#titter is dead

[miitball-episodeshadow]

Me when I forget tumblr exists for the 3rd time

[2djdanger]

I love auto translation sm

[dutybcrne]

From a very young age, Kaeya held such a fondness for handholding. Whether it was his father clinging tightly to him to make sure he didn’t get lost, Adelinde’s gentle, grounding hand closed over his to comfort him whenever his nerves got the better of him, Crepus’s rough-palmed, firm yet comforting grip as he brought him back home, or, as it was most often of all, Diluc’s warm, yet at times uncomfortably tight hold as he dragged him anywhere, everywhere, determined to always keep Kaeya close and eagerly show him all there was to see, Kaeya treasured the gesture greatly.

Of course, being as shy as he was, initiating it himself was always the harder part. So much so, he would tend to hold pinkies, rather than outright take a person’s hand in his own. Eventually, it would become his most common way to go about the gesture of affection.

[fellhellion]

I am so fucking tired <- completed a normal day of employment

[screampied]

toji realizes he’s in love with you when he lets you shave his face for the first time,

he’s got the biggest grump of a scowl plastered on his naturally crooked lips. as he’s glowering, he’s also trying to prevent himself from smiling because you looked so cute. your touch with him was gentle—like it always was. after you wiped his face with a dampened face towel, you rub your hands against the lower part of his jaw. “soooo,” you utter, breaking the dead silence as he’s just peering down at you. “tell me ‘bout your day, toji.”

with the palms of your hands tenderly caressing against his chiseled jawline—you smear every part of his chin and cheekbones with shaving cream. even the secluded areas underneath his nose. as you do so, toji tchs. “day was fine, baby. ‘n i told ya i can shave myself.”

“i know i know,” you hum, creating a circular motion with your hands before gently making sure every sector near the lower part of his face was lathered with nice frothy amounts of shaving cream. “wowww, you’ve got such soft skin. skin routine when?”

“ugh, y’er insufferable,” he rolls his eyes. although, his skin was surprisingly clear. toji only had a bit of a stubble, hardly any facial hair but it was growing the more he aged. you took it upon yourself to ask to help him shave and he said yes, not realizing how much he’d soon grow to like it. the feeling of your delicate, warm hands rubbing against his face was somewhat . . soothing. with a deep, heaving sigh, toji’s hooded jade eyes meet yours. he spots your pout and his shoulders lower. “alright fine, i’ll teach you one day. only if ya stop poutin'..”

with a cheeky grin, your little pout falters and you smile. “okay,” and you wait for about a good three minutes to allow the spumous cream to souse everywhere on his pores. it takes a while—and as you wait, you take a moment to stare at his features. toji was definitely easy on the eyes up close. naturally long black lashes of his flicker as he returns your loving gaze, and he avoids eye contact for a moment. perhaps you were making him a bit . . nervous. darkened eyebrows of his arch into an almost sheepish raise while he watches your adorable curious simper stretch further. “don’t be so stiff, what are you, nervous?”

“not nervous. jus’ don’t want ya to cut my face off.” he grumbles in a hoarse tone, ogling intently at you opening the bathroom cabinet for his razor. “you know what y’er doin’ right? i’d like ‘ta keep my face.”

“oh, don’t be dramatic,” and now it’s your turn to roll your eyes. toji’s got a growing smirk tugging against his lips as he gawks you carefully start to shave in the exact sectors of where his facial hair resides. you did lots and lots of research—he knew this because he caught you reading various wikiHow articles on how to shave a guy’s face correctly. toji would never in a million years tell you, but he found that fact entirely adorable. you made sure you knew how to avoid burns and razor bumps. as you’re fixated on his chin, you mumble, “you’ll keep your pretty face, don’t cry.”

“aw, think ‘m pretty?” toji says, and you see the playful glint in his eyes. he’s easing up a bit, and he acknowledges that you were right. right about his stiffness, he was a bit tense. shoulders raised and all, but now—as of late, he’s starting to calm down a bit the more you talk to him. “i’d prefer the term 'handsome' but that works too, i guess.”

you deadpan, continuing your trail against his face—the razor sings out a shrieking tiiiing the more you gingerly shave with soft, gentle strokes.

it’s somewhat relaxing with the way the edges of the instrument adapts to the chiseled contours on his face. the foam starts to come off within each downward stroke and you’re very slow and precise. “okay, don’t be cocky,” you titter, and he feels his heart flutter a bit at how you’re just so dedicated. you’re so focused that your tongue briefly sticks out of your mouth, trying to make sure you do it perfectly. you tried your hardest not to cut him—you were so careful and that simple detail alone could have been enough for him to propose. “you should let me do this more. ‘s kinda fun.”

“eh. maybe,” toji shrugs, his voice coming out in a rough rasp. he doesn’t even realize it but his expressions significantly soften. he was only this way around you. to him, the thought of that was kind of scary. after you start to edge with the precision trimmer and reach underneath his nose and chin, you wrap it up. successfully discarding all of the foamy cream from his face, spotting his now clean jawline, you break away to rinse off the now grubby blades in the sink. “all done?”

“wait— don’t look yet,” you gasp, preventing him from gazing at himself in the mirror. “i still have to do the uh . . what’s it called again?”

toji snickers. “aftershave, baby.”

“aftershave,” you repeat. “right right,” and you’re so cute, kneeling down towards the wooden cabinet directly underneath the sink. you take out the mini bottle, pouring a nice goopy amount into your palm. you let toji wash his face with cold water first, patting it dry, and then you start to bedaub the facial balm in all the sensitive areas against his skin. he adores the mushy texture of your hands making contact with his face as each second passes. toji’s eyeing you, an almost grunt leaving his lips as a thumb of yours gently tickles against his infamous scar. the scar that slants itself near the right side of his lip. “thereee we go,” you give him a soft smile, the aromatic scent of tea tree oil setting against your nostrils. up close, his pores were now all so clear and you stare in awe for a bit at just how charming he was. the moisture that lays against his skin feels a lot more smooth. you grow silent for a moment before your own face softens. “okayyy, ‘m done.”

toji finally glances into the mirror, seeing his freshly new spotless face and he sees your proud toothy grin in the mirror’s reflection behind him. he cranes his neck to the side, feeling the once rough texture of his jawline now soft. he then lets off a tiny exhale. “looks good. y’er a natural,” and he turns to face you, he’s pondering on what to say. oh, your eyes sparkled with such admiration from his praise that it was just adorable. “thank you, sweetheart. for y’know . . takin’ care of me. y’er really . . sweet.”

and with that, his lips inch down to press a warm kiss against the crown of your head. your heart immediately swarms up with a frantic school of butterflies and so does his. toji prepares speak again and it’s an almost inaudible mumble. you could barely even register what he said at first because it was so hushed, but toji gruffs in a low tone. “i … love you..”

“h- huh?”

scoffing, he hides the burning embarrassed flush against his face by pulling you into his broad chest. you giggle at how he just abruptly snatches you close into his warm body before he slings a beefy arm around you. “i said, let’s uh.. do our skin care together later t’night.”

“awww i love you too toj—”

“oh my god, s-shut up..”

[katvazamo]

i feel like im beating a dead horse so dont have to reblog just wanna get this off my chest i just realized that the watcher streaming service was the same price as a netflix account here . netflix has such a variety of content ranging from different languages and genres . the watcher streaming service was like if netflix only kept their originals (strange things,oitnb) and removed everything else. that comparison really puts things into perspective

[legally-allowed-to-slime]

there’s something about the life series and laughing.

when etho’s fighting and he’s losing, he laughs. the slow, easy chuckle of a man who knows he’s already dead, with the reassurance that only the moments that precede inevitable death can bring. there’s nothing to lose but your life, and you’ve already lost that.

when gem’s fighting and she’s winning, she laughs. the cheerfully sinister giggle of a warrior whose moves grow sharper and victory grows surer. there’s something about being so confident that you laugh, that terrifies the opponent and rightfully does.

when grian’s fighting, he laughs. whether he’s winning or not, it doesn’t really matter to his slightly crazed, mischievous titters. to him, in the end, it’s all the same anyway. someone’s going to die, and it would be great if it wasn’t him, but incredibly funny if it was.

they fight, and they laugh, because their feelings are only pure when the soul is balancing on the brink between life and death.

[forever-rogue]

Hello 💌 it's missing Eddie Munson hours here. Can I request a fic where the reader is the new girl in town? New to Hawkins high and accidentally sits at the hellfire table (cause obviously she doesn't know it's reserved 🤭) and gets all flustered once eddie and the members come up and tell her. All cute and fluffy ☺️

AN | I am weak for this concept!  Enjoy 🥰

Warnings | None

Pairing | Eddie x Fem!Reader

Word Count | 3k

Masterlist | Main, Eddie 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You clutched at your tray nervously, looking around the cafeteria in search of some place to sit. Everyone had paired off as soon as the bell for lunch had rang and you were basically left in the dust. Most of the tables were crowded, and no one was even sparing a look in your direction. Tears pricked at the back of your eyes and threatened to well up, but you swallowed them down and started to look for an open spot. 

After a few moments of trying to make yourself look small you found a few open spots at one of the tables towards the back. With the most miniscule of sighs to yourself you took the seat at the end, and hunched in on yourself, trying to make yourself as invisible as possible. Upon settling in, you reached into your backpack and pulled out the book you were currently reading and dove in. 

It was enough to suck you and before you knew it, you were lost and off in your own little world. But then, you heard a loud throat clear among curious little titters. You startled and snapped your book shut, looking up to find several pairs of wide eyes studying you intently.

Your mouth opened and closed a few times as you tried to figure out what was going on, “ummm…hello?”

“What are you doing here?” it came out as more curious and probing rather than angry but it caused your heart to thump wildly nonetheless. He looked young and had dark, floppy hair and gangly limbs. 

“I-I couldn’t find anywhere else to sit,” you admitted sheepishly, “and no one was here so I thought it was okay. I’m so sorry-”

“Wait, you’re the new girl, aren’t you?” you turned to the boy with the dark curls under a hat; they all seemed kind but nonetheless it all made you nervous.

“Yes,” you offered them a tight-lipped smile “I’m sorry, it’s just…I’ll go so you can have your table back.”

Standing up, you tried to grab your backpack and throw it over your shoulder in order to leave and run as far away as possible. Mortifying wasn’t enough to cover how you were currently feeling. Before you could get very far, you felt a hand wrap around your wrist and stop you from getting away.

“Stay,” the voice was different from any of the others you'd heard so far, honey sweet and warm. You stopped dead in your tracks and turned around to find another stranger looking at you curiously.

"Uhh…" you were dumbfounded as you looked at the handsome boy standing in front of you. He had dark, wild curls and big brown eyes with a soft smile tugging up the corners. You looked down to where he was still looking onto you and noticed several tattoos peeking out of his shirt, "umm…"

"You're new here, right?" He asked as you nodded dumbly. You were shocked that you hadn't noticed him before - he was so different and unique that he stuck out like a sore thumb, "shit sucks. But seriously, c'mon and sit with us."

"Are you sure?" You allowed yourself to look at the boys; they looked just as shocked as you, "I don't want to intrude."

"I insist," he gave your arm a squeeze before letting go and motioning for you to sit back down. One of the boys gasped lightly as you slowly sank down in the hard plastic shirt. The boy sat down to your right, "hope you don't mind hanging out with the freaks and geeks."

"N-no," you relaxed slightly as everyone sat around as well, "not at all."

"I'm Eddie. Eddie Munson," he held his hand and you shook it, offering your name in response. Your entire face felt like it was on fire as you forced yourself to look away, "welcome to the gang!"

Alright, maybe not everyone in Hawkins was terrible.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

After that first afternoon where you met Eddie and his friends, you started to feel more and more comfortable in your school and within yourself. You noticed that Dustin, Mike, and Lucas had seemed floored by how easily Eddie took to you. You didn’t think anything of it, as you had no prior knowledge of any of them to go off of. Nonetheless you appreciated all the kindness that was being thrown your way. 

The next day, however, you weren’t sure if you should just automatically go to their table or wait for further invitation. You’d brought your lunch, brown paper bag crinkled from your anxious twisting, and slowly walked to the table at the back. It hadn’t been lost on you that many people seemed to avoid their table, and a few that did walk back made some nasty comments under their breath. It hurt your heart a little bit because these were the only people that bothered to show you any kindness. 

“Hey,” Eddie’s voice pulled you from your thoughts and you looked at him with a nervous little smile. He cocked his head to the side to the chair on his right, watching as you slipped into the hard plastic, “surprised to see you here again.”

“O-oh,” your cheeks warmed under his warm gaze and you wished you could sink into the ground and melt away, “should I not be here?”

“No, no, no, I just meant…I’m surprised you’re back,” he gestured vaguely to the rest of the cafeteria and you almost squeaked when you noticed the rings on his hand. They suited him perfectly, “we’re not exactly the most popular crowd around here.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly too popular either,” you shrugged, catching his eye and exchanging a nervous chuckle, “I think you’re the first person to give me the time of day. No one else has even said anything…they all just kind of stare. I feel like a thing more than anything.”

“The people around here…are the worst,” he put his elbow on the table and rested his chin in his hand as he studied you intently, “tell me about you.”

“I don’t think there’s much to tell,” you shrugged sheepishly, popping a few crackers into your mouth in order to have an excuse to remain quiet.

“Everyone’s got a story,” you felt him nudge your knee with his under the table, “what’s yours? I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.”

And that was an offer you couldn’t refuse.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Over the next couple of weeks, you found yourself growing closer to the gang, but more than anything their enigmatic leader. 

It hadn't taken long to figure out the hierarchy of Hawkins High School, and it was easy to figure out that you were on the bottom of the totem pole. Compared to the other kids, seeing how they were and interacted with one another, you had no clue being part of the outcasts. They were the only ones that seemed real and genuine. 

The worst part of it, or the best depending on how you looked at the situation, was Eddie. You were drawn to him, wanting to know more and more about him, which felt dangerous. You already knew that you'd both be graduating in the spring and then leaving, and that he was on 3rd attempt at his senior year. Those two things in and of itself were more than to make you weary.

The rest of it - Eddie - was wonderful and had you feeling a type of way that wasn't possible. You liked his style, his hair, his personality - all of it. The issue was that you had no clue what he thought about you, or how he felt about you, if anything. Maybe he didn't even think about you at all, besides the hour and change he spent with you at lunch and breaks. That idea didn't settle well in your stomach, even though it had no right to. Eddie was just-

"Everything alright?" You almost slammed your locker shut as you startled at the sound of Eddie's voice. You sighed dramatically before turning around and finding him leaning lazily against another locker. He turned to you and offering you a devilish little smile that caused you to roll your eyes, affectionately of course, “what’s wrong, sunshine?”

“Edward,” you drawled out his name and he groaned at the use of his full name, “you can’t go sneaking up on people like that! I could have had a heart attack!”

“So dramatic,” he tutted, reaching over and tucking your hair behind your ear, “if you weren’t so busy daydreaming, you would have heard me calling out your name. What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?”

“Nothing,” you blurted out way too quickly, and you swore he gave you a knowing little look, “just…stuff and things.”

“Stuff and things,” he echoed in an amused tone as you nodded, your face warming up. Despite the fact that students were all around you, loud and noisy, it suddenly felt like it was only the two of you. He had a way of doing that, you’d learned, making you feel like you were the only thing that existed when he was with you, “very descriptive.”

“I…umm, nothing in particular,” you weren’t about to admit that you’d been daydreaming about him to his face. Not voluntarily anyway. 

“Well, I was wondering if you were free tonight,” your eyes widened in surprise at his question. He laughed - nervously - and ran a hand through his dark curls. It really was such an innocent question, you were absolutely friends by this point, but it felt like it held much more weight.

“Did you need help with homework or Hellfire or…something?” there had to be a logical explanation to all of this. Surely….right? Right?

“No,” wrong. Very wrong.

“Oh…what is it then?” you squeaked at him and he grimaced for a moment. He was definitely nervous.

“I was wondering if you wanted to go see a movie and made get pizza or something after?” he was biting the inside of his cheek, finding the dirty laces of his Reeboks so interesting suddenly. Eddie Munson didn’t do dates; he didn’t get asked on them and he didn’t ask anyone else. Usually it was only girls that he dealed to that wanted to hook up, but those were quick, illicit affairs never to be spoken of again. But with you…everything had felt different right from the start.

When you remained silent for a few moments, he started to panic but then you opened and closed your mouth a few times, “j-just the two of us?”

“Yeah.”

“Like a…date?”

“Yes?” he allowed himself to steal a peek at your face and when he saw nothing but exuberant joy on your face he relaxed, “yes.”

You gnawed on your bottom lip for a moment before slowly nodding in response, your entire face felt like it was on fire, “no one’s ever asked me on a date before.”

“What?!” he turned to you now fully, pure shock and confusion on his face, “you’re not serious!”

“Eddie,” you were laughing now, a beautiful sound that went straight to his heart and often was the soundtrack of his own daydreams, “I’m being serious! No one’s even really looked at me that way.”

“Well, everyone has been so very wrong,” emboldened, he put his hand on your face and gently brushed his thumb over your cheek, “and in a way I’m glad for that because it meant I got to be the first to do it.”

“Hmm,” you hummed softly before gently wrapping your fingers around his wrist, “and to answer your question, yes, I am free. For you, I’m always free.”

“Wow,” you weren’t sure if he was talking to himself or to you, but it was endearing either way, “great - perfect. Umm, can I pick you up at seven?”

“I’ll see you at seven,” you confirmed softly, heart beating so wildly in your chest that you marveled at the fact that it wasn’t bursting through your ribcage, “don’t be late, Edward.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, sunshine,” he grinned in response, “see you at seven!”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You were ready to go well before seven, and ended up nervously pacing around your bedroom. A slew of clothing was on your bed, as you had undergone several outfit changes before finally settling on a simple pink checkered sundress and sandals. You checked over your hair and makeup so many times you were starting to get sick of your own appearance. 

Every time you heard a car driving through the neighborhood, you pulled back the curtain to see if it was Eddie. Which was silly, considering you’d been in his van and knew what it sounded like. But still…the nerves were getting to you. 

By the time he actually pulled into your driveway, you had started reading a new book in order to occupy your mind. You’d gotten so lost in it that it took your mother knocking at your door to tell you that your little boyfriend was here. All you managed to do was groan in response as you threw your book to the side and grabbed your bag before running downstairs. Your parents had met Eddie a couple of times already, when he’d come to pick you up for school or drop you off, and surprisingly, they didn’t hate him. They liked him, knowing that the fact that he looked and dressed differently had no bearing on the type of person he was. And Eddie was a good guy, despite what a lot of Hawkins seemed to think. 

Once you got downstairs, you found Eddie near the door, standing there nervously with a small bundle of floors in his hand. He looked up as soon as he heard you softly calling his name; his brain practically melted at the sight of you. You were always pretty - the prettiest in his kind - but this was just another level up from that. 

“H-hi,” he stammered, holding up his hand in a meek little wave before remembering he had the flowers. You took a few steps closer to him, leaving just a little bit of distance between your bodies, “you look lovely.”

“Thank you,” the two of you exchanged shy smiles, “you look good too, Eddie.”

“Thanks,” his stomach fluttered with butterflies; no one had ever said that to him before, “these are for you.”

“You didn’t have to…they’re so pretty!” you gently took the flowers from him, but before you could stop yourself you pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. You stopped when you noticed the pink, glittery gloss print you left, but the two of you giggled as you wiped it away, “want to know something else, Eddie?”

“Tell me,” he trailed after you like a lovesick puppy as you walked to the kitchen to grab a vase for your flowers. He watched your every move like a hawk, noticing how you did everything with gentle reverence; it was the same way you always treated him.

“No one has ever given me flowers before either,” you set them on the counter, admiring how pretty they were, knowing they were from Eddie made them that much better, “you keep surprising me without even knowing what you’re doing.”

“I like surprising you,” he admitted softly, and you vowed in your head then and there that you were doing the same thing for him, “I like seeing that smile on your face.”

“Stop,” you gasped lightly before trying to hide your face in your hands, feeling yourself grow warmer and warmer with each passing moment. He shook his head and gently pulled your hands away so he could look at you, “Eddie!”

“I mean it,” he insisted softly, and you knew that he was being honest. You nodded softly and felt him reach for your hand, “c’mon, I have…well another surprise for you.”

“Another?!”

“Well, either we could go see the movie and then get dinner as planned…or we can go on adventure,” he suggested and you practically lit up, “I figured since it’s Friday and if you’re okay with being out a little late, it could be a lot of fun.”

“And let me guess, I would not be privy to any of these things we’re doing until we’re doing them?” your voice was soft and teasing but Eddie nodded eagerly. How very classic of him, “well, just how am I supposed to say no to that?”

“You don’t….”

“I don’t,” you agreed and Eddie cheered happily, already gently pulling you towards the door. He looked like an eager puppy more than anything and his enthusiasm was infectious.

“Get ready for an evening of excitement, m’lady!” he opened the door and brandished his arm, and all you could was to grin at him. He was such a dork but, you were starting to quickly realize, he was your dork, “you are about to embark on adventure!”

“I couldn’t think of anything better,” and your words made his heart melt, “c’mon m’lord, let’s go!”

At the foot of your steps he paused for a moment to look at you. You grew nervous, but as soon as he leaned in to gently kiss you, everything felt right. You kissed him back before he could pull away and you were both grinning like fools.

You’d never been more glad for sitting in the wrong spot before.

[grimeclown]

Ok but actually that sounds awesome. I would love to be 2 apples tall sitting in the back booth of a sleazy but cozy little Cafe nestled in the core of a dead tree stump. I wanna shake the hands of the termites that did the molding work on these walls. There's a mole in the next booth over, moving its nose tendrils over the braille on the bark-paper menu. The air is thick with nutmeg smoke, so I peel open a little window next to my booth and prop it open with a twig. The lass that trots on over to me to take my order is a shy thing, or at least pretends to be. The little titter in the way she speaks isn't unfamiliar. It's either flirting, or she's from the toadstools a few glades over; their accents always give people trouble. I order a single slice of peach dusted with sugar, and she asks me if I might need a little help finishing off a plate that big. I smile and raise a hand, tell her no, I've got plenty of appetite. She giggles and flutters off to the kitchen. I make a note not to trust her with my heart. Advice I'm almost sure not to take.

[theghostkingisdead]

dpxdc - Neglected Child AU

As one of his first acts as Ghost King, Danny basically created ghost CPS. Mostly they help new spirits come to terms with the fact that they're dead, but situations like Danny's are a lot more common than the Observants had lead him to believe. People who come back from the dead or are exposed to large quantities of unstable ectoplasm often lead sad, short second lives. Either because they are unable to obtain the nutrients their new forms require, or because their communities turn against them in fear. This is a story about Jason Todd.

There was a lot Jazz loved about her job. She loved helping young ghosts find acceptance. She loved matching cases with foster Fraids. She loved meeting new people. She loved the rare excuse to travel dimensions. But some days, Jazz was intimately reminded of why this program was formed in the first place.

Knock, knock, knock.

Jazz looked up from her laptop. “Come in!”

Apple – the ghost of a dryad whose tree was chopped down two summers ago – poked her head in.

“Uh, Lady- I mean, Ms. Phan-, no,” Apple took a shuddering breath. Jazz smiled encouragingly. The girl had only been working here for a season, and already she was making excellent progress. “Ms. Jasmine, there’s a city spirit here to see you, uh, on behalf of a uh, potential client.”

“Thank you, Apple, you can send them in.” Jazz said.

Apple flushed green, closing the door with a sigh. Jazz guessed she had about two minutes before the impromptu meeting began. She used the time to sweep some papers off her desk and into a drawer. It had been some time since she’d had a walk-in like this. Jazz had a strict open doors policy when it came to her office, despite the technical fact that her door was often closed; it was just easier to focus that way! She had no idea why most ghosts preferred to submit claims by mail, really it was much better for them to speak with an officer in person.

Thirty years ago, Jazz would’ve had trouble describing the spirit that walked through the doors. Fifty years ago, even looking at it would’ve been painful. But Jasmine Duchess Phantom had been living in the Infinite Realms for almost eighty years now, and liminal senses reached out subconsciously, cataloging scents and colors that her mortal mind would have balked at.

The shape of a steel-colored skeleton peered out at her from a billowing cloud of grey smoke, which curled around its feet and seeped across the floor. Jazz tasted gunmetal and sugar, smelled stale urine and burned bread, felt desperation-fear-hunger-love crash violently against her. Like a cliff to a wave, Jazz stood her ground, letting herself be tested. This spirit was old and afraid; when it spoke, it spoke in a million overlapping voices.

“My apologies for barging in unannounced, Your Grace. I come before you with an issue of great import. One I have reason to believe our King may have a personal interest in.”

Jazz nodded, “My doors are always open, City Spirit. I’m always happy to help. But before I hear your petition, may I know who I am addressing?”

The skeleton did not move that she could see, but Jazz heard windchimes like chittering laughter.

“I am Gotham, Your Grace. My apologies for my rudeness. I have little reason to travel these days and am unaccustomed to necessary introductions.”

Jazz nodded, committing the name and its taste to memory. “No need to apologize, Gotham. Your situation is not unique amongst your kind. Have a seat,” Jazz gestured at the plush couch across from her desk. “What troubles you so, to bring you so far from home?”

There was more windchime tittering, and Jazz wondered if the spirit was laughing or just readjusting itself on a plane she could not see. A nervous tick, perhaps? Maybe she could send Apple for something to make Gotham feel more at ease. Bullet casings or chocolate chip cookies would be equally soothing to this entity, Jazz guessed.

Gotham folded into itself, form blurring slightly before reforming on the couch, leaned forward with elbows on knees. “Many years ago, a mortal man pledged himself to my service. I accepted him as a City Guard, my mortal Champion. This man has many children who have likewise pledged themselves to my protection.”

Jazz smothered the urge to interrupt. She loathed the idea of child Guards; the fact that this City Spirit was here now asking for help meant that this instance had gone just as well as it usually did.

Unaware of her internal judgement, Gotham continued. “The second child died and revived some seven years ago, I…” This time, the rattling sound emanating from Gotham shook the room with the force of a thunderclap. “You have to understand, I don’t claim kids as champions, so technically he was never even under my protection. And when he came back, he ran! I don’t have power outside the city, you know, so even if, well, it’s not like there was anything I could have done differently,”

Jazz was aware that she was frowning. She could only guess what her aura felt like to Gotham, whose smoky aura was rapidly thickening. A bird puffing itself up to look bigger. A cheap trick. If Jazz were in a more compassionate mood, she might have felt embarrassed at such a juvenile display from a spirit decades older than herself.

“You neglected a child, or-” she cut off Gotham before it could protest, “allowed a child to be neglected. For seven years. What changed? Why petition him now and not then?”

Gotham chittered, “Well, you see, he came back to me just over a year ago, retook his pledge and everything. And, well, things were rough, I thought the fraid was just readjusting itself, but, er-”

“Tell me.”

“Well, the problem is I don’t exactly know what the boy is anymore, but he’s more ghostly than not, and his fraid’s fully human. If this infighting between my Guards goes on for any longer, it’ll tear me apart. I figured The King might want to step in, considering this boy might be a halfa, maybe he could help him and the fraid get back to normal.”

Jazz grinned. “Rest assured, Gotham, The Crown will indeed be taking special interest in your case.” Words dripped from her lips, caustic even to her own ears. “Now, why don’t you go outside and give Apple the rest of the details. I have some visits to make.”

[sweetvirgin]

NEED TO KNOW — onyankopon.

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ baby, i need to know. ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 — reader is put between a rock & a hard place when onyankopon confesses something that threatens her emotional security. dormant (but never dead) feelings are revived. — wc. 2.6k~

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ touch of angst; friends to lovers. black fem reader. “reader” is replaced with the name “adularia.” characters are 21+. i proof read this about 15 times but i feel like there’s prolly gon errors anyway lmao. there’s cussing & the consumption of substances. enjoy !! (◡‿◡✿)

"getting sleepy, ony?"

a closed-eyed ony was sat between adularia’s legs with his head rested on her thigh as she finished the last of his cornrows. his eyelashes ticked the skin of her exposed leg, and his warm breath fanned on her skin. he had been quiet for most of the intimate act of her doing his hair, instead opting silently rub her skin while she worked and appreciate the faint, sweet smell lingering on her. but he had since then stopped and his breathing had slowed into a steady, uniform pace.

ony deeply inhaled at mention of his name, humming thoughtfully before responding in a clearly-tired voice. "naw, i'm high as fuck." adularia tittered at this while making work of weaving the three pieces under and through each other.

"that shit good, ainit?" she teased cheekily, proud of doing a good job with finding connie (their shared plug). she finished the braid she worked on and quickly grabbed the blue magic grease jar. "we almost done. just two more braids, the beads, and then we can finish this blunt." he hummed in response and resumed rubbing her calf.

his almond eyes hadn't opened during that exchange once, but if they did, she knew they were bloodshot from that zaza. plus, he was a little sleepy - even if he denied it. how could he not be? he had his head laid on a warm thigh while the gentlest hands were tangled in his hair.

she dipped her manicured finger into the blue magic grease then smoothed the gel over the part. he shuddered at the sensation. it was so chilly on his exposed scalp.

“oo, sorry ony,” adularia apologized hushedly. then she quickly began the braid. she knew he ain’t wanna sit like this for much longer, so she made work of his four-b hair. she went on twisting his ends over and through each other until she was finally finished with the braid. letting go of the freshly-completed plait, she reached over for the blue magic grease and once again, dipped her finger in the tub. adularia delivered the cool grease to his hair. not too much, though. just a little bit to help it lay. this was the last braid. adularia swiftly completed that one while he nodded off in her embrace. she gently readjusted his head.

"just the beads now, ony," she informed him, to which she got an appreciative sigh. she giggled at his dramatics and reached over for the plastic beads (colored black, white, and clear) as well as the applicator.

she could feel ony’s full lips stretch into a smile against her thigh. "i'm finna smoke the fuck outta that blunttt," he sang excitedly as much as his sleepy voice would allow him, and this brought her giggle to a guffaw.

"that's why i be telling yo ass to bring a overnight bag. ion know why you don't. 'cuz you know you be 'bout ready to pass out after you get your hair braided," she bossily lectured him, amusement still evident in her voice. he didn't mind it - after being friends for a decade, he got used to her know-it-allism. he actually quite liked it.

still he dismissed her while she pushed up against the applicator to put the beads at the end of the plait. his voice rumbled against her as he sank back into exhaustion. "i'ma be aight."

she only replied with a “mmmhm.” but the rest of the bead application was silent, save for the music and her eventual humming. even ony felt himself moved by her stereo. he wasn't much of a dancer, but his finger contagiously followed the rhythm with gentle taps. this only motivated her to finish these braids - she really wanted that blunt in her lips and to vibe with some badu.

soon enough, he had a head of cornrows complete with beads. she applied mousse to his braids then went to wash the grit from her hands, meticulously scrubbing her acrylics free of the left over residue. once her hands were washed, adularia thoroughly dried them and then came back to ony - red velvet durag in her hand.

ony was a little more alert, still seated exactly where she left him. his thick lips gently held a blunt while he flicked a lighter at the end. expertly, he absorbed the smoke into his lungs as easily as breathing regular ol' air.

she plopped back onto the sofa. "turn around so i can see yo parts."

ony replied with a curt nod and turned around per her orders. her hand reached out for his face but without touching it, as if asking for nonverbal permission to hold his chin. he didn't know why she always did this - she know he don't care. but he found it sweet she always confirmed it beforehand. as expected, he pulled the blunt from his mouth and muttered a "gone head", smoke spilling from his lips as he did so.

she gently held his soft face in her hand and tilted his face in different directions: taking in the parts, the neatness, and so on. during the process, ony intently held her in his gaze and drank her in. eyes still unmistakably sleepy, but still, he absorbed her. her obsidian irises flickered down to meet his, and woah. he looked so… yum. his line-up was slightly overgrown — but it was still neat. with two low-lidded, exhausted eyes, he observed all of the details of adularia’s face. a beauty mark here, a freckle there, a tiny scar here. he licked his lips.

suddenly aware of the proximity, adularia became timid and averted her gaze. she could smell the blue magic grease in his hair, the woodiness in his cologne… the two were very close. overwhelmed by her shyness, she decided the braids looked damn good. that's all she need to know.

"lemme put this durag on you," she sheepishly offered, just to break the silence.

ony wordlessly obliged and allowed her to lower the durag over his head. but his eyes remained on her. still observing her as if he were having a revelation. however, this time, adularia didn't look down at his face to confirm if he was looking at her. she just tied the durag then comfortingly set a hand on his shoulder.

"okay ony. we all done,” she announced — hands tired as ever, happy with finally being finished. “you look… real good,” she added shyly.

he had the lightest smirk on his lips. “do i? thank you,” his eyes sparkled, despite how sleepy he was.

“mhm,” she affirmed. “hair growing in nice.” then she scanned her nearby surroundings. "now where that blunt at..."

ony volunteered the lighter with an outstretched hand. he passed it. that motherfucker was a little more than a roach, but she didn't complain. ony was the one who bought the weed anyways. and she could barely roll — not at all with her acrylics — so she didn't mind. plus she ain't need as much to get sufficiently high.

she wrapped her glossy lips around it and pat the plastic-covered sofa in search of a lighter, to which ony offered his. she accepted it with a relieved "right on" and sparkled the blunt. inhale. exhale. the passed it back to him.

"naw, i'm straight. you can have the rest."

her eyebrows raised and she returned the blunt to her mouth. another inhale. another exhale.

in no time, she was highhh. the two had moved to her bedroom and settled into her wine red sheets. ony rolled another blunt because his high was letting up, but she definitely would have a very minimal part in smoking it. she had her fill, and she was starting to get sleepy. nonetheless, when ony outreached a tattooed arm to her, she plucked the blunt from his fingers and took one last hit.

while doing so, adularia noticed ony eying her with that same peculiar expression he had the entire time he been over her apartment. something like a mix between a realization, and acceptance. she immediately furrowed her eyebrows and lowered the blunt from her mouth, fighting a cough before asking him, "why you keep looking at me like that?" she cleared her throat, the smoke tickling her deep in her neck.

ony, expression unreadable, replied with a simple, "like what?"

"like that," she explained... albeit vaguely. she had a braveness to confront what she normally wouldn't - and this was thanks to the drug in her system releasing her inhibitions. she then sat the blunt in her pink ashtray and put the light out.

ony picked the blunt up with a shrug, still quiet and seemingly in thought. somewhat annoyed, she huffed and fell backwards onto the sheets, closing her tired eyes.

a few beats of silence passed between the two friends. ambient noise seeped through the walls of her apartment: a distant police siren, some dogs barking, and random people chattering about shit adularia’s ears couldn't discern. inside her bedroom she played music from her cd stereo. she could hear him striking the lighter a few times (as it was almost out of fluid), with sound of him inhaling and exhaling following. the air smelled like weed (of course), baby powder, and rosy incense. she rocked her head to the current song playing: chaka khan's powerful voice flowed through her home (at a reasonable volume of course, she wasn't tryna get evicted) and eventually, she forgot what she even asked ony.

then he spoke. “fuck it...” he muttered to himself, drawing her from her thoughts. some moments passed as he inspected his lighter, twirling it between her fingers. adularia listened intently, both of concern but also nosiness.

he sighed, and more audible, he settled on saying “i guess lately i just been thinking bout how i feel bout you."

she felt her heart spike a little bit. “and how is that?” she braced herself for the worst — that he didn’t want to be friends. that he hated her. that he felt he outgrew her. so cautiously, she waited for him to get done taking a hit.

he hummed then inhaled. “i know we friends but…” exhale, “i been feeling for you.”

her eyes fluttered open. oh my. what a thing to say. and nothing like she expected, so she braced just to still be taken aback.

it pulled the air from her lungs. she was breathless. the world became so quiet. and so small. and so still. anything beyond her bedroom was filtered out. even the music within dulled in comparison to his sudden statement. the room no longer smelled of roses and powder. instead, it smelled like him. still on her back, she twisted her head to catch his expression, but it was again unreadable. where was this coming from?

"huh?" she questioned.

he spoke with such a conviction, she knew he wasn't trying to yank her chain. "i’m starting to feel for you,” he candidly repeated, bringing the blunt back up to his lips.

she blinked, a little dumbfounded and slightly sobered by his statement. ony didn't react much, just continued puffing on the blunt. but she couldn't just brush past that.

"you... feel for me…? like… romantically?" she cautioned.

without bringing his eyes to hers, he simply replied with a “yup,” popping the P in the process.

her face grew warm. anyone who said black girls couldn't blush lied. she felt hot, and the walls of her bedroom seemed to close in on her. this information sobered her for sure, but she still wasn’t sober. she was still very much high. on weed, and that dizzy feeling she got from ony saying he wanted her.

"how long you felt this way?" adularia softly questioned. she took some of the blanket in between her fingers and fiddled with it.

he hummed. "some months now." he drew another breath from the blunt. “i didn’t want shit to be weird, so i ain’t say nothing.” the smoke poured from his lips with every word. “but every day i feel for you more and more. it’s getting hard to ignore.”

“it’s not weird,” she affirmed. she really wasn’t unnerved by his confession. if she were, she would be a hypocrite. “it’s just… something to take in. i was bracing myself for you saying you hate me, actually.” then she snorted a little.

now, she wouldn’t say she never looked at him that way. but those were fleeting considerations she would quickly dismiss as soon as they came. “he was a friend — girls and guys can be friends without there being anything romantic or sexual between them,” is what she would tell herself before ignoring what she thought to be a delusion. but it seems that, while it’s true guys and girls can befriend each other without desiring each other any other capacity… she desired him. and his confession brought those long-buried feelings back from dormancy. this was a point of no return, and she knew it.

softly, ony whispered, “i could never hate you.” he sounded pained at the suggestion, his face contorted in a wince. he loved her for years, even before he had romantic feelings. he’s always loved her. he flicked the blunt free of ash. “i wouldn’a let you braid my hair if i did.”

“yeah…kinda silly, now that i think about it.” she laughed a little. then she sighed.

“i’m glad you told me,” adularia started, feeling so shy. “i can’t say i never feel the same…” she admitted. ony felt his heart squeeze at the thought of her wanting him back. but there was no trace of it in his face. she continued. “i’m just a little scared.”

“why?”

she sat up, and ony’s eyes immediately snapped to her moving form. then she clutched her pajama pants nervously. “i’m happy to know but… it’s gon change our friendship. no doubt about it.”

he hummed and ashed the blunt. felt rude to be so intimate but high. “yes. it will. but i don’t regret saying it.”

she agreed quietly.

and that was that. the rest of the night was still as they both were absorbed in their thoughts, undoubtedly about each other and their friendship. it didn't feel awkward or wrong. but the vibe had definitely shifted between them.

shortly after, ony decided it was time to head on home. and so, their shared routine ensued: he rose to his feet. he stretched his limbs. he thanked adularia for braiding his hair and left the rest of the blunt with her. he offered to give her money for the service, she declined. she do it out of love for him. but he made her take the smooth $100 bill anyways. she obliged and thanked him. she walked him to the front, and he enjoyed being enveloped by her silage. they exchanged some last few words at the door as he pulled his shoes on. then he brought her in for a hug, letting her know he would call her. two soft goodbyes would be exchanged (as it was late, and she lived on the second floor). then her door would be gently pulled open and he would sidle out of the apartment. the same as always.

but she could feel the impending change on the horizon. whether it flourished into something life-long or ended in flames, she lacked the foresight. she just knew it would fundamentally change their relationship forever. it’ll never feel the same to braid his hair, for his head to lay on her thigh. to spend the night. to go out together. to hold his face in her hands. to compliment him. to tell him she loved him. when adularia closed the door behind his disappearing form, she knew that she forever lost the friend she had. and that was terrifying.

© 2024 sweetvirgin. all rights reserved. no copy + paste, no translate, no ai inputs plsss & thank u. ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧

[kakashixhatakesxwhore]

A Chilly Trip to The Sugar Dealer

Pairing: Hatake Kakashi x f!Reader

Summary: In the middle of the (mild) Konoha Winter, Lord Sixth and his wife go out for a jaunt to the confectionary. Kakashi feels challenged in the small store, and gets you home quick to make a point. Smut! Lemon! Explicit!

W/c: 5.8k

Warnings: Swearing, jealousy, unwanted flirting, teasing, begging, demanding, possessive!Kakashi, oral (f receiving), p in v, cumming inside (lowk, the slightest talk of wombs)

Notes: ive got a sweet-tooth and I feel like kakashi would support me about that idk please enjoy this and lmk how you feel - btw Satō-Shō literally just means Sugar Dealer

Masterlist💿

The sun shone brightly on the two of you, for where else would it shine? Gentle breezes carried the two of you closer, for a chill is always a nice excuse to pull your loved one close. Konoha had never seen such a brisk day, for it was the dead of Winter.

Even on the coolest day of the year, the sun still loved you. It warmed your back, though the large hand of your husband was infinitely warmer. His fingers splayed on the small on your back, reminding you the he would always love you more than the sun ever could.

With an absent smile, you tilted your head up to him. You admired Kakashi, enraptured by the way the sunlight glinted in his hair.

"You're making me nervous," he admited casually without looking at you.

You just chuckled, "The most handsome man in the village should be used to lingering stares."

"No, darling, it's not that," he hummed deeply, curling his fingers around your hip. Kakashi pulled you closer, leaning low to your ear as he whispered, "Nervous to call off our little excursion and hurry back home."

"It's a gorgeous day, today," you beamed, twirling away from his hand, making the skirt of your dress puff out in your spin. Purple fabric swished around your thighs as your husband put him arm back around you, now draped over your shoulders. Bringing his dangling hand to your lips, you pressed a kiss to the side of his pointer finger and teased, "Won't you let me enjoy it, before I enjoy you? Or must I beg for that privilege, too?"

Knees bending slightly, Kakashi's arm weighed down on your shoulders. You smiled, squeezing his hand still in your grasp. With his smooth tone, steeped in licentiousness, your husband groaned, "Let's go home, it's not even that nice out."

"We'll have to agree to disagree, dearest," you tittered, ignoring Kakashi's huffs. Spotting your favourite confectionary around a street corner, your feet steered the two of you right. "If you get me a couple taffies, we can go home."

"I'll get you a kilo later."

"No," you sang, squeezing his hand again. "I want something to suck on now."

As your husband delivered a craven look, you just smiled at him, popping up on your toes to rub your nose against his masked one. With a rumbling chuckle, Kakashi pulled you into his body, causing the two of you to walk in a very strange, haphazard fashion.

"Do you hear yourself, pretty lady?" He asked lowly.

For a second longer, you looked at your husband. His gorgeous Onyx eyes were filled with adoration, and you could see a deep smile stretched across his face through his mask. Tracing your features, Kakashi stared at you lovingly, as if he were almost certain you were but a dream that he never wanted to part with.

"Do you see yourself, Lord Hokage?" You replied.

Biting your lip salaciously, you stared up at your husband through your long eyelashes. His head turned away from you, glancing around the area. The weather was only inviting you to bask in it, as it seemed most everyone else was rightfully in the comfort of their home. A few stragglers milled about, going between markets for essentials, but the streets were relatively empty.

You restored yourself to a proper walking position despite your husband's subtle protests. Only a few more paces and you were at the step of the confectionary, going up to the door as Kakashi stuttered in his movement.

"Give me five minutes, yeah?" He asked nonchalantly, taking his arm away from your shoulders and letting his long fingers trace down your arm, lingering in a hook around your fingers.

Looking at him, you couldn't help but smile back as Kakashi's eyes danced with thought. You grinned, leaning up to kiss his masked cheek, "Four minutes, fifty-nine seconds." You came back to your feet. "Fifty-eight seconds....fifty-seven."

"Fine, shave off a whole minute, if you want to really challenge me," Kakashi snickered before turning to walk in the direction that caught his eye. His pace was frighteningly quick, bordering a run, and you sighed contently as you watched him lock onto his target, a florist's shop.

Suddenly feeling strange for lingering outside of the confectionary for so long, you bit back a smile and opened up the glass door. The old shopkeeper smiled at you sweetly, having seen you standing outside for a minute or so.

"Back again so soon?" He asked kindly.

You nodded, coming further into the store. The fragrance of sugar enveloped you, making your stomach ache for something a sickly red. "Nothing can keep me away from the Satō-Shō."

"Well, have no fear, the Sugar Dealer is here!" He exclaimed with a hearty laugh, coming closer to the counter.

The old man pulled out a wooden crate from behind, setting it right in your eyeline. You approached happily, and the shopkeeper began pulling out a massive bag of caramel drops, making your eyes widen and your mouth salivate. He held it to his nose, and through the plastic, he inhaled.

"Made fresh this morning, they're still soft," he told you with a sigh, waving the bag of sweets around between the two of you. The warm caramel wafted to your nose so tauntingly.

"Have you got any taffy?" You asked hopefully, smelling a fruity tone in the air.

"Have I got taffy? Have I got taffy, in spades!" He laughed, setting the caramels on the counter as he dove back into the crate. Rooting around, he asked, "Is it the saltwater taffy you're after, or the chocolate taffy?"

"Saltwater if you made cherry or that nice, wild watermelon again - otherwise, probably chocolate," you replied cheerily, hearing the crinkles of the bags and soft clacks of not-yet-set hard candies getting thrown around.

Your excitement and anticipation clouded your senses, overwhelmed by the bright colours and mouth-watering smells in the store. Caught in the shopkeeper's presentation, you hadn't even noticed the other person in the shop. Only when the person moseied up the aisle, basket in hand, did you finally notice him. But, from his eye, he had noticed you the second you entered the store.

"You really know your taffy," he chuckled, sidling up to you.

Allowing your smile falter, you looked back at the shopkeeper as he came from the crate with a large, red package in his hand. Gently, you hummed, "No, the Satō-Shō knows taffy. I just buy it from him."

"Touché," the other customer replied. "From the looks of you, you don't eat a lot of taffy, or candy for that matter."

Narrowing your eyes, you turned over what he said in your mind. You felt a bit gross, like you had been looked at in a certain way by someone who shouldn't have been looking in the first place. Besides, you looked like you ate candy, you were sure you did. You didn't know what a candy-eater looked like, per say, but you were sure it would be a picture of yourself in that dictionary.

"Anyway," the shopkeeper interrupted pointedly. Your eyes snapped up to his kind, old face and the ghost of a smile returned to your lips. The old man's eyes twinkled and the corner of his lip curled as he said, "I've got something special for you, my best customer."

"Is it another gobstopper?" You gasped, "No, another one of those massive lollipops? Or is it something new, something experimental? Might I die, just at the sight of it?"

Recieving your waves of excitement, the shopkeeper chortled, "I won't be selling it, because of the special ingredient, but it is a new idea. And maybe you will just die when you try them."

"The mystery is eating me alive," you said very seriously. The shopkeeper smacked the counter lightly before coming around it.

"Alright, give me a minute, it's in the back still."

Stars, you hoped it was something wacky. That lollipop was bigger than your head, and it took you over a week to finish - but the Sugar Dealer could always have a crazier idea. He won't be selling it, which confused you some, but made you feel wildly special. It had you wondering what special ingredient would make a candy unmarkettable. Perhaps it-

"How about, this trip, you let me pay," the man offered, ripping you away from your thoughts. You looked at the dark haired man beside you, who smiled as nicely as he could, rubbing the back of his neck. "It seems you come here a lot. A pretty woman like yourself shouldn't be spending all of her money on sweets."

"I'm sorry."

"I was asking-"

"No, I heard you, I heard you," you mumbled, looking behind him to check for the shopkeeper. "I'm sorry," you repeated more firmly, looking into the man's hazel eyes. "My husband has no taste for conversations like these - I suggest you quit while you're ahead ."

Your warning wasn't enough, as the man shamelessly flirted, "How can I, when put in front of a woman so beautiful?"

"Isn't she just the prettiest lady in all the Land?"

Oh, thank you, Stars.

Turning the other way, there Kakashi was standing, a single rose in hand. You smiled up at him gratefully as he put the rose into your fingers and his arm around your waist, pulling you as close to him as you knew you needed to be. The rose in your hand was perfect, without the one blemish or tear anywhere in the petals.

"One flower? Couldn't have sprung for a bouquet?" The dark haired man quipped dryly.

Before Kakashi could say something harsh, you just hummed, holding the flower to your nose and putting your free hand over the hand of your husband as it clutched your waist posessively, "It's rare that a man can appreciate the value of one perfect rose."

"Here we go!" The shopkeeper exclaimed, hurrying out of the back. When he returned to the counter, his eyes immediately landed on Kakashi, morphing his cheery expression to shock as he bowed. Hurriedly, he said, "Lord Sixth! I didn't know I would be graced with your presence in my meager, little shop."

"My wife loves this place dearly, I would never call it meager," Kakashi replied politely. He took a deep breath, eyes darting to the man who stood on your other side, mortified.

Flirting with the Hokage's wife was a massive issue, it was just lucky that Kakashi's mind wasn't terribly dark that day.

Waving off the praise of his store from the Hokage, the shopkeeper set a bag of light brown taffies on the counter. Drawing forward, you ooh'd, which diffused a grand amount of tension in the store. The Sugar Dealer's special something turned out to bless you before you even had the one.

"Why don't you want to sell these?" You asked, looking at the bag from a couple different angles.

The shopkeeper chuckled, "It's Amaretto taffy. I can't let a child experience the bliss of Amaretto so early on."

Eyes the size of dinner plates, you pulled out your wallet immediately. You riffled through the bills, collecting a thousand yen at least.

"Keep your m- Lord Hokage, please, I don't-"

"Don't set that precedent," Kakashi remarked deeply as he set two thousand yen on the counter. You threw a few hundred extra down, knowing you owed that shopkeeper so much more from all of his free samples and special somethings.

"I cannot accept your money," he insisted, going to pick up the bills to hand them back.

Plucking the bags of cherry taffy and Amaretto taffy into his free hand, Kakashi just laughed, beginning to steer the two of you away, "Seriously, Satō-Shō, she'll come back here and clean you out."

Nodding in agreement, you waved goodbye to the shopkeeper while pressing the soft rose petals to your cheek. You didn't spare the dark haired man a glance as you turned forward, leaning into your husband's large body. Warmth radiated from him, even more noticably when the two of you stepped back outside.

"What am I going to do with you?" Kakashi asked in a sigh, mainly directed toward himself as his hand drifted from your waist, up your spine.

Brow furrowed, you joked, "You can start by giving me one of the Amarettos."

"Would you have let him buy these for you?"

It was a stupid question, you both knew it, but Kakashi always worried. Worried about everything, but nothing made him as anxious as a potential threat to the sanctity of your relationship.

"You would turn down free candy?"

His expression darkened as he hooked his arm over your shoulders. You bit the inside of your cheek, looking up at his gorgeous face with the halo of cloud. Slowly, he said, "You should be."

"Oh, my dearest, so green with envy," you hummed, holding the hand that rested over your shoulders again. You kissed the back of his hand, promising, "I only jest. I knew you would come to my rescue. My pretty boy always swoops in the save the day."

"Fuckin' right I do," he huffed, pulling you into an alley.

In an instant, his mask was down and his lips were on yours, moving assertively. Like a wire becoming live in your stomach, you could feel electric shocks throughout your body, going all the way down to your fingertips.

Stealing a kiss in a darkened alleyway was so juvenile. It reminded you of all the times the two of you had been in this situation before, especially before you were wed. Not often was the reason for these desirous kisses another man, but the subject had been raised before.

"You're mine, all mine," he snapped, the vibrations of his baritone voice sending ripples against your lips. You let a whimper pass through you as you gaze at your husband's bare face. You leaned forward to kiss your husband again, but he pulled away gently, pressing you against the brickwall of the alley. Looking at you with cloudy eyes, Kakashi purred, "Tell me. Tell me you're mine."

"I'm yours, Kakashi, I'm entirely yours- until the end of time," you replied breathily. Eyes scanning your face, Kakashi apparently decided your words sincere as he came forward again to press his soft lips to yours.

He tasted so divine, you couldn't help but moan softly. His tongue slipped past your lips slyly, making a pool form in your stomach. As Kakashi's tongue swirled around yours, the two of you were locked in a dance. A duet, that you and your husband had perfected over the years. You whispered a complaint when Kakashi takes a breath, but it falls on deaf ears.

"Not here," he growls while pulling the fabric back over his face, snatching your hand up quickly. Through the mask, Kakashi places a chaste kiss to your forehead before swiftly pulling you out of the alley. Hushed and hurried as he barreled the two of you down the street at a blistering pace, Kakashi promised, "I'm going to have you screaming those words all night long, my pretty lady."

Supressing the squeal that bubbled up from the pit of heat in your stomach, you happily scurried along as Kakashi led the way to the Red House under Hokage Rock. It was a darling place to live, and you enjoyed decorating it, but even just the residence wing was huge - you almost preferred the apartment you and Kakashi had before he became the Hokage. But, anywhere was the perfect place to live, so long as you were living with Kakashi.

In half the time it took the two of you to get to the confectionary, you were home. Not wasting a second, Kakashi threw the bags of taffy onto the console table in the foyer, immediately putting both of his hands on your hips to pull you in. You hadn't even caught when he pulled down his mask again. But, with his speed, Kakashi caught the single rose between your two bodies and you yelped, holding the flower high.

"You took all four of your minutes to pick out the perfect rose, be gentle with her," you chided, inspecting the slight dents on either side of the rose's bulb.

"I'll be gentle with her," your husband replied, plucking the flower from your fingers.

Gingerly, Kakashi placed it on the console table, just on top of the taffy bags. He turned back to you, eyes darkened a shade further, and he replaced his hand to your hip. Kakashi snapped your body to his with a chuckle, making you gasp. His gorgeous, pillowy lips were all you could focus on, taken by the flushes of self-inflicted bite marks that dotted the center of his mouth.

Muting any remark from you, Kakashi began kissing you again. This time, in the comfort of privacy, his lips were enflamed with passion and desperation - the two ingredients mixed so deliciously to deliver you a kiss that made your knees weak. Kakashi wrapped his thick forearm around your lower back, allowing you to lean on him. As you did so, his other hand travelled lower, squeezing the plump flesh of your ass before nudging you to jump. You do, and Kakashi caught you firmly, one hand squeezing beneath your thigh while the other remained to support your back. The jump gives you the friction both of you crave, but doesn't satiate further.

Pressing you against the growing tent of his pants, Kakashi whispered, "There's my good girl."

"Am I not always your good girl?" You whined against his lips, letting your left hand rest on the back of Kakashi's neck while the other pressed on the ample muscle of his chest.

Peppering your jaw with kisses and nips, Kakashi shook his head and began to walk you down the hallway to your bedroom. The ache within you grew, upset at his lack of validation. You had tried your best to ignore and warn the man from the confectionary, and yet he was the reason Kakashi wasn't giving you what you wanted.

"Kakashi, please, kiss me," you begged as he pushed the door to your bedroom open with your back. Your husband continued pressing warm, sloppy kisses to the angle of your jaw, laying you down amongst the linen bedsheets. Feeling so criminally empty, you pleaded, "Please, kiss me- my lips... let me show you I'm your good girl."

"You'll only get my lips on yours after you've proved yourself," Kakashi hummed, adding a modest suckle right on the sweet spot under your ear.

You could've melted beneath your husband, but the nagging knot of nerves in your abdomen kept you intact, barely. Clenching around nothing as Kakashi slid his leg between your thighs, you let a shaky breath fall from your lips. Kakashi's head perked up from your neck, looking at your face amusedly.

"What are you supposed to do when another man starts flirting with you?"

You shrug, feeling like you did as much as you could have without being rude. You threw your head back into the sea of white linen and replied, "I dunno. Wait for you, like I always do?"

"You do know, pretty lady." You freeze as Kakashi's right hand floated to your thinly clothed cunt. Drifting his finger over the fabric that covered your slit, you sucked in a moan and Kakashi hummed, "You know, and once you give me the right answer, I'll give you what you want." A stifled scream passes through your pursed lips as his lithe fingers graze your sensitive clit. He repeated, "What are you supposed to do when another man flirts with you?"

"Talk about you," you answered, bucking your hips against your husband's hand and thigh.

"And...?"

With a small amount of pressure, Kakashi's middle finger began laying small circles onto your clit. You gasped, "Tell him... tell him h-how frightening you are... when you're mad."

"No," Kakashi snipped, taking his hand and leg away, making your thighs snap shut. He corrects you, voice filled with a dire intonation, "You tell him I'll kill him."

"Kakashi-"

"If another man ever comes so close to you, tell him his body will be found in five different places."

Despite how sharp his words were, you could feel wetness pooling in your panties. Kakashi's eyes were so serious, and there wasn't a hint of humour in his tone. Just fanning the flames of your arousal, Kakashi still did nothing to quench the heat that devoured every nerve in your body.

"I will," you swore, trying to look as sterling as possible.

Kakashi hummed, slowly letting his left hand slide down the inside of your thigh. You went to squeeze your knees together, but Kakashi immediately separated them with either hand. With a shake of his head, Kakashi slotted himself between your legs again, his massive length straining against the black fabric of his trousers as he rubbed against the sopping cloth of your underwear.

"Fuck, you're so wet for me," he sighed, hanging his head. Then Kakashi looked up at you, the corner of his mouth twitching so hungrily. "I do believe, me having saved you falls under the you-owing-me-one category." You nodded quickly, swallowing the excess spit in your mouth. Kakashi smirked so cruelly, "Look at you, my pretty lady - so eager to please."

"Eager to please you," you affirmed, making Kakashi groan your name as he leaned down to finally give you a proper kiss.

Rutting your hips up, you ground against the twitching bulge in your husband's pants, getting ready to pull turn yourself around. You weren't in a terribly good position to suck Kakashi's cock - he greatly preferred it when you hung your head over the edge of the bed, opening up your throat so perfectly for him to slide down. You could never fit more than half of his length before he was hitting the back of your throat, but if your head was over the edge of the-

It didn't matter. Kakashi moved before you could, slowly moving away from your mouth and down to your jaw. Holding you down slightly, he interspersed your soft neck with gentle sucks and bites, sure to show up as a million love bites the next day.

You had plenty of turtlenecked shirts for the such occasions, but you still found yourself pulling down the neck at various parts of the days you wore them, bragging to each and every one of your friends. They always demanded such lewd details, and you were much obliged to offer up every juicy facet, if only in a private setting. All of them were jealous, so fucking jealous of you, and this was why.

Trailing down to the valley of your chest, Kakashi groaned deeply as his left hand massaged the flesh of your right tit through the fabric of your bra, kneading and squeezing so strongly it elicited a shaky thrum from you. While his hand went up to your shoulder, Kakashi pressed a myriad wet, lingering kisses to the exposed skin of your bust. He pushed the short sleeves of your dress and the strap of your bra off of your shoulder, doing the same to the other side, before Kakashi began tugging the purple dress off of your body entirely. Hastily, he pulled his two top layers off as one, throwing them to the ground with your dress.

"Now who's eager?" You teased as he thumbed the waistband of his trousers.

Feeling a breeze with how quick he is, Kakashi's fingers were nearly sinking into you through your panties. You inhaled sharply as he replied adamantly, "Me. I'm eager."

He would always admit it, quite happily too; Kakashi loved your cunt, in any way he could have you.

Battling his urges, Kakashi was much slower to pull your cotton underwear off than he was with your dress, seeming to greatly enjoy watching strands of your slick pull away with the fabric. He groaned lowly, flicking the soaked cotton to some corner of the room. Cold air flushed against your flaming core, making you clench at the contrast. Slowly, Kakashi lowered to his knees, face to face with your already moistened pussy, and he smiled as you threw your legs around his shoulders.

"Tell me what you want," he commanded lowly, hot breath fanning over your folds.

You swallowed thickly and answered, "I want you, Kakashi, how-ever you wish to have me."

"Fuck, I love you," Kakashi groaned, leaning forward to lick a stripe up your slit. You can see your white and translucent slick on his tongue as he hummed, "You taste so good for me, darling. All that candy, it makes you sweet."

"I love you," you whimpered breathlessly as Kakashi's tongue licked another stripe, entering your folds to get as much of your wetness as he could on his tongue. He swallowed it up, humming to himself lowly before capturing your clit between his lips in a soft suckle. Instantly, you're throwing his headband away and letting your fingers find purchase in your husband's silver tresses. "Stars almighty, Kakashi."

"Mm. That's right, say my name."

Without question, you give in, your husband's name becoming like a prayer as he lapped at your pussy. His tongue swirled around your clit as his long fingers danced around your inner-thigh. The tickle made you shiver, which only seemed to make Kakashi hungrier. Bringing his fingers to your folds, your husband began teasing your entrance with his calloused pads.

Looking down at him, you let out a heavy moan that was felt even in your cunt. Kakashi's eyes were half-lidded as he locked them with yours, and you could recognize how ablaze with desire they were.

"I'm all yours, K-kashi, please," you bit out, starting to feel a whirl in your mind. The fog began to lift, and you could see the light of an orgasm at the end of the tunnel. You ran toward it, calling out Kakashi's name until-

Cold air hits your folds, making you shutter your eyes open. You didn't remember closing them. Looking down to your husband, still with your legs over his shoulders, you babbled a plea, only to be met with another cold blow from Kakashi's very own lips. You whined loudly, throwing your head back into the sheets.

"Where's my good girl gone?" Kakashi wondered aloud in a light tone. He slid down his trousers, lazily pumping his impressive length. Even after so many years, so many encounters, Kakashi's cock always made your lip quiver. As you stared, entranced, he came up your body, slowly pressing your legs up to your chest, and made eye contact with you.

The way Kakashi looked down at you... it almost brought you to tears. Tears of elation, of disbelief, even after all this time. His expression was of playful adoration, of the man you had fallen in love with most ardently so many years ago. But his eyes - they screamed of a dark desire, thousands of thoughts flitting behind his charcoal irises. The uncomfortable nagging of your denied release faded as your heart swelled five sized too big.

Sliding the leaking tip of his cock through your folds, Kakashi lowly chuckled as you squirmed, "I asked you a question, pretty lady."

"You'll just have to ask me again - your eyes are far too distracting," you purred, trying to sound as sultry as you could.

"Flattery will get you everywhere, darling."

Despite his candied tone, Kakashi slapped the tip of his cock against your clit. The jolt made you stutter away, but Kakashi pulled you back with both hands clamped on your hips, before leaning down to hook around your back and remove your bra.

As he threw the plunged bra aside, he murmured, "Be good. Don't you want my cock? Or... would you prefer-"

"I'll be good! I'm good!" You wailed, dragging your slicked folds over your husband's girth. "I want your cock so fucking bad, Kakashi, please, please- I want you, please-"

"Not very good of you, interrupting me," Kakashi mumbled under his breath, his hand wrapping around the base of his cock to line himself up with your velvety entrance. He sighed as the tip of his dick spilled into your warmth, "Oh, but who am I to deny my pretty lady?"

Inch by inch, Kakashi squeezed into you, filling you beyond your wildest imagination. You whimpered, calling out his name as your nails dug into his muscular thighs. No corner of your mind could capture how stuffed-full Kakashi made you feel, it was something you were blown away by every night.

"Fuck- yeah, just a bit more- fuck, you're taking me so well, pretty, pretty, pretty lady," Kakashi groaned lowly as he sank into your warmth, your wetness squelching with the vacuum seal. His hand cupped your cheek, so warm that you couldn't help but lean into his touch as his fingers curled under your jaw. He bottomed out, giving you a second to adjust, cooing, "Such a good girl for me. This pretty pussy's mine, mine alone."

"All yours," you gasped in a squeak. Kakashi groaned, rocking his hips against you. He reached so deep inside of you, you could feel him just below your belly button. You hissed, gripping his thighs, "Kakashi- fuck- you're so- fucking big."

"Mm, and you take everything I give you." Oh, how true the statement was. But your agreement melded to a guttural groan the second Kakashi started moving.

Finally beginning a slow pace of deep strokes, your eyelashes fluttered. Soft moans accompanied every breath as Kakashi started pulling more out, making you feel even more full with every thrust. The sounds of your cunt squelching to accommodate his rapidity fill the room, undercut by the soft slapping of skin.

Putting more pressure on the backs of your knees, Kakashi pushed your legs deeper into your chest. He fucked into you so lovingly that you could see the passion emanating from his body, making all of your muscles simultaneously tense and relax. In a stutter, Kakashi put his left hand on the bed, beside your head, while the other travelled lower to grip your ass. His entire body came closer to you, deepening his movements that much more. Breaths mixing between the two of you, a humidity arose in the room, with a very particular scent.

Enthralled by the sight of his cock disappearing within you, Kakashi's head was tilted slightly down. A stupid smile plastered on your face as you choked back a moan and kissed Kakashi's forehead. His eyes immediately found yours and his hips snapped into yours.

Leaning to connect his lips with yours, Kakashi quickened his pace, swallowing every wanton sound that came from your lips. His tongue Waltzed with yours, leading you in a lovely dance. You reached up, moving one hand over your husband's gorgeously chiseled face as the other squeezed the plump muscles of his shoulder. For a moment, Kakashi let you really get used to his pace, allowing your orgasm to climb to the forefront of your mind once again.

As you climbed the mountain, your walls clenched around your husband's dick, sucking him in further, ushering his precum into your womb. Right on the edge of bliss, your body twitched around, moans becoming more and more obscene.

"Maybe I should stop right now," he groaned, slowing his thrusts painfully.

Vehemently shaking your head, your eyes flew open. "No, K'kashi, no, ple-ase, I was s'close, please, you feel so- so good."

"Tch, how can I deny such a good, beautiful girl?" Kakashi tittered, gradually going back to his original speed. As you sank back in, he pulled you out, asserting firmly, "Look at me when you cum on my dick."

"Kakashi-i-i-" You moaned for a prolonged time, eyes fighting to stay open. Your husband's lip was curled into a darling smile, and the thoughts behind his eyes finally settled. A wide smile stretched across your lips, mouth falling open as you could feel Kakashi's eyes caressing your very soul.

When his hand ghosted around your thigh and intuitively found your clit, shockwaves were sent through your entire body. Just a few beats behind the tempo of Kakashi's thrusts, his middle and ring finger whirled the sensitive bundle of nerves. In only a few more thrusts, you're screaming Kakashi's name as he finally gives you the sweet release.

"Fuckin' stars," he gasped, stilling in your cunt as your walls fluttered and spasmed. "You're s'fuckin' tight, so fucking beautiful."

Smiling up at him, Kakashi pressed another hungry kiss to your lips, before pulling back entirely. He gripped your hips and began snapping into you with more force than he had before.

"Kakashi! Fuck!" You yelled out, hands left to grip his thighs again. Digging your nails into the back of his thighs only seemed to give your husband more vigour. You gasped, "Fucking sensitive, Kakashi, stars-"

"I'm the only one who gets to fuck you like this," he groaned, bottoming out with every thrust. His timing grew uneven, and his strokes got messy, telling you he was nearing his light too. "Such a good girl f'me. Me. Only me."

"I love your cock," you whined, feeling blood rushing to your head, a slight spin percolating.

"M-my perfect wife, fuck- I'm gonna cum, pretty girl." Pulling your flushed body up, Kakashi took you in his arms as he fucked into you, delivering his last few plunging strokes, before he stuttered entirely. He groaned so deeply, you could feel the vibration in his cock, pressed against your cervix, "I fuckin' love fillin' you up."

A heat trickled into you, making you smile as Kakashi thrusted into you a few more times at a relatively lazy rhythm, bringing you a swell of relief. Your husband's cock twitched within you, filling you more and more. With a contented breath, you clenched around him, beckoning his cum further into you.

Bringing you up for another kiss, Kakashi hummed against your lips as he stilled, keeping all of his spend nice and secure within you. He took you up fully, then turned and fell back into the bed. The position had you sinking onto his cock so deliciously as you leaned against his chest.

"I love you, more than anything," you murmured as Kakashi's eyes roamed your face.

A small smile tugged at his lip, bestowing you with a dashing look. "I love you too, pretty lady."

"So, what's your verdict?" You asked with a soft chuckle and a tired undercut.

"What's my what, darling?" He asked, voice slightly rasped.

Reaching to your face, he tucked a lock of hair behind your ear lovingly, which had you biting down on your lower lip. Kakashi's eyes danced over your puffy lips, smile deepening on both of your faces as you laughed,

"Can I have an Amaretto taffy now?"

[mrsoharaa]

𝑩𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝑮𝒊𝒓𝒍 🎀🍰

characters; SatoSugu (Gojo Satoru + Geto Suguru) x Reader

cw; none! pure FLUFF! the two dummies being completely lovesick and mopey over their pretty spoiled angel! birthday trope, completely SELF INDULGENT (since it's my bday todayyy <3)

Your lumbering eyes blink heavily to the flaunting streaks of the peeking sun seeping through your bedroom shades. A heavy distinctive weight of multiple objects weighs all over and around your sleeping form, a low grumble tittering off from your supple lips.

Gradually stirring awake from your deep slumber, you glance down at your chest to a note with a beautifully fully blossomed peony taped to the feeble paper. Blinking, you sit upright and take the note into your hands, carefully holding the gorgeous, flourishing flower and reading over the neatly familiar font written in perfect alignment.

Good morning and happy birthday beautiful :)

Sorry that me and Satoru are not there to hold you in our arms and spoil you with endless kisses and affections, but we had to do some...shopping for your surprise for tonight. (I really didn't want to spoil anything about it but I guess I kind of did...)

As you can tell, Satoru had bombarded you with boundless hoards of gifts on you. He was dead set on drowning you in a heap of stuffed animals, jewelry and your favorite type of throw blankets. He's utterly ridiculous, but he loves you incessantly so I suppose that makes up for it haha.

A tender smile seeps onto your cheeks, glancing up and around the bundled stock of adorable stuffed animals, fluffy throw blankets and fancy expensive boxes that you'd presumed to be the priceless jewelry Satoru had hauled for you. Your heart flutters warmly, frantically at the adoring thought.

A bit much don't you think, Toru?

"Oh 'Toru..." you giggle softly under your breath, your softened eyes scrolling back onto the heart felt letter in your free hand.

We should be back home in a few hours or so, so please enjoy your comfortable day lounging about my love. We'll bring home some snacks on our way back.

Oh, and my gift for you (minus the flower of course, because I think I remembered you saying that Peonies were your favorite some time ago) is in in the living room. I hope you like it angel :)

Again, happy birthday princess.

Much love from your goofballs - Suguru + Satoru.

Your heart continues to patter wildly against your chest, smiling ever so giddily to yourself as you glimpse over the mount of gifts hoarding over you. Gently placing the adoring letter on your nightstand, you gently caress the soften petals of the elegant flower, gingerly bringing it to your lips and tending a ghost like kiss to the sweet scented flora. Inhaling the candid natural scent of it's aroma.

"Oh my silly thoughtful boys" you murmur lightly, feeling your eyes swell with happy tears, your heart fluttering happily to the thought of the two idiots you grew to know and love over the years, spoiling you.

Feeling the enthralling excitement swarm in the depths of your stomach, you carefully rise from your gift-cluttered bed and stand onto your toes. Stretching out your limbs, you felt the soft silk of your blush pink night gown grace over the upper plain of your exposed thighs. A tingling, lulling sensation peppering all over your awakening skin.

Still holding onto the flower in your hand, you gleefully make your way into the living room. Stopping immediately at the frame of your bedroom door as your pupils dilate with vast enchantment and wonder.

With your ceiling littered with heart shaped balloons of soft pink, rose gold and white, the dining room table neatly decorated with two tall standing candles, silverware and dishes adroitly placed and pink rose petals lightly scattered along the sleek table cloth and your dishes - you couldn't help the overwhelming warmth resonating deep within your heavy chest.

Those thick, kindred tears welling back at the corners of your blurry irises.

"Suguru..." you hardly whispered out with a soft gasp, blown out watery irises carefully skimming along the beautifully decorated room from their courteous hard work.

Light footing of your delicate steps drew you close to the breath taking scenery displayed out before you. Daintily, you brush the pad of your fingers along the silken table cloth and rose petals that swarmed over your dining room table. Thoroughly, admiring every detail and care they took to prep this, just for you.

Your eyes spot another note in the middle of the table, folded in half and nestled against one of the standing candles.

You carefully take it and open the smaller note.

I hope everything is to your liking angel, I wanted to make everything as perfect as I could for you :) I hope it's not too much.

(Satoru says he helped pitched in, doesn't want to seem like he didn't put in any effort or whatever haha)

Happy birthday sweet girl, dress up nice tonight, we're cooking and tending to you thoroughly tonight. Tonight will be all about you sweetheart.

- Suguru G.

Oh, so he wants you to collapse from a cardiac arrest from all the cuteness and what not?

Grasping onto the small, gracious note and hugging it close to your chest (where your heart rests), you couldn't help the familiar overwhelming feeling of sheer bliss and joyous enlightenment embellish all over your body. Filling your heart and soul with boundless love and adoration.

Tears swiftly cascading down the soften plush of your blossoming cheeks. Breaths catching tightly at the perch of your lungs, heart still restlessly plummeting to the endearing thought of your boyfriends going out of their way to woo you with such enchanting gifts and basking wonderment.

You couldn't help the over joyous feeling coursing through you, titillating excitement pouring through your veins as you rush to your bathroom to get ready for the enticing night!

[sapphiremusings]

THE GIFT OF VENGEANCE | aemond targaryen

summary: Aemond replayed this image on a loop, squirming in his seat every time he got to the part where her eyes popped out of her skull.

Two eyes for his one, and the eight years he went without his revenge.

8.5k

cw: female!lucerys velaryon, au-modern setting, explicit sexual content, dubcon, graphic depictions of violence, sadist!aemond, obsessive!aemond, dark!aemond, choking, p in v, oral sex (fem!receiving), blood kink, biting, mentions of childhood trauma, breeding kink, uncle/niece, kinda DD:DE? not that dead though… u might be able to eat…

He hears her first, that soft tittering which haunted his childhood, piercing straight into the marred socket of his left eye, down the monstrous scar she had left him with.

She sits behind him, planked between her brothers, the only daughter of his half-sister, and therefore the most beloved. Maybe Jacaerys had whispered a joke, his lips sticky against the shell of her ear, laughter bubbling up her throat at whatever inane quip he made. A part of him, the one that dominated his childhood, leaving him cowering along the sand and crying fat tears into his mothers skirts, thinks that maybe they’re whispering about him– their stoic, one-eyed uncle, whom they once taunted and teased as children. Her amusement echoes around the corners of his mind, running along every ridge of his spine and settling deep within him, into an endless pool of festering hatred.

It had been years since Aemond had seen his half-sister and her litter of bastards, but now that he has, he’s ready to never see them again. The rift between their families is slowly starting to mend, threads of green and black pulling together to stitch up the hole that was left after Laena’s funeral, and the taking of his eye. His mother, once reverent in her hatred for Rhaenyra, now holds onto her arm with a newfound longing, fingers rubbing circles along the long scar she had given her that same night, when she had demanded an eye for an eye. It was one of his fondest memories– Lucerys crying out in terror as Alicent rushed towards her holding a dagger, her darling face twisted in fear, hiding behind her mothers skirts. Even when his empty socket was throbbing with an intense pain that not even milk of the poppy could cure, he still relished in the sight.

His father had been slowly dying for years before he finally succumbed to his illness, something Aemond had anticipated every time he walked past his room, the sour stench of rot and sickness permeating through the shut doors, along with the constant beeping of medical machinery. The funeral had been just as droll as his last days, with Aegon slumped beside him, sunglasses slipping down the bridge of his nose, stinking of the bottle he had downed beforehand. Helaena was busy slouched over, peering down at the iridescent beetle that crawled around her fingers, muttering to herself, ignorant to the snorts Aegon would give and the shushing their mother hissed. And Daeron, the youngest of his siblings, was perched between mother and their grandfather, in which he had spent most of his childhood with, a good boy who listened steadfastly to the sermon. Behind him, the Velaryon siblings sat, from eldest to youngest, hands clasped together as they mourned in a way Aemond hadn’t.

Her presence seared into him, burning down to his bones, etching itself into the very marrow of him. The gods were feeling particularly cruel this day, and he listened to the sound of his niece’s sniffling, soft sobs leaving her lips in the place of the laughter he was once used to. He had wanted nothing more than to turn around, to peer upon her darling face, flushed a splotchy pink as tears streamed down her cheeks, the tip of her nose red and her brown eyes wide and watery, eyelashes clumped with tears. He imagined himself grabbing ahold of the chub of her cheeks, squashed beneath his fingers as he plunges his thumbs into her eye sockets, the white mush mixing with her crimson blood, a beautiful concoction made just for him. The thought dizzied him, and while speeches were given and prayers were sung, Aemond replayed this image on a loop, squirming in his seat every time he got to the part where her eyes popped out of her skull. Two eyes for his one, and the eight years he went without his revenge.

He remembers how those eyes, big and glimmering with a certain mischief, would peer at him with the curiosity of a doe, as if trying to figure out what made him tick. A brush of her fingers against the back of his hand, the warmth of her breath against his jaw, her gangly limbs stumbling over his own. These small tortures she’d inflict on him, only to turn and laugh in the wake of his trauma, when their older brothers would taunt and tease him incessantly. She’d trail after them, giggling at their antics with a small hand held over her mouth, the apples of her cheeks flushed red in mirth. He had hated her for it. Her ignorance hurt more than any push or shove Aegon or Jacaerys could bestow upon him.

“D’you think mum will notice if I leave?” Aegon slurs in his ear, spittle fanning across his jaw as he leans heavily against his shoulder, already in a drunken stupor. “She seems rather occupied, right?”

Aemond has to force himself not to sneer, eye twitching in annoyance as Aegon sways on his unsteady feet. His older brother has long been the family’s drunken embarrassment, but to see him act this way in front of their half-sister and her clan irritates him more than it usually would. Aegon’s beady eyes are glazed over, partly focused on their mother, who stands at Rhaenyra’s side like a leech, mouth twisted into a pitiful smile as she hangs onto every word that leaves the silver-haired bitch’s lips.

Aemond hums. “She’d notice eventually.”

He expects Aegon to stumble off, his clipped tone hinting to an end of the conversation, but instead, he chuckles. “Our little niece has grown into quite the woman, wouldn’t you say?”

The brothers watch as she chats with Daemon, their uncle and her stepfather, his towering figure dwarfing her smaller one. As Targaryen’s, hailed from Old Valyria and of an ancient bloodline, rumored to be connected to fantastical dragons, incestuous relations were once common within their family. After the turn of the century, their house which was once full of riches and immense power, halted in this practice. That is, until Rhaenyra whored herself out to her father’s brother at a young age. Despite this scandal, his half-sister steadily remained their father’s favorite, even after her marriage to Daemon and the birth of two sons.

“Come, brother. There’s no need to play shy,” Aegon snickers in Aemond’s silence, the alcoholic stench of his breath lingering under his nose. “We are Targaryen’s after all… surely you’ve thought about giving it to her. I know I have. Especially after the… incident.”

“I have no taste for such depravity.”

His brother groans, hand slipping off his shoulder as he wobbles off, unsatisfied with Aemond’s answer. Before he can leave, Aemond reaches out to stop him, leaning down to whisper in his ear. “You’re embarrassing us, lēkia.”

Aegon merely shrugs him off, stumbling over his feet as he walks out of the room, barely making it through the archway without tripping. The sight makes him grumble, jawbone tense as he grinds his teeth, returning his attention to the window, where a mess of dark curls now sits, face hidden from view. He has only glimpsed her once, when leaving the funeral, her eyes watery and nose tinted a shade of pink, tear tracks staining her cheeks. She had smiled at him. The image has been playing on a loop inside his head, a never ending reel of her pretty face and that ringing laugh, ever since he saw it.

Lucerys Velaryon has always been beautiful, he thinks. The features he has always hated in her brother– that stubby nose, the freckles along their cheeks, their dark hair and dark eyes– sneering down at him as he pushed him to the ground, were always devastating in her. As children, he had imagined she was the Maiden reincarnated, the most beautiful creature he’d ever laid eyes on, even when she’d laugh in his misery, carrying out her small tortures with every lingering look and every brush of her skin against his. After she took his eye, her face began to haunt him for different reasons, and his dreams of her becoming his bride turned into nightmares where her laugh would echo around his head while her blade cut into his flesh once again, this time taking his other eye as well. His hatred grew into a cruel thing, festering deep inside him until it started to rot through his bones, and every thought turned violent.

Rhaenyra would send their father pictures of her and her bastards, and he’d hang them around the house, in every hallway and on every fireplace mantle. Every year, they’d have a new picture, and as if to taunt him, Lucerys’ was always hung on the wall across from his bedroom door. He has always suspected Aegon of this pettiness, for his brother would often catch him glaring at the portrait from his doorway, eye tracing the curls of her hair and the curve of her jaw. Her eyes seemed to follow him as he walked, up until he would slam his door shut, locking her away from view. His hatred, still burning bright, had mixed with a different feeling that left a tight coil in his stomach, one which twisted more and more each time he saw that damned portrait.

Her face is etched along the inside of his eyelid, forced to see her every time he closes his eye. He has memorized every freckle, every curve and dip, even the milky scar that sits near her hairline from an accident when they were children, when Aegon had bumped into her, causing her to fall and hit her forehead against a jagged rock. The sight of her blood along the stones had nauseated him at the time, and so did her tears, fat as they dripped down her cheeks and into her wailing mouth. Now, he thinks he would quite like to see her blood again, to hear her cries as he inflicts the same pain she had once inflicted on him. His pants grow tighter at the thought, but he can’t find it in himself to be ashamed.

The air in the room grows thick, and he watches as Jacaerys stands above her, hand resting on the crown of her head, fingers slowly caressing the strands. She looks up with a small smile, eyes glowing in the midday sun that shines through the window next to her. His hands curl into fists, knuckles turning white as she laughs again, the sound ringing in his ears like a persistent bell. He quickly makes his way out of the stuffy room, shoulders tense as he passes by his mother and half-sister, neither of whom have looked away from one another since their reunion. The hallway is empty, and so is the looming staircase, which he climbs in stride, farther away from the center room and her lingering laugh. Beneath his eyepatch, his empty socket begins to throb, a searing pain shooting through the wound until his vision nearly goes white, and he’s left stumbling into his room, collapsing on the bed.

His curtains are still closed, shielding him away from the blazing sun, leaving his room dark with only slivers of light shining along the floor. He lays among rumpled sheets, tugging off the leather patch fastened around his head, bringing a shaky palm up to cover the aching hole. He is used to this pain, which plagues him more often than not, but within the presence of the one who created it, it seems to swell over him like a tidal wave. He barely hears the knock on his door, and when he doesn’t answer, a few seconds go by, until someone barges in.

Even in the dark he can still make out her wide eyes and the sheath of curls around her shoulders, her steps timid as she comes to a stop at the edge of his bed, fingers curled together in a nervous habit. “Are you alright, uncle?”

Her soft voice rouses him, his palm pressing deeper into his empty socket, while he looks up at her hovering figure. Her eyes dart over his face, lingering on his hand which covers his wound, and he wonders if she is remembering how he had covered his eye that night she had taken it, how he screamed and cried atop the sand, blood seeping through the cracks of his fingers, a perfect match to the blood dripping from the dagger in her small hands. When she quickly averts her gaze to a corner of his room, he feels a smug satisfaction rumbling in his chest.

“I… I’m sorry to bother you,” she murmurs, voice faltering slightly in his silence. “I was asked to come check on you.”

He hums. “By who?”

She’s quiet, eyes flicking back at him as if she is surprised by the sound of his voice. He merely stares back, palm growing sweaty in its position. Like a deer caught in headlights, her mouth opens and closes, before she finally speaks.

“Our mothers wish for our families to make amends. Given the death of Viserys.”

Aemond sits up at this, dropping his hand to his lap, stare hardening as her eyes dart to the now exposed scar, to the gaping hole where his eye once laid. She swallows, but makes no attempt to back away or close her eyes. Instead, Lucerys draws closer, head leaning over to get a better look at her work in the dim room. His stomach churns, fingers inching towards the eyepatch that sits beside him, yet he stops himself from grabbing it. No, he wants her to see what she did to him.

“You want to make amends?” he pushes, voice raspy from his dry throat. He sits up farther, leaning closer to her hovering frame. She nods. “And how do you plan on doing that, riñītsos?”

She looks at him in trepidation, lips tugging downwards and her brows furrowing above her dark eyes. The black dress she wears is short, hem stopping in the middle of her thighs, the material tight around her waist, and his eye snags on the motion of one of the straps falling off her shoulder, resting above a small freckle. She doesn’t seem to notice, or maybe she just doesn’t care, her stare not wavering as she makes no move to fix it. There’s a look in her eyes he’s never seen before, something gleaming and intoxicating, drawing him into a pool of soft velvet. He wants to hold them, those delicate globes, in his hands, feel the warm slime of them like two marbles.

In a quick motion, spurred on by his vivid imagination, he grabs ahold of her jaw, tugging her face close to his. “Will you take out your eye, hm? Give me what’s been owed all these years?”

Lucerys surprises him. Instead of falling back in fear, she merely smiles. It’s sardonic in nature, and he watches in trepidation as her eyes flicker down to rest upon his lips. So quick, he barely registers it, yet the action shocks a bolt of lightning down his spine, and his grip on her jaw tightens in a mix of dubiety and fury. Her smile only seems to grow wider at this, as if she is aware of every thought crossing his mind, nestling their way into the mush of his brain.

“Is that what you want, uncle? My eye?”

It is, he thinks. And so much more. He wasn’t lying when he told Aegon he has no taste for depravity, always the dutiful son despite what has befell him. Aemond tries hard to wash away his vengeful urges, the stirring of his cock when he imagines his little niece writhing in pain, covered in bruises and bleeding cuts, her eyes wide and tearful as she squeals like a piglet, under the might of his fists and his knife. His thoughts have only grown darker, crueler than he cared to admit, with flashes of his suckling on her open wounds like his mothers tit when he was a babe, warm blood resting along his tongue instead of milk. Nothing would taste as sweet, he was sure of it.

With a tug, Lucerys topples over him, her body plush against his own, and he quickly flips them over, his knees up against her ribcage. Her face is flushed from exertion, her hands scrambling against his chest and shoulders, legs kicking out from under him, though her efforts are in vain as Aemond merely tightens his grip around her. Stubbornly, her lips pursed into a sour smile, she stops her struggling and stares up at him in defiance.

“Go ahead then,” she goads, raising her chin and bringing her hands up to rest against his back, fingernails digging through his shirt and into his skin. He hopes they leave marks. “I won’t scream. I won’t fight. I refuse to give you the satisfaction of my pain, uncle.”

A deep, twisted rage sits within him, rising in plumes of smoke like the molten lava from an exploding volcano, and as he glares down at his sweet niece, the image of their homeland flashes across his vision. Their ancestors once lived on the island of Valyria, a prosperous place that had been home to the largest mount, which erupted and destroyed the land, as well as all those who resided there. A few Targaryen’s were lucky to escape just a few years before, and he thinks about this luck now, bringing a hand up to wrap around the width of Lucerys’ neck. She keeps her word; she doesn’t fight back, doesn’t try to scream, even as his fingers tighten enough to bruise, cutting off her air circulation. Tears gather at the corners of her eyes, and Aemond finds himself groaning, arousal splashing over him like ice water.

He removes his hand. Lucerys gasps for air, nails no longer digging into his skin, hands now limp around his waist. Her gaze looks down, chest heaving as she slightly tilts her head, focusing on Aemond’s lap. With a flush, he realizes she’s staring at his erection, which is pushing against his trousers, its heaviness resting against her abdomen. Her eyes glimmer at the sight, pink lips tugging upwards into another smug smile, hands inching towards his thighs that are still wrapped around her. When her fingers press against his thighs, he jolts back.

She sits up with a small laugh. “I thought you wanted to put out my eye, Aem.”

The nickname, one he hasn’t heard since they were children, running along the beach together, toes nestling along the sand, salty waves lapping against their ankles. It makes his chest twinge, an ache forming under his ribs, and he quickly turns away, resting his hands on the wooden surface of his desk. “Get out.”

It’s quiet, with only the sound of their families downstairs, chatting and laughing, which does nothing to help the tension of the room. He hears her sigh, short legs twisting beneath her as she climbs off his bed, shoes hitting the floor softly. She lingers at the door, hand resting on the doorknob while her eyes burn holes into his back, willing him to say something, but he doesn’t. He merely waits in silence, solemn in the dark corner of his room, among his books and journals. It’s only when he hears the door open and shut, and the sound of her footsteps retreating down the hallway and onto the stairs, does he sit back on his bed, lowering himself down to press his nose against the spot where she once laid, the scent of her still fresh on his sheets.

*

She’s taunting him, eyes avoiding his own one-eyed stare, dark hair fanning over her face every time she turns to speak to her brother, as if she’s hiding from him. As if she hadn’t smiled as he sat atop her, hands around her neck, a threat on the tip of his tongue. Now, she sits across from him, at the far end of the long dining table, nothing but wood and various dishes separating them.

Perhaps he should’ve taken her eye when he had the chance, he thinks. In the moment, he had doubted she wouldn’t have screamed. He knows the pain of losing an eye all too well, searing and bone-deep. Despite her promises, Lucerys Velaryon would’ve cried out the minute his blade touched her skin, and their families would have rushed into the room and stopped him in his act of revenge. No, if he was to take her eye, he needed to do so in a secluded place, where no one could interrupt him.

Helaena, sitting beside him, mumbles something, her hand feather-light against his own. He looks over at her, and she merely lifts out her other palm, showing him the fuzzy caterpillar that slowly moves along her skin. He can’t help but smile, though his sister doesn’t notice as she keeps her lilac gaze on the small critter she holds, moving her hand from him to run a finger gently down its spine. Next to her, Aegon snorts in his cup, taking another swig before leaning back in his chair, a slimy grin on his face.

“Have you given any more thought to what I said earlier, little brother?”

His words are slurred, and Aemond decides to ignore him, lifting his own cup to his lips and taking a sip. In the middle, his mother sits beside Rhaenyra, their heads bent towards one another, lips pulled into wistful smiles, as if they are old friends, or perhaps lovers. Daemon had gone home, taking their three youngest with him, as well as his twin daughters, leaving his niece-wife and her two eldest in the hands of the woman they both once despised.

Aegon, never one for taking hints, continues. “If you don’t want her, I’ll be happy to show our dear niece a good time. I have hopes she’ll be… pure.”

Clenching his jaw, Aemond finally looks over at his drunken brother, giving him the attention he seemingly craves. Aegon smirks, head tipped forward as he leans over Helaena, who is still too busy with her caterpillar. From the corner of his eye, he can see their mother looking over at her eldest son cautiously, though when Rhaenyra whispers something in her ear, she looks away.

Aemond opens his mouth to respond, but is interrupted by the sound of Lucerys’ laughter, and the breaking of glass. Him and Aegon advert their gazes to the opposite end of the table, where Jacaerys stands with reddened cheeks, holding the broken stem of a wine glass. Lucerys is hunched over, laughter bubbling out of her lips, tears dotting the corners of her eyes, reminding Aemond of when he had his hands around her throat only a few hours earlier. The thought makes him shift in his seat, a sliver of heat darting through his abdomen.

“Jace… oh my God,” she stutters out, still laughing, hand lifting up as she shows the table her palm, where a shard of glass sticks out, blood trickling down her wrist. Jace immediately darts forward, grabbing her arm, tilting her hand towards him so he can inspect the wound, eyebrows furrowed in worry. “It’s fine, brother. I’m okay!”

Rhaenyra also rounds the table, cradling her daughter's head against her chest, smoothing a hand down her curls. Lucerys continues to laugh, though it slowly starts to turn into giggles, which eventually die down until she’s left hiccupping, ruddy cheeks stained with tears from her outburst. His mother had run off, and now she returns, first aid kit in hand, which she gives to his half-sister, who puts her hand on Lucerys’ shoulder, pushing her to sit back in her chair. Aemond watches as her blood continues a path down her arm, before beginning to drip onto the surface of the table, leaving small dots of crimson.

She watches with watery eyes as her mother grabs a pair of tweezers, going for the glass jutting out her skin. “Shh, it’s okay, my darling girl.”

The shard is slowly pulled out, a bubbling of more blood rising to the surface, and Aemond watches with a hard cock. It’s placed on a napkin atop the table, next to the pool of blood that now seeps into the wood, yet no one moves to clean it up. Or maybe his mother does, her scabbed fingers wiping the liquid away with a cloth, always one for cleanliness. Aemond wouldn’t know, as his eye is trained on the cut along Lucerys’ palm, as her own mother tends to it. A wipe is swiped across, turning from white to red, and then comes the gauze, which is wrapped around continuously, until the blood ceases to seep through the material. The whole time, his little niece sits without flinching, eyes watching him as he watches her.

When she’s finished, the wound now covered, the room is quiet for just a moment, before a booming clap of thunder echoes against the walls, and the sound of pouring rain pings off the roof. Jace is on his knees beside his sister, hands holding her wrist, whispering apologies in her ear, ones which she doesn’t reply to as she continues to stare across the table. It isn’t until Jace follows her gaze that she replies, before picking up her fork and stabbing at a lone carrot that sits on her plate, bringing it up to her lips as she finally looks away, giving her older brother a smile.

Dinner continues as before, and by now, Aegon has slumped over his chair, fast asleep in his drunkenness. Their mother, surprisingly, pays him no mind, and neither does Helaena, who excuses herself to her room, eyes still focused on the crawling insect she holds. Rhaenyra continuously peeks over at Lucerys, face glossed in worry, but she merely listens to her brother talk, occasionally nodding her head or laughing softly at whatever it is he was droning on about. With nothing to distract him, Aemond is silent in his suffering as he watches her, eye flickering down to her wrapped palm every few minutes, as if willing it to peel off and show him that red slice once more.

The storm has gotten worse, lightning flashing through the closed windows nearly every second, the thunder becoming so loud that it interrupts his mother and half-sisters conversation, the both of them wondering aloud on whether it will pass or continue through the night. It is already dark out, the ticking clock reading nine o’clock, and it is his mother who proposes the idea.

“Please, Rhaenyra,” her fingers rub against her scar, eyes pleading. “Stay. It is too dangerous to leave now, in the dark while it’s storming so heavily. We have more than enough guest rooms for you, Luke, and Jace to stay in.”

His mothers use of Lucerys’ nickname jolts him. Beside him, Aegon lets out a snore.

Despite her wariness, Rhaenyra agrees to stay the night, and Aemond thinks he has never seen his mother so happy before. With a huff, he stands, and when his mother doesn’t even look at him, too busy staring at his whore half-sister with stars in her eyes, he takes that as his cue to leave. He glances over at Lucerys once more, both her and Jace now watching him, their matching eyes and noses making him want to sneer. Instead, he makes his way out of the dining room, his steps heavy as he trudges up the stairs, head throbbing in tune with the pattering rain.

*

He can barely sleep, his body restless as he tosses and turns among rumpled sheets, nose twitching against the scent of her that still lingers. Aemond swears he can feel her, even as she sleeps just down the hall, and his skin is slick with sweat, a pulse running through his swelling cock. He teases himself, brushing a hand between his thighs, coiling away when he only gets harder, silver hair sticking to his flushed face as he lays there with the heavy weight of shame bearing down on his chest. His only solace being the plip-plop of the rain against his window, the storm now passed, leaving only that soft sound in its wake, soothing along his headache.

Something wriggles beneath the skin of his chest, insistent as he sits up, looking around the dark room, a warning bell ringing within his ears. When he looks out the window, a flash of white crosses his vision, and for a moment, he thinks the storm has started again. It isn’t until he sees her curls, slightly damp and sticking to her shoulders, does he realize that it’s her, not the storm. She walks across the backyard, towards the small woods that sits behind their estate, clad in nothing but her nightgown. Without thinking, Aemond is slipping on a shirt and his shoes, his steps rushed as he sneaks down the stairs and out the backdoor, gaze trained on her retreating figure.

The rain is merely a drizzle now, yet it still dampens his clothes and hair, leaving raindrops along his skin, as he walks between trees, swiping at hanging branches and leaves, holding his breath as he stalks after her. She doesn’t seem to hear him, as she continues on, not faltering in her pace. The path she’s leading looks familiar to him, and he realizes that it’s the same path they used to trek as children. It leads to an old lake, full of tiny fish and swampy water, which they used to dare one another to jump in, all too afraid of what lurked below the muck. When they make it to the clearing, Lucerys doesn’t hesitate to walk up to the bank, standing along withered stones and tall weeds. The sight of the water stops Aemond in his tracks, a memory rushing to him like a vision.

It had been the hottest summer of their young lives that year, and they all spent it among the trees, lounging under the cool air the shade provided, playing trolls and goblins. When they had first discovered the lake, it was Aegon who pushed Aemond in. He had flailed within the dirty water, pale arms splashing through algae and brine as he gasped out for help, not yet knowing how to swim. Jace and Aegon had stood on the bank laughing, and to his horror, Lucerys had disappeared. It wasn’t until she rushed out from the trees, Uncle Daemon in tow, that Aemond was saved, laying along the grass and coughing up water and vomit, shivering under the stares of those around him, Daemon’s hand hard as it slapped his back. His mother had scolded Aegon, who swore he didn’t remember that his younger brother couldn’t swim, and he only became more cruel in his anger after she grounded him.

As he remembers the look on Lucerys’ young face, pinched in worry, cheeks flushed pink and bright eyes teary, he thinks perhaps he had just imagined that part. It was what he once dreamed most of; his niece caring for him. He knows this is far from the truth, as she spins around, arms held out in front of her, gaze locked on his lingering figure. Her lips curl into a sweet smile, and she wiggles her fingers, as if she is beckoning him over. Aemond finds that his rage has made another appearance, replacing his pondering with a rising fury as he makes his way towards her, swaying on her bare feet, her grin brighter than the full moon in the sky above them.

He reaches out for her, hands tight against her arms, and he watches with a curious gaze as her flesh pebbles beneath his touch, her damp skin dotted with raindrops and gooseflesh. Her head is heavy as she beams up at him, eyes hazy with sleep, her lashes fluttering under his stare. She whispers his name, lips plush around the word, dropping her head to rest against his thumping chest, nose nuzzling along the cotton of his shirt. For a moment, Aemond allows himself to revel in her warmth, his own nose resting within her hair, dark curls tickling his cheeks, and he inhales deeply, the smell of lavender and honey and rain intoxicating his senses. Lucerys presses herself closer, and as the minutes tick by, he realizes she has been sleepwalking.

Aemond has only heard tales about Lucerys’ supposed sleepwalking habit. Years ago, according to Rhaenyra, Lucerys had nearly walked out the top window in her room, her eyes open wide in an unwavering stare, bare feet pressed against the sill. It had taken Daemon picking her up and carrying her to her bed to get her to safety, and the next morning, when asked about what had happened the previous night, Lucerys hadn’t a clue what they were talking about. Daemon took to installing locks on all the windows around their home, and after that, Aemond hadn’t heard much else about his niece’s sleepwalking. He figured it was a thing of the past, something she has grown out of in the shedding of her adolescence.

Now, she stands slumped against his chest, breathing steady and her lips parted as soft sighs and snores escape her throat. The rain picks up, drizzling harder than before, and a rumbling of thunder is heard along the horizon, yet Lucerys looks peaceful in her slumber, even as Aemond’s grip on her becomes tighter. A twisted part of him thinks about how easy it would be to hurt her now, as she lays in the mercy of his hands, the same in which once easily wrapped around her throat and squeezed until her face was red. Another part of him, one much darker and persistent, wishes to slip the thin straps of her nightgown down her shoulders, to suckle on her pert nipples which press against the sheer satin, to dip a hand between her supple thighs and caress the hottest part of her.

Her neck is bare, and as he looks down, he realizes with sudden certainty that there is no one here to stop him. The moon is aglow, locusts buzzing within the grass, an occasional hoot from a lone owl, and they are in the middle of the woods, in a place unknown by anyone but them as children. She is pliant within his hold, lashes resting against her cheeks, heartbeat steady within her delicate chest. It is something he had once dreamed of, swathed in sweat-soaked sheets, cock spent along his taut stomach. And with a single dip of his chin, he is able to press his lips along the skin of her neck, right below her thrumming pulse.

She doesn’t stir, not even as his lips form a path down to her collarbones, the bones jutting out just enough for him to bite around, the feel of it between his teeth making him groan. His tongue slicks against the mark, dipping into each indent, before making its way up to her jaw, where he nibbles and sucks on the skin. His hands have moved to rest upon her hips, but as she starts to slip from his grasp, he wraps his arms around her waist, pressing her close to him once more, her breasts plush against his soaked shirt, nipples scratching between them.

He barely hears the gasp. “A-Aemond…?”

Her hands come up to his shoulders, pushing frantically as he bites down on the skin of her jaw, the sharp ache making her yelp. When he tastes blood, he finally softens, lips now wrapped around the skin, tongue lapping over the small wound. As Lucerys continues to squirm, fingernails now digging into his skin, he wrestles her to the ground, hands squelching in the mud beneath her as he holds himself above her, lips stained with a single drop of blood.

“Where are we? How did…” she trails off, realization clicking as she takes in the dark sky and the pajamas she still wears. Her eyes are glossy as she gazes up at him, the mark on her jaw shining like a beacon, encouraging him to press himself against her again. This time, she doesn’t struggle, still confused as she looks around the clearing, catching sight of the familiar lake.

His cock is pulsating as it rests between them, and he barely notices as he cants his hips to rub along her clothed cunt, white-hot pleasure shooting up his spine, making him close his eye and press his lips to her throat once again. Her breath hitches at his movements, her own legs unconsciously spreading wider, opening herself up for him to rut against her like a hound in heat. Shame twinges within his brain, yet Lucerys wraps an arm around his back, as if encouraging his ministrations, and he forces it to the back of his mind as he digs his fingers into the slick mud, hips rocking faster. She whines out, “Aem.”

In a frenzy, he brings a hand up to paw at her dress, tugging down the straps until he bares her breasts, mud staining the fabric and her skin. His lips are quick to wrap around them, going back and forth between the two, before slipping a pert nipple into his mouth, groaning at the taste of her. He imagines them swollen with milk, her stomach round with his child, her hands smoothing down his hair as he nurses from her, her sweet liquid warm as it pools in the pit of him. He grows harder at the thought, teeth nibbling at the bud, his body weight crashing atop her as he brings his other hand over to caress her other breast, fingers tweaking the lonely nipple. Her back seems to arch beneath him, her own hips matching the rhythm of his, her breath hot against his head.

“Please,” she whispers, tugging at the strands of his hair. When her pulling becomes harsher, he allows her to tug him up, her mouth agape as she tilts her chin, searching for his lips. She kisses him, wanton as she juts out her hips against his, hands frantic as they run down his shoulders and under his soaked shirt, nails scratching along his skin. Her tongue slips over his, and he thinks she tastes like the sweetest poison, of cherries and arsenic.

He pushes himself up once more, knees digging into the earth beneath him, and he doesn’t think as he rips off her dress, pulling it down her legs in one swipe. Her underwear is purple, a pretty shade of lilac that reminds him of his own eye, with a little rose in the middle, now stained with mud and grass as she writhes, trying to hide the patch of wetness that seeps through the dainty fabric. Aemond is quick to lean down, pressing his nose against her navel, the smell of rain and sleep tainting her flesh, and he gives her a small lick, from her belly button to the hem of her underwear. She whines, bare chest heaving as she looks down at him, eyes pleading underneath a cloud of wariness, brows furrowed as if she is fighting a battle within her mind. When he comes face to face with her clothed cunt, he doesn’t hesitate to press his tongue against the spot of her arousal, the cotton soft along his tongue as he laps at it, trying to taste her slickness.

“Iksan jāre naejot qogralbar ao,” he grits out over the rain, his cock aching as he lays flat against it, head still between her thighs. “Yn jaelan naejot sylutegon ao ēlī.” (I am going to fuck you. But I want to taste you first).

He doesn’t ponder over whether she knows High Valyrian, the language of their ancestors, but when she lets out a moan, her head nodding against the ground, a sense of pride settles within him. He pulls the last remaining piece of clothing off, bringing his hands to her thighs, which he pushes up so that her knees are pressed against her chest, leaving her wide open for him. A groan leaves him at the sight of her wet cunt, and when he lays his tongue flat against her pearl, he nearly creams his pajama pants at the pulsing of her and the taste of her arousal. Like a man starved, his tongue laps over the whole of her, licking and sucking as she writhes and moans, a flush starting from her chest to her hairline washing over her like a veil. His hips grind into the earth below him, his eye focused on her wet face, strands of her dark hair stuck to her cheeks and across her gaping lips. He thinks she might look even prettier like this than when she cries.

She’s wanton in her moans, head lolling back and forth, eyes squeezed shut as Aemond presses a finger into her wet cavern, his own eye fluttering shut at the tightness, a ring of soft muscles clenching down. His tongue focuses on her pearl, which throbs as he flicks and presses against it, engorged in its pleasure, and as he crooks a finger up inside her, her hips buck up in a spasm, though the grip he has on her legs, which still press up to her chest, stops her from moving. A loud whimper leaves her lips, and her peak comes quickly, her arousal gushing around his finger. When she finally calms down, going slack under him, he pulls his finger out and immediately licks her cream off it, before going back in to clean up her now sensitive cunt.

Her fingers tangle within his hair, tugging to pull him off her as she wriggles under his licks, and when he finally pulls away, her grip is strong as she whines before he gives in and rests his weight above her, lips hovering her own. Her tongue comes out to lap at them, small kitten licks that grow more greedy, until she’s slipping between them and pressing him close to her. She groans, perhaps at the taste of herself on his tongue, her hips already jutting back up against him, brushing over his aching cock, desperate for more like his own ravenous whore. His hands are quick as they push down his muddied pants, cock springing up against his soaked abdomen, bringing the head to rub along the seam of her. Lucerys seems to tense under him at the feeling, but he pays no mind as he presses the tip against her tight hole, still slick and warm even after her peak.

“Aem-“ she gasps out, hands against his shoulders, eyes wide in fear at the feeling of his cock pressing into her. “I…”

He slams his hips flush against her with a grunt, a yelp escaping her quivering mouth, fingernails digging deep into the cotton of his shirt. Tears immediately start to stream down her flushed cheeks in rivulets, soft sobs building up within her closed throat. Aemond has never felt such dizzying pleasure, white hot and shooting through every nerve in his body, until he feels like he’s aflame. He doesn’t falter as Lucerys cries, his pace fast and deep, pulling out until just the tip of him remains, before slamming back in, his sack slapping against her ass. When he looks down, he can see her blood on his cock, and the sight of it, as well as the confirmation of her virginity, makes him grow frenzier, tongue running along her salty cheeks, moaning at the taste of her tears. He wants to bite her, to draw blood, to taste the very marrow of her.

A growl leaves him as he bites down against her wet cheek, the chub of it soft between his teeth. Her hands are quick to shove at his chest, though her moans and the sounds of her slickness, sticky against him, makes him believe his sweet little niece likes it just as much as he does. When he pulls away, he revels in the sight of the marks he left, bright pink and sure to turn a purple-blue after. Her sobs slowly turn into hiccups, which turn into moans that she tries to hold back with a bite to her lips, but when Aemond wraps one hand around her throat, they turn into gasps. He squeezes hard, holding for just a few seconds, before slackening his grip, letting her breathe if only for a moment, hips digging painfully into the back of her thighs with every thrust.

“You’re h-hurting me, uncle,” Lucerys cries out, doe eyes red from her tears, peering up at his grunting face above her own flushed one. “Kostilus.” (Please).

“Mazemilā ziry hae se sȳz byka līve iksā,” he sneers, bringing his body down to rest against her shivering frame, arms wrapping around her back, slick along the mud. He presses her flush to him, and she is quick to hold onto him, legs curling below the crook of his arse. “Mirre ñuhon.” (You will take it like the good little whore you are. All mine).

Her moans are sticky against his neck, lips brushing along the damp skin every time she opens her mouth, the sounds ringing in his ears above the pittering of the rain and the grumbles of occasional thunder. His fingers scratch down her back, hips stuttering as her cunt squeezes around his cock, warm and slick and unwilling to let him go. When she pulls her head up from its spot against his neck, hands scrambling to rest along his jaw, bringing his face up to look at her, eyes zoning in on the empty socket where his left eye once sat, it is then that he realizes he didn’t put on his eyepatch. He nearly shrinks into himself, jerking his chin away from her grasp so he can sink his face back against her hair, but she doesn’t relent. Instead, her fingers trace along the jagged scar, lips open in awe as she admires the work of her own hand.

Lucerys presses her lips right below the gaping hole of his eye, tongue gentle as she licks up the length of his scar. With her mouth resting just above the dark cavern, she whispers the words he has always wanted to hear, “I’m sorry, Aem. Iksan vaoreznuni.” (I am sorry).

He pushes her down to the wet ground once more, head slamming into the slush below, and she lets out a squeal, hands scrambling to push herself up. His hips snap into hers, palms tight against her wrists as he holds her down, vision a red haze. It isn’t enough. Her apology means nothing to him now, all these years after. Years spent mourning the loss of his eye, ruminating in the humiliation and injustice of that night, listening to the whispers of his classmates as they pondered over what sight sat beneath his leather eyepatch. Years of sharp pain shooting through his empty socket, of headaches that never went away, of dreaming of the one who caused this agony, her pretty face and that ringing laughter. Nothing she can say will ever be enough.

Tears stream down her pink cheeks, repainting the tracks left previously, her moans now gasps of pain and pleasure. He sits on his knees, her ass across his thighs, hips lifted upwards as he fucks her pliant body, like his own little doll. Her hair is matted with a mix of rain and mud, lips quivering and her eyes squeezed shut, a flush of shame and arousal settling across her bare chest. She looks so beautiful, so much like that young girl who has haunted his dreams since they first met, when she was just a babe and he a little boy who couldn’t yet form a sentence.

One of his hands slides up her bruised wrist, to rest along the gauze-covered palm, drawn to the wound that will scar her. His fingers dig beneath the wrap, lifting it up until the cut is bared, and as he feels her clench around him again, a breathy moan leaving her lips as her release washes over her, he leans his head down to lick along the seam. Dried blood flakes away, and as he presses his wet muscle harder, the cut reopens, blood blossoming out of it like a stream of water, which he doesn’t hesitate to lap over. His own release hits him like a tidal wave, the taste of her blood intoxicating him as he presses into her with one final thrust, his other hand going to grab onto her waist, thumb brushing against the bulge of his cock in her abdomen. She lays motionless as he uses her, until only small dots of blood remain along the reopened wound, and his cock has softened inside her, his seed hot against her womb.

Aemond rolls off of her with a grunt, hissing as her spent cunt seems to grasp at him as he pulls out. Between her thighs is a mess of blood and semen, a mix of their essences wet along his cock, and he almost hardens at the sight. He brings his fingers up to gather the pooling of the liquid that seeps out from her hole, roughly pushing it back in with a groan, her whimper sending another wave of arousal down his spine. She twitches beneath him, and when he is confident that his seed has stuck, he removes himself from her, rolling over onto his back and gazing up at the full moon, no longer covered by storm clouds. Beside him, Lucerys is quiet, only an occasional sniffle, and it seems like they lay there for hours, not speaking, not moving. Just waiting, three eyes focused on the night sky above them.

When she finally gets up, he watches with a hazy eye as she pulls on what remains of her nightgown, now a tattered, muddied mess of silk. She starts to walk off on shaky legs, but she pauses, turning back to look down at him.

“It was an accident, you know,” her voice is raspy, throat sore from the moans and cries that left her lips that night. “We were kids… I thought you were gonna kill Jace. I didn’t know. I’m so sorry, Aemond.”

He doesn’t say anything. She waits a few more moments, before finally walking off, her figure disappearing among the trees, leaving him alone by the still lake. He brings his fingers up to his lips, still wet from their mixed concoction of semen and blood, and takes his time licking them off. The taste is enough to slowly fill the gaping cavern in his chest, one full of rage and violence, images of his niece's body beneath him, naked in the moonlight, flushed from head to toe, racing through his mind in a kaleidoscope of memories.

Perhaps it was enough. Her apology, those saccharine words that dripped from her tongue like honey. He thinks maybe he can forgive her.

An eye for her innocence, for the blood that stains his cock and teeth.

*

a/n: this is crossposted to ao3 (user finalgrls)! kinda the darkest thing i’ve written so far, but it’s definitely the work im proudest of. i’d LOVE any feedback, even if it’s negative <3 i hope u enjoyed!

[fellhellion]

the fact that the greatest moments of intimacy in In The Mood For Love are when their hands meet. Gnashing teeth wailing crying weeping.

[fairyysoup]

it will come back

part one

a.k.a. sever the blight (eddie's version)

pairing(s): werewolf!eddie munson x fem!milkmaid!reader

summary: You don’t go into the woods. You don’t talk to strangers. And you don’t, under any circumstances, approach a wolf. Unless one shows up bleeding at your door.

cw: dark themes, mature content, animal cruelty, animal death mention, gunshots, physical abuse, reader is a servant to an abusive master, misogyny, suggestive themes, fairytale au, some kind of historical fantasy period, inspired by The Company of Wolves by Angela Carter, eventual smut (in later parts)

a/n: hiiiiiiii :) so remember when i said i'd stop posting fic on tumblr? well one mental breakdown later i decided that was literally making me miserable and ruining my hobby! so i'm back. it's me, hi, i'm the problem it's me <3 this is a reupload

ALL MY WORKS ARE 18+ MINORS DNI

There are things they tell you about the woods from the time you are born, weaning you on them just the same as you are weaned on milk. Don’t go into the woods on a full moon. Don’t talk to strange men. Likewise, if you see a strange man alone in the pines on the full moon, run and don’t look back. And don’t, for any reason, approach a wolf at any time. They’ll kill you before you turn the other cheek.

In your twenty-some-odd years, you have never seen a wolf. You’ve heard them howling, distantly, so deep in the forest that you don’t even feel the need to be frightened by it. They exist in there, somewhere, going about their business as wolves do.

Sometimes you hear about the wolves wandering into town. Old Mr. Thatch, from just over the creek, said his pigs were slaughtered in the night. He’ll have to spend a fortune to get a few more. Torben Plack from the end of Warder’s Row saw one drinking from the horse trough outside the inn last month. 

There are whispers of wolves when a baby is missing from its crib. There are whispers of murder in the night. There are accusations that some of the townsfolk themselves are wolves in disguise.

Nonsense, the lot of it. Or, that’s what you believe. That’s what you choose to think about it– even though you’ve been told time and again that a pretty girl doesn’t think, a pretty girl believes and does what she’s told. She doesn’t go into the woods. She does her chores and she says her prayers and she marries a boy with a healthy income and lives quietly, rearing children until she can’t anymore.

(You don’t believe that, either.)

You don’t have the luxury of making any other choices, though. You are a servant, a milkmaid in the employ of a rather cold Master– you have no time for philosophy or discerning what you do and don’t believe about the local folklore.

You milk the cow. You chop the firewood. You feed the chickens. You harvest the cabbage and you don’t complain. You sleep on your bed in your shack– or, servant’s quarters– behind the grand house and you don’t, under any circumstances, question the Master or his wife. You wash the bedsheets after he sloppily takes his wife to bed, and you try to hide your disgust. 

You usually do what you’re told. Usually. 

On a night when the moon hangs round and full in the sky, lighting the stretch of land beyond your small shack in a milky blue haze, you’re building a small fire in the fireplace when you hear it. The howling. It’s so much closer than you’ve ever heard it, almost as though the wolves are just beyond the treeline that backs up to your master’s land.

You pay it no mind. Normally, the wolves are on the hunt for something– small animals that titter through the woods, unassuming until it’s too late. The howling will be distant soon, and you’ll be able to sleep soundly while the rest of the town frets about the dangers of the wolf-men, locking their windows and bolstering their doors. 

Just as you thought, the howls drift away slowly. You snuggle down into the covers of your bed, and you barely flinch when Mr. Thatch fires off a pistol over the creek, ringing through the dead night louder than hell. These things mean little to you. You’re more interested in what the land of dreams holds for you tonight– it’s one of the only reprieves you get from your long days of work.

It isn’t until ten minutes later, when you are mere inches from sleep, that you hear a soft whining outside your cabin door. At first, you think it’s the wind. Then, when it gets louder, you wonder if you’re imagining it.

And when it turns into a soft howling, well. That’s not your imagination.

You wrap a woven blanket around your shoulders and leave the door open when you step out into the chilly night. You don’t have a candle– you could always knick one from the Mistress, but that might risk getting caught, and you don’t love that idea. So, you contend with the little amount of light that spills out of the open door from your small fireplace, and you squint into the dark toward the source of the sound.

It takes shape in the form of a wolf. A big one, covered in black fur and curled up beneath the gabled roof, as though attempting to make itself smaller. It shivers and whimpers miserably, tucking its paws close to its body. 

You shrink back in the doorway, drawing your blanket closer around your shoulders. The hum of crickets in the bushes and in the grass across the pasture covers the shakiness of your rapid breathing. You don’t know what to do. You couldn’t possibly be expected to bother the Master this late at night– even if it is a wolf, the barn is shut up and the animals are safe. You’d probably be expected to just stay put in your little cabin and wait for it to go away on its own. Maybe in the morning the Master will find it and skin it for the Mistress’s bedquilt. 

The image makes you shudder. This poor thing– even if it is nearly as big as you, even if it’s a nasty predator in the eyes of everyone else– is clearly looking for some sort of reprieve. Just the same as you do at the end of the day. You can’t let it be skinned alive just for searching for safety.

“Hey,” you whisper softly, and you know the creature hears you, because it flinches badly. Almost as though it may bolt away in a panic. “No, no… don’t be frightened.” 

You lower yourself down towards the ground, tentatively inching forward as the creature turns its head to blink up at you. Water brims its dark eyes, sparkling in the low light from your open door. Streaks of tears flatten the fur on its snout; the wretched thing lets out a noise like a sob, hanging its head like it doesn’t have the energy to stand you off.

“I’ve never seen a wolf cry before,” you tell it quietly. You’ve never seen a wolf, period, but you don’t need to tell it that. You’re not sure that it can understand you, anyways, but you keep talking like it can. “Are you hurt?”

The wolf snorts, sneezes loudly, and then trembles. There’s a high pitched whining, a heart-shattering noise that cuts deep into your chest as the beast cowers away from you. The whine turns into a low growl when you move a bit closer, but it doesn’t sound like it really means business. More like it doesn’t know what to do with your closeness. 

“Hey,” you say again, more insistently. You inch your way forward, crouched low to the ground, holding your blanket around you with one hand as you reach the other out toward it. You’ve never tried to approach a wolf. You don’t know if it’s similar to trying to gain a domesticated dog’s trust– hold out your hand, let it catch your scent. Show it that you mean no harm, allow it to come to you. “I’m trying to help you, okay? Let me help.”

The wolf growls for a moment longer before finally relenting, and reaching its head forward to sniff curiously at your hand. You don’t know what you expect– perhaps that it would drop its head again, or back away cautiously. Instead, the wolf surprises you by pushing its head into your outstretched palm like a sad puppy.

“Oh,” you coo, stroking the wolf’s soft head as it trembles. Its ears twitch against your fingers, and it snuffles a few times, its body shaking with each, like an all-too-human fit of sobbing. “Okay, baby. Let’s get you inside.” 

Again, it’s a shot in the dark. You back slowly away from the creature, whose watery eyes blink up at you, and then you stand, and open the cabin door wider. The wolf doesn’t move, still continuing to shake with its uneven breathing.

You take a step into the door, and watch as the wolf slowly struggles up out of its cowering position. On all four legs, it seems to be favoring its right front leg, lifting its left paw limply upward. When you take another step back into the cabin, and it follows, it shudders a breath and limps badly on its left leg. 

“Good job, honey,” you tell the wolf gently as it tentatively follows you into the cabin. 

You don’t know whether to leave the door open or to shut it; you’re not sure if there’s any wisdom in shutting yourself in close quarters with a wild animal, but you also don’t want the Master to find it come morning. You suck your teeth and swing the door shut, quietly latching it and hoping the damned thing doesn’t suddenly decide it’s too hungry. 

You turn, and take two steps before dropping to your knees in front of the fireplace, where the most light hits the ground. You drop your blanket to the floor, and pat your lap as you look at the creature shivering a few feet away. “C’mere. Lay down.”

As far as you know, wolves don’t normally lay down and play lapdog for strange humans, but this one does. You wonder at it, remarkable in its size and beauty, as it flops down tiredly onto your floor and rests its head in your lap. Through your cotton chemise, the wolf’s chin is warmer than the heat of the fire.

You pet the wolf’s head again gently as you examine its left leg. It doesn’t seem to have any major wounds except for a spot of wetness on the side of it. When you lift it, the wolf in your lap whines loudly.

“I know, baby,” you coo at it, trying to pet its head as soothingly as you can while you look over the mangled leg and paw. Through the fur and dirt, you see a patch of pink skin matted with bright red, and your own hand comes away smeared with blood. There is a bad gash, enough to still be bleeding. 

You don’t want to jostle the animal now that it’s relatively comfortable, so you bend backwards and sideways to reach the cup of water on the shelf at your bedside. It’s what you have on hand to clean the wound– you suppose you could sneak into the grand house to steal some soap, but just the same as the candle, you’d rather not risk it. You take your time in pouring cool, clean water on the wolf’s wound, rubbing dirt and blood away from the gash. In your lap, the beast huffs softly in response.

“I don’t know what you’re doing out of the woods,” you tell it as you tenderly clean its wound, expecting that you’re only speaking to settle your own nerves, “but you ought not to come around here too often. The men here are bloodthirsty. Don’t want you getting any more beat up.” 

The wolf heaves a sigh. For what it’s worth, you take that as some sort of acknowledgement. 

“I can’t do much else for you besides this,” you continue softly. The wound is clean now, the fur gone wet enough that you can pull it aside and peer at the gash itself. It’s quite deep, straight, and slices from the middle of its leg upward at a diagonal. It continues to ooze even as you examine it, painting your fingers red. You tip a little more water onto it. 

You grab one corner of the blanket you’d used to wrap yourself, and rip a strip off along the grain. The light pink fabric looks almost comical when you wrap it around the wolf’s leg, tying it and tucking the tails in gently so that it won’t fall off too easily. You figure, eventually, the damn thing will come off while the wolf goes off on its merry way. You don’t delude yourself into thinking you’ve got a pet, now.

“I wish I could give you more,” you tell the beast, petting your hand down its mane, feeling the silken fur slide through your fingers like the plushest finery that you’ll never be able to enjoy for yourself. “But, I suppose, you can rest here tonight. If you promise to stay polite.”

The wolf doesn’t fuss when you slide a stiff pillow under its chin, and slip back under the covers of your bed. You gaze at it, curled up in a big black mass on your floor in front of the hearth, and you wonder why on earth a wild animal would be so well behaved. 

You wonder how a wolf is capable of crying.

You wake in the early morning light expecting to find a big black wolf sleeping in front of your hearth. Instead, when you rouse and rub the sleep from your eyes, you find that the wolf is gone.

In fact, there appears to have been no wolf at all. No blood on the floor, no black fur on the pillow that has inexplicably reappeared on the foot of your bed. Your water cup is full. And the door to your cabin is latched, just the same as it had been last night, after you let the wolf in.

By all appearances, nothing happened last night. There was no wolf. You half expect that you dreamed the entire thing. And you would continue to believe so– but, the end of your pink woven blanket is still torn, missing a strip from the end, frayed along the grain.

You slip from your bed and fling open the door to your shack, emerging into the cool morning air. You look down at the nook beside the door where the wolf had huddled in the dark, seeking shelter away from harm. There is nothing there to suggest that it had been there last night. 

But you know it to be true. You know it.

How could a wolf, a four legged creature with full use of only three of them, manage to unlatch your door, step out, and then relatch it from the other side? How could your water magically refill itself? It’s a mile to the well in the town square, and it’s not like the wolf could have done it. 

Broken from your thoughts, you hear a shriek of your name. You lift your head to see your Mistress, fully dressed, feeding the chickens. The daily chores have already begun.

“What are you doing outside in your underclothes?!” your Mistress yells, flinging grain down at the birds. “Go inside and dress yourself this instant, you wretch! And begin your morning duties!” 

You jump, darting back behind the door. You hadn’t thought anyone would be out yet. “Sorry, Mistress!” 

You rush to grab your stays from the end of your bed. You’ll pay for that one, you think. 

There are a million reasons why you prefer doing your chores out of the house. 

One, the Mistress isn’t around to rag on you over every little thing. Two, you don’t have to be watching over your shoulder to make sure you aren’t in the Master’s way. And three, you can take all the time you want to do other things as well, as long as you get done before dinner has to be served. 

Your skirt is filthy, but it’s a beautiful day, and the creek that separates your Master’s land from Mr. Thatch’s land is babbling quite a bit, and it makes doing the washing up much easier than it otherwise would be. Which you’re happy about, since your arm is so badly welted you can barely curl your fingers. 

You sniffle and lift your apron to wipe your nose. Then you wring out the Mistress’s petticoat– of which there are far too many for one woman to reasonably have– you whine at the strain on your injured hand, and you move to the basket of other soiled clothes. You think about blowing your nose in the Master’s linen shirt, and you’re about two seconds from doing it, too, when you hear a splash nearby. 

“Shit,” says a man’s voice. There are a couple more splashes around the bend, and then yelps, and then there’s one enormous splash, and a laugh. 

“Hello?” you call, trying to peer around the bank of overgrowth beside you. Then, there’s a cacophonous amount of splashing, which makes you screw up your face, and a man emerges from around the bank of greenery.

You pause, holding your Master’s laundry in your hands over the water like you’re wondering whether to dip it in or not. Really, you’re just shocked to see a strange man on your Master’s property at all. He’s out of breath, rosy cheeked and soaking wet from the chest down.

“Um,” is all you can say.

“Hello there,” the man says with a rakish grin that flashes sharp teeth at you. You blink a few times, just to make sure he’s really there. And when you do satisfy yourself with the fact that, yes, he’s very real, you then have to acclimate yourself to the idea that he’s also absolutely beautiful.

His very pretty face is framed by long, dark hair, and his eyes are strikingly dark. There’s something on his skin peeking out of the open collar of his burgundy blouse, but to look at that from this distance means to look at the way his shirt clings to his body, and then his trousers, and if you weren’t already struck dumb, now you are.

“How– how are you– um.” You wave your hands around, gesturing to the general area around you. “Whatareyoudoinghere?” 

“I think I was going for a swim, of sorts,” the man laughs, holding one arm out a bit to indicate his damp appearance. 

“Who are you?”

“Now, there’s a question for the ages.” The man tromps forward through the water, splashing along gracelessly and with exaggerated steps, like he’s trying to make you laugh. “Generally speaking, no one really cares who I am, just what I want.” 

“Okay,” you snap, irritated by the man’s jovial attitude and his need to speak in riddles. “What do you want? Why are you on this land? What business do you have here, and with whom?” 

“Whoa, hey–” the man holds up his hands, and grimaces like it’s painful to do so. Then he recovers with a flashy smile. “I don’t mean you any harm, princess. I have no business anywhere, I was just following the creek and seeing where it leads. Guess the time got away from me.”

“I’m not a princess,” you grumble back at him.

He tilts his head, his smile lingering as he looks at you. “Just an expression, no need to be nasty.”

You scowl down at your master’s clothes, and then plunge them into the water like they personally offended you. “Following the creek from where?” He points his thumb over his shoulder, towards the trees. “You came from the woods?”

“Thereabouts.” 

You squint up at him. “What’s your name?”

“Eddie Munson, at your service.” He bows dramatically and takes another step towards you. “And may I ask who you are? Or shall I just call you ‘My Lovely Lady of the Creek,’ for time immemorial?”

You tell him your name flatly, and turn your face away as he gets closer, suddenly very invested in getting sweat stains out of your Master’s linen blouse using a cake of lye soap. “You should know not to go into those woods alone. There’s wolves.” 

 “Oh, I think I can handle myself in the woods, sweetheart.” Eddie smirks down at you. “Anyways, who wants to be in the trees on a day like this?” 

You grunt. You don’t think the man will be going away anytime soon, which is bad news for you, because the closer he gets, the more inclined you are to look at him. Then, you’re more inclined to talk, and you’ve already been punished once today. You don’t think you could handle another.

The man, Eddie, sits himself down on a large rock jutting out of the water next to you. He watches you for a moment, scrubbing with one hand at the cloth on the board in the water, and then he points down at your arm. His billowing sleeve flashes red in your peripheral vision, along with the silver of the rings on his hand.

“What happened here?” he asks softly, his voice losing its humorous tone.

You look down at the welted skin. It stings, but the cold water numbs the pain just a bit. Now that he’s brought your attention back to it, your eyes prick with tears again, and you sniff. “My Mistress caught me outdoors in my chemise.”

“She should count herself lucky. It’s a sight to behold.” 

“What?” You blink up at him. From this angle, him looming over you on a boulder, the sun rings his head in gold like a halo. “How would you know?” 

“I’m… supposing.” Eddie bites his lip, staring off to the side for a moment, as if suddenly at a loss for the right words to say. “You’re a very… beautiful girl. I can only imagine.” 

“That’s forward of you.” 

“Besides, it doesn’t answer my question,” he rushes out. He scowls back down at your arm. “What did that to you?” 

You heave a sigh. “Well, the Mistress told my Master. And the Master is very heavy handed with a cane.” A small sob constricts your throat for a moment, tears pricking your eyes again so badly that you have to stop working and close them. Your sinuses burn from the effort of holding it in.

“You were beaten because you went outside without a petticoat?” Eddie remarks incredulously, “That’s ridiculous.”

“Well, I… I was also late to start my chores,” you admit in a wobbly voice. “So I suppose I got off easier than most would…” 

“It’s cruel. I’d love to see how he would take it, if the tables were turned.” Eddie’s dark eyes flash dangerously when you look up at him; there’s something in the set of his jaw and the steely expression on his face that makes you think of the growling wolf last night. After a moment, he softens towards you again. “Why were you late to your chores?”

“I…” you trail off. You think about telling him about the wolf, but you wonder if he’s the kind of person who will go into town and yell about the wolves trying to steal women in the night, and you could do without the embarrassment. “I had a nightmare. Slept too late.”

Eddie clicks his tongue and rocks backward a bit. “A nightmare,” he repeats, considering the word like it’s a part of life’s philosophy. “What about?”

You don’t respond for a few moments. You’ve moved on to washing a pillowcase now, which is significantly less soiled than your Master’s blouse. “Why do you care?”

“I care because I hate to see My Lovely Lady of the Creek in distress. Even if she is completely vexed by the sight of me,” He says lightly, as you tilt your head down to hide the way your cheeks burn. He reaches up his right hand and produces a silver coin from behind your ear. You stare at it in puzzlement as he hands it to you. “What was your nightmare about?”

You hesitate just a moment before taking the silver coin. “Is this bribery?”

“Absolutely,” Eddie announces with a wry smile. “For your thoughts.”

You sigh. You could use the coin, you’ll admit. Maybe you could buy yourself a new robe, or a loaf of bread from the baker, or any other of the myriad things you’re in want of. 

You tuck the coin down the front of your bodice, where it slides down and gets stuck between your ribcage and your chemise. Eddie’s eyes follow the path that it takes between your breasts with a hungry glint in them. 

“There was a wolf,” you tell him quietly, going back to your work. “It came to my door bleeding. I brought it inside and nursed it. But when I woke, there wasn’t a wolf. It was just a nightmare.”

“Oh,” Eddie hums amusedly. “I wouldn’t call that a nightmare. I’d rather call it a dream.”

“A dream?” you echo with a scoff. 

“Yes. A lovely dream, with a heroine and a lonely beast in need of kindness.” He leans towards you, his hands on his knees. “But, you know what they say about wild things.”

You huff with indignance, but humor him, because you’re curious in spite of yourself. “I don’t know. What do they say?”

“You shouldn’t show them kindness,” he whispers, so close to your ear that you can feel his breath on your neck. “They’ll keep coming back for more.”

You startle, standing up with a noisy splash of water as you yank the last of the laundry from the creek. There’s a flush under your bodice that you don’t like, sticking to the coin that’s going hot against your skin as you think about it even being there. That it was produced by his hand. The more you think about it, the more you imagine it as an extension of his body, touching you just beneath your breast. 

Eddie snickers to himself as you hurriedly, shakily, smack the last piece of laundry into the basket with the rest, and pick up the washboard from the water. With a frustrated huff, you stand and rest the basket of laundry on your hip. You gaze out across the creek, and then away towards the trees, and finally, when you’re sure you can form words, you turn back to him. 

“Goodbye, Mr. Munson,” you say stiffly, so that you don’t trip over your own tongue. It comes out icily as a result, and you turn away to hide the way that you blush.

“Until we meet again.” Eddie presses his lips together, as though he’s stifling a laugh. Then he says, in a slightly bossy tone, “Take care of that arm for me, princess. Don’t want you getting any more beat up.”

You whirl around to ask him to repeat that– what the hell did you just say?– but when you do, the man is already gone. Along with any trace of his presence by the creekside. 

Except, the coin he bought your dream with still grows warm against the heat of your skin, under your bodice.