#when buck has his feelings realization I WILL perish

[scrapyardwarlocks]

Thinking about Buck recontextualizing interactions with men throughout his life after discovering he's bi.

When he remembers the blushing fool he became soon after meeting Eddie: oh fuck oh jesus oh goddammit

[tragedybunny]

Moon Blood - Astarion x F!Reader - NSFW, TW: Period Sex

I know it's been done before, but it's the most delicious notion.

Reader awakes one morning to find themselves menstruating. Astarion has a plan to help them clean up.

It starts when you wake that early afternoon, your body’s way of celebrating its liberation from the tadpole apparently. Two days out from the near cataclysm and you woke to  the uncomfortable warmth of blood spattering your thighs. Early, an annoyance. Beside you, Astarion dozes peacefully, sleeping what little he needs to, arm wrapped tightly around you as though you could vanish if it weren’t. You’d been doing what you could to help the city, but after everything that had happened, he was your main priority. Perhaps that was selfish but didn’t you and him deserve a little selfishness? 

Across the room you eye the wash basin, so close but so far with your love’s death grip on you. Delicately, you try to move him, enough to slip out, but not wake him. Pushing his arm down only causes him to hold tighter and you push again, a little harder. “But Darling,” he murmurs and wraps both arms around you, to drag you close. At this rate you were going to ruin the bed in the room you’d very kindly been given. 

“Astarion,” you whisper and shake him, frustration growing. 

There’s a little pang of guilt when his eyes slowly open, you do hate to wake him when he actually sleeps. “Is something wrong, Love,” he asks sleepily. 

Unguarded and disheveled, he’s incredibly alluring, more so because you’re the only person in the world to see him like this. For a moment you forget to answer as your body fills with an ache for him, heightened by your current state. “Uh, no, I’m, I just need to get up.” 

Eyes widen, suddenly alert, and he sits up, inhaling sharply. “You’re bleeding.”

“It’s…,” why is this so embarrassing, it’s perfectly natural, “it’s moon blood.” 

The look on his face shifts from concern to hunger. “Moon blood,” he repeats, glancing down to your red stained thighs, tongue idly licking his fangs.  

Warmth travels across your skin and you know it's turning a bright shade of red, the insinuation you think you hear in his tone makes you shiver. “Y-yes, love, and I need to clean it up,” he can’t really be thinking that. 

“Perish the thought my Darling,” you swallow thickly. "That would be such a terrible waste." The way he hovers over you gives you a sense of being prey and you almost whimper out loud. Reaching out, he tilts your head up, capturing you in a deep kiss, and then whispering in your ear. "Allow me." 

The thought is intoxicating even as it feels forbidden. Your mouth is too dry and your voice doesn't work. "I…," you only manage a breathy gasp after that. 

"I need you to use your words, sweet girl, and tell me that's what you want," he speaks against your ear, nipping the pointed tip of it. 

Still holding your chin, he forces you to look him in the eyes. "I-I want you to clean me up." He smiles devilishly and gestures for you to continue. Your startled mind takes a minute to realize what he wants. "Please."

"Good girl," you quiver at the words. 

With gentle firmness his hands push your shoulders back toward the mattress, before tossing the discarded blanket to the floor. "Spread your legs," he commands, encouraging you with an insistent grip on your thighs. "Gorgeous," he exhales at the sight of you. 

Kneeling between your legs, he captures your lips again, and then begins to kiss down your body, firmly pining your hands back down when you reach for him. The message is clear, you've surrendered control to him. Little nipping kisses are planted from your neck to your abdomen, special attention is lavished on your now overly sensitive nipples. You fight to keep your hands at your sides as he trails his tongue over one before you feel the sharp bite of one of his fangs. Your hips buck and you whine. "Please."

"Patience my Love." The torture continues on your other nipple until you're writhing. Only then does he resume his path, pausing just before reaching your eager sex. 

"Hmm," he torments you, "so much to savor."

He licks a wide swath over one of your crimson painted thighs and sighs. "Astarion," you whine, mad with need. 

Ignoring you, he takes his time cleaning up your thighs, savoring the taste. Working his way closer and closer to where you want him the most, only to pull away and start on the other. Groaning, you frustratedly slap the mattress. "Girls who can't behave themselves don't get my help," he teases and you quiet. 

The first swipe of his tongue against your cunt brings a moan to your lips. The euphoria has just begun though. Slow, languid licks explore you, tasting the blood and slick of your arousal, lavishing every inch of you. Astarion groans against you. "You're delectable my Darling," his words are punctuated by his tongue penetrating you, leaving you mewling. 

Two fingers start to caress your sensitive bud as his tongue continues to torture you, pushing as deep as he can. His own little noises of pleasure join yours as he devours you, lapping and sucking until you're desperately writhing against his face. "Astarion, I need t-," your words are lost as his mouth moves to your clit, taking it between his teeth and sucking. 

"Come for me my sweet," he commands, fingers entering you and moving with the perfect rhythm to set everyone of your nerves on fire. With his divine attentions you don't last long, crying his name as you see stars. 

He isn't done though. Before you can come down,  he shifts back to kneeling and looks down at you, chin painted red and eyes hazy with lust. "Yes," you breathe, in answer to the question he hasn’t asked yet. 

He thrusts inside you, the sensation of being filled so quickly, so completely, pulling another moan from you. "Always so eager for me," he growls, driving you mad. 

Holding your hips in an iron grip, he fucks you with a wild need. So much for the borrowed bed you lament for a second before being washed away again. "Gods," you pull your legs back to your chest, desperate to take him as deep as possible. 

"Fuck, Love," he groans, "taking it so good. My little bloody mess. Naughty girl might need to be cleaned up again." The words do you in a second time and you come, quivering around him. 

He doesn't let up his pace, every moment of your orgasm filled with fresh sparks of bliss, until with a last deep stroke you feel his seed pumping into you. He leans down, kissing you, and the taste of all of you on him is intoxicating. "Sorry Love," he pulls away smirking. "I don't think I was much help after all."

[wcrldcffantasy]

Zen was feeling a headache coming on as he was listening to all this, then pinched the bridge of his nose. Fymryn almost stepped back for a moment with unsureness, but the King soon stood up.

"You all might not understand it now, but I am trying to fix the very mistake that the Li family, what Madame Yue, had failed to accomplish. I'd rather not rush anything," He looks at Faith for this before looking at Hiccup, "Nor am I going to stop..."

Hiccup was about to say something when the doors suddenly burst open and everyone turned to see a scared looking guard rushing towards Zen, leaning in and whispered frantically in his ear.

"...What?"

The guard was stepping back with a nod, and Zen's facial expression darkened. This confused Hiccup for a moment, before he then saw Seiya coming in afterwards, almost having this...amused yet sarcastic smile on his face, almost as if he heard some bad news as a joke. This was when Zen snapped his head towards his old friend and narrowed his eyes.

"...Is what this fool said true? Are they...?"

"Didn't see this coming did you, Zen? Ironic isn't it?" Seiya had a wry smirk on his face as Hiccup stared at him, and the former hero tilted his head as he gave out a dry chuckle, "The rightful heirs are alive."

"I hope Tsubasa-nii is okay...I can feel him somewhere..."

A young woman sighed as she looked towards her companion, a male buck that just moved protectively towards her and nuzzled his snout against her cheek as if to tell her that everything will be alright.

"Thank you for the warm encouragement, Bambi. You're right. I'm positive that we'll be reunited with my brother soon!"

"Princess Hime! I think someone has seen where Prince Tsubasa went!"

The brown haired princess blinked her emerald green eyes as she looked towards three people walking her way, and she softened, "Good work, Amiboshi! But do you really think that Tsubasa-nii really is nearby in this town?"

"Well Sano-san thinks so! He and Lady Maria have already talked to the citizens here and they have said they have seen a young man with the same description as His Highness!" The greenish blond haired man said enthusiastically, "It seems he's also travelling with companions! They could be our friends!"

"Now hold on, kiddo," A very tall brown haired man stepped forward while holding his large stoned sword, as he then looked around, "We dunno if it's really Tsubasa or not...besides, seems this town is a little skittish when we mentioned his name and the little missy's."

Sano was a bit weirded out, honestly. To think that he woke up in a strange world, thinking he was in heaven...and only to realize he was actually alive...and found quickly his companion and the missing princess that he thought perished along with her family.

'Man...if only Lord Anos was alive to see this...'

"Mister Sano is correct, Ami. We have to be careful. This isn't like the Demon Realm where we could take things easy," A blonde haired young woman spoke and sat down next to Hime on the bench then smiled at her gently, "Don't worry, Princess. I'm sure your brother is somewhere around here..."

Hime softened and then looked up at the skies for a moment, Bambi resting his head onto her shoulder as the princess stroked his snout gently, "I really do hope so Maria..."

"Yeah so...pretty much there's just a lot to take in, and we totally get it," Alphonse breathed out as he watched Davion's expression, seeing the man holding Yun closely in his arms with a contemplative look, "...Sir Davion, I know...you think of the what ifs but—"

"It's not just the what ifs, Alphonse," Davion spoke quietly as he glanced at him and his brother, then sighed, "I really missed a lot. And I feel like if I wasn't careless back then...if I could've prevented things and clung to life for Yun—"

"With all due respect, the world would've been the same. M-Maybe even worse than it ever will be, the flow of time with the butterfly effect of our choices are honestly unpredictable."

Davion raised a brow at the new voice and looked up to see two people come in...and he didn't recognize them at all. He looked to Edward for an explanation, who coughed and straightened himself.

"You know how Wonderland almost ripped a lot of holes in the fabric of space and time? Well, apparently one of them was called a Mirrorverse. And there are some individuals that leaked out...like these two—"

"I think we can introduce ourselves from here, Edward," A young man with a mop of ginger brown hair in glasses spoke up, coughing as he then pressed said glasses up the bridge of his nose, "Milo James Thatch...b-believe it or not, I am from Atlantis. I-I mean, my late wife the Queen had brought me to live with her and all but since the fall of the City I didn't know what to do a-and I was brought here--"

"Ahh, l-let's not go into too much detail there, Milo," Another young man stepped up, rubbing the side of his neck as he calmed his friend down before looking at Davion with a sheepish grin, "I'm Eric. Kinda a fallen Prince turned sailor travelling the seas and...found Milo and ended up here. It's thanks to Mister Yun and his group that rescued us before we were taken by some weirdos that wanted to trap us."

"Trap you?" Davion asked.

"M-More like capture us for questioning and possible experimentation since apparently they saw my necklace and thought I held some power they were looking for...huh." Milo hummed as he then tilted his head, "Also, I never did think I'd meet another white haired and blue eyed person that wasn't Atlantian,"

Edward shrugged as he was then looking at Davion, "Anyways, Milo and Eric are kinda one of us now. But I know this has been a whole thing and...I guess you'd need to rest, catch up with Yun and Beelzebub?"

Davion nodded his head slowly, "I...suppose being resurrected is kinda surreal to me still..."

Beelzebub winced when Edward mentioned Yue but thanked Mother Lilith for his husband's not losing his cool. "Zen's lately shown the signs of what Wonderland's White Queen was about: apathy."

He looked as if he had swallowed a bitter lemon as he prepared to speak. "It's bad, Dav." he said. After taking a deep breath, he thanked Alphonse for the reports and handed them to Citalee, who placed a comforting hand on his king's shoulder. "We lost a lot of allies and friends, and when news would reach us that they've been spotted...well..."

"They were not the ones Their Majesties knew." Citalee replied, sorrow lacing his softer voice. "The price to bring back the dead is extremely high, something I'm sure you're well aware of, Sir Davion. and one cannot be guaranteed that the soul of the departed will return intact, such as your own. The soul may not even be the departed's either."

Yun then spoke, his voice calm and sage-like, hinting that the ancient primal who had slumbered within him was now in control. "Zen then began to descend into what you may call madness, but not in Wonderland's sense. Wakanuki's powers do indeed take a heavy toll on one's mental health, as does being under the constant pressure of being the heir of the Time Witch's powers. Mix in that he has become better known as the White King...well, no matter. The tides have turned. Our game is not over."

Beelzebub and Citalee looked at one another with a bit of worry, but as Yun hadn't really moved and seemed to be content with sitting in Davion's lap, they felt it was best to wait til Yun fell asleep, and THEN they would brief Davion on what happened after Yun beheaded the Red Queen.

Citalee then brought up to Davion that the children were safe, Stephan and Li were with their eldest brother down at the cottage by the sea with the twins. "I think Onyx said in his letter that he just arrived."

"That's a declaration of war on Hell!" Fjord shouted as Howelette paled upon hearing Zen's words. "The Red Queen's subjects fell under Emperor Yun's jurisdiction upon him decapitating her!" As much as Fjord may fear his queen's brother, even he was horrified that Zen would go that far to ensure that there would be no more threats to Yue, or them for that matter.

That was when he realized something.

Yun had not been seen since the first century of Zen's reign. Now everyone thought he was off licking his wounds, grieving for losing Davion, and that might all be true, even Fjord felt for his queen's brother; Yun did lose his husband and nearly his children.

But something didn't add up because Fjord now realized that something was clearly wrong with the Emperor of Hell. "All this time...you've kept him imprisoned within Hell's borders. Within his own castle til he found a way to visit Sir Davion's grotto."

"That is where the likes of the Key of Armageddon belongs, is that not so?" A voice came from Zen's right as both Fjord and Howlette backed up to Hiccup's side. "Akhir has awakened, his vassal, his temple now infected with the Wonderland Madness, those who sided with him desired nothing but our own Empress of Heaven's blood. Must I remind you that he has sworn that he will KILL not only her but King Zen as well?"

The angel, one of the original virtues, spoke as she came into the light, her light blue hair dull but her ice blue eyes, those that held nothing but a cold and icy demeanor, judged the trio harshly. She then set her sights upon Zen. "But now that Emperor Yun has escaped and made himself known, it is best to do some damage control. Sir Davion will not placate him for long."

"Nothing is going to placate Emperor Yun, Faith. He was unjustly imprisoned while still grieving the loss of his love, and you made sure that he didn't have the chance to get to Princess Acheron's side when he went postal."

Then, it dawned on the fairie, and she had to stop herself from launching at the angel. "You...You damned bitch...You made sure that Ash was the catalyst! You hurt that innocent-"

"Innocent? Ash MURDERED an entire neighborhood back in 1899. The only reason he even has Percy now is because of our Empress's mercy and misplaced love for the boy."

[achillieus]

we’re fools (bucky barnes x reader)

summary: for all bucky barnes knows, he hates clichés. and this thing between you two, happens to be the biggest one.

(enemies to lovers trope or i watched the society on netflix recently and based this entirely on harry bingham and cassandra pressman)

pairing: college au!bucky x reader

warnings: alcohol, a lot of sexual references, but also a lot of fluff, bucky and reader are in love, also bucky gets cheesy and he hates it

(other parts)  (masterlist)

part 3/3:

Bucky thinks he fell in love on a Tuesday.

“This year, I’m gonna ask Peggy Carter out.” It’s the first day of their third semester and Steve is putting his black baseball cap in his perfect hair, checking his reflection on his phone screen. One of the freshman girls winks at him and he shyly half smiles.

Usually, Bucky would tease him about it, but now he’s attention is wholly on something else. Someone else.

A girl at the other end of the hall, holding a paper juice box, wearing a gaudy denim dress that stops right before her knees.

He’s certain he hasn’t seen her before and judging by the adrift look on her face he deduces she’s in her first year. Is she pretty? He can’t decide. She’s definitely something. And if he stares at her a bit longer than socially acceptable, well let’s say, it’s completely unintended.

“Buck, did you hear what I said?” Steve says at one point and Bucky isn’t sure for how long he has been lost in her figure.

“Yeah sure.” The girl starts walking at their direction -it must be your lucky day, Bucky-, clutching the golden heart jewel around her neck. She’s looking at the doors, she’s looking at the big campus map they have on the wall. She’s looking everywhere but at him and it’s almost offensive considering the amount of time he spent looking at her.

“I’m sorry,” And then she’s there standing a few steps behind Steve. Almost hidden behind his colossal demeanor. “I can’t seem to find the Admission Office.”

A small nervous laugh escapes her lips and Bucky watches the little wrinkles around her eyes, the subtle blush on her cheeks. She doesn’t look pretty. No. She looks consuming.

“Admission office is on the left, doll”. He replies a little too fast. He had to beat Steve. He had to talk to her.

She smiles at him and somehow, along that smile, Bucky thinks he fell in love. With you.

-

(bucky barnes has been in love with you for 563 days)

-

“Did you just kiss me?”

His voice is barely a whisper and his vision is blurry and it’s weird because suddenly he realizes how scared he’s of you. Of the power you have on him. An alarming craving. Every addiction he can’t control combined. Bucky isn’t afraid of many things, not exactly. But he’s afraid that you’ll take his heart and break it, if you want to. And he’s more afraid that he’ll just allow you to. He wonders, for the split of a second, if you have any idea how everything changed when your lips met his. How something inside of him shifted.

“I’m sorry,” You finally answer and he needs a moment to compose himself, “I’m so sorry I just thought-”

“Shut up, I’d died if you hadn’t kissed me.”

“What?”

It’s innocent and terribly oblivious, the way you ask him that and he half smiles, almost touches your palm before his mind stops racing. Ignores the alcohol in his body. Reminds him that he’s Bucky Barnes, that he’s clever and brilliant and a little bit narcissistic and that he doesn’t do love.  Not anymore. And that people adore him for that. And that he needs to uphold it. At least try to.

“I’m not repeating that soppy thing I said,” He drawls and smirks, his teeth gleaming in the fluorescent light of the hall. He has his mask back on. He’s playing his part again. And then he takes a quick step, opens his door and turns around, swift motions and hard grips and suddenly your spine hits the walls of his room. “But you can repeat that sexy thing you did with your tongue.”

Bucky isn’t stupid. He knows he’d perish and wither in a blast if you asked him to, yet he would never admit that. At least not so fast. And specially not to you. He has built his persona so carefully, wore it like an armor, it has become a second skin.

His chapped lips scratch soft against your neck, his hands play with the end of your dress and you observe the way his orbs are colored darker now. He knows what he’s doing. It’s a show he’s practiced. His touch is sharp, like a razor, cuts through your epidermis, comes close to your veins and the muscles of your heart.

And you’re ready to close your eyes, savor every minute of it, offer yourself like an altar and let him wipe the rationality out of you, but the moment his fingers find the wet silk between your legs there’s pain and your throat dries out instantly.

“Bucky, wait.”

“What’s wrong doll?”

“Can we stop?”

There’s the cruel split of a moment where the anxiety inside of you flares up dangerously and you fill like on the edge of a cliff, like falling and it’s horrible. And then you see his body relax, breathing a sigh of relief and laughing.

“Thank God you asked.”

“Barnes,” you hit him with your elbow, “You’re doing wonders for my self esteem right now!”

“You’re an idiot,” he replies with a grimace, “It’s just that I’m drunk and I prefer if I’m not drunk when we have sex. I want to remember the whole thing.”

A strange sensation tingles somewhere between your ribs and your stomach, something so pure and new, and it raises goosebumps all over you. And you smile at him.

And somehow along that smile, Bucky’s mask starts to fall.

/

Bucky Barnes, you learnt within your first month in college, is a year older than you, a proud boy that always asks the right questions and always gives the right answers, with charms and wits of a living god.

Bucky Barnes, you learnt the night you kissed him in the narrow aisle, may have a sharp tongue but he also has the sweetest lips, soft and liqueur like.

Bucky Barnes, you learn some days later, doesn’t want many people to know about you two, and sits three tables away during lunch.

/

“Are you embarrassed of me?”

Your mind is racing with dozens of hurtful possibilities, some more or less, and Bucky looks at you, eyes widen and surprised.

“Why would I be embarrassed of you?”

“I don’t know,” you take the tea cup in your hands, drink and stay silent for a while, observe the way he’s fidgeting with his fingers, “Why else would you avoid me whenever there’s someone else but Sam around?”

It takes some time before he walks closer, sits next to you by his bedframe and touches your hand, your skin freezing under his.

“I’m scared.”

“Of what?”

Your heart almost stops, because Bucky is never scared, and his answer feels strangely heavy and bitter from his lips when he says, “I just don’t want anyone to ruin this.”

He doesn’t smile, doesn’t even smirk like he usually does, just stares at you with narrow eyes and a quick breath.

“Bucky, I hate it to break it to you,” you say, a glint of amusement in your voice, “But I don’t think others care that much about us.”

You cup his face in your hands, guide him backwards, his back hitting the pillow and it’s the first time he has no choice but to comply.

“And even if they do,” you breath in, wet your lips and tease the corner of his mouth with your finger, “It’s not our problem.”

Bucky grabs the back of your neck, shifts even closer to you, his heart not missing a beat. And when you kiss him, he smiles. And somehow along that smile, Bucky becomes more of himself.

/

It goes like this;

People read it in his eyes. How his gaze never leaves you even while you’re writing a test and he needs to concentrate, how he looks mesmerized when you braid your hair while scanning the textbook in front of you. How he could find you even in the middle of the biggest crowd.

People see it in your reactions. How your fingers always wrap around his wrist, almost instinctively, before he leaves, and you kiss him one time on the lips, and then one more on the cheek. How your voice changes as soon as he enters the room. How you’d know he’s here even without looking.

You really have to try to be oblivious to love.

/

(text messages between classes)

(10:26 AM) bucky: hey does taylor swift have to be playing in the background when we have sex

(10:27 AM) you: it’s not even noon bucky what the hell

(10:27 AM) bucky: i went through your spotify and APPARENTLY you have a  “🍆🍆🍆” playlist

(10:27 AM) bucky: and it’s just taylor swift and hozier???

(10:27 AM) bucky: who the hell wants to have sex with a taylor swift song playing

(10:28 AM) you: I’m gonna kill you

(10:28 AM) bucky: nah <3

/

It’s surprisingly easy, dating Bucky Barnes, and by the end of the first month, you feel at home, at ease.  He talks a lot, way more than you expected him to, he shares his favorites, the way he always underlines quotes he likes in the books he’s reading or how he never eats anything that has soy in it. He shows you everything about him, not just who he is, but who he’s ever been. And it’s beautiful.

And you observe how he breathes easier now, smiles more. He doesn’t keep his guard up, doesn’t flinch when nobody’s looking at him.

/

He thinks it’s weird.

He thinks it’s weird, because kissing has always been an act of foreplay to him and he never paid much attention, but now, with you, he could spend his whole life kissing you.

But when you start pulling at the buttons of his black expensive shirt, well, it’s not like he’s complaining. He presses his body against yours, his hands almost shaking, his fingers burying in your hair, slowly tugging.

“Bucky,” You breath in his neck, “I may be bad at this.”

“What?” He whispers as he leaves wet trails all the way to your chest.

“I haven’t done this before, so I may be bad at it.”

He stares right at your lips, notices your sweet cherry scent mixing with the sharp notes of his aftershave, touches the spot under your eyes and smiles.

“Guess we’ll have to do it over and over again then.” He’s half laughing, half kissing your shoulder and you can feel your cheeks flush and your entire being tighten.

And then his cold fingertips draw circles on your inner thighs and you close your eyes, and Bucky forgets how to breath.

/

“I probably sound like a fool but, I’m in love with you.”

You didn’t plan on saying it that early, but he’s here, warm and glistening and in your arms and you can’t go another minute without hearing the words out loud.

“And I probably sound competitive but, I’ve been in love with you since God knows when.”

/

(AH IT’S FINISHED BUT YAY THEY’RE IN LOVE)

tagging: @tonystankschild @osterfieldshollandgirl​ @roguesthetic @buckyjms​ @ohladymacbeth​

[tomurasprincess]

Deceptive (Shindou Yo x Reader)

Pairing: Shindou Yo x Reader Warnings: noncon, blackmail, stalking, manipulation, overstimulation, yandere Word Count: 2.5k Note: A yandere prompt getting away from me again? Perish the thought! At least I have a good reason for this one though, as it’s Shindou’s birthday. 

~~~~

You really hate Shindou Yo. You had decided this shortly after meeting him, in fact. He is cocky, a flirt who seems to think every woman he meets should throw themselves at his feet in adoration.

Even worse was the utter fakeness about him that you instantly saw through. His nice guy persona was just that, a persona. Something he put on to hide the true man underneath. You resent the fact that you’re the only one who seems to notice it, the only one who is wary around him.

Shindou knows it, too. His eyes turned calculating when you first met him, instantly sensing that you didn’t buy the act he put on. After that, he made it his mission to win you over, one way or the other. He followed you around to force you into talking to him, gave you expensive gifts, asked you out on dates.

But the more you refused him, the harder he pursued you, like a fly that refused to be swatted. You started trying to avoid him completely, but it was hard to avoid someone who works at the same hero agency as you do.

You suspect he was the one responsible for some of your usual patrols getting switched around so that you would be forced to pair up with him. And with him being a higher ranked hero than you are, you had no choice but to go along with it without complaint.

That led to your current situation, hiding out with Shindou in some abandoned warehouse while you wait for a meeting between several troublesome villains.

“We’ve been waiting for so long,” you sigh for what feels like the hundredth time. “I don’t think these villains are going to show.”

“So impatient, sweetheart,” he laughs. “Don’t worry, it will be worth our time.”

“I don’t even know why they have us waiting for these guys.” You roll your eyes. “They’re small fry, not anyone higher level pro heroes like us should be chasing down.”

Shindou smiles as if you just told a good joke. “Oh, that’s because you’re exactly right.”

You glance at him sharply. “What the hell do you mean?”

“You heard me. Those villains are being taken care of by interns in another location.”

Alarm bells begin to ring in your ears. “Then why are we waiting here,” you ask cautiously.

“You’ve been avoiding me the past few weeks.” He grins, and it’s not the fake smile of the cheerful nice guy that the media knows him as. It’s the true smile of Shindou Yo, the darkness peering through that you knew was there. “I don’t like to be ignored.”

“What the hell - you made this up to get me alone?” Your voice rises in anger as you glare at him, but he simply gives you his signature infuriating smirk.

“That is fucked up!” You abruptly stand up and move to leave. “I’m going to report this, and then I’ll never have to deal with you again.” Before you can take two steps away from him, you feel him grab your ankle and activate his quirk.

You let out a choked gasp, your knees buckling and collapsing at the strength of the vibrations coursing through your leg. Before you can hit the ground, Shindou catches you and forces you down face first onto the cold, dirty concrete floor. “Oh, that’s sure as hell not going to happen, sweetheart.”

“Let me go, you piece of shit,” you hiss as you kick your legs out to try and gain leverage. He simply presses himself harder against your back, holding you in place with sheer brute force. He is so much bigger than you are and he has you in an awkward position to fight back. You can’t even hope to use your quirk in this situation, and he must know that.

“You think I don’t notice how much you want me?” He grinds his hips into your ass, and you can already feel the considerable bulge in his hero suit. “You’re just playing hard to get.”

“No I’m not, you fucking creep,” you try to slam your head back into him to loosen his grasp, but he anticipates this and activates his quirk again.

The vibrations course through your whole body this time, causing a scream to rip out of you as you feel weakness overtake your body. You drop limply in his grasp, gasping in exertion.

He gives you a malicious chuckle. “Be a good girl and I’ll make you feel good.” As he says this, his hands run up and down your sides, caressing and stroking your skin through your clothes.  

He knots his fingers into your hair as he pulls your back into an arch so that he can plant hot, open mouthed kisses down your neck. You whimper and try to squirm away, but you only succeed in grinding your ass harder against Shindou’s erection, causing a groan to slip from his mouth.

“Fuck, just keep doing that.” You feel him lift himself off of you just enough to rip your hero suit right down the middle like it was nothing but paper. Before you can even move away, he lifts your hips up to put you fully on your hands and knees, head still pressed against the floor.

He works your clothes all the way off of you before slipping down your panties to expose your heated core. “God, you have such a pretty pussy, sweetheart.” He reaches down to spread your lips open for him. “I can’t wait to be inside of you.”

You let out an embarrassed whine, your cheeks burning with shame as he looks at your bare pussy. You try to close your legs, only for him to force them back open with a chuckle. “So shy, baby~ You shouldn’t be so shy, you’re my perfect Angel.”

You hear a sudden buzzing behind you, and you try to lift your head up to see what he’s doing, only for him to grab your head and force it back down. “Or you will be once I get done with you,” he snickers darkly.

He strokes a single finger down the length of your folds, gathering your wetness on his finger and using it to stroke tight circles around your clit. “I knew you wanted this. You’re so fucking wet, and I haven’t even started.” He leans down to start kissing and licking down your back, forcing a shudder out of you.

“Please no, I don’t want this,” you whimper, as you try to get him to turn away from the path he’s decided to take. “Just stop and I won’t tell anyone, I promise.”

“You sound so fuckin’ cute when you beg,” he chuckled. “Makes me want to hear it more often.”

He activates his quirk with two fingers directly on your clit, and you let out a wanton moan at the feeling that only gets louder as the pulses get more intense. You gasp and try to buck away from the sudden intensity of it, but he refuses to let you move. You’re horrified to feel the pleasure building up inside of you, the realization that you’re going to cum so quickly from his fingers alone.

You struggle with yourself, trying to will yourself not to, but these thoughts fly from your head in favor of pure sensation as he slips two fingers inside of you suddenly. You gasp and tremble as your orgasm crests over you, walls clenching around his fingers.

“Oh, good fucking girl, cum all over my fingers,” he praises you as his fingers curl up against your walls and begin to vibrate against a spot inside of you that you’ve never even touched yourself. When he realizes that he found the right spot, he abuses it relentlessly, pressing his fingers hard against it as his other hand continues to stroke and vibrate against your clit.

You feel yourself rapidly coming undone again, the pressure inside of you building and building while you try and resist the sudden urge to pee. “Stop stop stop, it feels so weird,” you whine as you begin to squirm at the unfamiliar sensation.

“Yeah? Just let it happen, sweetheart,” he coos at you as he scrapes your walls at just the right angle. You squeal as you’re pushed over the edge, cunt clenching down as you feel fluids gushing out of you and onto Shindou’s arm and chest. Your head falls back as you pant and try to catch your breath.

“I - I’ve never,” you begin to say before you trail off mid sentence, unsure how to finish.

“So I was the first to make you squirt, huh?” He gives you a cocky smirk, obviously enjoying the fact that he forced you into it. “Fucking hell, that’s so hot.”

“Please, you’ve had your fun,” you whisper as a tear runs down your face. “Just let me go now.”

“I’ve had my fun?” His face looks incredulous. “I made you cum twice, once so hard that you squirted.  You mean to tell me you don’t think you should take care of me, too?” His voice sounds so reasonable, so genuinely questioning that you almost agree before you come to your senses.

“No! I don’t want this,” you protest loudly, “I don’t want any of this!”

“Well too fucking bad,” he growls. “Maybe you should have thought about that before you were a spoiled fucking princess.”

You hear his clothes rustling as he unzips his pants, and you shiver in a mixture of anticipation and fear. You’re still trembling from the aftershocks of your intense orgasm, feeling wrung out and tired already and he’s not even inside of you.

You feel his cock prod at your entrance, and you shoot a quick glance behind you, this time with him allowing you to. You glance between his legs, and your eyes widen and your cunt clenches at the sight behind you.

Shindou is a big man, and it makes sense that his cock would be equally large. But you were not anticipating just how large. He’s both thick and long, with a prominent vein running all the way down his length that has you licking your lips.

He languidly pumps his cock in his fist as his smirk widens to see you openly staring. He gathers the precum leaking from the tip of his cock and uses it to stroke up and down his length. “Like what you see?”

“N-n no,” you whisper hotly, although your voice trembles at the denial. Despite everything, your skin feels like it’s on fire despite the coldness of the warehouse you’re in and your pussy is throbbing with the need to be filled.

“You’re such a terrible liar,” he laughs as he begins to push inside of you. Your cunt is dripping from your previous orgasms, but it’s still not enough to stop the burn of him stretching you out. Your walls tighten around his cock as it tries to force his cock back out.

You pant and moan as you feel him sliding inside of you inch by inch, the veins on his cock pressing against your slick walls and causing you to go insane with wanting more of him. You let out a loud whine when he finally bottoms out inside of you, barely stopping yourself from grinding back into him.

You don’t think you have ever felt this full, this stretched out. Until he begins to move. Your breathless gasps and moans fill the warehouse, along with the wet sounds of his balls smacking into your clit with every thrust.

“You take my cock so well, sweetheart.” He grabs hold of your hips to pull you back towards him in time with his thrusts, and you just know you’re going to be bruised once he’s done. You barely stop your whimper, and you feel rather than hear the rumble of his laughter.

“Oh, you like it when I praise you, huh?” This time you don’t stop your whimper at his words as you clench down around his length. “Of course you do, you’re such a good girl for me.”

Everything feels so good that your head feels like it’s spinning. You feel waves of pleasure building up to what feels like another powerful orgasm.

“Please, oh fuck,” you hiss under your breath.

“What was that, sweetheart? Speak up, I can’t hear you.” Shindou’s voice comes out cocky, and you know if you could see him he’d be wearing that infuriating smirk.

“Please, I need - “

He reaches around to stroke your clit gently, but not enough to give you any real friction. The need to cum is almost painful now. “Yeah? What do you need?”

You finally throw your shame out the window. “I need to cum! Please let me cum!”

“Say my name, sweetheart, and I’ll let you.”

“Please, Shindou - “

He tsks. “Not that name.” He puts a bit more pressure on your throbbing clit, barely activating his quirk before instantly deactivating it again.  

“Yo, please let me cum!” You let out a choked sob.

The sudden strong pulsing against your clit has you seeing stars, the waves of pleasure finally peaking as you come undone around his cock. Your fluttering walls has him groaning as he finds his own end, hot ropes of cum coating your insides. He stays inside of you until he fully empties himself inside of you before pulling out.

You suddenly hear the click of a shutter, and panic flows through you and turns your veins to ice. You sit up quickly to see him taking pictures of his cum sliding out of your cunt.

“What, I wanted something to remember this by,” he grins, that easy going grin that has everyone fooled. But then that grin turns darker, sharper. “And I also wanted something to keep you in line.”

Your heart drops into your stomach at his words as you realize the implications of what he’s saying.

“Here’s what’s going to happen, sweetheart. You’re going to continue to work with me as my official sidekick. You’re going to do what I say, when I say it, or these pictures are going to end up everywhere.”

You tremble when you think about the damage those pictures could do to your reputation as a hero. You gently nod at his words.

“I want to hear you promise me.”

With tears sliding down your face, you say the damning words. “I promise, Yo.”

“Good, glad you agree! I think this is going to make a wonderful partnership.” He gives you a cheerful smile. “After all, we work so well together, don’t you think?”

~~~~

Tagging: @lady-bakuhoe, @thewheezingwyvern, @animewh0re, @dee-madwriter, @lildreamer93, @katsukisprincess, @yaoyorozuwrites, @redbeanteax, @kittygonyan, @bat-eclecticwolfbouquet-love, @daedaep69, @heyybrittannia, @mimikarasu, @groovydreamertrash, @hisoknen, @mrs-kirishima, @iwvs-on-ao3​

[stydiaeverafter]

Fighting for our reason

A/N: I hope you enjoy the conclusion of this fic!

Read on ao3

***

Ch 2: The fight for love 

----

After the initial bombshell that Eddie was leaving, life picked up rather quickly. It was a change, all right—not all bad, but not all good.

The good was that Eddie decided to have Christopher and himself see a therapist to try to cope with the trauma they had both faced in their lives.

Buck especially notices how it's slowly helping the man he loves each day.

Their conversation also made Buck aware that he wasn't around as much as he should've when it comes to the Diaz boys, so Buck spends all his free time with the two most significant people in his life.

He makes sure he schedules time to have play dates with Chris, and they go on fun adventures, minus any water.

Eddie also opens up to him more, talking about nightmares, fears, and even hopes for his future.

The future...

Buck feels lighter now that he's not in a relationship anymore, but as he spends more time with Eddie and Chris, he knows he's ready for the most important relationship of his life. It's the one he's dreamt of having. Yet doing so requires Buck to be brave, and truthfully he hasn't even told Eddie he broke up with Taylor. He knows if he does, Eddie will ask what happened, and Buck knows he'll have to be honest. So in his Buck mind, not saying anything is better than saying too much, especially when Eddie is in the process of healing.

Opening up about feelings is never easy, but Buck recognizes that he should do it if Eddie can do it. It's just that he's scared Eddie won't feel the same, or it might ruin the bond they have.

However, there are those moments where he catches Eddie staring at him, gazing at Buck in awe, then quickly shifting his gaze.

The realization of his love for Eddie has always been there since the two first bonded. Buck thought it was just the closeness one could have with a friend, but he never felt that way about Chimney, for that matter. Eddie was different from day one.

This brings up the bad...

Buck misses Eddie so much he can scarcely breathe. Yes, he spends a lot of time with him, but he misses looking over at his partner on the job and knowing Eddie will always have his back. Buck felt safer with Eddie around.

Eddie is still practicing as a medic, helping when he can, but it's not often. He's talented with his hands, blood doesn't bother him, and Eddie can handle any challenge. Buck has seen enough proof to know it's real. It's fantastic to see Eddie doing what he's good at, but Buck misses him by his side. But as long as Eddie tries to be a medic, he won't leave altogether.

However, once or twice, Eddie mentioned the possibility of being a dispatcher. That would take him off of Buck's radar, and he doesn't know how to handle that idea.

A nudge brings him out of his thoughts. He looks over and sees Chris' toothy grin. "Your turn, Buck."

"Oh, right, sorry. Zoned out for a minute, buddy." He picks up the controller and starts moving Super Mario around. Recently, he's shown Chris all the classic games he grew up with, and of course, the kid eats it up.

"Get the feather!"

Buck laughs, "I'm working on it, be patient, my young apprentice."

"I'm better than you are, so maybe you're my student," Chris says with a giggle. God, he loves this kid.

"Oh, is that so?" He leans over to tickle Chris, and Mario, unfortunately, perishes in the process. "Whoops."

"See what I mean?"

"No fair!" Buck exclaims jokingly. "You were distracting me!"

Chris shrugs and takes a bite of pizza, then picks up the controller again. Buck looks at the door, but Eddie isn't home. Buck had a night off, and Eddie had asked for help in watching Chris, to which Buck will always say yes.

"Yes!" Chris yells with a small jump, "The fire flower. Now I can shoot the fireballs."

"Warning: Always be careful with the fire," Buck states.

"You may not be good at Nintendo, but you rock at putting out fires, Buck!"

Not wanting Chris to get freaked out about the job, Buck nods and says, "Thanks, kid."

"It's too bad dad doesn't want to be a firefighter anymore. He was awesome, too."  

This statement has Buck looking over. He doesn't want to press Chris, but he's confused. Buck chooses his words wisely. "Um... yeah, well, he wanted to be safe. It can be dangerous, and we don't want your dad to get hurt again."

"Yeah, but he was so brave saving lives, and I know he'll be okay."

"How so?"

Chris looks at Buck with a grin, "Because he has you as a partner. You always take care of my dad, Buck."

Buck's heart starts to pound, and he looks down at his hands, "I wasn't always that good at it."

"You always tried though, that's what counts."

Christopher the Saint once again, bringing light into Buck's life. "Thanks, buddy. That means a lot to me." He sighs, ready to take the plunge, "Chris, can I ask you something?"

"Sure!" Chris replies, taking another bite from his dinner.

"Do you feel happier that your dad isn't a firefighter anymore?"

Chris pauses and puts the controller down in his lap. "That's not what I want at all."

"But I thought you were scared about your dad's safety?"

"I mean, yeah, I guess I am," Chris replies, pushing his glasses up, "but the therapist lady is way cool; she helps me a lot." Chris shrugs, "I guess I was just worried he would leave me, that everyone would leave me."

Buck knew all too well how this felt, but it broke his heart that Chris felt that way. "Hey, buddy, no one is leaving you, okay? Your dad is here, and I'm here. Also, Carla is around. You are loved."

"Thanks, Buck," Chris says as Buck slides an arm around the sweet kid. "I know that now. And dad and I have had a lot of good talks, so I feel much better. Plus, something really awesome happened."

"What's that?" Buck inquires with a grin.

"You come around again."

This remark squeezes Buck's heartstrings. He's aware of how much his presence does affect the Diaz family. "Nowhere else I'd rather be, okay?" Buck ruffles Chris' hair and sighs. He needs more information. Of course, Buck wants to respect the two of them, but he also wants to fight for Eddie to return to the 118. To him. "So you wouldn't care if your dad came back to the 118?"

Chris shakes his head, "That's his other home, and he protects people, even kids who may be worried as I was." Chris smiles that smile that Buck loves. "I just want my dad to be happy."

"You're somethin' special. You know that?"

"Yup, I do. I'm pretty awesome," Chris chuckles, and Buck can't help but join in.

"That you are, my friend," Buck agrees but then grabs the controller, "but let me show you how it's done!"

*****

Eddie walks in after Chris is asleep in bed, setting his keys on the table, looking tired.

Buck glances up and smiles at Eddie, who pats Buck on the back in return.

Eddie wanders around the couch and plops next to Buck. "Did he fall asleep pretty easily tonight?"

"Literally, Chris hit the pillow and was out," Buck responds. "Didn't even get to read the next chapter of Percy Jackson."

"He's probably read the whole thing already anyway," Eddie laughs. "I'm so glad his nightmares have become less."

"Same."

Eddie pats Buck's leg, and the butterflies in his stomach start fluttering around. It's something he cannot ignore. "Anyway, thanks for watching him."

Buck clears his throat, attempting to keep his composure, "Of course, the two of us always have fun together."

Eddie nods, smiling a soft yet beautiful smile, "Yeah, he loves his Buck."

"And his Buck loves him." I love you, too, Buck wants to add but clears his throat again. "So, how was the medic stuff?"

"I did a shift, which luckily wasn't too busy," Eddie says as he puts his feet up on the coffee table.

"Good." Buck looks over at Eddie, "Are you still thinking about interviewing for a dispatcher position, or are you content?"

Eddie shakes his head, "Nah, the dispatcher role isn't for me."

"I thought you were going for calm and safe?"

"At first, I suppose I was, for Chris' sake, and a bit for me after the shit I've gone through. But talking with the therapist has helped a lot."

Buck smiles, "I'm glad, Eds." He isn't sure if he should share the conversation with Chris. Buck doesn't want Eddie to be mad that he brought it up with his son. It's also not easy that Buck is clinging on to the hope that Eddie will be his partner again. "So you'll continue being a medic then?"

"Yeah," Eddie nods, "I believe so, among other roles."

Buck raises an eyebrow, confused at Eddie's statement, "What does that mean?"

"Well, it means after I got done with my medic shift, I paid a visit to Bobby."

Buck's heart starts pounding like a drum. Could this mean what he hoped it meant? "You went to the 118?"

"Mmhmm," Eddie murmurs, and he reaches over to get a slice of pizza out of the box. He takes a bite, "Good pizza."

"C'mon, Eds. You're gonna leave me hanging here?"

Eddie licks his lip, and desire stirs in Buck's stomach. "Do you want a bite?"

Yes. "No, I want you to tell me what you spoke to Bobby about before I combust here."

"Okay, okay," Eddie laughs and tosses the piece on top of the box. "I asked about coming back."

Buck stands up quickly and feels dizzy. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, Buck, I'm serious."

They're quiet for a moment, but then Buck can't take it. "And...?"

Eddie smirks that attractive side-smile of his, and Buck wants to kiss him, "I'm back, not entirely though, because I'm also going to help out being a medic on the side."

"Dude! Oh my God!" Buck practically falls back down on the couch and takes Eddie in his arms. "This is amazing!"

"Shh!" Eddie exclaims but beams, "So I take it that makes you happy?"

Buck nuzzles onto Eddie and wraps his arms tighter around him, never wanting to let the guy go. "What do you think?"

"That's what I was hoping for; I mean, I never know what kind of response I'm going to receive from you."  

"I am pretty unpredictable," Buck acknowledges. He sits back yet still has an arm around Eddie. "So what changed, Eds? I mean, a few weeks ago, I thought you made up your mind?"

Eddie shrugs and rubs his scruffy chin, "Honestly, as I said, the therapist has been helping so much, and I'm so relieved Christopher is seeing her, too." He leans closer to Buck, naturally, and it makes Buck smile. "Plus, still being in the field helped to keep the fire burning inside of me." He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a piece of paper. "But mostly, because of this."

He hands it to Buck, who opens it. It's a picture drawn by Chris, displaying Eddie as a firefighter, but that's not all. Next to the stick figure of Eddie is a labeled drawing of Buck. The two are standing together.

"Wow," Buck smiles gently, his fingers softly grazing the picture. "He's so artistic. You found this?"

"Yeah, recently. I asked Chris about it, and he told me that I was meant to be a firefighter and save other people's lives. He said if it made me happy, he wanted me to return to my job. But there was a condition."

"Which is what?"

"That I work with you as my partner again. Chris said, you and I keep each other safe, and that makes him feel good that we'll both be okay."

Buck bites his lip—Christopher understood completely. "We'll always have each other's back."

"Always."

"Wow, listen," Buck says, turning to face Eddie on the couch. He takes Eddie's hands into his own. "I'll do whatever I can to make sure we stay safe. No more gunshots. No more hostage situations."

Eddie chuckles, shaking his head, "Don't make promises you may not be able to keep. Our job is pretty damn unpredictable."

Buck swears but adds, "True, but for the time being, we're solid, okay? We take care of each other, and I want Chris to know it." Buck smiles, feeling like he can breathe for the first time in weeks. "Chris is going to be so happy to hear the news!"

"I think so."

"Oh, I know so." Eddie raises an eyebrow. "We had a chat earlier, and he told me how much he wants you to be a firefighter as long as you're happy."

"God, that kid. He amazes me every day."

"Same, you raised an exceptional one," Buck agrees.

"We did." Buck stares at Eddie. "I mean, you've been in his life for so long; you're basically his other parents, not to mention the official guardian if something happens to me."

"Which it won't."

"But if it does," Eddie interrupts and a cute scrunched expression, "I know he'll be good like I told you at the hospital." Buck nods, accepting what Eddie says, even though it pains him even to imagine Eddie not being around. "As long as Taylor doesn't mind, of course."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, if something were to happen to me and you take Chris, I would hope she'd be okay with it."

"Um, Eddie..."

"No, I don't mean to get all weird. I just wanted to say that, yeah, know?"

"Okay, well, can I say something?"

Eddie nods, looking curious.

Buck claps his hands together and gains the courage to look directly at Eddie. "Taylor and I broke up."

His partner's eyes widen in shock, "Seriously? I thought you two were happy?"

"No," Buck replies. "I mean, she's great, but the relationship wasn't meant for us. We're better off just friends. I think we both always knew that, too."

"So... you didn't love her after all?" Eddie asks in a nervous tone.

Buck shakes his head slowly, gazing into Eddie's eyes. "No, I didn't love her."

"Well," Eddie says, clearing his throat, "I'm sorry it didn't work out, Buck."

"I'm not," Buck shrugs. "There's someone else I care far deeper for and going through this whole experience awakened something in me."

"You have feelings for someone else?"

Buck nods, "Yes, deep feelings."

"Oh, well, that's great, man. Good for you." Eddie looks down at his hands and starts to move away.

Buck gently puts a hand on Eddie's thigh to still him. "Eds..."

They're quiet for a moment before Buck asks, "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"A few weeks ago, you said that selfishly you were upset I was with someone. Can you explain why you were upset about it?"

Eddie runs a hand through his hair and bites his lip. "I always try and be supportive, and you know that. But I guess it's because I knew you two didn't belong together. I want you to find someone worthy of you because you're amazing, and I don't want you to settle. Like I didn't want to settle with Ana, not when my heart wasn't in it."

"Mmm. That makes sense," Buck replies. He then smiles a gentle smile, "Is that all?"

"No," Eddie answers but doesn't say more. Buck finally nods to reassure him. "Really? Well, I was also jealous, okay?"

"You were?" Buck grins slowly.

"Yes, Buck, I was," Eddie confesses. "But I guess that's why I was surprised to see you so upset when I told you I was leaving. I thought you were content, happy, and that you'd be fine without me."

"I will never be fine without you, Eddie." Buck hears Eddie breathe in harshly. "You're all I think about, dream about...want. For me, it's always been you, and when you said you were leaving, I realized what I was going to lose."

"Buck..."

Buck retakes Eddie's hands and moves closer. "I broke up with Taylor the very next day. I couldn't pretend, not anymore, not when my heart has always been with you."

He notices that Eddie's eyes widen, hearing his breath catch. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I guess I was afraid to lose you completely."

Eddie squeezes Buck's hands, "You'll never lose me. I'm always here."

"Thank you, Eddie. I needed to hear that."

"So, your heart has always been with me then?" Eddie asks quietly.

"I'm in love with you, Edmundo Diaz."

"Wow, I just...wow," Eddie says with a beautiful answering smile. "That's the most beautiful phrase you've ever said, and you've said a lot."

Buck laughs, "Is that all you have to say?"

Eddie cups Buck's face in his hands, "The words I want to say is that I love you, too, Evan Buckley. I could never actually leave you. It was literally killing me. Besides Chris, you are the main reason I'm coming back. Hell, you're all the reasons."

"Damn, you are romantic."

Eddie shrugs as he looks at Buck's lip, "What can I say? I'm a man in love."

"It looks good on you."

"And you," Eddie replies. Then he caresses Buck's face, "So, Buck, what do you say on starting a new chapter together?"

"I say, let's begin right now." Buck closes the space between them to touch his lips onto Eddie's. Their lips travel together in a way that says, 'I know you.'  They fit together seamlessly—a soulmate connection.

Everything they have been through has brought them to this point. And it becomes clear at this moment why Eddie came into Buck's life.

Together, they make the perfect team, and nothing is more important than that.

[deadspace-babe]

Tin Cup

My first official fic! 

This is a simple Julian X Reader. How the day boils down after a night out together. (nsfw and fluff tbh)

     We stumbled into the shop at around 3 am bellowing sailor shanties, arms hooked and legs kicking. Julian and I spent all night at the Rowdy Raven drowning sorrows, sharing stories, singing, dancing and shouting sweet nothings seemingly to everyone in the bar instead of just whispering them to each other. Jules was about 6 drinks down and I about 4. I wanted to drink more but I was already tripping and the taste of the salty bitters at the back of my throat kept me from downing anymore. I’m not quite sure how Julian does it but he definitely holds his liquor better. Even though he drank two more mugs of bitter piss than I did, he seems just barely buzzed.

As we pushed and tripped through the curtains to the back our song turned to laughter and we flopped down on the couch almost flopping to the floor we fell so hard. I landed on top, his arms lazily draped over me and his face still scrunched with laughter. God he’s so beautiful like this, when he blushes like that my ears burn and all I can think about is kissing him forever. I lay a small kiss on the top of his nose and his skin lights up a few more shades. With the alcohol still clouding my head I can’t help but wonder how far down his blush goes. We’ve been naked together before but I’ve never really seen him in the light, everything we’ve done together had always been closed under the cover of the night. I didn’t realize how badly I wanted to see all of him until now.

I guess I was staring cause Jules giggles and clears his throat, “You want me to make you some tea mlady you’re looking a little under the weather ya? Or am I distracting you?” He says teasingly poking at my reddening cheeks.

I roll my eyes and roll off of him giving a quick nod, “Earl grey please.” He nodded and pushed of the couch swaying a bit but maintaining his demeanor. As I waited I thought back on the night we had and many before this and how deeply in love I am with this man. Since the moment I met him I feel like I knew. The way he looked at me and trusted me and acted so selflessly curse or not. No one has ever meant more to me than he does. How did I get so lucky.

“What are you smiling about darling? Something happen while I was gone?” He huffs playful while handing me my mug.

“You” I reply nonchalantly. I inhale deeply taking in the smell of soft earl grey and Julian’s black coffee as he figures through my response his face switching through so many emotions. I take a slow sip and let out a chuckle,

“Nothing bad, just how lucky I am” I slump against his shoulder feeling it sag a little at the contact.

“If anyone’s lucky it’s me darling. I never thought I’d be loved by anyone. I thought I deserved to die and was willing to do so for something I couldn’t even remember. You’re the only one to have ever shown me anything brighter than my dim past..” his eyes lowered and his voice deepened, “But here I am sitting next to the love of my life preparing for forever.” His voice lifted and he set his mug down to pull me into his lap. I push back into his chest and sigh,

“Ya ya I love you too you big sap” I put my own mug down and pull him in for a kiss pulling off his eye patch, “My perfect Ilya, you’re worth more than anything in the world” I can’t help but get lost in his beautiful eyes. The red making the grey of his irises stand out even more” I kiss his lids and he lights up again trying to avert his eyes from mine.

He’s so cute I want to hear his laugh I spin around in his lap, watching the surprise on his face as my hands shoot to his sides before he can analyze the mischief in my eyes. My fingers start to move and his eyes widen in fear. He screams falling over immediately,

“NO TICKLING” I ignore his protest and assault his side and neck relentlessly till our laughter and screams fill the room and his tears start to fall. His smile makes me so happy. I cease my assault and lean down kissing the middle of a tear trail on his cheek. He takes my distraction to his advantage bringing his hand to my hips. I feel my body being pushed back and his hands start to move,

“NO WAIT” I yell, He smiles triumphantly down at me,

“NO PERISH” he counters tickling me relentlessly. Eventually after many tickles back and forth, many protests and a few kicks later the fight comes to an end and we’re left a heaving crying mess on the couch just staring and giggling like two teens in love for the first time. “So pretty” he whispers messily locking his lips with mine. Our lips moved together sloppily but passionately. I can taste the bitter alcohol mixed with coffee on his tongue. We break every now and then to trade little pecks and to take in air. He stops to stare for a second “You sure you’re ready for a forever with me?”

I give him and exasperated sigh, “Oh you know it. You won’t be gettin rid of me any time soon.” I say flashing him a cocky smile. I lean up to reattach our lips and a leg comes up between mine rubbing gently. I take a deep breath and pull his lip in between mine teeth. The skin breaks and he lets out a groan. I can tastes the copper in my mouth and he pushes his leg harder. I sigh out a quick laugh, wrap my arms around his shoulders and pull him down. I bite his earlobe til the skin breaks and he shudders then I watch it expectantly waiting for It to heal with a confused face. Oh ya his curse went away, I keep forgetting. I realize then smile devilishly “You look so pretty when you bleed and I can finally mark you up now. How about we get a little rowdy and see how deep the bites can go?” I whisper seductively into the offending ear. He lets out a shaky breath over my shoulder and nods into my crook excitedly. He snatches me up off the couch and climbs the stairs, taking them two at a time. As he moves I can feel his bulge press against my pelvis sending electricity up my body.

At the top he gently lets me down, the second my feet hit the floor I take control pushing him onto the bed forcefully knocking a little wind out of him at the sudden movement. I jump on top of him and make quick work of loosening him up as his nerves continue to get the best of him no matter how much he wants it. Our lips knead together and our legs find crooks to rock back and forth releasing some pressure. Though with our height difference it becomes sort of difficult to, you know, kiss and grind at the same time so I move to palm at him instead. Our kissing quickly becomes more and more desperate and so do his hips. I can’t help but to nip and bite and suck at his lips and tongue. I pull away from the kiss a inch or two still holding onto the tip of his tongue for a second before releasing it back to him in favor of stripping him down.

I pull his hand up to my mouth and bite down on the tip of his gloved middle finger, slowly dragging off his hand and do the same with the other but this time leaving a wet stripe on his palm after, making it a point to leave a gentle kiss on his “tattoo”. Then I move to his boots. Jesus fucking Christ those damn boots. They’re so… sexy but so damn annoying. Thigh high tight leather boots. Only Jules. My struggle to peel them off almost kills the mood but the humor of it keeps it light enough. I move back up his body and easily pull away his white button up. I can’t help but stare down at him. I hadn’t even realized the sun had started to rise until It peaked through the open window (hmmmmmm we should probably close that……..or not ;p) sending radiant shades of purple and orange to dance on his face and chest. I finally catch just how far down that delicious blush goes, and oh does it go far, from his ears to his naval. Oh I just want to lick him up I think to myself immediately latching my lips to the cord of his throat and sucking.

He lets out a moan “Y-yes” I make sure to trace the path of his blush leaving light kisses on his ears, then his eyelids, cheeks, smile, and chin. Then a little rougher at his neck, shoulders, and traps making sure to knead the skin in my teeth between kisses and licks. Now down to his chest and belly, I drag my tongue down making eye contact all the while as he stares back biting his lip in anticipation. “Come on I can take it” he grinds out “Just cause the curse is gone doesn’t mean you can go easy on me” I answer him by biting down hard on his right nipple and he arches into me with a low groan.

“Trust me I won’t” I say slyly watching the excitement dance in his eyes. I suck and pull on both nipples and leave bites all down the sides of his chest and stomach before yanking at the thicker piece of flesh right above his belly button where a piercing would go. I yap up the blood I spilled and glide my tongue down to the v of his hips leaving a light red trail behind me.

“You’re going to be the death of me” he whispers. I smile and proceed to dig my thumbs into the deep groves of his pelvis and curl the rest of my hands around his hips digging my fingernails in deep. I tuck my tongue under the hem of his pants as far as I can go and bring it back up to his belly button and he squirms so deliciously at the action moaning my name, I can’t help myself anymore. I snatch his pants off enjoying the delightful bounce of his freed cock and the little wet spot it’s left on his skin. I throw his pants across the room quickly taking my place between his legs. I squeeze his thighs hard enough to leave bruises and suck little marks from the hollows of his knees all the way to the crease of his thigh. The bob of his dick catches in my peripherals and I smile against his skin. “(Y/n) please I can’t take it anymore” I look up to see his dick swollen, bright pink and dripping.

“Actually I think you’re going to be the death of me if you keep looking this scrumptious” I say leaning forward. I lick a nice long stripe from base to tip the swirl my tongue around the head.

He bucks up “AhH please please” I chuckle but do as he asks, so good for me i think wrapping my mouth around his moist heat. He bucks up again and I hold his hips down. Sure to leave bruises. His hands come up and tangle into my hair and he breathes harder and harder tugging lightly. God he’s so gentle with me. Adorable. Right as he gets to his edge twitching in my mouth I pull off with a sickening pop and he groans from the pressure. His pink dick throbs again, soooo cuteee

I climb off the bed to go to the closet stripping my pants off on the way there. “Why’d you leave?” he asks when I come back still panting desperate for relief.

“I have a surprise for you. I didn’t want you to cum before I got it out.”

“A surprise?” He says cocking his head trying to peak around my body at the object(s) in my hand.

“Oop you’re right I think actually have two for you love, or is it three” I smile tapping at my chin as if I forgot. He flushes then changes his shaky smile to a more seductive one,

“Then why don’t you come over here and show me what you’re made of already. Scared?”

“Oooooo after that comment you should be the one that’s scared” I snort shoving his surprises in the bedside drawer for now. He looks a little disappointed (cute). I climb back on top of him kissing him deep and shoving my tongue in even though he’s already given me access. I smile into his mouth and grab his cock squeezing lightly just where he likes and whisper into his gaping mouth that’s waiting for my return. “Here’s surprise number one love” my hand glows a soft blue then starts vibrating quickly. He immediately bucks into me, hard. “You like it? I’ve been practicing just for you babe” I say licking into his mouth which is gaping wider due to the sudden rush of pleasure. I pick my body up off his and remove my hand. He finally lowers his back onto the bed again. Hehe not for long I think smiling slyly to myself. I put just the tip of my finger on the flushed tip of his dick and activate the spell again. He arches again. The vibrations are so fast that his dick is actually bouncing off of it. Small fast little bobs and it’s lighting me on fire. I can feel my slickness growing. Hmmm not yet I wait for him to almost reach his release once more before I stop again sliding up his body to reach the drawer allowing my thigh to rub against him gaining me a quick hiss. I slide back across his body and he catches a glimpse of surprise number two he bucks up unconsciously just at the thought of it.

“God you’re torture” he breathes raggedly.

“Oh you like it that much? I’m so glad. I made it myself” I wink at him while inserting one end of my new glass blown ribbed strap into me smiling quite proudly. The smile quickly leaves as my face contorts due to the added coldness but also the slight release. I pull out the bottle of lube and drench my fingers. I place my thumb on his perineum and pushed then then circle and hook my fingers repeatedly on his tight ring.

“Gahhh fuck youuuuu” he puffs out

“No Jules. I think it is I that is fucking you” I say plunging two finger into his tight ass and curling. He lifts off the bed again practically screaming, damn maybe I should have closed the window. I think, though dismissing it quickly. I scissor and stretch him making sure he’s ready while making my thumb vibrate on that sensitive piece of skin right between his balls and his ass (perineum btw) he gasps and I pull out keeping my eyes trained on the hole he’s been burrowing into his bottom lip with his teeth. I move forwards between his legs and he automatically hooks them around my waist while I line myself up. I push in slow and he arches so hard and so high I almost slip out.

“Did I make her too big for you?” I giggle.

“Hmph i-it’s per-fect” he stutters as i bottom out in him.

“Ah my beautiful Jules. What did I do to deserve you” I sigh.

“You know I want to kiss you so bad right now but you’re too damn short. I can’t reach.” He says heavily, craning his neck down to try to reach.

“Geez don’t rub it in. It’s not my fault you’re a whole 6’4, fuckin Sasquatch imma whole foot shorter and I’m the one wrecking your ass so stfu” I puff thrusting hard.

“HmPh aggressive” he says wiggling his eyebrows at me. I plant my fists at his sides and thrust harder.

“You know it ;)” I say with a cocky tone even though I’m struggling to find a rhythm. He keeps slipping and shifting upward I can’t keep him steady. I yank his hips down closer to me, lean forwards on his chest and hook my arms back and behind his shoulders. Hmmmmm much better I sigh finally having a stable hold to create a solid rhythm so he doesn’t slip every time I thrust. I push harder, pulling almost all the way out each time to slam in hard than the last. At this point he’s a babbling mess. Hmmmmm on second thought I hope everyone in town hears this music ;) I can tell he’s coming to his edge. He brings his hands up to rest on mine as they dig into his shoulders for grip. I swear just his touch on my hands as he bounces on me feels like enough to destroy me. My pussy is annihilated honestly. Just at the sight of him. God I really do love this fool. I leave small kisses on the skin I can reach leaving quiet encouragements in between each. He lets out a loud choked off moan and arches hard suddenly and I can feel his release shoot in between us but I don’t let up pounding in. I ride him through it and into overstimulation until he’s shaking, screaming, tears start to roll down his face. I pull out slow and he winces,

“You alright?” I ask coming up to give him a soft kiss.

“Perfect.” He says, eyes closed looking completely blissed out. I smile and wipe the tears with my thumb and bringing it to my mouth. He opens one eye to peak up at me “Did-did you just like lick my tears?? You good?” He says in a fake judging tone.

“You know if you think that’s weird get ready for surprise number three love.” I kiss him again pushing my hands up into those soft auburn curls and scraping my nails across his scalp eliciting a little shiver. His shoulders relaxed and I leave a little kiss on his forehead before dipping down and licking the cum off of his stomach making his dick twitch against my chest. I come up and kiss him again tangling a hand in his hair again and letting the fluids mingle in our mouths. With my free hand I open the drawer to pull out surprise number three. Jules is still quite distracted tasting himself on my mouth so I take the opportunity to get started. His eyes shoot open when he feels the cold leather on his neck. I latch it and he looks up at me bright red. “Ooo yes keep that face it matches the color so well.” I say gliding my finger across his new bright red collar.

“You know I think this one might be one of my favorites” he says coming up to kiss me again dragging his tongue over my lips.

“Hmmmmmm get ready surprise number 3 has a few parts” I say playfully He looks up at me expectantly as I grab the rest. Red rope and a red leash to match his collar, all nicely complimenting his hair. The look on his face is absolutely pitiful and so full of lust, his eyebrows are knit together and his lips swollen from bites, his own and mine. I rub his cheek lightly and he pushes into the touch, god.

“Come on” he puffs “I’m ready” he says staring up with half lidded eyes. God not the bedroom eyes Jules I’m dyingggggggggggg. I lean back binding his wrists together tugging to make sure it’s secure. I pull him up so he’s sitting upright and he immediately tugs on the front of my shirt. “You too, please.” To be honest I had forgot I was still clothed from the waist up. I look down to find cum, sweat, and blood stained everywhere, guess I’m throwing this away, gross. I agree and strip off my shirt leaving on my bra, he tugs on that too staring intently.

“Nuh uh you gotta wait for that one” I say smiling pulling his restraints forward to lay a kiss on his nose.

“Mhhhhh I hate you” he groans at me rolling his eyes.

“Is that so love? Well let me show you how passionately I feel about you. On your knees now please” i say in a harsh tone throwing his hands to the side forcefully. He lights up red again but does as he’s told. Since his hands are bound in front of him he lays his chest and head on the bed keeping his ass high. I nudge his legs further apart running my hands up and down his thighs and hips. I hum stroking up his sensitive inner thighs feeling him shiver under me. I reach up and spread his ass then pull back and send a crisp slap to his right cheek. He arches hard letting out a loud groan and I rub the fresh print to ease some pain before sending another hit to the other cheek. I repeat the same action over and over a few times watching his aching cock bob with excitement creating a small pool on the sheets below it. I decide to give him a little release…..but just a little. I press my hips against his ass receiving a hiss at the pressure and cold skin. The heat radiating off the hand marks I left makes my insides throb and my mouth water. God he’s delicious. I try to compose myself leaning over his back rubbing little circles into his wet belly. I make sure to slide the strap right up next to his heat and I roll my hips. He lets out a high pitched moan and tries to lift his head off the pillow. I push him down lower and keep grinding against him with the toy until he’s panting.

“Please please please darling ….ahhhHha” he groans as I push again “you’re such a tease” he says breathlessly.

“Hmmmm you love it” I say smiling into his skin leaving small kisses. I rub against him a few more times until his breaths get more erratic. When they do I slid up and hook the red leash on the collar and pull. The front of his body lifts off the bed and he lets out a choked moan. “Is it too much?” I ask with worry in my voice. He smiles looking back at me,

“it’s great you know id tell you if it wasn’t” he grinds out pushing his ass up against my hips.

“Mhm just checking” I whisper more for myself than him. I line myself up and push into him harshly while keeping a tight grip on his leash. As I pound up into him his bound arms bounce against his stomach in time with his dick. I pull his head back so far I can feel his hair brushing against my shoulder. I bite hard into the skin I can now finally reach watching the blood bloom and slide down his chest before I could catch it with my tongue. I hear his moans get louder and he starts pushing back onto the glass strap as he reaches his edge once again. I grow slicker and slicker right at the edge of release and I lose my rhythm. I’m so close and so is he but for some reason I just can’t get the right angle and the right feeling for myself so I focus on him instead. I give him a few quick slaps to his thighs and a few more hard wide thrusts that he bounces hard back onto and he comes undone in seconds.

I release the leash and squeeze his slim waist hard to keep him steady, but instead of falling forward he goes back onto my chest his head finding my shoulder and I watch his one red eye roll back then pinch closed in pleasure as he releases all over the sheets screaming my name. We really should have laid out towels. He’s still up against me a panting mess. I let him come down while I untie his wrist rubbing them a little before moving to undo the collar. I put it aside and kiss the side of his face tracing up and down his torso with light fingers. To my surprise he pulls off the glass toy trying not to show any discomfort at the action. He turns around and immediately catches my mouth with his. He runs his tongue along the roof of my mouth and pulls me into his lap I feel warm leather come up and latch around my neck. He tightens it a bit never releasing my mouth. I jump a little finally releasing the kiss as I feel the glass toy being pulled out of me. He pulls it up to his mouth and licks it, cleaning it of all evidence of me.

“I know you didn’t cum” he says tossing the toy aside and inserting three fingers into my dripping heat. I gasp turning bright red and throw my head back, he uses the leash that was still attached to hold my head there. I smile up at the ceiling while he pumps his fingers into me,

“You sly dog.” To my surprise he removes his fingers and the leash to stand pulling me up and wrapping my legs around his waist. isn’t he sore? I think to myself instinctively hooking my arms around his neck. He chuckles sticking out his lower lip to “pout”.

“What I can’t give a little loving back?;)” he kisses me deep and gentle and I feel my back hit wood and a cold breeze rustle my hair. I smile into the kiss but he doesn’t seem to care continuing to kiss my parted lips and teeth, Ilya you fool.

“Oh we’re an exhibitionist are we? I say playfully. He finally opens his eyes and leaves a peck on my nose.

“Aren’t you the one who left it open in the first place dear? Maybe you wanted them to hear us too ;b” I smile and nip at his lip,

“Hmmmmm maybe I did” almost the second I finish the sentence my head is snatched back by the leash and partially hanging out of the open window. He immediately moves to my collar bone leaving sweet little kisses and licks while rubbing himself against me. I can’t help but buck into him and groan out into the morning air. I can feel spit running down my chin, my mouth still gaping as I chased the pleasure. He takes the opportunity to hook a thumb in the corner of my mouth and lick into it making sure to clean the mess I’ve made on my chin. I buck again and bite down on his thumb as electricity shoots through me. “Ilya please I fucked you three times already I don’t think I can’t take much more.” I mumble his finger still tucked in my cheek.

“Oh my so needy” he whispers exaggeratedly lining himself up. He pushes in without warning releasing my mouth and I basically scream out the window for the whole town to hear. At this point the sun has completely risen and I can hear people start to leave their houses for the day. They’re going to think I’m getting murdered or something. I think bringing a hand up to muffle the sound only for it to be pulled back down in favor of removing my bra. He releases the leash but I keep my head in place and help him get my bra off my arms. The second the garment is shed he latches onto my breasts sucking, biting, pulling, licking and rubbing all while continuing to pound me up and what felt like out of the window. I wind my fingers into the soft hair at his nape and pull, the other hand coming up to stroke his face,

“aH jULes I love you SO much. Perfect perfect PERFECT” I yelled out the window again.

He hums happily against my skin “I love you too darling.” he whispers at my collar bone one hand leaving my chest in favor of rubbing at my clit. He circles it pounding harder and I finally cum with a choked scream pulling him closer as I clenched around him and he continues to pump, though it becomes more erratic. He bites into my shoulder only hard enough to leave a small indent (so gentle) and the over stimulation throws me back into the high as I cum again screaming louder than the first. Two more harsh pumps and he’s releasing for the fourth time.

He leaves kisses up the panting column of my throat and up my jaw finally leaving a deep kiss right on my lips that I can’t help but hum happily into. “You know you never cease to surprise me doctor” I say with a wide smile.

“Same to you dear” he says pulling out and lowering me from the window sill. He removes the collar and kisses me again this time rather sleepily. I look over to the bed only to see an absolute disgusting mess on the sheets. Thank god for Asra, I think remembering the pile of pillows and blankets he used when reading in the corner of the room. I walk over too it dragging Ilya close behind and flop down onto the mound of comfort, he follows suit. I roll over to curl into his body enjoying both the warmth and the view.

“You look so handsome covered in purple and blue” I say looking up at his duel colored eyes. He blushes and averts his eyes.

“Ya? Well maybe we should do this more often then.” He states with a warm smile. “Thanks by the way. I have to say that glass work was quite masterful” he giggles.

“Aw thanks. I”m glad you enjoyed it but damn, now my abs feel tight as fuck” I say with a goofy tone.

“Yikes same, my legs feel weak as fuck.” We laugh with each other for a little trading silly compliments and “I love you’s” before dozing off together. God I love this man.

Bonus: Asra runs in panicked after someone in town said they heard screaming from the shop. He bolts upstairs basically screaming only to find the most revoltingly dirty sheets and two just as dirty people in a pile of HIS pillows, wrapped in HIS feather blanket, snoring as loud as possible. “Oh my fucking god I can’t believe these two heathenssssss!” he says running down the stairs to bleach his eyeballs.

[imjustthemechanic]

The Price of a Soul

Part 1/? - Agent Russel Part 2/? - The Letter Part 3/? - Miss Lake Part 4/? - The Stewardess Part 5/? - An Assassination Part 6/? - Fallout Part 7/? - Face to Face Part 8/? - Deals, Details, and Other Devils Part 9/? - Baggage Part 10/? - Private Funding Part 11/? - Just Passing Through Part 12/? - Party of Four Part 13/? - Resolute Part 14/? - The Wreck Part 15/? - Body Snatchers Part 16/? - Out of the Frying Pan Part 17/? - A Miracle Part 18/? - A Matter of Circumstance Part 19/? - Nome

Somebody probably should have warned Howard.

-

Peggy felt a need to wash her face again before she went back to the infirmary to see how Steve was getting along.  She didn’t doubt he’d be just fine, as he always was, but there was a part of her that really needed to see for herself.  Like Howard wanting to stay at the crash site, it would be a while before she felt sure he wouldn’t simply vanish if she turned her back.

She stood in front of the mirror and tried to fix her hair a little, but in the end decided that was a lost cause.  It had been days since she’d been able to wash up properly, and while the redness and swelling from Kay’s chemical spray had gone down, the windburn of the long, cold helicopter flight was still very visible, as were the effects of her recent bout of tears.  She had no fresh clothes to put on, and no makeup to cover anything. She looked grotesque.

So of course when she sat down by Steve’s bedside, he smiled at her and said, “you look beautiful.”

“I do not!” she snorted, “and I ought to thump you one for such a lie!”

“You can’t thump me, I’m a sick man!” Steve protested, and wiggled down under the covers trying to look pathetic.  It failed, of course.  He’d been sitting up and eating when Peggy entered the room.

“You’re as well as you’ve ever been in your life, Steve Rogers,” said Peggy, “and I believe the doctors will take my side on that!”

One of said doctors – sporting a picturesque black eye from the earlier fight – looked up from a clipboard.  “I wouldn’t say that,” he said, “but he’s well on his way to recovery. Amazing.”  He shook his head.  “Never seen anything like it.”

“I hear that a lot,” said Steve, but his smile was gone now. “It’s really been three years?” he asked Peggy.

She nodded.  “Yes, darling.  We didn’t realize you’d gone so far north.”

“Huh.”  He looked away.  “I can’t believe you kept looking for me that long.”

Peggy’s insides twisted.  “Well… we didn’t, honestly.  Schmidt was dead and Hitler shot himself just a few days later, but there was still the Pacific theatre, and…”  She swallowed.  “Howard found the cube and we locked that away, but after that the army wouldn’t fund the search anymore.”

“Oh,” said Steve.

She grabbed his hand.  “If we’d known you were alive, we would never have let it go that long,” she promised… though that probably didn’t reassure him.  He must be thinking what she had, wondering if he might have had to wait centuries or millennia.  At least he hadn’t heard Kay tell Peggy that seventy years would have been more than long enough.  “I’m so sorry, Steve, but… well, we thought you were dead.  After a few weeks in the arctic…”  They’d been certain that even Steve must have perished, if he hadn’t been killed instantly in the crash.

“Right, right.”  He nodded, and brought a hand up to her cheek.  “Don’t apologize, Peggy, it’s… you were right, I should have given you my position.  I saw the ground coming and I… at the last minute there…”  He swallowed hard.

Peggy shut her eyes as tears threatened to overflow again, and wrapped both her hands around his to squeeze it tight.  Nobody could have foreseen this.  Nobody but a woman to whom it was already the long-ago past.

“Did you ever find him?” Steve asked.  “I mean… Bucky?  Or…”

She knew if she opened her eyes she’d find him looking right into them… and she also knew they’d be full of desperate hope even as he already knew what the answer would be.  “I’m afraid not.  The valleys there are impassable most of the year…”

“The Russians found him,” said Kay.

Peggy hadn’t even realized she’d entered the room, but when she looked up, she found Kay standing at the end of Steve’s bed.  Her blonde hair was askew and flattened by her hat, and her face, too, was pink and puffy from crying, but she still looked better than Peggy did.

“They were in the area at the time,” she added. “They knew HYDRA had a route through there and they were looking for anything that might have fallen from the trains.  They didn’t know who he was, but they found him and took him back with them.  The dead HYDRA men, too.”

Steve nodded.  “That’s good… I’m glad somebody took care of him.”

“It’s not quite as simple as that,” said Kay, “but I’ll tell you more when you’re feeling better.”  She turned around, and walked out of the room.

Steve sat up a little, as if he planned to get up and follow her, but Peggy and the doctor both took hold of him and gently pushed him back down onto the bed.

“Steve, don’t, she won’t tell you anything until she’s ready,” Peggy said.

“Captain Rogers,” the doctor said at the same time, “you need to recover your strength.”

“I feel fine!” Steve protested, but he must have been tired, because he lay back down and rested his head on the pillow.  “Who is she?” he asked Peggy.

“I… I’m not entirely sure,” Peggy replied.  “I know she’s Russian.  She’s told me a story about her past but I don’t know whether to believe it.  She did know where to find you, though.”  Kay didn’t seem to be an enemy, but Peggy still wasn’t sure she really counted as an ally, either.  She definitely wasn’t a friend, though, there was no question about that.

Steve nodded.  “If she can tell us where his grave is…”

“I don’t know if that will be possible,” Peggy warned. “The relationship between the US and the USSR has deteriorated a bit.”

She wondered if she should have phrased it that way. Would Steve wonder if other relationships might have deteriorated?  He now knew how long he’d been gone…

His thoughts must have been tending in that general direction, because the next thing he said was, “I know I’m late… but is there any chance we could still make that dance?”

Peggy ducked her head as if to hide a blush – but really to hide the tears that were welling up again.  “I’ll see what I can do,” she promised.  But even that was a lie, wasn’t it?  How could she have that long-delayed dance with Steve when she’d found somebody else?  Daniel wouldn’t begrudge her one dance, but would he believe her if she promised it would only be one dance?

She couldn’t tell Steve about Daniel yet.  Not when he’d only just awakened and had so many other things to catch up on, but the longer she waited the harder it would be.

- 

The Valiant had to return to its normal route patrolling the arctic ocean, so a couple of days later, when the doctors were satisfied that Steve wasn’t about to suddenly collapse, he, Masters, Peggy, and Kay were loaded into a small plane to take them to Nome, Alaska.  The crew of the carrier turned out in their dress uniforms with a band playing to send them off, and somebody had made a Welcome Back Captain America banner to hang from the ship’s superstructure.  Steve smiled awkwardly and waved to them as he climbed into the plane.

“Get used to it,” Peggy murmured to him.  “I imagine there’ll be a very similar reception waiting for you when we reach the mainland.”

“Oh, several of them,” Kay agreed.  “You’re going to have to make a cross-country tour.”

“Great, something to look forward to,” said Steve sarcastically.

“You’ve never liked being fussed over,” she observed.

“When I was little it usually meant they thought I was going to die,” Steve told her.

The plane took off into a clear blue arctic sky, heading southwest over Alaska to get to the town of Nome.  Steve sat looking out the window, but he kept his hand in hers, and she couldn’t help looking at him.  The cuts and bruises she’d helped him with after the train were healing quickly, as they always did.  In a couple more days they’d be gone.  There was already no trace to show he’d spent three years frozen in the sea ice. Physically as well as mentally, he hadn’t aged a day.

Peggy had been a year younger than him when he’d left. She wondered if she would now be considered two years older.

He glanced back and noticed her staring, and she quickly turned her head.  “Sorry,” Peggy said.  “I just… can’t quite believe you’re real.”

One of the things they hadn’t been sure of, one of the things Erskine had never been able to test, was the question of whether somebody who’d had the serum would age normally.  Not enough time had passed to see whether Steve was getting older, but the fact that he’d survived this latest ordeal made it seem unlikely that time could touch him.  What would happen if in twenty years, Peggy had gotten older and Steve had not?

During the war they’d both been ready to deal with that as it came.  Steve probably still was.  Peggy wasn’t so sure.

“What about you?” she asked, trying to distract herself from that uncomfortable thought and the problems surrounding it.  “What are you looking at out there?”

“Nothing, exactly,” he said.  “I’m just… thinking.”

“About what?” Peggy asked.

“About what Buck would have said if he were here. He, uh… he would have told me I’m an idiot,” Steve said with an embarrassed smile.  “He would have told me that if I’d given it a few more days I would have realized I didn’t want to die, and he’d be right.  In the last few seconds when I knew the water was coming in, I tried to get out.  But I couldn’t.  He wouldn’t have wanted me to die.”

“I could have told you that,” said Peggy.

“I’m surprised you haven’t yet,” said Kay from the seat behind them.

“I was saving it for when the initial joy wore off,” Peggy replied.  “Then I was going to give him a real earful.”

Kay giggled, but Peggy had to suppress a shudder.  His last thought being that he didn’t want to die after all, only for him to wake up and find he was alive but three years had gone by without him… that had to be enough of a shock.  Three years, however, was merely a hiatus – seventy was a lifetime.  She rearranged her fingers, lacing them through his, and wished Kay hadn’t painted quite so vivid a picture of it.

- 

There was no fanfare waiting for them in Nome, to Steve’s obvious relief.  When they landed on the little airstrip, there was nobody there to meet them but a few more military men, and Howard and Jason.  The ramp came down, and Kay was the first off the plane, followed by Peggy and Steve.  Howard was so happy to see any of them that he ran up to give Kay a hug.

“What do they feed you Russian girls to make you indestructible?” he asked.

“Various experimental versions of the super-soldier serum,” Kay replied.

Howard blinked and then held her out at arm’s length again to examine her facial expression.  She remained entirely deadpan, but after a moment he decided she was joking, and laughed awkwardly before turning to hug Peggy.

“I think you’re just too stubborn to die,” he said.

“Damned right,” Peggy agreed.  “I have far too much to do.”

He responded with a more genuine laugh and hugged her again, while Jason happily greeted Kay.  Steve had stood back for this, but then came up to take his turn saying hello to Howard, on the assumption that his friend was expecting him.

Peggy had assumed this as well.  She hadn’t told Jason that Steve was alive, but Captain Lewis must have radioed ahead to have somebody there to meet them, and would have surely told that person.  And since Peggy had told Lewis that Howard and Jason would be there as well, it seemed reasonable to her that one of the military men would have spoken to them.

Evidently this was not true.  Steve stepped forward with a smile on his face, clearly expecting a hug of his own, and said, “Howard!  Good to see you!”  But instead of returning the greeting, Howard stopped cold.  The colour drained from his face, and then his legs simply folded up underneath him.  If Peggy hadn’t caught him, he would have fallen face-first onto the asphalt.

“Is he okay?” one of the soldiers asked.

Peggy lay him down gently and took his pulse. “He’s out cold,” she said.  “I think he’ll be fine.  Does anyone have any smelling salts?”

One of the soldiers went to fetch some from the first aid kit on the airplane, while Steve and Peggy carried Howard’s unconscious body into a car so they could lie him down comfortably.  Once that was done, Steve stepped back and looked at Jason, somewhat worried about what his reaction might be.

“Captain,” said Jason.  “Dr. Jason Wilkes.  I work for Stark Industries.  I saw you once or twice during the war, but we never actually met.”

“Nice to meet you, Dr. Wilkes,” said Steve.  They shook hands.

The smelling salts brought Howard around, gagging. “What happened?” he groaned. “Peg?  I thought I saw…”

“You did,” Peggy told him.  “Steve’s alive.  He’s here.”

Howard sat up a bit to see Steve looking over Peggy’s shoulder, and after a moment in which he could only sit there with his mouth hanging open, he began to grin.  “Well, son of a gun!”

[insomniousluci]

Easy Games

-MC manages to get Levi to focus on something else besides video games-

I lay on the couch in Leviathan’s room, watching him as he stared intently at his large television screen. His fingers swiftly danced across his game controller.

“NO!” He shouted, and I watched as his character perished on the screen, dying a bloody death at the hands of a grotesque monster.

“I didn’t know you liked games like this. I thought you played stuff that was a little more...I don’t know...chill?”

“I like all types of games. This one is cool because you play as a hero who has to travel to the world of—“

“It’s okay you don’t have to tell me the whole story, I get the context.” I was not trying to listen to him go on for hours about the complicated plot. Luckily, he was already sucked back into the game and too distracted to continue talking.

About an hour went by of Levi losing the game over and over again. I sighed, frankly bored out of my mind. I had promised to spend the afternoon with him, but this isn’t what I had in mind. I grabbed a throw pillow from the couch and hurled it at him, nailing him directly in the back of his head. He turned around so quickly I was surprised he didn’t give himself whiplash.

“Hey! What the heck do you think you’re doing? What’s your problem!?” He yelled.

“I’m bored!” I shouted back. “God, Levi. You asked me to hang out with you but you’re acting like I’m not even here!”

“You’re the one who said you liked watching me play.” He retorted, turning back around and putting his headphones on. I guess now I was to sit in silence while he shunned me. I tried to think of a way to get his attention, and I remembered how cute it was to watch him get flustered. In fact I think the only thing that got a bigger rise out of him than his nerdy obsessions was me giving him special attention. So, I stood and walked over to where he sat on the floor. I knelt down behind him and placed my arms around him, slipping his headphones off and breathing softly on his ear.

“Maybe you shouldn’t be so rude to me, Levi. I could just leave and go hang out with Mammon instead,” I said in a low voice as I playfully twirled a piece of his long hair around my finger. I could feel him holding his breath.

“No...no you don’t need to do that...” he said nervously.

“Good, so you’re going to pay attention to me now, right?” I started to kiss his neck lightly. His skin was hot and with a hand on his chest I felt his heart beating faster. He turned to face me and I saw how insanely red his cheeks were. I couldn’t help but giggle at him. He gave me an annoyed look.

“You’re evil...” he pouted. “You think you can just do whatever you want and I’ll just go along with it?”

“You’re right, sorry. I’ll just go now...I’m sure Mammon needs my help with something...”

“NO!” He shouted, but quickly became embarrassed at his outburst. “I told you not to leave me.”

I leaned in and kissed him then, grabbing him by the back of his head and pulling him close. I sat in his lap and pressed my body against his. I broke the kiss and looked intently into his eyes.

“If you don’t want me to leave, then we’re going to play my game now. Okay?”

“Okay...okay.” He could barely speak, and the look on his face was blank from the shock of my assertiveness. I began kissing his neck again, much more aggressive now, leaving little love bites all over him. I slid my hips back and forth on his lap, rubbing into his cock which was quickly stiffening in his pants. He let out a little gasp as I reached down to give it a playful squeeze.

I pushed him onto his back and quickly pulled his shirt over his head. For someone who didn’t get a lot of exercise, Levi had a gorgeous body. I kissed down his chest and stomach, gently licking just above the buttons of his pants. I undid the snap and pulled them down. He was watching me, trying not to lose his cool. I slid down his underwear next, revealing his hard cock. He turned his gaze away from me then, covering his face in shame.

“Your cock is so perfect...” I said, licking in circles around the head.

“Hhuh... you...you like it?” His voice trembled as he looked for my approval.

“Yes, I really do. I really want to see what you do when I suck it.” I wrapped my lips around it and began to suck, slowly moving my head up and down his long shaft. He immediately let out a moan and his hand was drawn like a magnet to the back of my head. I went faster, pressing my tongue firmly against it to make it nice and tight. He squirmed a little, his hips jerking forward, shoving his cock to the back of my throat. I managed to not gag, and I looked up into his eyes. This drove him crazy, and he groaned loudly for me. I pulled it out of my mouth and jerked it quickly in my hand, stopping every few strokes to massage the head.

“Do you like that, Levi?” I asked with a smirk.

“Y-yes! Ha— uhhn... dont.. don’t stop!” He begged me to continue. I shoved his cock back into my mouth, going as deep as I could, sucking hard. I picked up the pace and quickly slid him in and out of my mouth. His moans were loud. So loud that he’d probably be embarrassed if he realized. But I loved hearing his noises of pleasure.

Quickly undressing, I moved on top of him and spun around so that he had a nice view of me from behind. Still teasing the tip of his cock with my tongue, I made my proposal.

“Do you want me to ride you?” I asked.

“Yes! Please!” The words practically jumped out of his mouth.

“Okay...but first... I think I want to see your cute face smothered by my ass...is that okay?”

“Uh huh!” He grabbed my hips and slid me toward him, and I lowered myself onto his face. He seemed so eager, like he had probably dreamt of me sitting on his face for a long time. I looked back and could only see his eyes and the top of his nose peaking out from under me. He started to tease me with his tongue, flicking it against me and dragging it across just the right spot, sending shivers down my spine. I moved my hips back and forth a little and heard his muffled moans below me.

I moved off of his face to let him catch his breath, and then I started to rub myself against his cock, everything all sticky with saliva and pre cum. As I lifted myself and came back down his cock slid deep inside me, and I looked back at him as I sat on it. He was watching as it disappeared inside me, and gave me a long groan as he felt my tight, wet grip on him. I started to work my hips up and down, riding his cock reverse style. His moans grew even louder and he grabbed my ass, throwing his head back in pleasure and closing his eyes tight. I stopped bouncing and took a moment to slowly move my hips in circles, grinding into him. I felt him deep inside, throbbing. He thrust up into me and his legs were beginning to quiver. I started bouncing on top of him again, faster and faster until he was practically shouting.

“Ah...fuck! Fuck I’m gonna cum...!” He moaned, bucking his hips excitedly. His cock pulsated and before I knew it I felt the hot eruption filling me up. The load was big, and Levi was now left breathless from his intense orgasm. I enjoyed the warm sensation for a moment before lifting myself off of him. I turned back around and sucked lightly on the tip of his cock once more, cleaning up the sticky mess. He tensed up at the feel of my tongue on his extra sensitive skin.

We dressed ourselves and he sat on the couch. His expression was blank, but his face was still bright red. I chuckled and kissed his cheek.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Wha—what? What do you mean am I okay? What’s that supposed to mean? I...I...” he scowled at me, clearly still very flustered.

“Nothing, don’t worry. Hey look, I had fun. Did you have fun?”

“Yeah...I did.” His brows relaxed and a weak but adorable smile broke through. I smiled back. Just as I was about to go in for another kiss on his cute little cheek, my phone rang. I quickly stood up and started to gather my things. “What is it?” He asked.

“I forgot I have a study session with Mammon now. I’m sorry, I can’t miss it, he needs me to tutor him you know, or else he’ll fail again. I’m sorry!”

Levi rolled his eyes and crossed him arms. I could feel the jealousy radiating from him. “Of course you’ve gotta go help stupid Mammon. Yeah whatever, go on then.”

Before I slipped out the door, I paused to leave him with one last tease.

“You know, Levi, I don’t like that look on your face. But I think if you lose that attitude maybe we can do this again.” I gave him a smile so wicked you’d think I was a just another demon.

“Don’t mess with me!” He shouted, tossing another pillow in my direction. I quickly closed the door before I was hit, and I heard him sigh on the other side. This game was just too easy.

[iturbide]

honestly reading your posts has made me think about what a post-cf fic would look like with morale, supplies and might at an all-time low and slithers being mostly unscathed with superior tech, not to mention the liklihood of rebellions breaking out across fodlan as it struggles to recover from war and that isn't even counting the potential of attacks by almyra, sreng and dagda. would any of the bleagles even survive?

oh yeah post-CF fic would be.  So rough. I mean, even assuming that the other Black Eagles kids survived, I can’t see many of them choosing to stick around once it becomes clear that Edelgard lied to their faces about what happened at Arianrhod and left them completely in the dark about a threat in their own midst.  Ferdinand would probably stick it out because he has noble ideals and truly does want the best for the people -- but even his bright optimism might well falter and flag as things get worse and worse with no end in sight for any of them.  Whatever feelings Dorothea had for Edelgard have been utterly and completely shattered, and it makes her sick to sing the ode she once wrote of the princess’ -- but she’s still an actress, so no one can tell.  Petra may not have visible shackles, but she is chained invisibly to Edelgard’s side for the sake of protecting her people.

No one is happy.  And worst of all, they can say nothing without being branded as traitors.

[[MORE]]

There’s actually a very soft Bad End AU I toy with on occasion when I need something to think about.  Basically, Byleth realized by the time the Empire attacked Derdriu that they’d irrevocably fucked up, and in a bid to give Fodlan some chance of a better future, when Edelgard chooses to kill Claude they step up to do it -- but deliver a non-fatal blow, despite how convincingly mortal it seems.  Realizing what Byleth was aiming for, Claude plays dead -- and when Hilda, distraught and despairing over her friend’s apparent death, comes charging in to avenge him, Byleth deals a similar blow to her before the Imperial Army leaves.  Believing their prince was killed, the Almyrans sneak back in under the cover of darkness, intending to bring the body home for burial...only to find Claude and Hilda both clinging to life, and their retrieval mission rapidly turns into a rescue mission as the small force gently loads them both up and rows them back to the navy waiting just out of sight.

From there they return to Almyra, where they’re laid up for quite a while in recovery.  Claude spends a lot of time talking with his parents, and when Hilda asks if she can see her brother the king of Almyra doesn’t hesitate to send Nader to the Locket to hail him.  Holst is...understandably having a rough time, to the point that he sees Nader and his small contingent of Almyran wyvern riders and tells them, effectively, “you want in? be my guest, I don’t care anymore.”  Nader, though, tells him to buck up, they’ve got a surprise for him -- and take him back to the Almyran capital where his sister is just starting to get up and about a little more often.  Hilda ends up staying in Almyra, but she and her family have lots of contact via both letters and in-person meetings at and around the Locket since Holst gladly agrees to ally with the Almyrans when they put any plans in motion.

As Edelgard continues to struggle with keeping the peace and starting her campaign against the Twisted, she decides to reach out to Almyra for an alliance, hoping that their army will be able to bolster her diminished forces so she can keep the peace and devote attention to rooting out the hidden problem.  Unfortunately for her, the Almyrans have no love at all for the Empire after what they did to their prince -- so while her messenger is treated quite well and kindly, the king and queen of Almyra send him back with a box containing a live, lethally venomous snake native solely to Almyra, and do not include an antidote.  The messenger is explicitly told and shown what’s in that box (it’s very well fed before it goes so that when it reaches its destination it’ll be alive and more than ready to snap at whoever decides to open the box), so the return message is very clear: we bear no ill will toward this person you sent your message with, but we have a very big problem with you.

By the time Claude is pretty well back on his feet, though, they start hearing some very, very interesting rumors coming through both their Sreng and Alliance channels -- namely that there’s a Blaiddyd running around.  Now, Claude’s well aware that Dimitri perished at Tailtean at Edelgard’s hands, but this isn’t something he can just let go -- so he sets out with Hilda on a covert investigation.  They end up finding the source of the rumors, too: a small group of old Kingdom loyalists and a teenage boy named Nikita who bears a striking resemblance to the last king of Faerghus.  When they’re beset by Imperials, the truth is revealed: Nika is the product of a long-ago dalliance by Dimitri’s father, after his first wife died and before he wedded Patricia -- and does, in fact, bear a Major Crest of Blaiddyd; he was secreted out of Fhirdiad well before the battle at Tailtean for his own protection, just in case the worst came to pass...and the Empire, understandably, doesn’t want to give the Kingdom loyalists a rallying point, so their operatives have been out hunting him down.  Claude offers them all protection in Almyra and helps to get them all across the border where they’ll be safe -- but he puts a not insignificant number of conditions on that protection, all of which are aimed toward protecting Nika, up to and including the fact that Nika will not be pushed into leadership until he reaches his majority by Almyran standards.  The Kingdom representatives have little choice but to agree, since it’s their best hope.

From there, Claude and Hilda both take on support and mentorship roles for Nika, teaching him pretty much everything he could feasibly need to know and a whole bunch else that he just wants to learn.  He picks up diplomacy, statesmanship, weapons mastery, riding (both horses and wyverns), plus strategy, several Almyran games, accessory crafting, and a little flower arrangement.  And when the night of his final mandated birthday rolls around, Claude finds him and tells him that whatever anyone says tomorrow, always remember that it’s his choice what he does.  If he wants to go back and lead the Kingdom, then he should -- but if he wants to stay here?  He should do that, instead.  And when Nika points out, hesitantly, that he’ll probably need an advisor if he goes back, Claude grins and replies that a very strong case could be made for him as an Almyran Ambassador.

Edelgard doesn’t even see it coming, really.  Almyran forces tear past the Locket and start sweeping up the resistances that have held out against the Empire since the fall of the Leicester Alliance, bolstering their forces and subduing the Imperial outposts; they cross the Valley of Torment into the northern Kingdom and reveal Nika to the people, drawing the old Kingdom loyalists out in force and pushing back hard against the Empire’s hold.  The closer the New Kingdom forces and the Almyran Alliance army get to the Empire, the more their ranks are swelled by Imperial deserters, those who hold the Seiros faith close and those who have lost any in their Empress; and in the end, with these monumental forces at her gate, Edelgard realizes that she did, in fact, succeed in uniting all of Fodlan -- but it wasn’t supposed to be against her.

[ba-mi-soro-orisha]

when youre done recovering id love to hear your thoughts on the book(even if the post ends up being almost as long lmao)

Buckle up, y’all, cause this is going DEEP INTO SPOILERS. This is my no-holds-barred take on Children of Virtue and Vengeance!

SPOILER WARNING

SPOILER WARNING

SPOILER WARNING

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If you read any further past this, CoVaV is gonna be majorly spoiled for you. This is your last warning.

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Okay, I gotta open with a minor - but really the only - critique I had about CVV: we know Tomi was rushed in finishing the book in time for the third pushed back date, and the book kinda reads like it. Book 1, I felt like we got a lot more detail and getting to know characters and buildup of the plot. Book 2, it felt like we were just rushing to get through all the action planned. There wasn’t very much in between downtime, which resulted in not only a kinda rushed book with way more plot than pages, but also a very emotionally devastating book. 

Which leads me to: I feel like the central theme of CoBaB was more “hope”, while in CoVaV it was straight up “conflict”. And there was no recovery time. Even the precious few hopeful times that were in the book, I didn’t really have time to process or chill or cope. I always knew something worse was coming, which is what made this such a raw read. I do think the book could have benefited from giving us a little more hope. Like three-quarters of the way through, I had to keep thinking back to CBB and how I felt reading it and hoping there would be more hopeful and optimistic feelings in book 3. I couldn’t put the book down, but as a result, I pretty much just sobbed through the last fourth (at least) of the book, finished the book, sat in shock, and then went to bed. This book literally exhausted me. What a godsdamned ride.

I completely get why the book was like this, even if it wasn’t as a result of being rushed, but I feel a little more for the readers to balance it out helps us survive, lol.

That aside, there was SO MUCH in this book, I have SO MANY feelings!!!

Firstly, the worldbuilding was GREAT. I loved the new insight we got on magic. I totally didn’t realize frm book 1 that tîtans and maji were different and used magic differently for the most part.

With the direction of the ending, I’m not sure Tomi will go in this direction, but I’d like to know more about these differences. Why is it that chants can work for tîtans but maji can only use magic through chants? Is it just most effective? Will we discover they can use raw magic in book 3? I HAVE QUESTIONS.

Learning about the maji clan setups was also really interesting, but I have to admit it threw me for a bit of a loop referring to the leaders as elders and then they were all children. xP

Also, I’m really glad Tomi listened and gave us queer characters. I love Nâo and Khani. Powerful leader girlfriends? HELL YEAH.

I think this book made it really clear that Zélie x Amari is not end game and will not happen. I know a lot of people were/still are hopeful for that, but I think there’s just too much set up that says otherwise. They love each other, but imo they firmly think of each other as family. I’m going to put my stock in our canon queer couple and support them 10,000%.

Next big one: FUCKING HELL INAN STILL BEING ALIVE, I AM REALLY NOT HAPPY. I didn’t check out the chapters in the table of contents, so I didn’t have the forewaring to see that Inan was getting perspective chapters again, so it took my by quite a bit of surprise. A lot of you called that Inan would still be alive, but I honestly so prefer “dead means dead” in stories (otherwise, I find deaths are used too much for shock value and it just devalues the overall story and plot) that I had myself convinced he really was dead. He got a convincing death scene. Listen, if you kill off a character, I am going to grieve them. It is not going to be the same if you bring them back. I will have completely detached feelings for them and have to form a whole new relationship and perspective on them, and I am always going to keep them at a distanced because they were dead, I saw it happen, and there is no going back.

But no. BAM! He’s not only alive but Zélie is the one to wake him from his connector coma. Not happy. I really feel that Inan’s story played out in CoBaB. It’s interesting that I’ve seen some real anti-Inan folk feeling more sympathy for Inan in this book, while I’ve talked about feeling that Inan was a really compelling villain in book 1, but I’ve got much more negative feelings towards him throughout book 2.  (And also why the hell should Inan get to come back but all these little maji kids - Zulaikha and Mazeli, c’mon - die and die for real??? It feels very cheap and very shock value to me. I don’t know if it was like some statement on privilege or Tomi just didn’t want to be done with Inan, but yeah.)

Honestly, the way Inan and Amari think in this book is so similar, and I found it so fucking conceited and narrow-minded. My view on both of them went down in this book. They just kept talking about how they have to be so selfish and they’re the only ones who can see things for how they are and how damn much they sacrifice and how tired they are because it’s up to them to sacrifice everything. Like!!! GUYS. No.

From the beginning when the CVV summary was released, I was wary of the plot focusing on Amari leading the people. It’s one of those things like: the system is not broken. It’s functioning exactly as it intends to. The monarchy has evolved to uphold a class system where diviners and maji are at the bottom. That’s what it wants to be doing. Can you really effectively change the system by accepting the system as your basis for change? Maybe it’s time to deconstruct the system and build something better. Not just put a royal back on the throne and think that’s gonna go smoothly.

And that’s exactly what happened here. They tried to use the system to buck the system and everything collapsed around them.

But I’m getting a little off topic - fixing a system of bigotry and oppression that your people built is not a sacrifice. You are still in the position of power here.

And Inan’s little bit where he thinks he’s so good and pure and better than his father because he offers the maji a place in society if they bend to his rules and follow him when the other option is that he will murder them had me wanting to tear my hair out. “Follow me or perish” is not a compromise. It’s not improvement. It’s literally a threat. And then when the maji don’t take this offer, Inan takes this as a sign that his mother was right and they can’t trust the maji to make the right decisions!?!?

Ugh. I was just done. I know all the factors of why I originally had sympathy for Inan are still there, and they largely control how he acts and thinks in CVV. (What he really needs for character growth and development is to be away from toxic influences and given time to grieve and work on figuring himself out. Not thrust into a position of power with his mother holding all the strings.) So, for me, Inan’s character really hit a wall, always getting stuck in the same patterns. And so now I feel less sympathy for him and find his story less compelling.

I honestly found Inan’s cousin, Ojore, really interesting. I think it could have been a really compelling story if somehow Ojore was allowed to take up the throne. WIth his background, being there in the burner attack that killed Saran’s father, he had a lot of backstory that we could have explored. And Tomi still could have revealed that it was Nehanda that manipulated things and let the burners in to encourage the war and the genocide against maji. Without Inan, we could have really gotten to explore how Ojore would react to that while on the throne. He could have potentially gone through the character development that Inan will never really get to see. Instead of him being killed pretty much immediately after he learns the truth behind his family’s death and the attack on him.

That being said, I do respect Inan’s decision to give up his position in the end. I think the whole “I’ll let your murder me” and Zélie apparently going to go through this was a little… contrived. But at least Inan did pull it out in the end. It will be interesting to see how these last moments between Inan and Zélie come into play in the next book. I’m assuming either Inan has been taken with the rest or will mount a rescue to go after them, so you know we’re going to get more on how this relationship develops. 

(I think with Tzain done with Amari right now, Amari and Inan trying to navigate a new siblingship with each other will be a more interesting relationship than Inan x Zélie, and I would look forward to getting to see these sibs talk and get to actually be there for each other like they never have before.)

And since I just went through Inan, let’s go ahead and talk about Amari.

Oh, Amari.

Amari, Amari, Amari.

GIRL. Why did it take you this entire book to realize that making decisions based off of what your father would have done was the wrong damn thing to do!?!?!? Omg, we all knew that was gonna crash and burn on you. The entire purpose of overthrowing your father’s rule was to not do things his way because his way was cruel and malicious. smdh

I was still rooting for Amari throughout the book. I am still rooting for Amari, but damn. She sure did try to make it hard doing things like going back on promises right after she made them (forcing Zélie to teach her chants that didn’t belong to her and then immediately using them on a maji) and acting like she new better than all the maji (I agree that just wanting to kill all the nobles and other peoples wasn’t a feasible plan, but GIRL. These are a traumatized, hunted people. They’re going to be angry, especially right in the thick of a war. Strongarming your way into a position of power over them is not going to make them feel any better about you or bring about peace. It’s just going to show them that they cannot trust you). And her move at the end? Sacrificing Zélie and all those people in that village? Being willing to murder them all? … If killing her father fucked her up, what’s this going to do? I still have faith in her. I want her to come back from this. But she’s going to have to majorly confront her own feelings and actions and work very hard to come back from this. Though, I have a feeling that she’ll mostly get forgiven in the next book because bigger and worse things will happen and they’ll have to come together, regardless of how they feel about each other.

Amari’s realization in the end when she decides she doesn’t have to kill her mother (uh… was I the only one expecting some sort of Avatar moment like when Aang took away Ozai’s bending? Like… Nehanda is still a threat… this part of the story can’t just be over) and that killing her father just fucked her up kinda made me feel ashamed for feeling so proud of her when she did kill Saran in CBB. Like, it was just such a powerful moment, and I think too many (simple “good vs evil”) stories fall prey to poor and simplistic messages like “killing in self-defense is evil and makes the good people as bad as the villains”. But it’s just been weighing on Amari this whole time and fucking her up, and now I feel bad. =(

Speaking of Amari feeling bad, though: Ramaya. The connector Amari beat for connector elder.

I hope either Inan was taken with everybody else or Amari will connect with him via their connector-sibling connection. It seems incredibly likely that Ramaya is stuck in her dreamscape similarly to how Inan was stuck in his before Zélie somehow entered it and woke him. Considering they were constantly saying Ramaya was their best soldier, it seems like it would also come in handy to wake Ramaya and be able to utilize her skills to help rescue the kidnapped crew. Like, this HAS to come up at some point, doesn’t it? She can’t just be forgotten in a coma. Did anybody stay behind to take care of her when they marched on the capitol? D|

Other relationships!

Fuck, I fell so hard for Roën in this book. He’s just so endearing. And it seems like it was really only Roën that was able to keep Zélie grounded and moving forward in this book. I didn’t really support Roën and Zélie getting together in book 1, but book 2 absolutely made me support the ship.

However, I think Roën’s actions at the end of the book are a very good insight into the types of things that Roën is capable of. I don’t know if this is endgame for Tomi, but after Zélie’s constant struggle of just wanting to leave and be free and start over in this book and how her rage towards Inan consumed her and caused her to make some short-sighted mistakes (promising she’d protect Mazeli at the temple, then Ojore almost killing him while she tussled with Inan), I just don’t know that this is a particularly healthy relationship. The bit where Roën takes her out to see and they get a ride from a whale? Absolutely adorable. Just what Zélie (and I suspect Roën) needed. But long-term? I have a feeling that Roën is going to have to let more of that mercenary self of his out, and it’s going to scare and wear on Zélie, and erode their relationship. I think this is one of those relationships that is good in the short-term but isn’t long-term sustainable.

Speaking of long-term - I know Tzain is absolutely done with Amari right now, but I think he’s overall shown a great capacity for forgiveness, and I do think Tzain and Amari are endgame for Tomi. I don’t think this break between them is permanent. 

But you know who we really need to talk about?

MAMA AGBA

What a heartbreaking arc. You know she had to sever the tie between Mazeli and Zélie to save Zélie’s life. I so wish she had gotten more time with Zélie for them to reform their trust and love for one another. I absolutely wouldn’t have been able to survive the maji elders sacrificing Amari to complete the linking ritual, but I can’t believe they really did sacrifice Mama Agba like that. She was really the only guidance these poor kids had. I can’t believe they really sacrificed her.

RIP Mama Agba. I hope you’re helping to look after Mazeli. 3

Now, for that damn epilogue.

I don’t know if I can take the next book. I don’t know how Tomi’s gonna make it through the next book.

Getting gassed and waking up on an eerie ship with the other elders? Anybody else get the feeling that Tomi is going to dive into a trans atlantic slave trade parallel? I hope I’m just being paranoid here (hey, the book seriously played with my emotions; I have no idea where I’m at anymore). What were y’alls takeaways from that part?

Predictions!

- Harum obviously has something to do with all the elders being taken and them being on a boat now, right? Tomi was totally setting him up as an antagonist and he got very little antag action in this book. He’s got to have something to do with this.

- This was always intended to be a trilogy, but I have to wonder if this isn’t going to end up turning into a couple more books than intended. There was so much to go over in book 2 and then the twist of an epilogue. They’re not even getting to rebuild yet. It just feels like Tomi has so much more planned it can’t possibly be wrapped up in just one more book.

- I feel like something’s gotta happen to sever or dampen the connection the elders (and Roën and Tzain) have with each other. After how powerful they were in the end, Tomi’s gotta counter that somehow. I just don’t know if she’s gonna dampen the powers or pull out an even BIGGER bad than Nehanda was.

- Obviously “Children of Gods” has to do with the title of book 3. If it’s not just Children of Gods, I predict: Children of Gods and Ghosts.

Ending Thoughts

CVV was well worth the wait and lived up to the hype, but if we don’t get some hope and optimism in the next book, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I need these poor kids to get some semblance of a happy ending. They’ve been through so much.

[our-smooty]

Flowerbeds and Fertile Soil: Chapter 13

Fandom: Good Omens

Rating: Explicit

Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens, )Anathema Device/Newton Pulsifer

Tags:  Kidfic, Mpreg kind of, they can choose to present however so idk, Crowley Has A Vulva (Good Omens), Crowley Has A Penis (Good Omens), Aziraphale Has A Penis (Good Omens), Aziraphale Has A Vulva (Good Omens), OCs Galor, parenting, using your snake form to avoid confrontation, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Pregnancy, if I missed a tag lemme know

Summary: They could do anything, go anywhere, all without the worry of Above or Bellow making a fuss. Even so, they mostly kept to their little patch of Eden, their cottage and garden and the simple life they’d carved out among the locals. Aziraphale opened a book shop in town, where he only occasionally sold any books (and the ones he did sell, were all modern and stocked specifically for that purpose). Crowley focused his attentions on the garden, and if he occasionally helped their elderly neighbour with her disobedient willow tree, then that was a secret no one needed to know. Lately, however, they had both been feeling rather restless, unbeknownst to each other. Aziraphale tried reorganizing his store, changing the way he tied his bowtie and even ate pizza –something he considered to be far too messy for him personally. Crowley had branched out into birdwatching, and then car maintenance (the human way), and even reading. Nothing scratched the itch for either of them.

Ao3 Link

The next day, Aziraphale woke up first. He’d nodded off sometime in the early morning, after finishing his book and being tempted by Crowley’s soft sleeping face. And even though he fell asleep second he woke up first. Crowley was still completely unconscious, his face mashed into the pillow and both hands tucked up under his chin. In the dim lighting and abundant, soft bedding Crowley looked extremely comfortable. Almost like he could keep sleeping for hours, which just wouldn’t do. As much as Aziraphale liked visiting the bookshop, and was relieved that everything was safe and sound, he did want to get back to the cottage and the nursery. The sooner Crowley woke up the sooner they could ward the Mayfair flat, then get back home. 

But Aziraphale knew if he just woke Crowley up with a shake or by calling his name he’d be cranky all day. It was always better to let the demon wake up on his own. Except... There was one way he could wake Crowley up that had an excellent chance of putting him in a better mood than if he got to sleep in. The angel grinned to himself, then slowly slid under the covers.

Since it was getting later in the year, Crowley had once again taken to wearing his warmer flannel pyjamas instead of slinky silk or nothing at all. Luckily Aziraphale was well-practised at stealthily undoing the buttons and wiggling the loose trousers down past the demon’s bum. Crowley’s cock was soft, which was good. It meant Aziraphale could take his time, riling Crowley up until he awoke, drowning in pleasure. 

His first stop was the demon’s nipples. They were already crinkling up now that they were exposed to the cooler air. Aziraphale tweaked each one between his thumb and forefinger a few times before lowering his head and sucking one into his mouth. Crowley twitched, puffing his chest out into the touch. He wasn’t making any noises yet, so Azirpahale decided he needed to escalate the situation by getting his teeth involved as well as bringing his thigh up between Crowley’s legs to grind against his member. That forced a tiny, mewling noise and another, larger twitch from his lover.

“Are you waking up dear?” Aziraphale asked, his lips brushing against Crowley’s ear. Another little sound as Crowley nuzzled further into Aziraphale’s chest and bucked his hips. “There you are, don’t you want to come for me?”

“'Ziraphale?” Crowley gasped. His cock was drooling now--no matter what form Crowley took he was almost always extremely wet and responsive--and making a mess of Aziraphale’s sleeping trousers. Which Aziraphale couldn’t complain about, as his own member made a damp-patch inside the trousers 

“Good morning lovely. Did you sleep well?” 

“Nnnngh…”

“I’m terribly sorry I had to wake you, but the sooner we get up the sooner we can ward your flat and get home. I am so looking forward to getting home and back to our little project.” He wasn’t sure if Crowley was listening, but that was alright. He seemed to be enjoying himself, at least, if the rapidly rising moans were anything to go by.

“A-angle--! G-going to c-come!” he whined, squirming back and forth against Aziraphale’s thigh. The movement made the angel moan as it reached his own cock. He was close too, but he needed Crowley to let go first.

“Yes, good boy. Come for me, let me see you--” Crowley’s orgasm seemed to hit him all at once, and he bowed into Azirpahale’s grasp, his entire body trying to get as close as possible. After watching the demon work through his pleasure, Aziraphale thrust hard against his still-trembling thigh then came as well, completely soiling his pyjamas. As soon as they both stopped trembling he miracled away the mess and straighten out Crowley’s clothing.

G’morning,” Crowley mumbled, finally opening his eyes to gaze drowsily up at Aziraphale. “That was… nice.”

“Oh-ho,” Aziraphale gasped dramatically, kissing the blooming indignant look on Crowley’s face. “Don’t get mad, dearest. I only wanted to wake you up in the most enjoyable way possible so we can get a wiggle on.”

“You’re only saying that to needle me,” Crowley groaned, nipping sharply at Aziraphale’s jaw. The angel retaliated by blowing a raspberry against Crowley’s cheek, which made him yelp and try to get away. “Angle!”

“You started it,” Aziraphale giggled. He soothed his demon with a chaste kiss. “How about I go make us tea and some toast. Or are you feeling ill again?”

Crowley settled and took a moment to assess himself. After a few seconds, his face lit up with a relieved smile. “No nausea, I feel… fine.”

“Splendid!” Aziraphale kissed him again, this time on the nose before pulling back and sitting up. “You’ll meet me in the kitchen in 10 minutes?”

“Of course angel. If I don’t fall back asleep.” Despite his teasing Aziraphale know Crowley would be downstairs, dressed and ready for the day, in far less than 10 minutes. Especially if he was feeling better. 

“Thank you, love. Don’t push yourself too hard please?” They parted with a final kiss, then proceeded to go about their morning routines. Aziraphale made the tea, and the toast, then sat down and read to the morning paper. He set the comics aside for Crowley. The demon lazed about in bed for a full 5 minutes before finally getting up, snapping himself into appropriate clothing, and sauntering into the kitchen. He picked at the toast and sipped the tea, both of them enjoying the nostalgia of breakfast at the book shop. 

After breakfast, Aziraphale took the time to get dressed the human way while Crowley browsed the funnies. When he was finished, they cleaned up together, then locked up, ensuring one final time that the newly extended wards were perfect. 

"Ready to go, angel?" Crowley asked as Aziraphale paused at the door to the Bently. The angel looked back at the bookshop once, his eyes lingering on the door where the damage had been, before turning to smile beatifically at him.

"Yes, I'm ready. Do try not to speed too much though, I don't think my nerves can take it today."

Driving up to Crowley’s old flat was stressful, the fear that they would find more vandalism, or something worse laying heavy on Aziraphale’s mind. But when they arrived everything was fine. Crowley’s own wards had either held up, or whatever had happened at the bookshop really had been caused by mischievous humans. They still spent an hour improving the wards as they had at the book shop, just in case. When they were finished, Aziraphale suggested they check on the plants, using the excuse of not having seen them in a long time. Really he wanted to see Crowley with them, knowing that most of the greenery here were the demon’s favourites.

“Hello lovelies,” Aziraphale whispered to the plants while Crowley went to fill up the mister. Every single pot was filled with a perfect specimen, and it was easy to see that Crowley doted on these plants far more than any of the others. In fact, as the demon sauntered back into the atrium, every single leaf and stem seemed to bend towards him, seeking his touch.

"You better not be spoiling them, angel," he growled, brandishing the mister like a weapon. "This lot will take any excuse to slack off."

Crowley didn't seem to notice the way the plants were leaning into him. One particularly brave ivy even swung one of its tendrils out to brush lightly against the demons side. Aziraphale realized the plants might be reacting to Crowley's… condition, with a start.

"Perish the thought dear. Though they do seem rather interested in you right now. Are you sure you haven't been spoiling them yourself?" Crowley glanced down to the ivy now trying to wrap a vibe around his waist and the bleeding heart stretching itself as far as it could go just to brush a few of its blooms against the back of his hand. The resulting blush and stammering practically forced Aziraphale to walk over to Crowley and kiss his cheek. 

“What--why are they--?” Crowley was hissing and stuttering up a storm. He went to bat the plants away, but Aziraphale grabbed his hands, pinning them to his chest gently and making him drop the mister.

“You aren’t going to like this, but I think they may know,” he said softly, running his thumbs over the demon’s knuckled soothingly. Crowley was red as a tomato and wiggling in Aziraphale’s grip. 

“Ssso that givess them the right to get their dirty frondss all over me?” It seemed like Crowley couldn’t decide between being furious, embarrassed, or moved, which Aziraphale found unreasonably adorable. One of the vines had trailed up Crowley’s side then reached over to curl near the angel’s ear. A gorgeous, purple bloom the likes of which Aziraphale had never seen blossomed from its end.

“They’re only curious dear. Let them get their… look? Plants don’t have eyes, but I assume it’s sort of the same thing…” He trailed off. Crowley wasn’t listening anyway; his eyes were trained on the plants flittering around them. Some of them kept to a respectful, but curious distance while others were brave enough to briefly touch him. After each plant that could reach had the chance to examine Crowley they withdrew, returning to their pots and quieting down. Only when the last one had retreated Aziraphale released him, but not before pressing an apologetic kiss to each wrist. 

“Angle…” Crowley grumbled. He had the air of someone trying very hard to seem upset, rather than embarrassed. “You can’t just let them get away with that shit! Next thing you know they’ll be thinking it’s alright to wilt a little when no one's looking!” 

“There there, I’m sure they still fear you enough to stay in line, isn’t that right dears?” The plants shuddered in horror (or mock horror, at least), which made the demon relax a little. Shooting them all one last look of disdain, Crowley picked up the plant mister and began dolling out criticism and vitriol, though none of it seemed to land properly. Aziraphale wandered over to a far corner, where some of Crowley’s oldest plants made their home. He liked to visit them when he could, it was almost like meeting with a group of Crowley’s most trusted friends.

“Hello there, you’re all looking hardy as usual,” he whispered, making sure his demon lover couldn’t hear him. “I think he appreciated the welcome, even if he didn’t show it. I’ll make sure to bring the baby here to visit, once they’ve arrived.”

An ancient hydrangea to his right curled it’s leaves slowly, something Aziraphale hoped meant it understood. He wasn’t as well versed in sentient-plant body language as Crowley was. To pass the time he fussed about with their pots, making sure they were adequately turned towards the sun until Crowley made it obvious his task was completed by tossing the mister aside. 

“Done filling their heads with your sentimental shite?” Crowley quipped, giving these plants the side-eye as well. “We could go for lunch, somewhere you’ve missed since we’ve been away?”

“You aren’t tired?” Aziraphale made sure his question wasn’t too prying, or too fussy. But he really was worried that the last few days may be taking a toll on Crowley’s energy levels. The demon had barely even put up a fightback when Aziraphale had held him still which was unusual. 

“I’m fine. Might actually be, uh, a bit peckish?” Crowley answered, eyes daring around everywhere but Aziraphale. “Can’t be sure, but, I think that’s it? Dunno what I’d want to eat though, so if you have any suggestions…”

“Oh yes, of course.” Aziraphale had an entire mental list of places he’d like to take Crowley for lunch, given the opportunity and the rare event the serpent was hungry. It happened maybe once a decade and getting to check a place of his list was truly exciting. “I have just the place dear, somewhere I think you’ll enjoy. It’s not too far from here if you’d like to walk?” 

“Think I could walk a few blocks, yeah.” Crowley took a step forward so he was within grabbing distance, which Aziraphale took advantage of by wrapping an arm around his hips and squeezing gently. “I want to take this one with us, though. S’not doing well, but I think maybe the cottage might have a better place for it.”

The small, only slightly withered, ivy trembled in its pot as Crowley held it out. This wouldn’t be the first time Crowley brought an ailing plant to the cottage, especially since Aziraphale expressed his discomfort with his original disposal techniques. It wasn’t in the worst shape Aziraphale had seen, but Crowley knew best when it came to his plants.

“That space by the kitchen sink?” He’d seen Crowley messing with the plants already on that window sill a few days ago, so he wasn’t surprised they were getting a newcomer. 

“Maybe. Needs somewhere with more shade. I’ll just…” he snapped and the plant disappeared, presumably back to the cottage. “There, now we can walk.”

The walk was really only ten minutes. Aziraphale wouldn’t have suggested they make the trek if it had been any longer because Crowley would have most likely still agreed, and then been uncomfortable all night. Something about the slight changes to his body from the baby was playing poorly with his already loose and bendy snake nature, and more often than not Aziraphale spent a good hour each night massaging aches and pains from his lover's spine.

When they got to the restaurant Crowley made a happy noise. Aziraphale had known exactly what Crowley would be craving because every time he was the least bit hungry he always wanted the same thing. 

“Is this… a burger place?” Crowley asked gleefully, ducking through the door Aziraphale held for him. The waitress waved at them from a few tables away and motioned for them to grab a seat. There were already menus on the table, and Crowley dove into his immediately, looking over the options with excitement. 

“Happy dearest?” Aziraphale asked, watching Crowley coyly from over top his own menu. “I remember how you were just a few years back when you ‘got peckish’, and this place was so close to your flat…”

“How have we never been here before?” Crowley wondered, eyeing the cheeseburger section with something like wonder. “I guess--I know I don’t eat that much, and this isn’t really your thing--”

Aziraphale raised a hand to cut him off before Crowley could send himself into a guilty tizzy. “They have some lovely chips here, and their milkshakes are probably the best in London. Don’t worry about me, love, go ahead and enjoy yourself.”

Crowley hemmed and hawed for a few seconds before the waitress came over and asked to take their order. Then it seemed like his self-control broke as he ordered at least enough food to feed a small human family and their dog. The waitress took it well though and didn’t even flinch when Aziraphale made his order, confirming that yes, the skinny gentleman in the dark sunglasses was about to eat himself to death during her shift. 

“Thanks, angel,” Crowley said, eyeing a neighbouring table’s order. “Kind of snuck up on me. Didn’t feel anything until we started with the wards, then boom!” He tossed a few of the salt and pepper packets he’d been fiddling with up in the air, scattering them around the table. “Feel like I could eat a horse.”

Aziraphale could see the waitress coming around the corner behind Crowley, his shake and fries on a platter, with one of Crowley’s meals beside it. “Their service is fast too, clean that up so she can set the plates down, there’s a lad.”

For once Aziraphale got the pleasure of watching Crowley eat. Normally if the serpent was going to partake in a meal he’d nibble on a bit of deli meat, or fresh fruit. Now he was gleefully digging into a greasy, fatty, messy burger while occasionally stopping to shove fries in his face. It was cute, watching Crowley get so excited and act so out of character. He’d already finished his first meal and looking around for the next course before Aziraphale was half-done with his shake.

“I guess this means the morning sickness is gone then?” He got a glare and a minor hiss for his comment. 

“Don’t even mention that angel. I don’t want to be revisiting this meal in a few hours. How’s your shake?” They chatted as usual over the meal, the only difference being that Crowley more often than not had his mouth full and could only gesture. Much to the horror of the waitress Crowley finished his meal easily, even ordering a milkshake for himself at the end. The cook in the back even poked his head out to get a look at the monster who could eat enough for three then order dessert.

“Maybe we should have taken the car,” Crowley groaned, patting his belly. It didn’t look much more distended than usual, especially with the baby bump, so he must have been using some sort of demonic wile. He still looked a little drowsy though, the golden slits of his eyes barely visible under his sunglasses even in the cheery fluorescent lighting of the diner. 

“Don’t think you can make it? We can stay another night at the bookshop if you want. Or at your flat if the drive back home is too much. I don’t mind.” Aziraphale paid the bill while Crowley hefted himself to his feet and stretched. 

“No, no. I can do it. Besides, I sent that ivy back and it needs to be repotted ASAP.” The walk back to the Bently was a little slower and the angel found he couldn’t keep his hands off of Crowley. As they walked he slipped his arm around him, pressing their sides together, only letting go to instead loop an arm around his waist to guide them the last few meters to the curb.

“If you say so. Was there anything else we needed to get while we’re in London?” Aziraphale gave the flat one last angelic once-over--the wards were as strong as they could possibly be--before turning to the Bently. “I guess we weren’t exactly thinking about shopping lists when we left yesterday.”

“No, was a little more concerned with the shop being broken into. And I can’t think of anything right now,” Crowley answered, sliding into the driver's seat and wiggling a bit until he was comfortable. “It's not like we can’t poof back here anytime, you know.”

“I know, I know. Let's go then. We can always stop at a coffee shop on the way, if we need a break.” He got into the car as well and settled in. "You're My Best Friend" began to play on the car radio, the classical CD that had been in there before finally submitting to the Bently’s strange magic. Which was fine really, he’d grown fond of Queen, and even fonder of the way Crowley would mouth along to the words as he drove.

[imagine-a-killingharmony]

(V3 Boys) Embrassing Alibi

How would the V3 Boys react their s/o lying about their alibi in a class trial and they think that their s/o might be the blackened, until their s/o reveals their true alibi, they’ve saw the boys doing embarrassing while alone during the murder and their s/o was hiding when they saw that?

Eh? Me? Finally growing the balls to do this request after what... ten whole days? Etc? More? Well! More likely than you’d expect! (I don’t have much of an excuse other than math being a pain, nyeh... alongside... roleplay stuff, fun fact- Mod Shumai does that.)

But let’s end this hell cycle...! Once and for all!

Kiibo

Kiibo didn’t want to believe it... of all people it couldn’t have been you who committed the crime, he placed his trust in you- his belief that you would both make it out... together! But with the way Rantaro stylishly pointed the evidence that pointed out you could have been the mastermind his heart sunk by each passing moment...

That is until you finally spoke up, avoiding his eyes he was certain it be the end, but... what instead came out of your mouth are words he’ll never forget.

“... I... I was... watching Kiibo in his room, I was already in the room... I hid in the closet because I didn’t think he be there so soon... you know those... “Power Rangers” well... he was impersonating them, with the poses and everything... “Super-Robot Kiibo”... or... so I think.”

Then all eyes turned to him, his systems began to overheat- if he had tear ducts he would be crying out of pure shame and embarrassment.

“THIS IS ROBOPHOBIA! D-DON’T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT! SO- SO WHAT IF I ENJOY SOME CARTOON MIU INTRODUCED TO ME....?! T-THAT DOESN’t MEAN YOU CAN JUST LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT!!”

“DON’T DRAG ME INTO THIS YOU- FUCKIN’- SHIT FOR BRAINS!”

At least you cleared yourself for suspicion, right?

Shuichi Saihara

You didn’t have an alibi, Shuichi felt his heart sink as soon as he realized this... but what he hated was how this was the class trial... belief in others, was nothing more than a weight he have to push through... he needed to find the truth.

... He begged you, no matter how terrible it was to admit the sight you saw- the alibi that concluded you weren’t the killer so he wouldn’t have to lose you.

You uttered words that made him... regret his words. “When... I tried to come to your dorm room Shuichi... I found you holding onto that “Helping Yachi” toy and sobbing... and... yelling a bunch of... things... “Why are we stuck here...?” “Boohoo... Kokichi’s so mean...!” Stuff... like that.”

All that he heard after it all was the coo from some of the students who found it cute, but the feafening laughter of students like Kokichi- who teased him about this his... alibi.

S... So what? He just has to vent to some people too, y’know! D-Don’t judge him like that!

Ryoma Hoshi

Ryoma knew it was a possibility, you being the killer... course he did, he just didn’t want to accept it... he... liked you, more than the others... you... understand him.

... He didn’t want to believe you were the killer so he remained silent, but after a declaration like that in the last ditch effort to finally prove your evidence... even his poker-face broke.

“... I... I-I was just... I-I was watching Ryoma snuggle against his pillow in his sleep- mumbling about... wait... “jeez... if ya’ wanted to muzzle against me all ya’ had to do was ask, yare yare.” I-It was just- TOO cute?! O-Okay?! I-I didn’t want to admit it because he would actually kill me-?!”

The courtroom drew to silence, the only sound being heard being the crack that came from Ryoma slamming his stand, pushing his hat down- and feeling his soul perish.

“We don’t talk about this, ever again.”

Kaito Momota

Doubt you? Do you really believe Kaito Momota would ever doubt you, it’s just impossible even... if you didn’t have an alibi, or so it seemed he fight for your innocence no matter what!

“S/O! If you have an alibi- don’t hold it back, just tell them and prove your innocence already ya’ dummy!” Oh... the way you looked at him, he should’ve known... should’ve known that was a bade choice.

“... I... I... well... Kaito... I-I um... was already in your room, you just... didn’t notice me... I was gonna announce myself... but then you started to slick your hair back with that hairspray of yours and... and made it like Shuichi’s before shouting: “NO THAT’S WRONG” at the window a bunch... I-I snuck out and...-“

“Wait... you make your hair like that... PURPOSELY Kaito?!”

“O-OF COURSE I- WAIT WHY IS THAT WHAT WE’RE FOCUSIN’ ON?!”

Rantaro Amami

Survive.

That’s it, that’s... what he has to do, it’s his goal in this killing game to survive so whatever things he has to do to... live have to be done, he didn’t want to believe it was you... but you just wouldn’t... you were suspicious... he wasn’t... sure if you were or weren’t the killer... he begged for you to tell them all your alibi... you finally snapped.

“... I... Rantaro... I’m so sorry... When I came by... you were already in your bathroom... doing your... eyelashes... a-and I didn’t know what to do besides watch... I-I’m sorry I had to figure out you had fake eyelashes this way... but I guess that explains why you had... ink in your tears the last class trial.”

“HIS EYELASHES ARE FAKE! I KNEW IT!” “JUST AS ATUA FORTOLD! YOU OWE ME TEN BUCKS MIU.” “Nyeh... I knew it... his eyelashes are fake, not like my magic...”

“(S/O)... I was supposed to die with that secret, how could you?” Sarcasm drilled out of his voice, but honestly... he was just glad that... you had an alibi, you weren’t the killer! So what if he was called out?

Gonta Gokuhara

Gonta didn’t want to believe S/O was the killer... you were better than that, kind, gentle, compassionate towards Gonta... how could you do something so awful and despicable? He just didn’t understand...

... Especially with how you suddenly started asking Gonta for forgiveness mid-trial... why would you do that?

“... I... I-I was hiding in Gonta’s dorm... I wanted to surprise him, y-y’know? As a gift... I-I has a gift... I didn’t mean to... I-Iiiiiii didn’t mean to... walk in on... Gonta... Oh... GOD Gonta... W-Working... on those compliments... YOU WERE DOING A GREAT JOB... JUST...”

“... Oh! You mean the “pick-up-line” Gonta learned from Miu? Oh’ wait! That truly does mean... that you are innocent!”

Despite that... you still made another choked out sob at the end of it... Gonta doesn’t know why!

Kokichi Ouma

Kokichi didn’t care you were suspicious! So what? You were the killer, you’d die... then time go on! He didn’t give any care to it, it happened to the best of us.

... You hated that attitude of his, he hated your attitude of refusing to tell your alibi for “his sake” or whatever, so why not? Let’s just throw you to the fishies, or maybe you can burn!

“... Kokichi? I was... going to... visit you? Yet... never did? Well, I did, was under the bed to give you a taste of your own medicine but then you started to ramble... you should know what it was about, I’ll disclose nothing else.”

“Oh... Oh my god, you were there when I was... was rambling about... about... the UNMENTIONABLE THINGS that shall NOT be brought up?”

“You mean about how jealous you were about Kaito for having more friends than you, somehow?”

“I TRUSTED YOU.”

Korekiyo Shinguuji

He observed that was the type of person that Korekiyo was... but even he was starting to work up a sweat at this trial...you were clearly being suspected, he... tried his best to remain calm...

The embodiment of it... you glanced in his direction, odd, you asked if you had permission to say your alibi... the one you refused to tell? Well of course he gave you permission... only for him to realize why you asked.

“... I was in Korekiyo’s room... I’m... sorry for ruining the surprise... you were setting up for me, Kiyo... y’know the one with... with the...”

“...”

“Rope.”

... Oh shit you found out his murder plan!

“Oh my god! Korekiyo Shinguuji- your the killer!”

Ah, how embrassing... he was found out for being the true killer.

[twin-images]

The Thing About Fan Requests

In our ongoing quest to become video content creators, we regularly watch the producers who inspire us and who have helped shaped Twinsanity to being it is and soon will become: Phelan Porteous, Tony Goldmark, Charlie Callahan, Dave Ganselle, Allison Pregler, Greg Sepelak & Trent Troop, Lewis Lovhaug, Mathew Buck, Bob Chipman, Digi Valentine, etc. Whenever we make the mistake of reading the comment sections of their videos, one occurrence that we find curious is when viewers make the following request:

“Hey, content producer, could you review this thing/show/movie/game/franchise that I’m interested in??” “You should review this!” “Now do this!” “Review this thing that I’m into! Do it! Now!”

We’ve even gotten a few fan requests ourselves. Other creators can do what they choose, but my response whenever I see this question pop up is always the same:

Instead of asking Doug, Linkara, Phleous, Lupa, Bob, Erod or whoever to review this thing, why don’t YOU review it?

Sometimes when I’ve posted this, people take it OK, but more often I get met with responses like:

“What?? Me dare to dirty my precious little hands on actual work? Perish the thought!”

Or

“HOW DARE YOU suggest that I get off my ass and do something for a subject I’M passionate about and might find to be a fun, challenging and interesting new experience! I’LL @#$%ING KILL YOU!!!!”

No, really. Some people honestly get offended when you suggest that maybe they should make their own videos about their favorite media instead of begging content producers to realize their visions for them. You just casually suggest that maybe they should make their own stuff and some folks act as though you just told them to go gargle with glue.

You clearly have a passion for this thing, and you clearly have a strong opinion on it, these content creators can’t be expected to look at everything on the planet, they aren’t going to be doing this forever and new talent has to come from somewhere, so why not do it yourself? These producers have schedules and lives of their own; why should they just drop whatever they’re working to fulfill your fanboy/fangirl requests? Especially when 9 times out 10, you’re not even offering up any money for their services?

Listen, folks, I’m gonna confide with y’all; we haven’t started making videos yet, but when we do, while we’ll appreciate any requests from fans, y’all should know this right now: we won’t be taking fan requests for free. We’ll likely be starting up a Patreon account, and then folks who want to float some cash our way might get a little somethin’-somethin’, but we primarily tackle the topics that we’re interested in; if you want us to talk about that you’re interested, you’re going to have to pay us. Content producers gotta eat too.

This “Review this for me!” mentality is something I’ve truly never understood. Jason and I have been blogging for 8 years now; we’ve never asked anyone else to write our blog for us. I just don’t get it.

Here are some actual fan requests that I’ve over the years:

“Since you referenced Totally Spies, now you have to review it!”

-No, I don’t. Where’s that carved in stone?

“Now that you’ve reviewed Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, now do Masked Rider and Big Bad Beetleborgs.”

-Are you telling me or asking me? ‘Cause I respond better when asked politely. But now that you’ve demanded I do those shows, I’m not going to as a deliberate act of protest; that’s just my nature as a rebellious Aquarius.

“So when can we expect a review of the new Friday the 13th movie??”

-I don’t know; it depends on how soon you make and upload one. Halloween’s just around the corner, get crackin’, Jack!

“You just did a video about ear-worms in cartoons. Could you do an anime one?”

-I could, but I won’t. I got stuff to do. Tell you what, you make an anime one and I’ll watch your video. Deal?

“You should make a video of the Top 11 Animaniacs songs. It should start with a shot of a sunrise; you get up, open the window and then call Malcolm, Tamara and Spoony on the phone, then it cuts to a stage where...”

-Are you giving me directions on how to do this? Seriously? What balls! If you have all these specifics on how this video should be done, then YOU’RE the one who should be doing it, Mr. Spielberg.

“Can you review the following before Christmas: The Pest, Little Miss Sunshine, Pitch Perfect, Misfits of Science, Forever Knight, Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama, The X-Men, Wolverine and Iron Man animes, Teen Wolf...”

-Do you really think I’m gonna go over all of that? For FREE, no less? You’ve got to give me the name of your dealer, ‘cause that’s some serious weed your smokin’!

“I really think you should review Gallivant. I really enjoyed it and would like to know your views on it.”

-OK, fair enough you just want to know what he thinks of it, but what if he hasn’t seen Gallivant? Or what if he has seen it but thought it was terrible? If he gave something you liked a negative review, then you’d be pissed off. This is why I think it’s best for folks to put out their own stuff instead of asking others to do it for them.

But by far one of THE stupidest responses I’ve ever heard when I suggested that maybe a fan should review a thing they like themselves is...

“I can’t, ‘cause I’m not a reviewer like he is.”

-Um, do you think dude was making videos and producing vlogs and reviews the second he came out of his mother’s womb? No offense, bruh, but that’s straight up stupid. NO ONE is born a reviewer. Making and producing content is a SKILL that people can learn. Reviewers aren’t a separate species; they’re just people with a passion for and an opinion on something who are willing to put in the necessary work to express their feelings, thoughts and ideas to others. If you don’t know how to make videos, then you can learn, just like they did. If you think that’s a too big a task, there are other ways to express yourself creatively, like starting a blog or something. It’s not complicated. In any event, stop making excuses, get off your ass and do something. Use your voice. Get your opinions out there. Stop making excuses.

We’re going to start making and uploading videos soon, and recently I’ve gotten the spark to do something else in addition to that: I had initially been thinking of starting a second blog for original fiction, but after joining Tumblr last year, I’ve decided to do online comics instead. I’ve always loved to draw and hope to make my own animated shorts one day, seeing some of the awesome comics and artwork here (particularly the strips Ohmygoles and What’s Up, Beanie? -shout-out to those lovely and funny ladies) has inspired me. Do I know all the ins and out of producing my own comics yet? No, but I can and will learn. Will my first attempts suck? Most likely, ‘cause first attempts usually do. But I’m still going to do it. I firmly believe that being proactive is better than just sitting on your duff bitching and moaning. You can’t hope to succeed if you don’t dare to fail.

[fluffyseapancakes]

Hiya! I was wondering if you could write a fic where the reader has a brother/sister relationship with Thor and she’s being all whiny and childish when she’s training. Thor gets fed up and tickles her to shit her up? Thanks, Ly queen💜

I love Thor (and Loki) with a little sister

_______________________________

“Dear sister are you prepared for training today?” Thor stormed into your room without knocking, he was already dressed in his body armor and was swinging Mjolnir around his arm. You groaned and closed the book about Midgardians that Loki had lent you. Lately Thor’s been on a training kick and he dragged you out of your room to spar for hours. You enjoyed spending time with your brother but you felt absolutely exhausted afterwards and right now all you wanted to do was read and relax.

“Do we have to Thor?” You whined, you looked up at him with your best puppy dog eyes, “I’m still really sore from yesterday.”

“Your attempts at getting out of this will not work today Y/N,” Thor grabbed your training armor from the chair which you lazily tossed it on the night before, “Father says there’s a war coming and we must be prepared.”

“Father says that every month,” you whined, your brother threw the armor at you which you caught with displeasure.

“I would rather that we be prepared for war than the latter,” Thor turned around and started to walk out of your room, “be at the training ring in ten minutes or else I will drag you out there with force.”

You knew better than to challenge Thor on his threat, the last time Loki didn’t take him seriously, he ended up with sore ribs and a bruised ego. You looked down at your open book and enviously stared at the illustration of what Midgardians called a “car.” They had technology do everything for them, including fighting and winning battles. You wondered why Asgardians were more advanced in some ways compared to them, yet your people still fought with swords and godly weapons. Loki had taught you that even with the powers of a god, never underestimate the capabilities of other species. You hated training and desperately wished you were in Midgard instead shopping at a “mall” or going to a “museum.” Everyone in your family seemed to forget that you were much younger than your brothers and being prepared to fight any incoming battles was not a healthy and fun childhood for you. You loved your brothers of course, but you secretly prayed that they would act like normal siblings for once.

The training armor was a bit too big for you since it was Loki’s when he was younger. It weighed possibly a third of your size but you learned how to move and fight with it on. The first day you put on the armor, you were barely able to stand up but now you could move faster than Loki and it felt almost like it was just another extension from your body.

The training arena was a short walk from your room, but you slowly dragged your feet to waste some extra time. Training with Loki was mostly fun and he taught you how to use magic to fight enemies, but Thor always got too aggressive and you would walk out with cuts and bruises. You knew that wasn’t his intention and he was trying to make sure you were strong enough to defend yourself, but you were just a kid and it was too much for you to handle.

“About time,” Thor’s loud voice echoed throughout the empty room and you grimaced at the sight of his hammer cradled in his arms. Sometimes Thor made it fair and fought you without his precious weapon, other times he made it nearly impossible to beat him and you were guaranteed to get more than cuts and bruises.

“Why don’t you put down your girlfriend and we can fight fair and square?”

“A war is coming dear sister, you cannot coax the enemy into putting down their weapon to make it fair,” Thor ignored your comment about the hammer, “I know you do not enjoy all this training, but it will come in handy very soon.”

“Fine,” you mumbled, you swung your arms down to your sides and two small blades that were concealed up your sleeves slid down into view. Loki had taught you that trick and you thanked the gods that the knives didn’t fall out prematurely and caused you to embarrass yourself, “let’s fight brother.”

To your shock Thor held nothing back and the wind was painfully knocked out of you as he nailed a punch into your chest. You fell back on your butt in a daze.

“Yielding already sister? I expected more from you,” he grinned, staring down at you. You glared at him and clenched your fists in frustration.

“A maiden can punch harder than that,” you sassed, immediately you stood up and connected a sharp right hook into your brother’s face. You felt skin split under your knuckle and he grunted with shock and pain.

“You look fitting with that,” you motioned to the cut that you inflicted on his face, “maybe you’ll actually get some women for once.”

“Will you stop insulting me?” Thor swung his fist towards your face and you quickly dodged it, you grabbed the knives you dropped on the floor and threw them at him, he hit them out of the air with his hammer.

“Then will you stop dancing and start fighting?” You aimed a kick to his head but he ducked and pushed your body to the ground. Before you could get up he straddled your hips and you prepared yourself for the fury of fists that will rain upon your face.

“I see Loki has made an influence on you,” you looked up at Thor’s face and instead of anger, you saw a hint of amusement in his eyes, “I must admit sister, he has taught me some skills too.”

You knitted your eyebrows in confusion, Loki wasn’t usually a physically aggressive fighter like Thor and preferred to keep his hands clean by using magic. You couldn’t think of any skills that Loki could possibly have taught him.

“It’s been a while since I have done this,” Thor unbuckled your armor and tossed it aside, leaving you in your thin shirt, you shivered as the cold air hit your sweaty skin. He placed his overly large hands on your ribs and you instinctively giggled at the contact, you realized his plans and your eyes grew wide.

“Don’t you dare brother,” you hissed menacingly, but Thor thought it was rather adorable that you were smiling childishly with sweaty hair wildly covering parts of your face. You actually looked like a young teenager instead of a perpetually sassy and hardened goddess.

“I must get you out of Loki’s spell,” Thor wiggled his fingers against your ribs and you bucked up with giggles pouring out of your mouth. After teasing your ribs for a while, he moved down your sides and gave them a little squeeze. You erupted into a loud squeal and tried desperately to get away but Thor had you pinned down with no chances of escape.

“Bingo,” he laughed, he continued to tickle your sides and poked at your belly, you were in absolute hell and all you could do was take the torture and laugh. His fingers dug into your belly and somehow you felt jolts of electricity flowing through his fingertips, the sensation was unbearable and you screamed with laughter as he alternated between your belly and your sides. You tried to beg for mercy but any words that tried to come out of your mouth was cut off with a scream. Thor used his thumbs to rub circles into your hipbones, you immediately cursed at him and descended into a fit of laughter. The electric shocks travelled down your legs to your feet, creating a tingling sensation on your soles. You knew that gods couldn’t die from laughter, but you were starting to think that you were going to be the first one to perish under your brother’s fingers.

“I believe murder was not part of the training curriculum,” an amused voice came from the doorway. Thor stopped tickling you for a minute to turn to see the visitor. You weakly lifted your head and saw your other older brother Loki leaning against the wall with his usual shit eating smirk on his face.

“Brother! Care to join in? This is surprisingly rather relaxing,” Thor tweaked your ribs and laughed as you bucked with a squeal.

“With joy,” Loki walked towards you and Thor, you opened your mouth to complain but closed it when you saw him sneakily wink at you. Thor was too busy poking your belly to notice that his brother had come up behind him and latched his fingers on his waist. He let out a huge scream and collapsed on the ground in frantic laughter. Loki used his magic to keep the god of thunder still and went to town on his upper body.

“You’re right brother, this is very relaxing,” Loki chuckled as he poked and prodded at his ribs. You slowly sat up and rubbed the remaining feelings of the electric shocks from your body, you watched your brothers wrestle around and you quietly laughed to yourself. Thor had broken out of Loki’s bonds and his fingers were wildly scribbling on his belly, his rare cackle filled the room and you smiled at the rare sight of your brothers acting like children. Midgard may have all the technology and amazing creations, but they don’t have your brothers and you knew your life would not be complete without them.

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day One Hundred Thirteen: Garden Spirit ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: River Runs Deep ] [ AO3 Link ]

He’s been traveling for weeks.

Tasked by his lord to fetch the pelt a rare white deer, he’s been tracking a promising herd through the mountains. The wary creatures have yet to let him close, but a glimpsing flash of white has kept him on their path. Through the winding peaks their game trails he’s toiled, the rocky and root-ridden terrain perilous...but a samurai is not one to be so easily dissuaded.

At first, he’d assumed the assignment a fool’s errand. Why task a samurai with such a job? But with the completion of his mission will come great pride, honor...and coin. None of which he can bring himself to refuse.

And so, Sasuke follows the imprints of cloven hooves into the north, swords at his hip and bow at his back. Hunting, at least, he knows he can do. Many times in his youth did his brother take him tracking boars in the forests. And he’s not the novice he was then. All he needs is the patience for the proper shot...and he’s sure he won’t miss.

Their path, he admits, confuses him. He knows of migrations into the mountains for the sika, but surely the coming of Spring means returning to the lowlands as the grass renews?

Where are they going?

His confusion lingers as they travel further and further into the range. But then, at last, he sees what they’ve been seeking. The trail descends steeply between two peaks...into a lush and untouched valley.

For a time, he simply stands at the trailhead and stares in wonder. Tall camphor trees litter the inner sides of the peaks and the valley itself, waterfalls cascading from the snowy caps. A winding river of sapphire glitters, barely seen along the vale’s spine.

It’s beautiful…!

Once his awe fades, Sasuke gives a shake of his head. He still has a pelt to fetch, and standing here won’t get him home any faster. With careful steps, he makes his way to the valley floor.

It’s there he finds something wholly unexpected.

Though the trail leads first to the northern end of the valley, the rest spanning south, a short path leads a bit further up. At the fork, a worn torī gates stands. Are there...people here? He’d seen no houses from his view atop the trail, and there are no footprints, only tracks of game. Perhaps those who’d lived here have long perished. Judging by the age of the wood and the peeling vermillion paint...it’s not been tended to for quite some time.

...and yet…

Such a gate marks the threshold between mortal and holy ground. Sasuke sees no shrine...but the landmark makes him wary. Should he hunt in such a place? His lord has given him an order. He cannot disobey. But which does he fear more: an angry clan head, or vengeful kami?

True, Sasuke isn’t a devout follower of any faith. Samurai adopt a variety of beliefs: Buddhism, Zen, Confucianism, and even the land’s own religion of Shintō. But though he may not actively believe such tales...nor is he foolish enough to tempt what he cannot confirm does not exist.

For now, he steps through the gate...but rather than south after the deer, he treks north. It isn’t far to where the valley begins to slope steeply upward, but something grand has caught his eye.

Oddly isolated from the camphor boughs and trunks of the rest of the valley, a lone wisteria tree stands. Tall and branching, it looks over the head of the valley like a great amethyst crown, graceful branches sweeping the ground with their violet tendrils. Petals litter the grass, making its perch appear almost alien as it’s completely covered with purple blooms. And among them, small and worn, are tiny stone jinja.

Twisting and curved, the trunk is wider across than his arms outstretched: clearly hundreds of years old. Never has he seen a tree of greater age or beauty.

It’s like looking at a goddess taken flora form.

For the second time this day, he finds himself staring in unabashed awe. He’s almost certain of it, now: the gate, this tree, the valley...it’s all touched by gods. But what to do about his quest…? Surely taking a life for so vain a thing as a single pelt - not even meat, though he himself won’t waste it - will see him smote.

Looking over his shoulder to the west, the sun is already far below the peaks. Soon it will be too dark to make his way. He should make camp...he can weigh his options, and then sleep on making a decision.

A fire he makes back down the slope, cooking a rabbit he’d slain that morning before entering the valley. Water comes from the obliging river, refilling his skin and letting him nurse the cool clear liquid as he thinks.

...perhaps…

He looks over his shoulder to the wisteria tree. Even from here, he can see the tiny shrines. A decision weighs upon his shoulders. He could...pray. Ask for guidance. He may not be a staunch believer, but...well, surely it cannot hurt. Once his meal is done, he smothers the ashes with earth, carrying a torch back to the tree to kneel at its base.

Something about it raises the hairs along the back of his neck.

Extinguishing his flames, he braces his hands on his knees before leaning reverently forward. “O-kami-sama,” he offers vaguely, having no named deity to address. “I ask you passage through your valley...and a sample of your bounty. Among your herds of deer is a stag I seek. One of a white coat, sought by my master. His decree weighs upon me...but so too does the mark of this holy land. I will take only what I need. If that is not too much to ask...give me leave, and I will complete my task...and then leave this land in peace.”

A soft wind rolls through the valley. Along his cheek, a branch gently whispers.

But he hears nothing.

Sighing, head bowing further in what feels like defeat, Sasuke continues to think in circles.

Before he realizes it...he falls prey to a weary sleep.

He is slow to wake.

Sunlight faintly dapples his face, bleeding and shifting through the dancing boughs of the wisteria in the morning breeze. Leaned back against the trunk, a hand rests loosely atop the hilt of his katana, the other along his waist.

In his dream, he can feel arms drape over his shoulders, silken hair slithering along his neck.

Dark eyes slowly open, for a moment at a loss as to where he is, and why. But his journey slowly returns, and he sighs. What a place to doze off...it’s like he’s wandered into a kami’s palace of boughs and blooms.

As he watches, a figure seems to manifest before his eyes between the sweeping tendrils of branches.

Breath stoppers in his lungs.

A woman of short stature stands at the edge of the tree’s grasp. A layered kimono of lilac, violet, heather, and wine flutters in the breeze. Hair, straight as a blade, drapes down her back and across her brow, alight amethyst in the sun. Even her eyes are pools of lavender. Everything purple save for the milky white of her skin, and the faint pink of her lips.

She stares at him, otherwise unearthly still beyond the dance of her garment. Every so often, he sees tabi-clad feet atop impossibly-high geta.

It’s then Sasuke knows...he’s staring at a goddess. The spirit of this heavenly garden. It feels sinful to stare, but he can’t look away…!

“Humble hunter.”

She speaks like silk, soft and delicate...and yet unspeakably strong. Her gaze never wavers as she addresses him.

“You have traveled far at the whim of another...and here your search has brought you...to a vale of spirits and gods. While many would take without a second thought...you have asked of me permission to have what you seek.”

His heart flutters like a bird trapped behind glass against his ribs. Surely he still sleeps...this must be a dream…! And yet he’s felt so awake...so alive…

“The white buck you track is a sacred beast...your lord covets it for his own. You, who serve his beck and call, are merely the tool...not the desire. This I cannot fault you. But it is not I you must ask, and appease. I am but one spirit of this valley. There are others far mightier than I. They too know of your task...and that I gave you shelter.”

It’s then she begins to approach him, untouched by weaving branches despite her unwavering path. Not a single petal stirs at her passing

“It has been many a year since a human slept beneath my boughs...or spoke amongst my blossoms. It brings...a melancholy feeling. A reminiscence of loneliness…”

He can’t move, can’t speak, frozen beneath her gaze as she closes the gap between them. In a fluid motion she kneels, and hands - cool and smooth, like a freshly-bloomed flower - cup his cheeks to behold him.

“...I was young when the humans withered here...when we kami were left to our devices, no devoted voices left to speak to us. I admit...I covet your presence...it’s been so long since my beauty was last admired…”

Sasuke can do little more than stare.

“...but you are not mine to keep. I will take you to the others. The heart of the mountain, of the river, of the camphor. It is they you must appeal. Prove the purity of your intentions, human...and you may have what you seek. Just remember the weight of your prize...and the wake it will leave.”

At last, he manages a nod: small, jerking, and entirely human in the face of her grace.

A fond smile curls her lips. “...may I have your name, child of man?”

“U...Uchiha. Sasuke.”

“...you may call me Hinata.” Toward the sun. A fitting name for such a blossom-laden beauty...for he knows there’s no mistake: she is the kodama of the wisteria.

With just as smooth a motion as her kneeling, she returns to her feet. “Uchiha Sasuke...are you prepared to plead your case…?”

Still sat among the jinja, he stares up at her, yet still entranced. Never has he seen a woman of such beauty. Though many have labored to conquer it...with a single glance, she’s stolen his heart. A dangerous thing to give a kami, he knows.

But there’s little taking it back now.

“...I am.”

“...then let us walk.”

     Ohhh man, I REALLY like this one! I want to add more parts, for sure...but I had to stop myself here, haha - it's late, and I don't want any of these to get too long xD      It took some digging, but I managed to find a way to turn this prompt into something Shintō-related. Kodama, though often depicted as separate spirits, CAN also refer to the trees themselves. So I did a little extra (and admittedly rushed) research into them, and samurai, and just...wung it, lol - and I really, REALLY like the result. Hinata as a wisteria tree spirit? PERFECT! And maybe later on we can have Sakura as...well, a sakura kodama. Maybe Naruto as a kitsune. We'll have to see!      But for now, it's late, and I need sleep after a sleepless night last night (yay toothaches, lol) - but thanks so much for reading! See y'all tomorrow n_n