#will instantly recoil from this kind of behaviour

[hxhhasmysoul]

anon, just for the record i'm not a proshipper because that's an active identity, and there's only one identity i've ever chosen for myself aka a linguist. i consider it a kind of semantic or even political violence when others ascribe identities to me. i have a whole thing about people trying to tell me what i actually think or holding me responsible for actions of others based on the identity they had ascribed to me.

i'm actually a passive degenerate* who believes in minding my own business and hopes others would mind theirs as long no harm is done.

i don't have the energy and the mental health to seek out individuals like you to do outreach and deprogramming, and maybe bring you back to reality. because shit you people do actually messes with my abuse recovery. and let's be real, most of you people are too far gone and made these beliefs your whole identity or are just opportunistic and vile clout chasers.

unless you actively attack my friends, then well you came to me and i can't really ignore it anymore.

I think it's genuinely disturbing to be so invested as you are into projecting your own fears and imagination onto other people's thoughts while completely disregarding what they actually tell you. like @/cursedvibes took literal time out of his day to treat you seriously and you willfully misinterpreted everything he said.

this might come as a shock to you, but this is exactly what my very abusive parent has always done to me and other people in my family. assumed to know what we think and of course always assumed the worst intentions, even behind actions that had nothing to do with them. has talked over us when we tried to explain, twisted our words and good will, lied about what we actually said just so it'd match their imagination.

your behaviour is extremely dodgy and no amount of performative feminism (that smells of terfism* from a mile away) will mask that. people like you hide behind the language of the left to promote your "think of the poor women and children"* beliefs.

don't you realise how deeply fucked up is sending ask after to cursedvibes? trying to hold him accountable for things that make you uncomfortable, even though he didn't do them. but you think that he should apologise to you and atone for the those things because someone people who like the same character he does committed those "transgressions". or coming to my blog and looking for my "crimes" and then insult him for them. instead of, idk blocking him, me and all those other kenjaku fans that you don't like and moving on with your life, you know handling your own disgust response to things that don't concern you and do no one any harm by yourself.

things you do are literally bully and creeper shit. with an even shittier thing mixed in, that's what the * are about, though i doubt you know what is the common denominator for these three things.

[badger-bear]

Books

Mc Daddies Series by Lalyah Roberts

strangers to lovers, sunshine and bad boy trope

I cannot believe I read so many of these books. None of them are particularly excellent. There is an underlying plot through all of the books that was intriguing. However the fact that the women kidnapped by a psycho forgiving him because he didn’t technically hurt them was not a vibe.

Fury by Laurann Dohner

enemies to lovers

This was alright. The sex was okay and the characters were a little annoying and I’m confused by their decisions.

Slade by Laurann Dohner

strangers to lovers

See above lol 

Fics

Darling, so it goes by @disgruntledkittenface

Harry Styles is a world-famous actor at the height of his career but a personal low point when he meets His Serene Highness Prince Louis of Monaco by chance. He doesn’t think they’ll ever see each other again, but after striking up a correspondence, it turns out they have more in common than he thought. Then they start to fall for each other. Louis is different from anyone Harry has dated before and their relationship moves fast as Harry realizes he’s ready for a change. Soon Harry finds himself adapting to an entirely new life, in a country where he doesn’t know the rules, the customs, even the language. Harry is used to people underestimating him, and he’s more determined than ever to prove them wrong.

He just needs Louis to meet him halfway.

Grace Kelly AU.

Empty Nest by @littleroverlouis

Harry has not felt the desire to nest. The thoughts of where the nest should be, or even what items he planned to scent and arrange, have not even crossed his mind. None of the soft blankets or sweaters they own have triggered any nesting responses. Throughout his career as an OB/GYN nurse, all of his patients have spoken of their nests or how the need thrummed through their veins. There was also the knowledge of all of his omega friends and family members beginning to nest before the end of their first trimester.

Does this mean he isn’t cut out to be a parent? Why isn’t his body preparing him to provide safety and warmth to his pup? Harry fell in love with his pup the moment the pregnancy test result turned up positive, but what is his unfaltering love isn’t enough?

Or pregnant Omega Harry is stressed about a nest.

Do you think I’m cool by @sadaveniren

Louis calls Harry after his Today Show performance to have some words about his outfit choice.

Open Up Your Honey Pot by daffodilsforlou // @polaroidlouis

So attuned to the omega, Louis had been able to smell Harry’s slick while they kissed, the tangy cherry notes that filled his room impossible to miss. But even though he knew just how wet Harry could get from a few kisses, this particular outcome hadn’t exactly crossed his mind.

or louis’ helpless when it comes to his omega. and harry’s kind of in charge.

The Lost Art of Breeding and (Mis)Behaviour by @indiaalphawhiskey

“Strip, slave.” His voice was rough – stern, as a proper Master’s voice should be. Harry couldn’t help but feel pleased. “I could have had five of your kind for your price. Best make sure I’ve not been cheated.”

-- Or, Harry learns a thing or two about fate and faith.

All I Do the Whole Day Through by @lululawrence

Louis reached up and grabbed the ridiculously thick jumper that had the planets all over it and slammed the wardrobe doors shut. It was only as he turned around that he realized why Harry’s bedroom door had been shut.

There was a nest on Harry’s bed.

But why was Harry using Louis’ clothes and items that probably smelled like him in his nest?

when we get intimate by @rainblou

“When you beg for me, for my touch, and then instantly recoil.. I don’t know if this is real or not.” Louis looked away, shrinking in on himself. “I don’t know if you really want me.”

-

Harry is asexual. It becomes a problem when his heat arrives and Louis, his alpha, doesn't know.

Happiest Place On Earth by me_her_themoon // @loutomlinsonworldtour

It turns out, Harry was actually talking the entire time Louis was studying his profile, so he manages to only catch his last few words, “...It makes sense why this is referred to as the happiest place on Earth.”

And, well, Louis doesn’t not agree. But…

The Bandits of Sherwood Forest by foreverfanficaddict // @chaotic-bells

A long, long time ago, good Queen Anne of England departed on a long journey to explore distant lands.

During her absence, Princess Gemma, Queen Anne’s eldest daughter, was meant to rule. However, the Crown’s advisor usurped the crown and named himself King Simon Cowell of England.

Louis Tomlinson and his band of merry men were the people’s only hope. They robbed from the rich to feed the poor, and were beloved by all of England during these terrible times.

There has been a heap of legends and tall tales about him… But this is the story of what really happened in Sherwood Forest.

...A Robin Hood AU

We Might’a Took the Long Way Home by 4ureyesonly28 // @evilovesyou

The story of a perfect first date, a mind-blowing first kiss, an interfering lawsuit, a lopsided bowl, flutes of champagne, a little bit of heartbreak, a fated tiktok, and lots and lots of art.

I’ll Call You Mine by @kenniewen

"Harry isn’t superstitious, doesn’t knock on wood, or wish on shooting stars, but his position on ‘love at first sight’ becomes increasingly wishy-washy as his mind begins to comprehend blue, blue, blue. He feels his heart constrict and tongue go dry. The man before him is the most beautiful omega he has ever seen in his entire life."

Or: A self indulgent Omega/Omega fic with a teacher/single parent of favorite student trope.

boy for sale by @ohpleaselarry

Three large cushioned chairs face him, each holding a suited man. Mr. Horan, Mr. Payne, and Mr. Malik respectively sit at these chairs, eyes on Harry as he steps up to the middle of the room, lowers fluidly to his knees, hands behind his back, and looks to each man one by one, neck prickling with the eyes all on him, on his nude body.

They’re all going to have him, and yet Harry only really wants one man here, and it’s the man who steps up behind him, sets a hand on the nape of his neck, right over his collar.

“Alright,” Louis says, voice raspy and authoritative, “Mr. Horan, you’re first. Would you like his mouth or his arse?”

a little bit of lavender to help you sleep the whole night through by DaddyAlphaLouisBabyOmegaHarry // @bottomhaztoplou

Harry felt fuzzy and floaty, drifting in and out of waking. He felt ghostly touches, then warmth surrounding him, the air bathed with a delicious scent. He reached out for the warmth and wrapped himself around it. He shivered, feeling tingly and shaky in the best of ways as he inhaled the yummy scent – an alpha. An alpha was what was keeping him warm and smelled so good.

Danger was the last thing to cross Harry’s mind. No, he felt safe, so safe. Good omega, he heard vaguely. He smiled. Yes, he was a good omega.

baby, you’re the end of june by @disgruntledkittenface

“Up for it, Harold? We can go over the rundown when we get back. If you’re not busy then.”

“Yeah, sounds good,” Harry says, closing his laptop and setting it on Louis’ desk. “It’s just Harry, though.”

“You look like a Harold,” Louis says, standing up and brushing some brownie crumbs off his t-shirt. Harry briefly wonders how he’s still hungry for lunch after demolishing half the plate of brownies as he stands and moves into the hallway. “It’s the cardigan, I think.”

“You guys can flirt on the way,” Niall says over his shoulder, beckoning for them to follow him as he strides down the row of cubicles. “Come on, I’m starving.”

Harry looks at Louis, but he just laughs as they follow Niall. Oh. He thought he’d been picking up a vibe while they hung out, but apparently not. Well, it’s better to know how Louis feels now, so he can nip his growing crush in the bud. Louis is a great guy, at least they can be friends as well as coworkers.

In which Harry courts Louis. Entirely by accident.

when half spent the night by @juliusschmidt

Hi Harry,

I’ve skimmed your website and am interested in hiring you to be my doula. I’m 7 ½ months pregnant and not keen to do this whole labor and birth thing alone. After looking around, I thought you might be a good fit because you mention enjoying unusual people with unusual birth requests. I can meet up any day this week.

Lou

Is It Okay? by larry_hiatus // @larry-hiatus

Louis’ breath hitched when Harry added his second hand, and even more of his pretty little polished nails came into view. He moaned low in his throat, reaching forward to stroke his finger down the length of Harry’s thumb. How could someone’s hands be so gorgeous and cute, especially doing something so scandalous?

It’s Gonna Be a Bright Sunshiney Day by @justalarryblog

Louis took his students to The Goat Father Farm on a field trip to learn about dairy farms. Harry, the farm owner, loves having visitors on his farm and telling fun facts about goats. And there's Brutus.

Or

Louis is a teacher and Harry is a clumsy nerd farmer and they go on a date. Featuring Brutus and his obsession with butthead Harry. 

"Et Tu, Brute?"

build a nest for us to sleep in by blackwayfarers

"It'll be fun," Louis tells Liam quietly. If it was anyone else's break-up, Louis would know exactly what to do, what balance of fondness and foolishness he'd need to give, but he's totally lost with Liam. Louis has no idea what he might need, what could make him feel better, so in the end he gives Liam the only thing he has: "We can order take away and play videogames and fuck about for a few days. I'll get Harry to bring us groceries, we won't even need to leave the house. Come on, Liam, come live with me."

Find Me In The Kitchen by @neondiamond

When Harry sees Louis step in his beginners cooking class for the first time, he’s surprised to say the least. Not only is Louis an Alpha, he’s probably the most attractive Alpha Harry has ever come across. The next five weeks are sure to be interesting.

just a little rush, babe by orphan_account

“You know everything they say about Dracula? All that stuff I wrote in my paper?” Niall asks as he rips one of the glazed donuts in half. Harry hums. “It’s all bullshit. Real vampires do tomato juice cleanses and do yoga. Fuck.”

Harry's a vampire who's awful at parallel parking, being scary, and being alone. He meets Niall walking home alone one night.

If It’s Not You, It’s Not Anyone by TheMipstaz // @nevergooutofstiles

In which Louis is the only omega in his pack, makes a mean fish finger butty, and is arse-over-tits in love with his four idiot alphas.

(Based on Prompt 710: Louis is the only omega in the band and the boys treat him like royalty. Featuring lots of overprotectiveness. Please add some heavy angst like maybe some illness/hurt/injury/accident/kidnapping…)

Read the Recipe by @LadyLondonerry // @londonfoginacup

Louis Tomlinson does not have to be good at baking. He is rich, and has people for that.

Or, to put it more specifically, he has a single person for that. A person named Harry Styles, who comes highly recommended.

love is a word, you gave it a name by CuckooTrooke // @larrydoinglaundry

After two decades in brutal show business, Louis Tomlinson is trying to restore his tranquility of mind in the peace of Northern Europe where the sun barely sets, Maria's bar is always open, and young Harry has an irresistible spark in his eyes.

The Cat Got That Got The Cream by onlyearsfool // @suesheroll

"I’m twenty eight, Louis. Twenty fucking eight and I'm still a virgin", Harry’s voice was muffled by the pillow he had hidden his face into.

Harry Styles, twenty eight year old part time supermodel, part time spokesperson for the Omega Models Employment Union and full time drama queen was currently plopped face down into his best friend Louis’ enormous bed as he bemoaned his sex life, or lack thereof.

Or the one where Louis helps Harry discover a few things about himself.

It Hurts my Hand to Hold the Rope by salem (guccisuit) // @harrys-grammy

Harry Styles is a very popular photographer living and working from London, UK in the year 2021. Other than his Labradoodle and Great Dane and those who force their way into his shell, he keeps himself too busy for friends or lovers. He's hardened, shut off a bit because of a past relationship that just can't seem to disappear from his life.

Liam Payne is a very popular musician based in Los Angeles. He's been through a lot and had to do it all alone while in the public eye. He writes mostly about his ex-love, speaks candidly about his struggles and sexuality and is currently ending his world tour for his second album in London, desperate to run into a familiar face.

Or in which Harry and Liam met when they were sixteen and dated for six years until Liam left Harry and their life in London to try and make it in the music business. It's nearly five years later and Liam's sort of stalking Harry but in the least weird way. Harry's over Liam and wishes he'd stay out of his life. Niall's Switzerland and Louis is loyal. Nouis own a pub and have families of their own. Harry owns two big dogs and his own photo studio. Liam just wants his old mates back.

closer than the sun (where it’s sweetest, under her thumb) by DaddyAlphaLouisBabyOmegaHarry // @bottomhaztoplou

She's not his husband tonight.

A Conversation Starter by fearsparks // @onlyforbravest 

“Who’s Harry?”

A good-looking man was standing a few feet away, towards the other end of the sofa, and he was looking at Harry.

“What?” Harry asked, confused.

“Your hat.” The man nodded at the cap Harry was wearing. “It says Harry’s your friend. So… who’s Harry?”

(Harry is taking a breather from shopping when a beautiful man approaches and starts asking about his cap.)

Where You’d Rather Be by @itsmotivatingcara 

Louis runs the best Canine Search and Rescue school in Augusta, Maine, one that trains dogs to track missing persons. He lives an idyllic life on Togus Pond where he's built his career from the ground up. He has everything he could ever want, a beautiful home, friends he adores and a dog that aids his students in their training. Romantic entanglements have never been high up on his list of priorities.

That is, until he stumbles across a body in the woods. A woman was brutally murdered and dumped on his doorstep. It doesn't help that the Detective on the case happens to be devilishly handsome and just the right amount of broody.

Detective Harry styles has a murder to solve, he's just gotten out of a long-term relationship and he's certainly not looking for another. Regardless of whether the man who run's the SAR unit's blue eyes sparkle with promise and a sense of belonging. Something he may or may not have been searching for all his life.

Or

Detective - Search and Rescue AU

Almost Misheard by @tommokat

“Also, here.” Harry reaches into the bag again and holds out… A box of toothpaste?

Louis slowly takes the box, recognizing his brand and preferred flavor plastered all over it. “Uh.”

“You also said you were almost out of toothpaste but kept forgetting to get more. And I needed more floss so I was already over in that aisle.”

“You didn’t have to do that, H.” How in the world did he luck out to have the best best friend in the whole world.

Feel The Heat Through Your Phone by @larry-hiatus

Harry's heat wasn't supposed to come in the middle of the night while his mate Louis was on a business trip. Now that it's here, Louis has to help him through it in the only way he can.

Kisses In December by directaddress

"His name is Ernie."

Harry looks over at him, nose scrunched slightly like he's confused. "What?" His voice is hoarse and as deep as ever. Something in Louis' gut feels tingly at the sound.

"My car. His name is Ernie."

"Oh," Harry mutters. A wave of awkward silence washes into the small space as Harry stares down at his lap. You can’t hate the guy that gives you a ride home in the rain, right? Maybe you can, especially considering the level of hate Harry has already reached. So Louis stays quiet, wondering absently how many car rides it would take to get a friendly hug. He estimates around twelve, at least.

OR the one where Louis gets in trouble with Zayn and they’re forced to join the volunteer club. Louis is immediately infatuated the cute guy signing his hour sheets, but Harry has zero patience for annoying jocks. Until that changes.

now you’re in my life (i can’t get you off my mind) by @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed

Harry loves romance.

In theory, anyway.

He loves the romantic movies, the careful brush of fingers against the back of a neck, the hand holding and the endless gazes. He loves the possibilities, the tension and the wonder. He loves the idea of falling in love, finding someone to come home to.

In reality, it’s a little different. Because as much as Harry loves the concept of dating, the reality sucks.

delicate by @fallinglikethis 

They say opposites attract.

Maybe that’s why nerdy, shy Harry Styles has such a huge crush on rough, brash Louis Tomlinson.

And now, he's stuck in a lift with him.

an honest mistake by @disgruntledkittenface

“You look different when you’re not covered in come,” he blurts out, immediately regretting each and every life choice that has led to this exact moment. Elevator Guy is going to hate him.

Louis has ridden the elevator with his neighbor all week. The first time they speak, there’s a misunderstanding.

wearing nothing but your kiss by @dinosaursmatefics

The lift stopped and Harry sighed, picking up the shopping bag and looking up. They weren’t at his floor; in fact, they were at no floor. The lift seemed to have lost power, the lights flickering off and he was plunged into the relative darkness of a dim emergency light.

“Great.” The man in the lift with Harry sighed, then quickly crossed the small space and pressed the alarm button to no response.

Harry watched him with dull curiosity before… shit. It was that guy! Something Tomlinson, and if Harry wasn’t mistaken, he’d just been nominated for an Oscar. He dropped the shopping bag to the floor, his palms sweating.

---

Harry gets stuck in a lift with that actor with the incredible arse and tries to remember how to function as a human being.

nothing even matters (as long you’re mine) by cinnamons

“Nothing?” Harry can’t help the dry chuckle, running his free hand through his short, wavy hair, messing up his anteriorly perfectly styled locks. “I don’t think grinding on strangers is nothing.” His low, hoarse voice reverberates throughout the empty bathroom and he notes the slight shiver that courses through Louis’ body. The boy fidgets in place and squeezes his thighs together.

Or the one where Harry gets extremely possessive.

right now i can’t see straight by @lh-home

Just as Zayn is about to back away through her open door, the woman opens her eyes and looks right into hers, freezing Zayn into place. Cheeks flushed, she stumbles back into her apartment and closes her door, but not before the woman winks at her. Sitting on the floor of the barely furnished studio, Zayn tries to calm her heartbeat as well as ignore the growing feeling of arousal. The only thing assuaging her guilt is the fact that apparently the women did not mind being watched.

Zayn has some interesting neighbours in her new building.

The Air From My Lungs by kikiberoski16

“Please… Louis, please, help me,” Harry whispered. Begging was even more embarrassing, but he couldn’t endure it anymore.

Louis hummed. “Help with what?”

‘I don’t know.’

“Why are you shaking so much?”

‘I don’t know.’

“And why are you getting so hard?”

Or, Harry doesn't like to take showers in public for reasons he isn't willing to share, until Louis, the hot football captain, rocks his whole world.

I Feel Good About This by @musketrois

“I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it again, but I understand if you don’t want to be with me. I have a lot of complicated baggage going on that is hard to handle. But you asked me to take a chance what seems like a lifetime ago and I’m not done taking chances. I feel good about this…I feel good about us.”

or

Louis and Harry have the hard relationship conversations.

I’ll Find a Home Inside Your Heart by pleasinglouis // @softloulove

In awe Louis stared up at him, his eyes wide and his lips parted. “I don’t usually make it a habit to go on dates with my clients,” he breathed.

Harry grinned, his touch light as he carefully swept a strand of hair out of Louis’ eyes. “Make an exception for me?” He asked cheekily, chuckling when Louis rolled his eyes.

“Well, since you asked so nicely,” Louis snorted and let Harry link their fingers together where they rested on the countertop. Finally, a shy smile crept onto those pretty pink lips of his and with his hands on his hips, Louis jut his chin out. “Are you gonna kiss me or what?”

Of course, Harry didn’t need to be asked twice.

.

.

Aka the Silver Foxrry fic

Good Night by @neondiamond

Harry and Louis’ three year old daughter is afraid of the monster she claims lives under her bed. When she comes into their bedroom and interrupts their alone time for what feels like the hundredth time, Louis finally takes matters into his own hands.

Virginia is for Lovers by @haztobegood

Harry and Niall go hiking in the Appalachian Mountains.

Soup, Sun and Sun Salutations by @littleroverlouis

Louis is bribed with the promise of brownies to spend the summer solstice with Harry in his backyard.

Between the special ingredient taking effect and Harry dancing in the sunshine, Louis is overwhelmed in the best way.

Beautiful War by @itsmotivatingcara

Five years ago, Louis was nearly the next victim in a string of murders plaguing Portland, Oregon. He managed to escape and the Angel Killer was apprehended and sent to prison. Now, Louis' a best-selling author that assists state police with minor cases. He still suffers from the events of the days he'd been held hostage, but he's found ways to cope.

That is, until the killings start up again. A body was found in the woods. A body that bared the same signature the media had dubbed: The Angel of Death.

Special Agent Harry Styles leads the case, and he doesn't buy into the clairvoyant bullshit that Louis spewed to save face five years ago. He's certain that Louis Tomlinson was involved.

Until they meet, and they're both left questioning everything they'd thought to be true.

Or

An FBI-Clairvoyant AU

All The Small Things by @restless-rebels​

Louis finally looked up, staring at the same boy from the laundry room, his hair dry and soft looking, a short quiff at the top of his head. “Hey, uh, Liam, right?”

The tall alpha nodded. “Not a problem, Louis?” The omega nodded. “Is your wrist okay?” Before Louis could answer, he felt a rush of calm wash over him, as though he took a shot of whiskey. He watched as Liam closed his eyes and smiled.

Louis cleared his throat, having forgotten for a second that he had even fallen. “I think so. I didn’t put all of my weight on it, at least I don’t think I did. I’m sure Harry will insist on wrapping it when we get upstairs either way.”

“Good, that’s good.” They stood there awkwardly, Liam’s hands still holding Louis’s arm, both just staring, neither saying anything.

Bluebirds Fly by @lh-home

Orville would laugh at the cheeky brat for that if he weren't so turned on by it. The words go right to Orville’s dick and he finally lets go of his cock as Harry leans over him to open the drawer in the vanity behind him, deliberately leaning his chest near Orville’s mouth. As Orville reaches up to grab at Harry’s breasts, Harry pulls back with a bottle of lube and some condoms in his hand. It’s Orville’s turn to scowl, holding his mask’s fringe to the left dramatically as he does. He knows he looks scary, but the teasing brat just giggles and pokes his tongue out. “Now, cowboy, no touching these goods right now or we’ll never get to anything else.”

Orville gets railed by his little bluebird on Harryween.

True As It Can Be by cherrylarry // @beelou

“Come into the light,” Harry requests. There’s hesitation but then the figure steps into the moon’s spotlight and Harry gasps.

The beast, for lack of a better descriptor, is tall; large and imposing. Blazing, intense blue eyes glare at her, and Harry isn’t usually that good at reading people, but it’s like she’s staring into the pained soul of this creature that is more human than Harry had originally thought upon seeing her.

At last, large paws with sharp claws pull down the lever to open the metal doors that trap Harry’s mother and Harry reaches for her immediately, pulling her into a hug and whispers into her hair, “I will escape, I promise.”

With that, the beast tears her mother from her arms and practically drags her down the stairs, not forgetting to close the cell on the way out.

a Beauty and the Beast au, but make it girl direction

Lost & Found In Oblivion by @thinlinez

Everything wasn’t at all like he had planned. He was supposed to answer the door calmly and coolly, like a proper experienced adult dressed in protective hoodie and joggers. Not like this. But this was what he had and he had no choice but to roll with it.

“I fucking paid for this, didn’t I?” Louis muttered to himself and took a huge inhale.

OR Omega Louis decided to hire an alpha for his heat to ease his touch deprivation, but little did he know everything would grow into so much more.

Watermelon! by cherrylarry // @beelou​ 

"Veggies and dip, strawberries, grapes, apples," he mumbled, pointing at everything as he said it. "What am I missing?"

Arms wrapped around his waist and Louis rested his head on Harry's shoulder from behind. He kissed Harry's cheek and rubbed his hands over Harry's growing pregnant belly gently.

"Why are you making your disgruntled kitten face?"

"Something's missing from the spread and I can't figure out what it is."

[meekmedea]

the family tree extends

~~~~~~

deleted scene(s) from assassin x family ch 10

Medea references this to Grant in the library

~~~~~

“Tell me, dear child, how is your mother doing?” asks Mother Soul as they wandered the halls of her abode together. “It's been so long.”

Medea was bewildered at the question – when had her great-grandmother met Sheila? But before she could ask, Mara cut in. “My mother isn’t with us.”

`

“Pardon?” She swivelled to look at Damian. “But Talia– did you not call her your mother?”

“Mara and Medea are my cousins,” says Damian. 

“But we’re practically siblings considering our upbringing.”

`

“I see.” Mother Soul nodded in understanding, yet Medea found herself worrying for some reason. “But then…” She mutters under her breath, something about Nyssa before the woman seemed to realize just who Mara and Medea claimed their blood ties from. “You’re his daughter?” The woman recoiled from Mara, horrified. “And you too?” she glanced at Medea with none of the kindness that she had earlier. 

`

Damian and Mara took a step back, worried at the abrupt change in behaviour. 

Her eyes gleamed with a madness that hadn’t been there before.  

`

Before Medea could say –or do –anything, a dagger appeared in Mother Soul’s hands. 

It had a target, one that was much too stunned to move. So Medea didn’t think, she reacted. Her siblings watched in frozen horror as the blade plunged into flesh.

Someone screamed in the background, and Medea wasn’t sure whether it was out of fury or fear.

~~~~~~~

“I see you’ve met your great-grandmother, wonderful woman, isn’t she?” says Dusan glibly, as he bandaged her arm. 

“...yes,” says Medea faintly, still trying to reconcile her father to the whirlwind of destruction earlier. He’s a lot calmer now, even if his eyes glow that ominous red. 

`

Upon finding out she and the gremlins had gone to Lazarus Island, Dusan had immediately commandeered a boat alongside Nyssa to follow. Talia hadn’t understood the fuss, telling Ra’s so, but seeing the way that he had snapped to attention, Talia instantly understood that something was wrong. 

Though arriving a little later than Dusan and Nyssa, her grandfather arrived just on time. Ra’s had been the only one able to snap Dusan out of his rage.

~~~~~~

“She was going to kill my daughter!” snarled Dusan. “Father–” His fury was a sight to behold at Mother Soul’s comment about Medea. “I will kill you from where you stand, hag.”

“If you see me as your father, drop that sword. Now.”

“Why do you continue to protect her? She’s killed me– tried to do the same to Nyssa and now to my children. When will you–”

“Enough!” thunders Ra’s. “Do not speak of things you don’t know of.” He stalked his way to Dusan and instead of striking out at him as Dusan expected, he looked tired beyond his years. 

`

“Father?” he whispers, confused at his behaviour. 

“Go, my son. Tend to your children, I will join you shortly.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Mother, you have gone too far,” he says quietly. 

“Too far?” Mother Soul sneered. “Or am I just doing what you cannot?” He stared at her with an expression akin to pity, she hated it. For she had no reason to be pitied. He did, because her son was foolish and weak. Allowing that abomination to live and create more abominations. 

`

“Each time we meet, I recognize you less,” said Ra’s at long last. “You’ve forced my hand this time.”

“Your hand?” She didn’t like where this was going. Never once had her son dared to– 

“That draught you drank, I think you’d be pleased to know Medea helped me develop it. I suppose it’s only fitting–”

“What have you done?” she demands, heart racing at the possible implication. 

`

He gave her a bland smile. “Science is quite advanced these days.” Ra’s took one last look at the woman he once called his mother. “Farewell.” He turned, blocking out her pleas for him to stay, to save her. 

She had crossed a line. Long before Medea or any of his grandchildren were born. He’d been unable unwilling to cross the same line as her.

He’d kept saying one more chance then. One last chance. Perhaps she could change. But today his eyes had finally opened to the truth. She would never change. And if she succeeded, he’d lose a lot more than a child. 

[drxwsyni]

Petrified (pt.5)

Yandere Erasermic x f!Reader

SERIES MASTERLIST

a/n: idk what to say about this part. the dialogue wasn’t fun, but that’s about it! hope y’all enjoy!

5.9k words

Warnings: reader experiences anxiety

Realistically speaking, there was a very low chance that you’d be able to wrestle your nerves under control as you waited for the impending meeting. It was creeping upon you, quite painfully slowly. On top of that you still had yet to resolve the almost instantaneous sensation of despair you felt upon waking.

Even as you spent the time you had to yourself completing menial tasks, nothing could truly remedy the feelings that plagued your being. It was incessant. Eating away at your will to distract yourself. And eventually you did succumb to its pestering.

No matter what you occupied yourself with, the reality of the approaching situation would invade your thoughts. It would keep you there until you mentally fought tooth and nail against it. But even then it wasn’t enough. It simply became easier to settle with the mindset.

You opted to lay on your thrifted couch, toying with the soft tussles on the blanket that was draped over your lower half. The connection of the fabric running across your fingers to how it actually felt wasn’t something your brain was choosing to register at the moment.

Rather, you simply stewed on your conflict.

It felt like you did this a lot nowadays. Brewing over muddled thoughts that didn’t entirely make sense but also did at the same time.

You trusted Shouta and Hizashi. Yet there was always an inkling of suspicion―or perhaps it was moreso a fear. Probably both, you assumed. What you wouldn’t give to have this whole reality be erased from existence. To never have met the two. Never have gotten preyed on by some lowly criminals that made you so indebted.

But that wasn’t something you could control. Much like you couldn’t seem to control the extent of the impact the heroes were having on your life. That was something they preferred to dictate, regardless of your protests.

Not that you protested all that much. To be fair, you hadn’t exactly been assertive with your wishes. Still, that doesn’t mean your few opinions should be as disregarded as they were.

It angered you more than anything. Shouta wouldn’t give you the chance to speak your mind while Hizashi glazed over the problem with a delusional sense of care. With their combined insistence it was more than enough to force you back into your shell. A place where no matter how upset you were, the courage to speak your mind was next to impossible.

If you didn’t know any better you would think that they were just as aware of this as you. After all, they seemed to be exploiting your weaknesses more and more. Maybe they did know you quite literally feared their methods of approach and were doing it just to see your pitiful reactions.

It would be cruel, and highly unlikely. But your mind had a habit of coming up with the worse case scenario, and this idea was no exception.

You were so wrapped up in contemplating the meaning for their behaviour and subsequently how you felt because of it that the time passing at an alarming rate didn’t even phase you.

No, not until the sound of your phone pinging―an alert for received text messages―were you finally pulled out of your stupor.

From: Shouta

Are you still okay with being picked up at 5:30?

4:32 pm

The time on the receipts made your heart drop a little. An hour left.

You:

That’s fine :)

4:33 pm

From: Shouta

Let me know if you need more time.

4:33 pm

You:

Will do, thanks!

4:34 pm

Of course you didn’t need more time to meddle with your own thoughts.

How exactly were you supposed to get ready to spend time with them? You couldn’t make anything to bring, something they made clear. Were you supposed to wear something casual? Or maybe dressing up a little was the better option.

None of these details really mattered, but overthinking was one of the things you were best at. So at each decision you came across you muddled over what to do. When all was said and done, you chose to settle with a navy blouse and black high waisted jeans. Dark colours were best for not drawing attention to yourself after all, and that was exactly what you wanted to do.

The rest of the routine to prepare for your slowly ensuing departure from the comfort of your apartment was done on autopilot. Any actions couldn’t be fully processed when your mind was drowning in nonsensical worries and ‘what if’ scenarios. The phenomenon wasn’t surprising, but still mentally taxing nonetheless. Nothing you could think or do would make you feel better. This was just something you would have to push through regardless of the voice in your head urging you to make up an excuse not to go.

After all, excuses now would only postpone the inevitable. And right now the inevitable was already here.

From: Shouta

I’m outside.

5:29 pm

You’d been ready for the past fifteen minutes―spending your remaining time anxiously waiting at the kitchen table. You regarded the text with a feeling of dread, but pushed the sensation down as you pulled on your shoes and jacket, stuffing your wallet in a pocket.

Just as he said, Shouta was waiting outside the apartment complex in the parking lot. He was leaning against the side of his car, eyes trained on his phone. Dressed in casual clothes with his hair pulled back into a half bun, he lifted his head upon hearing your approaching footsteps.

You watched as his eyes briefly scanned your form, presumably taking in your choice of clothing. “Ready to go?”

He didn’t exactly sound bored with the pseudo-greeting, rather it was a ‘let’s move this along’ kind of sound. It made you question for a moment whether he actually cared about the situation, but you disregarded the idea. “Of course.” Out of habit you offered a warm smile, which made his face lighten slightly in return. Even that alone was comforting compared to his normally serious facade.

Shouta opened the passenger door for you, letting you step in before closing it. He rounded the car and entered on the drivers side while you fastened your seatbelt, hands shaking ever so slightly. It was in your best interest to keep your nerves under control as much as possible, lest one of the two men pick up on it and become more concerned.

The car started with a low hum, the interior dashboard lighting up in areas that were blacked out before. The radio was playing quietly, allowing you to just barely register the soft rock music being emitted from the speakers. Shouta was the first to break the silence as he began driving.

“So, how was work yesterday?”

Small talk, thank god.

It would probably be a good idea to disregard the normal strain it put on your body. “It was good, like any other Friday I guess.”

The erasure hero nodded slightly before replying, “Anyone giving you trouble?” His eyes never left the road as he spoke, which you were thankful for, but it also made his expression hard to read from where you were sitting.

“I suppose a few people were a little impatient, but it’s nothing I haven’t dealt with before.”

To that he only offered a hum in response before moving to turn the radio up. By now there was a segment between the hosts, and you gratefully let it fill the silence if it meant you could avoid any awkward bits of forced conversation.

You found out regrettably that his home wasn’t too far from your apartment. Perhaps roughly ten minutes there by car, and you were already pulling up to the settlement.

It was comfortably small, set in a neighbourhood with houses of a similar size. You could tell that it was a pricy abode, evident in the elaborately carved wooden doors and smooth stone walkway. Everything exuded luxury, and you expected to find the same quality of handiwork on the inside. Not only that, but it was placed comfortably in the midst of the city―not close enough to any normal bustling life but in an area that would allow for a fast commute. Just another aspect that alluded to it’s likely expensive cost.

Shouta pulled into the driveway, parking the car inside the garage which was surprisingly big enough to fit the automobile. You stepped out as soon as the car door unlocked, the erasure hero following suit. The sound of the doors slamming shut echoed off the walls loudly, causing you to jump a little with your nerves already being on edge. Silently, you prayed he had yet to pick up on your behaviour.

“S’just through here.” Shouta gestured to the only door in the room before heading towards it, one hand shoved in his pocket. He held it open in wait for you to round the car and step through the threshold.

Instantly your senses were flooded with a smell that was so indisputably welcoming―a certain warmth, enhanced by the aroma of a home cooked meal in the making. It was wildly calming, and in that moment you forgot how stressed you’d been over the ordeal you were about to sit through. And yet, even as you came back to reality, the atmosphere continued to still your worries to a certain extent.

“We’re home.” The erasure hero’s voice sounded off behind you, causing you to turn to see that he was removing his jacket. You did the same, but before you could ask where to hang it Shouta had already gently removed the article from your hands, placing it on a hanger in the front entrance closet.

As you were removing your shoes a certain voice hero made himself known. “I’m just in the kitchen, grub’s almost done and cooked!”

Once the two of you had finished up getting comfortable, Shouta led the way deeper into the house. Following him, you finally laid eyes on his partner who was preoccupied at the stove. He glanced over his shoulder, face turning bright upon seeing you.

“Songbird? How’ve ya been?” He talked like he hadn’t seen you in forever, but that was no surprise.

What did come as a surprise was the suffocatingly tight hug he went on to wrap you in. The contact was jarring, but you did your best not to recoil. After all, you would be lying if you said the hug wasn’t at least a little nice. Sure, your mind had momentarily ceased it’s functioning from the shock, but biology did have its ways of easing your pain. Namely, in the form of that sweet release of serotonin as an innate response to the affection. Leaning into it to prove you weren’t too bothered by the close proximity, you responded. “Ah―fine. The same as last time you saw me I guess.”

The blond pulled away, opting to hold you by the shoulders as he spoke. “That head feelin’ okay? Your meds workin’?” The look in his eyes told you how concerned he was, even though the soft tone in his voice did more than enough to convey it. It was one of the few times it carried such delicacy to it, something you were grateful for as you don’t think the normal booming of his voice would’ve been tolerable from such a distance.

You smiled warmly, doing your best to maintain eye contact―and failing after a few seconds. “Yep, everything's back to normal, pretty much…”

That’s what you said, but it wasn’t the truth.

The reality of your health was something you normally chose to disregard, but you knew it wasn’t normal. At the end of the day, your normal was likely another person's hell. The exhaustion you felt was second nature, but that didn’t mean it was easy to deal with. However, putting up with the sensation was worth what you got out of it. So you kept going―kept lying―both to yourself and others that you were okay.

The pause Hizashi gave before answering instilled a brief pang of anxiety. The two were unbearably perceptive―they had to be, being heroes and all. But whatever he was thinking seemed to pass. “Good ta hear, why don'tcha make yourself comfortable while we finish up sweetheart.”

You glanced over to the stovetop, then to the countertop that was adorned with wayward vegetables and measuring cups. Naturally, you couldn’t help but offer assistance. “Oh, I don’t mind helping out. If you want I could―”

“Nah listener! Go get comfy, ‘Shou and I’ve got this.” He gave your shoulder a few reassuring pats, before motioning to the living room with his other hand.

As he gave you a gentle push, you managed to sputter out a response. “Um―okay, then…” Was it a strong response? No. But they weren’t giving you time to come up with something more polite. So you took Hizashi’s queue and padded over to the living room.

The first thing you noticed when you stepped into the expanse was how...empty it was. It had furniture―more than enough to fill the room. All of it looking high in value, only adding to the comfort and prestige of their home. That wasn’t the issue. It was the lack of personal items that stood out.

There were none of the items that you would expect in a well lived in home. Things like photos or framed degrees on the wall―nothing to suggest that either of the two heroes stayed there. Not so much as a haphazardly discarded personal belonging like a sweater or even a stray coffee mug was in sight. It was immaculately devoid of unique human presence. The only thing that served as evidence to suggest someone was actually living there and it wasn’t more so a showroom was the laptop on the coffee table in front of the couch.

But that was it. Peculiar, to say the least.

There was quite literally nothing else for you to evaluate. Nothing to help you get a better sense of who the heroes were behind closed doors. With the lack of stimulation came an awkward feeling of self awareness. So you did what the blond instructed―you made yourself comfortable.

The couch looked invitingly cushiony, so there you took up residence, pulling out your phone for the distraction of social media. You had your back to Shouta and Hizashi who were still in the kitchen. That particular detail mildly unsettled you, and you did your best not to let the paranoia induced urge to keep looking over your shoulder get to you.

With the comfort of the temporary seclusion you concluded that while they might be taking your presence to make up for the burden you’ve placed on them, you were paying an equal amount with your sanity. They couldn’t have seen how much their existence in your life as of late was displacing your will to remain calm. If they did then you were sure the heroes in them wouldn’t have suggested this meeting.

They were getting too personal, and all you could think about was never having to see them again after tonight.

Regrettably, the sound of clinking metal pulled you out of your thoughts. Behind you Shouta had begun setting the dining table, placing down cutlery along with napkins. Part of you knew that your offer of assistance would be shot down. It was all routine at this point, and you’d honestly lost track of the amount of times it had happened.

You inwardly cursed yourself for causing unnecessary anxiety, “I can help with that, if you want.” The ‘if you want’ came out unintentionally, your subconscious knowing what was about to happen.

Shouta glanced up at you, “That’s fine (y/n), you can just take a seat.” He went back to what he was doing without another word, before heading back to the kitchen.

It wasn’t even worth putting up resistance over.

Standing up, you walked over to the dining room, claiming the spot next to the head of the table. Not a moment later and the two were walking out with various bowls which appeared to be steaming.

“Hope you’re hungry sunshine! Dinner’s comin’ in hot” Hizashi set down a bowl in front of you.

“It’s beef stew, hope you don’t mind.” The erasure hero sat down at the head of the table. His partner left the room, only to return with a tray of golden dinner rolls.

“Homemade and fresh outta the oven!” He set the tray down in the middle of the table, taking a seat across from you.

You looked down at the food displayed before you. Frankly, it looked absolutely delectable. “This looks really good, you must’ve been at it for a while.”

Shouta had already begun eating so you assumed it was safe for you to do the same. Lo and behold, the food tasted just as good as it looked. The perfect ratio of vegetables to meat, seasoned to perfection. It was impressive, to say the least.

“Yeah it did take a bit, but it’s worth it for you songbird!”

You were almost too distracted by the mouth watering meal that was gracing your tastebuds to care about his pet names. And even if you did care, the hospitality would help in overlooking it. Thankfully your nerves had calmed down a bit, part of you thinking that you were growing used to their presence ever so slightly.

As you ate, the two took it upon themselves to make idle discussion to fill the silence, Hizashi always doing more of the talking than his counterpart. You did the listening, as they were dealing with topics beyond you. Namely hero work, its details something that you couldn’t quite relate to, let alone offer something valuable to the conversation. You weren’t complaining either―it was easier to let them go on than it was to worry yourself over trying to find something interesting to say.

It would’ve been nice if things could’ve stayed like that. The mood was something you could tolerate at the moment, an occurrence that was rare when you were around the two men. But of course something so ideal as that would never last.

Soon enough their back and forth discourse began heading exactly where you hoped they would avoid tonight.

Hizashi was on the subject of a few unsavoury criminals that had been active in the area. Nothing too serious, but still posing a large enough threat to those who were less capable of defending themselves.

And then he started talking about the area you were walking through when you just so happened to get cornered by similarly dangerous individuals.

At that point you were a little over halfway done eating, and desperately wishing to quickly move from the subject if not just drop it entirely. But no, Hizashi was intent on remaining on the topic.

“Ya know, a few buddies of mine have been dealing with some trouble in that area.” With his mouth half full, he continued. “Sure you gotta work so late? Can’t imagine walkin’ home at that time is very safe.”

You’d lost your appetite.

“Yeah, they need me to cover the later shifts, and I don’t really mind it, so…”

Shouta seemed to be more interested in the discussion now that you were involved. “Still, you should try and switch to morning shifts.”

“Mm―not only that but ya can’t just go exploring a bunch of alleyways. Shit’s bound to happen there hun.” The blond had set his food aside and was more than happy to indulge himself further in telling you what to do.

Did they really think you were so dense that you’d be going down alleyways just to explore?

You placed your spoon in the almost empty bowl, bringing your hands to rest on your lap. At least like that they wouldn’t be able to see you trying to relieve some stress by repetitively fidgeting with the end of your sleeve or digging your nails into the palms of your hands.

“I was taking a shortcut. That’s not something I would normally do.” There was a certain feeling of spite in your voice, but you doubt they could register it. Rather you probably simply sounded displeased to be talking about that night, mixed with a hint of shame for letting yourself get attacked like that.

“If that’s the case then I’d advise you take the long way. You’re just putting yourself at a higher risk by going down that path.” Shouta was taking a sip of his drink as the two let you process their advice. He didn’t seem to like the idea of you ‘putting yourself at risk,’ judging by the almost disappointed tone in his voice.

It was hard for you to meet their eyes as they spoke, so instead you alternated between staring at the table while looking at them for a brief second to prove that yes, you were listening to them.

However you did watch as Hizashi moved to fold his hands atop the table, leaning forward slightly. He paused, likely gathering his thoughts. “And, ah...somethin’s been sorta bothering Shou’ and I for a bit.” The two men eyed each other for a moment, “It’s just...the doctor never said what was quite wrong with ya, being so tired and all.”

The heroes were looking intently at you for an answer, causing you to mentally recoil from the unwanted attention. But you still had to come up with something to influence them into moving on to something that didn’t directly relate to your wellbeing. “Oh...well it was the end of the week I guess. That probably explains it…” You were curious to see if the answer was satisfactory, but upon looking up a little more to judge their reactions you found that oh no, that was most definitely not enough.

They didn’t look convinced in the slightest. You weren’t lying to them, just omitting most of the truth. And somehow it felt like they knew you were doing so―your suspicions being quickly confirmed.

“You passed out, (y/n). Your records don’t list any medical problems so there should be no reason your shifts cause you that much exhaustion.”

You had no doubt Shouta was boring holes into your skull with the unmatched intense look he was likely giving you. The wavering amounts of courage you held only allowed you to observe him from the shoulders down. He’d leaned back in his chair at this point, one hand in his lap while the other rested on the table.

They didn’t have the right to be so invasive with your personal life. They were heroes. They saved people and then they were supposed to move on.

Not access their medical history without their permission to see if they were being completely honest.

As if sensing your growing uncomfortableness, Hizashi piped up. “We’re just worried about ya sweetheart. Stuff like that doesn’t just happen outta the blue. And if somethin’ really is wrong then you gotta tell us.”

You could almost drown in the concern blanketing his words and tone. It was conflicting―you knew he was being genuine, and that the two were just that invested in your wellbeing at the moment. But that’s what scared you.

The attention was entirely unwelcome. How many times did you have to reassure them that you were handling things before they let it go?

Self-awareness was haunting you, knowing full well how you were going to be unable to control the shakiness in your voice. Even less so was the hold you had over the stirring of worrisome emotions brewing inside you. You knew skirting around the truth was better than telling them you used your quirk at work. They would probably get mad at you―the reality wasn’t a conventionally accepted thing.

“I think..I’m just a naturally tired person. And those guys freaked me out a bit, so...I don’t know. I guess it was just a combination of those things?”

You waited in heavy silence for a response. For once it seemed that they were thinking before they spoke. Hizashi especially liked to say whatever came to mind, at least that’s what you thought. Shouta wasn’t as impulsive, but he never hesitated this long. And so when he finally spoke, you weren’t sure whether to be relieved due to the occurrence or not―given what he said.

“If you think we believe that excuse for a second then you're very wrong, (y/n). You might be tired, but we know there’s more to it than that. It’d be much easier if you’d just cooperate with us.”

Looking up was a bad idea, but your head moved on its own. While Shouta looked as menacing as ever, his partner looked...nervous. You’d never seen him that way, like he was suffering just as much as you were. Perhaps it was a side effect of this irrational concern he felt, realistically you didn’t care. But the feeling transferred to you and slowly the pit in your stomach grew bigger and bigger with each passing second. You weren’t sure how much longer you’d be able to hold out.

“Please just tell us the truth, songbird. You’re not in trouble, we promise. It’s just―we can tell there’s somethin’ off with ya.” If your hands were on the table you wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to hold them, knowing of his tendencies.

You looked back and forth between the two, eyes silently pleading for them to just drop it altogether.

Of course, you knew they wouldn’t.

Maybe you should just run while you had the chance?

“R-really, I’m okay. Listen, dinner was...really good, but I think I should be going n―”

“You’re not leaving.”

The erasure hero was in no mood to put up with you dancing around the topic at hand anymore. He brought you here to find out what the fuck was going on with you and he’d be damned if you just denied them that truth any longer. Hizashi had no complaints―maybe wincing at his partner’s harshness a little, but otherwise was in it just as much as him.

The blond could bring the tension down a little though, mostly for your sake. “Are ya not gettin’ enough sleep? Shou’ knows a pretty good doctor that helps with that kinda thing if that’s the problem. We just wanna make sure you’re being safe is all, sunshine.”

Really? Because this feels more like an interrogation than a friendly discussion over your habits.

Perhaps it would be better to just cut your losses and tell them. You didn’t want to, if they deemed fit they could be the reason you lose your job. Your boss didn’t know that you used your quirk―nobody did. It was how you stayed ahead of everyone else. Technically it was like cheating, having such a big advantage over your coworkers in your line of work. But where was the harm? You were making people happy, there’s nothing wrong with that.

But just like before you left your apartment to be accompanied to their house, your mind decided it was a perfectly fine and healthy idea to come up with countless ‘what ifs.’ One of which included the possibility that yes, you would be fired for this small transgression. Even though it was unlikely, it still plagued your mind with dread. The shop was where you got validation―a place where you knew you were doing something right. You didn’t want it taken away from you.

But you had to tell them. They were waiting. There was no way out of this.

“M-my quirk…”

How were you supposed to explain this?

“What about your quirk?” Shouta was not giving you any room to weasel your way out of this.

Your eyes remained trained on the abandoned dinner in front of you. “I use it...at work, sometimes. It just makes me a little tired I guess.”

The erasure hero didn’t give his counterpart the chance to ruin the moment, knowing you were susceptible to revealing more information with another push. “Only sometimes?”

God, it felt like you were being shamed for what you did.

“A lot...I use it a lot.” Admitting it felt hard even though you were more than aware of your behaviour. It was their reaction that made the task so difficult.

“What’s your quirk, sweetheart?”

You looked at your hands―the tools that made the fruits of your labour possible. “I...um―it’s called Nurture. I can sort of...put life back into plants? It just makes them healthier, but doing it puts strain on my body. Makes me a bit sleepy, but it isn’t usually that bad…”

Shouta gave a quiet hum in response before continuing, sitting up in his chair a bit. “Well―I wouldn’t call that a bit. No point in trying to downplay it now, just be honest.”

It was probably supposed to sound lightly encouraging, but he sounded more like he was making a demand.

A demand in which you had no choice but to meet.

“Okay...it can be a little much sometimes. B-but Friday was the exception, I had to use it a lot the night before so...the exhaustion just caught up with me.” You left out the part where the emotional response from being cornered was likely a bigger problem than the sorry state your general physique was in.

Hizashi sighed, and it would appear that the two were relieved to finally get the explanation they were looking for. You however were not in the same state. You were vulnerable, and inwardly you prayed they would leave well enough alone.

The erasure hero took a sip of his drink, and you caught the men exchanging glances before the blond spoke up. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

You didn’t respond. Just kept staring at your hands.

“What you’re doing isn’t illegal or anything, but it’s still not something you should be doing. I’m sure you know what could happen to your career if this kind of information got out.”

At that your eyes shot up, looking desperately in Shouta’s direction. “Please don’t tell my boss. He doesn’t know, and I’m not hurting anyone by using it. Please just―I don’t know what I’d do without my job.” You glanced back to Hizashi, looking like your words were hurting him as well.

“I don’t know (y/n), you’re not exactly being responsible with your quirk. Just because you’re not hurting anyone else doesn’t mean it’s safe to disregard your own health.” Shouta must enjoy judging you when you were at your lowest, seeing as he tended to do it an awful lot.

Just when you thought this night couldn’t get any worse, it did. It got so much worse.

You weren’t able to form a rebuttal, but it didn’t matter when Hizashi beat you to it. “Listen, we don’t want to do that songbird, honestly. How ‘bout we make another deal instead…”

What in god’s name could they want from you.

“W-what kind of deal?” How you wished they’d just let you walk free, unburdened by their presence like you planned on before coming here. It’s like they wanted to watch you squirm uncomfortably with anticipation.

Finally the blond continued. “Simple. Ya try not to use your quirk as much and we don’t tell management!”

Shouta added his take, “And you have to keep coming over for dinner so we can make sure you’re holding up your end. It’s a fair proposition. Take it or leave it.”

It was unbelievable. Of course you didn’t want to comply―they were blackmailing you for christ’s sake. But one problem did stand out, “What are you guys getting out of this? I―I’m just not quite sure I understand.”

The erasure hero sighed, “Call it peace of mind―lets us know you're not on the verge of death while enjoying your company at the same time.”

Clearly they couldn’t see how much you weren’t enjoying their company. Or maybe they did and simply didn’t care. How they thought this was a fair deal was beyond you, and it didn’t exactly matter either way.

You didn’t want to admit it―to agree to their ‘deal,’ but you had no choice. They’d effectively cornered you. At this point you could only hope they would get bored enough of your presence to eventually call it off. You wouldn’t be able to stop using your quirk, it would break your heart not to. You got so much out of using it―emotionally at least.

They might not know if you were lying now if you agreed to it, but having to see them again wouldn’t be good news. Was it that obvious what your quirk did to your health? Honestly speaking, you’d never really evaluated whether or not you looked worse for wear. All this time you just acted without thinking of the effects. Perhaps there was physical evidence―but it was something you would have to evaluate later.

Not that you personally cared whether or not you actually looked tired. There was always makeup for that if you were feeling self-conscious. Mostly, you needed to see what you had to do to fool them into thinking you were complying.

At least they were patient when it came to this response, and eventually you did manage to give one. With great reluctance, you spoke. “I guess...if that’s what you want. But I―”

“Then it’s settled! We can keep meetin’ up like this every Saturday from now on!” Hizashi was positively beaming at the prospect, you however were not as excited.

Every fucking Saturday?

The thought of having to experience the same god awful stress made your heart sink. They should be sick of seeing your face by now. All you’ve done for them was place an immense burden, both on their wallets and apparently their minds as well. It didn’t matter if they were worried about you―they would have to get over it.

You would play along for now, mostly for the sake of your sanity.

It was simple. You just had to convince them that you were keeping up your end of the deal. It wasn’t impossible. You would be fine.

Shouta stood up from his chair, muttering an “Alright, then” as he did so. You watched almost helplessly as he began gathering the bowls and glasses off the table, stacking them in a neat pile.

You would've offered to help, but they’d already taken enough from you tonight. Realistically, you doubted it was even possible to form a coherent sentence. Your mind was too muddled with what was currently an inescapable despair, alongside of a slowly kindling detestment for the two men.

The audacity they held to put you in such a position would be impressive if it weren’t also mildly disturbing at the same time. For heroes, they seemed wildly unaware of how oppressive their behaviour was.

For the time being you were under their every whim and command. It wasn’t ideal, but it was something you would have to put up with.

Just enough for them to see you were okay. That you were capable of functioning even when your quirk posed certain unpleasant obstacles.

And in your mind of calculating escapes, you just barely registered that the two had gone back to their discussion of life events that you’d never come close to relating to. Hizashi still being the more dominant, relaxed as his partner cleaned the dining table.

The clock ticking away on the wall read 5:57 pm. You wondered how much longer they’d keep you here, seeing as they never made a point to ask you what you were comfortable with anyways―probably planning on doing the same with when they thought you should be free to go for the night.

End of Part 5

_____

taglist: @roseloverofpastels @shinsous-eye-bags @tjhonoluluprezstitch626 @pekusofixus @riarora @glitterypinkkitty @elektraeriseros @hadesnewpersephone @axolotleyeliner

[rhabakoli]

The Silk Thing

smut. 18+. I’m planning to leave you all hot an wanting so beware.  This takes place after @dreamwritesimagines​‘ last (i think) chapter of Beautiful & Damned, which you can find on her blog, her masterlist, etc. 

thanks to @riviawitch3r​ for proofing and not virtually punching me when my writing was.. meh. thanks, man, appreciate it. 

His hands on her were warm, even with the leather gloves on. She could still feel it seep into her skin, could feel how it affected her. Goosebumps broke out shivers wracking through her body obvious even to someone without the heightened senses of a Witcher. She grimaced at her body's reaction, wished she could have hidden it better, but Geralt didn’t comment. 

Instead he backed away, cleared his throat. 

“You can get up now, Princess.” He stood, packed away the vial. “I’ll ride out tomorrow to find that wretched witch, put an end to this. She’ll have to explain those signs to me.”

She got up, wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to appear less inappropriate. Then, a thought occurred to her, and she turned toward the man. “Geralt, if the mark’s purpose is to protect me from humans, shouldn’t I be able to touch animals?” 

He stopped in his tracks, looked up at her. “Perhaps. But I’d rather not have you walk around and test that theory. “

Those words hit her harder than she liked, the implications behind them were a punch to the gut. “Right. Wouldn’t want the monster to kill any more beings.”

As soon as his brain registered the words, he dropped his satchel and briskly walked over. “Shut up.” 

She recoiled, but he cupped her face in the most gentle manner, and tilted her face up. 

“Look at me.” 

Oh, she did. She couldn’t not. 

“You are not a monster. I don’t want you to have another death on your hands, because I think it will break your beautiful heart, princess.”

His eyes lingered on her face, taking in the color of her eyes, the shape of her eyebrows, the swoop of her nose and her lips. Fuck, her lips. Plush, inviting, wet from the way she nervously liked them. 

He found it impossible to look away. Absolutely impossible. 

“Geralt.” 

She watched him watch her, took in the way he tensed, how his massive figure hunched over slightly, and how his nostrils flared, before his eyes were set ablaze. 

Maybe people could look at others with desire in their eyes. Maybe Fin was right after all. It made her feel naked, bare. Her temperature rose, her heart sped up, she felt powerful; In a weird way. To think that she could have such an effect on a man like the witcher? On a man who was dangerous, hard to manipulate or influence, experienced and – to be wholly honest – downright hot? 

He was a tall glass of water on a stifling summer day. 

Geralt shifted, one of his hands changing position, fingers sliding along her cheek to the back of her head, into her hair. She could feel his fingers flexing, pressing harder, letting go, as if he was fighting himself. 

And he was. He shouldn’t, he really shouldn’t. They both knew he couldn’t touch her. But hell and every monster in it, did he want to. To kiss those lips, feel her skin under his fingers… It was ripping him apart, it was burning him from the inside out, the need an all-consuming fire in his chest. Her scent was pulling him closer, taunting him, making him imagine how much better she’d smell if it was his own that clung to her. 

He groaned, ducked his head. “I wish I didn’t need gloves.” 

Her eyes went round, her pretty mouth parted in a surprised gasp. “What?” 

A smile stretched his lips, but it looked almost animalistic, like a wolf preying on a deer. Never had it felt so good to be prey, she thought. The hair on her arms stood, shivers rolled down her back, her focus solely on his hands on her. 

And then his voice, rough and smokey, but gentle, like thunder and honey mixed into a glass. 

“I wish I knew the touch of your hands. I wish I knew the feel of your skin. I bet it’s soft.” 

He filled all of her view, all muscle and temptation rolled into a delicious package of billowing linen and a dashing, clean cut black and silver brocade doublet. Whoever picked it for him deserved an award. 

He filled all her senses, her lungs filled with his scent; leather, herbs, warm earth like the forest on a warm autumn afternoon, and underlying sweat. It was mouth watering and comforting, and it made her want to find out what he tasted like. 

“Geralt-“, she swallowed, tried to focus. “Were you serious? About your heart?” 

“Yes.” 

One hand left her face, arm wrapped around her waist to pull her closer. She was so fragile in his arms, so pure against his bloodied self. 

“And I want to heal yours.” 

She snorted at that, very unladylike, and reached to grab his hand, mindful of his thin shirt. “No need to, Geralt. It wasn’t broken. It just wasn’t with me anymore.” 

 She was an open book he wanted to spend the rest of his life reading; studying her every pore, every curve of her body, every thought of her mind. He wanted to caress her, like the soft pages of a well read book, take care of her and keep her safe from wilting and the burn of betrayal. Her face was so open, so vulnerable, it felt like the softest touch of a lover’s hand as she took in every detail of his face, while she waited for his reaction when she added the words that would inevitably lead to their downfall. 

“It was with you the whole time.”

And then it was as if a dam had broken. His grip on her tightened immediately, his face fell. He groaned, closed his eyes and tried to stomp down on the urge to just fucking ravish her on the spot. “You can’t just fucking say something like that. Not when I’m not able to touch you like I want, princess. Like you deserve to.” 

There was so much fondness and restraint in his voice, her knees grew weak. Geralt pushed back hair that fell into her eyes, tucking it back behind her ear. “I’m not good with being teased, princess.” 

How was that little head tilt so adorable? He wasn’t supposed to be adorable, what the hell. 

Especially not when he was using that voice like he did. “Even my patience has its limits.” 

A thumb traced her lower lip, his eyes burning a path into them. 

“Where’s the handkerchief? The silk one?” 

She turned her head and nodded towards her vanity. “Over there.” 

He let go of her, but his eyes never left her. She was nailed to the spot, unable to move, unable to look away from his stare; didn’t want to.She wanted him to look at her forever, never let go of her, never let her out of his sight, not when it meant to be close to him, so beloved by him, to be safe and protected. He gave her a little nudge, a sharp nod in the vanity’s direction made her move. Who could ever refuse to obey Geralt?

So she did, and almost stumbled over her own feet in her haste. She caught herself though and pretended nothing happened, which made Geralt shake his head with such a soft look in his eyes, it was confusing. 

For someone who wasn’t supposed to have feelings, he let her see quite a lot of what he felt. The moment she was within arms reach, he grabbed her and pulled her against him, hand finding her hair again and pulling carefully, gently; getting her head where he wanted it. 

The anticipation was so thick, he could taste it. It laid on his taste buds like some of the more potent spices he’d tasted on his journeys, rounded off with the sweet taste of her hopefulness. “Do it again. Let me erase that foul memory, replace it with a new one.” 

His face was so close, so. close. “Let me right my wrongs.” 

The princess cursed under her breath. So fucking smooth, so obviously adept at sweet-talking the ladies, she couldn’t believe she had fallen for him.  

But then she was reminded of his behaviour around her, his kindness, his love for a child that wasn’t even his own. How he loved Jaskier as well, even if he refused to admit it, and she realized she never even had a chance. He was everything she would ever want in a man. He would be the only one she’d ever accept at her side, if she ever got rid of this curse.

She held up the handkerchief, and Geralt didn't waste even a fraction of a second. He seized her around the waist, held her head in place and pressed his lips to hers, the thin fabric the only barrier between life and sure death. 

He straightened, lifted his princess off her feet, her front flat against his. She gasped against his lips, and not only because of the sudden change in position, but also because she could feel exactly how much she affected him. It was impossible to miss. It was...sizeable. The Effect. 

Hot want flooded her, a sudden wave of sheer, carnal lust. Nothing was more desirable than to have him naked in her bed, have her way with him, make him show her how to handle him, to make him feel good and loved and cherished. The assault of emotions left her breathless. 

Geralt grunted against her lips, as the spike in her scent hit him. His body reacted instantly, and his hips bucked against her, just one sharp thrust before he got himself under control. Fuck, was she trying to kill him? 

“You know-“ another peck to his lips, kerchief safe between them. “- there’s a silk sheet on my bed.” 

Her purposefully innocent tone did nothing to soften this blow. 

“Princess-“ 

His brain was more than eager to deliver visions of what could be, and he grew ever harder, painfully so. He needed to get either out of this situation, or out of these breeches. He’d prefer the later, but there was also a not inconsiderable risk. “Your mother will kill me.” 

She loved how pained his voice was, how obvious the struggle with himself was, with his righteousness and the need to protect her. But she wanted this, and if he was willing, nothing would be able to make her regret this. She was done trying to deny herself. And so was Geralt. 

“I’d like to see her try.” 

She bit her lip, lowered the handkerchief. “If you’re willing to risk it, I won’t regret anything. Not when it involves you.” 

Fucking- yes. Fuck yes. He’d make her happy, and if it meant to break his own heart, so be it. Witchers didn’t feel anyway, right?

He shifted, bit at her lip, before rearranging his hands on her, made her wrap her legs around his waist, and walked them over to her bed.

“I am able to walk, you know?”, she chuckled, but didn’t make any attempts to escape his hold. 

“Don’t deny me this, princess.” He hitched her a bit higher, pressed a kiss to her covered shoulder. “I have to watch you all day, every day, unable to touch or even talk to you like I want to. Please, don’t deny me this.” 

Her heart squeezed, and so did her legs around his waist. “Wouldn’t dream of it.” 

The air left him in a heavy sigh when he sat her down on her mattress. “Undress.” 

Her room wasn’t particularly cold, but she was so hot, the air felt cooler than it was. Her nipples pebbled, sensitive to the contrast and the thin nightdress she wore hid nothing at all. His eyes fell to her chest, heaving as she swallowed down any doubts – was he expecting her to be experienced? Did he think she was even worth it? Would he drop her afterwards? –, and he licked his lips. She looked like a present, a sweet surprise wrapped into a fabric so soft and light, it covered her every curve like water, silky and shimmering and hiding nothing.

“You will have to reserve your first night after the curse is lifted for yourself.” 

“What do you mean?” 

His knees knocked against hers as he bent down, his hands to either side of her and his face close enough to make her fear accidental touch. “Because I will spend all night doing what I can’t right now. I will make you come on my tongue until you have screamed yourself sore, my princess.” 

There had to be a wet spot now, good fuck. 

Her lungs refused to work, her breathing grew laboured and irregular.

He straightened and started unbuttoning his doublet. When she didn’t move, he nodded at her, his chin stuck out. “I said undress, princess.” 

She took a deep breath, the air filling her lungs, providing enough oxygen to clear her head just a bit. “But, Geralt. You wear more layers than me. Don’t you think that’s unfair? Not to mention, what little I am wearing isn’t even closed properly.” 

His hands stilled halfway down the line of buttons, his eyes tightened to slits, his nostrils flared and his chest expanded as he took a deep breath. When he let out the previously taken breath, he opened his mouth and licked his lips; then he smiled. “You think? Well, I’ll go first then.”

Doublet about halfway open, his linen underneath not hiding all that much either, he looked like any other noble out there, but with a much better personality. He let his hands fall to his sides, his fingertips skimmed along the waistband of his pants. “I can smell you, princess. I know that you’re practically leaking.” 

His hand cupped his groin, a breathy groan and a chuckle fell from his lips. “I know how desperate you are for my touch. How wet you are.” 

A forceful stroke up and down, then he went back to the buttons of his doublet. His voice had dropped a couple octaves; it was so heavy in bass, she could feel it vibrate through her chest and down to the apex of her thighs. “And it’s all for me. All mine."

His pupils were blown, the gold of his irises almost gone. He looked like he was about to pounce at her and oh, did she want him to.

The look on his face was a mix of want and awe, desire and adoration; the amount of trust he showed her was breathtaking. It was exhilarating, freeing, terrific. She could be herself with him, and he still wanted her. Wanted her even with her overbearing parents breathing down his back, with her lethal touch, her duties and responsibilities. He still wanted her, still was naked with her. Which- why? 

What was in it for him? Why didn’t he just go and fuck someone else in her stead, to get it out of his system, like he had done before? 

“Princess.” He had come over, his knees between her legs. He towered over her, bent down to cup her face and get her attention. “Don’t leave me.” 

She watched his face, looked for hints of malice or dishonesty, but- all she found was… she couldn’t articulate it. But it made her chest burn, her heart throb and her hips shift, seeking friction, a smidge of relief. 

It was all too slow. It took too long. She got up, pulled her legs up onto the bed and knelt, and slapped his hands away. It would be faster if she undid the buttons herself, she was sure. But Geralt didn’t let her. He caught her wrists, quiet chuckle on his lips. “You need gloves.” 

Right. 

“Your thinnest pair, where is it?” 

She nodded towards the small table by the fireplace. Her thinnest pair was next to her stitching work. She used them when Ciri was visiting and wanted her help with her drawings, or when the needle started to hurt her fingers; there was little loss of feeling. She watched him walk over, became aware just how big he was, how out of place he should be - but he wasn’t. He looked right here, in her room, with his clothes in disarray and his hair falling down to his shoulders, with the way he strode through her room, so at ease and comfortable. She swallowed, pushed down the nasty doubts. They had no place here. This was for her and for him, and no one or nothing else. 

When he came back, his whole figure radiated confidence, strength, hunger. “Put these on. And then I want you out of that dress.” 

He tugged at the thin fabric, eyes hungry on her. “I want to see all of you.” 

His voice. Never had she heard any man sound that wrecked talking to her, not for the same reasons anyway. He had her weak in the knees, but she obeyed, eager to please him, and get pleasured herself. 

She reached up to open the one button that held her dress together, when her eyes fell on Geralt. He was delicious. The doublet was gone, the shirt’s laces were undone and presented his chest like an artist’s best work. She wanted her hands and lips all over him, she couldn’t wait for this curse to be gone. 

He got rid of the rest of his layers, peeled his breeches down those powerful, toned legs. With every inch of skin freed, her mouth grew drier, until she felt short of dehydrated. He was a whole lot of man. Her ogling didn’t seem to bother him one bit. 

“You are ridiculous.” 

“Excuse me?”

“I’ve never seen anyone like you, you are a mountain of a man. And I can’t wait to be buried under you.”

He choked at her sudden boldness. She watched his abs contract, his shoulders shake. She grew a bit lightheaded at the thought of being with him. He recovered rather quickly though and decided enough was enough.

“Your turn.”

“But I want to look a bit longer.” 

Geralt was watching her like a hawk, eyes boring into her, stripping her of every layer of pretence she’d ever pulled on. He stripped her bare, with just a look. She froze, like a rabbit in front of a snake, her body shaking in anticipation. It only got worse when he closed the distance between them. 

“I am stripped bare, and you’re still in your nightgown. Who’s unfair now?” 

Geralt growled, and bit her shoulder, only to pull away with her dress caught in his teeth. He tugged, and when it didn’t give anymore, he released it, took a couple steps back and crossed his impressive arms in front of his wide chest. 

“Now, princess.” 

She reached up to undo the one button at her nape, the one that had kept it from slipping off her shoulders. The fabric pooled around her on the bed, still covering her lap, keeping her from his sight. He raised a single eyebrow, and she quickly bunched the fabric in her hands to pull it over her head. 

She hadn’t even let go of it, but his hands were already on her; covering her ribcage, thumbs stroking the underside of her breasts, fingers pressing into her skin. 

“So soft. I bet you bruise quickly.” 

Oh fuck. 

He hummed in the back of his throat and stroked down her sides, hands curled around her hips now. “So perfect for me, look at you.” 

She could feel his eyes on her, tracing every inch of skin, every hair standing on edge. 

“Lie back.” 

She turned, crawled further down the bed to drop onto the sheets, but Geralt behind her was groaning, loudly, and suddenly his hands were on her ass. “Ah, fuck.” 

He gave her a good squeeze, watched her cunt flutter and weight press back into his hands. “Mhhm.” 

One finger went rogue and dipped between her glistening lips, up and down and up again, and then trailing a circle around her clit. “Is that for me? Are you that wet for me?” 

She’d dropped to her elbows, back arched and her forehead buried in the crook of her elbow. She nodded anyway, she knew he’d see. 

“Fuck, I want to taste you so bad, princess.” 

She was blushing, her cunt clenching at his words, and Geralt had to use all of his strength to not just pounce and take her. “No need to be shy. I’m here for you, and only you.” 

His finger came back around, circled around her entrance. “They’d have to kill me, if they ever want me to leave you.” 

At that she looked up. “Oh, my mother- fuck, Geralt. She’ll try, you know-” his finger pushed at her entrance, just the slightest bit and she broke off into a low moan, sentence completely forgotten. 

“Mhm. Let her.” 

His finger left her, and he gently pushed at her hip. “On your back.” She flopped down and over, none of her usual grace evident. She was a mess, and they hadn’t even started. Geralt threw the sheet over her, watched it slowly settle onto her, hiding her body, but also accentuating it. It was similar to her nightgown, but so much better. She drove him wild, absolutely animalistic. He crawled over her, lowered himself between her legs, hip to hip, core against wanting core. She let out a deep, satisfied sigh and pressed up, up, up against him. He loved her responsiveness, loved that she showed what she wanted, no fear, no distrust. He bowed his head, watched where he rubbed against her, only kept from skin by the thin piece of fabric. He was mesmerized by the sight, his dick against the bright silk, her dampness soaking through, giving him a sample of what’s to come, of what he was missing. Her gloved hands reached out to him, cupped his face, thumbs stroked over his cheekbones, a sweet smile on her face. Geralt watched her, catalogued every reaction, every little change on her beautiful face, how she pressed against him, how her hips moved with his, how her hands fluttered as she let them slide down his neck to his shoulders. She was a shining beacon of hope and love and everything he never thought he could have, and it hurt to look at her, but he had to; to remember her, to recall her face when he was alone and cold, without her touch, without her soft words in his ears, without her pulse drumming with abandon. How did he deserve this? He never left more than blood and gore in his wake, never gave more than he had to, never did anything just because. She was so good, so much better than him, so pure. She deserved someone who could love her with all his heart, and give her all she wanted and and could ever wish for. He wasn’t able to do that, he knew it, he- “Hey,” her fingers found his face once again. Her voice was soft, breathy, angelic. “Don’t leave me here like this, Geralt.” His heart clenched in his chest. Of course she knew. He smiled softly, couldn’t believe she let him close enough to even touch her, but this. “Forgive me.” He moved again, let his cock slide along her core, tease her through the sheet. She keened, raised her arms above her head and held onto the pillow, in an effort to reduce the risk of accidental touching. The change in position stretched her body, raised her breasts against the silk, pulling in his attention. “Oh, princess.” It wasn’t more than a low growl, a very soft one, but by the heavens. It made her wetter, her juices gushing out of her like she’d never experienced before. The growl grew louder, deeper, rumbled through his chest. His head lowered, his hands slid along her ribcage, around, under her to meet at her back and raise her torso towards his mouth. The sheet was now pulled taut around her, her nipples presented like fruits on a silver platter, ripe and hard, calling to him like wrapped candy. She sighed his name, when his lips found her right breast, closed around her nipple, rolled it between his teeth, carefully, teasingly. “Ah, shit-” then a soft moan when he flatted his tongue against the bud, gave a broad lick before giving her left breast the same attentions. She was going to ascend to heaven, how could she not with how heavenly this felt? His hips against hers, his cock hot and heavy at the apex of her thighs, the soaked silk a rather nice touch to it, providing another layer of friction; she needed more. Her toes prickled, her stomach tightened, and she bucked up against Geralt, who let out a breathless laugh, surprised by her sudden, well, rebellion. “Shh, princess.” He sat back up, reached for her as he went away. “Come here.” He laid back against her bed’s headboard, in all his naked glory, strong and taunt muscle, sparse hair and those seductive golden eyes locked onto her. It was as if they were connected by a string of yarn, where he went, she followed. He bunched the sheet in his hand, pulled. She watched his bicep bunch, his strong fingers bury into the fabric and she wished to be the one touched like that, with his fingers buried in her, stroking her to completion. But Geralt had other plans. He spread it over his lap, made sure they were safe. “I want you on top.” “What?” She sat there, legs crossed and her hands on her thighs. He’d interrupted her in the process of closing in on him, but his words froze her right where she was. His cock twitched, tented the silk. She looked amazing like that. Disheveled, needy, flushed, her hair a birds nest, falling around her in a fuzzy halo; he never wanted to look away. He wanted this sight to be burned into his retina forever, to never see anything else the moment he closed his eyes, to dream of nothing else than her body and her smile and her laugh and her eyes. He patted his thigh, smirked when she scrambled to close the distance between them, almost falling on her face. “You stole my grace, Geralt.”, she pouted, when she settled upon him, astride his lap. “You stole it all.” He groaned at her weight on his cock, her center pressed right onto it, wonderful friction, wonderful dampness. His hands came up to grip her thighs, smooth up and down her legs, and then curl around her hips. “Ah, fuck.” His mouth fell open, his tongue peeked out when he wetted his lips. He looked amazing like this, she thought. She could worship this man all day long and never get tired of him. “My heart, my grace, my mind. You name it, you have it.” She cupped his jaw with her hand, barely able to span the width. “You, kind sir, are a thief.” He marveled at her words, couldn’t believe them to be true. But here she was. In his lap, naked as the day she was born, giving herself to him and expecting nothing of him. No coin, no stories, not a piece of his fame. “I’ll have and keep whatever you’re willing to give me, princess.” She never failed to be mesmerized by the way he said her title, more like a pet name than a royal title. He said it as if he loved her, tender and fond, and oh- his voice deep and growling; never had anyone talked to her in that way. She trailed a path down his neck, to his chest, ran her fingers through the sparse hair on it, and, in a bout of boldness, flicked one of his nipples, then soothing it with a touch of her thumb. “Ah-” He caught her hand, pulled it up to his face and pressed his lips to her fingers. “Cheeky.” His eyes glinted with humor and mischief. She wondered if this was what he’d be like if his life had taken another path, one where he wasn’t subjected to murder and hate and doubt. She decided to bring this side out of him as often as she could. Maybe, if others saw him like this - softer, open, loving - they’d be less afraid and less disgusted. His hand came around to her behind, squeezed one cheek and gave it a good smack. “Are you dreaming?”, he asked, silent laughter in the lines of his face, in the way he tippy-tapped his fingertips over her skin. She faked offence and bit her lip, aware of his eyes on them. “Indeed I am. I’m dreaming of the end of my curse. I’m dreaming of the days, where this stupid sheet isn’t needed.” “Fuck, princess.” She moved, her hips rolled, slid along his length, drawing groans and curses out of him with every thrust. His fingers surely left bruises on her hips, with how tight he squeezed her when she hit a particularly delicious spot. Their moans and groans mingled, their scents and the smell of sex heavy in the air; anyone who had just half the sense of smell Geralt had, would know of their joining just by walking by. The thought delighted Geralt in a way he wasn’t ready to explore just yet. They didn’t hold on for long after that. She chanted his name when he seized control and held her down to rut against her harsher and faster than humanly possible, and she loved it. Her body locked, her head thrown back and her scream stuck in her throat; she came hard, with her knees locked at his sides, her hips undulating. The spike of her scent and her leaking all over him and onto the sheet had him there soon enough. His nostrils flared as he breathed in their combined spent and he had to buck up once more with his head thudding against the headboard and a deep, animalistic growl echoing through the room. They sat like that for a couple of moments, her perched on his lap, hair falling down onto his thighs. His eyes were falling closed, he couldn’t remember the last time he was this relaxed. Probably never. Her weight shifting brought him back, his eyes flew open, his hands reached for her. “Calm, Geralt. I’m just laying down.” Oh. She straightened the sheet, pulled it further up his chest and ignored the mess they made in favour of laying her head onto his chest. “I’ll need to take a bath.” “Mhhm.” “You wanna watch?” He huffed a laugh, let his fingers tangle with her hair, play with it. “Is that really a question?” “I guess not.”

[rosy-wooyoung]

Husband series [2/8] | Seonghwa

Word count: 3.8k Pairing: ex-husband! Yunho x single mom! reader x boyfriend! Seonghwa Genre: mostly fluff, kinda cliché af?? A/N: Second work out of the eight that I’m not really proud of... as usual, the gif doesn’t have anything to do with the fic :’)

You sighed as you looked for your child in the store, worryingly pushing strands of hair out of your eyes. Two minutes of inattention were enough for him to walk away, carelessly wandering around the shop. He was still quite young, but he was able to walk without your help, freeing him from any restraint.

“How could we lose him?” your boyfriend Seonghwa exclaimed as he looked around him, brows knitted. You were on the verge of tears and abandoned the trolley in a corner. Seonghwa gently caressed your back as you started searching for your son again.

“Minwoo? Minwoo, baby, where are you?” you said louder, starting to imagine the worst-case scenarios that could have happened to your son. You hurriedly trotted through the store, earning side glances from the rest of the shoppers, sometimes meeting Seonghwa at the end of an alley, only to find him alone. Your son was the most precious thing you had in your life and you couldn’t see yourself without him. It didn’t matter if you lost your boyfriend, you had already lost your husband by the past, but you’d kill to keep Minwoo by your side. You neared the fish counter and noticed a small boy next to two tall men, who were showing him the living sea animals in the huge tanks next to the fridges. You recognised the dark blue jacket your mom knitted for Minwoo and felt a weight flying away from your chest. However, you didn’t recognise the men next to him, so you ran towards your son.

“Minwoo!” you almost screamed and rushed to your son, grabbing him from behind, not paying attention to the men next to your son. “How many times did I tell you not to leave my side when we grocery shop! We were worried about you with Seonghwa!” you said in one breath, your hand cradling his head on your shoulder. “But Daddy,” you heard your son said and you froze. “What do you mean, “Daddy”?” Minwoo looked up from your shoulder and you recoiled as he pointed to one of the men. The man you didn’t recognise was none other than your ex-husband, Yunho, accompanied by Mingi, his best friend. After seeing his face, you noticed that he hadn’t changed, even after years of divorce. His hair was a bit shorter, but his facial features were the same as when you parted ways. He was wearing a suit and tie, an embarrassed smile drawn on his face. Your eyes widened when Minwoo made grabby hands at him, happy to meet his dad. “Hi Y/N,” Yunho managed to say, rubbing his neck, “I didn’t expect to meet you there,” you clenched your teeth and awkwardly smiled, not really knowing what to say. “Ah, Y/N, you found him,” you pursed your lips and closed your eyes as your boyfriend arrived, ready to take you and your son in his arms. He took a step back when he noticed Yunho and Mingi. Minwoo, who was in your arms, did everything to touch his father. Mingi, behind the two of you, took a step back and waited a bit further away to clear things out. He knew your situation since he was also a good friend of yours, your divorce preventing you from hanging out with him.

“What’s happening here?” Seonghwa said and none of you answered. You stared at Seonghwa, feeling sorry that he had to witness this awkward encounter. You could see his brain working, his eyes going from you to Minwoo, then to Yunho and his eyes widened when everything clicked in his head. For some reasons, you couldn’t talk, and the three men around you noticed that. You were frozen on the spot. Yunho cleared his throat and extended his hand towards your boyfriend. “I’m Yunho, Y/N’s ex-husband and… Minwoo’s father and, that’s Mingi, a good friend of mine,” he said, gesturing to Mingi, who nodded with a dull face. “I believe that you’re her new partner?” Seonghwa shook his hand without a word, his eyes never leaving your ashamed ones. He detached his eyes from you and looked at your ex, shaking his hand with such force that his digits turned white. “Exactly, I’m Seonghwa,” He said and his eyes darkened, suddenly remembering the reason why you divorced.

Of course, you had told him by the past the reason why you parted ways with your ex-husband, and he was mad. He was mad that your husband acted like a complete coward, scared of his parents. Yunho was someone from the high class. His parents owned an immensely powerful company and he fell in love with you the minute he saw you entering one of his parents’ restaurants. It was a place that your friends didn’t usually go to, but she wanted to celebrate your well-deserved promotion and went there, lucky to find a free table at rush hour. He immediately introduced himself as the son of the restaurant’s owner. Your friends were impressed, you were quite too, but you didn’t show it. You treated him like an ordinary person, with respect, but you didn’t admire or glorify him as your friends did. You beamed and nodded at his jokes, making him feel weird not to have everyone laughing and smiling like everyone did when he was around. He found you hard to get and Yunho loved challenges. At the end of your meal, he boldly asked for your number and you gave it to him without really thinking about it. However, when he was in private, he was way calmer but still very flirty, charming you with his sweet words and actions you exchanged until your first date.

After two years of life together, he introduced you to his parents and it was one of the worst nights you’ve ever had. You put a lot of efforts for your appearance, going to the hair and nail salon, buying an expensive, chic dress with heels. You almost chickened out at last minute but Yunho comforted you and you walked out of his car. But now, in hindsight, you shouldn’t have ever entered this mansion. The dinner was tense, even Yunho could sense it. His parents made zero effort to welcome you in their family, both of them shook your hands with such strength that it made you whine when they turned around. You kept your head high the entire dinner even if they put you down, subtly telling their son that you weren’t good enough for him. They even suggested in front of you that he should get married to someone richer and more influential. You swallowed your pride and feelings when you were in front of them, but you let everything out as soon as you entered your home. Yunho apologised for his parents’ behaviour but it didn’t make you feel better. The only thing you wanted to do was breaking up with him and get away as fast as possible from the two sharks that were his parents. Yunho begged you to stay and promised that he’d make everything to keep your relationship alive. And you believed him.

After months of struggle and rebellion, his parents reluctantly let him date you. On the other side, your parents were happy and proud that you were with Yunho, even if his parents were mean to you. It was sounded better to have their daughter dating a son from a rich company than being happy with someone from your social class. Sadly, showing off was something really important for your parents. They were even happier when Yunho proposed to you during one of your trips abroad. You had said yes without really thinking about the consequences with his parents, and it created many, many problems. You had to hide the ring every time your future mother-in-law randomly paid a visit to her son’s house. One night, she was there and Yunho was about to enter the house, but you pretended to go grab a bottle of wine from the cellar, grabbing Yunho by his tie and pulling him here. Yunho was thinking about something else as you untied his tie knot and unclasped his thin golden chain, your promised ring hung from it. You took off your ring from your finger and hid it behind a wine bottle, grabbing another one as you quietly explained the situation to your future husband. He nodded as he redid his tie, acting as you ran into him as you went out of the cellar in front of his mother.

One night, seeing your distress, Yunho offered you to marry him in secret. You were very against it at the beginning, worried about his parents and their power, but he promised to make everything work. He invited only your family and your closest friends and celebrated this wonderful day in a small group. You were a bit anxious to see his parents show up unannounced, but fortunately, they didn’t. 

One day, as you slid your key into the slot, you realised that the door was unlocked. You first thought of housebreaking since Yunho’s house was big and filled with different kind of luxury items, silently making your way to the kitchen and grabbed a knife. Someone was upstairs and rummaging through yours and Yunho’s stuff. You instantly sent a text to Yunho about the current situation and took off your shoes, easier for you to climb up the stairs without making any noise. Through the poorly closed door, you recognised his mother, raging mad, searching through everything. You hid the knife in the bathroom next to you, scared that she might kill you when she’ll find out the truth. When she saw you, she yelled, hurriedly pacing towards you. 

“You filthy bitch!” she said as she went to grab your blazer, but you pushed her away, feeling the rage boiling in your body as well. “What is wrong with you, what do you want?” you yelled back, making eye contact with her. “How can you enter your son’s house like a burglar?” “Oh,” she exclaimed, eyes shooting bolt lighting towards you, “you dare to call me a burglar when you are the biggest gold-digger out of all my son's girlfriends? You’re only dating him for his money, his fame and power we have in the city. I won’t let you ruin our reputation by dating and marrying my son! A silly cow like you doesn’t deserve to get a taste of luxury,” her behaviour truly shocked you, each word spilling out of her mouth sending daggers to your heart and pride. You gulped and started to walk back, noticing every item around her that could serve as a weapon. “Now, where do you hide it?” she spat and furrowed your brows. What was she talking about? “The ring, you bloody foul, where do you hide it, hm? You can’t deny anything, I found the wedding ring bill in Yunho’s desk drawer. Tell me where it is!!” she screamed, and you thought that she was going mad. You clearly didn’t want to fight or hurt her, knowing that she’d take you to court for your acts, so you avoided her as much as possible. Hoping that Yunho would come soon, you heavily inhaled and remained silent. “I’m going to ruin your life if you don’t tell me where it is.” “Mom!” Yunho yelled from downstairs and came up in a blink, shielding you from his mother with his body. “Get out of my way, son.” She said through gritted teeth but Yunho didn’t move. “Get out of my house first. How dare you coming in like a robber?!” he forced her to walk down the stairs by pushing her with his body, and you shivered when she looked at you. She squinted her eyes and pointed her finger towards you. “You,” she whispered, ignoring her son, “don’t think that you’ve won. You don’t know me, I’ll fucking destroy you.” Yunho pushed his mom out of the house, closing the door and locking it.

Three months after this incident, you discovered that you were pregnant with Minwoo. You were happy but his parents were the only fly in the ointment. During the time of your pregnancy, Yunho and you decided to live in a smaller house in the countryside, an unknown place for his parents. Yunho worked from home as much as he could and so did you, your maternity leave coming way sooner than you expected it. Those nine months flew by and you almost felt like breathing again, without being constantly feared that his parents would show up. You even had nightmares of it at the beginning of your pregnancy, but Yunho was here to protect you. However, a week before the scheduled birth date, you went back to your house and Yunho changed the door locks, preventing his parents from breaking in as his mother did. 

A night where you were alone, Yunho paying a visit to his parents, labour had just begun, your waters just broke. It was very painful, yet you managed to call your husband to announce him the news. Yunho was stuck, he couldn’t leave his parents so suddenly without arousing suspicions about your pregnancy. He excused himself from his parents, but they didn’t let him go so easily and you started screaming in pain in the phone, his mother instantly understanding everything. She grabbed her son’s phone from his hand and threw the cellular on the floor. You were still on the line, but you were starting to be weak, not able to call for Yunho anymore. You were about to hang up to call someone else, but you heard his mother’s words.

“You divorce with this witch immediately or we’re disowning you. I’m calling our lawyer.” You hung up and called Mingi, knowing that he’d help while Yunho fixed the situation with his parents. His friend was terrified and concerned, but he managed to drive you to the hospital before you gave birth. Before falling asleep from exhaustion with your newborn son on your chest, you begged Mingi to look after you and he promised, allowing you to rest.

Yunho never came to see you. You learnt from a nurse that he still came and signed the birth certificate, but he never came to see you and his child that you carried for nine months. Mingi and his mother came to visit, taking care of you like her own daughter-in-law. They understood you because they weren’t the same as Yunho’s family, Mingi's parents worked hard to allow their son to work in this company, yet they were still mad that Yunho never came to visit. Once you could get out of the hospital (you had to stay a few more days because the doctors found that you were exhausted and dehydrated), Mingi and his mom took care of Minwoo while you drove back to Yunho’s house. When you entered the house, you had to lean against the doorway when you saw boxes filled with your clothes and other belongings.

“Yunho?” you called with a small voice, eyes filling with tears. You heard footsteps coming from upstairs and the tall man appeared, tear-stained cheeks and puffy eyes. He ran downstairs with a devastated face. “I’m so sorry Y/N,” he said, and you shook your head, understanding that it was too late. You swallowed and refused Yunho’s embrace, starting to drag the boxes outside, putting the maximum in the trunk of your car. In less than a month, you were homeless, a mother and divorced. When you closed the car trunk, you sighed and Yunho grabbed your wrist. He placed a set of keys linked to a tag, an address messily written on it. “I bought this apartment for you, I��ll come to visit when the situation will quiet down a bit.” He closed your palm on the key and you opened his other palm, putting your wedding ring in it. “Thank you, but I can’t do it anymore. I can’t risk my life, Minwoo’s and yours just because of your parents. I’ll put the keys of this apartment in the mailbox once I’ll find something else I can afford.” You said as you cried, starting to walk to the driver seat. “Please Y/N,” “No Yunho, we can’t. I can’t do it anymore. You didn’t even come to see me and our child. You didn't even ask why he's not with me right now. Everything stopped here for me. Our years of relationship, our marriage, it all ended. Thank you for the wonderful memories but it’s over. And deep down, you know that it’s already over, your parents probably forced you to sign the papers anyway. Goodbye Yunho.”

He sent you one last text that night, telling you that he was sorry and that they sent him in America, for “business matters” and it was the last time you heard from him. It took you months to move on and start again. You had found a place to stay which was smaller but closer to your workplace, a day-care centre only a block away from your apartment. Minwoo grew up and started asking for his father and you quietly explained to him why he didn’t have a father. You kept a picture of the two of you framed next to the door, showing it to your son every time he asked for his father. At first, he cried, but he slowly understood that you were still loving him and trying your best even if you couldn’t give him a father. You had also tried to date again, but you were so worried about your son in day-care that you never enjoyed any of them. It was hard to be a single mom, feeling worthless and unlovable each time you came home from an unsuccessful date. You knew that your son loved you, but it wasn't comparable to the love you could get from a caring man.

Since your work was closer, you privileged the public transports over the car. You entered the bus and your son suddenly started crying for no apparent reason. You tried to feed him, give him his cuddly toy, but nothing changed, he was crying at the top of his lungs. You were so embarrassed that you barely looked up, profoundly apologising to everyone around you, nearly in tears due to exhaustion and shame. The man in front of you looked around your age and his gaze on your son was tender. He tried to catch your son’s attention by grabbing his plushie, waving it in front of his face, the cries slowly fading as the man in front of you portrayed a funny sweet voice while talking to your son through his toy. Minwoo was now mesmerised by his talking plushie, laughing, and hugging it close to him while looking at the man in front of you. You rested your head against the window, and you sighed along with a few other people around you, relieved that your son had stopped crying.

“Thank you so much,” you said to the young man and he smiled. “It’s nothing, I couldn’t let this little man embarrass his mother,” he chuckled, and you started talking to each other until you had to get off the bus. He was named Seonghwa, and came with you to your workplace, distracting Minwoo from crying. You thanked him again and went to work, feeling more peaceful. Meeting Seonghwa on the bus had become your daily routine. He was an interesting and smart man, bringing you entertained until your stop, looking forward each time to see him the next day. Bus rides turned into dates, smiles turned into kisses, closeness turned into caresses and tenderness. You fell in love with him, hard, and you were scared, but he reassured you. You had almost forgotten your ex-husband and his tormenting family, hoping to never see them again. You were doing well. Until tonight.

You cannot lie, Yunho looked happy and surprised to see his son for the first time, but Seonghwa didn’t agree. You noticed the two men menacingly stare at each other and the atmosphere was tense. You couldn’t let them start a fight in the middle of the shop, so you grabbed Seonghwa’s hand, quickly bidding goodbye to your ex-husband, as well as Mingi and left the fish counter as quickly as possible. Once everything was in the car trunk, you sat Minwoo in his seat and went to the passenger seat, Seonghwa waiting for you to go home. You took big breaths during the journey home, expecting your boyfriend to leave you or not talk to you for a while. Why did you have to run into your ex-husband when you were with him? Why did it have to happen? You got out of the car as soon as it stopped in the driveway, taking in a big bowl of fresh air. You shook your head in defeat and opened the car door, unfastening your son’s seatbelt, carefully carrying him to your apartment and put him to bed. Seonghwa was tidying the grocery around the kitchen when you came downstairs, taking a glass of water along with a pill for headaches. Your boyfriend closed the fridge door and observed you, noticing that you were on the verge of tears. He walked towards you and took you in his arms, shushing you as you quietly cried on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry-” “I know the memories and scars are still vivid, but you need to move on. I saw how sad and upset you looked when we met him, but I won’t let this ungrateful bastard destroy what we built together. You were doing fine so far, we managed to make you forget him and I won’t let you dive back in your sorrow. You’ve been strong for so long, it’s not the time to give up. Do it for your son, for yourself, and for us as a pair. You need me, I need you, Minwoo needs healthy parents and I’m ready to take this role. Forget about this man, I promise that you will be better and healthier without him and his family.” Seonghwa whispered and worked his fingers through your hair, “I wasn’t so sure about bringing up a child who wasn’t mine, but I realised that I love you too much to let you down.” His words made you burst into tears and he shushed you, his fingers working in your hair. “I’m sorry that we had to see him, I swear it wasn’t planned.” You whispered and Seonghwa exhaled at your words, realising how guilty you felt. “No need to swear Y/N, and it’s okay. Let’s forget that for a while, shall we? You look really tired.” Seonghwa kissed your temple and you nodded, letting your boyfriend carry you to your bedroom.

Seonghwa made sure to kiss you on the cheek and dry your wet tears, his arm circling your waist before you both fell asleep in one breath.

[lilflowerpot]

Do you have any theories/headcanons behind why Keith is so oblivious? Like, is it because he's hard-wired for Galra communication but spent all his formative years with Humans, so they kinda cancelled each other out and now he's just clueless? Or because through so much of his childhood he was made to believe that he wasn't worth the effort, and he's internalized that to the point where the idea of someone liking him is hard for him to get his head around? Or is he just ... like that?

I feel like I’ve spoken about this before but it might’ve just been in bits and pieces, here and there, so ... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It’s pretty much exactly as you said: Keith is instinctively very Galra and both demonstrates / responds to a lot of Galra social cues on a subconscious level (which is why he’s able to read Lotor’s intentions with far greater ease than the rest of team Voltron), but this means that when it comes to human social cues, he just doesn’t pick up on them. I’ve previously spoken about some of the discrepancies between Galra vs Human body language - specifically the fact that to a human eye crossing one’s arms and turning your head when in an argument would read as rude and dismissive, whereas for the Galra this is a submissive gesture intended to de-escalate conflict by making oneself smaller and less threatening - so for Keith it’s little mannerisms like this that have caused him interpersonal problems in the past; then there’s the fact that Galra kits bond by playfighting, but the kind of rough and tumble they can endure is like nothing a human child would ever be exposed to, so Keith used to be punished for even attempting to bond with his peers when he was younger, because he’d always get it wrong somehow.

All of this lead to him spending a great deal of time alone even before his dad died (and impossibly more so afterwards), and if you’ve seen my post on Galra attitudes towards their young then you’ll know that the Galra do astoundingly poorly in social isolation due to being an aggressively social species (even more so than humans). So poor Keith really has had a rough time of it.

I wouldn’t say he’s “completely clueless” though? Keith’s smart: he understands Galra body language well enough (as seen in his interactions with both Lotor & Kolivan) but his failing there comes from the fact that he may not understand the subtext due to having been raised so entirely separate from the Empire. With humans, it’s the opposite problem: he learnt what was/wasn’t acceptable behaviour over an extensive period of trial and error throughout his childhood, but struggles to read unspoken social cues. There’s also that element of having been conditioned into believing himself to be a “problem child” who is inherently bad or flawed or wrong somehow, in a way he’s never known how to fix, which is why Shiro so quickly became such an important figure in his life as the first person since his dad to even try to understand him.

With regard to Lotor’s flirtations specifically, Keith isn’t quite so ignorant as you might believe, and when fixing up Kra he even flirts back a little.

To Lotor’s absolute horror, the green Paladin’s army of vermin seem to have taken a liking to him, the blue one going so far as to nuzzle against his palm when, during dinner, he tries to keep it at a distance; it forces him to instantly recoil with a whine that, in Imperial company, would have seen him ostracised for cowardice. Here, miraculously, it earns him reward rather than punishment, because the red Paladin is laughing without spite, plucking the fygllari from the air and tossing it towards Hunk. When he looks back to Lotor, there’s no trace of displeasure, only a soft darkness beneath his lashes and a purr in his throat as his leans towards the Prince and asks: “better, your Majesty?” Oh. The ways he would wreck this boy. “Careful Rhyahl,” he murmurs instead, because Kra has perked up at the familiarity of that possessive want as an emotion she can comprehend, “I may be fond of you, but even that has its limitations.”

- Little Blade, chapter 11

He knows Lotor is fond of him, in some capacity, but to what extent and why is something he’s not even close to puzzling out. When I say that Keith is an oblivious little bean, what I mean is that he’s so used to rejection that the concept of someone like Lotor (intelligent, handsome, powerful) wanting someone like him is.... at best, unfathomable, and at worst, laughable. No, far more likely is that Lotor is just a flirtatious bastard that enjoys teasing Keith as a way to aggravate the rest of the team (which, in fairness, is not not true).

[crybabytoy59]

The Meeting Pt4.

Master Daddy opened a valve on the tank too a hissing as he looked down at me through the glass he spoke “Ah Ah Crybaby Don’t Do That....I know your holding your breath!! ..Clever girlie Crybaby that’s it !” The smell made me recoil in the bonds, but strangely I did not feel sick, the strange feeling I had after the enema seemed to be getting stronger... I felt like they were on the helmet with me !... also I had become so sensitive all over my body! Mistress Mummy took hold of My swollen member I felt something push inside my pee slit, in was pushed further & further inside me, I was having a catheter fitted!!

Mistress Nanny had not been idle as she was fitting wires to my ball needles, then she stood over me peeling white sticky circles putting one on each of my bum cheeks then inside each thigh next she set one above each of my nipples lifting the dress to attach them, wires were run to each pad to a box on the cart, Mistress Mummy inflated the retainer balloon to the catheter then handed the tube to Master Daddy who linked it to one of the small tubes, Mistress Mummy & Mistress Nanny appeared over my mask...Mistress mummy spoke first “ Now sweetheart almost Ready Master Daddy is going to see to your fuck hole now so try to relax, Crybaby” ...Mistress Nanny Spoke next “Aaaww Cutie are you scared ...yes ? Clever girlie we want you to be believe us things are about to become truly testing for our Baby Pain Toy...” Suddenly I felt something push at my anal passage I squealed as it entered me, but once inside it started to inflate!!! As Master Daddy set up another tube to the butt plug the girls set a top each to the eyelet in the floor below me, then thread each to the end of the spreader bar at My wrists slowly pulling my arms down away from my body towards the floor once tight they each put rope to My elbows pulling them as close as the spreader would allow them, next Mistress Nanny put a rope to a second floor ring two feet further back pulling my bound arms in a bow ! I was now not able to move them an inch, Mistress Mummy had went to fetch another bit of equipment for them both handing one to Mistress Nanny they knelt at my feet, taking the steel cuffs they put them to my ankles from them were a single leather strap this had five rubber rings on a bar set to the end of the strap,they pushed each toe into a rubber ring  they were quite fat so pushed my toes unnaturally wide apart, then they pulled the strap making my feet arch backwards pulling on my toes, Mistress Nanny put another sticky pad on each arch & set wires to them....Master Daddy was pulling on leather gloves on me they felt as if they had some kind of gel inside them he to put wrist cuffs on me with a single strap that had the same rubber rings that spread My fingers before he pulled them up towards my wrists....

They all appeared over me Mistress Mummy Spoke “Now Crybaby Be a Clever girlie and wiggle your toes..Clever girlie..Now your fingers..Clever girlie Crybaby nice and tight Eh Sweetheart...Ok lets get you started...All set Master Daddy start the first cycle! Now Crybaby let me explain this is a recycling tank your going to be filled Very Full with a special formula as you get filled You are going to receive encouragement to be on your best Behaviour, if You are a bad Crybaby it will encourage You more until You Are Obedient....it Will be relentless so I Do suggest Sweetheart You Be Obedient For Us...Off we go Crybaby potty girlie!” I felt a tingling in my bottom cheeks then my balls then chest then my feet!! I knew instantly it was electrical ! Then a pulse went inside me as fluid entered me, followed by my mouth getting hot then something pass down my throat I swallowed, they all clapped “Clever girlie Crybaby that’s the way Sweetheart!!” Then I felt fluid entertaining my bladder it was also hot, I again burst out crying whimpering past the gagging as I did the next set of shocks was far greater I arched in the bonds Mistress Mummy knelt down with her glass of wine then spoke to me “Crybaby Sweetheart You need to keep silent as if your “Bratty” the recycling will simply shock You more ....the louder a “Brat” you are the more painful it will get until You learn to be silent Crybaby!” She stood back up kissed both of them “let’s set up the whipping frame for when Crybaby is Done here.....I would like to play the guessing Game with her before we retire for the night Master Daddy what you think?” Master Daddy chuckled “Darling who am I to stand in the way of You & Your Guessing Game !”.......the fluid that went down my throat thankfully was short lived but the enema pulses just kept going as did the bladder fill, slowly the pain started to build so I whimpered more just to be shocked more...but the pain from the filling was getting we worried would they simply let me be hurt by it? I started panicking pleading from behind the cock gagging for them to return, But was rewarded by a more sever set of shocks!! I let out q scream that when things got worse much worse as the shocks would become random in both area and intensity painful !,

 Mistress Nanny appeared over me she spoke “Crybaby Hush Hush Now.....Breaths through the pain and you will calm down Do It !..there there see Clever girlie your almost done be Obedient & you will be fine Crybaby potty girlie” the filling stopped as I lay panting tears still streaming from me with bloodshot eyes I looked at All three of them return. as they did I felt my bladder get relief, as it did my mouth got warmer then the flow went down my throat! “Clever girlie Crybaby that’s a good potty girlie, recycling for us” Mistress Mummy mocked , as I got to the end my rear started the same journey into my stomach cocktail ! To my relief the shocks ebbed to a light stinging, Mistress Mummy was rubbing my tummy “Such a Clever girlie Crybaby potty girlie aren’t You?” I muffled past the gag “Wess Mistress mummy am a Clever potty girlie” .... She patted my helmet “Clever Crybaby I want You to scream loudly for me six times then say thank you After each scream...Off You Go Crybaby!” I was confused by this But not for long as Master Daddy flogged me hard over my chest I let out a scream! Just to be shocked ! I muffled a “thank you” again Master Daddy flogged me ! By six they were all clapping, Mistress Mummy Spoke “What an Obedient girlie Crybaby now lets get You undone as I Have a wee Game I want You to play Crybaby “.....

[starlessskies94]

Like Father, Like Daughter (Negan/BlakeAU) Chapter Two

Thank you so much for all the love I received for the first chapter it means the world to me! ♥️♥️ @neganandblake thank you lovely for all your support and kindness ♥️ sending you all the love and hugs!

Chapter Two

The journey back to the Sanctuary was long and quiet. The tension thick and the guilt weighing heavily on Mia. The trucks rolled back through the gates; while the dark blonde sat staring out of the passenger window in a feeble attempt to hide her nerves.

Negan instantly picking up on her anxiety; giving her a reassuring pat on her knee paired with a smile that was quickly returned. As expected Blake had gone crazy when she’d learned what had happened. But not with Mia like she’d been dreading. Oh no. It was Negan that had been on the receiving end of her blunt anger.

Of course the tall Saviour had stood and took every curse, every choice word Blake threw at him, before retreating to his office, out of the blonde’s way while she cooled down.

Mia didn’t dare say a word as she sat in the infirmary before her mother. Blake silently dabbing at the wound on her forehead. The dark blonde wincing the second the disinfectant soaked rag touched her skin.

“Oh I’m sorry...did that hurt?” Blake asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Features set to a frown. “Good. Maybe next time, you’ll actually listen to me young lady.”

Mia huffed at her mother’s words, leaning back in her seat. Eyes pleading with the compassionate side she knew wasn’t too far away.

“Mom I said I was sorry! You didn’t have to yell at dad, it wasn’t his fault.” She argued. “That dude had a gun and was aiming it at him; what the hell was I supposed to do?!”

Blake turned in her seat; rinsing and wringing the cloth once more before she continued cleaning the wound. Her eyes meeting her daughter’s; eyes softening at the look on her baby’s face.

“Baby we both know that your father is more than capable of taking care of himself.” She explained. “And I don’t want you involved on that side of things, you’re too young to carry that kind of responsibility.”

She saw Mia roll her eyes and couldn’t help the frustration she felt with the stubborn girl. If Blake’s mother could see her now; she knew probably laugh and tell her that what goes around comes around. As she’d been just as stubborn and rebellious as a teen, and it seemed now she was getting a taste of her own medicine.

Negan always found it rather amusing because she and Mia were so similar; so he’d always reminded her to go easy on the teen.

The dark-haired Saviour himself being a total pushover with Mia ever since she was a baby.

It was why he’d agreed to let Mia accompany him on runs in the first place. And after taking Simon’s place by her father; she’d already learned a lot about the running of the Sanctuary. Not to mention that growing up in the world she had, made her no stranger to the death and darkness.

But that didn’t stop Blake worrying. Of course it didn’t. Mia would always be her baby no matter how old she was.

Taping off the wound, she gently stroked Mia’s hair from her face before pulling her daughter into a warm hug.

“You’ll always be my baby Mia and I’ll always worry about you.” She whispered, earning a smile from Mia as she squeezed her mother tightly.

“I know mom and I love you for that but I can take care of myself now.”

“I know sweetie; you have your father’s temper so I feel sorry for whoever gets on your bad side.” Blake laughed; slowing pulling away and rising from her seat. “Now go get some rest, you’ve had a long day.”

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But no matter how much Mia tossed and turned that night; she still couldn’t silence her racing mind.

Eventually giving up all together as she sat up with a frustrated huff. She figured maybe a walk around the Sanctuary would help her relax, so throwing on a old pair of jeans; a somewhat clean shirt and her boots; she tip toed down the dark corridor. Purposely avoiding making any noise as she passed her parent’s room.

Making her way through the crowded hall and out into the yard. Admiring the bright stars overhead; her attention was caught by the distant sound of shouting and cheering.

Moving closer she saw the crowd that had gathered. The torches lit, bright flames flickering through the nights darkness.

The crowd of Saviours gathered around, roaring in waves of cheers whenever the two men in the center struck at one another; the closer Mia got, the more she realized what was going on.

A fighting ring. Great. She knew her father would be pissed when he found about that.

Recently the Saviours had started becoming restless, since the war had ended. So most had taken to burning off steam by forming fighting rings; some even betting their points on the numerous matches. But Negan had been crystal clear that he would not tolerate that kind of behaviour from his men.

After all, people were a resource and he needed his Saviours at their best; not scrabbling in the dirt, beating ten bells out of each other!

So marching through the crowd of men; some of which compliantly moving to make way for her; after the seeing the boss’s daughter in the crowd. She pushed her way towards the middle for a better view.

The cheering quickly dying down at the sight of her. One of the opponents freezing in place as she shouted.

“Alright boys, break it up, you know the rules. Negan doesn’t stand for this kinda shit.” She warned, fierce eyes glaring at each and every one of them.

“What’s the rush princess? Shows just started!”

Mia whipped round at the opposing voice; a tall brunette Saviour, showing off to the crowd. Throwing his elbow down onto the opposite fighter’s face; watching with a twisted smirk as he fell to the ground with a bloody groan.

Mia snarled in his direction; storming towards him, stopping almost toe to toe. Him easily a good two feet taller than her, but her face remained hard and dark.

“I said; knock this shit off!” She growled through gritted teeth but the Saviour simply laughed in her face.

“Oh sweetheart, I know your daddy might own the place, but if you think for one second that I’m taking orders from a kid; you’re outta your fucking mind!” He snarled back. Causing Mia’s blood to boil. Scratching at his blood stained chin, he scoffed, turning back to face the girl, a pure look of disgust in his eyes.

“I mean Jesus; you’re just as self-righteous as that damn tramp Negan shacked up with!”

The dark blonde didn’t even hesitate as her clenched fist connected hard with the Saviour’s nose. Causing him to stumble backwards. The crowd now deathly silent as she raised her fists once more.

“You want a fight jackass...you got one!”

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Negan hummed, a deep husky growl leaving his lips as Blake continued pressing kiss after to his neck. Hands reaching round her slender waist, pulling her closer.

“I take it, this means you forgive me huh, Peaches?” He asked in a deep shuddering whisper, Blake purring in reply as her kisses began trailing down to his chest.

“I was actually trying to apologize...I was wrong yelling at you before.”

“Whoa, hold on a damn second; you wanna run that by me again baby?” He smiled, Blake pulling back; softly slapping his shoulder.

“Don’t be an ass!”

“Who me? Never!” He grinned.

Blake sighed, sitting back on the bed in between Negan’s legs. Her fingers idly playing with zips of his leather jacket.

“I know it wasn’t your fault what happened with Mia. And it was just a scratch, so I admit, I may have overreacted. I just can’t help but worry whenever she’s out there.”

“Peaches.” Negan started taking Blake’s hands in his. “You and that kid mean the fucking world to me. I’d never let anything happen to her. You know that.”

She smiled, green eyes meeting brown as she leaned forward pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

“I do know. I’m sorry baby.” The dark haired man returned her smile, pulling her close for another kiss; only to let a frustrated growl at the knock on the door.

“What?!”

A very nervous looking Simon, stepped into the room, clearly apprehensive in his reasons for being there. Which only meant, Negan would undoubtedly have yet another fucking crisis to deal with.

“Sorry to bother you and the missus boss but there’s a situation down in the yard that you’re gonna wanna see. It involves your little angel... And it’s not good.”

At this, both Negan and Blake shot to their feet. Negan’s anger already beginning to boil.

“Why? What the fuck did she do now?!”

“It’s probably best that you see for yourself.”

The mustachioed man didn’t wait for the couple to follow, the two sharing a knowing look before heading towards the door; Negan quick to grab Lucille on the way. Whenever had happened; Mia was in big trouble!

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Mia swiftly dodged every punch that flew her way, quick on her feet like a cat ready to pounce on its prey. 

The Saviour glaring every time he missed her, his frustration riling him up that much more as he continued his feeble attempt of beating down on the girl. Her body well and truly fueled her anger and adrenaline as she twisted and turned; countering his hits with her own. 

The crowd now roaring in support of her for the win. The odd Saviour even continuing to take bets, the men lining up to take the odds on the boss’s daughter. 

The opposing man pushed her back, his foot hooking around her leg, dragging her to the ground. A eruption of heckles from the crowd about the man cheating. But Mia brushed it off, jumping back to her feet, elbowing the man in the stomach, sending him back recoiling in pain. 

The crowd cheering when it seemed he wasn’t going to get back up. A victorious smirk inching across Mia’s face at the prospect of winning the fight.  But the Saviour proved relentless; a dark scowl twisting his features. 

Drawing his fist back and sending it forward with such force, clocking Mia hard on the jaw as she crumbled to the floor. 

Flexing her jaw, she winced at the shooting pain, using the back of her hand to wipe away the blood from her now busted lip. 

Her adrenaline was now fading, pain quickly returning through every inch of her body. The Saviour towering over her, a sick grin plastered on his face. Voice deep and grim.

“Not so tough now huh little girl?” He chuckled. 

She spat a mouthful of blood at his feet in response. Struggling to stand on shaking legs. Some of the more compassionate Saviours rushing to her side to help hold the teen up.

“Well now...what the fuck do we have here?”

Every soul froze at the sound of Negan’s booming voice. The crowd wordlessly separating to let him through. Every man dropping to his knees. 

Mia’s eyes widening at the sight of her very vexed parents and Uncle Simon. Knowing straight away that he’d been the one that had told them about the fight.

Negan paraded the space of the fighting ring, no one daring to look at him. 

“I do believe what we have here, is a fighting ring.” He shouted. “But I must be mistaken. Because as I recall, I banned this shit! So someone better tell me, why you sorry shits are not only breaking my rules; which ya’ll know is a big no-no. But it seems you’ve also dragged by daughter right into the middle of this little show!”

Mia rushed towards her father, her eyes pleading. 

“Dad, please. I can explain...this asshole, he said-”

“Stop.” Her father growled. “I’ll deal with you later young lady, now go to your room with your mother.”

“But-”

“Go!”

Mia huffed in defiance, stomping her feet and acrossing her arms; despite the pain in her joints from the fall in the ring.

“This is bullshit!” The teen uttered but it didn’t unnoticed by her father, who without warning stomped across the concrete towards his daughter. Nostrils flared, grip on Lucille tightening.

“Uh...excuse me but did you just fucking curse at me?!” Negan demanded but Mia remained silent, now seeing just how royally pissed off her father was.

“Room. Now. With your mother! GO!” She flinched at his booming voice before timidly shuffling across to Blake stood waiting for her. 

Negan waited until his girls were gone when he turned to once again face his men. All now cowering in fear on their knees. 

Swinging Lucile too and fro in his gloved hand, he waited for any man brave enough to give him their excuses for breaking the rules. 

“Well boys, I am willing to forgive and forget. Provided of course, this shit never happens again. So get this shit cleared up and get back to work! But I warn you sad pricks, I catch any of you pulling this stunt again, it’ll be the iron for each and every one of you! Now get the fuck back to work!”

The group of gathered Saviours muttered their thank yous and gratitude as they scattered away. Both Negan and Simon watching for them to go. 

“Find that piece of shit that clocked my baby girl and string that fucker up on the fence would ya Si?” Negan growled lowly. 

“Will do boss.” Simon replied as Negan patted his shoulder before making his way back towards the stairs. Lucille now resting comfortably on his shoulder. 

Shit, it had been a long ass day. And that had certainly not be the way he had expected it to end. 

He needed a drink. And he sure as hell wasn’t gonna need the glass for the bottle of whisky waiting for him in his office. 

Tag List: @neganandblake @laura-clapton

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[happyorogeny]

The Gossip Chapter 10

(~3800 words)(Illidan, Kael’thas, Rommath)(tw violence, near drowning, substance abuse like behaviours)

Rommath didn’t get the chance to go challenge Akama over what, exactly, he’d said. Kargath stood and cried out what sounded like a ritual challenge. Rommath wasn’t quite sure of the correct response, but he found the nature of these things tended to hold true across all languages and instantly snapped back a classic Sin’dorei acceptance, to many delighted ohhs and ahhs from the surrounding crowd.  

Rommath was ready to start there and then- only nobles needed to wait until dawn to get their act together- but apparently the orcs had regulations about this kind of thing. Five of the elders immediately called out for a halt, bringing both him and Kargath to a rather abrupt stop. Wait, they could just challenge their leaders decisions openly like this and it brought everything to a standstill? How did they ever get anything done?

The issue of his obvious illness was raised, rapidly followed by whether or not an underling could accept a challenge on behalf of their prince. He bristled as one rather withered looking man waved a cane at him.

“Tis a mage. It’s not right to fight a skinny mage.”

“I am not skinny!”

The woman who had handed him a mug when he first entered the hall appeared at the old man’s elbow.

“The elves tend towards a slender frame when compared to ourselves. That might well be normal for him.”

This garnered him a number of sympathetic glances, and three elderly women near him put their heads together and started to speak rapidly to one another. Some interactions transcended all language barriers. He wasn’t getting out of here without a meal.

It was immediately decided that the circle needed to be an oval, so that Rommath had enough time to get his spells ready, and that he also needed a second and at least one assistant. No, he most certainly was not going to drag any poor unfortunates into this nonsense!

“There’s no need for such theatrics. I’m a busy man. Let us end this.”

“It wouldn’t be fair. Name your second.”

Romamth flatly refused. And it was at this point that Akama decided to get involved.

“Why not that courtesan you spend so much time with?”

Rommath felt himself pale. Mei’le was quick with her little knife but she wasn’t a fighter, not the way the average orc was, and Xi’an was a scholar. Neither of them were fit for this kind of work. Let him send for Kayn if he had to. But he was gone, and though he knew the second in command of the guards her name quite slipped his mind- worrying in and of itself, for his memory was usually ironclad- and the courtesans were too brave for their own good, and the courier was sent to summon them before he could stop them.

So now he had to worry about that, too. Great. He already had precisely one white hair at the back of his head and he wanted no more.

Mei’le appeared in the most practical blouse she owned and couldn’t quite resist cracking a number of lewd jokes as she offered to help him grease up. Xi’an couldn’t quite keep the worry off his face, but was clever enough to hide his expression with a fan.

“He’s huge.”

“I’ve fought larger.”

They both shot him an odd look. Honestly. Folk tended to assume an affinity for the magical arts left someone physically inept. As if! In fact if a person was anything like himself, they immediately noticed such a weakness and took steps to render themselves adept in physical combat. A feature that had led to the assassin’s guild in Qual’thalas refusing to accept contracts on him. Rommath was bad for business, they said. Made them look incompetent.

“Please let me fetch one of the soldiers, or a duelist-”

“No.” He kept his response short. More rushing around would only weaken his position, and possibly his ability to actually fight this fool. Besides, he needed to concentrate on this potion.

The Sin’dorei at large tended to disregard potions. It had always struck him as strange, given how much they loved their cooking, their weaving, their brewing. A potion was all these things with extra arcane added in. Everyone ought to have excelled in potion craft, but no, and now they looked at him askance as he called for a vintner, for the tea set from the Den, for coffee and a number of dried herbs, and laid them all out with the four multicoloured flasks he brought with him wherever he went.

Halduron had called him paranoid for bringing these to Outland. Just as well he had nerves of glass. He fussed at Xi’an and Mei’le until they were opposite each other, one with the wine and one with the coffee. This had to be done just so or it all tended to go a little askew. Himself and Kael’thas had designed and perfected this potion themselves, in order to constantly function through nightly study sessions and ornate balls and magi exams that had made up their life for so long.

He set the four flasks around an empty carafe and stood. His magic grumbled. It was as weary as he was, and to think he would have no rest when he returned, only a million jobs needing personal attention and-

Come on. Once more into the breach.

The courtesans poured together and he brought his hands up, lifting the potions out of the flasks and weaving all six streams into one with a quick motion. It was somewhat rewarding to have the crowd gasp and cheer at such a complex display, but the bulk of his attention was focused on the potion.

It was icy cold as he drank it, enough to make his stomach clench. He made himself relax, finishing it to the last drop. Not a pleasant draught. Not something he liked to rely on. But it was perfectly suitable for situations like this, or perhaps to bolster himself and Kael’thas through their final mage exams. All at once his lungs and muscles forgot he was yet recovering from an illness. So this was what it felt like to breathe easily once more!

He would of course suffer for this over the next few days. The last time he’d done this he’d ended up bedridden, never mind while still unwell. But such were the requirements of duty. All going well, Kael’thas would arrive back any minute now and stop this before it started. He had an instinctive sense of dramatic timing.  

He waited for the doors to burst open.

Nothing.

His ears went flat with annoyance. Fine.

The orc’s had an insistence upon fighting shirtless and greased. This struck him as profoundly unsportsmanlike. Was it not a show of skill to get a grip on someone they couldn’t escape from?

He didn’t particularly like disrobing in public. But so be it.

The angular scarlet tattoos on his arms remained still, vivid and unyielding. But they were the ones he’d inked last, after he perfected the process. Those geometric patterns on his chest, his stomach, his back and his neck, they moved. Not with the fluid grace or sinuosity of living things but in a strange and fractal pattern, spinning and splitting in angles and lines, hexagons and whirling squares that swelled and merged to form shapes anew. He’d used his favorite sewing needle to etch them and thus enchanted himself quite without realizing.

An extremely intricate crosswork of triangles unfurled across his chest and stomach as he tucked his hair into a bun. They fit together as close as armour and nearly resembled the scales of a dragon.

Kargath’s second was the very same woman who’d pushed a drink on him as he came in, alerting him to the chalk circle. She glared at him from across the battlefield. Anyone else would have thought it a glare, at least. But he was a gaze, very intent and very focused. A spotlight rather than a glow.

Rommath suddenly felt himself in the presence of a fellow spirit.

What is it? What are you trying to show me?

She inclined her head, just slightly.

Akama? What about him?

He had no time to demand clarification, for the orc managing the fight slapped the ground to signal the start of the match. Rommath startled everyone by charging Kargath head on, ducking under his guard and punching him in the kidneys. The trick with a big fellow like this was to get in close, where they couldn’t use their long reach and greater strength to full advantage. Distantly, he heard Xi’an whoop.

Kargath’s back was covered in stitches. Poorly done ones at that- the healer mustn’t have liked him very much. Or perhaps he was the kind of fool who would barely give a healer time to do their job.

“So, the lapdog has teeth.”

Rommath resisted the urge to bite him in retaliation and skipped back out of range as the orc closed on him. He was damned fast for such a big man.

“Why did you try to lure Prince Kael’thas here for a duel?” A damned silly idea that was, in and of itself.

“He dishonours us with his behaviour.”

“What are you talking about!?”

Kargath took advantage of his good will by tripping him and Rommath suddenly found himself pinned.

Spending so much time around Kael’thas had caused his magic to shift, subtly, over the centuries. The princes magic was gregarious thing, mingling with the powers of nearby mages and altering them, if mildly. Kargath recoiled with a curse as he burst into crackling flames, jerking loose.

“I fear we are been set at each others throats, to weaken the Temple.” He squinted meaningfully at Akama.

“The shaman is more honourable than all of you combined! I’ve noticed how the orcs are abandoned but for war- we’ll not become the fodder of another demon!”

“There is no secret from which you are excluded!”

“No? Then where is the Highlord? Where is the Prince?”

Mei’le’s face slipped into his mind.

“They’ve eloped.”

Kargath blinked, but he didn’t laugh or instantly become suspicious. What in the name of the Sunwell were they doing, that this was a commonly held notion? Rommath pushed his advantage.

“Think, why would they vanish alone in the dead of night with no guard?”

Kargath frowned, face suddenly thoughtful, and then twisted so that half his stitches burst loose. Rommath winced even as the referee called a halt.

“Go, take water,” Kargath said, voice meaningful. For Akama was slipping away down a side passage at a remarkably quick pace for an old man with a limp. Despite his growing suspicion Rommath couldn’t help but admire the cloak. It was very finely made, indeed, and…

He frowned. The…wool didn’t just unravel when cut like that. It frayed as well, turning into a fluffy mass.

While illusions weren’t his favourite thing to dabble in, Rommath had made it his business to be competent in the eight major schools of magic, as well as having a strong understanding of the magics utilized by sorcerers, druids, shamans.

This felt wrong.

That wasn’t Akama.

…

“FOOL! YOU’VE FLOWN INTO MY TRAP!”

Illidan, already in mid-air so as to avoid Maiev’s attack, started as the demonic voice boomed through his head. A burning purple shape hurling itself out of the lake at him and he recognized the Nathrezim immediately, having killed this one once already. Xas’icus was a brute and an assassin, somewhat heftier than him and infinitely more awkward in the air on account of his short wings. What was that wretched creature doing here-

Ah. Demonic politics. The council of incubus was low-ranking in the Legions army, usually the servants and footsoldiers to the shivarra and the succubi. Ma’niqu had been sent after him in an effort to boost their reputation. But clearly the Nathrezim wanted the honour of killing him for themselves, and had stationed an operative here to snatch the prize away. All the information he had about the demon flicked to the forefront of his mind in a matter of seconds and he forgot Maiev, forgot about everything as he turned to face the attack.

“YOU WILL DIE HERE, ALONE-”

Kael’thas knocked the demon out of mid-air with a spectacularly explosive fireball, cackling as it went skidding over the ice. Maiev turned her furious gaze on the demon, then to him, then to Kael’thas, briefly torn in her choice of targets.

“Get in line, demon! His head is mine!”

“What fool are you to come between the Legion and their prey?!” Xas straightened out of the snow and snarled as a dozen arrows rebounded off his armour and sank deep into the joints of his wings. Illidan knew a surge of glee. Let them have at each other and he would very graciously bow out, snatch Kael’thas away from this nonsense and dash through the temple towards home. But sadly it wasn’t to be. The skin of his arms prickled in warning of portal magic and he flicked himself away as Xas tried to cut him in half.

Imbecile. That hadn’t worked the last three times he had tried it.

And Illidan, much to his frustration, still hadn’t figured out precisely how he did it. But now an opportunity presented itself. For when he fed on demons it sated more than his hunger for magic- he devoured fragments of their memories, of their spells. And Xas was very adept with his portal work.

He dived upon Xas as the demon left the ground, harrying him over the ice, and behind him metal sang as Kael’thas unsheathed his sword and turned to face the wardens.

…

“Ladies, please! There’s plenty of me to go around!”

The wardens plainly didn’t appreciate his attempts at politeness for he almost immediately lost an eye. He hurled a fireball at the offending warrior, then threw himself flat and rolled up as metal hissed through the air behind him. These Kaldorei threw the circular glaives one handed as if they weighed nothing, bouncing them off the heavy armour of their mounts so that they ricocheted in from unexpected angles. The women themselves attacked him head on with short blades so that he was in a virtual vortex of weaponry, testing his wards and armour for weak points. A distant part of him now understood why Illidan had so many scars.

A trio of throwing knives bounced off his wards, striking sparks. One of the wardens let loose a ringing cry and bulled through his ward on saberback. So determined was she that she managed to knock him across the head before his magic threw her back. The spell after that was almost instinctive, flash heating the upper layer of ice so that it burst into steam around them. The scalding cloud was harmless to him, and it gave him a moment to breathe as the wardens twitched back.

Illidan was brawling with the demon in mid-air, beating it around the head with his wings. The dreadlord tried to shout some spell at him only for Illidan to immediately kick it in the midriff, winding it and bullying him back further. Illidan was much more adept in the air to Kael’thas eye, his wings rotating in their sockets to pull him just out of range before diving back into the fray. One ear tilted towards him and he half turned, hovering.

Idiot. He wouldn’t be able to disengage without leaving his back completely open to attack.

“I’m fine! Kill it!”

And then he had no more time for the largest warden shook herself and leaped through the steam to chase him. He gave her his most dazzling smile as he moved back, step by step, steady and sweet as a dance. Five. He counted only five of them and their mounts prowling along in the edges of his vision. Where was Maiev-

Something smacked into his side. He looked down in confusion. A feathered shaft jutted out of his ribs, gleaming with anti-magic runes. His armour had slowed it, but not enough to-

Ah. There was the pain.

He blinked away from them, thirty feet to the left. Maiev observed him as he tried to force himself upright and stumbled. Content that he wasn’t going to escape her, she turned back to study Illidan. The other wardens eyed him briefly and came to a swift decision amongst themselves, for two of them drew long, incredibly sharp knives from their belts and moved towards him, one circling left and one circling right, before their outlines blurred and vanished into the snow. Ah, yes, all the night elves could do that. Unfortunate.

Plainly they thought to kill him and let Illidan and the demon maul one another, before sweeping in to finish them off. And to think folk had the nerve to call the Sin’dorei arrogant.

Gritting his teeth, he wrenched the arrow out and burned the wound closed in one swift motion. For a minute the agony rendered him nearly blind. That was a lot of blood. And that piece of flesh there rather seemed like it should be inside him. Perhaps this wasn’t his best plan.

Illidan seemed to have gained the upper hand. Having driven the dreadlord through the air above the lake he now harried the demon against the mountainside, pinning him against the temple steps. His wings were spread wide and his tattoos blazed as streamers of green mana flowed from the demon into him.

He was eating it.

Ah. No wonder he hadn’t wanted breakfast, part of him thought distantly. He’d probably eaten enough of Ma’niqu to keep himself going for a few days.

Now that he was distracted, Maiev whistled to her sisters and they all took off across the ice. A nasty trio of daggers gleamed between her fingers. He gathered himself, blinked forwards and bashed into Maiev’s shoulder as she threw her weapons, sending them skittering over the ice.

“May I have this dance?”

She punched him in the head and only his wards protected him from a cracked skull.

“Get out of my way and I may allow you to leave.”

The hell she would.

“Illidan comes with me.”

“You realize that isn’t Illidan, do you not?”

“If that’s the case you really ought to go figure out where he really is.”

“I would rather he didn’t claim another victim, even a Highbourne as wretched as yourself.” Maiev swayed slightly on her feet, testing his reactions. Her sisters circled past, ignoring them, racing to attack Illidan while he was distracted.

“Illidan? You have houseguests.” Aloud he said;

“The term you’re looking for is Sin’dorei, there’s an emphasis on the S.” He barely deflected the boot dagger she tossed towards his eyes and had to lock Felo’melorn into the grooves of her vambraces to prevent her scalping him. Maiev leaned into him, unbelievably and inevitably strong.

“He’s corrupted, just the same as everyone that touches fel and thinks they can master it.” She spoke with an absolute certainty and Kael’thas felt himself quail a little. He had suspected as much, deep down. Fel magic was famed for its corruptive qualities, and elves well known to be particularly weak to its lure. And Illidan had been alone with that and nothing else for endless ages.

“If you’ll forgive me saying so, ma’am, you may not be the most reliable source of information.” But it was important to present a united front. He radiated enough heat to melt the outer layers of Maiev’s armour and it trickled down his sword, dripped onto his hands, into his hair. He was briefly glad for his magic, protecting him from burns.

Maiev had no such power and she didn’t seem to care a whit.

“You think he’d want to be a vector for such a thing? It’s a mercy to kill him. More than he deserves.”

Demonic energies were well known to drive the bearer to madness. Illidan might well believe he was battling the Legion, rather than spreading it’s contagion to many other worlds. That would explain why he had yielded to Kil’jaden so easily, how the demon overlord had found them in the first place. Why he allowed demons into the Temple.

And yet. He hesitated in teaching the Sin’dorei how to feed on fel, concerned they wouldn’t be able to control it. That seemed somewhat counterproductive, did it not? And Kael’thas had touched the magic and minds of creatures corrupted by fel. All of them lived in a state of chaos, a churn of energies. Not the sensations he’d felt from Illidan last night, an orderly if idiosyncratic library.

“He tells you he can control it, promised that there’s a cure for your hunger? Lies. It ate him up from the inside just the same as his mother, the same as you will be in time. You are lost.”

Lost? Did she think he would be here if he had any other choice?

He had always had something of a temper, but largely controlled it. A fire mage with a hot temper was too much of a cliché for him to play into. But all at once it came bursting out.

“You don’t remember, do you? I wrote you letters pleading with you to take and train some of the women, so that they’d have food and shelter.” Rage flared through him. “Illidan brought aid and rescue where you and your precious Kaldorei would have let us hang, where the humans let us starve. We needed refuge and in the grimmest hour of our existence everyone turned away.”

And he still couldn’t understand it. What had they ever done that was so wrong that the whole world abandoned them? No sympathy for them, no compassion, nothing.

It was the oldest damn trick in the book, yet he fell for it. Maiev suddenly stopped pushing him back and he lurched forwards towards her. She grabbed his ears and spun him to slam into the ice, pressing a knee into his chest. It splintered beneath him. Icy water soaked into his hair, slipped around his throat as she shoved his head underwater. He slammed the pommel into her helm to no avail, and she tilted her head so as to catch it against her shoulder so he couldn’t strike her again. Her hand tightened around his gorget as he boiled the water around them, trying to clear it away from his face.

And then suddenly the pressure was gone and he was falling, through a portal, to land completely winded on the ground. Illidan’s voice echoed in his mind as he rolled to avoid a deluge of lake water.

“Kael’thas!” And he recoiled at the sound, half-deafened. Illidan rattled off a stream of incomprehensible demonic. Since when could he make portals!? That would have made this whole thing so much easier!

He lurched upright, coughing, in time to see the portal snap closed.

[cherikyassss]

This is, most certainly, not where Charles wants to be.

When he agreed to come with Hank on this trip it was supposed to be purely academic in nature- research, conferences, maybe the odd drink in a local bar if appropriate. Charles isn’t opposed to having fun, but being very modest and very English there are certain situations he just doesn’t expect to find himself in.

Like being on a nudist beach, for example.

The hot midday sun is bearing down as Charles cautiously wanders across the sand, keeping his gaze firmly downwards as he uses the items he is carrying to preserve his decency. Once he locates a suitable location to, well, hide Charles lays his beach towel under a waiting umbrella and lies down upon it- resting his head against the rucksack placed behind him and propping an open book in his lap to strategically conceal his member.

It’s not that Charles is shy, necessarily, rather that he doesn’t wish to attract undue attention. His reasons for being on the beach are of paramount importance; the small device that Hank created as a sort of ‘miniature Cerebo’ to detect nearby mutants had reacted unnaturally strongly earlier that day, suggesting to them both that there was a very powerful mutant in the immediate vicinity. Of course, the nature of the device means that pinpointing the exact location of said mutant is nigh-impossible, and Charles and Hank are forced to search an area of perhaps three square miles; a large proportion of which just happens to be a nudist beach.

Hank had point-blank refused to venture onto the beach, given that would mean him having to remove his shoes and expose his simian-like feet, so Charles was left facing this particular mission alone.

It’s nothing that he can’t handle though, Charles reminds himself as he surveys the scene. There are various people dotted about the beach each going about their own business, and Charles uses his telepathy to subtly flit across the minds in the area- skimming for information whilst ensuring his intrusion remains undetected. Things are going fine and Charles is beginning to relax in the slightly awkward situation, but then he gets completely distracted…

There’s a man emerging from the water, and Charles feels his mind before he sees him. Charles’ immediate reaction is one of awe and wonder- the man’s psyche is strong and disciplined, with multiple layers that Charles yearns to sort through. Charles has always favoured a strong mind, and has been known to actively seek out those with strong mental presences so he can engage them in thoughtful conversation. But then the lower half of the man rises from the water, and all intellectual thoughts are promptly shelved…

Charles’ mouth gapes slightly as he watches the man rise from the ocean- his body like a statue carved from fine marble; taut muscles and silky expanses of skin all glistening in the sunlight. Although the man’s torso is undeniably fine Charles’ eyes are focused decidedly lower, and the size queen within Charles practically shudders with glee at the sight of the man’s impressive cock.

It’s perhaps a full minute before Charles realises he is staring, and none too subtly, but by this point the man is already walking distinctly in Charles’ direction and Charles fumbles for excuses that might enable him to explain his lecherous behaviour. It doesn’t even occur to Charles to just use his telepathy to make the man forget his staring- for reasons he can’t explain Charles doesn’t want to corrupt this stranger’s mind, even though the consequences of such abstinence might prove rather embarrassing.

Charles settles for just averting his attention to the book in his lap- eyes frantically darting over the pages as he attempts to pretend he is completely engrossed in his studies and not at all daydreaming about mouthing up the side of the man’s large cock. It’s a poor show, and when Charles’ own member starts to predictably stir in interest he is forced to hastily position the open book back over his lap in an attempt to conceal his excitement.

“Good book?”

Charles inwardly curses as he realises the man is now standing to the side of him, and when he turns to look he is immediately greeted with an eyeful of cock, though part of him wishes it were a mouthful…

“Um, hi…” Charles starts, forcing his gaze upwards past an impossibly slim waist to meet the man’s eyes. The face that stares down at him is undeniably attractive, and is sporting a wide and rather menacing grin that makes Charles’ heart pound in anticipation.

“Yes…” Charles continues. “It’s, um, an interesting read…”

“I’m a little surprised to hear that, considering you’ve spent the past few minutes looking decidedly elsewhere. It’s almost like something else captured your attention…”

The blush that creeps over Charles’ face is immediate, and telling. He knows how clearly heat shows on his pale skin, and his mouth falls open wordlessly as he tries to think of something clever to say, but for once he is at a loss for words. Fortunately at that moment the man gives out a short laugh before he drops down to lie on his side next to Charles, meaning Charles is no longer forced to pretend he doesn’t see the sizeable obscenity in his periphery.

Of course, as it turns out this new situation is not much better. The man lies facing Charles with his head propped up on one arm, and as he settles into position his member shifts and drops against the sand, and Charles’ eyes follow the movement before he realises what he’s doing and corrects himself. By that point it’s too late, and when Charles looks back up the man’s grin is even wider than before and Charles’ cock is making a break for freedom beneath the folded book.

“It’s heavy, isn’t it…?”

“What?” Charles splutters.

“The book”, the man clarifies, nodding down to Charles’ lap. “When most people go the beach they bring something light to read, but I don’t think ‘On the Origin of Species’ really fits into that category”.

“Ah, well, I’m a genetics professor…” Charles explains. “So it’s kind of required reading”.

“Really? That’s interesting. Do you specialise in a particular field?”

Charles takes a deep breath as he stares into the man’s intense green-grey-blue eyes before he replies: “Mutation”, and the look he receives in response confirms what Charles is already beginning to suspect.

The smile on the man’s face fades, but there is a certain interest in his eyes that makes Charles lean a bit closer in the prospect of hope.

“Erik Lehnsherr”, the man says, offering his hand.

Charles ensures one hand is firmly keeping his book in place before he reaches with the other to accept Erik’s handshake.

“Professor Charles Xavier”, Charles replies, before inwardly chastising himself for showing off. He can’t deny that he is eager to impress Erik though, not just because he fancies him, but because he’s still whirling from just the smallest impression of Erik’s mind that he gleaned and he wants desperately to explore further.

“Erik… I came to this beach today looking for someone, and I think that person is you”.

Erik’s grin is back, and as he leans a bit closer Charles can’t help but notice the way Erik’s eyes flit across his lips, or help the way he immediately licks them in response.

“My my, Charles- how very forward. Perhaps you’re not as demure as you first appear to be…”

“Ah, no- wait, I didn’t mean–” Charles starts, fumbling over the words and disliking the way Erik’s smile immediately begins to fade reactively. “What I mean is, I’m here on business- searching for, um, gifted individuals- someone with immense power, in particular. Do you know what I’m talking about?”

Erik’s face grows serious, and Charles is instantly crestfallen by the way Erik appears to visibly recoil.

“Oh, I see… You study mutations, right? That’s what you want from me?”

“Well, yes, but–”

“Not interested”, Erik replies gruffly, starting to sit up before Charles grasps him desperately on one arm.

It’s an effort for Charles to keep a hold on Erik whilst also trying to ensure the book doesn’t slip from his lap, particularly as he feels the taut and firm muscles of Erik’s bicep underneath his fingers and his arousal deepens in response. Erik stops moving but he doesn’t fully turn back around, he just quirks an eyebrow at Charles as if he is waiting for him to continue.

“My friend, I’m like you…” Charles offers, beginning to stroke his fingertips against Erik’s arm in an attempt to soothe him. “I’m… a telepath. I’m not going to hurt you, I swear, I’d just like to talk to you- to get to know you better. Please…”

Erik’s expression softens, and Charles feels some of the tension leave Erik’s body. He stares at Charles for a long moment as if he’s considering something, before he emits a low sigh and returns to his position lying next to Charles.

“And here I thought you were checking me out…” Erik says eventually, and Charles’ heart soars at the way Erik almost sounds disappointed.

“I was…” Charles replies, flashing Erik a flirty grin and revelling in the way Erik brightens in response.

“So, what now?” Erik asks. “Do you want to go somewhere more private and talk?”

The idea of that sounds extremely appealing to Charles, but he knows that any sudden movements would likely result in him embarrassing himself horribly and he can’t bear the thought of Erik being put off by his obvious need.

“Um, could we just… stay here for a few minutes… Or you could go, and I’ll finish this last chapter and come meet you”.

Erik’s expression is thoughtful and slightly confused, but when his eyes drop down to the book in Charles’ lap and Charles immediately grasps it tighter defensively he seems to understand.

“Charles…” Erik murmurs, reaching down.

Erik lifts the book gently as he peers underneath, and Charles immediately closes his eyes in embarrassment as Erik begins to chuckle softly. Charles is seconds away from using his telepathy to extract himself from the uncomfortable situation before the book is released and careful, callused fingers move to caress Charles’ chin, and he opens his eyes to find Erik grinning at him wickedly.

“I’ve always loved this book”, Erik smirks.

Charles lets out a relieved laugh in response as Erik’s hand begins to move- fingertips trailing down the side of Charles’ neck and across his chest and gliding across the sensitive skin of his stomach.

“I don’t suppose you bought a second copy…” Erik continues, and as Charles drops his gaze he can’t suppress the audible gasp that comes out as a result of seeing Erik’s slowly hardening cock.

When Charles shakes his head Erik smiles again, and there’s a mischievous look in his eyes that Charles doesn’t understand until Erik says: “Well I guess we’ll have to improvise then”, and with a flick of his fingers the umbrella above them drops down to conceal them from view.

Charles lets out a slight yelp in surprise, but then Erik’s lips are on his mouth and all sensible thought is lost, and when the book is pushed aside Charles has just enough practicality to use his telepathy to form a barrier around the both of them before Erik’s hands are wandering, and he is lost to the touch.

[yourpersistantperseverence24]

Crypto-what? If you've attempted to dive into this mysterious thing known as blockchain, you'd be forgiven with regard to recoiling in horror in the sheer opaqueness of the specialized jargon that is often used in order to frame it. So before we have into what a cryptocurrency is actually and how blockchain technology may change the world, let's talk about what blockchain actually is. Within the simplest terms, a blockchain is a digital ledger associated with transactions, not unlike the actual ledgers we have been using for years and years to record sales as well as purchases. The function of the digital ledger is, actually pretty much identical to a conventional ledger in that it data debits and credits among people. That is the core idea behind blockchain; the difference will be who holds the journal and who verifies the particular transactions. With traditional dealings, a payment from one individual to another involves some kind of intermediary to facilitate the deal. Let's say Rob wants to move £20 to Melanie. He is able to either give her money in the form of a £20 notice, or he can use some type of banking app to exchange the money directly to her banking account. In both cases, a financial institution is an intermediary verifying typically the transaction: Rob's funds tend to be verified when he takes the cash out of a cash device, or they are verified through the app when he makes the electronic transfer. The bank decides when the transaction should go ahead. The lender also holds the document of all transactions made by Taking advantage of and is solely responsible for upgrading it whenever Rob will pay someone or receives cash into his account. Quite simply, the bank holds and handles the ledger, and everything flows through the bank. This is a lot of responsibility, so it's essential that Rob feels he is able to trust his bank or else he would not risk their money with them. He must feel confident that the lender will not defraud him, will never lose his money, will never be robbed, and will not vanish overnight. This need for believe in has underpinned pretty much every main behaviour and facet of often the monolithic finance industry, towards the extent that even when it had been discovered that banks were being irresponsible with our money during the economic crisis of 2008, the government (another intermediary) chose to bail all of them out rather than risk wrecking the final fragments of relying on by letting them collapse. Blockchains operate differently in one crucial respect: they are entirely decentralized. There is no central clearing home like a bank, and there is absolutely no central ledger held through one entity. Instead, the actual ledger is distributed throughout a vast network of computer systems, called nodes, each of that holds a copy of the whole ledger on their respective hard disk drives. These nodes are linked to one another via a piece of software known as peer-to-peer (P2P) client, which usually synchronizes data across the system of nodes and makes sure everybody has the same version from the ledger at any given time limit. When a new transaction is usually entered into a blockchain, it really is first encrypted using sophisticated cryptographic technology. Once protected, the transaction is transformed into something called a block, that is basically the term used for a coded group of new transactions. Which block is then sent (or broadcast) into the network regarding computer nodes, where it truly is verified by the nodes and also, once verified, passed on to the network so that the block could be added to the end of the journal on everybody's computer, underneath the list of all previous prevents. This is called the chain, therefore the tech is referred to as the blockchain. Once approved along with recorded into the ledger, the particular transaction can be completed. This is the way cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin function. Accountability and the removal of have confidence in What are the advantages of this system over the banking or central cleaning system? Why would Ron use Bitcoin instead of regular currency? The answer is trust. As stated before, with the banking program it is critical that Rob cartouche his bank to protect his or her money and handle this properly. To ensure this happens, massive regulatory systems exist to be able to verify the actions of the banking institutions and ensure they are fit regarding purpose. Governments then control the regulators, creating a kind of tiered system of checks in whose sole purpose is to assist in preventing mistakes and bad behavior. In other words, organizations like the Monetary Services Authority exist exactly because banks can't be reliable on their own. And banks regularly make mistakes and misbehave, once we have seen too many times. If you have a single source of authority, energy tends to get abused or even misused. The trust romantic relationship between people and financial institutions is awkward and risky: we don't really confidence them but we avoid feel there are many options. Blockchain systems, on the other hand, may need you to trust them whatsoever. All transactions (or blocks) in a blockchain are confirmed by the nodes in the community before being added to typically the ledger, which means there is no solitary point of failure with no single approval channel. In case a hacker wanted to successfully tinker with the ledger on a blockchain, they would have to simultaneously crack millions of computers, which is extremely difficult. A hacker would be pretty much unable to bring any blockchain network down, because, again, they would need to be in a position to shut down every single computer within a network of computers dispersed around the world.   The encryption procedure itself is also a key factor. Blockchains like the Bitcoin one utilize deliberately difficult processes for his or her verification procedure. In the case of Bitcoin, blocks are verified simply by nodes performing an intentional processor- and time-intensive number of calculations, often in the form of vague ideas or complex mathematical issues, which mean that verification is definitely neither instant nor available. Nodes that do commit often the resource to verification involving blocks are rewarded having a transaction fee and resources of newly-minted Bitcoins. It's the function of each incentivizing people to become systems (because processing blocks such as this require pretty powerful personal computers and a lot of electricity), whilst additionally handling the process of generating -- or minting - models of the currency. This is known as mining because it involves a great deal of effort (by a computer, within this case) to produce a new product. It also means that transactions are usually verified by the most self-employed way possible, more independent than the usual government-regulated organization like the FSA. This decentralized, democratic in addition to highly secure nature connected with blockchains means that they can function without the need for regulation (they are self-regulating), government or perhaps another opaque intermediary. These people work because people don't believe in each other, rather than in spite of. Allow significance of that sink set for a while and the excitement about blockchain starts to make feeling. Smart contracts Where points get really interesting is the What is a blockchain beyond cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Given that one of the fundamental principles of the blockchain product is the secure, independent confirmation of a transaction, it's easy to think about other ways in which this type of method can be valuable. Unsurprisingly, numerous such applications are already being used or developed. Some of the best types are: Smart contracts (Ethereum): probably the most exciting blockchain advancement after Bitcoin, smart agreements are blocks that contain program code that must be executed in order for the actual contract to be fulfilled. The actual code can be anything, so long as a computer can execute that, but in simple terms, this means that you can use blockchain technology (with its independent verification, trustless architecture, and security) to produce a kind of escrow system for just about any kind of transaction. As an example, if you are a web designer you could develop a contract that verifies in case a new client's website is actually launched or not, and then instantly release the funds for you once it is. No more chasing after or invoicing. Smart deals are also being used to show ownership of an asset for example property or art. The opportunity of reducing fraud with this strategy is enormous. Cloud storage space (Storj): cloud computing offers revolutionized the web and caused the advent of Big Information which has, in turn, kick began the new AI revolution. But cloud-based systems operate on servers stored in single-location machine farms, owned by an individual entity (Amazon, Rackspace, Search engines etc). This presents the same problems as the banking method, in that your data will be controlled by a single, funeste organization which represents just one point of failure. Disbursing data on a blockchain eliminates the trust issue completely and also promises to increase dependability as it is so much harder to consider a blockchain network straight down. Digital identification (Sheard): a couple of the biggest issues of our period are identified theft as well as data protection. With huge centralized services such as Myspace holding so much data tentang kami, and efforts by numerous developed-world governments to store electronic digital information about their citizens inside a central database, the potential for misuse of our personal data is usually terrifying. Blockchain technology provides a potential solution to this by simply wrapping your key information up into a protected block that can be verified from the blockchain network whenever you have to prove your identity. The particular applications of this range from the apparent replacement of passports and I. M. cards to other areas like replacing passwords. It could be massive. Digital voting: highly topical ointment in the wake of the analysis into Russia's influence within the recent U. S. selection, digital voting has long been thought of being both unreliable and also highly vulnerable to tampering. Blockchain technology offers a way of confirming that a voter's vote had been successfully sent while keeping their anonymity. It guarantees not only to reduce fraud within elections but also to increase common voter turnout as individuals will be able to vote on their cell phones. Blockchain technology is still greatly in its infancy and most of the programs are a long way from basic use. Even Bitcoin, probably the most established blockchain platform, is definitely subject to huge volatility a sign of its relative newbie status. However, the potential for blockchain to solve some of the major difficulties we face today can make it an extraordinarily exciting along with seductive technology to follow. I am going to certainly be keeping a watch out.

http://gamezone26.blogspot.com/2017/10/a-brief-introduction-to-blockchain-for.html

[lalast0ne]

Watched

Wilder

A drive to clear my head yesterday, had led me here, watching the choppy waters of the lake pounding against the sand. It reminded me of the very few good days of my childhood. The ones that always stayed hidden. Or rather, the ones I had locked away. Always the bad days, played throughout my mind daily. Those were the ones that I clung too and the ones I let control my mind and body. I had become restless yesterday sitting in the confines of my house, my thoughts drifting to that little ball of fire. They really didn’t drift. She surrounded each and every thought since that night at the bar. I tasted and played with fire and I wanted that burn again. I pick up a rock and skip it across the lake before turning my back to the choppy waters and follow Killer up the path to my car. I was bone tired but couldn’t pass out here. This was not an area that I felt comfortable at. The land was unfamiliar, enemies hiding in the shadows. Always an enemy, with knife in hand, ready to stab my back. I knew exactly who enemy number one was but that name would not cross my lips until the time was right. I make my way back to my town, my safety and when I pull down my street, I am greeted by a car parked haphazardly in my grass. Little ball of fire’s. I get out the car, Killer sniffing up the grass to the porch, my stride carrying me quickly behind me. My lip quirks into a smirk when I see Layla passed out on the porch swing but it quickly dissipates when I see the bottle of whiskey laying on the ground along with the contents of her purse. She is curled up with an envelope clutched tightly to her chest. I bend down, the smell of alcohol lighting up the morning air and scoop her into my arms, careful as I carry her inside my house and lay her down on the couch. I take a seat on the table in front of her, resisting the urge to touch her and wait for her to stir.

Layla

*The choppiness of the waves increase rapidly, crashing against the sides of my boat. My stomach lurches and churns as the rocking intensifies. A storm is coming. A storm is coming and I’m in the eye of it. I look up at the black sky and wait for the heavens to open but there’s nothing. I feel so hot I’d actually welcome the refreshing rain against my face but no such luck. I look down to the sea and recoil at it’s aggressive behaviour. Like it’s ready to swallow me and my boat up. I look to the sky once more and as if by magic, my wings spread and I’m soaring thru the air. Feeling completely weightless. The atmosphere changes. The sea calms and my body relaxes as it floats back down to earth. My Nana stands in front of me with her crazy hair blowing in the warm breeze, just smiling and nodding her head slowly. Then she leans in to kiss my cheek .. then lick my cheek .. then my nose!* WHAT THE … *My eyes fly open as warm dog breath smacks me in the face and a slobbery tongue assaults me once more. My hands grip the dogs fur to pull him back from my face as I give a halfhearted laugh. My brain is still fuzzy but I recognise my furry friend which means his owner is nearby too. Looking around my new surroundings, briefly, butterflies explode to life in my stomach when my eyes finally land on you. I give a dopey smile and push up into a sitting position, trying to straighten my clothes* Hi ..

Wilder

*Your laugh stirs something deep inside me and I actually get jealous of Killer receiving your touch first. Damn dog is a traitor when it comes to you. My eyes travel up the length of your body as you stir and fix your clothes. Almost like you are uncomfortable to be in my presence. That thought causes me to lean backwards, an unsettling feeling taking up residence in the pit of my stomach. We’ve tasted each other….lips, tongue. I know how you feel pressed up against me. All innocent yet wanting. Your simple word of “hi” pulls me out of my mind, directing my attention back to you.* You’ve upped our stalking game Ms. Stone.

Layla

*I blink several times in an attempt to focus. The dog, who’s name I still don’t know, lays across my lap and enjoys the fuss I give him while I try to process your words. Mumbling under my breath, my eyes search for all the items I came with.* No game. Have you seen my bag? *I scan the floor again, like it would have miraculously appeared* I had an envelope too and *I feel my cheeks heat* my drink?

Wilder

*I laugh at all your questions, pointing to the envelope that fell to the floor when I laid you down.* Your empty bottle of whiskey and everything inside your purse is on my front porch. Along with your stellar parking job. Thank you for not hitting my rose bush. *I watch you reach down to grab the envelope quickly, several photos falling face up. Your eyes meet mine quickly as I grab for one of them. Your hand shaking as you attempt to push mine out of the way. You are inside my house after driving here sometime yesterday. My senses are heightened when you push my hand away. Questions will be answered before you make another move. I wait you out. Patience my best friend at times like this.*

Layla

*I snatch the photo out of your grasp and push your hand away as I quickly gather the others and stuff them back into the envelope.* I’m sorry for showing up unannounced but I don’t have a way of contacting you and .. I just needed to get out of the city. For some reason, here was the first place that came to mind. Do you ever have day’s like that? When you just need to escape? Escape your life and all the shit that goes with it? *I look at you expectantly, waiting for your response and offering no other explanation for my being here*

Wilder

Yesterday I needed an escape. *My eyes on the envelope and your hands gripping it tightly.* I drove out to a lake not too far away from….*My words fall off when I see another photo on the ground. I grab it before you even notice it. Fists clenching when I see what it is.* We can cut the small talk, little ball of fire and you can tell me exactly why you showed up here and what the fuck this is.

Layla

*I look between you and the image in your hand. My words fail me momentarily and I turn my gaze from yours to the floor before slumping back against the couch. Remaining silent for moments before I look back at you in the hope you’ll see how uncomfortable I feel and change the subject. But clearly I’ll have no such luck. Your intense gaze penetrates me and I know I’m going to have to offer some kind of explanation. I take a deep breath and point to the image you’re holding.* The envelope arrived at the club today. A dozen images enclosed all like that one *I reach into the envelope and remove the contents once more, handing them over to you without an argument.* Me in my daily life. Walking to and from my apartment, shopping, at the club, my parents, the night at the bar *My eyes find yours and my stomach flips but I ignore the feeling and continue as you flick thru the images* All are along the same lines except for the last. That last image was taken in my apartment. *My voice breaks and I clear my throat to try and mask my vulnerability* Someone was in my apartment .. in my bedroom .. while I was asleep.

Wilder

*My jaw ticks as I flip through the images, stopping on the last one. I’m staring at you asleep in your bed, someone’s shadow looming over you. Tearing away all your sense of safety. I hear your voice change, from the smart ass mouth that turns me the fuck on, to one of fear and downright scared. In this moment, I know I would do any and everything to protect you. I drop the photos as I reach for you, pulling you with ease onto my lap, my arms coming around you, needing to breathe you in.* Who is behind this? Tell me….

Layla

*I put up no fight as you reach out and pull me onto your lap. Your strong arms close around my waist and the feeling of safety I’ve been yearning for, since the moment I left my office yesterday, seeps thru me. It’s the same feeling I experienced the other night at the bar. No matter how afraid I might be, in this moment with you, I feel a sense of security and calmness. I take the pictures from your hand and look through them for the hundredth time. I don’t look at you and my voice remains low* I don’t know .. not for sure anyway.

Wilder

*The fact you will not look at me pisses me off. I take the photos from you and throw them across the room, turning you on my lap so you face me. I grab your chin between my thumb and forefinger, lifting your head so you have to look at me. That one simple touch of my fingers on your skin, ignites that fire that crackles between us. Our eyes lock, you worry your bottom lip between your teeth, hands twisting in your lap.* I’m not going to ask again. You know who is doing this. I want a name.

Layla

*I blink in shock as the pictures fly across the room, scattering all over the place. The dog, thinking it’s some sort of game, chases the pieces of paper, barking in frustration when he can’t pick them up between his teeth. You manhandle me like I’m weightless, shifting me around to face you and forcing my eyes to meet yours. That familiar spark ignites instantly but I resist the urge to plant my lips on yours. Instead, I keep my hands in my lap and continue the internal battle of whether to give you a name. Giving you a name will open the floodgates to a million questions, I’m sure. But the look on your face tells me I don’t have any other choice. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. It’s been a long long time since I said this mans name, just the thought of it makes my skin crawl* Adam Dawson. I’m 90% sure it’s Adam.

Wilder

Killer! Quiet! *My voice carries across the room to the dog, who stops barking and rolls over on his back. I turn my attention back to you, dragging my thumb along your neck. The feel of your soft skin under my touch, your pulse quickening. You hesitate in giving me an answer but the minute the name rolls across your tongue, I have it memorized. He will pay for taking away your sense of safety and bringing fear to your life.* You will no longer fear him Layla. Consider him taken care of.

Layla

*Your thumb stroking along my neck appears to be my weakness. Enough to render me immobile and mute unless addressed directly. I listen to the low rumble of your voice. My head tipping from side to side as your words wash over me then register* Wilder, it’s really not that simple. Taken care of how? *I drop my eyes to the floor, smiling softly as the dog, apparently named Killer .. an odd name .. nudges my hands with his wet nose.* Nothing can happen to him .. If anything happens to him it’ll instantly be tied back to my family and me. I .. I just want to forget. Forget everything.

Wilder

It really is that simple. You don’t need to know any details. *I continue dragging my thumb along your neck, growling to get Killer to move away from you. I lean closer to you, my eyes locking with yours once again.* Tell me what to do to make you forget. *Your shirt falls from your shoulder and I can’t resist the lure of your skin. I dip my head and drag my tongue along your collar bone, my hand gripping at your hip a little too tightly but I’m consumed by you yet again.*

Layla

*A tremble runs the length of my spine when your tongue trails along on skin. I inhale a sharp breath and my hand goes against your chest, fisting a handful of your shirt. My voice comes out as a throaty whisper, my eyes heavy with the last of the alcohol in my system and lust.* Please, Wilder. Don’t do anything you’ll regret. Just stay away from him. My Dad will have his people look into it as soon as I tell him what’s been going on the last few weeks. *I slip my hand up your throat and comb my fingers thru your beard, tugging gently. Our eyes locked as I move my mouth closer to yours* It’s your turn to distract me, Mr. Steele. Kiss me.

Wilder

You will tell me exactly who you and your father are soon. *Growling out my words again when I hear you say to kiss you. My hand snakes around to the back of your neck and into your hair, tugging to tilt your head. I drag my teeth along your jaw and up to your mouth, pulling your bottom lip between my teeth, our lips molding together in a heated kiss. The minute our lips touch, lightening strikes and the storm that has been brewing between us yet again is reignited.*

Layla

*The effect you have on me is frightening. The simplest touches have massive effects, the touch of your lips against mine sends me into complete meltdown. Both my hands creep into your hair while my lips respond to yours. Our kiss becoming more heated by the second. I shift in your lap, my legs moving to straddle you, my mouth never breaking from yours. My crazy dream hadn’t been fair wrong. There was a storm coming and that storm was you, Wilder Steele. A force to be reckoned with but one I had no desire to fight. You were about to swallow me whole and I was going to let you.*

[yourpersistantperseverence24]

Crypto-what? If you've attempted to dive into this mysterious thing known as blockchain, you'd be forgiven with regard to recoiling in horror in the sheer opaqueness of the specialized jargon that is often used in order to frame it. So before we have into what a cryptocurrency is actually and how blockchain technology may change the world, let's talk about what blockchain actually is. Within the simplest terms, a blockchain is a digital ledger associated with transactions, not unlike the actual ledgers we have been using for years and years to record sales as well as purchases. The function of the digital ledger is, actually pretty much identical to a conventional ledger in that it data debits and credits among people. That is the core idea behind blockchain; the difference will be who holds the journal and who verifies the particular transactions. With traditional dealings, a payment from one individual to another involves some kind of intermediary to facilitate the deal. Let's say Rob wants to move £20 to Melanie. He is able to either give her money in the form of a £20 notice, or he can use some type of banking app to exchange the money directly to her banking account. In both cases, a financial institution is an intermediary verifying typically the transaction: Rob's funds tend to be verified when he takes the cash out of a cash device, or they are verified through the app when he makes the electronic transfer. The bank decides when the transaction should go ahead. The lender also holds the document of all transactions made by Taking advantage of and is solely responsible for upgrading it whenever Rob will pay someone or receives cash into his account. Quite simply, the bank holds and handles the ledger, and everything flows through the bank. This is a lot of responsibility, so it's essential that Rob feels he is able to trust his bank or else he would not risk their money with them. He must feel confident that the lender will not defraud him, will never lose his money, will never be robbed, and will not vanish overnight. This need for believe in has underpinned pretty much every main behaviour and facet of often the monolithic finance industry, towards the extent that even when it had been discovered that banks were being irresponsible with our money during the economic crisis of 2008, the government (another intermediary) chose to bail all of them out rather than risk wrecking the final fragments of relying on by letting them collapse. Blockchains operate differently in one crucial respect: they are entirely decentralized. There is no central clearing home like a bank, and there is absolutely no central ledger held through one entity. Instead, the actual ledger is distributed throughout a vast network of computer systems, called nodes, each of that holds a copy of the whole ledger on their respective hard disk drives. These nodes are linked to one another via a piece of software known as peer-to-peer (P2P) client, which usually synchronizes data across the system of nodes and makes sure everybody has the same version from the ledger at any given time limit. When a new transaction is usually entered into a blockchain, it really is first encrypted using sophisticated cryptographic technology. Once protected, the transaction is transformed into something called a block, that is basically the term used for a coded group of new transactions. Which block is then sent (or broadcast) into the network regarding computer nodes, where it truly is verified by the nodes and also, once verified, passed on to the network so that the block could be added to the end of the journal on everybody's computer, underneath the list of all previous prevents. This is called the chain, therefore the tech is referred to as the blockchain. Once approved along with recorded into the ledger, the particular transaction can be completed. This is the way cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin function. Accountability and the removal of have confidence in What are the advantages of this system over the banking or central cleaning system? Why would Ron use Bitcoin instead of regular currency? The answer is trust. As stated before, with the banking program it is critical that Rob cartouche his bank to protect his or her money and handle this properly. To ensure this happens, massive regulatory systems exist to be able to verify the actions of the banking institutions and ensure they are fit regarding purpose. Governments then control the regulators, creating a kind of tiered system of checks in whose sole purpose is to assist in preventing mistakes and bad behavior. In other words, organizations like the Monetary Services Authority exist exactly because banks can't be reliable on their own. And banks regularly make mistakes and misbehave, once we have seen too many times. If you have a single source of authority, energy tends to get abused or even misused. The trust romantic relationship between people and financial institutions is awkward and risky: we don't really confidence them but we avoid feel there are many options. Blockchain systems, on the other hand, may need you to trust them whatsoever. All transactions (or blocks) in a blockchain are confirmed by the nodes in the community before being added to typically the ledger, which means there is no solitary point of failure with no single approval channel. In case a hacker wanted to successfully tinker with the ledger on a blockchain, they would have to simultaneously crack millions of computers, which is extremely difficult. A hacker would be pretty much unable to bring any blockchain network down, because, again, they would need to be in a position to shut down every single computer within a network of computers dispersed around the world.   The encryption procedure itself is also a key factor. Blockchains like the Bitcoin one utilize deliberately difficult processes for his or her verification procedure. In the case of Bitcoin, blocks are verified simply by nodes performing an intentional processor- and time-intensive number of calculations, often in the form of vague ideas or complex mathematical issues, which mean that verification is definitely neither instant nor available. Nodes that do commit often the resource to verification involving blocks are rewarded having a transaction fee and resources of newly-minted Bitcoins. It's the function of each incentivizing people to become systems (because processing blocks such as this require pretty powerful personal computers and a lot of electricity), whilst additionally handling the process of generating -- or minting - models of the currency. This is known as mining because it involves a great deal of effort (by a computer, within this case) to produce a new product. It also means that transactions are usually verified by the most self-employed way possible, more independent than the usual government-regulated organization like the FSA. This decentralized, democratic in addition to highly secure nature connected with blockchains means that they can function without the need for regulation (they are self-regulating), government or perhaps another opaque intermediary. These people work because people don't believe in each other, rather than in spite of. Allow significance of that sink set for a while and the excitement about blockchain starts to make feeling. Smart contracts Where points get really interesting is the What is a blockchain beyond cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Given that one of the fundamental principles of the blockchain product is the secure, independent confirmation of a transaction, it's easy to think about other ways in which this type of method can be valuable. Unsurprisingly, numerous such applications are already being used or developed. Some of the best types are: Smart contracts (Ethereum): probably the most exciting blockchain advancement after Bitcoin, smart agreements are blocks that contain program code that must be executed in order for the actual contract to be fulfilled. The actual code can be anything, so long as a computer can execute that, but in simple terms, this means that you can use blockchain technology (with its independent verification, trustless architecture, and security) to produce a kind of escrow system for just about any kind of transaction. As an example, if you are a web designer you could develop a contract that verifies in case a new client's website is actually launched or not, and then instantly release the funds for you once it is. No more chasing after or invoicing. Smart deals are also being used to show ownership of an asset for example property or art. The opportunity of reducing fraud with this strategy is enormous. Cloud storage space (Storj): cloud computing offers revolutionized the web and caused the advent of Big Information which has, in turn, kick began the new AI revolution. But cloud-based systems operate on servers stored in single-location machine farms, owned by an individual entity (Amazon, Rackspace, Search engines etc). This presents the same problems as the banking method, in that your data will be controlled by a single, funeste organization which represents just one point of failure. Disbursing data on a blockchain eliminates the trust issue completely and also promises to increase dependability as it is so much harder to consider a blockchain network straight down. Digital identification (Sheard): a couple of the biggest issues of our period are identified theft as well as data protection. With huge centralized services such as Myspace holding so much data tentang kami, and efforts by numerous developed-world governments to store electronic digital information about their citizens inside a central database, the potential for misuse of our personal data is usually terrifying. Blockchain technology provides a potential solution to this by simply wrapping your key information up into a protected block that can be verified from the blockchain network whenever you have to prove your identity. The particular applications of this range from the apparent replacement of passports and I. M. cards to other areas like replacing passwords. It could be massive. Digital voting: highly topical ointment in the wake of the analysis into Russia's influence within the recent U. S. selection, digital voting has long been thought of being both unreliable and also highly vulnerable to tampering. Blockchain technology offers a way of confirming that a voter's vote had been successfully sent while keeping their anonymity. It guarantees not only to reduce fraud within elections but also to increase common voter turnout as individuals will be able to vote on their cell phones. Blockchain technology is still greatly in its infancy and most of the programs are a long way from basic use. Even Bitcoin, probably the most established blockchain platform, is definitely subject to huge volatility a sign of its relative newbie status. However, the potential for blockchain to solve some of the major difficulties we face today can make it an extraordinarily exciting along with seductive technology to follow. I am going to certainly be keeping a watch out.

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