#All investors would be terrified of him

[tokyogirl07]

Why is it whenever I think of an Older Kakyoin, I keep mixing him with Alastor from Hazbin Hotel?

[jubileemon]

Understanding Husk

A "husk" means a shell or a protective outer cover. This fits his character well since he's shown to be a husk of a man. More specifically, he's a former overlord who lost his power.

Husk in the "Pilot" was a lot more grumpy than he is in the show proper, losing his temper at Alastor and not hesitating to show his disinterest in anything going on as long as it doesn't concern him. When he sees just who has yanked him away from his card game, all he can do is exasperatedly ask Alastor what he wants with him this time. Seeing as Alastor is a constant reminder of how his gambling ended up costing him his status as an Overlord, it's easy to understand why he'd be upset at having to bend to the Radio Demon's will.

In the series, it's established he's still a jerk, but it's evident he cares, and his temper isn't as volatile and often warranted. In the beginning, Husk made it no secret that he was forced to stay at the hotel because of his ties to Alastor and would gladly get as far away as he could if able to. Behind his grumpy exterior, Husk is actually very patient and it takes a lot to make him legitimately angry.

He does his job as a bartender competently, but Husk is fairly blunt about the fact he's only participating in the group's shenanigans because he simply can't be bothered to protest. He does join bonding activities but departs once it's no longer enjoyable for him, after Vaggie decided to literally throw everyone into the middle of a turf war as part of her trust exercises. Thankfully, he grows out of this a bit as the series goes on and grows to care about the staff and guests.

Husk has his own issues and is pretty much apathetic to almost everything out of pessimism. But he still has the most common sense out of the cast and he's the most emotionally intelligent and self-aware, even serving as an advisor to the others at the right times when he's not bitterly accepting his circumstances. The hotel's owner is the only cheerful idealist demon princess who just wants to see the good in everyone, one investor is a maniac who wants to get entertainment out of watching the chaos, the other investor is the owner's neglectful, depressed father (and also the literal King of Hell), the manager is bossy and threatens people with weapons at the slightest provocation, and the cleaning lady is a neatfreak with a thing for "bad boys". Then there's Husk wanting nothing to do with their escapades. He's also a lot more hostile towards Alastor and Angel after they touch him multiple times.

It should be noted that Alastor lets Husk get away with flipping him off. But the moment Husk brings up the fact that Alastor's own soul belongs to someone else within earshot of the Radio Demon, Alastor can barely restrain himself to threatening to tear Husk's soul apart and broadcast his screams for all to hear if he ever says that again. By the end of the encounter, Husk is a shivering, terrified wreck and Alastor couldn't care less.

As the bartender, Husk knows how to listen to people and knows exactly what kind of problems that all the residents of the hotel are going through, and while he would rather let them solve their own problems, he isn't exactly above giving them some pretty solid, if very brutally honest. While it was unnecessarily rude to bring up the Hotel residents' flaws, Husk was accurate about every one of them as Charlie's desperate to help others but doesn't confront her own issues, Vaggie judges others because she hates herself, Sir Pentious is a lonely Sinner who watches people in their sleep, and Angel puts on an act that he's happy about his porn star job but is really miserable.

Husk was always cynical and crass, but he's also an old Sinner with a tender heart. With Angel however, he tends to be a lot more irritable. While it initially looks to be because of Angel constantly flirting with him, it's because he hates how hard Angel acts out to hide how miserable he actually is, considering him a "phony" in a self-destructive spiral. He eventually realizes he and Angel are the same, despite their differences. They're both self-destructive addicts since Husk is a gambling addict, while Angel is addicted to sex and drugs who sold their souls to an abusive Overlord. And both of them have descended even further into their addiction and adopted outwardly cynical, cruel personas as a coping mechanism.

Husk getting through to Angel Dust in the manner he does makes a considerable amount of sense when it's taken into account that the first step to overcoming drug addiction is usually getting the addict to acknowledge they even have a problem. Angel hasn't been able to get better despite having some genuine interest because he's been utterly refusing to admit he has a problem to fix, the moment he does his mood drastically improves as does his motivation.

In "Welcome To Heaven", Husk saw Cherri as a bad influence on Angel's path of redemption and advised her not to get high during their night out. He even defends Angel from Cherri's criticism about how the hotel was changing him. Of course Husk wants what's best for Angel, but unlike Cherri who thinks that feeding into Angel's addictive tendencies are the best way to treat his depression and that living up to the hotel's standards is only making his life more difficult, Husk encourages Angel to stick with the self-improvement he's learned from the hotel and not fall back into his old ways since Angel's trying to get into Heaven.

When Vaggie leaves to find out how angels can be killed, she tells Angel, Sir Pentious, Husk and Niffty that she knows they didn't sign up to be the first targets of the angels, so she wouldn't blame them if they left. Of course, when she and Charlie return, they find that all of them have stayed and fortified the hotel.

Husk even admitted that he doesn't want to look for new drinking buddies and being nice to both Angel and Pentious is a demonstration of the massive character development he's undergone over the course of the show. In the beginning, he was grouchy towards everyone and hated even being in the hotel, but now he's willing to risk his life to defend it and the other residents.

[where-dreams-dwell]

Loving the complexity of Madeline Ushers character: a woman who declares she doesn’t want to be limited by men, who’s life is defined at every turn by the decisions and actions of her brother.

……

Madeline Usher is doomed by her attachment to her brother, and it is the root of all her eventual pain.

When Verna offers them the deal, it’s Roderick who ‘charges forward, straight at it’ and accepts the terms despite the fact that the only ‘next generation’ they current have are his kids. Madeline agrees afterwards but only once Rodrick makes it know he is already in. I don’t think she’d have gone for it if he had objected, she’s always had a very ‘both of us or neither’ kind of attitude.

And then she is as much these kids parent (from what we have seen) as Roderick is. Granted we see next to nothing of the kids biological mothers so we have to assume they weren’t very involved (either by their choice or other circumstance) with their kids after Rodrick got his claws into them.

That first scene when we meet Perry Madeline and Roderick are equally dismissive of him, but she is the one asking questions and prompts: you’ve had a year to come up with an idea, is this it or is there more? How are you going to make this successful? Why will your pitch be different? She even asks Roderick to jump in ‘anytime now’ to help her handle this train wreck. And Rodrick has just received the news he’s dying but I think it’s telling that Perry is looking at both of them for validation, for support. They are equally intimidating but equally supporting him.

With Camille we don’t get 1-2-1 interactions between her and her father (despite her own obsession with winning his approval) but we do get a scene with Madeline. After Perry’s death Camille lobbies to be given the power to lead the family’s PR response, and Madeline takes her seriously and asks what she would do. When Camille lays out her plan it’s Madeline who gives a proud nod of approval and okays her actions.

Leo unfortunately gets no parental interactions from either senior Usher. Victorine only gets it right at the end just before her monstrous actions are revealed. Otherwise all she gets from Roderick is pressure and the interactions of an investor, not a father.

Tammy gets the most parental interaction from Madeline, which is tragic as she’s trying to show her father that she can be the heir to his empire. But her aunt is the one who shows up to her presentation, who gives her the pep talk, consoles Tammy (in her own way) about the failure of her marriage, who believes Tammy when she is terrified by someone in the crowd.

Frederik is always focused on his father so Madeline doesn’t get many moments with him, but again Roderick is more of a CEO or boss than a father: focused on how to protect the company, how to secure the future. Little to no concern or support to his son as he mourns his wife’s injuries, as he deals with his siblings deaths, as he takes on more pressure from the world and the family. Roderick only mourns his son (as opposed to his heir) after Fredrick is dead.

Added to this: the security on all the kids? Madeline arranges it. When more kids die? We see Madeline demand it be doubled. She’s the only one still fighting for them, fighting fate itself.

With Lenore we see more interactions with her and Roderick but her interactions with Madeline are just as sweet and show a close, loving relationship. Lenore even calls her Granny Madeline. And Madeline is the one planning to preserve Lenore via AI: this must have been the main reason she begged Roderick to kill himself. Not to save her to but to spare Lenore. What’s the bet that she started working on the AI project in earnest when Morelle announced she was pregnant?

Madeline tracks down the supernatural entity they made a deal with and tries to negotiate a new deal: again (now we know the original terms) this is likely for Lenore’s benefit, not hers. She faces down a power far beyond herself and tries to save or protect what’s left of her family. Not Roderick.

Madeline took steps to preserve and protect her nieces and nephews, and grand niece while her brother did next to nothing. Once you know the nature of their deal with Verna, Roderick’s attitude to his remaining children after they remember who Verna is is just baffling.

Madeline even makes reference to birth control that she took on the off chance the deal was real. She says to Tammy that she didn’t want children with her first husband and hasn’t since, but she has been a mother to Rodericks kids. This lack of biological motherhood hasn’t spared her for the heartbreak of loosing a child. Or a grandchild.

And it’s even the decision of a man (again her brother) which is going to end her family’s legacy in another way. His marriage to Juno, his treatment of her, his denial of her fight to get clean and his horrible reference to himself as Victor Frankenstein and Juno as his monster - this is what pushes her to sign away the company when she inherits it. Madeline speaks about the board choosing her and moving the company away from pharmaceuticals, into the fields of AI and tech. Sure Madeline then died but a lot of the groundwork was likely there, and it could have been a possible path for the company. If Juno didn’t inherit it all and break it apart. Because of Roderick, and the way he treated her. Once again Madeleine’s legacy is destroyed by her brothers actions.

The irony of 1970’s Madeline declaring she doesn’t want to be limited by men’s choices or by a man, taking steps to protect her self and her heart, focussing her work on things outside of medical drugs in the hope that one day that can be what they become known for… then being doomed to more heartbreak and failure by every one of her brothers careless actions is so sadly tragic.

[sleepingdeath-light]

relationship hcs ; vox

requested by ; mezzanottespazzatura (13/02/24)

fandom(s) ; hazbin hotel

fandom masterlist(s) ; here

character(s) ; vox

outline ; “Would it be possible to get some relationship hcs for Vox? Smut is optional, I just need more content with this man and I can't wait for season 2 hhhhhhhhh-”

note ; this may be a smidge shaky as i’ve never written for him before but this was fun to write either way so i hope you all enjoy it ^^

warning(s) ; none, just fluff!

though his busy schedule keeps him from being as physically attentive as he might prefer to be with you, vox does his best to make it up to you as best he can — granted this usually just means him attempting to buy your favour and forgiveness through lavish gifts and dates, but its the thought that counts… right?

this habit of his means that, over the course of your relationship with vox, you manage to acquire quite the extensive collection of lavish gifts — including, but not limited to: a wardrobe of clothes from hell’s top designers and brands that’s so large that it takes up several rooms in your shared penthouse (including all of the shoes and accessories to match each outfit), all of the latest voxtech devices and services at arm’s reach no matter where you may go, whole rooms dedicated to your interests (no matter how niche) including items that you thought were impossible to get ahold of in hell, the best skin and hair care items that money can buy (and that are suited to your exact preferences and needs), a veritable army of robots dedicated to tending to your every whim and need (kitty also gets lent to you by val on occasion but vox prefers that you use the bots he had made specifically for you), and so on…

unless he’s in a very intense argument with one of the other vees or locked into a meeting with other overlords or potential investors that requires his full attention, vox always has an eye on you — watching you through your television, your phone, the security cameras in your home, and every single device you walk past throughout your day

he claims it’s for you your own safety — after all, he’s been very public about your relationship and there are plenty of sinners that would gladly kill or kidnap you just to mess with his head and try and take over his territory — but really it’s because he’s a deeply insecure man that is both terrified of losing you to someone better than him, and extremely quick to anger if he sees anyone getting too close, too friendly, with you for his liking

in other words: your boyfriend is jealous as hell and, try as he might to hide it behind his usual facade of complete control and perfection, it’s extremely obvious to you and everyone else who has known him for more than ten minutes

as mentioned before, vox makes no attempt to hide your relationship from the public and very loudly and proudly claims you as his partner wherever and whenever he can — this partially to maintain his public persona of the likeable and respectable business mogul (hence why a lot of your dates involve frequenting spots where reporters tend to hang out so that he can show off just how much of a doting gentleman he is) but it’s also his own way of marking his territory and letting any potential suitors of yours know that you’re already very happily taken and that they have no chance of taking you from him

when it comes to pet names, he tends to default to either just calling you your name (or a shortened version thereof) or something more traditional like ‘honey’, ‘darling’, or ‘sweetie’ if he’s feeling particularly sentimental — likewise he prefers to be called his name or something similarly traditional by you in public (but the moment the two of you are alone he does tend to soften up quite a bit and will respond to anything you want to call him, so long as it’s said with the intention of being affectionate)

after a long day of work, or attending to val’s tantrums whenever they occur and knock his schedule out of wack, vox loves nothing more than being able to come home and rant to you about it all — cussing out everyone who has ever wronged him, no matter how small the offence, whilst you nod along encouragingly and rub his shoulders and urge him to sit down for a moment before he paces a hole into the carpet is, oddly enough, kinda therapeutic for him and it becomes something of a routine for you two

he thrives on praise and affirmation and loves it when you wrap your arms around him, play with the hem of his jacket, and tell him how amazing he is at everything he does in life: the perfect boyfriend, the best entertainer in all of hell, one of the most powerful overlords in the pride ring (bonus points here if you shit talk alastor and emphasise how much better at everything vox is), a man worthy of being praised and feared, and the list goes on — he’ll reward you in kind once you’re finished, of course, but he’s more than happy to push back his next meeting by a half hour or so if it means getting to bask in your adoration and praise for a little while

he texts you periodically throughout the day — usually when there’s a lull in his work, when he’s bored during a meeting, or if someone has just done something so exceptionally stupid that he needs to tell someone and you’re the only one that will understand — and for as much as he goes on about being super busy all of the time, he always responds to your texts within a minute or so of them being sent

you’re the person whose input and opinions he trusts the most out of anyone else in the pride ring: you’re the person who he bounces his latest ideas off when he’s just at the planning stage and something isn’t quite clicking, you’re the one he rants to about his frustrations with alastor and the other vees because he knows that you’ll always listen to him and help him calm down before he causes another blackout, you’re the first person he shows a new upgrade or outfit to because he always wants to look and feel his best for you, etc., etc.

you’re one of the few people that gets to see vox both at his best as a talented and capable overlord, and at his very worst when he’s on the brink of tears and one wrong word away from plunging the entirety of pentagram city into a blackout — you’re there to stand proudly beside him as the loving and supportive spouse to his confident and inventive businessman, and you’re also there to console and reassure him as he frets about alastor’s return and what that means for the empire he’s built in his absence

he’s not the most physically affectionate person in the world, but he can appreciate the basics: having you curled up on his lap when he’s working at his desk (or resting his head on your lap when you’re at home and you’re listening to him talk about something or another), kissing you before he leaves for work (or having you peck his screen whenever you visit him at the office), and resting a clawed hand on the small of your back or on your waist as you’re walking around or just standing side by side

[fromtenthousandfeet]

When you look up the definition of greedy in the dictionary, there's a picture of this man

Aaack! That's terrifying.

Okay, I've been meaning to write this post for eons but it seems especially important now given all the crap that's going down at HYBE. We need to talk about BSH and his obscene wealth.

This April, Forbes published the list of South Korea's 50 richest people. Coming in at number 17 was the hitman himself, Bang Si-Hyuk, estimated to be worth 2.1 BILLION US DOLLARS. I believe that figure has likely gone down a bit thanks to HYBE's falling stock price, but that's still an absolutely crazy number.

Now let's talk about Scooter Braun. According to Wikipedia, he is estimated to be worth approximately $1 billion, however, most other outlets list him at being worth about $500 million. Either way, he's not buying generic cereal when he goes grocery shopping.

Bang PD paid approximately $1 billion dollars to Scooter when he acquired Ithaca Holdings in April, 2021. Scooter was given over $100 million in HYBE stock as well as an undisclosed cash payment.

Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande were each given $12 million worth of stock, while J Balvin received $4.8 million and Demi Lovato received $1.2 million. I would describe these "gifts" as glorified bribes to prevent each of them from bolting the minute the buyout was announced.

Now compare that to what the members of BTS received. For all their blood, sweat, and tears, starvation diets, no time off, worked to exhaustion, they each received 68,385 shares prior to the IPO, which were initially valued at $8 million per person. It's important to note Bang Si-Hyuk maintained their voting rights and votes on their behalf. So, they have shares, but no voting rights, i.e. no say in the direction of the company at the board of directors level.

It's worth noting that JB, AG, JB, and DL did absolutely nothing to earn those shares. They contributed nothing to the success of Big Hit and the eventual creation of HYBE Corporation. It's also worth noting that all four of them are no longer Scooter's clients.

HYBE America was the worst performing subsidiary under HYBE Corp in 2023, posting a loss of about $100 million (I'll dig up the financials for a future post). I think we all know where that went, but we can talk about that later. However poorly SB's business line performed, he will still continue to make profits off of his legacy clients thanks to sunset clauses in their original contracts. You can read about that here:

Scooter Braun sits on HYBE's Board of Directors. He is also 5th largest shareholder, with 0.8698% ownership. The members of BTS each have 0.1642% ownership (assuming they haven't sold their initial shares). I believe they will receive more ownership and voting rights when their new contract goes into effect, though. Meanwhile...

Bang Si-Hyuk is the Chairman of HYBE Corporation and the majority shareholder, with 31.57% ownership. He owns the place. When you add up all seven members' shares together, they still own less than 2% of the total shares of the company.

So please, for the love of GOD, understand that the members of BTS are not in charge. They are just employees. And frankly, they aren't well compensated when you compare them to other artists in the industry. Most sources say the members are each worth somewhere between $25 million to $40 million. Let's go with the low end of $25 million since that's the number I see most often. If Bang PD is worth $2.1 billion, that means each member is worth less than 1.2% of what Bang is worth.

ONE POINT TWO PERCENT!!!!

And you think Min Hee Jin is greedy???

Okay, back to the boys. Let's take a look at Simon Cowell's net worth. You know that guy? The one who formed One Direction and is a music and TV producer and personality? Do you want to guess how much he's worth? Well, its' not $2.1 billion. He's estimated to be worth a measly $600 million. And what about the former One Direction members themselves? (FYI all of these are estimates based upon online media sources).

Harry Styles - $120 million

Zayn Malik - $75 million

Niall Horan - $70 million

Louis Tomlinson - $70 million

Liam Payne - $70 million.

So, let's just pretend they each have $70 million. That means each member of One Direction is worth just under 12% of what Simon Cowell is worth.

One last thing. This is Bang PD's house in Bel Air, California. He bought it from Trevor Noah for $26 million. Mind you, that's potentially more than what the members of BTS are each worth. Just for one house in a country the man doesn't even live in.

Benevolent father figure my ass. But BTS are shareowners!!

Disclaimer: these numbers are all estimated based upon information available on the world wide web.

P.S. the 2024 Q1 earnings call is in a few hours. Prepare yourself for the media play.

[sepublic]

Back from Godzilla x Kong! Gotta say, I love how you have this dynamic of... Mothra is Lawful Good, Kong is Neutral Good, and Godzilla is Chaotic Good. Because sure, Godzilla is officially the arbiter of nature's balance, he's the one keeping things in check; But boy does he not care about what he needs to do to get it done. I like how the Monsterverse has made Godzilla into quite the anti-hero as well; It's a nice mix of both heroic and villainous depictions. He has no real love for humanity, even if he begrudgingly acknowledges its right and need to exist.

If Godzilla needs to get from Point A to B, it doesn't really matter to him too much if there's a fully-populated city he needs to stomp through, especially if he's on short time (Conversely, Mothra and Kong seem much more sensitive to that sort of thing, Mothra especially). It really does make Godzilla feel like a wild card that humanity just has to accept and deal with, and coexists with uneasily; You know, in theory, he has your back. But you're still rightfully terrified of Godzilla, and hell so are other titans. He's the scariest kaiju on the block for a reason, and I love how he's still a mean city-destroying menace while technically being a 'good' guy. Portraying Goji from Kong's perspective, where he's often an antagonist, was a good way to maintain that terror that was alleviated with King of the Monsters' depiction.

Also, I can't help but imagine how relieving it was for Jia to find more Iwi! Trapper makes a good point about how she ends up having a lot of weight on her shoulders with saving the world, but you know what? She ends up having so much other weight taken off knowing there are other Iwi alive and thriving. For years, Jia must've been saddled with the burden of keeping her entire culture alive, finding a way to somehow preserve it and keep it going; But now she can relax, she knows it'll live on with or without her, and that makes Jia's decision to stay with Andrews all the more natural because she's free from obligation.

You know, seeing Monarch successfully augment Kong with cybernetics... I'd love to see the Monsterverse tackle Gigan soon, because with how technology has become so much more advanced since the first film in 2014, it feels plausible that some would see the success of Kong with the gauntlet and think; Hey, let's bring back that project full-force! Maybe they find Gigan, originally flesh and blood, deeply injured and torn apart after fighting Godzilla. Initially he's on life-support with artificial organs, but at some point investors decide, let's just reprogram him into a cybernetic attack dog to defend humanity with!

Alas, Gigan breaks free of his programming; And he ends up going on a killing spree. Because while other antagonists like Ghidorah or Skar King are ambitious warlords, Gigan is a pettier sadist, a bully who likes to hurt and torture. He kills for sport, and that's literally all he's going to do once he gets his upgrades, doing it all for no other reason than fun.

Of course, another part of me would really like to see Gigan still associated with aliens, too; Monsterverse has clearly become modern Showa, we've basically got magic now! And I like that, the weirder and more fantastical, the better. There's an underground civilization that uses ancient technology bordering on magic, the Iwi of the Hollow Earth are like the Monsterverse's Seatopians. So it seems a natural evolution to introduce a more one-to-one counterpart to Seatopia in another film, another group of Hollow Earth humans who want to destroy those on the surface, and worship Megalon's power to tunnel through the earth itself. And if you have Megalon, you should have Gigan, and if you have Gigan, you may as well throw in aliens, not just in the sense that they're from space like Ghidorah, but I mean like. Actual UFOs and the like.

[hollow-grave-diggs]

Silverstreakshipping week!!

Day 3- AU

Bodyguard Kabu x CEO Larry who firmly believes he doesn't need a bodyguard

like 1000 words-ish. There's a short fight scene, mentions of a knife, and Kabu gets a bit scratched! Nothing life threatening or worse than a nick, but the warning is here.

Larry is a capable man.

He runs one of the largest companies in the world, he thinks he knows what he's doing. Day in and day out, his hard work pays off and profits skyrocket.

Recently, though, his company has been dipping it's toes into a new field. Pharmaceuticals. Medicine. Larry has teams of dedicated doctors and scientists figuring out how to produce quality medicine for cheaper.

Why would Larry charge so much for something that is a necessity to sick and dying people? Besides, lower prices means he'll beat out his competitors in sales. Win-win all around.

Well, for him and his company. His competitors, however? With their businesses failing and sales way down, they've only got one solution in mind... Taking out Larry and crumbling his empire.

The first assassination attempt startles him, for sure, but after that, he shakes it off. He's doing well, and the bullet didn't even land! Surely he can just move on with his life.

The second attack fails as well. I mean, he saw them put that strange powder into his drink, why would he drink any of it?

Business as usual.

His investors and partners to his company all say otherwise, and they've hired him an honest to Arceus bodyguard.

Larry tries to tell them all they're being ridiculous, but his complaints fall on deaf ears. He and Kabu, his new bodyguard, apparently, are set to meet the next morning.

Larry grumbles the entire way, but what his investors want, his investors will get. Never mind that he's the CEO. He's should just tell them all to leave him alone. He's doing just fine!

...

He goes to the breakfast.

Kabu is... fine. He's around Larry's age, which surprised him. They are both certainly older, but Kabu assures him he's plenty capable of protecting Larry.

Not that Larry cares. He still thinks this is blowing things all out of proportions. But Kabu is fine.

He's not cold and distant like Larry expected a bodyguard to be. Quite the opposite, honestly. He was loud, and passionate.

He talks with Larry, and not just boring typical small-talk, real conversations, and he gets so fired up about the things he cares about.

Larry actually felt like a person around the man. Not just a figurehead for a company, or a wallet to investors, but a human. He was just a normal guy to Kabu.

It was different. Refreshing. Larry found that, even if he thought it pointless, he didn't mind having Kabu around.

It was mid-day when it happened.

He was walking out of a restaurant, a new lunch place he was trying, when Kabu stilled. He stopped talking entirely, which drew Larry's attention, and was scanning the street. His eyes were keen and sharp while he searched.

Larry found himself unconsciously tensing along with Kabu, his own eyes locked onto Kabu's face. Suddenly, Kabu jolts into action.

Clearly seeing something Larry could not, Kabu abruptly threw Larry behind himself, back into the restaurant. Larry gave a startled sort of shout, but Kabu was darting away from him, leaving him in the entrance of the restaurant.

He yells a command to one of the workers, and the front door of the restaurant is locked, Larry safely behind the door. Even still, Larry can't stop the terrified jump to his heart when he watches three men swarm Kabu.

The glinting metal of what has to be a knife makes Larry feel ill.

He staggers to his feet, just knowing that those men are after him. But there's nothing he can do. If he opens the door, he risks the lives of the patrons of this restaurant, and he certainty can't fight.

His only option is to watch Kabu, the man he has grown so close to, close enough to share precious lunch breaks with, fight to protect him. It is a sick, twisting feeling.

But, as he watches on, heart hammering and breath shaky, Kabu doesn't falter. Not once.

He dodges kicks and punches, whirling around to meet each attacker and block hits. Larry's mute horror slowly transforms into a sort of awe as Kabu lands hits of his own, knocking out one of the men.

While his back is turned, one of the other men gets a lucky hit in, and Kabu's face twists up in pain. Larry sees a brief glimpse of red and silver in the movement, and fights the urge to cover his eyes. The idea of seeing Kabu get hurt and having Larry be the cause is hard to bear.

It seems that that attack only made Kabu fight harder, and fired him up even more.

Larry knew, in his mind, that Kabu was strong and trained, but seeing it in person was a whole different thing. He moved with the grace of a dancer, and it was like he couldn't miss.

His next hits land harder, and Kabu certainly isn't holding back.

The second guy goes down in a heap with a well-placed kick from Kabu. The third man pauses seeing his pal go down, and Kabu uses that opportunity to take him down too.

It seemed too easy almost, like it was second nature to Kabu. Seamless. He hardly seemed to struggle! He scanned the street once more and, upon clearing it of whatever dangers it held before, turns to the restaurant with a smile.

The employees let him in quickly, police already being dialed, but Kabu doesn't stop for any of the worried employees or exclaiming patrons. He doesn't stop when a worried woman offers him bandages for his bleeding shoulder, where one of the attackers knives cut through his shirt and nicked his skin. No.

He makes a beeline straight for Larry, still grinning happily. Like the fight didn't faze him in the slightest.

His eyes sparkle mischievously, and Larry feels his heart stutter for an entirely different reason this time. "How'd i do, boss?" He says, cheekily.

Larry's jaw is open a little, and he clears his throat, looking away awkwardly. His cheeks burn, and he rubs at the back of his neck.

"Remind me to up your pay." Is all he can rumble out.

Kabu's boisterous laugh brings a smile of Larry's own onto his face.

Yeah, maybe he can see the appeal in having a bodyguard after all.

[capypub]

Touch - Mafia!Joel Miller Extended Scene

Part of the Without Warning Series (Mafia!Joel Miller x OFC)

Rating: M (smut. smut. smut. swearing. smut.)

Summary: Joel's late for dinner again...he comes home to face his punishment...

MDNI. 18+ content.

AN: Can be considered a continuation of Don't Be Late

Without Warning Masterlist

The job had run longer than anticipated, delays in the project keeping Joel occupied at the office where he conducted actual contracting jobs. He’d been putting more time into his business front with tax season slowly approaching, he had to make sure things were still in order to avoid any government suspicions. Plus, with his alliances forming nicely after taking down David and his band of idiots, he’d experienced a significant drop in supply loss, allowing him more mental space to deal with his legit company. 

The time had gotten away from him as he closed a deal on a new project downtown, the estimated profit keeping his spirits high. He’d been riding the high of success all day that he didn’t pay any mind to his phone, one important notification getting lost amongst the others until he finally got a moment to himself, his investors having left not too long.

It popped up after he’d sorted through his emails for the day, a delayed reminder of what he’d already seemed to have missed. Dinner at 7pm. 

Shit. 

Shit. Shit. Shit. 

He bolted from his chair, the rolling seat nearly toppling over from the force as he swiped his keys off the table and ran out the door to his truck. His heart was beating at an unsafe rate as he turned a street car with an obnoxious screech of his tires.

Fuck. He fucked up. He really fucked up.

It was nearing 9pm when he got home, a bundle of roses and a stuffed bear from the gas station in his arms as he walked in through the garage. The house was eerily quiet, most of the downstairs lights off already. Fucking shit. 

He didn’t dare call out to her, knowing how utterly screwed he was this time. 

Moving up the stairs with only the flashlight on his phone as a light source, he crept up each step like the next person about to die in a horror movie, blood rushing through his ears as he grew more and more anxious. There was a warm light peeking through the crack at the bottom of their bedroom door. She was awake. Of course, she was still awake. 

The door creaked open. He stood there, biting his lip nervously, taking in what would have been a comforting scene any other day. Any other day where he hadn’t fucked up and forgotten about dinner with his girl. She didn’t look up from the book in her lap, hair pinned up loosely as she read by the light of her bedside lamp. 

Joel swallowed the thick lump in his throat, praying to whatever higher being out there that she didn’t unleash hell on him and if she did, she took mercy on his poor old soul. Although small, she had a fire that he often enjoyed poking and teasing at, unless that fire burst into pure wrath, because then he was absolutely terrified to be on the receiving end of it. 

“...Hey...baby girl…” he spoke softly, taking a hesitant step into the bedroom, adjusting his grip on his offering that he hoped would lessen the inevitable blow. 

“Long day?” she asked, slowly turning the page of her book, voice unnervingly calm.

“Uh,” he swallowed his nerves, taking another hesitant step towards her. “Y-yeah, got the deal…breakin’ ground next week,” he said with an uneasy chuckle. “B-brought you somethin’,” he added quickly, laying the flowers and stuffed bear down at the end of the bed.

She was too still, too quiet. He didn’t like it one bit. How could this tiny woman strike so much fear into him?

“Tired?” she asked, not even glancing at his gifts.

“Uh…yeah, a little…” he shrugged, shifting  his weight from foot to foot, his breathing coming out in uneven shudders. He closed his eyes, mentally preparing to just bite the bullet. “Are…are you mad at me?”

She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. “No.”

“Really?” he questioned softly, hesitant to get any closer.

“Not mad,” she muttered, opening her eyes with a slight shake of her head. “Disappointed.”

He sighed in defeat. Honestly, he’d take her being pissed off and furious over let down, disappointed, whatever it was she was displaying to him now. Pressing his lips together in a thin line, he moved to sit on the edge of the bed, reaching out to grasp her ankle that was tucked under the sheets. She inched it back towards her body, causing a pang to shoot through his chest. He hated when she withdrew from him like this.

“Look, baby, I’m sorry. Time got away from me, can I make it up to you? We can go out to that breakfast place you love so much, I’m yours for the entire day, darlin’,I swear” he tried to bargain, desperate to be back in her good graces. 

She scowled at him, folding the covers back and setting her book on the nightstand. “Sit down, Joel,” she said flatly, nodding towards the armchair in the corner of the room, the one he’d often sit and fiddle with his guitar in when he had some downtime. 

Nodding, he got up, easing back into the chair as she followed behind him without another word. Her silence was maddening as she brought her hand to his jaw, her soft fingers caressing his trimmed stubble. It was strange, the contrast between the irritation in her eyes and the soft touches she gave him. It was…unnerving. 

“Gun,” she demanded quietly, opening her hand to him.

He tensed, but gave up his pistol without a second thought. She held it in her smaller hands for a moment before setting it on the dresser. He sat stiffly as she came around the back of the chair, her hands on his shoulders, starting to massage his tense muscles with a soft sigh from her lips.

“B-baby, can we just…talk ab-.”

“Hush, Joel,” she cut him off, gripping his shoulders a little firmer to emphasize her cold words.

He shut his mouth immediately with a soft click of his teeth, his body buzzing from her touch, his mind still apprehensive by her too calm demeanor. He couldn’t even enjoy how her fingers attempted to work the tension out of his shoulder blades, too nervous about the leashed anger she could have brewing inside her. 

“I had something special planned for tonight, just for you,” she admitted softly, her lips grazing the shell of his ear, making him jump at the sudden warm breath on him. She chuckled darkly at his reaction.

“I’m so sorry, really, b-.”

“Shut up, Joel,” she huffed, bringing a hand to the back of his head, fisting his salt and pepper curls tightly in her hand and pulling back so that he was forced to look up at her once she stood straight again. 

He couldn’t help but groan at the sharp pain and the way she commanded him so effortlessly fueled by her own frustration. 

His mind fogged briefly as he recalled the previous times she’s pulled his hair like this, usually when she was under him and desperate for his touch, not like this though, not with a blazing fire in her dark eyes and a slight scowl on her pretty, pouty lips.

“Getting turned on already, baby?” she smirked, noticing how he shifted uncomfortably in the chair, the outline of his cock prominent against the dark denim of his jeans as his legs spread in a futile attempt to relieve some of his discomfort. “Too bad,” she scoffed, releasing his hair, his throat eliciting another deep groan, this time of frustration, escaping his lips as he reached around to try and chase her form.

“Stop,” she commanded, grabbing his wrist just as he was about to grab onto her waist. “Stay.”

She backed up from him, his hand falling into his lap as he watched her closely. She stood just in front of the bed, her fingers gripping the ends of his t-shirt that she wore, the one she often wore to sleep. Joel’s hungry gaze followed each movement closely, his mouth going dry as she pulled the shirt over her head, revealing a black lace set, lines of flimsy lace crossing over her chest and down her sternum, leaving her nipples exposed and lifted under the soft material. Fuck. 

She kept her eyes on him as she slid back onto the bed, slipping those tiny sleep shorts off to reveal the rest of her hidden set to him. He swore under his breath, bringing his fist to his mouth as he bit his knuckle roughly, his knee bouncing erratically as he tried to keep from jumping on her. Gods, she was absolutely stunning as she peered over her body at him, laying out on the giant bed, his own personal pinup model. 

The dainty material had no real structure, the criss-crossing strips of black lace connected along her waist to the garter belt fit snugly on her hips. Hungry eyes trailed down her form until he was looking directly at her soaked pussy, exposed to the air, the only hints of underwear being more lace strips lining her hips. 

Joe’s dark gaze continued down to the sheer stockings covering her feet up to her thighs, held up by the clips of the garter belt. Her hand came down to trail a teasing line down her stomach, head laid back on the bed as she spread her legs for him, dainty fingers rubbing her clit in slow circles.

“B-baby,” he pleaded, shifting his seat again, bringing his free hand to rub over his aching cock through his jeans.

“Don’t you fucking dare, Joel,” she snapped, lifting her head, catching him trying to undo his belt buckle. “You’re not allowed to touch…yourself or me,” she said, sitting up on one elbow, glaring at him as she rubbed at her clit, dipping her ring finger into her dipping heat with a soft sigh, closing her eyes. 

This was his punishment. He’d take her yelling at him over this torture any day. 

“P-please, baby…” he begged, unsure of what he was begging for exactly, just needing her to do something besides play with herself as if he wasn’t even there, willing and ready. 

He grunted, trying to readjust his throbbing cock as he sat back, taking deep breaths in a weak attempt to get a hold of himself. 

“Touch yourself again and I’ll tie your hands to the chair,” she warned, hearing the slight shift of his belt buckle over his heavy breathing.

Fuck, that was hot. The threat. The way she held control over him. The way she tortured him. It was the most pleasurable kind of punishment. 

“C-can I at least-.”

“No, stay there and watch,” she cut him off sharply, dipping two fingers into her dripping heat, crooking them slightly with a self-satisfied sigh as she closed her eyes.

He sat, squirming and panting like a dog, for who knows how long while she worked herself up agonizingly slowly, teasing herself open, her body on full display to him. He didn’t try to plead with her again, just took his punishment as best he could, clothes too constricted, body too warm, cock too hard, overall just too on edge, by the time she lifted her head again.

“Look at you,” she cooed, bringing her fingers to her lips, licking her own juices off, causing him to groan and swear under his breath. “You look absolutely wrecked, baby.”

He grunted, itching to get out of the chair, but holding himself back as he fisted the ends of the arm rests with white knuckles. “D-darlin’…” he pleaded, his voice almost like a low whine as he watched her lick the length of her index finger clean, transfixed on how her juices glistened in the low light.

“It sucks, doesn’t it…” she said softly, bringing her wet fingers down to circle her nipples, his eyes following every moment, watching the soft bud perking from her touch. “...to be waiting and waiting…and not get what you want?” she cooed with a wicked smirk, moving to her other nipple, working it to a stiff peak as she tilted her head back with an erotic sigh, presenting the curve of her neck to him.

“P-please, sweetheart,” he groaned, unable to keep still at this point, knees bouncing frantically, hands moving up and down his thighs as he tried to find some relief.

“Answer me,” she demanded with a slight glare, her own eyes a little hazy, pupils dilated but he could sense the irritation still present behind them. 

“Yes, y-yes, it sucks, I’m sorry, baby,” he groaned desperately, loudly, his hips jerking into the air fruitlessly as he attempted to chase the pleasure that wouldn’t come, body coated in a light layer of sweet from how painfully turned on he was by her little show. 

She chuckled, a dark sound that had his pulse skyrocketing. “You’re going to watch me come, handsome,” she stated leaving no room for argument, leaning back, spreading her legs wider as she now used both hands on herself, two fingers thrusting lewdly into her soaking heat, the other hand working her clit in quick, tight circles. He couldn’t take the sounds of her wet, squelching pussy sucking in her fingers, a desperate moan for her covering the sounds momentarily.

“L-let me do it, p-please, baby, let me make you feel good, I’m sorry,” he now openly whined from his spot, grinding up into the air in time with her fingers, feeling like he might come in his pants just from watching her.

“No. This is your punishment, Joel. Take it and maybe I’ll think about letting you come,” she panted, lost in her own touch, her own hips jerking against her hand as she moaned.

“Please…please…” he begged, mouth running on its own accord at this point, urging her to come, leaning forward as he desperately wished to feel her.

“Gonna come for you, baby,” she sighed blissfully, her hands working up speed until she was shaking, her legs closing around her own hand as she rode the waves of her own high. 

She took a moment to catch her breath, slowly opening her legs and bringing two fingers back to her mouth, sucking on her fingertips as she sat up to assess Joel. He was trembling in his seat, lips parted slightly as he watched her come down, his cock straining painfully against his jeans as he took labored breaths, sweat beading down the sides of his face. He was a mess, an absolute mess of a man who looked ready to break at any moment. 

Sliding off the bed, she approached him, bringing her fingers out of her mouth and offering them to him. He leaned forward, immediately wrapping his dry lips around her fingertips, a deep groan rumbling in his chest as he tasted her. 

Pushing his shoulder, she eased him to sit back in the chair, pulling her fingers from his lips slowly. Running a hand through the sweaty curls on his forehead, she smiled at him, a true smile filled with affection, her original coldness no longer present as she caressed his face. “Did so well, handsome,” she praised softly, her voice barely above a whisper as he choked on a desperate noise, her touch electrifying against his very sensitive nerves. “Did exactly as you were told…”

“P-please…” he groaned, eyes unfocused as he looked up at her, trembling and aching in his pants, his voice cracking at the end as if he might actually cry. 

“What do you want, baby? You want me to touch you? You want to touch me?” she asked softly, standing between his spread legs, resting both hands on his shoulders. “You can touch now, Joel, you earned it.”

“Y-yeah,” he nodded, hands immediately grabbing a hold of her waist, yanking her forcefully onto his lap as he attached his lips to her perked nipple, groaning in satisfaction as he rutted up into her like an animal. 

She sighed softly, holding onto him as he grinded his clothed cock against her wet heat, the fabric growing damp from the excess of her orgasm dripping down her thighs. Joel’s nails dug into her hips as he grinded into her, his mouth and teeth leaving sharp bites and marks across her breasts as he grunted and growled like a savage beast. 

“Fuck, Joel, yes,” she sighed, leaning her head back, remaining pliant as he finally pulled himself out of his pants, hissing at the open air on his overly sensitive tip. 

He  used one hand to lift her hips, holding the base of his length with his other hand until he could aim and thrust up into her fully, both of them moaning at the intrusion. She squeezed his length so perfectly, warm, wet heat, coating his neglected cock. His mind was absolutely gone at this point, his body moving only on primal urges as he fucked her in quick, hard thrusts, growling and grunting viciously. 

It didn’t take long for his own release to wash over them. She whined as he rutted into her, a sharp snarl escaping his throat as he pumped her full of his come, holding her down on his cock until there was nothing left to give. 

Joel went still after his release, eyes closed, chest rising and falling erratically as he tried to catch his breath, mind still too foggy to resist as she eased herself off his lap, disappearing into the bathroom momentarily. In his fucked out haze, he could hear the faint sound of the toilet flushing before she reappeared, fully dressed in her loungewear again. 

He watched with tired eyes as she went over to her bedside table, the foil of a Plan B pill crinkling in the quietness of the room briefly before she popped it in her mouth, followed by a long drink of water. 

“You okay, handsome?” she asked softly, returning to his lap, offering him the half-full bottle of water. 

“I’m good,” he nodded, his senses returning to normal after a quick, refreshing sip. 

“Need anything?” she followed-up, her fingernails scratching lightly at his scalp just how he liked after a long day. 

He shook his head, sweaty arms wrapping around her, keeping her held tightly against his chest. “Just you…”

“You did so well, Joel, took your punishment so perfectly,” she purred against his jaw, leaving a trail of wet kisses across his heated skin.

He hummed as his large rough hands held her tightly against his body. “...I’m sorry, baby,” he murmured after a moment, eyes closed as he rested his head on her shoulder.

“It’s fine, Joel…there will be other dinners…besides…you’ve made up for it more than enough,” she praised him, kissing all over his face sweetly. 

“I like when you give orders,” he muttered against her lips, words slurred from fatigue, kissing her slowly.

Now she is the one who hummed in acknowledgement. “Just don’t make being late a habit…might not let you come at all next time,” she teased with a soft laugh, earning a low chuckle from him before she pulled him into bed, leaving a trail of his clothes between the chair and bed to be dealt with the next morning.

[sibillascribbles08]

Wanted to do some sappy nonsense so here's some jasonnie but like, when they become parents.

“That’s everything. That’s everything, right?” Jason paced back and forth on his side of the head office. “Howard, did I miss anything?”

“Umm.” One of the yōkai’s long ears twitched as he looked at the tablet in his smaller pair of hands. “No meetings with interested investors or new partners. Holly Blue handles all financial meetings. The engineer managers are in charge of any new tech presentations. Only Holly Blue can contact either you or Donatello with an emergency for the next few weeks. Is that all of it?” 

“I don’t know, maybe?” He sighed and finally collapsed in his desk chair. “We’ve never had Donnie and I both out for this long before.”

“Oh, I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Howard clicked the two massive teeth of his lower jaw together. “Almost all of us have been working here for a while now, sir. We know how to keep the place from catching fire, so to speak.” 

“I know.” Jason's hands moved under his glasses to press against his eyes. “I’m just so stressed on top of all this. I mean what if…” He didn’t want to say it, didn’t want to speak it into being.

That after months and months of trying to successfully bring a kid into the world, this attempt that was only days away from success could still result in failure. 

Jason tried to keep that thought as far away as possible. Because he knew as devastated as he would be if that happened, Donnie would be even more so. He already fell apart more than once just trying to get an egg to last more than a day. The amount of failures stacked up to a staggering amount, to the point Jason didn’t even have the stomach to scroll through the data.

But Donnie did. He pushed through it because he didn’t want to give up. And with this so close, if it fell apart… 

Jason thought about the night where all he could do was cradle the turtle’s head against his chest as he sobbed until he passed out. Jase didn’t want to imagine it being worse than that. 

He was so excited but so terrified and both feelings combined together made it feel like his heart wanted to rattle its way right out of his chest. 

“Apologies,” Howard’s voice distracted him. “Do you need a moment? I can come back later to further discuss—” 

Jason’s phone buzzed on the desk once, then again. Not consistent enough to be a call, it must be a text. It did it twice more as he picked it up. 

He looked at the notifications to see the texts from his husband, going from the first to the latest.

>JASE >EGG >HAT CH >HATCHING >LAB 

Jason’s eyes went wide and his heart stopped. He kept staring at the text on the screen, knowing what it said, but his brain wouldn’t connect with the rest of his body. 

“Sir?” Once again Howard broke him out of that trance.

He shot up in an instant, almost knocking his swivel chair over in the process. “Lab!” He shouted and sprinted for the door. “Egg! Hatch!” 

“What?” Howard’s ears went straight up. “She’s hatching?”

Shit, right, they were in the middle of a meeting. Jason turned back around. “Look, after this we can talk again and go over—”

“Don’t be worrying about that!” Howard shrieked and pointed to the doorway. “Get down to the lab!” 

“Right, right,” Jason took off for the elevator. He sometimes questioned his husband's desire to install ones that moved so fast, but in this instance he was so grateful for it. Even if the ten seconds to get from the upper floors to the basement still felt impossibly long. 

He ran out of the elevator the second the doors opened wide enough and went for the main lab door. He practically tripped over his own feet trying to get inside, but didn’t stop. Donnie stood next to the incubation table, and their gaze met in an instant. 

“Did I miss it?” Jason gasped for air and headed over.

Donnie ran up to meet him, grabbing his arm. “No, no, come here. Look!” 

Jason let his husband practically drag him across the floor, truthfully it was faster. They both skidded to a halt in front of the table and Jason didn’t hesitate to press his face against the glass container. 

The egg in question was more oblong than round, evidently it yielded better results over time, but it still was never as big as Jason expected. He always imagined their kid coming into the world the size of a newborn human, but maybe their bundle of genetics didn’t want to turn out that way. 

The egg moved, only shifting slightly within the thermal blankets surrounding it. The heat lamp above it made the shell almost glow, but the cracks along the edge were still visible. 

“Our daughter’s in there.” Jason mumbled. 

Donnie wrapped his arms around him and rested his chin on Jase’s head. “Yeah.” 

He knew that. He’d seen it before, the many times Donnie would run a scan to check on things. Once his husband even joked about them being akin to ultrasound pictures. But this time…

“She’s actually moving.” 

Donnie tightened his grip. “Yeah.” 

Jason wished he could just press himself through the glass. “Donnie, this wait is going to kill me.”

His husband laughed, the motion vibrating through both of them. “I know, Jase.”

“I want to reach in there and get rid of the rest of the eggshell.”

“Well we can’t, it wouldn’t be good for her.” 

After all that staring, the shell only lifted slightly further than it had earlier. 

Jason dug his nails into the glass. “Going to go insane.”

“How do you think I feel?” Donnie lifted him up and pulled him back. “Come on, we can take a minute to set up a chair. We might be here for a bit.” 

Jason let Donnie be the one to grab one of the comfy lounge chairs from the break area while he grabbed a couple of pillows and some waters. They put the chair as close to the table as it could get, and Jase let his husband sit down before curling up on his lap. 

They both stared, no longer able to see the fine details but close enough to watch her move. Jase grabbed the waters so they could stay hydrated but, truthfully, neither of them looked away long enough to do so. 

Still, the silence quickly became unbearable. “Do you still want to name her Holly?” 

Donnie held one of his hands, gently playing with his fingers. “Yeah, if that’s alright with you.”

“Sure, did you ask Holly Blue?”

“Ah, I might have wanted to keep it a surprise. I hope she doesn’t mind.”

“I doubt she would.” Jason dared to look away from the egg for a moment to study his husband’s face. 

Donnie’s eyes were still glued on the glass, jaw tense. Jason reached up with his free hand to run his fingers along it. His husband glanced at him but only for a second. Then the tension left his face. 

“It’s not setting in, is it? That we’re going to be dads” Jason asked.

Donnie chuckled, though he almost looked frightened. “Well, that’s only one thing I mean, you know, getting out of there could take way too much energy. What if she—”

Jason sat up so he could hold his husband’s face with both hands. “Hey. She’s made it this far. She’s going to be fine, okay?” 

“But we don’t know that.”

He tightened his grip. “Donnie, we are not going to doom spiral this. I can’t believe I have to be the one to say that in this situation. Doom spiraling is my job. Anyway, you can’t just sit there and picture the worst case scenario. We just have to let it play out.”

Donnie glanced away. “And what if it does go wrong?”

“Then we’ll handle it together.” Jason tugged himself even closer to kiss his husband on the corner of his mouth. 

Donnie wrapped his arms around him and buried his nose against Jason’s neck, taking a deep breath. “Right as always, Love.” 

“Yeah, well—”

A crack loud enough to interrupt the conversation came from the container. The conversation was immediately forgotten. Donnie stood up in an instant, still holding onto Jase, and brought them both closer to the container. 

Part of the shell was actually lifting! Then dropping, then lifting up again farther and farther each time. 

Then it suddenly fell when a tiny hand shoved itself out, at first clenched into a fist before flexing the fingers. 

Jason couldn’t help but laugh at the image of it. “Man, she really wants out of there.”

“Wouldn’t you?” Donnie chuckled as well. “But Jase, Jase! She has four fingers!”

Did she? Jason leaned in more to get a better look because the hand was so small—she was so small—and finally counted all the digits. 

He didn’t even get the time to marvel over it. Another massive crack split across the shell, and then suddenly she came tumbling out onto the plush towel that sat at the bottom of the container. 

Jason gasped. There she was. His daughter, their daughter, barely pushing herself up and trying to wipe the remaining gunk off her face. A softshell like her dad, no surprise there, but her plastron didn’t cover her stomach. 

Jason practically flung himself out of Donnie’s grip. “Donnie can we—” He stopped speaking when he realized how much his voice was shaking, but tried again anyway. “Can we—”

“I know, I know.” Donnie laughed, in a way that indicated he had too many emotions in his chest for him to deal with. But with his hands free he could type on the monitor and unlock the container. 

The glass lifted and the second it got high enough Jason reached toward her. But then he froze, hands hovering right next to her. “Can I… I mean, would it hurt her?”

“No, no, just be gentle, obviously.” 

Jason still didn’t scoop her up in an instant. He brought his hands close enough to bump into her. Only then did she blink her tiny eyes open. She reached out and touched his palm, and after a couple of seconds she leaned against it. 

The adorableness of it all made him want to scream, but he didn’t want to frighten her. He just let out a high pitched squeak before finally tilting his hand to let her lay flat on his hand and pulling her toward his chest.

She was so small. Only with her in his hands was it fully sinking in. He could rest her in one palm if he wanted to but he used both hands to give her some more support. 

The emotions in his chest were too overwhelming. Tears blurred his vision and all he could do was try to blink them away because damn it, he couldn’t see. They were getting in the way. 

Donnie’s chin rested on his shoulder—he must be kneeling on the floor. “You okay?” 

Jason took a deep breath to steady his voice. “She’s so small, Donnie.” 

His husband laughed but his voice cracked as he did. “I know. I know. Can you imagine how small she’s going to look in my hands?”

“I don’t think I could handle that right now. I…” He just realized his legs felt weaker and weaker by the second. “I need to sit down.” 

Donnie’s arms wrapped around his middle and gently tugged him back so Jase sat on his lap. The turtle’s head still rested on his shoulder. 

Jason just stared. It was still barely sinking in. Holly sat in his hands and he still couldn’t wrap his head around it. He’s a father. His daughter is sitting in his hands, curling up to try and stay warm no doubt. He dared to bring her closer to his face and only then noticed the very tiny black strands on the top of her head. 

“She has hair.” Jason whispered. 

“Wh—” Donnie started shouting and then snapped his mouth shut. “What?” He whispered this time. 

Jason moved her closer to Donnie’s face and smiled when he heard his husband’s delighted squeak. 

“Hah, I knew she had more of your genes than you thought.” 

Jason leaned back, relaxing against his husband’s chest. He watched Holly roll over, watched her breathe, as long as she kept breathing that was a good sign.

“We should probably let everyone know she’s here,” Donnie said.

“Yeah,” Jason agreed. “But I don’t want to move right now. I don’t want to put her down.” 

Donnie held up a hand. “May I?” 

Jason very carefully and very delicately rested his hands over Donnie’s before letting Holly slide off his palms and onto his husband’s. 

The baby softshell stirred, blinking a few times and even pushing herself up to look around. 

God, she looked even smaller. She didn’t even fill up Donnie’s palm. Tears burned at his eyes again but this time he could wipe it away. 

The tiniest noise came out of her mouth, the faintest of squeaks. Jason had to grab his shirt and pull it up over his mouth to scream into it. He glanced at Donnie to see his husband practically doing the same thing. 

But then she did it again, and again, reaching out for something. 

Jason frowned. Was she hungry? He carefully picked her back up, and in a matter of seconds she curled up again, silent.

“Ah, you’re warm.” Donnie tilted his head as he smiled. “Or warmer, anyway. Now I’m just jealous.” 

Jason turned so he could lean his side against Donnie’s chest instead. “Just put your hand under mine then.” 

His husband did, and then Jason lowered them so they rested against his legs. 

For the next hour all they did was watch her sleep while Jason kept trying to wrap his head around the fact that he was a dad now.

—-------------------------

Jason’s hands had never felt so empty.

For the right reasons, of course. Holly eventually woke up, making those faint squeaks. Donnie said it’d be wise to make sure she drank something. Jason helped get her some water. Thankfully they wouldn’t have to do something like syringe feed her, but he did almost panic when she shoved her face into the water dish. Thankfully just an awkward first attempt, she got the hang of it pretty quick. 

After that, Donnie decided to inform his family with a video call. He suggested Jason let his father know too, but so far he hadn’t managed to pull his phone out. Part of this still didn’t feel real. Like he was just experiencing a blissful dream and soon enough he’d wake up.

But eventually he got sick of his empty hands, so he pulled out his phone. 

It did take a few rings for an answer, and his father sounded out of breath. “Jase? Is this super important?” The man laughed. “Me and um, the partners were just…” 

Jason blinked. “Are your pants off yet?” 

“Well I’m wearing a skirt so—”

“Right. Well, I don’t know. I’ll let you decide if it’s important that I inform you that you’re a grandfather now.” 

The silence that followed made him smile. He could easily picture the utter shock on his dad’s face.

“Huh?” The question came out so high pitched that the man had to clear his throat. “Come again?”

“I’d love to.” Manny shouted in the background. “But I have yet to do it the first time.”

Jason burst out laughing.

“Manny! Don’t interrupt!” His father yelled back. “Jase. Jase. Are you serious? She’s here?” 

He kept smiling, so wide that his cheeks hurt. “Yeah, she is. Her name is Holly.”

“Holly! Of course it is.” His voice got a bit more muffled, probably turning away from the speaker. “Guys, we’re grandparents!”

“What?” Angie’s voice shrieked. “Jae you ass, put him on speaker!” 

His father turned back to the phone. “Is she there right now? Can we see her?”

“Donnie’s showing her off to his family, but I can text you photos.” Jason rubbed his cheeks. “Am I actually on speaker?”

“Yes,” Manny answered. 

Now his cheeks tingled from embarrassment rather than numbness. “Right, well, uh, I wanted to also say that…” His hand moved from his face to the collar of his button up, tugging on the material. “I get it now.” 

“Get what?” His father asked.

Ugh, did he really have to say this in front of Manny and Angie? But it’d just be rude to shut them out at this point. “Do you remember that talk we had after I moved back in with you? And you told me that when I was born you um… you know, how you felt at the time?”

“Yes?” 

“Yeah, I get it now.” Jason tugged his knees closer. “I couldn’t wrap my head around how holding an infant in your hands could shift your perspective, but I get it now.” 

Angie let out an “aw,” before it got interrupted by someone. 

“You alright, kiddo?” His father wound up asking. 

“I mean, yeah.” He tilted his head back against the chair. “Like, I don’t feel bad or anything. Just very, very overwhelmed.” 

Jae-Won laughed. “Yeah, I felt that too. And do you want me to tell you a secret?”

“What?”

“That feeling you get every time you look at her? It’s never going to go away.”

“Huh?” Jason almost shouted into the phone. “How the heck do you deal with it then?”

His father kept laughing. “Let me finish. It’s not going to go away. What happens is that you just grow around it, and it becomes your new normal, and maybe sometimes you’ll be so used to it that you’ll forget it’s there, but other times you’ll be reminded.” He paused for a second. “I’m really proud of you, kiddo. Welcome to fatherhood.”

Jason sighed and pretended he wasn’t smiling again. “Thanks.”

“Now hurry up and send pictures!” 

“Yeah!” Angie shouted in agreement. 

“Okay, okay.” Jason put his own phone on speaker as he moved to his gallery. “You guys are not going to believe how small she is.” 

“What?” His father said. “You mean she’s not—Oh my god!” 

Jason kept laughing at their collective screams of shock followed by squeals of adoration, to the point tears burned in his eyes again. 

He hoped Donnie came back soon. He wanted to hold Holly again and tell her he loved her over and over until she understood what the words meant.

No matter how long that took.

[farity]

In the Red of Night, part 9

He hated himself.

He hated himself all the time, but mostly after he'd fucked Alys. Every single time the moment he came, as blissful as an orgasm could be, tore off another little piece of his soul.

Aemond wondered how long until there was nothing left.

This time he'd turned away from her, ignored her hands reaching around his torso, trying to move him back to her for a second round. She was always hot for him, always touching him, making sure he knew who owned him.

"Sir?"

Aemond blinked and as the memory faded, he saw that the flight attendant was looking at him expectantly.

"Would you like a drink?"

"No, thank you. Sorry."

"Not at all, sir."

He thought of her now. The woman who had captivated him with her kindness and her laughter.

He hadn't ever had a relationship since Alys. Various affairs, mostly with married women because they could not claim ownership of him, and it suited him to keep things superficial.

The look in his woman's eyes when he'd approached her, the night he'd turned her. It had been the biggest gift he could ever have hoped for.

There wasn't even the hint of fear in them. She was nervous, to be sure, who wouldn't be, but her trust and belief in him had been so complete that she'd extended her hands out to him.

He had asked her more than once if she wanted to wait, and when she asked him back, "for what?" he hadn't had a proper answer.

"I love you, Aemond," she'd said, "I am yours, and I want our life to start now."

And it meant dealing with Alys because he wouldn't spend the rest of his existence with Alys hovering over them, a dark cloud always ruining their sky.

And she wanted Alys to pay for ruining her dream, along with a dash of unfounded jealousy.

"Then we deal with her together."

He had held her while he drank from her that night, while she became dizzy from blood loss and while her heart began to fail and while she drifted closer to death, and she never, ever showed any fear, not even as her eyes closed.

Once he'd torn his wrist open and began feeding her, the stillness of her body terrifying him, worrying him that he'd waited too damn long, until her fingers began fluttering ever so slightly and he let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

He'd continuing dripping his blood into her mouth until she'd started coughing, and then he'd allowed his blood's healing process to take over. He'd turned her onto her side, wrapped himself around her, and let the turning commence.

* * * * *

Alys had not been able to find where the little barista whore had gone, and it unnerved her. Once she got the scent of a human, she would know it anywhere and there was no trace of her. That sickly sweet, cloyingly kind pumpkin spice bitch was nowhere to be found.

Maybe she'd grown a brain cell and left the city, after her little garbage shop and her situationship with Aemond were done, she'd left somewhere to cry about it.

Good.

Let the grown ups play, Alys thought.

Once she had Aemond back, his fealty, his vow to be hers forever, not to mention his resources, she could do what she hadn't been able to do back then. Rule the world.

He'd left her then, and all her power hadn't meant anything any more. Not even when she'd stolen a servant's newborn babe and presented it as Aemond's, as the rightful heir to the throne. Without Aemond at her side, she was nothing. Just a woman who frightened people, and the world kept evolving to deal with those.

She had been drowned and hanged, shot and stabbed, and every time she had lain there, pretending to be dead, crying tears of anger because her plans had failed again.

It was different now, with Aemond almost in her grasp. When she had him by her side, in her bed, things would be different.

Finally.

She had less than a week until he returned. Everything had to be perfect for him to come back to her. She had contracts ready to go, so many of her investors didn't even believe she knew Aemond Targaryen. Imagine when they found out they were partners in this new venture. They'd come crawling to her.

They thought her delusional, grasping. Alys's hands fisted at her sides, they would never say that to a man. A man had vision, ambition, but she got called insane.

If that was the playing field, then she would have the greatest teammate of them all by her side.

* * * * *

"She's sleeping."

Aemond said nothing, merely stared down at Arya Stark's face as she blocked him from going into the bedroom.

"She needs her rest, she's been working hard, and you and your cock can just wait."

Behind Aemond, Gendry closed his eyes at her choice of words.

"Hmm."

Aemond turned and went back to his laptop. "Tell me when she wakes up."

"You really need to work on your interpersonal communication skills," Gendry said as he placed his hands on her waist.

Arya smiled. "I love your positive attitude. How long have you been telling me that?"

Gendry didn't reply. Instead he kissed Arya and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Aemond checked his security. There had been a flurry of activity from Alys while he was gone, between her people scouring all the locations where Aemond or his woman might be, to emails sent to various financial leaders. Little did Alys know those leaders had just turned around and asked Aemond what was with all the messages from Alys.

He'd told every single one of them that he had no intention of working with the woman and that they need not bother with her.

As obnoxious and prickly as Arya Stark was, he trusted no one better when it came to self defense. As skilled as Aemond himself was, he was too close to be an effective teacher, and between Arya and Gendry, they had enough fighting and weapons knowledge worthy of the best ops teams in the realm.

Everything was in place.

He had let Alys skulk around for far too long. He'd hoped she'd find someone else to obsess over, some other fool to torment and manipulate, but if that was not to be, then a more permanent stop was needed.

It was absolutely his fault. He'd allowed her delusional dreams of power to grow unchecked and then he'd vanished, and now she was endangering not only him but the woman he loved.

* * * * *

Waking up was different now. You still retained your human schedule for the most part - a period of activity and a period of rest, mornings created of years of routine that were tough to leave behind. But now it was more of taking in information gathered by your sharpened senses, then approaching the day as needed.

You were damn glad that training with Arya had stopped - for now. As your strength grew, so did the possibility of truly injuring yourself or others, and Arya had taught you how to keep your strength in check for your daily activities, and when to dig deep into the well of power when you needed it.

You would need it soon, if the messages from Aemond were true.

The moment his name came to your mind, you turned, scenting the air.

There was Arya's combination of forest and sky, Gendry's constant leather and steel, and there - there was Aemond, his signature mixture of peppermint, spices, and the almost sweet scent of his skin.

You opened the door to find him standing there, one corner of his mouth raised. "You're awake."

You smiled, throwing your arms around his neck. He was home. The feel of him against you was everything, and you pressed a kiss to his neck. "I have missed you."

"Are you well?" he asked, always careful and measured even now.

"Aemond," you murmured, pulling him into the bedroom.

He kicked the door closed behind him as he took your mouth, the hunger and need he'd been feeling now unchecked as he began to undress you.

You were just as eager, pulling up the cashmere sweater he wore until he tugged it over his head, hands roaming over his shoulders and back, reacquainting yourself with the feel of him against you.

Shoving you back onto the bed, he tore off your leggings and underwear, pushed your thighs open and began to feast between your legs. He fell into the rhythm he knew you liked, long, steady strokes with the flat of his tongue, one hand covering your breast as you moaned and whimpered.

You came, quickly, the pleasure tearing brutally through you and then his fingers tightened on your hips as he continued pleasuring you. Your head fell back, your moans growing louder as he drove you to a second orgasm.

"Aemond-"

He hummed against you, sending you over the edge and still, despite your fingers pulling at his hair, he continued devouring you. You felt yourself begin to fall again, and this time, when he was done bringing you back down, he pulled back, kneeing your legs further apart.

You had barely caught your breath when he drove inside you, but you reached for him, needing more, until you could take his mouth and sigh against his lips.

He wasn't tender, each snap of his hips knocking the breath out of your lungs until your cries filled the room.

"Come for me," he demanded, one hand fisting in your hair.

Undone, you let your head fall into his grasp and surrendered.

* * * * *

You couldn't stop touching him. And he couldn't stop marveling over the feel of you against him. You laid on the bed, intertwined, merely breathing each other in.

"How was Scotland?"

He nuzzled your cheek. "Rainy. Beautiful."

"How is Alys?"

He looked at you. "The same. Power hungry."

"She is beautiful."

Aemond gave you a look. "Whatever beauty she has on the surface is only covering her rotten cruelty."

You said nothing and he cupped your face. "Please, do not tell me you have worried about this, of all things."

You felt your cheeks warm but you shrugged. "You have history. Sometimes it counts."

"It counts to remind me that she needs to be be stopped. Do you doubt me?"

"No."

"Do you doubt my love for you?"

"Of course not."

"Good. For I do not doubt yours."

You pressed your cheek against his chest, let him wrap his arms around you. You would go over the plan until it was second nature, and when it all started, you would not waver.

* * * * *

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Thank you for reading, for your likes and reblogs, they all mean so much to me!!!

My Ko-fi

[gojonanami]

HI SAB ILY YOURE SO AMAZING 💞💞💞

I read your response to someone else’s ask abt the arranged marriage au for cult leader geto and I have thoughts :0

Reasons why Geto would marry a non-sorcerer (arranged marriage au):

- Funding for his cult, a big time investors daughter. Just a non-sorcerer family who supports something they’re not all too aware of, and make a contract that he marry into their family for their support on a wider scale and he accepts.

- She comes from a prestigious clan and they support his ideals greatly, and ask that he wed their daughter for their continued support and funding, since they’ve failed to marry off their oldest girl… because unlike everyone else in their strict and high class family, she’s the only non-sorcerer. So since she has ties to a very high and mighty clan as their firstborn so he’s like eh ok and does it cause like yk money power influence wehee, and even though it disgusts him in the end it’s more beneficial for his cult in the long run since now they have a prestigious clan tied to them and ready for the new world he’s proposing, and with their daughter by his side they likely wouldn’t deny his cult anything.

I think this one is kinda interesting cause like he’s more likely to go for it imo since she still has some ties to the jujutsu world and understands it more than most, and he’s like twice more ‘disgusted’ by her since despite having everything needed to succeed and be a powerful sorcerer, she wasn’t born one, so she’s like a failure (angst but cute to explore if he eventually like warms up and he’s like oh noooo you’re okay you’re fine ily)

(BONUS: She’s not a sorcerer but if you go with the children route, their children would still have the potential to inherit her family’s ct which is like strong) (soz I keep bringing up kids—)

-Nanako and Mimiko (when they’re like 5 and still traumatized af having just been saved) love her and won’t respond to anyone else, terrified of most others, but have fallen in love with her since she was the only one who was kind to them in the village Geto saved them from. When he burnt it all down, he missed her family, one of the important ones, by chance, and when the girls started begging for her he reluctantly went to get her for them even though ew non sorcerer monkey whatever, and her family on the brink of desperation demanded an arranged marriage so they’re survival would be guaranteed and he was like ugh fine.

THATS ALL I GOT MWAH HAVE A GREAT DAY AND EID MUBARAK IN ADVANCE CAUSE YAY ITS THE FINAL TEN DAYS OF RAMADAN 💞💞💞

ok these are really interesting ideas omg — I def am leaning towards the second one — I think that’s the route I will go with the cult leader fic 🤔🤔 I like all these idea though — but I def think reader without jujutsu from a clan would be the best course

EID MUBARAK bb!! it’s early but Inshaallah next week!!! I got my period so I can’t do the last few fasts but I’ll make them up after 💕🥹

[heykoonsy]

Word Count:  5.7k+

Pairing: Husk x Angel Dust (HuskerDust/AngelHusk), slight Angel Dust x OC

Summary: “Give him everything but your ass.” Angel Dust was tasked with one job: convince the investor to subsidize Valentino’s agency. Angel was more of a closer to Valentino, enticing the wealthier of his associates into funding projects for him. However, this latest pitch didn’t go as planned and Angel’s hubris prevented him from seeing the potential drawbacks of a one night stand with someone Valentino marked. In this slow burn love story, Angel must confront the worst parts of himself if he is going to win back his career.

Content Warnings: Rated 18+ for foul language and unprotected sexually explicit content

Author's Note: I hope this chapter was worth the wait, my apologies for the delay!

Angel Dust tried to calm himself as he sat in the meeting room that he’d more or less fired Mr. Jullien in several weeks ago. It was sobering to say the least how their roles had reversed. In the darkest part of Angel’s mind, he worried that Jullien had only set up this meeting to give him hope before letting him crash and burn. Angel looked towards the rest of his team, their faces showing just as much anxiety as his. He took a deep breath, exhaling from his nose. 

Everything was going to be fine, Angel told himself.

Spitzers was seated at the end of the table, his hands folded in on themselves as he waited patiently. While his expression was muted, that did not mean that he was at all settled. Angel could tell just by looking at him that his mind was going through several back up plans. The only problem was, that he probably couldn’t think of any.

Agony and Brut were a different story. Their worries showed right on their faces. Brut seemed to always be anxious–it was in his nature to show whatever he felt. He could probably tell that they’d found themselves in a precarious situation–but negotiating deals like this was not his strong suit. It was likely that he was putting all of his trust in Spitzers.

Agony was strumming his fingers on the table, eager to get started with the meeting and yet simultaneously terrified that it would start. His eyes swept over the table as well, his eyes meeting Angel’s. He gave an unsteady smile–not quite sure what else to do. 

Angel smiled back, trying to hide the feelings of dread he clearly felt. While none of his current partners knew that Angel fired Jullien, he knew that it would give them yet another reason to worry so he kept it to himself. 

Like it was his cue to arrive, Mr. Jullien walked through the door to the small conference room. He looked pretty grim–and his eyes were cold as they swept over Angel Dust in particular. He did his best not to cringe, instead rising from his seat and offering his hand up in greeting since he was the closest. 

“Thank you for coming,” Jullien said without a shred of emotion and a limp handshake. 

Angel nodded, “Thank you for reaching out,” he grabbed his hand. 

Then, Jullien went around the room and greeted everyone else, stopping only when he’d made a full circle around the table. He motioned for all of them to take their seats, and they did.

“It’s come to my attention that Valentino has blacklisted you,” Jullien said to Angel.

Angel nodded despite feeling singled out. “That’s correct,” he said politely. 

Jullien chuckled wryly, “Well that’s karma for you.”

Angel took the comment on the chin, trying to laugh with him. He looked towards Spitzers, hoping that if anything, he had a plan. 

Spitzers cleared his throat, “We were under the impression that you were here to form an alliance.”

Jullien quieted down, nodding towards Spitzers. “Since Valentino revoked his support, I’ve been forced into a lot of unsavory alliances,” he said, his eyes fixed onto him.

Angel gulped, knowing for a fact that they were about to get fired before their partnership even began. 

“But my company is all the better for it,” Jullien said after a moment. 

Angel–hell, the whole room–looked at him strangely. 

“I was forced to look into investors, however a majority of them sided with Valentino’s decision to sever our ties,” Jullien recounted. “However, I was able to come to an agreement with one and our immediate concerns of bankruptcy dissolved.”

Angel sat up in his chair, his eyebrows knitting together. 

“I was consulted with this investor once we learned of your blacklist, Angel Dust,” Jullien said. “And he convinced me that we would be fools not to capitalize on the biggest mistake Valentino has ever made.”

The entire room seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief. Angel Dust sat there, his mouth agape as the rest of his team started to chuckle nervously. He looked at Spitzers, who put his hand to his shoulder. 

“Tezan said that?” Angel said, shock still apparent on his face. 

Jullien was surprised that he knew of him, but nodded nonetheless. “He insisted that we put the past behind us.”

While Spitzers and Jullien went back and forth regarding the details of their merge, all Angel could do was sit there quietly. After Angel met with Tezan and they had their little exchange, he thought that would be it for him. Angel thought that once Tezan enacted his revenge that he would be finished with him. But to hear that he stuck his neck out for Angel–for an enemy…

Angel wondered if perhaps Tezan was simply righting the wrong–just like Angel had attempted to do with Agony and Brut. Perhaps Tezan truly regretted his involvement. That was a feeling that Angel was far too familiar with. As terrible as Tezan was–he’d really saved Angel’s ass with this one.

Angel rummaged through the pile of mail that had formed–all addressed to him. He read each one, flipping through the stack quickly. Bills, coupons, scam, invitation, scam, credit card, Angel rifled through the stack again, finding the black invitation. He threw everything else in the garbage can next to his door. He ran his fingers along the velvety envelope with gold lettering embossed on the front.

You’ve been invited…

Angel tore open the envelope and opened up the card inside. It was black, the same gold lettering used throughout the invitation. 

You have been invited to the AVN’s Award Ceremony where you and many others within the industry have been recognized for exemplary talent. 

Angel read on, his eyes catching the usual details–one being that he could bring a plus-one–and there was really only one person that came to mind. He rifled through his pocket with one hand, holding his invitation with the other. Angel opened his text conversation with Cherri. 

Over the last few weeks, he’d been busy trying to repair his career that was in shambles–but he’d also been trying to repair his relationship with Cherri. He scrolled up on their conversation, which had been one sided ever since he’d sent those first few apology texts. So far, he’d apologized three more times–going into detail and being more vague–and nothing garnered a response. 

Angel sighed. He knew that he didn’t really deserve a response–not with the way he’d pushed her away and ditched her. He thought that that was over the first time he’d done it–but it seemed that he was full of surprises, good and bad. Still, Angel took a deep breath and did the only thing he hadn’t had the courage to do all these weeks. 

He hit the call button. 

Angel went through all stages of grief as he heard the phone ring. There was no way she would answer–not after giving him the cold shoulder for this long. Angel knew she was one stubborn bitch anyway. If she answered, Angel knew that he could smooth things over but–

Oh God, what if she never answered? Angel thought, one of his hands going to his head as he paced his room.

Then, Angel heard a click on the other end of the line. 

“Hey,” Cherri said quietly–almost like she was having the same crisis as he was. 

“Hey,” Angel parroted, his voice low.

The two of them let the silence drag between them–and Angel regretted being so impulsive. If he knew she was going to answer, then he would have prepared something to fucking say.

“Look, I’m sorry I haven’t been around much,” Cherri said into the phone. 

“Why the fuck are you apologizing?” Angel asked incredulously. “I’m sorry for being such a fucking asshole.”

Cherri laughed into the phone, “Yeah, you were pretty rotten,” she said.

Angel missed her laugh. “What have you been up to?”

Cherri recounted a few funny stories about what she’d been doing for the last few weeks. Most of it was dumb day-to-day shit, and Angel understood completely. Afterall, Angel knew that they were one in the same. Cherri was his person, and Angel was hers–without each other there…

“I’m sorry for shutting you out,” Cherri and Angel both said in unison. Then they both laughed. 

It wasn’t like everything was magically fixed. There were still things that Angel knew he couldn’t tell her yet–and Cherri likely felt the same–but it was a start. She decided to give him the time of day again, and that was a good enough victory in and of itself. He’d missed weeks of his best friend’s life in an instant, all because he didn’t know how to deal with his own shit.

Angel inhaled deeply and sighed, “It’s great to hear your voice.”

“You too,” Cherri said. “Do you want to go out for drinks or something? Catch up?”

Angel smiled so hard his cheeks hurt. “You know, it’s funny, because I know exactly where we can go.”

“Are you done in there yet?” Husk asked, the frustration in his tone evident. 

“Perfection takes time, Husky,” Angel shouted from the bathroom. 

He looked in the mirror, giving himself a once-over before leaving. Then, Angel grabbed the knob and swung open the door. “Are ya ready for me?” Angel cooed.

Husk grunted instead of responding. 

Angel walked over to him, his hands behind his back as he showed off one of the outfits that he’d thrown together for the award ceremony tomorrow. 

“What do you think?” Angel asked, twirling the teal cocktail dress. His hands went to the hem of the dress, lifting his leg up to show off the sparkly heels he’d paired with it. 

Husk raised an eyebrow, “What else ya got?”

Angel made a face. “What, is it the neckline?” Angel looked down at the halter neckline, which did hide a majority of his fluff. If he were honest, he really only chose it because he thought the color complemented his complexion.

Husk grabbed Fat Nuggets from the floor and began patting his head. “Try again,” he said before banishing Angel back to the bathroom. 

Angel huffed the whole way, but he was excited to show off his next outfit. He hurried and shed the teal dress, his arms already searching for his second outfit. Without much of a fuss, he slid on the next one, his hands working the dress and sliding it down. Within minutes he was back out and modeling for Husk.

“Okay, what about this one?”

Husk nodded, “Better,” he said quickly.

Angel looked down at the sweetheart neckline–his eyes immediately drawn to the intricately lined beading that seemed to come from the right side of the dress and sprawl out towards the left. The dress was form fitting and stopped just above his knee. This particular dress was to showcase his legs above all else. 

“You think so?” Angel said with a smile. “There’s one more after this.”

Husk waved him off and Angel got to work switching out the dresses. He traded out one pair of heels for another, using the sink for balance. He was out of the bathroom in record time. 

“Close your eyes, this ones a real show stopper!” Angel hollered from just outside the bathroom door.

Angel waited a beat for Husk to comply–which he didn’t doubt that he did. Angel walked towards where Husk was seated on the bed, quietly stepping in front of him so that he could sneak a glance at him. Angel smiled, he had indeed done as requested and shut his eyes. He sat there with his ankle resting on his knee, Fat Nuggets spread across his lap getting the petting of a lifetime. Both hands.

There was a look of annoyance on Husk’s face, but Angel could tell that he was enjoying himself. If he was truly angry, he would have just left. But, the fact that he was here placating Angel meant that he was happy to spend some time with him. Truth be told, Angel had been so focused on the agency, all he had time to do these days was work and sleep.

And of course a trip to the deli before work when he remembered that he needed to eat to live. Belise always told him if he’d seen his pig or not that day. Fat Nuggets too. He brushed his hands on his dress, smiling down at Husk for one last second. He really wanted to soak in their time together.

“Open,” Angel said after a moment. 

Husk opened his eyes slowly, his attention drawn to Angel’s shoes first. Angel kicked them out for him, showcasing the satin fabric of the shoe with flowers trailing up the heel. Husk followed the exposed skin of Angel’s legs, the train of emerald chiffon hiding them just enough to pique his interest. Husk sat up, his eyes tracing where the chiffon met the bandage-style crossbody bodice.

Angel’s eyes followed Husk’s as his eyes were finally drawn to the sweetheart neckline that was embellished with similar flowers to the heels he sported.

“Well?” Angel asked, gesturing towards the dress.

“Huh?” Husk said before shaking his head. “Oh, it looks great.”

Angel didn’t look impressed, instead he placed his hands on his hips and leaned forward. “Great?” Angel parroted.

Husk nodded, seemingly fixated on the gown. “It’s clearly the best.”

Angel looked down. “Well I’ll admit, I was secretly hoping that you’d choose this one.” 

He made a show of twirling the train, letting the light fabric catch against the wind he’d created. He stopped as quickly as he’d started. 

“Okay, that settles it,” Angel said happily. “Let me just take this off,” he clapped his hands together, taking a moment to reach behind him towards the zipper.

Angel watched from the corner of his eye as Husk put Fat Nuggets down on the bed next to him before he stood. He took a step closer, his hands stretching towards the chiffon. He grabbed it, rolling the fabric between his fingers. Angel’s arms fell to his sides and he watched as Husk palmed the exterior of his thigh–slowly dragging against the satin bodice. Angel felt the pressure of his hand as it made its way from his stomach to his ribs…and finally towards the small of his back. 

Husk pulled Angel towards him, his face buried in Angel’s fluff. Angel was surprised, his hands going to Husk’s shoulders. Husk lifted his chin–his eyes immediately going to Angel’s. When he looked down, the only thing he saw was Husk’s face.

Angel opened his mouth to speak, but the only thing he could do was bite his lip as he felt Husk’s left hand travel up his other leg, moving at a slow crawl before sneaking its way up his back. 

“Let me help,” Husk whispered to Angel before sneaking a kiss to his collarbone.

Angel felt his entire body heat up at Husk’s request. He tried to get himself under control once he felt Husk’s hands leave him. He watched as he stepped back, and Angel wanted nothing more in that moment than to close the distance between them. But instead, he turned his back to him and waited. 

Angel breathed in when he felt Husk’s fingers tracing the back of the dress, right where his skin and the fabric met. He traced the outline of the zipper slowly, separating the satin overlay and revealing the metal teeth underneath. Then, like he was being paid by the second, Husk grabbed the slider and slowly dragged it down. 

Angel felt the cool air against his back for a moment, the dress splitting down the middle. Then, Angel felt Husk kiss the space between his shoulder blades softly. He gasped at the gentle touch, and with each centimeter that the zipper exposed, Angel was awarded with another kiss. For a moment, Angel wished that he was in front of a wall or something because he desperately needed something to lean on. The slider finally reached the bottom of the track, right at the small of Angel’s back. When Angel felt Husk’s lips graze the sensitive skin there, he nearly collapsed. 

Husk stayed low, choosing to kiss a trail upwards along Angel’s spine. Angel reveled in every soft touch of his lips, goosebumps raising on his skin. He exhaled the air he didn’t know he’d been keeping in and Husk wrapped his arms around his stomach in response.

“Almost there,” Husk whispered over Angel’s shoulder. 

Husk raised his hands slowly, going at an agonizing pace as they finally met the neckline of the emerald dress. Husk scooped Angel’s fluff in his hands, breathing a contented sigh against his exposed skin. Angel leaned forward slightly, the tickling sensation from behind him making him antsy. Husk followed him, giving his back another kiss as his hands dragged Angel’s neckline lower as he undressed him.

Angel felt the fabric leave his chest and ball up towards his bottom row of arms. Husk reached around him and touched every ounce of exposed skin that he’d freed from Angel’s dress. When he cupped fistfuls of Angel’s fluff, Angel choked on a moan. He tried to stifle himself with his top set of hands since his other ones were currently struggling to shimmy free from their arm-hole prison.

Husk came to the rescue, pulling the bodice forward so that Angel’s arms could sneak out. Once they were free, he covered his chest with them, suddenly feeling very exposed even though it was just them and Fat Nuggets in his room right now. Angel felt Husk’s hands follow the bodice to where it was bunching up at his hips. He followed Husk’s movements with his mind, feeling as he lowered the fabric until it fell to the floor. 

Once the dress was off, Angel felt Husk’s hands falter at his waist. His fingers played with the fabric of his panties–snapping the elastic against Angel’s skin. Angel shuddered as Husk’s face dipped lower, kissing a trail all the way from his back to his hip.

“Step out for me?” Husk whispered against hip. 

Angel complied, stepping to the side so that Husk could pick up the dress off the floor. Once Husk picked it up, he draped it over his arm and presented it to Angel. Angel swallowed hard, taking the garment and avoiding eye contact with Husk. He walked towards the bathroom, grabbing the hanger he’d taken it off of and hanging it on the back of the door to deal with later. Fat Nuggets seemed to have followed him over, nudging his snout against Angel's leg. He looked below him, watching as Nugs chose to lie in Angel's discarded street clothes.

Suddenly, Angel heard Husk from the other side of his room. 

“Let me take off your shoes.”

Angel felt his entire body reduce to jelly. There he stood in the doorway of his bathroom–his arms covered in goosebumps and his skin pinkening at his cheeks. His legs were damn close to giving out from under him…and Husk wanted to continue? Husk was clearly trying to kill him–why else would be trying to turn him on like this?

Angel tried to deny him, deny himself, but he left the doorway immediately. He walked slowly, giving Husk a show as he sauntered over. Angel liked to believe that his gate was laden with confidence–but he knew in his heart that he had the grace of a chicken as he stumbled over to Husk. He wasn’t normally this nervous, but there was something about Husk’s gaze that unnerved him. 

Angel stopped just shy of Husk, giving him a moment to take him in. Angel was in nothing but his emerald green pumps and his black panties. Lesser men would have fucking died seeing him like this. But, Husk simply beckoned him to take a seat on his bed. Angel wasted no time and sat down on the edge of the bed. He kept his knees together, looking up at Husk. 

Husk got down on one knee in front of Angel’s legs. He looked up at him, his eyes half-lidded as he reached for Angel’s calf. When his fingers made contact with his skin, Angel jolted a bit but ultimately rested in Husk’s hand. Husk let his fingers trail down his leg, moving slowly towards his ankle. Finally, they reached the flower detailing along the heel of his pump. Husk took extra care as he slipped it off of him, placing it beside him on the floor. 

Angel’s breath caught in his throat as he felt Husk’s lips against his shin, peppering kisses all the way up to his knee. When Angel felt his hot breath on his inner thigh, Angel fell back against the bed, covering his face with his hands. 

“Fuck, Husky,” Angel breathed.

Husk made a noise in the back of his throat–like he was goading Angel. Smug bastard.

Husk immediately switched to Angel’s other thigh, his lips using where Angel’s thighs met as a bridge. Angel felt his stomach drop as the kisses continued down his shin. Husk lifted up Angel’s leg and he slowly took off his other shoe. Placing them together on the floor, Angel hoped that the torture was over. 

That was until Husk lifted Angel’s left leg in the air and spread his legs to compensate for his hips as he stood. Angel moved his fingers enough to look at Husk as he thrust himself against Angel. He moaned against his fingers, dropping his hands so that he could lift himself up onto his elbows. 

“Angel,” Husk said, his voice thick.

Angel didn’t reply so much as he did whine, “Yeah?”

Husk lowered his body against Angel’s moving his hips forward, coaxing another moan from him. Husk stopped just short of Angel’s mouth, his arms keeping him in place. 

“Do you want this?” Husk asked, his hips pressing firmly against Angel once again. 

Angel writhed against the pressure, he moaned instead of answering. 

“It’s already yours,” Husk dipped his head low, pressing a kiss to Angel’s chin. “I’m already yours.”

Angel Dust realized quickly what Husk meant, and Angel couldn’t help but hesitate for a moment. Angel’s eyes met Husk’s and he saw his reflection in them. Angel looked scared.

“Do you want me?” Husk asked, pulling himself away. 

In a split-second decision, Angel closed his legs around Husk, preventing him from moving any farther away. 

“I’m serious, kid,” Husk said, resting on his knees. He grabbed fistfuls of Angel’s thighs. “You gotta tell me if you want all this.”

Angel lifted himself up more, so that his arms were keeping him upright. He looked at Husker in the eyes, one at a time. Angel opened his mouth to say something, anything–

“I can’t be some fling to you, kid,” Husk said finally.

Angel tightened his legs around Husk and grabbed him with his lower set of hands. When Husk fell forward, Angel caught his face in his waiting set. He kissed him deeply, pressing his hips up to meet Husk’s. Husk pressed his right hand against the bed, his left weaving into Angel’s hair. Angel led the charge, kissing one of his lips at a time and getting Husk lost in the rhythm of it. 

Then, once Husk resigned himself to keeping himself up with his upper body alone, he slid his right hand along Angel’s side–

In one quick movement, Angel flipped them over so that he was on top. Angel broke their kiss, letting Husk fall to the mattress below them. Angel straddled him, both sets of his arms caressing Husk’s chest and abdomen. He looked down at him, eyes sweeping over his knit brow to his parted lips. Husk raised himself onto his elbows and Angel pushed him back down. 

“I can’t be some fling to you,” Angel said, pressing his finger against Husk’s chest. 

Angel meant every word. He looked down at Husk, letting his expression speak for itself. He lowered himself onto Husk, kissing a trail up his stomach to his chest. He stopped when he got to the sensitive flesh of his neck, peppering wet kisses all the way to his ear. 

“I want this,” Angel whispered, grabbing Husk’s hand and pressing it to his own chest. Angel let him feel how quickly his heart was beating. “I want you.”

Husk grabbed Angel’s arm and pulled him down to continue their kiss. Their lips moved against each other at a feverish pace, parting only to breathe or let a moan escape as they fought for more friction below. Then, just as quickly as their kiss began, Angel separated them. He sat back, his ass resting comfortably against Husk’s groin.

“Husky,” Angel breathed, the reddening of his cheeks worsening by the second. 

Husk responded to his nickname being called by thrusting his hips upward.

Angel moaned in response, lifting himself off of Husk to prevent it from recurring. He looked down at Husk, eyes narrowing. “Husky, do you want me?”

“Yes.”

Angel looked down at him, “You didn’t even consider–

“I don’t need to.” Husk shook his head. “I’ve wanted you since you rigged that game.”

Angel thought back, remembering the exact moment clearly. He’d rolled three napkin balls and placed them underneath the jiggers–all without Husk noticing. Angel was suddenly embarrassed, awakening the nerves that he’d felt back then all over again. He was a nervous wreck after he’d given Husk his “present”. He felt the flush overtake his face–of course Husk knew he’d rigged it–he cleaned up their game after Angel ran off.

Angel sat back down, a hand going to his face to obscure Husk’s view of him. Husk replied by rising from the bed, propping himself up with his hands as he followed Angel’s meek expression despite his attempts to shield it. Husk grabbed Angel’s face with his right hand, dragging it towards him to press their lips together again. Angel melted towards him, coaxing Husk to lie back down onto the mattress. When he was in position, Angel separated their lips, propping himself up by pushing on Husk’s shoulders. Once he was seated again, he dragged his hands down Husk’s chest, his fingers tracing the bands of his suspenders. 

Husk tucked his left shoulder in, his hand moving the band to the side. When he reached for the other one, Angel stopped him. He took in the sight below him. He was stradling Husk, his outfit all disheveled, his cheeks red and his mouth wanting. Angel slid his hands farther down, meeting the button of Husk’s pants. Husk inhaled sharply once Angel’s hand brushed against his cock.

Angel took him out, his hand feeling every inch that Husk had tucked away. He looked below him, where Husk’s eyebrows were knitting together and his teeth dug into his lip. It seemed that Husk’s stunt earlier had gotten them both a little hot and bothered because the only thing Angel could think about was–

Instead of just thinking about it, Angel leaned forward and reached into the drawer of his bedside table. The sooner he was all lubed up, the sooner he could…his eyes flicked down to Husk, who followed Angel’s hand all the way to the bottle of lube he grabbed. Husk didn’t hesitate to steal it from him, no doubt knowing exactly what Angel’s plan was. Working quickly, Husk spread the lube along two of his fingers before dropping the bottle beside them. He then forced Angel forward, pressing his slick digits against Angel’s entrance. 

“You’re not getting off that easy,” Husk whispered.

Angel gasped, feeling the cool jelly warm up against his skin. Husk circled around the tight ring of muscle slowly, rubbing along the rim every so often to keep Angel engaged. And how could he be anything but enthralled? Angel arched his ass upwards to give Husk a better angle as he pressed one finger inside–which Angel responded to with a hearty moan. 

With his free hand, Husk pulled Angel in for another kiss, which he continued for as long as he stretched him. By the time Husk pulled away, they were both gasping with saliva trailing between their lips, and Husk had been curling three fingers inside Angel. 

After they both recovered, Angel stood up on his knees slowly. Then, he grabbed Husk’s cock and gave it a slow stroke as he positioned himself above it. Before lowering himself, Angel paused, his eyes going right to Husk’s.

“Tell me that you want me again, Husky,” Angel breathed out his request. 

Husk lifted himself up, his palms dragging along Angel’s hips and thighs. He looked up at him–eyes boring into Angel until all he could feel was Husk’s gaze. “I want you,” his gravelly voice said before lowering his eyes so he could pepper kisses along Angel’s abdomen.

Angel pushed his panties out of the way and lowered himself down, his entrance giving way to the head of Husk’s cock far too slowly for either of their liking. Angel moaned as he took him in, grabbing onto Husk’s shoulders to ground him. Husk hissed as he felt each inch of his cock disappear inside Angel–loving every second of the sensation. 

“Fuck, Angel,” Husk said, his fingers digging into Angel’s hips.

When Angel was satisfied that Husk was buried in him, he rose slightly and the motion shocked both of them. Angel held Husk close, obscuring his face in his fluff as he rotated his hips. The two of them moaned together–their voices seeming to harmonize as Angel slowly got used to his length. Before long, Angel was bouncing, the sounds of skin hitting skin echoing in the room. 

Angel leaned back, his bottom right hand catching Husk’s thigh and stabilizing him as he continued. Angel closed his eyes, focusing on nothing but the tantalizing pleasure he was feeling. However, Angel soon felt Husk tugging at the waistband of his panties. He looked down, continuing the pace he’d set with no trouble. 

Then, Husk palmed Angel’s cock and he moaned, feeling a wave of intense pleasure wash over him. He moaned again when Husk began stroking it in earnest. Angel returned his top row of hands to Husk’s shoulders, with his bottom ones, he sought Husk’s blurring hand. 

“Husky,” Angel whimpered from above, “I’ll cum if you keep that up.”

Husk captured Angel’s mouth, separating his lips and pressing his tongue forward. Angel reciprocated, his stomach dropping from the intensity of their kiss. Angel moaned against his lips, swirling his tongue along Husk’s–not caring as saliva dripped from his mouth. 

“Husky,” Angel whimpered into his mouth, feeling like every part of him that Husk was touching was liable to burst into flames.

“You gonna cum for me?” Husk asked, his voice dripping with lust. 

Angel felt Husk begin to thrust his hips upwards, interrupting his pattern–however, it didn’t stop the tension in his gut that was slowly building. Instead, it pushed him closer to the edge as he realized that for as loud as he was being, Husk was moaning right along with him. In this moment, they were connected, sharing every action as one. 

Angel moved his mouth to the side, his voice wavering. “Shit, Husky, I’m so close–

“I’ve got you,” Husk said, wrapping his arms tightly around Angel–his fingers stretching across his back and ass. 

Angel bounced on Husk’s cock with reckless disregard as he let himself go. He trusted Husk to hold onto him, and he didn’t let go even when Angel was moving erratically. Angel could feel his orgasm building and building–

Angel captured Husk’s lips in a quick kiss before his ass clenched around Husk’s cock. As soon as their lips made contact, Angel reached his breaking point. He moaned loudly into Husk’s mouth, gasping as came. Husk kept pace with Angel, riding out his orgasm with him. Angel let his head fall to the side, gasping for air as his hips stilled and his legs turned to jelly. 

“Fuck,” Angel said after a while, “Fuck.”

Husk chuckled, kissing Angel on the cheek as he came down from his high. He dipped his head lower, giving Angel some well deserved kisses on his neck and shoulder. 

Angel felt Husk’s cock pulsate inside him, and he lifted his head. “It’s your turn,” Angel said as he propped himself up on Husk’s shoulders again. 

Husk hummed in agreement, nuzzling Angel’s neck before grabbing his hips and flipping him over. Angel landed on the mattress, a dazed look on his face as their eyes met once more. 

“You want it like this?” Angel cooed, his tone soft and sweet. 

“I wanna look in your eyes,” Husk breathed out before he thrust his hips forward. 

Angel gasped at the feeling, his ass adjusting to the movement yet again. He raised his legs, wrapping them around Husk’s back as he continued to fuck him. He met Husk’s gaze, watching as every minute sensation registered on his face. He watched as his brow furrowed, his cheeks pinkened, watched his teeth grind together when he found a rhythm he liked. 

Husk propped himself up using his left arm, which he placed next to Angel’s head. His other hand crawled its way down Angel’s side, to his hip and then finally to his thigh. He tightened his grip, forcing them closer still. Angel moaned, forcing their mouths together quickly. Husk kissed him deep and fast, parting only to continue their eye contact. 

Husk followed every movement of Angel’s eyes, and it bewildered him–but it was by no means a turn off. In fact, there was something about the heat in his gaze that made Angel feel butterflies in his stomach. Angel smiled up at him, his eyes softening. Angel wrapped all of his arms around Husk, one set feeling the expanse of his back, the other gently clawing at his ass. 

“Angel,” Husk moaned, his pace getting noticeably more erratic. 

“Keep your eyes on me,” Angel said, hugging him closer, lifting his hips so that Husk could have a better angle.

Husk went feral for a moment, losing himself in the motion–but keeping his eyes locked to Angel’s. He watched as Husk’s eyes narrowed with concentration and Angel could see the need in them. Then, almost as quickly as Angel recognized the emotion–it disappeared. 

Husk pulled out quickly, his hips rocking forward as his cock shot out jet after jet of cum. Angel stroked Husk’s back with all four hands, staying with him as he breathed deeply. Their eyes never wavered–and Angel got to watch a new emotion fill Husk’s eyes. 

Devotion.

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[ariesshower824]

Voxhollow

Link to Prologue

Chapter 1: Dark

Summary: A day in the life of Dark

The trolley rattled and swayed along the iron tracks, Dark sat patiently against the seat reading today’s newspaper as the vehicle made its way to the next stop. Every once in a while he catches a glimpse of someone looking in his direction. It couldn’t be helped, no matter how ordinary he dressed in public there were always people staring at him. Dark fully believes his alluring aura is a blessing and curse. There has hardly ever been a moment of peace for Dark. Since he was born, everyone around him would say what a handsome man he is, or how terrifying his presence can be when he gets upset. This made it easy to single out which ones were genuine from the boot lickers. He always detested those kinds of people. As the trolley continued forward, Dark’s eyes wandered to his surroundings; a city with a bright future ahead. For him, it was at times too overwhelming to take in all of the advancements made so far. He often wondered what his life would be like if he decided to live a life in seclusion. Far away from the bustling, noisy city. A quiet place all to himself.

He was deep in his thoughts when he felt the trolley come to a halt and the conductor shouted out the last stop of the route. He put his thoughts aside to exit off the trolley to go to his destination, Gearmore Industries LTD. A large company with a skyscraper to match, along with other major entities under the same name engraved on the sign. Dark quickly slipped into the building, making sure no one was following him. Stepping into a private elevator catered only to a handful of people in his life and pressed the button to the top floor. Entering his main office, he started to prepare his afternoon cup of coffee, unaware a certain guest had already made themself at home.

“So how did the meeting with that airship company go?” It was Wilford, one of the few close confidants he can call a friend. 

“It went about as well as you expected.” There is a hint of sarcasm in his tone of voice, one that Wil knew very well. 

“One of those meetings huh? Ah well, you can’t get them all Dark. After all there’s only so much one man can grasp.” Wilford said. In spite of Wil’s peculiar nature he does have his moments of wisdom. Something that Dark cherished from the people he trusted. 

“You really are something else you know that Wil. How are the numbers on the stock market?” Dark sat on his desk, slowly taking a sip from his mug as reads the latest reports on the Bell St stocks.

“According to the latest report, the numbers are slightly going up with you still in the lead with the most investors and the output of your companies are also increasing with the masses asking for more of the products you sell.” Wilford said. 

“Hmm.” Dark responded as he scanned through the records.“There was a headline in the newspaper about another arson case on Saturday night at a major bank, Stoneworth Bank. According to the news article I read, the latest attack has caused panic among their customers. A great number of them swarmed the building, trying to withdraw their funds yesterday morning, only to have the bank freeze their accounts today.” Dark said casually.

It was the third attack against an organization in the last two months. Each time the unknown assailant struck, they left their mark with the word ANTI in graffiti. With this recent attack, the people of Ashvale were now fearful of when and where Anti would strike next. 

“I must say, whoever this Anti fellow is, they sure know what the hell they’re doing.” Wilford said, standing up from his position on the couch.

“It is rather intriguing that the police haven’t caught this culprit. I wonder when he’ll strike again.” Dark mused.

“Now hold on, we don’t know if the criminal is a he, after all some women in the right circumstances can cause quite a bit of damage too.” Wilford said, entertaining the idea of Dark’s curiosity towards these events.

“Oh I have a strong feeling they are a he, in spite of what the public thinks of him, I find this perpetrator rather interesting.” Dark said with a slight smirk on his face.

Wilford was slightly puzzled by this statement, and he thought he was the slightly unhinged one.

“Dark, surely you’re kidding me right, aren’t you a little worried about this? Every time this delinquent strikes he gets bolder. I wouldn’t be surprised if you are his next target.” Wilford voiced with a look of his concern at Dark’s nonchalance. Dark set down his paper to look up at him.

“Wilford, I wouldn’t be surprised if he did either, hell for all we know he’s planning to blow up one of my factories right now. But, I am not relaxed about this situation, far from it actually.” Dark said, walking over to his view of the city, giving himself a moment to think. “Have you ever questioned why this person goes against these other organizations? He’s clearly trying to send a message to society. What the message is, I don't know. These events have truly piqued my interest.” Dark explained further about his appeal towards Anti.

“Maybe you’d like to meet this lunatic to ask him?” Wilford questioned, starting to think Dark is losing his mind or he’s really bored with his life. It could be both for all he knows.

“Not at all.” He chuckled. “Truthfully I’d rather avoid him. I would not want to get involved in anything unnecessary that hinders my operations. Rest assured old friend, I’m not underestimating or being ignorant about this. I'll send an alert to all of the factories to increase the security until the criminal is caught and this problem is resolved.” He says, patting Wil on the shoulder to give the extra assurance as he makes his way to the phone.

Wilford sighed. “If you say so Dark. I'm just saying to be careful about all of this. The last thing we want is to attract negative vibes from this and have it bite us in the ass, especially you.” He felt slightly better after hearing Dark would ramp up the security.

“Wilford, don’t forget I made reservations for us at the Gearitz Club after six tonight.” Dark called out from the next room.

Wilford chuckled slightly, maybe he was overthinking it. After all, what were the chances Anti is planning to blow up one of the factories at this very moment. Wilford put his worries aside to help Dark with the rest of his work. 

Meanwhile, in the shadows of the city, a figure shrouded in darkness was meticulously planning his next attack, the Gearmore Cogwheel factory. “H̷̨̘̘̦̀e̷̙̺̠̠̔̓͋ẖ̴̲̲́̆͗̒͂e̴̳̓͑͌h̴̳͖̗͗ȅ̶̖͓̰̟ͅ.̷͔̹̫̲̤̐̉̚ ̴͇̤̱͐̽̃͗̌J̵̡̓́͌u̷̟͇͑̂̈̈͘ṡ̷͕͎̼̀̿́̕t̷͔̹̞̭͂̑̾ ̷̹͐̊͝ỵ̸̻̩̹͊͛̓́͌o̴̝͑̍u̸̡͂͊̀̕͝ ̴̝͗͐̈̔͘ẘ̷͚̮̇̂̑͠ǎ̶͚̍i̷̦͒͒͛͘ͅt̷̢̺͕̍̂͑̾̕ ̷̛̭͍̮̙̈́D̵̡̩̳̀̾͆̐̑a̷̗͓͛͒̏̎r̶̥̉͋͂̓̋k̴̤̇̚.̵̹̞̬̤̕ ̸̡͚͕͙͆̾͠J̸͇̳̯͖̀͘ū̷̬̻̪͂̾̃̄s̸̮̮̭̾ṯ̷̘̱̪̃͒̈̈́̈ ̵̺̭̽̒̈́ỷ̸̫̭̜̟̽o̵̺̩̊u̴̢̨̞̳͔̽͑ ̷͇̰̆̓w̸̧̡̩̗̐a̵̩̺̽̾ȋ̵̼͚̰͂̊̈̎t̷̮̾!̴̨̼̺̯̣̓̀ ̸͇̰̳͛͊H̸̛͓͖̣̭̳̄̓̇ā̶̹̞̹̫̜̃͒̑h̵̞͂̐̌̓̚a̷̢͍͓̲̓̊̕h̸̦̰̟͌̒̀͗ä̸̧̛͚̍h̴͈̼̤̥̉̈́a̵̘͒̊́͆͜͝!̶͔̈́̾͠ "Anti said this as he threw a knife at a wall. His laughs travel throughout the alley carrying a hint of madness, a symphony of amusement tinged with the darkness that surrounds him. Each chuckle reverberates like a haunting melody, bouncing off the damp bricks and dancing through the chilly night air. To those who heard, it is an unsettling sound, frightening them into scuttling away from the echoes in the dark alley.

The stage is now close to being set and all of the players will fall into place. The questions will soon be asked, who is the monster and who is the man? Will both fall prey to their own demons? Or perhaps these two are more alike than they want to believe?

Stay tuned to find out…

Tags: @bookwormscififan @iamvegorott

[promptsforyourwhumpfic]

WT #6: Made To Watch

Summary: She didn't have to watch him sleep, but Lily had made Oliver a promise she'd watch over him.

TW: drugging | withdrawal

WC: 1193

She’d watched him fight tooth and nail against other contestants; her eyes never straying from the screen that showed uncomfortable close-ups revealing conflicted emotion and pupils blown from the synthetics.

The drugs themselves were administered in pills that were forced down the contenders necks in an ugly display before the cameras, though the disgust emerged from some of the fighters reluctance to bite back. At the start of the month, Oliver had been one to fight back vehemently; biting and kicking whenever he could and contorting himself in the grips of jacked up Invigilator in any way he could. Still, they persisted; having to force gloved fingers into his mouth in order to get the pill down his throat. Every time he’d gag and spit, but eventually they’d win - and it was becoming easier for them to do so. 

Across the weeks, it was evident that he was giving up the fight, yet the fiery anger in his eyes revealed to Lily a determination far beyond physical action. 

Or so she hoped, anyway. 

Because when he fought in the Arena, mind and judgment clouded by narcotics, she knew that it wasn’t him. They all knew that the humanoid beast that was unleashed by hyper-stimulants was a distraction for those watching; the more irrational and exciting the contenders appeared, the more interest the crowd would take. And it was terrifying to watch. 

Even more so at night, as when the Arena emptied and the fanfare moved to the streets and surrounding hospitality areas, the contenders were sequestered back to their cells by the Invigilators. This was followed by a brief visit from a physician and two orderlies who did their best to patch up any wounds, wash them, dress them in clean clothes, and then leave food for the fighters before leaving for the night. While this may have been viewed as a small mercy, the action was just to get them through the next day and to make them appealing for Investors to bet on them. However if the contender was seen as a lost cause, then the physician would simply try and make them comfortable. 

After the visit, the contender was left alone to the elements of their cells. The bars of the cages filtered in the cool night air that chilled the shivering bodies to their sunburnt cores, and the bed was no more than a plastic mattress on a dusty, cobbled floor. 

Perhaps alone was a generous way to describe Oliver’s situation, as in the corner of the cell, posted just out of reach, was a camera streaming his entire existence to the world. 

He knew they were there - after all it’s what they had depended on. But it made it no easier to watch him deteriorate from a man of wiry muscle and reasonable weight to a skeleton functioning only by drugs. Drugs that had to leave the system at some point. 

From the time they’re force-fed the pills at 12:15 PM, there was a six hour window in which contenders where physically pained to exert the energy and adrenaline coursing through their systems. But this energy had to go somewhere - the drugs had to wear off. 

So while watching her love fight for his life out in the open was painful, it was even harder to watch him sleep. It was intimate; it was supposed to be his time for vulnerability but the nature of the Arena left little room for privacy. In a way she preferred to watch him sleep - to have him all to herself. She promised him as such; she said she’d keep watch. While her promise was to ease his mind, she often worried about how defenseless he must have felt; to have his insecurities and weaknesses supplied to the public so easily. Every night, she watched him toss and turn and toss again in a beaded sweat as his body came down from the effects of synthetic adrenaline. 

On his bed, he tried to keep curled towards the wall, baring his bony back for all to see. His legs were crossed at the ankles, shaking and twitching against fried nerves as the symptoms slowly bled through fresh bandages and soaked his shirt with sweat. He jolted, however, when the tremors sent spikes of agony through his stomach, and he let out a garbled yell. And then another as a domino effect of pain caused tremors of discomfort throughout his body… and he cried out once again as the tremors turned to full body shakes that opened the floodgates of previously hidden emotion. For the first time in months, he began to cry. They were ugly sobs that wracked his entire body and left him more exhausted than a day in the Arena could ever. It hurt her even more to hear that he was trying to be quiet about it - his shaking shoulders rarely interspersed with gasps and whines as his lungs protested in earnest. 

Lily watched Oliver's torment unfold in the privacy of her thoughts, her heart aching with every moment of his suffering. As she observed the raw, gut-wrenching cries escaping his trembling lips, she wished she could reach through the screen and hold him, to let him know he wasn't alone - to tell him that it was all going to be worth it if he only held on for just a little longer. He just needed to win. 

In the twin bed next to her, Gem shifted in her sleep, and Lily became acutely aware that she wasn’t alone like Oliver was. However, her tears had little consequence on her image, not when she was granted the privacy of her own bed and a slumbering roommate. In a way, Lily supposed the sobs would scare away the bidding investors, therefore leaving more room for their team to get their claws in. They had a lot riding on whether or not they were able to get in for their allotted Pep Talk time, and if Lily knew then what she did now, then she may have begged Oliver to be more vulnerable…Hindsight was always twenty-twenty, so  in the quiet darkness of their shared despair, she reserved herself to whispered promises of love and unwavering support, even though he couldn't hear her. She vowed that when all this was over, she would do her best to mend what had been broken, though the relationship healing would have to wait, she supposed, as the chamber of horrors left far more permanent scars than their argument could have ever created. 

In the end, Lily wondered if Oliver believed she kept her promise of keeping watch. Regardless. the incessant hum of the surveillance camera's machinery seemed to mock them; a constant reminder of the world's relentless gaze 

Across the better half of the late hour, Oliver's cries eventually subsided, his exhausted body finally laying still as the last dredges of the synthetics oozed away with every bead of sweat; leaving him vulnerable and depleted. 

Lily wished she didn’t have to watch him at all, but the jagged rise and fall of his chest presented a comfort far greater than any five star hotel room. 

[astralbulldragon13]

Dancing Along the Edge of the Blade

(Dancing angst story number 2. Some light blood and angst in this one, too)

Blade sighed as she closed the door behind her, blinking to reorient herself. She had just returned home from a charity event that Lord Eli made her attend. She hated events like these, with all the pageantry and forced socializing.

All Blade wanted was to enjoy a drink and dance the night away. But noooo, she has to shmooze with the investors, brand dealers, and other big-names. She hated all of it, especially when some of the older men got… handsy with her. They never tried anything because they knew what her father would do but that didn’t fix the hurt she felt when it happened.

Blade kicked off her shoes into the corner with a grumble. Damn high-heels, she wished she could just wear her usual boots instead, but of course not, it has to be those stupid, designer heels, even when she was already six feet tall!

“Blade?” called a quiet voice from the shadows of her apartment.

The light hero lifted her head at the sound of that familiar voice, a smile crossing her face. She straightened and looked towards the source of the voice.

The young men that appeared was a bit shorter than her, with scruffy dark hair and unshaven face. He had a little scar on his right eye. His hands were tucked in the pockets of his hoodie, and he was, in Blade’s opinion, was absolutely adorable.

“You called? He asked with his gentle stutter.

She walked over to him and pulled him into a tight embrace. Dark froze at the sudden embrace, his arms pulled close to his body. She knew he was unsure then it comes to physical contact, but she needed a hug.

“Um… Blade? Are you alright?” Dark asked as she leaned back to look at him.

She sighed and shook her head, her hands squeezing his shoulders. “No… I’m not, really.”

Dark tilted his head to the side like a confused puppy. “Is there a way I can help you feel better? I mean, you’re always making me feel better…”

She sighed and smiled, moving back to look at Dark. “Yes. Would you dance with me?”

Dark’s face turned pink at the question. “W-Wait, really? B-But… but I don’t know how.”

Blade just giggled. “I can teach you. We won’t do anything crazy.”

Dark nervously looked at her, but nodded. He may not have had any skills in this action, but if there was no one else there, he could try.

Blade connected her phone to a speaker and started with something slow. She turned back to Dark, taking his hands and showing him where they go. The poor boy almost looked terrified at the thought of putting his hand on her waist.

She taught him a simple two step, Dark barely looking up from her feet. Blade was tempted to make a joke about him trying to look down the bodice of her dress, but the poor man was trying not to go into cardiac from being so close to her.

As the night when on, the music got a little faster, and she taught him to spin her and everything just felt right, but there was a tugging sensation in her chest as the song changed to something slower, acoustic.

"Blade?" Dark asked as he tipped her into a dip that she wasn't sure she taught him.

"Yes, Dark?"

"Is this real? I... I almost feel like this is too good to be true."

Blade smiles sadly as Dark gave her another spin and pulled her close, with her back against his chest. "I..." Her words were cut off when she felt the sensation of something going through her chest.

"What have you done?" screamed a dark voice as she felt her mouth fill with the taste of blood.

The Hero of Light opened her eyes to find the hilt of her own weapon, her Sword of light in her hands, the glowing blade going through her chest, blood dripping down her torso and staining her white uniform. She could feel Dark's body behind her struggling, as the weapon went through his body as well.

Once he had jerked himself free from the weapon they both collapsed to their knees. Her hand reached up to touch where her body was pierced, the red staining her hand. She could feel her body being cradled, so she looked up at the face of she had fallen for, it had become more gaunt over the past five years. His eyes were flickering from a burning red to that familiar pale blue.

She reached up and caressed his face, feeling the stubble scratch her exposed fingers as the blue in his eyes returned and held. "I... love... you..." Blade's hand fell from his cheek and landed on the ground with a heavy thud.

Everything was going black now, and it felt... peaceful. This felt better now, like someone wrapped a thick, weighted blanket over her body and it all just washed away.

[clubwnderland]

⤷⋆⋆ 𝑮𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝑴𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 ♡

[pt one][pt two][pt three][pt four]

[This plot contains abuse, gaslighting, violence, kidnapping, and mentions of SA, injuries and blood. Read at your own risk]

TEN DAYS ABDUCTED

There's a cheer as Jangmi walks out into the large hall, the main event has arrived and all these powerful men cannot wait to see what she has in store.

Her abuser, the man who forces her to call her Master once more, walks her through the crowd. Jangmi knows the role she must play, the bruises have finally healed and she doesn't want to have more due to disobedience, so her head is held high. The diamond studded leather collar rubs against her skin, even though it's meant to be of high quality, it feels cheap.

She feels cheap.

A possession to be shown off. Dressed in a deep green satin two piece, expensive pieces adorning her slim body with her make-up and hair done by the most talented women the man could buy - Jangmi is nothing more than another prized piece in his collection once more. She has to be a good girl, well-mannered and well-behaved, otherwise he will discard of her like a broken toy and Jangmi hopes to make it out of this place alive.

She's sure, absolutely sure, that her friends are working to bring her home. It's the only hope that she has as each day passes, that they haven't given up on her.

"She'd make a pretty whore." She hears a man whisper to another as their eyes slowly move over her body and undress her with their stares. "I hear he used to charge a high price for one night with his so-called favourite trophy."

The other man snickers, watching her turn to face the crowd when she comes to stand behind her 'master' as he's about to address the crowd. "Thank you for all your investments and hard work, we are making paths that nobody has been able to do before and through recent innovations, will continue to do so." There's a round of applause and Jangmi feels her stomach churn, feels disgust towards each and every single person in this room for what she knows is about to happen. How could all the wealthy, powerful men sit there and be okay with this?

Ah, because they are untouchable, that's why. They won't ever know the consequences of their actions.

The more he talks, the more the bile starts to rise in Jangmi's through and she's absolutely sure that she's about to throw up any moment. She doesn't want to be here, she doesn't want to do this. Run, that's all her brain is telling her to do as he holds out his hand and gestures for her to step forward and take it. Run, but her feet are frozen in place because where would she go? They'd catch her before she even made it to the door and who knows what he'll do to her if she tries to run in front of all his investors. "My pet has grown into quite a beautiful woman," he says when her shaking hand touches his and he quickly grabs it to prevent her from pulling away, "I'd like to show you all just how stunning she is. She's going to put on a show that's far beyond what you'll find anywhere else."

With those words, the music starts and Jangmi knows that she needs to shove it all down to make it through tonight. Numb, dissociated and professional.

TEN DAYS MISSING

It's suffocating, even for Irene. When they opened the door to the In Between, neither thought it would take so long to traverse the realm in search of Doom. Chris has never seen such creatures before, not even realising they exist and as they get closer to Damnation, the more terrifying and hostile they become.

"Stay close," his grip on Irene's hand tightens as he keeps her from moving away from him.

It's a sweet gesture but she knows that it isn't her that should be worried but Chris. The living shouldn't be here, they sense that a creature from the land of the living is here and Chris is like prey to them - not that he would go down easily but Irene would rather not give them a chance to get close enough to try.

"There," Irene says, pointing up into the nightless sky, she brings their attention to the nearly invisible castle floating high above. "We need to get there."

"How are we going to do that?" Chris quickly pulls Irene into his arms, moving out of danger's path when he hears a slight rumble and the ground gives way underneath them. A second later and they would have fallen to the abyss, which looks like it would have taken an eternity to hit the bottom.

Clutching his shirt, Irene gives him a look that immediately has the wolf knowing that the way up is a way he's not going to like. "It's the only way, baby."

"I'll stay here."

Irene looks around, spotting a dragon watching them from a short distance away. "You want to try fight a dragon rather than letting me carry you up."

He's quiet, looking in the direction she is before looking up at the castle. She can see him actually weighing up his chances before sighing because he knows that he has to go. He loves Irene but he doesn't trust that she wouldn't give herself up in place of Jangmi, even if she never planned on it, he knows she'd try as a last resort.

"Fuck. Hurry up then."

ELEVEN DAYS ABDUCTED

"There's a good little bitch," the hand of her kidnapper reaches forward to touch her cheek and causes Jangmi's entire body to tense up. "It's amazing how you went from a feisty little thing to the submissive little whore you are." He chuckles and slaps her cheek hard enough to make her wince and turn her head away. "Boss said you should be going into heat soon, how he knows that is beyond me." The fact that her old master remembers all of that makes her throw up slightly into her mouth before she thrown onto the bed.

"N-no," she pushes the man away, kicking at him with her feet as he grabs her ankles and pulls her closer to the edge of the bed. "D-don't! Help!" She screams, hoping someone would help her. As much as her old master disgusts her and mistreats her, he never really liked someone else touching what he considered his without permission.

His hand wraps tightly around her throat, holding her down and causing her screams to die down, "so fucking loud." He spits out and before he manages to get any further, there's commotion outside of the door as one of the house maids heard Jangmi's scream. In his distraction, Jangmi managed to get free and bite his arm, teeth digging into his flesh and nearly ripping it off.

She knows she shouldn't, she's been reprimanded so many times for being vicious but the hybrid is sure that this would be an exception.

The man manages to grab her hair and pull back, nearly ripping the roots from her scalp and his flesh off his arm as he pulls her off him and throws her to the side, knocking her out. "Fucking beast!" He's about to kick her, a solid kick that would have caught her right in the abdomen but he's pulled back by the security guards that are always patrolling the grounds.

They are there to keep Jangmi from leaving but they are also there for her protection - from anyone but her old master.

ELEVEN DAYS MISSING

"I hated that." Chris says the moment his feet are on solid, well, floating ground. Irene rolls her eyes at him, muttering about how he's being a little dramatic just because they had to avoid being eaten by a horned dragon. "If you drive like you fly babygirl, I'm not teaching you how to." There's a slight teasing tone to his voice and Irene can't help but smile. She's knows he was terrified of that entire experience but he won't admit that.

They walk through the giant doors, both of them looking like ants wandering through a giant's home as the gargoyles' eyes watch them from their perches and Irene keeps close to Chris. They are both on high alert, unsure of what they could run into.

"Lucifer made it seem like Doom was sitting on a throne. A God overlooking its realm and all those beneath it," Irene talks, her voice a gentle whisper because their footsteps echoed around the large, open hall. "It wasn't like that though, Doom never seemed to pay much attention to what was around it. Not like Lucifer cared. He walked through this place as if it was his own, like him and Doom were kindred spirits." Irene vaguely remembers the way, not that there were thousands of rooms but she knows that they are already testing fate being here - it's best not to tempt it any further.

There's a faint glow in coming from a room ahead and they make their way towards it quickly, feeling something creeping in the shadows waiting for them to stray away from their destination. Irene keeps Chris close, knowing it would rather him than her and not wanting to give it the chance to snatch him when they are so close to where they are heading.

They enter a large library, thousands, millions of books stored high up to the endless ceiling and Chris' eyes widen as if he walked into a place he'd consider to be a personal heaven. As they move through the bookshelves, they find a large being sitting on a chair, reading.

"This is Doom?" Chris asks, sounding a little underwhelmed considering he thought he'd be seeing a God but whoever this is is just... reading.

Irene bows her head, the God looking down at her and Chris before humming softly. "Lucifer's wife-"

"Ex." Chris interrupts, not caring at all about the look Irene gives him.

"And you nearly got eaten by a dragon." Doom continues, ignoring the interruption. "Yet, you made it." Doom places the book down, Chris' name clear on the cover, and looks at the two of them, "you came here for something." It's not a question but a statement because Doom knows, omnipotent and all-knowing so it knows why they travelled to Damnation but it allows them to speak anyway.

Irene pleads their case, explaining the situation and how desperate they are, how she will give the God anything if he could save her. "I know that you don't really intervene but... please... this can't be the way her story ends."

Doom looks at them for a moment before standing up and walking over to one of the many bookshelves. "Jeon Jangmi..." It mutters as large, armour-clad fingers run over the spines of the books before pulling the large, bright coloured book from the shelf. Flicking through the pages, Doom searches for something in particular before nodding its head and closing the book. "What do you offer?" Doom asks when making its way back to the chair and sitting down. "For her rescue."

"You'll help?"

"I didn't say that." Chris' jaw tenses as he sees Irene deflate slightly, "I asked what you would offer."

Taking a deep breath, Irene gives Chris a quick glance before stepping forward. "Anything. Other than my life or the life of another, I will give you anything that you ask for. If you bring her home, I will owe you a debt to be collected at your convenience."

Doom is silent, quiet and looks at Irene curiously. It needs time to think, to weigh up whether this one hybrid's life is worth intervening for - if luck is on her side.

TWELVE DAYS ABDUCTED

"We've had a slight set back, gentleman," her master announces to the room of men that he hand selected to come and see the show Jangmi is meant to put on. "We had to delay as our entertainment for the night had a little bit of trouble yesterday." She walks out, wearing an overly revealing outfit that is worse than anything she had ever worn at Wonderland.

She's always been allowed to choose her outfits, the requirement being that they weren't going to show off more than what the dancers wanted and they always had to wear something underneath but this... this isn't Wonderland and he doesn't care.

Dropping to her knees next to her master, Jangmi keeps her eyes on the ground, waiting for the command that allows her to start dancing to get this over and done with. "Remember, you aren't allowed to touch under the clothing she's wearing. I might be letting you play with my pet but she's still mine." Jangmi's always loved being possessed but it's always been on her own accord, her willing let someone claim her as their little fox but this... this makes her entire being shiver with dread and disgust.

The music starts, Jangmi closing her eyes and shoving everything down because the sooner she gets this over with, the sooner she can go and scrub her skin raw. She looks at the men, their faces all burning into her mind and Jangmi knows they'll be in her nightmares, taunting her, reminding her that she'll never be free from this.

The hybrid prays, as these men pull her onto their laps and rest their filthy hands on her ass, she prays and hopes someone, somewhere is listening.

'Please. Save me.'