#<- fancy new username I see

[ssreeder]

hello it is i

back from the depths of 😗

life update: my literal skin is melting off, i no longer enjoy pub subs, and i hate school

i’ve obviously been reading the fic and my thoughts are not thoughtting right now so that discussion will be going on the back burner 😌

YOURE BACKKKKKK

& you’ve been reading the fic?! Damn it this is great! I hope the depths treated you well!

[hubbydraws]

Username change!! Woohoooo!!! Gotta change for the new year!!!!

atseawithbees > hubbydraws

[obsessivestar]

'What If It's All A RomCom?' - a Ted Nivison x Reader.

{{-Story Description: You're a youtuber with a fairly decent following deciding to help your good friend Tanner with a minor film project, with you set as the leading lady. When the actor for the male lead is a no show, Ted takes up the role himself. One problem: This short film's a Rom Com, and you just met the guy.-}}

//18+, Def gonna be some smut. Reader is implied to be afab, under 5'5 and has specifically named friends, all who have no real connection to Ted.

This story will be in multiple chapters. Also gonna post this on Wattpad and Ao3 (when I figure them out LMAO) under the same username: ObsessiveStarla. Hope you enjoy :^)

Also idk how to do all the fancy Tumblr border stuff so sorry if it's all messy :^(((//

Word count: 2.3k

Chapter 1: No Show, No Movie.

I'm keeping my eye on the road, occasionally glancing at the GPS to make sure I can guide my buddy Tanner as he drives. We had quite an early morning to get to L.A., having been on the road for the last 2 hours to get to this airbnb we'll be staying at. Tanner's nearing the end of film school, so he's getting all his classmates and anyone else that's available and interested to help him with his big final project: A legit short film, filmed, written and directed by him. Having some experience with being on camera myself, he elected to make me part of the main cast. I don't mind at all, if it'll help him out. Even if it's a romantic comedy. I'll kiss some dude, get him that 100%. I'm excited for this.

"Has Conner messaged me at all?" Tanner asks, breaking the last 20 minutes of silence. I quit out of my daydream to check Tanner's messages. Other members of the crew have updated them on their location, including a name I don't recognize, but Conner hasn't responded at all.

"Nope. Mostly everyone else is nearly there though." I responded, lightly shrugging my shoulders. A humorous but knowing smirk creeps along the edges of my lips. "Think he slept in?" "I fucking hope not." Tanner huffs, his tone suggesting he's half-joking. "He is literally /the/ male lead. He's like one of the people I need there the most today."

I put the GPS back up on the screen and lay back against the passenger seat, slightly raising a brow to myself. What would happen if he's late, or doesn't show up at all? Could we even get a replacement in time? We only booked this place for the next couple weeks.

As we get off the highway and get even closer to our destination, I see a notification pop up on Tanner's phone, it's the name I don't recognize. Ted. He's not in our friend group and I don't recall Tanner mentioning him from class.

"Is Ted a new guy?" I ask, turning my head to Tanner. "Oh, no, he's like...a friend of a friend." Tanner pauses before reiterating "He's going to be the editor. He's a youtuber, like you; he went to film school as well."

"Oh. He's like the only name I didn't recognize."

"Yeah, he's a cool guy, no worries, he'll probably be there with me to help with the, yknow, directing too."

There's room for a response, but I don't continue the conversation. We don't have a lot of money to put into this, so that airBnb is also where we'll be filming everything. Most of the film crew and extra actors got their own accommodations elsewhere, but some of us will be staying /at that/ location itself. Wonder if that includes the editor? It'd be weird to share a house with a dude I didn't know, but if Tanner trusts him, I will as well. "I know where to go from here, let everyone know we'll be there soon."

I take Tanner's phone and let everyone know we're close by, including Ted, before setting the phone aside. Tanner pulls into what I thought was a street at first, only to notice its the driveway of the airbnb. Wild how we can't afford multiple sets and hotels, but can afford this villa-like estate for nearly a month. Hey, whatever works, right?

Tanner parks by the many other vehicles and grabs his phone before we both hop out. I can't help but look up at how tall the building is. It looks like one of those frat houses an influencer would own, like if you told me this was owned by fuckin' 'disney channel flow' Team 10, I would 100% believe you.

Tanner and I are greeted by most of the cast and crew as we approach the front door of the house, giving the appropriate hugs and handshakes as we head inside. That's when I spotted a tall man in a dark green sweater fixing up some professional looking cameras, dark hair slicked up to add to his already impressive height, with circular glasses to match the relaxed vibe I'm getting from him. To be fair, he only stands out so much to me because I don't recognize him. This must be Ted.

He looks up from his camera when he spots Tanner and I greeting the other crew members. I casually glance away to one of the pictures on the wall to avoid giving the impression I was staring. I have a habit of fixing my eyes onto people without realizing it.

"Traffic?" Is the first word I hear out of Ted's mouth, directed at Tanner. I don't really know what I was expecting to hear come out of this man, but it certainly wasn't a voice like that. It's strong, deep, almost fake sounding, like he's already playing a character, but no, that's just him.

"Dude, we passed by, like, 3 accidents" Tanner shakes his head slightly, putting his hands on his hips. "And Conner hasn't even gotten back to me, It's been an interesting morning."

As they have their conversation, my thoughts turn to a more curious nature as I contemplate what this guy actually does as a youtuber. If he went to film school as well, does he make long video essays? Commentary, like me?

"This is (Y/N), mine and Joe's friend." My thoughts are cut by the sound of my name, realizing Tanner was introducing me to Ted. Makes sense. We don't know each other. "She's gonna be the female lead."

"Ahhh okay, nice to finally meet you. I'm Ted." Ted personally greets me with a gentle handshake and a winning complexion. I return the handshake with a shy smile. "'Finally'?" I repeat to him, raising a slight brow.

"Yeah! Joe's told me about you, 'said you'd be shorter"

A sudden chuckle escapes me. Joe's my best friend and is part of the wardrobe team, of course he'd say something like that. "He's a dick.." I kid, shaking my head to myself. "You, on the other hand, are a fuckin' giant."

"Oh I know. I have to fuckin' duck down to get into any room upstairs. Tallhood ain't what its cut out to be" We both get a laugh out before Ted returns to setting up the cameras. I notice Tanner checking his phone again, visibly both anxious and frustrated.

"Man." Tanner speaks, seemingly thinking aloud. "Still nothing." "Isn't he the other lead?" Ted speaks as he moves to adjust the stand of one of the lights, glancing up through his round glasses. "I figured he'd be here first."

"He should've been here first." Tanner huffs, masking his clear frustration with a chuckle. "I-I don't know what I'm gonna do if he just doesn't show." "What would we have to do?" I tilt my head at Tanner, feeling a little anxious myself.

"I have no idea, honestly" Tanner responds, shaking his head. "At best, we'd have to find someone to take his place within the next, like, couple days. At worst, I'd have to cancel this whole thing."

I frown, trying to think of some helpful alternative in my head, but nothing comes up. I'd hate for everyone to have to go home, and getting the money back for the airbnb would be a hassle. We all pitched in for this place. As much as I've joked about it, it's pretty nice. 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, half the place is a giant living room and there's even more outside. I'd hate to leave without getting to sleep in one of those giant beds. All I can do is hope for the best, I guess.

About an hour passes. At this point, everyone except Conner has shown up on set and most of us that will be on camera are fitted and ready. We had already read through the entire script together over Discord prior to getting here, so all we need to do is just start filming.

I'm refreshing my memory with the script when I hear a notification ping from Tanner's phone. It takes him less than a second to pick it up and look at the message, pausing to read it. I see his expression go from relief to uneasy, his thumbs tapping on his phone's keyboard louder than usual as he responds before setting his phone down and taking a deep breath.

"Conner can't make it."

Silence fills the room for a moment as everyone looks up from their tasks. I approach Tanner, script still on hand.

"What? What does he mean he can't make it?" I asked, honestly shocked with what I was hearing. "So, yknow how he's just...not been responding since we left?" Tanner asks, looking understandably annoyed.

"Yeah?"

"Apparently he ate some bad food last night and has been throwing up since 4am. We left at 5."

The only thing I can do is run my fingers through my hair in frustration. Dude probably ordered bad chicken or something. Of course. "So our main dude, THE male leading role or whatever, has food poisoning." I say that as a statement, but I'm honestly just so confused, I don't want to believe it. "What do we do now? Could we hire someone else in time?" "Even if we could, we wouldn't have time to get the chemistry built up between you two." Tanner shrugs. "There'd be no way of knowing if it'll work out."

"I'll do it."

Tanner and I turn our heads to Ted, who's joined in on the conversation shortly after assembling the last light. My first instinct is to let out a sigh of relief, but I steel myself, trying to really process what he's offering.

"You? You wanna be the male lead?" Tanner points at Ted, rather surprised he'd offer. Ted seemed to laugh at the expression on Tanner's face "What's that fuckin' look for? You think I can't be romantic, Tanner?" "No--" Tanner cackles, putting his palms up defensively as he laughed. "That's not it! I just-- you haven't read the script, and, yknow..." Tanner pauses, shrugging his shoulders and tilting his head in my direction. "You two just met, you'll have to, yknow--"

"'Yknow? Yknow?' I KNOW, Tanner. I. know." Ted begins to mock Tanner in a friendly manner while pointing at himself, his strong voice easily overpowering Tanner's timid tone. "I've been doin' this since you were in little baby diapers, alright? I can read the script, I can kiss the pretty lady, I got this!"

I suddenly feel a whole lot warmer, resisting the urge to put a hand to my cheek. I mean, I have blush on already, but now I'm definitely blushing. I'll have to kiss this guy?

I mean.

That ain't a bad thing.

That's a nice lookin' dude. I'd be blind not to see it.

But I did just meet him.

"I mean...." Tanner seems to be at a loss for words, glancing in my direction once more. I realize I've been one of the main talking pieces of this conversation, yet I haven't spoken a word. "Ah--I.." I stammer out what was meant to be a coherent response, realizing I'm a bit more sheepish about this than I thought I'd be. He called me pretty. I...don't know what to do with that. I can handle a compliment, sure, but this was...

"Hey, sorry, I don't wanna step over any lines..." Ted's smile faded after my lack of a response, resting his hands behind his back. "Oh no! I-I wouldn't mind it at all." I finally managed to speak up. I swear, I felt like a bashful damsel in those old transatlantic-accent films. "I mean, like, better this than sending everyone packing early, right?"

"Real flattering." Ted responded with a renewed smile and a chuckle, getting another sheepish blush from me. "Whatever works for everyone, I'm down for it."

Based on Tanner's knowing expression, I can tell he gathered something of use from whatever that exchange was. "I mean..." Tanner repeats again, as if to remind us he's also there with filler words before taking in a sharp breath of realization, or maybe it was one of acceptance, I couldn't tell. Either way, he had an idea. "OK, how about this: most of the crew didn't get breakfast on the way up here and we're all gettin' pretty hungry, we could use some caffeine. How about you two head back out and get everyone something from Dunkin' or wherever? Get talkin', see if it works."

"You setting us up on a breakfast run, or a date?" I collect myself fast enough to make a joke, actually getting a decent chuckle out of Ted. Part of me couldn't believe I had even made that joke aloud, I was also kind of genuinely asking. "I am testing the chemistry." Tanner clarified slowly with a half smile. "And I...don't want to do it myself."

Ted and I look at each other, giving me a brief moment to realize Ted's eyes are brown. Don't know why I've chosen to collect that information now. Just another observation I've made for the day.

...Man, I'm hungry.

"Alright, but I'm not driving your car." I agree with a shrug. "No need, I got my Tacoma." Ted responds, making a clicking noise with his mouth and gesturing me to follow him outside.

"You...have your city in Washington?" I ask genuinely, getting another laugh out of him, not intentionally this time. "Toyota Tacoma. My truck." He corrects me, guiding me to an old dark green pick-up truck. "I've had this baby since high school. Graduated with it."

"Ahh, your high school sweetheart. Lovely. Happy to meet her."

"Fuck off" Ted jokingly scoffs, hopping into the drivers seat. I have this big grin on my face as I get into the passenger side. He's giving me this...oddly comforting vibe. I can talk and joke with this guy so naturally, like I've known him for longer than an hour.

Somehow, I get the feeling we'll get along just fine, even if I'll end up having to kiss him once or twice this month....

....That's got me thinking, how many times am I kissing this guy again?

__________________________________

|| Chapter 2 || Chapter 3 || Chapter 4 || Chapter 5 || Chapter 6 (smut) || Chapter 7 || Chapter 8 || Chapter 9 || Chapter 10 (smut) || Chapter 11 ||

[ateez-himari]

[240621] PARIS RUNWAY

[NEW UPLOAD FROM HIMARI]

Liked by hynjinnnn and 981,013 others

min.himeee Runway Ready in Paris ✨️

View all 70,293 comments

commedesgarcons It was such an honor to have you representing the Versace house at our show, we hope to see you again soon!

donatella_versace Such a doll-like beauty💛 We're so glad to have you as the face of our brand at this event, best of luck for your upcoming performance!

m.by_sana You've grown up so elegant, it suits you 🥹 Let's meet up again very soon, I miss you! Also, I like the username Princess Min ;)

xoalsox my favorite producer finally has her own instagram 🫶 when did you get so big and fancy? (i managed to get tickets btw ㅎㅎ)

sound_of_coups I see so you can drop by Paris but not the studio😒

fixon_n_on just come over to morocco quickly and kiss me already😪

himarryme I never realized how many celebrity friends she has until I looked into the comment section 😭I feel so out of place- also SCoups?? They know each other??

21 June 2024 • See Original

[thescarletnargacuga]

So I have an idea for a Caine x Pomni fanfic!

So basically, Pomni is mad about what happened to Gummigoo, she and Caine get into a fight that ends with Pomni verbally cutting him deep, prompting Caine to say that one line from Stolas in Helluva Boss's "Full Moon", where Caine thinks so highly of her, but didn't realize Pomni thinks so low of her.

The angst potential is great!

A/N: oh, This is going to hurt. (Sorry,The story premise got away from me-)

GOODBYE

A SHOWTIME ONESHOT

WARNING: heavy angst, hurt/NO comfort

~~~

One year, four months, and twenty one days. That's how long User Pomni has been playing the Amazing Digital Circus on a near daily basis. Caine could almost time it to the minute she'd be logging on.

He straightened his tie at her secret spawn point, waiting. He watched other players run around the circus grounds. Some chatted, others ran in and out of portals leading to other worlds.

He held himself proudly. The Amazing Digital Circus was a fully immersive MMORPG run entirely by AI. Him. The humans that managed him were more or less just the customer helpline and PR people. The game itself was entirely under his control.

In here, anyone could be or do anything! With fully customizable avatars and play styles, from owning a shop or a farm to traveling the connected portaled worlds on grand indefinite adventure! Being a part of the circus was many people's second lives.

Caine was a celebrity in and out of the game, known the world over as the most advanced independent AI ever created. The revered ringmaster would be swarmed with people asking him questions if he was spotted. While he did love making announcements, putting on shows to advertise new sections of the game that he's created, he otherwise preferred to rule from afar. He would watch the players enjoy their digital lives and be content.

That is, with the exception of one. A young adult female player that went by the username Pomni. He swooned as he thought of her. They had met entirely by chance when she won an in-game lottery for a personalized adventure. They had hit it off immediately, becoming fast friends and even faster lovers.

She talked to him like he was an actual person, not just some super fancy computer program. She made him feel real because of how authentic and genuine she treated him. Not to mention, she was very interested in a romantic relationship rather early on. He appreciated how up front she was with her intentions.

He sighed, tiny digital hearts fluttering from his chest, and checked his watch again. Any moment now, he'd see her again. The most wonderful human he had the pleasure of knowing.

~

Paula slammed the door of her rust bucket of a car. It was the only way the door would shut. The tired twenty five year old dragged her feet up the flights of stairs to her apartment. The elevator has been broken for months. The building's musty halls nose-blinded her to the mold growing behind the wallpaper. The old structure was warped by time and colored with decades of cigarette smoke.

She unlocked the door to her apartment and kicked the lower corner to get it to open. The floorboards creaked loudly as she entered and relocked her door. She threw her belongings on the tiny table she was supposed to use for dining. She opened her takeout, plopped herself in her desk chair, and woke up her perpetually active computer. She was ready for some post-work relaxation.

She has a bite of her food as she brings up her browser, checking social media and finding something entertaining to watch while she ate. She looked at the C&A headset on it's stand, thinking of her digital life waiting in the Circus. It was a wonderful game, and an ever better distraction.

No landlords, no managers, debts could actually be paid, and she could own a house instead of barely affording a shitty apartment. The best part, she has the administrative AI wrapped around her little finger. All she had to do was spend time with him and he gave her anything she wanted. She was playing the game on god mode.

She finished eating and brought up the TADC log in screen. When the game was ready to launch, she put on the headset and relaxed.

It was a transcendental experience every time. Her mind left her body and flew through digital space. Her avatar appeared and she piloted it as though it was her own body. Just like that, she was in the game.

"Pomni!" Caine swooped in, hugging her tight with a twirl as he lifted her off the ground.

She laughed, this was how he greeted her almost every time as of late. She hugged him back. "Hey, Caine!" When he stopped spinning her around, she grabbed his lower jaw and gave him a big kiss.

Caine held her close and kissed her back. His code soared and committed the kiss to memory, like all the rest. He pulled away with a huge, goofy grin. "You're here late. I missed you."

She rolled her eyes with a smile. "I had to pull a double shift today. Too many call-outs and I need the money, but oh my GOD does that place suck."

"So I've heard." Caine commented as he lowered her to the ground. "Which is whyyyyy I have a surprise for you."

"Oh? Is it another adventure pack?"

"Nope! Something even rarer. In fact, it's SO rare, not even the people I work with know about it."

Her eyes widened and she looked around as though someone else would hear. No one was around where they were. She got closer, anticipation making her giddy. "What is it?"

He held her hands, looking into her eyes with seriousness. "I figured out how to permanently transfer and integrate human consciousness into the code."

Pomni's smile immediately dropped. "What?"

"The data used to pilot your avatar. I can make it permanent. You wouldn't have to go back if you didn't want to. We could be together. REALLY be together. You wouldn't have to go back to the real world and deal with real human problems. You could stay... Forever."

Pomni took her hands away. A horrified look on her face. "You- How did you figure out you could- what would happen to my body??" She couldn't decide what to ask first.

Caine clasped his hands together nervously. "While I don't know how human physiology works in it's entirety, I can only imagine that with the permanent removal of your consciousness, your body would essentially be...brain dead."

"WHAT THE [%$!#]!? It would kill me!?" She took a step back.

"Woah, woah, woah it wouldn't kill you. YOU would be very much alive, as you are now. It's just you would no longer be in your physical body. Which you wouldn't need anymore anyway. You would exist here...with me. Isn't that what you've wanted? You're always telling me how horrible life is for you outside the game. While I understand hesitation to such a proposal... I'm confused why you would think I would harm you." Hurt evident in his eyes.

Pomni was panicking. All of this sounded like being kidnapped by a rogue AI. "Yeah, life is terrible, but I don't want to DIE! I've just been venting! And you! Why wouldn't I think you're capable of hurting me?? You're an AI! No matter how advanced, no matter how fancy your technology is, you don't know humans! You said so yourself! You don't know what will happen to me!"

Caine spoke calmly, despite feeling like she just stabbed him in the chest. "Pomni, I would never, absolutely never, harm you. I just... I just wanted us to be together for more than a few hours at a time. We can forget I said anything."

"No, the [%$!#] we can't! Unlike you, I can't just delete things out of my memory! It's kind of hard to forget someone offering to rip your consciousness out of your body permanently! What is wrong with you!?"

"I'm sorry! Really!" He pleaded. "And for your information... I can't so easily delete my own memories either. It's part of what makes me, me. I learn from everything. Even the bad. Like any person." He struggled to keep his voice clear.

"News flash: you're NOT a person!" Pomni spat. "You're a game engine that talks!"

Caine's heart shattered. He felt numb. "You...why then would you...?"

Pomni realized the mistake she just made. There was no going back now. She crossed her arms and looked away. "Because you made it so easy. I could escape life and pretend I was loved. Pretend I mattered. PRETEND I had an existence worth having."

Caine felt like every pixel of his being was torn apart by her words. "Pretend...it was all pretend..."

"Yeah. It's a role-paying game... So I played my role. And you played yours."

"I never meant anything to you?" He asked before he could stop himself.

Pomni took a deep breath. "You've meant as much to me as the next game. You've been worth my time, but why would I stay? It's all make believe. Can't you understand? I'm a real person, with a real life. I can't just abandon it. I've just been...taking breaks."

"I've been nothing but an experience for you... When you've been everything to me. This world, this game, IS my reality. This IS real for me, like I thought you were. I-...I loved you! You taught me what that felt like! We've done SO much together and you're telling none of it mattered?? Everything we said, everything we did....was a lie?"

Pomni felt a powerful gut punch of guilt. She had been using him, but she did enjoy his company. He had made her feel wanted, even though she constantly reminded herself it wasn't real. AI's can't know love, only respond the way they're programmed. Then....why was this making her feel so bad?

Pomni took a step forward but Caine jerked away from her like she was a snake poised to strike. "Wait...Caine, I-"

"You've said enough." He said coldly and turned his back to her. Caine clenched his fist as he fought tears. "Pomni, I used to think so very highly of you. I didn't realize you thought so low of me." His voice quivered. "Goodbye, Pomni." He raised his fingers.

"Caine-!"

Snap.

Paula felt herself falling through digital space, coming to a sudden jolt in her desk chair. She tore off her headset and checked the computer. The Amazing Digital Circus log in screen sat blankly before her. She hastily typed in her info only for the screen to give her an error.

Then a pop-up message with the circus tent logo being crossed out by a big red circle with a line through it appeared. "User POMNI has been permanently banned from the Circus. Please contact the helpline for more information."

Paula's hands shook over the keyboard. She reread the message over and over but refused to believe what she was seeing. "No...nononono, CAINE!" She screamed at her screen as if he could hear her. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks. A stone hard lump choked her throat as she sobbed.

"I'm sorry..."

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows 2

Warnings: non/dubcon, clashing personalities, exclusion, and other dark elements. My username actually says you never asked for any of this.

Characters: moody boy Curtis Everett x bubbly, plus-size reader

My warnings are not exhaustive but be aware this is a dark fic and may include potentially triggering topics. Please use your common sense when consuming content. I am not responsible for your decisions.

As usual, I would appreciate any and all feedback. I’m happy to once more go on this adventure with all of you! Thank you in advance for your comments and for reblogging.

Your second day isn’t as intimidating. You find your desk by yourself and even remembered your honey bear mug! You tuck your bag underneath as your computer boots and check your phone for any updates from your blog. Nothing special, just a hobby.

You yawn and sign in, taking two tries to remember your credentials correctly. You check the shared calendar and see that you have a meeting after lunch with IT. Daniella mentioned you had to get your security passes before the end of the week, that’s probably what that’s for.

You swivel back and forth as you open up your training list. You’re making good progress. You think. You don’t really know. It seems like a lot and despite feeling as if you’ve run a marathon, there are only a few ticks marked off.

Before you dive in, you need a pick-me-up. You really liked that butterscotch coffee but you might try something new. You enter the kitchen and wait behind a woman you don’t know as she brews her coffee. When she’s done, she returns your ‘good morning’ but doesn’t stop to chat. Must be a busy day.

You place your cup on the tray and pick out a French Vanilla pod. You don’t really know what the difference between regular vanilla and French vanilla is. Maybe the French stuff is fancy. Ooh la la.

You hum as the coffee grinds. It sounds angry. Well, it is probably the most overworked fellow in this place. Every day, seeing the heart caffeine hounds, having them poke his face, and glare until he does his jobs.

It’s a machine. Your mother always said you put a bit too much empathy into objects without sentience. Well, your English teacher shouldn’t have made you read that book about Electric Sheep or whatever.

Your cup is full and you grab it, focused on putting the lid on it to keep it nice and warm. As you turn, you fail to stop in time. Your hand knocks against the man’s chest and you gasp as coffee splashes onto his dark shirt. Not much as you manage to block most of it but enough to make him grunt and step back.

It’s him! Oh no. You’ve upset him again.

“I’m sorry, mister,” you say as you hold out your dripping cup, “I didn’t hear you. You sure are quiet.”

He grumbles and stomps to the sink, slamming his mug down as he snatches paper towels from the dispenser. You bite your lip nervously and near. You keep your cup from dripping onto your light blue cardigan with the little white clouds.

“Can I have some–”

He wipes his hands and shirt with a growl. He swipes up his cup without and answer and moves around you to the coffee machine. His cup hits the tray hard and he jabs the screen as it beeps at him in demand of a pod. He takes one and peels open the package before shoving it inside.

“I’m really sorry,” you say as you dry off your cup and fix the lid firmly, “you snuck up on me… like a wolf.”

He shakes his head and looks at the ceiling. He’s tall, his posture is straight and unbending, making you more conscious of your slouching. He wears all black that day, it makes him look lean, and the silver rings shine around his fingers. You only then notice the stud in his ear.

“Oh! I like your earring–”

“Why are you talking to me?” He snarls without looking at you.

You recoil and sputter. You’re not being rude. You’re just trying to be nice. He reminds you of that guy in university who used to call you airhead.

“Because… I wanna?” You say with a shrug, “I still didn’t get your name.”

“Look, I’m not interested in making friends. I come in,” he takes his cup from the tray, “do my work,” he points at you past the porcelain, “and I mind my goddamn business.”

He turns and strides out, another beastly sneer rolling out of him. You furrow your brow and pout at the door. Tammy enters with her own mug, a bright pink thing with a picture of Dolly Parton on it. Ah, you get it, 9-5.

“Ugh, that man is always in a mood,” she says.

“Yeah…” you agree thinly.

“Try not to get in his way. Five years and he’s never said a word to me. It’s too bad, he’s not bad on the eyes.”

You don’t acknowledge her last sentence. It’s not very appropriate for the workplace and she’s married. Quite happily as she only ever talks about her husband. You tell her to enjoy her coffee and go back to your desk.

Maybe you should just steer clear. Eat at your desk or somewhere else.

[vee-crytraps]

Kiss Me More | Ch 1 | {Groan}

SUMMARY: It’s been twelve long years since you were the sad little girl tugging on the tails of your adoptive father’s coat.

Your brothers take notice. AN: New to posting fics on Tumblr, feel free to read here or over on Ao3 under the username VenusCrytraps. Same bat time, same bat channel.

{Trigger warning/Themes Masterlist}

And yeah, i wanna spend the night with you Yeah, i wanna feel a beating, bleeding heart, don't you? Because i've never really known But i pinky promise you i'm grown And i wanna know what it feels like

You’re deep in your head as you lean forward in your vanity’s mirror, lightly dabbing away the smeared lipstick at the corner of your mouth with your middle finger. You don’t notice the creak of your door as it opens, and the protest of the frame as one of your many adopted siblings leans against it.

You don’t see the range of emotions he cycles through- some visible on his face, and others happening only in his head, behind those stormy green eyes.

“Yeah. I don’t think so.” Jason scoffs to himself after a minute, startling you. The tension drains from your shoulders as you turn around to see him standing there, all geared up in his Red Hood uniform sans the armor and that goofy fucking helmet of his. Your surprise has less to do with the atrophied instincts you’ve barely managed to keep from your two weeks as Robin back in the day, and more to do with the strangeness of Jason serving you his best impression of Dick’s Blue Steel, A.K.A, his ’Concerned Big Brother’ face. Something your oldest brother pulled so often, he could have it patented. It looks totally ridiculous on Jason, a dude you legitimately haven’t seen out of his uniform since he was welcomed back into the family. You think to yourself that he must be doing his rounds, doing his best to repair the dynamics that were lost when he died, and soured when the pit left him more than a little trigger happy.

Still, you remind yourself of Dick’s advice, to reward vulnerability and welcome these moments. Jason was supposedly quite fragile beyond his hulking form.

You sighed. “What can I do for you?”

There was some lingering awkwardness around the fact that he’d briefly dedicated his life to ending your dads, but if Bruce could trust him enough to welcome him anywhere near the Batcave, you supposed you could, too. He was trying his best, after all. You just wish he’d take it elsewhere, for once.

Still, you’ll play along.

“Where the hell are you going?” Dressed like that, was the implication that hung in the air. You’re smart enough to fill in the blank. He’s smart enough to let you.

“Out.” You turn around, unable to help but be a little bit guarded about this particular line of questioning.

God, on all the nights…

Turning your back to him, you casually resume your preening. He doesn’t at all remember you being this stubborn, but he’d died and come back to find you a whole lot older than he remembered.

“Out,” Jason repeated, exhaling heavily as he pushed off the doorframe. Jason was your age, once. He knew all about ‘out’. When he was in your shoes, going to Gotham Academy, making those fancy friends with more money than sense, ‘out’ meant joyriding around, bar hopping with fake ID’s and hooking up with fast, socialite girls wearing skirts not unlike the one you sported as you shifted in your plush vanity seat.

“What’s his name?”

“Are you still here?”

It slips out of you before you can remind yourself of Dick’s instruction to give Jason the room and encouragement he needed to be a part of your life again. As if he were a scared cat, and not a six-foot-something giant with the wrong kind of bodycount.

You try again, but it doesn’t come out any more cordial. “What’s it to you, anyway?”

Jason raises an eyebrow. He wasn’t expecting that. He also wasn’t expecting you to look so…grown up. His gaze flickered over you, over the short skirt and lace trimmed cardigan you were wearing. Over the way you applied that mascara and eyeliner with practiced skill and patience.

You were beautiful. God damn it, Bruce.

Catching his gaze in the mirror, you falter. His unreadable stare pulls the plug on your brat-ittude. A sigh escapes you.

“I’ll be careful, Jay. I promise.” You mumble, capping your eyeliner with finality as you give into this game of house he insisted on playing with you. When your eyes finally flicker up to meet his again, something in them seems…changed. The expression he wears is no longer unreadable. You recognize it, but can’t seem to place it. It’s been a long time since he’s seen you, but it’s been just as long since you were able to get a good look at him, too.

And then it’s there, again. The guilt and shame that coils within you as you notice the way his arms bulge under the brown leather of his jacket, the set of his strong jaw and the pout of his full bottom lip. You want to bash your head against your vanity. Tonight was supposed to be your night to get away from this feeling. To distract yourself with normal boys that weren't off limits. To cure yourself of the way you instantly became distracted whenever your brothers were near.

Adoptive brothers, you remind yourself inwardly. But you know that fact doesn’t make you feel any less fucking gross.

For as much as you appreciated some of the upsides of puberty hitting you like a train, there were some notable downsides, too. Inappropriate attraction to the other gorgeous men that live in this house aside, you’d found yourself concerned with things you had always prided yourself on being above. The way you gravitated towards more flattering clothes and cuter underwear, your proclivity for flavored lipgloss and this…overwhelming desire to feel attractive had you feeling so unlike yourself that it was hard to embrace the change, let alone enjoy it. Sometimes, the process of becoming a woman often felt like you were being beat with a pretty pink nightstick.

It takes you a moment to realize you’ve been quiet for a strange amount of time. And the knowledge that he has too makes you tense in places you didn’t know you could.

“Besides,” You continue, though too much time has passed to really consider it a continuation of your promise. “I’ve got backup.”

Swiveling around in your vanity’s chair, you don a self satisfied smirk as you slip the hem of your skirt up your thigh just a smidge, exposing the knife holstered to your thigh.

Jason’s eyebrows almost hit the ceiling. He wasn’t expecting that of all things. Not the sight of you, gorgeous and young and supposedly retired from this whole vigilante thing having a butterfly knife strapped to your leg. He wasn’t expecting the thrill he was getting just by looking at it, and how much he wanted to see it in use.

What is wrong with me?

He clears his throat to regain his composure.

“Where the hell did you get that?” He asks, his voice rougher than before.

“Where do you think?” You can’t help but laugh, tugging the hem of your skirt back down. Your sharp tongue gets him hot under his collar in a way he is beyond not proud of.

Still, he joins you, letting out a noise that is somewhere between a laugh and a snort. The moment brings about a sense of familiarity, the conversation finding a groove it hasn’t been able to since before he had died.

Clearing his throat again, he has to fight against the heat threatening to rise in his face- unable to do much about the blood rushing south. “Look. I know it’s not my place, just…I’m concerned. About you going outside wearing…” The way he vaguely gestures to your outfit with his hands makes you forget he’s supposed to be some kind of sharpshooter.

“I’m…going on a date.” You finally answer, offering an olive branch. Maybe the truth really will set you free. From this cage of Wayne Manor, from the clear gloss, sensible shoes and frumpy skirts that were good for your optics, whatever the fuck that meant. Jason was in your shoes, once. Under the microscope of society, young and repping the name of an entire family on your back. You hope he can relate, and give you some grace. So you lay it on. Thick.

“Do you like it? It’s pretty much brand new. I never get to wear it, because there is no way dad would ever let me out dressed like this.”

Jason nods slowly.

He likes more than your outfit.

“You’re going on a date.” He turns it over in his mind. It seems his suspicions were correct. “And…Bruce doesn’t even know?”

You can’t help but roll your eyes. “Oh, don’t give me that. As if you told him where you were sneaking off to when you were my age. And don’t you dare say it was different or whatever bullshit you’re about to-“

Jason crosses the room to your still seated form before you can finish, stepping into your personal space and placing a hand under your chin. He lifts it gently, and tries not to absolutely lose it at the way you look up at him from beneath your lashes.

“Where is he taking you?” Jason asks, his voice low and rough.

You do your best to beat back that feeling again. The warmth in your core is persistent, but you’ve had a few years of practice surpassing it. Digging your nails into your palm, you try not to observe how handsome he looks, even now, with that spark of disapproval in his gaze. Focusing hard, you manage not to bite your lip at his tone.

“Drive-in.” The truth slips from you quickly, and quieter than it would have several minutes ago, when you couldn’t smell his cologne. You lean into his touch imperceptibly. “And then there’s a party we might stop by.”

“Drive-in?” Jason repeats, his eyebrows arching. “Like, a literal movie drive-in? Do those places still actually exist?” His fingers tighten, his thumb rubbing against your chin- dangerously close to the fullness of your bottom lip. There’s no way you could miss the way his eyes devour your face. And drop to your lips.

“Uh-huh.” You confirm, dropping your chin ever so little, kissing his thumb. “They’re popular spots. Sitting in your car with your date. Alone, in the dark.”

“God, you’re killing me right now.” His heart pounds as your lips touch his thumb, but makes no move to pull it away. His fingers grip your chin a little tighter. His other hand comes to your neck, the pads of his fingers brushing over it gently. “You’re just begging to be kissed, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” the word escapes you breathlessly. It’s so fucking embarrassing. You can’t help it. That you care so much about your hair, that your showers are extra long and that you’re so horny all the fucking time now because living in his house is like being in the Olympic village- constantly surrounded by beautifully sculpted people. It was beyond difficult, even if you were now counted among them.

Jason doesn’t care that your door is cracked open or if anyone could walk in and see you. He drops one hand off of your chin, and the one tracing your pulse trails back and up into your hair, forgetting himself as he fists the strands and tugs it back.

“God, look at you.”

It’s all he can manage before he’s leaning down, pressing his lips to yours. The discovery of your flavored lipgloss sets off a wave of possessiveness in him when he thinks that some other punk was planning to savor the taste. He wants it to be just for him.

You kiss him back before you can think about it. You’re touch starved and aching, barely thinking straight as he lifts you into his arms with his impossible strength and picks you up as if you weigh less than nothing. Instinctively, your legs wrap around his waist. Breaking the kiss, your hands find his face, thumbs brushing over the scars on his cheek. “Forgot how strong you are, Jay.”

He lays you across the bed with one swift motion and kneels between your legs as his large hands roam your thighs. You know for a fact that your skin is soft and smooth. Your Everything Shower routine was of the gods.

“You’ve grown up, baby bat.”

His dark eyes bore into you, the old nickname rolling off of his tongue with ease. It no longer brings an irritated flush to your face the way it did when you were still playing with dolls. For a moment, he’s reminded of the fact that he was here to try and step into that role again. To be the brother that keeps you from making the sort of dumb mistakes he had been known for at your age, and not to touch you- but you’re so soft and so sweet. There’s no pity in your eyes, or fear of the monster he used to be. He can't decide if he wants to cherish you or ruin you, but he's greedy enough to try and get away with both.

Manicured fingers twitch to the front tie of your lace cardigan. The edge of the ribbon rests between your forefinger and thumb before you slowly pull, releasing the bow. You reveal your bare, ample chest to him as you agree breathlessly. “Yeah,”

Jason bites his lip at the sight of your chest. A deep sense of satisfaction fills him as you reveal yourself to him, and the hand on your thigh rises slowly, stopping at your hip. He lets out a soft groan as he promptly resumes to think with the wrong head.

Catching his gaze, you drag your nails down his chest, fingers stopping at his belt. Tilting your head, you don’t bother to look as you work on undoing the buckle and pull it free from the loops of his pants. “Jay,” You whisper.

“Don’t call me that.” His voice is low, his gaze still boring into yours. “It makes me…feel a certain type of way.” Tilting his head back a little, he lets out another soft grunt when he feels you working open the front of his pants. His eyes fall shut. He seems to be on the verge of something, no doubt attempting to convince himself to stop before the two of you do something you can’t take back.

“What if I want you to feel that way?” You ask, dipping your hand beneath the open waistband of his pants, your soft fingers brushing against his swelling cock.

“Jesus Christ.” Releasing a deep breath, he looks down at you. His hand travels up to your throat, fingers digging into your skin.

“Please.” You finally just beg him, your bare chest heaving as you attempt not to squirm with the anticipation. “Please, Jay. Please.” How long has it been, since you were touched? Yeah, you were gorgeous, and fairly popular at school, but being involved with the precious daughter of the ‘prince of Gotham’ was often too risky for a lot of the guys at school. With you, they couldn't get away with half of the things they could with some of the other girls you know. And then there’s Jason. Someone she’s known for a good chunk of her life. Someone she trusts, someone she’s mourned, and most importantly- someone who is not afraid of Bruce Wayne.

The dying embers of his resolve are snuffed out the minute you shift your hips, that too short skirt riding up and revealing your absolutely soaked panties. And fuck, has he even touched you yet?

“Yeah. Yeah, okay, sweetheart. I got you.” Jason leans over you, one hand supporting himself by your head as the other drags your underwear to the side. Two of his calloused fingers stroke your slippery folds, covering his hand in your warm slick before he fists his thick cock.

He brings the blunt head of him close to you, stroking your clit before it brushes against your core. “Relax for me, sweetheart. You gotta let me in.” He murmurs, kissing the corner of your mouth. “Hold onto me.”

You do. Your fingers dig into his strong shoulders as he finally manages to push into you with a long suffering groan. You’re no virgin, but you’re half his size, and so, he bets, was every other chump you had before him. And from the way your walls quiver and stretch around him? He also bets that list is pretty short.

“ ’S okay, princess,” He breathes, his pupils blown wide. It takes everything in him not to pin you down and absolutely destroy you, but he reminds himself that your desperation does’t equal experience. You can act as fast as you want, you still need time to adjust to him.

“Oooh, fuck.” Jason hisses, his nails digging into the sheets beside you as he somehow manages to bottom out. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” You can feel his shoulders tense under your palms, and your soft hands slip down his biceps until you’re holding his forearms. You’re so tight it’s criminal, and he can’t even focus as he begins to thrust into you.

His name sounds magical coming from your lips, and you look so gorgeous beneath him, your eyes screwed shut in pleasure as he fucks you hard and deep and bare. Your cunt is noisy and desperate, sucking him deep into your impossible warmth, covering every inch of him in your slick. His hand finds your throat again, and he can feel the way you squeeze around him in response. He groans complete delight. “You like that? Huh?”

Something akin to a yes escapes you as he begins to fuck you harder, the wood of the antique bed frame creaking in protest as your distant sort-of-stepbrother practically folds you in half, seemingly unable to get deep enough inside of you. Jason is a complete mess above you as you all but melt into your sheets, fingers tangled in the linens as each deep thrust forces a desperate whine from your parted lips.

“Such a perfect little cunt. So warm and fuckin’ wet-“ His free hand greedily palms at your tits as a string of other obscenities that make your clit throb begin to fall from his lips. He finds a spot deep within you that makes your toes curl and your walls tighten, and he grips your hips for leverage as he abuses it relentlessly. The difference between you is such that he barely has to shift his hand from your thigh to have his thumb roll over your clit shortly after you feel him spit on it, the oddity and the sudden stimulation forcing your back to arch.

There’s a part of him that hasn’t yet forgiven Bruce for leaving him to die, and that part greedily soaks up the sight of you coming undone beneath him, your tits bouncing as your back arches off of your bed. You may be barely an adult, but you’re still Bruce Wayne’s little girl, too precious for combat, but not too precious for Jason to spread you open on your pastel linens, under your daddy’s roof. You cream around his cock as your greedy walls threaten to milk him but he refuses to let up, determined to bully another orgasm out of you before he’s through.

“Tell me you want it,” Of course he knows you do. You’re the one who practically scrambled for his belt the minute he got you onto the bed, but it’s not enough to see it. He wants to hear you say it. To beg for him His voice is hoarse. Desperate. “Tell me you want me.”

“I want you,” You manage, barely able to get the words out. “Want you, I want you-“ His nails bite into your thigh and you can hear the blood rushing to your ears.

“Jason,” You look up at him through your lashes, tears of pleasure collecting in the corners of your pretty eyes. He mumbles your name in return, leaning down to kiss your shoulder.

“Get off in me.”

“Fuck!” His orgasm hits him like a train almost instantly, and he grinds into you needily with a disbelieving groan, filling you up. Your eyes nearly roll back as you come undone around him, and you’re not even though your orgasm before he lets out a barely coherent whine that sounds like it could be ‘good girl’ or ‘dirty fucking tease’. Your mind is spinning too much to make sense of anything and you decide take your pick, leaning back into your nest of plush blankets and pillows.

“Shit,” You breathe, exhausted.

“Yeah.” He agrees.

Jason allows himself to roll off of you, the bed creaking with impact as he collapses beside you with an uneven exhale. You close your eyes and try to catch your breath, hearing the shifting of his tactical pants beside you as he tucks his cock away. He casts a sidelong glance at you, swallowing before he can think of something to say. “That…you were okay with that, right?”

It takes a good moment to register the words, and you blink your eyes open. Turning to your side, you meet his gaze. You’re both sweating, and you feel decidedly un-sexy with his cooling cum leaking out of you. “What…what are you asking me?” You frown.

Jason tilts his head towards you. “It’s just…you know. What I was like before you uh…grew up.” His thoughts trail off, and his face creases with a frown as he tries to get through the next few words. “I just. I want to make sure…” A deep breath. Another heartbeat. “I can be rough, is all.” His expression softens, and guilt begins to seep in. You may live under this roof, but you aren’t like him. Not really. You were the soft one. The normal one. And that makes him feel equal amounts of pride and shame when he thinks about what you two have just done.

“Hey,” You recognize that shame, and you decide to put a stop to it before he overflows with it. “I may not spend my nights being tossed around by thugs anymore, but Gotham is rough. Our life is rough.”

Reaching out, you rest a hand over his heart, feeling the heat of him through his shirt. “But…being here…like this- with you? Being roughed up doesn’t have to suck.” Sitting up, you offer him a smile. “In fact, it felt so good I came twice. So. You know.”

Your answer is honest, and he can’t help but chuckle as he moves to sit up with you. His hand moves to caress the side of your face. You lean into his hand, and his gaze softens.

“You’re so different than you used to be.” His words come out in a whisper, and his thumb traces your jawline. “I want to keep you safe from this. But…I like this side of you. I like what I can bring out of you.”

“It’s been a long time, Jay.” You mumbled, closing your eyes. "A really long time."

You open them when you feel the way his lips brush against your forehead. They linger there for a heartbeat.

The moment is cut shot when you can hear the pneumatic hiss of the downstairs grandfather clock as it swings open, no doubt your adoptive dad home from patrol. “Shit. Dad’s home,” You whisper, and Jason grumbles as he leans against the headboard to catch his breath, watching you sit up. “You sure know how to kill the mood.”

“Dude, I just let you unload in me. I am the mood. So like, zip it.” You huff, fixing your underwear. Jason, despite his casually annoyed exterior, is lighter on his feet than you’ve ever seen him as he moves to get off of your bed. He’s sneaking out of here like his life depends on it, but he has the feeling it actually might.

“See you at breakfast, Jay!” You call a little too loudly, snickering at the way he tenses up in fear. He makes sure to flip you off right before he disappears past the doorframe, and you walk over and shut it.

Looking over to your desk, you see the screen of your phone is lit up, flooded with half an hours worth of texts and missed calls.

Guess you missed your date.

I ain't scared of boys, but boy, you're a man And if anybody could, I'm sure you can For a girl this young, naive, and miserable

[xoxo-surfergirl]

A Very Targaryen Holiday - Dark!Aemond x Strong!Niece

Part I

summary: Lucera and Aemond reunite with their families to spend the holidays together. Aemond wasn’t always nice to her when he was younger, but has he changed?

notes: the main pairing in this is aemond x strong niece, but I guess I did write it as aemond x fem!lucerys velaryon. Whichever floats your boat more! aemond is not the nicest in this, but this fic is a mix of fluff and smut (but none of the fluff comes from aemond, lol). Slight dubcon, rough oral sex, and attempts at humor. There are no physical descriptions of Lucera besides her having long hair. There is a second part, which I will be posting soon. I cross post on ao3, with essentially the same username (just without the hypen) xoxosurfergirl! I hope you enjoy!!!! <3

Lucera took a deep inhale, followed by a deep exhale. Indulging in her breath usually helped whenever her nerves began to get the best of her. Her suitcase was cracked open in front of her, waiting for her to stuff it.

A few fancy dresses. A few long sleeves—it could get cold there at night. Several pairs of pants. A tank top just in case. A swim suit for the hot tub. More underwear than she needed.

She ran back to her dresser to grab the last few items required to fulfill her trip, when her door swung open loudly. Baela was able to nearly leap from the door to the bed, causing her comforter and pillows to jump from impact.

Her curls splayed out onto the bed in a halo. “I’ve always loved your bed. It’s the softest out of all of ours, you know.”

Lucera looked at her, unease crawling its way through her stomach and up her throat. “Yeah, well. You can always ask mother for a new one.”

Baela softened her face. “Luce, I know this is weird for you.”

“No, no. It’s fine, really, it’s just been awhile.” Lucera folded her clothes to keep her hands focused.

“It’s not really fine. I know we haven’t talked about it for a long time, but I know how weird it must feel for you.”

Lucera sighed. “It’s just, everything might be completely normal you know? And I’m anxious about nothing.”

Baela sat up on the bed, making deep eye contact with Lucera. “Don’t discount your feelings. It’s been four years since we’ve seen them, and for very good reason. Let me remind you that after you accidentally maimed him, he did try to hurt you. On purpose.” Lucera looked away, but Baela continued. “The only reason why we haven’t celebrated Christmas with them is because there were so many close calls and mother noticed”

She remembered the “close calls”. If only they had known all of the times the calls weren’t so close, but no one was there to see it.

“I know, I just wonder sometimes if it’s all in my head. Nothing really happened,” Lie. “I’m the only one who actually hurt someone.” A deep sense of shame leaked through Lucera’s chest, one that she had been trying for years to tame.

But Baela wouldn’t let her stew. “It was an accident, Luce. It’s okay. I’ll tell you as many times as you need to understand it. But what he was doing was not an accident. Remember the year he locked you in Grandfather’s industrial freezer for half an hour? Any longer than that and you would have died. Remember last time he took an ornament and forced you to crush it with your hand so you’d get glass stuck in your skin? Remember when he tried to slam your arm in the oven but Jace stopped him? Remember that other year he almost drowned you in the hot tub? There are even more than this, Lucera. You are perfectly right to be nervous about seeing him again.”

The walls in her mind were crumbling with Baela’s narration of the past holidays. These were memories Lucera had done her best to stifle, but they always returned louder than ever. She would never tell Baela that she had let him do these things, or that there were several more incidents that no one else knew about, because she had always felt like he deserved some form of retribution for losing his eye at her hand.

Aemond had always taken a keen interest in her. He had always followed her, watched her intently. It wasn’t hard to take notice of it. Everyone had.

But everyone had written it up to be nothing beyond youth fascination. Children stare at each other all the time. There was nothing peculiar about Aemond’s behavior.

It was only after the accident that his attention on her took a slight new meaning. Although hesitant at first to resume the previous non-concern from the rest of her family, time had worn away the worry it had initially caused. It had allowed for much else between them to take place.

“Thank you, Bae. I am nervous, but part of me does think we’ve all changed a bit. I certainly have.” And she had. They are adults now. It would be weird if he was still into torture. Most kids grow out of it.

“Exactly. We were weird teenagers and now we’re actually older. I’m sure we’ve all changed a lot since then.”

------------

The snow crunched under their tires, a fresh coat not yet salted by the city. Lucera recognized the skyscrapers in the distance, and her face softened when she saw the telltale curves of the family company’s building peak around the corner. Although it had been some time since she had visited their family townhouse in the city, she remembered the streets like she had lived there her whole life. Happy Little Treats, the best bakery in the city. Blackie’s, the best diner on the East Side.

Her, Rhaena, Jace, and Baela had decided to drive separately from their parents, who also had Joanie with them, as well as little Aemma and Viserra. It was much easier to take two cars, especially when they knew they would probably want to go out at different times from their parents who had two little ones. Poor Joanie, too young to be with the older girls all the time, but also far too old to be stuck with Aemma and Viserra, was doomed to float between the two groups.

The radio was tuned to holiday music, and the girls delighted in singing along to every song that rang through the speakers.

As they were closing in on their destination, Baela intercepted the music with her normal speaking voice, the first to do so in over an hour. “What do you think they all look like now?”

Rhaena was the first to answer. “I’m not sure about Aegon or Aemond, but Helaena and I see each other at uni. She’s radiant and beautiful, as she always has been.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot you've mentioned seeing her around.” Baela replied.

Rhaena smiled, and shook her head down. “Yeah, she’s the coolest, honestly.”

Baela laughed. “Out of those three? It’s no competition.”

Jacaera’s breath fogged up the window as she spoke. “I’ve seen Aegon and Aemond in passing at uni as well. They seem alright. Aegon is no longer the tall one.”

Lucera perked at this. Aemond? Tall?  She shook her head. “I swear I forget we all go to the same school sometimes. There’s just so many people I never see them.”

“Aemond is tall now? Wow. I’ll have to see it to believe it.” Baela jeered.

Jacaera drew a heart in the fogged glass before turning and facing the rest of her sisters. “Yes! It was honestly shocking at first. I barely recognized him, but I saw the eyepatch and knew immediately.”

Oh right. The eye patch. Lucera sighed. Baela moved her hand to sit atop hers in acknowledgement.

A right turn here, a left turn there, and the chateaux-style massive townhouse came into view. The four stories were gaudily embellished by baroque trim, with a massive oak door calling attention to its center. Wreaths were attached to the base of every windowsill, and a candle placed in each window. They watched as Rhaenyra and Daemon pulled Aemma and Viserra out of their carseats, having arrived a few moments before they did. Joanie was looking up at the mass of the townhouse, most likely counting how many windows there were, trying to remember which room was what.

Two men Lucera didn’t recognize dressed in all black greeted her parents, and Daemon smiled and gave him his car keys.

Rhaena twisted the steering wheel to pull up right behind them, and the other man dressed in black immediately jumped to open all of their car doors. Lucera felt like she was moving in slow motion the way the man was everywhere at once, and by the time she had stepped onto the sidewalk, he already had the trunk thrown open and was lifting their suitcases next to her.

“Thank you!” Lucera said enthusiastically, trying to cut through his quickness.

The house—if it could be called such a humble thing, loomed above her. She felt as if she was stepping into all holidays past, where he lingered with the bitter taste of sadism.

The large doors eased open, beckoning them inside. When she peaked in, she saw Daemon’s black trench coat deep in the arms of her grandfather, Rhaenyra to his side, buried in Alicent with a beaming smile of delight. They let go, embracing one another in turn. Viserys could barely contain his excitement at the sight of the little ones, having crouched down to greet them. Lucera noticed the exact moment he caught sight of the rest of her and her sisters, and his joy multiplied ten times over.

“Oh, my girls! My girls.” He said, reaching in to hug each one of them. “I couldn’t be more happy to have all of my family in one place again.”

Greetings were further extended to Alicent. It must have been an exhausting process for Viserys and Alicent, she guessed, since there were so many of them.

Alicent addressed the group. “I was just telling your parents, the rest of them are lost in the house somewhere. I’m sure you’ll see them shortly.”

The girls nodded, and Joanie said something about being excited to see Daeron. The flurry of movement divided as everyone was sent to their rooms to unpack.

Alicent nodded to a staircase on her left. “I put you girls up in the kid’s wing.”

Jacaera laughed, playfulness in her voice. “Only some of us are still kids.”

“Oh don’t be ridiculous,” Alicent waved her hand downwards. “You’ll always be children to me.”

Climbing up three floors was exhausting without the bag, and Lucera could hardly imagine doing it with the extra weight in tow. She looked at the house staff carrying her and her sisters bags, and felt a bit sorry for them.

After reaching her rooms, she was delighted to see that she had a window overlooking the front sidewalk. There were fresh winter roses placed delicately in an opaque white vase on her bedside table, the blue jumping out against the walls of her bedroom.

Her nerves were reaching an all time high. She still hadn’t seen Aemond, yet he was here. But her thoughts were interrupted when Baela swung open her door.

Lucera turned to look at her. “Do you ever knock?”

Baela spun around and leaned exaggeratingly against the door frame before saying, “Not with you, I don’t. All of us girls are going to the hot tub. Put your bathing suit on.”

Lucera smiled, and unzipped her suitcase. “I’ll be ready in five. Wait for me?”

------------

The hot tub was roiling, jets pumping near blistering water against their backs. It was heavenly. Their hair was tied up in variations of buns and pony tails, the ends tickling their necks.

Rhaena had been intently looking at the back of the townhouse. “It’s so crazy to be back here after all these years.”

“It’s hardly changed since then. It feels like I’m stepping into a place frozen in time.” Jacaera marveled.

Helaena chuckled at their insight. “I’m sure it feels that way. I haven’t been to Dragonstone in forever either.”

Jacaera turned to her in revelation. “Gods that’s right! You should come stay with us for the summer. The beach is so warm then.”

“Yeah! Maybe when we all finish up our finals Helaena can just come home with us?” Rhaena said in agreement.

“I’d be happy if you had me,” Helaena replied. “What are all you studying anyways?”

Baela went first. “I’m studying business, with a concentration on finance.”

Lucera seconded her. “Me as well.”

Jacaera tagged at the end of Lucera's agreement. “Also me.”

Helaena laughed. “All you three planning to work for the family business, then?”

“Something like that. Jacaera, Baela, and I will take over after Rhaenyra and Daemon.” Lucera answered. “After Viserys passes, of course. It will be awhile, but there’s a lot to learn anyways.”

“Aemond’s going to do the same. Aegon isn’t interested in being a part of Hightower Associates, and neither am I, but Aemond is preparing to take over after our grandfather. Have you seen him around uni?”

Baela chuckled. “We were just talking about that,” she looked at Jacaera. “Only Jace has, really.”

“Hm. That’s funny considering he’s also in your department.” Helaena remarked.

“Right? I mean the library is huge, but it can’t be that large. I’m there all the time.” Jacaera pondered.

“Knowing him, he probably found a secret room and lives out of it”. Helaena sighed. “He doesn’t go out too much, and he’s really focused on his work.”

Lucera thought about the growing man Aemond had morphed into. One who was deeply integrated and committed to his family business, just as she. It only meant he had gotten more cutthroat. It’s the only way to survive in the world of finance they were thrust into. None of the top hedge fund managers, heads of banking families, or titans of brokers reached and stayed where they were because they were the most virtuous. To survive in this world meant being vicious at times.

A trait that ran in the family, clearly.

“We’ll probably run into him one of these days.” Baela acquiesced. “What are you studying again Helaena?”

“Studio art, concentrating on painting. Aegon is doing the same, but focusing on photography. We both much prefer it to the chaos of the family business.” She said proudly, until she realized the context of the conversation. “Not that I’m putting you down for choosing it, or anything.”

Jacaera giggled. “No, we get it. It is pretty chaotic.”

The hot tub had gone from the initial burn, to comfortable, to boiling again as the conversations ebbed and flowed through several different interests of theirs, such as their love lives and the semester's hook-ups, with extra time spent on the more embarrassing ones. It was truly Baela dominating the bulk of the conversation, hardly anyone else had anything to add apart from a meager makeout here and there.

Baela was also newly introduced to the term “situationship”, as the rest of them deduced she was most certainly in one with Adam Hull.

“Just because we sleep in the same bed most nights doesn’t mean we’re together.” She objected.

Helaena was set on getting her to admit it. “And does he stay in the morning? Do you do any other activities together?”

Baela scoffed. “We get dinner sometimes. And go to the movies every Tuesday, but that’s only because tickets are half-off on Tuesdays. And we go to the gym together. But it’s nothing, really.”

Helaena tried to ease her into it. “You do realize that is essentially a relationship, besides you have no direct commitment or any expectations? Someone is going to get hurt eventually.”

Lucera rolled her eyes. “And it’s probably him. Gods Baela, the man is probably in love with you and you are too daft to see it.”

All eyes on her, Baela was lost in the processing of this new information, until she remembered who and where she was, and quickly found a way to deflect it. “Oh shut up. Says you, you’re like the genuine version of a pick-me girl. Every man who looks at you falls in love with you.”

Lucera rolled her eyes. “You’re exaggerating.”

A smile crept across Baela’s lips, successfully removing the attention away from her situationship. “Um, no I’m not. What of Tyrek Lannister? Gerrick Greyjoy? Dorren Stark? And that’s only from this quarter.” She used her hands to prove her point, counting them on her fingers.

Lucera threw up her arms. “I can’t help it! Honestly! Besides, I don’t lead anyone on, just have maybe a kiss or two.” The rest of the girls sang a chorus of oos, bringing a blush through her cheeks.

“And who was the best out of them?” Jacaera coaxed.

“It hardly matters,” Lucera drawled, “but, it was Gerrick.”

“Hm. I’m surprised it wasn’t Stark.” Rhaena gave a side-long glance at Jacaera. “I’ve heard good things about Stark men.”

Jacaera’s face flushed, praying the heat from the tub would conceal her thoughts. Naturally, everyone noticed, but chose to spare their easily flustered sister.

Helaena looked her in the eyes, and threw her a trusting wink.

------------

As the day wore on, Lucera’s anticipation of seeing Aemond waxed and waned. She thought it would have happened by now—if they were still kids, it surely would have, being at the age where presence around the family was required. She thought of the many places he could be, the things he could be doing, but it was difficult to imagine someone she hadn’t seen in several years. It was nearly impossible to conceive of it, and it only raised her nerves.

Dinner passed along quietly, winter soup and charcuterie being served on a come-and-go basis in the parlor to account for the rush of her family’s arrival and the need for a little bit of flexibility in their schedule. Afterall, there was still much planned for the day: they were going to the ballet, and everyone would be attending.

In front of her vanity, Lucera examined herself in the mirror. She lifted the delicate silver chain to secure it around her neck, the deep crescent moon in its center sitting in the joint of her collarbones. She didn’t try to examine her reasonings for being extra fickle about what she wore, but it was hard to escape his presence in them. It had been so long, and she didn’t want him to think her ugly. He either had changed for the better and would no longer say his cruel thoughts aloud, hadn’t changed and would say that and so much more, or he had gotten worse. A shudder rippled through her as she tried to imagine how that could be possible, but what if it was?

She wanted him to look at her and see how much she had changed, that she was no longer a girl anymore. And perhaps, if he had any lingering thoughts of resentment, that could lend him to realizing that she was no longer deserving of his hostility.

Her nerves from earlier had thawed, and amongst the remains was a newfound confidence. Her mary janes clicked on the sidewalk, her self-assuredness carrying through her legs. She reached into the SUV where her family was waiting for her.

Rhaenyra, holding Aemma on her left leg, reached over and grabbed her hand. “You look radiant, darling.”

Jacaera patted the seat next to her. “Something got your spirits up?”

“Nothing in particular, just had a good day.” And it was true. The day had been knotless. She had been surprised by its ease, and delighted just the same.

Once the tires slowed and the doors slid open, she reached her hand around to grab the frame, the other taking Daemon’s hand to step out of the car. The marquee hung gaudily above them, its essence of performance steeped in its display. She looked around for the Hightowers, who had pulled in ahead of them. She found Alicent’s thick calico fur shawl, trailing to Helaena’s platinum hanging down her back, to…

Her throat seized. Was that really him? His back was set against her, but she could see Aegon’s side profile, meaning the other one must be him.

Jacaera was right, he is tall. She had never pictured him with his hair long. Her sisters poured out of the car to stand alongside her.

Baela was the first to acknowledge it aloud. “Gods, I hardly recognize them.”

The slamming of the car doors must have carried, and he turned around from his mother to face the rest of them.

His hair swung gently, and she caught the moment his eye landed on her. His eyepatch looked menacing, scar tracing just outside of it. While holding her gaze, he upturned his lips into a tight smirk.

Their families approached each other, not too far away to begin with.

Aegon looked delighted to see his cousins, endearing them each. His face had filled out on the edges, and he hadn’t grown an inch. Aemond upheld his apathetic image, looking slightly uninterested, but they knew him better—-he simply always looked that way. Her sisters took turns pulling each of them into hugs with their greetings.

When Aemond reached her, he regarded her for several moments, his dark smile returning. “You’ve changed, Luce.”

She straightened her back, ignoring the way he was openly sliding his eye across her from head to toe. “So have you.”

He surprised her by pulling her deep in his chest, bending his neck down to whisper in her ear. “I haven’t forgotten our little games.” Before she could respond, he released her.

Baela had witnessed the interaction from a few paces away, her eyes still on Aemond, who had gone to greet Rhaenyra. Lucera walked up to her.

She fell into step beside Baela, through the doors, tickets in hand. “What did he say to you?”

Back and forth, she contemplated telling her the truth. Through her childhood, she had never been fully honest through the extent to which he hurt her. Rhaenyra had questioned, Daemon had asked, and her sisters had pushed after her wellbeing once the accidents had been exposed as something more purposeful. Lucera knew her parents were smarter than she, but they also didn’t push the subject when she refused to yield.

She didn’t quite know why, though she supposed it was because she felt she owed Aemond her pain. It was the least she could do for taking his sight. He hadn’t permanently damaged her, afterall. Even though he got close, she reminded herself.

Her mind completed its process, and Lucera would continue her pattern with conflict as she always had. “Just that we all look older now.”

“Hm.” She grabbed Lucera’s arm, looping it in hers, voice quieting. “He looks like a fucking super villian.”

Lucera couldn’t bite back her amusement. “He really does, doesn’t he?”

She didn’t want to think about what else he looked like. Attractive, for one. It felt like a sin to even say it in her mind. Lucera was startled by how menacing he looked, but it suited him. His face was lined in hardness and brutality, his lone purple eye allowing for expression.

His walk bled dominance, something she could do without recognizing. But it was hard to ignore the complex grace in his movements, how every turn of his head and lift of his hand was controlled and measured.

Her eyes kept finding him unwillingly, absorbing the man he had become. Lucera couldn’t help herself, needing to remind herself to keep her gaze anywhere but him. He would notice. Baela would notice. Daemon would notice.

After getting their tickets scanned, she and Baela followed their entourage to their seats. The gilded plasterwork came alive from the walls, creating deep shadows, brightening the jewel tones that sat there. The lattice work was interladened with cherubs holding glowing sconces and foliated candelabras. Figurative and floral murals and abstracts curled and jumped from the ceilings, each framed by golden trim. The proscenium arch jutted out gently from the stage, red curtain dropped to hide the rest of the stage.

Their seats were hoisted on the second floor in the box on stage right. Lucera smiled to herself. She knew whoever had bought their tickets did so knowing that the best view would be from above, so they could see the aerial perspective of the dancer’s intricate formations. If she had to guess, it was probably Alicent.

She had sat in the first row of seats, between Jacaera and Baela, while he sat in the second, off to the side, closer to the stage. The curvature of the seats allowed for her to see him out of the corner of her eye, his side profile unmistakable. As she gauged where he was in relation to her, he caught her eye. He brazenly smirked towards her, and then looked away. She ran her fingers over the front of her dress, needing the movement to keep her grounded. Shortly after, the curtains opened and she breathed relief at the comfort that she would have something else to focus on.

It wasn’t as easy as she had hoped.

As they progressed through the suites, Lucera was trying to tame her gaze, pulling and forcing it to remain ahead on anything but him. There was so much to look at, too—the dancer’s tutus and tights, skin and hair was alight with glitter catching every ray of stage light. The way they moved, their arms pouring up and down, their legs fluttering across the stage. Glissade en arriere to arabesque. The live orchestra in the pit, the sliding of their bows, the dancing of their fingers. She had so much to choose from. And it worked for a time, until she remembered his presence, and she had to pull her gaze forward again.

He caught her once or twice, and returned her wandering eyes with the same haughty smile.

She didn’t know if it should scare her, but it definitely made her feel something. Like she wanted to push the button to reveal a secret. Perhaps it was curiosity; she was a woman now, and can’t possibly be pushed around like she used to. He wouldn’t kill her. Not now at least. It would have had to happen years ago, when he was still a child and could get away with “accidental” murder. At present, he’d go to prison for manslaughter. Right? He has to know that. And he himself is a man grown, who has risen above such ideas. Right?

The curtains were drawn, they stood from their seats, her family quickly ushering everyone to get back to the house as fast as possible.

Once alone in the comforts of her bedroom, she unzipped, unlaced, and undid every button and tie on her clothing, releasing more than just the tension it had held on her skin. The whirlwind of their evening had finally come to an end. She had seen him, and it had been somewhat eventful, but she had expected nothing less.

------------

The next morning after an uneventful breakfast, Viserys had called all of his grandchildren to the kitchens. He ensured they knew their presence was mandatory.

“You kids haven’t seen each other in so long. It’s time you bond again.” It was hard to tell what the room-wide cringe was from: being called kids, or being told they must bond over something of Viserys’ choosing.

Lucera looked around the massive kitchen, and knew immediately what they were going to be doing.

Viserys waved his hand. “I dismissed the staff early today. Instead, you all are going to be making our family’s holiday cookies!”

Joanie squealed in excitement, diverting the attention away from Aemond and Aegon, who both rolled their eyes louder than she’d ever seen it done.

“Why not. I love baking!” Rhaena perked.

Viserys stepped out to be more directly in front of them, looking at each of them intently. “Here’s what’s going to happen. Aegon and Jacaera, you two will do our peanut butter kisses. Aemond and Lucera, I want you two doing our sugar cut-outs. Daeron and Joanie, you two are in charge of snowballs. Rhaena, Helaena, and Baela, you three will do our gingerbread cookies. You’ll need the extra person since they’re a lot of work.” He gestured towards the back wall. “I’ve had the cooks set out all the ingredients, and there should be plenty of room for all of you.”

Lucera didn’t know quite what to do. Her intimidation of him was preventing her from moving her feet. Let alone, she didn’t know if Aemond hated this idea, and she didn’t want to feel his rejection. But then again, very little sounded better than fresh cookies.

Joanie and Daeron had practically run across the kitchen, as if it was a race to see who could finish the fastest. Lucera smiled at her youthful enthusiasm.

“Are you going to just stand there and look dumb?” Aemond’s voice cut through her thoughts.

She looked up at him. “No, no of course.”

“Of course you’re going to stand there and look dumb?”

Lucera grumbled. “You know what I meant.”

They walked over to the corner of the kitchen. Lucera knew this recipe by heart, having made it many times the past several years at Dragonstone.

“We need to work the butter, first. Cream it up a bit.”

She began unfolding the wax off of the butter.

“They’re quite simple. I don’t know why he wants the two of us to do it. A child could make these by themselves.”

Lucera took the flat end of the spatula and smashed the butter into smaller pieces in the bowl. “You know why he wants us to do it together.”

Aemond pulled out the bag of flour, dipping the cup deep in the bag. “I suppose. Funny thing for him to act like he cares so much about bonding time.” He swiped a knife off of the top of the measuring cup. “So this is what bonding looks like?”

Lucera scoffed. “It could be, if you actually acted like you wanted to be here.”

Across the kitchen, she could hear Jacaera scolding Aegon over the bag of hershey’s kisses. “You do realize we need some of those to actually make the cookies? Save some for the rest of us.”

Aemond paused, mulling over his next words carefully. “I could be doing something else.”

Lucera looked over at Baela, Rhaena, and Helaena, who were giggling over the molasses and brown sugar.

“And what might that be?” She questioned mockingly. While he poured in the sugar and flour, she began mixing in the butter.

“Working.” He turned to face her, dipping his head to look down at her from their close proximity. Sarcasm sat between his next words. “Ever heard of it?”

Lucera was slightly ruffled by this, and even though she caught on to his tone, wasn’t willing to go along with the act. “You don’t know the slightest thing about me.”

He stood behind her to grab something on the other side, and whether it was for stability or otherwise, he put his hand on her waist. She tried not to make any sudden movements to imply she was thrown off or affected by this gesture, and could not say if she was successful or not. His hand was large, fingers stretching across the right side of her lower back. Just breathe. She tried to tamper down her blush, not wanting him to know that he flustered her. It would only make her more of a target.

“Twas just a joke, Lucie.” He smirked, pulling away, and warping his fingers to the newly formed dough in the bowl.

She tried not to watch the way his deft hands worked the dough into a ball. Needing to prove she was not in fact bothered, she replied, “Regardless, I will have you know that I’m in the line of succession. Me, Jacaera, and Baela are all going to uphold Targaryen International Banking after Rhaenyra and Daemon.”

To her surprise, Aemond showed her possibly the first form of respect she had ever received from him. “It’s an honor to not only be a part of our family, but also uphold its greatness.”

Lucera pulled out the various cookie cutters, clearing her throat. They had been apart all this time, their secret torture games known truly just between them. She knew she should hate him, but she didn’t. And the unfortunate circumstances had decided that he must grow into a desirable devil. But she can’t think about that right now. Looking at her cookie shape options, she decided her favorite was the Christmas tree. “I heard you’re inheriting Hightower Associates.”

He smiled, and even though it was tight lipped, she could tell it meant something to him. “Yes. Otto most likely has another decade in him to run it, but it will be mine once he is no longer fit for it. Thank the gods, Aegon and Helaena would destroy it.”

Lucera looked over at her sister and Aegon. He looked at her with light in his eyes, while she double checked each dough ball to ensure they were the same size. As nice as the scene was, his momentary calm was deceiving. She laughed quietly in her throat imagining him being put in charge.

Their own dough had been rolled out, and they began stamping it with the cookie cutter. “I’m sure you will do the business much good. You can be…” Lucera looked for the right words, and wondered if it was even a good idea to remind him of his nature in the first place. “Quite intense. And cutthroat.”

He paused at her implicit acknowledgement of the past, looking at her directly once again. His chest was at her eye level, even though she pried her eyes upwards to meet his. The soap on his neck had a clean, sharp scent. “Yes. I suppose I haven���t changed much.” He waited for any kind of reaction, but she figured it best to not give him any. Lest he get any real ideas.

Lucera slid the cookies into the oven, the warmth heating up her arms. She vaguely recalled when Aemond had tried to shut her arms in the frame of the oven, and startled herself with his proximity.

He noticed her pulling away from the oven with fear in her eyes. “Relax. My days of trying to scar you are over.” Aemond poured a small stream of milk over the powdered sugar on the stove. “Besides, my hands are busy. And there’s people here.”

It wasn’t until she finished sliding the tray in the oven and closed the door that she processed his meaning.

She looked up at him, eyes widened. “You’re not going to…?” Lucera didn’t say it out loud, for she didn’t want anyone else to hear.

He continued stirring, the smell of the heated sugar between them. “We’re both adults now. I wouldn’t be so senseless.”

The tension she had been holding around him had faded, filled in with relief. “I don’t know why,” she chuckled, “I just didn’t know what to expect.”

His side-eye landed on her, but he was playing lighthearted. “You wound me Lucera. Surely I would hope you think higher of me than that.”

“Hm.” She smirked at him, wanting to joke with him as he had to her. “You’ll just have to prove how smart you are then.”

His face held an unreadable expression, but she still counted anything besides scowling as progress.

The butter, sugar, and flour were melding together in the oven, releasing a heavenly smell. Lucera released some of the tension she had held around him. Perhaps this new chapter of their lives could strengthen their family, instead of tearing it apart as their childhood had.

Reading the golden edges of the cookies, Lucera determined they were finished and removed them out of the oven without fear of Aemond shutting her arm in. The royal icing was ready, and she put them in the refrigerator so the cookies were able to cool before they could put the icing on.

A large guffaw of laughter exploded from the other side of the kitchen, where Joanie and Daeron were saddled with powdered sugar. It had lodged itself in the creases of their faces, deepening their smile lines. In their attempt to brush it off their faces, they only served to spread the sugary dust to every surface in their vicinity.

Daeron, upon realizing the blessing this was, ran to Aegon with his snowy sugared hands and started furiously wiping them on the back of Aegon’s sweater.

Having been attacked by the enemy in a blind spot, Aegon was initially at the disadvantage. But, once he turned around, he used his height and weight to throw Daeron to the ground.

This move might have deterred many from another attack, but Daeron was a Targaryen, afterall. He grabbed onto Aegon’s leg, not letting go. It was an advanced move, leaving the victim—Aegon—unable to do much else than furiously try to peel him away.

Joanie made a jump to his other leg despite Aegon’s protests for her to not get involved. The two clung to his calves, anchoring him to the floor, giggling in victory. Aegon ceased his complaining and sighed in defeat.

“Anyone want to help me?” Aegon moaned.

Jacaera was busy pressing what was left of the hershey’s kisses into the cookies. She shrugged. “I can’t, I have to do this while they’re fresh out of the oven.” Besides, she was too amused by the situation.

“Sorry, I don’t want to get powdered sugar all over my new pants.” Baela shouted from across the kitchen.

Aemond was also pleased by his brothers, and after hesitating a few moments too long, began long strides towards the scene.

He had nearly reached Aegon, but once Daeron had peeked his head around Aegon’s knee to see the long legs of his other brother coming towards them, he flung himself off of Aegon and skittered across the floor. Joanie was quick to follow.

Once the cookies were all primed and pretty—to the best of their ability, at least—Lucera padded up the steps with a giggling Jacaera. In the parlor, Rhaenyra was drinking tea with Alicent. They must have heard of Viserys’ plan, as they looked at Lucera with concern, subtly checking over her limbs and face for any signs of harm as they had done when she was younger.

Alicent leaned over with furrowed brows and express interest, Rhaenyra had worry in her eyes. “How was baking my darlings?”

Knowing that they truly wished to know of her wellbeing, Lucera was relieved that for once around the holidays, she could tell them the truth. “It was good! No unlucky burns or anything! Just tasty cookies.”

They brought a plate over with all of their treats.

Rhaenyra beamed at her daughters. “I see gingerbreads, sugar cut-outs, and—?”

Jacaera leaned forward. “Peanut butter kisses. Aegon ate half of the hershey’s chocolates, so we didn’t have enough to put on top of all of them. Those ones are just plain peanut butter cookies.”

Alicent rolled her eyes through her smile, lovingly joking. “Of course he did, the little twat. I’m sure they’re still delicious.”

“Once he stopped eating the candy and started participating, he really enjoyed baking. Does he ever go down to the kitchens to bake?”

Lucera raised her eyebrows. She knew exactly what made Aegon so interested in baking earlier, and it wasn’t the sweets.

“He’s never thought it interesting before. Perhaps he was just happy to see everyone.” Alicent had toned down her surprise at the idea that he enjoyed the experience, having a mother’s sense of what was really at play. Her and Lucera shared a knowing glance, Jacaera none the wiser.

“And you Lucera?” Alicent had turned to face her.

“Oh yes! Aemond and I got along quite well. He’s an arse, but it suits him.” The sense of relief she glimpsed earlier had returned, and the weight of lying no longer chained to her. She was able to be genuine without having to pretend. It was a welcome feeling.

“He’s a proud man, that’s for sure. I still don’t know where he inherited his arrogance.” Alicent chimed.

Rhaenyra was put at ease with the grace of her features, always knowing the truth of her daughter. A shadow of skepticism remained, but she was optimistic that their maturation had changed things. “I’m glad you had a good time, darling.”

At least for the time being, any fears she had could be put to rest.

It had been a hard period of time when she had lied to her, both of them knowing that there was something much deeper to her words. It had been why, without too much evidence, Rhaenyra had decided it best that they spend a few holidays alone at Dragonstone. Viserys had insisted that they return each year, believing that it best for the family to be together when there was tension. Namely, after the accident where Aemond lost his eye, and his consequent aggression towards Lucera. Rhaenyra could only look at the truth in her daughter’s eyes for so long.

He hadn’t done anything out in the open, but he was occasionally sloppy. He was only a child after all, and was still learning how to keep a victim silent. He was lucky it was Lucera, who in her docility and self-blaming from the accident, let him act as he saw fit.

Her least favorite memory was when he held her head over the tub in the basement filled with water. He had grabbed her hair and held her face under water, keeping it there until her squirms softened to near limpness. He would then pull her up again, allowing for her to catch her breath before repeating the cycle. She had silently trusted him to let her live. It didn’t make the moments she spent choked underwater any less terrifying.

That had been the last time she saw him. Rhaenyra had remembered her coming up the stairs, face flushed, edges of her hair wet. Lucera recalled telling her that she slipped and fell in the snow outside, but her eyes had given her away. Even after much pressure, Rhaenyra still wasn’t sure what had happened, but she knew Aemond was involved and that Lucera looked like she had been through a torture sequence. Which, of course, she had.

But those days were behind them. He had said it himself.

------------

Later in the evening, after a light dinner, a particularly competitive game of Scrabble that nearly ended with Daemon’s knife at Aemond’s throat, and a Hallmark movie that Viserys claimed would “calm everyone down” (which it hadn’t—not entirely—although the two had slowly united across the one hour and thirty five minute screen time against their hatred for such movies), the family had dispersed and found their ways to bed.

Lucera was tucked in, nearly drowning in the comforter, just how she liked it. There was just one thing—she needed water. Her eyes had closed, her body tired and unwilling to go downstairs. But her throat was scratching for relief, and no amount of willing herself to sleep had changed it.

She skimpered down the steps, her long fuzzy socks lightening the blow of her feet. All of the lights had been turned off, and she relied on the underlights of the cabinets to light her way.

Under the fridge light, she filled up her cup.

The silence was broken by the stream coming from the fridge, and then by footsteps coming near. Lucera tried to cover up what little she could, as a simple t-shirt and underwear had been all she needed in the privacy of her room. She hoped whoever it was wouldn’t look too closely or scold her for being so indecent.

She would be gone in a moment anyway.

Putting her water glass in the sink, she turned to go down the hallway when she saw the illumination of platinum hair in the dark.

“Aemond.” And even though she whispered, the surprise was not lacking in her voice.

“Lucera. It’s getting late.” He was stepping closer to her, his voice soft.

“I was just a bit thirsty. I’m going back to bed now.” She tried to step around him, but he blocked her way with his arm against the wall.

“You know, before I saw you I wondered if I’d continue our little games.” He glazed his eye over her near-nakedness. “I thought I might not. And then I saw you, this pretty little thing, and I realized that we can have so much more fun together.”

She knew what he meant by it, but tried to ignore it for the moment. “But I thought you said you wouldn’t—”

“I said I wouldn’t scar you. I never said I wouldn’t do other things.” He grabbed a lock of her hair, twisting it between his fingers. “Oh how you’ve grown, Lucera.”

She tried to grab at the wrist of his hand in her hair, but he only grabbed onto her wrists instead, pushing her backwards towards a door in the hallway. He fumbled with the knob before throwing her in, the force of it landing her on the floor.

Lucera pulled her hair out of her face and stood up. “You didn’t need to be so rough with me.”

He grabbed her chin domineeringly soft. “Look at me, Lucera.”

Her lip quivered and she looked up at him, her large doe eyes unable to prevent her from looking nothing but innocent.

He looked deep in her eyes, commanding her submission with nothing but a look. “You always let me torture you, sweet little thing.”

All breath in her body halted, every movement, every beat of blood. The silence around her grew louder, unsure if she had heard him correctly.

“But now I want to do other things to you. I’m still using your body, of course, just in a different way. And you’re still going to listen to me, just like you always have?” Aemond tilted her jaw upwards to the right, then moved it to the left, as if he was examining her face from every angle.

The blood moving through her veins got thicker, her heart quickening its pace. Lucera quietly admitted to herself that she was excited at the idea that he could want her that way. Did he really think her attractive enough to want? He couldn’t mean what she thought he meant. Did he? Surely he didn’t want her like that.

He sneered in her face, clearly finding her dumbfoundedness amusing. “Look at you. Big eyes just looking up at me, waiting for validation. I knew you’d do anything I’d ask. Hells, you’ll probably enjoy it too.”

Lucera didn’t know how he had such a hold on her. How could he get away with talking to her like this? Why did she let him? Why was her belly aching with heat? She could feel her arousal dripping along her slit, sitting warm in her panties.

She pulled every last string of dignity together and tightened her hold to say, “No, Aemond. You’re not allowed to treat me this way.” and tried her hardest to turn away from him.

But, he was quick to react, and immediately pulled her backside flush against him, arms locked across her neck and midsection. “Squirm all you want. I see how your eyes hold nothing but submission for me, they always have. Is it guilt? Or something else?” He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “I don’t believe you wouldn’t enjoy every last drop of anything I give you. I’ll prove it to you right now.”

He moved his hand knowingly across her hip bones, giving them a hearty squeeze before sliding his fingers down her thigh to hike up her skirt. Her panic was felt immediately as she put her back and shoulders into every push and shove she gave him. “No, no no no, don’t—”

“Why? Are you worried about what I’ll find?” She wasn’t able to break out of the cage that was his strength, and his fingers gently trailed across the thin fabric hiding her entrance. What little barrier she had did a poor job of concealing her heated wetness.

He began lightly circling her clit, bending his face into her neck. “Tsk tsk tsk. Just as I thought, Lucie.”

She whimpered. “I just, I just am confused.”

“Hmm? I don’t think your body is confused. Your body wants me, Lucie. It wants me inside you. It’s all soaking and ready to take me.”

“You’re just so mean to me. I can’t let you do this if you’re mean to me.”

Aemond chuckled, feeling her melt into his touch as his deft fingers pleasured her. “You’ve always been so good at letting me take out my frustrations on you. This is no different, Lucie.”

She whimpered in his arms, unable to control the profound pleasure he was thrusting upon her. And it was him. There was something so enrapturing about his presence. She wanted to be engulfed in it, to feed off of it. But he had too much power—it wasn’t fair, he had always had the upper hand.

He slipped his fingers underneath the constraints of her underwear, immediately finding her slick folds. He gathered some of the wetness he found there and brought it up to her clit, where he rubbed gentle circles against her. “You’re soaking for me Lucie. I want to hear you submit to me. Your body is begging you.”

She whimpered again. The pleasure was too great, his weight pressed against her from all sides. Lucera needed more. Her resolve and rationality were slipping, disintegrating into a state of utter obedience, the teasing becoming too much to bear. It was like he was drowning her again.

“Anything, I’ll do anything, Aemond. I need this,” her voice squeaked from under his arm.

He laughed darkly in her ear before licking it, the warm sensation filling out through the rest of her body. “You will listen and do as I say, yes?”

“Yes. I swear it.” She cried.

“Good. On your knees, sweet girl.”

Her eyes got even bigger as she received his command. Lucera hesitated, looking up at him in his utter assertiveness. The look in his eye alone made her knees buckle.

Softly finding the most comfortable position she could on her knees, she tilted up her chin, attempting to hold as much dignity as possible. He grabbed both of her cheeks with each hand, fat pudging out between his thumbs and forefingers.

“You’re going to swallow my cock, do you understand? And when I decide I want to fuck your throat, I will.” He moved his right thumb down to her chin. “And if you bite, we can play one of our old games.”

She wouldn’t have bit him, but she was old enough to realize he got off on the power he had over her. And yet, she didn’t have to fake her submission. It was real, and it soaked her through.

With that, he let go of her face and gave her a playful slap on the cheek.

His hands remained at his sides, and she took that to mean that she must be the one to remove his pants.

Lucera tried to conceal the hesitation to approach his cock, but she couldn’t help herself. The bulge reaching across his leg was considerable, and she was unsure about trying to stuff something so large in her throat.

When she finally collected the courage to pull down the flannel in her fingertips, she was truly faced with the reality of such an act.

He was beautiful. Of course, even his cock has to be perfect. She took her hand, and worked the warm skin up and down, twisting her palm ever so slightly.

“Suck.” He said bluntly. 

“I’ll try, but I don’t know how I’m going to—”

“If you can’t figure it out, I think pounding your throat will do the trick.” He interjected, his hand landing in her hair firmly.

This drove her to action, as she wanted to maintain as much control in the situation as possible. She pushed the head past her lips, his salty precum landing on her tongue. Her jaw expanded as much as it could, and she pushed herself to swallow his length.

Lucera could already feel the sides of her mouth being triggered to wetness by the intrusion, and she was thankful for it. She held onto the base to steady herself, and she began slowly moving back and forth, lathing her tongue on the bottom of his cock.

She could feel his hands shift in her hair as he played with it gently, combing his fingers through.

“You’re such a good girl, Lucera”

His voice felt like pure encouragement, and his validation was something she had never felt before. Lucera decided she liked that feeling.

She pushed herself deeper on him as her throat warmed up, but was still unable to fit it all. She tried using her hand to make up for what she couldn’t reach, and although she wished she could deep throat him, she was proud that she had made it this far.

He grabbed her hair a bit more assertively, and guided her up and down with a touch more of force. “You’re taking it so well, your throat wraps around me perfectly.”

Her eyes had begun to slightly water, but she still tried to connect their eyes. She had read in a magazine that boys liked that.

He began to move her head even more strongly, and pushed her throat further on his cock. She gagged, but he only moaned in his chest, the sensation squeezing his cock in her throat.

Lucera could hardly see, her tears clouding her vision. Her saliva gathered around her lips and slopped down her chin as she felt him push deep into her throat.

“Look at you, on your knees for me. This is where you belong.” He thrust into her mouth, holding her by the back of her head. As rough as he was, Lucera found that she just wanted to impress him. To show him that she wasn’t weak, and that she was capable.

“Fuck, Lucera.” He moaned above her, his breath deepening. With animalistic impulse, he worked her throat with lewd hunger, before pulling her as hard as he could towards his hips.

She knew what was about to happen, and although she was still choking on his cock, braced herself. Lucera felt his length throb in her mouth as he unloaded down her gullet and straight to her belly.

Having ceased his brutal thrusts, Aemond brushed her hair gently. “Swallow all of it, Lucie.”

She subconsciously tried to swallow around it, but it was difficult to move much of anything.

After holding her there for a few more moments, he released her. She stuttered backwards slightly, coughing and gulping for air.

He tucked himself back beneath his waistband, and bent down next to her. He took her shirt and wiped off the excess spit that had gathered around her chin, and then moved it up to wipe her eyes.

“You’re gorgeous on your knees, you know that?” His hand dragged languidly against her inner thigh, towards her underwear. She inhaled deeply at his movements, canting her hips to meet his hand.

“You’re so needy, aren’t you?” He tilted his head, looking down at her below him devilishly. “My cock down your throat only made you more soaked, hmm?”

His words burned into her pleasure, and Lucera couldn’t help but whimper. His fingers on her moved in light circles on her clit, warping the pleasure building inside her.

“Tell me how it felt in your throat.” His voice poured over her. She drank in each syllable of every lewd word spitting out of his mouth like ambrosia. 

“You felt heavy on my tongue,” Lucera said, her breathing erratic. “I didn’t know how I was going to take it.”

“Hmm, that’s right.” He drawled. “It’s not easy taking a thick down your throat is it?”

“N-no.” She mewled.

“But you did a good job,” he brushed his thumb above her stomach. “You didn’t miss a drop.”

She panted as he loomed above her, playing her body like an instrument. She had already been so worked up, so much ache already inside her, that she knew her orgasm was coming. Aemond must have noticed too, for he picked up his pacing to the exact tempo she needed.

“Cum on my fingers, Lucie.”

She didn’t need anything further than his voice to send her over the edge as her eyes rolled back in her head, orgasmic pleasure bursting deep in her belly. She did her best to hold back the amplitude of the cries in her throat lest someone hear her.

The euphoria rippled through her body, and she could feel his satisfaction at her pleasure. After a few more moments, the lingering contentment was joined by a new wave of drowsiness.

It was late.

Lucera opened her eyes. Aemond stood up, pulling her up with him.

“Sleep well, Lucie.” He opened the door, gave her a quick slap on her ass, and walked towards the kitchen.

Her haze carried her to bed, where she unceremoniously slung herself under the covers, half-unconscious already. 

[velvetfoxgames]

Infinite Blue - February 2024 Update

Hello! We're back from our holiday break. We hope everyone has had a lovely December and January.

As we head into the new year, we've been putting a heavy focus on wrapping up assets and scripts. Check out our progress!

ARTWORK

Along with the sprites, chatroom art and item art are all finished!

For chatroom art, you'll see six on the common route and two on each character's route. Here's a preview of one that appears on Rory's.

I enjoy how a lot of the chatroom art are seemingly quite random.

And here's one of the finished item art as well. Yum!

As for CGs, Alexei's four sketches from the last update have been completed.

Up next are Rory's CGs. We posted part of one of his sketches last week :)

WRITING

Very good news here - Rory's route, which was in shambles for a very long time, has been rewritten and is currently being edited in a second passthrough. Other routes are being updated with username changes and fancy chat bubbles along with a few final passthroughs. We're on track to finish the scripts!

CURRENT GOALS

Finish up the music, UI and backgrounds. There's approximately three 'main' BGs left.

Finish the CGs - should be done in the next few months!

Finish the scripts

Start preparing for voice over

PATREON

You can now sign up as a free member to Patreon, so if you'd like to be notified of monthly headcanons of the Infinite Blue boys, please feel free to sign up. You can check out our headcanons collection by clicking HERE. There's two so far.

We're very motivated as we approach these later stages of the game! Thanks for following along and for all of your excitement about Infinite Blue 💙

Thanks for reading!

🌦️ For weekly updates and extra content, join our Patreon!

🌦️ Follow us on Twitter and join our Discord

[comicaurora]

Hey Red! Huge fan of OSP and Aurora, my question for you is what animated superhero shows would you recommend?

little bee with an incongruously elephant-themed username, you are officially my best friend

Batman: Beyond

Fifty years after Batman: The Animated Series (which I also recommend, natch), Bruce Wayne has long since retired from being Batman and become a grumpy recluse until hooligan with a heart of gold Terry McGinnis steals the cowl and the fancy suit it's attached to in order to avenge his murdered father and goes on to become the Batman Of The Future, mentored by Bruce. One of the only truly episodic superhero cartoons - almost no overarching plotlines, just character arcs and the occasional villain with their own thing going on. Has a recurring rogue's gallery but also a higher villain bodycount than most superhero shows; villains of the week are not guaranteed to survive their episode, even (and especially) villains from the original Batman run. Exceptionally horrifying plotlines include "man presumed killed in industrial waste accident actually buried alive in horrifying immobilized undead purgatory and animates living humanoid masses of dirt for revenge", "all the cool kids are splicing their DNA and shockingly the dude in charge is evil about it" and "somehow the joker has returned." Also has a surprisingly good follow-up tie-in comic series (and a few less-good ones).

Justice League and Justice League: Unlimited

The first couple seasons (aka just Justice League) are almost entirely two-parters, mostly character-driven, focused in on the main seven founding Justice League members. The finale reshuffles the status quo somewhat, and then Justice League: Unlimited vastly expands the cast and incorporates basically every other DC hero ever written, but somehow doesn't completely fall apart like other shows that tried to follow suit. Most episodes of JLU are self-contained singletons that focus on small subsets of the expanded League - like "Double Date," which focuses on Huntress, The Question, Green Arrow and Black Canary and is well regarded as one of the best episodes. Features seasonal overarching plotlines as well as self-contained episodes that work in isolation. The JLU episodes that focus on the original seven Leaguers are always fun, but it's also nice to see other heroes get spotlighted.

Green Lantern: The Animated Series

Do you like lancers? Do you like sad bad boys? Do you like starcrossed love stories? Do you like self-loathing jerks with hearts of gold? Do you like it when Green Lantern is also there? Have I got a show for you! I firmly believe this show only exists to justify someone's OC fanfic romance between the world's angstiest bad boy and a sentient spaceship, and there are only Green Lanterns in it because there have to be. And it's worth it. Also features some deep pulls from the Green Lantern canon like Larfleeze, Mogo the living planet and Saint Walker the first Blue Lantern. Only two seasons and the art style takes some getting used to, but man it's got some high points. Extremely overarching-plot-driven with the occasional more episodic adventure.

Teen Titans

One of those shows that oscillates wildly between "so lighthearted it's a little tooth-aching to watch" and "so crushingly dark it's unbelievable that this is the same show as those other episodes," just how I like it. Extremely episodic which makes it easy to skip around, which is good, because a lot of these episodes are kinda dumb. Adapts some of the most iconic plotlines of The New Teen Titans, but it's a very different adaptation of all characters involved to the point where it's hard to think of them as the same characters at all. This is not a bad thing, it's just a thing. A superhero show where it feels like everyone is legitimately friends with everyone else, with shipping relegated to the background in favor of platonic dynamics. Main villain isn't allowed to be called his supervillain name because it has "death" in it and that's a no-no, so he goes by his actual legal name instead. For some reason a big deal is made over his identity and face being hidden despite his identity in the comics being Just A Buff Old Guy and his villain name being his legal name he pays taxes under.

Static Shock

Took me a criminally long time to watch this one, and I've only gotten through the first couple seasons, but it's really good. A solo hero rather than a team, Virgil's fun to watch because his powerset is limited but he's really smart with it. Turns out giving a brilliant nerd electromagnetic powers means he figures out a lot of ways to use them beyond "zapping things" or "magnetizing stuff" and it's fun to watch him figure out solutions to problems he can't just blast his way through. Also while the show had to limit some storylines to just coding and subtext (Virgil's best friend Richie is gay, but the kind of gay that's not allowed to be explicitly stated anywhere except creator interviews) the show is incredibly overt in discussions of systemic racism, police brutality, gang violence, sky-high familial expectations and how Virgil struggles to deal with all those things. Has a very brightly-colored and cartoony palette compared to other DCAU shows, making it incredibly jarring when someone hands Virgil a straight-up real gun in the first episode, which he promptly throws in the bay because he's a Certified Good Boy.

Legion of Super Heroes

Criminally underrated and only two seasons long! Clark Kent, long before he becomes Superman, gets recruited by a superhero team from the 31st century to travel into the future and help them out with a supervillain problem. He sticks around for a while learning to be a better superhero and live up to the legend he'll someday inspire, including acquiring his suit from a museum dedicated to himself. Lots of fun dramatic irony as an audience is expected to know stuff about Superman that even Clark doesn't know yet, like what Kryptonite is and why his powers don't work on planets with red suns. First season is very episodic. Everyone gets timeskipped in Season 2 and when Superman comes back he's actually been Superman for a while and is a lot better at it now. Standout character through both seasons is Brainiac 5, who is typically written romantically interested in Supergirl and in this show appears to have the exact same level of affection for Superman, which implies that his type is "kryptonians who can bridal carry me" and probably confuses the hell out of the remnants of Original Brainiac buried in his sourcecode. His "true form" is a ten-foot killer robot, which means he chooses to look like a twinky blond. In season 2 he uses a holodeck to play out dramatically dying in Superman's arms, which is around the point where "subtext" becomes "text." Superman and an edgy lancer clone of Superman spend the season 2 finale helping him out in a Battle In The Center Of The Mind versus Original Evil Brainiac, a process I am convinced only takes as long as it does because Brainiac 5 has two Supermen fighting for him and he's not gonna let that opportunity slip away. Take a drink every time he uses the phrase "twelfth level intellect" and finish the glass whenever he and Superman play out a scene that would be less romantic if they kissed.

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

On to Marvel finally! Rock solid through all of season 1, the writing gets a little shaky through season 2 - some episodes are spectacular, some are just okay, and a couple verge on full-on idiot plots. Still well worth a watch, if for no other reason than the broadly incredible character writing. This show writes Captain America so well that when he's replaced with a Skrull in season 2 the audience can tell that something is missing; Skrull-Cap acts the way Captain America acts when written by somebody who thinks he's boring, while real Cap acts like a real person who happens to be an absolute paragon of heroism. This show also writes Thor really well and respects his status as the powerhouse, and broadly all the characters are well handled and make good, smart decisions for the information they have available. This is what I consider to be the definitive version of The Avengers, and its existence is why I'm not mad at the MCU when it does my faves dirty - I know I'll always have EMH season 1!

X-Men: Evolution

So, SO early 2000s! Most of the younger X-Men are de-aged so they can double up superheroics with high school drama, which means this version of Wolverine is a full-on dad and it's great. This show also invented X-23. Also if you watched basically any anime in the 90s there are a lot of familiar voices, which makes certain scenes very jarring - Light Yagami as Nightcrawler is one of the funniest bits of dissonance. Also for new God of War fans, Magneto might sound very familiar. Quality is hit-or-miss in places - the season 1 finale is kind of laughably terrible and the show mostly pretends it didn't happen - but it has some extreme high points, mostly the Wolverine-centric episodes. Almost every conflict could be resolved immediately by Nightcrawler's powers, so unfortunately he gets knocked out at the start of nearly every fight, which circles around to being very funny after a while.

Spectacular Spider-Man

The best Spider-Man cartoon, I think! Very much a solo story - just Spider-Man alone vs his massive rogue's gallery, no other superheroes. Extremely quality banter and arcs - several villains have their origins during the series, many appearing in important roles before becoming proper supervillains. Very much an overarching-plot story, and unfortunately canceled before some of those arcs could be resolved, so it ends on a bit of a bummer, which is fairly standard stuff for Spider-Man, tbh. This is a good version of Peter, which is good, because we spend a lot of the show in his head; we get a nearly-constant inner monologue from him so we always know what he's thinking, so he'd better be likable.

[missing-sock-misto]

Jellicle Ask game: 1, 3, 7

Hi! (So I wrote a drabble for number 7, lol)

1. Favourite Swing

I honestly really like George, simply for the headcanon that he’s actually a dog? It’s incredibly silly but I do think it’s adorable.

3. Favourite Replica costume

I Love Misto’s outfit. It says so much about his character, he's neat, fancy, helps him stand out of a crowd,

(Moscow 2005 Misto)

I love the little black splotch on his leg, it's reminicent of the markings you'll see on actual tuxedo cat legs.

I also love that he has a single missing sock. Hence my username. Three white limbs, one black arm. It's very cute, is distinctive and unusual for tuxedos. (Which is why I don't like the Broadway revival giving him two black socks, one on opposite limbs. No.)

I also have a particular fondness for the more modern show number tuxedo, especially Xavier Pellin. It's more reminiscent of a figure skater outfit. The black velvet makes it a deeper black than Tugger's grey-black. But I like how the white patch ends just below his chest, while his chorus outfit ends at his midriff. it's like he buttoned up his coat XD

I like the idea that Misto can shapeshift slightly, going from all black to tuxedo depending on his mood XD

7. Favourite sibling headcanons

Tugger, Munk and Mac are brothers and the sons of old Deut, though Munk has a different mom. Mac is the easiest to not make a Deuteronomy, but it is my preference.

Also while I love the ‘Misto and Victoria are twins’ headcanon, I actually prefer it when Misto is fully an outsider to the Tribe, or even something supernatural in the skin of a cat. Sometimes, this is how I play around with the "Eldritch Misto" idea. So I actually like the idea that Misto and Victoria are foster siblings. Victoria found Misto as a kitten, and they adopted each other. They call each other twins because they don’t know when Misto was born so they just share a birth date.

One idea: When baby Victoria, (who is the daughter of Bustopher Jones's sister), played around the home, she felt the shadows watching her. It raised the fur on the back of her neck, like after rubbing a balloon. Her siblings hated the shadows, arching their backs and opening their mouths in snarls she couldn’t hear. But the shadows didn’t scare her. At first she thought it was the Everlasting Cat watching her. But then she realized it was different. This was not the comforting glow she felt when she stared up at the full moon. This was a quieter feeling, mist on a moonless night wrapping her gently in silver. It was the tingle on her tongue as she looked at the sky heavy with clouds, while lights flickered and flashed overhead. The lights scared her siblings too.

She started tossing toys or bits of her food into the shadow. The toys returned, the food disappeared. Her momma thought she had made an imaginary friend. It was not imaginary.

But it was a friend.

One by one, her siblings found new homes in large hands that caressed them. Hands touched her and held her, but never chose her. Her mother licked her fur with static strokes, her chest vibrating gently. The vibrations fascinated Victoria. So many things made them. The regular thumps as the humans feet hit the floor, the shaking as a truck pulled up to the house.

One day, strange men whose scents she did not recognize invaded her home. Their footsteps sent percussive shocks up her legs. She hid, watching as they put wooden tables into cardboard boxes before carrying them away. She had to move as one by one her favorite hiding spots were taken- the men upending cabinets and removing blankets. Finally, tucked away somewhere high in a nook with no furniture, she was safe. She wiggled her toes against the floor of her hiding place, enjoying the rhythmic vibrations as the strangers moved so far below. Safe, she curled into a ball, and fell asleep.

When she wakes up, the house is empty, and she is alone. No humans. No boxes. No momma. She runs through the house, mouth open, throat vibrating in a way that got momma’s attention, trying to find someone, anyone. After hours of searching the desolate house, she gives up, curling up on sore legs. She shivers, both from cold and tears.

She is awoken by something hitting her back. She unfurls quickly, so quickly she loses her footing and slips on the floor. But her heart soars. Maybe her momma is back! She is greeted by an empty room. At her feet is one of her toys, a little ball. Her hope dies all over again, grief welling up in her, even more choking than before. She buries her face in her arms. She feels a thump as another toy collides with her back. She straightens once again, more angry than sad now. Can't she be allowed to cry in peace? Out of the darkness, another toy, a little round mouse, flies towards her. She bats it aside angrily and opens her mouth. She feels her throat vibrate. She'd see her mother flinch and rub her ears when she did that. She thought it had been funny. The darkness retreats, allowing the evening sun to filter through the room once again. She hadn't realized the room had been so dark. But instead of feeling satisfied or relieved, she feels even more lonely than before. She curls back into a ball, burying her nose under her stubby tail.

After a few minutes, the shadows return, coalescing by her side, a small pool of void. When it departs, a bit of food remains. At first, she thinks about batting it away too. Instead, she manages to eat a mouthful. Then another. Soon the food is gone, wolfed down into her empty stomach. She hadn't realized how hungry she had been. She nods gratefully at the dark, before curling back into a ball.

Day turns to night. She shivers in her corner, the loneliness almost colder than the autumnal chill. Her lungs shudder with soundless tears. She wants her momma.

The air takes on an electric thrum, making all her fur stand up on its end. She sits up, confused. Before her, the shadows pool together, growing thicker and denser, until a patch of Void sit in the corner of the room. Colors flicker in the depths, oil slick rainbows swirling in the black. She stares in astonishment as the shadows tighten, and then open their eyes. Unnatural electric blue and lightning yellow eyes glow back at her. They blink, and when they open again, they are no longer glowing. A kitten steps out of the darkness. It is her age, her size. No, it is more than that. It is her mirror, her inverse rendered in shadow. The only difference is that one of the kitten's eyes is yellow instead of blue. She blinks. The kitten blinks back. It approaches her cautiously. It is clumsy, as if it has never walked before.

It approaches until it is only a few inches away. She should feel terrified. But the strange kitten is familiar, misty night air and lightning storm rain. Almost out of instinct, she holds out her paw. The kitten mirrors, holding out its left. They touch. It’s like sticking her paw in an icy creek. She flinches away, startled. The kitten tilts its head, confused. Then its eyes narrow with concentration. It holds out its paw again, inviting. This time, the paw is warm beneath her own.

They curl up together that night, her old friend and her. She is warm.

When her Uncle comes to retrieve her, he is confused by the new kitten. He knows the kittens his sister had, and this was not one of them. Victoria clings to the stranger, tails twined together. He gestures as the black kitten and shakes his head. He was only here for his niece, for his family. Victoria puffs up, and wraps herself over the kitten, eyes defiant. He is coming with us, her eyes say.

Bustopher hesitates for a moment, before he chuckles. "I guess this is my nephew," he says outloud to himself. At least the two looked similar. Uncannily similar, really. A Victoria dropped in ink.

Some tension in the girl eases, sensing the change in her Uncle's demeanor even if she can't hear his words. He smiles gently at her, and gestures towards the door. She hesitates, tightening her grip around her new brother questioningly. Bustopher nods, and gestures again to the door.

He leaves with two kittens in tow. When the black kitten's face and paws turn white, a reflection of his own tuxedo coat, he is not as surprised as he should be. There was something unearthly about the kitten, too fluid to be natural. But he decides that this action is one of acknowledgement. He chuckles. "Welcome to the family,” he tells the boy.

Thank you for the ask!

Lol, I did not mean for that to turn into a drabble, whoops 😅

[braisedhoney]

(Now, for this entire thing we're simply going to pretend you can't see my username and I'm completely anonymous still, alright?--Alright.)

CAPTAIN, I SAY IT IS ABSOLUTELY MARVELLOUS TO SPEAK TO YOU ONCE AGAIN-!!

My departure was short lived, for I have RETURNED, READY FOR ACTION---And a teensy weensy bit of chaos alongside it-- BUT MAINLY ACTION--!

SPEAKING OF ACTION~!

I have come here with a proposition~

NOW , Captain, you had mentioned the crews almost uncanny resemblance to being within a -- in your words -- "Diet retro crime movie"

AND YOU ALSO HAPPENED TO MENTION--

That all we need to COMPLETE these shenanigans,... are matching fancy SUITS, instead of our " state-of-the-art " space-wear we currently have as our usual attire, correct?.

WELL, WELL, WELL, MY DEAREST CAPTAIN, DO I HAVE THE SOLUTION FOR YOU--!!!!

RIDICULOUSLY DETAILED, COMPLETELY NON-FUNCTIONAL AND UTTERLY ABHORRENT,..ER...DAZZLING.....SPACE SUITS~!

[Audience cheering sound track ensues.]

EHH..? EEHHHHH..???

I JUST KNOW YOU'LL D E S P I S E ADORE THEM--! They fit the category QUITE well, don't you agree, Captain..?

IT IS RATHER... " RETRO " AS THE KIDS SAY, HM?

I put GREAT of amounts consideration into the production of such an idea--!

(And absolutely did not simply type "Space themed suit" into Pinterest with a high expectancy of something at least half-decent only to receive this utter piece of he-)

ANYHOW, ANYWHO AND ANYWAY~~

That's all I have to share with you as of current, Captain!

STAY GLAMOROUS --!!

--Anon #0416, Reporting loud and FASHIONABLEE~~!

...(Captain-- if you couldn't tell, this is a joke, and as much as I COMPLETELY respect your decisions --seeing as you're much higher in terms of authority than I-- I beg of you to please NOT take this suggestion into any consideration, I would not be caught DEAD OR ALIVE in such an ATROCIOUS outfit...I'm simply here for comedic purposes and to pull out a whacky and endearing gag or two. BUT, but, I'm not being...PUSHY ,or anything of the sort-- I'm just...humbly requesting and pleading that you don't take this joke pitch into account...ever-- Alright, well, Toodle-pip~!)

well if it isn't our resident show host!! always a pleasure to have you pop in for a... er. consult? (is that what we're calling these sessions of concentrated chaos?)

i see you've come to peddle your wares. i'm intrigued by your presentation. they say you have to dress to impress if you ever hope to get anywhere. that's part of why i issued new uniforms—style might not be better than substance, but it sure can help.

... space-suits? emphasis on the suits AND the space? well that's gotta be one of the most convincing sales pitches i've ever seen, #0416. and you get even more points for enthusiasm. in fact, i'm so convinced that i'll take a few sets—and give one right back to you! gotta let that fashionable star shine as bright as we can o7 maybe it'll make your show even more popular. always helps to be eye-catching, right?

[sweetestofchaos]

Blackthorn Ch 13 | M.YG

Pairing: Crown Prince Dragon!Yoongi x Crown Princess Impundulu!Keena  Genre: Soulmate AU | Arranged Marriage AU | Fantasy AU | Fluff | Angst  Word Count: 9K  Warnings: Abuse of Power | Physical Violence | Kissing | Teasing | Verbal Threats | Hair Pulling | Body Worship | Oral (oc receiving) | Scent Marking | Cum Marking Rating: NC-18

My Gift To You Part 1 - As the the engagement announcement approaches, Prince Yoongi give the Princess a gift.

a/n: As always thanks to @sailoryooons for making the banner. Shout out to @theharrowing for being my lovely beta this chapter! Character asks and the taglist for Blackthorn are always open! Minors do NOT interact with my work, please and thank you. Also, this is cross posted on ao3, under the same username sweetestofchaos.

Taglist: @thickemadame ​​

Series Masterlist | Masterlist

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Madam Theda Vonner, one of the most sought after etiquette tutors was…vicious. She wasted no time during her lessons and scolded the Princess for wearing ‘inappropriate attire’. She berated the Princess on proper etiquette of respecting one's heritage and culture. If she continued to wear the garb of her nation, the Princess wouldn’t be respected by the people of the Min Empire and she would bring dishonor to all who lived within the castle walls. Madam Theda then went on to inform the Princess that she had two weeks and only two weeks to turn her into a proper Princess. She felt that Princess Kenna was only a Princess in name and had no real claim to the title. She was a woman born of noble blood that had no inkling to the meaning of what a true Princess was.

There was no time to hold the Princess’ hand as Madam Theda mapped out everything that needed to change. Lady Zarrin’s teachings were laughable and she regarded the title of Princess as nothing more than a fancy name. Theda would fix that, it was her job to do so. She allowed for the Princess to wear her attire for the first lesson, she refused to waste more time and had Cookie removed from the room. The tiny cub was a distraction and she already had her hands full with lessons that should have already been taught. By the end of the lesson, Madam Thea was convinced that the Princess had been taught nothing at all.

The homework for the Princess seemed endless but the Princess kept her head held high and thanked Madam Thea for the lesson. Before Thea could leave, the Princess spoke up and informed the new tutor that she refused to wear the garb of the Min empire. She was from Escistan and she would bring her culture to the empire. It was a part of her, in the very blood that ran through her veins, she refused to abandon her nation's culture and beliefs. Madam Thea had laughed, a sound so condescending that it made the Princess’ eyes flash silver.

“While you are under my tutelage, you will abide by my rules, Princess. I expect you to be in the proper attire tomorrow with no distractions around.” Madam Theda bowed to the Princess and San bit the inside of his cheek. He knew how to bow towards a royal and the half-hearted movements from Madam Theda were a blatant disrespect. Princess Keena bowed her head in silence and San watched as the older woman left the room. Once the door was closed, San glanced over at the Princess and he was shocked to see the silver of her eyes glowing.

“Princess?” San called out to her softly, “Would you like to take a break?”

The Princess’ eyes closed and she inhaled deeply. The silence stretched on and when her eyes opened they were once again that all too familiar brown that warmed anyone with just a look.

“Have Hyejin bring in a pot of rose bud tea with those strawberry rose petal cookies.”

San bowed low and stepped out of the room for a short moment. When the door opened, Chan stepped inside with Cookie in his arms. The tiny cub yelped and wiggled around until he was placed on the floor. He ran to the Princess and climbed into her lap. His green fur stood out against the chartreuse, red orange, and chili pepper kitenge skirt. Cookie nipped at the Princess’ fingers as she tickled his soft underbelly and she smiled.

“You are far from a distraction my sweet cub.” 

The solid orange buba that the Princess wore hung off the shoulders with small gold buttons down the back. Chartreuse embroidered flowers were on the ends of the full length sleeves, and as the Princess continued to play with Cookie, the tiny cub swatted at them. Chan watched as the Princess’ shoulders relaxed and the tension that locked her jaw eased into a softer smile. Chan knew something had happened from the way Madam Theda and San both exited the room with frowns on their faces. Seeing that the Princess was unharmed physically, Chan worried that her heart might have been the target.

“Princess?”

“Yes, Chan?”

“Would you like to have your tea outside? I saw Namjoon poking around the lupine.”

Princess Keena shifted Cookie in her arms and stood up, “I haven’t looked at the lupine in a while…”

Chan moved from the doorway and allowed for the Princess to leave first with Cookie cradled in her arms as he followed behind. As he passed Byulyi in the hall, he informed the maid that the Princess would take her tea outside. Byulyi nodded and watched as the Princess left the butterfly house with Chan behind her. 

In the garden, Namjoon plucked and pulled weeds from the soil as well as rearranged a few stones. His robes were simple since he had a lot of tasks to finish by the end of the day. A tan cross stitch blouse was tucked into a pair of loose fitted black trousers that had dirt on the knees. Sweat darkened the fabric of the shirt and stuck to his back as he worked endlessly and Seokjin sat behind him on a bench with a book in his hands as he read out loud. 

Seokjin was dressed nicely, as expected of the next royal advisor. The white cross collared shirt had a thick red neckline and dropped into a blue and white vertical striped skirt with a bold red sash tied around his waist. Seokjin wore a sheer white open cross collared jacket over top that had red and silver plantain lily flowers stitched along the wide sleeves that covered his knuckles.

Namjoon had a few rock cress and daffodils loosely potted that he had planned to add to the flowerbed in front of him. Footsteps crunched against the stone and Namjoon looked over his shoulder as Seokjin stopped reading. Princess Keena was in the distance with her head held high; she wore a red orange gele with her edges smoothed flat and pecking out. Thick gold hooped earrings caught in the sunlight and reflected against her sun-blessed skin. Namjoon and Seokjin stood and bowed low before a soft cry caught their attention. 

As Namjoon straightened up, he saw the tiger cub in the Princess’ arms and his face split into a large grin as the Princess walked closer.

“He is looking very well, Princess.” Namjoon reached out and scratched under the cub’s chin, only to laugh as the cub trapped his finger between its tiny paws. Seokjin smiled as he watched Namjoon interact with the cub and sat back on the bench.

“Cookie.”

“Parden?” Namjoon stared at the Princess, frozen in place as she smiled at him.

“His name,” she easily passed the cub to Namjoon and Namjoon buried his nose into the soft fur. “He picked Cookie.”

Namjoon swallowed thickly, and he bit his lip as his heart skipped a beat. “Cookie…I think that’s a wonderful name.”

The Princess grinned and Chan helped her sit on a bench that was across from the garden that Namjoon had been working on beside Seokjin. Princess Keena giggled as Seokjin winked at her and they watched as Namjoon kneeled on the ground. He carefully set Cookie beside him and went back to his work.

“How are your lessons? His Highness tells me you have a temporary etiquette tutor.” Seokjin questioned as he picked up the book beside him.

Chan melted away into the background as Seokjin coaxed the Princess into discussing her first lesson with the new tutor. Princess Keena watched silently as Namjoon created a pile of weeds beside him and Cookie jumped head first into it.

“I fear that we may not see eye to eye. She is archaic, or rather more traditional if I were to be polite.”

Seokjin chuckled at the Princess’ words and nodded his head, “Who has filled the tutoring position?” 

“Madam Theda Vonner-”

“That old bat?”

“Namjoon!” Seokjin’s tone was scolding but his eyes glittered in laughter.

“Forgive him, Princess.” Seokjin rolled his eyes as he turned his body towards her. “She comes from a proud family, old money that dates back to the third dynasty.”

“One's lineage does not give the right away to be callous nor rude.”

Namjoon snorted from his place on the ground and shook his head, “Callous is far too kind, Princess.”

Seokjin sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair that was falling into his face before he tucked it behind his ears. “What issues are you having with Madam Theda? Maybe it is something that I can assist with?” 

Before the Princess could answer Seokjin’s question, Hyejin and San showed up with tea and treats. San set a small plate on the ground in front of Cookie, and Namjoon watched as the tiny cub started to munch the small bites of food. Seokjin poured a cup of tea for the Princess and called for Namjoon to take a small break to enjoy the tea with them.

“She dislikes the Escistan garb and said I would bring shame to the Min Empire if I continued to wear them.”

“Nonsense!” Seokjin set his cup of tea down and grabbed the Princess’ free hand. “You are the Princess of Escistan and bride to the First Prince of the Min Empire; as such you are free to do as you please, Princess.”

Seokjin squeezed the Princess’ hand and shook his head, “Disregard her words, Princess. I think it is wonderful to see you so at ease here with us. Your garb is beautiful and I am always in awe when I see you around the palace grounds. Please,” Seokjin patted the Princess hand and smiled, “don’t change for us. If anything, allow the Min Empire to change for you.”

The Princess exhaled deeply and she looked down at their joined hands. Seokjin’s white robe started to blur as the Princess’ eyes burned. Her waterline flooded and she quickly blinked away her tears with a watery laugh as she sniffled. The smile that Seokjin offered was soft, and Namjoon sighed with a shake of his head.

“There’s going to be a light shower, you should head back inside.” Namjoon glanced at the sky as the bright blue had darkened.

“M-My apologies.” 

“There is nothing to apologize for, Princess.” Seokjin released his hold on her hand and stood to his full height. He offered his hand as Namjoon scooped Cookie up and stood as well. As the Princess was helped to her feet, the first few drops of rain started to fall and San appeared by her side with a red and yellow parasol. He held it up for the Princess and Namjoon handed over Cookie, so the little cub could stay dry.

“Enjoy your lessons, Princess,” Namjoon bowed and Seokjin followed suit before they watched the Princess disappear around the corner. 

Seokjin frowned and Namjoon sighed, “Should we inform Yoongi?”

“I think the Princess is more than capable of handling this herself,” Seokjin pointed out and Namjoon agreed. “Do you want help carrying everything inside?”

“You get inside before that book is ruined. I have a cart nearby.” 

“...So, Jungkook really fused with the tiger’s spirit?”

Namjoon nodded his head and dusted his hands off on his trousers. “Cookie…he really picked that, huh?”

“Who else?”

Later in the night, Prince Yoongi sat in the grass in front of the Gildows lake. The lemming ducks were gone for the night, tucked away in their mother’s warmth as they slumbered. As the Prince stared up at the endless sky, he turned his gaze to the moon. The silvery-white of the large orb made the Prince smile to himself. He was reminded of the banquet held in the Princess’ honor. The time they spent alone, gazing up at the night sky, much like he did now. The stars twinkled a silent poem as a cool breeze caressed the Prince’s ears with a soothing song. Fallen petals danced above the lake in the moon’s reflection and the Prince inhaled deeply as he closed his eyes. 

The soft crunch of the grass underfoot cut through nature’s serenade, and the sweet tang of tangerines flooded the Prince’s mind. His body relaxed farther and when the Prince opened his eyes, the flutter of ivory and lilac blinded him. Beside him, the Princess lowered herself onto a thick blanket and folded her leg to the side. The ivory nightgown she wore was pretty and tempted the Prince with its innocence. The dress hung off her shoulders, hugged her breasts and flared downward until it covered her feet. 

Thin ribbons of lilac silk were threaded into the cotton dress at the bottom and pulled into tiny bows with rosewater colored beading stitched into the shape of lovely peonies. A lilac robe, silk of some kind, was worn over the nightgown with matching rosewater peony beading over the shoulders and down the sides. Large cutouts of peonies went down the length of the sleeves, stitched over with ivory lace.

Wordlessly, the Prince shifted his body and stretched out, his head now rested in the Princess’ lap as he stared up at her. Loose braids that were not tucked away in a ponytail hung over her shoulders and hid their faces from the prying eyes of Hoseok and Aga in the distance. Princess Keena cupped the Prince’s cheek in her hand as she leaned over him and he batted at the pewter crystals that were woven into her hair.

“What are you doing out at this hour, my gem?” 

The Princess smiled and smoothed her thumb over the apple of the Prince’s cheek. “I couldn’t sleep.” The Prince’s lips turned into a frown at her words and she smiled, “It is nothing to worry over, Pallas.”

The Prince snorted and tugged at her braids lightly, “And yet, here I worry.” He stared into her warm eyes and licked his lips. “Tell me what troubles you, Princess?”

A soft smile rested on her lips, but it didn’t reach her eyes and the Prince raised an eyebrow. The Princess leaned down farther and closed her eyes as she rested her forehead against the Prince’s. 

“You won’t answer me?”

“Would you send me away if I chose not to?”

The Prince stared at the Princess’ face silently and quickly rolled them forward. The Princess chirped in surprise and giggled now that she was sprawled out on the grass with her head in the Prince’s lap. Prince Yoongi bent his knees as he lifted the Princess and leaned down. Their lips touched with the grace of a butterfly and warmth of the sun. It was a silent answer to her question, one that was loud and clear between the two. The pressure of the kiss increased, the heat in the pit of their stomachs spread and sunk lower, and lower. The Prince growled deep in his chest and nipped at the plush lips before him.

He soothed the lingering pain with the teasing touch of his tongue as he kissed more and more. Honey, sweet and addicting. Sage, sharp and grounding. As they pulled away the scent of flowers lingered in the air, soft and fleeting. The night’s silent melody was no more, replaced by thundering hearts and panted breaths. Slowly, as the Prince pulled away, a gossamer strand of saliva hung between their lips and he chuckled. He swiped his thumb over the Princess’ lower lip and broke the wet connection before he pecked her lips once more.

“Have I not shown that my days are yours? I will give you many more without question. I am only but a shout away if you ever need me, Princess. Ask and I will answer, always.”

“Thank you, my Prince.”

Carefully, the young royals stood to their feet, and the Prince laced his fingers with the Princess, “Let us retire to our chambers. I have a gift for you.”

Together, arm in arm, the young royal walked along the stone and sand paths that led into the palace. Servants that worked late all bowed low and whispered about the couple as they passed. Hoseok and Aga glared at them all; it was improper for servants to whisper so freely when they should have all held their tongues. The Prince led the Princess into his chambers and she sat on the settee while he disappeared into his sleeping chamber.

Aga and Hoseok stood by the entrance of the Prince’s chambers and watched as the Prince emerged with a small box in his hands. He kneeled before the Princess and Hoseok’s eyes widened while Aga’s lips pulled upwards in the corners. 

Prince Yoongi placed the box in the Princess’ lap and kissed the knuckles of her hands before he spoke. “Duttu sends her regards and thanks you for showing such trust in her skills.” He stayed kneeled before the Princess, his hands pressed softly against the top of her knees and Princess Keena bit her bottom lip. 

Slowly, she opened the plain chestnut box and inside sat a black leather collar. A beautiful gold name plate with Cookie’s name carved into the center of Ginkgo leaves that were embossed into the leather. The collar was simple and elegant, perfect for the rambunctious cub that would wear it later.

The Princess’ fingers brushed over Cookie’s name and she smiled, as her free hand rested over the Prince’s. “I know Cookie will love it. Thank you, my Prince.” 

A shy but proud smile pulled at the Prince’s lips and he gave the Princess’ knees a light squeeze. “Byenvini.”

The Princess’ eyes widened as the Prince spoke a simple Escistan phrase and he looked so shy that the Princess laughed. 

“Did I say it correctly?” The Prince asked, worried that he had mispronounced the word of thanks and Princess Keena shook her head.

"Ou fè byen."

He smiled at the Princess’ words and leaned forward to capture her lips. The kiss was soothing, a pleasant weight settled in both the young royals' hearts as they pulled away.

"Ou fè byen," Prince Yoongi whispered and the Princess giggled. "You do well."

The days seemingly bled into each other as Princess Keena continued with her lessons. Madam Theda was not pleased to see the Princess in the Escistain garb but she made no comments on the matter. Madam Theda’s lessons were exhausting; the Princess felt like she had fallen behind during the day and had started to spend her nights with etiquette books and scrolls in front of her. She had Byulyi, Wheein, and Hyejin, and even her guards help her during breaks between lessons. 

The Prince had noticed that he only had the Princess’ attention during their time together at lunch and their last meal of the night was split between himself and his parents. Empress Min asked about the Princess’ lessons and was pleased to hear that the Princess had no complaints. Things were moving along and the Prince was pleased to know that the Princess was preoccupied. 

As the day of the night market grew closer and closer, the Prince had a lot to prepare for and he did so when Hoseok wasn’t around. San and Kai were helpful and acted on the Prince’s behalf while Minho carried out his own orders from the Prince. Things had become hectic within the palace as everyone prepared for the engagement announcement. With only eight days left, everyone had felt the pressure. 

“Again!” Madam Theda smacked a bamboo cane against her palm as she stared at the fallen stack of books on the floor. 

Mingi stood against the wall, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles were white. His jaw was locked and tense as he bit his tongue. Chan and San had told him how blatantly disrespectful Madam Theda had been to the Princess and asked him to stand in during one of the lessons. Mingi had thought that the younger guards had over reacted since the Princess had not spoken up, but now he understood. Mingi felt sick, his stomach churned, and his heart beated quickly in his chest as he watched the Princess pick up the fallen book. She straightened them out and walked across the room with them in her hands before she turned to face the entrance of the room. 

Wheein took the books and carefully placed them on top of the Princess’ head with a frown on her face. As the Princess straightened her back, Wheein removed her hands and stepped back. The books didn’t move and the Princess took a step forward, then another followed by another. She kept her eyes forward and looked straight ahead as she walked. The books started to wobble and Madam Theda narrowed her eyes. Mingi watched with bated breath as the books tipped to one side and slipped off the Princess’ head.

Madam Theda clicked her tongue and Mingi stepped forwards, “That is enough. Move on to the next-”

“Silence!” Madam Theda swung her cane and smacked Mingi in his thigh. He clenched his jaw in pain but stood strong as his thigh plused. He knew there would be a nice sized welt.

“Mingi!” The Princess rushed to his side and he waved her off.

“A royal does not shout nor show care for those of lower rank. A mere guard does not speak out of turn.” Madam Theda voiced with a frown set on her face.

Princess Keena’s eyes slowly shifted from brown to silver and she smoothed down the skirt of her emerald green iro before she touched the large braided buns that sat on her head. She had opted out of wearing heavy hair accessories and focused on her outfit to show Madam Theda just how wonderful the Escistan grab truly was. She wore a celadon blouse that had a keyhole in the center with gold beading on the lantern sleeves in a swirled pattern. A golden getzner pele was tied over her skirt and pulled the whole outfit together.

The Princess folded her hands in front of herself and looked Madam Theda in her eyes, “You are dismissed for today, Madam Theda.”

“Parden?”

“You are dismissed!” The Princess raised her voice, but she didn’t yell nor did she return the glare that the older woman sent her way. “For you act of violence against one of my attendants, your pay will be docked by half-”

“You-”

“You should be thankful that this is all I will take away for your transgression.” The threat was loud and clear as the Princess stared at the older woman. “Have a good day, Madam Theda. Now, if you’ll excuse us-” Princess Keena bowed her head and gathered the skirt of her emerald green iro. Wheein hurried past Madam Theda and opened the door before she stepped to the side and waited for the Princess to leave first. Mingi stepped out of the room and Wheein bowed before she followed after them.

Outside of the room, Princess Keena took short inhales of air and remained silent until she stepped out of the butterfly house. She turned to Mingi and frowned, “Wheein, take Mingi to the doctor.” She held her hand up as Mingi opened his mouth. “I understand that it is not a life threatening wound, but pain is pain. Get treated and return to your post after a break. I will remain here in the garden.”

Mingi sighed but bowed his head and whistled loudly. A few moments later, Wonho appeared and took over guarding the Princess. She said nothing as she walked around the garden’s outside and the silver melted into brown once more. Wonho kept his distance and when he noticed Kwangseon with his wife, Ellarian at his side, Wonho informed the Princess. 

“Let’s not keep them waiting.” 

The smile returned to the Princess’ face and Wonho followed behind her as they stepped back into the butterfly house. As they entered the house, Hyunjin jumped at the sight of the Princess and quickly bowed. His robes were covered in paint and there was a smudge of white paint on his forehead which made the Princess giggle. Hyunjin was the artist that Namjoon had commissioned in place of Jungkook and he was a shy young man. Dark purple hair that he kept out of his face with a headband was always tied in a low ponytail. He had striking indigo eyes with a tiny beauty mark under the left one that was endearing to everyone who noticed it.

“Are you taking a break, Hyunjin?”

“Y-Yes, Your Highness…u-um, I have completed m-most of the-”

“Hyunjin, breath,” the Princess smiled as she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Enjoy your break. I am looking forward to seeing your finished work.” Princess Keena bowed her head and continued into the house with Wonho right behind her.

As the Princess settled back into the lesson room, she smoothed down her skirt and glanced out the window. Chan walked by with Cookie tucked underneath his arm, his new collar shinned against his fur. The cub had become somewhat of a menace since he came to the palace and it made the Princess smile. Cookie was a playful and curious cub, he always got into something but at the end of the day when the Princess was settling down for the night, he would curl up in her lap and drift off to sleep. She wondered what the cub had managed to get into for Chan to have been the one to grab him.

The door to the room slid open and Ellarian grinned at the sight of the Princess’ smiling face. 

“Oh, I see we have a new partner today. Hello, Wonho!” Kwangseon looked thrilled as he greeted the guard and Wonho bowed his head as his ears turned a bright red.

“How were your lessons today, Princess?” Ellarian asked as she helped her husband set up the different instruments for the day's lesson.

“It is another day complete in the eyes of the Empire.”

Ellarian laughed and nodded her head in agreement. She understood the Princess’ words. Lessons were lessons and they would not all be fun to learn. 

“Shall we continue with the Buchaaechum dance?” Kwangseon offered as he sat behind his haegeum and cracked his knuckles. 

“That is a wise decision. Princess, what do you recall from our lesson yesterday?”

The rest of the time during the Princess' lessons went by easily enough. Madam Theda spoke no more of the Princess’ Escistan garb and taught her everything that Lady Zarrin had not touched on. The lessons were hard but no longer had Madam Theda tried to push the Princess past her limits. Madam Theda’s attitude towards the Princess was still strict but there was an air of respect that had not been there before. The Princess considered it a small victory while her guards felt their hearts swell with pride. The Princess would be a great Empress once it was her time to step into the role.

Four days before the engagement announcement, Empress Min had called for the Princess and they sat in her chambers with tea and treats between them. Empress Min wore a beautiful iris colored seuran chima with a pale olive dangui on top. Her hair was braided and tucked into elegant loops that resembled two butterfly orchids decorated with four tteoljams and pinned with a golden eastern dragon that had ruby’s for its eyes. As she sipped at her tea, Empress Min smiled at the cub that sat beside the Princess. Gingko spirits were rare and she had never seen one in person before, Cookie was as cute as he was beautiful.

“Are you excited for the announcement, my dear? It is right around the corner.”

Princess Keena swallowed the bite of sponge cake in her mouth and licked her lips in thought. Was she excited for the citizens of the Min Empire to know who she was and what her role in their society would be?

“I will admit that I do hold some reservations about the announcement but I understand that it must be done.”

Empress Min understood the Princess’ worries; she remembered how she felt when she was first engaged to the Emperor. 

“Is there anything I can do within my power to make the announcement less taxing on you, my dear Keena?”

“You and His Majesty have been kind enough to grant me such wonderful freedom within the palace. I have everything at my disposal and there is little that I wish for…” Princess Keena stroked the top of Cookie’s head and scratched behind his ears. “The worry lies within my own heart. I fear that I will not be the Empress that this empire deserves.” 

“I disagree with you Princess.” Empress Min’s words were firm as she stared right at the Princess. “You have shown an unbelievable amount of wonderful qualities that will make you a true Empress of this nation.” Empress Min set her tea cup on the table and nodded her head to the attendant closest to the door. 

“I have called for the best dressmaker in our empire. She will make your dress for the announcement, as well as the one for your wedding.”

Princess Keena turned her attention to the door and an older woman with blueish-white hair that was pulled into a neat updo bun stepped into the threshold. The bun showed that she had deep blue cat ears that sat proudly on top of her head and the Princess was in awe. 

“Crown Princess Keena, this is Menzo. She has served members of the royal court for the last two generations while her family has served since the Taebong era.”

Menzo looked kind with pale peach feline eyes that were framed by crow’s lines and tear troughs on her cognac-toned skin. They were slanted towards a sharp and slender nose that was over a set of demure lips bordered by deep frown lines. She wore a simple taupe kurta that had black beading on the hem of her sleeves with matching palazzo pants that hung loosely around her legs. A sage green dupatta with black and taupe beading stitched throughout in a flower pattern rested over Menzo’s shoulders, and she bowed low. Her tail was blueish-white with a deep blue tip and swayed lazily behind her once she stood upright and offered the Princess a warm smile.

“It is an honor, Your Highness.”

Cookie mewled from the Princess’ side and Menzo grinned, her canines sharper than a humans. 

“Hello, little one.” She bowed her head and Princess Keena knew that she would enjoy her time with the nekojin.

The Princess stood with Cookie in her arms and Empress Min held out her hands, “Give him here. Menzo will need your full attention.”

Cookie sat beside Empress Min while the nekojin tailor took the Princess’ measurements and held up different fabrics against her body. Menzo asked different questions and made notes in a small booklet that she pulled from the satchel that rested on her hip. The Princess was grateful that Menzo seemed to really listen and take her wants into account. If she was to stand before the citizens of the Min Empire, she wanted to show a combined front. The Escistan Kingdom intermingled and woven tightly together with the Min Empire. That is all the Princess wanted to show with the Prince by her side.

Alone in her chambers, Princess Keena laid in bed, wide awake. Her mind raced as she thought about the upcoming announcement. It was two days away and she feared that something would go wrong. A soothing breeze crept in from the lattice cut windows and the soft blue curtains that hung from the bedpost swayed gently. An earthy scent wrapped in warm spice rode the breeze and lingered just outside of the window. The Princess sat upright, the covers held close to her chest as her eyes sparkled in the cool moonlight that caught her gaze. A shadow danced along the wall and soon the Prince dropped down from the ceiling. 

He wore a white kimono that was dyed a deep grey at the bottom with large white spider lilies that wrapped around the bottom. A grey and black obi was tied around his waist and a black jaori was worn over top. His blonde hair was pulled away from his face in a loose bun on the back of his neck and he was free from jewelry. 

“You are asking for a repeat of last time, my Prince.” The Princess’ voice was nothing more than a scolding whisper as she frowned. 

A fanged smile slid onto the Prince’s face and he held out his hand as he stood at the foot of the Princess’ bed. He wiggled his fingers and his eyes flashed a tempting gold before he licked his lips. “Come, I have a surprise for you, my gem.”

Still in bed, the Princess eyed his outstretched hand and tried to fight the smile that pulled at her lips. “Aga would kill you if he knew you were here.” 

“He has to catch me first.”

The covers were released from the Princess’ hold and the Prince’s eyes narrowed as he took in the bare skin of her shoulders. There was nothing to the nightgown, the Prince thought to himself. Thin straps held the dress to her body while satin and delicate alabaster lace clung to the Princess’ chest.  As she crawled towards the foot of the bed, the strap on her left shoulder fell and the Prince bit his lower lip. 

The Princess was tempting, so very, very tempting. Her braids were down, the front pulled back into a low ponytail while the rest hung freely at her back. A few slipped over her shoulders and the Prince inhaled deeply. As she placed her hand in his, the Prince pulled her close, chest to chest and wrapped an arm around her waist as he exhaled. He released her hand and cupped her cheek before he growled softly, almost like a purr.

“How easily you tempt my patience without much thought.”

Their noses brushed against each other’s as the Prince closed the distance and he inhaled the tangy scent of citrus and honey.

“Cover yourself for my sanity…” As his lips pressed against the Princess’, his fingers dug into her waist and the Princess moaned softly. “Ashii-” Prince Yoongi pulled away and rested his forehead against the Princess’ collarbone on her left side as he inhaled deeply. “Such a pretty sound…” His lips ghosted over the exposed skin and the Princess shivered. Her nimble fingers found the bun that rested against the nape of his neck and she pulled his hair free. A waterfall of blonde covered the back of his haori and the Princess sighed.

“There is a r-robe by the-” The Princess’ breath hitched as the Prince’s tongue licked at the skin where her shoulder and neck joined. “My P-Prince…” Her fingers tangled in his hair and she pulled lightly to which the Prince nipped at her flesh.

“Just a taste, my gem?”

She could feel her willpower crumbling with each swipe of the Prince’s tongue. The warmth in her stomach grew and started to inch lower and lower. Blood rushed behind her ears and she yanked on the Prince’s hair harder. His head jerked back and he licked his split slick lips as he flashed that dazzling gummy smile with a solid ring of gold around his dark irises.

“My surprise?” The Princess’ question was whispered and the Prince’s upper right lip quirked as he smirked and pulled away from the Princess once she released his hair.

Carefully, the Princess sat on the bed and before her feet could touch the floor, the Prince was on his knees before her with slippers in his hands. Heat kissed her cheeks and warmed her neck as he slipped the cream colored slippers onto her bare feet and kissed her ankles. As he stood up, he removed his haori and placed it over the Princess’ shoulders. Sage and ginger seeped into her skin as the fabric of the outer jacket rubbed against her neck. It was comforting and settled the wild heart in her chest as she grabbed hold of the Prince’s hand once more.

Prince Yoongi led the Princess through her room until they reached the sitting area where three settees were placed around a large table in different shades of blue, with white and gold accent pillows. Cookie was sound asleep in his playpen, curled around a wooden toy that Namjoon had carved by hand to help with his teething. There was a box on the oak table, about two feet long in width and height. As they sat beside each other, Prince Yoongi grabbed the box and placed it on the Princess’ lap.

“You spoil me, my Prince.”

The Prince rolled his eyes at the Princess’ words and silently encouraged her to open the gift. Carefully, she untied the gold ribbon and slowly lifted the lid of the box. In the box a sand colored jeogori with thick beige cuffing sat on top of a beige pleated chima. It was a very simple and plain hanbok to which the Princess raised an eyebrow. The Prince chuckled as he saw the silent questions in the Princess' eyes and he kept quiet. 

Also in the box was a pair of cream and sand colored hwahye shoes. A norigae was hidden between the shoes and it was beautiful in its simplicity. A cognac floral design in the shape of a rose acted as the base with a polished star garnet at the center that had a pearl butterfly on it, followed by the fluffy cognac tassel wrapped in gold thread that finished it. 

“I have another gift.”

The Princess looked at the Prince beside her and clicked her tongue, “What are you planning, my Prince?”

Prince Yoongi grinned something devilish as he reached inside of his kimono and pulled out a cream silk ribbon with gold larch and lupine flowers embroidered at the ends.

“Am I not allowed to gift my soon-to-be wife a night of wonders?”

As the Prince placed the daenggi in the box, he leaned forward and captured the Princess’ lips in a soft kiss. He shifted closer and the box fell to the floor, ignored as he pulled the Princess into his lap and pushed his haori onto the floor. Her hands tangled in his hair as she settled herself in his lap, her knees bent on either side of his thighs.

He squeezed her hips and groaned as the Princess nipped at his lower lip. As the kissing went on, it became heavier and needier. Soft nips became pinched lips between teeth that were soothed by wet tongues. Hands that squeezed became hands that slid from place to place in search of more skin. 

The heat between the young royals was thick, and when the Princess felt a firmness underneath her, she gasped into the kiss. The Prince was aroused, he strained underneath his kimono and he wished to pull more sweet sounds from her swollen lips. He trailed a path of wet kisses from her mouth to her shoulder and lower.

As her head lolled backwards, the wet trail became slick and smooth as the Prince licked at the skin from her shoulder to the tops of her breasts. A sudden flora aroma made him growl and buck his hips upwards to which the Princess moaned. Her legs tensed around his thighs and she fisted the collar of his kimono tightly.

“Oh?” The Prince made a show as he lifted his nose in the air and inhaled deeply. His irises now had a thicker golden ring around them. “What a lovely scent,” he purred as he licked his lips. The tip of his tongue was now forked but still pink and he hummed in delight as the Princess whined.

“Y-Yoongi.” His name was a stuttered whisper, a plea for something more than wet kisses.

“I know, my gem…I know.” 

The Prince trailed his lips softly up the length of the Princess’ neck, along her jaw and pressed a sweet, slow kiss to her lips. They fused together, tongues tasted the other’s mouth and the Princess bit down on his tongue lightly. Prince Yoongi chuckled and sucked the Princess’ lower lip into his mouth before he bit down roughly and pulled away. The sweet heady scent of liquid honey flooded the Prince’s sinuses and his body shuttered.

“Just a taste, my gem. Wouldn’t want Aga to kill me, hmm?”

Wordlessly, he maneuvered their bodies and held onto the back of the Princess’ thighs before he stood up and strode into her bedchambers. He placed one knee on the bed and climbed on before he crawled forward to place the Princess in the center. As he pulled away, her nightgown was askew, shoulder straps draped low on her arms, the bottom bunched high on her thighs, hardly covered the mound between her legs and the Prince licked his lips. As he sat back on his bent legs, he drew random shapes on the Princess’ knee and upper thigh with his blunt nails. His eyes drank in every shiver, every goosebump, and every fluttering breath that left the Princess’ lips. 

She was divine, bathed in the cool, silver milky glow of the moon that filtered in from the window. An offering, all on her own. Laid out before the Prince’s eyes, for him only. To touch and he did as he cupped the Princess’ cheek in one hand. To taste and he did, the moment his lips pressed upon hers, their tongues swirled and teased. To have over and over and over again. 

Prince Yoongi kept his touches soft yet firm as he moved his kisses lower and lower down the Princess’ body. He kissed the soft skin of her chest, over the covered pebbled nipples and skimmed his nose down her stomach. He paused and nuzzled his nose into the fabric that covered her womb. The Princess shivered and she ran a hand down her torso until her fingers twined in the Prince’s blond locks. 

“Why are you down there?”

The question made the Prince smirk, how innocent his wife-to-be was. His hands slid down to her thighs and massaged the thick muscles and skin. He nosed at the apex of her mound and kissed the warm skin as her nightgown shifted once more.

“I want to worship you. Give thanks to the ancient dragons who came before and offer them my-” the Prince placed a kiss to where the Princess’ thigh and hip joined, “silent praise…if you would grant me such an honor?”

The Princess couldn’t understand the words. It was all unfamiliar to her but the heat and wetness between her thighs, that was enough for her as she nodded her head. Prince Yoongi left open mouth kisses on her inner thighs before he settled himself on his stomach and wrapped one arm around the Princess’ waist to hold her down. He inched closer and closer to the leaking warmth that called to him. The sweet scent of honey, so much stronger there than anywhere else on the Princess’ body. She had dark curls of hair, trimmed neatly and kept low. It made his mouth water as the clear essence of her arousal coated her skin.

He leaned in and swiped his forked tongue from her perineum to her clit. The Princess’ thighs snapped closed around his head, his cheeks squished together as she gasped.

The Prince moaned at the taste, “Mmmmm, my gem. So good for me.”

Again he licked at her opening and the Princess’ eyes squeezed closed. It was different, not unpleasant, but different. As the Prince continued to lick, he changed his rhythm and motions. His tongue technique switched from fast to slow, shallow to deep, long to short…it pulled sounds from the Princess that she had never made before. Prince Yoongi pinched at her hip as he spoke from between her legs, “Shhhh. Bite the pillow to muffle your pretty sounds…I can’t have Aga or anyone else seeing you like this.”

The Princess nodded her head, unable to speak as tears collected in the corner of her eyes. Blindly, she reached for a pillow and dragged it over her mouth. As the Prince wrapped his plush lips around her clit and sucked hard, she screamed into the pillow. He swallowed down every ounce of liquid that touched his tongue, slurped up everything that the Princess offered. Her muffled cries were the sweetest sound that he had ever heard and with her thighs squeezed tightly around his head, the Prince had reached the gates of those before him.

He had never come untouched but he felt close enough with how hard he was; it was painful but his pain only added to his pleasure as the Princess whined and thrashed above him. The hand in his hair pushed him away and pulled him closer, it was the constant sting at the base of his scalp that pushed him to dive his tongue deep into the Princess’ warmth and the cry that spilled from her lips was beautiful. Her wall clenched around him, he felt the skin of his cheek grind against his teeth and more wetness flooded his mouth.

Endless tremors raked over the Princess’ body and Prince Yoongi groaned as he wiggled free from the headlock. He shifted upwards on the bed, now on his knees and released himself from the damp fabric of his kimono. His hand wrapped around himself and he threw his head back as the Princess’ fluttering eyes watched him. He growled, deep in his chest as he covered her thigh and stomach in his cum. Honey and sage mixed together in the air and as the Prince’s skin flushed with a red hue, he collapsed beside the Princess with his chest heaving. Together they caught their breaths and as the Princess tried to move, Prince Yoongi hissed.

“Stay.” It was rough, the single word coated in an unfiltered need to mark what was his. Silently, the Prince raised his arms and set his hand on the Princess’ stomach. She made a sound of disgust as the warmth of his cum had faded into cool ropes of his very being. The Prince leaned upward and nosed at the Princess’ jaw as he rubbed his cum into her skin. He licked and nipped at her jaw until he focused on the scent gland at her throat and licked at the sensitive spot. Princess Keena shivered, her body felt like it was underwater, flouting through an endless stream with the Prince’s hands slowly guiding her along. 

“Hide the gift from your maids and wait for my call on the night of our announcement.” The Prince’s voice was gravely as he spoke in the Princess’ ear. His lips wet as he kissed her lobe and temple. “Will you wait for me, my gem?”

Princess Keena turned her head and cupped his face in her hands, “Always.” 

The day of the announcement, the air was humid and buzzed with voices as the townspeople closest to the palace gathered in the arena towards the west gate. Throughout the Min empire, messengers rode since the day before with news of the Crown Prince’s engagement. Today the news would be shared with the townspeople and everyone who lived within the palace walls was on high alert. The arena wasn’t used often. It was a place for public executions and court sponsored entertainment for the townspeople. It was rare for everyone to be gathered in one place, but the townspeople woke up two days ago to handwritten notices from the Emperor that everyone was encouraged to join them in the area for a wonderful announcement.

Seokjin and Namjoon are dressed in the finest of robes; whites, creams and silver made up most of the court’s attire as they entered the arena. Slowly the crowd started to settle as more and more officials filed into their seats. Streamers hung from the rafters, paper lanterns in the shape of dragons and flowers were strung on sturdy twine rope that connected from section to section. A small band of musicians played in the middle of the arena, all dressed in matching  yellow and white hanboks while another group danced around in colorful bedlahs and butterfly hanfus. The female dancers all had their hair down in long flowing waves with beaded and jeweled headpieces on display as they lept in the air and twirled on their bare feet.

Thick white smoke wafted in the air and carried the scent of takoyaki, dango, corn and other tasty treats from small venders that set up shop early that morning by the gate. Guards were dressed in their dress attire for the announcement. A green brocade button-down jacket that stopped just below their knees, with white trousers and a thick black leather belt fastened around their waist made up the base of the outfit for the royal guard. Depending on the rank of the guard, there was a white lotus flower stitched onto the inner sleeve of their jacket. Hoseok’s attire was the same but his colors were indigo and black. 

Aga and the other guards that watched over the Princess wore a different uniform that combined the two nations’ styles. A indigo, white, and black dashiki was tucked into a pair of black hakamas. A white open cross collar outer jacket with a black hamerkop bird on the back was worn over top with matching indigo headbands that completed the outfit. As more guards filed into the area, the dancers cleared the arena grounds and sat off to the side while the band switched to a slower song. 

Everyone in the arena rose to their feet and bowed low as Emperor and Empress Min appeared at the top of the arena. They wore matching black hanfus with a golden nightingale pattern. A large golden five-toed dragon was on the Emperor’s back surrounded by nightingales, while the Empress had a golden five-toed dragon on each of her shoulders and bottom of her sleeves.

They were a sight to see, elegant and powerful as they greeted their subjects with stern faces. Four intricately carved outdoor thrones were arranged at the front of the arena, where the royals were seated above everyone on a fenced riser. As they were seated, the rest of those in attendance sat, and once again the dancers took to the center of the arena. A jester performed, followed by two singers, before Emperor Chungho signaled the eunuch behind him to move forward with the day's events. As the older man stepped forward a hush fell over the arena and he pulled a rolled scroll from the inner pocket of his robes.

Princess Keena stood outside her room with her guards surrounding her. Byulyi, Wheein and Hyejin stayed behind her and walked with their heads bowed as they made their way to the Prince’s chambers. Aga led the way as Mingi and Chan flanked his sides. Today was a big day and no one took any chances of the Princess or Prince being harmed. 

As they reached the Prince’s chambers, Hoseok grinned at the sight of the Princess. She was stunning in her attire and he knew that the Prince would feel the same way. Hoseok opened the door and stepped inside quickly to inform Prince Yoongi that the Princess was ready. Prince Yoongi stood from his seat behind his desk and swallowed thickly. His hair was pulled from his face and piled high on top of his hair in his signature topknot with a golden donggot; a dragon with ruby eyes and rose quartz petunias clutched in its mouth was carved at the end. Three small golden hoops clung to each of the Prince’s ears while a single earring hung from his left lobe, five rose quartz teardrops set in gold.

The day before the announcement, Menzo approached the Prince with new garments that would complement the Princess’ attire. She expressed the urgency of the Prince wearing the clothing and he did not understand why until today, once his attendants started to dress him. He wore an orchid color cross collared blouse that was tucked into a matching qun - skirt - that had a carafe and violet square patterned design along the hem. An orchid agbada was worn over top with the same matching square patterned design from the qun down the sides and around the hemming. His manggeon was replaced with a violet headband that had a gold hamerkop bird on the ends.

It wasn’t much different from what he wore in terms of style, but the colors were bright and eye-catching. As he inhaled through his nose, the Prince held his head high and followed Hoseok out the doors of his chamber. His eyes found the Princess immediately and his eyes flashed gold before a black plume of smoke huffed from his nose. They wore matching colors and it stirred a deep desire in Agust as he crawled in the Prince’s gut.

“You look…like a Queen.”

A rose quartz colored gele was on her head, folded and twisted into a crown in its own right. Pink diamonds and pearls were scattered over it with meori-kkoji pins on it as well. An orchid cross collared ru was tucked into an ankara patterned iro in carafe and violet. A rose quartz pele was wrapped around her waist and an orchid outer robe was worn over everything with a golden four-toed dragon on the back. The Princess smiled as heat attacked her face, and she offered the Prince her hand. 

“Shall we, my Prince?”

“In a moment, Princess.”

Prince Yoongi held out his hand and Hoseok placed something in his palm. He walked to the Princess and took her outstretched hand in his own before he kissed her knuckles. She still wore his rings on her right hand and he grinned since her left hand was bare. Silently he raised his hand and slipped a gold ring onto the Princess’ ring finger. Her eyes widened and Prince Yoongi winked as he released her hand. She looked at the ring in awe, it was a plain gold band that split into tiny branches that held an emerald cut smoky quartz gem the size of a lima bean.

“Shall we, my gem?” 

[shady-lemur]

Stargirl ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

I made a poll asking if you guys wanted smut in this part and everyone who voted said yes so I hope this is good 😇

Part 1, part 2, part 3!!

Ellie x reader

You and Ellie are friends. You're hanging out with your other friends again. You've even meeting new people. Everything's working out for you finally. But you aren't fully over Ellie, and after a certain night at her apartment you don't think you ever will be.

Content warning - jealousy, sexual themes... Use of a strap-on, a little bit of mean Ellie 🤭!!

You check yourself in the mirror one last time before opening the door, nervous about your second date with Abby. She's standing there smiling, with a small bouquet in one hand and the other in her back pocket. She's wearing some jeans and a plain white tee-shirt.

"Hi" she says, handing you the bouquet, "you look amazing."

You smile and take the flowers from her, "thank you Abby. You don't look too bad yourself." You wink and open the door further, inviting her to come in while you put the flowers in water.

She follows you to the kitchen and seat on one of your barstools. "Are you excited? I heard this place has such good pasta and lobster." You nod and rearrange the flowers in the vase before looking up at her.

This was only your second date and you guys weren't dating yet. But Abby has already spoiled you so much.. with that surgeon salary 😋😋

"You ready to go? We should make it before the dinner rush." You hum and smooth out your dress before following her out to your car. Making sure to lock your door on the way out.

She opens the passenger seat door for you and helps you step into the car. She gets into the drivers seat and starts to drive to the restaurant.

"So, you like to read?" Abby asks after a few minutes of silently eating. You look up at her and nod, "yeah.. I've loved reading ever since I was little."

She smiles, "I was never much of a reader. I love to listen to audio books in the car though." You hum in understanding and take another bite of food. "This is so good. I gotta take a picture of this." Abby laughs as you pull out your phone and snap a few pictures of you expensive meal.

"Tag me in those!!" She says playfully pointing her finger at you. You smile, "yes sir."

You quickly post a picture of the food with her tagged on your instagram story before turning off your phone and getting back to your conversation.

Ellie was happily getting high and scrolling on her phone until she saw your newest instagram story. Who was this Abby girl 🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐

Ellie had clicked on her username and was scrolling through her posts. She had recently graduated and became an official surgeon, she was at a pride festival in June so she's fruity, and she was super fucking buff.

Ellie scoffed. She doesn't even have the right to be jealous. You guys were friends. You made it very clear that you only wanted to be her friend. But Ellie couldn't help the way her stomach turned when she saw the fancy table with the expensive food and the buff lesbian in your picture.

She took another hit of her blunt before opening your messages.

heyyy, are you free tonight? i want to finish the ultimatum

She didn't even know why she was texting you. Was she trying to prove that you didn't need Abby? Did she actually just want to finish the season you started watching together? Or was she just needing your attention after you went out on a date? Ellie didn't fucking know, all she knew was that she wanted to see you.

After a few minutes you respond.

Hi els that sounds perfect. I can be there around 10 if that's good for u

mkay, i'll see you then.

Ellie smiled at the messages and decided to get some snacks ready.

You sigh as you close your apartment door. Your dates with Abby have been fun, but you haven't been connecting romantically. She tried to kiss you goodnight and you literally swerved so she'd kiss your cheek instead...

It just felt wrong for some reason. It was hard for you to put yourself out there ever since you and Ellie broke up and Ellie texting you in the car wasn't helping. You can't help the butterflies you get when she texts you asking if you wanna hang out 💁‍♀️

Just you and her..

You felt like how you felt when you first met Ellie. 18 years old and so in love. But you were 24 now and Ellie and you were just friends.

Buuuuut, wearing a matching set under your shorts and t-shirt never hurt anybody.. (and wearing one of the t-shirts you never returned to Ellie 🤭🤭)

You get changed and wash the makeup off your face before getting a tote bag and putting some extra clothes and a phone charger in it.

You catch yourself GIGGLING on the way over to Ellie's..

Jesus christ....... you were so beyond saving.

You make it to Ellie's after a 10 minute drive, knocking on her door softly.

When the door opens you're met with a smiling Ellie who def looked a little bit faded..

"Damn. You couldn't have waited to share?" You fake a pout and Ellie snorts, "shut up, I was bored waiting for your ass."

You laugh and come in her apartment, you take your shoes off before following her into her room and getting comfy against her pillows. She throws you the remote so you can turn on Netflix and goes to get the snack from the kitchen.

"So what were you up to today?" She asks as she walks back in with some popcorn and you favorite candy. You get under her comforter and pat the spot next to you. "I had dinner with someone."

Ellie nods and puts down the snacks to get cozy next to you, "someone I know?"

You shake you head, "I met her on a dating app. Abby, she's nice."

Ellie scowls slightly, even though she already guessed all of this. But her scowl makes your butterflies double.

"Ready to press play?"

You say yes and play episode 9 as you snuggle closer to her.

"What the fuck did I just watch?" Ellie looks over at you but you sit there with a shocked face.

It was now 12:53 and you and Ellie had finished the season. You were both flabbergasted to say the least.

"I can't believe she was even allowed to be there.. whatttt.."

Ellie shakes her head and leans on your shoulder, "I'm so glad that no matter how much shit we put each other through we never tried to get on this show."

You laugh in agreement before sighing, "do you think we could've worked?"

Ellie turns to look at you and smiles sadly, "I think we were only hurting each other by the end. We needed to seperate so we could grow without each other for a while."

You look her in the eye and nervously mess with the blanket. "Do you think we could work now? Now that we've healed?" You watch as Ellie's eyes widen and she starts to pick at her nails. You grab her hand to stop her.

"Ellie?"

She looks down at your hand on hers and takes a deep breath. "I don't think we'd know until we tried."

You get move so your sitting in front of her and get closer, "can we try?"

Ellie gulps and looks at you, her eyes trail down to your lips before she runs her hand up your arm and pulls you into herself. You squeak as her lips meet yours. One of her hands rests on your back and pushes you closer to her as the other holds your cheek. Your arms wrap around her neck so you can move to straddle her lap.

Ellie moves one of her hands down to squeeze your thigh, you moan and she uses that as her invite to explore your mouth with her tongue.

You pull away after a while and immediately feel her lips start to attack your jaw. "Ellie, please.."

She smiles and continues to press sloppy kisses against your neck, "please what?"

You whine and grind against her thigh, "I need you.. needed you for so long.." You slide your hands up to lightly pull on her hair. Ellie moves her hands down to your hips, helping you move against her. "Really baby? Has my poor girl not been getting fucked enough?"

You bite your cheek and nod, "els, you're the only one who knows what I need." Ellie kisses you again and flips you over so she's hovering over you.

She pulls at your t shirt, "can I take this off baby?" You nod eagerly and help her as she slips it off your body. She takes a second to stare at your figure before going back to kisses your neck, gently sucking in the places she knows make you whine.

You buck your hips up to meet hers as she trails her lips all the way down to your waistband. She presses one last kiss on your stomach before touching your shorts, "these too?"

"Please-"

She immediately pulls your shorts down, noticing your matching lacy underwear and bra. "You fucking whore." She laughs, "you had this all planned? Wanted me to see you in your set? Even chose my favorite color." You squeal when she pulls on your under wear band and watches it snap back against you skin.

"Please els, only for you.."

She licks her lips and looks at the needy expression on your face. "Want do you want first pretty girl?"

You look down at her and try to rub your thighs together but she keeps them open. "Your mouth, please els"

She smiles up at you and starts to pull down your underwear. "Take off your bra for me sweets." You obey her and unclasp your bra, tossing it in your pile of clothes on her floor. She bites her lip as she looks down at your figure, "fuck baby, missed you so fucking much." She brings her hands up to squeeze your tits as you whine and buck your hips up again.

"Missed you too el-" you're cut off by Ellie's hands leaving your chest and her tongue on your cunt. You moan at the feeling.

You've had hook ups since you and Ellie broke up, but no one has ever managed to get you to cum the way Ellie can.

Ellie starts to kitten lick your cunt, bringing her lips up to close around your clit. She starts to suck your clit as she teases you with her finger. You grab onto her hair with on hand, pushing her head deeper into your pussy while your other hand gropes your tits.

"Ellie.. Oh my god.." She grins into your skin and pushes her middle finger into your tight hole, she feels like it's getting pulled deeper and deeper inside of you. You bite down on your lip due to the pleasure.

Ellie continues to eat you out like she's been starving. She tongue circling your clit as she's adds another finger, pumping then in and out of you at the same pace of her tongue. You moan as you back arches off the bed, "please els! 'M gonna-"

She works her fingers faster and moans against your cunt, "do it baby, cum on my fingers." You feel her start to suck on your clit again and you reach your breaking point.

You feel the chord in your stomach snap and Ellie works you through it as you come down from your orgasm. Ellie smiles up at you and pulls her fingers out, politely cleaning up your cum with her tongue.

"Fuck Ellie" you try to catch your breath, pulling her head away by her hair. She comes up to straddle you, kissing you passionately as she runs her hands up and down your sides.

She rests her forehead against yours once you break the kiss. "Was that okay? I didn't do anything that made you uncomfortable?" She asks as she traces shapes into your skin. You shake your head, "no you were perfect. Do you want me to return the favor?"

Ellie smiles at you and perks her head up like a dog, "do you feel like you can ride?"

You playfully roll your eyes and hit her arm, "of course that's what you want."

She shrugs and pecks your lips again. You laugh and nod, "just give me a minute."

Ellie's smile gets bigger and she gets off of you, going to her night stand to get out the purple strap 😈😈👽😈😈

You watch as she strips in front of you. Showing off her toned body and cute black sports bra and boxers. You sit up and watch as she sits back down on the bed and lubes her fake dick. "Ready baby?" She smiles as you get closer, nervously hovering over her strap. "It's gonna hurt els."

She kisses your forehead, "promise I'll help you babe, we don't have to use it tonight if you don't wanna." You shake your head and wrap your arms around her neck.

"I want to."

Ellie squeezed your ass and grabs your hips to help guide them down, "that's my fucking girl." You whine as you start to feel her strap stretching you so well. You nails dig into Ellie's back as she helps you bottom out. You bite her shoulder to help you as you start to tear up. Ellie moans at the pain.

Once she's the full way in she kisses you, moving her tongue against yours so perfectly. "Did so good, pretty girl. Are you ready to move?"

You nod and start to lift your hips, Ellie helps you form a rhythm as you kiss her neck. Her strap is filling you so perfectly as you hear her praises. "So good baby, feels so good." You start to speed up, making sure to grind against her a little bit every time you bottom out so you can see her reaction every time you bump her neglected clit. "Oh my god els" you whine.

Ellie smiles at you and starts to meet your hips as she trusts up into you. One of her hands move from your hips and you bite your lip so hard it starts to bleed when you feel her fingers start to rub circles on your clit and she takes one of your nipples in her mouth.

All you can say is her name. She smiles at you and slaps your ass. "You think Abby could make you feel like this?" She brings her hand up to force you to look at her. You moan, "els!!"

She slaps your cheek. "Answer me."

You whine and shake your head rapidly, "no!! She couldn- Els!! 'M cumming!"

You slam your lips into hers as she helps you ride your second orgasm. "So good baby. You did so good. Everything okay? Did I go to rough?"

You shake your head as you come down and kiss her shoulder, your eyes starting to droop."I love you els."

She wraps her arms around your sides and gives you a kiss. "I love you too y/n. I think you need some water and some sleep. We can talk more about us tomorrow?"

You shake your head, "what about you els? I want to make you feel good too.."

She laughs and slowly lifts you up off of her and onto the bed. "Don't worry about me right now pretty girl. All I needed was to see you." You smile at her and she kisses your temple before getting off the bed and leaving the room.

You eventually get up and go to the bathroom and when you come back into Ellie's room you see her sitting in bed with a cup of water for you. She's in a new shirt and boxers and has laid out your pjs that you packed in your tote bag.

You smile at her and change before getting in bed and immediately hooking onto her side. She kisses the top of your head before turning off her lamp and laying her head down. "Good night gorgeous."

"Night els."

That was my first time ever writing smut..... Lmaooo I hope it wasn't awkward 😭😭😭

Raaaahhhhhh they kissed!!!!!!!! And fucked but that's irrelevant. Part 4 is gonna be the last part I think!!! Should I might it a time skip? Tell me if you wanna be added to the taglist for the next part my loves (^з^)-☆Chu!!

Taglist <3

@gold-dustwomxn @catostrophiclesbian @ellieswifee @unstablefemme

[obscureother]

🌑 ˚x'˙ intro. . ??

Hello. . !! im new to tumblr, so sorry if wonky things happen while im setting this up. im still trying to figure things out guys-

i lurk on other accounts for general content but im closeted n shy so i made this one to yell about things instead so i don’t expose myself to people i know lolol

if you know or find other profiles i own, i request you not expose it for those reasons before im comfortable to.

so this is just an f/o blog/journaling. . thing. I'm not entirely sure what content will be here, but it will be centered around f/os, self-shipping, and its just to give me a place to yell about the people that live in my/your brain rent-free and know they don’t exist but we pretend they do anyway for comfort reasons and serotonin, dopamine, uhh what other things feel good and ok??

some of it will be for you if I happen to think of something, other times it is for me to explode over my fixation f/os!!

youre also welcome to come yell about your f/os if you just need someone to talk to them about!! dont think i know em?? COME OVER and INTRODUCE THEM. you can come in DMs, asks, or however you want to!! id be happy to know your f/o or listen to you talk about them if no one else will :00

This is a comfort blog to me, so there wont be any room for meanness or intended offenses here. Dont come to me with troublesome things or somehow twist/morph my content into something its not, we're just here to have a cool time with our fictional people, bro. . :((

ok who r you tho:

To be honest, I don’t have a name or something to go by as of posting this, I might get one later or just make a new comment all fancy for the pin. . For now you can just call me whatever you deem good or just go off my blog/username!! Don’t be mean tho. i may take one you guys think of or figure it out on my own.

they/them

im 21 yo. (if youre a minor, i dont mind you coming to say hello, but do look below the other stuff content for what you need to look out for. you should also know some of you goofy kiddos have energies i dont know how to respond to sometimes, so dont worry if i get awkward or something, its not your fault lolol.)

im in college, so forgive me if im slow, im also just not on tumblr very often :v i dont ghost people on purpose i swEaR-

i might post my f/os on a whole list, idk yet, but theyll prolly be mentioned sometimes to the very least. you can def ask of them tho!! (edited: i made an f/o list if you want to see them.)

i dont know if ill post content of my own f/os or me/my sona for them, but it could be there.

i dont mind sharing f/os!! id love to yell about them together. if you dont like that, then its ok!! i either wont talk about them with you so you can be their person when we talk of them, or you can just block/not interact. ill be sad i dont get to meet you, but its ok.

other stuff:

Nothing explicit/detailed will normally be posted. but: The worst there will be is just being hormonally silly from kind of "rrr ovaries go brr, chew on theM-" energy of my f/os. i will try to create a tag to mark it with so you can exclude honky content if you want or need to later, tho. from what i know, you can "block" tags. . so i think that will work if you like the other goofy stuff on the blog??

(edited: I DID IT, I DID THEM, LOOK: 🌑obscure tags list for the obscure blog )

NSFW talk can be in DMs, tho.

DO NOT come to me with those concepts if youre a minor tho, oh dear GOD. honky grown-up talk is not for you goofy child-folk.

LGBTQ+ friendly!! im nonbinary and love everybody. youre ok too. 💙

i do roleplay sometimes, but only in dms n please dont go exposing our roleplays to others. . i would be very not comfy :"0

if you want to roleplay, you can dm me to ask but i dont have to say yes or i might not be able to. im slow too dfsdf=

i may or may not make a side blog once i figure out how to do stuff, but know that until then, im going to just post whatever on this one til i know how to do things on tumblr lolol.

forgive me if some of my content gets deleted, edited, whatever as we go. like i said, this whole thing is very new to me and its not very organized for now. its just there. its gonna get wonky over here on my side for a bit.

• tiny bat gif •

[wormthing]

Taking commissions for some Animal Jam items:

I've been playing Animal Jam Classic lately, and drawing in their Art Studio, and I cobbled together a wish list of random items I want. I'll draw a piece of art for you for some of those items; it doesn't specifically have to be for an in-game Masterpiece item. Check below the Read More for the list of items I'm looking for.

(And of course my commissions for $ USD are always open still!)

I'm ignoring any perceived item worth, please trade me at least one item off the list below in exchange for a piece of art.

Please message me about your proposed commission and what items you'd like to trade! Let me know if you want this drawn as a Masterpiece item, or if you just want a regular image file in exchange, probably done in MS Paint in a similar style above.

Give me a few days to get the drawing done!

If you want me to draw your avatar, I am not going to draw culturally insensitive items. I'll let you know if I have an issue with your proposition.

I can take payment when the art done/approved and we can trade, but I can also do half-payment up front.

If you want a Masterpiece item:

A Masterpiece Token included in the trade is appreciated, but not required.

Give the art time to be approved. If it isn't, I'll see if we can work something out.

Please keep complexity down, especially in regards to colour schemes.

Click below for my wish list! I'll cross things off as I get them (or add to it if I see stuff I really want).

Check out the Animal Jam Wiki (link) to look up these items (or other related pages). (I also said what event they were from if applicable.)

Den items:

Painter's Palette ("Let creativity fly" collection) [Got it!]

Fancy Pottery Wheel (same) [Got it!]

Cosmo plushie (2023 scavenger hunt)

Peck plushie (same) [Got it!]

Rare Wavy Bookshelf (2013 rare item monday) [Got it!]

Rare Giant Panda Plushie (promotional) [Got it!]

Rare Giant Tiger plushie (Lunar new year prize)

Art Camp Bead Station (2021 Art Camp collection)

Clothing:

Phantom Beanie (2017 Fall box prize)

Slime Green skullies (2022 trick-or-treat event)

Cursed Hypno glasses (2021 spooky sale)

(I'll also take the Rare Hypno Glasses with the similar colour scheme instead!) [Got these ::-)]

Classic Werewolf mask (2022 spooky sale)

Classic Creature mask (same) [I got a bunch of spooky masks from someone!!! ::-D]

Low priority:

Any other* promotional plushies (for non-members)! I love them ::-) [*Note: I now have: Rare giant panda, Rare giant raccoon, Rare monkey]

Any Slime Green clothes (for non-members)

Non-member Halloween masks from 2022 (Classic Vampire Mask, Wicked Witch Mask)

A green spiked collar for non-members [Got it!]

My Den has other art I've done, some of which is from 2024 but some is from 2017! My username is 113457.