#well the space polycule as usual

[spongynova]

NSFW mcspirk month - 27 - voyeurism

Is this how Bones and Spock finally get together? Can't wait to read the report on this away mission.

First officer's log / Stardate 5554.4 / Section 13 / Paragraph 12 / [redacted] While my clone was still penetrating the captain on the ground of Phylos, [note to self: we may have underestimated the resilience of a human body, ask for more data to the captain at a later date, 5555.6 would be satisfactory], Doctor McCoy took my hand in his, projecting a wave of stimulating thoughts in my mind despite my shields. We then reali- [END redacted]

Full version on AO3 & Pillowfort

@mcspirkevents

Y'all drawing, writing and posting everyday is a marathon! I can see every mistakes (well not everyone but you see my point) in each drawing, but I don't have the time to go back and edit them. EURGH. See you tomorrow for a crack fanart and some pearls though <3

[brucewaynehater101]

Space Emperor Tim

so, the planets that Tim rules all agree that their beloved baby of a ruler Emperor insert his pseudonym for being ruler of a galactic empire and they quite love their ruler who defends them from enemies with only his small team of bodyguards/advisors/whatever roles c4 fills on whichever planet, and works to ensure planetary infrastructure is stable and promotes interplanetary trade and that everyone is fed etc...

however, something that can and has and does cause regular flare ups of aggression among planets:

shipping wars

Usually it's just kept online and relatively civil

but on occasion, usually if Tim has been out of contact for too long and planet governments get antsy about Tim's potential successors, the idea of Tim having a partner and even producing a dynasty arises even though Tim has firmly pointed out how that's a terrible idea

The most popular choices among shippers are the other members of YJ that have helped the planets with their beloved emperor, Tim has had to deal with some planets putting up trade embargos against others within the empire because the other planet ship their emperor with the goddess wonder girl while they ship the emperor with high advisor super boy and a third planet is egging them both on and planting seeds for a revolution in the name of emperor/bodyguard impulse

Also Tim may have been medicated and a little loopy when he was asked for a true name to call himself by when he's the emperor and his empire knows him as Emperor Obi Wan Kenobi

Finding out the emperor's name is Hal's first clue that there's something weird about this particular empire

It would be hilarious if they formed a polycule which caused all of the planets to promptly freaked out cause technically their ship did come true.

If not, Tim starts developing plans to ensure the planets have a process to test and enact their next ruler (as well as setting up protections so they may remove that person whenever they feel the need to [such as them turning into a dictator, commiting crimes, etc]).

I'm curious what other silly names Tim could've given for his alias name or title. My personal favorite is Patron, but that would be his serious name. For him being too loopy to be making proper decisions, names such as "ketchup," "yo mama," "zesti overlord," "ratman," or others would be hilarious. Especially if he keeps accidentally doing it to different planets, causing confusion

[ranticore]

Two shortwing rival academics and a lil bit about spire culture

The East North Spire (or honestly just 'Spire', people will know what you mean) is the most densely populated location on the planet. It consists of the remains of one of the largest old telecommunications spires on a cliff. The sea around here is shallow and dense with reedbeds which can be used to make building material. Wood (or an alien equivalent) doesn't exist on Siren so reeds make up most permanent and impermanent structures, as well as providing the pulp with which to make paper and the extremely light reedsilk clothing that harpies wear.

Being surrounded by abundant natural resources as well as being an area with relatively mixed water year-round, so good fishing opportunities, the spire was an obvious choice to build on. The structure of the spire is made of woven reed platforms and silk tents attached to the main trunk, but over the years it has grown immensely wide and complex. People might liken its appearance to a giant multicoloured tree if they knew what a tree was. The structure extends down the cliff-face all the way to the water, where it expands into a dense network of docks and pontoons which has become something of a globlal shipping hub.

The spire is mostly famous for its strict occupation-based culture and honorifics system, which I originally scribbled down on a drawing of Qedivar and Terwy in ramble form, but it's important to understand that these names are cultural and geographical so not limited to harpies.

This is the first pass of the naming system so it's likely outdated lol.

Anyway what started as a collection of craft guilds at the spire transformed over centuries into the world's only institute of higher learning. It is mostly a gigantic and deeply bureaucratic university, the headmaster of which is the highest authority in the entire city.

The culture at the spire is loud. Open debate, arguments, and outright fights are encouraged as a way to clear the air and avoid any simmering tension building up between aggrieved parties. Holding a grudge is considered physically bad for your health, worse than any consequences of a heated debate or quick scuffle (drawing blood is where this acceptance of fighting ends, however). The population density is ludicrous, especially in the shortwing bowers where you'd be lucky to have a wingspan's worth of space to yourself, so it's in their best interests to become very good at managing conflict as early as possible. There is no concept of romantic relationships as a separate phenomenon to platonic relationships here and the potential for gigantic nightmarish polycules to develop is almost guaranteed, but a comparatively small societal weight is placed on sex and intimacy, it's just a thing you do with your friends and that's about it, you won't get any institution of marriage though it is possible (rare) for a pair to be exclusive.

There are no blood ties or familial bonds among inhabitants of the spire. There are differing gestation periods & nurseries based on body type, but among the shortwings, who are the most numerous and have very short gestation periods, nursery duty is pretty much like jury duty. Everybody gets called out to the nursery every couple of years to do early infant care, once the birthing parent is no longer needed (at time of weaning usually). The infants are communally raised and when they're old enough to learn they get shuffled immediately off to school where they will remain until age 12 or so when they pick their main topic of study, or a craft apprenticeship. Then their fellow students or guild masters are considered to be their true families.

The culture is frequently xenophobic against basically everyone else; it's got Big City disease where everyone living outside may as well not exist, and other places are far less important. Particular negative consideration is given to people from the Western continent who are thought of as just inherently dumber for not having any great institutions of learning, with the notable exception of the visored harpies. There's also a strongly ableist element in the spire, those not considered smart enough or not fit enough to work a craft are practically second class citizens.

Qedivar and Amivar (-var suffix indicating a scholar working on a theory) share a bower, they're on-again-off-again frenemies due to the fact that the two of them are working on very different theories on the origin of people. Amivar has proposed a theory of evolution, which is partially wrong where the humans are concerned (as they were intentionally designed but have experienced natural selection since) and correct for all other life on Siren (which did evolve), and Qedivar believes the Precursors were similar to gods who magicked the entire planet into being and then populated it with distinct groups of people. Both theories have some merit but really all they've achieved is endless debates and fights, until a particularly harsh defeat at Qedivar's grant application causes our pal Qedivar to decide to set out to prove his theory right by any means necessary, with a budget of almost zero.

While Qedivar travels to the Western continent to learn the heretical truth (which is that he was wrong and they're all just Human aliens), Amivar stays behind. He continues his work, but when the ministry of knowledge at the spire comes knocking to demand to know Qedivar's whereabouts, he's faced with a tough choice - sell Qedivar out and reveal his location, thus potentially getting a really nice research grant in return for his evolution theory which has proven very unpopular, or cover for him and, in doing so, implicitly accept the unacceptable truth of what his colleague has uncovered. I had a lot of fun thinking over Amivar and his actions in these circumstances, in a situation where where so much hinges on pride and self-advocacy... a look at the guy who has to stay behind and deal with the consequences of someone else's grand adventure (as well as the ministry of knowledge threatening to disappear him).

[aphfroghat]

𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒏 𝑫𝒖𝒎𝒑 - 𝑵𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒚

Physical features

Norway is somewhat chubby, the kind you'd have to see him naked or squeeze him to notice. He's 179 cm tall and his complexion is pale. He has dimples only a few people know about and his hair is very fluffy, wavy and well kept. His curl, beyond its purpose of representing his fjords, also reflects his feelings; it takes different shapes as he feels different things:

He's touch-avoidant most of the time, but he doesn't mind being cuddly with Iceland.

Health & Psyche

Norway is generally healthy, he barely ever gets sick, and when he does it's never too bad. When sick, he becomes much quieter than usual (so he's pretty much silent) and he begs specifically Iceland to cuddle with him. This is a bit of a strategy to make Ice sick and have a good excuse to baby him and take care of him. It doesn't work much. He's myopic and uses strong prescription contact lenses.

He used to smoke, but he quit recently.

He fears speaking in public, thunderstorms and being forgotten. He sleeptalks and occasionally sleepwalks too (he has baked cakes in his sleep a bunch of times). His dreams are either unsettling or weird, and he frequently has nightmares about poverty and losing his loved ones. He's autistic and he particularly despises loud noises and some textures. His coping mechanism of choice is zoning out.

Personality

Despite being naturally aloof and reserved, Norway tries his best to be a tiny bit more open to his close friends and family, failing miserably. It takes him years to open up to someone and become comfortable with touch. He's very good at self-control and hates losing it. He's mostly calm so he has a hard time staying angry at someone, annoyed at max. He can be very blunt but he doesn't intend to offend most of the time. He dislikes crowds, parties and world meetings.

Hobbies and interests

Norway is an active person: he practises figure skating and skiing, and he likes hiking and fishing. He's very good at chess. He tried to teach Iceland too, but the latter is hopeless. He plays the violin well and he does duets with Iceland (pianist) often. His singing voice is also good. He stares at snow or rain as a hobby, sometimes he accidentally stares at people while spacing out. He's skilled at Just Dance but he will never be as good as Sweden. Norway is particularly into black metal and he's a hardcore Vundabar fan.

Social

Norway isn't much of a social kind of person, in fact he mantains a minimal presence on the few social media accounts he has: Facebook, a rarely used Instagram, and a forgotten Tumblr he used one time in 2014. He also downloaded TikTok to try it out with Iceland's suggestion but he deleted it in less than 10 minutes. He matches profile pictures with Denmark on every social media he has.

He barely ever uses his phone anyway, in fact it's better to call him than text him as he forgets to check his messages a lot.

He's in a fake polycule with England and Romania. He spoils Ladonia and Sealand with sweets and gifts, though sometimes his gifts aren't very appreciated because he's stingy. He got Ladonia coloured pencils for five birthdays straight once. He somewhat enjoyed the pandemic for the enforced isolation, a good excuse to avoid physical contact and world meetings.

Magic

Norway is a half fae. This gives him an average fae's features (pointy ears, shrinking in size, wings, a glow in their eyes when exposed to darkness, purring), with a milder shrinking and a better control over them. As a child, his control on those features– and on magic at all –wasn't very good, in fact he seemed to purr for no reason and to sneeze and emanate sparkles as an early display of magic.

Miscellaneous

- He's never sure about his gender and uses any pronoun.

- During an emo phase in his Viking years, he dyed his hair with blood.

- He has a very calming aura.

- He has a massive sweeth tooth.

- Cuddles make him sleepy.

- He always arrives to places 10 minutes early.

- He's not a morning person.

- His blood type is A.

- Despite being photogenic, he's insecure about having his picture taken.

[calware]

Further details on those spaceship groups I made up a while back:

1. Every team had a preset captain+first mate(scribe/Operator/whatever), but everyone else was chosen by the captain.

2. The setup is a combination spaceship simulator/combat exercise (the characters are at a space military academy thing)

3. Selections were performed between each group of 4

World's Worst Polycule: Dave (chosen as captain to make him more responsible), Tavros (chosen as first mate to help him become more independent by working with other independent people)

All the other 3 were chosen in the moment by Dave; he decided who he thought would be the most fun to work with (which typically coincided with independence).

Jane: given automatically after all other alpha kids were picked.

He thinks Terezi is fun, and she's good at large field presence without working closely with others

He thinks Gamzee is fun/ his squad mostly fights independently

4 and a Half Girls: Feferi (chosen as captain b/c powerful family), Sollux (assigned first mate because of good computer skills/parallel processing)

Her other 3 were picked with the aim of making a setup most comfortable for them all.

Jade: Feferi usually has a sniper on her team in Eridan, so she made sure to get a sniper ASAP

Roxy: she got to pick first here, so she took the best all-rounder. Roxy can fit into whatever team composition they end up running.

Nepeta: given to her automatically when all other midbloods were picked

Toxic Magic Bullshit: Dirk (chosen as captain to force him to make decisions and figure out what's best for other people), Vriska (chosen as first mate to force her to both listen to someone else's orders, and to force Dirk to listen to his subordinates)

His other 3 were decisions mostly made from the limits of other people picking first.

Rose: Dirk and Vriska were both good short-range, so he wanted the mid-range Rose over the close-range John.

Aradia: given automatically as all other lowbloods were either captains or first mates (error on my part. Oh well!)

Eridan: you know how Dirk can't stand people who are too similar to him? That's why he took Eridan over Equius.

Almost Stable: Karkat (Technically the leader of his original team, but Sollux and Aradia are powerful enough to just do whatever they want), Kanaya (effective second-in-command, helps Karkat get used to actually leading)

Karkat had very bad luck with pick order.

John: given automatically after all other beta kids were picked

Jake: Jane scares him

Equius: given automatically after all other highbloods were picked.

All of these groups have some form of dysfunction, whether it be the Dave-Terezi-Gamzee hell triangle, Sollux dealing with exclusively people more energetic than them, Erivris, or Karkat's gripes with the fact that he barely picked anyone on his team + inexperience with actually leading.

They all have more problems than just those, but those are the standouts.

these character pairings are very interesting to me i'm rotating this in my mind

[catis15]

My Opinions/Reviews on Saphic Books:

- Bright Falls Trilogy

- All of them are cute and heartwarming and giggle worthy and shit

- It's cool seeing each of the friend groups POVs and they're all pretty relatable in my opinion

- Pretty good representation of various family relationships especially with mothers

- the various relationships are actually really well written but the stories are still very much focused on the romance, they're not sidelined persey but they're not the main focus of that's what your looking for it's very much about the couple

- I like the variety in body types through the series, there's different heights, weights, yada yada and it's nice to see and they're all appreciated

- There aren't any POC MCs but there are side characters, also lots of gender and lgbtqia+ identity representation NB characters, ace characters, lots of queer couples, I think there may be a polycule mentioned but I'm not entirely sure

- Smut? Yes there is, how much varies between book but I'd argue there's more every book with Iris's book having the most; Id also argue it gets intenser as the series continues but it's all pretty mid (not in the it's bad writing way in the I've read far worse but I've also read some relatively pg 13)

DELILAH GREEN

- I love Delilah sm she can fucking step on me and Id ask her to do it again

- It's a sorta an asshole to everyone but you between her and Claire but not in the typical way? Like it's there but it's not written the way a lot of that trope usually is, idk I just really like how these books are written I think the author does a fantastic job

- Delilah seeing Claire for who she is and like just how much emotion she has is just yes, and also Claire seeing Delilah as like a sweet person and not just an asshole is nice too

- Because I know it bothers some people, Claire is a mother and the kid is talked about, I don't mind parent tropes but ik some people just don't enjoy reading them, I thought Ruby was sweet though and Claire seeing how Delilah interacts with her is also really cute

- Delilah also providing that safe and comforting space for artwork for Ruby is also really sweet and seeing Delilah kinda give Ruby what she herself didn't have is wholesome ASF and Claire just appreciates it and shit idk it's cute

- Hating On The Straight White Man TM (because he is gross to Astrid)

- Delilah is a photographer and Claire runs a bookstore

ASTRID PARKER

- It's cool getting to see Astrid's POV compared to how Delilah (her sister) views her

- Mommy Issues TM and in my opinion it catches some of the subtleties of growing up with a toxic parent really well

- Jordans ex comes along so warning for that, ok some people don't really like that

- Also handles like not missing your ex but feeling like YOU failed because the relationship failed

- again the subtleties of so much is just so well written

- Jordan is very stereotypical lesbian and I'm here for it

- her truck is named adora, her cat is named catra (if I'm remembering correctly), she wears random button ups, got that half saved short hair going (funnily enough I myself had both Astrid and Jordans haircuts at various points in my life lmao), she's a carpenter sorta, she's got an attitude, is into taro, like I love her sm 😂 she's so me fr 😭

- enemies to lovers

- Astrid's a bitch and Jordan pretends not to be into it

- they fuck in a pantry

- it's funny

IRIS KELLY

- iris doesn't do kids and marriages and her more or less traditional family is giving her shit for it

- Stevie has anxiety and handles it the same way I handle mine so that was relatable

- handles the shit that goes along with having anxiety really well so props to the author once again

- fake dating tm

- They're basically giving each other 'classes' because they think they're bad at things; but in reality it's just them being comfortable with stuff they're actually pretty good at; Stevie helps Iris be more comfortable with everyday romance and Iris helps Stevie be more comfortable with adult fun time intimacy outside of committed long term relationships

- but at the same time in queer Shakespeare and it's beautiful

- Home Field Advantage

- will add later

- The Song of the Huntress

- Just bought it and haven't read it yet

- The Priory of the Orange Tree

- Just bought it haven't read it

- Late Bloomer

- a few chapters in

- th author notes are funny and enjoyable

- good representation of things like people pleasing, autism, trust issues due to family trauma, bad relationships that you stay in for the comfort, toxic friends

- They're some pretty heavy themes but their handled in an easy to swallow way

- while these are very present themes the main focus is still the romance, but they're handled a bit more in depth than say the Bright Falls Trilogy

[rexecutioner]

hihi! Wanted to know if there are two different versions of the vylad laur and dantes important au, like one with all cannon ships and bits, and one with non cannon like garrance or danvis because the boys polycule is funny to me

also sorry for NAPPING i was TIRED

hi amnesia hope you got good rest 🤬🤬

There will only be one version!

I’m probably going to write it with ships like Travlyn, Zana, Aarmau (but fixed), Garrance (who calls their best friend Honeybear??) but also hints of Danvis (Katelyn describes their relationship as “this is my bf Travis and this is his bf Dante”) and Melcinda.

Ok so specifically Danvis and Travlyn speaking, while Travis and Katelyn are officially dating, going on dates and kissing and stuff, spending a whole bunch of time together, Dante and Travis are joined by the hip and are very close. As in they hold hands and hug a bunch, they enjoy each other’s company a lot. (Gotta kiss the homies goodnight /hj)

When Travis isn’t hanging out with Katelyn, he’s with Dante and/or the boys/Not Alone Buds.

Travis doesn’t like being alone much, which mashes pretty well with Dante’s separation anxiety and they spend a lot of their time together in Lover’s Lane and Starlight before Katelyn and Travis actually start dating, and Dante is completely chill with this change and is Travis’ hypeman even though he know Katelyn doesn’t like him very much. However Katelyn is very much fine with Dante, his relationship with Travis has never bothered her and she knows that the bond they have is platonic. They end up hanging out as a trio a lot due to this and the fact that they’re all sharing an airbnb together. Thanks Terry.

Afterwards Dante spends time with Garroth and Laurance, along with Nana (we were robbed of ANY kind of relationship in ms) and Lucinda. Travis spends his time away from his gf and honorary bf with Aphmau and Vylad, and occasionally sits in his room alone, reading. He usually spaces out while doing so.

Season 6 wrecks them, but thats a story for another ask. Post 6, their relationships with each other only strengthen, and Katelyn and Dante actually start to hang out together to get to know each other better than “Travis’ sassy buff gf” and “Travis’ pathetic wet cat roommate”

Aka Danvis and Travlyn coexist. They fw each other.

With Garrance, they started dating in S3, their relationship strains a bit during S4 but it wasn’t either of their faults and they actually get closer as a result, they have a great time during most of S5 until S6. They have a wonderful bond that can not be broken, no matter what they go through.

They both however still crushed on Aphmau in PDH, and while Laur slowly lost interest by S1, Garroth didn’t until the end of S1 (specifically during the play arc 😈) and started to realize he felt the same about Laur that he used to with Aphmau.

They bond during S2 bcs Laurance will be going on that goddamn plane, (this is when Garroth comes out to him as Pan, Laur is openly Bi) and once they start living together again they feel comfortable enough to confess to each other. Poor third wheel Zane has to deal with their flirting even before they get together.

Please ask me more im on a roll

[aingeal98]

yoo sangah for the ask game!!

three facts about them from my personal headcanons

-She faced so much misogyny from both her family and her workplace that the fact Dokja didn't harass her was enough for her to want to try and be his friend. Like the bar was on the floor and it was a relief to her that a single person cleared it.

-Her childhood was lonely, being from a well off family but hating the fakeness of high society and the lack of care towards those not as well off. She doesn't talk to her family much at all and she's never regretted it.

-But since she comes from that upper class, despite her efforts she struggles to make friends easily, especially with women. Her bond with KimCom was the first time she had a family she felt she could truly die for with no regrets.

a reason they suck

Out of all the characters it feels like the authors struggled the most with deciding where they wanted to take Sangah's character. It was very clear from early on that she was intended to subvert her usual character archetype but just how much they intended to subvert it didn't seem clearly thought out from the start. It leaves her with a bond to Dokja that's more highlighted than most of KimCom but not on YooHan's level. It also means that she never manages to carve out the same amount of narrative space as say, HSY does.

a reason they are great

I actually really like that her bond with Dokja is so thoroughly subverted. She's not his love interest, she's not his prize. She's not a goddess or secretly evil. She's just a person trying to survive like the rest of them. She's just his really good friend, someone who remembers who he was before the scenarios and wanted to be his friend even then. Yoohan both meet Dokja for the first time during the scenarios with all this savvy knowledge of the apocalypse. Sangah knew him as this guy obsessed with a webnovel, and she liked him even back then.

a reason I relate to them

Constantly feeling guilty for things beyond their control and feeling like no matter how hard they try there is a wall between them and the people they care about where they can't fully view you as Real and not just what they want you to be.

(what I consider to be) the top tier otp/ot3 for that character

Sangsoo. But more specifically, sangsoo where she's not dating joonghyuk or dokja but hsy is, and she's constantly the only one who can get the entire polycule to cut their antics and listen to her. HSY is highly smug about this even though her gf privileges never stop Sangah from yelling at her too.

five things that never happened to that character that I believe should have happened

-She deserved to snap and go apeshit. Tell everyone to stop fucking calling her a goddess she's just a person and they're all so unhinged she's at the end of her goddamn rope

-She deserved to have an argument with Han Sooyoung that lead to them kissing to shut each other up

-She should have had a Fuck You moment towards Olympus. One just for her where she got petty revenge on them for using her as a pawn.

-I needed one moment where someone fully saw her as a person. Dokja came close but she always knew more about him than he did her. I needed someone who saw her as an equal and I think HSY did but at the same time there was more there we needed to see for me to be satisfied. Probably a conversation within the three years they were living together.

-More focus on her in the epilogue. I get that it's the yoohankim story but for all the reasons highlighted above, Sangah and Dokja have a unique and special bond. I felt there was a tiny bit lacking there and I wanted to see more.

five people that character never fell in love with and why

-Dokja. It could have been something but then he died for three years, and by the time he came back she was also dying trying to keep everyone else alive. In some ways she understands him quite possibly better than anyone, but somehow being inside the Fourth Wall and seeing his entire life just solidified their bond as purely platonic.

-Yoo Joonghyuk. He's not her type. Ironically she is his type but he's already loved Lee Seolhwa which would make any relationship too painfully familiar to him.

-Jung Heewon. In a way she was almost everything Sangah would look for in a partner but on top of already having a thing with Lee Hyunsung, she also comes across as extremely straight. Sangah was convinced she was straight until she saw her arguing with Han Sooyoung and was like wow what is it about that woman and making every fight have underlying sexual tension.

-Lee Hyunsung. Also Sangah's type, but so clearly smitten with Heewon that Sangah would shut any potential feelings down if they ever arose.

-Sun Wukong. She may be Tang Sanzang but her story lies beyond that of his constellation.

[ca-suffit]

I've always had this weird impression that in this fandom it's seen as intellectually superior to be for polyam relationships.I know about the poly nature of Rice's vampires.

but the show made it clear from the start that they are jealous and possessive, Sam himself said that Lestat is monogamous at heart.

Why the poly discourse is so pushed because from what I was able to gather from other fans who have read the books even in the Chronicles it's not so much the polycule paradise as some try to make it believe?

Obviously everyone is free to their preferences but I have the impression that it is almost become shameful to prefer one particular pairing for each characters.

There's a lot of layers to this answer tbh. I'll try to go in order of what I've noticed are the most prominent reasons for this of what I've observed over the years.

a) It's another stand in for "it's gothic romance," "they're all monsters" type logic. It gives the illusion of being deep while rly just removing any real attempt at conversations ppl don't want to have (or don't have the range to have). This can also tie into fandom racism bcuz it smooths over discussions of *why* ppl might prefer certain pairings.

b) Shipping wars *are* annoying, so that is a legit reason. Usually the real reason is part a but this is still in there a tiny bit.

c) It *does* make ppl feel special. This and BDSM topics are some ppl's whole fandom personality bcuz fsr ppl think this is all unique in fandom spaces idk. This goes back again to how a lot of ppl read the VC books as children and still think it's brand new information when they're 45 years old in 2024.

The books do *not* get into polyam relationships well at all. The only thing that makes it vaguely polyam is that there's a sentence here and there of ppl kissing each other, living together, traveling together, whatever. She never explores any deep dynamics of anything. Nothing is ever laid out in full. They don't speak about these relationships with each other. The show did more to talk about it on any level than the books did. Even for any monogamous relationships, she doesn't explore much of anything as the books go on. That's a lot of what makes everything feel so unsatisfying. There's no substance to anything. She places characters around each other and uses words to force a depth of relationship that the readers don't feel otherwise bcuz she didn't write it lol. Whether it's conflict or romance, it all falls flat the more it goes.

[cartooemcanhis]

Got any headcanons for any of the ka-pow characters

Oh I definetly do!! Love those guys!!

I dont got alot for him unfortunatly.. The only one is that all the buddhist monkey episodes are popular movies/a tv show in the htf world

He was super short and has an even shorter temper, he would go off on people like thrice his height and often had to be dragged away from people by Flippy or Sneaky

believe it or not...not from france...france is not real in Treesy.. Hes actually from littletownelsewhere!

Was almost comically strong for his size, that damn bag full of bombs weighed ALOT.

Became mildly imfamous for snacking when he wasnt supposed to, he got in ALOT of trouble. He is the nibbler <3

Was secretly in a polycule with Sneaky and Flippy. Everyone else in the W.A.R just thought they were oddly close friends

Wasnt fully deaf(if he was he would of been discharged), he just had really damaged hearing.

Creepily quiet, often stared into space not saying things for hours. He was always listening though and knew alot of secrets.

Grew up in Rainytown and was actually childhood friends with Sniffles. They stopped talking after Sniffles moved away to treetown, and they can never talk again now.

Was one of the W.A.Rs best soldiers for getting into enemy bases and gaining intell, it got to the point that the Blue Tigers had to install tech into their bases that would un-hide Sneaky.

Ate basically only insects. At first soldiers would look at him funny whenever he did that but eventually they got used to it.

Smelled pretty horrible usually (Chameleon facts go brr)

At some point before operation tiger bomb he got his tail badly hurt and it hard to be removed.

Hes actually Splendids brother!! They were seperated as babies because Splendid was sent down to treetown and Splendont was trapped in a mirror, all because of some prophecy.

Splendid has no idea who he is really, all he knows is that some jerk is copying his look and causing chaos. Splendont despises Splendid and blames him for his imprisonment.

Naturally destructive, but unlike his brother he usually does it on purpose.

Doesnt care about treefriends, animals, or plants lives, hes here to cause chaos and doesnt care what dies while he has his fun.

They all live in different parts around Treesy and only really ever meet up if some kind of world ending disaster is happening

All of them are from Treesy other than TickTalk, who came from the planet Xarathos, which is the same planet Splendid is from aswell.

Wonder Wanda and Webster are definetly dating but noone else in the team seem to notice it lol

Wandas the mom friend of the group (aka the only one whos got brainsels), Websters a little menace, Man 'o war is almost always angry, and TickTalk is chill usually

Man 'o war used to be a normal jellyfish but he got mutated and gained conciousness (he does not like having sentience he longs to go back to having no brain

Webster is just like that, she was born with practically unlimited web that she uses to swing like spiderman

Wonder Wanda actually has no powers, she just uses magical bubble tech

TickTalk used to be a normal tick (well as normal as you can be when you're a gross paracite from space lol) but he ended up in treesy and got mutated in the same mysterious goop that mutated Man 'o war and grew really big. Due to their shared pasts, Man 'o war and TickTalk are rlly close.

"The best" agent in the Creeping Critters Organisation, little do they know he would drop them in a heartbeat if it meant accomplishing something that would benefit him

Known for being cruel and manipulative, hes not afraid to kill people if it means getting information.

Believe it or not, hes cousins with Mouse Kaboom.

He and The Mole SHOULD of been rivals due to being in conflicting corporations, but due to some twist of events they were in a secret forbidden relationship. Unfortunately, Rat was pretty toxic in said relationship and used Mole to gain information. Everything broke up once Mole faked his death and ran away to Treetown.

DEFINETLY has atleast 5 fatal diseases. Genuinely someone get this guy put down I dont think having him around is safe. His blood is all thick and gross and at some point he started an entire pandemic that killed hundreds of people.

Super cocky and overly confident, he thinks every little plan he has will work perfectly because he himself is perfect.

oh wow that was alot!! Thanks for the hc request! :D

[powerpolyculeshowdown]

everyone who hasn't seen leverage should watch leverage after this. and then you will all see. anyway its a diff genre than orv obviously so there's no world ending/world saving shenanigans bc its set in our reality but i don't think that matters. they're the ultimate power polycule To Me because of the way that they are. it's fucking insane i literally cannot explain it to someone who hasn't seen the show. they were the first exposure i had to canon adjacent polyamory in media and watching the show the first time it was like getting hit by a car over and over tbh. their relationship to each other is so central to the show, and even though hardison and parker are canonically dating, both of their separate relationships with elliot are given the same respect and narrative importance as their romantic relationship, which isn't something i would really expect from a show from the 2010s? usually popular media tends to value love interest relationships over other ones. but they're a Team and a Family so their relationships, all of them, are given the weight they deserve. plus in leverage redemption they are so tooth rottingly domestic oh my GOD. middle aged queer love knocks me out every time one day i'll be living like that..... god....in leverage they grow together and learn to love each other but in leverage redemption they have been together for 10+ years and you can TELL. they work like a well oiled machine!!!! they each have separate jobs but they know each other and have lived and loved and worked with each other long enough that they can passably fill in for each other (which is hot. btw) on cons and they finish each others thoughts and make the same gestures (theres a scene where hardison and elliot point at something with the same stance at the same time it's really cute) they know exactly how to make the others happy and angry and they ALWAYS GET THE JOB DONE! NO MATTER THE ODDS! BECAUSE THEY'RE A TEAM! and they will always ALWAYS insist upon being there for each other THEY'RE EVEN GOING TO BREAK INTO NASA TO GO TO SPACE TO GET HARDISON, BTW. ugh. basically. heart hurt i cry every time for these guys :(

u had me at domestic bye everyone gonna get a new hyperfixation

[73chn1c0l0rr3v3l]

if you're willing to share, i'd love to hear your thoughts on adoption/found family/people being weird about it. the way things ended up in that episode felt kind of off to me and i'm still trying to put my finger on why.

I'm writing this with a headache, so please forgive if it is a bit meandering.

I'm also going to state up front I am not talking about the adoption industry & all of the shitty stuff involved in that - I'm talking about my own experiences as an adoptee.

First things first: people are Weird about adoption. There's this assumption that people are default genetically related to their family unless stated otherwise, there's the assumption that people will want to be connected to their blood family, there's this assumption that biological family is always the best answer. I think a lot of people have a lot of default assumptions about what family IS & what it means, & they get uncomfortable if you question them.

There are 2 adoption narratives - either your adopted family is horrible & you find your biological family & stuff is Better, or you leave your horrible biological family to get adopted into a family that is Better. There's nothing for "i won't ever have access to the biological family, & I don't entirely relate to my adopted family either," or "my biological family loves me but I can't be in their lives because our values are too different but I don't actually like my adopted family but they're who I grew up with" or even the very succinct "they both suck, okay?" There's a huge variety of experience, & I feel like a lot of the nuance gets lost on people who don't relate for whatever reason.

It's one reason the Timeless Child resonated with me so hard? Because yeah, sometimes you don't know who you might have been & you mourn it, but you can't be anyone but the society that raised you. On a more personal level... well, Tecteun very intensely reminded me of my mother, & I was rewatching Flux (including That part) the night she died & uh... certain parts of that sure were familiar.

It's really frustrating as someone who is currently sorting through some VERY complicated family feelings - my mother (my actual mother, the mother who raised me) died in September. My father - the man I grew up with - died in 2012. I haven't heard from most of my family since then - I didn't hear from most of my family when my mother was dying, which happened over months. I haven't heard from my father's family in more than a decade at this point. They were not there when I was suffering as a kid, they were not there when I needed support as a teenager, they were not there when I was coming into myself as a young adult. Family to me isn't a thing that you WANT, because what's the point of it? I understand it's a different thing for other people, but these things are never one size fits all, & I resent them being treated as such.

If you came up to me & said "you can travel with the Doctor through time & space & you get a SPACE DAD or a SPACE MOM" I would run very fast in the other direction. I've got parents. Depending on how you look at it, I've got more than the usual set that most folks have. I don't want a replacement or an additional parent - I want to grieve the ones I have, untangle the feelings I've got about them. I want people in my life who care about me, who I care about - friends, lovers, mentors, partners, & all those other relationships that you don't have names for. I like it when things don't slot into place neatly.

Which leads me to my issues with found family as a trope. My main issue with it is that it treats the whole thing as very... one size fits all. That everyone *wants* to be part of a family with a mom & a dad & a grandmother & kids. Versus wanting to be in a polycule, wanting to be in a friend group, wanting to be part of a community. I feel like with the ending of the Giggle, it was slotting the Doctor (& Mel) in the parts of a traditional family - they're the aunt & the uncle now! Not blood related, but still having a designated Place. Which possibly ties in to people being weird about adoption, since merely being Not Blood Related somehow makes it different.

I am, admittedly, also allergic to labels. My only label irt my sexuality is queer, I do not have a gender, I have stepped off the various spectrums & am just... me. What I like about the Doctor & their relationships is that most of the time they're in that same grey area? Is the Doctor Sarah Jane's lover? Her best friend? Her avuncular old uncle figure? Her mentor? They all apply to varying degrees, but they're all also valid, & I love that.

I could also talk about my SPECIFIC issues with how it was done in the giggle, but most of that comes down to taste, & we all know that varies from person to person to a much greater degree.

I am also not telling off people who do like found family & those dynamics- I'm really glad there's so much space for so many interpretations! I'm really glad there are so many different enjoyments to be had!

... I'm not sure if all of this entirely made sense, but thank you for letting me ramble a bit.

[tickle-bugs]

I have an idea for a Glinda and Elphaba story based on Jennafer Newberry and Lissa DeGuzman’s portrayals of Glinda and Elphaba. I included a link for reference. In popular during toss toss, glinda does this adorable giggle and then tries to have Elphaba recreate it, but it comes across as super forced and fake when Elphaba does it. I don’t know if this is too similar to the other Glinda and Elphaba story you posted the other day, but I thought it would be cute if Glinda tickles Elphaba to help her find her natural giggle. Of course Elphaba doesn’t let Glinda do that without her revenge so she tickles Glinda after. https://youtu.be/VQxRXpDtIf8 the toss toss giggle part starts at around 4:10, but at around 3:05 Glinda does really adorable deep gutteral laughter that is worth watching.

From Your Heart

Summary: Elphaba stops laughing at Fiyero’s jokes because she’s embarrassed of her laugh. Fiyero laments. Glinda takes this personally.

Take this as either a Glinda-Fiyero-Elphaba polycule AU or just supportive best friend Glinda who’s not into Fiyero but wants to help her hopeless bestie lock him down. I wrote it with the polycule in mind though because I love them. 

Glinda stopped being surprised at finding Fiyero face down on her bed by probably the third week of term. His dramatics harmonize well with hers, she specifically chose that mattress for the healing level of bounce it has--everything tracks. What doesn’t track, however, is Fiyero being face down on her bed and not at the date that she’d set up for him and Elphaba. 

“Why are you not wooifying Elphie? I specifically requested it.” Glinda sets down her purse and slips off her heels. Fiyero groans pathetically from the bed.

“Up, scoot, c’mon.” Glinda pats him until he moves over. She sits beside him and rubs his back.

“We went picnicking in the quad. Everything was perfect, Galinda. I even wore my good pants. But halfway through she just…ran away. I don’t understand. What if she doesn’t like me?” Fiyero’s lip wobbles. Glinda ignores the way that sentiment chews at the wall of her heart.

“Don’t be silly, Fiyero. Everyone likes you.” 

“What if she isn’t into me, I mean?” He sighs. She brushes his hair away from his temple. 

“I’ll talk to her, alright? I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for this. Go mope in your room and I’ll send word.” She pats his cheek. He sighs and sits up. 

….

The door lock starts to click and Glinda’s on her feet in a moment. As soon as the door opens:

“Elphie!” Glinda throws her arms up with a joyful squeal. Elphaba freezes in the doorway. 

“Why are you so perky?” Elphaba eyes her suspiciously. Glinda frowns. 

“I’m always perky.”

“More than usual. Something’s up.” Elphaba sets her stuff down roughly. She sits on her bed. Glinda slides into the space beside her and tangles their ankles together. 

“Well, a depressed little birdie told me that your date with Fiyero didn’t go so well.” Glinda grimaces. 

“He told you?” Elphaba whispers in horror. Glinda shrugs weakly. Elphaba groans and drops her head into her hands. Glinda primly pats her back and murmurs a halfhearted ‘there there’.

“He’s just…he’s so funny, Galinda.” Elphaba picks her face up a bit, then drops it back down. She groans louder. 

“Normally that’s a desirable trait in a beau.” Glinda busies herself with unbraiding Elphaba’s hair--a habit for them. Elphaba visibly unwinds beneath the touch. It does Glinda’s soul well to see it. 

“Yeah, but…he’s funny and I can’t laugh at his jokes.”

“Are they terrible? Or perhaps risqué?” Glinda runs her fingers through Elphaba’s hair. The silky locks are soft to the touch. 

“No!” Elphaba’s face flushes a dark green. “Well, maybe, yes. Sometimes. But that’s not it. I…my laugh is ugly. I’ve been scared to let him hear it, so I’ve been hiding it. He tried to make me laugh earlier, so…I ran.”

This impacts Glinda like a chariot at speed. Her eyes rove over her best friend’s face, this beautiful once-in-a-lifetime wonder that just happened to bless Shiz University at the same time as she. A miracle in every way, and she’s blaming herself for something out of her control. Unconscionable. 

“It’s so stupid--”

“No. Don’t you dare do that. It’s not stupid at all.” Glinda squishes Elphaba’s cheeks between her hands. Elphaba softens, her gaze dropping to the floor. Glinda kisses her forehead. 

“I think Fiyero likes you because you’re you, Elphie. And that includes your laugh.” Glinda quickly wipes away the lipstick smudge left behind. 

“But what if he thinks it’s ugly?” Elphaba murmurs through her squished face. 

“That’s exactly what you asked me about your skin, and then I had to listen to him wax poetic about the color of emeralds for a week. He will like every part of you. Sorcerer’s swear.” Glinda holds her hand out. She and Elphaba exchange a complicated multi-step handshake in quick succession, ending in sparks and glitter puffing into the air between them.

“Would it be easier to let me hear it first?” Glinda bumps their shoulders together. 

“You’d have to really get to me. I’m not sure if you can.” Elphaba huffs. 

“Hey! I’m hilarious.” Glinda swats her lightly. 

“That’s not it, I mean…you have to catch me off-guard. I spent so long practicing hiding it that I don’t know if I can laugh anymore.” Elphaba tucks her hair behind her ear. 

“I have an idea.” Glinda turns fast enough to bounce both of them on the mattress. Elphaba scoots against the headboard to give her space, and does a sweeping gesture to indicate she’s listening. Even with the nonchalance, her eyes are sharp and painfully earnest.

“Well, it’s easier to start laughing than it is to stop. So what if I help you? I can teach you how to do the accepted Upper-Uplands giggle. When next you see Fiyero, try it! If he keeps making you laugh, your real one should come into the light.”

“You want me to fake it?” Elphaba furrows her brow. 

“Most magicians fake their power. Why should this be any different?” Glinda shrugs. Elphaba nods slowly as the idea takes shape in her head. 

“It’s…not a bad idea.”

“That’s the spirit. Now repeat after me.” Glinda shuffles and preens, clearing her throat. She releases something between a melody and a laugh—a trilly, pompous little thing that her mother had grilled into her during her formative years. 

Elphaba makes a noise like a dying goose. Silence falls over the room. 

“This is hopeless!” She wails. Glinda does not laugh, she does not, but she does puff her cheeks out ridiculously.

It just tickles her, the ways her two favorite people are made for each other.

Wait a minute.

“Elphaba Thropp.” 

“Am I in trouble?” Elphaba immediately leans back, eyes wide. Glinda spins around the bed, backing Elphaba up against the headboard. She gets close, close enough to see the faint glitter still smudged on Elphaba’s forehead. 

“Only if you’re ticklish.” Glinda grins, her hands finding Elphaba’s waist. Elphaba’s eyes widen past the size of the moon. 

“I am going to turn you into the slimiest, wartiest toad imaginable.” A wobbly smile overtakes Elphaba’s face. 

“You’re a very talented witch, but that sounds awfully hard to accomplish while laughing.” Glinda tuts and sets loose her fingers, tracing the asymmetrical seams of Elphie’s frock with unpredictable fingers. Elphaba’s face puffs up like the aforementioned frog. She hides behind her hands. Her shoulders shake with the effort of restraint. 

“Let me hear it, love. It’s just us.” Glinda nods encouragingly, even though Elphaba can’t see it. Elphaba peeks open one eye between her fingers, then shuts it again. Glinda frowns. She pries Elphaba’s hands away from her face, instead placing them around her wrists.

“Stop me if you hate it.” Glinda says very seriously. Elphaba blinks. 

“I can’t…it’s not…Idon’tmindit,” Elphaba says quickly, her face radiating heat. Glinda bites her lip on a smile.

“Good.” Glinda descends like a cyclone onto Elphaba’s ribs and it startles her laugh right out of her. 

An endearing mess of shrieks and cackles blesses Glinda’s ears. Elphaba slides down the headboard and into a fit of snorts, holding onto Glinda’s wrists but never pulling away. Her nose scrunches as she tries to fistfight a tidal wave—poorly, but adorably. 

Glinda fits her fingers into the curve of Elphaba’s waist and she tosses her head back, making a mess of her newly-freed hair. Hiccups filter into her laughter as it rocks her. 

“Is this so bad?” Glinda has to shout over Elphaba to be heard. Nonsensical syllables tumble from her lips as she waves her hands around. Her laughter finds wheezy silence. Glinda relents then, taking a long, proud look at her handiwork. 

Elphaba glows with her smile. It brightens her from the inside out. Little lines dance along the corners of her happily squinted eyes. Glinda pats her stomach. She jumps with an anticipatory giggle. 

“What if I still can’t let Fiyero hear it?” Elphaba fiddles with her fingers.

“Tell him. He’ll understand.” Glinda rests her hand on Elphaba’s thigh. “And when you inevitably choose to be stubborn instead of admitting to yourself that you’re ready and he loves you, perhaps a little birdie will tell him what I’ve learned.”

Glinda wiggles her fingers and giggles evilly. Elphaba narrows her eyes.  

When Glinda’s tackled face first onto her bed, screeching like her life depends on it, she knows immediately that the pursuit of Elphie’s smile is worth a few frizzy curls and smudged mascara. 

[nugatorysheep]

B, L, X?

B - A pairing–platonic, romantic or sexual–that you initially didn’t consider, but someone changed your mind.

As far as things I actively ship and not stuff I think is just kinda cute: Stevencest or Bispearl (kinda).

I was not a Stevencest person for quite a while- or I guess not what I personally figured a Stevencest person was supposed to be. I had people in my old server shipping it and I had an AU that while not intended to be that, I was okay with people shipping together the two Stevens for (though way down the road it did eventually turn into that lol), so my opposition to it was mainly that it wasn't for me based on the type of content I usually saw of it. Like this isn't my thing and it's kinda weird but if it's tagged so I can block it, sure go nuts. (There was also a LOT of Connie and Connverse Hate + NTR in Stevencest spaces and as a big fan of Connie I didn't want to be in places where I would constantly hear people shitting on one of my favorite characters. Steven has two hands!!). Basically the barrier to entry was too costly for me so I just kept my distance.

Last year though I got to know more people in this fandom and had the chance to freely experiment with my characters in ways I couldn't before, so I've grown to enjoy it a lot more. Being told "Hey, you can like. Do what you Want," was very helpful in pushing me to branch out. I have a lot more fun now doing things I like and ignoring people who do things I hate lmao

I'm not sure if Bispearl counts but it was something that NEVER crossed my mind until Bismuth Casual first aired and a light bulb went off in my head. I was into that almost instantly the moment it was shown to me.

(And more recently with the Rose/Bismuth art the Becky Sucrose dropped, now I can do the Pearl/Rose/Greg/Bismuth polycule of my dreams <3 Though in the context of canon Bispearl is the most reasonable/logical ship to me.)

L - Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your faves. (Characters you’re neutral about are fair game, as are characters you merely dislike. Characters that you absolutely loathe with the fire of ten thousand suns are exempt, as there is no point in giving yourself an aneurysm over a character that you hate.)

I do not like Jasper much and her fanbase tends to be obnoxious BUT she is a very well-made character. She is consistent and straightforward in her motivations and goals and weaknesses in a way that in theory is easy to grasp (which is why I'm so shocked so many people don't seem to really Get her at all). When people say the writers screwed her over I disagree, because she does exactly what she is meant to do in the story and then fucks off, something I cannot say for several other characters LOL

At the end of the day, Steven Universe is about... well, Steven Quartz Universe, and the way Jasper serves his arc is more than enough for me :3

She's also really funny when used right and more people should use her for comedic effect

X - A trope which you are almost certain to love in any fandom.

Found family is something I'm a sucker for and I tend to like ensemble casts that have well-developed and interesting dynamics (platonic or romantic) between the characters, but I'm not sure if that counts as a fandom thing or a media in general thing. I'll be honest, I don't participate much in fandoms. SU is the first time I've engaged heavily in the fan areas VS just consuming Canon Material With a Chance of Fanart so the things I like trope-wise are less broad and more specific to just SU.

I also like fan kids or just seeing younger characters as adults in the future. It's fun to muse about, downside is if the ship you like is not mainstream enough you'll be sorely lacking in that category 😔

[sissytobitch10seconds]

Birdsong: Allies or Enemies

Fandom: Grishaverse: Six of Crows and Shadow and Bone Summary: Kaz and Nina work out who they are to each other outside of the rest of their partners. Warnings: Pre-negotiated BDSM, sex, chronic pain, insecurities in polyamory, and bars Word Count: 8,498 Ship(s): Nina Zenik/Kaz Brekker/Jesper Fahey/Wylan Van Eck/Matthias Helvar/Inej Ghafa

Archive link!

A/N: We're at the second to last installation of this that I have written already! I hope that you guys have been enjoying this and the little rarepairs that I've scattered throughout. I'm almost sad to know that it's going to be leaving soon, but it'll be out there for everyone to see forever. Stay sissy and bitchy everyone &lt;3

The Crow Club was busy for a weeknight.

Kaz had become very familiar with the patterns of people. There were always outliers and people that broke the mold, but he had been running a club long enough to know very well how they acted. Sometimes it would be so deserted that he wondered why he even bothered to pay for a staff to come if they weren’t going to have anyone to serve. He usually closed early on those nights so that he could spend time with his partners for an extra hour or two. On Fridays and weekends, the place would sometimes get so packed that he would be forced to uphold the fire code and limit the maximum amount of people inside. On those nights, he hid upstairs and checked on what was happening with the security cameras linked to his computer.

It was a Tuesday and relatively busy, but that was likely because some sports game or another had just gotten out. Birthdays, breakups, weddings, and sports were the biggest drivers in his business. He had held several of his own partner’s birthday parties at his bar, though usually only after Jesper begged and pleaded until Kaz finally relented. He wasn’t sure that he ever would, but if he did happen to get married then he had already informed everyone in his polycule that not a single part of his wedding was going to take place at his bar.

Kaz was having a good day when it came to his pain, so he was mostly using his cane as a ‘just in case’ measure instead of relying on it heavily. He was able to pace around the main floor space to make sure that everything was okay without the stiffness that he was used to. He had some paperwork that he needed to be doing, but he was waiting for a certain person to come through the doors before he retreated back to the upstairs office.

About thirty or forty people were sitting in various booths and around tables while laughing with each other and consuming copious amounts of alcohol. He internally cringed as he thought about how extensive his orders were going to have to be later that week. On the outside, he made sure that his face was just as passive and unresponsive as always. Everything about him was always calculated, until he was within the closed doors and closed blinds of his partners’ home. Even then, when he chose what to wear there were always a million thoughts running around in the back of his head. He had told Matthias that once and the other man had commented that it sounded like it was exhausting.

It was, but he had made sure to thoroughly deliberate on what he was going to wear for his meetup today. He had chosen a crisp red button up and then put his favorite gray vest over the top, the one that was decorated with flowery black lace in the front. His pants were the slinky black high-waisted slacks that Inej had helped him pick out and buy the week before. He had styled his hair back with just a little bit of gel, so it was already beginning to break free so that it was hanging down in his face. His gloves were on securely over his hands, but he was already planning on taking them off and discarding them when he got the chance to be alone with his guest.

He turned towards the door as it opened and shut, then felt the weight resting on his shoulders alleviate some. “Nina,” he greeted curtly.

“Kaz,” she replied, her face splitting into that teasing grin that she always wore. She looked so pretty with it on, which was one of the reasons that he had continued to pry at her despite Inej pouting whenever he did it.

As soon as he noticed the smirk, his eyes were directed to the rest of her voluptuous body. She had just come from a show so she was wearing rather dramatic makeup, but it still complimented her face in the most beautiful way. She had dark, blood red lipstick on over her pouty lips that brought out the umber color of her blush and bronzer on her cheeks. She had black eyeliner on the underside of her eyes and matching red eyeshadow on the tops. Her hair was locked around her head in an intricate system of braids that her band’s stylist, Genya, must have spent at least an hour on. Nina was wearing a satiny red dress that clung to her breasts and stomach in a way that made Kaz’s hands twitch to touch her. It was held onto her shoulders with two thin strands of string, faux sleeves on her arms in the form of red bows. It came to the middle of her thighs and brought attention to the beautiful black fishnets and red pumps that she was wearing.

“Would you accompany me back to my office, darling?” he asked, holding his hand out to her.

She glanced towards the guitar case where she kept her phone when she was doing the gigs with her band, obviously thinking about what their texts had said that morning when it came to touch. He had rated himself at an eight, which was as high as he had ever gotten with her. He enjoyed sex with specific partners in his polycule that he knew he could trust, but he had raised it that high specifically just to worship her in the way that she deserved.

She placed her hand on top of his gloved one and then giggled as he shifted them around so that she was holding onto his bicep as they walked through the club. A few of the patrons turned and looked at them as they walked through the relatively quiet space, but Kaz couldn’t care less at the moment. He had never really cared how he was perceived as long as others understood that he was not someone to be trifled with, and nothing that he was currently doing with his gorgeous girlfriend would dissuade them of that fact.

He opened the door for her and she walked through. She placed her guitar down on the chair opposite from the one that she plopped herself down in. She held a kind of revenant grace and elegance about her that made Kaz dream of what she had to have been in past lives. He could only see her bathed in the most expensive brocades and silks that her noble family could purchase. She would have turned every head that she came across no matter where she was, he was certain of that.

Kaz closed the door behind them and locked it so that anyone who wanted to speak with him would have to knock to get through. He didn’t want either of them to be interrupted while he was carrying out his plan. “How was your day, darling?” he asked as he sat down on the couch across from her.

“Tiring,” she replied, tilting her head to the side so that her face was cushioned in the palm of her hand. “I had to let Genya play with my hair for hours before she finally let me go. And we weren’t even live streaming this one because David forgot the charger,” she pouted.

A part of him filled with pride at having guessed correctly. He liked being up to date on his partners and what their lives were like, it made him feel more secure in his place in the polycule, like he had earned something. He rested his cane against the end table next to the couch and asked, “Why is that such a bad thing?”

“I got all prettied up for nothing,” she replied with yet another sigh. She rolled her head back onto the chair for a moment before she returned back to her previous position, giggling at her own antics.

“I wouldn’t say you got prettied up for nothing,” he replied as he let his eyes obviously rake over her form. He could see her squirming in the same way that she did when Matthias said dirty things to her in Danish when he thought the others wouldn’t notice. Nina always gave him away since she was so easily riled.

“Oh?” she asked, that curl returning to her painted lips.

Kaz pushed himself into a standing position and walked over to her, leaving his cane where it was against the end table. He wanted to be able to cage her in how he knew she liked, and the cane would hinder him from doing so. While it drove Wylan absolutely insane to have the object pressed against him in a vast array of inappropriate ways, Nina didn’t care much for it. 

He paused when their legs knocked together. He put his hands on either side of the chair and leaned down over the top of her, his nose just barely brushing against her own. She took in a shaky breath as her bright green eyes flickered down to his mouth and then locked with his own. Just that action alone was enough to make him feel like he was drowning and she was his only hope of being saved. “You’re trying to tell me that you didn’t wear something like this just to rile me up when you knew that we had a date tonight?” he trailed one of his still-gloved hands over the fishnets on her thigh until he was edging closer and closer to the hem of the dress. “Darling, I may be a fool in love but you could never lie to me like that.”

She let out a hot breath as she leaned forward a miniscule amount so that he could feel the hairs raising on the back of his neck. She was just within his reach and yet still so far away. He wanted nothing more than to jam his tongue down her throat and take her to a faraway place where she never had to think about anything other than how good he was making her feel. But that wasn’t what he had planned that date out to be.

A week ago, almost to the hour, he had asked her, shamefully over text, if she would be okay with something like this. He had wanted to have enough time to plan properly and to let her kind of forget what was going to happen so that she would be surprised. He hadn’t talked to her about very specific things in the scene he wanted to have like his partners usually did with him. He knew that Nina preferred more sporadic lovemaking as long as verbal consent was given before every action, which they had struggled with when it came to sex in the beginning of their relationship. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t been able to find a middle ground that worked for both of them, but he could always see that she looked more strung out and relaxed when she played with their other partners than with him. He had done a lot of work to try and make it so that he could hit all of her needs on this night, to try and show her just how much he loved her.

They had a long conversation about the kinds of things that she was feeling up to that week. She had told him her highest fantasies that she was feeling up for and Kaz had sorted through everything to find the middle ground of what he was willing to do. He hadn’t told her what items from the list he had already selected, which was keeping up the mystique of the scene for her.

“I would never call you a fool. If anything you’re a fox in love,” she purred as her hand moved around to the back of his head. She ran her nimble fingers through his long locks and then surged forward so that their lips were finally pressed together.

He let out a growl in the back of his throat as he reached out and grasped the back of her neck. He used the edge of his gloved middle finger to play with the baby hairs right below her skull. She mewled into the touch as she felt his body slowly moving closer to hers, so that they were basically pressed together.

Nina gasped into his mouth as her body bucked up so that they were flush together for a moment before she fell back down into the chair below her. Her eyes were hooded with arousal and her lips were slightly swollen from the kiss. Despite nearly being ravished already, her lipstick was still perfectly where she had applied it before coming to his office. 

“I do like it when you get all dressed up for me,” Kaz murmured as he slowly began to move his hand around the side of her head so that he was brushing against her cheek instead. The tip of his thumb touched her lip and she gasped, opening her mouth so that he could press on it even more. 

“I’d do it a million times over,” she promised, breathlessly.

“I know you would, you’re wonderful like that,” Kaz murmured as he pressed another kiss to her full lips. She mewled into the touch, her skin reaching for any kind of contact that she could get from him. He was able to recognize the desperation in her immediately, so he snaked his arms around her hips to tug her just a bit closer to him. He wished that he had the ability that Jesper and Matthias possessed so that he could haul her up and set her down where he wanted her in his office. It was so enthralling to watch his other two boyfriends scoop Nina up like she weighed nothing and cart her around the house while doing various dirty things to her. Kaz would never be able to do that due to his poorly knee.

Nina threaded her fingers through his hair as she lifted her hips up to allow his arms to thread behind her so that they were flush together again. Their faces were mere centimeters away from each other, breathing in the scent of the other without actually touching. It was intoxicating, the best thing that Kaz had ever experienced, when he was so close and yet so far. His body would begin to long for the touch of another person to deeply that he could feel it slithering down into his bones and making a home within his very soul.

“What are you going to do to me?” Nina asked, batting her pretty eyelashes at him.

He adored her with his entire being, he realized as they continued to wrap around each other like a pair of snakes using each other as prey. She was so uniquely full of light and love. She had touched a part of his being that none of his other partners had been able to reach, brought out a part of him he didn’t know that he could be. Nina was beautiful, inside and out.

“I think you’d prefer it if it was a surprise,” he replied. He pressed a kiss to her rouge covered cheek and then grasped the bottom of her earlobe in between his teeth for just a second. She gasped as she tossed her head back so a couple of her long brown curls escaped the updo that they had been contained in.

He knelt on the edge of the chair so that he didn’t get a flare up of pain during the middle of their scene, giving the nerve sheaths a break. He brushed his hand over her curls until he found the pin that Genya had used to secure the entire mess of braids. He knew that Nina didn’t have any other work that she had to do that night and they’d be going home to reunite with the rest of their polycule as soon as they had finished. So, Kaz tugged on the pin and released the braids from where they had been.

Nina pulled back from him slightly so that they could look at each other. Her eyes were still slightly lidded and she was biting at her kiss-swollen lips while watching every ripple of his body. “I thought you said that I looked pretty,” she pouted a little.

“I do, but I want to make sure that you look debauched by the time I’m done with you,” he replied huskily. He leaned in and captured her lips in another blazing kiss, trying to make her legs weak and her head spin.

She replied by letting out a pleased hum and a giggle. She placed her arms back where they belonged, one of them strung around his shoulders and pulling at his shirt while the other messed up his hair. Her dress was riding up slightly due to the way that she had to move her legs so that he would fit between them, exposing more of the black fishnets pressed to her creamy white skin.

When they broke apart so that they could catch their breaths, Kaz smirked as he could see the bottom part of her tattoo peaking out from underneath the skirt. She had only gotten it a couple of months ago but it looked like it had been there forever. It was another crow to join the aviary that they were building within their polycule. Matthias had one on his upper arm, Inej down her back, Jesper on his abdomen, Wylan on his shoulder, Kaz over his heart, and now Nina on her thigh. 

It made him feel like she was truly dedicated to them, willing to join in on even the weirder rituals that their group had decided made them interconnected.

“Kaz,” she mewled as she arched her body into his touch. He had one hand cupping the back of her head so that he could keep her tilted upwards towards him while the other began to slowly trail down her body. He brushed his fingers over the patches of skin that were visible through the holes in the fishnets, pressing the seams of the glove into her soft flesh. “Please,” she whimpered.

He could practically smell the arousal coming off of her in waves. It made his mouth water to think about her soaking through whatever lacy panties she was wearing.

“Please what, my beautiful love?” he asked, his voice extra husky in her ear as he tried to keep a low level. They were alone, above the bar and several doors away from anyone that would be able to hear them, but there was an appeal in saying things like it was supposed to be a secret between just the two of them. 

“I need you,” Nina murmured in reply. She moved so that their eyes met and he took a moment to admire the desperation that was already clinging to her features.

Kaz remembered the first time that he had seen her in this state of arousal. He hadn’t been able to touch her back then, but the rest of his partners had voted that they were okay watching her. She and Matthias had already spent quite a few sessions with each other, unable to keep their hands to themselves when the dam finally began to crack. So they had spread Nina out on the bed, voluptuous curves hidden only by pretty lace undergarments and the thin blanket from the end of the bed. Inej had taken her apart with deliberate yet light movements, trailing over the vast expanse of pale skin and over tattoos without touching anything big and important. Matthias and Jesper had taken turns with her after that, always pulling away just before she had the chance to unravel on them. She had been sobbing and begging, quaking in their hold, by the time that they had finally let her topple over the edge. Matthias had her in his arms when she did, so Jesper had crawled over to Wylan so that he could ravish the lover that had gotten barely any attention.

Of course Kaz had participated and witnessed her being pulled apart like that many times before, but all of them had paled in comparison to the first time he was finally allowed to witness her beauty like that.

He breathed close to her ear, trying to withstand the urge growing in his chest to ravish her then and there. They had agreed that they would drag it out a little bit, try to work each other up so much that they basically exploded when they finally reached their climaxes. Kaz was going to do his best to give Nina everything she wanted, and the woman underneath him was more dedicated to orgasm denial than any other partner Kaz had ever been with.

“Tell me exactly how you need me,” he purred into her ear. He pulled away from her so that he could look into her eyes, boring into her very soul. They had played around with their dynamics before, usually with her pulling him into pieces and then putting him back together with the tender methodicalness that she played her instruments with. Tonight, Kaz was in charge and the dark flush over her freckled cheeks showed that she was more than a little aware of that.

She mewled underneath him, squirming again. Her eyes were transfixed on his for just a moment before she dragged her gaze down to where he was pulling his gloves off of his hands. It shouldn’t have been as erotic as it was, but Kaz almost never took his gloves off while he was in public. He was comfortable doing so with his partners, even if it was a day where he absolutely could not be touched. The fact that he was stripping them off after teasing her as much as he had meant that he was exposing himself to her in his own way.

“I want you to fuck me,” she whimpered. She reached one of her own hands up behind her so that she was grasping the headrest of the comfortable chair she was perched on. The other hand was still grasping out towards him while having the faux position on the armrest. “I want you to pin me up against the wall and fuck me until I can barely walk. I want you to call our partners so that they know how much you’ve destroyed me, so that they have to come pick us up after the bar closes because you can’t take your cock out of me. I want to be so destroyed that we meld together, please, please, Kaz.”

It was so hard to keep the modicum of self control that he had scrounged up inside of him when she spoke like that. He reached down and cupped her cheek in his hand before he pushed down on her lip. “Such dirty words from such a dirty mouth. How do you feel about getting me off at least once before I give in to all of those demands of yours, love?”

She moaned, her eyes rolling back into her head at just the thought of it. She wasn’t always sex-positive, she had her own days when she sometimes didn’t want to be touched, but on days like today she was nothing but a cockslut. Kaz almost wished that the rest of their partners were also there to help fill all of her empty holes until she was just as ruined as she had begged him to be.

Her nimble fingers reached out towards the waistband of his pants just as the phone on his desk went off. The only people that had access to that number were his business partners, who would have been calling at the latest around five in the morning, and his romantic partners. If he was getting a call at that number then it had to be something important, otherwise the rest of their polycule would have called him or Nina on their cellphones.

“You’re going to have to give me a moment, my love,” Kaz said. He leaned down and kissed her on the lips in a way that was sensual enough that it would keep her warm for him until he came back but not enough that it would work her up even further.

She whined desperately as he stepped away from her, but she didn’t even reach out to grab at him. She knew that whatever he was doing had to be important and she was behaving herself so that he would do exactly what she asked when the time finally came.

Kaz picked up the phone from the cradle and then answered it. He pressed the device to his ear as he asked, “Yes?”

“So angry,” came Jesper’s teasing lilt from the other side.

“You interrupted me while I was trying to seduce our very lovely girlfriend, of course I’m angry,” Kaz almost spit. As much as he tried to act tough and scary around his partners, there was never any real venom in his words when addressing them. He had turned so that he was speaking into the phone, connected to the cradle by a cord, while staring at Nina to make sure that she was still worked up and wasn’t getting bored.

“Oh, were you planning on doing that tonight?” Jesper gasped, as though he had somehow forgotten that fact.

Kaz closed his eyes and brought his fingers up to pinch the space between his brows. His nails bit little crescent marks into the skin enough to calm the anger that was brewing in him. He would never really snap at his partners, he had long since moved through that part of his life after he made Inej cry for the first time. That fact didn’t stop the brewing anger in his gut as his cock ached. “Jes, how could you have missed it when I literally put ‘K and N date night’ on the group calendar in the kitchen?”

“I never look at that unless I think I may have a date soon!” Jesper said defensively. 

Affection flared inside of him, overtaking the anger. After his body was jerked out of the ever present fight or flight mode, that had been the primary reason that he hadn’t been snappish with his partners like he was at the beginning of their relationship. All of the quirks that irritated him made him love them more because it reminded him of interactions that they had with each other that he had been blessed enough to observe.

Kaz let out a little sigh and then asked, “What did you call me for, Jesper?”

“Well I was going to talk dirty to you to convince you to come home and help Inej rail me, but I think that you have something else going on,” he replied awkwardly. Kaz could almost see the way that his cheeks were burning from the tone alone, which made a small smile bite at the edges of his lips.

“I am. I would appreciate it if you reminded our other partners that they’re not to bother me either, at least not for a while,” he tried to put as much dominance into his tone as he could without making it sound like he was trying too hard. Jesper was fairly decent at dominating, though nowhere near as fun as Wylan, but he was always putty in Kaz’s hand with the right tone and commands.

“Right away, boss,” he replied. He gave a clipped, “I love you,” before he ended the call.

Kaz set the phone back down in the cradle and then turned back to the woman that he had splayed out on the other side of his office. “Now, my beautiful girl, where were we?”

“I think that you had just promised to make me come undone,” she smirked at the little pun that she had inserted.

He rolled his eyes but crossed the space towards her anyway. He placed his ungloved hands down on either side of the chair so that she was caged in again, slumped down so that she was looking up into his dark eyes through the haze of arousal that he had left her in. “I supposed that I did promise you something similar to that, didn’t I?” he asked, his voice low and gravely in her ear. He watched as the vibrations traveled through her to the base of her spine, where she shuddered.

He tilted her head up with one finger, bringing it away from where he had been keeping her in place. The few inch space between them closed as he brought their lips together in a sensual kiss. They met together time and time again, their lips dancing in a beautiful display of intimacy before it turned to a swirling of tongues and clashing of teeth when things began to heat up. 

Kaz wound his hands around her waist so that he was holding onto her with both of his palms cupping her ass. He grasped there hard enough to make her squeak and break the kiss apart so that she could moan properly. He had been content to be breathing in the noises that she tried to make, but hearing them was fueling the firepit in his belly that made him way to obey every request that she had made to him.

He placed a kiss on her cheek and then another on her jaw before he nipped at her earlobe. He caught the skin in between his lips and then rolled it between his teeth before he released it. She had placed her head almost flat against the chair so that she could expose as much of herself to him as possible. She was writhing underneath him and he had barely done anything.

The trail of kisses continued, open mouthed marks on her skin from the bottom of her jaw all the way to her high collarbone. He grasped the skin in his teeth hard enough that it was already blooming red when he finally released it. He made sure to kiss over the marks like he was sealing them with love to show her just how special she was. He moved his hands from the plush expanse of her ass to rest on her hips so that he could keep her still as he worked.

Once he reached her collarbone, he took some of the skin into his mouth and began to suck so that it would leave a dark welt. She had agreed to let him mark her body up as much as he wanted as long as she could hide it without having to wear a turtleneck or put on excessive amounts of makeup. Kaz was going to take advantage of that generosity, fascinated with the idea of her walking around with a physical reminder of what he had done to her for days to come.

“Kaz, Kaz please,” she whimpered as she began to writhe underneath him. 

“I’m getting to it, beautiful,” he replied gruffly against her skin when he was forced to release the mouthful that he had taken. He would never get over what Nina looked like when she was begging for him, especially when he was working so hard to bring her to pieces. He rewarded her by dragging his now bare hand down the silky material of her dress until he reached the hem, the tips of his fingers brushing over the holes in her fishnets.

She gasped when she finally felt his fingers touch her, the hairs on her arms and legs raising as arousal dumped through her body. “If I didn’t know better I would have thought that you had cum from just me touching you,” he teased her as he began to give her another hickey directly next to where the first one was.

“I would never cum without you telling me to,” she whimpered. “I want to cum so badly, but I want you to be in control of it, please, I want it so badly.”

“You’re going to get it,” Kaz promised. He set back to working on marking up the upper half of her chest until he was content with it. One of his hands was holding her hip to control how much she was able to grind down on the chair below her. The other was exploring the space just underneath the hem of her dress, toying with her to keep her in the moment.

It was only when he had basically given her a necklace of dark bruises that he decided he was ready to continue. He slipped his hand properly underneath her dress as he began to explore what kind of panties she had worn. She would have likely put something very nice on so that she could surprise him and seduce him into going faster.

He was right, of course. His bare fingers brushed over coarse lace and silky smooth fabric. She was wearing her set of the pair that she had bought for herself and Kaz for Jesper’s last birthday. He was very familiar with what they looked like since he had his own, so much so that he could visualize what they looked like underneath her clothing. The bra had a thick underwire and structured shape to keep her voluptuous breasts as far up and together as possible without being a push up bra, with lace just barely tickling the edge of the swell. It was tight to her skin, enough so that they didn’t need to have thick straps like some of the other sets she had for actually going underneath clothing. The dark red would mark her skin and bring out the marks he had already left on her perfectly.

The panties were another story entirely. They were the same dark color of red with lace around the waistband and thighs, clinging to her skin. The primary place for the silk was over her rich folds, which allowed the rest of her skin to be seen through the patterns of flowers and hearts that the lace made. They’d show off her ass by barely covering it and promising something enticing with the color allowing her wetness to be seen fully before they were even removed.

“You’re a naughty girl, you know that?” he asked. He had been aware of what her plan would no doubt be, but he was still struggling against the urge to just give in and hand her everything she wanted on a silver platter. She had said that she wanted a little push back from him, so that was what he was going to give her.

“You like?” she asked, though she was still heaving for breath like she had just run a marathon. Matthias described kissing Kaz to be a very similar experience, not that Kaz himself would know about either.

“Of course I like,” he replied snarkily as he caught her lips in another kiss. He brushed his hand up further so that the silky material of the dress was pushed up and bunched around the very upper parts of her hips. It revealed even more of the fishnet, so that he could see they were actually clipped on instead of covering her entirely.

He groaned as he reached down and unclipped one with nimble, intelligent fingers. He brushed his fingers down into the stocking and pushed it away so that it was pooling around her knee and more of her skin was revealed to him. He then grasped her leg like it was going to suddenly jump away from him if he didn’t hold her down. He dug his fingers into the spongy flesh so that Nina let out a loud moan, breaking their kiss so that the sound could resonate properly in her throat.

“You asked me to destroy you and baby, I promise that I will,” he whispered as he nipped at her ear again. He let his hand travel further up her leg after moving the other one down so that he was holding the fishnets, toying the tips of his fingers in the rough material.

“You’d better,” she whimpered. “I didn’t put this much effort into this outfit to not be rewarded.”

He liked it when she got snarky when they were in bed. Her mouth would begin to run like this and then he would bury himself inside of her, fingers and cock in her cunt and mouth until the only word on her mind was his name. He could tell that Nina liked it as well, which is why she pushed and pulled at him until he was finally at that snapping point. 

The edges of his fingers had just begun to brush against the edge of her panties when there was a sharp knock at the door. Immediately the haze of lust that had been hanging in the air around them snapped. Kaz pulled back and looked down at Nina, trying to convince himself that he could ignore it and go back to what he was doing. The edge of her dress was bunched up around her waist and he could see the growing dark spot on the panties without even getting everything out of the way. She was quite the sight, her legs splayed open to find him in between and one of her stockings shoved down around the knee.

He didn’t get the chance to continue like he wanted to because the knock came again. “What?” he snapped, which made Nina giggle behind her hand. He didn’t want her to be giggling during this scene, he wanted to hear more of her loud moans and squirming motions as he ripped her apart and then put her back together. He had planned something and was getting a little tired of being interrupted already. Maybe he should have picked a day when the bar was closed, even if that meant that she wouldn’t have come to him as pretty as she had post-show.

“There’s something downstairs that needs your attention, boss,” the man replied from the other side of the door. Kaz was able to recognize it as one of the bouncers that he had hired for the busier nights to toss out patrons that got a little too riled up. They were supposed to be able to handle their own, which is why they had gotten picked from his pile of applicants, but every so often the business owner did have to get involved in something. This particular bouncer was notorious for bringing him down for nothing, which had ruined quite a few date nights by leaving Kaz in a bad mood.

He wanted so desperately for this evening with Nina to go well that he was willing to risk the issue behind mishandled as long as he got to have his partner the way he wanted her. “I doubt it. Handle it!” Kaz replied.

He turned back to Nina and began to kiss up and down her neck, pressing longer kisses to the bruise that he had left in the joint her neck and shoulder. She giggled and buried one of her hands in his hair before she let out a pleased moan. She was beginning to melt at his ministrations again, which meant that he had made the right call in what was actually going to set the mood for them.

“Is this part of the scene?” she asked, the callouses on the tips of her fingers toying with the sensitive skin on the back of his neck.

“Us getting interrupted every forty seconds? Do you really think that I’m that bad of a lover?” he retorted, raising a brow at her. She didn’t giggle or laugh the way that he was expecting her to, nor did she snap back at him with a witty snipe of her own. 

He tried to keep the scene going by kissing her neck again, but the knock at the door interrupted him again. “Boss, I’m pretty sure that this is something that you’re going to have to deal with.”

Kaz sighed, resting his forehead against Nina’s shoulder for a moment. He gave her a sweet kiss on the lips and then began to right himself so that he could go out in public. His once hard cock had wilted significantly with all his worries about whether or not his girlfriend was actually enjoying herself and being interrupted, so he only had to shift things slightly so he didn’t look aroused. He re-tucked his shirt in his pants and adjusted his vest before he shoved his gloves back on his hands and got his cane. “I’ll be back in a moment, my dear,” he said.

“I’ll be waiting,” she replied with a small smile.

---

After nearly half an hour of dealing with a problem that he really did have to be the one to solve, he was finally allowed to escape back up the stairs to where his girlfriend was waiting for him. He was feeling frazzled, but still very much looking forward to getting to spend a lovely, romantic night while fucking his girlfriend into oblivion. He had promised that he was going to ruin her and while his body was in more pain than it had been before, he was going to follow through on it.

Kaz slowly made his way up the stairs, relying heavily on his cane and the railing that Inej had made Matthias install after the first time that Kaz had nearly fallen. He paused when he got to the door, already able to hear the melodic tones of Nina’s voice as she went over the same phrase in a song to get it right in her head. It was one of his favorite things to hear when he got home, next to all of his partners laughing over something while cuddled together on their massive front room couch. She was so beautiful when she sang, almost like a spirit of some kind had descended into her body and flowed out of her whenever she allowed herself to be who she really was.

He paused when he got to the doorway, holding onto the handle while watching her so that he could catch even a blink of that wondrous beauty. 

While he was gone, Nina had replaced her stocking and removed both of her shoes. Her long brown hair still pooled around her face and shoulders, haloing her like the angel that she was. She had her guitar in her lap and was still tuning it as she hummed a melody that he didn’t quite recognize.

“Miss me?” he asked after a solid two minutes of watching her and admiring just how lucky he was to have started dating her.

“Kaz, I have something I want to play for you,” Nina replied, her voice clipped and nervous. His own stomach flipped with nerves as he nodded and walked to the other chair. He turned his body so that he was looking properly towards her and waited for her to start.

Nina took a deep breath, her eyes staring down at the hand on the neck of the guitar as she began to play. Her voice joined in with the notes of the instrument, floating heavenly through the air. “The words I speak are wildfires and weeds. They spread like some awful damn disease. I swear I didn’t mean what I said, I swear I didn’t mean it. Now listen close, you owe me ears for dropping eaves. Forget it all, you caught me in a moment weak. Sometimes I just can’t help myself, sometimes I can’t help myself at all. Are we allies or enemies? This will be the death of me. Remember when I could tell you not to smile when you were mad? And you would always crack and we’d both be laughing in the end. Now you’re not so quick to forget.  Are we allies or enemies? This will be the death of me, this will be the death of me. All is fair in love and war, but I can’t fight with you anymore. This will be the death of me. What happens now? Do we have another go? Do we bow out and take our separate roads? I’ll admit I’ve had my doubts, but I want to be let in, not out, but I want to be let in, not out. Are we allies or enemies? This will be the death of me, this will be the death of me. All is fair in love and war, but I can’t fight with you anymore. This will be the death of me. Are we allies or enemies? This will be the death of me.”

By the time that the song finally ended, Kaz felt anxiety sitting high in his throat. He knew that several of the lines were specifically things that he had done with her and that she had asked him to listen to it for a reason. What that reason might be was flying through his mind as he tried to figure out what it was and how he could remedy each one. The idea of any of his partners being upset or discontent with him was one that made him want to simply stop being. He had to make sure that they were all happy and content, he loved them and they deserved that much and more.

“Nina,” he whispered, his voice barely working as he tried to reach out to her.

Her head was bowed and tears were still streaking down her face. She sniffled slightly and then wiped at her cheeks to make the streams disappear. They had ruined her makeup a little bit, but he thought that she still looked lovely with the smeared eyeliner and clumpy mascara. Literally nothing that Nina did ever made her look less than divine.

Kaz left his cane so that it was leaning against the end table next to his chair and then got up. He carefully bent both of his legs and knelt down in front of her. He moved the guitar so that it was resting propped up in the other chair and then took her hands into his own. He was still wearing his gloves, but he couldn’t even think about that with the all consuming panic of possible having upset Nina. “Is that… Is that how you feel about me?”

“Part of it is,” she whispered. “That’s a song for the new album that our manager wants us to release, so part of it was written by Alina. I don’t think that you necessarily hate me like that song says but… I do wonder if you want to be with me or if you’re with me because I’m together with everyone else in your polycule.”

That was a punch to the gut. He struggled showing his emotions and tailoring his love to the languages and actions that his partners understood best. He had been trying to hard and apparently still missing the mark, to which he knew Jesper and Inej would just say that he had to ask more and do less.

“Nina,” he whispered. He brought his hand up to the side of her face so that he was cupping her cheek and then touched his forehead to hers. “I love you for you, not because you come with my partners. I’m sorry that what I’ve been doing hasn’t shown you how much I care for you, but I truly do.”

“I just feel like I’m in the way of what you really want, sometimes,” she whispered.

“What I want is you and the others,” Kaz replied. “The only thing that I want nowadays is you and the others. You’re everything to me.”

“You don’t hate me?” she asked, plastering a smile over her watery features. She leaned her head into his hand when he began to rub his gloved thumb over her cheek and kissed the tip of her nose.

“I could never hate you,” Kaz murmured. “You’re impossible to hate, not only because of how devastatingly beautiful you are, but because you’re funny and witty and probably the only person other than Inej that could properly put me in my place. I want you to be by my side because you fill that hole that I had in my heart, Nina.”

“That’s awful sweet coming from you, soul of darkness,” she teased, though he could see the flush beginning to creep up her neck. “I’m sorry for ruining date night.”

“I don’t think it’s ruined,” Kaz replied easily as he pressed a kiss to her lips. “I think that we should just put it on pause and go home. I’m sure that Jesper would like to shower you with love.”

She reached down to his hand and cupped it in hers for a moment. She then peeled the glove off of his skin and set it down next to her. “I think that I want to spend a night with just you, if that’s okay.”

He was surprised to hear that. Usually their date nights included a dinner where they out-sexied the other until one of them caved and they returned to a private residence so that they could fuck the brains out of the other. It was rare that she asked to have tender, sweet moments with just him. He supposed that if she had been having that much inner turmoil about the state of their relationship then it only made sense that she would need that form of aftercare.

“Of course it is,” he replied, trying to keep his voice calm and patient instead of lashing out like his first instinct was. He had come a long way and was trying to reassure her that he did love her, so snapping at her would have the opposite effect. “Come, let’s escape the bar and go back to my house so that I can shower you with the affection that you deserve. I’ll make you come undone by picking up a box of your favorite sweets on the way instead of fucking you on my desk like I had planned.”

“Mm, promise me that’s something we can do after another one of my shows and you’ll have basically married me, Brekker,” she replied. She was already sounding more like herself, which caused the knot of anxiety in Kaz’s chest to easily melt away. He threaded his fingers together with hers and then helped her up from the chair. They gathered their things and walked out of the bar much the same way that they had gone up the stairs, disappearing from the nosy eyes of the patrons to their own private island of healing and love, just the two of them.

[shortfictionweeklychallenge]

Short Fiction Weekly Challenge

Time for a new prompt from the Short Fiction Weekly Challenge, tumblr edition.  Let it spark your imagination.  Any character, any fandom, any original world.   Reblogs welcome!

Post your story to your blog and send the link to Short Fiction Weekly Challenge!  We’ll send the link out to all our followers to enjoy.

This week’s SFWC prompt:

Week of June 14, 2024

Marriage: It is in the month of June that many young people’s thoughts turn to marriage. How about your character? We’ve looked at love interests and companions and life partners and spouses, but not spouses specifically. Marriage is a legal bond. It grants specific rights and responsibilities, different from other more ephemeral relationships. Is your character married? To whom and why? Does your character’s society license marriages other than the “one man and one woman?” Polygamy and/or polyandry? A way of sanctioning a polycule? Can any number of people of any gender combination enter into a marriage contract? How does this affect their society? How well does your character adhere to the rules and expectations of marriage, and have they cleared any of it with their spouse(s)?

Feel free to continue submitting stories for any prompt.  A masterpiece missed the deadline?  Don’t let it gather electronic dust.  Submit it anyway and Short Fiction Weekly Challenge will publish it.  

This week’s featured previous prompts are: 

Environment, Terrain, and Weather: Stories take place somewhere and it’s rare that canon details every locale in their world. There is plenty of space for a fanfic writer to put their character or their adventures by expanding on what exists, or making up something that fits. How does the local terrain and weather affect the characters? What problems does it cause, and what things are made easier? Not every character likes the same weather and environment---does this cause friction in the party? What was the environment like where your character grew up? Did it change, and how? Is your adventure set on an ice planet or a desert planet or a jungle planet--and shouldn’t planets have more than one biome? 

Honor Among Thieves: The phrase is usually interpreted as “don’t rat out your partners in crime.”  But it could be more than just keeping your fellow criminals out of jail. Is there a code of conduct that goes along with being part of a thieves guild? What rules does it specify and why? Is it more an informal agreement that everyone just knows, or is it spelled out somewhere? What kind of honor can exist among people who discarded the rest of society's rules, and how is it enforced?

Got an idea for a prompt?  Submit it here.