#where the light hit her left hand it starts to crystallize at the fingertips and that spreads

[etruatcaelum]

[ @jocundcompany | emerald // cinder ]

The knock comes at an inconvenient time; Cinder, in the midst of plating the dinner they’d ordered up from the hotel kitchen, grits her teeth. If she has to skip a meal because Watts isn’t doing his job, she’ll kill him. Salem and her plans be damned.

Hazel glances at her without moving—a pointed look at her arm, his stoic mask fractured by the trace of a sneer that gives away his revulsion. She gives him an envenomed smile, draws her half-cape around her shoulder to hide all but the pale tips of her claws, and jerks her chin at the door.

He crosses the narrow room to answer it. Giant that he is, he blocks the entrance completely; but Cinder can see from the way his posture alters that it isn’t an innocuous visitor, and then he rumbles, “You,” and she knows.

Abandoning the room service cart, she strides over to set a hand against Hazel’s bicep with a warning pulse of heat; he shifts half a step sideways, and there—

Emerald.

More than a year, it’s been, since the last time she saw either of them. Relief digs in like a splinter of glass, shredding the hard little knot of suspicion that had formed when Salem told her what happened. That Mercury panicked, that his eyes had flared and both he and Emerald fled in the ensuing chaos; by the time Cinder awoke from the feverish haze of shock and pain that had consumed her after Ruby’s ambush, they were long gone.

A small part of her had feared they were dead. Everyone lies, even Salem, and Cinder had not been there. How could she take the witch’s word for it?

But—no matter. Cinder smiles faintly, half-lidding her eye as she studies the girl cowering in the hallway.

“Emerald,” she murmurs. And then, with a tap of her forefinger against Hazel’s arm: “Give us a moment.”

Hazel looks down at her, unimpressed. “She helped that boy escape, after what he did.”

“And I will handle it,” Cinder says calmly, “as I see fit.”

His gaze flicks down to her half-cape. That familiar spasm of disgust is less well-hidden this time, but he only says, “Hm. It’s on your head.”

Cinder smirks after him as he shoulders past Emerald; he plods down the corridor and hangs a left into the stairwell. Headed outside to brood in the drizzle of snow melting through the hard-light dome, then. Good.

“It was,” she says slowly, focusing on Emerald again, “audacious of you to return.” Brow arched, she holds open the door and gestures for the girl to enter; her hand, scabrous and black as midnight, slips out from under the cape. “Come in.”

[sukirichi]

[ DUSK ‘TILL DAWN : 018 ]

“we who bear the burden of the crown do not need to love. you only need to stay here, with me, in power, in greed, in lust – in victory.”

cw. angst, infidelity, defamation, forced incest (please read the chapter first before you come at me 😭), reader uses a gun, alcohol consumption, emotional manipulation, toxic characters and toxic relationships, iris pov (just for a short part), mentions of murder, car accidents

notes. YOOO can you guys believe we are so close to the ending!! thank you guys so much for being so sweet and supportive to dtd! even though ik most of the readers are away and busy with school now (as am i) i still hope you guys enjoy this update hehe. the next chapter drop should be around the regular dtd tuesdays <3

wc. 13k

series masterlist 

[ EIGHTEEN ] no matter how easy things could be if I did, and no matter how guilty I still feel saying it. I wish I hated you.

In hindsight, the day began like any other day in the glorious kingdom of Inarizaki.

The early morning sun cast its golden glow over the streets that bustled with people, the shops opening with smiles and greetings to the familiar faces of loyal customers. The air was filled with the aroma of freshly baked bread and brewed tea, the distant chime of church bells signalling the start of a new day.

But beneath this serene facade, a storm was threatening to blow – one that would shake the very foundations of the already fragile throne. Iris knew this, too – she could feel it, could extend her hand and have her fingertips brush against her inevitable end.

As the first rays of light filtered through the windows of homes and cafes, Iris watched as the kingdom’s most widely read newspapers hit the stands. The headline had been bold and dramatic, splashed across the front page in large, black letters enough to garner heads turning its way. Who Is The Real Iris Amari? it read, accompanied by a series of photographs that left little to the imagination.

The citizens of Inarizaki began their mind-numbing routine, unaware of the bombshell waiting for them in the morning news. It started slowly, with a few early risers picking up the newspaper and gasping in shock. Unsurprisingly, the scandal spread like wildfire.

The younger ones scrolled through their phones, stopping in their tracks as the news popped up on their screens. The article quickly went viral, shared across social media platforms in the speed of light. It seemed that everyone had something to say about the explosive revelation – Iris’ official portrait decorated on it all.

In a cafe Iris had once loved visiting when she was still a teenager, where morning coffee was usually a time spent with light-hearted chatter and gossip during a faraway era when she still had friends, the atmosphere grew tense and charged. She could’ve been one of them, she thinks, a group of young people huddled together, their voices hushed but urgent. “Did you see the news about Princess Iris?” a woman whispered to her companion, her eyes wide with disbelief. “Her mother involved in a murder? I can’t believe it?”

“Now that they mention it,” mumbled the man next to her, stroking his chin in thought. “It was rather odd that she got married to the Second Prince out of nowhere.”

All across the Kingdom, people gathered in small clusters – their faces a mix of shock, outrage, and disbelief. The photographs shown in the article were damning, capturing moments that painted a grim picture of Princess Iris’ past. One image showed her mother, Kate Amari, in a heated argument with the Late King. Another depicted Iris herself at a lavish party, her expression one of defiance and rebellion.

She’d remembered that party, could recall how the events went crystal clear. She’d been so young, barely nineteen and out of high school, when the impending doom of her fate grew ever near. A few years from now, she would’ve been forced into a marriage with a Prince whose affections she could never win. And what better way to accept her fate than make her mother outraged? So she’d partied, drunk herself to nearly the point of no return, and stumbled back home crying because she’d known. Her fate had been decided from her the moment the Late King slipped from her mother’s grasp, and into the arms of another woman.

She could have never escaped it.

She was nothing but a painful reminder of what her mother could’ve had. I could’ve been his concubine, her mother would cry herself to sleep, screaming those words over and over. Glass would shatter on the walls as she threw another empty bottle of wine over Iris’ head. He said he loved me! He said he would take us home and we would be together as a family!

Such dreams were shattered in the blink of an eye. No matter how much she wailed, and ran after the Late King, it never changed the fact that her mother was the daughter of a lowborn servant, and the Late King had always been majestic from the day he was born.

We were in love, she would tell Iris, brushing her hands through her dark locks – the same shade as the King’s. He’d always loved me, you see. Before the Crown forced him to marry her, you know? The Queen? The one who never smiles? He doesn’t love her, my dear, but he has us. You and me, his precious girls.

Iris thought his mother was delusional. She knew all about it, of course. She’d read her mother’s journals, the love letters the King had penned. She hadn’t been lying that he loved her, once.

The King, merely a Crown Prince at the time, aged sixteen when he first crossed the borders and paid an official visit to the humbler towns of Itachiyama where he met her mother. They’d been young, and foolishly in love. And her mother, illiterate and innocent, had captured the Prince’s heart. He thought her an ideal woman; unstained by ideals, untainted by the law. She knew only how to love him, and for once in his life, he’d felt more of a boy than he was a Prince. He’d made promises he couldn’t keep, promises of running away to the ends of the earth where they could be together.

Like a fool, Iris’ mother held onto his promise. She kept her loyalty even after he’d married the current Queen. She kept chasing after him even after the First Prince – a bastard child – was born. She’d loved him, through and through, until he returned to Itachiyama and made her believe he’d returned for her, only to stumble in the same sheets as Kiyoomi’s mother.

Her mother hadn’t been the same ever since.

She grew obsessed with revenge, throwing herself into a path where redemption couldn’t exist. She’d studied, made a name of herself, and flew to Inarizaki the moment the King had drunkenly put a child into her belly. Not that the King could remember – hence why he never accepted Iris as his own.

But she’d find herself amongst her true family. That was Kate Amari’s promise before the Queen betrayed her, and put her behind bars.

On the busy streets of the capital, pedestrians paused to check their phones, their reactions intense. Some stared in disbelief, while others shook their heads in disgust. A few young people, who had grown up admiring Princess Iris, felt a deep sense of betrayal. “I always thought she was different,” a teenager muttered to his friend. “But this... this is something else.”

The Palace was thrown into chaos as the news spread.

Inside the grand halls, staff members whispered amongst themselves, casting anxious glances towards the royal chambers. Courtiers and advisors rushed to convene emergency meetings, their faces pale and drawn. The Queen, upon hearing the news, simply sat down and pressed her lips into a thin line.

In the markets and town squares, debates broke out as people tried to make sense of the allegations. Some defended Princess Iris, arguing that the writer was anonymous, and the photographs could be doctored. “You can’t believe everything you read,” a shopkeeper insisted, waving his hand dismissively. “This could be a plot to discredit the royal family.”

The others were not so easily convinced. “Look at the evidence,” a customer countered, pointing to the newspaper. “The photographs, the timeline – it all fits. How can you ignore that?”

The debate raged on, with emotions running high on both sides. Some citizens called for Princess Iris to be stripped of her title and brought to justice, while others urged caution and a thorough investigation before jumping to conclusions. It was evident that the Kingdom stood on the brink of a social and political upheaval.

Even as the palace attempted to manage the fallout, the scandal showed no signs of abating.

News channels broadcasted special reports, experts weight in with their opinions, and social media buzzed with speculation and outrage. The Kingdom of Inarizaki had never seen such a scandal, and it seemed that everyone had been swept up in the maelstrom.

In the midst of the chaos, Princess Iris remained secluded within the palace walls, shielded from the public eye as she held a hand to her belly. But the damage was done. The question on everyone’s mind was how the royal family would recover from such a devastating blow – a question not even Iris had the answer to.

She knew one thing, and one thing, only.

She was a Princess, and she’d do anything to keep her place within the Palace walls.

Iris stood by the window of her – your – lavishly decorated room, staring out at the gardens she had once found solace in. The vibrant flowers, the meticulously trimmed hedges, the majestic fountains – all of it seemed like a distant memory now, a world that no longer belonged to her. Instead, a hollow numbness settled deep within her chest, a void where her hopes and dreams once resided.

When Iris first laid eyes on you on the day Rintaro picked you out in a crowded room, she’d thought you were harmless. Dull. Plain. You spoke only what needed to be said, and made no unnecessary movements. Stiff, and boring. She would’ve never thought, or seen it coming, that her damnation would come from the hands of a poor, lovesick girl who’d been lied to.

The heavy footsteps of the guards echoed in the corridor outside, growing louder with each passing second. She knew they were coming for her, to escort her out of the Palace for the last time.

The ornate mirror on the wall showed a reflection Iris could barely recognized – the same as her mother’s eyes had now lost their spark, a face that aged overnight from the weight of the scandal.

The door opened with a creak, and the guards stepped in. She felt their presence more than she saw it, their stern faces and impassive conveying the gravity of her situation. They waited silently, giving her a moment to gather herself, but there was nothing left to gather. Her spirit felt fragmented, her resolve shattered. Now, all she felt was anger hidden underneath a layer of numbness. Don’t look at me like that, she wanted to sneer, I am your Princess. I am the King’s only daughter!

She turned from the window, her movements slow and deliberate, as if she were in a dream. Her heart was a heavy stone in her chest, each beat a reminder of the life she was leaving behind.

The corridor stretched out before her, each step echoing with a finality that was almost suffocating. The opulence of the palace, the tapestries, and gilded frames, all seemed to mock her now. She had once walked these halls with confidence and grace, but now, every step felt like a march towards her end. It was all hers – all could’ve been hers – if you never stepped in and took it all away from her.

As she descended the staircase, the memories of simpler times haunted her. The laughter, the never-ending banquets and stock of wine, the promises of a future that had been her birthright – they all seemed like a cruel illusion now. She could feel the eyes of the palace staff on her, their pity and curiosity cutting through the numbness like a knife. Still, she kept her head high, determined to maintain her dignity in these final moments.

The guards flanked her as she reached the main entrance. The heavy doors were already open, revealing the world beyond the palace walls. The bright sunlight was almost blinding. She paused at the threshold, taking one last look at the place that had been her home, her prison, and her battleground.

With a deep breath, she stepped out into the light. The doors closed behind her with a final, echoing thud, sealing her fate. The guards guided her towards the waiting vehicle, their hands gentle yet firm on her arms. She climbed inside, her movements robotic, her mind still struggling to process the enormity of what was happening.

As the carriage began to move, the palace slowly disappeared from view, replaced by the bustling streets of the city. She saw the faces of the citizens, some curious, some indifferent, and a few sympathetic. But none of it mattered anymore. Her life as Princess Iris was over, and what lay ahead was a life she never deserved.

The numbness returned, a merciful shield against the overwhelming reality. She leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes, letting the gentle sway of the carriage lull her into a state of detached calm. The future was uncertain, but for now, all she could do was endure.

+

Summoned by the royal advisors and members of the council, Iris made her way to the council chamber. As she approached the large, intricately carved doors, two guards pushed them open, revealing a room filled with stern faces and accusatory eyes.

The room was a stark contrast to the rest of the palace. It was dimly lit, with long shadows cast by the flickering candlelight. The heavy wooden table at the center was surrounded by the kingdom’s most powerful and influential figures, all of whom had been convened to address the scandal that had erupted overnight.

“Princess Iris,” one of the senior advisors began, his voice cold and devoid of empathy. "Do you understand the gravity of the situation? The article has not only tarnished your reputation but has also brought disgrace upon the entire royal family."

Iris stood before them, trying to maintain her composure. Her eyes met those of the advisors, seeking any hint of understanding or compassion, but finding none. She nodded, unable to trust her voice to remain steady. She’d already figured this would happen.

“We have no choice,” another advisor interjected. “The people demand accountability, and the council has decided that you must be stripped of your title. This is a necessary step to restore faith in the monarchy.”

The words hit her like a physical blow. Stripped of her title. The enormity of the situation began to sink in, and she felt a wave of humiliation wash over her.

“You can’t,” she croaked out, her throat growing dry. “I-I am married to the Second Prince, and my title is secured. You cannot separate us as divorce is illegal, and if you do so... that would be saying the Prince loses his title, too.”

The advisors shared a look with one another, processing the gravity of her words. “While what you say is indeed true, this is one of those occasions where we must make... necessary adjustments,” the senior advisor said, his glasses pushed up to his nose. “We have already taken measures to fact-check the article and–”

“And?”

The senior advisor glares at her for interrupting. The entire change in attitude was impalpable; now that she’d been scandalized, everyone suddenly lost respect for her. “–And we found that everything written in it was true, just as the photographs are real. We also found records confirming that your mother, Kate Amari, was imprisoned years ago for murder. The King’s murder.”

A bitter, sardonic laugh bubbled from her throat. “I do not deny that, but did anyone ever investigate why she killed him?” A round of gasps echoed through the room at the revelation. “I am willing to bet on my whole life that none of you know how important I am in the royal family, that if it weren’t for me, all of you would be losing your positions and jobs as we speak! It was I who kept all the secrets, the one and only reason you are all able to live your pathetic, worthless lives because none of you know anything! You don’t even know that the Queen you worship reverently is–”

The grand doors of the courtroom creaked open, and the air seemed to grow heavier with each passing second. All eyes turned towards the entrance as the Queen, clad in a dark, regal gown that seemed to absorb the light, stepped into the room. Her presence commanded an immediate, oppressive silence, freezing everyone in their places.

Her gaze, cold and calculating, swept across the assembly, landing on each individual with the weight of her authority. The air was thick with tension as courtiers and officials alike dared not to breathe too loudly, lest they draw her scrutiny. Iris felt her heart seize in her chest, her earlier numbness replaced by a paralyzing fear. The Queen’s entrance had turned the room into a tableau of silent dread, each person awaiting the inevitable judgment that her arrival heralded.

“That is enough,” her cold, heartless voice sweeps across the room. “The final decision has been made. You are no longer allowed to speak another word unless I, the Queen, permits it.”

“Traitor,” Iris sneered, baring her teeth and lunging at the Queen when the guards held her back. “You’re a traitor! This isn’t what we agreed upon!”

The Queen, unfazed, sighs. “Take her away from here.”

Before Iris could protest further, a pair of strong arms escorted her to the grand hall for the public ceremony. The grand hall, usually a place of celebration and state affairs, was now filled with a somber and judgmental crowd. Nobles, courtiers, and even some members of the public had gathered to witness the spectacle. The air was thick with anticipation and whispers.

The whispers grew louder with each step she took. She walked with her head held high, determined not to let them see her crumble.

The queen, stood at the front of the room. She held a scepter in her hand, a symbol of the authority that was about to be wielded against Iris. The ceremony was swift, almost mechanical in its execution.

“Princess Iris,” the queen began, her voice echoing through the hall. “You have brought dishonor to this family and to this kingdom. By the power vested in me, I hereby strip you of your title and all the privileges that come with it.”

With those words, the queen raised the scepter and tapped it on Iris’s shoulder. The symbolic gesture felt like a final, crushing blow. The murmurs in the crowd grew louder, a mix of shock, satisfaction, and pity. Meanwhile, Iris stood, her eyes drawn to the ground as she fought back against the tears that threatened to fall.

She couldn’t believe it. The Queen had broken their agreement, turned back on her word like she did with her Mother. She’d promised her mother to place her within the royal family, then banished her overseas without another word. Now, she betrayed Iris too – arranging her marriage with Kiyoomi, her brother, and took it away from her.

The queen continued, her voice unwavering. “You are no longer Princess Iris of Inarizaki. You are hereby banished from the royal palace, and your marriage to Prince Kiyoomi is annulled.”

The crowd gasped, the severity of the punishment sinking in. Iris raised her head, unable to stop the tear slipping down her cheek. Quickly, she wiped it away. She had to remain strong, if only for the sake of her dignity, because what could she say now? That she was pregnant, and Kiyoomi had to continue with the announcement of ‘the happy news’? She couldn’t – she was stuck in a dead-end corner, and judging by the slight smile playing on the Queen’s lips, she’d already calculated this potential move.

She’d known Iris would never bring up the baby to save herself. Iris would never subject herself to an unwanted pregnancy, keeping up this pretend of sickening act of husband and wife with her brother any longer. If she did, the Crown would pressure her to have another child – one with Kiyoomi this time around, assuming that Rintaro would be disposed of soon enough.

Iris couldn’t go that far.

The Queen, as always, got what she wanted and won.

As the ceremony concluded, Iris turned and walked out of the grand hall. The heavy doors closed behind her with a resounding thud.

Her mind raced with thoughts of what to do next. Where would she go now? Her mother was gone, and she had no allies, made no friends. Maiko could’ve been someone to run to, but even the foolish kid had been too enamoured with you to ever have any loyalty for her. But she refused to let it end like this. She had to clear her mother’s name, to reveal the truth about the queen’s crimes.

She wasn’t going to let it end like this.

With her title stripped and her future uncertain, Iris vowed to fight back. She would uncover the secrets buried deep within the palace walls, expose the queen’s treachery, and reclaim her honor. As she walked away from the palace, the whispers of the crowd still echoing in her ears, Iris walked onwards with newfound resolve. She might have lost her title, but she had not lost her spirit. The battle for her mother’s honor and her own redemption had only just begun.

She would take back what was hers.

The palace was sent into a whirlwind of chaos after Iris’ deposition.

You and Kiyoomi stood in the hallway of Belleview Manor, observing the frenzy. Servants moved like automatons, their faces set in grim determination as they hauled the remnants of Iris’ belongings out of her quarters, tossing her clothes and personal items into hastily arranged piles.

You watched as delicate dresses were carelessly bundled, precious trinkets thrown aside, and keepsakes unceremoniously discarded. Your eyes fell upon a particularly cherished item – a framed photo of a younger Iris and what appeared to be her mother. Their faces were lit into smiles, Iris’ smaller hands held tightly within her mother’s. It struck a chord of guilt within you, and you stepped forward, halting a servant who was about to toss it aside.

“Leave it,” you mouth silently, taking the photograph from the bewildered servant’s hands. Clutching the frame, you held it tightly to your chest, looking up at Kiyoomi with wide eyes.

It’d been less than a week since the news spread of Iris’ abrupt leave. The Queen had stripped her off her title, and the entire Kingdom had been harsh in their glee over it. It was ruthless, needless to say, how easily they turned on Iris – who was once their Princess – the moment the article had been released. She went from being adored to being shunned to the point that even Itachiyama had closed its doors on her.

But wasn’t that what you wanted?

You’d been so desperate to keep Kiyoomi away from her grasp. Now, you’d succeeded. Iris had left, your room was now yours again, and any traces of the brunette finally disappeared.

And yet... why did none of it feel good? You weren’t proud, weren’t happy.

Outside, the commotion was no less intense. The air was thick with whispers and hurried conversations, the scent of scandal permeating every corner of the palace grounds. Meanwhile, Kiyoomi watched it all unfurl with a cold dispassion, as if he was merely an observer.

Your heart ached with a pang of pity as you glanced at him, but there was no time to dwell on it. In the span of forty eight hours, he’d lost his wife, and was pushed to being another pawn again. That part you hadn’t thought through – Kiyoomi may have been freed from Iris, but who was to stop the Queen from marrying him off to another woman? The political crisis between Itachiyama and Inarizaki was temporarily resolved the last time he’d went there, when you went there, but that had been months. And now, with the recent issue of Itachiyama being shamed for having such ‘lowborn people’ like Iris, none of it was getting better.

A small voice in your head urged you to find Iris, to offer some semblance of comfort or understanding. Gripping the photograph tighter, you make your way to your car, wondering where Iris might have gone after experiencing such a public humiliation.

Just as you were about to open the car door, a firm hand grabbed your arm. You turned to see Kiyoomi right behind you, his face etched with a mixture of confusion and concern. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“I have to find Iris.”

“No,” his grip tightens with urgency, already slamming the car door shut behind you. “You shouldn’t go anywhere. It’s dangerous.”

“Dangerous? What’s going on?”

“She’s not going to let this end,” he murmurs silently, pulling you into his chest as he looks around warily. He didn’t need to elaborate; the gravity of the moment was clear. The scandal, the disgrace, it was spreading like wildfire. There was no telling where it would end or what further damage might be done.

“Kiyoomi... Did I do the right thing?” you ask him, brow furrowing as your palms grew sweaty. “I-I didn’t mean for it to go this far. I know it would’ve gotten your marriage annulled with her, but... I don’t know what they’re going to do her, Omi. Will she be alright out there?”

Kiyoomi’s lips press into a thin line. “She will be, but I can’t guarantee things will stay the same,” he pauses, as if hesitating, then reaches to comb his hair back. “Listen. Iris is not going to take any of this lightly. There’s no telling what she will do next, but I can guarantee that none of us are safe here.”

You bite your lip, pondering it before you decided, “I still need to go.”

“Where will you go?” Kiyoomi lets go of your hand, not wanting to stop you, but not entirely willing to let you leave either. Instead, his shoulders sagged, his eyes pleading. “Just... Stay here with me. Or at least let me accompany you.”

You shook your head. You’d just freed Kiyoomi from the ties that bound him; if you dragged him with you again, then this would never end. This was something you had to solve for yourself, but if Iris couldn’t be found , then you had to start with him. “I need to find Rintaro. He still has a child with her, Omi. We don’t know how he’s handling the situation right now.”

Kiyoomi’s lips pressed into a thin line. Sighing through his nose, he seemed to have an internal debate before he closes his eyes. “Okay. I’ll come with you.”

“No, it’s...” you insisted, “I think you should stay behind.”

Silence stretches between you both. For a moment, it looks like Kiyoomi wanted to say more, but chose not to. You’d be lying if you said it didn’t hurt you – the way he closed off on himself, his walls put up so high you could barely look past it. But what could you do? And Kiyoomi, too, must’ve known this was a losing game. Forcing a smile on his face, he nods.

“Call me if you need anything.”

You smile at him gratefully, photograph still clutched to your chest before opening the car door. Then, you sped out of the driveway and called Rintaro, unsurprised that it went straight to voicemail. You tried asking the twins, even Kita, anyone who might’ve known where your husband was. But alas, none of them had the slightest clue. The last they saw of him was just before Iris was taken away by the guards, hovering behind her with an impassive look on his face.

He’d shortly disappeared after that. None of your texts and calls came through.

Jaw clenched, you turned on the location tracker you’d placed on his phone that time before you left for Itachiyama, mindlessly turning on the radio in case there’d been any reported sightings. You tuned in, letting the music fill the space in the air.

You gripped the steering wheel, your knuckles stiff with tension. You’d been driving for what seemed like hours now, eyes scanning the roads and alleys, searching for any sign of Rintaro. Fatigue weighed heavily on you now that the sun had long set, your eyelids drooping and your body aching from being sat for so long. Still, the tracker on your phone remained stubbornly blank, offering no direction to head in.

Just as you decided to turn back, the car radio crackled to life. The unmistakable voice of Iris filled the vehicle. You immediately went still, your heart pounding in your chest. You quickly pulled over to the side of the road, your breath catching as you listened intently.

Greetings, citizens of Inarizaki. It is I, Iris Amari, your former Princess and representative of Itachiyama. As you all know, I have recently been stripped of my titles now that the history behind my mother’s sudden disappearance has been uncovered.

A short pause.

I confess that I am guilty of manipulating the Crown Prince out of my boredom. The truth is, I was in a loveless marriage with the Second Prince, and I was lonely in the Palace when my husband would leave me to entertain myself for weeks, sometimes months on end. A lonely woman could only endure so much, and the Crown Prince was always there – warm, welcoming, and as lovely as he’d been when we met during our school years. I couldn’t help but seek out his company, even when he’d already married the Yuzuru heiress. After all, I knew my marriage with the Second Prince was hopeless. He would never speak to me, much less look my way – an arrangement I was satisfied with as long as it meant I could remain being a Princess.

You leant back in your seat, gnawing at your lip as you hung on to every word she said.

Now, to answer the question everyone has been dying to know: how did a no-name foreigner like me marry into the Royal Family? The truth is simple. I am the King’s only daughter, and Her Majesty the Queen manipulated my desperate, lovesick, and heartbroken mother to do her bidding. They’d both been victims of the King, their hearts toyed with until they were fueled with anger.

Your grip on the steering wheel loosened. Glancing at Iris’ photograph on the passenger seat, you stared hard at her features – green eyes, loose and dark wavy hair, almost with the same pattern of Kiyoomi’s curls. Looking at her now, Iris had always looked so... familiar. And that thought – or realization – alone, had your mouth drying.

But if they were both the King’s children, and they were married... A gasp fell from your lips.

Was that why Kiyoomi refused to touch her? Why he’d looked at her, repulsed and paling like she was vermin? It hadn’t been because she was, but rather because she was his sister.

The Queen, having had enough of her husband’s affairs and mistreatments, ordered my mother to murder him under the promise she would welcome me into the Palace. My mother did as she was told, concerned only with securing her daughter’s future, but the Queen betrayed us. Shortly after the King died, the Queen banished my mother from Inarizaki and put her behind bars to ensure her silence.

As a last resort to somewhat keep her end of the deal, she then enrolled me in Inarizaki Private Royal Academy to learn about how to run the country as a future Princess. Years later, after I graduated, she arranged my marriage with Prince Kiyoomi, my half-brother.

Now this all begs the question regarding the recent cheating scandal of the Crown Prince: if I’d known all this time that I was the King’s daughter, did I not seduce my own blood and flesh?

You may think so, but the Queen keeps a plethora of lies to keep this Kingdom running – one of her secrets being that she never had a child with the Late King, and Crown Prince Rintaro is nothing but a fraud. He is not of royal flesh and blood. He is nothing but a boy picked up on the streets to become the Queen’s puppet.

When the announcement ended, the music previously playing stuttered before continuing to where it left off. You sat there, stunned in silence with your mind reacing.

The sound of your heartbeat filled your ears, loud enough that it pulsed with the vehicle’s hum. Suddenly, your phone flashed with a notification – the tracker had located Rintaro. Adrenaline surged through you, and you slammed your foot on the gas, the car lurching forward as you sped off.

Now that Rintaro’s secret was out, you needed to find him first before the police did.

You drove through the dimly lit streets, your surroundings growing increasingly desolate. The familiar cityscape gave way to the outskirts, a labyrinth of abandoned warehouses and crumbling buildings. Shadows loomed large, casting eerie shapes that seemed to dance in the periphery of your vision. Your anxiety grew with each passing mile, the unease settling like a heavy weight in your chest.

Gripping the steering wheel tighter, you forced yourself to take a deep breath.

The once smooth road turned rough and pitted, each bump jarring your already frazzled nerves. The neon glow of the city was long behind you, now replaced by the flickering, sporadic streetlights that only deepened the shadows.

After what felt like forever, you’d finally reached your destination – a decrepit building that looked to have been abandoned for years. The windows were boarded up, and graffiti marred its exterior. Despite its appearance, the low thump of music resonated through the walls, a steady, booming pulse that hinted at life within. You parked your car and stepped out, your eyes darting around the unfamiliar surroundings.

The building loomed over you, dark and foreboding. You balled your fists at your sides, trying to steady your frantically racing heart.

As you approached the entrance, you were greeted by a hulking figure. “You got a pass?”

You blinked your eyes up at the bouncer, standing guard. He was imposing, his large, hulking arms crossed over his chest. “Uh,” you licked your dry lips, vaguely realizing a little too late that you’re inappropriately dressed for this event – pearl necklace, diamond earrings, and a silk below-the-knee champagne coloured dress. “N-No, I don’t.”

“Then I’m sorry, Miss, you can’t enter. This is an invite-only party.”

You’re already fiddling with your purse. “How much?” you raised your brows, daring the bouncer to continue smirking when he noticed the seriousness on your face. “Name me your price.” He was quick to mention the numbers, and without sparing him another glance, you shoved a wad of cash – with extra – to his tattooed hands.

The bouncer’s smirk grew wider, satisfied as he pockets the bills. “Welcome to Ecstasy. Enjoy your stay. If you don’t have a mask yet, someone at the counter will give you one. At the right price.”

Rolling your eyes, you pushed past him and through the doors. The music grew louder as you neared, its relentless beat matching the pounding of your heart. You squared your shoulders, prepared to face whatever lay behind the doors of this unsettling, hidden nightclub. What the hell was Rintaro doing here?

The deeper you entered the club, the louder the music got. The air was thick with the scent of sweat, alcohol, and something else you couldn’t quite place. The interior was a chaotic blend of darkness and vibrant neon lights, flashing in sync with the pounding bass of the music – loud enough to give you a headache. The colors danced erratically, casting shifting shadows across the grinding bodies across the room.

Everywhere you looked, people were hidden behind masks, their identities obscured in a surreal modern-era masquerade.

The masks ranged from simple to elaborate, animal-themed, Venetian, some grotesque. Yours was a simple bunny-mask, its ears protruding at the sides and the nose wide enough to cover a fraction of your eyes. You understood now why Rintaro chose to be here – the anonymity gave the revelers a sense of freedom, their movements uninhibited and wild. Everyone danced with abandon, bodies pressed close together as they moved as one with the beat. In the corners, couples were locked in passionate embraces, their hands trailing in places it shouldn’t be – completely oblivious to the world around them.

Discomfort washed over you as you navigated through the crowd.

The noise was overwhelming, a constant assault on your senses. Your formal attire, elegant and out of place, drew curious and sometimes hungry stares from the masked partygoers. Your feeble attempt in donning the bunny mask did little to hide your unease.

You pushed through the crowd, determined to find Rintaro.

Men in masks turned to watch you, their gazes lingering too long for comfort. You quickened your pace, ignoring the murmurs and the eyes that followed your every move. The flashing lights made it hard to see clearly, but you couldn’t back out now. You’d already reached this far. There was no way you were going to leave this hellish place without your husband in tow.

Finally, you spotted a tuft of dark, unruly hair.

Rintaro sat slumped at the bar, nursing a drink as his head bobbed in time to the rhythm of the music. He looked weary and lost, a stark contrast to the frenzy around him. Relief washed over you as you made your way beside him, the chaotic energy of the club seemingly fading in the background. You reached out to him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder in hopes to draw him out of his stupor and back to you.

When he finally turned to you, you were met with his familiar hazel eyes – ones that bordered more on green than brown. He looked exhausted; dark circles visible even behind his wolf-shaped mask, the whiskers nearly comical as it draped on the sides. You grinned at him, relieved to have found him safe and sound. Throwing your arms around him – or more like attempted to – you found yourself gently shoved back, your lower back connecting with the stool behind you.

“Don’t touch me,” he sneers, his words slurred. “My wife won’t like it if she sees you.”

You frowned at him, rubbing at the sore spot at your back. “Don’t be stupid. We need to go home. Now.”

Rintaro throws his head back in laughter, gesturing to the bartender for another refill. Once his glass was full again, he took slow, deliberate sips – his face impassive and his eyes cold. “The night is too young. Why would I want to leave?” he murmurs more to himself than you, his gaze narrowing at your hunched figure beside him. He stares, hard, making you squirm beneath the mask. But Rintaro simply sniffs, pointing his drink in your direction. “You look awfully familiar.”

“That’s because I’m your wife. Now let’s go.”

“My wife, huh? Now I know you’re lying,” he shakes his head to himself, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he downs his drink in one go. “My wife would never look for me, and she’d never come to a place like this. She’s a little too good for everybody. A little too great for the likes of us. Even for someone like me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re not going to believe this, but I recently just found out that I’m–” he closes the distance between you, close enough that his cologne and the stench of alcohol overwhelms you. Then, he cups his palm around his mouth as if to say a secret, his mouth dangerously close to your ear as his voice drops. “–Adopted. Or kidnapped, if we’re going to be precise. Fucked up, right? But you want to know what’s even more fucked up? It’s that I genuinely thought I was this great, praise-worthy Prince who deserved no one better but my wife. And I–” his chuckles grew louder, the humour in them absent, “–I ruined it. Ruined her life. Because she doesn’t even know that she married some stupid, lowborn gardener’s son.”

You frowned at his words. Crossing your arms against your chest, you spun on your stool and faced him directly, snatching the glass from his hand before he could ask for another refill. This time around, Rintaro doesn’t protest. Just slumps further against the bar’s counter.

“Don’t talk like that. I’m sure she doesn’t think of you any differently.”

“She already does. She can barely stand to be in the same room as me,” he sighs, his head buried in his arms before him. Sleepily, and drunk out of his mind, he gazes up at you under his lashes – the sadness deep and prominent within his eyes. “She could’ve married someone else if I never came into her world, you know? She could’ve married a Lord, or-or a Duke. Hell, she could have been a Princess from another Kingdom. She deserved all that and more. Instead she’s stuck with me and I–” his breaths stuttered, “–I’m no one.”

That was it. You’d had enough of his pity party. Did he really come all the way here just to feel bad about himself? Sliding the glass towards the bartender’s way, you grabbed Rintaro by the arm, heaving at his nearly dead weight. “Rin. Please. Let’s go home.”

“I have no home,” he whines, and it’s only now you notice the tears glistening in his eyes. “I don’t have a wife, I lost my girlfriend who’s pregnant with my child, and I – where would I go? There’s no place for me here.”

“You could go with me.”

“You’re not my wife. I don’t want to go anywhere without her.”

“Rintaro, I am your wife,” you repeat, shoving your left hand right in front of his face. He’s immediately entranced by the sight, and leans into the curve of your palm. “We wear the same rings, see? It’s me.”

The sigh he lets out is dreamy. “Yeah, I’m not sober enough for this. Now I’m seeing her too.”

Pinching the bridge of your nose in frustration, you lead him back to the bar, and help him sit down without falling on his bottom. “Okay, how about this? I get you a few more drinks, and then I’ll take you back to your wife, alright? I heard the Princess was looking for you.”

Rintaro’s sniffles grow louder as he avoids your gaze. “Why would she? She’s happier now that she’s with Kiyoomi. He’s the better man, anyway, better than me in all aspects.”

The memory of Kiyoomi’s lips flashed through your mind. Faintly, you wondered if this was considered hurting Kiyoomi’s feelings – running after your husband, and tending to him when he was not in his right mind. Just the thought of Kiyoomi patiently waiting for you back at Belleview Manor broke your heart. Or maybe he paced back and forth, anxiously opening his phone every minute to check if you’d updated again – you hadn’t.

But you would return, that you knew. The past few days with him – no, everything had made your decision clear. Regardless of whatever happened next… if Rintaro would be taken away by the police, or if the Queen disposed of him first, you’d already made your mind.

You were going to choose Kiyoomi.

But tonight… tonight, Rintaro needed you. Cupping his face in your hands, you levelled his gaze with yours, putting on your warmest smile – just like how you always did whenever Rintaro ran to you, worried and burdened with his day’s work. Even if he couldn’t truly recognize you, at least your touch would – hopefully – be familiar enough. “She’s worried for you, and she sent me here to take you home. She said she wants to talk.”

“She still wants to talk to me?”

Your heart ached. You’d never heard Rintaro sound this… helpless before, and at the same time hopeful. “Of course, Rin. Always.”

“Fine,” he relents, “but you’re paying for my drinks.”

You discreetly signal to the bartender, sliding over a generous amount of cash to cover all the drinks he’d ‘ordered.’ Thankfully, he understands your silent plea, nodding and begins to serve him water instead. Rintaro, too lost in his own world, didn’t seem to notice the change as he continued to down glass after glass.

Once he had reached his limit, you gently took his arm, guiding him away from the bar and through the club. To say the journey back to your car was arduous was an understatement. Rintaro kept leaning heavily on you, his weight almost too much for you to bear. His stumbling steps made your own balance precarious, especially in your delicate kitten heels. You gritted your teeth, determined to keep you both upright as you navigated the crowded, uneven terrain outside the club.

The rocky pavement outside made the task a lot more challenging than it should be. Each step was a battle, your husband’s larger frame swaying with each faltering step. You glanced around, spotting one of his cars parked far away, but you ignored it and focused on bringing him to yours instead. You’d just have to take care of the traces he left later.

With great effort – and a lot of sweat – you finally managed to get him to your car. You opened the back door, easing him inside. Rintaro whined and resisted, but you persisted, swatting his hands away to get him settled.

You managed to manoeuvre him into the backseat, checking twice to ensure he was comfortable enough before closing the door. Before you could, Rintaro suddenly reached out to you, his fingers tugging at your sleeves. “Wait,” he pleads, his eyes huge and vulnerable.

“What?”

“Need to... need to look good,” he rambled on, stretching his long legs at the backseat and tugging at his own shirt. The material is already wrinkled beyond belief, the top buttons undone. He keeps fidgeting with it, grabbing your hands to help him fix it. Stunned, your hands hover awkwardly over his chest – unsure if buttoning it up for him would be enough to satisfy him. “Do I look good? Don’t wanna – don’t wanna look drunk. She’ll get mad. Don’t want my wife seeing me like this.”

Your cheeks warmed at his words. Sighing, you reached over and closed the top buttons, patting his chest down as if to say ‘there you go.’ “You look fine. Stop grumbling.”

Convinced enough, Rintaro stops fidgeting. You were about to close the car door once more when he suddenly pulled you next to him. You squealed, barely catching your balance as you fell beside him. In one, swift movement, Rintaro had laid down and rested his head on your lap, his long legs awkwardly curled beneath him. There, he sighs, his large hands fisting your dress as you sit still – unable to move.

 “Just a few more hours, please? I want to sleep.”

You agree, finding it difficult to say no when Rintaro was so… clingy like this. It wasn’t like you could return to the Palace, anyway. Rintaro would most likely be a target of the Police, and the entire government now that everyone knows he was a fraud. He didn’t need to go back to that. You’d rather keep him here – in your lap, safe and sleepy and warm. Unable to help it, you run your hands through his hair, carding your fingers through the strands and raking your nails against his scalp. It causes him to purr like a cat, the sound entertaining before he buries himself closer to your stomach.

 “...Nice.”

“What?”

“Said you smell nice. Smell like my wife.”

The morning sunlight filtered through the car windows, its warmth gently jostling you awake. You blinked blearily, momentarily disoriented as you realized you’d fallen asleep. As you tried to move, you noticed the weight on your lap.

Rintaro was asleep there, his face relaxed and peaceful. The harsh lines of stress and pain that usually marked his features were smoothed away as he slumbers, making him appear younger, almost innocent.

You stared at him for a little longer, captivated by the rare serenity in his expression. Your fingers began to move on their own accord, gently caressing his cheek. His skin was warm under your touch, and you marvelled at how different he looked now. In sleep, he seemed free from the burdens that weighed so heavily on him during his waking hours. But now? Your heart softened as you traced the line of his jaw, wishing you could freeze this moment in time – preserve this fleeting glimpse of the man you had once fallen madly in love with.

You hesitated in waking him up, choosing instead to let him rest a little longer.

Carefully, you reached for your purse, digging through it to find your phone. The screen lit up with several missed calls and a flurry of texts from your parents, their messages frantic and pleading for you to answer and tell them where you were. Amongst the many notifications, messages from Kiyoomi caught your eye. His last message read, “please… please tell me you’re safe.”

Your heart ached at his worry, but another message drew your attention. It was from Kuroo, his message short yet ominous: “Princess, I didn’t write this, but I think you should take a look.”

With shaky hands, you clicked on the link. As the article loaded, your anxiety surged – a cold dread settling in the pit of your stomach. You glanced down at Rintaro, still peacefully asleep, oblivious to the turmoil that awaited you both.

𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐤𝐢: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐒𝐞𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲, 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐚’𝐬 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝

In a dramatic turn of events that has left the kingdom of Inarizaki reeling, the Queen has been seized by government officials following the revelation of her involvement in heinous crimes. The charges against Her Majesty are severe and include conspiracy to commit murder, kidnapping, and fraud. This unprecedented upheaval marks a dark chapter in Inarizaki's royal history. The Queen stands accused of orchestrating the murder of her own husband, the late King, in a desperate bid to retain power. This shocking revelation came to light after a thorough investigation uncovered irrefutable evidence of her culpability. Additionally, it has been revealed that the Queen kidnapped an innocent baby, presenting him as the Crown Prince to solidify her control over the throne. This child, now known as Suna Rintaro, has been living under the false pretense of royal blood. The official charges against the Queen include: Conspiracy to Commit Murder, Kidnapping, Fraud, and High Treason. Government officials have acted swiftly, seizing Her Majesty and beginning the legal proceedings that will determine her fate. The palace is in turmoil as the full extent of her crimes comes to light. As the kingdom grapples with the Queen's treachery, another scandal has emerged, further destabilizing the royal family. Hours after former Princess Iris publicly revealed her true lineage, incriminating photos of Princess Suna, wife of Suna Rintaro, have surfaced. These photos, taken within the privacy of Belleview Manor, show Prince Kiyoomi and the Crown Prince's wife in a compromising and passionate embrace, confirming longstanding rumors of a cross-marriage affair. The scandal does not end there. Additional evidence has surfaced showing Princess Suna meeting with Kuroo Tetsuro, the notorious journalist responsible for exposing Iris and Rintaro’s affair. In these meetings, Princess Suna is seen paying Kuroo substantial sums of money, effectively funding his comfortable life abroad. It is now evident that Princess Suna orchestrated the recent articles that have shaken the kingdom, making her a clear threat and an enemy of the Crown. The public and government officials are now united in their stance: Princess Suna and Suna Rintaro must be stripped of their titles and exiled from Inarizaki. Their actions have sown discord and threatened the stability of the kingdom, and such betrayal cannot be tolerated. As Inarizaki faces this turbulent time, the hope for a restored and honest royal lineage is strong. The kingdom looks to the future, determined to heal and rebuild in the wake of these revelations. This story is still developing, and we will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available.

Panic surged through you as the article’s revelation settled in.

Your breath came in quick, shallow gasps, each one more frantic than the last. You felt your chest tighten,, your heart pounding so hard as if it would burst. Desperation clawed at you, and you knew you had to get out of the car.

As gently as you could, you pushed Rintaro’s head off your lap, careful not to disrupt his sleep. He stirred slightly, but otherwise remained unconscious. You opened the door and stumbled out onto the pavement, your legs barely supporting you as you fell to your knees. The cold, hard ground bit into your skin, but the sensation was distant – the pain faint compared to the panic that was now beginning to consume you.

Your breaths were coming in ragged, uneven bursts now, your vision blurring with tears.

You pressed a hand to your chest, trying to steady yourself as the world spun around you. You knew, without a doubt, that your own Kingdom had already turned against you.

With trembling fingers, you fumbled for your phone. You needed to hear his voice – the one person who could ground you, who could make you feel safe in the midst of all this mess. You found his contact and dialled, holding the phone to your ear with a grip so tight your knuckles turned white. Finally, the call connected, and you breathed out, letting the faint sound of Kiyoomi fumbling in the background like a lifeline.

“Kiyoomi?”

“Thank God you picked up. You weren’t answering any of my calls.”

You closed your eyes, focusing on each word, each comforting tone as you anchored yourself in the present. The world around you began to slow, your breathing gradually evening out. You took a deep, shaky breath, drawing strength from Kiyoomi’s presence, even if it was just through the phone.

“I-I don’t know what to do, Kiyoomi. What’s going on?”

Kiyoomi sighed from the other line. “It’s just as the news said. The Queen is being held by the government to answer for her crimes and you... you’re no longer allowed to return to the Palace. You’ve been deposed.”

“But that’s – that can’t happen. There should be a procedure, a legal procedure before they can strip me off my title!”

“I know, but with everything going on in the country right now, the officials have all decided to skip the formalities and proceed with making any unjust royal family member out of the Palace as soon as possible. You included,” more shuffling rings through the phone, and you hear a car door slamming shut. “But don’t worry, I’m heading out of the Palace right now. Tell me where you are. I’ll come find you.”

Nodding even if Kiyoomi couldn’t see it, you move to send him your location when your phone was suddenly ripped out from your hand. You watched, mouth agape, as Rintaro throws it to the ground and crushes it with the weight of his foot. You scrambled to stand up, fire raging in your veins as you looked at him – Rintaro was now awake, his hair still messed up from sleep, but his eyes were big and bright, like he’d been riding on a high.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“I should be asking you that,” Rintaro glared at you, all the previous softness disappearing from his face. “Are you out of your mind? The news said we’re exiled. And you’re just giving our location to Kiyoomi like that?”

“That’s Kiyoomi! I trust him!”

“He’s a Prince, a member of the Royal Family – the same family you’re no longer a part of. I don’t care if you think you can trust him, there’s nothing he can do for you.”

“Oh, but you can do something about it?”

Rin flinched like he’d been slapped. Still, he kept his composure, his hands planted on his hips as he sighed and looked around you. You were nearly in the middle of nowhere – in the outskirts of the city, far from the inquisitive gaze of the Palace. It was almost hard to believe how so much had happened in such a short span of time, but Kiyoomi was right. Iris wouldn’t let it end there. If she was going to fall, she was going to take everyone down with her.

“I can’t help you, but you heard what they said. I’m exiled – I’m leaving this damned country.”

Your husband slammed the car door shut, and began to walk towards his car. “Rin,” you called out to him, taking two steps at a time to match his pace. “Rin, would you please just stop? Let’s talk!”

“There’s nothing to talk about!”

You stopped in your tracks, surprised when he’d turned your away. Rintaro’s face was flushed red, the vein on his neck prominent. “Why are you so angry? Oh, is it because your plans have been ruined and you can’t become King anymore, is that it? Because Iris is gone now, and you can’t have her?”

“Seriously? After all this time, you still can’t get over that?”

The laugh you let out is incredulous. “How can I? You kicked me out of our room a few days ago because you said you wanted to take care of her!”

Rintaro’s face hardens. “I didn’t mean that.”

“Well, thank you so much for telling me, because that totally changes everything,” you throw your hands up in the air, stomping to where he stood just to sneer at his face. “You really expect me to believe you stopped caring about her? The moment your girlfriend was kicked out of the Palace, what did you do? Oh, right. You went to some dingy, ‘exclusive’ anonymous nightclub and got drunk out of your mind. I think its crystal clear you needed a distraction from the pain of losing her.”

Rintaro scoffed, baring his teeth as he takes on your challenge and comes closer, your noses brushing. “What pain? I couldn’t care less that she’s gone. She never loved me anyway.”

“Then why drink yourself half to death last night? You could’ve been in real danger if I didn’t come looking for you.”

“You shouldn’t have, then.”

“A thank you would suffice.”

Rintaro’s face hardens. He takes more steps, forcing you to walk backwards until you were back to where you started – your back hitting the edge of your car. He looms over you, his eyes shining with something you couldn’t decipher. “Why did you look for me, huh? My mistress is gone. She’s out of your hair, and you could’ve had everything you wanted. Why else bother looking for me when all I did was hurt you?”

He practically forces the confession out of you. “Because I was worried about you!”

In an instant, Rintaro’s heat disappears. He flings himself backward like you’d burned him, frowning as he stares you incredulously. Then, he lets out a laugh that sounded more like a pained choke. “You are many things, but I never thought you could be a liar.”

“Liar? What are you talking about?”

He meets your gaze, his eyes cold and daring. “You don’t care about me.”

“Yes, I do!”

“No, you don’t! You know the truth, Y/N. I’m not a Prince – never have been, and never will be. You couldn’t possibly care for a fraud. You know it, too. I’m a nobody, and you were always better than me.”

Rintaro’s words hung in the air, each one landing with a weight that nearly suffocated you. Was that how he thought of you the whole time? That you’d... hated him? Thought of him differently because he wasn’t the King’s son? The very notion left you appalled. The ground beneath you felt like it shifted, your heart clenching painfully at the broken expression he wore. Shame, guilt – it all swam in the dark pools of his eyes, mingling with sorrow as you stared at him.

How could he think that, after everything?

His voice carried defeat, almost as if he wanted you to hate him, as if he believed it would make things easier.

The realization itself twisted something deep inside you. You didn’t hate him – not even close. Maybe you hated what he did, the lies that he’d kept and the facade he’d put on, pretending that he’d loved you when he didn’t. But him not being the King’s son? What did that change? Stood before you was still Rintaro, not Suna, the man you’d adored and cursed from the moon and the back. The thought that he’d been carrying this belief, suffering under it, cut you more deeply than any betrayal. Somehow, this hurt more than finding out he had another.

The fact that this whole time, Rintaro truly believed you looked down on him for not being a Prince. How could he have been so wrong?

The breath was knocked out of you, your shoulders deflating as every muscle in your body softened. “You may not be a Prince, but you’re still my husband. I still care.”

You watched the change in his expression as the words left your lips.

His eyes widened in shock, the disbelief evident against the relief that slowly unfurled across his face. It was as if a heavy weight had been lifted from his chest, his breath catching in his throat. But beneath that relief, confusion lingered, the doubts overshadowing your confession. It was as if he was trying to convince himself that you were wrong, that you should hate him, that your kindness was a mistake.

You could see it all – how Rintaro desperately wanted to believe you, yet he still clung to the pain of his insecurities like it was all he knew.

“If you care so much,” his voice broke as he spoke, “Then why did you kiss Kiyoomi?”

His question struck you like a blow to the chest. The words echoed in your mind, rendering you frozen in place. How could you answer that? How could you justify what you’d done? You could say you didn’t mean it, that you’d regretted it, but that would be a lie. You’d wanted to kiss Kiyoomi. It was a long overdue kiss, and until now, you still wanted to run back into his arms and have him tell you everything would be okay.

And that must show in your face – your blatant infatuation with the Second Prince. Rintaro’s face was a mixture of hurt and confusion as his gaze landed on your lips, probably picturing the way you’d kissed someone else. It made you feel small, like a child caught with their hand deep in a cookie jar. Your mind race, searching for an explanation, a way to make him understand, but all you could feel was the crushing sense of betrayal you’d inflicted on him – on both of you.

The truth was too messy, one that you couldn’t explain yourself. You cared for Rintaro, would do anything to protect him and save him from the mess he’d been tangled in. But you also loved Kiyoomi, loved tangling your hands in his curls, and laying your head on his chest to hear his heartbeat. You would fight a far for your husband, but when that war was over?

You would run straight home to Kiyoomi.

Still, you wanted to reach out. To say something, anything, that would take away the pain in his eyes, but the words were lodged deep in your throat. All you could do was stare at him, realizing too late you had hurt him in a way that might never fully feal.

“So you love him,” he concluded, and when you didn’t refuse, Rintaro nodded to himself – letting the words sink in. One of his hands were planted on his hips, the other fisted on his lip with his brows furrowed. “Was it... was it after I kicked you off to Belleview Manor? Or has it... have you liked him for longer than that?”

Since Itachiyama, you wanted to say, almost apologetically, since the day you kept choosing her over me.

Just as you opened your mouth to speak, a distant rumble interrupted the silence, growing louder and more distinct with each passing second. You barely had time to process it before Rintaro moved, his hand suddenly gripping your arm with a firm urgency.

Rintaro pulled you down, hiding you both behind the car. You followed his lead, heart pounding in your chest as you pressed your face against his back, the creases of his shirt bundled in your palms. Crouched low, the cold pavement pressing against your knees, you watched as he cautiously peeked over the car’s hood, his eyes narrowing in concentration. The sound of engines grew louder, more ominous – like the sound of your end nearing. You dared to peek from above Rintaro’s shoulder until you could make out the distinct patterns of royal emblems on some of the vehicles, followed closely by the flashing lights of police cars.

Fear gripped at you. You could feel your heart pulsing all the way up to your tongue, your breaths coming faster as you glanced at your husband. Rintaro’s expression mirrored your panic, eyes wide and intense.

The vehicles were closing in, fast and steady, like predators hunting their prey. You both knew that your time was running out, that you were no longer Prince and Princess. Exiled. Dethroned. Hunted like the lowly criminals you both were.

Rintaro wasted no time. He yanked you up as gently as he could by your wrist, guiding you into the passenger’s seat before he slammed the door close, and hopped onto the driver’s side. His movements are frantic as he started up the car, letting the engine hum fill the vehicle. “Wear your seatbelt.”

“But Rin, you were just drunk last night–”

The engine roared to life as Rintaro slammed his foot onto the gas pedal. “I’m fine now, and I drive faster than you. You know that. Wear your seatbelt.”

The car lurched forward, tires screeching against the pavement. You felt your body press back into the seat as your heart pounded in time with the racing vehicle. The world outside blurred into a streak of colours as you shot down the road, the cool morning air rushing in through the partially open windows.

You could hear the shriek of sirens behind you, the vehicles in pursuit closing in fast.

Adrenaline surged through your veins, sharp and intoxicating, as your mind raced to keep up with the unfolding chaos. This was real. This was happening. You were no longer just royals entangled in a web of lies and deceit – you were fugitives now, running from a government that once hailed you as symbols of hope and power.

Rintaro’s hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles white as he weaved through the narrow streets with a precision born of desperation. Each sharp turn sent her stomach lurching, the tires skidding dangerously close to the edges of the road. You cried out his name, and Rintaro hissed as he swerved back to safety. You could see the cityscape flashing by in jagged, disorienting bursts – the familiar landmarks rendered alien the further you flew away.

The vehicles behind you were relentless, engines howling as they sped after you with unyielding force. The sirens were deafening, mocking.

You glanced over at Rintaro, seeing the intense focus etched into his features, the slight tremor in his jaw as he pushed the car harder, faster, willing it to escape the grip of your pursuers.

The realization hit you like a physical blow – you were criminals now. Your life of luxury, of duty, and privilege, it was all over. Everything you had known, everything you had believed in, was crumbling away behind you, left in the dust of your panicked escape. There was no going back now, no return to the life you once had. You would have to leave everything behind – the Palace, the titles, your parents, Kiyoomi.

The car swerved violently as Rintaro took a sharp corner, the tires screeching as you fought for traction. The chase had spilled deeper into the outskirts of the city, where the streets were narrower, the buildings older and more decrepit. The vibrant pulse of the city was fading, giving way to a desolate stretch of road that seemed to go on forever, before it disappeared into the horizon like a thin thread of hope.

Beside you, Rintaro’s face was set in grim desperation, his eyes locked on the road ahead as the car surged forward, fuelled by the desperate need to escape. You could feel the tension in the air, the unspoken understanding between you that this was your only chance.

And with that, you accepted your fate.

This was the path you had chosen – no, the path that been forced upon you. The chase continued, the world outside becoming a blur of speed and danger. You braced yourself for whatever lay ahead, knowing that nothing would ever be the same again.

“They’re getting close,” Rintaro said through gritted teeth. One glance at the rear view mirror confirmed your worst fears; they were closing in on you, and that meant the end was nearing. You knew without a doubt that as soon as the government laid their hands on you, everything was over. Rintaro would be exiled, or worse, executed for infiltrating the sacred walls of the Palace – even if it hadn’t been his fault. And you would lose everything, everyone, that you ever cared about. You couldn’t let that happen. “Fuck! I need something to get them off my tail!”

You moved without thinking.

Reaching for the gun secretly stashed in the glove compartment, you quickly rolled the windows down, the upper half of your body carefully sliding out as you unlatched the seatbelt. “Hey!” Rintaro shouted, “What are you doing? Get back! It’s not safe!”

“I’m still the General’s daughter. They won’t shoot,” eyes narrowed, you aimed at the nearest police car who’d been hot on your heels. There was only a few inches left before they could bump into you. “But I will.”

There was no time for hesitation, no room for doubt.

The rush of the wind whipped through the car, pulling at your skin and stinging your eyes. Your finger hovered over the trigger, the world narrowing down to the police car’s tire, spinning so fast it seemed almost like a blur.

You fired.

The crack of the gunshot echoed in your years, the sound so loud it was deafening. You watched as the bullet hit its mark, the tire exploding in a burst of rubber and metal. The police car veered wildly, the driver losing control as the vehicle swerved violently across the road. Then, with a sickening lurch, it tumbled over, metal screeching against asphalt as it rolled, flipping end over end before it crashed into the guardrail. The screech of tires and the crash of metal filled the air as the cars behind it desperately slammed on their brakes, unable to avoid the wreckage. One by one, they collided, a chaotic pileup of twisted metal and broken glass until the entire road was blocked.

You slid back into your seat, your breathing ragged, your chest painfully tight.

Your hands were still shaking, the gun trembling in your grasp. Cold sweat dotted your skin, the adrenaline pumping through your veins as you stared at wreckage left behind you. The pursuing cars had been held back, unable to continue the chase.

The road was clear.

Rintaro pressed down harder on the gas, sending the car forward with renewed speed. The roar of the engine filled the car, its sound fierce and almost primal. You could feel the velocity pulling you back into your seat, your body slamming onto the leather.

As the wreckage disappeared from view, the chaotic noise behind you fading into the distance, you let out a shaky breath. You glanced down at the gun in your hands, the metal still cool against your skin despite the heat of the moment. It had been necessary, but the reality of what you had done settling heavily. You exhaled, trying to calm the trembling in your hands.

Rintaro eyed you from his seat, his jaw clenched before he glanced back at the road. “Do you know what you just did?” You nodded, tears now brimming at your lash line. “You’ve just officially declared that we’re at war with the country. They’re never going to let us go.”

“I know,” you were crying now – the tears unstoppable as you pressed your palms against your eyes. “I know.”

Rintaro was quiet for a moment. So quiet you wondered if he was still there, and he was. The tension never left his face, and he never once slowed down in his speed. But he was calmer, in some ways, his face set into a determined frown. “We can’t go back. We can’t say goodbye to anyone anymore.”

You couldn’t say goodbye to Kiyoomi.

“Where are we going, Rin?”

“Far,” was all he says, and the road that stretched before you suddenly seemed endless. “Far, far away from here where they can’t hurt you.”

“You mean us.”

“Of course,” he stole a quick glance at you, surprising you when you saw how his face had softened. Almost as if he’d already accepted that the life he’d lived was never his, and he had nothing but the future ahead of himself. “I’ll keep you safe. I promise. But if you... if you tell me to turn back, I will. I’ll find a way to get you back to Kiyoomi–”

“No,” you interjected, and Rintaro’s eyes widened. “I... I’m staying with you.”

Rintaro’s eyes scanned your face, looking for the answers. “Are you absolutely certain? You don’t have to, you know. This country can still forgive you, they can love you still–”

“I’m staying with you.”

“Okay,” he nodded, his face unreadable under the faint morning light. “Okay. It’s you and me.”

The decision to leave wasn’t easy.

It clawed at you, gnawed at the very fabric of your being, but you knew – deep down, in the place where love was both cruel and kind – that you couldn’t stay. You wanted to fight, to clear your name and prove to the world that you were innocent, to stand in front of the kingdom with your head held high. You wanted to see your parents again, feel their arms around you, hear their voices assure you that everything would be okay.

But even as these thoughts plagued your mind, they were outweighed by something stronger, something inescapable.

You thought of him – Kiyoomi, the Prince you ended up falling for. The one who’d stolen your heart, not with grand gestures, but with quiet moments, gentle touches, and promises whispered in the dark. You still remembered the warmth of being in his arms, the way he looked at you with eyes that saw through your soul, the comfort you found in his presence, and the future you’d dared imagined together. You had given him his heart when it felt all was too late, and he had given you his the moment you laid your eyes on his. Each one of you were willing to sacrifice so much for the other – it just never occurred to you that you would sacrifice Kiyoomi now.

And it hurt.

It hurt more than you could have ever imagined. The thought of leaving Kiyoomi behind, of crushing the trust he’d given you, of severing the bond you had formed – was a pain so deep it nearly made you want to ask Rintaro to turn back. At least let me say goodbye. Let me look at him one last time. You wanted to stay with him, to choose him, to finally build the life with Kiyoomi that he’d promised, but you couldn’t. He didn’t even have the littlest idea that that had been your last conversation, the last time you’d hear each other’s voices.

Because there was another man – Rintaro, your husband. The one who, despite everything, still held a huge fraction of your heart.

He was the one who needed you now, and he didn’t have anyone else. You’d seen the despair in his eyes, the loneliness that consumed him, the way his eyes didn’t quite match what he said as it held the silent please for you to not abandon him, to not cast him aside like everyone had. You knew him well enough to understand that if you left, he would disappear – not just from the world, but from life itself.

Rintaro would slip away, fade into the shadows, and you would never find him again. You couldn’t let that happen. You couldn’t lose him like that.

So you chose him.

You chose to run away with him, to leave behind everything you’d known, everyone you’d loved. It was a choice born out of duty, of loyalty, and of the twisted love that still tied you to him. It was the right choice, not that it made it any easier. The ache in your heart would remain and scar you forever, haunted by the knowledge you would never see Kiyoomi again, never hold him, never tell him how much he’d meant to you.

It was a loss you would carry with you for the rest of your life.

But you couldn’t do it any other way, couldn’t have gone a different path and not think of Rintaro still. You wouldn’t forgive yourself if you’d left him alone, if you let him slip away into the darkness that beckoned him. Even if it meant sacrificing your own happiness, even if it meant leaving behind the one person who’d taught you to love again. You had to choose Rintaro, even if it came with the price of letting everything else go.

So you did.

You closed your eyes, took a deep breath, and made the choice you knew would tear you apart. You ran away. And as the world blurred around you, as you fled into the unknown, hand-in-hand with your husband, you couldn’t stop thinking of the Prince you’d left behind – the man who would always hold your heart in his hands, even if you could never return to him.

“You and me, Rin.”

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

Musician Age Gap AU Pt 5

The shiny black car waiting for them at the curb is far more modest than Kara expects. Sure, the inside has a crystal decanter of something in the side console, but the outside at least is non-descript, almost subtle if not for its meticulously shined exterior.

Lena had thrown her hood up over her hair and placed oversized dark sunglasses on her nose when they exited the building, but they come off again as soon as the door shuts, enclosing them in the suddenly intimate space of the cab.

"So. Where to?" Lena asks.

"I thought you asked me on this date."

Lena's eyebrows rocket skyward, and Kara kicks herself at the slip. This isn't a date. But Lena responds before Kara can try to take it back.

"I don't get out much," comes Lena's blithe response. "And I'm technically a tourist, so. I figured a local like you would know the best joints in town."

Lena's smile is infectious, quickly pulling one to Kara's lips in turn. Kara thinks as the car pulls away from the curb, then leans forward to address the driver. "Can you take a left at the light and keep going until we hit 8th?"

The driver nods, and Kara sets herself to rummaging in her purse for her pen and something to write on. She finds the pen, but nothing so much as a receipt avails itself. With a huff of frustration, Kara thrusts first the pen, then her hand towards Lena.

"Write down your coffee order."

When Lena's lips turn down into a small frown, she continues.

"Noonan's is the best in National City, but the drawback is that everyone and their mother knows it. It's going to be packed. It'll be faster if I go in and order, and we take it elsewhere."

"Where?" Even as she asks, Lena takes the offered pen and starts to write on Kara's hand. Kara pretends that the touch of Lena's fingers on hers doesn't lift goosebumps to her skin.

"Maybe the park? It's nice out."

Lena smiles softly. "It is," she agrees. She caps the pen, but doesn't release Kara's hand. She instead dips her chin as though to kiss Kara's palm. Kara jumps when a stream of cool breath tickles her skin, drying the ink of Lena's order.

From the cheshire grin that flashes up at her, Lena knows exactly what she's doing.

"Sounds like a plan."

-‐-

The park is nice. The sun is warm on Kara's skin, though a breeze keeps it comfortable. And though its a little more crowded than Kara expected, Lena steps out of the car gamely. Up goes the hood, and on go the sunglasses.

It's not the best of disguises, Kara observes-- anyone would be able to spot that jawline from a mile away. But Lena seems to have made her choice as she retrieves her drink from the tray in Kara's hands. She also fishes a sticky bun from the paper bag Kara also holds.

"Oh my god," Lena moans as soon as the first bite hits her tongue. "This is amazing."

"You asked for the best," Kara reminds her with a hint of pride.

Lena hums again as she chews. "And by god did you deliver. Jeezus!"

Kara nibbles at her own treat, trying her best not to stare as the younger woman made short work of the sticky bun... and finished off by licking the sugary syrup left on her fingertips.

Catching her not-staring, Lena cocks another smile. "What?"

"What are we doing?"

Kara sets her bun down on the pastry bag on her lap, fidgeting in her seat. "I mean," she tries again. "Why me?"

Green eyes gaze at her, warm and engaged as Lena regards her. "Why not you?"

"I--" Kara stutters, suddenly unable to quantify her feelings of inadequacy. Her age is the first to spring to mind, but saying as much feels unnecessary-- Lena can perceive her age as well as anyone else, and clearly it hasn't deterred her.

What else could Kara say? That she's just an average private citizen, while Lena is the object of adoration for millions of people around the world?

That Kara feels like a nobody?

Or at least she did, until Lena started looking at her like *that*.

"You compel me."

Lena's voice is quiet, soft in the afternoon sun. Kara stares at her.

"Compel you? To do what?"

"To get to know you better," Lena replies. Her features smooth into an almost solemn expression. "When you stumbled in my dressing room last night, it was kind of refreshing, I guess."

Kara scoffs. "A random stranger tumbling into the room was refreshing?"

"No, that part was just surprising," Lena chuckles. Then her features soften. "But even after that... you didn't want anything from me."

Blinking in surprise, Kara's mouth opens to respond, but nothing comes out. Lena shrugs, her smile thinning a little.

"I love what I do and who I am, but... everyone wants something. My time, a picture, an autograph. An experience. You didn't."

Kara stares, still speechless. She hadn't given any thought to how she'd behaved that night. She'd just been frustrated and maybe a little mortified, and eager to get back to Esme. But from Lena's point of view she seemed almost... special.

"That," Lena continues, brightening once more, "and you're super hot."

Nearly choking on her own tongue, Kara coughs roughly in surprise before glaring at Lena.

"What?" the younger woman asks puckishly. "Is it truly that shocking? You've got mirrors, don't you?"

Kara takes a swig of her coffee to soothe her throat before responding. "That's not the word I usually hear."

"Oh?"

"More like... intimidating. Or tired. I get that one from my sister a lot."

Lena snorts. "Cowards the lot of them, then. Well, except for your sister. But rest are clearly too pussy to tell it like it is."

"Which would make you...?"

"Not chicken shit."

"Bold," Kara corrects her, but her tone lacks any real bite. It only makes Lena grin wider, which in turn sparks a smile of Kara's own.

Thankfully for Kara's fluttering heartbeat, Lena eases into a new topic. "So.... a sister, huh?"

Kara nods. "Esme's mom."

"Is it fun being the cool aunt?"

With a sigh, Kara shrugs. "Haven't had much time to be any kind of aunt, let alone a cool one."

"Well, you did take her to a super awesome show," Lena teases, tilting her head playfully.

"I did," Kara admits, but doesn't mention that it had been months since she'd last seen Esme prior. "But I got lucky that the performer was super nice about a whole lot of things."

A laugh answers her. "Happy to be of service."

A quiet moment passes between them. Soon, though, Kara realizes that Lena's features have turned pensive. She nudges the younger woman gently.

"What's on your mind?"

Lena blinks. "Oh. Um, I guess... I was thinking about my brother."

"I didn't know you had one," Kara says.

Okay, so mayyybe she had googled a little while waiting for Esme's phone to be delivered. She'd seen a bit of Lena's backstory-- signed to a label at age thirteen, managed by her mother, father passed when she was seven... but nothing about a brother.

Lena lifts a shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. "Half brother. Kind of."

Kara waits, giving Lena room to continue if she wanted to. After a moment, she does.

"I guess I kind of caught the performing bug from him. He was in a band before I could even walk. He even taught me how to play the piano. Our mom even managed them at one one point, but when she decided I had potential, she couldn't manage us both. So, she chose."

She chose Lena. To Kara, it makes perfect sense. Having seen her on stage, the joy and the skill and now the sheer presence of Lena... of course anyone would drop everything to be what she needed.

But she can only imagine how it would feel to be the person left behind.

"He left the day I signed with my first label. I tried for years to get in touch with him, and still try on his birthday, but... I've never heard from." Lena sighs, eyes flicking self-consciously towards Kara. "For all I know, I could be an aunt myself by now."

She sniffs, quickly scrubbing the corner of her eye with the heel of her hand. "Jeez. I didn't mean to get so serious on a first date."

Kara can't bring herself to counter the claim of a first date. Whether Lena means it playfully or genuinely, something about Lena's eyes still sparkling with unshed tears makes her wholly unassailable.

Before either of them can say anything more, Kara's phone rings in her purse, and Lena's chimes in a half a moment later. They both tense, then dissolve into giggles, the somber mood ruined by the return of real life.

"I should get back to the office," Kara says. A glance at her phone screen, she confirms that it's Eve calling, no doubt frantic with another call from Mrs. Jasper.

Lena sighs. "Yeah. My mom is probably apoplectic. I was supposed to be at a meeting an hour ago."

Kara starts. "What?! Lena..."

"What're they gonna do, fire me?" Lena drawls. Even so, she rises and offers a hand up to Kara. Kara takes it, and doesn't protest when Lena keeps hold of it on the way back to the car. "Besides, it was worth it."

"For the sticky bun?"

"That too."

At the curb of Kara's office, Lena finally passes over Esme's phone. When Kara reaches to take it, Lena leans in and presses her lips to Kara's cheek.

Too stunned to move, or even speak, Kara hears Lena's murmur right down to her bones.

"Have dinner with me."

Kara blinks. "When?"

Not no? Not what the fuck? When.

"Why not tonight?" Lena retreats just enough to meet Kara's gaze, searching. "Tell me you don't feel this too."

Oh, Kara feels it. Low in her belly, hungry and desperate and *scared*.

"Lena..."

"Give us tonight," Lena continues, a touch breathless. "I fly out in the morning. You won't have to see me again. If you don't want to."

Kara gears up to refuse it all. The supposition, the unmistakeable desire. But in the end, her shoulders slump.

"I don't think not-wanting will be the problem."

Lena beams. "So yes?"

Kara exhales slowly. She nods. "Yes."

She hears Lena's breath catch, before Lena settles back in her seat. "Text me your address? I can send a car."

"That's not necessary..." Kara trails off when Lena grimaces to the contrary.

"It'll be easier," she says. "Trust me."

Kara nods. "Okay."

"Dress code is fancy." Lena winks. "Whatever that means to you."

Kara huffs a soft laugh. "That's helpful." Then, "I look forward to it."

To her surprise, a faint blush climbs up Lena's neck, settling in her cheeks.

"Me too."

[writersblockiskillingme]

Nightmare | Johanna Mason

Pairing: Johanna Mason x fem!reader (District7!reader)

Summary: The past still haunted you, but it could kill you if you lost her this time.

Warning/s: light angst, fluff, hurt/comfort, mentions of Johanna's torture, nightmares, panic, tears, Johanna's ax, short fic, this is honestly more like a short blurb (I'm sorry), possible grammar and spelling mistakes

Author's note: I wrote a fic that contains this concept, too. It's called District 7, so if you want to go check it out. Enjoy!

Request -> Hi :) can you write Johanna x fem!reader where the reader wakes up from a nightmare that Johanna dies or something and Johanna isn’t in bed. Reader is panicked and has a meltdown searching through the house to find her. Johanna ends up coming into the house (Johanna was just chopping wood outside or something because she was having a hard time sleeping because trauma) to find her on the floor in total distress. Just need two traumatized girlies to find love and comfort in each other 🖤

Thank you 🖤

The nightmares were never-ending. They plugged into your every dream depriving you of the much needed comfort and calmness.

Even now as you slept, tightly wrapped up in the sheets, an additional blanket that Johanna threw over you in fear that you would be too cold, practically disappearing from the amount of pillows, the nightmares left claw marks deep in your soul and mind, not letting you rest.

You saw yourself in a crystal clean room, the whiteness leaving the painful reminder of the white roses that now, thankfully, dead Snow always carried everywhere he went. You whipped your head around at the painful scream that ripped itself through your ears making the painc in your chest start to rise. Your breath shortened and quickened. You felt like you couldn't breathe once you got the glimpse of what was happening in front of your eyes.

Johanna's tortured body was laying on the bloody table, all sorts of to you unknown medical tools surrounding your lover. She was tied to the table with at least five belts, stripping her of the ability to escape the horrors that caught up to her.

You ran as fast as you could, trying to reach her as you continued to desperately call out her name over and over again like a record player. But you saw yourself hit something invisible, blocking your way to your loved one. The force field. The realization and the sight of Johanna's torture caused you to continuously bang your hands against the obstacle on your way, separating her and you.

Your screams mixed with Johanna's and you felt so suffocated, you felt like you were dying. Just like Johanna was. And there was nothing you could do about it. You couldn't move, you couldn't help her, you couldn't stop her everlasting torture. You couldn't take the pain away. No matter how much you wished to do so.

You woke yourself up from all of the screaming, your hand immediately reached the sheets that covered the other side of the bed. However, your fingertips found themselves grazing the coldness of the empty space in the bed.

You immediately kicked the sheets off of you, trying to escape their hold and the comfort that they never gave you unless Johanna was there with you. And she wasn't. Johanna wasn't here.

You frantically searched the house, looking at every room in the house, calling her name in pure distress.

You searched every corner and the time seemed to stand still, increasing your hysteria.

Once you finally reached the kitchen, finding it empty, you felt yourself falling. You slid down on the floor, your shoulders shaking as you cried. Your breath short, but quick nevertheless. Just like it was in your dream.

And perhaps Johanna is actually dead.

The everlasting dread filled every inch of your body as you realized that maybe your dream wasn't a dream, maybe it was your reality. The reality you were forced to live in. Maybe Johanna never made it out of the Capitols clutches. Maybe she died on that table. Maybe she never left that white room while she was still alive. Maybe she never left it at all.

Your panicked crying and the beating of your heart that reached your ears were the reason why you didn't hear her enter.

Johanna was in complete shock as she stood frozen by the doorway, watching you have a mental breakdown. She loved you more than anything, she loved you more than life itself. That's the reason why she immediately understood what was going on with you.

"Y/N!" Johanna called out as she quickly fell down on the hard, wooden floor as she immediately brought you into her arms.

"Johanna," You heard yourself gasping as you gripped her arms that tightly wrapped themselves around you. "You're alive. You're here."

"Of course, sweetheart," she answered, cooing you as she started to slowly sway both of you. "Where else would I be?"

"I-I had a nightmare," You began, your voice still being overpowered by your sobs. "I had a nightmare where you...y-you d-di-"

"Shhh," she shushed you, placing a delicate kiss against your forehead lovingly. "I'm here. I'm okay."

"You're okay."

"Yes, brainless," Johanna chuckled lovingly, looking down onto your face, her, now freshly grown, bangs brushing against your cheeks. "We're both okay. I'm never leaving you. You're not that lucky."

"Johanna I swear to God!"

->

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TAGLIST:

@caroline-books @thecrowdedstreetin1944

[daim1812]

One Last Time

Levi Ackerman x Reader

Labels: Romance, angst, drama, mentions of suicide, blood, children involvement, pregnancy and death.

Warning: Some manga spoilers. Change of storyline for adaptive purposes.

Song of choice: Saturn by Sleeping at Last

As the sun went down so did his body, sitting down on the log with a perfect view to a hidden lake between enclosed tall trees. Rising up from the mountain, the moon made its way into the night sky.

Levi couldn’t stop himself to stare at the moon. He couldn’t stop breathing the air, feeling it hit his lungs with small fights. He couldn’t stop from repeating the same images in his head.

His squads death made him realize that death was always near. He knew that no matter how much he ran away from it, it was always going to catch up to him.

Mike’s death shook him slightly. He knew this man for his whole years of being in the Scouts, and consider him someone close to him.

Erwin’s death threw him in a verge of loosing himself, almost to the point of ending things. And yet... he found himself weak to the thought. He couldn’t do it, it was someone else’s job to kill him and end his agony. Even when Hange stood there with him and helped him realize that he wasn’t that alone, her sudden sacrifice pushed him into an unknown feeling.

And so he sat there, amaze by the scenery; amazed by the simple thought that he was still... living.

Without a care in the world, Levi closed his eyes and emerge into the swing of the wind. Hitting him softly on the face and pushing his hair back, he indulge in a new feeling he couldn’t describe before.

He was delighted.

He was enlighten.

Yet, he hated that. Everybody else died, leaving him alone to understand himself and hate himself at the same time. All he wanted was... for them to come back. Since Isabel and Farlan, Levi learned the hard way that life isn’t the way he thought it would be. Kenny’s death was another punch in his face. His mother's death since the beginning made him this solitary person filled with problems.

Levi wasn’t normal.

Two pair of hands took him by surprise, but not enough to act defensive. He already knew this hands.

She pressed her face on Levi’s head, her body slightly pushing to his back. Her hands collared on his neck, embracing him thoroughly to her own content.

“What are you doing, Captain?” Her voice swayed Levi’s ears, the melody in her voice making him subtle and nostalgic.

“I have never stopped myself to watch this place, Captain.” He mumbled, almost too low for her to understand, but she did. Levi felt her jaw tense and knew she was smiling.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it? This is what we fight for, Levi. For this place, this scenery, for the wind, for the people, for the oceans, for the animals, for us.” She let go of Levi to sit beside him, looking at him.

Levi finally got rid of his bandages, half of his face with a scar that marked a battle in transition; his left eye was hidden over a patch. She wanted so much to contain herself from touching his face once again. One after the other, every time she saw him like this, her hands immediately moved to touch his face. Levi doesn’t care much, but at the beginning he prohibited her to do so.

“Can I...?” The whisper made Levi look down, slowly nodding, not wanting to show her that he needed her to touch him.

Her fingertips rolled on his skin and scars, slowly, and carefully, she continue the path from the chin to his forehead. She stopped the movement once she reached his eye patch, looking at him for confirmation. He didn’t say anything, still staring at the ground in front of him, how the grass moved with the wind.

“I love your eyes, Levi.” She smiled at him, continuing her path, her fingers sinking inside his hair.

He finally let go of a sigh, looking up at her with the most saddest eyes, the color of his eyes slowly fainting by the light of the moon.

“If you die...” He started, stopping her movements. She frowned her eyebrows, looking back at him with fierce.

“Don’t say that. I’m not going to die. I’m not planning on doing so. My plan is to finish this war with Eren and those idiots, and then... we’ll retire in a cabin in the woods. We’ll have lots of kids. I’m still young, I can have at least 7 kids. Don’t you think?” She chuckled, Levi loving so much her action.

When was the last time he felt so affected by the emotions of another person? She had him wrapped on her fingers and yet he couldn’t do anything about that. He didn’t know the feelings he was going through. He didn’t understood what this new emotion was.

Was it really love like the books in the library described?

Was it the love Hange so furiously told him about when they stayed up almost all night drinking with Erwin and Mike?

Was love the past arrangement Erwin had with Nile’s wife?

Or was it that anxious feeling of seeing someone for the first time and noticing how beautiful they were?

He couldn’t decipher anything even if they were together. He was confused with all those emotions flowing into him. From the beginning, in his childhood, he never got to experience love and affection. Farlan and Isabel gave him affection, that friendship, and he learned from that. From Erwin he went through companionship, same with his squad, Hange and Mike. He understood those feelings; he already battled those and lost. Levi knew death, despair, loneliness, sadness; he knew all of those and yet he never once understood love.

She changed those thoughts so easily it scared him.

“You would look so beautiful holding our baby...” Her smile made Levi weak to the knees. How couldn’t he have fallen for her? “My plan is for us to be together until we are old and we decay with time. I want this to be over so we can be happy. What do you think?”

“...” Levi couldn’t say anything. If something he learned from all those years of loneliness and misery, it was to never dream too much. He wanted to live in the present because every time he thought things were alright something ended up wrong.

“Levi?” She looked so worried for him, letting her knees touch the grass in front of Levi.

His hands immediately hold her elbows, not wanting her to get on her knees and get her pants dirty just for him. Yet, she didn’t cared, only pushing away his hands a little bit to not make him feel bad.

“Talk to me, Ackerman.” Her voice soothes him. How many times has he loved hearing her call his name or just say anything in general?

He didn’t wanted to admit it, but having her near him, breathing, laughing, talking, whispering, singing... made him sleep so good for the first time. He finally let go of the worries in her arms and slowly pacified his urges of ending thing. Whenever he could sleep with her, he felt like the world didn’t needed to end just yet. Sleeping with her seemed like the only medicine he needed for days full of regret.

Either way, with those thoughts in his head while he stared down at the girl he profoundly fell for, he couldn’t let himself be like her.

Levi was the opposite of her. Down to earth, cold, and with secrets nobody needed to know. She was an open book, imaginative and lovable. He just didn’t wanted her to feel bad for saying words that could hurt her.

“This is real life, Captain. We are in a fragile situation right now in where we don’t know if tomorrow we will be alive. We live our lives to the fullest imagining that at some point we will stop and notice we fought so hard for our freedom.” Levi’s eyes connects with her, noticing how the light faded a little bit. “I can’t live in a fantasy... not when everything around me is based in reality. You are the one thing,” He stopped for a few seconds, his finger grabbing onto some of her locks. “I can’t loose.”

“You’re in bad luck, Levi, ‘cause I’m going into battle tomorrow and I promise you I will live. I won’t die yet. I can’t leave you alone.” Suddenly she pressed her forehead softly against Levi’s forehead, both of their noses slightly kissing. She closed her eyes and Levi admired her fractions.

He liked her so much.

She was the only reason why he hasn’t indulge into the darkness and end his life right there.

His fingers pressed her locks behind her ear, some of the hair covering his face and hers. She giggled at the humble actions of the man she loved with all her life. He continues to push her hair behind her ears, slowly passing his fingertips on her earlobe.

“Don’t die on me, brat. Keep fighting.” His whisper made her eyes crystallize. She felt the feelings behind those words. He wanted her to continue living even if he didn’t made it through another day.

She shook her head, the hairs from behind her ear falling back on her face as she pulled away from him.

Her hands locked onto his, pressing them on her chest tightly, a little careful of Levi’s bandage hand missing two of his fingers.

“No. Don’t YOU die on me, Levi. I want you to live and fulfill my wish with me. I want you to wake up tomorrow ready to battle and do everything it takes to come back into my arms. Many will die; death is inevitable, yet I’ll be here always. I want you to survive because you deserve to. I know how much you await death. You’ve been waiting for so long to feel it. The grass on your fingers, the blood gushing out of your mouth and the pain. But, Levi, I assure you, nothing is better than living the moment. Nothing will be better than this moment. You and me... finally together. I won’t let you die, Levi. We will have each other’s back. But you will survive even if it means me saving you over and over. I won’t let you fall into a darkness you won’t ever go out. I’ll light up your path every time you see it darken. I’ll keep the light up every time the wind tries to blow it. I’ll be here for you... until death do us apart.” Her eyes quickly tried to gush out the feelings, but the feelings were already dripping down her face.

Levi couldn’t stop himself anymore. He grabbed her cheek, pulled her up a little to be at the same height as him and pushed his lips against hers.

Her lips danced slowly on his, taking almost all the control of the kiss. Even if they were together for so long, Levi didn’t know a lot of things couple usually did. He didn’t know how to kiss, how to compliment, how to touch, how to love. Yet, she didn’t care for those small details. Being near her lover solely made her live happily.

Their lips continued to stick together, Levi wanting so hard to not let go. Maybe he didn’t wanted to let go because he wanted to love the moment like she told him to do; or maybe he felt the need to kiss her one last time just in case something bad happened.

Her hands touched Levi’s cheek, rubbing her fingertips on his cheek. He felt the cold round of tears pressing on his face, sticking them.

Breaking the kiss with a subtle movement, Levi gazed at her up and down, taking a mental picture of his lover for future references. For when the battle came, he could keep calm and fight dedicating his heart.

“Don’t cry, idiot.” He rolled her tear off her face with his right thumb. She nodded quickly, wiping her face with her long sleeve shirt.

“Promise me, Levi... we will fulfill my dream? Just promise me that.” His hand pressing on her cheek, she shoved it even closer to her.

He couldn’t promise that. He just couldn’t. Levi didn’t know if he was going to survive. The situation was getting dangerous and if everything went south, he would have to sacrifice himself to save the others. He needed to give them a future, Levi already fought enough, lived enough.

But now he had her... Now he was supposed to live to keep her by his side. He needed to survive. Yet, he just couldn’t say that to her. He wasn’t very good with words. Showing actions and taking actions was his forte.

The moon shined on them once again, the lighting in his eyes finally shinning again, the back of her head being lightened by the moon as well.

He wanted to live for her.

“I promise.” He mumbled, watching her shriek and throw herself on him, almost pushing both of them back into the ground.

She flowered him with kisses all over his face, being extremely careful of his eye and scar.

“I love you, Levi. Thank you. I’ll keep you safe.” Those words brought him so much joy. An emotion he hasn’t felt at all in his life, yet he was purely in love with this woman and he was going to make her happy.

“Me too, Captain.”

————————————

“Papa, papa, papa!” A little kid, around 6 years old with short dark hair and beautiful grey eyes threw himself at Levi. He catches him almost in midair and makes him sit on his arm and waist.

“What is it, Teo? I’ve told you to not interrupt me while I’m working.” The little kid shrugs his shoulders and purposely hides his face on Levi’s chest.

Levi noticed by the corner of his eye the little girl standing near the door, half of her face looking at him and the kid.

“Alora doesn’t want to play with me and I feel lonely.” His voice makes Levi tremble gently. Who would have thought that the Captain of the Survey Corps was going to be swayed by the adorable side of his older child?

“Alora, come here.” He turns around to the door, the little girl holding onto a dark teddy bear that hanged on her right hand and kept being swept on the floor.

She walked in with her face looking down on the floor. Alora couldn’t lie about it, she was almost scared of her father. He was always so quiet and cold; while she was the opposite. She was curious, a shining sun wherever she went, and a beautiful, intelligent little girl. With only 4 years old she already knew how to do basic math (something her mother continuously felt proud of and mentioned every time).

Levi looked down on her and gently squatted down with Teo on his arms, leading him to stand up on the floor.

Pressing his hand on Alora’s black, long soft hair that fell until her lower back and was tightly put in a ponytail, he smiled at her. Alora looked at her father and smiled back, loving those moments with him.

“Alora, would you like to play with your brother for a little while? Papa has some work to do, but once I’m done I’ll play with both of you. Anything that you want, I’ll play it.” He kept smiling, watching the kids as they celebrated that their dad was finally going to give them some attention. “Go play, kids.”

The kids rushed through the door, running into their rooms to play and have fun with each other.

Letting out a small sigh, Levi got up and sat down on his chair again. He still couldn’t believe he was a father of two children that made his life a whole heaven and a living hell as well.

A knock on the door caught him slightly by surprise, turning his attention towards now the person standing at the door.

He stared up and down at his wife, and how the dress made her look so irresistibly gorgeous.

She smiled at him and entered the room without invitation. Holding on her back for support, or for pain, she finally stood next to him. A hand pressed on Levi’s left shoulder, making Levi close his eyes and sigh again, loving so much her touch.

“You must be exhausted, Levi. Are you sure you can’t just finish this later? I could really use a massage, you know.” She leaned down a little bit, rubbing her nose on his cheek and ear.

“I have to finish today. I’ll be done soon.” Sighing once again, he let go of his desire to stop working and just let her shower him in affection and love.

“You’re so tense, dear.” Her hands touched his shoulders and made pressure on her hands to make him feel at ease. Levi’s head fell back a little bit, seeing his wife enjoying giving him all the love and attention he needed.

“Go do something else, brat. You’re always trying to make me feel good. I’m fine.” Levi pushed his body upwards, breaking the contact of her hands on his shoulders. She chuckled, understanding that Levi didn’t wanted to feel vulnerable at the state of tension he was in.

“Alright, Captain.” She makes the old salute, making Levi tremble at the sight. Even so, she continues to smile, leaning down on him to kiss him on the lips real quick.

“Tsk... idiot.” As soon as he said that, his body lay back at the chair, resting himself on it as he watched his wife walk away with a smile.

As soon as he heard his wife say dinner was ready, his body immediately got up and walked to the living room, seeing how the kids ran to the table. Getting from behind Alora, he helped her get on the chair. Giving her a short smile, Levi sat down at his respective chair, not having any other option than watching his wife put the plates and utensils at the table.

Levi always loved watching his wife do housework. He was a clean freak, and noticing how she always tried her best to keep everything tidy up and clean, made him love her even more. It wasn’t rude or anything, Levi helped a lot in the chores, helping whenever he wasn’t doing his own work.

“You’re slacking off, Levi.” She smiled, putting down the utensils next to his plate. He looked up at her, and her eyes shined to him. God, he could loose himself with just a stare.

“I’m tired.” He said with a sigh, resting on the chair.

“You could finish up quickly, papa.” Teo’s small voice makes Levi smile. His ear rings to that voice and he just enjoy his son’s voice.

“Yes, papa. You have to play with us.” Alora smiles while her mother pours some food on her plate.

“I know, kids.” His wife presses her thumbs to Levi’s nape, slowly rubbing it.

“Papa will be busy, but I’m sure he’ll take some time to play with you, kids. Right, darling?” Levi lets his neck fall back a little bit and looks up at her staring into his eyes. A faint blush covers his cheeks and he tries his best to hide it, yet she already notices.

“Yeah.” Mumbles, staring down at the food that was being served.

After they finished eating, Levi went back to his studio, trying as fast as he could to finish his work.

With a loud sigh, he finally finished doing all the things he had to do. He got up the chair, stretched his back and walked over to the room in where the kids were playing.

Standing on the entrance of the room, Levi let his back touch the wall and just decided to stare for a little bit at the kids giggling and playing.

He never had a childhood like that. All he knew while growing up was self defense. He knew how to stab, how to kill, how to defend himself. Levi didn’t know what other feelings were. The emotions he was feeling right now while watching his daughter show him her doll and his son the little train he got for his birthday, he didn’t know what that was called.

Knowing well enough how to battle an enemy, Levi never thought he would have to be fighting himself over and over in the future. He thought, maybe, after marrying her and starting a new life he would stop all those thoughts. And he did stop those thoughts. The birth of Teo brought into his life a whole new meaning that he didn’t know he needed so much.

Levi found love.

“Papa, papa! Come! Play with us.” The little girl’s voice shook him out of his thoughts. Looking up and down at her, he smiled, walking over to them and joining their small party.

Levi tucked both kids into bed. He wore them out enough for them to be knocked down cold into a huge sleep. Sliding the blanket over Teo and Alora, Levi kissed their small little forehead. If Erwin saw him right now he would have been surprised at the sight of weakness Levi was showing. “What would he say about this?”, Levi thought while staring down at the little girl holding tight her small bear. Nevertheless, Levi didn’t care. All he cared about were those kids and his wife. Erwin was long gone and he knew that if he saw that, Erwin would have been so proud of him. Levi found exactly what Erwin wanted for him, and what he wanted as well. No thoughts would change his mind on what his ex-Commander and best friend would have thought in that situation. Erwin would have been happy.

Turning off the light, Levi closed the door to the room and walked over to the room he shared with his wife.

And there she was, looking over at the door in wait for her husband. She smiled, opening her arms so she could get Levi next to her.

“Tsk. You’re a needy brat.” He crossed his arms, but still walked up to her. She grabs his hand and detangle them from his chest. Bringing him close to her, making him sit down on the bed, she gently pressed his hand on her belly.

Levi felt a knock, a kick, that startled him a lot. A life was in there. His next child was there. Levi finally understood that feeling. He felt it when Teo came the first time and when Alora also came. The feeling of being alive.

“It keeps kicking. It’s so funny.” She whispers near Levi’s shoulder, letting her head fall on his shoulder.

“He wants to kill you. I’ll kill him if he comes out like the other two. Disorganized and dirty.” His comment makes her laugh and Levi has no other option than to enjoy it. He wanted to record that in his mind forever. Her voice and her laugh.

“You silly... They are only like that because you let them be. I remember when I was a Captain and every time I saw you, you were scolding the cadets for leaving dirt everywhere.” She makes him remember, and he just snickers. He really was a strict Captain. And still, he always got the job done.

“I lived so long in dirty and dark places... I didn’t wanted HQ to be the same.” After he finishes talking, he feels another kick, letting go of a small smile.

“The HQ was bland. It was colorless. It reek of death and broken dreams. I didn’t like that so much.” She closes her eyes and rubs Levi’s hand over her belly.

“We didn’t have time to be thinking of colors. We were always living in a die or live situation.” She nods on his shoulder.

“I agree.”

“We should head to bed.” Levi mumbles again, not wanting to take his hand away from her belly or the warmth of her hand on his.

“Mhmm... let’s stay like this for a little while more. I missed your scent.” Her whisper makes Levi shiver, yet he only lets a small grunt come out of his throat, responding to her.

The small shallow breaths she was taking, the thumb rubbing on his hand, her hair falling on his shoulder and her thighs pressing on him made Levi so renewed. At the end of the day, all the tiredness faded away when she was there with him.

He knew she had her eyes closed, she was just resting on his shoulder. Yet, he wanted to look at her, kiss her, hold her, do everything he could think of even if she had a belly growing up. She has done so much for him and continues to do so by loving him every single day of their lives.

Levi slowly pulled his hand away from her belly and her, but now press it on her cheek. She opened her eyes and leaned back from his shoulder, now staring at him with bags under her eyes.

She was fucking stunning even when she was tired.

Letting his fingers roam from her cheek to her ear, pushing the hair to the back of her neck and ear; Levi cut the distance between each other and kisses her. Slowly, shaking and almost afraid of being too aggressive even if he wasn’t. Her hand found Levi’s shirt and gripped it. He pressed his other hand on her cheek and hold her face steady for him to kiss her better. Licking on her lip slowly, he went back and devoured her lips once again, showing off his dominating side.

Hearing her small moan, he let go of her. Staring deeply into her eyes, the small faint blush on her cheeks made him smirk. He loved making her flustered.

Slowly, but surely, Levi pressed his nose against her nose and gave her a lovely Eskimo kiss.

“I love you, Captain.” She said first, leaving him speechless once again like always.

He stared at her up and down, watching her completely. She always had this effect on him. Not for nothing they were married. Even so, Levi couldn’t be so easily frank like her. He loved her, but saying it was so difficult for him. Yet, when seeing her eyes shine the same way it did when they kissed for the first time, Levi couldn’t let her be disappointed on himself. He loved this woman with all of his life.

The woman who saved his life.

“I love you, too, (Y/N).”

————————————

“I’M NOT LEAVING HIM BEHIND, JEAN!!!!” The small faint voices of a girl during a silent world, were being simply shouted against the noise.

“We have to leave. We need to help Armin and Mikasa. If you stay here, we’ll be loosing you too, Captain. Please, reason with me here. We already lost Connie and Reiner is seriously injured. We need you.” Jean tried his best to reason with the girl who fearlessly continued to cry and shout at the tall man.

“NO!!! I CAN’T LEAVE HIM!!” She cries out, her tears falling in Jean’s arms and onto the floor.

“I understand, Captain. But Captain Levi wouldn’t want you to stay here and do nothing. We must continue to fulfill his wish and save the world. Please...” He couldn’t hold her anymore. She kept screaming while trying to push Jean away so she could hold her lover’s body on her arms. “CAPTAIN, GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER!!”

He let go of her and she fell on her knees, scrapping them against the rocks and sand. Yet, it didn’t hurt. Her body was numb to the exterior damage. She just couldn’t react to any of that. All she could do was cry and cry and keep crying.

Her body crawled closed to her lover’s body and she grabbed his bloody hand.

When did that happened? How did it happened? Where was she? How did she let that happen?

She kept questioning herself over and over again into the smallest details. Levi’s death was upon her and she couldn’t help but blame herself.

Levi’s soulless body was laying on the ground, his left arm missing and his left leg. He was not coming back from this one and she knew it. After everything she promised. After everything she tried to do to keep him safe, she failed every and each of those promises.

“Wake up, Levi... Yo-You... you promised... You pro-promised we were going to live. You promised ME you were going to live. You promised, you promised, you promised... YOU PROMISED!!!” Her shouts could be heard all over the quiet ambient. Jean let some tears fall down as well, his head falling forward to not be seen weak.

She grabbed Levi’s body and got him close to her, pushing his face near her and sobbing. Tears falling down on Levi’s face, almost washing away the dirt and the blood. She just couldn’t believe that was happening. Levi was actually dead, his body resting on her arms.

“You promised... we were going to have kids... and live happy in a little house on the woods! We were going to raise our children the way they never raised us. Please... please... Levi, please, I love you. Don’t go... don’t leave me!”

The sound of her sobbing suddenly were muffled by extremely loud crashing sounds.

Jean looked over to where the sound came and his eyes became plates. He quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her forcefully, making her shriek and cry harder.

“Captain, Armin is in trouble. We need you. I know it hurts. I know you and Levi had dreams. But right now, if you don’t stand and get your shit together, everything that Captain Levi fought for will be for nothing! DEDICATE YOUR HEART!” Her red face and covered with tears, dust and blood suddenly came to a halt.

Levi wouldn’t wanted her to be like this and not in that moment. She gazed at Levi’s body on the floor one last time, got closed to it, kneeled down and after crying out her last tears, she gave him a farewell kiss.

She wiped her tears off and got up, her face drastically changing to pure anger.

“Let’s save humanity, Jean. DEDICATE YOUR HEART, SOLDIER!!”

The End

Thank you so much for reading.

Have a good day or night, darling. 🥰

[siriusmydeer]

happy birthday, james.

james potter x fem!reader

summary: it’s james’ birthday, and you have a little present for him, as-well as his present to you.

word count: 3.5k

warnings: mentions of marijuana, mentions of alcohol, kissing, mentions of anxiety, choking, missionary, creampie, penetrative sex, male receiving oral, innocent kink, sort of size kink, choking, rough sex, dirty talk, a little degration?, pet names, daddy kink, mentions of sexual dancing, jealous!james, possession kink

a/n: happy bday to my fave dilf

there was immense heat flowing throughout the crevices of the room. barely a sober teenager left at the birthday celebration. it was profoundly humid in the midst of the gryffindor common room. the aroma of marijuana and the tinges of fire whisky extremely articulate in the concluded room of teenagers smoking their little hearts away and doing body-shots close to the stairway of the girls dormitories.

james fleamont potters birthday, the quidditch captain, and maybe even gryffindor prince, if you will. from the crack of dawn, march 27th he had been ecstatic enough to put his friends in an immense amount of misery from all the happy-go-lucky behaviour.

as the devoted girlfriend you were you dedicated the whole day to him. he was an amazing man after all, his loving affections never faltering throughout the first duration of your relationship. so a day dedicated to him well was in favour, but to other peers it was probably beyond and well over the top, surprise gifts, snogging sessions between classes and even his favourite meals throughout the whole day.

but now the party commenced, where everything and anything pg-13 was directed straight out the window and anything else that took place was well on its way after the younger years had went to sleep; sauntering through the crowd you made way to your boyfriend— surprisingly barely tipsy, whomst was sat on the vermillion couch patting sirius’ back as he hoarsely coughed, seeing immense amounts of smoke flow out of his mouth and nostrils.

“too hard of a hit there, pads?” not even trying to be subtle about making a mockery of the boy hunched over the couch and puffing up smoke, the raven-haired bow slightly scowled at you before sauntering off to remus. you chuckled at his irritated-behaviour, and basically placing yourself on the verge of james’ lap, a smirk forming on the apex of his lips.

“had enough yet, dear?” you felt the vibrations of his mumble hit directly on the shell of your flushed ear from the humidity in the room, and the gruff undertone of his voice sending immediate signal waves all over the depths of your nervous system. feeling the colossal gitter in your system, borderline-anxiety pooling into the pit of your belly from his tone of voice.

it wouldn’t have been your first time with james, he was the first boy that had ever taken you all the way. but you definitely weren’t experienced— per-say, and you wanted to continue that tremendously sexual odyssey with him; and tonight, was unquestionably not going to be portrayed as innocent.

“mhm, getting there; are you liking the party?” you spoke back to the bespectacled boy was covered in a carnal aura, and awaiting your response. “i am, much rather spend alone time with you, but it’s phenomenal that you could pull all this off.” james whispered back at you in response, he wasn’t even attempting to be subtle at this point of his true intent with you, i mean— ‘alone time’ his purpose was set crystal clear.

he could so play this game, but you could just play better; it’s not like it was quidditch.

“‘course it would be, me and alone, how enticing.” you were ridiculing him, it was obvious to any peering eyes that could’ve been eavesdropping on the conversation over the deafening music that had been blasted in a continuous loop throughout the duration of the party.

“enticing it is, that’s why i presume we get out of here. don’t you think? ‘ve got a few suprises for you, after all.” the boy proposed to you with sensuality lingering in his tone and he spoke to you. he was venereally whispering into the shell of your ear so he wouldn’t have to shout to you over the boisterous music.

“your birthday, a surprise for me, those don’t exactly go hand in hand. what’s the surprise for, hmm?” starting to question the reticent boys motives as his fingers trailed onto the apex of your thighs in light-weight movements in small swirls close to the hemline of your skirt.

“not a day where i don’t want to surprise, m’girl. it’s upstairs.” james looked at you ponderously as you creased your brows in faux-thought. you knew where you would be in the end of the night, it made you feel electrified. like every single touch was oversensitive and every single emotion of yours was in overdrive; the most prominent that were roaming around your bloodstream being pure arousal.

your finger agilely-danced up the side of his jawline, and swirling around his brunette tendrils in thought. would he leave his own birthday party to be all alone, with you? i guess he certainly would. sirius would be impressed following with a concerning applause he would give the both of you that could have your mother gritting her pearly whites by the extensive amount of scandalous acts you had partaken in with your boyfriend.

you could play his very own game, maybe better. swivelling your body to the point where your hand landed on the ripple of his navy blue jeans feeling the tightening feeling of his beseeching cock that was partaking that very second, and feeling the shell of his ear start to burn at the touch of your lips and whispering a small, “take me to your dorm.”

pulling away with a slick smirk practically glued to your lips, seeing the flash of warmth scrummage up the boys cheeks in pride of his love wanting an escape with him. he was in fact one to brag, and he verily adorned that you would always be right by his side, not letting his gates open up with scoundreling waves of jealous flow throughout his body at the memory of another boy hitting on you few hours previously.

feeling the glide of his hand effortlessly slide into your smaller one, and his guidance towards the deep mahogany flooring of the stairs. the couple heard a whistle in the distance. the both of you compliantly turning around to see a tall-drunken raven-haired boy sat on a love seat. his arm around an ebony-haired lycanthrope, waggling his dark brunette eyebrows and blow a small kiss at you both. seeing remus fit out a small chuckle as his eyes roamed back to sirius. cute.

his hand sliding out of yours as he guided you up the antiquated stairs with the placement of his hand right above the swell of your bum directly into his dormitory that would guaranteed be unoccupied for the rest of the evening to the early hours into the morning.

as soon as the squeak of the door end and you heard the shut of the door you back was immediately arched against the wood on the now-locked door. his hand was directly sitting on the column of your neck in a hold, the pads of his fingertips slightly squeezing the sides of your neck; feeling your pulse heighten in anticipation. “c’mon bunny, you didn’t think i was finished just yet, did you?” the whisper of his mockery was warm as his hot breath fanned over your ear.

“yes... daddy.” you delayed whilst whispering to the boy, still getting used to all the pet names that had been thrown around since your relationship had begun. his mind was starting to get bleary and a dominant headspace was taking over every nook and cranny of his mind, ready to please you.

he felt the anxious bob of your gulp in his palm as you maintained eye contact with him. he rose a brow at you in a silent question, as if he was asking, ‘do y’remember the safe word?.’ you rapidly nodded in silent response as he grinned at your shy smile; pushing the strident music into the back of your mind that had been booming from below you.

he gazed at you for a moment before catching your plush-cushion lips with his own, feeling your lipgloss glide across his lips like a smooth paint. your tongues greeting eachother like old friends, the simple taste of fire whisky glazing your tongue. he felt the mundane taste of your strawberry lipgloss catch onto his taste buds as his one hand grasping your throat guided you all the way over to his ivory-comforter clad bed.

your body assertively falling onto his mattress, feeling his body weight hovering over the midst of your torso , one of his hands heavily grasping at your waist. “you’re making it difficult to gentle, darling.” his murmur landed directly on your lips, the shimmer from your lipgloss on his lips prominent as he hastily spoke; saying his sentence rapidly before pushing his lips back onto your own.

“then don’t.” you confirmed to him, whispering between kisses directly on his mouth. wanting every ounce of his unfamiliar belligerent take place. his inure hand that had a previous strict grasp on your waist now dancing across the flesh of your abdomen after your shirt had risen up from your skirt.

in a millisecond of mid separation of your lips he suctioned them onto the column of your throat, rolling the flesh of your neck in between his pearly-white capped teeth. his hand that had remained of your throat departed and now grasped at the root of your hair so your neck was at his full disposal. his breath approachingly quickening as he proceeded to mark up your throat with tinges of plum and cherry hues.

he took a hold of the hemline of your ivory-top, sliding it up your torso and pulling it directly off of your body and onto the floor of his dormitory. “mine... all mine.” he murmured to himself as he looked at you in vast glory. the best birthday present ever.

you clutched onto the bottom of his shirt, feeling the loose fabric between your nimble fingers and sluggishly pulling on it in a signal for him to undress. he saw the deep intent look gazing into your irises, your pupils basically exploding in lust as you continued to gape at the boy.

he straddles your legs for a moment his upper torso on display as he grasped at the neckline of the shirt and swiftly pulling it off of his toned body, now returning and remaining his hover over yours. he furthered to continue nipping at your collarbones. “if anyone ever thought they could love you like i could, fuck you like i could, make you cum like i could. they’re wrong.” he spoke into the crevice of your neck continuing his work at sucking marks into you.

his hot kisses overwhelmed your senses as his lips got closer to the hemline of your skirt that you had been wearing all that, the skirt eventually riding up your thighs all on display at your previously dancing figure like a show. his hand plummeting to the back of your skirt, feeling the small cold zipper on his finger tips as he dragged it down the swell of your bottom and trailing it down the planes of your adorned thighs he so effortlessly paid attention too.

feeling his lips sponge from your lower thighs all the way back up to your neck your breathing extended immensely whilst feeling his grasp of jealousy on your body. james was truly attentive, but he resented when anyone else thought they could swoop you away from him like you were nothing; because you were everything.

he hooks his pointer finger under the chisel of your chin, blasting your gaze right into own. his eyes moving erratically over your face as he was in deep thought of his word choice. “you’re mine, aren’t you?” he simply wasn’t asking this for an actual answer, rather than a test of your obedience towards his dominance over you for the remainder of the night as he fucked you into oblivion.

“yes.” you complied to him, not fully giving into him just yet. a playful tease before the fun could truly begin, pulling your lips into an extravagant pout as his thumb dipped into the cleft of your chin with a tightening grip. “yes, what?” you may have been stubborn but so was he, james wasn’t foolish and moderately knew the game you were playing at wanting the relatively familiar words to leave your mouth.

“yes, daddy.” your compliance towards him brought great pride and satisfaction in the swell of his heart, you would be the first and last person he would say that too. it brought him tremendous gratification that everything you had been taught was from his knowledge and his teachings.

“wanna suck your cock, daddy. teach me, again please.” your voice had an undertone of a whine lacing it, pleading out to your boyfriend so you could pleasure him on his birthday. he smirked at your demeanour of perseverance, quickly flipping his body underneath yours so your remained on top of the shirtless body.

you further swivelled your body down his form, nosing at his happy trail. kissing all the way to the point of his boxers, seeing the adamant print of his bulge through the fabric of his underwear. mumbling a quick ‘lift up’ and stroking his prick in your hand. your warm saliva coming in contact with his erection, spreading it around him for easier access.

your bleary eyes made direct view at his precum leaking tip, starting at mini-kitten licks that could have the boy groaning going off of intuition. “fuck, baby, just like that— keep going.” his praising going straight to a churning burn of warmth in your lower abdomen, heavily breathing as you took his tip into your mouth and prodding it with your tongue.

you took your mouth off his prick for a moment, steadying your breath before you took him in fully. going lower and lower trying to avoid the pesky gag reflex in your throat. you heard the grunts approach deeper and deeper from his mouth the more you took him in. one hand stroking the base of his cock, your cheeks nearly hollow as your sucked profusely nearing him to an orgasam in almost minutes.

his fingers were threaded through your tresses as you moved up and down his shaft. his guidance helping you as you throughly swirled your tongue onto his cock. your breathing quite deep through your nose. his own release near, his torso was clenching at the feeling of a tremendous boil in his abdomen about to burst through him entirely and directly into your mouth.

you felt the warm ropes of his release shoot directly down into your hollowed cheeks is one duration, swallowing his cum that had coated the walls of your cheeks now thoroughly down the vermillion walls of your throat. you took your mouth off of his prick, lines of spit surrounding his cock and covering your lips like it was your own personal brand of lip gloss rather than the simple strawberry one you had on previously.

you gaped at the boy trembling in pleasure, seating yourself upon his lap. you bit your lip in angst for a moment, feeling the easy glide of your teeth directly on your swollen lips, further opening your mouth showcasing him your clean tongue. he shot you a grin in fulfillment, grasping the roots from the back of your head and quickly pushing your lips together in one breath.

as you were sat upon his bare lap he took the liberty to shift his hand up the crevice in your back, all the way up to the stygian-laced material of your bra. his one hand loosening the metal clips and flinging the black material right across from your skirt. taking it upon himself to take a taut-grasp at your breasts mid-kiss rolling the bud of your nipple between his fingers, electrocuting a groan emitting from your mouth directly vibrating onto his own lips.

as his grasp removed itself from your breasts it made way back to the depth in your lower back, using the moment to propel you underneath his larger form. “such a pretty little baby, you are.” the boy claimed as his hand re-attached it self to your violet-ridden neck. james’ opposite hand had a tense grab at the strap of your thong, snapping it once against your flesh seeing you slightly tremble at tinge of affliction in his grasp before he fully tore them off your waist.

the bespectacled boy flung the flimsy material directly onto peters bed, seeing your eyes widen at his audacious-like manner. “alright, poppet?” the boy confirmed, on the outside of his dominant persona it looked like he was making a mockery at your somewhat skittish-behaviour, but he truly wanted to confirm you were alright with his aggressive-like actions.

you quickly nodded excitedly at his abrasive behaviours. a smirked grazed his lips as he separated your locked legs from mortification, even after having sex with your boyfriend you still happened to be embarrassed on how sterling he could make you feel. he finally took liberty to realize how wet you truly were, not to mention how pathetic you were at covering it up. finally slotting his middle and ring finger in-between your anticipating cunt, collecting juices onto the pads of his fingers.

“all f’me, huh baby?” he crooned in a ridiculing manner, his hand still prominent on your throat and his thumb maneuvering from the crook in your throat to your jutted lip, feeling your gloss mixed with your spit on the pad of his thumb as he moved his finger swiftly back and forth in a taunting manner on your lips.

his thumb finally caught in between your teeth with a miniature playful bite, looking deep into his lustful blown-cerulean irises. his thumb making way to pull down your dewy bottom lip, and it pulling back up with a small ‘pop!’

“i want you, i want it rough.” the very plead left your trembling lips in desperation. felling the wet print of his thumb right below your lip, pressing into the flushed skin. emotionally yearning for his slack touch, the warmth of his olive skin aching directly into yours in desire.

his prideful grin scorned his face as he placed himself between your cage-like legs that dressed the sides of his waist like a stiff belt. the both of you were almost chest to chest, the emotional connect building between you both as you maintained lustful eye contact, both intently aching for each other. the squeeze of his digits on the baluster of your throat grew more intense as he settled his hips between your plush thighs.

he slowly dragged his tip through your glistening folds gathering all of your juices directly onto the mound of his cock and slowly descending into the depths of your cunt allowing you to adjust to his substantial size.

he started off with slow, deep thrusts, feeling your torso pressed up against his own in abundance. tensing his clap on the side of your throat as he pulsed in and out of your sloppy cunt; now easily as his thrusts gained a brisk pace in and out of you.

“my girl, letting me use her cunt at my disposal.” james started to babble small praises mixed with degrations into your ear as both of your orgasams began to subtly approach at his quickening pace inside your clenched cunt. “like you’re my little toy.” his derides causing your moans to spurt out of your mouth instinctively; your noises sounding like a beautiful song that could’ve played on a broken record repeatedly, like he was being hypnotized.

the sensitive burn in your belly was further approaching at a brisk speed as it swivelled from the crevices in your spine all the way to your core. “‘m gonna— let me cum, please. ‘m gonna cum, daddy.” you blubbered quickly at the intensity of his thrusts on your g-spot. feeling immensely full from him being buried inside of you, his unfamiliar yet sensational rapid thrusts building tension inside of your abdomen.

“go on poppet, cum for me.” he crooned to you as you mumbled pleas of ‘thank you’s.’ and explosion of pleasure strictly taking over the planes of your nervous system whilst his pubic bone continuously thrashed against your bundle of nerves in the midst of his swift thrusts.

his cock twitching whilst wrapped around your cunt, close to his second orgasam of the night. further, releasing deeply into your velvet walls now coated with his release, a grunt following as he squeezed the sides of your throat, his hand never departing from it, and burying his face into the side of your neck.

his hover over you now remaining seeing your pleasure-struck face as he pulled his softening cock out of you, catching his breath and shifting the hair that was stuck to your forehead now on the sides of your face and behind your ears. he kissed your damp forehead once, swiping his nose against yours affectionally before speaking.

“c’mon dove, let’s get you to the shower.”

taglist: @kittykylax @ronbrokemyheart @aspiringsloth20 @amourtentiaa @msmb @five-cups-of-coffee @emmaev @serenitywilderness @famdomhideout @hufflepogue @dear-luna @luvvninaz @miraclesoflove @black-like-my-soul

[cadykeus-clay]

remember a few days ago when i said i was writing a collection of mismatched scenes of all the times that I think jester and caleb should have just kissed on the mouth? hehe :)

I.

“Caleb, can you hear through it?” she’s yelling, head tilting and eyes squinting as she looks at the one-way glass he’s just apparated in the middle of the hall. She leans in, scrunching her nose and sticking out her tongue a little as she detectives. “Can we come into it?”

He grins, he can’t help himself. “Only you.”

“Do we just hit the side of it or -” 

Her fingertips press through the barrier, disrupting the near-transparent bubble with a ripple and he reaches out his hand for hers, guides her in. Her mouth makes the cutest little oh! shape as she passes through and she can see what he’s seeing. 

“Caleb. This is so COOL!”

The grin hasn’t dropped from her face, and it spreads infectiously across his. 

“I’ve been working on this for weeks,” he says, smacking his legs with triumphant fists. 

Her grin gets even wider, sharing in that joy. A few more silent moments pass, as she takes it in with awe. 

“So, can anyone come in, or like, only people you like, or … ?”

He thinks for a moment, grins slyly. He sticks a finger out, just barely missing her nose. “You can come in.”

She leans towards him, returning the affection he seems to be offering. She gets close to his face, on purpose. She likes making him blush. “That means you like me.”

Blush he does. It’d be near impossible not to - they’re alone and unseen together, and she’s leaning towards him, her grin pushing up the freckles on her cheeks he’d love to try and count. And he’s tired, exhausted, barely functional. He’s got no strength left to carry all the layers he usually hides himself behind, but it’s alright, it’s only Jester looking anyways. 

She hasn’t pulled her face back yet, like she’s waiting for him to do something. Tease. 

Even after everything they’ve both seen these past few days, fear seems gone for just a second. They’re safe inside their shell, and no one’s watching. It would be so easy to just lean down, steal a moment to remind her that he cares, remind her that he’ll always care, remind her that he did this to keep her safe, take her mind off why. 

It would be so easy ...

******

II. 

“Can we like. Stick things through the bubble?”

“Uh. Ja, you can put your weapons through it, but no magic can come in or out. But you can leave and come back any time you want.”

“Okay. Just checking.”

She tries to hide the wince in her face as she nods a bit too heartily, jostling the half-healed slash across her chest left from panther-like claws. He notices. She notices him noticing, notices the way his brow furrows even deeper. 

“But, please. No walkabouts when we are sleeping, okay?” 

He looks up at her through those drawn-together brows when he says it, pleading more than he really needs to. She learned that lesson. But it’s still sweet to see how much he cares. 

He’s been caring a lot lately, come to think of it. Chatting with her on the boat. Checking in. Making sexy jokes when they’re supposed to be stealthing. Doing a very bad job of hiding his attempts to make sure she laughed at it.

“I’ll stay right here. I promise.” She settles back onto her hands, hoping it’ll bring a little relief to the pain starting to spark across her ribs.

“Well. That’s good enough for me.”

And he pauses for a second, just a second, like he’s giving her an invitation to double down on that promise, make sure he knows she knows someone cares, and who someone is, and that someone else cares back.

It would be so easy … 

******

III.

When she was little and read a lot of fairy tales, she’d often think about kissing a beautiful boy in a beautiful room full of paintings and tapestries and a billion things on shelves that glittered just to be pretty, and the light would somehow be reflecting off all of them at once, and his shirt would be off for reasons, and it would be glorious.

The tunnel they're in can’t really constitute as a room, but the way the crystals shimmer even in the dim glow of the Dancing Lights, rippling all around them is arguably better than shiny decorations. Caleb certainly can constitute as a beautiful boy. After all, she’s just admitted he is neither stinky nor dirty anymore. And arm wraps aren’t quite the same as a shirt, but he has taken part of his clothes off in front of her. 

Creepy snails and the third day without daylight weren’t her romantic vision, sure. But. She feels safe here, with him, and she hopes he feels safe with her. She had meant what she had said, a few days back, when he spilled his fears and his history on the floor of their wagon. She didn’t think he was a bad person. And the way he looked at her when she said it, man, he wanted to believe it. He wanted to believe it so bad. 

She ought to let him know. She ought to tell him, again, that she believes in goodness in him. She believes in love in his heart. She ought to tell him right now, in this glittering cave with his heart and arms bare before her. She ought to tell him in a way where he can’t argue back ‘cause his face will be preoccupied. 

It would be so easy …

*******

IV. 

“YOU GUYS!”

She practically burst the door to their new ally’s house down with excitement when she got back, holding out the little striped carrying box in front of her like it’s the coolest loot they’ve ever found. She bounces on her toes, making it hard for anyone to get a real look at the confections inside. 

“What do you have?” he asks, knowing she wants to tell him.

“Cupcakes!” she beams back.

“A lot of them, or?”

She flips the lid up and pushes her nose nearly into the icing topping as she examines the haul. “Well I have thirteen here, so … one, two, three -” 

He almost says the numbers along with her. Counting things and making Jester smile are both muscle memory at this point.

“ - six, so good! That’s one for each of you and the rest for me!”

He looks in the box properly now, the counting having slowed her jitteriness enough for him to try and piece out flavors. There’s some dark ones that could be chocolate, but he doubts it, and some that are paler, dotted with blue. He reaches for a blueberry one, and takes a cautious bite. 

“Caleb,” she says, pouting, and he’s worried he wasn’t supposed to try one, “you are Missing. Out.” 

She sticks her face in towards him, to make sure he can get a good look at this reprimand. She’s got a little bit of icing stuck in the corner of her mouth. 

“You can get blueberry cupcakes anywhere.”

He keeps his eyes trained on her, longer than he really ought to, but he’s trying to figure it out. 

Is that a challenge, Lavorre? Is that a promise?

It would be so easy...

*******

V. 

She has to get up on her tip toes to reach the shelf where they keep the scribing paper, pulling the stack towards her so she can count out sheets. 

“About 300 gold?” 

“Mmm.”

She counts out the sheets, thumbing them forward into a little pile that she pulls apart, before stretching up to push the rest back onto the shelf. She turns on her heel and marches for the front counter. He lingers a moment to straighten the pile on the shelf, and trails after her. 

His gaze is buried in the inside of his coat as he searches for his coin purse. His hands are still buzzing, just a little, from where she held them earlier and promised him she’d be at his side. He can’t stop thinking about it. It’s distracting him from getting his coins. 

The distinctive clink of metal on countertop jerks his gaze up just as he reaches his hand in for the first coin. She’s already dropped the gold in a neat little pile, pleasantly smiling at the clerk as she snaps the clasp on her purse shut. 

“That’s very generous of you,” he says, hand still frozen holding his own money. 

She swings around, flashing a thumbs up and a grin. She holds it a little too long for comical effect. Of course, he snickers. 

She turns to the paper on the countertop, making to gather it in her arms, but he starts, and she turns back to face him. He’s frozen there, hand just barely outstretched for her, mouth agape like he was going to say something. 

What is there to say? What can he possibly say to her, to repay everything she’s ever said to him? What can he say that’s worth the sound of her laugh, and the way her tongue sticks out a little when she smiles? What’s worth the way she brightens up a room even when she’s grumpy, the bubble to his gloom? 

What measures up to a tap on his shoulder as he turns to leave his study, and hands in his as she swears, with the most somber honesty he’s ever seen, that she watched him face what he could have been, tied up like a feral beast in a prison cell, and she stares in his eyes and tells him it’s ok, she saw it and loved him even through it, and then bought him presents afterwards just because?

He’ll never deserve her, he swears. 

She’s still looking at him, expectantly, and his mouth is still stuck open, and his hand is still halfway between the two of them. Maybe it’s just him, but the memory of her holding it seems to be burning even hotter. 

He tries to say something again, and the words aren’t coming out. She’s still waiting on him, expression starting to tip towards worry as he tries and fails to express just how overflowed his heart is right now. He can’t say it but gods, she ought to know how much she’s worth to him. Maybe he can just show her. He’ll tell her later.

It would be so easy … 

******

VI. 

The hallway is orange. Pale, warm, sort-of-translucent orange, swirling about her in patterns of lollipops and unicorn hamsters. Her own spells wrapped in the tender grip of his magic, handed to her with something like reverence. 

I believe, he had said, I have no choice. 

He’d done little things like this before, casting spells to make her and everyone else happier, letting her play with his cat because it made her smile. But he said he’d been working on this for weeks. Pouring time and sweat and his precious paper into making this thing, just for her. Everyone liked to tease her about the Traveler and how it was totally a cult, and usually she let it roll off her back, even if it stung a little on impact. And Caleb was here, telling her he took her belief in the Traveler at face value, simply because it was hers.

I don’t know anything about faith, he had said, I am learning from you.

He was a suspicious man. She knew that. He held grudges, and he mistrusted, and he had every right to. And yet all these months, he’s been putting everything he had in her hands, sure that she would not drop it. She would hold it as gently as she could.

I am the transmutation wizard, he had said, but you are the one who changes people. 

How was he supposed to know that was what she was afraid of, leaving no mark on the world at all? How was he supposed to know she made art everywhere she got the chance to in hopes that she would stop being erased, start existing outside of one little room and a handful of people? 

He wouldn’t have any reason to, except for he knew her so well, better than nearly anyone. He could tell when doubt was crawling up out of her gut, spilling its black tendrils from her mouth and across her eyes. He could see when the veneer got scratched, and he knew how to brush it just so, so it looked okay again. He knew how to comfort her. 

“It’s beautiful.” 

She knows it’s barely anything, but she doesn’t know what else to say. It caught her by surprise, and she’s reeling a little in the aftermath of seeing just how far he’s willing to go for her. 

He says something else, she barely processes, but it’s enough to get her babbling about some kind of performance. She trips over her words a little, she’s just so excited. He can tell, he smiles, and that just makes her heart jump even more. 

“But you have done so much for m- for all of us,” he says, and he’s not sneaky.

For me. She knows he was going to say it. For me. 

Tears are almost brimming in her eyes, happy ones, and he put them there. Done so much for her, she thinks, has he counted how much he’s done for me? She’s clasping her hands at her mouth, trying to keep all her feelings from coming out at once.  

He doesn’t know the half of it, everything he’s done for her. To make her feel safe, to make her feel smart, to make her feel seen, to make her feel believed in. He doesn’t know it at all, and yet the hallway is orange as a testament to how much he’s done, and she can’t let the sentiment go unreturned. 

It would be so easy … 

*******

VII.

“Didn’t go as well as you were hoping?”

His voice seems to startle her, as if she’d forgotten in her sadness that there were other people around her. He knew the feeling. 

“In some ways it went better?” she says, doubting it even as it leaves her mouth. “But. No.”

His face softens. It’s the only thing he can do, really.

Her breath is coming out shaky.

“I can’t speak for him,” he starts, offering what little encouragement he can, “but you do have us.”

“I know,” she answers, grateful even through the sadness. 

“So, whatever you land on. Jester.” He stops for a second, letting her name linger in his mouth. “We will make it happen.”

She nods, curt, tears still pricking in her eyes. “I have to figure out what I want to land on.”

He laughs, hollow and breathy, what else is there to do. He starts to reach his hand out for her, and catches it, his own hesitance getting the better of him.

He knows what he wants her to land on, he’s known for … longer than he really cares to admit. He knows he’d follow her to hell and back, that’s why he’s here on this island with her. 

He knows how hard it is to love without a compass to direct it. He knows that moonlight makes selfishness a much more appealing color. 

It’s dark, and he’s hopelessly in, and she’s searching for a place to not be so alone. He could show her a place to land. 

It would be so easy … 

******

VIII. 

He’s holding it out to her, a black ball clutched between his fingertips, just a little iridescent in the blazing sun overhead. He’s grinning, and his eyes are bright. He looks so happy, for just this moment, with a pearl in his hand. 

Forget the water pouring down their faces as they come up from the murk, plastering their hair to their foreheads at odd angles. Forget the wrench in both their guts about the monster brewing beneath their feet and in their minds. Forget the clothes sticking to their skin in all the wrong spots. Forget the sounds of their friends arguing twenty feet back. 

She jumped in the water with him for a reason, because he wanted pearls, and she wanted him to be happy, and he’s holding one out to her right now because he is, and that’s all she could really ask for.

Maybe it’ll be extra wet and slippery. Maybe it’ll taste like salt and seaweed and that weird fish stink that all bodies of water seem to have. Maybe her hands are covered in sand and they’ll get some in their mouths and it’ll be disgusting. 

Who cares? She jumped in the water with him and he’s happy. 

It would be so easy … 

******

IX.

The funny thing is, when she was little, she actually planned her wedding in this room. The canopy bed would double as the altar, gauze draping about them and the window lighting them from the back as they knelt with their hands together, wrapping them up with silk ribbon as someone spoke some formal rites. Mama would sit in the guest of honor chair at Jester’s desk, a tear running down her cheek as she watched her baby girl marry the love of her life.

Now Caleb’s in here with her and she’s realizing there’s no good angle to get the window backlight and be in full view of her Mama.

He’s lying down on the bed, because she told him to. She’s flopped down next to him, squirmed up into his side with the excuse of “small bed” but the intent of “I like the way I rest against your side”. 

He’d commented on her array of books - she knew he would. She may or may not have pulled the smarter looking titles up to the front a few visits ago, just in case.

He’d looked at her artwork too, spanning the walls in all its multicolored glory. He’d bent down to get a good look at her earliest, shittiest paintings. But not in the way where he wanted to see how bad they were, to laugh at. In the same way he looked at new artifacts they’d picked up along the road, as he traced his runes for Identify. Like he was trying to glean a missed history out of them, to get to know just a little bit more about what was in front of him now.

So she’s curled into his chest, careful with her horns, wrapping her hand over his to point out every last detail. Her other hand falls to his stomach, her fingers brush his, and neither of them pull away.

She always figured they’d fall like this, her and her husband, backward onto the bed after the ribbon was knotted to finalize their union. They’d be too happy to stand and they’d just collapse at each other’s side, and they’d plan their honeymoon like this. Pointing out places they wanted to go in her little snapshot of the cityscape, nestled into each other’s chests. 

Caleb’s enraptured, she can hear excitement in his breath, and she’s more than a little pleased. She didn’t know people cared this much about her art, about her childhood, about who she was before she became who she is. She hopes she has all the time in the world to tell him more. 

She’s still on his chest, their hands are still touching, even though she’s finished pointing out the painted landmarks. She’s kissed a lot of imaginary boys in this room. 

It would be so easy … 

******

X.

Spinning with her arms out, feet tracing circles in the snow, they haven’t even made it to the dance hall yet and she’s already waltzing like he taught her all those months ago in a scroungy gnomish bar. The cold is bringing a flush to her cheeks and god damn it, it’s cute. She’s humming. 

They could get inside where it’s warm, where they don’t need to get close for heat but they do anyway. Wrap an arm around her waist and take her hand in his. Keep her close enough to hear her giggle with each twirl he leads her on. Get drunk off her smile alone. 

Find a far corner where the music is softer and they have space to just sway together. Write new memories over old, equally as sweet, slightly less bitter. Look at that smile that won’t have faded since before they stepped through the door. Run his fingers across her jaw, save this moment in tactile too. Lean down in slow motion, as she stretches up.

It would be so easy … 

******

XI. 

“What are you drawing?” he asks, not even looking up from his spells. He’s grown comfortable with having her in his space.

“A cup of hot cocoa.”

“Are there dicks in it?”

“No, just two very lovely marshmallows.”

His head lifts up at that, gazing at her with the gleam he’s been giving his runes. He’s trying to figure her out.

“Shnuggling up next to each other,” she continues. “With consent.”

“We’re not talking about grass are we?”

“No. I’m talking about marshmallows.”

“Marshmallows?” The gleam in his eye grows a little brighter. He leans a little closer. “I thought there was a hidden meaning for a second.”

There’s a reason why she sat down here, why she wanted him next to her as she thought about love and commitment, and telling people things after all these months. There’s a reason why he didn’t start as she settled at his side. There’s a reason why he’s looking at her with a cocked grin on his face, sure of himself, in a way that he so rarely is. 

Maybe she wanted him to figure her out. Maybe she’s been trying to get him to figure her out for a while. He’s starting to turn back to his spells, so maybe she needs to get even a little more obvious.

It would be so easy...

******

XII.

She knocked on the door with her heart already in her throat, but the second she stepped through the door and saw him looking over at her, tired but welcoming, it started to settle back where it belonged. 

“Caleb. Will you cast tongues on me? YouknowImeanthespell,” she said, rushing words out because her heart was starting to leap back up again. “I just want to read the book.”

He nervously tucks some hair behind his ear. “I could read it to you, if you want?”

She knew he’d offered before, but she’s still surprisingly happy that he’s done it again. “Okay.”

He stands, wiping stained ink from his fingers on his pants as he leaves his desk, gesturing her over towards his fireplace. She swears as she walks over the flames get a little taller. She’s always liked it warmer than Caleb does. 

She flops down onto the couch, wiggling a little bit to get comfortable. She pats the seat next to her and he obliges. She holds the book out and he takes it from her, so very gently, and she can’t tell if it’s just the way he treats books, or the way he treats her, or both. 

He clears his throat as he prepares to open the cover, glancing over to make sure she’s ready. She scooches a bit closer, resting her cheek against his shoulder, you know, to see the pictures better, and hums to let him know he can start. 

He talks to her in a quiet kind of voice. It’s soft, and it makes his chest rumble, and it feels like home. She could close her eyes and fall asleep here, and she can bet he wouldn’t even get up and risk disturbing her. She nearly does, but he’s stopping every few sentences to show her the pictures, without her even asking, he just knows she wants to see them. He’s pointing out the hidden cat on every page. She loves that he still remembers where they all are.

“That was a happy story, Caleb!” she says, mostly to his shoulder, because she doesn’t want to move from where she’s nestled herself. 

“Mhm,” he agrees. “That’s why my mother read it to me.”

“I really thought, like, the cat prince was going to trap him in there forever, and then he wouldn’t be able to go and see his mother.” She cranes her head up now, propping her chin on his arm, stabilizing herself with arms she was barely aware she’d wrapped around his waist. 

“Well,” he says, turning his head towards her and finding their noses nearly touching, “a lot of Zemnian stories do end that way.”

She laughs, he smiles, and neither of them want to move. 

“The Cat Prince kind of reminds me of the Traveler,” she muses. She buries her face back in his shoulder as she talks, squeezing her arms a little tighter around him. 

“It’s true, isn’t it?” 

It’s a question only in technicality. The way his voice sounds as he says it, she can tell. He’s read so many stories, he could have picked any to leave in her room, but he chose this one about a boy and a bedroom and a magic cat and a brief escape, with a happy ending. He knew she’d ask. He wanted her to. 

She’s glad she did. She’s glad he knows her so well. She’s glad for the way he turned up the fire to make her comfortable. She’s glad for the smile that’s still on his lips, lasting longer than his smiles usually do. She’s glad she’s here with him, after everything they’ve seen and heard and done. She’s just glad. 

Gods, she’s so in love with him.

It would be so easy.

fin.

[thebrotherssalvatore321]

Keeping Secrets Ch. 58

Keeping Secrets Masterlist

Sunlight shining in through the curtains of the two windows of their bedroom attached to the nursery pulled Katie from sleep and as her eyes fluttered open they landed on Klaus’s hand on hers that rested on his chest. Her head was laying on the shoulder of his arm that was wrapped around her back. She thought he was asleep, but when she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, letting his scent wash over her like a comforting wave, the sound of his sleepy chuckle hit her ears and a blush colored her cheeks. However, her embarrassment faded when he turned his head and buried his nose in her soft auburn waves, breathing her in. A bright sleepy smile lit up her face as she looked up at him and he gave her a gentle smile back as he took his hand off of hers to brush a wave behind her ear. “Good morning, Big Bad Wolf.”

“Good," he paused as he whooshed around, now hovering over her from the side, "is a vast understatement, Little Phoenix.” he started trailing kisses down her neck. “Waking up with you in my arms feels bloody magnificent.” he told her and she laughed as he kissed his way to the hollow of her neck then down to the valley of her breasts. When he cupped both of them in his hands over her champagne, satin pajama top she took in a deep breath and bit her lips closed to mute her moan. A chuckle left his lips when he looked up from her chest to her eyes and he saw the veins under them. Once again he drank in the sight then gave her a crooked smile as his hands kneaded her breasts making her bite her lip again.

“Are you trying to torture me?” she asked breathily.

“My touch is torture?” he asked playing dumb.

“It is when I know it can’t lead to more for fear of waking our daughter.” she answered, a choked moan leaving her lips when he pinched her nipples between his thumb and pointer finger.

Knowing she was right, Klaus sighed and rolled off of her. “Fine."

Katie rolled over, straddling him as she looked down at him with a flirty twinkle in her eyes. "Just because we can't make love doesn't mean we can't fool around. How else will I learn to be quiet?" Klaus sat up and wrapped his arms around her making her laugh when he bit her neck with a growl.

After thirty minutes of making out and giggling like a couple of carefree teenagers, Klaus took her left hand into his, looking at the emerald cut diamond on her finger. “Tell me, have you thought about what you want our wedding to be like? Venue, color scheme, date, etcetera…”

“Venue...anywhere but Saint Ann's. Color scheme...something simple like cream with one pop of color, maybe blue or red?” she asked, getting a look from him that said he was considering it. "And a date…" She sighed and took his hand in hers, absentmindedly playing with his long fingers.. "I don't know...when your douchebag brother is no longer capable of crashing the wedding in an attempt to murder our flower girl?"

"How about dark azure blue as the accent color and we shoot for a week after whenever Finn is taken care of?" He asked with a Hopeful look.

"Both sound perfect to me." She agreed.

"Really?” he asked and she noticed his surprise. “I would have thought you’d want a longer engagement.”

“Why would I want to put off what I’m sure will be one of the happiest days of my life?” she asked. “I want to marry you as soon as it is safe to and two vital purchases have been made.” he gave her a curious look. “A wedding band for you and a dress for me.

“Speaking of…” he started as he got out of bed, went to the wardrobe in the room and pulled out a white, cotton garment bag with Kleinfeld Bridal written in the top right corner of it.

“You didn’t.” Katie told him with a tilt of her head as she got out of bed.

“I did.” he answered as he hung it on the open door of the wardrobe. “Of course that was before you changed your mind about it.”

“Oh no.” Katie pressed the palm of her hand to her head then looked up at him. “I am so sorry you went through all that trouble for nothing.”

“It was no trouble, I assure you.” he told her and she dropped her hand from her face. He motioned to the dress bag. “Look at it, make sure it’s the right one.”

As she grabbed the zipper pull he turned his back, still not looking at it just in case she changed her mind once she saw it in person. When the zipper was undone she pushed the garment bag aside revealing ivory satin, lace and swarovski crystals along the sweetheart neckline. “How did you find it?” Katie asked as she grabbed the pull and zipped the bag back up.

“I called Caroline.” he said as if it should have been obvious.

“She wasn’t suspicious as to why you wanted my dream dress when I wasn’t alive to wear it?” she asked as she walked around him and slipped her hands up his chest to hold the sides of his neck.

“I told her that I had planned on asking you to marry me and wanted to put it in your coffin with your ashes.” he answered. “She called me creepy, but gave up the information nonetheless.”

Katie laughed at Caroline calling him creepy as Klaus wrapped his arms around her waist. “Please tell me you don’t actually still have my coffin.” Katie told him, remembering that at one time she had her own, custom built antique white coffin.

“I don’t. It burned with the plantation.” he answered then grabbed her hand and pulled her back over to the bed with him. “Speaking of Caroline, that reminds me, there is something you should know about a friend of yours.” Katie gave him a curious look as he sat down in bed, leaning back against the headboard and she straddled his lap. “When I called your father to tell him about your death he asked if Nate had anything to do with it." Her curious look turned to a frown. "As it turns out Nate was a descendent of your half brother from your first life.”

“I didn’t have a half brother.” she said with a confused shake of her head.

“Bradley was going through some old family history files when he saw a familiar face. Nathanial Cian Easton.” Klaus answered. “Bradley’s files started with your first father at the top of the tree then followed three branches from him. Yours and your sisters from your mother and the youngest, a son, born by a woman named Nyarai.” Katie narrowed her eyes in thought as she shook her head before a look of realization struck her like a light bulb going off over her head. She slid off of Klaus and leaned back against the headboard beside him, her fingertips pressed to her lips. A few minutes passed before she looked up at Klaus. “I’m guessing you knew her.”

Katie nodded as her hand fell to her lap. "She was Mother's lady’s maid." Katie answered in shock. "A few years after my sister was born, Nyarai had a son. Everyone speculated who the father could have been because she was unwed and was never seen with any suitors." Katie sat up on her knees and looked at Klaus. "I guess Father decided Mother was incapable of producing a male heir." Klaus placed his hand over hers.

"Bradley feared, given the hatred your family harbored for the curse Hannah put on the women of your family, Nate’s line included, that he may have turned to put you down if you ever became fully reincarnated." Katie's eyes dropped to the comforter that she pulled up over herself, hating that one simple soul linking spell could do so much damage to a family. Klaus cupped her chin in his hand and lifted her head. "It was never Nate’s intention to kill you." He reassured her. “I never would have let him near you if I thought, even for a second, that he meant to bring you harm. He cared about you.” Katie was thinking about how things might have been different if she had known that Nate was her blood family, when Hope’s happy morning squeals filled the air. “It would appear as though our daughter is awake.” Klaus said with a smile in his voice as he took his arm out from around her waist.

“And she’s in a good mood.” Katie added as they both slipped from the bed. “Most mornings she wakes up crying.” While Katie threw on a satin robe Klaus went to their daughter and picked her up.

“Good morning, Princess.” he told her, getting a happy squeal from Hope in return as he walked back into the bedroom. He was opening his mouth to say something when a knock on their door cut him off.

Katie walked over and pulled it open. “Good morning.” Rebekah greeted them as she walked into the room then turned to Katie. “You never gave me an answer about the whole maid of honor thing.”

“And you feel an answer is important enough to warrant bursting into our room?” Klaus asked and Rebekah looked at him over her shoulder where he stood in the doorway to Hope’s room and rolled her eyes then looked back at Katie.

“Regardless of your answer I’d still like to take you dress shopping today. Seeing as you have no interest in wearing the one of a kind dress Nik hunted down for you.” Rebekah told her, making Katie give her a small smile. “We'll make a proper girls day out of it.”

“I appreciate the thought, but shouldn’t you be trying to find a way to bring Kol back like you promised?” Katie asked.

“If anyone can multitask it’s me.” Rebekah replied. “And that’s still not an answer.”

Klaus started laughing and Katie looked past Rebekah to him. “You know the longer you make her wait, the more persistent she will become.”

Katie thought about it, Caroline was miles away, unable to help her plan her wedding like a maid of honor should, but Rebekah was right there practically begging for the job. Not to mention it was starting to feel like she and Rebekah truly were sisters. “I suppose it is possible to have two maids of honor.” Katie thought to herself. “Rebekah, would you do me the massive favor of being my maid of honor?”

“Really?” Rebekah asked with wide, excited eyes.

"It would be kind of a co-maid of honor situation because I promised Caroline a long time ago that if I ever got married that she'd be my maid of honor. She, Bonnie and Elena will always be lifelong friends of mine but," Katie walked over to her and grabbed Rebekah's hands "over these past few months you haven't just been there for Hope, you were there for me too. You didn't let me shut down and push you away or spiral or hyperfocus to keep from letting too much in at one time...You are my best friend now."

"And sometime very soon we'll be sisters." Rebekah told her with a smile then engulfed her in a hug making Katie laugh before she let her go. “Meet me in the courtyard in an hour.” she told her as she walked to the still open bedroom door then turned back and gave Klaus a cheeky look that was totally Rebekah-like even in the new body she was hopping a ride in for the time being. “Or do you plan on making her moan your name at top volume again? Because if that’s the case I’ll take Hope to the other side of the house and give the two of you a few hours longer.”

“Rebekah!” Katie grabbed a throw pillow off of the bench at the end of the bed and threw it at her head, but she easily dodged it with a laugh.

“Was that a yes or a no? I can’t tell.” Rebekah asked.

“That was an, it’s none of your bloody business.” Katie answered with a wide eyed look. Rebekah just shook her head with a smile on her face as she shut the door.

“Well, I never thought I’d see that.” Klaus said, making Katie turn to look at him, still holding his content daughter.

“See what?” Katie asked as she walked over and wrapped her arms around both of them.

“My sister and my finacée, besties.” he answered with a toothy smile.

“Would you prefer us go back to the love, hate relationship we had before?” Katie asked with a playful look.

“Nope, I actually quite like it when the people I love get along with one another.” he told her before Hope squealed and smacked Katie on the chest making them both smile down at her.

“So it seems the king and his princess will have the palace all to themselves today.” Katie commented as she grabbed Hope’s hand and Hope wrapped her little fingers around one of Katie’s. “Is that okay with you?” she asked and she looked up at Klaus. “You’ve never had her all to yourself before.”

“Rest assured she will be perfectly and completely spoiled rotten while you are away.” he gave her a closed lipped smile that showed off his dimples, making her smile back. “You deserve a day without our daughter on your hip just as much as Hope and I deserve to get to know one another.”

“I would say if you need anything call me, but I no longer have a phone to reactivate. It got blown up along with the pictures of us and old voicemails from you that were on it.” she told him with a disappointed look.

“That is why…” he set Hope on her play mat then went to his bedside table, “I got this as soon as you agreed to come home.” he turned back to her and handed her a new cell phone. “All of your photos and voicemails were stored in the cloud and have been downloaded on it as well as all of your contacts. So you can call your Mystic Falls friends and inform them of your miraculous rise from the dead whenever you wish.”

She turned on the phone to see he had set her background image to a picture of the painting he had bought for her on their first date that now hung in the bedroom of their quarters, making her smile at the memory of that day. “You’re awesome.” she told him as she tucked her phone into her back pocket then pecked him on the lips. “I was actually hoping you could help me call Caroline this time.” Katie told him as she glanced at Hope to make sure she was still on her mat. “I don’t want my voice to be the first one she hears when she answers the phone.”

“What would you like me to say?” he asked as he pulled his phone out of his pocket, assuming that she would want his name to pop up on Caroline’s phone instead of Katie’s.

“I don’t know, you’re you, be creative.” she shrugged.

He smirked at her as he pulled up Caroline’s contact information and hit call. “Hello?” Carline’s sleepy voice answered.

“Collect call from,” Klaus started, then held the phone out to Katie for her to say her name.

“Your very best friend in the whole wide world.” Katie filled in the blank.

“Do you accept the charges?” Klaus finished.

Katie could hear the rustle of blankets and the springs of a mattress popping as Caroline moved around in her bed. “Klaus, if this is a prank it’s not funny.”

Katie laughed. “It’s not a prank, Care.”

“Katie?” Caroline’s voice perked up. “How are you alive? Klaus said that the witches killed you and your baby. Bonnie saw you on the other side.” Caroline asked as Katie took the phone and put it to her ear.

“Well technically they did, so he wasn’t lying about that, and they did try to Kill our daughter, but we stopped them. Her name is Hope, by the way.” Katie answered. “I had her blood in my system when they killed me, so I came back."

“You’re a vampire again?” Caroline asked and Katie hummed a positive answer. “That’s why you disappeared when Bonnie saw you, because you were no longer on the other side.” Katie once again hummed a yes. “So why did he tell me the two of you were dead?”

“The witches who took her and tried to kill her were acting on the behalf of Esther. It was her decree that Hope never be allowed to live. So we let everyone believe the witches had succeeded and went into hiding. It was the only way to keep Hope safe.” Katie explained. “But Esther is no longer a problem, so we’re no longer in hiding.” Katie decided to leave out the part about Finn to make the explanations shorter. Caroline was quiet as she processed everything. “I am so sorry we had to lie to you guys again.”

“Katie, seriously?” Caroline asked. “You were protecting your daughter, I’m not mad. Well, I mean, I’m a little mad, but I’ll get over it.”

Klaus picked up Hope. “I’m going to go feed her.” he told Katie who nodded and watched him walk out of their room with Hope in his arms, talking to her in a sweet voice as he did.

“I can not picture Klaus holding a baby, much less feeding one.” Caroline commented having heard him.

“He’s actually settling into fatherhood a lot better than I thought he would, all things considered.” Katie replied with a soft smile on her face. “How’s everyone back home?”

“Mystic Falls as a whole is flourishing considering vampires can’t cross into its borders.” Caroline answered.

“What?” Katie asked with a squished up face.

“A bunch of crazy Travellers put a spell on the town that cancels out all spirit magic that enters it. So if we go inside, the magic keeping us alive disappears and we’ll die of whatever killed us the first time.” Caroline explained. “So for example if you were to pass through the border, your throat would be slit and you’d be dead, permanently this time.”

“That sucks.” Katie said, not knowing what else she could say to something that sounded so crazy

“Tell me about it.” Caroline scoffed. “I’m guessing Klaus told you about Bonnie and Damon?” she asked and Katie hummed, sadness at never seeing their faces again, washed over her and her eyes watered. “Well, Damon’s back, but Bonnie’s not. Apparently Bonnie’s grams put them in a prison world for some murderous psychopath named Kai before the other side was destroyed. Damon made it, but Kai messed up the spell before Bonnie could get out. We don’t know if Kai killed her or if she’s still just stuck in there with him.”

“I really don’t know what to say to all of that.” Katie admitted as she placed her fingertips to her lips.

“And on top of all of that, after Damon disappeared instead of grieving like a normal person, Elena started taking some kind of witchy concoction that let her see him. The more she took it the more blood thirsty she got so she asked Alaric to compel away all her memories of her and Damon. Now Damon’s going crazy trying to get her to remember their relationship.” Caroline practically ranted.

“Poor Damon.” Katie sighed as she pushed her hair back out of her face. “I don’t care what happened, if Klaus ever died there is no way in hell I would ask Rebekah or Elijah to compel away all of my memories of us. No matter how much it would hurt.”

“I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but yeah...poor Damon.” Caroline agreed.

“So what about everyone else, Stefan, Matt, Jeremy, your mom, Bradley…” she listed the first people that came to her mind.

“Well, after Damon and Bonnie disappeared Stefan just left and started over somewhere else, but now that Damon’s back, so is he.” Caroline answered. “Matt is...still Matt. Jeremy is dealing with losing Bonnie in usual Jeremy style.”

“So booze and pot?” Katie asked.

Caroline hummed a positive answer. “Mom's still mom. She and your dad are still going strong even though he can’t go home.” Caroline got quiet for a second. “Oh and Tyler’s back. He’s human now and has turned over a new leaf, he’s even started going to college at Whitmore, but we’re not back together. No matter how much he apologises I just can’t be with someone who would try to kill your unborn baby.”

“That’s...good to hear.” Katie commented. “The, not giving him a second chance, part. I could kind of care less about anything other than he’s dropped the whole revenge thing against Klaus.”

“Hey, why’d you call your dad Bradley instead of Dad?” Caroline asked, sounding like she thought she might be overstepping somehow.

“Probably because after I left Mystic Falls he never once called to check in or even sent a single, “Hey, how’s it going?” text.” Katie answered. “If he were any kind of dad he would have.”

“You know that’s a two way street, right?” Caroline asked. “You could have called him just as easily as he could have called you.”

“He’s the one who abandoned me and left me with Grandfather. I don’t think it should be my job to extend the olive branch even more than I already have by giving him a chance in the first place.” Katie answered.

“Fair point.” Caroline agreed.

“So where’s Elena, aren’t you two sharing a dorm room?” Katie asked, a little confused.

“We did, but I...dropped out.” Caroline answered. “I couldn’t balance college and trying to find a way to fix what the travellers did to our home.”

“I’m sorry.” Katie said with a frown. Caroline had been so excited about college the last time they had spoken.

“Eh, college will always be there when I’m ready to go back.” Caroline replied indifferently.

Rebekah opened the bedroom door catching Katie’s attention. “Have you seriously not even showered yet?” she asked, seeing Katie still in her robe and her hair a tousled mess.

“Who is that?” Caroline asked, not recognizing Rebekah's new voice.

“That would be my now official future sister-in-law who is stuck in the body of a witch thanks to Esther. It's a long story.” Katie answered Caroline then covered the speaker of the phone and spoke to Rebekah. “I am talking to my other maid of honor, give me a few more minutes and I’ll start getting dressed.” Rebekah rolled her eyes and closed the door.

“Wait, hold on,” Caroline said in a serious voice, “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Katie just giggled in response. “Klaus proposed?!” Caroline asked and Katie could easily picture the shocked and happy look that she was sure was on Caroline's face at the moment.

“And I said yes.” Katie answered.

“Oh my god, Katie, I’m so happy for you.” Caroline practically squealed. “Wait, that’s why Klaus called me wanting the style number of the dress you liked on Say Yes to the Dress, isn’t it? Did he find it? Have you set a date yet? What is your theme? Please tell me it's not sunflowers and burlap. That look is so overdone these days.”

“Caroline.” Katie laughed.

“I know, I know, I need to calm down, but I can’t help it. I’m just so happy and excited for you.” Caroline told her then took a deep breath and let it out. “Okay, I’m calm. So tell me what you have planned so far.”

“Not much honestly.” Katie answered. “Klaus did find the dress, but I'm not going to wear it.”

“What, why? It’s freaking gorgeous.” Caroline asked, sounding disappointed.

“Because it’s not me anymore.” Katie answered. “Since you like it so much, why don’t I send it to you? You can save it for your own wedding someday.”

Caroline scoffed. “Yeah, okay, like that will ever happen.”

“Hey, you never know. Your one true love could be right under your nose and you just don’t know it yet.” Katie told her jokingly.

“So do you have a new dress in mind? I can get Mom to dig out your mom's dress and send it to you if you want.”

“No, that's okay.” Katie answered. “Rebekah is actually waiting for me to get dressed so she can take me dress shopping. I’ve kind of asked her to be a co-maid of honor. I hope that’s okay.”

Caroline was quiet for a few minutes before she sighed. “Yeah...it’s fine. I just wish you guys could get married here in Mystic Falls so that I could be the active maid of honor.” she could hear the sadness in her voice.

“I know, me too.” Katie agreed, sounding almost as sad.

“Okay...go dress hunting with your future sister-in-law.” Caroline told her, pouting. Which only made Katie smile.

“You will have your responsibilities too, Care. Don’t worry.” Katie laughed. “I’ll talk to you later and text you a picture of the dress before I buy it.”

“You better. I want every detail.” Caroline told her seriously.

“Oh, and can you get Elena and Damon to call me when they have a chance?” Katie asked and Caroline said she would before they hung up.

TVDTVDTVD

After showering, braiding her bangs back out of her face, tying the rest of her hair up into a messy bun and getting dressed in a pair of dark wash, distressed denim shorts, a black form fitting tank top with a sheer lace racerback and a pair of strappy black sandals she found Klaus in the kitchen feeding Hope a bowl of mashed bananas and oatmeal cereal. She grabbed a blood bag out of the icebox and was about to rip it open when Klaus noticed what she was doing and spoke up. "Have you forgotten that the hired humans offer more services than just housekeeping?"

She looked at him to see a smirk on his face as he jerked his head at the woman standing quietly in the corner of the kitchen with her hands folded politely in front of herself. The woman walked over and held out her wrist “I’m fine. Thank you.” Katie told her so the woman nodded and went back to where she had been before.

Klaus thought it odd that she refused fresh blood when once upon a time she referred to blood bags as tv dinners, but he brushed it off thinking she was just in a hurry because Rebekah was rushing her.

When she was done putting the blood in a coffee tumbler she walked over to them and slid her hand over his shoulders as she leaned around him, “Okay, I’m headed out.” she pecked him on the lips as Hope babbled and hit the tray of her high chair with a spoon.

“Be careful. We still don’t know Finn’s whereabouts.” he warned her.

“I will. Promise.” she answered then kissed him again. “Just...do me a favor and don’t feed her beignets while I’m gone.”

Klaus feigned shock. “I would never.”

“Uh huh, sure.” Katie told him, walking backward toward the door. “If I find a trace of powdered sugar on her you will pay for it.” she pointed at him playfully.

“Is that a threat?” he asked with wide, joking eyes.

“That’s a promise, Big Bad Wolf.” she laughed then turned and walked out.

TVDTVDTVD

After a completely montagable day of wedding dress shopping Katie picked a dress that both Rebekah and Caroline agreed on. But, while her maids of honor could agree on a wedding dress for her they couldn’t agree on any one maid of honor dress for themselves. So to stop the arguing over speakerphone, Katie finally told them she didn’t care what they wore as long as their dresses were matching shades of azure blue.

Rebekah also insisted that to make it a proper girls day they had to get their hair and nails done. So when Katie walked into the courtyard with her hair that had grown six inches since her last haircut, cut shoulder length and layered, Klaus took notice, his eyes lingering on her a second or two longer than usual. “You look refreshed.” he told her as she walked over and sat down beside him where he sat on the floor with Hope on a blanket beside the fountain in the center of the courtyard. Hope had a teething ring in her hand slinging it around. “And you cut your hair.”

“Do you like it? I’ve never thought to ask if you have a preference when it comes to the length of my hair.” she asked as she reached up and twirled a shoulder length auburn curl around her finger.

“As long as I can run my fingers through it I’ll be happy.” he answered and she smiled as he slipped his fingers through her hair at the nape of her neck and pulled her in for a kiss. “Did you have a good time?” he asked as they turned their attention to Hope.

“Yes, and I found a dress. It’s at the tailors, but once they are done they will call me for the final fitting.” she answered.

“One step closer.” he told her with a cheeky smile that made her bump his shoulder with hers and shake her head.

Katie leaned down and looked Hope over. “Hmm, is that a speck of powdered sugar on her onesie?” she asked then looked over her shoulder at Klaus with a raised brow and a smirk.

Klaus laughed, “You are looking for reasons to punish me.”

“Maybe.” she said with a noncommittal shrug as she sat up. “But who’s to say you won’t like your punishment?”

“Come here you.” he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into him, kissing her deeply. “You can save your punishment for later tonight.” he told her when the kiss broke. “I’ve asked Camille to babysit so that you and I may have a date night. It’s been too long.”

"Would you like me to cook dinner?" She asked with a Hopeful look.

"Well, I'd be hurt if you didn't." He answered with a mock serious look then gave her a smile.

TVDTVDTVD

Katie was setting a basket of cheddar biscuits in the center of the dining table in the small dining room when Klaus joined her. “It smells delicious, Love.” he commented as he sat down at one of the two place settings and she sat down across from him. Soon after, the woman that had offered Katie her wrist earlier that day, brought out two plates of jambalaya. “It seems someone has expanded their Louisiana recipe book.” he told her with a smirk as he grabbed his fork and took a bite.

"I also know how to cook crawfish etouffee, gumbo from scratch, and catfish Courtbouillon." She told him with her head held high. "If it sucks, blame Rebekah. She was my guinea pig."

Klaus took a bite and hummed, enjoying the Cajun cuisine. "You are truly talented, Little Phoenix."

She just smiled, happy he liked it and things fell comfortably silent for a few minutes as they both enjoyed their meal, but eventually Klaus grabbed a cheddar biscuit from the basket and asked, "I've been thinking about a venue, but I do not know much about your preferences. Where did you picture your dream wedding taking place?"

"My teenage wedding dreams never really made it past the dress." She answered and he gave her a look that told her to give him something to work with. "When I was talking to Caroline earlier today she mentioned that she wished we could get married in Mystic Falls and I pictured the double staircase in the entryway of your mansion-”

“Our mansion.” he interrupted her with his fork pointed at her. “Your father took your house there, besides once we say our vows what’s mine becomes yours.”

“Oh, so you’re not going to make me sign a prenup?” she asked with a challenging lift of her brows to which he rolled his eyes and gave her a ‘seriously?’ look. “Anyway.” she laughed. “I pictured flowers and twinkling lights on the railing of the stairs. Everyone sitting down below, looking up at us at the top of them, while we say our vows.” she answered. “But that was just a fleeting thought.” she shrugged then took the last bite of her jambalaya.

“Is that what you want, to get married in Mystic Falls?” he asked

“No.” she answered with a shake of her head. “I’ve just always liked that house. Even before you renovated it.” He gave her a curious tilt of his head that asked her to explain why. “During the summer, before I was old enough to work at the grill, I would sneak out at night and ride around the back roads of town on my bike. The road the mansion is on was my favorite one to take and every time I took it I’d stop and stare at that house, trying to imagine what it must have looked like in its prime because even when it was broken down and falling apart it was beautiful.”

“Maybe we could go there on our honeymoon.” he suggested. “You can visit your friends. I know you still miss them.”

“I do miss them and I would like to visit Mystic Falls, but we can’t. Vampires can’t enter Mystic Falls right now or we’ll die. Something about travelers casting an anti magic spell on it.” she told him sadly and they both got quiet for a minute.

When they were done eating Klaus stood from the table and held his hand out to her. “Come with me.” she placed her hand in his as she stood then let him lead her to the main entrance of the compound that they hardly ever used. Showing her the double staircase that led up to a curved balcony with tall cream colored columns on each side of it that went from floor to ceiling. “I know it’s not as grand as the mansion, but-” he slipped his hand into hers, taking over her reality, changing the entryway before her eyes.

The metal railing of the stairs was decorated with white hydrangeas, little azure blue flowers and twinkling lights. A priest stood up above them, under an arch decorated with greenery, flowers and more lights. All of their friends and family stood below, looking at them with smiles on their faces. She looked down at herself to see she wore a trumpet silhouette dress with a satin skirt and a sexy bodice of strategically placed lace that let a tasteful amount of cleavage and side boob show. “I recognize this dress. It’s the first one that popped up on my google feed when I typed in “Pnina Tornai” and “sexy”.”

“Feel on top of your head.” he told her with a smirk.

So she reached on top of her head and when she felt cold metal, pulled it off to see in her hands a simple cletic knot tiara with a single blue teardrop sapphire at its peak.

“You’re trying to give me a big head again, Big Bad Wolf.” she told him as he let the vision fade. “Is that your way of telling me you want me to wear a tiara?” she asked with a raised brow.

“You can wear whatever you'd like.” he answered. “What do you think?” he asked with a motion to the entryway.

“I think you solved the no venue problem.” she told him with a smile.

“So you like it?” he asked as she stepped around to stand in front of him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

“It’s perfect.” she told him then caught his lips with hers. She had meant for it to just be a peck, but he deepened it, pulling a sigh from her as she melted into him. When it broke she gave him a smirk that let him know exactly what she wanted and he whooshed them up to their quarters.

TVDTVDTVD

They were lounging in their pj's in the bed in their quarters when Katie remembered they had forgotten about dessert and grabbed her phone off the nightstand. "What are you doing, Love?" Klaus asked curiously.

"Nothing." She told him evasively and when he tried to sneak at her phone she turned it away from him.

They were fighting over her phone when a knock sounded at the door. Katie slipped from the bed and Klaus followed. When she opened the door the woman from the kitchen, who Katie had gotten to know while she was cooking, holding a round silver tray of square pastries covered in powdered sugar came into view. "You made beignets." He observed with a closed lipped smile at her. "You spoil me."

"That was the plan." She told him as she took the tray from the woman. "Thank you, Laura." the woman nodded.

"You know what goes splendidly with beignets?" He asked as he walked over to Laura and grabbed her hand. His irises turned amber before he bit her wrist. After a few seconds of drinking he looked up at Katie and watched as she swept the woman’s straight brown hair away from her neck, letting blood fill her eyes as she looked into Klaus’s and bit the woman’s neck.

After a minute they both let go of Laura and Klaus dismissed her as he wrapped his arm around Katie’s waist and pulled her into him. His other hand grabbed her thigh and pulled her leg up as she pressed her against the wall by the door, their bodies writhing against each other as his lips traveled the exposed skin of her neck.

TVDTVDTVD

Katie’s head rested in Klaus’s lap, his hand absentmindedly playing with her loose waves, both lost in thought. Katie glanced up noticing he looked a little worried. “You okay?” she asked as she sat up, covering herself with the throw blanket that was usually on the back of the couch.

“Finn and Kol were not the only members of my family that Esther pulled from the other side before it’s collapse. She also brought my father, Ansel, back.”

“What?” Katie asked, curious as to why Esther would bring back Klaus’s father.

“She tried to use him to get me to take her up on her offer to become mortal.” he answered. “She offered to put me in the body of a wolf, to let me join Ansel and have the father I always wanted.” she knew when tears formed in his eyes that it didn’t end well between them. “I used to tell myself that my real father must have had no idea I existed, but he did know. Mother forbade him from seeing me. So, according to him, he waited knowing that one day I would trigger my curse and need my real father.”

“But Mikael killed him before he could step up.” Katie finished and he nodded.

“Ansel thought I should accept mothers offer. That as a wolf I would be king to an entire species and would know true peace.” Klaus continued. “I would be lying if I said the prospect of it all wasn’t appealing, that I wouldn't have liked to have been the son of Ansel.”

“But his offer was too little too late.” she finished.

“Not to mention he knew Hope was alive.” Katie’s brows furrowed at his statement. “When a werewolf is in their animal form they feel everything more acutely. Ansel said that when I was a boy, after each full moon he would wake closer to my village, having been drawn to me in the night. Since he’d come back each month he would wake further from New Orleans. He was drawn to Hope.” Katie blinked at him knowing the look on his teary eyed face. “He wanted to help me protect her, but I knew mother would take his good intentions and twist them against us. So I killed him…” Katie reached up and wiped a tear that fell. “I wanted to trust him. I wanted my father, but I would not be able to forgive myself if something happened to Hope...to you, because of my selfish need for a father.”

She moved to straddle him, holding the sides of his neck as she rested her forehead on his. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” she asked and he gave her a look that said it all. He was afraid of what she’d think. "I'm not disappointed in you, Big Bad Wolf.” she lifted her head and slipped her fingers through his hair. “I just wish that for once, you could have everything you want." he simply grabbed her sides and rested his forehead on her chest.

After a few minutes of comforting silence she slipped from his lap, put on a cotton robe then walked over to the table in the entry room and grabbed the tray of beignets. She put them on the coffee table between the two couches in the sitting room then sat sideways in his lap, grabbed a beignet and rested her arm on his shoulders as she held the pastry up to his lips.

He took a bite and let his head fall back with a hum, enjoying the flavor of the fluffy, sugared, New Orleans donut. “Is there anything you can’t cook?” he asked as he opened his eyes and took the beignet from her fingers and took another bite.

“Soufflé and divinity.” she answered then licked the powdered sugar from her fingers. “I’ll screw it up every time.” Klaus didn’t reply, his mouth too busy with the dessert. “I did a good job then?” she laughed.

“Have you tried your little masterpieces?” he asked and she shook her head no so he held the last bite up to her lips.

She took it and made a surprised face. “Why is this so good? It’s just dough and sugar.” she asked with her hand over her mouth.

“I told you, the food here is some of the best in the world.” he told her with a look at the tray on the table. She grabbed him another off of the tray and handed it to him. She watched him eat the pastry, both of them completely relaxed and content. “Everything alright, Love?” he asked when he saw her eyes watering.

“Perfectly.” she answered quietly. “I just really missed moments like this is all.”

Klaus cupped her cheek in his hand, slipping his thumb over her cheekbone. “Why don’t we go look in on our daughter before we call it a night?” he asked and Katie slipped from his lap and held her hand out for his. He took it then got dressed and they walked hand in hand to their daughters room. Cami was asleep in the rocking chair while Hope was fast asleep in her crib. “Should we wake her?” Klaus asked with a look at Cami.

“Yeah, that chair can’t be comfortable.” Katie answered as she walked over and rubbed Cami’s shoulder, waking her. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Cami echoed as she rubbed her eyes.

“Thanks for watching her.” Katie told her as Cami stood up. “We got it from here.”

“Are you sure?” Cami asked with a look at both of them who gave her a nod. “Okay.”

When Cami left both Klaus and Katie moved to look at Hope, their hands resting on the railing of the crib. “She is perfect isn’t she?” Klaus asked with a smile down at his daughter.

“Like her father.” Katie answered as she wrapped her arms around one of his and rested her head on his shoulder. He just gave her a smirk as he grabbed her hand and led her to their bedroom where he laid down on his back and she snuggled into his side. “Goodnight, Mo Rí.”

Klaus looked down at her and placed a slow lingering kiss to her lips. “Goodnight, Mo Bhanríon.”

A/N: I'm going to try to put together a tag list for this story. So if you want to be added to it let me know.

[thebibliomancer]

Flames of the Dark Crystal liveblog pt 20

Flames of the Dark Crystal by J.M. Lee because GREATH SMERTH! Is a good thing to shout instead of a swear. But is also infected by broken crystal disease. Oh no!

Last times on book: Team Naia continued on their Aughra and Thra given quest to light fires of resistance with all seven Gelfling clans. The Sifa, Dousan, Vapra, Spriton, and Grottan fires have been lit! Phew, good work team! 5/7ths of the way there! Naia, Gurjin, Kylan and Amri continue on to the Swamps of Sog to try to light the Drenchen fire but home is not as Naia left it. Her parents are fighting. And their home tree is dying of Darkening. That’s a lot.

And then I go a week without a post because my energy just crashed. Ah well.

Chapter 20

Naia goes into the fish basement, looks at some dark crystals, and feels a lot of feelings. So many feelings. Contents were under pressure.

Naia runs out of the big home tree and down to the reed pens among the roots where the Drenchen raised fish.

As she follows the root path she has to wonder if the technique for encouraging the roots of the Great Smerth to form a path came from Aughra. And if so, whether she learned it from the urSkeks.

The more she knew, and the more she opened her eyes, the more it felt as if there was nothing that was untouched by them.

I think in this case, you’re safe, Naia. Aughra was made by Thra to serve as a bridge between the planet and the peoples on it so if anyone taught her to tell trees what to do, its likely to be the trees themselves.

Naia dives into the fish cellar. Even though its dark, she finds her way by touch to where her sisters had been working on the crystal veins.

Its a small vein, compared to the ones Naia and Amri saw in the Valley of the Mystics. Only about as thick as her finger.

She’s able to clear away the mud and examine the crystal vein that Eliona and Kipper had cudgeled into being ‘fixed.’

Naia gazed at the broken vein. It was bittersweet to behold. Though the darkening was stopped from spreading into Great Smerth, it also meant this vein was broken off from the Crystal. How many more veins spread under the earth and water? Here, and everywhere else in Thra? The Crystal was what bled life into the land. It wasn’t possible to cut it away. Not like this. What Laesid had said was true. This was not a lasting solution.

But Bellanji wasn’t wrong, either. If they could slow the sickness, then didn’t they owe it to Great Smerth to do whatever they could to protect its life as long as possible? Naia didn’t know what to do. Though she had wanted to see the vein for herself, even knowing Eliona had been telling the truth didn’t give her any more answers. If only Naia coudl be in two places at once, doing two things at the same time. Healing Great Smerth and the Crystal. One hand healing the fingertips of Thra, the other pressed against its heart.

Naia lets out a discontented sigh and startles a blindfish.

As Naia watches it, it weirdly doesn’t swim away like skittish blindfish usually do. Instead, it bites her.

Which blindfish almost never do! For one thing, they barely have teeth!

The bite didn’t draw blood but it still does Naia an alarm. She clears away the mud that this specific blindfish was buried in and discovers the real result of Operation Hit Crystal Vein With Cudgels To Fix It.

Where Naia’s sisters had broken the darkened crystal vein, darkened splinters now stretched through the bedrock to reconnect the broken vein.

All of that cudgeling was for naught!

Naia starts spiraling again. Realizing that all of Thra was connected to the broken Crystal. Worrying whether the Crystal could ever be healed without the missing shard.

All thanks to the Skeksis. And the Mystics.

They were the same. Creatures from beyond Thra in a world that was not theirs. And now they were destroying it, bit by bit. The proof was just below her fingertips.

How dare they. How dare they hurt what I love.

Good thing Raunip wandered out of the narrative a long while ago. And had gotten over this kind of attitude. Would not be good if he were around up to his old ways, finding people like Naia and going ‘yes, yessss, let the hate flow through you.’

Naia’s despair at all this crystal related stuff sparks her vliyaya to light up with her will to mend.

Why had it come back now? This special fire that had been given to her by Thra?

Perhaps it was time to give it back.

Uh oh.

Prepare yourself to explode again, Naia.

She places her hands against the darkened crystals but this time she’s ready for the jolt of energy. This time, she finds herself drawn back along the vein.

She saw it. The Crystal of Truth, spinning in the chamber at the center of the Castle of the Crystal. Dark amethyst and red, the last ounces of purity all but gone from its rugged, faceted body. The color was the sign of its pain. The sign of its torture and madness, the blazing color of its corruption.

Naia felt the light in her hand streaming out, taking with it her own life force. Pulled in like a fish on a line, bleeding her of it. The Crystal, that once gave life, now wrathful. Dying. Empty.

But if that was what it would take...

NAIA PLS.

And that’s not just me saying that! Amri shows up and yanks her away from the darkened crystals.

Once Naia realizes what happened, she yells at Amri. For nearly drowning trying to save her. Because while she’s perfectly okay zoning out underwater, he is not. He winds up coughing up water, while she hypocritically yells at him.

He turns it back on her, shaking her and asking what she was thinking!

She doesn’t even know how to answer. She’s afraid, she feels helpless and she doesn’t like seeing the pain in Amri’s eyes.

He didn’t let go of her shoulders, gripping her like she might float away at any moment.

“Naia. I know you want to heal the Crystal. We all do. And save Great Smerth... but... you can’t. Not this way. Not at the cost of yourself.”

“I just thought if I could do it, then maybe...” She shook her head. She looked up, away from Amri and into the graceful, twisting forms of Great Smerth’s roots overhead. The tears did come, then, if only one at a time. “I thought Great Smerth would always be here. I thought the swamp was safe from the Skeksis. I never thought...”

Everything about Amri softened. His eyes and his voice, his grip on her shoulders.

“I know,” he said quietly. “I thought the same about Domrak.”

=(

These poor gelfs going through so much.

Naia says she knew that losing his own home was difficult for him but he never put herself in his place until it happened to her. And she finds that talking to Amri eases some of the pressure in her chest. She confesses that she just doesn’t know what to do.

“Aren’t I a failure if I can’t lead? If I can’t heal? If I can’t defeat the Skeksis? We can’t fight them, but I feel like it’s the only thing I know how to do! But if I can’t kill them, and I can’t heal Thra -- then who am I?”

“You’re... Naia.”

The answer was blunt and simple. Amri flicked an ear. She couldn’t see his face too well in the dark, but she could hear his breath quicken a touch, his fingers twitching on her shoulders.

“And... I think you’re amazing. When you’re brave, it makes me feel brave. When you’re strong, it makes me feel strong. That’s what being a leader is -- leading by example. You’re committed to doing the right thing. Doing good... even when you fail. And even when you fail, you keep trying. You bring flowers out of ash.”

It felt as if the warmth from his hands was spreading into her shoulders and chest, soft and gentle like the light from a candle. That was what Amri was, she realized. A little fire that never went out, that was always by her side. Not so bright that it drowned out other light, but more than enough to illuminate a path in the night. Gentle and discerning, steadfast and loyal.

Awwwwww!

I don’t have a lot else to comment on this section. Just awwwwwwwwww!

“We’re going to find a way,” Amri said.

“We don’t know how to give up, do we?” she asked, letting the warmth reach her lips where it came out as a smile. He chuckled.

“I think that’s mostly you... But it’s probably the thing I love most of all.”

It got quiet between them.

“You mean as a friend, of course,” she said hesitantly. She was unsure, particularly about one specific word he’d used. “Because... we’re friends.”

But Amri doesn’t go ‘why yes of course, love ya as a friend.’ He gets squirrely. Or whatever tree dwelling small mammal that they have on Thra.

He just nervously asks if she means the thing he said in the valley and she starts asking how he really feels about her and maybe he doesn’t distinguish between like and love and HE blurts out that of course he sees a difference.

Amri confesses that he really likes her as more than a friend but after she got hurt...

Naia immediately puts two and one and one together.

“What did Gurjin say to you?” she asked, plainly enough that it left little room for Amri to try to make up another excuse. He sighed. All the pretenses rolled away from him, like when he’d taken off his cloak as they’d entered the wetlands. Finally, the truth came out, and he was her Amri again.

“He just told me that now wasn’t a good time,” he said. “He said you had other things you needed to do, and that I shouldn’t be jeopardizing our mission by distracting you.” He shrugged. “It’s not like he threatened me or anything. It made sense. And it was my fault you were so badly hurt. So I went along with it...”

GURJIIIIIIIIN

Also, Amriiiiiiiii

The upside is now I know what everyone’s deal is.

The downside is that Naia doesn’t even get time to process this reveal. There’s suddenly a crash outside, like a tree falling. And then another, and another.

“Are those normal swamp noises?” [Amri] asked.

As much as she wanted not to be bothered at a time like this, Naia couldn’t deny the bad feeling in her gut.

“No. We should go back.”

Heh.

Naia also hates it when Plot interrupts character beats.

The two Gelfling leave the fishery and climb up the Great Smerth. They’re joined by Momdra Laesid and dadra Bellanji.

“What comes?” Laesid demanded. “Who trespasses in my swamp?”

Amri grabbed Naia’s arm, clutching her tightly as his Grottan eyes pierced the night. Naia already knew, deep in her belly, who it was, but it wasn’t until he said her name that every muscle in her body tightened.

“A Skeksis Lord,” Amri said, gulping. “skekSa, the Mariner.”

GOD DAMN SKEKSA ARE YOU THE TERMINATOR? You’re better at hunting down these protagonists than the actual Hunter!

[heartbreakgrill]

Serious; Luke Hemmings (Pt. 1)

a/n: I cannot tell you where this came from, but it IS ACTUALLY REALLY GOOD OMG. please enjoy, there WILL be more parts probably tomorrow. (Also omg I’m dying my hair, should I post a selfie? I’ve never done a face reveal lol)

description: he came with the falling of the leaves, and left with the cold breeze of winter. maybe this time, he’d stay.

The gentle cracking of a leaf breaking under your weight snapped your eyes to the sidewalk below. Your boot-clad feet ran into another leaf, a smile pile, and a dozen subway-like cracks caused by years of distress. You looked back up, afraid to run into anybody who wasn’t walking on the opposite side of the sidewalk. Luckily, you did just in time, because you dodged a group of girls jogging at a steady pace.

Your brows drew together; They weren’t in workout clothes. You looked for fear on their faces, but they passed quickly, without a hint of what you weren’t hoping for. Your head followed them, pace slowing, as you scanned their outfits. Some of them were dressed cute, in fall outfits similar to yours, but two or three were merchandise from a band- 5 Seconds of Summer.

You stopped completely. Your feet drew you to the wall behind you, as if they knew you were going to get ran over if you didn’t move. Your mouth fell agape slightly, and your heart raced. Fingers reached for your cellphone, hesitantly opening the contacts and scrolling past ABCDEFGHIJK...

L.

A sweaty thumb hovered over the sideways call button, tongue circling dry mouth for some kind of coping mechanism. Suddenly, it was ringing, but not from your actions.

Luke Hemmings.

You quickly answered, the hand that was still in the pocket of your jean jacket curling. “Hey,” a breathless tone, a feeling of desperation.

“I’m in town. I wanna see you,” he mumbled into the line, unable to speak much louder due to who all must be around him.

It’d been a year, a year since 19 year old Luke came crashing into your world like a hurricane. The leaves had been falling then, too, harsh winds whipping through until a calm autumn Sunday recruited your attention, the eye of the hurricane. It was a one night stand, fleeting kisses and dodging eyes when a phone number was hastily left on your bedside table.

You’d called. He’d answered. And after a month of relentless calls and texts, the winter winds took his blazing blue eyes and washed them out with read receipts and unopened Snapchats.

Of course you’d fallen for him so quickly. You were vulnerable, empty at that point in your life. Now, you were more stable, but you couldn’t resist seeing him.

You needed him, craved, as if some Pavlovian affect took hold as soon as the temperature dropped below 40 and midterms wheeled themselves into your schedule. It was Thanksgiving break, now, two weeks off from stressful deadlines, so you had time.

And, God, you were so willing to give it all to him.

“How long are you in town?” You muttered back, afraid someone on the other side would hear you.

“Week and a half. Five shows, 7 days off. Free today.”

Your eyes flickered between the people passing you, the crosswalk ten steps ahead. “I have plans for lunch, with a friend, but come over at 4. K?”

“Okay. See you soon.”

You hung up, taking control of the situation in the slightest. You wanted to grip onto the wall, your body flailing through space in his head and your own heart. There was no gripping the sand between your fingertips.

You went ahead to lunch, fingers tapping relentlessly on the tabletop, your inner thigh when you noticed Sheila glaring at the rhythm. Eventually, after you’d gulped through two ice waters and a sand which, she cleared her throat. You looked up from the floor, suddenly realizing how dry you’d been the last forty minutes.

She spoke, “okay, what is up with you?”

You and Sheila had been roommates last year, still were this year, too. Only, she was leaving today to visit family for the holiday. She’d been out running errands for before she left, and wanted to see you before she wouldn’t for half a month.

Your mouth was dry already, but you swallowed again to try to salivate it. Provide clarity to your words. You shrugged, knowing how embarrassing this would be, “Luke’s back.”

Sheilas eyebrows rose high, her arms crossing over her chest. She leaned back in her chair, tongue clicking in bashful anger. “Oh, really? For what? To apologize?”

You dryly chortled, though you didn’t smile. “No. He has some shows to do. I completely forgot. I haven’t even seen him post on Instagram in forever.”

“Y/N,” Sheila reached across the table and tightly gripped your wrist. She loosened the hold when you met her eyes. “You’re going to get hurt again.”

“I know,” you shrugged. “I just can’t say no, ya know? It sounds stupid, but maybe this will provide me closure. Or maybe this time he’ll stay.”

“You know he won’t.”

Her words didn’t hit you that hard: She was right.

The last time he’d been around, he was still with Arzaylea. You were a getaway for him, his escape from the flashing lights, the public state of his relationship with her, and the screaming fans. You promised him to never, ever tell anyone about the incident. the public would hate him, his fans would be angry, and he’d lose listeners.

“I don’t.”You denied her, though it was true, in the edge of an argument.

Sheila opened her mouth to speak, and you could tell by the breath she took, that she was going to reprimand you. You suddenly reached to the ground, hand snapping from her fingers, and tugged your back over your shoulder.

“I gotta go. He’s coming over in two hours. See you when you get back.”

Sheila sat in stunned silence, eyes barely following you as you bounced out the door. Your glare stared hard at the concrete beneath your feet, more and more leaves crunching below.

Soon to be an analogy to your heart.

-

You showered when you got home, brushed your teeth, washed your skin with glittering lotions and rose-scented body washes. He didn’t deserve all of this, no, but the way he’d make you feel for the next few days did. You should just move on, but your mind had been on him for the last year, and, yes, you would make sure this would be closure.

Or a new beginning.

A knock on the apartment door came firm and sharp at exactly 4:01. You were sitting on the edge of your couch, ignoring the text messages from Sheila, and the group chat with your other friends. Your knee was bouncing and you hoped to God he wouldn’t smell your anxious sweat.

You wiped your brow before standing and moving in shaky legs to the door. You shut an eye, peering through the peephole. There he stood, in all his rockstar glory, a leather jacket and black skinny jeans holding clenched fists, pouty pink lips framing the frantic look on his blue eyes. God, had they always been that pretty?

You opened the door wide, allowing him to move in beside you. You shut it, turning to face him.

And it all came back naturally.

Luke reached out to your waist, pulling you flush against him in a warm hug. You held his neck between your arms, fingers tucking themselves into his curls, which were much longer now.

“How are you?” His accent had faded much more, but it was still there to haunt the goosebumps on your skin.

You tugged away, fingers splaying across his leather jacket. “Okay. Uh, nervous,” you shared a laugh before he moved his hand to cup your cheek.

Your eyes melded into his own, his blue pupils flushed wide open with intoxicated lust. “Don’t be. Just me.”

You pressed your lips to his own, feeling the same balloon pop in your chest. And, some time later, you were flush against the bed, Luke’s body collapsed on top of yours. Your heaving chest puffed up with each deep breath to meet his own before he rolled over beside you.

You squeezed your eyes shut, opening them as he moved his arms around you. You turned to face him, eyelashes now fluttering against his chest.

“You’re so beautiful,” he smiled softly at you.

“Your hairs gotten longer,” you replied. You reached up and curled the strands around your pointer finger.

“Yeah, decided to grow it out after I broke up with...” he trailed off, “well, you know her.”

This was the first you were hearing of the breakup. Your eyes lit up, but you surpressed your grin. “Oh. I didn’t know.”

Luke shrugged, “S’okay, though. I’ve been better without her. Hell, even Petunia is happier. I got my own place in LA, living with Ash and Cal now.”

“How are they?” You asked him, letting your head falling into the cavity between his breasts.

He drew across your skin, “Good. Yeah, Ash has a girl. Kay, is her name. Cal’s still single, but he’s good. Michael’s still with Crystal. They’re living together now.”

You hummed. “And you?

His eyes met yours and he smiled sadly. “Still getting over it. But, I think this could help...”

He kissed you again. You held on, unwilling to let go until his phone started to ring. He answered it, other arm still holding you close to him.

“Yeah, I’ll be there in an hour.”

Your bottom lip poured, moving with Luke was he sat up. He stood and began to put on his boxers, but left the rest of himself naked. You admired his chest, more defined now that he was somewhat taller and healthier.

Maybe you didn’t regret being the other girl if she had really taken that big of a toll on him...

Luke hung up the phone with a goodbye and sat on the edge of the bed. You wrapped your arms around him from behind. Your lips grazed the skin beneath his ear and his head fall back against your shoulder.

“Everything okay?” You kissed.

He nodded, “Gotta get back for some celebration shit.”

You sighed as he turned to face you. He hugged you better, forehead pressing against yours. “Hey, pretty girl, I’m not going anywhere for another hour.”

“Another week, right?” You smiled. His head rocked forward. “Good.”

“We talked about me some, let’s hear about you.”

Luke got more comfortable after handing you his T-shirt. He leaned up against the headboard, allowing you to lay your head in his lap. His hand fell in your hair, the other splayed across your stomach.

Your fingers played with his. “Not much has changed, Lu. I’m better, I feel better. But it’s still just college, work, internships here and there. Can’t wait to graduate and just travel.”

“You look better,” the hand in your hair traced your jawline. “You look healthier and happier. I could see it in your walk.”

“I got a therapist,” you giggled.

He applauded you jokingly before his hands found their spot again. “I’m proud of you. I remember you telling me how nervous you were for that. But look at you now. Beautiful as always, but happy with yourself. That makes you the most beautiful.”

Your cheeks flushed and you looked away. “Yeah, well, thanks.”

“Where do you think you’ll go first?” He continued to inquire.

You shrugged, “I wanna go to France. Or LA.”

An awkward beat passed. Would he think you were asking to come visit? Was he going to pull away then, did he still wants no strings attached?

You cleared your throat and Luke’s tongue clicked in response. “LA’s beautiful. Not as good as home, though.”

Was that an invitation?

“Australia?” He hummed at the question. “Id like to go. See an ostrich or a kangaroo.”

He laughed, “Out of everything there is to see.”

“What do you want me to say? ‘Oh, gosh, I can’t wait to go to Australia and meet Liz Hemmings! She is the real star here.’”

You laughed loudly at the joke and Luke joined you until silence took over again. You felt him shrug. “I think she’d like you.”

“Who?” Your brows furrowed.

He traced them, feeling down to around your chin and brushing the hair away from your neck. “Mum. She’d like you. You’re kind, bubbly. Like her.”

You blushed again. “I’d like to meet her.”

“I...” Luke trailed and never picked up from it.

It was nearly 9 pm now, and your eyes were beginning to fall close. You hadn’t realized how stuck on a schedule you were from college until your body relaxed completely into Luke’s lap. Your hand held tightly to his, though, fingers threaded with them.

He glanced at the clock on your bedside table, methodically rubbing circles into your hairline. His lips puckered and he leaned to place a firm kiss onto your cheek, nose, forehead.

He gently set you onto the bed, pulling the sheets out you. He tugged in the muscle tank top he’d work under his shirt, his leather jacket, jeans, and boots before tucking away his phone. He would bear the cold for you to sleep in his shirt.

Luke kissed your forehead again, causing you to stir. You groggily opened your eyes, meeting the electric blue right above you.

“Gotta go, pretty girl. I’ll see you tomorrow? Maybe you could come to a show,” Luke squeezed your wrist.

You pursed your lips and he pressed a kiss to them. “Okay. see you.”

He was gone with the click of the lock in the door and you rolled over, wide awake.

TAG LIST: @mantlereid , @boxofteenageideas @dinosaursandsocks , @ashhdaniellee95 @stephaniemelville-blog @zhangyixingxing1 @verlaneswiftie13

[smediumsmeatbae]

And They’re Always Glad You Came

TITLE: And They're Always Glad You Came PAIRING: Bartender!Chris Evans X Reader SUMMARY: After being stood up on a blind date, a certain blue eyed bartender wants to cheer you up WORDS: 2.5K WARNINGS: Smut, swearing, fluff, brief mentions of cheating, reader feeling sorry for herself, bad smut writing (probably, idk) A/N: I think this was supposed to be a drabble but ended up being a one shot as I got carried away with this fic.  This fic was made for the prompt: "Bartender!character and you having sex on the bar after it closes" by @the-ce-horniest-book-club. Hope you guys enjoy! I had a lot of fun writing this. Likes/comments/reblogs are always appreciated!  As always, don't be a dick and post my stuff elsewhere without my permission. 

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You were still on your first drink that you had been nursing pretty heavily for the past hour. You had been stood up, and by a blind date, no less. You were pretty sure the night couldn't get any more humiliating. Who gets stood up by a blind date? 

About a year ago, you had caught the supposed “love of your life” happily in bed with another. Your friends had understood, at first, your apprehension about dating someone else. As the months progressed though, they became less and less understanding and you had less and less excuses to use. Sara, your friend, had talked you into dating a friend of hers that was “so perfect” for you. He was smart, funny, charming. He was a lawyer at a reputable firm and was looking to make partner within a year. You had exchanged text messages with him and made a plan to meet at a local restaurant for drinks after work. You had even decided to sit at the bar to make it easier for your date to find you but apparently that wasn't an issue anyway. Had he seen you and backed out? You decided not to dwell on it too much. Not being good enough for yet another man in the span of a year was almost too much.  

Even the bartender was seeming to take pity on you as he came to check on you every so often. You had started out the evening giving out such a good, positive vibe. Now? Not so much. His voice got softer and sweeter every time he came over, as if he was tending to an injured doe and didn't want to spook you off. At least he was very easy to look at with his neatly trimmed chestnut colored beard and crystal blue eyes. His hair was a little longer in the front and shaped nice and short in the back; it had a little bit of product in it but not enough to be obnoxious. He was tall with slender hips and a built upper torso. Christ almighty, was he built. He probably had no issues lifting the kegs in back for the beers with his broad barrelled shoulders and thick as hell arms. You hoped he didn't notice you staring at him. You didn't know how much more hits your ego could take in one night. Or maybe… you did want him to see you stare. You imagined him lifting you up in those strong arms and taking you over the bar top… Jesus, get a grip! You didn't even know him and already you were left wanting. 

“How you doin’ sweetheart.” He came over to check again. You noticed a slightly New England accent that made you melt a little.  "Well… I think I'm going to give up the ghost on this and call it. He’s not coming." "Date stood you up?" The man asked, genuine curiosity on his face.  "Worse." You admitted, your cheeks flushing slightly. "A blind date."  "Ouch… that sucks. If you don't mind me askin', what are you doin' on a blind date anyway? You're too pretty of a girl for all that." "Thanks." You chuckled out an awkward laugh. "Just too busy for actual dates I guess. My friend took pity on me and set it up. It's the first date I've been on in a bit."

You don't know what was making you admit to all this. Maybe it was because he was a bartender and they're used to hearing life stories. Maybe it was because he looked so trustworthy, like you could tell him anything. You were spilling top secrets and you couldn't put your finger on why. He didn't seem to mind though, his kind eyes and sweet smile were trained on you, genuinely interested. 

"Hey, you want a coffee or somethin'? My treat." He offered. "I'm Chris, by the way."

He stuck out his hand to you with a smile and you shook it, the feeling of his hand in yours electric. 

"Thank you. That's very kind of you, Chris. I'll take tea if you have it." "Comin' right up." Chris nodded as he started to prep your tea. 

As he turned back around to set up for your tea, you got a look at the back of Chris. His broad shoulders were even more impressive from the back than the front and it gave way to your imagination of his toned back muscles. He also had an impeccable ass. You bet you could bounce quarters off that bad boy. You shook your head, trying to get your thoughts off of practically a strangers rear out of your mind. You never ogled someone this much before but there was something about him that just drawed you to him.  

The next couple of hours seemed to go fast. The two of you talked about everything from your families to hobbies, favorite music, and what movies you thought were terrible and great. The bar was dead so it allowed Chris to put his focus on you and you not feeling like you were getting in the way. You found so many other things in those two hours that attracted you to him even more than physically, if that was possible. Chris was well spoken, kind, and funny. God, was he funny! He had you laughing for a solid 5 minutes, tears streaming down your face, telling stories about the stunts he used to pull with his younger brother Scott. It had begun to feel like more of a connection with him than you had felt for anyone in quite some time. The butterflies that you thought had long ago died, were fluttering furiously in your stomach. 

A comfortable silence came between you, where you were both just looking at each other. After a beat, Chris cleared his throat and began wiping down the bar top for the night. He had done most of his closing duties while talking to you and was basically just running out the clock. 

"Hey, I only have about 30 minutes left on my shift. Do you wanna maybe go get a drink after this with me?" His blue eyes looking straight into you, making you blush. "Yeah, I'd like that." 

His body seemed to ease in tension after that, as if he was waiting for you to say no. For a man who looked like Chris and was so charming and sweet, you doubted how he got told no often. You liked that about him, though. He didn't know that he looked as hot as he did, or at least didn't put on airs about it. 

The next 30 minutes seemed to go by at a fairly clipped pace. Servers came up and cashed out their tips, making small talk with Chris as they left for the night. Soon, it was just you and him in the entire restaurant. You got off your chair and went over to the opening of the bartop. Chris met you there, a shy smile on his lips.

"So, what d'you want to drink?" He asked. "You." You murmured.

You took charge, grabbing onto his shirt and pulling him to you, not being able to stand the electricity between the two of you any longer. You had never been so bold, never been so forward with a man before but Chris… God you couldn't help it with him. You kissed his lips hungrily, as you snaked your arms around his neck. He, in turn, put his big hands on your hips and massaged them with his fingertips. He broke away from the kiss with a breath.

"Don't take this the wrong way but I was kind of hoping that your date wouldn't show up so I could be alone with you." Chris chuckled in your ear.  "Oh is that a fact?" You giggled. "Well I've been checking you out all night so I'm glad he chickened out too."

You continued kissing him, your hands running down his shoulders, squeezing them gently. Your hands went down the solid wall of muscle on his pecs and abs and you got to the hem of his shirt and began to tug. You both broke the kiss for a second as he helped you take off his shirt. You slid your hands back over his chest, loving the feeling of his chest hairs against your hands, and curled your fingers around the nape of his neck before you went to kiss him again. He stopped you and you looked at him questioningly for a second. 

“D’you want this?” He asked, his dark blue eyes bore into you.

Nodding your head, you scraped your fingernails along the nape of his neck. God, he was working you up so much.

“I need you to use your words, sweetheart.” He whispered gravelly in your ear as he nibbled on your lobe, sending a shockwave straight to your core. “Yes Chris, I want you.” 

That was all Chris needed to hear. He grabbed your waist and turned you around to face the bar top. He swept your hair from your back to leave wet kisses on your neck, his hot breath leaving goose bumps on you. His hands, wandering achingly slow down your sides, grabbed on the hem of your shirt, and pulled it up, kissing and licking where new flesh was found until the shirt was off of you. You were grinding your heated core into his hips, feeling his erection against you, growing by the second.

“Goddamn, you're so beautiful...” He whispered against your shoulder, giving little kisses and nips.

He wrapped one of his arms around your waist, his hand grabbing your hip and squeezing. You would probably be sore there tomorrow but what a way to get a bruise. His other hand came up and cupped the opposing breast, thumb moving down the fabric of your bra. He drew light circles on your nipple until they were hard as pebbles. You mewled at the feeling, throwing your head back so that it was leaning on his chest, eyes closed and breathing hitched. He had enveloped all of your body in his arms. 

The hand that was grabbing onto your waist left and started travelling south towards your aching sex. He cupped your mound in his hands moving fingers over the fabric. You bucked slightly against his hand, craving for movement from him. 

“Gonna make you feel so good.” He cooed in your ear as he moved his hands up your skirt, past your panties, and into your folds, feeling how wet you were. You were suddenly glad you wore a skirt. He hummed in approval as he gently stroked your clit. Moaning out, you wrapped an arm around his neck to steady yourself as he kissed and sucked on your neck. He pulled one finger inside you, then another, alternately pumping into you and working on your clit. You could feel the coil in your stomach rapidly tightening as Chris worked on you. 

“Oh… god Chris… I-I’m gonna... “  “I got you baby. Let go for me.” The coil snapped as an intense orgasm shook through your body. Screaming out Chris’s name, you rode his fingers coming down from your high until you were back on earth again.  “Jesus Christ....” 

You breathed out as you turned around and grabbed his face, kissing him deeply, your tongues darting in and out of each other's mouths, passion building again. Your hands dropped from his face and moved down his hard chest and abs, feeling him flex against your fingers. You found his belt buckle and undid that, then unbuttoned his pants and pulled them down, his fly coming undone in the process. Tugging on his boxers, it didn't take long for his manhood to spring free of their confines, standing proud and ready to play, precum leaking out of the tip. He placed his hands against the bartop, giving himself a place to steady himself as you placed a hand around him and started running your hand up and down his shaft. Chris groaned and bucked his hips forward into your hands, his head pressing onto your shoulder. 

You stopped stroking him and he whimpered from the loss of contact. You took your hand that was wrapped around his neck and pulled his head close to you, getting his ear right next to your lips. “Need you, Chris. Please.” HIs breath was ragged as he nodded his head. He grabbed your butt and motioned you to jump. You did, wrapping your legs around him. You felt like you were weightless in his arms as he held you. He positioned himself near your entrance and pushed in, you both moaning as you took him in. He felt so big around you; pleasure and pain mixed as you stayed still for a second to get used to his delicious size. 

“Fuck, you’re so tight.” He groaned out, taking a couple of deep breaths so that he wouldn’t climax too early. 

Slowly, he started to pump into you, moaning and hot rasping breath on your neck as you weaved your fingers through his hair and tugged on it. You let out little moans as well, your body feeling electric and super sensitive as you felt him going deeper into you until he was at the hilt. You wanted him, needed him to fuck you harder, a storm in your eyes as the full feeling finally washed over you and you craved motion. You scratched a long line up his back with your fingernails, eliciting a growl from him and he picked up the pace, eyes lust blown and needing to reach his peak. 

“Yes, fuck yes… right there!” You cried out, throwing your head back in ecstasy.  “You like that? You like it, huh?” “God yes, more!” 

Still holding onto you, he swiveled around and sat you down on the bar back. He grabbed your right leg and lifted it to rest on his shoulder, allowing him to get a new angle with you. You cried out in pleasure as his dick hit your g-spot over and over and over. You could hear the bottles of alcohol clink beside you as Chris rutted into you. 

“I’m so close.” You moaned out, grabbing the bar back with your hands so you could match his thrusts.  “Me… too…”

He reached down in between your bodies and rubbed tight circles on your clit with the pad of his thumb. Your back arched, eyes slammed shut, and all you could see was white as another mind blowing orgasm rocked you. You shouted out incoherently with shaky breath, walls clenching around his cock, milking it. Shortly after, he followed, a string of curses and your name leaving his lips as his thrusts became sloppy and his head fell forward onto your chest. 

“Wow…” He breathed.  “I know... Me too.”

He looked up at you, a small smile forming on his lips. 

"So… how's about that drink?"

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TAGS: @angrythingstarlight @cheeseburgersstuff

[kiatheinsomniac]

Number 28 with Arno, please?

Versailles Tryst

NSFW CONTENT BELOW CUT

28: “Not so loud, baby.”

The romantic tune of a string quartet and a harpsichord faded into the distance, echoing off the walls around her as (Y/n) found herself wandering away from the party, making her way through the corridors of the grandest palace in France. It wasn't all that rare for her to come to Versailles with her father - him being a foreign ambassador and needing to visit to discuss affairs with the King - but it was rare for her to get the chance to actually admire the place (including the architecture and art it had to offer) instead of stuck-up party guests.

Her baby blue dress twirled around her as she made her way around the corner, the flared cuffs that flowed like waterfalls down her wrists being decorated with lace and the front of the dress being white and frilled at the skirt, the front portion of the bodice being adorned by intricate white lace and golden buttons. She still had the last bite of a strawberry tart in her hand, bringing it up to her mouth when she was suddenly stopped and almost dropped it, gasping as she quickly caught it in her hand, looking up to whomever she had just walked directly into.

"Arno Dorian." She smiled in both thrill and surprise, meeting those warm and unmistakably mischievous eyes as well as his charming smile that sparkled brighter than the crystals at her neck.

"(Y/n) (L/n)." He replied, taking her hand for a kiss, layers of satin and lace from her sleeves falling to the bend in her arm, only for him to find the last bite of the tart in her hand. He quickly took it from her fingers so that he could plant a delicate kiss to her knuckles, lips lingering on her skin, grinning as he pulled back to eat the last of her snack, making her jut her lips out in a pout and playfully hit his arm.

"Hey!” But he could tell she wasn’t too angry by the smile on her lips, “I heard from Élise that you weren't invited, what changed?" She raised a brow and he offered the young woman his arm in order to guide her through the palace as they spoke, beginning to continue his route to the ballroom. Though, she seemed to have other plans: guiding him away while uttering about the haughtiness of the guests already working on her last few nerves.

"I stole her father's clothes and lied about my identity." He winked as he followed her lead towards the gardens, watching her throw her head back with a hearty laugh, putting a hand over her chest, giving him some time to admire her smile while her laughter died down as they exited the palace towards the gardens. It only made him happier, prouder, to know that he was the source of such melodious laughter from her.

"I just can't believe they kept you from your own step-sister's returning party, it's been so long since she's been here in Versailles and they won't even let her own step-brother see her. How ridiculous!" She rolled her (e/c) eyes.

"Exactly!" Arno agreed, "And she'll be leaving for Paris before I get to see her. This party is my only chance but I have all the guards looking out for me." He let out a sigh and cast an angry glance towards the palace

"Then I'll try not to take up too much of your time." She flashed a wink and a smile as she leaned into his side, sighing as the warm summer breeze hit their skin, crickets chirping in the distance and still able to faintly hear the music along with the trickling of fountains.

"We have plenty of time here. Laying low for a while will likely be better in terms of the guard situation anyway." He shrugged before tilting his head and raising a brow when (Y/n) ducked down to lace his arm over her shoulders, glancing up to him before resting her head against his warm body.

"It's been too long since I've last seen you. . . Olivier always keeping you busy and too eager to go out gambling instead of visiting me. . ." She pouted.

"We have some time now." He leaned down to press a kiss to the top of her head, "I'll come by yours later this evening, likely when you're asleep. I'll wake you up and we can spend some time together, how does that sound?" He hummed, taking one of her hands in his and rubbing his thumb over the back of her palm.

"After you've seen Élise?" She murmured, eyes falling to the gravel under their feet.

"If I get to see her at all, yes." He replied, sighing, missing what little family he had left, not knowing anyone else other than the De La Serre's who had taken him on as a boy. This only made her feel guilty, deciding to make the most of what time they would have together this night.

(Y/n) took the lead of their walk once more, taking the two of them over to a sheltered red rose garden where she sat down on a stone bench and turned her body to look up to Arno, a hand reaching up to caress his stubbled face.

"I really have missed you." And he smiled at the softness that glimmered in her eyes, reflecting from the light which emitted from the palace, dimly illuminating their secluded area of the garden. A large hand went to rest against the side of her neck, bringing his face closer and closer until she reached up to close the small distance, sighing as her other hand fell against his broad chest. His lips moved gently but confidently against hers, freehand roaming up and down her side.

His kisses became more demanding, tongue darting out to coax her to allow him entrance, feeling her soft moan as she melted into his arms, now circling around her waist to pull her in closer. Her hand ran down his chest until she reached his pants, cupping his groin and earning a groan, feeling him grow firmer in her hold as she swayed with each dizzying kiss.

He leaned in, a hand on her breasts softly guiding her to lay back on the cold stone of the white bench, watching her shiver slightly at feeling it against the skin of her back that was exposed, eyes glancing up to him, dancing with teases of lust in them. He let out a low hum as his lips brushed over her jaw and got right to the creamy skin of her neck, pausing to deeply inhale her lavender perfume that was dappled there.

She gasped when she realised that his other hand had already bunched up the front of her skirts and hiked them well above her knees, going down to explore what laid under those torrents of creme and baby blue satin and lace, nimble fingers running over the thin fabric of her pants, hearing her moans that were muffled against his lips.

"Shh." He winked, flashing his pearly teeth in a grin as those pants were quickly pulled down her legs, one hand reaching down to stash them in his pocket while the other held her thigh against the side of his head, lips grazing over the soft skin there, tantalisingly making their way between her legs. (Y/n) threw her head back with a whine before glancing down at him, dark brown eyes alight with lust and admiration through those thick lashes of his.

Her lungs stuttered for a breath, raggedly gasping at the first hot lick at her sex, letting out a hum of desire as one hand went down to caress the side of his head softly, coaxing him on with her fingers gently carding through his hair, her other hand helping him to keep her layers of skirts and petticoats back.

"You're always far too good at- at this." She moaned lowly, fingertips caressing his cheek as he chuckled, one hand coming up to part her lips, giving his wet tongue direct access to her clit, hearing her small gasps and watching her breasts rise and fall with each pant, even from within the restrictions of her tight bodice.

"And you always taste so good when I do it." He sighed against her wet skin, kissing downwards until his tongue could poke at her entrance, hand having to push her hip down, watching her bring the back of her palm up to her mouth to muffle her moan when he licked upwards and wrapped his lips around her clit, sucking down hard and flicking his tongue over it. Her hips stuttered in time with her breaths as he continued, that hand from earlier now caressing her folds, sinking the tip of his middle finger inside of her and hearing the breathless 'please' that escaped her, taking it as the go-ahead for pushing it the rest of the way in. With another moan, now sharper than the last ones, her hand came back down to rest on the side of his face, cupping it, fingers tangling in his hair, messing it up slightly.

"I need-" But her words were cut short by another moan when he continued sucking at her clit after stopping to press kisses to her very inner thighs. He hummed, pulling away as that finger curled upwards and he started to pump it in and out, seeing her grip on her skirts turn her knuckles paler.

"I need more, need you, please. . ." And he smiled softly, licking along her slit a few times before pressing a wet kiss to her clit.

"Patience, mon amour. . ." He murmured before getting back to work, pushing his ring finger in too and hearing her moan his name, feeling her hot walls contract around him.

"Arno, please-" And she pushed him away by the shoulders, fingers delving even deeper into her as she sat up to kiss him, feeling her whine at the contact before she grabbed his wrist and guided it out from under her dress. Swinging her leg over him, she moved so that he was straddling his lap, reaching down to feel his hardened member straining against his pants which now seemed far too tight. He groaned when her trembling fingers eagerly fumbled with the buttons keeping them done up, a hand tangling in the hair at the back of her neck while he peppered her neck in kisses, biting down into the softness of her flesh and soothing each one with a hot lick. She opened her mouth to protest, not wanting marks to show up during her stay at the party but he softly shushed her, pushing her hair aside to leave more, making her give in to his temptation.

Her hand freed his erection from his pants, pumping her hand over it a few times to hear his breaths grow heavier, guiding it to press against her entrance, hands raking over his chest to his shoulders as she sank down onto him with a much louder moan at feeling her walls stretch around him, her head falling to rest against his shoulder, fingers digging down into his shoulders as his hands moved down to her waist, guiding her to start riding him, grinding her hips down into his, moans increasing at the pleasure of it all.

One strong arm remained wrapped around her waist while the other came up to trace the tops of her breasts, continuing upwards to her mouth, pressing his palm down over it and groaning at the look she gave him when her eyes opened, watching her melt under his touch.

"Not so loud, baby." He sighed, thrusting up into her until he threw his head back, then looking back at her. "So beautiful." His other arm staying wrapped around her waist but moving his hand downwards enough to grip her ass through her dress. She ground down on him to get her hips at a different angle, making him hit a spot inside her that had her fingers gripping the back of his hair while her thighs trembled violently, almost collapsing on him and feeling his hands continue to guide her hips over him.

Her cry of his name was muffled against his palm as she came around him, walls clenching and pushing him to his own release, spilling his hot seed inside her, bringing both arms around her waist to hold her close as she collapsed against him, head resting on his shoulder while both of them panted heavily. (Y/n) let out a long hum as her lips brushed against his neck, pressing a breathless kiss there as he eased her off his lap, slipping out of her.

"I've missed you." She smiled softly as he cupped her face, leaning in to press a loving kiss to her lips, thumb brushing over her cheek as he brought her legs onto his lap, pulling her pants up over her calves and letting her stand for a moment to pull them up entirely. He tugged softly at the skirts of her dress, organising them and arranging them to look as though nothing had happened at all, watching her press her thighs together at feeling his cum leaking out of her. She laughed softly as she leaned forwards, smoothing down his hair and pulling at the ribbon to tie it back together neatly. She set herself down on his lap and turned her body to wrap her arms around his neck.

"You should head back before someone notices that you're missing and I need to find Élise." He spoke with a hint of sadness in his voice at having to part with his lover.

"You promise that you'll come and visit me later, promise?" And her eyes bore into his, making sure he put a very part of his soul into the truth.

He pressed a quick kiss to the end of the nose and squeezed her waist a little when he replied:

"I promise."

[darkpoisonouslove]

The Decay of Secrets

Summary: Faragonda’s quest of uncovering secrets leads her to depths she never imagined she could be forced to face over a past that’s dead and buried. Pirate AU.

CW: body horror, gore, mentions of death and murder, graphic depictions of violence, vomiting

Written for @writersmonth Day 5 - word: secret/setting: pirate AU

If you’re wondering what’s going on here, my skin is shedding after the worst sunburn in my entire life so you get this. If there’s anything that’s incorrect, just know that I had to limit the research I did for this because I was trying to stay sane (aka avoid the really graphic stuff).

Soundtrack: Everybody’s Scared by Parah Dice, Holy Molly

The sword trembled in her hand as the amethyst and obsidian crystals dug deep into the soles of her boots. Some of them pierced right through to draw blood that mixed with the trail her target had left behind, walking barefoot like it was no feat crossing the carpet of jagged edges. It was hard to see in the illumination of the candles that grew out of the stone niches like stalagmites.

The dim light curled around a kneeling figure at the end of the cave near a small lake. The shadows clung to the purple hair, dragging across the floor, like an aura, like they were tangled in the woman’s soul. She had yet to see Faragonda, her head bowed, spine bent as if it were broken. There was barely a trace of the fierce pirate captain–and merciless murderer–that she was. Almost enough to fool Faragonda with the quiet stoicism of the place and make her turn on her heel to leave.

“What do you want?” The tension in Griffin's body peaked, the strain in her muscles visible in their murky surroundings. Her hands dug in the ground like she didn’t spend most of her life at sea, like she needed to anchor herself in her own body.

“You can’t escape justice, Griffin.” Her crew was too fast in their raids to be caught but Griffin was alone now. Faragonda couldn't let her get away with all the bodies she’d left behind. Not after the way Griffin had broken Daphne’s body and forced Marion and Oritel to use a forbidden spell to separate her spirit from it just to keep their daughter alive.

“I’m actually looking for justice,” Griffin's voice pulled her in like a siren’s song. There was something so fatal in it that called to her to end this now and find rest for both of them. “You’ve come just on time to help.”

Faragonda shuffled over the cave’s dangerous floor. Griffin may not have turned to acknowledge her as a threat but she was fast like lightning. And if she failed to strike her gravely, the fall on the sharp crystals would finish the job. The terrain advantage was Griffin's but she didn’t take the opportunity.

It was the headstone that hit Faragonda in the chest as it sat in the middle of the cave with the same motionlessness Griffin had adopted. She was standing on a small grave. The source of her crimes. Each letter burned in Faragonda’s mind like the brand of her failure to stop Griffin. How was she supposed to look at Marion and Oritel and tell them she had put Griffin's pain over theirs? How was she to explain the poison in her own veins with no dead tissue in her chest?

Faragonda sheathed her sword, the sound echoing around them like a herald of doom. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

Griffin chuckled but the tears were audible in her voice. “You have too much heart for your own good. You know that, don’t you?”

“I believe it’s the right thing to do,” Faragonda made it to the dried up soil beyond the crystals. If Griffin moved, she could find her own grave in the small cave enforcing proximity on them.

“So you understand I can’t let go?” Griffin looked at her with calm eyes. The calm before the storm in the shining suns her irises were.

“You’ll go down eventually.” Marion–and the rest of the Company of Light–wouldn't settle for Griffin's disregard for the law or any human decency. They would put her in the ground if they couldn't put her on trial. Faragonda was becoming the perpetrator of Griffin's death by refusing to bring her in while it was still an option. But Griffin would much rather lie in the grave herself than be unable to come back to it for the rest of her life.

“Sooner than you think.”

The shot echoed in the cave, the bullet ricocheting off the walls after the clean in-and-out through her shoulder. Her sword was drawn in the blink of an eye in Griffin's hand and aimed at Griffin's own chest. The clamor in Faragonda’s ears blocked out any hope of summoning her magic to stop this madness or heal herself.

“Sorry about that but you’ll live. I had to make sure you wouldn’t interfere as I knew you’d try.” Griffin looked back to the tiny grave. “Such a pure heart you were given the choice to have.”

Faragonda’s blood froze at the smile curling Griffin's lips. There was no soul in it, no humanity left. Just cold bitterness.

Pain exploded in her knees from their collision with the rough ground, the scent of blood overpowering the salt carrying from the lake. She could taste the bits of Griffin's heart on her lips, on her skin, sticking to her body except for where her life was still oozing out of her wailing wound but she pushed herself to her feet, her lungs burning and her vision swimming.

Maybe it was her scream that came first but there was just a burst of light–fire–in her eyes. Griffin cried out before metal clunked against the cave floor. The sword had fallen from her hand, blasted out by a huge explosion that left her clutching the wounded limb to her chest. Smoke was rising from where her hair had been singed.

“You really are the cruelest monster of all,” a male voice and its echo boomed around them making Griffin crouch, her forehead pressed against the ground. “You took yourself from me once already and now you’re trying to avoid my revenge by taking your own life?” His steps crushed Faragonda’s heart over and over again as he hovered over the razor-sharp crystals, nothing slowing him down on his quest for Griffin's head. “That’s low even for you.”

Faragonda gritted her teeth to hold her magic between them. She had to find a quiet moment on a school break or a wild sleepover to revive her positive emotions and her powers.

Her body protested as she stumbled, forcing it in the way of the threat with barely sparks of magic at her fingertips and a torturously slow improvement in her shoulder. Her shot arm was still hanging limply at her side and the other was free to press against the wound in the absence of a weapon to use in defense. “Stay back, Valtor.”

“You’re bleeding brains from that betrayal in your shoulder, Faragonda.” He raised his hand, the cold of the cave retreating from his magical flames. “Move if you’d like to keep the rest of yourself at least.”

Faragonda stared him down before stepping away to direct his gaze to the headstone.

The flames flickered out, his hand shaking as the vile grin crumbled from his face. “What is this?” he roared, his own body trembling harder than the walls that barely resisted a cave-in. “What lie have you strung together now, Griffin?”

Griffin was shaking, too, all the cold in the tense atmosphere piling up on her back to wrack her body with shivers. Her stifled sobs were louder than a waterfall and pulled Valtor’s trigger.

Faragonda halted his murderous march. “Does she look like someone who’d create such a deception?”

Valtor spun around, the grimace on his face shoving her back down on her knees in a heap of pain. His face was in hers, the heat from his skin burning her breath out of her lungs. The scorching air around him cauterized her wound to leave her grunting behind her bitten tongue. He could cremate her on the spot but he wasn’t after her. “You’re telling me,” he materialized next to Griffin and grabbed a fistful of her hair shoving her face into the stone, into the words “beloved daughter” and the date of birth and death, “this is the truth?” he yelled under the sound of Griffin's nose smashing into the cold headstone. His hand wrapped around her throat when he pulled her to her feet by the hair. “You did this! That’s why you used the spell for aging up. You wanted to get rid of my daughter as soon as possible instead of carry her in your womb.”

Faragonda gaped at them. There was a lot more powerful magic at play than what she’d thought Griffin's hidden treasure would turn out to be. They could do unspeakable things to the world after what they’d done to each other. She had to press a hand in her mouth to subdue the bile rising at her own weakness.

Griffin blinked back tears, blood running from her bruising nose and into her mouth when she spoke. “I was afraid your mothers would find her.”

Faragonda’s heart clenched inside her chest as if trying to curl up in the fetal position. Tears fell from her eyes and soaked into the cracked ground for the unfortunate baby that had been doomed from the very start. It was only recently that Griffin had surpassed the Ancestrals when it came to plundering and they still ruled the seas with terror.

“I wanted to hide her from them. But instead, they killed my mother and the baby died a couple hours after her birth,” she choked, on her own tongue.

Valtor let go of her and she slumped on the floor, a hiss of pain escaping her. “You should have told me! How could you not tell me, you fucking bitch?” His leg twitched as if he was straining against kicking her.

Griffin held his gaze despite the unequal ground they were standing on. “Is this genuine outrage or is it just your possessiveness?” she bared her teeth. “Was she yours to kill, too? Like I am?” Her eyes were full of venom, wafting through the air all the way to where Faragonda was sinking further into madness she hadn’t expected.

“She’s dead now, Griffin!” Valtor yelled, flinching the same as Griffin. “We all are.”

“I didn’t know...” Griffin coughed, snot blocking her nose. “I couldn't be sure how much I could trust you against them.”

Valtor collapsed next to her. “You should have told me,” he punched the ground and his magic fissured it. The cave shook again but refused to fall on them and bury the horror they were threatening the world with.

“Please,” Griffin whimpered, fingers digging in the soil again. Her nails cracked to let streams of blood color her fingertips and the black ground red before her hands sank deep in with help from her magic.

The sword Valtor pulled out of the sheath on his hip was what snapped them out of their joined trance. “How would you forgive that, Griffin?” His eyes were cast downward like the weapon in his hand. If Griffin couldn't get his attention, Faragonda didn’t stand a chance. But she had to try despite barely being able to crawl with all the dread stuffed down her throat and in her veins.

Griffin was faster. “Please... kill me.”

Valtor’s sword was slipping from his fingers, his eyes wide like suns as he looked at Griffin to wrap his mind around her. It was her who took his hand and pointed the blade at her chest. Faragonda didn’t even have enough strength to crash into them and break them apart before life could be lost.

“Kill me. I was hoping Faragonda would,” she looked at her, her clear eyes piercing through Faragonda like the shards of a broken message bottle. There was no clouded judgment in the gold, only a self-centered agenda. “But now that you’re here, I won’t have to do it myself, after all.” Griffin pressed the tip of the sword against her chest. “Right here in my heart. Slice it open,” she let go of Valtor’s hand that was steady, whether out of concern or the lack of it. “Trust me.”

A shadow swallowed Valtor’s face. “I should kill you just for asking that of me after everything.”

Faragonda geared up to pounce.

“Then do-”

He shoved the blade through Griffin's chest forcing a gasp out of both women.

Griffin keeled over, her weight falling on her arms with her palms still buried in the ground. “Possessive beast,” she gurgled, red painting the words as blood dripped from her mouth and the flood from the clean slice of her heart soaking her clothes.

Faragonda wasn’t fast enough to even cover her eyes before Griffin's fingers left the soil and pushed a small bundle of necrotic tissue into the cut. The baby’s heart. She’d put it inside her own body, inside her own heart after it had rotted slowly in the ground for years under a spell. Like an anti flower in the darkness of the cave. That was what had sucked the ground dry despite the nearby lake.

Faragonda bent over and vomited, her retching barely reaching her own ears over Griffin's screams as her body ruptured and shattered. Valtor barely missed Faragonda’s head when he tossed the sword to the side to catch Griffin.

Wiping away her mouth, Faragonda pushed her hand on the nearest crystal. The pain reverberated through her to remind her of her own strength. Whatever sin Griffin had turned into, she could face it. She had to to make sure no one else would.

Looking overcame her with a new wave of nausea. Griffin was no longer a woman but a living corpse. Large portions of her luscious hair had fallen out to reveal a scalp covered in bite marks and  blisters. At least in the places where her skin wasn’t stretched so thin that the skull was visible right underneath. Her fingertips had been bitten off and the rest of her skin was rotting right on the bones. There were holes in her body through which her organs could be seen floating inside like dead fish in an aquarium. Seaweeds and shells were lodged painfully under her skin and in her joints. There was nothing left in her body that was good for life, yet she was still moving as if her parts were controlled by someone else’s mind.

Faragonda’s voice was gone. If she ever spoke again, she would be the one bringing that horror into the outside world. Griffin's secret loot had turned out beyond her worst nightmares and she had only herself to blame. She’d refused to see the grand scheme connecting all the stolen spells and magic instructions and now she was witnessing it bearing fruit.

“I knew you were lying,” Valtor rasped, clutching Griffin desperately to his chest. His nails dug in her inhuman flesh but no blood spilled from the colorless mass of cells. “You fucking liar.” He’d break her if she bowed to the laws of physics.

“I am not dead.” Griffin's voice ripped tears out, both from Valtor and Faragonda. It was hoarse from the screams of her soul echoing in it and chilling everything to the bone.

Faragonda’s teeth chattered as she huddled in on herself. She was only alive thanks to Valtor’s body heat drifting through the cave.

“You’re not alive either.” He ran a finger over the parts of Griffin's lips that hadn’t been bitten off. It was so intimate it punched Faragonda in the gut. If they could still feel, what would it take for her to stop sympathizing with the abomination of nature and magic they’d become? “What are you?”

“You can’t tell?” The softest touch of her bony fingertip clawed a wound in his cheek like she’d forgotten how to be around life. It cried blood that Griffin pushed herself up to lick off, the crimson flashing through her gray hair for a moment before it ran out of steam and was lost in the graveyard of her body. “I am a goddess.” Red swirled in her eyes as she tore off her own shedding skin. “I can do anything I want.” She turned to the grave behind them, her body stiffening as if death finally caught up with it. “Except bring our daughter back.”

“You’ll never be yourself again either.” Valtor’s body moved of its own accord. It would just drop her and walk out but he regained control and pushed himself back down to the ground.

“I am not weak now.” Griffin reached inside her chest wound and pinched her sliced heart closed around the little heart inside it. She broke off her own fingers and stuck them in the tissue to hold it together like overly large needles since it wouldn't heal. It was dead. But she wasn’t.

Her bones regrew back, contrary to all logic, and her body twisted as if the new matter was squeezed out of it. She felt all the pain of the living decaying corpse she’d become but she hadn’t cried out once. She was a monster.

“You were the most human person I knew,” Valtor stroked her gray hair like he wasn’t afraid of it swallowing the rest of his life, too.

“Now I’m strong enough to defeat your mothers.” A tear fell from her eye – white like milk. “They killed my mother. They killed our daughter because I couldn't stop them. It’s all my fault.” Her voice died in her hollow throat.

“You should have told me,” Valtor crushed whatever was left of her stomach in his fist and Faragonda made a break for the lake. She would rather drown herself than be stuck with the two of them any longer. “But you kept your damn secret... like we always do.”

Griffin cupped his cheek, her flesh not eating through his to Faragonda’s and Valtor’s surprise. “No more secrets. The world will know its goddess and the treasure it lost.”

The ground shook, water erupting from the lake like a geyser and flooding everything. The salt stung Faragonda’s eyes but it was the smell of death that had poisoned it that made her lose her footing. A ship burst through the bed of the lake that was far too small for it. It was Griffin's Cloud Tower that she’d summoned magically.

Seaweeds and barnacles adorned the decaying wood as if it had spent the last century underwater. The distinct spiderweb-patterned sails were ripped and fatigued. The crew was on deck, wet to the bone and missing one body part or another that had been present the last time Faragonda had seen them. If she indulged the worst case scenario, they were affected by their captain’s condition but there was no need for hasty-

Her heartbeat hit her as a shockwave from outside. The mermaid figurehead swam into her spinning vision and Faragonda gasped for air. Its chest was pried open and inside was a charred heart that was beating with her pulse.

Griffin met her gaze head on like she’d been waiting for it. “Only my blood wouldn't work once I’d  completed my transformation.” The crystals. They’d poked through both their feet and their blood had mixed into the ground underneath them. Griffin must have enchanted it beforehand to make the magic flow straight from the cave floor into the ship. She’d planned it all beforehand. “I am no longer the girl you knew.”

But the frightening thing was that she was still the same girl that had broken all the rules and offered no respect to the limitations imposed on her from others and from her mortal form. And Faragonda would have to explain to Marion and Oritel why she’d put a long-lost childhood friend over the rest of the world, why she’d kept a secret as big as the one Griffin had buried in the cave. She’d have to explain why she and Griffin shared the same weakness that would bring down the whole world.

“You’ll leave me behind again,” Valtor’s voice trembled from the rage spilling in it and Griffin’s arm under his palm caught fire but neither of them moved, tangled in each other like they were life and death.

“I wasn’t expecting you,” Griffin pushed her hand into the flames as well and covered his to snuff them out with no effort. “But without death, there is nothing to leave behind,” she grinned and Valtor pulled her closer with just as much fervor as she was holding him with as they kissed.

How could Faragonda rob them of something so desperate and deprived?

[quillandink333]

Bereavement ~ Part III

BotW Link X Zelda

Rating: M

Word Count: 1.6k

WARNINGS: graphic depictions of violence, blood and gore, major character death

Summary: In the wake of the Great Calamity, Link mourns the sudden loss of his beloved princess, who never succeeded in unlocking the sacred power to seal Ganon away.

Part I • Part II • Part III • Masterlist

The time for retribution was now. I let the light of the heavens surge through me. With the combined power of the sacred blade and wish-granting relic completely at my disposal, there was very nearly nothing of which I was incapable. I closed my eyes. With enough focus, soon enough, the soles of my feet were leaving the ground, starting with my heels and ending with my toes. I rose higher and higher into the sky until I was face-to-face with my enemy.

The creature looked straight at me. Its eyes were burning embers, its fangs ten times the size of stalagmites. I was staring death itself in the face. And yet, there wasn’t a hint of fear lingering in my chest.

Ganon lunged at me, its massive jaws unhinged.

I dodged it, soaring high above its head in a matter of seconds.

A grin creeped its way onto my face. Perhaps it would be fun to play with this thing for a short while.

Ganon charged.

I ducked to the south, heart racing with exhilaration.

It charged again, a little disoriented. This time I decided to quite literally give it the runaround.

I had to laugh. Either I was moving at blinding speeds, or Calamity Ganon was as slow as a snail in sand. I let it chase me in circles for a bit, slowing my pace so it could keep up. Then I zigzagged to the side.

Its head turned in every direction. It almost looked dizzy. Then it spotted me.

I dodged its bite yet again, infuriating it even more.

I continued leading our little dance a while longer, wanting to give the beast a fighting chance before I slew it. But no matter how strong its desire to kill me, like it did her, I always stayed an inch out of reach.

Ganon waled in frustration, making the very air shiver. It made another pitiful advance. Again, I waited until the very last second to glide out of the way.

Just when it seemed ready to try and close in on me from above, the beast stopped, fangs dripping with bloodlust and eyes trained on me. I remained still, mocking its inefficacy.

Boom

A beam of red-hot energy just barely missed my cheek. I winced, following its trajectory. Far in the distance, I could see a mountainous cloud of smoke billowing up from an enormous, black crater.

The shot had come from the southwest, from Gerudo Valley. There, I spotted the divine beast once controlled by Lady Urbosa, Vah Naboris, glowing a menacing scarlet and towering threateningly. It stood nearly as high as the shelf it stood upon. It was preparing to fire again.

I felt a rush of adrenaline.

From all four corners of the map, the divine beasts were aiming in my direction.

I glanced up at my original opponent, whose gaping jaws almost appeared to be smiling down at me.

With no time to think, I opened my left hand and held it out in front of me. In it appeared a bow, crafted from a rich, golden crystal, the likes of which I never could’ve imagined.

The beast charged, and I leapt out of the way. It seemed to move at thrice the speed it had before.

Raising the bow of light, I drew it back to my ear, and there appeared an arrow of similar composition already nocked to the string. I took aim at Vah Ruta in the southeast and let my arrow fly.

There was no time to watch it land.

Another beam came straight toward me. I’d just barely managed to see it in time.

It seemed my first shot had missed its target. I tried again, adjusting my aim and praying to no god in particular that I wouldn’t be slaughtered before I could release it.

To my relief, my second arrow flew true toward the beast controlling the machine. A flash of light went off as it hit its mark. The smaller creature’s screams were loud enough to be heard all the way from Central Hyrule.

Just three more, and the monstrosity that had taken my princess’ life would be done for.

It took every ounce of my focus and willpower combined to take down each automaton one by one. Even so, the destruction that occurred in the time it took me to do so was beyond description. In every direction, smoke was rising up, completely obscuring the horizon. I could only imagine how many lives had been lost in this horrific massacre.

I could no longer contain myself. I’d had enough.

My emotions spilled over in an eruption of a battle cry. Sword extended, I charged at my enemy and thrusted the blade deep into its undeveloped skull.

The beast writhed in agony at my unyielding hand. I willed my power to flow forth, letting it grow ever stronger and mightier. The earth trembled. Another blood-curdling shriek spewed from the spectral being’s vast jaws as it was slowly torn apart.

I felt something dark and sinister crawl beneath my skin as I watched the creature wriggle beneath me like a worm in the clutches of a hungering bird’s beak. I envisioned Zelda’s mutilated dead body, and the searing heat of the explosion that had killed her. The memory made my blood boil. It fuelled the flame in my core until it became a towering inferno high enough to reach the heavens.

The sword’s light grew brighter and brighter, enveloping both me and the beast and swallowing up everything in sight. Then in an instant, the light imploded, and the whole world went black.

When I opened my eyes, the sight that greeted me was a ray of golden sunlight peaking out from behind the white clouds.

I brushed the hair out of my face. I was splayed out on my back. The scorched grass I was lying on must’ve been all that had broken my fall when I’d lost consciousness. Somehow, though, I had no trouble sitting up. When I did, I spotted the Master Sword lying on the ground just a few feet away from me, its glow gone.

I stood myself up. The last thing I could recall was my hand being fully submerged in Ganon’s murky, coagulated form. But now, there wasn’t a trace of malice on me. Upon closer inspection, it seemed I’d sustained no injuries of any kind. This, I surmised, was the power of the Golden Goddesses.

The Goddesses... They were the ones who’d put me up to this task. And for what? Now that it was done, what was I meant to do? Where was I meant to go? It seemed the whole world was up in flames. Even if there were survivors, even if I’d saved civilization from certain doom, I had already lost everything. My kingdom, my home, my friends and family, and of course, my very reason for being.

Precious memories of her once again flooded my mind. Zelda, my joy, my angel, my everything, who’d made life worth living simply with the power of her radiant smile.

Then I was hit by the memory of how that radiance had been snuffed out like the flickering flame of a candle. How her body had been ruptured and carved open like that of a little bird struck down by an arrow. How the sight and scent and sound of her trying to move in that state had made bile rise up from the bottom of my throat. My shaking hands came up to cover my mouth.

I collapsed onto my hands and knees. Despite my triumph over Calamity Ganon, I now knelt in complete and utter defeat.

“Link...”

My heart stopped at the faint but unmistakable voice. It was impossible, and yet...

“Link.”

There it was again, this time clearer and stronger. My head snapped up, eyes widening.

“Zelda...!”

Right there in front of me, levitating just above the ground, was my lost love. Though she now took on a pale and hazy appearance, she’d returned to her beautiful, shining self. Engraved in her smile was the light of a thousand suns, just as it had once been.

I tried to speak, but no words came out. For a moment, the thought that I’d died and become a spirit like her passed my mind. But then the feeling of fresh tears trickling down my cheeks and of the earth beneath me brought me back to reality.

The grass swayed in the soft breeze as she knelt down on her knees in front of me. She tilted my chin up with feathery fingertips.

Her eyes gazed deeply into my own, gently rippling like ringlets in a pond. She held my face in her two flawless palms. Her lips brushed mine, not altogether there, though they were just as soft and just as warm as they’d always been. The tears that had formed behind by eyelids couldn’t remain contained, after I’d tried so hard to hold them back for just a little while longer. Then before I could shed any more, it was over.

My lips chased after hers as she drew away, withdrawing her dainty hands from my damp cheeks. She rose, then spoke what would be the last two words she ever said to me.

“Thank you.”

Just like that, she vanished in a wisp of aquamarine.

I let out the sob I’d been holding in, my arms clutching onto one and other as I bent down toward the cold, lifeless ground.

From this day forward, there would be no more holding hands. No more late-night excursions away from prying eyes. No more warm embraces or sweet words of comfort in the low moments. No more waking up in the castle each and every day giddy at the thought of seeing her face once again.

At least now, she could finally be at peace.

[anjanettexcordonia]

Lady Liberty

*Trigger Warnings* -NSFW, Fluff  Pairing: Riley x OC, Liam x MC, Liam x Riley Word Count:3,348 Excuse any grammatical errors or misspellings. My first attempt at fluff. Disclaimer: All characters belong to Pixelberry & some dialogue. 

Thank you to @texaskitten30 for pre-reading & helping me get through my writers block at the end! 

Summary: Riley turns Liam down for drinks after their initial meeting at her bar. They have a serendipitous meeting later that night. Will Liam find is way to Riley’s heart? 

Song Inspiration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMEOOgotuEs Love You Like The Movies- Anthem Lights

.

.

.

“Sorry I’m late. Thank you for your patience, Miss?” 

“Uh, Riley”

“Charmed to make your acquaintance, Riley.”

“The pleasure is all mine. It’s nice to meet you. Now let me put your order in. Be right back!”

Later that evening, a little after the bar has closed, you’re finishing up when someone taps you on the shoulder…

“I think we are about ready to head out. I just wanted to thank you… and apologize. I know we kept you late, and my friends can be demanding.” 

“Demanding? Nothing I couldn’t handle.” 

“I got the feeling that you could take care of yourself. If you don’t have any other plans tonight, maybe I can make it up to you by buying you a drink. We’re about to go to a club.”

“Oh? Which one?”

“We were hoping you might have some advice about that. We’re not from around here.” 

“I recommend going to the hottest club in town Kismet.” 

“I would love to show you guys around but I’ve already made plans tonight. ” Riley replies. Liam looks down at his hands. “It was very nice to meet you Riley. I hope you have a wonderful night.” 

.

.

. 

After her shift is over, she quickly changes into her short emerald dress and walks out of the bar with her bag and phone in hand. Riley couldn’t wait to see Ezra, they had been dating for two years. And this was the night! Her life was about to change, she could feel it.

Ping. Riley pulls her phone out to check the text message she received.

Ezra: I’m sorry.

Riley: What’s wrong? What happened Ez? 

Riley waited for a response. Nothing. She pressed the call button. The number you have dialed is no longer in service. Please hang up and try your call again. End. 

Riley stood up and raced to hail a cab to her apartment. Riley burst through the door moments later. It’s dark and silent. “Ezra? Ezra where are you? EZRA?” She screams his name while she checks every room in the apartment. 

When she gets to the master bedroom, an envelope propped up against the pillows catches her eye.

Riley. 

She tears the envelope open and pulls out the handwritten letter.

“Riley, 

I’m sorry for what I’m about to tell you. I received a job offer in California. I didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t want to uproot your life in New York. I’ve always loved and always will. I know you were expecting a proposal and for that I’m truly sorry. I hope you find the person that deserves your whole heart. I’ll always carry a piece of you with me. 

I’ll always love you, 

Ezra” 

Riley sits on her bed, her legs threatening to give out beneath her. Riley crumbled the letter in her hand while she seethed with anger. She shot up off the bed and ran to his dresser drawer. She threw open the drawers with a force that pulled the drawer completely off its track and threw the drawer across the room. The drawer hit the wall and splintered into pieces. 

How could he do this? I would have gone with him. She wondered to herself. She was confused, hurt and angry. She had to get out of her apartment, their apartment. Riley grabbed her keys and marched out the door. She had no idea where she was going. 

An hour had gone by of Riley wandering around the busy streets of the city that never sleeps. She found herself in Battery Park. Exactly where she was supposed to meet Ezra. Where he was supposed to propose. She sat on an empty bench and stared at the beautiful symbol of freedom in front of her. The Statue of Liberty.

“Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” Riley whispered and the tears started. She put her head in her hands and let the tears flow, the more they flowed the harder she sobbed. 

“Are you okay, miss?” 

Riley snapped her head up at the smooth baritone voice. “Uh.. yeah sorry.. I..uh..” she wiped her face with the back of her hand. “Riley right? From the bar earlier tonight? It’s me, Liam, you were my waitress” 

“Oh yea, did you and your friends ever make it to Kismet?” 

“We did. Not my scene.” Liam shrugged. “Is everything alright Riley? I didn’t mean to disturb you but didn’t seem okay.” Fuck. Riley thought. “Yeah just a shitty night. What brings you to this view?” She asks, attempting to change the subject. Who is this stranger? And why does he care why someone is crying on a damn bench. “The statue was the one place I wanted to visit before we leave tomorrow but my friends weren’t interested.” Liam shrugged.  “This is where I was supposed to be tonight but things didn’t go as planned for me either. What do you say we go see her together?” Riley smiled. Oh fuck. What are you doing Riley? Ezra just left a few hours ago. There’s something about this stranger though. Riley pulls out her phone and makes a few phone calls to arrange a boat. Twice in one night. Not a coincidence Li. Fuck she’s gorgeous. I need to know why she was crying. Who did that to her? There’s something about her and I have to find out what it is. The boat reaches the dock and they board. “Wow this is nice” Liam was surprised by the elegance of the boat and the fully stocked bar in front of them. “I have connections,” Riley said, grabbing two champagne flutes and a chilled bottle of Dom Perignon. Liam took the bottle from her, popped the cork and filled both of their glasses. By the time they reached the statue they were on their second bottle of Dom. They were enjoying laughing together and forgetting all their troubles. They found solace in the company of strangers. But they weren’t strangers. Their souls knew each other. Maybe in another life. Riley thought. 

Lady Liberty drifted into view. “Wow,” Liam said in awe. “She’s gorgeous.” 

“That she is.” Riley said while she downed her glass of champagne. “I need something stronger. What do you say to some..umm..” she scans the bar “Johnnie Walker? Rocks?” 

“Neat please and yes thank you.” Liam said. He continued to stare up at the symbol. “Riley, what’s your dream?” 

“Dream? I don’t understand.” 

“We’re complete strangers in the city of dreams under the largest symbol of freedom in the world. You can’t be standing here without a dream. So tell me what’s your dream?” Liam turned to look at Riley. Riley could feel his crystal blue eyes seering into her like he was seeing her deepest darkest corners of herself. 

“My dream.. “We are asleep until we fall in love”. True love. A love I don’t think really exists.” Riley’s eyes were huge. She didn’t mean to say that. Way to go Riley! You idiot. Liam cupped her face in his hands and leaned towards her. So close she felt his breath against her lips. She couldn’t resist. She knew she should stop but she didn’t want to. She melted into his touch on her cheeks. “He stepped down, trying not to look too long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking. ” Liam whispered before he pulled her into a passionate kiss. An instant electricity flowed through his veins. Riley pulled away from the kiss reluctantly. “Tolstoy” she smiled. “I should tell the captain to take us back.” 

“Oh uh yea” Liam slid his fingers through his hair. 

“We can’t use the cabin on this boat. We can go back to my place or your hotel.” Riley winked as she pressed an intercom button and informed the captain to take them back to shore. 

They decided to go back to Riley’s place. Liam didn’t want Drake, Maxwell or Tariq to disturb them. And he wanted to learn more about her. Hopefully he remembered in the morning. 

They made it hand in hand to Riley’s building. They rode the elevator to the penthouse and walked through the door. Riley lived in a spacious three bedroom modern penthouse. It had large windows all around overlooking the Hudson River and 10 foot ceilings. Riley must be well off Liam thought. Good to know. How does a waitress afford a place like this?

“This view is unparalleled Riley!” “Thanks” Riley kicks her shoes off and flops down on her Restoration Hardware Cloud Sofa. Liam turns around and sees her lying comfortably on the couch. “We have the same couch. Restoration Hardware? “Yep,” Riley laughed, “best twelves g’s I ever spent.” Liam laughed. He sat down and pulled her ankles in his lap. 

Liam glided his fingertips across her silky calves. Fuck it Riley thought. She sat up and pulled herself into his lap and kissed him so deep Liam felt dizzy. “Riley” he moaned into her lips “I don’t know what’s happening right now but I need to feel you. Every inch of you.” “Touch me Liam”  he ripped her dress right down the middle. “You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” They tore the rest of each other’s clothes off until they were completely bare. Liam kissed her neck to her collar bone. Riley let out a soft moan in his ear. Her nails digging into his muscular back. Liam picked her naked body up by the backs of her thighs and pushed her back into a large window. “I want the world to know I’ve been here, Riley, inside of you. You’re a masterpiece. His fingers went to her dripping core. “Mmm baby, so wet for me?” He slammed his fingers inside her and rubbed his thumb around her clit until he brought her to the brink of an orgasm. As soon as he felt her walls flutter she plunged himself inside of her. “Oh my God” Riley screamed as she came undone at his first thrust into her. “You’re so tight Riley. I could stay like this forever.” Riley pointed to her bedroom and told Liam to take them to her bed. Without ever pulling himself out of her, he walked them to her bed and laid them both down. He thrusted slowly reveling in the feel of her. “I’ve never felt anything like this, baby” Liam said as he bucked his hips into her. Her lips crashed into hers as they bucked their hips in rhythm together until they both met their release. “Liam… will you… will you.. hold me?” “I’ll never let go,” Riley smirked at his Titanic reference.

Liam laid back on the pillows with his arms wrapped tightly around Riley holding her against his chest. Liam pointed to the debris on the floor, “What happened over there? “Oh...I threw it against the wall. It’s a long story.” Riley got out of bed and grabbed her silk robe off the chair next to the bed. She tied the sash and walked out onto the balcony. She gripped the railing and took a deep breath. She had sobered up from their time at the Statue of Liberty. Liam walked out with the sheet wrapped around his waist. His arms snaking around her waist. He leaned his chin on her shoulder. 

“Liam…” Riley turned around looking into his blue eyes. “I’ve never felt like this. How I feel right now with you… I know Ezra just left. And I know how I should feel but I.. when we.. touch it’s like.. 

Liam leaned in and kissed her. His hands going under her thighs to lift her, not breaking the kiss at all. Riley pulled back. Her arms went around his neck. “Tonight I thought Ezra was going to propose. Instead I came home to a letter saying he left the country and wanted to move on. So two years wasted. That was tonight.” Liam kissed her and walked to the bed laying on top of her. “I’ll hold your hand while the ship goes down” Liam whispers in her ear. They got lost in each other again and she forgot about Ezra and he forgot about his future. 

They spent the entire night talking and getting lost in each other. He told her about his brother and the social season. About the pressure from his father now that he was the crown prince. She told him about the death of her parents and her aunt that raised her. She told him her parents had left her multiple trusts and real estate throughout the world. Liam felt a void he never knew existed being filled by her presence. 

Liam woke up forgetting where he was. He looked over and realized he was still in Riley’s penthouse. She was sound asleep with her head on his chest. 

“Riley..” Liam whispered. “Wake up beautiful” Riley stretched out and smacked Liam right in the face. She sat up stunned. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” Liam laughed. “Want to have breakfast with me before I have to leave?” Liam said. 

“Sure.” She replied. 

A short while later they walked into Liam’s suite at the hotel. Riley let out a whistle. “We should have stayed here last night” she laughed. Liam smirked. “Being a prince has its perks. This is one of them.”  Liam called down for room service and ordered a whole spread of belgian waffles, cinnamon rolls, bacon, fruit.. He ordered EVERYTHING. “So Riley tell me more about you.” “Like what?” “Everything start from the beginning.” “It’s not that interesting Liam.” “Room service”, the attendant yelled from outside the suite door. Liam opened the door and pulled the cart in. He tipped the attendant, “let’s eat and you can tell me everything about you.” 

“I was born and raised in Connecticut. My parents and my brother still live there. We’re close. My parents are both attorneys and my brother followed in their footsteps.” Riley said while chewing her waffle. Liam listened intently absorbing her every word like it was his last meal. “I went to law school at NYU but ended up with a Bachelor’s in English with emphasis in creative writing. Hence working at the bar.” She laughed. “And Ezra?” Liam asked sipping his orange juice. “I might need to add some champagne to that orange juice for this.. Better yet Vodka.” She rolled her eyes. “We met in my language and logistics class. We dated for a couple years. Nothing out of the ordinary I guess. He was supposed to propose but left for a new job. Whatever. Wasn’t meant to be.” She took a big swig of her mimosa. “Did you love him?” Liam asked. Riley just stared at him. “No one has ever asked me that before.” She pondered the answer to his question. “Before yesterday I would have said yes. But now since I’ve met you… It wasn’t love. It became robotic. Honestly I’m glad he left, because I wouldn’t have been the one to call it quits. I hope the best for him wherever he is.” She shrugged. “I wish I had done everything on Earth with you” she wanted to say. 

“What about you?” She asked him. “What about me, what do you want to know?” “Everything, start from the beginning.”

“Well I was born in Cordonia obviously. My Dad is King. My mom died when I was young. My step-mom Regina is kind but ya know.. She’s not my mom. My brother Leo abdicated. He found some girl and they’re traveling the world together. I’m glad he’s happy.” “Relationships?” She sat back in her chair, full from her breakfast. “I’ve never really had an actual serious relationship. I mean don’t get me wrong, there have been women, but no one that I wanted to have breakfast with the next morning.” He winked. “Because I’m going to be King I have to have a social season to pick who will be the next queen. It’s an old and stupid tradition. But Cordonia is nothing without her traditions.”

 “Social season, what's that?”

 “Basically it’s just going through the motions and pleasing the nobles and the citizens of the country. And then at the end, I'm expected to choose the woman best fitting to run the country.” He replied. 

She could tell he didn't want to talk about this very much. “What about you?” She asked. “No one really cares about me as a person, only as the future king. I am expected to just enter into a Cordonian marriage agreement. Which is basically, a mistress. It’s a shitty concept.” Riley didn't seem fazed at all by his admission. He raised his eyebrows quizzically. “You don’t seem to care..” 

“Not really, Liam, that came out wrong. I do care about you. Not about where you come from.” 

Care about me? Where did this beautiful woman come from? 

He stood from his sweet and pulled her into a deep kiss. “Liam.. I.. what is this?” 

“Swoon, I’ll catch you.” He said against her lips. “Come home with me.”

“To Cordonia?” “What about your social season?” 

“You can join, my friend Max will sponsor you.” “But.. another country? My family..”

“Riley.. I think I’d miss you even if we never met. Please come. My soul needs you.” 

What do you have to lose Riley? A whirlwind one night stand with a Cordonian Prince. I’ve never even heard of Cordonia. She made a mental note to Google it. Mom and Dad will be livid. They might cut off my trust fund. Fuck it. He might be worth it. The way he kisses me makes me feel like he is the only thing worth it. 

“Okay Liam, I’ll come.” “Riley.. One night with you changed my life. They say when you meet the love of your life, time stops, and that's true.” He whispered wrapping his arms tightly around her. “It’s the romantic quotes, isn’t it?” He laughed kissing her neck. “I want to formally introduce you to my friends, you remember them don’t you?” “Yea, I remember them. I wonder how they will react. One question though.. Love of your life?” 

“You want the moon Riley? Just say the word, and I’ll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. You changed my life. I can’t leave without you. I’ve been searching all my life for you and never even knew it.” 

'Cause suddenly, it hits me

As I watch you make believe

I want to make this your reality

And if you'll be my leading lady

Even though I may look crazy

I'll grab your hand, ask you to dance

In the middle of the street

Learn to sign, cheesy lines

Like "Baby, you complete me"And in case you forget

Where we've been and what we did

I'll write it all down, read it out loud

Again and again

“Come on, let’s go meet Drake, Max and Tariq. We have to introduce my future queen.” 

“I promise if you’ll let me, I’ll love you like the movies,” Riley said. “I’m the King of the world.” Liam replied. 

[alias-b]

sins of my youth. 012

Billy Hargrove x OC! Evie Fenny~ Also posted to my AO3

Summary: It was common knowledge that Billy Hargrove hated Hawkins. Hated Cherry Lane. Even loathed the strange girl next door. Evie Fenny wasn’t too fond of the chaotic Cali transfer either. An awful high school tradition sparks a chain of events that changes everything, ultimately bringing two frayed souls together.

A/N: Hey all! Billy and Evie continue their strange mating ritual. TW: Mentions of past abuse and student/teacher relationship. Heavy petting. SMUT. Phone sex. ;)

TAG LIST OPEN. Chat with me if you have the time xoxo

Chapter 12: Cupid and Psyche

   Evie groaned the next time she woke.

   Pain blared like the morning sun streaming on her face. Flames licking supple cheeks.

   Billy gone in the bed upon turning over.

   His scent apparent all over her damn sheets. Seeped into the pillows. Aramis. Hairspray. Paco Rabanne Pour Homme. Evie wondered if Billy liked to leave parts of himself where he goes. An impression similar to hands in wet concrete. 

   Sometimes a warm body pressed up against you was the only thing reminding you that you were here.

   She curled around his pillow to inhale. Felt butterflies flutter her stomach. Landing on delicate organs to decorate them in jewel toned wings. Iridescent glows that washed harsh reds away.

   Evie wondered what it would be like to crystallize. Utterly.

   Feet touched the floor to leave such fantasies aside. Those butterflies decayed upon seeing her face in the mirror. Hissing, fingertips gingerly touched the skin on fire. Upset welts around her puffy eye. Lungs gave a shudder before Evie was scrambling to replace the emptiness.

   Needy fingers went for her drawer and pulled out a box labeled “FB + EF.” Pushed all the way in back hidden under sheer and lacy panties. Hands clicked around the little pieces of jewelry she wasn’t able to wear in the open until she lifted a brooch to the light. A sparkling ladybug. 

   Fredrick got for her during the first month of that magical summer. They went to some dirty adult party three cities away where people in their twenties and thirties were doing cocaine out in the open. Evie shared a tab of acid with Fredrick that unlocked her entire psyche. Draped herself into him to watch colors spin along the TV. Felt his hand palm her breast before they found a room.

   “Do you think I’m fat?” Evie asked between kisses, coming down from her trip and sweltering with heat. Trembling too hard.

   “What?” He actually laughed into her mouth, came out and pulled her body flush. “You’re not fat, love, you’re so beautiful.”

   At the time, Evie wasn’t sure how that answer made her feel worse. 

   But, the lady bug pin was now scuttling into her stomach. She nearly broke the drawer with her clenched fists pushing it down.

   Exhale.

   Oh, how she moaned like a wanting slut that night. Rode Fredrick hard and turned over afterward for him. Started to cry when he tried to take her home afterwards because she didn’t want to go.

   Didn't want the dreaming to end. She wanted to stay wrapped up in him forever.

   It was their first fight. He screamed she was being a child and manipulating him. They both shouted about telling her mother the truth. 

   Evie really started to sob that she hated him and he just held her wrists and kissed her deeply. Softened suddenly as she fell into his arms. Told her she was too pretty to be so upset. That she had a hold on him. That he was starting to fall deeply and madly in love with her.

   And that made her feel like a god. 

   They ended up back at his place. Evie got home the next day to Mona hiding her pack of smokes behind a picture of Dolly Parton. Not asking where her daughter had been all night. Just said to get ready for her next talent show. 

   Hungover, Evie still won the prize money that went into some new clothes, her future fund, and fresh paint for the salon. Talent scouts cooed to keep growing.

   “Evie!” A knock startled her daydreams. The drawer smacked shut. Heather poked her face in and frowned. “Oh, honey...you need some more ice on that. We made pancakes.”

   “We?”

   “Steve and I. Billy went home to shower, he had to give Max a ride somewhere. Come on, eat some breakfast.”

   Evie changed, rubbing her throat on the way out. Steve blinked at her and tried not to wince.

   “I know it’s not pretty.” Evie pressed her lips. 

   “You saw me after Hargrove kicked my ass.” Steve reached over the little island counter to give her chin this encouraging tap. Darling smile curling. Heather put a big plate down so Evie slid onto a stool.

   “Thanks, sorry I passed out last night.”

   “Ice cream will be a good pick me up later.” Heather kissed Evie’s good side. “Want us to stick around today?”

   “Ah, we can hang out tonight. I gotta clean up and I wanted to go talk to Billy about something.” Evie took a bite and sighed. Steve and Heather exchanged looks. “Nothing happened. Perverts.”

   A beat before laughter erupted. It felt so needed this hour

** ** **

   Evie tried to use makeup to cover the easier welts. Felt useless with her eye socket the size and color of Jupiter. A huff before she flicked a brush aside and stood. She left Blue on the couch before venturing out. Frost and slush marked the unforgiving winter outside. Evie had waited until Neil’s car left and crossed over. Knocked.

   Susan poked her head out.

   “Oh, Evie, I... Dear, what happened?” Susan’s wedding ring caught the light as she touched her lips with worry. Red hair piled up upon her head and a sea foam sweater dress.

   “I slipped on the ice.” Lashes batted. “Sorry, I caught you in the middle of something.”

   “No, I was unpacking the last few boxes in our garage. Shifting some furniture. Think we’re finally moved in. I was just going to change and catch the bus, our shelves are bare.” Susan held the door back. 

   “I was here to see Billy, is he…?” Evie trailed off when she heard it. The blasting music from the farthest bedroom. Shut tight.

   “Yes, in his room. Evie, he’s… He’s in a mood and might not come out.”

   “A mood?” Evie studied the woman. Thin hands clasping so hard that they paled.

   “Maybe a friendly face will be good.” Susan decided, not convinced but too polite to turn Evie away now. “Go on ahead.”

   It appeared Max was out with friends. Susan disappeared into the kitchen after gesturing so Evie crossed down the hallway. Knocked and wasn’t heard. Pounded harder.

   “I’m busy, Susan!” Came the bark.

   “Not Susan.” Evie shot right back. There was a curse before some scrambling and the door yanked open. Billy in a white tank tucked into some jeans with grey socks. Lax. Chain shifting as he breathed. “You look real busy.”

   Eyes screwed up at her. Seemingly irritated. 

   “What are you doing here?”

   “You left, I just...wanted to hang out. Talk, I mean.” Her feet shuffled before she matched his taller posture. Chin lifting. 

   “Getting clingy on me.”

   “As if you have any business talking about that.” She joked, arms crossing. 

   “I spent the night in your bed. We shot the shit, I’m not your boyfriend.” His clipped tone etched some surprise over Evie’s face.

   “Okay, asshole, when and where did I ask if you wanted to be my damn boyfriend? You going to ease up a little bit? I don’t need that.” Evie flared and he sucked in his cheeks before pulling her into his room and shutting the door. “The fuck is your problem all the sudden?”

   Billy had gone to turn the music down a bit, head craning to see her pressed into his door. One of his hands was idly rubbing his ribs. Some of their anger died. A tense expression crossed his face.

   Evie realized she’d never really seen the inside of his room. Smelled like Billy. Smoke, hairspray, and cologne. Random plates and beer cans with smashed cigarette buds. A little vanity made of crates. Near empty shelves. Weights laying round. Laundry mostly in a basket propped up in the corner. Curtains that were really clipped up sheets. Something somber about it all. Like nothing was his. Like he had to make the space livable. Bearable.

   “I don’t plan for guests.” He plucked up a pack of cigarettes. 

   “Bullshit, I see girls climbing in and out of your window.” Evie lightened the tension. Billy hitched as if he might chuckle. Felt guilty instead.

   “Well, help yourself to a seat.” Billy kicked back into a beaten brown couch so Evie nudged her shoes aside and joined him on the other end. “Well?” He lit himself a smoke and scratched his chin, eyes on the window.

   “About last night, that stuff I said...”

   “Weren’t drunk so you can’t take it back.” The white hot cherry pointed to her.

   “I’m just saying," Evie gestured at air, "it was a lot.”

   “Me beating the fuck out of our second period teacher was a lot.” Billy got his cigarette snatched before he plucked it back. “Think of your pretty voice, yeah?”

   Evie pouted, made this rumbling sound at him before she sat back.

   It clicked in Billy’s head.

   “You’re looking to drown your sorrows. Finally something I can really help with.” Billy reached over the couch and came up with a bottle of amber liquid. There was an unmistakable sound of the front door closing, signalling Susan had left. 

   “Heather and Steve wouldn’t approve.” Evie took the bottle anyways. Gulped.

   “Easy, jesus.” Billy drank after. One quick swig. Watched her bring her legs up to cross them. Leggings and a thick, violet sweater with wool socks. Curls spilling. “Small drinks, don’t be an idiot.”

   “Strong words from you.” She sipped that time. Savored the woody burn as it went down.

   “Don’t I know it?” He puffed. Evie offered him the bottle and sighed, relaxing before she spoke.

   “Did Fredrick cry when you hit him?”

   “Like a bitch.” Billy exhaled smoke. “Drove past his place after I dropped Max off at her friend’s. Cleared the fuck out.”

   “Oh.” It still ached. This person who touched her life was suddenly gone. Maybe never to return. Like her father. It should have been a fucking comfort and instead everything ugly swimming under Evie’s skin pushed to the surface.

   “Did you like it?” A whisper.

   “I always do.” He spoke, drank about it. Evie thought back to leveling Tannen’s face. Silently agreed. Wondered when he would break his chains to get revenge.

   “Do you think I’m fat?” Her tone droned next.

   “Why are you asking me stupid questions, Evie?” Billy’s cigarette was hanging lazily from his lips. Bold, crystalline eyes appeared bored at her as an arm came up on the couch. She blinked at him.

   Evie liked that reply. She was fat. She was pretty, too. She hoped. They can coexist. Billy could just be crass about it. Obscene.

   She enjoyed that about him, too. Even if she wouldn't admit it.

   “Do you think about fucking me when you masturbate?” She said in the same controlled tone.

   Billy choked, almost inhaling his lit stick, and spit it on the floor. Still coughing, his head snapped with bulging eyes. Stepping on the cigarette to kick it under the beaten sofa.

   Pride swelled.

   “What the fuck, Evie?” He set the liquor aside. Evie was on her feet lightning quick so he got up also. Just as quick. “Hey, why’d you come here?” 

   She had the door open when his palm smacked it shut. Evie spun there, pressed between him and the wood. Billy breathing into her space. One arm still outstretched. Too intent.

   Evie thought for a moment, she heard his pulse begin to race.

   Her heavy eyes flashed at him. Waiting there for something to crack. 

   And then trembling fingers dipped and clicked the lock on the doorknob without breaking eye contact.

   This shrewd look crossed his eyes. Filled his whole expression with neon light.

   God damn, he was just too beautiful. Stunning like ethereal Cupid about to revive Psyche with true love's kiss after their trials. Wings unfurling all delicate and feathery. They both crystallized.

   “I should go.” Evie said without trying. Not moving an inch. Billy dropped his arms and stepped back to see her. Flicking his eyes before he let his light burn. Leaned forward and bit the inside of his cheek. A rasp.

   “Take your fucking clothes off.”

   Evie threw herself at him.

   Knocked Billy back into the bed while their lips collided. The boy caught fire. He pushed her to turn them over. Already shoving between her legs. So hard, he figured he might blow his load right there. Evie’s lips on his neck made it worse. Made him moan until his leg shook like a dog’s would.

   Yeah, it had been awhile.

   “Fuck.” Billy pulled up, left Evie pawing for him. Fingers under her sweater to yank.

   “Wait.” Evie gasped out so he stopped. All her fervor hid under the bed. Unable to meet those eyes.

   “What?” Billy sat back on his knees. “Scared I won’t like what I see?”

   “It’s too bright in here.” She turned to let the sheets fall over the blinds. Went for the other.

   “Leave some light. Wanna see you.” Billy batted his lashes as he said that. Made her melt. Quickly, he pulled his own shirt off. Flashed the reason for all this anger earlier. Splotchy bruises along his ribs where Neil’s knuckles pushed in for whatever reason he picked that morning.

   Evie paused to see them. Saw Billy’s rock hard chest sink in. Reached out and got her wrist snatched. Gentle as can be.  

   “Don’t worry about it.” His eyes averted.

   “Don’t worry about mine.” Evie asked so Billy cupped her face and pushed her back into the sheets. She paused only to sit up and remove her top. Covered in fracturing rosy marks across fleshy curves. Before she had a chance to get insecure, Billy cut in.

   “Leggings, too.” He winked, snapping the fabric. She scowled instead.

   “You first.” Evie undid the loop of his belt, teeth tugging at her bottom lip as she did. Billy felt himself shudder. Stood up so she followed.

   They stared at each other. Didn’t touch and undressed there in the too soft lights down to their underwear.

   Billy’s eyes followed the swell of her breasts. Everything about Evie was plush. Dark curls hung over her shoulders. Really looked like a twisting goddess from a painting. She had her hands in front of her stomach and dropped them when he crossed. Inching her back into the wall.

   A hand cupped her jaw before their lips opened. Arms went around his shoulders. Unafraid that he was looking at her in daylight. 

   Alive. Both of them felt alive. 

   Billy pressed further, let their bodies melt together. Tested how she felt against him. Flesh on flesh. 

   Several sensations erupted the moment his mouth was on her neck. Clouds bursting with rain. Fireworks splashing the night sky. Petals unfurled within Evie’s stomach. Gemstones grew out to crystallize. She wondered how pretty she’d be if Billy took a chisel to her flesh. Cracked the shell open. She ran her hands over his arms and felt the soft hairs there. Pulled him even in closer.

   Fingers slid one bra strap down. Evie coaxed him further with digits woven into golden curls. Maybe Billy had a point about her being molten because she was about to spill hot between his fingers. 

   He came up. Moaned into her mouth. Palms gripping at flesh. Like he had to feel all of her at once. Evie bit her lip, neck craning back so he could inch lower again. 

   Billy Hargrove is about to fuck me, she could have giggled, and I’m going to fuck him hard and thoughtlessly. 

   She hitched a gasp just as his fingertips inched into cotton panties. Got ready to pull him back into bed.

   Billy’s head lifted. The earring dangled almost violently when a door slammed. Evie’s dreams were sent scattering before they frozen together. Marble. 

   Water pouring over red hot iron to elicit the tempering sizzle.

   “Fuck.” Billy recognized the sound. “Fuck. My dad.” He kept saying, pushing Evie’s clothing at her. “You need to go. Out the window.”

   “What?” Evie barely had time to get dressed while he helped her. Both of them bursting at the seams. Billy yanked his jeans up and got the window open. Guided Evie over it as she was still forcing her sweater on. 

   “Billy!” Came a bark at the front of the house. Stomping followed. Evie plopped into the snowy grass with a groan as Billy dropped her shoes into her lap. Evie scrambled back up around the back of her house. Slammed the door and fell back against it like she had to hide too.

   Lungs sputtered.

   “What the fuck?” Her cheeks were an obscene cherry shade. She felt Billy all over her. Ached all between her thighs even in wet clothing. Huffed because she was unfucked and her sweater was inside out. “Shit.” Evie scrambled to her bedroom. Blue scuttled out to a food dish as Evie jerked the curtain open. Couldn’t see anything in Billy’s room.

   Her phone rang.

   “Yes?” A cry into the receiver.

   “Cute that you worried for me.” Cool and even. Almost macho.

   She puffed, sinking.

   “Shut up.”

   “Guess my dad’s beer run wasn’t as long as I thought.” Billy blew air out his lips. “Was hoping he’d be working today. They cut his hours down this week for some reason. Made him real fucking happy.”

   “Come over here.”

   “No, I’m locked in for playing my music too loud and for being disrespectful this morning. Gotta wait till later, he’ll get drunk enough and forget.” Billy reclined on his bed. Something horrible there because he was used to this. Music was playing softer behind him. Mingling with Neil in the living room watching some show play on. “You’re...intense.” His blase attitude and joke almost set Evie at ease. She fell into bed, eyes rolling.

   “Uh. So, are you." A beat. "...Were you surprised?”

   “Yeah, actually. I had you figured for a shy, little birdie.”

   “Everyone thinks that about me. I sing and dance. I like sex and stage lights. I get mad. I’m not shy. Maybe at times about my...but, I get over it. Women can be as intense as men in the sack, you know?” Evie sounded insulted.

   “Don’t worry, I’m a quick learner.” He’d mused. “Learning new things about you every day.” 

   Evie couldn’t explain why that made her blush. Hard. The silky timbre of his voice lulling her into genuine security. 

   “Learned that I can make out your accent more when you’re sleepy, on the phone, and in lust.”

   “In lust? Shut up.” She mocked. “Don’t have an accent. You probably can’t even tell the uptown and downtown accents apart in N'awlins.” Ah shit. Billy found that hilarious as Evie cringed.

   “That so, N'awlins?” Billy countered. “Just say the word, bayou, for me.”

   “...That’s a hard pass. Are all Cali boys this insufferable?” She rolled over to swing her legs up.

   “We are, actually. But, I am the prettiest.” His smile dazzled with no one to admire it. Evie saw it in her mind and wanted to just toss him over town.

   “I’ll give you that for admitting it.” A breath followed. Evie toyed with one of her curls. Tugged. “I had you all shaky there.” His tongue clicked.

   “No idea what you mean.” That cheekiness she enjoyed dripped from his rich tone. “Bummed, I was this close to seeing your tits.” 

   “They’ll be the same later. I think. I don’t know, I always thought they were shaped funny.” Brown eyes turned to the ceiling as she rolled back. one arm behind her head. 

   “Later, she says. Huh. And I’ll be the judge of that. I’m a professional and I’m not picky. Any shape is good, I’m in this for the taste.”

   “Sleaze.” Evie pouted and a chuckle sounded. Billy sighed. "How'd you get my number, by the way?"

   "Begged it from Heather on my way out. I can be smooth." He said. “You really want me over tonight? Steve and Heather won’t approve, am I right?”

   She let out an aggravated sigh and Billy smiled again to himself. Imagined that scrunchy pout she liked to make. Fingers tapping his bare stomach.

   “I mean, we can…hang out. Nothing wrong with that.”

   “Like you came over just now to hang out, chica?”

   “I didn’t come over just for that.”

   “Sure. As if you also didn’t wet your blue panties for me.”

   “You’re so gross.” Evie rubbed her legs together. Remembered his hands worshiping her flesh. Her flesh that she was conditioned to hate. Adjusted the phone and licked her lips. “Don’t make me regret this.”

   “I’m just saying we can easily pick up where we left off, Evie.” The name rolled sinfully from his tongue. She swallowed. Flashes of Billy across her brain. His peachy tanned skin. His gold curls. His lips kissing her. 

   “Remind me where that was? Landed pretty hard there when you pushed me out the window.”

   “Shit, yeah. About that-”

   “I get it.” Evie didn’t need to make him explain. “I didn’t land on my head. Still raw from…” Where Fredrick tossed her into the wall. They both went silent. Just listened to each other breathe. Evie gave this dreamy sigh. “I like...your arm hair and I like the way you smell.”

   He laughed.

   "You're a funny girl, Evie."

   "It's just...that intensity you have, I don't know. You are pretty." She rubbed her face. "I don't know what I'm saying."

   “Your perfume goes right to my dick. You know that, too.” His joke lightened them both again. Evie rolled her eyes. “Explains why you practically crawl into my skin at night.” Billy remembered suddenly that he’d spent two nights with Evie and hadn’t screwed her. That was a rarity.

   “You snore a little. Couple of grunts. Sorta adorable.”

   “Don’t even get my started on how dead silent you get.” Billy’s eyes trailed over his room. He could still smell her honey amber scent lingering. Hummed into the pillow. Obsession by Calvin Klein. Odd scent for a teen, but matching him in intensity and she wore it so subtly. All they could do was battle and weave together. Obsession and Aramis. This strange dance he was thrilled to continue.

   “Never answered my question.”

   “Already forgot it. Was it where we left off or what I’d do to you next?” Lips curled as her breath hitched. “Let’s see. I had you against the wall. Moaning so pretty. Lipstick smeared.”

   Evie almost didn’t speak up when he paused before...

   “And?”

   “And I was gonna keep kissing down your tits. Get the rest of your clothes off. Tongue my way over your sweet nipples. Stomach too, I like to cover all the ground I can. See how shy you really are.” He licked his lips and Evie’s eyes got heavy. 

   “Not so shy when I tell you to keep going.”

   “No, I guess not. Not until I push your sensitive thighs open, I bet you’d quake and purr. Blush like you clearly are now.”

   Evie realized she’d been holding her breath. Didn’t even fight him. Clutching her sweater as he spoke so casually. 

   “It’s a real fucking tragedy. Me, waiting longer before I find out how you taste. That’s all I’m saying.” Billy’s breath was labored on the other end. “Still with me here, Angel?”

   “Is...this your private line?”

   Another snicker.

   “Obviously. Why?” Billy had his jeans open. Bit his lip while he pooled arousal around his tip. Watched it trickle down into his stomach. Again. No reply. “Answer was yes, by the way… What you asked early if I thought about you. I do a lot. Fucking you. Eating you out. I knew you were a hair puller, we have that in common.”

   “Not sure I trust you to last and get the job done with how worked up you get. All the trembling, it was kinda cute.”

   “You clearly haven’t ridden my tongue.”

   Fuck him.

   “You have to actually stop talking to do that, Billy.” Evie laughed in the open and Billy smiled brighter, eyes crinkling. He walked into that one. Idly, she ran her fingers up her thigh. “Between you and I, I never let guys eat me out.”

   Billy stopped to sit up.

   “No shit?”

   “It always made me nervous so I stopped them when they tried. All the mouth action comes from me.” Evie had sat up on the other end too. “I’m pretty good actually.”

   “You’d let me fuck that beautiful mouth after I taste you?” He’d cooed. “Betcha that lipstick won’t look half bad on my skin since you never did start buying waterproof.”

   “I guess it’s only fair.” Evie dropped her tone. “Still think you can’t handle it.”

   “There’s the ego I was hoping for.” He shook his head. “But, I have to say, sweetheart, you’re missing out. That’s the real crime, not letting yourself get tongue fucked once in a while. Do you not know how to treat yourself?”

   Evie mashed her face into the nearest pillow. 

   “I can’t stand you. I shouldn’t have said anything.” She muffled and Billy only laughed again, laying down. Imagined how cherry her lips and cheeks must have looked. Thought about tracing his thumb over her wet mouth. Smeared in slick red.

   “Don’t get shy on me now. We established you weren’t.”

   “It’s weird.”

   “Not weird. You just let a guy kiss down and nature takes over.”

   “It’s not that simple with me.”

   “Sure, it is. Let me walk you through it. Take your leggings and panties off.” He licked his lips. “C’mon, we got time to kill now.” There was some shuffling.

   “It’s not a big deal,” Evie undressed anyways, “it’s just...I think about the angle and guys looking up and seeing my stomach and I get freaked out.”

   “Sweetheart, my mouth will be buried in your pussy, I ain’t worried about your flesh. I’m more worried about my technique. These things you get so worked up about. Guys really don’t give a shit, the good ones anyways.” His vulgarity sent these fizzles all down her nerves. Actually made her feel better. “You just...tip your head back and enjoy it. Although, I don’t mind a little praise and eye contact. Make me feel like a good boy for once.”

   “And I can’t like...play with myself to help?”

   “You can, but just relax and let me take over. You can trust me to make you feel good, Evie. Might be nice to give up some control.”

   He had no idea that he’d hit a nail on the head.

   “So, kisses. Thighs open.” Evie settled into the pillows, free hand twisted into fabric with a cool breeze on her thighs. Breasts rising. “Would you use your fingers too?”

   “If you ask me sweetly.” Billy saw beads of precum all over his abdomen. Throbbed and tried not to grunt. “I’d like to. I’d like to lick my way inside you. Hold your legs open and kiss your clit until you’re begging for more. Love the view of you. Spread open and wet for me. Like how you feel.” 

   “You’ve never been with a girl my size.” Evie broke into his daydreams.

   “You don’t know that.” He paused. It was true.

   “Yes, I do, Billy.” Evie didn’t know why the thought was stark and gnawing. “I’m bigger than you. Wider. Maybe even heavier.”

   “Bet, I can lift you just fine.” He rubbed his face, eyes searching. “I liked it. Touching you. I wasn’t shy about it, was I? Fucking soft. I’m not used to that against me. You’re warm and when I squeezed you against me, I wanted to throw you on my bed so fucking bad. Can't explain it.”

   She went silent so he found a joke. 

   “If it makes you so nervous, I promise to let you suck me off after.”

   “A dashing gentleman if I ever saw one.” She broke out of the nerves.

   “Just think about it, Evie. You ever just take the time to appreciate how wet you made someone? Up close. It's a thrill.” Billy hitched as he palmed himself. Evie swallowed a lump.

   “Are you…?”

   “Am I, what?” Billy’s labored breathing made it obvious, but he wanted her to say it.

   “Did I make you wet?”

   “Jeans are ruined for the day.” He offered, husky under the music. “Should have risked hiding you in the closet.”

   “We would have so been caught.”

   “His problem.” Billy gruffed, changed the subject to work himself up. “Two clasps away from those tits. I won’t forget that.”

   “Maybe I’ll play with them since you’re not here to.” She moved a hand under her sweater and Billy outright groaned.

   “What do you taste like?”

   “I recall you predicting heaven.” Sarcasm etched out. “It's possible you’ll find out if I’m in the mood again. I could be just now realizing this was a lapse in judgement.”

   “Ah huh.” Billy gave himself a few strokes. Evie listened to him sigh too soft and husky in her ear. Pictured him atop her. Rock hard and moaning. Gorgeous like Apollo. Sun streaming upon his back. Illuminating curls.

   She slid her fingers down. Hitched a sigh because she was soaked and aching. 

   “Would you kiss me after I sucked you off?” Evie played with herself. Let him hear the moan.

   “With tongue. You could spit directly into my mouth for all I care. In fact, I might like that.” Billy hummed, tone changing to give an order. “Slip your fingers in if you haven’t already. I know what you’re doing, Evangeline.”

   “You were doing it first.” Evie’s head pressed back into the pillows. She spread her legs and drew circles into herself, pressed two fingers in and moaned.

   “Who’s fucking you right now, Angel?”

   “Oh, you.” She was forward about that. Heart thumping. “Want your mouth and hands.”

   “Told you.” His head tilted back. Tried to stay immersed in the lingering scent of her. “Play with your clit again. That’ll do until I get my tongue on you.”

   Evie cursed that time. Accent lacing her tone. It made him smile brighter.

   “If I had it my way, you won’t play with yourself at all. Know that? You want to get off, you just come to me and let me take care of you.”

   “What a chore.” Evie sped and started to rock into her own touch.

   “I’m always up to the task.”

   Billy worked himself on the other end to every little mewl and sigh. Dirty talk went out the window as she gasped. Started to build herself up. Pictured Billy slicked and surrendered against cotton sheets. Stunning and batting his lashes while he opened his mouth and pumped his fist.

   “Get yourself there, Angel, don’t wait for me.” He heard her curse louder and almost drop the phone back. With Billy’s little murmurs of dirty encouragement, she rubbed perfect circles. Imagined his fingers and tongue. His sly eyes and those fucking lashes. Muscles bulging hot under her grasp. Evie cried out, succumbed there and hitched to shake and shudder. Billy closed his eyes while she got off. Couldn’t wait to be the one who got her there.

   “Fuck, Evie. You’re killing me.” One fists jerked up and down. Unable to get close because he was distracted with her. “I can’t...fucking shit. I was almost there a moment ago when you were here and now, ah…fucking hell.”

   “Sounds like you need help.” Evie stretched like a cat against her pillows. Still trembling.

   “Or another hand.” He sighed. “Or a mouth. Think about how you’d leave that red lipstick all over my dick.”

   “I got an idea. If you give me shit, I’ll end you.” Evie pushed her blissful body up. “Come up to the window.”

   “What…” Billy shoved a sheet aside to see her. Out of breath and curls sticking all over. Blushed and fucked. Gorgeous. “What are you doing?” He was still slowly jerking himself to keep the momentum. Evie looked around the grass and shrubbery. Rolled her eyes before lifting up her shirt and moving the bra down.

   Billy’s mouth dropped along with his phone so she giggled as he disappeared to grab it.

   “Fuck!” Billy caught himself and returned.

   “Are they everything you pictured?” She bit her lip and winked. He was dead intent on her tits. Mouth open. Working himself harder.

   “Push them against the window.”

   Her hard, dark rosy nipples pressed there and Billy moaned. Wished he had them in his hands. Wished he would fuck her mouth and shoot his load on them.

   “Yes, Evie, fuck.” He submitted. Almost sounded like a zombie. Under her spell. Typical boy. Working himself until… “Gonna cum.” Strings of release hit the wall as Billy dropped the phone again to finish. Evie still heard his muffled moans on the end and brought herself back down, giggling at the same time Billy fell into his pillows.

   “Did I lose you, Billy?”

   “No, but if you could pick my balls up off the floor, that’d be great.” He puffed and felt around for a tee to clean up with. “Okay. I’m gonna say this. We’re going to fuck. Hear me? I am going to fuck you. Can’t today. But, it's happening.”

   “So certain. What, are you spent already?”

   “Not gonna plan that far, we hang out as you say...and see what happens.” He caught his breath. “Can’t do it here and your two guards are going to be on you this week.”

   “You thought awhile about this.” Evie licked her lips, still fixing her bra in place. “Maybe my common sense comes back.”

   “Maybe you admit you’re warming up to me again. Sizzling fuse.”

   “Yeah, yeah.” Evie rose out of bed and paused to sigh. Tone shifting. "Billy?"

   "Hm?"

   “What if he comes back?”

   “He’s scared. He won’t. I stopped him.”

   “I feel like I’m going to be constantly looking over my shoulder. You know?” Evie didn't want to touch the floor again.

   “Then, I guess I know where to stand for your attention.” His quip had Evie biting her lip. Roses bloomed up her thighs and cheeks. “I also left my number under your lamp, by the way. Use it.”

   Evie blinked and lifted it to see a torn slip with his handwriting. Slippery bastard.

   “Yeah, I got it.” She bit back a smile. “I’ll...ah, see you later, Billy.”

   “Yes, you will.” He paused. “One more question. More of a courtesy.”

   “What?”

   “Preferred method of birth control? Have a couple rubbers. I’m clean, by the way. But, are you an in or out type of girl?” 

   “Also clean. And I’m an avid user of the pill, smartass. Use that information however you like.” She hung up, leaving Billy to laugh on the other end. He brought the phone away, still so stupid happy. Dreaming himself away.

   Psyche went through so many trials for Cupid. Billy wondered about the after. About Eros picking up some trials of his own to keep a girl that tangled him so ardently. About how it felt worth it down to the beating core. All’s fair...

   Evangeline Fenny might really be the end of him.

~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for tuning in!! That was actually my first full phone sex scene, it's so fun to write these two and their weird dance. I just love them more by the chp. xx Stay and chat with me if you can! As is open :)

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