#this was mostly just and excuse to draw funny expressions

[jasminebythebay]

guys who grew up in the most sterile environment in the galaxy and guy who didn't

[worthyprnce]

gwaine had many hidden talents.

we all know about his amazing skills with swordfighting. a skill he learnt from watching knights and squires play and fight, from picking up fights even being too young to do that and during his many years traveling alone. he had to know how to defend himself and, most importantly for him in the begging of his life, his mother and sister as well. but that's not all he knew.

growing up without his father to teach him the arts of sword fight, he learnt a lot from his mother and older sister instead. at seven he got tired of his clothes tearing up all the time, so he asked his mother to teach him how to sew. even after becoming a knight, gwaine took a few minutes to mend his own clothes whenever he could. he needed this time alone. at nine, his sister taught him about the language of flowers and how to dance. he did it for them. he used to steal flowers from luxurious gardens around to gift his mother and sister, and he always took them to dance, using any excuses to do it. he just loved it, and he loved to see them happy, not worrying about money or grieving for once.

at eleven he already knew how to steal food from the market without getting caught. and he was an excellent bargainer too. he was known by some as the child who stole valuable objects from distracted rich people and sold them at a lower price afterwords. robin hood style. it didn't take him too long to learn how to make his own dagger. courtesy of the local blacksmith who took pity on him and his family.

but most of his little secret talents he learned along his travels, wandering alone after leaving home at an early age. he learned to play the lute, to play cards, to steal by cheating playing cards, how to get easy money, how to impress a girl, how to impress a boy, how to whistle, to cook — although he was not actually good at it, just very practical. he knew french, a little latin, how to orient himself by the stars, how to bandage a wound by himself and what to do if it became infected, body anatomy (for medical and first aid reasons only. mostly), cut his own hair, trim his own beard, how to read maps, how to identify poisonous mushrooms, how to cut wood for fire, to swim, and many other little things.

but the hidden talent he was most proud of, was his drawing skills.

when he was around twenty, he once saw an elderly man struggling with a few home repairs he had, and decided to help him. as a return, the old man let him stay in his home for a few days. gwaine soon found out the man loved to draw. he had plenty of sketchbooks filled with many different portraits and landscapes, gwaine was in awe. seeing gwaine's genuine interest, the old man taught some basic and quick drawing principles, and gave gwaine a sketchbook and a pencil as a gift for all the help and company.

during his long years alone walking aimlessly around, gwaine used his sketches to immortalise every place he passed, every interesting person he met along the way, passions that made his heart beat differently, animals he helped save, taverns that served a good ale.

by the time he met merlin, his sketchbook pages were full of sketches of camelot, gaius' chambers, bottles of potions with funny names, little details inside the castle most people wouldn't even notice. but gwaine did.

he found himself making sketches of gwen with flowers in her hair, of arthur with the worst expression possible, of gaius with his usual worried face. but merlin was the main focus of his new drawings. every page had a sketch of merlin, doesn't matter how big or small.

and when gwaine was no longer in camelot, he realized his mind had never left merlin's room. he went back into drawing landscapes and taverns, but no other person were interesting enough. not when he once had merlin.

the pages of his sketchbook were getting boring and lifeless, not what they used to be before. but it seemed like they would come back to life whenever gwaine and merlin were together again. he had many sketches of merlin with white lillies around him, merlin's eyes shining as bright as they did the night gwaine confessed he was doing it all for him, wyverns, an old and dirty trident he had no idea what it actually was for but he liked the shape of it. even arthur made a comeback to his sketchbook.

when he was made prisoner by jarl, he lost all of his sketchbooks. everything inside his bag was stolen and discarded, and since gwaine's escape was rushed, he had no opportunity to try and find it. he lost it all, all the memories of his travels, the beautiful places he saw, the people he met, his early adventures with merlin. all lost. he had only his memory now.

after he became a knight he was reluctant to go back to his old hobby. still bitter about losing it all suddenly. but after getting to know his new friends better, and after he started to see merlin everyday, he couldn't resist.

he used every moment he had alone to draw. he loved drawing lancelot's hair. he had his fun giving leon extra curls. elyan, percival, and even lesser known knights and guards owned gwaine's sketchbook pages.

but his muse was always merlin. drawing merlin was like muscle memory for him. he would be lying if he said he never lost himself in his own thoughts while admiring merlin's features and carving them into his memory so he could draw him later.

his drawings were directly affected by his mood, so it was easy to know when he was angry or upset. but there was only one emotion showing whenever he drew merlin, and it was love. pure, powerful and unconditional love. sometimes a brokenhearted love. sometimes a melancholic love. and there were even the times he felt a certain kind of guilty love, a mixture of insecurity and uncertainty. but it was always love. and it was always merlin.

the first sketch he made after getting back to draw was a memory very dear to him of the first day he met merlin. he was smiling, looking at gwaine with hopes he would stay, begging him with his eyes and words for gwaine to stay in camelot with him. for him. whatever his reason was, he wanted gwaine close, and gwaine remembered those eyes and words very clearly.

his last sketch was also one he made of merlin. he was smiling as he held gwaine's hand. just before he was the one leaving gwaine this time. and even though gwaine had his eyes blurred by tears, he made his best to register merlin in his pages one more time, one last time, forever.

[andreas-river]

I would love to request an Artist! Reader sketching out Ghost, König, and Horangi, Taking a guess on what they looked like underneath their mask. Once done, they gifted the picture to them, only to freak them out with how close they were at getting their features correct :D

Only if that’s okay with you! Thank you for taking a look!

Ghost/König/Horangi X Artist!Reader

TW: mention of insecurity, mostly fluff.

A/N: hello anon, and thank you for the request! It's my first time writing for Horangi, and I have to say that is a interesting character. It took me a while, but listening to his voicelines helped me a lot. Here they are because they are some funny ones and they deserve to be listened and shared!

════════════════════════════

Ghost

You've been working on your sketch for days, and every pencil stroke gave you goosebumps. You've been dating him only for some months now, but he never removed his mask once, but it was okay since you were always a patient person. Yet you couldn't help but imagine what he looked like underneath the mask, often imagining what he looked like under those so expressive eyes.

And you'd finally had the chance, noticing a little extra skin that had come out into the open due to his mask being a little more loose than usual, and the urge to draw him was more stronger than before.

The paper was now full of erasures, and part of your fingers was now stained by the graphite, but after settling down and waiting for the right moment, you had handed him the paper, and then ran away with a pretense, a little afraid of what his reaction might be.

He simply shrugged his shoulder, walking back to his room, turning the paper over and over in his hands, making sure no one was around. When he felt safe to open it, he had to stop walking, admiring the drawing before the realization hit him. He has always been self-conscious, even if sometimes was reluctant to watch himself in the mirror, but how in the world- he literally made a 180 turn, almost running to catch you.

He had to make sure to make you swear on anything that you could no longer try to redraw him- you had come so close that his heart was beating too fast in his chest, but at the same time, to excuse himself he would give you so many compliments because you were so damn good at drawing, and then- if he could keep it forever.

König

For all this time, it was a guessing game with him, he was always a reserved person but with you he showed a more intimate part, revealing himself only when you were around and ending up sitting with you and admiring your hands at work, hypnotized by how they moved smoothly on the paper.

Unfortunately, he was called away for a mission and had to leave you for a few more weeks, but before he could turn away, your hands stopped him as you gave him a folded piece of paper and asked him to look at it only when he was alone- specifically alone.

The opportunity came when he finally sat down on the bed, he wasn't alone in the room, but everyone was sound asleep and he took the opportunity to finally see your drawing. He had never felt so curious in his life, and knowing that it was something you had done made his heart flutter in his chest.

It took him a while to realize that you were actually trying to draw his real face, and he stared at the paper in awe of how much it matched him.

He knew you could never see him, even when you slept together he wore something to cover his face, and if you'd tried to see he'd have noticed- one of the advantages of being a really light sleeper, but he was amazed to see it.

And honestly, he couldn't wait to get back to you, just to show you how close you'd gotten.

Horangi

To say that Horangi was a walking mystery is an understatement. The two of you came closer after so many months, but you knew very well that taking the next step would be harder than anything else.

You often fantasized about what he looked like under the mask he so stubbornly wore, and found yourself sketching his face- or more accurately, what it might have really been like, not sure if the features you imagined in your head were right or wrong, but you decided to try anyway.

All the time your pencil was on the paper, you didn't have a clear purpose, and only in the end you think that maybe the best thing to do would be to give him the drawing as a gift, maybe with a note at the bottom apologizing for the messy drawing.

You gathered all your courage and gave him the drawing folded up after dinner, knowing that he would go to his room and hoping that he would look at it in the privacy of his space. You knew it was a bold move that would definitely change something between you and him, but like everything else in life, you only live once.

You fall asleep with anxiety in your guts, but wasn't the same for Horangi.

The drawing in front of him was magnificent. He had never seen himself so beautiful, in reality, he felt normal, a type of man who would blend in perfectly with the crowd.

It wasn't exactly him, the cheek lines were definitely different and the hair was longer than it was in reality, but the rest of it was almost an exact copy of himself.

On the bottom he read, "Hi, sorry if it's messy, but I wanted to show you how I imagine you. You have the right to kick my ass at sparring tomorrow."

Under his mask, he smiled.

[narrators-journal]

excuse me can i ask you a minato arisato x kotone shiomi? Probably Investigation Team Minato and SEES Kotone???

The roll continues with this goofy little ditty lol. The shipping is a little light here, but I tried to at least imply it with some fun extra content tossed on top. I mostly just thought it’d be fun to view the ship from the outside. Also, Yosuke’s just kinda fun to write as a doofus, ngl lmao. I hope you enjoy it regardless tho, this is a very fun lil idea, and very funny if you imagine Kotone’s more or less treating this like a puppy crush right now.

Also, while it’s not outright stated, I tried to at least imply that Kotone worked for Mitsuru after the dark hour shit. How? Not sure, but it’s fun to imagine.

“20 bucks says he has the hots for her.” Yosuke Hanamura said with a gesture towards the investigation team’s latest member, a dark-blue-haired senior transfer student who was only a week out from his dungeon’s defeat, and was currently a distance away from the group’s table to chat with a woman with wavy auburn hair that cascaded down to the small of her back with pins to adorn it.

Even at a glance, Chie could see why Minato might like the woman. She unmistakably wasn’t much older than nineteen, wore her professional button-up and black slacks well, and her hair shone like smooth garnet, or maybe ruby in the cloudless sun of the summer afternoon. She had a friendly face, one that you never saw without some form of smile. And, with the morbid and dark revelations that she had been shown in the blue-haired senior’s dungeon, she could see how someone as bright and friendly as the woman would draw him in.

That being said, she still huffed to her stablemate, “Why would I care enough to make that bet?” through a mouthful of food before she washed it down with her milkshake and added in a lighter tone, “Though, if he does, he’s making eyes at the wrong person. According to Yukiko, she’s here on a business trip, she’ll likely be gone within a week max.” “Damnnn, that’s gonna suck for him then.” Yosuke chuckled, a fry popped into his mouth as he continued to watch the beautiful woman giggle at something Minato had said. Which, in turn, made Chie giggle slightly. Though the brunette’s laughter was less about whatever the emo had said and more at the slightly salty expression that Yosuke got the longer he watched the pair talk. “How old even is she?” he huffed without a glance towards Chie. “How the hell should I know?” She huffed back, “Yukiko has to check IDs for the inn, right? Did she spot her age when she did?” Yosuke pressed his hazel eyes finally torn away from Minato’s distant conversation to look at the fellow brunette expectantly, which made her roll her eyes. “Yosuke, that’s creepy as hell. Even if I did know her age, I’m not telling you.”

That, naturally, earned the athlete a dark look, but all he did was turn his gaze back to watch Minato continue to chat up the dark-haired woman. And, for a few heartbeats, Chie joined him. At least, until Yosuke spoke once more, “Surely she’s more than 18, right? Since she has a job?” “She’s sure as hell not a high school student, that’s for sure.” “So, she’s too old for him as well. So, is she just humoring him?” Yosuke asked, a little more than to himself than Chie. Though, that didn’t stop her from retorting, “Yosuke, Minato’s eighteen, and she’s no older than a max of twenty. How is that too old for him?-” “Sh! He’s coming back!”

In a flash, Yosuke swapped from observation to pretending he hadn’t been a speculating gossip only a heartbeat before the emo ended his chat with a wave from the woman and a small smile on his pale face. Which, made Chie shake her head before she simply took another bite of food and greeted Minato upon his return to his seat at their table. Yosuke’s only comment a light hum of, “Heya dude, you know that girl?” Which only got a bit of a shrug from the newest member of their crew. “Not really, just trying to make new friends.” He said casually, his dark hair tossed lightly out of his face so he could sip at his soda and pick at his loaded fries. And, that was where the conversation logically should have ended. With the context that his dungeon gave them, Chie could completely accept his answer as a whole explanation for how eager he’d been to talk to the auburn-haired woman. Enough said in her book. But, Yosuke obviously didn’t want to drop the topic yet. “Just friends? Really? Because, you sure were excited to go chat with her, and if I recall right, you were a stutter-y mess when you first met her too.” He pressed. His attempt at a casual tone was a poor cover for the teasing edge of his words. Which, in turn, made the dark-haired man turn the slightest shade of pink while he stared down at his fries for a long moment. Then, he simply asked, “So what if I do want to date her? She’s only a year older than me, single, and cute.” And, clearly, Yosuke hadn’t been expecting that as a response.

So, while Chie tried not to giggle into her chocolate milkshake, Yosuke could only manage a sputter and waved the conversation off with a dismissive trio of fries shoved into his mouth. So, at long last, the topic was dropped and Minato was free to simply enjoy his lunch in the shade of their table’s umbrella in relative peace.

[justsomerandomfanfic]

hi!!! can i get a romantic match up for stranger things and supernatural?

i’m 21, female (she/her), bisexual. i’m 5’0 with curly brown hair and green eyes; i wear glasses with a thin round golden frame. i love reading, writing and drawing, and I'm majoring in early education.

i’m shy and introverted, get anxious quite easily, my favourite things to do are going on car rides with friends and movie nights together. Some of my favourite bands are Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran, but I'm mostly into 70s/80s music :). Love your work!!!<3

Hello! And thank you! <3

I really hope you like your matchups!

I'm sorry for the wait!

<333333

This was pretty fun!

Hehe <3

Romantic Matchups; Stranger Things and Supernatural

~~~

Romantic;

~~~

Stranger Things;

Steve Harrington -

You met Steve during your freshman year at college.

At first, he was the charming, outgoing - kind of awkward - guy everyone knew in your social circles, while you were a quiet, introverted student who kept mostly to herself.

You were both in a creative writing class together, and you always caught his eye whenever you'd hand in assignments or give short presentations.

One day, you accidentally bumped into him in the library, knocking over a stack of books.

You were flustered and apologized profusely, but Steve just laughed it off, offering to help you pick them up.

From that point on, you started talking, and Steve found himself intrigued by your thoughtful and creative nature.

Your friendship with Steve grew slowly but surely, starting with small conversations between classes and sharing opinions on the novels you were studying.

Steve admired how shy and soft-spoken you were but noticed that you were surprisingly quick-witted and funny once you were comfortable.

He started to appreciate your deep love for books, writing, and art, and you found his quirky and genuine nature endearing.

You both started hanging out more, whether it was grabbing coffee at the campus café or going on long drives, just listening to your favorite 70s/80s tunes.

Steve was always the one to suggest spontaneous little adventures, like going to a record store or a nearby diner, just to enjoy each other’s company.

You’d also find yourself drawn into deep, philosophical conversations with him, which always made you feel like you could talk to him about anything.

Steve would tell you all about the kids he used to babysit.

Seeing how his face would light up from the stories...

You found it endearing.

As the months passed, you both began to feel something more than friendship but were hesitant to express it.

Steve would find little ways to show that he cared about you, like picking up your favorite snacks when he noticed you were stressed about schoolwork or sitting with you during your breaks, just to keep you company.

For you, it was the way he paid attention to the details - how he always made sure you were comfortable and would listen intently to your ideas or dreams for the future.

The shift in your feelings was subtle - the way his touch lingered just a moment longer when he handed you something or the way he would always smile that little bit brighter when he saw you.

You'd catch yourself flushing more often and finding excuses to be near him.

In the very beginning when he was thinking about his feelings, he was very nervous.

Would you even like him the way he liked you?

It wasn’t until one late night when you were both sitting on the hood of Steve’s car, looking at the stars, that the confession finally came.

He was unusually quiet, staring off into the night before he turned to you with a soft smile.

"You know, I never thought I’d find someone who loves the same things I do... Who doesn’t mind being a little weird and, well, quiet sometimes."

You smiled back, heart fluttering in your chest.

“Yeah, I know what you mean.”

Then, in a rare moment of vulnerability, Steve glanced at you, his eyes soft.

“I think I’ve been falling for you, and I don’t know if you feel the same."

Your heart swelled, and without missing a beat, you told him that you’d felt the same for a while now.

That night, you shared your first kiss, soft and tentative, but so full of promise and affection.

As a couple, things between you and Steve were comfortable and easy.

He was always a little more extroverted, but with you, he felt more grounded.

You found comfort in each other’s presence.

Whether it was long walks after class, lazy nights in watching movies, or working on projects together, you both became inseparable.

Steve would always encourage you to share your art, whether it was your writing or drawings, and he’d never hesitate to tell you how amazing you were.

Steve would do little romantic things that made you feel incredibly special.

He’d leave you notes in your textbooks, random love letters, or little doodles that reminded you of inside jokes.

On cold days, he’d offer you his jacket, making sure you were warm, even if it meant he’d freeze.

He loved taking you to small, quaint places you’d never think of going, like a hidden little park or a rooftop to watch the sunset together, always with your favorite songs playing in the background.

When the weekends came, you’d both enjoy slow mornings together.

Steve loved making you breakfast, even if it was just pancakes with a little too much syrup.

He’d make you coffee and surprise you with your favorite pastries.

After breakfast, you’d curl up on the couch together, sharing your latest projects and dreams for the future.

Even when you were studying or working, he’d just sit beside you, content to be in the same space.

At some point, you would hear the story about the UpsideDown and Hawkins.

It was hard to believe at first, but you knew Steve would never lie to you.

And he had the scars to prove it.

Steve would go out of his way to make sure you felt loved and supported, whether that meant helping you with your coursework for your early education class, setting up a cozy movie night when you needed a break from studying, or just being a shoulder to lean on when anxiety hit.

If you ever felt overwhelmed, Steve would give you space, but always gently remind you that he was there whenever you needed him.

His constant support made you feel safe and loved.

You’d always encourage Steve to pursue his passions and take the time he needed to focus on what made him happy.

You’d be there when he needed to vent about life or just take a breather from everything.

You’d spend time making him small gifts, drawing, or writing him little things that expressed how much he meant to you.

And of course, you’d always let him know how much you loved him, whether it was with a touch or a warm smile.

~~~

Supernatural;

Dean Winchester -

You first met Dean through Sam.

You were a fellow hunter, introduced to the brothers when Sam needed help with a particularly tricky case involving a vengeful spirit.

You’d been working alone on the case when Sam reached out to you, knowing you had the skills to assist.

Dean was immediately wary of you, always protective of Sam, but after watching you work and handle the situation with ease, he came to respect your talents.

It wasn’t long before you were joining them on hunts together, each of you contributing something unique to their team.

Over time, your bond with Dean grew, grounded in the shared experiences of hunting and saving people.

He respected your independence and your quiet, no-nonsense approach to hunting.

Dean would often tease you about your calm, collected attitude, but you’d always fire back with witty remarks.

You became a solid member of the team, and your friendship with Dean grew into something more comfortable as you spent more time together.

You’d share the occasional laugh or joke in between hunts, and the way Dean would always try to make you laugh during tough situations became a trademark of your dynamic.

The banter between you two felt effortless and natural.

The romantic feelings between you and Dean were subtle at first.

He had a way of looking at you that was different from the way he looked at Sam - obviously - or other hunters.

You would catch him staring at you when he thought you weren’t paying attention, his gaze lingering just a bit longer.

For you, it was the little things - how he’d protect you in the field, how he’d always make sure you were safe before he took the dangerous shots.

It was his quiet, gentle moments that made you start to realize just how much you cared for him.

One night, after a particularly dangerous hunt, you were both exhausted and nursing your wounds back at the motel.

Dean, after a long stretch of silence, finally said, “You know, you’re not like anyone I’ve ever met, sweetheart.”

You raised an eyebrow at him, a smirk playing at your lips. “Yeah? How’s that?”

“You make it all seem... Easier. Like, all this crap we deal with? I don’t know, it just doesn’t feel as bad with you around.” He paused, and when you looked at him, he took a breath and added, “I think I’ve got feelings for you. Could be more, could just be the adrenaline talking... But I don’t think it is.”

It was a rare moment of vulnerability for Dean, and you immediately smiled, leaning forward and giving him a soft kiss on the cheek.

It felt like everything had come full circle.

The relationship between you and Dean was straightforward but full of heart.

He was always fiercely protective of you, which you found endearing and comforting.

You'd protect him too.

You supported him during his darkest moments, offering a calm presence and a listening ear whenever he needed it.

Dean’s love for you was fierce, and you found yourself falling more for his rough exterior and kind heart as time passed.

Dean would show his love through small gestures: making you coffee during the early morning hours, putting a blanket around you when you were too tired after a hunt, and always making sure you had everything you needed.

On rare, quiet nights, he’d play your favorite 70s/80s songs on the Impala’s radio, sharing stories about the music while you both relaxed after a long hunt.

When the hunting life calmed down, you two would spend evenings cooking together, either making a hearty meal or just grabbing snacks.

Dean loved that domestic side of things, as much as he would never admit it.

You’d also spend time fixing up the Impala or planning your next hunt over dinner.

It wasn’t perfect, but those small moments of peace felt like everything to him.

Dean would always make sure you were well taken care of, even if it meant putting himself in harm's way.

He would also protect you emotionally, keeping the darker parts of the hunting life away from you when needed.

You’d always make sure he knew he wasn’t alone, especially when the weight of his family history and his life as a hunter would get too heavy.

You’d reassure him, offering comfort and love in ways he never expected.

You’d make him feel seen and appreciated in a world where it often seemed like he was forgotten.

Your kindness and patience would be the anchor he desperately needed in his chaotic world.

[skelleste]

2023 Art Summary

Some of the many things I worked on over the past 365 days. More details below.

Happy New Year!

Just like last year, 2023 was full of even more character art, including a brand spanking new OC. You haven't seen much of the comic yet, because it's not done, but there's been progress on that in the background as well. I also started commissions last March. None are featured in this post so I could focus more on original art, but I wanted to give a special thank-you to all my past commissioners. Not a single one of you were a customer service nightmare, in fact it was quite the opposite. I appreciate everyone who's been kind enough to give me work and treat me well.

The rest of this post is going to be some of my favorite pieces by month, and a little about them. I usually spare my followers from most details in my posts, because there's often not much of interest to the public to say, so this is mostly self indulgent.

January

I decided to revisit Tom and Maudlin, as I hadn't drawn them much since creating them. Whenever I make a new character of importance, I try to go out of my way to put them in varied poses and expressions so that I am able to understand how their bodies work by the time I need them for a real project. It's also a great way to explore their personalities, although I feel that I'll have to push Tom's emotional side more in the future.

February

Props for the comic! It sucks to have to design things on the fly, so it helps to have notable objects designed beforehand. Especially if it's important to the plot. Some of these appear in more panels than others, but it smooths out the comic process nevertheless to have ample references on hand.

March

More character designs to spare me from designing mid-comic production. If they don't have lines in the comic, then I ask random people to assign names to them to make it fun, and because it's easier to keep straight who's who when they're not named Man 1 and Man 2. Left to right, they are Johnifer (you can already see why I name the ones with dialogue myself), Wanda, Jean Vincent, Booker, Charles, Maribelle, and Gertrude.

April

It'd be silly of me to pretend as if 90% of my output isn't shitposts. When you dedicate most of your art time to a project, then you're not going to end up making any other art unless you satisfy primitive monkey brain somehow. In my case, that's usually addressed by drawing funny shit. Early this year is when I discovered how easy it is to crack jokes with Scatterbrain. This goofiness is now embedded into her personality permanently. Expect more of this.

May

April-June is when I do my Art Fight preppin', which usually consists of me making a list of my most neglected OCs and giving them some attention. I also try to get around to eventually making all of them a reference sheet in this style, just so they have something standardized between them. This year, Walla Walla had her turn. She's a shitpost character, so I won't be drawing her much again, but she's a good excuse to draw some J-fashion doodles. My interests outside of cartoon stupidity don't really make it into my art often, so she's a minor outlet for some of it.

June

I've made even more character designs this year than last year, but they were all background characters, making Raoul the only new important one. He's been officially-unofficially written into the story since 2022, but it's very hard for me to make OCs that are written before they are designed. Everyone else was designed first and assigned a role in the plot later, so he got put off for a good while. I finally got around to it though, after I killed some darlings. He is now an all-new species, and I modified the chain design to something less clunky compared to what would be historically accurate.

July

July is, of course, Art Fight month. All other art is put on pause. This year, my favorite attack was a drawing of Enchanted Bones for my friend Bugles. I drew the character independently from the background, which is why the lighting situation is as unfortunate as it is, but we don't talk about that. Thank you to everyone who attacked me and made awesome art, I'll revenge you maybe in a few years. Sorry for the wait, but the backlog is mighty long.

August

Stanson got a slight redesign in the last year, so he can fit with the style of the comic better. He's actually the oldest character out of the bunch. I had no purpose for Scott when I made him and threw them together in the same folder. I had a few one-off designs that I figured I'd keep around in case I ever did an OCT, but these two got yoinked out of it when I started getting story ideas for the them. Stanson is a cowboy (not really), so it became a western setting to make sense of it. I plan on giving him the same sketchpage treatment the other characters have gotten, but I've been putting it off purposely for a while. You'll just have to wait.

September

And there it is, the inevitable page of Raoul getting into various mischief (and subsequently getting his ass beat half of the time). He has a very abrasive personality that gets him into trouble. I don't want the comic to be heavily action-based, but he naturally lands himself in these positions and it lets me draw characters in new situations. His introduction to the story is still a long way off at this point, but I can't wait to pit him against Scott in some slapstick shenanigans.

October

Spooky month is incredibly busy for me in real life, so there isn't as much time for art as I'd like there to be. That's why I dedicated all my time that month to trying to get Halloween art done in time. I've been a fan of Homestar Runner since childhood, and as soon as I thought that Raoul would pull off a Jigen Daisuke look, I knew I wanted to do a full Homestar-esque set of costumes. The other ideas quickly fell into place. My version came out way more detailed than theirs usually are though. The spirit of Halloween possessed me.

November

I started going full gear on the comic around this time (I think 28 hours in one week when I stayed home), so there's an absence of polished personal art here. Scatterbrain eating some spaghetti is my placeholder art for "I worked on a website a bunch instead". It's far from done, but I've made major strides since then.

December

A secret santa gift for my friend, Toby! I continued doing mostly comic work, but I also made room for a secret santa and scheduled a bunch of art trades to complete between December and March. The rest still have to be completed, so you'll see that throughout 2024. Anyway, Toby's OC, Thomas, is based on the state of Michigan. I plastered him on a postcard in front of a highway sign with some Robins because they're the state bird.

There were many more drawings of course, and you can find them scrolling through my Tumblr, or on my DeviantART (I switched to Tumblr as my main site in late August). I hope the new year brings many improvements and happiness for everyone. Last year my goal was simply to start on the comic, which I did, but it was also to get it uploadable, which I didn't. I'm gonna have to aim for the same goal again. Life things were largely fine but still tumultuous enough to throw me off-course, but now my most dangerous family member has moved out and it should be somewhat safer to live here. Not 100% safe though. It never will be. I generally avoid talking about the comic extensively as I won't have a solid release date for some time, so this is the last you'll hear of it for now outside of the rare WIP screenshot. Wish me luck and have a wonderful new year!

[sagesilentfire]

While they would disagree, I thought it best to draw Kowari and Kultarr together, since it better illustrates how they work as a unit.  

In any case, Kowari and Kultarr are very special twins. Brothers, born to Tumbleweed of the SandWings and Bastard (of the SandWings). (That's not his name, but that's what the twins like to call him. Because he's a bastard.) Tumbleweed was a dragon who never could see the bad in other dragons. Naïve, trusting, but kind and happy, with stars in her eyes. Her twin sister Sagebrush worked her hardest to keep those stars there. And Tumbleweed fell in love with a dragon they thought would help her to do that. He was kind, and funny, and helpful. They were soldiers in Burn's army, and it seemed that even Burn was affected by their charm, because when it was announced that they had an egg on the way, even the notoriously offensive Burn allowed them and Sagebrush to be stationed at the palace while their egg incubated. Or maybe it was because a SeaWing attack left the stronghold weak and even Burn recognized its need for extra soldiers. Or because Tumbleweed's boyfriend was high-ranking and had sway in the army. Which seems more likely? Either way, the egg was huge and beautiful, and would probably contain twins, just like Tumbleweed and Sagebrush! Tumbleweed was so excited to have two dragonets to dote on! And then the egg hatched, and it all came crashing down. The dragonets... were conjoined twins. It had happened in their family before, with granduncles being conjoined at the tail, but it had never happened under Burn. And Tumbleweed's boyfriend soon excused himself to go "get food for the dragonet" and Sagebrush saw him flying in the direction of Burn's tower... all it took was Sagebrush saying "Weirdling tower" for Tumbleweed to realize what was going on. Reluctantly, they flew away, running from their lives with the two dragonets.  Time passed. The twins grew up, with minimal health issues thankfully. They bounced around the Kingdom of Sand and even other places in Pyrrhia. They were nearly captured by Burn multiple times, and lost Sagebrush to a squad of MudWings hoping to gain favor from Burn. Tumbleweed was devastated, but the twins don't remember it very well, as they were less than a year old at the time.  Then the war ended, Burn died, and they could return to the tribe. They liked Queen Thorn, and were even offered a spot at Jade Mountain Academy, but they declined. Kowari didn't want to be stared at by weirder dragons than them, Kultarr didn't want to be stuck in Remedial Everything with Kowari, and they both considered themselves individual dragons, which meant having two SandWings in a winglet, which would throw off everything.  So they ended up in Possibility. There they trained to fight and join the army. Kowari would control the feet and tail, while Kultarr would breathe fire and fly. They soon became formidable fighters, despite the usual sibling spats. They even got a new stepfather, a SkyWing named Cinder, who gave them a lot of pointers. They want to become soldiers in Thorn's army someday.

Kowari – Kowari is the diva. He has big emotions and wants everyone to know about it. He has quite the temper, and dislikes mostly everyone, because mostly everyone does a double take and then stares at them with that horrible dumbfounded expression and eww. Kowari wants to rip their faces off. If you're the rare person who doesn't stare at them or otherwise fall on his very large bad side, he will probably fall instantly in love and show off his fun, flirty personality, which will be met with groans and face-palming from his very aro brother, which Kowari thinks is dumb and distracting. Ignore his stupid brother, please, you're too good for his sorry butt anyways. But never agree that Kultarr is dumb and annoying, because Kowari is allowed to insult his brother, but no one else is. Kowari likes food, unlike Kultarr, and often eats for both of them, since they share most of their digestive system. He's a great cook, and his food is the only one Kultarr will even consider eating. Kowari loves to assert his individuality by getting tattoos and piercings, and is the right head.

Kultarr –  Kultarr is much less dramatic than his brother, but he can hold quite the grudge. He's considered the Smart One, which both twins will readily agree with. Don't get on his bad side. Eventually one of his revenge plots will work, and it will result in your  complete and utter humiliation. And don't go begging to Kowari to get him to stop, either, Kowari's favorite pastime is laughing at the victims of Kultarr's schemes.  Kultarr mostly controls the body, though Kowari makes them run around chasing passing air molecules on occasion. He's very good at it, ever since the incident that gave him a gold tooth. He's a picky eater, a light sleeper, and everything a mother dreads, but he has Kowari to make up for it.

Neither of the brothers is especially nice. They always expect other dragons to see the worst of them, and plenty of dragons have. But if you make a friend with even one of them, you have two dragons who'll have your back forever or at least until you cease to be friends.

Other tidbits: - They can both breathe fire, but if they both do it at the same time, it can mess up their throats, so it's usually Kultarr who does it in battle - Kowari will eat anything but fish and mushrooms. Inexplicably, those two things are the rare thing Kultarr likes, so it works out well for them. - They absolutely adore their stepdad Cinder, and help him with his camels, even if Kowari hates getting dirty.

[topioswords]

Business Meetings

It’s been a quiet night, which is saying something, because Zellus isn’t exactly at the busy end of the park-slash-graveyard. But usually there’s still a couple of people passing through even now. Just not today apparently, so the kid stumbling in looking like he’s about to keel over if a breeze looks at him funny doesn’t go unnoticed.

Ok, kid might be uncharitable, it’s definitely a late teen probably. But the vagaries of human aging aren't that interesting outside of business. 

Zellus shifts an arm, resting their chin in a loosely cupped hand, and watches.

He’s pale, not just the somewhat messy hair but in general, the kinda sickly looking papery pale you get from prolonged restlessness. His face is scrunched up and he keeps digging his fingers into his hairline like he’d wish he could reach in there and pry out whatever’s bothering him.

Either he’s having a hell of a hangover, or this is something more permanent. The first isn’t really worth Zellus’ time, but the latter… Well, customers are running a little dry these days, and there’s that saying about gift horses.

“Rough night?” Zellus asks in their very best friendly tone as they walk over to stand by the far end of the battered bench, and the human startling would’ve been funny if he wasn’t looking so tired. Zellus holds up their hands, palms out in the classic calming manner, and waits for the guy to settle. He’s shuffled to the far end of the bench, eyeing Zellus suspiciously, but that’s not exactly an unexpected reaction to getting startled. Zellus can’t really blame him. Not like he sees anything but a stranger though those can be plenty dangerous without also being magical entities. “You look a bit worn down is all. Got me wondering if I should be worried.”

The human shrugs, eyes having wandered top to bottom by that time, and he draws a hand over his eyes. “I’ve had worse,” he says and he sounds… brittle.

“Okay, that’s fair, but that also means you’ve had better.”

The young man makes a noise that could mean a lot of things, but Zellus is willing to bet on it being some variation of disgruntled agreement. “Nosey, aren’t you,” he says and it isn’t a question.

“A little, mostly because I might be scenting a new customer, if you’ll excuse the pun.”

Zellus doesn’t need light the same way humans do, but the shift in this one’s expression is subtle and hard to read. “Customer,” he asks hesitantly, voice still feeling off. 

“Ah, yeah, there’s really not any way to say that without sounding dodgy, is there? But yeah, I trade in remedies.”

“You sell drugs in a cemetery.” The tone shifts, still weirdly haunted but there’s a hint of amusement.

“Nothing illegal strictly speaking, mostly variations of over the counter stuff.” Zellus smiles and shrugs cause honestly at the end of the day what’s the difference really. Standardization is the important thing. Zellus can do that.

Though arguably somebody might have an issue with the amounts they consider standard but somebody has to show up and make that case.  And until that point in time it’s a non-issue. 

The human guy is snorting, then turning to a muffled groan. Not the slurred speech of a drunk though so… probably it’s something else, and Zellus is bored enough to take an easy case.

“Yeah, I tried over the counter, did shit all. So unless your ‘not-mostly’ is literally magic then I doubt you have anything that’ll work for me,” he finally says flatly, head shifted so he’s cradling it in his hands.

“Well,” Zellus says “Not exactly magic, but I have managed to treat a couple of hard cases. So if you’re willing to put in the time it takes to adjust things, I’m confident I can make something that’ll help you.”

There’s a cut off snort, which Zellus would’ve taken as an offense if they hadn’t been through this figurative song and dance before. “Right. And that’s gonna cost me what, half my organs and all my dignity,” the guy says without looking up. 

Zellus hates to admit it, but they’re starting to actually be a little curious. “I shouldn’t even be talking to you,” the human says, like he’s had the same thought. Only from his perspective it’s probably more about the stranger danger.

“No,” Zellus says politely, knowing this is a negotiation even if the human doesn’t. They’re not a leech though, they won’t prey on somebody’s weakness and desperation like that, it’s insulting. “I won’t take anything from you you do not agree to. I have no plans to maim or humiliate you. For now, all I’d ask is that you tell me how it works, if you take it.”

“Hm,” The human says, half muffled by his sleeve. “That’s a terribly generous offer. First hit’s free, then come the charges when I’m hooked?”

“I wasn’t planning to add any fun side effects - but I can if you really want me to.”

This actually has the human break into a rough laugh, though it quickly subsides into a muffled sound of pain once again. Zellus doesn’t need to be a doctor to tell this guy is barely hanging on and they’re mad that it’s come this far, mad enough that even if he doesn’t take the deal they’ll at least give him something just to be able to sleep. He looks like he needs it, the bags under his eyes are deep enough to carry a worrying amount of regrets.

“Okay,” the human says finally and Zellus turns, a little surprised. “Sure, why the hell not, I’ve tried stupider things. How’re we gonna do this?”

Zellus straightens. It’s an unusually fair question that surprisingly few people ask. “Tell me what ails you, I’ll find what I have in stock and if you return we’ll discuss if it worked and how to make it better. It’s not instant but like I said, if you’re willing to put in the time…”

“Deal. I assume you’ll want a name for the records?” He’s straightened up somewhat, looking at Zellus’s face, so they nod.

“That would be helpful,” they say, unable to resist the old magic.

“Noir, I go by Noir. And it’s headaches. All the time, like something is trying to break my head open. It’s worse in the daytime.” He says it like he’s fully expecting a dismissive ‘only that’ but Zellus knows better.

“Hmm, interesting,” they say and reach in to grab the stronger stuff they’ve been growing at the back of their hollow chest.

Noir is watching with what looks like a somewhat skeptical expression but Zellus can hardly blame him, even with the veil in place it must look kinda odd. He hesitates a bit, but takes the mushrooms he’s handed with a small twitch of the shoulder. “Fresh,” he says and sniffs at it.

“They can be dried, but that does change the effect a little, Whatever you pick just let me know.”

“Uhuh,” Noir says and looks up. “Am I supposed to chew or swallow this whole or what?”

Zellus has to admit they kinda like how reasonable all these questions are, even if this new customer - Noir? It feels like a real name despite the careful dodging phrasing which is a little interesting - well he seems hesitant but he’s at least asking smart things, even though he’s in pain. “Chew for fast acting--”

Zellus doesn’t get to finish that sentence, Noir shrugs and pops the fresh fungi in his mouth making faces at the taste. “--swallow if you want a more stable effect,” Zellus finishes off, a little impressed.

Most people wait, preferring to try an arguably risky thing at a safer setting.

“And now we wait,” Noir says, leaning back against the battered bench like he’s trying to rest his head against the backrest. “Which is always the worst part.”

“You aren’t planning to go home?” Zellus asks, a little curious.

“I will a little later, but right now it’s…” he trails off, shrugs and puts his hands in his pockets. “Fresh air’s good for you, they say.”

“I’m not sure you can really call this air fresh,” Zellus says and looks to the sky where only a few scattered stars can combat the light pollution despite the clear sky. “Unless we mean in the cold and clammy sense.”

Noir snorts and the wince seems more habit than actual pain. “Aren’t plants supposed to be good for you,” he answers back, looking to the sky too.

“That depends entirely on the plant and what you do with it,” Zellus answers, amused, looking back at the kid who wandered into their territory. “Think you can last the night?”

Noir waves a hand lazily back and forth. “Probably placebo, but hey it’s a lil less awful at least. With some luck I can get some sleep.”

Zellus smiles. “Probably not the best place for that right here,” they say. 

“Nah,” Noir agrees, and finally pushes himself up with an elbow. “I might take your drugs, but we’re not on good enough terms I’ll want you watching me sleep. This where I should expect to find you on the regular?”

“I’m usually around, though I prefer the older quarters by the little lake,” Zellus says. “So should I take that as we’ll meet again?”

“Haven’t ruled it out,” Noir answers and walks off, shoulders a little looser than when he came, but still drawn up. He waves though, and Zellus thinks this might not be a hard case, but at least they did a good thing. And that’s still worth a bit of time and effort.

Plus, the kid was fun.

They want to see what he’s like when he’s feeling better.

[fitzs-trained-monkey]

The Things I'm Not

Series: A Study in Spite

Requested by: @heartbreakgrill and @whatsupb18

Word Count: 14,000 (But I promise it's worth it.)

Summary: Even after your parents kicked you out, you thought you would be safe with Kol. Unfortunately for you, hateful people suck and don't know when to give up. || Kol x reader || Here lies my Masterlist ||

Warnings: Oh, boy... Where do I start? This fic starts out fluffy but it does not stay that way. There's language, violence, quite a bit of blood, A-N-G-S-T, brief references to suicide, mentions of guardian figures encouraging self-harm, a sprinkling of brutality, and some not-so-healthy relationship behavior. But the request asked for psychotic and I delivered as best I could. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy.

🔪STORY BEGINS BELOW🔪

You were driven from your dreams by the grating sound of distant arguing. That was nothing unusual, your parents fought a lot lately. So was it really your fault if it took a solid 10 minutes for you to realize that the bickering voices didn't belong to your parents?

Come to think of it, something was off. The sheets surrounding you were much too soft to be yours and the bed beneath you was... breathing.

Your eyes snapped open.

Well... this wasn't your room.

A pair of arms held you close, one wrapped low around your waist and the other over your back. You had to crane your neck to catch a glimpse of whoever you were cuddled up to. Dark hair, sharp features, soft expression.

Kol.

The night before came rushing back and you blushed fiercely, smiling to yourself all the same. Kol had kissed you. He'd asked you to stay, carried you back, and sang softly until you fell asleep in his arms. When you had first agreed to go out with him, you hadn't thought he actually cared about you. Why would he? No one else did. So even as time had worn on, the thought never really crossed your mind.

But you realized it now. Somehow, with the early morning light filtering through the curtains and casting a soft glow on his face, it was easier to see. He looked so young and innocent so peaceful - like the eighteen-year-old boy he should have been allowed to be. The ravenous animal under his skin was caged for now and the last thousand years of heartache could lay no claim on him here, so long as he remained in his dreams. It was impossible to imagine that an original vampire might somehow care for you. But Kol as you saw him now? That didn't seem so far-fetched.

Yes, you saw it now. That boy had a lot of love to give. Kol did care about you - truly. He genuinely wanted to take care of you. He wanted you to be alright - happy even.

How extraordinary.

You smiled and laid your head on his chest again, listening to his heartbeat just the same as yours. The two of you really weren't so different. It seemed silly that you'd once believed otherwise.

Kol hummed.

"I know you're awake, darling," He mumbled, still a little groggy. His arms around you tightened as he shifted and you bit your lip, eyes widening. His voice was quiet and raspy and... really hot actually - not that you'd ever admit that out loud. "But please-" He sighed, burying his face in your hair. " -don't make me get up yet?"

You snickered, shaking your head a bit though it was mostly just an excuse to nuzzle closer to him. "What? Is Mr. Perfection not a morning person?"

"Don't say that as if you are," He joked, lightly poking you in the side. You couldn't help but giggle and you shrugged, feeling a smile on his lips as he pressed a kiss to the crown of your head. "How'd you sleep?"

Funny, he was the first person to ask you that in a while.

"Honestly?" You drew in a breath. "I haven't slept so well in two years." As soon as the words left your lips, you found yourself chuckling at the sheer absurdity of them. "And yeah, I'm well aware of just how stupid that is," You added.

"Why say that?" Kol wondered, lifting his head a little. His hand on your back took to drawing idle shapes along your shoulder blade. Those trailing fingers coaxed a shiver from your bones despite being surrounded by his pleasant warmth.

You shrugged but spoke anyway. Kol was safe - you knew now that you could tell him anything.

"Well, I've been going to counsel meetings since my freshman year of highschool," You explained quietly, playing with a strand of your hair. "I just never took them seriously until suddenly I was a senior and all these people around town - people I knew, went to school with, couples I'd baby-sat for - they all started dying. A-and I know what an animal attack looks like - I live in rural Virginia, for crying out loud!" You laughed but it quickly died off and your voice quieted further. "At council meetings, the police... they-they would show pictures o-of the bodies. They were never really very bloody, you know? So, uh... I mean, you-you could really see... inside." Memories flashed behind your eyes. Sickening, bloodless murals of mutilated muscle, tendons, skin, and bone.

Kol didn't speak. He just rubbed your back soothingly.

You shook your head minutely. "There were never any scratches," You mused. "No claws - just teeth. Mountain lions... mountain lions, or-or coyotes, they... they don't do that. So, when there was only one thing that could have... Well, I guess it was sort of like a slap to the face 'cuz these savage predators my parents had been telling me horror stories about for years were actually real and now they were right outside the door. So, I just got real scared... and I stopped sleeping."

You didn't have to see his face to know he was frowning, brows drawn together in a question.

"You... you saw?" He asked in hardly a whisper. You nodded. "And you still let me hold you?"

A wry smile tugged at your lips. "Pretty stupid, eh?"

The boy seemed to relax, he laid his head back and forced out a breath but the tension in his shoulders was far from gone. His arms tugged you closer as though he feared you might run away if he let go.

"How can you trust me if you've seen what I can do to you?" There was something very vulnerable in his voice as he asked that question. You were reminded of your conversation the night before - his own mother saw nothing good left in him, nothing worth loving.

You took a moment to answer, thinking it through.

"You made me a promise," You decided, nodding to yourself.

"I promised I'd never intentionally cause you pain," He said. "What if I slip up? It happens sometimes - I just get so hungry and I can't control it. What if I hurt you by accident?"

The words left your lips before you had time to doubt them. "I don't think you will."

"How can you be sure?" He rested his cheek against your hair, inhaling deeply. "I'm the most vile thing you've ever met."

"I know." You smiled but it was a lie. Kol was not the most vile thing you knew. That distinction took on a much more mundane form. "Though, if you're the most dangerous monster in the world, then I can sleep peacefully knowing that right next to you is the safest place I can be." You slipped your arms up around his neck, still too tired to give him a proper hug. "You'll keep all the monsters away... Even your own."

The boy huffed a laugh and before you really knew what was happening, you were lying on your back and Kol was hovering over you, grinning cheekily.

"You know, I think you're right," He said.

You smirked, stretching out a little. "Of course I am."

"You're also gorgeous." Kol brushed a strand of hair away from your face and leaned down to kiss you.

His lips were just as soft as they'd been the night before and his movements were just as sweet. That boy's kisses were like a winter champagne toast, bubbly and fun and just a little bit intoxicating, but nothing too serious. He knew you were still getting used to this - to him, and everything he was - so Kol was gentle and slow... But he was still himself. So naturally, when his champagne lips left yours, he immediately started working his way lower. Starting along your jaw and leaving a trail of achingly soft kisses as he moved down the column of your throat.

It was similar to the way he'd kissed you the night of your first date, except it was more meaningful this time - more personal. You realized that night had merely been a trial run, this was the real deal. Kol's lips found your pulse and he paused, letting go of an uncertain breath.

"Thank you for trusting me, Y/N," He murmured into your skin. Kol never said anything unless he really meant it.

You wove your fingers into the hair at the base of his neck. "Thank you for caring."

"Always," He promised.

Kol's lips parted when he attacked your pulse again and those slow, perfect kisses lost a little bit of their innocence. He was too good at this. Each one left you craving more, so you couldn't really help the moan that escaped your lips when Kol dipped his head to mouth at your collarbones. The mark he'd left on you weeks before had faded but he seemed keen to replicate his work.

His kisses grew rougher, more fervent. Warmth bloomed wherever he touched and you found yourself utterly lost in it. Blunt teeth began scraping and nipping at your skin and-

Oh... Oh, that felt good.

His lips returned to your pulse, spreading a gooey, perfect heat down your spine in thick waves and his tongue darted out to steal a taste. Your body arched up and Kol groaned.

Then those blunt teeth turned sharper than knives.

You froze. Kol's breathing ran ragged and you gasped as he pressed their needle-like points into your skin with pressure on the very knife edge of drawing blood. The boy stilled.

When he pulled away, his eyes were closed and his expression drawn. You could see black veins writhing beneath the skin under his eyes and you watched, apprehensive, as he took a few deep breaths to calm himself. The predator faded from the surface a few moments later and he sighed, opening his eyes. He offered you a dry smile.

"I think it's time for breakfast," He said softly. An apology lingered in those chocolate eyes.

But you were safe. Always safe. That was what mattered.

You gave him a smile to let him know you were okay. "Lead the way then." The boy grinned down at you.

At that precise moment, the door to Kol's bedroom flew open with a bang.

He closed his eyes and cursed.

"Well good morning, little brother!" An obnoxious voice exclaimed. The figure in the doorway could not have sounded any more smug.

"Bugger off, Nik," The boy snapped.

"Why? Having a good time with your lady friend?" Klaus teased, smirking.

Kol grimaced. "I was, no thanks to you." He moved off of you and stood before scooping you into his arms in the next second. "We're going to get breakfast now. Bye!"

"Wait!" You held up a hand to stop him. Kol raised a brow. "I need my phone. Gotta know if good ole' mom and dad have put a bounty on my head yet."

The boy chuckled but swiped your phone from the nightstand and passed it to you. "My lady."

Then the world lurched and you were sitting on the counter of the kitchen island. You blinked and rubbed the sleep from your eyes. When you looked up again, Klaus had joined you as well.

He stood in front of his younger sibling, arms folded behind his back. "Come now, brother. You know I don't mind you bringing your toys home, but I really must insist on knowing exactly who resides in my house at any given time." The hybrid's tone was mostly casual but it carried a lethal edge just beneath the surface. He turned on his heel, rounding on you. You knew he wouldn't hurt you though - he'd signed that treaty with the council same as Kol. "Who might you be, love?" He asked.

"And what do you want for breakfast?" Kol tagged on.

"I'm Y/N, but I'm not sure how much longer I'll be a Y/L/N," You replied, powering on your phone. You weren't sure what your parents would have to say about your little stunt, but you were positive it wouldn't be anything good. "Oh, and I saw some Pop Tarts in y'all's pantry last night and I don't mind if I do."

Klaus recognized your name though he wasn't sure from where. You gave him a moment to think and went scrolling through your texts.

"Really, darling? Pop Tarts?" Kol leveled you with a look of sheer disappointment.

"What? It's been forever since I had one of those things!" You defended.

"Why?"

You shrugged, trying to cover the twinge in your chest. "Weapons don't get junk food."

Kol blinked and his mouth pressed into a thin line. "You know what? Take as many bloody Pop Tarts as you want."

"Yay!"

Klaus' eyes darkened then and you knew he'd found his answer. "Your parents are on the Founder's Council." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yup. And that very same council is planning to gas this fine establishment with enough vervain to choke an undead horse sometime soon, so I suggest y'all start routinely checking your vents for the next couple of weeks." You sighed, looking up from reading the last of your parent's rage texts. "And before you ask: No, I don't know anything more than that because I'm not invited to their little meetings anymore."

"I'm afraid that sounds rather unlikely," A new voice chimed into the conversation. A man dressed in an expensive suit waltzed through the kitchen doorway. He looked like an older, less happy version of Kol, so you figured that must have been Elijah.

"No, I can assure you - she's been thoroughly shunned." Kol grinned as he got himself a plastic bag out of the refrigerator, the contents of which you tried not to pay attention to.

Elijah shot him a flat look. "I was referring to this supposed plot of the council. Mayor Lockwood already assured us there would be peace."

"I'm sure she did," You said. "However, Mayor Lockwood was not privy to the - what's a fancy word - formulation of this plan." You felt an odd need to step up your vocabulary in their presence.

Klaus seemed thoroughly - if not darkly - amused by your comments. He chuckled. "Sweetheart, she's the mayor."

"I'm aware of that, thanks," You deadpanned. "Problem is, an unfortunate majority of the council believes that some of its members have lost their nerve, namely Mayor Lockwood, Sheriff Forbes, and that Damon Salvatore guy."

"Well, that's probably because Salvatore and his little brother happen to be quite dead," Kol hummed.

"As is Sheriff Forbes' daughter Caroline," Klaus chimed in. "Not to mention, her boyfriend Tyler Lockwood - my oh-so-lucky first hybrid."

You coughed, nearly choking on your Pop Tart as you glanced between them, wide-eyed.

Kol frowned. "Did you not know that?"

"I did not," You admitted slowly. "But you know what? That makes a lot of sense, actually." You shook your head, getting back on track. "Anyway, the rest of the council has decided that the Mayor's methods are far too passive. So they're taking things into their own hands. Again, that's all I know; y'all are welcome for the warning."

Klaus folded his arms over his chest, nodding. Out of the corner of your eye, you watched Kol tense. He wasn't about to let you be hurt.

"Let's say you are telling the truth, love," The hybrid began, sounding rather ominous. "What then, pray tell, are you doing here?"

You huffed a bitter laugh and Klaus' dangerous smirk dropped just a little.

"Well, if forty-seven texts, twenty-two calls, and three Emails are anything to go by, then I'm getting myself disowned," You said with a fake smile.

"Why?" He wondered, brows furrowing into an expression both curious and suspicious.

"Because metaphorically speaking, my parents are Death Eaters and I just slept with a muggle." It hurt a lot less when you were making fun of it.

It seemed Elijah was the only one to get your joke. He snickered and his brothers looked to him for an explanation.

"It's from a book series called Harry Potter. The Death Eaters in the story are blood supremacists and Muggles are the group they discriminate against," He said.

The other two nodded in vague understanding and you reminded yourself to introduce Kol to Harry Potter.

You waved a hand. "It's less funny when you explain it." Hopping up from your chair, you approached Klaus. Kol flinched, looking about ready to tackle his brother should the hybrid try anything. "Anyway, you built this place right? You said it's your house?"

His eyes narrowed. "Yes..."

You took a deep breath, trying to calm yourself. It wasn't as if you had many other options.

"Would it be too much if I asked to stay here for a while? Just a couple days - maybe a week? I'd never typically ask this of anyone but, um..." Your voice broke off as your throat closed around the words you'd been about to speak. They died on your tongue, so you shoved your phone into his hands instead, offering him a view of your parents' latest message.

His eyes skimmed over it and the expression he wore softened just slightly.

You knew what the text said.

"Your accounts have been frozen and we've terminated your scholarship. If you want to act like a purposeless whore, then you can live like one. Don't. Come. Back."

Tears welled in your eyes without your permission. You knew your parents had run out of love for you, but this? This was one step further.

This was active hatred.

Klaus frowned, glancing between you and Kol as if trying to figure something out. Just a few feet away, Kol looked like he wanted to grab you and run.

"I just don't know where else to go," You whispered, bowing your head. "A-and I know it's a lot to ask, but I'm not safe now that I've told you this. You just... you don't understand what they're willing to do. I don't even think I could explain how much they hate you! This town is cursed along with everyone in it." You were rambling but you lost your ability to care about that as the horror of your situation truly dawned on you for the first time. "You guys don't know. You don't know what they said - what they're capable of. You don't know what they told me to do!"

Kol took a step toward you and Klaus crossed his arms over his chest. Behind him, Elijah's eyes narrowed. Their expressions belied varying levels of concern.

"Darling?" Kol spoke up cautiously. "Why do I get the feeling there's something you need to tell me?"

You blinked quickly, snapping out of your panic. You'd said too much and you had to bite down on your tongue to keep the rest of it inside. You wanted to tell him, you really did. You'd wanted to tell him this exact thing the night before, but you'd deflected then too. You needed to do this, but-

"I can't."

His eyes narrowed. "Why not?"

"If I tell you, you'll kill them all."

The three brothers glanced at one another. When Kol spoke, he did so slowly - as if it pained him.

"Darling, listen. If you tell me, I'll not act without your explicit permission," He said. "Alright?"

Kol was safe. You could trust him. He wasn't going to hurt you.

You drew in a breath that rattled your lungs as you rapidly blinked tears from your eyes. You looked at your feet, ashamed, though you knew logically that none of this was your fault.

"The Council is sick with hatred," You began, trying to keep your voice even. "It's like a disease and it's infected all of them. People I thought I knew - my own parents - they want me to be a weapon."

Kol, of course, already knew that but you explained for the other two. Klaus stiffened but Elijah reached out and laid a hand on his arm. You continued, wringing your hands.

"One of them - I think it was Carter Hamilton's wife - she found out I was seeing Kol."

No matter how desperately you wanted to, you just couldn't bring yourself to look at him. It wasn't his fault but you couldn't stand to think of him the way they did - like a wild animal that couldn't control its urges.

"She-she found out, and she brought it up at one of the meetings. She talked to my parents about it - not even to me - like I wasn't even there. She said - she suggested that they stop giving me vervain." Your voice caught and the words felt like glass to try and swallow. Suddenly you felt like you weren't getting enough oxygen - the air in the kitchen felt thin.

"She thought that if... if I could, um... w-well, if I could get him to... " You breathed in and out. In and out.

"She said that if I could get Kol to-to... feed... on me just, um, just a few times without vervain, then maybe they could slip enough of it to me one day to catch him off guard. They thought that maybe if they could... They wanted to use me to weaken you, Kol... and then, um, then maybe decapitation might kill you."

"And say you had been seriously injured in such an ill-conceived attempt on my brother's life," Elijah proposed in a tone of measured neutrality. He stood hardly a few feet from you but his voice sounded strangely indistinct - almost far away. "Did any member of the council propose a feasible method for ensuring your survival?"

You shook your head, eyes stinging with unshed tears you should have felt safe enough to cry earlier.

"No," You answered, voice thinning further, poised to snap. Your whole body was trembling. "They didn't think it was important enough. Hamilton's wife said my only purpose was to make Kol weak, and that I needed to do whatever it took to do that." You sucked in a breath through your teeth clenched like a vice. If you relaxed a single muscle, you were sure you'd fall apart.

"The rest of the council agreed with her."

Finally, you mustered the courage to lift your gaze, meeting his warm chocolate eyes. Kol looked like he was gonna be sick. His hands were clenched into fists but there was more than just rage in his countenance. There was disgust and not only for the Council. No, there was guilt there too. Disgust and guilt for what he'd very nearly done hardly a few minutes before.

Upon meeting his eyes, your stomach twisted with shame for ever having associated with those people. You didn't feel or think the things they did. Kol had never been a monster to you, he'd never done anything to hurt you. So revealing what you'd been told to do wrought a foul, nauseating guilt boiling under your lungs like you'd never felt before. The more you let yourself think about it, the more deeply you realized how twisted and cruel the Council's plan for you truly was.

Intentionally encouraging Kol to indulge his curse on you? Allowing hateful people he'd not harmed in any way, to take advantage of his weaknesses in order to kill him for something he couldn't change? It was sick!

It was all so sick and your parents had been among those telling you to do it.

All you could feel was shame and hurt and you yearned to just run away from it all and hide so you wouldn't have to face him. But no. No, you had to look him in the eye now. Kol deserved to know why you'd been so terrified of him for so long. His arms were the only safe place for you now and he deserved to know why. He deserved to know everything.

And you weren't even to the worst part yet.

"They told me not to fight you," You whispered. "They said that if you - no, um, they said when - when you bit me, that I should let you. They, um, they told me to let you do anything you wanted... even if-if it h-hurt me. They said I should let you feed as much as you wanted, even if I passed out because otherwise it would ruin the plan. They told me that if I died then it was okay because I'd be dying for their stupid, miserable Cause." You spat the last words out with more venom than you'd ever spoken anything. You closed your eyes and let the tears in your eyes slip down your cheeks. You'd held them in long enough.

Before you had another moment to think, you found yourself caught up in a pair of arms. His were the only pair you'd ever really had - the only ones you could rely on. You buried yourself in them, safe from the world - safe from the Council. Kol's soft voice murmured soothing words in your ear in a language you didn't understand, while his fingers ran themselves skillfully through your hair and he just let you cry.

"They were supposed to protect me!" You sobbed into his shirt. The pain of all these thoughts you'd avoided processing crashed down on you now. So you clung to him. "They promised to keep me safe! They said I'd never have to fight - that it would never come to that! But they lied! They lied to me, Kol! They lied to me and they told me to die!" That was what they'd really told you to do, you realized. "They told me to kill myself!"

You hated them.

The boy holding you froze. He pulled away just a fraction of an inch, absorbing your revelation like a bullet to the gut. Perhaps he wanted to say something - perhaps he wanted to demand why you hadn't told him this earlier - but you didn't care to look at him. You just shook your head, fisting his shirt, and let him take the pain you could bear no longer.

His arms were around you again a second later, cradling you as close as he possibly could. Kol held onto you with the same determined ardor as he had just last night. He held you like he wouldn't let you go for the whole world - like it wouldn't mean anything without you. He held you as if he would fall to pieces if he loosed his grip but a fraction. The space between his arms was reserved just for you. Entirely yours. Safe.

Once he felt that he'd held you long enough to speak, his voice was a myriad of emotions that all lent themselves to just one feeling. It was a three-word feeling that he wasn't willing to say out loud just yet, but it was there. You could feel it too. It had been there when you'd woken up with him that morning, though you weren't ready to say it either.

"You listen to me, darling, and you listen well." Kol spoke in a growl so low you wouldn't have heard it had his lips not been at your ear. He held you tight and close. "Forget everything that Council ever told you. Forget it, right now! Because you are not their pawn to be sacrificed. You are mine. Understand that? You're mine, and I am never going to hurt you. Never. I promise."

And you knew that boy didn't promise things lightly.

"I don't wanna be like them," You whispered.

"You're not," He affirmed. "You are nothing like they are."

You sighed, and the shards of glass in your lungs seemed to fall out. They'd been there so long you'd almost forgotten what it was like to breathe easy.

"Do me a favor?"

"Yes. Of course, name it," He readily replied, grasping handfuls of your clothes and hair. "Tell me how to make it better?"

"Don't kill them?" He stiffened. "Please?"

Kol snarled, hugging you closer. "I don't know if I can promise that bit."

You shook your head, wrapping your arms around his neck to return the hug properly. "You don't have to promise. Just say you'll try?"

Kol cursed.

"I don't think you quite understand the weight of what you're asking, sweet-thing." He almost sang those words and the speed at which his tone flipped should have terrified you.

"Maybe not." You shrugged. Kol was a one thousand year old being for goodness sakes. You couldn't expect him to change on a dime. "But I'm asking."

"They don't deserve forgiveness," He spat.

"This isn't forgiveness," You maintained. "It's spite."

That was all it had ever been. All you really had from the beginning.

"Well, as delightful as this has been, I really don't think I'm up for watching the two of you explore one another for the next few hours." Klaus' voice spoke up from behind you and your face flushed. You'd forgotten he was still there. "So before I take my leave, I'd just like to say that I have no objections to you staying here, Y/N. Consider yourself an honored guest in this house as long as you may have need of it."

Kol refused to let go of you, but you turned within his arms to face his brother. Behind you, the boy took to nuzzling at your neck.

"You don't think I'm playing you?"

Klaus sighed and there was something very heavy in it. "There are things one cannot fake, love." The smile he proffered was thin but sincere. "Besides, if you can keep Kol in a good mood then you're more than worth the trouble. Stay as long as you like. Hell, move in if you want to! My little brother needs a decent babysitter."

"Shut up, Nik," The boy grumbled into your throat.

You returned his brother's fragile smile. "Thanks."

He bowed his head to you and left. Elijah moved to follow but he stopped at the door.

"Might there be anything else you need, young one? After all, I believe we were the ones to push you into this unfortunate situation," He said. Those words held an awful lot of regret.

"It wasn't your fault. You didn't turn them into animals - they did that all on their own," You replied somewhat tiredly. "Though, now that you mention it, do you think you could spare a little time to help me get my belongings back? I'm kind of attached to my bean-bag chair."

Elijah cracked a smile. "Certainly."

Kol sighed. "I don't know, darling," He hummed with a tone like a knife edge. "If I go near that house again, I might have to confront the owners of said dwelling and tear them limb from limb."

His words should have scared you. But they didn't.

You hummed. "Do you think you could settle for scaring them out of their wits?"

***

When you arrived at the door to your parent's house, Kol was clinging to you like an oversized koala. That is if a koala could exude thoughts of sweet, sweet arson and murder from its very being in thick, tangible, waves. He didn't seem intent on letting go of you any time soon so you figured you'd just deal with it. Elijah, on the other hand, was fixing his cufflinks in a way that somehow came off as threatening though you weren't going to question it.

You rang the doorbell.

The door was answered by a shotgun. You went a little cross-eyed looking at it.

"We're back to this again are we?" You could hear the smirk in Kol's voice and you just grinned.

"Hi, dad!" You greeted cheerfully. You had already done all the crying you were going to do. You refused to let that man hurt you anymore.

"Get off my property!" He barked. "You're not welcome here! Any of you!"

Who exactly did he think he was talking to?

"Yeah, well we're coming in anyway." You shrugged. "My new room's missing some things."

"Right," He scoffed. "And how do you expect to get them without the original freaks? They can't get past the threshold without my saying so, and you don't live here anymore."

You hummed nodding. "Nice try, but you couldn't possibly have changed my records that quickly." You ducked under your father's gun - which Kol quickly snatched before proceeding to bend into a knot - then stepped through the door. Your mother stood a few feet inside.

She shook her head, frantic. "Don't do this, Y/N/N," She begged. "Please don't do this?"

You met her eyes. "Feel free to come in, guys," You said evenly. "Make yourselves at home."

In a split second, Kol had wrapped himself around you again, grinning wide and sharp.

Your mother scurried back, cowering against the far wall. Sure, you could have rubbed it in further, but it just didn't seem worth it.

"Elijah?"

"Yes?" He responded. He didn't break his little staring contest with your father but he did tilt his chin in your direction.

"I don't know if the vervain gas is hidden here, but by all means, poke around."

Your father's eyes could not have contained more rage.

"You told them?!" He demanded in disbelief. You just shrugged. You failed to see how he could be surprised, after the way he'd treated you. The man's lips peeled back and spittle flew from between his clenched teeth. Who was the animal here? "Why you miserable, pathetic, ungrateful, little wh-"

He didn't have time to finish that sentence because Kol had him suspended in the air by his throat. Your father coughed and gagged, writhing in midair.

"What? Not going to finish?" Kol taunted. He was enjoying this quite a lot. "Can I break him, darling?" He asked, not looking back at you.

You sighed. "Kol, we talked about this."

"Come now, he asked for it," The dark-haired boy insisted. "Just a little? I can even put him back together if you want! Who knows? Maybe a little bit of vampire blood in his system will make him less of a brute!"

At the mention of vampire blood, your father let out a strangled scream. He kicked and struggled more violently.

"No!" Your mother cried, moving as if to somehow aid her husband. Kol stopped her with a single finger jabbed in her direction.

"Ah! Did I ask for your opinion?" He shifted his gaze to her and she faltered beneath the weight of it. All objections died in her throat and even you could have sworn you felt the temperature in the room drop with that chilling glare. His next words were soft as death by hypothermia - far too pleasant to be comforting. "Your fate may lay in your daughter's hands, but I wouldn't test me if I were you."

You glanced back up at your father, still fighting and spitting in your direction.

"You know what? Have your fun, just don't go overboard. I'll be in my room." You flicked your hand in a wave and tried not to pay attention to the twist of guilt in your stomach as Kol's grin turned positively gleeful. You just turned and made your way to your room.

To your surprise, the screams didn't last very long. They died down after only about five to ten minutes and by that time, you hadn't even decided what to pack up first.

"Well, that's one thing taken care of," Kol announced as he waltzed into your room, seeming as content as he'd been when you'd woken up with him.

"Thanks," You said softly.

"Oh, it was my genuine pleasure."

You rolled your eyes. "I meant for holding back," You said. "You did hold back, right?"

The boy flopped down on your bed, fixing you with an adorable expression you couldn't seem to incite anger from, despite knowing what was behind it. "In my opinion? Absolutely, all things considered."

"What did you do?" You honestly weren't sure if you wanted to know the answer to that.

He shrugged. "Let's just say your father has a brand new tattoo he never wanted. I'd say go take a look, but it's going to take a while to really show up. That is, as long as he receives some stitches for it within the next hour and forty-five minutes."

You raised a brow. "Is that a fancy way of saying you gave him a big-ass scar?"

"Yeah, but it sounds less fun when you say it like that!" He said dismissively, waving a hand. "What we really should have done is gotten Nik over here. He's the artistic one - could have made it fancy - perhaps drawn a hog or something to go with..."

You rolled your eyes, trying to push away the part of you that was currently bombarding you with memories of a time when your parents loved you. Though the more that you thought about it, the more you realized those memories were really just of parents that didn't openly despise you.

"Kol?" You called his name softly and he was sitting by your side in a heartbeat. "This doesn't make me bad, does it?"

That dark-haired boy took your hands in his, thumbs brushing over your knuckles as he urged you to meet his milk-chocolate eyes.

"No. This doesn't make you bad," He said. "You didn't do anything today - I did."

"But I let you... wanted you to," You insisted. "What does that make me?"

"It makes you free, darling." He lifted your hand to his lips and pressed a kiss against the back of it. "Don't be sad. It's alright to just enjoy it." A smile tugged at his lips and he pulled you to your feet. "Come now, I'll help you get all this stored and we'll be done in time for lunch. You can teach me another one of your Christmas songs while you're at it."

***

December drew to a close without any major incidents and January passed by much the same, with you and Kol living out something of a crooked fairytale. While you'd originally planned to stay with the Mikaelsons only as long as you needed to find yourself an apartment, that notion was quickly tossed out the window. Kol just kept complaining that an apartment would be nothing more than a waste of time and money, seeing as you spent most of your nights in his bedroom anyway, despite having one of your own.

He wasn't wrong.

Halfway through January, you sued the ever-loving hell out of your parents, pursuing it all the way to the state level where you finally managed to get your savings and checking accounts back. With that money, you figured you would enroll in the spring semester of your chosen college with Kol along for the ride. (He needed to catch up on recent history anyway, so it worked out.)

By February, things were going pretty well and you'd even started getting back into your old hobbies.

Alright, so it was less of a hobby and more of a side gig. Despite your raging phobia of performing in front of an audience, you'd gone and joined a band in your sophomore year. You were the band's percussionist and sure, it was by no means professional, but you got actual gigs at the Grill every Wednesday night and made some decent cash. It was fun and you loved it, no matter what anyone said about it being a waste of time or unladylike.

Now, you hadn't played since the Original Family came to town, but for the past few weeks, you'd been coming back. Wednesday nights you got to do what you loved, free of fear or judgment. Not even Kol was here to watch, you reassured yourself as you sat down at your drum set and tied a familiar gray blindfold over your eyes.

Not that he would judge you, of course. You just weren't sure you were ready to share one more part of yourself with that boy. Music was the part of you that made you happiest and it had always belonged solely to you.

You fixed your blindfold and picked up your drumsticks to tell Rory - the head singer and guitarist - that you were ready. Everyone outside the band thought the blindfold was just your gimmick but really you just couldn't perform without it. The sight of any crowd drove your stage fright berserk, oftentimes making you sick.

But hey, if everyone wanted to see it as a gimmick, then more power to them. At least it went with the band name.

"Please welcome Mystic Falls's own, Daredevil Squad!"

Wow. Good ole' Matt Donovan really needed to work on his introduction voice, but that was neither here nor there. With those words, your thinking time was over. Rory gave the cue and you counted the rest in. Then, you had fun.

You played for a solid two hours which is a lot harder than it sounds. You were glad Rory had picked some really good songs for the performance, though House of the Rising Sun was definitely your favorite. You didn't sing much, just hummed in the background mostly, but that was why you played percussion - it was the beat you were in love with. More often than not, you could almost swear the drums had a mind of their own and you were just along for the ride.

Once you were finished, you tugged the blindfold off and made a beeline for the bar. You were going to die of thirst if you didn't get a glass of water right away. In your haste, you failed to take note of your surroundings or more specifically, the people in them.

"You know, I was beginning to wonder where it is you run off to every Wednesday night," A very familiar voice purred next to your ear.

You jumped and whirled around to find Kol grinning down at you, whiskey in hand. You must have flushed bright red because that cheeky grin of his grew wider.

"Kol? What-what are you doing here?" You sputtered. What were you supposed to say?

"Well, I came here intending to dull the monotony of your absence with alcohol, but I find myself pleasantly surprised," He answered, tossing you a wink.

"I... didn't know you were going to be here," You said, somewhat apologetic. It wasn't as though you could expect him to like your music. After all, no one else ever had.

His expression softened and he put his drink down, drawing you into a hug. "Relax, darling. No need to get uptight," He reassured. "You were amazing and I loved watching you."

You smiled. "Really?"

"Absolutely. I only wish you'd told me earlier." He squeezed your shoulder, smiling easily. That boy always knew how to calm your nerves. "But hey, as long as we're both here, why don't you join me for a few drinks?" He offered. At that moment, the bartender passed you your water and you snatched it from the counter, downing the whole thing in just a few seconds. Kol blinked. "Or not..."

"Sorry!" You giggled. "I gotta go put my instrument away real quick. But I'll come back, okay?"

"Sounds excellent, love," He agreed.

"Awesome." You tapped your fingers against the bar top a few times before swinging around and making your way to the Grill's tiny excuse for a backstage area. Kol watched you go up until the door swung shut behind you.

As soon as it had, you were plunged into darkness. Though it was only for a few seconds as you reached for the light switch, that was long enough. Someone lunged from behind one of the extra speakers and a cloth was shoved over your mouth and nose. You knew better than to breathe it in, but your attacker wasn't alone. A second assailant grabbed hold of your arms and locked a pair of handcuffs around your wrists with trained precision. You tried to scream for help and it was shortly after that when everything went black.

***

Sheriff Elizabeth Forbes knew what desperation looked like. Having been in this job as long as she had, Liz liked to think she'd seen just about every form a desperate soul could take.

Fate proved her wrong when Kol Mikaelson appeared in the doorway of her office. Somewhere amidst the limb-freezing, mind-numbing existential terror that shot through her veins at the sight of him, Liz recognized that he did not look well.

His eyes were bloodshot with dark circles beneath them, contrasting starkly with pale skin and dark, matted hair. He stood there, tall and proud despite it all and Liz was reminded of her daughter. Sweet little Caroline - the girl who ran herself ragged over everything. Well, Kol hardly seemed like the type to do so. Therefore, Liz figured that whatever was going on was bound to be serious.

The ancient predator strolled leisurely into the small office space and draped himself over the rickety old chair opposite Liz's desk. His eyes closed for only a moment, as though it were a relief to sit down. Seeming to her like a Jaguar lounging on a tree branch, he leveled a pair of infinitely incomprehensible eyes on her and she resisted the urge to shrink under the weight of his hard gaze.

Instead, she cleared her throat, tipping her head in his direction. "Good afternoon," She greeted. His head tilted to the side. He didn't return her pleasantries. "So to what do I owe this visit?"

This terrible being raised a brow. "You are the head of this dismal town's law enforcement, are you not?" He began, unimpressed.

Liz blinked, unsure how to reply. "Well... yes."

"And theft is still an act declared by your country's laws to be immoral, is it not?"

She nodded slowly. "Since last I checked."

The predator's eyes narrowed. "Then I do believe I'm here to requisite your expertise, Miss. Elizabeth." Each word was sharper than a surgical knife.

She bristled at her name on his lips. "It's Sheriff Forbes."

"Liz." He grinned - a flash of white teeth and flecks of red. Kol Mikaelson leaned forward, she could smell decay on his breath. "Something has been stolen from me, Lizzie - something very important and I want it back."

This thing in front of her was nothing like the vampire Liz carefully liked to consider her friend. Damon Salvatore gave off an erratic and often dangerous aura, but underneath that, there was a begrudging kindness and an even more begrudging sense of empathy. Kol Mikaelson was a different story. He radiated power in every idle movement, the kind of power that made Damon's worst day seem like a teenager with a spitball gun. Everything about him was effortless and yet very deliberate. With young, innocent features and a voice so smooth and pleasant she had to fight to keep herself from being lulled into a hypnotic trance, it was like he could compel her without even trying - vervain or no.

"You can't find whatever is missing on your own?" She asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.

Kol snarled. Liz had seen mountain lions bear their teeth - the sight looked a little something like that. "Do you really think I would be here if that were the case?"

"I suppose not." She exhaled evenly. "Mr. Mikaelson-"

"Kol." His lips twitched up. "I'm not my stuffy brother, first names will do nicely."

Liz clenched her fists beneath her desk.

"Kol," She amended. "I'm afraid I won't be able to help you if this is a matter of an... exotic variety." The walls of the Sheriff's office were by no means sound proof and not everyone on the force was in on the secret.

"Not to worry, Lizzie. The perpetrators of this crime are all perfectly ordinary." His pleasant smile was definitely forced.

Kol did not like that.

What human in their right mind would be shit-faced stupid enough to steal from an original vampire? Liz figured her extraordinary client probably wondered the same thing.

"I see." Sheriff Forbes retrieved a notebook from her desk drawer and picked up her pen. Perhaps she could ease her nerves in the routine that was this part of her job. She took down his name and beneath it wrote theft. "How long ago was the object taken?" She asked.

"Person," He corrected casually.

"Come again?"

"Not object - person," Kol repeated. "She was taken four days ago."

Liz closed her eyes and sighed. "So you're saying this was a kidnapping?"

"Yes."

"Then why not just say that?" She huffed.

Kol shrugged. "I don't particularly see a difference."

Liz had to resist the temptation to roll her eyes. She scratched out theft and wrote kidnapping next to the date he'd described. "Victim's last name?" She prompted.

"Y/L/N."

She stilled, hoping she was wrong. "First name?"

"I think you know."

Liz looked up and found herself staring into the abyss. The true faces of the vampires she'd seen starred in some of her worst nightmares, but it was a phenomenon she'd only ever caught in brief glimpses. She had never been so close to it nor seen those chilling black eyes on an expression so calm. Although, Kol's grip on that armrest looked pretty violent.

The Sheriff swallowed thickly. "Do you... Do you know for sure who's taken her?"

"I have a pretty good idea," He hissed, deadly fangs on full display. "Tell me where your precious Council took her."

Liz Forbes laid a hand to her gun and spoke calmly. "Kol, I had nothing to do with this."

"Oh, I know that." He leaned back. Another flash of teeth. "Hence, why you're not dead. Tell me what you do know, and you'll remain as such."

She didn't trust him to keep his word but to disobey the request would be suicide. "I don't know where they are, I can only tell you where they might be," Liz said. He waited. "If I had to guess, the old celler under Town Hall would be the first place I'd look. Nobody goes down there and the door's got a trick lock. It's not strong enough to hold a-" She caught herself. "-someone with a little extra punch, but I think it would serve to hold your average high school graduate."

The monster in a young boy's skin nodded sharply and stood. He didn't offer a word of gratitude as he moved to the door.

Sheriff Forbes stood. "Kol?"

He stopped, though he didn't turn back.

"Don't ask me to spare them," He growled. She hadn't noticed it before, but every muscle in his body was tense. His hands were shaking.

"I wasn't." No, she valued her life far too much to do that.

"Then what?" The monster snapped, impatient.

Liz couldn't pretend to understand what the missing girl saw in him, but there was something beneath that inhumane exterior. Perhaps she'd caught a glimpse of it in that ragged desperation she'd seen when he walked through her door - the sort of anger she'd just witnessed doesn't come about without first stemming from some sort of tenderness.

"I was just gonna warn you to expect an ambush," Sheriff Forbes sighed. "It appears some of my deputies think themselves above answering to the law."

Kol Mikaelson hummed and turned back to her with the most horrifying smirk she'd ever seen. "Rest assured, Miss. Forbes... They will answer to me."

***

Four days.

You had been down there for four days.

No food.

No sunlight.

Only a few sips of water each day.

You were so cold. Temperatures in the cellar dropped below freezing at night and weren't much better during the day - you knew because your only entertainment while trapped in this nightmare had been watching the same puddle of water on the ground freeze and thaw over and over. More than once you'd thought you would freeze with it - that you would fall asleep, feeling as warm as the Little Match Girl, and never wake up. The air down there was wet and smelled of mildew. Pneumonia seemed a guarantee in your future.

You were so cold, and tired.

How could you sleep in this frigid prison? You were handcuffed to a steel chair, for crying out loud! Your tailbone and thighs were so sore you didn't think you would ever be able to sit down again, and your wrists were so raw from the edges of the cuffs that every time you shifted, the metal drew blood. One wrong move and you could slit your wrists. Not to mention your kidnappers had done you the favor of forcing a gag into your mouth and it had dried your tongue and throat beyond belief. Trying to swallow felt like eating sandpaper with a side of mulch. How could you sleep like that? Both the cuffs and the chair, you recognized. They were from the police station. Sheriff Forbes couldn't have been in on this - that you were sure of. But it seemed that protecting the innocent wasn't what the rest of your hometown's police force was committed to. How could you sleep knowing the town you'd grown up in had turned its back on you?

You were so cold, tired, and hungry.

The last thing you'd eaten was a plate of the Grill's soggy nachos. As far as last meals go, that seemed like a pretty pathetic one to go out on. Sometimes you thought you could still taste the cheese but you were pretty sure you were hallucinating it. Can one's taste buds have hallucinations? You didn't know and you didn't really care. You were so hungry you'd knowingly have eaten poison if it were offered to you. If this were anything like how Kol felt on a daily basis, you couldn't blame him for giving in to temptation. You only wished you could turn off the pain as he could.

You were so cold, and tired, and hungry. And terrified out of your mind.

You'd probably dreamt of Kol coming to rescue you a thousand times, all without ever falling asleep. Yet, every time you opened your eyes, he wasn't there and you were alone. Completely alone. But he would come. You believed that. You had to believe that.

So when the gate to your prison opened and Council members started streaming through, armed with a semi-auto each, you knew you might finally be getting out of there. The iron door dragged on hinges that screeched loud enough to tear holes in your eardrums after four days of nothing but your own hysterics for auditory stimulus and the dim light of the hallway bleached your retinas having spent all that time in the dark.

"The plan's in motion," Oliver Fell-blanc said as he descended the steps, carrying a fireman's axe in his hands. He was Meredith Fell's cousin and the last one to arrive. "It's coming for her."

You nearly cried tears of joy when you heard those words. You probably would've had you been entirely convinced that this was real. None of your other fantasies had begun this way, but that didn't mean much at this point.

"How long do we have?" That sounded like Carter Hamilton's wife. You couldn't remember her name.

"I'd say about three minutes," Oliver answered. You remembered a time when the most nefarious thing that guy would do was commandeer the music at the Lockwood parties. He'd been the one to kidnap you. "If anyone here isn't committed to doing what needs to be done, this is your last chance to chicken out."

"You're sure these bullets can keep it down long enough for you to chop off the head?" Another man asked. That was Wyatt Maxwell. He used to babysit you and your brother when he was in high school. He always read bedtime stories to you and let you have two desserts on Friday nights. You hardly recognized him now. What had become of these people?

"They're laced with vervain. It'll stop the wounds from healing," Hamilton's wife stated confidently.

"Yeah, but will it be enough?" Wyatt pressed.

"Probably." Oliver grinned darkly. "But if it's not, we can always fill that thing with enough holes to make swiss cheese jealous."

The others laughed at that and something inside you shriveled.

"What you should really be worried about is whether Ollie is actually strong enough to swing that axe," Carter Hamilton added, smirking.

"Oh, I'm strong enough, old man." Oliver laughed. "I'm just disappointed I won't be able to hang that creature's head on my wall once this is over with. Hey, wait! Maybe I can pull it out around Halloween! Bet it would scare the pants off some kids!"

"Do whatever you want, man. Hell - use it as a paper weight for all I care. Just as long as you keep it far, far away from the body and me," Wyatt huffed.

So this was why you were here. Their plan for you hadn't changed, you realized. They had just changed your role in it. This was a trap and you were the bait.

Tears welled in your eyes and you clenched your teeth, biting down even harder on the gag in your mouth. You wanted to scream and cry and throw something at this disgusting man, but you were so tired and weak and your throat felt like a desert.

"You bastards," You rasped through the gag. "You're all hateful bastards!"

It mostly just sounded like a series of muffled coughs, but it was enough to draw their attention. The friendly expressions on the faces of the council melted away as they turned their focus on you. There were sixteen of them in total. Sixteen council members, fifteen guns, fifteen rounds per gun. You did the math. They had two hundred and twenty-five vervain-laced bullets. How many could Kol take and still get back up?

"Awww," Oliver sneered. "Is somebody gonna miss her special leech?"

"Don't you touch him!" You cried. "He hasn't done a thing to you! Don't you touch him!"

"What's that? I can't quite hear you. Can you speak up, sweetheart?" He taunted, putting a hand to his ear.

"I hate you." His mocking expression made you want to strangle him but all you could do was cough. "I hate all of you!"

"Nope, still can't hear her." Oliver shrugged and turned back to the other extremists. "You know, the mayor and Sheriff Forbes think the kids in this town are too young to know the truth. Well, I say different!" He pointed an accusing finger in your direction. "You see what happens when kids aren't taught what's right? I say these kids deserve to know about what they're up against! I think we need to make it clear to them what they can and cannot do in this town, and I say we start by making this one an example! This is what you get when you sleep with a bloodsucker!"

The others cheered for his little speech and you couldn't help fearing for your sweet little brother. What would become of him if they got their way? Oliver turned back to you, scowling as he knelt down by your side. You flinched away from him but he snatched a handful of your hair and forced your gaze into the direction of the door.

"You know, sweetheart, you're gonna be that last thing that bloodsucker sees after it walks through that door." He said. "You always did lack conviction, but I'm sure it's gonna suck to live knowing that what happens here today was entirely your fault. I just hope it teaches you better than to be a miserable, kinky, whore."

He kicked your chair and ordered the extremists to take up their positions around the room, calling for total silence. Their heartbeats would be covered by the racket made by the old A/C unit upstairs and they spread out so Kol wouldn't be able to take them all out at once.

All you could do was sit there and curse your ancestors.

It wasn't after too much longer, that you heard footsteps on their way down to the basement. You heard Kol's voice calling your name.

You took a breath.

"Don't come down here!" You screamed as loud as you could. You tried to speak from the back of your throat so the words wouldn't be as muffled through the gag, though you didn't think it did much. "Don't come down here! It's a trap! They have guns! Don't come down!"

Kol didn't listen.

He appeared in the doorway with a relieved smile and started towards you.

"Watch out!"

The Council members opened fire. Fifteen sets of gunshots rang out all at once, echoing around the cavernous stone space and through your brain. It was so loud, too loud. Warmth pooled in your ears and you felt them begin to bleed. Gunshots kept going off but the sounds grew dimmer and dimmer, further and further away. But you weren't concerned about yourself.

Most of the bullets found their mark. Some hit Kol in the chest, others in the stomach, shoulders, and back. He stumbled backward and you watched more than heard him gasp in pain. His eyes were wide as the gunshots finally stopped. He looked down at his chest, almost confused, and then back up to you. The boy coughed and blood spilled from between his lips. Then he fell to his knees, swayed, and collapsed sideways onto the ground.

You screamed again.

Someone asked a question but it was drowned by the ringing in your ears. Another voice shouted something.

Oliver stepped forward, axe in hand, grinning like a maniac. He raised the weapon over his head and you couldn't bear to watch. You squeezed your eyes shut.

Blood, hot and thick, sprayed across your face.

This time, you didn't scream.

But everyone else in the room did.

Your eyes snapped open and in front of you stood Kol; he was holding Oliver's axe. Beside him, sprawled on the polished marble floor, was Oliver's headless corpse. The missing part rolled across the floor to your right. When it came to a stop, its inanimate eyes were wide open. They landed on you.

You shrieked.

After all, you'd seen death before in photos. But this was all too real.

"Hey. Hey!" The words were muffled and dull. "Y/N, look at me! Look at me, darling." You couldn't tear your eyes away from the disembodied head. A gentle hand touched your cheek, guiding you to look into a pair of chocolate eyes. "There. That's it, see? You're alright, Y/N/N. It's alright. This will all be over soon," Kol promised.

On your left, Wyatt raised his gun again. Kol scowled and turned away from you. He spoke, but you couldn't quite pick out what was said as he twirled the axe around and around his hand. The boy shrugged once. Then, moving in a blur, he stood beside Wyatt - axe raised to his throat.

"I SAID DROP THEM!" He roared.

The council members all dropped their guns. In the next second, Kol had swept around the room and gathered all the cast-off weapons before reappearing at the top of the stairs where he left them. He strolled back into the room and pulled the iron door shut with a bang. You watched him weave the steel handle of the fireman's axe through the bars in the door before bending it around the lock.

No one was getting out of this room without his say-so.

Kol returned to you and knelt down, effortlessly snapping the cuffs around your ankles that kept you trapped in that chair, followed by the restraints on your wrists. No longer held against the back of the chair by the cuffs, your body slumped forward, too weak to remain upright. Kol caught you, guiding you down to sit on the floor between his legs with your back leaning against his chest. He tugged the gag from your mouth next, though he didn't bother to untie it completely.

Your ears were ringing and they hurt but Kol was warm and you were a lot more comfortable than you had been. You were so tired, your eyes and limbs felt heavy. Kol would keep you safe. You could fall asleep here.

"No! No, no, darling! Wake up!" He shook you and you groaned. His voice was blurry. You were tired. "Don't go to sleep, love. Not yet! Open your eyes!"

Knowing him, he probably wouldn't leave you alone about it. Probably best to see what he wanted. You forced your eyes open and let your head roll back. Kol's fangs extended and he bit his wrist, then held it out in front of you. That was gross.

You grimaced. "Ew."

"Just drink it," He demanded. You shook your head. "Come on, darling. Please? It'll make you feel better, just drink it."

"No," You groaned. Kol sighed and forced his wrist between your lips anyway. His blood flowed into your mouth and you gaged, squirming in his hold. You thought you'd been desperate enough to swallow anything but apparently, your body still had standards. You whimpered and tried to get away, but the boy's arm around your waist might as well have been a steel bar.

Kol shushed your protests, rocking back and forth in an attempt to comfort you.

"I know, darling. I know you don't want to swallow it, but you have too. It'll make you feel better, I promise. Just swallow it." His voice was sweet and soothing and you were far too tired to fight anymore. You stopped struggling and did as you were told.

Blood, you discovered, tasted just about as nasty as you thought it would. The stuff was hot and thick and it tasted like pennies...

Until it didn't.

You swallowed just a little bit and then a little bit more and suddenly it wasn't so bad. The coppery taste turned sort of sweet, and then very sweet, and then excellent. The pain and ringing in your ears faded and you felt strangely warm.

Kol was talking to you, muttering soft encouragements into your ear. "That's it, yes that's it. That's a good girl. Drink up, my sweet. See, it's not so bad, is it? You're alright now. Just a little more." The pain and sickness faded away. You felt warm, and stronger now - not as strong as you were normally, but strong enough to sit and stand on your own. After a few more moments, Kol pressed a kiss to your temple and pulled his wrist away. You almost made a move to take it back, but he grabbed your hands gently. "Sorry, love. You can have more later, if you still want it, but too much now will make you sick."

You did want more because if anything, you felt more hungry now than you did before and you were more than a little disturbed by that, but you nodded anyway, licking the excess from your lips. "Okay."

"Good," He said. He took a deep breath, inhaling your scent. "Can you stay right here for me, sweet-thing? I have to finish this."

You frowned but didn't move. What was he talking about? What was there to finish?

Kol got up and cast his eyes around the room.

"Now, what am I going to do about you lot?" He wondered, lips twisting into a vindictive smirk. He gestured toward you. "She wants me to let all of you live, but I'm afraid I just can't do that. See, I do have a reputation to uphold and it so happens that I've slaughtered entire towns for a lot less than what you've done here. I think you all know the extent of your guilt, but why don't we recap just for fun, eh?" 

"Alright, let's see..." He started counting off on his fingers. 

"You've broken the treaty which you made and signed... plotted against my family... kidnapped the only person in your midst who might have gifted you some mercy... and then you just tried to kill me. I think I'll have to give you a B+ on that last one - not the best or most creative attempt I've seen, though I can give you high marks for enthusiasm." He sighed, shrugging his shoulders in an exaggerated movement.

"Unfortunately, that's four strikes against you and the rules clearly say that it's three strikes and you're out."

Kol grinned and you knew you weren't going to like whatever was coming next.

"So, here's what we're going to do. We're going to play a little game."

From inside his jacket pocket, Kol drew forth a pearl-handled pistol. It was intricate - pretty. But that couldn't disguise its true purpose. It was a gun. It was made to kill things.

"I'm assuming you all know what this is?" He said, raising the piece for all sixteen - fifteen - Council members to see. A few of them nodded, eyes flickering with barely concealed horror. Kol watched them and his tongue darted out to wet his lips in a way that belied excitement. He continued. "Now, contained within this... quaint little trinket is exactly one bullet. It's not wooden - just plain old lead - and one of you is going to be the lucky winner who gets to fire it into their skull!"

"No..." Your breath caught in your throat and something in your stomach twisted violently. This was wrong. This was horrid and vile and you felt sick. You shook your head, struggling to stand on legs that hadn't seen use in days. "No. No, no, no. Kol, don't-"

He cut you off with a hum and a finger raised in your direction, his expression grim. He'd never looked at you that way. Anyone else, yes. But never, ever, you. Those eyes sent a blast of liquid nitrogen through your veins. You froze in your tracks. His eyes slid back to the fifteen others.

"Say, where was I again?" He mused, scratching the back of his head with the barrel of that very loaded gun. The boy grinned. "Ah, that's right - suicide. Quite poetic, don't you think? Only fitting for what you've done. Anyway, over the course of the next few minutes, I'm going to eat the rest of you - all but one." Someone screamed - a woman, probably married into this insanity, just going along with her lover's fear. Kol gasped mockingly and turned her with a cruel smirk, stalking closer.

"It'll be a slow, painful, and graphic death, I assure you." He spoke so softly, so soothingly. "You'll die screaming and begging. But-" He paused, drinking in their rapt, horrified attention. "-There is a way out..."

Please, please, please don't do this. Just walk away, you pleaded silently. He didn't stop.

"The bullet in this chamber is your only escape. If you want to die peacefully, painlessly, and instantly... then you're going to have to fight each other for it."

The vampire grinned pleasantly and, with a flick of his wrist, slid the weapon across the marbled floor where it skidded to a stop in the middle of the room.

Nobody moved.

Nobody breathed.

You were shaking. No, no, no... Anything but this.

"Go on then, you savage animals..." Kol entreated, spreading his hands. "Entertain me."

This was wrong. You couldn't just stand here!

"Kol, no!" You rasped. He whipped around, glaring at you with eyes like smoldering ice. This wasn't your friend. You didn't know what he was. "What are you doing?"

He ground his teeth. "Getting retribution, darling," He snarled, lips curling. It was the expression of a predator. "I think it's best you stay quiet and not get involved with this."

You ignored him. "Kol, you can't! This isn't right and you know it!"

"I can do whatever I wish," He snapped. "I've already stayed my hand far too long on your account. It's time the cattle be put back in their place."

His words were shards of glass permeating your heart and you could feel them with every beat.

You clenched your jaw and stood your ground. "So is that all I am to you?"

His expression softened just the slightest fraction - not enough for anyone else to notice, but you knew him. He didn't break your gaze as he drew a deep breath and his mouth pressed into a thin line. "Just... stay still," He ordered. "Please don't test my patience."

"What?" Who the hell did he think he was talking to? "Kol, snap out of this! It's me!"

His hands curled into fists, knuckles white. "You need to stop talking."

"Or what?" You challenged, blinking back the sting of your tears. "You'll hurt me?"

"I don't want to," He said, narrowing his eyes. "But I'm one step short of ravenous at the moment, not to mention royally irritated, and highly likely to do something I'll regret. This is a warning - don't push it."

That wasn't a warning. That was a threat.

You shook your head, lips pressed into a thin line. "I trusted you," You hissed. "I gave up everything for you. How dare you talk to me like that?"

Kol sighed.

Then he was standing directly in front of you. Faster than lightning, his hand shot out and wrapped around the base of your throat. His other hand grasped your hip and then the cool stone wall of the cellar was pressed against your back. You gasped and coughed, reaching up to claw his hand off your airway. He was choking you! You were choking! You were-

Wait...

No, you weren't choking. Kol wasn't hurting you, he was holding your neck. There was no pressure being applied.

You looked up, into his eyes. They weren't cold at all. They were flooded with too many emotions to name, roiling and frothing like a forest of reeds in a windstorm. Blackness ebbed and flowed in them, clashing like well-matched opponents. You recognized them both - the sweet boy you knew, and the monster inside him grappled in front of you, fighting for control. He was fighting. Kol was trying.

You reached up to touch his cheek. "Kol, please?"

For a split second, you caught sight of him. Your Kol - the boy you'd given everything to, the boy you lo-, the one who cared about you - for a moment, he surfaced. He fought off the beast inside him and his eyes, free of bloodlust, met yours with a pleading. Kol's hands shifted. Taking a gentle grasp of your wrists, he pinned them up against the wall behind you. Then he surged forward and captured your mouth with his. Pressing his whole body against yours, he licked at the seam of your lips in a kiss so soft and ardent it could only mean "I'm sorry."

He hesitated to pull away. "Please," He whispered against your lips. "Please don't hate me for this?"

If there was ever a time to admit what you'd been ignoring for months - this was it. If there was ever a time to spit the words that flickered like flames in your chest every time he kissed you - it was now. If there was ever a time to say I love you-

You opened your mouth.

Kol ripped the gag off your neck and, with eyes full of misery, forced it between your lips again, tying it up tight behind your head. Your eyes flew wide and you screamed against the fabric, but he just stepped back. Blackness filled Kol's eyes once more and he turned away from you.

The gun remained on the cold marble floor - pristine and untouched. He gestured toward it, humming.

"No takers then, I see? Funny, I even gave you a head start." He shrugged. "Well, no matter. More for me, I suppose!"

The name of Carter Hamilton's wife, you remembered, was Eliza.

Kol went for her first.

He grabbed her by the hair, twisting, and tore his dagger-like teeth into her slim throat. You shrieked and sobbed against the gag but the monster wouldn't stop. He didn't just bite her - he ripped her flesh apart and he did it right in front of her husband. Eliza's corpse landed in a very lifeless heap when he finally wrenched his teeth from her mutilated neck. You could see her spine amidst the carnage and it was just like those pictures you'd never wanted to see again.

No one in the room moved.

"Little sour that one," He observed, looking Carter in the eyes as he licked his wife's blood from his fingers. "Your turn."

When Kol sank his teeth into his next victim, you screamed again. Tears streamed down your face as, in a state of chilled, suspended horror, you witnessed the other Council members play Kol's game. All twelve of them made a break for the gun on the floor, fighting over it like the savage animals he'd claimed they were. They scrabbled and kicked, scraping at eyes and twisting back limbs as they brutalized one another, seeking a chance to kill themselves.

You couldn't watch.

Curling yourself up against the wall, you squeezed your eyes shut, wishing the stone would just swallow you whole. You could cover your ears but you couldn't block out the screams as Kol feasted.

There was no use in screaming, but you just wanted this butchery to stop. You just wanted the monster under Kol's skin to release the boy you'd fallen for. You just wanted him to come back to you. The boy who'd kissed you so softly mere moments before wasn't - couldn't - be this appalling monster, bathed in red.

But he was.

Your parents hadn't been right about him, but they hadn't been wrong either. He liked the killing and he liked the death and that wasn't going to change just because you let him kiss you. It wasn't his fault. This had been made of him and Kol couldn't change his nature. Yet no matter how hard you wished it, he would never need you more than he needed the slaughter. He wasn't going to change just because you asked.

But you were scared and hungry, and cold, and terrified, so that was all you could really do. Ask. So for each lifeless shell that hit the ground, a slurry of jumbled pleas spewed from your lips.

Thirteen

"Kol, please stop? I wanna go home now," You muttered to yourself, scraping at the stone wall as if you might crawl inside.

Twelve

"I don't wanna be here. I don't wanna see any of this. Kol, please stop? Just stop an-and we can leave? We can run away - we can go anywhere you want. Kol, please?"

Eleven

"Please. Please, just stop? You don't have to. I know you can't help it. If you're hungry, I -I trust you. Please, just let them go?"

Ten

A Gunshot - Nine.

Eight

"Kol, I'm scared. You're scaring me. Please stop, you're scaring me."

Seven

"Kol, you're breaking your promise. You promised me - you said I didn't have to be afraid of you. Please, stop breaking your promise?"

Six

"I love you, Kol. Please stop?"

And, like the flip of a switch, the killing ceased.

You couldn't move - couldn't stop babbling. It was as if every muscle in your body was frozen except for your tongue.

"I love you, Kol Mikaelson," You wept quietly against the gag in your mouth. The words would have been muffled beyond recognition to anyone else, but not to him. "IloveyouIloveyouIloveyou. Please, stop so I can tell you for real?"

The basement was silent for a moment. Then that boy's voice pierced through the low light.

"You love me?" The question was so soft you were sure you'd imagined it.

Your throat felt like sandpaper and you couldn't stop shaking, but perhaps you could pretend like the monster wasn't here, so you nodded anyway, too tired to keep talking through the fabric in your mouth. Footsteps approached slowly and someone knelt down in front of you. It was probably the monster wearing his skin, but you could pretend it wasn't. He reached around your head and untied the knot, lifting the course material away from your face. You gasped, desperate for a real lungful of air as your whole body shook from fear and exhaustion.

"Say that again," He said. It wasn't an order but it wasn't exactly a request either. Your throat felt like sandpaper and you couldn't stop shaking, but you spoke through it.

"I love you Kol Mikaelson."

Kol's breath hitched, though he tried not to let it show. He brushed the back of his fingers along your forearm. His hand was too warm - something like ninety-eight degrees - but at least it wasn't slick with blood. At least he'd tried to wipe it off, which you appreciated even though you flinched away.

He sighed heavily. It sounded broken.

"You really shouldn't," He said eventually.

"I know," You whispered. You shook your head and shrugged haplessly. "I know, but I can't help it."

"Darling..." His voice entreated, warm and soft like honey and silk. "Y/N, can you look at me?"

Regaining your breath, or at least some of it, you shook your head, pushing yourself impossibly closer to the wall. "I miss you."

"I'm right here," He said soothingly. You were grateful he didn't try to touch you again. "Darling, I'm right here."

"You're here, but you're not mine," You replied. "You hate them too much."

He didn't deny it. No, he didn't deny it because he promised he'd never lie to you. His breaths were deep but he couldn't hold onto them for long. Perhaps, his chest - like yours - hurt too much when he tried. "I can't fix this, can I?" He spoke softly though there was still something bitter in it. It was enough to make you flinch again when he rested his hand on your knee, but this time he didn't draw away. You relaxed as much as you could.

"No." You answered. He cursed quietly and traced invisible patterns onto your jeans and his voice sounded like what tornados leave behind - like devastation.

"Have I broken you?"

There. There was the sweet boy you'd fallen in love with. No trace of the monster now. You looked up, studying his face. He should have looked more like a monster. After all, Kol was drenched in crimson - his mouth most especially. Yet, oddly enough, the sight didn't twist your stomach. You supposed you couldn't feel any more ill than you did already, but that wasn't really it.

He hesitated to lift his head - hesitated to meet your gaze, but when he did, you saw longing and sorrow. That boy's eyes simply weren't those of a monster.

A smile, thin as a crumpled note, found its way to your lips. "Yes," You told him. "You've broken me."

But, damn it all - you didn't want it to end like this.

As awful as it was, as twisted as it deemed your soul - you still loved him. It wasn't something you could just turn off. You loved the boy who laughed at your jokes and braided your hair when you asked. You loved the boy who took you to mountain tops for coffee and twirled you around the living room for absolutely no reason at all. You adored the boy who watched classic movies with you, even though he always ended up watching your face instead of the screen. You cherished the boy who bought you ice cream when you were sad and took you on late-night walks when you couldn't sleep - who told you stories when you didn't want to. You loved the boy who kissed and held you so gently every night because he cared enough to do so.

Now, here that boy knelt in front of you, having massacred people you'd known all your life, yet still, you could not hate him. It wasn't his fault he'd been made into this. So, perhaps it made you downright evil, but you could love a bloodthirsty monster if it meant keeping the rest of him.

After all, this just wasn't his fault.

And you realized then, that it wasn't yours either. It couldn't be, because you hadn't done anything wrong. Refusing to hate or hunt the supernatural wasn't wrong. Choosing the life you wanted wasn't wrong. Agreeing to go on a date with Kol - falling in love with him despite it all - none of that was wrong!

Yet, every single human in that damp, frigid seller had chosen to be there. You had done nothing wrong, and yet they still chose to hurt you. They had no excuse - no curse inflicting a hunger they couldn't control. They were just bad, hateful people who had no real reason to be that way.

That made each one of them more vile a monster than Kol could ever be.

Kol bowed his head, hiding his face from you but his shoulders shook. You didn't want it to end this way.

You placed your hand over the one he'd rested on your knee and guided him to move it higher, onto your thigh. Kol froze and lifted his head, eyeing you with curiosity far too weary to be labeled as hope.

"You've broken me," You repeated. Your chest didn't hurt when you drew in another breath. You felt certain of this somehow. "But I still love you... and I think that maybe sometimes we need to break things to make sure we fixed all the cracks."

Kol's eyes were rimmed with red, but not the frightening kind. He looked away, blinking rapidly as he distracted himself by trying to wipe the blood from his lips. His sleeve turned red. You'd have to make sure he bought a new one.

Finally, he met your eyes again. "I didn't mean for this to happen," He apologized. The regret in his tone was as thick as blood. "I wasn't thinking. I just- I needed to hurt them and I never meant for you to be there when I did. I should be able to control this by now. I-I thought I could, but I don't care about anyone as much as I care about you and I just wasn't expecting to hate them so much once I saw what they did." He shook his head, blinking rapidly. "But I never meant to hurt you, and I don't want you to be afraid of me. It was supposed to be everyone else, you see? Everyone but you."

You nodded. "I think I can forgive you."

He smiled but it really wasn't happy. "It would be better if you didn't," He said. "I'm not good for you, darling," His voice was surprisingly even.

"I know."

"I'm not human. I'm not good for anyone. I'm nothing you deserve. "

You shook your head. "I don't care." You realized it as you said it and it was an awful thing to say, but that couldn't make it any less true. "I don't care about the things you're not because I've already got my hands full with all that you are."

"I am a bit of a handful, aren't I?" He chuckled, scratching the back of his neck.

"Yeah." You shrugged. "But you're my handful."

"Your handful." His chocolate eyes twinkled with something very, very happy. You'd never seen it so clearly in him. Hope. He moved in closer and leaned in to rest his forehead against yours, lightly brushing noses in that familiar Inuit Kiss. "Would you be frightened if I said I love you?"

"Do you?"

He smirked. "How about I take you home and show you?" Kol purred. His eyes flicked down to where his hand rested on your leg and then back up. He hesitated for a moment before tentatively squeezing your thigh. Your eyes fluttered shut. Perhaps you should have been more worried after everything you'd just seen him do, but you weren't. You couldn't help but love the way he touched you. For hands that maimed and tortured were gentle just for you.

In spite of everything you'd been through - the exhaustion, the starvation, and the sheer freaking horror show you'd just witnessed - you couldn't help but laugh. "Kol, sweetheart... I really don't think now's the time!"

"Oh, please! I'm kidding!"

Tagging: @yn-ymn-yln @r13mar @rootbeerfaygo @iiskittles16ii @fandomrulesall-blog @dark-night-sky-99 @railingsofsorrow @apolloroid @thatweirdoleigh @misswe03 @eat-cake @felinegrate @trikigirl271 @cute-freak27 @fayeatheart @archangelslollipop @slaypussypop-21 @aonungs-tsahik @sleepneverheardofher @princess-charming-01

[huge-enthusiast]

Miraculous fic recomendations!!

This is just an excuse to show all my bookmarks? Yes. Yes, it is. I'm pretty sure most of this fics are really popular, but try see if you find something you didn't knew about!

All of the fics will be rated Teen and up audiences or lower. Also if I don't put the author's tumblr is because they didn't put it in the fic or/and I couldn't find it.

Pairing: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug

knowing you by emsylcatac (they are not really the author of the fic but that's the account that says in the fic, the actual author doesn't have an account).

After dropping their transformations months ago, Marinette and Adrien see each other for the first time after being apart. They've both left too much unsaid and have to work to pick up the pieces of their confused hearts.

Chapters: 1/1

Post-reveal but mostly ladynoir, light angst with happy ending.

the last day on earth by Reiaji

The first time Marinette sees Chat Blanc, she's fourteen years old. The second time, fifteen—the third time, seventeen.

The closer she grows to Adrien, the harder it is to save him.

Chapters: 1/1

Post-reveal lovesquare, kinda heavy angst, hopeful ending.

tell me something i don't know by carpisuns (@carpisuns here on tumblr)

Do you think it still means something? To love someone, even if the universe said you had to?

The odds of having a soulmate are about negative one billion (or something like that). But somehow, like they always have, Marinette and Chat Noir find themselves together. They’re ready to finally tell each other everything, but it turns out that even soulmates have to keep secrets, and while their bond draws them together, duty forces them apart.

Chapters: currently 17/28 (WIPs can be exhausting but this one is 100% worth the wait!)

Mostly marichat but almost all of the lovesquare sides make an appearance, soulmates au, mostly fluff but it can get angsty if it wants to.

One Thing After Another by SKayLanphear

Marinette notices that, sometimes, Adrien acts a little out of the ordinary--like the time he stood in a cardboard box for no reason, or when he actually hissed at Nino. It's only when she starts to notice the similarities between Adrien and a certain feline that she begins to get suspicious.

Basically, Adrien acts like a cat when he probably shouldn't.

Chapters: 15/15

Mostly adrienette with one sided reveal by Marinette's side, miraculous side effects (by both sides wich is really cool!), it's fluff with a lil tiny angst for drama.

This would take some getting used to by Codango (@codango here on tumblr!)

Adrien peeked out from behind the chimney even as the magic of his own Chat Noir mask fell away.

She was still visible, her dark hair bobbing under the street lamps a couple blocks away.

“Marinette.”

Adrien blew out a confused breath. His fiery Ladybug… was the quiet little mouse who sat behind him in class?

“What. The.”

This… would take some getting used to.

Chapters: 8/8

Adrienette with one sided reveal by Adrien's part, awkward flirting, just fluff, nothing to worry about.

comfort food also by Reiaji!

In Marinette's house, cooking is a language of love, and Marinette loves Adrien more than most.

Chapters: 1/1

Adrienette with a little of ladynoir, super super fluff, a lot of insight into Marinette's chinese heritage.

The right side of his face by walkingonthestars (@hamsternamedmarinette here on tumblr!)

Marinette and Adrien are able to remain in their new seats in the back of the room at the end of Chameleon.

Chapters: 1/1

Adrienette, fluff with light angst.

it's a long way forward so trust in me by aloneintherain (@captainkirkk here on tumblr!)

“You’re not the only strong one around here, Chat,” Marinette said. She looked a little winded, but she wasn’t struggling to hold him up.

This close up, he could see the freckles on the bridge of her nose. He could see how that smug smile lit up her eyes. He could feel the strain of her arms—and wow, okay, he really wasn’t the only person around here with muscles.

Six times Marinette carried Adrien (plus one time he carried her).

Chapters: 1/1

All the sides of the lovesquare! Fluff with LOTS of mutual pining.

a fight that you were born to lose also by aloneintherain

When the prosecution starts throwing around the word victim in reference to Adrien, he has to stuff his hands under his thighs to keep himself from bolting out of the courtroom.

Adrien had felt unsafe during those last few weeks, but, until he had woken up and seen Father silhouetted in his bedroom doorway, that had only been paranoia. Father was controlling and cold, but he wasn’t hateful. Adrien was isolated. He was often hungry. And some weeks ago, when he had snuck out to visit Nino, sitting thigh-to-thigh on his bed while Adrien cried in that silent, crumbling way of his, he hadn’t argued when Nino put a hand on his shoulder and said, tentatively, That’s abuse.

But Adrien remembers being small and Father touching his hair after he’d aced another test; Father holding his scribbled drawings like they were something precious, and framing them around his office; Father, dressed as Hawkmoth, his eyes wild behind the mask, lashing his sword against Adrien’s baton; Father, collapsed against Mum, crying into her ashy hair.

Adrien finds out Gabriel is Hawkmoth, and Gabriel gets to bring his long-waited plan into action.

Chapters: 1/1

This one doesn't really focus in the ship that much as is an Adrien character study and an exploration of his relationship with his father, but they're still there so I put them here. Really heavy angst (this is one of this fics that haunt me in the middle of the night) with a happy ending. ❗TW: parental abuse, eating disorders❗

Supercut by LNC

Marinette loves her friends and Adrien can't deal.

Chapters: 1/1

Post-reveal lovesquare, again light angst, an exploration of Adrien's insecurities, Marinette Dupain-Cheng deserves the world, happy ending.

Madame Snare by jettiebettie

“Sounds like a lot of work for nothing. She should take this as a sign to have a relaxing weekend with no responsibilities.”

“It's a lot of work she put her whole heart into. It wouldn't be right for it to go to waste,” Adrien whispers to him. The look on Marinette's face is enough to cause Adrien's own heart to ache. If anyone deserves the satisfaction and pride from a job well done, it's her.

“Too bad there isn't anyone else who can walk in those death traps,” Plagg says. Adrien hums in thought, tapping his chin.

“I could.”

Chapters: 1/1

Marichat, episode-based, Chat Noir in a dress!!!, light angst but it's mostly just idiots being idiots and a lot of fun.

in the same sun by peachcitt (@peachcitt here on tumblr!)

"It’s hard to believe that I saw you last at the peak of summer, when the sun was close and warm - and so were you. It should go without saying that I miss you. I miss you something terrible."

//

"It’s been seven months to the day since I’ve seen you. I wish you were here more than anything else."

Two letters, signed with initials instead of names, found in Paris, France.

Chapters: 1/1

Ladynoir, just angst, that's it, written like letters. No ending, just pain.

an uncurtain discovery by Missnoodles (@ladyofthenoodle here on tumblr!)

When he returns from school on Wednesday afternoon, Adrien discovers the darkness in his own home. He struggles to come to terms with it. To his utter mortification and delight, Ladybug is nearby to rescue him.

(He does not discover that his father is supervillain. That will happen on a different Wednesday.)

Chapters: 1/1

Ladrien, it says it's crack, and don't get me wrong, is super funny, but I also found it sad as fuck?

An Open Secret by Kasienda

Adrien whirled around toward Marinette. She smiled at him.

He couldn’t smile back. He stared at her like the dumb blond model that he was often accused of being.

Something shifted in her expression. And her warm open Marinette smile transformed into Ladybug’s grin. He was looking at Ladybug right now.

He knew Ladybug’s name!

Her name was Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

And he couldn’t say anything! Not to Marinette! Not even to Plagg, who had confided two weeks prior that Master Fu was growing increasingly paranoid since the location of his home and hideout had been compromised. Their master had apparently decided that Chat Noir and Ladybug would have to give up their miraculouses if they ever discovered each other’s identities.

It wasn’t fair!

...

A fic where they both know, but can't openly talk about it.

Chapters: 4/4

Post-reveal... but is it? Mostly adrienette and ladynoir, fluff with light angst and them being absolute idiots at hiding their secret identity.

golden (like daylight) by okayanna (@anna-scribbles here on tumblr!)

Friendship, Adrien decided, shaking off the mental image of Marinette’s hurricane eyes and hesitant mouth, parted in a small, careful “o.” He had a very strong friendship with Marinette. That was all.

or

Adrien thinks a lot about words, love, and Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

Chapters: 1 + epilogue

Adrienette but has lots of ladynoir, another Adrien character study because I hate myself, it tries to not be angst but the writing will punch you in the guts and make you cry, it's so good.

Strangers in the Bright Lights by poodles (@ladybeug here on tumblr!)

Adrien is about two drinks in when he sees a girl at the end of the bar wearing black cat ears. It's kind of weird, so he watches her, and although it's crowded he can see her face when she turns around. She’s wearing a Chat Noir mask. He takes a quick look around- nobody else is wearing a mask. Just her.

Adrien finishes his gin martini and heads over to her. He could use some company tonight anyways, he hasn’t told anyone he’s back in Paris and Nathalie won’t arrive in town for another month. And it’s been a rough day, okay? A rough move! He’s not sure he wants to be back yet, and he spent most of the day in the Agreste mansion sorting through some photographs of his father he found in the study. Maybe he wants a drink and some stranger to tell him he’s pretty! That’s not a crime, is it?

Chapters: 1/1

Adrienette but it's also ladrien??? I think??? It's super super angsty but they're both drunk the entirety of the fic so it's also really funny.

Pick-Up and Chase by also SKayLanphear

After she accidentally trips into Adrien and apologizes about "falling for him," Marinette learns that he's no match for cheesy pick-up lines--whether they were unintended or not. And while she finds it flattering that he turns into a flustered mess with only a few words, Marinette comes to regret making him uncomfortable. That is, until she learns he's Chat Noir. At which point the phrase "just deserts" becomes a permanent fixture in her everyday plans.

A story in which Adrien is flustered, Marinette is smooth as glass at dropping lines, and Chat Noir gets the romance he was always asking for--even if he doesn't quite know how to handle it.

Chapters: 10/10

Adrienette with one sided reveal by Marinette's side, it doesn't say it in the tags but I'm pretty sure the characters are much older than they actually are in the show, so much fluff and so much flirting.

Pairing: Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe

Nino Has Done Nothing To Deserve This by GuardianKarenTerrier (@guardiankarenterrier here in tumblr)

It's nothing, really- just an innocent comment, a joke. But when they hear it, Nino and Alya come to a realisation.

There were, in retrospect, dozens upon dozens of hints. Now that they're suddenly aware of all their friend's flimsy excuses and rushed explanations, they're not only sure how they've missed it, they're not sure how anyone else has either. They realise that it had to be magic protecting their friends- and that same magic has ceased to work on the two of them.

Well, this means they'll just have to start watching over their friends themselves.

Chapters: 7/7

This is more a found family fic than anything else, Alya and Nino are the mom friend, has light angst but it's mostly identity shenanigans in the most bizarre way. ❗TW: eating disorders❗

christmas lights by demistories

Nino checks up and down the street, checking to make sure there’s no raging akuma headed his way before he crosses quickly and ducks inside the small café. He closes the door quickly before the icy air can blow inside and tugs his beanie down over his ears. He spots Alya sitting alone in the corner.

Chapters: 1/1

Just fluff!! Really short but really sweet.

hold on, i still want you also by Missnoodles!

Written for the @thedjwifizine ! Wich I also recommend if you wanna binge a lot of djwifi fics while also looking at amazing art!!!

Five times Alya ran into her ex, and the one time he stopped being her ex.

Chapters: 1/1

Light angst with a happy ending! I don't really like the ex-lovers to lovers trope but this one is the only exception.

I will continue to expand the list in the future! But by now I hope I was helpful in the search of new fics!

[ericspinkhair]

quarantine longings

pairing: best friend!kevin x fem!reader

word count: 3.2k

synopsis: you and your best friend have sex because quarantine made you horny

warnings: best friends to lovers, takes place during the pandemic, spoiler of 356 days (but not the end, just generally the plot), no use of condoms but only the pill, creampie, sexual fantasies, fingering, hand-job, sex, slight angst at the end if you squint

a/n: I would literally die for kevin, I love him so much. I'll be writing a multiple parts series about him after I'm done writing scenarios for every member first.

requests are open!

masterlist + requests

you slammed your foot hard against the wall and cursed in pain. you hopped on one foot to your bed, holding your other leg in agony and tasted blood as you bit your lip to keep the volume of your suffering groans in check. someone knocked on the door.

'are you okay?' your roommate asked concerned.

'no, leave me alone, kevin,' you croaked out. you wanted to suffer by yourself.

there was an awkward silence and then you heard him sigh. soon after, the door next to your room closed shut.

why were you so frustrated, one might ask? well, the pandemic was kicking your butt and you just couldn't take it anymore. when the news of the virus had first spread, no one thought it would become this serious. but suddenly everyone was walking around with masks and spent most of their time staying at home.

after graduating high school, you and kevin had decided to move in together for college because both of you were broke and couldn't afford to live alone. you had been best friends since middle school and had been convinced that it was a smart idea at the time.

and everything went smoothly for the first one and a half years. however, after not seeing anyone else since the start of the pandemic over a year ago, it became increasingly difficult to share an apartment, but not in the way one might assume. you were neither sick of each other nor did you fight a lot. to tell the truth, it was quite the opposite.

earlier, before you had kicked the wall in anger, the two of you had painted together. kevin was majoring in art and, since you didn't have anything better to do, you joined him while he did projects for his classes. you might have been majoring in journalism but you had always liked drawing and painting, even though you weren't particularly skilled. you were a naturally clumsy person, always tripping over air and dropping things. today you were hecticly moving around your hands while telling him about a stupid video you had seen and you accidently let go of the brush in your hand. it hit the side of kevin's face, leaving a wide splodge of red paint on his right cheek.

to get back at you, he jerked his paint brush and splattered some green color on your white shirt. you saw this as a challenge and soon both of you were both drenched in the colors of the rainbow, laughing hysterically on the floor, not caring that you were spreading the paint on the poor carpet.

you turned your heads to look at each other and you felt absolutely in peace. you loved this man and couldn't be more glad that it was him and not anyone else you were stuck with inside of this apartment.

he stood up to take off his stained shirt and your smile quickly faded off your face. your lips slightly parted and you couldn't help but stare at his now exposed biceps and abs.

your mouth watered and you felt heat pooling between your legs as you took your time to study his architecture. thoughts about how badly you wanted him to thrust into you while his strong arms held you up invaded your mind. you tried to shake them off but it was impossible.

occasions like this were slowly becoming a common occurrence for you.

having mostly stayed inside for over a year, also meant that you didn't have sex for that long. it's not like you were the horniest person on the planet but you still had needs that were being neglected. with kevin being home all the time you didn't even dare to masturbate, scared that he would be able to hear you through the frustratingly thin walls. you must have gone insane with all the lust building up inside you and that's why you suddenly craved to have sex with your best friend. this whole thing was destroying everything. it was hard to act normal when he was making you this nervous and heated but you tried to pretend that everything was fine anyway for the sake of your friendship.

that was the reason why you were angry and had hurt yourself. you hated the way you felt about your best friend and you hated the pandemic for not giving you an outlet to escape so you could recollect yourself.

what you weren't aware of was that kevin was no stranger to the exact same frustration.

he would need more than his ten fingers and ten toes to be able to count the amount of times he had to run to the bathroom to hide his boner because he had done so much as look at you bend over or stretch. he didn't want to make you uncomfortable but it was a challenge to try and calm down his hormones.

whenever he jacked off, images of you flashed through his mind; your sweet curves and pink lips drove him insane.

last week, you two were cooking together and you had asked him to get the salt. he stood behind you to reach for it on the highest shelf. he was forced to press his crotch against your butt cheeks and his dick hardened against his will. he quickly handed you the salt, excused himself and ran off before you could figure out what had happened.

he might not have known the cause of your sudden outburst but he sympathized with your fury because he had a lot of pent up anger towards covid as well.

he lay in his bed and tried to focus on the book he was reading but he couldn't tune out the groans coming from the room next to his. he cursed.

'stop it!' he was panicking as he saw a familiar tent forming in his pants. your sounds triggered some weird perverted part of his brain that sent signals right to his genitals. his dick was hardening and he saw no other solution to his problem than to give in to his subconscious desires.

he pulled down his pants just far enough so that his cock had enough room to spring out. it only needed a few strokes before it stood tall and angry. kevin pressed his head into his pillow and moved his hand fast. he wanted to get over with it quickly. he emptied his cum on his stomach while imagining your greedy little mouth being stuffed by his cock. he lay there panting as yet another round of shame flushed over him.

'get yourself together,' he whispered, mentally slapping himself.

***

'do you want to order japanese or italian?' you asked kevin. today was friday which meant it was time for your weekly tradition of ordering take out and watching a movie.

'definitely italian. we've already had japanese for the past four days. I need something else for a change,' kevin complained and shuddered at the thought of having to eat sushi again. the japanese restaurant prepared absolutely delicious food but he just couldn't stand it anymore.

you laughed at his pained facial expression. 'fine, italian it is.'

within twenty minutes the doorbell rang and after about half a minute kevin came back with two huge boxes.

he opened them on the small table situated in front of your couch and the smell of freshly cooked pasta seasoned with basil made your stomach growl.

kevin wanted to dig in already but you stopped him. you had to choose a movie first.

'let's watch tall girl. I saw everyone hate on it on tiktok,' you suggested.

'I think we should watch 365 days, that was all over my for you page as well,' kevin argued. you hadn't heard of it so you weren't sure whether it would be the right movie for you. the rule was that it had to be as bad as possible.

'according to what I have heard, it's apparently even worse than 50 shades of grey,' kevin added which piqued your interest. the both of you had watched 50 shades about two months ago and you were honestly shocked by how awful it actually was. you couldn't understand why everyone had been so obsessed with it when it was first released. if 356 days was really worse, then you'd hit the jackpot. you clapped your hands.

'fine, you win. I swear if the movie isn't as horrible as you say it is then you owe me something!' he intertwined his pinky with yours to promise.

watching horrible movies was way better than watching good ones. making fun of bad storylines, stupid characters or horrible editing was one of your favorite past times.

'I guess I'll have to add are you lost, baby girl to the top 10 worst lines ever spoken. who thought ah yes this is sexy, let's have him repeat it over and over again', you complained, shoving some pasta into your mouth.

'so he's like I won't do anything without your permission while he is literally groping her boobs against her will, like make it make sense, massimo', added kevin, ruffling his hair in frustration. he almost completely forgot about the food.

'so let me get this straight: he drugged her, kidnapped her, tied her up, hung up a painting of her just because he saw her face when his dad was shot?'

'totally relatable.' both of you giggled.

you were enjoying complaining about the plot. it was horrible.

there were plenty of erotic scenes but they were honestly so funny and kinda gross that you could bare it without really being affected by them. kevin, on the other hand, had placed a pillow over his hard-on to hide the embarrassing fact that these terrible, smutty scenes had turned him on.

and then the infamous boat scene came.

massimo and laura had a huge fight, she fell of the boat, he saved her and now she was suddenly so in love with him that she begs him to fuck her. which he does.

you felt your panties become increasingly wet as the couple had steaming hot sex.

'this is embarrassing but I'm so horny,' you admitted but in a way that should have suggested that you meant it as a joke. something about this statement stirred something in kevin.

'well, what can I say?' he replied and lifted the pillow. your pupils widened at the sight of your best friend's bulge.

his eyes darkened and he looked at you with lust clearly written on his face. you reciprocated his stare with the same intensity. you tried to focus on his dark brown orbs instead of his boner but the image you had just seen was present in your mind.

his gaze shifted to your lips and, before you knew it, kevin climbed above you and pressed your back flat onto the couch.

your lips locked and you immediately buried your hands in his hair to pull him closer. you moved in sync, his lips fitting perfectly onto yours. you bucked your hips up against his crotch and earned a moan from kevin. he opened his eyes in shock as realization hit him. he quickly pulled away and jumped off the coach.

'I'm so sorry, y/n. I shouldn't have just done that. I don't know what came over me,' he apologized profusely, staring at his feet. did he really think that you didn't want this?

'give me your hand,' you told him and held out your hand.

'why?' he raised his eyebrows in confusion. you rolled your eyes.

'just do it.'

you took his hand and led it to your crotch.

'what are you- oh my god.' your juices had completely soaked through your panties and your sweatpants. 'you are so wet.'

'for you,' you added. 'there's no need to apologize. I'm literally begging you to continue.'

you didn't have to say that twice before he pulled you closer to him by your hips and engaged you in another desperate kiss. his hands were groping your butt while you let yours slide under his hoodie. you felt his naked skin and toned abs, as you rubbed his stomach. you lowered your hands and bravely palmed his boner through his clothes.

'y/n,' he hissed out against your lips. you hooked your thumbs in the elastic of his pants and underwear, and pushed the material down to his thighs. he struggled to get them off.

you stroked his hard dick as he slipped his hand into your panties to massage your pussy at the same time.

he slipped one finger inside and began working it in and out. you finally were getting the relief you had been desperately craving for for so long. kevin was skilled and your walls were trying to swallow his slim finger. you were quickly coming close to your orgasm after having abstained for more than a year. you pulled his hand out.

'I bet you can make me come even better with your dick,' you challenged kevin.

'you bet I will.' he was confident.

'let me just look for a condom.' he was already turning away to go search in his room but you held him back by the arm.

'forget about it. I'm on the pill and I want you raw. I want you to come inside me and not spill into a stupid condom.'

the idea of this sounded very tempting to kevin. he picked you up and threw you back onto the couch, drawing your hips closer to him so he could pull off all the pieces of clothing that were hindering him from accessing your pussy.

he propped up his arms next to your sides and spread your thighs apart. strings of arousal were hanging from your folds and he saw your hole desperately clench around nothing. his dick hurt from how much he wanted to finally be inside of you. he wanted to find out how close he had been able to imagine how you would feel around him.

your hole took him in easily, welcoming him happily by embracing it tightly. kevin swore he could've cum right here and there.

he went slow at first to give you a chance to adjust but you were already fully ready, rocking your hips forward to meet his thrusts.

he crashed your mouths together and you kissed him like he was oxygen and you were short of air. you smiled and your eyes rolled back, satisfied with how things had played out today and the prospects of coming looked fairly promising.

desperate for release, kevin picked up the pace, his eyes closed while fucking into you like a horny animal. he couldn't help himself and all the 'faster's and 'harder's spilling from your mouth only encouraged him to drive himself deeper into you.

you wrapped your legs around his torso in an attempt to regain the control you were losing.

'fuck fuck fuck,' you cursed, feeling your muscles starting to contract. kevin brushed away some hair that was stuck to your sweaty forehead.

'it's fine, I'm coming too,' he announced and it took only a few more thrusts before a body shaking orgasm flushed over you, making you see only white. this drove kevin over the edge too and he spilled inside you, filling you up with his hot cum. he continued to slowly ease his dick in and out of you, fucking his semen right back into you until you had ridden out both of your orgasms. he let himself fall onto the couch right next to you, panting hard.

'I very much needed this,' you sighed in content.

'same, I wasn't sure whether I could hold out any longer without having a proper orgasm.' he watched his cum drip out of you.

'we should've thought of this sooner,' you said. 'this was a great idea.'

kevin hummed in agreement.

***

so now you and kevin were having sex on a regular basis, your high score being five times in a day. it felt good to finally live out your sexuality and not having to restrict yourself. sure, you guys did it more than necessary but it was a great way to pass time and it felt fucking amazing.

today you had done it in the shower after waking up, then on the kitchen counter and you had just finished having sex in his bed.

he was spooning you from behind, his cock still placed inside of you. he nuzzled his nose into your neck.

'stop, that tickles,' you chuckled.

'sorry.'

after a while of comfortable silence you heard him let out a big sigh.

'what's wrong?' you asked as he pulled out of you. you turned around to be able to look at him.

'I don't think I can do it like this anymore,' he confessed.

'what do you mean?' you asked. 'are you talking about us having sex?'

he nodded. your heart dropped and you started feeling dizzy. you tried to search for answers in his eyes but he avoided looking at you.

'w-why?' you stuttered, trying to hold back the tears that were welling up in your eyes.

'it was amazing at first,' he started and finally raised his head to meet your gaze, 'and I went into it without much thought. I went crazy during quarantine and began fantasizing about having sex with you. then it became reality but now I understand that was probably wrong of me. I've always thought of myself as a gentleman, yet I slept with you without much thought. you see, my issue is this…'

suspense hung in the air and you were impatiently waiting for him to get to the point.

'I like you.'

you quietly gasped in surprise. you had been expecting him to say you were bad at sex and that he regretted everything but not this.

'I shouldn't be sleeping with you unless you were my girlfriend,' he finished off his ramble. you felt immensely relieved.

'do you want me to?' you asked him.

'want you to what?' kevin was confused. he had been a hundred percent sure you'd immediately jump out of the bed in disgust when he confessed.

'be your girlfriend. after all, I like you too, you moron.' you realized that you had known this for a while. you might have even been crushing on your best friend since way before the pandemic struck but it was kind of hard to track your feelings. still, you were sure you liked him too. now that he had admitted his feelings, you were able to admit yours not only to him but to yourself as well.

'wow, I didn't expect this,' kevin confessed surprised. you laughed.

'yeah, we should've realized this sooner.' he pulled you closer and kissed you. it was different than the other times. his lips moved softly against yours, in contrast to all of your rough and passionate kisses you had exchanged these past few weeks. he conveyed his emotions through the kiss.

'you're ready again?' you groaned as you felt kevin's dick harden against your upper thigh. he chuckled.

'sorry, you just turn me on so much.'

so then you did it for the fourth time. that day, you set a new record of having sex six times. you might have been happy now but still just as horny.

[piercethelenn]

💫The Occult Club.

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Chapter 23: Rose Quartz.

Warnings: Swearing, kind of a suggestive joke but not really(?) || Word count: 3k.

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Not a single day has passed since the Occult Club was formed in which Jungwon would arrive late to the cabin in the forest. It was a secret to no one just how committed the young leader was when it came to his responsibilities. He worked harder than anyone to make sure the labeled “work of his life”, which his friends found to be a pretty exaggerated denomination, became as successful as how he had imagined his divinator career to be. However, in his eyes, Jungwon was barely reaching the knees of the magician he wanted to turn into one day; His expectations were pretty high, and sometimes, those same bars he set for himself would turn against him, making him feel like he was not doing enough.

          Luckily for him, all of his friends were equipped with a pair of working eyes, and could immediately tell the majority of the times when their precious leader needed a confidence boost, always being there to cheer him up and remind him how deserving he was of all the club’s achievements. Jungwon had no words to express how grateful he was for his members… If it weren’t for them, the Occult Club would have never become a reality, and the cabin he was heading to right now would probably be an abandoned sanctuary of what once was his grandma’s designated place to offer her tarot reading services.

          一Hey kid一 A younger version of Sunghoon approached Jungwon and sat beside him at the empty table in the cafeteria, his newly placed braces made his voice sound funny, but comprehensible nonetheless 一Wanna battle with me?一 Jake was there too, shyly peeking from over his friend’s shoulder.

          The freshman tilted his head in confusion 一Excuse me, battle?一. Before entering high school, Jungwon had heard plenty of rumors about how students would get into fights for no apparent reason during lunch and recess; He thought that maintaining a low profile would save him the trouble, but it seems like he was wrong, how unfortunate.

          Sunghoon nodded and pointed at the card deck resting in front of the novice tarotist 一Yeah, aren’t those yu-gi-oh cards?一 He asked, as if the answer was obvious. The younger boy blinked a few times trying to contain his laugh, but his dimple betrayed him as usual, making the latter frown at him 一What’s so funny? You think you can beat me so easily?一 he challenged, taking a thick deck of cards out of his pocket and placing it on the table 一I have a pretty good team myself, don’t be so confident!一 he frowned at the stranger and started to shuffle his game cards.

          Jungwon nervously waved his hands 一It’s not what you think!一 He took a card out of his deck and showed it to the older boys 一Look, these are tarot cards! I have no idea how to play yu-gi-oh…一 Sunghoon’s frown deepened, analyzing the tiny drawing of a man hanging upside-down, then he questiongly looked at Jake, who just raised his shoulders in a clueless manner.

          一And how do you play tarot, then?一 The eldest of the boys inquired 一Is it like a new trend?一.

          Jungwon’s cheeks, who were already of a natural rose color, blushed into an impossibly redder shade 一That’s…一. Before this, he had never talked about his interest in the divination field with anyone besides his grandma, mostly because the thought of being misunderstood or judged scared him. However, the unfamiliar sight of the two older boys taking a peek into the rest of the cards with so much interest gave him the confidence to tell them about his most treasured possession. 一Do you want me to show you?一.

          Present-day Jungwon smiled fondly at the memory. That same day, Sunghoon’s competitive self decided he wanted to “beat him at his own game” and so started investigating different divination methods, until he settled for geomancy. The tarotist thought his friend just wanted to satiate his thirst for battle, and since he could not beat Jungwon at yu-gi-oh, he took a different approach and tried to defeat him using other tactics. It was kind of ironic how the first card the geomancer was introduced to was The Hanged Man, whose lesson was to face problems under a new light.

          As he was immersed in his own thoughts, the tarotist did not even realize he was already standing at the front door outside the cabin. Time surely flies when you have so many things to meditate about, and with Jungwon’s packed schedule, the walk in the forest was the perfect time to do so. Thinking about all the things he had planned for the day and visualizing himself taking care of all his tasks was the perfect way for him to make sure he was not leaving any strands loose, and specifically today was one of those days where he could not afford to make any mistakes. 

          At least that’s what he thought, before entering the place just to find Y/N sitting at the table and gazing outside the window. 

          Everyone was well aware of the fact that Jungwon is a helpless overthinker. He was capable of foreseeing the outcome of almost every situation with a scary accuracy and was well prepared to face any kind of circumstance that required him to make a change of plans, but the sight of the medium sitting comfortably while enjoying her usual coffee order caused his brain to short-circuit. Somehow she was still unaware of his presence, so there was a chance for Jungwon to turn on his heels and leave until he made sure the rest of the members had arrived.

          He had planned to ask Y/N that evening to meet after the club activities ended, to show her what he had prepared overnight with so much effort, but the thought alone of putting his plan into action made his hands shake and cold sweat slide down his neck. How was he supposed to approach her, when no one else was around to offer him moral support of some sort?

          The tarotist was about to step back, moving as silently as he could, but of course the wind had to betray him and shut the door closed with the loudest noise it has ever made, startling both of them. Jungwon cursed under his breath as he could practically see the closed eye in the Skyrim interface open with the word “detected” written under it in all caps.

          一Oh, hi Jungwon一 Y/N said, the lack of the usual enthusiasm in her voice worried him, but he could totally understand the reason behind her indifferent behavior. 一I got here early today, as you can see一 She took a sip of her hot, bitter drink that somehow complemented her mood. The leader approached her to sit at the table and gaze outside the window like her. The sun was still up in the clear sky, and the variety of animals that inhabited the forest could be heard clearly, being the only sound that filled their ears as a rather awkward silence fell between them.

          It deeply hurt Jungwon to see his friend in this state, so much that he even thought it was not the best idea to say all the things that were making his throat ache, but at the same time he could easily visualize the argument his heart was having with his brain right at that moment. The mental image of both organs yelling stuff at each other was rather funny, “The moment is now!” “But what if we mess up and she gets even sadder?” “She clearly likes him! Of course it will lift up her mood” “Shut up, both of you! before I get rid of the pancakes his grandma made for breakfast” His stomach meddled into the heated conversation.

          Jungwon made a big effort to let the pancakes stay where they were supposed to be and cleared his voice to get the medium’s attention once again. 一Y/N, I know I’m being nosy, but I really hate to see you like this…一 He reached to grab her hand in a comforting manner 一Please tell me what’s wrong一.

          The girl was already used to his unexpectedly usual displays of physical affection, not that she wasn’t pleasantly surprised the first time it happened. Everyone had a specific image of Jungwon which included the words “serious”, “mature”, “reserved” and other adjectives of the sort, but the people close to him knew more than anyone that the young boy was actually clingy as Hell, therefore Sunghoon’s habit of comparing him to a cat. The tarotist had the enderading habit of playing with his friend’s hands, kissing his grandma’s cheek goodbye before leaving for school, and of course protesting every time he was incapable of getting his teammates undivided attention. At first, Y/N thought it was very out-of-character of him, but she didn’t mind, as she found his child-like antics to be rather adorable, and on top of that, she found comfort in being exposed to this side of him.

          一I can never hide anything from you, can I?一 Well, it was not as if she even tried to do so, her feelings were pretty evident for anyone with enough empathy to decipher her body language. 一You probably figured it out already, but yesterday was pretty wild for me, and Riki as well一 She played mindlessly with the ring that yet adorned her pointer finger, not taking into account of Jungwon’s tense shoulders at the sight. 一Of course I can’t talk on his behalf, but I feel so… weird? I don’t even know how to describe it一 She sighed and drank the last sip of her coffee 一After everything that happened, I don’t know why am I even wearing this ring. It feels like a horrocrux, you know?一 Oh, Jungwon knew exactly how that felt, the pendant hanging from his own neck was telling him so, but it never occurred to him to categorize it as such as he felt there was sort of a negative connotation to the word his friend used 一Everytime I look at it I get reminded of both the good and the bad memories I share with Heeseung… Beyond all the bad things he did, he was a good friend to me, you know? He always took good care of me like an older brother would一 The last comparison made Jungwon let out a breath that had been stuck in his lungs without him noticing, all that talk about the adept tarotist was making him regret bringing up the issue, but at least he now knew that Y/N felt about Heeseung in a seemingly platonic way. (Not that he was insecure about the possibility of the medium crushing on someone else… Well, maybe, but that’s none of your business!) 一And suddenly finding through Riki about all the bad things he did behind my back was difficult for me to digest一 She continued 一Even more having to pretend not to care so that he wouldn’t feel more guilty that he already felt一 It was Jungwon’s first time hearing about this, he thought the alchemist was even braver than what he considered him to be. 一And now? He shows up uninvited and apologizes as if it was very easy for me, for us, to forgive him一 She tried her best not to lose her cool, but her breath was getting heavier by the second and the tarotist noticed it too, holding her hand even tighter.

          一Y/N, look at me一 Jungwon pleaded with a gentle tone, his soft eyes making contact with her uneasy ones. 一You heard Heeseung, he said he’s not expecting an answer, and he’s leaving soon anyways一 She was well aware of every single word pronounced by the older boy, but still could not get ahold of the leader’s chain of thoughts 一I know it won’t be easy to come in terms with everything that happened, but since no one is pressuring you, you should take all the time you need to think about it一 Oh, that makes sense, actually 一And.. this might sound super random, but I got you something一. He got up to take his bag, almost tripping with the rug from how nervous he was 一Close your eyes for me? No peeking allowed!一.

          Y/N did as told without offering any sort of resistance, there was no need to since she trusted Jungwon more than anyone else, and also her growing curiosity for whatever he was about to do was stronger than any doubt she could have had. The medium sensed that the boy was now behind her back as she waited expectantly for something to happen, until the slight contact of his warm hands against her neck made her flinch in surprise. 一...Are you recreating that one scene from High School Musical or what?一  Y/N asked between giggles as she could finally take a grasp on the current situation, feeling the light weight of what seemed to be a pendant now resting between her collarbones.

          Jungwon rolled his eyes at the comparison, what was so great about that movie anyways? 一You know what? I used to be so jealous of Heeseung一 He started, going back to sitting beside her at the table, the girl frowned in confusion, with her eyes still closed 一Because everytime you look at the ring he gave you, you will automatically think of him… and then you will remember about everything that happened and get sad again一 Y/N opened her eyes and gasped in surprise at the sight of a pretty silver chain that now adorned her neck, a small crescent moon-shaped crystal that she recognized to be rose quartz was hanging from it, reflecting the sunlight. 一I know I can’t modify the past, or erase bad memories from your mind一 he raised a hand to avoid being interrupted 一But I’ll do anything to make of your present, and future, the happiest that they can possibly be一. He reached again to hold her hands in his, not being able to tell who was the one shaking, of if both of them were 一I want to have an effect on you just like that stupid ring does… I want you to look at the necklace every morning when you wake up, every night before you go to sleep, and remember just how much you mean to me一 Tears started to form at the corners of her eyes, he desperately hoped it was a good sign 一I want you to look at it every time you feel alone, sad, or lost, and remember that, just like the horrocruxes you mentioned before, a part of me is always with you…一 Jungwon felt like his heart was about to fracture his ribs and break free from his chest from how insanely fast it was beating 一Y/N, I like you一.

          The girl was at loss of words at the sudden confession, with one of her hands still holding tightly onto the crystal as the other searched for the warmth of his hold. She suddenly felt the urge to do something very stupid; name it heat of the moment, intrusive thoughts, or whatever you feel like calling it, but having Jungwon’s cute, flushed cheeks and nervious feline-like eyes in all their beauty for herself, and herself only, made Y/N feel like time had stopped, as if they were the only ones in the world. The feeling of her breath crashing with his was the only thing in her mind as she leaned closer; not even the distant chirping of the birds outside could be heard anymore.

          There was evident hesitation painted in his eyes, he had never imagined for things to escalate so quickly after he had just confessed his feelings for the girl in front of him, but at the same time he was more than willing to take anything she would give him, with a content heart. he would never admit it out loud, since he was way too embarrassed to do so, but Jungwon would have been a bit disappointed if he were to leave empty-handed, and by the looks of it, the medium in front of him felt the exact same.

          After what felt like an eternity for both of them, Y/N finally closed the distance to let Jungwon have a taste of her lips, shyly placing her hands on his broad shoulders as he gently held her waist, pulling her impossibly closer, as if he wished to merge their bodies into one. The kiss was short-lived, though, not because they wanted it to stop, but because a loud thud scared the living hell out of the magicians, making them hurriedly let go of each other.

          一What the fuck is going on?一 Sunghoon was the first one to break the silence. Jungwon took a mental note to put a bell on the door to notify him of visitors… Intruders in this case. Jake looked like he was even more embarrassed than them, as he picked up the watermelon he had dropped on the floor.

          一What is that for?一 He pointed at the fruit that was miraculously intact, trying to play it cool, even though his friends knew very well how he was silently praying for the Earth to swallow him whole.

          一Remember you told us yesterday to cheer Riki up?一 Oh, that 一We wanted to surprise him with his favorite一 Sunoo lifted a small glass container for the leader to see 一I even brought salt!一. He sounded so proud of himself for taking the youngest’s unusual eating habits into account.

          Speaking of which, Riki appeared out of nowhere behind the three boys who were still standing awkwardly by the door. He looked at Jungwon and Y/N, and then at the watermelon in Jake’s hands with a hint of disapproval in his gaze 一All of you have some explaining to do一.

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Taglist: @boowoowho @sxndmemes @cloudcutter @lilactangerine (send an ask to be added!)

[misterghostfrog]

[IMAGE ID; a digital drawing of Martin Blackwood carrying Jonathan Sims from The Magnus Archives. Martin is a fat freckled white man with curly ginger hair that is shaved close at the sides. He has a pair of round framed glasses in a bright red, under the glasses he is wearing eyeliner, and a navy eyeshadow. He has black lipstick, two black snakebite piercings under his lip, and a small black nostril piercing. His ear has a large black piercing that cuffs a chain to a small black piercing higher up his ear, and one final black piercing in the middle. He has a black choker, and then a looser chain necklace with an eye ornament on it. He has a studded lather jacket on that is covered in multiple patches and pins, mostly hidden by Jon: of the visible pins there is a trans flag patch on his chest, and on his shoulder is a large dark colored patch that has A-C-A-B on it in white. Under the Jacket is a black shirt that he has partly tucked into his pants, the shirt has a large anarchy symbol drawn on it in red. Under that he is wearing jeans that are significantly ripped as far as we can see. On his right hand he has several black rings, and his nails are painted black. Jon is a skinny Jordanian man with brown eyes and shoulder-length grey-streaked dark brown hair pulled back into a messy ponytail at the base of his neck. He has a beard beginning to grow that appears to be the product of forgetting to shave. He is covered in a series of small round scars that vary in exact size. He is wearing a pair of rectangle-framed glasses, a plain t-shirt, a pair of jeans that are ripped at the knee, and converse. Martin is carrying Jon bridal style in his arms, and is looking away, he is blushing, though his expression is concerned and appears to be speaking. Jon has his arms wrapped around Martins neck, his cheeks are darkened and he is staring at hte ground with an expression somewhere between fear and the face one makes when they’re having to retrace every step they’ve taken to get here. END ID]

Punk Martin but make it Jonmartin.

Also I wrote a lil thing to go along with this under the cut, its only barely edited because it was mostly for fun so be warned its a big ol mess! But its s2 jonmartin nonsense with Martin being very cool and attractive and Jon being seven layers deep in denial (Also I may have written Jon as a touch autistic because its projection hours tonight i’m too sleepy to mask and that goes for writing too babey)

(Mentions of worms, past injuries, and Jon dealing with some internalised ableism and general foolishness)

Jon forgot his cane.

It’s a relatively regular occurrence, for a multitude of reasons. For one thing it’s something of a recent addition to the list of things he needs to keep track of when he leaves the house. Another lovely parting gift from Prentiss, a worm in his left leg that went just quick enough to start burrowing into the bone before it was removed. 

For another, he really has other things to worry about. And if it doesn’t hurt, it shouldn’t matter. Most days he can get by just fine without it- it hurts of course. But not so much he can’t support himself, and really, does he need it otherwise?

Martin and Tim don’t seem to agree, though Sasha has kept respectfully to herself on the whole business. Martin, of course, he trusts. Albeit only recently. But that doesn’t make him right, his priorities are warped. Naturally. He doesn’t see the bigger picture.

(or at least that’s what Jon tells himself)

Which is what leads to this moment, sitting on a bench outside the shop, single grocery bag by his feet. He’d only run out to get a few things, but somewhere between the his flat the the shop his barely visible limp had become more pronounced as his hip began to throb, then he was halfway through the frozens when he realized he wasn’t going to be able to finish the trip. After that he’d barely made it through checkout to the nearest seat before all but collapsing into it.

And now he’s sitting, stuck. An insurmountable walk from home, without his stupid cane. Which, he notes, he wouldn’t need if he’d brought in the first place. Funny how that works.

“Jon?” A familiar voice jolts him out of his thoughts. Jon jolts upright. Martin. 

He knows Martin lives in the area, a side effect of his... investigations. Though he was unaware he used the same shop. He looks up, a greeting or perhaps a question on his lips that dies as soon as he actually lays eyes on Martin.

Martin is wearing a leather jacket. Not just a leather jacket of course, but that’s the first thing Jon can process. He’s wearing a studded leather jacket covered in various patches that advertise various opinions and identities that Jon doesn’t have time to think about. His  jeans are about as much rip as they are Jean, and he’s got piercings- and eyeliner. he’s dressed like he should be riding a motorcycle, not the beat-up red bike he’s got beside him.

“Are you alright?” Martin says, and Jon realizes he’s been staring.

“Are you going to a costume party?” Jon blurts instead of answering. A costume party would make sense, of course. Martin doesn’t dress like this, he dresses like- like-

It occurs to him dimly that he’s never encountered Martin outside of work, at least never in a scenario that would allow him to change out of his work clothes. And some part of him has always assumed that sweaters and khakis were simply how he dressed. It suited him, really. Or Jon had assumed, but then again he assumed anything familiar is suiting.

“Wh- A- no?” Martin answers, looking vaguely offended. Jon flushes.

“I- sorry, I just- I’ve... I didn’t think you seemed the type to dress... like that...?” Jon fumbles, pathetically trying to salvage the conversation. Judging by Martins expression, he’s failing.

Martin opens his mouth to say something, and Jon realizes there’s likely no coming back from this particular mortification. He snatches the bag by his feet and moves to stand. Some excuse already tumbling out when the reason for his sit-down, which had dulled to a shockingly forgettable throb, decides to remind him of his place in the world.

He lets out a cry of pain, and crumples. Only stopped from hitting the ground by a pair of arms that wrap around his chest and under his shoulder. 

“Oh my god, Jon. Are you alright- what- is it your leg? Where’s your cane-” Martin babbles, Gently replacing Jon on his bench as Jon breathes through gritted teeth.

“It’s fine- i’m fine Martin I-” he sighs, studiously avoiding Martins gaze. “My cane is at home.” He tries not to sound chastised as he says the last part- he shouldn’t have to after all. He’s still Martins boss. He shouldn’t be looking away like he’s been caught at something.

“Jon” Martin sounds exasperated, and Jon crosses his arms. Once again, nothing like someone being scolded. He’s not being scolded. He’s an adult. “How long have you been sitting here like this?”

“I...” Jon begins before trailing off, he’s not actually sure. The period between sitting on the bench and the pain dulling enough for him to think through the fog is something is a blur. He is pretty sure someone asked if he was alright at some point. His lack of answer seems to be enough for Martin though.

“Just give me a moment.” He says, stepping away from Jon over to his bike- which has fallen over onto the ground -pulling it upright and over to Jon on the bench. He pushes down the rusted kickstand with a hearty kick- and Jon briefly notes he’s wearing steel-toed boots -and sets the bike gently upright.

“Okay, so! If you sit on the bike I can push it, and you can get home and rest that leg without jostling it too much by trying to walk without your cane.” He says pointedly. Jon makes a face,

“This... this really isn’t necessary Martin- I’m perfectly capable-” He grumbles, waving a hand dismissively. But a glance at Martins expression shuts him up quick. 

“Do you think you can stand?” He asks. Jon pauses, the memory of the white-hot flash of pain still fresh in his mind. He grimaces, shaking his head. Martin hums thoughtfully. “Alright, would you be alright if I picked you up? Just for a moment to get you on the bike” He asks carefully.

Jon hesitates, looking between Martin and the bike. And weighs his options. After several seconds he nods. Martin smiles, and Jon feels something in his chest flutter. Anxiety at his decision most likely. Or perhaps nerves in relation to sitting on a bike, he’s never ridden one- of course Martin will be doing all the work but surely there’s some sort of balance required isn’t there? Really he shouldn’t be riding a bike like this-

Those thoughts are all swept away at the feeling of large warm hands gently scooping him off the bench. He instinctively throws his arms around Martins neck for support as he’s lifted into the air. 

He can feel Martins chest warm against his side as Martin holds him close, one hand on his shoulder and the other supporting his legs. He’s being cradled by his subordinate, carefully as so not to jostle his leg. And all he can think about is how warm Martin is. He’s large and soft despite all the sharper accessories and he smells a bit like leather and tea on top of whatever soap he uses. Probably something that Jon wouldn’t be able to name with a gun to his head. And Jon can see the freckles on Martins cheeks and neck close enough to count if he wanted to even as he looks away, saying something Jon can’t quite parse because he’s too busy reeling from the realization he’d be happy to sit in Martins arms like this for the rest of his life.

His face goes hot and he forces himself to look down at the ground. The pain is clearly messing with his head, or perhaps the sleep deprivation. Or perhaps he’s still riding the high from that moment of realization that Martin isn’t trying to kill him, that he can trust him. 

Either way he’s not thinking straight, which is why he’s dissapointed instead of relieved when Martin gently places him on the bike with the exact amount of care he took in picking him up. Which shouldn’t make him feel so oddly jittery but it does.

The ride is quiet, aside from awkward instructions from Jon on where to turn as Martin guides them carefully along the sidewalk. They miss a turn once because Jons too preoccupied with the feeling of Martins arm bumping against his shoulder as he guides the bike.

And then they’re at Jons flat, and Jon once again feels that misplaced disappointment. He wonders if perhaps Martin will carry him up to his flat, and his face burns again as the silliness of the thought hits him.

Martin does very, very briefly lift him to help him off the bike when he stumbles. But his leg has recovered enough that he can make it up to his flat without assistance, or so he tells Martin. Who looks unconvinced.

“Let me at least walk with you, yea? That way I know for sure you got home safe.” He insists, and Jon forced himself to be displeased with the situation.

It ends up being a good thing Martin came along though, a partway up the steps the railing is no longer enough to support Jon, and he ends up half-carried the rest of the way. Martins arm under his shoulder, his own loops around Martins back, gripping the jacket for support. He can feel his head drifting at the contact- Martin is just so damned warm and safe and Martin it’s impossible not to get distacted.

He forces himself to think about something else, anything else. The jacket- he can feel the leather under his fingertips and it’s as good distraction as any.

It’s a nice jacket, really. Clearly well-worn. And it does suit Martin, in an odd sort-of way.

Jon winces internally, remembering the conversation from earlier. He hadn’t meant to come off so... well. It doesn’t matter. Except that it does, even though it doesn’t, but it does.

Once they reach Jons door, he pushes off of Martin to lean on the wall while he fumbles for his keys. Martin lingers as he does so, twiddling his thumbs awkwardly in the silence.

Jon finds his keys and sighs in relief as the door swings open.

He nearly wanders inside and shuts the door before remembering basic human etiquette. He pauses in the doorway, turning to Martin. Who smiles awkwardly.

“Thank you.” He says stiffly, still leaning heavily on the doorframe. “That was... very kind. Of you.” Martin shakes his head.

“It’s nothing, really. Couldn’t exactly just leave you there, could I?” 

Jon shifts awkwardly, wincing at the brief weight on his leg. He’s right of course, morally at least. If not logically.

“I... I suppose not.” He says, hesitating before adding “I’m sorry.”

“Look, Jon. I already said it’s fine-”

“No-” Jon grimaces “not for that. I- I meant... for what I said. About your clothes. They don’t... I just- I didn’t expect it, and I may have come off as... rude.” He mutters

“Oh.” Martin says flatly, Jons sure he’d forgotten about that until just now, and he wishes he could have kept it that way.

“they do suit you, though.” He says, after an awkward pause. “Your clothes, I mean. It looks- you look nice.” he finishes as genuinely as he can- he does mean it. Of course, he just doesn’t know how to make it sound like he does.

“Oh” Martin says again, brightening slightly, his cheeks going blotchy red in a blush. “I- er- thank you...? I suppose?”

“Yes. Well. Your welcome, I suppose.” There’s another awkward pause, Martin isn’t quite smiling at Jon, but there’s something soft in his expression Jon can’t quite parse. “ Have a good day, Martin.” He says finally, after a long pause. Martins cheeks redden again.

“Oh- yeah, er. You too Jon- and take care of yourself. Alright?”

Jon nods, and Martin smiles. And Jon thinks he’d like to see Martin smile a bit more.

He waves as Martin heads down the stairs, he can hear Martin humming as he goes.

[c-e-d-dreamer]

Happy Oct. 1 and the start of Halloween! Please enjoy this spooky inspired Nessian fic! :) 

It had been an accident. A complete and absolute accident. Cassian had agreed to host a mini Halloween party at his loft apartment. They would order food in, play some drinking games, maybe binge some horror movies. It was going to be fun, and Cassian simply wanted his place to look the part. So he had bought those fake spiderwebs and hung them from the lamps and across the curtains. He bought some fake skulls and plastic pumpkins to set about the living room and kitchen. 

And he simply thought it would be funny to draw a pentagram on the floor. It looked just like in those cheesy Halloween movies, and he knew Azriel would get a kick out of it. He even set some candles around it to really make it look the part, and he couldn't help but put on his best 'spooky' voice as he said some words he'd read in one of Rhys' musty books in his library, some language he'd never heard of but sounded cool. He didn't think anything of it. 

And that's how Cassian ends up with a woman standing in the middle of his apartment. 

Cassian has no idea who she is, but he can’t deny that she is breathtakingly gorgeous. Her golden brown hair is braided up into an intricate crown, a few wisps of hair falling against her temples and framing her face. It brings out the cut lines of her cheekbones. She’s wearing a form fitting dress, the black fabric hugging her curves and arms before it flows into a deep blue at her feet. But Cassian’s eyes get stuck on her eyes, as dark as night as they pierce into Cassian’s own. 

"I am the Goddess of Death, Princess of Decay,” the woman says, her voice seeming to boom and echo in Cassian’s apartment. “Who are you who commands me?"

"How did you get in here?"

The question seems to give the woman pause, and she blinks at Cassian for a few seconds. Cassian watches as her head tilts slightly, her eyebrows pinching. 

"Excuse me?" the woman asks. 

"I mean my front door is locked so I'm just confused how you got in here."

"You summoned me."

"I summoned you…?" 

Cassian takes in where the woman is standing, right in the middle of the pentagram, her too dark eyes, and the way power seems to radiate off her in a way that rumbles in his own bones. Finally, his brain catches on. 

"You're a demon." 

The woman crosses her arms, her weight settling on her left leg. She raises her eyebrows at Cassian, her face cold and unimpressed. It pretty clearly reads ‘no shit.’ 

“I summoned a demon?” 

“Are you asking me?” 

“I summoned a demon,” Cassian mutters, mostly to himself. 

“What are you expecting? Congratulations?” the demon-woman quips. “Look, just tell me what you want.” 

“About that…'' Cassian starts, clearing his throat awkwardly and rubbing his hand against the back of his neck. “I actually didn’t mean to summon you. It was an accident.” 

“Is this a joke?”

“Unfortunately not. But I don’t need anything from you, so I guess you can just go back to wherever it is demons live.” 

“That’s not how it works. I’m tied to you until you banish me.” 

“And how do I do that?” 

“You don’t know how to banish me?” 

“I just told you I summoned you by accident. I’m not even sure how I did that.” 

The demon-woman closes her eyes and lets out a long sigh through her nose like she’s trying to stay calm. Cassian can’t help but wonder what would happen if she doesn’t stay calm. Would she attack him like demons in movies? Are the representations of demons in movies accurate? Would it be rude to ask her? After a moment, the demon-woman takes a deep breath and smooths back her hair before settling her eyes back on Cassian. 

“So, let me get this straight,” the demon-woman says. “You summoned me by accident, you don’t actually have any biddings for me to do, and you don’t know how to banish me.” 

 “Yes,” Cassian replies, chuckling sheepishly. 

“Great,” the demon-woman mutters. “I was summoned by an idiot.” 

“But I can Google it,” Cassian promises. 

It turns out, Google isn’t that helpful when it comes to actual demons. Cassian tries various different searches, but all that he’s able to come up with is a bunch of television and movie references, a Buzzfeed article comparing different celebs to demons, and a weird article about making deals with the devil. Luckily, he is able to find a local witchy shop that’s only three blocks down from his apartment. Unfortunately, they’re closed and don’t open until the next morning, so he and demon-woman are stuck together for the time being. 

He had moved to the sofa when he started his Google deep dive, and the demon-woman had stepped gracefully out of the pentagram to sit on the opposite end. She hasn’t said anything since their initial talk when she appeared, and Cassian can’t help but steal glances her way out of the corner of his eye. She looks like a queen the way she’s perched on the cream colored sofa cushion. 

“So,” Cassian drawls into the silence. “Do demons eat? I can order pizza.” 

The demon-woman turns to him, one eyebrow poised. The look sends a shiver down his spine. He's not entirely sure it's out of fear. 

As it turns out, demons do in fact eat, as Cassian learns. He also learns that this particular demon prefers her pizza topped with veggies and that her name is Nesta. 

“Have you always been a demon?” Cassian asks, taking a bite of his pizza slice. 

“Seriously?”

“You’re the first demon I’ve ever met. You can’t blame me for being curious, sweetheart.” 

Nesta’s eyes snap to his, a scowl pinched across her lips. The expression pulls a smile across Cassian’s own face, which only makes Nesta’s eyes narrow more. Cassian’s fingers itch to reach out and smooth the lines between her eyebrows. The desire is so sudden that Cassian busies himself with grabbing another slice of pizza out of the box to distract himself. 

“First of all, don’t ever call me sweetheart again,” Nesta starts. “And to answer your question, no. I haven’t always been a demon.” 

“Then how did you become a demon?” 

“I made a deal.” 

“Was it worth it?” 

Something passes over Nesta’s face then, like ghostly fingers leaving a haunting trail against her skin. Her spine straightens like steel, and when her eyes meet Cassian’s again, there’s a guardedness to her expression that speaks volumes yet leaves Cassian with even more questions. 

“Most days,” Nesta replies simply. 

~ * * * ~

The witchy shop is decidedly less spooky than Cassian had envisioned, but perhaps that’s just his biases and what movies taught him coming into play. He expects cobwebs and weird animal parts in slimy jars, and maybe a black cat that screeches at him when he steps inside. Instead, there’s an aisle dedicated to herbs and another dedicated to crystals. He squints at the black scrawled writing of the placards declaring what each crystal is for. He supposes it would be a bit too easy if one just said ‘banishing demons.’ 

Nesta sighs loudly from over his shoulder when he picks up a candle to smell. When he glances her way, her arms are crossed and that scowl from before is back plastered across her face. Slowly, he turns back around and sets the candle back down on the shelf. 

“Do you mind?” Nesta quips. 

“Alright, alright,” Cassian acquiesces, keeping his voice down to avoid attention. Another thing he learnt last night was that only he could see and hear Nesta.

He heads for the counter of the shop where a young woman is arranging jewelry in the display case. As he approaches, the woman looks up and offers him a friendly smile. Cassian tries to offer one back, but he’s sure it must look more like a grimace. Once at the counter, Cassian clears his throat, shoving nervous fingers through his tangle of hair. 

“Hello,” Cassian starts awkwardly. “This is probably a weird question, but you wouldn’t happen to know how to banish a demon, would you?” 

“Do you have a demon problem?” the shop worker asks. 

“Something like that.” 

“Well, is the demon powerful?” 

Cassian looks over his shoulder to Nesta, raising a questioning eyebrow at her. In response, she merely smiles. It’s all teeth and the exact opposite of innocent. It stirs something deep in his gut. 

“Very,” Nesta bites out.

Cassian turns back to the shop worker. “Very.” 

“Wait,” the shop worker replies. “The demon, is he here?” 

“She,” Cassian corrects. “And yes.” 

“But how did she get past my wards?” 

Cassian’s gaze follows the shop worker’s own, to the silver trinkets that twist and clink together softly above the shop’s door. He can hear Nesta’s scoff at the suggestion, and he doesn’t need to be looking at her to know that she’s rolling her eyes. 

“It would seem they don’t work,” Cassian offers sheepishly. 

The shop worker gapes for just a moment before she turns on her heel, pushing past the beads hanging over the doorway to the backroom. When she returns, she has a box of crystals that she sets down on the counter, a bundle of herbs labeled ‘sage’ and a folded up piece of paper nestled on top. 

“You’ll need to draw a circle and set these crystals around it,” the shop worker explains. “Make sure you charge the crystals under the full moon and don’t wait. Do it the next day. That’s when they’ll be the most powerful. Burn the sage to cleanse and say this incantation, and you should be free of your demon.” 

“Great,” Cassian exclaims, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket. “I’ll take it.” 

After paying and gathering his items, they head out of the shop. Cassian feels lighter already. They have a plan. Plus, the fall weather today is gorgeous and that always helps to lift his spirits, the cool breeze and canopy of yellow and reds above their heads. It definitely helps that fall and Nesta look amazing together, the golden rays of the sun bouncing off her hair. Cassian can’t help but offer her an easy grin as they walk side by side. 

“See? That was super easy. We’ll have you banished before you know it.” 

“And when’s the next full moon?” Nesta asks dryly. 

Cassian startles slightly at the question. He shifts the weight of the things he just bought to one arm and digs his phone out of his pocket with the other. A quick Google later, and Cassian takes in the date glaring back at him on the small screen with a frown. When he looks back up at Nesta, she’s staring back at him unimpressed, clearly already knowing the answer. With a roll of her eyes and what sounds to Cassian like a muttered ‘idiot,’ she takes off ahead him back toward his apartment. 

It’s going to be a long two and half weeks. 

-- 

And Cassian simps the whole time for those two and a half weeks. And there’s feelings. And Cassian makes a deal of his own to save Nesta’s soul. And they live happily ever after. 

[bkdkology]

Food for thought

Howdy, I’m currently fighting 20mg of melatonin in my system to pose a question, and a half assed answer. Spoiler: it’s bkdk and mostly fanon. (Yes, this is an expansion of my previous post that’s right under this one.)

Katsuki Bakugou is an enigma to both the side of the fandom that adores him, and the side that despises him.

But why is he such a polarized character?

He certainly wins the hearts of most of the fandom, as he’s been consistently taking first place in the popularity polls. But there’s the presence of a very strong backlash against him because of his past as a bully, and what separates Katsuki from the rest as a character is: those who are against him, have refused to let go of the past. While nobody really excuses or romanticizes his behavior, most are able to understand that it’s a part of him that is absolutely essential to his character.

Personally, he’s my favorite character. There’s something about the way Horikoshi tells his story that makes me want to cheer for him.

So, what the fuck does that have to do with bkdk?

I realized that this stupid comment I made:

Is true. And not just true, it took me deeper than I intended.

I strongly believe that Katsuki isn’t particularly physically attractive. He’s strong, has amazing arms because of his quirk, and is well built as an obvious consequence of being an active student in the hero course.

Go to this post for screenshots and whatnot.

As I was reading the second light novel, I came across a few excerpts when the girls of 1-A and 1-B were talking about boys at a slumber party. And a few things stood out: (Keep in mind light novels are considered canon, written by Anri Yoshi who works with Horikoshi to sketch some scenes out.)

1. The girls think that while Kaminari is a womanizer, he’d make a loyal boyfriend

2. The girls also seem to unanimously believe that Monoma and Todoroki are the hot guys of the hero course.

3. They think Izuku is maybe too much of a fanboy

4. They whole heartedly believe Iida wouldn’t hold hands before marriage

5. Bakugou’s outstanding characteristic is his intelligence, not his looks.

Why am I making this a point? If you haven’t noticed, Katsuki has one of the biggest ‘simpnations’ in the fandom, in which a shit ton of people find him attractive. While it is just the way Horikoshi draws him that garners so much attention, it’s pretty much canon that most in story characters don’t find his looks as jaw dropping as some people have made them seem (me, I’m calling myself out here, since I feel like the only one who thinks this boy could walk on water).

What is extremely ironic about this is that a lot of fans completely overlook the fact that Katsuki is ridiculously smart, especially the fans that hate him. It’s a characteristic about him that is constantly reiterated time and time again but forgotten at the same rate. (i.e Katsuki placing 1st in the entrance exam, ranking 3rd in the class, sports festival analysis in which even Kiri has overlooked his smarts.)

The point I’m trying to make here is: since the story is told in Izuku’s perspective, what if it’s not just Katsuki’s looks that Izuku tells us about in a biased way, but Katsuki himself?

If you’re caught up, you have most likely seen the beautiful way that Katsuki’s character has developed. And if you’re like me, you probably guessed that Katsuki’s story was heading this way long before this chapter. But how? If to some, he’s just a kid who told a vulnerable Izuku to take a swan dive off the roof.

In 284-285, in the middle of war Katsuki is having heavy flashbacks from his past with Izuku as far back as middle school, even before the sludge incident that took place in chapter 1. He’s harboring overwhelming feelings of guilt.

Katsuki has never really dealt well with feelings, especially expressing those feelings. So what does he do? He uses his power to help Izuku control his, despite them being rivals.

Here’s the kicker, this chapter confirms that Izuku has never held anything against Katsuki. He doesn’t see the training as atonement the way Katsuki intended, because Izuku feels like there’s absolutely nothing to apologize for. But even before this chapter, Izuku simply gave off these same exact vibes by painting Katsuki in a good light.

I was in love with Katsuki from the moment I met him, how could a character so vile in his mannerisms and reckless in his treatment of others make me so happy and so sad when I looked at him?

For me, the answer lies within the protagonist, who’s wanted us to see him that way from the beginning. The people who hate Katsuki and refuse to acknowledge his growth have also failed to let go of the past the way Izuku did . That despite his ugly traits and his funny looking face, he is somebody complex and amazing inside.

He is beautiful.

[youarejesting]

Reaction 14: Walking in on you.

[Masterlist]

If you have any reactions you would like to see send them via asks and I will write them when I can.

WARNING: This is SMUTTY!

Seokjin: 

You had been stressed and you needed relief, you could have gone to Seokjin for help but sometimes you wanted alone time. Seokjin was great. He went above and beyond for you but it was nice to feel cheeky to feel dangerous. Like he could walk in at any moment. 

What you didn’t expect was for him to walk in at this moment. He walked in and slapped a hand over his eyes, “jagiya!” He whined peeking out from between his fingers. 

“Yes my love?” You groaned, not bothering to stop, your hands gripped the sheets as you looked at him. 

“Ya, stop,” he whined “I can’t talk to you knowing your doing this”

“Then don’t talk to me,” you gasped. He climbed onto the bed and took the remote from beside you turning it off. “Hey woah woah what are you doing no Jinnie I was so close.”

Your voice went weak as you saw the dark look in his eyes, “oh, how the tables have turned my sweetheart, do you want Oppa to let you finish?”

Yoongi:

You knew he did it whenever he got the urge but it was rare, for you the urge was often and you didn’t want to bother him it would be too annoying to stop him at work all the time. 

So taking matters into your own hands you brought a toy hoping it would help you unwind. It was a couples toy which you wanted to buy in the hopes Yoongi would use it with you. 

But as you had just ordered it then it wouldn’t come for another week even with the express post. So you were left on your own, it was a little disappointing after seeing all the fancy devices that you could be using.

You were so close and decided to just move into the perfect position where you would feel your orgasm the best but when you opened your eyes and turned you saw Yoongi leaning against the bedroom door. Watching you with his dark eyes.

Hoseok:

Hoseok was amazing. He was happy, energetic, kind, funny, loving and in the bedroom he was hot as hell. His only flaw was being a little naive, what were you supposed to think when he sent you a video of himself dancing and when he finished the routine he would be panting walking to the camera his singlet stuck to his chest. 

Maybe it was your flaw? Thinking he was sexy all the time, you were insatiable. Hoseok had sent you another video and you were unable to stop yourself reaching into your top draw and finding out your favourite toy, you were watching the video over and over and you were so close. 

“Hands off what is mine, jagiya” he said and you froze removing the toy with a few whimpers. “You have been naughty”

“No, I haven’t even finished yet,” you said trying to think up a plausible lie, “I was just preparing for you” 

He undressed climbing over you, “Well now that you are ready, let me show how I discipline naughty girls.”

Namjoon: 

You had been throwing hints all day, shaving your legs and washing and styling your hair early that morning. Even wore his favourite lipstick. You picked out your best lingerie and put on a really short dress. You bent over, leaned down, stretched to the highest cupboards and Namjoon didn’t get the hint. 

Was it always this difficult to seduce your man, you frowned at the end of dinner when he showered and went to read in bed. You decided to make it obvious, stepping out of the shower in a towel, you sauntered to the bed. You dropped the towel and laid down on the bed and he still didn’t notice.

You frowned, what book was he reading that was more important than you. Sighing audibly you decided that you would just have to have fun on your own tonight. You couldn't expect Namjoon to be horny and ready every night. Slipping your hand under the bed you found an old friend. You walked out of the room to Namjoon’s office and sat in his big desk chair.

You had your feet on the desk knees pressed to your chest and was trying to orgasm quickly. You could feel the batteries starting to drain. Using your imagination and willpower you tried your hardest to orgasm when the door opened Namjoon’s face poking through the door. “Hey, where did you go-OH!”

The batteries died and you frowned, head falling back against the desk chair, panting. “Why do the batteries decide to die now!” You whined legs falling to the floor. You pressed your forehead against his desk and tried to cool down the blush on your cheeks.

“Well, I don’t know if you wanted this to be a personal thing but, I don’t require batteries” Namjoon stepped out from behind the door to reveal his tented boxers.

Jimin: 

You were quite embarrassed about your sex drive it was a lot and you mostly dealt with it on your own quickly and quietly. Jimin was a very sensual creature and he seemed a little down. When you kept your sex life pretty minimalistic, you wanted to tell him but you knew he would say it was okay and that you should let him help but he would get sick of you. 

You were in your room he wouldn’t be back for a while he was filming RUNBTS you took the opportunity to get yourself off a few times. 

You put your vibrator inside you and came a few times and leaving it in you started cooking dinner. You paused between cutting vegetables to orgasm again and you clutched the bench and moaned.

You stirred the dinner and heard a cough. You turned to Jimin who hugged you, his cheeks red. “Are you feeling okay love, you sounded in pain?”

You blushed but he lifted your skirt at the buzzing sound and frowned “baby do I not satisfy you?”

“Jimin, you satisfy me so much, I just don’t want you to get sick of me or think that I only like your body. I love you”

He nodded “I wouldn’t get sick of you are you sure it’s not cause I am terrible in bed.”

“Jiminie,” you turned of the stove “let me show you how much I love you and when I am done tell me if it’s too much”

He looked at you a little nervous and nodded letting you lead him to the bedroom for a long night. “Hey Hobi I can’t come in today?”

“Why not?”

“Y/n broke my pelvis. My back is killing me”

“I’m sorry” you said to him. “I shouldn’t have”

“Darling I want it like that every night” he grinned “you riding me until we both can’t walk”

“Eww hang up first” Hobi muttered in disgust. 

Taehyung: 

You don’t know why but the feeling snuck up on you while you had friends over you wanted nothing but to feel some sweet release. You couldn’t exactly tell your friends that you wanted to borrow your boyfriend for a quickie.

Instead you made an excuse about a stomach ache and heading to the bathroom upstairs. You locked yourself in your room and tried to be quick hoping no one would come check on you. You had this really great vibrator that always made things quick. You were almost there, you could almost feel it when you heard a scoff.

“Jagiya,” Taehyung reached between your legs to remove the toy. He twisted the bottom of the device and took out the batteries. “You can wait, can’t you darling for me.” 

He smirked, taking your underwear off the floor and slipping them in his pocket. He grabbed you by the wrist and led you out the door. Making sure to fix your dress back into position. “You can wait can’t you love?”

Jungkook: 

Jungkook was playing video games when he heard noise from the room, you sounded hurt, had you fallen or were you feeling sick. You weakly cried out his name and he threw open the door to see you on the bed. Jungkook’s face turned bright red and he bowed ninety degrees. “I’m sorry” He left immediately and went back to his games room. He sat down, trying to calm his racing heart and looked down at the bulge in his pants.