#Death Rattle (musings)
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moonxq · 4 months ago
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why did shin only learn he had a sibling from overhearing his parents and why did he feel the need to get out of there right away like he didn't feel comfortable confronting them about it and why was kanna's existence kept a secret in the first place and how did shin not know that she existed at all until finding out by accident and why was kanna given up for adoption and how long did shin sit stewing in the fact that he could have been growing up alongside a sibling but he didn't. did he blame himself for that. he already thought himself too disappointing to even meet with his lost sibling. what happened there!! please give me the secret tsukimi family lore please please please
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ultraheftyjustice · 6 days ago
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How do Heroes taste to MJ and Rogue for that matter?
"There's this,,sweetness to em, with a little bit of an ashy taste? like eating a marshmellow that's been set on fire but not burnt all the way through.. it, makes you feel, warm, and hopeful, even as you're PROBABLY doing something bad by eating you 4th iteration of x-men this week"
she let out a belch, as rogue answered from in her stomach
"...same here, I of course have the power absorption angle too, so I get,,a peak into who they are, their heart and soul, dreams and ambitions and morals,,and, it makes me better, but it's also DELICIOUS, makes them go down real easy compared to all the nasty thoughts some people have in their hea-"
another belch from MJ, much longer this time, silenced rogue
"sorry, that's all our time~"
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jtargaryen18 · 5 months ago
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The Arrangement
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Series Masterlist
Words: 7.2k
Pairing: Thomas Shelby (Peaky Blinders) x Reader F
Warnings: Drugging, age gap, coercion, loss of innocence, dub-con, explicit sex, oral (f rec), breeding kink (inferred), HEA
Your stepfather made an ill-advised wager with Arthur Shelby and when he lost the coin toss, you were are to be given to Arthur for the night. And you will be taken tonight. Just not by Arthur...
A/N: I don't know if any of you are fans of Peaky Blinders. The DH started watching it recently and I've watched it with him. My muse grabbed me and this was the result. But I find if I keep her happy, she'll let me work on my other projects so... Let me know what you think.
Disclaimer: The author of this work claims no ownership of characters aside from the reader, and original secondary characters mentioned. This work is not intended for those under the age of 18 due to explicit sexual content and darker themes. By reading this work or any works on my blog (jtargaryen18), you agree that you are at least 18 years of age. I do not consent to have my work hosted on any third party app or site.
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You shivered in the chilly air, wearing your best dress and wrapped in your heaviest shawl. You walked along the cobbled street, slick with rain and coal dust. You felt numb, struggling to accept the situation you found yourself in through no fault of your own. 
One one side of you, John Shelby walked with his usual restless energy, a lit cigarette hanging loosely from his fingers. Though younger than the others, he had a sharpness in his eyes. There was a tension about him that betrayed the weight of the world he’d been forced to carry. His hair was slightly disheveled, his cap pulled low over his forehead. But he cast a shadow that made him look harder than his years. The dim gas light flickered across his face, highlighting a faint bruise on his cheekbone. Maybe evidence of a recent scrap, though nothing too serious by Shelby standards.
On the other side, Liam Murphy, one of the Peaky Blinders’ trusted men, walked along. Taller and broader than John, he carried himself with the calm confidence of someone who knows he can handle whatever comes next. His dark eyes scan the area as they reach the destination, ever-watchful. Dressed in the same razor-brimmed flat cap and three-piece suit as the rest of the gang, Liam looked every bit the part of a man who’d bled for the Shelbys and would again without hesitation. You thought you smelled whiskey on him, but his movements were steady and his focus razor-sharp.
Around them, the air hummed with unspoken tension. John’s energy crackled like a struck match, eager and impatient. His gaze landed on you and he cracked a smile. "Look at you. You look like a fuckin' lamb going to slaughter."
Yes, you were scared to death. But you lifted your chin, holding his gaze. "Wouldn't you?"
Both of them burst into laughter as they stopped in front of the apartment, the agreed meeting place. 
"Yeah," John said. "Can't say I'd want to fuck Arthur either."
The reminder of why you were here was too pointed, too impersonal. You glanced around Small Heath, the neighborhood the Shelbys dominated here in Birmingham. It was a rough area, a working-class district, thick with the grime of industry and the weight of hardship. The narrow, soot-stained brick houses huddled together as if bracing against the cold, damp air rolling in from the factories. The sharp scent of iron and smoke from nearby foundries clung to the wind like an ever-present warning.
Gas lamps cast flickering pools of light, their glow struggling against the heavy smog that lingered in the alleyways. The sounds of the city never truly died. Somewhere in the distance, a train whistle howled through the night, blending with the rattle of carts, the distant shouts of drunken men spilling from the back doors of a pub.
When the door opened, your heart lurched in your chest to see Arthur Shelby standing there in the dim light. He seemed a shadow of the man he once was, now wild-eyed and disheveled. His waistcoat was unbuttoned, his once-crisp white shirt now rumpled and stained with whiskey and the sweat of a man who'd been drinking too long and thinking too hard. His tie hung loose around his neck, the knot twisted and undone.
His hair, usually slicked back with care, was in disarray, tufts sticking up where he’d raked his fingers through it in frustration. His face was a map of old scars and fresh exhaustion. His beard was uneven, the shadow of stubble catching the flickering light. His knuckles were raw, split from a recent fight. Maybe from a brawl at The Garrison, maybe something worse.
His eyes were bloodshot and rimmed with dark circles. They burned with the remnants of rage and sorrow. His breath reeked of whiskey and smoke, and when he exhaled, it was slow, heavy, as if the weight of the world pressed down on his chest. When he saw you, his eyes lit up in surprise. It was like his mind was pushing the memory of why you were there through the haze of his enebriation. 
"Come in," he said after studying you for a moment.
What else could you do? 
Dropping your head, trying to keep your desperation and fury at bay, you walked quickly by him and into the apartment. 
When John and Liam tried to push their way in, Arthur smashed a fist into Liam's face. The crunching sound made you think Arthur broke his nose. "What the fuck?" Liam yelled. "Aren't we supposed to be witnesses?"
The question sent a spike of fear through your heart.
"The hell you are!" Arthur raged at them. "Now get out before I knock some teeth out, you fuckin' bastards."
With that, he slammed the door hard and locked it for good measure. 
Inside the small apartment, the air was thick with the scent of damp wood and old tobacco. The walls were thin, covered in peeling wallpaper that was once floral but now curls at the edges. The floorboards creaked under the weight of every movement, betraying any attempt at stealth. Outside, heavy boots scuffed against the cobblestones, stopping and starting, keeping you on edge.
The only light inside came from a low-burning candle near the window, its feeble glow barely touching the dark corners of the room. A single iron-framed bed sits against one wall, its mattress lumpy and worn. A wooden table stands near the hearth, cluttered with an empty bottle, a playing card bent at the edges, and a knife someone left behind.
The Peaky Blinders owned these streets, and yet, danger lurks in the shadows, even for them. Every knock at the door could be salvation—or the end. This is where you were born.
You stood in the small space and waited. You had no intention to make this easy for anyone. Particularly when it wasn't fair at all how you came to be here.
Arthur swayed slightly, adjusting his stance, his grip tightening on the half-empty bottle he lifted from the small table by the window. At least the curtains there were closed. There was an eerie stillness in him, the kind that only comes before a storm. He wiped a hand down his face, inhaling sharply, trying to steady himself. The chaos inside him was still bubbling, waiting for the right moment to spill over.
"Look," Arthur said, "I'm truly sorry for this situation. It's nothing personal towards you, you know. It was your father and the coin toss. He--"
"Stepfather," you corrected him. Your father had been a decent man who didn't make it back from the war. Your mother had married Sean O'Grady out of necessity, to keep you and your younger brother fed. Your stepfather was as bad as your father had been good.
"Whatever," Arthur said. "He lost the coin toss and the coin is sacred to us. He promised me a turn with you if he lost."
Something like shame flashed in his eyes as he looked you over. It wasn't hard to guess what he was thinking. You were inexperienced with men. Your brother had started working at the factory at a young age, but you stayed home and helped with the garden, with the sewing. Your mother took in work as a seamstress here and there and that's how the Shelbys came into your life to begin with. Arthur started it, coming by to have a couple of shirts repaired, stains removed. He'd been intimidating enough but he wasn't the one who scared you the most.
Tommy Shelby.
His name alone carried weight, pressing down on your chest like an iron shackle. He was the kind of man stories are whispered about in dark corners. He never needed to raise his voice to command obedience, nor did he need to lift a hand to make someone afraid. His power was in his silence, and in the way his glacier-blue eyes stripped a person down to their bones.
You'd seen men stronger than you shrink beneath his gaze, their bravado crumbling under the quiet calculation that lurked behind those cold, unreadable eyes. He was a man playing chess while everyone else is swinging fists. And yet, beneath the tailored suit and composed expression, there lurked something even more dangerous—something hollow and broken. It made him unpredictable.
He didn't look like a man who enjoyed violence. That would make him easier to understand. His detachment terrified you the most. Men who enjoy hurting others could be manipulated, could be fed their own hunger until they slipped. Tommy killed without joy, hesitation, or remorse. He was a different kind of monster entirely.
Arthur drank straight from the bottle, the amber liquid splashing inside it. His eyes never left you and now you were shaking. You knew your stepfather wanted you married off and gone from his house, but how was this the way to do it? Was he punishing you for still living in his house?
"What are you waiting for?" Arthur asked, slurring his words. "Come over here."
"And do what?" you had to ask. "I don't know... how..."
His eyebrows shot up at that. "Are you fuckin' kidding me?"
You shook your head. Waves of shame and anger rushed through you. You were untried and terrified. He was drunk and seemed at a loss as to how to handle the situation. After a moment, he set the bottle back on the table and marched towards you, wrapping his strong arms around you and holding you in place for his kiss.
Instinct had you fighting him. His kiss was sloppy and wet, the liquor on his breath heavy. It made you feel a little sick. He was easily twice your size and it was nothing for him to drag you in the direction of the bed. When your back met the mattress, you closed your eyes in acquiescence. You just wanted it over with so you could go back home, soiled goods thanks to your stepfather's poor judgment. But you'd live to fight another day. At least you hoped you would.
Arthur's weight dropped onto you on the bed, but after a moment, you realized he wasn't moving. When he snored by your ear, it was all you could do not to burst into tears. Did this mean you'd have to wait for him to sober up? Would this torment be rescheduled? You didn't think you could take that.
You didn't know what to do. Carefully, you managed to roll him off you and onto his side. He didn't wake or even move as you managed to get off the bed. Hope had your heart swelling in your chest. Could you make it out of this apartment then? You could claim that the deed was done and he passed out after.
Rushing to the window, you moved the curtain just enough to see the street and it didn't look like anyone was outside the door now. Could you make it out if you moved fast enough? 
With your heart flying in your chest, you unlocked the door and pulled it open. You dashed out onto the street sending up every prayer that you'd ever said that you could just make it home. 
You collided with someone hard. You were shaking as his hands came up to steady you, keep you from falling. An apology was on your tonque as you glanced up to see who blocked you.
It was him.
Tommy Shelby was the one who had you, his figure a sharp silhouette against the darkness. A beat after he released you, a match flares to life, momentarily illuminating the angular planes of his face—the high cheekbones, the cut of his jaw, the cigarette resting between his fingers. The glow flickers out as he exhales, smoke curling around him like a specter. In that brief moment, his icy blue eyes locked onto yours.
He didn’t look surprised.
There was no anger or raised voice. Just a cold, assessing gaze, as if he had already predicted this. As if he knew you'd run before yoou even did. He inhaled slowly as he stance shifted. His demeanor was that of a wolf considering a cornered rabbit.
“Going somewhere?” His voice is soft, all the more dangerous for its calmness.
You want to run, but your legs refused to move. The street around you seemed empty now, swallowed in shadow. But you knew he was never truly alone. Somewhere, in the darkened alleys, his men are watching.
Tommy took one step forward, slow and deliberate.
“You should know,” he murmured, flicking his cigarette to the ground, crushing it beneath the toe of his polished boot, “I don’t like having to come after people.” 
Hooking your thumb in the direction of the apartment, you said, "He's d-done."
That cool gaze moved over you, up and down before returning to yours. "Not with you. Arthur loves the ladies but I've never seen him move that fast."
You hadn't thought of that. 
"Did he pass out?" he asked quietly.
Tears stung the backs of your eyes and you nodded. It wouldn't do any good to lie to him. "What happens now?" you asked, cringing under that cold gaze. 
"There's still an arrangement," Tommy reminded you. "And it has to be honored."
You glanced back over your shoulder at the door wondering what he meant by that. Would you wait for Arthur to wake up? Come back another day when he was sober?
Rough fingers at your chin turned your face back to him, and you shrank away from that unfamiliar touch. When your attention was returned to him, he grabbed your upper arm and started walking, almost dragging you up the street at first. What was he going to do? Where was he taking you?
Men were walking not too far behind you now, his men. They stayed behind the two of you until Tommy abruptly turned a corner, heading up a short flight of steps. Leading you into another apartment.
The new apartment was cleaner, quiet and cold. A stark contrast to the cramped, smoke-choked rooms you just fled from. The walls are smooth, freshly painted in an off-white shade that seems almost too pristine for a place in Small Heath. The faint scent of tobacco and whiskey, mingling with the lingering traces of fresh linen and polish, told you someone actually cared for this space.
The furniture was sparse but elegant in a way that didn’t fit the rough streets outside. A solid oak table sits near the window, a glass decanter of amber liquid resting on top, two crystal tumblers beside it. A plush armchair, its deep leather cracked at the seams, faces the fireplace where faint embers glow, casting flickering shadows against the walls.
Against one wall was a proper bed. It was well-made with crisp white sheets and a thick wool blanket folded at the foot. A luxury in this part of Birmingham.
His men have left by now, their boots retreating down the hallway, leaving you alone with him. The door closed.
“You’ll be more comfortable here,” he said, and there was no mistaking the finality in his words. It wasn't a courtesy, but an arrangement.
You still didn't understand why you were here. Was he going to keep an eye on you until his brother slept it off? Or would he expect you to stay here until the deed could be done?
He hung up his cap and shrugged out his dusty black coat, hanging it up too. You heard the soft sound of a match striking as Tommy lit another cigarette, his gaze unreadable as he exhales a slow stream of smoke. Grabbing the Scotch and tumblers on the table, he filled the crystal glasses and motioning you over. 
"Have one," he said. 
He wanted you to drink? You'd never drank spirits in your life. You must have stared at the glass like a snake about to bite you.
Tommy took a drag from his cigarette. "Since my brother is unable to do the honors," he said, "we'll finish the arrangement here and now. Drink it. It will make it easier."
Panic threatened to overtake you. What? Arthur Shelby passed out drunk so now you were expected to fuck Tommy Shelby?
Not doing as he said seemed terrifying, so you reached for the tumbler meant for you with a shaking hand. Bringing it to your lips for a sip, you almost coughed. The drink was smooth but potent. It burned like fire all the way down to your stomach. 
"Sit down," he said, using his foot to push one of the two chairs at the table back for you. You did as he wanted, taking another drink of whiskey. You felt the weight of those ice-blue eyes on you as you stiffly took a seat. "You ever been with a man?"
The man could just talk about something so personal like it was nothing more than business. It was a lot more than that to you. It took a moment for you to work up the courage to meet his gaze now, but you made yourself do it. You may have been trapped in this situation but you had to remember that you personally had done nothing wrong. 
“No,” was all you said. “Never drank either. Until now.”
Tommy studied you, the faint glow of his cigarette illuminating the sharp angles of his face. “Your stepfather isn’t a wise man.”
“Or a kind one,” you murmured, the words bitter on your tongue.
A slow smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth, effortless yet edged with something unreadable. “That why he offered you up?” His voice was calm, almost casual, but his gaze never wavered. “Strict with you, was he? That why you haven’t got any experience?”
You shook your head, fingers tightening around the tumbler in your hands. “No. He just wants me gone.”
Tommy hummed in answer. The room feels smaller with him in it. He took the chair across from you. One arm draped lazily over the back of the chair, the other rested on his thigh with his fingers curled loosely around a half-filled tumbler. He hasn’t spoken for a couple of moments, and yet his silence is as oppressive as a threat.
His ice-blue gaze roamed over you like a weight you couldn’t shake off. It felt like he was unraveling you in his mind, peeling back the layers of fear, of defiance, of whatever fragile armor you've built to protect yourself. It felt like he could see right through you. And he enjoyed it.
The cigarette smoldered between his fingers, the red ember glowing each time he took a slow, unhurried drag. He exhaled through his nose, the smoke curling like ghostly fingers in the space between you. He wasn;t trying to scare you. His presence alone was enough.
And yet… he was devastating.
The angles of his face, chiseled and unyielding, should have made him look harsh and unappealing, but they didn’t. His dark lashes, too long for a man, cast shadows over his cheekbones. The corner of his mouth curled around the cigarette in a way that shouldn’t have been attractive but was. The controlled power in the way he moved, the effortless confidence... It drew you in even as you willed yourself to stay on guard.
He lifted his glass, taking a slow sip of the liquor, the tendons in his forearm flexing beneath the crisp sleeve of his shirt. When he set it down, the clink of crystal against wood echoed loudly in the silence of the room.
When he finally spoke again, his voice was low and even.
“You keep looking at me like that,” he murmurs, tapping ash from his cigarette, “and I’ll start thinking you’ve forgotten why you’re here.”
It was a warning.
And God help you, it was both terrifying and intoxicating. You took another sip of from your glass, welcoming its burn and warmth. You'd been unable to eat today given what was going to happen. Your entire life would change after tonight. The alcohol went straight to your head, taking the edge off of your fear. Not enough but it was better than nothing.
"If the... arrangement is settled, here and now, then I'm done?" you had to ask. "Arthur..."
Tommy took a slow drag from his cigarette, exhaling a ribbon of smoke. His blue eyes stay locked on yours, the weight of his gaze making it impossible to look away.
"Would you prefer Arthur?”
The question landed like a blow.
Your fingers tightened around the tumbler, the burn of alcohol lingering in your throat. You struggled to find your voice. Prefer Arthur? Tommy said it so easily, like the answer didn’t matter to him either way, like it was nothing more than an idle curiosity. But the way he watched you, eyes half-lidded, you knew that wasn't true.
Your pulse quickened. Arthur was rougher, louder, and reckless. But Tommy was something else entirely.
You swallow hard, shaking your head. “No.”
Tommy didn’t react immediately. He just studied you for another long, unbearable moment before smashing the cigarette out in a small tray. “Good.”
You didn’t ask why. Something told you that you didn’t want to know.
Your heart pounded as he drained his tumbler in one slow pull, rising from the chair with smooth movements. Without a word, he reached for your glass. Carefully, but firmly, he took it from your hands and placed it on the table. Then, he offered you his hand.
Your heart started flying. A silent command. A choice that wasn’t really a choice. Despite the tension tightening in your chest, you took it. His fingers closed around yours, steady. He pulled you effortlessly to your feet, the warmth of his palm seeping into your skin.
It was only a few steps to the bed, but the space between felt heavily charged. Tommy took a seat at the edge, his grip still firm around your hand. When he glanced up at you, those piercing blue eyes pinned you in place. The silence stretched, thick with unspoken words. And still, he didn't let go.
Tommy’s thumb brushed over the back of your hand, almost absentmindedly, as he studied you with a quiet intensity that made your breath catch. His gaze moved over your face, taking in every detail.
His smooth, low voice sent a shiver down your spine, when he spoke next. “Pretty thing, aren’t you?”
Your stomach tightened. There was no warmth in his tone, no flirtation. It was like he’d already decided exactly what to do with you. His fingers tightened, just for a beat, before his grip loosened again. And for the first time, you realized it wasn't fear making your heart race.
You weren’t prepared for the way his other hand slid behind your neck, his fingers pressing just firmly enough to send a shiver down your spine.
The only time a man had ever kissed you was Arthur’s sloppy, whiskey-soaked attempt in the other apartment.
There was no drunken sway or careless fumbling. Tommy moved with purpose. When his lips touched yours, it was a whisper of a kiss at first. There was no overpowering smell of spirits, just the faint scent of tobacco, of him. As his lips moved against yours, firmer and seeking, you tried to mimic him, afraid not to do something. You must have done something right. He increased the pressure at the back of your neck to pull you closer, and your hands landed on his shoulders, crisp linen covering tight muscle under your palms. When he deepened the kiss, you let him, and the slide of his tongue against yours gave him a deeper taste of you. His moan surprised you, and you felt that subtle sound all through your body as he continued to kiss you breathless.
It was easy for him to pull you onto the bed and roll you under him, breathless as you were. When his mouth claimed yours again, his kiss was more demanding, and his hands were everywhere. Tommy managed to pull your shawl free of you without breaking the kiss, his hands then sliding down to work the worn leather Mary Janes you wore off your feet, tossing them off the side of the bed. One hand grabbed your ankle before sliding up your leg, up to cover the globe of your ass. Panic had you jerking in his hold. 
Tommy pulled back to look you in the eye, his face flushed. There was a wildness in his eyes, something raw and unchecked. You doubted many had ever seen it. His gaze searched yours, and you trembled in his hold from the sheer intensity of it.
"I'm going to have you," he said breathlessly, his weight pinning your body to the bed. Grinding himself into your tummy, the hard, heated length of him was unmistakable, even with both of you clothed. His eyes darkened in sheer determination and his hold on you tightened. "You understand?"
You nodded quickly. "I'm sorry," you whispered.
Sliding his hand roughly up your body, he smoothed his hand over your cheek, his gaze never leaving you. Tommy kept watching you as that hand moved back down to pluck at the buttons of your blouse and his nimble fingers made quick work of it. Impatiently, his hands pulled the garment free of your skirt before undoing the buttons of your camisole beneath. You couldn't stop trembling as he undid the last barrier and peeled it back to reveal your upper body to him.
His gaze was sharp, moving over your breasts with growing impatience, hunger. With a delicacy you wouldn't have believed him capable of, his fingers traced over your collar bone, over the tiny gold cross pendant of your necklace. He trailed a finger over your skin, across to one breast, using that digit to tease your nipple to a tight peak with a gentle circular touch. When his heated gaze returned to yours, he filled his hand with your breast, squeezing firmly but not enough to hurt. Tommy began kissing you again, heated and greedy now, with his hand teasing your breast before sliding down your body and beneath your skirt.
As if he knew you were about to start fighting him again, he broke the kiss to cover your breast, teasing it with his lips and tongue as his hand slid under your skirt, into your underwear. Sensation overwhelmed you, need battling fear, and your hands clutched in the bedding beneath you as his fingers teased your private flesh, the light pressure drawing new sensations from your body.
"You can touch me," he muttered around your nipple. It felt like a command. Your hands shook as they slid up to him, instinctively moving to his head. The glossy black locks of his short hair slid between your fingers as he continued to tease you relentlessly, burning you down with his mouth and hands. 
Chills and pulses of unexpected pleasure had you writhing feverishly beneath him as his tongue smoothed over your aching nipple and his fingers danced in the wet folds between your legs. Your breath sucked in when he touched your pearl, and he lifted his head to savor your reaction. Whatever he was doing with his fingers, all you knew was that it would soon drive you insane. He didn't give you the speed or pressure you wanted, his touch fleeting and maddening. Your fingers clutched in his hair as he continued to delicately torture you, your legs clamped around his hand because you couldn't help it in your need. But it didn't slow his efforts at all. 
When his touch stopped, you whined, an unfamiliar sound to you. In a frenzy of movement, Tommy roughly yanked off your skirt along with your underwear, your stockings. He wasn't satisfied until you were stripped bare beneath him, all of you trembling under the intensity of his stare. As he sat there next to you, taking every inch of you in, his fingers went to work with haste, undoing his tie, stripping off his waistcoat. His fingers flew at undoing the buttons of his own shirt which he pulled free of his trousers but didn't remove it. 
Tommy shifted down the bed and moved to throw one of your legs over his shoulder so fast, you didn't have time to react. And by the time you did, he'd buried his face between your thighs. The flames of humiliation only burned you for a few seconds. The man's mouth covered your sex, his tongue a wicked torment that was unfamiliar and almost too much to bear. One of his hands worked to keep your folds open, your curls out of his way, as he kissed your pussy as he had your mouth. The other slid up over your tummy with pressure, holding you in place for his assault on your senses.
You accepted it but your entire body was shaking, shivering and it was impossible to stay still. Your back arched and you would have been horrified to realize that you were pushing yourself towards him, towards his mouth, wanting more, if you hadn't been so lost in the storm of sensation. What he was doing didn't make the fever better, it made it worse. It felt like fire running through your veins with raw need pooling low in your belly. When he slid a finger back to your pearl as he continued to work you with his mouth, you gasped. When his movements sped up, when his tongued traced your opening, you screamed long and loud. A wave of pure pleasure swept over you and he didn't stop what he was doing the entire time, dragging it out until you violently shook beneath him, crying and moaning as your body shivered and eased. 
Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he moved up the bed toward you, his hands working the fine leather belt at the front of his trousers. He wore nothing beneath and the sight of his cock, angry red and larger than you expected, filled your vision as you watched him take himself in hand, working himself as his gaze roamed over you. Tommy shifted, one of his knees pushing yours apart. You let him, watching him drape himself over you. There was something obscene about the way he stripped you naked but was still mostly clothed himself. 
He surprised you by stopping then, a hand smoothing over your hair and face with care. You sensed he was holding back, respecting your inexperience. You knew it meant nothing to him but he realized it meant something for you, and your heart squeezed in your chest at the gesture. 
"It's going to hurt," he said, whispering against your lips. "Not for long. Hang onto me."
You did what he said, but slid your hands beneath his shirt, running your hands over the muscular plane of his damp back. Your fingers found scars, a lot of them, but it gave you a distraction from the way he lined himself up with your entrance, the smooth head of him pressing into you insistently. It felt better to bring your legs up, your knees hovering around his hips. You held your breath as the pressure built, and the intrusion of him pushed further into your body. When he met that fleshy barrier inside you that proved your claim, Tommy surged through it, and the pain was searing. It took your breath away, had tears stinging your eyes as he completely filled you. Your tender walls quivered around him, trying to adjust to the unfamiliar length of him.
With the pad of his thumb, he caught a tear, brushing it away. Then, without a word, he lowered his head, his lips finding yours in a kiss that was unexpectedly tender. As if, for once, Tommy Shelby was in no hurry to take what he wanted. He held still inside you, allowing you to adjust to him. Lost in the dizzying mix of pain and pleasure from his kisses, you found yourself clinging to the unexpected gentleness in his touch. A quiet mercy.
But the arrangement wasn’t over yet. Not until he was finished.
Slowly, he started moving inside you and it stung like fire as he thrust in and out of you. You knew you were wincing, but you'd be damned if you'd complain now. You wanted to be brave, feeling like you'd earn his respect if you were. And as he moved in and out of you, the pain lessened and dulled, easing to be replaced with more of the sensations from before. The good ones. Before long your thighs were clamped around his hips as he plunged into you again and again. Hot, reckless kisses dropped over your face and breasts as he fucked you. Your arms and legs were wrapped around him but it was more than that. You weren't just lying there and thinking of England as you'd been advised by your mother and aunts. You were riding waves of unexpected pleasure, soaring to those heights again. Your hands became claws at his back, your nails carving into his skin. Your thighs tightened around his hips as you moved with him, wanting more, craving more.
His lips blazed a path to the sensitive skin of your throat, peppering your skin with kisses and swipes of his tongue as he rode you harder. The drive of him inside of you, his hands on your breasts, fingers teasing your pearl, drove you mad. You started begging him, pleading for release from the intense experience he was drowning you in.
"Please," you chanted.
His actions pushed you higher until, with your heart racing in your chest, he sent you flying again. Your cries filled the room as the man literally destroyed you. 
Tommy drove on above you and you knew he was now chasing his own end and you still held him. But it also occured to you in that moment that there was no birth control being used here, no condom or anything. You tried to steady your breathing, pushing down rising panic. Surely, a man like Tommy Shelby wouldn’t want a bastard running around, wouldn’t leave something like that to chance. You couldn’t shake the feeling that he had more honor than that.
 As his movements sped up, his thrusts just shy of painful, you tensed, hoping he was going to pull out of you when his time came so there'd be no worries. Above you his eyes were closed, his mouth slack. The beauty of him in that moment made you pause as he came. When you jerked beneath him, his hands collared your wrists and pushed them into the bed on either side of your head. Holding you there, he pumped himself into you growling as he did, thrust after thrust. Truthfully, you didn't have it in you to try and stop him. As if you even could.
He'd collapsed onto you, but his weight wasn't too much as his breathe rushed with yours. Running your fingers through his hair, you tried to stay calm. Your mind couldn't help jumping ahead.
Now that the deed was done, you'd be sent back home. Everyone in Small Heath knew you'd been won in an ill-advised bet. Would other men consider you an easy mark? You couldn't count on your stepfather to protect you. 
Tommy pulled himself free from you and it stung. He stretched out next to you on the bed, his finger tracing the curve of your breast. He watched you in that way of his, sharp and knowing. “What are you thinking so hard about?”
You opened your mouth, then close it. Because what do you even say to him? But he didn’t look away. And somehow, that was even worse. At the end of the day, only the arrangement mattered. His family’s honor was intact, the deal upheld. That was all that concerned him. Whatever you felt, whatever came next for you, wouldn’t change a thing. Tommy wasn’t the kind of man to concern himself with your plight.
You took the coward’s way out.
“Can I go home now?” The words left your lips, but somehow, they didn’t sound like a plea. More like a quiet resignation.
Was that reluctance you saw in his face? Something hesitant beneath the mask of indifference?
Tommy considered your question, his expression giving nothing away. But he studied you, weighing something.
With a deep sigh, he finally says, "You can."
As you start to sit up, you watched him search through your clothing on the bed, finding your simple underwear. You watch in stunned silenced as he carefully dipped them between your legs, staining the white garment with your blood. When you instinctively reached for them, alarmed by the sight of your own blood and just mortified by what he’s just done, Tommy’s gaze met yours, sharp and unyielding. Before you could touch them, he moved them out of reach, his expression leaving no room for argument.
“I’m keeping these.” The finality in his voice sent a shiver down your spine.
Why?
You were shaking as you watched him dress, dressing yourself as quickly as you could with shaking limbs. It was over now, right? Was your blood-stained underwear proof that the arrangement was met? It was distressing. He must have noticed because without a word, he stepped to a cabinet drawer and pulled out a clean, white towel, tossing it onto your lap.
"Clean yourself up," he said, already pulling on his coat and adjusting his cap with practiced ease. "I'll be back to take you home."
And with that, he was gone.
You sat there, staring at the door he’d just disappeared through, the towel limp in your hands.
Tommy Shelby was taking you home.
A short, breathless laugh escaped before you could stop it. That would scare the shit out of your stepfather. Maybe then, he wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss you.
Maybe it wouldn’t matter at all. You didn't know what the future held for you or what impact this night would have on it.
***
Tommy’s grip tightened on the wheel, the road stretched dark and empty ahead of him. The hum of the engine the only sound between them. He didn’t glance her way. No, he could feel the weight of her presence beside him, could hear the way she shifted in her seat, the tension rolling off her in waves.
This was necessary. That’s what he told himself. A loose end tied up, an arrangement upheld.
When he pulled up to Watery Lane, the headlights cut through the mist curling over the cobbled drive, illuminating the towering structure of Arrow House. The place had never really felt like home, but it served its purpose, just like everything in his world.
He killed the engine and stepped out first, running as he rounded the car and opened the door for her. She hesitated, just for a moment, then followed without a word. He could almost see the question in her mind. Why am I here?
Because he wanted her here. He wanted her. Tonight merely sealed her fate.
Inside, the house was dimly lit. Tommy didn’t break stride, already pulling off his gloves as he spotted Polly standing at the bottom of the staircase, arms crossed, dark eyes sharp as her gaze moved between him and her.
“Take her up,” he said simply, voice low and clipped. “My room. Find her something to sleep in.”
Polly didn’t move right away. Instead, she gave him a look, one of those looks. The kind that didn’t need words, the kind only Polly could give. What’s this, then?
Tommy exhaled, pinching the bridge of his nose before muttering, “Not now, Pol.”
With a slow shake of her head, she turned to his girl, her expression softening slightly as she gestured for her to follow.
Tommy watched for a second longer, then turned on his heel, heading straight for the whiskey decanter. He'd knock back a couple then he'd join her in sleep.
***
The house was quiet early the next morning, but Polly was already up. Tommy found her in the sitting room, a cigarette between her fingers, an untouched cup of tea going cold on the table beside her. The first rays of sunlight streamed in through the windows, casting a warm glow over the room.
She didn’t look at him right away, just took a slow drag, exhaling through her nose before finally speaking. “That the girl Arthur won in the coin toss?”
Tommy poured himself a drink, even though it was too early for one. He took his time before answering. “It is.”
Polly’s gaze locked with his. “So why is she upstairs, in your room, and not with him? Or home with her family?”
Tommy didn’t answer immediately. Just swirled the amber liquid in his glass, watching the way the light caught in it. He didn't feel the need to explain himself.
But Polly wasn’t stupid. Her eyes narrowed slightly, putting the pieces together faster than most ever could. She leaned back in her chair, cigarette poised between her fingers, a slow smirk curving her lips. “You wanted her.” It wasn’t a question.
Tommy took a sip of his whiskey. He didn’t confirm or deny anything. But Polly was already seeing through him, like she always did.
“You let Arthur think it was his idea.” Her voice was quieter now. “Tricked her stepfather into wagering her. Then drugged Arthur when the time came to claim her. You waited, knowing she’d panic, knowing she’d run. And who was there, ready to catch her?” She let the silence hang for a beat before answering her own question. “You.”
Tommy took another slow sip of whiskey before finally meeting Polly’s gaze.
She sighed, shaking her head as if tired of playing this game with him. “What are your intentions, Thomas?”
Another pause. He could lie or deflect. But Polly wouldn’t believe him, and they both knew it.
So instead, he took another drag of his cigarette, exhaled the smoke, and simply said, “She’s mine.”
Polly let out a breath, long and slow, before muttering, “Jesus Christ, Tommy.”
Tommy had already made his decision.
Arthur would know soon enough. There’d be shouting, maybe a drunken outburst. Tommy would hand over proof that the arrangement had been upheld, that the wager had been honored in the way that mattered. It would be enough to keep Arthur from questioning him for long.
As for the girl’s stepfather? He would be a cautionary tale. A reminder of what happened when someone gambled with the Shelbys and lost. When a debt was called, when something was taken and then never seen again. Her sudden disappearance, her absence, would be enough to send a whisper of fear through Small Heath, a warning to any fool who might ever think to challenge them again.
And in time, when the dust settled and the moment was right, he would marry her. Not because of the arrangement.
Because she was now his.
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natsaffection · 6 months ago
Note
You're last post got me thinking....what would happen if somehow someway another vampire got to Reader and turned her. I know Nat watches her obsessively but like shit happens. Like what would Nats reaction to something like that happening be?
You’re still mine. | N.R
Vampire!older!Natasha x Human!younger!Reader
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Warnings: kidnapping and forced turning
Word count: 2,5k
The sound of your ragged breathing filled the dark room, broken only by the rattling of chains and the slow, deliberate sound of footsteps echoing against the cold stone.
Natasha was fighting against the restraints that bound her, the scent of burnt flesh thick in the air as the silver seared her wrists. But she didn’t care. She didn’t feel it.
Because you were in his hands. And she was helpless. He took his time. He savored moments like these..the ones where he got to watch Natasha suffer. And tonight? Tonight, he was going to destroy her.
His lips curled into a smirk as he lowered his head, his breath ghosting along your throat, making you shudder violently in his grasp. “Poor little thing.” he murmured, his fingers tightening around your waist, keeping you pinned against him. “You’re shaking. Tell me, is it fear? Or is it knowing what’s about to happen?”
A sharp sob escaped your lips, your entire body trembling against his hold. Your nails dug into his arms, desperate, panicked, pleading. Natasha snapped against the chains. “Stop!!” she snarled, her voice breaking. “Victor, let her go, she has nothing to do with this!”
Victor hummed, pretending to consider her words, before he let his fangs graze your skin, just enough for you to feel the sharpness. You whimpered, your hands gripping him tighter, your body trying to curl away, trying to disappear.
Natasha lost it. “VICTOR!” she screamed, her body thrashing against the restraints, her face twisting in desperation. “Fuck, please!” The plea left her lips before she could stop it, her voice hoarse with something that was almost a sob.
Victor grinned. “Did you hear that, little one?” he mused, his voice dripping with amusement. “She’s begging. The great Natasha Romanoff is begging for you.” Your breathing hitched, your chest rising and falling too fast, your heartbeat hammering against your ribs like a trapped bird.
You could feel his fangs hovering just above your pulse. You could feel death breathing down your neck. You sobbed, gripping onto Victor even tighter, nails raking against his skin in raw, primal terror.
Natasha’s stomach twisted violently. “Malyshka (Baby), look at me..” she whispered, her voice cracking. You were shaking too much. Your body was too rigid, your fear suffocating you.
Natasha’s heart shattered. “Y/n..” Your wide, terrified eyes met hers. And Natasha, despite everything, forced a soft, broken smile. “Breathe. I’ve got you. Just keep looking at me.”
Your hands trembled violently, your grip on Victor never loosening, not because you wanted to hold him, but because your body was begging for something, anything to cling to.
Natasha felt like she was dying. Victor chuckled, his fangs trailing lightly along your skin, feeling your pulse beneath them.
“She’s holding onto me like I’m the one protecting her.” he mused mockingly, his lips brushing over your throat. Natasha saw red. “You sick son of a bitch-”
“Careful..” Victor murmured, his fingers tilting your head just slightly. “You don’t want me to lose control, do you?” Natasha clenched her teeth, forcing her expression to soften for you, despite the rage burning inside her.
“Moya lyubov (My love)..” she whispered, voice so soft it cracked. “I need you to focus on me. Just me. Not him, not what he’s doing. Just keep your eyes on mine, okay?”
Your gaze locked onto hers like it was the only thing keeping you alive. And maybe it was. “I’m scared..” you whimpered, voice barely audible. Natasha exhaled sharply, her throat burning. “I know. But you’re not alone. I’m right here. I’ll always be right here.”
Victor let out an exaggerated sigh. “How sweet.” Then, his fangs pressed in. You let out a strangled gasp, your body stiffening as the sharp points broke the skin but didn’t bite. Just enough to make you feel it. Just enough to send your body into a state of pure terror. Your nails sank into his arms, hard enough to break the skin. Natasha sobbed.
“You don’t have to do this..” she whispered, begged. Victor grinned. “Oh, but I do. You’ve kept her human for too long, Natasha. You’ve been selfish. And now? Now, you’ll watch as she becomes one of us.”
“NO-” Then, he bit. Your scream ripped through the room. Natasha howled, her body shaking, her wrists bleeding from how hard she was pulling against the chains.
“Y/N!” Your entire body arched in agony, your pulse slamming against Victor’s lips, your hands clutching onto him like he was your last anchor in a storm.
Natasha’s entire world shattered. Your breathing turned ragged, your limbs trembling violently, your blood pouring into Victor’s mouth. And Natasha felt it.
She felt the moment your heartbeat changed. The moment your body stopped being yours. Her vision blurred, the sound of her own screams echoing around her, her rage, her grief, her entire soul breaking into something unrecognizable.
“No, no, no-” she choked out, shaking her head, her body collapsing under the weight of everything. Victor exhaled sharply, dropping you to the ground, your limp body hitting the cold floor with a soft thud.
Natasha’s arms dropped, the silver finally giving way under her relentless struggle, but she didn’t care. She was already too late.
She crawled toward you, her hands shaking as she reached for your face, cradling you against her. “Open your eyes..” You twitched in her arms. A faint, broken breath left your lips. Your veins darkened.
Natasha choked on a sob, pressing desperate kisses to your forehead, her fingers trembling as they brushed through your hair. “I should have turned you myself..” she whispered, voice barely there.
Victor smiled, satisfied. “And that, Natasha, is exactly why I did it first.” Natasha didn’t even register the moment she killed him. She didn’t feel her hands tear into him, didn’t process the screams, the blood, the vengeance that overtook her.
Because none of it mattered. None of it would ever bring you back. And when your eyes finally opened, something in Natasha died. Because they weren’t yours anymore. They weren’t hers. And that? That was something she would never forgive.
“I’m here, lyubov’. I’m not leaving.”
“I should’ve protected you. I should’ve done more.”
The only sound in the room was the faint, ragged breaths slipping past your lips. You weren’t asleep. You weren’t awake. You were something else—something caught between death and rebirth, trapped in the hunger of your new existence.
And Natasha hated it. She had never wanted this for you. Never wanted you to be like her. She had spent years protecting you from this curse, from this hunger, from the eternal darkness that had consumed her soul.
But Victor had taken that choice from you. And now, she was left with the aftermath. Her hands clenched into fists, her rage simmering beneath the surface like an inferno ready to consume. Victor was dead, but that wasn’t enough.
Because his actions still lived on. Inside you. A sharp inhale pulled Natasha from her thoughts. She froze, her grip tightening around you as your body stirred for the first time since your turning.
You twitched, your breathing shallow, a sharp gasp escaping your lips. Natasha’s heart clenched. “I’m here-” Then, your eyes snapped open.And Natasha stilled. It wasn’t you. Not really.
Your irises were still the color she had memorized, but now? Now, they were darker. Your pupils were too wide, your gaze too sharp, your body too tense as your senses flooded with the overwhelming hunger.
Natasha knew the signs. You were starving. And you had never felt anything like it before. Your hands shot out, clutching at your chest, at your throat, at anything to make the burning stop. “N-Natasha-” your voice cracked, raw, breathless, desperate. “I’m here, just breathe-”
“It hurts!” You gasped, curling in on yourself, your hands trembling violently. The hunger clawed at your insides, tearing through you like fire, like nothing you had ever known.
“Make it stop!” you sobbed, your fingers digging into your own skin. Natasha grabbed your wrists before you could scratch yourself raw. “Shh, shh, I’ve got you, I know, I know it hurts-”
Your breath came in sharp gasps, your entire body shaking as you clung to her like a lifeline. “What’s happening to me?” Natasha swallowed thickly. She didn’t want to tell you. She didn’t want you to know.
But the truth was already there, settling in your bones, seeping into your mind like a toxin. You weren’t human anymore. And Natasha could see it in your eyes..the growing fear, the way your body recognized its own monstrosity.
“I don’t-” Your voice broke. “I don’t feel like myself.” Natasha’s fingers curled under your chin, tilting your head up, forcing your gaze onto hers. “You are still you.” she whispered, her voice thick with something desperate, something aching.
Your lips trembled. “Then why do I feel like I’m dying?” Natasha inhaled sharply, her grip tightening. Because in a way, you had.
And the thing left behind was no longer the same. A quiet, broken sob slipped past your lips as you buried your face against her shoulder. “I don’t want to be this!” you whispered, pleaded. “I don’t want to be a..monster..”
Natasha’s arms wrapped around you so tight she thought she might break you all over again. “You’re not a monster.” she said, but even she wasn’t sure if it was true.
“You’re still mine.” You sniffled, your fingers clutching at her clothes like she was the only thing keeping you from falling apart. I’m scared..” Natasha shut her eyes, pressing her forehead to yours. “I know..” she whispered. “But I won’t let this break you.”
She exhaled sharply, her thumb grazing over your lips, her gaze flickering to the sharp tips of your fangs now fully bared. “I won’t let you go hungry either.”
Your body stiffened. Fuck, the hunger roared inside you. Natasha felt the shift before you did—the way your pupils dilated, the way your lips parted slightly, the way your entire posture changed as the need for blood overtook everything else.
You needed to feed. And Natasha was the only one you trusted to give it to you. She inhaled deeply, her hands sliding to the back of your neck, holding you steady.
“Drink from me.”
You froze. Your body trembled against hers, the sharp inhale of breath making Natasha’s stomach twist. Because she could feel your hunger. It was clawing at you, screaming at you to take what you needed. And Natasha Natasha wanted you to.
She needed to be the first blood you ever tasted. She needed to be the one to give you this..to guide you, to make sure you never craved anyone else the way you craved her. “I don’t-I don’t want to hurt you-”
“You won’t.” Her fingers tilted your chin, her lips ghosting over yours before she turned her head, exposing her throat to you in a silent offering.
“Take it.” she whispered. “Make yourself mine all over again.” Your body shuddered. Your lips brushed against her pulse. And then..Then you bit and Natasha sighed in relief. Because even if Victor had stolen your humanity-
Natasha’s entire body lurched forward as she gasped for air that she didn’t need. Her hands clenched the sheets beneath her, gripping them so tightly her nails nearly tore through the fabric. Her entire being felt like it had been ripped apart, like she had died a thousand times over in a single breath.
Her lungs burned, even though she knew they didn’t need to. Her mind spun violently, disoriented, lost. The scent of blood still clung to her senses, the echoes of your scream still piercing through her skull.
Her heart pounded in a way it never did anymore. For a moment, she didn’t know where she was. She didn’t recognize the dim glow of the bedroom, the soft sheets beneath her body, the familiar warmth beside her. Everything still felt wrong, like she was still trapped in that dark, suffocating nightmare.
Victor’s laugh still rang in her ears. She could still see your body, the way you clung to him in fear, the way your eyes begged her to stop what was happening. She could still feel the moment your heartbeat faded into nothing, the way your body stilled in her arms, the moment you were no longer you.
And then she saw you. Her stomach twisted violently. You were beside her, curled up in the sheets, your breathing slow and steady, your body warm and untouched. Your face was soft in the dim light, your lips slightly parted in deep sleep, your hair falling messily over the pillow.
She turned, her movements frantic, her mind still too lost in the nightmare to believe she was free of it. You were here. You were alive. You were still hers. A choked breath left Natasha’s lips. Her fingers twitched, hesitating before she reached out, afraid, so afraid that if she touched you, you would disappear. That this was just another illusion, another cruel trick of the mind.
But then her fingers brushed against your skin. Warm. Soft. Real. Her breath shuddered, her chest tightening with something so raw, so unbearable that she thought she might collapse under it. Her other hand came up to cup your cheek, her thumb brushing over your skin, just to make sure.
She had never felt relief like this before. Her hands trembled as she traced the line of your jaw, her touch featherlight, careful,desperate. Her mind was still spinning, still caught somewhere between the nightmare and reality.
Her instincts screamed at her to hold you tighter, to never let go again, to make sure no one could ever take you from her. “I almost lost you..” she whispered, though you couldn’t hear her. Her voice was raw, barely there, but even in the silence, it was painful.
Her fingers moved to your wrist, pressing against your pulse point, needing, needing to feel it. The steady, rhythmic beat under her fingertips made something deep inside her crack wide open. She needed you. Her body moved before she could think, shifting closer, curling herself around you. She buried her face in your hair, inhaling deeply, letting your scent calm the raging storm in her mind.
But it wasn’t enough. She pressed herself closer, wrapping an arm around your waist, her fingers slipping beneath your shirt just to feel the warmth of your skin. The contact sent a shiver through her, grounding her, reminding her that this was real. That you were real. Natasha swallowed hard, squeezing her eyes shut as she held on.
She didn’t know how long she stayed like that, wrapped around you, her grip almost too tight, like she was afraid you would slip away if she loosened it even a fraction. She didn’t know how to stop feeling like she was still losing you.
“I won’t let anyone take you from me.” she murmured into your skin, her voice barely above a whisper, but it carried the weight of something unbreakable. She pressed a kiss to your shoulder, her lips lingering, her breathing unsteady.
-
-
-
A/N: Under no circumstances will I let anyone else turn Y/n. 🙂‍↔️
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cranberrydietcoke · 8 months ago
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bride to be - father charlie mayhew
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content: 18+ !! mdni !! father charlie mayhew x female reader, coercion/dubcon, religious guilt, degradation and praise, slapping, crying, fingering, abuse of power, innocent!virgin!reader, toxic!pervy! charlie, oral (m receiving), p in v, unprotected (don’t be dumb yall), kinda breeding, size kink if u get a microscope
wc: 4.8k (sry i went a lil crazy)
a/n: hi yall this is literally my first fanfic ever ! drew some inspo from @hoffmansgirl @tokyoghls & @lucyisdoingfine
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sundays were your favorite days. you were a good little church mouse. eager to serve. eager to please, always wearing white to early morning service. it was evidence of your innocence. father charlie always says your innocence is precious. valuable. your bible study together always left you so impressed, how a man can look at one paragraph and be able to take away so much. you had reached out to a deacon at the church, inquiring about some guidance in the word, expecting to be put in contact with a nun-in-training with less important things to do. that’s how you wound up in the priest’s office every sunday night. he said he needed to ‘connect more with his congregants.’  he knew you would believe it, and so would your parents.
the calming bustle of churchgoers finding their seats was abruptly cut off by the deep, layered boom of the organ, signaling the beginning of the service. you shift in the wooden pew, brushing your dark curls over your shoulder and adjusting the lace strap of your dress, preparing your heart to hear the word of god. the vibrations rattled deep within your chest, making you clutch the diamond cross adorning the center of it. the spotlight snapped on, an oval of light encompassing the priest as he eyed the pews almost nonchalantly, his vacant eyes wandering as he approached the pulpit, clearing his throat.
“brothers and sisters, we serve a just god,” his veiny hands gripped the worn oak of the stand, turning pale red as he supported himself, leaning forward toward the parishioners. you sat in the front row, eyes wide and glazed over as if you were looking at the god he spoke of.
“confront the reality of your desire, of your sin. because as we see in his word this morning, the wage of our sin is death.” he paused, letting out a heavy breath and loudly thumping his bible before shooting his empty gaze at you.
“what would your heart look like,” his chest fell ever so slightly, almost defeatedly, “when stripped naked before a holy god?”
charlie knew he was preaching to himself, coddling his guilt with verses as he always did. this wasn’t a message for the church, but rather for him. desire was a reality he needed to confront. the service slipped by as you hurriedly took notes in pink glitter gel script with doodles lining the sides.               ˚ ༘♡ ⋆。˚romans 6*:ꔫ:*+゚.
“the lord be with you”
“and with your spirit”
applying a fresh layer of lip gloss, gathering your bible and smoothing the back of your dress, you and your mother shuffle out of the pew. your shoes tapping on the marble as you all headed towards the stained-glass doors where father charlie stood talking to the other congregants as they left.
“mrs y/l/n, always good to see you.” he remarked, giving a venerating nod toward your mother as the two of you stopped in front of him.
“father, beautiful service as always.” she said through a smile, leaning in to give quick air kisses on each side of his face. she looooved her some father charlie. you really are your mothers daughter. “so hows bible study goin’ with you two?” she mused, motioning to the both of you limply with her hand before placing it on her hip. his eyes snapped to yours, hands clasped behind his back as he anticipated your words, searching for reassurance in your expression.
“very well. we’ve been going through the old testament, some hard stuff. she’s a good listener.” he replied. your face stayed neutral, but inside, your nerves were tangling into knots.
“did you see both of christie’s girls got engaged? and joe’s daughter. got me thinking about y/n, her future.” your mother went on. charlie gave you a stern look as you rolled your eyes and hid your face in your hands.
“she has a lot to learn still. being a wife, i-i can’t say she’s ready. she’s so blessed to have the guidance of a godly man like you. just, uh, help her out.” she continued with a cheeky smile, patting the priest on his bicep.
now twirling a piece of hair between your fingers, you steal a passing glance at the father as your mom ushers you through the front door. “i’ll see you at seven, okay?” his finger hovered down at you.
“y-yes father! see you tonight!” you called out, voice growing fainter as you were dragged away and out into the sunlight.
the last few months had been excruciating for him. every saturday night, he dreamt about what white dress you would choose to wear, what fragrance you would spritz on your neck. he had gotten you more comfortable over time. you were showing your personality, asking more questions, confessing more sins. he loved it when you confessed. he got high on the essence of your pure shame and desperation, pleading for help on what to do, crying to him about how guilty you were. he wrote about you in his sermons, dreamt about you, imagined you bent over his desk begging for it harder. this could be his opportunity to make a real woman out of you. your mother’s words echoed in his mind as he wandered through the convent. he was determined to make you the perfect godly wife.
the orange hue of the sunset beamed through the windows on each side of the chapel, casting shadows that danced with the movement of the trees and birds flying by. the bright white of your lace-lined dress in the sunlight nearly blinded charlie as he emerged from a side door, hidden away by velvet curtains.
“y/n, just on time, as always.” his welcome was steady and warm as he approached nearer, a hint of a smile touching his lips.
the parallel clicks of his red leather boots and your kitten heels filled the still air of the room, each step slicing through the reverent silence.
“of course father, i wouldn’t miss it” you answered, looking up at him as you walked side by side to his office. his hand found its way to the nape of your neck as he led you, the softness of your tan skin and the scent of vanilla nearly making his eyes flutter. he was so wrong for this, but he didn’t care. you had to learn one way or another.
 you took your usual seat in the black leather chair opposite him, only separated by a large wooden desk. bookshelves lined the walls. a small crucifix hang in the empty space above his seat. he sat, flicking around a ballpoint pen and thumbing through his bible which sat open on the desk.
“so,” he sighed as he leaned back in the chair, legs spread as his hands glided over the thigh of his black dress pants, “tonight’s one is really important. i took some time to think about what your mother said, and i agree." he nodded, "i think a girl of your age is ready to learn.” his pointer finger tapped slowly on his right knee.
“yes, father. i think so too. i just don’t even know where to start.”
“well that’s where i come in,” he smiled, not like when he welcomed you in, it was different. almost predatory. “that’s why i’m here, my child.”  your eyes were glued to the floor, while his were busy surveying the curve of your hips as you sat. so soft. so perfect.
“what book are we gonna be in, father?” you asked absentmindedly, your long lashes brushing against your cheeks with each unhurried blink. you got comfortable in your seat as you opened your bible, pink faux leather full of sticky notes and neon-highlighted prophecies, promises, and judgments.
“we’ll actually be flipping back and forth a bit tonight,” he explained, clearing his throat and adjusting his papers. “the goal here is that you leave feeling prepared to be a wife, one that serves the lord, and her husband. do you understand?”
you nodded, your glossy eyes locked with his. “good. can you go to colossians 3 verse 18 and read that for me, please, sweetheart?”
“wives, submit yourselves unto your husbands, as is fitting in the lord.” you read.
“yes, submission. the definition is skewed nowadays.” he muttered, waving his pen around musingly. “christ did submit to father god, although the son has no less authority. you see?” he leaned forward, gripping the edge of his desk to stand up, circling to your side, bible in hand.
“go to first corinthians chapter 7, it says ‘the husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband.” he chuckled lightly as you highlighted the verse in lavender. this poor girl has no fucking clue, he thought as he slid his papal ring off. that’s what drew him to you in the first place. he reclined against the side of the desk, legs crossed at the ankle.
“what does that mean father? how will the duties of a godly woman change once she’s married?” your pitch heightening with each question. “like cooking and cleaning? are they the same for bo-“ with a raised hand, he stopped you in your words.
“yes, y/n, yes. you’re eager aren’t you?” he breathed out, a wide grin plastered on his face. “it does include domestic things but also emotional things. honest communication, faithfulness…and physical things too.” he traced his words as he looked at you, “that’s what really changes when you get married.”
his eyes lit up as your jaw went slack at the realization of what he meant.
“oh…i see.” your shoulders slumping and eyes drifting to the marble floor. he could feel the disappointment in your sigh.
“where’d that smile go, sweet girl? what’s wrong?” he chided, a faux frown on his face.
“i just, that’s- i don’t know.” you huffed, “how am i supposed to know what to do on my wedding night? it’s just so unfair. an-and scary!”
“well,” he let out a shallow breath, reaching out to tuck a silky strand of stray hair behind your ear, “i can help you with that too, sweetheart. if you let me.” his fingers curled around the nape of your neck, steady and with purpose. his eyes bore into you as he tilted his head, attempting to coax your gaze up towards him, but you couldn’t bring yourself to meet them. the foreign heartbeat between your legs became a knotted bundle in your stomach, making you squeeze your thighs together. he traced his index finger down your collarbone, gripping the chain of your necklace between his fingers. he stopped, thumbing at the karats of your crucifix, lost in thought.
he drops the charm with cold indifference, then turns, pacing in circles. “first corinthians seven- thirty four. a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world, how to please her husband.” the bass in his voice snapped you out of your daze, finally looking up to return frantic little nods and blinks.
“right, o-okay. but father,” you said, lowering your voice ,“i’m not married.” your eyes scanned around dramatically as if to search for witnesses, “we-we’re not married.”
he neared you, placing both hands on each arm of the leather chair, trapping you in. “we can pretend, okay? this’ll be how we conduct our lessons.” he could feel the heat of your breath mixing with the strawberry on your lips. “your mother said you have a lot to learn.” he said almost accusingly, but full of pity. “no more questions, sweet thing. i’m here to guide you, remember?” his words were coated in a nauseating sweetness, seeping into your impressionable mind and persuading you to trust him.
the scent of his cologne was overpowering, making the glossy stain in your baby pink cotton panties worsen. he was only inches away, his shadow encapsulating you as his eyes roamed your face, gauging every reaction as he carefully crept his fingers to play with the lace hem of your dress. sunday’s best.
“have you ever touched yourself, y/n?”
your breath caught in your throat. maybe this would have felt different from the safe shadows of a booth, but this confession was much different. embarrassment sent warmth rushing to  your cheeks as you looked through father charlie rather than at him. you nodded your head, “only once.” you spoke, a broken kind of whisper. he was tracing spirals into your thigh, immediately pausing after hearing that you, the purest little flower he’d ever known, had snuck under her nightgown to play with her pussy. immediately and without moving his head, his eyes flicked up, a sick smile curling on his lips.
“you poor thing…you didn’t cum?” he said with faux sympathy. your eyes widened, almost popping out of your head, as the cross resting just above your cleavage swayed with each breath. up and down. up and down. you shook your head, tears of vulnerability stung in your eyes. “hey…hey. it’s okay! we all start somewhere, right?”  he cooed, almost manic as his hand raised to pass a thumb over your blushed cheek. “i promise by the end of our sessions you’ll feel prepared, yeah? the duties of marriage include knowing your own body. and your husbands. that’s not a problem, is it?” his fingers laced with yours, thumbs tracing the valleys of your knuckles. your hand was so small in his.
“if that’s what the lord calls me to do, i have to listen.” you choke out, a single tear falling down onto the freckles of your thighs. he had never given you a reason to be afraid, but you were, the heaviness on your chest becoming unbearable.
after a long pause and a heavy sigh he whispered, “i knew you would be a good girl, so obedient,” wiping the stain from your face. “get on your knees for me, like you’re gonna pray.” he mumbled, drunk off his own words. hesitantly, you rose and knelt to the floor, palms flat on your thighs as your frightened gaze fixed on the man before you. a man of god. a man you could trust.
“let’s get some practice in, okay?”
his voice was soft but left you understanding you had no say in it. he bent down, his fingers gently hooking the straps of your dress, sliding them slowly down your shoulders until the fabric gathered at your waist. you watched him as he did so, his frenzied eyes not matching the tenderness of his touch. he groans at the sight of your barely covered chest, lace and gems adorning your push-up bra. he undid his buttons with a swiftness you’ve never seen before, now shirtless in front of you.
standing upright, he delivers two tiny taps to your jaw. light, but deliberate. urging you to open up. this was okay. you were husband and wife. the clinking of his belt being slipped off just sounded like wedding bells to you. by the time he shimmied and stepped out of his pants, you were spellbound - mind soft and yielding, ready to mold to whoever he needed you to be.
 your mouth lay half open, satin tongue hanging over your bottom lip and leaving it with a glossy sheen. standing over you, he grasped your jaw, tilting it up to guide you as he released a string of spit that connected his lips to your tongue as he hummed in approval. he clasped his thumbs on the band of his briefs until they fell around his ankles, freeing himself. your tears multiplied as you saw the inches slap onto his v line, twitching and bobbing in the air.
“see, this is your fault. open up real wide f’me.” he huffed as his thumb went to align himself with your mouth, tapping the tip on your tongue. a confused whimper escaped your gaping mouth as he pushed his length further in. musk and salt sat on your tastebuds as he instructed you to tuck your lips, collecting your hair in his fist as you tried to gloss his entire dick with spit. he started off slow, seeing you furrow your brows and gag, looking up at him for approval. he thrust into you as he guided your head, the grip on your hair making your scalp burn. your moans of protest were muffled as he fucked your face, tears now streaming down your chest. you tried pushing at his thighs, digging your almond french tips into the muscle, but it only made him go harder.
“nuh-uh, you’re gonna have to learn.”
as his head massaged the back ridges of your throat, his large hands cupped each side of your head with a commanding grasp, forcing the tip of your nose to meet his happy trail and holding you in place. his chest glistened with sweat, heaving as he looked down at you with absent eyes. the room was humid as your nose drew in wet, shaky breaths, gagging around this thick length.
“do you see now, why i have to do this to you?” he cooed, looking down as you struggled to breathe, blowing bubbles of slobber that collected at the base of his shaft. your face screwed as you sobbed and squirmed on the cold floor, dick down your throat. “you’re wildly unprepared.” he hissed, shaking his head, unimpressed. “look at you,” he spat, pulling you off, leaving you gasping for air as if each inhale would be the last. “why fight it?” grabbing your cheeks, causing your lips to pucker, all swollen and slick. you flinched at his touch. “a good wife isn’t supposed to be defiant. we just read that.” he scoffed, “i don’t even think you were paying attention.”
you clenched your eyes shut to avoid looking up at him, just shaking your head. “i was, i promise i was!” you attempted to cry out, but all that escaped was whiny mumbles.
 “no, no, look me in the face. give me some fucking respect,” he muttered, tightening his grip on your jaw, yanking it close. you forced your eyes open to meet his. breath hot on your lips, he was growing visibly more impatient. his irises were pure black, like that of a shark. one that could sniff out innocent little girls like human blood.
“i see righttttt through you, tryna hide behind your rosary, your psalms, your fucking dresses.” he mocked, hand leaving your face to tug the remainder of the lace mess down your legs, leaving you in your bra and panties. “but i see you. i see what kind of slut you are. looking up at me in the pew, coming to my office until well after sundown. fuckin’ asking for it.” he stepped back, his narrow eyes examining you in disgust.
“father- no i just, please,” you choked out, shame turning into stickiness between your legs.
“please?! please what? i’m exposing your sin!” his voice rose to a yell, dragging his hands down his face before gesturing toward you dismissively as you sat motionless on the floor. “no manners whatsoever,” he sighed out. your face dropped as he tapped the wood of his desk. “come, sit. spread those legs.” he commanded.
without thought, you rise from the floor and take a seat where he had told you to, ankles dangling in the air as you shyly open your thighs. anything to make him happy again. he bends over, gently running two fingers over your clothed pussy, noticing a wet mark right in the middle. “oh wow, i knew you wanted this,” he chuckled, holding one leg open while the other rubbed circles into your panties. “so wet, so ready.”  
hiding your face in your hands, you watched through your fingers as he focused on the growing puddle in the fabric of your underwear, attention solely between your legs. “this is the y/n i know…mhm.. always so good for me. i don’t know what got into you, huh?” he hummed. you could feel his words on the inside of your thigh as he continued to study you, making you whimper. before you could question anything, he was sliding the boyshorts past your knees, whispering praises as you kicked them off.
“fuck,” he moaned out, breathlessly admiring you while running his hands up your stomach to your chest. he traced the wire of your bra to the back, unclasping it with a pop and discarding it on the floor. your tiny, uneven breaths filled the air, giving way to quiet moans under his touch. he glided his hands on the underside of your thighs, spreading you gently with his index and middle fingers.
“awh, my pretty pink girl. so pure.” he spoke almost to himself as he bent over, playing in your folds. deep down, you knew you shouldn’t let him do this. but it felt so good. and he knew best, right?
his fingers ran the wetness up and down your pussy before working in his middle finger, forcing you to hear yourself, how bad you really did want this. you gasped, sitting up on your hands and looking down at the priest who was now pumping his whole finger into you. words tangled on your tongue, babbling and moaning with furrowed brows.
“ohh my god,” you managed to squeak out. he softly shook his head, never slowing down his pace.
 “no, baby. just me n’ you.”
he pulled his finger out, making you clench at the emptiness. encircling your slit, he lined up a second finger, slowly stuffing it into your leaky pink hole. you cried out, digging your nails into the wood of the desk and writhing against him. twisting his fingers in you, he started to speak. “this is the next step in becoming a real adult, y/n. as your priest, i have a responsibility….” his free hand dug into your hip, holding you in place to stop your squirming, “a responsibility to make sure you’re educated on certain things. ready for the real world.”
his fingers continued their assault on your pussy, fucking you open as your feet stirred aimlessly in the air, helpless and overwhelmed. “father f-fuckk i - ” you stuttered, attention being brought back to reality by a rough slap, one so hard it caused your ear to ring. your fingers trembled against your burning cheek, lips parted and eyes wide with panic.
 “watch your fucking language, how do you expect to find a husband with a mouth like that?” he huffed, removing his hands from you completely. how ironic. you sniffled and nodded, pushing yourself up, wanting to bridge the distance left by his absent touch. his thumb gripped your chin, guiding your eyes to his. “i think you’re ready though, don’t you?” his fat tip was now rubbing up and down your petals, as you babbled i can’ts and i dunno’s.
he lay his length against your stomach, touching your belly button, perversely rubbing it against the smooth of your skin. you rolled your hips against the desk, staring up at him. “will it fit?” you mewled, cupping your heavy tits in your hands and pressing them together. you were learning so well. he led himself to circle your clit, collecting your glaze and spreading it around. you threatened to cry out, the only thing stopping you being the sharp bite on your bottom lip.
“yes angel, i’ll make it fit…just a part of it” he breathed out, softly pressing his lips to your forehead. “this is what husbands and wives do..” trailing off, trying to distract you as he stuffed the tip in.
your gasps and whimpers of discomfort subsided to pornographic moans as he slowly worked himself in, bucking himself against you until there was nothing left to fit. cradling the back of your head in both hands, he forced you to watch yourself get filled up as he stretched you with slow, grinding movements. you brought your knees to your chest, spreading yourself more for him, little ah ah ah’s drifting from your tongue.
“thaat’s my girlll,” he hissed, knowing he was holding back. “now..” he paused, making you squirm your hips in search of friction, hands still entrapping your skull, eyes piercing yours, “i’m gonna fuck you stupid, okay? and you’re gonna be grateful.” his soothing tone not matching the brutality of his words.
your head nodded mechanically with a vacant stare, mouth agape. maybe it was a good thing your priest was taking your virginity. he was a man of god, after all. his grip on your scalp tightened as he repeatedly slammed into you, hitting that deep, spongy spot that had never been touched before. he angled you to watch every stroke, pressing on the bulge in your lower tummy. “you see that, dumb girl? does that feel good?” he grunted out, filling the room with sloppy noises each time he thrust into you.
“y-yess, soo good,” you squealed, leaving a creamy ring around his shaft.
another slap. but he refused to let up on your cunt, quickening his pace and violently snapping his hips against the back of your thighs. tears welled in the corner of your eyes as you got filled up.
“yes who?” he demanded, almost growling as he pressed his chest to your legs, folding you in half.
“yes fatherr, feels so so good, pleasepleaseplease,” you had no clue what you were even begging for at this point. his length was relentlessly sliding in and out, beating up your cervix.
“mhm, our little secret. our little fucking secret,” he whispered on repeat. like a mantra. a perverted one-on-one devotional. his hands, large and assuming, glided over your body before finding your throat, squeezing both sides. waves of pleasure washed over you, eyes rolling into the back of your head. “hnnmpphh- i can’t, please- it’s too much,” your hands rake at the muscle of his chest, searching for any mercy.
“ohh, sweet thing, you’ve been taking it so well.”  he soothed, finally slowing down for only a moment, “no fussing, just cum for me.”  
he immediately resumed brutalizing you, thumb circling your swollen clit. both legs spasmed as you came undone, juices leaking down onto the polished wood. any rational thought had left your brain, as a matter of fact, so had any thought at all. your absent, glassy eyes crossed and rolled with each motion, eyebrows knitting together in a blissful frown. he moaned shakily, making sure you felt every inch.
“tell me what god said to noah after the flood.” he grunted out, lips ghosting over yours, hand still tight on your neck. you were barely coherent, essentially speaking in tongues. a harsh slap landed to your cheek, jolting you into reality from the haze of your orgasm.
“c’mon kid, genesis 9, stay with me,” he snapped.
“be fruitful…” you yelped, straining through clenched teeth and a constricted airway, cupping your cheek, “increase in number, fill the earth.”
“mhm, we’re gonna make him proud, okay?” he coaxed you to agree. he knows you’re too braindead to comprehend, just obediently nodding your little head to whatever he asks.
“gonna give you my cum till it takes,” he pants out, loosening to grip on your throat to lock his hands to your hips, guiding your body up and down his inches with relentless force. your head bobbing loosely as he slammed into you over and over and over again. “god, fuck- gonna put a fuckin’ baby in you,” his hips stuttered, spilling his seed into you and pounding it deep into your cervix.
pulling himself out with a sigh, he watched with hooded lids as his cum dripped out of you in pearlescent globs. his hands smoothed the mess of hair on your head, sealing it with a tiny kiss before cleaning you up and retrieving your panties from the floor without words. his hands enveloped your waist, lifting you effortlessly to your feet beside the desk as your knees faltered. he bent down, holding open the legs of the undergarment for you to step in, gripping onto his shoulder for balance as you do so. next the dress. then the heels, sitting you in the black leather chair as he slides them onto each foot, clasping your ankle strap before placing a wet kiss to each knee. a small act of worship.
“my little bride-to-be...” he whispers, now standing over you, caressing your smooth skin with his thumb, trying to drink in the hollow stillness in your head.
“same time next sunday, alright?”
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thepromptfoundry · 11 months ago
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It's a double feature this October here at the Prompt Foundry with both Prompts That Go Bump In The Night and OC-tober.
For Prompts That Go Bump In The Night, let's get creepy with it, get in touch with our dark sides, make Edgar Allan Poe proud, and get into the spirit of spooky season!
Feel free to combine different days' prompts with each other, or combine them with other events! Use your OCs, your favorite characters from media, your own experiences, whatever tickles your fancy.
Make this as scary as you want, just remember to tag appropriately!
If you use this list, please tag me here @thepromptfoundry, I’d love to see your writing and art and learn about your characters!
Respond to as many prompts as you want or as interest you, don’t worry about missing or skipping any. Remember, this is supposed to be fun!
If you have any questions or musings, check our FAQ, and if you don't find your answer, shoot me an ask.
Plain text list below the cut:
1 Too many eyes 2 A whisper in the dark 3 Someone who shouldn't be there 4 Vampires 5 Blood 6 An untimely death 7 A shadow in the window 8 The darkness before dawn 9 Nobody's child 10 Open graves 11 Zombies 12 A stolen face 13 Something behind you 14 A lying smile 15 Creaking floorboards 16 Witches 17 The full moon 18 Werewolves 19 Screams on the wind 20 Skeletal remains 21 A black dog 22 Rattling chains 23 Restless spirits 24 The wrong way home 25 Icy breath 26 A forgotten name 27 Words never spoken 28 The other side of the mirror 29 Lights going out 30 An unheeded warning 31 One last chance to escape
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moviestarmartini · 1 year ago
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mirrors. — jude bellingham x reader
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summary: your boyfriend is adamant in showing you why you have no reason to be insecure.
wc: 1.8k
warnings: midsize!reader, insecure!reader, nsfw (18+) , unprotected sex (don't ♡) , mirror sex, lots and lots of compliments, soft dom!jude, fingering, creampie, happy ending.
A/N: this is a quick read since that one scene in bridgerton got a bit of muse back from me!! thank you to all the girlies (gn) who dropped by la sobremesa to beg for jude lmao. i have a few other requests i may or may not honor hehe but enjoy!!
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The door to the hotel room slammed shut, and you felt as though it might have rattled the whole building. You couldn’t hear past your panting and deafening heartbeat, not knowing what to do but pace around. 
You’ve come to learn in that gala that, even though it wasn’t likely, people on the internet were kinder with their cruel words. Nothing could compare to the looks of disdain you got as you hung around your boyfriend. It didn’t make sense, you’ve been dating Jude for almost two years, and nothing compared to those models and influencer types staring you down. 
You muttered something to him earlier about having a tummy ache, leaving the event and heading up to the shared hotel room in the same venue. You didn’t even catch the beep of a card being swiped on the door, your stupor too high to notice your boyfriend approaching you concerned. 
“Love…” His voice started softly, effectively startling you half to death. But his brows furrowed softly as he noticed your panic, taking your hands in his. “What’s wrong? Tell me— no, wait, let’s breathe.” He squeezed your hands and guided your breathing with large intakes and exhales until your bottom lip effectively stopped quivering. 
“Do I embarrass you?” You couldn’t help but ask, a baffled expression growing in his face before the realization settled in. 
“Oh, honey,” He cooed in a sigh, brushing a strand of hair away from your face. “Those women are just envious. If you didn’t mind them, you would know I spent all night looking at you and only at you.” 
“But—“ You tried arguing, swallowing the lump in your throat. 
“No, none of that.” Over time in both your friendship and subsequent relationship, Jude had given you confidence that had pushed you forward in every aspect of your life. He looked around the room trying to find a device to get his point across, his face softening landing his eyes on the full body mirror next to the balcony. 
“C’mere.” Jude pulled you towards the item, his hand gently on yours. His hand opened to guide you to stand in front of it, staring at your reflection. He stood behind you, his hand on your waist. 
“Look at you…” His voice was soft but still sultry. “You’re perfect. The way your curves hug that dress perfectly anyone would think it was made for you and nobody else.” A smile twitched in your mouth, but the whispering flashed by from one ear to another, snapping you out of the temporary happiness. 
“It’s just us here, okay?” He could read you like an open book, his other hand gently cupping your jaw to maintain your look towards your reflection. “It’s also how your skin is so soft it shines under the light.” The hand on your waist ran up your exposed arm, forming a trail of goosebumps on the skin. 
“And all those other parts of you I worship constantly.” He leaned in to place his chin on your shoulder, looking back at the two of you. 
“How are you so sure?” Your chest heaved but for a completely different reason once you asked sheepishly, a smile forming in response before he put the words out there. 
“Because you’re the love of my life,” He replied simply. “Besides, we’ve been together for so long, you’re my reflection. And I’m yours.” He kissed your cheek delicately before parting ways with your body. 
But everything was long forgotten already by you, turning around to pull him into a kiss. His hands found the way to your waist, pulling you close briefly before he broke the kiss. 
“I love you more than anything in this universe.” He brushed his nose against yours before twirling you around to face the mirror again. “And you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met.” 
While a hand pinched the bottom of the zipper, the other pulled it down painfully slowly, never breaking eye contact through the mirror. The gown soon pooled at your feet, and it was as if he took a moment to admire the work of art in front of him; you were wearing just heels and panties, your nipples hardened from the sudden cold of the room. 
He didn’t even need to say anything, his eyes did the talking. 
Jude leaned closer to kiss your neck, slowly, never breaking eye contact. He held you closer to his body with a hand resting on the soft pouch under your belly button. You thought you could melt into a puddle right then there, chest heaving as you noticed his hand lower even further and into the tiny piece of underwear— worn so it wouldn’t show with the dress. 
“This pretty pussy is also so perfect.” He whispered in your ear, his slender fingers pressing against your clit. “I want to make love to you, with one condition.” 
“Yes?” Your voice quivered, letting out a loud exhale at the way his lips curled into a snarky smile. 
“It has to be facing this mirror.” 
You didn’t even notice when you nodded, or when you sauntered over to the bed and laid on it per his request. It all felt like an out of body experience until he tugged off the tie, starting to strip in front of you. 
You couldn’t help but smirk as he unbuttoned the expensive white shirt, the sound of his belt coming undone made your mouth water. He removed his shoes before taking off the pair of slacks, taking slow steps towards you before leaning down to kiss a trail up your stomach, chest, throat and up to your lips. 
You moaned into the kiss as he laid on top of you, pinning your hands over your head. “Perfect,” He breathed out between kisses, “And all mine.” 
His hand sneaked under your panties again, teasing your wet entrance with two slender fingers before pushing one first past your entrance. “F-fuck— Baby,” You squirmed, your back aching against his bare chest. 
“Feels good, right?” He asked softly, pumping his finger in and out, his boner pressing against your upper thigh but he seemed too focused on working his magic. 
You nodded between moans as he slipped another finger past. You’ve done this a thousand times already, but why did this time feel so… different? Your senses were clouding with each expert twist and tiny thrust he was giving you, the underwear practically ruined with your slick. 
But he suddenly stopped, leaving you distraught as he removed the tiny item of clothing, taking off his underwear to match. No matter your weight, it was surprising how easily he could manhandle you, switching so you laid on top of him. 
“You know what to do, love.” He cupped your face, and you nodded, taking his leaking cock in your hand to line it against your entrance. 
You watched as he closed his eyes, almost squeezing them shut at your light teasing. You smiled before pushing him in completely, a groan escaping both of your lips once it was fully inside. 
You rocked your hips, noticing how he had opened his eyes. Moans left your lips as his arm reached up, taking a hold of your jawline to tilt your face up. Once again, you met your eyes in the mirror, your stomach sucking in. 
“Look at you,” He cooed. “You’re perfect when you ride me.” 
You gave yourself a good look and couldn’t help but agree. The way your tits bounced with every rock of your hips was enticing, and now you felt like an idiot for even listening to the gossip downstairs. 
After all, you were the one you had the man of their dreams under you, groaning with every bounce of your body on his cock. 
“What’s that look on your face?” He noted breathlessly, and you couldn’t help but smile and shake your head. Yet again, without any words, he understood you perfectly. “There she is.” He winked up at you, holding you down to take his entire length. You groaned, noticing him shifting his weight to switch your bodies. 
Now you laid under him, and you couldn’t help but notice once again how huge he was. His biceps morphed together could easily be bigger than your head. 
You reached out to caress his face, “I love you so much. I’m so lucky to have you.” You admitted breathlessly as he started thrusting again, much faster than the speed your hips had established a mere second ago. 
“No, I’m lucky to have you.” Jude insisted, kissing your hand. “My perfect girl…” 
The build up to your orgasm lasted a few seconds. You were so concentrated on everything else to notice how close you were, only doing so when your stomach squeezed in. “Jude…” You warned, lips parted. 
“Do it baby, cum on my cock.” He approved with a nod, quickly throwing one of your legs over his shoulder in order to gain an angle to touch your sensitive clit. 
The moans got caught in your throat, and you caught your calf spasming from the pleasure. The brain fog from the pleasure was too much, enough for you to not notice Jude pulling out and easily manhandle you into laying in your stomach. He pulled your hips slightly up to gain the perfect angle, following his hand wrapping your hair in a fist and pulling you up to meet your eyes in the mirror once again. 
“Look at you,” He cooed once again, and frankly, you looked overwhelmed in the pleasure he was giving you with each deep thrust, the sound of skin coming into contact filling the room along with the creaking of the bed and the sounds you both produced. 
From the stuttering of his hips you could hint he was close too, but it wasn’t until he posed the question that you actually realized it. “Where do you want it, hm? Want me to cum all over your ass?” He groped the skin before giving sharp spanks, the surprise making you gasp. 
“No!” You shook your head, “Cum inside, baby. Please.” You knew very well it was a trick question, and the mumbled praises he shot were the confirmation as he leaned in to kiss the back of your shoulder. 
Similar to the previous one, your orgasm completely caught you off guard as it washed over you suddenly, the squeezing of your walls being the catalyst for your boyfriend’s own orgasm which he honored both of your wishes by filling you up with the thick white ropes of sticky liquid. 
It took you both a second to ride off the highs, Jude rolling over to lay at your side. 
“We should’ve fucked in the bathroom downstairs so everyone heard us.” You commented mindlessly, laying on your back and staring up at the ceiling. 
At the sound of your boyfriend’s cackles, you couldn’t help but smile. Yeah, you really loved him. And he really loved you, too. 
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twinkling-moonlillie · 6 days ago
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Sweet Dreams - Dad!jo x reader
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The storm was raging outside, wind rattling the house with enough force to even shake the California king bedframe. Rain, which usually helped calm your nerves, pounded on the pavement like the concrete personally desecrated the weather. 
You were sprawled out over Satoru, legs tangled under the sheets and arms wrapped around torsos, as you mumbled about everything and nothing all out once. 
“Mmm and did’ya know Digimon can fall in love?” Satoru mumbled into your hair, voice way too smooth for a man on the verge of passing out. “Means you could be the Angewoman to my Angemon in another universe…”
A small giggle escapes your lips. “You’re such a freak, ‘Toru.” “But I’m your freak, baby. Part of the terms and conditions of dating me.” You can feel his smirk against your skin and before you can respond, there’s a sudden knock on the door, just loud enough to be heard over the pouring rain. 
With a slight groan, you get out of the bed, the sheets wrinkling from the movement. Coldness seeps into your skin, rain still punishing the land. 
You open the door, causing a low creak (that satoru has yet to fix) to echo. “Ah…Megumi?” 
The child in question looked up at you, his lips twitching into a deeply unpleasant expression, hair unkempt and sticking up wildly; like father like son, you mused. “Baby, what are you doing up so late, hm?” You crouch down to the boy’s eye level. “Everything okay?” 
Megumi didn’t respond. He didn’t have to. You noticed his tiny clenched fists and the unusual bags under his eyes, the way he subconsciously flinched from the rumbling thunder outside. Ever since you’ve known him, he’s had a small fear of storms; he hesitantly mumbled about how it makes him feel alone one night. 
Years have passed since then, the moody boy growing into an even moodier (that’s possible??) pre teen. Satoru liked to joke that one day he’ll stop relying on either of you, making your heart ache in a way you never thought possible. Thankfully, that day has yet to come. 
Satoru padded his way over, mind too muddled for witty remarks or jokes. “S’okay, can sleep with us tonight.” 
Megumi, who usually protested against any forms of affection - especially from Satoru - slumped into his arms the moment he was picked up and gently moved into the bed, the sight making your heart turn to goo once more. Vulnerability was never Satoru’s strong suit, reserved for the quietest moments where he smiled at either one of you like a bud discovering spring. “Poor kid, it’s a rager out there, huh.” 
“Shh, Satoru, don’t tease him.” You pulled the boy into your arms, kissing his forehead. “You’ll always be safe with us, Megs.” And then with a quieter voice, “We won’t let anything take us away from you, yeah?” 
He didn’t say anything at first, choosing to fist the sheets with an almost sheepish gaze, a pout forming on his lips. “...promise…?” 
Satoru chuckled, as if the notion was utterly ridiculous. “Not even the King of Curses himself could take me away from ya.” He tucked him into the silk sheets, giggling softly. Something something how Megumi looked like a pouty burrito. “Burrigumi? Nah nah nah…Megurrito?” 
“Both of you are ridiculous,” You mumble all too affectionately. 
“Ridiculously in love.” Satoru jumped under the sheets, pulling the two of you impossibly closer with his freakishly long limbs. “Mwah mwah mwa- Don’t make that face at me, Megs! You’re so mean to me.”
“You’re annoying.”
Satoru feigned injury, whining like a defenseless rabbit on death’s door. “Do you hear this?! Oh just put me in the ground already.” Megumi proceeded to roll his eyes with the exhaustion of a full grown black coffee drinking tax payer. 
Peaceful silence settled into the room. 
As you and Megumi succumbed to sleep, Satoru remained awake; he counted individual freckles and memorized exact shades of irises, taking to heart the heat of skin contact. His heart was saturated with the quiet tenderness that even the storm failed to penetrate. Sleep was the closest a person will ever be  toward death, yet you reach for his hand anyway, like loving him was only natural.
 It was everything he longed for in physical form, and everything he was worried would be snatched away from him at any given moment. Megumi will grow up and forget the sweet moments that mean the absolute world to him. And inevitably you will get bored and leave too. 
But for now, this was enough. 
This was supposed to be shorter lmao. Dadjo has a chokehold on me.
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jinuaei · 3 months ago
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What if instead of famous!reader we got famous!Tarn who is in a band (after the war the djd had to pay the bills somehow) and meets reader again by chance (sound technician? Roadie? Friend of a fan that brought them to a concert?) and he starts writing this heart wrenching love songs full of yearning.
"Here's a power ballad about guts and blood spilled for the glory of a higher cause. And here's five minutes of me basically going PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE-"
Yes!!! Singer Tarn! His voice is so deep it rattles the insides of everybot/human that hears it. His passion for music is evident in every concert and every song he sings, and that rough demeanor (though traumatizing to some) is a big hit for every audience but you will find that he's more popular with the ladies.
And you, his newest manager is his most recent muse. After his old manager pissed him off, he had Kaon find a new one, and by Primus, Kaon chose well. Gone are the days where he sings in support for Decepticons, now all he can write and sing about are love songs.
It's an instant hit! Fans swoon when they hear his voice yearning for his beloved, some supportive of his love, while some are jealous. But the very being that became the center of every music he creates is oblivious to his affection.
Who can blame you? You are too busy to properly relax and listen to Tarn's music. Yes, you are a fan but his popularity and current tour means you have to prepare a lot of things, you don’t really have enough time to listen properly unless you are there during the recordings.
Speaking of recordings, even that is not safe from his longing gazes, he’s often found staring at you as he sings songs of love. It becomes slightly awkward when the sound engineer asks him to start over again because he accidentally used his outlier ability and fucked up the whole set up while he’s too busy lovingly looking at you. The sound engineer squeaks in fear when Tarn only responds with a glare.
(Sound Technician also sounds good ngl because imagine the reader getting pissy at Tarn because he destroyed your equipment for the 4th time that month while he’s blowing kisses and sending EM fields of obsessive love. It’s him who has to pay for it but it’s delaying the concert so much and ughhhhh your shit broke again)
And there’s a scenario for a concert that I conjured up and rewrote because the original one was too wordy? Fancy? You know that type of writing I do when I write it too seriously and the fic becomes good but also theatrical? Wanted this one to be more light hearted but I will post the original one after I make it coherent enough.
It’s the day of the concert and you are stressed out of your mind, but somehow you guys pulled through and the DJD are now on stage performing their hit songs. However, one of the sound crew fucked up something because one moment Tarn hears the familiar sound of the metronome on his earpiece and the next, he hears your voice, screaming words of encouragement and singing along with him.
He freezes, not prepared to hear you praise him, but it only lasts a moment before he continues, now energized and spark warm. He is used to hearing you always stressed out and hearing you enjoying yourself is such a treat to him, he hopes that the sound crew doesn’t notice their mistake and keep you on the line.
Luckily for Tarn, they did not catch it and he got to listen to you sing your heart out alongside him, which by the way — is so beautiful to him. Like a siren luring men to their death, it makes him want to run to you and beg you to sing for him. (mhhh phantom of the opera Tarn)
He can still hear you in his earpiece even when they are near the end of the concert where they are thanking people. It was going so well, so swimmingly well until he heard a phrase roll through his audials. That damned phrase that triggered his outlier ability.
‘That’s my Tarn!’
My Tarn…
Your Tarn?
YOUR TARN???
Suddenly all lights and sound cease, and the fans gasp in shock and panic as they are bathed in darkness. One of the DJD, probably Kaon, reassures the crowd, asking them to calm down, but Tarn is oblivious to it. The phrase keeps echoing through his processor, and his fans whirs on dumbly looking at the panicking crowd. He manages to snap out of it when he realized he couldn’t hear you anymore, and he himself panics. 
He abandons his post and rushes backstage, trying to find you in the swarm of stressed out crewmates. He grabbed you as soon as he saw you, swiftly guiding you to his makeup room. The large mech asks you to sit down and once you do he begs you to call him your Tarn again. 
“PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE—!”
“PAUSE!!!!! We need to get you back on stage!” You scold him, trying to stand back up but you are once again forced back down when he laid his helm on your lap.
He continues muttering his request, wrapping his arms around your legs. Unbeknownst to him, the power managed to turn on again and the fans can actually hear him beg for you to call him yours again because this love sick singer forgot to remove his mic when he left the stage. However, you were not as engrossed in your delusion so you can hear his voice echo through the whole stadium, you can already feel the headache that this will cause you and his PR team.
You shut yourself up, trying not to expose your voice to the public before removing the mic attached to his helm and throwing it away where it hopefully does not catch your voice. Since he is still insistent and you cannot simply push this whole aft mountain from your lap, you chose to indulge in his request.
Tarn is so lucky to have that outlier ability because if his ability didn’t trigger and shut down the stadium again the moment you said it, he would have to explain so much about that choked moan that came out from his intake. 
You, however, are not as lucky as you almost slipped and fell from his fluids on the floor, he managed to catch you but he had the audacity to look ashamed when some of that spilt transfluid actually clung to your legs.
This went completely the other way and I am sorry
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hikentomori · 4 months ago
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devotion bleeds blue: prologue
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here's the story of the fateful night that changed everything for our loyal knight and his beloved princess.
contains: royal au, knight!nanami, princess!reader, fem reader, reader has an older brother, use of weapons, character death, grief and loss; wc: 1.2k
please read my rules before interacting! minors, ageless / blank blogs will be blocked!
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stormwinds rattled the withered tower of your parents’ castle, old windows barely withstanding the speeds. somewhere on the grounds, yelling could be heard, screaming to find the intruders. hundreds of footsteps resonated through the halls, echoing the metallic clang of armor.
you cowered in your chambers, thin nightgown barely protecting you from the ice cold wind that was sneaking through the windows. goosebumps littered over your skin as you shivered beneath the covers. listening intently as the guards approached the private wing of your family, the royal family. fear rushed through your veins and you were suddenly aware that you were defenseless and unable to do anything.
when the guards finally made it to the chambers of each family member, to their horror, it was already too late. the queen, your mother, had been injured, your father wounded next to her body as he screamed and cried for her to stay with him. the doors to your bedroom open with a whoosh and there he was, the intruder. your blood ran cold at his appearance. a gasp caught in your throat, a shrill scream soon following.
the intruder made his way to your cowering form, your eyes screwed shut and white noise rushed in your ears at your impending end. just before he raised his weapon, you heard a clang and then a groan. slowly opening your eyes, you saw the knight banneret, kento nanami, with the cloaked man in his grasp, a knife to the unknown's throat.
your eyes met his feverish ones through his helmet as he slowly walked backwards, strong arms caging the man in. he handed him over to his fellows, watching intently as they bound the criminal’s hands and pulled him away to the dungeon.
after closing the door, he then turned back to you, pulling off his helmet and chainmail to reveal blonde tufts and smooth skin. he knelt before your bed, lowering his head.
“i’m sorry you had to witness that, princess. the criminal is now being locked away so he can do no more harm. we’re looking for possible accomplices. i’m very sad to inform that your dearest mother and father have been injured,” he murmured, loud enough for you to hear over the tumult outside of your bedroom door. he only dared to look at you when your voice reached his ears.
“w-what? what do you mean? where's the doctor?” you whimpered, eyes wide and whole body trembling. you slowly crawled out from under your sheets, shivering at the cold air hitting your damp skin. kento averted his eyes, feeling shame rush through him, his armor suddenly feeling too tight. he felt hot under the collar at your semi-exposed state, a slight blush spreading over his cheeks. ‘get yourself together, now's not the time,’ he chastised himself for the inappropriate thoughts he was having.
your brother barged in, sobbing and running towards you. he quickly grabbed a robe for you to cover yourself. “what are you doing here, kento?” he snarled, grief evident in his face and pulling you closer to him protectively. “he saved me,” you sniffled.
“i just informed the princess of your parents’ state and was about to ask if you want me to accompany you to your highness’ chambers.”
your brother breathed heavily, trying to calm himself. he closed his eyes for a brief moment and you could see the bulging vein on his neck, thrumming in time with his heart.
“that'd be nice, actually,” you mused, feeling your heart skip a beat when kento looked at you with hopeful eyes. he rose to his feet, keeping his head low as your brother glared down at him. he pulled you with him in a hurry and you wrapped an arm around his waist as kento followed your steps.
there was still a lot of commotion, the search for a potential accomplice still going. you slithered through the crowd of maids and knights, slipping away to your parents’ chambers.
the doctor was already with her, your father cleaning her up to the best of his abilities, being injured himself from trying to protect her. you rushed to her side, tears burning your hot cheeks. she had barely enough energy to look at both you and your brother, turning her gaze away from her husband.
“oh, my loves. make sure to protect each other. i couldn't have asked for a better family, my dears,” she whispered, barely audible over the turbulence outside the chamber’s door. she smoothed her hand over your head as you looked at her, face stained with fresh tears emerging every other second.
“don't cry, my little dove. it'll all be okay. i love you so much,” she murmured before succumbing to her injuries and blood loss, subsequently passing away.
your heart shattered into a million pieces and you sobbed on her chest for what felt like hours before passing out from exhaustion. you could feel a soft quilted blanket cover you before you succumbed to the tiredness in your bones.
the rest of the week passed in a blur, your mother’s funeral going by without a hitch. many townspeople visited her grave, their condolences feeling both sincere and empty. there was a national holiday in her memory, with various speeches about how amazing of a woman the queen was.
if anyone asked what happened in the last week, you wouldn't be able to answer. all you felt was emptiness, not even having enough of an appetite to eat a small piece of bread. at some point, the grief and exhaustion took over you, causing you to fall unconscious in the middle of a royal meeting.
you woke up back in your chambers with a gasp. your heart and head pounding and you wondered how long you had been out. the sun is shining through the droplet-covered window. “maybe it was all just a bad dream,” you sighed, forcing your heart to slow down.
you flinched when you heard a familiar voice. “i truly wish it was, my princess,” kento spoke quietly, sitting in a chair beside your bed. he looked out of the window, watching another roll of dark clouds make their way over the horizon. “unfortunately, your highness the queen has indeed passed.”
grief struck you once again. kento turned towards you, grabbing your hands in his. “i truly wish i could turn back time and prevent it, i’m so sorry,” he murmured, warming your cold, shaky hands with his bigger ones. you looked at him, all teary and sniffly, trying to make sense of it all.
“while you were asleep, your highness the king has decided to appoint us knights to protect the royal family. just in case something like this happens again, so we can protect you better. i have been chosen to protect you, my princess. and it's my biggest honor. i shall protect you with my life if i have to,” he spoke softly as to not overwhelm you. your heart started pounding, anxious and still grieving brain already starting to rattle down the worst case scenarios.
“what'd my brother say?” you whispered, knowing that he must've protested.
kento chuckled, “he was against it, of course. he said he could protect you better and i’m sure he’s right. but your father corrected him in saying that your brother needs to be guarded himself in case of emergency.”
you smiled through your tears at your brother’s protectiveness and selflessness. he had always been very stubborn and watchful over you. with you being the younger sibling, he had always felt like it was his duty to be by your side always.
growing up, it had always annoyed you, the way he would always be on your tail and chastise you when you came back reeking from the stables after sneaking away to see kento. he would usher you to the bath, giving strict orders to the maids to not let you out of their sight so often.
not even your parents had been that strict, you would always be on time with your studies, always polite to everyone and constantly being fawned over by the older ladies in the castle. they would be proud of the fact they had raised you both in that kind of loving environment. and even prouder to see both of you growing into prince and princess that would lead the country after them.
while your brother would always watch your step inside the castle, outside of it, it was kento’s domain. not that they'd ever fight, they were the closest of friends, but their claim over their respective territory would be obvious. they would practice their combat skills together, with you watching and keeping score. you and him would sneak glances toward each other, cheeks getting hot. but his focus would never falter, he could win against your brother with his eyes closed – and did.
it was only natural for your father to choose kento to protect you. that fateful night, it was him who had caught the intruder and rendered him helpless right in front of you. it was him who made sure you were unharmed and safe. and it was him who had brought you back to your chambers after passing out from crying. it showed the king (and the prince) that kento was willing to do everything and anything for you.
“i trust you with my life, kento.” fresh, hot tears started running down your burning cheeks. you felt kento’s calloused hands caress yours.
“i know. and i won't ever betray you, i promise. i will lay down my life if it means i can protect you.”
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© hikentomori 2025 – all rights reserved, do not copy, modify, repost, translate any of my works. do not feed my works to any kind of ai.
tags: @theseabreezestreet
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starminzoo · 1 year ago
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╭──────────────────✎
╰─▗ ▘➤𖥸 obsession in the shadows
꒰ risa's note ꒱ was just watching a show and the sudden inspiration hit so i thought why not just write it down but with yunho. I love my pretty boy sm <3 hope you guys enjoy!
warnings: stalking (not cool), fingering, consent (not verbally but it's there), dirty talk, pet names, pervert behavior, threats, creepy behavior (not much) , not proof read
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it all started when yunho the quiet yet charming, shy yet talented student from the art department asked you to be his muse for his painting project which was due in 3 weeks. you said yes and how couldn't you, when he asked you in such polite and hushed manner your nearly folded when he said a silent 'please' for you to become his muse. since that day you started visiting his apartment for the project, you always went to his after your classes, first few days were spent in finding a perfect pose, clothes, and sketching. during that you guys made small talk here and there. since yunho was mostly quiet in college and he used to talk when spoken too you were charmed by his voice soft and smooth as you barely talked with him. when you were posing for him he always made sure you were comfortable or you could try another pose, he always kept his distance and remained respectful which drew you more close to him.
the reason yunho decided to choose you as his muse was that he had enough of hiding in the shadows he had enough of admiring you from a distance, he wanted you in his arms, to kiss you, to love you, to make you his, your enigmatic smile, captivating eyes casting a spell over him, at first it was small crush but slowly it turned into a dangerous obsession, he started to study your every move, kept his eyes on every action he started invading your privacy. he had lost count of how many times he had climbed up the window of your room, lost count of how many hours he had spent sitting on your bed, lost count of how many panties he had stolen from you, he knew this was dangerous but did he backed down? no but the real question is that he thought he was the only obsessed one? wrong as his obsession deepens he also started to take in the strange happening around him, his hoodies, sweatshirts and some other things started to vanish one by one,he started to receive love letters in his locker which were really creepy alongside with a black rose, he had gifts left at his door with no address or name, he was not alarmed and just took it as prank until he received a package as usual no name or anything but as he opened it his jaw slightly fell seeing his black hoodie shredded into pieces, he was wearing this just yesterday as he contemplated on his thoughts , his eyes fell on a note opening it he read it "Next time it will be the girl not the hoodie"
you had just arrived back from yunho's house it had been a long day for you and yunho was mostly done with his painting so the sessions had gotten longer to perfect the painting you took a shower and got ready for bed you decided to go commando and just threw a hoodie over yourself and went to bed. the familiar scent lulling you to sleep, it hadn't been long since you started to drift to sleep when you heard some soft rattling outside your window you smiled slightly in your pillow knowing who it was, to make sure the unwelcomed guest doesn't get the hint of you not sleeping you moved to turn on your back slowly while face snuggled in the pillow, few minutes later you felt the bed dip near your feet as he sat down hands landing your naked legs, warming your body up "you look like an angel, so innocent so pretty" his whispered out his words, god you wanted to ruin him so bad and show him how much innocent of a girl you were there was silence for sometimes before he started to drag his hands further up, you pretended to stretch and spread your legs a bit causing your hoodie to ride up providing him with the view of your bare wet cunt "fuck angel no panties today, you are gonna be the death of me" you chuckled in your mind you wanted to test him you wanted to see if he would give in his urges as he never did anything against your will well except for stealing your panties causing you to buy more and more. you heard his breath becoming shallow as he continued to stare at your cunt, you slowly felt a finger press against your clit causing a soft moan to leave your mouth " i am sorry baby so sorry" you wanted him to have you but you didn't wanted him to be guilty of it so you opened your eyes and stared straight at him. "fuck yunho I want you baby please please touch me" you begged in a sleepy voice.
his face became beet red when his eyes made contact with you, he felt so guilty and embarrassed but as he heard your words he was shocked. you were ok with this? you wanted him? were you sure or just in sleep? weren't you going to call the cops on him? he had many questions but when he felt your on his rubbing it against your cunt , he watched you hump his hand as soft moans left your mouth as you did you he sat there shocked but you snapped him out of it quickly "I don't have my legs spread just for you to qawk yun fuck do something please" as you begged him pathetically your whining and lust filled eyes sending blood to his dick. he wasted no more time climbing up on you kissing your lips furiously one hand holding your throat and the other swatted your hands away as he pushed two fingers inside your gaping hole the action ripping a loud moan from your throat as he swallowed it, his fingers scissored you hitting your g-spot. god bless yunho for having long fingers as they drove you insane his lips busy painting another masterpiece on your neck, your hands in his hair as one attempted to get him naked but before you could he fastened the pace of his fingers bringing you closer to the edge you held onto him for dear life, legs threatening to close but he kept them apart with his thighs "fuck you look so gorgeous falling apart for me angel" his name fell from your mouth like mantra as you finally reached your high your legs twitching, around his hips, eyes rolled back from pleasure, while mouth wide open as moans and whimpers left your mouth. yunho pulled out his fingers and put them in mouth "hmm as sweet as i had imagined" he kissed you making you taste yourself on his tongue. you both laid there him on top of you, both too mesmerized by the soft kisses you shared.
after cleaning you up he climbed back in bed removing his jacket and now just in his hoodie. you pulled him close to you snuggling in his scent which was more strong then the one on the hoodie "so what are we now yun" "whatever you want baby" he smiled and softly kissed your head " but wait is that my hoodie" he glanced down at you as you sheepishly snuggled in his chest and giggled " oh god so it was you, my little stalker" "oh don't act like you are innocent ok you climbed up my window several times, stole my panties which were expensive by the way, so if I didn't had my own little obsession with you I would have called the cops on you long time ago ok mister" you retored back as you playfully glared at him, he put his arms up surrending himself before you both fell asleep peacefully in each others arms.
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eldrith · 10 months ago
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ғʀᴏᴍ ᴇᴅᴇɴ ; ᴘᴀʀᴛ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ.
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ᴄʜɪᴠᴀʟʀʏ ғᴇʟʟ ᴏɴ ʜɪs sᴡᴏʀᴅ ;
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words: 8.4k synopsis: jacaerys falls for a woman in aegon's garden. notes: happy halfway! we're only a few weeks from halloween & im getting excited that this story is at its midway point. i hope those who read this enjoy it. it's as always for my muses @useralba and @dipperscavern ... my co authors frong!! chapter warnings: active and willing denial on jace's part tbh. themes of corruption, spooky visions, smut; masturbation, dry humping, heavy petting, finger sucking, hint (?) of choking [v brief], sort-of under the influence activities so - dubious morals in this one [youll see]. eating as sexual imagery, sin/shameful thoughts, religious themes & symbolism, temperature play-ish?, blood & injury depictions, brief mentions of…consuming blood…lightttt manipulation[:D], angst, grief, discussion of death. & some fluff. this is so unedited series masterlist. main masterlist.
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THE CHAMBERS OF MAESTER GERARDYS ARE TINGED WITH DRIED HERBS AND DAMP PARCHMENT.
It is a smell which rather permeates the air through the corridors of the castle on the more inclementing days – even when he was younger, Jacaerys found himself passing by the smell of feverfew and steamed stinging nettle on his way to lessons in the bowels of the stone drum. 
Thick tears of rain slide down a weathered pane. Jacaerys reclines in a small chair; In front of him, a poultice is mixed by steady hands.
His head pulses with a familiar ache; the one which has plagued him for days, rendered him rather restless and jumpy on the best of days, irascible and brusque on the others. There is a slow roll of thunder outside; it rattles the weakened pane beside him – faintly, he can nearly hear the call of some childish laughter warbled in the storm outside. 
There are no children left on the island now that his brothers are gone with Rhaena; with them, it seems, has gone the sun. The days have been plunged into dreary rolls of high clouds and low sheets barreling down with coughs of spitting sleet; The nights remain the only time the air is relatively clear of that wetting dark, and yet still clouds slink under silvery slivers of waxing moon. 
Agitated, Jace watches Maester Gerardys pour some oiled ointment, warming it between his palms; straightening his spine to a more respectable position, Jacaerys tilts his jaw for the man to begin to massage the ointment into his temples. 
A sigh of relief. “It’s only getting worse,” He murmurs, eyes fluttering shut at the sharp scent of peppermint. “-The head aches, the knots in my stomach.” 
Maester gerardys hums as he pulls away, returning to the poultice as he glances attentively at the prince – though he says nothing, and Jacaerys is prompted to fill the silence once more. 
“I suppose getting air has helped… Aegon’s Garden is not nearly as taxing to the senses as flying on dragonback these days.” He observes absently, watching another onslaught of rain slam against the window, “… and your oils, of course - though, they’re quite strong in the bath. I find the blooms to be rather pleasant now. I don’t know if you recall, Maester, but I was quite sensitive to plants when I was a babe.” 
Below on the grounds, a flicker of blue through hedges of green; Jacaerys jumps only slightly, blinking – and the figure is gone. He must be going mad. 
Though in a moment of odd silence, the grind of the mortar has stopped. 
Gerardys’ eyes flick up to his own, leaking with a flicker of wariness. “Yes, the…garden.” He repeats slowly, straightening his back. “My Prince, I’ve… noticed you’ve been spending quite some time there recently.” 
Jacaerys, not used to such suspicion from the man, bristles immediately. Some desire, perhaps, to protect the sanctity of the garden - to protect you. 
“And?” He wonders stiffly. 
Maester Gerardys sets the mortar to the table, voice cautious. “It is not my place to pry, but… we must be wary not to… become distracted in such times. The dragonseeds arrive late on the morrow, and the efforts of war demand the entire island’s attention.” 
Offense bristles through Jacaerys’ chest as he levels a sharp gaze at the man before him. Without hesitation, he rises from his previous seat, patience more than frayed. “Do you think me not focused?” 
At the following silence, his voice tightens. “I am not a boy, Gerardys. I know what is at stake - better even than you. And it will do you well to remember who it will be to lead the charge when the time comes.” 
Gerardys does not flinch at the sharpness of Jacaerys’ tone, but nods briefly. “Of course, my Prince. My apologies.” Jacaerys moves to make his exit, though Maester Gerardys’ voice stops him once more., “Though… It is my duty to keep you in good health. You’ve mentioned before a girl, in the garden - pardon me, but there has not-” 
“Enough!” Jacaers snaps, pushing off the table. His temper has flared - though tipped over the cliff by his words, it is not Maester Gerardys who aggravates him so; rather, a heavy impending doom has settled upon his stomach at the damning reminder of the dragonseeds which crawl their way from whatever villages or flea’s bottom they come from now to chance a life of riding a dragon. Of some inkling that, in some way, Gerardys’ words are right; and Jacaerys lashes, a cornered hound. 
“You forget yourself, Maester.” He exhales sharply through his nose, “You are here to help aid my ailments. That is all you need to do."
Gerardys bows his head, “Of course.” 
He is nearly to the threshold when Maester Gerardys’ voice carries - soft and unsettling as an owl’s stare in the pitch of night. “Just remember, my Prince. Sometimes, the things which ease the mind… might mislead the heart.” 
Jacaerys stops before the chamber door, hand clenching into a fist at his side; a nerve has been plucked, struck, ripped - some small growing doubt in the back of his own mind, one that festers and yearns to bloom with kindling of another’s words. Worry eases through him, though there is no time for that; more pressing matters loom. 
The dragonseeds arrive on the eve, it seems. 
He is gone from the chambers without another word, ignoring the fading needle sting of Maester Gerardys’ odd words as they dissolve into the large bow of day. 
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IT IS OF LITTLE IMPORTANCE WHEN JACAERYS HAS HIS BATH DRUM MOVED.
Though it is a simple request, an innocent one - brought up while breaking fast one morning, watching with concealed fluster as three servants drag his bath drum towards the windowsill. Though it is indeed blameless and simple, he feels rather horrid for it. 
It is a twist of disgust that blossoms into some equally thrilling bloom in his chest. A transfixion, to keep gaze upon the expanse of a sea beyond his scope, of all that will one day be all his own to rule. To prove, perhaps in some twisted way, that it is he who will sit on the throne when his mother has finished her long reign; that those mules with silver hair and names of sand or snow do not come to delude themselves into making a claim of their own. 
To watch over the baileys below, to see the fishing villages, mere specks in the distant shoreline; to see ships smaller than fleas sail to and from, to see the rustle of wildgrass upon the pathway to the garden below. 
To watch Aegon’s Garden. 
It is not, he tells himself, in any off-chance that he might catch sight of those silky tresses, of that smooth and wintry skin, of your curling smile. Jacaerys simply enjoys the views of sky, sea, mountain - and if he were to catch a glimpse of your beautiful visage, whispering to the flowers and laughing as if the blooms could whisper back? Perhaps that would simply be a welcomed favor. 
The water in his bath steams; oils of rosemary and peppermint mix in a rather sharp smell upon his skin, though the tendrils of steam curl into his head and ease the sharpness of his mind’s ache. 
Reclining back, eyes half-lidded, Jacaerys sighs into the heat of the water. 
Lithe, tense muscles ache with the tension of the day - though it is morning, he knows he must rouse soon; but in the hour ahead that he has to bathe and break fast, he will allow himself to slip away from life, into the recesses of his mind - to where only you exist. 
You. 
Jacaerys allows for his fingertips to brush absently along the water’s surface - so similarly to how they’d traced the curve of your neck, tangled into your hair. It’s been far too long since he visited you last - two nights past since he was tugged through the hedges once more, hiding a grin, ducking under low-hanging vines, gasping into kisses stolen by your wanting lips.
There is no such flame that perhaps has ever burned hotter than the memory of your touch; an icy one, a chilling touch that sends the cold aches of the North to shame; though it burns so hot in his mind’s eye. 
You, a world apart from the suffocating smoke of war - an endearing, true girl; the way your smile tugs at the corner of your lips, some glint in your gaze that beckons him closer - deeper. 
Eyelashes kiss his cheeks when he shuts his lids, and mercifully he sees it - you, head tilted in the sunlight, shadows of the garden dancing along the stretch of your soft skin, the icy breath of shade a cool respite from the despotic sun.
And that heady, rich scent that clings to your skin - the figs, the juicy skin, the pinking bud of flesh inside, your lips so divine, wrapped around them, tasting, licking, biting- 
His breath hitches; without thinking - or perhaps, telling himself instead not to think - his palm slips beneath the water. 
Jacaerys’ groan is quiet into the empty chamber; but his calloused palm is softened by the warmth of the water, and his mind is hazy in the visions of you, staring at him, lips wrapped around that fruit. 
Its scent, the lingering taste of it upon your lips, so sweet - you, so sweet. 
And he did not try a taste then, but gods how he had wanted to; how he still wants to. A taste - of that flesh, dripping with sweet juice and marbled skin of ripe fruit - and of every inch of you, each breathless hitch of a moan, every whisper of his name from your lips. Pleasure curls down the base of his spine as he allows his fist to move; broad strokes, as languid as the slithering shift of your skirts around corners, as sharp as your gasped giggle when he makes you laugh. 
And it’s you; he nearly believes it is you, wrapped around his cock so snug - pleasure lapping at core, water kissing his chest as he stirs in the bath, stuttering breaths that leak a few spare whimpers into the quiet morning air. 
There is a breeze through the open window that sends Jacaerys’ bare chest to shiver against the steam of hot bath; A familiar chill, wrapping and curling around him like the winds of winter - settling at the nape of his neck, but dripping lower to pool at the very base of him, where his fist moves, desperate and seeking. 
And though he pretends it does not happen, he knows his fist curls and moves to the rhythm of your sighs in his memory, how you’re always so eager to press into him, to kiss him, to taste him; desperate and hungry.
Hunger – that glint, dangerous and unknown in your eyes; a flicker of a grin too wide-pulled, the sliding of a gaze that feels ancient. It’s not proper, he knows; but the pleasure mounts anyways – because of it, perhaps – and that sickly smile sends himself further to the edge, grip shaking as his hips buck against nothing. 
Water splashes from the basin. A bite on the plush of his lip as he suppresses a shuddering moan; his abdomen has tensed in such curling pleasure - an ice against the fire in his veins, intoxicating, arresting. 
The pressure always builds - not just this pleasurable kind, though his body insists to his mind he should be focusing on such things - and in the last few desperate days that he’s spent far from you, you who truly understands him - it is in these times when he seeks such salacious relief. 
It is your name whispered from his lips, breathless - too many times to admit in the past weeks of knowing your company. It is some distraction from the clawing talons of fate; when his palms are warm against his cock though he finds himself wishing to feel your own - that chilling touch which lures him so. 
His desperate, soiled lips - groaning your name, falling from his tongue as the whisper of a phantom, some half-formed prayer to gods long-forgotten, squeezed with the very last of air which lived in his lungs. Licking at his skin, curling into his blood like the shade under which you’d kissed him.
The phantom feeling grasps at him, pressing against the thrash of his heartbeat in his chest, bringing the sting of overwhelm to his lashline, coaxing gasps through his lips and tickling a flush to his cheeks. 
He can almost feel you when that same shivering peak leaves him panting, gasping as his ecstasy rolls through his entire body, his head lolling back against the tub basin as he whines your name into the empty chamber. 
And in those moments, just like now - as his chest heaves and knuckles turn white, as he spends himself - he can think of nothing else. 
It is only you.
Though when he steps from the bath and stretches his bare muscles into the bright of day, eyeing the line of constellated freckles which sprinkle over his pectorals and gather in pools upon his shoulders and bridge of nose, he feels the slow recovery of what had slipped so easily from his conscious - pain. 
And just as it disappeared, so it appears once more; with a sharp wince, Jacaerys jolts from his haze, gasping at the heavy ache which throbs in the back of his head. 
With flushed cheeks, he watches the garden below for any sign of life; It swirls with tantalizing greens, the scent of dahlias and gardenias blowing in even this high into the tower through the open casement. A sigh falls secret and unbidden from his lips as curls are raked back upon his head with a shaky palm. 
As always, the pull is there. 
The lull, some sweet melody that spins the strings of his heart, warming the blood pulsing in his chest and gathering below his abdomen; which soothes the ache of his mind and whispers his name in the soft breeze. 
It is melancholy, in the way life has been without Lucerys. Shadows swirl darker under the attention of morning sun – petals curl beneath the breath of frost, melting back into themselves in the first whispers of day. The blooms smile up at him, and he longs for the embrace of something he can never have. 
The garden breathes below. 
Across the bailey, the dragonseeds take up arms - measly children playing at a game they know nothing about; Jacaerys’ jaw clicks when he glimpses the regal posture of his own mother across the way, speaking with Maester Gerardys and Addam of Hull. The pierce of his mind’s ache is sharper - the garden’s breeze sends a breath of loneliness through him. 
He shuts the window without a second thought. 
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IT IS ONLY SO MANY HOURS UNTIL HE FINDS HIMSELF IN THE GARDEN ONCE MORE. 
Misery flutters in Jacaerys’ mind with every ragged gasp he takes; a creeping nightmare, rousing him from sweaty sheets - clammy and with half a scream lodged in his throat, he’d stirred. 
Visions of white, some restless churning that’d grown from dirt of dreams and sprouted a blossoming nightmare - at the top of that ancient, towering wall of ice, the words falling from Cregan Stark’s lips. A fate worse than death. 
The loss of his brother; the face which echoed in so many ways his own. The end of a life - of a lifetime - and he still wakes up from restless slumber every night, gasping dry air, yearning for the days of sparring, of fixing wrinkled folds of rich doublets, of teaching lessons, of laughs concealed painfully at supper. 
Though tonight, after being roused from sleep by a scream that did not sound like his own, Jacaerys had stood from his mattress, slamming the empty chalice of water upon his table as he calmed his breaths, watching the hedges swirl and blow in the night’s breeze. He’s grown used to the figments of his sleep-hungry mind – young men running past statues, laughter bubbling far away. But tonight, he saw you in a flash of white dress and a rumble of ancient hunger, some need to be in arms which trust and do not quite question. 
And so, he ran. 
Still clad in his tunic and sleep-trousers, he stumbled past the iron gates, gripped in a chilling bout of tedious familiarity; how many times must he find himself here, searching for comfort - to be haunted by life, by loss? 
Why had he not, instead, sought out his mother? Baela? Lord Corlys is often awake at such ghastly hours these days, staring at the sea from upon his balcony… 
It is admittedly not the first time he has sought you out in such turmoil; indeed, in the weeks of knowing you, scarcely has past two days where he has not ventured into the gardens; where he has not sought your eerie quiet, your soft words, your gentle palms upon his glistening cheeks. 
There is in you perhaps that innocence so lost in people like him - people tainted by the burden of duty; and in your smiles, your whispers, your laughs, your tears - he has come to know you and to love you separately, to be transfixed by you and to crave you. 
He supposes it is indeed some rebellion of his own - any breath of you is swept behind by those he has known his whole life; his mother, with no bat of her eye over your name in passing, though if she had scarcely an idea of what he did with you when there was nothing but the swirling trees and falling petals… lips on soft lips, hands on plush curves... 
And Jacaerys knows, quite deep in his mind, why he could not speak with them. So often he finds words falling on deafened ears; those who do not understand, or who simply do not wish to. Unlike you – wise beyond your years. 
In the pitch dark of night, the statues grow warped - blackened by the hatred of weather and neglect of island; it is darker than he’s ever seen the Garden, with a nearly full moon concealed by thick clouds of dread. 
Blindly he stumbles into a statue - grasping once more unto the familiar young maiden’s thigh for balance; though the serpent which encircles her is coiled higher over her hips than he recalls. 
Fingertips trace over the scales of the snake, and with a distinct desire in his throat, he presses his forehead to the cool stone of the stone woman’s dress skirts; a momentary comfort upon the stone lap. 
It is only moments before his breathing calms; lips, pressing to the stone he rests upon - and that visage that watches down at him - stone and lifeless in the dark, eternally you. 
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IT TAKES HIM NO TIME TO FIND YOU DEEPER IN THE GARDEN. 
It is odd, perhaps, that his feet find their way to you each time he seeks you out, as though they have a memory of their own - though he still feels lost in the ever distending garden itself.
Under the olive tree, as you lurk in the shadows, some ancient beastly predator awaits the hare; but you are no foe. 
He stands numbly, the loneliness that grips his chest and fosters growing insecurities and fears within his mind dissolving under your beaming smile. 
You’re against him in only a moment, pulling him by the wrists into your embrace; he feels odd, as though he floats when you tug him nearer.
 “Jacaerys,” You whisper, eyes wide - startled, perhaps, at his visit in such an unseemly hour; though you, too, are here in the garden. It is beyond him to wonder why you so choose to spend your nights here, when he lies so sleeplessly in his own chambers each night wishing for the embrace of the garden. 
The knot in his chest unfurls just under your touch - and you seize him in a shy kiss, leaning on tip-toes to seek his warmth. 
He gasps into it, overwhelmed by the cold of your lips against his own; but he melts into the intoxicating simplicity of being wanted - and wanted by you, gods - and kisses you back deeply. Soft tresses tickle his forearm as he slides his arms around your back, tugging you into him - as if he could perhaps drown himself in you; as if he could forget the weight of the night, of the troubles that always come when morning breaks. 
His hands find your waist as you pull away, though not too far - he keeps you close, to see the breath that falls from your lips and raises the goosepimples upon his neck, each flutter of every single eyelash. 
“You’ve returned,” And you speak the words breathlessly each time he visits, without fail; as if you truly fear that each time he leaves, it will be the last time. 
But your smile falls at the state of him, leaning closer to tuck your palm under his jaw. 
“What troubles you, my love?” You wonder softly, a cold breeze of your palm brushing away his curled tresses - and he tries not to keen into the touch, swallowing thickly at the concern, at the empathy that drips from your words. He does not recall when you began to levy him with such sweet words – gone is my prince, taken up with far more intimate, kind titles; And, in return, when he whispers such devoted titles into your ear, into the breath of the garden – you bloom, a small smile growing evergreen upon your visage.  
Your name is whispered from his lips with a shake of his head, the emotions crawling back to the forefront of his mind, dragging his weary bones down towards the earth. 
And, devoted as always, you go with him; sinking into the thick soil, running your fingers through his hair as he breathes heavily, using his best effort to resist the tears which brim in his vision. He feels a fool; though you would not ever hold him in such contempt. 
His voice is tight. “I wished to see you,” He admits, “I… saw you, from my chambers.” 
Your lips curl into a soft grin; your eyes are dark - knowing - in the concealed moonlight, and it stirs that same odd crazed feeling within his bones. And no matter how tight his grasp on your arm becomes, you do not wince; you instead pull him with a soft caress and practiced words, curled under the statue of the dying lovers. 
It is there he lies, head cushioned on the soft chill of your lap, blinking back syrupy eyelids as he spills his mind to you. 
His mother, the dragonseeds; heirs, bastards, the colour of the very locks your fingers card through so gently. 
His words whisper, curling up through your own hair and floating into the limbs of the tree behind you; your eyes are large as he confesses to you each and every thing that has infected him, has let fester within his mind for so long that now it rots and oozes from his lips with a bitter hatred. 
Your words whisper in return, dripping from honeyed lips and soothing the sore and bruised bones that lie so weary beneath skin so thick. 
It is in no effort to convince him of one thing nor another; Your words are for him, and that is it - your words are simple, kind, understanding. A balm over festering wounds of family, of fate.
“Jace?” You ask into the quiet of the night - and the tug on his heartstring of your delicate use of his sobriquet fosters a gentle, dreamy smile to his lips. He hums into the quiet garden, his fingers slipping through the tresses of your free hair, billowing around his head like a thick curtain; he leans up and steals a soft kiss from your parted lips, laughing gently at the blush that creeps over your countenance. 
Not a breath later, a pressure slides soft against Jacaerys’ face and he jumps slightly. Though you laugh at his misfortune, you straighten; the curtain is pulled, and Jace blinks in the moonlight to find the creature that’d slinked its way into your privacy. 
Jacaerys’ gut twists – the cat. 
A gasp of excitement from you. “Shadow, darling.” You purr affectionately - Jacaerys, wary and uneased, sits himself upright from his pillow in your lap, spine uncurling into regal posture once more. 
It bunts its small head against your palm and Jacaerys is claimed by a faint memory – Baela feeding Sȳndor a foraged fish; You sigh in disappointment, shaking your head down at the cat. “I have none with me this evening, I’m afraid.” 
The cat hisses; he feels his spine straighten even more, hair on end. 
“Jacaerys,” You hum; your hand is outstretched, and with a disoriented blink, he wonders when you’d risen to stand. He rises, hand in yours as you smile against the pitch-black of night. “I’ve something I would like to show you.” 
The deeper into the garden you lead Jacaerys, the longer the silvery shadows of statues cast; wrath, visages weathered and greened by spoiled coils of vines - they leap at him when he passes. Earth and dying leaves hang in the air; but in the rotting turns and bends in the far end of the garden, where he’s never been, they give way to something sweeter, richer. 
It’s a slow crawl - in a breeze, in a short laugh from you, in the sway of your loose tresses when you turn a corner too quickly for the prince to keep up. A cat-and-mouse game.  
Though it grows - a smell so intoxicating that when you finally arrive, Jacaerys is stopped dead in his tracks.
Bewilderment, some serious dip in his gut in alarm at the monstrous silhouette that just barely looms in the shadows of night. His neck has to crane to see them: Figs – plump, ripe, hanging heavy and dripping from gnarled branches easily the size of himself. 
It is a tree twice the size of the olive tree - a feat of its own - and possibly more; the fruits drip with nectar that shimmers as if caught in the light that does not find the rest of the Garden. 
Massive. 
The tree backs up and towers over the stone wall at the end of the garden, fog swirling in a small blanket that conceals the thick, rising roots emerging from the earth. 
And at first, Jacaerys believes the heat rising within him to be hunger; his stomach growls quietly, churning at the alluring scent of fruit - but with a glance at you, hand still in his - a different hunger claws at him. 
The heat spreads through his veins. 
It tightens his chest, mouth watering at the thought of a bite of that sweet fruit, its gentle juices as they slide over trembling, pure skin; his hunger grows, some famished beast clawing at his chest. And a taste of you - that intoxicating you, ever-present and sweet in his mind. 
Gods, this is ill done. He does not ask before tugging you gently with him towards the tree, the overwhelming scent pulling him deeper under its yawning canopy. 
His hand only slips from yours when he reaches the base of the tree; staring up at the sprawling web of branches above, he lets out an incredulous laugh that is deafened immediately in the sedated air around you. 
“It’s enormous,” Fingers brush against bark, ancient and rough, “Why haven't I seen it before? It feels…” He trails off, searching for the words; but he’s gone rather hot in sudden desire. You’re behind him - he feels your freezing breath trickle down his nape, your hand ghosting over his spine; though the shiver that follows is not just from your lips. “...Hidden.” He finishes absently. 
Jacaerys turns into your touch, but you are not behind him - you remain a few paces away, bending to feed the cat a fig you’ve plucked from a lower branch. 
The presence he’d felt behind him is gone; With a blink, unease churns in his gut. 
His question lingers - but too does the heat. That overwhelming scent, as the cat leaps to rip voraciously into the flesh of the fruit. He watches, torn between horror and captivation as the little beast tears at it, releasing some faint growl that sounds nearly like a purr. 
His own fingers reach up shakily to pluck a fruit laced in shadows – and in the moonlight, the flesh is nearly purple. 
“Perhaps the garden hides what it wishes to keep.” 
He startles only slightly – you’re in his ear now, voice laced in that way that stirs heat within him. His fingers clutch the fruit desperately, breathing heavy to regain whatever strength he has lost in the battle against desire. Your whisper sends curling arousal over the ridges of his spine, “The soil is rich here, you know. Fertile, in ways men think it shouldn’t be. The Dragonmont’s deposits do little to stop such delicious fruit from blossoming – it is foolish to think this land cursed.” 
Cursed, his mind whispers – and his brows furrow, your words stirring unease in the back of his mind; It is so difficult to think clearly at such a late hour, with the hunger stirring so deep, with the fruit and your hand so soft in his own.
Cursed – but you eat them; and as he gazes into your glinting eyes in the dark, your bare toes dug into the very soil upon which you stand – hunger gnaws at him, blinding his sight from whatever shadows curl in the dark. He doesn’t mind, he decides. 
Cursed, or blessed – it is often quite hard to tell the difference. 
And his hunger crescendos; with a small press of your lips to the sensitive patch of his neck, the grazing of teeth sharper than the blade forgotten in his chambers, his hand twitches; his thumb splits the seam of the fruit open. 
At the movement,  the pad of his finger slides into the flesh, its juices dripping into his palm; you let out a small whimper at this, your hands curling in a grasp around his arms – the noise sends heat through him, coiling at the base of him. 
Your eyes are alight with hunger – eyes wide, some shrouded smile growing upon hungry lips as he stares down between you and the fruit. 
He yearns for something; all his life, for something. To feel alive, a voice whispers - the Garden is alive, you are alive. You are. 
His hand drops the fruit. 
For just a moment, your face flickers – but he brings his thumb to hover over your cheek, the air thick with the smell of its juices. He is hungry; insatiable. Your breath stutters as you stare up at him, and he down at you, breaths puffing between parted lips, shaking with unspoked craving. 
“Gods,” he murmurs; and then, your tongue darts out – his throat tightens, goosepimples roving through him as you gently lick the pulp of the fig from his thumb, leaning further towards him. 
He leans; Gods, he can’t help himself – and then his lips are on yours, rapacious, greedy. 
You press with cold hands into him, and he stumbles back into the bark of the tree, thicker than himself three times round the trunk; your tongue prods his own, and he can’t help the groan that tears from the back of his throat – the taste, ambrosial. 
Some remnants of the fruit linger upon your lips, and he’s unable to quench himself of the desire that spins his head; that sinks him low once more into the soil, that tugs you daringly atop him. 
Jacaerys blinks back a bout of dizziness when his eyes adjust – reposed below the fig tree, temptations swirling around his mind as you slide into his lap coyly. 
How he got here, he cannot recall; but you’re real and touching him – an icy palm upon the juncture of his neck, your slender thumb slipping to curl over the base of his throat as he keens towards you, plush lips seeking the thrill of your skin against his mouth. 
Dress shifts; his tunic rustles, the leaves fall and the fruit lies in the earth, split open. Perhaps it is the hour - or it is the stare you give him; he is overwhelmed with the sense that you know every part of him; every fear, every weakness – and still you lie in his lap, eager and blushing as the day you first met. His mind flashes – in that numb way, as if he is on the precipice of some crucial understanding.
Your own lips sink into his, pressing away any melancholia, replacing it with a boiling hunger - an icy groan from him as you shift in his lap, his stirring arousal quick and heated with your sweet proximity. 
Your hips stir upon his own – it lights arousal through him, tensing each muscle in his body as he coaxes you to do it again, again, again; until he is numb but for the sensation of you, willing and hungry and his. 
His fingers clench; one palm, grounding himself with a grasp on the junction of your hip - the other, tracing the outline of a nearby root, feeling the thrumming heartbeat which seems to come tandem from both your flesh and its own. 
The kiss he pulls you into is careful, hungry, exploring – overwhelming, as your fingers slide into his curls and tug gently; a hiss of desire from him that arches his spine into your cool skin. 
He takes your sighs, your curves, the tremble of your hands as you palm at his own pliant body as if it’s a proof to himself – he is a man, he is alive – he, more than a playpiece in his mother’s endless efforts, more than a name which will be written leatherbound parchments of history to come. 
He is more than it all; because he is yours. 
“Jace–” Your voice is breathless, and it nearly kills him. 
In a short whimper, you shift your hips upon his own, driving yourself over the line of his hardened cock – and he hisses, biting hard into the plush of his lower lip. 
Near immediately, your tongue soothes over him; and a small noise of pleasure – nearly missed, though your eyes flash as you lean away from his mouth, a smattering of his own metallic blood upon your lip. 
Your eyes are blown wide; a chilling sight, reveling in the taste of his ichor – and your hand, cupping his jaw with that frosty command as you hum, eyes taking him apart, putting him back together. Staring through his soul. Gods, you’re divine. 
“Is this okay?” You whisper - your lips brush against his in a chilling shiver of pleasure; in which he nods enthusiastically, eyes wide and begging and willing. “Yes, please–” 
And he cannot finish, because he is soon letting a soft whimper fall desperately against your own lips; you stir with wandering fingers, undulating against him with a sweet pressure that nearly sends a choked moan past his lips. 
Fingers tangle in the strings of your loose hair, tugging you closer; your chest presses to his – a muddled awe when he feels your heartbeat switch and begin beating to the very same gallop as his own. 
His breath falls ragged as your lips press a blizzard of sultry kisses across his jaw; your gown’s hem curls and ruffles below him as trembling fingers trace it shyly, staving his insatiable hunger. 
Haziness leaks into his mind like the winds creep upon winter; perhaps from the cool, delicate skin so inviting underneath his palm, or perhaps the thick, heady scent of figs in the air. Completely at your mercy, craving everything you’re willing to give him – and as though you know it, there is an odd feeling, some shift under the thick limbs of tree above; it is a jarring realization that you’re smiling against his neck, teeth small needles upon his skin. 
His brow furrows - a groan slips from his lips as his fingers gently tug at your hair, coaxing your head up from his wanting skin. 
Your eyes, blown wide and hungry as his own; and in a hazy swallow, his voice thick with desire and disbelief breaks the quiet of the garden. “You’re divine,” He admits, shaking his head. You laugh at this; that very sharp thing that always seems too loud for your lungs – his mind blares for a moment, but it disappears with a kiss to his jaw. 
“You are, my Prince.” You insist. And in your words strikes him a jolt; Gods, this is ill done. He should have stopped when you led him to the tree – he should have turned back when your eyes lingered too long on his lips, when his hunger grew insatiable and unable to contain – when you slithered into his lap, when he tugged you closer and whispered such flowery words into your sweet ear; when he kissed your lips with blistering fervor and locked his arms so you could not slither away, even if you wished to. 
He is a prince, after all—honor bound, held to standards that now seem so absurdly distant; and indeed, as you move atop him, as your hands snake beneath his tunic and brush icicles over his burning bare skin, something snaps inside him. 
Your hips, and your sensual smile – torturous things, as you draw a slow rhythm that sends his mind spiraling deeper into the fog of lust; frantically, his hips cant upwards in chase of your own. 
Embarrassment is merely a wash of afterthought – because you whimper just as he does, shivering in his grasp at the ecstasy that builds between your frigid skin and his own, furnaced by the ancient blood coursing through his body. 
Ice and fire, his mind whispers – and he is struck with some deep-seeded pride, a knowledge that, more than carnally, he was meant to find you, to be with you; And that, perhaps, yours is the heart he will forever keep, as you keep his in your own eternally frigid grasp. 
He whimpers your name softly and you drink it up with devotion; a septa to a pointed-star; and with a scrambled grasp in your pleasure, your hand finds the fig, split and discarded in the earth-heavy soil beside him. 
It is with lidded eyes and puffing, parted lips that Jacaerys watches you, ravenous and ethereal. 
Your hair cascades, a curtain once more – keeping out any prying eyes from the middle of night, keeping in huffs of innocent desire as his fingers tighten their grasp upon you, dragging you once more over the straining length of him. 
Your fingers press into the wound of the fig and he is doused in a blaring hot ecstasy. 
He bucks at the angelic vision of you, pressing into his heated arousal – as if he might sheathe himself in you now and bring his warmth into your very soul - and you, swirling in a misty breeze of desire, pressing so hungrily against him, bucking your hips with a stuttering pleasure that shoots rapturous satisfaction up his spine. 
And then your fingers rise to those very lips he chases. 
Your eyes roll back in the moonlight – of which he scarcely notes there is enough to douse the tree and you in a silvery breath – and you moan his name when you taste the juice of the fruit. It is a groan, a low drawl that stirs a beast low in his gut. 
The scent is too enticing; abdomen clenching in restraint, his hips buck into yours and you hiss in pleasure, eyes returning to his own, pupils blown wide enough to swallow him. He wishes you would. 
And it is nearly too much for Jacaerys to bear; the sight of you, wrapped around him and breath puffing in shallow gasps, the fig’s juice staining your lips and glistening over your fingers as they swirl in the broken flesh once more. 
He lets out a shaky whimper, the pleasure mounting – his hands roam over your curves, frantic and trembling with the tension of wanting to hold you so close and wishing to ruin you completely. 
In a hazy gasp, he wonders what in the realms he is doing now, out in the open so salaciously; but the thought blanks when he feels your hand, freezing as it curls over his clenched jaw. 
His lips part for you easily, and your smile is hauntingly beautiful in silvered moonlight. 
Your fingers brush over his lips; in a shivered groan, Jacaerys’ eyes flutter shut and his tongue darts out, unable to resist. 
The thick, heady flavor sends heat through him, and he’s nearing that edge, that something - he groans, body arching underneath your epicurean touch as he lets your fingers slide past his lips, closing around them with hunger. 
The sensation hits him; heat, coursing through his veins so hot it turns icy, burns under his skin. And he bucks desperately, tugging you closer, a shudder running through him as he sucks the juice from your skin, overwhelmed with need. 
His body trembles underneath you; your touch, divine – otherworldly – and you hum, letting out a moan as your body stutters above him. Faintly, he is aware of your own peak rolling through you, of your moans, of the sickening smile that flashes above him – though the taste, the smell, the feeling of you slithering atop him – it’s too much. 
Jacaerys groans and your fingers slide from his lips, instead cupping his jaw, coaxing his mouth open for your own lips to find him. 
His groan becomes a gasp as he comes undone beneath you. 
His head falls back against the bark of the tree, feeling its breaths stutter with your own as you follow him, curled into his chest, stuttering your movements as he grasps you in pleasure. His trousers, spent – yet he notices not, whispering your name weakly as his body pulses in an unknown pleasure. Your lips trail ridges of ice over the sliver of exposed collarbone under his tunic. 
The juice of the fruit lingers in his mouth, pulsing oddly through his veins. And in a moment, the world shifts; his vision blurs, and as he blinks, the garden is different – bathed in golden sunlight, blooms wild and in full blood; and laughter, a girl and a boy’s, warbled and happy. His heart strikes; a calming unease, some familiar edge. Another boy’s laughter joins in, and his stomach douses in ice. 
He blinks, and the garden is dark again, the ancient branches of the fig tree curling overhead like gnarled, sinister fingers. 
He looks up at you, still dazed, his body spent but his mind whirling with the remnants of the pleasure and the strangeness that had gripped him so – and registers your stare, suddenly rigid and intent upon him. 
He watches as you lean forward, body pressing against his. A lazy kiss, one that spurs him to chase as you lean back, tasting of those sweet figs; slick with saliva and desire as you suddenly lift a palm between you, brushing his heaving chest. 
The sweetness hovers over his lips; he can nearly taste it, taste you – the scent is overwhelming, the presence of your body so close, so inviting; that hunger remains, even as his spend sticks to his trousers beneath you. 
His eyes trace the macerated fig in your palm, its flesh bleeding and willing, sweet and hungering. The fig. 
“Eat.” 
Your voice, a soft command – and your eyes, dark, intense as they bore into his own. The fig presses lightly against his mouth, and his tongue darts to lap at the juice which gathers upon his bottom lip hungrily. 
Pleasure blossoms at the taste, and in his heart swirls a yearning. 
Though something stops him; a sudden wave of dizziness, a strange sensation pulling him from some darkened haze. He hesitates, blinking at the fruit in your hand. 
“No.” He murmurs. 
He sees it in a flash of moonlight – your smile, faltering. 
It’s not disappointment, but something dark and fleeting – a deepened stare, a flash of malicious hunger; the sweetness of the garden suddenly gathers too thick, too heavy. 
You’ve stilled in his lap and he vaguely registers the rigidity of your expression, some familiarly shadowed stare. 
He’s not sure what he’s done wrong, but your lip trembles, and with a racing heart, he reaches for you. The look upon your visage stops him; a calculating flash in your gaze, the thin press of your lips. 
And for the first time the whole night, fear creeps into his chest. 
Something isn’t right. 
His hand slips away from your cold touch, trembling now for a new reason; and that fig which hovers in your palm suddenly smells sickening, filled with dread and longing all at once. The soil is rotten, he thinks hazily, it’s rotten…You’re–
“Come, why won't you try? Just a bite?” Your words curl in a taunt – and he nearly responds, but you’re leaning forward, lips brushing over his ear and sending shivers down his spine. His fist curls savagely against the bark of the tree as his heart begins to pound. 
“It’s only a fig, Jace.” You whisper, pressing your lips to the soft spot under his ear. 
You move to lean back, the curl of your smirk against his neck melting as you shift, only a sweet smile remaining when you turn to look at him. But the fear and the desire have mixed into some beastly conviction within him. 
And, in a moment of sharp courage, he catches your wrist in a firm, iron grip. 
You freeze under his grasp, your eyes glinting almost ominously in the silver moonlight. 
“Is it?” He snaps back, heart pounding in his chest as his jaw clicks. Somewhere in his heart, there is an unsettling air that chokes, stilling around you when you blink slowly at his question. 
Your stare is sharp, but there is a flash of something there he’s not yet seen before; something, he thinks, must be mirrored in his own gaze. 
Fear.  
A part of him expects for your jaw to unhinge – for a beast to emerge, to swallow him whole, to rip him open and feast upon his innards; but instead your gaze shifts, and your face is small, youthfully beautiful and dripping in purity – a girl no more than his age. 
And then, bone-chillingly, as though a petulant child would when denying a crime, you shake your head just lightly. 
No. 
A confirmation, one which sends a chill rather sharply down his spine. 
And from his lips a stuttered breath – he should run, should scream; but what does such a thing do in dreams? 
Yet as quickly as it came, the shadow over you vanishes. 
As if he blinks and wakes from the hazy dream – your face, returned to that familiar sweetness he so adores, the chilling smile you save only for him. You cup his cheek gently, and it is enough to pull him back from the edge of terror. 
Lilting and light once more, a touch of concern crossing your features as you tilt your head – “You look so troubled, my love. Where did you go?” 
He blinks, confused, alarmed. 
You press a kiss upon his lips, and he chases your touch. “Come back to me,” you whisper. 
He blinks once more, heart still hammering - but the fear dissolves with each ancient breath of the soil beneath him; and he gazes into your eyes through the dark of night – those same eyes that have always seen him. 
You understand him; and whatever that moment of dread had been— wherever he’d gone just now, into some visions conjured up by an exhausted mind – it is gone now, lost in the softness of the fig tree’s leaves, in the tenderness of your touch. 
“I’m sorry, I...” You shift as you murmur and it presses against his spent arousal, his breath hitching as his eyes fall upon your sweet lips, mind fogging. “I sometimes forget myself. You’re just…” 
His eyes hook upon your own, waiting; with bated breath, he waits for you. 
Your lips press together bashfully, fingers toying with curls of his hair, “Special. I’m quite fond of you.” You admit, nearly shy – and an affection blossoms within Jacaerys, a grin trickling upon his lips. “I’m quite fond of you too,” He breathes, pressing a chaste kiss to your cheek. 
Your eyes lose their sharp glint as the moon falls in the sky and his shoulders lose such tension that’d built in the moments past, replaced by the soothing touch of your palm; quiet whispers and gentle laughs that lull his mind into ease.  
And it is there, in the very edge of Aegon’s Garden, that you and he repose for the better hours of the ghost and wolf, whispering of lifetimes and fears and sneaking kisses between mumbled sentences. He forgets the fear he’d felt, that he’d seen in your eyes; soon, fog of morning creeps into the garden and tickles tendrils round his boots.
He is lulled into your lap again - his head rested upon the plush of a cool thigh, your dress gentle against his heated cheeks. 
And though he is unsure if the words that are murmured when his eyes become heavy are real or a part of his tricking mind, they fill him with that warm affection, that love that festers in his heart. 
“I wish I could stay here,” He whispers when he is half asleep from exhaustion. “With you.” 
There is a pause in your fingers for a moment. 
“And you can,” Your voice is laced with something he cannot see - for a moment, his mind conjures a flash of something rather wicked, the memory of your face when he’d denied the fig; though he throws away such absurdity. 
You’re so very soothing, trailing your nails along his temple. 
He drifts away. 
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HE WAKES SOME TIME LATER. 
He no longer lies upon your lap; instead he is pressed against your very body, his chest shivering in the cold line of you, in the breath of icy air that threatens from the sky above. 
You stir beside him; the garden is impossibly darker now - and as you sit up, he unwinds the hand he’d placed upon your waist. Uncomely, he reminds himself - though, what does it matter? What does any of it matter? 
“You dreamt,” You murmur. 
Disoriented, Jacaerys blinks, trying to find your face in the dark; he’s merely met with the glinting of your wide eyes against the moonlight blinking owllishly. 
“I…” He frowns, uneased by your observation. “I did. It was…” He shakes his head as he tries to recall, watching your frame materialize under the dark blanket of night. “Odd. A battle - over the sea, I think. Statues – dying, crumbling into the water.” He shakes away the creeping frustration of slipping memories, however distant or unreal. “It didn’t make sense.” 
You hum, and there is some specific glint in your darkened face he nearly misses; the shining of pearls outstretched against plush lips - the flash of a dark grin, sinister in the moonlight, snuffed quick by the effort of a gentle nod. 
He grows even more uncomfortable in the quiet - it must be nearing the early wake of sun; his muscles yield surprisingly little soreness for sleeping upon the earth. 
“Did you dream?” He wonders, relaxing as his eyes adjust to find your visage calm and sweet, watching him with a soft interest. What odd tricks his mind plays in the dark. 
Your voice, ever distant: “I don’t dream.” 
He’s imbued with the slow tendrils of sleep, though he frowns. “Everyone dreams,” He murmurs. 
You huff smally, tilting your head in that doelike way, “I suppose I can never recall them.” 
He laughs, then – a hollow thing, though recovering some of the warmth gone after the loneliness settled in those moons ago. A strained sound, though it makes you mimic his laughter in that odd way you sometimes do – and with a smile, you watch him intently. 
“I enjoy hearing your laugh, Jacaerys. It’s comfortable… familiar.” 
And for some odd reason, perhaps in seek of his own comforting memory, Jacaerys pictures Luke – laughter bubbling over at the drawing table of his mother’s quarters, breaking fast as a family; and a deep melancholy settles over him, pulling him deep into the pit of grief that finds him in the night. 
His smile falls. “My brother used to laugh until he turned red.” He recalls, settled into that haze that begins to reclaim him, as if he’s drifting to sleep once more. “He’d lose breath sometimes – like he had to suck air out of every lung in the keep, just to keep himself from passing out. It would make him laugh harder.” 
You smile in his peripheral. 
His brows furrow. “He was just always so full of…light.” 
He’s not sure why he offers such information – it is near impossible these days for Jacaerys to utter Luke’s name aloud, let alone think such fond memories. 
Though something about the blanket of night and the gentle brush of your thigh against his own, brings a lull to his mind; as though he’s sipped too many cups of wine, or still rests in some odd state of slumber. The remainder of the fig’s juices slip past his tongue when he wettens his lip, and he’s coaxed into that state of hungry bliss – not fully satisfied, yet pleasant to repose. 
Your fingers pull at the many frays of your odd dressskirts; in the faint moonlight, the fabric looks as though it has stains. Deep, dark streaks that blossom just near your breast and stomach; they seem to spread with the breaths you take, your hands beginning to shake. He blinks rapidly to rid himself of such an uneasy sight.
A statue of a man and woman across the way has caught a streak of moonlight; He’d not noticed any statue in the fig tree’s courtyard hours ago, but now it sits, gruesomely pale in the scarce silver - and their faces are rather distraught.
A familiar statue, one so alike the marbled lovers near the olive tree. A man, wind-and-water-torn, with that same arrow protruding through his flesh; and the woman in his arms watching with a transfixed expression, grasping at his arms with lonely eyes. 
He tears his eyes away uneasily. 
“I know a boy like that, too.” You whisper quietly, though Jacaerys is hooked upon the odd bend of the arrow which sticks through the statue’s shoulder across the way. He’s not quite sure what you mean, and his brows furrow. 
“-Though,” You shrug with only one shoulder, as though mimicking the woman from the statue, “His laugh is more full of water.” 
Jacaerys freezes. 
His heart stops at your words, breath catching in his throat - the mention of such a thing sends a chill through him. “What—” He whispers, mind flashing back to the glimpse of curls, of that bouncing gait, of the blue that had flickered through these very hedges days ago. 
“What do you mean?” He chokes. 
You smile that soft smile – the one that haunts his mind, that leaves him uneasy in the flickering of moonlight. “I see him in the garden sometimes,” Your eyes flicker, gleam, “He comes here – to the fig tree – during rainstorms. He told me he used to enjoy the sound, but now he detests them.” 
Jacaerys is rooted to the ground, staring wide-eyed into the yawning chasm of night; its jaw spread wide, your face the shining beacon of fire at the base of its throat. 
The pain of a lost limb; of a lost soul entwined with his own, cut from the same womb, carved from the same stone. But your voice echoes drearily through the quiet silence. 
“And the boy…His laugh,” Your brows knit faintly, “It’s like yours, but…drowned.” 
Every hair on the nape of his neck is on end as he lets out a shaky breath. No. Lucerys is dead, he reminds himself. 
Your fingers brush his hand against the soil; cold as ice. 
The sensation jolts him, and he leaps to his feet, sleepclothes uncomfortable, his skin sticky from the sins of earlier. His cheeks flood with heat. 
It is wrong. Dread fills him, the leak of a moat into a basin of fear; there’s something wrong about this - because Lucerys is dead, his father is dead, Rhaenys is dead - all of them, dead. 
Life moves on, but the dead do not; and it is a burden he carries, and he carries alone - because the crown is too heavy to be marred by the blood of the ones you’ve loved, so Jacaerys must bear the weight for him and his mother. 
How could you have seen him? 
“-You know how.” 
Your voice comes sharp from the tree below, and it strikes him through the stomach - and before he can consider the unnerving murmur from your lips, how you’re always seeing into the words in his mind, the thread has snapped. 
It’s only a fig, Jace.
He staggers back a few steps, feet caught on the twisting gnarl of treeroot. “I’ve… I apologize, I must go.” He murmurs, swallowing thickly; and with a shaky breath, he resists the urge for his mind to spiral into that dark place, where grief and madness lie in wait. 
He turns away from the lulling ease of the tree above, nearly as large a shadow as the castle itself – and takes one, two, many steps towards the hedges, chest thundering. 
Perhaps you call after him. 
He thinks he hears your dress snagging on thorns and branches behind him as he tears through the bowels of the rotting garden; rounding a corner, he hears a feline’s hiss, a dark rumble of thunder. The garden is wrong – a putrid thing, in the dead light of nightingale’s earliest breaths. 
It is rotten soil, a voice mimics – though his heart still pounds your name into his ribs; he still misses the chilling press of your lips to his own, the sweet saccharin taste of the fruit upon your tongue. 
The soil is sick, it is too rich in his nostrils; and when he staggers past the maiden statue, he is terrified to see there is no snake upon her thigh – instead her visage stares down at him with a wicked, serpentlike grin. 
A shiver of fear as he blinks back terror. 
Morning glories are trampled underfoot, poppies beaten until their bloody leaves smash into the soles of his boots. 
Jacaerys’ eyes clench shut and he pretends not to hear the faint mix of joint laughter – warbled in the distance, a girl’s and a boy’s, bubbling over before dissolving, echoing into the crash of the icy ocean below. 
An agonizing gasp of unease from him as he finally bursts to the entryyard, the wilting flowers decaying in a sickly sweet scent. He nearly retches. 
When Jacaerys pushes past the gate and into the bailey’s courtyard, the breaking dawn is cloudless.
Early morningbirds chirp in the sky; waves crash down upon the shore, lit bloody with the waking sun. He is very alone.
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eternallyordinary · 4 months ago
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“He Belongs To You” - Part 24
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⁺˚⋆。°✩₊✩°。⋆˚⁺ ˚ ༘ ⁺˚⋆。°✩₊✩°。⋆˚⁺ ˚ ༘ ⁺˚⋆。°✩₊✩°。⋆˚⁺ ˚ ༘ ⁺˚⋆。
series masterlist<3
i’m so obsessed with eternal sunshine deluxe omg. so i added some lyrics from twilight zone to the fic 🫧 listen while reading for the full experience ;) i love ariana sm ugh
Summary: When the world goes quiet, all that remains is the bond you can’t escape.
Warnings: violence, death, kidnapping, power imbalance, possessiveness, manipulation, emotional tension, stalking, implied violence, murder planning, toxic relationship dynamics, yandere
⁺˚⋆。°✩₊✩°。⋆˚⁺ ˚ ༘ ⁺˚⋆。°✩₊✩°。⋆˚⁺ ˚ ༘ ⁺˚⋆。°✩₊✩°。⋆˚⁺ ˚ ༘ ⁺˚⋆。
Homelander
Fluorescent lights hum overhead. Monitors flicker. Homelander storms into the cyber security room like a bomb with legs.
A half-eaten bagel drops from an intern’s hand. Half the department stands on instinct, others pretend not to notice him like prey freezing at the sound of a predator.
He doesn’t have time for their fear.
“Bellamy. Andrew Bellamy. Find him.”
He doesn’t raise his voice. He doesn’t need to. The weight of it, the way the syllables curl into a threat—it’s enough. No one dares to ask why.
A senior analyst stammers as they start pulling up records. “L-last known address flagged as a psychiatric facility. Bellwick. Escaped two weeks ago—uh, incident involved a missing nurse and a stolen car—”
“I know that already,” Homelander snaps. “I want to know where the fuck he is now.”
The analyst flinches, nods, types faster.
“Pulling financials. Power grid activity. Phone pings…”
On the screen, a deed flashes.
BELLAMY FAMILY PROPERTY
Utilities turned on exactly two weeks ago.
There it is.
“That’s it,” Homelander breathes. “That’s the fucking place. It has to be.”
Ashley barrels in, phone to her ear, trying to keep up.
“Homelander—please—can we pause before you go nuclear again—let’s bring someone in, loop in the FBI, limit the risk of potential blowback, you can’t just—”
“Blowback? If you speak again,” he says without looking at her, “I’ll peel your face off in front of your team. How’s that for blowback, Ashley?”
Ashley freezes.
Homelander grabs the paper with the address, glances once at the screen, then blasts through the ceiling—shattering lights, monitors, hearts.
The room is left in stunned silence, the scent of scorched air lingering like a warning.
You
The cold no longer bites — it clings, fused to your skin like it belongs there. The chains rattle softly when you move, though you rarely bother anymore. Your arms feel like lead, your wrists raw and swollen, possibly infected.
But none of that compares to the ache of a far crueler question:
Has he forgotten you?
Did he?
Could he?
Is he the reason you’re here?
It’s a strange feeling, one you don’t recognize. You’ve never been in love. Never been the type to obsess. And yet, he happened — a force of nature you never saw coming. And somehow, you don’t regret it.
Even now, chained and broken and alone…
You’d still choose him.
Because for the first time in your life, you felt like you were exactly where you were supposed to be.
Or did you dream the whole thing? Were you actually in a nightmare? Different dimensions, stuck in the twilight zone. Is this a black and white scene? If so, you’re in the gray one.
And if Homelander knows… if he’s the reason you’re here—
You hope he wins Best Actor. Because you had him completely wrong.
Footsteps trail down the stairs, pulling you away from your thoughts. Andrew comes down the creaking steps, humming something tuneless.
“Hey, princess. Still alive?”
You don’t answer. But you don’t scream anymore, either. That’s not survival.
He plops down across from you, legs crossed like a camp counselor.
“You’ve gotten so polite,” he muses. “I always knew you’d adapt. Trauma has a way of softening the edges.”
You say nothing. Stare past him.
But then he tilts his head and smiles in a way that makes your blood go cold.
“He’s coming, by the way.”
Your body stiffens.
“Don’t just sit there,” Andrew grins. “It’s your boyfriend, after all. Aren’t you excited?”
“How… how do you know he’s coming?”
“Eli told me.”
You blink.
“He said, ‘Soon. When the sun is just above the trees. When the guilt cracks the glass.’”
You freeze.
“I didn’t get it at first,” Andrew says with a casual shrug. “But then I saw the news—that little segment about me, the photo of Eli. And suddenly it all clicked. He probably saw it, lost his shit, broke the TV. Eli was always good with riddles.”
Your heart thuds.
“So, yeah,” he nods, cheerful now. “He’s on his way. Today’s the day.”
Andrew stands up, walks over to an old desk in the corner. He opens a drawer, pulling out a syringe.
“The only virus that can kill Supes. I don’t even know if it’ll work,” he admits, voice light. “But just the thought… of that godlike bastard realizing, even for a second, that someone could hurt him?”
He smiles, slow and serene.
“That’s enough for me.”
“Why?” you whisper. “Why kill yourself to kill him?”
“Because I have nothing left,” he shrugs. “Eli’s dead. My parents are gone. The girl I loved left. I’ve got nothing but revenge—and even that’s borrowed. But him?”
He kneels again, eye-level with you.
“He gets everything. So if I can take just one of those things back—his power? His life? You?—then I win.”
He tucks the syringe into his back pocket like it’s nothing more than a pen.
“Today’s the day.”
And you realize he wants to die. He planned to die. But not before taking Homelander with him. Not before making you watch.
“What are you going to do to me?”
Andrew’s expression doesn’t change.
That calm, unnerving smile stays frozen on his face, like he’s rehearsed this moment a thousand times.
“To you?” he repeats softly, like he’s genuinely considering it for the first time. “Hmm.”
He stands again, slowly pacing, dragging his fingertips along the stone wall, his boots echoing in the stillness.
“You’re a bonus,” he finally says. “Collateral. A symbol. You’re the prize he thinks he gets to keep.” He turns to face you. “But you’re the one who led him to Eli. You’re the one who made him feel… jealous. Weak.”
He shrugs again, as if he’s discussing a weather forecast.
“I haven’t decided yet.”
Your heart pounds in your ears.
“I could let him watch you die.”
“I could use you to lure him closer.”
“I could inject you instead and let him watch you fall.”
He tilts his head.
“So many options. But I like to improvise. Eli always said I had a flair for drama.”
Your lip trembles despite yourself. But you don’t speak. You can’t give him the satisfaction.
Andrew walks closer again. Kneels once more—just close enough for you to smell the stale sweat and the sour scent of metal on his clothes.
He leans in.
“You know what scares men like him the most?” he whispers. “Not losing power. Not even dying. It’s losing something they love. Something they can’t control. Something fragile.”
His eyes gleam as they study yours.
“He’ll hear you scream before I kill him. That’s the part I’m most excited about.”
Your stomach turns. The urge to vomit claws up your throat, but you hold it in. Barely.
He reaches up and tucks a blood-matted strand of hair behind your ear.
“Smile for him when he gets here. Make it look real.”
Then he stands, dusts off his jeans, and moves toward the stairs.
“I’m going to tidy up. He deserves a proper welcome.”
And just like that, you’re alone again. With your heart hammering. With the echo of your chains. With the syringe still in his pocket.
And the knowledge that he won’t stop—unless you stop him first.
Today’s the day.
Just… not the way he thinks.
You sit in the silence.
Every part of you is sore. Your limbs are numb. Your throat is raw from screams you haven’t let out. You feel like you’ve been hollowed out and filled with fear.
But something else is starting to rise inside you now.
Not fear. Not grief.
Rage.
A heat you didn’t know you still had pulses in your chest like a second heartbeat. You close your eyes and try to focus. You know the steps in the floor he avoids. The one that creaks—he skips it every time. He’s a creature of habit. Predictable.
He’s unstable, but he likes control.
He has the syringe. The plan. The show he wants to put on.
And you’re the only one who can stop him.
You look around the room and spot a piece of broken glass in the corner. A small shard. Sharp enough.
Your breathing slows.
You inch toward it.
You wait.
Footsteps again. Heavy. Casual.
Humming.
That fucking humming.
He’s coming back.
Fuck.
You barely grab the glass and tuck it under your thigh just as the door creaks open.
He steps inside, hands clean now, the same smile on his face.
“He’ll be here soon,” he says lightly. “I made coffee. You should probably fix your hair. Wouldn’t want to look like a mess in your final moments.”
He walks toward you. Crouches in front of you again. He looks at you like you’re an art piece he doesn’t understand but wants to ruin.
“Any last words?” he asks, amused.
You stare up at him. You let the silence stretch. You let your lip quiver just a little.
You see the spark of satisfaction in his eyes. Good. Let him think he’s already won.
Then—
You move.
The shard slices across his cheek, deep and fast. He screams, stumbling backward, clutching his face.
You’re already on your feet, yanking your wrist free from the chain. You don’t know how you have the strength, but you’re not questioning it.
You’re running—no, crashing into him. Slamming him into the wall. He swings, hits your jaw, but adrenaline keeps you upright. You elbow him in the throat. He gags.
You don’t hesitate. You reach into his pocket. The syringe.
You hold it in your hand, fingers slick with his blood.
“Don’t,” he rasps, voice different now. “Don’t do this.”
You stare down at him. Panting. Shaking.
“You were never going to make it out of here,” you whisper. “You were never going to let me live.”
His eyes shift—looking at the door behind you.
And that’s when he makes a mistake.
“He’s almost here,” he mutters, like it’s some sacred thing. “I can feel him.”
You pause.
Your heart skips.
You don’t know if it’s true.
“Maybe I’ll just stab you with it instead. Imagine him flying in, only to find you dead at his feet.”
That’s the last straw.
You lunge.
You slam him back down. Again. Again. You don’t even realize you’re screaming.
The syringe clatters away.
You don’t need it.
You don’t want it.
All you want is for him to stop breathing.
So you make sure he does.
You don’t feel your hands anymore. You don’t hear your own screaming. You just see his face caved in, neck at the wrong angle, mouth frozen in that final, awful smile.
You sit there, panting, soaked in blood—his, yours, it doesn’t matter anymore.
And then—
The door slams open.
You flinch. You brace for him—for Homelander—
But the voice that fills the room is someone else’s.
“Oi—lad didn’t stand a chance, did he?”
⁺˚⋆。°✩₊✩°。⋆˚⁺ ˚ ༘ ⁺˚⋆。°✩₊✩°。⋆˚⁺ ˚ ༘ ⁺˚⋆。°✩₊✩°。⋆˚⁺ ˚ ༘ ⁺˚⋆。
tags: @raginginkedslut @emily048 @lilyalone @harlowedoktravelsthemultiverse @helreyy @forest-green-1994 @rainbowangel
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bamboozledbird · 1 year ago
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IGNITE: A Teen Wolf S1 AU // Chapter 1 / Next
Characters: Stiles Stilinski, Sheriff Stilinski, Reader (You) Pairing: Eventual Stiles x Reader, but man are we talking slow burn Word Count: 4.8k Warnings: Canon typical gore/violence, parental death (rip to your fake mom), descriptions of burning, depictions of depression (apathy, dissociation, 'numb little bug' vibes) Tags: Canon has been lovingly scrapped for parts, author is a chaotic bi and it shows, prolific overuse of the em dash, the slowest of burns i fear
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Summary: You can always smell ash long after the fire is gone. Perhaps, that’s why you still can’t breathe without choking on the past. It’s been four years since your mom died. Four years since she burned alive. For years since you didn’t. You survived, but they must have buried your heart with her because you feel like something halfway between a ghost and a lamb for slaughter. 
You can’t wash the smell of hospital out of clothes, not really. Maybe, that’s why death and disease follows Stiles wherever he goes now. It’s been eight years since his mom died. Eight years since he didn’t. Eight years since he decided that he wouldn’t let anyone he loved die ever again. He survived, but Scott’s new-found abilities and the murky world they’ve been dragged into is making it pretty damn hard to keep his promise. 
Time never stops turning. The grief never dissipates. Children soldier on—but in a town where all the monsters under the bed are real and old family skeletons rattle in every closet, how long can two fragile, breakable humans survive? 
Maybe, the real question is how long will they want to? Chapter Summary: After your annual interrogation with Sheriff Stilinski, you meet his son who turns out to be very handy with jumper cables and incoherent babbling.
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A/N: Does this look familiar? It should lmao. I gave into the peer pressure. All the messages and requests were too powerful. Here is a reader version of my ofc season 1 fic. Obviously some things have been removed to get rid of specific names/descriptions, so you want to read the full thing you can read the og version and check me out on ao3 (dork_knight)! For the sake of not clogging tags, I'll probably just do my reader version on tumblr and the full oc lore version on ao3 from now on. xx
Some say the world will end in fire. Some say in ice. From what I’ve tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire.
Before your mother’s death, you would have picked fire. Every single time. 
You never liked the cold; never really had to get used to it growing up in central California—but the crux of your argument, the twisted logic behind it all, was that most burn victims died from suffocation before they felt the flames. A small mercy, really, in the face of unspeakable tragedy. 
In the end, however, statistics were just numbers, your mother didn't die from smoke inhalation, and there was no mercy in burying a parent before you were old enough to have children of your own. Nothing ever ended poetically off the page. Death was just death, and it was always ugly. Someone should really tell that to Robert Frost, you mused, biting at a raw hangnail.
The medical examiner said the actual cause of death was pulmonary edema; at least, that was his best guess based on the state of the body. He didn’t say that she felt everything, her skin peeling back into her flesh, her flesh liquefying into fuel, her joints flexing into contorted pleas until the fire incinerated her last nerve ending. He didn’t have to; you connected those dots all on your own. You’d been twelve at the time, not an imbecile. 
“I’m sorry to drag you through this all again.”
You flitted your eyes away from the flickering lightbulb above Sheriff Stilinski’s head and met his gaze; it was nauseatingly sympathetic. Your responding shrug was a small, little thing—more like a twitch in practice, “Not your fault.” 
Your yearly visits to Sheriff Stilinski’s office were solely your father’s doing, even if no one wanted to admit it to your face. Most mayors would use their political power to get their child out of a police station, not into it, but perhaps he stopped being your dad somewhere between the funeral and now. 
“If you could start—”
“From the beginning,” you smoothed your thumb in small circles over the armrest of your chair, attentively tracing patterns into the polished wood, “I know.” This was, after all, the fourth anniversary of your first interrogation. You’d become somewhat of an expert at being a useless witness. You picked at your uneven cuticles before continuing, “Mom put me to bed around 10:00—which was kind of late for a school night, honestly, but she let me stay up to finish another chapter anyway.” The right corner of your mouth twitched for a brief moment, “Nancy Drew: Password to Larkspur Lane. I told her that forcing someone to go to sleep in the middle of a mystery was specifically forbidden in Geneva Protocol II.” Your mom had been far too indulgent of your lip on most occasions, but that night she didn’t smile at your snarky aside. She let you finish the chapter because she was too tired to argue; you could tell. At the time, you saw it as a victory. Now, it kept you up at night, the drooping lines of your mother’s mouth spilling over the pages of whatever book you were trying to read.
You bit down on your tongue when a stray splinter snagged against the soft pad of your thumb, “Dad was out of town, so it was just the two of us. Mom always put me to bed when Dad was gone; said it was the only way she could get to sleep. Had to make sure my window was locked.” You paused for a long moment: everything went dark after this. Your mother kissed the top of your head, murmured, ‘Love you,’ turned out the light, and then that was it. You woke up in the hospital, and your mom was dead. 
A bead of sweat dripped onto your top lip. The air in the Beacon Hills police station was, without fail, sticky with heat and body odor—and it wasn’t just the oppressive Californian sun. Even in the winter, a person could choke on the stifling warmth. Idly, you wondered if it was a matter of interrogatory tactics or budgetary constraints. 
“And then,” Sheriff Stilinski prompted gently, though you both knew how the story went from here. You had told it to him and a dozen other officials at least a hundred times in the last four years. 
You bit down on your thumbnail and winced when your teeth snagged on the tender nail bed, “And then nothing. I opened my eyes, and a nurse said that you found me on the front lawn.” 
“You don’t remember how you got outside?” 
You shook your head, staring past the Sheriff's shoulder. Large pieces of dust floated through the air, highlighted by the slivers of light trickling through the blinds. Suddenly, you had a newfound appreciation for the lack of fans in the room. 
Sheriff Stilinski cleared his throat and rubbed his hand over his jaw, “You don’t remember saying it was an angel?”
Blinking slowly, you looked at the grim line of the Sheriff’s mouth and gripped your knees tightly, digging your fingers into fragile skin until your wrist cracked, “I should, right? I was twelve. I should remember something—that’s what everyone thinks. That’s what my dad thinks.” Your eyelids fluttered to a tight close, and your voice went so quiet you could barely be heard over the hum of the copier outside the door, “He thinks it was me. That’s why he makes you question me every year.” Copper flooded your mouth as the soft lining of your cheek split under the brunt of your teeth, “He thinks you’ll finally figure out how I did it.” 
You were scared to open your eyes as the silence stretched between the two of you. You’d danced around the subject before, hinted and spun around the heart of it, but you’d never truly discussed how it looked from the outside. Sheriff Stilinski had been kind enough to give you a few different excuses over the years: trauma, head injury, oxygen deprivation, just plain ol’ grief—but whatever caused your temporary amnesia wasn’t so conveniently explained. In fact, currently, you had no explanation at all. When you finally peeked through your lashes, clumped together with frustrated tears, you couldn’t quite figure out what expression the Sheriff was making. He leaned back in his desk chair and frowned, “I’m sure he doesn’t—”
“He does,” you cut him off. Your eyes went flinty, irises darkening to something far more ashen with the resolve of your anger. You never had any trouble reading your father’s face; the disgust was thinly-veiled between the flickers of fear. 
Sheriff Stilinksi leaned forward so that you had no choice but to look him in the eyes. They were kind—more tired than usual, but still kind. They always were. That was one thing you remembered from that day, waking up in the hospital to Sheriff Stilinski’s kind, watery blue eyes, just before the entire world fell apart. His voice was gentle, but firm, when he finally spoke, “I don’t.” 
You nodded numbly and pulled at a fraying string on the hem of your denim skirt until the thread snapped. 
“I mean it, kid. They couldn’t identify the source of the fire. They couldn’t even find an origin point; no twelve-year-old could pull that off.”
You chewed on your bottom lip, “Could anyone?”
Sheriff Stilinski’s brow furrowed, and his mouth screwed up into a crooked line, like he was chewing on his words and deciding if he should swallow them or spit them out. “I wish I had all the answers for you. I really do. Not knowing, it’s worse than any truth.”
You blinked up at him for a moment, once again taken aback by his raw sincerity, and swallowed hard. He wasn’t the one who was supposed to have the answers; he was the one who was supposed to ask the questions. There was one failure in his muggy office, and it wasn’t the Sheriff. “It’s okay,” you said quietly. “Not your fault.”
He looked like he wanted to argue the point, but whatever he wanted to say was interrupted by the sharp ringing of the phone on his desk. “I have to take this, but if you remember something, or if you just need to talk—”
“My dad spends a small fortune on a psychiatrist and a behavioral therapist for that,” you stood up quickly, shouldering your bag. You forced the corners of your mouth into a small smile, tight at the edges like a sheet that had been stretched too thin, “But thank you. For everything.” 
The Sheriff’s gaze darted to a framed photo on his desk. You had seen it before, on one of your many visits to his office. It was of a boy—his son, you assumed—he looked like he was around five or six at the time. He was grinning, wide enough to show off his missing incisors, and his fingers and wrist were stained cotton-candy blue from a melting popsicle. You must’ve been that happy once, right? In the beginning, everyone was unencumbered by the weight of imminent mortality. Maybe that’s what Sheriff Stilinski was thinking, too. He looked away from the photo and gave you a small smile, “Don’t be a stranger, okay?”
You gave a half-hearted wave before wrapping your fingers around the strap of your backpack and walking to the parking lot. 
Outside, the sky was grim, a mocking reflection of the dour expression on your face. The spite in your eyes hardened when big, fat raindrops splattered against the apples of your cheeks. For a moment, you just stood there, glaring at the rain and cursing the cosmos for their utterly unamusing sense of humor.
A jeep pulled into the parking lot, and the squealing engine startled you back into reality. The search for your car keys was, of course, a considerable endeavor. Nothing could be easy. Not here. Not today. Not ever, you thought. A bit melodramatic maybe, but the weather was certainly ripe for a bit of self-pity.
You stacked your textbooks and binders onto the hood of your sedan, haphazardly throwing your jacket on top of the pile to protect your painstakingly penned Kafka essay from the rain. By the time your fingertips brushed against the cool metal of your car keys, your hair was damp and curling at the ends. 
The momentary relief was short-lived when you pressed the unlock button five times and the accompanying beep didn’t sound, not even once. For an absurdly long minute, all you could do was rest your forehead against the driver’s side window, breathing heavily until condensation gathered next to your mouth and the drizzle speckled dots onto the sleeves of your thin cotton shirt.
“If you’re trying to charge the battery through osmosis, it’d probably be more effective to smash your head against the hood.”
You jumped, and then flinched again when your keys clattered against the ground. You caught a glimpse of the phantom speaker in the side-view mirror; bizarrely, he looked just as surprised as you felt. You turned around, trepidatiously—objects may be closer than they appear n’all—and tried to swallow your rapidly rising heart. 
“Sorry,” the boy pulled the hood of his sweatshirt down and had the decency to look contrite, “big mouth.” He rubbed a hand over his chapped lips. “It’s a real problem. It’s so big, actually, that my foot just slides right in there like…all the time,” he gestured animatedly with a flat hand, a quick sliding motion, like a fish through water.
You blinked at him, slowly, and bent down to reach for your keys, “Might wanna see someone about that. Sounds unsanitary.”
“Eh, it’s hardly the worst thing I’ve put in my mouth,” he said, eyes widening into horrified round circles the second he stopped talking. A faint flush creeped up his neck to his ears, and your heart dropped back into your chest. Slashers and ax murderers didn’t blush. Probably. You hadn’t ever met one, but it seemed like sound logic.
“Choking hazard,” you hummed, leaning back against your car. Your fingers traced a small dent in the door, the cause long forgotten, “It’s definitely still a choking hazard.”
The boy grinned before fixing his expression into something on the cusp of severity, “I’m about 95.7% sure that anything bigger than a fist is completely mouth-safe.” He held up his fist and nodded sharply, “Make that 98.3% sure.”
“98.3?” your brow arched.
“Maybe even 98.9.” 
The buzz of a lamp post hummed above your heads as you stared at each other with little smirks until the quiet made you sink your teeth into your bottom lip and big-mouth drum his fingers against his forearm. 
“So,” his sneakers squeaked against the slick asphalt as he shifted his weight, “you need a jump?”
You pursed your lips and ran your eyes over the front of your car, “I might give osmosis another shot. 30 seconds is hardly a fair trial.”
“Of course,” he hummed, “you gotta be fair.”
“We are in front of a police station.”
“Well,” he scratched his cheek, “it’s not a courthouse.”
“Technicality.” You were slightly horrified when you finally noticed that you were smiling. The sensation felt like it had escaped straight out of the uncanny valley and latched onto your face like a parasite in need of a host. It only took two weeks for muscles to atrophy; years must have completely decimated the fibers in your cheeks. “I guess I could use a jump. If your offer was an offer and not a hypothetical.” 
“Smart choice.” The boy rapped his knuckles against the hood of your car and said, “Steel’s probably pretty low on the permeability scale.”
“As opposed to a skull.”
He snorted and then nodded towards the large lump of books and papers covered by your freshly dampened jean jacket, “You should probably move your stuff. Y’know, ‘cause of the very un-permeable battery.”
“There’s that,” you sighed and started stuffing your things back into your backpack, shaking it violently until your notebook finally slid past your chemistry textbook, “and flunking English isn’t high on my list of things to do this weekend.”
His gaze flickered back and forth, rapidly cataloging every corner and crevice of your face. You tilted your head, brows pinched, and stared back at him with your arms crossed tightly over your chest. His eyes, you noticed, became a peculiar shade of brown in the yellow glow of the setting sun and the fluorescent light of the lamppost. More like honey, you realized, more like honey than irises. Something finally clicked behind them. "You,” he pointed aggressively, “you go to Beacon Hills.”
You pushed his finger away from your face with your own, “Safe bet, considering there’s exactly one option for the next 2,000 square miles.”
“You’re kind of a smartass, you know that,” he muttered. He struggled with the trunk of the jeep parked next to your car, cursing under his breath until he finally wrenched it open with an almost guttural grunt.
Your lips parted briefly, and then you grinned drolly. It was refreshing, not being treated like some fragile little creature who would buckle in the knees—or possibly set something on fire—at the slightest confrontation. “Kind of?”
“Total.” He nodded decisively before sticking his head and torso into the depths of his trunk. “Completely, entirely, and wholly a smartass.” There were various clanging sounds until he re-emerged with a pair of jumper cables, “Never noticed that in class. You don’t really…say anything.”
You bit back the snark poised on the tip of your tongue. When people looked at you, the only thing they saw was the worst thing that had ever happened to you. You were the daughter of the woman who burned to death on Cedar Street; your mom died, and you were there. It seemed like that was all you would ever be in Beacon Hills. 
In the grand scheme of things, it was better to be no one. 
High school had been your chance to slip into social obscurity—more kids, more drama, less discussion of homicide by arson—so you took it, wholeheartedly. You kept to the corners of classrooms, away from extracurriculars, and your mouth resolutely shut. 
“I try to exclusively bring the smart and leave the ass at home,” you finally replied.
The boy’s eyes drifted downwards for a moment, and his voice did a funny, squeaky thing when he said, “I should give that a go sometime.”
“10/10 would recommend. No one bugs you—and teachers never throw erasers at your face.”
“So you do remember me,” he grinned a little and rolled up the sleeves of his sweatshirt before unlatching the jeep’s hood and propping it open.
Slanting your head, you watched his profile. There were moles scattered across his cheek and neck, and his angular jaw clenched as he struggled with the knotted cords in his willowy fingers. “Vaguely,” you said faintly. It was coming back to you in pieces. That was life after twelve for you: bits and pieces. Everything was made up of the disquieting moments when you surfaced from the haze and into the present. It should’ve felt like a lungful of air, but it didn’t. It always felt like choking. 
He wiped his grease-smudged hand on his jeans and then extended it towards you, “Stiles.”
You took his hand, despite the strange formality, and shook it—mainly because of the black streaks staining his pants. “Y/N.”
His fingers twitched a few times when he connected the clamp to the coordinating battery terminal, and your eyes widened. You held your breath in your sternum until you registered that he hadn’t been electrocuted. He was just naturally tweaky, you concluded. It was either that, or he had jumped one-too-many engines in the last 24 hours…unless it was hidden option C, and he was actually tweaking. Unlikely, given he was on his way into a building teeming with cops, but far stranger things had happened in Beacon Hills.  
You sighed a little as you listened to the rain patter against the asphalt and the roof of your car, rubbing your palms over your arms until the goosebumps prickling along your biceps receded into your skin. Stiles looked back at you again, and his mouth wormed its way into a little frown. His head disappeared into his trunk, and after a moment a lumpy maroon mass hurtled towards your face. You caught it before it could smack into your nose, and you clutched at the soft material until you realized that the projectile missile was actually just a sweatshirt. 
Stiles was staring at you when you looked up from your hands. A small, unsure…something squirmed over his face, and you felt a little stupid, just standing there, hoodie limp in your arms. It happened a lot—more than it should after so many years. The invisible quicksand materialized in the strangest, most insignificant moments. You blinked, completely brainless, at simple questions, stared aimlessly into your closet until your second alarm startled you into snatching the first shirt you came across—clasped at a stranger’s hoodie until the rainwater pooled on your lashes dripped into your eyes.
Robotically, you thrust your arms through the sleeves and tugged it over your head, “Thanks.” The sweet scent of grass clung to the fabric, and there was something earthier underneath it, something like evergreen. You smiled slightly, combing your baby hairs behind your ears, “I guess I forgive you for attempting to blind me in the process.”
Stiles’s shoulders unwound as he scoffed, “That was an excellent throw. First-line material, honestly.”
You looked at him and tilted your head, eyebrows crawling towards your hairline, and Stiles sighed loudly, “Okay, so I’m not an ‘athlete’ or whatever—but I’m working on it. You’ll see—you’ll all see.”
You hummed softly, unconvinced but grateful enough to not comment further. Another bout of silence fell between you, but it wasn’t so restless this time—even after Stiles torpedoed his body through his passenger seat. He fought with his keys for a while until the correct one slid into the ignition. 
The jeep’s engine hummed pleasantly in the background as you let out a soft sigh, dropping your head back against your car window. The rain had stopped somewhere between trying to unlock your car and now, but you couldn’t quite recall when. The chill wasn’t so bad, you realized, without your foul mood casting a shadow over your head.
Stiles landed back on his feet and leaned against the jeep. You could feel his gaze on you again. A tickling sensation trailed down your spine as you fiddled with your keychain. You took a step backwards and bit your bottom lip, “I should probably try start my car…y’know, before you throw something else at my face.’”
He nodded, taking a step towards his jeep, “Solid plan. A tire iron was next.”
You slid into your car and stared at the steering wheel, forgetting to laugh at his joke. You wrapped your fingers around 10 and 2 and silently called upon every deity you’d ever heard of to end your suffering. Stiles seemed nice enough, but you seriously doubted your smalltalk capabilities were up-to ‘ride home’ standards. Perhaps, you should revisit your resounding dedication to atheism, you thought, as the engine sputtered in protest a few times and then came back to life. 
Stiles flashed two thumbs up through the window. The smile on his face was positively goofy, but his dismount from the jeep was somehow even goofier. He stumbled over his large feet a few times before regaining stability. You bit back a smile when he shot you another thumbs up, this time through the dash as he removed the jumper cables from your car’s battery.
He wiped his hands off on his jeans again; at this point, you were convinced that they were beyond saving, but Stiles didn’t seem concerned. He tapped against your window before stepping around the open door, “You should probably let it run for a while. Take the scenic route home; enjoy all the Beacon Hills hotspots open past 8:00 pm on a weeknight. I personally recommend the Rite Aid or Walmart.”
You snorted, “Maybe I’ll swing by the Preserve. I hear the woods are especially beautiful in the foreboding darkness.”
“Don’t.” Serious was an odd look on Stiles’s face. You decided that you much preferred the goofy grin. “Don’t go anywhere near the Preserve. It’s officially cordoned off—totally locked down, quarantine-zone-central. Something about flesh-eating, parasitic plant life.”
“As completely real and unobtrusive as that sounds,” you drawled, “don’t worry about it. Literally every single person in town knows about the body they found in the woods.” It was bound to happen, small town and all—and ‘woman dies in deadly animal attack’ was the most interesting thing that had happened in Beacon Hills since the intersection got a Target two years ago. “I’ve seen every installment of Friday the 13th and The Blair Witch Project. If I’m going to be murdered, I refuse to also be humiliated by a cliché C.O.D.” 
The manic expression on his face softened to a relieved smile and then again to a little smirk, “So what’s a certified fresh murder, then? Not that I doubt the depths of human depravity, but I think society killed off originality a few centuries ago.”
You thought back to a house fire with no origin, accelerant, or discernible cause. Apparently, not. “You know what they say,” you sighed, “life finds a way.”
Stiles tilted his head, “And death.”
“And death,” you agreed, staring at a small chip in your windshield. The cracks had just begun to spiderweb out from the pit. 
Stiles looked like he wanted to say something, and he looked so much like the Sheriff with his face twisted around thoughtful contemplation that you couldn’t believe it had taken you this long to make the connection. The boy in the photo had grown up. How unfortunate for him. Stiles swallowed whatever it was that was lingering on his tongue and shut your door. He leaned his elbow against the window frame and cocked his hand in a stiff little wave, “Seeya at school. I’ll bring something fun for target practice—maybe grapes. You like grapes? Don’t answer that—I’ll surprise you.”
You put your car in drive once Stiles was safely a few feet from the wheels and gave him a dry smile, “The anticipation is killing me.”
What a scary place to be, you thought as you watched Stiles disappear in your rearview mirror. Anticipation. Hope. Life. You were chronically good at surviving; cockroached your way out of every horrible thing life squashed you with. Lately, all you could do was cling to your heartbeat and the warmth of your skin, until you were barely more than roadkill. A walking carcass was a far cry from living, but death would not stop for you, so you stopped looking for him. You kept treading water, took your pills, stopped existing—you were a lot like Schrödinger’s cat that way: too stubborn to live, too stubborn to die. You didn’t know what to do if someone unsealed the box and forced you to choose. That was the trouble with possibility; it required far too much uncertainty.
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Your dad’s SUV was parked in the garage when you finally pulled into your circle driveway. It was a rare sight; your dead battery had disrupted your usual routine. You were supposed to be safely tucked away in your room after an early dinner—take-out usually, sometimes a quesadilla if you were feeling exceptionally inspired—by the time your dad got home from work. It was dysfunctional in every sense of the word, but it was the only way you could function in the same space. 
He used to stare at you from the other end of the dinner table: not eating, not speaking. The only way you knew he was alive was the slow rise and fall of his chest. After a while, he moved dinner to his office. ‘Working dinner,’ he’d say in passing, ‘budgets are due.’ Eventually, he stopped coming home altogether. It was better that way, you thought. You loved each other better from afar, where the power of nostalgia could cloud all the present unpleasantries. You wondered what he saw when he looked at you now. You wondered, and you desperately didn’t want to find out.  
You shouldered your backpack and made sure your car lights were off twice before quietly creeping into the mudroom. You could hear the buzz of the microwave as you toed off your sneakers and tried to discern the smell emanating from the kitchen. Something with garlic and tomato. Bona Vita, probably. Your dad loved their al pomodoro. 
You tried to make yourself as small as possible as you skulked into the kitchen, shoulders hunched to your ears and grip tight around the strap of your backpack. Your dad’s back was to you; you could see the wrinkles in his collar from where he tugged at it when he was agitated. He stopped stirring his pasta once you reached the island. 
“Did…” your dad trailed off for a moment, still facing the kitchen counter, “did everything go alright with the Sheriff?” 
You shrugged even though he couldn’t see you, “I guess.”
“It’s just,” he rubbed at his jaw and looked down towards the oven, “it’s almost eight. I was wondering…worrying.”
He still wasn’t looking at you. You stared at the back of his head and sucked your bottom lip between your teeth. Look at me. Your brows pinched, and your back molars ground together. Look at me. 
“I called him. Sheriff Stilinski. He said that you didn’t speak for long.”
“Didn’t have anything new to say,” you shoved your hands into hoodie pockets, realizing belatedly that you forgot to give Stiles his sweatshirt back. Another problem for another time. 
“That’s not what I—” your dad grasped the lip of the counter and hung his head like it suddenly weighed too much for his spine, “I was wondering what happened to you.” 
“Oh,” you shifted your weight onto your other foot, “dead battery. I think it was the door light.”
Your dad nodded a little, “Do you need someone to pick up your car?”
“Got a jump from a friend.” Not a friend, not really, but you supposed it was the closest you’d come to one in the last four years. That was just a little too sad to say out loud. 
“Good.” He nodded again, “Good.” 
You nodded because it seemed like the only thing to do and slipped towards the hallway. You’d taken no less than five steps out of the kitchen when your dad said, “You could call me. Next time, you could call me.”
Maybe. Maybe you could if he would look at you.
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carnalcrows · 5 months ago
Text
YANDERE SUPERMODEL
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☆ name: Zara Mirza (زارا مرزا | ஜாரா மிர்சா) → "Radiant and Noble Princess"
☆ ethnicity : Indian
☆ age : 22
☆ gender : Female
☆ mbti : ESFP
☆ her story : [click to proceed]
Born into a world of luxury and love, she has always been the apple of her father's eye. With her mother passing away at a young age, her father raised her like the most precious gem in his collection. Anything she wants, she gets—no questions asked. But that doesn’t mean she lacks ambition. She worked her way into the modeling world, leveraging both her natural beauty and her relentless confidence. Now, at 22, she dominates the fashion industry, her striking red hair making her instantly recognizable on runways and magazine covers.
She’s charming, playful, and knows exactly how to get what she wants. But beneath her spoiled exterior, she’s fiercely loyal to those she loves. She enjoys the high life, but make no mistake—she’s not just a pretty face. She’s clever, calculating, and has a sharp wit that can cut as deeply as a designer blade.
☆ appearance :
Long, fiery red hair, always styled to perfection
Golden-brown skin with a radiant glow
Sharp, feline-like almond eyes with hazel-brown irises
5'10" with an elegant, statuesque frame—exactly the right height for a high-fashion model
Legs for days, always accentuated by designer heels
A wardrobe filled with exclusive couture pieces, mostly gifts from designers who adore her
Signature accessory: a delicate gold anklet, a gift from her late mother that she never takes off
☆ personality :
The definition of a confident queen—she walks like she owns every room she enters
Can be a bit of a diva, but in a way that makes people admire her rather than hate her
Always gets her way, but somehow makes it look effortless instead of bratty
Playful, flirty, and full of mischief—she enjoys making people flustered just for fun
Protective of her close friends, even if she teases them relentlessly
Beneath the glamour, she has a soft side—especially when it comes to her father
A bit spoiled, but has a surprising amount of street smarts when necessary
Can be manipulative when she wants something, but in a charming, almost forgivable way
Deeply afraid of losing those she loves, stemming from the loss of her mother
☆ with a lover :
A playful but high-maintenance girlfriend—you better be ready to pamper her
Loves being spoiled but also enjoys spoiling back in her own way
Uses teasing and affectionate bullying as her love language
Will always demand attention but makes it fun rather than exhausting
Gets possessive but plays it off as casual—she hates sharing what’s hers
Loves grand romantic gestures, whether she’s giving or receiving them
Expects to be treated like royalty but will also go to war for the person she loves
If you don’t text back fast enough? Prepare for the drama—she lives for it
☆ strengths :
Master of persuasion—can charm her way into (or out of) almost anything
Unshakable confidence—very little can rattle her
Strong social skills—she knows exactly how to read people and use it to her advantage
Exceptionally graceful and poised—perfect for both modeling and making an entrance
Business-savvy—she knows her worth and negotiates deals like a pro
☆ weaknesses :
Can be incredibly stubborn—once she sets her mind on something, there’s no stopping her
Struggles with rejection—she’s not used to being told "no"
Overly dependent on her father’s support, emotionally and financially
Can be unintentionally insensitive—she’s used to getting her way and doesn’t always consider how others feel
Deep-rooted abandonment fears due to her mother’s death
☆ relationships :
Father: Her entire world. She adores him and will do anything to make him proud.
Mother (deceased): A distant memory, but she wears her mother’s old gold anklet as a way to stay connected.
Rival Models: There’s always competition, but she thrives on it.
Designer Friends: She’s the muse for many top designers who spoil her endlessly.
Love Interest: You better be ready for a challenge—loving her is a full-time job.
☆ extra :
Speaks Hindi, Urdu, English, and a little bit of Tamil
Loves luxury cars and insists on driving them herself, much to her father’s dismay
Has an intense obsession with collecting designer handbags
Will throw a tantrum if her favorite café runs out of her usual iced coffee order
Despite her lavish lifestyle, she has a weird love for street food and secretly sneaks out to eat pav bhaji on the side of the road (without her father’s permission ofc).
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imagine-darksiders · 10 months ago
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Eden's Heir, chapter 6.
Prison break.
Summary: You manage to get your hands on Vulgrim's precious artifact. War is nice to you in his own, strange way, and Strife is his usual self.
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War has never been one to hide his true motivations behind crooked smiles and sly glances. Their eldest, Death, used to say that of all the Nephilim to be born from the dust of angels and demons, War was always the most forthright. Abnormally so.
Even among his ilk, he was the odd-one-out. Too fair, too just, 'getting to be a little too much like those damned birds.'
Why? Because he doesn't care for lies? As if Angels can't be just as underhanded and amoral as demons. Still, those who threw critique his way usually ended up leaving sadder but wiser, and often sporting broken bones and a new gap between their teeth courtesy of either himself or Fury. Death was more the sort for dolling out verbal degradation, and Strife... Well, Strife wasn't around a lot when War was still a whelp.
Regardless, perhaps it's that very forthrightness that means it doesn’t concern War in the slightest to be staring at you as he is, nor that you’ve been casting several, perturbed glances up at the underside of his chin before snatching your eyes away again every few seconds, evidently rattled by his unwavering attention.
Conversely unashamed and indiscreet, War has absolutely no qualms about frowning down at the small human in his arms, regarding you as one would a piece of mildly interesting trivia he’s never encountered before but is determined to decipher.
Truly, you’re nothing at all like the humans he’s heard about.
Humans aren’t fighters. Eden was a historically peaceful place, the name itself synonymous with Paradise. And yet only moments ago, War had borne witness as one of its prior denizens pulled a tiny blade from out of nowhere, and with a feverous desperation carving lines into your face, you’d plunged that blade into the hand of the gumptious demon who snatched you up.
… Belatedly, War realises he’ll have to tell Strife to be more thorough the next time he goes snooping for hidden weapons.
Humans adapted well to their new home on Earth, faster than anybody thought they would. They’re sturdy and solidly built, well-defined in body, and often ungainly in how they carry and present themselves; perfectly suited to learn the pursuits of agriculture, crafting and gathering.
You, however, stand as a stark contradiction to your entire species.
You’re soft. Graceful in your extravagant raiment, but inarguably fragile, far more-so than your fellow human, which is saying something.
War has felt the jarring give of your skin under his blade.
Strife has not.
War has tested the pressure of his grasp on your limbs and found them astoundingly delicate.
… Strife has not.
It’s why his brother’s actions riled War so fiercely after throwing you across a Creator-forsaken pit of lava onto this stone platform. He’s not certain Strife quite grasps the magnitude of the situation, nor the implications of a human being here in the first place. For you to turn up in the Void, speaking Common, dressed like a pampered Seraphim… it raises a series of rather urgent questions.
But to even have a hope of getting them answered, he and Strife ideally need to keep you alive...
… If only he could figure out how to get that notion through his brother’s thick skull…
Blinking out of his musings, War sees you raise your eyes to peer up at him again, although in this instance, much to his unspoken surprise, you don’t look away. Whilst certainly anxious, there’s a spark of something else tangled within the labyrinthine strands of your unusual irises, something that nearly has an invisible thread tugging at one corner of his mouth.
At last, it seems you’ve rediscovered the same nerve that called you to defend yourself from the demon.
“Put me down,” you utter quietly in a voice that quavers with the effort of keeping it level. You even maintain bold eye contact as you say it.
Again, War almost has to admire your gumption to demand something of one of the Four...
Almost.
If he were a curious Nephilim like his brother, he would probably concede that, yes, there is something about you that invites fascination. Like a mystery that hasn’t yet revealed its secrets.
He doesn’t move, doesn’t blink, merely holds your watery gaze expectantly until you either remember yourself and lower your eyes or-
“Please, put me down?”
And just like that, War’s unspoken admonition is knocked off its tracks.
He hadn’t been expecting… He thought you’d just…
… Oh.
In hindsight, he supposes it was rather foolish of him to expect a human to adhere to the same social rules as another species, and he has to remind himself that just because you’re still meeting his stare, you aren’t being deliberately provocative.
Just… naive.
But why would you know of his reputation? Or of the tall tales whispered by nervous, fledgeling angels who like to try and frighten each other with stories… Stories about what happens to those who are unlucky or unwise enough to look the Horseman, War, in his eye.
Your ‘please’ is foreign to him. He knows of its usage, of course, but to hear it spoken so liberally… It’s as though you assumed ‘please’ was what he was waiting for. Is offering it a human’s way of showing deference?
Curious…
“Ahem…”
The sound of a throat being cleared snaps through War’s thoughts like the crack of a whip.
Quick as a flash, the scowl that had been gradually lifting from his expression slams back into place, and he turns his heated glare onto Strife, who stands in front of him with his arms folded neatly across a silver chest and his helm cocked to one side, eyes narrowed accusingly.
“You done being greedy, or are you gonna share?”
War’s scoff, and your huff occur at the same time, leading the two of you to share a brief glance before the former gives his eyes an exaggerated roll and finally, finally obliges, lowering you to the ground as swiftly as he can while maintaining a strange air of caution that betrays how breakable he thinks you are.
Large, metal gauntlets slide out from underneath your legs, depositing you on a flat piece of stone that’s relatively clean of demon blood.
The very instant you’re free, you only hesitate long enough to squeak out a hurried ‘thanks!’ before tearing yourself away from the gauntlet that hovers behind you and stumble several paces off to the side, putting some much-needed distance between you and the Horsemen. You almost trip over the train of your dress in the process.
Clinging to your elbows, you have to stuff your teeth into your lower lip to stop the sound of despair bursting out through pursed lips.
Your legs may as well be replaced with toothpicks for all the support they’re giving you. Terrible possibilities have begun to swirl across the mire of your brain.
What if you hadn’t found your nail file in time…?
What if Strife had never returned your bag?
You shudder, overwhelmed by the feeling that you’ve landed on the right side of a coin-flip, by no other will than dumb-fucking-luck.
You’ve never come that close to certain death before. You never want to come that close again.
At your back, unseen, Strife gives you a fleeting once-over, only returning his eyes to your veil when he doesn’t spot any immediate damage.
With his typical flair for bad timing and inability to read a room, he stretches his mouth into a hidden, cocksure grin, gives an approving nod and declares, “You did good, kid.”
Giving a harsh sniff, you tip your head towards the ceiling and let out a sharp, brassy laugh, utterly devoid of humour.
“Good?” you echo, rounding on the Horseman, your lungs still feeling two sizes too small when you draw breath, “GOOD!? I could have died! I almost did!”
“Almost!” Strife parrots eagerly, venturing a few steps towards you and spreading his arms out wide, apparently unbothered by your brazen reproach, “You almost died. But you didn’t.”
“That isn’t reassuring, Strife!” you wail.
Shaking fingers lift to try and thread through your hair, only to meet the barrier of your veil. Thwarted, you let your arms flop bonelessly back down against your sides and curl your hands into fists. “I’m not…-!”
But the words won’t come. Instead, you fall silent, realising how redundant it would be to say, ‘I’m not like you,’ out loud.
Christ, what an understatement.
You’re not the type to look at an ‘almost death’ and consider it a triumph. It’s a nightmare. You want to avoid death! That’s the most human instinct of all.
You shouldn’t even be here. You’re not like these two larger-than-life beings from another world. You can’t shoot guns like a master marksman, you can’t swing a sword that’s longer than you are tall, and you certainly can’t make impossible jumps that seem to defy gravity itself.
Hell, you can’t even stand up to your own fiancé and his family…
Sullen, despondent, you allow the adrenaline to seep out of you like water from a leaky pail, leaving you with limbs that feel far too heavy, and a head that’s tired as death.
“I’ve got to get out of here,” you eventually murmur to yourself, resisting the urge to scrub at your eyes lest you spread mascara all over your face. Your heart thunders inside your chest, palms slick with the heat, but more so with the creep of dread that rises in your belly as you picture the demon’s rancid maw in your mind’s eye and grit your teeth, unable to quell the waves of anxiety crashing against you like breakers that pummel a rocky cliff.
All the while, Strife is busy trying to pluck a response from midair, racking his brain for reasons as to why you can’t just ‘get out of here.’
Then, to his surprise and your own, the silence is broken, and it’s War’s stoic voice that brings a pause to the hopelessness dragging your soul down into the pit of your stomach.
“That was a Slag Demon.”
Blinking, you knit your brows into a frown and lift your eyes to the Horseman’s hoodless face. “Excuse me?”
And War, evidently sincere in every aspect, assumes you didn’t hear him, and repeats himself. “That was a Slag Demon.”
Once again, your eyelids flutter in a series of rapid blinks. “Yeah, I… I heard you,” you reply falteringly, “I just-“
“That demon,” he cuts you off, sending you a pointed look, “was forged in the deepest blast furnaces of Hell. They’re deceptively fast, almost invulnerable, and notoriously hard to kill.”
When he falls silent and doesn’t continue for several moments, you shift your weight and awkwardly drawl out, “… Oh-kay~?”
What the Hell is he getting at?
The way he’s peering down at you is… odd, you decide. He still has that perpetual scowl on his face, but the eyes under his furrowed brow seem… brighter, somehow, not quite as piercing and disparaging as they were before.
You’re not sure you like it any better.
Appraising you for a few more seconds, War gives a solemn nod, and states, “You found a weakness. You used what you had at your disposal to gain the upper hand.” Then, after taking a brief moment to consider his next words, he must eventually deem you worthy of them because he averts his gaze and scowls off at the distant stalactites, grunting, “It was a good kill.”
… Your jaw nearly hits the ground.
And judging by the way Strife’s helmeted head snaps around to send a wide-eyed stare at his larger brother, you suppose War must not say this sort of thing very often.
Looking down at yourself, you take in the meringue wedding dress, the ruffled tulle and overall extravagance of your attire.
“But…” Your tongue darts out apprehensively to wet your lips, “But I didn’t even kill it.”
Turning away from you, War begins to march back over to the grate, stopping only long enough to retrieve his enormous sword from the ground.
He barely takes a second to mull over his next answer as he slings the blade into its proper place along his spine. “You created the opening that gave Strife a clear shot,” he tells you, coming to a halt above the iron bars set into the floor and twitching his head towards you, his profile obscured by long, ice-white hair, “It counts.”
And with that, he reaches up to thread large, metal fingers into his hood and flips the crimson fabric up and over his head, once again hiding his face in dark, familiar shadow.
For… quite some time, you’re left speechless, gawping at the back of War’s head, and reeling now from the near-death experience and the unexpected approval of one of the scariest men you’ve ever met. A glance down at your hands confirms they’re still shaking, fingers tight and rigid like the bones under your skin have locked up.
“…Well,” Strife chimes in, heaving his massive shoulders in a shrug, “Good thing I don’t mind sharing.”
Sauntering over to you, he lifts an arm as if he’s about to drape it across your back, but the moment you see him coming, you lurch into motion and start after his brother, following the path War had picked through the dead imps, all the while trying to avoid glancing down at their cold, dead eyes.
Only thrown for a moment, Strife is quick to recover, waltzing after you and continuing, “So! Big day. You killed your first demon, kind of. How d’you feel?”
Your mouth twists up into a grimace. “Like I’m going to pass out, throw up, have a heart attack then die. In that order.”
Which is eerily similar to how you felt walking up the steps to the church.
The panic is… well, it’s definitely still there. The threat of a downward spiral haunts the edge of your mind, always keeping itself in the periphery. But for now, War’s stoic assessment has apparently shocked you so much, it broke the nosedive you were about to take into a total fit of hopelessness.
The Horseman beside you barks out a laugh and takes a few loping steps until he’s swaggering along beside you, the heavy ‘clunk’ of his boots drowning out the ‘clicks’ of your heels. “Don’t worry, we’ll keep a closer eye on you, next time.”
“Next time?” you sputter, brows shooting up towards the top of your veil, “I-I am not planning on doing this again.”
“Eh.” With a dismissive waft of his hand, he replies, “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Now c’mon! Sooner we get the artifact, the sooner we can be outta this heat.”
Well. You suppose you have to agree with him on that front.
The sudden clatter of metal skittering across the ground nearly has you jumping out of your shoes.
At your side, Strife jerks to a halt, his boot lifted halfway off the ground and his helm tipped down to search for the thing he’d inadvertently kicked with the toe of his sabatons. His keen eye latches onto it at once, and he utters a sound of intrigue at the back of his throat.
Following his gaze, you hone in on the little object that’s still skidding several paces away from you before it slides to a stop, laying small and shiny on the dark stone.
Stooping down, Strife reaches out a hand to gather the little object into his palm.
“Huh, guess it was knocked when I shot that big bastard...” he mutters, rising to his full height and unfurling each finger one by one, peering down at his prize, “I thought you didn’t have any weapons in there.”
Turning towards you, he holds up your bloodied nail-file as he jerks his chin at your bag.
Admittedly, you’re surprised to see it again, and even more surprised at the surge of gratitude that courses through you at the prospect of being reunited with something from the real world.
“Technically speaking,” you sniff, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear, “A nail file isn’t a weapon.”
Bringing it close to his visor, Strife tilts his head and squints at it, humming dubiously as he runs the pad of his finger over the coarse metal, giving the end a testing tap.
“… It looks like a dagger,” he points out, “… A very small dagger.”
“Or a toothpick,” his brother grumbles up ahead.
“Well, it isn’t either of those things… It’s just something I use to keep my nails tidy…” At the incredulous glances you receive – one from Strife and one from War who deigns to cast you a bemused look over his shoulder – you breathe a weary sigh and thrust your hand out towards the former of the pair expectantly. “Look, can I just… have it back?”
In truth, you half expect him to refuse, whether to simply get a rise out of you or to mitigate your temptation to attack them with the nail file – not that you’d be so foolish.
So, when Strife extends an arm and holds your ‘weapon’ out towards you, you can’t help but let your jaw drop open in undisguised shock.
“Sure,” he says breezily, “I ain’t gonna keep it. More of a gun man, myself. And War’d be embarrassed to be seen with a blade this small.”
You don’t know whether you’re supposed to take offence to that or not.
“Here,” Strife offers again, lowering his upturned palm in the private hopes of coaxing you closer when you just continue to gape at his appendage, “Take it.”
Warily, you start inching your hand up towards his, keeping your eye on the silver helm and those piercing, golden eyes that drill right into you with attentive wonder.
Swallowing thickly, you dare to flick your gaze down to the nail-file, still sitting pretty at the centre of his palm… Up this close, you spot something that threatens to turn your stomach inside out.
“Ew! There’s blood all over it!” you exclaim, retracting your outstretched hand like he’s trying to give you a live snake.
Indeed, it isn’t the silvery metal that’s glinting in the firelight, but a coating of thick, shiny blood that’s already begun to dry on the file’s roughly-hewn surface.
Strife – who had given a start at your exclamation – pauses, then blinks and cocks his brow down at the offending blood sticking to your weapon.
“Oh, so-rry, Princess,” he chuckles, lifting the file to his cowl and wiping it several times against the fabric, smearing dark flakes of blood into the wool before he holds it out towards you again, “That better?”
Tipping your nose into the air, you give the file a thorough once over. Deeming it adequately clean, you at last reach up to pluck it from his grip, holding it gingerly between your thumb and forefinger. “Much. Thanks.”
You’ve turned away before you can see his eyes glow brighter, considerably pleased with himself.
By the time he stops sticking out his chest, you’ve already reached his brother, stopping a respectable distance away near the opposite side of the grate.
War doesn’t even spare you a cursory glance. Instead, he stands still and strong as a statue, his frost-blue eyes scrutinising the bars with rigid focus.
You don’t dare ask him why he hasn’t retrieved his ‘artifact’ yet.
“Hey, War. What’s the holdup?”
Apparently, you and Strife are on the same wavelength. How disconcerting.
A metal elbow suddenly brushes against your side as a titanic body disregards your own personal space and sidles up next to you, pulling a gasp from your lips that goes entirely ignored while Strife addresses his brother over the top of your head. “You gonna grab the artifact or what?”
Grumbling under his breath, War raises his eyes to fix his fellow Horseman with a stony scowl.
“The grate,” he retorts darkly, tossing a hand at the ground as if the answer should have already been obvious, “It’s locked.”
“Oh,” Strife answers flatly, though it isn’t long before he plants a decisive fist on his hip and declares, “Well, then we’ll just have to find the key…” Swivelling around in place, he casts an eye around the chamber and adds, “Maybe the demon had it?”
… You hate to point out the obvious, especially when you haven’t been invited to do so, but…
“Um… You mean the demon that just fell over the side?” you venture.
A thick, uncomfortable silence ensues, during which you’re sure you must have offended him somehow, because Strife’s body goes utterly motionless, and War huffs a breath through his nose.
“… I see your point,” the former concedes at last, and you realise he isn’t angry, just... bashful.
Another derisive sound escapes from the larger Horseman’s mouth, prompting Strife’s helm to snap towards his brother. “Well, you’re the strong one,” he gripes, “Just tear out the bars.”
Now it’s War’s turn to stop and ponder. He casts a sideways glance down at you, regarding you briefly from the shadow of his hood. By the time you’ve lifted your eyes to his face, he’s already turned away, cracking his neck with an audible ‘Pop!’
“Very well,” he rumbles.
It’s a little prideful of him – and Creator knows Death would expect better - yet War can’t help but wonder if you’ll be awed by a show of might. Maybe you’ll be afraid... Moreso than at present.
Pounding a fist into his gauntlet, he lowers his immense bulk down onto one knee and slides his fingers around the bars, rolling his shoulders as he prepares to demonstrate the raw, physical strength of the Red Ri-
“-Can’t you just… reach in and grab it?” you ask, cleanly derailing War’s train of thought and knocking the wind from his sails, “I mean, it looks small enough to fit through the bars, right?”
… Well, War supposes that’s a fair suggestion, but for one not-so-small problem.
Without turning to look at you, War simply holds up his gauntlet and flexes the metallic fingers into a fist.  “I would not get my knuckles through,” he states simply, bobbing his head sideways at his brother, “Nor would Strife.”
“Oh,” you falter, shrinking backwards and stuffing a canine into your bottom lip whilst the Horseman curls his hands around the bars once more.
“Um, why don’t I take a crack at it then?”
As soon as the words leave your mouth, you find yourself wishing you could snatch them out of the air and stuff them back behind your teeth.
Of all the fool things you could have said, why on Earth would you offer to put your hands anywhere near a stone that’s glowing like raw Uranium?
But it’s too late.
Strife has turned a thoughtful, wide-eyed gaze onto War, who returns it with the slightest parting of his brows.
“… Why didn’t we think of that?” Strife posits.
Before you can verbally – and physically – backtrack, War has already twisted his torso about and wrapped his colossal fist around your forearm, notably aiming for the one he hadn’t sliced open with his sword.
Warm metal engulfs your appendage all the way up to your elbow, and though you try to resist, he hardly seems to notice your efforts as he tugs you towards his side, then lowers his hand, leaving you with no choice but to follow its weight and drop to your knees in front of the grate, wincing as they bump against the hard stone beneath your dress.
“Here,” he says firmly, allowing you to snatch your arm back in favour of pointing his finger down at the glowing crystal, “Reach down and take it.”
Curling your hand into your chest, you give your head a shake and protest, “I can’t!”
“You just said you could!” Strife rebuffs.
That you did… “But-!” Wracking your brain, you add, “But what if it’s like… radioactive or something!?”
Visibly, the Horseman balks. “Ray-dee-oh… what?”
War’s eyes start to roll towards the ceiling as he listens to your back and forth with his brother, and he considers whether it would have been faster to rip the grate out of the stone after all.
You proposed a solution however, and in his frank opinion, you ought to stick by it.
The massive gauntlet enters your peripheral just as you open your mouth to shoot another argument up at Strife, but no sooner have the metal tips of War’s fingers ghosted across your arm than you wrench it away, whipping around to face him with startled eyes.
Hastily, you hold up your hands in surrender.
“Okay! Alright!” you acquiesce, “Jesus, just… give me a second…”
Flicking part of the veil over your shoulder, you lean forwards and brace yourself with one hand on a bar, lowering your torso down to stretch your other hand down and into the pit below, fingers blindly fishing around for the Vulgrim’s precious artifact.
When they brush against a warm, smooth surface, you can’t refrain from yelping and snatching your hand back as if it had moved.
The leathery smack of a gun being drawn from its holster reaches your ears.
“You okay?” Strife demands, shifting his weight restlessly.
Swallowing back your embarrassment, you nod and reply, “Uh, yeah, yeah. It’s just hot!”
“Hot enough to burn you?” War cuts in with a rough growl.
Biting the inside of your cheek, you brave another go, reaching down and brushing your fingertips hesitantly over the surface of the crystal. Though it is disconcertingly warm to the touch – no doubt from the ambient heat in the atmosphere – you realise with a third stroke that it isn’t anywhere near as hot as you feared it would be.
“No,” you sigh, only partially relieved.
The massive presences surrounding you relax slightly.
“Good,” Strife murmurs, raising his voice to add, “Can you get it loose?”
You can, as it turns out. Quite easily in fact. The crystal isn’t being held in any kind of clamp. To your mounting astonishment, it seems to simply float in midair.
“This is so freaky~,” you sing to yourself as you slide your palm down the long side of it, feeling for the pointed base and cupping your fingers around it with an audible gulp.
The whole crystal seems to buzz and hum under your touch, sending an eerie tingle racing up the length of your arm and raising the hairs all the way up to the back of your neck.
According to all sense and reason, this thing is nothing more than a pretty, pink crystal. But here, where sense and reason have been turned on their heads, pulled inside out and shaken up like a vodka martini, the thing in your hand is no more a mere crystal than the Horsemen are mere men.
Trying very hard to ignore how much the fluctuating thrum beneath your fingertips reminds you of a pulse, you clench your jaw tight, close your eyes, and pull… with a little too much force.
It’s lighter than you expected it to be. Nearly weightless. And it slips straight through the bars of its prison without even dinging against the sides.
Letting out an undignified bleat, you teeter backwards and land painfully on your backside, the crystal smacking against your bosom before falling from your trembling fingers and sliding safely into the soft, white fabric of your skirts.
Cracking your eyelids apart, you blink down at your lap, chest stuttering on a breath. “I… I got it?”
That was…decidedly easy…
Well, aside from almost getting eaten by a demon in your quest to find the damn thing.
The soft, pink glow of the crystal lights up your face as you peer down at it, glittering off your wedding dress and bathing the fabric folds in warmth.
“Wow,” you hear yourself whisper.
With cautious awe, your fingers wander towards it and slip gently around your rescued prize.
You’re so busy admiring the smooth, faultless lines that you don’t notice the shadow of a hand falling across your shoulders until War’s gauntlet has slid beneath your arm.
Aside from blurting out a squawk, you helplessly have to let yourself be lifted with unnerving ease onto your feet, still clutching the crystal close to your breast.
“Good job, kid,” Strife declares, slapping a palm on your back.
If War’s fingers hadn’t tightened around your arm at the moment, you’re sure you’d go tumbling over onto your face.
The force of the larger Horseman’s warning growl sends tremors through his gauntlet and down into the toes of your shoes, rattling the teeth in your skull.
Strife, pleasantly unfussed by his brother’s idle threat, leans over your shoulder as War releases you, and together, you all stare down at the crystal in your arms.
“Wonder what this thing’s worth to that soul-sucking ghoul,” Strife remarks after nobody breaks the quiet hush that’s fallen over you, as though he can’t bear to sit in silence for too long. Bringing his gauntlet up to rub at the chin of his helm, he thoughtfully adds, “We could always convince Vulgrim to throw in a little extra…”
At his suggestion, a tiny frown-line blooms to life between your brows. It is a very pretty gem… but while you know next to nothing about demons, you aren’t sure you like the idea of trying to bargain with one, not when your run-in with one of Vulgrim’s ilk had almost ended so disastrously.
You don’t know if it should come as a shock or not when War’s shoulders bristle moments later, and he bares his canines at Strife, his cavernous chest puffing up until you have to lean sideways to avoid getting jostled by it.
“The artifact, in exchange for information,” he snarls dangerously, “We will honour our agreement.”
‘Honour among Horsemen of the Apocalypse?’ you muse privately, ‘Wonders will never cease.’
Though only in War’s case, evidently. Strife just heaves an obnoxious sigh and tosses his helm back, “Ugh, you have no ambition… Why’ve you gotta be such a killjoy?”
War’s lips start to curl even further apart.
“So!” you quickly interrupt the broiling fracas, “We’ve got the… this thing-“ You shrug the crystal in your palms. “-H-how exactly do we get back?”
That, at least, gets the pair of bickering brothers to fall silent and pivot their attention from one another onto you. War’s expression is still as stony as ever, but you consider it a win that he looks marginally less murderous.
“Huh,” Strife says, “That’s a good question.”
Rumbling at the base of his throat, War grunts, "It would be prudent to find a way out of this realm as quickly as possible."
"Oh?" A mischievous glint sparks in his brother's keen gaze. "And here I thought you were.... warming up to the place."
Unbidden, a short puff of laughter is scoffed right off your tongue, more amused by how bad the joke was than the joke itself.
Either way, Strife's chest fills out proudly as his helm quirks towards you, one eyelid flashing closed behind the visor in a wink.
Oblivious, War just grumbles, "You know your humour escapes me."
And quick as a whip, Strife returns, "All humour escapes you."
Giving a brusque shake of his head, the larger Horseman decides it isn't worth getting into this argument for the umpteenth time. Turning his attention down to you and the crystal in your hands, he beckons with a gauntlet for you to step closer.
"Come. If we retrace our steps, we may be able to-"
You never get to hear the end of his sentence.
It isn’t that you’re particularly unlucky, you think… God, you hope. You’ve never thought yourself significant enough that the Universe would have it out for you personally, after all.
But when the ground suddenly disappears from under your feet in a blinding flash of vivid, blue light, and the deafening rush of air buffets your dress and boxes your eardrums, you can’t help wondering if you’ve somehow - in some unwitting way - slighted the powers that be, and now they’re playing their revenge card.
Which is a hassle for you, because you’ve had just about enough of portals and getting whisked off to places unknown for one day.
The last thing you see as you throw your head up and open your mouth to release a scream that’ll be sucked away with you as your atoms once again rearrange themselves to fit through a spatial rip, is Strife’s luminous, golden eyes flaring hotly like bursting stars – a direct contrast to the cool, ethereal blue of his brother’s, who’s own gaze opens up in surprise and, you think, alarm, one gauntlet outstretched in your direction.
And that’s all you manage to glimpse before the light overtakes you, and your body is yanked like a fish on a hook into the luminiferous aether.
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