#thought it was a cat or a tumbleweed or something

[hoboblaidd]

Did anyone lose a hobbit-sized Grey Warden? @avrorean

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

book 7 part 11 thoughts! (nov 29th update)

***THIS POST CONTAINS MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR BOOK 7 PART 11 OF THE MAIN STORY!!*** This spans part 212 to part 226, focusing on Leona. Jack and Ruggie's parts can be seen here.

Please note: this is NOT meant to be a summary or a translation; these are only my initial thoughts on the events that roughly unfold. There may be details overlooked or misunderstood in this post, so PLEASE do not use this as a translation.

The gang lands in… Sunrise City again? Importantly, there is a new effect that plays which differentiates it from the Sunrise City of Ruggie’s dream. There are now dust and tumbleweeds.

Ruggie and Jack are totally fine with the turbulent flight over, since they’re used to bumpy rides on brooms while playing magift/spelldrive. Azul, however, is not doing so hot (because of the flight + weather). Ruggie takes pity on the poor octoboi and looks for a stall to buy him a cheap drink like tea or something. That’s when Ruggie notices something weird… the city is way more desolate than usual, and many of the stalls that are normally selling are no longer there or are closed up.

He tries to talk to some NPCs, but they notice he’s a hyena and hide out of fear. Well, that’s just… odd. So the group decides to scope out the palace (the most likely place Leona would be) to get to the bottom of things!

We arrive at the outskirts of the palace and the uh… coloring… is ominous.

Silver comments that they didn’t see any royal guards so the Sunset Savanna must be a very peaceful country :DD (… Oh, you poor, sweet, summer child…)

Ruggie tells him that no, this is definitely strange! Normally there would be many female guards around, in what world would it be easy to sneak into a palace undetected?! The current head of the royal guard is a female lion beastwoman, and most of the guards are females who are proud of their skill and strength. Many girls apparently do martial arts as children and then volunteer to be guards.

They come across some hyena beastmen who are laughing loudly. Their garb is that of Sunset Warriors, who, if you recall from Tamashina Mina/Cloudcalling on the Savanna, is a title that is highly coveted + honorable and earned through winning a Cat the Tail/Bead Brawl tournament (that people often train hard for). But these NPCs aren’t honorable or even that skilled to begin with, so Ruggie senses something is WAY wrong.

The NPCs become darkness (it seems the dreams are becoming a lot more actively aggressive in the Savanaclaw segments) and we beat them up.

The guards chase us but Idia uses his Mad Gamer Skills to hack open a door and then lock it so they cannot pursue us. We overhear some shouting and…!

OH MY GOSH… Kifaji finally gets s voice?!!?!?! He’s pleading with someone to take action because the country is starving.

We sneak over to the throne room (which looks frighteningly similar to that one scene where Scar is lounging on rocks which poor Zazu is caged)… AnD YUP TheRE GE iS 😭 LEONA THE pRINcE (KINg) OF sUNSET SaqvCANNA)

AD BfsvkugvukevuylFI GOYQELGQEGIOYOG7QEOfwp9FFG9Fw HORYKAM AFDK DFHBLAGIOEYEQOGAGENNAGOUIAG OOTL THAT KLSOoKKS NICE AFN HADBLADBIHLDBIADGBIADGIOYGOVUEGYAIOAGABHIG KFDGSBHJDGBHLAGBIAGEIBGE PLEA DSN SE DREES LIEK THOA T LMORE PODFTNETN DFSBKLAFJAFBHLGBIUPAGIVYAAPIDMK OT AS;OBUGDAIYOADGYIADGOVIYAGOIEGPBIQEG

[Brain buffering...]

SORRY WHERE WAS I

Kifaji mentions that Leona’s father has passed from illness, and tragedy befell his older brother, Falena, and his family (I assume Cheka and the wife are also out of the picture??) so Leona has now succeeded him. In this dream, Leona claims to have “cleaned up” the slums, pushed development, and mined the hell out of the country. They made a lot of money, but… at the cost of ignoring the advice of his advisors + the public’s opposition and destroying their environment. His style of ruling is just not sustainable.

Leona says he won’t listen to those who cling to old customs. Kifaji admits that Leona’s plans to improve the country were innovative but still…! This is too much. He tries to get Leona to see reason by reminding Leona that people AREN’T like chess pieces. People are so different and can work in ways you may not want them to. As king, Leona HAS to understand that and work with them regardless. Unfortunately, Leona refuses to acknowledge anyone but himself as competent.

Apparently those guards from earlier were the result of Leona giving jobs to people because they needed it. Leona being Leona, however, never gave them proper training and demands that Kifaji handle that.

OH MAn 💀 They hear shouting and it seems like there is a protest outside??

Dream!Ruggie is leading a crowd. He says stuff like how Falena was a better ruler than Leona ever was. They want food, they want nature back; they don’t want a king.

LMAOv???!!?!!?,) NOT LEONA GOING “damn, if they hate it here so much then they should just leave”????? 😭 THIS IS EXACTLY WhaT OUT OF tOUCH RICH poLITICIANs SAy WHEN PEopLE XOMPLaaiN AbOUT THEiR POLICiES

Leona orders Kifaji to shut up the protestors, he can’t nap like this 💀 Some things never change, I guess…

Ruggie takes them to the same luxury hotel we stayed at for the Tamashina Mina event (he expects Idia to pay for them lmao). It looks like not even this fancy place has any ingredients left though…

Idia retreads what he said in book 6; isn’t Leona the type to realize he’s in a dream? Yet he is deeply immersed in it. Silver wonders why Leona dreams of terrible things happening (like tragedy upon his family and the people hating him) if this dream is meant to be happy. Idia suggests that this is because Leona’s dream is like a sandbox game; ie Leona is “playing around” with the possibility it provides and clearly seems to be aware of the consequences that come with it (hence the terrible things Silver mentioned earlier). So maybe he’s catastrophizing…?

cbjsvsjwkw They talk about midnight snacking for a bit??

Idia talks about procedural generation and how the dream has to accommodate + load new maps as the player shifts around. But Leona doesn’t do that??? So it’s impressive or something cbsbbskskw I could be misunderstanding this part, I don’t know how tech stuff works 💦

They brainstorm some way to take away the king’s authority… and decide to use Cheka!! Ortho downloads a 3D model from Styx and Ruggie uses his UM to puppet it!

They try to break through the protestors and things get violent 😔 ashbfbiadiab LIKE ONE FO THE GUARDS HIT A MOM AND WAS ABOUT TO HIT YUU TOO BUT GOOD BOY SILVER PROTECTS US

Sebek, Silver, and Azul fight off the hyena guards while Ortho, Ruggie, Yuu, and Grim ride on Jack’s (wolf form) back to charge in. We finally get the incantation for Unleash Beast!! “Faster, sharper, stronger! Unleash Beast!”

Inside the palace, Leona demands meat and such from Kifaji. When Kifaji tells him there is none, Leona says go outside and get it 😭 THEN HE tHRETEnS TO FRY AnD EWT KIFAJI?????? AnD tHEN HE GRIPS KIFAjI BY THE cOLLAR WhEN HE SAYS FaLEnAmS nAmR… GIRL… YOU DiD NOT… NADSKILUASLBIADIBLD NOW HE'S ATTEMPTING TO SAND GRANMPS????

Ruggie barges in, TACKLING LEONA???? And pretending to be Cheka (with a really dumb voice LOL). But Leona clocks him right away and dispels the hologram. He accuses Ruggie of pretending to be Cheka to start a revolution and declares that this is punishable by death.

Kifaji protects us!! He uses fire to stop Leona’s attack, confirming him as a mage too. (That’s the first time the “darkness” in the dream has gone out of its way to help us rather than hinder us. Ortho suggests it is because the dreamer’s interpretation of the characters is important; the is could lead them to prioritizing their own behaviors rather than focusing on eliminating threats to the dream.) W AH 😭 Dream!Kifaji says he wishes for Leona to wake up from this bad dream…

Leona ran away in the brawl and is now outside the palace. He stews around and mutters that it isn’t his fault, so why did things turn out like this?

The hyena guards show up and pull Leona deeper into the dream. We of course leap in after him!!

Aaaaaand HERE WE ARE, a reality in which Leona and co. were successful in trampling Malleus or something... CRINGE CRINGE CRINGE how he gloats about his stupid ass plan that would NOT actually work irl. THANKS FOR REMINDNING ME ABOUT HOW CRAP BOOK 2 WAS, OJITAN... Azul has a moment where he laments that he had nooooo idea Leona would abuse the potion they made a deal over like this. He worries that Leona would have been too cocky and started taking out top performing students as well as athletes in order to pad out Savanaclaw's future in various fields.

AW JACKKKKK 😭 He says he can't stand aside and just watch this; the Leona-senpai he knows wouldn't be satisfied winning some fake game. Even when he has accomplished everything he wanted to, Leona isn't satisfied--so they've gotta snap him out of it!! aehjfaboboafevwtvaegp PUPPY... HE CARES SO MUCH ABOUT HIS DORM LEADER, AAAAAH

We confront Leona, with Azul claiming to have saved the Diasomnia team from his machinations. Leona notices there are two Ruggies and he starts to have that splitting 'I'm noticing things are off here" headache.

The Savanaclaw mobs start shouting and demanding to know what we did to "our king". DBHLFVLFEVIYOEAIAFE JACKGETS MAD AND SAYS LEOAN ISN'T "YOUR KING" HE'S "OUR DORM LEADER"!!!!! AAAAAAAHHAHAHHHHHAHHHHH H HHAHAHAHSH H HA HAHAHAHHHH H HHHHHHH H OTL

Leona wakes up and is a little prima donna about ita sdhlbaidbafa HE TELLS THEM TO WAKE HIM UP MORE DLEICATELY NEXT TIME... BITCH YLIKE YOU AHVE ANY RIGHT TO BE MAKING DEMANDS RIGHT NOW

Darkness, enter~ The group escapes it adgkhfihblffia BUT SEBEK SAYS DLEONA DESERVES THIS AND SILVER HAS TO STOP AND SCOLD HIM FOR SAYING THAT

Ruggie got caught and is now being sucked into the darkness. Leona runs back to grab him despite Ruggie's pleas to just run LH FABYOAFAEGAEG raARE WE GETITNGF TRI GELLA S ARE WE GETITNG GOOD LEADER BIG BRO L*ONA SAN WHO WON'T ABANDON HIS MINIONS EVER?a?? ? ?? ? ?????????? ?? ??? ? OTL The others warn Jack not to run over too, but he shouts that Leona and Ruggie-senpai are back there...

Leona throws Ruggie at Jack (who catches him) but falls into the darkness as a result. Welp, time to dive in after him!

ADFHBASBIYSAASD OKAY EHRE'S THE CRINGE I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR... Leona sees his OB self moping about how he'll never be king. aiubafpdasbas OB LEONA TALKS ABOUT HOW HE WANTS TO THROW FALENA AND CHEKA OFF A CLIFF A LA SCAR STYLE...

Leona says it's pathetic seeing himself like this, doesn't he have any pride? If he keeps complaining that no one understands him, keeps looking down on others, keeps desiring approval... That's just so miserable.

He does what the other OB boys have done and proceeds to punch his Phantom into the dirt. Leona tells himself that he'll get his "own throne and country someday". (As has been alluded to many times before, this doesn't refer to a literal kingdom but a metaphorical one; ie he will try to find satisfaction through routes other than the crown.) AND HE ACCEPTS THAT HE WILL ALWAYS HAVE THAT BITTERNESS INSIDE OF HIM WISHING TO BE KING... HE ACCPETS IIITTTTTTT T T T TTTTTtTttttttTt OTL

Leona returns back to his original dream, where it has started to rain and the sun has come out. Kifaji runs up to him with the morning report and reminds his prince that everything the light touches is his domain.

Leona says it’s unnecessary and someone like him doesn’t have a claim to the throne. To this, Kifaji smiles and praises Leona for being so clever OTL HE DOESn’T GET MAd anD TRY TO gET LEOnA TO SlEEP AgAiN… "So you've finally noticed [...] that this is a dream. As expected of you. my king." WHAT SO DREAM!kIFAJI KNEW ALL ALONG????? WAS THSI A PEICE OF LEONA'S CONSCIOUSNESS THAT WAS AWARE AND DECIDED TO MANIFEST AS KIFAJI TO SAVE HIS OWN ASS?????? ? ? ?? ?? ????

LMAOOOO Leona says if he ever becomes king irl he is firing Kifaji ASAP (but we all know he won’t 😭). Using King’s Roar, Leona renders his fake kingdom to sand… and Kifaji looks on so proudly 😭 telling Leona to go to “the place where he should be”… 😭 YOu’RW KIDDIng ME EiGHTvvvvv’nnnnn’nnnM!!!????

Leona reunites with the group and… asdbaislda sort of makes up with Ruggie? He asks for forgiveness but doesn't specify for what (I'm guessing for the sanding?). Ruggie jokes about adding "interest" to Leona's tab but ultimately forgives him.

WHOA, new Jack crying sprite?!?!?! (Like a tsun, he insists he is not crying.)

He thinks about the noble Leona in his own dream… and how terrible his senpai are irl… but Jack says he prefers the real Ruggie and Leona any day. He’s so happy they woke up him.

NUUUUUUuUyyUuUUUUUU 😭 RUGGIe - AnD LEOn a COMFORT CryING JACKKkKKKKKKKKKKK

After that, Ortho explains everything to Leona and Leona gloats a little about how he always thought Malleus would go and do something dumb like this. When Ortho invites Leona to join their party, Leona says he passes and would rather nap. He claims he’s exhausted cuz he saw sooo many unpleasant nightmares, so he’ll wait here ‘til everyone is ready to punch Malleus. Azul can handle things for him.

But then Ortho points out that Ruggie, Jack, and especially Azul took a lot of damage in his dream. Azul is battered quite a bit because he was busy dispatching royal guards! This guilts Leona enough for him to change his mind and join us.

Aaaand that’s if for this update!

Mmm... Part of me feels validated because many of the ideas I proposed in this analysis of Leona vs Falena's ruling styles were showcased in Leona's dream. For example, Leona disregarded public opinion, prioritized development without considering the input of advisors, and everyone grew to resent him because of that. When Tamashina Mina first came out, a common sentiment was siding with Leona and declaring that his plans would better the country + he would make a much better king that Falena when, clearly, development is a very delicate and not-so-easy thing to achieve... I'm glad that Twst took a realistic approach to this. That’s not to say I think Leona would really be a shit ruler or that things would get as bad as they do in his dream. I just don’t think he’s prepared to handle that presently. It’s good that he’s now focusing on graduating and he applied for that internship that will bo doubt help him gather the knowledge and skills he needs to help his country. If he keeps working hard, I’m sure he can be the sort of person that brings the rain to the savanna.

I thought the idea to pretend to be Cheka and return to claim the throne was interesting, but ultimately it went nowhere since Leona immediately knew it was a fake. This felt more like an excuse to have Ruggie and Jack use their mouse mandated UMs for the dream segments... I wish they had actually done more with this. Maybe I'm biased because I think Ruggie's fake Cheka voice was hilarious www

There were TONS of Lion King references in this dream, HOLY CRAP. AND LEMME TELL YOU, IW AS SLURPING IT ALL UP. Not because I like the movie (I think it's alright), BUT BECAUSE I'M AN AVID ZAZU X SCAR SHIPPER... (They're peak enemies to lovers, don't @ me) OTL (TO BE CLEAR THOUGH, I DO NOT SHIP LEONA AND KIFAJI. Please don't mix them up!!)

Speaking of Zazu and Scar!! It was cool to see Kifaji in the dream...! His role was so refreshing too. I loved that he wasn't actually hostile, protected us, and actively wanted Leona to "wake up" from this bad dream. I think that's so reflective of the real Kifaji too... He's stern on Leona but it's only because he cares for Leona's wellbeing and wants to see him at his best, not constantly brooding over what he cannot have. And the fact that dream!Kifaji knew all along it was a dream and wished so hard for Leona to wake from it... it implies to me that, for all the shit Leona slings at Kifaji, he actually relies on the old guy as a source of comfort. Kifaji was probably his one and only friend in the palace and one of the few people who continued to believe in him... BEST BIRD GRANDPA, HANDS DOWN.

I'm sliiiightly disappointed that Leona wasn't awake the entire time; this definitely felt like a missed opportunity but at least Idia addressed what he said back in book 6 and provided a reason for it (even if I think the reason is flimsy). This might be cope on my part, but I think... part of Leona's self-awareness came through in how dream!Kifaji manifested. Maybe, just maybe... that Kifaji is the one shred of hope Leona has left for himself... Not just the part of him that knows this is a dream, but also the part of him that believes he can change and be a truly "good" ruler... AGAIN, PROBABLY COPE BUT LET ME DREAM.

Another character I felt really shone this update (besides Kifaji) was JACK. This shocks me because I don't really like him as a character but MAN, did he shine... He was the one who noticed Leona is unhappy even within his own dream where he has everything he could ever want. He's the one who shouts at the dream!mobs that Leona isn't THEIR king, he's HIS dorm leader. ANKDBHLADBILAIBA ASND THEN HE CRIED AND GOT ALL TSUNDERE ABOUT IT... THE SENPAI RUSHED TO COMFOR T HIM AJKDHAKHAFVAFVOEFUQEFTLFIHAFLEFWTUEOFIYPAFOB THAT WAS ADORABLE!!!! 😭😭😭 This update and the last really showed me Jack's true appeal...

asbkhlabiylfailyveioyqegi I LOVE HOW HTHSJ UPADATE JUST ENDS WITH ELONA SAYING HE'S GOING TO FUCKING TAKE A NAP... but then he gets off his ass and joins us after everyone reminds him how tired the others are and how hard his underclassmen worked to get through to him. HE'S REALLY NOT BEAITN GHT E "I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE KIDS BUT I SECRETLY DO CARE ABOUT THE KIDS" ALLEGATIONS . CVL;,SKJ'NGD;OBGDBIEGIFQWVGUEQVQE UQEO YFy vao ygFWOI Vf OTL

Not sure if I 100% get why this part had to be update separate of Ruggie and Jack’s part…? I mean, Kifaji helping us out and Leona having some amount of self-awareness was nice but I don’t think it was major enough to warrant waiting another week to see.

Next up is Heartslabyul which is in early December. It’s coming up quickly!

[the-kr8tor]

hiii katy. i am officially obsessed with cowboy!hobie and i'm pretty sure i've read everything anyone has ever wrote about him at this point. so here i am asking for more. i have no thoughts - brain empty- but him using his lasso... so maybe? pretty please?

(hope you're having a magnificent day/night <3)

I'm glad you like cowboy! Hobie!! Thank you for requesting, I hope you like it ❤️

Pairing: Cowboy! Hobie Brown x fem! reader

Word count: 1.5k

Tags: no use of Y/N, no specific physical description of the reader, cowboy au, wild west au, cw suggestive, cw food mentions, cw blood and injury. FLUFF

ʕ⁠·⁠ᴥ⁠·⁠ʔ

The smoke from the campfire signals life from just under the cliff edge facing the raging rapids. Pink and orange hues illuminate the vast dusty plains of the west, tumbleweeds pass by with the blowing winds; and the quiet prevails with no one else but Hobie, his trusted horse, and hopefully you waiting under the belching grey smoke.

He fixes his hat on top of his head, piercings glimmering as he smirks triumphantly. Your cat and mouse chase has finally come to an end, all the running and hiding comes to a close when he spots your seated form next to the campfire. The fiery embers illuminate your features, shadows dancing on your pretty face, eyes shining under the destructive fire.

“I was waiting for you.” You flick your eyes over to his form, lips curling into an amused smile. “Your meal's getting cold.”

Hobie chuckles under his breath, the reins under his gloved hand tightens in his hold. “What's for supper?” His horse huffs, hoof kicking dirt and dust.

“Rabbit, specially caught for you. And some beans to remind you of your old country.” You stand up, dusting your pants.

He sucks in his teeth, eyes glancing over to the river nearby. “I don't miss the old country that much.” When his green eyes return over to you, you're sitting on your horse, grinning from ear to ear. His hands slowly reach for his lasso.

“Oh I'm sure you miss something.” You send him a flirty wink. “Me perhaps? Don't pretend you don't like the chase, Hobie.” Your horse neighs in agreement.

He smiles, a ghost of amusement flickering from his jade eyes. “You've had me runnin’ after you for about four months now, love. Sorry for not playin’ along today, just a bit tired is all.” He clicks his tongue to make his horse step closer to yours. His hand wraps around his lasso on his belt.

“Oh poor bounty hunter.” You coo sweetly.

“You know what happens next. You have to come with me, love.”

You feign a tired sigh, your grin says otherwise. “If you tried your luck tonight we would've done just that. Well, after dinner of course, I'm a romantic, you see.”

“I would have said yes but your three grand bounty makes me think twice.” Hobie tamps down a laugh, heat prickling his cheeks. He has found that you've had that effect on him. “You know me, job comes first.”

“That's too bad. Maybe on our next date then!” Rearing your horse, you make her kick the boiling pot, spilling its hot contents and the heated coal all over the ground, startling his poor horse. You leave him in the dust once again.

Hobie bites his lower lip to stop an excited guffaw from escaping. He follows quickly, right after he briefly calms his startled horse.

Wind nips at his cheeks as he jumps over broken down trees, dodges rocks and cliffs, and soon after, he sees your form in the distance. With victory already in his grasp, he takes his lasso, swinging it expertly over his head. Calculating his throw, he aims, lasso flying over head.

“Wha–!” The rope cinches around your torso, wrapping you in its rough hemp, making you fall off your horse harshly on the dusty ground. “Fuck! That hurt, Hobie!” Head throbbing, you hear footsteps running frantically towards you. Instead of meeting with the end of a pistol, you feel his warm hands gently hold you. “Ow. Was that necessary? I thought we had something going on, cowboy.”

Hobie takes his gloves off to examine your bleeding forehead. There's a cut just above your brow, but other than that, you're alright. He sighs in relief, hands still carefully holding you in place. If not for his lasso around you, you'd think your handsome bounty hunter actually cares for you.

“Sure, I'm alright, Hobie, nothing to be worried about.” You sarcastically say, one eye closed as blood ebbs from your cut down to your eyelids. “I just hit my head, no biggie—!” The second you meet with his worried eyes, you clamp down. Hands suddenly clammy, mouth turning dry, and stomach doing somersaults, you haven't seen him this close to you. His eyes are greener than anything you've ever seen, pools of the greenest of clovers; and face chiseled to perfection. He looks wonderous in this light. And surprisingly, he looks like he actually cares. “Shit.” You say under your breath, flirty exterior crumbling around his boots. Your voice wakes Hobie up from his lovestruck gaze.

He clears his throat, palms now hovering above your arms. “You look alright.”

Light lines up with his head, an orange halo appears, bathing him in its glow. “I think I have a concussion.” You swallow down your sudden bashfulness.

His brows furrowed, hand tentatively reaching for your chin to carefully check you again. “Does your head hurt?” His voice is soft, and his hand is warm and softer than you thought despite his callouses. You think it all adds to the mystery of the famous bounty hunter right in front of you.

His touch alone almost made you want to surrender. Almost.

You flutter your lashes, “do all the men back in England look just as good as you?”

Hobie lets out a chuckle. A simple act that has the butterflies in your stomach fly wildly. “Just a handful of us.”

“I'm lucky then.”

Hobie squeezes your chin, for a moment, a comfortable silence hangs in the air. You could sit there forever and just look at him. He feels the same way with his fingers brushing along your bottom lip. The river behind continues to flow, water crashing loudly against the rocky river beds just a jump away from the cliff behind you.

Suddenly, his horse neighs behind him. Popping the bubble of affection around the two of you. Hobie clears his throat, and you look away, flustered. He takes his hand off your chin to help you off your feet wordlessly. Tying the lasso around you, he keeps his hands to himself, or tries to as you watch him with your eyes that are practically shaped like hearts. A trait that is unheard of from a feared outlaw like yourself.

“I have to bring you in.” He sounds like he's trying to convince himself.

Arms bound to your sides, you tilt your head to meet with his downturned eyes. “D’you have to, hm, cowboy?”

Hobie straightens up, lifting your head up with his thumb pressing under your chin. He leans close, stealing the breath from your lungs. “I'm not a lawman. So I don't have to.”

You smile sweetly, “I hear a ‘but’ coming.”

Hobie chuckles deeply. “But three grand is enticin’.”

“More enticing than me?”

Hobie inhales sharply, as if he's trying to restrain himself. From doing what? You suppose you have to find out.

He makes a move to walk away to grab your horse, but you stop him with your hands grabbing at his belt buckle, fingers wrapped around the cold metal as you yank him closer to you. Your arms might be bound, but your hands remain free to your sides.

“Why don't you answer my question, cowboy?”

Hobie's eyes flick over to your hand, heart thudding loudly in his chest as he bracelets his fingers around your wrist. His thumb brushes along your pulse point, feeling your heart sync with his own.

“Because you'd love my answer to that, love. But my debts won't.”

Leaning close, you reach his lips with your own floating dangerously close above it. Briefly, you both stand there, indulging in each other's presence. Feeling like you two are the only people left in the whole world. A life with you flashes in the back of his mind. And your vision fills with only him.

With pursed lips, you slowly let go of his belt buckle. One finger at a time. “Okay then.”

Hobie feels like you've stolen his heart right there and then. Fitting well with an outlaw. Hell, he'd even let you keep it since your heart is in his grasp too.

“‘Okay?’”

You shrug, backing away. “Yeah, okay.”

“Just like that?” His fingers linger on your skin for a second. You're a mystery to him, a mystery he'd like to get to know better.

“Mm-hmm, just like that.”

Hobie blinks, shaking off his doubts. “Stay there.”

“Yep, staying right here, cowboy. Not going anywhere.”

With him walking off towards your horse to hitch it with his own, you waste no time to run off towards the edge of the cliff.

“Shit!” Hobie scrambles to get to you as you jump off. His fingers graze the ropes, and you even have the audacity to wink at him as you plunge down towards the cold water. He yells after you, watching the water with his quickening heartbeat, waiting for you to resurface. “Fuck!” Starting to take off his hat and jacket, he prepares to jump after you. “Hold on!”

Before he could dive, he sees you waving at him as the currents carry you downstream. He sighs in relief, muscles relaxing, chuckling to himself.

“See you later, cowboy!” You yell at him, floating down like you're having the time of your life. Blowing a kiss at him, your eyes stayed on him whilst he watched you go until he's barely a dot in your vision.

He hears your horse gallop away, and he pinches the bridge of his nose. His horse nudges him with his snout, huffing and puffing at him. You've won once again.

“See you later, love.”

[gh0st-t0wn3]

Lmk ss edits + headcanons, Part 6 (Azure Lion, Peng, Yellowtusk)

(I originally made my own design of Azure and Yellowtusk but wasn't quite happy with how they turned out so I scrapped them, the designs for those two I used in these edits were made by @/erraday_ on twt, with a few minor changes, but Peng's design is my own :) )

- He/Him

- Pansexual

- Snores so loud, it's insane, Yellowtusk once thought there was an earthquake

- Feels bad whenever he's steps on a ladybug, butterfly etc

- Gives everyone and everything giant bear hugs because he thinks if Yellowtusk can take it, so can everyone else (They cannot)

- Mei once gave him catnip as a joke and he went fucking feral, he's not allowed near catnip anymore

- His hair/fur is actually very soft and curly

- Thought he saw an old friend while out in public and hugged them, it was a stranger

- Wakes up Yellowtusk in the middle of the night to ask stupid questions

- The Brotherhood asked to hear his roar but he got really nervous last second and it ended up being really meek, they never let him forget it

- Coughed up a hairball once and Peng refuses to let him live it down

- Has eaten cat food before and would do it again

- Cannot do the splits and is too scared to try

- Gets really confused by modern slang, MK and Mei abuse the hell out of it because it's funny

- Whenever he's rough housing with people he accidentally hits a bit too hard

- Whenever he walks past anyone playing a game that involves a ball (football, basketball, netball, etc) he somehow always ends up getting hit in the head with it

- If he wasn't sealed away and got a chance to babysit Redson as a kid he wouldn't know what the fuck to do and would be really awkward cause he doesn't know how to interact with children, he'd be able to bond with Redson better when he becomes a teenager though

- No one gossips with him because he always ends up unintentionally outing someone about something

- Ate moldy food once by accident and freaked out, he was absolutely disgusted

- Hates horror movies but loves slashers

- Drinks mouthwash

- Smells like catnip (trust me guys)

- Love language is words of affirmation

- Has horrible bed head, his mane gets tangled really easily and he tosses around a lot at night so his mane takes hours to brush out

- Absolutely refuses to wear shoes, they hurt his feet (paws?)

- The type of person to cry over a movie about a dog getting lost and then finding its owner at the end

- Can somehow eat an entire goddamn buffet and not gain a single pound

- His face always scrunches up when he smiles

- Lost his balance on a hill and fell down like a tumbleweed once, Peng still brings it up

- They/He (Canon, Peng uses They/Them in the show but is exclusively referred to w/ He/Him in the sets)

- Nonbinary (Canon)

- Starts squaking when he laughs too much

- If you throw a blanket over their head he'll immediately fall asleep

- "look behind you but don't make it obvious" Looks behind him in the most exaggerated, obvious way known to mankind

- Stole food from Wukong's private stash for several months when the Brotherhood was all still together, Wukong still doesn't know

- Wukong gave them cooked chicken once as a joke but he actually liked it

- Constantly argues with Wukong about Macaque not being able to hold his own, yes it got physical

- Their wings have a bunch of scars from the amount of weapons and shit they block with them. Has to consistently clean their wings in order to keep them from getting too damaged, yes this includes softening and preening his feathers

- If they weren't sealed away and got a chance to babysit Redson as a kid they would tape him to the wall like that one meme and call it a day

- Bit off a person's finger once just to see if they could

- Doesn't shop, just steals

- "I hate you so fucking much" as he's handing the person a gift

-  Tried to draw on Wukong's face once but got wacked with his tail

- Absolutely HATES beetroot, will actually gag if he smells it

- Kicks over kids sand castles at the beach

- Can't stand small buzzing sounds

- "I'm not that competitive" is that competitive

- Claims you can trust them with anything but will snitch the second they know it will benefit them

- Probably threatened to eat someone's baby once

- Goes to playgrounds to trip kids

- Smells like Lavender, it just feels right

- Love language is words of affirmation and acts of service

- Has tried sleeping upside down like a bat multiple times

- Hardcore wine aunt vibes

- Had a bunch of ducklings accidently imprinted to him and they followed Peng for hours

- You'd have to pin this bird down to get them to eat collyflower

- Jokingly pushed Azure off a cliff once then remembered they're the only member of the Camel Ridge Trio that can fly

- They have full on concerts at like 3 am, has woken up Azure on multiple occasions

- He/Him

- AroAce

- Is the calmest one in the Brotherhood

- He uses Peng's head as an armrest sometimes

- He and DBK were actually quite close, he knew and accepted that DBK was in love with a celestial but was very surprised to see they ended up having a child

- Very poor eyesight but doesn't like wearing his glasses because Peng made a joke about them once saying he looked like a grandma

- Uses ":3" and ":D"

- Loves soap opera's

- Hates seafood

- Peng once tricked him into eating fish nuggets once and he still hasn't fully forgiven them

- If he wasn't sealed away and got a chance to babysit Redson as a kid he would definitely be the most responsible one, and probably Redson's favourite uncle

- Eats a snack then forgets he ate it and will bet frustrated when he can't find it

- The therapist of the Camel Ridge Trio, and probably of the whole Brotherhood in the past as well

- Was the only one who felt bad about imprisoning the Demon Bull Family since he and DBK were very close

- He also reprimanded Peng for when they pinned and scratched Redson with their claws after they left the Demon Bull Palace (he's the protective uncle, trust me guys)

- Hates getting hiccups, he despises the feeling and it gives him heartburn

- Wakes up at ungodly hours just to raid the fridge

- Heard a story about a bug crawling in someone's ear while they slept and has worn earplugs to bed ever since

- Loves apples

- Smells like Lilies

- Love language is gift giving

- Is really big on safety, would be the type of person to make sure everyone is wearing their seat belts before the car is even turned on

- Actually really good at cooking

- Makes the best chocolate chip pancakes ever

- Is the kind of person who assumes everyone tells eachother everything and accidently exposes someone because he thought everyone else knew about it already

- Always hears things wrong but doesn't wanna ask anyone to repeat themselves

- Has the most elegant ass handwriting you will ever see, somehow

- The peacemaker of the Brotherhood,  they all would've disbanded way sooner if it wasn't for him

- Uses his trunk as a snorkle when swimming or sleeping underwater (elephants actually do this irl, I just thought it was cute)

[the-lonelyshepherd]

tell me abt your OCs please🙏 including the horses you draw them so prettyyy

HIII HI HI

gonna do a simple overview of main two and their horses for now

evelyn sinead “shay” murphy

first (and a half?) generation american. her father immigrated from ireland and her mother’s parents from ireland and england.

youngest sibling of five daughters. all the others are already adults and out of the house, she’s 17/18 range.

her family started out poor, only recently got pretty wealthy

personality wise she’s very silly - kinda excitable, talkative but in a very nervous energy type of way. like a chihuahua or something. she kinda spaces out a lot or is off in her own world and jumps from thing to thing really fast without a lot of regard for others (not on purpose, she just doesn’t notice). overall she just really wants to be wanted - she’d bleed for anyone if they held her the right way.

fun fact: she likes fishing

othello - shay’s horse

when shay was younger her whole family had two horses between the seven of them. after their recently accumulated wealth, she gets her own - a top of the line tenessee walking horse. she names him othello after the title of some fancy play her father bought to make the house look more distinguished for guests. she thought the name was cool.

othello is a fucking bitch to literally anyone but shay (and later catalina and tumble). he’s really loyal but can get overtly defensive sometimes. very quiet, just stands there menacingly. we love him though. he’s really tall.

catalina “cat” “tilly” “lina” “bird” osorio

mexican-american, family has been in america for forever (she has some portugese heritage mixed in though)

nickname haver. almost everyone calls her something different. she lives with her aunt and uncle, two cousins and younger brother. they work as ranch hands for hire, and help on cattle drives. occasionally her cousins will pick up odd jobs and rope her into them.

she’s generally pretty quiet but is actually pretty funny sometimes. she’s constantly seen as “the responsible one” out of her family, but it really just stems from a constant worry that she’s not good enough and that she doesn’t want to cause problems. daydreams a lot, kinda anxious, tired a lot because she has sleep problems.

fun fact: really likes birds. can identify them and draws them a lot

tumbleweed “tumble” - catalina’s horse

descended from some of the first horses on the osorio family’s farm, tumble is a mutt of a horse, but she’s perfect for any job you would need on a ranch. she does get distracted a lot though - she’s pretty playful which doesn’t always bode well for a horse her size.

she wasn’t supposed to be named tumble - catalina wanted to name her first horse something cool, like trigger or hawk. but when tumble was born her legs were a little too long and her tawny roan color made her look like a tumbleweed. so after a while the name stuck.

that’s just a basic overview of the main two and their horses but if you have any more questions lmk!! this was pretty short for each of em i tried to leave it open ended

[scrollsfromarebornrealm]

desertwalkers- baby rattler

"Stupid tumbleweed." Riven pouted, kicking another rock out of her path. The Hex Witch had created a beautiful pair of chakrams, all dainty and pretty with enchantments but oh-so-deadly. Riven had fallen in love with the weapons, her fingers itched to pick them up. To have proper chakrams again to dance, to let the magic in her blood fly free once more...But it was the Hex Witch. She was expensive. Thus, Riven's need for extra money.

Technically. The brunette huffed, shaking her head.

No. Her bridal trousseau and the jewelry that had been her dower--those were all stuffed into her spell-warded travel chest. Those were strictly for emergencies. Or when things cooled down that nobody would blink at the rich silks and satins, laces and linens, or the sparkling gemstones showing up in pawnshops...and Riven wouldn't be questioned for having a little bit extra pocket money. She was only two weeks into her arrival at Stonewood, if she went around dropping gil like ceruleum she'd get eyes clapped squarely onto her. So for right now, it'd be stupid to touch the lot. And given the conversation she and Sebastian had upon their arrival with Mz. Gohtawyn, Riven was determined to prove she wasn't stupid.

Maybe the traveling circus needs extra hands. The thought cheered the Tonawawtan woman up. She still had a little bit of lunch-time left, she could go right on over and ask! But before Riven could continue her train of thought, her path took her into the way of something hard like rock and covered in fabric. With a cry she stumbled backward, falling down again on her ass..

"Ow!! What the--" The obstacle turned. Riven trailed off, blinking. She'd collided with a man dressed all in black and silver, with what looked like a bayonet-style gunblade on his back. A frown crossed the stranger's features as he looked down at Riven. Riven stared back up at him. Then she gasped as fingers roughly seized her by one of her upper arms and yanked her to her feet.

"Ow!"

"Look at this one, boss!" A pink-haired Tonawawtan man also dressed in black leered at the brunette.

"Looks like there's a new whore in town! She's a cutie pie! You think they've been hidin'-AAAAAAAIIIIIEEEEE!!!!!" A high-pitched scream filled the air as the toe of one of Riven's boots collected solidly with the man's groin. His grip loosened, and Riven broke free, watching as he fell down howling. With a screech, Riven lifted her foot.

"Don't touch me again!!!" This time her foot came down with all the force she could muster. The howl that escaped the man made the fast-forming group of onlookers cringe.

"Holy sheeeet!"

"Gods damn!"

"Little bit's got some spice!" A drunken Hhetsarro cheered. Riven turned on a heel and stomped away, fuming. Hoots and cat calls followed her.

"Hey Doc! Can ye fix that?!"

"Can't do nothing for smashed sausage and cracked eggs." Mathye commented, shaking his head as more laughter rippled through the crowd.

[sweetfirebird]

Pets

I am posting these all out of order but whatever it's December and my mind is just rushing wind and tumbleweeds right now.

Anyway. Next up in the charity prompts:

Moggot donated very kindly and asked for Trenne meeting a cat. Which is obviously very funny so of course I made it just a tiny bit sad as well.

Content tags: uh the Sha attitude toward the hurat. The human attitude toward Trenne with his ears. Lonely and a bit sad bb Trenne. Not exactly spoilers for Taji From Beyond the Rings but... will it make sense if you haven't read that? I wonder. Trenne and this universe belong to me, and all that.

Pets

Trenne desired to center himself so that the others on his team would not notice his discomfort at traveling over water in this way. He had never been on a boat, although he had seen some in his life before the I.P.T.C. He had also never been flown through the air in his time before he joined the humans and left his home, his planet, forever, and he had learned to deal with that, so the motions of boat-over-water would become acceptable with time, he was certain. But he would have preferred to grow accustomed to it quickly so that the humans on his team would not find discomfort amusing.

Their amusement was not cruel, in most cases. They took amusement in many things done even by other humans. But I.P.T.C. was Trenne’s chance to be something other than hurat, and he did not know how to react to human teasing.

Centering himself would have helped calm him, but the boat did not have space for him to move freely. It barely had room for him to move. So he tried to content himself with sitting on the small cot given to him as a bunk for the duration of this journey and using the Data Device the I.P.T.C. had given him during his first assignment to learn more of the ways of both humans and the places they lived.

The engine of the boat made noise. So did the water it moved through, and the warm rain outside, and the members of his team scattered around the boat wherever there had been space to set up cots.

Humans were in many ways easier to deal with than those Trenne had known in his own world. They had their own worries and complaints and angers toward one another, but they did not know Sha, or hurat. They bonded as easily as the stories about them suggested… but they were loud. Trenne could not help but flatten his ears a little to muffle the noises they made as they spoke and ate and cleaned themselves and expressed every emotion they had without consequence.

For all of that, for how wild even the quietest of the humans around Trenne would seem to those in the empire of Trenne’s birth, they had come from other places, and like him, were new to many things. So they might tease, as was their way, but they did not always assume the worst of him. Possibly because they did not know hurat. Or possibly only because Trenne was of a greater size than them.

He gave them no reason to fear him, regardless of their reasons, and tried to accept their teasing if he felt it was meant…

Kindly. That was what humans would say. If it was without malice.

The boat moved, a gentle swaying motion that nonetheless made Trenne want to go outside to look at the water so he could predict how the boat would move next. But they had days yet to travel, so he made himself be still.

This place was a small planet according to his superiors. His team were headed to a remote base where they would be bored for several months, also according to his superiors. But some local ally of the I.P.T.C. wanted protection from those who they—he, Trenne reminded himself--a human gender marker of ‘male’ status with no other indicators attached—claimed were against I.P.T.C. interference.

That was possible. It was also possible that he lied. The ability and desire to lie was a trait humans and the Sha shared.

But it was not Trenne’s place to question, so he did not. Not aloud. He kept his thoughts to himself, as humans said, a habit conditioned into him since his earliest years.  

Much like calming himself with breathing so that no emotion would show through his actions, which he greatly wished to do now.

Instead, he sat on his cot, which faced another cot, currently unoccupied, along a narrow hall in the middle of the boat, and pulled out his Data Device.

He removed his earlier information searches in order to look through the games, which he found useful when he needed to pretend that he was not paying attention to the others around him.

A whisper, a hint of a sound made him pause. He kept his attention on the screen of the DD but tried to assess the sound and where it had come from. When it did not reoccur, he assumed it was a consequence of the rain hitting the boat. He chose a game of bintoh, then stopped when the noise occurred again.

He turned his ears toward the source of the sound, then raised his head to find it with his eyes.

An animal sat on the other cot, staring at him.

Because Trenne had heard Delayn and the others name it earlier, he knew this animal was a cat. Trenne had searched for information on cats shortly afterward, in his first moments alone. Cats belonged to what humans called a “family” which was a different family than the ones of blood and close relations that humans claimed. Felidae was the family of categorization, and it held cats of many sizes and colors.

Humans had brought cats with them across the stars. The smaller ones, like this one, were popular and “loved.” Humans kept them with them in their homes, as “pets.”

Humans did such things. They would bond with anything, and with no one else human or sentient around, turned to animals for companions.

Cats seemed a strange choice, to Trenne, although the small ones were obviously less dangerous than the big ones. The information on them said they were predators and efficient hunters. So efficient that their presence was restricted in most places because of the damage they caused to local animal groups. This cat was wearing a collar, probably as a device to keep it on board the boat and out of trouble.

Trenne considered this cat, a “domestic pet” the information had claimed. It was certainly used to humans and their loudness. Nearly everyone on Trenne’s team had stopped to touch the cat and speak to it the way humans spoke to their children.

They had also paused upon realizing Trenne had never seen such an animal before and teased him. He hoped with human affection.

The cat, they had said, must be a long-lost sibling of his.

Trenne had no siblings that he knew of, but eventually had understood their humor when the cat had reacted to their laughter.

The cat’s name—humans, being humans, named their pets—was Boots. For the four white feet—paws—Trenne assumed, since boots were shoes and the white spots resembled those. It was covered in fur except for its nose and eyes, the fur striped and dotted in many shades, reminding Trenne of the place he had left behind. Boots also had large eyes which saw better in the dark than in the light, according to the DD, and sensitive ears, with hearing better than a human’s. The ears were atop its head, roughly triangular, with tiny wisps of fur at the crest. They turned to follow sounds as Trenne’s did.

Trenne wondered how the cat felt to have its home periodically filled with noisy, mostly human soldiers with much heavier boots than its own.

The others had referred to the cat with a human gender marker—she—but Trenne was not certain that this was meant the way humans meant it for each other, and so settled on it, which was insufficiently informative but hopefully nonoffensive.

Boots been stroked and touched by everyone earlier, so perhaps it found the noise worth it. Humans, for all their destruction, showed affection nearly constantly: to each other, to their favorite possessions, to small animals they let live in their homes.

The domestic pet cats got food, shelter, and that affection. Boots had basked in it, purring. A sound Trenne had heard clearly from some distance away, so he’d read about that too.

Boots regarded him with interest now as it hadn’t that morning. Cats did not understand words as such, Trenne had read. They could not converse but would at times make sounds for humans to imitate what humans did. They understood tone and intent, and associated word sounds with certain things or events.

The information had not mentioned their emotions, if any, although the others has behaved as though purring meant happy.

“Boots,” Trenne greeted the creature at last, perhaps as he should have with the others that morning. He kept his voice down, but the cat heard, its ears swinging forward and staying there. Interested, Trenne would have said, if speaking of someone from his world with ears like that.

Trenne let one of his ears track the sounds from the rest of the boat. Murmurs from elsewhere. Splashes of water at semi regular intervals against the side of the boat. Their sergeant, a few rooms away, complaining about something.

Opposite him, the cat’s ear flicked in the same direction, although it did not look away from Trenne.

Trenne pulled his ears forward again, attentive. “You do not purring.” He paused, then sternly corrected himself. “You are not purring. I offend you?”

He felt somewhat foolish—human, to talk to the cat this way. The cat would not understand. Not words. But Trenne knew other ways of speaking.  

He swung his ears slightly outward, hoping to indicate he was not alarmed by the cat’s presence. Which he was not. The cat was a predator but so was he, and he was much larger.

Perhaps his size alarmed the cat, so he also slid slightly down the wall at his back, keeping his ears relaxed as he did.

The pupils of the cat’s eyes became very large. Its tail twitched at its side. Then it opened its mouth to display its teeth—or yawn.

Humans yawned. Trenne had not read far enough to know if cats also yawned.

If it had been a display of teeth, Trenne must have threatened it. He put down his Data Device and rested his hands at his sides.

Boots pricked up its ears once again, then with no warning leapt from the far cot to Trenne’s.

Trenne turned to observe and keep the cat in sight. The cat knew it was being watched, glancing up to meet Trenne’s stare as it stepped with great care, and probably silently to human ears, to Trenne’s knee, where it flopped over onto his side, exposing its stomach and vulnerable places.

Trenne realized his ears had gone flat with alarm and straightened them before anyone might walk by and see.

He had not read far enough to learn if cats knew fear, either, although they must. Everything did, surely. Everything with brains enough to recognize dangers. Yet someone—something—that had felt fear would not lie down in such a way, so it must not.

Perhaps, Trenne suddenly suspected, the pet cat had only experienced what humans called love here on this boat, and so had learned to expect “pets” and not danger or cruelty.

Boots turned to look at Trenne again, then slowly closed its eyelids before reopening them. A soft life Boots had. A hunter who did not hunt, who was fed and shown affection until that was what it expected, even from Trenne. 

Trenne glanced around, but no one was nearby to laugh at the hurat, so he carefully, slowly, moved one hand as he had witnessed the others do, running his palm down the length of the cat’s back.

The fur was pleasing to feel. The cat’s body was warm, warmer than a human’s body temperature. It blinked slowly at Trenne before curling into a ball, leaving part of its back pressed to Trenne’s thigh.

Trenne attempted another stroke—a pet for a pet. Humans named their creatures for what humans did to them but the pets didn’t seem to object. Boots did not. Boots rolled over again, putting its face to Trenne’s leg. Its breath was warm too, its heart faster than a human’s but much quieter.

Trenne rested his palm over some of the markings, familiar and strange, and then felt the rumble a fraction of a second before he heard the sound. Purring.

Humans were free with their affection, Trenne reflected again, but others might not mind. Others might like it and grow used to it.

Trenne’s ears went flat again, but he continued to move his hand, gently stroking the length of Boots’ back so the low, soothing noise of purring would continue. He liked it. It indicated comfort and pleasure.

“A soft life,” Trenne sound aloud again, although he was not certain that soft was an adjective to be used in that way. Trenne was possibly incorrect, but to the cat, it was simply more noise, so it did not matter.

Perhaps that was the purpose of a pet. That, and soothing purring, and a warm body next to his.

[oldkamelle]

Do you have a fav domination line from each of the mercs? If not, any fav voice lines in general?

ah piss. i didn't see that you said "from each of the mercs" and i thought it said just fav domination line. two hours have gone by and i have already gone through all the domination voice lines one by one eliminating them bracket style, tearing my heart trying to choose between my favourite cunts. sorry about that mate.

alright i tried but i could only boil down my favourite to two favourites

the first one it just makes him sound like a smart alec. a smile on his face that's almost basically a smirk. eyebrows raised up, eyes half lidded, face all calm. it makes me ball up my fists in anger. i want to bonk him on the head.

seconds ones cute condensation(cant remember the actual word right now)

i love engie. anyway. the mp3 tournament was relentless to my soul so here are the dumb thoughts that passed through my head like a tumbleweed

all the damn voice lines of demo and soldier trying to hide their friendship are just a nail to my heart, fellas. they're the only true soulmates this world has seen and will ever see. doesn't matter if its platonic or romantic, they love each other in a way none of us ever will another being.

also, the damn line from soldier where he goes "i have something to tell you about the engieneer (!!!!)! call me later pal": they're the resident shit talkers of teufort. its 11;45 pm, you go downstairs to the 'kitchen' to get some water and you hear soldiers hushed screaming as he relays to demo the new armchair spy got. then he hears the floorboard creek cuz you walked in and he shouts at the phone that this is the last reminder for the night about how much he hates the red demo before hanging up violently (later he goes outside and uses a flashlight to tell demo he's sorry in morse code)

engie has so many lines that are just puns. i need to see more of that and i need to incorporate that in anything i do with him

demo loves solly. he's supportive of him and his interests

ick bean,,, bilingual rocket boy

not gonna lie this is just kinda cute… the lilt he gets in his voice at the end <3 (demosoldier parents + scout propaganda)

also very much cute why haven't i heard this one before. could be used in a engiesoldier fic or smth

that last line is him complaining after demo made them and scout go about trick or tricking all the others in the base

spy in the maid costume, cat ears on, sitting by the kitchen table, one leg over the other, after pushing snipers half finished beer bottle off the table

[t3nets]

* ❪ ⛓️ ❫ ﹕ 𝗵𝗲   𝗵𝗮𝘀   𝘁𝗼   𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀.   𝗶𝘁'𝘀   𝘁𝗵𝗲   𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁   𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁   𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁  ruminates   in   his   head   as   he   trails   back   toward   the   bar,   already   forgetting   the   very   thing   he   had   forgotten   the   day   prior.   no   distractions !    he's   to   go   straight   home   &   prepare   for   his   days   with   nour.   four   days   this   week, specifically.   a   personal   best   &   he's   thanking   her   mother   to   the   point   that   he's   been   threatened   by   a blocked number.   a   quickfire   way   to   silence   him   as   he   beelines   through   the   tumbleweed of regulars   that   siren - call   him   over   to   say   hello,   to   which   he   returns   only   a   simple   nod   &   wave   that   he   cannot stay long.  greer, never   one   to   stay   quiet   &   bloom   from   the   cracks   of   walls   like   a   humbled   wallflower.   a   storyteller   that   used   their   hands   to   accentuate   the   dramatic   nature   of   it   all.    he's    tested   again   by   an   unfamiliar   voice,   soft   eyes   landing   on   the   beckoning   woman   behind the bar. shit.   ❛ on a rainy day. no chasers. ❜  a lopsided smile, dimples peering in amiable return. the   more   bitter   options  never   failed   to   be   someone's    first   guess when looking at him: towering too far up, the physique of a rugby player, a clenched jaw ( only due to a terrible grinding habit ).  but   if   he   was   honest,   he preferred the more flavorful variety.    whatever had been dignified as feminine by the men that viewed him   as   a   threat   to   their   egos. simply by, well,   existing.   ❛ but it's feelin' like a bit of a fruity martini night. ❜  &   despite   knowing   the   news   of   what   had   happened   meant   alcohol   was   the perfect pain   reliever   to   some,  on days he didn't opt for something sweet, he preferred to be sober. still, what was one . . . . or two glasses ? just enough power to ease the ever present tension in his shoulders. taut with the thought of a psycho watching his daughter. his niece. his cousins. friends. his family. no. he's choosing peace tonight. greer's moving the thought to the back of his brain.   ❛ so. ❜  he's clearing his throat. ❛ you must be the new cat i've been hearin' about. uh . . . . fuck — ❜ he's snapping his fingers, coaxing out the name that sits at the tip of his tongue. ❛ oh ! — fern, right ? ❜  wrong.

open starter : capping at 5.

location : the warehouse .

it  had  only  been  nearly  two  weeks  into  her  new  job.  small  towns  weren't  anything  new  to  her  and  there  was  a  moment  where  the  brunette  had  believed  to  know  everything  there  was  to  know  about  them.  small  town  after  small  town,  they'd  all  seemed  to  be  the  same  and  redcreek  hadn't  fell  too  far  from  those  assumptions  ..  until  halloween.  most  of  the  night  being  filled  with  nothing  but  rumors  and  confusion  until  the  news  finally  hit.  turning  their  spooky  night  into  a  true  horror  movie.  now  she's  back  behind  the  counter  and  the  aura  of  everything  seemed  to  change  —  the  club  not  as  busy  as  it  had  been  previously.  though,  there's  a  seemingly  a  lone  soul  that  hovers  around  the  bar  and  it  takes  less  than  a  second  for  feraye  to  approach.  “ let  me  guess, ”  the  bartender  begins,  hoping  to  bring  a  small  smile  and  make  the  mood  a  little  lighter,  “ you're  a  tequila  person  —  no,  vodka.  somethin'  'bout  you  is  screamin'  that  at  me. ” 

[whatifyoulivelikethat]

just kidding, m | jjk

pairing(s): jungkook x reader

summary: There was a time where you would be out partying, getting drunk and fucking up a storm. But you’re different now. You stopped drinking. Now you’re the one waiting for Kim Taehyung to call so you can pick him up from his drunken adventures. There’s just one small hitch –  Taehyung’s roommate, Jeon Jungkook, offering you a mojito.

warnings: rated M (18+) for language, (a little) alcohol consumption; slight crack at the start lol; smut (fem reader, thigh riding, handjob, fingering, m-receiving oral); non-idol!AU; Jungkook is a tempter and he knows it; noona!reader and you’re a nympho, whoops

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“I don’t drink.”

“Oh.”

Jeon Jungkook blinked at you, holding out the mojito.

“But… I made it.”

“That’s true. But I don’t drink.”

He pursed his lips and frowned.

“You sure?” he asked, putting on his best puppy eyes.

“Yup.”

“I promise it’s not poisoned.”

You laughed, jangling your car keys. “I have to drive later. But also, I do not drink.”

He nodded and took a sip of it. “It’s really smooth.”

You smiled and went back to your phone. Kim Taehyung was supposed to text you in a bit so you could pick him up from a party. In exchange, he let you borrow his computer to play League of Legends since he had a better PC and internet than your apartment. There was an event going on, so you had to grind games. You were getting tired though and you didn’t want to be in the middle of a game when Taehyung called half-drunk.

Now you were sitting on the couch, as Taehyung’s roommate Jeon Jungkook stood there and took sips from his mojito. Just standing there, thinking. He did that a lot, drifting off into space randomly. You figured it was some sort of weird habit. He was wearing a striped black-and-white turtleneck and black leather pants. His cheek-length black hair was pinned back on the right side, revealing his undercut. It seemed like he was going out, but he had spent all night in his room before going to the kitchen and then appearing with said mojito. Why? Honestly, you had no idea.

“Are you going somewhere?” you asked, looking up at him from the sofa.

Jungkook snapped out of it and stared at you. “What?”

You pointed to his outfit. “You’re dressed all fancy.”

Jungkook looked down. “Oh. Uh, not really. I was going to go with Taehyung tonight but I had an assignment to finish that I forgot about. I never changed.”

You nodded. Hm.

Okay.

“How do you know Taehyung-ssi, anyway, noona?”

“I sucked his dick once.”

Jungkook nearly dropped his glass.

You calmly scrolled through Instagram. You flickered your eyes up to see Jungkook’s shocked face and his red ears.

“I’m kidding,” you chuckled, seeing Jungkook blink rapidly to collect himself. “I used to be the Biology lab TA. He’d ask for help a lot. And he plays League, so we ended up hanging out. Also, I have a car.”

“R-right…” Jungkook crab-walked to the armchair next to the sofa and sat down, placing his drink on the table. “Right, yeah.”

You two sat in silence, rather comfortable for you, rather awkward for Jungkook. You didn’t come here that often, but it was always only to borrow Taehyung’s internet or to pick him up from random outings. It was never a big deal to you, as Taehyung was always nice and bought you food later as thanks. As for Jeon Jungkook, he was just kind of there. Introverted, quiet, sometimes piped up to inquire about something when he was curious. You weren’t exactly talkative, but he didn’t bother you either, so it was never too memorable.

“What’s on your shirt?” Jungkook asked, tilted his head.

You lifted your phone to give him a better look at the nine-pointed star and bleeding goat head of your long-sleeved black shirt. “It’s an American metal band.”

Jungkook blinked at you. “You listen to metal?”

You put your phone back down. “Yup.”

You suddenly remembered your legs were wide open because you were wearing your black velvet pants and they were hot as fuck. Wearing these was a mistake. You closed your legs and settled them on the couch. They had been expensive though, so you felt like you had to wear them to get your money’s worth. Damnnit. Why did you buy these again?

“Why don’t you drink alcohol?”

You closed Instagram and opened Twitter. “Because I become sexually uninhibited.”

Silence.

You looked up to see Jungkook trying to process what you said, imaginary question marks popping on top of his head.

“It means I fuck anything with legs, Jungkook.”

His brown doe eyes went wide. “W-what?”

You shrugged. “Yeah, you know, one time one of my friends caught me in a room with my clothes off blowing three guys at once, so I figured, hmm, maybe I shouldn’t drink anymore. That ever happen to you?” you added nonchalantly.

Jungkook shook his head so quickly his long black hair floated in the air.

“Huh. Well, me neither,” you chuckled. “I was just kidding.”

Jungkook looked like a mother who was trying to process all of their child’s sex escapades. “That’s good then. Whew,” he remarked with an awkward laugh. He took another long, hasty sip of his mojito.

“It was four guys.”

Jungkook nearly choked. He snapped his head up to see your shoulders shaking as you tried to contain your snickering, hiding behind your phone. He glared at you, clearing his throat sharply.

“You shouldn’t lie, noona,” he muttered, frowning.

You lowered your phone and straightened. “I was laughing at your expression. I wasn’t lying.”

He narrowed his eyes, disbelieving. “About what part?” he said warily.

“I do not drink because I will literally try to fuck anyone in my immediate vicinity when I’m drunk,” you stated in a matter-of-fact tone. “You can imagine it’s not very good for my sexual health or my social life as I stumble out of a party covered in cum of four guys I don’t know.”

Jungkook was in the middle of drinking his mojito and swallowed so hard the entire drink disappeared into his throat.

“What?” he wheezed out, slamming his chest with his fist.

You put your hands up. “It happens.”

Jungkook looked as if he as going to pass out, either from the image or from drinking too fast. You picked up your phone again and set Taehyung a text.

Are you dead? I think I killed your roommate.

Jungkook shook his head vigorously. “You must be joking.”

“Nope, that actually happened. Ask Taehyung.”

Jungkook looked taken aback. “What?” he said again in the same panicked tone.

“I told you someone found me.”

You swore that if this was the Wild West, a tumbleweed would have drifted by. Jungkook looked as white as a sheet. You calmly plucked the glass from his hand since it seemed like he was rapidly losing focus of his surroundings.

“How… That’s so dangerous!” Jungkook sputtered, seemingly coming back to life.

“Indeed, which is why I am sitting here right now and not piss drunk in a random bedroom in someone’s house,” you replied calmly, waiting for Taehyung to text you back. “See, this is why you don’t offer me a drink because then I would try to fuck you. You’ve been spared.”

Jungkook gave you a very strange expression and suddenly crossed one leg over the other. You rubbed your eyes. Hopefully Taehyung didn’t stay out too late. You were getting sleepy.

“Well, you still have to be attracted to them, r-right?” Jungkook commented, looking away and biting his knuckle.

You didn’t look up from your phone.

“I suppose. I don’t really have a type, and when you’re drunk you only look at the parts you’re attracted to anyway and forget about anything else,” you responded, chuckling at a cute cat picture. “At least you’re attractive, so if I met you at a party drunk, I’d fuck you, easy.” Owls could sit cross-legged? What? You squinted at the meme, trying to see if it was Photoshopped.

Silence. Absolute fucking silence.

You decided that it seemed unlikely the photo of this sitting owl was Photoshopped and lifted your head to see Jungkook staring at you like you had three heads.

“What?”

“You’re…” Jungkook chuckled awkwardly. “Just kidding, right?”

You blinked. “What? About you being attractive?” You pointed to him. “No. I’m not. You’re handsome, Jungkook.”

You saw his ears turning red once again. “Ahaha… but you wouldn’t fuck me, right?”

“I would.”

A crow cawed loudly outside the window.

Jungkook wasn’t blinking. Was he dead? Was Taehyung going to come home to a statue of a roommate? You tilted your head and waved your hand in front of his face. Jungkook didn’t move. Maybe he went into shock.

“Jungkook? You alive in there?” you asked, waving your hand some more.

He blinked rapidly, startling you. “I… I…”

Okay, now he was scaring you. Was he broken? Did Taehyung have an A.I. for a roommate and not tell you? Taehyung, please come home and oil your Jungkook, you thought dryly as you watched him scrunch up his nose, as if he was trying to stretch his face muscles out.

“You surprised me,” Jungkook sputtered, nervously rubbing the back of his head. “I just… there’s no way…”

“That I would fuck you?” you replied, completely chill. He turned even redder. You placed a hand on your cheek and rested your elbow on the couch. “Why not? You’re cute, have nice fashion sense, seem like a decent guy.”

Yeah, Jungkook was definitely breaking down because he did not seem to know how to form proper sentences anymore. He was like a fish out of water, opening and closing his mouth awkwardly.

“But, I couldn’t though.” You cut off his attempts to fathom a thought. He stiffened, his doe eyes shifting to you. “Because you’re Taehyung’s friend, not a stranger. I try not to mess up my friendships, you know?”

He swallowed thickly. “R-right.”

You removed your hand from your cheek and cracked your neck, leaning back against the plushy couch arm. Sheesh, where was Taehyung? You could have played an entire ARAM in the time he was messing about. He told you around this time, but perhaps he had run late. Oh well.

“But… if he doesn’t know…”

Hold up.

You lifted your head, slowly, slowly to Jungkook’s nervous stare and shifty eyes.

“I mean, if Taehyung doesn’t know… doesn’t count, right?” he asked innocently.

His dark hair obscured part of his angular face, pink lips slightly parted. His eyes were watching your every move like a hawk, brows furrowed slightly. The living room light reflected off his glowing tan skin and the glossiness of his lips.

If you don’t stop looking like that, you thought. There’s going to be consequences.

“Let’s not tread dangerous waters here,” you said quietly.

One of his dark eyebrows quirked upwards ever-so-slightly. “How is it dangerous? Taehyung’s going to call you when he needs to be picked up. He’s going to see the inside of your car before he even sees the inside of this apartment.”

Uh oh. Now your heart was beating fast. Fuck. Fuckity fuck. Alcohol made you sexually uninhibited because you really, really enjoyed having sex. Far too much. But you couldn’t go through life fucking everything with legs (or without them – to be honest, it wasn’t that strict of a requirement) because, hello, societal standards? Social appropriateness of maybe not fucking the cashier at your favorite coffee spot or your friend’s roommate in his apartment? You know, you had to be a productive human being and not a damn nympho. Wasn’t like you were getting paid for it.

Jungkook lifted his leg from his knee and spread them, tilting his chin upward.

Oh ho?

Well, now you knew why Jungkook crossed his legs, because a very obvious bulge was struggling in his leather pants. Where was embarrassed Jungkook? Shocked Jungkook? The Jungkook that was stunned at your crude words and straightforward manner?

Give him back. This is too much.

Perhaps you had been a little too frank for once – ah, who are you kidding, you’d probably been in this situation before.

Jungkook’s right hand slid up his thigh, long fingers with tiny, delicate tattoos, tracing the contours of his muscular quads. You tilted your head as he danced his fingers along his inner thigh before spreading them over his bulge and cupping it, stroking slowly through the thick fabric as he licked his lips.

“I am not drunk enough for this,” you muttered.

“Are you scared?” Jungkook asked softly, still palming himself through his pants. “Scared Taehyungie will be mad at you?” You felt a muscle in your face twitch. It seemed that he knew he was getting the better of you, because his voice was dropping low, sultry. You did not like being challenged, because well… you always tried to rise to the challenge. To your detriment, sometimes.

“Is Taehyung the boss of you?”

Fuck.

You snapped your head at him, narrowing your eyes.

“No one is the boss of me,” you replied icily.

Jungkook softened his features, laying his head back in the armchair. His hair curled around his cheek as his breathing deepened. His teeth caught his lower lip and gradually released it, the pink flesh popping back into place. The tiny mole under his lip trembled.

“Then do whatever you want, noona.”

Your eyes narrowed to slits, nails digging into your palms.

“What’s gotten into you?”

Jungkook’s voice was a smokey wisp, soaking into you.

“Just imagining you on your knees, naked, covered in cum…” He groaned, rocking his hips into his hand. “Sounds so fucking hot.”

Well. It had been. It was fucking hot, it made you wet just thinking about that night. It had felt amazing as the cum dripped down your skin, covering you, making you filthy with your sinful lust, so delicious and raw and dirty that right now you sat up, spreading your legs again because the space between your thighs was too fucking hot, too fucking much. Stupid velvet pants.

You got up from the couch, eyes still on Jungkook, his pupils dilating, tongue tracing the outskirts of his lips. He leaned his head back a little and moaned your name, long and lustful, eyelids fluttering. His dark hair brushed against his brows.

“Stop,” you breathed, reaching down to push your shirt up. Your fingers hovered over the button of your pants. Too hot. Too fucking hot. “You’re doing this on purpose. You’re tempting me.”

The side of his lips curved upward into a lazy smirk.

“I am.”

You placed your phone on the coffee table. The sound was on. Taehyung still hadn’t texted you. You would hear it vibrate against the wood. You took another step, unbuttoning your pants. Fuck. Why was Jungkook so sexy? You could resist if he wasn’t so damn hot.

“Don’t want you to think…” You swallowed; throat tight. “Don’t want you to think I’m treating you like a sex object.” The zipper of your pants slid down. “Because you seem like a nice guy.”

He smiled, undoing his pants too, sighing as the zipper freed his bulge.

“If I was your sex object…” Jungkook purred, pushing his tight leather pants down, down. “Even for only a little bit, I wouldn’t hold it against you, noona.”

Now your velvet pants were being peeled off your hips, leaving you in your seamless black panties. Oh, fuck, his thighs. Muscular and powerful, skin so pretty you wanted to touch. His eyes slid down your body.

“Holy shit, your thighs.”

Seemed like you both had the same idea. You climbed onto Jungkook’s lap, straddling one of his thighs. Now he was close to you, smelling like fresh linen, presence so warm and powerful you were being drugged by it. Your hands slid onto his shoulders, gripping them finger by finger, breathing hard as he tensed them. Slowly, you sat down on his left thigh, gasping as your soaked, clothed heat touched him. He grinned, flexing it under you. His own hand slid up your thigh, squeezing it, watching his fingers sink into your softness.

“Now, this,” Jungkook breathed, staring into your eyes. “This is a sexy body.”

Your heart was beating so fast, so fast. He watched you closely, eyes so dark that you felt like you were drowning in them. You rolled your hips into his thigh, hissing as you became wetter. He flexed the muscle under you, hard and unforgiving, sitting back and letting you rub yourself against it. You smeared your juices into his skin, stimulating your clit, inhaling sharply. Jungkook was still clutching your thigh, his large hand pressed into you.

“Is that enough for you?” he drawled, his other hand sliding up to land on your other thigh. “Is that all you want from me?”

Your eyes flickered to his playful, daring brown orbs.

“There’s no time…” you muttered.

“Take off your panties,” he nudged.

He placed his hands on your waist and lifted you up. You bit your lip, uncertain.

“Noona, I want you to feel good.”

He slipped one finger on the side of your black panties and pushed down. You took the other side and pushed them down, raising your legs to pull out one and then the other. Your panties fluttered to the ground. Jungkook’s gaze on you as you lowered again, bare and dripping, onto his thick thigh. Oh, holy hell. He tensed it and pressed your hips down, grinding his thigh onto your slopping wet pussy. You moaned, grasping his forearms through his turtleneck, feeling the strength in them, the hardness. You closed your eyes, humping his thigh, lost in bliss.

“Can you cum like that?” You felt Jungkook lean forward, lips brushing against yours. “Cum you cum just by rubbing yourself on me?”

Tiny, rigid nods. “If you... kiss me.”

He groaned as he felt your opening tense on his skin. “I thought you would never ask.”

And then his lips were on yours, soft, delicate. Sweet, erotic kisses contrasting with how hard you were fucking his leg, his tongue dancing in the periphery of yours, dodging you playfully as you whined, clutching him tighter. He pressed you down harder, sliding his tongue into your mouth. You shuddered, wetness pooling at his kisses, your core tightening as he whispered your name into your lips.

“Your body is so fucking delectable,” his murmured. “So sexy, it’s sinful.”

You clenched your jaw as you basically rammed your hips into his thigh, slippery and hard, your clit throbbing with need.

“Cum for me, noona.” You could feel his lips form the words as he kissed you, awe in his voice. “Cum on my thigh.”

You dug your nails into his clothed arms and shut your eyes, moaning his name, feeling the strings inside you snap, pleasure waterfalling into you as you came, squelching onto his skin, so viscous and thick that it added to the lubrication, your swollen clit throbbing. Your eyelids fluttered as his hands pressed you down, grinding your hips into his muscle so you could ride your high, extend it until you were melting, hands falling from his arms. He cradled you gently, your chest heaving with effort.

“J-Jungkook…”

“Mhm?”

You cracked your eyes open. “Has my phone made any noise?”

He shook his head. His dark hair covered part of his left eye. “No, noona.”

“Ah.”

Maybe Taehyung was getting laid. Good for him.

“I’m going to touch you now,” you stated. To the point.

Jungkook grinned.

You reached down to his black boxer briefs and yanked them down, freeing his cock and balls. He lifted his legs a little and you pushed them down, but he took your hand, placing it on his semi-hard cock. He moaned as your fingers wrapped around him.

“Do you want to take it off?” you asked quietly, referring to his underwear.

“No,” Jungkook replied tightly, cupping his hand around yours, using your hand to stroke himself a few times. “I can’t wait anymore.”

You nudged his hand aside and began your pace. He leaned back, gasping softly. Your grip wasn’t what it used to be. Carpal tunnel was a bitch. Still, you furrowed your brow, concentrating, He swelled in your hand, pre-cum leaking at the red tip dripping onto your fingers. You stopped for a moment to coat your palm with it, bringing it to your mouth and licking your hand, moaning at his taste. Jungkook shivered, watching your saliva spread all over before returning to his cock, adding to the lubrication.

He pressed his head into the back of the armchair, hips rising as you started again, jaw tense.

“I’m not as good as before,” you gritted out. “My wrist–”

“It’s perfect,” Jungkook interjected. “Fuck, your hand is perfect.”

He was rock hard in your hand as you jacked him off. You snuck a glance at him. His hands were on his face, combing through his dark hair, eyes closing, mouth open as he moaned, rutting into your palm.

He was just so, so sensual that it was driving you insane, his noises making you wet. There was something feral about it, the way he looked at you through his lashes.

“Can I finger you?” he pleaded. “Please.”

Your hips were raised to get a good angle, your arousal already dripping down your thigh.

“Of course. Touch me, Jungkook.”

He lowered his hands, hair all over his face, staring at you through the veil. His fingers slid up your thigh, slipping in between. Dipping in, moaning as he touched your wetness. You sucked in a breath, feeling his fingertip graze your swollen clit. Your grip tightened.

“Jungkook.” Your eyes found his, glazed with lust. “You can be rougher with me. If you want.”

He swallowed, Adam’s apple bobbing. “Don’t want to hurt you…”

You smirked.

“You forget who you’re talking to.”

He pushed two fingers into you, feeling you suck him in as you stroked him, smile still on your lips. Jungkook grinned, pressing his thumb against your clit and rubbed it as he began to thrust his fingers into you, matching your pace, the two of you focused on getting each other off, breath mixing between your bodies.

“Noona?”

“Yeah?” you panted, whimpering at his roughness, his fingers scissoring in you, stretching your walls as you squeezed back, faster and faster.

“Wanna cum in your mouth.”

You chuckled as he shoved a third finger into you, punishing your clit repeatedly, so full, so good, it was making you crazy, but you had to focus, you had to get him off.

“This is a weird angle.”

Jungkook suddenly pulled his fingers out and pinched your clit, making you hiss and your legs shake, pained whimpers clawing from your throat.

“Do it.” His voice was a low growl. “Do it and I’ll reward you.”

You slid off the chair, still stroking his cock, narrowing your eyes at him. Jungkook looked down at you, smirk on his pretty pink lips, whispering your name. You removed your hand and replaced it with your mouth. Fuck. He sighed, hand coming up to tangle in your hair, not quite pressing you down but holding you there, his taste coating your tongue, his hard length throbbing in your mouth. You moaned onto his cock and his hips trembled, his long bangs covering his left eye.

Ugh, the way he looked at you. Your felt your pussy clench, demanding his cock.

Instead, you began to move your head up and down, soft lips around him, mouth tight around the head and length. His hand stayed there, moving with you, firm, reminding you that you couldn’t stop, that you had to keep going until he came. You set a nice, fast, tight pace, already knowing he was close, hearing his breathy groans, repeating your name over and over.

“Always thought you were fuckable,” Jungkook panted out. “Always wanted you in my bed.” He pressed his head into the armchair, shutting his eyes. “Couldn’t figure out how to convince you, couldn’t figure out how to tell you that I wanted you so very much.”

You tightened your throat around him and he dug his nails into your scalp, breathing shallow and tight.

“Gonna cum, noona, fuck, gonna cum down that pretty throat of yours.”

Jungkook squeezed his eyes shut and groaned, his orgasm filling your mouth, coating your tongue, slipping down your throat. You gulped and he yelped at the sensitivity, whimpering as you softly lapped at the head, cleaning him off. Drinking it all, intoxicated with it, so satisfied swallowing it all.

Oh, how you loved sex.

You slowly removed your mouth crawling back up, no longer aware of your obligations to Taehyung, only interested in brushing Jungkook’s hair aside and kissing him deep, moaning as his tongue forced into your mouth, tasting himself. His hand slipped back into your folds and three fingers deep into you, fucking you. You whined into his mouth, telling him how good he was, telling him how good he felt inside you, telling him you how much you wanted his cock, his beautiful, thick cock jammed all the way inside you.

The door lock clicked and neither of you heard anything.

“Ah, I managed to hitch a ride with Jim– WHAT THE FUCK?”

Taehyung’s deep voice boomed throughout the apartment and you were still making out with Jungkook’s face as his fingers thrust into your slopping wet pussy, spreading you out. You whimpered as Jungkook broke the kiss, pushing you against his body as Taehyung slammed the door and marched in, kicking off his shoes carelessly.

“Fucking shit, why are you like this, fucking everything in your sight, you absolute–”

You turned your head, somewhat ashamed, feeling somewhat sorry – but not that sorry, because Jungkook’s fingers were still inside you. Taehyung’s strong features were twisted in annoyance, but he wasn’t looking at you.

He was scowling at Jungkook.

“I told you,” Taehyung said sharply, sweeping his lush fur coat back to reveal his black turtleneck and black slacks, pointing an accusing finger at Jungkook. “Not to get her started, because she is a horny seductress.”

You raised your eyebrows at him. “Excuse me?”

Taehyung ticked his head, looking down at you. “Am I wrong?”

You pouted. “Well, no.”

“And,” he added, directing his attention at you. “Why would you not ask me to fuck first? I’ve seen you naked hundreds of times!”

Jungkook raised his eyebrows. “Hundreds?”

Taehyung ignored him, leaning down and taking your chin. Brown eyes a mix of angry and amused, observing your lust. “I am offended that I respected you and you’re sitting in my roommate’s lap instead of mine.” His breath seemed like alcohol.

Your lips parted, heart beating fast. “S-sorry, Tae… You’re just always dragging me out of weird stuff that I thought you were disgusted by me…”

Taehyung brought his face close to you. You loved his voice. So deep, so intense, so heavy. It seemed to shake your soul with bass.

“I’ve wanted you on my dick the second I saw you.”

And then he kissed you, hard and full, as Jungkook’s fingers began to move inside you once again.

-

part ii: kth x you x jjk

--

masterpost

[writers-worst-nightmare]

Kittens (Keith x reader)

Song you are singing

Warning(s): A TON OF CUSSING, reckless driving, got lazy at the end, Keith loosing one of his lives

THIS IS A REAL LIFE AU WHERE THERE IS NO SPACE OR ANYTHING AND THEY ARE ON EARTH

Fandom: Voltron

Word Count: 1,510

Pairing(s): Keith x reader

Genera: chaotic fluff

A/N: this is basically a Voltron version of “no braincells“ but I added a twist to make things more interesting

Request are always open!

Keith stared at the tiny kittens surrounding him, he froze in place and looked up to you as a plea of help witch was rudely declines when you started snickering before bursting out into laughter. Soon the whole crew joined in on laughing at Keith with a bunch of kittens. Pidge was snapping pictures and uploading it to their Instagram, Lance was recording a tiktok, Shiro was trying to get the cats off of Keith, Hunk was laughing, and you where adding more cats to the pile on his lap. “Y/N DON’T ENCOURAGE THEM!” Shiro scolded. You rolled your eyes before grabbing a small black and white kitten and placing it on Keith’s lap. The crew had decided to meet up after band practice and stay at your house. Little did they all know that you fostered animals, you had a couple of dogs and Birds but you mainly fostered cats cause they look so fucking cute.

“But it fuuunnnn!” You wine, only making Hunk laugh even harder until he was literally on the ground laughing so hard.

“They are kind of cute…” Keith muttered as he stared at the cats and back at you and then back at the cats.

“Why don’t Keith and I go to get some cat stuff at the mall, you three can make yourselves at home by the way!” You called as you dragged Keith into your car and hopped in the drivers side.

“Oh no…” Keith muttered as he stared wide eyed at you starting the car.

“What?”

”Please don’t tell me—“

”Oh, yeah I am driving!”

“LET ME OUT OF HERE!!!!”

You locked the car doors and started to drive on there highway. Keith relaxed a bit as he thought that you where going to be normal

Big mistake

As soon as you saw all the muscles sink into the car seat you smirked and pulled up a radio station. Since Keith hasn’t been with you in the car before (for a good reason since everyone that has let you drive a car was gotten sick) he didn’t know that you LOVES music. Probably even more then you loved anime (which was saying something).

The fuck? Hold on Bitches got beef but don't wanna fight me Quit all that barkin', ho, bite me Bitch Hold on

”What the fuck is this?” Keith asked as he started to lean forward before the song started and you higher Ed the volume all the way up

Bitch, you fat, need a tummy tuck (Yep) You dropping diss songs, man, bitch, get your money up (For sure, then)

”It is called ‘go best friend’ and it is awesome” You answered as you rolled down your window and started singing along to the beat of the song and speeding slightly.

If you 'bout it, then run it up Used to be cool with this bitch, but she mad that I'm coming up

Keith hesitated softly before pulling up the lyrics on his phone and starting to sing along slowly. Afraid of what would happen next. You turned right and got on the off-road. Keith stiffened as he has heard one to many times what happens when you go off road and onto the dirt paths that you have most likely made yourself.

You a thot, you gon' suck it up I got a white bitch in the club, wanna pump it up (Woo, woo)

You started speeding even faster the before and Keith was prepared for the worst. Looking for a pencil and a piece of paper before settling on a anime journal that you had and a pen

Fuck a speech, I'ma sum it up $hy on the track and you already know she gonna fuck it up (Ayy, yeah) Bitch need to worry 'bout a bag I'm rocking these shows, and that's why she mad (Aha)

”I am going to give Lance my fuck you energy, Shiro my Hot Topic shirts, Pidge my suicidal thought, Hunk my fuck boy energy, and y/n my outmost hatred.” Keith started to say as he wrote out his will.

“Oh come on I am not that bad of a driver!” You pouted, looking away from the road and staring at Keith. Keith widened his eyes and grabbed the steering wheel so he could drive.

After this diss, you goin' out sad Bitch, you not bougie, you don't got no class (Bitch) Turnt in the booth and I'm piped off that gas Spin on yo' block, then we hitting the dash (Shoot, shoot)

”The last time you said that Pidge ended up in a flicking tree!” Keith argued, holding back the urge to choke you out, you rolled your eyes and elbowed the emo boy out of the way to take control of driving

It's still love for you, though But, bitch, I'm 'bout to get on your ass (Haha)

You started screaming the lyrics and Keith’s heart seemed to be going backwards as he grabbed his phone and gripped it tightly in his hands before button the record button.

$hy gotta potty mouth You wanna talk shit? Bitch, let's talk 'bout your body count You stink, throw your body out Tryna hang wit' the kid, I'm the life of the party now (Yeah)

He stopped the video and sent it to the “why do we still exist?” Group chat that consist of the gang

-character development Sasuke sent a video-

Non-binary owl: WORK IT Y/N YEAAAH

Sapnap but better: oh no…

Panda dude from beastars: have you written your will yet?

-character development Sasuke sent a picture-

Character development Sasuke: already got it written out

Won’t shut up about how bisexual this man is: I GET FUCK YOU ENERGY?!

Sapnap but better: I GET FUCK BOY ENERGY

Non-binary owl: can we all collectively agree to play/sing WAP at Keith’s funeral

Your lil' sister look up to me (Yeah) Bitch, you can't rap and you really not touching me (No) Just like a virgin, lil' bitch, cannot fuck wit' me And I never been pussy, bitch, you know what's up with me (For sure, then)

Won’t shut up about how bisexual this man is: As long as I get to do the dance

Panda dude from beastars: NO ONE IS PLAYING WAP AT ANYONES FUNERAL

Panda dude from beastars: Look Keith you are going to be fine

Why this bitch wanna pop shit? We was just cool, now this bitch wanna act like a opp bitch (The fuck?)

“What happens if I go off the edge…?” You wonder out loud, Keith looks up at you with a panicked expression.

Oh, she mad she can't stop shit Said that my breath stink 'cause I'm spittin' that hot shit (Hot, hot)

“NO Y/N DON’T GO OFF THE EDGE! THIS IS NOT FUCKING MINECRAFT!!” Keith lectured as he tried to roll down the window but silently cried to himself as he realized that you had child’s lock on.

Quit all that barkin', lil' bitch, and come bite me Bitches got beef, but they don't wanna fight me (Wait, wait)

You ignored Keith and smiled up yourself as you almost ran over some ducks

Turnt to my music, but swear they don't like me You got my number, ho, FaceTime, Skype me These hoes wanna be me I'm on your radio, soon I'ma be on your TV John Cena, bitches can't see me (Nope) I'm goin' up, and it's hella fans wanna meet me (Hey, haha)

“WHY DID YOU ALMOST RUN OVER DUCKS?!” Keith screamed as he plastered himself against the window.

Bitches don't get me Bitch, why you hatin? You could've been goin up with me (For sure, then) Spear on the bitch like she Britney You could dissed any bitch, but instead, you gon' pick me (Okay, the fuck?)

You did a wide turn and Keith practically flew in the air, he got up off the floor and cursing the seatbelt for failing to protect him against your ruthless grasp.

Make a bitch wanna hit me (Ayy, ayy) Bitches be cap on my name, the shoe did not fit me (No, it didn't) Show these bitches no pity (Yeah) These bitches wanna be friends, admit it, you miss me (Go)

Keith peered over the dashboard thanks to him now being on the floor and distantly saw the mall “YESSS WE ARE ALMOST THERE!!!!” Keith exclaimed as he got exited ready to leave this hell hole that mortals calls a car

Wrap up the beat like a doobie I don't give a fuck 'bout opinions, you know I'ma do me (Hey, hold on) Bitch, you a gnat, you a groupie Told that lil' bitch it's some snacks, and we pulled up with Scoobies

you lowered the volume to one as you pulled up in the parking lot and slowed down the car before parking somewhere close to the mall. You didn’t even look bothered to the fact of your reckless driving while Keith was looking like a whole tumbleweed fell over and hit him in the rib cage.

[cyberlyri]

I create specific genres of posts

- *rolls around like a tumbleweed* i am bored

- *hangs upside-down from thinking tree* time for random thoughts

- I am about to complain about something

- Did yall know I made a thing look at the thing isnt it cool owo

- SUPPORT MY FRIENDS OR PERISH

- Cats

[ode-of-odr-archive]

[quiet jealousy] - Your muse becomes jealous over my muse for whatever reason, and expresses it non-verbally, lingering closer to my muse than usual, touching them casually, etc.

// since we decided Lucio being an angry cat is funnier

This job had sent the giant to the ass end of the country if you asked him. How anyone lived in this heat he couldn't understand. Granted people could say the same about his father's people living in a land that is always described as 'where ice and fire meet'. But nonetheless, the bounty hunter had stripped down to his union suit and had the sleeves pulled up and most of the buttons undone. His lower half was still fully clothed. He had dunked his head into some water when some of the girls from the Saloon there in Tumbleweed came sauntering out.

He didn't think anything of it, how they pressed hands to his chest or cooed over his arms. He just thought they were working or needed something handled. Why else would they give him attention?

However, there was suddenly weight on his back and hissing could be heard from one of his ears. The girls grew wide-eyed and quickly ducked back into the Saloon.

"They were just doing their job, ja?" Ras sighed to Lucio who was still glued to his back, "And it is too hot to stay there, get off!"

[goamazons]

                                                                                             September, 2                                                                                              Damnville

Dear Dad, You can survive for three weeks without food, for a week without water and turn into a measly gremlin the next very day without a toilet. You’re reading a toilet monster, Dad. Never feed me after dark, ha, ha! It all started when Ma got struck by one of her *BRILLIATN IDEAS* to change the entire pipe system in our house. Just after she flushed the lobsters’ shell down the drain, and they got stuck there for good like, getting back to the ocean wasn’t their most cherished dream before dying. The easiest way out was to invite a proper plumber. Ha! That never happens in Ma’s horoscopes she reads every time she needs to do something PIPING. Instead, she invited our neighbor Mr Gardenzio even though he’s not a plumber but an ex-heavy-lift-boxer and also never gets my name right (he calls me Buster.) I have nothing against boxers and busters, Dad, but every time Mr Gardenzio comes by, my house smells of dogs, sounds like a rush hour and I am a free errand boy.  He smashed all our pipes to dust and sent me to buy one thousand and one thingy I’VE NEVER KNOWN BEFORE EVEN EXISTED. I called Amazons and together, we rumbled by the hardware stores like three lost kittens. Hecta asked, Why would a boxer fix your pipes. I said, He re-qualified into a plumber after he retired. However, when we were back it turned out, he actually did not coz he’d just had a spontaneous duel with the toilet pan. And won. It cracked in two like pieces of the cosmic Yin and Yan that now will never get back together T_T

Then the ball got rolling...

Ma hit her stupendous fit about God punishing her for all her *MAGIC POWERS*, Mr Gardenzio went to have his tenth bucket of coffee and I was sent back shopping for a new toilet pan. Ma ordered one just like our dead old pal even if it was like, hundred years old and hardly flashed anything down. Whatever you put there surfed on the rips of running water and proudly plopped back on the bowl. Still, Ma believes old things are better things, plus cheaper, and bought one from the Internet on a massive discount. I used all public toilets in the nearest cafes and officially declare I prefer new things. You simply push the button there and the poo vanishes as if by magic, not waits for you to PUSH IT MANUALLY. Anyway, the next day, I took Amazons to collect my new toilet coz Ma refused to pay the delivery. At the shop, it turned out they didn’t even wrap it up. And it weighted a complete tonne! I said, What a chance to pump our Shaolin warrior power. Agnieszka said, Quite! and took the plastic tank, like a princess. Hecta and I grabbed that anvil-like bum-throne and kung-fu-dragged it along the streets sweating and panting like all proper warriors proper should. Met our Domestic science teacher Mrs Jennings doing her shopping. She gasped as she saw us coming her way and lamented that we brought her bad luck with that empty vessel. It’s like having all thirteen black cats and a magpie crossing your path in one go. I thought, empty toilet can’t be worth luck than NO TOILET AT HOME AT ALL. Then it turned out it WAS a bad luck coz that bloody WC didn’t fit in anywhere. It had so monstrous bowl, it was destined to serve giants with butts as big as shopping malls. Mr Gardenzio got ready to rematch it while Ma phoned the shop to blow their brains off for selling us a Cthulhu’s loo, and we were sent to get it hell outa the house and over a mile back. BACK. TO. THE. SHOP. I think Mrs Jennings had a heart attack when our paths crossed again today. We ordered a standard one AND A DELIVERY SERVICE. But they will only bring it tomorrow. I’m a homeless kitten now, Dad. I have no personal closet, i. e. no territory to mark, no roots, no claims. Even monks have somewhere to pee, right? I’m a gypsy tumbleweed. I will sleep at Hecta’s tonight. Gotta go do my business in the bushes till the rest of my life if Mr Gardenzio doesn’t box it all back together. Write to you soon,                                                                                Your gremlin Skipper  

[copperbadge]

I got on a real roll doing chores this morning so in addition to taking some measurements and buying a new rug for the bedroom and a table for the kitchen, I decided to vacuum. 

I’ve owned this stupid machine for two years and usually I vacuum every week, but I was noticing that even after vacuuming there was a lot of dust and cat fur just sort of hanging around. I couldn’t figure out if the vacuum cleaner wasn’t working or if I was just a filth monster. Today it stopped even pretending to pull up the dust I was trying to vacuum and I went down this rabbithole of like, should I get a new one? Maybe this one just doesn’t work on non-carpet floors. I’ve only had it two years, maybe it’s still under warranty...

Then I decided perhaps something had gotten caught in the suction mechanism somewhere, so I took the cylinder that catches all the dirt off the machine and opened it up. Took out the filter like I always do, dumped the dirt, and then thought, wait. How does this work? Why is this weird twisty part inside the canister red when the rest of the solid plastic is grey --

Twisted the red twisty part a little and it came off in my hand.

So it turns out there are two filters, one for dust and one for large debris, which feeds the large debris into a second, smaller canister inside the larger dirt canister. I hadn’t been aware that a) the large debris filter existed or b) its canister needed to be emptied. I opened the second canister and about a pound of compressed catnip, several large sisal tumbleweeds, and eight solid inches of felted cat hair came out. 

Sooooo yeah I’ve been basically vacuuming my home for two years without emptying the most important part of the machine to empty. When I turned the vacuum back on and tried it on the carpet, the carpet changed color.

Good job, Sam. 

[biffhofosho]

Idol Thieves | Chapter Six

Chapter Word Count: 6.1k 

A/N: Sorry, fell behind again in my postings. Got sucked into a couple of documentaries and enjoyed a weekend of Mother’s Day pamperings, which just made me extra lazy. At least it’s a longer chapter to make up for it! Music references linked in the story in case you were wondering what I wrote some of these scenes to.

TR | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12

As the last exhibitor to present for the men, Wonho spent a few minutes limbering up. He made sure not to skip a single flex or stretch as Wally eyed him over her snack.

Meanwhile, several of the guys worked to reorganize the space. From behind the shelves, they pulled out a number of blocks of various shapes and sizes and staggered them in a line from one end of the room to another. They were spaced randomly, some in neat ascending clusters while others zig-zagged several feet apart, yet they all led toward the tall iron bar structure at the far side of the room.

Satisfied with their arrangement, the boys headed back to their seats, leaving Wonho bent over with his ass facing Wally as he enjoyed a final languorous stretch through his hamstrings. She thought about going for her taser on principle, but she still had her apple to finish after all.

Wonho shouldered a sling bag, and after a quick glance at Wally, he looked to his archer bandmate. “Play some hip-hop, Minhyuk. Something with rhythm.”

Minhyuk nodded, but Jooheon yanked the phone out of his friend’s hand at the last moment. “No, not that. Why does anyone let you pick the music? You always pick something too emotional.”

“Jackson’s too emotional?” Minhyuk argued.

“Yes!” Jooheon and Hannah shouted together before sharing a confused look.

Jooheon snatched the phone from his friend’s hand, and a few seconds later, gritty urban vibes and scratching records piped out of the surround system. Satisfied, Wonho rolled his neck once before taking off for the first block and catapulting himself on top of it. Without a breath in between, he leapt to the second and then the third. The next block was farther than the last two, but with his momentum, Wonho springboarded off the block into a summersault and landed on his feet with ease.

The next one conquered, he skidded down its side into a smooth tumble and slipped right back onto his feet in time to grab the tallest block and pull himself to the top. Wonho leapt like a cat onto the next one, his arms outstretched powerfully, his leg muscles contracting elegantly in his tight pants, before he transitioned into another slide to the floor. A quick sideflip and he was back into a full run straight for the mirrored wall.

Wonho charged fearlessly, his arms pumping at his sides as he ran up over the glass a few steps until he latched onto the monkey bar’s support and wheeled around it so he could throw himself at the top bar. He swung his legs high over his head and released the bar, sending his body twisting like a tumbleweed toward the ground. He landed into a tuck roll and immediately set off on another acrobatic return run across the blocks.

Wonho never repeated a move set, and things only seemed to get more complicated on the way back. Double leg twists, full-standing backflips, and a triple cork that both shut Wally’s mouth and then opened it again.

By the time he returned to the monkey bars, Wonho was coated in a sheen of sweat that dappled his brow, shimmered on his arms, and dripped beneath the V of his shirt. With a final springboard from the last block, he catapulted onto the long bar, sparing a moment for a few superfluous chin-ups before he perched on the top, his legs dangling over the side. He unzipped his bag, withdrew two picks, and waited.

He cast a glance to Wally, but she was looking at her phone again, and he growled loud enough that her eyes flicked up. With a long, hard stare, Wonho hooked his legs backwards over the bar and hung upside down, his shirt hem cascading down to reveal taut abs dusted with the diamonds of exertion.

It was Wally’s turn to growl, and she parked her phone dramatically in front of her face.

Undeterred, Wonho set to work on his first obstacle on the bars, a series of three locks that grew progressively more complicated down the line. He tackled each one upside down, affording a view of every muscle in his torso as they twisted and flexed at his delicate ministrations. In only a few seconds, the first lock fell; another minute later, the second crashed to the floor, too. At the third lock, he scowled.

“The chain key lock? Seriously, guys? I’ll get a headache.”

“Nobody said you had to open it upside down,” Shownu replied even as he continued fiddling with his puzzle.

But Wonho caught Wally peeking from behind her phone, and he immediately returned to his work, ignoring the rush of blood to his head. He maneuvered his picks into the lock hole and, guided by feel alone, probed the ribs inside the metal shell. Unlike the other locks he had already picked, the inside of this one curled devilishly, thwarting his every subtle move. There were so many tumblers inside, each one demanding careful attention.

Minutes passed. Wonho sat up for a moment to mop the sweat from his brow and drain the blood from his head. The back of his knees ached from the merciless assault of the bar.

Behind him, the audience waited. Jooheon and Minhyuk led a little cheer as Changkyun clapped along. Hannah sat at the edge of her seat alongside Hyungwon while Kihyun waited patiently, hands folded confidently in his lap. Shownu could spare only passing glances at his bandmate’s progress, and Wally remained behind her phone.

With a deep breath, Wonho dipped back down and renewed his efforts. His fingers worked faster now as he scrubbed each sliver of metal deeper into the plug. After each tumbler disengaged, he fought back his excitement and forced himself to drill deeper.

He was close. Just a little deeper, just a little more.

Click.

And with a thud, the lock tumbled to the floor. Wonho sat on his iron podium and basked in a seven-person round of applause. Number eight focused stubbornly on her little glowing screen.

“Bae!” Hannah hissed, slapping Wally on her hip. “Pay attention. I know what you’re doing...”

“Enhancing our arsenal? There’s this badass repelling suite—”

“Mm-hm,” the explosives enthusiast hummed deeply. “Sure.”

Wally frowned. “Don’t ‘sure’ me! They’re going to throw in a grappling hook and—”

“Oh, ja, ja, helt sikkert.”

“Danish only makes you more annoying,” Wally retorted as she stuffed her phone in her back pocket and crossed her arms.

Hannah stuck out her tongue. “Now clap.”

The mercenary lazily wolf-whistled as she challenged her best friend to a staring contest and won, though it wasn’t much a victory since the other party never knew she was playing.

Meanwhile, Wonho prepared for his next obstacle with a knuckle crack and a deep arm stretch. Ahead of him on the perpendicular bars, someone had threaded an ornate tapestry of strings coated with a red powder. If he so much as grazed a thread, a band of scarlet failure would emblazon his all-black ensemble. The cords netted the interior of the monkey bars from corner to corner with only a few small triangles of open space toward the top and no way through from the floor. He would have one shot at this and not even a moment for hesitation.

Wonho spent a few minutes studying the 3D maze from his perch before he gripped the bar beneath him and swung down until he had enough momentum.

One shot.

He rocked back as far as he could and glided feet-first into a sliver of yarn, dropping to the floor in a crouch. When he tried to stand, he almost nicked a thread, forcing an emergency juke to the left.

“Watch that beautiful butt!” Minhyuk shouted as Wonho nearly grazed another thread from behind.

Jooheon elbowed him. “You say the weirdest things, and the camera’s not even on.”

“It’s not?” the mood-maker replied with an eyebrow waggle as he withdrew his camera from its nook. Jooheon rolled his eyes, but Minhyuk shrugged it off. “What? Hoseok asked me to help him improve his form.”

Back on the obstacle course, Wonho dipped below one cord while stepping over another. The windows of space between each length of yarn grew smaller and smaller, but at least he was nearing the end. Trouble was, to get out, he had to go up, and the path to the top bar was a red-dusted minefield. From here, a free jump to the bar was impossible, so Wonho had to sidle his way through the yarn until he could see a clear but narrow path straight up. He crouched down, careful not to bump anything behind him, and he catapulted up with all his strength.

One hand grazed the bar—just lightly—but it was enough to catch and heft himself up. It had to be controlled, and every muscle from his fingers through his shoulders burned from his slow ascent as he eased between the cords by one arm. Finally, he was able to secure his other hand on the bar, and he unleashed a wild laugh at his triumph, but his celebration was shorter than a flame on a matchstick.

The only way to the finish line was a portal parallel to the top bar not much larger than an air vent, and it was almost perfectly horizontal. Wonho hung there like meat on a hook, cursing under his breath. He was so tired and every inch of him begged for relief, but failure was more intolerable than the burn in his palms. He hefted his body up until his arms screamed as they held him at a ninety-degree angle. Only when he couldn’t take it anymore did he straighten his arms, and, using every muscle in his core, lifted his body near horizontal until it was aligned with the exit.

The crowd watched, every last member holding its breath, as a man who, for all intents and purposes, performed what could have been a perfect score rings routine. His biceps strained against his sleeves and his short, emphatic breaths punctured an otherwise dead silent room.

Wonho took one deep breath and swung forward as hard as he could, praying he would emerge without a red badge of failure.

The next thing he knew, he was on the floor, sprawled out and heaving on the mat to uproarious applause.

“Pissefedt! How can someone so big be so agile?” Hannah marveled.

If he had the strength to lift his head, Wonho would have relished the reluctant smile on Wally’s face; instead, he offered a weak victory V as his damp body suctioned him to the floor.

“And we’re just supposed to take his word that he didn’t fail?” Wally said, that hint of a smile tinging her words.

“Come check me out for yourself,” Wonho mumbled from the floor.

The silver-haired malcontent scowled before she turned to Kihyun. “Send one of your men to be sure.”

“Hyungwon,” Kihyun ordered with a nod toward the lump of muscle recovering on the mat.

With a sigh, the tall man rose from his slouch, grabbed his sabre along the way, and headed for the obstacle course. After a close inspection of his friend, he nodded and Kihyun confirmed Wonho’s victory to a round of cheers. But before he returned to the comfort of his seat, Hyungwon chopped down the yarn webbing and stopped by the last rung on the monkey bars to secure one last lock. Wonho’s celebratory fist pumps were cut short when his eyes drifted to the last rung.

“Oh, come on! First the chain key and now the EVVA MCS? Can we please move on from San Francisco?” Wonho whined.

“Says the man who just brought up Haeundae again,” Shownu reminded.

“I can’t even— It’s too high up. That lock requires perfect focus.”

“Then focus perfectly,” Kihyun said simply.

Wonho sat up on his elbows, his eyes shifting from the new lock over to Wally, whose eyebrow hiked up in flawless synchronization with one corner of her mouth. He sighed.

“You know I don’t have my bolt cutters with me.”

Kihyun shrugged. “You’re the one who insisted on forgoing your vest here and in San Francisco.”

The muscular singer laid there for another long moment, his eyes closed as his chest still heaved. Despite all the energy he had just expended, Wonho exhaled and climbed to the top of the monkey bars one last time, somehow managing to make it look effortless. He slipped off his shoulder bag and snapped it around the bar for easier access as he selected a few tools, a small clamp, and an optical flashlight from it.

He steadied himself in a plank across a perpendicular bar as his legs pretzeled around one of the parallel bars. The metal bit relentlessly into his ribcage, but Wonho forced himself to focus on the task at hand—a hunk of solid metal disguising a beast of a lockset.

Without another wasted minute, Wonho clamped the padlock upright with the keyhole facing him. For lack of a third hand, he popped the butt of his flashlight in his mouth and speared a beam of light into the narrow cavern full of false gates and decoy sliders. It may as well have been a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth because he felt like he was about to be devoured by it.

Wonho slid his torsion wrench inside to set the ball bearing, secured the other gates with his blocking tool, and lowered his face to the entryway before he slipped his pick into the unknown. His pick gingerly pistoned in and out of the cylinder as it plumbed its depths for release. For ten agonizing minutes, Wonho laid on top of the bar, his abs aching and his thighs burning, but if his fingers slipped, it would undo all of his progress or worse, damage the inner housing and disable the lock permanently.

It was mercifully silent in the room. Wonho waited for the telltale tug of the magnets to drop the tumblers and for the soft scrub of his pick to usher in the jangle of the rotors, but progress was painstaking and the actions so mind-numbingly repetitive that it was difficult to keep focused. His gaze flicked up to the audience again, but this time everyone was paying attention, especially the mercenary whose dark eyes fixated on every pump of his fingers. Wonho smiled.

There wasn’t a muscle in the lockpicker’s body that wasn’t tensed to rigid perfection. His forearms twitched with every micro-movement. His neck strained to bring his eyes and ears a hair closer. His shins burned as they stabilized his prone body.

“Damn, he’s strong,” Jooheon admired, but one stern glance from Wonho was all it took to stun the hype man back into silence.

Another five minutes ticked away, and out of the corner of his eye, Wonho caught foot-shaking, finger-tapping, and even phone-surfing, but this time, it wasn’t from the ice queen. Instead, Wally’s eyes drilled deeper than his pick.

He forced himself to return to his work. He could feel the lock nearly ready to give in to his ministrations. As much as his core ached and his shoulders burned, as much as her eyes beckoned him back, Wonho couldn’t relax for even one second.

Closer.

He jimmied his pick again and again, scraping and toggling the last gate into position. The damn thing wouldn’t give, but neither would he.

Again and again.

Scritch. Scritch.

Pop!

The final gate relented and the shackle released, but no one had heard. Wonho shot up, victory bunny ears by both sides of his head as he twirled the padlock around his finger and whooped. As soon as he swung down, he was swept into a sea of bro hugs and one seriously vicious Minhyuk noogie. Hannah followed Kihyun over as she dragged Wally behind her by the hand.

“Seriously impressive stuff,” the cheerful sprite proclaimed.

Kihyun nodded. “Never any doubt in my mind.”

But Wonho could only manage a polite nod at the other pair; he was too focused on the expressionless brown eyes of the Amazon in front of him.

“I told you to keep your eyes on me,” he said.

“Oh?” Wally replied. “And I’m taking orders from you now, am I?”

“Did you see?”

“I saw plenty.” With narrowed eyes and a glance at his abdomen, she added, “You did that on purpose.”

“Of course,” he answered coolly. “You needed to see how good I am.”

“And I thought the rappers were supposed to be cocky,” she muttered under her breath as she rolled her eyes. Louder, she said, “Why lockpicking? You already have an ace safecracker.”

From the back of the group, Shownu grunted appreciatively as he raised his hand.

Wonho blinked. “I’m good with my hands, obviously.”

Wally arched an eyebrow. “Seems… superfluous.”

“I do more than that! I built my own set. And did you miss the clinic I just put on because you were playing on your phone?”

“Maybe there wasn’t enough to hold my interest.”

Wonho’s cheeks flushed, but before he could reply, Hannah pinched Wally’s arm. “Come on, sis, give credit where credit is due. That was sick. I saw you watching.”

Wally pursed her lips and huffed. She patrolled the crowd of boys, her arms uncrossing in favor of letting her fingers rove over every instrument of pain on the weapons table. “You may be right, my Banana. I’ve been hard on everyone all day, but that’s how my first mentor raised me—to separate the wheat from the chaff. See, I’m a cautious girl, myself. I didn’t get this far in this business—as a woman, no less—making bad choices or bad allies. But after this showing, hm, maybe this op won’t totally cark it after all.”

“What a morale booster,” Changkyun snarked.

“I suppose these idols have some talent where it counts, and I guess I was most impressed with—” Wally stopped in front of Wonho and met his gaze. He stared back with a hint of challenge in his eyes, maybe something else. She smiled. “—Jooheon.”

As Wonho’s face plummeted, the rapper beside him stuttered to life. “Who? Me?”

“Think you could make me submit?” she asked with a half-smirk.

“Hell yes,” Jooheon replied with an emphatic clap.

“Maybe later, when there's not such a crowd,” she added with a glance at Wonho. “For now, let’s put that powerful body to good use.”

Wally grabbed Jooheon’s hand and a chair and dropped them both at the other end of the monkey bars. Once he was seated, she leaned forward, her hands bracing on either side of his thighs on the seat. “Sit. Stay.”

Jooheon nodded blankly, and, satisfied, she kicked a path through the parkour blocks so that the audience would have an unobstructed view of what came next.

She looked back at Wonho but said to the crowd, “You’re gonna want to sit for this, too.”

The others returned obediently to their seats, save Hannah, who took Wally’s place along the back wall. The partners caught each other’s eyes, and Wally offered her best friend a sly smile. “Bae? Play something good.”

A moment later, Jooheon looked up startled. “Hey, this is my song.”

Wally said nothing as the first few deep, percussive notes rumbled off the walls. She stripped off her jacket, revealing a tight-fitting black tank top and her shoulder holster, which she shed next, and headed for the bars. With little effort, she leapt up to the parallel bars and did a couple quick chin-ups just to bask in a murmur from the audience. She thought about adding a smug smile for Wonho, but she decided not to give him the satisfaction.

Instead, Wally dropped back down and grabbed one of the supports. She caught Jooheon’s gaze, which was easy enough considering his eyes hadn’t left her, and she bit her lip. His eyes narrowed and a dimple twitched. She waited for the pre-chorus to hit before she leaned back into a quick dip turn followed by an even faster pirouette and finally a high fan kick. A quick reverse, and Wally wrapped one leg around the pole for a few more dizzying spins before she ground to a halt, locked eyes with Jooheon again, and dropped into a slow squat. She slid up with her back along the pole and added a few more spins, slower this time so she could hold his gaze as long as possible.

By the time the chorus ended, his cheeks were pink and his lips were parted, and Wally was ready to move in for the kill. She released the pole and stalked over to her seated prey. Just like she had at the pole, she fanned one leg over his lap and sat down facing him. The pink on his cheeks was now bright red, and somewhere beside them, she heard a squeal—Minhyuk, by the sounds of it.

Wally reached up and pulled out her ponytail holder, letting her icy waves tumble around her face and down her back. She looked down at his face and smiled as he shifted beneath her. It was cute how rigid he was, his hands ratcheted firmly down the sides of the chair, his neck ramrod straight, his eyes as dark as ink. She put her hands on his shoulders and leaned down to his ear so that the crowd couldn’t see through her silver-white mane. Behind her, she heard chairs scooting and voices grumbling.

“Is this what you thought it would be when I called you up here?” Wally whispered, her lips at his ear.

The more of her body she pressed against him, the heavier Jooheon breathed.

“Not exactly.”

She smiled. “Good. Just let me know when it hurts.”

“Okay. Wait, w—”

The rapper yelped as Wally cinched a zip tie around his left wrist, and his hips bucked under hers as he tried to throw her off, but she didn’t budge. Jooheon kicked hard until the chair tipped sideways and she had no choice but to leap off. He braced himself with a free hand and folded up the chair so it was easier to carry.

“Finally!” she shouted. “I wondered how many hints I'd have to leave before you figured out what this is.”

“You call this a hint?” he wailed as he waved the chair in his tethered hand.

Wally shrugged. “I call that a typical Saturday. Fair warning, I don't recognize no knockout rules, so let's go, gimpy.”

Without another word, her fist launched forward directly for his dimple. Jooheon pulled back just in time for it to whiz in front of his face. “Watch it! We have a variety show this week!”

“You think the von Grafs are going to take it easy on you because you have celebrity duties?” she said between a volley of punches. “There are only three ways out of this, Lee Jooheon: outsmart me, outhit me, or get knocked out.”

He winced and dodged as fast as he could, using the chair as a shield as he edged backward.

“Escape is not an option!” she snapped as she grabbed a chair leg and yanked him back to the center of the sparring mats.

Jooheon stumbled back into the monkey bars, banging his spine off of the unforgiving metal, and winced. Wally didn’t let up for a second. She sent another punch blasting his way, but he raised the chair just in time for her fist to thunder off of the metal seat. She hissed and stepped back to shake out her hand, but she wasn’t angry—she was grinning.

Jooheon scooted along the mirrored wall closer to the weapons table and relative safety, but Wally anticipated him and raced ahead to force him back to the mats.

“Fight me,” she ordered.

“I don’t fight girls!”

“That’s nice for the newspapers, but I’m not a girl, I’m your opponent. You either have what it takes for our mission or you don’t. Now, fight me.”

“No,” Jooheon insisted, blocking another full-force blow with the chair.

“Fight me!”

Wally charged at him shoulder-first into his chest, but Jooheon kept the chair sandwiched between them. It absorbed some of the blow, but she still managed to tip him back onto the mat. She straddled his waist and reared back her fist as she stared down at his wide eyes. She tsked. “What a shame.”

Her fist came down right as Jooheon sat up, pressing the chair against her chest and flattening Wally on her back. With the added leverage of the chair, she was pinned with her arms at her sides and a crowing hype man atop her chest.

“And I didn’t even have to throw one punch!” he trumpeted.

Wally smiled again, and Jooheon raised one eyebrow.

“Stop it,” he said.

She winked, and the next thing he knew, Lucy Liu had sliced the zip tie so Wally could wrench the chair from his grip. She flung it over her head into the monkey bars, and everything shifted into slow motion.

There was a loud bang followed by a metallic squeal that sent Jooheon skittering backwards halfway across the room. All eyes shot to the monkey bars where one support was now missing a chunk, bobbing like an exhausted fan to the end of the song.

Wally arose slowly from the chaos, dusting off her pants and doing one long back extension. She popped Lucy back in her boot and extended a hand to Jooheon, who refused to take it.

“Come on, chicken man.” After a long deliberation, he finally grabbed her hand, and she pulled him up, patting him on the back. “That was fun. You were just what I needed.”

He raised an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”

“It means you were a perfect patsy.”

The audience looked at each other and then back to the center of the room, unsure if there was more to come.

“Wait,” Wonho said slowly as he approached the mats. “You just seduce people? That's it?”

Wally rolled her eyes. “I didn't belittle your kindergarten tumbling recital, so zip it, pretty boy.”

“Yeah, you did. Besides, everyone else put on these tremendous feats of skill and strength, and you just did a sexy little dance.”

She bit her lip and took a step closer to him. “You think I’m sexy?”

“That’s not what I said,” he hedged.

“It’s okay. You know, I thought about choosing you for this, but your arms were much too… strong.” Wally brought her hands to his shoulders and languidly traced her fingertips down their muscular length, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake.

“Hoseok,” Jooheon began, but the singer cut him off with a firm head shake.

Wally was even closer now, her mahogany eyes boring straight into his as her chest grazed his. She was warm; Wonho didn’t expect her to be so warm, not when she had always been so cold. Her lips brushed along his cheek as they made their way to his ear, her hot breath curling inside the shell of it.

“Just let me know when it hurts.”

“What?”

In one swift motion, she grabbed his wrists and pinned them behind his back as she zipped another tie around them. Wonho wrenched out of her grip as he twisted and jerked his arms inside their restraint to no avail.

“Where did you even get the zip tie?” he shouted.

Wally looked at him quizzically. “What do you mean? It was in my hand.”

“The whole time?”

“That’s what I was trying to warn you about!” Jooheon shouted back.

“I don’t understand what you don’t understand. It’s called slight-of-hand. My first mentor was an illusionist. Just be grateful I didn’t use my Midazolam,” Wally said as she slipped her hand into another pocket and brandished a syringe of crystalline liquid.

“Who are you people?” the rapper shrieked. “Thieves or serial killers? Who just carries needles in their pocket?”

“While they’re sexy dancing,” amended Changkyun.

“With explosives,” Hyungwon added.

“I thought explosives were Hannah’s thing?” Minhyuk asked.

“They are,” Wally answered. “That was her Ammonal that showered us in lovely sparks.”

“Speaking of,” Kihyun said as he swiveled in his chair toward the back wall, “Hannah, you’re up.”

Shownu finally dropped the puzzle he still hadn’t solved and turned as well, but the tiny woman wasn’t there.

From the other side of the room came the nonchalant reply, “Oh, me? No, it’s cool. I already went.”

All eyes shifted toward the filing cabinets where the cheerful sprite now leaned, decked in a diamond tiara and matching necklace. The moment the leaders recognized what was left of their San Francisco handiwork, the pair dashed to her side and frantically flipped through the plundered cabinets.

“When did you—” Kihyun stammered.

“How,” Shownu said, but it wasn’t a question. His eyes were wide and there was a hint of a blush on his high cheekbones.

Hannah smiled gently as she fingered the humongous diamond pendant. “To be fair, Wally's very distracting.”

Her partner waltzed over, towing the rest of the boys behind her, save Jooheon who was cutting Wonho out of his bindings.

“I'm just the muscle,” Wally said. “Hannah's really the brains of this outfit.”

The petite strawberry blonde nearly shook the tiara off her head. “Aw, bae, no! You're the brains, too! You're the one who thought up this mini heist.”

“But the way you planted that puzzle on their watchdog,” Wally insisted with reverence as she propped an elbow on her friend’s shoulder.

Shownu looked down at his hands. “This puzzle?”

“Yeah, sorry,” Hannah said sheepishly. “I actually solved that a few days after Wally gave it to me. But you're welcome to try and solve it, too! Really, it’s a lot of fun.”

His blush intensified, and he cleared his throat as he jammed the puzzle into his pocket and focused all his attention on sifting through the pilfered drawers.

“How did you know the jewels were in the cabinet and not the safe?” Kihyun asked.

“I didn't. I just knew whatever was in there was more valuable than whatever was in the safe because it was the first thing you two ran to when Wally burst in here yesterday. Pretty cool, right?”

Kihyun’s expression flickered somewhere between embarrassment and fascination before his fingers glossed over the scorched door of the safe. “Then why break into the safe at all if you knew nothing was in it?”

“Just to show you that I can,” she answered brightly with two half-moon eyes before she faded into a frown. “I do feel kinda bad about toasting this cute little Brown 6024 though, especially since I knew she wasn’t guarding the real treasures. Poor little lady.”

“They can buy another with their haul from this op,” Wally groused. “Now, can we please move on with the planning?”

“Twenty-seven days,” Shownu agreed, back to his normal stoic self.

Kihyun nodded reluctantly and motioned the others back into the planning room, but before Hannah could join them, he rested a hand on her forearm, and though the touch was feather-light, it was powerful enough to stop her dead in her tracks. She looked from his elegant fingers to his expressionless face as he said, “That was amazing.”

She waved dismissively as she tried to hide her smile. “It was mostly Wally. I mean, you didn’t even see me do anything.”

But Kihyun’s hand tightened around her forearm, forcing her to look back at him. His eyes were wider now, more serious. “I know. That’s what’s so amazing. You orchestrated everything perfectly—the lockpicks, the safe crack, the synchronized explosions. No one even knew you were there, and that’s the most incredible thing of all. You’re remarkable.”

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far,” Hannah stuttered as she struggled to find anything else one quintillionth as engaging as the intensity in his eyes.

“Today was a good day,” Kihyun said as he released his hold on her. “You were right. I think we’re going to mix very well together.”

She brushed her cheeks as she tried to disguise the stubborn rouge there but instead settled on a protective curtain of peachy waves around her face. She motioned to the door, where a noisy group of egos argued on the other side of it. “This is quite a team you've got here. You're all really supportive and protective of each other. I like that. It makes me trust you more.”

“You trust us? We're criminals.” Kihyun laughed. He had a charming laugh.

“Well, sure, you haven't given me a reason not to. Plus, the boss says we're on the same side, so I've got no need to stress.” Hannah shrugged a shoulder and smiled. “As for Wally, she's mostly bluster. She always gets extra combative when she’s nervous.”

Kihyun studied the snow-capped mercenary through the frame as she sat boots-up at the table, whittling a pencil into a shiv with Lucy Liu’s help. “I have a feeling that woman doesn’t get nervous.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised. Don’t tell Wally I told you, but we're big fans—of your music and your cons.”

“Why shouldn’t I tell her that?”

Hannah shrugged. “Wally’s got a thing. She’s always got a thing, and you just gotta let her have it. Trust me on this. And, for the record, the museum heist she mentioned wasn't really a heist so much as a passing opportunity. We palmed some rubies from an armored truck when no one was looking. It wasn't like we swiped them from the exhibit. Wal just likes pushing buttons—another one of her things. She says she likes to know where your boundaries are and—”

“And what our weaknesses are?” Kihyun finished.

The hacker nodded. “But don't take it personally. She did it to me, too, when we first met, and now we're thick as thieves.”

For a moment, the two of them shared a laugh, but the way Kihyun stared at her now made Hannah stop. His soft eyes narrowed as they mapped her face, and his lips parted, as though a thought was caught between them unsaid. Seconds ticked like hours before he finally continued, “What about you, Hannah? What’s your thing?”

Her name on his lips was as soft as satin and as jarring as an alarm. Her mouth went dry.

“Me? I don’t know. I suppose I have lots of things. The more time we spend together, the more you’ll find out.”

Kihyun grinned. “Deal. By the way, I take it you weren’t surprised to find out who Monsta X really is?”

“Nah. I'm a pattern person. I see them everywhere, all the time. Can't turn it off really. I guess that’s one of my things. I noticed years ago that anywhere you seven were, trouble was close by. I mean, San Fran? Not your cleanest job, but you still pulled it off.”

“Yeah, they got an earful again about that today.”

There was a comfortable pause as they assessed the room.

“That yacht though.”

“Yeah,” said Kihyun with another smile and another long stare. “That was a good one.”

She cleared her throat as she idly rubbed her forearm. “So, um, shall we join everyone else?”

“One more thing.”

His voice was magnetic, and she froze mid-step. Hannah was almost afraid to look back at him, but she really had no choice. One corner of his mouth pulled up, rounding his cheek mischievously.

“Fool me once…”

Kihyun’s arms encircled her neck in a loose hug, and her heart stuttered. She had just met the guy, and she had no clue why this was happening, but she was totally and completely okay with it. Hannah leaned forward and hugged his waist, her cheek pressed against his chest. Kihyun’s fingers froze on the nape of her neck.

“Uh, what are you doing?”

Time stopped. So did Hannah’s breathing.

“Nothing... What are you doing?” she mumbled up from his shirt, unwilling or incapable of looking up at him—she wasn’t sure which.

“Taking back my stolen necklace, if that's all right with you.”

“Oh, yeah, sure, I mean, of course. I was just... looking for an opening to steal...” she fumbled for a moment before she pushed off of him and proclaimed, “this!”

Hannah thrust her hand in the air, and his eyes darted to it. He raised an eyebrow. “Ten thousand won?”

“And you didn't even see it coming!” she said with a dramatic flash of her hands in front of her face before pocketing the bill.

Kihyun stifled a laugh and ushered her through the door. “All right, Copperfield, let's plan a heist.”