#wait why isn't it taught that way

[autumnoakes]

ngl i don't even think of mitochondria as "the powerhouse of the cell" anymore. it's "the site of cellular respiration" at the absolute simplest

[asfdhgsdkjhgb]

chat i forgot that i likely have straight up cptsd from the relationship i was in ~2 years ago 😔 oh no he's healing but also he straight up forgot how bad that was oh lord 😔😔😔

[autistichalsin]

In retrospect, four years later, I feel like the Isabel Fall incident was just the biggest ignored cautionary tale modern fandom spaces have ever had. Yes, it wasn't limited to fandom, it was also a professional author/booktok type argument, but it had a lot of crossover.

Stop me if you've heard this one before: a writer, whether fan or pro, publishes a work. If one were to judge a book by its cover, something we are all taught in Kindergarten shouldn't happen but has a way of occurring regardless, one might find that there was something that seemed deeply problematic about this work. Maybe the title or summary alluded to something Wrong happening, or maybe the tags indicated there was problematic kinks or relationships. And that meant the story was Bad. So, a group of people takes to the Twittersphere to inform everyone who will listen why the work, and therefore the author, are Bad. The author, receiving an avalanche of abuse and harassment, deactivates their account, and checks into a mental health facility for monitoring for suicidal ideation. They never return to their writing space, and the harassers get a slap on the wrist (if that- usually they get praise and high-fives all around) and start waiting for their next victim to transgress.

Sounds awful familiar, doesn't it?

Isabel Fall's case, though, was even more extreme for many reasons. See, she made the terrible mistake of using a transphobic meme as the genesis to actually explore issues of gender identity.

More specifically, she used the phrase "I sexually identify as an attack helicopter" to examine how marginalized identities, when they become more accepted, become nothing more than a tool for the military-industrial complex to rebrand itself as a more personable and inclusive atrocity; a chance to pursue praise for bombing brown children while being progressive, because queer people, too, can help blow up brown children now! It also contained an examination of identity and how queerness is intrinsic to a person, etc.

But... well, if harassers ever bothered to read the things they critique, we wouldn't be here, would we? So instead, they called Isabel a transphobic monster for the title alone, even starting a misinformation campaign to claim she was, in fact, a cis male nazi using a fake identity to psyop the queer community.

A few days later, after days of horrific abuse and harassment, Isabel requested that Clarkesworld magazine pull the story. She checked in to a psych ward with suicidal thoughts. That wasn't all, though; the harassment was so bad that she was forced to out herself as trans to defend against the claims.

Only... we know this type of person, the fandom harassers, don't we? You know where this is going. Outing herself did nothing to stop the harassment. No one was willing to read the book, much less examine how her sexuality and gender might have influenced her when writing it.

So some time later, Isabel deleted her social media. She is still alive, but "Isabel Fall" is not- because the harassment was so bad that Isabel detransitioned/closeted herself, too traumatized to continue living her authentic life.

Supposed trans allies were so outraged at a fictional portrayal of transness, written by a trans woman, that they harassed a real life trans woman into detransitioning.

It's heartbreakingly familiar, isn't it? Many of us in fandom communities have been in Isabel's shoes, even if the outcome wasn't so extreme (or in some cases, when it truly was). Most especially, many of us, as marginalized writers speaking from our own experiences in some way, have found that others did not enjoy our framework for examining these things, and hurt us, members of those identities, in defense of "the community" as a nebulous undefined entity.

There's a quote that was posted in a news writeup about the whole saga that was published a year after the fact. The quote is:

The delineation between paranoid and reparative readings originated in 1995, with influential critic Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick. A paranoid reading focuses on what’s wrong or problematic about a work of art. A reparative reading seeks out what might be nourishing or healing in a work of art, even if the work is flawed. Importantly, a reparative reading also tends to consider what might be nourishing or healing in a work of art for someone who isn’t the reader. This kind of nuance gets completely worn away on Twitter, home of paranoid readings. “[You might tweet], ‘Well, they didn’t discuss X, Y, or Z, so that’s bad!’ Or, ‘They didn’t’ — in this case — ‘discuss transness in a way that felt like what I feel about transness, therefore it is bad.’ That flattens everything into this very individual, very hostile way of reading,” Mandelo says. “Part of reparative reading is trying to think about how a story cannot do everything. Nothing can do everything. If you’re reading every text, fiction, or criticism looking for it to tick a bunch of boxes — like if it represents X, Y, and Z appropriately to my definitions of appropriate, and if it’s missing any of those things, it’s not good — you’re not really seeing the close focus that it has on something else.”

A paranoid reading describes perfectly what fandom culture has become in the modern times. It is why "proship", once simply a word for common sense "don't engage with what you don't like, and don't harass people who create it either" philosophies, has become the boogeyman of fandom, a bad and dangerous word. The days of reparative readings, where you would look for things you enjoyed, are all but dead. Fiction is rarely a chance to feel joy; it's an excuse to get angry, to vitriolically attack those different from oneself while surrounded with those who are the same as oneself. It's an excuse to form in-groups and out-groups that must necessarily be in a constant state of conflict, lest it come across like This side is accepting That side's faults. In other words, fandom has become the exact sort of space as the nonfandom spaces it used to seek to define itself against.

It's not about joy. It's not about resonance with plot or characters. It's about hate. It's about finding fault. If they can't find any in the story, they will, rest assured, create it by instigating fan wars- dividing fandom into factions and mercilessly attacking the other.

And that's if they even went so far as to read the work they're critiquing. The ones they don't bother to read, as you saw above, fare even worse. If an AO3 writer tagged an abuser/victim ship, it's bad, it's fetishism, even if the story is about how the victim escapes. If a trans writer uses the title "I Sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter" to find a framework to dissect rainbow-washing the military-industrial complex, it's unforgivable. It's a cesspool of kneejerk reactions, moralizing discomfort, treating good/evil as dichotomous categories that can never be escaped, and using that complex as an excuse to heap harassment on people who "deserve it." Because once you are Bad, there is no action against you that is too Bad for you to deserve.

Isabel Fall's story follows this so step-by-step that it's like a textbook case study on modern fandom behavior.

Isabel Fall wrote a short story with an inflammatory title, with a genesis in transphobic mockery, in the hopes of turning it into a genuine treatise on the intersection of gender and sexuality and the military-industrial complex. But because audiences are unprepared for the idea of inflammatory rhetoric as a tool to force discomfort to then force deeper introspection... they zeroed in on the discomfort. "I Sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter"- the title phrase, not the work- made them uncomfortable. We no longer teach people how to handle discomfort; we live in a world of euphemism and glossing over, a world where people can't even type out the words "kill" and rape", instead substituting "unalive" and "grape." We don't deal with uncomfortable feelings anymore; we censor them, we transform them, we sanitize them. When you are unable to process discomfort, when you are never given self-soothing tools, your only possible conclusion is that anything Uncomfortable must be Bad, and the creator must either be censored too, or attacked into conformity so that you never again experience the horrors of being Uncomfortable.

So the masses took to Twitter, outraged. They were Uncomfortable, and that de facto meant that they had been Wronged. Because the content was related to trans identity issues, that became the accusation; it was transphobic, inherently. It couldn't be a critique of bigger and more fluid systems than gender identity alone; it was a slight against trans people. And no amount of explanations would change their minds now, because they had already been aggrieved and made to feel Uncomfortable.

Isabel Fall was now a Bad Person, and we all know what fandom spaces do to Bad People. Bad People, because they are Bad, will always be deserving of suicide bait and namecalling and threatening. Once a person is Bad, there is no way to ever become Good again. Not by refuting the accusations (because the accusations are now self-evident facts; "there is a callout thread against them" is its own tautological proof that wrongdoing has happened regardless of the veracity of the claims in the callout) and not by apologizing and changing, because if you apologize and admit you did the Bad thing, you are still Bad, and no matter what you do in future, you were once Bad and that needs to be brought up every time you are mentioned. If you are bad, you can NEVER be more than what you were at your worst (in their definition) moment. Your are now ontologically evil, and there is no action taken against you that can be immoral.

So Isabel was doomed, naturally. It didn't matter that she outed herself to explain that she personally had lived the experience of a trans woman and could speak with authority on the atrocity of rainbow-washing the military industrial complex as a proaganda tool to capture progressives. None of it mattered. She had written a work with an Uncomfortable phrase for a title, the readers were Uncomfortable, and someone had to pay for it.

And that's the key; pay for it. Punishment. Revenge. It's never about correcting behavior. Restorative justice is not in this group's vocabulary. You will, incidentally, never find one of these folks have a stance against the death penalty; if you did Bad as a verb, you are Bad as an intrinsic, inescapable adjective, and what can you do to incorrigible people but kill them to save the Normal people? This is the same principle, on a smaller scale, that underscores their fandom activities; if a Bad fan writes Bad fiction, they are a Bad person, and their fandom persona needs to die to save Normal fans the pain of feeling Uncomfortable.

And that's what happened to Isabel Fall. The person who wrote the short story is very much alive, but the pseudonym of Isabel Fall, the identity, the lived experiences coming together in concert with imagination to form a speculative work to critique deeply problematic sociopolitical structures? That is dead. Isabel Fall will never write again, even if by some miracle the person who once used the name does. Even if she ever decides to restart her transition, she will be permanently scarred by this experience, and will never again be able to share her experience with us as a way to grow our own empathy and challenge our understanding of the world. In spirit, but not body, fandom spaces murdered Isabel Fall.

And that's... fandom, anymore. That's just what is done, routinely and without question, to Bad people. Good people are Good, so they don't make mistakes, and they never go too far when dealing with Bad people. And Bad people, well, they should have thought before they did something Bad which made them Bad people.

Isabel Fall's harassment happened in early 2020, before quarantine started, but it was in so many ways a final chance for fandom to hit the breaks. A chance for fandom to think collectively about what it wanted to be, who it wanted to be for and how it wanted to do it. And fandom looked at this and said, "more, please." It continues to harass marginalized people, especially fans of color and queen fans, into suffering mental breakdowns. With gusto.

Any ideas of reparative reading is dead. Fandom runs solely on paranoid readings. And so too is restorative justice gone for fandom transgressions, real or imagined. It is now solely about punitive, vigilante justice. It's a concerted campaign to make sure oddballs conform or die (in spirit, but sometimes even physically given how often mentally ill individuals are pushed into committing suicide).

It's a deeply toxic environment and I'm sad to say that Isabel Fall's story was, in retrospect, a sort of event horizon for the fandom. The gravitational pull of these harassment campaigns is entirely too strong now and there is no escaping it. I'm sorry, I hate to say something so bleak, but thinking the last few days about the state of fandom (not just my current one but also others I watch from the outside), I just don't think we can ever go back to peaceful "for joy" engagement, not when so many people are determined to use it as an outlet for lateral aggression against other people.

[yougavememyopia]

Kidnapper! Yandere (2)

Tags: PT 1. 18+, desperate sub, angst ig, finger sucking, spit (a bit), choking, handjob

-----------------------♡♡-------------------------

"Are you not gonna talk to me?" Your kidnapper pouted, tilting his head innocently. He was good at pretending like the situation you were in was normal. "Come on, I thought you enjoyed last night..."

The events replayed in your head. You felt a rush of heat as you recalled the events. Your body was sore. Very, very sore.

"I'll wait as long as it takes, y'know. Just gonna sit here, and cuddle with you until you speak. Or you could talk to me now... Please?"

His side hug got tighter as silence grew. He whined loudly, burying his face in your marked neck. Your arms rested on your lap. You were not tied anymore. Free to do as you please. Not like you could walk though.

He had you dressed in clothes he stole from you before. They smelled like him. His embrace was warm, comfortable. Was it wrong to hug him back? You hadn't spoken since breakfast, trying to sort your feelings while he rested his head on your chest.

"Am I really that unlovable?" He whispered, but you heard him. You heard the pain in his voice, the shaky breath that escaped him. He was going to cry. Last time, it was out of pleasure when he was buried deep inside you, confessing his love over and over again.

He stopped hugging you, sitting up right. You shifted your position and looked at him. Those tears made you feel different. A bad twist in your stomach. Your hands gripped the fabric of your pants tighter, unsure of what to do.

"I thought I was doing something right. I was so convinced that after last night, things would be different. I thought everything would be different. I love you! I showed you how much love I can give you. In every way possible. I'd do anything for you. Isn't that enough?"

You held in your sigh. Poor, delusional boy. Mistaking true love for an obsession. Kidnapping, forcing, manipulating, all in the name of love. You shouldn't blame him. Apperently, no one taught him how to behave normally.

"W-why are you looking at me like that? Please don't look at me like that! I can't have you hate me. Please don't hate me. Please. Please. Please."

He was sobbing loudly. He was always very loud. Very emotional. Very weak. He was shaking. Snot running down his nose and he quickly wiped them with his sleeve.

"I don't want you to leave. I don't want to be alone. I need you. I need you. I can't live without you. I can't breathe without you. I'll die without you!"

He grabbed the hand you reached out to him. Holding it with his unusually cold hands. His whole body was shaking, his other hand wrapped around his mouth to silence himself, his fat tears still streaming down his face. He seemed out of it, staring at the floor with wide eyes while you stared at him profile. Then he fell down to the floor. Right in front of the couch, on his knees, looking up at you. His hands clasped around yours as he started pleading with you.

"You're angry, right? That's all, you're just angry! That's okay. You can take it all out on me. I don't mind it. At all. My body is for your use. I'm yours. I'm all yours. So go on. Hit me. Slap me. Punch me. Spit on me. Step on me. Choke me. Abuse me. What will make you satisfied? Please, tell me..."

He looked up at you with glassy eyes. His tears finally stopped. He loosened his grip on your hand, and you quickly cupped his face. He sighed in relief, nuzzling into your palm. He was waiting. Waiting for your answer, your approval, any scrap of love that you'll give to him. He needed it so badly that he was willing to do anything.

"Use me. Degrade me. Control me. Just talk to me. Pay attention to me. Love me! Please! I'm yours. I'm all yours to use."

You grazed his bottom lip, his lips immediately parted. You mumbled to him to lick your fingers. Your index and middle rubbing against his tongue. He moaned, immediately lapping your skin. His mouth closed around them, and he sucked while keeping eye contact. His lewd look was enough to send a rush between your legs.

"Aah~" He kept making sounds as he licked between your fingers. His face twisted in pleasure. Laying his head on the soft plush of your thigh. He pulled away, and you allowed him to talk. "Punish me. Please punish me. I've been a bad boy, right? You can't just let me get away with it. You need to teach me a lesson-!"

He groaned out the last word as your leg pressed against the hardness of his pants. You sighed, feeling him go stiff. "Sure, I'll teach you a lesson."

"Mmh, ah.. thank you. Fuck. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I can't say it enough. Now please, please, use me. Use me. I'm yours. I'm yours. Yoursyoursyoursyours!"

You stopped moving your leg against his crotch, and he stopped humping it. Each movement was making him more excited, but he didn't protest when you stopped. You patted the spot next to you, and he obediently came back to sit on the couch.

"Let me tell you what's going to happen." You face him, holding his hands in yours. He squeezed them, and you assumed that was his way of ignoring the tent in his pants. "Things are going to be different. You're not gonna hold me hostage. I'm allowed to leave. But I'll live with you. And we could be like spouses or whatever you said last night."

His face went through several emotions. From excited, to confused, to scared, and back to happy. He opened his mouth, but you immediately shushed him. You covered his mouth, glaring at him. "You're not allowed to talk until after I'm done helping you with your problem."

He nodded. You felt him gulp as you stared at the bulge in front of his pants. Your own core throbbed. The thought of seeing him make those noises and look at you with that lovesick look on his face had you clenching your thighs together. Last night was all about making you come, so you never actually got to see him. You felt excited. "Let me see you. Go on."

He immediately pulled down his pants and boxers, his cock springing out. Precum was rolling down the tip, his legs spread wider, and his hands grabbed the sides of the couch. He whimpered as you stared at him for a bit. You started by spitting down on him, grazing his tip with your thumb before stroking his length. There was no need for it, but you just wanted to test out all the things he said before. He reacted by pushing his hips up. His thighs were shaking. His head fell back, and his back arched.

"Nngh! Fuck.. Aah, that feels so good. Thank.. you-!" The look he gave you was filled with absolute love. His words all mumbled up. "B-but why aren't you punishing me? I thought-"

You cut him off by speeding up. He whined loudly, hips thrusting up to meet with your strokes. "Let's take it easy right now, okay? Plus, we have plenty of time for all that."

"But you should punish me 'cause I'm about to come. Ah! Sorry! Sorry.. can't take much more. It feels so good! Ah, fuck."

You chuckled. "Come on then. Come for me." Your other grabbed his throat and squeezed it. His hips thrusted up immediately. He made a loud pleasured noise, his teary eyes fluttering shut as he finished. His stomach got all messy, as did your hand. You helped him calm down through his high, giving a few gentle strokes. "There you go. Good boy. Such a good boy..."

Your clean hand met up to stroke his hair while he cried happily. Whispering thank you's, and opening his mouth to clean your fingers from his release. Smiling happily at you as you messaged his scalp. His hair was so soft. You gripped his chin, leaning in to kiss his lips.

"You know if you do that, I'll get excited again.. And then you'll have to punish me for real."

You softly laughed, deciding to kiss him anyway. He responded by pressing his lips happily against yours. His mouth opened to allow your tongue in. Soft sounds escaping botn of you. Last night was repeating itself. This time, it'll be all about him.

[shotmrmiller]

kyle asking price and johnny what's up with simon having his earbuds in and phone in hand the moment they touch foot on base because before last week, he hadn't even known simon had a phone.

how did you think he got in contact with people?

i just figured he didn't.

anyway, price just shrugs and says, "gotta new girl or somethin'." johnny nods absently, lips twisted in thought.

"somethin' like tha'."

sure enough, come dinner time he can hear a higher pitched voice carrying a sense of urgency or excitement, he can't make out which it is, words coming out in a rapid fire manner.

accent is distinct too, colloquialism that hints at a different region or even country, peppered with slang he's only ever read online.

curious but it's nice to know someone's come to get to know the big man past his rough (and he means bloody rough) exterior.

he quickly tunes it out after, of course, not wanting to intrude on personal matters. but then it's a rare moment when simon's without them.

kyle manages to get snippets then.

(hey, love, just making some dinner; your favorite, actually. shrimp pasta alfredo.)

price taps him on the shoulder and he turns away, snapping back to reality. in the back of his mind, he vaguely remembers simon having an aversion to seafood.

he must be remembering wrong.

in the debrief room while they wait for price, he catches another.

(actually just finished unpacking the last of my stuff. you were a real help with this, i would've hated having to pay for movers.)

kyle recalls seeing simon haunting the hallway as per usual. he must've taken a time off.

on the way to the local strip club. why simon's there at all is a choice but his relationship with you is none of his business.

(yeah, uhm, i'm home and i checked the windows and bathroom like you taught me too. i still can't shake that feeling, yknow? i don't mean to worry you.)

since simon isn't talking to them about it, he must be getting rid of that issue soon. good on him. at least one of them gets to go back to a warm home and a soft pair of thighs.

(kyle doesn't question the other male voice in the call. nor does he question why simon isn't saying a word during it. simon's relationship with you is none of his business. he just hopes he'll get an invitation to the wedding.)

[itstheghostofmypast]

A Goodfella's Moondance

Mafia AU Choi San x Reader

Summary: He waited for her to waltz into his arms, and she did. He felt her jitter and shiver under his touch, much like how he did the same on her love. He had found someone to love and cherish, someone who kept his fragile morality in check, someone who he could call a lover, a wife, a weakness.

Genre: Hurt Comfort

Rating: PG- 13

Word Count: 2.4 K

Est. Read Time: 12 min

Warnings: Blood, kidnapping, murder, guns.

Networks: @cromernet @k-labels @illusionnet

Song: Moondance by Micheal Bublé

“Do you feel better?” His soft whisper gently pulled her back to consciousness, back to the comfort of the warm, soft, cotton that they were cocooned within, succumbing to the sleep that lay heavy in their bones.

“Mhmmm…” 

Ever so slowly, her body turned to the other side, her back that was once pressed against his warm chest, grazing the subtle cotton of one of the many blankets he had heaped upon them in his frenzy of bringing her some form of comfort, trying to suppress the jitters that rocked through her even though she said she was fine. Hands pressed against his chest, vibrating with each beat of his ever loving heart, her head tilted up on her pillow, meeting his tender gaze, eying the small smile that only she got to see, that too behind closed doors.

“Good.”

With that hanging above them, the man wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into him, forcing her to become one with him, though he could tell by the way her arms had looped around his slender waist, his action was more than welcome. 

Little did he know this side of his, this gentleness, this care, this attentiveness was what had her losing her grasp on the bitter reality of the world, perhaps that's why last night she was unable to figure out how the guy asking her for directions was actually going to kidnap her. 

One moment a man approaches her while she sat at the bus stop, after her lover had texted her how he would be unable to pick her up from the hospital tonight, also canceling their date because of some ‘Urgent Business.’ The next thing she knew was how she woke up in the trunk of the man who had approached her at the bus stop, asking her the directions to the hospital as he had to go see is sick wife- sue her for being a caring person, nurse or not, it's not like she wasn't going to help him. 

The fallacy of rationality lies within situations such as these, while he had taught her a variety of methods of escaping, a contractual instruction enforced by Park Seonghwa himself, in the heat of the moment she had forgotten it all, her core memory allowing her to do no more than to whimper out his name, “San.”

It wasn't till she had felt the car stop that her anxiety morphed into aggression kicking against the roof of the truck, while she tried to move her tied hands, removing the blindfold to look around, only to freeze when the trunk opened, staring up at the man in horror.

“Well, aren't you in a lot of trouble, missy.” The fox featured man smiled at her, one that had her let out a relieved sigh, though she tried to ignore the splatted red across his face, dripping down his chin and onto his crisp white shirt, which was evident when he helped her out, pulling her closer to have her sit on the closed trunk, “You okay?”

She could only nod at the fact that, physically, perhaps she was, but she wouldn't be so sure about her mental status, never had this happened before and truly, for the first time in her life had she felt afraid and alone, a feeling her husband had long rid off from her mind, body and soul.

“Good, because San isn't, he's furio-”

The loud bang cut him off, for a split second his eyes flickered to the man who was standing across the car, in front of it, staring at something, or someone on the ground, before moving back to the shivering woman. With a loud sigh he shrugged off his coat and draped it over her shaking shoulders, and called out, “YAH! DID YOU REMOVE YOUR SILENCER?”

The taller man grunted in response, pushing up his glasses, not bothered by the spots of blood staining the glass, in fact the red calmed him down a bit, a reminder of him punishing the bastard who thought this woman was an easy target. 

Wooyoung watched his friend walk over to them, fully aware of how San had removed the silencer on purpose, wanting everyone in the vicinity and the perpetrator to know what happens when you try to come into his personal life.

With a nod he motioned for Wooyoung to sit in the car, disposing the body wasn't part of the plan, Seonghwa had agreed when San had requested to “let me make an example out of him”, so much so that the husband of the woman who was shaking like a leaf currently, had also brought his infamous bat with him, which only reminded his friends of how this was personal was him.

With each gloved hand placed on either side of her on the trunk, he looked down at her, she peaked up at him through her lashes, unsure of what he was going to say or do, perhaps he would be upset with her, disappointed by how she was unable to fend for herself even though he had prepared her for a situation like this, his friends had prepared her for a situation like this. At the end of the day, they were from two different worlds, she would heal people and well he would…what if tonight he finally realised that and-

“I'm sorry.”

Taking off his gloves he placed them beside her before pulling out a pocket knife from his breast pocket, flicking it open as he began to work on the ropes around her wrists. He frowned at the roughness of the threads, mumbling things like, “This may bruise”, “The f*cker didn't need to tighten them so much.”, “Wish I could kill him all over again.”

Once he was done, he tossed the rope aside, gently taking her scratched wrists in his hands, before lifting her wrist up to his lips as he placed a tender kiss on the reddened skin, repeating the motion of love with her other one before looking at her with a somber flare in his eyes, “I'm sorry, I'll be more careful next time.” He should have been more careful, he should have ensured she was safe, it was his job to keep her safe. And he stood there, in blood and tears, seeking her forgiveness, unaware of how the woman was falling even more for her gentle giant of a husband.

“Seonghwa said you can't leave the house without protection anymore.” He mumbled, the bass in his sleep lusted voice making her squeeze him closer, not that he would mind. 

His own hand had begun to aimlessly trail down her spine, only to slide back up to complete the cycle, thinking to himself a moment before he continued, “Hongjoong has assigned a few men…though I'll be around you whenever I'm free. The shipment is late anyway, and he's having Yunho and Mingi deal with it, so I'm all yours for the coming few days.”

“Okay…”

San blinked at her hushed response, it was evident she was elsewhere, or she was still a bit too shaken to respond coherently. Either way, with the gun stashed beneath his pillow and his lover in his arms to protect, he began to formulate a way of protecting her 24/7. Naturally, he couldn't always be there himself nor could his brothers. How much did he trust his men? What if he got her a personal gun or a-

“Sannie?”

His train of thought derailed at her calling, pulling back a bit to glance down at the only reason why he hadn't tipped off the cliff of his primitive instincts, hand pressing flat against her back as he nodded, “Yes, dove?”

“Can you sing for me?”

Could he sing? Of course he could. Did he sing often? No, not really. In fact, she was the newest addition to the only other people who knew his secret, that the right hand man of Ateez, the cold blooded killer trained and raised by Park Seonghwa himself could harmonise with the very same angels that stood at the gates of Heaven, waiting to reject his entrance.  

“What would you like to hear?”

Giving her a small smile he slowly pulled away, sitting up and resting his back against the cushioned headrest of the king sized bed, picking up his glasses from the nightstand and placing them on the bridge of his nose. He turned to glance at her, admiring the way she looked up at him with awe, it was truly a blessing to have an angel such as herself admire a creature like him, willing to bathe in the simmering blood of his brutality, willing to swallow the bitter truth of his existence, willing to embrace the carcass in which once his humanity once flourished. 

“Umm…” slipping the covers off herself she sat up, tugging at the strings of his hoodie that she wore, slowly moving closer and straddling him, looking up at him with a blush ever so subtle, “Moondance?”

A hearty laugh broke past his pout, the bass of his laughter bouncing off the cold walls of the room, blocking out the soft chippers of the early birds outside. If she was being honest, she's sure everyone who was trying to sleep could hear him right now, considering everyone did retire to their rooms after she had come home; have Jongho check her vitals, watch her husband get verbally abused by Hongjoong for being careless, have Seonghwa make her promise to never use public transport again, give Yeosang the entire details of the night so he could ‘take care of the mother company’, eye Yunho who took her husband aside to give him a pep talk after his sulking and be force fed by Mingi who insisted that “You burn more calories being kidnapped than an hour on a treadmill”, all the while having Wooyoung make dinner and yell at them for being noisy- ironic. 

“What's so funny?” She asked, her hands cupping his face before she slipped off his glasses, frowning at the blood splattered on the glass, why didn't he clean this off. And just like that she tilted to her side, reaching over to grab a tissue from the nightstand, feeling him quickly grab her by the waist so she wouldn't fall over.

“Careful there, dove.” He mumbled pulling her back up onto him, watching her try to clean off the dried blood, trying to hold back the urge to crush her with his love, “It's fine- oh.”

“It's not, dirty glasses stress the eyes,” cutting him off she gently slipped the glasses back onto the face of the owner, giving him a smile before getting comfortable on him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she placed her head on the crook of his neck, taking a deep breath, the lingering memories having her latch onto him for comfort. 

San watched her go about as she pleased, much like how she often did, not that he'd ever mind. Once she was settled, nestled against him, he wrapped his arms around her waist, leaning his against the headboard as he sighed. It was evident that last night had taken a toll on her, but what he learnt from experience was that eventually you get over it, become numb to the bitter memory, usually with the help of a distraction or a friend or two. It was never his intention for her to feel this way, in fact, from the moment he had left his heart in her hands at the ER, he had decided to keep her safe, even before she chose to accept his invitation of love, he had decided to keep her safe from all the grotesque wonders he had been blessed to bear witness to since his childhood. Though at the very moment he wondered if that was even worth it, if dragging her into his life was worth it, ruining her chances of living a mundane, peaceful-

“Are you this slow when Seonghwa asks you for something too?”

Her snarky remark caught him off guard, trying to get a better look at her but she just giggled and buried her face in his neck, the only form of compensation given to him was the tender press of her lips against his pulse, only to have it increase two folds. 

San's arms squeezed her, earning a contented sigh from his wife, much to his pleasure as he stared out the window, watching the pale winter sun cast a chalky hue among the cloudy scapes of the sky. Taking a deep breath he whispered into the still of their room, 

Well, it's a marvelous night for a moondance

With the stars up above in your eyes.

A fantabulous night to make romance

'Neath the cover of October skies

Knowing nothing more mattered to him at this point but the woman that clung onto him, her heart beating with his, waltzing through harmony. 

And all the leaves on the trees are falling

To the sound of the breezes that blow

You know I'm tryin' to please to the calling

Of your heartstrings that play soft and low

He felt her hold tighten, mumbling something that he couldn't make out, but the way her body fell lax against him assured him it was some form of positive affirmation. Indeed it was, for before tumbling back into the depths of slumber, swaying in the melody of her husband's voice she had whispered, “Thank you, my love.”

You know the night's magic seems to whisper and hush

You know the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush

He wondered if she was as smitten for him as he was for her- it amazed him how she'd tell him that she knew he'd always protect her, when the fact of the matter was that it was indeed her who was protecting him, from the insanity of the world that had bruised and battered him inside and out, from the wrath of Park Seonghwa who wanted to end him for choosing to start an affair with a civilian, as pure and naive as her and from himself, the one that he too feared, knowing that if that Choi San was to resurface, only she could stop him. It was fine though, he was going to protect her from the cold, from nature and man. It's what a dutiful goodfella does, what a dutiful husband does.

Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love?

Can I just make some more romance with a-you, my love?

Taglist: @edenesth @skteezcursed @mlysalt @the-kpop-simp @spooo00oky @bunnyluvr25

@s-h-y-a @ateezwonderland

[blackbirdsblackberries]

I Hate The New Hero!

Pt 8: The Trapeze Artist's Fall

Pt 1 - Pt 2 - Pt 3 - Pt 4 - Pt 5 - Pt 6 - Pt 7 - Pt 8 (You're here) - Pt 9 - Pt 10

It was his second week of school for him. In no way was he excited. Gotham was a fresh start for the young boy, private school was meant to be a fun experience - many would kill to be able to get premium education - but he finds he misses the countryside hills that he'd watch pass by as his mamă taught him how to spell and read. He misses his tată teaching him math and cool sciencey things.

He misses his family.

The school wasn't the problem, though he found he was falling behind in learning due to his homeschooled life beforehand. The problem was his classmates, the ridicule he'd get for simple slip-ups. It wasn't his fault English is his second language, it isn't his fault he slips-up.

Last Friday one boy in the class, Mac Doust, had put gum in his hair. Dick ended up crying in the bathroom until Alfred came to pick him up - not Bruce, no, Bruce was as unavailable as Dick's dead parents honestly.

Gripping the straps of his backpack Dick mutters under his breath, trying to assure himself he'd be okay. The whole weekend he had practiced hiding his accent so kids would think he was normal.

Upon walking into the school he held his head high and didn't mess around, he headed straight to class.

...

That's strange, why was the door only opened partly? Ms Xavier keeps the door wide open, always greeting Dick with a wide smile and some Romanian she had put in the effort of learning for him.

Dick opens the door hesitantly, peeking inside.

He only gets to see Mac's stupid grin before water is dumped on him, the metal bucket clanging on his head harshly.

He doesn't know what to do, he stands there, the bucket on his head as the sounds of giggles and cackles fill his ears. Warm tears contrast with the cold water soaking his face.

Dick went home early that day. The incident struck a chord in him. If he wanted to stop the bullying he had to become better than them, put in the work and effort.

He will be popular, he will be better.

He will never do that cruel prank to anyone. Never

Looking down at his phone as he walks he feels nothing but a cringing sort of pain. He stooped to a level he never thought he'd get to. It was disgusting really.

Dick feels like he's no better than Mac. That he's no hero. The video plays on loop as the man takes in the pained look on your face, he can't bring himself to look at the messages in the group chat.

They're most likely supporting it, congratulating him for doing what they all wished to do.

Hell, if he was in their place he'd probably be celebrating it too. But to be there, to be the reason you reacted that way, is sickening for the young male.

Even now all he can think about is himself, how he feels. God, how self-centered could he be? It's not like he was the victim in this.. But still, surely he can't be the true bad guy in this, right?

Dick had decided against getting driven home, he felt that if he walked to the manor in the rain it'd be enough to be even with you - look, we both ended up soaked! Everything's better now!

He chuckles under his breath at his thoughts - what would Aranea even think of him?

She'd probably be angry at him for his actions but comfort him, telling him the things he needed to hear. That it wasn't his fault, that Y/N was a bad person who deserved it.

Whatever words needed so he could sleep at night really..

Dick finally decides to exit the looping video, the image of you burnt into his mind forever.

He goes into his messages and pulls up Aranea's comm number - he had put it into his phone so they could talk off shift, something she was hesitant about but ultimately caved in.

He types out a simple message. Then another. Then another.

"Heyyyy!!! Are you busy rn??"

"It'd be cool to hang out and patrol together!!"

"Bruce doesn't have to know"

He stares at the messages, waiting for them to be marked as read. 1 minute turned into 5, then 5 turned into 10. Dick sighs and exits out of the message log, clearly Aranea is busy.

He gazes on the chat log "Y/N. 🤮"

Maybe he should message her? Say sorry and try to make it up to her.. Yeah, that's what Aranea would say to do! She was always about communication.

"I know you're probably upset, I get that. I'm super sorry for what I did|

"I know you're probably upset, I get that. I'm|

"I know you're|

"What I did wasn't right. I'm sorry that I did that because you had a different opinion than me. I never meant to make you cry, only angry, I promise!"

Finally happy with the message he sends it off.

Only to remember the wonderful fact that your phone is fried due to the water.

Lucky him. He sighs, fed up with this bad luck streak he's been having.

Suddenly he remembers that he has money! More than you can even imagine!

He can buy a new, amazing phone to make things even. Yes, it's perfect. Surely you'll forgive him now!

He changes course and heads to the nearest electronic store, determined to make things right in his head. The purchase was swift and quick, the best phone he could find in the place.

Now, all he had to do was go to your apartment and give it to you!

Lucky him Tim leaked your address to everyone in the family as soon as he entered your apartment. So, with a high head he makes the slightly anxiety-inducing journey to you.

Knocking on the door of the apartment Dick stands straight as a board. The door opens and on the other side is a woman, she has severe eye bags and (H/C) hair. She seemed to have just gotten back from work. Her grey, lifeless eyes peer at him with suspicion before realizing who he was and smiling brightly.

"Mr Grayson! What a pleasure, is there anything you need?" She asks, Dick internally cringes, there was something about her voice that just grated against his ears.

There was just something so... Off... About her.

Still, he does what he usually does. He smiles and remains patient.

"Hello ma'am, is your daughter available? Something had happened and well.." Dick trails off, he doesn't want to get on Y/N's mother's bad side.

Her mother's eyes seem to cloud over at the mention of an incident, yet her smile remains in tact, if not strained. It's possible you told her already..

"Oh. An incident? What has she done, Mr Grayson?" Her mother asks, dark undertones coat her otherwise curious words. Dick furrows his brows slightly at the sudden change in the woman's mood. "Ah, well, it was my fault. I had played a nasty prank on her and her phone was ruined, I bought a new one to make it up to her!" He shows the brand new phone in it's box.

The woman doesn't look impressed, still, she smiles and hums. "Hm. Well that's lovely! Would you like to come inside? She isn't home currently but I'm sure she'll be home soon."

Something in Dick tells him not to go inside. Something was wrong. Yet, he reminds himself that he is a hero, if anything happens he will be prepared.

So, he heads inside, trailing behind the woman as he takes in the dungeon-like interior. "It's a... Lovely place, ma'am" Dick says, hoping to seem polite. The woman scoffs.

"M/N, my name is M/N. No need for such formalities!" The woman hurriedly states before flicking her hand dismissively "Y/N's room is the second door. You can wait there, or, if you want, you can hang around me!" She smiles sweetly, too sweetly, disgustingly sweetly. It reminds him of eating giant spoons of brown sugar.

He smiles politely, trying not to show his discomfort. "I'll just wait in her room for her..!" He hurries to Y/N's room, shutting the door once he's in. That woman gave him the creeps.

He looks around the small room, holy shit, no wonder you're always so pissy! He'd be pissy too if his room was just a bit bigger than a school storage closet!

The man knows he shouldn't snoop, he's done enough damage. But, maybe, if the guilt doesn't settle he can use information gathered here to help!

Dick makes his way to the chest and looks around, picking up an engineering bit, he isn't too into the whole mechanical side of things so there was no name he could pin it to.

Placing it back he moves to sit on the bed and wait. As he sits on the bed his eyes are drawn to a floorboard that seems to stand out from the rest. He kneels on the floor and digs his nails into the floorboard.

He starts to lift it up when..

RINGGGG

RINGGGG

RINGGGG

His phone goes off, he scrambles to answer the call, not checking who the caller was.

"Dick? Dick, okay, you're the only one that has answered!"

It was Duke, he sounds frantic. What happened..?

"Duke? What's going on? Is everything okay?"

"No, no, something bad's happened! Steph, Cass and I were at a cafe and Y/N and her friends were there as well but some waitress had messed up the orders and Y/N had an allergic reaction - or something like that!" Duke rambles, his words slurring together in a rush.

Dick's eyes widen and he feels the air leave his lungs, forgetting about the floorboard and quickly leaving the room. He'll put the new phone on your bed for when you return.

He brushes past M/N and leaves the apartment. Holy shit your luck was bad, he couldn't help but think.

"Okay, stay calm, are you guys at Gotham City Private Hospital or Gotham City Public Hospital?"

"Private."

"I'll be there in half an hour, it'll be okay."

With that he hangs up and runs out of the apartment complex.

Like hell was he about to let anything bad happen to you before he could make things right!

Taglist:

@rissareader @delias-stuff @hogwarts9 @marsmabe @randomlyappearingartist @coralaura @nervousalpacalady @citrushalo @chericia @soriansick @v0idl1nq @scrumdidiliyumyum @kittykatcreatster @feral-childs-word @anon34570 @shycreatorreview @sunny-sp3lls @fluffypackofships @cynniee @yuyuzi-ling @coffeeaddictxd @starryperson @readermommy @niggrrooo @bunbunboysworld @yanrandom @fluffypackofchips @vanilliona @wizzerreblogs @cens0r3d

[sheep-from-rad]

Idea! Neglected bar singer darling.

The joint they sing in is on the very outskirts of Gotham. The bars in the basement of a restaurant.

Its pretty clear darling is saving up money to slowly inch away from Gotham and from there neglectful and sometimes (often) cold family.

So they dress as a Him/femme/them fatale and saunter up to the stage and sing there lil heart out and get both the thrill of all the attention in a room being on them and the money in there tip jar to boot.

Imagine what happens when a clip of darling singing goes fucking viral. (I'd like to think it's would be "be your baby tonight" give it a listen if you want. I like norah jones' cover)

What I'm saying is there is no way any of the batfam would approve of darlings career choice.

I love this kind of asks!~ Requests are now open again but we warned, I'm a snail paced writer T__T This took a while because I have this habit where I write it down first on paper before typing it. Like I make a draft first and reread before typing it to see if I should add more or remove some. First fic about singer reader: here and part 2 here. 😅

**DC characters belong to DC and I don't give permission to feed my writings to AI. Thank you**

Masterlist(Batfam)

Masterlist (All of my other fics)

divider by: @k1ssyoursister

Okay okay, here me out. I know you said secret bar under a restaurant but my brain read the word ‘bar’ and ran away with it 😭. 

You know what this smells like? Scandal and maybe even a disaster waiting to happen too. You know what's a famous bar in Gotham? The Iceberg lounge that is run by Mr. Cobblepot (Penguin) and  is frequented by rogues  such as Riddler. 

Life in the Iceberg Lounge isn't that bad, maybe intimidating at first but it became a small comfort. Mr. Cobblepot lets you keep the tips, the lounge beauties (Raven, Lark, and Jay) are great companies, and workplace harassment? You don't really have to worry about that. If you ever get flirted on or harassed by small fries and drunkards and then rest assured a bigger, scarier person at the back of the crowd will beat the harasser and throw them out. They might be villains but they have standards and harassing the lounge’s songbird is a big no no! 

The clip of the singer reader went viral for a ton of different reasons: (1) The singing and the amount of simps you raked 24 hours after the clip has been posted. I have a headcanon that Mr. Cobblepot will nickname you as either Nightingale or Songbird to fit the crew because the lounge beauties are nicknamed after birds.(2) People can see villains just chilling at the background of the video. Riddler's nursing a whiskey at the counter, Two face is playing chess with Penguin who is multitasking in helping mix some drinks. Hell, even Harley and Ivy are in the background having a moment with the strippers.

(3) Why is Bruce Wayne’s kid at the Iceberg lounge? I have a teeny tiny headcanon that even though the reader was neglected they are still forced to attend galas once or twice because Bruce won't and then it will be like a big media scandal. Also reader's public appearances with Bruce or with the other Wayne children might be low but they still have hundreds of followers. The Wayne name alone is basically a celebrity name because of Bruce being heavily revered by the public. Think of it like nepobaby shit. (4) That stage presence and sheer seductiveness. Being a Wayne, I'm sure the reader was taught etiquette by Alfred and was taught how to dress properly. They are also taught how to behave. However on that vid, you look like you were dressed by the Gotham sirens (Ivy, Harley, and Selena) themselves. All those good boy, good girl, good child stuff are out of the window. If the reader was just blending in the background before and the video is the opposite. It's almost commanding every viewer to look at them, pay attention to them, worship the very ground they walk on, and love them! At this point just expect simps. 

The family loves the video but at the same time they also hate it. They had their copies downloaded and saved and then they'll immediately task Barbara into scrubbing the video off of the internet but it's too late. The video has been re-uploaded to hundreds of different accounts and some  news outlets had already published articles about it. The articles ranged from sweet ones like praising the reader for their awesome stage performance and singing to downright insane clickbaits like ‘Bruce Wayne secretly allied with Gotham rogues?’ 

The whole thing is very stressful and I pray to the DC gods that Bruce Wayne is very healthy because this guy's blood pressure might as well go high up. Imagine trying so hard to keep up with the ditzy playboy public persona to hide your vigilante secret identity only for your kid to be filmed singing and being cozy at the Iceberg lounge. Not only that! You also placed yourself in danger too! It's not a secret that a lot of rouges knew Batman's real identity (Joker knows it, he just doesn't care. He's so cool for that). Sure they don't attack Batman when he's Bruce and sure they are a sweet pseudo-family to you right now but who's to say that they won't use you when push comes to shove? 

While Bruce deals with the media, Barbara and Tim work on the damage control and tracking every video, expect heavy guilt tripping and interference from Damian, Dick, and even Alfred (in his defense, he wants you safe and will only ask for you to get a better job or at least work in a place not frequented by villains). Dick will be actively poisoning the well. He'll make you sit down and read the crime archives with him (starting from the heaviest crime down to the pettiest crime) and will tell you stories about their encounters with each of them. Damian will try to keep you from getting to work and will try to keep you in your room if you haven't moved out of the estate. He'll ask you to go around with him, feed his pets with him and even asked you to watch him train (he doesn't know how bonding works, please be understanding). If you had left the estate and then expect him to show up and walk in your place like he owns it. He's one of those cats that you feed once and then suddenly shows up and won't leave you alone anymore. 

Oh, you still won't come home? You still wanna continue that dangerous job of yours? Pick your poison then. Do you want them to call Jason to get to the bar and take you home, knowing him some heads will sure go flying. Or do you want the family to stage a stakeout, infiltrate the bar, and capture and lock up all the villains forever. Go on, go choose. 

[imyourbratzdoll]

I crave a good fluffy fic with wolverine, his wife is a badass and when someone threatens him she loses her shit and kicks their ass🫡 with so much disrespect.

hey baby, I'm so sorry for taking so long! I hope you enjoy what I did, it's a bit more violent than you probably wanted.

summary - a dumb 'bad guy' lures you and your husband out, things take an escalated turn when he threatens your husband.

warning - SUPER violent, like extreme level probably, swearing, mentions of sex, dude talks of touching what's his but nothing triggering, dick and balls suffer rip.

18+ only please, the gif I use isn't mine, divider by @newlips

You couldn’t believe this guy, he was really threatening your husband right in front of you. Thinking he was all tough because he could throw fire or some shit? You didn’t know what he could do, except talk a lot of shit. That was probably his power. What was his name again? Captain Talks Shit? Shits A lot? Little Fucker? Who cares, all you care about right now is that he’s threatening your man. 

You walk out of the shadows, having heard enough because honestly. Why do the bad guys always talk for so long? Have none of them realised or picked up from past bad guys mistakes? It was tiring and a waste of your time because you and Logan could’ve been gone by now, screwing each other silly, probably somewhere extremely risky. But, noooo. You had to listen to this jackass.

“Listen, dick licker. If you don’t stop threatening my fucking husband. I’m going to rip your arm off and beat you with it.” You growl, moving to stand in front of Logan. (Sure, he would have protected himself and it may look weak to the other guy that a woman is standing in front of an extremely large man, in more ways than one, wink wink. But you happen to know that this turns your husband on and who are you to deny him his fantasies?)

“Is that a threat?” Captain Dipshit sneers.

“Did it sound like a fucking compliment, Princess?” You watch as he eyes you, sizing you up and in his mind he’s probably thinking ‘yeah, I can take this chick.’ You hope his ego deflates before you kill him.

“Listen, Babe. This is between us men, now why don’t you run along and go make us a sandwich or something. Maybe put on some cute lingerie and wait for me in the bedroom ‘cause once I’m done with your husband here. You’ll be creamin’ around me.”

Logan shakes his head, stepping way back. He remembered when he accidentally said something similar and he was in a coma for a whole month, not even his fast healing could help him. 

It was like a switch turning on, the beast that lived within you had been released from its cage and not even God could save this man now. You stalked towards him, he still smirked thinking he was safe. You jump, wrapping your legs around his neck and twisting, bringing him down using a move your good friend Natasha had taught you. You move swiftly while he is down, sending a harsh kick to his face, hearing the satisfying crack of his nose and possibly jaw breaking. You grab him by his hair and lift him, a large grin covering your face as you bring him eye level with you. 

“You wanna repeat that, Princess?” You bring him closer, whispering in his ear. “How bout you go make me a sandwich, put on a cute set and I’ll bash your dick in with a baseball bat. How do ya like the sound of that? Cause I love it.” 

He struggles within your grip, trying to swing at you but with your other hand that isn’t gripping his hair. You snap his arms, relishing in the sound of bones breaking. His screams echo the warehouse, dumbarse had lured us in here without a backup plan or backup. 

You let go of your grip on his hair, immediately switching to gripping his throat instead. “You don’t like my plan, Princess? Rethinking the whole thing? Cause ya already pissed me off by threatening the man I love, but then you had the balls to say THAT? Tell me, Princess. Just between us girls. Did mummy not give you any hugs as a kid? Cause how did you think this was gonna go? You could’ve ‘killed’ the Wolverine, but he wouldn’t have stayed dead. No. But if he heard you touching me, touching what’s HIS. He would’ve torn you to shreds, but slowly. Very slowly. It’s what makes me love him.” You pat the man’s cheek, grinning as he winces. 

“How bout an apology and I won’t kill you.”

“F–fuck you.” He spits at you, SPITS. Not even clear fucking spit, this shit has blood in it. You lift your hand, wiping the spit with the back of it and then onto his clothes. 

Your face screwed up. “Well, that was stupid.” With quick movements, you throw him, watching him crash into a wall so hard that it leaves a dent. Your hand reaches out and a bat flies into it. “You’re not wearing that cute set and I don’t have a sandwich, but this will do.” He tries to shuffle away, his eyes wide. You stalk toward him and swing, smashing his dick and balls with one hit. Think Superman merged with Hulk strength, how do you think his twig and berries did?

A scream rips out of his mouth before his eyes roll back and he falls backwards. You frown and poke him with your bat. “Hey mista, you dead?” You look at Logan, “Bitch passed out.” He shakes his head at the pout on your lips. 

He walks over and places a kiss on your head, “C’mon, let’s go home now or better yet. You ready to do something real risky, Sweets.” Your eyes light up.

“Do you mean…?!”

Logan nods, smirking. “I’ll finally let you fuck me while I drive.” Your squeals escape as you jump into his arms, smothering his face with kisses.

“OH THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! You’re the best husband a woman could ask for!” And with that, Logan carries you out as you stare at him dreamily.

thank you for reading!

feedback and reblogs are greatly appreciated.

[luvyeni]

RIDIN' WITH YOU ,, 이제노

pairings ‎⸝⸝⸝ streetracer!jeno x fem!reader wc. 5.7k

genre. smut

🦢◞  including ... illegal street racing, oral ( fem. receiving ), unprotected sex

request. Can I request a biker jeno where the reader is almost ran over by him on a motorcycle and they start knocking into each other from there

「 ୨୧ authors note 」 enjoy it !

❪ masterlist! ❫

being new to the city you weren't aware of the roads you weren't supposed to take; and yeah the road was quiet which was weird, but you didn't question it.

“why didn't you just take a cab?” chaeryoung, your roommate asked , “it's the quickest way to the apartment.” she was right it was the quickest way back to your shared apartment, but being new and all you just wanted to take a look at the city. “night time surely isn't the best time to do that but all right.” she said. “i know but i'm almost home , wait up for me yeah?” she hummed. “okay.”

you hung up; continuing down the road, unbeknownst to you, the street you used wasn't always quiet, in fact it was the loudest street at night and you'd soon find out why.

jeno pulled up to the lot , street full of motorcycles and other people waiting for the show. “you're late.” haechan said. “yeah well i had a class, i couldn't just leave.” he said. “look at you trying to be all studious.” he rolled his eyes at the boy. “where's mark, need to know who im racing today.” haechan pointed to the older boy who was chatting up some girl. “renjun knows ask him.”

“jaemin and some new kid.” renjun told the boy. “new kid is over there, jaemin will probably be your only competition tonight.” he smirked. “jaemin? my competition please?” the other overheard this , his arm was wrapped around one of the many girls who'd come and watch them ride. “you scare jeno lee?” he smirked. “please jaemin when was the first time you've won against me?”

“you wanna bet on it?” jeno didn't really care about money, he loved the thrill of speeding down a road; that doesn't mean he was gonna pass up. “$100?” he shook hands with the boy. “both of you gear up , it's time to hit the road.”

the cheers were loud; the motors from the three motorcycles roared as they waited for mark’s call. “remember be careful, don't die; i won't be the one calling your parent's.” he turned to the scared newbie, turning to jaemin who was too busy making out with a girl to notice; this was gonna be too easy. “jaemin!” jisung another racer called. “i'm ready.” he said putting his helmet on.

“alright you guys ready” mark shouted over the screams, jeno focused on the road. “go!” jeno took off , speeding down the road , this is the part he loved , hitting the gas hard, speeding up down the road that no one ever used; so he wasn't suspecting someone to be crossing the road.

the loud music blasting through your headphones as you came up on the street end of the street; ready to cross the street— maybe you should've looked both ways like you were taught as a young child, or even taken the your headphones off; because if you did you would've heard the motorcycle that's was bolting down the road. stepping out into the street , the only thing finally catching your attention was the light; looking up, the only thing you could brace for was death— but it never came.

he was in the lead; coming up on the turn that would put close to the finish line. the light from his bike was bright so he could see the road in front of him; he didn't even notice you; until he did and it was too late to beep the horn or slow down, your eyes finally connecting with his , you were an actual deer in the headlights, he took a hard right, a quick turn around he saw you on the ground , shocked.

he kept going; he almost hit you and he kept going. turning the corner after almost hitting the pole, you were in shock; quickly standing up out of the street , running across the rest of the street, you were in luck too because two more motorcycles came roaring down the street , turning down the same block.

the shock of almost dying finally wore off; then the pain set in, looking down at your knees , you noticed the blood dripping from it. “that's just great.” you winced— you for sure we're taking a cab home next time, screw trying to see what the city had to offer, clearly it had jerks in leather jackets who were trying to kill you and themselves.

speeding past the line; people cheering for his victory, but he was pissed. the two bikes coming in; he hopped off his bike taking his helmet off, throwing it to the ground in anger. “whoa what fuck is wrong with you?” renjun asked. “why are you so upset you won?” mark asked , jaemin taking his helmet off. “im $100 dollars broke now thank you very much.” he said bitterly. “i almost hit some chick on the street , i fucked up the turn almost hit a pole.” he growled.

“i didn't see a girl.” jaemin said. “you sure it just wasn't an animal?” mark asked. “how many animals you know that are 5 feet and wear dressing.” he picked his helmet up, a large chip in due to him slamming it on the ground. “shit.” he hissed. “don't worry about it right now.” mark comforted the boy. “look, let's just get you a drink and girl, the night is still young and there's many races left , haechan and johnny are racing tonight.”

“haechan and johnny?” he said confused. “haechan thinks he can beat Johnny.” he laughed. “has the last three time not proven anything?” the elder shook his head. “everyone is betting against him , jisung felt bad so he voted for him , he's in for a rude awakening, let's go.” he said , the boy followed behind , completely ready to forget about the girl he almost hit.

…

“i told you to take a cab; you didn't and now look.” chaeryoung said as you walked through the campus; she walked you more so limped, the results of the fall. “how was i supposed to know they do races on that street?” you asked. “um, did the quiet road not imply anything?” she had a point, of course you weren't gonna admit it. “yeah well that doesn't matter, im never walking again.”

“i gave you the money, i still want a rematch though.” jaemin said , jeno scoffed, they were hanging around during break waiting for their classes to start. “you and haechan are gonna go broke trying to prove something.” he laughed. “hey i almost beat johnny last night.” renjun rolled his eyes. “please, he had you by 10 blocks.” jeno laughed at his friend's expense. “you’ll get him next time.” he knew he was lying but who was he to shut down his friends dreams. “i gotta go now.” he checked his phone. “gotta take my bike to the shop and get a new helmet after class.” he stood up , walking away.

“i have a shift today at the store.” you said. “you sure you'll be able to work today, what about your leg?” you nodded. “doyoung let's me sit down so it's fine.” you looked down at your knee, luck just wasn't on your side again because before chaeryoung could call for you to look up, you were bumping against a hard surface. “umph.” chaeryoung caught you before you fell. “jesus do i need to bubble wrap you?”

“you okay?” the voice of the person you bumped into said. “im fine.” you picked up your books that you dropped. “luckily my phone isn't cracked.” you finally looked at him, his eyes widening. “you.”

“yn?” chaeryoung looked at you, with confusion in her eyes. “do i know you?” you asked. “you should i almost killed you last night,” he said folding his arms. “well why are you upset with me? You almost killed me, not the other way around.” you frowned. “why were you on that road in the first place, any smart person knows what's it used for.” was he serious right now? he almost kills you and he's asking questions. “not if they're new to the city which i am.” you shot back. “you don't seem to be hurt, meanwhile my knee is messed up, are you gonna apologize for that?” he scoffed. “are you dead?”

“well no.” you said, he nodded, with a smug smile speaking. “well there's your apology.” was all he said, before he turned on his heel walking away. “what an asshole.” chaeryoung said. “he almost kills you and doesn't have the decency to apologize.” she scoffed. “who even is that?” you asked. “jeno lee, him and his group of degenerate friends do illegal street racing for cash sometimes.” she said. “you've been?” you asked. “absolutely not , i wouldn't be caught dead now there, ryujin, my friend from my class races down there , she's the only girl.” she said. “hot.” you said, she rolled her eyes. “don't let her hear you say that , it will go to her head.”

“everything looks fine, the breaks need tightening though.” johnny said after looking at his bike. “and you need a new helmet,” he said. “thank you johnny.” he said. “i thought something might've broken, i took a hard turn last night.” he said. “yeah i heard you hit a girl last night.” he scoffed. “i didn't hit her , in fact she has only a scratch.” he said. “you know her?” the elder asked. “not really, apparently she goes to the same university, she bumped into me earlier.”

“clumsily girl, she pretty?” johnny asked with a smirk. “she has a mouth on her.” he grumbled. “not what i asked.” jeno looked at the boy. “she's cute.” he confessed, he could remember your bows in your hair from earlier, he remembers one thing from that night, you had the same ones. “how cute?” johnny smirked , jeno rolled his eyes. “are you gonna fix my breaks today or do i need to call a cab back home?”

“it's not gonna take that long, i can be done in about an hour.” jeno nodded. “thanks so much.” he said , his stomach rumbling. “the convenience store is still open, go get something to eat.” johnny said. “by time you come back it should be done.” jeno nodded. “i’ll be right back.” he said. “bring me back a pack of smokes.” he left out the auto body shop doors.

“is it broken? have you been to the doctors?” doyoung, your boss asked worriedly. “i should've made you get into a cab, you're new here, you don't know your way around.” you laughed. “i'm fine doyoung, just a little pain , it will go away soon, stop worrying so much.” you said. “how can i not , you're one of my best workers, and i only have two.” he said. “and do you see haechan anywhere , i'll die if you leave.” he stressed. “try and stay off it , lord, what am i gonna do with you kids.” he walked to the back, you smiled at your boss.

“what did you get for number 13?” chaeryoung said over the phone, just as the door opened. “hello.” you didn't bother looking up at the person. “it's 12.” you said. “12? i got 2.” she said. “im not sure why— look i have customers we'll finish this later.” you said, “and redo that math, it's not correct.” you hung up, just as a lady and her daughter came up to the register. “hello.” you smiled, the lady looked remorseful. “im sorry my daughter spilled a milk in the isle.” she said the little girl hid behind her mother. “hey sweetie, it's okay.” you grabbed a loli from the counter. “here , my boss won't mind.” you whispered , smiling. “thank you.” she smiled.

“don't worry, i'll clean it up.” you said as they left the store. “thank you so much and im so sorry.” she quickly ushered her child out. “crap.” you stood up a pain shooting through your leg. “ow fuck!” you whispered shouted bending down to fix the bandage. “give me a pack of smokes.” you straighten up, “i need more than that.” you said , finally realizing who it was. “you again?”

he made eye contact with you. “for someone that's new to the city , you surely are everywhere,” he said. “or are you just following me.” he smirked. “yeah, i managed to track where you lived , and got a job within the hours.”

“i don't live around here princess, im getting my bike fixed.” he said , you gulped. “do-dont call me that.” you stuttered. “a pack of smokes please.” he smirked , noticing your red face. “princess.” you turned around, grabbing a random pack of cigarettes. “h-here, give me the money.” you said , taking his bills putting them in register. “did i break your bike?”

“why princess , you feel bad?” he smiled , gosh his smile was so charming. “we-well — it's fine you didn't do anything, bikes need fixing sometimes.” he said. “especially with what i do.” you nodded. “good.” you said , taking in his appearance. “i-i have to clean that milk up.”

he watched you walk away; he noticed you limping to the back, waiting for you to get back with the mop and bucket; feeling bad , he sat his food down, walking over to you. “move back , go sit down.” he grabbed the mop. “i can do it.” you said. “im trying to apologize princess , go sit down.” he said , you limped back to your seat , watching him , he was incredibly fit , his body flexing in his jacket , it made you hot. “the way you're staring at me , someone can come in and steal and you wouldn't even know princess.” he put the mop in the bucket , putting it to the side , turning with a smirk. “i-i wasn't staring.”

“sure.” he said. “you shouldn't walk home.” he said. “why are you and your friends racing?” he scoffed. “because of your leg.” he said. “well im not , i’ll catch a cab.” you said , handing him his food. “here you go.” you said. “let me take you home.” he said. “on your bike?” you asked. “the thing that almost killed me , im fine.”

“i'll go slow.” he said, you thought about it. “you promise?” he looked at you, doe like eyes , much like what he saw that night. “yeah , princess, i'll go as slow as you like, although faster is always better.” the underlying sexual undertones to that made your body tingle. “so is that a yes?” you nodded. “if it's not too much , i get off in an hour.”

“i just have to go pick up my bike, the auto body shop is only around the corner , wait for me outside okay?” you nodded , smiling. “okay.” you said, he returned a smile. “don't miss me too much princess.” he winked before leaving out the store leaving you flustered.

johnny was almost finished by the time he returned back from the store. “what helmets do girl riders use?” he looked through the helmets. “well your head isn't the size of girls , so why are you asking?” johnny asked. “the girl i almost ran into, she works at the convenience store around the corner.” he said , watching the elder smirk. “she hurt her leg, im giving her ride home.”

“you're buying her a helmet.” johnny said. “you haven't seen this girl, she's not getting on without one, and mine is too big, are you gonna help or not?” the boy said. “this one.” johnny handed him a helmet. “it's pink.” jeno said. “trust me.” he shook his head. “fine.” he handed the boy his card. “be careful.” he said. “please i've had girls on my bike before.”

“where's your cab?” doyoung asked closing up the store; he insisted on waiting with you. “i'm not exactly catching a cab.” just as you said that , the roar of a motorcycle came down the street, jeno stopping in front of the store. “doyoung.” he said. “tell johnny he owes me $50 dollars.” johnny nodded. “multiple packs of cigarettes a week , he's costing me my business.” mumbling making you laugh. “come on princess , we gotta go.”

“you're getting on that thing?” doyoung said. “i pay you enough, you should be able to afford a cab.” he said. “he offered.” you said. “i even got her a helmet.” jeno interrupted. “see.” doyoung nodded. “don't go fast , and hold on tight , if you get hurt i can't be stuck with haechan , tell him to call in every once in a while, jeno , i don't pay him to slack off and barely come in.” you waved to doyoung. “see you tomorrow, okay?” you walked over to the boy. “here.”

he handed you a pink helmet with the tag still on. “did you just buy this?” you asked. “no i keep it just in case.” he said sarcastically. “don't worry about that , just put it on and get on.” he said , you put the helmet on , slowly climbing on the back. “okay let's go.” he laughed. “oh princess , you clearly haven't done this before.” he reached back, grabbing your hands. “wh-what?” he wrapped them around his waist. “so you won't fall off.” he said. “tighter baby.” you wish he would stop with those names. “is this tight enough?”

he smirked , taking off; you yelped , your arms locking around his waist. “you jerk!” you shrieked; he felt your head leaning on his back as he flew down the streets of the city.

you peaked your eyes open , seeing the cars and buildings fly by; you fully opened your eyes , slowly sticking your hand out to feel the wind , jeno could see you through the window , he smiled , coming to a stop light. “you like it?” he asked. “can you slow down a bit?” he heard your small voice. “it is pretty though.” you said. “and the wind feels nice.”

the light turned red , signaling him to go. “we’re almost to your dorm , hang on.” he said. “I'll go slower.” he said taking off , a little bit slower , but it was much better , he could feel your arms around his waist as he pulled up in front of your dorm. “we're here princess , you can open your eyes.”

he helped you off the bike , taking the helmet off your head. “that thing is scary.” you said. “how do you ride it all the time?” he smiled. “it's the adrenaline princess , the rush.” he said. “that's what i love about it.” you chewed on your bottom lip. “you know how your bows is your choice of drug?” you pouted , he smiled. “this mines.”

“yours is gonna get yourself hurt.” you said. “you worried about me princess , earlier you were ready to chop my head off.” you folded your arms. “well that's because you didn't apologize, now that you have , and you've been nice to me , i can't help but stress.” you said. “i can handle myself , don't worry that pretty little head,” he said. “go in and ice that knee,” he said. “my name is yn.” you said. “i know princess , i read your nametag,” he said, you scoffed. “bye bye jeno.” you waved him off. “go in princess.” he watched you go inside the dorms , before putting his helmet on , speeding back down the road.

…

“i still can't believe you get on that thing.” chaeryoung said , it had been a week since then , you've seen him a few times , he even gave you a ride home after class. “and with him nonetheless.” you both walked through the campus after class. “you don't know him he's a degenerate yn.” she said. “he is nice and even bought me a helmet.” you said. “oh well then i guess that makes it okay , you hear my sarcasm right.” she scoffed. “he goes slow.” you shrugged. “after i told him to.” you said. “you talking about me, princess?”

you jumped hearing the voice, turning around. “i don't appreciate being called a degenerate.” jeno said. “don't worry, i mean your friends as well.” chaeryoung looked to the boy on his left. “especially you na jaemin.” the boy smirked. “still upset about me not calling you back?” you could see your friend about to snap. “we're gonna go.” you grabbed her hand , turning to walk away.

“there's a show tonight, you should come.” jeno said. “and why would she do that?” chaeryoung said , he looked at you. “princess?” his gaze pierced through your skin, you chewed your bottom lip. “i-i have to work.” you said. “that's okay , it's at night.” he said. “i can pick you up, i still have the helmet” he smirked. “yn?” chaeryoung said. “well i mean ryujin will be there.” you said. “it couldn't hurt, could it?” you shrugged. “i told ryujin i did before going to one of those things.”

“i can give you a ride.” jaemin said with a smirk , she scoffed. “and it looks like i will die before going.” jeno tapped you. “i'll pick you up after work yeah?” you nodded with a smile. “okay.” you said. “chaeryoung you riding with me?” jaemin winked. “i'll take my chances with ryujin , go fuck yourself na jaemin.” she grabbed your hand , dragging you away. “bye bye!” you waved.

“she's cute.” jaemin said once you were out of earshot. “you like her?” he watched his friend stare at you until he could no longer see you. “i'll take that as a yes.” he patted his friend's shoulders. “you bought her a helmet?” jeno slapped his friends hand off of him. “shut up.” he said. “those things are like a hundred dollars, you met her a week ago, are you crazy?” they continued down the campus , as his friend teased him. “haechan is gonna love this.”

“are you crazy?” doyoung asked; he was so confused on how you met jeno when you entered the shop; so you explained to him— and you may have let it slip that you were going to the race. “yn are you trying to stress me out?” he said. “no need to panic.” you said. “no it is , those bikes are not safe, im worried.” he said. “chaeryoung, my friend she's coming with me , i'll be extra safe.” you reassured the man who became like your older brother. “you better , i'll kill jeno if you get hurt.”

“you better go slow while she's on there.” doyoung hounded the boy. “let me see the helmet she's wearing.” you put your hand on his shoulder. “doyoung , please go before someone robs the store.” he said. “be careful.” he said , before walking away. “are you two related?” he asked. “no i told you i'm new to the city.” you said. “then why is he up my ass like you are?” he got off the bike , opening the seat to grab the helmet. “here.” he said , putting the helmet on your head , helping you on to the bike. “arms princess.”

you wrapped your arms around his waist. “you can go faster today.” he smirked. “yeah , you liked the rush yesterday, didn't you?” you slapped his back. “it's okay little adrenaline junkie , i'll go faster.” he put his helmet on. “hold on tighter baby.” he said right before he turned on the motorcycle , the roar of bike making you flinch. “you're okay , i promise , i won't let you get hurt.” he said before speeding off down the street.

you had to admit , the feeling as you both sored down the street sparked a feeling inside you , you actually managed to keep your eyes open , the sun was setting , the pretty colors blurred with the passing cars , jenos sent was calming to , he checked on you every time you stopped , the heart fluttering jester made you smile , he was actually nice.

he slowed down as you came up on the empty street. “hey this is where you almost killed me.” he scoffed , “but i didn't did i princess?” you nodded. “i guess.” you said. “i haven't harmed you yet, have i?” he said , you started to hear more bikes. “no.” you said. “and i won't , i promise.” he said , you began to see people , a lot of people. “we're here,” he said.

he helped you off the bike , taking your helmet off. “it's loud here , how don't people catch you?” you asked. “luck.” he said, fixing your hair , you blushed. “well would you look at this?” you heard a voice. “when jaemin told me you were bringing someone , i thought he was joking , the bastard was right.”

“that's haechan.” jeno said, “you are the cutest thing.” he held his hand out. “h-hi.” you took it , shaking , making the man in front of you jealous , he pushed it aside , glaring at the boy. “your friend is over there , let me go get checked in and i'll bring you a drink , okay?” you nodded , walking away. “you bought her a helmet?” haechan said. “jaemin said you only knew her for a day.” haechan laughed. “you like her?” they made their way over to the check in. “what does it matter to you?”

“you wanna bet on her?” he said , jeno turned to the boy. “what the fuck do you mean by that?” he questioned. “you know what i mean , don't be dumb.” the other boy smirked. “you win , she's yours , i win — finish that sentence i dare you.” mark noticed the two , stepping in. “hey you know the rules , no fist fighting, you wanna go you use the bikes.” he said.

“what do you say jeno?” jeno scoffed. “you know you can't beat me haechan.” haechan shrugged. “a cutie like that gives me all the motivation i need.” jeno was about to lunge at the boy when jaemin stopped him. “you know he's just trying to get in your head.” the boy said. “you want race lee , let's do it.”

“this is ryujin , she's racing tonight.” chaeryoung said. “really?” you said. “who?” you questioned. “me princess.” jeno handed you a drink. “princess? didn't think you were the relationship type lee.” ryujin said , chaeryoung scoffed. “because he isn't. “who said that?” he said looking at you , your heart pounded. “well loverboy who else is racing?” ryujin asked. “haechan.” her eyebrows furrowing. “okay , you, i understand , you're competition , but hyuck , he lost to jisung.”

“haechan wanted to race me.” he said. “why?” you asked , looking at him with those doe eyes again. “because he has a humiliation kink princess , don't worry,” he said. “well be careful.” you said. “i will.” his hand coming up to your cheek , pinching it , making you giggle. “come on lover boy the show is about to start.” ryujin said. “wait for me at the finish line, yeah?” you nodded. “okay.”

“what was all that about?” chaeryoung asked. “met you only a week and he's already smitten , you got some type of love spell perfume on?” you laughed. “no.” you said , smiling to yourself. “well i see the feelings are mutual , all i say is be careful and be safe.” she said , you nodded. “racers at the mark.”

jeno kept his eyes on you , you waved at him ; he laughed, waving back. “don't let her soften you up lee , i might actually win and take her from.” haechan said , pulling down the shield of his helmet, jeno grunted , pulling his shield down. “ignore him.” ryujin said. “we both know he'll be coming in last.” “racers are you ready?” renjun yelled over the cheers. “don't die.” jeno put his foot on the gas. “please be careful.” you crossed your fingers. “go!” you saw smoke as the racers took off.

“she better be careful.” chaeryoung said , as you waited , you bit your lip nervously. “don't worry, he knows what he's doing.” she reassured you. “i guess.” you said , knowing the boy only a week , you still couldn't help but worry. “he better be.” you bit your fingers. “i hope he is.”

jeno could feel haechan at his side; he sped up , the boys words ringing in his ear, it pissed him off , making him speed up more , your voice in his head as well. “slow down.” was all he heard. “slow down.” he couldn't now , he could see the finish line , where you waited for him , all he had to do was cross the finish line.

“here they come!” someone yelled out , you both ran to the finish line. “oh i can't look.” you said , chaeryoung held your hand , as the bikes came into view. “oh it's him!” you cheered. “he's winning.” you jumped , clapping. he came speeding down the street , and past the line , everyone was cheering , as the other racers drove in.

once he sped past the line , he stopped taking his helmet off , people cheering his name , but he didn't care about that , his mind was on one thing— one person, you. he saw you in a crowd of people , you were searching for him , your eyes finding his. “jeno!” you shouted , running over to him. “you won!”

that was all you could say before his lips were smashing against yours , he held your face , lips moving. “let's get out of here.” he pressed his forehead against yours. “now.” only giving you time to say goodbye to chaeryoung , putting your helmet on and helping you on to his bike. “where are we going?” you asked , the look in his eyes made shivers run down your spine. “mine.”

you couldn't even remember the ride to jenos with how fast he was going; his need for you at the moment was strong , that's why he was taking you to his , he was closer , the closer he was the quicker he could feel you.

pulling up to his apartment complex; parking right in front of it. “come on princess.” he helped you off the bike, taking the helmet off. “let's go up.” he said , his hand low on your back , “you must want me as much as i want you.” he cornered you in the elevator. “you didn't hesitate to get on the bike when i said i was taking you back to mines.” his body covered yours , you looked up at him with wide eyes. “don't look at me like that , it makes me want to ruin you even more.”

it was fair game once he got you into his apartment; he wasted no time , picking you up , wrapping your legs against his waist , pinning you against the wall. “je-jeno.” you moaned , his hand coming up to your neck. “you like this?” he squeezed a little , a whimper falling from your pretty lips. “keep on making those pretty noises baby , makes me want to fuck you right here against this wall.” he growled. “pl-please.”

“no baby , im gonna fuck you right in my bed.” he said , lowering you down , sinking down to his knees. “but i am gonna eat this pretty little pussy right here.” you bit your lip as lifted your dress , dipping his head under , you felt him pulling your panties to the side , kissing your clit. “fu-fuck jeno.” you moaned , as he licked up your cunt. “oh my god.” you gasped.

you grabbed his hair , grinding down on his face, he moaned against your folds , his nose bumping your clit , his hands pinning your waist down to the wall , he was in heaven , this was better than anything he ever felt in his life — maybe even racing. “je-jeno im gonna cum.’ you moaned. “im cumming !” he held you up , your body toppling over as you came hard around his tongue.

he emerged from under your shirt , a smile on his face , his lips covered in your juices. “you taste so good baby.” he said breathlessly. “like fucking candy.” you whimpered; he really couldn't hold himself back anymore , he lifted you back up , taking you right to his room , throwing you on to his bed. “gotta feel you around me.” he rid himself of his own clothes ,before joining you in the bed. “gonna stretch this pretty pussy with my fat cock baby.”

slotting himself in between your legs. “you want it baby?” he dragged his cock along your folds, his mushroom tip catching your clit , making you twitch with need. “pl-please jeno i need it.” you whimpered , whimper turning into a full blow moan as you felt his tip entering your needy hole. “ oh fuck princess.” he groaned as he fully bottomed out. “your tiny cunt is sucking me in.” he hissed.

“pl-please move.” you ran your fingers down his abs as he began to move. “f-faster.” he cursed , moving at your wishes. “fuck princess , your pussy is magic.” his cock dragging along your walls. “so-so big.” you moaned , “yeah princess , but you're taking me so well -fuck- so fucking well.”

you let out a pornographic moan as he began to plow into your , folding your legs , hitting a deeper angle. “fuck baby , you got tighter.” he growled in your ear. “you gonna cum?” you moaned. “you gonna cum all over my cock?” you nodded dumbly. “ye-yes.”

his cock twitching inside you; he groaned. “fuck I'm gonna cum , want me to cum inside you?” he moaned. “flood your tiny cunt with my cum?” you nodded. “please , please cum inside me.” his hand tangled up in your hair , bringing his mouth to your ears. “cum for me.”

you gasped cumming around him. “shit.” he cursed. “i'm gonna cum.” he growled. “gonna cum inside this pretty pussy.” was the last thing he said before you felt the warmth of his cum emptying inside you. “fuck.” he groaned , his cock slipping out of you. “you felt so good, princess.” he leaned in , kissing you. “so fucking good.”

“i was worried.” you said , your chin resting on his neck chest. “i told you not to , i know what im doing.” he said. “you're such an adrenaline junkie and haechan seemed to make you really upset, how was i supposed to know?” you pouted. “just learn to slow down sometimes okay?”

“i’ll learn to go slow if you keep coming to my races?” he said , you nodded. “fine.” he smiled. “you're so cute, you know that princess?” you smiled. “but you're not that innocent you know , you're a little adrenaline junkie too , i saw you in my mirror on the way here.” he flipped you over. “it's okay though baby.”

“your my little adrenaline junkie.”

©LUVYENI

[cheriecoke]

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ HOTEL ROOM — levi ackerman x f!reader x nanami kento

summary. what’s a wedding for if not to make your boyfriends a little jealous?

contents. threesome, wedding guests, best friend satoru, teensy bit of jealousy, nsfw, aot/jjk crossover universe, teasing, cunnilingus, blowjob, piv, sub reader, slight degradation, brat taming, pet names, praise, teasing, unprotected sex — 5.5k

notes. welcome to the most self indulgent and filthy thing i have ever written ! this is for me & the two men i have been in love with for two years but i guess everyone else can read it too <3

“your boyfriend looks pissed,” satoru says, peering over your shoulder. there’s a grin on his face as his bright irises flash, and he hands you a glass of champagne, bubbles rising to the surface. 

you take it from him, spilling a quarter of the alcohol down your throat before craning your neck to glance at the other side of the room. 

behind you, levi is talking to hange in a hushed voice, his expression, though not unchanged from his normal one, is thoroughly unamused. his face is pinched tighter than usual, a harsh set to his jaw. levi’s blue eyes, darkened with irritation, slide over to kento, who rests his hip against the counter, taking a long sip of whiskey. 

though levi isn’t looking at you, kento is, and you smile at him sweetly, taunting him with a little wave. 

you don’t wait to see kento’s response, and focus your attention back on satoru. “which one?” you ask, hiding your sly smile as you follow satoru out to the dance floor. a man takes your near-empty champagne glass, whisking it onto a tray with the other lipstick-stained cups. 

satoru smirks, taking your hand in his own to spin you in a circle, following the steps of the other couples around you. although you and satoru have been friends—and only friends—for years, you know a part of kento can’t help but be jealous, especially since you’d once had a crush on satoru as a teenager.

even though that had long since died, kento doesn’t bother to hide his antagonism for the older man. levi, on the other hand, will never admit to his possessiveness… but he hates seeing you in the arms of anyone that isn't him. 

“so,” satoru hums, shaking his head as you nearly bump into a blonde couple beside you. “i take it you’re trying to be an instigator?”

you make a face. “what do you mean? i’m just dancing with my good friend satoru.”

“right.” satoru laughs, pulling you closer to his chest. something changes in him, for a brief moment, and you can see why everyone wants him. he lays the charm on a little thicker, smiles a little wider—you’re starting to wonder if he actually wants to seduce you. “if you want to make them jealous, at least do it the right way,” he says, putting on his prettiest blue eyes, batting them softly at you. 

“that’s not—” you start, but satoru offers you a knowing grin in return. you’ve been close friends for far too long, and he knows you far too well. any objections you have quickly die out on your tongue, and you sigh, leaning in closer. “fine. whatever.” 

you glance over at levi, and a part of you can’t even feel guilty, not when he’s watching you with icy eyes, wondering if there’s a moment he’d be able to catch satoru off-guard. 

he's a little possessive, a bit hotheaded. can you really be blamed for enjoying the irritation that rolls into kento’s normally calm eyes, the way levi’s jaw clenches tighter and tighter, until you can hear his teeth cracking together?

it’s almost amusing, really. they should know they have nothing to worry about.

“seems i’ve taught you well,” satoru begins, his cologne overwhelming your senses as he bows to your height. “i mean, you can always come back to my hotel room. this is a wedding, after all. the perfect time to spice things up.” 

you roll your eyes at him, snorting. “don’t push your luck, gojo. i’m sure you’ll manage to find someone else to keep your bed warm tonight.” 

satoru sighs, pressing a hand to his heart like you’d fatally wounded him. “hm. i’ll get you to fuck me one of these days.” though, for once, he sounds a little too serious, like he’s actually imaging that playing out. “if you can keep the two of them around, then you must—”

the song comes to an end, and you pull away from your old friend, stopping whatever lewd comment he was about to make. “that’s enough of that, satoru.” you say, ignoring his protests, his faux innocence when he pretends not to know what he said. 

but gojo’s attention is taken up a few seconds later by shoko, and you leave them, heading towards a table with small desserts and drinks. as you pick up a plate, jean kirstein approaches, his eyebrows knit together as he fiddles with the bottom of his shirt. 

you smile at him, but jean doesn’t smile back. “is… something wrong?” you ask, uncertain if he even wanted you to question him.

jean opens his mouths, shuts it, then sniffs. “do you think you could manage to stop pissing off levi?” he finally says, picking up a plate next to you, following your actions as he sifts through the desserts. “he’s going to take it all out on us at training tomorrow.” 

you open your mouth to respond, but you don’t get the chance to let the words spill from your lips. 

behind you, kento says your name, and you turn, facing him with the pile of small desserts still in your hand. jean freezes awkwardly next to you, glancing between the blonde man and yourself. 

“everything okay, ken?”

“i’m just going back to the room,” kento says, putting his hands in his pocket, looking at you pointedly. his dark eyes shift over to jean, before fixating back on you. “just wanted to let you know.”

you smile at him sweetly, nod once. “okay,” you say, offering him a treat from the plate. “want one before you go?” 

kento relaxes, but he shakes his head. “i’m fine." he shifts to his other foot. “so. you’re going to stay here?” 

though kento is too polite to ask you to come with him, especially in front of jean, you can sense his underlying irritation. half of the guests had already gone home, and it was well after midnight... much later than either of you intended to stay out. 

still, you smile, cheeks flushed from all of the alcohol, dancing, and the heat of your boyfriend’s gaze. “yeah, i’ll come up in a bit. i still haven’t danced with jean!” 

kento raises an eyebrow, glancing over at the younger man once more, who stares back at him like a deer in headlights. 

“oh, um—” jean laughs awkwardly, scratching the back of his head as you sigh, taking a bite of one of the desserts. 

kento blinks, but ignores jean’s rambling, and fishes his wallet out of his pocket. “fine,” he says, pulling a white, plastic room key out of it. “let me know if you need anything, sweetheart.” 

you smile widely and kiss him once on the cheek. though the irritation is still evident in his dark irises, your lips ease him a bit, and he lets a small smile lift on his face. as kento leaves, you glance at the other corner of the room, and note that levi is already gone. 

your expression sours; he didn’t even bother to tell you, and there aren’t any messages from him on your phone. 

“why’d you have to drag me into it?” jean mumbles, drawing you out of your thoughts. 

a heavy exhale leaves you—you might as well enjoy the rest of the night, even if you’re not sure how angry levi is going to be when you get back. 

“well, you just seem pretty miserable,” you admit to jean, clearing all thoughts of kento and levi from your mind. that's a problem for the future you to endure. “thought i could at least keep you some company.” 

he smiles, but its half-hearted.

truly, you’re not sure how jean can stand to see the woman he loves get married to another. 

you’re sweaty by the time you retreat to your room, skin hot from the dancing, and feet sore from the heels you’d worn for the entirety of the day. 

not many people were left in the ballroom when you’d left. there were just a few close friends of eren and mikasa’s, and you’d stayed as well, flitting in between each of the couples to chat, feeling more lively with the buzz of alcohol in your veins. 

the hotel hallway is quiet when you approach, and you press the key into the door, waiting for the light to turn green. it lets you into the room, and quietly, you shut it behind you, not wanting to wake levi and kento if they're already asleep. 

though, when the door clicks, you notice that the room isn’t completely dark; there are still lamps on throughout the suite, and you can hear the soft patter of shower water running. the bathroom light is on, and there’s shuffling on the other side of the door. 

you slip your heels off and walk towards the bedroom, ignoring the pain that lingers in the balls of your feet. “levi?” you say, in nothing above a whisper, announcing your presence before opening the door. 

the bedroom is darker, but on the other side of the threshold, you can still make out the shape of the dark-haired man. levi has his back turned, the pale expanse of his skin exposed to you as he slips off his shirt. 

though you know he’s annoyed at you, you can’t stop yourself from staring at the muscles that flex and recoil as levi folds his shirt up. 

he looks over his shoulder, blue eyes flashing as he places his t-shirt shirt back with his other clothes. “so you finally decided to come back,” levi quips, his voice hard and low as he turns, facing you from just a few feet away. “are you done playing your silly little game now?” 

he says it calmly, but you can heart the danger that lies beneath it as his eyes trace over your body, lingering on the swell of your breasts under your form-fitting dress. 

levi’s severe gaze leaves you swallowing nervously, something twisting in your stomach as you watch the harsh set of his jaw. you’re not afraid to push levi’s button’s, but you’ve never gotten used to the passion and adoration that pierces his normally serious irises. 

still, you can tell he’s irritated now, and though he’s usually more serious than even kento, he’s not as good at hiding his anger. 

“what game?” you ask innocently as levi backs you into a corner, his scowl deepening. he smells nice, freshly showered, and his hair is soft as it falls across his forehead. levi’s strong hand comes against the wall beside your head, palm spread next to your ear. “i just wanted to have fun with my friends.” 

levi lets out a laugh, but it’s low, sarcastic, without any sense of real humor. “and you can’t even spare a dance for me?” he says, pinning you with his gaze. your back hits the wall, and you stare at him, lips parting as a small breath leaves you. although you are trying hard not to let your eyes drift down to his chest, you are distracted, heart fluttering in your ribcage. 

“you hate dancing, levi,” you say, a breath of air. 

levi glares, tracing his fingers softly across your jaw. “not with you.” 

though you were trying to taunt him for a moment longer, the admission has you softening, and you lean forward, your lips parting to kiss him. but you don’t get far; levi steps away, leaving you in the corner, desperate for his mouth on your own as he stalks towards the other side of the bed. 

“levi,” you whine, following after him with a deep frown. your hands instinctively reach out for him as he makes his way across the room, shoulders tense when you sensuously run your fingers over his bare spine. “i want—”

the rest of your sentence is lost to air as levi turns, his eyes narrowed harshly before yanking you forward. 

you stumble over your feet, closer to him, and he pushes you onto the bed, his movements much faster and smoother than anticipated. a gasp leaves you as you fall onto the mattress, your back sinking into it with a thump. 

“you spend all evening on the arm of other men, and now you’re trying to tell me what you want,” levi says, pinning your wrists to the bed as he climbs over your. his dark hair falls, nearly into your face as you blink up at him, arousal spiking deep in your stomach. 

levi isn’t as tall as kento, but he’s just as strong, manhandling you easily onto your back so he can tower over you. your face grows warm, and you watch him with wide eyes, shy under the weight of his heavy gaze.

“levi—” you say again, his name leaving your lips with a small whisper. 

“what’s the matter?” he slowly drags his lips across your chest as you squirm. “earlier, you couldn’t keep your mouth shut. flirting with every man at eren’s fucking wedding. and now—” 

levi drags his hands down to your hips slowly, pressing you into the bed as his fingers curl into the bone. your eyes flutter shut, the feeling of his graceful fingers on your stomach close to tantalizing, so slender, but so rough. 

“they’re my friends,” you breathe, licking your lips. “i wasn’t flirting, i was just talking.” 

really, that tiny detail doesn’t matter anymore. you just want levi’s mouth on your own. 

“didn’t look like it to me,” he says pointedly, unamused. “you were practically begging everyone in that room to fuck you.” levi’s hand tightens around your hips, not allowing you any space to move. “a pathetic attempt at trying to make us jealous.” 

you stare up at him from under your lashes, a lazy smile pulling onto your lips. “from where i’m standing, i’d say it worked pretty well.” 

levi’s jaw clenches tighter, but he doesn’t get the opportunity to respond. the door opens once more, and kento comes in, wearing nothing but a towel, his hair still damp, falling onto his head in loose strands. 

you take one look at him, the drops of water that run over the planes of his chest, and salivate. his skin is still tan from your vacation, blond hair light from the sun. he’s beautiful, so beautiful—but a frown pollutes his face as he enters the room. 

he takes a look between you, eyes narrowing at levi. “i said to wait until i got out of the shower.” 

“i’m impatient,” levi retorts in a gruff voice, sitting up slightly, even as he keeps you pinned on the bed with his thighs. 

“that’s obvious.” kento snorts, sliding his gaze over to you. “already starting without me.” he’s upon you quickly, two slow strides to the bed as he carefully observes the atmosphere. a sigh leaves him, and he brushes a heavy hand over your forehead, soothingly. “what are we going to do with you, sweetheart?” 

you swallow, eyes wide as you stare back at him.

kento drops the towel from his waist, exposing his thick, muscular thighs and his cock, resting limply between them. with levi’s hands all over your body, you’re already getting wet.

“i didn’t do anything—” you begin, but as you try to squeeze your legs together, levi stops you, knowing exactly the kind of relief you are searching for.

“nope,” he snaps, prying your thighs back apart, his eyes narrowing. “if you’re going to act like a fucking brat, then we’ll just have to treat you like one, hmm?” levi tugs you forward harshly, bringing your knees around his waist. “don’t try to act coy.” 

his fingertips dig into your thighs, and you sit up on your forearms, glancing back at kento, trying your best to bat your pretty eyes in the way you know he likes. “but i didn’t mean, it, ken,” you say as levi hikes your dress up, revealing the smooth skin of your thighs. “i’m sorry—”

kento shakes his head, and slips behind you, climbing onto the bed, forcing you sit up completely. “a little too late for that,” he says, resting your back against his chest. he kisses your shoulder softly, much more gentle than the way that levi is grabbing at your skin. kento’s large palms rest on your stomach, and you reach for them, squeeze at his hands as he smiles against your neck. “you’re supposed to be a good girl for us, aren’t you?” 

his voice is husky, tired, and you nod, seeking a kiss from the blonde man that you love so dearly. but even kento, who is always so much sweeter with you than levi, refuses that. 

“clearly, she needs to be taught a lesson,” levi snorts, dragging a finger up your panties, humming when finds your arousal already gathered there. “can’t have you forgetting who you belong too, can we?” he asks, blue eyes sharp as he pushes your panties to the side. 

you squirm when his finger parts your folds, grazing your clit as he gathers the slick around it. a spark ignites in your chest, and then, levi slips a finger into you, slowly, tauntingly. you lean back into kento, who holds you still, interlocking one of your hands with his own. 

“can’t be happy with just the two of us, can you?” kento asks, kissing the underside of you jaw. your head tips back, eyes fluttering shut as levi adds a second finger, your walls stretched as he draws in and out of you. “would you rather have satoru? maybe you’d trade both of us for just one of him—”

“n-no,” you say, reveling in the feeling of kento’s lips on your neck, levi’s delicate fingers deep inside you. “i promise, i don’t want him—”

you squelch around levi, the sounds of your cunt growing louder in the dim room, and he tugs at your knees, spreading your legs wider. your pussy is on full display to him, lacy black panties doing little to hide the fact that you're dripping. 

“didn’t seem that way to us." levi's voice is deep and rough as he glares at you. “seemed like you wanted everyone to think we can’t take of our girl.” 

sinful noises leave you as his hand moves faster, drags against your soaked walls, clit untouched and desperate for attention.

“levi,” you gasp, swallowing down your pride. “please—”

“not letting you off the hook that easily, sweetheart,” kento says, pushing the loose straps of your wine colored dress down, letting it fall. it slips easily off your breasts, revealing the lacy, black strapless bra that matches your panties.

though, that doesn’t remain for much longer; kento groans deeply in your ear, your breasts bouncing softly as he tugs the undergarment off. 

“such pretty tits,” kento says, a large, warm palm coming to cup one of them. his finger grazes across your nipple, squeezing once, and you throw your head back against his shoulder, whimpering as levi forces his another finger down to the knuckle. “fuck, the sounds you make—”

“you’re too fucking nice to her, kento.” levi is on the verge of rolling his eyes as he lowers his head to your thighs. for a moment, you think he might kiss your leg, reveal the love that he is hiding from you—but he thinks better of it and forces your legs further apart. his tongue drags against your pussy, gathering your slick before he sucks at your clit.

you moan, grabbing at kento’s thighs that are woven around your hips, digging your nails into his flexed muscles. tiny crescent marks are left there, but kento barely notices, too busy biting a bruise into your neck as he plays with your tits. 

“i don’t have to be an ass like you to teach her a lesson,” kento breathes against your neck, and you shudder, eyes fluttering closed, unable to do anything but writhe under their strong holds. “besides, she’s so perfect—”

you can’t focus on the rest of kento’s words, not when levi’s tongue is flicking in and out of you, lapping up the juices that are spilling out of your cunt. your stomach vibrates with need, and you can feel yourself close to release, exhales leaving your chest as you attempt to shift yourself forward. 

“don’t even try it,” levi glares at you, his gaze even more menacing under the mound of dark hair, lips glistening from your cunt. 

“wanna cum levi,” you cry out, not sure how much longer you’ll last with kento pinching at you, squeezing your tits with his warm palms. “please, i’m so close—”

“who said you were going to cum, brat?” levi snaps, stilling his movements for a moment as you whine, missing the feeling of his fingers deep inside you, his lips sucking at your clit. you clench around nothing, throbbing as he stares down at you empty pussy. “don’t think you deserve that.”

“just let her cum so i can fuck her, levi,” kento says, a shiver radiating through your entire body as he traces his hands down your stomach, rubbing at your clit. his fingers are thicker than levi’s, his hands bigger, and you know it won't be long before you reach your orgasm. 

“kento.” you whine, turning your cheek to face him, reveling in the small little smile that rests on his lips. “so close—”

though, your moment of relief is taken from you as levi swats kento’s hand away, going down on you again, twice as fast. “hey,” levi grabs your attention once more, slipping his fingers back inside your cunt. “eyes on me. i’m the one with my fingers in your pussy.” 

you gasp, writhing as kento kisses you, runs his hands all over your skin. “feels s’ good, levi." though you are vibrating between them, you obey, keeping your eyes focused on levi’s, too intimidated by the heat of his gaze. 

“promise to behave now, angel?” kento says, humming into your neck, a hand caressing your stomach lovingly. “you’re our sweet girl, right?” 

your mind short circuits as levi puts his mouth on you once more, and you cum, your body shaking from your orgasm, clenching tight around levi’s fingers. “levi, levi.” his name leaves your lips over and over, mumbled bliss as he works you through it, your sensitive cunt aching. 

you feel mushy, shaky as kento shifts behind you, places his hand on your hips. there is no time for you to recover, to indulge in the blissfulness that comes with release. kento pushes your hips forward, encouraging you to move.

“get on all fours for me,” he says, and though his voice is soft, sweet, there is still a sense of a command there. 

you comply, but your mind is hazy from your orgasm, still focused on the feeling of kento behind you, levi in front of you. they both eye you with a culmination of lust and love, and you feel sick with it, shifting for kento so that your dripping cunt is on perfect display for him. 

kento hums, sitting up along with you, so that his cock is positioned near your entrance. without warning, he dips a finger into your walls, smiling when you softly whine, sensitive already. kento gathers up your slick, rubbing you only for a moment before retreating, withdrawing his soaked fingers. “you get so wet for us, sweetheart. such a needy little thing, aren’t you?” kento teases, running his tongue over his fingers as you watch over your shoulder. 

you wonder if maybe you could cum again, on the spot, just from that; the sight of kento licking your arousal from his hands as you clench around nothing. “kento, need your cock,” you blabber, barely holding yourself upright—you feel weak, arms and legs like jelly. 

kento lets out a laugh, his tip teasing your entrance. without thinking, you sink your hips back, try to push him inside of you, but he stops you, stilling your movements. “thought you said you’d be good now?” he asks, kissing your spine gently. 

“i promise, kento, please, please,” you say, desperate for him to touch you. but kento doesn’t move, waits until levi has slipped his sweatpants off, thrown them over the edge of the bed. 

“sound so pretty when you beg.” kento’s voice is soft, loving, gentle as he kneads the skin of you ass. 

levi, though, doesn’t let the attention stay on the other man for much longer. he strokes his cock, but he is already painfully hard, leaking at the tip as he glowers over you. “she sounds impatient,” he counters, his voice deep, rough, and authoritative. you meet his eyes from under thick lashes, mouth watering at the sight of his pretty cock just inches from your face. “maybe she’ll stop running her mouth with my dick in it.” levi runs his finger over your lips, parting them with his thumb. as if on instinct, you let your jaw fall open, your cunt aching and soaked, too desperate for release to care about how debauched you look.

“wanna taste you, levi,” you say, whimpering as kento edges his tip into your dripping hole. your hands shake on the bed, and you blink rapidly as your sensitive pussy throbs and aches, pulsing around your blonde lover. 

“tch, ‘course you do. you’re so fucking hungry for my cock.” levi seems annoyed, but he still runs a delicate hand through your hair before he pushes against your lips. 

at the same time, kento sinks into you, a deep groan leaving him. “fuck, sweetheart, just slipped right into you. pretty pussy was made for my cock, wasn’t it?” 

you moan as you taste the saltiness of the precum leaking from levi, taking as much of him as you can into your mouth. he’s not as thick as kento, but he’s just as long, pretty and veiny as you run your tongue along the length of him. 

kento leans over your back, his strong hands curling around your sides as he drags himself in and out of you, fingers digging into your hips. your eyes flutter shut from the stretch, and you moan around levi’s mouth, distracted by his hands, rough in your hair. 

for a moment, you pause, breathing as you clench around kento, but levi doesn’t give you enough time to think; he drags your mouth back down his cock, his pretty fingers tight against your scalp. “levi—” you start, but his names falls on a loose breath as you gasp, your cheeks hot when you smoothly catch the dark look in his irises. 

“don’t cum until we tell you to, brat,” levi says, scowling, though there is a breathlessness starting in his words, a hint of affection as you bob your head up and down his length. as mean as levi tries to be sometimes, he can't seem to get rid of the love that seeps into his voice when he’s inside you.

you nod an affirmation as best you can before sinking back down on him, breathing heavier through your nose. 

kento pushes into your fluttering walls deeper, faster, his cock stretching you more than levi’s fingers had before. “look so pretty like this, angel. always take us both so well,” kento says, squeezing the soft skin of your sides gently as he forces himself further, until he’s inside of you completely, the burn deliciously painful. 

you try to whimper, feeling your own juices trickle, smear between the inside of your thighs, but your mouth is too full of levi for any sounds to come out. 

“focus on what you’re doing." levi's attempt at snapping fizzles out. his tone has lost its bite. his eyes are getting hazier, eyelids fluttering with each drag of your tongue, your mouth so much smaller around his cock. “not letting you cum until i do.” 

you balance on one hand, the other reaching up to fondle levi’s balls as you drag your tongue slowly along the vein on the underside of his cock. levi inhales deeply, digging his fingers into your hair, his nails scratching against your scalp. his cheeks, the bridge of his nose are dusted pink, eyes a deep navy. 

you bat your dazed eyes at him. levi is so beautiful, and you’re so deeply in love with him, desperate to see the flush of his face, the way his lips part in ecstasy when he finally reaches his orgasm. 

a hand drifts across your stomach as kento hum, his chest vibrating. “being such a good girl for us,” he whispers, and though you can’t see him, you know he is smiling, his eyes always so gentle, even when you spent the entire night trying to rile him up. 

you can feel yourself getting closer, kento hitting the spot deep within you, levi’s taste so intoxicating that you’re blind to your surroundings. 

“just like that, my love." drunk on the feeling of your mouth, levi's dark eyes finally soften as you run your tongue along his tip. “aren’t you pretty?” his thumb traces your cheek softly, and the normal affection is back on his face. it fuels you to drag your mouth up his length faster.

levi's praise is much more fleeting then kento’s, but it’s genuine, always coming when he’s desperately close to finishing. a moan, deep and muffled, reverberates in his chest as he thrusts his hips forward, fucking your face.  

“she’s close,” kento groans, reaching around your stomach to dip his finger between your thighs. “i can feel it. she's squeezing me so fucking tight.” 

“mouth feels so good," levi rasps, his breathing uneven, chest rising erratically. “fuck, fuck, you’re gonna make me cum” he lets a string of curses leave him, his lips parting beautifully, flushed and red. “better swallow every last fucking drop."

“don’t think that’ll be an issue,” kento hums, and his fingertips graze your clit, causing you to gush around him. “she always wants our cum so bad.” teasingly, he leans down to whisper, more to you than levi. “i don’t think i even have to ask if she wants me to cum inside.” 

“shit,” levi breaths, sputters, and then he spills into your mouth, warm ropes of cum shooting into your throat. 

you swallow as much as you can, trying not to gag as it dribbles out of the corner of your mouth, milking levi through his orgasm. but you’re too focused on the feeling of kento, and your eyes flutter shut as you force your hips back, your brain glossed over, nothing but need there.

that moment is short-lived.

levi pinches your cheeks, forces you to open your eyes and look at him. though his fingers dig into your skin, right below the bone, his eyes are soft as he leans down. 

“cum." the word is whispered against your mouth, the sharp tone he uses as a captain. then, levi kisses you, licks across your lips to taste himself there.

you whimper into his mouth, falling forward into him as you clench hard around kento, the knot inside of you releasing. your orgasm hits you hard, blurs the room around you, narrowed down to nothing but the man in front of you and the one behind. 

“mm,” kento hums, but his voice is low, raspy. “god, made such a mess all over me, fuck, love you so much, sweetheart—” 

kento lasts only a few moments more, spilling into your cunt, his cum filling you up, coating your walls white. 

you breathe heavily, whining into levi's neck as he holds you, lets kento pump the last bit of cum from his cock, heavy pants escaping his chest.

“look at you,” levi says, tracing his fingers over your face, smoothing the hair away from your sweaty forehead. "so fucking pretty all filled up with our cum."

kento, slowly, drags himself out of you, makes another sound, already missing the feeling of your pussy clenching around him. you feel empty, blinking as levi gathers your up in his arms, kisses your forehead.

"mmm." levi hums, because, really, he can't help the fact that you soften him up, make him a little bit sick with affection. "i love you."

you smile. "love you both," you say, closing your eyes as kento smatters kisses across your back, levi's touch gentle as he caresses your sides. "'m sorry."

kento laughs, brushing your hair off to one shoulder, kissing between your shoulder blades. "no you're not." he nuzzles your back, resting his cheek against your spine. two strong arms wrap around your waist.

"we're not idiots," levi continues, a snort leaving him. "i'm sure you spent the whole evening plotting with satoru. nice try though."

you smile, dopey and blissful. "well, it worked, didn't it? i did make you jealous."

neither of them respond.

anyway.

tehehe thank you for reading !! reblogs appreciated !

[witchyafterdark]

— Ominis Gaunt Headcanons; pt. 3

• The Pros and Cons of being with him •

This post has been sitting in my drafts for a very long time now, and was supposed to be the second installment of my previous post about Sebastian! Nevertheless, here it is. I've thought about this one a little bit harder than the other since it's my boy Ominis. All photos used are not mine, and all credits to their respective owners.

・❥・ PROS

He is the most empathetic, compassionate, thoughtful, and caring man you'll ever be with.

Most people need to be taught how to have compassion towards others, or that an example needed to be shown in order for them to learn. But with Ominis, this is something inborn. Empathy is nestled deep inside his bones, and it will be very difficult for anyone to make him act out of alignment from his true caring nature.

He is tremendously protective of you, and by extension, those you consider very close to you.

One of the many ways he demonstrates his devotion to you is by means of providing you with protection. Understandably, he knows that you aren't some damsel who needs help all the time. That's why he discreetly protects you when you need it the most; which are during the times you do not see the danger you're about to encounter, or are already in the midst of.

Quite ironic, he sees certain social situations leagues ahead of you, given his aristocratic upbringing, and can definitely read between the lines of people's intentions toward you. He will immediately step in — with practiced grace mixed with lethality — and eradicate any threat that looms over you before you even begin to notice anything amiss.

By extension, he is also very attuned to your emotional states, physical needs, and mental processes.

You wouldn't have to worry about being with someone who doesn't know how to understand you in ways you want to be understood because that couldn't be further from the truth with Ominis. One of the factors that make him a good partner is that he would actually get to know you before being with you. He took the time to learn your patterns and behaviors, and he genuinely studied you thoroughly in hopes of doing right by you.

Therefore, being in a relationship with him means he truly knows he can be a good match for you, as he doesn't want to waste both of your time. He understands when you're stressed, and would do anything in his power to alleviate your pains. And he knows when to step back and give you your personal space to figure things out by yourself.

Surprisingly, he has a mischievous and adventurous spirit in his heart, and he knows how to keep the fun alive between you two.

Being born blind, he has been told endlessly by his punitive family that he would most likely amount to nothing in his life without their illustrious influence and infamous reputation. But ever the rebel, Ominis wanted to prove to himself that their words hold no significance in his ability to live life to the fullest. To your pleasant surprise, he is much more lively and playful once you truly get to know him and he lets go of all his defenses! He isn't Anne and Sebastian's oldest friend for nothing; he knows a plethora of ways to rebel, bask in the moments of fun and adventure, and get into the occasional mischief to feed the need for a little adrenaline rush. Most people would probably consider him a boring and rigid person to be with, but he's just waiting for the right one to share the joy and happiness with.

Ominis is one of the bravest and most loyal people you'll ever get the chance to be with, whether for friendship or romantic relationship. You'll get to enjoy certain... perks of being with him. And he's more than willing to ensure your comfort and satisfaction as his partner.

Simply put, he has no qualms in waving his family name around to protect and preserve the peace around him — and that includes making sure you're safe, unbothered, and given the same special privileges as he has. Rest assured that once he made up his mind that he wants to be with you, you wouldn't have to worry if he's thinking of anybody else besides you. Everyone will know that he is yours, but most importantly, everyone will know you're his. and he's not embarrassed to say he is with you. In fact, he revels in it; albeit, more privately. While he does want people to know that he is off the market, he loathes the notion of people getting to know what goes on with your relationship with him. He's still a private person at the end of the day.

Behind closed doors, he is the most affectionate, touchy, and loving man you'll ever know.

Ominis is the kind of person that is sensitive to the energies of other people. He is sensitive like that, and for good reason. He can "read" the room perfectly without the need for sight. And so, he would definitely know simply by the sound of your heavy footsteps that you've had a tiring, rough day. Wordlessly, he would have the initiative to cook dinner for you, prepare you a hot bath, not forgetting to lay your night clothes on your bed, and caressing your hair to send you to sleep as you lay secure in his warm embrace at night. He also knows when you just need time alone to be by yourself, and tend to your own needs without him in the picture.

Nevertheless, you wouldn't even think of him as someone that needs to be "coached" into being a good partner — he has that naturally built into his personality.

╭━━━━━∙⋆⋅⋆∙━━━━━╮

・❥・ CONS

Due to his unstable upbringing, he is actually the most possessive person you've ever met... worse that Sebastian.

It is known that Ominis is a very closed-off person. He is very difficult to win over, let alone befriend and to romance. When he was a child, every family connection his father had made was exploited to the bone. Those people would unwittingly feel honored to be acquainted to the Gaunts that they would most likely do anything to win their favor. Ominis' father once taught him that the people around him was supposed to obey him out of respect for their ancient, noble lineage.

Therefore, once Ominis lets you into his life, he unconsciously views you as his possession; someone that must remain in his life, unless he deems otherwise.

During arguments, he would not back down, and would sound punitive at times.

Having to fight for his life — quite literally — at the hands of his cruel family, Ominis has learned that using his words can equally be as destructive as combative magic. His usual sarcastic quips are one of his normal defense mechanisms. But if you're engaged in an argument with him, especially when he knows he is right, best believe he will not hold back. You will get your feelings and pride and dignity hurt. He will lay out the truth no holds barred. He will make you understand why he knows best, and that you should just listen.

After what happened during fifth year with Sebastian, he's had absolutely enough with giving people the benefit of the doubt. Once he made up his mind about a certain topic, good luck trying to change his mind now.

If you are rumored to have been getting closer to another man, best believe he will be taken care of as soon as possible. You won't see that man ever again. (He isn't a Gaunt for nothing).

As far as he's concerned, the only type of friends you need in your life are those he knows of; Poppy Sweeting, Natsai Onai, and perhaps even Imelda Reyes. Sebastian can be part of your circle but even that he is wary of. But if he so hears about other men trying to be close to you (even as your relationship with him is already public knowledge), or you're in the process of entertaining the possibility of being with other men, he will get them out of the picture by the end of the week.

He is not afraid of twisting the truth, fabricating lies and offenses that those men seemingly committed, and falsifying being a witness to a breach of magical protocol just to send them on their merry way. You'll be confused as to how and why these men just keep on getting questioned by magical authorities but you'll be none the wiser about his involvement.

Speaking of, no matter how hard he tries to undo all the conditioning he was put through as a child, his Gaunt tendencies tend to rear its ugly head when he feels out of control, or threatened in any way.

This one is something he does not want you to know. It's one of his deepest, darkest secrets that he tries to bury underneath his caring and compassionate efforts of becoming a better man. Some days, it truly gets the best of him, especially when he perceives that he is not being taken seriously, or that things around him are getting out of control. Being someone without sight (that is also a Gaunt), having absolute control of his surroundings is something he needs to feel safe and secure. Without it, it's as if he is wandless — holding his hands up in front of him like when he was a helpless child.

And so, if he perceives petulance on your part, in spite of him exercising patience, he will resort to intimidation and manipulation. He doesn't need to exert physical force to make you understand exactly what he is capable of if you keep up with your actions.

(There's a reason why Dominis is a thing to begin with. People know he is capable of it!)

Once you're with him, there's no backing out. He won't allow it. You are his.

When you agreed to accept his courtship, he understood it as a mutual agreement that this is not something casual in nature. You are not with him to waste his time, as he wouldn't want to waste yours. The decision to court you was not made on a whim. He realizes the potential of a great and fruitful romantic partnership with you. Therefore, in his mind, you need to validate his assumptions about you. You need to prove that he was right about you.

Of course, he will subtly guide you through the stages of your relationship in order to fit his narrative as he intended. He will mold you to be the person of his dreams, and will give you whatever you want that is within his power. You'd do well to be grateful and acknowledge that through your cooperation.

And if you ever break his heart by being with someone else behind his back, he will make sure you will pay for it... one way or another.

╭━━━━━∙⋆⋅⋆∙━━━━━╮

So, do the pros outweigh the cons for you?

[redflagshipwriter]

Check Yes (to go on a date with a dead guy) ch3

“So, what’s your deal?” Jason asked, when Danny’s mouth was full of food. “You’re dead, I notice.”

Danny choked. He gave Jason a betrayed look with big blue eyes, a hand clapped over his mouth to contain any mess.

Jason smirked back, unrepentant. “I died once,” he shared. “Got better though.”

“You got be-”

“You were surprised about what it’s like to fight humans,” Jason continued. It was hard not to laugh at the confused outrage on his date’s face. “So that implies you fight someone else? You’re fighting ghosts or something? Or do ghosts have some kinda natural enemy? Vampires or some shit?” He might have been a bit flippant but sue him, it sounded a lot more magical than his daily life.

Danny opened his mouth and no words came out. He looked like he was in pain when he grudgingly admitted, “I do have a lot of beef with this one vampire guy, Vlad.”

Jason threw his head back and laughed. That was such a vampire guy name, what the hell?

“No, no, it’s not funny,” Danny protested. He waved his hands wildly, flinging a bit of bean from his burrito across the roof they were perched on. “He’s also a ghost- well, he’s a half of a ghost, but that’s a long story from when he was in college.”

“The half-ghost vampire has an undergraduate degree?” Jason interrupted. He needed to know what this fucker studied. Was it like, social science? Literature? Theater? That might explain Danny’s implied belief that a theme was an inherent rogue thing. No, wait, business administration?

Danny gave him a withering look. “He’s got a Doctorate.”

Jason flung his hands up in defeat against the world. That made more sense than an undergraduate degree somehow. There was just something about the type of person who got a Doctorate that made them, you know, creeps.

‘Or maybe they’ve just got enough specialized knowledge to act on latent creepiness,’ he mused. ‘...Shit, am I developing an anti education stance? Can I blame this on Crane and Quinn?’

Danny was continuing with his explanation of the vampire’s background. Every word made it nuttier. “He’s a scientist, actually, and the mayor of a small town. And he lives in a cheese mansion.”

This was a sharp divergence from vampire stereotypes and he needed to know everything.

“Is the mansion made of cheese?” Jason interrupted. He was leaning in, intent on every word. Why was this vampire the most interesting man in the world?

He got a weird look for that. “No, it just belonged to the Dairy King,” Danny said, like it was everyday knowledge that you could expect a layperson to have.

“Of course, the Dairy King,” Jason said wisely.

"Enough about me though!" Danny flailed a bit. "How did you get my uh, number?"

Ah. Jason took a big bite to delay while he chose his words.

There was no point in trying to hide his vigilante identity from Danny. The guy probably didn't even understand the concept.

So he might as well top whatever story Danny had.

"The bat guy who taught me all about being a child soldier got grabbed by this group of loser cultists, right?" He gestured in a way that did absolutely nothing to illustrate the situation.

Danny cocked his head. "This is off to a good start."

"They tried to sacrifice him. You gotta remember him - big ugly guy, dressed in black and gray, underwear on the outside of his pants in a way that's never been cool?"

Danny didn't seem to have words, but he lifted his hands to make two ears on top of his head.

He pointed with both hands. "That's the guy," Jason agreed. "At the time, we didn't know what kind of sacrifice it was. We were thinking more along the lines of blood sacrifice?" He shrugged as if the idea of B biting it meant nothing to him.

Danny made a pffft sound of air escaping between his lips. "I tossed him back." He flailed in place. "I- isn't- wasn't that- that was a while ago," he stuttered. "I kinda forgot about him."

"...You got offered a cape, then a few weeks later a bunch of others, and you didn't make a mental connection?" Jason checked.

Danny flushed. "Time doesn't match up between the realms and anyway, I'm really busy!" He crossed his arms and accidentally knocked over his drink. "I've got a lot going on in my life. Anyway, for a ghost?" Danny blew a raspberry. "I'm sorry to break your heart, but none of you dress wild enough to stand out in the Infinite Realms. We've got robot dudes and child pirates and giant eyeballs and stuff." He gave Jason a smug look. It was cute.

Jason acted on impulse and reached out to ruffle Danny's hair. He realized what he was doing too late. His hand froze above Danny's head.

Danny tilted his face up and made an inquisitive sound.

"There was a bug." Jason pulled his hand back. What was wrong with him? He didn't go touching other people just because they were cute. "It flew off."

"...Right," Danny said. "You're being very normal." He seemed delighted by this, the little gremlin. "So. You were a child soldier too?"

Jason nearly fell off his perch.

Danny shrieked a laugh and pointed. "Ha!" He crowed. "I win! I shocked you first!"

"There wasn't a competition!" Jason lied. His face was bright red. It was too late to save face. "What do you mean too?" He demanded. "Were you a child?"

"Somewhat recently," Danny said. He gave Jason a catlike smile. "Adults come from teenagers, teenagers come from kids, kids come from babies. Do you need to know-"

"I know where babies come from." Jason cut him off. He tried to look off put at the way Danny laughed at him but fuck it, it was funny, in a dumb way. "Of course you were a kid, that was silly of me," he admitted. "Ghosts are made from humans, right?"

"Well yes, but actually no," Danny said, philosophical. "Some of us. I was. Other ghosts are made from like, vultures, or ideas."

It kinda seemed like ghost taxonomy was more complicated than he was ready to get into at the moment. Those two things were pretty fuckin disparate.

Jason sighed heavily and picked up his food again, just to have something to do with his hands.

A thought occurred. He didn't let it show on his face but he felt sick to his stomach.

Danny was dead. Danny said he'd been a child recently, and a child soldier.

Someone needed their ass kicked.

Danny: we are having such a whimsical time!

Jason: sirens screaming

[leafbowl]

You know that thing bikers do when they see a police car? The tap on their helmets? Yeah so Arsenal, Red Hood, Red Robin and Spoiler (who I think are the only ones who ride motorbikes outside of their vigilante personalities) do it whenever they see Nightwing. And you better believe it makes others so fucking confused.

Nightwing: *Drops down into the fight.*

Red Hood: *Stops everything he's doing to tap the top of his helmet.*

Spoiler: *Sees it and then stops to do it too.*

Red Robin: *Gets a giddy little grin and starts tapping the top of his head.*

Thugs: *All collectively very confused.*

Thug #1: Wha... What're they doin'?

Thug #2: Uhh I dunno.

Thug #3: Hey, isn't that what bikers do when they see a cop?

Thug #2: Nah. Nightwing's not a cop, dumbass.

Thug #1: Yeah, he's a vigilante. Wha's he need with bein' a cop?

Thug #3: But he's the type to snitch tho.

Thug #1: Well... I guess. Maybe that's why they do it, cuz he's such a snitch.

Thug #2: *shrugs* Maybe.

Thugs #3: Uh, guys...

Thug #2: What?

Thug #3: Ya 'ere that?

Thug #1: *Pauses but doesn't hear anything.* Uh nah.

Thug #3: Exactly. Where'd the fightin' sounds go?

Thug #2: Shit.

The fighting had stopped because everyone else had been taken care of. The batfam had just been waiting for them to finish their conversation like Alfred taught them to. He would be proud. Probably of the broken and fractured bones that followed. Well, he'd be proud of their technique, they reckoned. (To be honest, Alfred would be proud no matter what.)

Arsenal: So he just... told you all to stop?

Red Hood: *Shrugs.* Pretty much.

Red Robin: I don't get why B wants us to stop using 'dick' as a term of endeerment. It's a compliment! Being like Dick is the highest honour.

Red Hood: And that has nothing to do with the fact the Baby Wonder finds it enfurieating?

Red Robin, grinning: Cassie hating it is an upside, I won't lie.

Nightwing: *Drops down next to where they're all gathered on a roof.* Hey guys, sorry I'm late, I-

Red Hood:

Arsenal:

Spoiler:

Red Robin:

Robin:

Orphan:

Nightwing: Uh guys? *Starts sweating because there's something wrong with the way they're all blankly staring at him.* How- how's everyone?

Red Hood: *Starts tapping helmet.*

Nightwing: *So concerned that something's wrong he doesn't clock it right away so he just stares, a crease forming between his eyebrows.*

Red Robin: *Taps against his hair.*

Nightwing: Wait a sceond-

Arsenal, Spoiler: *Taps their heads.*

Robin and Orphan: *Looks at each other. Holds eye contact and then starts tapping their heads to fuck with Nightwing.*

The next day a photo of Nightwing standing with his head bowed in defeat whilst being surrounded by Red Hood, Arsenal, Red Robin, Robin, Spoiler and Orphan who are all patting their heads is trending. People think they're in some kind of cult and that they were either sacraficing Nightwing or they were summoning something. The fact that Nightwing isn't spotted for the next week makes everyone lean towards the sacraficing.

(Jason made him promise he would play into the bit by not going out and letting his friends and/or his siblings patrol his city. Dick has never been good at saying not to his little brother. And, come on, Dick fucking loved the idea of people thinking he was being sacraficed. Also, he doesn't mind the head patting. Batman was the only one who thought it might reveal his identity. Dick was with Stephanie on it all, really. There was no way people would connect him to Nightwing and if they did, it's not like anyone else would believe them.)

It gets to the point that it's not even to fuck with Batman anymore. It becomes a normal greeting, something that bleeds into their civillian lives. People understand it more when it's directed at Dick Grayson but it's very endeering to see it. It all fuels all the Bruceman shippers when Tim Drake-Wayne is caught doing it to Nightwing.

[sm-baby]

Lesser Evil (Able-owned Pomni)

ko-fi✏️|| Able-owned Pomni MASTERPOST🪆|| Freakshow fics MASTERPOST📚|| Freakshow AU by @hootbon 👁️

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Isolation, Implied violence, Disassociation, Disassociative Amnesia, "KYS" sort of mention

Word count: 10,649

special thank you for @thelunaglitch for donating to my Ko-fi and making this possible :] This is based on the Able-owned Pomni timeline! I'll leave yall to it!

buh-bye! o(*^＠^*)o

__________________________________________

High-pitched neighing sounded out as The galloping of horses grew louder. 

There, Able sat lovingly on his stead like a prince returning to his kingdom. And with the prince, his personal servant, draped in a beautiful blue/yellow tutu. 

Able came with the duty of speaking with his brother, And while they spoke about private business matters, Pomni was told to wait outside, in which she curtsied and followed suit. 

Pomni turned her back at the door and simply let time pass by during her visit. It was comparable only to a guard stationed for the royal palace, or-- an even fairer comparison: a car parked outside. 

These past few months, Pomni was taught about nothing but being prim, proper, poise, perfect, and most importantly: obedient. 

What a cruel place to stay, certainly nowhere for a beautiful doll like herself to be in. the torn red and yellow curtains.. the crooked floors, the blood on the walls… The sound of a body dragged by the ground or a knife hitting wood… was familiar to her, and a tiny part of herself found it comforting, but otherwise, she hadn't reacted.

It was a reminder of the concept of death... A reminder of humanity…The existence of mortality… not a very comforting subject.

In the corner of her eye, she saw a familiar face... Most of his shape was shrouded in the dark, but she knew that distinct silhouette anywhere— only for the darkness to completely engulf him as he slowly backed away.

He left. And Pomni blinked, confused. He was staring at her no doubt about it, but why? She thought she was a lot more presentable this way.

No matter. Pomni closed her eyes and returned to her guard. She stood, and sat there, like an unwound doll. It seems she learned how to fall asleep while standing up. As she would black out for the next couple of minutes.

Pomni stood, the tip of her toes gracefully on the floor while her hands politely stayed in front of her, neat to her stomach.

And she would stay there as she disassociated…and eventually fall asleep 

*…

*...

*...

She felt a presence around her.

Pomni slowly brought herself back into consciousness and the faces’ blur lessened. As her eyes adjusted back to her surroundings the former king-turned-magician, and his assistant were standing before her.

Kinger pointed at Pomni. “ See? I told you she was here…”

“ But it can't be…” thought Ragatha.

Kinger would go over and reach for her cheek to maybe-- check signs of warmth. Just to be sure that it isn't some sort of statue… but he would yelp as her head quickly cocked up to look at them like a machine turned on.

“ Good evening.”

“ AHH!! IT TALKS!!” Kinger quickly ran back behind Ragatha, who quickly stood between them to protect kinger… but still. She seemed as confused as ever… Ragatha's eyes narrowed… staring into her face, and then back at kinger to sign something.

“... Pomni Is that you in there?” he said.

“ Yes.”

Kinger’s head perked up from behind Ragatha, and ever so slightly, his eyes dilated. But before he could get too excited, Ragatha pulled him back, signing to him again

“ You're not an NPC, are you?”

“ No.”

Kinger blinked.“ Why do you talk like that?” Despite Ragatha’s efforts to grab him, Kinger walked over to her, like a man wanting to pet a cat. Which he did. 

He put a hand over her head, and despite his gentle, shaken, touch, Pomni still backed away instinctually. Less so in a fearful manner, more so just finding such an activity unpleasant to the touch. 

“ AaaAh! Kinger!”

This action brought out a very reactionary frown from the puppet, which she hadn't expressed since she got there.

Ragatha’s eyes widened at that little detail! It is her! and she quickly walked over to join the two. Kinger continued to pet the poor little ballerina, seemingly clueless to the test that Pomni just passed. 

Ragatha waved enthusiastically as if saying hello to an old friend!

“ What? No! I- I mean- yes! But-” Pomni was slightly embarrassed. Of all the ways to identify her, it was by her being a mess. She would never let her mask slip so easily, but something about the two, the warmth, the humanity, grabbed her back. “Agh… sorry…” 

It was as if she was right back to who she was just a couple of months ago. A staggering, stuttering mess. At this point, Kinger was petting her with two hands! Oh lord.

Kinger let go of her to have a signed conversation with Ragatha. And he replied. “ …I saw Caine and his brother go in there, yeah.”

More gestures from Ragatha.

“ Oh okay, I'll go tell her—- Pomni, why don't we go to another room?... Someone gifted Ragatha a tea set a few days ago, and she can't wait to show you… It would be nice to catch up!”

From the side, she could see Ragatha get a little embarrassed at his comment.

*(The two wait patiently for her reply.)

     > Go with them.

     > Do not go with them.

     > Go with them.

“ W-Well… okay. I don't think the Master said anything about wondering.”

For a moment, Kinger paused and frog-blinked at what Pomni said! But No matter! He put his hand on Pomni’s back and started leading her forward. This was no place to catch up, no no!

     Loading…

“ Have you ever heard of the prisoner’s dilemma?” Men, wealthy as ever, whispered over to each other. Down below were the group of beloved performers, during an active show.

The one in red raised a brow. And with a smirk he replied. “ You have my attention.”

“ My bet’s on the strong one.”

“ Zooble…Okay….” He hummed. “Summoning Gangle now.”

“ Gangle?” Able laughed. “Isn't that the miserable one? Aren't these two close?”

“ Exactly,” Caine said with a smile.

One leg over the other, The brothers stared from the darkness no different from the crowd. When they weren't hosting the performance, they were watching the show, making sure everything was up to speed-- or to be more entertaining.

It seemed the two had this type of play numerous times before. And this little game was mostly amusing for themselves rather than the audience. Judging from how the Strong man grimaced and how the tragedy mask wailed, the entertainment was going to last longer than the performance itself.

     Loading new area… TIP: Ragatha knows a lot about first aid!

The three would walk around the circus halls. And despite having lived there for months before, this all might as well be a completely new discovery for Pomni. In comparison, she was a shining light within the darkness but she stared like it was the most beautiful environment she’s ever been in. The blood on the walls, the knife on the floor, the grimy, mossy corners of the circus, it was familiar, and so lived in. She wasn't used to that.

Another part of her criticism was that the tent needed some renovations, the cracks needed filling, there was mold on the broken paintings. But there was part of her that wanted to leave it alone and watch it rot. Eyes staring in fascination. She was watching paint dry and she loved the shade.

In front of her, Ragatha and Kinger were holding a conversation, and she frowned to think that they had to live in such an environment. It had been months since she’s been living with her owner and she was beyond spoiled. A strong part of her wished they all had the same privilege.

And then there was the yelling.

“ Get lost!”

“ Zooble, I promise I didn't mean to!” sobbing following after.

On their way to Ragatha’s room, just around the corner, the three would see the strongman Zooble marching towards their room, with a hostile grit in their voice that they didn't often raise.

“ We agreed not to say a word and we'd both be safe. We AGREED.”

“ I didn't mean to tell them I promise!” She cried out, begging, screaming. “I'm so sorry!”

With shaking, aggressive hands, Zooble pulled the ribbons that reached over to console them, and swung it against the wall, cracking the weeping, shivering, misery mask. Gangle was lucky that she was harder to break compared to her sister. As she got off with only a few cracks.

Their chest rose and dropped with anger, breathing heavily like a bull. Zooble had been just a little too trusting lately. Their own mistake really. 

They thought it was just her sister that she didn’t have to trust, that Zooble and Gangle have a mutual understanding of their situation, despite their shitty outcomes, at the end of the day, they were both fucked up humans who both did fucked up shit together.

To think that they could indulge in a bond of a shared trauma. That was stupidly sentimental, you'd think that they’d learn. One day they could break a thousand walls, the next they were building them.

SMASH

Gangle flinched when they broke concrete, making more cracks on her mask when Debri fell on her. 

“ Z-zoo-” 

Gangle could hardly get a word in before a door was shut in her face, and she was left back into the darkness…

It was almost like the entire room could flood with how loud she was weeping. With how many tears quickly left her. Even without outside intervention, her mask kept cracking, as if it was about to explode into little depressed pieces.

On the other side of the knot, The comedy mask rolled her eyes. “ This is getting embarrassing." 

And Gangle, the ribbon performer, was dragged up, back to the darkness of the ceiling where they would not be visible.

It was as if Kinger didn't even notice. He was on the way to open the door to Ragatha’s room before being asked… 

“ What was that about?”

“ What was what about?”

Ragatha signed.

“... Oh!” 

Kinger perked up. 

“ Zooble died just a couple of hours ago. Caine made them play a game based on trust and, uh, it didn't end well.”

“ Wh- well- I thought those two were friends…?”

“ I thought so too,” Kinger said. ” We were all really surprised by what Gangle did.” Ragatha signed.

Now Pomni didn’t particularly like Gangle, her desperation for her sister was a matter of life or death for her. Mostly death. The first time Pomni died was a core memory, and she would give anything not to live through it again. But the one thing the circus taught her was that nothing was ever black and white; mostly it was shades of dark gray, but none-the-less. 

Gangle had days of sweetness with Pomni, she remembers her trying to apologize. Although they never stuck or went through, she knew, that underneath it all, Gangle was suffering. They were all suffering. In fact she was suffering in ways Pomni couldn’t begin to comprehend. Pomni had all the right to hate Gangle, and maybe it was because she was now in a better, safer situation, but now she couldn’t. The divide between them was bigger than ever and she could finally easier say that she felt bad for her.

     Loading new area… TIP: alcohol doesn’t affect humans in the digital realm

Creak…

Pomni would find great fascination in Ragatha's room… it looked just the way it did a couple of months ago with the toy box, the piano, and the yarn kit. But she would notice-- a well-kept, almost new addition: a little table, and a tea set.��

Ragatha wouldn't usually let people stay somewhere so intimate to her, but she trusted Kinger and, although she may not have had the best relationship with Pomni, her heart was always open. Maybe this could help her get comfortable again after her absence. It was almost like the first time she arrived at the circus.

Besides, tension seemed to have risen now with the situation outside with the other members. Outside didn't exactly feel safe.

Kinger and Pomni sat around the table, while Ragatha walked over to the cabinets. It was an adjustment for Pomni to stay somewhere so bleak, but her manners hadn’t failed her. Wooden, crusty, chairs, it wasn’t the most comfortable to sit at. A part of her felt bad that this was what the two labeled as “comfortable”, but as a guest, she had no right to judge.

“It's really nice to gather around like this again like old times,” Kinger said with a smile. 

“ U-uh yeah! It really does...” 

Kinger would continue to converse with Pomni. And on Kinger’s left, Ragatha timidly put out cups for them, unable to make eye contact, yet she had such a small, almost thrilled smile on her face. In the middle of their conversation, she would clear her throat and tap Kinger on the shoulder. The tea set sat comfortably in her hands like a precious animal.

Kinger gasped “ O-Oh! Yes! Pomni! Look at what this can do!”

Pomni turned, and Ragatha poured Kinger a cup of tea, steam emitting from its gushing snout, politely making its way into the outside world. Kinger would clap as it the cup filled itself, and Ragatha was ecstatic, both later turning to the confused Pomni in front of them.

She smiled nervously, nodding. They poured some tea. Is that some sort of accomplishment? She didn't mean to be rude, but she was unsure what caused such bright disposition on their faces.

“ Uh! Yeah! That's really cool!” She frankly felt bad that she wasn't seeing what they were seeing. And so, she played along with a forced smile, though the confusion could be seen from miles away.

“ It's tea!” Kinger held the cup with a pinky finger up. “ Water! actual water with temperature, flavor, and all! And.. we don't even have to brew it! It could pour forever, see?” They both looked so happy, and Ragatha had such a spark in her eyes. She dearly blessed the audience members who pulled through to get her something so simple; it was not easy.

Pomni further crooked her brow in confusion before realizing. “Oh… oh! Uh- uh- Im so happy for you two!”

Ragatha's smile dropped.

“ I know!” Kinger said happily, swinging his head side to side to the little tune in his mind, closed his eyes, happily sipping while looking off to the side… but Ragatha was different. She noticed Pomni’s lack of enthusiasm earlier on, and the insecurities crept in. Holding her elbows and looking away, saddened and disappointed. 

“ Noo..! No, Ragatha I mean it! I do!” Pomni quickly noticed, “ It really is nice! I just…” Pomni exhaled…

Ragatha didn't budge. She wasn't sure if she wanted the reassurance or if she wanted her to drop the subject. She was trying to be good to Pomni during her visit; She wanted her to feel welcomed in her own home, not to patronize her to make her feel better.

The two girls looked away from each other. Ragatha felt insecure and Pomni felt guilty. And then there was a kinger who was chewing on play-toy-like biscuits. It had no flavor, or texture, or anything really. But he was chewing away anyway.

Good job, Pomni, You made everything awkward.

“ Ragatha really likes this tea set. “ Kinger happily said, stuffing his mouth. “ I thought you'd like it more, Pomni. We don't really get this realistic of food often.” As they spoke, Ragatha sat down.

“ I- Well- in the brothers’ realm I kind of- I already...” Pomni took hold of the tea poured for her, and she stuttered. She didn’t exactly know how to keep talking without sounding like she was gloating. She imagined saying that you have a good balanced diet isn’t the most humble thing to say to someone who was, say, in a third-world country. 

A confused look from Ragatha… but Kinger’s eyes sparkled. “ I knew there was a reason why you dressed so fancy… So that's where you've been this whole time? Did Caine cave in and kidnap you?’

“ What? No! I think.” She could never be too sure. but honestly, he might as well have. “ Last I was in the circus-- you know how I got into a major argument with Caine?”

“ Yeah, to be honest, I was expecting to see you die over and over that day.” Kinger said so casually with a chuckle… as if it was a little joke. ”I think the only reason why Caine held back was because his brother was over.”

“ Yeah, his… brother, uh... The thing is he went after me and we made a deal. Now I kinda just… live in their realm.”

“ That sounds terrible.”

“No!” She said, just a little bit too loud, but almost in a reassuring voice. “ I get good food! a comfortable place to stay… clean the house…”

Ragatha and Kinger blinked and turned to eachother. 

“ What?” Ragatha thought to herself.

Kinger spoke with a deep concern in his voice. “Is that a reward after doing them a big favor? Like maybe…Cutting a finger off… maybe three.”

“ No—! I just shook his hand and- I moved…!”

I brief moment of silence from Kinger and Ragatha. Though those few seconds felt like hell to Pomni thinking they severed their relationship right then. How exactly are two people who went through hell and back supposed to react to that? They didn’t know. Maybe they did know deep down, but to hear it so suddenly may have delayed such feelings. 

Ragatha turned to Kinger and signed.

“She says she's really jealous of you b-but, heh, We're both really jealous…” Kinger laughed sweetly. Ragatha continued.

Pomni would notice that her hands got just a little bit shyer. The way she sunk into herself, her gestures got smaller, looking away, before stopping herself altogether.

“ She's asking if we could—” Ragatha shook her hands in front of her, interrupting Kinger, shy to let Kinger continue his interpretation.

But Pomni was ecstatic to answer that question. Her eyes dilated, and her head nodded in quick enthusiasm, almost encouraging them to keep talking.  “ I-I would love for you guys to be there!! The circus is hell!”

The two snapped their heads back at her.

“ I don't know how-- b-but! I'll try talking to him about it! You- I think you two would really like all the fun activities, the new clothes…” 

The two looked at each other and Ragatha flinched when Pomni stood up from her seat, hands on the table, taken aback at her sudden enthusiasm.

“ R-Ragatha they have all sorts of good food! Chicken, red meat, seafood-- I-I'd love to cook with you some- sometime!” Ragatha’s face turned red at that. “ I-I always had trouble cutting the meat… but I think you'd be really good at it.”

Pomni then turned to Kinger. “ A-and Kinger! Y-You- I think you'd really like what I do in my spare time! knitting-- and chess, and checkers, and- and reading!”

Kinger’s eyes dilated. Pomni recalled Kinger playing with such things in the circus-- although not in the conventional way they were made for, but to think that he would be able to play in a safer environment, sounded wonderful. Pomni was describing such simple activities… and yet the two felt a special warmth in their hearts. A little bit of hope that they hadn't had in a long time.

“ W-we could do that?”

“ You could! I-... If- if Able says yes… but I'll try to make it work! He's a really nice man! Maybe if I did a couple extra favors, cleaned the house better…” Pomni started muttering, at the end talking to herself more than anything. 

Pomni speaks so highly about such simple activities but if she were to be entirely honest, she hasn't done any recreational activities back in the manor in a long time.

The checkers board and the chess set she spoke dreamily about had been nothing but collecting dust for the past few months. But to think that she could play with another person, playing cards with Kinger, eating dinner with Ragatha. friends. Other living breathing human beings who share her grief, her sense of purpose. 

That was what she was speaking highly of. 

That's what she wanted.

Even with just her short stay here, despite the grueling atmosphere, She hasn't felt so human in such a long, long time. Heaven was lonely and she wanted to take them with her.

“ Well, that does sound very lovely, doesn't it…” Kinger turned. “ Ragatha?”

Kinger didn't have to translate this one. With a smile, Ragatha happily nodded her head.

The three would continue their conversation, The simple indulgence Pomni brought onto the table, telling tales of all the things she'd been doing at the manor, and the life all three of them could lead together. 

The conversation brought something out about each other. Ragatha does remember cooking nice meals, and Kinger does remember having simple activities such as board games next to a nicely brewed cup of coffee and a lovely outside porch. To think that they could have at least a slimmer of that in a new, cleaner, safer environment, it sounded like a dream.

It didn't take long until the conversation turned into a more lighthearted tune. Their dreamy chatting would turn into laughter over jokes only old friends shared, or the whispered gossiping from one mouth to another. 

Ragatha spoke about how she once swung a knife at an audience member which they somehow enjoyed, but was then later punished for it later on. She laughed at the memory, both she and Kinger did. Pomni felt like she shouldn’t be giggling at it. But their little faces, the way they coped about it, she couldn’t help but indulge no matter how harmful the mechanism could be. She saw their faces and only wished to fit in again.

Their conversation would be cut short, however, as 

RING! RING! RING!

Oh crap. 

An old rotary phone popped out of thin air, and Pomni quickly picked it up. “ Hello?”

Ragatha and Kinger blinked. What A fancy new phone! They knew that it was the brother’s preferred way of communication. To think that they’d allow her to use the same communication line only further reminded them how much less they must be compared to her.

“ I-I’m in Ragatha’s room…” 

Chatter from the other side.

“ Yes, master…No, no master…Yes.” Pomni spoke “ Well I- I was… Oh, we’re leaving?” She bit her lip. “ A-Actually I was wondering if they could-” 

Chatter on the other side. 

“ Yes… Sorry, master. Okay.” 

It was as if Pomni’s whole demeanor changed. She may not have noticed it as she was usually a nervous wreck, but the way her back instinctually straightened, he legs just a little tense. She even called him master… god. To ragatha it was admittedly a little pretentious… Kinger thought nothing of it.

Click!

And so, Pomni had to head off. And she stared off into the distance before she started speaking again. The look on her face was a sort of dread rather than any sort of relief one might expect…especially coming back to the so-called “haven” she’d been praising for the past hour or so.

“ Heading home huh? Exciting!” Kinger said, and Ragatha smiled, excusing the pit of jealousy she felt inside her.

Without even turning to them, Pomni stood up from her seat and, with slow and graceful steps, walking by the tip of her toes, she bowed. And back came that monotone voice she had on earlier that day. “ It was a wonderful evening with you, but It seems my master is done with his duties.”

After bidding eachother farewell, thank yous, and apologies, Kinger and Ragatha offered to escort her back, but Pomni was insistent on not. She much rather let them rest and leave them to their own devices. And so she left, leaving the door to the room quietly.

Click!

Pomni took a deep breath but kept her composure. Not having them escort her was her own decision; there was really no harm in it. She just wasn’t very good at goodbyes. And in a way, her walk back to meet her master was her mentally bidding herself farewell to the circus in her own comfort. Tip of her toes touching the ground, It was as if she was holding her breath the whole time she walked back.

On her way there, she stopped in her tracks. On her right, Pomni was faced to faced with a room, and it came to her that she hadn’t seen her door the whole way there. It never really came to mind, at most she thought it would be crossed out, emptied, or replaced by a mannequin… She didn’t notice it earlier with how heavily vandalized it was, but from its position and the order of the doors, Pomni would realize that the entrance with the broken hinges, and the panel so heavily beaten… 

Pomni wiped off the dust that covered its face. 

That was her door.

She didn’t even have to turn its handle. The moment she placed any sort of weight on it, it opened. And the look of her room almost broke her entire disposition. 

Kinger’s voice from earlier in their conversation echoed in her mind. 

“ We thought you were dead, Pomni.” 

The shards of glass on the wall, the wallpaper torn to the floor, the dusty debris from her old cabinets, and her old tea set shattered into the smallest of pieces. Pomni couldn’t even recognize her old bed… the blanket, her sheets, the pillows fluff torn everywhere. 

The pictures she had on her bedside of her and her friends were ripped into pieces, her dresses, her bows, her makeup… Everything, the littlest things that used to bring her comfort during hard days on the circus, were gone, and broken into pieces.

Kinger’s voice continued. “ Yeah… Caine really didn’t take it well the day you left.” 

Mixed emotions. She couldn’t pick, she was so caught in the middle. Confused, terrified. Her body lay still, but just a little too still. 

From the graceful stance she was taught to hold, she was instead the equivalent of a deer in headlights. It was as if another part of her life, the last bit of her humanity was violated and killed right in front of her. Her breath hitched. Her breathing was panicked, and heavy.

Pomni felt a hand on her shoulder and she whipped her head back, flinching with a strong sense of panic. 

It was just Ragatha. But even with her sorry, gentle eyes, Pomni’s legs shook, scared, terrified. She didn’t know what to think, or do, or trust anymore. She lost all grace as her professional walk turned into a run, shaken legs slowing her down, but she didn’t want to be there anymore. Though Ragatha tried to reach out for her, Pomni was quickly taken into the darkness, out of sight. 

Pomni… REALLY didn’t do well at goodbyes.

That night, Pomni’s eyes went sore from her tears. Her whimpers were akin to a weeping child, hurt abused, and shielded herself from the outside world. Her heart ached, sobbing, desperately crying for someone’s touch, for someone to reach over and wipe those tears away. the images of broken glass, broken wood, and ripped sheets on the floor repeated in her head. 

She thought it was all over... but any sort of contact with the circus seemed to retraumatize her in newer and newer ways. She could hardly sleep. Voices in her head echoed screaming, pleas, and apologies when it was previously so deafeningly silent.

Something in her felt violated from the inside. She left her soul at the circus and they ripped it to shreds. She just lost a part of herself, the last bit of humanity she had left. And so Pomni cried. That’s all she could ever do. ruined, disheveled hair, underneath the blankets. Pomni cried hugging herself like a mother holding her baby.

Although she tried to feel human-- cleaning around the Manor, cooking, eating, taking baths… It all felt so fake. She stopped doing a lot of recreational activities. 

When she was not needed, she would stare at the ceiling as she lost interest in the world around her. She wasn’t real. The world around her wasn’t real. She wasn’t human anymore… The real Pomni died as soon as she entered the circus, deluded into thinking there was a chance to leave. She was living the best-case scenario in the digital world, and now that she’d seen it, she wanted to die.

“ One, two, three, and- one two three and… No, No, Pomni, you’re doing it wrong.”

Snapping his fingers, Able restarted the record player and approached Pomni. She had been just a little bit rusty today, getting his breakfast wrong, and lost her timing in her routines. No matter. All she needs is a partner and she’ll be right back to her senses. 

For the past hour or so, Pomni and Able joined eachother dancing in their pastime. He took hold of Pomni’s hand and onto her waist where would start, this time: ballroom. 

Able counted, and the numbers drifted away when they were right back to moving smoothly. After a while, Able hummed to the tune of the record players, holding Pomni firmly with his large gloved hands. 

Why, what a lovely way to start your morning. The fake sounds of birds outside weren’t off-putting at all.

Able dipped her, and asked, “ What’s on your mind dear?”

*(You reply…)

     > Lie

     > Truth

     > Lie

“ Nothing, just… slept wrong is all.”

“ Is that why your heart was at 200 bpm last night?” he clicked his teeth in disapproval. “ I may be a computer Pomni, but I’m no fool. Humans don’t go to bed at that high of a heart rate.”

Able twirled Pomni and she frowned at his reply. She didn’t have the energy to hide anything she supposed…

*(What to say…)

     > The Manor

     > The Circus

     > The Manor

“ Master, I don’t mean to be ungrateful or anything but… the Manor... Doesn’t it get a little lonely?”

“ Lonely, lonely…” he shook his head playfully. “ I have my brother… I have my wonderful maid, Pomni. What else do I need? Truthfully us AI don’t exactly need company, dear.” 

Pomni went silent. She tried dancing around the subject and she got her answer. She knew he wouldn’t understand. 

“ Don’t tell me that you feel lonely. ”

Pomni bit her lip. Those were thoughts that she kept buried for politeness. But how is she supposed to deny them now that he was grabbing it out of her? “...Sometimes.”

“ Awh, Pomni…”

“ Able, what do I have to do to get my friends in here? R-Ragatha and Kinger?”

Their dance stopped. That was all so sudden. And her speech was much more informal than usual. Actually, Pomni hasn’t had that insistent of a tone of voice in a long long time. 

 “ Pomni…” he hummed sweetly. 

“ We- We talked about it yesterday! and- and I think It would be good! “

Able held her in place, and in reply she started gripping at him, getting tighter as she spoke. 

“ Good f-for everyone really! N-not that the Freakshow is bad, but uhm-” Pomni lied. Her voice grew desperate.“ I could use the company! Ragatha, Kinger, and I could provide some better service! Ragatha can play the piano for you and-”

“ Dear…”

“ and… and…” her voice grew quieter and quieter. As tears started forming on her face, she sensed disappointment in herself. She wasn’t very convincing, in fact, she must have been so pathetic on the outside. 

“ There there, dear…” Able took his hands and wiped her little tears away from her face. And she looked up at him mentally cursing herself for being unable to feel less child-like. “ You’re feeling lonely… so you want your friends to join you here, is that correct?”

“ …M-Mhm..” She sniffed, and Able put a bit of hair to her side, holding her cheeks gently which she desperately found comfort in. His voice was so soft at the moment, hushing her as if she were an injured animal.

But Able sighed and looked to the side, and later put a hand between his chin and mouth, half muffling his words “ I was afraid you’d say that…”

“ What?”

“ It isn’t easy to bring you performers in the mansion dear, let alone permanently... I had to pull a couple of strings just to have you be part of my staff-- I don’t think 2 more is possible. ”

“ I-I’ll help! Whatever I have to do to make the process easier, You name it, I’ll do it! ”

“ It’s not that easy… And for the sake of my brother and I, it’ll only do damage in the long run.” 

Able to let go of Pomni in which she found herself making extra effort to loosen her grip.

” My Brother and I’s core purpose is to entertain and run the Circus. And if it were to lose more and more performers, the circus would… well… Let's just say we were sent a lot of complaints when you were no longer on stage.”

“ But… there has to be a compromise… You can write new conditions, can’t you?”

“ No more, Pomni.” He put a hand up to get her to stop talking and she followed… “ I’ve known Ragatha and Kinger even before the Freakshow; I understand, they’re very wonderful people… But their place is there, and your place is here. You’re safe. You have a good place to sleep. Isn’t that enough?”

Pomni stayed silent. She looked down at the floor… Disappointed but no longer had any tears to cry. She was exhausted… and in return, she failed to answer his question.

“ Pomni… “ Able saw this and held both her hands on one hand, and her face in the other. And as if Able popped up from thin air, she flinched, but quickly buried her face into his touch and the euphoria it brought her. “ I said, isn’t that enough?” 

With a shaky sniffle, she nodded her head to say yes. Able has done so much for her… but she didn’t feel the sincerity in her own answer.

“ There we go,” 

Just as Able was going to pull away, Pomni grabbed his hand and put him back. “ Can I… stay with you today?”

Able was slightly taken aback, but nodded.“ Of course.”

     Loading new area… TIP: Raise your pinky during tea with the blue ringmaster! 

For the rest of the day, Able would be at home, getting his work done long distance and keeping his doll company. And while he did, Pomni would be sat in the same room, either doing her own activities like knitting, or just standing there to look pretty. Her eyes looked dead like usual, not different from how she was that morning. 

There was nothing really in the manor to change her view on anything. Able was kind enough to be there with her, and she did enjoy his company to some extent, but she still felt like decoration beside him. He was AI, nothing compared to a human’s warmth. At some point, she felt like he was just saying what she wanted to hear. 

Caine opened the door “ Meeting time-- oh and leave your doll here why don’t you? We’re professional here.”

“ No.” Able hummed sweetly, and got up from his seat. “It's not just it, brother, she’s a she. Pomni happened to have a particularly hard day today, and wishes to stay by me.”

“ And what exactly does a toy have to be stressed out about?”

“ None of your business.” Able frowned.

Even though Caine hadn’t moved, Able stood in front of her, subtly protective. Though his voice turned just a little sour, “ What? Can you not focus because a toy was in your general vicinity?”

“ You speak for yourself, I have--” Caine sighed and caught himself. They were getting along just a moment ago. In fact, they’ve been getting along much better than they’ve ever had recently… but it’s always Pomni. It seems any talk about her quickly put them in a petty mood. “ I don’t want to argue today, brother, okay? We have bigger matters to tend to.”

And as if at the flick of the switch, Able’s body became less protective, humming a small chuckle as if it wasn’t “fun” to hold that stance anymore. “ Very well.”

     Loading New Area… TIP: A clean servant means a happier master!

Another adjustment Able had to make while having Pomni around was walking. An adjustment that Caine also had to painstakingly follow for the afternoon. Usually, they would just snap their fingers and teleport to their meeting room, now with Pomni, a human, they couldn’t just do that. Not to mention with how she had a weak stomach she would easily make a mess if they teleported her with them. God, the things they do for that measly little doll…

This was more than inconvenient. And as if they didn’t care for her existence they started speaking about work in front of her.

“ The Candy NPC just had too many functions, it tried to do things all at once”

“ I told you we should have just split them into two.”

“ I didn’t think three whole game mechanics was too much.”

Able clicked his teeth.

They chatted and chatted, and Pomni’s eyes would stay on the floor. Their voices drowned out and muffled, she didn’t really see a reason to get back from her disassociation, nore did she want to. 

Just as her vision started to blur as well, her thoughts were interrupted by a loud alarm coming from the brother’s watches, blaring red and loud, causing the three to stop in their tracks while Pomni covered her ears.

“ Oh. System breach.” Caine sighed, slightly annoyed. This walk to their meeting room is longer than her remembered. With how easily he teleports from place to place, he supposed it was the first time he actually felt the scale of how big a manor can be.

“ I thought I fixed that just yesterday…”

“ Did you.” Caine said, unamused, a playfully disappointed look at his brother.

“ Don’t you start that tone with me. ” Able joined him, Putting a hand on his chest dramatically.

Strangely, when they weren’t bickering, their casual banter was more akin to friendly competition. One could almost tell how close their relationship was from how light hearted their insults were. 

“ I swear if I find that it’s one of your errors, you’re taking more of my load for the next adventure.” Able said.

“ It’s a bet.”

“ Ha! Cocky, aren’t we?” Able then turned to Pomni who was just calming down from the surprise alarm. “ Pomni, I’ll have to leave.” 

“ Y-Your leaving? but-”

“ This isn’t something that can be fixed long distance. I’ll be right back in a few minutes, don’t worry!”

“ O-oh… okay..”

After patting her hand and her back, Able would snap his fingers, and in a split second, he disappeared… 

Pomni was just a little tense. Although the day was almost over, she was really hoping to spend it around him… She put a lot of her safety in his presence that day… And now she was back to being alone…

… her bad, she wasn’t alone.

While Able disappeared, Caine was left to wait with her.

Oh boy.

It’s been a couple of months since she was owned, and for those past couple months, Caine seemed to have completely moved on from her. 

Lately, he and Able were able to find a resolution, talking out their differences like men, and they’ve been closer ever since then. Maybe it was at the back of her mind, but she noticed this with how they started talking about other interests and Able left the house to spend more time with him. 

When around her, the brothers would more or less pretend she wasn’t there, especially Caine. Pomni wondered if this was a boundary they set up for each other. Though this doesn’t mean that Pomni wasn’t prone to insults or backhanded compliments from both parties. 

The hallway was more than silent to say the least, a strong contrast that took place mere moments before. They had nothing to say to eachother. Neither Caine nor Pomni did.

But strangely… Maybe this was her desperation kicking in, with her master leaving the building, but Pomni wasn’t against Caine being there… In fact, she would have hated much more if he wasn’t there.

Caine cleared his throat and stood still as the awkwardness of the situation grew. He didn’t know what to do. Pretending that you were busy during an awkward situation was a human thing, he never needed to do that. And yet at the corner of his eyes, he could sense her staring at him. 

And it made him feel… strange.

Maybe it was her intrusive thoughts kicking in, but Pomni had thoughts that she wasn't used to. Why did she feel… at ease being alone with Caine? She didn't mind it, but she didn't wanna get used to it. 

And so Pomni turned away from him.

This little action however wasn’t taken so kindly from the other party. Caine would curse himself-- why did she turn away?! 

He finally got her attention again unprompted and she stopped! What, did she think she was better than him? Was he not good enough for her?! She was the performance to be laughed at, not him! 

This boiled something up inside of him, though he held a great poker face…. But a few moments later, he stepped back, just a little bit, and assessed his thoughts.

He knew this feeling, 

He thought he got over this.

The grip on his cane loosened and his back straightened. He cleared his throat and further turned away from Pomni. 

When was his brother coming back? Minutes felt like hours, he couldn’t come any slower.

“ …How have to been treating my brother? Good, I hope.”

“ Good.” Pomni cleared her throat. “ How is… how is the… Circus?”

“ Good.” It seems Caine wasn’t any better at answering how-are-yous… “ The performers talk about you often. The audience isn’t any better.”

That brought up a small smile from Pomni… and a small laugh too that greatly affected Caine’s mood. Funny how the smallest mention of her friends was enough to get such a reaction from her. Especially after the lack of anything the whole day.

“ They do…?”

If Caine had a lip he'd bite it. He doesn’t know how to feel about that little tone in her voice. It was a strange feeling, hate perhaps? That sounds about right for him.“ … yes.” 

Pomni took a step towards him and the sound of her heel made him flinch. “ Could you … tell me more?”  that tone of voice was softer, innocent even. He felt such a physical reaction towards her at that moment-- did he want to attack her?

He took a deep breath to calm himself, then turned to her, his eyes stoic as ever, his arms crossed, looking down at her like he always has. “ Your little stunt talking to the performers yesterday was wreckless. After Jax learned that you were alive this whole time, he’s never wanted to kill you more than he ever has..”

“ Did he?”

“ You know i told them you were dead for your own protection. You’re much higher class compared to them now, Why in the world would you choose to mingle around those freaks? ” Caine spoke in such a scolding voice, but to his surprise, Pomni laughed… giggled, more so, but the way she had the back of her hand covering her mouth wasn’t expected.

“ Pfehehe… That's Jax for you… I remembered the first time he killed me during a performance-- when you wouldn’t punish him, Ragatha did…” 

She looked back up at him, warming up to him faster than what he was comfortable. Her eyes were big and warm. Her voice sounded euphoric and melancholy as if she could sit there and listen to every word he had to say.  

Caine couldn’t handle it. His urges disturbed him.

* (Continue?)

     > Stop while you’re ahead.

> Hear more about what your friends have been up to.

     > Hear more about what your friends have been up to.

“ A-and... what else did-?” like a trigger, Pomni reached over to touch his arm, and Caine retaliated by grabbing her by her wrists and moving her backward, to a door that opened and closed behind them.

Loading new area… TIP: Offering the brothers wine could help you gain their favor.

Pomni would be thrown inside the room, before turning back to the red ringmaster, who was locking the door in front of her. 

She looked around, a part of her was confused, and the other part was scared.

“ C-Caine?”

Without even turning around yet, Caine said sternly, like a command. “ Speak when spoken to.”

Pomni quickly nodded and stood straight, hands in front of her, formal like she had earlier that day. 

God… did she step out of line? God damn it, Pomni you screw up! Your master isn’t there to save you this time, what were you thinking??

What was he thinking?? She knew that he could get pissed off but being locked in a room with him was new. He could very well berate her outside, it wouldn’t make a difference! She looked down in thought, punishments ran through her head-- she thought of the ones she used to endure in the circus, and she bit her lip. She wasn’t ready to live through that again… maybe she could come up with an excuse! Think, Pomni, think!

After locking the door, Caine took a deep breath, as if preparing for something, and finally turned around.

He turned back to his brother’s doll, being as formal as ever, stood straight, well behaved… exactly how he trained her to be. 

What was wrong with him? Just a moment ago, he was getting along with his brother, the next, he was playing with his toys behind his back. What a rotten brother you are, Caine..

But there was just something about Pomni, it brought up feelings that he hadn't felt in a long long time… feelings that he remembered he felt strongly…and so who's to blame him for chasing something so strong? So curious? She was just a doll after all. Who cares?

“ Pomni, would you kindly tell me who I am?”

“ You are ringmaster Caine, an AI program set to entertain the audience. Praised like a god and one of the most powerful men in the digital realm.”

“ Now tell me who you are.”

“ My name is Pomni, a human transported to the digital world. I was a circus performer turned servant to the AI household. My purpose is to serve Ab-”

“That's enough.” just like Able, He put a hand up to tell her stop talking. The servant quickly turned silent. “ So Pomni, tell me. Why in the world, did you think that you were good enough to touch me?”

Caine was practically right in front of her; she felt claustrophobic. She was sure he could feel her breathing at this point. 

Pomni didn’t have an appropriate answer to that question. What reason does she have that wasn’t selfish? She swallowed, and in an effort for Caine not to read her fear, she kept her head down, trying to keep a calm voice.

“ I don’t know.”

“ You don't know.” Caine turned his head to the side, little sorry eyes looking down at Pomni. She flinched when he used a finger to turn her head up, and there was a part of her, a strong part of her that didn't mind what she saw.

“ What did he do to you, Pomni?”

The look on his face…

She missed it.

She missed it so much, she wanted it back.

She missed how he patronized her when she made a small mistake.

She missed when he forced her to go on adventures every day.

She missed running away from death, she missed the fear of her life flashing before her eyes, she missed Ragatha, Kinger, Gangle, Zooble, and Jax, she missed her friends.

At that moment she didn't want life to end here. She wanted to live again, she wanted to be anywhere but this god-forsaken hell hole. If her friends couldn't join her in heaven then she'd rather be stuck with them. There was nothing here. Nothing.

She’d much rather die every day rather than wishing for it everytime she woke up. She missed it. She missed her friends. She missed humanity.

The way he touched her felt like something she should be scared of, but within her fear, she ached for more. She liked how much he scared her. Even walking into the circus yesterday, the blood on the walls, she felt more humanity in those few hours than she had in the past few months and she craved it back. 

It wasn't too late to turn back now, she could still be fixed. 

He could fix her.

Caine kept staring. Was it worth it to lock her in a room just to gawk at her so shamelessly? Perhaps. He didn't think he could handle being seen indulging in something so below him.

Something about Pomni felt bittersweet. She was gorgeous, but dare he says he feels… sad… when he looked at her. He missed her duo-coloured tutu. The way how big her eyes got when she looked up at him.

He sighed, tilting his head to the side. He found his thumb caressing her cheek… she was so beautiful. So beautiful. If only he could take her to the circus for just one day. Have her perform and make him clap his hands. He sure would like to see her dance again.

And that look in her eyes…

Oh, that look in her eye was unmatchable.

Pomni held the hand that cupped her cheek, and the warm feeling only doubled in his head. He really wanted her back. He froze at how strong the urge was to just-- take her and steal her away. 

“ Brother? Pomni dear?” A voice just from outside the room called out. Able was back. And despite Caine’s unflinching stare, He knew he was back. He was willing to ignore him if it meant indulging in this old feeling for a little while longer, Pomni however… She was almost terrified.

She stared at the lock separating her master from seeing the strange sight, something that they both shamelessly indulged in. 

What was she doing? 

*(How does Pomni respond?)

     > Call out for Able

     > “ Take me back.”

     > “ Kiss me.” 🔒

     > Say nothing 

     >  “Take me back”

And in desperation, before his brother could find out they were there, Pomni bent down to her knees, grabbed Caine by his coat, and looked up at him. “ Take me back!” she said in a whisper.

“ What?”

“ Take me back!” she repeated just a little louder. “ I can’t stand another day here, how I long for your performances again- your shows! Let me perform for you and your people again, please!”

In an effort to make her stand up, he grabbed a hold of her hands, but he froze the more Pomni spoke. There she was, on her knees, praising him, telling him the words that hes wanted to hear for the past couple of months. It was addicting. He couldn't get enough.

He knew this was wrong, he couldn't possibly just take her back. But the more she praised his name, his brilliance, his art, he didn't want her to stop. He wanted to squeeze every pathetic plea from her… 

He wanted to hear every piece of praise, admittance of guilt, of regret in her voice. And the more she went the stronger the urge to just steal her and wisk her back to the circus. Good lord, it took everything in him. The hands on hers shaking in defiance of that strong urge. Shes making it so hard. 

She spoke and it threw him back to his old mindset. The progress he made with his brother was gone at that moment. He was RIGHT. He was correct this whole time. He had all the right to act the way he did. She DIDN'T like his brother, he knew it! He knew she liked him more! 

Oh she was saying more than enough for him to hear. At this point, she was just flattering him. And a part of him grieved her… 

It almost physically hurt him not to steal her for himself at that moment. His hands turned to stiffness-- everything in his body froze in an effort to stop himself from doing something he'd regret. 

No… he can't have her.

Caine signed the papers, and he can't turn back from it. Neither could she. 

If only she made that decision a few months earlier… everything would be so much easier.

With a sharp exhale, he snapped and Pomni was back on her feet.

Pomni looked back up and Caine turned away from her.

Click! The door unlocked 

Shaken voice, shaken knees, desperation she called out 

“ C-Caine-”

“ Brother! In here!”

The door unlocked and in came Able, hat on his chest. “ Oh, there you two are! What in heaven's name are you two doing in this little room? ”

Pomni was silent, holding back the amount of emotion in her heart. For a moment Caine glanced at her, but looked back to his brother. “ She just wanted to do a little cleaning while you were gone, make herself useful, you know.”

“ And you?” 

“ Am I banned from being around your toy now?”

“ No, no no no~” he hummed playfully and put his hat back on his head. “ Come, meeting time. Pomni, Im proud that you decided to do a little cleaning, but this room doesn't get used. No need, dear!” Able held her hand and escorted her out of the room…

Pomni stared at the floor and the men kept talking.

“ Say, why would you even let her clean that room anyway?”

“ She's your toy...”

But the ringing in her ear has never been louder… and the muffling of peoples voices has never been stronger. She was disassociated to the extreme. 

Even after begging, pouring her heart out, and putting her biggest weaknesses and desires front and center, she was met with… nothing.

Abandonment. 

She was screaming out for help but no god heard her plea. Not even the one in front of her.

She couldn't take it anymore but at the same time, there was nothing left to do. 

What can she do? 

In a world considered human, she was the most out of place. 

Another reminder: You aren't human anymore, Pomni. Time and time again you delude yourself into so much false hope. 

When will you ever learn?

Pomni doesn't remember what happened for the next few hours. She remembers the images of sitting with the brothers in the meeting room, cooking dinner for Able, and joining him while they ate, but as the world flew by around her, her mind stood still. 

Nothing was important anymore. 

This was her ending. 

This was her forever. 

The sadness left over has numbed. Time heals all wounds but each second felt like a stab to the heart.

There she sat, with Able at the manor’s living room. He was lounging, his coat off, finally being able to rest and recharge after a hard day of work. 

Pomni sat knitting, getting lost in her thoughts. Able provided the feeling of rain from the outside. 

It wasn't raining it was all artificial. It was just the ambiance of rain hitting the window and ceiling, the particles of rain outside, and making the atmosphere just a little colder. That was enough to trick the brain into actual rain. She bet if she reached her hand out the window it would come back dry. 

The sound of rain was an audio file not different from the sounds of birds she hears every morning. She memorized every chirp, what second another came in. But she looked outside and there was nothing there. Fake. 

In her early days, it was something she could brush off as just another quirk. Nowadays she let herself believe that all that artificial nonsense was real, perhaps, for the sake of her sanity. 

This time the sound of rain continued on, and she wore a blanket over her shoulder.

Pomni blinked and a tear fell down her cheek. She tried to wipe it off, but a sniffle gave her away.

“ What’s wrong, dear?”

“ I just… i miss my friends a lot, that's all.”

“ You still do, don't you? I understand it must hurt so much to be away from other humans…” he hummed, and put a hand on his chin in thought… and he came up with an idea. 

As Able stood up to put on his coat again, he spoke: “ Tell you what. I'm about to go and spend time with my brother, why don't we leave our phones with you, and you can talk with them for however long you like.”

Pomni looked up at him, “ You'd do that for me?”

“ I don't see why not. We won't be using it anyway. I'm sure my brother wouldn't mind just this once.”

He summoned his phone and the other side picked up. He would enter a conversation with his brother, and Pomni continued to knit tiredly, already half expecting it not to go through. She's had enough false hope today. 

But to her surprise, Able handed Pomni the phone and left it at the desk where she could reach it.

“ For you, dear.”

As Able was getting ready to leave, Pomni was waiting for the line. There was still a part of her that didn't believe it would pick up, but the way her feet shook in anticipation..

She did want to have this phone call…

“ Pomni?”

Pomni stopped for a moment…

It actually worked…

…Kinger,,,

Pomni was quiet… but before she could reply, Able, with a smile, had already teleported out of the room.

“ Hello? Is this thing on?”

“ Hi, Kinger...”

“ IS THAT POMNI ON THE PHONE??” a loud voice further in the phone called out.

“ Jax… let them talk…” the sound of a weeping voice rang.

“ Hey, kinger! While you're at it, do me a favor and tell Pomni to kill herself would’ja?”

“ Second that!” The happier mask added, and a slew of laughter rang on the phone.

“ I’m not telling her that..!”  Kinger in his shivering voice replied, he sounded fragile yet still annoyed. “ I'm sorry if you heard that Pomni, we're.. we're having dinner...”

And yet Pomni couldn't help but let out a little laugh. “ Was that Jax?”

Kinger joined her. “ Well of course, who else would it be?” He said kindly. “ Oh! And Ragatha says hi too.”

“ Y-Yeah? Hi, Ragatha! I-I hope you’ve been holding up okay.“

A pity chuckle from Ragatha on the other side, and Pomni felt her heart warm up to hear any sound from her … let alone a chuckle.

“ Ragatha’s asking if you're genuinely asking her that… wow, Ragatha you're really sassy today!

…

She shrugged.”

More chuckling from Pomni.

“ Anyway, I say hi too, Pomni. So. Hi!”

“ Hi, Kinger… it's really nice to hear from you again.”

“ How's everything in the brother’s realm? Have you been learning new recipes since yesterday? It must be so tasty compared to our dinner today, haha!” Kinger said again, as a joke, but Pomni bit her lip, voice trembling as she tried to hold back her tears.

“ Y…Yeah… I sure have.”

“ That’s nice to hear… maybe one day you could bring some for us. Even if you did have trouble cutting the meat.”

“ Haha… god, you remembered…!” 

Pomni’s voice this time further worsened, and she mentally cursed at herself for letting it slip out, though she prayed that Kinger wouldn't notice. 

This was NOT the time to cry, Pomni… god damn it, couldn't she hold a single conversation with out bursting into tears??

“ Oh… Why the sad tone?”

These tears were different compared to the ones that she had been crying for the past few days.

Back then she was crying over how bad she had it, now, she was crying over the broken promise for Kinger and Ragatha. She was grieving over having a good roof over her head while her friends had to fight for food. 

This was a whole new heartbreak. She was so ashamed, and frankly disappointed in herself that she couldn't get them out of their terrible situation. Kinger the sweetest man, and Ragatha one of the strongest people she knew, they were suffering and there was nothing she could do about it…

“ I’m so sorry, Kinger…” Pomni said, her voice starting to sob from over the phone.

But kinger couldn't put any amount of blame on her, and instead, he continued on with his soft voice. “It's okay, Pomni. To be honest, me and Ragatha… we're sort of… used to false hope, you know? We don't take anything to heart much anymore.”

Pomni sniffed and nodded her head, hearing what he had to say. It was a sad thought, but she had no right to argue with it.

“ Don't beat yourself up over it, Pomni. You weren't the one who put us here… You just wanted to live a better life, and you did… we would have all done the same thing if we were you...”

And there it was… the voice Pomni had been desperate to hear every time she cried. The motherly voice for her child-like tears. And like a child, she sobbed, while Kinger spoke in a tone like a mother wiping away the tears of her baby. For the first time in awhile, tears fell from her eyes and they actually felt heard. It all came flowing down and it was welcomed.

“ There there…” Kinger hummed. “ I can’t do much, but if you were here I’d take this tablecloth and wipe it over your eyes! Haha!”

Pomni laughed through her tears. “ I have napkins if that helps…”

“ Not as good as the dirty table cloth but that works.” Kinger joked, and Pomni wiped her tears away. “ But seriously Pomni, just be good… enjoy the freedom for us maybe. I can't speak for the others but i guess there is a sort of comfort in knowing that one of us made it out.”

“Okay…” Pomni didn't have the heart to truly promise that and mean it, but if the thought made Kinger happy, then shes happy to let him believe it. 

Kinger really was the only person she never really had a gripe with during her entire stay of the circus. He was pleasant to be around and minded his own business… Even with Ragatha, although she was great, they had a bit of unresolved tension… maybe they could somehow get to fixing it one day. After all, time was all she had.

One day.

For the next couple of years, for all eternity, Pomni’s days would repeat 

over. 

And over. 

And over again.

She will shed many many tears and cry herself to sleep, until she was physically unable to. She's going to experience a new flavor of agony that she's never experienced before. And she's going to cry harder tears than she's ever had before. 

But at that moment, at the time, on the phone she spent the little humanity she had left talking to the fellow abused, telling eachother white lies to keep eachother comforted and sane. 

They told eachother everything was going to be okay as their heart beats slowed down. And maybe that was all they needed. Maybe that was all they could do.

As they all died together, hushing each other and wishing each other goodnight might be the only thing they had left.

Good night, Pomni. 

Good night, Kinger.

Good night, Ragatha.

We'll see you all in the morning.

[sanguineterrain]

for the dc prompts you reblogged:

can i request jason todd x reader "someone likes being pinned down" + A flirting with B while sparring to throw them off their tracks

where reader is also a vigilante??

thank you so much ��

very sexy prompts thank u 😌

jason todd x gn!reader. r and robin!jay were friends, r doesn't know jason is alive/red hood but jason knows r is a vigilante. r's alias is 'nocturne' (if that's already in use oh well lmao). fighting/sparring, jason is mega in love with you as usual!!

all fics at @sanguinelibrary

****

"Still blindly following the Bat, huh?"

You land in a crouch on the rooftop, just like how Nightwing taught you. The Red Hood doesn't look at you, digging through two duffel bags. He doesn't even draw his gun, like you've seen him do with virtually every other vigilante in Gotham.

You wait, ready to spring into action. But Hood doesn't stop what he's doing. Slowly, you rise.

"What... do you mean?" you ask.

"I mean, why are you traipsing around Gotham as a bat-adjacent? Who are you s'posed to be anyway? Goth Bat? Alternative Scene Bat?"

"I'm Nocturne," you say, shoulders rising to your ears. Rude. You thought the chunky boots and star over your suit's eye mask were inspired.

Red Hood lifts a hand. "Don't get me wrong, I dig the threads. I'm just surprised B didn't have an aneurysm over the sequins. Then again, Discowing did do it first..."

Your first two meetings with the infamous Red Hood have been similar in that he's never very concerned about you stopping him (ouch), but he also isn't callous or cruel with you like he is with the other vigilantes.

Case in point: the last person who cornered Hood on a roof was Red Robin. Hood shot him in the shoulder before he could land.

In short, he's perplexing as hell.

Batman's forbidden the rest of the team to confront Hood without backup. And you're technically not supposed to be on patrol tonight. But if you can intercept Hood, that'll be a huge win.

Hood keeps on packing the duffels. You hesitate, then step forward.

"Get away from the bags," you say. "I won't ask twice."

Hood looks at you. "Nocturne's a pretty cool name, I'll admit. And I like the boots. But I still think you oughta call it quits."

He zips up the bags, stands, and kicks them to the corner of the roof.

"Because you're just that unstoppable?" you ask, hands curling into fists.

"Yeah. But mostly 'cause I know you're made for so much more than this, sweetheart."

And that is the third and perhaps most bewildering thing about your encounters with Red Hood: you've gotten the creeping feeling that he... likes you.

Which is ridiculous, and if you ever breathed a word of that to anybody, Batman would probably check you into Arkham.

You take another careful step forward. Hood leans against the railing and folds his arms.

"This the part where you apprehend and hogtie me for innocently packing a duffel bag?" he asks.

You glare. "Innocent? I know you're making a weapons delivery because I know you've been waiting for Batman to be off-planet to make it."

"Clever. Told ya you're too good for this," Hood says. "Should be in college with those smarts, not playing maid for Batman."

"Are you lecturing me?"

"I'm advising you as your friendly neighborhood drug lord. Lecturing makes me sound like a guy who's got too much money and too big of a savior complex to understand that the way he fights injustice is fundamentally flawed."

"Sounds personal."

Hood laughs. "Honey, you have no idea."

You strike.

Hood parries your first attack easily, which you expect. The truth is that whoever trained Hood cut no corners and you're still relatively new at vigilantism. It's only by the grace of God that Hood hasn't left you to bleed out on a roof.

You kick his shin, but Hood turns on the instep and blocks. You go for his shoulder, where his armor separates to give him more movement. But Hood's ready for that too, and he catches your arm.

"Gotta keep that right arm up," he says. "Surprised no one's trained that outta you yet."

You elbow Hood in the throat. He coughs and lets go.

"Like that?" you ask, muscles tense with adrenaline.

Hood makes a sound that might be a laugh, still choked from your hit. "Just like that, honeylove. Good job."

"I don't need feedback," you snap, immediately going back in for another hit.

"Sorry. I'll make this quick then. I do have a delivery."

On the next strike, you advance, using a technique Nightwing drilled into your head for bigger opponents. Hood goes down and you land atop him.

"Oh, that's a Nightwing takedown if I've ever seen one," Hood says beneath you.

You're close enough that you can hear his breathing through the decoder. Pride swells in you at taking him down. Not even Batman has managed such a thing.

Hood is warm and big. His shoulder span alone dwarfs you. When you'd seen him from afar, fighting Batman or Nightwing, you'd been terrified.

But now, perhaps stupidly, you feel comfortable. Annoyed, but safe. Something about him reminds you of home. Makes your stomach flip in a good way.

Which is terrifying.

"You're coming with me," you say, reaching for your cuffs.

"If only. Unfortunately, you've forgotten a teensy weensy detail, dearest."

Hood bucks you off, legs first. Your feet fly into the air, which allows him to flip your positions. You wince, preparing for a concussion upon impact as you go down. But Hood cushions your fall and neatly rolls you over. Your back is pressed into the concrete, hands locked over your head. Hood's weight holds down your hips and legs.

He looms over you, easily holding you down. Your face grows hot.

"How did—" You squirm in his grip. "I had you!"

"Weight distribution, sweets. Tell Al—one of the Bats to add weight to your boots. They keep you light on your feet, but you were depending on them too much to hold me down, and we ain't evenly matched there."

You thrash in his grip. "Hood, I swear to fucking—"

"Easy. Don't sweat it, sweetheart. You haven't been doing this for very long. That was a good takedown, regardless. I'm impressed."

"Screw you."

He hums. You can tell he's smiling under the helmet. "Sorry, I forgot. You don't like feedback."

Hood strokes the inside of your wrist. You aren't sure he's aware he's doing it. His grip is firm but light. He's not trying to hurt you. Your pulse is in your throat.

For a moment, you're both still. Hood seems caught in a trance, like even Superman couldn't tear him away from this moment. From you. And it's not that you're afraid, you're just... you're...

"How do you know so much about me?" you blurt, because it's puzzled the whole team. "You been spying on me?"

"'Course not. Unlike your boss, I respect privacy. No, I did research. I recognized you from when you'd hang around that second Robin. Shrimpy little guy. What'd ya even see in him?"

The grief overtakes you before you can control your mouth.

"You don't know anything about me or him," you spit. "Don't fucking talk about him. He had more skill and goodness in his pinkie than you'll have in a lifetime. And you could learn a thing from him about changing a city. He'd tell you that fear alone never works."

Hood is quiet for a long moment. Then he speaks.

"Where's your distress signal?"

"Why would I tell—"

Hood shifts over you, cutting off your reply. He pulls a ziptie around your wrists. They're not even a little tight. You could probably slip out of them if you had five minutes.

"I know you're not s'posed to be out tonight," he whispers in your ear. "'S not your patrol night. Good thing you're my favorite."

You nearly swallow your tongue. "How do you—I don't—"

"Uh-huh. So you be good from now on, yeah? Wouldn't wanna have to keep tying you up like this."

You lift your chin. "We'll switch positions soon enough."

Hood snorts. "Okay, I know you heard how that soun—"

"I heard it," you say grumpily. "Just get on with it. Jerk."

"As you wish. Distress signal?"

"Collar."

Hood presses the button under your collar. Your breath hitches as his gloved fingers graze your neck.

"Oh? Does somebody like getting pinned down?"

"In your dreams."

Hood laughs. He zipties your ankles last, then sits you upright against the railing.

"Not too tight, are they?" he asks. "I know you've got a circulation problem."

You squint. "You seem to know a lot about me. Not fair that I don't know much about you, Hood."

"'S just business, honeylove," he says, scooping up his duffel. "Now I don't wanna see you in a suit anymore, comprende?"

"Or you'll what? Shoot me?"

Hood pauses, eerily still. He turns those glowing white eyes upon you. Your heart picks up.

"No," he says, so serious it startles you. "But someone else might. And I don't want you to face the same fate as your good friend Robin."

He vaults over the railing before you can respond. Your head thunks lightly as you lean back and wonder if you're really just business to the Red Hood.

(pt 2)