#After Dark with the Duke

[overflowingshelf]

July 2023 Reading Recap

Goodbye reading slump! July was my best reading month this year! Check out what I read this month (spoiler alert: most of them were pretty great!)

Summer is in full swing, and I have found my reading groove again! While I’m still behind on my overall reading goal for the year, I feel way more back into the swing of things with reading, as I read 10 books this month – the most I’ve read in one month this year! Here’s what I read this month: Continue reading Untitled

[lucrezianoin]

Yenna is like

and this is my family

a devil-celebrity, a warrior from the hells, a vampire, a cultist, an alien woman, the murderous son of a god, a wizard, a guy who is a bear 50% of the time, a bickering non-married couple, a pair of angelic lesbians and a skeleton man

[ekat-fandom-blog]

Assassins AU Prompt

Bruce didn't know how it happened, but his children were all sent to kill him. He had no clue how he convinced them not to.

Dick had been a new Talon sent out on his second mission. Brucie Wayne should have been an easy target. Bruce had noticed him though. Had decided to try to help the child. It shouldn't have worked, but it did.

Jason had been part of a new murder cult pretending to be a home for wayward orphans. Someone had paid them to send a couple of the child assassins to a fundraiser for Gotham's orphanages and kill 3 of the most well-known philanthropists attending. Which of course included Bruce. Jason had somehow snuck a tire iron into the event. It was a bit funny. It also helped his Brucie persona when Jason let him adopt him.

Tim was used by his parents for years as a way of getting rid of competitors. It was only natural that they'd eventually send him to get rid of the CEO of Wayne Enterprise. Tim's plan was perfect and would have worked if he'd not gotten cold feet at the last minute, destroying the slow acting poison (that wouldn't have had noticable side effects until it was too late) in front of Bruce and confessing the plot then and there.

Cass was sent by David Cain to kill Batman, which was both a nice change of pace and same-old same-old. Cass would have succeeded if she wasn't so tired of killing people. It also helped that Batman (and Batgirl) genuinely seemed to want to help her. Was concerned for her.

Damian was sent by Talia to kill his father so he could become the true heir of the Bat and the League of Shadows with the stipulation that if he was unable to do so within a week, to not return at all. Damian failed. That's fine though, eventually he found he was happier with his Father than he'd been with the League.

Duke's gang had almost taken things too far when they decided they needed to take things into their own hands and get rid of the corrupt elite of Gotham.

[theeminentlyimpractical]

insane we now know how crowley would look in the role swap stage play

truly no one understands these characters at a base level like michael sheen, I MEAN -

[maegalkarven]

This thing with the suggestion of Ulder being just fine with Durge and Wyll dating still nags at me.

Like, they are the Bhaalspawn. For every Abdel Adrian there are ten Orins. They are by default bad news.

Jaheira was Abdel's close friend and companion and her reaction to finding Durge is a Bhaalspawn is to guard them with blades. THIS is the sane reaction.

I rather believe Ulder Ravengard is a sane person.

You can not convince me Ulder Ravengard, a man who worked alongside a good man and saw even the BEST of Bhaalspawns struggle with his parentage, saw Durge and Wyll together and was like "fine by me."

It's unclear if Abdel died fighting Viekang OR turned into Slayer.

The possibility is here, for they do not know the truth.

Look me in the eyes and tell me Ulder Ravengard, the man who knew Abdel better than many, did not lie in his bed with no sleep at vicinity wondering what was Abdel's end - his brother's blade or the blades of the very men he lead.

Tell me Ulder was not confronted by the fact what his FRIEND might have succumbed to his unholy nature at last.

On good days he strongly believed Abdel stayed true to himself. But on bad days? Doubts had to creep in.

And then his son comes back. As a devil. And introduces another bhaalspawn, someone who should not even exist, but somehow does.

And this Bhaalspawn is...was involved in the things currently destroying his beloved city.

And said Bhaalspawn killed innocent girl and tried to murder his son. They tried to murder his only son, someone Ulder thought of every day ever since fate strayed his hand and he had to exile Wyll for the wellbeing of the people.

A Bhaalspawn actively haunted by their father.

A Bhaalspawn who was working together with Enver fucking Gortash.

Does memory loss excuse anything? Does it change the horrors this spawn brought? I sure don't think so.

And I don't think anyone knows better what a tickling bomb Bhaalspawn is than someone who knew a Bhaalspawn closely. There is no "safe" Bhaalspawn.

And I believe Ulder would want his son to be safe and not dealing with a murderous amnesiac Wyll decided he is in love with.

[fawnim]

furfur had a crush on both the ineffable husbands 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️ in this essay i will

[themyscirah]

This week's Outsiders fucked heavily imo

[triviareads]

I'm starting to think Detective Tommy Peck was inspired by William "The Duke" Wellington

[en69y]

[IMAGE ID: three horizontal flags with nine stripes; each flag has a heart in two colors, the left side orange-pink, and the right side hot pink. it appears drippy. it is in the center. the middle stripe is twice as large as the rest of them, which are equally sized. the first flag has these top three colors: warm blue, warm green, and medium green. the second flag has these top three colors: warm pink, dull orange, and red-orange. the third flag has these top three colors: light purple, warm green, and bright orange. each flag has these bottom six stripes: peach, off-white, pastel orange, hot pink, medium warm purple, and dark cool purple. END ID.]

hypersexuliduke: a gender connected to being a hypersexual duke; this gender is connected to being hypersexual, hypersexual pride, hypersexual aesthetics, duke aesthetics, and droxininity!

duchypersexulic: a gender connected to being a hypersexual duchess; this gender is connected to being hypersexual, hypersexual pride, hypersexual aesthetics, duchess aesthetics, and troininity!

monarchypersexulic: a gender connected to being a hypersexual monarch; this gender is connected to being hypersexual, hypersexual pride, hypersexual aesthetics, monarch aesthetics, and being ambiguine!

@mogaigonewild @liom-archive

[starlooove]

Do u ever think about how Anita is literally re- raising her parents?

[yuridovewing]

I think Leafpool should be allowed to be angry at and maybe even kill Moth Flight for being so gun ho to condemn Leafpool and Squirrelflight to cat hell. Not to mention being the one to write that rule in the first place and being the main source of so much pain for probably even more medicine cats.

Plus I like the idea of a story taking place in Starclan where there's still resentment and tension. Let the ghosts fight!

You had me at “I think Leafpool should be allowed to be angry and kill”

[dyketennant]

the thin dark duke more like the thin dark dyke can i hear a wahoo

[beautifulfaaces]

Jack Bandeira

Facts

March 29, 1994

English actor

Filmography

Terry [Black Mirror: 2023]

Quill [Lockwood & Co: 2023]

James [After Forever: 2022]

Kenny [The Duke: 2020]

Scott [Holby City: 2017]

Keith [Middleton: 2016]

Appearance

Dark blonde

Blue eyes

Roleplay

Playable: young adult

[dany36]

DRAGON’S DOGMA THE VIDEOGAME SERIES WHERE THE STORY GETS JUICY ONLY AFTER YOU DEFEAT THE “FINAL” BOSS

[maegalkarven]

Characters: Dark Urge, Duke Ravengard.

30-something years prior events of the BG3. Ravengard's POV.

There's a memory of the young Durge killing their foster family. Baby's first murder spree, as Sceleritas would put it.

This is the aftermath of that spree.

A child.

They captured a literal child.

With bony wrists and scratched knees, and is that blood on his face?

"It's not his," a guard comments idly, as if reading Ulder's thoughts. The man's face contorts with a feeling what should not be applied to a child not older than - what, five?  "That's what of his family," the guard looks away as if not being able to suffer the presence in front of him any longer. "Gruesome deal, sir. A mass murder, entire family slain overnight."

Ulder tries to catch the boy's gaze, but the child's expression is empty, eyes downcast.

He looks like a puppet, Ulder realizes. Lifeless empty puppet.

There's a plush toy clutched in his tiny palms, adding the note of surreal to the otherwise horrifying view. It seems to be a plush rabbit and one ear of it is dark with redness Ulder learned to recognize as blood.

Gruesome.

He snaps his gaze away.

"And you believe a child did that?" His voice raises despite every effort to keep it low, keep it steady.

Ulder half expects a child to flinch, wince, show any kind of discomfort, but the boy's expression is mercilessly vacant.

"This child?" Anger rises up his throat like bile. "How old is he, five?"

"Six, sir."

"He looks younger," Ulder risks another look at the boy and is regarded with a single, brief glance of hellish green of his eyes.

"A tiefling", he remembers hearing someone spit. "That's what we get for allowing their kind inside our walls. Even a child is as bad as they all are."

Ulder finds it ridiculous.

It's a child, for gods’ sake, a small and fragile thing with bones like that of a bird.

He never understood this deep-rooted prejudice towards tieflings. People are people; he, a son of a commoner, should know.

The guard looks away, clearly as uncomfortable with the entire situation as Ulder himself is.

"He confessed," the man murmurs. "Trust me, I didn't want to believe it either, but we found him amidst the bloody carnage with a kitchen knife in his hands, and he confessed."

"Ridiculous," Ulder shakes his head. Then louder, to the guard. "Leave us."

The man stirs.

"But ser-"

"It wasn't a suggestion, sergeant," and there's a steel in his voice now, the kind of steel what makes criminals freeze on the spot and nobles - turn the gaze elsewhere.

The guard hesitates.

"Call if you need help," he finally offers.

Ulder snorts, a sound rather unbecoming of a man of his status, but the sound escapes his throat anyway.

"I doubt this child will cause me harm, sergeant."

The man looks up sharply and in his tired, very eyes Ulder sees the weight this case brought on the man's shoulder.

"You haven't seen it," he whispers. "The bodies...It was carnage, and this-" man sends the child a spiteful glare. "Thing was just sitting next to it, covered in blood from head to toe. It's-," he staggers. "Whatever it was, this child is not normal. So," the man meets Ulder's gaze firmly. "Call out if you require my assistance, Duke Ravengard."

Ulder nods wordlessly and waits until the door closes to open the lock on the cell.

The boy raises his head to stare at him once again, eyes suddenly sharp with awareness.

"Where's my mum?" He asks in a tone what's as close as demanding as six years old boy's can be.

Something clenches at Ulder's heart violently.

Doesn't the boy know?

Doesn't he realize?

Sergeant said he was found amongst carnage, next to the bodies. How can he possibly not know?

He forces a lump down his throat.

"I'm sorry," comes out so softly it is barely a whisper. "She is gone."

The boy's unyielding stare pierces right through his soul.

"And dad?" the child insists again. "Maggie? Lou?"

There were two other children on a scene of a crime, Ulder recalls. Two small bodies, one a year or two older than a tiefling boy and another - a babe barely out of infancy.

Ulder refuses to believe the boy demanding to see his family did that to them.

The truth has to show on Ulder's face because the boy's eyes grow misty and his lower lip starts to tremble.

"I didn't mean to," he suddenly shouts with a force what has Ulder stumbling back. "Please, I didn't mean to," his small hands dig into the front of Ulder's doublet with surprising strength. "Bring them back," his eyes are wide now, frantic; a single tear trails down one cheek. "Bring them back! You have...magic, yes? Scrolls?"

Ulder shakes his head slowly.

Whatever resurrection magic they could or could not have, the place victims left for is beyond their reach. Their spirits didn't even come back for questioning when summoned.

The child snarls.

"Liar," he hisses. "I know you can. Do they not want to?" His grip on Ulder's clothes eases. "Are they mad at me?" And how quickly moods change in this one. "Do they hate me now? I said I didn't mean to- Maggie screamed, she screamed so much-"

Whatever was to come out next, it's interrupted by a wave of violent, bone shaking sobs.

Ulder wraps the boy into an awkward hug, hands coming around a frail, shaking with wails body.

It takes a long time for a child to calm down, and even as he does it, it mostly comes from the exhaustion.

Ulder takes his time trying to console the boy, soothing him to the best of his - admittedly not that grand - abilities.

When he leaves the cell, it's with an order to examine the boy with every magical test possible. He refuses to believe the child himself did that, not with the way the boy broke apart afterwards.

It has to be some kind of possession, a curse. Something.

"Find the root of this disease," he orders, and the solemn sergeant nods.

It's the last time Ulder sees the sergeant alive.

The next day the man is found hung from his own intestines.

And the child is gone.

[cosmictheo]

𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋𝐒 | feyd-rautha

(gif credits to @pascow)

— summary: an arranged marriage with feyd-rautha in the name of reconciling your houses was something you were not expecting, neither was the soft and light way he seemed to behave towards you and only you. —pairing: feyd-rautha harkonnen x female!atreides!reader —word count: 3k —warnings: arranged marriage, feyd being gentle and calm because the reader is the love of his life (as it was written), probably ooc!feyd (sorry but i just love to see the most savage and feral men fall on their knees for their s/o)

writer’s note: english is not my mother tongue, so please forgive me if there is a grammatical error. hope you like it!

ᯓ★ part one ── part two ── part three (coming soon)

Your arranged marriage to Feyd-Rautha had been the reason for House Atreides and Harkonnen to strengthen their alliance, ensuring that neither would stab each other in the back, which was most expected from the Baron. Your Houses had been wavering on a faint thread that separated you from a war and this marriage arrangement had pacted a reconciliation. It had been your parents' idea and obeying your parents was the most important thing for you, right after protecting your family and indeed that was what you were doing, guarding your family.

Your twin brother did not like the idea, he was not very fond of Feyd-Rautha and his House, moreover, he found him rather... repulsive. For Feyd was a savage, a ruthless and bloodthirsty man.

However, he had to admit that, next to him, you would be basically untouchable, after all, it was like having a guard dog, the most possessive and protective dog, a dog that was ready to kill and ravage for you if necessary.

“He's scary.” Paul's voice echoed inside your head as together you walked along the vast hallways of the Harkonnen palace, at the end of it, Feyd-Rautha stood, engaged in a conversation with your parents, forever as stiff and somber as he had been since you had first met him.

“Just look at him, you'll have to wake up next to him for the rest of your life.” Your brother insisted, throwing you a knowing and concerned look. “We can fix this without you having to marry that man, sister. There must be something—”

“Enough.” you interrupted him, finally dragging your eyes from your betrothed to your anxious brother pacing beside you, you made an effort to offer him a reassuring, soft smile, grateful that he was always so caring and concerned about you and your well-being. “There's nothing else we can do. You know about my visions and what they foresee. Our House will not endure if I do not accept this offer.”

“We will do whatever it takes to survive for now.” You added, holding Paul's gaze, noting the sadness and pity behind his dark eyes, and like the good sister you were, you sighed softly, leaning closer to him to bring him some kind of reassurance. “Our turn will come to make our move and win, brother.”

“Whatever it takes.” He echoed, nodding his head, fingers brushing your clasped hand around his forearm, as you were accustomed to do when you walked side by side.

“The marriage will take place two weeks from now.” The Duke's voice gave out the news once you were all inside the assembly room, with the Baron at the head of the table, of course, looking uncharacteristically approving and pleased to hear the announcement.

The massive man showed his approval with a hint of a phantom, twisted smile, plump fingers taping the edge of the black table in front of him. “We will have the princess as a guest in our home for a week and then the na-Baron will visit her home for the last week, prior to her coming to live here.”

He planned the whole thing and there was absolutely no one in the room who had the idiotic courage to be against his command, so, it was settled.

Once you said goodbye to your family and gave a tight and emotional hug to your brother, you were left alone in the dark and gigantic planet of the Harkonnen family, feeling like an outsider, like a small prey surrounded by bloodthirsty predators. Although, the place possessed an indescribable and incomparable beauty, the sun was black, and the light that irradiated was whitish, giving it a beautiful contrast with all the black buildings rising majestically. But the place was rather... depressing, quiet and somewhat eerie, it was nothing like your home.

You soon felt out of place, and everyone who looked at you could see it too. It was as if you had some kind of golden aura, glowing among all the darkness and gloom of the place.

Feyd-Rautha watched you attentively, analyzing every expression and emotion you let be shown across your face, catching the look your eyes possessed, that special little gleam that flashed in your orbs as you admired Giedi Prime as if it were one of the most beautiful things you had ever seen in your life, his home.

“Do you like it here, my lady?” His husky, raspy voice managed to snap you out of your trance, and your heart skipped a beat once you trailed your gaze from the horizon beneath the balcony to him, meeting his deep, dark gaze. He always seemed to look at you with those eyes, captivated, as if you were some form of strange spectacle.

And indeed you were, you stood in perfect contrast to the planet, your eyes were bright, lively, your aura was vivacious and hopeful. And because of that, he liked to look at you, study your face, your body language, every little reaction you had in response to something. You were fascinating.

Whenever you entered any room, his deep blue eyes were pulled to you like a magnet, drawn to orbit around you like his planet circling the dark sun.

Feyd noticed out of the corner of his eye how your hands clasped lightly around the balcony fence in front of you, skin contrasting against the blackness of the material. 

You nodded your head very slowly, twisting your body just enough to be able to look him directly in the face, big eyes looking up at him, not with fear, but with expectation. “I do.”

Even your voice was the opposite of his, keeping that soft and delicate tone, as elegant as you.

He seemed satisfied with your positive response, and so, he dared to lean against the balcony fence right next to you, but careful not to cause you to feel too uncomfortable or intruded upon. His eyes never left you for a second and he was quite pleased that you were bold enough to hold his powerful and intimidating gaze.

“Good, it will soon become your home too.” Feyd answered you, in a tone that oscillated between amusement and fascination, you didn't quite know how to decipher the expression on his face either, naturally.

He was very complicated to read, even if you tried extra hard, the many tutoring and lessons with Lady Jessica didn't seem to do much use, with him. Perhaps because he made you feel unnerved, he made your soul tremble like no one could, stepping beyond your walls and standing where none of your senses seemed to work. Where the eye could not see.

“Are you mocking me?” Still, you had the courage to ask him that bold question, one eyebrow rising on your forehead and your head twisting slightly, defiant face and all.

Your bravery made him laugh slightly this time, a noise that was heard almost unnaturally, with a small crooked smile on his lips that looked all too unusual and strange on him. For not even his strongest and most powerful enemies had had the courage to stand in front of him and challenge him like you were doing right now. You were a fierce girl. And he liked that.

“I wouldn't be likely to mock you, my lady.” Feyd-Rautha replied calmly, his tone of voice the exact same, as if you were a spectacle. Your eyes lowered to his hand, which snaked slowly to the edge of the balcony fence, fingers stroking the smooth surface. “I'm just stating the obvious. You'll be living here with me soon. It will be our home and you will reign with me when it's my turn.”

You narrowed your eyes slightly at his response, not yet quite convinced that he would behave so calm and composed with you, when not more than two days ago you had seen him slicing men to pieces in the arena. “You are not bothered by me invading your space?”

You asked that question because you knew how... eccentric men usually behaved, you could see it in basically every man with any power you had ever met, in the so many meetings with the Duke back home. You could see how they treated their wives, how they looked at them and how they talked to them, as if they were dealing with a servant. You feared this marriage was like that too.

Even your parents' marriage was broken, since Duke Leto kept close to his heart another woman who was not Lady Jessica, he did not love her as he loved that unknown woman. You had grown up seeing an empty and cold marriage, merely to fulfill a duty.

You understood that your marriage would also have that basis, and therefore, you knew that duty was the death of love. But for some silly, innocent reason, you wanted to think there might be love here. As the naive, young girl that you were.

Feyd-Rautha shrugged, not taking much interest in the matter of the question, “You'll be my wife, my space is your space.”

A hint of a smile tugged at the corner of his lips when he saw that his answer pleased you. You could begin to understand that to him the whole arranged marriage thing wasn't as important as it was to you, or maybe it was, but it didn't seem to bother him or disagree.

“Does this marriage bother you?” It was his turn to ask, staring down at you, noticing how beautifully your skin reflected the pale natural light of the black sun. He could see how frustrated you were now, to be there, with him. “Does it bother you to be my wife?”

You sighed heavily, peeling your eyes from Feyd-Rautha and returning them to the beauty of the landscape below, pondering the questions. His dark eyes followed your every movement as your body turned forward again, hands gripping the balcony fence as if your life depended on it.

“Do you care much for my opinion of you?” You decided to answer him with another question and that seemed to annoy him for his frown deepened and his fingers halted on the fence, devoting himself to glaring at you with his azure eyes, mirroring the pallid light of the gloomy sun.

“Woman, I will marry you and live by your side for the rest of my life, of course your opinion is important.” He took a couple of steps closer to you as he spoke, hand closer and closer to yours, managing to make you even more nervous. “Don't speak nonsense, it doesn't suit you. You're a smart girl.”

Seeing the expression on your face, he leaned even closer and out of the corner of your eye you watched as his hand rose to your face, resting on your chin and turning it ever so gently for you to look at him, but your eyes lowered, fleeing from his.

It seemed astonishing to him that you didn't even flinch away when you sensed the approach of his hand to your face, as if it wasn't the same hand that had slaughtered so many and slit so many necks by the same motion.

“Don't take your eyes off me.” He demanded in a low, raspy tone of voice, you could feel his breath brush against your face. “Look at me.”

When he whispered your name in that delicate, nearly pleading tone, you finally summoned the courage to look at him, allowing him to cradle your chin between his fingers and allowing him to be so close to you that you felt suffocated by the warmth of his body against yours.

“You fear me?”

He asked in that tone of voice, whispering, silently asking you to have mercy on him, not to fear him as everyone usually feared him, not to see him as the monster everyone saw, but as your husband, your protector and your lover.

He saw how your eyes watered slightly as fear peered into your usual stoic, cold face, and Feyd-Rautha was used to beholding that face, was used to fear, because it was always the last look of his enemies.

“I'm afraid. Of leaving home, of living on an unknown planet, of marrying someone I don't know.” Then you shook your head softly, looking up at him through your long eyelashes. “But I am not afraid of you, Feyd-Rautha.”

“You're very bold... and emotional.” He whispered in a disapproving but gentle voice, fingers tracing barely a caress along your lower lip before he reached up and dried the couple of tears that had managed to escape from your pretty eyes. At the closeness, you could begin to see through the mask he always carried, hiding his emotions. “You can't let yourself look like this in front of your enemies, it will make you appear weak.”

“I can't let myself look like this in front of my future husband?” his dark eyes lowered to your lips as you modulated the question, pupils dilating slightly. You swallowed as you saw desire and lust darken his orbs even more when you referred to him as your husband. You sniffed, feeling suddenly embarrassed by your outburst of emotions. “I'm s—sorry. You shouldn't see me like this, my lord.”

“Don't apologize.” He again reprimanded you in that passive-aggressive tone of his, like a hiss of a snake, shaking his head a little. Even after he wiped away your little tears, his hands remained in the same place, cupping your face, each of his thumbs resting on your flushed cheekbones.His fingertips were surprisingly gentle against your skin, sending shivers all over your body beneath their path. “You can be like this only with me, you understand? You can trust me, I want you to trust me.” His fingers took a lock of your hair and pulled it away from your face, running it carefully behind your ear. “But I really don't like to see you cry, my wife-to-be.”

After barely a second of silence with his azure eyes again flicking down to your parted lips, he spoke again, muttering, his raspy voice indicating that perhaps it hurt his throat to talk like that. “Pretty girls like you should cry out of pleasure only.”

He studied your face once more, not missing the way you blushed at his open flirtation and suggestive words, how you bit your lower lip, pupils expanding in thick blackness. You weren't used to so much attention, let alone men saying those kinds of words to you, it was evident. You were so innocent that it provoked a rare feeling of tenderness in Feyd-Rautha.

Perhaps it would be the closest thing to an act of consolation you would get from him and it was likely the only time in his life he had ever done that.

Promptly, you managed to make him smile again. “You Atreides are so strange and delicate... but then again, you will soon be Harkonnen, the prettiest na-Baroness, my pretty little wife.”

From his voice, his careful choice of words and the way he was looking at you, you expected him to kiss you right there —perhaps that was what you wanted, amidst all the tumult of emotions that shook your little heart, beating in rumbling noises inside your chest, pumping fiery blood through your veins.

But after a few seconds, he pulled his hands away from your face and backed away from you, taking a few steps back and offering you a look that you managed to perceive as soft rather than harsh. You knew that he was controlling himself well in maintaining a good demeanor, perhaps because his uncle had ordered him to do so; to do his best to make a good impression and not bring shame to the family. And also because he wanted you to have a good image of him, he was a prideful man, he was used to boast of his virtues and his power, and he was above all, protective of his own person and his glory.

He made a short gesture with his head pointing to the open balcony door, his hands clasping together behind his back pragmatically, as if he were presenting himself in front of a superior. “Now come, pretty girl, I'll show you the palace myself. You're future home.”

You walked towards him, a little smile curving your lips, the first smile on your face during the entire conversation, and he admired it in all it's glory.

“You don't have to be all stiff when you're with me, Feyd.” You eyed his posture with light eyes as you passed him and made your way inside the guest room with graceful steps, him following close behind.

He wasn't very fond of being addressed by name directly, of having his name used so freely, but the way you pronounced his name made him so utterly proud to be called that, he suddenly was wishing you would just call him that, in that tone of voice, tongue savoring his name as if it were the most delightful thing to say.

You turned to look at him for a few seconds, your tone of voice becoming reassuring, something he wasn't quite used to, yet he heard and savored it as if it were the sweetest thing in the world.

“If you can see me cry, then I can see you relaxed. It is only fair, no?”

Feyd-Rautha received your words positively, causing him to deepen his breathing into a snorting chuckle, eyes sparkling with amusement now behind your back.

“I'll try for you.” His response made you smile once more.