#took like at least 9 tries to get the size right

[kittygamer2888]

I had to erase a few images because it reached the limit of images 😭😭

BUT! At least it still makes sense without the extra stuff U_U

Anyways, this is kind of a doodle fanart too--

HH[Hungryhero.exe] belongs to @sonicexelle-junkary !!

Go read it! It is sad but awesome at the same time!

[kalpeavaris]

Totally for unrelated reasons, what are some more facts about communication drones? Like uhhh specific anatomy ect?

Prepare to get spammed with information! 👀

Communication Drones Infopost

Communication Drones (calling them CDs for short here) are a sub-type of Worker Drones fitted with antenna and special storage systems meant to analyze, store and transcrypt incoming and outgoing signals between Outposts, (human) landing pods and machinery.

CDs can also communicate with each other & Workers around them in a certain range which allows them to be very effective in sending out orders en masse to other Drones.

(more below the cut for their anatomy, specialities and more!)

Most CDs have two to four antennas fixiated to their head which are directly connected to their auditory entrance (or well, 'ears' as we would call it in human terms) which makes their antennas vital for their work and general hearing. Damaged or removed antennas may result in a CD losing their ability to hear or at least reduce it greatly.

Depending on the size of the antennas it's easy to see what purpose the CD served - long antennas are usually paired with long-range signals which put the individuals at use to distribute orders, arrange communication between ships & pods on their way to other exoplanets (when humans were still around) and to manage incoming signals from other planets & stations/outposts.

Short antennas usually indicated a more localized position for the drone in question - mainly within a singular Outpost or in ships to work directly connected to the local machinery and computers, sending orders in smaller ranged areas and storing security data.

Most CDs have secondary enhancers which work similar to a short-range antenna allowing them to switch between long and short range at will (mainly used for CDs that had flexible working places between ground & flight).

Generally, the antennas also function as "mood indicator". They can rotate around themselves and change position dependant on a fixed motion range around the head - similar to how e.g animals use their ears to indicate mood, CDs quickly took these habits from dogs that were around Copper-9 and video material of animals and copied them. Not all CDs did or do that, but alot of them do. For example if an individual is excited/attentive, the antennas would stick right up. If they're overwhelmed/annoyed/angry they'd usually be lowered down or pressed against the sides of the head.

They were expected to be very attentive and pay close attention to details. Their inner storage was designed to hold literal months and even years of auditory data that they recieved which was usually extracted every 4-6 months via the ports on their back which connected directly to the storage. Without these "clear outs" most CDs experience involuntary deletion of audio files which is out of their control and might result in them forgetting things they've heard/analyzed before.

Other than those two features their anatomy is fairly similar to that of normal Workers, height etc. as well.

After the humans disappearance alot of CDs lost their use as there... well, were no orders to share and no signals to analyze. Some of them struggled with this loss of "useability", some were fairly happy about this.

Lost/destroyed antennas cannot be restored by themselves (well, unless a CD is a Solver User like Kira) and CDs usually do not take well to losing or damaging antennas. Enhancers aren't as sensitive, but still hurt. Touching them might also cause disruption in hearing for CDs, it would be like someone rang a bell next to a humans ear for them. :'D (no touchie!)

CDs are generally connected to ECHO in the MD: Echo story (outside of that this plot point doesn't matter, just mentioning it here haha). Since Kira was the first CD Echo tried to use as host it developed an interested in them since CDs are great tools to be used for mass-ordering hosts.

Alot of CDs were destroyed while the humans were still around, especially if their warranty expired or they became damaged, to prevent sensitive information (such as orders and analyzed data) from leaking or being stolen by enemy forces/entities.

CDs infected with a Solver usually had enhanced auditory strenghts, capable of sending much stronger signals regardless of their antenna's natural range of reach - and they could also "ping" other Users & Hosts which makes them easy tools of manipulation. Luckily the only known CD which acted as AS Host was Kira who was "patched", so it couldn't spread for now (excluding Echo :'D)

[weom000]

heres a rant about Vi's fighting style, coming from a boxer

okay so starting with her fighting when she was younger, in the clip where she is boxing against the like "game" machine as a kid; her style is very fast and relies on the opponents punching first, and her speed and agility in dodging. you can see her slipping and rolling quite often, as well as stepping back but not as often. Within this, her fighting style would take advantage of her size, using her at the time smaller frame to slip not only around but between the punches and hitting in the small weak zones that would be hard to get to if the opponent had not punched. This style is incredibly defensive, relying on agility and the other opponents most likely anger to get fast "stinging" hits in as opposed to hard heavy ones. 

In contrast, her fighting style is INCREDIBLY different when we see her fighting Sevika later. you can see from the earlier scenes of them going around the undercity that she has regained her agility while in prison, and has not lost her quick maneuvers, however during the fight with sevika one crucial part of her fighting style has changed, instead of dodging and using her speed to her advantage she instead uses Sevikas own fighting style against her by blocking instead. She still relies on defense, but it's in a much more offensive style, taking the hits or stopping them with her own fists to block them instead of dodging in between them in search of an opening. her fighting style has changed DRASTICALLY, but you can still see glimpses of how she would fight as a child in the way she waits for her opponent to strike, and then in the small gap in when the arm is extended before she can bring it back in to block, she uses her speed to her advantage to punch between that gap. She has (in my opinion) (def not because it's also my fighting style) the best and most successful fighting style when it comes to actual defense (not so much in the ring) because she is letting her opponent get tired out. Her blocks are solid, and if you have the capability to withstand it (which she definitely does) it's a rather painless style as well, taking blunt hits to the sides and fists will ALWAYS hurt less than smaller points with the same amount of force. something about the surface area idk but it's the same reason why my face isn't black and blue right now after having a 9 pound weight chucked at me but a baseball gave me a full black eye. She repeatedly tucks in her elbows, covering her ribs while holding her chin close to her chest to protect the side of her face with her fists and her throat with her chin. Her fight with Sevika may have seemed like a rash decision but in the way she fights you can tell she is prepared for the fight and had thought it through before. However, as the fight continues and Sevika talks more, as well as begins to gain the upper hand, and showing off her new metal arm, her fighting style becomes sloppier, and she takes worse hits than before, failing to block or dodge them in time.

 I say her fighting style is my personal favorite but a fatal flaw in it will always be that you NEED to block the hit properly, because if you took the hit full force without blocking, then it really would knock you down a peg in terms of fighting endurance, your general strength, and oftentimes since you usually block hits to the body it messes with your breathing pattern as well. it disrupts the flow of the fight and will mess up your endurance; which is exactly what starts to happen as the fight continues. Sevika says something i can't remember, and Vi gets sloppy and Sevika begins to hit harder and brings her metal arm out for more hits than blocks. HOWEVER a sad and incredible detail is that when Vi takes the hits that she cant block, she unconsciously returns to the fighting style she had as a child, or at least tries to. She puts her fists back up, but doesnt block her ribs so closely, similarly to how she would as a child. this, while offering less protection DOES give you more mobility and leeway in dodging, which she tries to do for the next few hits but the ones she sustained from sevika before limit her making those moves impossible, so she keeps trying to block the heavy shots while wanting to get out of the way but being unable to. 

BUT what's interesting to connect is Vanders fighting style, and how it relates to Vi's. Vander would be a heavyweight in boxing, and it's clear that the way he fights is heavy and hard, the same way his style evolved to be. He takes the hit, and hits back even harder. In the beginning of Vi's first fight with Silco's people on shimmer, she adapts to that fighting style when it gets tough. She stops dodging so much and starts to calculate which hits she can and can't take. obviously child Vi doesn't go taking heavy hits from the grown adults trying to fight her but she stop slipping into the gaps and finding weak spots, instead beginning to divert punches and hit them out of the way while getting in to her opponents personal space, limiting the area they can hit her with be getting into spaces you couldn't punch to with force. WHICH is just like what you would do in a heavyweight match, the goal is to take the punch and hit back even harder, OR to get them in a place where they can't properly fight. In my personal opinion I think this means we can readily glean that Vander definitely taught Vi how to fight, and encouraged her to develop a style different from his own knowing that she wouldn't be able to take hits like he could, and hoping she would never find herself in a spot where she had to. So, in her training she would fight fast and light, dodging everything and prioritizing avoiding getting hit above hitting back, trying to tire her opponent out. However when it came to the actual fight and saving Vander, she went to what she knew worked, which was Vanders fighting style. get hit and hit harder. Which is what she continued to do through prison, and how her fighting style developed into what I mentioned in the fight with Sevika, but you can see glimmers of what Vander must have taught her to shine through when she gets scared. 

[fjsjjgnnfjdjf]

Size allergy (1/?)

Wow, 9 interactions in three days! I didn't think this writing I do for fun would be so well liked. I know I said I was taking longer to update the stories, but these days the stars aligned and I got the time and the inspiration to continue with this, in this chapter starts the interesting part hehe 😈

I forgot to clarify in the last chapter, that this story is located near the end of season 2 of the series.

Warnings: In this chapter there is more angst and a slight panic attack.

English is not my mother tongue, if you see an error, please feel free to comment.

PS: The next chapter will take longer to come out, as I have college work to do.

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

The next day after the camping; the boys were already at home, doing their usual activities after a Splinter training, when Donnie started complaining of an unbearable headache. Leo was the first to discover it and decided to take him to the medical area, not wanting to alert Rapha. 

“Okay, let's see if you have the flu” said Leo putting on a stethoscope while looking for a thermometer. 

“It's not the flu Nardo... Ouch...” he said while pressing his head “It hurts more than that... And if I really had the flu, I'd be sneezing and sweating all gross” he was going to keep talking, but Leo interrupted him by putting a thermometer in his mouth. 

“Yeah yeah, but it's not bad to rule out... You know what happens when we all get the flu” he walked over to Donnie's plastron and placed the head of the stethoscope where his heart should be and concentrated on listening. 

“Ow... It's not the flu!” he complained, he was starting to get dizzy. 

“Shhhh... You won't let me hear!” after a moment of silence, he pulled his head out of the stethoscope and then took the thermometer out of his brother's mouth to examine it “... Mmmm well you don't have the beginnings of a fever and I can still check that you have a heart, even if it doesn't look like it” he smiled at him with a mocking tone. 

“Ha-ha very funny, he said totally sarcastic” he grabbed his head again, starting to sway a little from the dizziness “I feel like my brain is being scrambled” 

“Donnie... Have you been abusing caffeine again?” he folded his arms “You know Raph won't like that” Leo also started to feel a headache, but he tried to fake it in front of his brother. 

“No...” he felt more and more dizzy, feeling as if he was going to faint. 

“Wow, take it easy!” exclaimed Leo as he held his brother and made him lie down on the medical area bed “You might have some dizziness... I'll go get something for your head” 

He turned away from the bed and headed for the exit, turning for a moment to look at his brother. 

“Heh... You're very dramatic, you know that?” he only received a grunt in response that he barely understood as “shut up Nardo”, something that made him smile slightly, at least he hadn't lost his bad temper. 

As soon as he was out of his brother's sight, Leo started to press his head, it was hurting him a lot too, did he have the same thing as Donnie? He hadn't even figured out what it was, but the softshell turtle was right about one thing, PAIN IS UNBEARABLE!  

Quickly, he went to his room where he had a first aid kit, his idea was to get some painkiller pills for his brother. He went to the kitchen for water and took the opportunity to take a couple of pills himself, hoping that it would ease some of the discomfort, luckily his older brother wasn't there when he came in with the first aid kit. He took a glass and headed for the medical area, while he was also starting to get dizzy, he was somewhat worried about the situation, but it is better to act than to stay still. 

When he was just in front of the medical area, he was surprised by Raph. 

“Leo, what are you doing with the first aid kit?” the red-eared tortoise stood still as if he had been caught committing a crime “... And why are you in the medical area? Is someone sick?” he folded his arms and watched with a sharp look as the boy gave him a smile of feigned innocence. 

“Raphael! Hermano! What brings you here?” he smiled trying to show his most confident look, despite the intense dizziness he was having “Nothing serious, just Donnie being dramatic as usual” he felt his eyes starting to cloud over. 

“Is he alright?... not the flu or something?” while he believed his little brother, something smelled fishy, and this time it wasn't him. 

“Nooo, I... checked” the last word came out a little lower than the others, Leo was using all his strength to keep his eyes open.  

“Leo... You look sick too” he moved closer to this one, while the boy tried not to look bad “What is it, is that what Donnie has?” he tried to put his authoritative tone so that his brother would stop joking. 

“Hehe... Maybe?” he laughed as he kept trying to smile to keep his alarmist brother calm “But relax... I... I have... Under... Control...” at that moment he felt he no longer had the strength to hold on. 

Leo dropped the glass of water he was holding, while Raph grabbed his brother when he noticed he was losing consciousness. 

“Wow Leo!” he exclaimed as he knelt down to try to lay him down, he was panicking “What's wrong?!, talk to me!” he moved him so the boy wouldn't close his eyes. 

“Ow... I don't know...” he was trying as hard as he could to stay awake, but the dizziness was strong “Haha... Now... You have two heads” he said under the last while closing his eyes. 

“Wait wait wait!... Leo!” he tapped him a few times, but nothing seemed to wake him up “I'll take you to the medical area with Donnie... And I'll tell pops and...” he was getting ready to pick him up when another strange thing started to happen.  

Suddenly, Raph felt his brother become lighter; at first, he thought he was hallucinating, but after a moment it was evident that Leo seemed to weigh less than he did a few moments ago. Then he realized why, he was getting smaller, HIS BROTHER WAS GETTING SMALLER!  

It was slow, but steady. Within a minute, the red-eared turtle was closer to the size of a child than that of his brother, AND he still wasn't stopping! 

Raph was much more than just panicking now, he lifted his little brother off the ground as he continued to shrink, still unconscious. 

“Wh-what...! Wh-what is this?!” he could barely say, trying to keep himself from screaming, now barely three feet tall “Leo? LEO?” his brother didn't seem to answer. 

His mind was racing a thousand alarms a minute; his brother wasn't answering, he was literally shrinking in his arms and he really didn't know what to do. It seemed as if an ancient nightmare was materializing before him, How long was this going to last? Would his brother just shrink away? He would wake up eventually, right? 

Just as he thought the latter, his brother stopped shrinking, he now fit perfectly in his hands as if he were an action figure. It was amazing and unsettling in equal parts, plus it felt strange, of course in the past he trapped his brother with his mystical giant, but this was completely different. He was nervous beyond words, though a small relief settled over him when he took a closer look at his brother and found that he was still breathing.  

Should he try to wake him up? He was afraid of scaring him, or dropping him if this one moved too fast. He had always been the biggest of his brothers, but this was ridiculous, he had no answers to what had just happened and he really didn't know what to do. 

It was then that he felt Leo move slightly in his hands, as if he was waking up. “Damn, Wait! What do I do?”, he wasn't ready yet to face his shrunken brother. All he could manage to think was that he had to try to look as unthreatening as possible so Leo wouldn't end up slipping out of his hands, he curved his fingers upwards, just in case. 

~~~~~ 

Leo didn't know what had happened, he just remembered being dizzy and suddenly everything went dark, whatever it was he had, it was more than just a headache. As he struggled to wake up again, he felt something strange, he didn't seem to be either in a bed or on the floor, no, the surface was different; it was uneven, a little rough and (somehow) familiar. It was then when he sat up and opened his eyes that he saw in front of him the face of none other than his older brother. But something was wrong, he looked huge, and he was so close! 

“Wow! What the-?!” he interrupted himself, because he realized that the strange surface he had felt before was in fact Raph's hands, he began to fret. 

“Hey... Easy Leo...” the snapping turtle tried to speak in a whisper so as not to scare his brother any more “You're all right...” he was not so sure about that; he curved his hands to keep him as protected as possible. 

“B-but what... Raph?” the boy held on to one of his brother's fingers and watched his brother's face with a deep strangeness “W-what happened? Why are you so big?” 

“Uh... Actually...” he looked away for a moment, he was uncomfortable with this whole situation “Raph is normal” 

Then Leo looked around; everything seemed significantly bigger, the door of the medical area, the walls, even the small details, everything looked gigantic, but it was proportional to his big brother... 

“Wait wait wait!” he repeated the same word raising his hands, looking back at his brother “I... I shrunk?” he pointed to himself, Raph nodded with concern “But how!” he exclaimed raising his hands. 

“How should I know?” he answered a little louder than Leo would have liked “You started to shrink after you fainted...” he was now more nervous than before. 

“Give me a moment Raph!” exclaimed Leo placing one of his hands on his brother's face to push him away “You're talking too loud...” the boy looked in another direction as he frowned trying to think. 

Raph turned his face away a little, this was all wrong, he didn't know what to do and he didn't want to make his brother more uncomfortable either. For his part, Leo observed his surroundings again, the impression of the moment didn't make him think clearly, but seeing the first aid kit lying on the floor (as big for him as his bed at the moment) and the glass with the spilled water he started to tie up ends. 

“Hey... I was here for Donnie...” he saw his brother and his concern increased. 

“Yes” he answered, but interrupted himself when he felt he was talking too loud again “Sorry... Yes, you said he was sick...” he didn't like Leo's worried look. 

“Raph... He... He felt the same way as me...” the realization on both of their faces was pure panic. 

Raphael then quickly entered the medical area with Leo in his hands, while the red-eared tortoise tried as much as possible to get used to being carried by his brother's hands. On the bed where Donnie was before there were now only his things; his battle shell on one side, his wrist communicator and also his protective glasses... But the softshell turtle was nowhere to be seen. 

Raphael started to search everywhere with his eyes, especially on the ground (he didn't want to end up stepping on his brother without realizing it), but there seemed to be no trace of him. It was then that Leo, from his position, noticed something moving under the battle shell, so he lightly tapped his brother's palm to get his attention and pointed to the bed. Raph nodded and moved to the side of the bed. 

“Let me on it!” the boy asked. 

Raph nodded and let Leo hop off his hand onto the bed. Leo rocked a little on the soft surface before he started to move forward, he still wasn't quite used to this crazy situation, but the important thing now was his brother. He made his way to the battle shell (huge now) and stepped into the space between the bed and it; though it was dark underneath, he could make out a figure moving, no doubt it was Donnie, as small as he was now. And he was sitting up, hugging his knees, “Well, at least he's awake”, he ran to stand beside him and knelt down in front of him. 

“Hey hey... Donnie?” he placed a hand on his shoulder, his twin saw him, but he could tell he was somewhat dissociated from the stress, he was breathing agitated “Easy... It's okay, I'm here...” he smiled at him as he began to inhale and exhale slowly, while motioning for him to mimic him. 

The softshell turtle watched his brother, the only thing that seemed normal since he woke up, as he tried to mimic his movements. He was so upset that he couldn't talk to him, so he just listened to his brother's directions; he stayed that way for a couple of minutes until his breathing calmed down. 

“That's it buddy... Slow down...” Leo's voice sounded soft and calm, when he noticed that his brother wasn't hyperventilating anymore, he tapped him lightly on the shoulder and smiled at him “Back in the present time big eyebrows?” 

“Nardo...” he answered a little low, rubbing his head a little, while he tried to pull himself together “By Bohr's atom!” he suddenly shouted, making Leo jump “What happened and what does it have to do with you?!” he pointed at it, realizing that it was the only thing around him that didn't look like an alien environment. 

“Hey, I'm just as lost as you are with this situation!” he exclaimed pointing at himself and his surroundings “Although I admit that you were right... This wasn't the flu” he said scratching himself. 

“Wow, at least you realized that, feigned surprise” he said waving his hands “But... What could have done this to us?” he placed a hand on his chin. 

“That's what I want to find out with Raph” said Leo, noticing that maybe he had been under the shell for a long time. 

“Wait a second... Did Raph shrink too?” he asked with a certain dismayed tone. 

“No, he's normal, he's at the side of the bed now” he said as he stood up and held out his hand to his brother “And I have a feeling that, if we don't get out soon, he'll go crazy” Donnie grabbed his hand and followed him. 

~~~~~~ 

Raphael stood at the edge of the bed, watching Leo crawl under Donnie's battle shell; if he had to guess, his other brother must be down there, but he and Leo were taking too long. He knelt down beside the bed (all for trying to look less big) and placed his hands on it, he was so tense his neck hurt, Donnie's okay, right? He cowered like Leo and woke up, right?. The boys must have been under the shell for at most 5 minutes, but for Raph it felt like an eternity. Finally, both boys came out, Leo was holding Donnie's hand and Donnie seemed fine, although he still wanted to make sure. 

“Donnie... Are you okay? Are you in pain?” despite trying, he couldn't hide his anguish and loud voice, when he got too close, Donnie recoiled in surprise. 

“Pancakes!” he exclaimed “Yes Raphael, beyond the obvious, I feel perfectly fine” he approached his brother again, although with some caution. 

“Phew... That's a relief” he exhaled some air “You don't know how scared you had me” 

Again, he tried to take some distance from Leo and Donnie; it wasn't so obvious in Leo, but Donnie was certainly nervous about his presence. He didn't like this, he didn't like being, in a sense, the reason for their little brothers' (literally) discomfort. 

“Let's try to be calm brothers” said Leo trying to conciliate “At least the worst is over” 

However, just as he said that, the three of them heard a loud scream, which they recognized immediately. 

“MIKEY!” exclaimed the three of them at the same time.

Prologue / Next

[kneelingshadowsalome]

Man-sized Part 2/9 After Dark

Pairing: Simon 'Ghost' Riley x F!OC

Tags: Explicit content, +18 audiences only. Smut, romantic angst, fluff. An unapologetic LOVE STORY. Sexual tension, mutual pining, banter, flirting, developing relationship, strangers to lovers. Simon Riley has a dark past (partly inspired by Modern Warfare 2: Ghost comics).

CW/TW: References to PTSD, depression, past torture and abuse in later chapters.

Summary: A uni student who pole dances at a strip club to pay her rent encounters a mysterious giant of a soldier seemingly incapable of falling in love.

A/N: Can be read as a Simon 'Ghost' Riley x Civilian!reader. Little to nil description, the OC has a name.

She didn't usually do this.

Bring guys to her apartment after a few giggles. She especially did not bring guys like Simon "I kill people" back home to fuck.

It was her night time self. Her show belonged into a different realm. And that was okay. Everybody had a dark side, and she just... worked with hers in this way.

When people asked about her job, she told them she was a dancer. If they asked more, she told them she taught pole dance lessons. Only a handful of her most trusted friends knew that she danced at a strip club. Danced: she was a dancer, not a stripper. Pole dancing required minimal amount of clothing so that tricks could be performed safely and efficiently. She viewed her job as an opportunity to hone her skills and have a workout after her studies. And it paid the bills. She called it a win-win situation.

Simon belonged to the nighttime world too.

And what happened after dark just had to happen at some point, she figured.

But it turned out that Simon wasn't just a tall, dark stranger who fucked women and killed people.

He was also a lover.

She supposed that he was good at fucking, too, but he seemed to hold back from that this night, with her, at least. She didn't really know what to think of it. She thought he had brought her here – to her apartment – to be fucked. Because that's how it was; he called the shots, not she.

Her clothes were gone as soon as they entered the darkness that was her bedroom. Not a single garment had left his body, other than those big, black shoes that were now in her hallway, somewhere amidst all the girl shoes. Huge hands ran down her back and cupped her ass before she could turn on the lights, they raised her to his lap as he carried her to the bed.

He was a good kisser, and he kissed her all over. She was left with her panties and an icy terror in her stomach as he continued to explore her body with his mouth. She was still not over the fact that he was a cocky stranger who had gotten her into this situation just by pouring honeyed rum in her ear.

In other words, she had fallen for bullshit.

"What's wrong, dove?"

He wasn't stupid, though. He noticed that she was a bit tense, a tad uncomfortable. As much as she wanted to let him do whatever he wanted with her, the prospect of seeing him leave after he was done was a turn-off. In horror, she realized that she wanted to get to know him, wanted to get to know Simon.

"You afraid of me?"

She supposed he would probably get kicks out of it if she said yes.

"Should I be?"

"No. Just here to make ya feel good."

He continued to kiss her, took her breast inside one of those huge palms. She wasn't a small woman, the muscles in her back, shoulders, forearms and stomach might've been a bit too much for some guys. But they weren't for Simon. She felt like a delicate, feminine flower with him, and it was scary: how her breast nearly disappeared inside that warm and calloused hand – of course it was calloused, so much so that the callouses scratched her skin – and when he licked her, she tried to hold on to her sanity for a little while longer.

"What's your last name?"

He huffed a short laugh on her stomach, and her muscles contracted at the hot air suddenly hitting her skin.

"Is that what you wanna know right now?"

When she wouldn't answer, he continued kissing her, went down, even further down…

"Riley."

The name was whispered, short and sweet, against her soaked panties.

"What do we have here…"

She could only swallow and let him take that last bit of shielding fabric away. She hadn't expected this at all: that he would come to her apartment to adore her. That he would go down on her. At this very moment, it felt too intimate, too much from a guy whose name she barely knew. She had come to know him for months and months through his stare only, but now he was here, in her bedroom, between her thighs… he was real.

"I…"

"Yes, love?"

Calling her love already… It was a bit too tacky. But then again, she guessed she did kind of like it because it made her even more wet.

"Could you take your clothes off too?"

This time, he laughed like someone who found the situation greatly entertaining, and her… adorable?

"You never cease to amuse me."

What will happen when I cease to amuse you?

"You always fuck with your clothes on?"

That did something to him. He almost froze, then proceeded to take those goddamn clothes off.

She had ruined the soft, sensual mood, but it was okay, or so she told herself. She wanted to tear down this setting, the scenes that only rubbed it in her face that this was a one time only occasion before Simon would find another girl to obsess about. If he didn't have a girl in every town already...

"No nonsense with you, is that it?" He commented - the mood had definitely changed. "I like it."

The silk gloves were off with the rest of his actual clothes, and this time, when he positioned himself between her legs, it was to guide his erection in.

It was dark in the room, but she could see enough — after all, there was never a complete darkness to be had in the city. The blue-colored light filled the night and showed her that Simon was big.

No, that's not gonna…

He pushed just the tip in, and a needy groan escaped her lips.

"Yeah… I think you like me too."

He was so fucking cocky… Even and especially when his actual cock was inside her, with more and more pushing in by the minute.

She brushed her fingers along the lines of all that muscle, first his shoulder, then the forearm… the skulls and bombs and death. And she was wet, alright. Didn't know if she had ever been this wet for anyone. It was fucking frightening.

"That's a good girl…"

No, not the good girl talk, Jesus…

But she couldn't deny it: it worked. Everything he did, worked like a charm.

His balls touched her as he slid fully in... and stayed there.

The intimacy was unbearable, the stranger was inside her, and she could feel every inch of him. He was hovering above her, looking at her like "Ya feel that? Ya feel it too?"

But she must only be imagining; this wasn't real — a man like him couldn't hold such a sea of emotion in him. He was… a what, a soldier? A killer? There was nothing romantic here. They had met at a strip club.

And what was she to a killer… an exotic dancer, a uni student who barely had her life together, who paid her bills days after the due date.

"Don't flee from it."

She raised her eyes back to his and found that he was examining her. Those eyes now revealed much more than just dark, melting chocolate; they looked like they had seen too much. She briefly thought about whether the man was skilled in torture; if he was skilled at breaking his enemies and if he could hear their thoughts as he broke them. Could hear her thoughts...

"Sarah.. Come back."

Her inner muscles tightened around him, and he reacted instantly. "That's it...- good girl."

No one had ever talked to her like that... And she didn't even want to slap him for it. She followed his voice and was courageous enough to wrap her legs around him, that narrow waist that still managed to be bulky and broad, like everything in him was. He finally started the rodeo, which turned out to be the most sensual fuck she had ever had the privilege to receive.

It was like he fucked her soul or something.

Her lips were quivering, the moans he pulled out from her could've made Nicki Minaj blush. He was thorough, precise, and attentive — traits of a good soldier, she presumed. And he must've been some kind of a leader, the way he cheered her on like a highly ranked officer, a widely respected superior.

"Looking gorgeous," the rough voice washed all over her as she was approaching her orgasm. No one had ever made her come with cock alone. She assumed it was just the months and months of tension that was at work here, but some part of her knew that it was just pure, undiluted Simon Riley who she had to blame for it.

"Eyes up here," he commanded when she was only seconds away from a breakdown. Eyes up here... He talked to her like she was a soldier about to die, and he wouldn't let it happen, not on his watch. But it was a small death and a coming back to life as well: she broke for him so hard that he hissed as she dug her nails into his arms. An invisible string lifted her from her sternum, made her arch her back as she came, screaming, and the eyes held her, beheld her: amused, pleased... He was performing an exorcism on her, waking her from a year-long coma, restarting her heart with electric shocks.

She half expected him to praise her with that sultry good girl stuff again when she was in that vulnerable state, but he bent towards her and went for her mouth. He drank the rest of the orgasm from her lips, almost suffocated her with his kiss as she convulsed beneath him, and he wouldn't stop… he made love to her as she moaned on his tongue, and the thickness continued to fill her slowly as she came down from that life-saving orgasm. By the time he left her mouth, she was panting and squeezing the grinding hips with her hands, sinking her nails in there as well.

"I knew you were a wild one," he whispered against her lips. "That was almost as good as that little slap..."

She couldn't speak, could only catch for air at what Simon had said before he dived for her mouth again. The bed was moaning too under the heavy weight of her mercenary lover, especially when he upped the pace.

"I'm close too," he broke another kiss, slightly panting. "Where do ya want me?"

"Don't pull out..."

He gathered her thighs, lifted them to his shoulders like they weighed nothing, drove deep, so deep that his pelvis touched her and his whole upper body rubbed against her, and all she could feel was muscle. All she could smell was tobacco and hints of scotch and something which she reluctantly labeled as primal. It was his sweat and pheromones and all the tension that came undone as he came inside her. She heard an abrupt grunt that turned into a hoarse, shaky moan... and that earlier, unemotional declaration "I kill people" still echoed in her head.

---

She saw the scars in the morning when he got up and went to the shower. She had thought he was a torturer, but it looked like he was the one who had been tortured sometime in the past.

The white protrusions on his skin were evenly inflicted and in places that were not supposed to end a man but simply give him pain. She didn't know why exactly had she refused to believe him, to believe that his work was something highly unusual. The scars finally rubbed it in her face: this was not a regular, normal dude she was dealing with. He did not work as a desk officer in the military or even as a pro fighter in the combat sports business.

She was both fascinated and disturbed at the thought that Simon likely had invisible injuries too, a collection of scars on his psyche.

"You want a towel?"

It somehow grieved her that he wanted to wash her scent – their scent – away so soon, even if it was a simple, natural thing to do… to shower in the morning. He didn't answer, but when she went to give it to him nevertheless, it suffered the same fate as those flowers as he pulled her under the descending water with him.

The second round was more of a sloppy, dazed fuck. He took her against the wall, and she briefly thought that she would get a huge water bill next month. But it was worth every cent. She didn't come, but enjoyed watching him, now in a fully lit room with half-lidded eyes and a slightly open mouth. He even had a scar on his jaw...

"You're… tight, did'ya know that?"

She was still not over the fact that he talked like this during sex. He was almost chatty when at the bar he had barely spoken full sentences. She never knew dirty talk could be so stimulating.

Or perhaps it was just the magic of Simon Riley again.

"Why so serious?"

She laughed a little — Simon made her laugh. If anything, it was he who could be called serious, even with that dry, dark sense of humour.

"Don't know what to make of you."

"You're not the most open book yourself," he muttered, and she barely detected the hint of sorrow – yearning, in his voice.

He eventually came with an agonized, tired grunt. He seemed to be in a hurry, and when he pulled out and reached his hand to satisfy her as well, she grabbed him by the wrist and gently pushed it away. Simon sighed, and dropped his head against hers while the bulky shoulders closed in on her like walls. The water was running, and he was clearly having a moment, even though it was just supposed to be a quick fuck.

Hesitating, she reached to give him a hug, then started to slowly caress his back as he leaned his head on the wall and against her. His breathing only deepened. He sounded like someone who was taking a cold bath while trying to maintain a controlled breath. At some point, it almost sounded like he was in pain.

"Am I your pet?" He asked rather gruffly, and her hand stopped midway down his back.

"You don't like being touched?"

He nuzzled closer to her neck, placed a kiss behind her ear.

"Perhaps a little too much."

He then surprised her by giving her a wash. Like she was his pet. Perhaps it was his reaction to having shown vulnerable parts of himself to someone, even if what they had shared was just simple human connection. She relaxed a little too much under his touch, which was again deliciously attentive.

"The things I'd do to you if we had more time.."

He was crouching and the soap on her legs eased his caresses, but when he stopped for a while to give her a kiss there, she recoiled from him. It was simply out of surprise, because his hands and the warm water had left her drowsy and melting, but he rose and gave her another look. Simon clearly wasn't used to women refusing him, not to talk of shrinking from his touch.

When they came from the shower, she went straight to the kitchen. While searching for something to offer him as breakfast, she noticed that Simon was examining the course material on her desk.

Art history major and a professional killer — what a hilarious pair.

But he seemed more than interested, almost intrigued. He skimmed through a certain book about studies on the influence of natural philosophy on the Renaissance. The man might surprise her yet, but still, she couldn't see them chatting about Erwin Panofsky over a cup of coffee.

"You want some?"

She was standing there with only a towel on, holding a coffee pan in her hand: far too domestic a setting, and far too soon.

"Nah, gotta go."

Heaven came down in just three words.

Yeah… of course you do.

She abandoned her mission with the coffee and went to get her clothes, to have some kind of protection against the cold Simon would leave her with.

"Will I be seeing you again?"

"If you want to."

Polite, reserved... A gentleman instead of a no-nonsense soldier who would say it like it was. She could see now that he was definitely in a hurry.

"Can I call you?" She tried to flesh out a future for them and not think about the fact that she would, very likely, only have a ghost of him as a memory.

"I'd rather call you."

Right. I'm not seeing this guy again.

"Sure, whatever."

She gave him her number and watched how he walked out of the door and out of her life.

---

You wanted to know what I do for a living.

Holy Mother of…

Not only did he contact her, he sent her a picture of himself looking like… like war. The tired eyes stared at her from inside what looked like the top of a human skull attached to a black balaclava. He wasn't a foot soldier, or a mercenary, he wasn't even working for the UK version of a SWAT team. He was something else. She didn't even have a name for all the gear he was loaded with.

Still want to see me?

Fucking d.e.f.i.n.i.t.e.l.y.

She hadn't expected to see him ever again. She was sure he had asked her number just out of common courtesy. The chemistry was there, but the eventual sex had been awkward — satisyfying, and life saving, but awkward. She didn't really do one night stands, and Simon had flown into that category as soon as he had shut that door.

But now it seemed that she had to find him a new category. Everybody always said to give the guy three days. That the guy would show up if he wanted to.

It had barely been two days since he had been inside her and checked out what it was that she was studying.

I don't know. Doesn't look like James Bond to me.

I can put on a suit if that's more to your liking.

Hah, yeah… She would masturbate on that picture of him wearing a fucking human skull to work at least a hundred times.

No need.

Are you going to return the favor?

She sent him a picture — a rather naughty one. It wasn't the same kind of naughty she did at the club, no. She was wearing barely a touch of makeup, she was a little sleepy, her walls were down... and the only thing she wore was an oversized t-shirt she lifted just enough for him to see a little bit of something.

A smile rose to her face when he answered immediately.

Shouldn't have asked.

Not Bond girl enough for you?

Just the right amount, Sarah. It's your fault if I get killed.

Part 3:

[happilyhertale]

Long Last Love - Aemond Targaryen x female!reader, Part 4

Summary: You are finally engaged to Aemond Targaryen. As the daughter of Daemon and Rhaenyra, you will now live in King's Landing and no longer on Dragonstone. Your marriage to Aemond is imminent, as is your life together. The relationship between Aemond and your family has never been particularly easy, but the future will show whether your love will withstand this and subsequent tensions.

Pairing: Aemond Targaryen x fem!reader

Warnings: In some parts Smut (uncle/niece) as well as violence

Author’s note: Hey you (:

This is the follow-up story to "Long Lost Love".

The story starts just before the wedding of Aemond and y/n and goes over the events of the first season hotd. However, the events are not quite similar to those in the series. English is my second language, please forgive me if I made any mistakes (: For this part I had to translate a few sentences into High Valyrian. I used a website for this, if it's not correct, sorry!

Word count: 4k

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

The sun is high in the sky, only small, light clouds adorn the blue sky beside it. You let your gaze wander as you stand on your balcony. The sun's rays lightly warm your face while you are lost in thought.

You are pulled out of your thoughts when you feel arms wrap around you. Or at least they try to. Your big belly is in the way, but the hands gently wrap around your belly and caress it tenderly.

Gently Aemond lets his nose wander over the side of your face, "My Queen..." you hear him whisper. You smile.

You are expecting your first child. It will be the third child to walk through these walls. Helaena and Aegon have already had twins, Jaehaera and Jaehaerys. You love the little ones. They're sweet and reserved, like Helaena. And especially now that you're heavily pregnant and happy to sit anywhere, you sit with Helaena for hours while the little ones play around you. And the little ones have also become so used to your presence that they are almost tearful when you don't sit with them. Little Jaehaera likes to sit by your side and show you different flowers that she has collected in the gardens with Helaena's help. She likes to put the flowers on your belly, making sure that the flowers are ordered by colour and size. As she does this, she tells the baby, as best she can, what the flowers look like that are currently on your belly. She is a clever little girl and it makes you smile every time you watch her.

It actually took you a while to get pregnant. The talk among the servants was already getting loud. At first they said you didn't find Aemond attractive enough to sleep with him. When Aemond tried to counter that, he made you moan so much at night that his name echoed throughout the Red Keep. But then they needed another explanation. Soon after, you heard talk about not being fertile.... When you heard this, you could only shake your head, but Aemond became angry. In his anger you stopped him, because after all, according to the servants, you were always to blame and it would not have made any difference if he had given free rein to his anger.

But what they didn't know was that you didn't want to get pregnant right away, but wanted to enjoy some more time with Aemond. And thank the gods, Aemond is very well-read, even when it comes to female nature. And so he also got hold of scriptures about how and when a woman can become pregnant. Therefore, at times when you desired him more than you otherwise would have, you took special care that he did not pour his seed into you. To your surprise, this worked for a while, but when you realised you were pregnant, you were overcome with a joy you had never felt before.

Immediately you noticed that something was not normal. At first you thought you had just eaten something bad because you were overcome by a persistent nausea. But Aemond also drew your attention to the fact that your breasts had become larger. When the second moon passed and you still didn't bleed, it was clear to you. You were pregnant.

But you didn't want to just tell Aemond, you wanted it to be special. So you made your way to the kitchen. You let the servants know that you were going to have your dinner in your chambers and that you had special requests for it.

Everything you eat for the evening must be small in size. So baby vegetables, like small carrots, small broccoli florets, small corn on the cob and so on. Also, there should only be small fillets and small breads.

That got you a few funny looks, but they fulfilled your wishes.

Then at noon you intercepted Aemond, gave him many kisses on the lips and told him that in the evening you would like to have dinner with him alone in your chambers. He just smirked at you and was delighted, of course, because he had something naughty in mind.

When Aemond came to your chambers in the evening, it was not long before dinner arrived. But at first Aemond did not notice the effort you had made. He was sitting next to you at the table, had just come from the training ground and was hungry. He filled his plate with various vegetables and pieces of fillet. Lively conversations filled your rooms until at some point he looked at his plate, "Did we actually only get leftovers to eat today? Why is the food so small... Don't they know that I train every day?"

You had to stifle a grin and bit your lips to help yourself.

He looked at you, "What? What's so funny?"

You let your gaze wander to his plate, "Look again closely"

His gaze slowly wandered down, "Small carrots.... Baby corncobs, small broccoli.... Even the meat is small! Just like for babies... But I doubt even a baby could get full of it..."

He slowly looked up at you and saw you grinning, "Are you with child...?" he whispers. You nodded and tears came to your eyes. Aemond jumped up and hugged you hastily.

You hadn't expected that and so you both slide off the chair. He let you fall on top of him and kissed you continuously, you started laughing, "Aemond! Stop it!" you giggled.

"My dear wife... My Love! Now I won't leave your side for a second.... You produce new life... our child..." He continued to kiss you.

Aemond spent the rest of the evening with you in your shared chambers. He was supposed to attend a council meeting to be introduced to the assumption of royal duties. But when the servant came to tell him that the council was waiting for him, he simply sent him away. Instead, he caressed you for hours, which led to you finally making passionate love to each other.

A soft "mmmhm", which sounds next to your ear, brings you back to reality. You turn your head to Aemond, he smiles.

"A penny for your thoughts," rings in your ears. You just chuckle softly.

Then you hear him whisper, "A girl would be nice".

You giggle softly, "You don't want a boy?"

He presses his nose further into the crook of your neck, "I am satisfied with everything... Whether it's a boy or a girl... But the thought that I could father something as tender as you... that would be lovely... "

Again you giggle, "I don't know if that's so tender in me.... it kicks all the time"

He kisses your neck, "Our girl has the temperament of a dragon... I feel we're having a girl"

You shake your head slightly, "Mhmm I don't think so.... something so restless can't be a delicate little girl."

He chuckles.

During your entire pregnancy, Aemond took care of you and hardly let you out of his sight. But you have a guilty conscience about it. You didn't want him to struggle with his royal duties and then feel obliged to be by your side all the time. You wanted to give him a few quiet hours when he didn't have to be by your side all the time. Another reason why you like to sit with Helaena and the little ones.

In doing so, he would not tell you that he likes to be by your side and literally watch your belly grow. He still likes it best when you are in your shared chambers.

His favourite thing is to caress your belly while you are surrounded by a mountain of pillows. He lies next to you and talks to your belly. Sometimes he brings in a book to do this. It lies on his lap while he reads to you and the child. But sometimes he just makes up stories about dragons and battles, and makes you laugh with elaborate and illogical endings.

But it also happens that when the baby seems restless in the evening and is constantly kicking, he talks to the baby in High Valyrian. You point out to him that it is not relevant whether he talks to the baby in High Valyrian or not. But he justifies himself by saying that he feels it makes the baby calmer and he wants it to get used to the sound. And even when he speaks softly, you can hear him whispering to your belly that there is no reason for all the kicking and that it shouldn't stress his pretty mother so much. Then, even more quietly, he whispers that he can hardly wait for it to come into the world, it seems as if you are not supposed to hear that. But of course you hear all of it and you just smile and lovingly stroke his soft hair as you listen to his murmurings.

However, your pregnancy does not only bring such pleasant moments. Aemond is always by your side and tries to keep every possible unpleasantness away from you, but that doesn't change the fact that you are now fat and ugly. Once called the most beautiful princess in the entire realm, you now feel like some fat lord who would only drink and eat. Only the missing beard on your face would make the difference visible. At least that's how you feel. Since a few moons have passed and you have already gone through most of your pregnancy, you are convinced that your belly has a life of its own. Judging by the size and movements inside.

You never saw it as necessary to have a lady-in-waiting by your side. You have always been able to take care of yourself. But now you have to admit to yourself that you need help. Your belly is the size of a dragon's head. Of Balerion, to be precise.

Alicent immediately had new dresses made for you when your dress suddenly tore at the seam on the side of the dress at dinner. You were startled and could only look at Aemond in panic.

Aemond didn't hesitate for a second and immediately put his leather waistcoat on you. Still shocked, you sat there, unable to move at first. Aemond, however, carefully helped you up and was about to lead you to your chambers when Aegon's voice rang out, "Brother... now let us at least see something beautiful at this dreary dinner".

Alicent immediately hissed Aegon's name angrily. You only tightened your grip on Aemond's arm, unable to return a sentence or at least an insult to Aegon.

"Brother, avert your gaze from my wife. I have already warned you once and I will not repeat it," Aemond replied dryly. You just hear Aegon giggle at that.

Of course, you burst into tears when you were in your shared chambers. That was proof to you that you had become fat. But Aemond, of course, was there to convince you otherwise. That a wonderful new life was growing inside you. Yet that was little consolation for you. Nevertheless, Aemond held you all night and assured you that you were not fat and that you were getting beautiful new clothes. And that was the moment you realised you needed help. The next morning you went to Alicent and asked for a lady-in-waiting to help you dress for the duration of your pregnancy, so that your belly was warm and safe. She must have guessed how hard this was for you, because she just smiled warmly and hugged you tightly.

But for Aemond you were not fat, his child was growing inside you, and every inch your belly grew was proof of your love. He desires you more every day, and it costs him great effort to keep his hands off you. Whether it is to make your aching body parts more bearable by gently massaging your neck, your back or your swollen feet, or to let his fingers do other soothing work.

But even though he's constantly trying to make you feel good, your hormones are unstoppable and this often ends in outbursts of anger, which Aemond feels most often because he's usually by your side. However, you often burst into tears shortly afterwards and apologise to him incessantly while the tears still run down your cheek.

No one has told you how exhausting pregnancy is, both physically and mentally.

But Aemond bears it bravely. He endures every tantrum stoically, only to take you in his arms afterwards, caress you and assure you that he won't leave you for a less fat or more sociable lady who doesn't go into hysterics all the time. He admires the way you put up with the discomfort of pregnancy and sees it as a small thing to put up with your tantrums. Probably also because he knows that everything that passes your lips during these tantrums is rarely meant that way.

He is just happy when you lie in bed with him in the evening and he can caress you for hours.  This has become your little ritual. Aemond no longer has any obligations in the evenings, the evenings are your time together.

Then he puts several pillows in your bed so that you can lie comfortably. He massages your feet, because they usually always hurt, or he goes in search of something edible in the Red Keep that you crave. He is doing all this so that you can at least find a few hours of sleep, because at the moment it is hard for you to find any sleep.

This time it is a knock that brings you back to reality. A soft but hurried knock, followed by a "Ñuha dārilaros? Ñuha dārilaros?" (My princess? My prince?) echoes through your chambers.

Aemond sighs, "Māzigon isse!" (Come in!)

You turn to the door and see a dragonkeeper enter, he bows his head briefly, "Ñuha dārilaros, issa nūmāzma Meraxes." (My princess, it is about Meraxes)

You stiffen, Aemond holds you in his arms, "Skoros nūmāzma zirȳla?" (What about her?)

"Issa... issa acting strangely. Ēza issare syt tubissa. Issa daor eating properly se kessa daor ivestragī anyone va zirȳla" (She… She is acting strangely. She has been for days. She's not eating properly and she won't let anyone near her.)

Aemond answers for you, "Syt tubissa sir? Se ao sagon sepār māzis bē lēda bisa sir?" (For days now? And you're just coming up with this now?)

The servant nods, "Ñuha dārilaros.... īlon... īlon gōntan daor jaelagon naejot jenigon ao lēda bisa. Yn issa becoming tolī se tolī aggressive se iksis nūmāzma naejot pykagon perzys" (My prince... we... we did not want to bother you with this.... But she is becoming more and more aggressive and is about to spit fire)

Aemond always manages to make the dragonkeepers stutter with nervousness. You lightly press your elbow into his side.

"Kirimvose syt letting nyke gīmigon. Kesan sagon va ñuha ñuhoso" (Thank you for letting me know. I will be on my way.)

Aemond looks at you incredulously. He turns to the servant, "Kostā jikagon" (You may go.)

He just bows his head and hastily leaves your chambers.

"You can't really want to go to the Dragonpit"

You look at him, he looks worried, "Why not? My dragon is in a bad way. Of course I will be by her side"

"You're heavily pregnant. You shouldn't be around a dragon who is behaving irrationally. Let me go."

"I am aware of my pregnancy. But I am not terminally ill. So I will be by her side. Because you won't be able to go near her any more than the dragonkeepers."

You kiss Aemond gently on the cheek and head for the door.

"Then at least let me come with you," you hear Aemond say.

"So you can protect me from the dragon fire?" you smile at him.

"That's not even a little bit funny," Aemond looks at you seriously. You accept his raised arm and you make your way to the Dragonpit.

It worries you that Meraxes is behaving like this. She's not aggressive, not one bit. Except she has to be, and she has to protect those she loves. But this unprovoked aggressiveness worries you. As quickly as you can, you go to the Dragonpit. The way is more strenuous than you thought and so you cling a little to Aemond's arm.

When you arrive at the Dragonpit, Meraxes notices you immediately. She is standing in a corner, alone, and that is unusual. She is a social dragon and at least always near Vhagar. But Vhagar is crouched in the opposite corner, asleep. At least that's how it seems. Meraxes looks towards you and wants to come towards you, but she suddenly falters in mid-motion. A rumbling makes itself felt in her chest and she cries out. She stops and looks at you. Aemond holds you tightly by the arm and stands half in front of you. You think it's sweet that he wants to keep you safe. He seems to really want to shield you from the dragon's flames. Not that his body could protect you from a dragon's flames. Nor would he need to protect you from Meraxes. But it's the thought that counts.

Meraxes lets her head wander, keeping an eye on everything and observing every living thing in the Dragonpit, while her tail slides back and forth menacingly. Out of the corner of your eye you see Vhagar raise his head briefly and also let out a growl. Aemond looks in Vhagar's direction and raises his hand reassuringly. Meraxes takes a few steps back and sits down, as if Vhagar has told her to calm down. Her nervousness worries you and you cautiously walk in her direction, but before you can step out from behind Aemond he holds you back, "Ȳdra daor sesīr pendagon nūmāzma ziry." (Don't even think about it)

But you shake off his arm and walk carefully towards Meraxes. She is still watching everything closely, but you are now close to her. The closer you come to her side, the calmer she becomes, until you stand at her side and gently stroke her neck. "Skoros iksis pirta ñuha riña?" (What is wrong my girl?), you say calmly to her.

She snorts, you have to smile a little and continue stroking her, letting the warmth of her body flood through you. "Gaomagon ao feel mērī?" (Do you feel alone?)

Slowly she turns her head towards you, you take a step towards her head and she gently presses it into your side.

At the same moment, her rear end moves to the side, and as you look to the side, seeing what her rear end has exposed, you gasp out, "Aemond!"

Aemond, startled by your silent scream, immediately wants to rush to you, but Meraxes moves her head menacingly in his direction and again a rumble sounds in her chest. He does not see you, for there is a huge dragon skull between you. "Y/n!" leaves his lips in near panic.

Still standing in the same spot, you whisper to her, "Sagon iā sȳz riña. Ivestragī zirȳla māzigon naejot nyke, ēza naejot jurnegon tolī se babies tolī mirre..." (Be a good girl. Let him come to me, he has to take care of the babies after all)

Her head moves in your direction again and Aemond takes a step forward. This time her head stays at your side and Aemond hurries to you. As he steps closer to you, you hear him, "Skoros iksis ziry??" (What is it??)

You smile at him, "Jurnegon.... Meraxes ēza ilagontan drōma", (Look... Meraxes has laid eggs) your hand is still gently on Meraxes.

Aemond starts to smile, his hand moves down your arm. You slowly walk towards the eggs and stroke your hand along Meraxe's body. You kneel down carefully and look at the eggs. Three eggs in the colours gold, blue and green lie there. Each egg shell shimmers in a different colour. Carefully you take the eggs, "Ñuha riña, mazeminna care hen zirȳ, okay?" (My girl, I will take care of them, okay?). Again you hear a sigh from her.

When you reach Aemond, he takes the eggs from you. You walk towards the dragonkeepers, "Ziry should sagon arlī naejot normal.  Ēza ilagontan drōma." (She should be back to normal. She has laid eggs.) you grin and present three eggs.

"Emā naejot gūrogon care hen drōma, kostilus. Skori ñuha riña iksis āzma, jaelan se kasta drōmon naejot sagon placed isse se riña's cradle" (You have to take care of the eggs, please. When my child is born, I want the blue egg to be placed in the child's cradle.)

The dragonkeepers bow their heads briefly, "Hen rhinka ñuha dārilaros" (Of course my princess). Aemond carefully hands over the eggs to the dragonkeepers.

Amond's arm is around your waist as you make your way back to your chambers. Again and again he kisses your cheek, "The blue egg for our daughter?" he asks you.

You smile at him, "Yes... I thought our son would be pleased that his father always has a Sapphir with him.... And he has a blue dragon by his side."

Aemond looks at you lovingly and gently kisses your lips.

A few weeks later, Aemond tells you at dinner in the evening that your family is coming to King's Landing. You are initially delighted until he tells you the reason for the visit. Luke's claim as heir to Driftmark is challenged by Vaemond Velaryon. Your gaze darkens and your anger is clearly visible. But just as you are about to get upset, Aegon speaks up, "Niece, what did you expect? With such a strong appearance and rather few features that scream Velaryon.... it was bound to happen." Your eyes shoot sparks in his direction and Alicent hisses "Aegon!"

Aemond squeezes your hand, knowing how hard it is for you to hold back at the moment.

You just throw your napkin on your plates and wordlessly leave the table. Aemond comes after you, having given Aegon a warning look.

As quickly as you can, you make your way to your chambers.

"My Love," you hear Aemond behind you.

He holds your arm as he reaches you, "My Love… Surely you haven't eaten enough. Let me get you some more food."

But you're too angry to even think about eating for a moment, "I can't be in the same room with Aegon for a second longer! Otherwise there's a danger that I'll sit on his face with my fat ass to suffocate him!!!"

Aemond has to suppress a smirk, "We shouldn't try that.... In the end, it could be a fetish of his..."

You give him a warning look. He just embraces you and presses you against him as far as he can, and lightly kisses the tip of your nose. "Try to see it that way... You haven't been able to see your family since our wedding... which I'm not necessarily sad about.... but they will be here again and you can spend time with them. And try not to pay attention to Aegon... as I do most of the time."

You nod slowly, "Do you know when they will arrive?"

"In about a week"

"How do you actually know they're going to come here?"

Aemond gently strokes your cheek, "My mother told me this afternoon and I asked her to let me tell you". You nod slowly and begin to smile, "Will you behave?" you ask him.

He grins slightly, "I'll do my best".

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Tag list

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[somestorythoughts]

Eldritch Echo Pt. 9

I was wondering if this would be the last part, but then I wasn't sure how I'd wrap it up and just getting the twins back together and the Batch meeting Fives took a little more than expected so there will be at least one more part. Also it's irrelevant but I had the thought earlier that regarding their eldritch-ness, Fives is the one who watches action movies and tries to pull off the crazy stunts (sometimes this is aiming blind and sometimes this is trying to turn into a fish) while Echo is the one who watches horror movies for ways to spook anyone wandering around in the middle of the night. @mezmatch , new part! Enjoy!

Torrent makes it to Coruscant a few hours before the Bad Batch. Fives finds himself buried under vode and being lectured by Kix with incredible efficiency. Rex, knowing better than to get in the way of either Kix’s checkups or lectures, waits his turn before shaking Fives like a rattle and ordering him never to do something like that again.

“The two of you are giving me so many grey hairs.” Rex grumbles once the vod pile has arranged itself comfortably. Fives has doubled in size, the better to cuddle the other troopers and act as a pillow. Before they grew comfortable enough to join Torrent’s cuddle piles, Jesse used to find Fives and Echo cuddling, Fives nearly twice as large as a regular vod doing his best to smother Echo. He wonders absent-mindedly if the annoying vode are comfortably smothering Echo, or if he found that uncomfortable after so long in a stasis chamber. He shoots up suddenly, dislodging Kix who smacked his arm.

“Fives – ow stop that Kix – Fives you gotta greet the Bad Batch like this they’ll be so confused-”

“Why? And more importantly, Echo’s alright?”

Kix yanked Jesse back into place as his pillow as Rex responded. “We found him Fives. Not long after we thought you died. He’s been working with a group of enhanced clones since then.”

“Tell me more?”

“Fine but don’t think you’re getting out of your own explanation.” Rex said, poking his menace of an ARC before he settled into explaining how’d they found Echo.

A little to the right there’s another vod pile, this one mostly made up of Corries, the 121th, and 187th. Blood and Bones are curled in the middle of it, Blood deeply asleep while his twin holds him and listens to Helix quietly updating him on the status of the 212th they’d had in the medbay. Having been on planet at the time, Cody and Ponds’ men had lept into the task of making sure the Corries were comfortable and fed, and making sure they slept. Blood had only left the medbay after reading every vod’s sheet and with the condition that he be allowed to stay close. The room they were in was near the Healing Halls, and Blood had cried red tears into his twin’s shoulder before falling asleep, carefully shielded by Corries and politely ignored by the rest of the troopers. He’d left with Bones during the day to check on everyone but returned after dinner and been cuddled back to sleep. Fives made a note to check on the medic later before he froze.

“What is it?” Rex asked as Fives tensed beneath him.

“Echo’s here.” He whispered, his twin’s proximity humming along his veins. “I need to go.”

There’s some teasing grumbles but no one really complains as the vod pile is dismantled, allowing Fives to bolt out of the room. Rex and the others follow him at a much slower pace; Fives has made some adjustments to his skeleton that have him literally leaping off the walls above the Jedi and the troopers in his way and they don’t need to keep up with that.

On one of the Temple’s landing pads the Bad Batch disembarks, Echo out of his seat and moving to the door before anyone else is even unbuckled. They pick up the pace, Crosshair grumbling as Tech helps him.

 “Fives!”

“ECHO!”

The Batch walks towards to two troopers near the bay’s doors, no longer seeing the need to rush. They don’t look like they’ll be moving soon.

Echo and another reg are wrapped around each other. The unknown trooper is crying blue tears, and his arms seem to wrap much further than they should around Echo, who’s holding on so tight Wrecker would have trouble prying them apart.

They’re still holding each other by the time a small group of Torrent troopers reach the hanger. Hunter glares at Rex and pointes to the blue lines dancing under exposed skin. “A heads up would have been nice.”

Rex grins without regret. “Where’s the fun in that? Besides, it’s nice to know he causes trouble for people other than me.”

The twins snorted in unison. “Who us? Cause trouble? Never.” The other twin – Fives – laughs, a moment before Echo shakes him, fanged and much taller.

“Fives you just faked your death and assassinated the Supreme Chancellor and you did it all WITHOUT ME you force-damned bastard–”

“That’s what you’re mad about? You got blown up! I thought you died!”

“I survived for the express purpose of kicking your ass for getting into this without me–”

“Should we stop them?” Wrecker asks, staring at the two vod who with multiple eyes who are gripping each other’s arms with wide clawed hands marked with blue fives.

“Let them get it out of their system.” Kix replies, giving Crosshair the suspicious look medics give injured vod when they don’t know if they’ve been cleared to leave the medbay. “What happened to you guys?”

“Mission went sour. Echo got us out.” Hunter replied.

“He went all twin huh?”

“What gave it away?”

Kix snorted. “You’re not the first troopers I’ve seen rescued by a pair of twins. They tend to keep the changes small most of the time, so something drastic leaves an impression.”

“You think it’s funny, don’t lie.” Echo says as he leads his twin over to them. They’re back to regular size, each with an arm around the other’s shoulder. Echo seems brighter, and Crosshair remembers when Wrecker lost his eye and how hearing that he was alive wasn’t the same as seeing him and thinks he understands. His twin has those same golden violet eyes. “Fives, this is the Bad Batch. Hunter, Tech, Wrecker, and Crosshair. Guys, this is Fives, my twin.”

“Nice to meet you.” Hunter says, shaking Fives’ hand. “Echo’s mentioned you before.”

Fives grins, friendly and sharp. “All insults I assume.”

“Only sometimes.”

Fives laughs, but his words are sincere when he says. “Thanks for taking care of him for me.”

“Lets find a room. You owe us a story Fives.” Rex orders, and Fives gives him a salute with that grin still on his face before the troopers turn and head into the Temple.

[gothethite]

Tired of people going 'all goth fashion is super easy to diy and everyone should do that instead' because like... yes a lot of it is but some very much not. So some thoughts on how much I'd recommend diying various goth fashion stuff as someone who does a lot of it:

Simple jewellery is definitely much better to diy and particularly chains and stuff. I remember going to dangerfield one time and they had a chain with a bat ornament on in for 20 dollars 🤣 ... you can get a bunch of chain from the hardware store pretty cheaply and the exact same bat pendant on it I had got like 20 off etsy for 5 dollars. It usually doesn't take that long and extra tools e.g. pliers are helpful but not necessary - 10/10 absolutely recommend for all goths or other people interested in gothic fashion

Same thing goes for distressed clothing/fishnet shirts there are tons of tutorials for that kind of stuff, and it generally doesn't require that much time, experience or materials 10/10

Minor clothing modifications e.g. some tailoring, adding/removing parts, mending damaged old clothing, changing buttons - this is something that is really useful in everyday life, usually doesn't take that long and is very useful for turning normal clothing into more spooky stuff 9/10

Designs on clothes or patches: if you get some fabric paint, screen printing ink, bleach or even acrylic you can paint designs onto clothing pretty easily. Personally I like dilute screen printing ink as it gives the nicest surface, but it can be a bit of a pain to use as you have to do a lot of layers, and it doesn't colour the fabric intuitively in the way that fabric paint or acrylic do 8/10 - would recommend very strongly to anyone who enjoys art, and recommend trying at least once to people who don't enjoy art as much (you can always make stencils), but it does take a long time and you need some materials. Also, for patches particularly for small bands it can be better to order them from the band to support the artist, but also lots of bands don't have patches or merch or international shipping to some countries makes it not accessible

Embroidery: often looks really good and professional in a way that painted designs don't, takes absolutely ages. 7/10 - would recommend very highly for people who enjoy textile stuff and maybe trying a bit for everyone but yeah if you don't enjoy it it's a pain

Smaller articles of clothing: I've made some waistcoats and shirts and stuff which have been pretty fun and it's really good to be able to do specific designs you wouldn't be able to buy (e.g. my skeleton one) and get stuff to fit right. They were all hand sewn and took a pretty long time (however you can also do it while listening to online classes or whatever), + a bit of time to learn techniques and stuff. Definitely a cheaper than buying them 6.5/10 - do it if you enjoy textile art stuff but will probably be a really painful experience if you don't and you're hand sewing. Also useful if you've got sizing or dimensions that mean you just... can't buy stuff that'll fit which is how I got into sewing

More complex sewing: I've made 2 (well, finished one and 98% of the way through another) long spooky coats and one cape with really complicated edges and embroidery and stuff. Coat 1 was entirely by hand out of not great fabric and took absolutely ages but was definitely vastly cheaper than buying it from the store, and it fit well and everything. With the cape, I got repetitive strain injury in my thumb that still is a bit of a problem 3 years later! With the final coat it was mostly by machine and then touching some stuff up by hand e.g. edges of the lining, making the eyelets and stuff, but it still took ages. Also, something I never see people talking about with diy goth clothing is how hard it is to get the materials - there were only 3 black brocade fabrics available in my city - One was really bad quality and I tried to make a shirt out of it, but it kept falling apart. One was 150 dollars a meter. The one I ended up using was really nice and reasonably priced, but I got the last 2.5 meters of it so it almost wasn't an option. So when people talk about diying clothing being cheaper it can actually not be that much because a clothing business can get fabrics in bulk + unless your city is really big there are probably not many options, so there's also shipping costs if you then need to order fabric. Out of curiosity I compared how much the coat cost in terms of materials to the price of a similar looking coat off dracula clothing which is a pretty well known and apparently quality materials and ethically made goth fashion shop and it came out a bit cheaper but not massively so (not counting shipping...) so 3.5/10 - fun to do if you enjoy textile art as a hobby, not even vaguely a practical alternative to buying a coat

And then there's other stuff like more complicated jewellery making and leather work which idk much about

[jadedrrose]

Sooga is not 10 feet tall…

Ok. I keep seeing posts on here mentioning that he’s anywhere from 9-12 feet tall and because I am a loser that has nothing better to do, I am presenting my evidence that proves he’s actually around 7’1”/215 cm or so.

Age of calamity just…. Sized everyone up/down in weird ways. Idk. I’m assuming they did it to make Sooga feel more “scary” or like a big boss character, if that makes sense. So anyway, Sooga is the same height/scale as the blademasters in AOC. Really, he’s sort of a “reskinned” one but with extra stuff (his hair, collar, swords, etc). The game even refers to him as a blademaster sometimes. Now… because I don’t know how to do render/model stuff, I tried to take a screenshot of him and a blademaster side by side in game. That… did not go well. Even on easy mode, the blademasters would not sit still for even a second so, this is the best I could get:

And here’s Sooga compared to Link (in AOC)

Now if we look at the blademasters in BOTW/TOTK, you can clearly see that they’re much shorter than they are in AOC. Here’s one compared to Link:

Now as for how I got my estimate of 7’1/215cm. It’s not the greatest method (and I suck at math so there’s no way I can figure it out through the render sizes). It seems people generally believe that Link is around 5’2”, and considering the amount of npc’s who call him short, I think that would be about right. So what I did was get on one of those height comparison websites and get a 5’2” guy and then put in different heights until I got one that matched where Link stands compared to a blademaster. And keep in mind, I’m not including the hair on Link or the blademaster in their height estimates. That and, the blademasters wear hoods, so I took a couple of cm off for that too. Another thing: obviously I can’t get the exact shape of Link/the blademaster so while it may look a bit off, I’m like 99% sure it’s not.

And there you have it. So while I can’t “confirm” Sooga’s actual canon height, I can at least prove he’s not 10+ feet tall, lol.

[virgo-mess]

Silver Thread Chapter 8 Part 1

Hello all, I've nearly fully recovered from the flu and bronchitis ailment I was subject to save for a little congestion and a cough, I'm feeling much better! I'm sorry this took me so long to get out to you and that I'm splitting it into 2 parts. It's just what feels right for the pacing atm so forgive me for that abrupt cut off this part is already 12,288 words so we would've probably ended up in 20,000-word territory for 1 post and that's a little excessive, I should have part 2 done and dusted in the next few days!

If all goes as intended Chapter 9 may be the last official chapter for Silver Thread, with a small epilogue instead of a full chapter 10 since we be heading right into Silver Bells after I get this completed. I'm planning on only five or six chapters for Silver Bells and a decently sized epilogue with lots of fun adorable snippets of Veda and Terry in the years following Silver Bells! And then that might be it for the Silver Thread verse for a while, I don't fully foresee the events of Cobra Kai happening in this universe because of the Kreese side of things. But if they were to come to frustration, I feel like Veda will just be at a point where she's keen to be blissfully unaware and totally uninterested in whatever it is Terry and Daniel are arguing about now. At least until Terry gets arrested.....With all that being said I'm still aiming to upload all the chapters for Siver Bells on one day sometime before the end of the month, fingers crossed!

Trigger Warning for part 1: Fluff, romance, me living out travel fantasies through characters, Mild smut, consensual oral female receiving, consensual fingering, Terry and Veda have a lot of cute moments, Implications of Terry breaking into houses to torment Chad and Tommy off screen, Terry also beats Chad severely off screen, Terry destroys Chad and Tommy's property off screen and that's about it for this part!

Veda’s Pov

Veda went through the rest of the aquarium with Terry feeling a lot more relaxed. Terry kept his arms wrapped around her the entire time showering her with sweet words of affirmation and adoration as they looked at all the things the ocean had to offer. Anytime her mind tried to get away from her Terry was there to pull her back to earth and by the time they wandered back towards the boardwalk to get to the car, most of Veda’s fear of impending doom had dwindled. She believed Terry when he said he’d protect her because he already made her feel so safe whenever they were together. He was being especially attentive with her now that the weather had turned out to be hotter than initially forecasted, at around 1:30 LA county issued a heat advisory warning. Veda felt much better now but Terry insisted on making several stops for refreshments inside restaurants and on standing outside the restroom every time she needed to go. Veda didn’t mind as there were still fleeting moments when she would get startled by loud noises or felt like she was being watched. She knew she wouldn’t feel comfortable being alone for a long time and she was happy she didn’t have to express this to Terry, he just knew and was handling her discomfort with so much tender care she couldn’t help but love him more.

They spent part of the drive back to Terry’s house having one of their silent conversations, shared looks of contentment and soft smiles, with the soft sounds of Songbird by Fleetwood Mac lulling on the radio. Veda pulled her hair out of its confines and laid her head on Terry’s thigh, looking into his blue eyes she couldn’t help but feel the song reflected the self-sacrificial and reciprocal nature of their relationship. Veda couldn’t help the way she sang along while Terry stroked her hair in the same soothing motions that he always did, taking his eyes off the road every so often to mouth them back to her with a content smile on his face. Making the song another extension of their devotion to each other, it was theirs and there was nothing Dutch or Tommy or Chad could do to taint it.

“I love you” Veda breathed out as the song died down, gazing up at him with her heart full of pure unadulterated love and adoration, she brought the hand stroking her hair to her lips peppering it with kisses as she maintained his gaze with drowsy but content eyes. Terry smiled at her softly bringing her small hand to his lips to return the gesture, Veda didn’t miss the stray tear rolling down his left cheek and moved to wipe it away quickly. Terry gave her hand one last kiss and a reassuring squeeze.

“It’s a happy tear, you have a beautiful singing voice, baby girl. Thank you for sharing it with me, I’d love to hear it more often if you’d let me. I love you so much sweetheart, you can go to sleep. You’re safe now” he cooed, as he resumed the comforting passes through her hair, Veda relaxed giving him a dreamy smile as she felt he heart flutter the way it only ever did for him, she knew that she’d always be safe as long as Terry was here. Veda slowly drifted off to sleep feeling completely serene and deeply loved.

For you there'll be no more crying

For you the Sun will be shining

And I feel that when I'm with you

It's alright, I know it's right

To you, I'll give the world

To you, I'll never be cold

'Cause I feel that when I'm with you

It's alright, I know it's right

And the songbirds are singing

Like they know the score

And I love you, I love you, I love you

Like never before

And I wish you all the love in the world

But most of all, I wish it from myself

And the songbirds keep singing

Like they know the score

And I love you, I love you, I love you

Like never before

Like never before

Like never before

Veda stirred a while later to the feeling of Terry gently trying to shift her into his arms, hovering over her from where he stood outside the passenger door. Veda let out a breathy half yawn and sigh combo as she looked up at him with a dreamy smile and groggy eyes. Terry gave her a soft smile in return caressing her bruised cheek with his fingers gingerly as he placed a tender kiss on her forehead.

“I’m sorry baby girl, I didn’t mean to wake you” he said in a soft sincere tone, Veda wrapped her arms around his neck letting him pull her into a sitting position. Veda beamed at him placing a sweet peck on the lips as she looked deeply into his eyes for a long moment. Remembering the moment, they had just before she drifted off to sleep in his lap and how perfect it was.

“That’s alright, I love seeing your face when I wake up, Romeo” she cooed tiredly, scooting to the edge of the car seat, she wanted nothing more than to be pressed against him right now. Terry chuckled softly sensing what she wanted, he eagerly guided her to wrap her legs around his waist and lifted her out of the car with ease. Terry peppered her cheek with adoring kisses before wrapping an arm around her back and placing his other just under her butt to keep her in place while he walked toward the house. Veda let out a happy giggle and nuzzled her face into the side of his neck breathing in the warm woodsy scent of his cologne, Terry knew it was her favorite and sometimes sprayed her pillow with it if he knew he couldn’t spend the night. She had come to find it so comforting; the way it engulfed her mind, body, and soul like a warm earthy blanket swaddling her like a protective shield. Terry rubbed comforting circles on her back and placed a few more kisses in her hair as he stepped into the entry way. Veda giggled into his neck planting a few kisses of her own.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Silver. I wasn’t expecting you back so soon but I’m assuming the heat got the best of us, huh. Would you like me to prepare some refreshments for you by the pool or is the little one in need of a rest?” came a warm male voice from the entry way, Veda couldn’t pinpoint his accent, but she felt him stroke one of her shoulders with the back of his knuckle affectionately. Veda felt her cheeks flush bashfully at another one of Terry’s employees using Larry’s affectionate nickname for her, all of his staff seemed keen on showing her just as much warm motherly and fatherly tenderness as they showed Terry. Treating her like she was already a part of their unconventional little family made her heart sing. Veda loosened her legs from around Terry’s waist, planting a few more sweet kisses on his neck before withdrawing her face to look at him, asking him a silent question. Terry chuckled giving her a playful pout as he removed the arm he had placed under her butt, using the arm around her back to gently lower her to the ground. Veda beamed at him again and eagerly held his hand feeling her excitement bubble at the fact she was finally seeing the house. Terry chuckled gently turning her to face the man that greeted them at the door, a kind looking older man with short hair black hair and a warm smile. In her excitement Veda tackled him in a bear hug without thinking about it and felt her cheeks flush in embarrassment. The man chuckled softly under his breath as he returned her hug and flashed her a reassuring smile when she pulled away timidly.

“Thank you for that warm greeting little one, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you everyone here says great things about you they simply adore you and I understand why. You are quite right Mr. Silver she is a darling and so beautiful, excellent choice, sir.” He said warmly, Terry beamed with pride as he wrapped both of his arms around Veda’s waist and pulled her into his chest.

“Veda, this is Milos, like Margaret he takes care of my every need and absurd demand without hesitation and while you’re staying here, he’ll be taking care of yours too.”  Terry said with a warm smile.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Mr. Milos” Veda said sweetly, flashing him a big grin, she had a feeling they’d be great friends. Milos returned it but Veda didn’t miss the way his eyes trained on her bruised cheek, seeming to just register what it was. Terry let go of her briefly, walking over to Milos to have a hushed conversation; Veda tuned them out and took the opportunity to admire some of the textile bricks in the short entry way of the Ennis house not wanting to think about anything that happened during her heat exhaustion or before their trip to the aquarium. None of it really mattered now that she was here with Terry anyway, the odds of Dutch and Tommy finding her here were slim to none. She was, however, dreading any trips she’d have to make back to her apartment or the evening hours she would have to spend on campus without Terry. She wouldn’t put it past either Dutch or Tommy to track her down there, the campus security wasn’t the best in the world, Cal Tech was a smaller school after all, and Dutch and Tommy blended in well with their school demographic.

“Milos would you mind fetching her bags and taking the car and inform Howard we will be having friends joining us for dinner this evening. While I give my sweet girl a long overdue tour of the house” Terry walked back over to her with a warm smile, as he wrapped his arms back around her and placed a comforting kiss on her cheek sensing her tension. Veda relaxed into his arms and gave him a reassuring smile.

“Of course, Mr. Silver “Milos said, giving her a courteous bow and another warm smile. Veda blushed again giving him a shy smile in return, she still wasn’t used to formal greetings and part of her felt like she probably never would.

“Mr. Milos, you don’t have to bow to me it’s really alright” she said timidly, stroking the backs of Terry’s hands with her thumbs feeling him kiss her shoulder tenderly and tighten his grip around her waist a bit. Milos chuckled softly under his breath throwing her a soft fond smile.

“Nonsense, little one, every lady deserves a gentlemanly greeting, and you may call me Milos. I hope you enjoy your tour of the house.” Milos said with another courteous bow before disappearing out the front door. Veda glanced up at Terry with an eager smile on her face practically bouncing with excitement at this point, Terry flashed her an amused sort of smile as he wordlessly directed her up the entryway staircase keeping an arm firmly wrapped around her waist as they ascended the stairs. Veda let out a soft gasp as they entered the large living room, the late afternoon sunlight was streaming through the large windows engulfing the room in a warm gold embrace with the Los Angeles skyline glittering behind them.

“You like it” Terry said, Veda detected a hint of hopefulness in his voice as he looked down at her trying to read her mind. Veda gave him a bright reassuring smile as she wrapped her arms around his torso.

“I love it Terry, you have a beautiful home, but you already know that don’t you, Romeo” Veda said in a cheery tone standing on her tip toes to capture him in a sweet kiss. Terry beamed at her lovingly, resting his forehead against hers as he brought a hand up to stroke her cheek.

“I’m glad you love it, baby girl because I have an idea to run by you” he said, still sounding hopeful as he looked deeply into her eyes. Veda gave him a reassuring smile as she looked up at him, trying to pinpoint what he might be proposing to her this time. She nodded her head in acknowledgment silently urging for him to continue, trailing one of her hands up his back to toy with the ends of his hair softly.

“I would very much like for this to be your home too, I know you like your independence, sweetheart, but after what happened this afternoon, I don’t feel comfortable with you living in that neighborhood or apartment alone. At least if you’re here I know there will always be someone looking out for you if I’m not available for some reason…” he trailed, stroking her bruised cheek with his thumb, and placing a kiss on the tip of her nose. Veda stiffened slightly letting out a shaky breath, as she thought about Dutch and Tommy, planning what she can only assume is her impending demise. Veda didn’t really have to think about it, she found it cute Terry was so worried about asking her this when she was wearing the promise ring he gave her, it glittered quite beautifully in the summer sun streaming in through the large windows. Moving in didn’t mean she had to get married and start a family right away, this was the modern era, she could still maintain some of her independence, finish school and have a career. Moving in would help ease both of their anxieties surrounding the whole situation.

“I don’t mind moving in at all, Terry. I don’t feel comfortable living there alone now either, but my lease doesn’t end until February and they’ll make me pay for the rest of the year up front and an extra penalty fee if I break it without giving them 30 days’ notice…” Veda trailed, part of wanting some independence steamed from her not wanting to use Terry’s money even if he was shoving it into her hands. She was more afraid of what would happen if she and Terry were to end up like her parents, she knew Terry wouldn’t leave her without a dime to her name but the prospect of being a struggling single mother was still terrifying. Terry shushed her, pulling her in for a brief kiss before giving her a reassuring smile.

“You don’t have to worry about that, baby girl. I’ve got friends everywhere, getting you out of your lease shouldn’t be too difficult, I’ll take care of it. Now, let’s get you familiar with the rest of our home, my angel. I want you to feel right at home as soon as possible” he said cheerily, as he eagerly tugged her to follow him. Veda gave him a rosy smile feeling her heart flutter at him using the word, our, she knew she’d have no problem feeling right at home because to her home was wherever he was, and she didn’t want it any other way.

Terry spent the rest of June working everything out with her landlord, Terry obviously had no problem buying her out of it if she had wanted to, but Veda thought doing things the right way would be better. Because at least then she’d have a clear record in case she needed to rent again in the future. Getting out of her lease the right way involved her heading to the police station to get a temporary restraining order in place, with Terry by her side they granted it quite quickly. However, they were only able to grant her one against Chad Johnson since he had been the one that actually assaulted her that afternoon at the pier, her bruise was bad enough and Terry was able to get the paramedic to attest to the fact she was in emotional distress when he treated her. She couldn’t get one granted against Dutch without them having to open an investigation and look at her hospital records from months prior because she had no evidence of Dutch contacting her since then. Without that they couldn’t determine if what Tommy said was actually a threat to her life. Veda was still afraid, she sometimes woke up from nightmares in the middle of the night, but she was less worried about it now that she had been basically living with Terry since that day at the pier.

Exam week marked the end of June and Veda’s summer classes, the restraining order had successfully terminated her lease agreement and a lot of Veda’s belongings had already found a place in the Ennis House. She was surprised Terry insisted on keeping her cheap décor and kitchen ware, Howard looked at him like he was insane when Terry told him to use Lucille’s hand painted Italian ceramics for serving, he wasn’t a fan of the colorful fish designs taking away from his masterful plating skills. Terry was making all the stops to make Veda feel like the Ennis house was just as much her home as it was his, he even encouraged her to redecorate his bedroom with him so it looked like something they both would like.

 They made a few trips up to Beverly Hills and West Hollywood to look for décor at some of the high-end furniture stores, though Veda was vaguely aware Terry was just trying to keep her mind off whatever he was doing to take care of her Dutch problem. She thought it better not to question anything, but she knew Margaret, Milos, and even Larry were working overtime to feed him information or to keep her occupied when he slipped out of the house. Terry would never be gone more than an hour when that happened, it was still hard for them to be a part for too long, living together only strengthened their relationship and their attachment to each other. Everyone at the office started calling them Terra like they were one solitary unit instead of two separate individuals. They still hardly everargued about anything, they never strayed from their playful teasing and flirting dynamic. Margaret often found them chasing each other down the central loggia, pouncing on each other in the pool, or having one of their tickle fights on one of the sofas. In a lot of ways, it felt like they were living in their own little bubble, set apart from the rest of the world in what Veda could only describe as their own little personal paradise.

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July-

July started with Veda getting notice she aced all of her exams which gave her a great head start to her freshman year. Terry set up an intimate candlelit dinner on the bedroom terrace to celebrate and even made her mom’s chicken cacciatore with homemade pasta and, he plated everything beautifully in her mom’s Italian ceramics. Veda kissed and praised him the entire night feeling especially lovestruck that the first meal he ever cooked for her proved how well he knew her and how much he truly loved her. Veda ended up snapping two polaroid pictures of the whole thing, one to give Lucille so she could see what an amazing job he did and one so she could cherish the memory forever. Terry was of course spurred by her reaction and promised to cook for her more since it made her so unbelievably happy. They ended that night in the bath giving each other a number of orgasms, Veda was grateful the master bedroom was a great distance away from the chauffer’s quarters that were separate from the main house because Terry had her shrieking in ecstasy most of the night.

Veda stirred the morning of July 3rd with her head resting on Terry’s chest. To the feel of him running his long fingers through her thick hair, the same way she’d been waking up and falling asleep since she moved in. Veda let out a content sigh, slowly fluttering her eyes open to see Terry already staring at her with one of his groggy content smiles plastered across his face. His dark curls were fanned out across his silk pillows and Veda couldn’t think of a more beautiful thing to wake up to as she reached up to run her fingers through the ends of his hair and run a thumb down his cheek. Terry let out a content sigh at the action as he bowed down to place a tender kiss on her forehead and then one on her nose. Veda giggled scrunching her nose up just for him loving the adoring smile he gave her in return.

“Good morning, my beautiful girl” he cooed, still running his hands through her messy black waves gently as he stared lovingly into her eyes. Veda swore she felt her heart actually melt as she beamed back at him capturing him in a brief sweet kiss. Terry smiled back at her happily before moving to sit up against the headboard and positioning her to sit across his lap so he could nuzzle his face into her neck. Both of them sat for a moment listening to the birds chirping as they stroked each other’s hair affectionately.

“Good morning, my love” Veda cooed in his ear as she placed a kiss on his shoulder, Terry placed a long kiss on her collarbone before leaning back against the headboard. Looking at her with the same smile plastered across his face and adoration swirling in his blue eyes. Veda loved the way the morning sun streaming in through the windows made his eyes sparkle for her.

“Okay, my sweet girl, how would you like to do things today. Should we have breakfast or brunch, we have an hour and a half drive to Santa Barbara and dinner reservations at the resort are at 6” he crooned, caressing her cheek with a thumb gently even though the bruise she had there had finally healed up a few days prior. Veda smiled at him reassuringly, the spot didn’t hurt anymore but she knew Terry knew she was having bad dreams about the event on a few nights though she did her best to hide it.

“Let’s do brunch, I’m not that hungry right now and I’ve got to finish packing a few things” she said still toying with his dark curls as she smiled at him, Terry nodded giving her another kiss on the forehead.

“Alright, baby girl, you finish packing while I got get us some coffee from Milos then I’ll start the shower and we can get going, okay” Terry cooed, lifting her out of the bed with him before setting her gently on her feet. Veda nodded excitedly, giving him a quick peck on the lips she watched him turn off all the Christmas lights he had strung up for her before heading towards the closet and searching for her duffle bag in one of the boxes they hadn’t unpacked yet.

 She had put off packing because she was nervous about taking a step further into Terry’s upper-class world, well two steps because when they got back from this trip on Sunday, they’d be heading to her first gala later that evening. Everything just felt a little overwhelming because she and Terry had been living out most of their relationship in a secure little bubble, forgetting about the rest of the world and their opinions. Terry had been dwelling in her safe space for some time now, but Veda couldn’t help but think they weren’t the same thing. Simply because Terry had dwelled in her world before, living among regular people for a set period of time when he was in Vietnam, he had even maintained friendships with some of his regular joe war buddies.

She understood why of course, you can easily latch onto people who have been through the same things as you have because there’s an overarching sense of fellow feeling between you. Veda and Terry had that affinity for each other, they both went through difficult things and were hurt by other people. They found their common ground in his car on her 19th birthday right before they confessed their love to the other. Veda had only ever treaded lightly in Terry’s world, the closest she ever got to it was having dinner at the country club in Encino with Dutch and look where that got her. That was why she was so hesitant to give a guy with Terry’s status a chance and although she trusted Terry and his judgement now, she couldn’t help but be afraid of the judgements people in his world made about her. Yet another way Dutch had ruined her sense of self-worth,

Veda fumbled through the closet pulling numerous pieces of clothing off the racks and shelves without packing them. Everything seemed like the wrong choice no matter what the price tag attached to it said, she thought his friends would see right through her charade and badger Terry to come to his senses. Even with all Terry’s efforts to make her feel like she fit into his life she couldn’t shake the feeling that she didn’t. She could faintly hear Terry venture back into the bedroom and turn the water on in the bathroom, Veda let out a frustrated sigh at her still mostly empty bag save for a selection of undergarments, swimsuits, and pajama sets, but she obviously couldn’t walk around a five-star resort in Santa Barbara wearing those. Packing for a three- and half-day trip shouldn’t be this hard, but she suspected a lot of her anxiety was also about the gala they were supposed to attend when they got back on Sunday. Having her first small step and her first big step into Terry’s world lined up back-to-back had her wanting to pull her hair out from the stress alone.

“Are you ready baby” Terry said, playfully wiggling his eyebrows at her as he leaned against the doorframe of the closet in only his boxers, Veda giggled blushing slightly as she gazed over at him nibbling on her lip nervously.

“No, I don’t know what to wear or pack. I want to meet your friends but I’m really nervous about them and the gala” she admitted sheepishly, as she pointed to the heap of clothes she had pulled from the shelves and off hangers. Terry’s eyes softened walking over to her and wrapping his arms around her in a comforting embrace and peppering her face with reassuring kisses.

“It’s okay, baby girl, don’t worry. I will be with you the whole time and if anyone of them says anything out of line I will put them in place, huh. I told you about Ian and his girlfriend Gwen and about Simon and his girlfriend Anna, sweetheart. Ian, Gwen, and Anna are nice, but Simon is a bit stuffy just pay him no mind. Do you remember what I told you yesterday” Terry said, tenderly stroking her cheek with his thumb as he looked at her with sincere eyes.  Veda sighed nodding her head in acknowledgement pointing between their promise rings.

“No one can convince you not to be with me and if anyone at the gala gives me trouble you, Margaret, or Larry will take them out for me” Veda giggled softly, Terry nodded letting out a pleased rumble as he pulled her into a passionate kiss that left her weak in the knees and breathless.

“Yes, you’re my one and only, Veda. Okay, would you like me to help you pick out some things? I want you to feel as comfortable as possible, baby girl. There’s no one on our trip you have to impress, and you look beautiful in everything anyway, I only pick the best remember” he cooed, peppering her face with reassuring kisses and running his hands in soothing patterns up her arms. Veda relaxed into him feeling a bit more at ease as he helped her go through the pile of clothes settling on some floral sun dresses, dinner dresses, and a few short sets just so she had options. Veda let out a relieved sounding sigh as she picked an outfit to wear after the shower, a simple white mini dress with a blue floral pattern and blue Jimmy Choo wedges.

“That’s perfect, sweetheart and we can match, see.” Terry said holding up one of his white button ups and navy-blue shorts with a big grin plastered across his ever handsome face.

“You’re going to do just fine and we’re going to have fun. Let’s go get cleaned up and relax a bit, hmm” Terry cooed giving her another tender kiss on the temple, Veda nodded with a bashful smile on her face as he led her to the master bathroom. Terry gave her one of his giddy grins, Veda giggled raising her arms up for him, helping her get undressed was one of his favorite things these days and she was keen to let him do it as much as he wanted because she loved the way he looked at her like she was a piece of art in a museum. Terry gently tugged her top over her head giving her a playful kiss on the nose before slipping her shorts and panties off swiftly. Veda gave him another bashful looking smile as she returned the favor, gently sliding his boxers down his waist but never breaking eye contact. Terry cradled her face in his large hands for a moment before giving her a tender peck on the lips.

“Do you want me to wash your hair today, baby girl” he crooned with a soft smile tugging on his lips, Veda felt her heart flutter as she looked up at him rosy cheeks, she just loved the feel of his hands in her hair no matter what they were doing, and Terry seemed to really love cleaning her up during their showers.

“Yes, please” she said softly, wrapping her arms around his neck, Terry made a pleased sound before pulling her into the hot steamy water with him. Terry gave her one last kiss on the forehead before lathering her up in her favorite soaps with a warm cloth, Veda let out a content sigh melting into his tender motions. Terry chuckled under his breath as he scooped some of her favorite sugar scrub into his hands, gently rubbing the scrub all over her body as he gazed into her eyes. Veda gave him a dreamy sort of smile; she was keen to let him do this as long as he wanted to, and he knew that. Terry chuckled again giving her a playful kiss on the nose as he helped her rinse the scrubs and soaps off.

“Alright, baby girl, tilt your head back for me. Good girl” he cooed as she immediately threw her head back into the stream of water flowing from the gold shower head for a moment. Terry ran his hands through her thick hair a few times before gently guiding her head into an upright position. He lathered her hair up with some of his sweet-smelling shampoo, Veda repressed a giggle because he made it a point to use it on her all the time now, after she said it smelled nice passively one time in a totally obscure conversation. Terry guided her to tilt her head back again as he tenderly rinsed all the suds out of her hair, he added a drop of conditioner to sit for a few minutes while he cleaned himself up. Veda swatted his hands away from the warm cloth as she switched places with him.

“Alright, your turn Romeo” Veda said, grabbing another warm cloth she pumped some of his favorite soap onto it and reached up to run it down his broad shoulders and his muscled torso and arms. Terry flashed her a bashful smile but made no move to stop her as she proceeded to clean him up, taking her time as she moved around him to clean every spot she could reach.

“I can’t reach your hair up there, Mr. Silver” she chided playfully, Terry chuckled flashing her a mischievous sort of grin before scooping her up off the shower floor. Veda let out a surprised squeal and a fit of giggles as she clamped her legs around him tightly, Terry steadied her by gripping her ass firmly and wrapping his other arm around her back tightly. Veda gave him a playful scowl.

“You could’ve just bent down, silly” she giggled, wetting his hair under the gold shower head before leaning down to pump some of the shampoo into her hands. Terry chuckled with an amused grin plastered across his face.

“Now where’s the fun in that, baby girl, I’m combining a lot my favorite things. I get to look at you and hold you all while having you wet, naked and pressed against me. You’re spoiling me doll and it’s not even my birthday” he said teasingly, giving her ass cheek a gentle squeeze as he stared back at her with a hungry glint his eyes. Veda rolled her eyes, her cheeks flaring a brighter shade of red as she felt her clit throb eagerly at the action. She ignored her arousal as she started lathering his wet hair up gingerly, she tensed up a bit as she felt his hard cock brush against her thigh. Terry cooed a string of sweet nothings in her ear, caressing her back where his hand was still holding her against him.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart, remember you’re always in control” he crooned reassuringly, as he tilted his head further into the water so she could rinse all the suds out. Veda dragged a finger along his cheek affectionately, feeling her heart swell in adoration as she tilted his back towards her.

“I know, Terry, I trust you completely it’s just a reflex and I’m sorry it happens, but I promise it’s not because of you. Do you want conditioner, my love?” she asked sweetly, Terry shook his head, leaning up to pepper her face in tender kisses before setting her gently back on the ground to quick rinse out her hair. When he finished, he wrapped her in a tight warm embrace, almost like he was trying to pry the reflex out of her, she really wished he could but they both knew it wouldn’t subside until Dutch was finally off the horizon.

“Veda, I know you’re not doing it on purpose sweetheart, and it isn’t your fault it happens, so you don’t need to be sorry. I promise it doesn’t bother me when it does because I love taking care of you, I love you always, okay” he whispered reassuringly in her ear, stroking her bare back with his long fingers and kissing her head more times than she could count before turning off the water. Veda beamed at him dreamily feeling like her heart might burst with how happy he made her, she let him lift her out of the shower and wrap her up in one of his big plush towels. Staring up at him as she silently made her decision, this trip would mark the solidification of their relationship and devotion for each other. Veda couldn’t remember ever being this sure about anything in her life, but she was sure about her feelings for Terry, and she was sure about his feelings for her.

“I love you too” she cooed back at him.

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They got dressed and finished their morning coffee before finally heading out for Santa Barbara around 10:30. They spent the whole drive laughing and talking about everything and nothing, all they really cared about was seeing the other smile. Veda even sang along to a few songs just to see Terry beam at her adoringly as he traced patterns on her thigh. They stopped for a quick brunch before nearing the San Ysidro Ranch around 1:30 in the afternoon. Veda gasped as she took in the sprawling greenery dotted with olive trees and French lavender swaying in the warm summer breeze against the lush foothills of Montecito.

“See, baby you fit right in my gorgeous little nymph” Terry crooned pointing to the outfit he helped her pick out this morning, now she knew why he kept gravitating to her floral pieces. Veda giggled placing a few kisses on the back of his hand as he pulled up to the reception cottage to check them in. Terry let Veda wander around the garden for a minute, watching her wander around in one of her child like wonder fixations, with an adoring smile on his face.

“Smile, sweetheart” he said holding up her polaroid camera, Veda blushed wondering where he had it stashed away, she misplaced it after snapping a picture of the Chicken Cacciatore he made for her, Lucille made sure to call and shower him with warm motherly praise after she got it. Veda giggled giving him a coy smile as she stopped to pose for him in front of one of the big rose bushes. Terry beamed at her as he raised the camera to his eye and snapped two polaroids of her, he shook them for a few seconds as he walked over to show her the end results with an adoring grin on his face. Veda blushed wrapping her arms around his torso as she looked down at them with a bashful smile on her face.

“They look good, Romeo, good work” she cooed, letting her cheek rest against his chest as she stared up at him with loving eyes, Terry placed a small kiss on the tip of her nose still beaming down at her as his blue eyes glittered in the warm summer sun.

“I didn’t do that much, my sweet girl, you’re just that gorgeous the camera loves you. We really have to start taking more pictures together though. To immortalize all our time together because I never want to forget anything and we’ll have photo albums to show our children someday” Terry said in a cheery tone, Veda gave him a shy smile at the mention of their future hypothetical children. They still hadn’t really talked about that possibility since she started the pill. Veda’s curiosity was piqued on the subject as they strolled into the reception cottage with her arms still wrapped firmly around his torso. Veda didn’t listen to much of Terry’s conversation with the receptionist as she stared up at him for a long while, Terry flashed her sweet smiles and placed kisses on her forehead during the pauses in his conversation. She hadn’t really thought about what Terry would look like as a father but seeing how much care and love he showed her on a daily basis had her thinking he’d actually be a great father. This she knew with absolute certainty, there were no doubts or second guessing, there was just the truth, and the truth was Terry would be every bit as much of a doting father to their kids as her own father was to her and Daniel. They say you often fall for people that remind you of your parents in some way and for the first time Veda could see her dad in Terry, maybe that’s why being with him felt like déjà vu, why their love felt like it had transcended time and space a million times over before they even met, and why she felt like they’d been together forever.

Veda was pulled out of her inner epiphany by Terry stroking her cheek gingerly, Veda gave him a dreamy sort of smile as she looked at him in a new way. Terry smiled back at her gently guiding her out of the cottage and back into the warm summer sunlight, she admired how the sunlight seemed to swirl around him as they walked back down the cobblestone steps and through the lush colorful gardens. Veda found herself wishing she could draw the scene unfolding before her in all its beautiful, serene glory, in their own little personal paradise once again, the world around her seemed to fade and the only thing surrounding her was him.

“Just making sure you’re still with me, baby girl, looked like I lost you to a memory” Terry said, his eyes still glittering in the light as he opened the car door for her flashing her one of his charming smiles in an almost carefree manner. And there she saw it again, a quick glimpse in the golden summer light, one of her father’s carefree laughs echoing distantly in the back of her ears like a lullaby. Veda smiled back at Terry swooping in to place a quick peck on his lips, her heart still swelling in a new kind of dreamy rapt as she stared back at him.

“I was just thinking of how you’ll be a great father someday” she said sincerely, Terry gave her an adorable, uncharacteristically shy smile as he gazed back at her with rosy cheeks. His eyes were still glittering like little pools of rippling water as he placed a hand over his heart at the compliment.

“That means so much coming from you, my angel, you’re so sweet. You’ll be an amazing mom, Veda, hopefully to my children.” he breathed out, Veda’s eyes softened as she reached out to stoke his cheek tenderly putting as much sincerity in her next statement as humanly possible.

“Terry, you’re the only person in the world I’d ever even consider having children with. If they’re not ours, I won’t be having them, can’t promise I won’t take someone else’s though” she said teasingly, hopping back into the car so they could drive back to the cottage they’d be staying in. Terry chuckled, relacing his fingers with hers as he restarted the car.

“Adopting is always an option, sometimes hand-picking children can be nice at least you know what you’re getting but I have a feeling our kids would be quite perfect no matter what” he crooned, slowly making his way to the back of the Ranch property. Veda giggled bashfully, peeling her eyes off the gorgeous scenery to look at him.

“Zoe thinks our children will be quite terrifying. How many children were you thinking about having anyway, Mr. Silver” Veda quipped playfully, though she was really quite serious because she didn’t think she could handle birthing more than two children, maybe even three if she was feeling particularly ambitious but difficult pregnancies tended to run in LaRusso bloodline and with her luck, she’d be the worst of them all. Terry gave her hand a reassuring squeeze as he looked at her with soft caring eyes.

“Oh, sweetheart, however many you want to give me of course. Your body and your comfort will always come first even ten years from now, okay. We can talk about it all when we’re closer to that phase which will be way after you graduate from college, preferably USC but if it’s CalTech that’s fine too. You should be enjoying this stage of your life without worrying about kids, sweetheart. I don’t mind waiting for you at all, you know” Terry said flashing her a sincere smile as he turned into the private driveway, Veda hadn’t thought much about USC with everything going on lately, but she was starting to come around to the idea with them living together now. It also helped that USC campus was a lot bigger than the CalTech campus, she had thought of how easy it would be for Dutch to track her down at such a small school. Veda beamed at him leaning over to pepper his face with kisses.

“I know you don’t, you always take great care of me, my love and I really appreciate you being so patient with me. You’re the most amazing boyfriend in the world and I love you so much. Where will we be staying” Veda cooed, accenting each word with a tender kiss, Terry put the car in park before capturing her in a loving kiss.

“I love you more than anything in the world, baby. We’re staying in two bedroom Kennedy Cottage, it’s where John and Jackie Kennedy spent their honeymoon. It’s got all the luxuries, a private hot tub, an outdoor rain shower, a great terrace overlooking Channel Islands, complimentary in room dining for every meal if you want princess, a great oversized claw bathtub and a little extra surprise just for you, sweetheart.” Terry said with a bright smile as his eyes glittered in the afternoon sun, Ved blushed smiling back at him with a newfound excitement at the mention of a surprise.

“Oh, I don’t mind it just being you and me of course but I thought the others would be staying with us. What kind of surprise could you have possibly planned for me and why, Romeo” she said teasingly, Terry chuckled staring at her with loving glittering blue eyes as he toyed with the promise ring on her finger.

“If I tell you, it won’t be a surprise now, will it baby girl. Ian is planning on proposing to Gwen, so he booked the Olive cottage which is right next to ours and I don’t like Simon enough to let him impede on our romantic getaway, baby. Let’s pop in and see your surprise before we meet the others for tea in the garden, my sweet girl” he said eagerly placing a kiss on her forehead, before hopping out of the car and opening her door for her with a gentlemanly bow. Veda giggled gently taking the hand he offered her to step out of the car, she gave him a quick courtesy with a playful smile on her face.

Terry chuckled as he opened the back car door to grab their bags, he lazily threw them over one of his shoulders so they could hold hands as they walked through the private gated entry into the private courtyard garden. Veda was practically bouncing in excitement when the stone cottage came into view looking like it was pulled right out of a fairytale, Terry always took her to the most romantic places imaginable.

“I really love this resort so far, Romeo everything is so pretty here, thank you for bringing me here with you. We have to get someone to take our picture in front of this before we leave, you know, for our photo albums” Veda said coyly batting her lashes at him with a knowing smile on her face, Terry’s whole face lit up just like she expected it would and she felt her heart swell with joy.

“Oh, sweetheart, you know I’d bring you with me everywhere if I could you don’t have to thank me, I’m just happy you agreed to come and escape some of the festivities for the holiday with me. We’re going to take so many pictures this trip, my sweet girl, don’t you worry, in fact I know exactly what picture I’m going to take of you next, come on” he said unlocking the front door, Veda felt her heart rate pick up in excitement wondering what type of surprise Terry had in store for her today as they stood in the doorway of Kennedy cottage. Terry set their bags down by the door and pulled out her polaroid camera as well as a Nikon F3 with a giddy grin plastered on his face.

“Alright, close your eyes for me baby” he crooned, giving her a playful kiss on the nose. Veda giggled as she placed her hands over her eyes for him, she could make out the sound of the door swinging open. Her body was still vibrating in excitement as she felt him gently place his hands on her forearms, guiding her through the front door carefully.

“Okay, just stand here for a second” he whispered placing a kiss on her forehead, she could hear the excitement in his voice as he let go of her forearms and shuffled about the room for a second.

“Alright, baby girl, you can open your eyes now” Terry said eagerly, Veda giggled softly under her breath, she found his excitement just as adorable as he found hers. Veda beamed slowly removing her hands from her eyes and let out a soft gasp as she took in the living area. Completely wonderstruck by all the vases filled with bunches of pink and red roses, lilies, peonies, and bunches of pink and white hydrangeas. She heard Terry snap a few pictures of her awed doe eyed expression from where he was standing by the open patio doors with a look of adoration on his face. Veda beamed at him again with rosy cheeks and a fluttering heart.

“Oh, Terry, this is so beautiful, thank you” Veda breathed out looking at him with adoration of her own as she moved to walk around the vases carefully. Terry met her halfway flashing her a warm adoring smile.

“Wait, you have to see the bedroom and bathroom, baby. They’re both set up of course you can decide which one we sleep in” he said excitedly, gently lacing his fingers with hers to guide her to one of the masters. Veda giggled with a blush spreading across her cheeks as they walked into one of the rooms to see more flower filled vases. The king-sized canopy bed was covered with pink and white rose petals with a bottle of champagne sat next to a plate full of fruit and chocolate covered strawberries. The posts had pretty fairy lights spun around them, Veda felt her heart flutter, after the incident at the pier she couldn’t sleep very well and would wake up screaming and sweating from a few nightmares. The nightmares were less frequent now but she still needed a little light in the room to keep her from being startled by the dancing shadows streaming in through the bedroom windows. Instead of getting a nightlight or leaving the light on in the bathroom, Terry hung a few Christmas lights over the headboard and along the windowsills for her because she had said Christmas was her favorite holiday.

“You spoil me too much, Romeo” Veda said breathlessly, wrapping her arms around his torso in a side hug looking up at him with unadulterated love and devotion in her eyes. Terry’s eyes softened a bit, returning the look in her eyes tenfold and giving her a tender kiss on her healed cheek. They had one of their unspoken moments with rosy cheeks and adoring grins before they ventured into the master bath, the graceful clawfoot bathtub was filled with more flower petals with unlit candles and more vases of lilies, her favorite flowers, surrounding it in a way that also made it look like he pulled it right out of a fairytale just for her.

“Seriously, how are we going to spend anytime with your friends with the room set up like this, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say Ian isn’t the only one proposing this weekend” she said pointedly, she couldn’t help but wonder what he meant by it given that this was one of the most romantic cottages on the property. Terry chuckled unwrapping himself from her arms he took a step back to snap another picture of her with the polaroid and then the Nikon before pulling her in for a sweet passionate kiss that had her head spinning. Veda moaned fisting his white button up in her hands in an attempt to pull him closer but the cameras in his hand were getting in the way. Veda grumbled impatiently trying to swat the cameras out of her way, Terry chuckled against her lips before pulling away and silently motioning for her to follow him back into the bedroom. Veda pouted up at him, playfully letting out an exaggerated groan as she rewrapping her arms around his torso and rested her cheek against his back. Terry chuckled again taking careful steps so she wouldn’t fall over him as he walked towards the bed.

“Hold on baby girl, I’m just setting the cameras down so we can play some more before we go meet the others for tea in the garden. I want you to be nice and relaxed” he said teasingly, setting the cameras down on one of the nightstands. Veda bit her lip, loosening her hold on his torso a bit so he could turn around without her having to let him go. Terry chuckled softly, turning around, and cradling her face in his hands as he placed a tender kiss on her forehead.

“So, what’s all this for Romeo…” she trailed looking up at his curiously, Terry flashed her a sweet smile as he stoked her cheeks with his thumbs softly. Veda sigh contently as she leaned into his touch with a dreamy type of smile on her face.

“I hadn’t planned on proposing, I just like making you feel special because of how much I love and cherish you. And to show you how appreciative I am that you’re stepping out of your comfort zone for me, sweetheart. I know you’re nervous about meeting my friends today and about the gala on Sunday when we get back and I just want to remind you how special you are to me. I have a lot of time to make up for, if I had known this type of love was out there for me, that you were out there, sweetheart. I never would have wasted my time on anyone else, I wish you were my first everything, Veda. You will definitely be getting a proposal from me someday and it’ll be ten times more beautiful than this, trust me.” Terry said wholeheartedly, brushing a few of her stray hairs out of her face. Veda’s eyes softened as she smiled up at him coyly, feeling her heart swell with joy at him sweet words. He always knew what to say to ease mind and to make her feel so special, she couldn’t imagine what a proposal from him would actually look like if he considered this and her birthday ordinary surprises.

“You already make me feel so special, Terry, you don’t have anything to make up for, silly. You would’ve been waiting an awful long time unless you had hightailed it to New Jersey two years ago. This is a very beautiful surprise, thank you my love” she cooed leaning up to give him a sweet kiss Terry sighed deepening the kiss as he tangled his fingers in her hair. Veda moaned digging her nails into his back as a warm bubbly arousal spread through her stomach to her clit. Terry made a pleased sounding hum before pulling away to let her breathe as he looked at her with lustful blue eyes.

“Veda, you would’ve been so worth the wait, can I help you relax now, baby girl” He cooed placing soft kisses down her cheek, Veda nodded breathlessly tightening her hold around his torso a bit. “You know I like you to use your words baby” he said teasingly, running his hands down her bare shoulders gently. Veda blushed biting her lip as she looked up at him through her lashes.

“Yes, please help me relax, Terry” she said softly, Terry’s eyes softened the way they always did when she spoke like that to him, he let out another pleased hum before peppering her face with adoring kisses as he walked her backwards towards the bed.

“Lay down, my sweet girl” he cooed, lowering her onto the petal covered duvet gently before reaching to move the fruit platter and champagne bottle onto the nightstand. Veda giggled softly as she watched him grab a piece of fruit off the plate and pop it in his mouth, Terry smiled at her adoringly as he grabbed a second piece.

“Here baby” he whispered holding a piece of cantaloupe to her lips looking deeply into her eyes, he still jumped at the chance to feed her every chance he got. Veda blushed coyly opening her mouth for him with a smitten smile on her face, Terry smiled down at her setting the sweet piece fruit on tongue delicately.

“Thank you, Romeo” she cooed as she finished chewing, Terry smiled leaning down to capture her in a brief heated kiss, running his large hands over her bare shoulders and collarbones, settling them just above her dress as he hovered over her, his glittering blue eyes full of love and lust as he stared at down at her. An idea seemed to spark in his pretty eyes as he moved away from her slightly, sometimes his quick moves away from her still caused her to panic a little. Her hand clasped around his arm reflexively and Terry flashed her a reassuring smile.

“You’re welcome baby girl, I’m not leaving I’m just grabbing this, okay” he said softly, grabbing the polaroid camera off the nightstand, Veda gave him a timid smile as he snapped a picture of her sprawled out form on the plush mattress with her dark waves laced with rose petals.

 “I’m sorry baby girl, you just look so gorgeous spread out for me on top of flower petals. Like a beautiful little garden nymph, I’ll get right to work now” he said playfully, leaning down to place hot open-mouthed kisses across her collarbones and cleavage stopping just above her the neckline of her dress with a teasing glint in his eyes.

“Terry, stop teasing me” she whined, Terry chuckled finally popping one of her ample breasts out of her dress and closing his mouth around her nipple, sucking, and teasing it with his teeth until it was hard and sensitive. Veda let out a breathy moan watching him suckle on her breast through lustful hooded eyes, tangling her fingers in the ends of his hair just the way he liked her to, Terry moaned in approval. Sliding one of his hands up under her dress and unlatching his mouth from her nipple to speak to her.

“Fingers, mouth, or both baby girl” he purred, moving her panties to the side and running a long finger along her slit in a feather like manner.

“Both please” she moaned, spreading her legs for him eagerly, Terry let out another moan of approval as he captured her in another passionate kiss. “Do you want me to move up so you can lay down too” she cooed breathlessly; Terry smiled down at her stroking her cheek affectionately.

“No, that’s okay my sweet girl. You’re the only person I’ll never mind getting on my knees for” he cooed giving her another brief kiss before lowering himself to the floor. Veda gave him a bashful smile as she reached out to hold one of his hands, Terry laced his fingers with hers, giving her a sweet smile and a few soft kisses up her inner thigh. Veda moaned as he let a finger tease her entrance which was already dripping with her arousal. Terry made a pleased sounding hum as he replaced his finger with his tongue, lapping up her juices as he moaned against her heat. Veda whined impatiently, wanting him to close his mouth around her swollen clit and toy with her g-spot already. She felt his warm quick breathes against her folds and knew he was laughing at her as he looked up at her with amused eyes, Veda gave him the biggest pair of puppy dog eyes she could muster as she pouted at him, sitting up slightly to place her free hand on top of his head. He loved getting her needy for him.

“Terry, please” she whined, trying to position his head where she wanted it, Terry pulled his head back still chuckling softly, gently moving her hand towards the end of his ponytail.

“Okay, baby girl, okay” he chuckled, finally dipping a longer finger inside of her tight heat slowly, Veda moaned fluttering around him as he gently stretched her out.

“You have such a tight little pussy don’t you, baby girl” he coaxed adding a second finger as he stared at her with lustful blue eyes. Veda let out another moan, absentmindedly nodding her head in acknowledgement, staring back at him with needy brown doe eyes. Terry smirked at her cocking a teasing eyebrow as he stilled his fingers inside of her, Veda pouted with a furious blush on her cheeks as she remembered his teasing reminder a few minutes ago.

“Yes Terry, I have a tight little pussy…” she said, Terry bit his lip, as he resumed pumping and angling his fingers inside of her at a steady pace but still leaving her clit annoyingly neglected. Veda pouted at him again, tightening the hold she had on his hand sharply, Terry flashed her a teasing smile.

“Yeah, baby girl, such a tight perfect little pussy…” Terry cooed teasingly, Veda narrowed her eyes at him as she tugged impatiently on his ponytail. Terry continued his agonizingly slow pumps with the same teasing grin on his face, she knew he was only doing it because he found her getting needy for him adorable and because he wanted to hear her ask him for it. Veda flashed him one of her impish smiles as she batted her eyelashes at him just the way he liked her to.

“Oh Terry, please make my tight perfect little pussy cum for you” Veda coaxed confidently, Terry groaned maintaining her gaze, he increased the pace of his long fingers were pumping inside of her wet heat.

“That’s my good girl” he mused latching his mouth onto her clit, Veda cried out arching her back and curling her toes as she threw her head back against the cushiony duvet covered in flower petals, against another expression of his love and devotion. Terry moaned against her, eating her out feverishly and giving her hand a squeeze to get her attention in her dazed state of ecstasy.

“I’ve got to see that gorgeous face when you cum for me, my sweet girl” he crooned as he halted his starved laps and sucks on her sensitive bud, Veda forced herself to raise her head off of the bed. “Hold on, baby, here” he cooed letting her hand go for a brief moment to move some of the pillows under her shoulders, Veda gave him a dreamy smile and a kiss on the forehead before leaning back to rest against them, lacing her fingers with his once more. Terry flashed her another adoring smile, he placed a few tender kisses against her folds before resuming his hungry laps and sucks, occasionally pulling his finger out of her heat to let his tongue thrust inside of her. Every action withdrew a mess of depraved moans and cries of his name until Veda came to a mind-boggling orgasm, her whole-body trembling as she entered another Terry induced stage of euphoria. As usual Terry replaced her panties gingerly and smoothed out her dress before pulling her into his arms, stroking her hair as he purred sweet nothings in her ear. Veda let out a sigh of contentment as she nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck, inhaling his comforting scent with ragged breaths.

“You’re okay, baby” he cooed, Veda pulled away to look at him with a dazed smile on her face, nodding her head animatedly.

“I’m very relaxed now, Romeo, thank you. Would you like me to return the favor” she cooed, peppering his face with kisses as her hands toyed with the button on his shorts. Terry chuckled, placing a kiss on her shoulder, and popping her breasts back into her dress gingerly.

“Oh, baby girl, this was all about making you feel special and showing my appreciation for you. I love worshipping you, seeing you completely spent for me is reward enough for me, you don’t have to return anything.” Terry said sincerely, Veda gave him a loving kiss on the lips.

“I know that, Terry, I want to show my appreciation for you too. You’ve been so patient with me when it comes to intimacy, I don’t mean to keep you waiting like this I know it’s hard for you and I’m sorry. So, returning the favor is really the least I can do” she said, Terry rested his forehead against her looking at her with a serious expression in his eyes.

“Veda, we’ve talked about this baby, waiting for you isn’t hard for me at all, I told you from the start sex and intimacy are completely your decision all I care about is being with you. When you do decide you’re ready, let me know, you deserve to have a special first time, sweetheart and I’d love to be the one to make it as special as you deserve, okay” Terry said with intense earnestness in his voice, still gazing into her eyes as she sat enfolded in his arms while he stroked her dark hair gently the afternoon sun mirrored them, streaming in through the glass door it danced across the flower petals and duvet encircling them in a golden embrace of warmth. Veda relaxed in his hold, her heart swelling with adoration in the purest form, her brown eyes brimming with blissful tears.

“Okay, I’m almost there, I promise.” She said sincerely because she was almost there, she was so close to letting go of all those formidable defenses she had put up those months ago and trusting Terry with her heart, mind, and body. Terry beamed at her, softly placing a kiss on her lips with so much love and tenderness she felt like she might fly.

“I know you are, sweetheart, I promise I’m not going anywhere regardless of if you’re ready to do that or not, okay. I’m afraid I’ve made us almost twenty minutes late for tea. Are you ready to head over to the garden, my beautiful girl?” he cooed, Veda nodded, letting him pull her to her feet. She laced her fingers with his almost immediately as she smiled up at him with rosy cheeks. Terry smiled back at her, giving her a quick but tender kiss on the forehead he grabbed the Nikon off the nightstand and gently guided her out of the cottage.

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

Terry’s Pov

Terry couldn’t think of time he ever felt as happy as he had in these last few months with Veda by his side and the thought of anyone wanting to keep this from him, to keep her from him, made him unbelievably angry. His efforts to track down Dutch had not gone in vain, Chad as promised was the first stop on his on his spree. Terry started out slow with calculated minor inconveniences like having Chad’s Chevy Camero towed and impounded, stealing or damaging precious items in his puerile bedroom, cutting off half of his picture-perfect golden locks while he laid passed out on his bedroom floor, and totaling his families Princess 45 in the Marina del Rey harbor. All child’s play for Terry really, getting Chad kicked out of Berkley was the real cherry on top of his expertly crafted ploy to corner Chad in a Pasadena alleyway to pummel and maim him. Terry wanted to make Chad suffer ten times more than he made Veda suffer when she sat helpless and ill on a bench on the hottest day LA had seen this summer.

As Terry had expected, Chad Johnson was a complete and utter coward who only had the gall to assault and hit someone if they were a defenseless young woman. Chad was on the ground groveling for mercy before Terry even laid a hand on him, he sat on his knees and confessed his misdeeds like Terry was a benevolent priest who would just forgive his attempt to further traumatize Terry’s precious little angel. Terry quickly figured out Veda was just one of many pretty girls, Chad Johnson had forced himself on. Berkley showed Terry the upmost gratitude for helping them keep their prestigious reputation. Flashing them a copy Chad’s fresh restraining order and a picture of the mark he had left on an innocent doe eyed girl had the school board eating out of the palm of his hand. The dean even went as far as to call up Chad’s parents on speaker phone while Terry was still sat back in the cherry armchair in his office with his arms laying lazily over his lap with a deeply satisfied slightly sinister look in his blue eyes. By the time Terry had cornered Chad in the alleyway his father had kicked him out of the house and confiscated his Chevy Camero, Chad had been alternating between his friends couches for almost two weeks by then. Of course, Chad’s parents were more pissed off by him being kicked out of Berkley and tarnishing the good Johnson family reputation in Encino then they were about him assaulting Veda, but it had served its purpose at least. Aside from Terry putting him in the emergency room for a day, Chad wasn’t going to get accepted into another prestigious establishment with that on his record anytime soon, a real-world life altering consequence for hurting his sweet girl was sure to make the message sink in for him and for Dutch and Tommy. Terry was sure they got it too, but he still intended on taking them out one by one at a spine chillingly slow, calculated pace. Tommy was next on the list and like he had done with Chad, Terry started with minor offences like keying and slashing the tires on Tommy’s brand-new Corvette and damaging several of his mom’s priceless fine China after Tommy threw a little bash while she was out of town.

It was only a matter of time before Terry successfully got Tommy kicked out of Berkley too, he knew the suspense was eating away him and Dutch, Ben and Riley kept him updated after Chad’s unfortunate ‘mugging by a mystery assailant in an alleyway’ and Tommy’s new car being mysteriously damaged. Dutch and Tommy were finally catching to the fact they were being toyed with by someone, but they hadn’t figured out who it was since Daniel LaRusso was out of the country. Terry put his spree on pause to spend the holiday with the love of his life on a secluded romantic getaway before he introduced her into upper class society on Sunday. Once some headlines broke about Terry Silver’s serious committed relationship with a young, gifted beauty, Veda would be even more unobtainable to Dutch than she already was. She didn’t have to vocalize it; Terry just knew the only thing standing in the way of her giving herself to him completely was Dutch. Her fear of Terry abandoning her was replaced with a new fear of Dutch tearing them apart, leaving them to dwell in an existence of deep melancholy until they meet again in their next life or wherever they were going after this. In a true Romeo and Juliet type of fate, Terry was going to do everything he could to prevent that outcome and to erase her fears after this weekend. But for now, Terry was going to do what he did best, make her feel so loved and special Dutch wouldn’t cross her mind for a single second. He’d capture every rosy smile, every adorable pout, every fit of childlike wonder, and every loving doe eyed gaze like his life depended on it because she was his life now, she was his whole world. And she deserved a starring role in all the photo albums he only wanted to fill because of her, to hear her freely express that he was the only one she’d ever consider starting a family with and that she thought he'd be an amazing father to their children made his heart skip a beat just when he didn’t think it was possible to love her any more than he already did.

Terry and Veda spent that walk to the gardens enjoying each other and the beautiful landscapes San Ysidro had to offer. Laughing and practically skipping down cobblestone paths, they happily snapped as many photos of each other as they possibly could, seemingly ignoring the rest of the world in one of their blissful bubbles until they reached the lush colorful resort garden. He held her hand tightly as they walked along the winding cobblestone pathway under the dreamy wisteria laced pergola, he’d surely be taking multiple pictures of her here before they headed back to get dressed for their private group dinner at the Old Adobe. He picked it because he knew Veda would love eating in a California historic landmark even if she for whatever reason disliked his friends, if she said she did Terry wouldn’t hesitate to drop them in a heartbeat. Luckily, that was not the case when they finally strolled up to their tea table a fashionable twenty-five minutes late, Veda, Ian, Gwen, and Anna got along as well as he was expecting and hoping they would. She rightfully hated Simon after he undermined her acceptance into CalTech by vilely implying she must have laid down on the dean’s couch, Terry resisted the urge to knock him silly for Veda’s sake, he resolved to public humiliation. Reprimanding Simon in the middle of the resort gardens with a stony expression and sinister eyes for the all the other guests to see as he calmly told him to enjoy this trip because it would be the last annual trip he was ever going to be invited to. Simon was silent for the rest of the day, only uttering words to the wait staff during their private dinner in the Old Adobe while a very relaxed, happy Veda freely laughed and participated in all their discussions like she’d been a part of their friend groups forever. It was everything Terry had been hoping for and somehow so much more, he had no doubts the gala on Sunday would seem less imposing to her now and that made him happy in a way he couldn't explain.

💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

Veda’s Pov

Veda was relieved to find she actually quite liked Terry’s friends, Ian, Gwen, and Anna were exceptionally warm and welcoming towards her even more so after Simon had all but accused her of sleeping with the CalTech dean of admissions to get accepted. Terry jumped to her aid before he even got the last word out, forever her knight in silver armor always keeping his word. She hadn’t expected him to bar Simon from any future trips, but she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t happy about it. Simon pretty much refused to speak to anyone after that and after dinner he silently retreated back to Acacia cottage while Anna joined them to watch the orange pink sunset on Kennedy cottage terrace and drink cocktails.

On the morning of the fourth of July Terry and Veda joined the others at the pool for more cocktails, a nice lunch at the Stonehouse restaurant, and another afternoon tea before going their separate ways around dinner time. Veda could tell Terry was getting a little anxious about the evening fireworks, so she decided it’d be a good idea to put their rose petal filled clawfoot bathtub to use, they drank champagne and ate their delicious appetizers while they waited for their room service dinner to arrive. They sat cuddled up in the warm bubbly water, feeding and holding one another with big goo-goo eyes, completely love-struck in a way that was more deeply romantic than overtly sexual.

“Here you go handsome, did Ian tell you what he planned out for his grand proposal” Veda cooed feeding him a mini quiche with a smitten looking smile on her face, Terry placed a loving kiss on her shoulder mirroring her smile back at her with twinkling blue eyes.

“Thank you, my gorgeous girl, Ian whisked her away to one of the hiking trails to see the waterfalls while the staff sets up their cottage for them with a great candlelit dinner and as many red roses as they can fit, I’m not so sure those two will end up heading into to town to see the fireworks after all. Anna told me she’s only taking Simon to see the fireworks so they can talk…” Terry trailed, Veda giggled knowing he wanted her to feed into one his adorable attempts at gossip.

“Waterfalls aw that’s so romantic. Oh, no, a talk. I’m afraid that’s never a good sign is it Mr. Silver, are we talking a splitsville talk or a honey, you forgot to take the trash out again talk” Veda quipped with amused brown eyes, Terry chuckled feeding her a piece of Canapes with an adoring smile.

“We can go see the waterfall tomorrow if you want, sweetheart. Oh, it’s definitely a splitsville talk, Anna has been putting up with Simon’s unsavory remarks and lackluster bedroom performance for a full four years and to top it all off he never popped the question.” Terry quipped; Veda gasped in mock outrage as she popped another mini quiche in his mouth with a playful smile on her lips.

“Four years and no ring, poor Anna wasted four years of her life on a total dud. I’d love to see the waterfall with you tomorrow, Romeo” she cooed happily, she could faintly hear the staff enter the living room to set up their dinner in front of the fireplace as requested. Terry captured her with a sweet tender kiss.

“We can definitely do that tomorrow before dinner at the Veranda. I believe they’re setting up our dinner for tonight, my angel, do you want to bundle up in the bathrobes or do you want a pair of your cute pjs” he cooed, Veda placed her finger on her chin in playful contemplation, she knew which Terry wanted her to pick but she was getting a bit cold.

“How about I wear the robe over my pjs until I’m nice and warm in front of the fire, Romeo” she said coyly, Terry chuckled placing a playful kiss on her nose as he gently moved the bath tray out of the way as he stood up to step out of the bath.

“That’s a great choice, baby, here” he said helping her to her feet, he tenderly wrapped a fluffy towel around her goosebump ridden body before gingerly lifting her out of the tub and onto the heated bathroom floor. “I’m going to grab your pjs, you stay here and let your feet warm up, baby girl” he cooed, wrapping a towel around his waist, and shuffling to the bedroom he came back shortly after wearing emerald, green silk pajama pants and his bathrobe still open and baring his chiseled torso. Terry gazed at her with a bashful smile tugging on his lips he held up a brand-new short silk emerald, green nightgown with lace detailing over the breast cups and matching panties. Veda blushed with a timid smile playing on her face.

“I don’t remember that being in my bag, Romeo.” She said teasingly, Terry chuckled giving her a soft kiss on the forehead his eyes still tinkling in the warm romantic bathroom lighting.

“That’s because it was in my bag, I like when we wear matching outfits, may I help you put them on…” he trailed with the same bashful looking smile, Veda giggled nodding her head eagerly in confirmation.

“Yes, you may, you may also carry me to the living room” she chirped, loving the way his face lit up Terry gently unwrapped her towel from her body and took a few minutes to admire her bare body aimlessly running a finger the curve of her left hip.

“So gorgeous” he hummed softly, bending down to help her step into the soft lace panties he slowly glided them up her legs and thighs, he his fingers gently caress her skin before settling them on her hips he drew a few soothing circles. Before repeating the action as, he pulled her arms through the nightgown armholes tenderly, letting his fingers dance upon her skin as he slid the rest of the gown over her head, the gown waterfalled over her breasts swiftly. Terry gave her an adoring smile as he helped her into her rope tying it securely around her waist, Veda mirrored his smile as she wrapped her arms around his neck, Terry scooped her off the heated tile floors with ease.

“Onward my noble silver steed” she cooed playfully, Terry rolled his eyes letting out a deep amused chuckle as he carried her out of the bathroom and into the living room where their dinner, a bottle of red wine, and a warm crackling fire awaited them.

“Alright, my princess, where would you like to sit” he cooed in her ear with a sweet smile playing on his lips. Veda smiled back at him with rosy cheeks and a beaming smile.

“On your lap of course, Romeo. So, we can keep feeding each other” she said sweetly, Terry eagerly sat down on one of cushions placed on the floor with a beaming smile of his own. He poured them each a glass of wine before getting to work, spearing a piece of her herb crusted lamb, he brought the fork up to her lips. Much like he did at the roof top place, it was hard for Veda to believe that was only a month and half ago because to her it felt like ages. Time seemed to move differently when she was with Terry sometimes, she couldn’t remember what her life was like before he was in it and now that she was so deeply in love with him, she couldn’t bear to think about what her life might look like if she lost him. She didn’t think there was any feasible way for her to exist in the world without him now that she knew what loving him felt like.  

“Here, baby girl” he cooed, Veda accepted the food with a beaming smile and rosy cheeks. Veda flashed him a sweet smile as she speared some of his honey glazed chicken, she brought the fork up to his lips and like always Terry met her halfway. They continued feeding each other as they shared one of their many wordless conversations between bites of food, sips of wine, and kisses on the cheek basking in the glow of the crackling fireplace in their own little personal Eden for a long time. In fact, their moment was so long they forgot what day it was, their comfortable silence was soon hindered by the loud rumbling booms of the intrusive warlike fireworks display over Stearns Wharf, a measly six miles away from San Ysidro Ranch. Veda could see the faint colorful flashes of light flooding in though the patio door windows for a second, she thought she felt the rumbles vibrate through the cottage floors but then she remembered what or rather who she was sitting on. Her eyes darted to Terry just as he dropped the fork in his hand, her heirloom beets left a deep purple red stain on the white bathrobe she was wearing but she was too concerned with her Romeo to care. Terry’s face had gone a ghostly shade of white and his eyes glazed over in a way that made her think he had left his still trembling body.

“Terry” she said in a soft but frantic tone as she reached up to caress his cheek gingerly, not wanting to startle him with the sounds of surrounding fireworks still aggressively flooding in through the cottage walls. Terry didn’t reply, still staring off in what she could only assume was the dark brooding jungles of Vietnam, his mind lost in a dark distant memory.

“Terry” Veda cried a bit louder this time, but it seemed to have much of the same effect or lack there off. Veda nibbled on her lip nervously as she reached behind him to pull his raven curls out of their confines, raking her small fingers through it in an attempt to bring him back to her, she’d read up on a few grounding techniques in case something like this happened. Simulating the five senses as a means to pull his mind out of a dark traumatic spiral seemed easy enough for her to manage if she could get him to a place where he was at least talking. The passes she was making through his soft dark curls seemed to help a bit because Terry’s blue eyes met hers, they were no longer glittering with happiness, instead they were now flooded with waves of anguish and melancholy. Veda was relieved to see at least a glimpse of some sort of recognition in them, his blue orbs softened a bit as they swept over her face in way that made her think he was trying to figure out if she was real. His left arm was wrapped tightly around her waist and his right hand trailed down the length of her cheek delicately.

“There’s an angel in here John” he said in the form of a meek sounding whisper, Veda’s eyes softened as she registered what he said, her heart was still heavy with concern, but she could at least work with what he gave her. Her fingers were still raking through his dark curls as she leaned in to place a soft peck on his cheek.

“No, Terry, my name is Veda, remember” she said softly, Terry’s body stiffened a bit as he stared back at her and let his hand drop from her face with a small flash of fear in his eyes. Veda calmly gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek and laced the fingers of her free hand with his.

“Veda are you here to take me to Ponytail” he asked in a shaky voice, Veda calmy shook her head, smiling back at him softly trying to handle this with as much care as she possibly could.

“No, Terry, I’m going to take you to the bedroom so we can cuddle, you’re safe with me. Come on” Veda coaxed, slowly rising to her feet and gently gripped his other trembling hand in hers, Terry looked up at her with hesitant eyes before slowly rising to his feet. Veda smiled reassuringly she walked backwards to maintain his gaze and draw soothing circles on the backs of his large shaky hands, guiding him gently into the master bedroom and over to the king-sized canopy bed. 

“Why don’t you lay down so I can make the room safe for us” she said gently urging him to lay back in the middle of the king size canopy bed and reluctantly let his hands go. Terry nodded in acknowledgment, seemingly more alert but still on defense, he watched her flick on the fairy lights spun around the bed post with wary childlike blue eyes. Veda sighed sadly, he almost looked at her like she was a stranger as she shuffled about the room at a slow pace so she wouldn’t frighten him further. She shut the bedroom and bathroom doors softly and flicked on the tv in an attempt to drown out some of the aggressive fireworks. Before lowering all the window and patio door shades and rushing back towards the bed. Terry’s eyes were squeezed shut as he laid upon the plush duvet his body still vibrating, Veda sighed softly, she swore she actually felt her heart break just seeing him this vulnerable.

“Terry, I’m done making the room safe for us so I’m going to lay down with you now. Is that okay?” she cooed, Terry’s eyes flew open sharply taking in her form at the edge of the bed with wary captivated blue eyes. Veda held his gaze while she peeled off her white bathrobe, tossing it lazily on one of the armchairs before sitting next to him softly on the bed. Terry’s eyes traveled over the dark green nightgown like he was trying to pinpoint where he had seen it before.

“Thank you for the nightgown, Terry. I like matching with you too, green is one of my favorite colors. It’s also very soft, like my hair, see” she said, gingerly guiding one of his hands to the ends of her hair Terry’s blue eyes softened a bit raking his fingers through her thick black waves on instinct. Veda reached out to mirror him, gingerly raking her finger through his soft dark curls while she stared at him intently his blue eyes were still trained on her face looking slightly bewildered. Veda smiled back at him softly, she had successfully tackled his sense of sight and touch, he was at least focused on her now even if he didn’t seem to know who she was at the moment, still lost in the jungles of Vietnam. She could think of a few things to say to get the gears turning in his head but maybe the best thing for right now was just to comfort him, luckily, she knew exactly how to do that now.

“Terry, I’m going to lay down by you now, okay. You can keep playing with my hair of course, Romeo” she cooed, she guided him to wrap his free arm around her waist before lowering herself to lay on part of his body like she usually did. Veda rested her cheek against his collarbone and tangled her fingers in his dark hair again, looking up at him with deeply loving eyes, she started singing to him just as the last hurrah of the belligerent 4th of July finale was rattling the walls. Terry, although still trembling, listened to her sing with adoration and recognition flooding back into his eyes and his arm tightened its hold around her waist. The harsh booming noises slowly died down and the walls stopped rattling as they laid tangled together in an intimate solace with Veda’s dulcet tune sounding over the dull chatter of whatever was playing on the tv and throughout the still room.

“Oh, my Veda” he breathed out, tangling his long fingers through her thick waves Terry bowed slightly to rest his forehead against hers. Veda continued her lullaby for him long after the fireworks stopped vibrating the cottage and Terry’s body had relaxed beneath her completely. Slowly slipping back into their personal bubble with loving gazes and tender passes through the other’s hair. Terry sighed in contentment, having finally come back to her after his trip through the haunting trenches of Vietnam he gazed at her with adoring devoted blue eyes as he placed a gentle kiss on the tip of her nose. Veda ceased her singing to pull him into a tender kiss still raking her fingers through his soft dark curls with great tenderness as she stared back at him with just as much devoted adoration.

“Thank you, my sweet girl. I love you” Terry whispered; Veda caressed his cheek with a soft smile tugging on her lips before she trailed her hand delicately down the length of his bare chiseled chest. Terry gave her a soft smile and another kiss on the tip of her nose.

“And I love you, you don’t have to thank me, my love. I’ll always protect you; I’ll always take care of you” she cooed his declaration back to him with sincere brown eyes. Terry caressed her cheek softly and pulled her in for a long, tender loving kiss before pulling away to gaze deeply into her eyes again. Veda smiled softly at him still gently trailing her hand up and down his chest in comforting passes. “How are you feeling, my love? Is there anything I can get you?” she cooed giving him a soft peck on the cheek, Terry shook his head with a sweet smile dancing on his face, his blue eyes were twinkling again, and Veda felt a wave of relief pass through her. She wished there was something she could do to keep that amount of melancholy from ever flooding his beautiful eyes again.

“No thank you, baby girl, you’ve done so much for me already, I’m just sorry you had to see me like that but I’m okay now, thanks to you.” Terry said softly, Veda shushed him looking at him as seriously as he looked at her yesterday, when she had apologized for keeping him waiting as she reached up to cradle his face in her small hands.

“That’s not something you have to apologize for Terry, it’s okay. I told you; you could tell me anything, that you could show me all your demons and open all your boxes and we would handle them together. I meant that, I love you, I love every part of you, and this is a part of who you are and that’s okay. It’s going to take a lot more than this to scare me away, okay, my love. You’re always safe with me” Veda said wholeheartedly, gingerly stroking his cheeks with her thumbs hoping he could see the love and sincerity swilling in her eyes. Terry smiled back at her dreamily, shaking his head in acknowledgement as he turned to kiss the palm of one of hands.

“I know, baby girl, thank you so much. Are you still hungry, I know I cut our dinner a little short, but I can have them bring us some fresh food” he cooed, finally sounding like his normal doting self. Veda giggled shaking her head at him she gave him a playful kiss on the tip of his nose.

“Terry Silver, I’m the one taking care of you right now, I want you to just relax, okay. So, are you still hungry, what can I do to help you get comfortable?” she chided softly, Terry chuckled under his breath at her with amusement swirling in his twinkling blue eyes.

“No, baby, I’m not hungry and all I want to do right now is snuggle up and hold you” he crooned, Veda smiled and gave him a quick peck on the lips before she let go of his face.

“That I can definitely do for you, Romeo. Here let’s get under the covers, hmm” she cooed, Terry chuckled standing up for a moment to help her roll down the duvet as he eagerly slides his bathrobe off, tossing it lazily on one of the armchairs before crawling into bed next to her. Veda smiled softly, gently urging him to lay down while she moved to pull the covers up and over them.

“How would you like to cuddle, my love?” Veda asked softly as she laid her head down on a pillow, Terry smiled rolling over on his side he draped an arm over her, gently tangling his hand in her dark hair. Veda rolled over and instinctively inched closer to him pressing her body against his she placed her hand on his cheek she rested her forehead against his.

“Like this, sweetheart, I just need to see something good right now and you’re so angelic, Veda, so lovely, so beautiful, so sweet. I love you so much” he crooned, giving her a sweet kiss on the lips, Veda smiled melting into him as she felt her heart swell with an overwhelming amount of love and joy.

“I love you too, Terry” she said, looking deep into his eyes she began to sing to him once again, over the faint chatter of the tv. She didn’t stop until Terry’s eyes fluttered shut and his breathing came out in slow deep sighs. Veda placed a soft kiss on his lips before drifting off to sleep.

[finn-m-corvex]

Whumptober 2023 Day 9 - Shaking

Day 9, and the first day where I use a prompt substitute! I couldn't really think of anything that fit the original prompts, and I wanted to do something with hypothermia, so alas this one was born!

@splinnters you're almost to ten and at least it's over halfway!

Words: 2.2k

“Grab him!” he heard someone yell, maybe Nya. “Get him out of the water!”

Oh, was that what had happened?

Jay reflexively inhaled before coughing violently as the icy water stabbed at his lungs, his limbs weighed down like someone had tied lead to the ends. Everything was bearing down on him, the pressure only growing with every passing second. The light was growing dimmer and his vision was going dark as he tried to breathe in the water, finally recognizing the urgency of his situation and trying to fight his way back to the surface.

A frozen lake. They were still stuck in the Never-Realm, and he had been out fishing with the villagers and using his lightning when he saw the ice about to crack under a man’s feet. Without hesitating, Jay ran forward and pushed the man out of the way, feeling the ice splinter and crack and give way under his weight as he plunged into the depths of the lake. He didn’t think that any of the others had been close enough to see what happened, but he must’ve been mistaken if Nya was here.

Was she trying to help him out of the lake using her powers? Her powers hadn’t been working right since they had landed here, he didn’t want to be another thing for her to feel guilty about.

Everything was so heavy. Fighting against water and his old enemy known as gravity was even harder than he remembered. Jay fought twice as hard to make half as much of an effort as what he normally would’ve been able to give, and he desperately reached for the hand that someone had stuck under the ice. Cole’s, probably, judging from the size.

His feet were hurting and he couldn’t feel his toes after the water seeped into his boots.. His knees were locking up, making swimming much harder than it already was, and it took all of Jay’s willpower to keep his eyes open so he could try and see the top of the water. The hand was flexing and shaking, but Jay couldn’t tell you if it was because of the cold or Cole’s fear.

Hell, he was scared too.

With a final rush of adrenaline and a bit of a boost from his power, Jay grabbed the hand, barely able to make his frozen fingers clamp around it. Pain rushed down his arm when his fingers went completely numb, and Jay could see them turning blue. Cole’s other hand pulled on Jay’s wrist, and Jay only had a moment to prepare himself before he was being yanked out of the water and slamming into the ice.

Coughing up the water, Jay couldn’t see anything through the tears blurring his vision, finally making out his Yang kneeling next to his head. Nya looked distraught, hair messy from running her fingers through it and face red from exertion; she must’ve been trying to use her powers to pull him up to Cole. “Jay! Jay, talk to me, I need you to say something.”

“N-Nya?” he whispered, his teeth clacking together like someone whacking a xylophone. Working his jaw was like trying to move a boulder, and his tongue felt like it had been torn straight out of his mouth. The mental image of that made him shut his eyes from a sudden burst of nausea. “W-What happened?”

“You fell in the goddamn lake like an idiot,” Nya hissed, rushing to sweep his sopping wet bangs aside, and Jay felt more tears sting at his eyes. He didn’t mean to, and he knew that she wasn’t really mad at him, but his body wasn’t responding and everything hurt and he was freezing and his Yang was angry-

“Hey, hey,” she said softly, cupping his cheek. Jay flinched away from how warm it was even with the glove on. “I’m sorry, that was too harsh. We’re going to get you back to the village and get you some help, okay?”

“C’mon Sparky,” he heard Cole say, and he could hear the worry in his voice, “I’m gonna carry you, you ready?”

He didn’t wait for Jay to nod before lifting up his legs, Nya pressing him against Cole’s back so that Jay was riding piggyback style. The familiarity of the position made Jay’s eyes sting, his heart aching. Jay clung onto his brother’s gi with numb shaky hands, fingers a light shade of purple and bruised. Cole was so warm and he was so cold; surely he would be willing to share at least some of his body heat. He couldn’t be that greedy.

Flinching, Cole hissed as Jay pressed his face into the crook of his neck, starting to walk forward towards the village. “Shit, Jay, could you get any colder?”

“S-Sorry,” Jay stammered, his teeth chattering; he thought they might actually break. His gi was so much heavier than normal; logically, he knew that it was the water, but even just that line of thinking took up almost his entire brain capacity. He wanted to go to sleep.

“Don’t be sorry,” Cole said, “just keep hanging on, we’re almost there.”

Cole was a dirty liar, because it felt like a million years before they finally set foot back in the village, Nya’s hand warm on his back to keep him steady and Lloyd sprinting over from where he had been patching up one of the villager’s roofs. He skidded to a stop in front of Cole, immediately reaching for Jay’s hand and cupping it in a deliciously warm grip that Jay was instantly craving more of.

Lloyd’s face was pinched, and he quickly shouted for Kai. “What happened?” he demanded, moving out of the way so Cole could take Jay to the main hut. They were trotting at a brisk pace, one that had Jay’s head spinning from looking at his brother’s legs moving back and forth. Were Cole’s strides always this wide?

Nya took some new clothes from one of the villagers. “He was helping the fishermen and fell in the lake saving one of them. We need to get him warm.”

Kai opened the door to the hut with the firepit and took one look at the group, understanding immediately what had occurred and darting back inside. Jay only closed his eyes for a second, desperate for some relief before Lloyd was snapping his fingers in front of his face, not stopping until Jay forced his heavy lids open and stared at him with barely concealed annoyance. Lloyd wasn’t phased, continuing to keep an eye on him and make sure that Jay stayed awake. Nya did her own part, poking his sides and tickling the spots right under his bottom ribs (one of his worst spots) to make him giggle and squirm, and even though it was still annoying it was much preferred to Lloyd giving him a stink-eye.

The warmth of the fire washed over Jay and comforted him as soon as Cole stepped into the main hut, and Jay shivered like a dying man as he ached to get closer to the heat. Except instead of being laid down next to the heavenly amazing fire, Jay was plopped onto a stupid wooden bench, Nya and Cole both starting to strip off his armor and gi without any sort of fanfare.

“First Master,” he slurred, the feeling still not quite back in his tongue. His head was pounding like one of them was using the wooden mallets of the villagers to beat against his skull, “the least you could do is take me out to dinner first.”

“Jay,” Nya said, exasperated, “we’ve been dating for years. I don’t think I have to buy you dinner anymore.”

“T-That’s very sexist of you, and what about Cole?”

“We’ve been best friends longer than you’ve been dating, I don’t think I have to take you to dinner either.” Cole said pointedly, finally getting Jay’s boots off.

Jay only scoffed, letting Nya take his undershirt and throw it into the corner. “Chivalry really is dead. I deserve better than this.”

“Let me remind you of that the next time the others go out and we’re alone,” and Jay was suddenly beet red from the tips of his ears to the back of his neck; after all this time Nya still managed to get him all flustered? He really needed to get a grip.

He was finally half-naked, the two of them leaving him in just his blue boxers, and he smirked when he saw Nya look away with a light blush on her face. “Like what you see?”

“I’ll like it when I can’t see it even more,” she grumbled, and Jay felt a tinge of satisfiaction in knowing that he could still make her feel that way. Of coutse it was him that would be thinking about getting some action right after nearly drowning in a lake while currently on the verge of freezing to death.

There was a fake gagging sound in the background. “If you two are done being gross, then you can bring him over here now,” Kai said, and Jay saw that his brother’s top was off as well. The fire ninja laid down in a small nest of blankets that the villagers must’ve set up for them, tucking one over himself and leaving a nice and cozy spot wide open for Jay.

First Master, yes! He was saved!

Jay didn’t need to be told twice, and he would’ve moved himself if he had even the slightest control of his limbs. Lloyd noticed the longing look on the lightning ninja’s face, moving to help him down onto the ground since they were the closest in height. Lloyd winced at Jay’s freezing body temperature, but still held onto him long enough for the blue ninja to lay down inside of the blanket cocoon with Kai, who was quick to smother Jay with blankets made from various animal skins and wools. It had been so long since he had skin-to-skin contact like this with any of them, let alone Kai.

It was actually really nice. They should do this more often.

He hugged Jay close, hissing as his brother put his freezing hands directly onto his back. “Holy shit, Jay, could you get any colder?”

“Do you really want to find out?” Jay muttered, shoving his nose into the crook of Kai’s neck and nuzzling. Kai sighed, returning the hug and kissing the side of Jay’s head, activating the little firepower he had unlocked again and warming them up. The heat was contained in the blanket nest, and Jay was quickly lulled to sleep when he felt Kai’s hand start to play with his hair, Nya and Cole talking above his head and Lloyd crawling into the nest on Kai’s other side after kicking his boots off and into the corner.

“His hair is actually pretty fun to play with,” Kai commented, twirling the curls around his fingers and watching as they sprung back into place. He was sure that it wasn’t the first time he had ever said that about Jay’s hair, but it never hurt to say it twice.

Nya chuckled, reaching down to swipe the bangs out of her Yin’s face. “I know, you should tell him that more often.”

“Maybe I will,” Kai said, kissing his brother’s forehead and tangling their legs together. It had been a while since he had gotten some cuddles. “I forgot how cuddly he was. He’s like a koala.”

“That’s because I normally give him his cuddles,” Cole chuckled. “But it’s nice to let it be someone else for once.”

“Oh, don’t say that,” Nya lightly smacked his arm, “you wouldn’t be his first choice if you didn’t enjoy it too.”

“Yeah, I know. Wait, I’m his first choice?”

Lloyd cleared his throat from his spot next to Kai, pouting and hugging the fire ninja like he was a teddybear. “Why don’t I get cuddles more often?”

“Greenbean, you get tons. Kai handles you, Cole handles Jay, I swap between you both and Zane helps everybody,” Nya said jokingly, “although I’m sure Jay would be more than happy to join in your rotation. You could even have a Starfarer movie night.”

Suddenly, Jay began to squirm and whimper, and Kai looked down at his little brother in concern. He saw Jay’s face contorting in fear, swallowing thickly, and held him tighter when the blue ninja’s shivers ratcheted up a few notches. Rubbing his back seemed to help as it normally did, and Jay settled back down against him with a small sigh. Kai clawed his hand, using his nails instead of his blunt fingertips, and that drew a very satisfied noise out of his brother and a squawk from Lloyd as Jay threw his freezing leg overtop of his. Lloyd grumbled a little before reaching over Kai to lay his hand on Jay’s arm, tucking his head down between Kai’s shoulder blades and choosing to go to sleep as well.

Looking back at Lloyd, Kai shook his head with fond exasperation before turning to Jay again. “Are his nightmares always that quick to happen?” Kai asked quietly.

His sister hummed, thinking the question over. “Yeah, pretty much. It’s been that way for a while, but hopefully all of this,” she gestured to the mountain of blankets, ”should help.”

“Well, let’s just hope he sleeps a little easier tonight,” Kai said, preparing himself for a long night, “because we’re not going anywhere. And if he’s lucky, maybe he’ll get to keep all of his toes!”

[yanphobia]

Cleithrophobia - Chapter 9

Cleithrophobia: The fear of being trapped.

Pairing: Yandere Male Drider OC x Reader

Warnings (for the entire story): Yandere, Horror, Graphic Discriptions of Injury and Death, Spiders, NonCon Touching, Possible NonCon (depending on reader’s interpretation), Implied Female Reader (although it doesn’t really factor too heavily into the plot), Extreme Dead Dove Do Not Eat

Chapter 8  Index  Chapter 10

Author’s Note: Happy New Year, everyone! Hopefully whatever you experience this year will be better than whatever tf is happening here

This story was inspired by cobalt-sphinx's Drider x Reader from Quotev.

The next hour was a blur. Between the crying, the confusion, and the rushing around, it was hard to keep track of everything that was going on. You allowed Laura to drag you like a doll into the bathroom to patch up your wounds while you mentally checked out. She and Stan had been loudly shouting orders at each other while demanding answers from you, which you were unable to give. At some point, they decided that attending to your abused neck first was the best course of action. 

So here you sat, some indeterminable amount of time later, wrapped in gauze and wearing an old button-down flannel. They had sat you down on the couch, given you some pain killers, and forced you to drink some water before leaving to speak quietly with each other in the kitchen. When they returned, they sat across from you and stared at you expectantly. 

“[Y/N].” Stan said, with the calm authority of a father. “You have to tell us what happened.” 

“It was... a... coyote...” 

“[Y/N].” This time it was Laura, speaking with a seriousness that you’d never seen before. “Who did this to you?” 

You stared at her in disbelief. How did she know...? 

“I saw those marks,” she explained as though she’d read your mind. “Those were some nasty looking bites, yes, but... they weren’t all bites.” 

It was true. You had seen the purple, golf ball-sized hickies that Mars had given you in the bathroom mirror. Even now, you didn’t want to admit to yourself what he had done. What he could’ve done. 

“...You’re right,” you confessed in voice so soft that you weren’t sure if they heard it. Laura reached forward and gently took your hand. 

“Please, who was it?” 

“I... I don’t know who he is... or where he came from... I... don’t even know what he is...” 

And so, without any more desire to keep them from the truth, you told them the entire story. The way you met, the agreement you came to, the friendship that you had made, the way it ended... everything that had led you to this very moment. They were quiet the entire time, listening with rapt attention, and remained quiet for long after you had finished. 

“I know how crazy I must sound.” you rushed to defend yourself, “But I swear that it’s the truth!” 

“I know that you’re not lying,” Stan tried to reassure you. You could tell that he didn’t believe you but was also unable to explain away the visible evidence. “I... I’ll tell you what. Let me give you my revolver-” 

“The revolver!” The chaos of the night had caused you to completely forget about it. You had brought it with you for protection, but your meeting with Mars had gone to hell so quickly that you were too frightened to think straight. You rushed to your jacket, still crumpled on the bathroom floor. 

“Here, let me give it back, it’s-” 

Nowhere. It was nowhere to be seen. In the midst of your fleeing, you must’ve dropped it. 

“It’s gone!” 

Your brain raced to find a solution, ignoring the way Laura and Stan were trying to calm you down. 

“In... in the cabin! There’s an old shotgun, under the bed...!” You immediately headed out the door to your cabin. If you could get in there, grab it, and get home quickly and quietly... Then the three of you could wait out the night. And if Mars tried to attack, you would at least have some means of protection. You shushed the couple rudely when they followed you outside. 

“Please,” you whispered, opening the door to your cabin, “be quiet. It’s not safe here. Let me get the gun, then we’ll hide in the basement. Then tomorrow, we-” 

You just saw red. Red, and black, and white. Large chunks of meat, and strewn innards, and splintered bones, and clumps of Shadow’s fur littered your cabin, while his blood was splattered across the walls and dripped down your demolished furniture. Laura did not hold back her scream. 

You couldn’t react now. You’ll mourn him later. In this moment, you had to keep your friends safe. You forced yourself to walk through the carnage, to allow Shadow’s blood to soak through the fabric of your pants as you got down on your knees and pulled the shotgun out from under your ruined bed. Then you bolted, grabbing Laura by the arm and pulling her towards the house, yelling at Stan to follow you. 

Slamming the front door shut, you dead bolted it immediately. What to do now... call for help! Why... why didn’t I do that first? Why am I making such bad decisions?! 

“The police!” You cried, running towards the phone in the kitchen. The connection out here was not always the most reliable, so they kept their landline for emergencies. You quickly dialed 911 and explained to the local sheriff’s office that a wild bear was actively attacking the farm and you needed everyone on duty to come by once. When you returned to the living room, you found a very shaken Laura staring at you in horror. 

“He’s gone,” she gasped out. “Stan... he... he was right behind us, but now he’s gone...” 

The blood drained from your face. How was that even possible? You heard him, he was right behind you... how was it that Mars, loud, brash, abrasive Mars, was so good at being silent?! 

And then it hit you. The dead rabbits, the missing chickens... he’s done this before. He was trying to lure you out again. But this time, the stakes were so much higher.  

“He wants to see me... he wants to speak with me...” you muttered to yourself as you walked into Laura and Stan’s bedroom. You knew that he always kept a bottle of whiskey in his nightstand. Helping yourself to a hefty swig of it, you heard Laura follow you. 

“You’re not actually going out there, are you?!” 

“I have to. If I don’t...” No. You would not allow Stan to die because of your cowardice. And you didn’t want to risk enticing Mars’ wrath by making him wait any longer. If you could stall him, just until the police got here, then you may be able to buy enough time before they took him down. You turned to leave.  

“Wait!” Laura called out as she followed you to the front door. “I’m going with you!” 

She stopped you before you could refuse her. “[Y/N], you listen to me. If you think for a minute that I’ll send you out there alone to die, then you clearly don’t know me as well as I thought you did. For everything that monster has done to you, to me, to my husband! I’ll... I’ll do it myself! Give me that gun, girl, because I know how to properly use it!” 

You could see the determination in her eyes. There was no more time to argue with her, and besides, you’d rather have her in your sights than alone at the house. What if Mars was trying to separate all three of you? You sighed. 

“Alright but hold on to me and only shoot when I give the signal. The last time he did this it was because he wanted to... to talk.” To make a deal, actually. You didn’t like the thought of having to bargain for Stan’s life, and you certainly didn’t want to think about what Mars would demand of you, but you also didn’t have any other choice. He was the one in control of this situation, and you were the one caught in his snare. 

The two of you were dead silent as you approached your ill-fated meeting point. 

[missathlete31]

April Showers Bring May Flowers

Based on the Spring Time Prompts that @bradshawsbaby posted

Summary: Hangman and Phoenix take their son to the park for a little family time after Jake gets home from a deployment.

Note: So in this story I imagined Jake and Natasha are now married with a 3 year old son JJ and a 9 month old daughter Lena. Figure for timeline sake, this is about 5-6 years after the mission in TGM.

Hope you all enjoy!

On a rare rainy day in North Island, Natasha Trace Seresin, a former pilot for the legendary Dagger Squad and current instructor at Top Gun, was feeling her patience wearing thin. As a California baby her whole life until she enlisted, the dark haired woman loved the sunshine and warmth. Both seemed to be missing as she trudged further into the lashes of rain water falling from the sky though, leading to her releasing a long huff of annoyance, “if you had just listened to me Bagman” she spat angrily at her husband, yanking up her jacket’s hood higher to avoid getting her hair anymore wet, “we could have been nice, and warm, and dry, at home” she intoned, “instead of out here! But no,” she mocked his voice with a terrible impression of a Texas twang, “you were convinced the rain was done!”

Here, ended up being the park near their house where besides a wonderful playground that the family usually frequented, also featured a grassy hill leading down to a generous size pond with ducks. Their son JJ, three years old and the splitting image of his father (and the same wide green eyes that knew how to make Natasha's heart melt), had developed a new fascination with all things nautical, despite being surrounded by planes since before he was out of the womb. Nat assumed it was because the young boy finally understood that when Daddy was away he was on a big ship, leading the small child to lug his own toy ones everywhere he went. Now that Jake was home, after a long and difficult six month deployment, JJ had been bursting at the seams to show his father his favorite place to sail his boats. All it took was the little blonde's toddler voice asking to see "duckies and boats" with his Daddy before Hangman was planning a whole day's adventure.

Without looking at the weather report first it seemed.

Natasha had tried to talk him into rescheduling this morning, getting the weather app loaded up on her phone and showing him the forecast, but Jake had waved her off with a "they're always wrong" and continued to pack their bag. Now the family was caught in the newest ambush, the rain picking up its intensity as it created puddles all around them. Phoenix kicked one with her boot in frustration watching the water spray up all around, "It's getting worse" she announced in reiteration.

Jake turned to her then, his hair matted down and dark from the rainwater. His own jacket was without a hood leading to him being drenched in the onslaught of the storm. Perhaps if he looked like a drowned rat like she was feeling, Natasha would have lightened up a bit more, but her husband tended to be infuriatingly gorgeous at all moments, including this one, and it only served to grind her gears even more. Of course, he also looked like a sad puppy, making it harder to stay mad. "Sorry Nix" the wet blond hollered over the wind, "I guess you were right about the storms coming through."

"You think!" she called back, trudging closer while being careful of the slippery grass. "It's pouring!"

"I know" Jake's green eyes turned downward in his remorse and Natasha fought the urge to roll her eyes; her husband was just a big child on most days. "But hey" Hangman looked up and nodded to his right, a small smirk rising on his lips, "at least someone is enjoying himself."

Phoenix followed his gaze to a few feet away where their little JJ was happily playing in the fall rain shower. Despite hating being wet herself, Nat couldn’t help but smile at the joy her son was clearly having in his new rain boots and coat. JJ was bundled as well as she could get him but still he laughed as the water fell and landed on his face and cheeks, sticking to the fan of his eye lashes as the little boy looked up to catch them in his mouth. When he was done catching droplets, he turned his attention to some of the small ducks still in the area, quaking happily as he watched their webbed feet make indents in the mud and grass. The small boy was as unbothered by the change in weather as a kid could be, enjoying the moment in pure childhood bliss. Nat turned back to see Jake watching the sight with just as much love in his eyes as she had. When he noticed her gaze Hangman's smile deepened, "a little rain's not that bad, right darlin'?"

 "You're lucky he's having fun Bagman" Phoenix threatened, though it held no true anger, "and that he looks so cute in that little jacket."

"And do I not look cute in mine?" Hangman teased, flaunting his own apparel as he moved closer to his wife.

Natasha pretended to sigh lazily, "I've seen better” she informed audaciously.

"Oh" Jake wrapped a wet hand around her back pulling her closer, "have you now?" He guided her right into his strong chest, the rain falling from his the bottom of his chin landing down on her cheeks as they locked eyes. Their bodies pressed together in a wet flush; Natasha would have been mad at the uncomfortable rub their two rain jackets gave the other if she hadn't missed her husband's embrace for so long. She knew that once they got married and started to have a family that deployments were going to become even more difficult, but this last one had really left her heart reeling. Maybe it was because JJ was getting older and understanding more, or that their daughter Lena, who was 3 months and only learning how to smile when Jake initially left, was now 9 months and starting to take wobbly steps when he returned. Nat tried to record as many milestones as she could, as many tee-ball games and new food group taste tests that her phone could hold but it just wasn't the same. She missed Jake, and she knew her children, even little Lena did too. Every day he was away from them tugged at their hearts a little more, and Natasha could tell just from the way her husband held her tight that he felt the same way.

"I'm glad you're home" she whispered up at him, her eyes shining with a moisture that wasn't rainwater.

"I'm glad I'm home too" Jake answered back, leaning down and planting a gentle kiss on his wife's lips. It was tender and loving though she could still feel the passion that had always defined their relationship in the way his hands gripped her body in all the right places; as if they were made to be in each other's arms. "I missed this" he murmured, moving his lips further south and trying to get through the knots of her tied hood, his warm breath managing to heat the skin along her throat.

Her head instinctively lifted, giving him the room to plant more affectionate kisses on her softest skin, “I missed this too” she moaned quietly, “Missed you” Nat admitted with the burning of the touch of his lips, “God I wish you never had to leave us again.”

Jake pulled back at her words suddenly, startling Natasha from her amorous haze at the sharpness of the movement. She looked up in confusion, catching something flickering on Hangman’s face, a hesitance that was foreign for the usually confident man. Phoenix reached a hand upward, pushing wet hair from her husband’s forehead as she tried to coax his thoughts from him, “what is it?” she asked him.

“I just- I actually wanted to talk to you about that" he rubbed a nervous hand along the back of the sodden short strains of hair on the nape of his neck. "Cyclone called and he said-“ but Jake’s words died out as Natasha’s attention diverted to the couple’s right, where she heard her son's excited giggle. The three year old had managed to unzip his hood from the top of his jacket, a silly feature that Natasha should have known better than to entertain with a toddler. With the hood no longer attached, JJ waved it like a flag as it billowed in the breeze. When a stronger gust rustled through, the little boy's grip faltered and the blue fabric sailed through the air. "My 'ood Momma" he screeched desperately, bottom lip trembling. His stout little legs began to waddle to follow.

Jake made a grab for the cover as it passed them, but missed, causing the hood to land on the bottom of the hill right on the edge of the pond. When it looked like JJ was going to risk a tumble to get his article of clothing, Jake's voice turned a bit more firm, "Hey buddy, don't go down there okay? Just stay right here" Hangman ordered his son. The edge of the pond was covered in mud from the rising level of water the storm was bringing, the soupy swampy mess a hazard for anyone but even worse coming off the steep incline of the hill. Jake released his wife and moved to head down, "stay up here with JJ, I'll get it."

Nat rolled her eyes at her husband's chivalrousness, moving to head down herself, "forget it, I'll get it, I have the better boots." She was right of course, besides wearing the wrong jacket, Jake also wasn't wearing the best footwear, but he still looked unsure to let the woman attempt herself. "I don't know Nix-" he began.

"I got it Bagman" the dark haired woman continued down, taking the hill easy though not afraid to stick a hand out to slow her decent. She slipped a little along the way, earning a sharp cry of "Are you okay" from up above.

"Yes!" she called back up, maintaining her heading.

"Okay just be careful of the -"

"I said I got it Bagman- whoa!" Natasha's left foot hit a smooth patch and went sliding, all traction lost as her body hit the ground hard and began to skim across the rest of the grass. For a terrifying moment she thought she was going to slip right into the pond but once she hit the bottom of the hill her butt landed in a puddle of mud with a splat. It slowed her movements to a halt though her heart still beat at a rapid pace as she struggled to take a shaky breath.

"NATASHA!" The woman heard her name screamed from above, and looked up to see Hangman hurrying down the hill after her. "Stay right there JJ, we'll be right back" he hollered behind him towards the wide eye toddler watching as his father moved to get to his mother. "Nat-"

"Jake-"

"I'm coming" he called, hurrying down even though he seemed to flop more on his butt than she did. Finally he found the bottom, scurrying over to her quickly. “Are you alright?” Jake asked the second he landed next to her, ignoring the mud that was getting on his own clothes as he knelt at her side in the puddle. “Are you hurt?” he asked again worriedly eyeing her over for injuries.

Phoenix took a moment to look at her husband; his green eyes were wide with concern and he bit his bottom lip nervously, a tick Natasha had learned very quickly into their dating history for when Jake was feeling guilty. “I’m alright” she answered, though her voice was still a little breathy, “just a little shocked.” She went to move but Jake’s strong arms kept her stationary.

“Are you sure?” he probed, “nothing hurts?”

“Just my pride” Nat answered back truthfully, a little flushed herself.

"Momma?" JJ's voice filtered down from up above them, his little body visible as he clutched one of his toy sailboats, "Momma?”

Phoenix’s heart clenched loving at her son’s voice, “I’m okay honey, don’t worry.”

“Momma good?”

"Mommy's fine bud" Hangman called back, his brow furrowing as he noticed the mud his wife had landed in, “just a little dirty.”

“Dirty!” the toddler parroted, “Momma dirty like duckies!”

“That’s right, just like a ducky- ow!” Jake hollered as Natasha rewarded his teasing with a slap to the arm. It wasn’t hard by any means but the hit left a muddy handprint on the sleeve of Jake’s jacket. “Hey” he groaned, “don’t be getting all that mud on me.”

Nat huffed, “you’re lucky if that’s the worst I do to you” she threatened.

“What does that mean?”

“It means Bagman” she began as she lifted up a hand, noticed it was mud-covered and brought it up to pat at her husband’s cheek gently, “that you are dead” she ribbed, her tone lifting with a bit of teasing mirth as the mud splattered into Jake’s skin. The man grimacing immediately, but Natasha couldn’t tell if it was the feel of the cold liquid on his face or the threat of his wife’s ire later. She smirked brightly, nothing like Bagman’s typical cocky grin, but certainly holding her own if the eye roll Jake gave her back was anything to go by, and leaned closer to Hangman’s face, “you are so, so, dead” she reiterated, giving a few more muddy pats to his other cheek to even it out.

“Wow” Jake drawled, his eyes crinkling with laughter, “this is what I get for rushing down here to safe you.” He rocked back on his heels and stood up, immediately offering a hand out for Nat to grab.

“That’s what you get for not listening to your brilliant wife about weather forecasts” she replied back smartly. Phoenix’s own face brightened as she used his arm to pull herself back standing and regained her footing. It was short-lived though as she noticed the muddy stain that ran down the entire length of her backside, “ugh,” she moaned, “this is never going to come out.”

“In my defense you didn’t listen to your brilliant husband about the slippery grass.”

The dark haired pilot paused the couple’s movements to take her mucky hands and stick them forcefully jutting from her hips, “is that the argument you really want to go with Seresin?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Jake seemed to rethink his position and instead moved to guide them both up the hillside, “fair point” he conceded.

She nodded appreciating, “that’s what I thought.”

As they started their trek Natasha noticed Jake’s face looked flush with guilt. Surprised she nudged him, making sure to keep it gentle to not send the two tumbling back down, “what’s with the look?” she questioned.

“I’m am sorry about not listen this morning though, he spoke up, “you were right.”

 “What was that?” Phoenix probed, not so much for the affirmation but to tease the man in front of her a little more, “say that again please?”

“You were right” he repeated, lowering his chin and keeping his eyes on their next steps, “and I’m sorry” he offered sheepishly, “I knew the rain was still going to be around but I just- I didn’t want to cancel on him.”

Phoenix, surprised by her husband sudden serious tone, looked over and halted their progress. Standing at her side, his arm still holding hers in guidance stood the love of her life, looking like a chastised boy wet in the rain. Her heart constricted when she noticed the pain in Jake’s eyes, “Babe?” she questioned and though they weren’t ones for flirtatious nicknames, it seemed wrong to throw out Bagman when Jake was looking so sad.

“I didn’t want to disappoint him” the blonde admitted softly, “I didn’t want JJ to think his father didn’t want to spend the day doing what he wanted to do.”

Any annoyance Natasha might have felt for being wet and muddy disappeared by the sheer adoration she had for her husband and his love for their family. She knew that Jake’s impossible standards as a parent stemmed from his own horrific childhood, and Nat was adamant to always ensure that her husband understood how amazing he was as a husband, father and provider. This time was no different. “Hey,” she put a hand back to his messy cheek, but this time in seriousness, “JJ idolizes you, you could never disappoint him.”

“All he wanted was to play with the ducks and boats-“

“No” she corrected making sure that Jake was really hearing her, “all he wanted was to spend time with his Daddy. It could have been seeing the ducks or it could have been watching Paw Patrol inside” she removed her hand to tap her pointer finger over her husband’s heart, “as long as he was with you.”

Instead of looking relieved at his wife’s words, Hangman only looked worse. Jake took a miserable look around them, “guess I dropped the ball then-“

“Honey-”

“I just miss so much when I’m away” his eyes looked wet but this time Nat knew it wasn’t from the rain. “It’s hard to come back and not try to make up for it.”

“There’s nothing to make up, hey-” she waited until his green eyes met her brown ones, “there’s nothing to make up Jake, that’s the job. You know that, and so do I, and so will the kids as they get older.”

He nodded roughly. It was clear he wanted to say more but Jake chose to stay silent and continue their walk back to their son. Nat stayed in silence herself as well though she snuck looks at her husband every few seconds and longed to see his normal smile back on his face.

When they finally reached the top Nat moved to pull Jake in for another hug but a voice sounded out to greet them. “Daddy! Momma! Look!” JJ called out, and both pilots turned to see their son covered from head to toe in mud. Gone were his blonde locks and blue rain-boots and coat, replaced with the squishy brown substance over everything, “I’m a mud monster! Rawr!” the three year old gave a giggly roar.

For a moment the two parents just stared. They both wanted to be surprised but in all honesty the amount of trouble that a little boy with the last name Seresin could produce knew no bounds; another thing inherited by his father. “Oh sweetie” Phoenix cooed as she knelt in front of her muck covered son, “you really are a mud monster huh?” she asked sweetly.

“I am Momma” JJ nodded enthusiastically bouncing a little in a puddle and splattering mud all around, “dirty like duckies and you.”

“Yes you are” she turned around to her husband, “but you know who deserves to be dirty too?” She leaned back towards her son, whispering playfully loud by his ear, “your Daddy.”

“Daddy!”

“Give Daddy a big hug”

“Daddy big hug” JJ laughed, running full speed into his father’s arms. Jake caught the boy easily despite the mess, pulling him right into his chest and hugging him with just the sweetest level of tightness, “oh thanks buddy” he smiled, planting an obnoxiously loud kiss on his son’s cheek that got the toddler to giggle even harder, “you give the best hugs.”

“He does, doesn’t he” Phoenix agreed, walking over to her two favorite boys.

“So was this my punishment Nix” Jake ragged questioningly, “because if it is, it needs some work” he admitted, hugging JJ a little tighter, “a muddy hug from this little monster.”

“No” Nat shook her head, moving closer and taking a clean part of her husband’s jacket to wipe their son’s face a little cleaner, “Your punishment for not listening, Bagman” Natasha fussed, moving to gather some of the mud from her son’s clothes onto her hand and dotting her husband’s nose playfully, “is you’re in charge of clean up duty.” She smiled at his dramatic sigh, “that means laundry” she bopped his nose again, leaving a muddy fingerprint, “bath time” she touched his forehead causing a bigger mess, “and I’m making you handle bed time too.”

“All that for wanting to spend time with my son?” he asked with a whine. He scooted JJ over to his left side, allowing Natasha to curl up against his right, “it’s more than worth it” he decided, and once more his lips found hers.

“I give Momma kiss” JJ wiggled in his father’s grip to lean over and plant a wet raspberry of a kiss to his mother. “Oh thank you baby” Natasha smiled, “now how about we start getting packed up to go home, don't need you getting a chill sweetheart."

"Ohh" their son looked crestfallen by the news, clearly never wanting to leave.

"I mean" Jake's lips curled up mischievously, “if I’m in charge of laundry anyway” he placed JJ down on the ground carefully, “might as well go for broke right?”

“Bagman don’t you dare-“

But the blonde had already managed to scoop his wife into his arms, not caring that the mud from her clothes got his own. He carried her easily over to the larger puddles, jumping in one and letting the water hit them both with a grin. Seeing him so happy, so carefree, after such a long deployment, brought a smile to Nat’s face as she wrapped her arms tightly around her husband's neck, holding on as they continued to splash in the rain puddles, “you are a child” she told him fondly, “a big child.”

“That I am darlin’” he winked as he kissed her nose, before turning to find his mud-monster son, “Come on bud” he hollered, motioning for JJ to come join them, “let’s splash some more with Mommy.”

“Yay!” the little boy erupted into laughter, running over to his parents with nothing but joy on his little face.

________________________________________________________________________________

A few hours later, after their relieved an amused Penny from babysitting and managed to get themselves cleaned, Natasha found herself cuddled snug on their living room couch, listening to the tail end of the rain storm. She sipped leisurely from her cup of tea, hearing from down the hall the sound of the bathroom door opening.

"Ugh"  Jake moaned as he came into view in pajama pants and a soft white cotton tee, “laundry is done, kids are asleep and I finally feel clean again.”

“Your hair is still wet” Phoenix chastised, watching as her husband run a hand through his blonde locks self-consciously. “Its air drying” he offered back as way of argument.

Nat rolled her eyes, “you’ll catch a chill.” She pulled off her blanket, exposing herself to the cold for a second to entice her husband closer, “come on” she urged, “get over here.”

“You know it’s like 70 degrees in here right” he smirked, though he took his place next to her on the couch anyway.

“It feels like 50 after being in the rain and mud all day” she answered back, moving the covers back into place. “I never wanted to leave that hot shower.”

Jake watched as Natasha fussed, making sure the blanket covered them both properly, “Yeah thanks for leaving me no hot water by the way” he joked playfully. Phoenix looked up, her dark eyes narrowing, “consider that your last punishment” she chided though her tone was just as easy as his.

Hangman only hummed, leaning back into the couch cushions and slowly closing his eyes. Nat watched from his side, afraid to disturb the peace but feeling the urge of their unfinished conversation from earlier gnawing at her. "Hey" she probed, "you never got to finish  what you were going to say before, when we were outside?"

Jake didn't open his eyes, "I don't remember, what was I going to say?"

"About Cyclone calling you?" She felt him stiffen slightly under her and Nat frowned, twisting her body completely to see her husband’s expression. Jake’s eyes were open now, his lips were thin and his expression conflicting. “What is it?” Natasha asked in concern.

“He offered me a position,” Jake finally shared, “at Top Gun.”

“He what-?”

Hangman looked uncharacteristically nervous, “he said Klein was leaving, re-assigned at the end of June.” Natasha nodded at the words; Walter “Wallz” Klein had been at Top Gun for just under a year now, coming in to help with hops once Nat had announced her pregnancy, and staying on even when she came back from maternity leave. He was a nice guy, and a talented pilot, but he still seemed to have trouble connecting with the younger students. Phoenix wasn’t surprised he was asking for the transfer but she hadn’t realized Admiral Simpson was looking for a replacement and especially not one so close to home. “Which means there will be an opening as an instructor” Hangman continued, still watching his wife’s face carefully.

She couldn’t stop her surprise exhalation of air, “You want to be a teacher?”she questioned. Nat wanted to smack herself as her surprised tone made her husband’s face fall, “I didn’t mean it like that” she tried to fix, “I just meant, you’ve always been so focused on deployments and missions, not sitting home.”

“I know” the blonde rubbed a hand to the back of his neck anxiously, “but that was when I thought I didn’t have a home to stay at.” He pulled her left hand to his lips and kissed her wedding ring gently, “I have that now. I have a family that I miss more and more each time I have to leave them.”

“Jake-“

“I’m tired of being away from you all” he shared emotionally, “I’m tired of missing my son’s smile and his little voice and the way he gets so excited when he talks about something he likes” Nat couldn’t help her watery smile, she felt the same way about JJ, she loved him so fiercely. Jake sniffled beside her, “I’m tired of missing all these milestone’s in my daughter’s life. I don’t want Lena to grow up not knowing me. I want to be there, for everything.” He squeezed Phoenix’s hand before giving it another kiss, “I’m tired of being away from you Nix, it kills me every time we have to say goodbye, every time I run the risk of leaving you all and not coming back.”

Her lip quivered with an unshed sob, finding the feelings she had for the man in front of her overwhelming in its intensity, “I love you” she told him with all the certainty of the world, “I love you so much Jake Seresin.”

“I love you Natasha Trace Seresin” he moved to bring his kisses to her lips, finding them plump and eager as he teased a little bite into them playfully. Before things got too heated, he pulled away to meet his wife’s eye, “So what do you think?” he asked her with a joking smile, “will you let me stay?”

Phoenix’s heart clenched lovingly in her chest, wanting nothing more than to kiss her handsome husband’s face and never let him go, but she knew she needed to continue this conversation for all their benefits, “You know I want nothing more than to keep you home with us forever-“ she started hesitantly.

Jake huffed, “don’t tell me you’re afraid you won’t be the favorite teacher anymore on base", he questioned with mirth.

“I need to know this is what you really want” she finished instead, sobering the room. She hated how much it hurt to see Jake’s face fall from his words, a pain filling his eyes. “N-Nix” he stuttered, “of course I-“

“Because-” Phoenix raised a hand to stop him, “I understand if you’re not sure.” She sat back against the arm rest of the couch, the blanket spraying down to her lap. “Deployments and missions are hard but the feelings we get from flying them, from that life,” she looked down at her hands for a moment, “I can’t ask you to give that up.”

A hand reached for her chin, lifting it gently until she was facing her husband’s eyes, “you gave it up” Jake reminded her softly, his fingers rubbing gently on her skin, “you gave it up for our family.”

“I did” she conceded and her mind brought her back to her own choice when she found out she was pregnant with JJ. The truth was that the moment she saw those two lines on the pregnancy test there was no real decision. The excitement of expanding their family, of bringing life into this world outweighed even the high she got from flying. There was nothing she wanted more. The instructor position at Top Gun had been a bonus, allowing her to continue her passions and keep a normal schedule for her growing family. It worked for her, and she loved it. But Nat knew that the same decision might not be loved as much for her husband. She sighed, “I don’t want you to do this because you’re upset about missing Lena’s first steps or JJ’s first tee ball game. I want you to want this” she told him sternly. “Because if you regret it, then you’ll resent this decision, you could resent us-“

“I would never-“

“You don’t know that” Nat spoke up sadly, “instructing is different than missions. It’s not the same adrenaline, it’s not the same stakes. Most of the time you’re in a classroom anyway-“

He shrugged effortlessly, “I have a lot of wisdom to share.”

“I’m being serious.”

“So am I” Jake cut in firmly, “How could I resent a decision that keeps me close to you?” he asked, leaning forward to rest his forehead on his wife’s own, “Baby, I have hated every deployment that’s taken me away from you since Top Gun the first time around.”

She bucked back in confusion, “but we weren’t even together then.”

“I know” the blonde smirked, “but it’s no secret I’ve been in love with you since flight school. That’s why I loved being on the Lincoln with you, even if you only gave me eye rolls and insults-“

“And you only gave me cocky smirks and headaches” she chided back, but she met her husband’s loving look with one of her own. “But your Admiral track” she whispered, knowing how superstitious Bagman could get whenever she brought up his aspirations. He never wanted to ‘jinx’ it, not understanding that he was on the fast track to leadership ever since the Uranium mission years ago. "You said that continued deployments were the best way upward.”

“And they are” he agreed, “but they aren’t the only way. Besides” Jake’s grin widened, resembling a Cheshire cat, “there might be a certain captain’s title in my future or so Cyclone let slip.”

“What!” Nat jumped forward, grabbing for her husband and all but shaking him in her excitement. "Why didn't you tell me!"

"It's not set in stone" he tried to argue but Phoenix was having none of it. "If Admiral Simpson let it slip, it's as good as happening" she reasoned, "that man has never been a gossip!" She brought a hand to Jake's jaw, forcing his eyes on hers, "I'm so proud of you Bagman."

"Couldn't have done it without you Nix" he spoke back honestly, "I love you." He moved his own hand to capture hers against his face, "and I want to be here with you for every rainy day and every sunny one. No more deployments, you're stuck with me for life."

She smiled through her tears, "'for life'" she echoed.

He kissed her then, with all the love of a man who had said goodbye too many times and was now ready to never say it again. When they finally pulled apart, and Nat nuzzled comfortably into her husband's broad chest, Jake kept a strong arm around his wife, kissing the top of her dark hair every so often as he thanked every deity in the world that helped bring this woman into his life. If he could, Jake would never let her go.

As the couple continued to sit in silence, Jake gave his wife a tiny nudge, "Hey Nix?" he questioned, gauging to see if the woman was still awake.

 “Yeah” she murmured, her eyes closed as she stayed leaned into his warmth.

“I just wanted to bring up, you know about me joining you at Top Gun and all"

Nat's eyes opened suspiciously, "yeah?" she encouraged, "what about it?"

"Well," his voice trailed off suspiciously, "I mean technically" he posed, "if I’m a captain, I’ll outrank you.”

Phoenix scoffed, before moving back into her comfy position against her husband and re-closing her eyes, "whatever point you were going to make with that statement Bagman, I suggest you don't" she warned, "or you're sleeping on the couch."

He gave a playful salute even though he knew she couldn't see, "Yes Ma’am" he retorted, snuggling her closer and preparing to fall asleep himself. He spared one last glance to the window, noticing the rain had finally stopped, "hey" he whispered close to her ear, his breath tickling the sensitive skin, "I was right, the rain finally did stop."

"Hmmm" Nat hummed tiredly, "only about six hours too late."

"Better late than never right?"

She placed her hand over his heart feeling the strong beats through his t-shirt, "yes" she agreed, knowing that he meant so much more than just the rain forecast, "better late than never."

[smimon]

Asking asks about giant k; consider me in 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀.

1. is there a piece of clothing that didnt grew and Jere is a bit a sad about? I was thinking that maybe that could also be a reason as to why häärijä wears the suit now.

2. how is he travelling? Planes trains and cars are not that big?

3. does he need more food than before since he is bigger?

4. how long did it took bojan and jere with the shoulder thing, where bojan sits on his shoulder without struggles? How did the first times go?

5. since jere is so tall he sure gets to put the star/ angel figure on top of the tree.

6. what was bojan's first reaction from last remembering Jere as being shorter than him and to next time he saw him Jere was a lot taller than him.

7. more details about the apartment? Is the entire building bigger or is it like the tardis where its bigger on the inside?

8. do they have comfy cozy movie and game nights? How would that go? 👀👀👀👀.

9. five things jere likes about being taller?

10. how does it feel to hold a cat in his big hands? 🥹🥹🥹

11. did he ever hit his head?

12. how is the day to day life?

13. more backstory? More lore? 👀👀👀👀

Ups, overdid it a bit, better stop now and leave some for others. 💛💛💛💛

That's quite a bunch of asks! Let's gooo

1. is there a piece of clothing that didnt grew and Jere is a bit a sad about? I was thinking that maybe that could also be a reason as to why häärijä wears the suit now.

Hmm the general rule is that all the clothes he wears did grow, and he does not wear the yellow suit, so it stayed with Häärijä. Also most of the gifts he received from fans did not change size, except for the few that he likes enough to wear sometimes again, like the crochet Bulbasaur hat from Ideapark gig 😊 it makes storing the gifts much easier.

I had however an idea for a story where K is a bit sad he can't wear the yellow suit anymore, and Häärijä encourages him to at least try, and when he tries the jacket, it suddenly fits! The forces of magic decided the suit belongs to them both equally so it changes size depending who wears it.

That's how they do that clothes swap thing from EU tour in giantverse 🤭

2. how is he travelling? Planes trains and cars are not that big?

Well! He can use public transport most of the time, but he needs two or three seats. Whenever possible, securityman takes the third seat, but when there are only two seats in a row, he sits in K's lap 🤭

For planes they can get him the seats at wings as they have more leg space 🙌

K technically could also squeeze in a passenger car's backseat, but he won't do that because he never travels without fastened seatbelts 😇 (ei vittu!) 😑

3. does he need more food than before since he is bigger?

Oh that's a question I wished I'll receive! XD This is certainly one of the first things he wanted to figure out, except instead of thinking about food, he enthusiastically wanted to test how much alcohol can he possibly take 😂

The rules of magic are not simple, and turns out his new limits in terms of alcohol or food or medicine are... Exactly the same as before 🙃 Must have been fun to realize this after he already had ten kaksi ananas lonkero...

(Forces of magic won't force him to spend more money on food, that would be rude!)

4. how long did it took bojan and jere with the shoulder thing, where bojan sits on his shoulder without struggles? How did the first times go?

They managed it at first try actually, Bojan just climbed there before K noticed and now K has to do all the balancing while Bojan holds onto his head for support. They could do it all day!

5. since jere is so tall he sure gets to put the star/ angel figure on top of the tree.

🥹 I love this vision. Of course he gets to put the star on top and he insists he is the one to decorate the top of all trees of his friends and relatives. He will visit them one by one and place the deco on the top. And when the top already was decorated, he takes it off and puts right back on saying "that's how it's done!".

He's helping! uwu

6. what was bojan's first reaction from last remembering Jere as being shorter than him and to next time he saw him Jere was a lot taller than him.

They did talk a lot since Jere grew so Bojan was not surprised, although until the last moment he was a bit suspisious this might be some elaborate trick or prank. But he was happy to see this is true. He has way too many silly ideas how to use this new situation 😊 Bojan will never feel bad about being shorter than K because everyone else is shorter too haha

7. more details about the apartment? Is the entire building bigger or is it like the tardis where its bigger on the inside?

When you look from the outside it looks like someone forced a way too big flat into the building side 😂 and on the inside it is even bigger too. Only the front door is the same size as always, and from the corridor you wouldn't tell anything is different about this flat! ✨Magic✨

8. do they have comfy cozy movie and game nights? How would that go? 👀👀👀👀.

🥹 well considering his apartment is now big enough to set a few tents in the middle, he probably invites friends over quite frequently.

And if he visits some friend in their regular sized flat, they have no choice but to get comfy and cozy. You know, since he takes up most of the space anyway.

9. five things jere likes about being taller?

First: money money money! Together with the crew they have lots of ideas how to monetize his stature. Everyone would pay for a photo with him!

Second: this is part of his brand now, and no one can imitate this. There is no one else like Käärijä!

Third: it takes less time to get places by walking. And it is easy to escape the paparazzis. (Tabloids started adding "experience in competitive running" to their job requirements.)

Fourth: he has always a great view at any concert or stage show 🥹

Fifth: he can now confront every single person who ever made fun of him for being short. He will find them one by one, point, laugh "who's short now?!" and walk away ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

10. how does it feel to hold a cat in his big hands? 🥹🥹🥹

When every cat feels like a kitten, it must be the greatest feel in the world 🥹

11. did he ever hit his head?

Ouch 😅 probably way too many times, but not on places you might expect (he takes care in everyday environments but then there is the backstage or airports or vehicles). Might be one of the reasons they hired the securityman

12. how is the day to day life?

Fun where it was boring before, weirdly unchanged in the serious parts. Most people are not that interested in him being a giant (maybe they are professional, maybe it's the stereotypical Finnish respect for personal boundaries and privacy).

13. more backstory? More lore? 👀👀👀👀

Uhh hmm maybe this: Häärijä actually knows a lot about the forces of magic, but he never explained anything because he hasn't even noticed K is now a giant 😂 (don't blame him, he was always shorter than him)

That would be all! Thank you 😊

[justme315]

42). "You can't tell anyone else about me!"

"You can't tell anyone else about me!"

Meet Hel (the first one, currently 20 years old) and Mary (the secound one, currently 18)!!

!Warning!:

Abuse, undressing (not sexual), panic, wounds, fear of dying, curse words, mention: unaliving an abuser

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Hel was a 9 years old girl when she meet her best friend - Mary. Them meeting is a different story, a much funnier one.

You see.. Hel was human, Mary - wasn't.

She was a borrower, and even younger than her friend, because she was only 7 years old when they met.

Their friendship was something special, from the moment they met, they spent a lot of time together - it wasn't difficult at all, since they lived in the same house, Hel with always busy parents, and Mary with her mother and stepfather, who were not.. well- the best home for a child.

Their friendship developed over the years until that one day..

The girls were already 15 and 13 years old then. They had known each other for a long time now and trusted each other with their lives. There was no longer even the possibility that something bad could happen. Or at last, that's what they though. Hel had always been very careful and gentle, and Mary was loud enough and trusted her friend alot that their relationship was an exemplary teenage friendship, between a human and a borrower.

Hel was doing her history homework at her desk. She almost didn't notice that Mary had just come out of the tunnel in the wall.

"Hi Hells" Mary mumbled, her voice sounding somehow wrong, somehow too painful. Hel's eyes immediately turned to her friend, who normally didn't come to her at this hour, and they widened at what they saw.

"Mary?!" Hel panicked seeing that her friend was covered in blood and various wounds "W-what happened?!"

"S-stepdad had a b-bad day.." Mary held on to a textbook to keep from collapsing. Blood was flowing from her nose and a wound on her head. The same can be said about her hands and the cut T-shirt, which from every angle looked at least as if someone had just tried to stab her.

"Is he fucking mental?!" The human cupped her hands around her friend.

"We both know that h-he is.." Mary tried to laugh, but only coughed up blood. Hel lifted her higher, closer to her, examining the wounds on her body.

"I'm gonna fucking kill that bastard!" the older teen couldn't help but be angry. That asshole had no right even touch her best friend not speaking of harming her!

Maybe he should stand in front of her, then he'd feel what it was like to be weak, what it was to suffer.

"Sorry cupcake, but I c-came here not-" borrower cought with blood "-to plan the death of t-this idiot, but-" she coughed again "-for you to bandage me up."

"Yeah, yeah, sorry" Hel corrected herself, putting Mary on one of her palms and opening the drawer with the other and taking out plasters and bandages. "For this, unfortunately, you have to undress, little one."

Mary took off her shirt and pants, showing the wounds her stepfather made to the light of day. They came in all shapes, colors and sizes you could think of. Hel couldn't help the tears welling up in her eyes. While washing the wounds with hydrogen peroxide, she whispered softly 100 ways to kill Mary's stepfather. Mary chuckled at that but her head hurting made it not last more than a few secounds.

Mary's head hurt more and more and she felt faint from the loss of blood and wounds. "Hells, I'm getting weak..." she muttered.

"Holy crap" Hel couldn't control herself, she was starting to panic. Her friend had never had such serious injuries before. In addition, now Hel was having trouble stopping the bleeding, especially from the wound on her back, which was very deep. "Don't you dare faint, little one" she begged, thinking about what she could do to help her. "I can't do it by myself.."

"What..?" Mary shuddered, hoping she'd misheard because of the loss of blood. Her eyes started to become more and more heavy.

"Mary, I can't help you on my own," Hel explained "I have to ask someone for help because it's really, really bad-"

"You can't tell anyone else about me!" Mary yelled with the last of her strength "I can't go to humans, they're dangerous, I can't risk it, they'll kill me!"

"Mary, please. You're bleeding out. It's really bad and I am not able help you" Hel explained "My aunt is around, the one I told you about, she's great, she'll help us, she raised me all my life, I trust her" the girl assured with concern in her voice, terrified that so much blood had already spilled from someone as small as her friend. She was afraid of losing her.

"Y-you don't understand! Humans are dangerous! They are murderers! I can't, I don't want to... Hel, we are friends, how can you want to put me in front of these beasts?!"

"I am human" Hel's voice was cold and full of sadness. Mary flinched at that answer.

"But y-you're not like them.." Mary tried to defend her point, but she had no strength left, her body wanted to collapse, she felt that these wounds were too deep for her to come out unscathed.

"There is a "them" now?" the larger teen's voice cracked. She had never had such a conversation with her friend before. When they met, they promised each other that neither of them would ever tell anyone about their friendship. It was their little pact. But Hel had never thought Mary really thought so badly of humans. But that wasn't the most important thing now. The girl was getting weaker by the moment and needed help. Hel grabbed the phone and started searching her contacts for auntie Hyphatia's number.

"Hel, if you do this, it will be the end of our friendship!" Mary cried, terrified of what her friend was doing. She trusted Hel, but she absolutely did not and would not trust any other human. She knew what these beasts were capable of. She knew she might be being written off, so she reached for the darkest and dirtiest card, the "Hells, please, don't do this" emotional game.

"I'm sorry, little one, but I care more that you're alive than that you continue to be my friend" the first tear fell from Mary's right eye "I love you too much to lose you" added Hel, her tone soft and sad, calling her auntie "I promise that my aunt won't hurt you. I won't let anyone hurt you ever again".

Mary then fainted.

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Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed it! Introducing two new heroines/characters from my universes. You can still ask questions or give ideas from my various stories, especially regarding these two girls and their story! See ya♥️

[pbandjesse]

I got my tickets for MCR back! I am so glad. I really hope they continue to stay safe in my account. I changed all my passwords but I don't know what else I can do to keep them safe. I wish I had physical tickets. But it is fine. It will be fine.

I had a better day. I am still not feeling good inside. Emotionally. I just feel low. Bad. But I tried my best to push through that. And in pushing through that I had a really productive studio day.

I didn't sleep very well. I couldn't get comfortable. My sinuses were so dry. My body just felt wrong.

The sun was right in my face when I woke up. I was not thrilled. I was happy that James was still home though. When I got home I went and turned the shower on and wandered down the hall to find James finishing the second coat of paint in the baby room. It's such a beautiful shade of blue. James said they hope the baby likes cool tones. They better!!

I finished getting washed and dressed. I felt a little disjointed. A little all over the place. But I was trying. So after I made the bed, and reorganized the outfits I chose for the rest of the week, and then headed to the studio.

James was making me breakfast, and themselves lunch. And while they cooked I was in the studio cutting out bears.

I had a wildly productive making day. I got 25 bears cut out. And worked on pinning frogs and tadpoles together. It was just a really good making day.

I would get a few done by the time James hady omelet done. I came to sit in the kitchen with them. Sweetp was being annoying and had to keep being removed from the table. We tried opened the backdoor! But he was just trying to steal my eggs! Rude.

I would go back to the studio. And was finishing up the last bear as James was getting ready to leave. I had been working for about two hours at this point. It was nice just knowing James was in the house. But they had to leave. They gave me a smooch and headed out into the world.

I would not leave the house today. Instead I continued to work.

I took a little break after I finished that last bear. I made sure everything was pinned up and put away. And brought Ruby the Roomba to clean up the room. I had spent another hour after James left pinning the frogs and filling their limbs with beans which of course I spilled all over so it was good to get everything vacuumed up. It was funny watching Ruby make crop circles in the carpet though.

I laid upstairs for a bit. Just watched videos and chilled. This was when I found out that I got my MCR tickets back and I was so excited and happy. I was still struggling mentally, but at least this was fixed.

I spent a lot of time just hanging in bed and watching videos. But once James told me they were done painting that wall and weren't going to do another coat I would go and take the tape down and put the furniture back.

I truly love the color and I decided to hang one of my collected quilt wall hangings up and I think it looks so lovely. I plan on hanging a mirror on the other side to make a fake window. But that will happen later. No rush there.

Once the baby room was put back together I went downstairs to put a pizza in the oven for dinner. An early dinner since I didn't actually have lunch.

While the oven was preheating I had Ruby cleaning the living room while I got some of my bears (and a few new bunnies!!) arms stuffed and ready to sew down.

Once the pizza was in the oven I finished all the sewing. I got 9 finished and ready for faces. I felt so productive. And my pizza was basically done too. Amazing.

I did slightly burn myself into the pan but it was fine. I let the pizza cool and tidied up my sewing stuff and eventually cut the pizza and ete and was feeling good.

I finished all the faces. I realized I am basically completely out of my favorite eye size so I decided to order just that size this time. I am not 100% sure I got the size right, because it's in millimeters. But I think I got it right. And those should be here before the end of the month.

I would take a shower after that. I was trying hard to feel alright. I would get dressed in jammies and fed all the animals. I had a cupcake and started the dishwasher. I decided to finish stuffing the plushies I made today, and then would unstuff a few of them to try doing a half beaded style. Just trying some new stuff. It was nice to feel like I really got a ton done today.

Now I'm just hanging out upstairs. I am tired. My body is tired. I am feeling a bit stressed about the field trip I'm leading tomorrow. The teacher reached out and didn't tell the parents to come early to get oriented and I'm very worried. But I am also just hoping it will work out and everything will be okay. Fingers crossed for sure.

I just hope it's a nice last field trip of the year, because I hate how stressed I am feeling over it.

I hope you all have a good night. James should be home in the next couple hours. And I will feel a little better once they are.

Tomorrow me and James are going to have a little date night, going to dinner and then seeing a play. I'm really looking forward to it. I hope you all have a good day tomorrow too. I love you all. Goodnight!