#C-141
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nocternalrandomness · 24 days ago
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A C-141 Starlifter takes off from Howard AFB - 1994
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usafphantom2 · 7 months ago
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Lockheed C-141C Starlifter and a Lockheed C-5B at March Air Reserve Base. 2003. (jorge rodriquez)
@kadonkey via X
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c-130hercules · 2 years ago
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temeyes · 1 year ago
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a very adorable kirby!141 c/mm for @tapioca-milktea1978!
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childrenofcain-if · 7 months ago
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Am I bugging or does C seems to be way softer with a Shy and gentle MC than the others? Only saying this because I made two characters with completely different personalities and C is considerably gentler with Astoria (my shy and gentle MC).
Don't get me wrong, I love the subtle differences so far and I'm just hoping it's just not all in my head ^_^
it’s not all in your head, dear bonnie, and i think i’ve answered this before but i can’t find it. basically, C is less likely to be outright vindictive around more timid and gentle MCs because they just can’t bring themself to do so. it makes them feel like they’re kicking a sick puppy so, for the most part, they try to reel to rude responses in.
moreover, C is just very clueless as to why MC would get shy around them and the latter having a crush on them is a very foreign concept that they’re willing to only entertain during brief moments of enlightenment (mostly from D) before quickly dismissing it.
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ghcstsoap · 2 months ago
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gimme prompts(au or canon ish)
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stellewriites · 4 months ago
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Hello!
I've literally just read all of your butch COD stuff and fucking loved every second of it!
Do you have any recs on other accounts/ works with butch or fem cod characters?
I tried looking up some tags and couldn't really find anything, but I thought I'd try my luck anyway.
K bye, hope U get enough sleep tonight😙🩷
hi anon!!! <33 i’m soooo happy to hear you like my butch cod stuff, im having a blast writing it :’)
i know @/ohlawdthebirds writes for butch 141 like i do (and the fics she’s posted are fantastic!!!) and @/gloard, @/syoddeye, @/dragonnarrative-writes and @/boolger all write stellar stuff for kate and valeria that i’ve seen!
anyone else think of any authors/fics they’d rec for fem141 or femcod characters as a whole? :3
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I wrote a little drabble about poly141 x reader but I hesitate to post because then I'll be betraying the reason why I joined tumblr... which was to read and not write
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lonestarflight · 2 years ago
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Phase B Space Shuttle designs.
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Cross sections of 4 phase b designs
source, source
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nocternalrandomness · 9 months ago
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Lockheed C-141 over the Delaware River - 1998
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usafphantom2 · 24 days ago
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C-141C Starlifter at Misawa AB 🇯🇵
@headdancer7 via X
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pfhwrittes · 1 year ago
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Last Sentence
Tag from @gemmahale my beloved menace 💜
Rules: Post the last sentence you wrote (fanfic / original / anything) and tag as many people as there are words in the sentence.
18+ only snippet of a poly!141 and trans!soap thing i'm working on
“shh, johnny. just be a good lad and take it, yeah?” simon’s voice rumbles over the slick sounds of him fisting his own cock near johnny’s face. johnny gasps as he feels price’s clever tongue brush over his clit again. fuuuuckin’ hells bells.
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bi-writes · 11 months ago
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mail order bride meeting 141 for the first time 🙏
mail-order bride
he likes the way this moment sounds. it will end soon, when you both walk out the door, but for now, he sits, and he doesn't want it to end.
it's not just the sound of the television. his favorite football team has finally fucking put one into the corner of the net. the announcers cheer, but this isn't all that he hears.
the cat is in the kitchen. he can't see it, but he hears it (the little fucker). she's pawing at the cat grass that sits above the sink now. when he leans forward, he notices her little nose pushing it around before she takes a bite out of it.
she leaves the basil alone.
and then there's the sound of you. your feet in the bedroom. when you pass by the doorway, he can see you in different states of getting ready. when you pass by this time, he can see your eyeliner is on both eyes now, not just one, and your hair doesn't have clips or pieces to hold it in its style anymore. it lays perfectly now; he did a double-take when he saw it this way for the first time. you're rifling through the closet now. your clothes used to be in their own drawers. separated. socks not touching one another. your half of the closet, and his half. perfectly divided.
he doesn't remember when it happened. he found your bra under his t-shirt today. he was going through the jackets because your dresses were now between them. in the bathroom, he almost stuck your toothbrush in his mouth because they rest side-by-side in the holder.
when he looks around the room, he can't see where you begin, and he cannot see where he ends. he doesn't see where he started.
but he can see where you will go.
you bounce into the living room, holding up two hangers. there's dresses on each of them, one a dark color, the other light, and you hold them in front of simon who's still sitting on the couch, his head in his hand as he concentrates on the game (where he pretends like he hasn't been thinking about you too hard to really focus).
"simon?" you call, and he grunts, looking over at you. "which one do you like?"
he looks over the two dresses before looking at you. he hums, leaning back against the couch. he shrugs before looking back at the telly. you would look like perfection in either of them, but that isn't what you asked, and that isn't the answer you want.
"the darker one. like ya in tha' color."
you smile a little before going back into the bedroom, hanging the other dress back up and laying the other one out on the bed. you rummage through the dresser for proper undergarments, picking a soft lace pair of panties with a matching bra. you slip them on before stepping into the dress.
you reach around for the waist, and when your attempts to grab it are futile, you look over your shoulder towards the door.
"simon?" you call out gently. "could you come here, please?"
there's a shuffle of sound before simon steps into the bedroom. you point to your back, smiling at him shyly.
"c-could you help me? i can't reach the zipper."
he makes his way over to where you stand in front of the mirror. you watch as his eyes roam over your back, as he takes in the sight in front of him. you swallow as he drags a few knuckles down the length of your spine, his eyes flicking up to meet yours in the mirror before he takes the zipper in his hand and pulls it up. when he finishes, he steps a little closer, dipping his head to look at you from over your shoulder. you turn your head to look up at him, smiling.
"everything okay?" you ask softly, and he clicks his tongue, sliding his hand from its place on your back to wrap around your middle. he spreads a big palm over your tummy before dragging you backwards, your backside pressing against his front.
"mmm..." he scrunches his nose a little, running a pink tongue over his teeth. "look fuckin' beautiful."
you giggle, looking away, spreading your palms along your cheeks to try and make it less hot, less warm--fuck, it's so hot, isn't it?
you pull away to go for your shoes, picking them up from the closet. you take a seat on the bed, trying to ignore simon's stare (impossible), and you put the shoes down to slip your feet into them. just as you bend to buckle them, simon tsks, and you sit up as he kneels down in front of you.
"simon, you--"
"shut it," he mutters, reaching down and picking your foot up by the ankle gently. he wraps the strap around it, fastening the buckle, and you open your mouth to say something, but then he bends, giving your knee a soft kiss before reaching for your other foot.
your eyes meet again as he wraps it around your ankle. he smirks, just enough, and your lip wobbles a little as he fastens the next shoe before setting it back down on the floor. he puts his hands on his knee to get up, standing to his full height, and your neck strains as you try and look up at him.
at times, you feel at odds. he anticipates your needs before you even know what they are yourself. he pushes your meals in front of you just as you realize you're hungry. he helps you to the top shelf whenever you need it, picking you up from your waist without even a grunt. he feeds the cat when she cries, he wipes the tears from your face just as they fall.
you want to be more. you want to be his wife. your life is leisure and warmth, you are cared for like a fine porcelain doll, but what are you to him? what do you do for him? what is it that you bring, why are you here, why did he ever even want you if he provides and all you do is take, take, take?
the pub is alive. the lights flicker and glow a warm orange, and there's many crowds around tables, cheering and laughing and clinking pints together. you swallow as you look around; a crowded place with lots of unfamiliar faces. you freeze at the door, blinking, trying to take it all in. just as you stiffen, there's a presence right at your back.
an arm circles around your middle protectively. simon's warm hand rests at the curve of your waist, and you look up at him. he stares down at you knowingly. he's wearing his mask, obscuring his entire face except for his eyes, but you've learned to read him all the same. his hood darkens the shadows over him, but you see what he's telling you easily.
'm right 'ere.
simon moves you in front of him, walking just behind you, and he leans over to murmur in your ear as he guides you forward.
"in the corner, luv."
you barely have time to register that your husband just called you love when you see an enthusiastic wave meant for you out of the corner of your eye.
simon showed you their pictures, but the grainy selfies from his phone don't do them any justice. kyle has a pearly smile and round cheeks (troublemaker, he could get away with anything with those eyes). johnny has an infectious grin and wild curls that fall in a line down his head (a wild card, he's got eyes that you can't read and a leg bouncing from his terrible inability to sit still). and then there's john, hidden under a beanie and a rough smile (all business, all thought, because even out here, he can't stop his mind from wandering back to the papers on his desk and the cries for help he can't ignore).
johnny's smile drops a little when you come near. he eyes the hand that simon has on you, the proximity of your bodies. he raises a brow when you hold out your hand to shake, gawking when he eyes your other hand, the ring that sparkles there.
"ach, LT..." johnny swallows hard. "is this...is she--?"
simon clears his throat. "this is my wife."
"steamin' jesus," johnny breathes, leaning back in the booth. he picks up his drink and knocks back the entire thing, choking a little as he looks between the two of you. "what the fawk?!"
you blink, stepping back, and simon takes a seat beside john, shaking his head.
"fuckin' hell, johnny. behave," simon mutters. "'s not--"
"ye said y'were showin' us yer new lass," johnny quips. "not yer wife!"
you look at simon, laughing a little.
"simon, you didn't tell them you were married?"
"tha' was need t'know," simon mutters, rolling his eyes. you giggle, looking around for somewhere to sit. simon doesn't give you much time to choose--you let out a shaky breath as he picks you up from your hips, sliding you up and onto his thigh. he spreads his legs a little to accommodate you, but he's such a big man.
simon holds one hand at your back, and the other lays flat against the table. it's easy, falling into conversation with them. they don't talk about work. they're infatuated with their lieutenant and his surprise wife. they ask if he owns pajamas. they ask if he takes the mask off to sleep. they ask if simon whittles, if he listens to music, if there's a snack that puts him in a good mood (jaffa cakes, you tell johnny, who cackles with delight).
when simon gets up to have a smoke, you're surprised. simon never leaves you alone in a public place, ever. he's always at your back, even at the grocery store. he likes to take you aisle by aisle, and he doesn't care if it makes the trip longer, because he doesn't like to have you out of his sight for very long.
he gives you that look, one that you can read. you're safe with these men.
you agree. they bring simon home, every single time.
"awwww, no' gonna give yer lass a smooch, LT?" johnny winks. "'s alright, we don't care. won't think ye a big softie cuz o' it."
simon rolls his eyes, pocketing his cigarettes as he stands by the table. he dips his fingers into johnny's pint and flicks him with it before leaning over and kissing you lightly through the mask, a chaste kiss that already leaves you reeling.
you blink, caught off guard, and you blink up at simon so slowly, a syrupy smile falling over your face.
"LT, that wasnae a real one," johnny rolls his eyes. "wut, are ye scared of us?"
"shut your fuckin' mouth, sergeant, i'll make y'do laps tomorrow."
"big baby."
you watch simon take the back door, letting it swing shut behind him. you excuse yourself, following after him, pushing the door open and blinking to adjust to the dark light of the alleyway.
there's stars out. they sparkle, and you pause to stare up at them for just a moment before making your way to where simon leans against a brick wall.
it all reminds you that you're just small. not small, but smaller than simon, and compared to what stares at you across a violet sky, you are nothing but specks in time. you're drifters, composites of organic matter that somehow, for some reason, exist at the same time.
simon's eyes find your own in the dark. it's hard to see; the only light nearby flickers, and it's hard to focus, but you can see his eyes clearly, magnetized even when the rest of him seems so obscure, hiding from your view.
your smile is clear, too. the watery lines of your eyes, they glow, and when you come near, you and simon are in your own bubble, a pocket of the universe that cannot be explained. he has found you, and you have found him, and even when the night sky tries so hard to hide the things you know are there, it isn't strong enough to take away what exists in the in-between.
you slide your fingers under the hem of his mask. this kind of thing is practiced. the same thing you do when he comes home every day. the only acts of service he ever allows, the only things he ever lets you do.
you ask yourself always what it is that you provide. what it is that he sees in you that you can't seem to see in yourself.
maybe it's this. maybe it's the grounding. the gravity he never used to feel, the orbit he could never quite get himself to maintain, the taut line of connection that's been severed ever since the only people he's ever loved were ripped right out from underneath his ribs.
he puts his hands over yours when the mask is over his nose. his palms over the backs of your hands, warm skin over soft, something broken over something seeking.
"you don't want this," simon whispers, and you frown a little, shaking your head.
"how...how can you say that?"
"i'm not..." he flinches a little. "not made for this. 's not wha' y'think."
you're eyes water. you aren't sad. you're upset.
"y-you have no idea," you whisper. "i know what i want. you can always tell when i'm lying, am i lying now?"
"'s not--"
"simon," you stop him. "look at me," you sniffle, and he closes his eyes, squeezes them shut, before finding your gaze again. it's frightening, what he sees. he sees nothing that he expects. no deception. no fear. the honesty, it terrifies him. the reality of accepting what he can't understand hurts inside. it trickles deep, down to his toes, along his spine, a curdling in his stomach that he can't believe because there's no way that someone can love me when i can't fucking love myself. "am i lying now?"
"no," he breathes, and your smile is sickly sweet. he doesn't understand. he doesn't get it. nothing in his life has ever been this easy. nothing in his life has ever been just for him, all for him, just his, and no one else's. there has never been a piece of life that has ever pitied him enough to let him have it exactly as it is, and yet here she is, my perfect girl, arriving on my doorstep.
like you dropped straight from heaven. angels with soft hands and a timid face and a shadow with soft fur and big eyes and terrible little temper.
simon's hand is an anchor on the back of your head. tilting you to the side, drawing you near, until you are on your toes, and your face is canted up.
you kiss in the dark. your mouth slots over his, hands gripping the front of his jacket as you try and get even closer to him. he's a little shy at first, letting you lead while he follows, but it only takes a few seconds for you to feel his hand stiffen against your head as he kisses you feverishly.
you smile between kisses. he smiles, too. you giggle, and he huffs, and he chases you with more kisses as you cradle his face between your hands and whisper between soft presses, i'm sorry and i know and it's all i've ever wanted.
when you pull away, he doesn't let you go. he presses your forehead to his, connecting you somehow, breathing in the warmth that you radiate to try and calm the pulsing of his blood that rushes in his ears.
when your eyes open again, and you look at each other, everything is suddenly clearer. whatever he saw before, everything must have been in black and white.
he sees in color. the stars align. they fall, one by one, sparkling as they form a pattern, one undiscovered by anyone before him, one he will keep all to himself in the time that follows. when he kisses you again, he memorizes that pattern.
he knows it will always lead right back to you.
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ink-n-shadow · 8 months ago
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The 141 with a girl that cums quick :( I wanna listen to them make fun of em for it and teaseeeeee
(as a girl who cums quick, i feel like this request was made for me)
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THAT QUICK?
𝜗𝜚 the one where the CoD men find it cute how quickly you cum
𝜗𝜚 characters: simon "ghost" riley, john "soap" mactavish, john price, kyle "gaz" garrick 𝜗𝜚 cw: smut (minors—DNI), reader has afab genetalia and uses she/her, oral sex (reader!receiving), thigh riding, anal, some degredation, some praise, pet names
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simon riley is fisting the bedsheets between white knuckles as his hips stutter in their rhythm, the feeling of your warm velvet walls constricting around him at just the second sink of his thick cock into. “already? do i not fuck you ‘nough, baby? cummin’ two thrusts in ‘nd i haven’t even touched your little clit” as if he doesn’t have you folded perfectly in half beneath him, your feet almost at your ears and hands scrabbling at his forearms at the way the tingling begins forming again in the pit of your stomach at simon’s words. a mocking pout graces his lips as his big brown eyes (heavy lidded and drooping with how pussydrunk he is) flutter up to meet yours, his cock twitching when he sees the way your cloudy gaze is on him. “y’wanna come again? can feel this pretty cunt squeezin’ ‘round me—s’okay, sweet’eart. go ‘head, then. lemme feel it,” he’s breathing down your neck as his thumb finally eases firm circles around your hot wet clit, easily milking your second of many highs
johnny mactavish is tightening the grip that his fingers have around your hips and outer thighs the second he feels the tension in your body snap, nearly melding his mouth to your cunt the second your orgasm hit and the taste of you flooded his tastebuds. god, he’d barely even started, only having wormed his long tongue inside of your dripping slit before you had pawed at his head and brokenly begged him to let you come. “barely started eatin’, lass—aye, stop fuckin’ squirmin’. yer interruptin’ my meal,” he mutters wetly against your cunt as he lets a wad of spit drip from his lips, letting the saliva pool on the hood of your clit before laving his tongue over it in lazy circles. it’s enough to have your back bowing off the bed again, thighs squeezing tighter around his head as you babble incoherently enough to make johnny chuckle with his tongue swirling through your insides. “s’that right? y’gonna come for me again? already? just ‘cus i touched you right—” the wet gasp you let out at the way his tongue presses sinfully against your clit has his cock growing impossibly harder in his boxers “—here? go on, then. use my tongue, pup.”
john price is bringing a hand down against the already red and raised skin of your right asscheek once he notices the way your rhythm grows sloppy, his thigh growing wetter and thus making you slip and slide a bit easier. “atta girl,” he praises warmly as his hand moves to grip at the heated flesh, trying to soothe the burn he’d just inflicted and (knowingly) angling your hips enough that your clit bumps against his corded muscles with ease. he starts hushing your hiccuped whines by burying your face into the crook of his neck, letting him control your pace and movements with two fistfuls of your ass. “one orgasm ‘nd yer already dumb? haven’t even spread you out on my cock yet, sweetheart,” john murmurs in your ear, his words paired with the way he makes you filthily grind your slippery clit against his thigh enough to have you clawing at his forearms once again. “so easy to make you finish, poppet. just a couple swipes against that little clit of yours, and yer just gushin’, innit right?”
kyle garrick is practically brain dead when he’s only two (and a half) thrusts inside of your ass, and you’re twitching around him, cumming basically untouched. like, literally has to stop himself with a hand on your hip and the other hand holding himself up on the headboard, chuckling softly to hide the way his voice wavers. “c-christ, pretty girl—got you trained that well, don’t i? such a good girl f’me, baby. don’t be shy now—gimme another one, yeah?” before he’s bullying himself back inside of your hole, using the hand he had on your hip to gather your wrists and pin them to the small of your back. it doesn’t take long before he’s moving his hand from the headboard and snaking it between your quivering thighs, stuffing two of his fingers into your neglected cunt and smirking at the way he can feel you flutter around him. “greedy girl—but you’re so easy to please, huh? i can feel you twitchin’ around my fingers, y’gonna come again? go ‘head, princess.”
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©️ ink-n-shadow 2024
do not copy, plagiarize, steal, borrow, or repost any of my work without my expressed permission
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gloomwitchwrites · 2 months ago
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https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP829jLhP/
Hi there ! I accidentally submitted my request without finishing. I wanted to request something with the 141 guys based of the this TikTok. Their kid makes them a note. Them being innocent don’t know what it actually means. It’s cute and funny at the same time.
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Hehe. Oh, I love me some dad!141. The idea of their child making a heartfelt card with a swear word in it (and not knowing that it is) is hilarious to me. I had a lot of fun with this, and I hope y'all get a good laugh out of it. Thanks for sending it in!!!!!
For the masterlist and how to submit your own request, click HERE
Task Force 141 x Reader (can be read as gn!reader)
Content & Warnings: foul language, gn!reader, dad!141
Word Count: 400
ao3 // main masterlist // imagines & what if series
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John Price
John smiles at the folded pink construction paper in his hands. For Daddy, it reads with lots of hearts. He opens it, expecting to find a cute but poorly written note from his daughter.
He blinks. Bursts out laughing.
In capitalized letters surrounded by hearts is the word cunt.
“Bloody hell,” he chuckles, snapping a photo and sending it to his spouse.
See (c) you next time.
John types out a reply. Did you know?
Tried to suggest something else.
John shakes his head, wheezing with laughter as he clips the cunty card to the side of his file cabinet.
Kyle "Gaz" Garrick
Kyle smiles down at the flip book made of sticky notes on top of his packed lunch.
Settling back in his chair, Kyle starts flipping, watching as a small dot in the middle of the notes widen into a heart. Lines appear, forming words, forming—
“It’s a heart with the word shit in the middle,” he says to you over the phone.
Kyle quickly pulls the phone away from his ear as you fall into a fit of laughter.
You wheeze between giggles. “She asked me to put it in your lunchbox for her.”
“She’s four,” Kyle deadpans.
“I know!”
Simon "Ghost" Riley
“What is this?” Simon presents a handmade card. It’s white paper with Daddy on the front in rainbow.
“It’s the note your daughter left in your lunchbox?”
Simon opens it, revealing the message inside.
You burst out laughing. “You’re an ass?” you read out loud, tears forming in your eyes as you choke on your own saliva.
“You find this funny?”
“I do,” you snort. “It’s an acronym. She put periods.”
“Bloody hell,” sighs Simon. “Wonder what it means.”
You slowly slide off the sofa as you cackle. “Get off the floor,” grumbles Simon as you fall onto your back.
John "Soap" MacTavish
“Do you see what this says?” Johnny holds up the hastily folded piece of lined paper.
It’s a card from his youngest daughter. A note she put into his lunchbox. You take it. Open it up. Laugh out loud. You turn it around to show him.
Fuck you, Da! it reads with lots of smiley faces and hearts in pink marker.
“What a bloody scoundrel,” mutters Johnny.
“I think she thinks it means something else,” you reply. Johnny groans as you continue to cackle. “I’m putting this on the fridge in a place of honor!”
“Please don’t, love,” mumbles Johnny.
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all-purpose-dish-soap · 8 months ago
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58 / 2.2k / shapeshifter familiars 141 tormenting witch reader for Halloween c:
...
You hum a song to yourself as you pull herbs from your garden and pile them into the crook of your arm. The sun sets rosy this evening; the sky is clear and the moon will be new.
You turn to go in, brushing off your black skirts with your free hand. But a familiar face darken your doorway. Nobody was there a moment ago. Your serene face falls into a sour frown.
"Soap."
Soap gives you a cocky grin. He hasn't lost that insufferable arrogance. "Evenin', witch."
You approach him with your herbs in tow. "What sad state of affairs brings you to my doorstep?"
"Aw, no warm welcome for your favorite scoundrel?"
"I favor you more as a crow."
"Handsome in all my forms, then."
You stop in front of him. It's clear you're going to have to wait for him to move or else squeeze past him. You plant your feet and wait, squaring your sight with his. "Where are the other two?"
Soap plucks one of the flowering herbs with his fingers to inspect it, then twirls it between his fingers. "About somewhere, likely causing the usual mayhem. They'll be right on my heels."
Your frown deepens. This is the fourth impossible quest you've sent them on. And they keep coming back. "Did you fetch what I asked?"
Soap raises an eyebrow as he moves closer to you, his eyes fixed on yours. He raises the plucked flower to his lips. There's an edge of challenge in his voice as he answers. "We did indeed." He gently sets the flower back on top of the pile. The he pulls out a small vial and dangles it in front of you. "And a little extra somethin' for you."
You reach for the vial only for him to pull it back.
Soap's smirk widens. "Pay up first."
Cold irritation spikes through you. You know just how he'd prefer to be paid. You shoulder past him and into your cottage with a scowl.
Soap, of course, follows you in, saunters through your front door, and kicks it shut behind him. He's not the least bit deterred by your annoyance. In fact, he quite likes it. He runs his fingers along the various bottles and implements on the shelves with idle interest. "Oh, come now. You ought to be glad we're back."
You cast your herbs into a basket near the sink. Then you stand at your scrying table, flensing knife in hand, and carve a niche into your palm. The pain is nothing. Not even when you squeeze your hand into a fist to force more blood out. It drips into the wooden bowl underneath.
Payment is payment.
Soap's breath hitches. He's watching you with keen interest. He likes watching you work, your precise, calculated movements and your confident touch with the knife.
The sight of your fresh blood only makes his smirk wider. He takes a step closer behind you to get a better view. "There are easier ways to pay your dues," he says. His hands come around to rest on the countertop on either side of you. "More pleasurable ways. Other, ah, fluids with which to slake thirst."
"Keep your distance, shapeshifter," you tell him. "Or you get nothing."
Soap rests his chin on your shoulder. The touch is far too familiar. His fingers twitch with anticipation, as if the blood on your hand tempts him forward. He's always been a touch perverse, anyway, about you wounding yourself to feed him. This is all your fault isn't it? Sending them quest after impossible quest. They only demand payment because you insist upon such extremes, naively thinking it will kill them.
"You think you have enough blood for all of us? There's an easier way. Just think," Soap murmurs in your ear. "My lips on your neck. My fingers inside you."
His words sends heat unbidden into your core. Unnaturally so. Immediately, your eyes flash, and an unseen force pushes him away from you.
Soap stumbles backwards from you, his body slamming into the nearby shelf. His shoulders heave, and he breathes heavier. Still smirking, but also looking a little more interested.
You see it in his eyes, what he doesn't say or acknowledge: he likes when you push back. He craves it. He likes to see you assert yourself.
"No need to be so inhospitable." That insufferable grin, cocky and smug again. "Just thought you might want to save your bleeding for more important things."
You ignore this. He takes a seat in your chair, and you resume your work. Another cut. Something brushes at your ankles--something purring and black.
"Gaz."
He purrs, deceptively soft and sweet as he twines around your feet. More blood from your palm hits the bowl. Gaz's nose twitches. He turns his intense cat-gaze upward to watch you from the ground. You ignore it.
Gaz is a more patient man than Soap. He knows exactly what effect Soap's words had on you. He can smell your response on the air, and it entices him. But he knows not to press.
Still, after a stretch of silence watching your blood pool, Gaz grates out a low meow as a bid for your attention. Then he jumps up onto the counter and pushes his kitty face into the blood bowl.
Soap clicks his tongue. "Jealous."
You push Gaz away just as his whiskers start to tremble. "Stop that."
Gaz gives a dissatisfied meow. He sits back on his haunches. With a glare, he licks one of his paws in distaste for your scolding.
You deposit him on the floor. Then you get back to work. Quickly, as you hear the distant call of a screech owl. Gaz saunters away with a languid stretch of his back legs.
The owl's cry echoes again. Louder now. And in reply, a dog outside your window howls.
Your heart thumps. Faster, you bid yourself. You dig your fingertips into the gash in your palm just to draw out thicker clots. Faster. No, there's no time. Casting the flensing knife aside with a clatter, you take the bowl in your uninjured hand and turn, hurrying to stand in the doorway. Two of them inside is enough. You don't want any more in your home. No more. It's all you can do to protect your home from what you brought upon yourself.
The dog howls again. Right outside. Then there's the sound of animal shifting to man, and an enormous shadow darkens your doorway before you can reach it. Ghost. He fills the door frame, towering over you and blocking your path. He's so tall and broad that, deliberate or not, every move feels like a challenge to your authority over him. He's on your side, you remind yourself. His size makes him a formidable ally. And a devastating foe, when he wants to be. He's looking at you like he's contemplating being just that.
He doesn't need to announce why he's here, and he doesn't need to say anything else. He's come for payment just as Soap and Gaz have. He'll take it from you one way or another.
Ghost's expression remains inscrutable. But he burns with an emotion you sense and he carefully hides.
"What's the hurry?" The words are low and gravelly.
You stare up at him as you force your nerves to steady. "Must you transgress into my home?"
Ghost's broad shoulders bunch beneath his tattered cloak. His dark eyes take in the scene before him, the way Gaz and Soap make themselves too comfortable in your home. Then they flicker down to the blood. He doesn't have much patience for these games of push and pull. "You expect us to drink from a bowl? Like swine at a trough?"
You cock your head. "Shall I fetch you all soup spoons?"
Ghost's scowl deepens. "Smartass witch. Be grateful we've been lenient with you."
"Have you?"
It's either amusement or contempt that flashes across Ghost's face. You're not sure which. "Do you need me to demonstrate what it means to not be lenient?" He shifts his weight, his shadow stretching and darkening the room around him. "With your insults and feeble scraps?"
"Payment is payment. Whether or not the blood comes in a bowl shouldn't matter. The source is the same."
He doesn't appreciate mind games. And he definitely doesn't appreciate when you, his witch, are the one playing them. You shouldn't play with him when he's already on edge. "Spoken like a woman who's never known how to starve." He strides closer. The sound of the floor shifts under his weight. He only stops when he's close enough to make you feel like the walls are closing in on you. He reaches forward, and with his forefinger, wipes one of the droplets from the rim of the bowl. He brings it to his lips and licks it off his finger. "The blood doesn't matter."
"The blood doesn't matter?" you echo, doubtful. "That doesn’t seem to be the case."
Ghost's eyes flicker with something. Hunger. "No," he murmurs. "You could fill the bowl with anyone's blood. It's you that makes the difference. You spill it. You offer it. That vulnerability is… personal. Better than blood. Fresh. Warm. A piece of you."
He runs his finger along the edge of the bowl and leaves a wet streak along the rim. He's watching you watch him. "You and your foolish demands. Your workarounds. Blood in a bowl isn't real vulnerability."
He takes a step closer and towers over you. "You think we don't notice how you go out of your way to make it as impersonal as possible? You're meant to give us something we want for our services. You'd be better off bleeding someone else dry and offering that up." He leans in closer and runs his gaze over you with a subtle tilt of his head. "But you would never try that, would you?"
"I told you I won't hurt other people for you. The contract is with me and me only."
Foolish promises. "That doesn't mean you get to cheat us."
You offer the bowl with more force. "Drink."
His annoyance flares. Your stubbornness, your arrogance--qualities that both make you a desirable object of focus and chip away at the shapeshifters' patience.
But they’ll be able to teach you a lesson for it sooner or later.
Ghost reaches forward, grabs your wrist, and raises the bowl to his lips. He looks you dead in the eye as he drinks.
Soap is at his side instantly. His pale eyes fix on the bowl.
You hear Gaz shift from feline to human behind you. He draws up until you feel his body heat.
"Now isn't that much nicer?" Gaz says, his voice just as cocky and insufferable as ever. "Nothing wrong with making it personal once in a while. No need to be so stingy."
You watch Ghost, eyes still locked on you, as he swipes his sleeve across his mouth and hands Soap the bowl without looking.
Soap gulps down two mouthfuls with an orgasmic growl.
Gaz chuckles as he brings it to his lips, drinking until it's empty. Then he lets the wooden bowl clatter to the floor. His mouth twitches up into a lazy smirk.
You pull your wrist free from Ghost’s grasp. "You got what you needed. Give me what you brought me and get out."
"Oh, don't be like that," Soap purrs as he prowls towards you. "You enjoy our company."
"Such poor manners," Gaz says mildly. "Seems we've still got to teach you what your responsibilities are. Price won't like hearing that."
You slow, lowering the bloodied bowl into your washbasin. "Price won't come. It's not time yet."
Ghost scoffs. "Price will do whatever he damn well pleases." He prowls closer as well, the predatory sound in his voice more obvious now, like a beast preparing to sink his teeth in. "And he won't like hearing how his second-favorite witch is a lousy hostess."
"He's not coming," you snap. A tinge of fear crawls up your spine.
"Price comes when he wants," Ghost snarls. "You should remember that before you act so foolish."
You hear the screech owl again. Closer this time. The bowl clangs against the bottom of the basin and dread churns deep in your gut.
"Do you hear that?" Gaz asks softly.
"You drank all the blood," you mutter. "You didn't leave any for him. This is your fault."
Soap smiles, but he’s not meeting your eyes. "We left him plenty."
You're helpless to do anything but watch as the sound of beating wings turns to boots falling on the undergrowth outside your open door.
He stands tall, his form blocking the moonlight and shadowing the already dim room. His dark eyes land on you, and he takes in your blood-stained hand and bloodied bowl with a hard frown. What a mess you've made.
"Witch."
He crosses the room to you and takes your jaw in his rough hand. His gaze drives ice into the blood still roaring hot through your veins.
"We're going to have a chat."
...
part 2 ➡
more Soap / more Gaz / more Ghost / more Price / masterlist
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