#your words got me floating aaah

[pampanope]

Istg, you and the person who made Moose are like MVPs of Shadow Company OCs. I love both your stuff so much I bet many (including me!) have been inspired to make a shadow oc thanks to you both <3

(Fr tho I thought most Shadows you drew were canon or from a seperate comic or something but then WAIT THEY'RE OCS?? WHAT—)

Thank you!! That’s high praise!! 💕💕 I just be putting scenarios of Shadows having ✨adventures�� into comics and I just wanna drag other people into the same pit of fixation along with mee >:D

I love Moose omgg. More Moose please, dear Moose creator 👀

Yes, we love to see more Shadow OCs! Smother Graves in ALL the Shadows lol

(Aaaaaaaahh no way, you got me giggling into my pillow agdhdhsj like, i think it’s cuz i want my oc to be canon so bad 👀)

[ronwestbreeze]

Hi! I noticed you’re request are now open. I was wondering if you can write more for shallow waters? Maybe how things have been since tua has been born? If not I’d totally understand! And if so thank you in advance! :)

family of thieves

pairing: jake sully x fem!na'vi!reader

warnings: family stuff! cuteness hehe

summary: in which the older sully kids like stealing tua from right under your nose

word count: 1.4k

author's note: this is a short and sweet little one shot and yes it is set in the shallow universe lol. i just thought i'd give y'all something sweet after that last one hehe...takes place after shallow waters

Okay, you will admit it. You made a pretty adorable baby. The cutest little thing in the world and you loved her with all of your heart.

And so did the rest of the Sullys.

The first few months Tua was always at your side or with Jake. Oftentimes you felt Jake was always hogging the girl but he teased you and said he was just her favorite. He was totally wrong but that was beside the point.

Once Tua became a toddler, that’s when a lot of odd occurrences began to happen.

The first time it happened you were in absolute panic. You had come back to the family tent to find it empty. You guessed that everyone was out in the waters as usual. But it wasn’t supposed to be empty.

“Tua?” You called, heart dropping in your chest when you saw that the toddler you had left for only a few seconds wasn’t there anymore. “Tua!”

Dropping everything, you rushed around the village, heart practically ready to tear itself out of your chest. When you got to the beach, you spotted Jake and Neytiri riding on his ilu further out in the waters.

“Jake! Neytiri!” You called from the beach, eyes still searching your surroundings in a panic. The two hadn’t heard you, irritatingly you shouted louder, this time in Na’vi. “AAAH! I AM CALLING TO YOU, JAKE AND NEYTIRI!”

Neytiri turned her head first, brows furrowing together when she saw your anxious state, “Y/N? What is wrong?” She called back. That was when Jake looked over as well, frowning when he saw your worried face.

“Do you know where Tua is?” You called.

Before either of them could reply, Tsireya, who had been floating in the water nearby, suddenly perked up, “Oh! I just saw Neteyam with her! They should be that way.”

You gave her a quick thanks before rushing off in that direction with Jake and Neytiri still calling after you.

Further down the beach and near a bunch of rocks, you spotted Neteyam first. He was sitting on one of the taller rocks, talking to himself it seemed and pointing out toward the ocean. But when you got closer, Tua, your unbothered daughter, was sitting between his legs and giggling as if she were having the time of her life.

Neteyam spotted you as you got closer, He grinned and waved, “Sa’nok! I was just showing Tua the little fishies! Plus, I think she really wants to meet a Tulkun now after I told her a mighty stories about them.”

You placed your hand on your heart, feeling uttered relief and slight exasperation. “Neteyam, boy, you almost gave me—what is it your father says?—a heart attack! I thought I lost Tua!”

The boy looked confused for a few seconds before he realized what you had meant and started grinning sheepishly, “Oh right, sorry.  It was Tua’s fault anyway! She was looking at me with those big eyes! I couldn’t say no to that!”

Despite your previous freak out, you couldn’t find yourself staying mad at Neteyam. After all, he was practically your first baby too, even though you didn’t give birth to him yourself. Plus, Tua looked to be having a grand time with her older brother. The sight itself calms you down and allows you to smile gently.

Carefully you climbed up onto the rock with them. Tua reached for you and you took her in your arms, “Next time tell me you’re taking her for the day.” You poked his head, “I might as well have raged throughout the village to find her.”

Neteyam chuckled sheepishly, “Sorry, Sa’nok. I won’t scare you like that again. Promise.”

You smiled as Tua tugged gently at your hair before giving him a quick kiss on his forehead. Just as you slid off the rock, both Jake and Neytiri arrived on the ilu, both looking confused and worried.

“What happened? Why were you freaking out?” Jake was the first to ask, his eyes scanning you and Tua for any harm.

“Your son stole Tua while I wasn’t looking.” You sighed. “All is fine, crisis averted.”

Jake visibly calmed down while Neytiri tsked at her son, “Neteyam.”

“Sorry, mother.” The boy raised his hands.

You thought that that would be the one and only time that would happen. But for some odd reason, it kept happening.

The second time, you had turned away for a few seconds to fix her food. Before then she had been sitting and playing with her tail. But when you turned back to feed her, she was gone. This time you didn’t freak out, you were just confused. She had been right there, how could she have crawled away that fast?

Neytiri was in the tent with you, cooking some of the fish they got for their meal for the night.

“Tiri’.”

“Mmm?”

“Where’s Tua?”

Neytiri looked up from what she was doing, looking around as well. “Was she not just here?”

“Yes, she was!” You got up and left the tent, Neytiri not too far behind you. “Tua! Tua!” You tried not to be too loud as the night was settling in and you knew most of the villagers were going to bed soon. “Tua! Tua! Tua—Kiri?”

You had stumbled upon the teenage girl, not too far away from your tent, to find her in the water, holding Tua with her, surrounded by glowing fish.

Tua’s big eyes were fixated on the fishes as she tried reaching for them in Kiri’s grasp. Your shoulders sagged and relief flooded your chest.

Kiri looked up and smiled, “Hi, Y/N!”

Neytiri appeared next to you and chuckled when she saw Tua, “Kiri, dinner is almost ready. It’s time to get out of the water.”

“Aw, Mom, we were just about to have a little fun.” The girl grinned.

“Yes, and Tua was about to eat her own dinner just now.” You pointed out before grabbing Tua from Kiri as the latter hoisted herself out of the water. “I swear you children just want me to have a heart attack.”

“I was going to bring her back.” Kiri pouted as they began walking back to their shared tent. “But she really liked the fish.”

Tua giggled when Neytiri tickled her cheek. You smile gently at Kiri, “I understand you want to spend time with your new sister, but at least let her fill up her stomach first before you go taking her on your little adventures, please.”

Kiri nodded, resting her head on your shoulder, “Yes, Mom, I will. Promise.”

Apparently, you had to tell all of the children this.

It happened again a few days later. This time you had tried to put Tua down for a nap. Only as soon as you took your eyes off of her—really you should’ve learned by this point—Tua was gone.

You didn’t freak out this time, you only sighed. Jake entered and saw your face. He placed down his equipment and cupped your face to give you a kiss.

“What’s wrong, princess?”

“One of our kids took Tua again.”

The amusement was not missed on his face as he gave you another kiss, “Well, I did just see her with Lo’ak and Tsireya. Might wanna start there.”

You hug him close, burying your face into his neck. “Why do they keep doing this?”

Jake chuckled, gently squeezing the back of your neck, “You made her too adorable, baby. She takes after you.”

Just as you were about to pull away from the comfort of your husband’s arms, Lo’ak came into the tent with Tua sitting on his shoulders.

“She wanted you so I brought her back.” Lo’ak said, taking her off his shoulders.

“Where did you take her?” You asked when Tua reached for you.

Lo’ak glanced toward Jake and shrugged, “We were with Payakan—but we were careful, I promise!”

Jake sighed and you chuckled, “Don’t worry, I believe you. Just tell me before…” At this point, was it even worth telling him to remind you? Really, none of the children were doing any harm. Just spending time with their newest sister, which was really sweet when you got over the initial panic.

You pulled him into your side, “Just be sure not to take her with you on any of your shenanigans, like you do with Tuk.”

“As long as she doesn’t try to tattle on me.” Lo’ak muttered. Jake gave him a look.

“Penis face!”

The three of you froze and all turned to look at Tua in your arms. At first you thought you were hearing things, perhaps you had gone insane in the current heat. Perhaps you imagined the whole thing—

“Penis face!!” Tua giggled, clapping her hands together.

Your eyes widened as you stared at your daughter. There was a snort from your son.

You glared at your husband, “Jake!”

“Lo’ak!”

“What—Dad literally said it earlier!”

“Out! Both of you!”

[luxthestrange]

TWST Incorrect quotes#399 The Swapped

In NRC

Ambrose: Okay so today I brought in someone to help me with class!One of the Ramshackle Ghosts!Skinny!

Skinny*Smilling as he floats thru the door to be next to ambrose*Hello Boys

Azul: Hello Skinny

Skinny: You...dont fucking talk to me*Gives him a knowing look*

Azul:🤡...

Riddle*Raises his hand up*Sir...I dont think I understand, why is he here?

Ambrose: Glad you ask Rosehearts, After One day in your school...I noticed some obvious signs of PTSD...Particularly with the Dorm Leaders and Vice-Dorm leaders, So Skinny here who was a licensed therapist in his life is here to provide some counseling

Rug: Man what are you talking bout! We ain't got no PTSD!-*Felt some sand hit his arm, Mind flashes back to Leona Overblot*AAAH!? WHAT WAS THAT!?

Jamil*Next to him shaking some sand from his shoulder that stayed from walking in Scarabia dorm dessert*...I was just dusting myself...

Rug*Lets out a relieved sigh*Oookay

Ambrose: SEE! See that is NOT normal!

Floyd: Bullshit, Shrimpy says trauma is the key to having a fuckin' backbone~

Skinny: HA-Dear fuckin seven...*Mutters under breath*'I BLAME CROWLEY FOR THIS"

Ambrose*Is at a loss for words*"...should I call child services?"

IN RSA

Yuu*Sitting on the desk teaching class*See the reason why y'all are such BITCHBABIES!, Is because you think life is guarented~*Pointing finger at class with glare* IDIOTS!-Regular devastating TRAUMA builds character!...why y'all so fuckin WEAK

RSAStudent:...We're emotionally HEALTHY, By the looks of it NRC is mildly depressed with a negligent headmage and you're indulging it!

Yuu:OOH~You wanna see indulging?~*Grabs Grim and Holds him like a gun*TWO FIRE BALLS

Grim: NYAHHHH!*Shoots two fireballs blindly at the class*

RSA Class:AAAAAAAAAH!?!

Yuu: HAHAHAHA Y'ALL GONNA LEARN TODAY!~*Kissing Grim ontop of the head as they prize him with a tuna can*Good baby~

Part 2 of:

[punsmaster69]

21/JAN/20XX

[There are a few random scribbles on the top of the page.]

——

whoops.

i meant to write sooner, but that's all i got down before conkin' out, apparently.

me and tori went for a picnic by the river. it's a short ways out of town, not super far given we're located near the edge of it.

notably, there's no ice floating in this river.

at some point i had leaned over to look at the glistening water, sparkling in the sun, when i realized something i definitely should have noticed sooner.

albeit small and slightly faint,

i have a scar on my face.

"You did not realize?"

"no. how long's it been there?"

"Since the whole 'explosion' incident that kicked this issue into high gear."

"i don't know how i didn't see it."

"Well... it is true that you're only recently regaining full vision back, is it not?"

"yeah."

i tossed a rock into the water, the ripples making my reflection warble.

"And you are certainly not the type to look in the mirror often."

"true."

"That, and it really is quite faint - hardly noticeable, in honesty."

toriel took my face in her hand and gently moved it to see the scar closer.

"I think it may even disappear entirely, as long as you don't repeat the injury."

"don't plan on exploding any more eyes."

"I don't imagine the last one was exactly planned either..."

"fair point."

"i'll try not to recreate it again."

she dropped her hand from my face, letting it fall onto my hand instead.

"didn't expect to start the new year with a badass scar."

"I do not think 'badass' is the right word."

"what, you think it looks lame or somethin'?"

"The scar is caused from your lack of self-expression. That is not a very 'badass' story behind-"

"it's technically caused by something 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 by the self-expression thing."

"That is essentially the same thing."

"no. i can just say 'my eye exploded' and it'll be true."

"And if they ask why?"

"uhhh."

"i'll tell 'em it's a skeleton thing."

"A skeleton thing?"

"yup."

"there's a lot of skeleton-specific things, y'know."

"it's believable."

"Could you give me an example?"

"of my skeleton things?"

i fought a short internal battle and immediately lost.

"whoa. right here?"

"you wanna see my skeleton thing?"

tori cackled.

"That is not what I meant, you bonehead."

"don't know that have one of 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦.."

"?"

"A b-"

she covered her mouth when she realized and smacked my shoulder.

"Dirty!"

"you're the one who asked to see-"

"Stop this!"

"Scandalous skeleton."

"like i said. you definitely asked."

i reached over, grabbing her bottle of tea and taking a sip.

"not like i've really got one."

"..That is my bottle."

"yup."

"You're aware?"

"yup."

"Then why?"

"food always tastes better taken from someone else."

trying to take the bottle from me, tori leaned across the picnic blanket. i sat back and held it further away. she continued leaning. we kept going until i was on the ground. her hands around my wrists pinned me in place.

"Ha!"

it took effort to not think about her weight on mine.

"I wonder if it tastes just as good stolen back?"

it was hard to think at all.

"alright. you got your drink back."

"can i be unpinned now?"

"Unp-"

"OH!"

tori scrambled to release me.

"I'm so sorry, Sans."

"I hope I was not hurting you."

"definitely not."

"...."

"...."

"It tastes just the same."

"you can steal mine if you want."

"It is alright."

"how are you ever gonna 𝘵𝘦𝘢 the difference if you don't?"

"It is hardly stealing if you've given me permission."

"..ok. aaah, noo, don't steal my drinkk! how could youu?"

"Pfft."

"Yelling is certainly not your forte."

despite declining previously, she decided now to take a drink from my bottle.

"or even capitalizing."

"Maybe you're right."

"hm?"

"It 𝗶𝘀 better stolen."

"what'd i say? it always is."

"I wonder 𝘸𝘩𝘺 that is."

"the added flavor of thievery, of course."

"Shall we just swap bottles, then?"

"sure."

"i hope the thievery flavor doesn't add too many carbs."

"Oh? Why is that?"

"i'm trying to watch my figure. can't keep this hot bod without a few sacrifices."

"Dad bod, maybe."

"less of a dad bod. more of a father figure."

"Hehehe."

"I do certainly prefer you big-boned, though."

"well. in that case."

i grabbed a bag of chips from our picnic basket.

"I am on a bit of a diet as well."

"yeah?"

"A seafood diet."

"........."

"seafood, huh?"

"I 𝘀𝗲𝗲 food and I eat it!"

never honestly laughed at that one before now.

i'm certain i've ironically gotten a shirt with that printed on it for alphys once. now i'm thinking that i should get one for tori.

——

trying to open and shut the front door as quietly as i could, i immediately broke the silence by dropping my keys in the dark. papyrus' door opened.

"shit."

"SANS? ARE YOU HOME?"

"..yeah."

"sorry for wakin' you."

"WHY WERE YOU OUT SO LATE AGAIN?"

"just out and about."

"YOU ONLY ANSWERED ONE MESSAGE THE WHOLE TIME."

"sorry bro. got distracted."

" 'OUT AND ABOUT' DOESN'T REALLY EXPLAIN WHAT YOU WERE DOING, EITHER."

to my dismay, he flicked on the lights when i got to my door.

"........"

"SO YOU ACTUALLY WORE THAT TURTLENECK."

"can't let it rot away in my dresser forever."

he folded his arms and leaned against the wall outside my doorway. i didn't bother closing the door.

i tossed the turtleneck into my room and slipped on a random unfolded shirt.

"I TAKE IT YOU WENT TO SEE MS. TORIEL, THEN."

"let's not do this."

"I'M NOT DOING ANYTHING."

i did the same with my capris, kicking them off and replacing them with my usual shorts.

"..AT LEAST I KNOW YOU WERE IN GOOD HANDS."

sighing, i stepped out of my room and flicked the light down.

"gonna go not-think on the couch. i promise not to have the tv too loud."

"DON'T STAY UP TOO MUCH LATER, PLEASE."

"ok."

"AND EAT SOMETHING, IF YOU HAVEN'T."

"ok."

"REALLY. DON'T STAY UP LONG."

"i won't."

"goodnight bro."

"GOODNIGHT, SANS."

[meaningofaeons]

aaah ops! I'M SORRY! I'm sending a second ask since I didn't saw you don't write for him, please then, discard my previous ask, I'm going to ask for one you write for! (Still sorry!)

can I go to the cafe with Thoma to see a Orange bengal cat, and order cider?

Thank you in advance~

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈ puppy-dog eyes

⊹ character(s) - thoma ⊹ word count - 553 ⊹ notes - gn!reader, fluff, pet names used (dear, etc.), possibly ooc thoma

⊹ katze's 500 follower writing cat-baret

hi omg please don't worry about it !!! you're totally fine, and I appreciate you noticing and letting me know w a different request ^^ I'm so happy you sent me a thoma req he is one of my favs I love him <333!! I hope you enjoy your "cat cafe date" with him!

We all know Thoma is just about the greenest flag a man could possibly be.

Devoted, sweet, and a really good cook. He's got all of that and more.

On top of that, he's loving, excessively so.

And he trusts you above all else.

I can't see Thoma as getting seriously jealous in any capacity

The man would sooner be worried that you were freaked out by someone flirting w/ you than be upset that someone didn't know you were his, and he was yours

On that note, if he does see someone being pushy, he's super polite in confronting them.

"Excuse me, they have a partner!"

Totally presents himself as yours rather than presenting you as his when doing this.

"I'm sorry. I know they're quite wonderful, but unfortunately, I belong wholly to them, and they don't have room for a second ^^"

Now, however, let's say it's someone you both know...

Thoma isn't more or less upset. Rather, confused.

Becomes like a sad puppy, almost, because he doesn't know what to do.

It's your friend! Don't they know you're together?

He can't exactly insert himself to subtly tell them off...

Thoma feels silly for worrying over such a simple thing.

It's a non-issue, really. You and Shikanoin have always been friends, so there's no reason to be afraid.

Even if he did have feelings for you, well... you'd reject him kindly. And considering the type of person Shikanoin is (at least, from what Thoma can assume, he's not all that close with the detective) you would remain friends anyhow.

But...

"Thoma? What's the matter?"

You patted your lover's arm gently, watching him jolt just the slightest bit at the contact, staring at you with wide green eyes.

"O-Oh, nothing! I'm sorry, I was lost in thought."

You eyed him a bit. He seemed... off.

"Are you okay? You seem a bit down."

"Um..." Right. If he was feeling bad, you're one of the only people in the world he would trust with his emotions, so he could easily tell you what's wrong. "Well... Shikanoin, right?"

You followed your boyfriend's gaze to where the detective was mingling with some other Inazumans, politely chatting with them about some such.

"Yes, that's him. Is there something wrong?"

"Well... Um... Does he not know that we're together?"

You shook your head. "I don't think so. He's not super interested."

"Um, but, he seemed..." Thoma trailed off, his face heating up. He felt more and more ridiculous the more he blabbered on, like some envious, possessive... jerk! "He seemed like... um..."

"Dear... are you jealous?"

At that point, the man turned cherry red, steam practically floating above his head.

"N-No! That's— He was just, um, asking you a lot, and he was really close, and..."

"He was asking if I knew anything about a case he was investigating. He has a tendency to do that," you chuckled. "Besides..."

You pecked Thoma gently on the cheek, wondering if he could get any more crimson than he already was at the contact.

"You're the one I love. So don't sweat it, okay?"

All the man could do was cover his face in embarrassment, his head falling upon your shoulder as he whined.

You only laughed, patting his head gently.

He really was just like a puppy sometimes.

[subterranean-heartsick-blues]

Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis book review

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

You're gonna fly away / Glad you're goin' my way (Cruisin’ – Smokey Robinson).

Hi there, long time no see! Or at least if feels that way because I’m realizing that I've probably forgotten how to read due to the fact that my weekend has been entirely consumed by Dragon Age: The Veilguard (#ad #sponsored)! It’s wild because the game is currently being “review bombed” (meaning randos leaving purposefully bad reviews so the average rating goes real low to the floor) because the angriest dudes on the planet think the game is too “woke.” There’s a non-binary character in the game, and now apparently the weirdest guy you know feels the need to spend all of his time going on YouTube and yelling at people for playing the game? Man, that’s sad. It’s also sad because I can see how this poisoned mindset is starting to affect the opinions of the people who were looking forward to the game! They’ll be saying shit like “Yeah sure, the game might be too woke, but if you can ignore that, then it’s actually, maybe, kind of, sort of… fun!” as if that weren't the most pathetically flaccid way of saying, “I think I like it, but I need other people to tell me what to think, so I don’t know yet!” So~oo brave! Anyway, what’s my point? I don’t know, I guess I just wanted to talk about Dragon Age: The Veilguard because I like it and it’s fun (#ad #sponsored), but also, it’s important to note that I’m enjoying the game because it’s woke, not despite it. Got to "stay woke," like the song said. Yeah well, I figured I’d take a break from being exposed to all of these manufactured “culture wars” and get back into my favorite pastime of reading! And the best thing about reading is that it’s solitary. Aaah peace and quiet, so nice! Taking a break from playing my woke fantasy to read a woke Sci-fi. Okay, I’ll stop saying “woke” now, because it doesn’t even sound like a real word anymore. What I’m getting at is that it’s interesting how different the landscapes are for different forms of expressions, as in the gaming world, people can’t even handle when there are gay people or people of color in their precious video game, while in literature, the sheer diversity of the story and the characters that inhabit the Floating Hotel, this book, are not only a few of its greatest strengths, but also its biggest selling points. But here’s the thing, I’m a huge fan of Science Fiction… as long as it’s not in book form. I love the Alien movies (yes, even Alien: Covenant), Mass Effect, Metroid, Futurama, hell, I even liked Starfield! But whenever I get a craving for a Sci-Fi book, my mind immediately imagines something like an Enders Game and any interest I might have had shrivels up like a pumpkin on November 3rd. I don’t know why, I really don’t. Unfortunately, for the most part, I think this book was mostly the same in that area. You know how when you’re showing your friend your favorite movie and they’re kind of disinterested and they keep missing all the big plot revelations because they keep glancing at their phones? Well, I was that friend for a good chunk of this book. I’m the problem! But hey, I didn’t give up on it, that’s got to count for something, right?

Nonetheless, let me see if I can talk myself into liking this book. My main problem here was the fact that because we switch up the POV characters every chapter, it was kind of hard for me to grasp what was going on a lot of the time. It’s like Let it Snow all over again! The first story being good, the John Green one being mid, and then the third story being a blight on literature as a whole! Too varying for my tastes. Like, there were certain story-lines in Floating Hotel that I wanted to learn more about (like the alien one), only for the chapter to end and we’d move on to the boring spy story. Ugh. But at least this book had one author, so the writing stayed consistently fantastic throughout. Besides, here’s the thing, I wanted to like Floating Hotel, and sometimes when you pretend to like something for long enough, you actually end up liking it for real. And eventually that’s what happened here. Yay! Belated synopsis time? Okay. The basic story is that we follow the titular floating hotel, the Grand Abeona; a remnant of past human explorative optimism that now serves more as an allegory of one of those shitty cruise tickets you’d win while gambling. But what makes this specific hotel special isn’t that it can travel to infinity and beyond, but because of the interesting people that always seem to inhabit the hotel at any given time. From what I can understand, the story is sometimes about a jewel heist, a spy mission, a hidden resistance group fighting against an oppressive empire, and an “ice-breaker” work activity accidentally uncovering aliens trying to communicate with us. If this whole thing sounds like I’m literally piecing it together right now, it’s because I am. Ha ha! Damn, I can’t spark-notes this one. Can somebody go out and read this book real quick and make a clickbait YouTube video explaining beat-by-beat exactly what was going on and maybe a rundown of the themes? Thanks in advance! Anyway, sorry for ranting about video games for… oh my… this entire review, but I do think there’s an interesting comparison to be made between grifters who make their living spreading misery and organizing hate mobs against any work of art with even a dash of queerness and how Floating Hotel depicts its universe. In the story, society has progressed to the point where people can literally travel among the stars as a luxury, and yet nothing has really changed all that much. I mean, everything is still so fucked. Underneath all the quirkiness, there's something broken here. It’s really sad. And yet, I think there’s something deeply moving and deeply melancholic how this book portrays a found family of outcasts, queer or otherwise, who decided to create their own home carved out of the stars. Sounds familiar, huh? It did to me. I guess in some ways, we all need to find our own floating hotel somewhere out there. …Hey, it worked! I like this book now!!

“An Empire is a tricky thing to dismantle.”

[johnnyraine]

Male Reader Smut Microfics

Words: 1,458

19th of July, 2022

Pseudo-Sequel to Male Reader Smut Drabbles

XXX

~Knife Play - Nanno (Girl From Nowhere)~

“Haha um, Nanno? When you said play, I didn’t think you meant this kind,” You nervously chuckled as she glided a knife down your chest.

“What other kind is there?” She asked innocently, stroking you with her other hand.

You knew she knew exactly what you thought she meant. Though to be fair, she is giving you a great handjob, so great that you have to stop yourself from thrusting into her hand, else get cut.

‘This is kind of exciting,’ You thought, adrenaline filled you as the blade danced over your nipple, your senses felt so heightened, that you bit back a hiss as she flicked your hard tip.

Her hand stroked the tip of your cock for a long moment, your hands clenching as you already felt like exploding. Nanno suddenly tightened her hold around your base.

With a grunt, you looked down only to see the knife was close to your crotch.

The urge to get away came, Nanno interrupted that feeling. “Don’t move.”

She said it normally, but it felt like a sort of threat, yet to your horned-up delight, she came close to your cock, her face next to him and as she opened her mouth you felt two things. The knife scraped against your crotch and Nanno’s breath on your cock, and you instantly came.

“Fuck,” You gasped, sweat dripping down your face.

Nanno merely smiled at you, your cum on her lips and likely in her mouth.

“That was fun, till next time, Y/n.” She bounded out of the room.

Looking at your crotch, you see no cuts or bleeding. You were relieved, and despite what she said, you felt like you just dodged some sort of bullet.

~Magic Sex - Wanda Maximoff (MCU)~

“Fuck!” Wanda moaned.

Your eyes widened in shock, though your wife cursing shouldn’t really be the thing that shocked you the most, considering you two were fucking floating.

Somehow, your wife had surprised you with whatever she did to make this happen.

“Look at me, Y/n,” Wanda commanded, her eyes glowing scarlet.

“Yes, dear.” You gulped.

Your hands rested on her hips as she bounced on your cock, her breasts bouncing along, almost hypnotizing you.

Noticing your gaze, she grabbed your head and forced you to sock on them. Sucking and licking her tits, your hands joined in, squeezing them and playing with rubbing her nipples.

“Aaah, just like that honey.” She wrapped her arms around your shoulders, bringing you closer.

Thrusting up into her, your ministrations met one another. Your thrusts got faster and faster, distantly wondering if she’s doing this.

Your hands moved down to knead her ass.

Wanda moaned into your ear, tightening. Some of her juices land on your legs.

Pulling back, she kissed you deeply, her tongue fighting yours as your pleasure heightened.

Losing yourself, you fought back. Your tongues lashed out, dominating hers, you pulled her down into your thrusts, feeling her shake in her own pleasure.

For one moment, your eyes opened and saw …scarlet.

Slamming her down one more time, you came inside her as she came on your cock.

XXX

You woke up, confused.

“You okay, dear?” Wanda asked, next to you.

“Yeah, just …a weird dream,” You said, still confused.

“It must have been a good one.” She indicated your erection.

“Ah, y-yeah,” You stuttered, slightly embarrassed.

Wanda just smiles, though it seems a bit off to you.

~Toys - Lan Wangji (The Untamed)~

“Suck.” You held Bichen up to Lan Wangji’s mouth.

Lan Wangji’s eyes widened, but nonetheless, he took it into his mouth. Tasting the handle, he awkwardly tongued the pummel.

Even with his mouth closed, you could tell how he moved. Enough times with his tongue on you, you could tell.

“Think of Bichen as my cock, Lan Zhan,” You murmured.

He inhaled sharply, staring at you. You nod, encouraging him.

His eyes fluttered shut as he imagined you on his tongue. He tongued the underside of your cock, and felt you twitch inside his mouth. He heard you grunt from his ministrations.

Emboldened, he took you deeper, hitting his throat.

“Klhk!”

“Eager aren’t we?” You chuckled.

Pulling back, he kept you in his mouth, sucking on your length as he bobbed his head.

You rested your hand on his head, stroking his hair as he slowly took you deeper.

Soon, you were repeatedly hitting the back of his throat as he took you, not choking once.

He felt your twitching becoming more apparent and soon, with you resting on his tongue, you came.

You extracted his loyal sword from his mouth as Lan Wangji opened his eyes, saliva connecting him and Bichen.

“You did wonderful, Lan Zhan.” You grin.

Looking down, ears red, he saw that he came through his clothes …and was still hard.

“Ah.” You see his erection. “Well, I’d say Bichen is ready.”

You gently pushed him onto his back and began removing his clothes.

~Crossdressing & Public Sex - Cloud Strife (FF7 Remake)~

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Cloud.” You kiss the back of his neck.

“Only you woul-” Cloud hissed between clenched teeth. “Would think that, Y/n”

Cloud’s hands were on the wall as your hands gripped his hips under his bunched-up dress. It was certainly a surprise finding him like that, but you suppose it did end alright.

Your hips snapped against his ass, with each thrust he tightened around you, echoing in the alley.

“Not. So. Loud,” He grunted, as if he was quiet.

“Cloud?”

Hearing Tifa, you slammed in and out of him, leaving him a mess as his hands clenched, letting out whines.

Whispering in his ear, “Cum for me baby.”

Cloud’s legs jerked as he covered the wall in cum.

You dropped his dress, your cum dribbling down his leg.

“See you back at the bar.” You kiss his cheek and walk out of the alley, passing Tifa.

~Mirror Sex - Apollo (Blood of Zeus)~

Apollo’s glow reflected off the mirror as you had his back against your chest, fucking into the sun god.

“Praise be to you, Apollo, taking me so well.” You smirk.

“Careful, Y/n, I might turn you into a-Ah!” He cried out, your hand playing with the tip of his cock.

“I apologize, mighty Apollo, I could not hear what you said.”

Your other hand glided over his abs and pecs, playing with his nipples and his chest. The hand on his cock, stroked his divine length as the sun shone brighter, moaning at your reflections.

You stared into his eyes through the reflection as your strokes began to match your thrusts. Every time you delved into him, your hand hilted against his crotch, leaving him feeling stretched by your cock and tightness around his own.

“Look, Apollo, look how I make you shine.”

“Ah ah.” His breathy moans were his only reply, seeing how you make him “shine.”

He looked a mess, his golden locks, disheveled from your earlier grip, fucking him into the bed. His skin was marred by scratches, spit, and his own drool. But despite all that, he was glowing and his cock was weeping at your touch.

You felt him tighten around you, his walls getting warmer.

“Just like that Y/n, make me shine,” He said, forgetting the mirror as he cupped the back of your head and kissed you.

It was as if the world was brighter as you came, which it likely was, but that didn’t matter as you emptied yourself inside Apollo.

Coming down from your high, you felt his hot cum on your hand, still around his cock.

Looking in the mirror, you both looked as exhausted as you felt. Apollo had his head back, resting on your shoulder.

“I’m going to need some more of that stamina concoction you made. For next time.” You clarify at his look.

“I’ll make some,” He said, dropping to the bed. “For next time.”

~Bathtub - Morgana (Merlin)~

“Mn Ah,” Morgana moaned.

Her head rested on your shoulder as your hand reached beneath the water, rubbing her lower lips.

“How are you doing, my lady?” You murmured against her skin.

“I am well, Sir Y/n, but I could b-be,” Her breath hitched. “better.”

“Well, I shall certainly try to make it better.”

One hand snaked its way to her left breast, kneading it before focusing on her nipple. The other hand parted her lips, teasing her before delving in. You slowly built a pace, splashing the water onto the floor, not that either of you cared.

“So, how is my lady doing now?” Before she can answer, your thumb finds her clit and rubs it.

Morgana’s breath stuttered and she rubbed up against your cock.

With a small jerk of your own, you continue your ministrations, gently rubbing her clit and fingering her.

“Y/n,” She breathed, clenching the side of the tub.

Soon enough, you felt her tighten around your fingers and she came.

You gave her a few moments before helping her get out of the tub.

“I think we may need another bath.”

[illicitlimerence-writes]

our song | c. leclerc

pairing: charles leclerc x singer!reader word count: 1.9k words. request: yes/no by anons "charles one shot where his gf is a singer/songwriter. she's making a new album and he's playing the piano and accidentally uploads him playing the melody in the piano in a insta story. a while later the song comes out and charles surprises her in one of her concerts playing the piano to the song 🥰" & "hello, could you maybe write a charles lecerc x reader? with story he posted when he plays the piano?" aaah! so sorry this took so long. i really hope you both like it. prompt: roses from this prompt list. warnings: language, kissing, fluff, it gets kinda suggestive in the end. i think that's it. a/n: here's day 2! i had one (1) piano lesson when i was ten and guitar lessons from ages 12 to 15 so i apologize if there're any mistakes about terminology and stuff. just like my xmas fics, PLEASE DON'T SEND REQUESTS FROM THE VALENTINE'S PROMPT LIST. i'll tag all the fics as illicitvalentine's so it's easier to keep track of them.

my masterlist / valentine's day masterlist

you’re laying down on the couch, with your back pressed against the armrest as you read a book, the soft music charles is playing in the background is the perfect soundtrack. you read about a girl running away from a life she didn’t want, and as she thinks about everything her life could, can, be, your mood falls as charles stops playing.

“why’d you stop?” you ask, placing your bookmark in the page you were reading.

“my fingers hurt,” charles replies, stretching his fingers.

“that was a nice song, where did you hear it?” you ask as you walk to him, sitting next to him on the small bench in front of the piano.

“it’s mine… i came up with it,” he says, and you think you see his cheeks reddening. “i’ve had the melody in my head for a while now,”

“why didn’t you tell me? charles, you just composed an entire song in your head, remembered it long enough to get here and play it. not even i can do that,” you smile, grabbing his face and placing a soft kiss on his lips. “you’re amazing,”

you’d been feeling a lot more connected to charles lately. maybe it was the fact that you had to leave him for a few months, with your world tour coming up, you wanted to spend every moment you could with him. loving him.

“it’s nothing, really,” he shrugged his shoulders, making you roll your eyes.

“don’t do that. you’re a very talented person, you have a gift.” you lean your head on his shoulder, placing your fingers on top of the keys as you start playing a song you’d written for him about a year ago. he helped you play it, your fingers occasionally grazing his as the melody sped up.

there are words floating in your head, your phone is on, the front-facing camera recording everything you’re humming, mumbling, singing as you try to find the right words for the song.

"there must be more to life, than just empty promises and never-ending lies," you sing, pressing the keys and testing different notes and rhythms.

you don't know how long you stay there, trying to find the right melody for the story you’re building in your head. you let out a small yelp as you feel a pair of arms sliding across your waist, a chin rests on your shoulder, smiling at your reflection on your phone screen.

“sorry, i didn’t mean to scare you,” charles smiles, pressing a kiss on your shoulder. “you were too caught up in your music you didn’t hear me coming in,”

“yeah, i’m sorry,” you laugh, scooting over to one side, making enough space for charles to sit down next to you. “i can’t figure out the melody for the song, i- i’ve been sitting here for hours and still can’t get it right,” you lean your head on his shoulder. this wasn’t new to him, or you. he’d been by your side multiple times as you wrote your previous albums, offered help and support whenever he could. “i think i should just give up,” your hands move to pull down the fall board, but he stops you.

“don’t. show me what you got so far, we can work on it together,” you nod, reciting the lyrics you had written even though it wasn’t finished yet, playing the different melodies.

“but it just doesn’t fit, it doesn’t feel natural,” you get up, walking to the kitchen to get a glass of water. you lean against the marble countertop, watching the sunset through your window. the soft sound of the piano playing brings you out of your thoughts, and after a few seconds, you recognize the melody. it was charles’ song.

you walk back to the living room, where charles has set up your phone in a way where you can only see his hands and torso, the picture cutting off at his neck. you sit next to him, smiling at the small frown on his face, a sign of concentration.

“are you bragging, mozart?” you laugh, watching as a smile forms on his face. you expect him to stop once he reaches the part where he’d cut off the last time he played it, but he keeps going, the build-up makes you shiver, and you get goosebumps once the crescendo fades. he finishes in a perfect fade out. “you finished it,” you gasp, showing your arm, “i got chills. it’s amazing,” you grab his face in your hands, planting a soft kiss on his lips. “you have to register it, publish it somewhere, somehow. charles, this is one of the best songs i’ve ever heard,” you throw your arms around his neck, pulling him close to you.

“i, uh, actually had another idea,” he says as he pecks your cheek.

“what?” you ask, letting go of him as he places his fingers over the keys again.

he starts playing, and after a few seconds, he hums a melody. your melody.

‘pop star (y/n) (y/l/n) teases possible collaboration with long time partner, formula 1 driver, charles leclerc. the young singer posted on her instagram a video of the two of them playing the piano as she sang words to what fans assume is her next single.’

the headlines, tags, mentions and comments flood your cell phone. you read one after the other, feeling a pang in your chest at the mistake you’d made a few days ago. what was supposed to go on your personal, private instagram account, ended up for the whole world to see.

“i’m sorry,” you pout. charles holds your hips and brings you close to him. “i know you said you wanted to use a pseudonym,”

“it’s fine. creating this song with you has been one of the greatest thing i’ve done in my life. i didn’t want to take attention away from your success by having my name involved,” he kisses your forehead, leading you to the piano. your safe place. “but don’t let this stop you. you have to keep the song in the album, it’s your song.”

“god, i love you,”

-

you say hi to the people as you pass by them, heading to your dressing room to prepare for the concert. the sound of people yelling, chanting your name, screaming the lyrics to your songs is music to your ears, it helps ease the pain you’d been feeling all morning.

no matter how much you and charles both tried to spend valentine’s day together, you simply couldn’t make it work and had to spend the day of love with an entire ocean separating the two of you.

as you open the door, you’re surrounded by colors, the scent of flowers strong given the number of roses that currently occupy most of the room. your heart flutters as you stare at the delicate roses, eyes watering at the thought of charles going out of his way to prepare something for you even when you’re both miles apart.

it’s past midnight back in monaco, so you settle with texting a red heart emoji, alongside a picture of your teary eyes to charles. your hair and make-up team walks in, they squeal in delight as they see all the roses.

“thank you so much for joining me today, this is a special day for all couples, and throughout the night i’ve seen countless couples singing, dancing and it really means a lot to me that you, all of you, decided to spend this night with me. this next song is one that my boyfriend and i wrote together. and even though i can’t be with him tonight, i’d like to sing this song, our song, as a way to feel closer to him.” you speak into the microphone, hearing the thousands of people yelling in excitement. “it seems that you like the idea,” you giggle, looking around at the sparkling lights from the bracelets the crowd received when they entered the stadium.

you felt nervous about performing the song, even though you sang it at every stop of the tour because it quickly became a fan favorite, this song meant so much to both you and charles, and you wanted to perform it the best way you could, knowing that this would be all over the internet the next day.

“this is called ‘for you’ and i hope you like it,” that’s your cue for the keyboardist to start playing. the screaming and yelling die down as you wait for the melody to begin, but it doesn’t come. you turn around, noticing that the spots where the rest of your band is supposed to be are empty. you look around, seeing your publicist and the band with smiles on their faces, you frown and are about to say something when the melody starts.

the crowd cheers as they hear the piano, and you feel the stage shaking beneath your feet. worried, you look at your band, your friends, who are signaling for you to keep going. to start singing.

you clear your throat, softly singing the first verse. there are cheers around you, they get louder, and you don’t really know why. thanks to the giant screens on top of the crowd, you see movement behind you, something is being lifted from under the stage. you don’t know what’s going on, but the music keeps going, and so do you. there’s something familiar about the way the person plays the piano. the screaming and yelling get so loud, and as you turn around you understand why.

there, sitting on a piano bench is charles. playing the piano to your song. you can’t keep singing, your eyes widen as he smiles at you, all you can see is him.

“you’re here,” you say. he finally stops playing, standing up and wrapping his arms around you.

“i really want to kiss you right now,” he whispers in your ear.

“me too. god, i love you, i-” you shake your head, tapping the corners of your eyes with the pad of your finger. “i can’t believe you’re here,” you throw your arms around his neck, it feels so good to be in his arms after so long. you loved touring, you really did, but nothing could ever compare to the feeling of being home.

“what did you think of your debut as a pianist?” you ask, you’re laying down in the bathtub of your hotel room, your back against charles’ chest. the carpet floors were covered in rose petals, and there was a red heart formed with the petals on the bed as well. there are candles lit up and baby pink petals floating in the bathtub water.

“i liked it. i think i might stick with racing, though.” he chuckled.

“you were amazing. i love you. thank you so much for this, i-” he cut you off with a soft kiss on your lips, grabbing your chin and moving your face toward his. you hummed softly, turning around until you’re sitting on his lap. you continue kissing him, feeling his hands over your bare, wet skin.

you shiver as something soft trails down your back, charles is holding a rose between his fingers and caresses your skin with it. you smile against his lips, getting ready to enjoy valentine’s day as you’re supposed to. in the arms of the person you love.

[upat4amwiththemoon]

Hiii! Could you write a Daisy Johnson X Fem!Reader fic, with Daisy mentoring R and helping her with her powers. A training sea turns into something else as R’s crush for her mentor comes to light. Thanksss!

Training sessions

Summary: Workplace crushes.

Pairing: Daisy Johnson x female!reader

Warnings: none

Word count: 1559

a/n: aaah thank you for a Daisy request!! Hope you enjoy :)

Tags: @thought-of-you-and-me @rafecameronswhore

Becoming an inhuman definitely wasn’t something Y/N was either expecting or wanting, but she didn’t get to choose. She was one of the people who turned because of fish oil vitamins.

She didn’t understand what was going on when the flowers started floating around the shop, freaking away the customers. Y/N didn’t even realize it was her doing it before they all slammed to a wall because of her hand movement. Her coworker instantly called the cops, which also got SHIELD’s attention.

Although, SHIELD capturing her with a flying room didn’t seem like a good thing at the time, she feels very fortunate to be with them now. She didn’t have a lot of family around and the one friend she had was disgusted by her powers, so the people at SHIELD became her friends. Especially Daisy Johnson, another inhuman. Daisy understands her feelings and struggles. She also helps her overcome them. She’s like a mentor to Y/N, which is why she is so afraid of her quickly growing feelings towards her.

“You are able to move it, Y/N, you just have to believe in yourself.” Daisy stands next to her, staring at the broken car in front of them.

Y/N groans, swinging her arms down. “I can’t do it.”

“Come on now.” Daisy glares at her playfully. “Don’t give up so easily. It took me a long while to get used to my powers too.”

“But you learned with professionals.”

“Are you implying I’m not a professional?”

“Yes.”

Daisy gasps in mock offend, slamming her hand to her chest. Y/N giggles at her, shaking her head. “I’m hurt. You know, as your SO I’m going to make you hard twice as hard now.” She bumps her side to Y/N’s, who inly rolls her ryes at the threat. ”Try again.” Y/N sighs, but moves her hand up towards the car. She breathes out and closes her eyes. “Block everything else out of your mind, focus on the car.”

Opening her eyes, Y/N smiles widely. The car is few meters up the ground. “I did it.” She laughs, surprised and happy she actually did it. “I actually did it.”

“I knew you could do it.” Daisy grins, looking at the pure glee on Y/N’s face.

The car slams down to the ground as Y/N practically jumps at Daisy to give her a hug. Daisy takes a few steps back from the impact, but returns the hug just as enthusiastically, happy for her and happy to be close to her.

“Thank you.” Y/N looks at Daisy. “You truly are a great SO.”

Daisy smiles. “You did all the hard work. Come on, lets end this here.” She sets her hand to Y/N’s lower back, under her crop top where her skin is bare. The touch makes Y/N’s cheeks feel warm. She is pretty sure the hand is lower than a friend’s hand should be, but she doesn’t think too much about it. Certainly Daisy couldn’t have the same feelings towards her.

“Yeah.” Y/N mumbles, looking down at the floor. “You think the others are ordering something to eat today? Or is it someone’s turn to cook?”

Daisy thinks for a moment. “I think it’s Hunter’s turn, which means we’re eating ordered pizza.”

“Well, I don’t mind that.”

Giggling, Daisy looks at Y/N. “That’s because you and Hunter are scarily alike.”

Y/N’s eyes widen. “You take that back.”

Daisy only laugh, throwing her head back as she lets go of Y/N and walks towards her room. “See you at dinner!” Y/N stares dopily after her, smiling at her laugh and the way she walks.

Shaking her head, Y/N walks over to her room, desperately trying to push her feelings away.

Most of the agents are sitting together at the dining table, taking their pick of the different pizzas laying in front of them.

Y/N is staring at laughing Daisy, who is sitting across from her. “I’m not similar to Hunter, am I?” She cringes at the thought, turning to look at Bobbi sitting next to her.

“I mean, a little bit.”

Groaning, Y/N bites into her piece of pizza. “Have you even met Hunter.”

Bobbi chuckles and rolls her eyes. “You should tell her.” She glances at Daisy. She’s talking with Jemma and Leopold.

“That I’m like Hunter? She’s the one who said it to me first.”

“No.” Bobbi shakes her head with an exaggerated sigh. “That you like her.” She whispers so the others around them wouldn’t hear.

Y/N freezes for a moment. Glancing at Daisy, she makes sure the brunette didn’t hear anything. She clears her throat and continues eating. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Y/N mumbles.

“It’s so obvious.” Bobbi leans closer to Y/N. The action makes Daisy glance at the two, but it goes unnoticed by Y/N. “And it’s very clear she likes you too.”

“You don’t think it’s weird?” Y/N sighs, slightly shifting in her seat. “That she’s my SO.”

“No, of course not. Wasn’t Ward Daisy’s SO?” Y/N raises her brow, looking at Bobbi with an expressionless look. Bobbi purses her lips. “Right, probably not the best example. Just tell her, or..” She grins. “I can help you.”

“How?”

“Make her jealous.”

“No.” Y/N shakes her head. “That’s not right.”

“Do you know how many times me or Hunter tried to make each other jealous?” Bobbi glances at Hunter, giving him a small smile when she notices he is already looking their way. “And we’re doing great now.”

“I wouldn’t exactly call you two a role model relationship.” She mumbles out, ignoring the offended although playful glare she gets from Bobbi.

“Come on.” Bobbi lays her hand to the backrest of Y/N’s chair, leaning closer to whisper into her ear. “It’ll be fun.”

Y/N grumbles and rolls her eyes. “Fine.”

“Good.” Bobbi grins, caressing Y/N’s arm lightly, at times fiddling with the sleeve of her t-shirt. “She’s already staring.” When Y/N goes to lift up her head, Bobbi pinches her. “Don’t look.”

“Ouch.” Y/N moves her hand to the spot Bobbi pinched and glares at her.

“Don’t be a baby.” Bobbi glares her back. “Can you at least pretend you’re having a good time?”

Y/N starts giggling out of nowhere and quite loudly, definitely getting Daisy’s attention. She puts her hand near Bobbi’s collarbone and pushes her lightly. “You’re too funny.”

Bobbi smirks. “You’re good.”

“Thank you.” Y/N winks at her before going back to her pizza.

Y/N groans at the force of Daisy’s hand coming to her stomach, the impact making her take a few steps backwards. They’re training hand to hand combat, which Y/N is not a fan of. Especially now, as Daisy seems to be taking it to a next level.

She straightens her back and gets back to position, lifting her wrapped hand up to her face in fists. “Is there something going on between you and Bobbi?” Daisy throws a punch, which Y/N successfully avoids this time.

“I don’t know what you mean.” She advances Daisy, trying to get her into a headlock.

“You two seemed pretty close at dinner.” Daisy rolls away from Y/N. “I thought she was with Hunter.”

“Well, you know her and Hunter.”

Daisy scoffs at the vague answers. Not answering, she sweeps Y/N off of her feet. Y/N grunts from the impact. “Just wasn’t aware you were her type, or she yours.” She takes a sip from her water bottle while Y/N stands back up.

The tone of Daisy’s voice makes Y/N’s insides feel weird. She doesn’t like lying, which is why she didn’t want to do the whole thing in the first place.

“Guess I was wrong.” Daisy shrugs, setting the bottle down.

“Bobbi was only trying to make you jealous because I like you!” Y/N finally confesses, feeling too bad for lying to Daisy. She shuts her eyes in embarrassment, not wanting to see her SO’s reaction. “I understand if this crosses a line and you don’t want to be my SO anymore.” She whispers, quite sadly.

She didn’t want Daisy to stop being her SO, but she also didn’t want to make things uncomfortable. She still wants to be her friend, even if she didn’t feel the same way about her.

“What did you say?”

Y/N’s whole body is burning up. “I like you.” A long silence makes her skin crawl. “I’m really sorry, we can forget this a-“

“Look at me and say it again.”

Daisy’s voice sounds different than usually, more demanding and serious. Slowly, Y/N opens her eyes to see Daisy much closer to her than she thought. “I like you, more than I should.”

Daisy stares at her, searching for a trace of lie but finding none. She breathes out and smiles. Taking Y/N completely by surprise, she grabs her waist and pulls her into a rough kiss. Y/N gasps, kissing her back as soon as she realizes what’s going on.

“I’ve been waiting to do that for so long.” Daisy laughs as she backs away.

Y/N giggles, leaning her head to Daisy’s shoulder. “Me too.”

[hurting-fictional-people]

I *l o v e* the cellphone prompt you just rbed, it'd be 👉👈 pretty dope if there was a continuation where caretaker manages to find them

Aaah, I'm so glad you do 🥺

So, the starts aligned and I got inspired by this prompt by @witchfindergeneral66 and the prompt for day 9 of @whumpmasinjuly (look at me) and this happened

I hope you like it Anon <3

Continued from here

-

When Caretaker kicked the door open, Whumpee thought they were dreaming. Hallucinating. It wouldn’t even be the first time.

Except in their dreams, Whumper never dropped the cattle prod and grabbed a knife with wide eyes and low brows, taking a step forward. In their dreams, Whumper was never there – only in the nightmares.

Limbs still twitching and soft sobs still slipping out of their lips, they could only watch from the ground as Caretaker bared their teeth and pounced on Whumper. Whumpee’s eyes fell closed even before their captor fell backward, and stayed that way when noise filled the house, squeezing their eyelids when pained groans replaced the thuds of flesh hitting flesh.

There was still pain. Electricity still coursed through their veins, not gone even after the cattle prod was pulled away, making Whumpee’s moans join the cacophony of a fight they could barely understand through the haze of pain.

Between dream and reality, fear and hope, Whumpee didn’t realize the fight had ended until gentle fingers cupped their cheeks and a voice from a past they wish they could forget called their name.

Instead of the happiness that voice would have once brought, there was only anger seeping into their bloodstream, wiping away the last traces of electricity.

“Whumpee, love, please open your eyes, please look at me,” Caretaker said, and in the darkness of closed lids, Whumpee felt their head being lifted and lowered onto their lap. “I found you. Please, I finally found for you, Whumpee, you just have to open your eyes, come on love, come on.”

So they did. Even if they didn’t want the bright light to hurt their eyes and that despaired face to fill their vision, Whumpee had been well taught in how to follow orders.

“Wh-Whumpee,” Caretaker whispered when their eyes met, a shaky smile spreading across their lips. “Hey.”

In their dreams, there was never a need to wound and scream, not when Caretaker looked at them like Whumpee was their very salvation.

But that wasn’t a dream, and when Whumpee blinked at Caretaker’s relief, there was only anger waiting to come out.

They didn’t let it. Not at first. Instead of allowing venom to drip out of their mouth, Whumpee kept silent as Caretaker helped them sit up, slight twitches making them tremble and whimper in a soft voice that wasn’t theirs before Whumper.

They didn’t bother looking at the unconscious body lying in a heap in the corner, just like Whumpee’s had so many times before – didn’t even care if Whumper was dead or alive. All they needed to know was that Whumper lost, and Caretaker won.

But Whumpee didn’t.

“I missed you so much, love,” Caretaker breathed, arms opening in invitation as they reached for Whumpee.

Before they could touch sensitive skin or ragged clothes, Whumpee flinched away. Made themself small, hideable, prepared.

Caretaker stopped. Pulled back and let their arms drop to their sides, so much sadness filling their eyes that Whumpee couldn’t hold themself quiet any longer.

“Whumpee, I’m so s–“

“No. You don’t get to, to come here and look at me like this. Not after all this time.”

The words came out low, shaky, scared, but there. Said out loud, thrown at their face.

Whumpee drew in a deep breath and kept their eyes glued to Caretaker’s, trying to convince themself that there wouldn’t be a punishment for snapping, not from them. Still, they shivered when only heavy silence echoed around the room and no fists were raised. And then anger returned, filling the space where fear lay a moment before, forcing the dam of resentment to rupture and flood them both.

“You told me you’d always be there for me. You said you were never going to leave me, and then you weren't there when I needed you the most,” Whumpee choked out, voice growing into a roar, delighting in the guilt spreading across Caretaker’s face. “Do you know when I broke? When I truly broke?”

No answer left Caretaker’s parted lips, but Whumpee didn’t need one. Not after the door where every feeling had been so painfully locked away was unlocked, not after they had already started.

“It was when I chose you. I chose to let you go, to let you forget me and move on and I didn’t say anything on the phone when I could. And then there was only Whumper. No more hope or love or care to keep me from breaking, only pain and fear and humiliation after that. Now look at what they did to me. Look at me! I chose you and you never came and now I’m ruined.”

“But I came,” Caretaker whispered with tears streaming down their cheeks. “I came Whumpee, I’m here.”

“But I’m not,” Whumpee cried, holding their knees against their chest, searching for something, anything, to hold on to, to keep them from floating away into memories of agony and helplessness. “You are too late, I’m broken, I’m lost, I’m, I’m, I’m– you were supposed to protect me.”

With the echo of every single dream and nightmare from weeks and months and years of terror, Whumpee cracked. What little of their heart, soul, or whatever held them together that wasn’t yet destroyed crumbled down, and they fell forward.

Caretaker was there to catch them.

For once in so long, they were there to hold Whumpee against their chest when the sobs started, and tears wet both their clothes.

The anger didn’t abate. In the arms of the one who failed to keep them from harm, Whumpee knew it was too late for them to be saved, but there wasn’t fear in the embrace and that was enough for now.

Even if Whumpee’s screams would forever echo in their own ears, there were warm arms around them and they didn’t squeeze until there was no more air, so Whumpee buried their head against the crook of Caretaker’s neck and tried to believe it when they said no one would ever hurt Whumpee again.

[nctzanne]

Your Last Name

♡ doctor!mark x fem!Reader.♡ smut, fluff if you use glasses

WARNINGS!: use of alcohol and drugs, explicit content, not sex but mentions of it.

𝑆𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑦: I just want you to give it a try and read it AAAH

𝑅𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡?: no, an idea i've had since i started stanning NCT

𝐴𝑛𝑛𝑒'𝑠 𝑡𝘩𝑜𝑢𝑔𝘩𝑡𝑠 & 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠: As i said above, this is an idea I've had for sOOOOOO many months, so I really wanted it to make it happen. It was on my drafts for a long time. Thank you so so much if you take the time to read this.

You noticed when your mind woke up suddenly, but without opening your eyes, slowly bringing you back to reality. You tasted your own mouth dry as a bone, with a metalic flavor on it, typical scenario when we talk about hangovers. The headache that invaded you so suddenly made you grab your forehead, almost if you brain was going to explode right there. The smell of fermentation on the room -or wherever you were- made you nauseous, so you stayed still to avoid vomiting everything you consumed the night before. A light breathing woke you up from your trance and inner speech, you could even feel the warmth of it on your shoulder. That's when you realize you were not alone, totally opposite of that, you were cornered by arms twice your size, avoiding you to move on the super duper comfortable position you were in. You still didn't want to open your eyes to notice who the lucky guy was, but you could smell the hints of tequila on his breath. When that hit your nose, you turned around abruptly by instinct, trying to avoid the smell. You opened my eyes a little, just to be able to locate yourself in space-time.

A room hotel, there's where you were. White walls reflected the light that came from outside of the giant windows, making you cover your eyes with the hand that wasn't under the grip of this unknown guy. Once your eyes get used to the light, you remembered that you were at Bora-Bora for vacations with your best friend. You can hear the eagles screaming way too loud for your irritable state, but just noticing where you were made you feel more calmed. "At least I'm here and they didn't kidnap me" You thought, finally grabbing the courage to turn around and see who exactly was the guy that had a night of passion with you.

"Sure, shit"

╚═══════ ≪ °❈° ≫ ═══════╝

-Wait, repeat it to me, who did you meet? -You asked incredulously, looking at how your friend Rosé was overflowing with emotion and nervousness.

-Do you know this famous band?- She told you a name that you couldn't identify, you automatically shake your head-Anyways, while I was waiting for you on the beach I met with Jaehyun, the bass player, we talked a little and he invited us for a few drinks with his friends!- She talked so fast that you had a hard time processing all the information that was given to you.

-And that's it, a random guy talks to you and you say yes?. He could be a serial killer-

-Ah c'moooon, he's a superstar, it will be funn!!!-

So, a not so official date with guys from a band. Sure, excellent idea.

-Okay, are they handsome at least?- You asked with disinterest

-You can't imagine, y/n, so prepare yourself as well as possible, they will fall for you- she approached the small bridge that united your cabins in the middle of the sea, while she blowed you a flirtatious kiss.

You just laughed and walked towards the windows, admiring the sea. You were literally in paradise, your bedrooms floated above the ocean, the white sand was not so far from where you were staying in, and the horizon was clearer than ever. How lucky you were to have a friend who helped you get over your breakups with a very casual trip to Bora Bora at the Four Seasons hotel. Loneliness invaded you for a second and you decided to get ready for the long-awaited meeting that you would have with her friends.

╚═══════ ≪ °❈° ≫ ═══════╝

A white beach dress with pink heels and your tan is enough, with the right makeup obviously. It was already 7 pm and your nervous friend looked at her cell phone while texting with someone

-Is it him?- You ask, trying to peek behind her shoulder to see if you could figure out what they're talking about.

-Yes, he is telling me he's here at the bar but he doesn't see us-

-Of course, we are sitting, let me raise my hand- and so you did it.

-Here!!!!- Your friend screams in excitement when she sees 3 tall figures approaching to you. They seemed to walk on a slow pace, almost like the came out of a movie. And yes, your heart almost stopped for a good 10 seconds. Three guys, my gosh, models? What were they again?. God definitely had preferences for some human beings.

The fact that they aere so handsome and well… structured made you blush. Jaehyun, Johnny and ...

-Mark, nice to meet you- the youngest of the 3 of them greeted me, with a dazzling smile that makes his dimples appear. You bit your lip and studied his entire face so that you would never forget him again. -y/n, nice to meet you too-

╚═══════ ≪ °❈° ≫ ═══════╝

Nothing more and nothing less than Mark Lee himself. His makeup was completely smeared, traces of mascara under his closed eyes. His forehead and nose were reflecting the daylight a bit. It was a hot morning (or evening), and having you next to his body was obviously going to make him sweat. His open, broken lips gave off that smell of alcohol that made you sick. But despite of everything, your sight softened after a couple of seconds. He was sleeping so peacefully, and he was clinging to you like his life depended on it, so you couldn't help but smile.

-Mark... wake up- you whispered softly while you tried to get up.

-Hmmmh, what time is it?- his morning voice made my stomach tingle a bit, your sight never leaving his figure while he starts waking up.

He squinted while he sit up in bed slowly, ruffling his own hair. It was obvious that he was in the same blank state you were a few minutes ago, and you could tell by how he confusingly looked around at the room, until his eyes reached at you. His face expression softened, giving you a shy smile.

-Do you need some clothes?- he asked, blushing when he studied your naked torso with lazy eyes. You realized that you both were entirely naked, and you rushed to cover your breasts with your arms, just to earn a pure laugh from him, that made your head resonate in pain.

-We fucked, y/n, no need to hide- Mark put all his weight on his left elbow, getting closer to you while tilting his face flirtatiously. That made you cheeks go red as ever.

-Yes, but I don't remember anything so your point is automatically invalid- His body hovered yours so fast that you couldn't even process what was happening, until he pecked your lips.

-I remember everything, so I will refresh your memory-

You burst out laughing while he deposited soft pecks all over your face. The situation was so sweet, but it didn't make you feel uncomfortable at all. He interrumpted his love actions and looked at you hungrily.

-Mark, I barely can keep myself awake, i feel like I'm going to puke...-You warned him, reading his intentions.

-Okay okay- he looked down defeated- At least, can we cuddle a bit more? I promise I can make the hangover feel better- He tangled his legs and arms to your body, resting his face on your collarbones.

╚═══════ ≪ °❈° ≫ ═══════╝

Everything on that evening was talking about the mortality of a crab. Basics like where you were from, what do you do for a living and relationship status open the conversation.

Your attention was drawn to Mark when he started to introduce himself. As a Medicine student, he decided with his 2 best friends that were part of a band to go on a trip to relax due to the busy schedules that consumes their time. The three live together on a small apartment in Korea, where the rent is expensive so they can make it more affordable.

Bora-bora was the destination of their choice. It seems that the band called NCT 127 draw lot of attention from crazy fans who followed them EVERYWHERE, so an expensive place like so would be easier to have a time for them on their own.

Mark spoke always adding "like" between his words, he liked to lay back when he was sipping on his piña colada, but got closer to the table when you talked about your experience as a journalist.

He tried so hard to show interest on a topic he had no idea about, that his questions were kinda clueless, but it was obvious that it was his way to not cut the attraction and chat between you and him. It was a sexual tension you could feel by kilometers, every gaze you had was followed by a shy smile, and you felt tingles on your body everytime you had a bit of interaction.

-Do you guys do shots?- Rosé interrumpted the conversation, scanning the boys reaction.

-I mean, that's why we are here- Johnny combed his hair backwards, already feeling heated by the 2 gin tonics he drank in 15 minutes. I couldn't deny, him on a tight black shirt looked hot as fuck, I could notice how Rosé was drooling for him- Excuse me, maa'am- he raised his hand, calling the waitress- 3 rounds of shots please!-

-Man, we had 2 yesterday and you almost puked on the sea, go easyyyy- you could notice the tipsy state from Jaehyun as well. His eyes were almost closed on a thin line and his dorky smile betrayed him. Mark laughed out loud, first time in the night you heard him like that, with his cheeks tinted red. He took a big sip of his piña colada, looking at you directly at the eyes. Actually, you didnt noticed till that moment, but your legs started to feel a bit numb. Quite usual for you when the alcohol gets up on your head.

-I'm in!- you answer to Johnny's idea. Once the blue shots arrive, you quickly grab one.

-Cheers for this night to be special- he screams with a deep voice, and the other 2 guys howl as response while you burst out laughing.

When you decided that the amount of alcohol on your body was enough, you took a chance to go to the beach to sing and dance to the DJ placed randomly in there.

You felt bliss, the EDM music was filling your senses, but you tried to keep your eyes full opened so you could remember the beautiful but blurry view of the sunset.

Together with your new group of friends were a mess. Jumping, screaming, raising your hands like you could touch the sky, everything seemed possible at that moment. Even dancing and getting laid with Mark.

The music had nothing to do with your plan, but you got dangerously close to him, resting your arms on his shoulders. You could see that he chuckled, tilting his head back so he could see you fully. Both of you were drunk as hell, you thought you were killing it with the flirting skills, but probably you just looked like two fools trying not to fall for the obvious drunken state you were.

-Do you wanna kiss me?- you screamed while "Jenny" sounded on the speakers. What kind of question is that?

-Sure I do- his canadian accent made you bite your lip while smiling- Can I?- his voice tried to mimic yours, but you didnt answered, it wasnt necessary.

Your lips collided as you got close at the same time, and Mark wasted no time to open his mouth and let his tongue in your wet cavity. You moaned so loud, because you knew no one could hear it but him. A fierce fight between both of your tongues started, every graze of them would make yourself wetter and wetter. He squeezed your waist and tried to keep you closer to him if it was possible, in his drunk mind he was scared you could run away from him.

Nothing about the context was romantic at all. You both physically liked eachother and just wanted to make out. No love at first sight, no kiss with fireworks behind, just pure desire.

Adrenaline rushed your body when his hands cupped your ass, that was only covered by the thin dress you decided to wear. Nobody near you could care less about what you two were doing it, but for you, everyone was looking at the show you and Mark were offering, and that obviously turned you on.

You bit Mark's lower lip, sucked on it, while opening your eyes to look directly at him. Eyes closed, he was enjoying how you toyed his lips. The hard grip on your skin, and a bulge poking your stomach made you feel powerful, you were loving the effect you caused on him.

Suddenly, an arm made you break your kiss with Mark. You lose your balance so you hug the guy that was pulling you backwards. Johnny.

-Hey, pornstars, we have some nice shit here- he pointed his hand with his eyes. You could see a tiny bag with a white dust inside. You come to your senses and look around at the crowd to try find Rosé, but it was obvious she already was under the influence. She was on Jaehyun's shoulders, enjoying the music. You sigh, chuckling at the sight of her losing her mind.

-Its my first time though- you commented while you look at Johnny spreading the dust on top of his phone screen with one hand using a credit card. You could notice he was an expert at it, you peek to see Mark right by your side looking at the manouvers as hypnotized as you. Probably it was his first time too.

You both snorted the little substance, and it sucked at first. It was so uncomfortable, but it took minutes for you to get used to that weird sensation on your nose.

You didnt even noticed when everything started to amplify. You could feel the summer breeze making its way around you, the taste of Mark's saliva still on your tongue was strong, the colorful tins of the sky while it was dusking looked so enhanced.

A hand grabbed yours, taking you out of your trance, and almost felt like an orgasm. So warm and so soft, made you wanna scream. You turned to see a fucked out Mark, studying your face with dilated pupils, he was almost as horny as you by only grabbing hands.

He caressed yours with his thumb, and it felt like he was fucking you, your body shivered at it. Mark was enjoying it too, so he brought your fingers closer to his mouth and inserted the index one inside, and started to suck on it. You moaned and felt how your pussy clenched at nothing, the saliva coating your finger felt like caramel, if you could explain the feeling.

-Mark if you keep doing that i'm gonna cum- you told him with a warning tone, he was so inmersed on sucking your finger that he jumped when you talked. He was aroused by the situation too.

He smiled with your finger still inside of his mouth, took it out, holded you by your wrist and started to run towards...

╚═══════ ≪ °❈° ≫ ═══════╝

-And we ended up here- Mark sumed up the night while you were laying on his chest, caressing it with the tip on your fingers. His, on the other hand, were playing with the locks of your hair.

-Yeah, i remember now, such a night- and then you snapped- Wait... where the fuck is...-

-Yeah, she was having a threesome with the boys. Dont worry, she was having a good time-Mark answered with a playful tone. Of course, that sounds like a very Rosé thing to do. You let out a breathy laugh.

-We could have joined...- you suggested, looking up at him. He took a few seconds to answer, while his eyes moved from one corner to the other of the ceiling, like he was evaluating that scenario.

-Yeah, and sharing? No thanks- he bit his lip and he looked at you with a greedy smile- I felt so lucky to have you screaming my name over and over-

You hit his shoulder with your fist playfully, and he took that as an answer to keep silent and just enjoy the company of the other.

╚═══════ ≪ °❈° ≫ ═══════╝

2 days went by, you get used to hang out with the boys. All kinds of crazy stuff you could imagine, you were doing it with them, and it felt like heaven. Mark couldnt keep his hands to himself and everytime he had the opportunity, he would make you cum on his fingers or mouth. And the same goes for you, too. Thanks to him, you noticed how good you are at giving blowjobs inside public restrooms.

But nothing lasts forever, sadly, and the last day of your summer vacation arrived. Rosé and you were ready to go back to Seoul, while they would be staying a little bit longer. It hurted, you got used to Mark's attention, and either him or you wanted to ask for eachothers contact. Not because of lack of interest, but because both of you thought that the other saw it as an adventure. You didn't even knew his last name.

His lips devours yours before you could get in the car that was waiting for you on the street -I wont forget you, thanks for this amazing 3 days- he smiled, a tint of sadness on his eyes. You caressed his cheek, pecking his nose, trying to hurry as much as you coulf so you wouldnt start to feel emotional.

-Y/l/n-

He looked at you clueless -What?-

-My last name is y/l/n- you smiled and without waiting for an answer, you close the door of the car.

╚═══════ ≪ °❈° ≫ ═══════╝

-Hey, hey, it's okay- typical of Rosé being so overdramatic. Sure, your finger almost got cut in half while you were trying to cook some carbonara, but it wasnt a big deal, something a few stitches couldn't fix. The only thing that kept your finger from gushing blood out was a piece of toilet paper.

-Please! My friend needs a doctor!!!!- She screamed at the top of her lungs inside the hospital.

-What happened?- a nurse hurried, worried eyes scanning you both.

-She is losing her finger!!!!- Rosé felt she was going to faint.

-Jesus, Rosé, calm down-

The nurse takes a quick look at your finger- Yeah it doesn't look that good, please follow me. You are lucky we don't have that many patients on New Years Eve-

You are guided to a tiny room full of medical stuff, probably where you are going to get your finger sticked together. It hurted as fuck, but you were trying to keep focused on something other than the pain. You looked at the desk with the computer on, and on a hidden corner you noticed a picture of 3 friends, on a place that seemed too familiar to you. Actually, the friends also seemed like an old ones you had... maybe in university? You can't quite remember.

The door opened up while you were trying to dig into your memories , and you looked at the door startled.

-So, Mrs y/n...- that voice, that motherfucking voice. A year has passed. But how the fuck you were supposed to forget it?. You felt your ears buzzing, face heating and heartbeat racing. You were losing your breath and suddenly the pain of your finger got worst and worst.

He didn't turn to look at you, just got inside by looking at his phone, and once he was sit in front of you, his facial expression dropped.

There were the both of you, looking at eachother like dumb teenagers, like your finger wasnt bleeding out, almost like you were backat that bar in Bora-bora again.

-I... uh... yeah, my finger- you stutter, pointing at it. Mark shakes his head, coming back at his professional senses.

Before the medical procedure he performed, he bandaged your finger, and wrote some medicine you had to take for the pain to go away.

-It should be okay on a few weeks, nothing to worry about- he smiled at you, trying to comfort you. You felt your heart drop when he grabbed the healthy of both of your hands and caressed your palm with his thumb, everything felt like a flashback. You looked at him with clueless eyes.

-I... uh... I should come back in a few weeks then- you stuttered, pressing your lips into a thin line while looking at him directly on his eyes. He nods.

-Lee-

You frowned -Huh?-

-My last name is Lee-

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Moe Moe Mallekei Kyun~

In which Malleus and Cater go to a maid café, and shenanigans ensue.

... I’ve been wanting to write this for a long time.

***Warning: mild spoilers for Malleus’s PE Uniform personal story!***

Imagine this...

“Lilia-sama.”

Two bodyguards fell into line, saluting simultaneously to their vice dorm leader.

“We just finished combing through the prime gargoyle locations around campus,” Silver reported. “Unfortunately, there was no sight of Malleus-sama to be found. The accounts of the various students we interviewed also corroborate that the Young Master has not recently been spotted in the area.”

“I see. Thank you, Silver.” Lilia sighed, cupping his cheek in one hand. “Hm, this is a bit odd. Wherever could he have wandered off to this time?”

At that moment, a ping! sounded off. Lilia fished his phone out of his pocket and, with one glance at the screen, his expression softened.

“You don’t suppose some dastardly villain has… kidnapped the Young Master and is holding him for ransom, do you?!” Sebek’s eyes nearly bulged out of his skull at the thought. “If that is the case… THEN WE HAVE FAILED AS MALLEUS-SAMA’S KNIGHTS!!”

“Now, now--let’s not jump to conclusions. Even if that were true, I’m certain that Malleus would be able to easily fend off assailants on his own. Perhaps he has simply lost his way, or headed off campus to run an errand.”

“... Without warning us in advance?”

“I would have happily accompanied the Young Master wherever he went--EVEN TO THE ENDS OF TWISTED WONDERLAND ITSELF!!”

“Kufufu. Malleus is still young at heart. Let us allow him this moment of independence, just this once. He will find his way home eventually.”

“Welcome home, my masters!!”

Malleus skidded to a stop in the doorway—for beyond it laid unknown territory. The interior sported cream walls, with fairy lights, streamers, and paper flowers strung up. A number of tables and chairs, populated with people, were set against flowing white curtains.

Young ladies flitted about, balancing trays of food and drinks, cameras, and microphones. Each wore the same outfit, consisting of a frilly headdress, an apron, and a black dress with lace trim and ribbons.

And now, one of those uniformed girls extended a hand to him and a warm, welcoming smile.

Malleus frowned and turned to the orange haired young man beside him. “... Diamond. What is this strange establishment you’ve brought me to?”

“Mm? It’s a maid café,” Cater chirped, glancing up from his phone. “You said you’ve never been before, right?”

“Well, yes… However, when you invited me to join you for an outing, I did not expect this to be our destination.”

“It’ll be fine~ We’re already here, so let’s get seated!” Cater insisted cheerily, ushering the fae through the door. 

“Right this way, my masters!” The greeter giggled and led the way, eventually stopping at a vacant table set for two. As the duo slipped into their seats, she handed them menus and moistened towels. “We have a wide selection of special services and delicious dishes for your enjoyment!”

Malleus hesitantly flipped open the (very pink) menu and ran his eyes down the page of available items. Along with the expected offerings of desserts, savory foods, and beverages were odd listings: massage, ear cleaning, karaoke, game, arts and crafts, picture, spoon feeding, live song and dance...

He stared quizzically at Cater, who seemed to be taking everything in stride.

“I’ll take a plate of omurice! How about you, Malleus-kun?”

He stared back at his menu, trying to make rhyme or reason of the unique names. What in the Great Seven was a Pyon ❤ Pyon Sunshine Bar…? Or a Lucky☆Happy☆Cookie? Malleus’s brows furrowed in both concentration and confusion.

“I… I shall have the local specialty, whatever that may be,” the fae prince declared at last.

“Excellent choices! And would you like a bunny, or a kitty?”

“You hand out animals at this eating establishment? Is that not a health code violation?”

“Aaah, Malleus-kun, she doesn’t mean real rabbits and cats. Look--you’ll see when she brings them, okay?” Cater laughed awkwardly. Then, turning to the waitress, he held up his index finger. “One of each, little lady~”

“Of course!” She scribbled down a few words on her heart shaped notepad before prancing off.

“... Diamond. Are you certain this is the fabled maid café of which you spoke of?” Malleus asked, folding his arms. “I find it difficult to believe that every patron here is descended from a high class lineage. Furthermore, the servers are wearing attire entirely unlike that of a traditional household servant.”

Cater blinked once, twice—then chuckled.

“Maid cafés are like normal cafés. Anyone can go to them to play pretend and chill for a while! The difference is that the waitresses are dressed cutely and offer fun services. Singing, dancing, playing games—that kinda thing!”

“I do not understand.” Malleus swept a hand at their surroundings. “The purpose of this establishment is merely for… amusement?”

“Yup! People get tired of the daily grind sometimes, so they go to places like this to see cute stuff and just take a load off.”

“I… I see.” Malleus tucked his thumb and forefinger under his chin. “We do not have anything like your maid cafes in the Valley of Thorns.”

“You don’t? What sort of things do you do back home for fun, then?”

“I was not allowed to venture far from the palace grounds. Most of my time was spent indoors, studying spells or honing my magical abilities.”

Cater inclined his head. “Oooh, right! Because you’re a prince and all, you weren’t able to do much—but hey! Things are different now! You’ve got Cay-kun to show you a good time!”

“Ah, yes. A ‘good time’...” Malleus attempted at a smile, which came out more wary than he had intended.

“Thank you for waiting!” a girlish voice chirped—their waitress had returned, wearing a tray of food in one hand and two headbands in the other. “Here is your omurice and Nyan ✨ Nyan ✨ Kitty-chan Parfait, plus one pair of kitty ears and one pair of bunny ears!”

She handed Cater his dish—a bed of ketchup flavored fried rice, sealed by a wobbling omelet and garnished with a sprig of parsley.

“Mm! Smells delicious. Thanks a bunch~” Cater grinned, winking at his server.

The maid giggled and placed Malleus’s dessert before him, along with the headbands.

“Would you like me to draw or write something special for you on your meal, master?” she asked, gesturing to Cater’s omurice.

“Sure thing! Could you write ‘Mallekei’? Oh, and a couple of hearts would be cute, too!”

“As you wish!”

As the maid set to work, Malleus marveled at the sight of his parfait.

Colorful scoops of ice-cream, granola, and sliced fruits were layered inside of a tall glass cup. A generous crown of whipped cream and a drizzle of strawberry sauce topped it off. Sticking out from the whipped cream were two wafer triangles and dots of chocolate candies, forming a cat-like face.

How adorable.

… But not adorable enough to be spared.

“Thank you for the food.” The fae raised his spoon to demolish the poor parfait kitten—

“Stop, stop, Malleus-kun!!” Cater cried, frantically waving his arms. “N-Not yet!!”

Malleus lowered his spoon with a frown. “Food is meant to be consumed, Diamond. Is there an issue you have with my table etiquette?”

“Well—no, but…” Cater played with a lock of his orange hair and sighed. “There’s certain rituals we need to do first!”

“Rituals? Oh, my apologies. I was not aware. Please proceed with your regularly scheduled… rituals.”

“Ahaha, you’re a quick learner! First thing’s first, let’s put on our headbands!” Cater swept up the cat ears and passed them over. “Here, to match your parfait! I’ll take the rabbit.”

Malleus gingerly nestled the cat ears on his head, copying Cater’s movements. It was a bit tricky maneuvering around his horns, but somehow, he managed.

“Oh!! Those ears suit you so well!” the waitress said, glancing up from decorating the omurice. Carefully placed splotches of ketchup spelled out ‘Mallekei’, hearts and little sparkles littering the space around the boys’ combined names.

“... Do they?” Malleus doubted it.

“They do!!” Cater reassured him with a laugh. “Ne, ne, miss! Can you take our picture so my friend here can have a souvenir to take home with him?” 

“Certainly!” She replaced the bottle of ketchup and hurried off, returning shortly after with a polaroid camera. “Are you ready, my masters?”

“Ready, Malleus-kun?”

“Hmph. Of course. I will have you know that my posing abilities have improved considerably since our last encounter. Do not underestimate me.”

“Oh, that’s great! You’ve been practicing! Then… on the count of three, we nyah, okay?”

“... What is ‘nyah’?” Malleus inquired, his confidence suddenly waning.

“Eh?” A blip of surprise crossed Cater’s face. “Like, y’know… nyah!”

The influencer curled both of his hands into balls and made a pawing motion at his friend. “Now you try!”

“Like this?” Malleus mimicked him. He was more stiff—definitely not as practiced—but the general motion was still recognizable.

“Very good, master!!” the waitress gushed, raising the polaroid up. “On three?”

“1, 2, 3… Nyah!”

A flash went off, sending stars into Malleus’s vision. As he rubbed the daze out of his eyes, Cater’s voice called out to him.

“Are you okay there?”

“I am well. There is no need for your concern,” the fae insisted. “This ritual… it is more confounding that I took it to be.”

“Eeeh? It’s not meant to be hard or anything. Just relax, relax!” Cater paused before adding, “It’s part of the ritual’s requirements! You need to be nice and loose for the last step!”

“What is this last step?”

“We need to cast a magic spell to make your food taste extra tasty!” the waitress declared cheerily.

“Hoh?” A smirk found its way onto Malleus’s face. “That can easily be arranged. Allow me to do the honors.”

He put his hand before his parfait, an eerie green glow emulating from his palm. The sinister light engulfed his dish and Cater’s, sending them floating midair. Radioactive ice-cream and omurice hovered above their heads, causing both Cater and their maid to recoil in shock.

Other customers stared at the spectacle from their own tables. One man’s jaw dropped, the forkful of spaghetti bolognese in his mouth clattering onto the floor.

“You, who provides sustenance to the masses, become that which is delici—“

“H-Hold on a sec, Malleus-kun!!” Cater practically leapt over the table to seize his friend’s glowing hand. “Not that kind of spell!!”

Eyes wide with surprise, Malleus allowed his magic to settle down. The parfait and omurice gently floated back onto their table, and the maid sighed with relief.

“Is there a different spell needed for this occasion? I assure you that I am well-versed in practical magic—you need only speak its name, and I can conjure the proper…”

“No, no! It’s—“ Cater casted a look at their server and nervously chuckled. “Ne, Maid-chan~ Think you can give us a demonstration of the right spell?”

“Yes, master!” the girl, ever professional, flashed a perky grin. “Please watch carefully!!”

The maid set down her polaroid on the table. She then arched her fingers into C-like shapes, thumb extended straight. Pushing her hands together, she formed a heart and aimed it in the direction of the boy’s dishes.

“Moe moe kyuuuuuun!”

“What an odd spell. In all my years, I have never heard of such an enchantment…”

“Well, there’s a first for everything, right?” Cater flicked one of his floppy rabbit ears. “Plus, it should be no problem for the great Malleus-sama to pull off this spell, right?”

“This is child’s play,” Malleus’s laugh was like the earth itself rumbling. His lips quirked into a small smile. “You will join me in performing this sacred ritual, will you not, Diamond?”

“Of course~”

“Very well.”

They made hearts and thrust them upon their meals. And together, they uttered those three magic words.

“Moe moe kyuuuuun!!”

“Welcome back, Malleus,” Lilia greeted. The vice dorm leader nonchalantly hung from the ceiling, his raven and magenta bangs suspended midair. “Did you have fun on your outing?”

“Lilia. You knew?” Malleus slowly shut the door behind him, chasing away the cool air of the night. He spoke softly, knowing that sounds carried in the dusty hallways of Diasomnia and could disturb its residents.

“The wonders of modern technology,” Lilia trilled, expertly landing beside his young master. He brandished his phone in a gloved hand, a text message displayed on the screen.

hey hey lilia-chan! gonna steal malmal-kun for the day~ he’ll be back later, but do me a solid and keep it a secret from s&s til then, ‘kay? thnx!! (✿˶˘ ³˘)~♡

“It looks as though I have been exposed.”

“There is no shame in making new friends. In fact, I’m proud of you for expanding your horizons.” Lilia beamed. “Though what a shame it is that I was not present to grab a few pictures. Hopefully Cater fulfilled that task for me.”

The ancient fae tilted forward in his toes and peered up at his prince. “Soooo? Where did you sneak off to?”

“Fufu. Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“My. Is that any way to treat the man that kept Silver and Sebek from hunting you down?” Lilia teased, wagging a finger.

“Such loyalty,” Malleus smirked, hands on his hips, “deserves to be rewarded.”

He produced a polaroid photograph from his breast pocket and presented it with a flourish. The image, forever captured in time, was that of Malleus and Cater—the former with cat ears, the latter with bunny ears—with hands balled to resemble paws. Cater cheekily winked, while Malleus looked slightly bewildered.

The edges of the polaroid were dotted with stickers—smiley faces, flowers, and hearts. Marker had been used to scrawl on whiskers and blushes over both boys’ cheeks.

Overall, cutesy—overwhelming so.

But the Malleus and Cater in the picture were happy.

Their eyes shining like jewels.

Nyah-ing their hearts out.

[narvana27]

ALL OF THE TIMES RAI WAS TREATED BADLY:

Episode 18, season 2: “Pandatown”:

This episode is just one big ‘Fuck you Rai, we dont trust you even a one bit’ since the first minute. It’s so annoying, cuz they didn't listen to him and didn't even get him a chance to improve himself, even Fung at some point. So let’s see:

-Fung: “The test is to float a teammate safely onto a cold stone in the middle of the hot crater.”

-Rai: “No problem! Who’s ready to fly?”

*Everyone hides*

-Omi: “We mean no disrespect Raimundo, but you’re still the only not apprentice on our xiaolin team! *smiles*

Fung did the right thing here and chose Omi for this. Rai was trying to focus before the task and Omi was distracting him all the time. Usually Rai is a reckless kind of guy, u know, but now when he wanted to take this test seriously he couldn't, because unfortunately Omi was alive at the time -.- Rai failed cuz he was scared and distracted, and ofc no one said: “Ok, that wasn't his fault, so let’s try again”. No, they just called a day and stayed with the conclusion that Rai can't shit.

-Dojo: “You guys better stick together, this is the part of Hong Kong Dashi never let "me play in.”

-Rai: “I lead the way! This place is like the bad parts of Rio! It’s my element”

-Clay: “No offence Rai, but we’ve seen what you do with your element”

*Dojo smirking hardly*

Clay, you idiot here. Rai was DISTRACTED and no one cared, but let’s drop that and say: That was a metaphor. Rai used a metaphor there. What Rai wanting to lead you through a “bad hood” cuz he lived in or near one himself has to do with the fact he “failed” (cuz of Omi) his wind test? Nothing, cuz it was METAPHOR. It’s like Clay would say: ‘Oh, let me milk that cow cuz I'm from Texas and I know how to do it!’ and Rai would say: ‘Sorry dude but you can't eve create a whole ass K2 mountain with your element so…’ U see my point? Make it make sense Clay -.-

-Omi: ”The Apprentice's will take charge!”

Ofc Omi-Rat said that with emphasis on the word ‘APPRENTICE’S’ to let Rai know

(AGAIN) that he’s not one of them so he's the worst. Wow.

-Rai: *Tried to stop a running criminal but filed cuz he got a serpent’s tail*

-Omi: “Aaah yes! A common non-apprentice mistake! I would have grabbed the

serpent’s tail first, but I suppose it’s something we learn on apprentice level. You did your best!”

I may be wrong (cuz Im not Omi who’s always right except he’s not) but dont you learn the same stuff with Rai? I don't think Fung would let Rai go to “his room” while the rest would practice something for “apprentice”. He would rather make Rai stay and watch, cuz he did the same thing when Rai didn't get promoted and the rest was training with wu. He even asked if he could go, but Fung said no, so...Ur argument is invalid Omi.

-Omi: “I will take the 12 guardians on the north, Clay the 10 on the east, Kimiko 11 on the west, and...Do you think Raimundo could take one on the south? He looks veery old and very out of shape”

Just because Rai betrayed you some time ago and didn't get promoted because of that it doesn't mean he cant fight??? XD It’s not like he lost all of his skills he got and had before just cuz he’s not apprentice lol wtf u shitting ‘bout Rat xD

-Rai: “Jack tells you he knows a secret pass and you’re just gonna believe him?!”

-Jack *gives them his last shen gong wu*

-Rai: “ Oh come on Omi! It’s a classic game!”

-Omi: “Okay, I hear your concerns and I will take them under advisement with the

apprentice’s. Clay, Kimiko?”

-Clay: “I reckon’ we don't have a better choice”

-Kimiko: “Let’s give a shot”

-Rai: “What?! You’re believing Jack Spicer over ME?! That’s it! I'm finding my own

way in, and anyone who wants can go with me!”

Them:

Omi did shit on Rai here the most from the whole episode I think, cuz he ruled out Rai from the discussion. He could say what he thinks, buy ws not taking a part into conversation as a whole and couldn't make any more argument IN that discussion cuz he was not an apprentice? And who tf you are Omi to decide that? And to get it straight - This whole “apprentice” thing is bullshit, cuz Fung never said Rai cant do some shit or is less then just cuz he aint got promoted. He COULD OF HAVE BEEN promoted, but he HIMSELF didn't want to. And he got treated like trash cuz he dont have a belt in a different color? Ok XDD What’s also funny is that no one said: “Hey, he’s still the part of the group!” They acted like he was new and wasn't with them since the beginning so he dont know the stuff they know. Nooo, he was with you since the beginning and he know everything and the same way you know and have the same exact skill so I dunno why you act like that, Ofc I know everything is exaggerated to make this Episode more memorable and they had to make Rai's promotion like that to show that he changed and really earned it, but God it was so annoying because of Omi xD

[infrequent-creator]

aaah that lee todo fic was so adorable 💜 would you write something for "how did you get up there" with mina and lee ochaco?

Summary: Mina saves Ochako from a spider & helps her confront her fear.

A/N: I apologize to everyone who was waiting on their writing prompts! I got 1/2 done with a ShinKami one and it got deleted so that curved my drive to write. But I’m back baby! hope you like the story!

Word Count: 783

TW: talk of spiders

“Ochaco how did you get up there?!” Mina awed, walking into the dorm’s kitchen. Uraraka was using her quirk as she held onto the hanging light.

“O-Oh Mina! Thank God! Th-There’s a spider on the floor can you please get it?!” She squealed, pointing rapidly at the counter. Mina laughed softly at her friend’s silly behavior.

“Oh my god Uraraka…all this because of a spider?” She giggled behind her hand at her friend.

“Hey! Don’t judge me! It’s HUGE!” She whimpered, still clinging to the lamp for dear life.

Mina rolled her eyes, turning to look on the other side of the fruit bowl. There on the counter was the little black spider. It was no bigger than pea. The pink hero couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“Raka, that is the smallest spider I’ve ever seen!” She tore a paper towel off the roll, folding it a little smaller. She quickly smushed the spider against the counter, listening for the squishing sound.

“Alright girly, you can come down now. The big bad spider is dead.” She heard Uraraka sigh to herself.

“And…release.” She gently glided down to the ground to stand next to Mina.

“Want to see it?” She held up the crumpled paper towel, causing  Uraraka to squeal in fear.

“Absolutely NOT!” She shook her head.  Mina chuckled at threw it in the garbage.

“Thank you for helping me by the way.” The floating hero smiled as she grabbed her plated sandwich off the table.

“No problem, you’re pretty scared of spiders huh?”

“Yes! I can’t believe you aren’t! They’re so gross a-and creepy!” She made a noise of disgust as she spoke.

“What happens if you meet a villain with a spider related quirk? You’d lose! Can’t exactly be a hero when you’re clinging to a hanging light.” She playfully nudged Uraraka’s arm. She blushed a little and smiled at the thought.

“Then I’d have my friend Mina come save me with a giant paper towel.” She nudged back as the two sat on the couch together. The two laughed.

“Seriously though! You should try and work on your fear, just a little. So, you could at least defend yourself.”

“I don’t know if I could! They are just scary and gross!” She shuddered at the thought of the nasty bugs again.

“Oh, come on! Not all spiders are scary!”

“Yeah, name one.” She gave her a look of disbelief.

“Hehe. Well. I could just show you.” Within an instant, Mina’s arm slithered to behind her friend’s back. Both pink hands suddenly dug into Uraraka’s sides, causing her friend to explode into adorable giggles.

“Ahahaha! M-Minahaha!” She collapsed into Mina, her legs curling up. Her giggles were sweet and light.

“Whaaat? You said youu wanted me” A to show you which spider wasn’t bad. These tickle spiders are doing nothing but make you laugh!” Mina teased, leaning over the giggling girl in her lap. Mina’s nails skittered around to her cute tummy, causing Ochako’s giggles turn into sweet, high-pitched laughter.

“EHEHEHE! Wahahahait! D-Dohohohon’t!” She started to kick her feet as she laughed. Her feet accidentally hitting the table, sending her poor sandwich flying to the floor. Mina’s hands wandered slowly up her ribs, digging into them in gently.

“Noooohohoho! My sandwihihihich!” Upset whines about her sandwich snuck through her laughter.

“All these tickle spiders attacking you, and you’re worried about your sandwich?”

“Yehehehes! I was wahahahaiting for ihihit all dahahahahay!” Ochako playfully bat at Mina’s hands to try and keep her away from her ticklish spots.

“I’ll buy you another one sweetie, but you should be so proud of yourself. You’re laughing in the face of your biggest fear!” She smiled down at the squirming girl.

“Because they aren’t rehehehEHEHEAL NOHOHO NAHAT THEHEHEHERE!”

“Sorry sweetie, the tickle spiders told me they want to go after your adorable neck~”

“MIHIHINAHAHA! *snort* MEHEHERCY!” She was starting to get little tears welling up in the corner of her eyes. Mina took this as a sign to stop, seeing as she wasn’t trying to torture. She was only trying to tease.

“Hehehe...haha. Phew...what was that for?” Her cheeks burning bright pink. She sat up and adjusted her shirt, which had rode up during her ticklish struggles.

“No particular reason, just wanted to tease you a little.” She smiled, ruffling Ochako’s hair.

“Well your teasing cost me a beautiful sandwich!” She huffed, kneeling down quickly cleaning her ruined food off the floor

“Totally worth it, let’s go get you sandwich.” the pink hero helped Ochako put the plate on the coffee table. Mina offered her hand to pull Ochako up off the ground, throwing an arm around her waist as they walked back to the kitchen.

[rieson]

 ↱ COMPETITION !  ↲

pairing; gojo satoru ✗ gn!reader

genre; humor

content warning; strong languange, brief mention of violence.

word count; 1,123

authors note; ah, i hate how you can tell I only made this to get out of my writer's block ^^;; sorry it's a bit shit, trying to gain motivation lately </3 i also hereby apologize in advance for any grammatical errors, made this in minutes. prompt can be found here

─ you've been rivals with gojo for as long as you can remember, you can't help but feel ticked off whenever he disturbs your fights.

"when the hell did you get here!?"

“i got bored of waiting around for you to kill me so I wanted to see what you were doing.”

IT'S BEEN awhile since you’ve been feeling the very same adrenaline rush you always felt when fighting curses back in your highschool days ─ the thought of being reminded of your highschool days sent shivers down your spine; it wasn't like something bad happened to you back then, (besides the whole getou choosing another path, you merely chose to forget about it, although it is inevitable) it was just because a face of a gifted white haired sorcerer keeps appearing in your mind whenever you reminisce about your highschool days, and mind you, you hated every fiber of him; which he finds amusing, which just makes you feel more ticked off then ever whenever he tries to strike up a conversation with you.

“Oiii ! Are you even listening to me?!” The snow haired teenager accused a pointing finger at the stoic-faced [Name] ─ in which they only offered the white haired teenager an incredulous look before shoving his finger away harshly in return; imaginary tick marks appearing on the teenager’s forehead.

“Gojo, please just shut up. I’m trying to think of a plan here.” The [hair colour] haired teenager barked as they pinched the bridge of their nose, already feeling a headache coming.

The mentioned ‘Gojo’ let out an exaggerated gasp, “N─No way ! [Name]─ THE [Name] actually thinking for once!?” he lets both of his hands cups his face, as if to emphasize his shock more.

[Name] clenched their hands to fists, resisting the urge to just punch the white haired sorcerer right here and right now.

“Wow! I never thought i’d─”

“AS IF YOU’RE ANY BETTER WITH JUST HEADING HEAD FIRST TO PROBLEMS WITHOUT THINKING OF A PLAN YOU DICKHEA!─” You jumped at the so called ‘strongest sorcerer’ letting out your cursed technique unconsciously.

“Hey ! Atleast i manage to actually finish them ! Unlike yo- AAAH!!” The tall sorcerer screeched as [Name] managed to get by his limitless barrier.

You smirked at the memories, when you first fought with him and managed to land a critical hit on him one or two times; he really thought he was the best til you came in the picture; it didn't take long before he unofficially declared you as his ‘rival’, leading to a lot of childish and unnecessary competitions just to see who could do it best.

Your relationship with the sorcerer was questionable, one moment you both could be just chilling beside each other and then a second later the both of you could be going for each other’s throats.

(Un)fortunately, when you graduated, you got moved to the Kyoto Metropolitan Curse Technical College to become a Teacher instead, as the higher-ups requested; you didn't want to agree to it but it did give you freedom from Gojo Satoru, so you grudgingly agreed.

You still competed with the now Strongest Sorcerer, just not as often; since you chose to focus on teaching your students on how to be stronger instead.

This leads on to him texting you on random occasions, asking bribing you to meet up with him and have a match or two; of course, you always agreed ─ You do need to stretch your muscles every once in awhile.

Today was one of those days, the days where he randomly messages you at 5 AM asking if you wanted to spar, like mentioned, you agreed and were on your way til a bunch of special grade curses decided to ambush you.

You muttered profanities under your breath as you stealthily dodged an incoming attack and crushed another curse’s head that tried to sneak up on you.

It seems like there was another curse popping out everytime you defeated one, it's a never-ending cycle.

‘Where the hell did they all come from!?’ Your train of thoughts was disrupted as you felt a familiar cursed energy ─ His cursed energy; you can tell it from miles away, somehow, Gojo’s cursed energy always stuck out like a sore thumb whenever he releases it.

And before you knew it, All the curses that had been surrounding you was gone and smoke filled your vision, you coughed, covering your mouth and nose so you dont inhale the smoke.

A familiar 6’3 figure appeared once the smoke started to disappear slowly, him walking towards you in a childish manner ─ skipping in his steps.

“When the hell did you get here?!” You questioned the blindfolded man, who merely gave a shrug in response before answering;

“I got bored of waiting around for you to kill me so i wanted to see what you were doing.” He sent you a smug grin, a grin that only you knew that translated to a ‘HA, Beat you!’

You huffed through your nose, patting your clothes to get rid of dusts, “I didnt need your help, i was doing fine.”

“Oh really? You looked like you were─” His words cut off abruptly as you sent him a glare, making him motion something that looks like he’s zipping his mouth before throwing the imaginary zipper away.

You narrowed your eyes at him, eyeing the keys he held on his left arm suspiciously as he fake coughed, “Hoora Horaa, you look and smell bad, i brought extra clothes for you to change into and then we can go to that one cafe thats been popular now adays! I heard they selled good─” You abruptly cut him off as soon as you saw sparkles and flowers float around him.

“I came here to spar─”

“Chocolate cakes.” He grinned at you cheekily as he held out his palms out for you, waving it in front of your face.

You stare at him, he stares back; his smile not faltering a tiny bit before you decide to give in.

“...I’m sold”

“Nice ! Its a date then, here, go change now!~” He threw a bag with your extra clothes inside, leaving you to clumsily catch it before it falls.

“HUH!? I NEVER AGREED TO THA─”

“Hurry up ! Dont stall me for any longer than you have!~ Or else I'm gonna drive away without youu!~" He sing-songed.

You quirk an eyebrow, "I thought you didn't know how to drive?─"

"Let's not talk about that, now Shoo shoo, go change!"

[archonanqi]

fragile as dust | 5 - culmination

🔖 [first] [prev] [next]

🔖 a/n - aaah some stuff finally starts going down in this chapter, thanks y'all for staying patient through the last four chapters. please let me know if you’d like to be tagged for updates! enjoy!

—

  “Admittedly,” Zhongli sighed, “I may have gone a little overboard with the food.”

   You both peered at the carnage leftover from your feast, the table strewn with at least half of the meal left.

   “Are you full?” Zhongli inquired. He wasn’t smiling, but there was unmistakeable amusement in his voice. You nodded — a few minutes ago, you’d felt like you could have eaten everything on the table, but the physical limits of your stomach betrayed you. “Very well. Let’s clean up, then I will show you around the house. How does that sound?”

   It still took you by surprise, each time he asked you for your opinion. “It sounds good, Mr. Zhongli.”

—

   The first time you touched him was as he handed you one of the plates, as you thumbed over the intricate blue-white markings and felt your fingers brush.  You didn’t know it then, but it would not be the last.

   He was wearing his gloves, and so it was really leather that you’d touched, but it was electrifying all the same. You winced, searching his features for any displeasure. It was not your place to so much as gaze upon a noble of  half his status without permission, let alone touch — you’d been taught that lesson, quickly and very early on.

   “Please take this to the kitchen,” he requested, as though nothing had happened. You obeyed with slow, deliberate steps, squashing even any thoughts of dropping the fine china. Gingerly — how in Celestia was even the inside of his fridge elegant? — you set it down, closed the door and almost jumped out of your skin. He was standing right behind you, arms crossed as he studied you, features unreadable.

   “Tell me a little about yourself, Hansi.”

   Small talk? Or a test? Surely, certainly, he wasn’t genuinely curious? You felt naked under his probing gaze, still clad in that plain white dress. Had it really only been a day since you’d met Zhongli? Every second with him seemed to stretch over the length of a millennia. Instinctively, your hands wandered to your chest, feeling for your Vision. Wasn’t there. Wouldn’t help you even if it was.

   I grew up in a shithole with a dozen other people. I stole, robbed, dredged myself through life, you imagined yourself saying to him, just to get sold to a nobleman who thinks I’m too stupid to understand his intentions. 

   By the way, three nights ago, Rex Lapis smoked up something real good and gave me a Geo Vision I don’t know how to use.

   “There is nothing to know about me,” you said, instead, “save that I am bound to you in loyal servitude, and that I will do as you please, Mr. Zhongli.“

   “Hm.” Zhongli hummed, a low echo. His golden gaze rend you through Then, rather abruptly, he said, “Let’s begin the house tour, shall we?”

   Somehow, his curtness stung. Had you said something wrong? What you’d said — that was the textbook response you were meant to give, no? Regardless, you nodded your obedience, swallowing the fear you felt, as always, at his displeasure.

—

   You almost expected there to be a dungeon of some sort hidden behind one of the doors, some skulls, maybe a poor chained up Hilichurl or two.

   What you didn’t expect was so many rocks. 

   And paintings. And scrolls, and trinkets, and jewelry, arranged carefully upon display stands in each room. You remembered how cluttered the drawers were that you hid your Vision in. In the daylight, now that your mind wasn’t clouded with as much fear and fatigue, you were realizing just how much stuff Zhongli owned.

    (Vaguely, it brought to mind images of dragons — the billowing, fire-breathing, treasure-hoarding creatures you’d read about in one of the many storybooks you’d stolen. You shook that image out of your head. Zhongli was plenty intimidating, even without a set of horns and fangs.)

   “—and this is the bathroom,” Zhongli said, pushing open the door. The bathroom, on its own, was bigger than the shack you’d shared with four other families growing up. In the middle of the room, the dark marble floor gave way to a large, circular bathtub — it looked a little like a pool. “You are free to use it, and anything in it, whenever you’d like.”

   The idea of a hot bath was heaven, but you were a hundred percent certain that your current state — dirt-caked fingernails and unkempt hair and all — was all that was keeping you safe. If you got nice and clean, who was to say what he would decide to do to you?

   No, you would avoid taking a bath as long as you could.

   Zhongli closed the door, and hesitated. “Hmm. There is less than I thought to show you,” he admitted. “These other rooms are simply full of items I’ve collected over the years, and I’m sure they would bore you.“

   “It would be my pleasure to hear more about them,” you said, quickly. You wanted to keep him talking; as long as he was talking, he was doing nothing else. Besides, you found yourself growing more and more intrigued about Zhongli — only so that you could read him better, you promised yourself.

   “Well, then far be it from me to deny you your pleasure,” he said. “What would you like to know more about?”

   You glanced around, gaze landing on a small, glass standing display case. Two gemstones sat side by side in it, both a rich, translucent gold — like his eyes, you thought. “What are those?”

   “Cor Lapis,” he said, and you heard a hint of something in his voice. Pride? “They were a gift, from someone close to me.”

   “Are they worth a lot? They’re so pretty.” You bit your lip. They were probably worth more than the average Liyue merchant would ever earn. Pretty? Really?

   “In terms of Mora, yes, they are worth no small amount,” Zhongli replied. “However, their value far surpasses material currency, for these are prime Cor Lapis samples from Mount Hulao.”

   “Hulao... in Jueyun Karst?” You’d heard the rumors that floated between drunk fishermen and merchants, of the dangers of the mountain, of those who entered and came back changed. You had never put much stock in them — drunk men would say just about anything.

   “Yes. And as I’m sure you know, Jueyun Karst is a dangerous place to venture into, without the proper precautions.”

   “Dangerous… even for you?” You glanced at the Vision hanging off his waist. You couldn’t imagine a situation where Zhongli would ever be forced to break that collected facade of his.

   “For any human.”

   You found yourself enjoying the light conversation — you couldn’t remember the last time you’d spoken to another person like this. “Who gave you these?” You tried to smile, and it came easier than you expected. “They must have been really nice, to give away something so expensive.”

   Immediately, you regret opening your mouth. Zhongli’s eyes darkened, and his face fell visibly.

   “Yes. She… was certainly very kind,” he said, quietly. He looked as though he wanted to say something else, but didn't. Couldn’t.

   Was? You wanted to kick yourself. Of course you’d manage to bring up his dead friend in your first real conversation with him. The next seconds of silence were almost unbearable. Finally, you spoke up with the first thing that popped into your head. “So, you like rocks?”

   By the Archon, weren’t you on a roll today.

   You were pleasantly baffled to hear him chuckle, a deep, throaty rumble from the depths of his chest. “Yes, one could say that I am fond of them.” He said, amidst soft laughter. “And you?”

   “I don’t know much about them,” you admitted, “but the ones you have are beautiful, Mr. Zhongli.” So was his laugh.

   “Is that so?” He asked, the previous conversation seemingly forgotten, as he strode over to a case across the room, “perhaps you will find these to your fancy as well — these pieces of Noctilucuous Jade were mined from the deepest mines of the Mingyun...“

—

   By the time Zhongli had finished regaling you about his rock collection, the sky outside had become a smear of pink and orange, the sun drifting barely over the horizon. You hadn’t even noticed the time — Zhongli simply had the kind of voice that demanded wholehearted attention.

   “I seem to have gotten carried away again,” Zhongli smiled. Was it just you, or were his smiles coming more frequently? “Thank you for being such a good listener, Hansi.”

   You nodded in response, not quite sure what to say to that. The praise had a strange, warm feeling spreading through your chest.

   “All that’s left of the house is the library upstairs,” he paused, the tacit question clear on his lips.

   You froze. Ever since you started stealing to survive, you’d made a point to sell everything that couldn’t be eaten. Jewelry, hairpins, no matter how pretty, no matter how much your heart ached to put them on, went straight to the pawn store. But you could never sell books. You couldn’t bear to give up the worlds within them, the promises that one day you would be able to live as freely as the heroes of those stories.

   So you stole. First from Wanwen bookstore, then when the owner learned to watch for your grubby hands, from bags and pockets and homes. You devoured them like hot meals, kept them under the floorboards of your corner, read them out loud to the kids who lived with you, read them till the dirt from your fingers had smeared the words to unrecognition.

   You wanted to see Zhongli’s library, so badly that it hurt.

   But to tell him this would be to admit to him that you’d stolen those books, that you taught yourself a skill that someone of your social class didn’t deserve to learn. Something you weren’t worthy of.

   “I can’t read anyway,” you lied.

   “I see,” Zhongli said. “Then, shall we go and get some dinner? Are you feeling well enough to make a trip to Liyue Harbor? I know the most splendid restaurant.”

—

   You thought that things were going relatively well, that you were doing a fine job of squashing the unease and distrust of Zhongli that still gnawed at the corners of your mind. You were giddily excited, even, to be going to a restaurant for the first time.

   So, as you two arrived at the outskirts of Liyue, close enough to hear the bustle of nightlife, you certainly weren’t expecting the sudden wave of emotions that knocked you clean off your feet.

   It had started small — the unrelenting reminder of how out of place you would look at the restaurant. How out of place you would look in public, next to Zhongli in all his regality. Then: how out of place you truly were — how absurd of you to have started warming up to Zhongli when you knew, with every fiber of your being, what all men like him wanted; when you knew that one day he would grow impatient of waiting for you to offer it.

   If you took his dinner, his food, his kindness, what would you begin to owe him?

    Suddenly, you couldn’t breathe. The bile that rose through your throat was hot and bitter, and you doubled over and retched noisily into the nearest bush. Vaguely, you could hear Zhongli’s exclamation and his footsteps approaching, but you couldn’t stop until your stomach was empty once again.

   You flinched violently at his light touch on your shoulder. “Hansi,” he said, and you were baffled at how genuine his concern sounded, “what happened? What’s wrong?”

   “I don’t know,” you whispered, and it was true. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry—“

   “Please don’t apologize. Can you stand?” Zhongli asked, voice low and soothing. “Let’s get you home.”

   You nodded. “I’m sorry I ruined dinner.”

   “Nonsense, your health is infinitely more important.” He said. “Do you think that you can walk?”

   Once again, you nodded. You let him lead you home.

—

   When you reached the front door of the house, Zhongli’s hand on your shoulder firm and gentle, something had begun — deep in your heart — to fester. The fear, the confusion, the things that had fallen into place but didn’t quite fit together — it had all been boiling too long, too hot. 

   “Mr. Zhongli.” You said, as you stepped through the door, once again greeted by a warm gust of air. 

   “Yes, Hansi?” He asked, close behind. His hand on your shoulder was suddenly heavy, and hot. You shrugged it off, whipping around to stare him in the eyes.

   “Please, just— do whatever you’re planning to do to me.” You said, knowing that if you lost your momentum now you would never get it back.

   “I beg your pardon?”

   “I’m not a child. We both know what I'm here for. When I lived on the streets, two pieces Mora would have earned any nobleman a night -- let alone... however much you’ve spent.” You were vaguely aware of how many lines you were crossing with each word, but there was no stopping the words flowing from your lips now. You could feel your heart thrashing against your chest, anger warming your bones. 

   “We both know that I have nowhere to run, no way to defend myself, so just DO it already. Be cruel, hit me, whatever, do your thing so that I can stop holding my Archon-damned breath and waiting for the inevitable. What exactly are your intentions with me, sir?”

   You paused to catch your breath, and the horror set in suddenly. Your temper had always been the bane of your well-being — you just had to let it get the best of you, every time, didn’t you? Why couldn’t you have just bided your time and waited for his patience to run out later rather than sooner?

   Zhongli stayed silent, face pulled into a frown as though he was pondering over your words. Time seemed to slow into a viscous fluid, drowning you in its wake. You glanced down the hallway at your room.

   If he raised his hand against you, would you be able to make it to your room? Would you be able to grab your Geo Vision before he caught you, and would you even be able to use it against him, against the years of experience he’s had with his? You knew the answer to all of those questions: a resounding no.

   Would he let you live if you apologized? You opened your mouth to beg.

   “My intentions with you...” he said, brow pulled down over heavy lids. “Hm. It seems that I must apologize.”

   You let go of a breath you didn’t know you were holding. For the umpteenth time since your meeting with Zhongli, you wondered: What?

   “I have been trying to let you acclimate to your new life at your own pace, whilst moving on from your old.” Zhongli’s pursed lips were the only sign of discomfort in his composed features. “I did not know that such concerns were going through your head, though I should have seen that your seeming lack of fear was but a facade from your incredibly strong character.”

   In the corner of your eye, you saw your hands trembling. You tried to get them to stop. They would not.

   Zhongli swept on. “The circumstances of our meeting are... unfortunate. In time, you will understand my intentions in orchestrating our meeting, but for now -- you have been put in a very uncomfortable situation. I am remiss for not having acknowledged this much earlier.”

   What?

   Zhongli cleared his throat. “Hansi, please listen to me. While you are under my roof, I will never lift a finger to cause you any harm, physically or otherwise. And for as long as you are a part of my household, I will do everything in my power to ensure that you are never again touched by hunger, frost, hardship. That you will never be subject to the kind of fear that’s making you tremble,” he reached out slowly and took your hand, “like this.” 

   He had done all the speaking, but it was you who had lost the breath from your lungs. Each of his words was a low rumble, earthquakes in their own right. You didn’t know if you believed him, but you so badly, badly wanted to, with every inch of your shaking body.

   “I do not expect you to believe me, right now,” he said, as though reading your mind. He let go of your hand, and it fell back to your side, still shaking. “However, you will soon come to learn that I never break my word.”

   You were beginning to see why Rex Lapis had chosen to grace this man with a Vision. He commanded — no, demanded — your attention, your respect, your trust, your entire being. There was more to him than the rich, lonely nobleman he seemed to be; in that moment, you had never been more sure of it.

   “Is there anything else you would like to ask me, Hansi?” Zhongli asked.

   You shook your head, mutely. There were a lot of things you wanted to say to that, but the swollen words stuck in your throat. “Thank you, Mr. Zhongli,” you said, and hoped he heard everything behind it. 

  Tomorrow morning, you supposed, it’d be alright if you had that bath.