#( ray @ his own dick : TRAITOR !!!!!!!! )

[dullweapons]

𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 (have fun my friend lol)

𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬: a little assortment of sexual action prompts for rp purposes.

zelda was staying at his home in akkala for a few days to ❛ get to know each other ❜ before their wedding . probleming being ray only had a twin size bed for himself ... he decided it was best if she took the bed & he slept downstairs on the couch . it was about midnight when ray was getting himself ready to sleep & decided to check on his fiancée ⸻ tsk . the thought still soured his mood . he still was baffled that this was zelda's choice but ... if she wanted to rebuild hyrule & the royal family ray cadell was the closest thing to royalty beyond her .

he walked carefully up the stairs & slowly opened the door ( odd to be so silent entering his own room ... ) & saw her peacefully sleeping ⸻ a book open in her hands & more scattered across the bed with the candle burning low . the demon rolled his eyes ... of course , she loved her knowledge . ray appoched , picking up the books one by one & placed them on the bedside table before sliding the book out of her hands taking great care not to wake her . he placed the ribbon bookmark in it & set it with the rest . just glancing at the books he can tell all of them were old ... perhaps she's looking at history books looking for any signs of him ? moron ⸻ just ask . besides , half of it is wrong .

he stared down at her , pale skin washed out on his sheets & her hair hanging in her face . ray pulls the blanket up , making sure she is properly covered ... he stops for a moment . his head tilts to the side as he leans in closer ⸻ brushing those stray golden locks to the side as he listens to her breath ... so slowly . at peace ... how can one be so comfortable sleeping in the home of a demon . one that's screamed at you for your failure . so easily he could ... ( his hand slides down to her neck & hovers there for a moment . ) ... he could kill her . feast upon her body — when was the last time he ate a human ? gods , it's been too long . surely she would taste wonderful ; the blood of a goddess runs through her veins .

instead he pulls back & flicks her the middle finger right in her face before he blows out the candle & goes to his temporary bed in his living room .

the demon flops onto his couch , kicking off his boots & tugs the blanket over himself quickly . he just wants to sleep these days away but he knows better than to waste this ... ❛ opportunity ❜ . barely considered it a positive but he didn't exactly want this marriage to be ... horrible . he could play the part of a good husband . one faithful . one that at the very least looks happy to be with her out in public ... behind closed doors they could part ways . she could sleep with whoever she wanted & do whatever she needed to . her life would be over & done with sooner than his . he cared little for the years they would spend together ⸻ but he did need to know what she liked so he could play his part , albeit begrudgingly so .

as he grumbled to himself , finally he drifted off to sleep ...

he kissed her hand , then her wrist , then her arm ⸻ continuing up until he nestles himself in the crock of her neck & purrs into her ear . zelda giggles softly before pushing him back playfully to his side of the bed . they're supposed to sleep early tonight but how could she when he was going to act like ... like a love sick puppy !

❝ stop that ! you know that tickles ! ❞ she speaks with a smile as she tries to be firm with him but ray continues , nuzzling his nose as his hand comes to cup her check ; a place for her to rest her head as he kisses her so sweetly all over her shoulder & neck like tiny attacks .

❝ hm. i know . i like your laughter . ❞ he says between kisses . ❝ & you know that nightgown does things to me . your fault really . ❞ his hand reaches back , his fingers digging themselves into her blonde locks so carefully as he tilted her head back . but zelda was a bit of a firecracker ⸻ she can be stubborn . she can be bossy : he liked it when she took control ... & that she did . she pushes him off with enough force that he rolls onto his back & she sits on his lap , pinning his hands back . the demon is shocked for a moment before smiling up at her curious as to what his beautiful queen had planned .

❝ if this nightgown is the problem then ... perhaps i should get rid of it . ❞ zelda did not wait for a reply before slipping off the nightgown dress & tossing it off the bed . ray licked his lip as his hands came up to caress her body ; so smooth & soft again his war - hardened hands but , zelda grabbed his wrists & pinned them back above his head . ❝ now did i say you could ? ❞ ray shook his head but his eyes stared up , pleading . begging . zelda smiles at him & his heart skips a beat as she pulls of his pants & she grinds against him as his cock hardness itself between her lips . he groans out wanting more then this but he stays still : she'll go when she's ready , surly she would not tease him to death ? ah , but that smile tells him otherwise ...

his cock twitches , leaking precum as it presses against her excitedly . he moves his hips a touch aiming to get inside & she pulls back , flicking his nose . damn ⸻ he knows he told her in the bedroom she has control ( more so on their first night when she was nervous to bed a man for the first time ) but this is torture . he hates it ... he fucking loves it ! a low growl leaves him until finally zelda allows him the luxury of being inside of her : both moan out as she descends slowly , so very slowly until she has taken him completely . his head rolls back at touch as he basks in her warmth - her tightness on his cock & how he could feel her tighten ! cheeky ...

zelda leans forward , her eyes closed as she rests her hands on his chest as she begins to bounce - slowly at first but she picks up speed soon enough . he growls out , ignoring her command before to take her hips as he thrusts into her . he forces her down more & she jolts a touch ⸻ her face flushed as her eyes glazed over in pleasure .

❝ a-ah ! ray i said ⸺ ❞ he brings his thumb forward , pressing her lower abdomen & her eyes snap open at the new sensation & all words leave her as she grinds against him now more helplessly . ray loved that look on her face , so adorable ... never would he get enough of it . he pulls her down for a moment to kiss her , deeply & sweetly as he could hear the sickenly sweet slap of their bodys hitting one another ; sweat beginning to form on them . burning together in lust ⸻ no , it wasn't lust : he truly loves her .

he allows her to return up right as he holds onto her hips . as he looks up at her he cannot help but smile .

❝ thats it ⸻ thats my girl , you're perfect ... keeping going - i love you ... ❞ as he moaned out ⸻ he moaned aloud , in the waking world with his arms clasping the air where zelda's hips should be ; his own hips bucking at nothing but the blanket that hung around him & his body shivering in pleasure . finally he opened his eye ... zelda ? he looked around for his wife , confused for a moment before realizing it was a dream ... fuck .

his brows furrow & he stares at his ( now very tight fitting ) underwear with anger . whose side are you on ?! tsk ⸻ he should handle this before zelda wakes up & she will very soon . she's quite the early bird .

[autisticlancemcclain]

fic rec friday 26

welcome to the twenty-sixth fic rec friday! where, on friday, i rec five of my favourite fics.

1. suite on you by @adelfie

Lance feels a little jarred when he sees nothing friendly in the suitemate’s eyes, and then foolish. He scrambles to find something to say. “Do you have any rules?" Keith’s eyes darken. “Yeah. Don’t bother me this semester. Or ever.”

-- Accident-prone Lance McClain learns that his grumpy suitemate, Keith, has one rule: to leave him alone. Lance would really like to follow that rule. Really. But his clumsiness has other plans.

(Or, 5 times Lance bothers Keith and 1 time Keith lets him.)

any fic that uses the Lance is a Ray of Sunshine tag is a fave of mine bc he is. i loved how in this one keith called lance sweet, not like an adjective but as a petname?? anyways it killed me and it made lance melt as you might have guessed. i loved it

2. Shiro, You Ignorant Slut by notverystraight

“I like Keith,” Lance blurted suddenly.

Shiro blinked. “Oh.” Not exactly the revelation he’d been expected. “He likes you, too.”

- In which Shiro accidentally reveals Keith and Lance’s feelings for each other… without even knowing about them in the first place.

god bless fics that write shiro as the dorky dumbass he is. he WOULD be the one to spill the beans without knowing that there are even beans to be spilled. i love him

3. Escalate by demonsushi01 [EXPLICIT]

Day 15. Flustered

5 +1 Fives times in which Lance is flustered by Keith during their relationship, with it steadily shifting from more innocent things as it continues. And one time in which he gets back at Keith.

this mostly isnt explicit, its mostly just klance turning their relationship into a competition lol. they also spend a significant amount of time embarrassing their friends which is excellent

4. Part of Your World by @floranna

Keith sat at the dock, glaring at the water, wearing only his speedos. It was a bright, warm, and sunny day, with slight enough of a breeze to keep the worst of the heat away. Not like Keith cared or anything like that, of course, but…

Everything spelled that it should have been a beautiful, wonderful day, full of wonderful memories, if only that sharp-toothed half fish would actually show up!

happy belated mermay my loves <3 you want klance? teasing and soft and domestic? monstertron? lance with very sharp teeth? keith being very into lance with very sharp teeth? one stop shop babey

5. Hunk’s List of Grievances by @littlecinnamonbunny

Honestly, Hunk deserves better.

or

Five times that Hunk thought he walked in on Lance and Keith doin’ the hanky-panky, and one time he actually did.

this fic made me LAUGH. like literally out loud. let me introduce yall to my favourite part:

And that’s when it happens.

A familiar gloved hand comes into view, pale fingers pushing back Lance’s fringe with a soft groan, and Hunk realizes that Lance's mouth is currently preoccupied and will not be able to respond. But it’s too late because Hunk’s already opened his own mouth to speak.

“Hey Lance, Allura wants to– hoLY F- oh yup okay that’s definitely a dick, goodbye I’m gonna erect myself out of- eject! - eject myself out of the airlock now.”

He turns on his heel and speed walks the fuck out, and even Yellow is sending him questioning concern that tingles the corners of his mind (though it’s tinged with amusement, the filthy traitor) and he ignores Lance’s choking and coughing and swearing.

He also chooses to ignore Keith’s mortified cry of his name along with “wait-!” because no Keith, why the fuck would he wait?!

‘Oh sorry, let me just pause in my desperate attempt at fucking off for a moment so you can remove your genitals from the back of my best friend’s throat and try and convince me that your penis was checking for cavities’.

like holy shit 😭😭 words cannot express how out of pocket this whole fic is like i genuinely cannot read it without smiling

that’s it for today!! i’ll see y’all back next friday for the next fic rec post!!!  

[grayson1996]

Everyone knew there was a traitor amongst them, even before Barbara had called in with the news. Statistically one of their own had to be infected, Bruce had tried to weed them out through a gauntlet of contingencies. Sunlight, holy water, a cross, and a million other supernatural alignments that he never thought he’d have to use in real life. They had all passed though, without a trace of discomfort, without a break in their facade. Even Cassandra had concluded that no one was lying.

But as time waned and more and more heroes fell Bruce couldn’t help the shiver of uncertainty that ran up his back every time he took in the group.

At first he thought it was Cass, the younger woman didn’t need to hide her body language from herself and her costume gave her complete cover from the UV rays. But she had been by his side throughout all of this, and though she was skilled he knew she wouldn’t have been able to hide it from him this long.  

Then he prayed it was Ollie. It wasn’t that he hated the man, the two had always been cordial but their friendship stopped at acquaintanceship. They were coworkers not family. Bruce could dispose of him if need be, he wouldn’t relish in it but he could do it.

He knew his children also picked up on the strange invisible tension in the air. The sense that they were being watched, hunted, by some large predator. They laughed and joked and trusted each other as they always had, all the while throwing weary glances behind backs. Everyone knew there was a traitor amongst them.

No one ever guessed it would be Dick.

Continued.....

https://archiveofourown.org/works/38090218

[byuntrash101]

Incubus: Coming of Age (Part 1)

Pairing: Incubus!Baekhyun x You

Genre: fantasy, smut 🖤

Tags: plot (cause it’s what makes it interesting), demon boy (incubus), (very) big dick, oral (f), dirty talk and more~

Raiting: 18+ (maybe even 21+ haha… don’t jugde 🙈)

Word count: 4.4k (you’re in for one hell of a ride)

Summary: It’s true… you’re in love with your boss: the brilliant Doctor Park Chanyeol. And one night you’re woken up by his sweet kisses and bites… This should be a dream come true right? Then why does something feels off about him?

General Masterlist

Part 2

Please tell me what you think it's my first work on here!!! Please cheer for me yeolobun ^^. Tell me if you wanna be in the tag list for part 2 ❤

From a Boy...

Incubus: male demon who preys on women for sex, especially while they are sleeping.

*

*

*

"Aaaah... Don't stop" you whisper as you grip on the bed sheets tightly "I'm cumming" you cry out through gritted teeth, furiously rubbing on your aching and throbbing nub. "Fuck... Aaaah... Chanyeol..." You moan his name as you push yourself over the edge, finally grasping your orgasm and letting it wash over you in waves of heated pleasure.

Once your sinful deeds accomplished you sigh to yourself... You did it again... You just couldn't help yourself, you touched yourself to your handsome boss... Again!

You clicked your tongue, annoyed at your own lack of will.

Chanyeol was the head of the ophthalmology department at the SM Medical Center where you worked. Doctor Park Chanyeol was everything a woman of 24 years of age, like yourself, could desire. He was tall, had strong broad shoulders, he had big muscular arms, he was unbelievably attractive with his big eyes and adorable ears. And on top of that he was incredibly smart and a complete gentleman. Always considerate of his team and gosh... his smile...ugh... definitely the deadliest part.

As an ophthalmologist of said team, you worked directly under him. And God knew how much more you wanted to do under him...

You shook your head...

I really gotta stop dreaming about my married boss

'Cause, yes, he was married, happily married. And yes, your little thoughts and heart flutters were nothing more than that... dreams, just silly dreams.

You sigh and flip to your side, tucking your head comfortably on your pillow to finally have some sleep. Not even taking the time to slip your panties back on. Simply adorning your night gown.

*.*.*

You have no idea how long you've been sleeping for, but you're woken up by the sound of a pair of lips smacking and the feeling of the said lips attached to your naked shoulder. You blink a few times, your blurry eyes adapting to the dark room solely illuminated by the rays of the full moon peeking through the blinds. Your eyes fall on the dark brown tuft of hair occupied with gently nibbling on your collarbone.

"Hmmm... You finally woke up y/n?" The man lifts his head...

CHANYEOL?!?!

You yeet yourself to the headboard, covering yourself with your blanket. Chanyeol is not at all startled and just joins you up the mattress. He leans in and starts to playfully lick around your ear.

"Aaah" A soft moan escapes your lips. You immediately clap your hand over your traitorous mouth, refraining from moaning again. Your ears have always been your weak spot.

"Oh baby, you're so sensitive" his deep voice resonates in your ear, shivers run down your spine as you fight the urge to lean your head back to give him more access to your neck.

"Chanyeol, what are you doing?" You ask in a whisper, trying not to whimper. Chanyeol smirks against your skin.

"Come on baby... You know what I'm doing" He marks a silence to suck on your lobe. "I'm here to make your dreams come true" Your eyes shot open.

"How do you know about that?" You push him away to have a look at his face.

"I just do" he shrugs before trying to go back to your neck, but you stop him.

"There's no way Doctor Park would know or even act like that at all... Who are you?" You ask squinting. The man chuckles, incredulous.

"Y/n... It's me Chanyeol your super sexy gynecologist boss"

Dread creeps under your skin, you gasp loudly as you bring the covers further up... Chanyeol would never speak of himself as "super sexy" and above all... He's an NOT a gynecologist.

"Who are you really?" you ask, tilting your head and frowning.

Soon the man drops his shoulders and the fake reassuring smile, turning his face away from yours.

"Fine!" he spits, he gets up from the bed and right there before your very eyes, red smoke starts to form at the bottom of his feet, soon enveloping completely his big and tall figure. Your rub your eyes, persuaded to still be in deep sleep.

When the smoke dissipates Chanyeol is gone and there stands a boy. He has raven black locks of shiny hair perfectly sitting on top of his head, piercing dark brown orbs looking right into yours, pouty pink lips and adorable, cute moles.

Well, a boy that is if you disregard the two obvious 10 cm (4in) tall horns that sprout out of his forehead. And a just-as-obvious spare shaped black tail dangling behind him.

He's wearing an oversized black hoodie and a pair of denim shorts with thick white sneakers. He shoves his hands in his back pockets, looking annoyed.

"Who are you?" You ask again, this time more to yourself as you have trouble trusting your own eyes. The thing -for lack of a better word- runs his black stained fingertips through his hair.

"My name is Baekhyun" he finally says.

"What are you?" you asked after clearing your throat trying not to squeal. Baekhyun rolls his eyes and sighs deeply.

"I'm an incubus"

"A what?!" You nearly choke on your own saliva.

"A sex demon that-"

"I know what an incubus is!" you interrupt him, frustrated at the irrational scene taking place before your eyes.

"Well... At least I was supposed to be become one" he looks down. You tilt your head in confusion. "Yeah... today is my exam... You're my exam" You frown your brows the confusion thickening in your eyes.

"Your exam?" you ask.

"Yeah, I was supposed to seduce you to pass..." Your heart nearly stops...

"Seduce me?!?"

"Are you going to repeat everything I say?" he snaps back with a biting tone. "Yeah... I kinda like... studied you and your preferences all semester just for today but it's all for nothing... I'm going to fail" he hangs his head low, sulking cutely.

His words barely make any sense in your mind. But then you take a closer look at him, he looks so sad, his puppy eyes drooping, his lips forming an adorable pout as he nervously whips his tail around. You immediately curse your fucked up subconscious that decided to send you such a weird dream tonight.

"Well...I guess I can make an effort so you can pass your exam" His tail perks up and his eyes instantly light up.

"Really?" You hesitate...

"Y...yes" you drag on the word, like you're trying to keep the right of changing your mind for as long as possible.

"Oh, thank you so much!!!" he chirps, his lips stretching in the most adorable smile. And you don't really know why but his happiness spreads to you, you find yourself smiling too.

But then you come to realize something...

"Wait, an exam... how old are you?" you ask, hesitant again. Baekhyun's smile fades away as he tilts his head.

"Huh... In demonic blood moon years or human sun years?" he asks dead serious. When you don't reply anything, he starts mumbling to himself. "Yeah, how would she know what a blood moon year is..." he starts counting on his fingers "I'll be... One... Two... Ten... 19 years old in May" He says proudly puffing his chest.

"Oh my God! You're only 18!!!" you nearly scream. "I can't I'm sorry, you're way too young" Baekhyun jumps to your side and grabs both your hands pressing them into his black stained ones.

"Please y/n" he says piercing his puppy eyes into you. "If I fail... I'll be expelled from school and my parents will disown me... and..." he looks down at his feet. "I'll be prohibited from breeding, which is an incubus' sole purpose" He hangs his tails in defeat.

You don't know why or how but seeing him like that sinks your heart. You can't possibly say "no" to such a face. You sigh again.

"Fine..." you can't help but to smile softly when you see him wag his tail back. "What do you need to pass?" He looks to the side, recalling the instructions.

"For me to have just the passing grade I need to" he nervously licks his lips before looking back into your eyes "I need to successfully give you... one orgasm..." You blink your eyes twice, unsure of the information perceived by your ears... you start to shake your head "Wait please y/n! We don't actually have to have intercourse"

"Please don't say it like that" you ask removing your hands from his to massage your temples, with knitted brows.

"Wait y/n I mean... I could maybe... just..." he hesitates "go down on you?". Silence falls for a second, but you shake your head again. "Please" he pleads, attacking with the damn irresistible puppy eyes.

Silence again.

"OK..." you finally breathe out. Once again, his tail cutely perks up. "If it's a dream then I guess it's ok..." you whisper to yourself this time your gaze drifting to the floor as you still have trouble processing what is going on.

"Oh my! Thank you! I promise I will make you feel good" your eyes shoot back to him. It's almost imperceptible but the last two words sound different. Something is different.

Baekhyun takes a step in your direction and you want to step back but the back of your legs hits the edge of the bed. You freeze in your steps. He leans onto your ear and if you didn't have your eyes to back up your ears on this one you would have sworn it wasn't Baekhyun speaking to you anymore. He took this deep, sultry, and alluring voice that only a demon could have.

"I promise you won't regret it. Because I was trained for this" You feel the unusually hot glide of his tongue on your ear as the butterflies in your stomach collectively decide to go berserk inside your guts. "I was trained to please you... Only you" goosebumps run across your skin as electricity sparks up in your core.

He goes back to lick and suck on your ear you're surprised how much surface his tongue can cover but you don't pay that much intention to it, you're too busy being gently laid back in your bed by Baekhyun's strong arms as he is licking down your neck. Leaving sloppy kisses and playful bites. His sharp teeth have no problem sinking into your skin and the pleasurable sting pulls a throaty moan out of your mouth. Baekhyun briefly pulls away to look at you. He smirks at your flushed rosy cheeks.

"Baby, are you already feeling me?" Just as he says that he pushes his hips onto yours and you have to keep yourself from loudly gasping when you feel... it. You haven't seen it yet, but you just know it... That thing... is huge.

You let out a whimper and he unveils his pointy teeth, the white pearls glistening under the moon light. While Baekhyun buries his face back in the crook of your neck you notice how the buttons of your night gown start to faintly glow red and in total stupor you understand they are undoing themselves. The straps swiftly slip off your skin and you are left absolutely naked before Baekhyun's eyes.

He pulls away drinking in your most natural form while you lay on your back, thighs tightly pressed together.

"Baby you look this good, and you want me to behave?" he says in that voice again. He licks his lips, his tongue is different. It's longue and pointy, unnaturally red and... hot too... you recall from the neck kisses. Your heart pounds in your chest.

He leans back again, and his disproportionately long tongue fully wraps around your left nipple. You moan and bite your bottom lip. He lightly flicks his tongue. It's more and more difficult for you to resist him.

He goes down again, dangerously approaching to your center. When he notices you’re keeping your legs together he looks back up at you, you open your eyes wide when you notice the dark brown of his eyes was replaced by a glowing burgundy red.

"Baby, don't make this harder than it has to be" Baekhyun says not parting his lips from your pubic bone still showering you with kisses. Then with a flick of the wrist, your legs fly open. Before you can even realize it Baekhyun is eyeing the most private part of you.

"Baby, it didn't even start yet and you're already this wet for me" his teasing makes you squirm and it's only then that you realize in what state this demon has put you.

You are absolutely drenched. You never were this wet… Ever! Even in your wildest dream with Doctor Park. Without even proper touching, you soaked the sheets all the way through the mattress. You can't see it, but you feel long strings of your juices linking your sopping center to the bed and coating your inner thighs.

When Baekhyun approaches his face very slowly, eyes focused on his target, licking his lips hungrily, when he's right there, just a couple of centimeters away from your soaked slit he looks up at you. The smirk he wears is downright evil.

"Oh, and y/n one last thing. This is not a dream... It's real... I'm real"

You don't even have time to process the information that his tongue makes contact with you, directly aiming for the clit. You gasp loudly gripping the sheets. It feels uncommonly hot and wet, slimy even, like lubricated? It's also kind of rough, rugged, like a cat's tongue. But strangely it's the best part about it, the little asperities are stimulating you further and you can't hold back anymore. Frankly, you don't want to, you're giving in.

Your delighted moans fill the room, and your meek voice has Baekhyun smirking, lips still tightly pressed to yours.

"That's it, kitten, moan for me"

The pet name makes you moan louder, gripping his hair. His abnormally long tongue swirling around your clit driving you absolutely crazy. The pleasure rises steadily, and you feel the familiar build up in your stomach form.

He wraps his lips around your swollen and very sensitive clit to gently suck it. Another throaty moan slips out your mouth which has you biting your lip right after. His sharp teeth graze against you and you feel a small bite on your already aching bud. The sting is divine and makes you scream out a moan. Baekhyun feels you twitch under his tongue as you unconsciously buck your hips up and down, grinding your needy little cunt against his tongue.

"Kitten, are you gonna cum?" he asks with a mouth full.

You look down at his dark red glowing eyes, his satisfied smirk, his pitch-black hair stuck to his forehead, his face covered with your overflowing juices... Fuck why does he have to look so good?

You nod, biting on your bottom lip so hard you could draw blood. But Baekhyun slows down...

No... Please... you want to plead but you don't.

You let out a desperate whimper that makes Baekhyun's smirk even wider.

"Then tell me, Kitten. Tell me how good I'm making you feel. Tell me what you want." he whispers in that deep voice again.

Fuck... How does he know you so well, the weak spot in your ear, the pet name, the dirty talk? He knows about all the things that drive you mad. It's like he knows your body by heart... and fuck... you can't resist him.

The agonizing slow flicks of his tongue on your throbbing pussy are killing you and you just want more. You need more.

"Please, please Baekhyun..." you whine. "Please let me cum". He chuckles in victory.

"Good girl" he praises before shoving his hole tongue in your clenching pussy. You have no will to control your voice anymore and just moan out loud to your heart's content.

"Fuck... yessss..." you bring your second hand to grip his hair and you don't even realize you're harshly pulling at it.

"Beg me for it, Kitten"

"Please Baekkhyun... aaah... Don't stop... Please" you're pleading, you're so close.

His tongue works wonders going in and out of you at an astonishing speed, every time hitting your gspot dead on. Somehow, he manages to tongue fuck you and still give attention to your clit. You don't know how he does it but it feels divine and quite frankly, you don't care.

"I'm c-cumming" you whisper in a strangled breath.

"Yes, cum for me Kitten. Cum all over this mouth" Baekhyun's deep voice resonates in your ear as your eyes are closed shut. Your legs tense up and your back arches as the knot finally comes undone. Juices flowing out into Baekhyun's open mouth. He sends you into an earth-shattering orgasm. The overwhelming sensation takes over your entire body, making you shake uncontrollably as you scream out his name. Never you felt something like this. A simple human being would never be capable of doing the things he just did to you.

Baekhyun slows down allowing you to ride off your high without hurry. When he parts his mouth from your quivering core you hear him loudly swallow then hum in satisfaction.

"Mmmmh...Delicious baby" he says wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, the glow in his eyes slowly fading to the original dark brown.

What the fuck was that? Did I just squirt?

Your chest is heaving up and down and you still can't believe what just happened. The things you felt you can't really understand them or even name them. All you know is that you don't want to let them go.

Baekhyun has already climbed off the bed when you let your heart - no, not your heart, definitely something else - speak.

"Baekhyun..." he turns around "I-... hum..." you didn't really say anything but Baekhyun smirks. He clicks his tongue and shakes his head.

"Is Kitten becoming greedy?" With that a red halo surrounds him and his clothes just simultaneously drop to the floor.

You look at him with round eyes and a hanging jaw. Who would have known he was hiding all this behind his boyish face? He looks absolutely stunning. You would have never suspected such broad shoulders underneath that oversized hoodie and such amazingly thick and meaty thighs. He's toned and in shape. But the most impressive thing is definitely his masculine attributes...

His huge dick stands proud and tall. This thing is literally the size of your forearm and you just keep staring at it as it lightly twitches, precum shining and pearling at his slit.

You can't help but to lick your lips. Which Baekhyun picks up right away.

He slips back in bed with you and whispers in your ear again, planting kisses around your ear. He then grabs your face, squishing your cheeks in his firm grip, his thumb tugs at your lips and he slips his longue tongue inside your mouth. Instantly the taste of your own cum spreads to your mouth. Baekhyun continues to slip inside until his tongue is down your throat and your lips finally meet. Your eyes roll back, fully enjoying the heated and sloppy kiss he gives you. Goosebumps in the nape of your neck as his heavy breath fans your warm cheeks.

After a while he pulls out.

"I know you want more" he says as he forcefully grabs your wrist to place your tiny hand on his fat huge cock. The thing his so hard and hot, twitching under your fingers, you bite your lip. Baekhyun enfolds your fingers around his cock and harshly thrusts himself in your small hand wrapped around his two big ones. You whimper as Baekhyun growls in your ear.

"Tell me what you want kitten" Baekhyun's low grunts make you shiver. He gives another powerful thrust in your fist.

"Please... Baekhyun" you start with your lips trembling. "Fuck me" you finally say in a breath.

That was all that Baekhyun needed. He leaves your side and kneels right in front of you. He harshly pulls on your parted thighs to bring you close. You let a whimper out as his thing rubs against your still very responsive clit.

Baekhyun then wiggles himself even closer and links his hips with yours, his fat cock resting on your stomach.

"Look kitten, this how full I'm going to make you" he growls slightly swaying his hips to rub on your nub. You bite your lip and lift your head to see. You can't help but to whimper when you see his tip reach all the way up to your midriff.

It's never going to fit...

He seizes his thick member and starts to rub the tip against your slit, gathering your wetness and coating himself with it. You buck your hips up, impatient. But Baekhyun gently takes your chin in his black stained finger and lifts your head up. Your eyes shoot back to his, the red glow is back.

"Look at me while I fill you up with this huge fucking cock" he whispers detaching every syllable of the three last words, eyes deep into yours. The smirk is gone. He’s done playing.

Slowly and steadily, he pushes himself inside you. His girthy tip delightfully stretching your tight little cunt. You feel him progress inside you, every centimeter feels like pure heaven, his glowing eyes locked into yours as he frowns and grunts.

Eventually he reaches the deepest part of you and your hips link again. You squeeze your eyes shut and your toes curl up... Because as crazy as it may sounds just with this one slow stroke, he made you cum. You press your lips into a thin line to not moan. But Baekhyun is not fooled. He leans into your ear and whispers with the deep voice that you are starting to know.

"Oh Kitten" he clicks his tongue. "You came with that?" His coos as he slowly pulls out of your still throbbing cunt. "Then get ready because it's about to get even better"

Then he stands back up and takes a bruising grip on both of your thighs and smashes himself back into your sensitive center.

"Fuck" you yell. Your eyes shoot open as you curse out loud, unable to resist the feeling. Your orgasm still hasn't completely worn out and he's already forcing another one into you. Your eyes roll back as your jaw falls open, shaking every time he thrusts his huge cock inside you.

Baekhyun smirks when he feels the signature clenching and throbbing of your orgasming cunt. But that does not stop him. As another orgasm washes over you, your leg shake uncontrollably as you moan out his name.

"Aaaah... Baekhyunnnnn"

"You're cumming again... Kitten really has become greedy" he chuckles slowly adapting his pace to allow you to breathe. Your high slowly wears off. Your eyes come back into focus and you catch Baekhyun's tail lazily waving behind him before they drift to his evil, handsome face.

"Oh Kitten, you're back. I almost thought you were going to pass out. You're not used to feeling this good, huh?" You can't even reply anything that he speeds back up, going even faster than before. Right when you thought it couldn't get better. Right when you thought he couldn't possibly fuck you any better than this... he fucking does.

Immediately you grip the sheets again, arching your back. You're already back to scream-moaning. He feels amazing inside you. The way each thrust deliciously spreads your aching tiny little cunt, the way he rams himself into you, rearranging your guts and shaping your pussy to perfectly fit his fat ass cock... Frankly in this instant you can't even remember your own name.

"Fuck... Aaaah..."

The sound of wet skin clashing reverberates against the walls of your rooms. Finally, you feel him dangerously twitch inside you. He's coming close to his release, and it shows in his dark red glowing eyes.

"I'm gonna cum inside you" he grunts lowly, tightening his grip on your thighs. This is the definitely not a question. It's a statement.

You welcome his words as they mean salvation to you. You're exhausted, your pussy just can't take another one of these intense orgasms. You feel like you're going to collapse as you lay there on your back while he furiously pounds into you, your eyes rolled back and your tongue hanging out.

"Yes, please cum inside me" you mumble not even bothering to slip your tongue back in.

"I'll make you minekitten" he growls, making you shiver.

"Yessss" you huff in a shaky breath.

Your own release coming close, again. Your toes curl upward, and you arch your back, your tight pussy frantically throbbing and clenching around Baekhyun's fat cock as his own dick pulses and twitches inside you finally releasing his delicious piping hot cum.

"Fuckkkk" Baekhyun breathes out through gritted teeth as you sink your nails into his biceps.

Gallons of thick white sticky liquid gush out inside you, adding on to the full feeling of Baekhyun's cock. You feel astronomical volumes of cum filling you to the brim until it has to flow out of you in a river of slimy and tasty cum.

You both catch your breath for a good two minutes before you can even move. When Baekhyun finally pulls out your mixed juices still link him to you in long strings.

He's quicker to recover than you. Your chest is still heaving up and down when he magically pops his clothes back on.

He looks back at you and it's evident how different he is. The glow in his eyes is gone, his innocent boyish expression is back, and his smile is just adorable. Even his tail is cutely wagging behind him.

"Thanks y/n! Imma have the best grade ever. I bet Yixing had to keep the illusion spell..." He smiles from ear to ear.

Completely drained out you barely manage to simply nod back at him and grin from the corner of your mouth.

"Anyway, bye... Kitten" he says, a playful glint briefly passing his eyes while the red smoke engulfs him.

When the smoke clears out you are almost - not almost - disappointed that he's gone. You sigh deeply, cum still lazily dripping out of your broken-beyond-repair pussy.

How am I supposed to go back to a normal life after that?

General Masterlist | Part 2

[fandom-puff]

Being Sirius Black’s daughter would include...

Requested by: anon

As usual. Gif creds to the owner:) enjoy !!

Warnings: some swearing

Okay so let’s just imagine that dumbledore didn’t let Sirius rot in Azkaban despite knowing he was innocent all along bc dumbledore is a bit of a dick

And obv Sirius didn’t die bc fuck you JKR the fandom is ours now and we say Sirius is alive

I’ve always headcanonned (It’s a word now) that Sirius’s daughter would be a little bit younger than Harry by a few years and would’ve been raised along side him (James and lily still die in my hc bc plot convenience?)

Your own mother died pretty soon after you were born thanks to the first wizarding war, so sirius ended up with dead best friends, one traitor, a two-and-a-half year old and a newborn all within two years

Yeah he was in way over his head

He didn’t give up though. Your cot was next to his bed, and Harry often waddled in for cuddles in the middle of the night. Sirius was in no position to object, and made sure both infants were settled and sound asleep before he even considered his own sleep

There was a lot of help from Uncle Moony, who Sirius and his girlfriend (your mum) had named as your godfather

‘Calm down, Sirius, she’s just got wind. Here, like this’ he puts the tea towel over sirius’s shoulder and teaches him how to wind you properly. “There we go. Always remember the tea towel or you’ll end up with a back covered in vomit”

Teamwork makes the dreamwork really

As you and Harry grow up, there are LOTS of pictures taken, and Remus and Sirius quickly fill multiple scrapbooks with all of your adventures.

Harry starts to show signs of magic when he turns 4. He somehow managed to change the colour of your teddy. Your magic showed itself moments after when you indignantly turned it back

You cried when Harry got his hogwarts letter and left for school that September. “Promise you’ll write?” You had said, and he did promise

A few days later, Hedwig comes to the window with a letter. You tear it open and let her have some of your toast as you read it.

“Dad! Moony! Harry’s a Gryffindor!” You announced and they both cheered. You carried on reading. “Hey... who’s professor Snape? Harry said he’s the worst...”

Sirius roared with laughter, but remus frowned. “We went to school with Severus,” remus said slowly, fixing Sirius with a pointed glare. “We didn’t get on. We’re grown ups now, though,”

The last bit was DEFINITELY aimed at Sirius.

You’re thrilled when you get your hogwarts letter- the owl also had a letter for remus, requesting he teach Defense

It takes some convincing, but he eventually agrees to it, replying to dumbledore as Sirius takes you to Diagon Alley.

You get an ice cream from Florean Fortescue, but Sirius notices you’re a little quieter

“What’s wrong, love?” He asks gently

“Dad... you know how you, uncle Moony and Harry are all in gryffindor?”

He reaches across the table and squeezes your hand. “If you get put in gryffindor, we’ll be proud of you. And if you get put in any of the others, we’ll still be proud of you, alright love?”

“Even Slytherin?” You whisper, because you’ve heard all about Sirius’s blood-supremacist family and the slytherin reputation after reading Harry’s school books back to front (and some of remus’s)

Sirius looks at you with the SOFTEST eyes imaginable, and smiles. “Even slytherin. Because I know you’ve got it in you to be nothing like my lot,” he says, and you’re soon reassured.

During your first year, remus keeps a close eye on both you and harry- there are MANY floo calls and owls in the first term

You soon become a force to be reckoned with, truly Sirius Black’s daughter

You and Harry rat one another out to Sirius and Remus, and it’s often a game of who can get there first, especially if you’re both in the wrong

Around your fifth year, boys (or girls) start making their way into the scene

What starts off with innocent dates in Hogsmeade soon turns into you getting caught snogging someone two years above you in Snape’s classroom

You earn yourself a month of detention

Is your father angry?

Is he SHITE

You get a howler the next day (bc Harry AND Remus can’t KEEP THEIR MOUTHS SHUT and love the gossip)

‘YN MY GIRL WELL DONE A MONTHS DETENTION IN ONE SITTING? I’M SO BLOODY PROUD OF YOU MY GIRL, MOONY SAID HE’S NEVER SEEN SNAPE LOOK MORE CONSTIPATED IN HIS LIFE!’

There’s a little lull of silence before the howler starts up again ‘WAIT YOU WERE CAUGHT W I T H SOMEONE? WHO WAS IT? I BET IT WAS THAT DONNOVAN KID! YOU WAIT, MADAM, AND YOU, DONNOVAN, KEEP YOUR HANDS TO YOURSELF! THAT GOES TO ALL YOU LITTLE BASTARDS LOOKING AT MY DAUGHTER!’

The howler explodes and you cover your face

Harry laughs the loudest

You flip him off across the great hall/table

And get an extra detention for it too

It’s worth it though

Because Remus snorted pumpkin juice everywhere and Snape’s eyes practically bulged from his face

You totally introduce ‘Donnovan’ to Sirius the next hogsmeade weekend

Be on my tag list :)

Tag list: @a-hopeless-fan @lotsoffandomrecs @justanotherwildstar @kashishwrites @rai-strangebr @zodiyack @haphazardhufflepuff @dumbfuckinslytherin @severuslovebot

[vanderlindemorgans]

Cross My Heart (Chapter 5)

Pairing: Agent Whiskey x Reader

Rating: Explicit/18+

Summary: A traitorous Agent Whiskey returns to the United States on the run. Being cast out by Statesman, he soon finds that you’re the only person he can turn to - the embittered former flame from years long passed

Word count: 7.5k

Warnings: Eventual smut, some references to alcoholism and drug use. Reader is in her late twenties but there is an age gap between her and Whiskey. Chapter specific warnings: one scene takes place in a hospital, some medical talk, more heavy drinking, talk of death and alcoholism (specifically related to drunk driving), mentions of drug addiction, Whiskey being a dick, lotta heavy topics in general.

Read on AO3 | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | Masterlist

“Alright, so the X-Rays have come back and as you can probably already guess your left arm has been fractured”.

The news hadn’t been a shock to you at all - it was only logical that the result of being thrown off the back of a horse was your arm breaking from the impact of the fall, nevermind the sheer amount of pain that it had already caused you was even more indication that something was definitely wrong there. All things considered, it still wasn’t a pleasant piece of news to receive, causing you to let out a low groan as you settled back into the hospital gurney they had allocated to you after the ambulance had pulled you in. Dressed in only a hospital gown, you felt the chill from the room's air conditioning prick the edges of your skin, the coolness of temperature making the whole experience even more foreign to you. Of course, it wasn’t like you’d never been to a hospital before - an unlucky bout of croup had sent you to the emergency room as a little kid when you’d almost stopped breathing. At the resurgence of that particular memory you felt yourself shudder, recalling the hours spent passed out in a brightly lit room and being forced to drink gross tasting liquid that was meant to clear up your airways. At least you weren’t choking on your own breath this time round. 

“Well that’s just fantastic. How long will it take to heal? I kinda got a ranch to run” you asked the doctor, who was standing off to the side consulting the clipboard nestled against his arm. Sighing, he looked up at you with a look of sympathy while he ran through the information he’d jotted down on his notes. “Usually it takes twelve weeks for fractures to heal - given the fact that a good part of your arm has been displaced you’ll need to be put into surgery to shift the bone back into place, which we’ll have scheduled for you in the next twenty-four hours. Afterwards, I’ll be putting you in a cast for a couple of weeks and you’ll have to come back in for checkups weekly. I’ll also give you a list of rehabilitation exercises you can do to ensure the recovery process goes as smoothly as possible” he explained. “After your surgery and subsequent discharge, I heavily recommend a few days bed rest due to the concussion you have sustained”.  

“So I’m guessing most physical labour is out then” you muttered under your breath, sighing once you realized how heavily this would impact your ability to keep things running smoothly back at the ranch. Yes, you had employees but without you to oversee everything things would slow down and descend into madness real quickly. You wished you had allocated some sort of second in command for times like this, a manager of sorts to keep things in place while you recovered but you’d just never gotten around to it, brushing the thought aside every time it sprung up with a simple “Why would I need extra help anyway? Nothing ever happens around here”. 

“You’d be correct on that. Now, I have some other patients to check on but I will be back in about 20 minutes or so to prep you for surgery, though I will send a nurse to give you some painkillers so you can stop feeling the worst of the pain for at least a little while” he replied. You went to thank him but before you could you felt a light touch graze along your right arm. Your eyes glanced over to where Jack’s hand was placed, his touch delicate and comforting, sparking that same feeling in your chest that you’d felt when he’d stroked your forehead back at the ranch. His eyes met your own for a moment, deep cedar brown looking at you with nothing more than concern and worry, somehow pulling at a single string of your heart even though you wanted to fight against it with all your might.

Snapping you focus back into place, you nodded back over to the doctor and thanked him for all he was doing, listening to his reassurances that he’d have you fixed up as soon as possible as he hurried on out of the room to his next patient in need. Once he was gone, you exhaled in annoyance and went back to staring aimlessly at the ceiling, mulling over the inconvenience of your predicament. 

“Everything ok, sugar?” you heard Jack ask you, feeling his enchanting eyes study your expression, his anxiety over your wellbeing plain as day. Letting out a small laugh, you returned his question with a small smile of your own. “Does it look like I’m ok?” you joked, gesturing vaguely to your fractured arm. 

He chuckled at your sarcasm, always enjoying that certain fire you had to your character that refused to silence itself. Unbeknownst to you, that was one of things that drew him towards you in the first place - his own air of cockiness and confidence was equally matched by your spitfire and sarcastic wit. Finding out the sweet disposition that lay behind that harshness the first time round had taken him by complete surprise, but only did more to endear himself to you. God, he was such a fool for losing that. He was certain that your sweetness was still there, closed behind even more layers of hurt and pain that he’d caused such a large hand in. 

From the moment the ambulance had arrived, Jack had stayed beside you, refusing to leave for even a single moment. It was quite endearing, truth be told, a feeling that attempted to worm its way through your steadfast reasoning against him. He’s a liar. Don’t fall for his shit again, you repeated to yourself. Though it was becoming harder and harder to continue regarding him as your greatest mistake when he was behaving so kindly and gentlemanly towards you. Just a part of his deceptive charm, I guess, you thought bitterly. 

“Y’know, you don’t have to worry about things gettin’ outta hand down at the ranch. I’m more than happy to step up and help” he spoke up, snapping your attention back to his words and out of your own contemplation. You thought about his proposal for a minute, the temptation to say yes seeming very appealing towards you, though somehow that felt like admitting to weakness. The ranch wasn’t his responsibility, it was yours, left to you by your dear parents. It was your obligation to run it in their stead - there’d been difficulties along the way, sure, including the occasional nasty cold every now and then but you had pulled through without any trouble. You didn’t need help or any sort of handout, and you were more than capable of taking care of business by yourself, even with a broken arm.

Then again, it is gonna be kinda hard to run a business while being confined to bed rest. Briefly you thought about just closing the ranch for a couple of days while you got back on track yet once you thought about the loss in profits you discarded that idea quickly. It wasn’t like you were struggling to make ends meet but a dip in profits could cause a bit of issue. 

“Yeah but...It’s my responsibility. I can’t just ignore that because I got a stupid broken arm” you rebuffed, though you didn’t sound entirely convinced of what you were saying yourself. Sadly, stubbornness was your nature and even if you knew you were fighting a losing battle, sometimes it was more about the principle of having a position rather than whatever thing you were debating over. Some would say that was quite a counterproductive way to look at things, and you’d agree with them, yet you still remained stubborn in spite of them, feeding back into the cycle.  

“Darlin’, with all due respect, I think what’s best for you is that you take a step back and let someone else take the reins. You need to allow yourself to rest a lil. Tell me, in all the years of runnin’ the ranch by yourself, have you ever once taken a day off?”. 

“No, but-”.

“Exactly as I thought. You’ve been doing an amazing job at keeping things together for all these years, sweetheart, but you gotta relax a bit. Let me help you” he interrupted, gazing at you with those heart-meltingly sweet eyes of his, a look which made you seize up ever so slightly in minor fake annoyance. Little shit, he had to be doing that on purpose.

“Fine, only if it’ll get you to shut up” you relented, rolling your eyes in a dramatic fashion and hitting your head back down into the pillow below, eliciting a playful smirk from him in return. “That’s my girl, stubborn as always” he jested. 

To that you cocked an eyebrow at him in disbelief. “Your girl? Careful there, Jack, for a minute I thought you were capable of genuine compassion and care. I may have once been your girl, cowboy, but not anymore. Or did you happen to forget?”. 

His own expression softened slightly in regards to your snide remark, his mischievous grin faltering while he turned his gaze to the floor, looking somewhat sheepish towards what you had said, a far cry from his usual air of arrogance. “Yeah, I guess I deserve that” he murmured. “Tell me, sugar, do you ever think one day you’ll believe me when I say that I’m sorry?”. 

“When pigs fly, dearest” you smiled with a shit-eating grin, though you couldn’t miss that momentary flash of hurt in his eyes that made you pull back, a sharp pang striking through your chest that hurt harder than the agonizing ache in your arm, which really, was saying something. Could that be...guilt, perhaps?, you thought, searching Jack’s face for any further sign of offense. If he was feeling hurt, he was doing a pretty stellar job at hiding it. Maybe it was nothing, and even if he was hurt, well, he said it himself, he deserved it. Without giving you another minute to ponder your own feelings, a welcome interruption in the arrival of a nurse found you, shifting your thoughts towards the relief of finally getting some painkillers into you. 

___

The surgery had gone over well, and after a grueling day spent hanging out in that hospital room hopped up on painkillers you were finally discharged late afternoon the following day. The worst of your concussion had cleared itself up too yet you were still confined to your bed for those first few days - the doctor was insistent on that fact, saying you could never be too careful. You’d begrudgingly complied, not wanting to cause any further problems to your health, and even if you had tried to go against the doctor’s orders, you knew that Jack would be there to send you off back to bed if you dared lift a finger. 

Jack had doted on you the entire time, making sure you were well hydrated and cool enough in the midst of the hot Texas summer, fetching you snacks and whatever else you needed from downstairs. In his own words, what kind of man would he be if he didn’t take care of an ailing woman. You’d rolled your eyes and insisted that he didn’t have to go all out with looking after you yet he’d insisted. It was somewhat heartwarming, and it felt nice to be taken care of again after those last few years alone. It reminded you of when you’d come down with the flu back in third grade, staying home in bed lazily watching television and barely being able to keep your eyes open while your mum made soup in the kitchen. You could feel your heart drop at the mere recollection of your parents, pain that stayed beneath the surface rising up in full force. Usually you pushed those feelings down, not wanting to become distracted from the business, but today, you allowed yourself the indulgence of missing them. What would they think if they could see you now? Would they be proud, or disappointed? 

Feeling your stomach grumble, you shifted over in bed and reached your only good arm out to grab onto the half-eaten grilled cheese Jack had brought in for you five minutes before, letting out a low wince at the pain that writhed through your other arm, which had been placed into a cast and sling for the time being. Already you couldn’t wait for the day you could get the damned thing taken off - you hadn’t been able to shower and you felt grotty and gross. It wasn’t like you had to impress anyone, it was just you and Jack lying about the place. Still, you could only take so many days of waking up with unwashed greasy hair. And it was itchy too. Oh dear god, it was fucking itchy. You’d heard about how itchy the plaster could get second-hand but you never anticipated it to be that bad. 

Directing your eyes to the clock on your bedside, you took notice of the time and let out a small relieved sigh. You could finally take another one of those painkillers, the fourth and dismally last one for you of the day. 

Your relief quickly fizzled out into disappointment when you realised the packet of painkillers that had been sitting by your bedside was empty. “Seriously? It’s only been a few days, I couldn’t have gone through them already…” you muttered to yourself in annoyance. Nevermind, there was another packet downstairs. You may have been perfectly capable of getting out of bed and retrieving it yourself, though you found yourself not wanting to be bothered with such a task. “Hey Jack, you there? I ran out of painkillers, could ya run some up to me?” you called out.

“Sure thing, sweetheart” you heard him shout back, and no more than two minutes later he was striding through your bedroom door, carrying exactly what you had requested within his palms. “How are you feelin’?” he asked. 

“No better than six minutes ago when you last asked me that. Thanks for bringing these up though, fuck that stupid horse for bucking me off” you grumbled, sniping the blessed white packet out of his hands and into your fingers. “Pain making you grumpy, sweet girl? You seem a bit more full of spitfire than usual today” he joked. 

“Nah, you’re getting the discounted version today. If I wanted to vocalise exactly what I was feeling right now you’d be obliterated in a second” you laughed, chucking a tablet into your mouth and washing it down with a large gulp of water, anxious to feel some semblance of relief. 

“You don’t say. How’s your head doing, though? No dizziness or anything like that?”. 

“I’m fine, Jack, I promise. You don’t have to fawn all over me just because I broke my dumb arm” you assured, rolling your eyes at him. 

“I wouldn’t call in fawning, I only want to make sure you're comfortable and all that. Not only because of your arm and all” he smiled gently, reaching out to brush a stray hair off your forehead. It could have been the heat of the room but you could have sworn your skin felt on fire the moment he touched you. You could feel him press the back of his fingers against your head, unconsciously allowing your breath to hitch at his touch. And just like that, the warmth of his hand was gone, leaving an invisible searing mark in its place and your own head full of frenzied and confused thoughts. 

“Like I said earlier, just call out if you need anything else, alright darlin’?” he said as he was leaving, words that you didn’t care to take notice of as he left you to yourself again. Blinking slowly, you couldn’t even fully begin to describe what had just taken place, or why one little gesture was throwing your mind into somersaults. Why did his mere touch have to affect you like that? Why couldn’t he just leave you alone? Groaning loudly, you settled yourself underneath the sheet covering you and huffed at nobody in particular, cursing both yourself and him for even existing. For fucks sake...

___

Taking a sip of bourbon from your glass, you leaned against the side of the stairs of the veranda with your gaze fixated off into the distance, though you didn’t take any notice of what lay ahead, lost deep in your own thoughts that clouded your mind. It’d been a couple more days, and you’d finally been able to get out of bed and get back to helping out around the ranch - not that you were still of any use to anyone, given the state of your arm. It felt good to be back overseeing things, albeit a bit more behind the scenes than you had been in years. It’d be a good month or so before you were able to move your arm properly and have things back to normal. At first that fact did nothing short of irritating you, since you weren’t one to lie about helpless when work needed to be done. Over the last few days though, seeing the ranch go about with business as usual with Jack’s extra help had put you at ease a little. It still bothered you somewhat that you had to be asking any sort of help from Jack Daniels of all people, though really, he was the one offering it in the first place so you hadn’t so much as asked him to do anything, moreso conceding to his instistance at the behest of your stubbornness. 

The pain was getting a little better too, though whether that had more to do with the painkillers or not remained to be seen. For example, you couldn’t feel anything now but you had just ingested two glasses of pure straight bourbon, so of course any type of pain would be numbed. Remember when it could numb more than just that? You let out a small snicker at the thought, sounding as hollow and empty as it felt. Once upon a time you might have been classed as relatively lightweight, a fact that changed after years of the trials and tribulations life had thrown your way. You still got drunk easy, but it took a good few glasses before you actually passed out.

“You know, you should let me sign that for ya”. 

Hearing that familiar voice ring out from behind you, you swivel around so see its owner standing right in the opened doorway of your home, his hands casually resting in his pockets and his frame leant against the wall. “What are we, in middle school? I don’t want it getting dirty” you scoffed, rolling your eyes at him for good measure. 

He smirked right back at you, letting out a small snicker that mirrored your own. “Why not? It’s not like you're gonna have to be wearin’ it forever. A little scribble in permanent marker wouldn’t do ya any harm” Jack grinned, taking a large step forward to descend down to your level, seating himself right next to you on the veranda. You cocked an eyebrow at him, letting your fingertips trail over the edge of the glass in your hands while you stared at him with utter audacity. “And yet I know you’re only so persistent in signing it because you’ll write something crude or vaguely flirty” you snipped. 

“How little you think of me, sugar. I’d never dream of doin’ such a thing. I am nothing if not a gentleman”. 

“Oh, do cut the charm, Jack. What is it you want?”.

“Please, can’t a man share a glass of bourbon with a lady without being subjected to the Spanish Inquisition?” he asked, wearing his devilish and frustratingly charming grin as he spoke, the appearance of which you swore made your cheeks flush a little bit hotter. Probably because of the alcohol...and it is hot out here after all...

“Not this lady, cowboy” you stated, gulping down the last dredges of bourbon in your glass and placing it back down to the floor with a thud. You went to go grab the bottle from beside you but found Jack had already snatched it up, pouring you another glass. Mumbling out a small thank you, you considered asking him if he wants a glass of his own, however once you caught sight of his silver Statesman issued flask in his hands you dismissed the idea entirely. With nothing else left to say, you glanced back up to the sky above towards where the moon was hanging over you two, the delicate light illuminating the stretches of countryside around your property in a soft glow, one that was both enchanting and eerie at the same time. Every now and then you would be reminded of how beautiful the Texan countryside could look, whether it be bathed in the rays of that damned blistering sun or the enigmatic glimmer of moonlight. It could pull you back to moments lost in time, years ago sitting right where you were in that very same spot, seven years younger and with the exact same man sitting beside you, head rested on his shoulder and looking out into the vast expanse of midnight black. Funny how things change, don’t they?

Out the corner of your eye you saw Jack shake his head, his eyes quiet, the sparkle of stark confidence bordering on plain arrogance missing. It was a similar look to the one he’d given you at the hospital that night, before he’d tried to cover it up with a certain facade of indifference. “What will it take for you to believe I’m sorry? What happened between us, it was all-” he started before being unceremoniously cut off by your interjection. 

“In the past? I’m well aware of that. Doesn’t change how I feel” you stopped him. You’d anticipated him throwing out that line from day one and you’d come prepared. Shut it down. Don’t let him try to swindle you for a fool. 

His expression changed to one more serious, a hint of him being slightly miffed that you cut him off in the first place. “Let me finish, darlin’. I’m gonna level with you for a second - what I did to you was one of the worst mistakes of my life. Letting everything fall apart like it did, I never should have let it happen” he expressed, his tone straddling between being firm and also being gentle. Cocking an eyebrow at him, you turned back to your glass of liquor, swirling the liquid around idly in a way that reminded you of that persistent thought running round your head. Did he have a point? Were you being too harsh on him? 

Don’t become soft on him. Don’t do it. You shifted back into focus, pushing those thoughts far to the back of your tipsy mind while you took a couple large sips of liquor as if it were a lifeline. “Worse than whatever mistake led you to showing up on my doorstep?” you asked, eager to direct the conversation right back out of that uncomfortable territory and into something a bit more easier to stomach. Maybe later on you could ponder the true depths of your perceptions of Jack. Right now, though, you wanted to get wasted and not have to think about anything anymore. And hey, it’s not like I wasn’t wondering about the events that led him here in the first place anyway.“You never did tell me what happened. I know you said it was none of my concern but...I want to know. Call it a spate of drunken curiosity, if ya want”. 

The question alone was enough to draw Jack’s face from being merely serious to an expression more cold and distant. He looked away from you entirely and rested his gaze to the few steps below the two of you, his hand clenching in a subconscious act that alone was enough to tell you his own reservations regarding the topic. “Truth is, I’ve been fucking things up for a good couple of years. What happened to lead me here, well, it ain’t a pretty story”. 

“I don’t care, Jack, I wanna know” you asserted, surging with a sense of fiery confidence. It might have been the alcohol giving you a bit more moxie to push the topic. One thing was for sure though: you wanted answers, and you didn’t wanna let this go. Stretching your legs out, you finished off the glass you had while you waited for him to reply, not wanting to cave to your request even if he was looking at you like you’d threatened to kill the President. 

Finally, he let out a low groan of annoyance and leant against the side of the veranda, not affording you a single look as he launched into his tale. “Basically what happened is some agents from an English based secret service came over to the states as a last resort - their base got blown up by someone and the two guys that approached us were the only ones left alive. Well, them and this other guy we had at our headquarters, but that’s a whole other story. The people behind the attack were a group called the Golden Circle, and Statesman had already been investigating them for awhile. I was called in by Champ to partner up with the Kingsman fellas, do the regular secret agent spiel of espionage and savin’ the world and all that crap. But, me and these other agents, we had an...ideological disagreement. I was covertly tryin’ to hinder them until the older guy got wise to my shit and shot me in the head. Ginger managed to bring me in and revive me, I went over to Cambodia where the two agents were confronting the leader of the Golden Circle, and to make a long story short things got nasty pretty quickly. I barely escaped with my life” he explained.

You nodded along to his explanation, the load of information being a lot to take in the first time round. You were always somewhat aware of Jack’s position as a secret agent though you were never privy to the nitty and gritty details - in fact, the way you’d found out about it in the first place was by complete accident and Jack had to beg Agent Champ to allow you to become cleared on even knowing the basics of his true work behind the front of being a Statesman investor. “And these ideological disagreements were…?” you pushed. 

“Trust me, you don’t wanna know” he deflected.

“Try me”.

He didn’t reply to you straight away, instead staring at you with a stark look of confliction across his face, an inner turmoil brewing inside of him on whether or not he should tell you even more. Being cast out as a traitor, he didn’t have to worry about breaking any sort of rule of confidentiality, so if you had to wager a guess at what his dilemma was, then it must have been that he felt mildly ashamed, or even embarrassed about the whole situation. In your mind though, you’d let him keep his secrets for weeks now, but if he was going to stay in your house you wanted to at the bare minimum know what he did that was so bad that he simply couldn’t return back home anymore.  “Well go on then, hit me with your best shot” you prodded further, hopefully enough to get his demeanour to crack and for him to spill what exactly the entire fuss had been about. And sure enough, crack he did. 

Running a hand across his forehead, he let out a low exasperated sigh, one that would have been inaudible if you hadn’t been seated beside him, indicating the exact moment he finally decided to break his own silence and reveal everything to you. “The Golden Circle were primarily a drug cartel and terrorist organization based out in the hidden depths of the Cambodian jungle. Their leader had devised a plot that involved lacing their distribution of drugs with a new type of chemical she created that caused death. Since their supply was mass distributed over the globe, they were holding the entire populace of drug users and addicts hostage to their respective governments, demanding a payout for the antidote. They didn’t, however, anticipate the President and other world leaders not really giving a red hot shit about the lives of junkies. Being the noble men they are, the Kingsman agents as well as the rest of Statesman were striving to get ahold of the antidote to save all those people. And that, is where me and them disagreed” Jack elaborated, avoiding your gaze in what appeared to be a calculated move in order to refrain from seeing your reactions to his admittance. In the span of two minutes, your expression had shifted from intense curiosity to straight up bafflement at what he was saying. It didn’t make sense - why was he against distributing the antidote? He was a secret agent, wasn’t he meant to save the world and innocent lives and all that?

“Let me get this straight - you were assigned on a mission to try to save the lives of innocent people, and you chose...not to do that” you asked, your tone laced with judgment. Not that you had intended for what you said to have come across any different. If what he was implying was right, then that would mean...

“Well, when you put it like that, sure, it sounds awful. I will concede, it wasn’t my best move. But all the people who ingested those drugs did so willingly. They knew they were taking a gamble on their lives the moment they stuck a damn needle into their arms” Jack grumbled defensively, allowing you to gawk back at him in utter disbelief. “Jack, no, you can’t seriously believe that? So what you’re saying is that the kid that decided to get high with his mates one weekend at a party deserves to die? Is that right?”. 

“No, no, I didn’t mean like that, I just…”.

“Really? ‘Cause it sounds a lot like you’re saying that innocent people should die for their poor choices” you cut in, shaking your head to further drive your point in. “Jesus, just when I thought you couldn’t be a bigger asshole you proved me wrong”. 

“Sweetheart, please, I know. It was a mistake, you don’t have to keep rubbing it in”. 

“You know it’s a mistake, but do you truly feel it? Do you really feel remorse? Because if you don’t then it’s just a bunch of empty words” you rebuffed, shooting him with a cold piercing glare that could make an entire continent freeze over. Around about this time, you really began to take notice of the dazed feeling clouding you, every glass of liquor draining straight into your brain and making you feel like your entire head was swimming. Maybe take it easy on the next glass, why don’t ya? With that thought, you shoved the glass off to the side with your free arm and bit your lip, debating whether or not you should even say what you wanted to next. That debate, however, did not last very long as you found yourself blurting out exactly what was on your mind within two seconds of your last thought. “Jack, look...maybe I’ll hate myself for saying this later, and maybe it’s just the liquor talking but I don’t think you’re an inherently bad person. I think you’re an arrogant son of a bitch who does cruel stupid things but probably has a decent enough heart. You just...you gotta stop with this shit. Stop with the betrayals, and the lies, and the false promises, all of it, and just be the real you. The Jack I knew may be a prick but he was never one to let an innocent die on his watch. What’s really behind all this?”. 

He continued to glare from his position beside you, somewhat intent on making you recant and drop the whole subject entirely. You wouldn’t go down that easy though, and he knew it, for as stubborn as Jack was you were at least ten times moreso, so when he folded first and trained his eyes low to the ground, you knew that he’d finally conceded. You could feel a whole shift in his demeanour from where you sat, the mask of defensive anger slowly falling away to reveal what was truly underneath: hurt. Pure, raw, unbridled hurt. Anguish that felt especially familiar to you and spoke to a part of yourself that you’d been turning away from for years, and even before he said those words you knew exactly what he was going to say. 

“Years ago, before I became an agent to Statesman, I was married to the young woman I’d fallen for in high school. I think I told you about her in passing maybe once, or twice, I don’t know…” Jack started, trailing off once he began to fully re-immerse himself in the past, heartache plainly sewn across his features. It was then that you felt an ache of your own in your chest, a heavy feeling of guilt descending upon you once you realised the gravity of what he was saying. “I remember. You said her name was Lily, wasn’t it?” you murmured, your voice small and unsure, with a hint of something else present too. Regret? Guilt? Whatever it was, you couldn’t quite put a name to it, but it was there, strong as anything and clearly wasn’t going away any time soon. 

Jack let out a small hum in reply, everything about his composure presumably a million miles away from everything around the both of you.“So you do remember” he muttered, brushing his fingers over the edge of his silver flask that he had cradled in his handles, tracing the Statesman logo engraved on the side with the pad of his thumb. “I remember you askin’ me about her the first time you came back to my apartment in New York - you saw the photo of her I kept on my desk and asked who she was. I only told you briefly that she was long gone, but I never told you how. The both of us were only twenty-three, and she was pregnant with our first child, a baby boy. Last time I saw her she left the house to go to the convenience store a few streets over”. He stopped himself for a split second, the darkness of his eyes being the all-too recognisable sign of falling deep into his own recollection, feeling as if he was reliving every memory that he revisited in his mind. “Twenty minutes later I get a phone call from a cop, saying there’d been an incident. Meth addicts had robbed the store at gunpoint and she’d been caught in the crossfire. She died instantly, and I wasn’t there to say goodbye. I never got to meet our baby boy, I never got to hold her in my arms again and say how much I loved her, because she was taken from me by a couple of meth-addled scumbags”. 

You were honestly at a loss for words, not knowing if saying something would be the appropriate option or not. He was right, you knew he was married before - the time with the picture that he mentioned was the most you had heard of her. He never brought Lily up again, and you never thought to ask, since in your mind it wasn’t any of your business who Jack loved before. Now, the pieces were falling into place, the interwoven connections of his past to his actions as an agent making all the more sense to you. 

What you wanted to do most was lean forward and envelop him into your embrace, tell him that you understood more than anyone what exactly that felt like, and even permit yourself to pour out your own heart to him. Drunk as you were though, you couldn’t talk yourself into doing anything more than placing a reassuring hand on his knee, letting your touch be soft and hesitant in case he shrugged you off, since you did basically just goad him into revealing his own wounds in the name of having answers. “Jack, I...I had no idea, I-”. 

“How could you have known? I never told you” he mumbled flatly. In the dim veranda light, all though it was faint, you could swear that there was a teardrop lingering in the corner of his cedar brown eyes, nudging the dagger of guilt further into your heart. Say something, you idiot.

Starting off softly, you let your hand rest firmer on his knee, trying to catch his eyes into your own. Tearing his glance away from the flask, he looked back at you with the same raw grief that you had seen on your own face so many times. “I know it must have hurt like hell losing her. And you have every right to feel angry, and hurt that she was taken, but that doesn’t give you the right to hate. Every addict in the world is not the same man who took her life. You can’t just-” you started, before the sound of Jack’s harshest tone cut through your words like a knife. 

“How would you know? Do you have any idea what it feels like to hurt, to have lost everything because of someone else’s choices?” he spat, anger seething in his scowl that was directed solely at you. It had taken you by surprise at first - as a reflex you withdrew your hand quickly from him as if he were burnt, perplexed at his sudden outburst. That didn’t last long however, as soon enough confusion was replaced by your own flair of anger. Now it was your turn to get defensive.“I think I do know what it’s like to hurt and to lose. In case you’ve forgotten, dickhead, there’s two people who should be right inside this house that aren’t anymore and haven’t been for about six fucking years now!” you yelled back. 

Shit. He’d forgotten about your parents. The anger that had been in him disappeared without a trace right then, being replaced by something close to resembling remorse over his behaviour. “I...I didn’t mean...fuck, sugar, I…I’m sorry. I don’t even know what to say” he apologised. You didn’t say anything back to him. You didn’t want to dignify him with any sort of a response. First of all, how dare he? You were only trying to empathise with him, and here he was biting your head off for daring to suggest that he doesn't hate every drug user on the planet. Why do I even fucking bother? 

The awkward silence between you hung for awhile, the two of you not wanting to break it for your own different reasons. You could feel Jack stealing glances at you, like he was trying to talk himself into saying something but never had the courage to follow through. Huffing to yourself, you took in your next glass fast enough to make your head spin. You’d have to turn in for the night eventually, and truth be told you were considering doing so right then when you heard Jack speak up. 

“I never did ask...if you don’t mind me askin’ that is...what happened to your folks anyway?” he asked hesitantly, as if he knew the question was fat-witted to begin with. Not that you minded too much by then. Drunk you was a lot more forgiving than you were sober. 

Taking in a heavy breath, you relayed your tale of woe to him, one hand placed steady to your side to keep you sitting upright. “It was late, and they were coming back from a friend’s 50th birthday party. Their friend lived in downtown Dallas, so they had a fair way to go to get from there to here. When they were almost on the highway, an out-of-control car barrelled towards them, smashing into the front of their windscreen and killing both of them instantly. The driver of the other car had been drinking - according to the local news he was a known alcoholic and had been out having a heated argument with his friend in the passenger seat. The only survivor of the entire collision had been his friend”. 

You saw Jack blink at you in silent shock, the weight of your words falling heavily on him while he continued to process it all. “Shit, darling, I feel like an even bigger piece of shit than I already did. If you slapped me clean across the face and kicked me out on my ass after this I wouldn’t blame ya one bit” he replied to you solemnly in a way that didn’t leave you questioning the authenticity of his words - he was genuinely sorry this time round. Taking his apology in stride, you shrugged back at him  and acted as nonchalant about the whole thing as possible, not wanting to ponder the topic further. As far as you were concerned, you’d felt enough things for one day and would very much like a break from it all. 

“It’s fine. You had no way of knowing. But please, if you take anything from this, at least listen to my words: externalising hate towards random people only feeds your trauma. It doesn’t resolve anything, and the only person left suffering in the end is yourself”. 

He furrowed his brow at you, most likely feeling a little defensive that the topic had circled back around to here, but considering his unruly display of anger earlier he wasn’t one to indulge in his own instinctual need to defend his position. “But...didn’t you want the man who took your parents away to suffer? Didn’t you look at every other drunk driving incident in the papers with a little more anger and rage than before?” he asked, earning a single eyebrow raise from you in return. “I mean...I guess what I’m trying to say is...it’s so easy to hate...why didn’t you fall into that trap?”. 

“Well, I did, for a little. It was almost tempting to look at every person I saw struggling with alcoholism in red. Since the man who caused the collision was already dead as a result of his own mistakes, at times I’d externalise part of that pain I was feeling onto others, and sometimes that anger became so hot and so burning that it was almost impossible to ignore. I realised pretty quickly that hating alcoholics wasn’t going to bring my parents back and that I’d have to make peace with their passing at some point. Honestly, I still haven’t processed a lot of that shit myself yet I’m still out here living my life as best I can, and really, with my own drinking habits I’d be a goddamn hypocrite to even try to find any true hatred in my heart towards heavy drinkers” you explained. Taking one last sip of bourbon, you discarded your glass off to your side and chuckled lightheartedly. “God, If I drink another glass I’m gonna collapse on the fucking floor. Think it might be time for me to turn in for the night. At least it’s Sunday tomorrow so we can sleep in a lil”.

“Y-you’re goin’ to bed? You’re not telling me to get lost or anything?” Jack sputtered in disbelief, which in turn earned him a minorly strange look from you. “Why would I do that?” you asked. 

“I quite literally just admitted to treason against my former organization to you”. 

“So? You made a mistake. A pretty fucking big mistake, and a shitty one at that, but still, a mistake. You obviously have some of your own pain you need to work through, and I can get that. Doesn’t mean I agree with what you did, but I get it. I’m not gonna kick you to the curb just because you have issues”.Upon saying that, you hoisted yourself up by latching your free arm onto the veranda’s fenceline, stumbling a little as you fought to maintain your balance while being both drunk and unable to fully utilise one of your arms. Nevertheless, you’d managed to straighten yourself up, and once you’d determined that you were alright to take yourself upstairs you faced on towards the front door and grasped at the brass knob in your hands, taking a brief pause to turn back and nod softly towards the man behind you. “Night Jack, I’ll see ya tomorrow” you called out, leaving him to sit there and watch you disappear back into the house with a certain look of dumbfounded astonishment.

Tag list (lemme know if you wanna be added): @giselatropicana​

[northoftheroad]

Dick and Tim – brothers in arms

So I got this ask. And it’s a good thing I got it the first night of my summer vacation, and the weather hasn't been great ;-)

Once I started digging for comics with both Tim and Dick, I found several that I've never read. I got the impression Anonymous would like a complete list, so I just kept going. But this means I don't know if they even interact in some of the books, or if they make "blink and you miss it" guest appearances.

I'm sorry if they, by any chance, was asking for reading recommendations for good Dick and Tim moments and not The Complete List... Looking at the number of comics here that I haven't read/can't remember, I'm not really qualified to answer that. But if I had to try, I would mention:  

A Lonely Place of Dying

The New Titans #65

All issues of Nightwing vol 2 with Robin as a guest star, including Nightwing Annual #1 but excluding Annual # 2.

Showcase '93 #11-12

Knightfall Prodigal

Robin vol 2 #10, (DickRobin and TimRobin!) 175

Young Justice vol 1 #22

Teen Titans vol 3 #6

Bruce Wayne – Murderer and Fugitive

Birds of Prey #19

Batman: Gotham Knights # 8-11, 45

Red Robin #11-14

Batman: Gates of Gotham

That being said. Here is, as far as I can find, every comic where both Dick Grayson and Tim Drake have made an appearance (pre-Flashpoint):

Batman vol 1 #436. By Marv Wolfman, art Pat Broderick and John Beatty.

Batman # 436. (Tim's first appearance, in the circus audience the day Dick's parents were killed.) (1989)

A Lonely Place of Dying. Batman #440-442, New Titans #60-61. (When Tim tries to talk Dick into becoming Robin again but ends up wearing the Robin suit himself to help Batman and Robin.) (1990)

The New Titans #64 (1990)

The New Titans #65. By Marv Wolfman, art Tom Grummet and Al Vey.

The New Titans #65. (Tim turns up at Dick's place to learn what it is to be Batman's partner.) (1990)

Batman vol 1 #455 (1990)

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #1-2 (1992)

Superman: The Man of Steel #20 (1993)

Superman vol 2 #76 (1993)

Batman vol 1 #500 (1993)

New Titans #100 (1993)

Showcase '93 #11-12 (1993)

Justice League of America #70 (1993)

Bloodbath #1-2 (1994)

Batman vol 1 #510 (1994)

Robin vol 2 #0, 8 (1994)

Robin vol 2 #10. By Chuck Dixon, art Tom Grummett and Ray Kryssing.

Robin vol 2 #10 (DickRobin meets TimRobin during Zero Hour. DickRobin is also seen in a panel in Batman vol 1 #511 and Zero Hour: Crisis in Time #4 .) (1994)

Zero Hour: Crisis in Time #1-3 (1994)

Detective Comics #676-677 (1994)

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #29-30 (1994)

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #62 (1994)

Knightfall Prodigal (Dick's first longer stint as Batman. And he takes care of Tim and the Manor on his own!) In Batman #512-514, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #32-34, Robin # 11-13, Detective Comics #679-681. (1994-1995)

Batman vol 1 #515 (1995)

Detective Comics #686 (1995)

Robin vol 2 #23 (1995)

Green Arrow vol 2 #101 (1995)

Contagion (Detective Comics #696, Batman vol 1 #529, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #49, Batman vol 1 #533, Azrael vol 1 #16, Robin vol 2 #28, Catwoman vol 2 #31) (1996)

The Final Night #2-3 (1996)

Robin vol 2 #29, 32-33 (1996)

Catwoman vol 2 #36 (1996)

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #53-54 (1996)

Detective Comics #698-701 (1996)

Marvel versus DC / DC versus Marvel #2 (1996)

Nightwing vol 2 # 6. (Tim and Dick talk and fight crooks.) (1997)

Batman: Bane (1997)

Ningtwing Annual #1. By Devin Grayson, art Greg Land and Bob McLeod.

Nightwing vol 2 Annual #1. (When Dick fake-marries a girl to investigate if she has murdered her previous husbands.) (1997)

Genesis #1 (1997)

Robin vol 2 #47-48 (1997)

Detective Comics #721, 724 (1998)

Nightwing vol 2 # 20. (Part of Cataclysm.) (1998)

Robin vol 2 #53 (1998)

Nightwing vol 2 # 25. (Tim and Dick talk and ride on train roofs. Dick has decided to become a cop.) (1998)

Batman 80-page Giant #1 (1998)

Brotherhood of the fist (Detective Comics #723, Robin vol 2 #55, Nightwing vol 2 # 28, Green Arrow 3 #135) (1998)

Batman: Bane of the Demon #4 (1998)

Batman vol 1 #554, 556, 560 (1998)

Detective Comics #727-729 (1998-1999)

JLA/Titans: Technis Imperative (1998-1999)

DC Universe Holiday Bash #3 (1999)

Batman 80-page Giant #2 (1999)

Young Justice: Secret Files and Origins #1 (1999)

Batman: Day of Judgment (Zombies...) (1999)

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #120 (1999)

Robin vol 2 #71 (1999)

Young Justice vol 1 #7 (1999)

Batman and Superman: World's Finest #10 (2000)

No Man's Land. (Robin vol 2 #67, Batman vol 1 #562, Detective Comics #741, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #95, Batman: Legend of the Dark Knight #120, 126, Azrael: Agent of the Bat #56) (1999-2000)

Detective Comics #741 (2000)

Robin vol 2 #74, 76, 82 (2000)

Superman Y2K #1 (2000)

Batman: Gotham Knights #10. By Devin Grayson, art Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and Rober Robinson.

Batman: Gotham Knights #10-11 (2000)

Batman: Outlaws 1-3 (2000)

Young Justice vol 1 #22 (2000)

Birds of Prey vol 1 #19 (2000)

JLA: Secret Files #3 (2000)

The Hunt for Oracle. (Birds of Prey vol 1 #20-22. Nightwing vol 2 #46.) (2000)

Superboy vol 3 #74 (2000)

Young Justice: Sins of Youth #1 (2000)

Young Justice: Sinds of Youth Secret Files # 1 (2000)

Titans #12 (2000)

Green Lantern: Circle of Fire #1 (2000)

Batman: Gotham Knights #1 (2000)

Harley Quinn #6 (2001)

Birds of Prey # 27 (2001)

Catwoman vol 2 #90 (2001)

Young Justice: Our World's at War #1 (2001)

World's Finest: Our World's at War #1 (2001)

Joker: Last Laugh. (The Joker "jokerize" a number of metahuman villains. In the later part, Joker taunts Nightwing with that he has killed Tim, just as he did Jason. Dick loses it and punches Joker to death, but Batman turns up and resuscitates Joker). (2001)

Harley Quinn #11-12 (2001)

Robin vol 2 #86, 95 (2001)

Gods of Gotham. (Wonder Woman #166-167.) (2001)

Wonder Woman vol 2 #175 (2001)

Nightwing vol 2 #63. (The aftermath of Joker: Last Laugh, where Dick is too depressed to work as Nightwing. Robin and Blue Beetle take his place in Blüdhaven this issue, so they don't actually meet.) (2002)

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #94 (2002)

Young Justice vol 1 #40 (2002)

Birds of Prey vol 1 #37. (2002)

Batman/Nightwing: Bloodborne (2002)

Batman: Gotham Knights #26. By Devin Grayson, art Roger Robinson and John Floyd. 

Bruce Wayne: Murderer and Bruce Wayne: Fugitive (Batgirl vol 1 #27, Nightwing #68-69, Batman: Gotham Knight #26, 28, 30, Birds of Prey vol 1 #40, 43, Batman #600, 605.) (Bruce is accused of murder and refuses to defend himself, and eventually escapes and intends to drop the identity of Bruce Wayne. Dick refuses to believe that Bruce can be a murderer and it causes a bit of friction with Tim.)

Batman: Gotham Knights #32-36 (2002-2003)

Batman: Gotham Knights #38, 42, 46 (2003)

Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day # 1-3 (2003)

Detective Comics #782 (2003)

JLA/JSA: Virtue & Vice (2003)

Batman vol 1 #615 (Part of Hush) (2003)

Robin vol 2 #108-110, 118 (2003)

Batman: Family # 6-8 (2003)

Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files (2003)

JLA: Welcome to the Working Week (2003)

Identity Crisis # 1 (2004)

Robin vol 2 #120 (But not really – the issue is about how Tim has been stalking his friends, imagining them as traitors, including Dick.) (2004)

Robin vol 2 #125 (2004)

Teen Titans vol 3 #6. By Geoff Johns, art Mike McKone and Marlo Alquiza.

Teen Titans vol 3 #6 (2004)

Batgirl vol 1 # 46, 50 (2004)

Superman/Batman #5, 13 (2004)

War Games. (Nightwing vol 2 #97-98, Batman vol 1 #631-634, Detective Comics #799, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #183-184, Gotham Knights #57) (2004)

Detective Comics # 800 (2005)

Teen Titans vol 3 # 21-25 (2005)

Outsiders vol 3 #25 (2005)

Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files (2005)

Nightwing vol 2 # 110. By Devin Grayson, art Phil Hester and Ande Parks.

Nightwing vol 2 #110. (During a period when Dick left the Nightwing identity.) (2005)

Infinite Crisis.  (2005-2006)

Action Comics # 841-843 (2006)

Adventures of Superman #648 (2006)

Nightwing vol 2 Annual # 2. (I honestly don't recommend this, but in the spirit of making a complete list... Tim is visible in two panels, overlapping with Infinite Crisis where Dick almost dies. Otherwise, it's a retelling of the revamped history of Dick and Barbara, including some things that no-one who likes Dick Grayson would agree is in-character.) (2007)

Teen Titans vol 3 #43 (2007)

Gotham: Underground # 1 (2007)

Wonder Woman Annual vol #1 (2007)

Countdown #43 (2007)

52 #30 (2007)

JLA: Classified #34 (2007)

Robin vol 2 #156 (2007)

Shadowpact #10 (2007)

Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Superman-Prime #1 (2007)

Nightwing vol 2 #142. By Peter J Tomasi, penciller Rags Morales.

Freefall (Nightwing vol 2 # 140–146). (One of the very best story arcs of any Nightwing comic. It has gruff Bruce, brotherly bonding, Nightwing and Robin infiltrating an island...) (2008)

Batman: Underground # 6-7 (2008)  

Green Latern vol 4 #25 (2008)

Titans vol 2 #1 (2008)

Robin vol 2 #178 (2008)

Batgirl vol 2 #1 (2008)

The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul. (Robin vol 2 #169, Nightwing vol 2 #138-139, Detective Comics #839). (2007-2008)

DC Special: Cyborg #2-5 (2008)

Robin vol 2 # 175. (Some fun panels with flashbacks with Dick and Tim.) (2008)

Batman vol 1 #675, 678, 681 (2008)

DC Universe: Lats Will and Testament #1 (2008)

Final Crisis #3 (2008)

Detective Comics #847 (2008)

Batgirl vol 2 # 5-6 (2009)

Superman/Batman #55 (2009)

Detective Comics #850 (2009)

Nightwing vol 2 # 151. (The issue ends with some family time with Dick, Tim and Alfred.) (2009)

Nightwing vol 2 # 153. (Last issue, Dick moves from New York to Gotham and Wayne Manor.) (2009)

Superman #682 (2009)

Teen Titans vol 3 #75 (2009)

Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #5 (2009)

Robin vol 2 #181, 183 (2009)

Batman vol 1 #686 (2009)

Battle for the Cowl # 1-3. (Jason intends to become the Batman "Gotham needs". When Tim can't convince Dick to take up the cowl, he dresses up as Batman himself to fight Jason. In the end, Dick defeats Jason – and becomes Batman.) (2009)

Batman: Blackest Night #1-3 (2009)

Red Robin 1 # 1, 4 (2009)

Batman vol 1 #697, 702, 703 (2010)

Batman: Gates of Gotham #13 (2010)

Red Robin # 11-15 (2010)

Superman/Batman #76 (2010)

Teen Titans vol 3 #88-89 (2010)

Batman: Orphans #1-2 (2011)

Birds of Prey vol 2 #10 (2011)

Gotham City Sirens # 22 (2011)

Secret Six vol 3 #36 (2011)

Batman: Gates of Gotham #1-5 (2011)

Batman vol 1 #708-709 (2011)

Detective Comics #872, 874, 877, 880, 881 (2011)

Red Robin # 22, 23, 26 (2011)

I'm going to skip post-Flashpoint because, well, there's hardly anything there. The worst thing with Flashpoint/New 52, in my opinion, was that it destroyed relationships between characters who used to be family, but ended up hardly knowing or even liking each other. :-( 

Detective Comics #975. By James Tynion IV, art Álvaro Martínez and Raúl Fernández. 

The only panel worth mentioning with Dick and Tim is from DC #975. Yes, it's sad – one of the best brotherly relationships in DC turned into dust. Here's to hoping future writers will pick up on their wonderful dynamic at some time.

(The pictures in the header are from: Red Robin #12, Young Justice vol 1 #22, Showcase ‘93 #12, Batman #441, Nightwing vol 2 #6, 25.) 

[iamcayc]

The Sounds of Gojo - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Exchange Rating: SFW Word Count: 4292 Relationships: Gojo x OC (Kaya)

read here on Ao3

To say that you’re going to murder your cousin would be a vast understatement. Not only did you explicitly tell him to come pick you up after work promptly at 3:30 PM, but you also reiterated that you had zero interest in putting up with Gojo’s shit when you’re still feeling like you ran a marathon after being squashed by an elephant. It was a very reasonable request, and you had worded it very clearly to avoid any potential miscommunication.

So, one could imagine your immense disappointment and rage at the sight of white hair... and that smug-ass grin?

Kento Nanami is dead to you.

“Hey there, teach.” He’s wearing Ray-Bans today, his hair framing his face in a way that makes him look more youthful—and much to your chagrin, more attractive.

“Heard you could use a ride to collect your bike from the school, so I generously offered my services.” You notice that some of the girls are staring at him unabashedly, making you roll your eyes. Sexually-repressed teenage girls around Gojo is a terrifying thought, so you quickly usher him off the grounds and towards the front gate.

“What’s the rush?” he asks amiably. “It’s a nice day, after all. Wanna go get some donuts? There’s a new shop around here that I was thinking about trying.”

Your arms are folded across your chest as you glower at him. “Why are you really here?”

He pouts prettily at you. “Huh? Aren’t you happy to see me?”

“Why on earth would that be my reaction to you showing up unannounced at my work, again?”

“Well, I still owe you compensation for helping me out last night.” He shrugs as he faces you. “Plus, I thought we had some chemistry going, but maybe I misread the banter. I mean, you brought up my dick the other night—”

Knowing full well that you won’t make actual contact, you cover his mouth with your hand anyway.

“Take me to get my bike so I can be rid of you sooner rather than later,” you hiss. His mouth stays covered until he nods, but your hands don’t make it away unscathed. No, just before you can yank your hand back, Gojo grabs hold of your wrist and you freeze. Not because he grabbed your wrist, but because you can actually feel his skin against yours.

He’s dropped Infinity, just long enough to stroke his thumb across the sensitive patch of skin inside your wrist. He makes actual contact just long enough to brush his surprisingly-soft lips against the back of your hand, all the while maintaining unwavering eye contact.

If you aren’t so stunned, you know your panties would be soaking wet at the intimacy of the moment.

But you are stunned, so you wrench your hand out of his as if burned.

Gojo simply smiles at you before gesturing at the sleek black car parked behind him. “Figured you’d want a ride, rather than warp.”

You sigh and head towards the car, shooting Kento a text.

You 3:30 PM What the actual fuck, Kento

kento-bro 🥐 3:31 PM I did NOT tell him to pick you up. I explicitly told him that the idea was a terrible one and would likely end with me dead. You can imagine his reaction to that.

You could, and you tried not to glare at Gojo as he held the door to his car open for you. The vehicle interior is surprisingly spotless; with his lackadaisical attitude, you expected random junk stuffed into the center console, at the very least.

It also smells just like him, sending a traitorous tingle down your spine.

“Are you cold?” Gojo asks as he slides into the driver’s seat. “I can turn on the heat, if that’ll make you more comfortable.”

You shake your head, tucking a few lavender locks behind your ear. “I’m fine, just a random cold chill. I’m surprised you even both to drive.”

Gojo shrugs as he starts up the car. “No reason not to learn. I’m more than just my techniques, you know?”

It isn’t as if you only saw him as a sorcerer.

Based on the flood of pure heat that you nearly drown in as he shifts the car into reverse and immediately places his right hand on your headrest, looking over his shoulder to pull out of the parking spot, you see him as a red-blooded man just like any other.

And that is something you intend to keep to yourself.

“So, have you decided?” he asks conversationally. Your irritation with him clearly doesn’t matter in the slightest, which only makes you exhale slowly. Traffic is touch and go as you try to make it out of Shibuya, so might as well make the most of the drive.

“You didn’t trigger an asthma attack, and me nearly passing out was due to my own idiocy, so I guess I’ll settle for a bottle of a decent red blend,” you reply as you settle into the passenger seat. Chill EDM and instrumental music hums its way through the car’s speakers from whatever satellite radio station he’s tuned into, your finger absently tapping along with the beat against your thigh.

“Hmm.” You feel his gaze on you for the briefest moment as he continues to drive. “I think I can make that happen. Seems like a pretty lackluster request, considering I practically gave you a blank check.”

You roll your eyes. “What did you think I was going to ask for?”

“I don’t know. Something more exciting, like a date, or even a kiss.”

“Sure you aren’t projecting a bit?” You cock your head a bit as you look at him. He’s got one hand on the steering wheel, the other resting on the shifter. Your brain tries to reconcile the tall, charming, sexy as fuck man sitting next to you with the arrogant, pain-in-the-ass sorcerer that grated your nerves like no other. You can’t say why he rubs you the wrong way; it could be his carefree attitude towards absolutely everything, or maybe his continuous assumption that he can charm the pants off you, literally and figuratively.

Either way, it boils down to the simple fact that you don’t trust if and when he’s ever being genuine with you, or anyone, really.

“Would it really be so bad for you to admit you find me attractive?” he wonders aloud.

“I have no problem admitting you’re attractive,” you reply with a half-sigh. “It’s honestly a little disorienting, but then you start talking and all the allure just gets sucked right out, like a nasty little vacuum.”

“Why are you and Nanamin so mean to me?” Gojo whines. He makes the turn onto the campus, easing his way towards the parking lot where you had left your bike the night before. “Here I am, just trying to be nice...”

He parks the car right next to your Triumph, turning to face you with a pout. You simply stare at him, trying to decide how to best to inform him that he once again lost his head in his own asshole.

“Maybe if you tried to just be sincere instead of nice, people would stop being so ‘mean’ to you,” you point out. He pushes his sunglasses up and into his hair, regarding you with somber blue eyes.

“Would that work on you?”

You can tell he’s asking you seriously. The pitch of his voice has dropped, abandoning the air of frivolity and slipping into a velvet soft baritone that sends warmth through your center. It’s a tone you haven’t heard from him before.

“Yes.” Your mouth is spitting words faster than you can censor them. “I’d trust you, at the very least.”

Gojo leans towards you, his expression painfully neutral. “That’s important to you, isn’t it? Trust.”

His proximity to you, speaking to you in that lower pitch… it makes your heart thunder in your chest. You know there’s absolutely no way Gojo can’t hear it—it’s practically pushing out of your chest. What had been basic attraction is suddenly inching its way out of that easy to manage category and into dangerous territory.

Your brain doesn’t get the memo.

“Yes, it is,” you reply, your voice barely a murmur. “When you get fucked over enough times, trust issues develop. A basic psychological fact, as far as I’m concerned.”

He turns this information over in his mind. You can see the thoughts sinking into the vault behind his eyes. Gojo can be a brat on a good day, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t brilliant or observant.

“Can I have your number?”

You blink, reeling from the whiplash of his question. You fully process the moment and realize his charmer’s grin and bubbly tenor are back. The moment of honesty is gone.

A scoff is forming in your mind when you catch Gojo’s eyes again. The dissonance between the honesty swimming in the azure blues of his eyes and the mask he’s presenting is so clear, it takes you a second to quell your retort and hold out your hand.

His mask softens just a fraction as he gives you his phone, but his eyes never waver. You only break the stare to glance at his phone while you enter in your number, calling your own phone to save his number before handing the device back.

You’re typing out his name when you see a text come through from that number.

Unknown Number 4:18 PM this is Satoru, fyi 🤗

The use of his name feels intentional. You focus your energy and let your aura slip along the edges of his, luring it out for you to see. It’s a halo of cerulean blue, humming softly to you.

Your fingers hover over your keyboard for a moment before you save the number under just Satoru.

“I’ll text you when your bottle of wine’s ready,” Gojo says brightly. “But you have to promise that you’ll follow the instructions I send, too.”

That sounds like a trap and you immediately narrow your eyes as you start to exit the car. He just drops his shades with a too-innocent smile. Bickering with him wouldn’t end up being productive, so you just shake your head.

“Thanks for the ride, Gojo.” You step out of the car and unlock your bike, the tiny bit of anxiety you have about leaving it unattended somewhere unfamiliar easing away as you zip up your leather jacket and pick up your helmet.

“Hey, teach.” You see that Gojo’s window has rolled down as you swing your leg over the bike. “Ride safe, alright? Let me know when you get home, too.”

You can’t help but smile a little. “What are you, my dad?”

His smile turns feline. “Why, feel like calling me ‘daddy?’”

Your eyes can’t roll harder than they do right then. Refusing to deign that with a response, you snap your visor shut and take off back towards your apartment in Yoyogi.

The moment he let you past his Infinity replays in your thoughts the entire ride home. The feel of his skin against yours felt so… nice. The internal cringe at the lackluster adjective is unavoidable. It hasn’t been that long since you’ve had sex, for fuck’s sake. Are you really that starved for attention that you’re willing to play with the giant bonfire of fuck-boy that is Gojo just to satisfy your curiosity — among other things?

You ease your bike into your garage and head back into your safe space. Shedding your jacket, you glance at your phone before you move into the kitchen to start dinner.

Satoru 4:53 PM what perfume do you wear??

Satoru 4:53 PM also, have you made it home yet??? 😰😰😰

Your brows knit at his first question as you pour yourself a glass of wine while last night’s takeout reheats.

You 5:09 PM Just got home. Why do you want to know about my perfume?

Satoru 5:10 PM whew, i was worried!!

Satoru 5:10 PM it smells lovely in my car, the same way you did when i carried you into your place last night. call me curious 🤔

Suspicious, that’s what you’d call him. You let the text sit while you stir your leftovers, distracted by the sense of a blush forming on your cheeks at the thought of him enjoying your perfume in his car as much as you enjoyed his scent.

“And those are the thoughts of a complete weirdo,” you mumble as you stick your leftovers into the microwave for another minute.

You 5:12 PM It’s called Wisteria Blue by Nest

Ordinarily, you’d have silenced your phone and left it somewhere beyond reach to completely disconnect while you unwind from the day. And ordinarily, you’d have your attention focused on some murder docuseries instead of thoroughly grading assignments.

Yet, your phone remains face up and on ringer as it stares at you from the coffee table. You’re half-paying attention to the new show on a crazy cult in the States during the 1980s while nibbling on leftover fried chicken and rice, your peripheral honed in on the screen of your phone and diverting your focus like a fucking teenager.

And, just like a teenager, your stomach flips when your phone chimes and lights up again.

Satoru 5:22 PM do you trust me now?

You 5:23 PM Not completely, no. but I am more inclined to try and trust you

You 5:23 PM Besides, not all of us have Infinity to ward off folks we don’t want hurting us

When he doesn’t immediately reply, you attempt to refocus on your dinner. It’s not like you think Satoru plans on hurting you; that moment in the car before you left gives you a tiny bit of peace of mind there. No, your reactions are purely automatic defense mechanisms, ingrained into you after years of gaslighting and emotional manipulation.

Nope, not going to think about all that. You turn up the television to drown out your own thoughts, just as your phone lights up again.

Satoru 5:31 PM got any good stories about nanamin? 😈

The cackle that bubbles up is pure petty bitch. Boy, oh boy, do you have stories? Since you steadfastly believe that the white-haired demon’s appearance in your life is all Kento’s fault, you feel absolutely no guilt in arming his friend with some solid ammunition.

You 5:33 PM Did you know that he’s terrified of moths? Not like, ew that’s gross, but little girl screaming terrified. He’s even had nightmares that they suck his face off if one lands on him

Satoru 5:35 PM you’re my new favorite person 🤣🤣

----

“It’s getting there, you just need to pay attention to your tempo, Ichigo.”

The third year frowns at her hands, as if their lagging is under someone else’s control. You smile at her, squeezing her shoulder gently.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” you tell her kindly. “It’s easy to get wrapped up in how your music makes you feel that you lose sight of little things like your speed or technique.”

“Does that happen to you, when you play, Ms. Nissen?”

An iron curtain drops on the memories of performing that her question pokes at. Instead, you just keep smiling, though it’s lost a little bit of its warmth.

“I don’t play too much anymore, but yes. If my heart is driving me to play, even I lose sight of my tempo,” you reply as you stand up from your perch by her keyboard station. You glance around the room, pleased to see that some of the girls have started to get a head start on cleaning the room after their check-in.

“Great job, all of you,” you say loudly over the low cacophony of music. “Don’t forget that your reports on your chosen pieces are due tomorrow at the start of class.”

With that, the girls go about their daily chore while you collect your things from the podium in the corner. As expected, you see that you have a string of messages from Satoru, which makes you smile a little, despite your best efforts.

Satoru 2:02 PM what made you want to be a music teacher?

Satoru 2:03 PM and why do you have sound proofing in your apartment?

Satoru 2:10 PM i’ve been to the states a few times. where did you live while you were there??

The last few days followed this pattern of intermittent texts from a perpetually curious Satoru, his questions rarely relating to each other as he fires them off during school hours. You understand his students’ dismissive attitude about his authority over them, especially if he’s on his phone most of the time.

You 3:11 PM I’m surprised you haven’t coerced Kento to tell you all of that 🙄

Your warning shot of the moth story did its job, bringing your cousin to his knees for forgiveness after Satoru released a few dozen moths in one of the classrooms while locking Kento inside. The pair of you reached a truce, agreeing to have dinner again this Saturday, without Satoru.

Satoru 3:12 PM he’s still not talking to me 😅

You 3:13 PM I always had a thing for music, since I was really little. My parents decided to capitalize on it and got me all kinds of private lessons… piano, cello, violin, voice, etc. When I decided to stop performing, I didn’t want to leave it totally behind, so I decided to teach.

Satoru 3:16 PM how did you avoid using your technique? it had to have shown up by then

You 3:17 PM Kento would teach me bits and pieces of jujutsu when I visited over the summers, but before he even started going to Jujutsu Tech, all my feelings and intentions were directed inward, rather than to my audience

You slip your phone into your backpack and put on your helmet. There is plenty about jujutsu that you don’t understand, and you wonder if anyone truly does, but you’re still grateful for Kento and Yaga. Without either of them, you’d have drowned in your own self-loathing.

It occurs to you that you haven’t seen Yaga in awhile, so you decide to pay your respects soon. Maybe he would have some tips on how to manage a certain snowy-topped idiot.

After locking up your bike, you drop your things on the couch and head straight upstairs to your bathroom. A hot shower sounds blissful, as opposed to finding out what other questions Satoru has in store for you.

The steaming spray soothes your tense shoulders as you consider the chessboard of conversation in your head. You’re used to answering personal questions with the bare minimum information needed, but Satoru isn’t your average pedestrian poking around. Besides, it doesn’t escape you that you’ve played the trust card, only to be a perfect hypocrite in terms of honesty.

You sigh as you work shampoo into your hair. The simplest solution is to acknowledge that there are things you aren’t ready to talk about, which is always so much easier said than done. A coil of anxiety tightens in your stomach but you dismiss it.

As you dry off, you make a mental note to dye your hair again soon. The color is fading a little too close to silver for your liking, and the last thing you need is for Satoru to start saying that you’re trying to steal his look.

Dressed in only boybriefs and an oversized sweater, you pad back down the stairs to fish your phone out of your backpack.

Satoru 3:29 PM what’s with the sound proofing then?

Satoru 3:43 PM did you die? do i need to come do a wellness check? 😱

You roll your eyes as you plop onto your sofa.

You 4:03 PM I didn’t die. I got home and showered, and didn’t feel like bringing my phone along

You 4:03 PM I put up the tiles to dampen any sounds I might accidentally make at home. Sometimes I start singing along to my Spotify, or hum while I bake. It’s just for my neighbors, really.

Checking work emails keeps you from watching his typing bubble from bouncing. There’s an upcoming faculty meeting that you pray has nothing to do with the school festival that’s coming up in a couple months. Last year, the girls in your class tried to convince you to perform in their faculty talent show — to the point that you had to dodge them in the halls in case they tried to use the power of their puppy-dog eyes.

Satoru 4:06 PM ooo… i bet you smell amazing. should have invited me to join 😏😏

You 4:06 PM Why’s that?

Satoru 4:07 PM i could have helped you wash up the hard to reach spots! instead, i’m just daydreaming about it instead of training the kids

You 4:08 PM Somehow I doubt me in the shower is what’s really preventing you from doing your job

Satoru 4:09 PM why are you so mean to me??? 😭

You 4:09 PM I’m not mean. I’m honest 😇

Satoru 4:10 PM i don’t believe you’re an angel for one second. no self-respecting angel rides around in tight pants and a leather jacket on a motorcycle, especially not one with a voice as pretty as yours

You 4:11 PM Please stop before you dig yourself into a deep chauvinistic hole that you have no hope of getting out of

Satoru 4:13 PM siiiiigh. fair point. so, where in the states did you live?

You 4:14 PM New York City. My dad works on Wall Street at an investment firm. Have you ever been?

Satoru 4:15 PM nah, i’ve only been to California and Hawaii. nyc seems cool though. did you like it?

You 4:15 PM I guess… I was a kid when I lived there. I moved to Japan when I was 15, so I think I missed out on all the really cool things that New York has to offer

Satoru 4:16 PM we should go together then!! you can show me around 🤗

The idea of playing tour guide to Satoru makes you smile but also makes you shudder. He strikes you as the kind of sucker who goes to all the tourist traps purely because that’s where everyone goes. Him in Times Square? Fuck that.

You 4:21 PM Hmm. I don’t come cheap, you know.

Satoru 4:22 PM name your price 😘

You 4:22 PM Do you always offer up blank checks to people you barely know?

Satoru 4:23 PM no, only the breathtakingly beautiful ones

You choke on rice, coughing roughly as you recoil from such a bold compliment.

You 4:26 PM Laying it on a bit thick, aren’t you? How do I know that you aren’t just treating me like another conquest?

Satoru 4:29 PM who says you’re a conquest?

You 4:30 PM Don’t act like you don’t literally charm the pants off women whenever you feel the need. There’s no way a man like you doesn’t have a string of fuck-buddies

Satoru 4:31 PM i’m not, i’m asking why you think i see you as a conquest

Satoru 4:31 PM because if you were, i’d have already hit it and quit it

You honestly can’t decide if you’re flattered or more affronted at his honesty. To let yourself cool off, you finish up your dinner and go pour yourself the last of your favorite red blend.

It’s hard to disagree with his logic, the more you let it roll around in your head. You’re just as guilty of doing the same thing, when the dry spells go a little too long for your liking. And you’ve definitely gotten your share of lectures from Kento about being “so reckless” with strangers.

You 4:40 PM That’s fair. I apologize for making assumptions.

Satoru 4:43 PM wow, didn’t expect you to own up to that so quickly 😳

You 4:44 PM Why?

Satoru 4:44 PM getting nanamin to admit he’s wrong is like pulling teeth!!

You smile, knowing how utterly true that statement is.

You 4:46 PM Well, I’m not my cousin… besides, it’s wrong to shame someone for casually hooking up with people when I do the same thing. I’m not interested in being a hypocrite 💁🏻‍♀️

Satoru 4:48 PM glad i’m not flirting with nanamin. that’d be awkward 😳😳

Satoru 4:48 PM ughhh. gotta run and kill some curses.

Satoru 4:49 PM before i forget, your wine is ready! so be set for dinner at 7pm tomorrow night. dress to impress 😉

Beg your pardon? How did getting a nice bottle of wine turn into a dinner date?

You 4:50 PM What the fuck? Can’t you just give me a bottle of wine, like a normal person?

He doesn’t respond, likely because he’s actually doing work, for once. You glare at your phone for another minute before you drain the last of your wine and start updating grades to keep yourself from texting a string of extremely rude curses to the subject of your ire.

It doesn’t escape your notice how he conveniently had to disappear and exorcise curses after dropping that bomb on you, either.

Huffing, you stomp upstairs and into your bedroom. Because, despite it all, you refuse to show up to dinner looking anything less than your best. As the thought settles, a little grin lifts the corners of your lips while you open your walk-in closet and survey the options.

“Time to fight fire with fire.”

[violetfaust]

Tywin Lannister sacked King’s Landing. Was he a Mad King?

Or a Mad Lord. Whatever. 

Mace Tyrell starved Storm’s End for a year. Was he a Mad Lord?

Stannis Baratheon burned his failed advisers alive. Was he a Mad Lord?

Ned Stark and Jon Snow beheaded/hanged (respectively) traitors. Were they Mad Lords?

Jaime Lannister was prepared to murder every person in Riverrun. Is he a Mad Knight? (Okay, that one might be a bad example.)

Heck, a few generations decades ago, the Tywin Lannisters exterminated an entire house and wrote a damn song about it that they play at every party they throw. (And at some parties the Freys throw.) Yet nobody calls Tywin’s grandfather (?) a Mad Lord.

Westerosi warfare is as brutal as its justice. Yet the response to all these generally seems to be, at worst, “Well, he’s a dick but he gets the job done.” 

And that’s not even mentioning the horrors that even Westerosi recognize as atrocities (the Red Wedding, Roose Bolton’s/the Mountain’s torture circus at Harrenhall, Cersei blowing up the sept, Ramsay’s everything). Even those people seem to get a “Hooboy, how evil, better not cross them” not “Look out, he/she’s KUH-RAY-ZAY!!!”

But Dany, who has tried fifteen ways from Sunday to conquer with the least loss of life (and yes I know that’s a weird phrase) no matter how furious she is personally, is a Mad Queen not only to her own advisers but to the fans and narrative itself?

[moviesnmisc]

Favorite Books

The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas. It's a tale set in 17th century France where the three musketeers alongside the main character D'Artagnan is in the middle of a power struggle between the church and the crown. The fellowship are mostly virtous and are guided by their allegiance to the king trying to uphold virtues like honor and chivalry while battling with treason and deceit from the Cardinal. Fun fact Alexander Dumas Father was the first black officer in the French army.

Tarzan (don't remember which one the author wrote numerous of books) by Edgar Rice Borroughs. When I read it at the time the world was a much smaller place and Afrika was an exotic destination. So it was as much about the story as the setting and exotic location.

Birdie by William Whalton. The novel is about two young men and their journey into adulthood. Because of war and different other events one of the men becomes inflicted with mental illness and escapes this world to a world where he essentially becomes a bird (in his mind). It was an important book at the time when I read it because I also wanted to escape this world.

Moby Dick by Herman Melville. It is an expression today I guess chasing the great white whale. Nonetheless, it was first in adulthood that the symbolism became clear to me that you can waste your life chasing something you can never have.

A 1000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne. Saw the Disney movie first and read the book afterwards. It is still a powerful book about injustice and Captain Nemos quest for revenge.

Carrie by Stephen King. I liked the book but must confess that the movie with Sissy Spacek in the titular role is my favorite Stephen King adaptation.

Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold by Stephen Fry. He explains Greek mythology in bite size portions which makes them extra palatable. A favorite story was the one with Arachne.

The Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse. This is s book that deals with psychological issues such as alienation by other people ( Verfremdung in German) as well as other issues as far as I recall.

A certain sci fi book. The title of this book eludes me. I have read a few books in the sci fi genre for instance by William Gibson: Neuromancer, Johnny Nmemonic, Isac Asimov: I Robot, Philip K Dick: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Paycheck and Ray Bradbury A Sound of Thunder.

The story in this book centers around spacecraft's left by aliens on some celestial entity. The twist is that the spacecraft can only fly to a preset destination but humans, firstly, don't know where the journey takes them and, secondly, the coordinates could have been corrupted by time. So in principle the vessel could end up at an inhabitable planet or a star a black hole etc. Anyway I just can't remember the title of the book.

Mephisto by Klaus Mann. It is a portrait of an actor who will do anything in order to succeed An opportunist who will sell his soul to achieve this and in the process he even betrays his (coloured) girlfriend. It is a chilling story written in the mid nineteen thirties of what some people was prepared to do in Nazi Germany.

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. A book which has spawned its own catch phrase.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It is a book about the roaring twenties but for me at the time I could relate more to the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy and his futile infatuation.

Das Perfum by Patrick Suskind. Essentially it is a book about a serial killer but also about perfume and obsessions.

In the Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. A great fictional historical book about a munk and his apprentice and the trappings of monastery life. Also a great film with Sean Connery.

The Call of the Wild by Jack London. A book about a wild America which has long gone.

Metamorphosis (in German: die Vervandlung) by Franz Kafka. It tells a story of a man who is slowly transformed into an insect and becomes totally unrecognisable to his family.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. A friendship between two unlikely men.

The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde. A portray of a fin de sicle generation caught up in a sense of being romantic for the sake of romance.

Animal Farm by George Orwell. Although he had left winged views, he would never fall into the trap of pandering to the Soviet Union as many of his contemporaries did. In fact Animal Farm written in the middle of WW2 is highly critical of the stalinistic cult of USSR and throughout his book pointed out that Stalin was a dictator and traitor to the cause (communism). Quote from Animal Farm "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others".

Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe. Is a satire about the press as well as the upper class in the USA

The Trial (Der Prozess) by Franz Kafka. If you have ever felt caught up in a system which you were unable to control or understand you could relate to the main character in the book.

The Human Stain by Philip Roth. A modern take on the underlying racism in society.

The Rebus series by Ian Rankin. It is as much about the seedy Scottish underground and the relationships of Rebus as it is about the crime stories themselves. For fans of the books, the titular crime tv show with John Hannah is also worth watching. Books in the series include: The Hanging Garden, Hide and Seek, the Naming of the Dead to name a few.

The Scarpetta series by Patricia Cornwall. The books centers around the Kay Scarpetta who is a medical examiner and at the same time solves crimes in conjunction with the detective Pete Morino. Again as with the Rebus series it is as much about the private life of the central character as it is about crime solving. A modern template for crime books. Books in the series include: the Body Farm, All that Remains, Post Mortem to name a few.

[second-hand-heaven]

Maybe 39 with superwonderbat if you want! I’m just a sucker for hurt/comfort (especially if B finally gets the comfort he deserves but that’s neither here nor there haha) Congrats on your next 100!!! 💙💙💙

thank you for the great prompt @causeimamerican​ 

i had fun torturing Bruce with this one! it turned out a little more angsty than when i started it, but i hope you enjoy this!

39 “It’s okay to cry” SuperWonderBat

They find him in the den, kneeling by the fire. Bruce’s knees ache, a fiery burn that’s going to be a bitch when he tries to stand later. The sofa is only a few feet behind him, plush and welcoming to his weary joints, but the pain in his knees, his ankles, is grounding, comforting. He deserves it, after all. He deserves pain and nothing more. “Bruce? There you are!” Clark says, as if he could ever lose track of where Bruce was. He knows the extent of Clark’s senses, knows how the alien can track heartbeats and scents better than almost any other. Bruce could never hide from Clark, not that he truly ever tried. Even now, with all his sense screaming to retreat, he stays right where he is, kneeling on the hardwood floor of the den, a dull ache settling in his joints as he sits back on his ankles. He needs the pain, needs the distraction it brings. Pain keeps the thoughts and feelings and tears at bay, and he can’t let any of them slip out, not now.

He doesn’t turn to look at them, just stares into the empty fireplace. The last remnants of the fire burning during last week’s cold snap have been swept away, barely a trace of ash left behind. How Alfred manages, he’ll never know. It’s cold today, a chill in the house that seeps through his slate-grey suit pants and white shirt. He should start the fire, just like he’s done so many times before, but doing so means moving, seeing Clark and Diana’s pitying looks, and Bruce can’t face that -or them- right now. Not when they know how he feels, what he wants from them.

He hears them cross the room, their footsteps light across the floorboards. Clark’s still in his suit, by the sounds of his cape trailing behind, flapping softly with each step. Diana, though, lacks the usual clatter of her armour. She’s in something soft, like sweatpants, muffling the sound of each step. Diana sits on the floor beside him, legs crossed. She’s close enough to touch, but neither of them move. “What troubles you?” she asks, and Bruce barely contains a scoff. What troubles him? Where should he start? Lies hang on his tongue, scathing and sharp, but no, he can’t lie to her. If Bruce could never hide himself from Clark, he also could never hide his own feelings from Diana. Could never hide the truth, no matter how much he wanted to. Especially now…Bruce grunts out, “I’m fine,” but his voice suggests otherwise, roughened by tears he refuses to shed. He’d stormed out earlier and he’s tempted to do it again. Confrontation isn’t exactly his strong suit, not when he’s the one being confronted, laid bear for all to see.

It was a cheap trick by the villain the League faced, a dark magician who dealt in secrets and thrived off of the humiliation of bringing one’s deepest truths out into the light. An utter bastard in a silver cloak, the League nearly had him defeated. Zatanna almost had the villain fully subdued, but no, it was never that simple. He wanted one more secret, one more secret then he would leave Earth alone. Secret identities were off the table, the magician decided. No, he wanted something sweeter, something romantic, and Bruce was always the type to make the sacrifice play. He couldn’t look at Clark and Diana afterward, couldn’t bear to see their disgust. He walked away, head high and chest hollow, desperate to forget that his teammates, his friends, just found out he was in love with them.

Bruce scrubs a hand across his face, trying to wipe away the shame. How dare he ever hope to love, how dare he hope that it could be returned. He needs to leave, needs to get out of here. He can’t stand their presence, their light, their compassion. They should have left him, let him suffer alone. Having them here, in his sanctuary, is unbearable. He needs to leave. He makes to stand, when Diana says what she knows always manages to break him, “Bruce, please.”A traitorous tear slips from his lashes, trailing slowly along his cheekbone. His face burns in anger, in humiliation. Bruce tries to duck his head, turn away from them, but there’s no hiding from either of them. He shakes his head, they wouldn’t understand. He can’t cry, he can’t, not here, not with them. To cry is to be vulnerable, and to be vulnerable is to trust those around you. To trust is to love, and he can’t, he will not. He can’t be vulnerable, not as Batman, not as Bruce, and certainly not here in front of Clark and Diana. Because they know him, they know what his trust means. And if they know…“It’s okay,” Clark says, a warm hand landing on Bruce’s shoulder. He’s tempted to shrug it off, and maybe it would be better if he did, but there’s a guilty piece of him that wants their comfort, that wants Clark’s touch and Diana’s words. He can’t have it, he can’t have their love. He doesn’t deserve it, doesn’t deserve their light, no matter how much he wants it. “You can trust us,” Diana says, cradling Bruce’s hand in her own like it’s something precious, something to treasure. You can love us. Bruce wants to rip his hand away, but her grasp is unyielding. “We won’t let you fall.”Falling, falling like Tim? Tim had Dick to catch him. No, falling like those he could never save. Too much falling, falling from buildings, from planes, falling in Gotham Harbor, falling in love. Diana says she won’t let him fall, but he’s already fallen. Hard.

There’s no hiding it now, no hiding the way his heart is smeared against the sidewalk alongside his self-preservation and better judgement.

“Bruce, we, I,” she sighs, trying to find the right words. Bruce hasn’t seen her this lost before, and something aches in his chest. He caused this, he hurt them, this is his fault. “We care about you,” she ends up saying, interlacing her fingers with Bruce’s.

“We do,” Clark echoes, “so you don’t need to hide from us. We trust you, Bruce, and we need you to trust us.” “I trust you.” Bruce’s words are choked but he doesn’t care.  "I trust you,“ he says again, pouring all that he can into it. He respects them, he trusts them, he loves them. How can that be anything but obvious? Clark squeezes Bruce’s shoulder, like he’s done so many times before, but Bruce melts into the touch. "It’s okay to cry, B,” Clark says, as if giving Bruce permission to be weak. Vulnerable. Loved. Bruce shakes his head, tears falling in earnest. The hand at his shoulder traces up the cords of his neck, following the line of his jaw, his cheeks, catching Bruce’s tears on powerful fingertips. Bruce leans into the touch, the warmth of Clark’s hand drawing him closer, like a cat to a ray of sunlight. They need to talk about it later, and they will. Diana will make certain of that. But for now Bruce just cries, because he can, because he is allowed, and sobs, "I trust you,” again for good measure. They have to know what that means, what he means.Diana just smiles, squeezing Bruce’s hand in a way that feels a lot like, “I love you too.”

[mama-m1na]

Journey of the Chaos Trio: Chapter 6

                                                    ~~~VI~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Warnings: Slight gore, mentions of suicide

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I ran as fast as I could to the forest of dead trees, trying to race the rapidly rising sun over the horizon.

I heard church bells in the distance and as I saw a flock of white doves flying above me I shrieked, “No! You will not!”

I let out a small yelp as my foot got caught on something and I looked down to see a rotting vine reaching for me.

“Eat dick!” I exclaimed while running faster up the dead hill.

I could see the first rays of dawn coming from behind me as I was about halfway up.

“No! This will not happen!”

By the time I reached the top I was panting and out of breath.

All I could do was fall to my knees and smile as tears fell down my cheeks.

“I did all of this for nothing!”

“I was too late again!”

I slammed both of my fists against the ground as a let out a pained cry.

The sound of fluttering feathers surrounded me as the flock of pure white doves landed around me.

The sun shone down brightly on the dead tree in front of me illuminating the horrifying sight.

On each branch hung each of my friends with ropes around their necks. Their eyes were gone and streaks of blood trailed from their empty sockets.

All this as I felt the heat of the sun on my back.

Slam!

“Susej gnikcuf Tsirhc!” Rhamina exclaimed as she rubbed the shoulder she just hit the floor with.

It was the third morning since the reveal of her identity and the day she was officially healthy.

Well, physically anyway.

“Can these dreams like fuck off please?” she growled as she pulled herself from the ground and looked out the window to see it was around noon, “Who the fuck let me sleep in this late?!”

She quickly got dressed in a deep blue crop top and black shorts that ended mid thigh with her black combat boots on.

It was already mentioned that she had lied about what happened to her after she got Runaan out but nothing was said about the topic so she felt as if it was safe to expose some of the scars she had from it even though it would be hidden by her cloak unless she took it off.

When she exited the house the ravenette immediately went to the training grounds to find her friends there.

“Mina!” a familiar voice called as a dwarf owl loudly flew over to her shoulder to immediately cuddle into the ravenette’s neck.

“Mina, do you want to fight someone?” Kerstin called from where she was sitting.

“Hell yeah!” she replied instantly, “I’ve been sitting on my ass doing nothing for four days!”

“You can’t back out of this,” Sam said walking over.

“Why the fuck-” “You’re fighting Runaan,” Tijarah interjected as the ravenette immediately glared.

“Okay, fuck you.”

“I thought you wanted to fight someone, Mina?” Sam asked with a chuckled as the male began to walk over.

“Yeah, but-” “But what?” Runaan asked as we walked over with Rayla, “Whatever your worries are, I assure you it will be fine.”

“No, it’s just that I don’t have any reason to fight you,” the ravenette said, “You’ve literally been so nice. I don’t want to fight you.”

At this statement the three girls sitting down smirked and Kerstin said, “You’re going against him, Captain’s orders.”

“You did not just pull that shit on me,” Rhamina gasped with offense written all over her face, “You know what after I’m done all of you are next.”

“Owl, off,” Rhamina said only for the bird to cuddle closer to her neck, “Chloe, I swear.”

With the ravenette’s glare the owl fluttered off and sat on top of Kerstin’s head.

“So are we doing this with weapons or without?” Rhamina asked as she unclasped the front of of her cloak before tossing it to her friends.

Everyone’s eyes widened at the sight of the multiple marks littering the teen’s skin.

This was the first time since they stepped foot in Xadia where Rhamina had taken off her cloak.

No one had realized how badly she was hurt in Katolis until now.

“Rhamina,” the male whispered only for the teen to scoff.

“Can y’all stop gawking and let’s get this started?” Rhamina scoffed as she crossed her arms.

“Wait, Mina, you never said it was this bad,” Kerstin said looking at the large scar that was on her back and continued under her top.

“What do you think Viren does to so called traitors?” the ravenette replied with her eyes narrowed and a cold air around her, “The faster we get Zym to his home the faster we get back to the castle and get Viren away from controlling Katolis.”

“So,” she continued, “Weapons or no weapons?”

“How about we start off with just no weapons,” Runaan suggested as he set his bow to the side.

“Bare hands it is then,” Rhamina said as she put her hair up using a pair of black hair sticks.

As Runaan got into a fighting stance Rhamina stood in a relaxed manner about fifteen feet from him.

“That mother fucker,” Tijarah scoffed as both pairs waited for someone to call start, “She this isn’t going to be fun to watch at all.”

“What do you mean?” Rayla asked watching as one of the kids yelled start.

“She isn’t gonna try,” Sam commented as Runaan ran up to the girl and aimed a punch at her stomach.

The ravenette gasped and staggered back a bit but stayed standing.

The match went on for a few more minutes with Runaan attacking and Rhamina doing nothing until she ended up on the ground with Runaan straddling her.

He was going easy on the ravenette, not having previously seen her fight and not wanting to actually hurt her.

Even still this position caused the dwarf owl to hoot frantically in anger.

“Fuck you, Hoot!”

“Mina!” Kerstin exclaimed finally through with her sister’s bullshit, “What the fuck are you doing?!”

“What?” she smirked not noticing the position she was in, “You said I had to go against him. You said nothing about me trying.”

Sam and Kerstin shared a look before Sam asked, “Hey, Mina, remember that one time when we were at a tavern and you down like 5 barrels of bourbon?”

The teen’s heart began to race and her face immediately flushed before she replied, “Y-yeah, why?”

“If you don’t get your ass up then everyone is going to find out what you’re like when you get totally shit-faced,” Kerstin finished with a smirk.

The ravenette bucked her hips up to throw the male off balance and flipped them so she was sitting on top of him while pinning his wrists down.

“Okay!” she exclaimed with a bright red face, some strands of her raven hair falling out of place, “I’m trying now!”

She then swung up her right leg and used the momentum to turn to stand up before making her way to let the male stand up.

“Here we go,” Sam smirked, “She’s somewhat serious now.”

“How can you tell?” Rayla asked as Chloe the owl was perched on top of her head still slightly seething at Runaan.

“Look at her feet,” Sam pointed out, “It let’s her move easier.”

She stood with her left foot back and turned out to a forty-five degree angle as her right foot was about eleven inches in front of it also turned out to a forty-five degree angle. Her arms were to her sides with the elbows bent slightly and hands relaxed.

Runaan ran at the female again but right before he could swing a fist at her, Rhamina twirled to her left out of the way and as soon as she stopped she twirled back to the right holding out her right hand to hit Runaan in the back. Hard.

As the male fell to the ground Rhamina backed up and returned to her initial position, only this time she placed all her weight on the back foot and pointed her left toes.

“Yes, Mina!” Kerstin exclaimed, “Beat him down with your feminine elegance!”

Rhamina only shook her head as she repeated this process of dodging the male until he stood across from her panting.

“Are you alright, Runaan?” she asked as the male straightened out.

“I’m fine but are you actually going to come attack me?” he asked.

“I don’t plan on it,” she said, “When I ‘fight’ people I usually just aim to throw them into a blind rage to where they’ll attack blindly and tire themselves out but you’re too level headed for that.”

Runaan returned to his wide stance and ran at the female again only for her side step out of the way of his fist while grabbing his right arm in two places. While this happened she pivoted to have her back against the males chest and used his own forward momentum to throw him over her shoulder.

He hit the ground hard.

“I think that’s enough for now,” he coughed as the four girls were cheering on the side.

“Good match!” Rhamina chirped moving to help him up, “Is your back okay?”

“I’m fine,” Runaan said as he took the girl’s hand to pull himself up, “You’re quick on your feet.”

“Not as fast as Tijarah when she wants food,” the ravenette scoffed.

“But are you alright?” he asked, “You didn’t even move to defend yourself in the first part of that.”

“I’m used to it,” she shrugged, “Like I said my main goal in a fight is to conserve as much energy as possible while tiring out my opponent. So if I can take a few hits it’s fine.”

“That’s a reckless strategy,” the elf bluntly commented, “Just how many times have you used it?”

“Since I started fighting,” Rhamina stated, “I’ve used it when I was being trained in a castle and when I wreaked havoc when the Chaos Trio was at our peak. By the time most of my opponents finally realized what I was doing, I had already won.”

“If it’s life or death then it pays to play dirty,” she continued, “But that’s just how I function. If you play by a set of rules and win then good for you.”

“So staying here was fun and all but we need to get moving and bring Zym home,” Tijarah said, “Especially if that fuck nut, Viren, knows where Marianna is.”

“Now that I think of it, if the Song of Beasts reached here then it’s sound probably reached throughout all of the human kingdoms,” Rhamina stated before biting her lip.

“Shit! Then that means everyone was exposed!” Kerstin exclaimed while standing.

“Yeah, I just hope they weren’t fucking executed,” the ravenette muttered, “We need to move at the latest tomorrow morning.”

“Wait, what do you mean ‘everyone’?” Callum asked, “There are more shifters in Katolis?”

“No duh,” Sam said as she stood as well, “At least one fourth of Katolis’ population is shifters and now that they’ve been exposed….. Oof.”

“We better start packing then,” Rhamina said as she took her cloak and walked back to Runaan’s home with the owl now on her shoulder.

That night the entire village had a small gathering in the plaza where they all ate and played games.

“Mina, come on drink a bit!” Kerstin cheered already red in the face and giggling on her third mug of alcohol.

“Yeah, you’re going to be on foot for a long while,” one of the elves next to her insisted, “Loosen up a bit.”

“No, it’s fine I don’t really drink,” she chuckled with a small smile.

“Don’t drink my ass!” Sam called out her face just as red as the dragon next to her, “You would literally down barrels of straight bourbon!”

“Shut up!” the ravenette barked, “That was five hundred years ago when we didn’t have responsibilities!”

“If you’re not going to drink then at least sing us a song like you did in the taverns,” Kerstin urged.

“Yeah, Mina, sing! Hoot, hoot!” Chloe cheered.

“I don’t want to,” she said.

“Come on, Rhamina,” Callum said, “The last time you sang at a party was like six months ago.”

“Yeah!”

“Come on, Mina.”

“Sing!”

“Fine!” she exclaimed with her face red from all the attention as she shrugged off her cloak and stepped onto the raised platform amongst all the people before turning to her cheering friends, “I will kill you.”

“If I share this with you never speak a word. They would never understand if they ever heard. Gemini, Capricorn, rising in the east. Dancing through the witchwood we began to sing…”

Heads began to turn to the stage as the ravenette began her song, the fire from the torches glowing brighter.

“In between dark and light in the underworld. Wrapped around your finger like a string of pearls. Smiling face, empty hand, 7 golden rings. Dancing through the starlight we began to sing…”

The ravenette’s locks flowed majestically through the wind as they seemed to dance on their own accord.

“Ahh, ahh, still I hear the whisper… ‘Cartouche’...”

People began to clap along as music began to ring throughout the air, magic flowing with every lyric sung.

“Caramel colored leaves spiral in the air. Diving right into the ground 'round the winding stair. Stories carved out of wood, jester and the king. Dancing through the moonlight, we began to sing. Ahh, still I hear the whisper… ‘Cartouche’...”

Laughs and cheers began to echo along as a visible aura swirled around the teen.

Her eyes began to glow and her movements became even more enchanting.

“Memories, black and white, hide behind the glass. In the mirrors and the smoke, it’s all fading fast. Written word, turn the card winter into spring. Dancing through the witchwood we began to sing…”

Runaan looked up at the female on stage as she worked her magic. It was if her form was changed and she looked almost like a goddess as the elements danced with her on the stage.  

“Ahh, Ahh, still I hear the whisper… ‘Cartouche’...”

Applause erupted from everyone as she hopped down.

“Another one!” Chloe called as she flew over in her owl form and sat on the ravenette’s head.

“I only agreed to one song, Owl.”

“B-but Mina!”

“Yeah, Mina!” Kerstin cheered as Rhamina took her seat again.

“What kind of magic was that?” one of the elves asked, “That was amazing!”

“Not really,” she chuckled taking a sip of her juice.

“That was a stunning performance, Rhamina,” Runaan commented as he took a seat next to the ravenette, “You have a way with magic don’t you?”

“You know she made up those kinds of spells to win in fights right?” Tijarah asked, “Fucking, Land Siren.”

“Shut your face it works!” Rhamina barked back as Runaan chuckled.

When the party was over Rhamina and Runaan walked back to his home laughed as they conversed.

Chloe the owl was passed out and snuggled closely into the female’s neck as they walked back.

“Thank you so much for everything you’ve done,” Rhamina then spoke, “You honestly didn’t have to do anything for us.”

“Nor did you have to save my life twice,” the male retorted, “We’re even now.”

“I didn’t ask to be repaid.”

“And my morals told me that I had to,” he spoke as they both halted at his door.

She looked up into his teal irises finding no lies but also something else she could not recognize.

Ignoring what she couldn’t decipher, Rhamina reached up to wrap her arms around his neck and whispered, “Thank you for everything. Thank you.”

He smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist feeling content.

During their embrace Rhamina felt her face heat up and she could feel her heart start to pound. It was at this moment she knew, she fucked up.

“Goodnight, Runaan,” she whispered before they parted and she rushed into her borrowed room.

She gently set the owl in a nest made of one of the blankets before throwing her cloak to the side and cupping her heated cheeks.

“This is not okay,” she whispered to herself, “Love is something I can never have so stop wanting it!... I’m going to be restarting in a few months anyway… I need to stop…”

The next morning the group was about ready to head off but before they could leave Rayla caught a familiar sight.

“Runaan? What are you doing?” she asked the male who was dressed in his gear with his bow on his back.

“I’m coming with you seeing as how many of you are quite reckless,” he spoke as Zym popped his head out from Rhamina’s satchel and from under her cloak, “Just to make sure none of you do anything stupid.”

“Runaan, we’ll be fine,” Rayla tried to reason.

“I think it’s fine,” Rhamina stated while scratching the scaled chin, “Having more beings that know the terrain and such.”

“Mina, we come from Xadia,” Kerstin spoke gesturing at herself and Sam.

“How long has it been since you’ve actually been back here?”

“Touche.”

About a week into their walk Kerstin groaned, “Mina, I’m tired!”

“What do you want me to do carry you?” Rhamina asked as she gestured to the owl snuggled into her neck, the black cat resting on top of her head and the dragon in her cloak, “I am not the carrier of animals dammit!”

“Mina, what’s in your cloak?” Sam asked.

“Zym.”

“No, the other side,” Rayla said pointing at something moving against the right side of the fabric.

The ravenette looked to find a small brown bat clutched to the fabric and her jaw dropped.

“When the fuck?” she muttered in confusion.

“Why don’t we take a break for now?” Runaan suggested as Sam and Kerstin made fun of the ravenette.

They were in a darkened forest with mostly dark or dead trees surrounding them about halfway to their destination.

“Fuck, this place is a s creepy as it was before we left,” Sam commented earning agreements from Kerstin and Tijarah.

“I don’t understand how this happens,” Rhamina said as she sat against a tree, being aware of all the animals on her.

“Hoot, Mina, that’s another flying animal that isn’t me,” Chloe stated as she made her way onto the ravenette’s lap, “Imma nom it.”

“No, Chloe, you are not eating the bat,” Rhamina scolded as she scooped up the palm sized bird and placed it back onto her shoulder.

“You seem to attract a lot of creatures,” chuckled Rayla as the ravenette tucked her knees into the cloak as well.

“I wish I could attract a fucking guy,” she muttered as the blue dragon laid across her lap, “I’m one thousand and seventeen years old and I’ve never been in one relationship.”

“What’s wrong about that?” Rayla asked in confusion.

The ravenette sighed as she looked up to each of her friends, remembering how happy each had looked with significant others they’ve had in the past and could feel her chest grow tight.

“Nevermind, it’s hard to explain,” Rhamina said before taking out a bag of granola clusters and almonds.

“Hey, Mina, what the rest of my sandwich?” Kerstin asked holding up her half eaten food.

“It has nuts in it doesn’t it?” she asked causing the dragon to separate the two pieces of bread.

“Yeah,” Kerstin replied, “Do you still want it?”

“Hell, yes,” Rhamina replied reaching out as the owl lifted her head up in alarm, “I crave death.”

With her last statement the elves turned to her in concern as the owl flew over to peck at her outstretched hand.

“Chloe, stop it! I’m going to technically die with in the next few months so it doesn’t matter!”

“Mina, no!”

“But-” “Rhamina,” Runaan called sternly causing the female to gulp.

‘Shit, I forgot that people aren’t really used to my death jokes,’ she thought with a nervous smile.

“It’s true though,” she stated with a light chuckle, “I’m going to die before this body turns eighteen.”

“And you’re okay with that?” he asked with a slight edge to his voice, “With just playing around with your own life because you know you’ll come back?”

“After death number thirty, yes actually,” she replied, “I stopped caring about my own life. Doesn’t mean I don’t care about the lives of others though.”

“Life is precious, Rhamina,” Runaan stated with his eyes narrowing, “Not everyone gets to restart, so treat it as such.”

“Runaan, are you suggesting that I enjoy dying just because I can come back?” the teen asked as Rayla, Chloe, Kerstin, and Sam looked between the two, “That I enjoy having my head held underwater as my lungs burn until I eventually black out? That I enjoy having my head cut off? Or being lynched? Burned at the stake? Having my body filled with bolts from a crossbow? Being flung off a cliff?”

“Are you suggesting that I enjoy waking up after each time I fucking die knowing I’m just going to repeat that shit again?” she asked while setting the dragon and owl to the side with shaking hands, “Because I don’t Runaan! It’s painful as fuck! When you die everything feels like it’s set on fire!”

“Then may I ask why you rush towards it every chance you get?” he snapped not yet raising his voice but feeling irritation flood his system from a weeks worth of comments on death.

“Maybe it’s because I’m genuinely hoping one of these times I won’t wake up again,” she muttered as her shoulders relaxed and the edge left her tone, “One of the things I learned throughout my existence is that the fates never favored me. They love to cause me pain and each time I wake up is a reminder of that. They granted a soul who only wanted rest, eternal suffering.”

“Mina-” “It’s getting late,” the ravenette commented looking up at the sky to see the sunlight fading, “We’re staying here tonight.”

It was mostly silent as the group set up camp.

The girls plus Callum sent looks to each other until the ravenette went down to the river to wash up and the male went to keep watch first.

“He fucked up,” Sam whispered bringing her hands to her temples.

“Runaan, didn’t know,” Rayla whispered as they gathered into a tight circle, “We’re taught to respect life as much as possible.”

“I know but I don’t know how he’s going to fix this,” Tijarah commented, “They’re both pissed.”

“Dammit, Sam, our ship!” Kerstin cried quietly, “It’s sinking!”

About three hours later Rhamina simply laid on the ground next to the others not being able to sleep at all.

Her eyes were still closed though as she heard Runaan switch out with Chloe for keeping watch.

As soon as she was sure Runaan was asleep she opened her eyes and sat up to turn towards where the unsuspecting female was sitting.

The ravenette then sung a simple lullaby filled with her magic, watching as the brunette slowly drifted off once again.

She then quietly stood with the cloak still wrapped around her and made her way into the familiar maze of trees.

Once she was gone, Runaan rose from his spot and looked into the direction the female walked off in.

About five minutes of walking the ravenette felt movement in her cloak and lifted the right side to see the bat’s wide eyes.

“Hi there, Sweetie,” she greeted quietly, “You’re finally up, are you?”

It let out a squeak before flying forward and back to cling onto the front of the female’s shirt on her chest.

“I’m not your mother, Silly,” she chuckled while continuing forward before lifting her hand up over the small mammal to guard it, “Plus you’re probably not going to like where we’re going.”

The elf was careful to make almost no noise as he followed the hooded female deeper into the woods. He, himself had never spent much time in this particular forest and never had the need to nor the want to.

He followed the girl through the many twists and turns she took until they came upon a clearing with a particularly withered tree in the center.

The whole area radiated with an ominous aura that practically sang ‘death’ and ‘despair’.

“Here we are again,” the ravenette said walking closer to the tree as the young bat looked around curiously.

“The Hanging Tree,” she spoke while touching the trunk, “Where I discovered the truth of this world and where I gave up everything only for the rest of humanity to twist it.”

“Boy, was I naive,” she smiled bitterly before kneeling down and removing her hood.

“Human child, depraved and vile. In your smile the terror of a killer. When you stand before the mirror. Do you still hold your head high?” Rhamina sang, her form immediately shrouded in a purple aura, “Carved their sentence with a knife. Stole the gift that they called life. So now you'll stand and answer for yourself. Prepare for a living hell”

Runaan could feel all the grief and loss as the ravenette sang.

“You chose to have loved and lost. Knowing well that they'd never get to see each other again. Can you hear their memories calling from within?” her raven locks floated behind her as they seemed to dance on their own, “Was it really worth the cost? Was it you who deserved to be the one alive in the end? Can you feel the darkness crawling with your sins?”

A wolf howled in the distance as the clouds parted to reveal a crescent moon.

“The time has come. Nowhere to run,” Rhamina could only continue her song as all of the things she did wrong in her existence played in her mind, “Answer now for your sins.”

The forest seemed to sing with her as the wind picked up and as it became louder in general.

“Murderous child full of greed,” she sang as leaves and small debris began to fly around her, “Was this really what you dreamed?”

Snap! “Who’s there?” Rhamina asked as she turned to where she heard the noise.

Runaan sighed before exiting from his hiding spot to stand in the moonlight.

“What is this place?” he asked walking closer to the ravenette who still kneeled in front of the tree.

“This is where I gave up my humanity.”

~~~Fin. Chapter 6~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Picture: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/532128512197872406/

Songs Used: “Cartouche” - Blackmore’s Night; “Megalovania” - Adriana Figueroa cover

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[ecoamerica]

Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc

The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!

[robininthelabyrinth]

Fic: Puppy On Board (3/?) - Ao3 link

Fandom: Legends of Tomorrow Pairing: Mick Rory/Leonard Snart (currently gen)

Summary: In which life is Big, and Tough, and Extremely Frustrating - but mostly because Len is currently a goddamn puppy.

————————————————————————————–

On one hand (paw?), Len is pathetically grateful to be back with Mick once more. Just seeing his partner again, when he'd just about lost all hope, is everything he could've wanted and more.

On the other, though, does Mick really need to sleep for so long?

Clearly not.

It's unhealthy, that's what it is.

Len's doing Mick a favor when he sticks his nose into Mick's ear and slobbers on him till he wakes up.

Really.

No matter what Mick might be saying – or, more accurately, cursing.

"You want more to eat, huh?" Mick finally asks, rubbing his face.

Len totally woke Mick up out of concern for his health - but if more food is on the offer, well, you know, he’s not going to refuse...

He's a growing puppy, damnit.

"Food every two hours is apparently normal at your age," Mick said sleepily, heading to the kitchenette corner in his room. "So, I guess it ain't your fault."

Hmph. As if Len would be motivated by something so base as biology.

(Oh, but that milk is good. Hits the spot just right. God, he was so hungry.)

A satisfactory feeding later, Mick puts Len down on the ground and opens the door. "C'mon," he grunts, tossing on a robe - clearly a Legends-imposed requirement, because Mick still sleeps proudly nude as always. "I'd better get you out of here before you decide to piss."

Actually, on that subject, Len's pretty sure he saw - ah, good, there it is.

Mick's still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, which is probably why it takes him a second to catch up to what Len is doing, and on what.

"Wait, no, puppy, that's Sara's - welp, nevermind, that's a lost cause right there." Mick sighs. "I'll tell Sara she needs to get a new pack before the next mission. And maybe clean this one. She'd better not try to make me clean it, when she shouldn’t have left it hanging around where a puppy in search of revenge could get to it..."

Len gives his best "I'm an innocent puppy, really" grin.

Mick gives him a beady-eyed glare. "Don't think I'm not onto you."

Len's smile fades for a moment, then comes back at twice the strength. Mick's figured it out? Already? Thank God! Maybe they can skip ahead to figuring out a good way for Len to communicate, or maybe even to turning him back into a human so that -

"You're trouble, that's what you are," Mick announces.

...oh.

Len whines and slumps down, a process that involves just giving up on this whole standing business and splaying out on all fours like the weight of the world has come crashing down on his puppy shoulders.

"Hey, I didn't mean that," Mick said, crouching down. "It's okay, you're a good boy deep down - yes, that's right, a good boy -"

Len is not a good boy.

Len isn't even a good puppy.

And he likes it that way, damnit! He's a bad, bad man! He’s a supervillain and proud of it, except that right now he's a goddamn puppy.

Near-newborn puppies are not, despite Len’s best efforts, very intimidating.

"C'mon, back to bed."

Fine. But only for a bit, and then Len's waking Mick up again out of sheer spite!

...and possibly hunger.

"Don't know what your mom was thinking letting you wander off this young," Mick comments.

Len nips at one of his fingers, aiming to get him with one of the few milk teeth that have fully grown in so that it will sting.

Don't talk about my mom like that. Not even you, Mick.

Mick chuckles and pets his head and yawns a bit, heading back to his room, his eyes already heavy.

Len huffs, then frowns, picking up a strange scent.

He cranes his neck as far out as he can, just barely able to see around Mick.

It's the new guy - Nate.

He's not doing anything, just standing there, staring blankly down the hallway. He doesn't move or say hi or anything - Mick clearly missed his presence there entirely, and Len would have, too, if his new sense of smell wasn't so strong.

Len yips a tentative greeting, giving a vague wag of the tail, but there's no response and anyway Mick is taking Len away at speed, so there's no time to investigate.

Weird.

Whatever, Nate's sleepwalking issue isn't Len's business.

A few hours later, the Legends all gather in the med bay, which seems to Len like a weird-ass place to meet given the existing presence of a bridge designed specifically for that purpose, but their intention quickly becomes clear.

"Surely the temporal energy doesn't keep you from doing a scan at all, right, Gideon?" Zari asks.

"I can do a surface scan," she says. "And determine health, albeit superficially. For some reason, my DNA scanners can't seem to make head or tails of him."

Head or tails. Heh. Because he has a tail now.

Len finds that said tail wagging in approval entirely without his consent.

He’s going to really enjoy the dog puns.

"Well, what's your verdict, then?" Sara asks.

"He's a very healthy male puppy, with no serious diseases or other issues that I can determine. Comparing his appearance to other images I have, I would estimate an age somewhere a little over two weeks old, though I'm unsure how much older given the temporal issue."

"What breed is he?" Nate asks, giving his fingers for a lick.

Len is tempted - so many interesting smells! - but he pointedly turns his back on Nate to give Zari's fingers some attention. He's pretty sure Nate was on the pro-castration side of things, even if he didn't speak up, and anyway it makes Zari laugh in delight and Nate mutter under his breath about favoritism and it's not even Amaya...!

So, you know, there.

"He appears to be a mix of breeds," Gideon announces.

"So, a mutt," Sara says. "He fits right in already."

"But what breeds?" Nate asks. "That could impact his behavior and needs and - stuff."

"Stuff," Amaya says, amused.

"Hey, I know something about dogs. Not much, I admit, but..."

"I believe there is a significant proportion of husky," Gideon says. "Thereby accounting for the coloration, general form, and blue eyes - though those might be a puppy feature that darken as he gets older."

"Those ears aren't even slightly husky," Amaya objects.

"That's correct - some sort of spaniel, I would estimate, given the size of his ears and - ah - their proportion to his body -"

Len'll grow into them.

"He'll grow into 'em," Mick says.

Len loves Mick. Wise man.

"Hold up," Sara says, eyeing the ears. "How big is he going to get? We don't have enough space for a full-on herding dog here -"

"Huskies are working dogs, not herding dogs, I think," Ray says helpfully from where he's lurking by the door. "And Mick can take him on walks around the ship, or outside once we land."

"If we take him outside, he'll get lost," Zari objects, reaching out to rub Len under the chin.

"He can barely walk or regulate his own temperature right now," Mick grunts. "Doesn't exactly seem like an urgent issue."

"Barely walking or not, he still made his way onto the Waverider," Sara reminds him.

"Should we chip him?" Nate asks.

Len sniffs. Nate's the one who ought to be chipped, what with that sleepwalking habit.

"Not at this age," Amaya says firmly.

"Perhaps a small collar could be fashioned," Gideon suggests. "And the tracking chip placed under the nameplate."

Len sighs noisily. It's not like he hadn't been expecting to be collared eventually, given his shape.

Luckily he didn't have any bad associations with collaring, unless you count a certain period of never-to-be-spoken-of-again bad fashion choices back in the 90s...

The Legends, however, met Gideon's announcement with an almost stunned silence.

"Oh, man," Nate says, breaking it after a moment, "his name. Mick, have you named him yet, or can we help?"

"Well..." Mick said cautiously.

"No, no, please, let us help!"

"I still get veto power," Mick warns.

What about Len? Len should get veto power.

Personally, he's quite fond of "Boss" as an acceptable dog-like name -

"How about Spot?"

For shame, Nate. He doesn't even have spots! Coloration markings, yes, but not spots.

"No, no, Nate, not Spot," Ray says. "He doesn't have spots."

At least Mr. Castration-Is-Good-For-Dogs has some decent opinions.

"He's more black-and-white," Ray continues. "How about Oreo? Or Newsie, short for newspaper?"

Ugh. Positive statement retracted.

"No," Mick says. "Just - no."

"How about Joe?" Amaya suggests. "Or - Carl, maybe? Oh, I know! Rex!"

Len puts his head down and covers his head with his paws, whining pathetically.

"I think even the puppy thinks that's a no go," Sara says, snickering. "Sorry, Amaya."

"It's okay," Amaya says. "He's cute enough; I'll forgive him anything."

Len's traitorous tail gives a wag at that.

"How about something more thematic?" Zari suggests.

"Thematic?" Mick asks, sounding skeptical.

Len's not sure why; he loves things with a theme. If he has to be Heatwave's dog, then he might as well get named something appropriate. Flame or Explosion or Heatpup something -

No.

Hot Dog.

He can just see it now in a newscaster voice: “Here comes Heatwave, famed supervillain, and his trusted sidekick, Hot Dog…!”

Len sniggers, though it mostly comes off as a dry sort of huffing.

...he'd better stop that before they decide to name after Muttley or something.

(He’s far more of a Dick Dasterdly!)

“I’ve got an idea,” Zari says.

"Oh?" Sara asks. “What were you thinking?”

"Well, Mick is going to be the primary owner, right?" Zari says with a shrug. "We could match the dog to the owner."

C'mon, make the Hot Dog joke! Do it! It's right there!

"Something heat related, you mean?" Sara asks. "To match 'Heatwave'?"

"No, that's too obvious," Zari says. "I was thinking more of a contrast - Snowflake, or Snowy -"

"Oooh, Frosty!" Nate exclaims. “Cold Miser!”

"Or you could do the exact opposite of Mick's," Amaya says, "and call him 'Coldwave' -"

"No," Mick says flatly. "Nothing with Cold."

Len had been pretty much in favor of the names, no matter how dumb - he loves a good cold pun - but Mick's voice...

He's in pain.

Len whines, pulling his head out from under his paws and trying to go to Mick at once. It's his fault Mick is in such pain, his fault, he was the one who abandoned his partner like that and therefore only he can make it right. He might not be able to fix it, he's too small to do that, but he'll go and snuggle him and lick him and nip at his fingers till he feels better -

On his hurried way over to Mick, though, Len trips.

Over his own goddamn ear.

"- sensitive subject," Sara is murmuring when Len goes flying, and then she's not murmuring, she's laughing.

Everyone is laughing.

Even Mick, which is Len's sole consolation. Maybe it wasn't exactly how he was thinking of cheering Mick up, but whatever, it worked.

"Maybe we should call him Floppy," Ray says. "After his big old floppy ears -"

Len rights himself and growls at Ray.

"Awww," Sara coos. "Lil puppy don't like that."

"You named your last pet after a musician, right?" Nate asks. "Guns and Roses? What about something else like that?"

"Oh, I know!" Ray exclaims.

Oh, God, no.

"You could name him Tevye! After Fiddler on the Roof! That's your favorite musical, right?"

...okay, that one's not too bad. At least it respects Len's Judaism.

(Does Len have to be circumcised again now that he’s been reborn? He really hopes not. That was one experience he was very happy to not be aware during.)

"Maybe Fiddler would be easier?" Zari suggests. "Or Fiddlesticks? I like Fiddlesticks."

"I already know what I'm gonna call him," Mick says. "I thought of it last night."

They all look at him, even Len.

He's still hoping for 'Boss'.

"That puppy's name is Trouble."

...yeah, that's fair.

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

A/N: I wish to give full credit to everyone's wonderful suggestions in the comments to chapter 2, all of which were great and very fitting, and also extremely helpful for writing this chapter :) hopefully work will go quiet again and I'll be able to write more of this soon!

[scrotus-potus]

*This article is a work of art by republican Rick Wilson* (twitter: @ therickwilson).

Monday’s FBI raids on Michael Cohen’s Trump Tower office, his hotel room, and his home all provided a proper dose of comeuppance to a man more accustomed to screaming threats, shit-tier legal theorizing, and putting his strip-mall law degree to work in service of Donald Trump.

Cohen, far from being the superlawyer to a billionaire real-estate tycoon, really only has one important job: covering up Trump’s alleged dalliances. It was Cohen batting cleanup, dealing with an army of models, escorts, Mistresses (large “M” and small “m”), actresses, porn stars, models, Real Dolls, fangirls, groupies, and random topiary at Mar-a-Delicto with a wall of nondisclosure agreements. Master of the NDA, Cohen thought attorney-client privilege would protect him.

He forgot he had a fool for a client. Trump couldn’t shut his mouth on Air Force One last week.

Even before Trump opened his mouth on that fateful day, Cohen had managed to repeatedly hoist himself on his own petard in his dumb legal fight with adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, hoping she would, like so many of Trump’s endless bimbo eruptions, go away after one of his spittle-flecked, apoplectic tantrums. If you ever wanted to see a proof of the Steve Jobs “As hire Bs and Bs hire Cs” rule, it was Trump hiring Cohen, and then Cohen hiring an attorney who was an even lower-rent knockoff version of himself. Hilarity ensued.

The image of Michael Cohen as a superlawyer was always laughable, and even the Trump fan club recognized that Cohen was a particular flavor of attorney: The Fixer. His desire to cast himself as a real-life Ray Donovan made him a kind of overwrought, grunting thug character destined for the cutting-room floor in even the most lurid soap-opera script.

Cohen, though, should be understood as an almost perfect metaphor for the Trump era, the Trump White House, and everything else orbiting this president like the hot chunks of waste spinning around the central oscillator at a sewage-treatment plant. He truly brings it all: the shoddy, hair-trigger temperament, the indifferent education and understanding of the world outside of dalliance-cleanup duty and real-estate branding deals, the malfeasance, the petty corruption, general shitheel behavior, the impulsivity, the tantrum-as-negotiation style, and the overall sketchiness of the Trump administration.

Like Trump, his enablers, and supporters, Cohen thought his position as a Trump inner-circle member would protect him indefinitely. He believed, after so many years of getting away with every kind of shenanigan at Trump’s behest, that the facts would never matter, the music would never stop, and the party would never end. Again, he’s a perfect metaphor for this administration.

Then the FBI came knocking. Imagine that moment, when he realized that they were going to raid his office, home, and hotel room. It was one thing for Cohen to pay Stormy’s $135,000 hush-money payment from his home-equity loan. “Happens all the time!” “Common practice!” “Trump never even met her, I’m just really generous!” (For you Trump readers, that’s called sarcasm.)

It’s quite another when the most experienced and determined federal prosecutors are giving you an investigative colonoscopy. If you think for one moment there’s nothing dodgy and damaging against Trump in the files of Cohen, think again.

Related in Politics

Suddenly, Michael Cohen, the bag-walking, dick-swinging swagger-monkey wannabe thug attorney and consigliere for Donald Trump’s far-flung penile enterprises is scared. If Cohen had a lump of coal in his ass the moment those search warrants arrived, he could have popped out a diamond. He realizes how deep this hole can become if he doesn’t roll over. He doesn’t have the resources to defend himself, and Trump isn’t exactly known for paying his bills in the first place. Cohen is scared, and he’s not alone.

What has to strike absolute terror into Trump at this moment is the fact that the Southern District of New York, acting on a referral from Robert Mueller, was able to obtain extraordinarily broad authority and was granted search warrants that may even penetrate attorney-client privilege.

Trump must know this may be one of the most dangerous moments in his entire life, not just his presidency. The likelihood is that Mueller and the FBI are now in possession of the Black Books of Trump, NDAs from enough of Trump’s various affairs that you can staff a 12-pole strip club with plenty of girls left for the Champagne rooms. It’s only speculation at this point, but it’s quite likely that Cohen was the keeper of many of Trump’s lending documents, contracts, business arrangements, and the Kryptonite of Trump’s fragile self-worth: the long-sought tax returns.

It’s an open secret and has been for quite a while, but Trump isn’t worth $10 billion. As one of my hedge-fund friends (an actual billionaire) said of Trump in 2015, “He’s a clown living on credit.” For Trump to have the public learn that he may not be as wealthy as he has continued to claim as the central element of his branding would hurt him more than if Mueller then proved he took sacks of cash and a foot massage from Vladimir Putin. Collusion with the Russians is nothing compared to having his baroque finances revealed. Trump would rather be known as a traitor than as someone who isn’t one of the Masters of the Universe.

This is, of course, another one of those moments where Trump may listen to the devil perched on his shoulder and simply burn the entire Department of Justice to the ground. He is obviously unable to retain counsel skilled enough to control his constant verbal dysentery, even when his yammering puts him in enormous legal peril.

Cohen was one of Trump’s most vulnerable and dangerous keepers of secrets. If Trump had a brain, he would have been terrified this moment would come. Cohen simply lived in a state of idiot hubris that it wouldn’t.

[bluboothalassophile]

I just saw a pic of Raven being betrayed by the JL at the TT banquet, it got me interested in writing one myself, but would you please write a one shot where Jason has to save Raven form the Justice league after the become convinced she is a threat to the world I think yours will be more light harted then mine and I still half to figure out what Au I am writing this all in thank you so much and have a goodnight

Hello,

I’m going to be honest, I have WAY too many projects open right now else I’d open up a full length story for this. So instead; I might come and play some more with this idea later; but for right I can offer this short piece. And I hope you enjoy it all the same. =)

Never Leave Your Wingman Behind…

Victor looked at the video screen where Kori’s face was. Shehad called him and she looked apprehensive about this. Not that Victor could settleat this news, but he was too far away to do immediate action. Now Kori bit herlip as her green eyes filled with tears. “I… I did not know!”

“Kori, WHAT Did They Do?” He growled softly.

“They have her lassoed to the chair… it… Robin… I don’tknow!” Kori gasped.

“Kori, I don’t care what you do, or who you call, but youget her out of that room, or I will be there to end them,” Victor called.

“I… I could call Jason…”

“I DON’T CARE WHO YOU CALL GET HER OUT OF THE LEAGUE KORI!”He roared. If he went there then he’d destroy them all, that was his babysister.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Jason was sprawled out over his bed, his pillow dragged overhis head as he tried to sleep. Tried being the operative word here. There was aclambering below him as Bizarro worked and Artemis was practice sparring. Thenoise! And it wasn’t helping it was April on top of everything else.

His phone rang and he gave up as he groped for it notremoving his head from under the pillow.

“Hello?” he answered. Please be a job! His mind screamed.

“I need your help,” he heard Kori’s voice whimper, which hadhim throwing off the pillow as he sat upright in his bed.

“Kori?” he breathed. “What happened? Where are you? Is itKom again?” he was out of his bed he had his gun in hand as he stormed down thestairs to silence Bizarro and Artemis’ noise as he could barely hear Kori.Firing his weapon the two of them turned on him, Artemis looked ready to smitehim and Bizarro looked confused, he held his finger to his lip and they got themessage as he walked to the kitchen for the best reception.

“It’s… Jason, it is friend Raven, the League…”

“Okay. When do you need us to go?” Jason asked.

“Now.”

“Where is she?”

“The Watch Tower.”

“We got her Kori, you stay safe,” he said and hung up thephone. Jason immediately walked to his computer, pulled up the files he had onRaven and her powers. He examined it closely as he looked at the list of powersKori had claimed Raven to possess and what she might possess. With powers likethat, and her demon heritage she was likely to be detained by Wonder Woman,Superman and Zatanna, her magic abilities weren’t her norm. Jason would betthat they would have J’onn in her head to keep her subdued. Raven’s power wasan unknown though, so more than likely that would have WHERE she would be heldin the Watch Tower being complicated.

“What are you doing little one?” Artemis asked.

“A prison break, you don’t have to come,” he said as he thenpulled up the stolen blue prints he had to the Watch Tower. He looked throughit, and found what he was after as he examined the box they’d have Raven in. Ifhe could get her out of that room, looking at the runes on the walls, he couldguess that it was magic to keep her contained. If he got her out then he couldhave her get him out of the Watch Tower and he’d keep her safe. He had a fewbases of operations that not even Bats or Supes knew about. Places the Leaguedidn’t know about, the LoA or the All Casts. Jason was trained by the best, ifhe so chose to he could bring down everyone in the JL and topple a stablecountry like the UK or US in a week.

Now he was busting out Kori’s best friend, he didn’t careabout whatever Raven had done, he would do whatever was needed for Kori.

“What are you doing?” Bizarro asked.

“I’m busting out a friend’s friend,” Jason answered. Lookingat Raven’s profile again he memorized her face, then he narrowed his eyes as hejotted down notes and ideas then he got to work for hacking into the WatchTower, it was just like the Batcave, now he just had to not get caught by Oracleor Overwatch, he could do this.

“Why are we doing this?” Artemis asked.

“We aren’t doing anything, I’m working this.”

“We’re going. We are a team,” Artemis said as she lookedover his shoulder.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Raven sat there limply when she heard the chaos, her demonears twitch at the sound and she whimpered as she tried to sit up. She’d beencaptured and tied up here because of an Amazon named Lyla’s visions. Raven bither fat lip as she struggled to open her eyes.

There was a blast which had her chair flying as she wasknocked over, the gasp from her as the air was knocked from her lungs had herwhimpering. She was dying, she felt it as the rope burned around her and shesqueezed her eyes shut again. The tears welled up.

There was a gloved hand on her cheek which had her biting atthe fingers.

“Easy! Easy little bird, easy, the princess sent us,” aman’s voice said. She cracked an eye at the bleary figure of the Red Hood thenher eyes rolled shut as the world disappeared.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Jason saw her eyes roll shut as she went limp, that raggedhair was everywhere as the small broken frame of Raven lay there.

“Shhh, I got you, I got you,” he promised her as hecarefully untied her.

“Hurry up,” Artemis ordered.

“I got her,” Jason growled, that broken little body, he hadher untied and in his arms as he looked at the girl. Fuck! Just what the FUCKhad the League done!? This was NOT the shit the League did.

“Let’s Go!” he said as he walked out of the room.

“Put her back,” Superman warned.

“No.” Jason answered and he shifted her to the Amazon’sgrasp. “You get her out of here,” Jason said.

“She is not going anywhere.”

“You’re the League! And You crossed a fucking line!”

Superman came at him and he pulled a Kryptonite knife as hemoved.

~~~*~*~*~~~

“And what are we doing with her?” Artemis asked as shegingerly shut the door on the room Raven was in, Jason sat very still asBizarro wrapped his ribs.

“Now, we keep her safe.”

“And you did this for a girl you don’t know.”

“She was nice to me, before I died, whatever they were doingto her she didn’t deserve.”

“They will come after us, you can’t stop them all.”

“I don’t need to, I just need to stop the ones that’llcome.”

“It is suicide.”

“Nothing new and you don’t have to stay.”

“We are a team, I just want us to be sure about what we’redoing.”

~~~*~*~*~~~

Bruce stared at a cut up, sliced up Clark Kent and Dianabruised, beat up and battered, while J’onn still cowered in the corner thoughthe fire trap he’d been in, and the other League member strewn about.

“You. Did. What?” Bruce growled.

“Lyla, she saw Raven destroying the universe, Robin agreedto help us contain her,” Diana said.

“It’s true, it’s all demons do,” Zatanna winced.

“Raven would NEVER!” Kori started when Dick caught theTamaranean.

“The Outlaws came and broke her out, probably on the ordersof the traitor,” Robin growled glaring at Kori, but the Princess stood tall.Bruce just sighed.

Wherever Raven was, they would not be finding her if Jason hadher.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Jason lightly knocked on the door of Raven’s room in thebunker he had as he walked in. The girl turned to look at him, her hair wasstanding up on end, and the dye wasn’t yet washed out of it.

“Hey,” he smiled a bit at her, she just blinked dark eyesthat stared solemnly at him.

“Look, I get that you might have questions,” he started.

“Why save me?” a smoky monotone asked.

“Because Kori asked me to,” Jason said.

“You went against the League? For a stranger?” she asked indisbelief and he smiled slightly.

“You were always good to me Rae, even before… I’m lucky Iget to repay that. Not a lot of people were good to me, Rae,” Jason said.

“I want my brother,” she admitted, and he saw her dark eyesgetting wet which had him limping over and he sat down on the bed.

“I can arrange that,” he promised.

“I didn’t do anything,” she whimpered and he said nothing ashe pulled the battered girl into him. She sobbed and he rested his chingingerly on the back of her head.

“You got the Outlaws now, and we never leave a man or womanbehind,” he said softly.

“I didn’t do anything,” she cried, and he felt her sobbingagainst his chest.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Jason was sitting on the beach when the call came in and hesaw B’s ID on his phone.

“B,” he answered.

“Jason.”

“You fucked up,” Jason said.

“Let us sort this out.”

“I think there’s nothing to be sorted out.”

“It was a misunderstanding.”

“If torture is a misunderstanding then I’d hate to see whata miscommunication is,” Jason sneered.

“She is dangerous.”

“No shit, but so is Superman and I’m loking at her x-rays B,and I swear if I didn’t know Big Blue I’d have bet he did this to her,” Jason said.

“I was unaware.”

“No excuse.”

“Bring her back Jason so we can sort this out.”

“You can go fuck yourself, when and if Rae should everdecide to go near the Titans or the League she will do it, until then she’s anOutlaw and we watch out for our own. Come for her, and you’ll find out justwhat we’re capable of,” he warned.

“Jason, we don’t want a misunderstanding.”

“No, God forbid, so let me be blunt B, you come for her, youor the League, and you will find out just what I am capable of, you thought aLazarus Rage rabid me was impossible, imagine what I am capable of sober. Raven’sunder my protection, and if your League or the Titans or the Brat comes for herI will annihilate you. You want to know what I can do, you will find I am muchworse than Ra’s or Deathstroke or Talon or Anarky, Do Not Test Me. You WillLose.”

He hung up then and saw the Amazon walk up to him in herbikini after going spear fishing.

“The Bat, Little One?” Artemis asked.

“Yes.”

“Do you believe they are right about her?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“She was good to me before I died, and she’s an empath, Idon’t think that she’s capable of true evil, Artemis, I think she’s capable ofgreat power, and that’s what scared the League.”

The Amazon nodded and then she walked past him into theisland’s bunker.

He sensed her before he turned slowly, wincing his injuries,but he stared at her. She was in his shirt; as his clothes were the smallest ofhis teammates and Kori’s clothes weren’t something Raven wanted to wear. Shelooked at him as she hugged her ribs with one arm and her other hand had aplate, of waffles.

“Thank you,” she said as she handed them to him.

“And what’s this?” he mused.

“My gratitude,” she answered as she sat beside him.stretching her legs out as they both stared at the sea.

“I thought you couldn’t cook.” He remembered horror storiesfrom Dick about Raven’s cooking.

“Vic taught me to cook waffles, that’s all I can cook. Goodthing too, they’re my favorite,” she smiled weakly and he grinned as he took abite of her offering, they were pretty good.

“Vic will be here tomorrow,” Jason said.

“I…” she trembled and he pulled her into his side.

“You’re an Outlaw now if you want,” he promised.

“Can I just stay here?” she whimpered.

“As long as you want little bird,” he said.

“Thank you for saving me.”

“I never thanked you for being kind to me,” he whispered.

[easkyrah]

Elorcan Werewolf AU Part 3

Summary: Frankly, this is just a filler, but full of info. Elide’s gone and Lorcan’s a whipped bitch, so what can a male do?

“Everything I’ve ever let go

has claw marks on it”

Elorcan Werewolf 3

Elide hated that she loved how Lorcan fit against her chest. His entire body was a furnace, warming not just her body in this night cold, but her heart as her mate. His muscular arms and broad shoulders engulfed her small frame, wrapping around her. Never had she felt so safe and content.

She wondered how many other females he had comforted.

Lorcan noticed her abrupt stiffness. “Mate,” he growled. “Mine.”

Elide slowly inched away him as far as she could in the seat. “You damaged the car.”

He pulled her towards his chest, growling softly. “You ran away from me, little mate.”

Little, her ass. If anything, he had felt so little he had to fuck half of the she-wolf population so his cock wouldn’t feel so little.

Rather than risk capital punishment, she settled for slapping his hard arm, which did more damage to her knuckle. “Maybe because someone was going to whip me again?”

The male’s eyes turned pitch dark at again. “Who hurt you.” A command.

Her attempts to push him off her lap failed. His hulking size covered half her seat and the emergency brake. Clearly he had done more damaging in his life than healing.

He let out a low, guttural noise, a sound that resounded to her very core.

“Who touched you.”

When Elide remained silent, his claws slid out, slashing against the seats. She swallowed. Hopefully Aelin wouldn’t be too pissed. She wouldn’t mind if her Alpha set this male in front of her on fire. Her pyro tendencies earned her the pack name right from the start.

Elide started up at the male that shadowed her. She felt zero attraction other than the desire to reject him. This male had no more claim on her than any other dirty one. If he had truly treasured the mate bond, then he would have never laid a hand on any other female.

But here she was, looking straight into the dark eyes of the Lycan who had laid with half of the she-wolf population.

Disgust rippled through her.

Lorcan took it the wrong way, and let out a fearsome roar. “Who hurt you.” His actions caused the entire car to, goddess forbid, shake. Elide let out a whimper as he gripped the glove box with unnecessary force, leaving an indent.

He must have realized the Elide was shaking with fear because he immediately fell silent. Slowly, he reached out to touch her cheek. Her traitorous hands reached up and cupped his palm.

A purring noise erupted from Lorcan’s throat. Stars above, she was barely touching him. Had not one of his past lovers ever shown him affection?

Lorcan’s eyes dropped as she stroked his hand.

“Elide,” he murmured.

That was the last straw for Elide. How many other female’s names had he cooed and how many other females had he seduced that was not her, his mate?

She ripped Lorcan’s hand away from her, and yanked the gear violently on drive. She ignored Lorcan’s bark of protest as she slammed on the pedal as hard as her tiny body could manage, and jerked the wheel to the left, watching in satisfaction as Lorcan’s body flew out the hole where the door would have been.

Serves him right for tearing apart the door. From a rutting camaro.

Elide didn’t look back and she pushed the car to its limits. It was time for plan B. Flipping open the sunglasses container, she pressed her thumb against a button along the rim. After a beep, a second set of controls appeared on her right.

Without a blink, she slammed her palm on the red button. A vapor mask instantly dropped from the ceiling, and Elide quickly tied it around her face. Seconds later, smoke of wolfs-bane flooded from the car and erupted in the surrounding air.

A howl of pain and longing pierced the air as the car speed away, and a piece of Elide ripped away as she felt Lorcan losing distance on her.

She didn’t blame the horrified glances directed her way as she pulled up the to hotel. She chose the most the most run-down looking one as so much to not rouse suspicion, but humans were curious things.

The valet worker stuttered out his greetings as Elide parked the now three-door car into an empty slot. She ripped the mask off her face and dropped it into a trash bin. He quickly opened the door for her as she stalked in towards the front.

“No luggage, miss?” the clerk said, eyeing her almost suspiciously.

The only baggage I’m carrying is my mate, she thought bitterly to herself. 

Elide merely shook her head. “A room just for one night, is all.”

The clerk nervously entered the information into the computer. “I’m guessing you’re paying with cash.”

She pulled out the wad of bills she found stuffed from the glove container. The clerk’s eyes widened to saucers. 

Great, she felt like an assassin completing her assignment, rewarded with none other than hard cash. She almost felt compelled to add to the clerk that she had about two knives shoved down each boot and that Aelin’s ruined camara itself was a weapon with a nuke in the trunk. Aelin never did anything by halves, and Elide supposed it had its perks. 

The clerk eyed her grimy hands, and chipped nails. She wondered if he’d call the police for murder.

Well, you did just about reject our mate, running from him, her wolf scolded her. That’s as good as killing him.

Elide almost puked. Her wolf had long been absent ever since Vernon had chained her up.

He lost us as soon as he laid with the first female, Elide said firmly.

Her wolf had nothing to say after that.

The clerk took the bills quickly, and slid the key across the counter tops. He dismissed her with a quick glance, and before Elide headed up the stairs, she gave a quick glance back.

No one was on her tail. 

She made it out. 

A flood of relief poured through her. Lorcan couldn’t bother get her now in the human city. She belonged to no one without her permission, much less a higher force determining her chance of love.

The sound of the clerk loosing a dramatic sigh caught her attention. Elide turned around, watching with little amusement as he dabbed his head with a handkerchief.

I thought she was going to kill me!” he let out a tiny wail, fanning himself.

Good riddance, Elide thought to herself as she went up the stairs. Humans were so extra.

Elide couldn’t sleep. For once, no nightmares of her Uncle Vernon plagued her, nor the memory of pain and loneliness. No一she kept expecting the searing pain in her stomach that would occur whenever a mate cheated on his other significant other.

Surprisingly, none came.

Are you rutting alive? Manon blasted down the pack link. If Lorcan touched you in any way, I’ll chop off his tiny balls and feed it to the rats.

Aelin pitched in. Lorcan is sitting on his ass in your rutting room, waiting for you to return like a pathetic gods-damned dog.

Elide frowned. Why isn’t he going back to any of his female toys?

A pause. Then一

Maybe because you’re his mate? Aelin sighed.

Manon huffed. You don’t need a mate given by the moon goddess to determine love. If the boy loved you, he would have kept his cock in his pants and waited. I don’t care if he’s almost as old as I am by eons. If you love someone, you will wait an eternity.

Elide groaned into her pillow. What about Rowan?

Stop rutting setting the walls on fire! Manon roared, and Elide stifled laughter hearing Aelin’s protest. Rowan apparently hates Aelin as much as she does he. He thinks she’s too improper to be princess but Aelin keeps throwing into his face that he has consorts, another improper act. So they’re at a stalemate.

At least Aelin is loyal in every way, Elide said firmly. Please kick Lorcan out. I don’t want to see him when I get back.

This is what we have to talk to you about, Elide. Aelin let out a nervous sound Elide felt even through the bond. I think it’s best if you finish your medicinal studies in the human realm. If you come back, Lorcan will mark you. And then you can never escape him again.

Elide yanked the blankets off the bed. Are you kicking me out of the pack? Her heart beat faster. Stupid Lorcan for ruining her life. She wanted someone to love her without doubt, and make her feel like a queen not with materialistic things, but clear actions.

And Lorcan had already ruined that.

No, no. Aelin reassured her. Once you finish your studies, still see if you want Lorcan. Once you finish your studies, come back. Then decide if you want to reject Lorcan or accept him as your mate.

Elide looked out the window where glimpses of the sun’s rays were already rising. She had a future already planned out, one with hope and one without fear. She was no longer that naive girl that trusted and would give herself over wholeheartedly without a reason. Life in the dungeons of the Morath Pack taught her that. If that was even considered life.

Realizing that she wouldn’t be getting much sleep, she walked to the bathroom and splashed water on her face. Staring at her rugged reflection in mirror, she opened the pack link.

Relay the following message to Lorcan for me.

Lorcan had reached an all-time low. His once chance at happiness did not want to love him. He hated the Alpha bitch for feeding his precious, little mate Elide with barbed words for her to hate him even more. Then his gods-damned friend Rowan had to have his mate as none-other than the entitled bitch.

He felt the sympathy the others from the cadre shot down the bond. Gavriel had empathized with Lorcan the most.

Fenrhys, however, had been absolutely delighted. You have lost your charm! She probably finds another more manly than you! You and Rowan can chew on your own wolf dicks because now no one will want to!

Rowan had tackled Fenrhys, and Lorcan had tossed him out the window. Vaughan was wisely chosen to remain silent, merely shaking his head in distaste, and then went to the kitchen to search for food. Gavriel had mended Fenrhys’ shattered elbow.

Elide’s door banged open, and his heart soared.

And then sank.

The hybrid beta stalked him, snarling at him. “I am going to rip off your balls. And it’s not going to hurt you, because you’ve had other females touch your junior.”

“Junior?” Lorcan snarled.

The half-witch paced around the bed. “You don’t deserve her. None of you rutting Lycans do. Sticking your nasty stick wherever you can find a hole.”

It took all of Lorcan’s will to not crack Elide’s headboard. The audacity of this filth—

“Lycan’s urges are different from werewolves’, mutt. We have casual fucks because our Lycan side needs to be soothed that way if we don’t have a mate. You think we have a rutting choice? You think I like touching another female other than my little mate? Seek the moon goddess if you don’t believe me. You wouldn’t know only being half-Lycan.”

Manon cocked her head. “You better hope what you’re saying is true. Even then, you’re too late.”

He breathed in Elide’s scent permeating the room, calming down the murderous rage seeping through him. His Lycan side jerked around inside of him, demanding to cut off the half-witch’s tongue and hunt down his mate. Even if it broke down every law. “Too late for what?” he snapped.

“Elide’s gone to the mortal cities.” Lorcan’s heart stalled. He could not protect his mate within human infested cities lest he break Council laws. “So if you really want her, then you’re going to have to win her love not through the bond, but through love. And I don’t know how long she’s going to be there. It’s your move now, junior.”

Elide inspected the cottage. It was on the outskirts of the city, but close enough that no Lycan could trespass. The landlord had agreed for Elide to rent it out without a set date as soon as she accidentally spilled a pouch of money across the table.

The place was dimly lit with comfy looking furniture. She lit the fireplace, soaking in the warmth. Manon and Aelin had promised to keep her updated with any pack new from small to urgent. Sorscha had instructed her to seek out the Terrance Dome Hospital, where other immortal or supernatural creatures worked. If she managed to acquire a degree there, then she’d be ranked as a Healer without a doubt.

Sighing, Elide slid the couch along the floor. She’d focus on re-decorating tomorrow and have to buy some more knick-knacks to liven up the place.

A thud against the door had Elide palming a knife. She slowly crept to the door, and peeked through the door. Seeing no one there, she uncertainly opened the door. If Manon was playing a prank on her—

A bark had the knife sliding out of her hand.

Elide looked down.

Sitting on her front porch was a massive, midnight pelted dog wagging his enormous tail. A coo went through Elide’s throat before she could help it and the dog’s tongue lolled out. A thick collar wrapped around his neck, and Elide hesitantly reached out for it.

When she bent down, the brutish dog licked her palm eagerly, settling onto its hind legs. Elide turned the collar over, scratching the soft skin between his ears, reading the letters engraved onto the leather.

Lory.

[ecoamerica]

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