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anto-pops · 2 years ago

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Fissured Composure - Sebastian Sallow x Female!Reader

Summary: After watching you hold your own against a handsy classmate, Sebastian is feeling particularly needy and steals you away to the Undercroft to show you just how worked up your right hook got him.

Alternatively summarized as Sebastian reverently going down on you after you break Leander's nose

Based on this request I received! Hope you like it anon :))

Word Count: 6.2k

Warnings: 18+, aged up characters, minor violence, explicit sexual content, rough sex

Full fic can be found here on Ao3 as always !

Many of your friends would agree that you had the patience of a damn Saint.

Beyond dealing with Sebastian’s hard-headedness on a regular basis and keeping up appearances with your classmates, it was a wonder you had managed to maintain your cool, collected facade for so long. You could recall losing it once before, shortly after Professor Fig died. But the whole debacle had gone down in the safety and privacy of the Room of Requirement, so no one had been around to witness your indignant anger take root and assist you in trashing two thirds of your sacred space.

That had been two years ago, so you liked to think you’d gotten better at controlling your emotions since then.

Leander fucking Prewett, however, had seemingly made it his life’s mission to frustrate you to no foreseeable end.

While you had felt bad for him in your fifth-year and entertained his rambling mostly out of pity, somewhere along the way your lack of interest got lost in translation. He was a rather boastful individual, preferring to brag about himself and put down anyone that excelled in areas he wanted to be the best in. His attitude had only worsened with age, and for the last few months he had suddenly taken to attempting to woo you in passing.

His efforts were too pathetic to take to heart, but you certainly hadn’t told Sebastian about it yet. Not unless you wanted to trigger a fight that you knew you wouldn’t be able to intervene in, because the whole reason Leander was even trying with you was to get under your boyfriend’s skin.

Today was Wednesday, and you shared Herbology class with Leander, much to your displeasure. Your attempts at escaping out the door quickly had been thwarted when Professor Garlick asked to speak with you after class, and despite hoping against all odds that you would be left alone, Prewett was waiting for you at the top of the steps when you ascended the staircase.

“Ah, there you are,” he drawled, with far too much familiarity for your liking. “Did Professor Garlick hold you back to scold you for something?”

You grasped at the fringes of your self-restraint with everything in you. “No, we were just discussing some extra assignments she gave me last week.”

Wanting to leave the interaction at that, you picked up your pace and strode past him, eager to meet up with Sebastian and Ominis for lunch. At the very least, Sebastian’s presence would act as a safeguard against Leander’s incessant pestering. Unfortunately, the Gryffindor had no qualms about lengthening his stride to match your own, and he fell annoyingly into step beside you.

He raked one of his hands through his long strands of red hair, trying and failing to raise a brow at you questioningly. Instead he just looked constipated. “Wow, extra assignments? You must be some child genius turned prodigy, I can’t think of anyone who willingly says yes to more homework.”

“...I’ve been doing it for two years, Leander.”

Waving you off, he pressed on, “Then you’re way smarter than you let on.” What? “Not that I’ve heard otherwise from anyone, but someone as bright as you likely values intellect and wit, and I can’t help but notice Sebastian is in short supply of both these days–”

“Leander, now really isn’t the time.” Not this shit again. You pushed through the double doors leading to Central Hall, desperate to put your two Slytherin companions in between yourself the daft idiot tailing you.

“Oh, come on. I’m only suggesting we take some time to study together. Or maybe we could take a stroll through the Library since you’re so fond of books. Everyone knows you’ve got a thing for sneaking into the Restricted Section, although sometimes I wonder how much reading you actually do when you disappear there with Sallow.”

By now you had made it beside the fountain in the middle of the room, but your legs halted entirely when you registered the implication hidden in his words. One of your nails broke as you dug your fingers into the cover of your textbook, and you willed the thrum of your blood roaring in your ears to lessen as you finally pivoted to face Leander fully.

Your expression was stormy when you fixed your eyes on his beady ones, and you allowed yourself a moment to appreciate the nervous bob of his throat. “What is it you think I do then, Leander? What vapid, tasteless thoughts do you have whipping around in that giant head of yours, hm?”

At least he had the good sense to look sheepish, but he masked the look quickly with that false bravado that made your hands twitch. He raised his arms in a gesture of surrender, “Relax, doll. I’m just connecting the dots out loud. What does your prized boytoy tempt you with to convince you to break the rules so often?”

Merlin’s bloody balls, if you didn’t leave now, you were going to lose it in the middle of the school. There was no hiding your blatant scowl of disgust, but you found the frayed tethers of your composure and grabbed the ends like a lifeline. You pulled a deep breath into your lungs, exhaling in a way that conveyed your thinning temper, and turned to walk away.

You saw Sebastian standing on the other side of Central Hall talking to Garreth, and he was spying over the redhead’s shoulder to watch you. His face was contorted into a dark, threatening expression, and you knew he could read your own emotions plainly on your face. He was well aware that you were pissed off, and he jumped into action then, muttering something to Weasley under his breath before he was striding across the foyer to get to you.

You’d made it roughly three steps away from Leander when you suddenly felt his slimy hand slithering around your waist to haul you back against his chest. The brazen action took you by surprise, which was the only reason the bastard succeeded in squeezing the curve of your hip so generously. The feeling had you tensing all over, and you dimly registered Sebastian’s murderous expression nearing the opposite side of the fountain before your own anger took root.

“What, you’re not even going to dignify me with a response? That’s awfully cruel–”

A faceful of your fist cut him off mid sentence, and you watched through your narrowed eyes as Leander’s head flew back, his momentum carrying him to the ground in a sprawled, limp heap. You heard a series of gasps erupt from the students that were seated nearby, but you didn’t care. It took you a second to process the scene as you blinked the rage from your mind, but once you had, you were pleased to find Prewett’s nose hugging his cheek at a very broken angle.

“There’s your response, you prick,” you swore at him, bending down to snatch up your Herbology textbook that had fallen from your grip. Your knuckles throbbed from the impact still, but you simply flexed your fingers and shook the pain away. It felt good to get that out of your system, and entirely worth the bruises you would surely be sporting in the morning. “Do yourself a favor and stay the hell away from me, or I’ll be happy to show you exactly what I’ve learned from the books in the Restricted Section.”

As soon as you moved away from Leander, a group of younger students were flocking to his side, wisely giving you a wide berth as you left. Sebastian was frozen still as a statue on the other side of the fountain, looking at you slack-jawed with admiration twinkling in his dark eyes. You smiled softly at him, the look so at odds with the feral energy you had just exhibited twenty seconds prior.

“I– what the bloody hell was that?” Sebastian asked at the same time you circled your arm around his waist to lead him away from the bleeding Gryffindor.

“It was well deserved, that’s what it was,” you replied evenly, and then you felt Sebastian’s fingertips digging into the small of your back. “Don’t worry about it, please. He won’t bother me anymore, that’s for damn sure.”

Sebastian’s laugh sounded breathless, and he shook his head in disbelief, his pupils blown wide as he stared down at you. “Oh I’ll definitely be needing the backstory to that whole altercation at some point, but I’m more hung up on the fact that you actually punched somebody. You never get physical like that, where in Merlin’s name did that come from?”

You’d been leading Sebastian towards the Great Hall, having had your mind set on lunch for the better part of a half hour. But then you felt Sebastian take control of steering, and instead of turning down the corridor that led to your destination, he instead appeared to be guiding you in the direction of the Dark Arts Tower. “You’re acting like it’s unheard of for someone to lose their temper. In case you forgot, Prewett is particularly insufferable. Today he crossed one too many lines, so I reeducated him. End of story.”

“I don’t think you understand,” Sebastian murmured as you came up the staircase leading to a familiar alcove, and things suddenly started to click into place. “That was quite possibly the sexiest thing you’ve ever done.”

All the blood in your body seemed to flood into your cheeks then. Sebastian gazed down at you hungrily, whipping his wand out briefly to unlock the latch concealing the entryway behind the large clock. It opened with a clang, and before you could formulate a response to his statement, he was gently pushing you through the opening ahead of him.

While the two of you descended the narrow stairwell leading into the Undercroft, Sebastian replayed the glorious sight of your wicked right hook in his mind. He didn’t know what the hell Leander had been whispering to you about, but the look on your face had told him it wasn’t anything pleasant. Being the chivalrous and overprotective boyfriend he was, of course he’d bailed on his conversation with Garreth to step in.

Watching Prewett’s offensive appendage coil around your waist had sealed the deal, however; Sebastian had fully intended on sending the Gryffindor into an early grave. But then you’d dropped your items and spun around so fast– your textbook was still falling when your fist connected with his nose. It wasn’t the most tactful means of defense for a lot of people. After all, in a world of magic, who the hell bothered with brawling? There was no denying the appeal of it though. It was a more personal way of telling someone to go fuck themselves, and watching you set your boundries in such a way had driven Sebastian’s blood supply straight to his cock.

He liked this unrestrained side of you. He was desperate to see more of it.

Once you were past the threshold of the gate, you stopped to turn to Sebastian, ready to clarify that seriously– was he this affected by you throwing a punch? But then his larger body slammed against you, stealing the words from your throat as he captured your lips in a frantic, hungry kiss, and you were manhandled into his arms so he could walk the two of you over to the lounge stuffed away in the corner of the room.

As soon as your ass made contact with the velvet cushions, Sebastian broke away so his hands could get to work on hauling your skirt down your legs. The ferocity of the movement nearly sent you flying to the floor with the attire, but then the freckled man was moving back into your personal space so abruptly, your teeth knocked together before he began biting and sucking at your bottom lip.

“Fuck– Sebastian, what the hell’s gotten into you?” The pain from his ministrations quickly blurred together with the unmistakable arousal pooling between your legs, and when he pressed the pad of his thumb roughly against your clit through your soaked undergarments, he swallowed your shaky moans with a nefarious kiss.

“I have to have you,” Sebastian murmured as his hands came up to remove your blouse, exerting a smidge more self-control than he did with your skirt so he didn’t render your uniform unusable afterwards. There was still the matter of school technically being in session, but after watching Leander put his hands on you, Sebastian was feeling especially possessive, and seeing you lay the brute out like it was nothing made his thirst for you seem borderline unquenchable. He asked hurriedly, “Merlin’s balls, let me eat you out– please?”

You shivered as he undid the last button on your shirt and slipped the material over your shoulders, tossing it to the stone floor alongside the rest of your clothes. Having long since given up on wearing your bras after Sebastian ripped the straps of your last two, you were completely bare– an open invitation for him to begin kneading your breasts and pinching your nipples hard enough to make you arch into his touch.

He took full advantage of your close proximity and latched his lips over your thundering pulse, sinking his teeth into the skin to work a mark there, and you nodded shamelessly when you felt his fingers slip beneath your underwear.

“O-Okay. Alright– fine, but take this off,” your hands tugged at the collar of his shirt, ardently conveying that if you were going to let him satiate himself, the least he could do was let you look at him.

Sebastian was obliging you in a heartbeat, pulling away from your spread legs to wriggle his tie loose. It hung messily around his neck– just enough for him to swiftly begin undoing his button up– and the entire time he worked to shed the clothing, his dark, penetrating gaze never left your flushed body. Once the front of his shirt fell open and he’d discarded it, you were met with the tantalizing sight of Sebastian’s toned, freckled chest. The mouth watering trail of hair running below his navel paved a path to the tenting fabric of his trousers, and as soon as Sebastian caught you staring, his brown eyes were darkening impossibly further.

Prowling forward with feline grace, Sebastian smirked as he lifted his tie off of his shoulders to drape over your head. He didn’t bother tightening it, instead letting it hang in a disheveled heap between your breasts, and the sight did more for him than he cared to admit, his cock straining uncomfortably in his trousers. But right now wasn’t about him– not really– it was about you, and Sebastian’s reverent need to please you.

“Hold that for me,” he purred down at you before he was dropping to his knees in front of you.

A brilliant flush swept up your torso as his warm, broad hands came to finally slip your drenched panties away from your aching heat, gliding the material down your outstretched legs without tearing his eyes away from you. Goosebumps broke out all over your skin when the chill of the Undercroft passed over you, and your breath caught in your throat when he eagerly licked his lips and sidled up to the edge of the couch.

Sebastian looped his arms under your thighs, tugging you closer to him so that your ass dangled precariously off the cushions, causing you to shiver under his unyielding stare. He nudged your legs up onto his shoulders, casting a mischievous look your way before he was nuzzling his face into the sensitive skin of your legs, and the adoring kisses he peppered up the apex of your thighs had your stomach tensing in anticipation.

“Do you think we could try sparring one day?” Sebastian asked randomly, teasing his fingers closer to your dripping folds before pulling them away entirely. The dejected sigh that slipped from your lips made him chuckle darkly, and you narrowed your eyes at him as his question finally processed.

“Sparring? What the hell for?”

He shrugged, jostling your raised legs as his fingers dug firmly into your hips for a modicum of restraint. “I think I’d enjoy getting thrown around by you. Do you think you could?”

Merlin– he had officially lost his mind. “Maybe? I wouldn’t want to hurt you, though.”

Something wild sparked behind his irises then, and he began placing lingering kisses in the hollow of your leg. “I would love it if you did,” another soft press of his lips, this time right beside your aching center. “Seriously, when we do, promise me you won’t hold back.”

“You’re actually insane,” you wheezed out as his next kiss fell directly against your clit, and your nails dug fitfully into the padding of the lounge at the featherlight feeling.

“Only for you, darling.” Sebastian’s grip on your hips tightened as he mercifully sealed his mouth over your cunt, and your head kicked back against the sofa with an audible whack as your shrill voice suddenly echoed off the walls of the cavernous room. Your next breath was stolen from you as you felt Sebastian’s tongue circle over your clit, pressing and dragging the muscle down your heat to lap up as much of you as you could– and you swore you’d never been so wet in your fucking life.

By some miracle, you didn’t pass out from the overwhelming bliss, but you sure as hell saw stars dancing in the corners of your vision when Sebastian tongued at your tight entrance. The sordid sounds coming from the brunet between your legs was enough to have you clenching your thighs on either side of his head, and the blatantly aroused groan it pulled from his throat reverberated against you perfectly.

“Fuck, Sebastian,” you whimpered, snapping your hands up from the seat to fist in his curly, brown locs, and when you pulled him against you harder, he moaned at the sensation of your nails scraping against his scalp. He switched tactics then, shaking his head from side to side softly to rub his lips sinfully over your bundle of nerves. The friction was dizzying, and you brazenly bucked your hips against his chin to chase your steadily mounting pleasure. “Merlin–”

Sebastian was utterly transfixed by you. Through hooded eyes, he watched rapaciously as you crumbled above him; your chest rose and fell with labored breaths, and the ever darkening flush that decorated your skin made the green of his tie around your neck stand out even more, acting like a proprietary flag that claimed you as his. You cracked open your eyes to stare down at him, and your stomach flipped at his unbridled, lust-filled gaze boring into you.

Sitting forward more, Sebastian wound one of his arms over the angular curve of your hip bones, simultaneously pressing you harder into him while preventing you from shifting around. He mouthed sloppily against you, and you were left to balance your leg over his shoulder when he dropped his other hand to begin teasing at your soaked hole. He pressed the tip of his finger in slowly before withdrawing it completely, and he repeated the same motion a few more times until you were on the verge of tearing a fistfull of his hair out.

A keening sound ripped from your chest when he removed the digit slower than before, and you could feel Sebastian smirk against you. “S-Stop teasing,” you stuttered, your voice strained and airy.

Sebastian pulled away with a conniving chuckle, and the sight of your slick coating the entirety of his lower face damn near killed you on the spot. “I’m trying to take my time here– you taste so fucking sweet.”

His finger was back, sliding into you once again– only this time he spared you further torment by burying the appendage inside of you to the knuckle and curling it deliciously upwards. You gasped, arching off the back of the lounge in some vain attempt to feel more of him, but his strength pressing into your hips held you firmly in place, and a legitimate whine tumbled from your swollen lips.

He set an achingly slow pace, focusing more on wiggling his finger inside of you before pulling it back to thrust in again, and your throaty groan was cut short when Sebastian’s mouth reappeared on your cunt. He lapped at you furiously, working your brain into a tizzy with the rapid flicks of his tongue against your clit, and the cord in your gut was wrought tight as your climax roared to life in the far reaches of your mind. The wanton moans that slipped from Sebastian were electrifying, and the intensity of his ministrations increased when he added a second finger to the mix. Any pain or discomfort was nonexistent; all you could focus on was the sheer exhilaration his efforts brought you, and your hands tightened in his hair to silently warn him that you were close.

Leaning sideways for a better angle, Sebastian rolled his head against your inner thigh to peer up at you. Once your glazed over eyes landed on him, he let his mouth hang open in an obscene manner to lewdly flick his tongue over your nub at the same time he stroked your inner walls, and that was as much as you could take before you were crying out for Sebastian loud. Your orgasm hit you with the force of a train, stealing your breath and making your muscles tense so hard that your boyfriend’s face was effectively crushed between your trembling legs.

Sebastian took everything that you inflicted upon him in stride; the stinging drag of your nails through his hair, as well as the suffocating squeeze of your thighs on either side of his head. He relished in it– and he positively lived for how he could make you fall apart in such a way. His cock concurred with his thoughts, twitching enthusiastically against the confines of his trousers.

The freckled, Adonis incarnate before you rose to his full height after you had the good grace to release him from the stifling confines of your legs, groaning softly when his fingers slipped out of you. Sebastian regarded you with a predatory look that promised more, and you swallowed thickly as you watched his hands languidly work to undo the catch of his pants.

Worrying his bottom lip between his teeth, Sebastian’s brows pinched together with blatant need as he scanned your prone form against the sofa. “Fuck, do you have any idea what you do to me?” His imposing stature over you– shirtless and flushed, with his chest rising and falling from the strained breaths he pulled into his lungs– it had your heart hammering wildly against your sternum. You shook your head. “Then I’ll show you,” he vowed, and the timbre to his voice seemed to reignite the fire burning in your veins.

Working quickly, Sebastian shoved his trousers down to his thighs, pulling himself out of his briefs with a needy groan. He gave himself a few testing pumps, tipping his head back slightly when his fist squeezed around the bright red tip, and then he was zeroing in on you like you were the only thing in the room he cared to pay attention to. You were still quivering in your spot on the lounge when Sebastian stepped forward, hauling you upright by the tie around your bare neck to spin you around so you were kneeling on the cushions with your front pressed into the backrest of the couch.

It took everything in you not to sink back down on your wobbly legs, but then you felt Sebastian’s hands running down your back towards the shapely curve of your ass, and he squeezed at the skin there greedily before lining himself up with your spit-slick cunt. Far too eager to feel his cock inside of you, you watched over your shoulder as Sebastian gingerly pressed into you with a low, raspy moan, and your fingers dug into the backrest so hard, your knuckles blanched white.

Despite his urgency, Sebastian took his time rocking his hips into you, drinking in your sweet little sounds as he filled you up and slid home. “Fuck,” he breathed, leaning forward to rest his head between your shoulder blades as he buried himself to the hilt. His hands moved from your ass to your waist, holding you still with bruising strength as he got used to the sensation of your hypersensitive walls contracting around him. Your breaths were coming out fast and shallow, completely overwhelmed by the sheer size of him compared to his fingers. Having already come, you were like putty in Sebastian’s hands as he ground his cock into you firmly, and you felt him twitch inside you when your head fell forward against the upholstery of the seat with a gasp. “Fuck– you’re so wet still– feels so fucking perfect.”

When Sebastian pulled back to torturously thrust into you slowly, your hips rocked in tandem against him, and he redirected his eyes up from where the two of you were connected so he could drink in the expression on your face. Your lips were parted around a choked moan as he moved inside of you, those beautiful, luminescent eyes of yours sparkling with rampant affection and arousal, and his tie swayed around your neck in sync with his movements.

Sebastian hunched forward, lifting one of his hands to rake through your disheveled hair and pull your head back towards his shoulder, and you cried out suddenly before the sound transformed into a filthy moan that only served to spur Sebastian forward faster. His hold on you was unrelenting, effectively bending you backwards against his sweaty chest as he increased his pace and began spearing his cock into you with brutal efficiency.

It didn’t take long for him to start hitting the deepest parts of you, the thick head of his shaft curving up to graze deliciously over your sweet spot with every rough thrust. Your eyes rolled back in your skull, shameless noises spilling from your lips as Sebastian folded you backwards onto his cock to satiate himself. That familiar feeling blossomed low in your gut, and one of your hands flew back to dig your nails into the bare skin of Sebastian’s thigh behind you.

“Fuck, fuck, Sebastian–” your warbled voice was like music to his ears, pulling the corners of his mouth up into a devilish smile. His next thrust was particularly forceful, and the incriminating sound of skin slapping against skin filled the Undercroft, seemingly harmonizing with the cacophony of noises that the two of you created together. “Merlin–”

Sebastian growled, releasing your hair to trail his hand across your front and curl around your throat. He tightened his hold there, squeezing just enough so that your walls clenched around his cock as he upped his tempo. You were completely enveloped by him, held fast to his damp chest as he ruthlessly pounded into you, and the lack of oxygen to your brain numbed everything else as your second orgasm loomed threateningly overhead.

Overcome with telltale urgency, Sebastian chased his own pleasure desperately, bucking his cock deep into your clenching heat, wringing choked gasps and stuttered cries of his name from your open mouth, and he was fucking dizzy from how good it felt to be pressed against you, holding you tight in his arms. Sebastian tugged you closer to him to latch his lips over the sweaty skin below your ear, biting and sucking a mark there as he propelled his hips upwards inside of you.

There really wasn’t anything you could do to stop yourself from frantically rutting back in search of that building euphoria. You rode back onto Sebastian with as much give as you were allowed, your eyes squeezed shut from the pleasure and your thighs shaking from how good Sebastian was fucking you, filling you up deep and hard and fast, just how you liked it. The way he slammed you back down onto his rough thrusts by your throat only added fuel to the fire, leaving you a sloppy, gasping, pleading mess in his arms.

Sebastian released his ironclad grip around your waist to snake his hand lower to your sensitive clit, and your head fell back against his shoulder as he started rubbing firm circles over the overstimulated nub. Your voice strained against his uncompromising hold on your throat, “Fuck– Sebastian, please–”

“Come, darling, come on my cock. Let me hear your pretty noises, I’m so close,” he muttered the command against the shell of your ear, railing his cock into you so fast and so harshly, you had no choice but to oblige him.

Sebastian watched as you crumbled against him for the second time, utterly in love with the way your spine rounded as you sank into him, every part of your body trembling. Your walls tightened impossibly further around him, causing him to gasp into the crook of your neck, and Sebastian slammed his cock into your incredible cunt— nearly mindless from how you shook against him— and he fucked you clean through your orgasm until your sounds and body yanked him right over the edge with you. His dark eyes rolled shut, growling your name through his clenched teeth as his pace faltered before he was burying himself deep in you with a heady gasp.

The feeling of Sebastian emptying inside of you rendered you boneless, leaving your boyfriend with the task of keeping you upright as he ground his hips against your ass, milking himself dry with broken whimpers before halting his movements entirely. His hold around your throat loosened, and the rush of blood returning to your brain was akin to pure bliss alongside the remnants of your climax.

“Fucking hell,” he groaned after a few heated seconds, relaxing his grip on you so that he could slide himself out before gingerly lowering the two of you down onto the cushions together. Your hands slipped from the back of the couch and fell into your lap as Sebastian maneuvered you into a sitting position, your body too limp to even bother moving yourself. “Are you okay?”

You gave him a nonplussed blink as you willed your brain to function properly again, and then you nodded shakily. “Shit, yeah. I had no idea your bloodlust would turn you into such a lunatic, though,” you muttered, and Sebastian’s bellowing laugh roused you further from your post-coital state.

“It’s not bloodlust, darling. It’s you,” he countered easily, a smug smile playing on his freckled lips. He tucked his softening cock back into his briefs and tugged his pants back up over his hips before moving away from you to retrieve the scattered pieces of your uniform. When he reappeared with the ball of clothing, you took it graciously, staying seated on the couch as you worked your underwear up your unsteady legs. “I was serious about the sparring thing, too. I think it would be fun watching you let loose.”

You shot him a hesitant look, not particularly keen on his eagerness to get bloodied up at your hands, but his excitement at the thought was palpable, and you found yourself relenting to his ludicrous idea with a sigh after a few beats of silence. “Fine,” you conceded. “But only once. I don’t care how horny it makes you– I don’t like the thought of hurting you, no matter how easy it is to fix broken bones here.”

He had bent down to snatch his button up off the floor, but paused on his way up to glance at you with a pleased expression on his face. The shirt was momentarily forgotten as Sebastian fell to his knees once again, only this time it was to cradle your face in his warm hands and pull you in for a toe curling kiss. His thumbs traced along your cheekbones as his tongue delved deep in your mouth, and you sighed contentedly. The gentleness that always followed these heated moments between the two of you was, without a doubt, one of your favorite things.

Sebastian broke away to pepper a quick succession of lighter kisses all over your face, and you couldn’t help but laugh softly at his reverence. “Hell yes, whatever you want. I’ll do it wearing a damn ball gown if that’s what it takes.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re barking mad?”

He smirked, far too pleased to be hearing you say so. “From time to time, yes. Don’t lie, you love it.”

Your eyes twinkled with amusement, and fighting your smile proved to be easier said than done. “I love you. Your crazy ideas, however, I take with a grain of salt.”

From there, he stood fully to throw his shirt over his shoulders, and you mirrored his actions, redressing yourself as quickly as your shaky legs would allow. Once finished, you slipped Sebastian’s tie off of your neck, draping it over his shoulders with a coy smile, and you felt his arm coil around your waist to tug you flush against his front, stealing your lips in another steamy, doting kiss. You returned the gesture with equal fervor, rising to your tip-toes to trail your hands up into his hair to scratch shiver-inducing stripes down the nape of his neck.

The two of you stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity before the screeching gears of the metal gate drew your attention, and you pulled apart at the same time Ominis strode into the Undercroft. His face was contorted in concentration, his wand sweeping across the room until he seemed to sense that yes, his two best friends had indeed abandoned him in the Great Hall to disappear into their shared space.

“Where the hell have you two been?” He asked, not even bothering to confirm that you were truly there. His outstretched wand pointed towards you both as he made his way to the back of the room. “I thought we were meeting for lunch, I’ve been entertaining idle gossip for the better part of a half hour. What is it that I keep hearing about Leander getting punched in the face?”

At that, you stepped away from Sebastian, adjusting your skirt slightly before bashfully rubbing the back of your neck. “Ah, yeah. That was me,” you confessed. “Word travels fast. What exactly is being said?”

Ominis cocked a brow at you as he came to halt a few feet away, a strange look passing over his features as his wand pulsed in your direction. “Rumor has it you broke his nose. Please tell me this isn’t going to become a regular occurrence– I can hardly keep up with Sebastian coming to blows with students as it is.”

“It won’t, don’t worry. I doubt he’ll even come around me anymore after this.”

Sebastian snickered under his breath, eyeing you with a proud look that reminded you of your recent escapades, and you blushed under his knowing stare. “If Leander knows what’s good for him, he won’t so much as glance in your direction for the rest of the year. But on that note, I’m famished. Anyone up for food?”

“I’ve been ‘up for food’ for thirty minutes,” Ominis muttered as he turned on his heel to head for the gate. The three of you fell into step alongside one another, Sebastian’s hand brushing against yours as you walked towards the exit, but then Ominis was pausing mid step, tilting his head up to… sniff the air? How odd. “Merlin’s beard, it smells like sex in here.”

You snatched your hand away from Sebastian’s to slap your palms over your eyes in embarrassment, every ounce of blood in your body rushing to your head and heating your cheeks as you willed the floor to open up underfoot and swallow you whole. Your boyfriend, however, only laughed.

“We had to work up an appetite before finding you,” Sebastian mused, unashamed at having been caught by the blond man. “Sorry, Ominis. I’ll send an owl next time.”

“Please stop fucking in the Undercroft. I’m too scared to sit down here anymore– I can’t tell whether I’m avoiding your cum stains or not.”

“You’ll want to steer clear of the lounge for the foreseeable future, then.” Sebastian fired back instantly, not a lick of chagrin to be detected in his voice. “That’s a mess you’ll want to avoid.”

“Please stop talking,” you grit through your teeth, and the coquettish expression on the brunet’s face warranted a sharp look from you. “Or I can’t promise I won’t punch you in the face next.”

“Didn’t we just establish that I want you to go that route? Don’t threaten me with a good time.”

Ominis threw his hands up in utter exasperation, shaking his head in disbelief at Sebastian’s gall before damn near sprinting to leave the Undercroft, and the two of you were forced to skip after him as he ascended the staircase to head for the Great Hall. Even after sitting down and piling food on his plate, Sebastian continued to oggle you from his seat across the table. Every so often you would feel his foot nudge your calf, trailing the appendage up your leg to play with the hem of your skirt.

Despite your earlier mortification, he did a stellar job of brightening your mood, and when Ominis groused over his mug that the two of you should just get fucking married already, Sebastian looked at you wonderstruck, and he seemed to seriously consider it.

#sebastian sallow #sebastian sallow x reader #sebastian sallow x female!reader #sebastian sallow x you #sebastian sallow x mc #hogwarts legacy #hogwarts legacy fanfic #sebastian sallow oneshot #sebastian sallow fanfic #ominis gaunt #leander prewett #sebastian sallow smut #my writing #probably counter productive to post this at 1am but I don't wanna look at it anymore

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creepsterdreams · 4 months ago

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Touchstarved HC's + mini-scenarios: The LI's as dads/parents, gn!MC

Content warnings: in certain parts it will mention MC being pregnant but I will tag that as “pregnant!MC” but other than that you can imagine the children are adopted :>, a bit of suggestive content(especially around Kuras’s), mention of vomit in Vere’s part, mention of manipulation in Leander’s part, overwhelming wholesomeness

Word count: 7.8k

Author’s note: I ended up loving this way more than I thought I did and I kinda want to turn this into a little mini-series so if you have any asks related to them as dads please feel free to send them! ^-^

AIS

In full honesty I can see this man having a big family, he won’t admit it, but he would love having a lot of kids

Like I’m talking 6 kids, MINIMUM

For Pregnant!MC: But even after that when you were 8 months pregnant with the 6th one he was asking when could you both “get to work” again and you lowkey had to threaten to cut his balls off(starting to think he might have a breeding kink)

But now to the babies themselves

I lean more towards girl dad!Ais heavily but I also feel like he would be an amazing dad to some little boys, so with that said, I would say he has

Twin boys as the eldest(most likely ages 8-9)

A girl(6)

Another girl(4)

And one more girl(3)

One more boy(8 months)

Yea I know, a lot of babies

He definitely used the excuse that the temple is big enough for all you when you asked how are you gonna take care of all of them

He wouldn’t tell you but he would thoroughly enjoy the times when he returns home and hears the sound of giggling and small feet running around

With his little boys he is very playful and sometimes you have to tell him to chill on the roughhousing(the boys never mind it honestly)

Like if he’s not with you, out somewhere, with the girls, or whatever else he’s with them wrestling as if his life depended on it

Meanwhile the youngest boy is just sitting there, giggling and clapping watching his dad and brothers fight

Lowkey can barley cook for shit but dw, he’s more than happy to spend god knows how much money(or steal if we’re being honest) on food from restaurants in Eridia

O m g he literally spoils his little girls to death(he spoils the boys too dw)

Yes he has limits on what he can do or buy, yes he is fully aware that he can say no, but can you resist those adorable little puppy eyes?

Everytime you send him out and they go with him, he returns with what you wanted, but at least 5 other bags with him(spoiler alert they all belonged to the girls)

Whenever you confront him for it he just looks at you and sends his most innocent smile “I know I could’ve said no sparrow, but look at those faces? How can I resist that?”

Vere sometimes visits (Visits as in randomly walks in whenever he pleases) and plays with the kiddos, often giving you and Ais enough time to leave and spend some “alone time” together in Lowtown. He pretends he’s annoyed by them but you and Ais both know he’ll die for those kids.

Honestly if anything you both expected them to be afraid of Vere but given that you have Princess as the family pet and live in the wastelands they have better things to be scared of

I’m sorry but his smoking habits do not go away even when he has kids T^T

He simply just learns to hide it better

Aka he only does it when he’s away from them or their asleep and in the case where they catch him he throws it not giving a fuck where it could’ve landed

Would most def give his kids names of japanese origin I’m sorry you cannot argue with me on this

Moving on to the serious bits

He has one huge rule that all the kiddos have to follow no matter what

“Under absolutely no circumstance do you go near the sea spring.”

Ais specifically made it a priority to have your “house” parts of the temple far from it so they would never need a reason to go there

But unfortunately these are small children we’re talking about so of course their curiosity gets the best of them

The oldest twin was wandering around one day and stumbled upon it, voice began echoing in his head, luring him closer to the deadly waters. And just as he leaned down and was about to drink the mysterious liquid, a roaring voice yelling his name ripped him away from the waters

Ais had never experienced pure terror so intense as he had then, and he never wants to feel that again(Ocedus lowkey took over for a moment when he was scolding the kiddo but he would never know that)

But moving on from the angst

One of the best dads, genuinely

He raises his boys to be strong but also knows it’s okay to have bad moments, and no one will judge you for them. But he also raises his young girls to be the same way, but he’s just a “tad” bit more protective of them.

This demon loves his big family so much and wouldn’t trade them for anything

You and Ais were both laying down in your shared bed, you cuddled up against his chest while his arm was wrapped around you. You both were enjoying some time of relaxation in the early morning before any of the kids woke up, because unfortunately you knew once one was awake, the rest will all come piling out of their shared room in due time.

After a few minutes, Ais’s face pulls into a soft smirk, sighing sarcastically before looking down at you.

“Here comes trouble.”

Whelp, shit

That’s when all of the sudden, the sound of rapid footsteps came racing, and then you and Ais were being crushed by both of your sons.

“Papa! [preferred parents name]! Get uuuppp!” The eldest yelled at the two of you.

“Alright alright you little gremlins we’re coming.” Ais says while laughing before pulling both of his sons into a headlock.

But just as you were sitting up and getting ready to stand, that’s when two of your daughters came racing, screaming for you and Ais also jumping onto the futon. You catch the both of them and let out a surprised noise, holding them close to your chest.

But finally, your oldest daughter walks in, carrying your youngest son in her arms while giggling. Ais notices the baby with her and raises his eyebrow.

“Sweetheart, what did we say about sneaking in here and taking your little brother?”

She lets out another giggle, holding her brother closer while walking to you and Ais. “But he wanted to play with us! I know he did!”

Ais then releases the two boys from his arms, quickly reaching over to grab your daughter and son and pull them onto his lap, before proceeding to tickle her.

You put down your other kids before leaning over to grab your son and coo at him as he reaches his small hands towards you.

Ais eventually stops tickling the young girl and lays down again with her in his arms, signaling over to you to lay down with them. Before you know it, you, Ais, and all of the kiddos are cuddling together while wrapped around blankets, guess whatever playing they were doing before coming here wore them out surprisingly fast.

As the kids all fell asleep once again, you and Ais remained awake for some more time. Peering up at him, you send him a small smile, basking in the comfort and warmth of the room. He looks right back at you with an expression that only can be described as loving, he leans down, pressing a soft kiss against your lips, quiet whispers of “I love you” echoing through your ears.

He truly couldn’t ask for a better way to wake up.

LEANDER

Although I can definitely see him as a family man, I feel like Leander would like to have some space between when he has kids instead of rushing to have one after the other

Getting A LOT of girl dad vibes from this man, he would love to have a little princess and you can’t tell me otherwise

I can see him with one shy little one who’s always hiding behind her dad’s leg when he’s talking to people

He’s extremely extroverted and she’s the definition of an introvert so everyone’s wondering where she got it from(most likely you)

For pregnant!MC, he treated you like a god throughout the entirety of those 9 months. Even tho he was a bit disgusted by some of your cravings, he wanted to keep you happy

“Sure sweetheart of course I can get you cookies with a side of pickle juice ^-^”

He loves that little girl to death omg

As in whatever she wants, she gets

If she wants to have a tea party with him featuring some of the bloodhounds, guess what? Grab him a tiara and a tea cup that can barely fit in his hand

Unfortunately one of the issues that came with her was now he couldn’t spend as much time at the Wet Wick as he would’ve pleased, sure most of it was still gonna be spent there but how would he explain why he had a 6 year old with him at a bar?

So that led to him eventually finding a home as close as possible to the damn place so at least he wouldn’t have to walk far(He asked the owner at first if he can actually have the spare room upstairs for all three of you and she almost banned him all together)

Loves taking her out on adventures in Lowtown and even has a little handmade bloodhound cloak made for her

I’m sorry for anyone who will find this cringe but he would unironically call her “babygirl”

I just get those kinda vibes

Literally takes at least an hour once a day to teach her a little bit about magic because she wanted to be able to conjure her own flowers

Most of her wardrobe is filled with the nicest dresses and outfits money can buy(50% of the money is what he gets from jobs and the other 50% is whatever is left over from his allowance of when he was still living with family)

Aside from her shyness, she is literally a mini him

You lost count of how many random small animals she’s brought home and begged to keep

“Honey I understand that it was hurt after falling off some boxes, but that is a soulless.”

On occasion you’ve caught her using the little bit of magic Leander taught her to make her stuffed animals walk around, but you thought the sight was so adorable you didn’t say anything about it

He has been singing her lullaby’s since she was a baby and it’s to a point where she can recall every lyric in a heartbeat

It makes him cry but he denies it everytime

Seems like the kinda guy that would name her something like “Skylar”, “Rosemary”, “Magnolia”, or “Tallulah”

Definitely something that sounds beautiful or adventurous

A little more angsty headcanons

Giving that the biggest analysis we have of his character is that his whole kindness act is a facade and that a monster hides beneath that

As she continues growing, Leander becomes increasingly more protective

Sure she has other friends and most likely people she can spend time with, but how would Leander be able to keep an eye on her if he isn’t around?

Spoiler alert, he has bloodhounds follow her around and report everything back to him

She’s out at the market with some besties getting food? Cool, he’ll pretend he didn’t already know that when she comes back home to tell him all about it

However, unfortunately, one of those bloodhounds couldn’t be careful enough and she found out

Cue an hour long argument where she’s telling him she can protect herself and doesn’t need him stalking her

Cue him saying it’s to keep her safe and that she should be lucky he isn’t keeping her in the house 24/7(whoopsie the bad side slipped out a bit)

Eventually you have to step in and tell the both of them to relax and talk when they're both calm :(

Back to the wholesomeness though

He genuinely cherishes her and always makes sure that she has whatever her heart desires

But he also teaches her to protect those who can’t protect themselves

But even after she grows into a strong fighter, at the end of the day she’ll always be his little girl

Leander was sitting at his desk, quietly filling out some paperwork after a long week of back to back jobs for the bloodhounds. He was exhausted, but there was work to be done.

But as he was busy writing out some reports, the door to the small study opened, and in walked none other than his daughter, who was holding one of her many stuffed animals close to her chest.

“...Daddy?” She called out to him in a hushed tone.

Leander quickly looked up from the paper, eyes drifting over to the small girl who was standing in the doorway. He sat the pen he was holding down and set the huge stack to the side. That all can wait, what was more important was making sure she was okay.

“Hey there baby girl, everything okay?” He stood up and walked over to her, crouching down so he was on her level.

She looked down at the floor shyly, trying to muster up the courage to continue talking. She hugged her teddy bear closer to her, hiding her face within its fur. “I can’t sleep..Can I stay with you?”

Leander’s face automatically lit up, and he shot her a wide grin. “Of course you can! Come on.”

After saying that, Leander leans over to pick the little girl up, sliding his arm underneath her body so she can hang off of his side. He then walks back over to the desk, sitting down and adjusting her so she is now resting on his lap.

“Comfortable?”

She nodded slowly, snuggling closer into his arms so her head was now resting on his chest.

Leander smiles down at her, wrapping his right arm tightly around her body so she is secure. But as Leander was about to return to his work, she spoke up yet again.

“Daddy? Can you sing that song from last night?”

Leander glanced down at her again before letting out a light chuckle, “If that’s what my princess wants.”

Leander clears his throat and sits back in the chair, the little girl grinning in happiness as she hears the sound of her father’s voice beginning to echo throughout the room.

Some time later you're wandering around the house, searching for your daughter. You wanted to check on her after putting her to bed some time ago, you were honestly beginning to feel worried as you hadn’t even heard her leave the bedroom. But then you remembered there was one place you hadn’t checked, Leander’s study.

Taking light steps down the hall, you're eventually able to slowly open the door, and the sight you're greeted with almost brings you to tears.

Leander is resting back against the chair, his arms securely wrapped around your little girl as if he’s trying to protect her from whatever might appear through the door, and head shifted to the side, facing her. Your daughter is laying across his lap with her head against his chest using it as a makeshift pillow, with her holding her teddy bear closely to her body.

You smile warmly, using your hand to cover your mouth as you walk over to the two of them. Once you reach the chair, you lean down just enough to press a soft kiss on Leander’s head, using your right hand to caress his cheek and swipe some hair out of his face. You then do the same thing to your daughter, placing a kiss on the top of her head and readjusting her a bit so she won’t potentially slip out of his arms, although judging by how tight he’s holding on, you doubt it.

After kissing them goodnight, you slowly walk towards the door again, not wanting to wake either of them. Before closing the door, you whisper a small “goodnight my loves”, and leave the two of them alone for the night.

KURAS

The question we should be asking is can this man even have children?

He’s quite literally a biblical angel who has been alive for centuries. Are we sure he’s even fertile?????

We shall find out

I feel like Kuras was very conflicted on the idea of children for a while, he’s a doctor who is constantly on the job and probably doesn’t have time for most personal pleasures

But after a time where a panicked mother brought her son to the clinic because he was hurt while playing with some friends, he was considering some things

Seeing her worry so much for him, care so much about his safety that she ran god knows how many blocks to get here? It interested him

Pregnant!MC, it honestly shocked you a few weeks later when Kuras confirmed you were in fact carrying his child. Mostly due to the fact that Kuras isn’t even remotely human

But alas, here you are

I can see Kuras as both a girl dad and a boy dad

But I can see him with a little boy that is literally a carbon copy of him

Pregnant!MC, you were very disappointed when you spent 9 months cooking him in your stomach just for him to pop out with only some of your features

But if we’re talking adoption then the young boy just straight up snatches his entire personality and his intelligence

Imagine going to the doctor’s clinic for a check up and you here him ask for some bandages but your confused since no one else is there

Just for a few seconds later a boy who looks no older than at least 10 comes into the room and hands him the bandages and leaves as if that exchange was completely normal

I get the kind of vibes that he would name him something fancy sounding. Like “Emil” or “Alaster”

Something that definitely rolls off the tongue nice

But given that your son got his intelligence, that also means he got his sass

You thought the reason your little boy was struggling to make friends his age was because his maturity level was a little too high for them, but turns out it was because he kept pulling pranks and roasting the absolute fuck out of them

So that led to you and Kuras having to sit him down and explain to make friends he had to be nice not give them a bottle of basically the equivalent of a fart bomb while lying and saying it was a “good smelling flower”

Of course he listened and was able to make some friends, but unfortunately, the pranks did not go away. He just only started doing them after he knew them for a while

He definitely fake gags whenever he sees you and Kuras being affectionate with each other

“Ewwww your basically swapping saliva”

The way he and Kuras get along is bonding over science

Sitting around the clinic for hours going through different books and papers

There have been occasions where you’ve came back and saw him passed out in Kuras’s arms because Kuras was reading a book about astronomy to him

It was so wholesome you almost cried

A bit of angst

Now we all know Kuras’s worst flaw is his lack of empathy

It’s not that he doesn’t care at all, it’s just he struggles to understand other people’s emotions

So this caused some conflict between him and his son :(

It’s been theorized that whatever Kuras’s “true form” is, is something extremely similar to a biblical angel

And with that we can guess if you had your son through biological means, that form passed to him as well (we love genetics)

There was a day where Kuras witnessed a crowd of people, adults and children all running away from a specific area. At first, he wondered if someone could’ve gotten injured, so that’s why he went straight in the opposite direction that everyone else was going. Unfortunately, someone was in fact injured, even more unfortunate, the cause of that said injury was his son. Someone had been bullying one of his friends and in a moment of anger from wanting to protect him he accidentally transformed. A day that Kuras wanted to be far from now

(If your son is adopted then you can pretend that he just got mad and beat up the other kid and felt bad about the fact that he lost his cool)

So that led to Kuras having to carry the injured boy while you carried your son that was currently bawling in your arms after he realized what happened

After treating the young lad and waiting for his parents to come and find him. Kuras brought his son to his room to talk (that he somehow had personally made. Where did he get the money from? Does he even know how to build a room???)

At first the talk did not go well. Kuras had to sit there and explain to him how his abilities work, where he got them from, and attempt to do an even better job in comforting him over the situation. And your son, still being emotional (which is understandable he just horribly injured a person without knowing), felt like Kuras didn’t care enough.

So as a result, he refused to speak to him for days. Like daayyyyssss

It wasn’t until Kuras convinced you to make his favorite dish (because remember he can’t cook for shit), and have it for dinner so then he’ll have to speak to him. Which eventually led to them making up and your son being all smiles again :>

But moving on from the sadness

Kuras wants to make sure his boy grows up being the best person he can be. Giving him all the resources he needs (practically home schooled him), teaching him all the life lessons he needs, and making sure he always cared for others

Can’t have him making the same mistakes as he did

Even though he might not show it a lot, he loves that kid more than anything, and he wouldn’t trade your little family for the world ^-^

After putting your son to bed, you and Kuras finally had some sort of alone time. With you still trying to find a way into the Senobium to find some information linked to your curse, and Kuras having patients day in and day out, you guys barely had any time with each other. So thankfully, after tonight's dinner, and some more playing, your son was out like a light much earlier than you expected.

Kuras was currently resting on top of you, his hands on each side of your head as he places gentle kisses onto your face and neck, reveling in the sound of your giggles as your own pair of hands drag through his hair.

“Getting restless are we darling?” He says teasingly.

You laugh at him again, messing up his hair and bringing him close to share a deep kiss. You feel the sensation of his tongue grazing your bottom lip. You then flip the both of you over so you're the one on top and start dragging your hand down down his chest, getting more closer to the top of his pants.

But suddenly, a quiet voice interrupted the heating atmosphere.

“.....Father? [preferred parent name]?”

At the speed of the gods themselves, you quickly jumped off of Kuras, sitting on the side of the bed, and facing your son. Kuras sat up as well, grabbing a robe so he could cover himself a bit. After that he turned towards the door again, wondering why his son was up so suddenly.

“Why are you awake little one? Is something troubling you?” He said with a concerned tone.

Your son fiddles with the ends of his pajamas for a moment, obviously a little nervous about answering the question.

“I had a bad dream, and now I can’t sleep. Can you read me a story…please?”

Kuras looks surprised for a moment, before he lets out a snicker and scoots over a bit before patting the area, signaling his son to come sit. The young boy makes his way over to the bed, climbing up onto it and sitting down in between the two of you, watching as Kuras leans over to a small table and picks up a book.

He opens it to the first page, leaning closer so your son can also see the words, and then he begins reading.

After a while, Kuras manages to get through a good amount of the book, his smooth, silk voice providing good narration for your son, luring him into another deep sleep as he rests against his chest.

Kuras himself is pulled into his own little daze, his eyes stretching across the paper as he reads every word out loud. But a small bump against his shoulder brings him back to reality. Looking over he notices you have also fallen asleep, lying down against his shoulder and softly snoring. He smiles softly before grabbing a bookmark and placing it on the book before closing it and putting it back on the table.

He then scoots even closer, leaning his own head against yours, and wrapping his arms around the both of you in a soft embrace.

His own way of promising protection, reassuring that no harm may come to either of you as long as he’s around.

VERE

How you even managed to date this man much less have children with him is a mystery within itself

For the longest period, you always believed that Vere wanted nothing to do with kids

And honestly, he himself understood why you thought that\

He’s been alive for centuries, and for most of those centuries him and small children were never a good mix

It was always either they were scared of him, or he found their never-ending hyperactivity annoying

But one day, while Vere was walking behind you (more like stalking you but you’ll never find out). He noticed that you stopped to help a little girl who was looking for her mom along the busy streets. She was crying but you managed to calm her down by buying her something sweet, and then after that you walked around, looking for her mother. You did eventually find her, and the woman thanked you profusely for finding her daughter, and you replied back saying it was no problem.

But that sight alone warmed something in Vere. Rarely ever in his years of living had he seen something so soft, so gentle and loving.

So eventually when you returned back to your home at the wet wick, Vere was already sitting on your bed waiting for you. And before you could ask, he was immediately in your face asking a question you never expected to hear from him

“How do you feel about having children, my pet?”

“......huh?”

Pregnant!MC - Cue to a few weeks later when both you and Kuras are staring at each other in complete shock when he tells you that yes, you are in fact pregnant

And Vere is just standing outside with the most smug look on his face

But annnywwaayyyy

Cut to current times and now you and Vere are holding twin baby girls

I’m sorry just like the others he gives off girl dad vibes

Even if you decided to adopt rather than go through the pregnancy, somehow Vere managed to find two fox babies, so either way, he had his fox children (Don’t ask where he found them, you don’t want to know)

Is…surprisingly an okay dad?

He’s not perfect, then again he’s not horrible, it’s a weird situation

His pet names for them could use some work but hey, it looks cute from a distance

Because “my precious little monsters”, “my little terrors”, and “my little nightmares” would not look good to others. But to Vere it's somehow perfect???

He spoils those babies to hell and back, like literally everything they own is of the top most quality

“Of course I can’t have my children caught dead in anything less. They need to look just as good as I do.”

Sometimes people avoid walking down the same street as them because they get embarrassed by the fact that literally infants have better stuff than them

Now the question is, where did you even put all of these things?

Upon getting the babies, Vere had you (ahem forced) moved out of the room in the wet wick because “I would be damned if I let that egotistical man-child be near my girls for longer than he needs to be.”

And hence, you and the babies were moved into a little town house Vere had found that had been abandoned for a while, and he refurbished it himself. And it turns out it had been close to his favorite restaurant which was nice.

But as he spoils them as much as possible, the personal care can use some work.

Feeding them? No problem. burping them? No problem (however he does hold them in a weird position so they can’t possibly vomit and get it all over his clothes, it gets the job done but still T-T). Putting them to sleep? Can take a bit because he does get a little impatient, but it works out eventually. Playing with them? An absolute pro. Changing them? Yea that’s unfortunately your job MC, he does have a sensitive nose.

Ais sometimes visits and plays with the little princesses while you and Vere go off and hang out together (and also get some “alone” time)

He definitely gives them very fancy sounding names that also definitely match.

“Luna & Lilah”, “Olivia & Sophia”, “Penelope & Poppy”, the list goes on

On top of spoiling them, he also does the thing where he pretends to understand exactly what they're saying even if it’s just babbling, but except it's in the worst way possible.

“Ababbababbasdindasnd”

“Hmmm…yes my dear I completely agree, those pants do absolutely hideous on him”

“Vere omg stop he’s looking at us-”

Unfortunately, some angst

Given Vere’s situation, there do come some complicated situations. In which it leads to Vere being 2x as protective over all of you

The Senobium never expected him to love someone, even less have children with them

So Vere really has no choice but to hide things from both parties here. With the kids, having to excuse his random disappearances as just adventures, and having to tell those damn clerics that he has no one.

Those long hours that he has to spent locked up in some dungeon only makes him feel even guiltier because he knows his excuses aren't going to last forever

But of course, his double life didn’t last forever

A day where he was finally able to return home after hours of killing people for the Senobium, instead of being greeted with you probably sitting in your shared bed while watching your two girls babble and giggle away. Instead he finds you on the ground, crying, and clutching your stomach as if you were injured. And the babies nowhere to be found

Vere rushes over, immediately disregarding any jokes he had in his head to ask you what happened.

You explain to him that some clerics had somehow found out where you lived and charged into the house, demanding to give them very personal information. When you refused to answer they attacked you and took the girls with them.

You apologized to Vere over and over again, blaming yourself for not being able to protect them better. But Vere told you it’s not your fault, it’s the fault of the ones who thought it would be smart to fuck with what’s his.

Vere of course marched up right to the place where they were keeping his kids, even before he could enter he heard the sounds of their cries, only angering him further

Now he knew he couldn’t kill the clerics, that was one of the damn enchantments they had put on the collar he’s wearing, but they never said he couldn’t injure them

When he got there, they did antagonize him. Getting on him for keeping something sooo important from them, condescendingly asking what would the Abess think if she found out he was hiding such a secret.

But what really pissed him off was when they had the balls to insinuate that maybe they should enslave his babies too, since he was so keen on being a family man

Yea let’s just say they were all in comas by the time he was finished. He’ll deal with the Abess later, his daughters were his biggest priority right now.

He had never felt that much fear in his life as he did at that moment. He immediately grabbed the two of them and held them as close as possible for a long time, checking for any injuries. A part of him was furious at himself for not getting there sooner to do something, but he knew what was important right now was calming them down

He’ll never let something like that happen again

But moving on from the angst

Although Vere can be a bit difficult when it comes to actually caring for his kids, he still loves them nonetheless, in his own Vere way

And even though he raises them to be the best of the best, and take shit from no one, resulting in them inheriting his sassiness. They do become very sweet young ladies, which is good for you :>

Both you and Vere were sleeping in your shared room. His arms and tail wrapped around you in a tight embrace. But the quietness was broken by the sound of your youngest crying from the other room, probably feeling lonely and wanting one of you there with her. You and Vere slowly sit up from your places on the bed, filled with exhaustion and grumbling from being woken up.

But before you can get up to go comfort the little one, Vere pushes you back down so your head is resting against the pillow again. “I’ll take care of her, go back to sleep.”

You raise an eyebrow at him. “Are you sure? I know you get extra grumpy when something wakes you out of your beauty sleep.”

Vere rolls his eyes at your remark, getting up to grab one of his designer robes and throw it on before walking to the bedroom door. “You better not be awake by the time I get back.”

You playfully throw back a “yes sir” before laying back down and closing your eyes, causing him to snicker before leaving and making his way towards the nursery.

Walking in, he makes quick but quiet steps towards the crib where his baby girl was, taking note to not accidentally wake up his other daughter. (thank the gods she was a deep sleeper)

Her ears were currently pulled back against her head and her tail was pointing straight down as her tears continued rolling down her face.

Once reaching the crib, Vere picked her up and held her against his chest. “Oh my little monster, what’s bothering you hm?”

He holds her close and walks over to a rocking chair that was sitting in a corner of the room, after sitting down on it he begins slowly rocking them both and trying to hush her tears.

After a few minutes, her cries begin to calm down and turn into soft whimpers. This makes Vere show a soft smile, happy that was able to get her to settle down.

“There you go my precious one, good girl.” He keeps rocking, not wanting the possibility of the girl getting fussy again.

She giggles in response, grabbing her tail and chewing on the ends of it. Vere laughs and removes it from her mouth before grabbing her hand and playfully nibbling on it, this makes her laugh again and wriggle in his arms.

Eventually, she was able to fall asleep again, this time in her father’s arms as he watched her with nothing but love in his eyes.

MHIN

It’s honestly the same thing with Vere, how you manage to even get into something romantic with them much less have kids is truly one of the wonders of the world

And just like Vere, you always assumed Mhin would want nothing to do with kids

For multiple reasons

They were never in one place for too long, they were constantly grumpy/in a bad mood, their job was hunting for a living, not to mention their apparent curse probably made things 10x more difficult than it needed to be.

But being all honest, you noticed the empathetic look in their eyes as whenever the both of you were passing the orphanage, you can tell they felt bad for those children who had no other family to turn too, and wished they could do something about it

So with that, the both of you ended up having very long discussion about where to go from there, and what to do with both of your wishes

So that’s how you ended up with a baby boy in your arms that the women at the orphanage were very insistent on you and Mhin caring for

I apologize to anyone that wanted to see Pregnant!MC for Mhin but I always imagined them as the kind of person that preferred adoption over pregnancy T-T but I might make a separate post for how LI’s would act with Pregnant!MC :>

Of course you and Mhin did your best to make any preparations for a child, but you weren’t expecting the orphanage to find someone for you that fast

You were honestly surprised when Mhin brought you to the outskirts of Lowtown where there was a small house that looked almost abandoned that had apparently been where they called home for months

When you questioned them about it they just responded with saying they wanted to lay low so they found somewhere no one would expect them to be

Also

“I didn’t want you…or him to be around that fucker while we’re trying to keep him safe.”

Yes they were talking about Leander

They also want to keep the baby around only Kuras until they deem everyone else trustworthy(no you cannot talk them out of this)

But eventually when your able to settle down with the little guy, things feel a little more domestic

It was a tough transition for the both of you, but you managed to get through it :>

Mhin tries to stop taking less jobs and finding ways to sneak into the Senobium, but now that they have you and their son now, they are even more determined to find a way to get rid of their own curse because now their paranoia of hurting you two has doubled

And with that Mhin was afraid of getting too close for a while, leaving most of the care to you while they watched from behind

But one day after a long time of convincing, you managed to convince them to hold the little one

It was honestly a little funny watching them panic a bit while the little guy rests in their arms, it was a situation that they had never been faced with

But they eventually got the hang of it and even played with him a bit, making them smile as they watched their son giggle

After that Mhin started caring for him more, picking up whatever needed to be done whenever you were away or wanted a break

I can see Mhin wanting to name him something with russian origins, idk why but russian Mhin has been on my mind lately and I can’t get it out

Something like “Luka”, “Dimitri”, or “Lev”

Even though Kuras is the only doctor in Eridia, he is still the only doctor Mhin is willing to trust with their baby boy

Anytime there is a problem with him Mhin is immediately putting him into a wrap carrier and racing towards the clinic

Nine times out of ten he just has a small cold but Mhin panicked

They totally still try and do some cultural things that they remember from Lovent with the kiddo, even if it’s barely anything at all it’s enough to bring a smile to their face :>

He doesn’t spoil his little boy as much as the others do, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t get spoiled at all

Mhin’s way of spoiling him is whenever they come across something they think he might like while out on a job, it’s in their pockets moments later

It doesn’t happen all the time, but it’s still adorable

And now some angst

Given that the biggest headcanon about their curse is that the times they can transform is almost unpredictable, this creates some issues between all of you, especially when they return home from jobs

Mhin of course has an entire protocol for whenever this happens, giving you an entire rundown for it in case they ever transform.

If it ever happens and they're outside the house, lock every point of entry and don’t let them in no matter what. But if they're ever inside the house and it happens, take your son and leave as quickly as possible and go to Kuras.

But one day, something you never expected happened one night

You were awoken to the sound of your maybe making noises that could only be described as curiosity and almost…joy?

Sitting up, what you see makes you immediately freeze in place. In the corner of the room opposite of your son’s crib, a massive, black figure sits, its huge, white eyes glow, being one of the only things visible. Somehow your automatically able to tell it’s Mhin, mostly due to the fact that you know of no other bird like creatures

You didn’t know what to do, every possible thing you could’ve done would have opened the possibility of setting…it off

So all you can do is sit there as your baby keeps giggling and them, while you and the bird just stare at each other

Eventually, you notice it began to shrink, signaling that Mhin was slowly returning. And you couldn’t be any happier for that news

But once Mhin was finally back, they were crouched down on the floor, breathing heavily and holding a hand against their neck

Your son took notice of this and began whimpering, about to cry from seeing his parent in distress

The next day your little boy was sent to Kuras for a while to check for any injuries, while you and Mhin stayed behind. Unfortunately, this started a massive argument between the two of you

Mhin angry because you both could’ve been in terrible danger and they wouldn’t have been able to live with the thought that they could’ve killed you two. And you telling them that you had no other choice but to sit and no nothing because if you attempted to run then that would’ve only made the situation worse

The argument went on for some time, both of you going back and forth for god knows how long. Eventually, it just resulted in both of you sitting in uncomfortable silence, not wanting to say anything to the other

But eventually, Mhin spoke up again, saying that their fear of hurting the two of you was stronger than anything else, and they would rather not have a family at all then live with the guilt of what would happen.

So you guys did end up making up, managing to talk things through and find a compromise :>

Moving on from the angst

Like Vere before, Even if it’s rare that Mhin would directly say “I love you” It’s always told through their actions

From willing to spend countless hours comforting their son, or trying to get him to sleep, or just playing with him, that alone tells you enough that they love him more than anything than whatever's left in this wretched world.

And they wouldn’t have it any other way ^-^

Mhin was returning home late one night after a long hunt of killing soulless. They were utterly exhausted and wanted nothing more than to pass out in your arms.

Dragging themselves through the door, they are met with the sight of you sleeping soundly in the bed, in a position giving them the idea that you were waiting for them to return. They took off their cloak and threw it onto the floor before taking off their boots and setting them next to the door.

But before they can flop down against the bed, a high pitched giggle rings through their ears. Turning around they see their baby boy standing up in his crib while hanging on to the ledges, his giggling only escalating when he notices them looking at him. Mhin walks over to the crib, leaning over to pick up the little one and bring him into their arms.

“Shhhhh…you’ll wake up your [preferred parent name].” They say as they lightly bounce the little one in their arms.

They walk over to the small playpen they made themselves and sit down in it, setting their son on their lap before grabbing a toy that has the appearance of a baby duck. The baby immediately reaches towards it while laughing, showing off his gummy smile. Mhin softly smiles, making the toy look like it’s walking towards him while making some “quacking” noises. This makes the boy giggle even more, doing his best to mimic the sounds even though he hasn’t been speaking for that long yet.

Eventually, Mhin places the toy on his lap, letting him grab onto it while wagging it around in the air. While he was doing this, Mhin removed their shirt, exposing the bandages that were covering their chest, they then threw the shirt to where their cloak is, telling themselves they’ll get it in the morning.

After about a good hour of playing with their little boy, they eventually take the toy from him, making him whimper a bit as he reaches for it again, but Mhin lightly shushing him calms him back down.

Mhin then takes him back into his arms, lifting themselves up and walking over to the bed and sitting down against it, making sure to move carefully to not wake you up.

After that, they lay down in the bed, still holding the little one close to their chest as they lean their head back against the pillow.

It takes a while but he does eventually fall asleep, resting against their chest as they wrap their arm softly around his body, and letting their free hand lay on the small of your back.

And then it was their turn to fall asleep, but this time, instead of having the regular restless slumber they usually experience, it was quiet, and peaceful for once.

Author’s note: This ended up being so much longer than I had anticipated but it was very much worth the wait and I hope you enjoy it just as much as I do ^-^

#Touchstarved #Touchstarvedgame #Touchstarved x reader #TS #Touchstarved headcanons #Leander x reader #Ais x reader #Vere x reader #Mhin x reader #Kuras x reader #This genuinely took me forever omg

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thecharacterchronicler · 1 year ago

Text

Like An Evening Sky || Ominis Gaunt X Reader || Smut

Outline: You ask Ominis to be your date for the ball and he feels sorry that he can’t see how beautiful you are... So you help him get a much more detailed and intimate idea of what you look like.

Word Count: 2’624

Warnings: friends to lovers, explicit smut.

For the past few months, all you heard about was that the Yule Ball was coming up. Students were excitedly - and constantly - chatting about it, planning their outfits or gossiping about who will be accompanying who, it pretty much was the event of the year for those who were old enough to attend.

You had been thinking about it too, of course, but more cautiously than the others. You usually dodged the persistent questions of your friends, asking who you were hoping would ask you or why you had refused to go with Leander, which might have been your only chance of having a date.

Now a few days before the event, you still weren’t sure if you’d bother attending, even though you had promised Natsai that you’d at least dress up and go to enjoy the buffet with her.

The library was quiet, with the faint sounds of whispers and pages being turned around you, you thought that you would have felt at peace, sheltered from the buzzing energy of other students preparing for the dance, but you found yourself mulling over it way more than you wanted. The main cause of your growing frustration happened to be sitting right across from you, focused on reading an ancient book with the help of his wand.

Ominis probably was the only last year student who didn’t mention the Yule Ball coming up once. Or if he did, he never talked about it with you. Which made it even more annoying than his apparent lack of interest in it. Ominis was supposed to be your friend, your best friend even, and yet you had no idea if he was planning to go and who he had asked on a date. And to make the matter worse, he didn’t seem to care about who you were planning to go with either.

“Ominis ?” You whispered, finally gathering the courage to satisfy your curiosity, even if it meant potentially feeling very upset because of his answers.

“Yes ?” His wand stopped following the sentences in his book and his pale eyes lifted to look in your direction, showing you that you had his full attention.

“Are you going to the ball ?” You asked, nervously doodling with your quill at the top of the parchment you were writing on.

“I… No, I don’t think so. Are you ?” He replied, his voice hesitant, making you wonder if he was hiding soemething from you or if he really hadn’t given the ball a single thought until today.

“I don’t know.” You shrugged, faking a detached tone. “But if you want to go, maybe we could go together ?”

You saw his eyes widen in surprise, a faint pink blush bringing color to his usually pale face.

“Uh, I guess we can… If you want.” He agreed and you let out a relieved sigh that you were sure he unmistakably noticed.

“Very well.” You said, loudly gathering your things and standing up from your seat. “Ill see you later.”

And with that, you rushed out of the library, hiding your silly smile behind your books and leaving him to study by himself, still a bit confused by your attitude.

●○●○●○●○●○●

You spent the evening before the ball in your dorm with Natsai, nervously getting ready, trying on the dress she had convinced you to buy during your last shopping trip to Hogsmead and getting your hair up in a sophisticated updo.

Natsai didn’t pester you about your date as much as you had expected her to. When you had told her and Garreth that you had asked Ominis, neither of them seemed surprised by your choice, only by the fact that neither of you had asked each other before. Was it so obvious to everyone that you had a crush on your best friend ? And did they think he liked you back ? Because frankly, even though he had agreed to accompany you tonight, you still weren’t sure if he was doing it for the sake of your friendship or because he was hoping for something more.

You walked to the temporary ballroom with your classmates, already hearing the music seeping through the closed doors and the laughters of students resonating against the walls. Up in the stairs, you spotted a group of first years, peeking from behind the railing with curious eyes. You smiled to yourself, remembering when you were their age, dreaming about attending this event too.

“I guess we’ll see you inside.” Natsai said, bringing your attention back to your trio. You followed her gaze to the opposite hallway, immediately noticing the handsome man standing there, in a immaculate white suit. You heart leaped in your chest. Ominis really was here and he was waiting for you.

Garreth and Natsai left you, arm in arm, as they entered the party. You took a deep breath and joined Ominis, as happy to see him as it was making you nervous.

“Good evening.” You greeted, once standing in front of him. “That suit looks very nice on you.”

He gave you a polite smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, a twinge of sadness passing on his face.

“And I’m sure you look beautiful too tonight… Not that you don’t look nice on other days, I’m sure you do… What I’m saying is that you must have put in some big efforts to look even better and err… Forget it.”

You laughed, finding it cute how flustered he got with his attempt to compliment you. It was pretty unusual to see him lack self confidence and not express himself in perfect, almost diplomatic sentences. You thanked him anyway and looped your arm with his, guiding him to the ballroom.

You stood in awe at the entrance for a moment, amazed by how beautiful it looked inside. The room had been decorated in a winter theme, the snow falling from the enchanted sky above and the flickering of all the candles around making it look like you had stepped into a fairytale. You turned to Ominis, wondering if he was impressed too but the lack of reaction on his face reminded you that he couldn’t see how breathtaking it all was.

Students were dancing, others were excitedly chatting in groups and a few others were hanging by the buffet of sweets and various options of beverages. You found some of your classmates, talked and laughed together and shared a few dances with Ominis, who seemed to enjoy himself. Mostly.

But after two hours at the ball, alternating between dancing and filling your mouth with candies you never tried before, your date’s behavior changed, becoming a bit more distant and less talktative.

“Are you feeling unwell ?” You asked him, worried by how distraught he suddenly seemed.

“No… Yes.” He admitted, reluctantly. “All those people around, the music, the chatter… It’s a bit much for me too keep up with.”

“Oh, of course.” You nodded, only now understanding that he must feel overwhelmed by it all, his senses so much more sensitive than yours to compensate for his lost vision. He probably knew he’d end up feeling this way if he attended the ball, which explained why he had been trying to avoid it but he had agreed to go with you because he was a good friend and you felt awfully guilty about it now. “Let’s go outside.”

With your arm looped with his again, you guided him out of the ballroom and into the quiet gardens of the castle. The stars were brightly shining in the night sky and although the air was a bit chilly, it felt nice to escape the warmth and humidity of the party for a while.

You walked to an alcove, where you both sat on a stone bench, sheltered by the cold winter breeze and far away enough from the doors to only hear faint music reaching your ears.

“That’s much better, thank you.” Ominis said, looking indeed relived but sadness remained in his expression. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to ruin your night. It’s alright if you’d rather go back inside and dance with someone else while I take a break here.”

“Don’t be silly, you’re not ruining anything and I’d much rather stay with you, I don’t care that much about dancing or partying anyway.”

“You don’t ?” He asked, confused again. “Why did you ask me to attend with you then ?”

“Because it sounded nice to spend some more time with you.” You replied, honestly. It had been a while you hadn’t been just the two of you together , maybe because he had been avoiding talks about the Yule Ball and therefor avoiding you and your friends as well.

“With me ?” He repeated, as if he couldn’t quite believe you. “Why would you want to have me as a date ? I’m not exactly a social butterfly and I can’t appreciate how lovely you must look tonight. I heard Leander and Garreth whispering about you earlier, they said you were the most beautiful girl in there but me ? I have no idea what you look like, not tonight, not at all.”

“I’m sorry Ominis, I didn’t know it mattered to you.”

“It doesn’t, not really. I think you’re amazing because of who you are, not what you look like… I just think it’s a shame you look so beautiful and I don’t get to enjoy it like the others do. Especially tonight, you probably have a nice hairdo and you must be wearing a gorgeous dress but it’s all the same to me.”

“Very well then.” You stood up and placed yourself in front of him, reaching for his hand and bringing it to your waist.

“What… What are you up to ?” He asked, barely daring to touch you, even with your permission.

“I want to show you what I look like, in a way that works for you.” You explained, gently moving his hand to the front of your dress so that he could feel the pearls sewn on the fabric underneath his fingers.

He seemed to understand what you were expecting of him and soon, his curiosity took over his cautionary nature. He followed the pearls from your hips up to your stomach, really feeling the different textures he touched.

“Your dress is soft.” He stated, moving upwards until he reached the opening of the low neckline. He tentatively stroked your bare skin there with two fingers, a satisfied smile appearing on his lips as he did. “But it isn’t as soft as your skin.”

“It’s… A dark blue dress.” You told him, wondering if he even knew what this color looked like. Maybe it didn’t matter, but you felt compelled to say something, anything, just to encourage him to keep going.

“Like an evening sky.”

You took a step closer, standing between his legs and his other hand joined his exploration of your body. He traced the outline of your silhouette, going from your hips all the way up your sides and softly grazing your cleveage. Your breath caught in your throat at the more intimate touches which caused him to stop them.

“No, keep going. Please.” You whispered, your voice guiding his eyes to yours. With his face lifted up to you, as you stood over him, you could easily reach for his blond hair and push back the stray piece falling on his forehead.

He listened, his hands resuming their wandering up your body, caressing your chest before heading downwards, back to your hips, and then to your thighs, noticing and taking in all the curves and lines of your body.

In the darkness of this starry winter night, with nothing but the light of the moon to illuminate his white form, you dared do the one thing he never found the courage to do himself and leaned over to plant a kiss on his lips.

The kiss was just as soft and gentle as his touch once his surprise faded and he pulled you even closer. You heard him whisper your name as you both came up for air, so you kissed him once more to show him that you were still there with him.

That second kiss seemed to ingnite a forgotten passion inside him, his lips pressing harder on yours as he pulled you once more, but with much more strength than before. You landed on his lap and you felt his arms around your waist securing you on top of him.

It was your turn to whisper his name, as his hand grew a lot more confident in the way it roamed over your body. After a few more feverish kisses, he pulled the fabric of your dress up your legs. You shivered at the feeling of the cold night air on your previously covered skin but the way his fingers now danced over your bare skin instantly warmed you up.

“Are we all alone ?” Ominis asked, between two breathless kisses.

You looked around, checking your surroundings as well as you could from your seat on his lap, under the alcove you had find refuge in.

“I think so… Why ?” The question had escaped your lips before you even realized it, causing an amused smile to appear on Ominis’s face.

“Because if I manage to get some satisfied sounds out of you, I want to be the only one to hear them.” He said, his good manners and cautious vocabulary long gone. His answer sent a wave of intense heat through your body, burning your cheeks.

He moved his hand under your dress, reaching for your underwear and interrupting his caress just shy of the hem. “May I ?”

“Please.” You begged, spreading your legs slightly further apart to grant him better access to your center.

He kissed you at the same time that his fingers moved inside your panties, exploring the most intimate part of your body with eagerness. He slipped between your folds, easily finding your clit and gently rubbing it between his fingers, making you exhale in shocked pleasure. You closed your arms around his shoulders, burying your face against him as he kept playing with you, your need for relief slowly but surely increasing with each of his movements.

You were pretty sure that it couldn’t get any better than that, with his palm adding pressure to your entrance while his fingers were expertly torturing your clit but he proved you wrong as soon as he pushed one of his elegant fingers inside of you.

You closed your eyes, surprised by the intensity you felt in the pit of your stomach as he reverently moved it back and forth inside you. You were getting used to the sensation, and your body was too judging by how it was becoming increasingly easier for his finger to glide in and out of your body.

Then, he added a finger to the one already there and your body shook with pleasure. You moaned quietly against him, which seemed to encourage him to thrust his fingers into you even deeper, with rapid movements you could barely keep track of.

“Ominis.” You whimpered, against his neck, feeling his grip on you tighten to hold you in place on top of him. A few more seconds and the dam inside you broke, flooding your whole body in numb pleasure. You put a hand on top of where his still was, to stop the motions that you couldn’t take anymore and he understood, putting your panties as they were and gently kissing your forehead as you still tried to catch your breath.

♡ - (( Tip Jar )) - ♡

#ominis gaunt #ominis x reader #ominis gaunt x you #ominis gaunt x reader #ominis gaunt smut #hogwarts legacy ominis #ominis imagine #ominis x y/n #ominis smut #hogwarts legacy fanfic #hogwarts legacy smut #hogwarts legacy imagine #hogwarts legacy #smutty fanfiction #fanfic #ominis x you #smut

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whizzing-fizzbee · 7 days ago

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What Are Friends For? | Part III

Sebastian Sallow x F!OC

Rating: Explicit/MDNI (smut, language); all characters are 18+ Chapter tags: smut, friends with benefits, friends to lovers, sexual tension, sex, oral sex, mild bondage, light dom/sub, 3rd person POV, happy ending

Notes: We've reached the end! Thank you to everyone who has read and followed along with this little series, and thank you to the kickass anon who requested it. I appreciate all of the feedback and am so grateful for all of you!

➡️ Read on AO3 or below the cut. ⬅️ Read Part 2

Sebastian paced his dorm room. Nevermind it was nearly 2 a.m. Nevermind that Ominis was huffing and puffing as he tossed and turned at the sound of Sebastian’s manic state. Nevermind that Stella was also awake, staring at the ceiling above her own bed just a corridor away.

“Sebastian,” Ominis finally sighed. “Go to sleep, mate.”

“I can’t.”

“And why not? Too busy scheming more ways to thrust me toward Poppy Sweeting?”

Sebastian stopped, his own dilemmas momentarily on pause. “Thrusting?” he mused. “Did something happen between you two?” He could hear Ominis shift between the bedsheets.

“That’s none of your business,” he replied tersely. Sebastian tutted.

“Ominis, I’m the only reason you and Poppy got some alone time to begin with,” he noted. “It’s absolutely my business.”

“No, but it’s absolutely in your best interest to keep your nose in your own affairs and to go to sleep before I hex you.”

“Clearly there was no thrusting between you and Poppy, given how uptight you are,” Sebastian muttered.

“Yeah, then what’s your excuse?”

Sebastian froze. Even in the dark, he could feel the smug satisfaction creeping over Ominis’ features.

“What do you know?” Sebastian demanded.

��Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Ominis muttered. “Clearly, something is going on with you and Stella. The sexual tension is suffocating. I don’t know what’s happened between you two, but you’re fools for trying to conceal it. And you’re clearly losing your damn mind over it.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Liar.”

“Don’t make me set fire to your bed curtains again.”

“Don’t make me turn you in for murder.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes and retreated to his bed. He sat on the edge, peering at nothing as the room fell quiet again, Callum Barclay’s snores the only sound until Sebastian heaved a sigh.

“Ominis,” he finally called out.

“Yes?”

“Have you ever been in love?”

“Have you inhaled too many fumes in Potions again?”

“Come off it, mate.”

It was Ominis’ turn to sigh. “No, Sebastian. I’ve never been in love,” he said. “But while I can’t give you any advice on that topic, I can tell you that if you have feelings for a certain dark-haired Slytherin, you’d better tell her. I overheard Leander Prewett and Arthur Plummly talking in Charms class. Prewett’s going to ask her out.”

“What?!”

“Oi, keep your voice down! Some of us have sensitive hearing,” Ominis snapped as Callum stirred briefly.

Sebastian ignored them both. “Leander Prewett? Is that a joke?” he asked.

“Pull your head from your arse, Sebastian. Damn near every bloke in this school’s got a hard-on for Stella,” Ominis noted. “You can’t blame them for showing interest, especially when you’re too cowardly to do it yourself.”

Sebastian swore. Leander Prewett? That pompous Gryffindor with scrambled eggs for brains? Surely he stood no chance with Stella… right?

But Sebastian had seen Stella and Leander spend time together. They often played Summoner’s Court after class and occasionally studied together. What if she harbored secret feelings for him? What if she was picturing Leander every time she was with Sebastian? It was enough to make his stomach lurch.

“Fucking Prewett,” Sebastian growled.

“Oh, for Salazar’s sake,” Ominis hissed. “Surely you can’t be this dense, can you?”

“Huh?”

“I stand corrected,” Ominis muttered. He rolled over so he was facing Sebastian’s side of the room, his voice brimming with annoyance. “Sebastian, she clearly is smitten by you, too. Think about it. Think about everything she’s done for you. She’s nearly died for you. Hell, she probably would if it came down to it. She wouldn’t do any of that if she didn’t love you. She does everything for you."

Sebastian mulled over Ominis’ observations. It was true, Stella went out of her way to support him, and it was always unconditional. She backed him without question, perhaps to a fault at times. But Sebastian had always chalked that up to Stella’s character. She was a fiercely loyal friend and an even better person; a rare pillar of conviction in a world riddled with cowardice and greed. Of course she’d do all of that for him. It didn’t mean she loved him, did it?

But Ominis, despite his lack of eyesight, was the most observant person Sebastian knew. He made up for what he couldn’t see by feeling. He had an inimitable sense for emotion, as if his wand’s crimson, glowing tip had a secret trait for telepathy.

Sebastian flopped backward. The notion that Stella might actually return his feelings confirmed he needed to take initiative before it was too late. He’d fight like hell before he lost her to the likes of Leander Prewett, or he’d die trying.

He’d take a gamble and pray that just once, the odds were in his favor.

—

Stella shied away from breakfast in the Great Hall the following morning; partly because she, too, was lacking sleep and was fearful she looked like a banshee, but mainly because she felt like she was losing her fucking mind.

She should have known this would happen. She was a smart girl, nearly the top of her class. Surely she should have recognized sleeping with the object of her utmost affections was playing with a fire that would swell and spread before it could be tamed. She was in too deep and now she was going to fucking drown in the treacherous sea that was Sebastian Sallow.

Fucking hell. This was her own doing and now she’d have to sort herself out.

She had no choice but to call things off. She’d tell Sebastian she no longer wanted to carry out their arrangement. He wouldn’t mind, right? After all, wasn’t the entire point of their sexual education experience to help him improve for his future partners? Stella was never meant to be the final notch in his belt.

But oh, how she wanted to be. How she wanted to experience Sebastian in seclusion every night. She wanted to explore more of him, to discover what happened when he was relaxed and unbothered, and to find out how it’d feel when she was unleashed. She wanted him raw and unfiltered, free from any fears and implications. She wanted the real Sebastian.

But the dinner hour approached and she was still nowhere to be found. That was by design, of course, as she cowered in her dormitory, too afraid to face Sebastian.

It wasn’t that she was fearful for his reaction. She assumed he wouldn’t care if she withdrew from her role as his casual sex partner. She was terrified of what would happen after that. Would their friendship survive their reckless antics?

When dinner started, Sebastian fidgeted in his seat at the Slytherin table. Stella was clearly avoiding him. But he needed to strike while his resolve was hot. He’d spent the day preparing, gassing himself up to take the risk necessary and prove he was capable of loving her in all the ways she deserved.

Sebastian shoved himself away from the table, ignoring Ominis’ scolding remarks, and returned to the dungeons.

The knock on her dormitory door forced Stella upright in bed. She glanced nervously at the door as ten different decisions plagued her mind. Should she pretend to be asleep? She could always say she’d fallen ill. Perhaps she could merely disappear into thin air, ceasing to exist.

“Come in,” she finally sighed, clinging to the bed covers. The door creaked open and Sebastian’s head surfaced through the crack.

“Hey,” he said quietly.

“Hey.”

“You, er, feeling alright?” Sebastian asked as he strode into the room. The door snapped shut again, leaving Sebastian to linger near the foot of Stella’s bed.

“Oh, I’m feeling fine,” Stella said nonchalantly. “Just wasn’t hungry, is all.”

Sebastian blinked at her. “Stell, in the nearly three years I’ve known you, you’ve never skipped dinner.”

“Well, maybe there’s a first for everything.”

Sebastian sighed and sat at the edge of the bed, his eyes determinedly on Stella’s rather than sneaking a glance at the dip in the neckline of her nightgown. “Stell, what’s going on?” he pressed. It was Stella’s turn to sigh, her feet fidgeting nervously beneath the blanket.

“I don’t think we should… do what we’ve been doing anymore,” she said carefully. Sebastian stilled, hoping the wind that was knocked from him wasn’t visible.

“Oh,” he said as he forced a steady tone. “Wh-why not?”

“I just think we should probably quit before we get too carried away.”

“Did I do something wrong?”

“What? No! Not at all, Seb. You’re… you were great.”

“I don’t understand.” And then it hit him. Sebastian’s fists balled, a tell that anger was seeping into his veins and threatening to poison his composure. “Wait. Is this because of Prewett?”

“What?”

“Prewett. You’re going out with him, aren’t you?”

“What?!”

“Be honest.”

Stella was dumbstruck. What on Earth did Leander Bloody Prewett have to do with anything? “Sebastian,” she sputtered. “What are you on about? I’m not going out with anyone, and sure as hell not Leander.”

“Just be honest,” Sebastian repeated hotly. “There’s no need to lie, especially to me of all people. I can take it.”

“Can take what?” Stella’s wide eyes searched him frantically for clarity. “Sebastian, why would I lie about that? If I were going out with someone, of course I’d tell you.”

“Then why don’t you want to… to sleep with me anymore?”

“I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Bullshit. That’s not a good reason, Stella.”

“I don’t owe you a reason,” Stella snapped. Her eyes were narrow now, piercing him with an aggravation that masked crippling pain. “I said I don’t want to do it anymore.”

But Sebastian saw through her. He’d grown accustomed to her defensive cues, like the way she crossed her arms and the way she sucked her top row of teeth.

“Do you genuinely no longer want to?” Sebastian challenged. “Or are you afraid because you enjoy it too much?”

Stella fought to maintain an expression of indifference, but Sebastian could see the way her nostrils flared. It was another discreet indication of her discomfort, but Sebastian knew to look for it. That was the most challenging part of befriending Sebastian Sallow. He could read Stella with more ease than any of the books stacked at his bedside.

“Fuck off, Sebastian.”

“Tell me the truth and I will. Tell me it’s because you genuinely want to stop and I’ll leave.”

“Why does it matter? Why do you care?”

“Why wouldn’t I care?” Sebastian’s eyes flashed. It wasn’t anger that set them ablaze, but something much more desperate and organic; an exhausted exasperation void of any more fight; a white flag, ready to reveal the truth. “Stella, come on,” he breathed, “Don’t push me away.”

“Sebastian, I’m not. I’m just-”

“You’re just what? If you’re not going out with anyone, why are you suddenly adverse to our arrangement?”

“Because that’s all it is, Sebastian!” Stella blurted out. “All this is to you is a stupid little arrangement.”

“When did I ever say that? When have I ever said this is stupid or meaningless to me?”

“Isn’t it?”

“No.”

Stella blinked. “Oh.”

“Is it meaningless to you?”

“No.”

“Then it sounds like we’re on the same page,” Sebastian said.

“And what page is that, Sebastian? I don’t want to be vague about this.”

Sebastian swallowed, his eyes studying the bed curtains that were pulled to the side. He had to get this right. He had to be open, honest and forthcoming. He had to make his intentions clear and his feelings unmistakable. And he had to show some initiative. “The page where we both admit that we’re more than friends.”

Stella’s pulse beat all the way to her fingertips. The bedsheets became too constrictive, too tight around her legs. She remained rooted in place, paralyzed by the notion none of this was real and she’d wake up in a cold, sorrowful sweat.

“You want to be more than friends?” she finally squeaked.

“Of course, I do.”

“Why didn’t you say anything before?”

“Because it’s not a common, everyday dinner discussion.”

“So then why are you telling me now?”

“Because I’m tired of pretending like your mere existence isn’t the driving force for mine.”

There. That was about as blunt as Sebastian could be. It was peak vulnerability – so much so, he began to ponder ways to sink beneath the floorboards, never to be seen again, if Stella rejected him.

Instead, she gazed at him with soft warmth as she gathered her own thoughts in an attempt to find the right words. The ringing in her ears surged to a knee-buckling hum.

“Sebastian,” she started. “You should have told me.”

“Would it have made a difference?”

“Of course it would have.”

Sebastian turned sharply to look at her, his brow furrowed. He looked more alarmed than confused, as if the notion that his feelings weren’t unrequited was a foreign, unchartered concept.

“What exactly are you saying?” he asked sharply. Stella sighed.

“Sebastian, of course I see you as more than a friend,” she said. “I adore you.”

“You what?”

“You heard me.”

“Oh.”

“Now can we stop doing whatever this is?” Stella gestured wildly at nothing. “This silly, stupid dance around the truth? Can we just… be together, open and honestly?”

Sebastian straightened. He wiped his palms against his kneecaps. “Yes,” he breathed.

“Good.” Stella shifted and it became clear to Sebastian that their future was now in his hands. She was waiting, silently begging, for him to act, to prove to her this was all for real.

He kicked his shoes off and turned until he was crawling toward her, their anticipation rising each time his knees dug into the mattress until he was kneeling next to her, cupping her face in his hands.

“You look really beautiful in that,” he murmured, tilting his head as his eyes grazed over Stella’s nightgown. He leaned in to kiss her with a gentle ease, indicative of the soft side only she could bring out. When he pulled away, his fingers traced the neckline of the nightgown until they reached her collarbone. “You’d look better without it, though.”

Stella’s flush seeped across her neck and chest. Sebastian peeled back the covers and she shivered at the loss in warmth, though the chill was fleeting when his hands snaked across the tops of her thighs. His fingers found the hem of the nightgown while his eyes met Stella’s. When she didn’t break their gaze or protest, Sebastian continued, lifting the hem of her nightgown upward, slowly exposing every inch of her form until he was tugging it over her head.

Sebastian’s trousers tightened immediately. The sight of Stella’s bare body splayed out beneath him ignited every nerve ending until he was hot to the touch. But first, he was going to touch her until he ensured she was permanently his.

Sebastian fished his wand from his pocket and studied Stella with intense eyes. “Do you trust me?” he asked.

Stella blinked. “That’s a loaded question," she rasped. Her lips parted in a playful smile and she reached to pull him into a kiss. “You know I trust you. But don’t make me regret it.”

Game on.

“Lay back,” Sebastian ordered. He smirked and flicked his wand toward Stella. “Incarcerous irenen.”

In hindsight, Stella should have seen this coming. Manacles manifested around her wrists and ankles and Sebastian straightened proudly as he admired his handiwork.

"Sebastian!" Stella gasped. "What's gotten into you?"

“Looks like I learned something in the library the other day, after all. Sophronia would be so proud,” Sebastian said smugly.

“Sophronia would hurl herself into the lake if her innocent eyes saw what we were up to."

“Let’s keep that in mind the next time she tries to quiz us in exchange for library books,” Sebastian muttered. He studied Stella to ensure she wasn't bothered. "In all seriousness," he continued, tracing a finger over the curve of her waist, "You've spent these past days helping me, but you've been holding back. Now, it's your turn to let go."

They fell quiet as Sebastian committed the erotic vision of Stella’s shackled form to memory.

“Those aren’t too tight, are they?” he asked.

“No.”

“And you’ll tell me if you want me to stop?”

“Of course.”

“Are you cold?” he asked as he reached a hand toward one of her taut nipples. Stella inhaled sharply through her nose at his touch. He ran the pad of his thumb across it and shifted positions until he was straddling her. “We’ll go nice and slow, okay?” he said, mimicking her own words from the previous day. They were genuine, but there was no mistaking a hint of playfulness.

Sebastian leaned downward to kiss her neck, the remnants of the day’s perfume lingering. His teeth nipped gently at the skin before he proceeded downward, his mouth finding her right breast while his hand cupped the left. His palm relished the soft, yielding flesh as his tongue flattened and flickered over her nipple. He sucked gently until Stella squirmed beneath him.

“Relax,” he ordered with a smirk. Stella swallowed a snide response.

Sebastian’s hands raked over her sides, following the curve of her waist until they found her hips, his mouth still preoccupied by her breasts. He shimmied himself lower until he could press a kiss to each hip bone. Stella’s thigh muscles twitched beneath him.

But Sebastian took his time, his lips grazing across her navel as the tension pulled tighter within her core. Soon, his mouth was dragging over the tops of her thighs, inching inward until Stella’s hips were rising off the bed in eager anguish.

He pressed a kiss just above her slit and she finally issued a pitiful whimper. Sebastian smirked against her skin.

His tongue lapped at her entrance with cruel deliberation – slow, cruel and inhumane. The manacles around Stella’s ankles clinked as she strained against them, desperate to part her thighs more. But Sebastian wasn’t presently concerned about how far her knees could spread. He could do plenty of damage as is.

His tongue ghosted across her clit with such haste, Stella wondered if she’d imagined it. But it returned with more earnestness, pressing and prodding until a moan left her lips. Sebastian rolled his tongue, its repetitious waves weathering against her bud until he could taste her own tide. Stella panted and puffed, her eyes clamped shut as she begged for the final surge.

“Sebastian,” she breathed. “Sebastian, I’m so close.”

More, more, more. That was the phrase on repeat in both of their brains, their insatiable need to indulge in the other on full display.

Sebastian’s fingers sank into the backs of Stella’s thighs as he applied more force, his tongue straining as it labored. He relieved it by sucking against her clit, pulling her release to the fringe of her nerve endings.

With a few more swipes, the straining cord snapped and Stella cried out. Her heels dug into the mattress while her fingernails pierced her own palms, the bindings around her wrists holding steadfast despite the pressure as she strained against them. Spasms surged from her clit until she was left in a spineless state.

“Merlin, you always taste divine,” Sebastian said as he straightened up to study Stella’s expression. She gazed at the ceiling with heavy eyelids, her chest rising and falling as she caught her breath. Sebastian had initially intended to relieve her of her manacles, but she looked too fucking sinful, her face flushed and limbs bound, to resist.

Sebastian sank his middle finger inside her without warning. Stella gasped as the heel of his palm connected with her clit, still swollen and sensitive. The sounds of her slick release chorused louder as Sebastian pumped his hand, his finger driving inside her as his palm tapped against her clit.

Stella choked through a moan. Sebastian’s finger curled and she could feel it pulling against her front wall, which was already on the twitching cusp of another release.

A few more dabs and Stella was writhing, her hips jutting upward as Sebastian’s finger triggered another climax. Her walls convulsed and the back of her head dug into the pillow, her wrists digging against the restraints.

She whimpered when it was over, unsure if she’d ever recover. The bed curtains blurred into a haze and the quiet dormitory filled with the piercing ring of rising blood pressure. She was sensitive below the waist, her inner thighs now slick and the bedsheets beneath her damp. She felt completely and utterly undone; a ruined heap of fucked out limbs, hair now full of static from the pillowcase. Surely, she looked like someone teetering toward the final stage of six feet under.

But Sebastian had never been more attracted to her. He fumbled hastily with his necktie and shirt while Stella blinked at him, still flat on her back.

“You know, I might be able to help you undress a bit faster if you’d release me from these restraints,” she mused.

“Oh, right.” Sebastian fumbled for his wand. “Finite.”

The manacles vanished and Stella rubbed at her left wrist, which was red from the way she had strained against the metal. Not wanting Sebastian to worry, she moved for his belt buckle and began undressing him from the waist down as he unbuttoned his shirt.

Once fully undressed, he paused to kiss Stella, slow and tender until his erection throbbed. He rose to his feet and stood next to the bed, looming above Stella who watched him curiously. He tugged on her ankles, pulling her toward the edge of the bed until her legs dangled over the side.

“On your stomach,” he ordered.

Stella swallowed. “But Seb, you… are you… will you…”

“Just do it.” Something about the sight of Stella’s undoing ignited a new sense of confidence in Sebastian. He was certain he’d make her moan his name all night if he wanted.

Stella complied. Her spine straightened when Sebastian moved behind her. He bent forward to kiss the nape of her neck before the tip of his cock nudged her entrance from behind. She let out a low, slow moan as he sank inside her.

Sebastian swore at the tight heat compressing around his cock. He stilled for a moment, pulling backward slowly as Stella’s walls worked to accommodate him. But the sight of her backside bent over the edge of the bed proved impossible to maintain much restraint.

Sebastian’s hips snapped forward and Stella's cunt clenched around him as the skin rippled across her ass. He moved again and again, hips thrusting in determined rhythm as his cock sought a steady pace.

Skin slapped, floorboards creaked and the bedsheets muffled Stella’s whimpering moans. Sebastian grunted and groaned above her, his hands clenching her hips as he drove them into the mattress.

Stella was so slick, so stretchy for him, Sebastian searched for permission to accelerate his movements.

“You’re so good,” he groaned. “You take me so well.”

“More,” Stella moaned, the top bedsheet balled in her fists. It was exactly what Sebastian wanted to hear.

He pounded into her until her breathy moans became crying whimpers. Each thrust of his cock jolted her walls with a dizzying paradox of pressure and pleasure. Her spine curved more as if she was begging him to continue.

“Fuck, Seb,” Stella whined. Her submissive state spurred Sebastian on more, his flat hands pinning her in place against the bed as he rocked harder against her. The slapping sound of their union escalated to quick, short pops, peppered with Stella’s erratic whimpers.

The bed scraped against the planks of the wood floor, a grating screech that was interrupted by the increasing pitch of Stella’s moans. They climbed higher and louder as Sebastian’s cock edged her toward the peak. She clamped her walls in desperation to coax her climax from him, her flesh greedily straining around his cock.

“Come for me,” Sebastian commanded. “You’re going to come all over my cock and you’re going to say my name when you do it.”

Sebastian rammed and rutted against Stella, jamming his cock into her most sensitive spot until her moans could surely be heard in the common room below them.

“You’re close,” Sebastian noted, using one hand to ball Stella’s hair. He tugged at it, arching her back and emphasizing her ass. Sebastian squeezed it with his other hand, pumping harder until he was certain her hips would shatter from the force.

Finally, the sharp, short thrusts drove Sebastian’s cock into Stella’s trigger and she wailed a long, loud guttural cry of his name. Her walls fluttered and her core released more slick response as Sebastian’s hips continued to work until he could ensure her satisfaction was complete.

He couldn’t wait to do it again. But now, he was merely relieved he had managed to fuck her to completion before his own. And best of all, he’d get an endless supply of more opportunities to hear her praise him and beg for more, to watch her come undone for him, because she was his now.

“You’re so fucking good when you come,” Sebastian groaned, his cock coated in the new surge of slickness. While Stella’s frame slackened beneath him, spent from its trio of ardent releases, Sebastian sought his reward.

He sank several more times into the tight squeeze of her walls until the muscles of his abdomen flexed and his cock twitched, sending a jet of his release inside her. Stella moaned at the surge in warmth spilling within her walls as Sebastian grunted through the grand finale. He pinned Stella to the bed, his hips flush with her ass until it was over.

“Fucking hell,” he breathed as he caught himself with his arms above Stella, to keep from crushing her with his tired weight. He panted to catch his breath as Stella remained docile beneath him.

He knew he should back away, help her get dressed before someone else stumbled into the room. But all the moments from the previous hour – the revelations, the realizations, the reactions – settled within him with crushing force.

Stella, tired of staring at bed covers, rolled onto her back. She smiled up at him with tired eyes – tired, but gratified and unmistakably elated.

“Alright?” she asked.

Sebastian nodded, his eyes still in awe of her nude features. “I think so.”

Stella glowered at him. “You think so? Sebastian, I just let you turn me into a ragdoll, surely you don’t merely think so. Or else I’m going to be the one with performance anxiety.”

Sebastian grinned and finally stepped backward, only so that he could step around her legs to lay down next to her. He reached to pull her against himself, one arm draped around her waist as he used the other to prop himself up on an elbow.

“Didn’t see any anxiety just now, did you?” he noted.

“No, I suppose not,” Stella agreed.

“Aren’t you lucky?”

“Lucky?” Stella drawled. “If anything, you’re the lucky one. Lucky to have such a good coach.”

#sebastian sallow x oc #sebastian sallow x mc #sebastian sallow #hogwarts legacy #sebastian sallow fanfic #sebastian sallow fanfiction #hogwarts legacy fanfic #hogwarts legacy fanfiction #sebastian sallow smut #hogwarts legacy smut #whizzing fizzbee fanfic

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vermilionsun · 8 months ago

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I HAVE BEEN SUMMONED [thanks @sicarius-lunae <3]

@muspellssynir I love the way your brain works :))

Ais

✩ Eyes wide, has to actively keep his jaw from hitting the floor.

✩ D O W N B A D

✩ He just stares at you before he chuckles, his chuckle turning into laugher

✩ “You're a bold one, aren't you, sparrow?”

✩ He walks up close to you and grabs your chin, leaning down so his face is inches away from yours

✩ “What made you think I would do all of that with you?” said he, ever the asshole

✩ He just stands there, crossing his arms, still looking down at you

✩ Meanwhile his brain is short-circuiting.

✩ His internal thoughts are just screaming. He clears his throat as he looks down at you, his hands slightly clenched into fists. His mind was telling him the same thing again and again, how in the world could you have come up with all that stuff?!

✩ At the same time, he was trying his best not to think about the fact that you were right there, in front of him, your eyes are so beautiful and those lips... No, no shut up, don't think like that, get a grip on yourself.

✩ And maybe something like…

✩ “Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god, so cute, so pretty, so close, oh god, don’t think dirty thoughts, DON’T THINK DIRTY THOUGHTS—”

✩ Į̷̖̮͉̹͖̅͂͗̋̓̑̊͗͐͐͝ ̷̜̌̈́͒s̷̨̺͇̲̘̥̒̍̈́́͌̿̓͜h̴̦̦̼̝̻̮͖̺̮̣̹̱̊̊̌̇͠o̷̡̩̩̞̳͎͉̳̞̰̙̍̾̓̓͠ù̷̧̙̲̹̜̘̰̠̦̩̝̓͊͑͆̓͊̽͆̀͝l̷̢͇͍̰̘̾̿̀̚d̷͍̫̠̼̜̝̯̯̑̇ ̶͇̓͒̅̓͋̈͊̅̋̚̕͝ḧ̸̥͉̪́̀̈́͆͑̽̐͝a̶͓̠̠̦̱͐̑̽̉͂̃̎̔̕̕v̶̲̮̣͇̰̎́̓̎͛̓̀̈̈́͒̐ę̴̩̺̹̦͇̺̈͋͗͂͑̂̇̕͠͝ ̴̦͕̍c̵̬͊̾h̷͉̗̗̘͊̓̓ơ̴̤͖̦̇͊̈́̈́͝s̸̨̹̯͈̈͆ͅè̶̞̱̪̹̳͔͓̓͊̓̉͑̽͂̀̀͠n̶̙̓̉̏̾̄̓́̿̈ ̵̧̟̫̪̖̙͚̈́̇̑̓̀ą̷̛̦͉͍̱͕̰̗͎̖͛̋̄̈́̾̎͌̾͝͝ ̵̢̳̖͆̒̅̆̋̏̇̎͆͗̚̚b̵͖̺̠̻͕͙̖̃̀́̕e̶̡͎̯̥̠͚̮̫̤̿́̚͝t̶̢͎̠͕͇͎̊͌͌͊͊͐̆̽͂͜͝͝ţ̶̛̦͍̩̭̯̰̻͙̪͗̉̅̐̈́̽̽͝ẹ̵̡̯͚̰̗͐̌̈́̀̅͆̀̈́̓̃̀r̵̡̬̝̹͋͛ ̷̢̡̹̬̖̱͍̝̈́͌̔̈͐́̾̈́ͅh̸̢̧̛͈̦̻̝̮͆͑͛̿̽͑̒̀̀̄ͅõ̵̫̟̇̚͝ͅs̵̠̯̬̬̙̓̑́͆̾̇̈́͑͘͜t̴̛̼̩̱̓̊́̾̕͠,̸̨̣̭̩̲͖̈́̽́̍̔̓̕͘ ̸͕͇͎͓̮̠͒̒̃́̅͌͋͑͑́̒͜͠ḑ̸͈̥͙̯̯̗̖̑͋̈́͛̈́͑̚a̵̺̹̥͖̱͉̩͒̉̀͛̎̔̈́́͂̓̀͝m̴̧̲͋̓̒͑́̈́̍͘͝͠ǹ̸̻͖͙̗̹̦̬̙͕̲̲͊̃̽̐̈͛̅́̓ ̸̦̘̞͍̀͆́͋́̈͂̀̈́͐̚͠i̷̭̺̗͐t̷͍̳̞̪͇̬̗͔̏͑̅̿̑̓͊̋̚̚͠

Kuras

✞ The corner of his mouth twitches upwards for just a second

✞ a m u s e d, and doesn't even try to hide it, ffs

✞ “Is that a confession or a threat?”

✞ He studies you for a long moment, golden eyes cold and sharp before he rolls his eyes

✞ He chooses to plainly ignore both your smirk and the light flush under his collar.

✞ You're infuriating, impulsive, shameless, and entirely too attractive for your own good. But he'll die before he ever admits that out loud.

✞ Every moment of this interaction is being carefully cataloged, analyzed. His golden eyes remain fixed on every minute change of expression, every slight shift in body language.

✞ Just how far are you willing to go?

✞ His own words play back in his mind, ‘I see you are not to be dissuaded.’

✞ He mentally chides himself. Snap out of it.

✞ "I'll give you credit for trying," he says calmly, his tone somehow even softer than before.

Leander

🗡 He spits out his drink cartoon–style

🗡 He sets it down and turns his attention fully towards you

🗡 Then the widest, dumbest, prettiest grin spreads across his face like butter in a commercial

🗡 “Well, all those are lovely options!”

🗡 *proceeds to give constructive criticism*

🗡 His thoughts have run w i l d. I’m talking rounding the universe at Mach 7 speed.

🗡 The moment is a delightful mix of curiosity and excitement, a swirling combination of "yes, yes, yes" with a sprinkle of "hmm, interesting" and a dash of "oh my god, I want".

🗡 but not like in a needy way, more like in a please-please-please-I-want-this-so-bad-but-I'll-respect-your-boundaries-and-be-patient kinda way

🗡 Becomes the 🥺

🗡 “So, it’s a date! :D”

Mhin

🕊 Bewildered in every sense of the word

🕊 They clear their throat, struggling to regain control of their own treacherous thoughts.

🕊 They look up to meet your gaze, the expression in their eyes guarded but their voice betraying just a hint of curiosity.

🕊 “You sure move fast.”

🕊 internally dying. Bye bye mortal realm, Allmother here I come

🕊 Mhin can barely put their thoughts into anything resembling coherence.

🕊 A small part of their mind responds to your words with a dangerous flutter, and an even more dangerous hope that they desperately try to suppress.

🕊 Attraction and suspicion vie for dominance, each one trying to drown out the voice of reason

🕊 Torn between wanting to lean closer and wanting to bolt for the nearest emergency exit.

🕊 "Yes yes PLEASE YES– NO! BAD BRAIN NO!" and "Why is this idiot doing this to me and WHY am I secretly hoping they'll keep talking??!! AAAAAA—“

Vere

✦ He lets out a low hum, resting his jaw on his palm, and his elbow upon the countertop.

✦ "Do tell," he inquires, his lips quirk up into the faintest of smirks and a soft snort escaping his nose in a laugh.

✦ A pause. Something akin to curiosity glimmers in his expression. Something about the set of his shoulders—the slight tilt of his head—strikes you as vaguely feline.

✦ He let his arms rest on either side of the other, pinning you against the wall in the process as he loomed slightly over you.

✦ Incoherent babbling and just overall thirst ✨ At least until he gets too flustered and just kind of starts to malfunction, like a computer that suddenly blue screens

✦ Definitely not holding back those thoughts. He's trying reeeeally hard to keep a facade of aloofness but his mind goes places that are far from holy

✦ yesyespleaseplease~

✦ He can't give in so easily!

✦ He's gonna go completely feral the moment you even hint at giving him the go-ahead—

✦ "Fox got your tongue?"

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someiicecube · 8 months ago

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I had this post sitting in my drafts for a while and I was suddenly reminded of it haha.

Anyway, we all know this line from the main character synopsis, right?

Only humans?

Is this purposeful on the writer's part to specifically mention the curse can only affect humans? Or are humans the only creatures mentioned because that's all the main character has had the chance to... curse with their touch?

Can the curse affect monsters?

Currently, we can't know one way or the other.

Even if we did touch Leander, bare hand and all, it's Leander. The main character is under the impression that, because he's such a strong and powerful mage recommended to us by the mysterious doctor Kuras himself, it's just something he can do apparently— although, we as the players know that's not all there is to it... just what is it? Is it part of his supposed monsterous-ness? Does he really know a spell that can protect against our curse? What's Leander's Jungle Juice really made out of? We can't tell yet...

Chosing Leander in this context is such a strategical plot point because he cannot answer our initial question. Is Leander not affected because he cast his little protection spell? Or is Leander not affected because he is/has become a monster?

However, we still can assume that the main character doesn't have full knowledge on what they are capable of with their curse— ya' know, probably being mostly surrounded by humans and such. So, the idea of touching even a monster is probably not a theory anyone wants to test (unless you're a mage, then please do it on some random monster and not the LIs for funzies... unless you want to).

Could this be a seed the writers are planting? Maybe, maybe not. But leaving the question unaswered (by Leander), again, makes the player and main character cautious by nature.

But what if they did slip up?

What if they slipped up and it happened on accident?

Your bare fist colliding into Ais' chest, skin-on-skin but still a solid blow. Your hand desperately reaching out for Kuras' own, just wanting to feel his warmth once more only for a moment. Your palm sweeping against Vere's shoulder, pushing him away, your skin brushing along the thin translucent fabric. Or your fingers digging into Mhin's wrist as their dagger hovers right above you, their pulse hard against your uncovered touch.

It's startling. It's something you didn't mean to do. Fear grips you immediately; dread rises as your stomach falls. You are as quick to let go of them as your eyes are to look them in the eye and...

Nothing.

While, it wouldn't come as a shock to either Vere or Ais. Kuras, who the main character wouldn't know is an angel at this point, and Mhin are another eyebrow raiser for sure. It didn't affect them, when you know it should. If it doesn't affect them... that would only make the MC raise many more questions about Leander in turn. Ah, what a dramatic way to reveal the fact that the person you fancy is a monster.

Other notes and thoughts:

While, yes, an interesting idea to think about. I'm torn between wanting the monsters to be immune and 'fuck it, this curse affects everyone, even your pet rock ain't safe'. I can't help but feel this idea also lowers the stakes of the MC's curse... if done wrong.

Let's say this, the curse doesn't have an effect on monsters, right? But for each monsterous LI there will be a catch. Say, Vere, for example; a monster who lusts for power beyond him... having a human like yourself with such a deadly curse, well, who's to say it wouldn't give him a few ideas on how to use you it. What? You're still planning on finding a cure? Oh no, but you have him now, don't you? Why need a cure when you have him, your curse, and your soon-to-be mindless worshippers at your feet?

(Won't lie writing some of Vere's points made me think of Leander, but that's manipulation for you)

Or think Kuras, a doctor, an angel who passed through the shroud to watch over humanity. How would Kuras feel if the person he's grown so close to decides their curse isn't worth getting rid of now that you have him— can't you see the danger in yourself anymore?

Or try with, like some previous theories once said for us touching Leander: it doesn't affect him now... but eventually he will devolve into madness like the rest of everyone. But don't just apply that to Leander, now think of everyone else. Imagine finally finding someone you can touch without consequences. It's something that gets your blood rushing and heart pounting with a feeling your haven't felt in a while! However... the more and more you do so, you've noticed they've changed. They're more irritated, they've been having more headaches than normal, and their once beautiful smile twists into something dreadfully familiar. Congratulations, you've made your beloved mad with love! Here's the bad ending! Yipee!

Really, in the end it's all a balancing act, the stake were there and you don't want to take them away before the climax. If you do, place something else in its steed— something to raise them even further than what was initially thought possible.

#if you haven't seen me on touchstarved I was probably in Obey Me #I'm on that hard lesson grind rn 💪💪💪#and the new Solomon event memory card grind too 😭😭😭#anyway yeah #I've been thinking about this for like a while but I'm not sure if anyone else mentioned it or if I was fixating too much on wording again #this post came out longer than intended so guess who just got out of writer's block #no beta we die like ts mc that one vere bad ending #touchstarved game #touchstarved theory #icespeaks

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eggroll-sama · 4 months ago

Text

My Opinions if They Existed IRL

Rant of me manifesting the characters in my life and logically seeing and how I would feel of them. Ranting, Leander hate, shenanigans

Leander

Hate Hate HATE-

I've had terrible experiences with Leander's. I'm sorry to all the Leander fans out there, but I can't stand people like him. I relate with Vere on this one. The artificiality is aggravating.

Will make you feel understood and special, but it's just his charm. He gets off on it tbh.

The type to laugh at jokes he doesn't think is funny to feed the person's ego. His laugh is obnoxious (rich person's laugh + loud cuz he thinks louder = more genuine? No lol), too, so everyone turns to him wondering what's making him laugh sm. He's just being fake

Ah, DOES NOT know personal space. Is super touchy even with strangers and pushes their boundaries.

(More under the cut)

People pleaser, people pleaser. The type to not stand up for you when someone talks smack about you behind your back. Instead would give a polite laugh, maybe add his own opinions on you to make the shit-talker feel understood, then would steer the conversation to smthg else. Take that as you will.

Leaves you in the dark on certain things that will make him look bad. More than likely you find out through other ppl which makes you feel betrayed.

Smiles, even when he's pissed off. When you see his mask falter it's like whiplash, makes you wonder if he's ever real w you cuz he doesn't talk about his neg opinions. Only shares altruistic opinions to make himself look better.

Would not communicate when he has problem with you. Instead, he'll give you a look, no smiles, no facade, just hostility. It's annoying when you're the type to talk things out.

Competitive as hell, with friends, too. If he isn't in the center of attention than he'll get very insecure, and would go into pick-me mode so he can get compliments from others

"I'm not as good as ___, haha."

"No way, Leander, you're amazing, be more confident!"

And he will do this RIGHT in front of you, too (Day in the life of Ais dealing with Leander's jealousy)

Likes to play mediator to seem like the bigger person, but still ends up choosing sides. Your actions aren't matching your words fool.

Would also play mediator so he can get more information from both sides. More knowledge = more power = more control

On a positive note, Leander’s are very good at reading your emotions so would be more attentive to your needs. Also open-minded and would be a good companion if you want to have fun. Unfortunately the type to say yes yes to hanging out even when he’s on a tight schedule and get irritated when it wasn’t as exciting, like JUST SAY NO BITCH GAH DAMN. Prioritize urself.

When you start to distance yourself after he treats you like crap, that’s when he starts to correct himself, but it’s too late atp. Would get rlly salty when he sees you hanging out with other ppl feels like he’s being replaced

Would act friendly with you even after you're no longer close but it’s a facade :DD When he's alone he's brooding.

Kuras

Politely distant.

Kuras is the coworker that's been there longer than you have so you admire him from afar, hoping you'd be at his level one day.

Remembers your name even if you talk to him like ONCE, makes you feel special and seen in a non manipulative way.

Would remember certain things abt you that you surprised he remembers like at all.

Has the sexiest ASMR voice. It's the professional type of voice that’s very well-practiced and you just watch him on the phone not fumbling over there words like :0 They make it look so easy

Being friends with him wouldn’t be one-sided. He would plan a catch-up with you grabbing coffee. Would pay for the bill without asking.

He is a dominant person, but is often perceived as submissive bc his courtesy and gentlemanly behavior. No, no, he’s always in control. He just knows that that being kind in the face of conflict makes you the one more in control of the situation. There’s dominance in self-submission

An amazing listener. Has the ability to give advice to you without making you feel defensive on your stance.

Believes in integrity, but wouldn’t condone being “brutally honest.” Don’t weaponize your excuse of “honesty” to be a jerk towards others. Kinda hypocritical bc sometimes he sucks at being tactical with words, but he tries to understand, which is the difference from ppl that feel entitled to state their opinion in a “fighting for dominance” type of way

Stubborn lol. Stubborn in a “my way or the high way” kind of way. Needs to be convinced with logic or wouldn’t budge that his way of doing things is better. Can get tiring convincing them.

Also is very detail-oriented that every little thing needs to be analyzed before he proceeds. If you’re the type to “wing it” like me, it’ll test your patience but also their attention to detail helps out later on. He’ll hit you with the “I told you so” look

Too hard on himself. Would feel bad for being impolite over smthg minor. PLS REINFORCE HIS AWESOMENESS YOURE DOING GREAT OK.

Would remember something he’s done in the past and hate himself, it’s the catholic guilt. He knows there’s no point in remembering but he can’t help but think of how he could’ve handled something better. Overthinker.

Acts like an old man. Likes little peaceful towns with a good suburban vibes. Loves discovering little stores and Knick knacks. Also gives u gifts out of nowhere for keeping him company.

Mhin

I also know a few Mhins but I like them better than Leander’s lmao. Their quietness piques my interest and I find myself wanting to get to know them more, even if it’s one-sided and low-key an interview. They tend to be very interesting people.

If you gain their favor, than they're so caring towards you. Would seek your attention once in a blue moon like a cat. Sometimes it feels like you’re always chasing them, be it through gift-giving, reaching out, etc. Will get repetitive at times.

Their independence is admirable and partially the reason why you seek their presence so often. You don’t want them to feel lonely.

They’re passive aggressive, it’s low-key cute, but also annoying. Just say what you want to say!

They have self-conscious tendencies, be it their looks or their talents. Instead of being an annoying pick-me like Leander, they start to get more frustrated and depressed, unfortunately. Wouldn’t bring it up unless you do.

They’re also popular romantically but they NEVER realize. Tends to get teased often by people crushing on them.

Is so honest. Mhin would tell you straight what they think about you, which sucks if you have a soft-heart.

So honest, borderline an asshole. Ex. You’re losing some hair? They'd point it out. No hesitation. Very embarrassing if you're with your friends. They suck at thinking before they speak.

The type to trauma dump on you. But if they do, you’re lucky bc it means they trust you.

They are naturally attracted to kind, peaceful introverts. Mhin isn't a sociable person, so it would be a whole lot easier for them if you are also not sociable. Craves kindness and peace.

You can appreciate their quietness. They don’t talk, so their words hold more weight. Great at handling kids cuz they are scared of them.

The type to complain about smthg you did but helps you. ACTS OF SERVICE !!

Their laugh is so rare that it makes you surprised and gaping. But you love it whenever it happens.

DONT FORGET TO CALLLLLLL

#part 2 coming soon #kuras #eggrolling #ts leander #mhin #touchstarved game #touchstarved headcanon #touchstarved imagines #touchstarved kuras #touchstarved leander #touchstarved mhin

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harmlessghosty · 1 year ago

Note

the Touchstarved LIs and the shenanigans they would commit at a pool/beach (nsfw or sfw whatever u wanna do, I'm just obsessed with the idea of them being sillies)

Not me being from total beach-town and sitting here like, “Mm, yes, what does one do at the beach??”

Just a few little headcanons with a little spicy here and there. Nothing more vulgar than what’s implied in the game though!

***

Kuras

- Very much conservatively dressed—total rash guard over his arms and legs and conscious of sunburns.

- In fact, he’s so cautious that he brings extra sunscreen and offers to reapply it for you every time you get out of the water or every couple of hours when it’s most washed away by sweat. Definitely takes extra time massaging it into your skin, using the excuse that he’s just being sure but really wants to touch you more.

- “I certainly don’t want to have to treat burns. I’ve seen more than my fair share of those.”

- Ties up his hair into a loose bun when he gets in the water. It just takes so long to dry that he doesn’t want to soak it down.

- Sneakily will dunk you beneath the water (assuming you haven’t told him firmly not to do it) by caressing your waist from behind before plunging your body under or throwing you away from him so that you go under. Gives a clever smile and swims toward you to lift you high enough that your shoulders are out of the water and he can nuzzle your nose. (He’s so tall……)

- “You’re soaked. Perhaps I should towel you off sooner rather than later.”

- Is secretly eyeing your body from behind a textbook he brought to read while sunbathing. If you catch him, he makes the excuse that he’s just looking for any signs of concerning spots or redness, but really his eyes are wandering.

***

Leander

- How little clothes is he required to wear at the beach or a public pool? Is a thong okay, or must you insist he covers his pride more than that?

- Sincerely forgets that other people are around and blares music or speaks so loudly that others will turn his way. He’s lucky he’s so attractive because, with little more than a grin and a flirty apology, no one cares. He’ll offer them a nice drink or a sandwich, and all is forgiven.

- Brings all the supplies you could possibly want. What should you do first? What if you play volleyball, or maybe you can build sandcastles, or bat a beach ball back and forth? Everyone around you can join in too, if they want!

- “The more the merrier! Oh, you’re not very good at this. Well, practice makes perfect. Don’t give up just yet!”

- Doesn’t want to reveal the scars across his chest, but doesn’t mind if it’s around strangers he won’t ever see again. If it’s with friends, he’ll wear a tank top to cover most of them, but overall, he won’t mind too much. If anyone dares to push asking about them, a little frown is all it takes to shut them up.

- Gets bored easily if he’s not moving around. If you just want to lie there and sunbathe, expect an arm around your waist or him plucking at the elastic of your suit.

- “It isn’t often we get to visit such nice water. We should swim while we get the chance. Besides, I wouldn’t want that pretty bathing suit to not get used.”

***

Vere

- Immediately flirts the moment he sees you in your bathing suit. Eyes narrow. Smirk widens. He saunters up to you and slips sharp nails around your waist as though threatening to rip it off of you, which he very well might do the moment you’re away from any prying eyes.

- “Why don’t you take a dip to cool off? I wouldn’t mind seeing you dripping wet.”

- Doesn’t like going in the water much, but will hang off your arm or lift you into his lap and carry you around if he does. As a Monster, he’s more than strong enough to carry you outside of the water, but this is much less effort on his part…and more slick too.

- “Nude beaches are more entertaining than this. Perhaps next time, I’ll be able to see all of you spread out before me. I can already imagine the sun glimmering off of your…delicate…skin…”

- Are you nervous to show off your body? Expect him to be a hype man, ready to shower you with compliments until you’re blushing from more than just the heat of the sun.

- Wears the most expensive bathing suit, and the most glamorous. After all, if he’s not swimming very much, then what does it matter if it’s got glitter, metal, or velvet? He looks handsome enough to eat, doesn’t he? Consider humoring him later.

- Is very cautious of keeping his tail and ears free of sand. It’s uncomfortable and hard to rinse off.

***

Ais

- Will absolutely lift and throw you into the pool or the waves. Sorry, but it’s cute to see you resurface all annoyed that he got you wet or that the water is cold.

- Watches others with suspicion if they happen to look at you. It’s not that he’s super overprotective, but he doesn’t want anyone to get the idea that you’re available. If someone starts making conversation, he makes it clear that they’re not welcome.

- “Sun’s pretty hot, but the breeze is cold. Should really get closer if you don’t want to freeze.”

- Spends more time in the water than anyone else. It feels like a second home to him, for several unusual reasons. Don’t ask.

- Carries you around in the water and burrows into your neck with hot breaths. Who cares if someone thinks he’s being too touchy? You’re his. That’s all there is to it.

- Will easily get mad if there are too many screaming kids around, but has a soft spot for ones that are playing quieter games, building sandcastles, or collecting shells. Thinks about finding hermit crabs to give those shells to.

- “Didn’t think there’d be so many people around. Guess I can’t convince you to show me any tan lines, huh?”

***

Mhin

- Wears a loose t-shirt and shorts, not trying to cover themself much but being careful not to show off too much of their body.

- “Why is everyone so loud? It’s public. Have some respect for others.”

- Too proud to ask for help with sunscreen, but expects you to notice that they’re struggling to reach their back. When you do start to help them, they close their eyes and lean into it, then pout slightly when you’re done before offering to help with yours.

- Probably falls into a hole some jerk didn’t fill up and face-plants into the sand. It’s not that they’re uncoordinated, but sometimes they just aren’t that lucky. Curses way too loud about it and gets some glares, but they glare back just as hard.

- “Get in the shade. You’re sweating like a whore in church. Why don’t you try harder to protect yourself? Geez, here’s some water.”

- Sits beneath an umbrella most of the time, but eventually wanders into the water and swims around with you using a single pool noodle. It’s just nice to be next to you in the water, quietly enjoying floating around.

- Doesn’t bring their dagger, but keeps a close eye out for any creepy people who look like they’ll cause trouble. Quickly moves you and your stuff away from the crowds if they sense a weirdo around.

#this is such a good ask though #just wanna dip into the water with them and be carried around tbh #ghostywrites #ghosty’s asks #touchstarved game #touchstarved kuras #touchstarved leander #touchstarved ais #touchstarved vere #touchstarved mhin #mhin #vere #leander #ais #kuras #x reader

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pelibirdie · 2 months ago

Text

"A brand new year to remember"

Relationship: Kuras x (GN) reader

A/N: squint and you will see some yearning and pining between the two. Burn so slow the meat is still raw.

That being said happy late birthday to my fucked up biblically accurate guilt ridden husband

Summary: it's Kuras's birthday. Though he is not a man of celebrations, you decide to still do a small gesture for him and keep him company for his birthday.

You lounged on the sides of the clinic. The harsh smell of ointment hung in the air as Kuras treated a burn mark left from a…rather explosive celebration from the night before. By no means was it a pretty sight, but you expected such a focused face from the doctor that stitched your arms back on. His pristine white coat laid on the chair he sat on when there was too many paperwork. His hair was tied back. You could hear nothing but the sharp breaths of the patient and the light chime of his earrings.

Kuras was a strange man. Something about him stood out like the last star on a night sky. The cruel world you knew so far seemed to not have rubbed off on the man before you. To give out free treatments and walk the streets like nothing could ever harm him… was far too strange. But it brought you comfort and made you feel safer so you decided to spend your days in Eridia helping out in his clinic. Whatever small thing you could do to take your mind off of your curse.

“Run the water please.”

You nodded at Kuras and made your way to the small sink of the clinic, cleaning out the bowl of ointment and the scissors. Soon enough, Kuras also came by you to wash his hands off.

“Something on your mind?’’

“Well,”

“Goodbye, doctor! Happy birthday!” The bloodhound shouted as he left.

“It’s your birthday?!” You stared at Kuras, eyes wide with interest. He seemed to avoid your gaze, golden eyes fixating on anything but you. “Yes. I’m afraid Leander is once again making a deal out of it.” He sighed as he sat down, letting his locks fall down his tall frame. “I do not have anything against my birthday, but I’m sure you are aware of my distaste towards all the cheap drinking and the Wet Wick. You need not make a big deal out of it. Please. Big celebrations get messy often.”

You approached him slowly, standing before where he sat. “Alright, I’m not going to ‘make a big deal out of it’. However,’’ You placed a hand on his shoulder, gently swiping away one of the strands of hair off his collarbone. “I am still your friend. And I do think it’ll be nice to step out of the clinic for one night.” A ghost of a smile crept up its way to the renowned doctors' lips. Kuras slowly took your hand, not removing it from his shoulder. Simply holding it as he stared into your eyes.

You must look somewhat sheepish and nervous. Because the doctors’ face went cat-ish to your reaction. Eyes turning sharp with amusement. He always had eyes that stood out, bright, golden, unnatural but captivating nonetheless. “I’d be up for that. But only for the evening.” He leaned forward onto his desk resting his right elbow on the hard wood, still holding your hand without breaking eye contact. “You can leave if you please, I doubt the amount of people who made bad decisions when drunk last night is going to lessen in the coming hour or two.” You took a step towards the desk, slowly sitting on it to remain at a higher eye level than him. “Or the third, or the fourth,” you joked.

“So much for the yearly celebrations. I suppose Eridians know how to have fun every once in a while, no?”

Kuras shook his head “Let them have it, people barely have a good time nowadays.” His eyes fell down again. A small silence followed his words. Only then you notice small changes in his frame, his messier hair, hands dyed in some herbs he used for the ointment, and eyes more tired than usual. “And I will be there to aid them whenever they do make bad desicions.”

You slowly moved your hand to his arm, giving small caresses to his shoulder with your thumb. Your hands were covered with the bandages, but you also had the gloves you wore around the clinic on. You were used to giving fleeting touches, but these gloves were making you bolder. You cursed in your head, paranoia slowly creeping back into your head. You took your hand off of Kuras, getting up to grab your coat for the cold winter day waiting for you outside the clinics' doors. You smiled as you opened the door, feeling the wind on your skin.

“I’ll see you tonight, doctor.”

“Stay safe, (Y/N).”

The day went by concerningly fast as you went through the market, looking through herbs, scarves, trinkets…anything to get the doctor for his birthday. At least whatever you could afford for now. You looked at the pouch you got while walking back. Staring at the gift to ensure it is safe. You quickly made your way to the Wet Wick, asking Leander for a pen and paper. Soon, you are up in your room writing away. It doesn't occur to you that the sun has set until the Wet Wick starts getting unbearably loud. You run down with your jacket and your gift, dodging the crowd around the bar. “Hey (Y/N)! Have you seen Kuras?’ Leander called from the other side of the Wick, “No sorry!” was all you could shout before making it out of the Wet Wick.

You sped through the streets. Though it was not safe to wander at night, you had hoped at least your pace and the lit-up streets would make getting to the clinic easier for you. But all thought came to a halt as you heard a wet, crunching noise. A noise of bones being broken and flesh being torn. A noise too familiar. Suddenly you were sprinting, checking behind you every once in a while until you ran face-first to someone. “I didn’t expect you to be this excited.” You breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing his tall frame. Sensing you are shaken up, Kuras held you by your shoulders. “Be not afraid, I am here. Let’s walk towards more light.”

“Ah, sorry about the scare Kuras. I heard something then-”

“It is alright, (Y/N). What matters is you are safe.”

Conversation takes over the two of you as you walk and wander through Eridia. Seeing the Amaryllis District's colorful decorations from the celebrations before, sensing the strong smell of fried dough and hearing the shouts of vendors from the stalls, tasting some swirly eridian desert with cinnamon in it (though Kuras seemed to lose the pastry the moment he hold it, leaving you confused as you did not even see him take a bite) the night came to a calm point.

So far you had discussed about Eridia, how you had somewhat adapted to the city, the celebration yesterday, and certain interesting things you noticed in Kuras’s practice. The conversation gave itself away to peaceful silence as you stood on the bridge between Hightown and Lowtown. Somewhere far in Hightown, you could hear the faint sound of a lute being played. The nights were much less chaotic here.

“So, how old are you now?”

“Old.”

“Oh come on, I know that already-”

“Oh are you saying I look old?”

“Kuras!”

He chuckles to himself as he leans on one of the statues. The night is clear, the stars are bright, and the wind is gentler than it was that afternoon. You take out the pouch and the letter, holding them out to Kuras.

“Happy birthday, Kuras. I hope this year is better than the previous ones.”

Kuras’s gaze meets your own, his golden eyes and jewelry contrasting the bright moonlight, his hair ticking his face and neck. Kuras looks almost glowing as he takes the items from your hands. “You didn’t need to.” “It was about wanting to. And I did. But please read that letter when I’m not around.” you scratched your neck and looked back at the sky. Kuras blinked, once looking at his full hands and then at you. Suddenly choosing to move much closer to you, until his white coat is touching the warm wool of the cloak he got you when you first came to Eridia.

“Thank you. (Y/N). I have lost track of my many birthdays, but your presence makes this celebration one to remember.”

…It felt quite warm all of a sudden.

#touchstarved kuras #kuras #kuras x reader #touchstarved vn #touchstarvedgame #touchstarved headcanons #touchstarved fanfic #kuras x mc #touchstarved game

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myokk · 5 days ago

Text

a good friend

pairing: Eloise Babbit x Liam Calloway (@starry-slithers)

word count: 1,5k

summary: Eloise thought it would be a good idea to lie to Liam to make him jealous😇 (it was)

cw: NONE this is just fluff, mutual pining

a/n: I wrote this in like 45 minutes while I was working out a few days ago so please excuse any errors !! My favorite thing in the world is writing Eloise POV (can you tell from my fic and other oneshots lol) and I ESPECIALLY love when she doesn't think things through bahahahahah

“You know, you could always practice kissing with me.”

Eloise swallows nervously, quickly averting her eyes and staring determinedly at his collar. If she hadn’t been looking so intently at his neck, she wouldn’t have noticed the way his throat bobs as he waits for a response.

How had their conversation gotten to this point?

But - and this is the shameful part she can never admit out loud - she can’t deny that it’s what she was hoping for.

Liam sits sprawled across from her on his bed looking entirely too handsome as the soft light of the candles catches on his golden hair, the remnants of the homework they were working on and haven’t picked up yet abandoned between them. These moments of conversation after the end of a long night studying have easily become the best part of her day since Liam Calloway fell into her life. She can’t remember what her days were like without him, without all of the subtle ways he shifts the world around her and makes her feel seen: wrapping scarves and jumpers around her when she shivers, tucking her hair behind her ears as she reads; at the way he always seems to actually hear her when she speaks; at his carefree smiles whenever he passes his friends in the hallways and shares a quick laugh with them. And somehow, inexplicably, he’s chosen her time and time again to be the one he ends his days with.

Recently, they’ve been staying up later due to how strenuous their OWL and NEWT coursework has become. The exhaustion is starting to hit her like a graphorn, and every night for the last week he’s started smoothing her hair from her face as she nods off at his side, quietly murmuring singsong sentences she can’t understand. It’s so achingly gentle that she almost can’t stand being in his presence these days because of the big, fat, terrible crush that’s overcome her.

Eloise hates that she’s blushing every time he directs his smile towards her - he’s always looked at her like this, so what’s changed?

And now, here she is, in a terribly mortifying situation of her own doing. She doesn’t really know what had possessed her to tell Liam that she had started talking more with Leander, nor why she had told Liam that she thought the two of them might kiss soon. Because none of it was true.

But, in the depths of the confusing feelings that swirl around whenever she thinks about the boy in front of her, she thinks that she might want to see what kissing him feels like; maybe she wants him to feel the same jealousy she feels when he talks to other girls - see if he could even feel jealousy at the thought of her kissing Leander. What she hadn’t expected was that he would offer to practice with her so quickly after she tried to casually mention her plans, and now she feels woefully unprepared.

Yes, she had thought that mentioning she was nervous about kissing Leander might spark something in Liam. And yes, she had been hoping that maybe she could gauge his feelings for her. But -

“Not that you have to,” he says hastily. Eloise blinks and looks back into his clear, blue eyes, now worried that she may have missed her chance due to her wretched habit of getting lost in thought. She feels her traitorous face heat up as she looks at him - “I mean, it was just a suggestion but if you think–”

“No,” she interrupts, hating how breathy her voice sounds, “I mean yes…I mean - maybe that would be a good idea. Just so that I know what to expect, yeah?”

“Exactly,” he says, nodding, clearing his throat, his cheeks turning pink. “It’s what friends are for, after all.”

At the reminder that they’re just friends, Eloise can’t help but feel herself deflate a tiny bit. But…she still wants to take advantage of the situation, selfish as it may be. Even if this turns into a disaster and she has to follow through with her stupid lie and snog Leander later, it will be worth it.

She turns fully to Liam now, her eyes searching his, her mouth feeling impossibly dry. “Where do we–”

Liam leans in slightly - he’s so close she could start counting all of the freckles dusting his face if she wanted - and brings a gentle hand to her cheek, tucking an errant curl behind her ear like he always does. But this time, his hand lingers on her cheek, fingers feather-light tracing down to her neck, and she shivers at the sensation.

Eloise breathes in sharply, her tongue coming out to wet her lips, and she sees his eyes flicker down to watch the movement. His eyes darken before they slowly make their way back up to her face, stopping when they reach hers. Their faces are still inching closer and then - she…she stops breathing, as she feels his warm breath ghost across her lips, her eyes fluttering closed as his lips finally make contact with hers.

It’s soft and gentle and sweet and nothing like how she imagined it could be. It’s so much better and as Liam presses his hand more firmly against her jaw to hold her in place as he kisses her, she sighs into his mouth. Eloise wonders if he can feel the smile on her lips that she wouldn’t be able to get rid of even if she wanted to.

Her hands come up to rest on his chest, fingers curling in his sweater, and she’s lost in the sensations of his lips moving against hers, but then - she remembers that it’s all just to help her. Liam, ever the helpful Hufflepuff, is obviously just doing this to help her.

Eloise pulls away reluctantly - she doesn’t want to take advantage of his generosity after all - and peels her eyes open. Liam looks deliciously disheveled, his face more flushed than before, pupils dilated, breathing heavily. She sees a flash of…disappointment? go through his face before he leans back slightly.

They clear their throats in unison, and all of a sudden Liam’s dorm room is stifling, unbearable, and she has to get out of there. Now that she knows what could be - what she won’t ever have because she’d have to be a fool to ruin their friendship in the way she had just attempted - she doesn’t know how she can look at him again. Her lips still tingling and warm from their kiss, Eloise quickly scoots away from him before turning to her things and gathering them up as quickly as possible.

“Wait,” he says, bringing a hand up to her arm before she can fully flee and she shivers at the touch. His voice is hoarse, lilting Irish accent more pronounced. “I’m sorry, I got carried away and–”

“No,” she interrupts with a strangled cough, still unable to look him in the eye, hating how the words are rushing out of her and she can’t stop them: “I’m the one who should be sorry…I don’t know what I was thinking, and now I have to snog Leander because you were so kind to help me, you’re always so kind, and if I don’t do it now than your help would all be for nothing, and–”

“Eloise,” he says, and now she looks fully at him. There’s a small, bemused smile playing on his lips. “What are you talking about?”

“I…” She snaps her mouth shut before she can say anything incriminating. How can she possibly tell him that she doesn’t like Leander, she likes him? It’s entirely too embarrassing, because what if her feelings aren’t reciprocated? She can’t bear the thought of losing his friendship because of something as silly as this.

“You have to snog Leander? I thought you two were…”

Eloise gives a tiny, almost imperceptible shake of her head as he trails off. Her mouth barely moves as she whispers: “I lied.”

Liam lets go of her arm and scoots closer to her on the bed. “You…”

“I lied,” she repeats, a bit louder this time. “I lied, okay? I don’t want to snog Leander, I want to kiss you, I want more than just being friends, and I know that it’s not what you want because you’re just always so nice and you were just helping me and–”

She’s cut off from saying anything more as he brings his hand back up to her face and before she knows it he’s kissing her again, and oh, Merlin, it’s better than the first time. One of his hands moves to the back of her head, fingers tangling in her thick hair, and the other moves to her waist, pulling her closer to him. Eloise gasps into his mouth as she snakes her arms around his shoulders, and he takes advantage to deepen the kiss. She doesn't want to let go of him, lets him pull her closer still as she loses herself in the feeling of his lips moving against hers.

Liam pulls away slightly, lips brushing against hers as he whispers, “I suppose that now I won’t need to hex Leander at breakfast tomorrow?”

Eloise just smiles and pulls his face back to hers.

#this is just short and sweet🫶#Im trying to get back into the hang of writing & this was just fun to write🥺#just based off of a conversation we had of these two😆 they’re just so sweet and the happy life both deserve♥️🥹♥️#hogwarts legacy #hphl #hogwarts legacy fanart #hogwarts legacy mc #hogwarts legacy oc #eloise babbit #hogwarts legacy fanfic #hogwarts legacy fic #oc x oc #mc x mc

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paperback-parchment · 9 months ago

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Three Broomsticks Nightmare.

Ominis: No we aren't going to take you back to the Three Broomsticks anytime soon

MC: BUT WHY NOT??

Ominis: Because you don't even remember what happened last time!

MC: Yes I do! I was talking to you the whole time, and then I turned and talked the Sebastian before we left!

Sebastian: You sat talking to the chair next to him chair for 30 minutes, then turned and talked to a beam of wood. before hitting the floor, face down and you were out cold, we had to carry you back!

MC: That didn't happen! I'd remember that.

Ominis: Like you remember trying to kiss Leander?

MC: HUH???

Ominis: I'm kidding

(quietly) Sebastian: You kissed me and Ominis instead.

#ominis x reader #ominis x mc #hogwarts legacy ominis #ominis gaunt #sebastian sallow x mc #sebastian sallow #hogwarts legacy #shitpost #main character #sebastian x ominis

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katnylla · 3 months ago

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₊˚﹟ staring — character x gn!reader

“i’ll help you out.”

pairing; roommate!character x gn!reader

syn; you get caught looking at his muscles and he’s willing to help you out

includes/warnings; muscle + size kink, no sex, dude buubs, MDNI

when you got here, you were nervous to move in with your new roommate. you saw his profile once, and by the gods, was he fine. you didn’t know if your could even talk to the man once you arrived, but luckily for you, he welcomed you with open arms. really nice arms.

and once you were settled, they were the only thing you could look at. the way his bicep would flex whenever you needed help getting something in, or his thighs that rippled when he walked. and his shoulders were broad, you always felt so small next to him, and you lived for it.

oh, and his chest. no matter what he wore, they always poked through his shirt, tight or not, and made themselves known. at this point, you needed to touch him. however, your sneaky glances didn’t last super long anyway.

“hey.” he says, standing at your doorway. he was explaining his reasons as to why there would temporarily be a dog soon, but your eyes couldn’t help but move down to the shirt that was trying to keep his chest contained.

“yes? sorry..” you jump, cheeks already warming up.

when he smiles at you, it’s sweet, like you were something so adorable. “come here.” he beckons, his eyes remaining on you. “gotta ask you something.” you look at him briefly before standing from your bed to over to him. “do you wanna touch me?” he asks, that smile still on his face.

“what—?”

“do you wanna touch me? you’re always looking at my body and not my face. might as well give you what you want, right?” he shrugs. you stare as your face begins to burn, and before you answer, “here, i’ll help you out.” his large hand gently grabs your wrist, and he moves your palm up right against his pec. the fabric under you hands is soft, but it only lingers before he speaks again. “actually— i have a better idea.”

now, his hands peel up his shirt, revealing his bare skin to you. and now, your brain is shutting off when he brings your hand back up to his chest. his skin is warm in contrast to your palms, and his skin starts to pebble with goosebumps. on autopilot, your hand begins to move under his chest, cupping and squeezing his flesh.

your other hand moves to cup the other one, and your stomach begins to burn when your arousal starts to build up. your hands slowly move down his abdomen, running down the divots on his skin. you felt like you were in heaven when your hands finally got on him, and you honestly felt like you could go forever. when you pull your hands away and look up at him, he still has that smile on his face, and his cheeks are way redder than before.

“my turn?”

TOJI FUSHIGURO, sage lesath, LEANDER, Kuroo, Bokuto, and ur favs!

a/n; sorry yall it was short again, i needa touch some grass or something

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galaxiasgreen · 8 days ago

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🍭☀️A Cruelty Vivid and Sweet

Slow burn angsty Ominis x F!Reader [T-Rated, 11.5k words]

"You're... beautiful," he whispered. A croaking huff emerged from your lips. "Flatterer. You don't know what I look like. I could be ugly. As ugly as a troll, for all you know." "Impossible." He reached up, drew the back of his fingers across your cheek. "Your soul is too beautiful for the outside not to match."

In which, with Sebastian imprisoned and you battling your own demons, Ominis tries to win back your affection.

[MASTERLIST][FIRST][PREV][NEXT] [read on AO3, read on Wattpad]

8. Flirtations

Most of the train ride to Hogwarts, he was mercilessly alone.

The demons of last year still haunted him. Sebastian was in Azkaban, Anne was gone, you had mental battles to overcome. He was recovering from the wounds of his losses, all of them, having stricken his mortal flesh to bloodied pulp. Nothing could happen that was worse than last year, and that was the only thing that staved off his anxieties about sixth year. About going back, pretending everything was fine.

About his newfound isolation in this terrible, cruel world.

After the Hogwarts Express left the station in York, the compartment door slid open as he was reading, trying to distract himself. That aura of power wafted inside at once.

"Hello, Missy."

"Good afternoon, Ominis." She sounded well. "May I?"

"By all means."

He did like solitude, introverted as he was, but he also appreciated that Missy had come to keep him company when his thoughts were threatening to engulf him. Missy settled her belongings – then immediately unbuckled her bag, taking out a book of her own.

"We didn't get much chance to talk during the trial. I suppose Sebastian told you I was working on an appeal? I've been scouring through old case records lately."

"Missy," he said, "it's not even the first day back."

"I'm aware. Now, I've made some decent progress—"

"And I'm certain Sebastian told you that you shouldn't dedicate all your free time to appealing his case."

The book clapped shut. "I argued about that with him."

"I'll bet you did."

"You agree that it was unfair."

"It was," he said, "but we also have school to focus on, our lives. Don't spend the entire year trying to free him. Otherwise you'll end up like him last year, searching for that cure."

Missy hesitated. Then, "Yes, all right."

Her and her Slytherin ambition. He had to admire it, at least. Sebastian had a good person fighting in his corner.

They exchanged usual small talk. Her summer, it turned out, had been mostly spent between her new lodgings in the Yorkshire Dales – Professor Fig had bequeathed his cottage to her in his will – and Hogsmeade, from where resided many of her friends who'd helped her prepare material for Sebastian's trial. It was thanks to them, she said, that Sebastian wasn't imprisoned for life.

"I visited Hogwarts when I was there, too," she said. "I met with Gibby a few times."

Inevitably your name came up – and always, with Missy, with that wily undertone.

"I take it she's on board?"

"With Natty and Garreth," she paused, "and Leander."

It filled him with a distinct sense of embarrassment that you could bear to be around Leander Prewett more than your old best friend.

"Ominis—"

"I'm glad she's settling back into normal ways," he said, cutting her off.

Thankfully, she left it at that.

This year promised to be a turning point in his life. His old friendship group was fractured beyond repair, and without Sebastian, Anne, and you, he had no one in which to find safety and comfort. He would be alone, lonely. There was Missy, of course, but she had plenty of her own friends – the caverns were proof of that – and that left him adrift, too late to start making new connections.

At least, that's what he thought, ten days into term.

"Hey, Gaunt!"

Ominis perked up. The Great Hall had emptied after lunch – he was thumbing through his Arithmancy textbook before the class when the bench groaned next to him.

"Garreth," he said, apprehensive. "What do you want?"

"Nothing at all," said Garreth; he sounded genuinely cheerful. "I noticed you were alone and thought I'd say hello. What are you reading?"

"Theories of Numerology."

"Sounds dreadful."

"It's actually riveting," Ominis said, deadpan, "and I'd quite like to get back to it, if you have nothing else to say."

If Garreth was offended at his bluntness, he didn't sound it. "If you must know, I did actually want to ask about the trial. I was surprised at what you said about Sebastian – the first parts, when you answered their questions, was that written for you?"

Ominis furrowed his brow. "Yes."

"Parents, I presume?"

"Yes."

"Ooo. Nasty."

"You really waited this long to ask me about Sebastian's trial?"

"Hey, I'm not afraid to admit I'm slow, and my aunt's got me helping this Ravenclaw girl with Potions, so what little brainpower I have is already being drained." Unfortunately he only sank further into the table, making no attempt to leave. "Don't suppose you've done the History of Magic essay?"

"... You mean the one due tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"I'm not letting you copy it."

"Damn— I mean, right, that's fine."

And though it pained him to say it, he mumbled, "Gibby is excellent at the subject. She will help you. Quite likely will let you copy from her, too, though you didn't hear that from me."

"Oh, er, yeah," said Garreth. "Thanks."

Ominis was silent.

"Well," and the boy clapped him on the shoulder. "See you around? Er, not literally, of course. You know what I mean."

He skedaddled. That, Ominis thought, was suspicious. Tellingly his first thought was that Leander had sent him to spy, but no, that was ridiculous. Leander may have vied for your affections, but neither would he stoop that low, nor was he intelligent enough to think of such an idea.

Yet it was a puzzle Ominis couldn't finagle, and Garreth continued to pester him like that for the next few weeks. He was no Sebastian, but they carried themselves similarly – bright and bold and chomping off more than they could chew. Together they were a dynamic duo of troublemakers, especially in Potions, but whilst Sebastian was like a storm, Garreth was more like a restless sunbeam on a balmy spring day.

"I think it's nice," said Missy to him, one frosty weekend morning in October, when most people were out of the common room. "That you have a new friend."

Ominis leant back on the high-backed chair. "He's not my friend. He wants something, I just know it. Homework, or potions ingredients."

"He's my friend," she remarked. "I can vouch for him. He's a genuinely good person."

"I'm sure he's delightful."

"It can't hurt to have more friends, Ominis, have an open mind." She cleared her throat. "Which... brings me to something."

"More trial research?"

"No." She moved her chair closer and, to his surprise, cast the Imperturbable charm, creating a bubble that blocked out all sound. "I have something I'd like to tell you. About ancient magic."

He put aside his textbooks. "And that is?"

"I can see it around you. Around the others, too, that came to the caverns."

His awareness shifted then, as if trying to sense it floating around him, but when he felt nothing out of the ordinary, his lips buttoned.

"Is it... bad?"

"No. Mere wisps, really, but it's been there since the repository. I know I should've told you earlier, but with everything going on, with Fig and Gibby and Sebastian ..." She cleared her throat. "I've been hearing things, seeing things a lot since then, too."

"How so? What are you seeing?"

"Memories, from centuries ago. During the Tudor period."

His brow furrowed. "Was that not..."

"When Isidora Morganach was alive? Yes. I... I believe these are the memories and emotions of the students she stole from."

Which now lived in her body.

"That does not sound healthy."

"It's been harmless."

"So far." He tapped his wand on his thigh. "You absorbed a great deal of that magic. How do you know it will not... overwhelm you?"

"I don't. Without Fig we know very little about this magic I possess. I'm learning about it as you are." That wasn't an answer, but she seemed aware of that. "I'm only telling you because— I suppose I'm looking for solidarity."

"I can hardly provide solidarity for something I don't understand," he said, then added, "I won't tell another soul about it."

"Thank you. I mean that, sincerely."

That did beg the question, though. Why had her strange ancient magic attached itself to him? To the others? Was it simply because they'd held her when she absorbed the repository? Was it his own ancient magic, waking from inside him?

"If the visions worsen," he said, "let me know."

"I shall. In return, I want to help you with something."

Intrigue surfed through him, and he reclined, easing again now that a lightness had returned to her voice. "What could the Hero of Hogwarts help me with?"

"Well, since you seem reluctant to do anything yourself," she said, with a lilt of teasing, "I thought I would help you in winning back Gibby's affection."

His stomach knotted. This conversation had taken a turn he did not like.

"There's nothing to win back."

"If you're not careful, she's going to fall into Leander Prewett's arms and never look back."

The thought filled him with rage, yet he said, "It is what it is," because whomever you chose to spend your time with was your decision.

"There you go again," said Missy, exasperated, "sounding as if you've already given up."

But she couldn't possibly understand how crushing it was to know that you couldn't bear to be near him for very long, nor alone. That every conversation was stilted and awkward, like four years of friendship no longer mattered. That you didn't touch him or hold him or tease him anymore, because the pain was too great. A pain he hadn't been quick enough to stop.

"What do you possibly suggest I do?" he dared to ask. "Because right now being in my mere presence distresses her."

"I'm suggesting," said Missy, "that you court her."

He almost – almost – laughed.

"Court her? That is lunacy."

"Why? You can't tell her she's pretty, no, but you can compliment her, engage in flirtations with her. Gibby is a hopeless romantic. She will melt."

"But she— she doesn't like me that way."

"I know you're blind, Ominis, but you're not, you know... blind."

He knew that. The Amortentia, for one, proved him wrong. But that was a long time ago.

Missy was gentle now. "Fight for her. Charm her. Earn her affections back."

He sat up. "You're forgetting something key. I come from a family of anti-Muggle supremacists, for whom the word disapprove does not do justice."

"Remember what I said? Forget them. Do it for you. You'll regret it if you don't at least try. And if you need some help along the way, I'll be there." When his expression crumpled, she merely added, "You deserve some happiness too. And, well, the boy I like is in prison, so all I can do right now is help you."

He let out a single, sad chuckle. What a pair they made.

Fine, then. That day he resolved he would try, would fight for you. But he would also guard his heart, and yours. He was not prepared to offer his love only to have it stolen away again – by fate, by family, by whatever else came careening his way. He was not at the point where he felt like he could give all of himself.

He had been shattered too many times, and had not yet recovered from the last blow.

Flirtations. A word that filled him with dread. Over the course of the first three months, you didn't speak more than you had to during class. That was okay, you needed space, and he needed time to think about a strategy. How did he plan to win you back? How could he court you, when he was your ruin? He thought back over the years, picking apart moments, no matter how fleeting, that he could use to help.

Like that time he discovered your ultimate dream.

"Happy birthday!"

You squealed when he, Sebastian and Anne, plus Adelaide, Arthur and Evangeline, jumped out from behind the pillars by the pond in the Transfiguration Courtyard.

"I-It's not my fourteenth birthday until the holidays!" you said. Your arm was still in a sling from the bad fall you'd taken from a tree.

"We know that," said Evangeline. "But since we're never at school during your birthday, we thought we'd celebrate early! Have a picnic!"

"I'll take credit," said Sebastian, preening. "It was my idea."

"Then I sorted the food," said Anne. "And the picnic, and telling everyone..."

"Yeah," said Adelaide, laughing. "Really, Sebastian didn't do anything."

"Snitches," muttered Sebastian, but there was no real scorn there.

They all gave you presents, mostly sweets, but also a necklace, from Adelaide, and a new blouse, from Anne. Sebastian divvied out the food – sandwiches, flasks of tea, cakes, tarts, fruit, bread and cheese and a cheeky bottle of wine Arthur managed to procure from the kitchens. Ominis nursed a glass as you chatted.

"This is so fun! On my actual birthday my parents just let me off chores – although once, when I was nine, my papa took me to the panto!"

"Panto?" asked Sebastian.

"Pantomime, you know, a theatre production for children? It's usually at Christmas, but that year they did one in summer. You... don't have that?"

"Obviously not," he said, laughing.

"You mean, ohhhhh no we don't!" At the silence, you cleared your throat. "Sorry, sorry, Muggle joke."

"Mark another for the Gibberish Vocabulary," he mused. "What else are we missing from the Muggle world?"

"That's a big question," Arthur laughed. "Do you really trust Gibby to answer it?"

"Excuse me, I was raised Muggle, unlike you," you said indignantly, trying to peel a banana with one hand. "You can ask me, but you'll have to be more specific."

Adelaide peeled it for you before giving it back. "If you weren't a witch, what school were you going to go to?"

"School? Oh, no, I wasn't going to go to school! I was lucky I knew how to read."

A collective sweep of surprise went through them all, Ominis included.

"I was going to help my papa run the confectionary," you said brightly. "And my mama was going to teach me embroidery and needlework, cooking and cleaning..."

"So, what?" Sebastian asked, incredulous. "So you could... become a housewife?"

"Yep!"

"That sounds horrible," said Anne.

"Oh, well," you seemed embarrassed, "it's not so bad, really. Women can't own property—"

"What?" roared the girls.

"— so I was going to learn those skills that would make me useful around the home. Then when I married, the confectionary business could continue under my husband's name, but secretly I would run it, of course."

For some reason, that made his lungs squeeze.

"Gibby," said Adelaide, "that's awful."

"Yeah!" Evangeline protested. "Why can't you own the confectionary?"

"It's just— not how it's done."

"I'm glad you're a witch," she said stormily. "Now you don't have to follow such stupid rules."

You chomped on your banana, silent, and Ominis detected a hint of shame.

"Is it also true," Sebastian said, "that boys and girls can't be seen alone together?"

"Adult men and women, yes," you said, mouth full. "You have to have a chaperone, and if someone catches you alone together, it can cause a big scandal. The woman is seen as—" you whispered the word, "promiscuous."

How absurd. Ominis frowned. "Just being alone together means the woman is wanton?"

"And what about the man?" Evangeline asked hotly.

"Not the same for men."

"That's ridiculous! Why does Muggle society hate women?"

"I don't know. Every time I send a letter home, I have to remind my mama that magical folk have different rules. She lost her marbles when she found out I was socialising with three boys." You sighed. "The wizarding world is very, erm, open-minded. There was a lot of stuff I had to learn, but there was also a lot of stuff I had to unlearn, too."

There was something to be said about being raised in the magical world. At least, as a man, Ominis had rights no matter which side, and you... well, he was glad you were given an opportunity to grow into yourself, better than the Muggle world could offer you.

Sebastian clasped your shoulder then. "We're glad you're with us, Gibby." Then he gasped, comical. "Oh no, your virtue! I have thoroughly besmirched it with one touch on your shoulder!"

"Scandal!" Anne cried. "To the gallows!"

And even though you laughed, he noticed it didn't quite reach its normal, song-like inflection. He unravelled the conversation in his head as the topic moved on, and realised that perhaps, in your ideal future, you did want to become a housewife, you did want to run the confectionary with your husband after your father was gone. No magic or witchery had ever changed that.

Was that still what you wanted? Is it something you still want? To run your family business, to have a husband and a family to call your own?

Is that something he can ever hope to give you now, after everything?

And would you ever want that role to be given to him?

"The mistletoe discriminates for no one!"

A day before the start of his sixth year Christmas holidays, he received an invitation to a secret Christmas gathering of Missy's that evening, after the feast.

He'd wondered where such a gathering could take place – Professor Black was quite against them – but the instructions were unclear, only to meet on the seventh floor above the Charm classrooms. Missy had been reluctant to give too much detail when he queried her that day, but supposedly, opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, there was a vast room she'd been using as her own private space. It only opened for her, and what she needed.

"Well," she muttered, "that's what I've told the others I've invited. The room will open to anyone if only they ask for it. I'm only telling you because I know you won't tell everyone."

After all these years, Hogwarts still found ways to surprise him.

She'd invited only the people who had joined her down in the caverns last year, plus you. A private party; for once it was nice to relax, be off-guard. Did Ominis like everyone there? Certainly not. Amit Thakkar was a know-it-all, Everett Clopton an annoying prat, Garreth Weasley was still suspicious, and Leander Prewett – well, he needed no explanation as to his intense dislike for that prick.

But did he trust them all? Did he trust them to keep secrets that weren't theirs to share? He was surprised to find he did.

Most importantly, he could trust that, around them, he could be seen with you.

It was an eclectic room to suit Missy's eclectic taste. The others talked of furniture that didn't match and strange design choices. It smelt like polished wood, flora, the acridness of a boiling cauldron and, oddly enough, animal food, though the latter came from the gateways to outside domes – what Missy called vivariums – where she kept beasts she'd rescued from poachers. She spent some of her evenings trying to nurse the creatures to full health before rehabilitating them in the wild.

As Ominis accustomed himself to the place, Natsai and Nerida added decorations, Poppy and Adelaide brought in food. Everett was in charge of entertainment and brought games to play. And Garreth had been into Zonkos for an enchanted mistletoe, which jingled above the heads of two random people, only ceasing in exchange for one thing.

"I would literally rather die than kiss you."

"This is just a test run, Imelda, and you're already being overdramatic."

"It's your bloody mistletoe and it's already caught you!" She tried to swat the thing, but it danced out of reach. "Ever thought what it would do for people who don't want to kiss for personal reasons? Like, an aversion to physical touch?"

"... Are you averse to physical touch?"

"Not unless it's a punch in the gob," she said, "which seems pretty tempting right now."

"Come on, where's your Christmas spirit?" said Garreth, though his voice rattled nervously. "It doesn't have to be a proper snog, and I know you'd rather I be a girl. Just a swift kiss to the head will do."

Ominis chuckled into his flute of wine. He and Missy were sitting at a nearby table, soaking in the atmosphere as the party had begun in earnest. A gramophone was lilting a jaunty tune between the humdrum of cheer. Reluctantly Imelda kissed the top of Garreth's head, making retching noises as she did, and the mistletoe stopped its jangling, though she promised to hex him if it caught her again.

"Any change to your visions?" Ominis asked.

"None," said Missy. "If anything they've been rather refreshing distractions from building Sebastian's appeal. The Wizengamot refuse to reply to my letters."

The door edged open, followed by a flurry of timid steps. Yours, late. A great cheer arose when you entered; usually you were wowed by magic you had never seen before, and a secret room was perfect for you – but you made no noise of wonder, only a shy "Hello," in acknowledgment. Missy slipped off the chair to greet you warmly – but you didn't hug, he noticed. Not anymore.

Most of these people, after all, you'd seen in your nightmares.

"Merry Christmas, Ominis," you said. Everything hung between you, a great echoing chasm. "I came to say goodbye."

His chest gave a painful lurch. "You're going home for the holiday?"

"Yes."

Disappointment eroded his ease.

"The train doesn't leave until tomorrow morning," Missy said. "I insist you stay for a little while."

"I have to pack."

"You're a witch," he reminded. "It'll take you seconds."

You were quiet, and he could tell you hadn't forgotten this rather important fact. You were simply looking for a polite excuse to escape. He turned back to the table, forced himself to drink.

"What Ominis means," Missy said, and he could feel her glaring, "is that there's plenty of time before curfew, should you wish to stay."

"I-I mean... would... you mind? I just... want to get used to being around all of my friends again."

"Of course I wouldn't mind. Stay for as long as you feel comfortable."

So Missy got you a drink – pumpkin juice – and let you linger by the door, enjoying the atmosphere but never fully involved, trying to peel back more and more of the curse, one moment at a time. It pained him to sit so far away from you. He was the wallflower, drawn to the sides, to the quiet corners. You, on the other hand, loved parties and socialising. Very often, you were the life of them, playing the games, eating food, talking non-stop, encouraging madness. Not this nervous creature, afraid of participation. Not someone who found the presence of so many people overwhelming.

You stayed on the sides, away from everyone, as Natsai set up a smaller version of Summoner's Court. Almost everyone played – even Ominis himself, roped into a game when Leander made an off-hand comment that he could, surely, 'beat the blind bloke' (Ominis won, naturally). They drank in-between – Everett had secured a keg of Firewhiskey – and it was clear most of the sixth-years couldn't handle their alcohol.

As Ominis was on his second glass of wine, Leander staggered towards you. The worst of it was, you didn't flinch or push him away.

"It's nice to see you back at parties, Gibs," he said, clearly finding some Dutch courage. "I'm glad you're getting better."

"Thanks, Leander," you said sweetly.

"Am I— too close to you right now? Do you want me to step back? Sorry, I really don't want to spook you."

To Ominis' surprise, and infuriation, you let out a giggle. "You're okay where you are. Just don't fall over. I don't think I'm strong enough to catch you."

"Wow. Were you always really short?"

"I think you're just really tall."

"Like a tree!"

Like a troll, Ominis thought.

Nerida slipped into the chair next to Ominis then, fiddling with her wand. "I think Everett jinxed my robe. I can't seem to stop swinging my arms every time a new song comes on."

"Sounds like something Everett would do," he murmured non-committedly.

He'd missed what you said next, but it made Leander thunder with laughter.

"Good to see no curse stops the legendary Gibberish Vocabulary."

You harrumphed. "It's not the Gibberish Vocabulary. It's true. Take any object and put -ed at the end. Congratulations, you've turned it into the Muggle word for drunk."

"Bottle?"

"You're completely bottled, Leander."

"Wand?"

"He's wanded up, all right."

"Robe, then?"

"I'm absolutely robed."

"I don't know, that last one was shaky, Gibs." He laughed again. "You sure you're not... pulling my leg?"

Then it came. The jingle of mistletoe.

Directly above your and Leander's heads.

Ominis almost sprayed wine everywhere. Your banter and teasing he could just about handle. But you and Leander kissing?

"The mistletoe has chosen its next—!" Garreth halted. "Oh. Ah."

"Bum," Leander said, and to his credit he did sound embarrassed. "Hey, Garreth, I think we should make an exception for Gibs. You know, curse and all..."

"I can speak for myself." You took a breath. "It's all right."

All right? It was absolutely not all right. You were still readjusting to these people being in your life. A kiss was— too much, too fast. Ominis' grip on his glass tightened, and he made to get up, complain on your behalf, you were just being nice after all—

"Oh, well," Leander cleared his throat, "can I kiss you then?"

There was some pause. The jingling continued.

"Yes," you said, "okay."

Then he heard the kiss on your cheek.

Crack. The flute's stem snapped, spilling wine everywhere, and Ominis hissed. The mistletoe ceased as Nerida squeaked.

"Oh, Ominis, careful! Reparo!"

He purged the liquid as the glass repaired itself. The shards had cut into his palms, and quickly he dabbed a napkin to staunch the bleeding. It came away sticky.

No pain, however, could subdue the rage incinerating him right now.

Leander was entirely all too pleased by the time Ominis tuned back in. "You have nice cheeks. Really soft."

"Thanks," you said prettily. "You— have nice lips."

Ominis gritted his teeth. Was a jinx too much? Perhaps a small hex then? Or one little Blasting curse? Leander could take it, surely. Throttled by temptation, he resisted all urges as you both continued to chat, perfectly content.

"I saw you break your glass. Are you all right?"

Missy, at his side. "I'm fine," Ominis said, drawing his ear away. "I'll cast Episkey when the bleeding stops."

She laughed softly. "I wasn't referring to your hand." She leant close and whispered, "That happening at the same time those two kiss? Definitely not suspicious."

He discarded the napkin onto the table before leaving. "I'm not having this conversation."

He didn't cast a Healing charm in the end – the pain was a welcome distraction from his aggravation. The kiss seemed to have broken the ice for you, and for the first time, you spoke to people willingly, not just Leander but your other friends as well. Ominis switched to pumpkin juice – clearly the wine was doing terrible things to his head – and continued to linger at the sides, mood souring. He listened intently when Leander was speaking, if only to glean something from him. Weaknesses, maybe. What on earth did Prewett have that you found likeable? The boy was a bully, abrasive and vain. Of course Ominis had no idea what he looked like, but there had to be something appealing there, as his soggy toilet seat of a personality couldn't possibly have won you over.

He massaged his temple, plying the low ache forming in his skull. Flirtations. Courtship. As the boys played Exploding Snap, he found another seat in the corner of the room, brooding miserly over the idea. He had no idea how to flirt, no idea as to the subtle machinations of showing affection without showing too much. Your voice was enthralling, your personality like sunshine, everything about you so pleasant that he was drawn to you helplessly.

He just he couldn't imagine saying that. To your face.

A body slipped into the chair next to him. He didn't recognise your timid gait – but your scent was still the same, and his heart notched in speed. Heartening to know that, after everything, you still clung to strawberry laces, sweet as memories.

"Have..." You trailed off, then tried again. "Have you heard from Anne?"

You initiated. That was good.

"Not since a few days before your curse was broken." Which you already knew about. He hadn't heard from her since, but, well, he was no longer worried for Anne anymore.

"I hope she's okay. What... happened to your hand?"

"Oh." He cleared his throat gruffly. "I broke a glass."

"Too much wine?"

"Hardly. I was just—" He fished for the word. "Inept."

"Let me see."

He swallowed thickly and offered his hand. You traced the fine clotted wounds, your touch feather-light, drawing a luxurious heat to his cheeks.

"Shall I heal it?"

"If you want."

He felt your wand tip press to his palm. "Episkey." The pain vanished, and he was upsettingly aware that you were probably wondering why he didn't just do that himself. "Be more careful, okay?"

"Usually I'm the one saying that to you."

"We ought to swap places from time to time. Keeps life interesting." A note of amusement threaded through you. "I've never seen you drunk."

"And you never shall."

"Is that a challenge?"

"It's a promise."

A soft chuckle. "This is nice. Just— bantering and teasing. Do you ever miss first year? When it was just... me and you and Sebastian and Anne, and we didn't have to worry about goblins or curses or— evil family members?"

He traced the tip of his finger along the rim of the glass, and admitted with sad clarity, "I miss it every day."

You sounded sad too. "Now there's only two of us."

"Well," Ominis said softly, "better than only me."

Imelda's booming laugher cut off your meek reply – shortly followed by the jingling of mistletoe. Ominis inclined his attention to his left.

"The mistletoe discriminates for no one!" she jeered. "Yeah, taste of your own damn medicine, isn't it?"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Garreth groaned. "Look, Everett, you're a nice chap and all—"

"Frankly I'd rather kiss a troll," said Everett, miming sickness.

"Hey, I won't judge whatever you're into."

You giggled beneath your breath, which made Ominis smile. They did kiss, on Everett's forehead – only because Garreth couldn't see his precious Galleons wasted like that – but after that he stuffed the mistletoe in a jar on the mantelpiece.

"Well, erm," you cleared your throat. "It was nice to see you."

"You're going already?"

"I've... had enough excitement. I get— anxious easily, now."

That made him clench his glass. "I see."

"Well, you don't." He must've made a stony face, because you said, "That was a joke. Just to show... we're okay, both of us. I'll... I'll see you after Christmas, all right?"

You stood and made to go, and by instinct he stood as well.

"Stay."

"What?"

"Over— Christmas," he said, trying not to stumble. "Stay. Please. I— don't want to be alone this holiday."

There was some emotion in your voice he couldn't identify. "You won't be alone. Missy is staying too."

"Yes," he said, breathless, "but she isn't you."

Was that a flirtation? He had no idea. You inhaled a long breath, seeming to contemplate this – seriously reconsider. His heart leapt with hope.

"I can't, Ominis," you said, and it was a sharp prick to deflate him. "I'm sorry. It's— I'm not over it all yet. I can't— be alone with you."

"You saw your family in your nightmares, didn't you?" he questioned in a rush. "Why do you think it'll be easier—?"

"It won't," you said, insistent. "But I haven't spent a lot of time at home for the past year and I miss them—"

"You miss me. You said so."

"You're different, okay?" you snapped. "You're being really unfair right now."

Because, the thought pierced him, I miss you too.

But he didn't say it. He couldn't.

Something smashed – glass. Garreth swore.

"Garreth!" Imelda cried. "You stupid—"

"Merlin's left arsecheek, I know, I'm clumsy! Finite Incantatum!"

But the spell missed, probably because he was too drunk to stand straight. Ominis turned towards the commotion, not understanding what was happening—

Jingle, jingle. The mistletoe belled above his head.

And yours.

"Whoaaa, okay, we have to leave this one!" slurred Garreth. "Get in there, Gaunty boy!"

Under the mistletoe. With you.

A flush overwhelmed him as the mistletoe jingled again, expectant. He didn't know what to make of your absolute silence. You were amused, and more than a little flattered, when you were caught with Leander, but now you were with him.

"Garreth," he said steadily, trying to remember he and most of the others were so drunk they couldn't tell face from arse. "I will not force Gibby to do anything—"

"I can speak for myself, you know," you said, that same edge to your inflection.

He didn't move. Neither did you.

"S-So— but—"

"What?"

Damn it, he was flustering. "You don't want to kiss me."

"You're talking over me again." Your ire bloomed something in his chest. "Just— say it, if you want to say it. You don't want to kiss me."

That could not have been further than the truth, but damn if he was going to say it, show it in front of all these people. "I— if it will stop this infernal jingling..."

A coward's answer, for certain. Still, the whole room was cheering, whooping, encouraging them, which only made his traitorous heart worse. Finally he turned to you, schooling his face into something more composed.

"Listen, I'm sorry for what I said. I do know I'm... different to you, and you're still accustoming to being around me, but if you are even slightly uncomfortable—"

And as sudden as a flash of lightning, you had closed the gap between you, and your lips were on his cheek.

Soft, sweet, seducing.

He barely had time to register it before you were stepping away again, and the jaunty mistletoe ceased. This made everyone in the room cheer like some great hurdle had been overcome. The feeling of your lips lingered.

And it made his insides scream.

"There," you mumbled. "Now you can stop talking over me."

Deep longing crashed through his chest, clammed his tongue. Too dazed to reply, he simply stood there, motionless and stiff. Do something. Say something! But he couldn't. His internal wiring had fizzled out in the same moment the breath left his lungs.

"Right," you blurted, "I— I really have to go now. So, erm, have a nice Christmas. Everyone."

And you were scurrying away, back through the door. Gone.

It took a second for the rest of his body to catch up. For his heart to race at the speed of a train, for the blood to rush to his cheeks. He'd had to endure listening to Leander kiss you, but this made up for it a thousand times over.

And then, regret.

Why didn't I kiss you back?

Someone nudged him then. Garreth.

"Damn, she ran straight out. How bad do your cheeks taste, Gaunt?"

"If you don't stop that bloody mistletoe, Weasley," Ominis muttered, "I will turn your insides into outsides."

"Duly noted. Finite Incantatum!"

This one he didn't miss. The mistletoe dissolved.

The partying resumed like nothing had changed, of course. No one mourned the mistletoe, and the consequences of such a kiss. The way it consumed Ominis' thoughts, so much that he had to find a seat immediately, massage his temple, resist the urge to touch his cheek.

"You seemed to enjoy that."

Ominis scowled at Missy's tone. "Not another word."

But she chuckled beneath her breath. It was vaguely sinister. "Very strange how Garreth happened to trip into the glass, and the mistletoe happened to choose you and Gibby, isn't it?"

"... You are evil."

"I'm a Slytherin," she corrected. "Merry Christmas."

It was certainly a Christmas, and though a kiss from you was a priceless gift, a moment he would cherish, he'd more describe the two weeks holiday as strange. The day itself had been fine – fun, even, when Missy gifted him some cologne ("So you actually start smelling attractive." "A simple I thought this smelt nice would've sufficed."), and he gifted her a loud pocket watch (for no reason other than to stop her sneaking up on him), and they played Summoner's Court in the snow.

On Boxing Day, however, he was accosted in the Slytherin common room, an arm looping through with his. If it weren't for his brain processing the girl's scent – champagne and vintage fur – he might've flinched.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Ominis," crooned Dorothy Ellingboe, his cousin once-removed. "You're coming with me."

"To where?"

She didn't say, only dragging him out to the faculty tower. His thoughts ran rampant when they reached the door to the staff area. Had he been caught with you? Had Missy's secret been exposed? He could tell by the mighty bounce in her step that she knew something he didn't.

When they pushed into a sitting room, hearth blazing, Ominis' reluctance tripled.

"Ah, there you are."

He recognised this voice too, Dorothy's haughty mother. Much like Dorothy herself, she had a slight force to her words – full of a barely-concealed malice. Once a Gaunt, always a Gaunt, no matter how distant.

"I've brought him as requested," said Dorothy, and she set him down on the sofa.

"What is the meaning of this?" he enquired, not quite politely.

"We're merely making rounds, Ominis," said Mrs Ellingboe coolly. "There's something I'd like to hear for myself. Your parents tell me you have the ability. So, pray tell, how is your Parseltongue?"

Only until she'd finished did he realise she'd spoken entirely in the snake's language. His stomach twisted. Dorothy was silent at his side, but he could tell she was waiting, as her mother was, to test him.

"Fine," he replied, forcing out the guttural tongue. Always ready, as he'd feared. "Is that really the only purpose of this visit?"

"Parseltongue is a dying art," his cousin hissed. "It is important to speak it frequently, so as to make sure the language does not die."

"It is not a language you can learn," he said, remembering Sebastian's words in the Scriptorium. "It won't matter whether I speak it frequently or not."

"You have a sharp tongue, boy," she said, not without a small amount of amusement. "You ought to not to bite a hand that feeds you."

He had no idea what that meant. He kept as far away from the Ellingboes as possible.

"So?" Dorothy asked – in English. "Does it meet your standards, Mother?"

"Yes," she replied. "It is legitimate."

He stood. "If that's all, I shall take my leave."

"Very well."

He almost didn't want to return to the common room, knowing how easily he was buttonholed. What in Merlin's name did she and his family want to test his Parseltongue for? Was she sent by his own parents, prodding once more at the strength of Slytherin's blood? Some inane test about his legacy or whatever nonsense Marvolo liked to parrot?

She didn't bother him again for the rest of Christmas, a small relief. Missy didn't know what to make of it either, when he shared it. So the January term began anew, and on the fourth day in, he was surprised to find a note in his pocket.

Meet alone? Undercroft, 8pm.

This was no small feat. It had been eight months since you'd woken, and not once since had you requested alone time with him. He was more than a little relieved, and nervous, to meet you there. He washed and dressed and was in the Undercroft at exactly eight, knowing you would likely be late.

But a moment after he arrived, the gate lifted.

"Hello, Ominis," you greeted shyly, coming over.

He studied your voice, as he always did. You sounded... better.

"Hello, Gibby."

"You're... wearing something?"

"Clothes, funnily enough."

"No, I mean— is that cologne?"

Merlin. He'd probably put too much on. "I got it for Christmas. From Missy."

"Aw, that's kind of her."

"Not so when she tells you that you smell."

You laughed, right from your chest – an inkling of your old self.

"You don't smell. She was teasing... I think."

"One can never be sure with her."

"But— it is nice, really," you said sweetly. "It suits you."

You didn't sit close anymore, and he remembered that day after he argued with Sebastian, when you had comforted him, head on his shoulder. All he could smell back then was strawberry laces. Those days were gone, but he was grateful you were here at all, even if not in close proximity.

You shared what you'd been up to over Christmas. You were again forced to readjust to your parents and all three of your loud brothers, who didn't quite understand the parameters of your curse. Acting as if everything was okay, however, seemed to help you around them – because they had little knowledge of the magical world, and how cruel it could truly be.

"I also received a proposal. Well, an informal proposal, I suppose."

His lungs knotted. "From whom?"

"The baker's son, Timothy Spink. I've known him my whole life."

Ominis loathed him already. "Oh?" he said with forced nonchalance.

"Technically he just reminded me about a promise we made when we were children. Do you remember Muggle courtship rules? Neither of us want the fuss and bother of going to church and meeting eligible partners. So he asked seriously if we could marry each other when we're both older. I said I'd think about it."

"And will you? Think about it?"

"Maaaaaybe."

"Don't tease, Gibby."

"Why? Doesn't Mrs Spink sound fetching?"

"Dreadful, actually." He raised his chin. "You deserve much more than a marriage of convenience."

You quietened, and he couldn't tell what you thought about that.

"I suppose it does sound rather dreadful, doesn't it?"

That brought him an amount of relief he could not quantify. He told you about his Christmas, mostly relaxing with Missy, poring through law books to see any loopholes in Sebastian's sentence, practicing spells they'd need for their N.E.W.T. classes. He also told you about his unfortunate encounter with Dorothy.

"Parseltongue?" you questioned. "Why's she testing your Parseltongue?"

"I don't have the faintest idea."

"Hmm, well," you mused, "it is a very cool ability, to speak to snakes."

You must've been thinking back of the Scriptorium – the first time he'd used the ability in years, and the first time he'd used it in front of you.

"It's not something to boast about," he murmured.

"You said it was associated with Dark wizards."

"Yes, because only Slytherin's descendants have the ability."

"But the language itself, it's not bad, is it? Like, you don't want to kill a bunch of Muggles after you speak it?"

"You shouldn't joke about that."

"I'm not."

His lips pursed. "You cannot uproot its history so easily. It is bad."

"But that's like when my brother Connor tried to teach me Welsh swear words. The whole Welsh language isn't bad because of it, is it? Parseltongue is the same." You hummed. "Say something nice."

"What?"

"In Parseltongue. Say something nice. Like... the sun feels good on my skin."

His brow crumpled, but he obliged. "Very well. The sun feels good on my skin."

"Was that so evil?"

When he spoke the language in the Scriptorium, it was a deep betrayal of his personal values, an abomination, used to access Dark Magic and hurt you and coax Sebastian into eventually using the Unforgivable Curses. When he spoke it to Dorothy's mother, it was a means to an end, an escape for her scrutiny, a test of the legacy he bore. But such an innocent phrase... there was nothing sinister in it, only in the way it sounded. Only in the way he perceived it.

"I suppose not," he hedged.

"Say something else," you said, eager.

He rubbed his temple. Now he'd opened the floodgates. "Such as?"

"I'll guess!"

A game, then? He smirked, and was gratified to hear you laugh in return.

"Othinuisss haunthh hassshith hssssiet."

"Hint?"

"A common way for me to greet someone new."

"Hmm... 'Nice to meet you'?"

"No. I said My name is Ominis Gaunt. Othinuisss haunthh is my name in the tongue."

"Othinis haunts hashith hissiet!"

He snorted. "Slytherin just rolled in his grave."

"Good." Your enthusiasm was palpable. "Again!"

"A simpler one, then." He knew what to say. "Hithhy."

"'Gibby'?"

"Correct."

"Hithy hashith hissiet!"

"Not hithy. Hithhy."

"That's definitely what I said."

"There's more emphasis on the h sound. You said the equivalent of Jih-BIH, rather than Jih-BEE."

You giggled, falling back against the floor. "It's so amazing that you can just say it. You didn't have to learn it, or its rules. It's just... programmed into your brain."

He sobered. "Into my bloodline, you mean."

You sat up, voice gentle.

"A language is a tool, Ominis. It can't be inherently bad. It's only in how you use it."

There was truth to that, and to hear you say it made him feel... lighter.

"I know you don't like it very much, and this might not mean anything to you," and you shied, "but I think it's— it's really— well, it's kind of... attractive when you speak it."

He flushed from tip to toe. His hissing was attractive? He had to turn away from you then, fearing his expression was too hopeful, too desperate. Stop blushing, fool, but it was impossible, when you'd outright confessed it to him. When you brought back the memory of you under the mistletoe, the smell of you in the Amortentia. You, in everything.

How he wished he could kiss you now.

"I— ahem." He cleared his throat noisily. "That— I think—" Merlin.

"Ominis."

It was infuriating not to be able to read your expressions as easily as you read his. He faced you, and with startling awareness, realised you were crawling over to him.

"Sebastian and Anne are gone now," you mumbled, "but you're still here, and I know you always will be, so... thank you. Thank you for... being my friend."

You'd said that to him before, a long time ago now. He thought he'd changed, his past catching him unawares, his family thumbing away compassion and joy bit by bit, his future looming over him, promising sweet rot, but to think that after everything, you still believed in his goodness...

The memory of Christmas fluttered back to him.

"I missed you." It came out as an injured admission. "I have missed you every day for the last two years."

Your silence was foreboding.

"It's funny," you said quietly. "Sometimes I look at you and— see that horrible version of you, torturing me, enjoying it. Sometimes I see you and my breath catches in terror." His chest throbbed painfully. "But then... memories of everything before come back, and you say things like that, and... I remember that behind a wall of stone, you guard a heart of gold."

He felt it on his pinkie finger then – your own, brushing his. He almost flinched, the suddenness startling him. Then came that rush of adrenaline, as potent as lightning. Your finger intertwined with his daringly, and he responded, turning his palm over, letting you lace your hand with his.

And there you were, both of you, sitting in the Undercroft, holding hands.

"This is the most I can do for now," you whispered.

He smiled. Caught his breath.

"This is enough."

You continued to meet in secret like before. Your touches were brief like before, too. Shy and awkward. Sometimes Missy invited you and him, and Garreth, to her magical room. On your worst days you declined. On your lesser worse days you simply did revision to the sounds of the beasts roaming in the vivariums, barely saying a word. That was okay. You couldn't give yourself wholly yet, and he was prepared to wait.

He would wait an eternity, if it meant he could be yours again.

By the end of spring, he had gained much more courage, and so had you. You talked for hours, you teased one another, and you laughed, laughed so hard sometimes tears came out of your eyes, and his. Once you fell asleep against his shoulder, and he stayed with you the whole night, if only to allow you a semblance of peace as the workload ramped up and the year drew to yet another close.

Still he thought of that moment under the mistletoe. Still, he was tormented by his stupor and hesitation.

"Did you enjoy it?" he asked you in May. "Kissing Leander during Missy's party?"

"What's brought this on?"

"Just curious."

"Ominis Gaunt," you said, sly, "do I detect a hint of jealousy?"

"Absolutely not. That would require me to admit he has something I don't."

A dulcet laugh. "If you must know, yes, I did enjoy it. When you and I weren't talking, he was so kind to me, and it was confusing. It... it still is..."

Ah.

"But," you mumbled, "I also enjoyed kissing you. Even if you didn't."

It brought breath back to his chest. Don't dare hope. He wouldn't allow it. He grappled the last strings of his resolve and braced himself.

"I did want to kiss you. Very much."

You went silent. It seemed to last for hours.

"But you didn't."

"No."

"Why?"

His jaw tightened. His very own nature, was why. His very own, real fears.

Still, time had granted him wisdom and hindsight, and he was determined to show you that he was yours, and he would certainly not let bloody Prewett beat him at anything. He reached forwards, tangling your fingers with his.

"Will you allow me to make it up to you?" Gently he guided your fingers to his lips, hovered there in wait as a gasp slipped from you. "Say you will offer me this small forgiveness. Please."

A pause that felt as long as a sunrise.

"Okay."

So he placed a soft kiss to your knuckles. You made a noise that thrilled his blood, and he smiled and pressed another, just to hear it again. You were a distraction, a dazzling distraction, and despite everything going on in his life, despite the threat of his family, a persistent bad smell with the slow bubbling of his affections, he allowed himself to succumb to it. To be swept away by you.

Distracted he was, that mere days before his mock Potions exam he arrived at the laboratory completely forgotting he'd had homework.

"What's with the face, Gaunt?" Garreth asked.

All year, and still Garreth hadn't let up. Suspicion teemed through him.

"Nothing that concerns you," he said brusquely.

"Come on, don't be like that. What? Forget your homework, or something?"

Merlin, he was easy to read. For you he would accept it, but Garreth Weasley? Ugh.

He felt parchment brush the tips of his fingers.

"Here," said Garreth.

"What is this?"

"Oh, sorry – forgot you can't read it. I'll dictate."

"What is this?"

"My Potions homework."

Ominis scrunched his face. "Are— you letting me copy from you?"

"Yeah, and you better hurry, because Sharp will tear us new ones if he discovers—"

Instead, Ominis levelled his wand at Garreth's throat. Rather extreme, when he thinks about it now. Alas, his suspicions had come to a head, and Garreth had it coming eventually.

"Why?"

"Are you seriously threatening me for offering to help you?"

"Enough with this," he snapped. "You've been hanging around me being annoying all year, and I have no idea why."

"I do not annoy," said Garreth. "I pester."

"I don't care what synonym you use. Why are you trying to get into my good graces? It's insidious and I cannot figure out what your grand scheme is, so you'd better tell me the truth or so help me—"

"Merlin, Ominis, not everyone is out to get you." Garreth pushed the wand tip away from his neck. "Gibby put me up to it. There."

It was so shocking Ominis went predatorily still.

"What?"

"Gibby. She asked me on the first day back if I could keep an eye on you. Well. Not keep an eye on you, so much. Specifically she asked if I could keep you company in all the classes we share."

He was so colossally flabbergasted he didn't speak.

"Not out of malice, I swear," said Garreth. "It was just— she couldn't stand being around you much, after the curse, and she worried you'd be lonely."

He had been. Was.

"She thought, if anyone could be an amazing, charming proxy friend, it would be me, and I agreed, because one can never have too many friends." He imagined Garreth grinning. "For what it's worth, you're actually all right. Not the stick-in-the-mud that I thought. Though you definitely have angst-ridden, Slytherin issues."

"How kind."

"It is, I am." But when Ominis didn't return its lightness, Garreth only sighed. "Don't be mad at her, all right? She was looking out for you."

He had no idea what to feel. He wasn't some baby that needed looking after, but he knew, when it came to you, you never condescended. It was with the purest intentions that you sent Garreth after him, and that alone made his heart blunder.

"I'm surprised you agreed," he said, lowering his wand. "You have conflicted interest in this, no? Since your best friend is Prewett?"

"Hey, you two can have your pissing contest as much as you want, I'm staying out of it. I just did a favour for a friend."

And although he was loath to admit it... he appreciated the thought.

"Well... thank you."

"You're welcome."

"However, if you tell anyone about this arrangement, I will ensure my face will be the last you ever see."

"Hahah. Funny." But when Ominis only smiled, Garreth said, more desperately, "That was a joke, right?"

He had no intention of letting Garreth into his inner circle, his most trusted companions. Friendship took time to build, and he would rather die than frolic to class with a Gryffindor at his side. But he let up a little on his bluntness, even when Garreth annoyed him by way of being... himself.

He intended to discuss this development with you.

Along with other things.

You'd swooned about the view from this particular balcony once. Far away from Hogwarts and on the edge of Hogsmeade, it was not at all convenient to get to, but a sunny June day between exams, cold enough to need a jumper, warm enough to enjoy the sun on his face, seemed like a good time to take advantage of the distance. There was little chance you'd be interrupted. Little chance you'd be caught.

"I found out about Garreth."

Braced on your arms beside him on the stone bench, you went utterly still.

"Oh."

"Mmm, oh."

"Are you mad?"

"A little," he admitted. "You needn't have worried about the state of my social life, let alone meddled with it."

"I'm sorry. After Sebastian, I didn't want you to be alone."

He let out a single chuckle. "Loneliness and I are old acquaintances, Gibby. I would've survived. And I have Missy."

"But you're genuine friends with Garreth now, right? He's really nice."

"He's tolerable."

You playfully shoved him. "Ominis."

"Going behind my back to get me a friend is rather cunning of you, I must admit. A little Slytherin rubbed off on you, Hufflepuff?"

"Considering you called Garreth tolerable and not ingratiating, insipid, or troublesome, I'd say my Hufflepuff has rubbed off on you, Slytherin."

He smiled. "Suppose I wouldn't mind keeping a little of you for myself."

He laughed when you stammered. Flirtations. He had to admit he was getting quite good at it. He stood then, fuelled with courage, and took your hand to pull you up.

"Dance with me."

"Dance?" you said, incredulous. "Now?"

"Of course."

"There's no music."

"There doesn't need to be."

"But— I can't—"

"Everyone dances, Gibby."

He smiled, thinking on a memory long ago. Perhaps you were thinking about it too.

"All right," you said softly.

You took his left hand and shoulder, he took your right hand and waist. Your closeness was dizzying, but he forced himself to focus, to sway. He was unfortunately familiar with more complicated dances from all the parties his parents had dragged him too, but this was a simple box-step, one you picked up on easily.

"Ow. You trod on my foot."

"I'm sorry, I can't see where they are. Though they must be rather large for me to step on them."

Your blustering gasp made him chuckle. "How dare you! I have delicate, ladylike feet, thank you very much! Not like your massive clod-hoppers."

He smiled wickedly. "Well, you know what they say about people who have large feet... they have other large body parts, too."

"W-What?"

"Hearts, of course."

"Oh, Ominis!"

"Your mind clearly went elsewhere." He let out a husky laugh. "How terribly unladylike of you, Gibby."

"I have two older brothers," you snorted. "Of course my mind went elsewhere!"

He slowed the pace, drawing you closer, and that intoxicating scent of strawberry laces eclipsed all else.

"Indulge me," he mumbled. "What of mine were you thinking about?"

"Nothing at all," you said, feigning disinterest. "I was, in fact, just thinking about someone else's large body parts. Someone beginning with Lee and ending with ander."

Oh, you were evil.

"You'd better be talking about his heart."

"I would not refer to anything else, of course," you said slyly. "But let's not talk about him anymore."

Merlin, that you said that gave him butterflies. It was the last push of courage he needed to lead you, step by step, until your back was against the stone bannister, and there was only the two of you on the precipice of the world. Between the wind sluicing around them, all he could think, feel, taste, touch, was you. Your sweetness was in full bloom, and he stepped as close as he dared, until you were mere inches away, your breath mingling with his.

"You're... beautiful," he whispered.

A croaking huff emerged from your lips. "Flatterer. You don't know what I look like. I could be ugly. As ugly as a troll, for all you know."

"Impossible." He reached up, drew the back of his fingers across your cheek. "Your soul is too beautiful for the outside not to match."

Your breath hitched.

"Ominis..."

"I'm in with love you, Gibby." He said it before he lost his nerve. "I— I've been in love with you for years."

But your hands slipped from his grasp. You ducked beneath him, and you were away, too far for him to sense you.

No, no, no.

"No, it's— it's not you, I promise," you said quickly. "I-I just... I'm really overwhelmed right now. Emotionally."

He bit back the sting. "I-I'm sorry—"

"Please, don't be—"

"I shouldn't have said anything—"

"Would you let me finish?" He chastened. "I— feel strongly about you too, but I just— I can't give you an answer right now. It's complicated. I'm complicated."

"Then take the summer to think about it," he said, trying to salvage the situation. "Think on it. On us."

"I don't expect you to wait for me."

"I think you underestimate how long I would wait for you."

You let out a hysterical laugh. "Stop saying things like that. It just makes you more attractive."

"That is the idea."

You quietened, sweet. "I'll think on it during the summer. Promise."

It fuelled him on the train home.

Your Hufflepuff friends were with you, and so was his heart, linked now to yours no matter whether you rejected his affections or not. He, on the other hand, sat with Missy until York. Naturally he told her of what had happened, and she was perfectly proud of him, confident he would come back in seventh year with you on his arm. He didn't want to hope, of course, but the fantasy of it was too appealing not to.

Then, when she disembarked, he was alone. And it was... okay.

His personal house-elf Pip accompanied him on the carriage ride from King's Cross. Ominis took the time to rebuild the walls around himself, to compartmentalise his emotions for the next six weeks. He was seventeen now, a man. Soon this charade would be over, and he would be free. My family are the disgrace. Not me. Aunt Noctua's inheritance had come through, and now he had some money to his name, he was waiting, biding his time as the interest built up and he graduated Hogwarts, to move out of the Gaunt estate and never look back.

However, when they arrived at the house and he took his first step inside, something about the place smelt different. Wrong. He didn't get the opportunity to pinpoint what exactly it was when his father pulled him roughly into the eastern receiving room.

"Your inheritance," he said, forgoing pleasantries and greetings. "We have need of it. You will depart to Gringotts in the morning and see it transferred."

The insolence. "You have already dipped into my funds, Father," Ominis reminded tersely. "The rest is mine."

"You dare to disobey me again, boy?"

He yanked his grip free. "Noctua named me in the will. I will not insult her memory by giving it all to you."

"That money is crucial," his father hissed, "for our survival."

And Ominis realised then. That smell... it was of nothing. Not dust nor fabric nor polish for silver. It was simply air, and the general damp musk that emanated from the manor walls. He palmed his wand, realising all too late that the room was nearly empty.

"What— where is everything?"

"Sold. We've hit some hard times, financially. The filthy council keep sending Mudbloods to harangue us for taxes."

"What of Marvolo's fortunes?" Ominis said, incredulous. "Or Grimsley's? Raven or Lenore's?"

For the first time ever, he heard real remorse from his father.

"Gone. Squandered."

"And whose fault is that?"

"Yours," he barked with contempt. "If you hadn't condoned the Sallow boy's actions last summer, we might still be respected. We're the laughing stock of high society now. No one will do business with us." It was absurd to even think that was remotely true, but his father didn't give him the opportunity to retort. "If you wish to avoid seeing our family in ruin, you will send the money at once."

Of course, when Ominis went to Gringotts the next day, he made especially sure to withdraw only a few, pitiful Galleons for his father – and transfer the rest to another vault entirely.

Things were different after that. In the haze of summer nights, he overheard his father raging, drunken, about the unfortunate circumstances to his house-elf Ratch – usually with a belt. Their London residence was reclaimed to cover some of the debts. Marvolo ignored all letters from the council, arguing on the front lawns every week with a Muggle councilman named James Riddle. Even Ominis' possessions were later sold, ornaments, trinkets, his entire book collection, braille texts he'd spent years gathering. It was a wonder they didn't move out entirely or sell the abundance of land they possessed, including a spot of forest further back on the grounds, but his parents were stubbornly attached to the premises, having housed generations of Gaunt offspring, and downplayed their troubles when invited to parties.

Ominis hadn't realised how deeply in trouble they were. Selling odds and ends would do nothing; it couldn't go on. When he suggested to Marvolo to palm off Slytherin's locket and the Peverell ring, Marvolo hissed back with a feral sort of possessiveness.

"There are no Galleons worth these. I would never sell them."

So they lived relatively modestly, with only their small army of house-elves any indication of their former wealth. The only thing that kept him from losing his mind altogether was the thought of you, and he was counting the days until school began again, when he could see you once more.

In August, he was invited to his last pure-blood affair before the term began.

He thought it would be the same as the others, this time a private dinner at the austere Ellingboe estate in Cambridgeshire. Ominis had dressed in his formal wear – the only formal garb he possessed now, the rest having been shilled off – and wordlessly followed his parents to the living room. Only he found it immediately unusual, and suspicious, when Marvolo, Grimsley, Raven and Lenore crowded around the fireplace as well, bickering as they Floo travelled to the Ellingboe's fragrant drawing room. The senior Ellingboes greeted them.

"Welcome, welcome! Just in time. The Malfoys are already seated. Come along!"

Marvolo petted Ominis' shoulder, an amusing gesture considering they were the same height now.

"Behave tonight, little brother."

"Don't I always?"

Ominis' suspicions heightened when he shadowed his brother's steps, and found himself in a stifling dining room, the hearth set to blazing, the musk of lacquered wood like an acrid lemon. The chairs scraped back as the three Malfoys rose in greeting – Edwin, his wife and, unfortunately, Peregrine.

"Come, sit!" coaxed Mr Ellingboe, Dorothy's stout father. "And here, we have a place especially for you, Ominis."

Right next to Dorothy. He resisted the urge to gag as she leant over to him.

"You wore that ensemble last party."

"My apologies," he said without sorrow. "I can't see what I choose."

"That will be the first thing to change."

"What? My lack of sight?"

"Your lack of wardrobe."

She didn't elaborate, but worry stirred in his gut. One more week. Then he'd be back at Hogwarts with his friends, with you. He could endure the snide remarks and disdain until then. He'd been doing it all summer, what was seven more days?

After the first two courses were served, and Ominis survived the painfully stilted conversation with Dorothy, Mr Ellingboe rose to his feet at the head of the table and raised his glass.

"Thank you all for coming today. As the new school year is soon to begin, it is with great enthusiasm that we usher in the next generation of pure-bloods, destined to continue our glorious lineages for many years to come."

Ominis withheld a snort.

"Today, my speech comes with a special announcement. My wife and I are pleased to celebrate the momentous joining of two powerful wizarding lines." Mr Ellingboe dinged his glass. "The betrothal of my beloved daughter, Dorothy... to Ominis Gaunt!"

All of Ominis' disgust drained at once.

No. It cannot be.

"The wedding will take place on Dorothy's seventeenth birthday, next August." Mr Ellingboe brimmed with self-satisfaction. "A toast to the Gaunt name! May this esteemed bloodline prevail for generations to come!"

But as glasses clinked aloft, Ominis realised he had not misheard. He had not conjured falsities, nor woken from a cruel nightmare.

And despite it all, despite everything, he laughed. It wasn't a demure one, either – this was a big, belly-deep, uncouth guffaw that would've made you so proud.

"You cannot be serious."

It rendered the table to utter silence.

"You think this is amusing, boy?" muttered Dorothy's mother.

"We're deadly serious," snapped his father, switching to Parseltongue, and it was like the food he'd eaten had rotted in his stomach. "We have arranged an advantageous match to secure the future of the mighty Slytherin bloodline. You ought to be grateful."

Are they pathologically insane? "But Dorothy— she's my cousin!"

"Once-removed! And an exquisite beauty, not that you could appreciate that."

That seemed to appease Mrs Ellingboe, as she huffed in triumph, and the last of Ominis' mirth fell away.

This... this was real. He was betrothed. They wanted to marry him off to his own cousin, because—

"You don't have the ability, do you?" he realised, speaking to Dorothy in clear-cut English, the only language she could understand. "You cannot speak Parseltongue."

"It doesn't matter whether I can speak it or not, because our children will." Her shame was buried by contempt. "I hope your seed is strong, future husband, because I plan on having at least five."

Nausea bowled through his horror. No, no, no. His chair scraped noisily as he stood. "E-Excuse me."

Without waiting for dismissal, he fled the dining room on unsteady feet. He didn't know where he was going. He didn't care. Suddenly the very walls seemed oppressive, burrowing into him, stealing the blood from his veins. His lungs rejected air. His hands quaked. He stumbled into an empty drawing room, narrowly missing a house-elf, slammed the door shut and crumpled onto the nearest chair.

And when he was quietly, mercifully alone... Ominis wept.

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