to you it was. Sure, plenty of guys had tried to get with you, tried to lure you back to their cars after class or behind the bleachers in an attempt to ‘pop your cherry’, but you’d never accepted — no man had even touched you in this way until Judd. It just didn’t feel right, not until now. You could practically hear the way Judd swallowed his own saliva, Adam’s apple bobbing as he traced his thumb over your cheek. “Shit… poor baby.” He’d coo, but you knew it wasn’t all that sincere.

Judd had never been with a virgin before, and he’d be lying if he said the idea didn’t have him rock hard in his jeans, hips doing their best not to rut into yours at the mere idea, especially since it was you. The schools perfect little girl now his to ruin, his to mark, all he could think about in the moment was how he wanted to fuck you into the shape of his cock, immediately ruin you for any other man; you’d belong to him. But at the same time, he could see the nervousness in your eyes, how you anxiously bit the inside of your cheek, and he knew he wanted to make it as enjoyable as he could for you. He wouldn’t take your virginity today, no; that was for another time. But for now, the least he could do is show you how to play with yourself.

“Gonna make you feel good, yeah?” He’d whisper into your cheek, pressing delicate kisses there. This was so out of character of Judd, what had happened? Suddenly he was sinking to his knees in-front of you, eyes roaming over your lower half as his hands ran up and down your plush thighs. He seemed to just admire them for a moment, take in the view, before he finally lifted your skirt, letting out a deep groan at the sight before him. A dark wet patch had formed on your white panties, slick dribbling down your legs and staining your frilly socks. “Shit, you really are fucking perfect, aren’t you?” He’d mutter. Before you even had a moment to think, he’d moved forward, licking a stripe up your panties and humming at the taste, eyes almost rolling back into his head as his nose brushed your clit. “Taste so good too, fuck.”

You couldn’t help the loud moan that left you at the feeling, your thighs doing their best to squeeze together as you lifted one of your hands to your mouth, other hand moving to Judd’s hair and gently tugging on it. “Feels good- ah..” You’d whimper, hissing as you felt Judd lick your own juices off of your thighs before gently nibbling on the skin, leaving pink marks behind. “Please, Judd…” You’d cry pathetically, fat tears rolling down your cheeks as you did your best to remain stood against the wall, body suddenly feeling weak.

“Gotta keep yourself quiet for me, yeah? Be a good girl and make sure nobody but me can hear those pretty sounds.” He’d murmur against your skin, causing you to nod in return. Judd would hook his thumbs into the waistband of your panties, slowly bringing them down your legs and marvelling at the string of slick that connected them to your cunt before it eventually snapped, causing him to practically growl.

Time seemed to go slow, watching as he trailed his hands up to your hips, thumbs rubbing small circles before he leaned forward, placing quick kisses over your cunt and then finally running his fingers through your folds, spreading them open and giving a teasing lick to your clit, causing you to writhe above him. Your hand would move from your mouth to grab your skirt, lifting it up so you could watch his movements, noting the way he hummed against you, breathing in your scent with a grin before beginning to flick his tongue against your clit playfully, your fingers threading through his hair and pulling him closer to you.

“Little slut can’t get enough, huh?” He’d murmur into you, licking a long stripe through your folds and causing you to let out a pleasured sob. “Feel that good baby? So fucking naughty, letting one of your classmates take care of you like this…” You’d throw your head back against the wall, chest heaving as you nodded in response.

“Yes… Yes, feels so good, Judd — so, so good.” You’d let out a long moan, the sound going straight to Judd’s groin and causing him to hump the air on instinct. Moving down lower, Judd’s tongue would poke at your entrance, causing a choked whimper to leave you as your toes curled in your kitten heels. “Want more, please-” You could feel something building up in your stomach, your head feeling fuzzy and fogging up.

“Greedy fucking bitch… I’ll give you more, beautiful, make you feel full.” His thumb would move to circle your entrance, causing your whole body to jolt forward. You could hear a sinister chuckle come from Judd before he slowly began to sink one finger into your sopping hole. “Shit, look how you fucking suck me back in… so tight.” His eyes would fixate on his finger slowly moving in and out of you, velvet walls squeezing around him and causing him to moan. “How’s anyone meant to fit in there, baby? Even my finger’s too big.” He’d tease, clearly over exaggerating.

A string of choked moans would slip past your lips as your face scrunched up in pleasure, hips beginning to grind into his finger. “Judd! Oh my god, I think I’m gonna pee myself-” You’d panic, head spinning as the pace of his finger began to pick up. He’d laugh again, shaking his head.

“You’re not gonna pee, just let me make you feel good, yeah? You trust me?” He’d raise a brow, green eyes peering up at you, and you could’ve sworn you saw some kind of fondness in them. You’d nod rapidly, you did trust him — you were unsure where this sudden trust had come from, but you knew you didn’t want his movements to stop. He’d slow his pace, biting at your thigh and causing you to yelp. “Need your words, princess.”

“Yes! Yes, trust you, please don’t stop.” You’d beg, trying to rock yourself on his finger to keep up the pace, but his hand would grab your hip, stopping you. Before you knew it, he was slipping a second finger into you, a pleasured cry vibrating in your throat as he made a ‘come hither’ motion in you, hitting a spot that had you jolting repeatedly, stomach tightening and mewls leaving you. “Judd…” You’d whine, head falling forward as your brows knitted together, mouth falling open.

He decided he’d never seen a prettier sight than you right now, looking so worn out, like this was the best you’d ever felt. Never before had he seen you so relaxed, your uptight demeanour finally gone, not so worried about keeping up your act of perfection anymore. If you asked Judd, this was the most perfect he’d ever seen you — not when you’re volunteering, not when you’re giving motivational speeches in assemblies — no, this was so much better. Seeing you all flushed, lashes fluttering and heavy breaths escaping your chapped lips; he could cream his pants just at the sight. The whimpers leaving you had his own moans forming in his throat, placing open-mouth kisses onto your cunt, causing your thighs to shake as he wrapped his free arm around one of them. He’d then move onto sucking on your clit, fingers moving rapidly in and out of you, wet sounds filling the closet.

All of a sudden the coil that had built up in your tummy was snapping, knees buckling as cries of relief left you, mumbles of his name repeating on your tongue as you clung desperately to his hair, the sheer strength of Judd’s one arm around you keeping you up-right whilst you calmed down. So lost in your own pleasure, you failed to notice Judd groaning into you, his body shaking under yours as he released into his pants, cursing himself. Not once in his life had he cum without being touched, but the sight of you and sounds that left those cute lips had gotten to him, the embarrassment taking over quickly.

He’d continue to slowly pump his fingers, helping you through your release as he cleaned up your cum with his tongue, humming at the taste. You’d sigh, leaning your head back and trying to calm your breathing, suddenly feeling awkward.

The room was once again silent for a few minutes… up until Judd finally stood up, brushing his clean hand through his hair and peering down at you with a smug grin. It was only then that you noticed how the bottom half of his face shined with your juices, your face heating up and eyes going wide as you pulled down the sleeve of your shirt and lifted your arm to wipe along his mouth. You could see his brows furrow in confusion, but he made no move to stop you, even leaning down ever so slightly to help you reach. Once you pulled away, he’d lift his fingers to your lips, softly pushing the two that had previously been inside you into your mouth and watching as you wrapped your lips around them, groaning at the way your tongue circled and cleaned them up.

“Let’s get you back home, yeah?”

this isn’t that great and I haven’t written in a while but I’ve wanted to write something for Judd since I finished the new big mouth season the day it came out… so glad they gave us more of him 🤭

Also sorry if there’s any mistakes, I did try to proof read but I’m tired and just want to post this

[astral-mariner]

Exclusive preview chapter of my pre-DBZ Saiyans under Freeza fic, Homeworld Lost (read parts 1 & 2 already posted here) below the cut. Content warning for graphic violence and many disturbing themes.

This chapter is the third chapter of Part 9: Between the Stars. A little context: Vegeta, Raditz, and Nappa are en route to their third and final scheduled purge planet after taking a long time to recover from some serious injuries they endured while on their previous mission. It was traumatic for everyone, to say the least, and each character has tried to cope with the various events in his own way. Vegeta is on edge for a very specific reason, but Raditz either doesn't speculate or is intentionally obfuscating this reason. Vegeta is in his early 20s here, Raditz in his late 20s.

***

Part 9: Between the Stars Chapter 3: Cui's Assignment

I turned the knife over in my hands. Squeezed it. Channeled my energy through my fingers till it passed through the prism. The blade appeared. I often wondered if Shardonne had ever learned to control what little power she had or if she instead harvested souls like [SPOILER]. Either way, fidgeting like this alone in my pod, I’d discovered that I could sate the knife’s hunger for life energy.

Not that I would know how to use it beyond this or perform any kind of spiritual surgery. I had, like the coward I was, left [Freeza's healer's] secrets to languish with him in his laboratory. Perhaps Arugala’s mother, my patroness, had taught me the anatomy of our chakras as she had her own children, but I wouldn’t know how to mend a soul any better than I would how to repair a body that I’d dispatched. However expertly I’d done it.

Yet when I awoke in a tank at a nearby station, Zarbon had left the knife tucked into my breastplate where he’d certainly found it. As if he expected me to learn how to use it. I’d figured out how to use and corrupt other devices supposedly beyond saiyan comprehension. So for all his talk of ensuring Vegeta’s death once he'd fulfilled his purpose, he’d nevertheless given me a chance to heal him. Equally possible that he was mocking me. Ultimately, he knew what Freeza and [his healer] meant to do to Vegeta where I didn’t, and he would manipulate all of us to secure his desired outcome.

Fidgeting. The blade flickered dangerously above my wrist. I didn’t want to step out of my pod. We didn’t belong here.

Vegeta’s grim shadow fell across the pod’s red window. Hurrying, I extinguished the blade and shoved it back inside my breastplate. He wouldn’t tolerate any delays, and only gods knew how he might punish me if he caught me with the knife. He’d come close several times. Always watching my whereabouts during our breaks from stasis.

He opened the hatch for me. “Sleep when you’re dead, third-class,” he spat.

I got up. Fit my scouter over my eye.

“Where the fuck is he?”

Nappa.

“I’m sure he’s almost here,” I reassured the prince.

“Gods, almost as useless as you.” He paced restlessly. Back and forth, boots grinding the dust beneath his feet. His fingers tapped and twitched where they gripped his bicep.

“We don’t have to do this, you know.”

He stopped. His back turned to me, I saw only the subtle bristle of his tightly-wound tail. “Cui”—a deep breath—“has humiliated me for the last time. Let him come to this planet and face me if he dares. After I am through cleansing this planet for him, taking half the time, I’ll throw his dust into the wind.”

“But, this planet��without clearance. Freeza might—”

“Freeza will punish Cui.”

“I don’t think Freeza cares what Cui does.”

Abruptly, Vegeta spun to face me. A flash of violet before I could react. The shot flew over my shoulder to strike a ruin stretched across the horizon. It crumbled to the earth with the roar of falling stone and the scream of metal bending, kicking up clouds of dirt and ashes.

Vegeta continued as if nothing had happened. “Took the Ginyus to subdue this planet.” Pacing again. “Freeza gives us such strange assignments. So very strange… Never was about what the Planet Trade needs a saiyan to fight. When was the last time we fought with honor?”

Fuenghi was a great power, having brought us all to the brink of death, but the prince’s question was rhetorical. I’d learned not to speak out of turn.

He stopped and tapped his scouter. Still searching for Nappa’s signal. “There are always survivors of these purges…” Pulling at his gloves now, adjusting them, wringing his hands together.

If it took the Ginyu Force, we could be in for more than a fight, my mind answered him, presuming he wouldn’t hear. He would not be questioned. Ever since recovering Nappa from the pleasure station, he tolerated so much less.

Everywhere we went, rooms fell silent until our sharp hearing picked up the inevitable mutterings about the massacre. Already Freeza’s scourge, now the prince was the murderer of depraved murderers, more merciless and cruel than any who favored their lawless gathering place. He might’ve worn the titles with pride if not for the disgraceful rumors that came with them.

“Nothing to say, third-class?”

“Yes, it’ll be good to have a real fight,” I agreed despite not having listened. “You don’t need to justify it to me.”

“As if I owe you an explanation.”

“You don’t.” And I didn’t need one. A worthy opponent to test his strength, putting Cui in his place—rationalizations for himself more than anyone else. He certainly wasn’t the first of his name to confuse our thirst for battle for a lust for blood.

He blasted at the ground a tail’s length off from where I stood. “You watched him get in his pod, didn’t you? You set up the coordinates yourself.”

“I did. You saw him—he was in his right mind before I initiated any stasis protocols.”

“You sent him somewhere, didn’t you? So you could say I forced you to come. That you weren’t responsible. That I was the one to go off course and defy orders.” He scoffed. “Try one of your lies with Freeza and see where it gets you.”

Nonsensical accusations, but I wouldn’t criticize him. “I swear I didn’t,” I said.

“Pray that he arrives soon, then.”

Even if Vegeta had come alone, consequences would fall on all of us. Our disobedience wouldn’t go unnoticed; taking on Cui’s assignment was meant to draw attention. No matter what Vegeta might’ve done to me, I would’ve refused to reprogram our route under any other circumstance. However, this planet must harbor some secret if Freeza had commanded the Ginyus specifically to purge it. More than mere strength, the assignment had required precision and, above all, trust. So I’d gathered from Cui last we met.

I let out a sigh once my scouter finally alerted me to Nappa’s arrival. He landed not far off, and I hurried to his pod. Better that he faced me first with the prince poised on the edge of wrath.

I opened the hatch for him once assured his vitals were stable. He was still groggy, but he recognized me. “I’m glad you’re all right.” Offered him my hand to help him stand. “Just…do as he says. Vegeta is in rare form.”

He nodded, but his knotted brow betrayed his confusion.

“We’re cleansing the planet,” I explained. “Leveling what’s left of the population centers, tracking down survivors. It wasn’t on our itinerary, so don’t blame yourself for not knowing.”

“Did you… Is this the first time you’ve told me this?”

I shook my head as I found his scouter for him, took his hand, and folded it over the device. I had, in fact, told him repeatedly. “You just woke up. It’s been a while.”

His scouter locked onto Vegeta stalking toward us, and he tensed.

“Are either of you done wasting my time?”

I positioned myself between him and Nappa. “I just sent you the updated maps. Got a hold of them right before we left.”

He narrowed his eyes, but scrolling over the data distracted him sufficiently. “If either of you fall behind,” he said once he’d finished his review, “I will leave you to rot on this godsforsaken rock.”

“You mean for us to stick together?” Nappa asked.

The prince laughed coldly. “If I could trust either of you, I might assign each of you different continents in the interest of time. But the fact of the matter is that I cannot.”

He took off without warning. Nappa and I scrambled after him, relying on our scouters when we couldn’t match his speed. His flight cut an angry gash through the red smog. Distant, rapid blasts thundered across the sky in brilliant flashes on either side of the wound. Tracing his path with the scouter’s map, he left absolutely nothing in his wake for us to destroy. He would do the work of an entire crew in a matter of hours if exhaustion couldn’t prevent him.

The prince thus occupied, I could easily slip away. And Nappa might not even realize I’d left with how he’d been. Compunction’s familiar ache churned beneath my ribs as I imagined him stranded and lost above the wastes. A relief, then, that I hardly knew what to look for. What it would be worth sneaking away to find. If Vegeta left anything behind for the finding.

He fired and fired and fired until he couldn’t keep apace with the planet’s rotation, and night caught up with him. And then even the dazzling crashes of energy grew fewer and farther between. Darkness at last came to rest over the devastation, and my scouter indicated that Vegeta had descended to the surface. The map outlined what remained of a settlement through the obfuscation of smoke.

Once I landed, letting the prince have his distance, an energy scan discovered no survivors. Just a few minuscule power levels likely belonging to animals. Smaller buildings clustered together on the outskirts of an industrial compound. The Ginyus had taken care to destroy the machines, hangars, towers, and ships, but had left the rest well enough intact.

On an instinct, I made way for the rubble. Nappa followed me without comment. Vegeta, meanwhile, continued to stalk along the perimeter of the settlement, moving with silent intent. Masking, perhaps, a need for rest. Whatever he pursued, I couldn’t stop him, and it made no difference to me so long as he gave me enough time to pick through the debris before disintegrating it.

Glints of green from my scouter’s glow reflected across generators, glass amalgam, new scouter chips, command boxes, adapted prisms—all recognizable, but each with features slightly different from those laid out in the plans Freeza had gifted me those two moons ago. These were more advanced. Only at the Imperial Academy itself had I come across such technology. And this was at some remote factory—hardly what the planet’s occupants must’ve kept for their ports and capitals.

They would’ve traveled far and known much. Too much. I reached down and sifted through the scouter chips until I’d isolated a few that heat and dirt hadn’t rendered useless. These I slipped inside my breastplate near the stolen knife. In all likelihood, the chips didn’t store any sensitive information, but I couldn’t leave them and wonder.

I looked over my shoulder. Nappa had wandered off. I spun, then tapped my scouter when I couldn’t see him anywhere.

A sigh of relief when the scouter highlighted his silhouette behind a shipwreck. Or not quite a shipwreck, but rather the spilled guts of a newly constructed Planet Trade flagship. One of its landing claws held him sitting upright. He looked up from his hands when I approached him.

“Here, you’ll need this,” I said, retrieving his discarded scouter for him.

He took it, fit it, and squinted at the display. “What time is it?”

“Hard to say, but it’s been hours. I’m tired too.”

He picked himself up, refusing all help, and scanned the terrain of the settlement. “I don’t remember this planet from the briefings.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “We took Cui’s cleansing assignment. A detour so we could get here before his crew did. The prince’s idea.”

“He’s out that way.” He took a step in the same direction.

I gripped his arm before he could take off. “Nappa, we just need to get through this without fucking anything up. He put both of us in tanks last time, and he was already furious with you for being late.”

He hung his head. “It’s because of—”

“It’s because of the drug. I know you took some of it with you. And you won’t get better unless you stop taking it.” The last statement I wasn’t so sure of, but I needed to sound sure in case it were true.

“You took it too.”

“I—” I had no excuse for him, and he would know if I lied. He’d seen into my mind just as I’d seen into his all that time ago. “Once,” I said finally. “And you must’ve seen what’s happened with Vegeta too. So you know—maybe better than anyone—that he needs us to stay—”

An explosion cut off the rest. My arm whipped to shield my eyes as heat and hurled scrap crashed towards us.

A few scrapes here and there, but Nappa and I sustained no real damage. The scouter detected no power levels of any significance aside our own. I had to assume that Vegeta had grown weary of this place and would annihilate us with it if we lingered. No more blasts followed, however, and the ruins fell again into the obscurity of night.

The prince remained where he was, and we followed his energy. We heard him before we spotted the sparks blazing around his fists. Shouting.

“Freeza sent his special forces to destroy the likes of you? If you have any honor left, show me your real power.”

I directed Nappa to land at a cautious distance. Vegeta’s energy lit a gleam of terror across the furred creature’s face.

“If—if you have a ship, we’ll go. Take whatever you want!” it stammered. “W-we gave your people the maps already!”

Vegeta laughed. “I don’t give a damn about any of your maps. Either die a warrior’s death, or meet an end worse than hers.” He channeled more energy into his right hand and pointed it to illuminate a spot some tail lengths off.

There lay the mangled body of another creature. Several of six limbs twisted and broken. One snapped above the elbow, only soft flesh keeping the rest of the arm attached. A black, bloody mess of organs tangled beneath the ribs. Agony still contorted the face.

A shriek.

“What, never seen a battlefield before?” He blasted next to the creature and cackled as it dove into the dirt to dodge it. “Guess not. Hid from the purge too like the cowardly scum you are.”

The prince circled round to his victim’s side. The creature trembled too much to stand and couldn’t answer him apart from whimpers and sobs.

“Pathetic.” He shoved his boot into the creature’s spine. “Last chance to fight back. Show your strength.”

Turning away, I glanced toward Nappa. “I don’t think Freeza sent the Ginyu Force because these people were strong,” I said.

He stared blankly into the sky, smoke blotting out the stars. He was always worse when Vegeta lashed out. There was nothing to be done.

“Don’t think you’re going to fight,” the prince scorned. “Pissed yourself instead—I can smell it on you.”

A hoarse scream followed the deep crack of a limb wrenched from its socket. Pain’s memory echoed through my shoulders, numbness through my fingers. Vegeta had done the same to me when his blows left me shivering and useless. Warm-blooded, the creature must suffer similarly, and though we couldn’t let it live for Freeza to find, its misery served no purpose.

I braced myself before facing Vegeta once more. Before bearing witness to the torture he could easily turn on me if anger mastered him. “They’re just weaklings,” I shouted. “A waste of your time. Let’s get this over with and get off this planet.”

He dropped the creature with a snarl. “I don’t take orders from you, third-cl—”

A bolt of red struck his armor in between his shoulder blades. From a blaster deadly enough to pierce Planet Trade gear, yet ineffective in harming someone of the prince’s power level. He whipped around where he stood in search of the sniper, hands ready with charges.

A pair of smaller beings lingered a second too long before disappearing around a wall’s corner.

Vegeta kicked the creature at his feet. “Are those…your children?”

“No!” A plea rather than a denial.

“They—aha—are going to watch you die.” He tapped his scouter, isolating the trace power levels instantly. He vanished, my eyes hardly able to track him, and the two children had no hope of escape.

“Nn…” The presumed father squirmed towards me. Supplicant, he stretched one trembling hand out to me.

I took aim for his head.

“Aren’t you going to save him?”

Fired.

I didn’t process what Vegeta had said or why until it was too late. My shot had stricken the child who’d dove to protect his father from me. Now he wept over the little body.

I gathered energy into my hand. “These people are a waste. Just kill them.”

Vegeta answered my charge with one of his own. The child he held by the neck didn’t understand that he meant it for me and squirmed as far away as it could. “Defying me, third-class? How sorry you must be that Freeza won’t let me grant your deathwish. Always tempting me… I can control myself, unlike you.” His grip on the child’s throat stifled a scream.

I stood my ground. “Tell yourself whatever you want. But you won’t humiliate Cui by taking twice as long on his assignment.”

He fixed his sharp eyes on mine, sneering, as he leaned more of his weight and strength into his heel until his boot crushed spine and ribs with an unmistakable, wet crunch. “Worthless,” he snarled over the creature’s gargling.

A quick death, at least, if not an easy one. Consequences damned, I vowed that the child would receive an end just as swift even if I had to intervene. All four eyes tightly shut, tears streamed into the dark fur lining its face. Its lips quivered over clenched teeth, and trilled whimpers escaped through them as Vegeta released its throat to embrace the child from behind. Almost as tall as he was, the prince’s mouth was level with its ear.

“Does it make you strong, watching them die?” he said.

I’d heard those words before, and my steps faltered.

“It’s been so long since I’ve fought someone worthy… So long, lying awake, restless…” Abruptly, he let go of the child. “Show me you aren’t as useless as the rest.”

Its limbs buckled instantly, and it tumbled forward into the remains of its father and sibling. Away from Vegeta, I had a clear shot. I awaited only a slip of the prince’s attention. His speed would thwart me otherwise, and he’d deflect the blast.

The child, however, did not merely lie shocked and defeated. Somehow, even with a mouth full of its father’s blood, it summoned the will to rise up from the ground. I knew very little about the child’s race, but the look it turned on Vegeta was one of pure hatred. “Why?” it spat at him.

The prince answered with a crooked grin. “As if I could tell you why the gods have forsaken you.”

“Gods have nothing to do with it.” The child managed to stand. A rise in power level did not accompany it. “You did this.”

“Who are the gods but whoever is strongest?” Again, he seized the child by the neck. “And I am stronger than you. I’m stronger—haha—a Super Saiyan, the strongest in the universe!”

The [SPOILER] I’d seen had been no more than a dream. I was sure of it now. Many times had Vegeta lied, hidden, said one thing and done another, and exhibited more arrogance than his actual strength warranted. After all that’d happened, I understood why. My heart ached for him still. But as much as I’d denied it ever since he’d turned on me on that empty planet, I was beginning to recognize his madness for what it was. And because his sanity was slipping, I knew his defenses would slip too when I finally aimed and took my shot.

Blasted cleanly through its skull, the child died immediately. The body convulsed for a few seconds before going limp. Still gripping the neck while he raved, Vegeta seemed not to realize what’d happened.

“There is nothing but your own strength. The gods gave you a mother and father just to wound you when they were taken away. Better now that they’re gone, and you see the truth. I’ve set you free. Does it make you strong?”

He shook the body, rattled it. He’d come to assume soon enough that he’d spoiled his torture too soon. The corpse could fascinate him only so long. I left him with it to see where Nappa had gone.

He’d found the children’s hiding place behind the crumbled wall. He sat, rocking back and forth, muttering to himself. Something about Savoy. I couldn’t stand to listen. I leaned down and struck him hard across the face.

“We have to get out of here. You’ve got to snap out of it.”

He shook his head, massaged his cheek, and seemed to recognize me when our eyes met.

“Vegeta just needed a moment to rest, but he’ll be ready to set out again soon. He’ll put us in tanks again if we fall behind.”

“Raditz…where are we?”

I took a deep breath and turned my back to him before I could curse in his face. “Fucking gods damn it all,” I ground out. “Shit. Fuck. Can’t fucking take this anymore. Can’t fucking do it.” All of us were mad in our own way, and our next assignment would end in disaster. And all I had was I knife I couldn’t use, empty scouter chips, and connections who meant me more harm than anything else. Vegeta had been right about one thing—the gods wouldn’t help us either. They never had.

“Nappa,” I said, facing him again, “once we leave, we’re going to go through your things and get rid of whatever is left of that drug. Let me do it, or Vegeta will.”

He frowned. Perhaps he hadn’t even understood. Better, then, if he was too far gone to interfere.

“Just follow me, all right?” I took him by the arm. “It’s just a cleansing assignment we took from Cui. There’s not much left. We just have to finish up and leave.”

“Where’s Vegeta?”

“Down that way. Found some survivors and took care of them.”

His brow knotted after he tapped his scouter. Another tap. “He’s gone.”

Fucking gods, I refused to utter aloud. “Of course he is.” I locked onto his energy before he could fly too far ahead. “We’ve got to go.”

[robby-bobby-tommy]

To guns and bullets

Summary: After a purgatory, while the survivors float on the ship, away from the hell, one Islander didn't go to sleep. Philza noticed that Fit stayed on the bow of the boat. The wise crow couldn't go to sleep, without checking on everyone's safety.

(Heavily inspired by "Two slow dancers" By Mitski and "Everything stays" From Adventure time)

The round moon rose, shining down on the deep ocean with a ship, flowing through the calm waves. The vessel sweetly rocked, lulling its passengers. All of them were exhausted. The last two weeks were very stressful for the players, and this last minute escape had taken all their remaining strengths away. At the evening, After some long talk, bruised survivors went to the cabins, where all of the beds were. This whole ordeal has taken a toll on their mental health, but despite the distrust this event was supposed to cause, players couldn't stay alone. Mouse, whose beautiful pink pigtails tangled and had some sticks in them, asked Bagi to sleep in the same room. The latter agreed, looking exhausted. Her hair were still wet from falling in the ocean, her head hurt from that too. Some scars from battles reopened, so brown haired woman decided to head out earlier. The girls said their goodbyes, and then left. Philza checked on them later at night, and they were sleeping anxiously.

Charlie proposed staying with Roier. Slime looked severely dehydrated; his more slime-like parts started to crack. He himself was half covered in mud and his corrupted parts were blinking a bit. Phil wasn't sure why, but he thought that it was probably due to the goopy guy's instability. Corruption didn't spread since he wasn't in contact with his "daughter", but the damage caused by purgatory didn't let those scars heal. The spider hybrid looked ghostly. His eyes were blank, he was heartbroken and pale. The Mexican man was trembling, as he repeated the last message his husband send to him. Roier wasn't really in the conversation, until Charlie didn't place his hand on spider's back and take him to their cabin. After checking on Bagi and Mouse, Crow father knocked on their door. Slime was quietly snoring, while Roier was staring at the ceiling. The latter didn't respond after the blonde man called for him. Philza didn't know what to do, but felt terrible for his friends.

The last one to go was Tubbo. His shirt and jeans were torn, his hair was messy. Toby's goggles were cracked, and his usually happy eyes were now dark and tired. Him and Phil discussed all they've seen today or done. The younger boy was full of ideas, yet his strengths were no more. After he started bringing up the same points like a broken record, Crow suggested Tubbo to sleep. As every other player before he didn't want to go to bed alone, for the loneliness was terrifying. Dadza promised to share a room with him, after he would check on everyone. This seemed to be a good compromise, cuz after this preposition youngster begrudgingly headed out for the night. Few minutes later, Phil went through corridor, looking in every room and heard a loud snore from Toby's. The last cabin Crow checked was Pac's. He was sleeping even before today's event and was brought aboard by Fit. The black haired man was sleeping. As everyone he was battered and his night wasn't sound. He twitched a bit, and it seemed like he was having a nightmare.

After some time, night came and the darkness spread around the ship. Yet the winged man couldn't go to sleep. The aforementioned Fit was not in any of the cabins. He also wasn't in the main area and corridors. Phil wasn't able to relax before everyone was safe and sound. Crow came out on the board, before seeing a little smoke coming from the stern. The winged man made his way there, as the stars shined. When he got there his friend turned his head to him. But once he saw who stood before him, bald man quickly turned away.

"Haven't seen you smoking for a lifetime."

Fit didn't respond to this half baked joke, but only hid his face more.

"Mind if I sit with you?"

"Be my guest." The veteran said finally. His voice was raspy, for he haven't spoken a word since confronting Tubbo a few hours back. At that time he looked furious, beaming with surpressed feelings of loss and uncertainty. But now bald man sat quietly, slowly holding a cigarette to his moth.

Winged man sat near his friend, avoiding pressing his back against the wall. Only now Phil noticed some cracks on the railings and the floor of the ship. The wise crow didn't remember them being there, when the remains of once happy group got to their salvation.

"What happened here?"

"Nothing but a cosmetic damage." Fit replied, pressing a cigarette to his lips once again. Philza couldn't not notice his brother in arm's human hand bleeding, as the knuckles were scratched.

"Are you okay?"

"As good as can be," he interrupted. "You?"

"Shitty." There was no point in lying. The wise crow looked exhausted. His black haori and green jinbei were dirty and torn. The blond man's back and wings were bleeding and brought terrible pain. "This whole purgatory thing.... It was hard. Being a leader of the team and fight for survival isn't quite what I do."

"Don't cut yourself short, Phil, you're the best at surviving."

"It's one thing surviving alone, but having to look out for a whole team is a different experience."

"You did good." Fit insisted, pressing a cigarette to his mouth once again. He was still facing the different direction.

"But I wish I could've done more." Philza confessed. Something made him trust this man. "I couldn't bear hearing them asking for directions, especially when the eggs.. When the earthquake began."

"Nobody knew what to do." The veteran's voice cracked a little, but he quickly tried to get it back to normal. "Don't blame yourself for not knowing everything."

"..thank you..shit, can I have a smoke?"

Fit was visibly surprised. "You always hated smoking."

"It's been the worst week I had, I really need something to distract me."

The bald man gave in, handing him the small hand made cig, that he was smoking just a second ago.

"It's the only one I have."

"Thank you."

Phil pressed the cigarette to his lips and puffed. "Where are Chayanne and Tallulah? Are they safe or at least alive? How's the rest of team BOLAS? Was all of this carnage worth it?" He wondered. The thoughts of pain and loss were suppressed by the prickly feeling in his mouth and lungs. The flaming smoke filled his mouth and the crow started coughing profusely. With every new cough Crow was more and more sure that this was a bad idea. His eyes started watering, as he nearly threw his own lungs out. Through the noise, winged man heard a chuckle coming from his trusted friend.

"Times changed, yet your relationship with cigarettes didn't." Fit reached out his normal hand, waiting for Phil to give his "distraction" back.

"It tastes like shit. How are you even able to smoke it for so long?" Crowza blurted out, as his cough started decreasing.

"Back on Earth smp I smoked more than one a day. Destroyed my lungs a bit, but I got used to it quickly. This smoke is almost the same as the air on 2b2t."

"Really? Was it that bad?"

"Pretty much. Daily explosions and withers played their part. It was hard for me to breathe at first on Earth smp, cuz the air was so clear." Fit made another puff.

"I miss this server. Remember Antarctic Empire?"

"I'll never forget you and Techno took over the world. No one even stood a chance." Finally bald man turned his head enough for Phil to see his friend's eye. Only now the child of the sky noticed a bloody scar, going through the eye. The streak of red liquid flowed down the cheek. "Do you remember our first meeting though?"

"Oh, yeah. You sure made an impression. Showing up out of nowhere on a plane and suggesting to become a «sacrifice for the blood god in the name of science»." Philza chuckled, remembering this scene vividly.

"I did, didn't I?" Fit was also smiling a bit. "Well, we had to find out how much points we lose somehow! And it led to the greatest alliance ever." The last words were spoken with so much hidden warmth only a close friend would feel.

"True." Phil sensed it.

"Besides, the planes weren't such a bad idea due to how far away your empire was from Florida kingdom. Not all of us were blessed with the wings."

"Yeah.." The last part stung a lot, but the man in haori didn't blame Fit. ".....god, I miss this place."

"Me too." The expression on bald man's face became more bittersweet. "One of my favorite memories of earth smp is us flying together. You on your own and me on the plane... Remember?"

Philza did remember. He remembered the ocean of stars that is the night sky spread above him, as he flew. The wind tickled the face and ruffled every feather. Crow's blonde hair and clothes were blowing in the wind. He was cold, since he was very fast, but it didn't matter. The round moon up high shone down on the biggest smile on the face of the child of the sky. The paysage below changed from stunningly lonley whiteness of the snows of Antarctic Empire and its castles, villages and farms to the green of the taïga and its spruces. The glimpse of county Phil built with his friends brought him unimaginable joy. He felt freedom, he felt happy. The far stars reflected in the blue eyes, as they watched the greatness of the view above, and winged man felt this greatness in himself. This was a sensation of unimaginable power, as if the world itself was plased in the hand of the feathered one.

Angel of death couldn't hear much, as the air he was cutting through was noisy, but after a while the new loud sound entered Phil's calm night. The man with wings black as coal looked around, but the clouds didn't let him see much. After a few minutes a noise became louder, and just as Crowza began to panic, a giant ass plane emerged from the white mass of gaz to the left of a person. Angel of death flew away to the right, still trying to process this unexpected situation. The plane was brown and had no roof. The pilot was covered by shadow of a supporting plane, and crow couldn't see who he was. But before Phil could think more, the steal arm with gravure on it popped right out of the darkness in a sign of greeting. All the confusion went away and was replaced by a playfulness. After a few seconds Fit clenched his hand into a fist, proposing to do their special move. Carefully winged man got closer to his companion and fist bumped him. Oh how Phil missed these silly gestures and games they used to play. The angel of death decided to toy a little, so, with the largest grin on his face, he swooped down, got under the plane, and surfaced to the other side of the steel bird. The shadow of the man in the flying machine started to look around, trying to spot his companion. Phil chuckled and knocked on the steal. Fit twitched and declined overly dramatically. Then they began swerving and turning, playfully raced. Oh how they both missed these times. The times of freedom and youth. Veterans didn't need to see each other's faces or hear each other's voices to know, that they both laughed

"You didn't have this scar then, didn't you?" The child of the sky pointed at the burn scar on his friend's cheek.

"Yeah, that was from an end crystal. Got it about 2 years after we said our goodbyes. You changed too. You've got some more wrinkles."

"Oh fuck off!"

They both chuckled and right after they fell silent for a bit. This quietness, that was interrupted by the sound of waves punching the steal of the ship, was very bittersweet. Veterans looked in the sky, reminiscing this moment. Yet they weren't like that anymore. The past would never return.

"It was so much easier back then, wasn't it?" Phil broke the silence. "We weren't stuck and were free to do whatever we wanted to...."

"...yeah." Veteran said that with some darkness. "I miss the simplicity too. But I somehow love this island too."

"Really?"

"Yeah..." Fit thought for a bit, spinning a cigarette around in his arm, before putting it back in his mouth. "It gifted me a lot. It's calmer than 2b2t ever was. It's still a shithole, but... I like it. At the end of the day, I never thought I'd see you again. Qsmp let me reconnect with you and find new people. And it gave me Ramon."

Winged man knew his companion didn't lie. As much as Fit hated being emotional and vulnerable, he found strengths to confide in people. Phil found it very brave and felt warmer, knowing that his own immense trust was reciprocated. At the same time crow understood his friend's feelings. Phil hated this island with its monsters and Federation with burning passion. But he was also grateful for all the fun memories, for his new family, for Forever, for bond with Étoiles, for Missa's company, for Fit's unwavering loyalty and most importantly for Chayanne and Tallulah. They were his light, his reason. There was nothing the child of the sky loved more, than to wake up and see kids peacefully sleeping or planning their next adventure. This server brought so much pain and suffering, yet found the way to give so much more happiness.

"I understand this feeling. I hate feds, codes and whatever the fuck this Eye dude was, but I love everything else. Chayanne and Tallulah are the best that ever happened to me...... Wonder where they are..." Philza's voice trembled, as the worries came back in his mind. His heart ached, for he couldn't bear staying in unknown, having no idea of the kids' whereabouts. "Do you believe...?"

"That they're alive? Yeah, our kids are sturdy." That was dishonest. Fit had the same questions and no answers. But he tried to reassure his friend and himself.

"But.. What if this Eye motherfucker did something to them? And what about the bomb?" Blonde man started speaking faster, as a confusion mixed with slight panic began to overflow.

"Phil, they're dragon eggs. They've been through a lot, I believe in them."

"But not an atomic bomb! And this eye bitch was in the same room as Chay, what if he did something to him? And Lullah... She probably.."

Suddenly Phil felt something on his back. The warm hand was placed in between his shoulder blades, at the roots of his wings. Crow looked at his friend, who was now fully turned at him. His deep brown eyes looked calm, reassuringly. Now that the other part of the face was visible, the blonde man understood why this man was turning away. Right above his left eye was a big scar, which bled down the cheek. But it wasn't something he would hide. The long, lonely stain coming from the corner of the eye, that was the vulnerability he tried to disguise. This single tear, that was now dried, divided the pool of red substance. Yet bald man now fully focused on the child of the sky. His palm soothed the man and ceased the fear in him. The warmth of this gesture and a slight pain pulled crowza back to reality.

"Phil, look at me. We don't know if they are alive, but we don't know the opposite. It's like that schrodinger cat shtick. We can't do anything but wait. Let's just believe in positive.. Ok?"

Man in black haori looked back at his friend's eyes. His own blue ones flickered, and he quietly nodded. There really was no proof that the kids were dead, for no one saw any corpses. And despite scary thoughts still plaguing his mind, Phil chose to trust Fit's judgement.

"Thank you, Fit.. Sorry for all the waterworks, it's just too much, you know.."

"Don't worry, it's okay. I feel the same.. This purgatory really did number on our psyche... Hm?" The veteran pulled his hand back, after sensing something liquid on his fingers.

"The fuck is it?"

"My wings broke during the escape. They just started to heal, when we had to leave, and they weren't prepared to carry both mine and Toby's weight."

The bald man looked at his palm for a second, before wiping this bodily fluid on his pants. Then he reached for a backpack, that was on his left to take something out. Only now Phil realized that during their whole conversation Fit exclusively used his human arm and let his prosthetic one stay unmoved.

"What's up with your left arm?" Crowza asked, watching his friend struggle to open a bag with one hand.

"It's..." For a few seconds baldie tensed his muscles up. His body trembled a bit, but his prosthetic arm barely moved a finger. "It broke down during the earthquake. I kinda neglected maintaining it occasionally." He resumed his search.

"We can tell Tubbo. He can do some magic with create or something.."

"Nah, I'll give it to Ramon once he gets back."

"Then I'll wait for Lullah to finish her sanctuary. Plus I must show Chay Halloween decorations."

After a few more seconds Fit fished out something sparkly. It was a golden Apple.

"Here, take it. Stops the bleeding and blocks the pain like a charm."

"No, I can't take it!" Phil was unimaginably grateful, yet he couldn't accept this gift, considering the state his friend was in. "You have your own open wounds! Eat it yourself, king."

"It's not the first time I had more holes than usual."

"Heal yourself first."

"It's my last gapple."

"I can't—"

"For fucks sake. I insist, and I won't take no for an answer." The annoyance appeared clearly on the scarred face.

"......thank you." Phil finally took the offer, begrudgingly. He was still a bit shocked that cold survivalist of the toxic wasteland would give away the healing so easily.

"Hey, wanna make a toast?" Veteran said, taking his cigarette out of his mouth and bringing it closer to his best friend.

"For what? Our kids?" Winged man put gapple to cigar.

"Yeah, for their well being and safe return."

"Huh, of course. And, for guns and bullets." Philza smiled, looking right into Fit's brown eyes.

"For guns and bullets." The same tired smile appeared on bald man's face, as he knew what his friend referenced.

Veterans "clinked" their possession. Crowza took a bite out of the golden apple and 2b2t's warrior puffed, sealing their toast. Man in haori felt warmth spread in his body, closing his wounds and fixing his broken bones. Gapple really was a great pain killer, and with pain all remaining powers left Phil. He was so tired, that it was very hard to stay awake. The child of the sky wearily put his head on a shoulder of his bullet.

"Sorry, eepy."

"No problem." The gun felt weight added to his head. They both began looking at the moon and an ocean of stars, that surrounded it. They didn't need words to understand each other, as they sat in this weird hug.

"I don't want to lose you." These words were spoken so quietly, that only blondie could hear them. "Never would imagine I'd miss you so much after only few weeks."

"Don't worry. I don't want to leave without you too. Heh, you're my most trusted friend. Thank you for believing every time, by the way. I'd go mad without your support, king."

"You're too good to me, Phil. I've known you for way too long to dismiss your visions. Thank you for trusting me and sharing info."

They chuckled. Now they were the most vulnerable they've ever been, yet they felt no discomfort. After this concert they knew that they had each other. From the start they wouldn't leave another one in danger. Since the very first day on the train, since the adoption, since the first egg disappearance, since all the adventures and campings, since every little bad and good things that happened, Phil and Fit stayed together. If someday they'd have to fight the codes or feds again, guns and bullets would immediately connect and come up with a plan. Phil was sure that if him and Fit entered the fire, they'd come out with no burns. And veteran was sure, that, in case of death, the hell was waiting on both of them.

After a few minutes, Phil finally decided to go to sleep. "Let's head out. Tubbo will kill me, if i don't keep my promise. Plus Pac waits for you."

"What do you mean?" The slight blush appeared on bald man's face, as he stood up.

"Pac's cabin has an extra bed. Now you'll finally be actual roommates." Crowza smiled sassy.

Man with a prosthetic arm wanted to response, but just as he opened his mouth, his leg suddenly bended. The child of the sky quickly stabilized his friend. 

"Concussion." Fit responded to an unasked question. 

After they got to their rooms, and hugged before heading out to their own beds. 

Winged man fell in his bed, feeling totally exhausted. He quickly drifted off to sleep, listening to loud snores of the youngster. Finally, Crow could sleep, since everyone was safe. And Philza was safe too. 

[mademoiselle-cookie]

Is Étoiles a bad leader?

No. If you just wanted to know that, my answer is no. You don't have to read the rest.

So in my completely impartial and not at all biased opinion, I'm going to explain why we are actually lucky to have him as a leader. (it will probably poorly age)

But first yes, this question does not come out of nowhere. This first day was hell for the Green Team and their chat (at least Étoiles' chat). I was watching his stream before stopping before the “teamwork” part. If it had been later, I wouldn't have watched the VOD. I literally put the last stream in accelerated, because it wasn't pleasant to watch and Étoiles was clearly not having a good time. It ruined my good mood and I abandoned the stream on the 2nd day because I wasn't in a state to enjoy it, even though it seemed to be exactly like the solo part of Étoiles during the 1st day, but vocally with the Blue Team, so without the stress of teamwork.

I'm not saying that Étoiles is perfect. It is obvious that he was not elected for his leadership abilities, but because he is the strongest (and he is green). He is kind, doesn't like to impose himself, speaks softly and is an introvert whose social battery runs out quickly (I'm an introvert myself and let me tell you it goes down very quickly in stressful/in unusual company/unpleasant situations). It also often happened that the other players talked over him (except Fit, no? It seemed to annoy him)

But I attribute the majority of their difficulty to two points:

Lack of luck A) Decisions which are good on paper but the circumstances of the event make them bad

It's a survival game. Taking your time to prepare is super important if it's possible. It's literally what allows you to survive properly after that. The Green Team farmed items, obtained and enchanted armors and weapons, collected food, made sure everyone had what they needed, created a well-hidden base... They then left as a group because it is more cautious and stronger... The problem is that not everyone plays like that. The other teams were much weaker (at this moment) so the fights weren't tense at all, they got lost very often due to their numbers, the majority of interactions among teams took place while they were preparing so they arrived too late for that ...

B) Lack of balance

The Green Ninjas are way too strong. There is Étoiles, the strongest on the server who is used to this type of game, Fit, who is also used to this type of game but with even more experience, Roeir who is much stronger than he looks like… In comparison, the Red Team doesn't have half its team and those remaining are mostly lore players, not pvp or survival. What would it have cost to take Étoiles or Fit and trade him for a red player who never comes? There would have been fewer calm and experienced people among the Greens but a penalty is not a problem at this stage. Etoiles were just complaining that they were too strong and that it wasn't fun.

(And really, at least the Reds are with people they're used to being around (the Twitch Rivals members are all there except Etoiles) and they're the crowd's favorites. The Green Team is either people who know their stuff and are quite solitary (Fit and Etoiles) or don't come in general (Kameto), or won't come much anymore because it's not their type of game (Antoine and Ironmouse). So it's less fun to watch. Imbalance is not just in the difference in strength.)

C) Languages

It's like that for everyone but on the Green Team, only Fit is a Native English Speaker, the language that everyone uses. Finding words is complicated, understanding others is complicated, and all that, added to the stress, made the situation even more difficult than necessary.

Hell is other people A) It's stressful

The players were teleported to an unknown island completely run by a person who hates them and wants to make them suffer, without their stuff, with one less heart line, to save their children, taking into account that an (unknown) team is corrupted and its defeat means the death of some eggs. Survival games aren't for everyone either, so some really fall completely short. Game or not, it's a stressful situation. And humans don't perform well under stress, and that makes us more aggressive and difficult to get along with. For teamwork, it's a real obstacle.

B) These players do not meet often

Apart from a few exceptions, the members of the Green Team do not often hang out together. They get along well but are usually with other people. Obviously, the bonds are less strong, and the knowledge to understand and manage others is lesser.

C) It's the 1st day

The first day of an inherently stressful and frustrating event, where team members do not necessarily know each other well. Obviously it's a disaster. We rarely perform really good the first time. At least the Greens didn't kill each other or go crazy.

But honestly, we judge the Greens on their teamwork because they were the only ones to do it. The Blues were working, but mostly on their own, the Reds acting as a team but they did not really "work".

But why are we lucky to have Étoiles as a leader? Because he's the nicest. He wants to play fair. He apologizes after killing someone, didn't want to kill Tina because the fight was way too unfair, asked his team not to burn other people's stuff because it's really annoying. This team is the strongest on the easy server if they try. Étoiles almost won on the 2nd day while being all alone. He would have succeeded if Elquackity hadn't messed up (chances are it was done on purpose to boost the morale of the Red Team). Roier wants blood, so does Fit. Yet Étoiles managed to keep them calm enough to farm and maintain some morals. If he decided to be completely wild, it wouldn't be a pretty sight.

The Reds went completely crazy from day 1, while the Greens had enough preparations for a solid foundation when they reconnect. The Bolas might be the most fun to follow, but if you were stuck on the island, which team would you prefer? The crazy cannibals who eat each other or the strongest who help each other even if it’s boring?

[lady-charinette]

Innocent Questions - Spy x Family fic

Can't believe all it took to write this was Twilight choking on a cigarette and I'm running to my computer. Damn. XD

Set during Ep. 12, a sort of add on to what could've also happened in the episode for funsies. I wish we had a bit more bonding moments between Yor and Loid, but there's still fanfiction! :3

Hope you enjoy!

The spy eyed the half-finished cigarette in the other man’s hand. “You quit smoking?” the spy arched an eyebrow under his hat, gaze zeroing in on the unfinished cigarette falling into the trash bin.

Twilight coughed as if on cue, clearing his throat. “Well, I have a child now.”

Those words seemed odd, especially coming from one of the greatest spies of their generation. Was this an advanced spy technique he hadn’t heard about?

Perhaps Handler would know about this technique?

“Hm, I see.” He watched Twilight disappear in the sea of people, blending perfectly well into the crowd despite his imposing presence.

Well, he had his own missions to report to WISE, better to get moving.

Once he had reached headquarters, the situation with Twilight wouldn’t leave the spy’s mind. “Hey, Handler.”

Sylvia hummed in acknowledgement, her gaze not leaving the map of the knock locations of Ostania’s corrupt politicians.

“Did…have you heard of an advanced technique about changing your habits to blend in with your cover story?”

“Of course, those are the basics of any covert operation.”

“Even quitting smoking?”

Handler looked up from the map to look at the agent. “…That would require quite the dedication.” She seemed to consider the thoughts formulating in her mind, finally giving them a voice in the form of a question. “Any particular reason you ask, agent?”

The agent jumped, suddenly feeling all too nervous under Handler’s strict gaze. “N-No reason!” he immediately went back to work.

Sylvia frowned. ‘Seems like this agent recently encountered someone so dedicated to their work. Wasn’t Twilight the last person this spy met for debrief?’ she made a mental run up of the list of spies deployed that morning, Twilight’s and this agent’s names being on that list. ‘Hm, indeed, it takes a very dedicated spy.’

“Loid?” at Yor’s call, Loid glanced up from his book. “Have you ever smoked before?”

The question caught Loid off guard, especially considering today’s events with the other agent, but he kept a cool façade when answering. “I used to. Why?”

Yor peeled and cut apples for two bowls, one for Anya and one for her and Loid to share. “Hmm, my co-workers smoke a lot, I was just curious.”

Loid set his book aside, his attention now fully on Yor as he got up to stand before the kitchen counter. “You never smoked before Yor?”

He smiled when he realized she cut the apple slices into bunny shapes for them as well not just for Anya. ‘Cute.’ thought Twilight in passing.

“I tried it once when I was still a teenager, but never continued because of Yuri. And it didn’t really suit my tastes.” She smiled in embarrassment, taking another apple to cut. “I remember I used to be ridiculed for not smoking or holding my liquor well, but that didn’t really bother me. I was always so worried what would happen to Yuri if I suddenly died due to smoking too much or excessive drinking.” Yor giggled, as if something in that statement was considered to be funny. ‘Not that I couldn’t have died every day while I was still a rookie assassin…’

Loid’s eye twitched. “Right…” he glanced at Anya’s penguin plushie situated on the couch, wearing his black sunglasses Anya stole from his jacket pocket when Loid wasn’t watching. ‘Penguinman’ she had called the plushie. “I stopped once Anya was born…not that I had smoked much before, it was more so societal customs on my part, not because I truly enjoyed it either.”

Yor nodded, listening attentively when she finished cutting the apples. “I see.” Another thought suddenly popped into her mind. “Loid, have you ever forgotten your house keys before?”

Loid blinked, truly caught off guard by the innocent question and he chuckled. “What’s with all the questions today, Yor?” his expression spoke of amusement when he rested his chin on his palm to watch Yor wash the knife and cutting board.

She chuckled as well. “Well, I just noticed I haven’t really asked you anything since entering into this agreement. A wife ought to know her husband well, right?”

Her question and curiosity were well founded and justified, so why did Twilight’s heart pick up speed and his ears burn hot?

He cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck. “Mhmm..you’re right. And I did, a few times when I was younger. Franky likes to remind me of that often.” He grabbed an apple slice and popped it into his mouth, chewing before posing a question. “Has Yuri ever pranked you when you were young?”

Loid listened with interest while Yor recounted memories of her childhood, embarrassing moments where Yor fell prey to Yuri’s mischievous shenanigans, but which all sounded adorable in Twilight’s mind.

It was when Anya joined the fray and they all ate the apple slices in the living room that things started getting interesting. “Mama, have you ever killed someone?”

“Anya, we don’t ask these questions.”

Ao3

[eijishimas]

Hey! Congratulations on your milestone!

Could I request Denki in a roommates au with corruption, praise, and v-card stealing. Something where the reader is the one being corrupted??? Totally understand if you don’t get to it!

thank you anon! i get your request, don’t worry <3 idk why but writing denki gives me such a boost of serotonin, but i think it’s because i’ve been thirsting over this man with aali for like 2 days straight now LMFAO

mkay here he is

1k event here

You were sick of being left out of the loop. You were tired of the innuendos being thrown over your head and you were annoyed at your friends for constantly bringing up how good sex was to you. Whether it be with their boyfriends or girlfriends, they seemed to jock it up to something totally mind blowing. It made your blood boil because you didn’t have a partner to experience these sexual encounters with. Hell, you hadn’t had the time when you were busy busting your ass working two jobs to pay for rent and tuition. It was exhausting, and you were sick of it.

Your roommate, Denki, had started noticing the bags underneath your eyes and the way you carried yourself with a heavier weight on your shoulders. He had listened to you rant about the conversations between your friends, how you felt that you were missing out on some sort of special club or secret you weren’t allowed to be let in on, all because you had never slept with anyone before. Denki comforted you as best as he could. First with his words, explaining to you that sex isn’t the be all, end all. Then with his actions, which was how you ended up on his bed with him on top of you.

“Like this?” you whispered, your hand wrapped around his twitching cock as your thumb curiously swiped at the precum coating the sensitive head of his cock. There was a mysterious fire on a low burn between your legs, your thighs tensing in an attempt to keep the flames licking at your abdomen at bay. Still, you could feel your panties grow wetter, your hands feeling shaky as Denki nodded. “Yeah, like that honey. You’re doing great just- just like that,” he hummed as you kept pumping his cock, his hand on yours forcing your grip to tighten around him. He let your sleep shorts and panties marry the floor, eyes drinking in your glistening pussy with want and hunger behind golden irises.

The gasp you let out as you allowed your roommate to push into you makes Denki feel like he’s on cloud nine, breathing unsteady as he bottoms out within you. “You’re so tight,” he groaned, a chaste kiss being delivered to your shoulder makes your pussy clench around him. The sting only lasts for a small interval, and as Denki starts moving, the tension in your lower half only builds. “Denki,” your fingers tugged at the hair at the back of his neck, your hips raising up off the mattress to meet his. His hand moved up to pinch your pebbled nipple between his fingers beneath your shirt, your eyes beginning to roll back as you gave him free reign of your body. “You’re gorgeous like this holy fuck, squeezing me so good, hugging my cock just right. You’re sure you’ve never done this before, honey?” he praised you in his own way, your heartstrings being played all too easily by the blond. Oh, god. You weren’t catching feelings for him, your roommate, were you?

That would have to be a conversation for another day, when he wasn’t rubbing circles on your clit and railing you into the mattress. That would be far too much to think about.

all works © eijishimas 2021. do not reuse, modify, or repost.

tags:

@cynthus-no @stoopidnekobish @kiridarling @kirislilrock @baku-deku1 @cherrychan0 @aliciabakugo @peaxhcringe @justanotheruselessextra @izukuuarchive @bakugous-trauma @cosmic-waves7 @amaejiki @shokoarashi

[animedaddymilkers]

Kinkmas 2020: Day Nine

Prompt: Corruption w/ Lee

Genre: Smut/18+ || Tags: Corruption, Loss of Virginity, Fingering, Oral, Unprotected Sex, Creampie || Characters: Rock Lee, Female Reader || read it on ao3 here

Lee's voice was shaky and unsure as you positioned yourself on his lap, "Are… Are you sure it is okay we are doing this?"

"Yes, it's okay we're doing this. I want to do it, so if you also want to do it it's okay. If you're uncomfortable, tell me?"

His head nodded quickly before he quietly gasped when your hands rested on his chest. When your boyfriend told you he was entirely and totally a virgin, never touched, never kissed, it didn't exactly surprise you. Lee was a loving person but reserved in his affections, especially romantic affections. He was adamant about saving himself for someone who he loved deeply and loved him just as much. That's what left you in your predicament now. You both knew your love went deep for the other and Lee sheepishly admitted he wanted you to be his first. The words were sweet and you'd be lying if you said the idea of taking his virginity didn't turn you on.

Just seeing the way your hands affected him had you getting wet. His cheeks were a deep red but he was determined to make love to you. The spandex suit covering his body didn't hide much, including the growing bulge you felt beneath you. You moved your hips slowly over his and his hands grasped your waist tightly. Even if he tried he wouldn't have been able to hold back his moans. Your lips met his, kissing him softly to start with before gently biting his bottom lip. He whined against your mouth and you couldn't help but smirk. Tonight was going to be a slow-moving event in order to make Lee feel the most comfortable. After all, you only lose your virginity once and you were determined to make it enjoyable and memorable for him.

"I love you, (Y/N)" Lee broke the kiss long enough to profess his feelings for the millionth time that day.

You nodded and kissed down his neck, reaching around him to begin unzipping his jumpsuit, "I love you too, Lee."

He took in a deep breath and held it as you revealed more of his toned torso. You've seen him shirtless plenty of time, but this time was so much different. Especially once the jumpsuit reached his waist and kept going lower. Every few inches you glanced up at him to make sure he was still confident in the decision. Unsurprisingly, his mind didn't falter, he was serious about going all the way with you. After the green fabric was discarded to the floor you smirked seeing he was already half-hard. Since you were already on your knees in front of him you took it upon yourself to wrap your hand around him and give a few testing pumps.

His hands gripped the edge of the couch as he gasped and bit his lip. It felt so much different to have someone else's hand wrap around his cock and the fact that it was you only made it better for him. You stroked him slowly, allowing him to get accustomed to the feeling before you continued. Really you weren't sure how long this would last, seeing as it was Lee's first time he was already gasping and moving his hips to meet your hand. But you didn't want to rush it either, and your boyfriend was known for his sheer determination and stamina. So only time would tell how much you'd get to corrupt him tonight. Your hand twisted around his cock as it moved up and down, using your thumb to brush over his tip when you came back up. Without much warning, Lee whined and was cumming on your hand, even shooting some onto his stomach. The action had you grinning, eyes locked onto his face twisting in pleasure.

"Do you want me to use my mouth still? You wanna fuck my face?"

"D-Don't say it like that!"

"Oh, you don't want to?"

"I do!"

"You do what, sweetheart?"

You didn't think it possible for him to blush more but he proved you wrong, the pink tint spreading down his chest and over his ears, "I… I want to fuck your face, (Y/N)"

With the permission given to go ahead you didn't say another word, simply leaned forward and began to lick his cum up. Whatever amount he softened after his first orgasm was already forgotten as he stood fully hard again. The lewd sight of you cleaning his cum up drove him crazy. It was so naughty but it made him feel good, made him feel sexy. And in your eyes he was, hell it was no secret he took care of his body and his cum actually tasted good as a result. After his mess was cleaned, you turned your attention back to your original mission, licking a stripe up the underneath of his cock. His hands nervously wound their way into your hair, no doubt going to get tangled, but that was a problem for future-you. Your lips then finally wrapped around his cock and he held his breath, watching as your mouth took his length. The sight was unlike anything he ever imagined and it felt so good around him. So warm and wet. He was convinced it couldn't possibly get better and then you swallowed around his cock. He leaned forward with a gasp and his fingers tightened the grip they had on your hair. You slowly brought your mouth up, swirling your tongue around his tip just to tease him further. Your ulterior motive was to break him, to force him to give in to his needs and take a bit of what he wanted.

Lee was such a selfless person it was time for him to get a little greedy. So, you kept slowly bobbing your head, intent on making him fall apart. It surprisingly didn't take long for him to give an experimental thrust into your mouth. You moaned and locked eyes with him, letting him know that's exactly what you wanted him to do. He got the message but still didn't want to hurt you so his next thrust was still gentle and more of a twitch of his hips than anything. Your nails raked down his thighs and he lost it, roughly thrusting up into your mouth this time making you gag slightly. The feeling was heavenly and the next thrust came quickly after, this time allowing you to be a bit more prepared. His hips moved up rhythmically to bury himself in your mouth before slowly pulling out. Always a fast learner, he found his rhythm and kept it, only being thrown off when you hollowed out your cheeks and rubbed your tongue on his underside. A few minutes of fucking your mouth later, he was shoving his cock in again and cumming on your tongue.

Panting hard he pulled out, groaning when you showed him the cum on your tongue before swallowing all of it. His fingers untangled from your hair and rubbed at his face, taking a minute to absorb everything that's happened so far. Meanwhile, you lifted yourself from the floor and back onto the couch after undressing yourself. The sight snapped Lee out of his thoughts as he took in every inch of your bare skin. His hands reached out before pausing, looking to you for some kind of permission. You grinned at the innocent gesture and nodded at him, taking his hands in yours and leading them to your bare chest. His rough fingertips flicked over your nipples, marveling in the way it made you lean your head back. He did it again, now on a mission to draw out more noises from you. So he tried to take it up a notch, now squeezing your nipples between his fingers and tugging slightly. You moaned his name and he felt his cock twitch between his legs. His name coming out of your mouth sounding like that was enough to drive him wild. He's pretty sure his heart skipped a beat when you did it the second time.

After that, he's not quite sure what came over him but he wanted to know what would happen if he took it further yet. So he leaned down and licked at your tit before wrapping his mouth around it, sucking gently. He was going to figure out everything that made you tick if it killed him. And this must have been something that really drove you wild, given by your moans and the way you tugged on his hair. The hand that wasn't giving attention to your other nipple trailed down your body and between your legs. Now, he wasn't really sure what he was doing here. But as he switched nipples he felt around, taking note of how wet you were between your legs. All he did was probe around for a while, taking in the feel of it before you spread your legs a bit more.

You took his hand and he pulled his mouth away, looking down between your legs. For a brief moment you thought he might pass out, but you took his hand and showed him where your clit was before leading him down and sliding two of his fingers inside of you. Lee licked his lips before biting onto his bottom lip, taking in the sight beneath him, his fingers disappearing inside of you. He slowly pulled them out almost all the way before pushing them back in. Your content sigh broke his concentration for a moment, moving your hips down onto his digits.

"Add another one."

The command was simple but it still took a couple of seconds for him to process it before he nodded and slowly pushed a third finger inside of you, "Mmm, it feels so good to have your fingers fucking me. Here, you can rub my clit too baby, just like this."

You took his other hand, teaching him how to rub your clit just right and he took each lesson to heart. Lee followed your directions and when you told him to speed up he did, the strength in his wrists and forearms making this their time to shine. He was never one to disappoint and he worked your clit, taking note of what really took your breath away and what made your toes curl. So it was no surprise that when he found your g-spot he kept rubbing his fingers against it with every thrust. Soon you were gripping his hair, something that felt oddly good to him. Your hips twisted under his ministrations, legs beginning to shake as you started to dangle close to the edge of orgasm. Lee wasn't exactly confident about what you were experiencing, but you were moaning and not complaining so that had to be a good sign! And he continued his thrusts and rubs you screamed out his name, juices coating his fingers as your insides clenched around them. He stared open-mouthed at the scene before him, your chest heaving as you came down from your high and he slowly pulled his fingers out of you. For a brief moment, you were unsure of what he was going to do, just staring at his hand covered in your cum until he slipped his digits into his own mouth. You raised an eyebrow and grinned at the sight. Your innocent baby definitely wasn't as innocent anymore.

"Can I use my mouth on you now? Can I," He paused for a minute, his hands sliding up your sides, "Can I fuck you with my mouth?"

"Of course. Be my guest."

His eyes twinkled and he moved down more until his head was between your legs. The taste from his fingers still lingered on his tongue but he wanted more. It was such a dirty thought but he needed more of you, wanted to taste more of you. His tongue licked gently against your slit, his fingers spreading your lips to get a better view. Once he saw your pretty little hole he slid his tongue in, swirling it around to clean up all the juices still leaking out. One of his thumbs pressed against your clit again, taking note of how your hips spasmed at the action, still sensitive from the last orgasm. Slowly, his tongue fucked in and out of you, trying to get deeper with each thrust. You moaned when he shoved it in deep and then swirled it around. Not to mention his thumb rubbing on your clit only quickened, easily throwing you into a second orgasm not long after your first. Lee pulled his tongue out a bit and happily lapped up all the juices before pulling away.

He sat back on his feet as he looked at you pant heavily, "Mmm, what now?"

The question was genuine as if he seriously didn't know what the next step was, "Well, now you fuck me, big boy. That is if you want to…"

"I want to!"

You laughed softly at his enthusiasm and hooked a leg over the back of the couch, inviting him back in between your legs. An invitation which he happily accepted. He kneeled before you, leaning over your body to kiss you. You leaned down and helped him guide his cock into your pussy. Lee gasped quietly before moaning, his hands gripping onto your waist as he bottomed out inside of you. He panted softly, getting accustomed to the feeling of your insides pressing against him. Your moans broke him out of his trance and his hips slowly pulled back before snapping forward. This was the part you loved, the part where they just went feral feeling pussy for the first time. Lee was no different, fucking into you with little restraint, only trying to hold back so he could make sure you were also getting pleased from the action. He felt up your body and kissed you tenderly, your name falling from his mouth like a prayer.

"It is so hot inside of you, (Y/N)! I love fucking you!" His hips pounded against yours ruthlessly. He couldn't stop now even if he tried, only hoping desperately that nothing would make him stop. You felt too good wrapped around him and he knew he wouldn't last long, the feeling of his stomach tightening fast approaching. So he yet again reached down and his nimble fingers rubbed against your abused little clit. You gasped out his name as he rubbed you, his cock pressing up into you at the same time. Hell, for a first-timer he wasn't about to disappoint, but you should have expected nothing less from Lee. It was obvious he was trying to hold back his orgasm until you reached yours. If you wouldn't be getting the shit fucked out of you, you would have asked what he was thinking. No doubt giving himself some ridiculous punishment if he came before you did. So when you felt your toes start to curl again you fully embraced it, not about to make him wait any longer. Your third orgasm washed over you with more intensity than the others, whiting your vision out for a few seconds. As you fell apart, so did Lee, groaning as his cock twitched inside of you. You both panted hard against the other's neck while Lee pulled out and kissed you. A few minutes passed and Lee broke the kiss, his hands caressing the sides of your face.

"Can I fuck you again, (Y/N)?" His bright smile was on his face, showing no signs of fatigue from all you just did together. And it was in that moment you realized that by corrupting Konoha's handsome devil, you created a monster…

hope you enjoyed! remember likes & reblogs help me reach more people! :D

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

scopaesthesia 👁️ chapter 5

chapter 1 chapter 2 chapter 3 chapter 4

Warnings: nonconsensual sex, death, murder, violence, stalking, paranoia, blood, gore, bloodplay, knifeplay, suicidal thoughts.

This is dark!Bucky Barnes with a likelihood off dark!Steve Rogers as well and explicit. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: You find yourself trapped.

Note: So I managed to finish this chapter before work really starts to kick my ass. Just letting y’all know, there will be a part 6 but I have an 11 hour day tomorrow and work straight through to wednesday so I’ll probably be exhausted.

That being said, I appreciate y’all reading and your reactions have been the highlight of writing!

Thank you. Love you guys!

As always, if you can, please leave some feedback, like and reblog <3

You coughed into the blackness. Your awakening was gradual as you waded through the void and slowly broke the surface of consciousness. Your throat was dry and sore and your head swelled with each breath. You reached to touch the tender flesh along your neck, bruised by the rope which had so violently been strung around it. You only recalled the dread of your suffocation before the world turned dark.

As you moved, bright lights flicked on suddenly and you groaned as your eyes watered. You trembled as you pushed yourself up on the bed. The room was small, just big enough for the large bed and the metal chest secured with a heavy padlock. There was a heavy door with a slot and no handle and another smaller door to your left.

You shimmied to the side of the bed and turned your legs over the edge. You slowly turned as the wall behind the bed stood in contrast to the rest of the sterile white room. Every inch around the low frame, from floor to ceiling, was pasted in images and documents. A startling map of your existence.

Pictures of you in the grocery store, at work, on the train or even in your apartment, spanning years back. There were even a few of your dorm room, long forgotten to the haze of your college years. A transcript of your credits and copies of your resume and even pages of the journal you thought only known to you. The one you’d thought you lost in your move from student to adult. And the drawings; just as you remembered, sickening and horrifying.

You stood, unsteadily, and neared the demented collage. There were other pictures; of women who looked like you; crying, screaming, bleeding. You grabbed one and tore it off the wall. You crumpled it up, unable to look at the woman’s dead eyes.

You flinched as the heavy door jolted suddenly and you turned as it opened. You dropped the picture and pressed yourself to the wall as Bucky entered and the door closed behind him. His blue eyes were predatory and intent on you. His right hand twitched as he cleared his throat.

“Sit,” he said softly.

You gaped at him and shook your head. You quaked as you edged over to the corner as if you could hide there.

“Baby girl…” he warned, “Please, don’t make this difficult. I don’t want to hurt you.”

You grazed your neck with your fingertips and scoffed. The sharp breath scratched your throat and made you wince.

“You made me do that,” he said, “Please, sit.”

You blinked at him. His left hand balled into a fist and he shifted on his feet. Your heart jumped and your lip quivered. Slowly, you pushed yourself away from the wall and neared the bed. You sat sideways against the wall with one leg hanging to the floor. You folded your hands and braced for the unraveling of his wrath.

“Good girl,” he preened. “I just want to talk. That’s all I came for.”

“You’re a murderer,” you rasped, “So just kill me already.”

He smiled and chuckled. He took a breath and ran his fingers through his hair. He neared the end of the bed and gripped his hips.

“If that was what I wanted, I wouldn’t have waited so long.” He said. “All you have to do is listen, baby girl. And if you can do that, I will bring you a treat.”

“I don’t want anything from you,” you muttered, “You’re disgusting. You’re…” you shook your head as you couldn’t put into words how he made your stomach twist and churn.

He sniffed and took a deep breath.

“Where were you seven years ago? What were you doing?”

“Looks like you already know,” you paused and tried to clear your sore throat. You coughed and pressed your hands to your neck.

“You were just a student, yes?” He shifted on his feet as he spoke, “Innocent, unaware. Running across campus to get to your next class. So clueless you didn’t even notice the man you collided with. Didn’t notice me with that look in my eyes; distant, determined.”

You frowned, confused. You shrugged. You didn’t remember.

“And what did you think when you heard of what happened to the dean?”

Your heart dropped. You remembered that. It was in the headlines for weeks; the mysterious attack on the dean of criminology. It was revealed that he was a former intelligence officer but it could not be linked substantially to the event. He resigned shortly after and as any new cycle, the story washed itself out.

“You--?”

He sighed and his eyes darkened. “What I was… then. What they made me.”

“I don’t--”

“Shhhh,” he hushed you and neared the bed until his legs touched the mattress. “I was their weapon; a machine. My job was death but that day, their weapon failed. Their weapon was distracted and for that the weapon was reforged, honed, beaten down until it was once more sharp enough to use.”

You shook your head in confused, Your fingers curled until your nails cut into your palms.

“Even when they wiped my mind, you remained. The girl who smiled at me without thought; who apologized and asked if I was okay… Who gave me directions to the right building… never knowing… because she thought I was good.”

“I don’t remember. I don’t know you…”

He held up a finger and tapped his lips. You went silent and watched him.

“When I was free, when I found Bucky again, I found you.” He breathed. “And you were the same. Flitting around without a care. And you ran into me again and you apologized, as you had before, and not a second thought to the man who watched you run for the train. To the man who held the door for you the next day or returned to you the card you dropped on the sidewalk. Always just a smile.”

You touched your cheeks. You remembered the card, some forgotten coffee rewards counter you never used. It came clearer then. His gloves hand holding the cardstock, his blue eyes. It was just another random interaction in the chaotic city. But it wasn’t.

“No…” you shook your head, “But why--”

“You see, the people who corrupted me, their control has nothing to do with what I am. It is a part of me. The soldier, Bucky… one does not exist without the other. Bucky fell in love with you, Bucky wanted you, but the soldier… he didn’t how to help Bucky. How to get you. So he found the girls and he tried to figure it out.”

“Stop. Please. I can’t--”

“But even the soldier couldn’t hurt you,” he put one knee on the bed. “Bucky won’t let him.”

As he placed his other knee on the mattress, you turned to get off the bed. He caught your ankle before you could and pulled you down the bed. He climbed over you and straddled you beneath him. You struck out at him and he stopped your hands, gripping your wrists tightly.

“I told you, I won’t hurt you.” He said softly.

“You are hurting me,” you tried to pull away from him and wiggled beneath him.

“I am trying to help you,” he pushed your hands beside your head, pinning them to the bed. “I only want to love you.” He bent over you and his hot breath tickled your lips. “To feel you.”

“Please, you can’t-- I never-- I’m scared, Bucky. Please don’t hurt me.” You begged. “Please…”

His eyes narrowed and his jaw tensed. He glared at you and pressed his forehead to yours. He let go of your arms and his hands gripped your head instead.

“Listen. I’m not going to hurt you,” he growled. “But I will if you make me.”

You stared at him, paralysed beneath him. He squeezed your head until it pulsed then pushed himself up suddenly. He climbed off of you, jostling the bed, and scanned the wall of photos. He lowered his chin and nodded.

“Take your clothes off.” He said.

You stayed as you were, stunned and scared. He looked at you slowly and his lips curled.

“Do it or I will.” He warned.

You sat up. You were numb as you skirted to the edge of the bed and pulled your tee over your head. He snatched it from you and you stood to unbutton your jeans. You rolled them down and he took them in turn. You struggled to unhook your bra as you trembled and he spun you sharply. He snapped the clasp and the fabric fell away from your chest. He gathered it up and tore your panties just as easily. He even bent to take your socks as they sat balled on the floor.

You tried to cover yourself as you turned back to him. He marched to the door and stopped. He looked back at you and gritted his teeth.

“Good girl,” he smirked and then turned around and looked above the door. 

A small lens sat above the frame and the door unlocked. He opened it with his foot and sent you one last glance before he pulled it shut. You slumped onto the bed and folded your legs against your chest. There was only the sheet stretched across the mattress and a single pillow. You shivered and hung your head.

You felt the eyes of all the dead women behind you. Felt the weight of their souls. And yet you were horribly alone.

👁️

Shortly after he left you, a tray was slid through the slot in the door. You ignored it at first but your stomach began to ache as the hours dripped by. You took the tray and rested it on the foot of the bed as you sat carefully. You took a long gulp from the bottle of water and the muscles of your neck reminded you of your assault.

The sandwich was cut neatly in half; ham and cheese with mustard. You chewed it without tasting and emptied the cup of applesauce. That was all you could manage and you set the tray in the corner.

The other door, the smaller one, opened up to a small booth. A toilet and sink only. You refused to be thankful for anything but were relieved to have at least that.

You hugged the pillow for much of the time. Your only shield against the cold and your nudity. You dozed off for a little, a shallow, distraught slumber.

You were awoken by the door. You sat up dizzily and stared at the figure as it cleared in your vision. The lights were dimmer as Bucky moved around. He went to the metal chest and opened the lock. You pulled the pillow to you as he closed the lid and plopped a roll atop it.

He turned to you and you cowered as he knelt on the bed. Wordlessly, he pulled on your arm until it bent painfully away from the pillow. You fought with him as he dragged it to the top corner.

“What are you doing?” You whined. “Please, don’t--”

You choked on your voice as he pulled up a leather cuff over the mattress. He wrapped it around your wrist despite your struggles and buckles it.

“Bucky, Bucky, please--”

He hushed you and grabbed your other arm. You kicked you as he forced you onto your back and shook the whole bed as he secured your other wrist. You hit his shoulder with your heel before he grabbed your left ankle and tied in down before he did the same to the right. You were stuck, stretched across the bed, writhing and whimpering as he backed away.

“What--”

“Baby girl,” he tapped his fingers atop the metal chest. “I don’t want to gag you… You have such a pretty mouth.”

You grunted and tugged on your binds. It was pointless. Even if you got loose, there was no way out of this room, no escape from this monster. Your eyes drifted to the wall above you and you closed them against the sight of the tortured women. Would he do the same to you?

You heard a clink and your eyes snapped open. You looked over at the knives that lined the fabric roll and you sobbed. You let out a pathetic squeal that slowly built to a scream.

“Please, please, please!” You shouted. “Don’t do this!”

“Baby girl,” he hummed as he dragged his fingers over the blades. “I told you, you’re safe with me.”

He turned and his eyes roved over your body. He let out a thick breath and grabbed the bottom of his shirt. He pulled it over his head and let it heap on the floor. His gaze clung to you as he undid his belt and pushed his pants down. He forced his boots off as he stepped out of his jeans and his socks went with them. He undressed methodically, never looking away from you.

You grunted as you tried desperately to free yourself. This animal, this monster, was coming for you.

He went to the chest and slid a knife from the row. You bounced in frustration on the bed and shook your head. No, no, no, this couldn’t happen. His weight caused the bed to dip as he lowered himself between your legs. He looked up at you as he pressed the cold blade to your thigh. You squeaked and bit down.

“You see, if one doesn’t know what they’re doing then it’s difficult to know what cuts will kill and which won’t,” he slithered. “But if they do, they know how much pressure, what angle,” he pushed the point down and you felt it pierce your skin, “where to cut… just for a taste. That’s all.”

He sliced along your thigh, a shallow but painful cut. You cried out and he did the same to your other leg. Your feet arched as your muscles tensed and you pulled against the cuffs.

The warmth of your blood was met by the heat of his mouth. You gasped as lapped at the flow and smeared it over your skin as he edged closer to your cunt. You grasped at air as your fingers curled and uncurled. You let out pathetic noises as he pressed his thumb to the slice along your other thigh.

He purred as he brushed his tongue along your pussy. He pushed carefully between your folds and you gulped. The tingle it sent through you had your heart hammering. He spread his hand over your thigh and his other gripped your hip as his tongue teased you. 

He sucked on your clit as his hand slipped further up. You pushed your head down into the mattress as you felt a storm of hot and cold fill your core. He needed to stop. He had to stop. You couldn’t feel like this. It was wrong. He trapped you, he cut you, and now he was toying with you.

He traced two fingers along the crease of your thighs and pushed against your entrance. You moaned and he dipped them inside slowly. He stretched you around his vibranium digits until his knuckles were pressed to your cunt. He curled his fingers and moved them in time with his tongue.

You bared your teeth as you tried to resist the instinctual response of your body. The way your core pulsed and buzzed without your consent. You whined as he brought you closer and closer to your peak. Between your mewls, one word was clear; ‘no, no, no.” 

You went rigid as the waves rolled over you and your climax overwhelmed your fear. He urged you through it, his fingers working into you quickly as your sighs turned to sobs. He didn’t stop until you were shaking and wincing against his touch.

He raised his head and drew his fingers from inside you. You looked down at him, his beard and nose stained red. Your stomach flipped and your fear spiked once more. He took the knife from beside your leg and backed off the bed. His cock bobbed with each step as he went to the chest and unsheathed another blade.

He returned to you. This time he moved to straddle you as he turned the knife in his hand. He admired the sheen of the metal and poked your lips with the tip. He trailed over your chin and traced the line of your cheek. His blue eyes sparkled as he teased you.

“You’re beautiful…” he breathed, “I could never ruin that face.”

He brought the blade to your neck and lingered on the still tender flesh. He continued on to your chest and circled your nipples. His hand cupped one tit as the knife played with the other. He moved his hips and grinded against you.

He closed his eyes and took a breath. He hovered the knife below your clavicle and turned the tip to your skin. He split the flesh slowly along the centre of your chest, a red line rising between your breast. Again, it was shallow, enough to bleed, enough to make you sick.

He set the knife down on the mattress and his fingers crawled along the incision. Your torn skin stung at his touch and he bent over you. He traced the line with his tongue and lifted his head. He pressed his hot lips to yours and forced his tongue inside. You tasted the metallic taint of your own blood and groaned.

His chest rubbed against your and you felt the warmth as it spread across his skin. His hand felt around as he lifted his pelvis and moved his knee between your legs. He slickened his fingers with your blood and once more began to play with your cunt. You squirmed and tried to turn your head away from him. He bit down on your lip and shoved his fingers inside of you.

“Baby girl,” He drew away, “You’re ready for me.”

“No--” He pulled his fingers out of you and his hand came up to wrap around your neck and he shushed you once more.

His eyes bore into yours as he angled his hips. He shifted as his tip poked along your cunt. He slowly pressed against you until he slipped inside. You grunted and bit down on your lip. You shook your head as his hand grew tighter. He eased into you an inch at a time and your eyes rolled back as he reached his limit.

He sighed as he moved his thighs flush to yours. His heavy breaths filled your ears as he began to rock. He thrust into you carefully, relishing in each long stroke. He hummed as he kept a steady rhythm. You squeezed your eyes shut as you tried to resist the burgeoning swell in your core.

He moved fast and pushed himself up, his hand still on your neck, nearly crushing your windpipe. His other hand stretched across the gash on your chest and he slammed into you harder and harder. The clap of his flesh echoed through the room as the blood from your thighs seeped onto his.

The bed quaked beneath your bodies as he pounded into you, his voice rising with each tilt of his hips. Your own breathy moans floated in the air and knotted in your chest.

“Baby girl,” he growled, “Fuck, you feel so good… you taste so good.”

He lifted his hand from your chest and you opened your eyes. He licked your blood from his hand, his left still firmly at your throat.

“You’re gonna look so pretty,” he touched the cut again and played with your blood. His chest was marked with red and it trickled down his muscled stomach as he hammered into you. “This is gonna be a pretty little mark, isn’t it?”

You gnashed your teeth and turned your head. You stared at the blank wall as your thighs tensed against his. You gasped as your orgasm rose violently and your body spasmed.

Bucky let go of your neck and grabbed the knife. Your eyes followed the blade and he pressed it along his chest and cut into his left peck. He stilled as the blood leaked from his flesh and he put the knife aside once more. He coated his fingers in his blood and wiped them across your lips. He forced his way inside your mouth and began to fuck you again.

He lowered himself over you. He slipped his fingers from your mouth and grabbed your chin. He kissed you deeply, tasting the mix of your blood. He pulled away as he began to pant and rutted into you without relent. He snarled and pressed his lips to your cheek.

“You feel that, baby girl,” he rasped, “Hmm, you’re going to make me cum. You want it inside of you?”

“Please--” you whispered.

“I’m gonna fill you up, baby girl. Over and over--” He jerked his hips with each word, “And over-- and over--”

He hissed and thrust into as deep as he could. He spasmed and rolled his hips as his cum spilled into you. He slowed and let his weight down onto you. You could feel his heart pounding in his chest and your own beat loudly in your ears.

“Over and over… baby girl,” he murmured and flinched. He slid his arm up under you and slowly moved his hips. “We’ve got all the time in the world.”

👁️

You were in a daze when Bucky finally untied you. He left you limp across the bed as he packed up the knives and locked them away. He sat lightly on the edge of the bed with a wet cloth and began to wipe away the blood from your cuts. You winced but only closed your eyes and waited for it to be over.

Your entire body hurt. You lost count of how many times he’d fucked you. He cut you again on your thighs and under your breasts. You were caked in your own blood and sweat. He washed you gently and you let him. You hoped he would go when he finished.

He stood and you heard the heavy lid of the chest again. He returned to you and wiped each cut; the alcohol tickled your nostrils and burned your skin. The bleeding had mostly stopped but he bandaged each carefully. The crumple of wrappers and the tinny clasp of metal. He rose again and the padlock was snapped shut.

“You have to keep yourself clean, baby girl,” he said. “I’ve left some bandages and wipes out for you. I’ll be back tomorrow to check on you.”

You ignored him and rolled onto your side painfully. You shivered and hugged yourself. You’d wait for him to leave before you cried. You listened to him dress. He hadn’t cleaned himself up. Your blood was still smeared over his face.

“Good night, baby girl.” He looked at you for a moment. “Are you cold? Do you want a blanket?”

You didn’t answer and just stared at the wall.

“It’s okay, baby girl,” he cooed as his footsteps neared the door, “It’ll take some time… but we both felt how much you liked it.”

The door opened and clunked behind him. Your eyes pricked and you closed them as the tears began to fall. You grabbed the pillow and hugged it as your entire body was wracked with sobs.

You wished he had cut you deeper. You wished he had just killed you. There was no other way out.

[shouldntcryoverit]

the art of discordance

captain rex x jedi!reader

previous chapter

masterlist

CHAPTER TEN

Hope you enjoy! Might start this series up again so let me know what you’d like to see and if you’d like to be tagged! 💕

———————————————————————

Jaida’s feet felt weighted as she plodded along the corridor. In fact her entire body did. She needed caf and, among other things, she needed peace and quiet.

But alas, as is the way of war, she’d have to settle with yet another delinquent briefing, which would most likely result in another mission for her to loose herself in. How fun.

Peace wasn’t an option as of right now, but caf certainly was. So as any ordinary Jedi going through dramatic changes to their moral code while fighting a war which had so far gone against everything they had ever been taught by their now dead master; Jaida went and got caf.

Now she stood outside the war room, significantly late, but with a half drunk cup in her hand. On any regular day, she would’ve surely rushed in; profoundly apologising for her misconduct and directing all her attention to any matters presented to make up for her tardiness.

But instead she stood and stared at the uninspiring, off-white and dented plastoid door with almost a scowl. After a second, she took a swig and entered.

“Jaida! I was wondering if you had gotten lost.” Obi-wan smiled warmly. There was a hint of a jeer in his aristocratic tone.

“Oh force I really am late aren’t I?” She tried to laugh, setting down her cup on a surface she’d found (ignoring the future ring it would leave), snapping into a character that would resemble her more awake self.

“What’ve I missed?” Jaida asked as she settled into place beside Anakin and across from Obi-wan.

The holo-projector before her displayed the usual; a barren-ish landscape with red dots across it, symbolising places she’d most likely have to risk her and her men’s lives before moving onto the next tiny red dot.

It felt fallacious to belittle that sacrifice to so little as those red dots, especially when they’d been planted like seeds as if they’re cost was unimportant. To Jaida, red dots had begun to look more like casualty reports and defeated medics; so much more than a speck on a map in a heated war room in the middle of comfortable Coruscant.

But as is the way of war, she thought.

“After the failure to capture Grievous on Salucami, we know his ships will be in this western quadrant.” Obi-wan gestured now to the map of the galaxy, the holo map had apparently changed as Jaida was blinking, and more specifically to a highlighted section of space.

Her red dots would be minuscule by now.

“Our fear is that with Grievous now in need of a place to get fuel and rations, he’ll attempt to take-over ,in effect, the next planet viable. Which in this case” The holomap zoomed into a reddish planet with a dark brown hue surrounding it, “Would be Yeon.”

“Yeon?” Jaida asked. “What’s on Yeon that Grievous could want?”

Obiwan shifted his weight before speaking. Jaida sighed; sometimes she really did regret asking questions so much, especially when the answer require a deep breath.

“Yeon used to be home to a powerful empire, though the dissolution of said empire left the planet vulnerable and corrupt. The wealth still remains, but without proper safeguarding. It isn’t unlikely that Grievous hopes to exploit this, and use their land and people to help secure more galactic wins.” He finished with a flourish. He did always make good speeches, however short or dull.

Jaida shivered. The thought of such peaceful people once again being used as pawns in the seperatist game made her stomach turn. Is this what the galaxy had come to? Perhaps that question could be answered another day.

Anakin, who had up until this point been studying his friends demeanour and desperately trying to figure out the reason for her obvious lack of clarity, spoke next.

“Our mission is to intercept their ‘invasion’ and protect the people of Yeon before Grievous can even reach them.”

“Huh, fun.” She clicked.

A few more details were flattened out, though they mostly fell on deaf ears as Jaida replayed the events of that morning.

“We’ll leave tonight, get a head start.”

Great, she thought.

The corridor felt like it would never end as Jaida carried a backpack towards her destination. It was half full of ration packs and bacta supplies: in short she had no clue what to pack for. The feeling of unpreparedness sat heavy on her chest, even as she commed Anakin to meet her in the hanger.

As she did, Echo opened the door for her, between beckoning to Hardcase that his helmet was where he’d left it. Jaida almost laughed at how mumsy Echo got the few hours before a mission; it almost matched Kix’s mother hen approach.

“Where’re we up to?” Jaida asked, hesitantly setting down the bag beside her feet as she looked over the clones all preparing for a mission.

Echo smiled softly, giving one last side eye to his dazed brothers before giving her his full attention “Almost ready.”

“Thank you.” She could always count on Echo, and a warmth spread over her expression, secure in that fact. “Where’s-“

“Hullo!” The other jedi spoke through a cracker in his mouth. “You good?”

“Where’d you get that cracker?”

Anakin swallowed. Echo had to suppress his laughter at how much they resembled begrudging siblings.

“Help me with those crates and I’ll show you.” He shrugged off, beckoning for Jaida to follow his path.

The good news was the Hardcase had managed to locate his stranded helmet, and Fives only laughed for a few minute at how he almost cried that he’d thought he’d lost it: but the bad news was that Jaida realised that she would eventually have to talk to her captain, who was standing by the edge of the hangar with Kix.

He’d showered, and his pauldron was fixed. He looked so perfectly in control as he watchfully peered over his men. Jaida felt childish almost instantly at the anxiety balled in her stomach at just the thought of having to look at his deep and piercing eyes to talk to him. This was that feeling ‘crushes’ gave you, as Anakin would explain, and Jaida didn’t get ‘crushes’. Not ever, and not now.

She began to help the clones prepare what few weapons they thought they needed. There wasn’t much to sort out and load up, but still among the Torrent company; it was a grand feat.

Jaida was counting reloads and ration packs when she sensed him. Rex, as you could quite obviously expect, was coming closer. She exhaled fiercely out of her nose and picked up the crate she’d been kneeling over. “He’s just being a captain, just be a General.” She repeated to herself like a mantra.

But when she looked up and his gaze was already on her, she froze; childish and with a crush.

“You’re coming too?” Jaida cleared her throat and asked nonchalantly, trying desperately hard to prevent a redness forming on her cheeks.

“Of course.” Rex spoke flatly. His eyebrow twitched slightly as the words left his lips, perhaps testing her meaning.

“But you’re still injured.”

Now he did raise an eyebrow, “I’ll be fine.”

Jaida kissed her teeth, slightly annoyed at her inability to calm herself now.

She nodded as no words formed on her tongue. Nothing to express the ball of emotion in her throat. The Jedi didn’t meet his eyes as she turned away.

Rex caught her arm as she went to bring her crate to the ship, but even as he stopped her pivot she was reluctant to meet his gaze.

“Jaida-” He tried.

“Don’t.” Jaida cut him off, finally glaring at him, then quickly skimming over the room to check if anyone was noticing their ‘conversation’.

“Just promise me.” Vulnerability flashed across her face as the words left her mouth, and even those crystallised amber eyes of his couldn’t make her believe he would.

Rex bit his lip and flicked back over his men across the room, before looking back at Jaida’s ask. He nodded slowly, accepting that he’d want the exact same if it were her. Whatever it was that they shared really wasn’t simple.

“I promise.”

She smiled slightly, before he let her go and she walked off to the ship.

The company left not long after, but not before Anakin and Jaida managed to bicker over who should fly the ship, then if they’d brought the right rations, then whether or not they were ready. At least it was entertaining for the clones to watch their General’s be so relaxed yet so uppity.

But nonetheless, the company all fitted into their respective places and the ship left. Jaida, after bribing Anakin, was flying the ship. She thought that it’d help her concentrate ready for the next mission, although it did also mean that she wouldn’t have to talk to anyone - so, plus.

The journey was rather short, but it certainly wasn’t sweet; for each time Jaida didn’t have to plant coordinates or watch the pressure levels in the engine, her mind slipped to the events of that morning, over and over again like torture. The guilt and worry pressed heavily against her frame; it was fair to say she was absentminded.

But they made it.

“I think we’re here boys.” Skywalker spoke over the channels.

The landing wasn’t rough, but Jaida’s vision through the ship window was too clouded to navigate properly through the thick air. The ship rocked as it hit the ground, and as the men filed our, their pilot was reluctant to follow.

The company gathered outside, Anakin knocked her shoulder; something he always used to do if she was nervous before a practice or exam. It made her finally exhale the breath she’d been holding onto.

It was dark when they made it to the village: a small dwelling lit with vibrant lights around each hut and structure. There was a hum in the air of content, they were peaceful people, and their laughter and chatter floated through the company like a warm drink.

Jaida wanted to welcome it, she really did, but she couldn’t, not when her head was this scrambled. She was still tired, and still torn between wanting to stay true to her morals and protect Rex, as well as desperately wanting to give in to her heart.

Mind over matter, her master would say. Though it seemed futile now.

Jaida followed her men into the village and tried once more to be content with the sweetness of the air. The sun was hanging low in the sky, but it still illuminated the tops of houses and slopes of hills in spite of the darkening hue encroaching. It was peace, the very kind she needed. Yet it would not breach her armoured skin.

The clones had managed to settle in rather quickly, having now taken off a few bits of armour and their helmets. They were standing and laughing with locals dotted about a wide fire pit, an area which Jaida took to be the market place.

After a cheer of babbling and exuberance calling for them, drums began playing in the background as entertainment; and the villagers seemed excited to have new guests for what looked like the first time in a while. They passed out food to the solidiers, colours of orange and green mixing on platters of fruits and perfectly cooked meat. After having a drank a few of their offered drinks, of which their alcohol quantity was unknown, Fives, Jesse and Hardcase danced to the beat as Echo and Kix tried not to laugh.

Jaida watched with an absent grin. She was resting on a crate with a cup of some sweet drink she’d been given by a swirling child, happy to see them so relaxed. Her view shifted from the gaggle of men to her Captain, who was laughing handsomely at his brothers’ feeble attempts. She tried to ignore the pounding in her stomach growing at how his face was illuminated so perfectly by the evening sun, and how it made her tongue swell to see him aswell so at peace. But it was rather difficult to ignore, especially when she couldn’t not-look.

Jaida placed her cup beside her and backed away, leaving the dancing and laughter behind her.

She found herself in the main hall of their largest structure, eyes closed in her own attempt at peace. She could still taste the wafting smell of meats and breads being cooked just a little further away. It smelt like herbs and spices she remembered only faintly from her own travels with her master. Jaida stood, staring at the painting on the closest wall to her when she wasn’t instead focused on her closed eyelids. Her brain was too foggy for anything else.

It was silent. Of course the base of the drums and the echoes of her men and their hosts still made their way in and out of the open windows, but it was silent to her. So silent that when footsteps began behind her she almost jumped.

The presence made it’s way to just a step behind her and paused. It didn’t take a genius to figure out who it belonged to, but still, Jaida cursed her abilities to identify the warmth and security it brought nonetheless.

“You left?“ Rex’s tone was more a question than a statement, and Jaida didn’t open her eyes as he stepped and stood next to her.

“I needed to think without Fives’ dancing distracting me.” She joked in a low tone.

“You call that dancing?”

Jaida chuckled lightly at that, meeting his smiling eyeline.

A moment of warmth spread between the two. It was as if the complications of their feelings melted away for a few seconds, and both simply relished the presence of each other. But it was short lived.

“I cant think either.”

Her eyebrows were knitted in slight pain and sadness, something he recognised within his own head. She couldn’t speak.

“Do you regret it?” Rex broke the silence between them.

“What?”

“The other night.”

Jaida paused loudly, but spoke with force after a second passed. “No. I don’t. ”

Silence again.

“I don’t know what to do to make this… better.” Jaida admitted, the vulnerability in her voice making her cringe.

Jaida sighed and fixed her almost tearful expression back to that familiar neutral coldness. “I don’t even understand it.” She almost whispered.

“Neither do I.” His words were barely there. “I don’t think anyone ever does.”

“Then how do you know it’s real?” Jaida swallowed, blinking down her rising dejection.

Rex paused again, but spoke with purpose. He had been brave before, now was no different.

“Because whenever you enter the room it feels like time stops. I always look for you, like seeing you will change everything. And you know what, it does; everything stops.”

Jaida was shocked to hear the confession, and it made her heart melt when she turned to face him. His face was just as creased as hers; just as pained.

He studied her eyes for a second, almost asking for permission to continue, or even to be dared to do so. But he took in a breath and carried on:

“I knew it when we were stuck in that cave, and you fell asleep against the wall. All I could think of was how perfect you looked. Force, I don’t think you’ve ever left my head since.”

She smiled. A wilful smile that covered all of her stern face. She knew that feeling he described and it made her stomach erupt as he spoke of it.

Her words fell as a whisper once again. “I can’t ask you to risk your entire life on this. But you can’t tell how much I want to.” She spoke louder now.

Rex’s eyes softened.

“We’re at war, Jade. Some things are just worth it.” Rex paused and looked to her. Her eyes held a silent beg. “You’re worth it.” He wanted to say, but didn’t. Perhaps a part of him knew that he didn’t need to.

In the dim light, he could hardly see her face at all, but the peace that had spread across it was blindingly clear. Jaida blinked.

And Rex closed the small gap between their faces and pressed his lips against hers; tender and gentle yet proud, as if it was their first. He lifted his hand to cup her face and she melted into his touch, allowing the warmth of his mouth to thaw the cold of her heart. The kiss was acceptance, it was emotion and it was thrill.

“I’m in if you’re in.” He demurred with lighthearted intention.

Jaida smiled softly, joy in her eyes that Rex only caught glimpses of, but she caught his lips in feeble ecstasy.

She broke away with a dainty smile, and Rex laughed.

“I’m in.” The jedi whispered.

He grinned again, wider now as a perfect laugh fell from Jaida’s perfect lips.

His fingers dropped from her cheek and found hers without question, taking her hand in his as he refused to break away from her hopeful eyes.

Rex squeezed her hand, then jolted, taking her with him as he ran out of the hall and back to where the music still rumbled.

Jaida let him whisk her away, gladly.

[the-sympathetic-villain]

I Know What You’re Going To Say - Chapter 3

AO3 | First | Previous | Next | Masterpost

Description: A Beauty and the Beast style Vampire AU. Vampire!Virgil has picked up  Logan off the street and is holding him captive under the threat of killing his friends if he tries to escape.  

Word Count: 4275

Chapter Warning: Mentions of Parental Neglect/Control, Mind Control, Crying, Corruptions, Mentions of Police (Let me know if I missed anything!)

---

    Janus stirred the coffee in front of him quietly as he peered out the window of the decrepit all-night diner. He felt a tightness welling in his chest as he traced back the night's events that had somehow ended with him here. Rain pattered on the window. Each wet streak glowing with the reflections of the bright pink, neon signs that the owners had seen fit to hang on nearly every surface of this godawful place. His lips twitched with disgust as he glanced down at his watch, checking the time yet again as he stared down the near empty streets.

    The kid was late. Ten minutes. The simple thought made his stomach twist with anxiety. After leaving Virgil, finding his prisoner’s friend had been almost comically easy. Virgil had his home address. A quick flight had him peering through the man's windows in under half an hour, but the passing glance he'd gotten was enough for him to guess where man had gone.

    He was already half the way down the street when a message from Virgil confirmed that the man’s work address. Less than an hour after leaving Virgil, he was being served by the very man he for which he'd been searching. Janus smirked at the simplicity, humming to himself contentedly as yet another car swept by outside sending wave of dirty water onto the curb.

    Still, Janus could hardly complain. Virgil had certainly sent him on worse missions, and though the dingy, over-lit diner was an eyesore, the man serving him was putting on quite the show as he flitted between the glistening, chrome surface of the bar. The subtle eyeliner flared to a perfect point as winked at the cook through the serving window.

    Janus smiled, eyes lingering a bit too long on the handsome waiter as he distracted himself from the empty streets outside. Truly, he was grateful for the late night hours as the lack of customers meant minimal effort for him to keep prying eyes away from his all to recognizable face. Being a vampire had its perks, after all. On a mere whim, the other customer’s gazes slipped over him like he was a mere shadow. Only the charming waiter he was currently staring had been allowed to catch a glimpse of him sitting alone in the booth.

    The waited with the golden hair had immediately recognized him upon bouncing up to the table to take his order, but fortunately, the guy didn’t seem to be the squealing type. A note which Janus would very much be filing away for later as he watched the man melt under his control. It had only taken a few, short words to make the man forget he had recognized Janus and hand over his phone.

     Janus bit his lip at the memory. The sight of the flamboyant waiter suddenly soured in his mouth as he remembered why he was here. The texts he’d read on the man's phone had indicated the kid was supposed to be here at midnight. His eyes flicked up to the retro-looking clock as it read a quarter past the hour. From the texts he’d gleaned that the kid's parents had reluctantly agreed to drop the kid off with his starry-eyed server, Roman, but the mystery of the late-night hand-off had not been resolved by the golden boy's texts.

     Janus tapped his fingernails on the cheap plastic tabletop as the golden boy himself glanced up at clock above the bar nervously. He stared curiously as his façade of nonchalance broke for the first time, revealing the underlying anxiety brewing behind the sweet smile. Janus blinked as the man disappeared behind the bar, allowing his attention to drift back to the rain-soaked window once more. He stirred his coffee absently as watched the glowing headlights rush past.

    The rain had slowed to a light drizzle, barely obscuring the hazy view of the streets outside. He'd almost turned back to watch the golden boy when a slim black car caught Janus’ attention. The sleek, tinted windows of the strange car stood out among the tattered, worn down streets. Janus sat up straight as the car pulled up next to the curb and the back door popped open to reveal the reddish-brown hair of the kid he'd been waiting for.

  Not a moment was spared on goodbyes. The kid immediately bound to the door of the diner, slamming the car door behind him. Janus didn’t see that it mattered however, as the car was gone before the kid even made it to the door. He let out a soft breath, turning to watch as the golden boy gleefully rush to the door with a slightly manic look in his eyes.

    The interaction should have filled Janus with relief. Seeing the kid in the man’s arms meant the most difficult part of his job was done. All he had to do now is watch the kid for a few days, but something about the simple interaction he'd just watched set him on edge.

    Janus’ tension only seemed to ease as he watched the golden boy sweep the boy up into his arms, whispering to him in hushed tones. They stayed like that for a solid minute, before the bouncing waiter finally started to drag the kid to a booth. A few moments later, they were walking towards his booth and his former human instincts and he averted his gaze. Logically, he knew their gaze would pass over him, but the compulsion to be polite seemed to be far stronger in his brain.

    “Where’s your coat, Pat?” The man whispered as he guided the kid into the seat behind him.

    “He—uh, he didn't let me take it.”

    The kid’s mumble was almost incoherent as the man stopped abruptly next to the booth, staring as the kid slid onto the vinyl seat behind him.

     “What?”

     There was a long pause as the golden boy stared down at the kid. Janus could almost feel the heat in the kids cheeks as he squirmed behind him. “He said, if I thought I was an adult, I could act like it—and my stuff would be waiting when I came to my senses and went back.”

    “What a goddamn asshole, Pat.” The golden boy whispered in disbelief. Immediately, he seemed to backtrack until the kid interrupted him. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t swear in front of y—"

    “They also said some nasty things about Lo before I left.” The kid's voice trembled as he tapped on the cheap plastic table

    “It wasn't true. Whatever they said, Logan has done nothing but care about you.” The golden boy's deep voice reassured him. “He has everything set up. You won't have to worry about a thing.”

    “I know. I just—”

    Janus' heart twisted with guilt at sadness in the kid’s voice.

    “Where is—"

    “Listen, I'm going to grab my jacket for you, Starlight. You’re absolutely shivering. I'll be—” The man stopped him abruptly. “I’ll be right back. Okay?”

    “Okay, Ro.”

     Ice seized Janus' heart at the confused tone of the kid's and he jerked his head around to watch the golden boy’s head disappear behind the bar.

    He doesn’t know his brother is missing.

    The realization hit Janus like a brick wall as he glanced over his shoulder at the back of the kid’s head. His shoulders were slumped as he leaned forward to fidget with the basket of sugar in front of him. Janus blinked as he turned around, barely able to process what was happening. As he slunk back into his seat, Janus slowly pulled his phone out of his pocket and pulled up Virgil in his phone.

    J: Got eyes on the kid.

    V: he's safe?

    J: He's fine I think.

    V: what does that mean?

    J: Kid doesn’t know his brother’s missing, Vee.

    V: what

    V: wait how close are you?

    A sudden, sweeping motion in his periphery caught Janus’ attention and he turned his head to see the golden boy making his way back in their direction.

    V: Jan what's happening?

    J: Update later.

    Janus bit his lip guiltily as he typed the quick response, shoving his phone back in his pocket. His phone immediately buzzed a response. He turned his head, casually reaching into his pocket to silence his phone as he watched the pretty waiter make his way back to the table. The man was effortlessly balancing three plates on top of carrying the jacket he had swung over his arm. He moved quickly across the room and only stopping to gracefully slide the plate across the table to the kid and throw the jacket at him.

    “Eat up, Pat.”  The charismatic waiter’s voice almost seemed deflated now. His tension seemed to release now that the kid was here, replaced by a much more somber tone. “I'm taking off early tonight so we can get you to sleep at a decent time.”

   “Where’s—”

   “—I'll be back in a minute to grab you.” Janus’ stomach tightened as the golden boy tactfully brushed off the kid’s question. “Hopefully the rain will let up for the walk home not to be a miserable affair. I don’t want you to get sick.”

    “Okay.” The kid whispered, sounding a little deflated.

    “Hey, don't be like that.” The waiter's incredibly charming voice echoed in his ear from behind him. Janus could feel a scuffle in the booth behind him as the waiter ruffled the kid's hair. “It’s good to see you here, Starlight, but please just try to cut me a little slack tonight.”

    “Sorry. I promise to be patient.” The kid’s shy whisper shook slightly as if taken off guard by the waiter’s light reprimand. “Thanks again for letting us stay with you, Ro.”

    “You don't ever have to apologize to me, Starlight.” The golden boy seemed to tense slightly at the kid's change in demeanor. “Even if it weren’t for Logan, my door is always open to you. You’re family, kid.”

    Janus heart twisted at the bittersweet sentiment. This kid really had no idea what was going on and Janus wasn’t even sure the server planned on telling him. Stirring his coffee absently, images of the kid's brother tied tightly in Virgil’s binds flashed through the front of his mind. His eyes flicked to the side as the waiter backed away from the table, still talking with poor child.

    Soon, the server returned to his duties, leaving a heavy silence hanging over him. A bitter taste settled into the back of Janus' throat as his thoughts fell into a dark spiral. Virgil could be feeding on the guy now, as his brother innocently picked at his food. Even if he wasn’t, Janus could still see the red, irritated welts on the guy’s wrists perfectly in his mind. He—

    “Excuse me.”

    Janus nearly jumped out of his skin as the kid tapped on his shoulder from behind him, somehow breaking straight through his glamour. Fortunately, his instincts kicked in and he dropped his head, keeping his face hidden from the child leaning over the barrier and into his booth.

    “Can I borrow your ketchup?”

    “What?” Janus incredulous tone must have registered as odd to the kid, because he suddenly started to explain the simple question.

    “The bottle at this table is almost empty and I—”

    “Yes. Take it.” Janus snapped, cutting off the kid's explanation as he hastily shoved the red bottle into the kid's open hand.

     “Thanks.” The kid's voice sounded almost hurt and almost certainly taken aback at Janus’ abrupt cut into his attempt at a friendly inquiry. “I'm sorry to bother you, sir.”

     Janus' stomach twisted as the kid turned back around and slumped back into his seat. He cast a quick glance back at the kid, stilling as the kid’s  body language slouched. He knew for a fact, it wasn’t worth getting involved, but despite his wariness, Janus was getting the idea this kid was used to being shoved aside and he didn’t want to be the one to do that to this kid.

    Fuck. Virgil is going to flay me alive.

    “You didn’t bother me.” Janus whispered hesitantly, forcing himself to keep staring forward as the kid turned toward him.

    “What?

    “You surprised me is all.” Janus muttered. “No harm done, kid.”

    “Patton.”

    Now, it seemed it was Janus’ turn to turn back over his shoulder, dumbfounded, but the kid had already faced forward.

    “And I'm not a kid.”

    Janus smirked, turning forward to stare out the wall of windows. “Come now. You look like you can't be more than fourteen.”

    “I'm sixteen.”

    Sixteen.

    Janus blinked in disbelief at the kid's age and chewing his cheek at the kid’s slight defensive tone. “Still it’s a little late for someone as young as you to be out and about on this side if town .”

    “Legally, I'm adult.” Patton muttered. “I'm—I'm emancipated.”

    “Legal don't mean shit here, kid.” Janus stared down at his coffee, remembering the look of despair on the kid's brother's face as Virgil had loomed over him. “You’re going to have to learn that real quick, if you plan on staying here.”

    “I'm staying.”

    “No offense, kid, but I saw the car that brought you here.” Janus whispered, stirring his coffee absently. “The streets are going to eat you alive, if you aren’t—”

    “My brother knows what he's doing.” The kid snapped, though he seemed to be losing steam. “He's got a plan. I know he does.”

    “I sure hope he does, Patton,” Janus paused, chewing on his thoughts as the kid’s name passed his lips.  Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the boy’s new guardian making his way back to his table, so he quickly pulled out his wallet and tossed a twenty on the table for the coffee he had hardly touched. He tensed with resolution as he moved to leave the booth. “But even if he doesn’t have a plan, I think you’ll find he has allies in unexpected places.”

    “What?”

    Janus could hear the kid turn around as he stepped out of his booth, but he didn’t even pause. He straightened his hat on his head as flared up the collar of his long coat.

    “Don't give up, kid.”

    “Wait—What are you talking ab—”

    The kid's call died out as he strode out of the restaurant, pushing past the concerned waiter who was rushing back to the table to collect the kid. Janus sighed, frustrated as he pushed open the double doors of diner and swept down the street, taking a swift turn into the alleyway behind the restaurant.

    Janus’ breaths came in short gasps as he paced the alleyway with a fierce intention. Fury flared in his chest as his body filled with indignation on the kid's behalf. His pace had nearly peaked when he shoved his hand in his pocket and pulled out his phone. He snarled as he noticed the already lit screen, barely resisting the urge to smash the phone into the wall as he caught Virgil’s name on the screen. Janus' pacing stilled. His anger burned white-hot as he considered letting Virgil worry, but his sudden desire for a fight won out as he clicked the green button and snarled into the receiver .

    “What?”

    “What the hell, Janus?” Virgil growled into his ear. “You don’t get to just ghost me whenever you feel like it—”

     “I can’t do this.”

     The line went silent for a long minute as Janus breathed into his cell. He sighed, releasing a bit of his anger as he leaned into the wall.

      “This kid is already asking questions about his brother. It’s only a matter of time until he realizes he's not coming home.” Janus hissed. “Even this guy’s friend seems like a decent human. He's still planning on taking the kid in even knowing his friend’s gone—”

    “Janus—”

    “No. Tell me, Virgil. When did we start doing shit like this to good people?” Janus leaned off the dumpster behind him as his diatribe intensified. “I didn’t sign up for th—”

    “Maybe, if you gave me a chance to speak, I’d—”

    “Where’s my brother, Roman?!”

    The blood-curdling shriek sent Janus flying behind the dumpster. He'd barely managed to crouch out of sight he heard a scuffle at the entrance to the alleyway.

    “Quiet!”

    Janus hesitantly peeked around the corner to catch a glance of the golden boy dragging the kid into the alley. His fangs started to extend as the full-grown man pressing the kid into the wall of the other building, covering his mouth with his hand so he couldn't call for help. Adrenaline shot through Janus’ body as he prepared to lunge into action.

    “I need you to relax, Pat.” The waiter’s deep voice sent shivers down Janus’ spine, but his tone was kind and patient. “I'm going to tell you, but your father can’t hear about this. If he does, you’re going to end up right back at home.”

    Janus’ muscles eased as the golden boy's grip slackened, even though the kid seemed far from settling as he squirmed in the man’s arms. Feeling the tension drop, Janus edged further into the shadows as he glanced at his phone, grateful that Virgil seemed to have picked up that he needed to remain quiet.

    “Come on, Starlight. Don’t make this harder than it has to be.” The man’s voice trembled, nearly fading to silence. “I'm lost, too.”

    The kid, Patton, seemed to go slack in the man's arms at the slight tremble in the man's voice. Janus’s heart ached as he stared at the kid. The wet streaks on his face glistened in the light of the streetlamp and he looked even younger than he had in the diner.

    Just a kid.

    “I don't know where Logan is, Pat. He disappeared last night.”

    Janis could feel the energy in the air shift as the kid started to shake his head violently. He threw his whole weight into the man holding him against the wall, knocking the man's hand free of his mouth.

    “No—no, no, nonono—”

    “Don’t panic. We're going to find—”

    “What happened, Roman?”  The kid's voice cracked as he backed away from the man, swaying unevenly on his feet.

    “I don’t know, Patton. We were walking home from the diner last night and—” Roman hovered close to the kid, desperate to comfort him but cautious about antagonizing him. “I don't know what happened after that. I woke up in my bed, and—and Lo never came home.”

    Janus leaned closer, staring as his fangs slowly retracted. Patton continued to sway dangerously until the man came up to steady him from behind.

    “What did the police say?”

    Janus watched curiously as the man's expression shifted and he suddenly gripped the kid tighter. “I couldn't call them, Pat.”

    “What?!”

    A shiver ran down Janus’ spine as the kid's shriek filled his ears and it a was a long moment after that before he even processed the man's words. He glanced down at his phone, knowing Virgil was probably listening as intently to this conversation as himself.

    The guy didn't call the cops.

    “Logan was very clear about what he wanted me to do if something happened to him. His priority was always making sure you were safe first—”

    “Not if he's missing, Roman.”

    “He told me exactly what he'd want me to do if he went missing, Patton” Roman whispered staring over at Patton. “and that means making sure the police don't find out he's gone.”

    “Why—”

    “Your father has the police under his thumb,” Roman stepped closer to Patton, wrapping his arm around him. “One of the conditions of your emancipation was having a place to live with your brother. If he’s gone, the judge could throw out the decision, especially with a district attorney whispering in his ear."

    “He knew?”

    “God, no. Pat, he wanted to be here waiting for you. He planned to be at the diner when you arrived,” Roman stepped forward, gripping the kid’s shoulders as he forced him to make eye contact. “but Lo spent hours planning for anything that could possibly go wrong. He wanted to know that you were taken care of, even if something happened to him.”

    Patton continued to stare at the ground, shaking. “Roman, he could be hurt—”

    Janus sucked in a breath through his teeth, glancing down at his phone.

    “I've already got Rem on it. We're going to find him.” Roman whispered. His voice dropped quiet enough that Janus could barely make out the words. “I'm not giving up on him. Okay?”

    The kid's face paled and Janus could only guess he was barely standing by the way he continued to sway. Silence hung over them for longer than Janus was comfortable with, but the man holding his shoulders waited patiently until the kid responded.

    “Okay.”

    “Good,” Roman turned the kid's shoulder to walk him out of the alley. “Now, let’s get you to bed."

    “Ro—” Patton slowed

    “Don't argue, Pat. You’re not going to do Lo any favors by depriving yourself of sleep.” Roman placed a hand on the Patton's back in gentle reassurance. “We'll meet up with Rem first thing in the morning and go from there.”

    “’Kay.”

    The kid's mumble faded as they left the alley and Janus rose out of the shadows as they turned the corner out of the alley. He bit his lip, staring after them as he unmuted his phone and lifted the receiver to his ear.

    “Do you feel like an asshole yet?”

    “You know,” Virgil’s voice growled in his ear. “Your biting sarcasm loses its charm very quickly.”

    Janus bristled as Virgil brushed him off. “I'm done, Virgil. Return the guy or I'm—"

    “No.”

    Janus snarled silently. “Fine, then I'm out. Best of luck with whatever bastard plan you’ve—”

    “Stop.” Virgil muttered, his voice full of reluctance. “Please, just hear me out.”

    Janus' thumb hovered over the button, but the subtle plea in Virgil’s voice gave him pause not to hang up. He sighed, raising the phone back to his ear. “You have exactly thirty seconds to change my mind, Virgil.”

   Virgil didn’t hesitate a second with his response. “Do you remember when I got into that fight a few years ago?”

    Janus paused, taken aback by the sudden change in topic. He slowed his pacing, staring curiously out the alley in the direction the kid had left as he replied hesitantly to Virgil. “Yes, I do.”

   Virgil's let out a long breath into the receiver. “This guy is the guy I fought, Janus.”

    Janus blinked, mouth hanging agape. “Oh.”

    “I know how this looks, Jan,” Virgil breathed quietly. “but this dude put me in the hospital because I said something he didn't like. However upset the kid is about his brother being missing, he’s safer without this monster.”

    Chewing his lip, Janus paced back and forth in the alley. His body tensed as he tried to process his friend’s words.

    “Janus?”

    Janus let out a long sigh, pressing his thumb into his temple. “I'm here, Virgil.”

     Static crackled in the phone's speaker as the silence hung over them. Janus glanced up at the amber street light tapping his fingers on his arm as a group of people passed the alley. Their laughter broke the fragile silence, grating against Janus’ ears.

    “I'm not the only bad guy.”

    “You’re not—” Janus repeated back without hesitation. “You’re not a bad guy.”

    He could hear Virgil’s breathy snort through the phone as he stifled a chuckle. “You seem awfully sure about changing your tune so quick.”

    “I am.” Janus muttered, stepping towards the street.

    “Janus,” Virgil’s sharp inhale stilled Janus pacing as he awaited Virgil’s response. “we're good?”

   “We're good, Virgil.” The corner of Janus' mouth twitched up at the relief in Virgil’s voice.

   “Good.” Virgil’s voice wavered with emotion and Janus smiled at the subtle show of vulnerability. “Now please, make sure that kid gets home safely.”

    “I will.” Janus smiled, leaning into the stone wall across the alley from the diner.

    “Thank you.”

    Janus paused for a moment, smile faltering as the situation that had just unfolded before him continued processing in his mind. "Vee?"

    "Yeah, Jan?"

    "He didn't call the cops."

    "I know. Something's up with these people," Virgil's voice dropped as he let out a long sigh. "We'll figure out what's going on, but for now, let's just be glad we don't have heat breathing down our necks. Okay?"

    "Okay." Janus nodded absently, trying to relax. "You're right."

    "It'll be fine."

    "Right. I know."

    "Jan, relax." Virgil whispered patiently. "You're safe. There ain't nothing bigger or badder on those streets than you."

    Janus cracked a smile, chuckling as he stood up from the wall. "Oh, I know."

    "Keep me updated."

    Janus grunted an affirmation, and a moment later, the line disconnected. He sighed, quickly dropping his phone from his ear into his pocket, feeling a familiar numbness settle into his limbs as stepped out onto the sidewalk. The scent of the golden boy’s cologne was easy enough to catch as he turned down the street towards his target. He swept around the next corner, thoughts wandering as the streets began to blur together. He bit his lip, shoulders curled forward even though he couldn’t feel the sharp bite of the cold. The amber lights illuminated him as he closed the distance between him and the kid, not that he noticed the buildings as they blurred past as he disappeared into the night.

General Taglist:

@somehow-i-got-an-account @justanotherhumanstuff @im-an-anxious-wreck

I Know What You’re Going To Say Taglist:

@theoddkidnextdoor @ace-in-a-shopping-cart @im-actually-ok @justanoymous

[thegeneralguy]

The Champion of Olympus - Prologue

This is the first series I´ve ever worked on. I remember I saw a post about the gift of the gods from @absqrst in the past, so I worked a bit around that general idea. It´s gonna be long, but I hope the patience makes it worth your while. I want to clarify all the characters in the stories are adults.

The flaming chariot sped over the clouds as thunder roared through the night sky. The vessel of the sun had its usual flames dimmed, but there was no doubt who was commanding it.

“He must be really mad to be throwing such a tantrum.”

Said Apollo to himself as he drove through the dark clouds. He was in the middle of a particularly erotic composing session with Terpsichore, muse of music, when the message from his father blasted through the roof of the mansion and engraved the urgent message on the floor. His presence was being requested for an extraordinary session of the twelve. Apollo couldn´t even remember the last time he saw his family together, but it usually meant bad news for everyone.

The last time his father and Poseidon argued, a massive tidal wave ravaged the land of the rising sun down on earth. The celestial plane wasn´t always indifferent towards mortal matters, and Apollo made sure to keep inspiring those beautiful human minds in order to create both beauty and a form of expression that eased up tension in difficult times. The fact that his family was meeting again could only mean disaster, both for mortals and for gods.

The sky grew increasingly stormy the more the chariot approached the thunder palace. Zeus´s residence was directly on top of Mytikas peak in Mount Olympus. The home of the gods was on an entirely different plane than earth, but vaster and richer. It existed both parallel to the terrestrial plane, but above it in hierarchy, and was ruled by the will of the deities that inhabited it. Each Olympian had its dominion, but Zeus ruled above all.

The chariot slowed down as the imposing marble columns of the palace became visible. It stopped on one of the gardens, and Apollo rushed to the nearest entrance heading to the meeting. The door to the throne room was guarded by celestial Sentinels, the latest invention from his brother Hephaestus. The automatons had the shape of the pinnacle of the masculine physique and were made of gold with a tiny bit of ichor, the blood of the gods. They served mainly as guardians, although he had made use of a couple of them for more personal matters, like an extra boost for the sexual soirees he usually hosted.

Apollo could hear the heated discussion from outside the room. The Sentinels opened the doors and suddenly twelve pairs of eyes were instantly focused on him.

“Apollo. So glad you decided to grace us with your presence. Take a seat.”

Said Zeus with a sour scowl. He was indeed the last one to arrive. Even Hades was there, so it must be serious. He took his seat next to his brother Dionysius, who gave him a knowing look.

“How many were there this time?”

Asked Dionysius with a cheeky smile. Apollo remained with his sight to the center of the room, trying his best to ignore the provocations of his brother.

“Come on I´m dying for a little excitement. Things have been rather grim around here, and I´m dying for a little spark of *hic* entertainment.”

Apollo gave his brother an irritated look. The God of wine was looking as disheveled as ever. His muscular body was partially covered by a glowing white cloak, with some grape vines hanging from his belt and decorating one side of his head. He was holding his everlasting wine cup with one hand, while his face rested on the other.

“I was with Terpsichore. We were looking for some inspiration.”

“Right, right. Maybe next time I can join you both. I could use some inspiration too you know. Remember the parties we used to throw with the muses and the nymphs? I´m pretty sure you got more inspiration than you bargained for back then…”

A lightning bolt stroke right before Dionysus, who sighed and diverted his attention to Zeus.

“I apologize father. Please do continue to illustrate us with your crucial monologue.”

He said disinterested as he took a big swig from his golden wine cup.

“This is no joke Dionysus. It is the first time since the Titanomachy that we´ve faced a situation like this.”

Apollo had heard legends about the epic war against the titans, an event that changed the course of the world. His aunts and uncles fought alongside Zeus for ten years in order to dethrone Cronus and other titans loyal to the Golden Age regime. He tried his best to focus on the near future, but he couldn´t get past the next few days. He felt like a thick fog over him interrupting his vision of the future.  It was unusual for the god the sun to have his gift of prophecy clouded, specially in an event of such magnitude like his father was describing. His curiosity started to turn into genuine worry, and he focused his attention on Zeus once again.

“The Fates contacted me recently with news from the underworld. It seems that the king of the monsters found a way to break through the veil separating his prison in Tartarus from the rest of the infernal plane.”

“That’s impossible. The abyss in Tartarus is inescapable. Not even Typhon is capable of gathering enough power.”

Said Poseidon skeptically whilst stroking his magnificent beard.

“It is a different kind of problem brother. Typhon is trying to seep some of his energy into the terrestrial plane. We´ve grown disconnected from humanity in the last century, and Typhon is trying to take advantage so he can gain some adepts of his own in order to amass divine energy to break free. I already consulted with Hades, and it seems a breach in Tartarus´s security is not impossible.”

“But what would that mean for us father? We still have enough divine power to launch a counterattack if he does manage to escape, we will be ready for battle.”

Said the mighty Ares. The god of war was known for taking aggressive decisions that lead to confrontation. His mighty physique was a testament for his strength and his prowess in combat.

“Not if he gains some divinity himself. The monster already possesses enough strength on his own to blow up half of Olympus. If he acquires some power from human devotion, not even I will be able to stop him.”

It wasn´t fitting of Zeus to admit inadequacy of any kind, and Apollo knew it. He grew only increasingly uncomfortable imagining the possible outcomes of a monster invasion. In any scenario, Earth would face the biggest catastrophe.

“What do you suggest we do now father? Humanity isn´t what it used to be. The facilitated communication of humans has bred doubt and paranoia. It won´t be hard for Typhon to appeal to humanity´s loss of self in order to succeed.”

Said Athena who out of her siblings seemed the most invested in the problem at hand. Hades who had been cautiously quiet listening to the conversation raised from his seat to answer the wisdom goddesses’ question.

“It seems we got time on our side, my honorable niece. Infusing earth with energy direct from Tartarus will take time. And the first thing Typhon will try to gain are champions. Without some avatars directly on earth he is still powerless”

“Don´t be ridiculous Hades. There hasn´t been a champion on earth since ancient times. Let alone a hellish spawn from the original monster himself.”

Exclaimed Poseidon with a booming laugh whilst slamming his gigantic trident on the floor.

“Hades is right brother. A champion serving as a recruiter is the only way of gaining direct adoration. The negative energy coming from Typhon will take care of the rest. It´s only fair we do the same.”

Zeus´ stern face showed a glimpse of amusement, his muscular body almost twitching with excitement.

“It is time we choose a new Champion of Olympus.”

Everyone went completely quiet for a second. The incredulous eyes of the twelve Olympians were staring at the god of thunder. Then the room was immediately filled with chatter and discussion. Apollo looked around as his brothers and sisters talked aggressively between themselves. The idea of gifting divinity to a mortal hasn´t been touched in eons, so it was only natural for the godly unrest to take place. The ritual was long, complex and it required the cooperation of all the Olympians.

“But why father? What makes you think a new champion will do anything to stop the monster from breaking out? Last time we tried to make one divinity rejected him.”

Said Ares slamming his powerful fist on the armrest. The main reason the gods didn´t get celestial conduits on the terrestrial plane was because few humans were eligible for the gift. And even after getting one who was compatible with divinity, all Olympians had to agree on the candidate, and there was always someone who chose differently. If the will of one god was against the chosen one, the ritual backfired and the person would be consumed by the divine power.

“A champion will help us connect with humans again. Times have changed, and we won´t be able to amass enough power to retaliate against Typhon if we don´t gain adoration again. Besides, we are going to do things differently this time. Each of you will have the possibility of choosing one eligible candidate. Afterwards we will put the chosen ones through three heroic tests. The one that manages to complete the tasks will get our blessing, and so divinity will be achieved. If we all agree on these terms, we won´t kill the candidate during the sacred ritual. And we will be sure the best choice was taken.”

“It seems you already had this planned out brother.”

Said Poseidon in a slightly suspicious tone. It wasn´t unusual for his brother to come up with grandiose plans that required thorough cleaning afterwards. The god of the sea laid back his heavily muscled back on the chair and wondered about what Zeus was really planning.

“This is madness father. And even if the plan worked, we are not sure divinity won´t corrupt the champion. It has happened before. And I´m sure some of us won´t have Olympus´ best interest in mind when choosing a candidate.”

Said Athena whilst eying the god of wine, who was in-between drinking and undressing the Sentinels with his eyes.

“Of course, it would be you who started judgement sister. Perhaps if you sought interaction with other one than your precious little owl, you wouldn´t be practically embodying neurosis instead of wisdom.”

Said Aphrodite clearly in odds with her sister´s self-perceived moral high ground.

The room exploded in a cacophony of displeased voices. Apollo sighed as he looked at his family once again imploding on its own. He knew that deep inside everyone was excited with the idea of gifting a mortal with divine powers, it was a fascinating process. It allowed the gods to mold a person according to their needs, and of course desires. The trip down to the terrestrial plane could be a hassle, but nothing none of the twelve Olympians could handle. He was particularly keen on seeing what his normally silent brother Hephaestus and his hermit twin sister Artemis would come up with.

Suddenly Zeus slammed his hand on the giant round table on the center and thunder flashed all across the room and resonated with a deafening sound that completely drowned the gods´ anxious voices.

“The decision is made. According to Hades we got exactly until the next lunar cycle for Typhon´s energy to start leaking out of Tartarus. Until then the champion has to be chosen and ready with his task so we can avoid the most corruption possible. Each Olympian must have their candidate ready by the next full moon and present him before the celestial gateway on the base of Mount Olympus. That is an order.”

Zeus´s eyes flashed excitedly with the glow of golden lightning.

“Meeting adjourned.”

The king of the gods then disappeared with blinding thunder. Each god made their way out of the palace to get ready for the task at hand. Apollo got on his chariot and smiled. Apparently, a new form of inspiration was presenting itself to him, and he was going to enjoy every second of it. It was fitting for his father to turn a crisis situation into a competition, but this time Apollo was excited to participate. The chariot of the sun then departed hastily into the night sky as the thunder clouds dissipated and a dark moon adorned the firmament.

[dreamii-yume]

SPicy AF. This one is sorta AU-ish? ,MC/reader is also a mermaid that bullied Azul as a child, however he never got to learn her name or probably forgot her face because of trauma, so when they arrive at NRC they start anew. During Azul's overblot, she tries to reason with him before shit hits the fan, however in this state, Azul remembers everything and well, cue very violent non-con (choking, tentacles and that jazz), you decide the ending tho, thanks in advance!!

Yes, yeS, yES, YES, YES. It’s tentacle time babyyyy~! This Sinfic Request is more story-based (´｡• ω •｡`) 

♥♥♥♥♥

Oh, if only Darling could travel back at those times, telling her younger self that it was fine. She didn’t have to understand the other children and should accept the way she is, even if she greatly differs from everyone else. It was better off not getting involved with that Little Octomer, it's just wasn’t that worth it.

♥♥♥♥♥

Slick and slippery fluids ran throughout your body, staining any available flesh currently exposed. You struggled as each of your limbs were restricted by those giant tendrils of your Dorm Leader. Hundreds of suction cups clung themselves all over your body, leaving patches of red behind. Your eyes twitched in irritation and cringed when they forced themselves underneath your shirt and another wrapped itself around half your face, almost restricting your ability to breathe. The sticky substance that they were letting out doesn’t feel normal either, you can compare them with light acid as you could practically feel your clothes burning from the constant friction.

You tried your best to at least move your hand freely, but one tentacle was strong and long enough to hold them behind your back. Your eyes searched everywhere for something you can use to your advantage but all you saw are bubbles of dark ink floating around the ruins of the once elegant Octavinelle dorm. You were so distracted in trying to plan your impossible escape that you almost jumped out of your own skin as large hands had suddenly cupped your face, forcing you to look at them ever so gently.

“Aah...How does it feel, dear?” His distorted voice echoes throughout the land, sending shivers down your spine. There’s was no other thing you can do but to stare at his darken, crazed eyes with the other glowing in purple within the dim atmosphere. “How does it feel like to be constricted by the same tentacles that you so cruelly mistreated before?”

You grunted, eyebrows scrunching together as another tentacle positioned itself between your legs, purposely rubbing against the fabric of your underwear. “How laughable.” You heard the corrupted dorm leader whisper once again, leaning closed to you with a deranged look in his eyes. “Even though I want nothing more than to just snap your neck in two right now, I can’t seem to bring myself to do so.”

“Just as I expected...From your existence, to your actions, and to what you did to me, they are truly one strange phenomenon to ever graced this world.” He said with a delusional expression. “I want it. I want it all. Give your all to me, (Y/N). Your everything!”

“I’ll have you feel what I felt with you before!” His nails dug around your face, tightening his grip, leaning in closer and closer, just enough for you to see the madness in his blue eyes. “Hey...Do you remember, my Darling? What you did to me back then...?”

Ah, that’s right.

You almost forgot that the reason that this was all happening to you was because of a little childish mishap that the both of you had as kids. Honestly, you wished that he didn’t have to be this petty, being able to remember an event that happened years ago. But guessing how deranged this guy is, you guessed that this wasn’t a time for sarcastic remarks. But now that he’s shifting into the topic of your childhood, it is quite strange to look back at it...

...What did you do to the infamous Azul Ashengrotto for him to be this infuriated with you?

♥♥♥♥♥

Continue the Spice~?

I experimented a bit in this Sinfic, so I hope Yume doesn’t disappoint too much...( ╥ω╥ ) But let me know what you think~!

[apparitionism]

Monday

I wrote the following brief scenes a while ago as part of a potential story that refused to coalesce. It may yet, someday, but for now this is merely a scrap of unfruited AU narrative; I’m posting only to prove to myself that I’m not completely incapable of doing writing-related things, even if it’s just tidying up generic, trope-y bits of dialogue. I intended Christina, about age seven, to be an important story lever in this, with this Myka and this single-mom Helena as coworkers of some sort (I was thinking insurance, possibly, because risk management has been on my mind). Such fuzziness was part of why the story as such never took off... in any event, it doesn’t matter. Here is what does matter: if you are a U.S. citizen who is able to vote, do it; choose Biden/Harris and every down-ballot Democrat. This HAS TO BE a landslide repudiation of that horrific, corrupt individual and the party that enables him.

Monday

Turning points arrive in their own time.

Myka and Helena were eating lunch together. That in itself was of course not unusual, for they were colleagues and friends. And as colleague-friends, they tended to eat lunch together.

“You seem upset,” Myka noted. Helena was picking at a salad, but differently than she usually picked at her salads. Usually she picked because she was picky and would eat only the most pleasing elements; today she was merely moving salad components from one region of the plate to another.

“I’m not upset.”

“But you seem upset.”

“Well... I have to break an engagement. It’s impolite.”

Being forced into incivility was indeed the kind of thing that would drive Helena to stab, lift, and re-place arugula. “Why do you have to break an engagement?”

“You know Mrs. Carter, the neighbor who usually sits with Christina. She was called out of town. An ill relative. This morning—but I had plans tonight.”

“Could your plans happen at your house instead? Without sitting?”

Helena wrinkled her brow. “It’s a first date. Far too soon to bring a new person into Christina’s life like that.”

A first date. The words punched Myka hard, leaving a queasy burning in their wake. Her analytical side leapt to make sense of this extreme response: It’s the first time you’ve heard Helena say anything about such a thing, so it surprised you. You’ve never liked surprises; ergo, you’re just reacting poorly to being surprised. Because of course Helena would go on a first date, because of course she would want to find someone, someone to be with, and Myka didn’t know why that hadn’t occurred to her before, but she and Helena hadn’t really talked much about relationships, so maybe Helena went on a lot of first and other dates that she hadn’t bothered mentioning to Myka, and maybe that meant their friendship wasn’t as close as Myka had thought, because maybe they really were more colleagues than friends, and... Okay, just stop. Whatever this is, stop. She breathed her way through the aftermath of the punch and said, “I’ll do it, then. Babysit.”

“You will?”

“You were planning to go out. You should go out.”

“You haven’t asked me with whom.”

“That’s probably not my business,” Myka said, because it wasn’t, despite her unexpected, inappropriate impulse to claim it as entirely her business. Just stop.

“Claudia’s new manager in platform development. Claudia described her to me as, and I quote, ‘absolute fire.’ Which I presume is good.”

“So you asked her out.”

“No, she asked me. And I said yes, because... well, is there a reason I shouldn’t?”

Was that intended as bait? But it couldn’t have been. Logicking it out again: Myka had never felt such a weird surge (no, a twitch, it was only a twitch) of possessiveness before; thus Helena couldn’t have identified it so quickly, and with such precision, that she would immediately challenge Myka on the point. Could she? “Of course not,” Myka said. “What time do you want me to show up?”

*

That evening, Myka kept her still-reeling gut at bay by concentrating on Christina, who was delighted to have Myka all to herself. “You and Mom talk about boring things,” she pronounced as soon as her mother left. “Tonight you don’t have to do that!”

No... all Myka had to do was imagine what sorts of non-boring things Helena was talking about with her date who was absolute fire. But she managed not to do too much of that imagining, at least while Christina was awake, while they were building with Legos and renaming her plastic and puffy animals and manipulating slime. This latter was a fad that had, according to Christina, faded some time ago, but she found the texture soothing; she asked Myka, very seriously—as if Myka’s verdict would be the final word on the subject—whether that meant it was okay not to give it up. Myka said that in her experience, truly calming things were few and far between, so she thought it was more than okay. Christina enjoyed the phrase “few and far between.”

Myka was tempted to let Christina stay up late, late and later, but she supposed it wasn’t fair to deprive a child of sleep just to rescue herself from herself.

She fell asleep on the sofa, and that was a blessing; she didn’t have to hear Absolute Fire’s car, didn’t have to think about anything that might be happening in that car. She awoke just as Helena was stepping inside and taking off her coat. Helena turned around and smiled, and Myka struggled to sit up and look alert, saying a sleep-hoarse “sorry” as she did.

“What for? Being asleep at ten at night? That seems reasonable. Ideally I’d have been asleep by now, if I’d been home.”

“It’s only ten?”

“Dinner was short. The fire may be absolute as far as Claudia is concerned, but there were no sparks that I could see. Or feel.”

Thank god, Myka thought, too fervently. Then, Just stop. Aloud, she tried for indifference: “Maybe Claudia should go out with her instead.”

“Maybe she should. Did my own small bit of fire behave herself?”

“She was great. I’m never going to fully appreciate the appeal of slime... but I can report that bath, story, and bed were peaceful. No conflagration.” This news would make Helena happy: meltdowns at bedtime were common. Christina was often fearful of some unspecified something that would happen overnight, and she was never clear on whether it would be a good something or a bad something, just something, of which she would be unaware.

Helena did, in fact, smile her relieved “Christina is fine for tonight” smile. “Did she wear you out completely? Or might you stay for a glass of wine?”

“Weird way for you to end your date. A drink with the babysitter?” Trying to sound normal. Like the friend she was.

“Better than the date. No, that’s too callous. It was fine. But it wasn’t anything.”

Myka had the drink. Just the one, slowly, as they sat and talked about what Christina would have deemed “boring things”... but Helena had two. And a half. She was eyeing the bottle like she might be inclined to head for it again, so Myka said, “I really should go.”

Helena said, “Should you?” Myka wanted (wanted so much) to make of that what she was pretending she didn’t want to make of it, but she determined instead to make nothing of it. No one should make anything of what anyone said when they’d had a couple of drinks at the end of a long week. And at the end of a failed date, she reminded herself, then cringed at the pleasure she took in knowing that it had failed. Whatever this is, stop.

Standing by the front door, Helena gave her a vaguely unsteady half-hug, a clasp of her left arm around Myka’s shoulders. Myka didn’t want to not reciprocate—trying now to act normal, like the friend she was—so she let herself move her own left arm fully around Helena’s waist, allowed herself to rest her hand for just the press of a second on Helena’s hip.

For that press of a second, Myka leaned close and inhaled against the sharp sweet angle of Helena’s cheekbone. For that press of a second, a slide to a kiss was a warm looming certainty; then the second passed, and it was a receding dream. Myka released Helena’s body and said, “I’ll see you Monday.”

*

NOTE: I’d say “TBC,” but since I don’t know whether this will ever function as part of a larger piece, I’ll leave it as a little misfit story-island. You know B&W will find their way to each other; they’re just not quite connecting, in that “this friendship means everything to me and I can’t stand the idea of blowing it” way, on both sides. Anyway I’m not sure who these characters really are, other than coworkers and friends (who clearly need to be something more); plus there’s a gaping hole where a plot should be. Why are these people here? What are they doing? Should any reader care? I have no idea. Again, here is what matters: vote vote vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and Democratic Senate, House, and local candidates.

[waxwitch]

L'manburg; Finishing Wilbur's Unfinished Symphony

A Historical Essay-S2

L’manburg, the second oldest nation within the Dream SMP, has been blown up thrice, and betrayed many times more. Too many betrayals, and in this season, too many new nations and alliances formed. And all over that, the Crimson is creeping into our lives, and into the bodies of many others. In this essay, I will, to the best of my ability, explain and analyse every action that the members of the Dream SMP have done, and attempt to predict the future of the next season, as Wilbur’s unfinished symphony is finally completed by three people and an unexpected alliance.

One thing I did not mention in my last essay was the 3 lives system. If one SMP member dies 3 times, or their chosen amount of lives, they ‘permadeath’ in the game, dying as if in real life. However, the death only counts as a ‘canon’ death if it was important to the plotline, dividing the deaths into ‘canon deaths’ and ‘respawnable deaths’.  The current death counter of the time of writing (17/1/2021) can be found at the end of the essay, and the current death counter can be found on the Dream SMP Wiki.

New L’manburg is the nation of Manburg. But, you may remember that Manburg was blown up by Wilbur Soot, with underground nukes and bombs. However, the presidency of Tubbo_, along with Quackity and many others repaired the nuked mess of Manburg to a new nation, and gave it a new shine and charm. TommyInnit also helped rebuild, although he was more for fun than helping.

New L’manburg was also the home of several new members. In fact, following the tradition of the war periods before, 6 new members had joined the server, just like every other period following the wars before.

The new members were Ph1lza Minecraft, ConnorEatsPants, CaptainPuffy, Vikkstar123, LazerBeam and Ranboo. Many of these members play an important part in the later storyline.

After Schlatt’s funeral, Quackity took the remains of Schlatt, eating his heart during the drunk party, but kept all 5 of the bones. With these items, Quackity believes he could revive Schlatt from the dead, as Schlatt still had 1 canon life left. 

Tommy and Ranboo burnt down GeorgeNotFound’s house together, but when taken to trial by the government, Tommy covered for Ranboo, due to Ranboo forgetting the event because of endermen memory loss. Yet, this event gave Dream an excuse to manipulate Tubbo and Tommy, and by extension the people of L’manburg. He threatened New L’manburg’s freedom, building obsidian walls around New L’manburg, and only agreed to take the walls down if Tommy was exiled and banished from his nation once more, under the justification of ‘removing rebels from your (Tubbo’s) nation.’

Tubbo, for the sake of his nation’s independence and his people’s freedom, decided to exile Tommy, disuniting the clingy duo. Dream took Tommy in a boat to a new plains biome, that no one had been before, and Ghostbur followed along. You see, the terms of Tommy’s exile was to leave to somewhere that was nowhere near civilization at all.

During Tommy’s time of exile, Dream played the part of a ‘friend’. He would manipulate Tommy into thinking he had no friends other than Dream, and even planned a beach party with Tommy, only to destroy the invites afterwards. Dream also destroyed Tommy’s armor and tools after the dusk of everyday.

One day, Tommy stored some armor and tools in a secret base under his house. Dream, however, when destroying his stuff with TNT found the stash. At this point in history, Tommy had tried to suicide many times, as he only had one life remaining (see 3 Lives System) through jumping into lava in the nether. Dream, however, stopped him. We can consider the reasons and motives of why Dream, the puppeteer of the server, decided to stop him from dying.

One possible reason is that if Dream wanted to keep Tubbo and therefore the rest of the server not within the lands of The Greater SMP Nation. Dream has been cutting away at everything with meaning to him, as if cutting the strings and ropes that held him down.

Another important thing to remember is that Dream swapped sides just before the Manburg-Pogtopia war, because of something Schlatt gave Dream before his heart attack/stroke killed him. But, on the topic of Schlatt, he hasnt burnt through all his lives. The Manburg Festival firework death, and his heart attack/stroke leaves him with one life remaining, although we’ll talk more about this later.

That special something was a written book. But, Dream said that the book didn't contain any ‘war” information. So, what could have that book contained? We know it wasn't a simple joke, as Dream isn't playing around and wouldn't give up his position on the winning side for a joke; this is evident in him cutting all attachment to him, removing his friends, and ignoring the leather of his dead horse Spirit.

It couldn't be a hint to the third disk in Tommy’s possession; everyone knows it is in his enderchest, safe. I believe it was a book of information(see Schlatt’s book), causing Dream to become self-aware. Dream’s motives were always evil, but self-awareness could have made him more cautious, or be able to carry out these plans more efficiently. Self-awareness did not make Dream evil though, as he was aiming to destroy the people of L’manburg from the start, a tyrant like the ones Technoblade swears to destroy.

Back to Tommy, his last stint at Logstedshire, the plains biome, named by Ghostbur, Tommy tried to kill himself again, after Dream blowing his stuff up again, this time from jumping off a height that would surely kill him. However, he changed his mind half jump, and landed in a pool of water, breaking his fall. The tall one-block wide tower, however, remained.

Tommy left Logstedshire, and ran his way, over many days, to his old ally, Technoblade’s house. He lived there, stealing from Techno for food and supplies.

During this time where most fans focused on Tommy and Dream’s exile shenanigans, BadBoyHalo, Antfrost, Skeppy and CaptainPuffy discovered an egg in Bad’s statue room. The egg was red and crimson in colour, and gained the nickname of The Crimson. Some ‘vines’ composed of red blocks also spread from the egg. Bad showed Dream and Awsamdude the egg, and told them to touch it, saying that it would make them feel good. Dream and Sam seemed repulsed to the egg, however.

The egg has been proven to be able to corrupt minds, as when Puffy touched it later, she became more greedy and self-centred. The egg can also control certain minds, such as Skeppy’s, to become protective or attached to the egg. Ponz found a small piece of red vine in his base, and became attached to it, calling it ‘Lil Red’. Bad protected the egg, and Skeppy just wanted to stay with it, even after knowing the risks.

Bad and Ant, both manipulated by the egg, spread the vines to different parts of the server through placing crimson nylium, which would pass on the crimson vines. But, those affected by crimson and the crimson itself had a couple of weaknesses. Holy water from Church Prime(also see Twitch Prime) would remove the corruption from the corrupted and controlled, and kill the crimson it was put on. Soul flames, similar to the fires lit on soul sand or soul soil, would burn the crimson vines. However regular fires do not work. Also, the uniforms from Church Prime acts similar to hazmat suits when examining the egg.

After Sam removed the corruption from Bad, Ant and Puffy, he explained the above weaknesses to the group. Sam had been researching the crimson this whole time. Skeppy, however, due to prolonged contact with the egg, was not able to be ‘cleansed’ of the egg’s corruption.

Philza was put under house arrest after the government discovered him helping a fugitive: Technoblade. A compass leading to Techno’s house was discovered in a chest of Philza’s house, and a branch of the government named The Butcher Army decided to take one of Technoblade’s canon lives, although Techno had decided not to be destructive or make any threats towards New L’manburg.

The Butcher Army ventured to the tundra, and told Technoblade he was under trial. Of course, Techno refused to be arrested, and he fought off the army until Quackity took Techno’s horse, Carl and threatened Carl’s life. Techno then agreed to go to trial, as long as his horse didn't get hurt.

When they returned to New L’manburg, it was revealed that it was not a trial, but an execution for Techno’s previous war crimes of spawning withers. However, Technoblade managed to escape with Dream and Punz’s help (Punz being hired as hitman by Dream), and Techno now owes Dream a favor.

Technoblade discovered Tommy living in his house after a couple of days, and offered him an ultimatum: either side with him, or die in the freezing cold of the snow tundra. Tommy chose the former, and the alliance between the two was formed, only because Tommy desired to get back his disks to stop the conflict.

Tubbo once ventured to Logstedshire, and saw Tommy’s tower, and believed that Tommy had killed himself, and was dead. But, this next point of conflict will end the sadness around Tubbo’s death, and start a new bout of angst.

The two ventured to L’manburg a couple of times, but the main focus of these travels was the final trip together. They were confronted by 20 people at the blown up community house, with no knowledge of what was going on.

It turns out, Dream found out that the oldest structure on the server, the community house, was blown up by ‘Tommy’. To everyone’s knowledge, no one else would do it other than Tommy, yet Tommy had no motive to do so. So everyone believed Dream, until Tommy and Techno showed up. Dream was building back up the obsidian walls to prevent L’manburg from having freedom. Tubbo and the other members of the cabinet were protesting, but Dream being the powerful entity, ignored them.

Techno was willing to fight all 20+ people at the meeting, but Tommy turned sides and joined Tubbo and the government in uniting L’manburg, ignoring the disks. Techno, Philza, who had left his house, and Dream decided to unite and destroy the government; and not just setting bombs under L’manburg, they wanted to make it so that nothing could rise up again.

On the final day(6/1/2021), Technoblade, Dream and Philza bombed L’manburg with TNT droppers from the sky, and destroyed the whole country. Many people see L’manburg as running out of canon lives (see L’manburg in the glossary). Niki, against the government but not necessarily an Anarchist, burnt down the L’manburg Tree, also known as the L’mantree or the L’tree. She then said one of the main lines, ‘It was never meant to be.’

Technoblade spawned in approximately 11 withers, and blew up the Bee House first. His hound army also helped with thinning out the crowd. However, none of the deaths counted as canon during this time.

Yet, there is one thing to remember: Dream didn't call in his favor from Technoblade, which will be important in the plot of season 3.

Without any information from season 3 leaking in, I believe that the favor Technoblade owes Dream will be used very well, and I hope that no one starts a new government, otherwise the Arctic Anarchists will come back to shut it down.

[fics-not-tragedies]

White Christmas: Part One ❄

one - two - three - four

For @letoursilencebreaktonight​ who’s also obsessed with Mr Hiddleston, I love you, you’re my frien 💖

STORY SUMMARY: You, a well known and respected doctor, plan a Christmas Eve ball to raise money for the foundation you’re a part of. Few famous people attend it and Tom Hiddleston is among them.

Words:  4078; Warnings: none, unless you want a warning for drinking, then you have it; Summary: You’re anxious about every little thing even though the party started, but that quickly changes when you’re approached by no one else but Tom Hiddleston himself.

Hiddleston tag list:

@letoursilencebreaktonight​​; @kinghiddlestonanddixon​​; @penwieldingdreamer​;

Sparkling chandeliers hung from the high ceiling, the light reflecting in the polished gold of the embellished columns that lined the walls and accentuated the staircase majestically, the heavy drapes pulled up by the windows, illuminated and shimmering as the flames of the candles on each table danced, the ballroom had transformed into the perfect setting for the magical night you hoped no one wouldn’t forget so soon.

The room was slowly filling with more and more people as you felt the anticipation rise inside you, thrilled that the event looked out to become a success. You recognized quite a few important and famous faces instantly, and you knew they meant business, leaving you hopeful to raise a good sum tonight.

You, along with the other women at your foundation, had worked for weeks, months to make this event possible, planning, inviting, networking, raising money and now, the night was finally here. And even though everything seemed to be going according to plan, you couldn’t shake that anxiety, that fear that in at least one crucial moment, something would go wrong.

But there was only so much you could do now, nothing really but watch closely to be sure to notice issues before anyone else in order to prevent them in advance, keep an eye on everything and overlook the event and make sure you would really reach your goal tonight, would really make everyone see the vision you had in mind when planning this event.

It wasn’t just about raising money to support those who struggle daily due to their illnesses, who can’t have a normal life, who can’t raise their children themselves - you also wanted to show everyone that even though you’re a woman, you are capable of making a change somehow, capable of making greater things, even though people doubted your strength when you began your career.

Women in beautiful evening dresses, along with more businessmen in expensively tailored suits entered the warm space from the cold, faces flushed as they warmed up, their eyes wide, gleaming with wonder when they took in the extravagance of the ballroom dipped into a golden light. Some were already starting to sway gently to the music the live band was playing.

You had managed to get an extraordinary singer for tonight, knowing it would be one of the finest aspects of entertainment of the evening. Already though, the way the guests’ heads turned, they stopped to admire the setting, it filled you with joy and a sense of great pride because you managed to make the most of the resources you’d been given for tonight.

Soon, all the guests had found their tables and you went to sit at one in the front with the other women from your foundation, one of your friends to your right instantly taking your arm and leaning over to you, “You don’t look like you’re enjoying yourself. It’s looking so good.”

You smiled, shaking your head to ease her mind, “I am enjoying myself, I really am. And I’m aware it looks good, I’m delighted. But something might still go awfully wrong…”

“Oh, always the perfectionist, aren’t you? Everything is going to be fine, trust me” she said confidently, giving you a reassuring nod, “We’ve thought of everything, thought out everything that could possibly go wrong, and we set in motion all possible precautions. Please, my dear, you deserve to enjoy this night too.”

You breathed out shakily, trying to internalize her words because you knew she was right, you worked hard and you could still enjoy the evening even if you had to keep an eye on everything, making sure that it all was going smoothly.

Once everyone was seated, the music slowed, decreased in volume, then paused, as soon as the president of your foundation took the small stage that was decorated with artificial sparkling snow, situated at the far end of the large room, all the round tables facing it and the quiet conversation and laughter subsided. It never took much for her to have a full room’s undivided attention, especially now in her ruby red dress with golden embroidery on the fabric over her chest and a hint of golden satin material covering her shoulders, she drew everyone’s gaze effortlessly.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!” she called, her voice rising in pitch as she stood at the center of the stage, “I would like to give a warm welcome to all our guests, everybody who has had a part in making our vision we had for this very special night become a reality, our friends, our families, friends we have yet to make tonight. We are going to be accepting donations throughout the whole evening, myself and the other wonderful ladies wearing the gold pin that stands for our foundation so do not be hesitant to approach us, we will be delighted to discuss the different ways the money raised tonight will be spent, most importantly to support the people in need and their families.”

She paused, gave one of those smiles that you knew had just won over half the businessmen that would potentially donate something and the room filled with clapping, spreading around the tables and she looked contently over the sea of people watching her, applauding her. She waited, cleared her throat in order to signal that she wanted to continue speaking after a moment and just as slowly and gradually, the clapping subsided respectfully once more.

“From me and my sisters, a merry Christmas, and a wonderful evening! Enjoy the entertainment and the dishes we’ve selected but most importantly, be kind to one another.”

And with those words, she exited the stage, her heels clicking on the floor for only a brief moment before the music picked up once more and the waiters began carrying the food inside, placing an entree in front of each guest. You had spent a week on tasting different foods with one of the other ladies, had selected each dish carefully, making sure to only serve the best. And no matter how anxious you were about the evening, you had also been looking forward to it, so happy that it had finally come and you would get to see what you worked so hard for unfold.

You discussed some of the charity work you would do, what you would put the money to while in the background, the highly anticipated singer took the stage in front of the band, a few heads turning, smiles appearing on people’s faces when her mellow voice echoed melodically through the room, lifting your heart at least a little from the depressing reality you were attempting to combat through charity tonight.

Once you finished dessert, the first people were already standing, switching seats to converse with people at different tables, some even spreading out as far as the other side of the room, close to the dancefloor. You volunteered to break the first ground if no one else would initiate it, although you secretly hoped it wouldn’t come to that because unlike most of the other women in your foundation, you came here alone.

Before you knew it though, several couples had taken to the dancefloor, spinning around to the now more upbeat music and the rich voice of the remarkable singer, dancing, swaying, turning the heads of anyone that heard her, walked by her purposely once she caught their eye.

You stood near the stage, sipping on a glass of champagne, overlooking the crowd watchfully to assess the atmosphere, when he caught your eye.

And for a brief moment, you couldn’t look away. Even from across the room, that pair of fair, blue eyes caused your heart to skip a beat, the connection lasting merely a few seconds until a waiter blocked your view and he picked up one of the glasses from the waiter’s tray, his eyes still locked on yours once they were visible to you once more and you found your face flush, flustered as he had the nerve to keep up his stare, making you shift nervously.

You found it in you finally to lower your gaze, the intensity of the stranger’s eyes having quite the effect and you attempted to compose yourself, taking another sip from your champagne, the pleasant tingles fizzing down your tongue and tickling your throat.

Once you had gathered up the strength to lift your gaze again, the same pair of eyes corrupted the steady rhythm of your heartbeat once again and this time he was closer, two more steps, then just one and he stood right in front of you, his large blue eyes having effortlessly increased their effect on you tenfold.

He was silent for a moment, brought his glass to his lips and took a sip, exhaling before the low tone of his voice hit you for the first time, “Good evening” the English charm of this man was beyond real borders and you gave him a slow nod, once you managed to tear your eyes from his in order to be able to form a coherent sentence, you noticed his gaze brushing over your features and the way he looked at you, you had never seen anyone regard you quite the same.

“Sir” you said respectfully, clearing your throat when you realized how dry your voice sounded.

The right corner of his mouth twitched upwards, just the hint of amusement on his hard features lightening up his face immensely, even before he toyed with the small smile around his lips. He was wearing one of the most impeccable suits you’ve ever seen with your own eyes, his dark hair neatly styled, brushed backwards, so they won’t fall onto his forehead.

“How may I help you, Sir?” You asked in a desperate attempt to not let the nervousness he evoked in you pop up onto the surface.

His face broke out into a smirk and he lifted his free hand. To your relief you noticed that there was no ring on it, “May I?”

A knot had formed in your throat and you didn’t know if you had it in you to speak now, accept him because there was no way you were denying his offer, but you were surprised nonetheless, and you had to win some time to calm yourself before you would be able to dance with this incredibly handsome stranger, be close enough for him to notice your heart racing, “You want to dance with me, Sir?” You asked, in hopes to stall him for just a few seconds.

“If you have nothing against it, Ma’am.”

As much as you were trying to appear unfazed, unaffected by the look in his eyes, the deep drawl of his dulcet voice, the rush of pink into your cheeks betrayed you. You didn’t know what it was that made it absolutely impossible for you to take your eyes off him, but there was something that had drawn you in quite abruptly. There was no doubting his attractiveness, but there was more to it, it were his ways of interaction, his cheek, how much he had expressed simply with his eyes and the minimal amount of words he uttered so far. And you wanted more.

He wiggled his fingers suggestively when you didn’t accept his hand right away and you could not suppress your laugh, drinking down the rest of champagne remaining in your glass before placing it down on a passing waiter’s tray.

He did the same, one large step to the side to reach, then he was back by your side, cocking an eyebrow up expectantly, “Would you like me to get you another drink first?”

To your own surprise, you caught yourself shaking your head eagerly, finally allowing yourself to take the enticing stranger’s hand, “Oh no” you said, holding your breath as his warm hand enveloped yours and he gently led you forward, approaching the dancefloor where a number of couples was already dancing, swaying, twirling.

“No?” He questioned, turning to place his hand on the middle of your back respectfully, giving your hand a gentle squeeze. When he drew you in and you managed to regulate your breathing, you were surrounded instantly by a pleasant cloud of something musky, with just a hint of cigarette smoke and you leaned closer, craving more as you moved with him, allowing him to lead you into a fast-paced waltz.

“Not to change your plans” you said quickly, licking your lips, attempting to gather your wit, “I just don’t want to be absolutely… wasted, in case something goes wrong” you explained.

He raised his eyebrows, then nodded understandingly as his eyes wandered down to the small pin secured to your dress to the side of your bust, “Oh, yes, right…” he said, “you’re one of the brains behind this whole thing, aren’t you?”

You smiled proudly, “Indeed I am. Are you enjoying yourself?” You asked hopefully.

“Oh, certainly” he assured you, “The food was absolutely fantastic, I don’t remember the last time I had a meal quite like that, never have before perhaps.”

His words filled you with joy, lifting your spirits tremendously, “You have no idea how happy I am to hear that” you told him softly.

A genuine smile spread across his face, no cheek, no smirk, “Oh, you’ve done a fantastic job, I can assure you. And I’m not the only one who thinks the same way.”

You sighed, biting your bottom lip, “Are you sure?”

“I swear, Ma’am” he said, letting his gaze wander across the room, and you almost missed it on you there, even though he only took his attention from you for just a brief moment, “Look around the room. It’s truly wonderful.”

Subconsciously, you leaned closer to him, intertwining your fingers with his, “Thank you.”

“Oh, it’s no problem at all, Miss…?”

You looked back at him, telling him your name, your heart fluttering when he repeated it back to you in his deep voice, the corner of his mouth twitching upwards as he savored your name the way it rolled off his tongue.

“Beautiful.”

You blushed a dark flush of red, taking a breath, “What about you?” You asked.

“I’m Thomas” he said. “Hiddleston.”

You raised an eyebrow, your eyes piercing his face and with the sound of his name you were remained why his face seemed so familiar.

“Just Tom, if you will…” he added quickly.

“I think I will settle on that.”

He smirked, then suddenly stepping back, stretching out his arm as the song changed to a more upbeat one and he fell into a foxtrot step sequence. It took you a moment to snap out of it, snap out of pondering his words but then you were all there, twirled into him before dancing back and placing your hand on his shoulder again as he pulled you close, his body much closer to yours now, eyes locked, the intensity of that baby blue making your breath hitch in your throat once more.

The music had now increased in volume and the faster steps required more of your attention, more of your stamina so you settled for just focusing on your bodies moving together for now instead of words, trying to gather as much as you could from just observing him as your heart beats increased in unison, breaths heavier when the song switched to another and you slowly but surely started swirling around the room together, becoming more confident and trusting in each other.

You hadn’t danced like that in a long time, hadn’t quite found a partner that would switch and lead and fall into the rhythm of your every move quite as quick as you liked but right now, things were just falling into place, he picked up every hint, you followed where he led, and it was just easy, you barely had to think about it, your body moving on its own, complimentary with his, and your nervousness was slowly falling from you, the tension replaced with excitement. From one second to the next, you found yourself having more fun that you had in a very long time, especially on the dancefloor.

You lost count of the songs, of the amount of times you changed pace, adjusted your grip on his shoulder, his hand, but noticed specifically the way his hand kept finding its way to your lower back, the way he pulled you closer with every single song and soon, you ended up with your body pressed up against his after a particularly fast-paced tune.

He was panting, the muscles of his chest tense and so were his arms and you were breathing heavily as well, but he never allowed your eyes to disconnect and even though you should have gotten used to it by now, the way they looked like they were staring right into your soul had your knees weaker than ever before.

You were overwhelmed by how close you’d gotten to his stranger, this insanely attractive stranger, in such a short span of time, and you hoped he’d also had enough dancing for now, not because you weren’t having fun, but because you desperately wanted to hear him talk more, the way he’d spoken about his impressive ranks so modestly had you curious, captivated.

“Break time, darling?” He drawled and you found it in yourself to give a nod, breathing out with a shaky sigh, letting your hand slide from his shoulder and letting him lead you off the dancefloor, “Let me get you a proper drink. Don’t you move.”

And with those words, he’d disappeared in the sea of sparkly dresses and expensive suits to head to the open bar, leaving you to your anxious feeling about the event again. For a while, he’d made you forget, made you enjoy the ball like your colleague had instructed for you to.

You smiled when she headed for you as soon as you caught her eye when she passed by, “There you are, dear” she said, leaning closer to you than the average exchange required.

You raised your eyebrows at her expectantly, “What’s the matter?” You asked fearfully, worried that just now when you let your guard down, something had gone wrong.

“I saw you on the dancefloor…” she smirked, bumping your hip playfully with hers.

Despite your momentary confusion, you managed to breathe out with relief. She just wanted to gossip. She loved gossiping about men, “Yes, I’ve been dancing” you said, not giving her quite enough to work with.

“Tom Hiddleston” she said, smirking, “I shouldn’t be surprised that you out of all the women here would catch his eye.”

“What?” you asked, furrowing your brows and stretching out your tired arms, “Do you know him?”

“You don’t?” She asked, blinking in disbelief, “He’s the hottest among all of the actors that came to our event. Also I feel like you should get some time off, watch few of his movies instead of working so hard at the clinic.”

“Here we are, darling.”

You spun around when you heard his deep voice, your heart skipping a beat as your eyes landed on his once more and you absently took the glass he handed you, giving your friend a nod before placing his hand on your lower back and leading you away, only stopping when you resumed your previous observatory position from when he approached you.

He was even more fascinating to you now after that short exchange with your friend, which you wouldn’t have thought possible and you took a sip from the glass he handed you, grimacing as too much of it burned down your throat harshly, “Whiskey?”

“Whiskey” he confirmed with a chuckle, giving you a confident nod, “A good liquor.”

You smirked. You loved a man that could appreciate some good hard liquor, “Chin-chin, love” you said, raising your glass.

“Bless your heart, darling” he let your glass ring with his, taking a sip without breaking eye contact as he watched you over the edge of his glass, “Will you dance with me again, darling?”

“Oh, I’ll be absolutely wasted by then” you laughed.

“But you will still look beautiful out there” he said.

You rolled your eyes, shaking your head to cover for the blush in your cheeks, “You’re quite funny, aren’t you?” You teased, playing it off.

“Possibly, but I mean that, absolutely not a joke. Out of all the women at this ball … there’s not a single one that compares to you.”

“Oh, you’re making it up!” you couldn’t believe his shameless compliments, the way he stared. There was not a second for you to slip up, he would see it all, his full attention had been on you since he laid eyes on you for the first time. And you couldn’t deny that it was incredibly flattering and made you feel like you were the only woman worth looking at, simply because he was looking at you.

“I am not” he stated, shaking his head, the corner of his mouth tugging upward with amusement as he regarded you watchfully, “That’s quite stunning dress…”

You swallowed, nervously adjusting the pearly headdress you carefully secured in your hair as you looked down at your body, the emerald colored silky dress flowing down, complementing your figure, its material shimmery, intrinsically beaded, with flowy sleeves, “Thank you” you said quietly, your voice just a hint as you looked back up at him, “I got it just for tonight.”

“Immaculate choice” he remarked, taking another sip from his whisky, “So tell me, what are you doing except for planning such balls? Where could I find you then?”

You laughed, “Except for clinic… probably the local library” you confessed, “I love reading, quite too much I must admit.”

He raised an eyebrow, tilting his head and shifting. It wasn’t much, but his body was noticeably closer now, “Tell me then, darling, what are the best books you recently read?”

“I haven’t read too much that’s been recently been published” you admitted, “I like to scavenge for hidden treasures at the libraries, old poetry collections and novels by the remarkable women.”

“Old poetry you say… I debuted in plays, so those have a very special place in my heart.”

You tried to imagine him in the theater, playing for a whole room of people, not being afraid to do so, like you probably would and you zoned out for a moment, too focused on your thoughts.

“Darling, are you alright?” he asked, his eyes growing wide with concern, the smirk fading from his face. “Let me take you outside, okay?”

“N-No, I’m fine…” you said, not wanting to be an inconvenience.

Tom didn’t listen, already placing down both your drinks on the nearest table before returning to wrap his arm around you, “Is there anywhere we can go to get some fresh air, darling?”

You didn’t find the strength to protest and just navigated him out of the ballroom at the far end, down a short corridor that led to a set of double doors, a large balcony stretching out ahead and despite denying your need for fresh air, you felt instantly more calm as you set foot outside, your heels clicking on the shiny ground and his arm tightened around you, presumably having noticed the small layer of shimmery ice, too.

“Thank you” you said quietly, leaning closer to him almost automatically as you reached the railing at the far end. The balcony faced the impressive back gardens and you looked out in awe.

“Are you alright?” he asked again, fishing out a pack of cigarettes from his top pocket.

“I am” you said quickly, “I just … it’s quite overwhelming discussing literature with you when my patients…”

“Aren’t doing so well back in the clinic you work at?” he asked, trapping the cigarette between his lips and lighting it, “I know that you’re committed to your work, darling, but you need to take rest from time to time and enjoy yourself.”

A sigh of relief escaped your lips, you were glad he didn’t seem to think you’d been insensitive. It seemed he knew just what you meant, what you wanted to say without you finding the right words to express it, he just understood, “Really?”

He nodded, “Yes…” he said, offering you the pack of cigarettes, but you politely declined, “You really need to enjoy this evening at least, you planned it.”

“I enjoy your company, Tom.”