#where i grew up... whew

[dollfaceksj]

still don’t know my name | jjk (m) pt. 2

➥ banner by: @archivedkookie.

➥ PAIRING: jungkook x fem!reader

➥ SUMMARY: In which your annoying neighbor—that you can’t stand—turns out to be the person behind the online account you’ve been sexting. You still don’t know his name.

➥ GENRE: smut ⋆ cybersex ⋆ enemies

➥ CATEGORY: mini three-shot

➥ WARNINGS: mentions of rough sex; slapping, spanking, hair pulling, gagging, name calling, humiliation, degradation, mean!jk, biker!jk😋, bratty!reader (like reallll bratty), nude exchanging, pornography, cybersex, reader is a bit dumb, actually very dumb, sexting, flirting, neighbor beef, tension, jk smokes, bit of angst (cus it wouldn’t be a fic of mine if it didn’t have angst ofc), mentions of raw sex (WRAP IT UP), minors DNI

➥ WORDCOUNT: 11.8k

a/n: whew. HI. can’t believe pt1 went off like that😭 thank u sm for enjoying this fic !

thanks to tumblr’s new 1k max blocks limit, i had to add the rest in a reblog. you’ll find a link to it at the bottom!

i call this a mini three-shot cause i just left out all the unimportant stuff. it just constantly skips to scenes where yn & jk bump into each other i really dgaf if it’s coincidental the entire time. i had and still have no intention of adding more lore than necessary😭 its just a pwp so i rlly dc abt the lack of story telling and whatnot i just wanted to get this horny idea out 🙄

make sure to check out eli’s version too! <3

enjoy 😘😘 — the next part (pt. 3) will be the final part!

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#2 — “gameboy”

You still don’t know his name.

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And that is how you spend the rest of your weeks.

Flirting.

Sexting.

Sending pictures of your naked body to a random stranger on the internet.

A random stranger whose name you do not know.

A random stranger that doesn’t know your name, either.

A random stranger that you’re somehow slightly possessive over.

A random stranger that’s somehow slightly possessive over you.

Constantly posting subtweets about each other only further proves that. Indirectly wanting to tell other people to back off without actually doing so.

It’s crazy how you two clicked almost immediately. Maybe men aren’t a lost cause after all.

The subtweets consist of more pornographic content, provoking each other and wording your wishes of what you would like to do to one another on your timelines.

Like posting captions that say, ‘wish you were here’ alongside a video of a woman getting fucked into a worn-out mattress.

Or ‘this could be us’ and it’s a video of 2 people kissing like it’s their last day on earth.

But then at times, you both just chat like best friends. Talk about the movies you like. Or the anime he recommends. Or the music he likes to listen to. He gets oddly defensive about Justin Bieber.

Even though you’re both aware that you’re two strangers, you can’t help but feel like you two have known each other for longer than just a few weeks.

Like the time you found out you live in the same timezone. Live in the same state. Grew up watching the same things on TV. Have heard of each other’s high schools.

But any details have been kept private so far—for safety reasons, of course.

It’s not like you don’t trust him. It’s not that. It’s just weird sharing personal info with someone you don’t know personally.

But there’s been some talks about potentially meeting each other.

You wonder what he’s like in real life.

You bet he’s as charming as he is through text. Probably average looking but you don’t mind in the slightest. Pretty men only break hearts.

You still don’t know what he looks like and vice versa.

You still don’t know his name and vice versa.

Somehow you both wordlessly agreed on revealing your faces when you meet for the first time. The only physical details you’ve noticed are some of his tattoos that you can barely make out thanks to the poor quality of his pictures. His toned body. Veins. Sweatpants.

Most of his pictures are taken in the dark. Seems like he’s always just holed up at home and you deduce he might be a homebody or a gamer—something like that.

You usually can’t stand gamers (cue your annoying fucking neighbor) however, you can’t help but fantasize about sucking this random online stranger off while he’s gaming or have him bend you over his gaming setup. Let him fuck you from behind over his keyboard. Hips pounding into your asscheeks as his gaming chair squeaks.

The buzzing of your phone next to your hip snaps you out of your sinful trance.

[Twitter]

@archurback4me sent you a message!

Your heart always jolts like it’s been resuscitated every single time he sends you a message and that hasn’t changed in the past few weeks. There are simply no words to describe how it feels when your phone buzzes and it’s the person you’re thinking about.

You sit straight up on your couch, crossing your legs criss-cross applesauce as you giddily unlock your phone.

@archurback4me | 11:12AM

Goodmorning brat

How’d you sleep

Sleep. How’d you sleep.

Right, that’s what you’d forgotten!

You | 11:13AM

wait omg

now i remember

i dreamed about you omggg

well you were kinda faceless but in my dream i knew it was you

@archurback4me | 11:13AM

Did you?

What kind of dream

You | 11:13AM

honestly it started out weird as fuck lol

i wish i could tell you something sexy but it really isn’t

you were in my old high school trying to buy something from the vending machine and it wouldn’t work

so you ended up punching it and then i stopped you

and told you to hit me instead like some kind of pick me girl lmaoooooo

@archurback4me | 11:14AM

LMAOOOO

Bruhhh

That is so random

Hitting you is crazy

You | 11:14AM

i know

i mean

watching you be so aggressive was pretty hot tho

woke up w drenched panties

@archurback4me | 11:15AM

That so?

You got proof or are you just talking out of your ass?

You | 11:15AM

ur trying to see my pussy at 11am? really? you’re horny at this hour?

@archurback4me | 11:16AM

11AM or 11PM

Idgaf

Let me see that pretty pussy

How are you supposed to decline when he says it like that?

You want to do everything he asks. Anything. Want him to want you. Need him to want you.

You drag your sweats down your legs, tossing them off your bed with a quick kick. The tip of your finger slips under the elastic of your panties, peeling it off your pussy and sliding it to the side.

Arm stretched out, you reach for a low angle of your glistening pussy. There’s a teeny tiny bit of stubble coming through, not that either of you really care.

You snap a quick photo. Check it. Aren’t satisfied. Snap a few more until you’re okay with the row of pictures you can choose from.

You | 11:19AM

(You sent a photo.)

@archurback4me | 11:21AM

For fucks sake

That wet from imagining me shaking up a vending machine, are you?

Shit

Can’t stop staring

You | 11:21AM

well yes.

i mean honestly

i don’t fantasize about you hitting me or anything like that

but being slapped across the face by you kind of sounds... hot

@archurback4me | 11:23AM

I’ve seen you tweet about it before

And you’ve rted several videos like that

So trust me

I know you’re into that

You | 11:23AM

hmm

yeah

i think it’s hot

but not like.. the way you’d slap someone for making fun of your mom

just... a quick slap to make me look at you when i’m disobeying

:)

@archurback4me | 11:23AM

Choking, spanking, slapping, hairpulling, spitting, gagging

You sure you can take all that?

You | 11:23AM

are you challenging me?

@archurback4me | 11:25AM

No

I know better than to challenge a brat over text

Just wanna make sure angel

You | 11:25AM

trust me i’ll be loud about it if i don’t like it

but only if you’re down with it

@archurback4me | 11:26AM

I am

Because your dirty mouth definitely deserves a few slaps whenever you start yapping like you do so well

You | 11:27AM

kiss my ass jay

you wanna fuck me so bad it makes you look stupid lmao

Oh, right. He’d told you to call him Jay about two weeks ago. You’ve been calling him that ever since.

@archurback4me | 11:30AM

Wish I could princess

Let me see that ass one more time

You | 11:30AM

🙄.

what do i get in return?

@archurback4me | 11:32AM

I’ll write your username on my pelvis and post a vid of me jacking off

Oh.

The thought of him, jacking off with your username written across his pelvis, free for everyone to see. The thought of claiming him. Having him all to yourself.

The tingle in your core is impossible to ignore. You want him.

You | 11:33AM

so all those ppl chatting you up in your dms know that you ultimately belong to me?

@archurback4me | 11:33AM

If that’d allow me to see your ass then 100%

You | 11:33AM

ur so thirsty

so many asses you can see online

why mine

@archurback4me | 11:34AM

Because yours is my favorite duh

You don’t have to of course

There’s a compromise, isn’t there?

His favorite?

Does he chat with other people as well? Do others send him pictures of their body too? Does he send them pictures too?

That alone brings a scowl to your face but you quickly realize that, yes, he can do what he wants.

You get up on your knees and stretch your arm out behind you. Phone upside down. Hit record. Spank your ass. Catch the watch it recoils on camera.

Repeat.

Make him never want anyone else again.

You | 11:35AM

🙄.

just shut up

(You sent a video.)

@archurback4me | 11:35AM

Holy shit I need you

I need you so bad

Ahhhh you’re driving me fucking crazy

You | 11:36AM

you could have me

@archurback4me | 11:36AM

I’m so serious I’ll come one of these weeks and I’m not even joking

You | 11:36AM

i wish you would

@archurback4me | 11:38AM

I will

Give me a date I’ll write it down

You | 11:38AM

you’re coming to stay for a few days, right?

i have plenty of room in my bed for you

@archurback4me | 11:39AM

Hmm

Was hoping you’d say that

One night with you would never be enough for me

You | 11:40AM

hehe

exactly 3 weeks from now

the entire week

what do you say?

@archurback4me | 11:42AM

Never noted something faster

I have a dog though

So I was thinking it’d be easier for you to come to me

You | 11:43AM

i don’t mind you bringing your dog

luv dogs

but don’t think i forgot about what i was gonna get in return for sending you my ass

@archurback4me | 11:44AM

Jeez

He doesn’t reply for quite some time. The typing bubble doesn’t pop up either.

But after several minutes a new tweet pops up on your feed.

He didn’t caption it. Just a video that starts with his abs. You watch as his fingers trail down his stomach and tug his underwear down, revealing his squiggly inked skin.

And there it is, ‘@bratgaIore’ written across his pelvis in black marker.

He spits in his hand and wraps his fingers around his shaft, stroking his rock hard dick at a perfect pace. The sound has been turned off and you really wish it wasn’t but then again, you don’t want anyone else hearing him.

Want him sounding pretty for you. Just for you.

You’ve clearly been staring at the video for too long because you get a new message.

@archurback4me | 11:54AM

Happy?

You | 11:56AM

holy shit

you actually did it

@archurback4me | 11:57AM

Of course I did

I don’t play when it comes to that ass of yours

You | 11:58AM

hm

now im rlly horny

@archurback4me | 11:58AM

Aren’t you always

You | 11:58AM

thanks to you

i hate you

@archurback4me | 11:59AM

That’s fine

The feeling’s mutual anyway

Gonna enjoy the way you fall apart under me when I fuck you

Fuck you until you’re stupid

You | 12:03PM

a dream come true

:p

guess what

@archurback4me | 12:04PM

Hm?

You | 12:06PM

(You sent a photo.)

The photo is a picture of your soaking wet pussy with his username written on your pelvis in black marker, too.

@archurback4me | 12:08PM

What the fuck

You’re trying to fucking kill me angel

I need to insert my tongue immediately

You | 12:09PM

here come the harvard graduates

insert is crazy

@archurback4me | 12:10PM

You drive me crazy

Pussy got me acting all formal and shit LMAOO

Got me wanting to wear a bib and say Itadakimasu😋 when I dive in

Fuck

Want you on my face so fucking bad

Spank you while you ride my face

Don’t think I’ve ever seen something so pretty

Think my mind will change when I see your face though

You | 12:11PM

LMAOOOO not itadakimasu😭😭😭

hmm

you like it?

@archurback4me | 12:12PM

Are you insane

I keep going back to it

You should write my username when we meet so I can see it when I take your clothes off

Know that your pussy belongs to me

You | 12:12PM

if you do it too

@archurback4me | 12:13PM

Deal

You | 12:13PM

hehe

😋.

btw

@archurback4me | 12:14PM

Hm?

You | 12:14PM

are you clean

@archurback4me | 12:15PM

What?

You | 12:16PM

like

are you clean

for raw sex

@archurback4me | 12:16PM

Oh

Yeah I am

I’ll send you my results when I’m home

You | 12:16PM

you don’t have to do that i believe you

i’m clean too

where are you rn?

@archurback4me | 12:16PM

Just left to meet a friend

You | 12:17PM

oh

you’re not texting and driving right

@archurback4me | 12:18PM

Of course not, babe.

How am I supposed to meet my dumb girl when I’m dead?

I’m going by foot

Babe.

My dumb girl.

This is dangerous territory.

You | 12:19PM

hm

just like how i want to be the death of you as i tease you while ur in public

@archurback4me | 12:19PM

Don’t

I’m warning you

I don’t wanna meet my friends with a raging boner

I just got rid of one

You | 12:20PM

ur so easy lol

@archurback4me | 12:22PM

Just you wait you little brat

Gonna leave you so fucking sore when I’m done with you

No breaks

Fuck you the whole week long

You | 12:23PM

hmm

gonna fuck me like you hate me?

@archurback4me | 12:24PM

I do hate you

A lot

Dumb girl

Don’t think that’s gonna change when I see you in real life

Might get even more pissed off when I see your bratty mug actually

I just know your face is so fucking bratty

You | 12:25PM

you’d be obsessed with me

i’m really pretty

@archurback4me | 12:26PM

Lmao yeah I probably will be

I’m sure you are

Gonna defile your pretty face when I cum all over it you stupid brat

But my friend’s here

I’ll ttyl princess

You | 12:27PM

can’t wait

bye daddy

@archurback4me | 12:27PM

Hell nahhhhh

Don’t call me that

You | 12:30PM

ok then bye mr. fuck-you-everyday-of-the-week

@archurback4me | 12:30PM

And will

Night after night

You | 12:30PM

go already

byeeeee

@archurback4me | 12:32PM

Bye princess

You go about your day like you usually would and later that night, he ends up sending you his results anyway. You were already asleep by then, though.

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Want to keep reading? The full chapter is out on my Wattpad.

Click here to keep reading.

a/n: thanks to tumblr’s new max 1k blocks limit, i’ll have to figure out how i’m gonna post the full thing on here. (probably tomorrow or friday) either by combining paragraphs or add the continuation in a reblog or something. but its out on wattpad so i hope you’ll forgive me !!

thanks for reading <33

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Here’s the link to continuation (in a reblog).

— enjoyed it? you can always show your appreciation by buying me some coffee if you want ☕︎♡

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[anisespice]

“ hate your boyfriend ” || tokyo rev. pt. 3

one two

synopsis: “ just drop your boyfriend. ”

pairing: college!toman x gn!reader

warnings: mature language, sexual themes, MDI. toxic!toman, cheater!reader (pumpkin eater!!!), mikey and baji’s are fairly long, mitsuya’s short and sweet, not proof-read, mild mention of violence, mild angst (for the exes), and i think that’s it

notes: whew wasn’t sure where to take some of these, but i’m fairly satisfied with this conclusion for hate your boyfriend! thank you all for showing it love and i hope y’all enjoy! <333

tagged: @fantasycantasy , @spacegirl05, @neverlandlostchild , @darks-pet-shadow, @captaincyberqueen

The sun was the first to greet you as it peeked through your curtains.

Awaking with a soft groan and a stretch, you winced at the immediate ache in your muscles that answered instead of relief. You began to slowly sit up, hissing through your teeth as you did. Blinking groggily at your naked form, you could vaguely make out the bruises painted along your inner thighs. The longer you examined them, the more memories that came flooding in:

Your legs were high enough to nearly touch your shoulders, spread wide and unabashed with your back pressed into the mattress, fingers tangled in silky tresses that curtained over your hips like spilled ink while an experienced tongue fluent in your pleasure buried itself deep in your…

You remembered. MIKEY had paid you a visit last night.

When your mind eventually caught up with your body, you turned to the other side of the bed hoping to be met with the comforting presence of your still sleeping companion. You grimaced.

Empty.

Tears slowly welled up in your eyes. Biting your lip to push back the whimper you so desperately wanted to let out, you hit the pillow where his head laid instead, then a couple more times for good measure. To think that this visit would’ve been any different, that for once you would mean more to him than just someone to fool around with whenever he felt like it.

But, before you could wallow in self pity any further, there’s a knock on the bedroom door. You jumped, tugging the covers up to salvage what little decency you had in your vulnerable state. With your heart thumping wildly in your ribs, your breath hitched…Did he stay after all?

A second knock. This one a little more persistent.

With a stuttered intake of breath, you answered, “C-Come in.”

There’s a brief pause, as if the person on the other side hesitated in case they heard you wrong. You called out again, this time more confidently, your fists bunching up the sheets in anticipation at the sound of the doorknob turning; hope bloomed where dread had been planted. A watery smile grew on your face, however, the person who ended up peeking around the door wasn’t at all who you were expecting.

“Wha—Takemichi?!”

Your screech made the blonde startle, jerking back into whoever was standing behind him causing them both to yelp in pain before he was promptly shoved further into the room. Stumbling over his footing, Takemichi fell flat on the floor with a large thud. You winced, reflexively pulling the covers closer to your chin. Shortly after, the culprit revealed himself, a disgruntled Chifuyu holding his nose in pain as he glared down at the offender.

“Jeez, dude, s’your head made outta freaking stone?”

Takemichi grunted from below, “You were the one breathing down my damn neck!”

Like a deer in headlights, you watched the two of them bicker back and forth for a good second until the realization of your very nakedness beneath the covers caught up with you. With fire shrouding beneath your skin, you squeaked, “U-Uh excuse me!”

The two blondes froze, as if they just remembered what they were supposed to be doing. When their eyes darted in your direction, faces lit up like Christmas, Chifuyu and Takemichi swiftly turned on their heels with stiffened bodies while profusely apologizing as they faced away to give you privacy. Nervously, you searched around for a shirt or something, seeing clothes already waiting for you on your nightstand. You knew based on how haphazardly folded they were, Mikey left them there.

Your chest didn’t feel as tight anymore.

Without hesitation you snatched the shirt and sweats and quickly threw them on. Now somewhat decent, you gave the devastated pair the okay. “You can look now…”

Even from behind, you could tell how flustered they were, their ears red and demeanor meek as they hesitantly turned back around. Chifuyu scratched his cheek and Takemichi rubbed the back of his neck, both avoiding eye contact. The former was the first to break the awkward silence, “Sorry ‘bout that, [_____].”

He elbowed the latter. “Guht!… right. Sorry [_____].”

You nodded, offering a small smile. “It’s fine…you did knock. I just…wasn’t expecting to see you two.”

“Oh, right. Mikey called us. We arrived a few minutes ago, actually.”

“Yeah, he told us to check on you to see if you were awake—”

“He’s still here?” You perked up, hopes raised high to the ceiling. The duo finally looked at you again to show their confusion. Were you not aware of that?

Clearly from your elated expression, that seemed to be the case. Both nodded firmly, and they could’ve sworn the room grew brighter from your smile alone. However, it soon dissipated when an unanswered question still hung in the air.

With a confused blink, you asked, “Wait but…why’d he call you?”

They avoided eye contact again. Takemichi answered.

“You uh.. you’re needed in the living room.”

—

Though you struggled to get out of the bed and walk, you were grateful neither of them commented on it as they escorted you out of the bedroom. From down the hall, you could faintly make out a few other voices coming from the living room, nerves beginning to raddle as you fiddled with the hem of your shirt—More people?

Nothing could’ve prepared you for the sight you’re greeted with. Your eyes locked on the individual tied to a chair in the middle of the room, first. His head hung low, as if he were on the verge of unconsciousness, but there was no mistaking it. “A-Aki..”

Your presence was acknowledged instantly, every pair of eyes now on you. You felt rooted to the floor, utterly gobsmacked as you scanned the small area with alarms sounding off in your head—Draken, Mitsuya, even Baji came out of the kitchen carrying a bowl of ice before halting in his tracks upon noticing you. He greeted you with a wordless, fanged grin before the one man you’ve been wondering about since you woke up trailed out from behind him.

His low, tired gaze slowly sparked to life when it landed on you, lips spreading into a warm grin as he opened his arms and said, “Mornin’, angel. Sleep well?”

You widely blinked.

“Mikey…what’re you.. what is—what,” you stammered, having difficulty choosing what question to ask first as you vaguely gestured.

Your boyfriend sluggishly lifted his head, revealing his taped mouth and swollen face. Your jaw dropped, hand flying up to catch it; man’s was fucked up. And to add insult to injury, the former blonde practically floated over to you to happily engulf you in his strong embrace, as if the scene in front of you wasn’t there. You hesitated returning his affection, perturbed as you watched Baji set the bowl of ice on the coffee table and submerged his fists in it to numb his knuckles.

You gasped before gently pushing Mikey back to shout at the ravenette, “Don’t!”

Baji paused, looking over his shoulder at you. With mild annoyance, he said, “But t’s my turn.”

“Fuck your turn,” you looked back at Mikey, practically staring into his soul. “Explain yourself. Right now.”

He frowned. “No good mornin’ kiss?”

“Mikey.” You pressed, making him pout. When he didn’t say anything in response, you huffed before quickly pecking his lips, face boiling at the fact that there was an audience; you could feel Aki’s glare trying to burn you both. Mikey, on the other hand, beamed with satisfaction. “Now, will you please-”

“One more.”

“Wha—No.”

He pouted again. “One more, and then I’ll explain-”

“Right now, Manjiro!”

Your volume was unexpected, the room startling to a halt. Before Mikey had a chance to speak, you cut him off by lightly shoving him while spewing questions at him, “What the hell is Aki doing tied up in my living room like a fucking hostage? And why are you giving our friends turns?—Turns for what? Is this what you’ve seriously been doing while I was asleep? Trying to make some stupid point? Sneaking around with you wasn’t enough?”

“[_____]-”

“Why did you make me wake up thinking you left again without saying goodbye, you asshole?!”

That last part resulted in you beating your fists against his chest, and Mikey took every hit without protest.

Draken went to speak, since obviously their leader was taking his sweet time providing explanation, but swallowed his words when the shorter delinquent merely wrapped you in his arms again, placing a kiss on your forehead to smooth out the stress lines. He lingered there for a moment before resting his chin upon your head, hands soothingly rubbing your back as you shakily returned the hug, tightly clutching onto his shirt.

Gazes respectfully averted from the vulnerable display, aside from Aki as he continued to watch the two of you, overcome with despair when it all sunk in; you were never his. He had always been second place when it came to Manjiro Sano.

“Don’t be upset, angel. ‘m not going anywhere.”

You sniffled. “Then why-”

Mikey replied, coldly. “Seems your little plaything’s been busy. He paid off a couple of third-rate gangs to try and ‘stomp me out for good’.”

You stiffened, pulling back to search his eyes for any hint of a joke, but the abyss merely stared back. With a slight shake in your head, you attempted to deny the information, not wanting to believe Aki would do such a thing. But, after getting confirmation from the others, there was no room for any doubt.

“Only took us minutes to find out,” Mitsuya said. “Some of their members were cocky enough to go around running their mouths in hopes of recruiting other guys.”

“We tracked down every single one of the bastards involved. Took a few days, but a success nonetheless.” Draken added.

“And guess whose sorry ass was at the root of it all.” Baji sneered, kicking the side of the chair and sending Aki toppling over. He landed with a large thud, moans of pain following shortly after, muffled under the tape on his mouth.

You winced slightly at the sound, but weren’t able to dwell on it for long when Mikey redirected your focus back on him with a gentle nudge under your chin. His expression spoke a thousand words, ranging from solemn to devotion.

Reaching down to hold your hands, he explained.

“That’s why I left town the night after your party. Didn’t want you getting caught up in anything until we got this shit sorted out.”

With a blink, your eyes briefly shifted over to the groaning figure on your living room floor. “A bit late for that.”

Draken shook his head. “Told him we could’ve gone somewhere else to do this. Dumbass just wanted to wave his dick around.”

Mikey flushed, glaring at his second in command. “Did not!”

“Did, too.”

“Shut up, Ken-chin...” he huffed, pouting. “I just knew he wouldn’t suspect anything if [_____] asked him to come over.”

Your brows furrowed. But, your questions are answered when Mikey pulled said device from his pocket, handing it back to you.

“Might’ve borrowed this while you were sleeping.”

Taking the phone in one hand, you could only stare down at your reflection in the screen as it felt like a heavy weight in your hand. Your eyes trailed over to Aki, meeting his pained gaze as he breathed heavily through his nose. A large part of you felt horrible. With him receiving a beating on top of discovering your unfaithfulness, there was no ignoring the lump in your throat as you struggled to swallow. "I...I didn't want things to get this bad..."

Mikey squeezed your other hand, "It's not your fault, angel. Aki just forgot his place, that's all." He shot down an indifferent look at his pathetic form, Aki's blood running cold as he attempted to make himself appear smaller to avoid it. The former blonde directed a softer look at you, rubbing your arm as he assured you. "But the boys'll take care of it, so don't worry your pretty head."

Draken nodded at Takemichi and Chifuyu, the two of them making quick work to sit the guest of the hour upright, each grabbing at the chair's legs to lift Aki up and carry him out of the living room. He slowly began to panic, eyes wildly looking around the room and then landing on you as he pleaded with them, yells muffled by the tape around his mouth. "Mmmh! Mmfh! Mmfhh!"

You gaped, nervously taking a small step forward, "W-Where are you taking him?"

"Relax. Pah's lending us his truck, we're gonna load the fucker up and drop him at the hospital. I wanted to let him stargaze by a dumpster somewhere, but I was outvoted." Baji grumbled.

You allowed yourself to find relief in his statement, although it only sparked another concern. One that Mitsuya picked up on as he waved a hand. "We'll have Michi and Fuyu keeping tabs on him, make sure he behaves."

Mikey scoffed. "Even if he's stupid enough to run to the cops, we've got a few of his buddies ready to pin a bunch of shit on him, if necessary."

Without realizing just how much adrenaline you were running on, you could feel your legs buckle under you. Mikey was quick to steady you, bringing you over to the couch to sit you down, gently. He gestured for someone grab something to drink from the kitchen, Draken being the closest doing just that while Baji and Mitsuya trailed Takemichi and Chifuyu out the door to help with the truck.

Sitting there, lost in your thoughts, eventually the cold sensation of the glass of water pressed to your cheek snapped you free. Absentmindedly taking it from Draken, you muttered a soft thanks before chugging it down. Mikey sat beside you, rubbing your back as he let you take it all in. The second in command was dismissed shortly after to give the two of you some alone time, him placing a hand on your shoulder before taking his leave and closing the front door with a slam.

You jumped, blinking for a moment. Mikey took the empty cup from your shaky hands, taking them into his own as he held them. “What’s on your mind, angel?”

Closing your eyes, you deeply inhaled. Everything. Everything, everywhere, all at once, that’s what. However, you merely exhaled a small chuckle in disbelief, shaking your head as you eventually lifted your gaze to meet his attentive one. Squeezing his hands back, you softly, tiredly, responded. “Can you come back to bed now?”

Mikey looked at you, caught off guard. Then, he offered you a small grin of which soon turned into a yawn of his own. “Of course, angel.”

“So. This a thing now, or..?”

Inui’s eyes darted between you and DRAKEN, all cuddled up on your side of the booth. He was sipping his drink nonchalantly with you wrapped around his bicep, playing with his free hand while scrolling through social media. Both of you exchanged looks, him swallowing and your thumb stopping mid-scroll, then back at the confused blonde.

“Yeah.”

“Pretty much.” You chirped.

Inui heavily sighed. “Great. Means ‘m officially a third wheel. I’ll think twice before agreeing to hang out from now on. I’ve been traumatized enough when you were just on friendly terms. And I use that label lightly.”

Draken rolled his eyes. “Tsk. We were not that bad.”

“Need I remind you of the time I came into the shop earlier than normal, and you had them spread across the—Ngh!”

“Whoops. My foot slipped.” You coyly hummed, going back to scrolling. Inui’s brow twitched, reaching down to sooth his poor shin.

Draken snorted, face subtly flushed having remembered that day, vividly. It was one of the times you and your boy toy got into an argument; give you one guess about who. He cleared his throat, fist up to his lips to hide the growing smirk as Inui shot him a small glare, mouth opening to say more…until he’s loudly interrupted.

“You should’ve seen ‘em. I had that loser running for the hills!”

All three of you paused, exchanging looks of bewilderment. Peering over the booth you could see a group of guys entering the cafe, their leader instantly being recognized by both you and Draken; Takeru. You blinked in surprise, the two mechanics watching with mild interest as the boastful nuisance picked a nearby table, completely oblivious to the attention they've drawn. His friends appeared annoyed, groans leaving their lips as they slumped in their seats.

"Yeah, man, so you've said...for the hundredth time already." One had said, the other shaking his head.

"I still don't buy it. I mean, you, of all people, scaring off the Draken? No shot in hell."

Inui's eyes widened to the size of plates, you nearly choked on air whilst the forementioned man merely raised his eyebrow at the slander. Him? Running from that wet napkin? Damn straight no shot in hell. Takeru, on the other hand, was very adamant on the events being true.

He gave a smug laugh, sounding like a cartoon villain as he crossed his arms in triumph. "Well, you better believe it! I told him off for getting too friendly with [_____] and left him picking himself off the floor afterwards. It was light work."

His friends didn't look convinced in the slightest. "Mhm." "Sure, dude."

"I'm serious!"

Draken set his drink down, wry smirk growing on his face. He then cracked his neck and his knuckles as he readied himself for a much-deserved confrontation. Inui sighed, following suit as he rolled his shoulders back before standing. You sat up on your knees, whining at him as you tugged on his sleeve. "Don't kill him, Ken, I still need to get some of my things from his place..."

"I'll buy you new shit, doll." He said, gun-metal eyes hardening as he looked over at the other table. "'fraid I can't make any promises this time."

With Takeru facing the opposite direction, there was no way for him to notice the impending doom behind him. His friends, however, resemble deer in headlights at the sight of the six-foot-one and five-foot-ten approaching. Instantly recognizing the infamous dragon tattoo, they knew their friend's fate was about to be sealed. One gulped and the other merely closed his eyes in prayer.

Takeru tilted his head at them, brows furrowed. He opened his mouth to speak, only for a large hand to latch onto his shoulder and squeeze, rendering him speechless as pain racked through his body like red alerts across a screen. Draken leered over him like a blanket of death, wearing a sharp grin as he spoke venomously.

"Oi. Mr. Light Work. Why don’t you tell me and Inui here all about how you had me ‘running for the hills’ and ‘picking myself off the floor’. I seem to recall a different scenario, but hey, you can help jog my memory outside, yeah?"

When Makoto first opened his eyes after what felt like an eternal slumber, it took him a moment to gather his surroundinngs. The bright, cold lights on the ceiling. The crisp smell of lemon-scented disinfectant and latex. The rhythmic beating of his heart monitor.

Hospital. He was in the hospital.

With a few confused blinks and a groan, he wracked his brain to try and remember what happened that landed him in there. How long had it been? A day? A week? He wasn’t sure. But, he wouldn’t have to ponder long when his privacy curtain is pulled back to reveal his mother and a nurse. She gasped, flocking to his bedside with tears instantly flowing out of her face, kisses being showered on his bruises that instantly made him hiss in pain.

“Ngh-! M-Mom,” he rasped, struggling to lean away. The nurse, though nervously, advised against any sudden movements due to his weakened state.

“Ma’am, it may not be wise to overwhelm the patient so soon, he’s-”

She fixed the nurse with a hard glare, tears still streaming down her face, looking rather unhinged. “My husband doesn’t donate thousands of dollars to this hospital for you to give unsolicited advice. Do your job and get him something to eat.”

Bristled, the nurse bit her tongue before saying something she’d regret. With a small bow she excused herself, leaving just the two of them. Immediately, his mother went back to wailing about his injuries, asking him a million questions, whilst cursing about his ‘no-good significant other for getting him into trouble’—

“Wait, wait, wait. What did you say?”

“Hm? Oh, that [_____]. I told you they were no good, just based on their lack of decorum and who they associate with, it was bound to have you end up in the hospital, or worse. Thank God they agreed to leave you for good after this because I don’t know what I would’ve done if-”

“What did they say happened?” Makoto asked, exasperated.

His mother blinked, then burst into tears once more. “Oh, no! My poor baby has amnesia! Nurse! Nurse!”

“Mother!” He exclaimed, latching onto her sleeve before she could cause more of a scene. “Tell me what [_____] told you!”

“Honey, they said you got into fight trying to protect them from a mugging.”

Makoto froze. Then, with the speed of a man on fire, tossed the thin, scratchy blankets off to the side and jumped out of bed. Nearly giving his mother a heart attack, her nagging fell upon deaf ears as he made a beeline for his things gathered in a chair sitting in the corner, immediately searching for his phone. Upon finding the device, his sourtude only worsened when he saw there were no missed calls, no texts, no nothing from you.

He began blowing up your phone, but to no avail. Went straight to voicemail every time. Minutes passed, and Makoto grew increasingly more irritated to where one could see steam emitting from his ears. His mother continued pestering him, and soon the nurse came back with a tray of food, shocked to see him out of bed and joining the pestering, of which turned into the both of them arguing once more. But he paid them no mind, too busy delving into white hot hatred, ready to sign a deal with the devil himself if it meant you and that BAJI paid for humiliating him.

Just as he was about to dial again, there's a knock at the door.

The nurse and his mother pause their back and forth, looking over at the doorway to see a boy with dual-toned hair and a dangly earring. He gave a small grin, but his eyes practically pierced through Makoto. He didn't recognize the visitor, but judging based on his tatted neck and unsettling aura, he knew it couldn't mean anything good.

"Excuse me," his mother soon broke the silence. "I believe you have the wrong room."

"Oh, no, I have the right room. My name's Kazutora. I'm a friend of [_____]'s."

Makoto's eyes widened. He thrusted an accusatory finger at him, "N-No, I know you! Y-You're that felon, you work at that pet store with that psycho who attacked me, Keisuke Baji!"

Kazutora tilted his head. "Hm? Baji didn't attack you. You were knocked out cold by a thief. [_____] called him to help bring you all the way here-"

"There wasn't any mugging! I was assaulted by that thug in [______]'s apartment!"

"What?!" His mother screeched. Kazutora merely shook his head.

"Mm, no, I think you're mistaken. Baji was at the shop when [_____] called him. They're both at the police station right now giving their statement. They sent me here to check in on you." Kazutora lied effortlessly through his teeth, stare unwavering as he gaslit everyone in the room. "Clearly you hit your head pretty hard, man. Maybe you should lie back down. You aren't thinking straight."

Makoto floundered, gesturing wildly. "HE'S FUCKING LYING!"

His mother and the nurse didn't make the situation any better, cornering him and ushering him back to bed. Even though he struggled, there was no stopping the strength of an overworked, underpaid nurse as she slammed him down onto the bed, wrestling with him for a moment until she secured him with his mother's help, tucking him in tightly within the blankets. His mother fawned over him, combing through his hair, being careful of the bandages. Tears welled up in her eyes again, thinking that her son had gone hysterical. "My poor baby..."

"No, mother, you don't understand! You need to call our attorneys right now, c-call the police! That b-bastard's trying to make me sound crazy!"

"Maybe some morphine will help calm him down." Kazutora casually commented to the nurse. She grunted in agreement, worn out from dealing with the both of them as she left to prepare a heavy dosage.

He continued to shout in protest, all the way up until the nurse stuck him with the morphine. He tried to fight against it, but it was no use. And the last thing he could comprehend before the world faded to black was the hazy outline of Kazutora, approaching his bed as he leaned down to whisper a parting threat.

"Don’t try anything stupid. We know where you live."

—

Baji's phone vibrated, causing him to groan as he turned to squint at the offending device. With you fucked out, laid out, and passed out in his arms, he wanted nothing more to ignore whatever asshole was texting him. But, upon further inspection, it was his favorite asshole sending him an update on his little problem.

from : tora 9:09pm     “ 👍. ”

He grinned, sharply. After locking his phone and setting it back on the nightstand, he tugged you closer to his side, exhaling deeply in satisfaction. He'll be sure to visit the 'brave hero' tomorrow. May even bring Patches.

He wished he had a camera to capture the look on your boyfriend’s face right now.

When Haji came over to apologize for his behavior yesterday, flowers in his hand and everything, MITSUYA was the last thing he expected to see. Said lavender-haired delinquent looked him up and down, disinterest coloring his expression as he leaned against the doorframe, shirtless, mind you. It didn't take Haji long to notice the assortment of hickies painted across his pale torso, all the way down to his pelvis visible in his low-hanging joggers.

Haji could feel bile rise in the back of his throat. Anger soon bubbled right after.

But, before he could even think to spew out threats, Mitsuya reeled his arm back and with the strength of God himself landed one crack right between Haji's eyes, sending him and the flowers flying backward, right off the stoop. He landed with a sickening thud to the pavement, flowers spreading haphazardly as some fluttered in the air until they eventually landed on the ground. Mitsuya shook out his knuckles, turned on his heel to grab the couple of boxes sitting near the doorway, filled with some of Haji’s stuff. He tossed them out the door to land right by his unconscious body, dusting off his hands before heading back inside, slamming the door right behind him.

Like he said. He only needed one.

© 2024-2025 anisespice ッ all rights reserved. likes, comments & reblogs much appreciated!

[venerawrites]

Silco x reader headcanons?

author's note: I swear, the things this man makes me feel... whew! Anyway, this is my first request for Arcane and I was so excited to write it! Thought it would be interesting if I made reader a councillor since I always see headcanons for him with an employee. Hope you enjoy and thank you so much for requesting! <3

All his life, Silco thought he would either remain a bachelor or eventually get with one of his employees. He didn't care much about finding a partner - taking care of Zaun and Jinx was already enough responsibility. Having someone to demand more of his time and attention was the last thing he needed.

But fate had a wicked sense of humour, so when you sent some of your bodyguards to go and arrange a meeting with him, his interest peaked. A councillor from Piltover seeking him? My, my, that would be interesting.

The initial arrangement was a simple alliance - Silco was supposed to keep the undercity's movements for freedom in check, as well as keep Jinx away from the topside. You, on the other hand, promised to provide information about all upcoming decisions and changes in the law approved by the Council.

He usually would never agree to trade with someone from the other side of the bridge, but something about you intrigued him. You were born and raised in Zaun, yet somehow made your way into the City of Progress and climbed the political ladder till you got to the top. While you claimed you had Piltover's best interest in mind, he couldn't help but be suspicious of where your loyalty truly lies.

Listen, Silco may think innocence and naivety are cute, but what truly attracts him is power. Brains. Someone who knows what they want and how to get it. Someone like YOU.

Soon the political dealings started to become more... intimate. Perhaps because none of you had a romantic partner, or simply because your secret meetings always took place late at night in his office, but it did not take long for your verbal exchange to become physical.

First, there were lingering gazes. He followed each one of your moves, almost like a hunter waiting for the right time to attack. Later, you started closing the distance, often circling him while you pried information about the latest rebellion news in the city. Your hands sometimes found their way to his shoulder or arm, gently squeezing his muscles or dragging your nails down his skin.

The eye of Zaun tried not to fall for your charms. He really did. But as you were luring him in, like a siren, how could he stay away? Plus, it didn't have to mean anything, right? Both of you were interested in influence and power, not love, so it wouldn't hurt if he just gave in to his desires at least once.

Except it wasn't just once.

After having a taste, he couldn't stay away. He would never admit it, but he definitely fell first. For you, it was all fun and games, but for him, it was a completely new experience. Sure, he fell in love once when he was a young adult, but it couldn't compare to what he was feeling toward you now.

God knew how much he hated himself for catching feelings. And for a councillor, of all people?

He tried to hide them for a while, but the way he grew up to be super possessive of you made his intentions clear as day. He liked to keep you as long as he could with him, delaying your meetings on purpose just so he could spend more time with you. He also asked to see you more often than your arranged meetings and if you said no, he would just show up at your home in Piltover, completely unbothered by the fact that you could call security on him at any point.

It would be a lie if you said his behaviour didn't trigger anything in you. You've met many men who were manipulative and calculating, but no one who was like him. His whole existence screamed 'DANGER' and by the time you realised you should not get involved with him on any level deeper than just physical intimacy, you were already a victim to his charm.

Being from two different worlds - one dark and dangerous, the other one safe and progressive - your relationship was pretty toxic. There is a constant distrust between you and quite a lot of arguments, especially in the beginning.

Slowly he started to open up to you, letting you know about his dreams for Zaun and his rocky relationship with Jinx. You also shared your story of how you escaped the streets of the Undercity and eventually earned your seat on the Council.

Jealosy is something you both possess and is a common cause for conflict between you. Silco sees competition in any male in Piltover (after all he has 0 influence over there, so he could never make an official claim over you!), while you severely disliked how obedient all his female employees are, especially Sevika. He finds your annoyance quite amusing, but he likes seeing that side of you, so he never really tries to reassure or comfort you.

He is not really romantic, but from time to time he likes to randomly give you gifts. He always tries to play it off, as if he didn't put any thought it in or if he just randomly saw an object in his house he thought you may like, but the amount of effort was visible in the beautiful packaging and the hand-written card. He especially likes giving you jewellery and making you wear it during your Council meetings.

Without a doubt he would try to influence you to give up your seat and join him and his cause. After all, you were born in the Undercity and is where you belonged.

As you won't give into his request and he doesn't want to give up on you either, your relationship would cause a lot of chaos and tension between the cities. Silco would often send either Jinx or one of his workers to go a cause mischief in Piltover, just to spite you. Every time you confront him, however, he would deny, a small mocking smile on his lips.

Overall, very toxic, but highly exciting relationship. He would burn the world for you to belong to him and ONLY him, and no matter what he did, you just couldn't stay away.

cc artwork: "Arcane" concept art

[sanjoongie]

Bloody Belladonna~ 2

The Choi Brothers

ღPairing: Choi Jongho x Choi San x Reader (f) x Park Seonghwa x Jeong Yunho

ღGenre: smut with very little plot

ღRated: 18+ MINORS DO NOT FUCKING INTERACT

ღAu: Mafia (boss! Reader, husband!seonghwa, husband!yunho, husband! san, husband! jongho)

ღTrope: s2l, arranged marriage, poly

ღWord Count: 6,731 {mother fucker almost got a third smut scene, i had to cut it because WHEW}

ღWarnings: ⚠️FREE USE⚠️threesome, voyeurism, tied up, denied orgasm, mxm, dom! Yunho, switch! Hwa, cocksleeve! Reader, anal(f&m), double penentration, penetrative sex with no barrier, jongho needs some encouragement to cross the line of best friend and lover with San so there's a bit of coercion here {everything is consentual}, creampie(s), facial, jerking off, biting, marking, LOTS OF VERBAL FOREPLAY, fingering(f), cum eating, oral (m), proper lube, spit as lube

ღSummary: the wedding day with the Chois comes and so begins the learning curve of adding two new husbands to your family. It'll take the joint effort of you, Seonghwa and Yunho to keep the peace and to keep the marriage together.

ღBeta's:  @downtoamagicalland 

ღSeonghwa & Yunho: The First Husbands | Masterlist

San and Jongho weren't actually brothers but everyone thought they were. Same clan tree, different branch. But they were stuck together like white on rice. And so, in their calculated slight towards your husbands, and thus to you, the both of them suffered the same punishment for their shared crime.

You sighed heavily, standing at the altar once again, with Yunho and Seonghwa in black suits this time, no longer your ‘virginal’ husbands but the first husbands and therefore more powerful in the relationship than the men about to walk down the aisle towards you three. 

“Careful, Bell, or someone might think you don’t actually want this,” Yunho said through the side of his mouth. 

You took Yunho’s hand. To anyone else, it would appear as if you were searching for some connection, or perhaps reassuring your current husband. Instead, your nails pressed into the webbing of his fingers. To Yunho’s credit, he didn’t even flinch. 

“They will pay, Yunho, but you better not try to pull rank on me in front of them the first night,” You warn him. 

A tiny but cocky smile pulled at Yunho’s lips. “Yes, Dear.”

Seonghwa leaned over so that he could make eye contact with you. “Smile, please. Jongho’s about to come down the aisle.”

You pursed your lips to send an air kiss and Seonghwa’s face turned pink in pleasure. He smiled genuinely and then shuffled back to his place, one hand wrapped around his opposite wrist, crossed in front of his body. 

Choi Jongho, the younger of two Choi’s, walked down the aisle first with the Belladonna of his family. His head was held high, like this was his choice to cement the most powerful family in the city to his. Once Jongho made his way in front of you, his Belladonna handed him over to you. She made eye contact with you, a wary look. You gave her nod and you watched as her shoulders sagged with relief. The damage had been fixed and there would be no war.

Jongho took a step aside, leaving a space between him and you on your left. You kept your head forward. Jongho would be dealt with in conjunction with his distantly related relative, once everyone was home. 

The bridal march began again and Choi San turned the corner. Everyone in the church turned around in their pews and then let out a scandalized gasp. The elder Choi stumbled down the aisle, clearly inebriated, in only slacks and a long fur coat. 

The Belladonna turned the corner, a few steps behind him. Her eyes were wide in alarm and she quick-stepped after San. She made a grab for his arm to stop him but he shrugged her off. Clearly unsure of what to do next, she took her seat on the side of the church where the Choi Family tree were, at the front pew.

A slow, lazy grin grew on San’s face when he made his way to the front. “Might as well get this over with!” he announced.

He took his place between you and Jongho, amicably throwing his arm around Jongho, who was stiff in the hold. Jongho hissed something to San that missed your ears. San had an aw-shucks look on his face but didn’t fix himself at all. 

Once the vows were exchanged, the rings fitted on fingers, the kisses were next. Jongho stared you right in the eye and you couldn't quite read his expression. He seemed in control and stoic, his kiss feather light and unemotional. That was going to have to be fixed. San, on the other hand, kissed you sloppily and you had to wipe your mouth with the back of your hand. It seemed like both of your new husbands were going to learn a hard lesson. 

“I now pronounce you all wife and husbands!” 

The limo ride was quiet and tense. Seonghwa held your hand this time, swiping his thumb against the back of it, hoping to keep you grounded because Yunho was glaring daggers at the Choi’s. Seonghwa would have been glaring too if not for his need to always be the balance between you and Yunho, regardless of the situation. 

Once the door on the mansion closed behind you all, however, it was a different story. 

You folded your arms under your breasts and took a wide stance in front of your two new husbands. “Follow me to my office. Now.”

Yunho locked eyes with you, so you told him, “You’ll come when I call for you.”

San snickered with his hand in front of his mouth and your eyes were back on him. “I have a perfect curved knife to castrate you. I can still fuck you with a cock, you don’t need your balls, I have three other husbands to breed with.”

San’s eyes narrowed in anger at you. He stepped up, to be directly in front of you. He used his height advantage to tower over you, his breath hitting your face. “You think you’ll make me one of your docile husbands?”

You smirked. “I don’t think, I know.”

“She’s not worth it,” Jongho finally speaks up. “Stand down, San.”

“Not worth it?” Yunho released his silence as well. “How dare you? She is not only your wife but your boss. She is the Belladonna and you will respect her.”

Jongho scoffed. “But I sure as hell won’t respect you.”

You could cut the silence with a knife. In fact, the sound of your personal knife that was held up the slit of your dress snug against your thigh, was exactly what cut through the silence. “I can’t kill you but I sure as hell can do anything but. If you two aren’t in my office right now, you’ll be tied up for the pleasure of my knife. That’s a hell of a way to begin our wedding night, don’t you think?”

Seonghwa left the hallway, showing that one of your husbands was able to follow a command. Yunho, after a long look exchanged with you again, left you to take care of your business, following his husband into your shared bedroom. 

You spun on your heel and made your way to your office, fully expecting the Choi’s to follow suit. San made a frustrated noise behind you but you were satisfied when you heard two sets of feet clack against the old wooden floor boards behind you. 

You sat on the edge of your desk and ordered Jongho to close the door behind him. The two of them stood shoulder to shoulder. Jongho looked as if you were dirt under his fingernails and San looked like he was ready for a fight. If only they knew how hard they were going to fall.

You grabbed your wedding dress and slowly dragged it up your legs. Once it was hitched high enough, you sat further back on your desk and put your heels up on the edge. Your pussy was completely bare. 

“This is how you swear fealty to me. I bear the womb therefore I bear the power. Kiss my cunt and then you acknowledge that your family belongs to me now.”

“This is fucking ridiculous,” San cursed under his breath. 

Still, he pushed forward first. He knelt in front of your desk, eyes flashing upwards to your face quickly, before he pursed his lips and lightly kissed your clit. “I do so swear fealty to the Belladonna.”

San stepped away and Jongho took his place. Jongho, however, did not simply do the mandatory kiss, oh no. Jongho swirled his tongue around your clit, a slow circle with his eyes downcast, and then one solid swipe up. He sucked on your clit to finish the kiss. “I do so swear fealty to the Belladonna,” He said, his voice slightly rough. 

“At least one of you knows how to eat pussy properly,” You announced. 

You closed your legs and jumped off your desk. 

San frowned, his eyebrows furrowing together. “I didn’t think--”

You pressed two fingers to his forehead. “That’s the problem with you, San. You don’t think. Which makes you trainable, at least.”

You opened your door and stuck your head out. “Seonghwa. Yunho. You may enter now.”

You sashayed your way behind your desk this time, taking your seat in the chair. You folded your hands on top and waited until your first set of husbands came into your office. “I believe you two owe an apology to my husbands.”

Jongho stared right at you. You were starting to get irked that he had the balls to always meet your gaze. Bigger men than him knew better. “We’re your husbands too.”

You ignored him. “Seonghwa and Yunho are not just my husbands. They are my right and left hand, respectively. If something comes from their mouth, it’s as good as my own word. If I send them to do a job, it is like going myself. In fact, they are my husbands, MY FIRST HUSBANDS, and I am sending something more precious than even myself. Do you understand what you have done? You have acted as though I am not worthy of meeting at a drug meet. That you refuse to come through with a pre-negotiated deal. By all rights, I should have you hanging by your fucking toes, plucking your eyeballs from your sockets and pickling them for dinner.”

San’s Adam’s Apple bobbed finally with some nervousness. Jongho was still the tough nut to crack. “Then why are we here?”

“Because the head of your family begged me. She casted herself at my feet and wept for forgiveness. She said she would give me your hands in marriage to fix the gap between our families. And I took up the offer because my husbands decided that physical torture was not good enough for you two.”

Jongho’s facade was beginning to crumble as well. “What would you will of us?”

“From this moment forward, you are at the bottom of the food chain of this family. I am the head. Yunho comes after me. Then Seonghwa. We will decide your positions depending on your behavior, however, as it stands, the two of you are the bottoms.”

San pouted petulantly. “I’ve never been a bottom in my entire life.”

Yunho smacked San from the back of the head. “Did you just talk back to your Belladonna?”

San kept his head tilted down submissively. “No.” But the tone was still there. 

“To pay for your insults, you will spend our wedding night tied up and watching. you will not get to participate. You will not be able to relieve yourself. you will have to just observe. Perhaps, if you watch closely enough, you will learn what happens when you act like a true husband of the Belladonna.”

“We won’t have a wedding night?” Jongho finally looked like he was incredulous at this statement.

“Are you ready to cement our vows? All of our vows? Remember, you’re married to Yunho, Seonghwa and I. And to each other.”

San casted a look of calculation towards Jongho. “I didn’t think of that.”

“What did I tell you about thinking, San?” You scoffed.

“Ludicrous,” Jongho said under his breath.

“Come on, boys. We’ve a show to put on, it seems.”

You run your hand down Yunho’s tie, letting it slip through your fingers and then you continue out of your office and to your bedroom. 

“You're lucky she’s even going to let you watch,” Seonghwa sneered before following you.

Yunho gave both the Choi’s a rough push. “Go on. Follow her.”

You found the ties that you used for play sometimes in the drawer next to your bed and grabbed the longer ones. You had a feeling you’d have to double up for the Choi brother’s first time. 

Yunho and Seonghwa, respectively, kicked out San and Jongho’s knees so that they had no choice but to kneel before the bed. You tied their wrists behind their backs, securing them like it was just another day in the world of a Belladonna. 

“I hope your cocks ache against your pants as you watch us,” You tantalized, leaning down between the two and whispering delightfully. 

“I doubt it’s that good of a time,” San said petulantly. 

Jongho remained silent, appearing as if he was attempting to not miss a thing. You’d make sure that he was fed then.

“Strip,” You commanded next. 

Your eyes greedily ate up the meal as Seonghwa loosened his tie and Yunho went for his own pants immediately. The amount of times they had fucked you in their buttondowns and slacks was nearly not enough as much as you’ve had them completely naked and in your bed. Neither of them needed the command to go to your bed, however.

You pulled at your sleeves and shrugged out of your dress, letting it slither to the floor and off your body. Stepping neatly out of it, you sat down to take off your heels. Then it was time to remove your bra and underwear.

“Shit,” San cursed. He rubbed his lips together. 

Once you were fully naked, you crawled into bed with your husbands. 

“How do you want to do this?” Seonghwa posed the question first. 

Yunho’s eyes were almost unreadable. “The last command I got was that I was not to pull rank in front of those two.”

You sighed, contemplative. “I did this for you two. They should suffer while you two flourish.”

Seonghwa’s eyes bounced between you and Yunho, always waiting for his dominants to decide before he gave his opinion. “We were the ones to suggest it.”

Yunho pursed his lips to the side. “They are your husbands right now.” What he let hang in the air unspoken is

You smiled. Imagine that, the golden child of the Jeong family, taking into consideration that you always felt second fiddle to him. Someone was trying to maintain a healthy relationship with his wife. You wiggled in between your two husbands, but turned towards Yunho, slinging a bare leg over his. 

“They are mine but I am yours,” You whispered, your hands digging into Yunho’s hair and your foreheads pressed together.

“I don't want you appearing weak before them,” Yunho whispered back.

“It is you who cannot afford it,” You pushed back.

“They view us as lesser because we were married off, like them,” Seonghwa said, his emotional intelligence shining through once again.

“Show them that being my husband gives you power.” You stole a kiss from Yunho, a quick nip at his plush lips. 

“Cocksleeves don't speak,” Yunho mumbled against your lips, using the phrase to begin free use.

“Let me have her cunt tonight,” Seonghwa begged. His fingers dug into your arms as he physically turned you towards him.

“Bambi, this was your idea in the first place. It came to fruition. You get her pretty pussy,” Yunho said.

“Such a pretty pussy,” Seonghwa echoed. His fingers found your wet slit and ran between them. “What a good toy, so wet and willing and ready.”

“What the fuck is going on?” San loudly whispered.

“Shut up and watch, San,” Jongho hissed.

Yunho slipped a hand over your hip and ran his fingers over your ribs until he rested just below your breast. “Hurry up and make her come so I can use her wetness to lube up her ass.”

Seonghwa sent a bland look at Yunho. “Stop telling me what to do.”

You could hear Yunho’s smirk in his voice. “Then get to work, Bambi.”

Seonghwa pushed his middle finger into you, grinding the heel of his hand against your mound. “Wait your turn for the cocksleeve, Husband,” Seonghwa said through gritted teeth.

You whimpered as Seonghwa’s finger worked inside of you and it wasn’t long before he was slipping another slender finger into you. Your head moved back so it was fully supported by Yunho’s shoulder. You propped up your right leg so that Seonghwa had better access and you scooched your lower half forward, wanting more. Seonghwa gave it to you. He pulled his fingers from your cunt and played the pad of his wet fingers around your sensitive asshole. 

Yunho rolled his eyes. “Fine, I’ll make the toy come. I always have to do all the work.”

Yunho sucked two of his fingers and circled your clit. He was rough and direct and your hips jerked as flashes of pleasure and pain shot through you. You whined as you both got what you wanted but felt empty as well. 

“I’m stretching her out for you,” Seonghwa hissed. “How are you doing all the work?”

You cried out as you came quickly. Your thighs shook as Yunho pressed his fingers against your clit until you attempted to rescind from his touch. It pushed you further onto Seonghwa’s fingers that were now knuckle deep, slowly stretching your ass. 

Yunho, quick as a flash, grabbed Seonghwa’s rock-hard cock and rubbed the cockhead against your even more wet cunt. “You focus on your sweet prize and I’ll take care of the cocksleeve’s ass. How about that, Bambi?”

Seonghwa’s hips bucked forward, Yunho’s grip and your wetness being more than enough to get him ready for what was next. “You gonna put me inside of her too?” Seonghwa partly whined, partly growled.

Yunho dug his teeth into your shoulder playfully, then soothed it with his tongue. “You want me to?”

Seonghwa laughed and groaned in frustration. “Just shut up and fuck her ass.”

Seonghwa sheathed himself into your wet heat with a groan. “Fuck yes. Right where I belong.”

Yunho, in contrast, took his time fucking into your ass, letting you adjust with each slip of his cock inside of you. The entire time your cunt simply convulsed around Seonghwa, making him cry out. Seonghwa’s fingers dug into your thigh where he held your leg up and his teeth were digging into his lower lip. 

“Are you going to come before I can even get inside of her?” Yunho demanded incredulously.

 “She is so fucking tight around me,” Seonghwa cried out. 

You were almost delirious with the two of them inside of you. The fact that neither addressed you, that they continued to talk over you like they were simply sharing a toy, made you clench down on both of them. 

“Fuck, what a good cocksleeve,” Yunho moaned. 

“Are they sharing her and or she sharing them?” San spoke up. His voice sounded low and turned on. What part did he enjoy?

“If you don’t shut the fuck up, I swear to god,” Jongho moaned quietly. 

You wished you had the energy to see if the Choi brothers were hard pressed against their pants, sweating at the show, but you didn’t. Nor did you think either of the husbands inside of you currently would have been impressed if you were focusing on anyone other than themselves.

Once both Yunho and Seonghwa were sealed inside of you, you didn’t have any more thoughts to spare regardless. When Seonghwa pushed into you, Yunho pulled out. Seonghwa slipped out and he was a bit mindless that he simply let his drenched cock rub along your legs and Yunho’s before Yunho directed Seonghwa’s cock back into your entrance. 

Yunho came first, regardless of his teasing towards Seonghwa. Your ass tended to be his weakness. He came with a deep grunt, sounding satisfied to the fullest. You came next, the feeling of Yunho’s cum dripping out of your ass and Seonghwa’s cockhead rubbing against your g-spot spurning it forward. As you clenched around Seonghwa, he came with a scrunched-up nose. 

The room was only filled with panting; the three of you coming down from your highs and the Choi brothers unable to obtain their own. It was music to your ears. 

“I’ll clean her up,” Yunho offered, practically a ritual by now. “You cut them loose.”

Every male gaze in the room watched as Yunho carefully wiped the cum from your gaping ass and cunt. You whimpered as the warm cloth circled around your clit. 

“So dirty,” Yunho murmured under his breath. “Did you like being a good little cocksleeve for your husbands?”

Seonghwa pulled the knife from your thigh before moving behind San and Jongho. His focus was off, because Jongho winced as the blade gave him a shallow cut. 

“I’ll assume you two know better than to touch yourselves once you’re dismissed,” Seonghwa said with a haughty tone. 

San rubbed his wrists, sending a sour look to Seonghwa. “How the hell are you going to know?”

You shrugged on the robe that Yunho had grabbed and neatly tied a knot. You got off the bed and padded to stand directly in front of San and Jongho. 

You ran a finger under Jongho’s chin but spoke to San. “If you're good boys you'll get rewarded.”

San couldn't help but drop his jaw in surprise. “You're giving us blowjobs tomorrow?”

“Should I tell him, or should you?” You raised an eyebrow at Jongho.

Jongho swallowed loudly. You liked when the big boy was nervous. “We'll be good.”

“Good.” You jerked your head towards the door. “Rooms have been made for you. You may retire.”

San stood, looking at Yunho still in bed, to you and to Seonghwa who now held open the door. He finally had a big brain moment. “But you three will fall asleep together?”

You folded your arms beneath your breasts, your lips twisting into a slight smirk. “Perks of being a good husband.”

Seonghwa closed the door once the Choi brothers were gone and slipped back into bed. “Do you think they'll ever…?”

“Yes,” You said simply.

“Yes?!” Yunho asked.

“I can see it in both their eyes. It was in yours too. Before I found you two in my study.”

Seonghwa ducked his head, snuggling into Yunho’s shoulder. “Oh,” Yunho replied. “Well.”

You laughed, making them both smile in response. “Yes. So I think the future is looking very bright for us, my husbands.”

The house was a little bit quiet despite there being more additions. The acclimation of the new drug trade took much of your time and focus. You had brief updates from Yunho and Seonghwa, dealing with your main branches of the family. Meanwhile, you walked through the underground factories that made the Choi drugs. You met with dealers. You made sure you understood every little bit of your newly inherited empire. 

Ever since that first night with your second husbands watching while your first husbands fucked you, the shift in the air was palpable. San and Jongho had been introduced to what this family looked like--and how it functioned--and were hungry for more.

San and Jongho stuck together like glue. To an outsider looking in, it would appear as if they were two lambs up for the slaughter, finding solace in the familiar. But you knew better. Especially considering the long looks you found Jongho sending towards San. 

You kept the Choi brothers close to your side. You would spend hours in your study grilling them, making sure you understand every agreement you inherited and every line where the brothers did not make deals. It was a lot but you were a very capable woman with a growing empire. 

Of course, with more stress, came more free use. With each night, San and Jongho were brought to witness exactly what they could get if they took the next step. Seonghwa and Yunho took their fill of you and helped you release your power to them. 

However, even though you were simply a cocksleeve between Yunho and Seonghwa, your eyes were sharp to recognize that San was looking close to breaking down. Especially when Yunho degraded Seonghwa, or fucked him. You weren’t sure if San was looking more forward to finally being with Jongho, or Yunho, or yourself.

So that’s when you decided it was time to make the leap. Everything in your life was always dealt with deals and negotiation, so it was time to mediate one within your small harem of a family.

Everyone was gathered in the living room. San and Jongho sat on the couch together, San with his arms spread along the back of the couch, legs spread, and Jongho with his elbows balanced on his knees, head in hands, in fierce concentration. You sat on a high back chair, with Seonghwa and Yunho flanking you. 

“Are you finally prepared for negotiations?”

San looked around cluelessly. “For what?”

Jongho rolled his eyes and sighed. “For snacks.” He smacked San from behind the head. “For bed, of course.”

San’s eyes grew hooded and he licked his lips, teeth flashing obnoxiously. “Finally.”

“Our bed,” Yunho reminded everyone in the room. 

“We are all married to each other.” Seonghwa made sure the bottom line was firm.

San’s eyes slid to Jongho before meeting Yunho’s gaze. “What exactly did you two do?”

Yunho’s ears became red and Seonghwa snickered. “Ours was a learning experience. But there is a privilege in sharing.”

“If this marriage is going to be a thing of truth, then you have to prove that you are willing to bed everyone. You two begin with each other,” You revealed.

Jongho’s eyes grew wide. “Us?”

You nodded. “If I just let you fuck me, that allows you to impregnate me which--”

“Isn’t happening,” Seonghwa growled.

You put a hand on Seonghwa’s arm and the tension eased from his body. Your husband took his breeding kink a little too seriously. 

You started to correct Seonghwa’s statement. “It gives you liberties and power that perhaps you haven’t earned yet. So, as proof that you are prepared to take on all responsibilities, if you are intimate with each other, then I’ll see that you’re dedicated.”

“Not to mention, we all see it,” Yunho said under his breath.

“See what?” San inquired.

Jongho shot upwards, standing quickly. “You would force our hand?”

You knew he was going to be the worst one to break, so to speak. You stood up and stood before the younger Choi. “Jongho. Force what, exactly?” you said low.

Jongho spoke back in a hissed whisper. “He is my best friend.”

“I know,” You acknowledged. “Yunho was my rival and Seonghwa I considered inferior. Do you see what we are now?”

“A force to be reckoned with,” Jongho finished for you. “Truly, you were as you say?”

“And now stronger because of how connected we are,” You nodded. “Yunho and Seonghwa bicker, but that’s their love language. Truly, they’ve connected for the better.” You leaned forward to whisper into Jongho’s ear. “I know you want that with Sannie too.”

Jongho stepped back and almost would have fallen back onto the couch if not for San’s firm hand pushing him back. San stood up, but his motion was more of affirmation. “I’ll do it.”

Jongho looked like he was a wild animal trapped. “You can’t be serious, San?!”

San pressed his lips together. “I’m curious. It looks like it feels good. I do like to feel good.”

“We’ll help,” Yunho moved towards San. 

San swallowed loudly. “How will you help?”

Yunho shrugged, like what he was about to say was of no consequence to him. “Let you bounce on my dick. Show Jongho exactly what he wants.”

Jongho gasped and then slapped his hand over his mouth. Seonghwa cackled. “Oh, he wants it alright.”

Yunho took your spot on the high back seat and began to unbutton his pants and push them, and his underwear, down to his ankles. “Seonghwa.”

Seonghwa bit down on his lower lip, eyeing you up and down. “Do you have him?”

You pushed your lips up against Seonghwa’s to reassure him. “Go give our husband a blowjob, huh?”

It took no further encouragement to get Seonghwa on his knees, swallowing Yunho into his mouth. It wasn’t long before Seonghwa couldn't play with soft Yunho in his mouth and he began to struggle with the length down his throat. You could see the spit that was dribbling down Yunho’s cock as Seonghwa choked and coughed with the effort. 

San took no time to strip himself of all his clothing. He fisted himself at the view of Seonghwa choking on Yunho’s cock. There wasn’t an ounce of shame in that man and you were starting to truly appreciate that about him. 

“Enough,” Yunho said gruffly. He grabbed Seonghwa by his hair and pulled him off his cock. “Would you suck me dry before I can fuck the slut, Bambi?”

You began to touch Jongho through his pants. He let out a muffled groan as the palm of your hand came in contact with him. “Someone’s awfully hard,” You murmured. 

Jongho looked away from the rest of your husbands. “It’s been a while since I’ve had a blow job.”

You sighed dejectedly. “He’s not ready, boys. Keep going.”

Seonghwa was quick to retrieve the lube that was in one of the side tables drawers, kept for quick access. The drawer had been custom built so that the lube was kept warm, just for the right occasion. Seonghwa grabbed the back of San’s neck and pushed him until he was at a ninety degree angle. With his hand firm, Seonghwa bent over so that his head was at the same height as San’s.

“This is your last chance, slut. I’m about to prep you for Yunho’s cock. If you don’t want this, now is the time to decline.”

San whimpered and you and Jongho both shuddered at the delicious noise. “I want it,” the older Choi admitted. 

Seonghwa squirted the warmed lube onto San’s asshole. He rubbed the pads of his fingers along San’s puckered hole and then pushed in his fingers to stretch San for Yunho’s rather large cock. 

You followed Seonghwa’s lead and unbuttoned Jongho’s pants and pushed his down to his thick thighs. Then you pulled his straining cock from the confines of Jongho’s underwear. “Look at how hard you are, Jongho. And wet.” You rubbed your thumb along the slit of Jongho’s cock and he grunted. 

You swirled his precum along the head of his cock and then spit onto it. You spread your spit by fisting his cock. You angled yourself behind Jongho, wrapping one hand around his stomach and peeking around his body, keeping your other husbands in view. “Once they’re all set up, all you have to do is come on San’s face and then the keys to the kingdom can be yours, Jongho. It’s just that easy.”

Speaking of the devil, San was making desperate noises as Seonghwa fucked him with his fingers. “Such an eager slut. Did you give all your stubborn brain cells to the other?” Seonghwa murmured under his breath. 

“If you make him come with those pretty fingers of yours, Bambi, I swear to God,” Yunho grumbled. 

Yunho began to strip completely and lie on the floor. The three of you had already spoken of what would be the most appealing for Jongho and San, and for the rest of you, if you were being completely honest. “I’m ready for him.”

Seonghwa pulled his fingers from inside of San and released him. He gave him a slight push towards Yunho and then moved back towards you and Jongho. “Now, for the other one.”

Jongho was enjoying you jerking him off, so you slowed down your pace. He swallowed loudly. “Puh--please.”

“Nuh uh,” You denied him. “You don’t get to come unless it’s on Sannie’s face, come now, Jongho. We’ve been clear. Just watch how well he takes Yunho’s cock.”

“How--?” San sent a confused look towards you and Seonghwa. Poor dumb puppy. 

“Turn around!” Yunho shouted. “Do I have to do everything myself? Spread your ass cheeks and crouch over my dick. I’ll do the rest.”

San did as he was told, eagerly of course. The three of you could see his face, in anticipation to get filled once again. He bit down on his lip as Yunho guided San down his cock, rubbing his hips as he took it one inch at a time. And then the bouncing began.

You nudged Jongho forward so that you two could stand in front of San, also in between Yunho’s spread legs. You started to speed up your pace along his length. 

"Don't you wanna come on his tongue, Jongho?" You purred into Jongho’s shoulder. 

You peered over to look down at San whose mouth was open wide obediently. San's mouth was partially open so wide because he was bouncing on Yunho’s dick but the fucked-out look only added to the allure of the scene. 

"Co-come, Jongho!" San whined, "Yu--" Yunho interrupted San by sticking two fingers in his mouth.

"Yuyu won't let San come until you've shot your load into Sannie's mouth, Jongho," You finished San's interrupted sentence. 

"But!" Jongho squirmed in your embrace. "It would be dirty."

Seonghwa folded his arms over his chest. "Just give it up, lover. He's not going to do it. Let me just fuck you as he lies under you. He can watch those tits sway and his cock can remain hard."

"I believe in him, Seonghwa," You shook your head. 

You sucked a love bite into Jongho's skin and he cried out at the sensitivity there.

"Puh-puhlease, wait a minute, that's my best friend!" Jongho protested.

"Whom," You pressed, "You would like to shoot all your cum over his face and on his tongue and when you think you're done, we can tap tap tap your dick on his tongue to make sure there's no more."

San whined as his orgasm approached, voice crescendoing higher and higher, only to let out a loud noise of defeat as Yunho's hips held up against him, deep in San, but no longer letting San move. He had once again been denied his orgasm.

“The only way you get her cunt is by exploding over your best friend,” Seonghwa stated with a lift of his eyebrow. “Don’t you want to fuck our wife?”

Jongho’s eyes get a look of fire in them. “I want the free use privileges.”

Yunho chuckled. “He wants the free use privileges.”

You ran your hand up and down Jongho’s length. “Where do you want me, Jongho? What’s your dirty thoughts been?”

Jongho swallowed loudly. “In the shower. When you get ready for the day. I want you covered in my cum.”

Seonghwa looked contemplative. “Have we done that yet?”

You sent a glare to Seonghwa to tell him to shut up silently. You flicked your wrist over the angry head of Jongho’s cock. “You can have that. You just need to come over San’s pretty tongue.”

Speaking of the devil, Yunho released San, and the fucker was bouncing eagerly on Yunho’s dick again. His noises of pleasure were punctuated with the slapping of skin against skin. “Wanna come, Jong, please,” San whimpered once more.

Jongho’s cock twitched and you smiled into Jongho’s shoulder. You leaned up to press your mouth to the shell of Jongho’s ear. “I know you want to, Jongho. Otherwise why would you be so hard while watching our husband fuck Sannie?” you purred. 

Jongho whined and you decided you were going to do everything in your power to continue to hear the rather stoic Jongho whine more. “It’s not dirty, Jongho. It’s fun. Yunho and Seonghwa have all kinds of fun. Don’t you want to have fun with San?”

“I want it,” Jongho whispered back to you. 

“Come all over Sannie, sweet boy. I want to see it.”

With your final command, Jongho ejaculated, and hard. He cried out, finally getting the release after all the edging. His cum covered San’s face, who flinched cutely, but kept his tongue out. Spurts of cum hit San’s shoulders and chest. He truly was the epitome of a pearl necklace. You continued to jerk off Jongho until he whimpered, feeling the overstimulation. 

You lifted your hand off Jongho’s length and raised an eyebrow at Seonghwa. “Told you I could get him to do it.” And then you made a show of sucking and licking Jongho’s cum from your fingers. 

“Come on, you slut,” Yunho grunted under San. “You’ve been bouncing on my dick for long enough. Come.”

San’s high-pitched moans escalated and finally, he jubilantly came. The sweet smile that spread across his face as he spurted over his own toned stomach was worth the hard sacrifice of the work put in. 

Yunho gently pulled out from San and let the younger man lay back in all his blissed-out glory on the floor. He patted his shoulder, muttering about how he was a good sport and then stood up. 

Neither of your first husbands had come and you were starting to feel a little nervous. The three of you had worked well together as doms to the two subs in the room but the three of you couldn't remain doms for long. Someone had to take the fall. 

Yunho grabbed a bottle of water and tipped his head back, drinking deeply from it. Seonghwa licked his lips, whether because he was thirsty for the water or Yunho, that was to be debated. 

You grabbed a warm wet cloth for Jongho and threw it at him. “Clean yourself up and help Sannie, Jongho. You did dirty him up after all.”

Jongho pouted, pouted, but did what he was told. Sannie was still smiling as Jongho ran the warm cloth over San’s face loyally. They exchanged words and Jongho finally smiled warmly at something San murmured. 

Hopefully this was the beginning of something beautiful. 

“That’s no fun,” Seonghwa said through a pout of his own. “I wanted to fuck you while he watched below you.”

You laughed softly. “There will be other nights, I'm sure, Hwa.”

“What about tonight?” He wondered. 

“I…” Your eyes slid to Yunho. You could tell Seonghwa was still in his dominant mood and he wasn’t about to melt for Yunho. What could be done?

Yunho used a towel to wipe down the sweat from his body but his cock was still hard and at attention. Seonghwa was still covered in clothing, much like yourself. Could that mean…?

You strode purposely towards Yunho. He kept his eye on you but leaned down so you could speak to him. “Want a treat?”

“Didn’t I just have one?” Yunho laughed.

“Let Seonghwa dominate you tonight. Show the other two that even the biggest dog in this room can get taken down a peg. Show them what it looks like from the outside to be taken care of. Show them you don’t need to dominate to be respected. Give Seonghwa some confidence tonight, don’t take it away from him,” You suggested. 

Yunho looked blown away at your suggestion. He chewed on his lower lip, however, and you knew he was considering it. “Give Seonghwa some confidence? Where does that leave you, sweetheart?”

You turned on the ball of your foot and made your way to Seonghwa. You liked how his eyes followed the sway of your hips. “Seonghwa, I hurt,” You whimper.

Seonghwa’s eyes sharpen at your words. “I can make you better.”

“Didn’t you see the way Sannie bounced so well for Yunho? I’m drenched now,” You admitted. 

“Show me,” He said gutterly. 

You discarded your high-waisted pants and finished walking in front of Seonghwa. You grabbed his hand and placed it against your underwear. His eyes widened to find you were completely soaked through them. 

You cried out when he swiftly circumvented your underwear and rubbed his fingers through your wetness. “Hw-hwa,” You stuttered, “What about Yunho?”

Seonghwa’s eyes focused on Yunho behind you. “What about Yunho?”

Yunho groaned in response. 

“Get your hand off your dick, Yunho,” Seonghwa snapped. 

“But--!”

“Do as you’re told,” Seonghwa commanded.

You could hear Yunho’s cock slap against his stomach as he let go and you let out a whimper. “Hwa, Yunnie hurts too.”

You watched as the gears turned in Seonghwa’s head. How could he keep in control but satisfy his husband and wife at the same time?

You wrapped your arms around his neck and placed a kiss on his cheek. “The floor is yours, Seonghwa, and we are your toys. Do with us as you would.”

Seonghwa’s possessive and dominant growl only made you wetter. 

You only hoped Jongho and San were watching and taking notes.

[marlynnofmany]

At Home in the Mud

“Hey Wio, does your hover stool work over mud?” I asked from the door to the cockpit.

“Not deep mud,” Wio said, glancing at me with her tentacles at work on the controls. “The sensors feel for solid ground.”

“Dang.” I sighed. “Guess I’m stuck with cleaning the exo suit after this delivery.”

“Yeah, sorry,” she said. “There are fresh batteries for the gravity wands, at least. Shouldn’t take you too long.”

Zhee stalked past me, his many bug feet clicking in what was probably irritation. He didn’t say anything, and neither did I, at least until he was out of earshot in the direction of the cargo bay.

I whispered to Wio, “And at least I only have two legs to clean.”

“Good point,” she agreed. “Best of luck!”

I thanked her and headed off after Zhee to where the exo suits waited. He had a head start in getting his on, which he needed. I tried not to draw attention to how easily I tugged mine on over my regular clothes (minus the shoes). Zhee didn’t even take the opportunity to make fun of my need for footwear; he seemed determined to get this delivery over with as quickly as possible.

He said, “Be sure to hold on to the hoversled so you don’t fall and slow us down.”

“Sure thing,” I agreed. I’d planned to keep a solid grip anyway. Hopefully this mud wasn’t the foot-sucking kind.

The ship landed gently — or rather, arrived. There was no landing pad close enough to our client’s location, at least none above the mud at this time of year, so Wio held the ship just above the surface on stable thrusters. The ramp nearly touched the mud.

Captain Sunlight had come in to see us off, and she stood to the side as we hustled down the ramp. “Be quick but careful!” she told us.

Zhee replied, “That’s the plan.”

I freed a hand to wave, then grabbed the edge of our most reliable hoversled. I would have liked to ride on it next to the cases of medical supplies (low priority, not urgent, thankfully), but that wouldn’t have been fair to Zhee. So I did my share of pushing and stepped cautiously into the mud.

Whew, I thought. More watery than thick. I can walk in this. And it was cold, but the exo suit did a decent job of insulating for temperature. I took in the sights more confidently, appreciating the fuzzy moss on all the trees, and the intricate shapes that the bushes grew in. It didn’t quite look like an Earth swamp, but it didn’t look hostile, and that was all I could ask for, really.

Behind us, the ship closed the bay door and lifted up to a more comfortable height to wait. Zhee, with a better view of the screen on the front of the sled, pointed with a pincher arm. We changed direction slightly and trudged through the mud.

The depth changed a few times in quick succession, going from ankle deep to above the knee and back. I did my best to maintain a careful speed, though it was tricky since I couldn’t see the bottom. Zhee seemed to be doing fine. I held onto the sled and took long strides, feeling the way with one foot before trusting my weight to it. Thicker lumps and rocks lurked along the uneven ground. I focused on stepping between them without losing my balance, trusting Zhee to keep us on track.

“Scenic,” I commented to break the monotony of silence and my own breathing inside the helmet.

“Wet,” Zhee replied.

“Scenic and wet.” I glanced up at the mossy trees, then back down at the watery mud. Muddy water? Somewhere in between. “Not the easiest place to walk, though.”

“The captain could have chosen Blip and Blop for this delivery,” Zhee griped. “But no, they’re busy helping Eggskin prepare some complicated food.”

“And Paint wouldn’t be up for this temperature,” I said as I stepped into deeper water that chilled me to my thighs. “Or this depth, really.”

“Paint misses out on a lot of unpleasant environments. Lucky.”

I looked over at him across the pile of strapped-down cases. “Only because she’d pass out and die if she got too cold. I don’t know if I’d call that lucky.”

Zhee tapped an antenna against the inside of his helmet. “Bah. Today, she’s lucky to be coldblooded. We’re stuck with this instead.”

I mentally ran down the roster of our other crewmates. Some of them, like Wio, had other jobs to be doing. “I suppose Mur wouldn’t have an easy time in something this deep either.” I didn’t even know if he could swim. Looking like a squid didn’t necessarily translate.

“No one is likely to have an easy time in this,” Zhee said, shaking a foreleg and splattering watery mud across a tree trunk. “I can’t imagine why the client chose to live here.”

“Maybe they like mud,” I said, trying to watch my feet even though I couldn’t see them.

“They are welcome to it. I look forward to getting back to the ship.”

I was in agreement about that. The info summary about this location had said it was the wet season (Really? Shocking) and that the regular roadways were unavailable. I was under the impression that there was a town somewhere nearby, or at least other people than just the one, but all I could see was endless swamp.

With rocks and the occasional tree root just waiting to trip me. I focused on stepping carefully and trying not to slow our progress.

Concentrating as I was, I didn’t realize we’d arrived until Zhee tugged the sled to the side. I looked up to find the first dry ground I’d seen rising out of the mud into a walkway of flat paving stones. A round stone house perched at the top of the rise.

We slogged up to leave an interesting set of footprints along the walkway: my left/right muddy bootprints and Zhee’s collection of much smaller splats. With the hoversled between us, it looked like this house was getting two visitors interested in staying as far away from each other as possible, instead of a single delivery.

When we got close, a chorus of tiny squeaks started up. I located the source: a small cage hanging beside the door, which held a handful of cricket-sized whatevers. While Zhee found what passed for a doorbell, I took a surreptitious look. They were small and blobby, not mini near-cousins of his, which was definitely for the best.

“Delivery!” Zhee announced while a chime jangled.

Various bumps and a muffled voice sounded from inside, then our avian client opened the door eagerly. “Thank you for coming!” he said in the same trade language we were using, just with the distinct quackity overtones of his particular species. His dark feathers were flecked with white and he kept his arms folded as if they were wings. He said earnestly, “I hope it wasn’t too long of a walk.”

“It was fine,” Zhee said. “Would you like your packages unloaded right here?”

“Oh! Ahmm…” the ducky fellow looked indecisively between the stack of boxes, the paving stones, and the indoors.

I said, “We could carry them in for you, but we’d track in a bit of mud.” The sled was much too wide to fit through the door.

“That’s all right; I’ll move them,” he decided. “Out here is fine. Now where should I—? Yes, thank you.” He took the payment screen from Zhee and signed for the delivery while I undid the straps holding everything down. We didn’t always bother with those, but I was starting to think we should. If I’d managed to trip and knock a box into the mud, that would have been an embarrassing bad mark on our record.

While we unloaded the boxes, those little whatsits serenaded us with a fresh chorus of squeaky chirps. It reminded me of tame finches with just a touch of guinea pig. I wondered if this was the local version of a windchime or something else.

The client saw me staring and said, “My dear little Cozy went missing, and these are his favorite food. I’m hoping to lure him back. You haven’t seen him, have you? A young cuddlebeast about this big, with a white stripe on his head?” He held clawed hands a few inches apart.

“Sorry, no,” I said with a look at Zhee. “I didn’t see any beasts at all. Did you?”

“No,” Zhee agreed. “Just mud.”

The client ruffled his feathers in a way I didn’t know how to read; maybe he was embarrassed. “They did tell me he’s suited to living in this environment, and he might not return if I let him out, but I haven’t given up hope. My home is nice and warm, after all.”

“We’ll keep an eye out on the walk back,” I told him. “Does he come when he’s called?”

“He always did when he was inside the house,” the guy said. “Cozy! Cozyyy!” He waited for a moment, then looked down. “He loves his cuddles. I hope nothing bad has happened to him.”

Zhee set down the last box. “You’ve done what you can,” he assured the client, sounding like he might have even meant it.

“I suppose so.” The ducky guy looked sad for a moment, then rallied. “Well, thank you again! I don’t want to keep you. Safe travels!”

We bid him goodbye and headed back down into the mud, with me waving goodbye and Zhee trying to make good time. The client went back into his house and I focused on taking long strides again.

We went slightly to the side of the route we’d taken before. The mud was much lumpier here, with herds of round rocks that rolled around and made the footing treacherous. Despite my death grip on the sled, I was nearly swimming at a couple points in an effort to keep up. The muddy water was deep enough to swim in, but not consistently so, otherwise I might have given up and started paddling.

I had just decided to ask Zhee to slow down when I lost my footing completely and went under, holding my breath in panic before I remembered the exo suit covered my head. I got my feet under me by kicking lumps out of the way and I stood in the waist-high mud, wiping futilely at the dirty face mask.

Zhee sighed audibly and stopped walking. “Really?”

“It’s hard to find somewhere solid to step!” I exclaimed. “There are rocks and lumps of mud everywhere!” I scooped one up to prove my point, ending up with what looked like a potato. “Huh. That’s too light to be a rock. Tuber?”

“Fascinating,” Zhee said drily.

“It reminds me of an Earth food, but those don’t grow in swamps,” I said, giving it a closer look.

“Do not bring it back to the ship for eating,” Zhee said sternly.

“I wasn’t going to!” I protested.

“Good. It’s probably horribly smelly and liable to poison half the crew.”

I started to protest more, just on principle, then the potato opened an eye and I dropped it. “Ah!”

“What?”

“It’s a creature!” I shuffled in place, feeling more potato-like shapes bump against my ankles in the cold watery mud. “Are these all animals??”

“Ugh,” Zhee declared, lifting a couple exo suited legs out of the murk on his side of the hoversled. “What an unpleasant choice of environmental niches.”

I was thinking fast. “Wait, these could be like toads. It’s cold right now; maybe they’re hibernating. Hey, do you know what a ‘cuddlebeast’ actually looks like?”

“Not a clue. That’s your area of expertise.” Zhee gave me a look through the domes over his faceted eyes. “Do these things look especially cuddleable to you?”

“I don’t know, maybe.” I felt around gingerly for another one, hoping they didn’t have sharp teeth to use on people who interrupted their hibernation. “But that would explain why Cozy never came back, if he’s out here dozing with his distant family.”

“Well I’m sure he’s very happy if so,” Zhee said, stepping forward. “Let’s be off.”

“Wait, lemme try something first.” I put a hand on the sled as it eased past, but did my best impression of the squeaks that the food animals had made earlier. Cute little questioning sounds, like they were curious.

“If that didn’t work close to the house, it’s unlikely to work out here,” Zhee said. But he stopped again.

“It’s worth a shot,” I said. “Cozy! Cozyyy!” Then I squeaked some more.

“What a surprise; nothing. Now let’s—” Zhee flinched when something by his hind leg croaked.

“Cozy!” I said with a grin, ducking to look under the hoversled. “Here, boy!” Something potato-like with big eyes and a distinct pale swatch on the top was treading water in the murk.

Zhee stepped fastidiously to higher ground. “I can’t believe you found it.”

“Yup,” I said, testing my footing. “Now I just have to catch it.”

“As long as you keep your mud to yourself.”

“No promises,” I said, making the first lunge of many and only splashing a little.

~~~

These are the ongoing backstory adventures of the main character from this book.

Shared early on Patreon! There’s even a free tier to get them on the same day as the rest of the world.

The sequel novel is in progress (and will include characters from these stories. I hadn’t thought all of them up when I wrote the first book, but they’re too much fun to leave out of the second).

[festivalsofmargot]

Pining in Potions Class {Sebastian Sallow x GN!Reader}

Introduction: Sebastian Sallow is forming a huge crush on you, and it’s hitting him all at once in a very annoying way. Something as simple as not being partnered with you in potions class eats away at him. Gotta love some jealous Sebastian. Takes place after MC has met Anne and before completing his final mission. Some levity to enjoy being students with crushes.

Word Count: ~ 2,600

Warnings: None really, just some Hogwarts students crushing on each other from afar.

Author’s Note: You ever get in trouble with a teacher in class and look at your friend who’s trying not to laugh then you struggle not to laugh? That’s exactly the experience I was thinking of writing this haha. Come on, Sebastian Sallow and MC are the next Ron and Hermione, you can’t convince me otherwise. (Though I really head cannon over Sebastian and a hufflepuff) I wrote this so it was gender neutral and non house specific.

Songs (if interested): 

Hold Me Tight - Berlinist

She - dodie

WACKY - Matt Watson

Lady May - Tyler Childers

That day in potions class, Professor Sharp had told the students to partner up for the day’s brew, the focus potion. You and Garreth Weasley, being near each other already, looked at one another and gave an innocent shrug of your shoulders, agreeing to partner up.

Sebastian had partnered up with Natty and couldn’t help but glance your direction. He felt a pang of jealousy when he saw how close you and Garreth were standing when reading over the recipe in the text book. Quickly convincing himself he wasn’t bothered, he looked down at his and Natty’s station, trying to focus.

But he was bothered. You had still been around to help whenever he asked, but he couldn’t help feeling this distance starting to grow between the two of you. He had found himself coming up with any and every excuse to get you to help him with something, otherwise he didn’t think he’d be able to see you outside of class. He noticed you had a lot of assignments to do that required you to leave Hogwarts so he’s offered to go along to help. But every time he did you turned him down, saying you understood how busy he was with his research and would ask Poppy or Natty if you needed anything.

Today’s missed opportunity caused him to tap his fingers on the desk in annoyance as he looked over the ingredients. He wished he had some sort of a heads up if they were going to need partners in any of the classes they shared together. That way he could be proactive with where he sat next time.

“The reason I’ve partnered you up today,” Professor Sharp began, “is not because of the difficulty of the potion, the potion’s ingredients are few and very easy to keep balanced. The real challenge lies in the preparation of the ingredients. It will be strenuous work squeezing the juice from your dugbog tongues." The class made a collective sound of disgust which brought an amused smirk to the Professor’s face. 

Among the class’s sounds of repulsion, Sebastian heard you trying to stifle your giggles. His envy only grew when he realized your laughter was a response to something Weasley had whispered to you.

“Now, a slimy dugbog tongue will work fine, but a dried up tongue will make the potion not only more effective, it can last longer as well. Use the tools I’ve given to you to dry out the tongues, your arms will get tired so let your partner know when you need them to take over. Begin.”

Sebastian and Natty gave each other an inquisitive look, unsure of how to get started. 

“I guess we’ll start with the rolling pin?” Natty suggested, grabbing it and then making work of squeezing the juice out of the tongue. It was much harder than she expected. The more she rolled, the tougher it felt. “Whew! This is going to tire me out fast, be ready to switch, Sebastian.”

“Right.” Sebastian said. While he waited for Natty to finish her round, he couldn’t stop his gaze from wandering your way. He found it cute how you were trying to stand on your tiptoes when rolling out the dugbog tongue, hoping gravity would help you out if you were able to get more of your weight on it.

“Woah, Garreth.” You said, letting out an exhausted breath, feeling the burn in your arms. “Would you mind going to hang up my robes while I do my turn?” You asked as you shed the garment. You weren’t a stranger to physical labor, you knew when you were going to work up a sweat.

“No problem.” Garreth said, taking your robes and shedding off his own as well. “Was going to do the same myself. Not my first dugbog tongue, unfortunately.”

As Garreth walked off to the back of the class to hang up your robes, you rolled up your sleeves and got back to work.

Sebastian had a slight longing it was him who you had asked to hang up your robes as his eyes roamed up and down your backside. He didn’t think the school uniform fit anyone quite as well as it fit you. Realizing what he was doing, he mentally chastised himself and snapped his attention back to his table. At that point, Natty was holding out the rolling pin to him. He took it from her and she began shaking out her arms, seemingly too worn out to tease him if she had noticed his staring.

“Go as long as you can Sebastian, I might not have paced myself very well and overdone it.”

“Don’t worry, Natty. I got this.” Sebastian assured her, but as soon as he began rolling out the dugbog tongue he understood why everyone said it was so difficult. There was barely any squish to the thing! It was like trying to get orange juice from an orange made of marble. He poised himself, took a deep breath, and leaned forward, beginning his rolls again.

It had been a good few minutes of rolling when your laugh broke Sebastian’s focus, stealing his attention again.

“Garreth, stop it!” He heard you jokingly chide among the class’s chattering voices. While forcing himself to keep rolling, he looked over to see Garreth laughing with you, trying to get his hands on the roller while you were still giving a go at the dugbog tongue.

“Alright, we’ll do it together then if that’s what you want.” Garreth quipped. Sebastian’s stomach dropped when he saw the red head put both of his hands over yours on the roller to help put more force on the dugbog tongue.

“You’re a piece of work, Garreth.” You snickered, pulling away and playfully smacking his arm. Garreth shot you a sly smirk as he got into a better position to start his rolling.

“Don’t even try to hide it, you love having me as a potions partner already.” Though you shook your head at him, Sebastian noticed the amused smile gracing your lips.

Getting more fed up than tired, Sebastian stepped back from rolling and looked at Natty. “Alright, your turn.” He said with a huff. He took off his robes as well and offered to take Natty’s. 

Sebastian tried to catch your eye as he walked to and from the back of the classroom but to no avail, you were too focused on the dugbog tongue and Garreth’s jokes. He returned to his station and took the rolling pin back from Natty, his annoyance fueling him.

“You take over.” Garreth said, handing you the rolling pin. “I’m going to snag some dittany leaves.”

You let out a sigh at both beginning your rolls and what Garreth had just told you. Dittany leaves were not on the ingredient list and you both knew it. “Please stay here.” You pleaded.

This time, it was Sebastian who started to crack a smile as he eaves dropped on the two of you. Maybe Garreth can turn your oh so hilarious potions class into a nightmare. 

“Trust me, it’ll be a simple hybrid of a focus and wiggenweld potion.” Before you could protest further, Weasley had already darted towards the ingredient shelves.

You, not having the energy to call after him again, groaned and continued rolling. When he returned with a goofy smile on his face, you couldn’t fight back your guffaw at his ridiculous antics, letting out an adorable snort. “Garreth, I’m going to kill you.”

“Relax, I’ll take the blame if things go wrong. Just act like you didn’t know I added the leaves.”

Just as quickly as his smile formed, it vanished from Sebastian’s face. That was his move. He had taken the blame for you when you two got caught in the restricted section in hopes to impress you a bit. Surely taking the fall in the library was a lot more impressive than taking the fall for a potion mishap.

“Alright class, time is up on drying out the tongues. Go on and place all the ingredients in for your focus potion.” Professor Sharp instructed.

Sebastian and Natty put in their ingredients and began stirring, and sure enough, the pot turned the right shade of blue they needed. 

Suddenly, a whizzing noise came from yours and Garreth’s pot, grabbing everyone’s attention in the class including Professor Sharp’s. The whizzing noise grew louder and louder. The two of you looked at each other in panic, then out of the pot burst a small, smelly black cloud, giving a pathetic poot noise.

The whole class burst into laughter, including Sebastian. He couldn’t see your face because you were hiding it behind your hands, but he could tell you were laughing as well due to your shaking shoulders. Professor Sharp limped his way over to you and Garreth, the exhausted look on his face implied he knew it was more Garreth’s doing than yours.

It was then you finally looked Sebastian’s way, your face turning to a mix of hilarity and pain as you grabbed the side of your stomach from laughing too hard. You gave him a helpless face, hoping to convey to Sebastian how absurd working with Garreth was.

Sebastian gave you a smug look and began clapping his hands, “Well done.” 

You gave him a small smile and an oh well shrug and brought your attention back to Professor Sharp. 

The class had quieted down at the seriousness in Professor Sharp’s tone. As you and Garreth were getting a good scolding in front of everyone, Sebastian noticed you were biting the inside of your cheeks to prevent yourself from laughing further. He had to quickly look down to his feet, sealing his lips together as tightly as he could to stop any chuckles of his own from coming through. 

As much as he didn’t like the idea of getting in trouble with Professor Sharp, he couldn’t help but want to be in Garreth’s position. He wanted to be the one that made you laugh like that. He wanted to be the one who’s arm you playfully smacked. He wanted to be your partner in crime.

You made him feel a levity he hadn’t felt since Anne got cursed. Something about you drew him in and he found himself at ease whenever you were around. At first he didn’t like it, convinced himself you made him lose focus on finding a cure for his sister. But after everything you’d done so far to help him, realizing his sister had just as much fun around you as he did, and witnessing how willing you were to go into the unknown, he realized you were progressing things more than anything.

“Let’s be grateful it was only dittany leaves you added, Mr. Weasley.” Professor Sharp reprimanded, then turned to make his way back to his desk. “Well, with that rather exciting end to class, you’re all dismissed.”

As everyone made their way out of class, you and Garreth stayed behind to clean up the mess he caused.

Sebastian kept an eye on you in his peripheral vision as he and Natty gathered their robes and slipped them back on. He took this chance to grab yours and bring them over.

“Aw thanks, Sebastian. You shouldn’t have, I really appreciate it.” Garreth wisecracked as you and him were scrubbing the table.

“Shut up, Weasley.” Sebastian said with a chuckle, handing him his robes, then held up your robes so he could help you into them.

Your scrubbing slowed to a stop and a blush creeped up your neck. Sebastian had never done anything like this before. You tried to calm yourself as you turned and let him help you get your robes on. 

Shrugging them on, you turned and thanked him. You met his expectant gaze and, after a moment, realized he was waiting for you to finish up so you could walk to your next class together. “Oh, um... you may have to go on without me. It might take us a while to finish up here.” 

You also needed a second to yourself to breathe because Sebastian’s gesture had thrown you for a loop. He needed to be careful doing things like that, because you’d look too much into it and convince yourself he liked you back. The thought of burdening him with your feelings seemed so selfish. He had a cursed sister to help, he didn’t need some new Hogwarts student pining for him and making his life more complicated. He was already taking time out of his day to help you catch up on spells, no way you could ask any more of him.

Sebastian couldn’t help but feel disappointed, and it showed on his face. “Alright.” He rocked back and forth on his feet awkwardly. “I suppose I’ll... catch up with Ominis and see you in charms then?”

You gave him a smile and simple nod of your head. “See you there.”

He forced a smile back then slowly made his way out of the potions classroom, kicking the dirt at his feet as he went.

You got back to cleaning with Garreth, who was staring after Sebastian. Then he looked to you, “Well, that was downright awkward.”

You could only cringe. “Sorry, Garreth.”

“No need to apologize to me. It was Sebastian’s heart you broke back there, not - ow!” He was cut off when your elbow jammed into his ribs. 

“Shut up and help me clean.” Deep down you were hoping it was true that Sebastian was disappointed he couldn’t walk with you to class. You wanted to live in that fantasy even just a little. But, realistically, he probably wanted to update you on what he found in Salazar Slytherin’s spell book since he couldn’t speak about it with Ominis.

The blush made its way back when you began to think about his forearm muscles flexing as he was rolling out his and Natty’s dugbog tongue. You were extra thankful you partnered up with Garreth, there was no pressure and he had made it fun. If you had partnered with Sebastian, you would have been a bumbling mess, unable to focus on the assignment. Probably would have had to reread the ingredients a few times over even though there were only three items. Merlin’s beard, you were hopeless.

Lately, it had been difficult for you to be around Sebastian. He had been making you so nervous, it was beginning to get frustrating. You wish you could go back to how it was when you first met. You were so overwhelmed trying to catch up with the other fifth years, you couldn’t overthink things when you were together even if you wanted to. But you’ve been getting the hang of things and excelling in your coursework, wielding magic became second nature. You didn’t need to put all your focus on classes anymore, so that freed up a lot of room in your mind for Sebastian.

With a defeated sigh, you and Garreth finished cleaning up your potions station. You grabbed your books and waved goodbye. As soon as you left the classroom, you looked up to see Sebastian leaning against the wall. He had decided to wait for you after all.

He pushed up off the wall and walked up to you, a smile spreading across your face. He took the quickest glance at your lips, catching himself before he could linger. Without warning, he grabbed your books and began walking away.

“Shall we?” He asked over his shoulder.

You pursed your lips as you watched him. Surely nothing to get your hopes up over, right? Right, surely nothing. Then you moved to join his side.

[areislol]

STFU I KNOW NEUVILLETTE WOULD TREAT U SO WELL AND SMITTEN WITH YOU 😭😭😭 like you two shared a love for one another, like a love you could only dream of..

►— pairings. modern/college! au neuvillette x fem! reader

►— a/n. i’m just having so much brain rot about this man i’m so sorry i just have to get this out.. i have many things to write whew 😔

like this man is SO SO SOOO PROUD OF YOU 👏 whatever you achieve, whenever you pass your exams, WHATEVER YOU DO THAT MAKES YOU HAPPY, he will be so proud of you ☹️ like he can’t help but shed a tear when he sees how happy you are — the way your eyes light up, the way your lips curve up into a wide smile — makes him want to just pick you up and spin you around (and sometimes he does)

he makes sure to encourage you to keep doing well and makes sure to reward you with whatever you want (he already knows what you want he just wants to ask you anyway and he already knows you’re going to say “anything, i don’t mind!”)

he picks you up at the EXACT time when you ask him too. like if you ask him to pick you up at 6:00 pm or whatever time, once you’re looking out the window you have to take a double look because you can literally see his car parked right next to your place.

“nevy i told you to come at 6?”

“it is 6:00 my love, check the time.”

AND GOD DAMN IS HE RIGHT. you check your phone and see that is 6:00 pm on the dot. and you’re not even done yet..

“but im not done yet? ☹️”

“that’s alright, take your time i can wait.”

he waits for however long and he does NOT complain. sometimes he asks if he could come in and watch you do your makeup or fix your clothes that he bought for you. and he watches you in awe as you do your thing like that’s my girl!!!

he holds the door for you. i know it’s small but even the smallest amount of kindess are rare.. so whenever he holds the door for you, you SWEAR you can feel something clutching your heart.

before you can even put a finger on the car handle he softly pushes your hand away and opens the car door for you, kissing your temple in the process.

“nevy why’d-“

“ah- shush, i don’t want my pretty girl lifting her finger.”

“oh! (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄ “

he buys you your favourite drink and food while on his way to pick you up or going to your college.

once you mention something to neuvillette about something you like (even if it’s small) he WILL remember it. one time you had said to neuvillette that you wanted to try the new drink from starbucks and before you know it the next day while waiting for neuvillette near the college, he handed you the new drink.

same with food, he buys you your favourite food from the cafeteria (he likes to see your happy face when he places the tray down). neuvillette makes you your comfort food, and he only buys it when he doesn’t have time to make it.

when you’re in a bad mood or just need to cry, he’s quick to comfort you before making you your comfort food. it doesn’t matter how long it takes, he knows you’ll be happy in the end.

this may be a bit.. weird? but he tucks you into bed before climbing in next to you as well.

IDC WHAT U SAY HE LIKES TUCKING YOU INTO BED AND KISSING YOUR FOREHEAD!!! like it makes him feel so happy and all giddy inside.

it makes him 100x more happier when he realises that one day he could do that to your children.. just the idea of it makes his heart flutter.

but yes. he can’t sleep properly until you give him a forehead kiss OR ANY KISS ANYWHERE back.

neuvillette always MUST have his hand somewhere on you, or just be touching you in some way.

at the start of your relationship and even before you two were together, he wasn’t so touchy or handsy with you.. but after some time he grew more confident and even more comfortable with you

whenever he’s walking along beside you, he has his arm around your waist of his hand on your waist, sometimes he pulls you close to him in a large and crowded place where your hips are touching. or even if it’s him leaning behind you, his chest against your back.

(RHSHAIAJAIENEJSHAJIS YOU’RE GONNA GO INSANE AND FERAL BECAUSE OF THIS MANNNN)

he would buy you snacks and sweets that he knows you enjoy, or even just buying snacks you’ve never tried before to see if it could maybe be your new favourite snack.

neuvillette just rests his cheek on his hand as he admires you enjoying your snacks. sometimes you stop eating and stare at him before offering him the snacks, neuvillette denies them and just goes on to watching you eat. you’re just so adorable.

HE MAKES YOU HOMEMADE GIFTS INSTEAD OF BUYING THEM!! like yes, he still buys you gifts but i feel like neuvillette would find homemade gifts more romantic and better than buying gifts.

nevy watches those youtube or tiktok videos on how to “make it yourself: pop up minecraft heart card” stuff like that you know? he tries his very best so please don’t be mad at him when it’s very sloppy looking 😭

he also gifts you handmade matching bracelets that he made, his is baby blue (and other shades of blue) and white and yours is f/c with another of your f/c. to be honest, you kind of.. sobbed when he gave them to you like? really? you made these cute little matching bracelets for us both..? and you included my favourite colours? EEUUUHUUUUUUUUU

“i wanted to make us matching bracelets because.. i’ve seen other couples doing it so i wanted to do it myself.. here you go.”

you look up at him,

“this.. this is for me?” you’re clutching onto them and admiring it.

neuvillette nods his head

“it’s.. i-it’s so cute..”

nevy can literally hear how your voice goes soft and he can see tears pricking in the corner of your eyes.

“(;﹏;)”

“y/n? are you-“

“EUUHUHUHUHUUU 。゜゜(´Ｏ`) ゜゜。”

you gave him a heart attack my guy thought you were crying because of how ugly it was but when he found out it was just because you’ve never seen anything cuter in your life and you promised to keep it forever HE almost cried.

!!!! gives you his jacket whenever he sees you’re cold and shivering!!!! and he is bigger than you (probably) so his jacket is definitely larger than you and he will never get enough of looking at you in his clothing.

and when you give him back his jacket? he shakes his head and tells you that it’s yours now.

“what but- it’s your jacket you can’t just-“

“shhhh… it’s okay, it looks better on you anyway.”

“oh- oh okay..”

he lectures you or just informs you about what you did wrong and tells you what you should’ve done before.

when you’re in the wrong, and aruging with someone he WILL back you up whether you’re wrong or not, but behind closed doors he sits you down and gives you a talk about what you said was wrong and you get the deal.

this is one of the MAAAANNNY reasons of why your parents and friends love him, he knows what’s wrong and right and can guide you to the right path.

he admires you as you’re asleep, the streaks of sunlight seeping through the blinds and lighting up the room. he swears that you’re an angel.

his finger caressing your cheek softly as he moves your hair strand from your face, and he kisses your face, your cheeks, nose, forehead, eyes and neck. everything about you is so… beautiful.

he can’t take his eyes off of you, and as you stirr awake he makes to kiss your temple and mumble his good morning.

guys, this is a pretty big one but, he helps out with chores!! he does the laundry for you, washing his and your clothes together. or even washing the dishes. and everytime you see him with an apron on… god bless the whole house.

he just wants to take care of you ☹️

he NEVER EVERRR lets you pay the bills!! if he ever did it would have to be split.

he won’t hesitate (will) to fight you over the bill. and the waiter just stands there holding the payment terminal just.. smiling.. waiting for either neuvillette or you to just pay.

neuvillette 100% day dreams about you two having a family. he can just imagine what your children would be looking like and sometimes he just wants to kick his feet and giggle like a child.

he would never tell you about this though, he’s too embarrassed. maybe one day but honestly, if he ever did tell you, you should tell him that you thought about your future children too.

HE BUYS YOU CLOTHING THAT HE KNOWS WOULD LOOK GOOD ON YOU. but you look good in everything so he just buys it because he wants to see you in it :)

doesn’t matter if it’s expensive or not, revealing yea but.. lingerie is only for him to see so.. doesn’t hurt.

“awww neuvillette, are these for me? they’re so cute!!”

“i know, that’s why i bought them, i’m a hundred percent sure you will look beautiful in them.”

“oh stop.. i don’t know.. do you really think that?”

“of course, love! check what else is in the bag.”

“okay! … nevy? are these.. lingerie…?”

“yes.. i’m sorry, are you uncomfortable with them? i can take them back don’t wor-“

“no no! it’s not that but i’m just asked why?”

“well i mean, no one is going to see.. just me. don’t be so embarrassed.”

“mmm.. okay..”

note: there was more.. but i lost is MEANING I LOST AT LEAST 2-3 BULLET POINTS ☹️☹️ im sobbing ILL MAKE ANORHWR PART IF I CAN 🙏🏻🙏🏻

taglist: @tomansimp @one-offmind @miitchiji @dainsleif-when-playable @momoewn @stygianoir @irethepotato @v4an @imetsk @fiannee @sunnyf4lls if im missing anyone please tell me because i have an inkling feeling i missed a few..

liking + following + reblogs are very much appreciated!!!

another note: im so sorry this is short 😭

[demonsword586]

Beelzebub Attacker part 1

Whew! This took a little longer than I expected. Then again,the first parts are always a bit longer. The next part is coming in a few days!

(Pg: Abyssos streets)

The crowded streets of Abyssos at night.

Nicknamed the Country of Pleasure,the nights were brighter than the days.

And there,you...

Sniff Sniff

Beelzebub: Ha....Smells nice...

You were walking down that busy,tumultous street with Beelzebub,a handsome man who smelled your hair and was openly horny.

Mc: Ah! Don't smell me there...

Beelzebub: Why not? It smells delicious-

Embarrassed,you tried to push Beelzebub away,but it was impossible because he had his arm around your shoulders,half-leaning on you.

The streets of Abyssos's entertainment district where even more devils come and became crowded as the sun set,

And you had no choice but to walk closer to Beelzebub to avoid being run over by other devils.

The devils grew in number,the neon lights of the night were blindly bright,and Beelzebub bamboozled you most of all.

His flushed face,his soft voice and his guidence.

Beelzebub: Welcome to the night of Abyssos,the city of drugs,gambling and pleasure.

Beelzebub: Abyssos is a country where everything is legal. Oh! Except stealing other's lovers.

Beelzebub: I wanted to introduce you to the back alleys of our proud Abyssos. For the pride of Abyssos is not in the palace but in the back streets.

Beelzebub: Everywhere in Gehenna is like a back alley,but no offense,it's nostalgic. Keke~

Beelzebub said many things as though he was excited. You had never seen Beelzebub in such high spirits before.

Beelzebub: Oh! I wanted to go to that store with you.

He raised his finger,pointing at the sign far away.

{White Lovers}

Beelzebub: That restaurant is famous for making it's sauce with the semen of the healthiest,best-batured male devils in Abyssos.

Beelzebub: It's such that you would dance at the healthy taste once you try it.

Mc: (What the....It's strange but I'm curious.)

Leaning on you to the point it made you staggger,Beelzebub spoke joyfully with his arm around your waist.

Then,he pointed at the sign on the next store with his finger and continued.

{Forest of mushrooms}

Beelzebub: The shop next door is a cafe rhat distills the saliva of the most handsome men in Abyssos to make a variety of drinks.

Beelzebub: It's been around for 800 years,so there's a lot of tradition and a lot of pride.

Beelzebub: At the end of the day,they collect saliva and put it in Baba Yaga's cauldron to distill overnight,then make a drink from it in the morning to sell.

Beelzebub: There's only a certain amount of spit you can collect per night,so there's a limited amount they can sell,and I've only tried it a few times.

Mc: (So weird,but I want to try it!)

Afterward,Beelzebub entertained you by showing you around as if he were taking you on a trip.

Of course,you were most excited and happy to walk through a main street with an extraordinarily handsome man-

Mc: (Ugh...Satan will be angry)

That was right. You were at the royal tower of Gehenna a few minutes ago.

(Pg changes to Gehenna halls)

While enjoying a cup of tea with Ppyong and Sitri,Sitri's tea was too strong and caused Ppyong to go into caffeine shock. So the two momentarily left you for a while.

Beelzebub: Shall we get moving?

Mc: Beelzebub?!

Beelzebub appeared from behind your back,slipped his hand behind your knee to scooped you up in a princess hug,and flew out through the window.

(Pg changes back to Abyssos streets)

As a result,here you were.

You werw casually enjoying your date with Beelzebub,as if you'd arrange it days before.

Mc: (Wait,why was he in Gehenna? I mean,since when was he nearby?! And how did we arrive in Abyssos so quickly?!)

You were full of questions,but you were too hectic. And whats more...

Mc: (It feels like Beelzebub can disappear anytime soon,so I don't want to waste time talking about trivial things)

Even if it was Beelzebub's strategy to make you think that, you were willing to be fooled.

Mc: (Because Beelzebub is so cool that I don't want to waste a single second even when he's right next to me...)

You furtively raised your head to look up at Beelzebub's side profile as he joyfully looked around his surroundings.

The man who was leaning against you so casually,that you almost felt regretful,was looking around with a faint smile of longing and affection in his eyes.

Mc: Come to think of it....the surrounding devils are quiet. I thought they would cause a fuss again with Beelzebub being here.

Mc: Don't tell me that you caused a spell or something?

Beelzebub: Well,what do you think?

Beelzebub chuckled instead of answering. A naughty man who never gave a serious answer. But this was as good as 'yes'.

Otherwise,it didn't make sense that they would not recognize Beelzebub when they were so close to each other, they were bumping shoulders.

Mc: Anyway,what happened? It's so sudden!

Beelzebub: Sniff* Sniff*

Mc: (I was an idiot for wanting an answer...)

Beelzebub buried his nose in the top of your head as though he didn't have time to answer.

Bewlzebub: There are about three places where you smell really strongly. One is here,another is in your armpits and the third is in your-

Speaking in joy,Beelzebub pretended to straighten up and whispered in your ear.

Beelzebub: And 'that' place which began to get wet as soon as I started sniffing you.

Mc:!!

You tightened your thighs before you knew it.

Beelzebub snickered and rubbed his cheek in your messy hair.

Beelzebub: I missed you. That's all.

Mc: !!!

Your heart thumped without resistence at the innocent confession,lightly delivered at the strange timing.

Strangely enough,you didn't feel like hiding the feelings in your heart.

Minhyeok's face momentarily flashed in your mind,but at the same time,another more honest emotion you had...

Mc: I missed you too.

Beelzebub: I thought you did. That's why I came here to see you.

The man's words had no weight,no modesty,but you thought it didn't matter.

Mc: (It's nice to hear)

With that honest emotion alone,you decided to enjoy this situation.

As though he had sensed your feelings,Beelzebub began to walk while pulling you closer to him and holding !ou more closely than before.

Just then,a sign poking out above the tall devils' head caught your eye.

Mc: Beelzebub,what kind of store is that? It has a drawing of a knife...is it a restaurant?

Beelzebub: Ahh,thats the store run by a devil who has the ability to change your gender.

Beelzebub: If you invest a few more seconds there,you can change !our gender right away.

Beelzebub: Its only available there,but it's a favorite spot for devils who want to swap positions with their lover.

Mc: T-That's amazing!

Beelzebub: Well,but it doesn't matter to you,right? All the devils here woudn't mind if you were a man or a woman.

Beelzebub said in a sing-song voice as thought the fact made him really happy.

Beelzebub: Ah,we're nearly there.

Mc: (You had a destination in mind?!)

You gasped in suprise and pointed at the nearest sign.

The sign had a drawing of a rope which looked like a noose.

Mc: Is that our destination?

Beelzebub: Ah,no. But shall we stop by there if you're intrested?

Mc: What do they have in there?

Beelzebub: It's a suicidal cafe. The customers can decide on the method of suicide.

Beelzebub: They can die by decapitation,dismemberment or drowning.

Mc: What?! Do they really die?!

Beelzebub: No,the owner of the store comes to save you just before you die,so you won't die for real.

Beelzebub: But it's just a place you go to feel that ectatic feeling of death.

Beelzebub: When you're really a second away from death,the owner uses his ability to restore you to your previous state.

Beelzebub: From what I heard,the owner is from Paradise Lost....He's a mysterious devil.

Mc: Is it alright for a devil from another country to do business here?

Beelzebub: Well,Bael will take care of that well,so - I don't really know about things like that.

Mc: (You're the king,but you don't know.)

Feeling trivially shocked,you sent words of comfort to Bael in your mind.

Just thwn Beelzebub came to a stop and so did you.

He had come to a stop infront of a bright red,steel door in the shape of a large arch.

Mc: Is this today's destination?

Beelzebub: No,this is a shelter.

Beelzebub: In human terms...a home in the woods? A bench in a large square in the center of a park? I don't know.

Mc: This flashy,prominent thing is a shelter?

Beelzebub: It should be flashy and prominent for you to notice and rest inside,shoudn't it?

Mc: Now that you say it,yea.

Persuaded by Beelzebub's reason,you opened the large door and entered with Beelzebub.

(Pg changes to the 'shelter' inside)

But you froze,your expectations of relaxing music or quiet room dashed as soon as you walked through the door.

Happy-looking Male devil: Ah...hnn!...

Happy-looking Female devil: Hn,hnn-hnngh...ah...ah!

Over the sticky,jazzy music,loud moans from around the spacious room overlapped,creating a cacophony that tickled your stomach.

In the reddish room,there was a plush couch that was obviously meant for relaxation, but it was covered in bodily fluids spilled by the devils everywhere...

And they were even conducting intercourse on the couch.

Mc: B-Beelzebub,I think we entered the wrong room...

Scratching your cheek in embarrassment,you pulled on thw hem of Beelzebub's clothes. He turned,then-

Beelzebub: Raise your arms. Say hooray!

Mc: Hooray?...

Beelzebub required it all too naturally,and you raised your arms without even doubting him.

Then the shirt you were wearing was pulled off the top of your head.

Mc: Huhhh?!!!

Startled,you raised your arms too late to cover your chest,

Beelzebub: How nice of you. Are you helping me?

Said Beelzebub,then casually threw his arms around you as if to embrace you,and immediately reached behind your back to unhook your bra.

Mc: Huhhhh?!

You made a stupid sound again,but you were already in Beelzebub's arms,stripped of your shirt and upper underwear.

Mc: W-Wait! I don't know what's going on now-

Beelzebub: We are going to take a break!

Beelzebub smiled as he hugged you.

You were about to experience a 'break' rhat you had never experienced before.

[shoot-i-messed-up]

Isn’t Hal jordan life just filled with propaganda? Grew up in a military household, joined the usaf, was a pilot for Ferris air(believe they tests military aircraft) and then joined the gl corps that’s basically just military propaganda in itself

Whew. Must suck to be him, buddy can’t catch a break

I don’t really think myself qualified to speak on this, but I’ve been thinking about this ask since I saw it.

To be fair, I think it could be argued that while Hal’s life is chock-full of military service, sometimes it can be interpreted as deconstruction rather than propaganda--although the hotshot Top Gun way he’s written post-Johns can totally feel propagandistic at times.

Like, look at this variant cover. I feel more patriotic already.

Post-Johns, Hal’s father Martin Jordan was portrayed more positively than he had been previously, (notably, that he wasn’t either physically abusive or particularly dismissive of Hal versus his brothers). Another thing: Emerald Dawn suggests--and it is also emphasized in Green Lantern: Sleepers book three--that Martin purposefully did not eject from the test plane because he would rather die a pilot than eject, leaving his wife a widow and his three sons orphans. So, arguably, the Top Gun bravado that Hal is so infamous for now, has been criticized from the beginning of Hal’s life.

And the possibly military propaganda of the Green Lantern Corps is something I’ve been thinking about since I became a GL fan. It’s either a highly militarized police force or a policing military force, which...does not feel good either way. And where do the Guardians get the authority to police the universe anyway? Power should come to rulers from those they rule, right?

Honestly, I kinda liked that the Corps was shown as corrupt for a while in iirc Geoff Johns’ run, with the Guardians allowing lethal force against the Sinestro Corps and later any enemy of the Corps, and then altogether scheming to get rid of the Corps from the inside out? I thought it was really, really interesting. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, right? We kinda saw that with Sinestro, and with Parallax, etc.

But, because this is superhero comics and we tend to want our superheroes to be good guys, I do think about possible ways the Corps can be characterized as less of a police force. For one thing, I think we should get rid of the Guardians and reinstate John Stewart as Corps leader. The Guardians literally cause, like, half of the Corps’ problems, either directly or indirectly. For another thing, I would love for the Corps to perhaps be more akin to firefighters than police, if that makes sense? Put more emphasis on saving people from natural disasters or, like, space pirates, or traffickers, I don’t know. 

I’ve heard it said that the Corps could just be a really big team of superheroes instead of a military, but I do think if we get rid of the military aspect entirely, we’re...kinda losing out on some of the aesthetic appeal? And, yeah, I know I know, the whole “you are not immune to propaganda” meme. Military is all about discipline (at least, the ideal of it), and the willpower of a Green Lantern is very closely related to discipline.

So...this answer got out of hand. Yeah Hal cannot catch a break, sorry buddy.

[megamindsecretlair]

Be My Little Darling - Interlude

Chapter 12 Chapter 13

Pairing: Loki x Black!Fem!reader / Plus Size reader

Warnings: 18+. Minors DNI. You are in charge of your own reading experience. ANGST. There's ANGST. Mentions of grief, violence and negative self talk. Soft Loki.

Summary: Loki is the exclusive owner of the hottest club in New Asgard. Dubbed the Nine Realms, each of the nine rooms represent a different realm. You are his second in command, working the floors and ensuring everyone is having fun. An attack on the club affects everyone, you most of all. Loki wrangles with his own demons in search of you.

Word Count: 3,511k

Masterlist

A/N: Whew! Sorry for the long wait, but I couldn't get the thought of his POV out of my head before moving on to an attack plan. This week's been shitty and this definitely helped me! The care and feeding of your favorite artists starts with a comment or reblog!

Taglist: @cantstayawaycani @braverthanthenewworld @monaeesstuff @chaos-4baby @dayjlovesromance @soft-persephone @mybonafidefeelings @nerdieforpedro @browngirldominion @thecookiebratz @we-outsiiiide @foxherder @itzgabz22 @iv0rysoap @amethyst09 @ciaqui @harmshake @nworbaij @judymfmoody @abcdestinyyyy

Loki

“You…bastard,” you sighed.

“I don’t know how else to be,” he said. 

Loki knew he went too far this time. He usually liked to toy with you, pushing your boundaries to see how far he could go before you truly snapped. He knew he walked a fine line but he had to know. Some deep part of him had to know where your line was. Where he couldn’t cross. 

You yanked your wrist out of his grasp, panting with unreleased gasps. He wanted you to let loose. He wanted you to yell and scream and rage at him. It was all he’d ever known and he wanted to see what it would take for you to break. 

“We promised no lies between us. And if you can’t give me that Loki, you can’t have me.”

He’d never heard you sound so…defeated. Angry sure, frustrated definitely, but defeated? That word didn’t belong in the same sentence as you. You refused to look at him so Loki opened his mouth, ready to fall to his knees and tell you how sorry he was. Words would never do. They were inadequate. 

Ideas flew through his mind on the right way to make up for the fucked up game of cat and mouse he played with you. He only ever wanted you to love him, but love wasn’t easy. Love was snide remarks and hiding in the shadows. Love was cruel secrets. He didn’t want that with you.

The blasted screaming started. Your eyes widened and you tore off down the hallway towards the sound. Loki clenched his fists and ran after you. He was going to strangle that damn saboteur if it was the last thing he did. The fiend had caused too much pain and misery. It was a wonder he still had a club left standing. 

The screams came from the Helheim room, thick black smoke rolling out of it in waves. Loki’s employees and customers ran screaming from the room. Blood-curdling screams that would make a lesser man wet himself. 

You attempted to enter but Loki held you back. “I don’t like the way this looks,” he said. He stared at the thick fog. It was almost too thick. Man-made. Or perhaps magically inclined. He didn’t want you anywhere near it.

You only turned liquid eyes to him, constructed two batons, and rushed inside. “Darling!”

Fear. Loki was not unaccustomed to fear. He’d been raised and humbled by it. There had been an ever present pressure in his chest as he grew up in the shadow of Thor and the bastard son of Odin. He felt it often whenever he came so close to death he could kiss its lips. Thanos was the latest harbinger of it and Loki didn’t think he’d survive it.

He was wrong. This, he couldn’t survive. The moment you were swallowed up into the fog, an icy hand slipped around his heart and he thought he’d collapse from the strain. Getting to you was more important, his life be damned.

He rushed in right after you and it felt like slamming into a wall of slimy muck. He couldn’t see two inches from his nose, let alone determine where you were in this mess. The fog seeped everywhere. Up his nose, in his eyes, and in his mouth. He gagged on the foul taste.

“Sweetie! Baby!” Loki turned to the sound of your voice, but he couldn’t pinpoint where you were. 

“Darling!” Loki barreled forward in the room, not caring what he ran into or who he ran over. He needed to know that you were okay. He couldn’t allow the last words you ever spoke to him be that he couldn’t have you. He couldn’t allow it. He wouldn’t allow it. He’d spend every waking moment taking back what he did if it just meant that you’d be safe. 

“Call out!” 

Loki heard your voice coming from the right side of the room. Problem was, he didn’t know how close or how far you were away. 

Panic edged its way into his consciousness as he moved forward. “Call out!” You cried out again, but you sounded fainter. Far away. 

“Darling!” Loki called. 

“Loki!” Was that fear he heard in your voice? Loki threw out a beam of green light to combat the fog. It didn’t penetrate it in the slightest. 

A curl of laughter made him whip around to face more black fog. He tried again and again to shine the green light and hoped to find his way to you. Your name fell from Loki’s lips as he tried tricks up his sleeve to clear away the fog. Nothing worked.

“Please,” Loki whispered. He wasn’t one for prayer. He had no use for foolish words carried on the wind for Odin to find. As his heart began to crack into two, he stopped moving briefly to cast his eyes upwards.

“Frigga…Mother, help her,” he pleaded. He didn’t know if his words were welcome in Valhalla. He’d likely never see it. But you…you would be celebrated there. A true warrior to your core. And today was not the day that you were taken from him. He didn’t care if he didn’t deserve you. He’d make sure you were safe. 

“Darling!” Loki yelled.

“Loki!” You echoed. Where were you? 

Loki’s panicked gasps only ensured that more of the thick fog entered his system. He began to feel fuzzy around the edges, like he drank tainted meade and couldn’t keep his wits about him. 

There was a clanging crash of chairs and metal off in the distance. Loki turned towards the sound but there was nothing to see. He didn’t know where it came from. 

“Is this all the attention I’m worth, Loki?”

Dread stopped Loki’s attempts at flashing his green light. That voice wasn’t right, but the inflection. The tone. Loki looked around, eyes darting for any glimpse of you. He just needed one. One to confirm that you were alright. 

“I leave you clues to know who I am and yet all you concern yourself with is your pet?” 

“No,” Loki whispered. “Why the games? Why not reveal yourself?” Loki couldn’t be sure but he thought he saw pinpricks of light at a good distance from him. 

“I want to see the look on your face when you figure it out. Until then, the fun must continue. But I will not be ignored!” The voices sounded distorted, there was definitely more than one. 

“Darling,” Loki breathed. A rush of fear and panic kept Loki rooted to the spot. There were only two other people in the universe who could conjure something like this. Who could throw voices, cast illusions. His mother and Enchantress. 

Loki refused to speak her name, refused to give voice to his doubts. Let her have her fun at the moment. Now it all clicked into place. Parlor tricks. Mean pranks. Things designed to irritate, confuse, and leave someone feeling unsettled. He taught her that. He should have known.

Loki kept his features schooled. He didn’t know how much she could see or hear at the moment. 

“Sweetie!” 

Loki moved towards the sound of your voice. He scrambled through the fog, getting absolutely nowhere. Chortling laughter echoed in the wide room, poking fun at his desperate attempts to reach you. It felt like he was swimming upstream and he’d never reach you.

What if he didn’t? What if you succumbed to your fear? He didn’t even know what you were most afraid of. You’d kept that part to yourself. And as much as he wanted to crack you open and learn all your secrets, he wanted your trust more.

Too many unresolved things were between you. You weren’t allowed to leave him. Weren’t allowed to haul off and get kidnapped, or worse, killed by Enchantress before he had a chance to repent. To surrender to your mercy. He had been a complete ass to you. That wasn’t the way he wanted to treat you. That wasn’t the way he wanted you to know him. That wasn’t the way he wanted to treat the love of his life. 

You screamed and Loki’s jaw went slack. He rushed forward, a clawing need burning through his legs to reach you before anything bad happened to you. As if the fog didn’t exist, it parted revealing you standing in the middle of the room faced away from him. 

“Darling!” Loki rushed forward, turning you by the shoulders. You turned towards him with a pained expression, burning twins of emerald in your eyes. Not Darling.

“It should have been you,” you said. 

Loki knew it was an illusion. A damn convincing one. Your eyes turned back to its original color and you rubbed your head as if coming out of a trance. He didn’t want to trust it. But what if? What if?

Loki rubbed your arms. You felt real enough. But he’d also been inside the fog long enough to become affected by it. Seeing and feeling things that weren’t there. It had been one of the first lessons he taught Enchantress. One of the first things he made sure she knew how to wield like a weapon. 

“Darling?” 

“Loki? Please, I’m scared.” Your voice was so small. So timid. He couldn’t trust it. But he wanted to. Gods he wanted to. 

“No, no, no, I’m sorry!” You screamed. 

Loki looked at the figure before him that was distinctly not you. You smiled as if you had been found out, shrugging that it was no big deal that you got caught. 

“Darling!” Loki screamed. The figure in front of him stepped closer and ran a knife through his stomach. There was pain sure but…illusion. Had to be. He’d been stabbed enough times to know the difference between an illusion and a real knife. Didn’t mean it didn’t really fucking hurt though.

The smoke obscured the figure that looked like you and Loki fell to his knees. He couldn’t reach you. The realization made his chest hurt and his eyes burn. He couldn’t save you from this. Save you from her.

All this time, Enchantress had been watching Loki and the way he was with you. The way he looked forward to seeing you every day. He replayed the image of you on his doorstep, confident in nothing but a coat to cover your delicious body. The way you surrendered beneath him.

“Please,” Loki whispered. He’d give anything, do anything, be anything if it meant that he could get you out of here unscathed. 

“You’re a disappointment, Loki. Nothing but an Asgardian child’s nightmare,” Odin’s distinct voice rang throughout the room. 

Loki flipped his head back to look his father in the eye. He told himself that it was another trick. But gods…he looked the exact same. Down to his flowing white hair. 

“I should have left you on that godforsaken ice planet and been rid of you. A boil on my house since the moment I brought you home,” Odin said. The smug bastard looked Loki up and down with his one eye. 

Loki grinned, falling back on his usual sneering authority. “You can do better than that, Father.” 

“We need no longer speak, Brother,” Thor’s voice rang loud and clear as he stepped from the fog next to Odin. 

Loki’s grin faltered, but he kept up the pretense. He had to. He had to keep going. He couldn’t succumb to the mounting pressure in his chest that whispered for him to give up. To lay down. To stop fighting. 

Loki always had a strong sense of self-preservation. Growing up in the palace, he studied under his mother. The one person who didn’t look at him like he was a dark stain on the golden family. 

He always felt different. Odd. Whenever Odin spoke of becoming King of Asgard, he always knew that he was speaking more to Thor than to Loki. Always knew that when it came right down to it, Loki wasn’t even a thought. 

“There is no reason for us to speak as you can’t be trusted.” Loki looked into fake-Thor’s eyes. He was round and dumpy as he had been in the streets. As he had been since the fall of Thanos. It couldn’t be the real Thor and yet…

“Why do you continue to visit, Brother, knowing that I want nothing to do with you? If it wasn’t for you and your selfishness, Thanos wouldn’t have gotten hold of the Tesseract. You brought this blight upon us,” Thor spat at him.

The pain in his chest worsened. He knew he wasn’t bleeding out, but what good were thoughts when the physical manifestation was eating him from the inside out? 

He longed to see you. To hear you laugh. Hear you call him all manner of names under the sun. He yearned to see you beneath him, wrapped up in him, and looking at him with something other than disdain. Like he meant something. 

“I didn’t know,” Loki responded. The weight was too great. It’d be so easy for Loki to lie down. To not take anymore. These verisimilitudes were damn convincing. They crowded Loki as he bent at the waist, head nearly touching the floor. 

He didn’t want to give Enchantress anymore ammunition against him. But there was no use. Frigga appeared next and folded her arms. A cruel smile split her lips. 

“Oh, Loki. Did you really think I’d help your little whore of a pet?” 

“Stop this, at once!” Loki’s voice broke as he looked away from the venom in his mother’s eyes. “Mother, please.” 

Reality and fantasy blended in his head. He knew what was true and yet the illusions of his family began spewing all manner of things he thought about himself over the years. He was useless, worthless, a trickster, couldn’t be trusted. Their words echoed and meshed together. A ringing cacophony of negative words thrown at him. 

“No!” 

Your voice was like a single ray of sunshine in the bleak room. You sounded like how he felt. Afraid. Desolate. He had to get to you. If nothing else, he needed you to be safe.

“That’s the problem with trying to use this trick on me. There’s nothing you can say that I don’t already tell myself,” Loki said to the visages of his family. His broken, tortured, screwed up family.

They all sneered at him. “Yes, we know you’re oh so powerful. But are you powerful enough to save your pet?” Frigga leaned close and ran her hand down Loki’s face. She even got his mother’s scent nearly so. 

“Better hurry,” Frigga whispered.

“No, no, no, I’m sorry!” You screamed.

Loki scrambled to his feet and ran after your screaming voice. You had to be locked in some sort of nightmare. Trapped by your own demons. That’s what the spell did. Cracked open your skull and read your thoughts like an open book. It laid bare all the admonishing negative self talk. All the things people punished themselves for.

It didn’t work half as well on Loki because he already did that on a daily basis. You, however, you sweet, beautiful woman pushed those thoughts to the background. Tried to bury them deep. But your grief was loud.

Gods, you sounded like a wounded animal. Clawing and screaming at nothing. His heart successfully cracked down the middle and shattered within his chest as seeing the confusion and fear on your face. 

“Darling, Darling,” Loki said, shaking you gently to wake you from the nightmare. Gods, what must you see at the moment? What horrible torment did you endure day after day on top of what he had planned?

Loki flipped you over. You blinked at him, swimming up from whatever dark place you were in. Recognition dawned in your eyes before you gasped, pointing behind him. “Loki, look out!” You yelled. 

“No! No! No! Not him! Take me!” You yelled with a raw, singed throat. You fought with Loki, fought to climb to your knees. 

“Darling, gods,” Loki breathed. He tried to hug you or press you to his chest. You fought him. You were so drained, your hits barely landed. You were spent, strength depleted. And still you fought some invisible beast.

“Take me! Take me! Take me!” You said, over and over.

Pain laced through Loki’s heart. Did you really think…? Did you really believe that he would allow you to sacrifice yourself for the likes of him? 

You suddenly screamed, clutching your head like it was about to burst. Loki called your name, repeating it over and over. He wasn’t strong enough to break the spell. He wasn’t strong enough to lure you out of the nightmare and show you that everything was okay. 

You finally passed out to the sound of him calling your name again and again.

Loki moved you to his office where he could keep a close eye on you. He didn’t want to risk bringing you back to his place. He demanded a doctor be located and brought to his office. He left the clean up to Honey and some of the other staff who weren’t affected by the fog. Not like the ones who were hit full force.

All night, people came in and out to check on you until Loki finally closed the door, stating that you needed to rest. Your face was scrunched in pain in sleep and Loki finally sat vigil by your side.

He clasped your hand in his, bringing your cold hand to his lips and pressing soft kisses there. Alone, with no one to overhear, Loki finally let the tears fall. All the pent up, dire emotions that swam in his head and chest, he let loose with a string of tears running down his face.

“Mother, if you still want to hear from me, please don’t punish her. Don’t take her away from me. Bring her back. Return her to me and I will spend the rest of my days earning her love. Please, Mother,” Loki prayed. 

You woke up a few times in the night, waking long enough to check on the club. When you woke up for good and confessed your love to him, Loki was so shocked he didn’t know what to do. He knew he needed you to know how he felt though. 

He expected many things, but a night of confession wasn’t it. He expected you to hate him, loathe him, cast him out from your presence. Instead, you opened yourself to him and trusted him with your secrets. He did the same in kind.

“For a night of confessions, I have one more.” He took a deep breath. He wasn’t sure how well you’d take this news on top of everything you had been through tonight. But you were tough. His brave Darling. You rubbed his hand and looked at him. 

“I know who the saboteur is now. Enchantress. She…when the loneliness grew too much for me to bear, I thought I’d fashion myself a companion. I taught her how to use magic like how my mother showed me. But she thirsted for power, not companionship. And now she’s rightfully back, taking her hatred out on me for what I did to her.” 

“Fuck that. She’s batshit crazy and she’s gonna hear from me about that little stunt she pulled,” you said. Fire burned in your eyes and Loki smiled, loved seeing the spark return. It was a damned good sight better than you passed out on the couch.

“This is a demon from my past, Darling. I will take care of her,” Loki said. Or die trying. But as long as you were safe, Loki could finally enter Hel and begin his long, cursed life anew. 

“I know that look, Loki. We can fight her together,” you said.

“You nearly died from shock, Darling!” Loki didn’t mean to yell, but now that you were awake he could feel all of his worrying and frustration flood his system. He nearly lost you. The doctor declared that one minute longer and your heart would have given out. 

“If you go, I go,” you said, your face set in a determined grimace.

Loki looked at you. He rubbed his face and sighed. He didn’t want to argue this point. He didn’t want to put any extra strain on you.

“For tonight, Darling, can we argue about this in the morning? I just want to feel that you’re safe,” he confessed softly.

You smiled, nodded, and opened your arms. There wasn’t a whole lot of room on the couch for you both, but Loki was thin. He slid right in beside you and held you close. Felt your heart thumping beneath your chest. Felt the rhythm of your breathing. The soft fan of your breath across his neck.

“Sleep, Darling. I’ll protect you,” he said. He idly rubbed your back until your breathing evened out. He thought you already passed out, so when you murmured, he almost didn’t catch it.

“I’ll protect you too.”

WHEW! Always more Loki to love!

Masterlist | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13

[sednonamoris]

thunderstruck

Pairing: John Marston x gn!reader

Summary: A storm brews over your journey with John to meet an old friend and make a profit on the Braithwaite horses. What will happen when lightning strikes?

Warnings: Jealousy, emotional constipation, past relationships, strong language, love confessions, handjobs, penetrative sex, spit as lube (smut easily avoided if you want to skip over it)

Word count: 4,418

A/N: whew!! twenty-three chapters later these two finally got together - i hope you all have enjoyed the ride, and look forward to the rest as much as i do!! let me know what you think <3

Series masterlist • AO3

—

Thunderhead Gulch is an average plains town situated, as the name might suggest, over a gulch where a violent stream rumbles through otherwise quiet countryside. The rockiness of the area lends itself to pastureland and little else; herds of cattle roam and graze, and farmers with rough hands and kind eyes tend their flocks. The town’s storefronts are simple but well-kept, very much like the people who run them. It’s a place for good, honest people looking for good, honest work. 

And it’s exactly where a perfect criminal lives.

Half a week’s worth of travel brought you here, all the while John asking questions you’ve done your best to avoid answering. An old friend from Tumbleweed, is all you’ve told him about the forger you’re meeting. Just a quick reunion and a job done right and we’re out of there. There’s no one else you’d trust to do this job right, but it’s been a long time. You can’t entirely blame John for the skeptical scowl on his face. 

The curio shop you hitch your horses in front of is nestled into Thunderhead’s downtown like it’s been there forever, fit to burst with every secondhand oddity imaginable. Broken clocks and one-eyed dolls and discontinued dime novel serials line the front windows. Inside, a narrow and winding footpath from front to back is all that remains to customers. Every other square inch has been claimed by stacks upon stacks upon stacks of the curiosities this shop is named for.

You and John squeeze your way through the door to the cheerful tinkle of bells. Behind the counter lies a precarious stack of antique bear traps. There’s not a shopkeep in sight. 

“Hello?” John calls out.

“In the back!” a muffled voice replies.

You smile in recognition. John’s expression is entirely mystified, but he takes the look on your face as his go-ahead to forge a path through, weaving around cracked China displays and rusted revolvers and moth-eaten wedding gowns.

Past all that, between stacks of other men’s trash and lost treasures, sits Lottie Reed.

Surprise colors her sharp, angular face the moment she looks up from the faded throw pillow she’s mending, and though time has wrought its changes you still recognize the wild spirit you met once upon a childhood ago in the depths of her seafoam eyes. 

“Do my eyes deceive me, or is that a Ghost?” she asks. Her face is still surprised, still cautious, but a smile threatens the severity of her shock. 

“I’m afraid your shop is terribly haunted, Miss,” you grin.

Just like that her needle and thread are thrown aside as she rushes in for a hug. Her wiry frame curls around you in a vice grip, stood on her tip-toes and clinging like if she holds tight enough you won’t be able to fade away like lost memory. You laugh and hug back warmly. It’s been too long. 

John coughs uncomfortably after a moment.

“Oh, I clean forgot my manners,” you say, extricating yourself from Lottie’s embrace and taking a step back. “Lottie Reed, this is John Marston.” John gives a lukewarm smile. “John Marston, this is my old friend Lottie Reed. We grew up together.” Lottie extends her hand to shake.

“Good to meet you,” John says past his stiff shoulders and wary stare. “Ghost never mentioned much of you before.”

“We lost touch for a spell once I married and moved up here,” Lottie says. John raises his brows. You clear your throat. “Back in the day I earned a cut off stolen horseflesh for forging papers, but Melvin didn’t like me being a part of that life.”

As you recall, he didn’t like you being a part of Lottie’s life. The two of you lived fast and free before he came into the picture, a perfect suitor picked by her parents. Settled, property-owning, and respectable, Melvin was everything Lottie’s family ever imagined for their lettered daughter. You, a cast off orphan with nothing to your name but a government arrest warrant, were not.

“Wherever is Mr. Reed?” 

“Dead. The fever got him two years ago.” Lottie smiles wistfully. “I wrote, but I don’t imagine you ever got the letter.”

“I’m… real sorry.” You’re not sure if you’re apologizing because he’s dead or for a letter you never read. Maybe it’s the fact that you didn’t try to get in touch until now. You never liked Melvin much, but you and Lottie... Well. It’s all in the past now, where things get twisted and lost and can’t ever change.

“Any chance you’re still in the paper fixin’ business?” John asks. Tension looses from your shoulders at the change in topic. “Ghost and I got a couple horses that need buyers, and from what I understand they’d go for a prettier penny with your help.” 

Lottie stands up straighter, businesslike, when she says yes.

“Melvin left me everything, but as you can see,” she gestures to the worthless paraphernalia surrounding you, “it isn’t much. Why don’t you stay by the house tonight while I fix up those papers? It’s been a sight too empty for too long. I’d like the company.”

“We’ll be there,” you promise, clasping her hand before stepping away.

It’s been too long since you’ve slept in a proper bed with a roof over your head, and longer still since you’ve caught up with an old friend. John’s mouth tightens when you say it, maybe because you agreed without asking, but you can’t imagine why a hot meal and some company would bother him. It never has before.

—

Dinner proves an awkward affair.

By the time you and John broke camp and herded your stolen horses to the property, twilight had already painted the house and neighboring barn in dreamy purples and golds. John bitched the whole time you put the horses up, set off by something he refused to tell you about. Then when Lottie met you at the front door in a pretty green dress with her dark curls pulled up it only got worse. She ushered you both into her humbly lit dining room, where a wonderful meal awaited. He glared through the whole affair, despite the warmth of the fire and the kindness piled on every plate. You asked for seconds. He asked to be excused. 

Now he’s off sulking somewhere while you show Lottie the horses down at the barn. So long as he doesn’t scare any buyers away you just have to trust that this mood of his will pass with time. 

Old Father Time nickers you back to the present, begging for a treat that Lottie offers up gladly. She giggles at the tickle of his whiskers when he takes it from her outstretched palm. His dark coat gleams even in the nighttime. Autocrat paws and tosses his dappled head. Cerberus whickers for his own share of attention, earning an affectionate scratch behind the ear. As you introduce each stallion and his accomplishments Lottie hums thoughtfully, mentions a few adjustments she’d like to make on their papers accordingly. It’s nice to work with a professional. You’d almost forgotten what the luxury of forged papers felt like, so long spent with unlettered outlaws and people otherwise uninterested in the horse business. 

“They’re fine animals,” Lottie says, then gestures to Old Boy and Moonshine. “What about these two?”

“I found Old Boy there skinny and abandoned. Perfect timing that John needed a new horse. He put the weight back on him and has him trained up nice.” 

“And the roan?”

“A friend died and left this beast behind,” you say with an affectionate pat to Moonshine’s silver-blue neck over the stall door. He rolls an ornery eye at you, but doesn’t offer a bite like he might have just a few months ago. “He’s mean, but he’s mine.”

Lottie laughs. “Like your cowboy, then.”

“He ain’t—we’re not—” you fumble, “I don’t—”

“The outlaw doth protest too much, methinks,” she cuts you off gently, with that smile full of home and heartbreak. The quote scratches at almost-lost memory in the back of your mind. Summers spent sneaking into a family home through the second story bedroom window. A warm hand in yours. Her familiar voice reciting Shakespeare while you pretended to understand the lines you parroted back. 

“The outlaw protests just enough,” you frown. “He ain’t mine, though I will apologize on his behalf for the way he acted at dinner. John’s plenty mean, but not like that. Not usually, anyway.”

“He’s jealous,” she says like it’s obvious. “I can hardly blame him.”

“If he wants you, I ain’t standin’ in the way, Miss High-and-Mighty,” you laugh, caught off guard by the sudden turn in conversation. It’s a high-up, nervous sound.

“Miss Nothing-to-him,” she corrects. “Can’t you see? That man only has eyes for you.” 

It’s everything you’ve ever wanted to hear and you’re not quite sure what to say. Emotions flash through you like lightning and brush fire, electric scorches of surprise and denial and self-deprecation. Longing. Hope.

“You think?” is all you manage to muster.

Lottie’s eyes are far too sympathetic. “I know.”

“And you don’t… mind?” Your shoulders cringe even as you ask it. Some things are just worth checking. 

She sighs, turns to face you fully, and takes your hands in hers. “I loved after you for a long time. The idea of you, really. A dashing outlaw and a horseback rescue from the life I didn’t want.” She offers a wry smile as she continues, “I only heard that you took Daddy’s money and ran long after the wedding was over.” You start to apologize, but she cuts you off before it ever leaves your mouth. “It’s done, now. I don’t think either of us would go back and change it if we could. I’m happy here, now, and you have your cowboy. Your John. It’s time you let yourself be happy, too.” 

“Funny enough, you’re not the first person who’s said that to me.” You drop your chin and try to stop the burn of tears that threatens your composure as you squeeze her bookish hands with your calloused ones. “Thank you, Lottie.”

She squeezes back and smiles. “You’re welcome.”

When she says your name, you feel a little less like a ghost. 

—

On the walk back up to the house you spy movement in an upstairs window. Just a blur by candlelight. 

You wonder how much John saw from up there. If jealousy burns his eyes and the back of his throat the way it used to for you, watching him and Abigail together. It lights a spark of something low in your belly, hope or want or vindication. A grim, simmering promise of things to come.

—

The next morning greets you sunshine-bright and singing. The grasses sway gently with the breeze. The birds flit from leafy tree limbs outstretched in the sky’s great blue embrace. Lottie insists on giving you not only the agreed-upon papers, but breakfast for the road as well. The fistfull of cash you fetch from your saddlebag is more than she asked for, but when she protests you push her hands back gently. After everything, it’s fitting payment.

“Ride safe, now,” she tells you, shielding the sun from her greenglass eyes to look up at your mounted form. “It’s nice now, but a storm’s brewing. Can you smell it on the breeze?”

You can. Sunshine undercut with petrichor and the buzzing, electric promise of lightning. “We will. Thank you again, Lottie. For everything.” Live well.

“The same to you, old friend,” she smiles your way, then turns to John. “Keep an eye on this one, will you?”

“Always do.” His voice is curt, and his eyes are sharp and unkind when he says it.

Mean, you think as you sneak a look at his striking profile. But mine.

You wave one last goodbye before riding off, stolen horses in tow, false paperwork tucked into your breast pocket. The pair of you make for the horizon line and don’t look back.

—

John is quiet in the coming days. Uncharacteristically so. You catch him staring at you when he thinks you don’t see; eyeing the length of your neck as you drink from your canteen, memorizing the planes of your face lit by campfire, burning a hole in your back as you ride ahead. All the ways you’ve watched him since you were young and scared and barely knew what to call the ache in your chest and the scorch of your want. That anguish which even now you refuse to name; you know what it is. 

Maybe Lottie was right.

Maybe John knows it too.

—

As you ride toward the next town, and the next one, and the next, the sky darkens from shades of blue to grey to not-quite-black. The storm hasn’t hit yet, but rain heralds its coming on the wind. In the hoofbeats of the horses you hear thunder.

—

A man in tweed with a curled mustache buys Cerberus behind a saloon in Split River. John orders you both a round of drinks to celebrate. His fingers brush against yours when you toast your glasses together. It tastes of wildfire. Stings the whole way down.

You’re forced to leave when he almost takes a man’s head off for asking you to share a dance shortly after. The jaunty fiddle tune haunts your steps into the lamplit streets as you beat your hasty retreat, John’s shoulder clasped tight beneath your burnt whiskey fingertips.

—

In Steelhead, a farmer with a nose for a pedigree takes Autocrat off your hands. That night he puts the pair of you up with his other farmhands to get you out of the nighttime chill. It’s a kindness you hadn’t counted on, but it feels cruel the moment you see a man, broad and strong with eyes the same shade as yours, agree to light John’s cigarette. Across the room they lean in close. Closer. The butts of their cigarettes glow shrouded in smoke as they share the intimacy of nicotine breath, but the whole time John’s eyes are on yours. A punishment. A dare. 

In a bedroll as far from everyone else as the room allows, you don’t sleep a wink.

The following morning breaks grey and ominous. You can’t leave the place far enough behind. 

—

Rushing Spring houses Old Father Time’s new owner, a fashionable young woman whose father can refuse her nothing. He barely looks the horse over before offering more than your asking price, and you shake his hand without giving him a moment to think twice. 

“Better get going if we want to beat this weather,” John says as they walk away with their new purchase. His eyes are squinted up at the sky, storm grey and swirling. It’s the most he’s offered to speak since Lottie’s.

“You’re right,” you agree. But as you glance up at the churning clouds above you, you’re not so sure that you will.

—

The rain catches you the next afternoon in open country, not a settlement in sight. It starts as a drizzle, errant drops that speckle the leather of your saddle and pepper Moonshine’s coat, but soon crescendos into an all-out pour. It comes so thick and fast that you can hardly see John and Old Boy just a horselength in front of you. John turns to shout something over the downpour, but the wind snatches his words. It’s too dark to read his lips.

When he turns his horse away you follow blind.

There’s a rockface somewhere off to the left, you know. You’ve seen irregular shelves and outcroppings from a distance. Maybe John spied something like that before the rain came? Maybe he’s just trusting that he’ll find shelter before an errant lightning strike hits anything nearby. Whatever the case is, his luck holds. You endure only a few more minutes of being utterly soaked before the dark, yawning mouth of a cave opens up before you.

The horses shake their dripping coats the moment you step inside. Their unshod hoofbeats echo with the rainfall. Lightning flashes, lighting your surroundings for a heartbeat and a half. It’s enough to see that the cave doesn’t run dangerously deep; you need not fear it housing some slumbering bear or wildcat’s den, but it’s enough to keep the rain from soaking you entirely. So long as it doesn’t flood, you guess.

Without so much as a word you and John fall into a routine that’s been established since you were kids. You untack and hobble the horses, toweling them dry as best you can. Moonshine tenses beneath your hands at the distant rumble of thunder rolling ever closer. John starts a fire and gets to warming food. Canned beans, it looks like. Better than nothing. You set the tent tarp on the ground to keep the bedrolls dry. The extra blankets you have packed away aren’t quite wet. It’s a sadder, damper camp than you normally pull together, but in the wake of this weather you’d be hard-pressed to do better.

You huddle close to the small fire with your plate of food. John sits opposite you and says nothing. Just watches. You watch back. The way his sharp features accentuate with shadow. The way his damp skin is drenched in firelight. His hair is plastered to his cheek, and your fingers twitch with longing to smooth it back and kiss the raindrops from his lips. When the next lightning strike flashes, you see unmasked want reflected back in his eyes.

“John…” you start, but can’t find the right words. How do you give voice to thoughts you’ve smothered for years now? How would you even begin? 

“I need a drink after all that,” he says, pulling his flask from his belt and taking a swig. “How ‘bout you?”

Your mouth is terribly dry. “Sure.” 

The offer doesn’t surprise you, but the way he hands it over, slow and deliberate, your fingers brushing together, does. Instead of retreating back to his side of the fire he remains with his hungry eyes and sharp mouth. You can’t quite bring yourself to look away as you drink. It burns like whiskey, but it tastes like him.

“Somethin’ else out there,” he says, inclining his head toward the mouth of the cave. Lightning flashes, and a clap of thunder - the closest one yet - punctuates his statement. “Reminds me of all them years ago, picking you up out of the mud. You remember that?”

“How could I forget? Saved my life.” Marked it forever. Changed it. For better or for worse.

“Every time it storms I think about that day,” he confesses. His hand reaches up for your face, cupping your cheek. You swear your heart stops. His brows knit together. “I don’t know that I would’ve saved anyone else.”

“I’m not sure I would’ve let anyone else do the saving.”

The rough pad of his thumb strokes the side of your neck. You swallow past a dry mouth and watch his eyes trace the line of your throat. Firelight flickers across his features. He leans in closer.  

“It was always gonna be you and me, wasn’t it?” His breath fans your lips; whiskey and want. 

Lightning arcs across the sky outside, lighting his face in that same eerie glow it did the day you met. He’s so beautiful. You’re so tired of pretending.

Before the thunder has a chance to crash, you answer him with a kiss. 

It’s everything.

Electric.

You feel the boom of thunder in your chest when it comes, feel his hands wandering there and know it’s where they’ve always belonged. When he bites your lip and pushes you onto your back, your body accommodates him without thinking. He settles into the space between your legs and pulls back just long enough to admire, a wolfish gleam in his eye. What a sight you must be, spread out and chest heaving, eyes blown wide with years’ worth of want, face half-lit by the fire. 

“Fuck,” he says, breathless, and then kisses you again. “Should’a done that sooner.”

But you’re here now, and it’s everything you could ever want or imagine. Better, somehow. You know John better than you know yourself and still his passion surprises you as he presses chapped-lip kisses further and further down your neck. You gasp when he bites down and feel him smirk against your rainsoaked skin. He’s paid back in kind with a sharp tug at the root of his hair, your hand tangled in those long, dark strands. A groan sounds from deep in his chest and he pulls away long enough for you to see the grey of his eyes go black.

“Tell me you want this,” he says. 

“I want it.” You squirm, rolling your hips against his just to see desire glaze across his face. “I want you.”

“Shit, Ghost,” he says. “You always had me. I’m yours. It’s all yours.”

Whether he means his body or his heart or his soul you don’t rightly know. Right now you hardly care. All you know is that his hands are all over you at once, pulling layer after layer of soaked clothing away until you’re almost completely bare beneath him. Your nipples pebble against the sudden exposure to evening storm air, and his hungry eyes watch your every move, every breath beneath him. He’s a sight himself; half hard already, those soaked-through breeches plastered to his skin leaving little to the imagination. His hair is all a mess and his scars stand out against scarlet and his eyes are dark and bright. You help him tear his clothes away and grin when his broad, lean chest gleams in the flickering light of the campfire. You run your fingers against the dark hair there and feel him shudder beneath your touch. Heat rushes to your core when he removes his pants, leaving his cock exposed and flush against his stomach. You move to lick a stripe down your hand when he grabs your wrist.

“Don’t,” he says, face flushed. Eyes bright. “I like when it hurts, a little.”

He licks his lips. You grin and take him in your hand. His breath catches and his hips stutter as you set a slow, steady, punishing rhythm. 

“Goddamn,” he curses. “Just like that.”

You’re dizzy with power and want. Seeing the effect you have on him, his chest heaving, his eyes rolled toward the heavens, makes that simmering warmth in your belly start to boil over. You smooth a calloused fingerpad over his tip just to watch him shudder. Precup smears. His eyes squeeze shut, and all too soon he’s pushing your hands away.

You tilt your head in question and he grins, half-shy. “I ain’t gonna last if you keep that up.”

“That’s the point, dumbass.”

He shakes his head, bends to kiss the corner of your mouth. “Want to feel you, first.”

Heat floods your body from your chest to your fingertips at the confession.

Hard to argue with that.

He makes a strangled sound at the back of his throat watching you wriggle out of your pants, moaning outright when you take his hand and put his fingers in your mouth. His eyes glaze over and he thrusts them to the back of your throat just once to see what happens. You hum around them. His eyes go even darker.

Hesitantly, maybe even a little reverently, he starts to work you open. The further he goes and the more you relax into it, the rougher and more confident he becomes. One finger becomes two, becomes three. Still you want more.

“Yeah?” he says as you moan, half cocky and half like he can’t believe he’s the lucky son of a bitch making you see stars. You hate that it wrecks you the way that it does.

“Yeah,” you breathe, tilting your head up to press a kiss to his jaw.

He takes your face in his hands and kisses you back properly, thoroughly, before lining up to your entrance and thrusting in all at once. It’s that special kind of too-much ecstasy, your vision going dark and your voice keening at the sensation.

“Shit, you feel good,” he whines.

“Please, John,” you say, though you’re not sure what you’re begging for other than more. 

Lightning screams through the storming sky outside and his pale skin glows in white-hot light. He takes you apart to the sound of fading thunder and falling rain. You shift to meet the thrust of those narrow hips halfway, and rake your fingers down his back with each burst of pleasure. If there’s such a thing as completion, it must be this. The way your bodies fit together, the way you know every thought that flashes behind the wolfish want in his eyes. Each unspoken, understood I love you. He taught you to do it long before he recognized the feeling returned, and when you finally reach the peak of your pleasure you sigh it into his skin.

I love you, John Marston.

“Fuck, Ghost,” he pants. “Fuck. I love you too.” 

His thrusts get sloppy, chasing his own high, and when he pulls out and spends himself across your stomach his voice cracks saying your name. It’s never sounded sweeter.

After a few settling breaths John leans down and presses a firm kiss to your forehead. You miss his warmth for only moments when he rolls away to find a rag to clean you up. The two of you fall asleep in one another’s arms. Outside, the rain slows and fades away to a drizzle, then nothing.

—

You wake the next morning to wiry arms wrapped around you and John’s face pressed into your stomach. He snores softly, and you allow yourself a quiet moment to admire his sleeping form. It’s impossible to stop the fond smile that steals across your face. Carefully, carefully, you extricate yourself from his embrace.

When you step outside, morning birdsong greets you. The grass beneath your feet is as dewy as the pinks and yellows and robin’s egg blues that paint the sky above. It’s the kind of sunrise that only comes after a storm.

You lean against the rockface and light a cigarette, watching the smoke dissipate on the fresh morning breeze. It isn’t long before John joins you. Wordlessly you pass him your cigarette, and wordlessly he takes a drag. He breathes smoke into the air and smiles.

Together you watch the sun rise.

[bodiedbyteecosplays]

Modern!Human Hantengu Brothers headcanons

Heeeyyyy babiesss!!! I’m sorry it’s so late but I FINALLY GOT MY HANTENGU BROTHERS HEADCANONS DONE 🥹🥹!! I sincerely hope y’all enjoy them!

Alright so, The headcanon came from the roots in the manga. Hantengu (the demon) was known to have multiple wives and children and he killed every last one of them. After Muzan’s defeat & Hantengu was reborn, he sadly abandoned his wife and his two children because he still had his memories from his past life and felt guilt & fear. His son grew a bit of resentment for him and promised that when he became a father that he would be there for his children through and through. He met the Brothers’ mother because she was visiting Japan from Nigeria and fell absolutely head over heels in love with her. They soon started dating after getting to know each other. Then married later on and their first born son, Sekido was born, then came Karaku, Aizetsu, Urogi , & Zohakuten.

Their Mother, Dr. Kehinde Adeyinka- Hantengu is a OBGYN & their father Urami Hantengu is a co director for a very big movie production company. ( my boys came from riches but still humble )

Their parents come from different cultures so they always brought them up in a way where they were exposed to both equally. They know Japanese (that does include how to write in Japanese too), Yoruba, Nigerian Pidgin, English, and Swahili.

SEKIDO

• Much like his past life, Sekido still remains the oldest. His birthday is September 3rd, 1995 making our angery baby a Virgo ♍️.

• When I tell yall he is nonchalantttt!! Whew! He literally says the first thing that comes on his mind. His mom always told him that he was like his father in that regard.

• Also much like his past life, he always looks angered (Resting bitch face go brrrrrrr) Most people are kinda afraid to approach him.

• Definitely gets annoyed by his brothers antics (mostly Urogi and Karaku playing pranks on him and pissing him off and Aizetsu constantly second guessing himself)

• Loves the rain and finds it peaceful when it’s thundering outside.. it sets the mood when he’s by himself playing the piano (one of his hidden talents)

• He works as a Auto mechanic at his own shop. (which explains how he knows to keep his cars in perfect condition)

• He is most DEFINITELY a cat person. He has a Black Maine coon mix named Zeus. He found him just laying on top of one of his cars one day as he was getting ready to go get groceries and when he came back from the store, he was sitting in front of his apartment and he started growing fond of him and took him in. Zeus is spoiled rotten so I can only imagine when Sekido gets a partner 🫠.

• Is a greeeeeaaaaattttt cook! Other than their mother, his brothers usually latch on to his place when he does cook. (He definitely has a special apron on when he cooks too) He learned from his momma 🤩

• Has a giant dragon tattoo on his back that was drawn by Zohakuten and tattooed by Managi (Modern Human Gyokko. In my headcanon, he’s a famous Tattoo artist that grew fame from TikTok)

• Definitely is a Heavy sleeper but don’t let that MF Fan Turn off. He gonna wake up PISSED.

• Academically speaking, Sekido is extremely intelligent. He graduated top of his class in High school & has a degree in Engineering (he also graduated top of his class in college too)

• BLACK COFFEE ADDICT! Can’t stand overly sweet coffee or sweet ANYTHING. Likes really savory foods! Lots of meat but not too too much. Also loves vegetables, stews, curry’s, and etc. The only thing he can tolerate that relates to sweet foods is dark chocolate.

• Definitely the type to go to bed by 10 pm (grumpy old man 😂😂)

• LISTEN! My baby is BUILTTTTTTT. He definitely hits the gym after work He’ll OCCASIONALLY go with Karaku if he doesn’t have to work. He’s also tall (he’s 6’3 1/2 and the tallest out of the brothers)

• He adores his family and anyone he deems close although he does get annoyed with their shenanigans he will always and forever care.

• y’all know that bath & body works scent “ Mahogany Teakwood” yeah, literally smells like that plus Shea butter & mint.

KARAKU

• Karaku is the second Born like his past carnation. He was born on October 4, 1996 making him a Libra baby.

• He’s literally a big kid at heart but he’s really chill and down to earth.

• Much like his past life he’s really playful and loves a good thrill. It makes his blood pump lol.

• Loves teasing his brothers (mostly Sekido and Aizetsu) One time he played a prank on Sekido while he was asleep by putting a realistic looking robotic spider on him (poor Seki has arachnophobia 🥲) & when he woke up all hell broke loose and when he finally caught Karaku, he put him in a chokehold and it took Urogi and Aizetsu to get him off of Karaku. 😂😂😂 and you’d think after that he’d learn his lesson (he didn’t)

• He works as a Bartending Manager for a big club and always makes good money in tips because one he loves serving the drinks and seeing people’s reaction to his drinks and they all love him dearly.

• Speaking of, he Is a masttttterrrrr at creating drink recipes and has a miniature bar at his place. He’s also a fairly decent cook but still annoys Sekido because he likes his better 😂.

• Like I’ve said before, mans is a seriously talented dancer & he effortlessly woos people with his moves ever since he went viral online & has a lots of fans (no pun intended).

• He also posts videos of him making drinks on TikTok too and always picks the best songs but people mostly like when he does voice overs of what he puts in drinks.

• He also does Twitch streams from time to time playing games( likes games like FNAF, Dead by Daylight, or any kind of scary games.)

• I also headcanon that he loves Halloween mostly because it’s during his birth month.

• Has one tattoo on his arm of his moms first name. His mom always told him that he reminds her of herself back in her youth.

• Loves all animals but is more so a Dog person.

• HE DOES SMOKE WEED & VAPE!

• Academically he made A’s & B’s in high school so he is quite smart but still goofed off in class though 😂. He has a Bachelors Degree in Communications and is also apart of a Fraternity.

• DEFINITELY A GYM BRO BUT NOT THE TOXIC KIND. Takes his physical health and physique seriously but never ever talks bad about how anyone else chooses to do with their body. If they are happy, he is as well. He’s definitely not a bodyshamer & will put someone in check if they talk bad about someone around him.

• HES A LIGHT SLEEPER. Any little sound will wake him up instantly. One time he came home from work so tired that he forgot that he connected his phone to his big bluetooth speaker while he took a shower & also forgot that he set an alarm to wake him up in the morning for the gym and damn near had a heart attack when his alarm went off. 🥲

• Loves energy drinks and coffee but knows his limits on his intake and that too much caffeine isn’t good. DEFINITELY MEAL PREPS! Has meats, vegetables, and fruits.

• Like I Said, he takes his personal physical seriously. He has a skin care routine and he also smells really good too .. it’s like a Citrusy and warm vanilla type scent mixed with hints of his favorite cologne.

• He’s also fairly tall too standing at about 6’2

• He’s heavily into zodiac signs and reads his horoscope on the daily! Got the rest of his brothers into it. Sekido & Zoha thought it was stupid until they both did some research and it started singling out their individual character traits & that’s what sparked their interests in it.

• He’s a lover at heart so anybody that he loves he has them near and dear to his heart. If he loves you then you’re a 4LIFERRRRR.

AIZETSU

• So he’s the middle child! His Birthday is February 20, 1998 making Zetsy a Pisces baby!

• Much like his past incarnation he’s quiet & monotone if he’s not comfortable around you but once he is comfortable he becomes relaxed and more expressive. Is very introverted.

• He was kind of bullied in school due to his quiet and timid behavior but when asked his opinion on something, much like his older brother Sekido he wouldn’t hold back the truth (it’s always the quiet ones)

• I would like to think that Aizetsu is heavily into meditation because it calms his anxiety and his nerves.

• PLEASE GIVE THIS BABY WORDS OF AFFIRMATION AND REASSURANCE!

• Aizetsu works as a computer tech and is very good with technology. He’s been very tech savvy since he was a kid always learning how it functions and knowing the ins and outs of it. He also works part time as a Lyft driver.

• His hidden talent is singing! Like I said in my last post, Aizetsu is a hellllaaaa talented singer but he only does so in private but if he sings around someone that means he’s comfortable with them.

• He’s into Zodiac signs thanks to Karaku. He’s a water sign (Team waterrrr) so he’s really good at seeing through people and strays away from those who he determines to be not good people.

• Doesn’t really go to the gym. He thinks it’s way too many people. Instead he finds alternatives at home and he was blessed with a high metabolism too so that’s a W for him. But don’t let that fool you, under what he covers up, he’s still buff. He is about 6’2, same height as Karaku.

• Made excellent grades in school. Mostly all As and graduated top of his class like his brother. He is currently in college pursuing software engineering and is still doing excellent academically!

• Is a good cook at best. Only sticks to simple stuff and doesn’t really like to go all out. Not particular about food but in the same breath, he does lean towards savory foods.

• Doesn’t have any tattoos but low key wants a treble clef tattoo on his chest or something small.

• Has a pet Bearded dragon named Toothless.

• Smells really good! I think he would smell like Cinnamon. Skin does get irritated during the summer time but it’s not severe. Does get tips from Karaku about skin care.

• Is much more of a tea kind of person and loves herbal tea (chamomile is his favorite)

• Not really much of a sweets kind of person.

• IS A VERY LIGHT SLEEPER. Imagine Karaku x10!! Will wake up if he hears the smallest sound or if the temperature is not to his liking (he keeps his place on 64 degrees AT ALL TIMES).

• Aizetsu is a very gentle, understanding, sweet, and thoughtful person and he has times where he second guesses himself but he definitely has a good crowd of people around him to keep his head held high.

UROGI

• Like his past incarnation he’s the second to last born. His Birthday is January 4th, 1999 ( he’s only 11 months younger than Aizetsu)

• He is most DEFINITELY a wild child lmao! He’s like Karaku x3000 when it comes to getting a thrill out of doing some shit. As a child he used to like to jump off of crazy shit and oddly would not get hurt 😅

• Has always been hella adventurous since he was a young lad. Always loved being outdoors and being in nature and still does in his adulthood. Likes going hiking & climbing. He feels at peace outdoors.

• He once climbed a whole fucking billboard and sat there for like 10 minutes ( Karaku and one of their cousins has a recording of him climbing it)

• Not only is he super flexible and athletic but he’s also very musically inclined too. His singing voice is on par with Aizetsu and he can read and write music (to an extent).

• Urogi works at the same bar as Karaku (Yes they work together) literally trouble but make it double 😂😂. Much to anyone’s surprise they don’t cause THAT much chaos. If Karaku is thing one then Urogi is thing two!

• He also loves coming up with different type of recipes and they are all a hit. Him and Karaku compete to see whose drinks are the best at work but it’s all brotherly competition and never any hard feelings.

• Heavily into gymnastics too & have been since he was little! So you know he keeps his body in great condition and goes to the gym everyday! He is about 6’1 1/2.

• Academically he made a mixture of A’s, B’s, and some C’s. Never went below a C. Is very smart but is whole ass class clown. It only took one time for his parents to get onto him and he never caused any significant distractions again lmao. Did not want to attend college but chose to follow what he felt was good for him. At first his parents were a little mad but they let Urogi decide what was best for him and supported whatever he decided (WE LOVE GOOD NON TOXIC PARENTING 🥹).

• Can cook but absolutely hates doing it. Prefers takeout instead and only cooks when he is in the mood to do so.

• Very much a HEAVY ASS SLEEPER & SNORES. Can probably sleep through a loud ass storm.

• Smells very earthy but not in a bad way. Like a combination of Pine and Sandalwood. (His favorite body wash is Dove Sandalwood for its earthy tone) Has seasonal breakouts but worst during winter (poor baby)

• He definitely smokes weed but by himself or with Karaku.

• His weakness: HE LOVES SWEETS & JUNK FOOD. Mans can literally eat a XL pizza by himself.

• Urogi is all together a very friendly, eclectic, and outgoing person and everyone can’t help but love him (even though he sometimes drives them crazy) 😂

ZOHAKUTEN

• He’s the last born baby of the brothers! He was born July 21st, 2007 so he is a Cancer baby!

• Like Sekido and Aizetsu, Zohakuten is a rather quiet, reserved person. But he is hellllaaaaa blunt. Zohakuten’s tone may come off a bit direct and blunt and a little harsh but I think he means well. (Sometimes)

• INTROVERTED.

• Also like his brother, he DEFINITELY has a resting bitch face and is his dads literally mini me.

• He is very much into art and loves graphic design. He’s also a very skilled digital artist as well.

• As a matter of fact, he drew the dragon design that Sekido has tattooed on his back for his birthday last year.

• He is still in high school and is very close to his senior year!! He makes excellent grades in school with straight A’s and has always.

• He is also a band student too! He plays the snare drums.

• After Highschool he does hope to help his dad out at the studio and work to save up for college. He wants to pursue a career in art.

• Since he still lives at home of course he gets spoiled by his parents but I don’t see him being the petty type like rubbing it in his brothers faces. Hell they be spoiling him too.

• He hits the gym with his brothers when they go. It’s like part of a bonding experience.

• He is about 5’9 ( his mom thinks that he’s on the brink of a major growth spurt.) For more context, their mom is 5’11 (momma a stallionnnn) and their dad is 6’7.

• HE HATES SWEETS! Prefers spicy foods though! Literally will go through a family sized bag of hot chips in 30 minutes and nobody knows how. (Not even me.) 😂😂😂.

• HEAVY ASS SLEEPER! That’s it that’s the post.

• Is willing to learn how to cook but only trusts his mother or Sekido to teach him.

• Karaku got him into zodiac signs too. He didn’t understand the concept at first until he read further and started seeing his attitude traits in what he read on Cancers.

• Not a people person but it is not as bad as his past incarnation where he bathed in hatred. Is willing to make some changes to his attitude and approach especially pursuing a career that deals with customers commissioning him for his arts but PLEASE do not piss him off or rush his work.

• He may not show it but he lovvvveesssss and adores his family!

I genuinely hope you all enjoyed my headcanons. I had been putting it off and putting it off and making revisions but I think that I love my headcanons for them. There are of course some more to come though so keep your eyes peeled. I will eventually start writing for more fandoms but I gotta let this Hantengu clone brainrot out somehow lmao.

I tag: @i-karaku-swear-i-dont-smoke-weed @ch3rriiii-bunn @hakujisstuff @bbkook @its-freaking-jordan @yunaarts

[peachiemilkytea]

ᴘʀᴇᴛᴛʏ ʙᴏʏ

pt 2, pt 3, pt 4

Summary: Henry has been talking to your dad about his co-boss a lot lately, enough to invite him over for dinner knowing that he is your boss too. Now you have to deal with a dumb teenage boy you don't like.

Paring: Teen!Michael Afton x Fem!Reader

Warnings: use of Y/n, third and first person pov, your parents embarrassing you, flirting?? romance??? enemies to friends

W/c: 5K

☆════ ⋆★⋆ ════☆

Flipping the pages in between my fingers of a romance story. Seventeenth Summer by Maureen Daly. It was in my top ten favorites, my first favorite was IT by Stephen King. The one I'm reading now is about two teenagers, Angie Morrow, and Jack Duluth, being a couple and going out together in June for the first time. Their dates would be them getting cokes with friends, riding in Jack's car, going to movies, and taking the boat out. They grew closer than they could ever be together. It gave it a whole new point of view on the world. Rose-tinted glasses.

"Dottie! Come down here!"

Uh oh, am I in trouble? I put my book down on my bedside and walked downstairs. Mom was leaning on the kitchen counter talking to my dad who was smoking a cigarette. My mother hates the smell of cigarettes. Her nose scrunched at the intoxicating smell. I took a seat at the table.

"Whatever happened, Daniel did it!" I accused my little brother without hesitance. Holding my hands together, my shoulders become tense. Dad snickered out smoke holding onto the sink, biting his lip to hold back a big smile. Mom rolled her eyes at the smoke he let out.

"You're not in trouble (Y/n), we're having the Aftons over for dinner." Mom explained, breathy chuckling.

"Henry and I had lunch with him the other day, he's something else. I had to use everything to stop myself from making fun of his accent. Anyway, his family will be here by six twenty so get ready." Dad explained twiddling the cigarette in between his fingers.

"Alright, whew, you scared me! I thought I was gonna be in trouble! Where's Daniel? Does he know?" I asked, looking around.

"Yes, he knows, he walked in on us talking about it. The Aftons have a boy your age. We'll leave Daniel to suffer with the little ones." Mom said getting off of the counter. I let out a "Yes!" pumping my arm up and running upstairs.

Now that I think about it, William never really talks about his family. He'll bring up his daughter Elizabeth but that's really about it. I had to find out that Michael was Will's kid myself, he never talked about him and whenever I try to bring him up Will shuts it down. He's a jerk to me, I swear it's like he hates me! One time when I was working he spilled soda all over my head with a sarcastic 'whoops.' Poor Henry had to give me a towel and wash it out of my hair and face.

While with Henry he'll talk about his kids all the time, I would hear all the stories about Sammy and Charlie. All the cute things they did and all the tantrums. Henry would have a picture of his wife in his pocket, Nancy Emily, they've been high school sweethearts. She's a sweet woman who got me into Seventeenth Summer. I usually hang out in her garden with her taking care of the plants or sunbathing. I cleaned up my room, picked up the clothes on the floor, and fixed my plants, stacking my books into the shelf, tidying up my desk. I think I looked okay. It was presentable enough. Daniel was standing at my door.

"Come on, hurry up! They're at our door." Daniel said repeatedly knocking on my doorway. I rubbed his hair walking past the kid. Downstairs there was William with a gingered-haired woman, his daughter Elizabeth, a smaller boy holding a golden Fredbear plushie, and... Michael? Ohhh that would make sense now, that's why he looks like William. I didn't pay attention when Mom was talking about us. He perked up surprised but then waved at me with a smile.

"This is Daniel and (Y/n), my kids," Mom said putting her hands on her hip. That stance always gave off 'I'm a tired mom.'

"Kids, this is the Aftons. William, Clara, Elizabeth, Evan, and Michael." Mom introduced us, pointing to each one of them.

"Hey boss," I said, looking towards William. He smirked at my remark. I looked over to my dad and saw the gears in his head turning, Mom gave out a silent 'oh.' Clara looked between me and William.

"But you work for Henry?" Dad asked more like a question.

"William is Henry's co-boss, I work for both of them," I said putting my hand on my hip, then going back to the family and flashing them a smile before going up to my room.

I heard Dad and mom talking to William and Clara talking more about work and what's for dinner, telling Daniel to take the little ones. Then They were talking about boring adult stuff, the only thing I found interesting that they were talking about is all the butterflies Clara's been finding and keeping. Maybe the book my dad was reading, The Color Purple. A book about a teenage African American, Cecilie. Raised in rural isolation in Georgia. She resists the self-paralyzing concept forced on her by others. He's the one who introduced the book to me, it was hard to read because of the writing. But that's the fun of it. Like I did with The Great Gatsby, I took notes on it and broke down the language to understand it then burned the chapters into my head of what happened in a modern way.

Grabbing one of my types of vinyl, I always liked the vinyls more than the cassettes, mixtapes, and walkmans. They played it so much better than the others. Putting on Highway To Hell by AC/DC, it was one of my all-time favorites. Nodding to the beat and mouthing the lyrics.

"Good pick! I didn't expect a good girl like you to be into rock." Michael said, leaning against my doorway with a smug look. I looked back at him and rolled my eyes. I took my vinyls out of the packages and wrote what songs they were on the middle-colored part before putting them on my green flowered walls. Michael was staring at my pictures on my bulletin board.

"Did you take these?" He asked, pointing towards them.

"Yeah, I did. It's still-life photography. What? You like them?" I spat out walking to his side. He was looking at a picture with a book that had cursive letters on the pages, a jar of flowers and the other side is a jar of ink, an old pen sitting next to it, and circled glasses on the other side. Maps and drawings of herbs under the book.

"It's not my style but I like it. It's like something really old and adventurous. Like those old guys you see in the history books." Michael read the photo perfectly. He captured it in his way but still expressed what I was trying to get. I was surprised he was being so nice right now.

"I think this one might be more of your style," I said pointing to a different picture above the one he was looking at.

A bluish-whitish tinted photo, concrete stairs with yellow lines at the end going down. The white walls were covered in graffiti, paint, posters, photos, and drawings. There were marker drawings on the walls and messy paint splattered onto the railings. Graffiti symbols and phrases are marked onto the floor. Some vinyl and cassettes were glued to the wall. Boy bands and magazine covers on the wall with famous faces and logos. The pen drawings on the side made planets and black stars. Drawings made by people saying "runaway" or lists of things or missing pet beetles people found off of the street. A large rectangular mirror on the left side reflects the turn to further downstairs on the right.

Michael's brows raised and his mouth fell slightly. His hand tucked a strand of his hair back behind his ear then covered his mouth with his hand. He blinked a couple of times through his eyelashes. I chuckled and picked it off of the bulletin board and flipped it over on my desk, writing 'To Michael' and handing it to him. He furrowed his brows and stepped back pulling his hand away from his mouth.

"Take it if you like it so much. I know you don't like me very much and I'm okay with that. I'm still your friend." I said being left hanging and still holding the photo.

"I hate you. I hate your '70s haircut. I hate how your teeth are yellow. I hate how your loud laugh echoes in a room. I hate the way you read knockoff comic books. I hate how you smile so big when you lie. I hate you. But I don't, I tried. Something about you is keeping me around. I want to be your friend." Michael admitted. That was a turn of events... He took the picture out of my hands and pressed his lips together. Holding it with two hands he stared at it. I chuckled, and a smile tugged my lips.

"So the soda thing-" I said pointing to the floor lazily. He quickly looked up bug-eyed.

"Ahhh!! Ahh!! We don't talk about that!" Michael yelled jumping on my bed. He got off of his stomach and laid on his back looking at her picture. I sighed going back to my bulletin board of pictures. I put up some new ones I took a few days ago. From the corner of my eye, I saw him put the picture on the bedside desk, and he picked up the book from my desk.

"What is this? It's so cheesy? The guy on the cover looks like me!" Michael asked, reading through the pages.

"It's what girls feel when they're in love, you wouldn't know." I joked. Hearing him scoff.

"Girls fall in love with me. Women get with me." Michael protested moving on his side to look at me with a cocky look, his tongue on the corner of his lips while biting down on it with his teeth. I let out a long 'sure.' He went back to reading. Genuinely Michael seemed invested in the story. Maybe I should show him Sixteen Candles one time. He might like that more because it's a movie. God, I love Molly Ringwald, she's such a great actor and in so many films I love. I have an undying love for her! She reminds me so much of Cheryl. Soon the vinyl stopped playing, so I grabbed another record. Metallica, Ride The Lightning. Putting it in and turning up the volume. Michael's head lifted quickly.

"No way! Metallica! Wait wait I know this one. Ride The Lighting, right?" Michael fanboyed over the vinyl. I nodded lazily. Grabbing a few covers I handed them to him. Dr Feelgood Mötley Crüe, Sweet Child O' Mine Guns N' Roses, Detroit Rock City KISS, Cherry Bomb the Runaways, Bad Reputation Joan Jett, Pet Sematary Ramones, and so many others. Rolling Stones, Judas Priest, you name it. Michael looked like a kid in a candy store flipping through the record covers. He was stuttering his words.

"Oh my god." Michael managed to get out of his excited stutters. Holding up one of them records.

"You can pick the next song." I gave a small smile sitting at the end of my bed. I lie on my stomach further it and swing my feet back and forth. Bopping my head to the beat of the metal music. I felt my imagination running wild, anything with music made me daydream. It was like scenes in a movie or a cartoon show. Michael was mimicking the strings of a guitar that the song was playing.

"Is this all you do?" Michael asked, looking up at the ceiling. His hand was up pointing and tracing the cracks.

"Yeah. I mean sometimes I'll go out if it's with my best friend or if it's because of work. My room beats going outside any day." I said, swinging my feet back and forth while leaning my cheek on my pointer finger. I like to be introverted, my mother always called me a homebody who needs to get out more. The most I would do is hang out with my dad on the porch at dawn talking about our days while he was smoking a cigarette.

"You have a friend that isn't Henry? That's hard to believe." Michael playfully insulted. I grabbed one of my pillows and smacked him with it. He yelled and put his hands up laughing.

"Yes, I do! Jeez. How do you even know I'm friends with Henry? Will doesn't like to talk a lot." I asked sitting up and hugging the same pillow I assaulted him with.

"I know Henry too, you know! You're not the only one. Father will bring me and my brother and sister to work sometimes and that's how I know Henry. He talks about you too much. It's like you're some star student. It's always (Y/n) this and (Y/n) that and oh did you know what (Y/n) did? All the time, it's so annoying!" Michael groaned into the pillow.

"Boo hoo, oh poor you." I mocked sticking my tongue out. Michael lifted his head from the pillow and spotted something. Should I be worried? He looks so curious. He grabbed a book on the floor next to my bed that read 'The 48 laws of Power' which was about Niccolo Machiavelli's philosophy.

"Where did you get something like this?" Michael asked, skipping through the pages.

"It's a philosophy book, about the philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli. He lived in Florence during the Renaissance period. But then a prince came to the city and kicked anyone he didn't like out. Machiavelli was one of them. He would think while he was homeless. He would put on his fanciest clothes and talk about philosophy. Machiavelli has the theory that to get power you need to be feared to be loved. He wrote a letter to the prince on why he should come back to Florence. The prince read the letter and let him back into the city. He gave Machiavelli his spot. To have power you need to cheat, manipulate, and have confidence. It's used in politics and elections." I explained talking through my hands, never leaving his eyes.

Funny story, when I was out for a walk one day I found a kid in a tree reading it and I asked him how he knew that book. We had the best talk about being manipulative. It takes a true philosopher to understand and with that, you need to change your mindset. Philosophy is the love of wisdom, or in Greek Philosophia. It's pursuing your lover, pursuing Sophia. I love doing philosophy but I don't have anyone to do it with.

"This is deep," Michael said he was gapping like a fish. I could tell it wasn't really his thing and it's probably something you look at and forget the next day. I only nodded with a small smile.

My door creaked, I expected it to be one of the kids or my dad telling me to come downstairs for dinner. Cujo came running and jumped on Michael. He grunted putting the book on the nightstand on top of Seventeenth Summer. Cujo jumped on top of him and soaked his face in dog slobber, drool coming down and hitting Michael's cheek. He pushed the dog off of him and wiped the grossness off of his face. Gagging and scowling. I let out a fit of laughter.

"Good boy! Good boy Cujo." I patted his head.

"You named him after the murder dog?!" Michael shrieked scouting up on my pillows trying to get Cujo out of his lap.

"Yeah." I held Cujo's chin up to me and kissed his forehead.

"He almost killed me!" Michael complained, crossing his arms and glaring at me.

"Stop being a baby. Cujo's a sweetheart, he would never hurt anybody unless I tell him to, Isn't that right?" I coo'ed to my puppy. He barked in response. I swear it's like he understands me. We don't deserve dogs, they are too good for us.

"Never thought I would hear that..." Michael mumbled and slowly came off of my pillows. He hesitantly held his hand out to the dog, taking it back quickly when Cujo turned around to sniff his palm. Michael tried again shaking but moved his hand away too quickly again. Cujo barked at him. I grabbed his wrist and held it up to Cujo, finally, he smelt his palm and declared Michael his friend. He put his head into the boy's hand making him pet him. Michael loosened up and pet Cujo's head. A genuine smile tugged at his lips. Scaredy cat.

"KIDS ATTACK!" Uh oh- Elizabeth jumped on her brother and tackled Michael on the bed, hitting him. Telling his face it hurt. Evan was timidly hiding behind Daniel.

"What? Evan! You're supposed to be beating up your brother and my sister!" Daniel said, lifting his arm and looking behind him. Evan was shaking behind him, shutting his eyes so hard you could see the wrinkles on the side. I got up from my spot while Elizabeth and Michael were beating each other up. I went up to the two boys and squatted down to the little one's height. He opened his eyes slowly. They were glossy, you could see every sparkle in the blue. His cheeks were a rosy red. A golden bear was in his arms, looking like Fredbear. William must've given it to him.

"Hey little buddy, it's okay. You don't gotta be me up. Daniel was just joking. Uh... Do you want a hug or something?" I asked, holding out my arms. Evan calmed down a little bit. He left Daniel's side and came up to me laying against me. I wrapped my arms around him and rubbed his back softly. Evan's crying calmed down and only had little sniffles and shaky gasps of air.

"I like your plushie, what's his name?" I asked, trying to relax him.

"Goldie," Evan mumbled lying on my chest. I stroked his hair.

"That's a nice name," I said softly, looking down at him. Something about this kid melts my heart. He's so delicate, fragile. If he was a box being shipped overseas he would have the fragile label on him.

"Wh-What's your name?" he stuttered looking up at me.

"I'm (Y/n), Daniel's sister. You're daddy's friend. What's your name?" I asked, sitting down on my knees.

"I'm Evan, sometimes my sister calls me Ev," he explained. Isn't that sweet? It's his sister's nickname. Daniel looked confused, glaring at us. I shot him a glare. He stuck out his tongue and pulled down his eyelid.

"IZZY! Get the hell off of me!" Michael yelled fighting his sister. I forgot that was happening. To be fair, Elizabeth was winning the fight. She was laughing at him and sitting on his stomach punching him, Michael's hands covered his face. As much as I'm enjoying seeing Michael getting his ass whooped by his little sister it can't go on forever.

"Alright! How about we play hide and seek?" I asked standing up. It caught Elizabeth perked up, she stopped fighting Michael and looked at me with a bright grin. That kid is a little devil but at least she's cute with her bow. She got off of Michael jumping off my bed and running towards me.

"Hide and seek! Hide and seek! Hide and seek!" Elizabeth chanted jumping up and down. Evan on the other hand shook his head no.

"Come on Evan, pleaseee! Pleaseeee! I'll beat up Michael if he scares you! Daniel's sister will make sure he won't scare you!" Elizabeth begged and pointed to me.

"It's true, I won't let him scare you, I'll even make a pinky promise." I held up my pinky. Evan's foot moved in circles and his body turned to the side, his head down looking up at me with doe eyes. Seriously, this kid is adorable. If Michael does anything I'll have Cujo eat him.

"Okay..." Evan held up his pinky. Interlocking it with mines. We pinky promised to stop Michael from scaring Evan. Speaking of the boy, his hair was disheveled and he was leaning on his elbow lifting himself. He held the back of his head, rubbing it while one of his eyes closed. My covers were a mess! My pillows were everywhere! Elizabeth probably used one to hit him. Kids...

"Daniel's it! Run kids! Count!" I yelled pointing to my brother and running away with the kids. Michael hurried soon after.

I don't know where the other two are, but I ended up with Evan. His small hand was trying to hold mine despite it being bigger. I pointed to Daniel's room under his bed. Evan and I hid under there. He was freaking out a bit. Looking around and shaking. I played with his hair and drew soft slow circles on top of his head. He looked like he could fall asleep. I heard Michael screaming like a girl. Daniel must have found him. What a wuss! There were footsteps and sounds of them arguing. They're like Dumb And Dumber. Elizabeth was found, she was whining and complaining about being found. They were looking for Evan and I. Their footsteps were so sloppy. I snickered a little too loudly, Michael was right about my laugh. How did he even pay attention to it?

"Wait..." I heard Daniel's moment of realization. He beelined for his room. It was weirdly suspenseful. Evan didn't like it at all. Seeing his socks roam the room he looked for us cautiously. Suddenly, fingers grabbed the bottom of the blankets and lifted them. Daniel was squatting there with the smugest look on his face.

"Found ya." He said slyly.

"You little buttmuncher." I jokingly insulted. He dramatically grabbed his heart and gasped offendedly. Evan sighed and crawled out from under the bed. I grabbed Daniel's ankles and pulled him to me. He shrieked and yelled at me. Hitting my hand. We got out from under the bed in a laughing fit.

We spent an hour laughing and scaring each other. Besides Evan, I was always paired with the little boy and he seemed a lot less scared when I was around. Daniel even ran downstairs and hid behind the couch till Elizabeth found him by getting a hint from William. She's a daddy's girl.

Michael was it, for the first time. He refused to do it for all the other times. He only agreed to do it if I did it with him. Pulling me away from Evan. I mean I hope the kid will be okay. Mike is kinda a dickhead. The kids ran off and hid, while we counted. Though he stopped counting.

"Why did you stop?" I asked. He stood there arms crossed with a smirk and one of his brows raised.

"They won't notice," Michael said, leaning up a little.

"Ookaay?" I said confused leaning against the wall. There was an awkward silence like Michael wanted to say something but didn't know how to phrase it. I can tell because I can see the cogs turning in his head.

"Whatever, let's go look for the little dweebs." Michael walked off.

"Hey! I'm the only one who can call Daniel a dweeb!" I ran after him.

We looked around the house. The bathroom, in the shower, the hallway closet, under my bed, under Daniel's bed. These kids were too good. It's like they disappeared. Michael and I went into my room. He put his finger to his lips and tiptoed to the closet. He paused for a moment. I shook my head no quickly, pressing my lips together. What if Evan was in there? Grabbing his shoulder and tugging it. He pushed me off. Michael slammed open the closet and put his arms up with a yell. Turns out... Evan was in there. And now he was having a sobfest thanks to Michael. I pushed past him and squatted down in front of the little boy who was clinging onto his Fredbear stuffie for dear life.

"Hey hey honey, it's okay. Come here. Oh man, I'm so sorry I broke our pinky promise." I said hugging him. Evan clung to me. I picked him up grunting at the sudden weight. He sobbed into my shirt. I glared at Michael, annoyed. For once he looks guilty. I kind of felt bad. Dropping my glare with a neutral smile. I rubbed Evan's back.

"Go find the others, Mike I'm sure dinner is almost ready." I nodded my head towards the door. He just nodded and walked off. Evan slowly calmed down still with leftover tears in the corner of his eyes.

"Do you want to go downstairs and hang out with the parents?" I asked him. He slowly nodded, not moving from my neck. I exited my cozy room and walked downstairs. The adults saw me with a crying Evan in my arms and eyed me confused and worried.

"Oh uh, hide and seek is a little too scary for him," I explained. Mrs. Afton showed understanding like this has happened before or the normal but mixed with guilt for her baby. William looked a little phased by it, his smile fading but going back to talking with my mother.

"Oh uhm here Mrs Afton." I tried handing Evan to his mother but he clung to me like a koala bear. It surprised the Aftons and my parents.

"That's very new, well I suppose he likes you a lot. That means a lot to a little child. And please call me Clara. No need to be so formal!" Mrs-... er Clara said. I nodded and took a seat at the table motioning her to sit next to me.

"I'm (Y/n), I'm sorry this is just so new to me. I wish I had heard about you more. You seem nice." I tried to make conversation. As you can tell it's going poorly.

"Awh, you're sweet. William isn't one to talk about personal stuff that much. Why I didn't even know that you two were coworkers! You work with Henry too?" Clara asked with a heartwarming smile.

"Yeah I do, Henry is my best friend. He's really how I got the job in the first place. I'm the head engineer. The bosses are the ones who are in charge of the whole engineering stuff. I'm just here if they need a little extra help or repairs." I explained she seemed to listen to every word. Her eyes softened too. Something about her makes me so comfortable like I can forget every problem I have. Dammit, William's lucky.

"I uhm.. I like your hair, my friend Cheryl Jo, her hair is red like yours too. Except hers is a little shorter." I said awkwardly, I think Evan is asleep or something. He's really quiet and not moving. His breath is a little shorter.

"You flatter me. So you're an engineer for robots? That must be interesting, you don't hear about that every day. What is it like?" Clara asked me.

"Are you going to let me geek out to you about robots? Because if you get me going I won't stop." I grinned brightly.

"I'm married to William, that already says a lot. I would love to hear you geek out about robots." Clara giggled, her nose scrunched up. If Evan wasn't laying on me I would be bouncing in my seat right now. I went on to rant to her about almost everything I learned about robots and what they could do, what's in them, how they are made, and what I think I could do for the future. I was talking so fast that I almost forgot to breathe.

"Dottie, can you get the kids and tell them dinner's ready." My mom said, wiping her hands together. I nodded, giving Evan back to Clara. He woke up instantly mind you. I got up from my seat and went upstairs.

They can't be far, so I check my room first... What the fuck. Michael was on my floor half-naked with Elizabeth and Daniel trying to shove my yellow floral white sundress over his head. He was yelling at them and trying to push them off but Daniel held down his arms and Elizabeth was solving his head through the dress. Daniel moved Michael's arms through the straps. I cleared my throat and leaned against the door. All of their heads turned towards me, surprised. Michael was beet red.

"Uh... Dinners ready."

I walked downstairs and waited for them to... stop whatever that was. I sat down in my seat with no comment. I want to unsee whatever I just saw immediately. William set the table with plates and asked what drinks we wanted. It feels weird to see him act so casually with my family, it feels weird to even see him in my home. To think my family and his never knew each other all this time. It was only him and I. He's so secretive I wonder why. He never told me about Clara or his kids. It could've been like Henry and I with Elle and the twins. Well, they're an odd bunch but still a presentable family those Aftons.

Speaking of which, Michael, Elizabeth, and Daniel came downstairs. The poor boy couldn't even make eye contact with me. Daniel took his seat next to me. Michael sat across from me. Clara was on my right and in front of her was William. Across from Daniel was Elizabeth, Evan sat next to his sister, Mom sat next to Daniel, and Dad sat in front of Mom.

My parents and the Aftons were telling stories or talking about what happened the other day that seemed so crazy. Evan was trying to get Elizabeth to eat her vegetables, he even held it to her mouth. She was stubborn, crossing her arms and pouting. Daniel was listening in on the parents' conversation. felt my foot get nudged. Fucking Michael. He was looking away listening to the parents talk. I stomped on his foot. His eyes became the sizes of dinner plates, he hit his chest with his fist and coughed violently.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" Clara asked, leaning over the table.

"Yeah yeah... just went down the wrong pipe." Michael sipped his water awkwardly. Mom snickered at him and shook her head.

When he looked up he made eye contact with me and gave me a death glare. I smirked picking through my food. His foot hit mine again, I hit his shin with my leg. We were battling playing footsies under the table. Staring at each other and not breaking it. Daniel nudged my shoulder. I stopped. The parents were questioning why the table was moving. Michael kicked my ankle. I nodded my head towards the parents. We both looked at them, they were looking back at us. Michael and I quickly awkwardly took sips of our water not looking up.

---------

The loud and lively became cozy and quiet. Clara walked out with a sleeping Evan in her arms. Putting him in his car seat.

"Daniel! Come down here and say goodbye!"

"Bye!"

"That's not what I meant..." (Y/n) said, pinching the bridge of her nose. She felt her shoulder get lightly punched. Michael standing there with a smile. The annoyance of her little brother wore off.

"You leaving? I mean... you are leaving why wouldn't you be because your mom and little brother are in the car and-... I'm not making this better for myself." (Y/n) said, scratching the back of her neck shyly.

"Don't worry it's cute, I'm about to head off. I'll see you soon, right?" Michael asked looking away then back at her for a moment.

"Yeah.. yeah! Anytime besides when I'm working. Then again Will's the boss so maybe you can come when I'm working? I don't know, I'm bad at goodbyes." (Y/n) stammered awkwardly.

"Cool, cool" Michael laughed awkwardly. There was this tension between them. Vivian swung her arm around her daughter.

"We'll see you again, right Michael? You are welcome here anytime. You see... (Y/n)'s a bit of a loner-" Vivian whispered the last part behind her hand.

"Mom!" (Y/n) yelled, embarrassed pushing her mother off of her.

"I'm going to be bothering you guys all the time now, you sure you want that Mrs (L/n)?" Michael teased.

"Bring it on kid! And call me Vivian. Mrs. (L/n) makes me feel old." She said,

"Okay, well uh I should go to the car now. Bye and thank you!" Michael walked off waving a bit. Goodbyes were shared. Vivian went back to the kitchen to clean. (Y/n) sighed enjoying the moment of silence. William comes around with a sleeping Elizabeth in his arms. Stopping next to (Y/n) with a smile. She looked up at him surprised.

"I'll see you at work, I would love to hear about your new redesign for Trickster. We have a lot to go over, love." William said in his sultry accent.

"I can't wait, I have so much to talk about. I may need help to work on the blueprints and measurements. I'll see you till then, Will." (Y/n) said gently patting the sleeping girl in his arms. He nodded and took his leave.

Stephen (L/n), was in the backyard lighting a cigarette while the Aftons were leaving. Something was odd to him. Something didn't feel right about William. His guy screamed an icky feeling near him. He didn't like it, but he knew it was a move of a fool to find out what was wrong with William. He needs to know when is the right time to act and how to act. A puff of smoke soared up into the dark sky.

Cujo follows (Y/n) upstairs lazily through her night routine. She grabbed the phone and dialed a number. Cujo lay on her bed huffing and puffing.

"ʜᴇʏ ᴄʜᴇʀʏʟ, ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ʀɪɢʜᴛ. ʜᴇ ɪꜱɴ'ᴛ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʙᴀᴅ."

[cherr-22]

TNGDH 30

“Cashew. Stay still for a moment.”

The time has come.

My sluggish body which had been lazily lying on top of the sawdust to enjoy the warm light of the electric lamp was helplessly lifted by Kyle’s rough hands.

He picked me up more carefully than usual and took my measurements with a tape measure he got from who-knows-where.

―Squeak. (Sigh.)

I stretched out my arms and watched Kyle work with full concentration. His hands and arms were wrapped in bandages and yet on his day off, he was doing this instead of resting.

Just rest. Stay lying down on your bed.

I burrowed myself among the yarn and, with a sour expression on my face, read the book Kyle laid out, <Try making one yourself! 79 styles of hamster clothes>.

Well, I read it and closed my eyes shut in cringe.

The outfit Kyle chose to make was a pink cape with a large strawberry embroidered on the back. I turned my head to try to pretend I didn’t see it.

I knew it. I shouldn’t have given him this book. At the very least, I should’ve looked over it before giving it to him.

At that time, I was fooled by the viral marketing of the system that said [You can keep fluffy hamster clothes in your inventory and use them at your disposal!].

[d=====(￣▽￣*)b]

Why are you so happy.

I huffed and kicked towards the system window. Kyle must’ve thought I was fighting with the air, so he stopped for a moment and gently stroked my body.

“Wait a bit even if you’re bored. I’ll finish this up quickly.”

And then I was given an almond.

With a sigh, I laid down on my side and watched Kyle while nibbling on the almond.

‘Well. It’s already happened, so what can I do anyways.’

When I asked the system, it said that if I used ‘Summon’ to turn into a human, the clothes would also grow bigger to suit me. Anyways, isn’t it better to wear at least a cloak than to be naked when you’re in a hurry?

The problem was Kyle’s crafting abilities.

‘……Is that really clothes? Not something else?’

I scrunched my face as I watched him make what looked like a dish scrub. The dishes would become so clean if I used that. Anyways, it meant that I couldn’t wear that. 

Then, a knock and the voice of a knight came from outside the door.

“Pardon my intrusion.”

“No. Don’t come in.”

Kyle raised his voice as his fingers slipped. The large door slightly opened a crack before closing again.

“……Are you busy at the moment?”

“Coming into the study is prohibited unless someone has died. Do not come to me for trivial reasons!”

Kyle’s voice was firm.

‘Why are you talking like that? You’re just knitting hamster clothes.’

Even if it’s you, I bet you don’t want your subordinates to see this, huh…….

The knight outside raised his voice sharply and shouted, “Yes sir!” before walking away.

With that, it should be silent without anyone else’s disturbance for a while. The poor knight would tell everyone in the castle to not go into the study even if they’re dying.

I scratched my stomach and checked the system window. Kyle continued to concentrate on knitting.

[Currently Possessing Hearts ｜ ❤×14]

Your skills are atrocious but as long as you are enjoying it…

‘Your happiness will soon be my happiness, I suppose.’

As the ball of yarn grew smaller and smaller, the number of Hearts increased. I buried myself into the pile of yarn and fell asleep due to the warmth.

The system window flashed in my blurred vision.

[Kyle Jane Meinhardt. Approximately 50 days left from the expected time of death.]

I jumped when I saw the previous 15 days increased by over a month. I stared at it blankly and then slowly closed my eyes again.

50 days isn’t long either, but at least we would get through this winter. Long enough to see the spring in this desolate North together with him.

*

When I woke up, I was in the hamster house.

I yawned lazily while stroking my pressed cheeks from lying down on it for too long. I checked my body.

‘Whew…….’

Luckily, he didn’t make me wear anything while I was asleep.

It seemed he finished making the clothes before I fell asleep, but didn’t make me wear it due to its poor quality. I patted my chest in relief and sat on the swing.

‘The problem is the Miracle Points…….’

I opened the system window and checked the amount of points I had.

[Current Miracle Value 19.0%]

‘I sure used a lot.’

I sighed.

With this, ‘Summon’ was only an hour long. It would have to be at least two hours for me to use it comfortably…… just how exactly did I go around with 30 minutes in the past? I’m like a frog who can’t imagine what it was like to not be able to hop around on land when it was just a tadpole……

[=3 =3 =3]

I know. I know. I just ran around back then.

The first time I stole Kyle’s shirt and the second time I wore a maid outfit. Nobody knew about the shirt, but even Kyle found out that I stole a maid outfit. And to mistakingly make myself known as a pet pervert……

―…….

I let out a single tear drop as I turned my head up towards the ceiling.

Thinking back, wasn’t the dish scrub Kyle made actually luxurious piece of clothing personally made by the Grand Duke? Even if I wouldn’t know which hole to fit my arms through. Even if the neck was so tight I could barely breathe.

……Never mind. It’s not okay.

I shook my head to chase away the random thoughts. That’s not what was important now.

―Squeak! (My Miracle Points!)

That’s the problem!

[＼（〇_ｏ）／]

I ignored the surprised system and got off the swing. Then I paced around the hamster house to think.

In the first place, saving a person’s life wasn’t the only miracle that existed in this world.

I was too focused on increasing Kyle’s lifespan that I didn’t notice. The number went up when I made the relationship between him and Sen closer.

In other words, the points would go up if the future changes for the better.

If death was the fate of all living beings, then the least we could do is to choose to live a better life.

I hugged a doll Kyle gave me and laid down together with it.

[_(:з)∠)_]

No matter how much I think about it, I wouldn’t be able to come to a conclusion.

It was during times like this that we must resort to magic.

### Not actual magic, but a chant to avoid responsibilities

I’ll leave tomorrow’s problems to tomorrow’s me.

Even if there were no solutions now, if you continue to push forward and live on, things would always work out some way or another. People who failed to do so would fall, just like the people of this land.

In <Winter’s Heart>, the Blake estate slowly went into decline after losing Kyle.

The surviving demonic beasts caused the people to leave the estate in fear and the supply routes cut off, making it a land near impossible to live in.

What was it? There was a description said by the people who left the Blake estate in the second half of the novel. It was…….

[An abandoned castle haunted by frost ghosts. That was what people called the frozen castle.]

That’s right. A castle haunted by ghosts.

I raised my head and took a look around the warm interior. I could feel the sincerity of the people who cared for this castle everywhere I looked.

Now that I think of it, even Sen and her colleagues seemed to enjoy working at the castle. Kyle was not an overpowering monarch, but rather, someone who was like family. Kyle, the maids, the knights, and all the other workers of this castle.

That was why I was more concerned. If I failed to save Kyle, what would happen to all these people?

“Sigh…….”

I scratched the back of my head and walked along the corridor.

I wondered if I grew attached to this place after spending time here. I wished for the people here to not only rely on Kyle, but to also find a way to survive the winters even without Kyle.

That way, even if the central pillar collapsed, the rest of the pillars would not collapse. Of course, I planned to save Kyle at all costs too.

“Whew. Catching this took a long time.”

“It’s difficult to catch a flying demonic beast.”

As I walked down the hallway, I came face-to-face with soldiers holding bird-like beasts in their hands.

“Oh! It’s the demonic beast specialist! Are you feeling alright?”

“Huh? Oh yes, yes! I’m alright. I’m feeling better than ever, in fact.”

“I’ve heard you returned but…… wow, to actually survive the fall from a cliff like that is incredible.”

I was confused for a moment since I couldn’t recognize them due to the dust covering all over them. Having a closer look, I saw that they were one of the new knights who had gone on the reconnaissance.

“Are you returning from somewhere?”

“We came back from hunting demonic beasts. They weren’t particularly dangerous, but they were still a bother to the village…….”

One of the knights held up the beast in their hands for me to see. A plump body with white feathers..

‘Hmm.’

So, it’s a duck.

No matter how I look at it…… it’s a duck.

They say it’s a demonic beast, but to me it was just a plump duck.

Wait. ……ducks?

“Wait, hold on. What do you plan to do with that?”

“Umm…… I suppose we would just bake or fry it and then eat it?”

Bake? Fry? Not boiling it to warm yourself up with a nice hot soup?

Now that they mentioned it, everything here was either baked or fried. They were delicious, but at the same time they were too oily. In the Blake estate where the temperature was low all year round, won’t soup dishes be a better choice? Were there no soup recipes here?

“Please give that to me. I will cook it for you.”

“……Yes?”

I guided the two dirty knights to the kitchen and rolled up my sleeves after receiving permission to use the kitchen from the maids.

I had a whole 7 years of experience living alone. I could easily make some baeksuk in an instant.

### Korean dish where a whole chicken seasoned with rice and medicinal herbs (in this case a duck) is braised

I took a knife and cut off the duck’s neck. Then, I prepped everything I needed to be able to put the duck into a boiling pot of water.

For your information, I learned this at a part-time job. He was a trash boss who refused to even pay me the minimum hourly wage, but I still learned a lot from him. Especially on how to report non-payment of hourly wages to the Labor Office.

“Should I throw this away……?”

I was inserting rice into the duck’s stomach when the knight next to me held up a pile of feathers that he helped pluck.

“No, how could you throw away such precious duck feathers! Do the Northerners not get cold at all? We must make clothes out of them!”

Since ancient times, the best parka has always been duck down parkas.

I carefully took care of the basket full of duck feathers. I took them to the maids and tried my best to explain to them using both words and body language. Collect this amount of feathers and quilt it to make the clothes warmer to wear.

Indeed, the maids have been taking care of the Blake estate for a long time. They quickly realized my intentions and gathered in groups of twos or threes before they started sewing excitedly.

All my hardships in my past life were becoming helpful in one way or another, huh.

While I looked at the scene with pride, the knights shouted that the water was boiling. I quickly returned to the kitchen.

It almost felt like a holiday due to how crowded it was, making me feel strangely ticklish and warm inside.

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

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[frownyalfred]

Hello! I’m not Jewish and I just learned about Pikuach Nefesh. Being Jewish yourself, I’m guessing you have a lot of thoughts on this and how it relates to Bruce’s no-kill policy. I’d be really interested in hearing them if you want to make a post!

Hey friend!

I absolutely have thoughts, but I must begin with a disclaimer:

My perspective does not cover all Jews, nor is it the authority on what is or isn't Jewish. I grew up Reform/Reconstructionist, in an ethnically Ashkenazi Jewish family, and these are just my thoughts as a Batman blog.

Another important note: different types of Jews hold the halacha (rules/principles) of Judaism to be far more important in their lives. An Orthodox Jew will observe halacha much more strictly than a Reform Jew. Despite what some people will tell you, this doesn't make either of them better. Just different.

Whew, okay. Now that that's out of the way, let's get down to business.

What is Pikuach Nefesh?

In very general terms, Pikuach Nefesh (hard ch sound in the back of your throat) allows Jews to override other religious "rules" or values in the pursuit of preserving or saving a life.

A good example of this is a an Orthodox Jewish person, who, following halacha, will not drive or operate items with electricity during the Sabbath (Shabbat). But what happens if someone has a heart attack and they need to call 911? Pikuach Nefesh would permit them to use electricity, despite it being Shabbat.

If a Jewish person who keeps total kosher is in a situation where they will starve if they do not eat non-kosher food, they are permitted to eat non-kosher food.

Exceptions

There are some notable exceptions to Pikuach Nefesh, which I suspect is what your question is getting at. The threat to an individual's life generally has to be known, urgent, and not abstract.

Murder is another large exception, with some conditions. Generally, the intentional act of killing another person, or injuring them to the point where they might die from their injuries, is not an act that can be permitted by the principle of Pikuach Nefesh.

The slim exceptions to this include highly specific cases of self defense of oneself or another against an aggressor. One may kill to preserve a life in very strict situations, but they cannot murder. There are even times where killing is obligated, such as war.

So how does this relate to Batman/Bruce's no-killing rule?

Okay. So. I've had a lot of discussions with folks about this, and the answer I've learned is: it doesn't. Not really.

Pikuach Nefesh refers to the principle that a Jewish person should preserve life over almost any other rule or halacha. It does, actually, permit Bruce to kill under very specific situations. It does actually forbid him from gravely injuring people and doing so in the name of fighting against abstract threats, which are both things he does in canon.

The last time I wrote about this, I was definitely off about the details of Pikuach Nefesh in regard to Batman. I was corrected and I stand by that correction. I didn't grow up in the Orthodox faith and I don't observe much of their halacha, which is where a lot of religious theory questions arise from. I'm not an expert, and my explanation is only as deep as my own experience.

I think a good way of looking at Pikuach Nefesh is not as a way to define what, if any, killing is acceptable, but rather, what are we obligated to do to save a life?

The more important Jewish principle shaping Batman's ideology (in my opinion)

"Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire."

This is much more of an important focal point for Bruce's Jewish-influenced ideology. The flipside of this quote, from the Talmud, is equally important: "Whoever kills one life, kills the world entire."

Bruce's no-killing rule is famously tied to his parents' deaths during his childhood. In a way, his entire world ended with their murder. He sees his mission to clean up Gotham as a way to prevent that loss from occurring for anyone else.

Saving one person, like he tells Barry in Justice League, is enough. That is a viciously Jewish thought. It is frequently quoted in reference to those who acted in support of Jews during the Holocaust, doing what little they could against a fountain of evil.

Conclusion

In that regard, yes -- Pikuach Nefesh tells us that preserving a life is the most important thing above all else. But Bruce's no-killing rule would swiftly be broken if he followed the principle of Pikuach Nefesh closely, in that he would a) likely have to kill someone in self-defense at some point in his duties and b) it would not allow him to injure or hurt people to the extent that he currently does in canon.

More importantly, Bruce's no-killing rule is a better reflection of the Talmudic quote that "he who saves/kills a life, has saved/killed a world entire."

It is not much of a stretch, in my opinion, to connect Bruce's trauma from losing his parents at young age to his outright refusal to kill later in life. The more interesting question, in my mind, is if the creation of this no-killing rule truly was shaped by Batman's Jewish creators and their view on life and death, especially post Holocaust.

Comics became more widely available during and after WWII and the Holocaust, during which time many -- many -- Jews entered the field as writers and artists. Their influences on the characters we see today are obvious, often intentionally Jewish, but just as often un-intentional.

Was Batman's no-killing rule a product of the post-WWII Jewish comic writers who shaped his character? Was it a coincidence that lined up well with the Talmud, but not necessarily all the conditions of Pikuach Nefesh?

How else does Batman represent, or not represent, the goal of Pikuach Nefesh (the necessity that a person act in the preservation of human life, above almost all else)?

[labyrinthofsphinx]

Not sure if this has been asked before, but Vox in located in NY, they have the shack that Drift is in and Alastor has his place. But where do they spend most of their time? And is it hard juggling locations like that?

OOOOOO, a location question. I can't answer in full yet because not all the locations have been revealed....butttt I will mention a few that have been shown in the story, referenced in asks, and whatnot:

So, Alastor has a few locations associated with him and two homes. The first is the flat in New Orleans proper, over by the French Quarter. It is briefly seen from the outside in the epilogue to (Never) Let Me Go. Mimzy frequently stays here, and Al has given her a spare key to the upstairs just for herself. This is also the place Al lived after moving out of his childhood home, just as he was starting up his radio show and really digging into his, ahem, 'extracurricular' activities.

It was also around this time that the shack was built because, well, he needed a place for all his prep work. The shack is much, much further into the bayou and beyond where any normal person would dare to go. It's a very wild, almost haunting kind of place. The kid has only been here. I know it seems like it's been long time because all the asks...but most of them are non-canon to the story. They haven't actually had to leave the kid alone for much more than getting groceries. Thankfully, both have been able to push off having to jump right back to work in person. Ah, the days before people always knew where you were!

Al's other home, which he basically gave to his mother until her passing, is usually called the 'estate', and can be seen in the background of some asks, like this one. It originally belong to his father....buuttt for, ahem, reasons, he grew up basically owning the house and everything in it. We'll be seeing this more shortly, but it's kinda the base of operations for most of the going ons that shall be shown...unless said otherwise. You'll see why ;)

The bar location that shows up most often, and always when Husk is around, is the Black Cat casino and bar. Husk originally owned the joint until Al came and won it, and Husk, in a game of cards. We haven't seen it from the outside yet because it's something a little special that I'm saving for later ;))

We haven't seen too much of the Vox centered locations, but just be aware that he's got a house in almost every state, and a secret place in South America that he got after he realized just what kind of, um, 'tab' him and Al were drawing up, in case they ever needed a place to get away to.

He has a penthouse in NYC proper, with a view out to Central Park. The poolside was shown very, very briefly in a early funny one off, non-canon ask here. If he's got a long busy week, he'll usually stay there just for convenience.

His business building is also in NYC, and one of the offices was shown in (Never) Let Me Go Part I . It's also sometimes featured in asks, but is almost always shown from the view of the offices or his station set. His studio building is in Hollywood proper, and we'll see more of that further along the line.

Otherwise, the two other locations to keep in mind for now are the big, Gatsby-styled mansion on Long Island, shown briefly here, and the private island he owns with a small fortress on it, seen here.

Also, because it's kinda a location in of itself, especially where Vox is concerned, consider his yacht as another 'home' of his. It has enough bedrooms to count XD.

Whew! I think that's the short summary of all the ones shown or teased so far. But to get back to the original question:

Vox almost always visits Alastor, unless explicitly stated. Between Vel and his own obsession with work, he makes time for the things he really wants, like traveling down south to be with Al. After Alastor's mom passed, they're almost always at the estate whenever it's their usual downtime. Al doesn't have any real neighbors for miles and they can kinda do whatever they want there. Also, now that his mother is gone, Al doesn't mind using the place when getting his hands dirty...so long as his mother's things aren't disturbed. Again, we're going to see more of the interior shortly.

The shack is supposed to be just for their prep work and maybe the occasional sleepover that gets called a hunting trip. It's not really meant to serve as a home but...well, with the kid there, they haven't had much choice in the matter. That's why at the end of Something Wicked, when Al realizes Vox is attached now...yeah, probably time to bring the kid to a proper house (which is going to be Al's estate).

So, yeah, it's hard, but they make it work.

Thanks for the ask!