#I loved you little magic man AND YOU BROKE MY TRUST

[crimefightingcutie]

Not gonna lie aziraphale you’re not worth the time CROWLEY WOULD DESTROY WORLDS FOR YOU AND YOU JUST LEFT HIM HOW DARE YOU AFTER EVERYTHING YOUVE BEEN THROUGH HOW DARE YOU

[jinkiezzsstuff]

Hello dear!! I have a request for the Radio Demon

Do you mind writing sub!Alastor? Imagine your in lobby of the hotel with your beloved Alastor (on his lap) and you decide to do some frisky cockwarming with him.. well in the beginning he has control but then maybe Charlie or Lucifer u walks in.. you decide to tease him until he can't take it anymore and ends up having to cover his moans as he gums in you..

Welp! That's my request🎀 you can delete this ofc but do as you will ~

from windigo anon🦌

i’m drooling, frothing at the mouth, going insane, i love this idea!!! eeeee thank you so much i hope this was good enough i struggled a bit with cockwarming so i hope i did well

Warnings: 18+ SMUT, cockwarming, SUB!Alastor/DOM!Reader, creampie, possible breeding kink, exhibitionism, Lucifer knows what you’re doing, he’s the devil, and you use him to tease Al, jealous lucifer, lucifer is a cuck lowkey, reader wears a dress but no gendered terms or anything, maybe threesome elements?, OOC ALASTOR, NOT proof read, LMK what i missed! xo

word count: 1.9K

You and Alastor have been a thing for a very long time, and throughout the years he’d become rather comfortable with sexual intimacy. Alastor always held the reigns no matter where in life he was, that is excluding the bedroom. Alastor had made a foolish deal with you long ago, he wanted your soul and you were a fairly powerful demon at the time so there was a sit down conversation about such endeavours. You agreed to sell your soul and tie yourself to him, complete all tasks he needed done, so long as he was your bitch. Well, that wording wasn’t used back then, nor was there any sexual innuendos in the mix.

Before it simply meant he couldn’t try to place fear into you, he always had to speak truthfully when it came to you, and if plan involved you, essentially to the outside world he was allowed to look like the boss but behind closed doors he wasn’t allowed to pull that stunt. You two ended up getting along quite nicely as the years went by, your magic side of the deal made it so if he broke his promises, the deal would be off and more then likely fatal to the both of you, so it wasn’t too surprising things went well.

What was surprising was the relationship you developed, Alastor was unable to lie to you about most things due to your deal and most of the time you approached him as a peer lacking judgement. Even when you disagreed with his plans you still still gave your genuine advice and thoughts which made him trust you. Slowly through this weird bond of trust and leaning on each other, Alastor developed romantic feelings and thank god you felt them back.

Alastor was slow to warm up to affections, which meant you normally took over, letting him keep his poise and smile you’d always make the first move, asking for consent to push further whether it was a simple hug, kiss, or a little more frisky. Eventually though, things got to the point they’re at now, where Alastor craves you like his lungs crave air. He is ravenous for your touch, your kiss, your head surrounding his cock. It’s a tough couple months during mating season because he begs and begs for you like a starved man.

Because of his eagerness for you, and to please you, he’s very kindly broadened his horizons leading to absolutely tasteful trying of kinks. Recently the two of you have been planted at the hotel, Alastor called upon you the day he got there, and privately when alone explained his plans with the Devils child, your man had always been an ambitious one, but you couldn’t say no to him. So of course you stood alongside his plans, and now you’re not only dealing with the Devils child, but the devil himself.

Lucifer moved himself in after the big ol’ brawl, and thankfully things have gone somewhat smoothly between Alastor and Lucifer, as in they haven’t killed each other yet, but Lucifer made it his absolute mission to try and “steal you away,” like he did with Adam. Obviously you were committed to Alastor, but your mind would wander to sinful places about all the ways you could show Lucifer how much you loved you deer man. Oh and you just knew how.

Alastor sat in the lobby, looking through a newspaper as he sipped his coffee, music humming softly in the background. The whole lobby was vacant, even Husk was gone for the moment, you made sure of it. Walking into the lobby from the kitchen, your dress flowing around your legs, you walked up to Alastor with a warm smile on your face. “What’re you up to my dear?” You ask softly, making him hum eyes shifting from his newspaper to you, dragging up your form. “Just a little bit of reading, nothing much my doe,” Alastor seemed sleepy almost in the state he was in, his voice was soft and lacking his usual enthusiasm, however it wasn’t a state you were unfamiliar with knowing him for so long.

Slowly you lowered yourself sideways onto his lap, he complied with your actions wordlessly by whisking his newspaper away with his magic, allowing you to scootch yourself right up on him. Wrapping your arms around his neck, you played with the short hairs at the base, causing him to visibly shiver. Alastor smiled down at you softly, watching you tenderly. “I feel,” You whispered with a pause, mimicking somebody taking a thoughtful breath. “Needy.” You breathe out with a cheesy smile plastered on your face. Alastor jolts a bit still entirely not used to forward language such as that, but he didn’t say anything simply blinked at you.

“I think i’m gonna lift this dress up, and your gonna unbuckle these pants, and i’m gonna seat myself nice n comfy on ya,” You purred hands messaging all around his chest as you spoke, trailing down to the button of his slacks and back up to his shoulders. You felt him twitch against his pants, the blood obviously was already flowing to his groin. “Dear we’re in public.” Try as he may, Alastors words were wobbly and his smile looked more like a grimace.

“No baby, we’re in private, in our new home, at the hotel, where no one can see.” You cooed condescendingly, pulling your hands away to hike up your dress. Alastor dared to looked down as you bunched your dress at your hips. Alastor closed his eyes, head falling back at the sight of you bare, nothing but your dress skirt keeping you covered. Turning yourself around, you put your back to him, grinding yourself down on him teasingly.

“Y’know what to do, don’t make me say it dear.” Your voice was stern compared to the tone you held before, Alastor blew out air at your words, head still thrown back at rest on the back of the sofa. Finally he brought his hands from the resting position next to him, and freed himself from his slacks and boxers. You sighed happily as you slowly inched your way down on him, Alastors hands gripped your hips harshly, and his legs kicked out and spasmed every inch you took down.

Once buttoned out, you fixed your gown to flow around you, and backed yourself up against his chest, head rested on his shoulder. Brining his head up to gaze down at you, Alastor gave you a questioning look, sweat already gathering on his forehead. “Dear please-” Alastors words got caught off by a boisterous call, and the front door swinging open. Fixing his posture, Alastor snapped into position, positioning his legs up right feet on the floor, straightening his back, wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling you up with him.

“Hellloooo everybody! Just had an amazing meeting, everything went in my favour, as always.” Lucifer waltzed in swinging his cane. He briefly paused scanning the room to see only you two sitting stiffly. You were more relaxed, eyes littled with an easygoing smile, Alastor however was tense; his smile was tight and unfriendly, with his eye twitching. “Well hello there you two, lovely to see you here.” Lucifer smiled happily plopping himself on the couch next to you, making you two shake.

The small bit of motion from Lucifer throwing himself down, made you clench, your arousal leaking down Alastors cock and onto his pants. Clearing his throat to suppress a moan, Alastor then gave a tiny ‘hello’ to the devil. Turning your body more toward the devil, you made sure to pick yourself up off Alastor a bit, and lower yourself back down, making him sink his nails into you.

Wrapping one arm around Alastors neck, you leaned sideways against him, facing Lucifer, your skirt successfully obstructing the entire view of your sin. “Do tell Luce.” You urge pretending to care, Lucifer caught on to the strange behaviour immediately however he wasn’t entirely sure what to make of it yet, so he pushed on shrugging and explaining his meeting. You coyly moaned occasionally throughout his explanations playing it off as “oh”s and “ah”s to his story rather than Alastors twitching cock.

Leaning forward Alastor stuck his blushing face in your hair, breathing heavily into it. “Is he doing okay?” Lucifer asked suddenly, quirking a brow at Alastor. Around your waist Alastors arms tightened, and his legs once again spread and splayed out a bit allowing him more space. Alastor felt pitiful, but in a way he loved it, only you had this power and nobody else, he could live with that. Alastor was too blitzed out to realise he’d subtly humped up into you, needing some sort of release. Playing with Alastors hair, you shrugged your shoulders at the devil, your poise still in tacked.

“Yes, I do believe he’s a little sickly.” Lucifer noticed the twitch in Alastors hips now, his eyes growing in size every so slightly. “Yknow i just want to stay something Lucifer,” You begin to say, eyeing Al from your peripheral, seeing his eyes closed. “I really think we ought to stop with the battle, Alastor treats me very well, very good,” You purr fixing your posture, making Alastor groan into your hair.

“I think it’s time to stop with the whole ‘i could take your partner’ shtick.” You say sharply, with finality, Lucifers eyes at this point were flicking back and forth between the two of you, a prominent blush on his face. You grinned cheekily once again and shifted again trying to fix yourself to face forward again, as you did so you heard Lucifer take a breath to speak, but it got interrupted by a guttural groan from Alastor.

Without warning Alastors legs flexed his hips jerking involuntarily up against you, it caught you off guard and made you gasp and moan. It didn’t stop after one thrust, Alastor sunk his teeth into your shoulder jerking his hips up into you, panting and groaning without care. With one forceful thrust and growl, you whined feeling him force himself against you fully, cumming far up into you, stealing your breath. Lucifer watched bug eyed and taken aback, he never saw Alastor so pleasured, now he felt a ping of jealousy; before this moment he wanted to steal you away to show you how much better he can fuck you compared to Alastor, now he wanted you to fuck him and make him feel the way Alastor felt now.

Alastors form grew demonic, stretching and contorting, you still in his lap. You didn’t move an inch as he contorted, not afraid of Alastor what so ever. Alastors neck snapped inhumanely to Lucifer. “You are to never speak of this again.” Alastors voice didn’t sound like his own when he spoke, and whether or not Lucifer was truly scared didn’t matter as he fumbled, stuttered and then stumbled off covering his eyes and apologising. With the snap of his fingers, Alastor magicked the two of you in the safety of his radio tower, where no one dared to enter unwelcomed. “Dear, that was unacceptable. But amusing, you get away with this little fiasco only because it was Lucifer you did it in front of.”

Alastor growled at you demonic form on display, smile stretched, he had your cheeks tightly pinched in between his nails. Shrugging your shoulders, you tiptoed up to give his teeth a coy kiss. “Whatever maybe now he’ll leave us alone.”

[star-boi0720]

Giant lore dump here, basically they're the seven deadly sins, in my version to become one you commit an act to break a seal that Irene made to contain the devil within and their punishment is to become the new host for said devils. so I'm gonna go person by person and explain how they became a sinner

(the concepts aren't complete, still needs work but I just want to have it written down)

Aaron-Wrath, has a similar backstory to the OG, but I added a thing I remembered from Emerald Secret of the Utltimas backstory (this was solely from my memory and might not be exact) and took Zane out of the equation, basically Aaron had a hobby of hunting and he without knowing killed this holy wolf that Irene created, and as a punishment he was combined with it and in the foggy haze of his transformation he murdered his whole village and his family.

Lucinda-Gluttony, Her hunger for knowledge killed her best friend(/ maybe girlfriend aka Sasha don't 100% know yet) and sealed away her mother to the cursed forest. Hyria used to have like a coven/school for witches she made after Irene left. Lucinda was a prodigy and wanted to just keep learning to the point she was so desperate she stole a book her mother told her never to even touch (which had sin inside and was trusted to hyria by Irene) which made Lucinda's magic go crazy and destroy the school and seal her mom away and kill Sasha.

Travis-Lust, so his mom dies to seal his dad away all that's the same but Travis is just super lonely right, but then a girl comes to visit him and he eventually falls in love with her but she actually is a member of his fathers cult to break him free and Travis is so obsessed with her he doesn't notice, and before he can stop her fully she partially freed him and travis in the struggle to stop her he kills her and breaks his mothers necklace(which had lust inside) but right after he kills her a bunch of villagers burst into the chamber the demon warlock was locked in and it looks like Travis just sacrificed some girl to his father and they try to kill him so Travis hides deep in the mountains

Katelyn-Envy, her entire life in her village of dragons she was treated as lesser compared to her brothers Kayden and Cain cause she wasn't as strong as them and she pushed herself but wasn't enough, her jealousy boiled over and in a fight with her brother Kameron she broke a statue that had the sin inside she didn't kill him but burned him beyond recovery

Garroth- Pride, He was the cocky prince troupe kinda like Hercules from the Disney movie and he liked to play hero, and vylad always went with him like Garroth's little sidekick. but one day they came against a monster they couldn't beat and Garroth refused to back down and in which the monster which was a huge lion killed vylad garroth killed it but it had the sin of pride inside it Garroth returned home and when he told his mother of what happened she hid him away knowing the world would see garroth as a threat and kill him. So Evelyn(Aka Zianna I changed a lot of the parent's names cause it seemed repetitive to me, so mom is now Evelyn and the father's name is now Adam) sent Garroth to hide in Phoenix Drop and claimed the beast killed both of them.

Zane- Greed, Zane was always a good man the whole kind young priest get up. but after the sudden deaths of his brothers, his faith was shaken, and in a desperate attempt to bring them back he began to research black magic and corrupted his mind and he opened a box deep in the catacombs of Okasis which was Pandora's box which held the sin of greed and became and the once kind prince became a true monster.

Nana-Sloth Nana is the eldest daughter of a duke of the Tula Kingdom, her mother died when Nana was young and her father was very heartless about it, like had a new wife in 2 days and all her other siblings were only her half she tried to be close to them but her father kept her away from them to the point she stopped trying after so long but on a night a raid happened she was only able to save one of her siblings her youngest Juno who was only like 7 but as she was escaping she broke a mirror that had the sin of sloth inside and possessed her and nana escaped to ruan and made her little cafe with her sister. (Nanas I don't fully like it yet but it is something ig)

So that's pretty much just some tragic mfrs sorry for any spelling mistakes

[why-what-no]

Caged Love

Pairing: Morpheus x Fem!Burgess!Reader

Warnings: None

Summary: The adopted daughter of Alex Burgess finds out about Morpheus. When a love blossoms between the two, she must decide between her family and the trapped Dreamlord

Requested by: @writing-fanics

Throughout (Y/N) Burgess’s youth, she had picked up whispers of her family’s past. Her grandfather was said to have trapped a god, to have taken it’s power for his own. He had been a warlock, and (Y/N) had began to play pretend as a magic user when she learned that.

Before her fathers banned her from that, however. He didn’t want any more magic in the family.

She had been adopted at a young age by Alex Burgess and his husband. Originally the girl was the child of a gardener who died unexpectedly, and the owners of the house had then taken her in as their daughter. Alex never expected to have a child, but he loved her like his own.

And eventually, when she grow into an adult, he revealed to her his greatest secret. The god trapped by his father was real, only he wasn’t a god. He was the Sandman, and he was in their basement.

(Y/N) asked her father about releasing him, staring at the trapped and helpless man-shaped figure. The sight of him broke her heart, and he was just staring at her with bitterness in his eyes. He looked like a fallen angel.

But her father’s reply was harsh. He would kill all of us, he told her, his kind is vengeful and letting him go would be a death sentence. So instead of freeing the Dream lord, she allowed her father to led her out of the room.

But she would return, unable to get Dream’s eyes out her of mind. Every few days, she’d enter the basement and sit on the floor in front of the sigils on the floor. (Y/N) would speak to him, getting a little discouraged as he never said anything back. But she still continued, wanting to keep him company. Telling him about her day, asking questions that she knew he wouldn’t answer.

However, things began to change.

Dream still didn’t say anything to her, but the look in his eyes whenever he saw her had changed. It was much less bitter than it was when (Y/N)’s fathers were present. She got attached to him, worried about him, disgusted with herself for not doing anything.

Finally it all became to much, and she snuck down to the basement at midnight. If she were to guess, she’d say that he seemed surprised to see her at that time of night. (Y/N) considered begging him not to hurt anyone. But her father had been doing that for decades, and nothing had happened.

“I should have done this earlier. I’m sorry.” Was all she said, scuffing the sigils with her toe. Making sure that the security guards didn’t see.

She dashed out of the basement but froze when she heard gunshots from the basement. Morpheus didn’t have a gun. Only the guards did. Terror seized her at the thought of Morpheus in danger and she immediately returned to the basement.

“Get out of here Miss Burgess!” One of the guards yelled, a bright light surrounding Morpheus as they shot at him. (Y/N) yelled at them to stop, but a large force of energy hit her and the guards. Hitting her head as she was slammed against the wall. Losing consciousness as she realized that she had probably made a mistake.

***

Morpheus tried to keep the girl out of his head, using his mission to get his tools back as a convenient distraction. But now that everything was back to normal, he found himself searching for the woman who had freed him.

“I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.” (Y/N) commented when she first saw him since she freed him. He noticed her hands shaking slightly as he stood in front of her, obviously nervous that he would hurt her.

“Neither did I.”

“I could have died because of you. I saw what you did to my dad.” It was obvious she didn’t trust him, just like he hadn’t trusted her.

Having been so used to humans betraying him, he had expected her to be like the others. Expected her to be like her family.

But she had been kind to him, spoke to him. He had wanted to hate her, told himself that it was always the ones who masked themselves in beauty and kindness that were the worst of enemies. However, when she had freed him, he had realized that maybe there was some good in the different worlds.

“I’m sorry that you were injured. It was not my intention.” She seemed so fragile next to him, so human. “As for your father, he made his choice long ago.”

She looked like she wanted to argue, but knew he was right. So Morpheus continued. “I came to thank you, and to see you again.”

“See me?”

He nodded. “You’re a good person. One of few. Throughout my time imprisoned… you were the one good part in all of it.”

“I’m sorry I took so long to help you.” Her response was quiet, guilty. But he just smiled regretfully.

“You were loyal to your family, and you didn’t trust me.” He hadn’t forgiven the rest of her family, but in his eyes, (Y/N) had done no wrong. “I only wish that…”

“What?”

“I don’t regret keeping silent in my imprisonment, but I would like to now have a change to speak to you.

Her heart raced at his words, scarcely believing it. “Speak to me? Like get to know me or something?” She stuttered.

“You were kind, I don’t see that very often.” He tried to avoid telling her the full truth, that he just wanted to be around her. That he hoped that she would maybe… be interested in what he had to say just like he was about her. “Come back with me to my Realm.”

He expected her to protest, to say no. But, he should have learned not to expect anything about her. “Alright.”

She sounded eager.

“Really?”

“Yeah.” She confirmed. “It’s not like I’m really wanted back home anymore. And I wanna talk to you too.”

He couldn’t hide his smile at her reply, hopeful that this would go better than his previous experiences with women.

Unbeknownst to him (at least at the moment), he didn’t have to worry about that. She was just as fascinated with him as she was with him. And as they got closer over the time they spent together; they both knew they had made the right choice.

Somehow the granddaughter of the man Morpheus hated, became his greatest love.

[pensat-i-fet]

Mi campeón (Julián Álvarez x Reader)

** Anon request. I hope you like it ❤️😊**

Prequel

Masterlist

Wattpad

"Wake up", said your classmate, laughing at the faces you were making trying not to fall asleep.

You had been trying to pay attention all morning, but it was hard when you had barely been able to get any sleep the previous night. After the semifinal win for Argentina, in which your boyfriend Julián scored a brace, the adrenaline in your body made it impossible to fall asleep. And you also spent two hours on facetime with him once he was back in the hotel.

Because of university, you knew you couldn't go to Qatar from the beginning of the tournament but you really hoped to be there for the final if the team reached it. It was then that you were told there were visa problems that made it impossible for you to travel over there. The disappointment was hard to hide but you did your best. Julián had enough to worry about.

"Good luck", you heard your professor say when you walked past him on your way out of the classroom.

"Excuse me?"

"For the final", he added, pointing at the Argentina shirt you were wearing.

"Right. Thank you. We'll need it".

"I'm sure the little man will work his magic and get the cup. See you next year".

"See you then".

Not being able to go to Qatar meant you were travelling to Argentina a week earlier than you would have on a normal uni year. The team was going to travel there anyways and both you and Julián had plans to spend Christmas with your families in your hometown.

The two of you had known each other since you were babies. Born two months apart and being neighbours your entire life, even though you hated each other when you were kids. Everyone could tell the change in your relationship once you got a bit older and it was a couple of years ago that you proved their theories right by starting to date.

Now you have followed him to Manchester but not to Qatar. The last time you were away from each for so long was probably ten years ago. But the wait was almost over now. You were going to see him in a couple of days.

                                      **

"Another penalty?"

Your family house erupted with all types of colourful insults dedicated to the referee who had just given another penalty to France, which meant they equalized again and the match was ending in a penalty shootout.

Julián had already been taken off, so that meant he wasn't going to take any penalties. A part of you was glad, even if you always trusted him to score it. But the thought of him missing it and getting abuse from people broke your heart. And he'd also blame himself after a great tournament, forgetting every good performance he had before. So maybe it was for the best he was on the bench right now. Even if you knew he wouldn't be happy about it.

It only took a couple of minutes for the penalty shootout to be over, but to the entire country, it felt like it lasted several hours. But they had done it! Argentina were the world champions! Your boyfriend was a world champion. It was hard to believe. It seemed it was only two days ago that you were playing with him and all the other kids in your neighbourhood after school. And now there he was, champion of the world. It wasn't the first trophy he had won but it was the biggest he could ever win.

Even though you knew he wasn't going to get access to his phone for a while, you immediately sent him a text congratulating him and telling him how proud you were and how much you loved him. He always read your messages first even if he had to scroll down to find them because you were always the first one to text.

Your family decided to go out and join everyone celebrating on the streets but they couldn't convince you to go out as well. You wanted to be away from the noise when Julián called you.

When you heard the ringtone, you sprinted from the kitchen to the sofa to get the phone.

"Hi! Oh my God, you won! I'm so proud. I love you so much. Look at that medal! I can't believe you are a world champion. Can you believe it?"

He just laughed at how you couldn't stop talking. That was what you always did when you were nervous or very excited about something. And while he found it adorable, he knew he had to wait until you were done before he could say a word.

"And Leo winning the world cup now…he's just the best. Well, second best. You are the best. You should hear what people are saying about you in England. Everyone is praising you. It's so nice they finally could see how good you are".

After that, you took some deep breaths signalling you were done with your monologue and Julián just said a simple te amo before telling you all about the match and parading the phone around the dressing room so you could congratulate everyone.

"I gotta go. We'll continue the celebrations in the hotel. See you tomorrow. Finally!"

"Yes. Finally", you said, rolling your eyes and making him laugh. "Te amo, mi campeón" (I love you, my champion).

"I love you more".

                                     **

Between the jet lag and the anticipation of Julián being back in a couple of hours, you couldn’t sleep at all. So you decided to go back to a habit you had at the beginning of your relationship and that you didn't get to do as often nowadays. You took a piece of paper and wrote him a letter. Most of the time, you just wrote about random things. Someone you saw on the street and that made you laugh or the exam you had to do that week. But the longer letters were those where you poured your heart out to him. This time, it was going to be a very long letter.

After a quick breakfast, it was time to go meet the team. They had planned on seeing their families briefly and then going to the huge parade that was taking place in their honour. The entire city was full of Argentinians waiting to see their heroes.

You only had one hero that you needed to see, but when he finally appeared, you couldn’t move. It was the weirdest sensation and something that had never happened to you before. But you just stared at him while the rest of the family kept running in his direction.

Julián was looking around trying to find you and when he finally spotted you, it was his big smile that finally made you move and run to hug him.

"I missed you", he whispered.

"God. I missed you more".

People kept bumping into you two while moving around the very crowded room, but you didn’t care. You could have stayed like that forever.

"Do I have to go to the parade?"

"No", you said, laughing. "You have to stay with me and never leave again".

"As much as I would love to do that", he said, pressing his forehead to yours, "I still need to leave. I can't say it won't take long but after I'm back I'm not separating from you for longer than 5 minutes every day".

"Okay".

After a long kiss that felt too short for both of you, he was taken back with the rest of the team. But the good thing was that now that you had seen him, you could join in the celebrations.

                                     **

"I can barely stand", said your mum when you finally sat down after hours of dancing and singing.

"Same".

"Is Julián going to meet us soon?"

You looked down at your watch. "Soon-ish. If they can escape the crowd".

You both laughed at that, thinking about how the bus could barely move because of how many people were there.

"There they are!", said your dad, pointing at the group of players approaching.

It didn't take Julian long to get to where you were all waiting. He lifted you in his arms and started to spin you around, making you laugh.

"Stop! I'm going to be dizzy!"

"I already am dizzy with happiness and love", he said, making you laugh again.

"And drunk".

"I only had a beer".

"Then you are really cheesy", you said, giving his lips another peck.

"Says miss love letters", he taunted you. He loved your letters but also loved teasing you about them.

"Speaking of that", you said, opening your bag to get the one you had written to him this morning.

"Should I wait to read it?"

"It's long, so better save it for when we aren't surrounded by so many people".

When he was about to give you another kiss, someone tapped him on the shoulder to ask for a photo. Great, more fans had gotten inside what was supposed to be the private area.

"It's ok", you told him when he looked at you, a question on his face, "take the photos. I'll wait".

Once people saw one of the players taking photos with fans, they all thought they could get one. It was then you started to notice people pushing you so they could get to Julián and to other players.

"Be careful!", you said to someone who pushed you so hard, he almost made you fall.

"Shut up", was his only response.

You were about to tell him a couple of things when you saw Julián noticing what was going on.

"Hey! That's no way to talk to her. Apologize right now".

When the man heard Julián's words, he turned red. His embarrassment was punishment enough but he turned back to apologize to you.

Julián ignored everyone else so he could get closer to you.

"You ok?"

"Yes. It's just too many people in such a small place and you know how much everyone's been drinking too".

"Let's go", he said, grabbing your hand and leading you to where the cars were.

"We don't have to leave yet", you complained. You didn't want him to cut the celebrations short because of you.

"I want to. Really. I rather spend time with you than stay here", he said, caressing your cheek.

"Ok then".

                                   **

Back home, he was getting the same amount of attention but from family members this time. Even though Julián never stopped holding your hand and moving you closer to him, he had to pay attention to at least 10 people at the same time. It looked like they were taking turns.

"Finally!", he said, falling down into your bed while you closed the door.

"How tired are you exactly?", you asked, laying down next to him and putting your head on his chest.

"Exhausted. But I don't want to sleep".

"What?", you laughed. That didn't make sense.

"I want to stay awake and spend all my time with you. I can't believe we survived a whole month away from each other".

"I know", you agreed, closing your eyes and holding him tighter.

After a couple of minutes, you remembered your mum was making some mate and asked Julián if he wanted some. When he said yes, you went to the kitchen to get it.

He sat up in the bed and remembered that you had given him a letter earlier, which he still hadn't read. So that's what he did while waiting for you to be back with the drinks.

"My love, telling you that I missed you would be an understatement. But the pride I've felt this whole month made everything more bearable.

I've been thinking back to the times when we played in the park with our friends. How you were always teasing me and how I told my parents you hit me with the ball on purpose, when it was actually me hitting you. I remember the day we confessed our feelings to each other, when you told me all the teasing was you trying to get my attention because you already liked me. And then I had to tell you that I was doing the same…but in a more aggressive way.

I love that we still are those silly teens. I love that we are not afraid of making fun of each other because we know it all comes from a place of love. Even if some people don't understand it. Like your new teammates. They probably think we are really weird in Argentina.

We once said we'd be together every step of the way while we make our dreams come true. That's why I moved to Manchester with you. That's why I felt guilty for not being able to be with you during this World Cup, but didn't want to tell you so you wouldn't feel bad. I never wanted to be a distraction. But I felt guilty. I can finally say it. And I felt so sad when I realised I wouldn't be there when you won the tournament. I guess you'll have to win it again to compensate for it.

But the biggest thing that this month away from you has shown me is that I never want to experience this again. I never want to be away from you again. I want to spend every day of my life with you…".

You got back to the room before he finished reading the letter but he had read enough. He got up from the bed and took the drinks from your hands so he could put them on the table.

"What?"

But he didn't let you say more. He kissed you, holding your face gently, as if you were made of glass.

"Me too", he said, smiling.

"You too what?"

"The letter. I want that too. I want to spend every day, every second, with you".

"Good, because I wasn't going to take no for an answer".

[piggyinthesea]

To All The Boys I’ve Hurt | 001

ᴘᴀɪʀɪɴɢ: ᴄᴀʀʟᴏs sᴀɪɴᴢ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ, ᴄʜᴀʀʟᴇs ʟᴇᴄʟᴇʀᴄ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ (ᴘʀᴇᴠɪᴏᴜsʟʏ ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴᴇᴅ)

ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴀʀʏ: “ɪ ᴛʜɪɴᴋ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀꜱᴛ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛʙʀᴇᴀᴋ ɪ’ᴠᴇ ʜᴀᴅ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴡʜᴇɴ ɪ ᴡᴀꜱ 19. ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴛʜɪꜱ ɢɪʀʟ, ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ɪ ꜱᴛɪʟʟ ᴛʜɪɴᴋ ɪꜱ ᴛʀᴜᴇ, ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʀᴇᴛᴛɪᴇꜱᴛ ɢɪʀʟ ɪ’ᴠᴇ ᴇᴠᴇʀ ꜱᴇᴇɴ. ɪ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ᴡᴇ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ɪɴ ʟᴏᴠᴇ, ʏᴏᴜ ᴋɴᴏᴡ? ɪ’ᴠᴇ ꜱᴇʀɪᴏᴜꜱʟʏ ᴘɪᴄᴛᴜʀᴇᴅ ᴍᴀʀʀʏɪɴɢ ʜᴇʀ ᴅᴇꜱᴘɪᴛᴇ ᴍʏ ʏᴏᴜɴɢ ᴀɢᴇ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛɪᴍᴇ. ᴅᴏɴ’ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʜᴀᴘᴘᴇɴᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜ, ꜱʜᴇ ꜱᴛᴀʀᴛᴇᴅ ᴘᴜʟʟɪɴɢ ᴀᴡᴀʏ. ᴛʜᴇɴ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴡᴇɴᴛ ʙᴀᴄᴋ ᴛᴏ ɴᴏʀᴍᴀʟ ꜰᴏʀ ᴀ ᴡʜɪʟᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜɪɴɢꜱ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ʙᴇᴛᴛᴇʀ. ᴛʜᴇɴ ꜱʜᴇ ʙʀᴏᴋᴇ ɪᴛ ᴏꜰꜰ. ᴛᴏᴏᴋ ᴍᴇ ᴀ ᴘʀᴇᴛᴛʏ ʟᴏɴɢ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ɢᴇᴛ ᴏᴠᴇʀ ʜᴇʀ ʙᴜᴛ, ᴏʜ ᴡᴇʟʟ.”

ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢs: ᴘ ɪɴ ᴠ sᴇx, ʜɪᴄᴋᴇʏ ᴋɪɴᴋ, ғᴜᴄᴋɪɴɢ-ʏᴏᴜʀ-ʜᴏᴍɪᴇs-ᴇx, ᴅᴇᴠɪʟ sᴘᴀᴡɴ ɢɪʀʟ, ᴄɪᴛʏ ɢɪʀʟ ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

“I think the worst heartbreak I’ve had was when I was 19. There was this girl, which I still think is true, that was the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen. I thought we were in love, you know? I’ve seriously pictured marrying her despite how young we were. Don’t know what happened though, she started pulling away. Then everything went back to normal for a while and things were never better. Then she broke it off. Took me a pretty long time to get over her but, oh well.” Charles had told, taking a sip from his beer among the rest of the men in the group.

The f1 drivers had all come together to a little get-together. It was close to 12 in the morning and the men were all drinking and had gotten to the conversation of exes. Many had shared the cliché high school sweetheart or childhood lover but when Carlos turn came, he had nothing to share. Listening to the stories made him wish to never get heartbroken and so far, he hasn’t. Love never came to him the way it did to the others. He’d only ever known lust. The ‘magic’ one would feel when in love was unknown to him. This doesn’t mean he had no partners in his life time, he just wasn’t in love with them.

“I’ve never been in love. Yet. So I guess by default I haven’t been heartbroken, you know?” Carlos says nonchalantly. The other drivers shared a look between them and continued drinking their cold beers. Carlos furrowed his brows, “What?”

Charles is the first to speak. “There’s no way.” He absentmindedly says. Charles’s back is turned away from the rest of the group as he gets up from the couch to head to the fridge. He pulls out another beer and opens it.

“Swear. I mean, sometimes I wished to have that kind of love but you know, if it happens it happens. I just personally don’t think I’ll be heartbroken over someone.” As if Carlos had said something funny, the group erupted into laughs. Carlos had felt like a little boy confused at the joke adults made.

“Trust, man. They’ll be some devil spawn girl to make that happen for you. You just got to meet her.” The words roll off smoothly out of Charles mouth yet Carlos had difficulty understanding. For a second Carlos thought about what he had said, letting a silence fill the room.

“How’d you meet the girl that broke your heart?” Carlos asks, wanting to learn more. If he learned all the signs of what a ‘devil spawn girl’ looked like, perhaps he could learn to avoid those types of girls. Carlos fixes his eyes on Charles, with his legs spread and hands in between.

Charles takes a deep drink of his beer and sets it on the coffee table. “You know it was hard to miss her? She was just like those model girls on Instagram, but acted nothing like them. You know? It was like seeing someone so perfect you just got to ask them on a date. I remember the first time I saw her. It was summer and she was at this one marvelous beach in Monaco sun tanning, or something. I was by myself at the time, just walking around, and then I gathered the courage to go up to her and start off a conversation. It was the easiest conversation ever, im telling you. It was like I’ve known her for years. One thing led to another and soon enough she was my girlfriend, even though I never officially asked her. I guess that was the first mistake I did. I just assumed we were both exclusive? The more I thought about it, I wondered if the reason she started pulling away was because she noticed I was acting as if we were. Guess we’ll never know though.” Charles had said, rather melodramatic.

An audible groan arose from one of the drivers, Max. “This is so depressing. Can we please stop talking about heartbreak?”

The group erupts into chuckles, “How did this topic even come up?” One of the drivers says. The topic then switched to something more lighthearted and the night was continued smoothly. Throughout the new topic of conversation, Carlos couldn’t stop thinking about what Charles had said. For some reason, he couldn’t fathom a girl so beautiful he’d have to stop and attempt a conversation. Perhaps this was because Carlos laid more on the anti-social type. Still, he wondered if he’d ever meet a girl like that. If he did, he’d definitely stay away. Carlos mindlessly drifted away from the conversation the rest of night, drinking his cold bitter beer and occasionally giving a fake laugh when others would.

Days passed since that night and the topic no longer held reign over Carlos’s mind. It was the day after the singapore gp, he had landed pole position and had never felt better about himself. Still in Singapore, he drove his exotic car around the city and viewed many tourist spots. He’d been in Singapore before, for races. One of his favorite tourist spots was the gardens by the bay. It had not been particularly popular that day, with only a few tourists and natives here and there. Only a couple had recognized Carlos and asked for a picture. His main attention was placed on the beautiful flowers and plants that were beautifully grown and taken care of. The architectural structure of the greenhouses had been elaborately designed when building. The glass panels held barely visible led lights that produced a vibrant purple light when night came. As he wondered around the greenhouse, a person behind him accidentally stepped on the back of his heel, almost causing his shoe to come off.

“I’m so sorry.” A soft voice called out as Carlos began to turn around. Maybe it was the soft glow of the purple lights. Or maybe it was the flowers around that had made you look so bright in his eyes. Nevertheless, for a moment Carlos was stunned.

“Uh- no it’s fine.” He gave a tight lipped smile. You stood in front of him so beautifully- what was the word, beautiful? No he had already said that. Perfect? You’d certainly fit his standards of perfect. It was then he took in your full appearance. You wore a slimming long sleeve shirt, tucked into your beige plaid skirt; black sheer tights underneath along with black combat boots. He stared at you for a second, that seemed pretty long, before blinking himself out of his trance.

“Well, have a good day!” Your kind voice tells him, giving a small smile along the way. You began to walk away, admiring the colorful and blooming flowers.

He follows you, catching up to you and setting place in your side. You walked side by side as he asks, “Are you visiting Singapore or just visiting?”

“𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘸𝘯 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶.”

Despite all the alarms ringing in his head, he can’t help but make conversation with you. All the times he’s thought about what Charles said he was certain that he’d walk away, and pay no attention to the ‘devil spawn girl’ flashed through his mind. Yet he couldn’t find the strength to walk away from you. He’s only known you for a few second yet, he was certain you were his devil spawn girl.

“Just visiting. Next is Japan. My cousin just graduated college and as a reward, his parents gave him the money to travel and attend to all Formula One gp’s this year. I have no interest in it, really, im just here to accompany him.” You explained, gracefully walking along the paved floor in the greenhouse. Carlos was barely able to his smirk.

“Oh really? What team does he root for?” Carlos asks, never taking his eye off you.

“I think Redbull. Big fan of Verstappen.”

Carlos cringes and almost laughs. Redbull had performed rather poorly this qualifying race. He imagined the face on your cousin as they watched from the stands. “Heard they had poor results yesterday.”

“Yep. My cousin moped about it to me for hours. She told me some guy from Ferrari took the pole position.”

Carlos laughs, “Yeah. Sorry about her moping to you, sounds awful. What’s your opinion on Ferrari, anyway?” He said, attempting to get more information out of you. Maybe he imagined it or maybe he didn’t, but for a second you froze.

Continuing like normal, you shrugged. “Don’t really mind them, they’re just a team, you know? Fun fact, actually, a few years ago I used to have a thing with one of the drivers. Wont say who though, haha. Basically, he just assumed we were dating. Out of no where. Never even asked me the big question, so I just stopped seeing him.”

Carlos’s heart skips a beat. He knows this story already. He knows he should stop talking to you. But he just can’t. So he lies, “Oh. That’s kind of weird.” He winces, did he really just say that? Talk about being 2 faced.

“Yeah, I dunno but he seems to be doing good now.” You replied, unaware of the thoughts racing through Carlos’s head.

You looked so beautiful though. He couldn’t just not ask you out on a date. He had to make you his, officially. He wouldn’t make the same mistake as Charles.

“Sorry, I have to go now. My cousin has plans with me this afternoon. It was a pleasure meeting you!” You smile wide enough that your dimples show and it nearly makes Carlos collapse.

Carlos reaches to grab your wrist, preventing from leaving. “Wait. You said your cousin likes formula one. How about the next gp, you join Ferrari’s paddock. I kind of work for formula 1 and have access to extra passes. Would you like that?”

Your smile widens, “Oh my god, yeah of course! What’s your number? She’ll be so ecstatic, no matter the team.”

A small bubble of pride built up in the stomach of Carlos as he types his digits in your phone. You part ways, and a while after you left Carlos returns to his hotel. He swoons when you text him first and he spends no time responding back.

+323-286-2641

Hey! This is the girl you met at the greenhouse. I never caught your name?

hi!! my names carlos, yours is?

You respond with your name. Carlos can’t help but think about what a beautiful name you had. He still can’t believe fact you even gave him your number. Girls like you have thousands of men on their knees. The type to have a guy tattoo your name on their arm. The type of girl to have well-known celebrities in your dms. He knows you know you’re beautiful. However, he promises, in the swarm of guys infatuated with you, he’d be the one to treat you the best. You guys text back and forth for nearly two hours. Just like Charles had said, it felt like he knew you for years. Conversations went by with ease and delight.

Feeling bold, Carlos asks to FaceTime. It didn’t take long for you to respond, agreeing, and Carlos can’t help but feel victorious. You answered, laying on your bed with your hair slightly messy and out of place. You looked absolutely adorable. The two of you began to talk and you had told him your cousin canceled plans to some Redbull event. You didn’t bother to go and waited patiently in the hotel. Carlos frowned.

Carlos debates against himself. His heart pounds as he asks, “Do you want to go out, have some fun?”. He cringes and expects rejection.

“You know, I’d actually like that! I might lose my mind in this hotel.”

Carlos laughs. He tells you, be ready at 8, and you obey. Carlos had picked a bar/restaurant. It was the type of place to have gourmet meals yet a large bar. Knowing whether it was a bar or a restaurant was difficult. He already been blown away by your beauty and so when he picked you up and saw you in a tiny red hunched up dress, he had to hide the tightness in his pants. Many women, though you weren’t like many women, were impressed by his shiny and lavish car. However, you showed no reaction to his. It makes sense that you were used to guys with fancy cars, after-all, it takes money to have a beautiful lady. He’s quick to open the door for you and when he settles into his seat he tells you how gorgeous you looked. You laughed and in return said, you don’t look to bad yourself.

Carlos felt small standing next to you. NeverMind the fact that he was absolutely towering over you, he still felt like the musty guy who managed to impress a goddess. He wore nothing too extravagant, just a white button up shirt with black slacks and dress shoes. He saw many eyes turn to you as you enter red the bar/restaurant however, you remained blissfully unaware. So he thought.

You knew you were beautiful. You had your fair share of guys tell you. As you grew up, you learned to finesse your beauty into getting whatever you wanted with ease. You were plenty of men’s dream girl and so you did what any girl did to take advantage. It’s a world ruled by men, yet in your world, you ruled the men. Carlos pathetic excuse of a car didn’t impress you. You were accustomed to luxury. Many snobby men that don’t have it all, think one thing would have you dropping your panties in a whim. You weren’t bound to anyone. It was harder for guys to impress you. Being flown out, sent extravagant gifts, and designer bags was a daily thing for you. The both of you left the dining area and walked over to the bar. The more you talked, and the more alcohol entered your system, the more you found yourself enjoying Carlos’s company. He wasn’t a snobby man, you could tell. As the both of you were talking, a well dressed man made his way over to you.

“Hey! It’s you. Good to see you.” He says, completely ignoring Carlos’s existence. Carlos felt a large amount of annoyance and protectively placed his arm around you waist.

“Oh, hey! Nice to see you again.” You say, aware of the emotions Carlos is currently feeling.

The man introduces himself to Carlos, “Woah. Just wanted to say I’m a big fan, man.” Carlos’s ego enlargers and feels dominance over the man.

“Always nice to meet a fan.” Carlos fakes a smile and shakes the man’s hand. The man leaves, presumably back to his own date who looked agitated.

Your full attention is back on Carlos, “Are you a celebrity or something?”

“Something like that.” Carlos doesn’t know if he should tell you he’s a driver for formula one. He knows certainly about your past with Charles and even though it seems like it might not be a big deal to you, it was for Charles. Carlos wondered if you had truly hurt him the way he described. You just don’t seem like that type of person.

After a few drinks enough to get you tipsy, the two of you decided to head back to the dining area. It took a while for your orders to arrive, but when they did boy did they make your nostrils pleased. Tasteful looking steaks were served to the both of you. The sides contained mainly collard greens and mixed vegetables. Carlos had also ordered a bottle of wine that was too expensive and too hard to pronounce. The two of you talked in between your meals, sharing more and more about your life.

You finished your meals and by the end of the day, you admit you had a pretty good night. Not to mention, Carlos looked so pretty tonight. His light curly hair sat nicely in a comb over and with the sleeves of his white button up rolled up and for a moment you wished you didn’t share a room with your cousin. He opened the door to his car for you like a true gentleman, and you couldn’t help but blush a little. Laughs were shared on the ride back to your hotel.

Each moment Carlos spent with you, he felt more and more like a bad friend. Guilt was consuming him but the thing that made everything worse was that he didn’t care. He felt happy with you. Despite knowing you for such little time, he was already wrapped around your little finger. Much like others. He wasn’t exactly like others, though. He didn’t want to drive you back to your hotel. He wanted more time to see that amazing smile and face.

However the time came, and you were thanking him for taking you out. The two of you smiled and held eye contact. You looked up at him with your big eyes and dazzling smile. You leaned in and he didn’t hesitate to kiss you. To him, he felt like the world had stopped moving. Your lips were his newfound love. He felt that as if he’d been deprived of your touch or love, he’d start a world apocalypse just to feel them again. In your perspective, the kiss was good. You had worse. There was nothing much to say about it.

You gave him a smile and waved goodbye, shit even your wave is pretty, he thought as he watched your frame walk into the hotel to ensure you got in safely. He turned and walked back to his car. In no time, he reached his hotel room.

He tosses and turns in his bed yet you still can’t leave his mind. He hyper-fixes on your beauty and recalls every interaction with you. He remembers how you looked at him before the kiss. Your big sparkling eyes stared up at him, as if he was your world. You surprised him when you kissed him. He was surprised he didn’t get hard that moment, yet thankful for it. He kept imagining what your lips would feel like again. He wondered how’d you look pressing your lips somewhere else. He groaned, the aching in his pants becoming quite painful. He palmed himself with his eyes shut, feeling dirty and guilty. He unzipped his slacks, freeing his aching member from the imprisonment. He rubbed himself slowly, imaging you beneath him, teasing him. His stomach felt tight and pressured as Carlos pumped himself faster. His head began feeling heavy as Carlos pumped himself with even more speed and dedication. Images of you writhing below him flashed through his mind like core memories. He imagined your sweet doe eyes looking back up at him with his seed spilling out of your mouth. With a final pump, white hot liquid oozed out of him. More and more pulsed out of him as he gave a sigh of relief and relaxed his body. After the post-orgasm bliss, he cleaned himself up and slept peacefully at last.

The morning after he decided on sending you a good morning text with light pink hearts. Today he had a meeting with his team on their results for qualifying. He dressed himself in a simple outfit. A branded Ferrari shirt with their sponsors and some straight black jeans. Every five minutes or so he checked his phone, wondering if you’d texted back. He tried to hide his disappointment when he saw the contrary.

Carlos tried to listen to the directors and team principals but he couldn’t because when he tried too, his mind always landed back on you. He suddenly felt his phone buzz and when he looked, his heart soared at your text. It was a simple message, really.

her

good morning, mi princesa! 🩷

good morning :)) how’d you sleep?

Reminders of what he did last name in your name paused him in his tracks. Nevertheless, he quickly replied to your message.

Amazing. I had such an amazing time with you, would you be open to doing it again?

haha, I had a good time too. I’d love to do it again but, I’m heading to Japan for the next gp this evening :/

Me too! Maybe we can hang out there. That reminds me though, I’ll send the passes later. What time do you leave for your flight?

You’re so kind! I leave at 6.

In a few minutes I’m gonna be out of this meeting, want to meet up so I can give them to you?

Im down! You know where I stay, let me know when you’re a few minutes away.

Carlos subconsciously began to smile at his phone, unaware of the certain monegasque that had noticed. The meeting had ended and as Carlos made his way to the exit, an arm reached out to grab his.

“What’s her name?” Charles smiles knowingly. Carlos is too stunned to speak. For a moment, he had forgotten all about Charles and his past with you. How long could Carlos hide this from his teammate?

“I-uh im not sure why that matters.” Carlos stutters under the immense pressure, almost folding.

Charles laughs at the stuttering mess of Carlos, “Whatever mannn. Just remember what I told you.” Charles winks at Carlos before leaving the room.

Carlos felt so much pressure amongst his shoulders. He was beginning to grow tired of hiding stuff for the sake of keeping you in his life. Yet, he still found his way heading to the team principals office.

He knocked and once he gained permission, he entered the office. “Hey. Was wondering if there was any extra paddock passes for the next gp?”

“Carlos! Congratulations on pole position. Uh, check that cabinet over there. There should be a few.”

Carlos made his way over to the cabinet, taking out 2 paddock passes before saying his goodbyes and entering the garage.

her

Hey, just got out of the meeting. Should be at your hotel in few minutes.

okay :)

Roughly estimating, it took him 29 minutes to arrive at your hotel. He had called you down and like you done before, you sucked the breath out of him. You wore a pretty pink sundress with white heels. Suddenly, he forgot why he was here. Yet as you stood in front of him, only a few feet away, he scrambled to his pocket and handed over the 2 passes to you.

You’re smile was enough to brighten up the whole city. “Thank you so much!” You exclaim, reaching on for a hug and tightly squeezing his body. His arms were laid loosely around your waist. If he spent all eternity in those moment, he’d be the happiest person ever. However, life wouldn’t be life without change.

So when you let go from the hug, he felt a small ache in his heart. “You know, I still have a few hours until my flight and my cousin isn’t at the hotel. Want to have some drinks and come in?”

Carlos nearly leapt at the opportunity, “That sounds amazing. Of course.”

His smile was adorable. You wondered if he knew exactly what he was getting into. He seemed too sweet to ruin. You held his hand and guided him through the hotel. He was probably internally freaking out, you thought. You scanned the keycard to your room, and opened the door to your room.

The mini fridge inside the room was filled with those tiny one-shot vodkas and so you grabbed as many of them as you could and threw them onto the bed. Soon enough, the both of you have gone through about half of the one-shots and were now giggling about each others ex’s. About half of the stories you told him were watered down versions of what actually had happened. For example, this one guy, Mark had chased after you, while you were inside of a cab because you had broken up with him.

The truth was, you robbed his 25 carat watch and he had only just realized as you were in the cab. Guess some guys really don’t have as much money as they say. This was when you were much younger and naive, though.

For the most part, Carlos had a relatively normal background of exes. No crazy girl still messages his phone, unlike you who has to deal with random men claiming they knew you. Maybe they did though, you suffer from bad memory so you don’t really know. The both of you rolled into your sides and stared into each others eyes. He had stopped laughing, and you knew he was about to kiss you.

His lips maneuvered through your lips, capturing the essence of your beauty. His lips were plump and soft. Instinctively, you grabbed his curls and moved yourself on top of him. With each second, the kiss deepens and begins to threaten to turn into something more. You grind into him, and in an instant he groans with the friction. A switch inside of him his flipped and he quickly turns into someone else. He flips you over, and he stares down at you. “Don’t start something you can’t finish, mi amor.” You couldn’t help but laugh. He really doesn’t know what he’s getting into.

“I could say the same thing to you.”

In a flash, he removes his shirt, revealing his amazingly fit body. His slacks stay on, revealing a kink of yours you didn’t know you had. His large hands reached over to the tiny straps of your sundress dress and pulled it downward. Your breasts were revealed instantly and you thanked yourself for not wearing a bra. You hear Carlos breath shudder as he runs his hand over your cold perky breasts. His mouth charges an assault on your tit, sucking and nibbling your breast like starved man. Your hands are on his back pulling him closer towards you whilst leaving red marks on him. Your hands aim for his hair, your fingers getting lost in his curls.

A growing sensation aches your core as you feel yourself producing your juices. The clink of his belt undoing anchors you to reality and for a moment you wonder, should I ruin other women for him?

You whine, tugging at his waist as he scrambles to take off his pants. You begin growing anxious by the second. It felt like a blur waiting for Carlos to align himself to your entrance, yet you felt pulled back to the world when you felt the tip of his girthy pink head in you. You moaned out to him, begging him for friction. He remained still however, and cupped your cheek.

“Why do I want you so much?” He quietly asks himself as his eyes dwell in yours.

You look at him in a loving way before responding, “You shouldn’t, my love.”

An unrecognizable expressing flashes in his face. He ignores what you’ve said, wanting to get rid of the possibility of you hurting him from his mind, and begins thrusting into you. His waist gives you compassionate yet powerful thrusts. His hips roll in a way that makes his dick hit every one of your perfect spots. Your nails scratch the nook of his neck, in pattern that’s unique to you and only you. You pull him closer and closer, until his head is rested on your neck. Despite the close proximity, his thrusts stood sturdy and rough.

A large pillar of pleasure bubbles in between your thighs with each thrust.

One

Two

Your brain nearly melts at the roughness of his thrusts.

Three

Within milliseconds, you feel your inner core squeeze around shift and release your liquids on him. Carlos seems to fold under the added pressure. He lets out a gasp, and begins to thrust faster inside of you. He’s chasing his own high and it doesn’t take long for him to reach it. In a flash, he pulls himself out and comes all over your sundress. He pants, almost lost in his own breath. He can’t bring himself to lay next to you. He stays staring down at your lustful eyes. You pull his head closer, sucking on the skin by his neck. You wanted to leave bruises. To let everybody know that it was you who ruined Carlos.

Carlos lays for a moment beside you, with an arm wrapping around your body and his head nuzzled in between your neck. You began to absentmindedly play with his curls, not knowing the effect it would have on Carlos.

Within a few minutes, he was out. Barely audible snoring left his mouth and you debated whether or not waking him. However, your cousin was almost here. Cold heartedly, you decided on waking him up. You press small kisses on his head while lightly shaking him.

“Carlos. Baby, wake up.” You whisper in his ears, brushing the curls out of his face.

“Hm?” He says. It’s obvious he’s not fully awake. He’s automatically replying despite not knowing a single word your saying. You decide to shake him harder.

“My cousin’s almost home. Baby, wake up.” You see that this has more of an effect on him. He sits up, rubbing his eyes and blinking the brightness away.

He notices your appearance. Messy hair, flushed cheeks, and stained dress. He fights a smirk. He fixes himself first, brushing his hands in between his curls and puts his attention back on you. He stands up from the bed, looking down at you as you sat still. Your big doe eyes sparkled under his gaze and before you knew it, he cusped your cheek and pulled you in a passionate kiss. “Te amo, mi amor. Vas hacer mi esposa.” He whispers on top of your head. Though you have no idea what he said, you felt the passionate vibe that radiated from his words.

You watched as he left, almost pitying him. This was the moment the rest of them fell, hard. You tidied yourself up, taking off your stained sundress and replacing it with a neater outfit. You brushed the edges of your messy hair and replaced it with a smoother texture.

After 20 minutes or so, your cousin opened your room door. You wondered whether you should surprise her with the paddock passes now, or later when the gp came. Though, you weren’t exactly good at keeping secrets.

“Guess what I have.” You smiled at her, holding the passes behind your back. Her expression held a certain type of confusion. You let a few moments pass on. Your cousin wasn’t the type of person to actually guess. She’d wait until you actually told her. You slowly revealed the passes to her, eyeing her along each second that passed. She slowly read the words until a shocked expression spread to her face.

In an instant she shouted, “How! Where did you get these!”. Her reaction only reminded you of her young age. She wasn’t a minor, but to you she’ll always be the little 5 year old girl who lived for race cars. She pulled you into a hug, knocking you onto the bed behind you. It only took her a moment to realize where the passes were too.

“These are Ferrari passes. I mean, I don’t mind. It’s a paddock pass. But, you need to tell where you got this from.” She looked at you in awe. You’ve always known she looked up to you. Who wouldn’t? You were beautiful, had plenty of men on their knees, and got what you wanted no matter the cost.

“I met this guy. His name is Carl- No, Carlos. He said he worked for the team or something and had access to extra passes.” You stated, not aware of the importance.

Her face fell. “Carlos!? Whats his last name? Was it Sainz?” She shouted, grabbing you by the shoulders and shaking you frantically to the point where you were left dizzy.

“What? I don’t know, I never asked.” You replied, trying to ease your head ache. You watched her scramble to her phone, roughly typing into google like a madman. In an instant, she pulled up a photo of the man you’ve hung out with.

“What? How did you get that?” You asked your cousin, in confusion. The man you had recently had sex with was in front of your screen, in a weird red uniform branded with all types of logos. Your cousin nearly fell into cardiac arrest. She thrusted herself awkwardly around her bed, shaking and violently screaming into her pillow, why not me?!.

You frowned at your weird cousin, debating calling 911 on her. However, she regained her cool and casually composed herself together. You watched her take deep breaths.

“What are you gonna do when they find out about each other?” She asks to which you give her a confused reaction. “Charles? Remember him? You know they’re teammates right?”

You ponder a moment, attempting to remember the man. Suddenly, the memories hit you like a brick wall. The memories were fond, yes, but ultimately boring. “They’ll work it out. It’s not like I broke his heart.”

Your cousin backs off, and questions whether the two of you should start packing. You agree, hiding your stained dress at the bottom of your suitcase in embarrassment. The two of you ransacked the hotel room for any thing you could have took, such as the mini shampoo bottles, soap, coffee cups, and (yes, you took it) toilet paper. The two of you were on perfect time for your flight so you called a cab and began bringing your luggage down the hotel floor before briefly checking out. The ride to the airport was quiet, only filled with the notifications ringing from your phone. You took a peek, seeing Carlos’s contact and silencing your phone before returning to the conversation your cousin held.

You tried to pay attention to your cousin, however it was impossible with the amount of notifications buzzing from your phone. She peered down to your lap where your phone sat, eyeing it curiously.

“You gonna answer that?” She said, raising her light brown brow.

Your cousin was pretty. She had beautiful light brown skin with tight curls and bright eyes. She was younger than you by a couple years and ultimately looked up to you, for some reason. Her body was average, though if anyone called her that you would stop at nothing to defend her name. Unbeknownst to you, it took her a while to gain confidence because of you. She looked at you everyday, wishing it was her with your curves and perfect hair. She never held this against you, of course, but it did make her feel insecure for a long time. Until, she realized she had her own beauty. Yes, you were beautiful but so was she and comparing herself to you isn’t acceptable.

“In a bit.” You whispered, leaning your head against the cab window and watching cars pass by.

[rhapsodynew]

The Beatles

Great Essence (part 6)

Paul McCartney

It happens like this: a genius will write, but he does not know what he wrote. Here's a guy who wrote a song in his youth, then ten years later recorded it with a group of friends: a song about what will happen when he turns sixty-four.

And after all, I looked into the water: on June 18, 2006, the whole world celebrated the sixty–fourth birthday of the author of "When I'm 64", one of the greatest composers of the XX century - Paul McCartney

T. S. Eliot once said, "When a great poet writes about himself, he writes about his time."

Based on this, Paul McCartney redeemed the last century. In the coming times, people will ask: what was it like, this very XX century? And when they hear Paul's music, they will give the answer themselves: yes, those were blessed times when the Light of God shone over the earth.

For a very long time, it was customary among enlightened rock fans to disown Paul McCartney, they say, is a sweet boy, writes sugary music, no match for the good John. And then it gradually turned out that Paul McCartney was the source of most of the innovations that we love the Beatles for.

It was he who wandered through fashionable clubs and avant–garde concerts in London, while John languished from the family comfort in rural Weybridge, and it was Paul who largely determined the direction of the three best Beatles albums - "Revolver", "Sergeant. Pepper, the Lonely Hearts Club band" and "A Magical Mysterious Journey".

Therefore, without underestimating John's merits in the least, let's pay tribute to Paul

James Paul McCartney was born on June 18, 1942 at Walton Hospital in the northern part of Liverpool. He is Irish on his mother's and father's sides. His father, Jim McCartney, was the leader of a dance orchestra and gave his son a trumpet. At the age of fourteen, Paul traded it for a guitar, which is still lying somewhere in his house.

He soon became known around the world as the bassist, guitarist, pianist, singer and songwriter of the Beatles.

The Guinness Book of World Records named Paul McCartney the most successful composer in the history of popular music. (I wonder, by the way, who is the most successful composer in the history of unpopular music?) He has twenty-nine number one songs and more than fifty songs in the top ten, which is significantly more than any other author. But all these are dry statistics, and we are in Russia is used to not trust numbers too much. Music is another matter. No man in the world has ever written or sung about love as much as Paul McCartney.

And in life, he was the last bachelor in the ranks of the Beatles, but after marrying Linda McCartney in 1971, he did not part with her until her death in 1998. (As mentioned here, in order to be together all the time, Paul taught her to sing and play the keys.)

It is known that in the last days of the Beatles, Paul always wanted to return to concerts (let me remind you that the Beatles stopped playing concerts in 1966 and never performed in public until the end of their existence, with the exception of one concert played on a London rooftop for the film "Let It Be").

So, when the Beatles broke up, Paul put together the Wings band, with Linda (despite her protests) at the keys, and went on tour with Wings again. To avoid their superstar halo, Paul, Linda and Wings simply drove around England in a van, stopped at any place they liked, and went to the club to arrange a concert for that evening. You can imagine the surprise of local music lovers: you come, like, to a pub, and there Paul McCartney is playing.

As a result, Wings became one of the most popular bands of the 70s

Paul McCartney – «My Baby’s Request»

It is said that Paul's song "Yesterday" is the song that other artists are most willing to perform (there are more than three thousand different versions). In general, this is the most popular song in the world – in America alone it has been broadcast on the radio more than six million times. Paul gathered the largest audience in the world – one hundred and eighty-four thousand people in Rio de Janeiro in April 1990. And in Australia in 1993, twenty thousand tickets to his concert were sold in a record eight minutes. This list can go on for a long time.

The sages say: "When a real musician plays, he forgets about himself and dissolves into the music."

Paul McCartney's creative life has not faded since the late 70s. The Wings group ceased to exist in 1980, but throughout the 80s, 90s and to this day, Paul continues to write, sing, and constantly move around the world with concert tours, one more grandiose than the other. And it would seem that what else does a person need? He's probably already the richest musician in the world. But it seems he's not doing it for the money at all. He just loves to sing

.When McCartney played on the Palace Square in In St. Petersburg, to be honest, I wasn't really going to go. I'm not a fan of big concerts, small clubs are always nicer to me. And square concerts for me are not music, but a kind of mass ritual in which I personally do not want to take part.

But it was also difficult to refuse. As a result, I struggled through crowds and cordons for an insanely long time and still got there. And it was raining. Out of great respect, they put me not far from the stage on a plastic chair, with my back in a puddle. From this puddle, I actually watched what was happening – of course, without particularly positive emotions. This and that, the rain slowly stopped, the clouds began to disperse, and then the Floor sang "For No One", and suddenly the sun came out and illuminated it. And then I feel that all my prejudices have disappeared somewhere, something fundamental is happening.

When I listen to "For No One", I realize that everything that can be said about this music will be empty words. These songs and these voices have always sounded and will always sound in some kind of superstellar space; sometimes we manage to really hear them. And our fragmented life at this moment becomes one Divine truth.

I can't help but repeat: after all, we are incredibly lucky that we live in an era when this music was heard, and we still walk the same earth with the people who created it.

Paul's songs taught me love, and that love still rings in my heart.

The continuation of the fairy tale follows.....

#book "Balloon. Aeronauts and artifacts - Boris Grebenshchikov"

Part 1📌

Part 2📌

Part 3📌

Part 4📌

Part 5📌

[writethrough]

Hello!! Could I request a Morpheus/powered reader? Powered like witch, elemental magick, whatever floats your boat! Action with fluff and camaraderie? Romantic or platonic is up to you! I love your fics!!

To Dream of Magic

(Morpheus x Female Reader)

Warnings: Minor injuries, mention of death, Matthew gets a little love interest

Word Count: 2377

A/N: Okay, so I love anything that has to do with witches, so the fact that you requested this was like the best cup of tea! I actually had this idea for a bit, and then you submitted this so it gave me the motivation to finish it!

I consider this a part one. But in the sense that if someone wants more Witch!Reader, this will be the character they get. I'm really excited to dive into this world/relationship. And once my requests are open again, I'd be happy to hear any ideas anyone has.

The residents of Thelma’s Grove were an eclectic bunch. A small community tucked just outside the city—modest homes perched along the street that led back to the highway. It was the type of place you didn’t know was there until you were in it.

That suited the residents fine. The hustle of the city and its traffic and crowds was what led everyone to Thelma’s Grove. It provided serenity, privacy, and above all, secrecy.

They were an eclectic lot indeed—beekeepers, a preschool teacher, a few single parents, and their children. But the woman who lived in the little white house with the sage-colored door was the most secretive.

You were kind—incredibly so—a wonderful neighbor. Everyone in Thelma’s Grove knew one another from where they were before to what they did, so when you arrived with your trunks, plants, and a lovebird, the street was abuzz.

They suspected something was different about you when you told one of your neighbors to take his dog to the vet. He had given you a funny look at first, but you made up an excuse, saying your friend's dog had similar symptoms. A day later, he was at your front door thanking you.

It grew from there. Your neighbors trusted your “instincts” more—that’s what they called them anyway. If someone had trouble with headaches, sleeping, anxiety—you name it—you’d give them a concoction of your making.

It wasn’t until the woman across the road broke her leg that the word “witch” attached itself to you.

You had thought you heard a scream. When the man who lived beside her looked up from his weeding, you knew it was real.

You rushed to her door, unlocking it with a flick of your wrist, and found her at the bottom of her stairs.

Her leg was bent at an odd angle as she lay on the floor, sobbing.

“It’s alright. I’m going to help you,” you said.

Searching around, you grabbed the hand towel hanging from the oven, folded it, and held it to her mouth.

“You need to bite down on this.”

She did as you said, too in pain to register what you were saying or doing.

You moved to her feet, kneeling above her.

“This will hurt, but you’ll be fine once I’m done.”

You didn’t hesitate as you grasped her behind her knee and ankle, straightening it. The scream she let out was muffled by the towel, but you didn’t let it phase you as you aligned her leg.

You muttered to yourself, a language lost in time. Beneath your fingers, the muscles and tissue reconnected. And your neighbor's cries slowly ebbed. 

You shifted to sit and pulled the towel from her mouth.

“How does it feel now?” you asked, wiping the tears from her face.

She sniffled and looked at you with a mixture of wonder and confusion.

“Better,” she whispered, hoarse.

You gave her a small smile. “Good.”

You later found out the man had witnessed the whole thing. And between him and her, they had told the entire community what you did.

It all made sense after that. Your “instincts” were really magic. You knew the dog was sick because you spoke to her. Your concoctions were healing potions. And that little bird of yours was your familiar.

Yes, Thelma’s Grove was full of an eclectic bunch, indeed.

—

You were tending to your greenhouse in the backyard. It wasn’t much, no bigger than a shed, but it held life in every square inch. Planters lined the three walls with large terracotta pots on the floor below and other plants hanging from above.

You had finished watering the elderberry tree when Hope flew in.

“Come quickly! Someone needs you,” she said, zipping away when you started to follow.

The cries hit you before you saw who made them.

Hope landed beside a raven whose wing was unfurled and lay limp in the grass.

“It’s alright now. She will heal you,” Hope reassured.

You kneeled slowly, hands raised, so you didn’t startle the poor creature.

“Let me see,” you said, cupping the wing from underneath.

The bird yelped.

“I know,” you hushed. “I know.”

You rested your other hand over the wing, the lost language passing through your lips until the limb was healed.

The bird hiccupped but tentatively moved to test if the pain was gone.

When no zap occurred, the bird hopped closer and bowed its head.

“Thank you! Thank you!” he cried. 

“There’s no need for that. I’m just happy you’re okay,” you said.

“I’m more than okay! You fixed my wing!”

You giggled. “What’s your name?”

“Matthew, my lady.” He bowed again.

You shook your head and told him your name and Hope’s. “No need for that. Why don’t you come in and rest?” You held out your finger, and he hopped on.

Hope flew in before you and perched on the back of a barstool as you set Matthew down on the counter.

“So, what exactly happened?” you asked.

He looked down as if embarrassed. “I was running an errand. And…may have gotten distracted.”

Your brow furrowed. “Distracted?”

Only when you caught his tiny eyes glancing at Hope did you understand.

You hummed. “Well, I guess it doesn’t matter. As long as you’re alright now.”

“I am!” He jumped at the subject change. “Never better.”

“Good.” You nodded. Then after considering what he said, you asked, “Who were you running an errand for?”

You knew most, if not all, of the witches in the area. You couldn’t remember any of them having a raven as a familiar. And even if one did, it wouldn’t explain the odd sensation this bird carried. Like…well, it reminded you of the lost language—ancient and powerful.

“The King of Dreams,” he said.

Your eyes narrowed in confusion. The King of Dreams? As in, not a witch?

Matthew shifted from foot to foot, getting the sense this was news to you.

“Are you…Are you not a goddess or something?” he asked.

You pulled back in surprise. “No. No, I’m definitely not.”

“Oh.” He dragged out, coming to a realization. “So, what are you?”

“A witch,” you said blankly, glancing at Hope, whose head was tilted. At least she was just as lost as you.

“Wait. Witches are real?” he asked.

“And apparently, so are gods,” you breathed, laughing in disbelief.

Yes, you were a witch. And yes, you thought of your gifts from the goddesses Hecate and Circe, but to have confirmation that the God of Dreams was real? It was almost too much.

You shook your head slightly to clear it.

“Morpheus is a little more than a god, per se,” Matthew said. “It’s…It’s kinda complicated. And thinking about it gives me a headache.”

You waved a hand. “We’ll save it for a rainy day then.”

—

Matthew had stayed a few more hours, asking questions about your powers and nearly preening when Hope wanted to know more about him.

You were exhausted by the time you crawled into bed. And sleep took you quickly. 

The man before you wasn’t familiar. His porcelain complexion and onyx hair contrasted sharply but in an entirely transfixing way. He seemed larger than he was, possessing this energy that encompassed everything around him.

This feeling wasn’t new. You experienced it before…

The raven. Matthew.

This was Morpheus.

“You know me,” Morpheus spoke first, deep and honey-rich.

It was less a statement and more a question, making sure you knew who stood before you.

“Yes,” you said.

A breeze rustled the grass, and the distinct smell of citrus floated upward, but you couldn’t place where it came from. There were no orange trees here.

“It’s in the field,” he said. “I thought it would make you comfortable.”

You smiled at the images it conjured.

Hours upon hours of running through your grandmother’s orange grove. She was the one who first taught you about your heritage. Her skills had laid in plants. She knew everything there was to know. No one could brew a potion like her or heal an ailment quicker. You were happy she saw some talent in you.

“How is Matthew?” You looked back to him, coming out of your memories.

“As if nothing happened.” Morpheus had gotten closer. Or the stretch of green between you had shortened. You supposed it didn’t matter.

“Good,” you breathed, reaching to play with your pendant.

“I wanted to thank you for your aid,” he said.

You shook your head. “That’s not necessary. I’m just happy he’s alright.”

The corner of his mouth ticked up, but it was gone so fast you thought you imagined it.

“He’s spoken quite fondly of you.” He turned to the side, hands in his pockets, and you knew he wanted to walk with you. “And your familiar.”

“Hope,” you said, biting your lip at how Matthew had acted around the lovebird. “I think he has a little crush.”

“I think he’s fallen in love.”

You looked up, surprised at the slight tease in his tone. You never expected someone of his position to joke so readily. Then again, you hadn’t met anyone of his caliber before.

He led you to a pond with water so clear you could see the fish below. A dolphin-sized koi fish swam with half-fish half-cat creatures and so many others you weren’t sure how they all fit.

Morpheus sat on a bench, waiting for you to do the same.

“You are different from the witches I’ve encountered,” he said, regarding you with curiosity.

“How so?”

“You are kind.”

He said it as if it were foreign. Like he hadn’t seen kindness in eons. And, maybe, he’d seen so much that all of the bad had clouded the good.

You opened your mouth, unsure how to respond, then began slowly. “My grandmother used to tell me, ‘Do not put into the world what you do not wish back.’ She said it was the only lesson she wanted me to master.”

“Your grandmother was wise.”

“Yeah, she was.” You smiled softly, watching as willow trees dipped their leaves into the pond. “Is it always this peaceful?”

He stared ahead as if seeing something other than what was in front of him.

“It hadn’t been for some time,” he said. “All is well now.”

You hummed in thought. “‘The only thing that is eternal is hope.’ Another thing she used to say.”

“Is that the origin of your familiar’s name?” His eyes were soft, an endless galaxy on a warm summer’s night.

“She came to me the day my grandmother passed. I thought it was fitting.” You shrugged.

Everyone who had known your grandmother attended her celebration of life—family members, friends, patients—it made you cry harder knowing she was so loved.

You had walked away from the group for a moment to yourself—for a moment of grief and remembrance—when this beautiful little bird landed in your path.

She gazed at you with an intelligence unlike the animals you often healed, and you felt the connection bridge between you and her. And the name came to you when the last piece fell into place. Your utterance of “Hope” solidified your bond.

“My brother was with you that day.”

Your brow furrowed. “Your brother?”

“Destiny,” he said.

You let out a small laugh. “Yes, I suppose he was.”

Conversation flowed easily between you two. Though Morpheus didn’t say much, he was insightful and intelligent, and he listened with keen attention that made you almost shy. He controlled every speck of dirt and beam of light around you yet held an interest in you.

When you felt the tug of consciousness, you couldn’t believe how quickly time had passed. You could have sworn you only arrived in the Dreaming a few minutes ago. But you woke to the sunrays filtering through your curtains.

In the following days, you scoured every source you could think of for information on Morpheus. There were Greek myths, but your search grew more fruitful when you stumbled across an ancient tomb in one of your grandmother’s chests.

She taught you about destiny—how it influenced you and how you influenced it—so to see it written in her delicate scrawl wasn’t unusual. But when it changed to capital-D "Destiny," you shifted your tactics. It led you to the beginning.

Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Despair, and Delirium.

Personifications of otherwise intangible consciousnesses—all more powerful than any god or goddess you could think of.

And you had unknowingly saved one of their emissaries.

You had spoken to one of them.

You felt the vastness of his power by simply looking at him—it both terrified and thrilled you.

Dream. The perfect name for a creature so enthralling.

Mere days passed before Matthew appeared in your garden once again. You only noticed when you heard Hope speaking to someone, and his voice carried into the greenhouse. You thought it best to give them their privacy.

You could feel Morpheus’ presence through the raven even from here. It was stronger than last time, but you assumed that was because of Matthew’s injury.

And when it moved closer, you paid it no mind, thinking Matthew and Hope were joining you. It only occurred to you that their voices had stayed the same volume when the energy was standing in the doorway.

You glanced over your shoulder, eyes jumping in surprise.

“Good morning.”

“Morpheus,” you said. “I…What are you doing here?”

“Matthew wished to visit Hope,” he said, stepping forward, hands behind his back. He scanned over the pots of flowers and herbs, trailing from the one at your fingertips, up your arms, to meet your eyes. “I wished to visit you.”

You bit your lip lightly, glancing down then back. “Well then, how about a cup of tea?”

He nodded once, letting you lead the way.

You moved to Thelma’s Grove because something pulled you toward it after your grandmother died. You found a home in the community. People who would protect you and who you’d protect in return. It didn’t matter if you had lived here for twenty years or visited for a few hours. Once you found this little corner of the world, you were part of it forever.

And you hoped the same could be said of the Endless behind you.

Taglist: @sayumiht

If you want to be added to my taglist, please comment or message me with the character you want updates on!

[lovegingey22]

Merlin fanfic idea

I have a Merlin fanfiction idea I wanted to share. I don’t know if it has already been done, but I find the idea interesting so I’m going to share it anyway lol.

So, Merlin fans far and wide, do you remember the episode where Merlin gets Gwen to kiss Arthur (via magic) and appears like Merlin felt the kiss through the magic? Then later Arthur kisses Gwen again but he feels it isn’t the same? Well, I always felt they were implying that Merlin’s friendship/brotherly type love broke the spell as he truely does love Arthur.

However, my idea is of course going along the lines of that’s not the case. The fanfiction idea is that Merlin does truly love Arthur but it takes kissing Arthur through Gwen to figure himself out and realise his love for Arthur is far more mere friendship or brotherly love. It’s a love above all others and Merlin kind of struggles knowing how to be around Arthur for a while but does his best to hide how he’s struggling with himself a little right now. (Of course Arthur picks up on Merlin’s sudden distancing but can’t figure out what’s wrong).

As for Arthur, he can’t stop thinking about that first kiss with Gwen and how different the second one felt. How it didn’t even feeling like he was kissing the same person, and maybe to some degree, deep down he knows that somehow he wasn’t kissing her. That it was someone else. However, Merlin sudden distancing, distracts Arthur from using any brain cells.

This is only a rough idea so I don’t know the ins and outs of what happens next but basically, something something something, Arthur has to kiss Merlin for some reason (could be mouth to mouth, to break a spell, or because he realises he cares for Merlin far more then maybe he should and therefor may actually have feelings for the clumsy man servant) and with that kiss realises it was Merlin all along. Merlin had been the one he kissed! It feels just like the first one with Gwen. Maybe he even realises in that moment that magic was involved and that Merlin was the one using the magic but that’s okay because Arthur trust Merlin more than anyone he’s ever met and knows in his heart Merlin would never hurt anyone. Yes, he would like some answers, like why he would practice magic here of all places, but for now that doesn’t matter. He’s kissing Merlin and Merlin is kissing back. The love is mutual, and right now that’s all that matters in this world.

Ta-dah! That’s the idea. If someone knows of a story like this please let me know as I’d love to read it. If someone would like to run with idea and fill in all the blanks please do! Just don’t forget to tag me for the idea and to let me know so that I can read it when it’s done! 😁

[viviennevermillion]

Comforting him after his Overblot

notes: reposting bc I’m deleting my archived sideblogs

contains: vil schoenheit x gn!reader

warnings: none

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry”, Vil Schoenheit had told you. And you wanted to believe his words that night in the Ramshackle kitchen after the VDC team had found Ace Trappola and Deuce Spade paralyzed in the lounge and later witnessed a fight between Vil and Epel. The Pomefiore dorm leader seemed rather irritated lately and you couldn’t help but notice how silent he became every time Neige Leblanche was brought up. But being around Vil long enough you knew how responsible the blonde was. You trusted him to take care of himself and make sure he wouldn’t do anything stupid. Oh how wrong you were…

Your heart had been beating faster and you were on edge from the moment you saw his reaction to Neige’s performance. Something was up. Considering that Kalim and especially Rook noticed how the atmosphere had changed you were genuinely worried.

Still the anxious and uncertain feelings in your chest couldn’t compare to the dread of actually seeing him overblot. “Don’t look at me like this! I wanted to be the most beautiful in the world, so why am I so ugly?!”, you heard him yell, his voice cracking. You wanted to tell him it wasn’t true, just like Rook and Kalim did. You wanted to shout at him he was the most beautiful person you had ever laid eyes on but your voice was stuck in your throat.

It was like the world had stopped for a moment when you saw how his appearance had changed when he overblotted. Your mind was filled with a mix of terror, sadness and a nauseating panic. Kalim had to shout at you multiple times to snap you out of it; grabbing your arm and dragging you along as you ran outside to meet up with the others.

The fight to take him down was long and painful. Your vision was blurry from the tears you had cried and it was hard to raise your magical pen against the man you loved, but it was for his own good. You’d do whatever you could to bring him back to his senses, even if it’d take all energy you had left. You were sick of seeing this distorted version of him; sick of seeing him so sad and broken. You remembered his beautiful smile that you could never get enough of and you promised to yourself you would see it again. Yet as determined as you were to knock some sense into him, you were shaken to your core about the possibility of losing Vil. He was in mortal danger if he stayed in overblot any longer so you couldn’t remember ever feeling this relieved when it was finally over.

Which brought you to where you were now: Standing in front of the VDC stage in ruins; clinging to Kalim for support, who was also crying, while Rook kneeled next to a still unconscious Vil and performed a healing spell to stabilize the model as best as he could.

You had somewhat calmed down but Vil finally waking up made you break out into tears again. You let go of your friend and made your way over to Vil, kneeling down beside him as well and helping him to sit up with Rook. You were careful not to hurt him with any of your touches and your heart broke a little when he groaned and coughed weakly, trying to get a grip of his surroundings.

“I have shown you guys my ugliest appearance…”, he had said.

“Vil Schoenheit, you call yourself ugly ONE MORE TIME and I’m going to overblot”, you fussed over him, carefully removing several strands of his hair from his face. He gave you a weak but gentle smile that made your heart beat faster. Dammit y/n this really isn’t the time to gush over him and get all weak in the knees. But you were used to it. Vil never failed to leave you breathless solely by being himself and make you question whether he was even real. You couldn’t have imagined ever falling in love as much as you had fallen for Vil.

You had gotten rather close to him during your time at NRC; considering him one of your most treasured friends. But as easily as you had developed feelings for him; you doubted whether he would actually end up returning your feelings. For now you were just glad you could see him smile again.

Between the time when Epel lectured him with his own words about “tantrums being for 3 year olds”, the conversation about Deuce’s unique magic and Malleus Draconia unexpectedly fixing the VDC stage you didn’t have much time to talk to Vil about what happened

That changed when you guided him to his backstage room so he could fix his appearance and rest a bit so he would be ready to perform later.

“Oh no”, you heard him mumble once he actually looked into a mirror. His hair was all messed up and his eye make-up was smeared across his face. “Relax, you’re still beautiful”, you chuckled, gesturing him to sit down in a chair. “Those words bring me no comfort”, he sighed.

You reached for the make-up remover. “I can do that myself”, he insisted, trying to grab it from your hands when he flinched and clutched his side from the damage he had taken during the fight. “Yeah, I see how you can do that yourself”, you rolled your eyes, gently removing the smeared eyeshadow and mascara from his soft skin. Vil relaxed into your touch, closing his eyes and resting in silence for a while.

After his face was clean, you began to reapply his make-up. You knew his routine like the back of your hand by now, having seen it many times whenever he was preparing for an event or when the two of you went to the bathroom in between breaks so he could fix any inconsistencies in his make-up (let’s just assume it’s either the men’s bathroom if you’re male or they have gender neutral bathrooms over there). You would lean against the white walls, watching Vil put mascara onto his lashes while he ranted about the way Crewel would talk to his students.

“I suppose I became everything I never wanted to be”, Vil’s voice, slightly cracking, brought you back from your trip down memory lane. He was softly biting his lip, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. “Maybe that’s all people will ever see in me. A villain.”

“No….no, Vil”, you insisted, gently placing a hand onto his cheek, wiping a tear away with your thumb and resisting the urge to put a kiss onto his forehead.

“They were wrong about not giving you a protagonist’s role”, you started to ramble while you tended to his hair, “ever since I’ve started going to school here there are few people who have been as kind, helpful and inspiring as you….I’ve witnessed you do so much good in just this school year alone. You’ve carried the whole Halloween committee on your back, you’ve taught all the dorms how to do make-up for their costumes, you’ve given people so much great advice, you’re always doing your best to make people realize their potential and not to mention you trained this team to the point where they’re capable of doing a professional and excellent performance when some of them were amateurs when we started. Really I can’t think of any hero qualities you wouldn’t have. You’re a hero to me, this team and our school. People have faith in you. We’ve lost against Royal Sword Academy so many times, our students are proud that you’re leading this team. They feel like we’re finally going to win something. You’re a good person and lashing out one time because of emotions you’ve held in for years won’t change that, no matter what people have seen you as in the past and whether or not anyone would condemn you if they saw what happened today.”

Vil was speechless about what you had said. He got compliments from people all over the internet every day but few words of affirmation he received were as heartfelt and genuine as these. Being reassured that he was capable of being a hero and that people could see him that way made him happy. You could see a faint blush appear on his cheeks as he looked up to you and smiled.

Once his make-up and hair was as good as new, he inspected his reflection in a full length mirror. “For as long as I’ve known, Neige was always chosen instead of me”, he sighed, “people see what I’m capable of but I suppose I’m not as cute or loveable as Neige.” It wasn’t insecurity speaking, those were the words that producers had always rather associated with Neige than him. To some extent he could understand why, yet it still was unfair that he had the necessary skills to play a great variety of roles and wasn’t given the opportunity to show them.

“You are. Otherwise I wouldn’t love you, now, would I?”, you sighed, giving him a soft smile, “after all that happened today you might as well know.”

Vil stared at you in surprise. You…loved him? Even after what he almost did? Even after he had shown you the worst side of him? He was left speechless and his eyes had widened but he quickly regained his composure.

“Ara ara, I didn’t know you were that fond of me~”, he gave you a teasing grin.

His expression then softened and he pulled you into his chest, gently wrapping his arms around you and resting his head on top of yours.

You leaned your cheek against him and were caressing his back with your fingertips and closed your eyes, enjoying the embrace while it lasted.

Vil gently lifted your chin with his hand and moved his face closer to yours. “May I?”, he asked quietly. You nodded and not soon after that Vil’s lips met yours.

It was everything you had ever dreamed it would be. It felt a bit like a weight was taken off you when you finally kissed the person you adored and loved so much.

Vil’s kiss was slow and passionate, his tongue gently caressing yours while his hand was placed on your cheek. You could feel he poured so much emotion and care into the kiss. He hadn’t told you yet whether he returned your feelings but you knew him well and you trusted him. He wouldn’t kiss you if he didn’t at least feel something for you. He was probably just overwhelmed from all that had happened and didn’t have the capacity to evaluate your relationship now with the VDC still ahead of him.

But for a moment he could forget all of that. He could forget his problems and that he just overblotted and that he might lose again to Neige. For now he could just lose himself in your kiss while you were holding him close to you.

You made sure to enjoy every second of it, being glad to feel that he was here with you, well and alive, after being so worried about him earlier. It reminded you just how much he meant to you and how you would make sure to never lose him again. A single tear rolled down your cheek as you deepened the kiss and gently ran your fingers through the violet ends of his hair.

“I thought I’d lose you”, you whispered after you seperated your lips from his. Vil placed a few small kisses onto your lips before he answered. “I apologize for that”, he said with his usual tone of professionalism in his voice, “perhaps I could make it up to you some time by taking you out for dinner.” You smiled as he leaned his forehead against yours. “I would love that.”

“I suppose we’ll have to reapply my lipstick”, he grinned and reached for his small make-up bag but not before giving you a few more pecks on your lips and cheeks. Unbeknownst to you, Vil’s heart was fluttering from the kiss and he was looking forward to holding you in his arms again after VDC would be over.

You went on to fix some of his nails which had gotten damaged in the fight, with Vil occasionally complaining and reminding you not to accidentally paint his skin as well. “I’ll smear it across your face if you keep going like this”, you jokingly said.

Once you were done with his nails you pressed a kiss to his knuckles.

“I could get used to this”, he gave you his teasing smile.

“Thank you again for putting up with my tantrum and for supporting me like this”, he said and gave you an acknowledging nod, looking a lot more calm and balanced than he had before. Vitality had returned to his features and he looked ready to steal the show at the VDC.

“No problem”, you replied, holding his hand in your own, “after all I still want to see the fairest one of all perform.”

Vil gave you a loving smile, feeling happy after knowing you considered him to be the most beautiful.

He gave you one last hug before you set off to meet the others at the stage, giving Vil some time alone to make some last preparations for his performance.

“Y/n?”, you heard him ask. “Hmm?”, you turned around in the doorframe, looking at him curiously. Vil looked back at you with a sweet and thankful expression. “I love you too.”

[lunavadash-creates]

Next idea reffering to the latest message. The reader gives them their necklace as a lucky charm and some kind of promise to come back to them right before they go on a mission/battle?

You know my favorite characters, but feel free to write for characters you like to write about.

🔪

After weeks/months/years of silence, I am back.

Thank you Knifey for believing in me when I couldn't believe in myself! I hope you will enjoy it!

Altaїr

„Why are you giving me this?” he was so surprised when you suddenly gave him a turquoise

The stone was in the shade of summer sky, covered with a thin web of darker veins, it was held in place by a black, leather strap

“It should give you protection, especially that I won’t be there with you”

It didn’t matter that he wasn’t the one to believe in the magical power of colourful stones, he was just happy to have a gift from you

He immediately put it around his neck, secretly happy that he will be able to have a piece of you wherever he goes

“Thank you” he would say while hugging you and leaving a gentle kiss on your temple

“Promise me you will be careful and that you will come back to me”

“I shall”

After that, he thought about what to give you in return

During his missions, he was learning about different stones and when he found out that turquoise was really supposed to give peace and protection, he felt like his heart skipped a beat

It took a long time but finally, he managed to find the perfect stone – one that you then wore to the end of the time

Shay

The Morrigan was docked in the port for a week now and you were bored

As not-yet-the-official-templar you weren’t allowed to attend the meetings and all the weird shenanigans Shay had to take part in

It’s not like you cared a lot about politics but it was boring all alone

Like sure shopping and eating nice food was great after weeks at the sea but you missed your love

That day you were on the shore, enjoying the sun and the warm weather, baling barefoot on the wet sand, allowing the ocean to wash around your feet

At one point you found a clam

It had a pearl inside

And only by a total accident you also knew that Shay will have a birthday soon

It took a bit to find the right blacksmith but he agreed, after getting some additional coins, to put priority on your order

You made a sketch of what you wanted – a silver four-leaf clover with this small pearl inside

“It’s for good luck,” you said while giving him the present

The grin on his face widened  

“I make my own luck”

And then he spent half of the night thanking you for a beautiful gift

Arno

He doesn’t really like getting gifts

Unless a gift is a cup of coffee

Honestly giving him a gift is such a pain as he has almost everything he wants

Like seriously he grew up rich and as a Café Theatre owner he doesn’t really complain about the lack of money to spend

One day he comes back home and tells you he has a mission in Germany so he will be away for a few weeks

He also asked you to take care of the Café in his absence as he trusts you the most

It broke your heart that he will be away for so long so you desperately thought about something to make him remember his home and you

At one point you found a weird man from a land far far away who was selling some goods

Among them, there was a little Rhodochrosite. A pink crystal in a shape of an obelisk hanging on a silver threat

This man piqued your curiosity so you listen to the story of the spiritual meaning of the stone

You came back home with this necklace just to find Arno packing his clothes

You hugged him from behind, not really wanting to let him go so far away without you

“I have something for you”

“I hope it’s a cup of coffee”

“I don’t want you to go. But also, I cannot stop you so… please, have it with you. It’s a Rhodochrosite and it means compassion and love. They say it clears away emotional wounds and scars from the past. With it… you will come back to me eventually, right?”

There was a moment of silence and you thought Arno wasn’t really happy

It was until he hugged you so tightly, he almost took your breath away

“It is so much better than coffee. I swear I will come back to your Cherie”

He kept his promise

Edward

The crew was preparing your ship to set sails

Right next to your there was Jackdaw, also getting ready to head toward the endless blue

While sitting on the railing you watched the blond man, your friend and lover, ready to leave for a mission that will take him god-knows-where

You were holding a coin in your hand frantically flipping it through your fingers

“Hey, Kenway!” you shouted, to catch his attention. Despite the sound of waves crashing against the shore, he heard you and immediately turned around, just in time to catch the object that flew his way

It was a golden coin with jackdaw on it and a little hole at the top, through which run a leather strap

He raised his head only to see you holding the twin coin, already on your neck

“This is a promise, Kenway. Better come back and find me after the job is done” you threaten, but actually, you were afraid that the endless ocean will be too much of a gap between you and the bond you shared would be severed

Edward put the necklace with a coin on and then sent you one of his smirks

“I will find you even at the edge of the world, Lass! And you better have the second coin prepared for me!”

[iamvegorott]

Jackie's Bachelor Party

Welcome to a spin-off of Meeting a Magical Man, which, as the name implies, is Jackie's bachelor party! Get ready for sass, chaos, go-karts, and a cowboy bar

Meeting A Magical Man; Ao3: Link Tumblr: Link

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Jackie's Bachelor Party

“Chase, Edward, Mare, and Dark are our DDs. Designated drivers. They’re not drinking so they can drive.” Marvin explained what it meant before Mad could even ask.  

“But we didn’t drive here,” Mad said. 

“They’re staying sober so we won’t die.” Marvin changed his explanation. 

“Oh.” 

“We won’t start drinking until we get to that cowboy bar because, like hell, I trust Anti behind the wheel of a go-kart with anything but water in him.”  

“I am a graceful drunk.” Anti protested.  

“You cried about a stuffed turtle the last time we drank together.” Marvin scoffed. 

“There was that one time you cried because Dark sent you a green heart emoji,” Chase added. 

“You kept going, ‘Guys! He loves me! Guys!’" Marvin exaggerated his tone and hugged Chase’s arm.  

“I’m a little emotional when drunk, alright?” Anti huffed, crossing his arms.  

“A little is beyond an understatement,” Dark stated as he sent a text.  

“Dark! You’re supposed to be on my side!”  

“Jackie’s still not here yet,” Mad commented with a hum.  

“He’s always late.” Marvin clicked his tongue and checked his phone before looking at Chase when his went off.  

“Hey Jackie, you on your way?” Chase asked when he answered the phone. “You can see us? Where are you?”  

“He is a fairly large man; how can we not see him?” Henrik asked with a light laugh as he and the others looked down the streets. Marvin paused and was the only one who looked up, sighing when his assumption was proven correct.  

“Darling, can I borrow your phone?” Marvin asked Chase. 

“No problem.” Chase handed Marvin the phone.  

“Thank you.” Marvin smiled at Chase before putting the phone to his ear and immediately used a much harsher tone. “Jackie Boimen, get your ass off the roof before I drag you down by your hair in a way you will not enjoy!”  

“Who enjoys getting their hair pulled?” Mad asked. 

There was a pause. 

Anti suddenly broke into a loud laugh, leaning against Dark as he laughed while Dark pinched the bridge of his nose. Edward opened his mouth to say something, but Henrik elbowed his side, shook his head, and had a warning glare. Chase held up his hands in surrender and Marvin was too busy watching Jackie climb down a fire escape to notice the question. Mare sighed as he accepted his fate and whispered something into Mad’s ear. 

“Oh.” Mad held out the word. “Oh!” He repeated himself as his face went red. 

Anti started laughing even harder and Dark had to hold his arm to keep him on his feet. 

“What are you doing jumping from roofs a week before your wedding!?” Marvin scolded when Jackie reached them.  

“It was faster.” Jackie rubbed the back of his neck. 

“Faster? Faster to your death, maybe. Honey, you are so accident-prone. We’re testing luck as it is with the go-karts.” Marvin poked at Jackie’s chest. “I have half a mind to take you back home and tell Phantom that you’re doing parkour and risking limping down the aisle.” 

“I think he’s got the point.” Chase chuckled, wrapping an arm around Marvin’s waist, and walking away with him. He looked over his shoulder and gave Jackie a thumbs-up while Jackie mouthed a thank you.  

“And this is why we have several DDs to make sure you all don’t do something too stupid.” Edward joked as he started herding everyone together and walking them toward the building they had been standing in front of.  

“He won’t die because if he does and breaks my brother’s heart, I’ll bring him back and then kill him myself,” Mare said as he held open the door for Marvin and Chase to go through first.  

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” Dark said as he and Anti walked into the building. 

“He says that like I care about his opinion.” Mare popped his lips and smiled when that got Mad to chuckle.  

“Oh, snap!” Jackie snapped his fingers with his comment, smiling with pride after. “Phan taught me that.”  

“I’m so shocked.” Mare rolled his eyes while Edward ushered Jackie and Henrik through the door. “Is it too late to go home?” He asked Mad.  

“I don’t know a lot about weddings and bachelor parties, but I’m pretty sure the brother to one of the grooms can’t run off.” Mad chuckled as he pulled Mare into the building with him.  

“Y’all must be the bachelor party.” A young man greeted everyone with a big smile, face round and making him look like he had just turned eighteen. His name tag read Keith. “We got a lil’ tournament for ya. Since we got an uneven number, we got a bye set up that our groom can either use or we can pick someone by random.”  

“Let someone else have the bye.” Jackie chuckled.  

“Okie dokie, give us just a second to finish up our bracket here and then we’ll get our first round going with our groom here.” Keith shot a quick finger gun at Jackie before walking off to a young woman who appeared to be his age. Her name tag read Annalise.  

Everyone waited as the two set up the large whiteboard with black lines, writing names on the lines to create the beginning of the bracket. 

“Me and you Hen!” Jackie commented after seeing himself and Henrik in the first two spaces.  

“At least I’ll get one round in.” Henrik chuckled as Keith led away him and Jackie to the karts while everyone else was shown to the bleachers by Annalise.  

“Keith’s filling those two in but I'll let you guys know the idea, too.” Annalise played with one of the many piercings in her ears as she spoke. “Three laps, try to stay inside the padded walls, helmets and seatbelts are required, new helmets can be given upon request and most of all, have fun!” She let her ear go and perked up with the last part, which seemed to be her favorite section of the script she presented.  

By the time she had finished, Jackie and Henrik were inside their karts, helmets on, and seatbelts buckled. Jackie had his hands on the wheel and practically bouncing in his seat while Henrik had one of his hands resting on the wheel and he waved at Edward with the other.  

“When the light goes green, y’all can hit it,” Keith said to the two as he went over to stand with Annalise, pointing to the light that hung in the air in front of where the karts waited. Annalise pulled out a little remote from her pocket. “It will change in three...two...one-” He snapped his fingers while Annalise pressed a button, changing the light to green.  

Jackie and Henrik took off with squealing tires. Jackie got an early lead and maintained it throughout most of the race. 

“Go, Jackie!” Chase cheered. 

“You got this, Hen!” Marvin counter-cheered and laughed when Chase playfully bumped him with his hip. 

The race was far from close, Jackie finishing his final lap a good five seconds before Henrik. Jackie waited until Henrik finished and gave him a big hug, shouting in support and excitement. He seemed happier about him and Henrik having fun than the fact that he won.  

“Here go, Mr. Groom.” Annalise handed Jackie a golden star sticker.  

“Awesome!” Jackie perked up and immediately slapped the sticker on his chest. “Who’s next?”  

“Mare and Dark.” Keith read from the board as he added Jackie’s name to the line beside where his and Henrik’s names were.  

“Let's get this over with.” Dark sighed as he went over to the karts.   

“Good luck,” Mad said to Mare. 

“Well, now I’m definitely going to win.” Mare winked and went to the karts as well. 

“Aren’t you two so cute?” Anti teased when he saw Mad watching Mare walking away with a soft smile.   

“It’ll be even cuter when Mare kicks Dark’s ass,” Mad said without missing a beat or looking away from Mare.  

“Marvin! Your apprentice is sassing me!” Anti called out with a laugh in his voice.  

“Did the sass make sense?” Marvin called back. 

“Yes.” 

“Good job, Mad!” Marvin’s praise had Anti acting offended with a hand on his chest while Mad’s smile grew into a proud one.   

“Three...two...one-” This time Annalise did the verbal countdown while Keith pressed the button.  

Mare and Dark took off, staying evenly paced for most of the race. Sometimes one got ahead of the other, but it didn’t last long. 

“Faster, Mare, faster!” Mad cheered. 

“Go, Mare!" Edward added to the cheer. 

“Am I the only one rooting for Dark?” Anti asked. The immediate and unified yes had Anti laughing hard enough that he nearly fell off the bleachers.  

“Mare!" Mad practically screamed with excitement when Mare passed Dark and won.  

“You do know this means you’ll have to race against Mare, right?” Anti asked and his laughing returned at Mad’s face dropping in realization, but that moment passed when Mare went up to him. 

“You won!” Mad said with the brightest smile.  

“How could I not with my good luck charm?” Mare chuckled.  

“Gag me.” Anti stuck his tongue out with his joke as he and Marvin walked by, the two already seeing their turn was next. He paused when they got to where Dark was talking with Annalise, looking at his watch and likely checking what time they’d be finished. Dark politely nodded to the young woman and turned, stopping short of running into Anti. “We should have you race more often, Darky~” Anti giggled. 

“Gag me,” Marvin said and waved with his fingers when Anti glared at him. 

“I’m going to lap your ass,” Anti stated as he moved away from his flirting and went to the karts with Marvin. 

“Good luck with that, honey.” Marvin brushed his hair back with his hand before putting his helmet on.  

“You look hot, Marv!” Chase called out from the bleachers. He let out another cheer when Marvin blew him a kiss as he got into his kart.  

“So, should we expect the next wedding to be for you two?” Jackie teased, lightly nudging Chase with his elbow. Chase choked on his breath and started coughing, face red from both the coughs and a bit of a blush.  

“My money is on it being Edward and Henrik.” Mare said.  

“How did we get involved in this?” Henrik asked.  

“Just a feeling.” Mare sang. 

“My feeling is that one twin is getting married and the other will follow suit soon.” Edward grinned when Mare stiffened and then glared at him. Mad was too busy watching the race to pay attention to the conversation.  

“Go, Marvin!” Mad clapped his hands. 

“Get him, Anti!” Dark shouted his support, making Mad flinch since he wasn’t prepared for Dark to suddenly be so loud.  

“Damn Dark, blow out a man’s eardrum.” Chase laughed, rubbing his ear to add to his joke.   

“Are you blushing?” Jackie joined in on the joke and he quickly slipped away to sit on the other side of the bleachers when Dark looked like he was going to stab him. Thankfully, Dark didn’t have time to follow through on that silent threat as the race finished and most of them were cheering Marvin’s name since he won.  

“What was that about lapping my ass?” Marvin taunted Anti with almost a purr in his voice.  

“Oh, shut up.” Anti scoffed with a hint of a smile. Turning to Chase and Edward as they went to the karts. “You better win Chase so then you can beat Marvin.”  

“We’ll have to wait and see.” Chase chuckled. 

“Have some faith in me,” Edward said as Anti handed him his helmet. Anti just stuck his tongue out and went away to sit next to Dark. 

“Good luck~” Marvin kissed Chase’s cheek, put the helmet on him, and went to the bleachers as well. Chase couldn’t stop his giggle as he watched Marvin leave, he still got a flutter in his heart with those kisses, and he knew that warmth in his chest would never stop when it came to Marvin.  

“Have you ever driven one of these things?” Edward asked as he got into the kart.  

“A few times.” Chase shrugged and got into his kart.  

“You got this Edward!” Henrik followed his cheer with a shout.  

“Think I’ll still get a kiss even after I lose?” Edward laughed.  

“It’s Hen, he’ll kiss you no matter what.” Chase reached over and playfully punched his arm.  

“Y’all ready?” Keith asked.  

“All set.” Chase perked up, hands on the steering wheel and Edward followed suit.  

“Three...two...one-” Keith did the countdown and Annalise pressed the button.  

The race went fairly smoothly aside from Chase beating Edward by almost a full lap. Most of the others weren’t too shocked by this but everyone was shocked when the next race between Mad and Mare had the same outcome and Mad won.  

“I studied the layout of the track while everyone else was racing.” Mad explained to Anti from the kart he still sat in after he had rushed down and asked, ‘How the fuck did you do that’. “Calculating the angles of the turns and getting a loose estimation on how fast the karts can go and-” 

“Okay, we get it, you’re smart, damn.” Anti clicked his tongue. “We need to get you drunk the moment we’re at the bar to make me feel better about myself.”  

“I'm sorry?” Mad wasn’t sure if he had done something wrong but it was better to be safe. He hummed and tilted his head up when he felt something on his helmet, smiling when he saw Mare.  

“You did really good.” Mare said.  

“Nope. Not watching you two get all kissy-kissy. Bleh.” Anti exaggerated his tone as he walked away.  

“Coming from the man that made out with his boyfriend in Marvin’s living room,” Mare called after him. 

“Like you haven’t!” Anti called back. 

“I did when I lived there.” Mare countered.  

“Raise your hand if you haven’t made out in my living room.” Marvin joked, looking at Henrik and his eyebrows going up when Henrik’s hand didn’t. “Hen!”  

“It was one time!” Henrik protested. 

“Twice.” Edward corrected.  

“Okay, now I need all the details~” Marvin teased Henrik.  

“We’re ready for the next round,” Annalise announced and Henrik let out a sigh of relief when the attention went back to the races. 

“They changed the track,” Mad said.  

“Their site said they switch it up between rounds so it doesn’t get boring,” Jackie explained as he checked his seatbelt. 

“Shit.”  

And shit it was. Jackie ended up lapping Mad since he kept driving into the padded walls and by the time Mad was finally finished, he felt dizzy. Mad fumbled out of his kart and wasn’t shocked at Marvin and Mare being right in front of him.  

“Are you okay?” Marvin asked as he took off Mad’s helmet.  

“Did you hurt anything?” Mare asked, checking over Mad’s body.  

“I’m fine. I just wasn’t ready for the sudden change.” Mad laughed. “It was like bumper cars but more intense.”  

“Is he okay?” Jackie asked as he jogged over.  

“Would you all stop acting like I’m made of glass?” Mad rolled his eyes. 

“Oh, we just care about you, Maddy.” Jackie laughed, wrapping an arm around Mad’s neck and rubbing his knuckles against the top of his head.  

“Go back to the glass treatment.” Mad protested as he tried to squirm away from Jackie.  

“You’re lucky he has control over his fire,” Marvin said as Chase joined them for the next race. “Well, for the most part.” He added the last part as a joke and he knew that would get Jackie to let Mad go. And Jackie did, even bouncing back a little as an extra precaution.

“I swear Marvin acts more like your mom than your mentor.” Anti teased as Mad, Mare, and Jackie joined him and the others on the bleachers.  

“I’d be okay if Marvin was my parent,” Mad said.  

“At least he doesn’t have to worry about the ‘birds and the bees’ talk.” Anti nudged Mad’s arm with his hand. 

“He did. My parents didn’t want me to know what sex was, they didn’t even want me to know about kissing.” Mad stated. Anti started laughing like Mad made a joke and it slowly died off when he noticed Mad just blinked at him. 

“You’re kidding, right?” Anti asked. Mad only shook his head and looked out to the karts. “He’s-He’s kidding, he’s just pulling my leg, right?” Anti asked Mare, getting another head shake. “The fuck?”  

“Different day,” Dark whispered to Anti, that being his polite way of saying drop it. 

“If I win, you’re doing dishes for a week,” Marvin said as he got himself ready in the cart.  

“And if I win, you’re doing them without magic.” Chase winked.  

“I see how it is.” Marvin giggled. “We’re ready~” He sang to Annalise and Keith.  

“Three, two, one.” Annalise did the countdown a little faster this time and Keith pressed the button.  

“I don’t know who to cheer for,” Mad said.  

“Me neither.” Henrik agreed. 

“Fuck him up, Marvin!” Anti shouted.  

The race between Marvin and Chase went fast and smooth until the very end when Chase’s back wheel bumped into Marvin’s kart and got him to spin. Chase didn’t realize what had happened, thinking he had scraped a wall, until after he passed the finish line and looked over his shoulder to see Marvin correcting his kart.  

“Sorry!” Chase called as Marvin crossed the finish line a few moments later.  

“I can’t believe you hit me.” Marvin played up his fake pout as he took his helmet off.  

“I didn’t mean to,” Chase said.  

“You owe me now.” Marvin got out of the kart and went over to Chase.  

“I’ll make it up to you tomorrow,” Chase promised, smiling when Marvin gave him a quick kiss.  

“I’ll hold you to it.”  

“Should we go ahead and book a party for your guys’ bachelor party?” Annalise asked with a teasing grin.  

“Anna,” Keith spoke through his teeth in a warning.  

“Time for the finale!” Jackie’s cheer saved Marvin and Chase from having to react to Annalise’s comment. “The groom versus the best man!”  

“Good luck.” Marvin winked and slipped away to the bleachers.  

“Here comes the bride~” Anti sang as Marvin sat down next to him.  

“I will throw you out of the building.” Marvin threatened.  

“And ruin Jackie’s party?” Anti puffed his lower lip out.  

“He won’t notice.”  

“Rude.” 

“Three! Two! One! Go!” Annalise and Keith’s shouts echoed and the higher-pitched revving of the karts followed as Jackie and Chase took off.  

Their race was a much more exciting one than the others. The two were laughing while bumping into each other, letting one get the lead, but it wasn’t long before the other was on their tail, hitting them and taking over.  

“Woo!” Jackie shouted, throwing his arms in the air as he barely beat Chase.  

“We’ll have to do a rematch at some point.” Chase laughed.  

“You're so on!" Jackie said as he held up the trophy Keith handed him. 

“Thank God, we’re finally done.” Anti groaned. “I need a drink.”   

“Don’t forget we’re going to a cowboy bar.” Marvin reminded. 

“Damn it.” 

x~x~x 

“That's the good shit,” Anti said after putting down the empty shot glass. He had no idea how many of those he had drank but it was enough that he didn’t care anymore about anything, and he wasn’t the only one in that state of mind. 

“Ta-da~!” Mad sang, holding his arms out to show the little crowd around him the coin floating in the glass of water. 

“Dude!” Jackie said in awe while the group of equally intoxicated men shouted their approval of the trick as well.  

“That’s magic!” One of the men said. 

“Not magic, science. Now pay up.” Mad held his hands out with a giggle, swaying a bit as he was handed some cash from a handful of the bargoers who had participated in the bet.  

“A drunk Mad hustling cowboys with science was not on my bingo card.” Chase chuckled.  

“It was on mine,” Edward said.  

“I think that’s enough science bets for the night,” Mare said as Mad joined them back at the bar counter.  

“Okay.” Mad sat down on a bar stool. “Jackie went to get his free hat.” He added as he started counting his ‘earnings’. “Can I have another shot?” Mad handed one of the bills to the bartender.  

“Water.” Mare corrected. “Keep the cash, added tip for them.” He gestured to the ones in the group that were drinking.  

“Let him have a shot!” Anti called out. “I want one too!”  

“You can have a shot of water.” Dark agreed with Mare to cut them off.  

“Boo!” Anti pouted.  

“Me and Hen can get-” 

“Some water as well.” Chase finished Marvin’s sentence and chuckled when Marvin whined at him. Henrik's protest came out in German and Edward pushed away the last few sips of Henrik’s drink.  

“When you forget English, it’s time to call it a night," Edward said when Henrik protested at him more in German.  

“I think Jackie is lost.” Chase laughed at seeing Jackie going in a bit of a circle at the other end of the bar. “I got him.” He added and walked off.   

“Oh, my God,” Anti said as he and Marvin watched Chase go.  

“What?” Marvin asked. 

“Chase has a slutty waist.” Anti pointed and Marvin tilted his head.  

“Yeah, he does~” Marvin giggled. “It’s a nice slutty waist.” 

“Mine’s better.” Anti giggled with him.  

“Do I even want to know?” Dark sighed, wishing that he had something stronger to drink than his Dr. Pepper.  

“Probably not,” Mare said with a shrug as he started handing out the water bottles they were given.  

“A slutty waist?” Mad asked. “Do I have one of those?” Marvin and Anti looked at Mad, looked at each other, nodded, and then went back to looking at Mad. 

“Yes.” They answered together. Mad, still not fully sure what the two were talking about, had a sudden panic in his face and shouted. 

“Mare! I’m a slut!” Mad was still confused as Marvin and Anti laughed, Dark nearly choked on his drink, Henrik tried to comfort Mad, but was still stuck on German, Edward covered his mouth with his hand and Mare looked like he was ready to smack the ones laughing.  

“Let’s not yell that in the middle of public.” Mare went to Mad and opened the bottle of water for him. “And you’re not a slut.”  

“But they said-” Mad was cut off by the water bottle getting put into his mouth.  

“I’ll explain what it means when you’re sober. But you two.” Mare turned to Anti and Marvin, who were still laughing. “I know that you’re drunk, but could you refrain from-” 

“Maddy!” Jackie yelled as he hugged Mad, his newly gained cowboy hat sitting cooked on his head. “Maddy, we’re going to be brothers!”  

“They gave him some birthday shots with his hat,” Chase explained. “He’s gone from drunk to trashed.” 

“Sounds like we should head home soon. Phantom can handle-” 

“Mare!” Jackie continued the trend of preventing people from finishing their sentences as he practically threw himself on Mare, giving him a bear hug. “Mare! We’re going to be brothers! I went from no siblings to two! That’s so awesome!” 

“Brother-in-laws.” Mare corrected, rolling his eyes but still having a hint of a smile.  

“My family is growing!” Jackie sounded like he was on the verge of happy tears.  

“Jackie, honey, you’re going to snap him like a twig.” Marvin giggled.  

“I am not that frail.” Mare said. Although, he had to admit to himself that Jackie’s grip was strong. “You can get off me now.” 

“We have to do brotherly things! Like, wrestle and, like, gossip, and argue about silly things and-and-” Jackie turned to get more ideas from Mad but saw an empty chair. “And Mad’s missing.”  

“What are you-shit.” Mare turned as well and managed to finally get free from Jackie’s hold.  “Did anyone see where Mad went?”  

“You need to get a bell for that nerd,” Anti commented. 

“He probably went to the bathroom,” Chase suggested. “Knowing how we are, he told us and wasn’t heard 'cause we’re all loud.”  

“I still vote on getting him a bell,” Anti repeated himself as Mare left to look for Mad.  

“I think I see Mad.” Marvin slid out of his seat  

“Marv, wait.” Chase caught Marvin’s hand and walked with him.  

“Stay here, I’ll go tell Mare where Mad is,” Dark said to Anti, having seen what Marvin had. “Drink more of this.” He moved the water closer to him before walking off.  

“We gotta go help Mad!” Jackie gasped and then ran to where Marvin and Chase went.  

“Jackie!” Edward was going to fight the others for leaving him alone with three drunk men. “Anti!” He missed trying to catch Anti as he went after Jackie. “Damn it.”  

“We can help.” Henrik took Edward’s hand and tugged. 

“At least you’re sobering up enough to be speaking English again.” Edward sighed as he let himself be guided away. He really did need to work on his German lessons. 

“I’m guessing Mad’s where our group is headed?” Mare pointed as he walked with Dark.  

“They need to work on listening.” Dark groaned. 

“Where’s the fun in that?” Mare chuckled, squeezing his way through the crowd and perking up when he saw Mad. He saw that one of the patrons was trying to get Mad’s attention and grabbed his arm. 

“Don’t touch me!” Mad snapped and, doing something no one would expect, punched the man square in the jaw.  

“Mad!” Mare had a lot of conflicting thoughts but the ones that took over were ‘run’ and ‘protect’ as he booked it to where Mad was and pulled him away from the beyond pissed man.  

“The fuck was that!?” The man held his face as he yelled.  

“He weighs ten pounds soaking wet, like it hurt that much, ya fuck!” Anti said in a slurred, yet mocking voice.  

“You little-” 

“Don’t mess with my brothers!” Jackie let out a heroic cry before tackling the man, sending both of them flying to the ground.  

“Get his ass, Jackie!” Marvin’s cheer was drowned out by the ensuing chaos, the other patrons getting bumped into and causing an all-out brawl.  

“This is like one of those movies Chase showed me!” Mad said, being way too excited about it. “Wait! We're supposed to fight!” He protested at Mare throwing him over his shoulder.  

“We are not fighting,” Mare said as he kicked away someone who got too close for comfort. 

“Don’t.” Dark, following Mare’s actions, caught Anti and put him up on a shoulder as well.  

“Let me kick some ass!” Anti squirmed, giving up after a few moments. All the alcohol in his system made him tire himself out quickly. He now just hung limply and muttered in disapproval.  

“Nope, nope, nope.” Henrik grabbed the back of Marvin’s shirt and pulled him away as Edward pushed through the crowd, still holding Henrik’s hand. Mare and Dark made their way through with them 

That meant Chase was left to deal with Jackie.  

“Jackie, yo, Jackie!” Chase shouted over the chaos. Jackie was shoving people away and laughing as no one was able to hit him as he spun about. “Alright, time for the secret move.” Chase rolled his sleeves before running and jumping up on Jackie’s back. “It’s time to leave, dude!” He raised his voice to be heard.  

“Oh! Okay! Hold on!” Jackie warned and then started running, barging through the crowd like a snowplow until he was outside where the others were waiting.  

“Holy shit!” Chase cursed and clung to Jackie for dear life.

“I’m ready to go home,” Mad said from where he sat in the grass.  

“Starting a bar fight is one hell of a way to end a bachelor party.” Anti laughed, leaning heavily against Dark.  

“Thankfully, Henrik is too drunk to scold,” Chase said as he got off Jackie. “You okay, Marv?” He asked when he noticed Marvin suddenly going quiet.  

“Darling, hold my hair,” Marvin said.  

“Hold your-oh, fuck.” Chase scrambled and pulled Marvin’s hair back when he started getting sick.  

“Party foul!” Anti cackled and then his face went green before turning away and throwing up as well.  

“Now, I’m really ready to go home.” Mad covered his ears with the palms of his hands.     

“I told you not to eat those onion rings,” Dark said, rubbing Anti’s back as he stayed hunched over.  

“They tasted good.” Anti groaned. “I regret nothing.”  

“I know you don’t." Dark chuckled.  

“I think Henrik and Jackie fell asleep.” Mad’s voice was louder than usual as he tried to hear himself through his hands, gesturing with his head to the two men on the grass. Henrik was resting on his stomach, glasses askew. Jackie was sprawled out and softly snoring.  

“Phantom’s ready for his drunk fiancé,” Mare said as he shook his phone to show that he had texted his brother.  

“I’m done.” Marvin turned and flopped himself toward Chase. “Ready to go home.” His voice was muffled by Chase’s chest.  

“I think we all are.” Edward chuckled, rubbing Henrik’s back. 

“Phan said he’s got everything set in the living room for you to show up,” Mare said to Dark. “You guys still good with the rest of us crashing at your place.” He added to Chase.  

“Still good.” Chase held up a thumb.  

“Good night, everyone. Here’s hoping the next party doesn’t end as violently.” Dark said. 

“No promises.” Mare laughed, seeing Dark sigh before himself, Anti, and Jackie were gone with the snap of his fingers. In the next moment, Mare snapped his fingers as well and sent the others to the living room of Marvin and Chase’s home.  

“Up we go,” Edward grunted as he scooped Henrik up in his arms. Henrik was back to German as he mumbled something in that language while Edward carried him away. Finally, it was something Edward understood completely. “I love you, too.”  

“The bed will be a lot more comfortable than the floor,” Mare said as he hoisted Mad to his feet.  

“Yeah.” Mad agreed, hugging Mare’s arm and resting his head against it as they started walking. “Night.” He half-waved toward Chase and Marvin. 

“Night.” Chase waved back before turning all his attention to Marvin. “Want me to carry you?”  

“Can you carry me like royalty?” Marvin asked, giving Chase a soft smile as he was leaning over a bit, butt sticking out, and keeping his chin on Chase’s chest.  

“Yes, I can.” Chase chuckled and moved to lift Marvin into his arms bridal style.  

“I’m the fanciest prince.” Marvin giggled, wrapping his arms around Chase’s neck.  

“And the handsomest.” Chase used his hip to open the bedroom door. 

“Nah, that title belongs to you.” Marvin hummed as he was laid out on the bed. “I’m the fancy prince and you’re the handsome prince.”  

“I can work with that.” Chase closed the door, kicked off his shoes and jeans, and hung his hat up.  

“And Mad’s the smart prince and Mare’s the musical prince and Henrik’s the doctor prince and-” 

“Is everyone princes now?” Chase asked while he got Marvin out of his shoes and pants. 

“Yeah!” Marvin said like it was obvious.  

“We must live in one massive kingdom.” Chase tossed the clothing and shoes into piles for morning him to deal with before turning off the lights.  

“We do. The biggest one.” Marvin said, watching in the very dim lighting of the moon Chase crawling across the bed and lying down beside him. He rolled over and flopped himself on top of Chase, hair covering most of his face. “Love you.”  

“I love you, too.” Chase fixed Marvin’s hair so he could see him. “You look like you really need some sleep.” 

“Not tired.” Marvin weakly protested, eyes already closing. 

“Sure, you’re not.” Chase chuckled, lifting his head to kiss Marvin’s forehead. “Goodnight.” 

“Night.” Marvin’s word barely came out, showing he had fallen asleep in mere seconds.  

“Night,” Chase repeated and kissed Marvin’s forehead again with a smile, closing his eyes and relaxing. He’d need to wiggle free later to get his sleeping potion, but for right now he was more than happy to enjoy holding Marvin as he rested.  

Chase had a good feeling that Phantom’s bachelor party would be just as chaotic.  

[deepperplexity]

Prompt 21: Star Of Wishes [B8]

Pairing: Snape x Fem!OC

POV: First, OC

Setting: OC’s home -> Severus’s hidden place

Continuation of: Prompt 2. Restless Waiting, 3. Snowballing, 7. Stormy Reunion,  8. Rosemary For Holly, 16. Keep Warm, 19. Hope & 20. Returning Home

A/N: TODAY WE WRAP UP SEVERUS’ STORY! I’m super drained, tbh, but I so loved writing this part and giving everyone that HEA even if it doesn’t happen until the very end so to say 😂🙈 We do get some lovely smut though, hope you'll enjoy the emotional ride of the intimacy too 🤭 This might be the last long fic for the year. I have 0 time, I have no idea how I’m gonna be able to write the next 3 fics and get them up but I’ll manage somehow 😂 I still don’t know what prompt 23 and 24 will be this year, I do know that tomorrows prompt will be the one I use to wrap up Turpin’s story — how, I have no idea yet. We’ll see 😂👍

+A/N: This part of the serial contains a relationship dynamic in the beginning that can be extremely toxic and dangerous when real, but this is FICTION, and as the author I have created this relationship with the intention of it being trauma-healing, safe, loving, and no harm have or will come to any of the characters due to the relationship or any acts of either of the characters. If you feel this relationship matches yours, PLEASE take a step back and really evaluate if you are in a dangerous relationship - if your partner is treating you in a manner that isn’t loving or safe.

Tags/TW’s: Kisses, embracing, Harsh and Soft Touching, Apologising For Ones Behaviour, Slight Snark, Trying Ones Best, Stunted Emotional Development, Confessions of Regret/Hurt/Anger/Fear/Pain/Lacking Knowledge/Love/Affection/Trust, Explicit Description, Dark Sexual Past, Gentle and Caring Touches, Hints At Past Sexual Abuse/Coercion/Rape (not graphic or described),

Word Count: 4.7k

LINKTREE // AO3 // MASTERLIST

It had been over seven months since the day I thought my heart would stop. The day I found him more dead than alive in the Shrieking Shack. The day a strange little elf was sent to me with a message from someone a mere boy, which led me to find the man I loved so broken — poisoned, snake venom slithering through his veins no magic could have stopped. But my mom, she stopped it. My mom, a muggle who the Dark Lord so much detested, had won over his own snake.

The year had passed in a blurry ordeal of pain, love, recovery, and healing. But still, there was so much healing needed I could barely wrap my head around it. Christmas was upon us, and I hadn’t the heart to decorate our home. The home we ended up sharing, just me and Severus. At first, it was to get away from everyone and give him a chance to heal, but it changed about a month ago. A month ago, it became something different, an emotional journey for the two of us one could say. Spewed words of hatred, panic attacks through dark nights, long stretches of time without a word spoken from him, my dear broken man.

I didn’t give up, yet yesterday, when he’d so viciously barked at me about the time I’d decorated his office and how stupid I’d been to do such a thing — well, something broke in me. I hadn’t decorated our home, I hadn’t put up anything related to Christmas despite it being the 21st of December now and my most loved holiday. I’d simply allowed our home to remain barren, for his sake, as he seemed to hate the holiday with a vengeance unlike any I’d ever seen.

“I’ll take a walk,” I called through the little house, not expecting any response. The cold winter air greeted me but there was no wind, not a sound from beyond the bubble the little house sat in at the very end of a clearing in some ancient forest I still had no idea of the location of. I could only apparate there since I knew what it looked like.

My heart ached for the man left behind in the house while stepping into the night. No matter what, I wouldn’t give up on him. He had every right to be broken, hurt, lost — but sometimes I had to take some time for myself to find the strength and courage I needed to go on when his hatred and pain shined too brightly. Sometimes, I was the only one around he could lash out against and even if it hurt beyond anything else to hear such foul words in his voice directed at me, I still loved him more than anything and the nights when I held him tight I just knew it would pass. Eventually, time would heal his wounds and I’d still be there. I would never abandon him, something I knew he feared above all else yet he always showed I was free to come and go as I pleased. He knew what it was to be trapped, he didn't wish that for me in any sense of the word.

The snow crunched beneath my shoes, I slipped on my mittens and shoved my hands into my coat’s pockets while walking ahead. Above me, just before I left the clearing and the trees would obscure the sky, I saw the little stars speckling the darkness. I paused for a second to just look at the enormity of the universe, to get perspective perhaps, or simply allow myself to think of how small things can mean so much in the enormity of it all. A falling star streaked by, and I couldn’t help but close my eyes and send a wish to it. It was a childish thing to do perhaps, but I wished for Severus to allow me to help him and be close with him. Some day it might come true, he’s trying already…

I walked around for nearly two hours, until my toes were numb and my cheeks beyond chilly. Just breathing, imagining a happy Christmas with him. “In the future, when he’s healed… Maybe then…” I murmured to myself as I stomped off my boots and stepped back into our little home.

I lost my breath.

When I left, the house had been dark, dreary, void of all things Christmas but now… Now there were decorations everywhere. Eternally burning candles, perfectly green garlands, golden ornaments, and red bows littered every surface, door frame, and window. The house had turned into a Christmas-littered haven perfectly decorated to my own taste, almost as I had decorated Severus’s office a year ago — just slightly different colours.

“What in the world,” I whispered as I dragged off my fluffy mittens and shrugged out of my coat. “S-Severus! I don’t mean to alarm you but I think Santa broke in!” I called, my brain not able to think of another reason why our house looked like Christmas heaven. “No, love,” he murmured as he appeared in the doorway to the living room beyond the hallway I was moving through. “I am apologizing,” he continued and the sweet look of guilt and hope covering his features made my heart ache.

“Severus, what-, why?” I asked as he straightened and reached for my hand to tug me into his arms. I followed without any resistance. I always wanted to be in his arms, one of the many things I always wished for while I nursed him back to health physically after my mom had saved his life. “I said dreadful things.” “You’re trying, Sev.” “No, you are trying, Linna—” he exhaled the words into my hair “—and I’m constantly making it harder for you.” “Healing takes time, Sev. It takes time.” “It gives me no right to take it out on you, you have done nothing but stand by me.” “I always will, I won’t abandon you.” “I almost wish you would, it would be easier to be in misery than… deal with it all.” “Oh, stop, you’re a strong man, you can deal with it.” “Love, you overestimate my abilities, and underestimate your importance…”

For a long moment, I said nothing, just thought about his words — the sweet ones he now spoke and the hurtful ones that came out when we tried to process his trauma. It wasn’t easy to stay, wasn’t easy to take it and not retort or yell or scream or cry. But the hardest thing I had ever done was stay away from him, nothing else came close to it.

“Will you forgive me?” he asked, his voice low and nearly that of someone frightened. “I-, Severus… you don’t need my—” “Your forgiveness is the only one I need.” “I won’t forgive you then,” I said softly. “I won’t forgive you until you fight harder.” “Love, I—” “No, you’re the strongest man I’ve ever met. I’m nothing compared to you and I have nothing to equal your pain and hurt, your strength, or your bravery, so if I only have this one thing to hold over your head I bloody well will, Sev.” “Feisty today, are we?”

His voice was teasing, yet the hurt and fear still lingered behind it all and I couldn’t help but feel even more love for the man who dealt so poorly with his own emotions — he’d never been allowed any, so how would he ever know how to deal with them properly? I did the only thing I could think of, I hugged him with all my strength until his arms wrapped around me and I felt some of the tension leave his body. “Silly man,” I whispered. “You really need to learn how to deal with your emotions.” “I’m… I am trying,” he confessed and I knew he spoke true. He was trying with everything he had and I’d be with him every step of the way.

We stood there, for the longest moment, until I felt the urge to explore all the Christmas decorations he’d filled the house with. “I thought you hated Christmas with a passion as strong as amortentia’s power to make people go insane with obsession.” “I do.” “Then, why?” “You are the obsessed in this case,” he chuckled. “So, for me, then?” He merely nodded but I smiled warmly at him. It was a giant act of care and love on his part, it only made me love the holiday even more.

We walked through the little house, I looked at everything he’d done in a sort of stunned silence until we got to the bedroom. “Really?” I asked and arched a brow at him, he shrugged while raising his own brows in a sort of “what?” kind of expression. “Rosemary?” “Well…” he murmured as his cheeks took on the tiniest hint of pink, barely there but significant enough for me to notice after having gotten to know him so well the past few months. “I love it,” I said and kissed his cheek gently. “It’s perfect,” I continued while allowing my eyes to rest another moment on the rosemary twigs replacing the holly — just like it had done a year ago.

“Love, I truly am sorry… I shouldn’t have said the things I did, or done it in the manner I did.” “I know, and you know, and it’s in the past.” “It is not in the past,” he said and sighed. “I fear I’ll never be able to… To…” “Sev, schh, it’s okay. You’re learning. Have you ever had a right to express yourself? Or even have feelings at all?” “No.” “So you’re a baby.” He sneered at that, almost recoiling. “If you think about it logically, you’re as able as a child to deal with your emotions and when children feel truly safe with someone they’ll act up, they’ll cry and scream and get pissed because they feel it’s safe to show their emotions and, eventually, with the help of safe adults they learn to communicate and deal with their emotions in a healthy and proper manner. Yes, you’re a grown man, but you’ve never had the chance to learn or become comfortable with your emotions.” “I’m comfortable with you.” “And I am with you, we can both show our emotions, and right now your emotions aren’t under control but that’s not your fault. You’ll learn, grow, and become able to handle it eventually.”

Severus simply stared at me. It felt like an eternity passed while his eyes seemed to dig themselves into mine. Eventually, he drew a long breath. “You are far too good.” “I’ll be anything you need me to be.” “I merely need you, just as you are. If you… if you are willing to be patient, with… me…” It sounded as if he had to push with all his might to say the word in a calm and collected manner, as if he felt a need to either spit them out or say nothing at all. It warmed my heart and I nodded gently, smiling up at him as I took his hands gently in my own. “I’ll always be patient with you,” I said and leaned up to kiss him. His thin lips pushed harshly against mine while he tugged me closer.

He backed me up, toward our bed, and gently laid me down without our lips ever leaving each other. “Severus?” I asked, my heart hammering too hard while my entire body tightened warmly under him. “If you don’t want this, say so now, love.” “I-, I do…” It feels like I’ve waited all my life for this moment. “But are you ready?” I asked in return, remembering all the times he’d recoiled at my soft touch or jolted at a sweet caress of his cheek. Loving touches, as I’d learned over the past months, wasn’t something he was used to or even knew how to deal with.

“I want to try,” he confessed after another kiss. “Okay,” I whispered and he kissed me again while his hands roughly caressed my sides. His kisses turned harsher and he bent my legs to fit himself between them. I simply moved with him, allowed him to lead the way while I avoided touching him, keeping my hands above my head even if all I wished to do was strip him and ravish him with all my love and adoration, thousands of kisses and hundreds of soft caresses — with all my warmth.

His hands travelled up my arms until one of them clamped around my wrists before the other tore open my blouse with a jerk. His breathing turned ragged, his hand clamped around my wrists harder while he undid my pants with his free hand — tugging at the buttons too harshly.

“S-Sev,” I whispered against his lips. All his motions halted. He looked down at me, his eyes darker than ever. “I won’t run away,” I whispered. “Even if you don’t hold me down, I won’t touch you unless you allow it,” I continued. “I-, I don’t know how to… How to do this…” His voice was a mere murmur, a deep droning of a confession barely audible. “I know. I understand. But I do… Let me show you?” I asked gently while holding his eyes with my own.

He hesitated, a fear of what was to come in those onyx eyes of his, while I laid utterly still despite the need to love him clawing at my skin with a burning desire. He nodded, a stiff motion, while he slowly released my hands.

I sat up and he backed off the bed, standing between my knees. I looked up at him, not making any quick moves but standing up while he took a step back and his fists clenched. “Will you let me lead?” I asked. He merely nodded. “No, Severus. I need you to say the words.” He looked bewildered for a second before his fists unclenched on a deep exhale. “You lead.” “Thank you.”

I gently reached out while he stood absolutely still. “I’m going to undress you. And then you will undress me, slowly.” He nodded at my words and I got to work with the buttons of his shirt, not letting my fingers tremble while he watched them work. I tugged the shirt off his shoulders without touching his skin, dragging the fabric down his arms while searching his eyes before it floated to the floor. I undid the belt of his pants, then the button and zipper before bending to tug them off as he wore no shoes.

He lifted each leg for me to remove the pants fully while simultaneously slipping my finger within the hem of his socks and taking them off at the same time. I heard him draw a shaky breath as I rose before him as he stood in just his boxers. He was such a beautiful sight in the candlelight and I couldn’t help but look him up and down while my cheeks heated, no matter how hard I tried to control my own emotions for his benefit.

“Now, you undress me in the same manner. But, you can touch me if you want to.” He nodded at my words and as he reached for my already open blouse I caught a glimpse of his unsteady fingers that seemed to be both stiff and trembling. But he managed to undress me in a somewhat slow fashion, even if he didn’t look at me while he did so. His eyes flickered all over the place as if he didn’t know where to look.

When he stood up we were only in our underwear. I was strangely relaxed while he seemed tense. So I stepped closer, my eyes seeking his, and allowed my hands to reach out. “I’ll touch you now,” I said and his eyes found mine. He looked terrified, but he didn’t move away as my hands reached his chest dusted with dark hair so soft to the touch I wanted to moan at just the sensation of him. “Touch me, Severus, feel my body. It belongs to you,” I said gently to encourage him to dare. “I-, I have never in-, in this manner,” he confessed. “Tell me how you’ve done it, share your experiences with me while we do this gently.” “Love… No,” he said, a darkness to his voice. “Tell me, and touch me.”

I allowed my hands to stroke down his arms, slip to his hips, and go up along his sides until I could spread my fingers over his chest — his heart pounded. Then his hands reached out for my hips. “It was rough,” he began while his uncertain fingers began exploring my body in a jaggedly jumpy fashion. “Never out of care or, want… A necessity, sometimes something done without my approval. Merely for the… mission …” “Never again, darling,” I whispered while my hands explored his back and my front went flush against his, forcing his hands to slip behind me as well.

I kissed his collarbone and allowed my lips to slant up along his throat until I met his jawline. “This will only ever happen if you want it,” I assured him and his fingers stiffened at my lower back while I felt his cock press against my pelvis. “I can’t talk about it,” he confessed. “Not like this,” he continued and I nodded before kissing his cheek. “That’s okay, Sev. Will you still allow me to lead and touch?” “Yes…” “Say stop and it all stops.”

I stepped back and took off my underwear before ridding him of his. As we stood face to face I searched his eyes, tried to read what few emotions he showed, I found none truly alarming so I continued to kiss and caress him before we ended up on the bed. He was stiff beneath me, but I kept kissing and caressing his upper body while snuggling myself between his legs.

“Love…” he murmured. “Yes, Sev?” “Are you-, do you truly wish for this?” “Yes. I want all of you, all you are willing to gift me.” “All?” “Yes, all . There is no part of you I don’t love. I want to be close to you, care for you, love you.” He seemed to soften beneath me at that. “I will try,” he said quietly while his hands finally began to caress my skin, travelling along my sides until his fingers reached my face and he pulled me closer before kissing me softly.

I moaned into his mouth and kissed him back with all I had while still keeping the pace slow and the touch gentle. His thumb caressed my cheek and the kiss ended. I began stroking his side, travelling from his ribs to his hips before lifting myself a bit to reach his cock. He exhaled deeply as my fingers wrapped around him and I began stroking him gently, each movement measured and controlled to be gentle and comforting.

“It-, it feels good,” he whispered as he laid back fully, relaxing and taking in my touch. “I’ll always make you feel good, Sev,” I said, my voice too low but I was desperate to keep my control when all I truly wished to do was ravish him and have him fill my aching cunt. But we both needed this, he needed this to be different and I wanted him to feel safe and adored with me — as he always should feel.

I worked him to the point of him moaning deeply beneath me, my hands touching and stroking, my lips slanting and kissing, my mouth whispering sweet words of adoration and care. The room turned too warm, his breaths came harder and his muscles tensed beneath me while my core turned slick and needy.

“Sev, I’m going to ride you,” I said, making sure he knew what was about to happen before I did anything, giving him the chance to stop me. But he didn’t, he merely looked at me with warm eyes of want even if a small sliver of worry still lingered within the onyx colour.

I climbed atop him, guiding his thick cock to my entrance while straddling him. He looked up at me, his hands landing on my thighs as I began to sink, allowing him to slip inside and fill me up deliciously slow. He groaned and threw his head back as I took him to the hilt. It felt too good. He felt too perfect within me.

His hands flexed, his fingers digging into my flesh, and I moaned his name while taking in the sensation of being with him. I had dreamt of that moment for so long, wondered what it would be like, what he’d feel like, how he’d react — never had I imagined I’d be the one leading. But with Severus, things were always different.

“Love,” he groaned as I began riding him slowly. “You feel so good, Sev,” I moaned as my cunt adjusted to his size. “Belinna,” he moaned. “I-, I can’t,” he continued with a strain to his dark rumble of a voice. “Want me to stop?” I asked while keeping on riding him in slow motions, steady rising and falling, using all of my power to not allow the frenzy building within me to take over. “No, no don’t stop,” he groaned as his fingers dug themselves into my flesh with a grip so tight I wondered if he’d leave marks on me from his desperate hold. “But I can’t, I can’t hold out,” he panted while I felt his entire body turn nearly solid beneath me.

I’d only barely begun, but I wouldn’t take away his pleasure or deny him a release he so obviously needed. “Then let go, darling,” I said while I upped the pace a tiny bit. “Just let go.” “ Belinna ,” he moaned in a near prayer as I splayed my hands out on his chest, leaning forward to find a new angle to take him. He jerked beneath me, his jaw clenched tightly while his hips bucked upwards, and I moaned as he came undone beneath me.

His cock jerked with me, warm waves coating my insides while I kept riding him steadily while my hands felt the hammering of his heart. “You’re so good, Sev,” I praised while he groaned deeply. “So good, darling,” I continued and he moaned a strange sound of relief and something darker. I slowed my pace until I stilled fully, not chasing my release.

I watched him, the pale skin with a slight tint to his cheeks and little beads of sweat across his forehead, and couldn’t help but be filled with a desperate need to comfort him. He looked strangely satisfied but confused, tense but relaxed at the same time.

“Sev, are you alright?” I asked while stroking away a few stray strands of his hair. He looked up at me, I was unable to understand what his eyes were filled with though. He just looked at me, his chest still rising and falling rapidly, while I felt him soften within me his hands released their grip on my flesh.

“I-, I don’t know,” he confessed. “That’s okay,” I said and leaned forward to kiss his hooked nose while he slipped out of me, a gushing of sticky cum flowing out of me. “We’re a mess, would you like to shower with me?” I asked with a smile even if my entire body was reeling with the need to come. He shook his head and I nodded before kissing his thin lips gently. “I’ll be right back, I don’t like cleaning up with magic.”

I handed him his wand after having stood and went to the bathroom on shaky legs. My insides pulsed and his cum streaked down my thighs. I locked the door and stepped into the shower, the warm water cascaded over me and I reached down to find the release I so desperately needed while his moans and groans filled my head from mere memory. His cum and my slick covered my fingers as I stroked myself into a trembling mess, taking support from the wall while biting down on my lip to not make a sound. I made quick work of it all, finding my release swiftly only to rush through cleaning myself.

I grabbed my robe from the hook on the wall and left the bathroom while cinching the sash around my waist. When I stepped into the bedroom Severus sat on the edge of the bed, dressed in a new shirt and his black silken pyjama pants. He was leaning his elbows on his knees, a hunch to his shoulders and a stiffness to his back.

I walked up, sinking down on my knees before him. “Sev? Are you alright?” I asked anew but he shook his head. “What’s wrong?” I continued while wrapping my hands around his where they were entwined before me. “Is that how it’s supposed to be?” he asked quietly. “What do you mean?” “Soft, caring… Warm …” My eyes widened as he looked up at me. “Sev… Darling… Yes, it’s supposed to be all those things. It’s supposed to feel only good.” My heart screamed at the torment and confusion in his eyes while he looked at me so intently that I felt as if he were trying to enter my soul.

“What do you need, darling?” I asked while squeezing his hands. “Need?” “Yes, what do you need from me?” “Nothing you haven’t already given too much of.” “Okay, what would make you feel safe and cared for right now?” I asked to change his view on the question I was asking. “I-, I don’t know.” “Cuddles?” I asked. “Or alone time? Food? Words of affirmation?” I kept going to try and jog his thoughts about it all. I knew what I wanted but what I needed was to comfort him in whatever manner he needed.

“I usually prefer some cuddles and snuggles after getting clean, and talking about what felt good and what didn’t,” I said to open up about my own wants to hopefully make him see it was okay to ask for something more, for what one needs. “There was nothing about that which did not feel good, love,” Severus murmured, his eyes cast down on our hands. “I’m glad to hear that.”

“Would you like me to stay or give you some time?” I asked after another moment. “Don’t leave,” he whispered. “Stay. Please…” The confusion and worry in his voice was heartbreaking but that he asked me to stay warmed me. “I’ll stay, for as long as you wish.” “Forever. I wish you to stay forever,” he said and I felt my eyes water at his honesty. “I love you, Severus.” “I love you too. And I am trying, I am truly trying, Belinna.” “I know,” I said and reached my hand up to caress his chilly cheek.

He leaned into my hand, a small smile across his lips. Such a difference to just a few weeks ago. “It may sound foolish,” he began quietly, “but I… I wished on a falling star for the bravery needed to be closer to you. It fell across the sky just as you left for your walk.” “I-, Sev, I wished on that star too,” I confessed and he blinked at me. “I wished for you to allow me to be close to you…” “Is that so?” “Yes…” “Star of wishes, perhaps we needn’t wish on stars in the future…” “Perhaps we can simply… talk with each other more?”

Severus reached up and cupped my face, smiling softly while I placed my hands on his chest. His heart beat steadily beneath my palms and warmth seemed to envelop the two of us among the garlands and candlelight. “I wish for nothing more than a future where we can speak openly,” he said gently and I felt as if I were melting on the inside. “Let’s make that future a reality, together.” “Together,” he echoed and kissed me deeply. My wish came true, and my hard work and patience were rewarded in the end. My own little Christmas miracle…

LINKTREE // AO3 // MASTERLIST

A/N: WAAAAAAAH!!!! Gosh, frikkin darn it, I love this so much and it's so sweet and they are so loving and caring and waaaaah..! I hope you enjoyed the end to this Rickmas2023 serial as well darlings! 🥰👏

+A/N: I am so so so sorry I haven't had the chance to reply to comments/reblogs yet - I am itching to do it and I will get to it as soon as I have a chance to and life isn't going crazy (I love and adore that you comment and reblog darling! I really do!) ❤

Q: Do you feel ready for 2024? A: I am so so so ready for 2023 to be over, it's been the most insane year and I can't quite wrap my head around it now that we're on the home stretch - how did I manage all I managed this year?

TAGLIST: @lizlil @snapefiction @darkthought15 @monstreviolet @flowerdementia @marvelschriss @once-upon-an-imagine @ravennight41 @caseydoodles98 @slytherinprincess03 @theconsultingdetectiveswife @grimmyhild @monster-energies @myobscureimaginarium @snowblossomreads @eternal-silvertongued-prince @cherryglossie @setsuna-meiou31 @helena211 @a-queen-and-her-throne @justsaturn0 @turvi @imwithyoutiltheendofthelinebucky @sunnylikesfrogs @mamawolfsmith16 @dianilaws @sassanoe @snapesrn @bernadette-peters12 @sammy-13 @smartowl999 @castleofthorns @serenanight87 @leah1243

@morphineisouthoney @meteoritewolf69 @bionic-otp @elizabeth-baelish @romanceandsarcasm @severuslovebot @glowstar826 @rickmandowneyjr @yellowbadgermole @snapesangel @a-queen-and-her-throne @impulse-anchor @commodoreseverus  @writewithmarites @alisongurl13 @yan-senna @writewithmarites @reinekefoxart @nixislight @lokisbjchnl  @lght-n-drk @ladykardasi @lyrixsnape @sunset90 @mamawolfsmith87 @snowblossomreads @ladykardasi @a-queen-and-her-throne @eternal-silvertongued-prince @lyrixsnape @imwithyoutiltheendofthelinebucky @daddythanatos

Want to be tagged? 💚 You can tag yourself HERE! Or tell me and I’ll gladly tag you! 😍

[Dec:2023]

[taylorswiftandx]

Taylor Swift and More

'Taylor Swift'

Picture To Burn: I realize you love yourself more than you could ever love me

A Place In This World: Could you tell me, what more do I need?

'Fearless (Taylor's Version)'

Fearless: But you pull me in and I'm a little more brave

SuperStar: This is wrong but I can't help but feel like there ain't nothing more right, babe

The Other Side Of The Door: Wait there in the pouring rain, come back for more

'Speak Now (Taylor's Version)'

I Can See You: I could see you make me want you even more

'Red (Taylor's Version)'

All Too Well: And I know it's long gone and that magic's not here no more

'1989 (Taylor's Version)'

Welcome To New York: Everybody here wanted something more

All You Had To Do Was Stay: The more I think about it now, the less I know

Suburban Legends: You'd be more than a chapter in my old diaries with the pages ripped out

Bad Blood (feat. Kendrick Lamar): Love don't hear no more, no, I don't fear no more, better yet, respect ain't quite sincere no more

'reputation'

Gorgeous: There's nothing I hate more than what I can't have

Call It What You Want: Not because he owns me but 'cause he really knows me, which is more than they can say

'Lover'

I Forgot That You Existed: And I couldn't get away from you, in my feelings more than Drake, so, yeah

Cruel Summer: What doesn't kill me makes me want you more

The Man: Every conquest I had made would make me more of a boss to you

'folklore'

august: Salt air and the rust on your door, I never needed anything more

mad woman: Every time you call me crazy, I get more crazy, what about that?

mad woman: And when you say I seem angry, I get more angry

'evermore'

willow: The more that you say, the less I know

long story short: No more keeping score, now I just keep you warm

long story short: No more tug of war, now I just know there's more

'Midnights'

Question…?: Did you wish you'd put up more of a fight? oh

Sweet Nothing: And the voices that implore, "You should be doing more"

The Great War: You said I have to trust more freely, but diesel is desire, you were playing with fire

Bigger Than The Whole Sky: You were more than just a short time

'The Tortured Poets Department'

My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys: I felt more when we played pretend than with all the Kens

But Daddy I Love Him: I'd rather burn my whole life down than listen to one more second of all this bitching and moaning

Who's Afraid of Little Old Me: Nothing makes me feel more alive

Who's Afraid of Little Old Me: Is it a wonder I broke? Let's hear one more joke

I Can Do It With a Broken Heart: All the pieces of me shattered as the crowd was chanting, "more"

Clara Bow: Beauty is a beast that roars down on all fours demanding more

The Albatross: The devil that you know looks now more like an angel

Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus: You needed me, but you needed drugs more and I couldn't watch it happen

I Look in People's Windows: What if your eyes looked up and met mine one more time

Other Songs written by Taylor

All Of The Girls You Loved Before: I'm so thankful for all of the girls you loved before but I love you more

Christmas Must Be Something More: Christmas must be something more

Christmas Must Be Something More: There's gotta be more, there's gotta be more

Crazier: There's so much more, I'd never seen it before

This Is What You Came For: We say nothing more than we need

Official Alternate Releases

But Daddy I Love Him (Clean Version): I'd rather burn my whole life down than listen to one more second of all this griping and moaning

[its-short-for-jackalope]

Some Of My Favorite Cool Staging Choices in NPMD: a ramble, by me!

(is "staging" the right term? idk I wasn't a theater kid)

this will contain spoilers, which you can probably guess since it will be tagged as such.

When we see Richie getting attacked in the cold open, he's facing the audience; when it happens again (haha whoops) he's facing away from the audience & we get to see his attacker. idk man I just think the change in perspective is rad lol

Richie and Ruth taking the stage first for "High School Is Killing Me" because they're the ones who... y'know. (rip 💀)

when that first curtain thing lifts and reveals the rest of the stage 👌🏻

when Steph is trying to get Pete to help her cheat on the test the spotlight on them also lights up Grace before she butts in and gets them in trouble (foreLIGHTENing eh? eh?)

the rotating nerd huddle in "Literal Monster" brings me so much joy like Yes, put those nerds on a giant Lazy Susan and watch 'em go

the nerds sneaking along in the background when Max is singing

the bit with Miss Tessberger (sp?) leaving and returning to the stage from the opposite side

just everything about Pete & Steph's phone call. everything.

the stage going almost completely dark at the end of "Cool As I Think I Am" is fucking epic ok it's such a cool transition. also Max's "I bring light to darkness" and the lighting changes for that. they're both so cool

the bathtub prop. it just looks like it was fun to make. :)

when Steph is talking to Ruth & Richie and then she just turns and they're sneaking into the bathroom. it's like a movie transition in my brain. (also Mariah's little jump like she's trying to look into a stall is adorable)

NERDY PRUDES GOING TO THE WAYLON (sp?) PLACE MY BELOVED 💙 1. walking around the orchestra pit is cool & it's a fun, slightly-more-distanced throwback to when they walk thru the audience in TGWDLM & BF; 2. cool blue lighting + silhouettes, need I say more; 3. the tattered background descending as they walk is fucking magical

it's technically not part of the show at all but i have to give a shoutout to the person near the camera who goes "oh? oh?" when Pete & Steph exchange their cute lil looks in the Waylon House 😂

Richie moving behind the tattered curtains with the camera. also I know it isn't visible but the knowledge that the skele'on costume glows in the dark gives me life. (and Steph giving Ruth a thumbs-up when she's scaring Max??? adorable)

did they blur the npmd logo and put it over Max as he's dying? i fuckin love it no joke

that row of lights onstage just silently clicking off before Max shows up to get Richie 💀💀💀 and then they slowly come back RED

wHEN THE REST OF THE CAST LINES UP TO SILENTLY STAND WITNESS FOR RICHIE'S DEATH 💀💀💀💀💀

the pauses in Jeff's announcement to let everybody groan after their name is called (Joey's "ouhh noo" gets me every time)

I haven't really mentioned choreography because idk how to talk about dancing but... "Hatchet Town" my beloved <3 (all of the choreography in the show is so fun & cool)

BBQ monologues!! the stage is a stage! (whoa, is this tgwdlm???) Love the brief single spotlight on Ruth when she goes on, and bonus points for the red, white, & blue lighting bc barbecues are intrinsically linked to the 4th of July in my brain (🇺🇲🔥)

when Grace is talking to Detective Shapiro I love how gray the stage goes, especially after how colorful the BBQ monologue was, like ugh <3 it makes it feel more serious and important like shit's about to get real (it is)

Officer Bailey (I think that's his name? i do not trust my ears) just angrily moving the chairs after Grace steals his gun and escapes custody 😂

obligatory Beanies Paulkins & HCB scene 2.0 mention <3

Pete sweetie you were just at a football game how did you mix it up with baseball you fuckin nerd (affectionate)

The Chair Mishap™ (I'm not sure but I think all 3 of them broke there, to varying degrees)

Max chasing Solomon off the stage is fun, loved that. (oh shit if he gets you next make it thr... four. you'll be four. or five, technically...? are we still counting Max? this point got derailed.)

the squad car! the lights up top, the brake lights, and also I love when the car turns and everybody just leans to the side (SiS is my favorite for this). also Max just nyooming by as Shapiro takes off is hilarious.

HOLDING COURT WITH THE VOID!!! the increasing whispers, the lighting, the LORDS APPEARING, holy SHIT

the white lights & fog during the slow-mo bullet scene idk it just makes it for me

the homecoming disco ball and the different spotlights are great :D

the group pose at the end of "Best of Me"

the colored lights & Lords laughing at the beginning of "Dirty Dudes" 🤩

okay! that's everything that caught my eye on my fourth watch, lol. obviously there are many many many more awesome little details and funny bits but I wanted to focus more on the set & staging type stuff. it's really cool and interesting to me, especially after Black Friday's glorious secret Wiggly.

if you read all of this I hope you had fun!!

if you didn't have fun, feel free to keep that fact to yourself! 👉🏻👉🏻

[padfootagain]

You and the King (III)

Chapter 3 : Fighting with Words

Hi lovelies! Here is a new chapter for my Caspian series! Y/N is getting fierce, and I love it. Also, troubles are coming…

I hope you like this new chapter! Let me know what you think!

****

Pairing: Caspian x reader

Warnings: None… insults? Is that worth a warning?

Summary: Sequel to The King and You – After meeting Caspian in your own world, you decide to follow him to Narnia, your love for him too strong for you to keep your old life. But as you discover the magic of Narnia, you soon realise that this extraordinary world is as dangerous as it is magnificent. Will your love for Caspian be enough to defeat your new enemies?

Word Count: 3740

Masterlist for the series – Caspian’s Masterlist – Main Masterlist

Dalia was far from stupid.

After refusing to attend your first meeting the previous day, she was expecting Caspian to call for her and ask for explanations. It was part of the plan, actually.

Caspian was an amazing man, a great king. But he was also a little naïve sometimes, a little bit blind. She blamed it on his kind heart. He had a tendency to see the good in people before he could see the bad. And that was the cause of her worry now.

She took a deep breath before opening the door of Caspian’s private office. It was barely dawn, the light still shy, golden, almost orange in a sky tainted with pink. The Castle was waking up, servants hurrying back and forth to prepare breakfast, guards sleepily walking to take their posts. A ballet she knew by heart, that she had known all her life, growing up side by side with Caspian and the royal family.

A ballet you knew nothing about, and yet…

“Come in,” Caspian’s voice was loud and clear as it answered to her knock on his door.

Her face was unreadable as she stepped inside the room, and Caspian was not surprised. She excelled in this art of pretends, of hiding emotions and thoughts. She had been raised at court, after all, she had learnt to wear a mask, just as he had.

He hated that she still used her mask when he was around though. Despite the many years of friendship between them, it felt like she still didn’t fully trust him.

“Good morning, Dalia,” Caspian politely greeted her, but she didn’t fail to notice that his tone was colder than usual. “Take a seat.”

She complied, sitting on the opposite side of the desk. The long, wooden piece of furniture was buried under parchments, documents, maps…

Caspian had been busy. She guessed that he had tried to catch up with his duties during the night, to compensate the day he had spent with you.

She hated you for the dark bags under his eyes.

“You wanted to see me,” she spoke slowly, her voice perfectly calm and polished.

But Caspian wasn’t fooled. He knew her too well for that. And he knew about the ways of the court as much as she did. He was used to tear these masks apart now.

“You know perfectly why I’ve asked you to come this morning.”

“Let me guess… it is about your new fiancée.”

He frowned at her tone. It sounded a little cruel, disrespectful, full of disdain…

He hated it. The very sound in her voice, but now more than ever because the poison was aimed at you.

“I don’t like your tone,” he answered in a cold voice, staring intensely at her.

“I’ve never really cared…”

“You should, Dalia.”

A heavy silence settled across the room. Dalia broke it with a scoff.

“I apologize, My Liege.”

But her tone was mocking still.

“We are friends. We have been for a long time,” Caspian spoke his words slowly, with a heavy frown and a weight on each of the sounds. “But that does not mean that I am not your King. And that certainly does not mean that you can so blatantly insult me and get away with it.”

“I can hardly call sarcasm an insult.”

“You did not come yesterday. How do you call that?”

“I was sick.”

“Now, Dalia, do not play that game with me. I know you are lying.”

He was angry. He was glaring at her and she hated it. She hated every second of it. She didn’t back down though.

“Do you truly want to know why I did not come?”

“Yes, I do.”

She leaned forward a bit, coming closer to him, as to try to catch his attention and put more weight into her words.

“I believe that you should reconsider your decision about Lady Y/N.”

Caspian frowned hard.

“What?”

“You barely know each other, you are going too fast.”

“I am not…”

“There is still no treaty with Lord Cirvan and his men. And you are making things worse with their lands, refusing to marry Cirvan’s daughter to announce your future wedding less than a day later. You are making a mistake.”

But Caspian narrowed his eyes at her.

“You know perfectly well that if I made an announcement about my engagement with Y/N, it is precisely because of Lord Cirvan and his men. Because I need the assurance that he will not try to marry me off again…”

“But Caspian, this wedding presents no political advantage.”

He clenched his jaw. He was beyond angry now, and Dalia knew it. She couldn’t claim she had not been expecting this, but it still hurt to see such fire in his glare aimed at her.

He didn’t say a word though, and let her continue.

“I know that it sounds cynical, but your wedding is an incredible opportunity to build lasting alliances with other kingdoms, and powerful lords, and you are endangering our borders by acting stubborn and letting a strange girl manipulate your feelings.”

“Manipulate my feelings? Do you even hear yourself?”

“I do. And I know what I am saying. You are a King, Caspian. Women try to seduce you for the throne every day.”

“Y/N is different.”

“Because she made you believe in one of the old fairy tales? The great love stories? Those are good for Doctor Cornerlius’s books, not for us who are dealing with real politics. You are making a mistake by wanting to marry this stupid girl…”

She fell instantly silent when Caspian stood up, jaw clenched and eyes glaring.

“I understand your worry about politics and Lord Cirvan,” Caspian spoke, words slow and voice deep, clearly struggling to remain calm. He was leaning over his desk, palms resting on the map splayed across the wood. “But, Dalia, I will not have you insult Y/N, do you understand?”

“You are being manipulated…”

“I am not,” Caspian answered, voice firm and decisive. “You do not know Y/N, you have spent less than an hour with her. Why do you not trust me on this?”

“Caspian… you are King. People will try to manipulate you. Does it not sound strange to you that all of a sudden this woman has fallen madly in love with you, in barely more than a month, and has decided to leave everything behind to join you here, in Narnia? Do you not think it weird that she might leave her ordinary and rather pointless life behind without thinking for a second about the fact that you are King? Do you not think that it is precisely the reason why she did this? She left because she could become a queen. And you were too foolish to see it. Blinded by… I do not even know what could have blinded you… she seems completely ordinary.”

Dalia fell silent, waiting for Caspian’s reaction. She hoped she could shake some sense into his head. She hoped she could make him see that you were not fit to be queen. What by Aslan’s name was he doing? You had worked together so hard to get him there, as a stable king on a Narnian throne, and now he was falling into such a silly trap?

He stared at her with eyes of stone, icy cold. She searched through her memories but didn’t remember him ever looking at her this way. Of course, after so many years, they had fought countless times, he had been angry against her before. But she had never seen such a rage, it was mingled with something protective that she hated, because you were the source of it.

“You know nothing of Y/N, Dalia,” Caspian repeated in this same slow tone of his. “She has given up on everything to come here…”

“That is what I am saying! If not for the throne, then why should she come?”

But he frowned, a little taken aback now.

“Because she loves me, Dalia.”

He let out a wry laugh.

“So, do you really think me such an awful man that no one could love me for who I am? That the only reason anyone has ever showed any interest in me is because I am King? Well, thank you for the compliment…”

She shook her head, her expression softening.

“That is not what I meant, and you know it.”

“Then why is it so difficult for you to imagine that Y/N has chosen to come here because she loves me? Nothing else. Dalia, do you realize what it means for her? She has left everything and everyone she has ever known, she has been thrown into another world she knows nothing about and is so different from her own… If she wanted money or power she could have tried to earn those in her world and it would have required less sacrifices from her. She came because she loves me. And I love her, Dalia. I love her more than anything. Had I not been King, I would have not come back to Narnia.”

Her eyes grew round.

“What?”

“I came back here because I am King. Because my people needs me. Because I cannot abandon Narnians. Because Aslan, Eustace, Peter, Lucy, Edmund and Susan trusted me to take care of this land, because my father died for this… But without this responsibility, without so many people I would have failed by leaving for good… I would have stayed with her in New York. I love her enough for that. I understand her choice, Dalia. I would have done the same, but I couldn’t.”

He let out a deep, worried sigh as he stood straighter again. He seemed tired more than angry now. Dalia hated seeing him like this. She wished she could take all his worry away.

Still, when he walked around his desk to stand next to her, leaning against the piece of furniture, his presence was still reassuring, strong, kingly. He ran a hand through his hair to brush the strands away from his eyes, and she wished she could have been the one to tame the rebellious strands…

She remembered how soft his hair was. She had touched the gentle strands a couple of times, always thanks to a silly excuse, always hidden behind a lie. There was something in his hair, it wasn’t tied properly… no matter the lies, they were worth it.

Did he let you touch his hair as much as you wanted?

“Dalia, I know what I am doing. I want to marry Y/N. I have never been more certain of anything in my entire life. She loves me. She loves me, for who I am. She loves me despite the crown, do you understand? She is terrified by all this. By the Narnians, by this place, by our ways, by the prospect of having so many responsibilities and power over people... She is not craving it, Dalia, she is afraid of it. And I need your help, I need you to show her our ways so this place can become her home too. And I love her, Dalia. I know that marrying her will not fit into any kind of political scheme, and I do not want it to. I love her, and that is enough. Do you understand?”

Slowly, she nodded, but she didn’t seem convinced. And indeed, she wasn’t. When he asked for her help again, she nodded anyway, promised to be more open-minded, to give you a chance.

But she had no chance to offer you. Not when Caspian looked so handsome in the early light of dawn…

“Alright, let us go through this again, shall we?”

Doctor Cornelius was kind and patient, and you felt grateful for him being your first teacher. So far though, you felt a little stupid.

You knew a few things about Narnia, because of what Agatha told you back in New York, because of Caspian’s stories… But their tales did not include any concrete information about Narnia, about their custom, about their land…

It was an awful lot to take in.

First, you were taught about Narnian currencies, basis of geography, and the current relations with other kingdoms and lands surrounding Narnia. Later on, you would be taught about Narnian laws and traditions.

“Dalia will smoothen up your manners to fit the court,” the old teacher had told you. “But I will make sure you understand what is happening around you, and that no one will make a fool of you during a conversation.”

Tough job, indeed… because as you tried to memorize the list of names set before you, you felt utterly brainless.

You had been working for almost four hours now. There was a bright sun outside, happy and inviting, but you were stuck there, in this dusty room, with a terrible headache…

And you felt like you would never make it. Never be ready…

You started as the doors of the library opened, and you recognized Ammos accompanying lord Baras and Luis towards your table. You struggled to swallow…

… they could only mean trouble.

You offered them a warm smile anyway, and they bowed before you.

You were unsure how to react, but Lord Baras spoke before you could decide what to do or say.

“My Lady. I see that you are busy this morning.”

Small talk. It called for something more important, and you assumed, less pleasant as well. You cautiously nodded.

“Yes, Professor Cornelius is helping me learn about Narnian ways.”

“It must be quite overwhelming.”

“Quite,” you admitted.

But your voice was cautious. You were new to Narnia, but you were not an idiot. Baras smelled of trouble. His smile was too sweet not to, too honeyed, as if it would turn sour soon.

“It is noon already, My Lady. Lord Luis and I wondered if you would like to join us for lunch. I am afraid our King is busy today, but we do not want you to feel too lonely for your first days in Narnia.”

You looked for an excuse to refuse, but couldn’t find any. You didn’t want to let anything slip that could compromise Caspian in any way. He had warned you that the court could be ruthless and would be filled with rumours.

But there seemed to be no way out of this, so you nodded with a smile, and followed the two Lords outside the Library after bidding the professor a good day.

They guided you throughout the fortress, and you didn’t fail to notice the annoyed glance they threw over their shoulder towards Ammos’s tall figure.

You wondered if Caspian had asked your bodyguards to remain by your side all day simply because he feared for your safety, or to have a spy…

There was small talk for a while, a rather boring exchange of questions and answers, until you reached a small room, where a table had been set for about ten people. It included three women, who looked at you with fake smiles and judging glances. You felt unbearably self-conscious under their stares.

But you were too old to be intimidated this way. Instead, you merely shot them a tight smile, and followed Baras to take a seat by his side around the table.

You noticed the stares, they were not as friendly as the day before, when Caspian was by your side. You were not surprised though…

There were a few other Lords that you recognized, but they didn’t seem friendly either.

You guessed they were all great at hiding how they felt, and make happy faces for their king.

“Oh, it is delightful to finally meet you, Lady Y/N! Or should I say… Queen Y/N,” one of the women told you after introducing herself as Velma. You didn’t fail to notice the sarcasm in her voice.

Your smile was tighter again. You weren’t sure if you ought to react or not. You wanted to snap back at her, throw a witty remark, but you didn’t want Caspian’s reputation to falter because of your behaviour. So, you merely remained silent instead, and looked down at your plate, filled with appetizing food.

“I hope your royal chambers fit your needs,” Velma went on, insisting on the word royal.

“It’s perfect,” you answered in a neutral tone, tightening your hold on your fork.

“How strange that the King has made an official announcement out of nowhere,” she went on, turning around as to not be talking to you, even if you were in the room. “I would have expected more restrain.”

“You mean, more wisdom,” one of the Lords said.

You recognized him, but couldn’t recall his name. He went on.

“A period of courting is needed, may the lady come from another world or not.”

He glanced over at you, but didn’t speak directly to you, and you hated it.

You planted your fork in your carrot with a little too much strength, but you didn’t care.

You would answer the next jab made at you, you knew you would… and you reckoned that you would be right to do so.

“The king must be eager,” Velma shrugged. “Even though… she doesn’t look like much…”

You clenched your jaw and glared at the woman.

“I am sitting right here, in case you haven’t noticed,” you spoke between gritted teeth.

“I know, my Lady. I am simply discussing a fact, that our king seems eager to marry you… for some reason.”

“Because we love each other? Is that not a good enough reason?”

But they all laughed at you. Even Barras, who had tried to remain neutral and seemed to merely study you. Except for Ammos, of course, who remained perfectly still behind you.

“You are quite naïve. Or optimistic. It is quite refreshing,” Luis chuckled.

“I don’t see how.”

“You seem to have much to learn about political alliances, then.”

You looked down at your plate at that. Of course… royal weddings… they ought to come with a political arrangement. That’s what Caspian almost did with Cirvan and his daughter…

“Emilia was a good choice. A shame he changed his mind.”

You felt a sharp pain cross your heart at that, but you didn’t let it show.

Instead, you let your anger find your next words.

“A chance you’re not in charge of the decision, then.”

“Indeed,” Luis went on. “I would have advised my king to be more cautious in his choice of wife.”

“It’s true I don’t bring lands or money to the table. Sorry about that. You’ll have to be contempt with my striking personality instead.”

He raised an eyebrow at that, surprised. You didn’t care. You were too annoyed and tired, and this headache of yours… it was getting worse.

Your nostrils were tickled by the scent of something burning, you wondered where it came from. But it wasn’t improving your painful head, that was for certain.

“My lady, I am certain your personality is delightful, of course. Why else would the king have chosen you? I can see no other argument in your favour.”

You looked down, unsure why the mean reply hurt you so much. Perhaps it was because you felt uneasy, when the ladies by your side seemed perfectly at ease… and it didn’t help that they were ridiculously beautiful, too.

“It will not, however, change the fact that we have lost a treaty so that the king could bed you.”

Your head snapped back up, feeling heat creeping over your neck and cheeks.

Had Velma truly said that?

You shouldn’t be petty, but you reckoned that she deserved it.

“Wow, that was classy, at least.”

Everyone around you frowned, but you didn’t really care. The manners you were trying to behave with were slowly leaving you, just like your patience.

“I’m sure you can do better than that,” you went on. “If you want to play the insult game, then at least make it a challenge. Or did you never find anything clever to say after you stopped being an idiotic teenager?”

Velma stared at you with wide eyes, her mouth slightly agape, and you reckoned that you had won the duel, for now.

“Now, I am grateful for the invitation to lunch, Lord Baras,” you went on, turning to the man right before you. “But if this was merely meant to spend an hour insulting me right into my face, next time, be free to let me eat on my own. I’d rather have no company at all than an awful one.”

You tried to sit as straight as you could, and with as much dignity as you could muster.

“This kind of words are not expected from a future Queen,” Baras commented, but he had a small smile tugging at his lips. “Is it how you act in your world?”

“In my world I would have thrown my plate into your face. I am mustering all my restraints to not break anyone’s nose.”

You were surprised when he laughed, but Baras did. It was hesitant at first, but when you raised an eyebrow, he let out a bright wave of laughter.

“Forgive us, my Lady. We have underestimated you, it would seem,” Baras said, and there was something a little strange in his gaze, like he kept on studying you but seemed to have detected a worthy opponent instead of an innocent sheep.

You weren’t sure you liked that look though, but for the rest of the meal, no one dared to attack you anymore, or at least, not so openly. You reckoned it was some kind of success…

It didn’t prevent the gnawing feeling in your chest to make you feel miserable as you walked out of the room. You waited until you were alone in a corridor to let your shoulders drop though, rubbing at your temples because of this bloody headache of yours. The burning smell lingered, you wondered where it came from. Perhaps from the torches?

You wondered how much time you would have before Dalia would arrive. You weren’t sure to be ready to see her, she would not try to make you feel better, that was for certain. You wondered what could be the cause of her animosity towards you, but then again, you had an idea. You just hoped you were wrong about that…

A rival was the last thing you needed.

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