#and devoted

[samsalami66]

And I'm back again with an addition to my Knight!Hob Prince!Dream au (I've decided to go with royal au for shortness' sake lmao) which you can find the first part of here.

Once again all the love and thanks to my wonderful @im-not-corrupted , who provided me with motivation and screams as I wrote this little drabble and is the #1 fan of this au.

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Dream hated audiences. 

Audiences meant spending an awful amount of time in his parents' presence, and even if nobody paid much attention to the third royal child in a line of seven, it was still painful to spend even a minute longer than necessary in the King's and Queen's presence. Dream could feel his father's disapproving gaze drift towards him every time his eyes would droop a bit too low, whenever his elbow would slip from where he had it propped on the armrest of his throne to hold his head upright, which felt heavier with every word the current Lord or Duke let spill from his lips. 

Lord Burgess, the man currently grazing the family with his abnormally boring presence, looked about ready to explode as the King once again denied his request for an addition to his land, which would allow him to hunt in the forest neighboring his crops. But the forests were strictly royal territory, and Dream could have told Lord Burgess in much fewer sentences than his father that they would never give up on ancestral lands, not in this lifetime or any other. 

But just as Dream's eyes were about to close to allow him another few moments of respite from this whole ordeal, sounds echoed through the halls outside the throne room. Voices got louder in volume and increasingly more frustrated the closer they got. It was a blessing, an escape from these confines of literal hell, and Dream perked up curiously to figure out what the tumult was about. 

Between the shouts and hisses he could make out a hysterical You can't just waltz in there! and a very joyful Watch me, mate! and Dream decided that this was bound to become a much more interesting audience than he had anticipated. And, true to the small exclamation Dream overheard, a man did just waltz into the room, a smile on his face that would cause even the strongest hearts to faint in charm. Dream didn't quite know how he managed not to, when bright brown eyes caught his over the entirety of the room in an instant, familiar mischief hidden somewhere behind the obvious amusement. 

Christ, those eyes had brought ruin upon Dream once already, years ago, when they had both been young and stupid. Though, by the looks of it, Hob Gadling had not cast that particular trait aside, if his entrance was anything to go by. Guards were hot on his heels, panic written all over their faces as they didn't manage to keep this man from interrupting a private audience with the royal family, which would surely end in them being excused from their service. 

But Hob Gadling seemed to care little for their steps behind him or the guards eventual fate, his stride purposeful, a clear destination in his step. Dream realised much too late what that destination was, too distracted by the way Hob's shirt clung to muscles that had not been there when they had last met, hair that was longer and curlier than he remembered and that framed a bearded jaw so beautifully Dream almost swooned. There was no time for that though, not when those eyes finally left his and were cast towards the ground, not ten meters away from Dream. 

Hob Gadling was kneeling, his head tilted in a bow that was entirely unnecessary for the position he was already in, in front of Dream. 

Not in front of the family, or the King himself, but before Dream's throne, an unmistakable message to everyone present, a showcasing of ultimate loyalty.

To his left Dream could hear Lord Burgess hiss in annoyance at the interruption, the words You dare to interrupt my audience, commoner? falling from his lips like venom-infused blood. Dream did not care for boneless threats. 

He merely cared for the smile stretched over rosy lips before him, the cheeks that stretched with unconcealed amusement. Two guards reached Hob Gadling's side, prepared to force the uninvited guest out the room, and it took all of Dream's years of carefully trained composure to not jump from his throne in a sudden surge of panic. 

"Leave him be!" he demanded, voice overshadowing any and all conversation as he slowly rose from his throne. Hob's grin turned victorious at the exclamation, his posture more relaxed where he knelt on the black carpet to Dream's feet. "I want to know what he has to say." 

There were eyes on him, Dream knew, those of his parents, those of Lord Burgess, those of his guards. He knew his eldest sister was hiding a smile somewhere to his left, fully aware of his and Hob Gadling's relationship, and the only person in this world aware of Dream's feelings towards this infuriating, obviously insane man. 

All the attention Dream had held with his command shifted towards Hob Gadling when he opened his mouth to speak, determination colouring his voice with self-confidence that vibrated through Dream's body like the pleasant rumble of a cat's purr. 

"I come to pledge myself to you, my Lord," Hob started, almost causing Dream to choke on thin air. "In body and in mind, I swear to protect you with my blade and life. Make me your knight, Dream of the Endless, so that I might serve under your name until I take my last breath, until my body betrays my desire to keep you from harm." 

There was no sound filtering through the pounding of Dream's heart in his throat. This – This, Hob's declaration, his offering of complete and utter submission – it was insane, completely crazy, simply not done, not in royal families, not in any politics around the world. One pledged themselves to the King and thereby the country, not to a prince who would never be king, an outcast from his own folk, from his own family. 

This wasn't done, had never been done before, and yet Dream found he didn't care. He didn't care for one single moment about propriety, not when all he had ever wanted kneeled before his feet and offered him Heaven. 

"I do not know who you believe yourself to be, but I will not allow-" The King started off, but Dream cut his reply short, his voice purposefully overpowering that of his father. 

"I accept your request." 

The answer wasn't grand or eloquent, entirely false in its deliverance, unofficial without the ritualistic knighting. But Dream was in a trance, his hand not his own as he stepped down the stairs to stand before Hob, one hand reaching to the hilt of the sword that was hidden beneath his robes. 

When Dream pulled the sword from its sheath and held it to Hob's head, all those eyes reflected back at him was trust, even when faced with total submission, with surrendering himself entirely to Dream, his office and his personal whims. All of this, when Dream had left him behind at the mere notion of friendship, knowing he could not be friends with a commoner. He could be friends with his personal guardian, with a Knight who stood entirely under his protection, and the fact that Hob had been willing to go to such lengths to find a way to be in Dream's presence… 

Well, if Dream felt tears build in his eyes as he allowed his sword to rest on Hob's shoulders, once on each, then that was between him and his Knight. And when his voice trembled slightly as he spoke next, then that was just between them too. 

"Rise, Sir Robert Gadling." 

Dream huffed a silent laugh into the hug he was pulled in next, the excitement bubbling in his chest enough to chase away every ill thought of his parents' opinion as he burrowed his face in Hob's neck. 

The sense of safety he felt in the arms of his oldest friend was almost too much to bear. 

[nappingmoon]

caleb’s voice in his secret times is so soft i’m melting

[trashy-greyjoy]

really love dynamics that are like 'it honestly doesn't matter if you view them as romantic or platonic, the point is that they love each other. the type of love is inconsequential, all that matters is that it's there'. gotta be one of my favorite genders.

[gauntletqueen]

Fuck Nintendo

[mournfulroses]

Mary Oliver, from a poem titled "West Wind," featured in Devotions: Selected Poems

[mongeese]

omg look at how they look at each other 😍😍 there's NO romantic explanation for this literally the amount of devotion they have could only be platonic. people who r just dating don't act like that, those two are sooo best friends

[fraternum-momentum]

give me your complete and unwavering devotion.

[ionomycin]

a lord and his knight

[lambment]

Mawwige....

thinking about beating narinder with a gun in game, and immediatley marrying him, a shotgun wedding.

[followmybadreligion]

thinking about your blue-collar!husband who just can’t tell you no…

it's almost as if the word isn't in his vocabulary when it comes to you.

while he doesn't meant to over-do it, there's always something in him that just wants to make things happen, you know? wants to make you happy.

he blames his years of southern living. the culture and family that taught him that his woman should never have to work a day in her life. that all she should worry about is enjoying life— the life he provides for her as a labor of his love.

he watched his daddy do it; deliver his mother fresh flowers in the morning with a kiss on her head and his wallet on the table. before that, it was his grandfather and the ranch he built from scratch to appease his picky woman. even saw some of the chivalry his great grandfather showed in the little ways he still could, like with a new pearl necklace or fur coat on an occasion.

it was their duty as men to provide. especially as men smitten with their wives.

this is how you found yourself with boxes and boxes of gifts underneath the christmas tree, each one wrapped was with delicate touches and care. the gifts consisted of things you’d obsessed over once upon a time or maybe mentioned once in passing. it was all the same to him, though. you wanted it? he got it.

it was how you found yourself on your knees on a sunday, passing him tools as he installed new shelves and displays in your walk-in closet. you already had a vanity, a wardrobe, and as many dressers as one could imagine, but you’ve never been a light shopper. once your bags started collecting in neat piles along your room, he’d gotten a clue. all it took was a simple “honey, do you think you could do this for me?” and he’d clear his schedule.

it was how you tried nearly every restaurant in your fast-paced city. the high-brow, low-brow, and hole in the wall places, too. if he thought you’d like it then that’s exactly where he’d take you. he loved seeing you melt as you found a new dish you enjoyed. he loved how you always gathered some of your food and brought it to his lips in an effort to get him to try it. so what if the two of you ordered the same thing? your’s tastes a little different!

it was how he winded up with your name tattooed across his chest, the word carved into him in a way he simply relished in. you didn’t even have to ask for it, no, and he was in no rush to tell you either. but, he wears it as proudly as he does his wedding band— just another reminder of his devotion to you.

it was how, in the midst of a heated moment of passion, you saw that tattoo. how you halted your grinding on top of him with a racing mind and hooded eyes, locked in on the black, beautiful cursive your name rested in. how your left hand came to rest on it, and for a few short seconds, it met your wedding ring. how you really, truly came to believe that your man is so much more than head over heels for you.

[kaionyx]

Why is cockwarming only talked about in the sense that you do it before sex and not after too like it’s not the best way to break a puppy into the perfect cocksleeve?

Finally settling down after rounds of different scenes just to pin them under my weight and hold them like a stuffed animal on my cock, letting them whine and squirm at the fullness in their belly from holding all of the constant loads i’ve rutted back inside until they stop and just accept it. Forcing them feel dazed and bred while going in and out of consciousness to a mixture of soft kisses and sweet words, like how I can’t leave yet because they just feel so good around me and what a precious fuckmutt they’ve been for my cock.

How could their poor mind not rewire itself into thinking how grateful they are to be constantly broken and fixed by someone like me by the time i’m done hmm?

[lovertm]

i ❤️ ... (button sets, part 1) by Claire Thompson

[ghost4love]

Another roommate Ghost!simon;

You and Simon co-parent a beautiful German Shepard by the name of daisy…. Or should I say Daisy is Simons dog but once you moved in she loved and doted on you like she was your own.

You spoil her rotten always gaining a huff from Simon followed by a gruff “she’d trade you for a bit of steak , ain’t nothing special love” which you learnt just to roll your eyes at.

One thing you didn’t expect was the day you were working away at your laptop when daisy came trotting into the living room holding a slobbered card in her mouth.

“What you got girl?” You say as you gently take the card out her mouth as she pants with a big smile on her face.

Between the streaks of slobber you read the card out loud… “Happy Mother’s Day to the best adopted mom love daisy …. Woof woof” you let out a hearty laugh as you give her a love thanking her as you kiss her on the head.

“She made me get you one” simons voice bellowed from the doorway.

“Oh yeah …. Just like she made you write in it for her and write woof woof”

you laugh as you smile soflty at him your heart full as daisy gives you the much needed kisses. As he just shakes his head.

“I’d do anything from you love...” Simon whispered to himself as his gaze softens as he watches over his two girls.

[aveloka-draws]

Befriending Death

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This comic was my contribution for the Unholy Devotion Zine, I recommend checking it out for beautiful art, more comics and stories✨✨

You can find the zine HERE

[storytellerdannie]

I am SO obsessed with the relationship insights we got this video. Dan explaining how he’s always walking a fine line between mental breakdown and productivity and any surprises or unexpected challenges can push him into breakdown so that’s why he’s a planner vs Phil saying he shields Dan from everyday stressors (I think back to him answering sponsor emails and dealing with their taxes) until it’s the right time to share them with Dan possibly to minimize the stressors of it all like how Phil played down his food poisoning to jet lag cause he wanted Dan to have a peaceful day and not to worry, but also the contrast of Dan being the one builders talk to because he’s involved in the details of what they are doing and him going to the reception to deal with the hotel staff and not get charged for the pontoon experience. They are both pulling their weight in the relationship, but they are also both trying to help the other out in ways you can only do when you have been with someone for so many years AND they are still working it out!

They started the video talking about the importance of communication which goes to show you, yes they are perfect for each other and yes they are obviously in love BUT they are also devoted to making it work through all those little things you have to navigate as a couple in everyday life. I would honestly find it so fascinating if they just talked about their mundane daily routines, let alone any insane pontoon experiences.