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deepspacedukat · 1 year ago

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From Never To Always

Welcome to the second installment of the Dark!Tales Halloween Series in collaboration with @bigblissandlove1!

This nearly 10k word oneshot is centered around a dark version of my Vulcan OC, Kollos. It's set in the Mirror Universe (but this isn't necessarily how I see the actual Mirror!Kollos behaving - it's complicated), so the usual warnings for mirror universe bigotry and violence apply. The Mirror Universe is a warning in itself, so do be aware and keep that in mind as the story progresses. This version of Kollos has had it rough. He's angry, he has killed, and he will do so again, but he's sexy, so it's fine...because fiction. 🤷‍♀️ Anyway, enjoy!

Cross-posted to AO3 here. Find the rest of the Halloween Dark!Tales Halloween Series on AO3 here.

~*~

Dark!Kollos (OC) x Reader

[A/N: This is smut adjacent and includes mature themes, so 18+ ONLY, MINORS DNI!!!]

Warnings: Implied interspecies sex, implied Human/Vulcan sex, sexual fantasizing, brief masturbation, hungry gazes, canon-typical violence, enemies to lovers, pining, mutual pining (even if Kollos doesn't realize it in any universe), angst, threats, Kollos denying his own feelings, mild bigotry, the mirror universe and all its horrors, agony booth is mentioned but not used, Kollos is a vengeful freedom fighter in this AU so take that how you will, mentions of blood, injuries, decapitation, all smut/implied smut is consensual.

~*~

Staring at the viewscreen of their stolen Terran warship, Kollos polished the blade end of his lirpa. The arced metal had several scratches and marks down its length, but it had served him faithfully for many decades. He had longed to go down to the surface of this remote planet for today's attack, but he owed his second in command a turn on a landing team.

Besides, there would be nobody left to fight. Their orbital bombardment would've left little more than ashes and ruins in their wake. Muroc enjoyed looting more than he did hand-to-hand combat, anyway, so the choice to send him was a logical one. They'd expended a small number of their stolen ship's torpedoes in today's impressive display of efficient annihilation. No doubt, this would send yet another message to the Terran Empire that Vulcans could and would have their freedom. It was simply a matter of time...and blood.

"Osu, we have captured a survivor," a voice called over the comms. He recognized it immediately as Muroc's. The younger man sounded as confused as he felt.

"...Repeat your previous statement."

"A Terran woman survived the attack," Muroc reiterated, and Kollos set down his lirpa and cloth.

"That isn't possible. We confirmed that there were no life signs after the bombardment. You should be locating only usable supplies–"

"I am aware of that, but even now she is struggling to escape from my grip - a futile effort, obviously."

Kollos thought silently for a moment before reaching a decision.

"Have one of your guards bring her to the ship. I wish to interrogate her," he ordered, and when the channel closed, a small smirk stretched his lips. Perhaps he would be able to satiate his bloodlust today after all.

He knew the impulse was a savage one, but then, how better to defeat savage beings than by beating them at their own game? Vulcans had attempted a logical, passive approach to resistance. It had failed. Thus, Kollos had met up with others of his species who shared his desire to topple the oppressive Terran Empire and formed a small rebel army.

Logic alone could not prevail in their struggle for freedom. They needed to use force. Violence was all Terrans understood, and who better to outdo them than the people whose past had made a desert run green with their own blood? If the Humans believed they were savages before, they had seen nothing yet. Kollos had vowed to make them see the error of their ways, to continue until the Terrans were kneeling beaten and bloody at their feet, pleading for the mercy that they themselves had not bothered to show to any species but their own.

Kollos stood and ran a hand through his scruffy graying hair, picking up his weapon. With a deep breath, he rolled his scarred, muscled shoulders and looked to the Vulcan at the Operations station.

"I shall await the arrival of our latest prisoner. You have the Bridge."

Most Terrans protested their capture, tossing out threats and swearing vengeance, but this one was strangely silent. Curiosity was painted plainly across her face from the moment Kollos laid eyes on her. Sitting on the bench in the brig, she tilted her head like an inquisitive sehlat when he entered the space.

Muroc paused beside his makeshift commander and spoke in a low voice.

"I realize you wanted me to send someone else, but given the circumstances, I believed it would be prudent for me to bring her here myself. After her initial struggle, she seemed to recognize me and ceased her resistance," he stated sounding slightly disconcerted. "She seemed confused about many things: her location, my appearance...she even seemed not to understand the hostilities between her people and ours."

"How did she survive the bombardment?" Muroc merely shook his head and looked at her as if she was some scientific experiment gone wrong.

"I do not know."

The two Vulcans were silent for a moment, observing the woman they'd discovered. She wasn't dressed like the rest of the Terrans they'd encountered, nor did she seem arrogant and prejudiced. However, Kollos knew from experience that appearances could be deceiving.

"She recognized your voice, as well, osu," Muroc murmured, and Kollos looked sharply over at him. "When you responded to me over the comms, she waited until the channel was closed and said that she wished to speak with you. She knew you by name. By that point, she was behaving quite obediently."

Looking back at the Human, Kollos found her smiling softly at him. Anger stirred deep within him, and he took a slow, even breath.

"Leave us. I wish to speak with her alone." He waited until Muroc and the guards had all exited before opening the door to her cell. "If you attempt to resist or escape, I will kill you. Do you understand?"

"Yes, osu." She spoke quietly, but her words still struck him as hard as a punch to the jaw. He blinked and tamped down his emotions.

"Do you know who I am?" He asked lingering in the doorway. His broad shoulders effectively blocked the way as he crossed his arms, so he wasn't concerned about her being able to slip past him. She didn't even seem bothered about being kept in the brig.

"Yes, osu. You're Minister Kollos of the Vulcan High Command." With a stunned blink, his arms dropped to his sides once more. "You're the first person I met when I reached the Vulcan Embassy...the first Vulcan who honored me with his friendship."

'Friendship'? Kollos would sooner eat his own liver than befriend a Terran. A subconscious sneer curled his upper lip, and he saw her smile droop.

"You...? You don't remember me, do you? Sub-commander Muroc didn't either." She sounded genuinely disappointed, but Kollos couldn't bring himself to care. This little wretch had the audacity, not only to survive, but to come aboard his ship, claim to know him personally, and speak the language of his own people - one that had been made illegal by her Empire.

He knew several Vulcans who had been punished for breathing a single word of their own language around a Terran, himself included. The hours he'd spent locked in an agony booth were certainly enough to cut away any remaining neutrality he'd held for Humans. Hatred had filled that void and now bubbled hot and lethal in his veins.

If his composure was any more fractured, he'd have removed the burden of her head from her shoulders the moment a syllable of Vuhlkansu touched her unworthy, arrogant tongue.

"We are not acquainted, nor would I wish to befriend a single member of your monstrous species." His voice had dropped into a quiet, dangerous register, but she didn't seem frightened. Damn her, why wasn't she intimidated? "You are incorrect on other points, as well. There is no Vulcan High Command - the Terran Empire would never allow their slaves to hold such authority. Muroc is not a Sub-commander - again, your people would never allow us in such high positions. There is no Vulcan embassy, but there are prisons...work camps...slaves. Do you wish to retract your statement?"

She looked up at him with her lips parted in surprise.

"But...but that can't be. Starfleet's mission was to seek out new life...to make friends while we explore the galaxy. The ship we're aboard is the Enterprise, isn't it?"

Kollos shook his head.

"This ship was an Imperial Starfleet ship, but it is now under new ownership and has been renamed. You are currently aboard the Retribution, a ship owned by the Vulcan Resistance Movement," he said straightening up and looking at her with as much defiance as he could muster. "I am the commanding officer."

She looked utterly flabbergasted.

"Osu–"

"You will not speak our language! You have no right, Terran!" He roared, and she flinched. "You will be silent and cause no trouble, or I will use you to test just how much pain one member of your species can endure. We have not had the opportunity to test one of the Terran Empire's Agony Booths on one of their creators yet. If you behave yourself, there will be no reason for you to become the first. Am I understood?"

She nodded her head quietly, but he couldn't deny the pain and sadness in her expression. As he strode from the cell, he tamped down the shard of guilt he felt over losing his temper at her. She'd caused no trouble yet, but who knows? She might be trying to infiltrate his organization and topple them from the inside. Kollos could not risk the future of his people on the chance that this Human was different from the rest of her people.

The sting of the life they'd stolen from him still gripped his heart and twisted his insides with agony every time he dwelled for too long upon what could have been. If the Empire didn't exist, would he have been fortunate enough to have a mate? A permanent home? Perhaps even a child? The stories of how life used to be before the Terrans took over always sounded so idyllic. If he'd lived during that time, would he have a pet sehlat? Could he have immersed himself in more academic pursuits, like science?

Pausing as the lift door closed behind him, Kollos forced himself to take a deep breath. As always, those scenarios that had been snatched away before they had a chance to come into being gnawed incessantly at his brain. He needed to focus on the mission, instead. That was how he was going to survive this war for Vulcan's freedom.

He would gladly spill the blood of every living Terran if it meant future generations of Vulcans would not have to suffer as he had.

It was too bad, though, that he would not be contributing to the gene pool for that future generation. He would've liked to have a family. A mate, a child or two...yes, and a sehlat to protect them all.

When the lift door opened again, Kollos had forced his control back into place, shoved away his pain, and come back to himself. He couldn't afford to waste time with wishful thinking. He had a mission to complete.

This was clearly not the Kollos with whom I'd become so familiar. From the moment he raged at me in the brig of his ship, it was obvious that this was an entirely different man. His hair was slightly longer and grayer, and it looked unkempt compared to the Minister's usual appearance. However shaggy it looked, though, it did at least appear soft and clean.

As for the man himself, this Kollos was tough and scarred - obviously battleworn and teeming with bitterness. His physical strength wasn't what startled me, though. His barely-tethered anger did that well enough on its own.

The Kollos I had spoken to barely hours before had been in complete control of his emotions. This one, however...he'd seemed to be on the cusp of losing control and becoming savage like the ancient Vulcans about whom I'd been told so much. He'd been through a lot, this remade Kollos, and from what I could gather, his bitterness was justified.

There were several questions prodding at me insistently, though, the chief of which was whether I'd be able to get home to the universe I knew, because, clearly, this was somewhere entirely different. The second most prominent inquiry was what the hell had happened?

While viewing a scientific experiment as a member of a cultural exchange program on a planet at the edge of Vulcan space, there had been an explosion, a flash of pinkish light, and I'd been knocked to the ground by some unseen force. My vision swam so severely that I'd no choice but to close my eyes.

When I opened them again, my skin tingled, and everything was burning. I'd looked around, squinting through the flames, but there was nobody else in sight. Maybe they'd all gotten out, already? Stumbling toward the exit while trying to stay low, I managed to make it out of the crumbling ruin of a building, but where I expected to see a small, well-maintained city there was only rubble and flame.

Shocked at what I'd found, a small scream worked its way out of my throat. Had a single failed experiment caused all of this? Surely not! This appeared to be planet-wide devastation. The scale of the experiment wouldn't have been capable of destroying much more than a building or two if it went wrong. Besides, the Vulcan scientists conducting it had been so careful. They'd made sure that every precaution was in place.

So how the hell was this region of the planet basically destroyed?

And how was I still alive?

A familiar hum sounded from a few feet away, and several Vulcans in odd outfits materialized. Relief had rushed through me like a great wave, and before I could think better of my actions, before I even noticed that they were all armed and slightly ragged looking, my feet propelled me toward them.

"Oh, thank goodness! Help! Please, I don't know if there's anyone trapped in the–" Four phaser rifles were aimed at me in a fraction of a second. I froze in place, confused more than ever. "W-What are you–?"

"Silence!" One of them ordered, and I broke off my attempts to speak. The same man stepped forward. "Are there others? Did anyone else survive the bombardment?"

What?

"I don't know what you're talking about. I-I was in the lab, and there was an explosion, and when I got up I was here," I stammered, but he seemed not to believe me. "Nothing looks the same. Where am I? Aren't you here to help the injured?"

One of the others scoffed.

"You must have sustained cranial trauma. Why would a Vulcan help Terran scum like you?"

Startled, I could do no more than blink.

"I-I don't understand...? Our people are allies–"

"Allies?" The man closest to me - the familiar one - scowled down at me. "Is that how your species assuages your guilt? By calling your slaves your allies?"

I gaped up at him, but before I could protest, he grabbed my upper arm. I struggled, and when he called his ship, I heard a voice that was so out of place that it barely registered at first. That's when I recognized my captor.

Muroc hadn't believed me when I said I knew him, but I had gotten to see Kollos in the end. Before he raged at me, I thought I saw...well, a glimpse of the man I'd known. Maybe that was just wishful thinking, though.

The lights dimmed a couple of hours after he left. With a sigh, I resigned myself to my current imprisonment and resolved to prove to Kollos that I wasn't going to try to oppress him the way he claimed Humanity had already done to his people. The first step, though, needed to be finding out more about this place. What had my people truly done? Were he and the others justified in their hatred? Somehow, I already knew I wouldn't like the answer.

Over the course of the next few days, all I saw was the inside of my cell. Each afternoon - or at least, I assumed it was during the afternoon - a different Vulcan brought me a ration pack and a small glass of water to wash it down. Apparently, these officers weren't able to get their hands on a more stable food supply. That didn't bode well.

Occasionally, just before lights out, Kollos came by and asked me a series of seemingly innocuous questions.

"Are you from Earth or a Terran planetary annex?"

"Have you encountered many of my kind?"

"Do you have a family?"

"How has the quality of your sleep been since you took up residence in this cell?"

Finally, though, when he tired of those, his queries became a bit more pointed. Repeatedly he asked me how I survived the blast, but he simply didn't believe that I was just as puzzled as he was. One night, after something like two weeks in captivity, I'd become irritated enough to snap at him.

"Again, I ask you: how did you survive the assault?" He'd already asked the question three times, and after two weeks of awful sleep on the cramped little bench that passed as a bed in my cell, my back ached, I was tired, and I'd just plain had enough. "Your non-compliance will cease. You will tell me how you–"

"I don't know, alright?! Just mind-meld with me if you want the answer that badly! You won't even have to force me. I'll submit to one right now, if it'll stop you asking the same damned questions over and over like a broken fucking record," I ground out, and he raised his eyebrows.

"You...would willingly submit yourself to such a procedure?" The disbelief in his voice was understandable if he'd been telling the truth about Humans being so awful.

"Yes, but only if you're the one performing it."

Taken aback by my willingness, he opened the cell door and gestured for me to stand.

"We will go to the briefing room, and your meld will be witnessed by my most trusted officers," he said. "Out of respect for your good behavior since your capture, I will warn you in advance. If I sense any intentional resistance during the meld, I will cease being gentle and tear the information I require from your synapses. I would prefer to avoid such an action, as it can lead to permanent brain damage, but if you purposefully resist me, I will not hesitate to do so. Do you understand?"

"Yes, os–I mean, sir. Yes, sir," I murmured, hoping he wouldn't be offended that my old habit had nearly made me slip up again. I'd been conversing with Vulcans for so long that small usages of their language, like titles, were simply automatic. It was so hard to turn it off, but I was trying my best for Kollos's sake. After all, even if this wasn't the Kollos I'd come to know so well, I owed it to my memories of our friendship and my feelings for him to at least try to be kind.

We were nearly to the conference room when I realized that I hadn't been cuffed or restrained in any way. Obviously, Kollos either trusted me not to run off, or - more likely - he knew he could catch me with relatively little effort if I did try to escape. Not that there was anywhere I could go. The layout of this universe's Earth starships was different enough to make it seem like an unsolvable maze.

Taking a seat in one of a pair of chairs, I tried very hard to block out the dozen or so sets of eyes watching us. I needed to be relaxed for this meld so that Kollos wouldn't have any need to be rougher than necessary. Even a meld with the most gentle of telepaths could be severely disorienting.

"Have you participated in a mind-meld before?" He asked loudly enough for the others to hear.

"Yes, but not recently."

"Have you any mental training regarding telepathy, mind-melds, or mental defense?" He inquired as he took his own seat directly in front of me.

"No, I don't."

"Very well. I will treat you as all untrained minds are treated. As you will know from your previous melds, anxiety can throw up resistance, whether intentional or not," he said raising his hands but not touching me just yet. "Obey my instructions during the meld, and I will have no need to harm you. Now, take a deep breath."

I did so, and his fingertips met my face: two on my chin, one on either side of my nose, and one on each temple.

The effect was familiar and instantaneous as he began to chant in that low, smooth voice of his.

"My mind to your mind...your thoughts to my thoughts..." His voice faded as our minds merged, and suddenly I found the pair of us standing in front of each other. It was as disconcerting as my previous meld with his counterpart, but I did my best to remain calm. "Recall the day in which my men found you."

All at once, our surroundings changed, and I was in the lab again. The group of Vulcan scientists conducting their experiments were only a few feet away, and I walked slowly toward them.

Kollos blocked my path with a stern expression on his face.

"I said, the day we captured you–"

"This is that day," I said emphatically, and, with the absolute certainty that he'd be able to tell that I was answering truthfully, I stepped around him and moved over to stand beside the machine. Just as it had happened that day, within moments, there was an explosion, and I watched as the pink light engulfed me again.

Disoriented yet again, I felt a small bit of panic creeping into me as acrid smoke filled my lungs once more. Struggling for breath despite the fact that this was just a memory, I knew Kollos would follow, so I did the same thing I did that day, taking the same turns I had until I was outside the smoldering building.

The sight of the devastated landscape was still shocking. All the destruction and the flames licking up amongst the rubble still made me feel a pang of sympathy for whoever might have been trapped.

A large hand met my shoulder in the midst of the meld, and I turned to find Kollos looking at me suspiciously.

"There were no Vulcan life signs on the planet's surface before our attack."

"Neither was there a Terran Empire that morning before the machine exploded," I countered, and before he could ask, I called forth the memories of my own time studying under Vulcan teachers and living alongside them as I walked through life. Image after image, memory after memory floated in. I showed him every instance I could think of regarding Starfleet's mission and Human interactions with other species including Vulcans. Ambassador Soval and Admiral Forrest chatting, Captain Archer and T'Pol walking together, on and on, example after example, until–

"What is this?" His hoarse voice called, and I knew immediately why he suspected that I was somehow manipulating him. The Kollos I knew, the Minister of the High Command, my friend, and the man I'd grown rather...attached to over the years, was standing mere feet from his rougher counterpart.

This was the last time I'd seen him. This was the day I'd left Vulcan. The suns beat down upon us both, but we were in our own little world, as usual, and took no notice of it. Kollos had taken that day quite seriously and had donned a set of his ceremonial robes, the deep green fabric with embroidered flowers and vines twining up the sleeves hugged his torso with an elegance that left me breathless. I could never tell him that, though. It would be highly inappropriate, and I didn't want to risk ruining our friendship with my feelings.

Watching from this odd, outsider's perspective, I saw Kollos take a slow step toward me as we reached the transport station. It was quite deserted that day, mainly because at that time of day the majority of the population would have been busy with their occupations or their education. Given how empty the station was, we didn't bother to keep our voices down - an oddity for my friend, but I'd been glad of it.

"Ashal-veh, there is something which we should discuss when you return from your scientific exchange," he said with the same inflection he'd used that day. Soft and somewhat tender in retrospect, my Kollos's voice wrapped around me like a warm blanket, affording me a small measure of comfort that I hadn't experienced in weeks. I'd turned the memory over and over in my mind as I sat uselessly in the brig, wondering what he could've possibly wanted to discuss...and trying to determine the meaning of that damned word. He'd said it before - it seemed to be some sort of a title - but he'd never told me what it meant, and he never used it with anyone else.

I thought I'd have all the time in the world to ask him what it meant.

"As soon as I get back to Vulcan, we'll go to that tea shop you enjoy so much and talk about anything you want for as long as you like," the version of me from my memory responded, and I noticed something I hadn't, in the moment. The Former Minister was blushing. A rare occurrence, indeed!

"That is kind of you, but a private conversation would be more advantageous, in this instance," he murmured, and I watched as the other me cupped his cheeks and smiled up at him. How had I managed to be so bold when I was so sad about leaving him?

"Of course, osu. If that's what you like, then when I get back, you and Koss can come over to my place, we can crack open a bottle of that port you favor, and the three of us can talk all night."

"I...believe this is a topic I should discuss with you alone, first. Depending upon the outcome, my son can be informed later..."

Confused, but wanting to make him happy, I agreed.

"Sure, if that's what you'd like to do. I'd never say 'no' to spending time alone with you, osu. I promise you and I can have a private evening with just the two of us when I'm home again." He nodded his head in approval, and I watched as I kissed his cheek and drew him into a tight hug.

"Six weeks is quite a sizable duration of time for us to be parted, ashal-veh. Are you certain you will be alright?"

A light laugh had poured from my throat as I savored the feeling of his arms wrapped around me, holding me close. I'd never had the courage to hug him before, let alone to dare hope that he'd return the gesture.

"I'll be perfectly fine, you worrywart. If anything, it sounds as if you'll be the one pining over the absence of a friend. I'll miss you too, of course, but it's only a few weeks. You watch, time will fly by and we'll be together again before you know it."

He sighed just as he had that day, brushing the tips of two of his fingers down one of my cheeks, sending a bolt of warmth across my skin. He'd never done that before. Not knowing if it was a gesture with some sort of meaning behind it, I'd taken a chance and copied his movements.

"Be safe." His husky murmur coupled with his light grip on my waist flustered me more than I'd thought possible, and when I watched myself board the transport shuttle, the image of the Minister froze.

I became acutely aware of the other Kollos by my side. As I'd watched the memory of our last interaction together, all at once, the realization that I may never get the chance to ask him what he meant slammed into me, and I felt the corners of my eyes burning with tears. I hadn't meant for my captor to see this reaction or feel how such a private memory was affecting me, but if it proved to him that I was telling the truth and showed him how I knew him, then it was worth it.

"You show me this freely?" He asked, and because of the meld, I heard him as if he was both in front of and beside me. Mild disorientation prodded at me, but I managed a quiet 'yes' in spite of it. "The light you saw in the laboratory...what do you believe it was?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't know. I have several theories, but each is as unlikely as the next," I muttered, trying desperately to ignore how much I could hear the evidence of my tears in my voice. "It could've been some sort of odd radiation surge, or...or a portal through spacetime, for all I know. I'm not a physicist. My area of study is in biochemistry. I will say, though, this is not the universe I left behind. Our people are at peace where I come from."

Gradually, safely, he withdrew from my mind, ending the meld in the same way his counterpart had in a wholly different universe.

"You have not lied to me. You did not try to stop me from viewing the information I required. I do not know how, but you have told me the truth." Kollos sounded as surprised as he looked. "What am I supposed to do with you?"

When he cocked his head curiously, I realized he was truly seeking an answer from me, not just asking a rhetorical question.

"I may not know everything that was done to your people, but I want to help if I can. Who knows if I'll ever be able to get home? In the meantime, I may as well do what I can to right the wrongs committed by my species," I reasoned, and Kollos raised a single eyebrow.

"You expect us to trust a Terran?"

"I don't expect you to after all that you've been through, but I do hope to prove to you that you can, should the need arise."

Kollos glanced at his officers, and nodded his head once.

"You will be given the chance to prove yourself, but be forewarned: if you so much as attempt to betray us, you will regret being conceived."

Oh. Lovely. Death threats seemed to be as common as greetings in this universe. No doubt I'd get used to them as time wore on. They didn't startle me anymore, at least.

"I promise I won't give you any reason to doubt me, sir."

As Kollos escorted her to a guarded set of quarters, he couldn't help but feel guilt and self-hatred rising slowly in his chest.

Illogical feelings, of course. Kollos himself had done nothing to warrant such intensity in his own frustrations.

And yet...

'Ashal-veh' the image of himself had called her. Kollos hated that it hadn't been a manipulated memory. Somehow, a well-groomed, happier version of himself had dared to call a Terran woman a Vulcan term of endearment.

After all that those monsters had done! After all that his people had suffered at their hands! How could a Vulcan ever love a Human?! He'd even initiated a partial ozh'esta with her!

The name he'd heard during the meld, Koss, stuck in his head. It was one that he'd considered to be a serious contender if he'd had a son. According to her, this other version of himself did have a son.

All his years of regrets and wishful thinking grated within him at the realization that one of his alternate selves had a family. Clearly in that universe his mate was no longer in the picture, but he'd fallen in love a second time...with a Human.

How could this have happened? He felt betrayed by himself, by his own feelings. He knew already that if he didn't keep his heart turned firmly against her, there was a very good chance that he would end up exactly the way that 'Minister' Kollos had: in love with his worst enemy...worshiping the ground upon which she walked...craving her touch in the dark, solitude of his quarters when he should instead be sleeping...

The strain of walking beside her was quite suddenly too much to bear.

His emotions punched a hole in his tenuous, carefully-regulated control. The rage that he normally held so tightly on its leash curled his lips into a feral snarl. Slamming the Human girl against a bulkhead in the corridor, Kollos gripped her shoulder and her throat with equal ferocity.

"The man you knew is no longer here. Nothing in this galaxy will ever make me care for a Terran!" To her credit, she didn't cry out or struggle. She tilted her head back to lean against the wall, and her eyes...oh, her eyes! She didn't look frightened or defiant. She seemed curious, as if he was a sehlat who'd responded to a command in an unexpected way. "Your people have murdered and enslaved my people, oppressing them and outlawing nearly everything to do with our culture. Until the day your people kneel before Vulcans in obedient supplication, all I am capable of feeling for you is disgust and contempt."

He had to convince her, but most importantly, he had to reinforce that notion in his own mind. He hated her. He had killed many of her kind and would continue to do so in the future, so...

Why wasn't she frightened of him?

Even worse, why was a small part of him proud that she wasn't?

Without further ado, Kollos opened the door to her quarters and practically shoved her inside.

"You are not to leave without authorization. If you require anything, your guards will attend to it," he said shoving his emotions back into place. "If you keep to your word and assist us, you will be rewarded. If not, you will die. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir," she murmured straightening her posture. He didn't even acknowledge her answer. He just turned on his heel and beat a hasty retreat to his quarters.

As he did every night, Kollos removed his shirt and attempted to meditate, but this time all he got for his efforts was a single word echoing through his mind on repeat: 'ashal-veh.'

Eventually, he fetched his lirpa from its place on the wall, and, with an almighty roar, he brought the blunt end down on the table in front of him, smashing it to splinters in one blow.

For a moment, all he could hear was the rush of blood in his ears and his heavy breathing, then his door chime sounded. With resignation, he called for whoever it was to enter. He knew there was no chance of hiding the evidence of his temper, so his guest would simply have to cope with the state of his quarters.

"Osu?" His eyes snapped up at the sound of Muroc's hesitant voice. He never sounded like that. Kollos must've startled him when he lost his temper. "Are you well?"

"...I do not know," he murmured setting his lirpa back on its wall mounted hooks.

"Did something in the Terran's mind...trouble you?" When Kollos remained silent, Muroc tried again. "You know that anything you tell me will remain confidential, do you not?"

He supposed that it was only fair that he tell his second in command about the revelation that was compromising his emotional control so severely.

"Sit, my friend. I have much to communicate to you."

They spoke for many hours that night. Confessing everything to Muroc was somewhat therapeutic. Having someone share in his confusion and voice the same questions confirmed to him that he wasn't hallucinating or otherwise losing his mind. Never had relief felt so sweet.

Over the next thirty-seven days - not that he'd been keeping count - the girl had kept to her word. She was as involved in their resistance movement as they allowed her to be. At first, they only gave her small tasks that could be supervised: assisting with ship maintenance, tending to superficial injuries, and preparing the food they'd secured in their various raids.

To Kollos's surprise, she had done everything she was asked, never uttering a single complaint. She always gave a small acknowledgement - 'yes, sir' or 'I'm on it' or something similar - and got straight to work. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that she truly enjoyed being able to help them fight back against her own people.

The first few weeks, he wasn't really convinced that she'd keep her word, but when she bled for them two months in, Kollos was forced to admit that she was serious. During a mild skirmish against a small Terran transport, Kollos decided to test her loyalty, so he assigned her to the boarding party. They were responsible for taking out any guards in the cargo hold and tagging the crates with transport signal enhancers.

Everything went according to plan. Kollos managed to disable the ship's engines and sensors, and when the boarding party transported over, there were only a few guards to deal with. Within mere moments, they'd stolen the supplies due to be delivered to a nearby Terran starbase, and made it back aboard the Retribution.

When Muroc and the Terran reported to the Bridge to give their account of events for the record, he saw a large, red stain blooming across the upper arm of her shirt. Kollos brought her to the medical bay and tended to her personally. She had fought her own people and bled in the service of the Vulcan Resistance. That was more than any Terran had ever done on behalf of his people. She deserved respect after that.

As she sat on the medical bed while he sterilized her wound, he found himself speaking before he could think better of it.

"You are not...In my experience, Terrans do not behave the way that you have. You act as though you truly wish us to be free," he murmured, not daring to meet her gaze with his own. He focused on the task before him, wondering why he was feeling almost positive about her.

"That's because I do, osu." He should've raged at her as he did before. He should've carried out his threats for her casual use of his people's language, but...he didn't. The thought of retaliating against her made it harder for him to breathe. Instead, he looked into her eyes.

Oh. Was this what his counterpart had seen? Bravery, intelligence, and beauty, all wrapped up in one fragile Human woman? Well, given her actions today, perhaps 'fragile' was an inaccurate descriptor. He caressed the bandage that he'd wrapped around her arm without conscious thought.

The insatiable urge to know exactly how much she knew about his culture rose as fast and furiously within him as lava in a fissure vent. How much had the other version of himself taught her? Would she misunderstand him as she had the other Kollos when he all but confessed to desiring her as a mate?

His jaw clenched at the thought. No, he would leave no room for misinterpretation in their courtship–

Courtship?! What was he thinking? She...she was Human!

But that argument felt weaker every time he used it to tamp down his growing emotions. She was Human, but she'd proved herself to be strong, determined, and fair-minded. Could he really continue to hold against her that which she could not control?

"Have you been shown the Vulcan method of meditation?" She looked a bit surprised at his question, but she nodded her head and uttered a quiet 'yes, osu' that send his heart racing in his side. "Very well. Tonight, I will bring the necessary items, and we will meditate together in your quarters. I would like to assess your technique."

Later that evening when he kept his word, he entered her quarters only to find her kneeling in the center of her living space. His brow furrowed as he tried to determine what she was doing.

"You said that until Humanity knelt before Vulcans, until we humbled ourselves, all you could feel for me was disgust and contempt. I can't make you like me, Kollos, but I don't want you to feel disgusted by me, either," she murmured as he made his way toward her. "I may only be one Human, but one is a start...right? Is this enough to earn some personal neutrality in your eyes?"

Kollos dropped to his knees before her, setting his meditation accoutrements aside. Where could he even begin when he hadn't even begun to puzzle out his own feelings?

"Even before this, you have proved yourself more worthy of respect than any other Terran." The surprised smile she gave him more than made up for the difficulty of that admission. That acknowledgement alone startled him into turning away to set up the candles. "Come. Meditate with me."

The next time Kollos was involved in a hand-to-hand fight against the Empire's forces, she was by his side. He'd never been in battle at her side before, so he hoped that she'd view this as the sign of trust that he intended it to be.

It began easily enough. Combat with Empire ships was fairly common for them, but this one had a big prize: this shipment of supplies was due to be delivered to the Emperor. The goods aboard were of the highest quality, and the Resistance wanted them. Badly.

Disabling the engines had been easy enough, but how Muroc had managed to disable their communication array before they could get a message off, Kollos had no idea. He wasn't complaining, though. That just made their job simpler.

Grabbing his lirpa, Kollos felt his lips tug into an almost-smile that easily betrayed how much he was looking forward to this. It had been far too long since he'd last spilled the blood of his enemies. Knocking a few heads together always felt rather therapeutic. For him, this was long overdue.

They'd made excellent progress through the guards, at first, removing them from the equation as easily as swatting flies.

Halfway through, however, reinforcements were summoned from other decks, and soon Kollos and his fighters were surrounded. When he was pushing back two Terrans at once, a man managed to get past him with a knife in hand.

He turned barely a fraction of a second later, but that was enough time for the man to grab Kollos's Terran. He dared to lay a hand on her – on his mate!

Kollos saw red. Thinking of nothing but her, he began tearing through the enemies before him. He didn't stop until he was within grabbing distance of the Human man. His target let out a startled yelp when he was tugged backward by Kollos's grip on his uniform collar. A primal yell tore from the Vulcan's throat as he threw the Terran officer to the ground and brought the blade end of his lirpa down on his neck.

The dagger that had been pressing into her skin now lay on the ground by the dead man's feet, a small drop of red Human blood coloring the tip. Her blood.

Still breathing heavily, Kollos turned his gaze to her, fully aware that he most likely looked utterly savage and murderous, covered in the evidence of his body count from this fight. The scratch at the hollow of her throat slowly wept a few drops of blood, staining her clothing as he moved closer to her. Reaching out with all the care he could muster in his current state, Kollos brushed his fingertips down the length of her clavicle.

There was much that he needed to communicate to her: his regret over behaving so foolishly toward her; his fear at the sight of someone getting that close to her with a weapon; the affection he felt for her that he was no longer able to ignore; his relief that she was not seriously injured. The significance of his need to protect her was at the forefront of his mind, but all he could seem to manage at that particular second was looking into her eyes.

He was certain that his own hunger for her was showing quite plainly, but he couldn't tell whether the reciprocal desire he saw in her irises was really there, or if he was simply projecting his own emotions onto her features in his mind's eye.

Her hands came up and covered his where it rested, and Kollos felt his control falter. He could take her here. It would be a simple matter for him to shred her clothing and stake his claim to her in front of everyone else. Her screams would be for him...because of him...

"Kollos?" Her barely audible call of his name snapped him from his primal, spiraling thoughts. The sounds of fighting had died out around them. "Are you alright?"

He swallowed heavily, tearing his eyes away from hers with great difficulty.

"I am unharmed," he croaked, but, emotionally, he wasn't sure that he was. How could he be after witnessing danger sidle up to the woman he loved, brandishing a dagger?

He couldn't remove her from his thoughts that night no matter how hard he tried. It had been wrong of him to immediately react as though they were already bonded, but...it had been instinctive. He could not force himself to feel guilt over his actions. The memory of the hungry look she gave him still burned so vividly in his mind's eye, stoking the flames of his desire. All of his confused emotions swirled around inside him, but they all essentially acknowledged the same central point: Kollos loved and needed this Human woman more than he'd ever needed anyone before.

It was shameful for him to give in to his emotions so easily, but that night Kollos couldn't help himself. He was forced to satisfy himself with his hand. With every stroke he imagine the caress of warm, slick walls gripping his length in place of his callused fingers. Would she sound as gentle as she looked, or was she just as savage inside as he was?

No! No, he mustn't allow himself to think such things about her. She may have looked as though she was prepared to offer herself to him during that fight, but she deserved more than that. She deserved his respect.

When the explosion happened a few days later, that was how he justified his actions. This was repayment for the respect she'd earned, nothing more.

That was a lie, of course. It was more. He knew from the moment he threw himself into action that this could never just be simple respect.

Kollos didn't think in the moment. He didn't analyze the situation. He simply acted. The minor skirmish in which they'd become involved was on the verge of being won, but the Retribution had taken damage. Small fires and shorting circuits illuminated the bridge from all corners. A familiar, high-pitched whine began, and Kollos leapt at her, wrapping her in his arms and shielding her with his own body just as the console she'd been working at exploded. Heat and pressure met the expanse of his back, and something hit him hard enough to knock them both to the ground.

As the pair managed to scramble away from the flames, he noted with relief that she was not hurt. She looked up at him in surprise - did she truly believe he would have allowed her to be hurt on his watch? - but when her eyes trailed lower, she went pale.

"We need a medic! Now!" She shouted over her shoulder, and when he looked down, there was a long, sharp piece of metal protruding from just below his collarbone. An emerald puddle of his blood was already forming on the deck plate beneath them.

Ah. He'd been impaled. No matter. His injury was irrelevant. She was alarmed but safe. That was his only concern.

Why was the Bridge spinning?

There was a dull thunk as his back struck the ground at an angle, but her hands cushioned his head's impact. He couldn't bring himself to regret his actions, especially looking up into her eyes at such close proximity. Her fingertips were so soft where they met his skin. He wished she would touch him for the rest of his existence. Why had he ever fought his attraction to her?

As his consciousness faded, he managed a single word, even though he was barely aware that he was speaking aloud.

"Ashal-v...veh," he breathed just before the world went black.

The trip to the medical bay was a blur. Muroc had reached Kollos's side on the bridge just in time to hear him utter that word. Nobody said a word as their leader was laid on a medical bed to receive their doctor's ministrations, but Muroc did give me a respectful nod while we waited.

Both versions of Kollos had called me the same term: 'ashal-veh.' Not long ago, Kollos pinned me against a wall and swore that he'd only ever be able to hate me, and now he'd saved my life twice. The look he gave me the first time nearly made me spontaneously combust where I stood.

Seeing him stalk toward me, glaring and covered in blood was almost more than I'd been able to handle. I'd thought - a small part of me had hoped - that he was going to claim me right there against the Terran ship's bulkhead. Instead, his touch had been feather-light, and I'd been more sexually frustrated when I returned to my quarters that night than ever before.

To complicate things even further, beyond simple lust, I'd begun to feel soft for this hardened, bitter, angry mess of a Vulcan freedom-fighter. His emotional control was tenuous at the best of times, he held grudges against those who had wronged him or his people, and he seemed to enjoy killing a little too much, but despite all of that - hell, maybe because of all of that - I loved him. I'd watched him murder a man who'd gotten too close to me with a knife, yet I still felt irresistibly drawn to him.

What the hell did that say about my own morality?

After all, under that rough exterior, Kollos wasn't completely evil. He had protected me, respected me, and even though he wanted to kill me multiple times in the beginning of our acquaintance, he'd given me a chance to prove myself. Hell, I'd even seen him full of bloodlust and rage, deep in the heart of battle, savage and the polar opposite of how a Vulcan was supposed to behave, but I couldn't help the way my heart fluttered when he'd regarded me with blatant lust afterward.

Those nights where we meditated together - yes, there had been many more than just the one - were soothing and tense in equal measures. On the one hand, I could almost forget that I wasn't with the Kollos I'd known before. Those nights, he was tranquil and serene. On the other, every time I closed my eyes to meditate with him, I felt as though I was being watched...as if he didn't actually close his eyes. I had wondered more than once if he'd simply taken the opportunity that those nights had afforded to observe me in close quarters.

That thought seemed mildly creepy, at first, but after a while, I almost relished the feeling of being so interesting to him that he couldn't help but shirk his nightly meditation to watch me instead. It was somehow simultaneously odd and flattering. For all his blustering, I knew deep down that he would never harm me. The universe didn't have many constants, but he was one of them.

And I knew that no matter his threats, he would never carry them out. Whether from confusion or desire, I was simply more intriguing to him when I was in one piece and able to behave as illogically as my species was so famous for amongst his people.

Upon reflection, his presence here in this terrifying version of the galaxy seemed like a sort of cosmic apology from the universe for ripping me so unceremoniously away from my home.

My home...I hadn't thought of it for a couple of weeks. The other Kollos must surely have given me up for dead, assuming that time passed the same way in both universes. I hadn't meant to break my promise to him.

A deep, shuddering sort of regret flooded through me, tasting distinctly sour and disgusting as I took a seat beside my Vulcan freedom fighter. Muroc and the doctor had spoken quietly for a few moments and left me alone with him. They'd done all they could. The rest was up to Kollos and his own strength. There was nothing I could do but wait, so that was what I did. Grasping one of his hands with both of my own, I stared at the bandages wrapped securely around his torso. The slight green stain that had seeped through at the location of his wound made my breath hitch in my throat.

I'd lost my chance to tell Former Minister Kollos of the Vulcan High Command how I felt about him, but that didn't mean I was going to lose my chance to tell Kollos of the Vulcan Resistance Movement just how much I adored him. Even if he hated me for it, I wouldn't make the same mistake twice. That would kill me.

So I resolved to wait by his bedside until he awoke. Maybe then we could come to some sort of mutual understanding.

And maybe - just maybe - I could finally figure out what that damned word meant.

Long, silent hours passed with nothing more than the sound of the medical machinery around me and the occasional visits from the doctor. Time ended up blurring together, and before I knew it, I had leaned my head down beside Kollos's arm on his medical bed and dropped off into a light slumber.

When his conscious mind finally surfaced, Kollos became aware of two things. The first was that the doctor had kindly dimmed the lights. The second was that his left hand was warmer than his right, and that warmth was accompanied by the sound of slow, steady breathing. Someone had fallen asleep keeping watch over him.

Cracking his eyelids open despite their leaden weight, Kollos saw the angelic visage of the Terran woman he'd fallen so hard for. Both her hands were grasping at his left. Her face was smooshed into the fabric of the blanket that was covering him from the waist down.

If he concentrated very hard with his slowly-recuperating strength, he found that he could catch glimpses of her dreams. For a time, they seemed to be a mix of nonsensical chaos mixed with flashes of anxiety over his condition.

Of all the people for his instincts to select as the ideal partner, he was truthfully glad that it was she who had been selected.

Kollos had no idea how long he'd been dipping in and out of her dreams when she finally stirred. A bleary yawn escaped her, and she blinked at him, seemingly taking a moment to recognize that he was awake just as she was.

"Lesek, t'sai." His raspy whisper settled over her like a blanket. He could see the moment she recalled the meaning of those words, because her eyes widened almost comically as she sat up.

"You're welcome, but I haven't done anything. Hell, I should be thanking you - actually, I am thanking you - for risking your life to save mine," she responded. Her own voice was equally rough with sleep as she spoke, but he found it alluring. "Kollos? I...don't know how to tell you this, but I never had the chance to say it to the other you. I mean it just as much with you as I did with him, and I don't think you'll be happy to hear it, but..."

She took a deep, steadying breath, leaning back to give him some space as she poured her heart out.

"I know we didn't start out on the best of terms, but I've developed...feelings for you." Despite his injury, Kollos sat up and grasped her jaw lightly in one large hand. "I-I know you must be upset, b-but I promise I can keep them to myself if you–"

"You must tell me to stop," he croaked, and she looked up at him quizzically.

"What are you talking about?"

"This is your last chance. Refuse me now while I am still able to turn away. Otherwise..." He swallowed around the lump in his throat that had risen at the thought of her rejection. "Otherwise, I will take you right here and claim you until your voice is gone. You will be mine, and I will be yours."

To his surprise, she smiled affectionately up at him.

"Kollos, I've been yours since the day I was brought aboard your ship."

"Do you fully understand what you are getting yourself into?" He asked as his eyes skimmed her face for any sign of second thoughts. "I have killed many of your people. In my resistance to the Terran Empire, I will likely kill many more. I...very nearly killed you on more than one occasion."

"I know exactly who you are, osu. You're not the Minister of the High Command who I became friends with in my universe. You're Kollos, defender of Vulcan rights. You are Kollos the Brave, Kollos the Valiant...and I love you," she murmured, sliding her hands slowly up his chest to rest carefully atop his bandages. "But I warn you: if you take me, I expect you to keep me."

His pride roared within him as his forehead touched hers.

"Oh, ashal-veh, there was no question about that."

"Are you ever going to tell me what that word means?" She asked as a huff of laughter escaped her. It was abruptly transformed into a gasp as he lifted her onto his lap and buried his face in the crook of her neck to inhale her scent.

"If you behave like a good girl for me, I may tell you when we are catching our breath."

Her answering whimper and the sensation of her fingers burying themselves in his hair was all the confirmation he needed to continue. The other version of himself had no idea what he was missing out on.

~*~*~

Vulcan Words:

Osu = sir

ashal-veh = darling

lesek = thank you

t'sai = my lady

~*~

Taglist:

@akamitrani @android-boyfriends @attention-bajoranworkers @bigblissandlove1 @darkmattervibes @emilie786 @horta-in-charge @live-logs-and-proper @slutty-slutty-vulcans @starrynightgardens @toebeans-mcgee

#deepspacedukat fic #Dark!Kollos x Reader #Kollos the Vulcan Rebel #Halloween 2023 #Halloween 2023 week 2

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venacoeurva · 1 year ago

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I got bills to pay! And discounted experimental N S F W comms are OPEN! Currently ONLY for users I recognize, such as followers I’ve had (positive) interactions with and seen around for a while, mutuals, and previous clients. If I don't know who you are even remotely, it's gonna be a no. You gotta be 18+ as well, of course. There are some series I will NOT draw, if you ask for it, then I'll let you know I won't do it. I'm estimating about 3 slots will be open, but if someone buys a particularly complex one, I may reduce the amount.

I can do short comics and sequences, but keep in mind those are independently quoted prices based off complexity and amount of images/pages and not the flat rate above. Kinks/fetishes are also fine! Just run them by me and make sure they're not on the will not draw list above. Don't try to stealth them past me. That will get you blacklisted.

Keep in mind these are at the end of a short but pre-existing queue!-- Estimated start time for the first one of this type is around the middle or later in the month.

You can see other examples at @wetciabatta on here and Pillowfort. I also have SFW comms open, if that's more your thing, but please use my Ko-Fi for that. 3 slots available currently on there!

Process:

Read the rules and figure out what you would like if it's something I'll do (if shading, poses, overall scene, etc.). Also please acknowledge the price is something you can/are willing to pay.

IM me including an email you can use to discuss such content (so not the family email or a work one), if you're someone I recognize and am comfortable taking such a comm from you (unlikely chance I WON'T, but y'know) I'll email you. DO NOT INCLUDE THE ACTUAL COMMISSION DESCRIPTION/ANY IMAGES OF THAT NATURE HERE. Don't accidentally get yourself flagged.

I will give you a randomized codeword in the IM so I know who is who, especially if email and username don't match. Also, so I can verify it's not some rando who saw us interact/saw that you commed me before and is trying to sneak around. (in my and others' experiences, people do weird, cringeworthy desperate things to get these types of commissions, man...)

When I email you, respond with the following info: -The codeword and who you are on Tumblr -Paypal email to invoice -What you would like drawn as well as parameters (if cropped specifically, what? If you want shading, if a comic then how many panels or pages, etc.) -Any visual references such as for OCs/Player characters or AU versions of characters. I will not draw characters that only have a written description unless I have done a commission with that for you before and I know you do written descriptions very well and are responsive with changes.

We continue from there. If I accept your commission, I will then invoice you and once paid and started, send you a sketch to be approved, and finish it once that sketch is approved. Until you approve a sketch or give feedback asking for any changes necessary and then approve the modified sketch/want any more changes, it will be counted as inactive and will not be worked on further.

#commissions #non osha compliant

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space-blue · 2 years ago

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Snips opens some comms... Only 5 slots at the moment, except for sketches, which are fast enough to be unlimited.

Sketches :

Portraits are 15£ - 18$ I can do full body sketches. Always uncoloured or with minimal grey scale. We can discuss prices depending on what you want.

Clean line art :

Bust : 25£ - 30$ Full body : 79£ - 95$ Block colour (this includes stripes, sanhi, and potentially some minimal lighting) :

Bust : 33£ - 40$ Full body : 100£ - 120$

Those are limited in number. I won't accept more than 2 at a time.

Full render in the style of your choice :

Portrait : 40£ - 48$ Bust : 70£ - 84$ Full Body : 125£ - 150$

Full body render is limited to a single slot at a time right now.

Concept art page, with or without text :

From 50£ - 60$ Exact price will depend on how much you want in there, any colour, etc.

What I prefer :

Na'vi OCs/sonas Star Wars OCs Elden Rings Tarnished What I'll do :

Arcane, Star Wars, Avatar and Elden Ring related content. If you twist my arm I can design some TMA characters for you, or do Malevolent podcast characters. I can do canon characters but the likeness of real people may vary, I've never specialised in that. I can do some creature design.

What I won't do :

Overly complicated smut (I lack experience and would need exact pose references for any smut (the professional kind! Not made at home, kk?)) Extreme gore (blood and bruises are fine, depiction of death is fine) Anything I don't feel like doing!

BACKGROUNDS ARE NOT MY FORTE and will cost extra depending on the effort you ask me to put in. Abstract colour blocks style backgrounds are free of course.

PLEASE provide references

What your character looks like, what they wear, palettes and skin colours you'd prefer. IRL pose references or the like. No need to send me an essay about your blorbo's personality, but we can discuss things moving forward.

PLEASE familiarise yourself with my styles

I have several fandom art dumps with some very different styles in there. Don't be shy to pick one and say 'this is what I want my piece to look like'. I can do clean pencils or very rough ink for example, and they don't look the same. Bear in mind there are some epically old works in the SW one.

Arcane — TMA — Avatar — Elden Ring — Star Wars

Once I know exactly what you want I'll get back to you with a definite price. I'll ask for you to pay 50% ahead of time. Then 50% on delivery. I use Paypal.

I'll keep you up to date on your commission, but once it's done I'll send you the full PNG with no background and the background version.

You can DM me here or on twitter, or send me an email : bluedaddysgirl at gmail dot com

How to share : Please @ me or give credit when using the art. If you're ok with it I'll use a watermarked version of it crediting your socials on my own pages.

Currently 5 slots open, unlimited for sketches. I also can do written/fic comms, feel free to DM me about that if you're curious.

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remington-zero · 1 year ago

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Just wanted to say first off that I love your artwork so much and it’s so fun to just scroll through. I’ve also become curious about playing 커뮤/commu (or trying to put one together) and would love to learn more about how they work.

Like for instance, how do character sheets and classes/powers work for a system that seems very open RP-based? Is there a particular omni-genre sheet or system that people often use for 커뮤? Or is that that something entirely up to the admins?

Give my love to Nero, Soren, and ESPECIALLY Charlotte

in the end it's very much like an dnd server on discord! except it's public and usually very short term (7-30 days)

essentially a commu is like a tabletop rpg with as much dice as you want, the admin team is the dm/npcs, and you recruit members based on their character sheet that they submit based on the template you make

so the foundational pillar is the admin team, which:

does all the worldbuilding, including setting boundaries and parameters for the characters

sets an event schedule and/or sets up a plot -- there's some really casual ones you go with your friend you ship your OCs with where they do couple games, and then there's one i just got out of that had time loops and also forced us to choose between executing a bunch of innocent people and completing our mission which was pretty intense

basically you are writing an rpg one-shot module! it can be as complex or as simple as you want, i've gone to ones that had stats and ones that didn't. this essentially means that you are writing a whole system! so if you want to include combat, you...are probably making a combat system from scratch, which means you usually have to also think about balance

you also probably want to determine a rating. most of the ones i went to were pg13 but there's specific ones rated R for either gore/violence or ERP

often people make a temporary website with notices, world info, rules, character sheet templates, and FAQs

the admin also moderates. if someone's being unfairly left out, you give a general warning, for example, or if someone is being an asshole you give them one strike, etc.

then you make a template for applicants and essentially pick the ones you think will make for the best story. historically, this has caused some drama. there is so much drama in commu

usually the commus that incorporated stats had specific roles (dps/tank/healer) and you had up to a certain amount of stat points that affected your skills (so a dps character might calculate their damage by idk ((attack)d6)/2) or something). so the roles would be part of the character application template, and the applicant would distribute the stats how they wanted it

so yes, in the end, the sheet is entirely up to the admin, and the applicants generally get creative within the space you create! soren, for example, had a power ranking (A), role (tank), reason for participating in the commu storyline (he didn't care but his friends did so he's doing it on their behalf) but i made up his ability (turns into a gryphon) and stuff about his family, past traumas, etc.

while the commu is running, applicants generally RP with each other and make their own relationships and mini plotlines (soren is now bffs with another character because they both lost siblings/students) but the admin administers a scheduled plot to keep things moving (nero, for example, was part of a group that went around stopping monster dungeons around the world so every week the admins would say ok they're going to peru now. and then florida.)

while commus are usually short, sometimes they have like...seasons? one of my friends ran one based on the uma musume setting and recently they did a season 2 of the same commu with new applicants

back when twitter was whole, two comms i went to also had a sparring system using a bot and keywords (so you'd type [attack] or [evade] or whatever and depending on your character's stats, which the admin entered into the bot, you'd get an automated reply that gave you the result of your actions), gacha (same as above, and also included things like...pet eggs and equipment and whatnot), a store with potions/etc., i know one that had like literal mini-rooms with pixel furnitures that people could buy through currencies earned doing daily quests or whatever....that was really intense though lmao people usually do not go that far

commus also often have like....specific disclaimers written for good reason, usually to do with code of conduct and not being bigoted/being inclusive (unfortunately female characters often get ignored in rp, and also oh my god so much casual bigotry)

TL;DR making a commu is essentially writing a whole oneshot module that you're publicly recruiting players for! honestly though it is a Lot of work setting it up and then maintaining it even for the short time it runs

#long post #text #anon #replies #the one i just went to also had diff buffs depending on the rank since it was a military-style setup #since my character was a corporal he had a 1.2 buff to defense #also you would not believe the shit that goes down on commus #it has ended friendships and also has revealed people's asses #i'm so glad you like charlerusse!!!!!!!! she's my baby

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purplefangirl42 · 1 year ago

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Clonetober- Day 7

Prompt: “Patience . . . is not something I’m known for.”/time loop/bodyguard AU

Prompt list by @ladysongmaster Divider by djarrex

Tags/Warnings: Captain Rex x OC (Lena Orim), Nobility/Bodyguard AU

Rex read over the information on his datapad for the fifth time, wanting to make sure he had everything memorized. He didn’t want to mess this job up. Senator Organa was counting on him to make sure the person he was guarding made it through the conference safely, and he intended to do just that.

“You look nervous,” Cody said from where he sat across the table. “This isn’t anything different than what you’ve done before. Remember the Duchess from Mandalore?”

“That was different,” Rex said, putting down the datapad. “There were more of us and there were two Jedi on board. This time, it’s just going to be me.”

“You’ll be fine,” Cody said reassuringly. “Also, I hear she’s really nice. Maybe you’ll make a new friend.”

Rex shook his head in disbelief. Making friends with his charge was not his goal. Keeping her alive and out of danger was. Senator Organa had told him there were many people that wanted her gone, including Count Dooku himself. When Rex had asked why she wasn’t put under a higher amount of security, he hadn’t gotten a straight answer.

The comm on his wrist beeped, telling him that it was time for him to go. He gave Cody a wave as he walked away and pulled his helmet onto his head. Rex could feel his heart thrumming in his ears as he approached Senator Organa’s office, every nerve in his body on edge. He took a deep breath and pressed the button beside the door.

“Come in,” said a voice from inside.

Rex opened the door and entered the office, his eyes searching the room for its occupants. He could see Senator Organa sitting behind his desk. Across from him sat a woman with very long hair cascading down her back, part of it braided in complicated sections at the top of her head and the rest hanging loose. She turned to look at him when he entered and he was struck.

She was beautiful. A few loose tendrils of dark blonde hair curled at the sides of her head, framing her pale face. When she smiled in greeting, her gray eyes crinkled at the corners and it almost seemed like she radiated light.

“Ah, Captain Rex,” Senator Organa said in greeting. “Just in time. This is my friend, your companion for the next little while.”

The woman stood from her chair and walked in his direction, holding out her hand for him to shake. Her smile from before hadn’t faded, bright as ever as she introduced herself.

“Lady Lena of House Orim,” she said. “Pleased to meet you, Captain Rex.”

Rex reached out and shook her offered hand. Now that she was standing closer, he could see how tiny she was. Much like Senators Chuchi and Amidala, she was significantly smaller than him, the top of her head barely above his shoulder. Even her hand seemed tiny clasped in his.

“I heard you and I are going to be spending some time together,” she said. “Since Bail insists on me having a shadow.”

“I only want you to be safe, Lena. The conference won’t have the security needed. Captain Rex is very capable and will be able to keep you from harm.”

Lena rolled her eyes at the Senator and gave Rex an apologetic look.

“I’m sure you have much better things to do with your time, so I apologize for you being made to do this.”

“It’s no problem, ma’am,” Rex said. “I have my orders, and I will follow them.”

Rex saw the smile on Lena’s face diminish before she seemed to get control over whatever negative thought she had and it returned, albeit a bit less bright. She turned away from him and returned to the chair she had left earlier, retrieving a small bag from where it hung over the back.

“I will see you when I return, Bail. Try not to worry too much.”

Lena gestured for Rex to follow her out into the hallway. He took a place a short distance behind her and started to follow her, but she waved him forward to walk beside her. With a small amount of hesitation, he stepped up to where she wanted him and they continued their trek down the hallway.

“I hope we’ll be able to get to know each other on this trip,” Lena said. “I haven’t had the chance to travel far from Alderaan in recent years, so I’m afraid my social circle is a bit small.”

Rex thought back to Cody’s words about him making a new friend. He had to laugh a little at the idea of a noble lady of Alderaan becoming his friend. It didn’t seem high on the list of possibilities.

“I’m not sure how good of company I will be for you ma’am,” he said. “We don’t exactly walk common life paths.”

“That’s okay, I like a little variety in my life. I’m sure we’ll get along just perfectly.”

Rex had never heard the word variety used in reference to clones. Usually they were grouped together as a single entity, despite their efforts to make themselves as individual as possible. Perhaps she was his chance for a little variety as well.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this! Please reblog, like, and comment! This one was a little shorter because I think I would like to turn this into a one-shot or mini-series in the future!

#clonetober2023 #star wars: the clone wars #star wars fanfiction #original characters #star wars #captain rex x oc #captain rex #OC: Lena Orim

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bothfeetinthegrave · 1 year ago

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name — Rabbit is a nickname I've had for around a thousand years. My real name is Rory, or Ro if you prefer that over nicknames. I'm not choosy.

pronouns — he / him

preferred comms — discord works for me around %80 of the time, which is much more reliable than IMs here. My info's in my pinned if you'd like to add me - just let me know who you are!

name of muse — This is Eden Muir's blog, he's an OC / my favourite dead guy. My other writing blog @belovedcorvid, where I will probably reblog this, is for Donquixote Rocinante.

experience in RP — I've been writing on this site for around 11-12 years, across a few different URLs.

best experiences — I don't really have a specific best experience, it's hard to compare interactions because they're so different. I do want to mention though that I have never been included in as friendly and immediately accepting of a writing community as I have with OP, both here and on Cora's blog.

pet peeves / dealbreakers — I don't have a lot - I'm a pretty chill guy and the people I interact with are really considerate. I guess if I had to pick something, it's when another person continues an ask without moving it to a new thread? And even that feels really silly to sit down and write out like this.

muse preference ( fluff, angst, smut ) — No smut here, at least not so far - not really my thing. Between the other two, no real preference. Why not both? We can have hurt/comfort as a treat. I'd actually like to write some more shippy things, but I'm slow and not good at recognising when that's possible.

plot or memes — I find plotting to be easier with people I've interacted with a bit already, so I guess I would say memes.

long or short replies — Too long replies I get wordy. OTL I always want to do dialogue only or short replies because I wish I was faster, but they never stay that way. You never have to match me, and if you ever want me to focus in / make something easier to reply to, let me know!

best time to write — My schedule's wild, so right now the stars have to align in the following way: evenings on days where I haven't been on triage team all day, and don't have tabletop. This usually means mid-week and sundays.

are you like your muse — There's a fair bit of me in Eden, just because I think that's the nature of character creation for many people.

I am like Cora because I too am barely keeping my shit together and would like a cigarette.

tagged by: @isutoburu ♡ tagging: @byanyan @intothewildsea @vanishinq @rubctosis @cmdrace @taiixuan and @ anyone else that would like to fill this out, just say I tagged you! I have no idea anymore who's done this one and who hasn't so if I've tagged you and You've already done it I'm sorry. OTL

#👁️‍🗨️ | a rabbit ran over my grave :: ooc |#👁️‍🗨️ | from beyond the grave :: answered |

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as-is-above-so-below · 2 years ago

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In the Middle of the Night (Jason Todd x OC)

Masterlist

Chapter 8, Chapter 10

story summary: Melanie Withers and Jason Todd do everything together - including but not limited to stealing tires off Gotham's famous vigilante. The newest additions to the Wayne family begin their journey, learning how to navigate their new family, life as vigilantes, adolescence, grief, and rebirth.

chapter summary: Happy New Year from the Batfamily! (and also, SURPRISE WALLY NAME DROP! AAAAAAA)

December 2012

Strong winds tugged at Redwing’s cape, the yellow fabric billowing behind her on her gargoyle perch. People littered the streets below under the soft glow of neon and street lights; they poured in and out of various bars and nightclubs, despite the frigid temperatures and quickly accumulating layers of snow.

Nothing could keep the city of Gotham from a good time on New Year’s Eve.

She grabbed the hems near her midsection and clipped them together, securing them around her torso for warmth. Robin did the same on the next statue, tugging his hood over his wet hair. While cold fronts and heavy snow were typical for that time of year, the continued steady drop in bitter temperature over just a few hours wasn’t. She raised her gloved hand to her earpiece and tapped open her comms.

“Oracle?”

“Hi, Redwing! How are you this fine winter evening?”

“Cold. Unnaturally cold,” she grumbled, dusting the heavy flurries off her shoulders. “Could you pull up weather patterns and temperatures for the last ten years?”

Robin shifted from the balls of his feet to a seated position, his legs dangling below. He rested some of his weight onto his hands, pressed forward between his legs. “What’re ya thinkin’, Red?”

“I’m thinking that it was thirty degrees when we left the cave, and we’re about to drop into the negatives in the span of,” she turned back to look up at the clocktower behind them, “three hours.”

“Abnormal weather conditions don’t necessarily mean Victor’s involved.”

Batman crouched on his heels between them following his question, shrouded in his black cape. Like them, he had a winterized version of his suit on – the usual color scheme, but slightly bulkier with the extra layers and warming factor built in. The bat symbol at the center of his chest had more shine than his usual suit.

“I don’t know… I could be wrong, but this doesn’t feel right.”

“You have a good sense of climate, Redwing!” Oracle chimed back in. “The chill you’re feeling is way below normal. Gotham normally hangs in the thirty- to forty-degree range in December. And temps definitely don’t drop this fast.”

Batman hummed in affirmation, a proud smirk on his face. “Don’t ever doubt your instincts. Well done.”

“But why now? Freeze covered Gotham in ice in the middle of August before; he doesn’t need cold weather,” she wondered, looking to her father for ideas.

The bat tapped away at his gauntlet, pulling up the records from his last encounter with the man. “I found Victor so quickly before because it was the dead of summer. He could be using seasonality as camouflage.”

Oracle’s voice echoed in their ears again, “I’d be willing to bet he hoped we would be preoccupied with this evening’s festivities.”

A smart move on his end, considering they were just now noticing the weather fluctuation.

“Assuming he built the same kind of devices, there were three units I had to track down before they reached their full potential. My analysis then estimated it would have taken five hours to freeze the city over.”

The winged duo nodded solemnly, meeting each other’s white eyes. “It’s already been at least three. We don’t have much time,” Robin pointed out, rising to his feet again.

“I could reach out to KF and see if he’s available to help?”

“No need! I think I have an idea where at least one will be.”

“Care to share with the class?” she asked. Her forehead wrinkled where her eyebrows were concealed under her mask.

The boy smirked as he pulled out his grapple gun, his arm hanging loosely by his side. “Freeze is the sentimental type, right? Do you still have his wife at the lab?”

“Yes.”

“What better place to attack Gotham from than the tallest building in the city?”

“You think he’s at Wayne Tower?” Redwing stood with him, readying her own line.

“I don’t think. I know.”

Her eyes rolled behind the white lenses of her mask. “Fascinating.”

“What, my charm? Dashing good looks? Searing intellect?”

She stepped forward so only her heels balanced on the beast’s nose. Her arches and toes hovered in the air. She tapped the muzzle of the tool against her chin with pursed lips as she pretended to think. “Your enormous ego,” she finally concluded, laughing wildly as his boyish grin morphed into a hurt expression as she tipped over, letting her body fall head-first into the neon lights below.

Redwing allowed herself to freefall for a few seconds before firing the grapple hook. It caught on a nearby water tower, launching her back towards the sky.

In the year since Bruce had adopted them, Melanie had learned that Dick was right about at least one thing.

There’s nothing like flying.

Her earpiece crackled to life again. “Ego?!” Robin cried, appalled, coming into view about forty feet to her left. “My ego is well-earned! I deserve an apology!”

“And how might I get back into your good graces, Boy Wonder?”

“It’ll be midnight soon. I think a New Year’s kiss is in order.”

“Who else would I kiss?”

“No PDA on duty.”

“Golly gee willickers, Batman.” He took a high-pitched voice, mocking the original Robin. “Don’t be a party pooper. You swat spit Catwoman in the field all the time!”

“I do not. Even if I did, it would be different.”

“Hypocrite.”

“Focus,” Batman snapped, the blue halo from the Wayne Enterprises logo coming into view. Lo and behold, a structure resembling a stocky cell tower sat on the roof, pumping a cold front into Gotham’s atmosphere. Nearby, a similar unit lit up the Foxteca building; in the distance, a third condenser at the Sporting Complex.

The group took refuge on a neighboring rooftop as Batman cataloged the force they were going up against. “I don’t see Victor’s heat signature,” he mumbled, making a mental note. “You two distract his henchmen. I’ll shut down the weather machine then we'll move on to the next. We have to be quick.”

“Yessir!”

With the plan set, the two birds took to Wayne Enterprises, scaling the side farthest from the equipment. While they would work on the goons, Batman would sneak up the back to access the interface. Two loud cackles drew the attention of the dozen or so men to the teens; Robin traipsed the curbed edge like a tightrope while Redwing juggled R-shaped shurikens atop an exhaust vent.

“So,” Robin started. He spun on one foot to turn back around and go back the way he came. “You all have two options. You can surrender peacefully, and we leave you for the GCPD. Or, we can kick your butts, and you’re arrested anyway. Your call!”

Despite his generous offer, Regulator brutes charged them, a few hanging back while their gauntlets whirred to life.

Robin sighed dramatically, hopping down from the ledge. “They just never learn, do they, Wing?”

“They don’t, Rob. They really don’t.” She snatched one of the sharp weapons out of the air on its downward arch and directed it into the muzzle of a rifle. The gun backfired, causing its holder to reel from the bright flash of heat.

As Robin sprinted forward, Redwing jumped from the vent onto her partner’s locked and ready hands, propelling her into the air in their enemies’ direction. She swiftly moved between enemies, sometimes kicking some in Robin’s direction for an assist. She prioritized enemies with guns first, wanting them disarmed and out of the way quickly. Despite the freezing air, Redwing still felt a layer of sweat forming underneath her thermal layer from the effort of the fight.

Bullets pinged off the concrete and metal structures around them as they dodged and weaved through their trajectories; the sharp, tangy smoke almost overwhelmed her senses.

As the number of active targets dwindled, Redwing felt a hot muzzle press against the back of her skull; she immediately pivoted, barely knocking it away for the bullet to miss. “Oof, that was a close one!” she laughed, ripping the rifle out of the man’s hands. “Almost got me there!”

While she was quick to knock him unconscious with the butt of his gun, she wasn’t fast enough to avoid the massive hand that wrapped around her bicep and yanked, sending her skidding across the roof. Her shoulder audibly popped, and she groaned at the sound and sudden shooting pain down her arm.

As she tried to her shoulder it back in, the last lackey loomed over her. Allowing herself to get grabbed was a big mistake that allowed her opponent to hold all of the power, especially now that one of her limbs was out of commission. She could fight with what she had, but adjusting to the ache wasted precious time that she did not have.

At least, until a sticky pellet thudded against the Regulator’s gauntlet and activated, volts of electricity arcing through his arm to the ground. He stumbled back, leaving Robin open to slide underneath his grip and forcing him to topple by tripping his feet.

“You heard her, man! It’s not her time.” He, too, fell unconscious when the black-haired boy was finished with him.

“You good?”

She nodded, gripping her bicep with her opposite hand to brace it to her side.

“You were tellin’ us about being quick?! What the hell, B? What’s taking so long?” Robin pressed, helping Redwing up while nursing his own bruises at his side.

“These condensers are different,” Batman grunted as he typed at the machine’s terminal. “We have to shut them off at the same time. We’re going to have to split up.”

“You can’t figure out how to disarm them manually?”

“No. That will take hours, which we don’t have.”

He stepped away from his task to inspect Redwing’s limp limb, pressed against her side. The girl hissed as he tried to twinge it with barely any pressure, jerking away from his touch. Robin certainly had a busted lip and a few bruises of his own.

“It’s dislocated.”

“Batman, I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not. I’m calling the Batmobile to take you back to the cave–”

“We need three people to turn these off,” Redwing cut him off, turning her shoulder to her partner. “Robin?”

He sighed deeply, gingerly looping his fingers around her wrist and bracing her back. “Alright–”

“Robin, don’t you dare–”

POP!

“GAH–” Redwing took a deep breath before letting out a whoosh of air. “See? All good!” She turned momentarily as if to look around, hiding the pained expression on her face. “Christ on a cracker, that hurt.”

Batman was pinching the bridge of his nose over his cowl, his head bowed and shaking. “Nightwing’s supposed to be my problem child, not you two.” He took her arm and tested her mobility, moving and rotating the appendage in all directions. When he was begrudgingly satisfied, Batman sighed again. “Fine, but you’re staying here. Robin, you go to Foxteca; plug this into the terminal before I give the signal. I’ll cover the arena.”

Robin took the flash drive from their father and tucked it into his utility belt. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked, brushing a spot of blood off her cheek with his thumb.

She smiled warmly and shrugged. “I think I can handle pressing a button. I’ll be fine. Besides, you owe me a kiss.”

“Me?! No, no, no, you’re supposed to kiss me–”

“If I have to tell you two to focus again, you’re suspended for a week.”

Batman wasn’t one to make threats lightly, and neither Redwing nor Robin wanted to find out how strict the man was feeling. Redwing laughed and shoved him away before heading over to her station.

It took Batman and Robin some time to get to their respective locations. Long enough for the eerie silence to make the hair on the back of her neck stand. Nothing but the cold wind gusts and mechanical buzzing in her ears.

Something was missing…

“Batman, Robin. Do either of you have eyes on Mr. Freeze?” she questioned, taking cautious steps toward the middle of the skyscraper’s roof.

“Negative.”

“No, why?”

The air shifted, setting off alarms in her mind. Redwing dove forward just in time to not get crushed by a giant mecha suit’s fist. She rolled easily and sprang to her feet, finding herself face-to-face with the man himself. The temperature dropped noticeably around the icy metal, the vapor from her breath thicker and more visible than before.

“Ah, the Girl Wonder. I was expecting Batman.”

Victor Fries played into his villain persona well. His voice didn’t just have a cold tone; the vibrato sent actual chills down her already taut spine.

“Sorry to disappoint, Victor,” she replied, readying her fighting stance. “I guess he just didn’t think you were much of a threat.”

Her opponent chuckled darkly, his heavy steps clunking on concrete as he closed in on her. “She thinks she’s Batman,” he growled. “How quaint.”

Redwing slid under his downward swing, sprinting back toward the weather machine at the now far corner. Freeze just caught the corner of her cape, which she immediately released as soon as she felt the familiar tug. Out of his reach again, she tapped her comms back on. “Speak of the devil!”

“He’s there? I’m coming back to you–”

“There isn’t time!” the girl interrupted, narrowly sidestepping an ice ray. The ends of her hair had long since gathered an icy sheen from the wet air and subzero temperatures. “We have to do this now!”

Her evasive skills would be the hot ticket item for their next team meeting, considering how often Redwing was snatched up during this encounter.

Freeze seized her by the back of her neck, stopping her in her tracks and lifting her off the ground without effort. She scrambled for one of the pouches on her belt, only for it to be torn away and slammed into the ground. “I don’t think so, little bird,” Freeze snarled and pulled her face forward, stopping just short of smashing the protective barrier around his head. Redwing was forced to ignore the chattering in her ear, focused only on steadying her breathing and figuring a way to do her part and shut down the terminal behind Freeze. The man adjusted his grip, now keeping her suspended from the front.

“Why…are you…doing this?” she choked out, slowly slipping her hand over her stomach, then her breastplate…

“Batman and Mr. Wayne took my Nora from me,” he shared as if it was obvious. His corpse-like, blue skin was infinitely more horrifying up close. “I intend to retrieve what is mine and leave this wretched city a tundra when I’m done with it!”

“Redwing, now!”

“She’s not…your…property.” Finally, she pressed the ‘R’ on her chest, dispensing another golden shuriken, and, with a year’s worth of practice and great skill, hurled the star at the red switch.

Flip

“No!”

The cold front spewing into the night sky immediately started to narrow until it dwindled into nothing, the various gears and pieces slowing to a stop. She assumed, in the distance, the other machines and beams had similar reactions. Already the heavy, white storm turned into soft flurries, more representative of a New Jersey winter.

The plan had worked.

“Red, hold on! I’m coming!”

“No!” Victor roared again, charging to his creation, only to find a black screen. The drives permanently disabled the software once it was shut down, making it inaccessible. Forever. “You insignificant little witch! You’ll pay for this!”

And suddenly, the bruising pressure was gone, and she was flying again.

And flying.

Then falling.

Her ice-tipped hair bit and stung her face as she slapped at her hip, gloves meeting her suit helplessly with wide eyes.

He took her belt; her grapple–

And no cape. She’d ditched it, effectively clipping her own wings.

She wanted to scream and call out for Robin or Batman, but the panic and violent terror gagged her as she plummeted toward the empty city street. Would her father be the one to retrieve her broken, bloody body, or her brother?

Not Jay, anyone but Jay…

Jason

A body slammed into hers with a grunted Oof, knocking her path to the snow-covered pavement off course. It was like colliding with a brick wall. Her body jerked from being caught at the waist before being enveloped in a tight hold and turned in the air, nose pressed against a firm chest; she smelled musky sweat, gunpowder, and the lingering twinge of mint toothpaste.

They soared for about two seconds before their trajectory arched back to the ground. When they finally hit solid ground, the other person hit first, cushioning her landing, before they tumbled down the street. When they slowed to a stop several feet from the initial impact, the cage around her loosened, and her loose body flopped face down into the crisp snowfall.

“Red! Red, hey!”

Redwing let out a low groan as she was flipped on her back and shaken, eyes squeezed shut. “Am I dead?”

Robin was visibly relieved both at her consciousness and her ability to speak. “Nah, you can’t die just yet. It’s 12:06.”

January 2013

Jason.

Kevlar hands delicately cradled the sides of her neck before frosty, wet lips pressed into her rosy cheek. The sentiment continued across her face – on her forehead, nose, the corner of her lips. Some barely touched her flesh, overlapping with the edges of her mask or hair. Each word he spoke was punctuated with a loud peck.

“I - love - you - so - much.”

Redwing mustered the strength to softly tap his cheek with two soft pats. “Love you t-too. Good…save…” she wheezed, arm dropping back down and displacing some white fluff back into the air. If the fact that her whole body already hurt was any indicator, she was in for a world of hurt over the next few days.

Robin allowed her a moment to gather herself before slipping his hands under her shoulders and forcing her to sit up. He moved to one knee, some joints cracking and popping at the effort, and wedged his arms under hers until the crooks of his elbows settled in her armpits.

“C’mon,” he ordered, rising to his full height, hoisting Redwing to her feet. He slung her good arm over his shoulder, adjusting until he found a comfortable position. “You have to get back to the Cave. The Batmobile’s right here.”

Immediately, her heels dug into the road. “Wait, Freeze–”

“B has it handled. You’re in no shape to fight. You need to go.”

“Mmm’kay…”

For once, she complied with his orders, feet dragging as he mostly carried her to the car. The driver’s door opened for them, and Robin took the utmost care in lowering his other half into the seat before swinging her legs in.

“Happy New Year, Rob.”

“Happy New Year, Red.”

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twistedtummies2 · 11 months ago

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February Commissions Upcoming

Hello, everyone! First of all, don't worry, the Belch Rankings aren't over yet. I just have had a VERY tiring and hectic couple of days and haven't had time to get to all the new ones. XD I'll get back to them HOPEFULLY between things tomorrow. But now to business!

Commissions will reopen about ten days from now, on the 16th of this month, unless something changes. If something DOES change - if I need to open earlier or later - then I will write another journal letting everybody know.

There will be five slots. The new price of $15 per thousand words will be enforced. There will be discount options, which I have not figured out yet. If you get a story featuring either one of my OCs or one of the characters on the discount list as a major protagonist/antagonist, your story will be discounted to $10 per thousand words.

I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that these five slots will fill out EXTREMELY fast. For those who do not get in, I will create a Waiting List (which will remain private, visible only to myself). The Waiting List will work like this: if anybody in those five slots drops out, for any reason, the first person on the Waiting List will be contacted and asked if they wish to take their place. This will go on down the queue as necessary.

THOSE ON THE WAITING LIST WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR RESERVATIONS THE FOLLOWING ROUND. This will be either March or April; originally it was going to be April, but recent developments mean it may be March, instead. I will let people know as soon as I am aware. IF THE FOLLOWING ROUND IS ALL CLEARED OUT AS A RESULT, then commissions will PUBLICLY reopen the next available month; that would be May, regardless. I will not bother opening publicly, obviously, if I already have enough people to fill out that month.

If you are uncertain about anything I have said, and want clarification on meaning, contact me via PM, either using Notes or another chat system, such as Telegram or Discord. If you are curious about what I may or may not write, go to my Commission Info.

ONE MORE THING: Trades. In the past, I have been doing lots and lots of trade pieces, and that has been bogging me down. I have decided that, this year, I am going to severely cut down on trades. I have decided to allow one - AND ONLY ONE - trade piece; it is very long, and it will be done over the course of several months, with each chapter of the trade being written following a round of comms. This is the ONLY trade I have signed up, and for now, I will keep it that way. After June, when I hit my halfway point for the year, I MIGHT see about doing more, depending on how everything has gone up to that point.

Again, if you have any questions or concerns, contact me via PM. Please do not attempt to comment on this post or any other. If you would like more information, turn here.

Thank you all for your time; I will post the list of discount options somewhere within 5 - 7 days before comms open. Do not ask me who is included, because again, right now I don't know, and I may not know until the day of posting. XD

#commission info #update #commissions 2024 #writing commissions #kink fics #non-kink fics #fanfics #my writing #incoming lunacy #also gonna tag #belch rankings 2.0 #because i mention them #and why not

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medicus-felini · 1 year ago

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name — Fungi

pronouns — she/her. they/them

preferred comms — I have no problem with tumblr IMs (it seems to be not as bugged as earlier). However, if we are mutuals and vibe, I prefer discord :)

name of muse(s) — Linn Urey :3c

experience in RP —Like half a year (?) I am a baby rper

best experiences — Ah, yes. I can tell some can guess I want to swoon about the whole Linn and Mr. 3 cinematic universe. AND HELL YES YOU ARE RIGHT ABOUT THAT! There are not enough words in the universe to describe how thankful I am for this weirdly spontanous ship. Namae's threads might be one of my all time favorites around here. Other than that, I absolutely adore all the dash comms and crack posts so much. One Piece rp just keeps giving. There are more I am sure but those are the ones stuck in my head dearly.

pet peeves / dealbreakers —I rarely have pet peeves or dealbreakers. I am super understanding and caring, it is hard to get on my nerves or scare me away. Maybe guilt tripping would be a reasonable answer here.

muse preference ( fluff, angst, smut ) — Fluff first. Fucking blends my heart. Scrambles it, makes me feel like having fever. I am a huge softie at heart. Next angst because I would not be a mother of countless ocs if I do not enjoy traumatizing and putting them in therapy the next moment. Smut lastly because the other two are more in favor of my interests and writing uvu (Still enjoy a good little lay, dont get me wrong)

plot or memes — Memes, although I do not despise plotting. Memes are just very easy and fun. Most people (me included) feel very shy and anxious to reach out if interested. Memes are a life savor ♥

long or short replies —Long-ish (?). I really feel like putting effort in how my muses feel inside and how they would interact exactly so short replies don't do it for me quite like long replies.

best time to write — Always after I had food. I can't write on an empty stomach. When it comes to time of the day, late afternoon :>

are you like your muse —Kind of, yes. We surely share some similarities like the politeness and interest in biology but I am ambitious. I tend to be quite open and take initiatives when I see some. Also I do not throw up hairballs.

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tagged by: fucking stole it >:) tagging: @waxgentleman @ferromagnetiic @snowdrcp @ravarui @phoenixbxrn @fieryxhearts

#⚕ ⦅ Professional attitude only. ⦆⠀⠀/ dash games .

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tiredlilguy · 1 year ago

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Commission Listing on my Ko-Fi [OPEN] [UPDATED]

hello! i'm opening commissions on my ko-fi now! currently there's only one slot for each listing on there. i will be adding more slots, but i want to get my bearings first! if you're interested, feel free to click on the embed above to see the commission listings or under the cut for the same information. reminder that you are NOT obligated to commission me/buy me a coffee!!! these are not emergency comm's, I just want to make quality work for people that enjoy the same content that I do :) thanks so much!

Description: - written in the form of oneshot scenarios/prompts/blurbs (i may expand later on, but for now, this is what i'll stick with) - a commissioned writing prompt/scenario/blurb in your choice of how many words (you will not be charged if it's a little over) [please keep it within my fandom list] - any genre is fine! (fluff, angst, au, general, romance... etc.) but keep it SFW - SFW ONLY - I can write about your oc/x-reader/ships (rarepairs/crackships are fine, but I don't accept pedophilia of any kind, including "aged-up" minors)

Listing Pricing: 500-800 words - $5 [wait time: 3-7 Days] 1K words - $10 [wait time: 1-2 weeks] 1.5K-2K words - $15 [wait time: 1-2 weeks] 3K+ words - $20 [wait time: 2-3 weeks]

Fandom List (currently): - bungou stray dogs (bsd) - jujutsu kaisen (jjk) - nijisanji en (all waves up until xsoleil) - obey me!

What I DO NOT DO!: - NSFW (maybe soon on my Tumblr once I figure it out, but I want to respect content guidelines on ko-fi) - Incest - Suicide/Self-Harm - Pedophilia - “Aged-Up” Minors - Hate-Speech of any kind - Religious & Political Content

General TOS/Rules: - wait time is in the listings above; please be patient with me, i tend to get quite busy because i am a full-time performing arts student! - feel free to ask for a progress update, any questions, or comments/messages on here or through ko-fi at any time! i will try to answer as soon as possible. - i have the right to deny requests that make me feel uncomfortable. - My works are for personal use ONLY! When you have it, feel free to do whatever you want with it: print it out, share it, whatever. However, please do not sell/post these works as your own! After receiving the finished work, I may ask if I can post it or not! This option is completely up to you and these is no pressure to say yes or anything! :D - the characters that i am writing are not my own! each belong to their respective creators for each series, and i do not own them.

Thanks so much for reading! I'd like to just put out a reminder that you are NOT obligated to buy commissions/buy me a coffee. Any kind of support from a reblog to a simple like is appreciated :) These aren't emergency comm's or anything. I just want to make quality work for people that enjoy the same content as I do! <3

#commissions #commissions open #writing commissions #comms #comms info #writers on tumblr #writers on kofi #kofi commissions #kofi #kofi commissions open #bsd x reader #jjk x reader #jujustsu kaisen x reader #obey me x reader #nijisanji x reader #nijien x reader #mono writes

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thechroniclesofnikevictoria · 1 year ago

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Present. Chapter 4 - Mid June 2021

“If I have to stop, you have to tell me now. Because if you let me continue this, Winged Victory, not even your Kamui could hold me back until I triumphed with you”

(TW: NSFW, smut, OC, CamusxOC, reference to MiloxCamus, HET couple, reference to HOMO couple, D/s, Dom!Camus, Diamond Dust with creative uses)

Nike’s surprise was even bigger when, a few days later, instead of Milo, she found herself in bed with Camus.

He went to pay her a visit, a habit he got after coming back to life, after finishing a new philosophy book. His mother, a professor at Sorbonne, would always recommend him the best ones, and he would always find them in Dégel’s library. Among the Gold Knights, he was by far the most intellectual one, in the western meaning of the term.

Nike, together with Saori, was the only inhabitant of the Sanctuary who had a normal life and education before her Cosmo awakening. She really enjoyed those conversations.

“Can I come in?” he asked on the side door. He always used that entrance when he came to visit her, to avoid having to go through the main Temple. Theoretically, to enter the thirteenth house, all the knights were obliged to wear their armor, in case Athena crossed their path. But Nike had removed that rule when people came to visit her informally. Especially considering Saori was rarely even there.

“Otherwise I would need to keep my Kamui on all the time” was her official justification.

“Hey Cam! Sure, come in! Are you hungry?”

“Comme toujours!” he exclaimed going in and sitting down at his usual place at her table.

“DeathMask just came back from his town in the middle of nowhere Sicily and brought back a ton of amazing things. You choose: sfincione or arancini?”

“Why do you say or?”

They both laughed out loud. One of the few perks of being Knights was that their Cosmo, together with the massive training they underwent for years, would burn everything.

“So what’s new this time? What did you just finish reading?” she asked while they were eating.

“I finally made it to the end of the Symposium”

“Ah yes I remember that. My philosophy teacher had me read it in grade eleven” she exclaimed, immediately regretting her words. Camus and the others had been stolen from their family when they were children to be trained. He couldn’t finish elementary school. Let alone high school.

“I’m sorry...”

“No worries. Anyways, I found it quite interesting when they said straight love can never be pure, because biology always takes over”

“Yeah I remember that part too. It's quite ironic if we think those words were written not far from where we are now, the only place on Earth where even straight love is purpose to itself” she added with a melancholic smile, referring to Athena’s law. More like a curse, really. They served the Goddess, and therefore her highest rank knights, presents included, where physically prevented from having children. Physically prevented from having someone in their life important enough to second guess their loyalty and their obedience. To orders, to tasks, or to wars. Traditionally they were also prevented from falling in love, but that rule was so stupid and inapplicable it had already been removed since Shion’s time. Nike had simply extended it to relationships among the knights.

“Come on, let’s move to the couch”

“But... we’ve always talked at the table” he replied taken by surprise. The couch? Like face to face less than a meter apart? Was he even allowed to be that close to her within those walls? With the risk of touching her by mistake?

“I know” she said sitting down.

“But I really don’t know why. Considering how much Saga must have paid for it, we might as well use it. It's way more comfortable”

Camus made a quick estimate in his mind and decided that deliberately refusing a direct invitation from a goddess would be way less respectful than accidentally touching her.

‘The circumstances have changes, but I've already had the occasion to touched her. Can't be that bad’ and he sat.

What he had not accounted for in his estimate was that in that moment, for the first time, maybe because he was so close to her, Nike’s beauty hit him all at once. Since coming back to Milo he hadn’t had women, but that didn’t mean he was insensitive to the beauty of a female body. And Nike’s, now that he finally was paying that much attention, could not be described with words. She was simply perfect.

‘Idiot, what are you, a teenager? Don't get ideas. You just came back to life, wanna get yourself killed again?’

“You and Milo” she began

“You are the perfect example of what the symposium is talking about”

“You are right, we are quite lucky”

“You had your share of pain and suffering”

“Me not as much. After all, all I did was dying. He's the one who had to live with my memory. Oh and speaking of which, thank you”

“For what?”

“For helping him during those though times”

“He told you?” she asked half panicked, half relieved at the idea of not having to keep the secret with him any longer.

‘That big Greek mouth, what did he spill? If he went around spilling I like to be needled during sex I'm gonna end him’

“Not in detail. He’s proud, and you know it. But he told me after Athena refused to let him go, without you he would have died of despair”

“We both needed it, you know? I missed you a ton too. I missed all of you” Nike said, gently resting her hand on his knee.

Camus realized that very moment it was the first time of his new life he touched her outside of training or some sort of special occasion. And the effect was undeniable. He wasn’t the Ice King he thought he was, considering he was seriously running the risk to lose control for a hand on a knee. But then again, considering who the hand belonged to... he turned around to look at her in the eye. He realized it was another first. Her face could have been sculpted by the gods themselves an any human would have done anything for it. It was the earthly manifestation of Victory itself. He wondered if Helen, the face that launched a thousand ships, could have been a previous incarnation.

‘If she decides to read my Cosmo I’m done. But she’s the one touching me. Can’t be that bad, can it? But my other ideas… better to nip them in the bud. Right?”

With no idea whatsoever of the consequences, Camus followed his impulse, something he had done only a handful of times before, for the very first time in his new life. He decided to cover Nike’s hand still on his knee with his own.

‘She didn’t recoil. And she’s still looking at me. What if, by chance, the feeling was mutual? This new life is a gift. We made a promise with Milo to sink out teeth in it as much as we can and live every minute to the fullest’

“Your skin is so hot” he said, finally breaking that deafening silence.

“It’s the Kamui. My Cosmo has been burning like a furnace since the minute I wore it. You should see me in battle”

“I did see you”

“I meant the other kind of battle, the kind you fight in bed”

“Then show me” he replied, using that very moment to steal a kiss.

She was not expecting it, but she had somehow always dreamt about it. As soon as she realized their lips were touching she let herself go to the moment, wrapped her arms around his neck and opened her mouth. He hugged her waist in return, and made that kiss as French as it could be.

It was so intense and deep it made her want to go further, significantly further. But something held her back. He was the first one to speak when he realized.

“My lady” he apologized leaving the couch to kneel down before her, just like he had done thousands of other times.

“Forgive my forwardness. Since I died, every moment of this new life is a precious gift and I followed my instinct and desire, with the impression you wanted me to. I can’t begin to imagine a suitable punishment”

“Come on get up and look at me. You know I hate this formality. That’s not why I hesitated. It’s Milo”

“Milo and I aren’t monogamous. Like I said, I don’t want to waste any second of this new miracle life” he added.

“And I want no regrets”

“What is it that you don’t wish to regret, beside kissing me?”

‘I’m already on my knees… and already in trouble… might as well’ he thought.

Slowly, without a word, he opened her legs and started kissing the inside of her knees. She didn’t reject him, quite the opposite, judging how she sighed at his touch. So he started slowly heading further up. It was quite evident Nike was wearing nothing under her slip. The access was extremely easy. Slow touches first, and growing intensity. Camus lost himself in a sensual French kiss with her pearl. She stabbed the couch fabric with her nails, overwhelmed by her senses. Gods, how good was he?

“Cam… Camus… if you keep going… you are gonna make me come”

Making the goddess of victory come. Quite the item the check off the list.

‘If touching her is forbidden, giving her a small death is my one way ticket to the big one. My third. But when am I ever gonna get another chance at this?’

He kept going. With the expected outcome.

He lifted his gaze towards Nike. She was staring at him with that expression he knew well in the women he had had.

But it was so not enough. She wanted more.

“Aquarius, take me to bed” she finally ordered.

“I’m at your orders”

They both got up and headed to the bedroom kissing, grabbing, holding, and losing all inhibitions and his shirt, a crazy old PSG jersey.

The back of her knees was already pressed against the bed when she hesitated again. He immediately let go of her body, despite how much he wanted her, and broke the kiss.

“If I have to stop, you have to tell me now. Because if you let me continue this, Winged Victory, not even your Kamui could hold me back until I triumphed with you”

“I have to be sure you want this as much as I do. Despite Milo”

“We have already talked about Milo. We have an agreement. Besides, it would be so different with you”

‘I know about your agreement with Milo even better than you. But…’

“I need to know you really want this”

He grabbed her right hand and put it on his heart. It was pounding out of his chest. He used his other hand to lift her chin to look into her eyes.

“Regarde-moi ! Selon toi ?”

There was no doubt.

“Et tu ? Qu’est-ce que tu veux ?”

She needed to hear nothing more. She finally surrendered, picking up the kiss where it had stopped and sinking her fingers in his blood red hair. He lost the few inhibitions he still was holding on to, mostly due to her rank and her status. He grabbed her ass, lifted her up and dropped her on the bed, finally losing his pants before joining her.

Nike hadn’t lied. The excitation that was leading them to sex had warmed her already boiling skin even further. Camus’s Cosmo was also on high, except his was cold. Very cold. Almost without thinking, he started emanating ice from his hands while he was using them to take off her slip. She shivered and moaned in pleasure.

“You like my ice?” he asked while kissing her neck.

“Seems like…”she replied practically breathless. It was quite the revelation for Camus. The fantasy he didn’t know he had started forming in his mind. He was cryokinetic, he could make ice out of nowhere. And she was so scorchingly, superhumanly hot. She was going to get some of his ice. His lips and his breath turned as cold as the winds of Siberia where he had trained for so many years while he picked up kissing her neck and lips. Then he moved south to her breasts, adding his hands to the party. Every freezing touch of his was welcomed by a moan of pleasure and relief from the fire that burned her from within. It was like playing with ice cubes on her skin, except he was the ice. And he was never going to melt.

The excitation of that game was going to his head, and Camus decided it was time to move past foreplay. It was time to get real. He grabbed her hands and yanked them over her head.

“Your Cosmo alone won’t be enough to melt my ice. If you want to break free you’ll have to summon the armbands of your Kamui.”

“Break free from what?” she barely asked before he froze her wrist solid to the headboard. Camus paused for a moment to verify he wasn’t going to far, but Nike didn’t protest. Quite the opposite, she was beguilingly smiling. He needed less. He climbed on top of her as hard as he could be and victory was finally his.

He hadn’t had sex with a woman since coming back to life in Asgard. He couldn’t deny he had missed a lot of things. The softness of her skin, her sensual curves, her generous breasts. But truly what he had missed the most was being in full control of what was happening during that moment. He could choose how to move, the rhythm to keep, the intensity of his thrusts, what to touch and what not. Every single moment he could decide whether to make her come or wait.

She liked this torture, this full surrender as much as he did. Camus thought the body of this woman, this goddess, would be any man’s dream. It was not just simply perfect under any point of view, made to be looked at, made to be touched. It was above all made to be fucked. As much as he already knew he was good at the job – he was French after all – he had never seen a woman respond with such intensity. He could see it from her face, her moans, her kisses. But mostly he could feel it from her Cosmo.

When he was finally satiated he decided to gift her the orgasm she was so close to. While climaxing yet again, Nike wrapped her legs around his waist so tight she left bruises on his skin. He was so constrained and she was so unbelievable. He could nothing but let himself go a few moments after, exploding in her like an Aurora Execution.

He freed her from his ice while still inside her, kissed her, and then dropped on his back beside her, exhausted yet ecstatic.

Then he realized.

“My third life is over isn’t it?”

“What? Why?”

“According to official protocol, I’m not even supposed to touch you. And I literally just came inside of you. After basically raping you and tying you to the bed. Not to mention earlier on the couch” he said mostly to himself, staring at the ceiling with empty eyes.

“I never gave a fuck about that stupid official rule. I can’t change it because Saori wants it enforced on herself. To keep Seiya at bay, I think. Besides, raped? You kidding? I consented more than once. And you gave me two mind-blowing orgasms. I didn’t want anything bad to happen to you before, let alone now”

She hugged him and pecked his lips, reassuring him but also hitting the bruises she had left on his sides. He made a face.

“Nike I get it you are a platinum knight, but keep your strength under control”

“What do you mean?” she asked massaging her wrists to restart the blood flow. Camus pointed at his side.

“How the fuck am I supposed to explain these?”

She started genuinely laughing.

“Tell the truth. Say that it was me in training. Just don’t specify what type of training”

She extended her hand healing him instantly.

“I swear, next time I’m freezing your ankles too”

“Next time?”

“Humm… yeah I mean if you want it there to be a next time”

She lied on her side to admire him extending a hand on his sixpack.

“Camus, di you take a look at yourself? Of course I want to. But you put the bar quite high for yourself. From now on, you’ll always have to make me come as hard as you just did”

“Haha. I’ll do my best, I promise. And don’t you worry, we don’t have to use the ice at all in the future”

She gave him one of her resting bitch face stares.

“Cam, in your opinion, do I look like I have trouble getting laid?”

His only reply was checking her out head to toes and back, lingering on her perfect ass and boobs, and finishing back to her eyes. The emerald green was so intense to seem fake. Then he lifted and eyebrow.

“My point exactly. If I’m fucking you I’m expecting, no I’m demanding at least some ice” she said kissing him for the last time of the night.

While heading back to the eleventh house, Camus thought back to what had just happened at the thirteenth. He would have never ever imagined having sex with Nike in his life. Partly for her rank, but mostly because he could never hope for her to look at him that way. But he was even more surprised of that fantasy he had just turned into reality with her. Something he would have given anything he had and done everything he could to repeat over and over again. Playing with his ice, using it to restrain her movements, just the thought of it made him want to turn around for seconds. Why had he never thought of it before, with Milo for example? But no, that was never going to work. It was so different with Milo. Theirs was pure love, it was almost sacred what the had. Vanilla was already too much, especially after losing each other for that long. He would have never even imagined to use his ice on him. This is what their agreement was for. We fuck whomever we want and between us it’s pure love.

He fell asleep wondering if Milo had taken advantage of their agreement just yet. And with whom. Did he go past vanilla? And if yes, how? Actually, he’d rather not know.

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