#I suppose I could post this on AO3 but it's a difficult thing since I am picky about my works on AO3 being the best quality

[twistmusings]

For the tagging issue! (We'll use a theoretical NSFW post as a base) I think the best tagging is [Fandom] (usually just the two big names of the series: the name and maybe the abbreviation) > [SUB!TWST / DOM!TWST] (this lets everyone know that the post is NSFW, but is also putting it forward in the algorithm tags) > [NSFW] (obviously, but honestly could be put at end) > [Actual Character Tags] (their names, no funny business or weird signs, AO3 has better tagging TBH there) > [Extras/Anything You Need/Triggers]

Maybe try this formula, it works for another user I know.

I'll give this a shot going forward, anon. Thank you! I use an alternate tag for the nsfw so it is still easy to blacklist but shouldn't prevent it from going into the tag.

It's super frustrating that their rules say erotica is allowed but it actively prohibits it from being found, so I suppose as a last resort I may change the NSFW tag itself to "erotica" of "nsft" if it continues to mean my posts aren't being archived in the tags, but I want that to be a last case scenario because I don't want people who do have "nsfw" blocked to not have to see my posts.

[kenjakusbrainstem]

Defenseless (Mahito x Reader)

Contains: Rape, body horror, multiple limbs, Mahito's hand cock (as mentioned in my other fics).

Hello! Day 15 of Kinktober: Noncon. For the amount of Mahito dub/noncon that I do write, this was kinda difficult. I tried to make sure it was different than the other Mahito stuff I've done, don't want things to seem too samey. I wanted to try something new, which is why I took a scene with my oc and changed it. Hopefully it still reads well despite being plucked out of that plot. Crossposted to Ao3 under the same name and shared to twt at kenjakusbrain. Comment or rb if you have any thoughts or want to hear more about my AU, perhaps I'll post some of it after kinktober.

The school was supposed to be a safe place, one where there were plenty of people around to keep students safe. Especially at a Goodwill Event, when the teachers from multiple schools were there on the same campus. This year's Goodwill Event had been a disaster thus far. You’d gotten separated from your classmates and decided to simply search for low level cursed spirits to exorcise when the strange veil lowered. 

Despite the supposed safety, you knew something was wrong when you attempted to reach out to your classmates via cellphone but were unable. With Yuuta overseas you normally paired up with Inumaki, your technique’s meshing fairly well. It was helpful to nearly any sorcerer to be paired with you though, as your ability was to use reversed cursed technique on others. Your weapon proficiency didn’t usually matter, but since this was supposed to be a friendly battle, you only had your wits and two daggers you weren’t fully comfortable with to protect yourself. 

While you were confident in your ability to exorcise some low level curses, the uncertainty of what was going on had you on edge. 

Slowly you crept toward a part of the campus people rarely went to, you neared the path to the Tomb of the Star Corridor, assuming that there would be some form of guard there. As you made it to the edge of the wooded area near the stairs, you were shocked to find the end of the barrier. It seemed whatever was going on had nothing to do with Tengen. 

It made sense to you that whatever the strange barrier was, that is where the trouble had to be. It wouldn’t hurt to hide or at least find someone of authority to alert. 

You met surprisingly little resistance as you burst through the veil, heading over toward the only building you could see. If you remembered correctly, it was a warehouse that the school used to store cursed objects. Looking around, you didn’t see any guards, so you slowly approached the building before slipping in through the door quietly. 

Inside wasn’t what you expected to see, two horribly transfigured humans laid on the floor of the storage room. You froze, hands immediately flying to your daggers as you looked around. It seemed like it was just you and the transfigured humans. Remembering the work of the Patchwork curse, you were on edge. 

Kneeling next to one of the bodies, you attempted to use your technique to assist them in some way. Focusing all of your energy into the palms of your hands, you attempted to restore the assistant that was still moving. Unexpectedly, right before your eyes you watched as the assistant slowly morphed back, his skin returning to a normal shade. You checked the pulse and to your surprise it was faint.

This changed things, unfortunately you felt drained, not expecting to exert that much energy. You weren’t sure if you’d be able to get the assistant back to your teachers soon.

“Oh what do we have here? Did you do this?” A playful voice filled the room. You looked up, shocked to hear another person when you could have swore the room was empty moments ago.

There was no doubt in your mind who it was when he stepped closer, stitches visible on his face, barely obscured by his long blue hair. The curse had an excited look on his face, like he’d just discovered a new toy to play with. As you both looked at the man that used to be transfigured in front of you, you thought to yourself that this was the only time you would have rather been too late to save someone.

“What are you doing here?” You asked, standing upright. Your hands gripped your daggers but with the energy you just used, you couldn’t help but feel exhausted. Still you weren’t going to back down, that wasn’t what a sorcerer would do.

The curse laughed, taking a step toward you. You couldn’t help but step back, but you miscalculated, tripping over the other transfigured human on the ground and stumbling onto your back. The move was a grave mistake, you felt yourself getting dizzy as your head cracked against the floor.

“You managed to change one of my toys back! That’s so strange, if you came with me I wouldn’t have to worry about them breaking so easily. Say, doesn’t that sound fun?” The curse sounded much more excitable than you expected. You hadn’t expected him to speak with the enthusiasm of a child.

The dizziness in your head made it hard to fully comprehend what he was talking about. When he said toys did he mean the assistants? Confusion mixed with fear in your mind to create panic, though your hands gripped your weapons tightly even on the ground, you were somehow less confident than normal in your ability to protect yourself.

You didn’t have the chance to find your voice, because he was on top of you in a flash. The curse was much faster than you had expected. He didn’t touch you immediately, instead choosing to cage you in. For some reason this scared you more, knowing enough about him to know that his abilities functioned through touch. What could he have planned if not killing you right away.

“I’m not allowed to kill any students, but if I hit you hard enough you should forget most of this,” His words didn’t match the tone he was using. The curse sounded like he was discussing a fun pass time he was unable to partake in, not murder. Even though he hadn’t said much, you didn’t want to listen any longer. The pain in your head was already making your head throb, something about trying to understand the curse just made it throb worse. 

You held up your weapons, ready to strike if he moved any closer. Or you thought you were. Before you knew it your hands were empty, daggers ripped from them by a limb protruding from his back that you somehow hadn’t noticed until it was too late.

“Now since you can negate my abilities on others, I wonder what you can do to yourself,” The curse thought aloud, hands reaching for your face. You quickly moved your arms up to protect yourself, not that you could do much. 

As you felt his hands grasp your forearms, you knew you needed to act quickly. Your skin felt like it was boiling hot where his hands touched, as if the skin could slough off onto the ground or be reshaped like playdoh. Though you were exhausted, you pushed all of your remaining energy into your arms. Even with your best attempt at keeping yourself safe, you could feel his power was much stronger than yours.

“Fascinating! No one’s ever been able to resist Idle Transfiguration before! I wish I could take you back with me, you’re exactly what he’s looking for in a sorcerer,” He rambled as he spoke, a look of amazement in his eyes. He was clearly excited, but you had no idea who or what he was talking about. 

It was hard for you to focus, though you’d stopped his attack it felt like something was seriously wrong with your arms. In the dim light of the warehouse it was so hard to tell though. 

Opening your mouth to speak, you were stopped by a pair of unexpected lips on yours. The kiss, if you could call it that, full of tongue and teeth. His tongue slipped into your mouth even though you tried to close it. Everything about him was so overwhelming and strange, you’d never felt a kiss so terrifying before.

You tried to lift your arms in an attempt to push him away, but you could barely move them an inch without pain shooting up your body. You had put all of your remaining energy into trying to block his attack, and it hadn’t even been able to stop it. Groaning at the pain in your arms, you wanted nothing more than for him to leave or knock you out. Pulling away from the kiss, he giggled at what you were sure must have been a horrified look on your face.

“You’re getting me so excited just thinking about it. Say will you stay quiet for me so I can try something? I really think you’d be perfect for one of his experiments,” His words made your blood run cold. They sounded so threatening, and who exactly was he talking about? As far as you knew, this curse operated alone, so to have him actively referencing a partner of sorts was alarming.

Without warning the curse flipped your skirt up, exposing your panties to him. You tried to wiggle away, but it was no use, you were on the floor nearly pushed up completely against the wall. The only way out was through him and that wasn’t happening without help.

You watched in fear as the hand in front of you changed shape and size, taking the form of an erect cock. How hard did you hit your head, exactly? You didn’t remember anyone saying that he could manipulate his body into different shapes, but you also just might not have been paying attention. Now wasn’t the time to worry about that, you attempted to close your legs, but you felt two hands wrap around your ankles. 

“Even at a time like this you’re trying to fight back? What a good little sorcerer you are,” The mocking tone in his voice made you angry. You felt the blunt head of the cock rubbing against your pussy through your panties, as if he were teasing you instead of torturing. You lifted your hips to try and get away from him, but the hands around your ankles pulled you closer.

The sudden jerking movement made you hit your head on the ground again, vision blacking out for a moment. Through the haze of fighting to stay conscious, you felt a hot, stretching pain as he entered you. Forcing your eyes open, you were met with the mischievous patchwork grin staring at you, he looked like he had just played a harmless prank on you. Like he wasn’t violating you.

The curse’s movement inside you was slow at first, filling you up carefully as if he were measuring your insides. You could feel the head of his cock pressing up against your cervix, a shiver running down your spine at being filled completely. No human would be able to do this, the strange image of just how large the cock inside you was filling your mind. 

You watched his smile grow wider as he slowly pulled out of you. It almost felt pleasurable, the way the thick cock felt inside of you. That is until you felt the stretch of the head against your entrance. The curse paused, not pulling all the way out of you yet. For a moment you thought he was finished, but that thought was only able to linger in your mind for a few seconds before he slammed his cock back into you.

The curse’s thrusts had gone from soft exploration to a violent attack, each one coming right after the other. You choked, having trouble even breathing as you felt the head of his cock slamming up against your cervix. The pain of being fucked so hard by something far too big made you feel sick, but the way his cock rubbed up against your walls felt good. If each thrust didn’t make you want to cry, you could have at least pretended to enjoy it.

His pace increased, the speed he was fucking into you made it impossible to try and get away. You didn’t even have time to think between thrusts. Trying to make it bearable, you attempted to focus on the drag of his cock inside you, it did feel good, the way you could feel the veins against your walls. It wasn’t enough though, you couldn’t take your mind off of the pain.

As quickly as it started though, he froze inside of you. Something had caused him to stop and you had no idea what it was. Was someone here to save you? Had you been found? Part of you didn’t want to be found like this, no one needed to see just how weak you had been.

The curse rammed his cock into your cervix again, pressing in and not moving away. 

“It seems I’ve gotta go now, the veil is gone, you’re so much fun though I hate to leave you like this. Next time I catch you, I’ll finish this. Don’t miss me too much, cutie!” As soon as he was finished speaking, he ripped his cock from you. You felt something inside you tear with the violent motion. His hands left your ankles, though you wanted to get up and fight him, you were unable to do nothing more than curl in on yourself. 

You watched through teary eyes as he picked something up. Had he been carrying something when you first encountered him? Your brain was too scrambled to remember any details. 

“Oh right, you’ve seen me! Don’t want you remembering too much,” He giggled to himself, again his speech making you think of a child. 

He stepped over you, his shoes right in front of your face. You didn’t have time to register the sharp kick to your temple as you felt consciousness leave you.

[lamoobsessions]

Scorched Dissonance (Chapter 1)

Newt x (Fem)Reader

Synopsis: "Y/N. Group B. Subject B3. 'The Abandoned'." is left behind with Aris in the complex, their supposed "rescuers", put them in. Later, they find a group in a situation similar to their own, Group A. Together they must undergo "Phase Two" of the trials. Through it all, Y/N finds herself getting increasingly closer to a certain boy in Group A, Newt. Devotion rises and tension follows. With the outside world in shambles, can one still find warmth?

Word Count: 6k

Important Authors Note: Since I've finally finished this long ass fanfic on AO3, I'm going to post the first chapter here and idk maybe bring in some readers looking for something new :)

So if you enjoy, my AO3 is @lamolaine

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The thing about being trapped in a labyrinth for all your known life, is that you never truly leave. You can run away from those walls and never turn back, but mentally you're still there. Trapped and always dwelling over the next escape route.

It's been almost 24 hours since we escaped the maze, though it feels like ages ago. Not one moment passes where I don't think of those we lost. Rachel, Elise, Caroline, too many in such little time. The knot in my chest hasn't left since we escaped that maze. Thinking about that place and the people that were in it, makes every second feel like an eternity. Was there anything I could've done to prevent the casualties? What waits in store for us now since we escaped? So far, life outside the maze still feels like a big puzzle. One we have to solve in order to prosper.

I have these thoughts while I lay on my top bunk staring at the tiled ceiling. Sleep didn't visit me for long last night. I found it difficult to silence my mind for even one second. I can't be left with my own thoughts any longer, it only drags me further into a spiral.

Finally, I sit up, hoping to find another in a similar situation to my own- awake and unable to fall back asleep- but my heart sinks as I look around the bunk room. No one is in their bunk, in fact, there is no other in the room with me. Empty Beds encompany the bunk room, left un-tightly.

I quickly jump down from my bunk, panic begins to seep into my chest. Where could they have gone? Last I checked we were all locked in the bunkroom last night. How did I not hear all of them leave?

I could be overreacting, maybe they were directed to breakfast and wanted me to sleep in. I rush to the door, and though I anticipate it being locked, it opens swiftly. As I open the door I am met with more emptiness and silence. Not a single person in sight. I look around the empty complex, there is nothing where the cafeteria tables used to sit. All furniture was stripped from the common room. I rush down the halls, quickly checking all the doors in the complex. Door after door, locked. But there is one door I have yet to check and I can't believe I didn't think of checking it first.

I frantically head to Aris's room. Since he was the only boy in the group, the people who rescued us felt it was best he got his own room.

To my absolute shock, his door was unlocked. I swing it open, making it slam straight into the wall. Aris shoots up at the noise. His face kniited with confusion. Selfish as it is, a wave of relief overcomes me as I realize I'm not completely alone in this predicament.

"Aris!" I exclaim with a breath of relief, as I rush to his bed. His room mirrors the girls' bunk room exactly. About 14 bunk beds encompass the room and a single desk accompanies each bunk set. He lies on the bottom bunk directly across the door.

"Y/N?" He says, confusion laced in his tone. I stand at the foot of his bed, hands resting on the footboard.

"Everyone is gone. I can't find them anywhere. I searched every room I could and checked every door. I don't know what to do or how to get out. Almost every room is locked. We don't-" I babble frantically.

"Wait, slow down... I'm not even fully awake yet." he mumbles while rubbing his eyes, "What's happening?"

Impatiently I continue, "Aris, everyone is gone. I searched all I could of the building and no one else was there... We've been left behind." I explain. He sits for a moment, staring into my eyes, I assume processing what I told him.

He gets up, breaking eye contact, without saying a word. "What are you doing?" I question, eyeing him with discomposure.

"I'm going to see for myself." He states as he heads for the door, but stops and turns to look at me, "Not that I don't believe you or anything but you know... this is a weird wake-up call". I slightly roll my eyes at his statement, not out of annoyance but of restlessness. He puts his hand on the door knob and tries to open it but it doesn't budge. He tries again more aggressively, using his whole body this time. "The hell?" he mumbles. He turns around, meeting me with a questioning gaze.

"Let me try." I state, moving in front of him to try for myself. I twist the knob and the door doesn't budge. I begin to slam my body into it with frustration. Over and over but its no use. I give up and put my hands on my hips, "well shit..." I breathe, it's taking everything in me to not completely freak out.

"There has to be another way out. I'll look for vents or maybe find a way to break the steel bars on the windows," Aris says while he quickly makes his way around the room. I stand and watch Aris scatter around the room.

How did the door lock? If it was automatic I shouldn't have been able to get inside the room in the first place. Someone had to have locked it from the outside, but who? And how did I not see them? I join Aris on the search for another exit.

﹏

Nothing has been making sense. Aris and I searched the room for what must have been hours. Re-checking areas, making sure we didn't miss anything. We found absolutely nothing.

Now Aris paces the center of the room arms crossed, while I sit on the top bunk of his bed with my feet dangling over the edge. I've decided there is nothing to make sense of. Eventually, one of three things will happen. One, the people who rescued us will realize we did not come along and come back to us. Two, WCKD finds our location and takes us back. Or three, Aris and I die of starvation. The longer I sit here, outcome number three seems to be the most likely, since we don't have any food in the whole complex. We do have water, fortunately, thanks to the bathroom that is connected to the bunkrooms.

I look out the window and estimate its around late afternoon. We've been stuck in this dull bunkroom for only a afternoon and I already feel myself losing my mind. In the maze it was different. We were trapped but at least we had tasks to keep our minds distracted, in here we have nothing but each other and if I'm being honest Aris and I were never that close. He came up in the maze only 3 days before we escaped, so we didn't really get a chance to bond. At least not in the way he and Rachel did. They had an instant connection, I still don't quite understand, considering the little time they had together. But I can relate to his loss.

Caroline was my closest companion in the maze. We came up in the box at the same time as the first group of girls. We gravitated toward each other. Eventually becoming best friends. She was sweet, kind, caring, and the most selfless person I believe I've ever known. Although her selflessness was the exact thing that lead her to her demise. And I can't bare it.

"Hey Aris," I start, Instantly bringing him out of his pacing. "I'm sorry about Rachel." My sudden apology seems to catch him off guard, but he quickly recovers and sits down on his bed underneath the one I currently sit on.

"Thanks." He pauses, and for a moment I think he doesn't want to speak further, til he continues, "You don't have to apologize, its not your fault but my own."

I frown at his words, "Don't say that, you know she wouldn't want you to think that." I pause unsure of what to say, I never felt I was the best with words. "If it weren't for her who knows when we would have escaped that maze--"

"Yeah but that's the thing..." Aris interrupted, "she didn't have to die, it was me who was in front of that gun, I was supposed to-" He chokes on his words and begins to break down. I jump down from my bunk and sit down next to him, squeezing his shoulder.

"That's not true, no one was supposed to die." I consult, "Even if it were true, here you are now. What happened, happened. She chose to make that sacrifice and now its up to you to choose what to make of that." We sit there for a moment, Aris slows his breathing a bit, taking in what I said. I decided I should probably leave him be and get some sleep. I stand and start to head to my bunk until Aris speaks.

"I'm sorry about Caroline, I know you and her were close", I freeze at the thought of her for a moment, till I muster a soft 'thank you' and head up to my bed. I feel relieved that Aris doesn't try to consult further. I don't think I'd be able to talk about her. Her smile, her laugh, her voice. I hope that one day I will be able to think of these details with fondness and gratuity rather than grief.

﹏

I wake to the sound of Aris shuffling in his bed. Sleep came surprisingly easy last night.

I find myself becoming somewhat motivated to take a shower, since I don't have much else to do. I get down from my bed and check the door once more and twist the knob... still locked. As I turn around, I notice Aris is awake. He looks at me and shrugs his shoulders, insinuating he was thinking the same thing I was thinking. It was worth a shot.

"I'm getting in the shower, do you have any spare clothing in here?" I ask, he yawns groggily, seemingly still waking himself up.

"Yeah uh- check the drawers in the corner over there" He points to the east corner of the room. I scour through the drawer and pick out a pair of grey sweatpants and a white long sleeve.

I take my time in the shower, cherishing the feeling of the hot water traveling down my back. A feeling I felt deprived of in the maze. I've showered a total of 3 times since arriving here and it's almost been 2 days. I still feel like I haven't scrubbed the feeling of the glade off my body. It lingers on my skin and I fear it will always be there– part of me.

I dress myself in my sweats and my sports bra. While I dry my hair, I believe to hear conversation outside the bathroom. Is Aris talking to himself? But the voices are different. They can't be coming from one person. They range in distance.

I try to listen more closely, still standing in front of the mirror. I can barely make out what is being said but the voices get closer.

"Who is in there?" a voice asks accusingly.

"Hey man I wouldn't open that door if I were you" I hear, what I believe to be Aris's voice, point out.

"Why? You hiding something?" the voice asks, suddenly the bathroom door swings open. An Asian boy around my age makes eye contact with me, his eyes widen and he closes the door in a flash. I feel myself too stunned to move. Who the hell was that? Snapping myself out of my thoughts I hear others question what was behind the door.

"It's... a girl." The boy announces. I hear the room burst into conversation. I immediately put on my shirt and open the door. I'm immediately hit with a strong overt smell, a smell that wasn't present before my shower. I can't help but cringe as I hit the open air.

The smell becomes the least of my worries as I look around the room.

Conversation stops and a group of boys are gathered in Aris and I's room. They all look at me with a mix of confusion and awe, like they haven't ever seen a girl before. I set my gaze on Aris who still sits on his bed, seemingly still shocked by the whole situation.

I look back at the group of boys once again, "Who the hell are you guys?" I ask with clear confusion in my tone. My eyes catch a certain blonde, who stares back in curiosity. A wave of familiarity hits me, like a slap in the face.

"We were just asking your buddy here the same thing." I shift my gaze to a boy with brown hair and blue eyes, Whose tone was overcome with frustration.

I look to Aris, who rolls his eyes keeping eye contact with the brown hair kid.

"Look man," Aris says "I'm not telling you who we are until you tell us who you all are."

The blonde with deep brown eyes speaks up, a thick accent lacing his words. "Don't bloody mess around. There are lot more of us than there are of you, so tell us who you both are."

Aris looks like he is about to snap. Just before he erupts I cut him off, "I'm Y/N," I greet and motion to my bunkmate, " that's Aris."

Aris speaks up again, "Anything else you wanna know?" He says in a mocking tone. The brown hair kid looks as if he is about to punch Aris, but he continues to question.

"How did you get here? And what happened to the girl that slept here last night?" Aris and I share a questioning look with each other. Who even are these guys? And What is this guy on about? What girl? He can't possibly mean me.

"What girl? I'm the only girl who slept here last night and its been that way for the past 24 hours" I announce.

The brown hair kid points to the door out into the common area. "There's a sign right out there that says this is her room. Teresa...Agnes. No mention of two shanks named Y/N and Aris."

Something in Aris switches, he seems to have finally ground himself a bit, his expression becoming more neutral. "Look man, I don't know what you're talking about. They put us in here 2 days ago, we slept in this bunk"- he gestures to the bunk he sits on– "I woke up about 15 minutes ago and have never heard the name Teresa Agnes in my life."

The group looks to me as if expecting me to confirm Aris's explanation, I do so with a nod. The brown-haired kid and the blonde, share a look. Like they are having a silent conversation.

"So who put you both in here the other night?" the blonde asks.

"We don't really know. A bunch of people with guns rescued us and put us here." I try to explain, leaving out the rest of the group. I didn't feel like explaining that whole situation when I didn't quite understand it myself.

"Rescued you from what?" the brown hair kid asks.

I answer bluntly, "The maze."

The group looks at us in disbelief. Some with their mouths agape, I certainly don't feel like explaining the whole maze concept to them.

"We have a lot to talk about." the brown hair kid says.

"What do you mean?" Aris looks at him in confusion, I mirror his expression.

"The Maze, The Grievers, WICKED, you name it." He responds.

Now it was Aris and I turn to have our mouths agape. "You're lying," Aris accuses, his voice dropped to a whisper, his face now pale.

The blonde speaks up, "Thomas is right, We need to talk. Sounds like we've come from similar places."

"You all came from a maze too? When did you escape?" I ask my curiosity getting the best of me. They could very well be lying to gain our trust, but something tells me they are telling the truth. It would make sense, they all seem to be around our age, which seems to be WICKED's target subject group.

"We escaped yesterday, brought here last night," Thomas, as the blonde called him, explains. Then he turns to his group, "Before we explain all that, we need to find Teresa. She must be in some other room."

"Isn't one." I remark.

Thomas looks back at me in question, "What do you mean?"

"Ran this whole complex the other day. There's that big common area,"-- I gesture outside the door– "this room, your dorm room, and some seriously locked up doors that have been chained up by our rescuers" I emphasize my sarcasm on rescuers, given that they are responsible for trapping us here.

Thomas furrows his brows, disappointed at my statement. I feel myself empathize with him a bit, "Although you could check again, It's been a bit since Aris and I left this room. We've been locked up in here since yesterday morning, so who knows maybe something has opened up." I mention, in hopes that maybe it will lift his spirits. But to no avail, he looks more disappointed and confused.

"But what about last night? Where'd the food come from? Did anyone notice other rooms? A kitchen, anything?" Thomas looks around looking for an answer but everyone stays silent, knowing the answer. Thomas's mention of food makes me notice the pit in my stomach. How come they ate last night and Aris and I didn't hear a thing? When was the last time I ate?

"Maybe there's a hidden door?" The Asian kid proclaims, "We can run the building again and look, but we need to do one thing at a time. We need to–"

"No!" Thomas interrupts "We have all day to talk to those two shanks, we need to find Teresa now! What if she's in trouble?" Thomas gives the room a look of disappointment and storms out the room in search of the girl named Teresa.

The group watches Thomas leave then their gazes shift to Aris and me.

"Sorry about him, he and Teresa were close. He's just... a little stressed." the blonde explains.

"A little..." Aris mumbles as I elbow him.

"It 's fine, I get it." I say as I turn to the blonde, "Now that we introduced ourselves, mind if you tell us who you all are?"

"Right, sorry. I'm Newt" he gestures to his other friends insinuating for them to introduce themselves.

"Minho. And uh- sorry about the bathroom thing," he awkwardly adds.

I laugh at his sudden change in demeanor, "It's fine, really. Just maybe knock next time." He lets out an abash laugh.

The others continue to introduce themselves and I try my best to memorize all their names, though I was never good with names. It took me all the 3 years we were in the maze to remember everyone's name, including the greenies.

﹏

There wasn't much room for everyone to sit with all the bunk beds scattered. So we all moved the beds against the wall, making the room more spacious and less crowded. Once everyone was settled in their spots, Thomas had finally come back from his hiatus. He entered the room, a look of obvious defeat on his face.

Minho pats a spot on the floor next to him, "They tried to tell ya, dude. Have a seat and let's talk." Without responding Thomas takes a seat.

"All right, let's get started on the bloody storytellin' so we can get to the real problem --finding something to eat." Newt says.

"Amen." I agree, holding my abdomen. The pit in my stomach has turned into an aching knot.

"Good that." Minho says turning to me and Aris, "Now you two. Talk. Tell us everything."

Aris shakes his head, "No way. You guys go first." They stare daggers at each other, my eyes shift from Minho's to Aris's, watching the tension grow.

"Yeah?" Minho responds sharply, "How about we all just take turns beating the living klunk out of your shuck face? Then we'll ask you to talk again."

"Minho," Newt says sternly. "There's no reason–"

Minho Interrupts, "Please, for all we know these two shanks could be with the creators. Somebody with WICKED, here to spy on us. They could have killed those people out there, they are–"

"Wait-wait, slow down. What people?" I ask. How could they not mention this?

"Don't be like that! You've had to have known about those people out there. I mean do you not smell them?" Minho emphasizes loudly.

That's where that smell is coming from...

"Yes I have noticed that smell," I exasperate, "I first noticed it went I walked out of that bathroom." I point to the bathroom door, "So if I'm being honest I genuinely thought that smell... came in with all of you." I hold back a smile and notice Minho growing with frustration.

Newt holds back a laugh but quickly composes himself with a cough, "Minho...relax, I doubt those two are capable of killing those people out there"

"Thank you!" Aris says

"But," Newt cuts Aris off, "He's got a point. Just tell us what you meant about coming from the buggin' maze. That's where we escaped from, and we obviously haven't met you."

Aris rolls his eyes in defeat. I decided I should probably be the one to talk about our maze. "I think its safe to say we came from two separate mazes. It wouldn't surprise me if WCKD had made more than one maze. I mean those greedy little bastards can't get enough of torturing kids." I pause for confirmation on my theory. I hear murmurs of agreement and take it as a sign to continue. "So, I was thrown in this gigantic maze made of huge stone walls– but before that, my memory was erased. I couldn't remember anything about my life before. I just knew my name." I look to Aris to see if he wants to add anything, and he intervenes for me.

"It was a Glade full of girls, making me the only boy. We escaped a few days ago with a group and were placed here. Until yesterday morning when the group vanished leaving me and Y/N here stranded." Aris explains as I nod in support. "What's this stuff about you being in a maze too?" He adds.

"It's the same shucking experiment" Minho murmurs, bewildered.

"It was the same for us, except we were a glade full of boys and one girl." Newt adds.

"Did things start going haywire when the girl showed up? And the person before the girl?" I ask.

"Yes! Things started to change fast" Newt says.

I notice Thomas turns to Aris. Finally joining the conversation. "Did they call you the trigger"? He questions Aris. Aris quickly nodded with wide eyes. "And could you..." Thomas began but hesitated for a moment, "Could you speak to one of those girls inside your mind? You know, like telepathically?" Aris's eyes widen further at Thomas's words, his skin impossibly turns another shade paler. They take a moment both staring at each other, seconds pass. Newt, Minho, and I all share a look of confusion and discomfort.

"What is going on?" Newt asks, now looking between the two of them. "Why're you guys looking at each other like you just fell in love?"

I laugh at his remark, "Seriously, you both look like you're about to share a kiss." I add.

The rest of the group and I share a laugh while Aris and Thomas come back to reality.

"He can do it too." Thomas answers.

"Do what?" one of the group members asked. I think I recall him calling himself Frypan.

"What do you think? He's a freak like Thomas, they can talk in each other's heads." Minho pronounces.

"Serious?" Newt asks glaring at Thomas, who shakes his head in confirmation, dumbfounded he found someone with a similar ability. "Can you?" Newt questions, turning to me.

"Nope." I answer blatantly. I knew Aris and Rachel used to share the same ability, so if Thomas's maze was just like ours maybe he shared that ability with someone as well. Maybe that's who Teresa is.

"Doesn't matter who can do it and who can't. Why did your group leave you behind? You traitors or something?" Minho probes.

"We don't really know why, they just kind of disappeared." I answer, and the group eyes me in disbelief. "Look, I know it's hard to believe but it's true. Why would we lie about being abandoned by our group? It embarrassing to admit if anything."

The group stays silent. Some seem to be contemplating our honesty while others attempt to put pieces together.

Aris pips up, "Listen, we are just as confused as all of you. We got separated, then you sticks showed up."

"Sticks?" Minho smirks.

"Never mind, it's not important. Just stupid slang they used in our maze." Aris rolls his eyes. The boys share a slight smile with one another. Realizing both our mazes created their own vocabulary. Shank. A word I hope isn't too derogatory, as they have been calling us this since they first arrived.

Suddenly Frypan gestures to Aris, "What's that on your neck, man?"

I look to Aris and to my surprise there seems to be some sort of lettering on his skin, peaking out of his t-shirt.

"What?" Aris responds, his eyes widening. "Is it a bug?" He frantically grabs his t-shirt and attempts to look at his neck.

I let out a small chuckle, "No you stick," I say moving his t-shirt aside without thinking. Then I see what it is, my heart skips a beat. "It's...it's a tattoo?" I mutter.

"What? When- How did that even get there?" He asks. I stare at it, he definitely didn't have that before. Someone would have noticed.

"What does it say?" Minho questions

I begin to read off the tattoo, "Property of WICKED. Group B. Subject B1... The Partner."

Aris whips his head around, "Wha- what does that even mean?" He mutters.

"Are you really insinuating that tattoo just appeared out of the blue? Overnight? Without you knowing..." Thomas challenges.

"I swear man I had no idea that was there!" Aris counters fearfully, his hands in the air and eyes darting around the room.

"Aris...no offense but you have a crazy low pain tolerance." I say, recalling his time in the maze. In the little time he was there he would often visit me at the HealTec hut complaining about some innocuous splinter or ingrown toenail he got from the running shoes. I continue, "How would you not notice a whole tattoo being plastered on your neck and back?" Aris looks at me, giving me a look that so clearly asks, 'Whose side are you on?' I shrug in indifference.

"Speak for yourself." Minho pipes up, "I think you have one too." He points to my neck.

I freeze. There is no way I wouldn't notice, "I'm sorry?" I mutter.

Aris turns me around so my back faces him. "Holy shit...he's right."

"What? What does it say?" I question holding up the back of my t-shirt.

I can feel Aris grow nervous, making me feel even more unsettled. It can't be that bad.

Newt leans in and reads it aloud for him, "Property of WICKED. Group B. Subject B3. The Abandoned."

"Oh well... that's sweet of them." I say sarcastically, pulling my shirt back down. "Aris, you were left behind too, how come yours says 'The partner'?" I turn to face him. The room has grown into slight whispers.

"How am I supposed to know?" Aris responds, clearly taken aback by the current situation.

"Maybe its referring to something else." Minho suggests impatiently, "But you two can't possibly think we are going to believe you two just miraculously woke up with tattoos."

Aris and I look at each other, an explanation escaping us both. Not quite sure how to get these guys to believe us. Until I look over to Minho, my eyes catching a certain ink mark peaking out from his shirt neckline. One similar to Aris and I's.

"Um...you have a-uh" I gesture to my own neck in reference to his.

"What? You run out of excuses?" Minho continues to question.

Newt looks to Minho, his eyes widen as they land on the ink stain, "No you shank! She is referring to your neck! You have a tattoo too!" He lifts his friends' shirt.

"What?" Minho questions, looking over his neck at Newt. "Do we all have shucking tattoos?"

With Minho's comment, the room bursts with conversation. Each boy looks to their buddy and reads out their tattoos.

Newt reads out Minho's, "Property of WICKED. Group A, Subject A7. The Leader."

"What? Dude." Minho quickly turns to Thomas, "You're kiddin' me, man." Thomas shrugs his shoulders and turns around silently asking Minho to read his off. I almost want to laugh at the whole situation. One moment they are accusing us of lying and the next the whole group is scattering to find out what their own tattoos read.

Newt turns to me, "You mind?" he questions, gesturing to his tattoo. I hesitate, slightly caught off guard.

"Uh- Not at all." I reply, lifting the side of his shirt. "You're subject A5 and they called you the Glue." I release his shirt as he turns to look at me.

"The Glue?" he inquires furrowing his brows.

I shrug, "Way better than 'The Abandoned'." I joke, trying to make light of the situation.

He smiles and lets out a breathy laugh, "I suppose so." I suddenly overhear Thomas pestering Minho about his tattoo.

"What? What does it say?" Thomas catechizes, but Minho just stares. Presumably unable to speak. Thomas turns his head towards the group, "Can someone tell me what this shucking says?"

Aris scoots over to look, his face immediately mimicking Minho's expression. "Uh... It-" he clears his throat, "It says... Property of WICKED. Group A, Subject A2... To be killed by Group B." He looks anxiously over at Thomas who is staring straight ahead as if he couldn't decide if he should be fearful or confused by his title.

Before anyone could say anything, an alarm sounded, blasting through the entire complex. A familiar alarm, I've heard it before. The recognition flashes in my mind just long enough for me to grasp where I've heard it. The newbie alarm, although this time it's more distinct and prominent. I assume it's due to the more confined space the alarm sound is traveling through.

Everyone seems to be thinking the same thing. Their faces crossed with familiarity, cupping their ears for protection.

Newt is the first to shout over the noise, "It's the bloody Greenie alarm!"

"I know!" hollers Thomas, "Why's it ringing?"

The others shrug. Frypan heads for the door but Thomas pushes himself infront of him. "Wait!" he intergects.

"What?"

"I don't know," Thomas replies, "It's an alarm. Maybe something really bad is happening!"

Frypan looks at him quizzically, "Uh yeah, and maybe we need to get out of here!" Without waiting for a reply Frypan pushes past Thomas and tries for the door. The door doesn't budge. He puts his weight into it, shoulder first. No dice.

Thomas is next to try. Body square with the knob ,he aggressively fumbles with it. Until he stops and turns to face the room...knob in hand.

"Fantastic," I mutter under my breath, though not loud enough to be heard over the alarm.

"You broke the Shuck handle!" Minho barks. Thomas slaps the door with the palm of his hand out of frustration. For a moment everyone is still, waiting for the alarm to stop.

As if the group's prayers were answered, the alarm stops. And silence has its own sound once again.

Newt breaks the silence, "Don't tell me we are going to get bloody greenies in this place."

"Where is the box in this shuck place?" Minho mutters sarcastically.

The door creaks open and everyone's heads turn toward the sound. The common room is pitch black, and the lights outside are turned off.

I turn to Aris, "Looks like we aren't grounded in our rooms anymore." I smirk. He chuckles in slight relief. I look at the group A boys and none of them have moved.

"You first." Minho gestures to Frypan.

"No way dude, what if somethings out there."

I let out a deep breath and shuffled my way through the crowd of boys, "Bicker all you want, I'm out." I say as I exit the room into the dark common area. "You guys know where the light switch is?" I examine, skimming my hands gently across the wall.

"Should be to your left!" Minho answers following behind me.

"Oh, I feel it!" I switch the lights on. The sudden brightness sends my eyes into fluorescent shock.

"Why did they even turn the lights off in the first place? Or even better, who turned them off?" Thomas sweats.

Minho looks back at Thomas, a mocking smirk painted on his face. "Why do you even bother asking questions, dude? Nothing has ever made sense."

"And it probably never will," Newt adds with a sigh, as he enters the newly lit room with his hands on his hips.

I look around the common room. it's probably been 24 hours since I've left that bunk room, but I can't help but reminisce about the first time I had entered the common area. The day my group escaped the maze. Most were skeptical about our rescue but grateful for the food and showers nonetheless. It was the first smile I had seen on my friends' faces in a while.

I look at the others, they all seem to be taken back. Something obviously bothers all of them.

Before I can question, Thomas whispers, "Impossible." He walks further into the common room near the east hall. "It's impossible, not enough time has passed for someone to get the bodies out. And no way people came into this buggin' room, we would have heard them!"

I remember the bodies Minho mentioned before. I notice the putrid smell that once encompassed the air is gone. Completely. No trace that there were ever bodies in the room in the first place. I stay silent. Not sure how to respond to the circumstances. I could question them further. Ask if they are sure they saw what they described. But bodies or no bodies, there is nothing in this room now. The questions I have wouldn't get us anywhere.

Minho inquires further. "You're right. We were in that bunkroom for what? Twenty minutes? No way anyone could have moved all those bodies that quickly. Plus, this place is chained up from the inside."

"Not to mention get rid of the smell."Thomas builds.

"Well, you shanks are right smart." Frypan says through a huff. "But take a look around. They're gone. So whatever you think, somehow they got rid of them."

Other group members have migrated to their own bunkroom. A boy whose name I don't recall comes out of the other room, "The beds are made and the drawers are stocked with fresh clothes and new shoes!" He cheers and enters back into the room.

"New watches as well!" Another boy shouts from the room.

I notice for the first time that there aren't that many boys in the group. They must have lost a lot of people in their maze. If they started out with 50 boys in their maze as mine did girls, then they must have lost a lot of people. For this, I can only sympathize further with the group. We are only kids, after all, we shouldn't be experiencing such tremendous loss at our age.

My stomach growls, pulling me out of my thoughts. I realize I haven't eaten since the night we first arrived in this complex, making me slightly lightheaded. I ask Aris to help me in my search for a trace of food or at least supplies to prep our own. Praying that something has opened up since I last checked the complex doors.

We agree to split up, I search the north side, and he searches the south.

We meet up after 15 minutes of testing every door in the complex. Neither of us found a thing. I'm worried if we will ever be given another meal. According to the bodies Minho and his group found, our saviors are supposedly dead after all. Or maybe we were never rescued in the first place. For all we know this could all be WCKD's doing once again. Maybe our next big challenge is to find an exit from this complex and defend ourselves in the mysterious outside world. Whatever is going on, whatever lies in store for us, I'm finally free of that maze

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Link to Full Fic

[betweenbreaths]

something to get used to (zoro x reader)

Summary: Both you and Zoro are afraid to lose each other and take too long to finally admit it.

Rating: G

AO3 link is in the replies to this post! I am a complete sucker for character A getting angry and avoiding character B at all costs, so here is an entirely self-indulgent fic and I hope you enjoy :)

***

Zoro had screwed up. Royally. 

It wasn’t exactly new for him, but this time, even he could tell it was a big one, seeing as it had been days since she had last spoken to him. 

At some point, Nami, who usually kept her nose out of things like this, had snapped at him for being an “insensitive ass”. While he certainly hadn’t appreciated the brutal honesty or choice of words, he knew she was right. Even Robin had intervened, telling him in that usual nonchalant tone of hers that he should probably do something about it soon. 

The thing was, he was trying, okay? It wasn’t like he was sitting on his ass and doing absolutely nothing. He had been trying to approach said crewmate for days now, but each time he tried, she would deliberately avoid eye contact, ignore his calls of her name and would be out of his sight within seconds of him spotting her. How big was this ship, anyway? It was starting to get ridiculous, the fact that it was this difficult to track down a single person, even if she didn’t want to be found. 

Frankly, the whole thing was starting to grate on his nerves too. How was he supposed to apologise to someone who was clearly not interested in being in the same room as him? Just this morning, he had spotted her in the kitchen talking to Sanji, and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t get annoyed at how she was chuckling at the love cook’s shitty jokes and bad pick-up lines. He’d tried to approach her, but before he could even get close it seemed she had sensed that he was there, and before he knew it, she was already on her feet and scuttling out of the room with her head down. Sanji could only stand there, stunned by the abrupt end to their conversation. 

The cook had promptly shot a glare in Zoro’s direction, which the swordsman returned evenly.

All in all, Zoro was at his wit’s end here, and he was running out of ideas. And patience.  

A sudden jerk on the boat had him nearly losing his balance, and shouts coming from the deck snapped Zoro out of his thoughts. From the crow’s nest he looked out the window, where a huge fleet of navy ships had gathered and which were quickly approaching the Sunny. Looking down, he noticed that the entire crew was gathering on the deck, including her. 

Without a moment’s hesitation, he rushed out of the crow’s nest and leaped down, landing smoothly on the deck with the rest of the crew, right next to her. Again, she didn’t acknowledge his presence, her eyes fixated stubbornly on the enemy in front of them. 

A small sigh escaped him as he readied himself for what was coming. He supposed the apology would have to wait for now. 

***

You were being petty, and you knew it. 

You should have already known the kind of person Zoro was by now: strong, fiercely loyal, and brave in the face of danger. He may be rough around the edges, his words often curt and harsh, but otherwise you knew that he was really a softie at heart and would do anything for his crew.

And it was precisely that part of him that worried you to no end. If it came down to it, you knew Zoro was prepared to sacrifice anything, including himself, as long as his friends were safe. 

That was why you had ended up losing your temper at him, after the crew barely managed to get away from Kizaru and Akainu after a recent brush with them. He had suffered severe burns in his attempt to help the crew escape, and because you hadn’t managed to duck out of the way in time. You should have been the one to suffer those injuries, but instead Zoro’s right arm had nearly been burned all the way through. It would have been worse than that if Franky hadn’t managed to refuel the ship just in time for a coup de burst then, that allowed all of you to narrowly escape. 

Thankfully, Chopper was able to save Zoro and fix his arm — the little reindeer had told everyone that if the injury had been any deeper, he wouldn’t have been able to use his arm like before. 

You had stayed behind in the men’s quarters to wait for Zoro to wake up. You had thought carefully about what you wanted to say, to ask if he was doing okay, to thank him for saving you or you might have been dead. 

But when he woke up and relief flooded you, your thoughts went haywire and the only thing you blurted out was: 

“Why did you save me? You shouldn’t have done that.” 

You hadn’t meant for it to come out that way, or to sound that angry or frustrated with him. Zoro had done you a huge favour, but you were reacting as if he had wronged you somehow. 

It was no wonder the swordsman had responded the way he had: frowning, his tone frigid as he snapped at you to leave him alone and that he could do whatever the hell he wanted.

By then you weren’t thinking anymore, moving and speaking entirely based on the emotions you felt: a storm of worry, regret, frustration, anger coursing through your veins. You had never been one to be able to hide your emotions well, and it all showed in your voice and tightly clenched fists that shook by your sides.

The argument rapidly escalated, and it didn’t take long for the crew outside to hear the raised voices. By then the both of you were going at each other without restraint, and Usopp and Chopper had to hold you back while you yelled at Zoro for being stupid and senseless in battle, for thinking that he could protect the crew all by himself. 

That seemed to trigger something in him, and you could see his eyes turn dark as he went livid. You knew you had gone too far then, and you were about to apologise, except that you were swiftly interrupted by his next words: 

“That’s my business, not yours. Just stay out of my way.” 

Silence. A deep, heavy silence filled the room. 

You knew that it was just Zoro mouthing off in the heat of the moment, but it didn’t change the fact that the words had cut you deeper than any blade could. The inexplicable pain that bubbled up deep within your chest had you flinching, your words dying instantly on your tongue. You knew what was coming when you felt a familiar lump in your throat and moisture gathering in the back of your eyes. 

At that moment, you didn’t really know what else you could do, other than run. So without another word, you had shrugged Usopp’s grip off your arms and fled the room, the sound of the closing door cutting off the cries of your crewmates for you to wait. 

A few days had passed since then, but you still couldn’t bring yourself to look him in the eye, or even be anywhere near him. It felt like you might burst into tears if you did, and crying was the last thing you wanted to do in front of him. 

Deep down, you knew that Zoro was right. What happened to him wasn’t your business at all, and if he wanted to protect his crew at the cost of his own body, it was his choice and you couldn’t change that. Nor was it your place to tell him what he could or couldn’t do. 

The rest of the crew obviously had their share of concerns for him as well, but it seemed they had already come to accept that Zoro wouldn’t change. The stubborn swordsman had his own set of values that were pretty much set in stone and he wouldn’t budge on them. 

So fine. You would stop caring. You would stay in your lane and not give a shit about what he did with his life. After all, that was what he wanted, right? 

Except, you couldn’t, and you knew damn well the reason why. 

Zoro may be dense, but you were no fool. You knew what those butterflies stirring in your abdomen meant whenever you saw that trademark, cocky smirk of his. You knew why you would find yourself breathless and lightheaded when you got a bit too close while training with him in the crow’s nest. And you knew perfectly well the reason you had been so deeply hurt by his words, by the implication that he wanted nothing to do with you, or you with him: 

You had fallen hopelessly for this man. 

…and you didn’t know what the hell you should do with these feelings. 

For now, burying it was the only answer you could come up with. It was clear enough that romance was far from Zoro’s mind. From what you could observe, it looked like the only things he really had any interest in was training, getting stronger, protecting his friends, and his ambition to become the strongest swordsman there was. That, and drinking lots of booze.

Romance? It would only slow him down, no doubt. Serve as nothing more than a distraction from his dream. And even if romance was on the cards, Zoro clearly felt nothing for you; that much had been made clear by what he said to you a few days ago. 

In any case, you had no time to dwell on these things. It was only distracting you from the huge fight at hand. A whole fleet of navy ships had finally caught up to the Sunny, and from what you could tell, Kizaru and Akainu were back, fully intent on achieving their goal of nabbing the crew after failing once already. 

You were occupied with fending off a whole crowd of marines. While they were lower-ranked, their numbers were slowly but surely pushing you back, and before long they had already encircled you, trapping you in. 

No one else was free enough to help, each of them engaged in their own battles at the moment. From the corner of your eye you could see Zoro, struggling to keep up with the pace of Kizaru’s attacks. His movements were duller than usual, no doubt because he still hadn’t fully recovered from the last battle. It was clear that Zoro was losing ground, however, and all you could think of was that you had to back him up as soon as possible. 

Just as you fought off another few dozen marines, sending them flying into the sea with your sword, a bright gleam of light caught your attention. 

You turned in that direction, and instantly the colour drained from your face when you saw Zoro on his knees, bleeding out and his swords nowhere in sight. Kizaru loomed over him, his raised foot glowing with a blinding yellow light. 

Time seemed to move in slow motion then, and the cries of your crewmates of Zoro’s name faded into the background, muffled as if you were underwater. Mustering strength you didn’t know you possessed, you knocked back the rest of the marines in your way, clearing the path towards Zoro.

Your body acted on instinct, moving before you could even think or register what you were doing. All you knew was that you had to get to him, before it was too late. You couldn’t lose him. You just couldn’t. 

Even the thought of it was too much to bear. 

Zoro was the only person in your line of sight as you surged forward, bolting through the air with such speed that the wind fiercely resisted in your face. You dove for the floor then, shoving Zoro out of the way as far as you could. He was heavy, but you managed somehow. 

The next thing you knew, you felt a sharp pain in your abdomen, which quickly spread to the rest of your body and you couldn’t hold back the scream that tore from your lips. You had been hit, your body breaking through the wood of the deck and the sheer weight of the force knocking the wind out of you. 

It felt like an eternity before you finally took in a sharp gasp of air, and when you did, a white hot pain surged through your body and you had to bite down on your lip to keep from screaming again. 

You couldn’t muster any strength to move, only able to let out a pained whimper when you felt a pair of strong arms grabbing you, dragging you out of the broken wood and holding you against a warm chest. 

Your vision was blurry now, everything a haze, but you could still make out green hair, and that annoying face that had occupied your mind for days now. It looked like he was shouting something at you, but you couldn’t really hear him. Your consciousness was fading, and you tasted the metallic tang of blood before spitting a mouthful out onto your shirt. 

There was a hand on your cheek now, and Zoro was shaking you to keep you awake. The jerk was only making the pain worse. Still, it worked for a few seconds. 

Then the exhaustion came like a tidal wave, and you found yourself rapidly succumbing to it. 

Just before your eyes slipped close, through the small slit of light left you kept your gaze on him, offering an upward twitch of your lips — hopefully that would make things right with him, after you had chickened out of a talk with him for so long. He deserved better than this, but this was all you could offer. 

A final cry of your name rang in your ears, and then your world turned black. 

***

It had been two days. Two days since they managed to get away from the navy, and she was still in a coma, showing no signs of waking up. Chopper had to do a blood transfusion for her seeing as she had lost a lot of blood, but for some reason she still hadn’t woken up. 

Zoro was practically losing his mind from worry, and resentment at the fact that he had been stupid enough to give Kizaru the chance to attack him like that, and that she had nearly been killed while trying to save him. 

For all that training, he was still too weak to protect the people he cared about. All he could do was stay by her side while she rested in the women’s quarters, hoping that she would wake up soon. The rest of the crew was worried too of course, but they seemed hopeful enough that she would recover in no time. One by one, they had taken turns to tell him the same thing, and while it quelled his anxiety just slightly, it didn’t take away the heavy, suffocating weight on his chest each time he looked at her sleeping face. 

“Staying here and not eating isn’t going to make her wake up faster.” Nami’s voice came from the doorway, and Zoro frowned in her direction.

“Later. I’m not hungry.” 

He heard her sigh, and then the sound of her approaching footsteps.

“She’ll be worried if she sees you like this too, you know.” She stopped by the other side of the bed, placing her palm on the sleeping woman’s forehead. “I’ll watch her for now. Go get some air, and take a bath. You stink,” she added as an afterthought. 

Any other day he would have barked right back at her for that, but Zoro didn’t have the energy to argue with Nami right then. Knowing there was no way he could out-argue her, he got up and left the room, but not before casting a lingering stare at the sleeping woman over his shoulder.

He supposed he would have to wait a while before making things right with her. He just hoped it wouldn’t take too long. 

***

When you woke up, you were greeted with the familiar sight of the ceiling of the women’s quarters. Your head throbbed with a dull pain, and you winced, trying to recall what had happened.

The last thing you remembered was passing out in Zoro’s arms after taking one of Kizaru’s hits. How long had it been since then? Were the rest of your friends okay? 

Was Zoro safe? 

Remembering the state that Zoro had been in just before you dove and pushed him out of the way, panic seized you and you rushed to sit up. You weren’t able to get up all the way though, pausing when you realised your hand was caught in something.

Your eyes dropped down, widening in surprise when you realised that your fingers were interlaced with someone else’s fingers. Your gaze trailed upwards, and found Zoro resting his head on the bed, sound asleep while seated in a chair that he had placed next to your side. 

What… What was he doing here? And why the heck was he holding your hand? 

You tried pulling your hand out of his grasp, but found that his grip was a little too tight. Had Chopper assigned him here to make sure you didn’t get out of bed? 

You didn’t want to wake the man though; suddenly your bravado from before had vanished. Without the adrenaline, you were back to your pathetic, cowardly self who was too afraid to talk to him, in fear that he might discover your feelings for him. Not to mention, you didn’t want to cry; at least not in front of him. It would only make him feel bad for something that wasn’t his fault. 

Carefully and gingerly, you tried to lift his fingers and extracted your fingers from his hold, one by one. With each finger that you lifted you noticed how calloused and rough his skin had become, no doubt from the countless battles and hours of gruelling training he would subject himself to every day. You were already smiling to yourself without realising it, chest swelling with the hope that he would one day be able to achieve his dream. If it was Zoro, you knew he could do it. 

It took a few minutes, but you were eventually able to get most of your hand free without waking the swordsman. He looked exhausted, and was probably recovering from his own set of injuries as well. 

It was just when you were about to get your last finger free that his hand suddenly grabbed yours again, and then you found yourself staring into a pair of piercing brown eyes. 

Your breath caught, and you practically forgot how to breathe when Zoro sprang up, the sleepiness completely gone from his eyes. His eyes were on you, and his grip on your hand had become tighter. 

“Zoro—” You could barely get a word out, before you felt his arms encircling you, and crashing your body to his chest. 

He was warm. Big. And everything felt right. 

His hold on you was tight, caging you in completely and leaving no room for you to wriggle away. Your hands were on his chest right next to either side of your face, and against your palm you felt his strong pulse, beating about as rapidly as yours was. 

“I’m sorry,” was the first thing he said, and it was the first time you had ever heard his voice waver. Zoro, the man who was always confident, sure and brazen, had never sounded more raw, more vulnerable to you in that moment, and for a while you didn’t know how to react other than to stay still and listen to his shaky breaths. 

“I didn’t understand until you took that blow for me,” he went on, and as he did you felt his arms tighten around you, pressing you closer to him. “I shouldn’t have said that to you. I’m sorry.” 

“It’s… It’s not your fault,” you replied, as tears gathered in your eyes. Damn it, this was why you didn’t want to talk; you just knew this would happen. Thankfully, him holding you meant he couldn’t see your face, but it did mean that he would easily feel your tears through his shirt. It took every fibre of your being to hold them in. 

“I overstepped, and I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have reacted that way when you just wanted to protect us, and I didn’t have the guts to talk to you about it until now, even though I know you were trying. Sorry.” 

“Quit saying that. I’m trying to apologise to you here.” 

You couldn’t help but chuckle at that. Zoro was just as grumpy as ever. 

“Why’d you do that? I could have taken it.” He was referring to Kizaru’s kick. 

You could only shrug in response. “I don’t know. My body was moving before I could think. I just… didn’t want you to get hurt.” 

“The same goes for me, you know,” he said, and those words filled you with some kind of hope. Hope that maybe he had the same feelings for you. But that was instantly crushed when he followed up with, “We’re nakama. I don’t want you getting hurt for me either.” 

It was like getting a bucket of cold water to the face. Of course, you had known it all along: Zoro only saw you as a friend. Nothing more, nothing less. At least now you knew, so your feelings could stay buried until they eventually disappeared with time. 

“But, it’s not just that.” 

You felt him pull away then, to hold you by your arms and look you in the eye. His expression was serious, and you felt your face begin to heat up under his intense stare. Instinctively, you looked away. 

“Look at me.” 

His words were commanding, and you obeyed, meeting his gaze once more. They were burning with an emotion that you couldn’t quite identify. 

“That day, when I saw you nearly get cut down, I… was afraid.” His fingers dug into your arms, and he looked downwards briefly. “I was afraid of losing you.” 

You swallowed, not quite sure where this was going. In your head, this was easy enough to rationalise. “Well, that’s because we’re nakama.”  

Zoro shook his head, the skin on his forehead crinkling with a frown. “I’ve been with the crew for a while now, and each time we had a close shave like that, I was afraid of losing them too. But this time, it was different.” His eyes returned to yours, locking onto your gaze and your parted lips. “It was different, because it was you.” 

You didn’t know what to make of that. Or rather, you knew, but you were afraid to draw that conclusion on your own, lest you get disappointed once more. 

“What… are you saying?” 

“What I’m saying is,” he responded, his lips turning up into a gentle smile, one so tender that it made your heart melt, “I have feelings for you.” 

Your heart may as well have stopped then. You blinked at him, doing a double take as you tried to register his words. Feelings? You? But what about nakama—

“I don’t expect you to return them, so don’t overthink things,” Zoro continued, cutting off your frenzied train of thought. He must have been able to tell from the confusion written all over your face. “Nothing’s going to change.”

A beat of silence passed, with neither of you saying anything. 

Eventually, Zoro found it awkward enough to clear his throat and to release your arms from his grip. “Anyway, I should get Chopper in here. He told me to let him know when you woke up.” 

The sound of the chair legs scraping against wood was the only sound in the room as he got up to leave, but he was swiftly halted in his tracks as your hand grabbed his wrist to hold him back. 

He watched wordlessly as you got off the bed, and you held back a grimace at the pain throbbing in your abdomen. You’d be an idiot if you allowed him to walk away after saying all that. His confession had been short and straight to the point, exactly the way Zoro was.

And, just like Zoro tended to do, it had also pissed you off a little, and that anger was stirring up in you a boldness that you couldn’t muster before. 

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” 

He seemed to be taken aback at the sudden ferocity in your tone, and didn’t seem to expect to be manhandled when you grabbed him by the collar without warning and yanked him towards you, until your noses were barely touching. His eyes were blown wide, and you could see his face begin to turn red from the proximity. Up close like this, you could feel his warm breaths on your face. 

“You didn’t ask me what I think,” you told him in an almost-whisper, and you watched as he swallowed, uncertainty swimming in his eyes. 

“What do you—” 

You pressed your lips to his then, cutting off whatever stupid excuse he had to say in his defence. He always did this, assuming things on his own and jumping to his own conclusions. 

Then again, you had gone ahead and done the exact same thing, so you were probably being a hypocrite. 

Not that you really cared; all that you could focus on then was his lips against yours, gentle and tender and soft. You had released your grip on his collar by then, instead resting your one hand on his hard chest while the other wrapped around his neck to pull him closer. 

Zoro didn’t show any resistance; in fact, he quite eagerly leaned into you, arms snaking around your waist to press your curves against his body and to deepen the kiss. Things slowly grew bolder, more daring as you felt his tongue sweep across the seam of your lips. You obliged, parting your lips for him and your knees nearly buckled when his tongue entered your mouth, sliding against your tongue and swallowing the soft moan that had unwittingly escaped you. 

“Zoro…”

You felt his fingers in your hair then, and with a soft pull he tipped your head back, angling your face so that he could deepen the kiss with renewed vigour. You couldn’t help but be swept along with his pace, allowing him to kiss you over and over and over, each kiss an affirmation that his confession was real, that he had wanted you just as much as you had wanted him all this time. 

The realisation had your chest swelling with joy, and there was no stopping the big smile that your lips spread into, which forced him to pull away from the kiss. Breathing heavily, Zoro rested his forehead against your head, allowing your noses to touch. 

“So tell me again, nothing’s going to change?” you taunted, licking your lips and smirking at the man. 

“Heh.” With a chuckle and a devilish grin that made you almost forget how to breathe, Zoro lowered his lips towards yours once more. 

“I guess this is something I could get used to.” 

[thisbisexualbrainrot]

I Know Places We Can Hide

Rating: E

Summary: Aziraphale sneaks out of Heaven to visit Crowley. This fic is my version of a third season!

Tags: Post Season 2 Finale. Canon Compliant. Aziraphale POV. M/M. Sexual but plot driven.

Author Notes: NOW ON AO3! I just want more fic from Azi's perspective so I did it myself. Partly based on this post by @sensitivesiren cause I thought it was a great theory. Full first chapter is under the cut! :)

“Baby, I know places we won't be found and

They'll be chasing their tails trying to track us down

'Cause I know places we can hide.”

-Taylor Swift

—

He wasn't supposed to be here. 

Earth, that is. He wasn't supposed to be on Earth. And certainly was not supposed to be visiting a certain demon who, for all he knew, did not ever want to see him again. 

The Supreme Archangel took a breath to steady himself, absentmindedly pulling on the stiff collar of his pressed, white suit that he knew he could not show his face in. A hint of a buzzing sensation in his fingers and he was back in his familiar earthly attire. 

It's a small miracle, they won't notice…I hope Aziraphale bit his lip and wondered if he was pushing his luck too far this time. He had slipped out after his weekly management meeting, when the weight of the discussion had been overwhelming to no one else but him. He didn’t understand how they could talk about such things, their eyes dull with apathy, like they were discussing budgeting and not the destruction of the human race. 

These last few months had been a torment. He knew Crowley was right, he was not like the other angels. He didn't care about war or great plans. Well, he did care in the sense that he didn't understand why the earth needed to be destroyed at all. If I'm the one in charge, I can make a difference. Some difference he’d made, indeed. In the months he’d been in heaven, the only difference he’d made was restructuring the scrivener recording schedules due to Muriels absence. In all other regards, he had found the job to be lacking in the “making decisions for heaven” department. It was more of a mouthpiece role, mimicking whatever The Metatron told him to command of the lower angels. He realized rather quickly that he had been manipulated. That heaven had offered him the job to get him away from Earth. Away from Crowley. Away from actually making a difference. 

So, his wary eyes scanning the room near the elevator, he hastened his steps toward it and made his escape.

–

“Nope, not doing this.” 

Crowley shot up from the bench like it was made of holy water. “I have absolutely nothing to say to you, Angel.” He turned to leave Saint James park, but not before throwing a spiteful “You can go ahead and change your clothes back. I know that's not what you're wearing up there.” 

Aziraphale breathed out sharply through his nose. Of course, Crowley was going to be difficult. He’d hurt him, he knew that but he had hoped the demon would at least be a little pleased to see him.

 “I changed for my own comfort, if you must know.” Not a complete lie. “Crowley, we need to talk. I-I’m terribly regretful of how we left things and-”  “You need my help.” He interrupted,  “That's why you’re here, right?” Aziraphale said nothing. He understood he had hurt him but the demon had hurt him as well. And it wasn’t fair that he was being so cruel. Crowley clearly noted the silence and snarked, “Well, unfortunately for you, I'm out of the business of helping angels.” 

“Crowley, please.” Aziraphale said softly, “I- if you would just hear me out.” The angel felt a pang of fear, pursing his lips and hoping that he would at least be allowed to explain himself. He couldn’t read Crowley's expression since he wasn’t facing him but his shoulders looked… tense.  He finally heard Crowley mutter through gritted teeth, “Fine.” 

“Oh, thank you.” He could feel a slight warmth of relief sing through his bones. “You see, I made a terrible mistake and The Meta-” He stopped himself, this should be discussed more privately. He stumbled over his words, “That is, Could I-...would you be willing to come back to the bookshop with me?” It was the first place he could think of but not the most ideal place either, he realized. 

Crowley paused and Azirphale hoped he hadn’t ruined his chance. “We can meet at my place.” 

“Oh you're um- you have a new one now?”  Crowley seemingly ignored the question. He took out a slip of paper that looked like a receipt, scrawled an address on it and handed it to him, still not turning fully to meet the Angel's eyes. “Meet you there.” And with that, Crowley quickly shoved his slender hands into his tight pockets and walked away.

Aziraphale watched Crowley leave, the slip of paper still clutched between his fingers. Hearing the anger in his voice made the angel wince. Oh how I've made a mess of things.

-

He still stopped by the bookshop briefly to check on it. Muriel was delighted to tell him all about their interactions with the humans and how they had read almost every book in the shop already. He smiled kindly to them, his mind distracted by the events in the park. He did not mention any of it to the young scrivener. He gave them a quick farewell, thanked them for watching over things and exited the shop. Anxiety pooled in the pit of his stomach. Right, the address. He pulled it out of his pocket.

 How would he ever explain all of this? Where would he start? Had heaven realized he was gone? What if they found him? He glanced around anxiously and waited for a feeling of Michael or Uriel appearing but saw no none. He wanted to stop and see Maggie and Nina but couldn't risk any more time. He would have to catch up with them later. 

He glanced back down at the sheet of paper and could make out the address even with Crowley's terrible handwriting. Aziraphale couldn't help but smile. It turns out, the flat was just a few blocks away. Maybe Crowley didn’t truly hate him after all.

The doorbell rang, a hollow chime echoing through the flat. Aziraphale waited not so patiently for the black door to swing open, yellow eyes finally meeting his gaze.

 “I knew they would be purple.” Crowley mumbled with what sounded like annoyance to his voice.

His eyes. He had forgotten. “Oh- I would love to do away with them, however, I can't seem to change them.” He fiddled with his ring and gave Crowley a half hearted, nervous smile.  Crowley smirked, “I know the feeling.” 

He stepped aside, a gesture that pulled Aziraphale in and he was hit with the familiar comforting scent of amber and brimstone. I know what you smell like he remembered the demon telling him once, and well…likewise. The door shut behind him and Crowley headed over to a bar counter, pulling two wine glasses from a rack and pouring each of them a glass. A fire crackled in the hearth, and the room was cozy despite being mostly decorated in sleek black furnishings. Crowley handed him the glass and Aziraphale managed to say thank you with a steady voice. He was incredibly nervous. “So?” Crowley cleared his throat, knocking Aziraphale’s racing mind back into the room. “Are you going to explain what the purpose of this holy appearance is?” He settled in a large armchair, swinging one leg over the other. He leveled his gaze on Aziraphale, taking a sip of his wine. 

Aziraphale felt the panic that had been swelling inside of him threaten to bubble over. He had no idea where to begin, just as he had feared. He ran his finger nervously over the rim of his glass. Staring down at it, he centered himself and pulled together what he needed to say, or at least it was a start. 

He admitted quietly, “I've made a terrible mess of things. I should have never taken the job.” 

Crowley was silent. Aziraphale continued after a pause, his eyes still downward. “It appears The Metatron’s intentions were to separate us. I have been all but useless as a leader, I'm afraid. They don't actually let me decide anything. Not anything of real importance. And, worst of all, they plan to initiate the Second Coming in a matter of months? Years? I'm not entirely sure but it will be soon.” 

Crowley let out a frustrated sounding sigh, shaking his head, “So that is why you’re here, to get my help then? Cause if that’s all you want you can shove o-” 

“No.” Aziraphale looked up then, and he hoped Crowley could see the pain in his eyes as he confessed, “I am here to apologize and beg for your forgiveness.” Silence. A long awkward pause. Aziraphale didn't know what to say next, so he waited. 

“Well then Angel, go on.” Crowley gestured his glass toward him. “Beg.” 

Aziraphale huffed, “If you are going to make a mockery of it, I’ll just as soon leave.” 

Crowley looked amused, “Oh come on, you really can't expect that I wouldn't give you a hard time. With you rejecting me and all, it's only fair.” 

“I would appreciate you taking this seriously.” Aziraphale’s brow furrowed. If Crowley was going to make his feelings a joke, then he wasn't going to even bother trying to mend this- this…

“Oh I am,” Crowley’s tone shifted, “and you better start talking, Angel.” 

“Fine.” Aziraphale straightened, setting his untouched glass on a nearby table. He looked at Crowley, “You were right.” “I want the dance.”

“No.” Bastard.

“Then apology not accepted” Crowley took another swig of his wine. It was almost like he was having fun with this. Looking Aziraphale up and down he remarked flatly, “You’ve lost weight. No crepes in heaven, I suppose.” 

Aziraphale felt his frustration growing, “Crowley, will you please focus on what I am trying to say?” 

“So far, I haven't really heard you say anything.” Crowley shot back, his eyes were dark and angry. 

Aziraphale had enough. He moved toward Crowley’s seat, kneeling in front of him firmly but gently. He locked their eyes together, hoping that Crowley wouldn't see how scared he was and mistake it for something else.

“Then I will say it now.” Aziraphale’s voice wavered but he pushed on, “I have never regretted something more, in six thousand years. For choosing to leave you. The truth is…” He swallowed nervously, “I love you Crowley, no matter what you are. I will always love you the same.” He took a breath, “A-And you owe me nothing in return, except I would prefer for you to still consider me a friend. You don't have to kiss me, if it's not genuine.” If Crowley would agree to still be his friend, that would be enough. He didn't want Crowley to feel forced to love him the way he wanted. That would not do. And he couldn’t bear to hear Crowley speak to him with such disdain and anger any longer, even if some of it was deserved. He had placed his hands on the demon’s knees sometime during this admission, the warmth of Crowley's legs sending a jolt of adrenaline down to his gut. Now, it seems, he was unable to remove them. He was frozen in place, his eyes following Crowley’s expression. The demon said nothing, at first. Aziraphale watched as he slowly set his wine glass down, 

“You think it wasn't genuine then.” Not a question. 

Aziraphale looked back at him with slight confusion. “You- you surely know how I feel about you, Crowley. Certainly your kiss was a cruel temptation, was it not? A last effort to try to change my mind? I-I forgave you for it but it did hurt, you see, so I was angry and I-...I am..” 

“ARGH!” Crowley stood up, pushing past Aziraphale and spinning around to face him. “Did you really not hear a word I said?!”

Aziraphale, startled by the sudden movement and aggression, stood and turned to face Crowley with confusion now etched into his features. “I-I was listening. You didn't want to come with me, you didn't want to be an angel with me, you- you said you didn't need heav- “ 

“Argh, not that part Aziraphale!” Crowley rarely said his full name anymore. He loved how it sounded rolling off the demon's tongue. Very distracting. 

“What part then?” Aziraphale asked quietly. He had clearly been wrong about the kiss, but that meant- he felt his heart beat faster in his chest. 

“I refuse to believe you dont know.” Crowley’s expression hardened, but tears welled in his eyes. He didn't have his sunglasses to hide them and Aziraphale could see then that the anger and disdain for him was actually just…heartbreak. 

Crowley was heartbroken. Oh. OH.

He had been wrong in Crowley's intentions for the kiss.

Crowley had been trying to tell him his feelings the last time they saw each other. Aziraphale had just not been listening properly, or at least not been really hearing him properly. The kiss was a last ditch attempt, but it was to show Aziraphale how he felt. What they could be if he did stay. We could have been us. 

“Oh I…Crowley.” He stepped closer instinctively, reaching his arm out to grasp Crowley's hand. He thought for a moment Crowley would pull away, but he didn’t. “I've been such a complete fool. Please forgive me.” Crowley cursed quietly as a tear slipped down his cheek, looking away. Aziraphale pulled them closer then, his free hand reaching up to turn Crowley’s face back to him and wipe the tear away. His hand remained, gently rubbing his thumb on the demon’s cheekbone. Aziraphale’s heart could not have been beating louder in his ears as Crowley leaned in until their foreheads were resting on each other. A breath of silence and then quietly he heard,

“I’ve missed you, Angel.” 

“And I you, my dear. Desperately.” Aziraphale closed his eyes and brushed his nose against Crowley’s, cautiously. Slowly. With his eyes shut, the sensation of the demon’s breath was so close. His warm face was so unbearably close and the Angel pushed in further until his lips were barely caressing the demons, testing his boundaries. 

Testing to see if Crowley would push him away.

He didn’t. 

Aziraphales heart fluttered as Crowley wrapped his hand around the Angel’s neck, his fingers curling into the nape of the white curls and pushed in to deepen the kiss. It felt like fire. Warm, crackling and intense. Nothing like before, no feeling of humiliation or pain. Aziraphale sunk into it, letting out a small moan as Crowley licked against his lips. Crowley must have taken the moan as an invitation. He began to push off Aziraphale’s jacket and it fell to the floor. 

Aziraphale pulled back slightly, “Crowley, I- shouldn't we talk about this?” 

“I think we’ve done enough talking, don't you? Always talking, us.”

Crowley moved back in to claim the angel's mouth once more and Aziraphale agreed, they could talk after. After they- oh mother in heaven, has Crowley always smelled this incredible? He breathed in deeply, pushing his tongue in and getting a satisfying groan in return. He wanted all of him then. Wanted to touch every unholy inch of him. He felt Crowley start to push him backward and clung to him as they toppled onto a black velvet couch. He felt the weight of Crowley's hips as he settled onto his lap, one leg resting on either side as he straddled over him and cupped his jaw, kissing him feverishly. Aziraphale used one hand to pull the demon closer to him. The other gripped Crowley's neck, fingers gliding into perfectly soft red hair. He felt Crowley slip off his shoes and he did the same, all while not breaking their joined mouths even for a moment. Crowley chuckled affectionately as he broke their lips apart, “You sure you’re alright with this, Angel?”

“I don't know what you mean,” Aziraphale chided, “I have been around just as long as you. I know perfectly well what this is.” 

Crowley wrapped his arms around the angel's neck, “but have you ever...” he waved his hands and the rest trailed off. Implied. “I haven't had the desire until now.” 

“Oh is that so?” Crowley teased, “Well well, Supreme Archangel...” 

Aziraphale blushed hotly and sputtered “Well I- I wouldn't say I didn't have the desire till now but I just- oh you know what I mean you impertinent demon!” Crowley rolled his hips then, and Aziraphale forgot to keep scolding him. 

“S’what I’m good at after all” he whispered, his breath hot in Aziraphale’s ear, “flustering you”. 

He then watched the demon's eyes go wide as he grasped Crowley's thighs and flipped them over on the couch. The angel was now resting on top, his legs splitting Crowley's apart. Aziraphale began running his nose along Crowley’s neck, his voice a bit deeper than usual. “You know my dear, I think you underestimate just how adept I am at flustering you as well.” He then pressed a number of light kisses along Crowley’s long neck, and was quite pleased when he heard a low growl. He had never felt quite like this. There was an unleashing of desire at seeing Crowley laid out so desperate for him. He nuzzled lovingly against Crowley's mouth, his eyes half lidded, as he asked “Where is your bed?” Crowley swallowed, noticeably. His voice was rough. “Down the hall to the left.” 

“Show me.” 

Crowley pushed Aziraphale off of him enough to stand and hastily lead him down the hall, their sock-covered feet sliding smoothly over the hardwood floor. He had reached out and grabbed the Angel's hand without another word. And Aziraphale’s heart was in his throat as they entered the bedroom. Crowley pushed him back to lean against the doorframe and kissed him achingly and intentionally. The angel barely noticed the undoing of his bowtie as it dropped to the floor. They broke apart and Aziraphale sucked in a shuddering breath,

 “Crowley…” he exhaled as he lifted the silver tie over the demon’s head. The black leather vest came undone next and he captured the demon's lips in his again as Crowley set to work on his velvet waistcoat. With hungry confidence, Aziraphale pushed against Crowley until he was stepping backward toward the king size bed. The demon was finally sliding off the waistcoat and working his way down the buttons of the undershirt when he muttered with frustration,

“Too many layers....” and proceeded to rip the rest of the shirt off, the buttons clattering against the wood floor. Aziraphale, shockingly, did not object. He pulled the white undershirt off over his head and climbed on top of Crowley as they settled onto the black duvet, soft and inviting against their bodies. He ran a hand down the demon's side and Crowley hissed with pleasure as the angel ducked down and pushed the black t-shirt up to run his mouth along the demon’s stomach. The shirt was pulled off and got lost somewhere on the bed in the process. 

“Aziraphale...” Crowley breathed, and a vulnerability slipped out of him. He said the angel's name like it was a prayer. He brought his mouth back up to Crowley’s lips and felt the demon wrap his arms around him. When their lips met again it was a moment of devotion and reverence. He savored Crowley's mouth, trying to give him the worship and love he deserved. Please always say my name that way. Please always want me as you do now. He begged silently and he hoped Crowley could feel how much he adored him. The demon kissed back with as much affection, rolling them so he was now laying on the broad chest of the angel. He sunk his head down and began kissing his neck and down his chest. Aziraphale moaned and grabbed at the red disheveled hair of the demon, bucking his body upwards to bring himself closer to Crowley’s pleasuring mouth as he moved downward. 

“So naughty…” Crowley teased and Aziraphale let out a small huff of annoyance. But Crowley kissed his body tenderly, nipping and smoothing over the bites with his tongue. And slowly moved downward. Until Aziraphale sucked in a breath at the sensation of Crowley’s mouth on his cock, only a thin layer of fabric in between. He needed that fabric to be gone. Thankfully, Crowley was one step ahead and pulled the boxer briefs down the Angels thick thighs. 

The feeling was overwhelming, incredibly good but almost too much. His vision went blurry and all he could think was how he needed more. Every movement of Crowley's hot, wet mouth pushed the Angel further into utter oblivion. It was no surprise that humans found this so enjoyable, and he couldn’t believe he hadn’t done it until now. He gasped as Crowley's tongue flicked out to pleasure him and lost all sense of anything but the demon's touch on his skin. 

If this was sinful, Aziraphale made a mental note to sin often in the future. 

_

It was some time later when they collapsed, the tension in their bodies melting away with the release. Aziraphale laid next to Crowley, his breathing a little ragged as he caught up. He rolled over and smiled into the crook of the demon's neck and Crowley smiled too as they both broke into a shared laughter. There was no denying what was between them. There was no going back now. And somehow, after everything, they found that it was incredibly funny. Crowley sighed pleasantly. He rubbed his hand on his forehead, pushing his sweaty red locks away from his face, 

“Well, now that that coming is over with, do you want to tell me more about this Second Coming then?” Aziraphale gaped with dramatic disgust, and nearly shoved Crowley off the bed. Crowley sat up laughing, “I'm going to grab the rest of that wine.” 

Aziraphale pulled him back down to sit on the bed, sitting up himself to wrap his arms around him from behind and plant a kiss on his cheek. He savored the feeling of intimacy as his bare chest warmed against the demon's back. 

Crowley laughed warmly, “I’ll be right back.” 

He got up and pulled on a black silk robe he had hanging on his door, and reached into his closet to toss an oversized Velvet Underground t-shirt to the Angel. 

Aziraphale tucked up his nose at the shirt, “Don’t you have anything a little more stylish?” Crowley rolled his eyes, “It's just us, you’ll survive. I’ll go grab you some new clothes tomorrow.” 

Azirphale watched him slip the robe on, wanting very much to rip it off later. Partly to wear it instead of the t-shirt, if he was being totally honest. He could miracle something, he supposed, but he’d already risked enough doing the small one earlier. And Crowley wasn't doing miracles either, he noticed. He thought back to the handwritten slip of paper. 

But he couldn't deny that he enjoyed the pleasing silk covered view that sauntered down the hallway and out of sight. 

–

It turns out he had lost a little weight and the shirt did fit. Albeit a little tighter in the arms and shoulders than it would on Crowley but it would do. 

When Crowley returned, Aziraphale was wearing the offending t-shirt with his boxer briefs back on, blonde hair disheveled and flipping through the records Crowley had on a small shelf in the corner of his room. He noticed Crowley staring at him, a look of arousal in his eyes and he suddenly felt very self conscious. He was sure he looked like an absolute mess, but apparently the new look was appealing to the demon. 

Aziraphale walked over to meet him and accepted the glass of wine he had neglected to drink earlier gratefully. He felt so content it was almost dizzying and he heard himself say without thinking,  

“I hope you know that I am very much in love with you.” And he couldn't very well take it back, and realized he actually didn't even want to. He leaned in for a kiss before sitting on the edge of the bed. He felt the weight of it shift as the demon joined him. 

“I caught on, I think,” Crowley teased. “Seeing as you left your very important heavenly post to pop down here and seduce me.” Aziraphale’s blush deepened and he caught Crowley smiling devilishly, clearly enjoying it. 

“T-that wasn't the plan! Initially.” Aziraphale fussed absentmindedly with the bottom hem of the shirt, “Oh I don't know, perhaps it was. I just couldn't stand being there anymore. They are all so dreadfully dull and awful. I needed to see you. I couldn't leave it as it was and- oh dear,” Aziraphale remembered, “Do you think they’ve realized I'm gone?” 

“Probably.” Crowley shrugged, stilling the angels' fussing hand with his own. Aziraphale was grateful for the secure touch. “But they have no idea where you are.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“I warded this place after I moved in, against angels and demons. No one enters here without my permission and no one can see it or who’s inside. We can hide here until we sort this out.” 

“Impressive,” Aziraphale sipped his wine, “How did you come up with such a thing?” “Muriel has been reading a lot of your books, the ones in the back. Spell books. And, I had my own ideas. I wasn't sure it would work but I tested it on Muriel, they couldn't come in until I let them. I don't know for sure about the second part of it. So we will see what happens, I suppose.”   

“Fascinating.” Aziraphale smiled fondly. “You really are such a clever demon. I’ve always thought so.” Crowley blushed, and it did not go unnoticed. Aziraphale let Crowley pull his face in and give him a long, affectionate kiss. His mouth was warm and supple from earlier, a hint of wine on his tongue. 

“I'm in love with you too, Angel.” Crowley stated, like it was as obvious as the stars in the sky. “And I thought, maybe, you would come back so I- I, you know, came up with a plan. Just in case.” 

Aziraphale beamed at the confession. He wasn’t sure if he ever would say it out loud and honestly didn’t need to hear it. But, actually hearing it was like finally releasing a breath he’d been holding for years. But that initial meeting in the park, if he’d wanted him to come back then why-

“You didn’t seem to want me back at first.” It was more a question, and he looked at Crowley to see how it landed. Crowley was staring straight ahead at nothing. Lost in memory.

“I did,” he said finally. “But missing you and actually seeing you again were very- it was hard to know for sure why you came back.” 

“Ah,” Aizraphale felt a small twinge of guilt, “Well, I hope it’s clear now.” 

Crowley chuckled, “Just a bit, yeah.” And for the first time, Aziraphale felt truly forgiven. 

They talked through the night, among other things that distracted from the conversation. By morning light, they had the beginnings of a plan to save humanity and each other. Again. 

_ It had been a few hours after Aziraphale had left the bookshop. Muriel was busy cataloging books when Michael stormed through the doors seething, Uriel following behind. “Where is he?” 

Muriel smiled, “Oh hello! Where is who?” 

“Aziraphale.” Michael snapped, “who else would I come here asking about?” 

Muriel winced, “I don't know actually. He was here for a moment but then he left. He didn't say where he was going.” 

Michael let out an aggravated groan. They had been tasked by a very irritated Voice of God to locate the second missing Supreme Archangel and bring him back immediately. 

The only problem was, there was no trace of him anywhere. Or the demon Crowley. 

Ugh. 

Michael was going to get so much shit for this. 

_

Author Notes: Thanks for reading! Let me know if you'd like me to continue this story. :)

[minki-moo]

♡‧₊˚ 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙥𝙩. 1 ♡‧₊˚

pairing ♡ mingi x f!reader rating ♡ m for mature tags ♡ office au, boyfriend!mingi, long distance, petnames (mingi calls reader baby), suggestive w/c ♡ 800 pt. 2

a/n ♡ so i originally posted this on ao3 and since it did pretty good on there i decided to post it here too. pt.2 is already done so i'll be posting it right after this one. pt. 3 is also in the works so i hope you enjoy!!!

you look at the clock. 9 pm. you hold back a sigh. it's been a week since your boyfriend left for his trip, and you can't say you're not disappointed. you had just gotten together after months of the both of you being absolutely clueless about each other's feelings. when everything seemed to be going smoothly, his work pushed a 2 week business trip onto him. and if it couldn't get any worse, with his trip and your workload suddenly increasing, you barely had any time to call each other, and when you did, the call wouldn't last anymore than 5 minutes.

you plop into your bed, exhausted from work. as you scroll aimlessly through your emails, you get a text:

minki <3: good evening shnookums 

you smile as you read his text, silently cursing him for being so adorable

you: good evening princess

minki <3: how was my wittle cutie patootie 

you: better now that i can talk to you <3

minki <3: awww ur making me blush

minki <3: …i miss you

as you reread the last text over and over again, different feelings start flooding your mind: lovesickness, longing, sadness, and…lust.

yes, you haven't been dating for that long, and your busy schedules made it difficult to meet up. mingi, being the gentleman that he is, always made the most out of your dates; taking you out to different restaurants you've always wanted to try, and planning other fun things that made you fall for him every single time.

although those sentiments were very touching and thoughtful, you have to admit that you were ready for more. you were ready for more than little pecks on the cheek, you were ready for more than tentative cuddles while watching tv. 

the problem is, you don't know how to bring it up to him. mingi always seemed so happy whenever you had time for each other that you convinced yourself that where you guys are right now is enough. 

a loud ring shakes you out of your thoughts. you look at your phone, a bright "minki <3" pops up on the screen. clearing your throat, you answer the phone and put it on speaker, letting it rest on the pillow beside you.

"hellooooooo beautiful~", mingi's soft yet melodic voice makes your heart skip a beat.

"you were taking a while to answer, so i thought i'd call you. are you doing ok?"

you take a few deep breaths, hoping he didn't notice how your breathing had become uneven.

"no no i'm ok, just a bit tired", you reply.

you could practically hear the pout on his lips when he replied.

"awww you shouldn't be working too hard. how am i supposed to talk to you if you're tired?".

you chuckled as he continued to curse at your workplace for making you work so hard.

after a brief silence, you hear mingi take a deep breath, and proceed to say something that made your efforts to stay calm go to waste.

"i wish i was with you right now."

calming yourself down, you manage to reply, "i wish so too, mingi."

"oh really? it doesn't sound like it". his voice practically oozed with sarcasm.

rolling your eyes, you say, "of course i want to be with my boyfriend".

"well i don't believe you~", mingi says in a cute little sing-song voice.

"then what do i have to do to prove it to you?".

"kiss me".

huh???, you think in awe. "mingi, darling, you're miles away, how am i supposed to kiss you?"

"kiss me through the phone~", he replies, as he continues singing the rest of the song in an out of tune voice that makes you giggle.

"ok ok fine", you say after you stop giggling.

you pucker up your lips and give your phone a big smooch. a small laugh from your phone makes you smile.

"thank you, love. i really needed that".

you and mingi talk a little more before he dozes off, still on call. you let the call continue, not having the heart to cut it off. picking up your laptop, you start working on an email while listening to mingi's deep breathing and incoherent mumbles.

"mmh, baby".

you freeze, slowly turning your head towards the phone, not believing what you are hearing.

you hadn't noticed before, but small moans had accompanied mingi's breathing. your face starts to heat up as you struggle to keep your heart rate down. what was he dreaming about that made him say stuff like that in his sleep?

"fuuuuck yeah, right there".

this was the last straw. you quickly grab your phone and end the call, still in shock at what you had just heard, and ashamed at yourself for letting it affect you the way it did. 

after calming yourself down, you close your laptop and head to bed, your mind reeling over the phone call you just had.

[softie-rain]

Like or Like Like

Pairing: Coriolanus Snow/Sejanus Plinth

Tags: possibly ooc - takes place two years before canon - coryo is weirdly nice - idk guys this is so lovesick and fluffy I'm not used to it

Summary: Having a crush on the handsome boy you share classes with has got to be the most embarrassing thing to happen to someone. Like, seriously: how do you hide it without failing? Or, Sejanus Plinth is caught staring at Coriolanus Snow during class.

Notes: inspired by the headcanon @incorrect-pipravi sent, which you can find here. Was supposed to be a small drabble and instead ended up 2k words (which is shorter than what I usually write anyway.)

Also damn I haven't posted my writing on tumblr since FOREVER it's been ages fr. So this is your reminder that other than bitching about coryo and sej I also write

you can read it on ao3 here

Sejanus kept staring at his reflection in the mirror, fixing his hair. He wasn’t one to usually care about his looks, as long as he looked decent enough to go out in public. But lately he felt like had to be at his best, even going as far as thinking of wearing his favorite sweatshirt (the blue one Coriolanus gave him for his fourteen birthday, he had been the only one to show up at the party he had organized), but the weather was definitely too hot for that one. Besides, the uniform was mandatory at the Academy.

“Sejanus, why are you still here? You have to hurry if you don’t want to be late!” His mother entered the room, looking at him with worry. Sejanus turned with an apologetic look.

“Don’t worry ma’. I’ll be fine.” He said. Mrs. Plinth nodded and walked over to him, patting him on his back.

“You look perfect, darling. I’m sure this secret girl you seem to like so much will adore you!”

“Ma’!” Sejanus heavily blushed, gently pushing his mother away in embarrassment. The old woman chuckled, smiling at her son.

“There’s no need to be ashamed of it. Everyone has their first crush at some point.” She said, trying to reassure her son. Sejanus wanted to laugh. Of course his mother didn’t know. There was no way she could have found out on her own, and he never said anything. She was convinced Sejanus was in love with a girl from the Academy, and he surely wasn’t going to be the one to break the news to her that said girl was actually Coriolanus Snow.

He wasn’t sure his ma’ would have minded actually. She thought Coriolanus was a good boy, and even his father appreciated him. Yet Sejanus had never told them the truth, and he wasn’t going to. Whether out of shame, or fear, it didn’t matter.

Sejanus shook his head, ignoring his mother’s comment. “I better get going now or, as you said, I’m going to be late. See you later ma’.” He said, waving at her as he walked out of the apartment.

After the short drive to the Academy he ran up the stairs rushing to get to class, even if there was no need to. They had assigned seats, he knew he'd end up sitting next to Coriolanus either way. But he also wanted to chat before class started, and Coryo always seemed to arrive awfully early, for some unknown reason.

When he finally got in the room he smiled upon noticing the curly haired boy with his head down in the textbook, probably revising for the lecture of the day. Coriolanus was a perfectionist like that, always studying, making sure everything he did was excellent, especially when it came to the Academy and his studies. Sejanus was pretty sure he had never failed one single class.

Clemensia Dovecote hadn't either, but she didn't put in half the effort Coriolanus did. Coriolanus Snow always worked much more than what was required, sometimes Sejanus wondered if it was because he wanted to be better than everyone else. Or maybe he just craved academic validation.

Either way, Sejanus thought it was extremely attractive. When he was always so carefully focused in class, and Sejanus so carefully focused on him. The way he'd bite his lip when he tried to get a particularly difficult subject, his small frown when he didn't understand something. A barely perceptible one, that he tried to hide to not show that he was confused but that Sejanus could see anyway. If he paid as much attention to the lesson as he did to Coriolanus he'd probably ace every class he took.

But Coriolanus was much more interesting than whatever Mrs. Click could ever blather about, right?

“Morning Coryo.” He greeted him, sitting next to him.

“Morning.” Coriolanus replied, without looking up from his book.

Sejanus bit his lip, trying to think of something to say to keep the conversation going. “What are you reading?”

“History of Panem.”

“You don't need to revise, I'm sure you'll do great as always.” Sejanus told him, smiling, thinking he'd complimented him. But Coriolanus sighed.

“That doesn't mean I'll stop studying for the exam.” He replied coldly, probably annoyed Sejanus interrupted him. So he nodded and left him to read, at least until Professor Demigloss arrived and started his lesson.

Sejanus tried to pay attention, he really did, but his eyes were drawn in as if by magnets to Coriolanus’ beautiful blonde curls that so gracefully fell on his face. Sejanus observed as he moved them away, his blue eyes focused on the board in front of him. He also noticed as Coriolanus started chewing on his pen while listening to Demigloss’ - rather boring - explanation.

Sejanus found himself wondering what it would have been like to kiss him, to have those lips on his. Would he have bit down on Sejanus’ lips the same way he was biting down the pen? Would he have been rough, or sweet and soft?

He always assumed Coriolanus was a rough lover, but he couldn't know for sure, maybe he would-

“Mr. Plinth, I believe the board is here and not where Mr. Snow is sitting.”

The professor's voice made him snap out of his lovefool trance, and Sejanus’ head immediately turned to face Professor Demigloss, who looked rather annoyed. He felt his cheeks grow warm, and he knew he was probably the same color as his Ma’ tomatoes when they were mature. He muttered an apology and looked down at his notes-less book, too embarrassed to meet anyone's eyes.

He could hear his classmates snicker, and he knew they wouldn't easily make him forget this. But, gosh, the worst were Coriolanus’ eyes on him.

Sejanus could basically feel his gaze, burning like his stare alone was setting him on fire, and he wanted nothing more than to get up and leave the room.

The rest of the class went on painfully slowly, Sejanus could have sworn it lasted hours. As soon as Demigloss dismissed them he instantly got up, packed his bag and left, ignoring Festus calling for him and rushing out before anyone else could make fun of him. Especially Coriolanus.

Truthfully he didn't think Coriolanus would. He never joined in with the others - especially Festus and Arachne - when they talked about him behind his back or made fun of him, ever since they were kids, so he didn't see why he'd start now. Either way, Sejanus couldn't stand the confrontation to test his assumption.

He tried to ignore Coriolanus the best he could the rest of the day, and he thought he managed. But then Coryo stopped him at the Academy entrance, right when he was about to leave once all of his classes were over.

“Sejanus? Can we talk?”

Sejanus shrugged, trying to play it dumb. Maybe if he pretended nothing happened Coriolanus would forget about it. “S-sure. About what?” He said, praying his voice didn't sound as high pitched to Coriolanus as it did to him.

“Uh, the history project we have to do? I thought maybe we could work on it together.”

Sejanus sighed in relief, covering it with a cough. He cleared his throat before raising his eyebrow. “History project?”

Coriolanus nodded. “Yes. Professor Demigloss talked about it today in class. Or were you too busy staring at me to pay attention to him?” He asked, grinning.

Sejanus started blushing, his eyes widening as his mind tried to come up with some excuse or at least a way to get out of that situation. His palms were getting sweaty and he could feel the panic rising up in his chest. “Oh, uhm, no. Obviously, I was listening. I was-”

“Sej relax. I'm just teasing.” Coriolanus interrupted him, his grin only growing wider. “So? What do you say about the project?”

Sejanus thought it was weird how Coriolanus didn't seem to mind it, but definitely didn't complain. If his friend was cool about it, then he was going to be as well. He nodded, avoiding eye contact. “Of course.”

“Great. It's due tomorrow so the sooner we start working on it the better.” Sejanus gave him a short smile, agreeing with him.

“I'd suggest going over at my place, but the cleaners are around today. They’re usually very invasive, I don’t want them scooping around while we study.” He explained, sounding annoyed. Sejanus nodded, understanding his problem. He had the same struggles with his own cleaners, though usually they left him alone when he asked.

“It’s okay, I get that. Maybe we could study at my place then?” He suggested, trying not to blush again at the thought of him and Coriolanus alone in his bedroom. Coriolanus didn’t seem to notice his struggles at keeping his cool and nodded, mumbling a ‘sure’ before following Sejanus outside where his driver was waiting for him.

Sejanus spent the drive to his house in silence, hoping his mother had gone through with her plan for the day and was out shopping. He wanted to avoid any awkward meeting between her and Coryo. But of course, when they got into his apartment, there she stood in the kitchen waiting for her beloved son. “Sejanus? Is that you?” She asked, walking over to them. Her eyes slightly widened in surprise when she noticed Coriolanus with him. “Oh! I didn’t know you were going to have friends over. Hi, Coriolanus.”

Coriolanus smiled at the woman. “Hello Mrs. Plinth. Sorry for intruding.” He said, giving Sejanus’ mother an apologetic look.

“Oh nonsense. I was about to leave anyway, I need to buy some new clothes for little Sej here.” She said smiling. Sejanus felt as if his skin was on fire at his ma’ words, and he could see in the corner of his eyes Coriolanus trying not to laugh.

“Okay well me and Coryo will be studying in my bedroom, see you later ma’.” He said quickly, wanting to get out of that situation as soon as possible. Once they got to his room they immediately started working on the project, neither of them wanting to waste any more time. Coriolanus shared his notes with Sejanus since he had taken none during class, too busy staring at Coryo.

The evening went on uneventfully, they spent most of it on the books with one snack break where Sejanus offered Coriolanus the cookies he had baked the day before, which the blonde boy seemed to most definitely appreciate considering the eager way he was eating them.

Sejanus was sitting on his bed while Coriolanus was at his desk, leaning on the chair. They were almost done with the school work when Coriolanus spoke. “Why were you staring at me?” Sejanus blushed and dropped his pen on the floor, immediately picking it up as if the falling object could have been a new source of embarrassment for him. “Earlier, in class.” He added, as if he needed a reminder of what Coriolanus was talking about.

“Uhm…” Sejanus didn't know what to say. He avoided the subject all day. He knew it was impossible for Coryo to forget about it so quickly but he wasn't expecting him to bring it up now either. Especially since he had sounded fine with the situation that morning.

Coriolanus must have noticed Sejanus was rather uncomfortable, because he immediately specified, “I'm not making fun of you for it. I'm just curious. Did I have something on my face?”

He was smiling, but Sejanus wasn’t sure it was meant to be a joke. More of a light comment to put him at ease. Though he didn't work he appreciated the effort, so much he thought Coriolanus deserved the truth, or at least half of it. Sejanus had never been good at lying anyway.

“No, nothing like that. Honestly? I was looking at your hair. And your eyes.” He confessed, avoiding the other's gaze.

Coriolanus frowned. “My eyes?”

“Yeah. They're very… blue. And pretty. It's like staring at the ocean, or the clear sky. Sorry, I know it's dumb. Just got caught up in my thoughts I guess.” Sejanus mumbled, drawing doodles on his hands as he tried to fight the urge to ramble out dumb excuses that would have led Coriolanus to realize he had a crush on him.

He had just admitted he thought his eyes were pretty, could it get worse than that?

Fortunately he didn't have to find out because Coriolanus simply nodded and dropped the subject. Sejanus didn't say anything either, but when he raised his eyes again and saw Coriolanus bouncing his leg nervously under the desk he could have sworn he saw his cheeks growing red, though he was clearly trying to hide it.

Sejanus smiled and looked down, going back to check his notes, when Coriolanus spoke again. “I like your eyes too.” He said, catching Sejanus by surprise.

“They're this dark brown color that gets lighter if you observe them under the sunlight. They look like milk chocolate chips.” Coriolanus commented, never once switching his position or raising his head to look at Sejanus as she talked. “I love chocolate.” He said, and it was clearly the end of their conversation on the matter.

He loves chocolate. He loves my eyes.

The thought kept playing loud in Sejanus’ head as he tried hard to stop his blushing, failing miserably. Maybe that day hadn't been so terrible after all.

[demonichikikomori]

Moan with Me!

Ruggie Bucchi x Fem!Reader

Word Count (Ao3): 5k+

Word Count Tumblr: 2.3k

I'm unsure how to tag this post since a lot of my smut writing belongs on AO3!! I'm pretty shy about sharing this on Tumblr so be gentle,,,, I might post mostly non-smut works here unless I get specific requests to do so. I don't plan to be a smut account, just a writing and occasional art post one. ↜(╰ •ω•)╯ψ

You attempted to steel your shaking hands by tightly lacing your fingers together. Your eyes would dart in the direction of the bedroom door, listening to the quiet sounds of the shower running before you would distract yourself with how interesting the sheets beneath you looked. The anxiety washed over your body in heavy waves as you awaited your classmate’s return. You perked up at the sound of the shower water coming to a halt and pressed your thighs tightly together. Your heart rate picked up once more, listening to his footsteps creeping softly and carefully back to your bedroom. Cautiously and carefully missing the squeakiest and creakiest of Ramshackle Dorms floorboards. He pushed the door open with a soft hum, and you slapped your hands over your eyes with a yelp. He was nude, only the glistening shine of the water and the freckles speckling his bare skin was all he wore. Ruggie let out a soft laugh in response to your reaction.  “Ehhh? Embarrassed? Don’t be.” He purred and slowly pushed the door shut with a soft click. 

You smelled something sweet as Ruggie began moving around, you let out a soft whine as a pooling heat developed in your stomach. “Prepare yourself as much as you like! I’m gonna finish getting ready, I brought everything we might need for tonight.” He hummed and rustled through his bag once again. You peeled your hands away from your eyes with a soft gasp. Whatever Ruggie used in the shower was sending your senses into overload. You did your best to keep your eyes away from the hyena gathering his materials, but with the smell it became increasingly difficult. You noticed the freckles dusting his shoulders and along his thighs, parts of his chest as well. You noticed the small trail of sandy blond hair, trailing down from his belly button to his hardening member. You began chewing on your lower lip in admiration at the way his gaze would dart around to the things he pulled from his brown duffle bag and the things he put back with diligence… The way his hands moved fast, yet efficiently… Even when his gaze met yours and he offered a playful wink as he continued his decisions, awaiting your approval with steeled patience. “Um… What do we need?” You asked quietly. Your anxiety was starting to melt away and you instead felt vulnerable, almost like a mouse caught in a trap. But you didn’t mind being trapped… Not as much as you thought you should.

“Oh, just the basics. Lube, condoms, maybe a few toys here. Oh, I even brought,” He picked up a small circular  container and held it up to show you. It was small and made of glass with a white plastic lid, the contents inside were a cream in the shade of opalescent blue. Unfortunately, there was no label to identify the nature of the substance inside. “This! It’s supposed to make you horny… I think? I got it for cheap so it could be a hit or miss.” He shrugged as he tossed it back into the bag as he pulled out… A nail file? “Oh, that sounds fun.” You chimed in as you felt your oversized shirt become uncomfortable. Could it be the smell affecting you? It must be.

The cheap cotton fabric felt scratchy against your budding nipples. It was growing unbearable with each second that passed as the heat in your stomach finally began twisting into your womb. It was as if your newfound urges were gnawing at you to satisfy them, no matter the price you pay later. And satisfy them you shall. “Um… Ruggie?” You called out, surprised by your own breathlessness as your cheeks became hot and your brain was fogged. The hyena perked up to give you his blue eyed attention as he seemed to be filing his nails shorter than they already were. “Should I get undressed?” You asked nervously. You knew his answer, but part of you desired to hear his approval. Ruggie’s ear twitched as he let out his usual snicker. “Oh? Feeling more confident? Good! Here, I’ll help you get undressed.” He smiled and moved to stand, tucking the nail file back into his bag. Your eyes grew wide as you stared Ruggie in the eyes, too afraid to look lower than his belly button. You already licked him from head to toe earlier using your eyes, now it feels plain rude.

“Don’t look so freaked out, you’re like a bird with a broken wing.” He teased as his weight shifted the old mattress you slept on. Your now sticky thighs parted as he hovered over you and his hand slipped under your shirt. Nimble fingers were gliding up your stomach and to the mounds of your breasts as you let out a soft moan. He already had you melting into the sheets below with only his touch. “Ooh, just the shirt? I’m a little sad this is all we’re taking off tonight.” He teased. “But, there’s always a next time.” He whispered as a hand rolled over your breast, giving it a gentle squeeze. Next time? You could feel your brain starting to spin fantasies of sneaking off with the hyena for a steamy make out instead of attending class. Maybe he’ll touch your butt too, like in those dirty videos you watch. You let out a loud whine feeling Ruggie pinch your nipple. He quickly slipped a hand over your mouth with a smirk. “Felt that good huh? Well remember, it ain’t just us here. And I’m not sure how heavy a sleeper Grim is.” The hyena reminded with a hushed tone and leaned in, starting to cage you against the mattress as he nestled his body between your legs. You turned your head away from him the moment he pulled his hand away, feeling embarrassed as your shirt was slowly pushed up to the crook of your neck. “Come on, clothes are coming off.” Ruggie reminded as your face was now filled with a burning sensation.  

Your breasts were exposed to the chilling air as droplets of water dripped down Ruggie’s body and onto yours. Your heartbeat was erratic at this point as you took in another soft gasp of air. Your eyes fluttered shut once more as Ruggie leaned in, his nose was brushing against your jawline as you pressed your body up against his. You felt as if you had given up all control to Ruggie as your hips rolled up against his figure. Did he use Laugh with Me when you weren’t paying attention? Doesn’t matter… You needed friction. You needed relief. You needed his touch on all parts of your body. The sandy blond whispered for you to lift your arms and you obeyed. You watched in silence as your shirt was pulled over your head and haphazardly discarded to the floor, leaving you completely bare. He began pressing soft kisses against your throat but that quickly became nipping at the delicate skin. Reddish welts you prayed wouldn’t bruise in the morning as you felt the sandy blond rest his weight on your heated body. More. You need more. More of Ruggie Bucchi. With each bite came a songful chorus of moans and whines pulled from your throat. 

His hands were once again gliding over your torso, gently rubbing over your sides, gliding his nails over your sides carefully as he distracted you with his mouth. You whispered his name as your hands reached up to sheepishly feel over his ears. Your fingers gripped at the soft fur protecting them, and you couldn’t help but pinch as Ruggie ran his teeth over your jugular.  and you felt something hard suddenly press against your inner thigh. “Oh.” You whispered and looked to meet the sandy blond hyena’s now pouting expression. “Hey.” Ruggie growled and you responded by offering an apologetic smile. He shifted as he rested his weight on top of you, his chin on your chest as his large bluish gray eyes were now trained on your face. “Don’t grab so rough on poor lil’ ol’ Ruggie.” He grumbled as you pulled your hands away from his ears. “Sorry…” You murmured as a smile curled onto the hyena’s face. “Mmmm? Sorry? I guess I can accept your apology.” He assured as he turned his head to rest on the mounds of your breasts. “Here,” He scooped up one of your hands and guided it towards his head. You could hear your heart pounding in your ears from the delicate action as he curled his fingers around yours. “Touch ‘em like this.” He instructed and pinched gently at your fingers to pet his ears, rubbing them carefully between your fingers as he began to… Purr? 

You weren’t sure why it caused your heart to swell the way it did. You could see him relax against you as you continued fiddling with his ears. You thumbed at the plush fur inside feeling him let out a sigh of content into your chest. “Yeah… Like that.” He whispered as his hips slowly began to roll against one of your thighs. You couldn’t help but jerk your leg in surprise, yelping as Ruggie’s hand suddenly gripped your leg. “Hey, let’s keep movin’ or else I might start to like you.” He let out a snicker and kissed the valley between your breasts. You felt your heart skip a beat at the declaration as his tongue rolled along your skin. He pressed feathery kisses lower and lower, stopping above your belly button. Those large eyes held mischief as his hand lightly smacked your thigh. “What do you think about when you touch yourself?” He asked suddenly. If you weren’t so turned on, you would’ve grabbed a pillow to smack him in the face with. “Um… Nothing much…” You answered softly as there was a kiss over the crater of your belly button. “Nothing much? What's that supposed to mean?” He grumbled with a frown. You were starting to reflect on the past thoughts you’ve had when going in for a relaxing afternoon alone. But you weren’t really brave enough to share with Ruggie. “Anything specific you think about?” He kissed lower. “Anyone?” Lower. “Tell me.” Lower.

You swallowed and reached to gently pet his ears once again. “Um… I’ve thought… About, um…” You trailed off, anxious to share your honest answer. Ruggie rolled his eyes playfully and offered a smirk. “I won’t be mad at your honesty, seriously. I asked in the first place.” He purred and nuzzled his cheek against your stomach as he looked up at you with those big round eyes of his. You started to relax, but still flinched as you squeezed your eyes shut and choked out your answer: “L-Leona…” 

“Leona?” 

Ruggie seemed to sit up on his arms with a surprised expression with a sharp tone. You suddenly felt guilty about the response as you nervously opened your eyes to look at him. “Well… You asked.” You admitted with a sheepish grin. His expression seemed to deepen into a scowl and he slipped his hands under the backs of your knees. You squeaked as he pushed your legs until your thighs were flush against the bed. You could feel your breath hitch at the feeling of Ruggie’s eyes burning into you. He was practically devouring your cunt with his gaze as you laid helpless and exposed to him. “Bet Leona would never do this for you.” He growled as he lowered his head, sliding the wet muscle of his tongue agonizingly slow over your now drooling pussy. Your toes instinctively flexed and curled as a choked sound escaped your throat. You hadn’t ever thought you’d feel something that intense before, your fingers never felt that good. And for a split second, you considered believing Ruggie. 

Was he jealous because you told him you fantasized about Leona? It sure as hell felt like it, but there’s no reason to complain.

Your thighs trembled under his grasp as his tongue began to skillfully glide over your folds, lapping you clean of your own natural honey as he would move his head every so often to purse his lips around your throbbing clit. The sounds you made from him doing it were only a form of praise to the beastman. You could feel your heart starting to beat out of control as sweat began to build up and bead at your forehead from the heat in your face alone. Your hands felt weak as you moved them to rub thankfully at his ears, letting out crying sighs and sobbing moans. The hyena dug his nails into your skin and pushed his tongue inside, causing your back to arch off of the mattress and your hips bucked into Ruggie’s face. You gargled out something akin to a ‘wait’ but it fell deaf on furry ears as you yanked your hands away to keep from pinching him again. He growled against you, the vibration was so intense you swore you felt your eyes roll into the back of your skull. Your hands reached up to tightly grip the pillow beneath you as you squeezed your eyes shut. “Leona’s lazy ass could never do what I can for you.” He snarled under his breath as he continued to eat you out, mouthing hungrily at your clit as you felt your walls begin to constrict. Sadly around nothing.

Yet.

You could feel a coil deep in your gut beginning to tighten the more Ruggie flicked his tongue over your clit. His rhythm was steady and you were unsure of how to alert him of the upcoming orgasm you were having. You began to jerk your hips with whiny moans once, twice, three times, only to have Ruggie break away from you. You let out a whine of disapproval and reopened your now crying eyes. His tanned cheeks were burning red as the moon exposed the shine around his lips and chin. He appeared breathless as his hair was much wilder. His bangs were flipped up as he stared down at you with a slight frown. He pulled his hands away from your thighs as his expression melted into that of a sly smile.

More... You definitely need more!

And that's all I plan to post here!! The chapter ended up being HELLA long and you can find the full thing on Ao3!!

[babyarmybabbles]

Run ARMY! (1st Game Part) a1 d2

[Caution: These are not full fics, or even full parts of fics for some, these are part of my writing progress archive!]

Concept: Reader won the opportunity to film a spin off of Run BTS! celebrating the boys return from enlistment, called Run ARMY!, over the course of seven days.

Word Count: 954

Notes: This chapter in particular is actually inspired by a SKZ fic on Ao3 but I'm so tired I am not going to go look for it rn. I will probably add it to the inspo list for this chapter when I make an Addition post. Thinking about games and activities for them to do is literally so difficult. Props to the production crew for Run, I could never. Writing large groups is also vv difficult T^T I'm actually pretty content with the writing itself for this chapter. Could use some clarity edits, but everything always can.

Took Inspirations from Run ARMY! series on Tik Tok by _yamanika_ and Guess The Bias! by HelloMyAlien7 on Ao3

Warnings: I don't think there's any?

Masterlist Link <3 | Prev Part Link c: | Next Part Link [Not written D:]

"Before we begin, I would like to apologize to my fellow ARMY" you tell the camera seriously as soon as the PD finishes explaining the rules to you.

You and the boys had been called into the living room of your accommodations after breakfast for the first real game of your trip. It seemed they were mostly theming the games as ones they've done before with the added twist of you. Today’s game? The iconic five sense test.

The group cracks up laughing at your preemptive apology, but you maintain your eye-contact with the camera. "I will be as respectful as physically possible." You promise the dark lens, "Please understand."

You had good reason to preemptively apologize, you thought. ARMY would go feral as soon as this episode aired, you were positive. It wasn't every day one was not only allowed, but encouraged to touch the members of BTS.

That's right, they had rearranged the five sense rest in such a way that it was you against BTS, and the consequence was that you now had to caress each member as little as you could manage and still win the game.

The rules were pretty simple - you'd be blindfolded and the members would take turns approaching you to let you try to identify them by touch. You'd have 50 seconds to guess. If you got a member correct, you'd get a point. If you got it wrong, the boys would get a point.

You think 1 vs 7 is a little unfair, but you suppose that you did represent the millions of ARMYs at home right now. Your team was larger in spirit.

When the members got over their amusement at your impending doom, you took a moment between takes, as the 8 of you settled into position on and around an armchair, to check in that everyone was comfortable. You know you'd filled out an entire questionnaire about what you did and didn't consent to, but that didn't mean you knew that information about the group.

"So, I know I'm OK with this game, but are y'all good?" You question lightly. You're dead serious on the inside, but a little levity went a long way for these sorts of conversations.

It's Jungkook who raises his eyebrow at you. "Yeah, of course." He replies simply, tilting his head at you a bit, as if confused why you'd even ask.

You can't help the half smile that crawls over your face as you explain, "It may be a cultural thing, but I just wanted to make sure you were OK with me touching y'all like that." You pause here, still seeing confusion over most faces, RM and Jin being the only ones to be connecting dots, "Y'know, since we don't really know each other?"

A chorus of enlightenment echoes around the semi-circle of men surrounding you. V in particular seems a bit taken aback, almost like he'd forgotten that you weren't close. Which was silly, because you'd literally met them for the first time yesterday.

j-hope meets your eyes with a kind and encouraging gaze. "We're fine!" He assures you, leveling you with a concerned look of his own, "as long as you are?"

"I assure you, this is a dream come true on my end." You quip, drawing a laugh out of Jimin and a mischievous grin from Jungkook. J-hope just shakes his head at you fondly.

"Seriously though," You continue, "If I'm wandering too far or in directions I shouldn't, just grab my hands to stop me. I'd rather not make anyone uncomfortable." It, in fact, made YOU a lot more comfortable to put the power to stop things in their hands.

You had so much anxiety about respecting their boundaries and it was only day 2. It was tough going from one side of a screen to another.

RM nods agreeably where he's standing and adds, "Sure, and if you get uncomfortable or need a break, just let us know." You sound your agreement to the group's approving nods.

Soon enough Suga was helping you tie a handkerchief over your eyes while you nervously wrung a secondary eye mask between your hands. You'd been handed a cute frog one by a staff member and were quite pleased by its silliness.

You already felt quite vulnerable, blinded as you were. You could feel Suga's fingers deftly tying the handkerchief and resisted a shiver as he gently smooths it and makes you're none of your hair has been caught. You jump a bit when his hand lands on your shoulder.

You feel a split second hesitation before he draws away just to pat you twice in silent signal of the completion of his task and know that he'd noticed. He's kind enough not to mention it, though, and you hope he just puts it down to nerves.

You ARE nervous, of course, of the cameras, and the members, and everything about your situation, basically, but your jumpiness really stems from how unmoored you feel as you slide the face mask on. You're robbed of one of your most relied upon sense and soon to lose a second. You can't help going quiet and still as you listen to the staff and members take their places.

It seems Suga is MCing this episode as he leads the opening and prompts the members to explain what they're up to today. It brings a smile to your face to listen to them banter and you only wish that you could see their accompanying smiles right now.

You assume you've been revealed when Suga calls out to you, so you wave with both hands and try to look more excited than anxious. You're not sure it works.

[daenakills]

Just an Accident 3

I had posted this in ao3 and I forgot to post it here, sorry. Also I want yall to remember that tommy and her are married for a long time, it's kinda difficult to forget someone that you have loved for so long.

smut. with tommy. that's the warning.

The conversation with Alfie was honestly a bit awkward.

She tried to explain a bit about her relationship with Tommy and how he ignored her.

"Look, the thing between both of us... it was a little accident that I know we can both keep up with, right?"

"Fuckin' unbelievable you are.” he said.

"It's not unbelievable thinking about how Tommy is a total bastard with me though. I just want you to know that I enjoyed what happened.” She was so close to him, with her hands in his shoulders looking at him directly. He wasn't nervous. It surprised her. At least, she seemed to have a type.

She knew that he was going to say something but he was soon interrupted by a voice.

"I see that you're knowing my wife pretty well.”

Damn. It's Tommy.

She removed her hands from Alfie's shoulders to look at her husband.

"You're a lucky man, Tommy." he said.

There was a moment, that for a second she thought Thomas already knew. There was a pause, a silence that for some reason didn't feel awkward, but tense. It was a tense moment, and as she waited for Thomas's response, she felt the waiting gnaw at her.

The second the two of them stared into each other's eyes felt like an eternity. And she couldn't help but think, am I really the only reason why the atmosphere is so tense or is there some reason that I don't know about? And most likely it was the second option. She wasn't the reason why the two of them looked at each other that way, she wad just one more fuel on the fire. And for some reason, she was relieved.

"I know."

The tension had decreased in intensity, but it hadn't finished. Thomas said goodbye, she knew that. But she was so lost in Alfie watching her, and as she watched, her mind kept replaying that night at the same time she was analyzing her situation. She thought about how she probably would stay stuck next to Tommy like one more lamp in the house, remembering that time when she tasted freedom one last time. How demeaning.

They were leaving the event and there was only silence. She was used to silence, it had been years since the last time she had had a long conversation with her husband, without it being an argument, of course.

"What were you doing with him in that place?"

She looked at him for a second, every day she was more surprised by the hypocrisy that Tommy handled.

"Talking."

"Talking about what?"

"Do you really think I can't have something in common with someone?"

"I think you may have something in common with someone, but I don't think you have anything to talk with Alfie Solomons."

"Who says? Maybe he and I have more in common than you and me."

"Anyone can have more in common with you than you and me. I don't get the point you're trying to make."

She was going to admit it, his comment had hurt. He had definitely touched that part of her that adored the Tommy she married. And that only meant one thing.

A part of her still loved him.

She wondered if at some point her love would stop being her great weakness.

The way home was silent. And in the entire conversation, the two of them had not looked at each other once. She supposed that said something about their relationship.

When her children arrived, they received them, and she could stop wanting to disappear from the face of the earth since they only made it more difficult to flee from her situation.

She hated to think that she loved them more than they loved her. That they would never be replaceable but she was easily replaced by any woman they liked. After all they were children, they had no conscience, right? One day they would realize how important she was. Someday they would all realize how relevant it was to have her in her life.

"Why aren't you asleep yet? It's too late, go to bed."

She went to her room without looking back, she started to undress, put on her sleeping clothes and proceeded to lie down to try to fall asleep. When she got it she began to dream. She dreamed very nice things, she dreamed that she was an internationally famous actress. She was enjoying her dream when a hand woke her up.

A hand that caressed her clothes, at the same time that it gently lifted her sleeping dress.

"What are you doing, Tommy?"

"Just touching my wife, I guess I'm within my rights."

"Just say what you need to. I know full well that you're not touching me like that because it provoked you." Silence.

She proceeded to turn around to face him face to face. They looked at each other for a moment and then he kissed her. It was obvious that he wanted her kiss to last longer than it really was going to last.

"Why don't you go with one of your mistresses to satisfy you."

"Shut up."

They started kissing again, while they kissed, he touched her tits. He caressed, squeezed and slapped. She felt like he was squeezing her nipples hard so she cried out in pain.

"Shh, you're going to wake up the kids and we don't want that."

He put a finger inside her pussy, but one finger turned into three and three of his fingers turned into his cock. It felt so good to have him inside her.

Tommy was changing speed and she felt how her breasts were bouncing, sometimes she made small moans so he put his hand to cover her mouth. Her back arched as he pushed her penis deeper and deeper. She couldn't think of anything as he took her, all she could do was ask for more. In a moment of minimal awareness she asked him not to finish inside her, which he accepted.

And when they finished they both fell asleep. Or at least she knew that Thomas closed his eyes, she knew that he hardly ever slept much.

She woke up to find him already dressed, about to leave.

"Morning. Have the children woke up yet?"

"Yes, they are already eating."

"You have already eaten?"

"No."

"Do you want us to eat together?"

"No, I'll eat elsewhere, I'd like to be on time for something."

"It's okay."

She spent her day in bed, after having breakfast with her children and taking them to school. She felt that she deserved a day in bed. The day had honestly gone by very quickly, she always wondered why the days had been going by so quickly.

The days passed and Tommy treated her very well, in fact. He would buy things for her and he would take her and the children to the park to play with other children. 15 days had passed since that night.

That day she was going to bed with him when he told her something that took her by surprise.

"I love you, good night." he leaned closer and placed a kiss on her cheek. She froze and she could only think of telling him one thing.

"I love you too."

"Good to know." He said in a extremely suspicious way.

"Why is it good to know? You already know that, I married you."

"Yeah, but for a while I thought you were doing things behind my back." She got nervous, as a consequence her hands began to sweat.

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't know, like conspiring against me."

"I wouldn't do that."

"Don't think I don't know what you were up to with Alfie."

"I wasn't up to anything."

"It would make sense, since I have done nothing but be a good husband.  I have bought you things, gone out with the children for a walk, I've been good to you."

There she realized that he thought she was conspiring against him with Alfie. And that's why he had been being considerate of her.

She didn't know if she was relieved or more concerned. What she did know is that in either of the two she was an unloyal woman. She didn't like that Thomas ended up like the saint.

And from one moment to the next, the conversation that started with "I love you" ends with "Now! Let's stop this shit. I just want you to know that nothing is escaping me. You can't just betray me and hope that I won't find out."

[dottielovegood]

Trick or Treat (Elriel)

Chapter 1/2: What to wear? Rating: Explicit Read on AO3 ________________________________

It’s been a year since Elain and Azriel met at a Halloween party. That time, they were dressed as Kylo Ren and Rey. What will their costumes be this year?

(the second chapter should be posted around Halloween)

---------------------------------------- This is the second part of my Halloween fic that I wrote last year. If you want to read part one, you can find it here

One year. 

It had almost been an entire year since I met Azriel at a Halloween party. One year since I asked the tall guy dressed as Kylo Ren to be my fake-date. A year since he asked me if I wanted to leave said party and go to his place. 

A lot can happen in a year. 

A year ago I was living with my sister, Nesta, in a small apartment. I had sworn off men after my ex, Graysen, cheated on me and almost gave me chlamydia. Most nights, I lay awake, watching Star Wars just to make the hours go by. My life was boring. Monotonous. And a bit sad. 

And then he walked into my life. Or maybe I walked into his? 

Either way, my entire life was changed in just one night. Not only because I had the most mind blowing sexual experience of my life (which I did have, thank you very much), but because Azriel was everything I had been missing. Before him, I thought that relationships were supposed to be difficult. Growing up, I had been told that relationships required hard work. I thought that I had to give and give and give until there was nothing left, just to make the relationship work. And if a relationship failed, it was probably my fault for not trying hard enough. 

And then, I met Azriel. And I thought that he was like other men. I thought that he just wanted a one night stand. I thought that he asked me out after having sex with me just to make himself feel a bit better about fucking me like that. I thought that he would leave me, just like everyone else.  

But he didn’t, and he didn’t let me leave, either. And for the first time in my life, I don’t have to fight. For the first time in my life, everything just feels right. We are just right. 

After dating for only six months, I moved into his apartment. I was already spending most of my time there anyway, and Nesta wasn’t exactly sad about getting to live by herself. I worried about living together at first. What if he were to grow bored of me? What if we started fighting about silly things like doing the dishes or putting the lid back on the toothpaste? 

I needn’t have worried. Since moving in with Azriel, there have been exactly zero fights. Sure, we’ve had discussions and sometimes, we have to compromise, yet we never fight. Before him, I thought that passion came from fighting. Now, I almost laugh at my old self. She had no idea what passion was. No fucking clue. 

Now, I know. 

“Hi,” I said as I stepped out of the bathroom. Azriel was half laying, half sitting on the couch, scrolling on his phone. The room was dark except for two candles on the side table that I had lit earlier in the evening. As most Fridays, we had spent the evening together - having dinner and watching a movie. It was my favorite part of the week. 

“Hi,” he said, his eyes still on his phone. That wouldn’t do. 

I cleared my throat and gave him my most innocent look. “Do you like my outfit?”

Finally, Azriel looked at me. Phone suddenly forgotten, he sat up a bit straighter. “Is that my shirt, Elain?” I could practically feel his eyes traveling down my body. I stroked my hands over the fabric of his black t-shirt.

“Yes.” I played with the hem of the shirt. I knew how much he loved seeing me in his clothes. After that first night we spent together, he had given me a shirt to sleep in. I thought nothing of it back then - I just thought he was being polite. But little did I know that it’s his odd way of marking his territory. Not that I mind. It’s an easy way to get him excited - I just have to put on something of his and then I have him wrapped around my finger. 

Azriel was staring at my feet, a smile playing on his lips. “I like the socks.”

I wiggled my toes in my fuzzy sock. They had little pumpkins on them - which was very fitting for this time of year. “The floor is cold,” I pouted. 

“Hmm,” Azriel put his phone down on the coffee table and sat back, opening his arms. “Better come warm yourself up, then”. 

As I said - wrapped around my finger. 

I smiled and made my way over to him. He was wearing his blue and maroon pyjama bottoms and - shockingly - a blue t-shirt. Most people would assume that his favorite color was black, seeing that he only wore black outside the house. But here, in our home, he actually wore many different colors. Sometimes, it felt like our little secret. Like I was privy to things that nobody else knew about this man. Like the fact that his favorite color is actually blue - not black. 

I leaned forward and placed my hands on his shoulders and my legs on either side of his hips. I sank down until I was straddling him. His hands instantly went to my thighs, caressing my skin just where his t-shirt ended. 

I let my lips ghost over his. I could feel his breath on my lips, feel his heartbeat underneath my palm where it rested on his chest. “I love you,” I whispered. He closed the distance between us, kissing me softly. Slowly. Like he was savoring the taste. “You are my everything, Elain,” he said in between kisses and I melted against him. How did I get this lucky? Some days, I was certain that my life was a dream and that one day, someone would pinch me and I would wake up because surely, life couldn’t be this good? 

But it was. Life was this good and he was this good and he was mine and we were everything I had ever wished for. He was every dream I ever dreamed. He was soft and kind and gentle. He took care of me and loved me in a way no one had ever done before. And then, there was this other part of him. The part I had only gotten a glimpse of that night a year ago. The part that made me burn all over and beg for things I didn’t even know I wanted.  That side of him was usually reserved for the bedroom. Reserved for me . It was like living in the best of both worlds, like the wise philosopher Hannah Montana once sang. 

We kissed for minutes, or hours, or maybe years. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind spending years like this - in Azriel’s lap, kissing and tasting and touching. God, I hoped that this was just the first year of many to come. 

After a while, I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned my head against his chest. His heartbeat was my favorite sound. “I can’t believe that it’s almost been a year,” I sighed. I pressed myself impossibly closer to him. One of his hands stroked up my back as he kissed the top of my head. “Best year of my life.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “Mine too.” Azriel’s fingers played with my hair and I closed my eyes and let myself enjoy just being here with him, like this. “Thank god you wanted to be my fake date,” I said, smiling at the memory of him in his Kylo Ren costume. Azriel chuckled. “And thank god that you weren’t disappointed when I removed the mask.” “And thank god that you weren’t one of those guys who hate Rey.”

“And thank god that you wanted to leave that party with me.”

I sat up straighter again, my hands cradling his neck. I played with the short strands of his hair as I met his gaze. “And thank god for the leather gloves,” I said playfully. 

Azriel laughed, “Who knew you had a glove kink?”

“I surely didn’t.”

He leaned forward and kissed my nose. “Is that your way of saying that I should wear gloves more often?”

“Maybe.” I wiggled my but a little, knowing fully well what kind of reaction that would get me. Azriel tensed and gave me a stern look. “But I think you’re doing pretty well without them.” I continued and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

“Is that so?”

“Mhm,” I breathed against his lips. “Speaking of Halloween,” I continued. “We really need to decide what we are going to wear to Rhys and Feyre’s party this year.” Our lips were just touching, teasing. I think we were both driving ourselves a little bit crazy. I was just about to turn the teasing into kissing when he pulled back slightly. “I was going to wear the same thing as last year.”

I frowned. “Really?”

“Yes. Why? Is that a problem? I thought you liked that costume.” One of his hands was now stroking my thigh just below the t-shirt. I had ridden up quite a bit, which meant that he was teasing the edge of my panties with his fingertips.

“I do like that costume,” I said, trying very hard to focus on our conversation and not his fingers. “But you can’t wear the same outfit two years in a row.”

“Why not? It’s not like anyone will remember what we wore last year, nor will they care.”

I frowned. “People will remember. And I care.”

“Then you can wear something else and I’ll go as Kylo.” The hand that wasn’t teasing my thigh was now at the base of my neck, angling my head so he had better access to my throat. The feeling of his lips on my jaw made a shiver run down my spine. 

“Azriel,” I began but the rest of the sentence caught in my throat when he kissed that sensitive spot just below my ear. “I want to wear matching costumes.”

He hummed against my skin but said nothing as he continued pressing gentle kisses down the column of my throat. 

“I had a few ideas,” I said, sounding breathless even to my own ears. 

“I’m listening,” Azriel said, his lips never leaving my skin. He moved his other hand from my thigh to my ass, giving it a gentle squeeze. 

“Well, I was thinking…” a moan escaped me as his teeth lightly scraped my neck. “Maybe we could go as Hermione and Draco. From Harry Potter.” 

Once again, Azriel pulled away. I almost whimpered at the loss of his lips on my skin. 

His eyes met mine and there was a small frown between his eyebrows. “They’re teenagers. In school uniforms.”

“If we do the movie version you can just wear a black suit since that’s what Draco wears in the last movies.”

“Hmm.” Azriel seemed to be turning the idea over in his head. “There is just one little problem with this plan.”

“What?”

“I’m not blond, Elain.”

I shrugged. “We could get you a wig.” He made a disgusted face. Okay, so no wigs. I stroked his soft hair with my fingertips. “Or we could dye it.”

Azriel let out a horrified laugh. “Over my dead body.” I pouted. “Please.” “I’m using my veto on this one,” he said, squeezing my ass again. “Any other ideas?” “Well, my other idea was Buffy and Spike.”

Azriel rolled his eyes, but I could see a small smile playing on his lips. “Any ideas that don't involve us dying our hair?” I took the opportunity to move my body against his. He was hard underneath me - had been hard since I sat down in his lap. God, I really wanted him to just have his way with me. But I also wanted to decide on a costume. What to do, what to do…

I could feel his entire body stiffen and his grip on my ass and neck tightened. “Elain…” I forced myself to think of Halloween costumes. Forced myself to not think about how good it would feel to have him inside me right now. I was going to get him to decide on something tonight. “Maybe Anakin and Padme?” “I was Anakin four years ago,” he said. His voice was lower now. Rougher. Like he was holding back.

“Really?”

“Yes. The older version.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “So, you were Darth Vader?”

He shrugged. “Maybe.”

“That doesn’t count.”

“I think you would have liked it. It involved gloves,” he teased. I rolled my eyes. “I don’t have a glove kink.”

“Sure you don’t,” he said under his breath. I leaned my forehead against his, grinding against him once more. I needed the friction. I needed so many things that only he could give me. “So, we can go as Padme and Anakin?” I moved against him again, earning myself a low growl in response. “Please?” I begged innocently. Azriel grabbed my hips with both hands, holding me still. “Are you using your body to persuade me, Elain?” he asked, his voice low and dangerous.

I gave him the sweetest smile I could muster. “I can be very persuasive.” He said nothing. He just looked down at where our bodies met and I knew that he was just as desperate as I was. He was going to go along with my request, I just knew it. 

“So, it’s decided?” I asked, desperate for him to just say yes already. 

There was a beat of silence before his eyes returned to mine. “Maybe…”

“Maybe?” “Maybe.” He pulled me closer until my core was pressed against his hardness. I couldn’t help the whimper that escaped me. “But I might have an even better idea.”

I really hoped that his idea involved me getting my way when it came to Halloween costumes, and then him taking me right here on the couch.

“And what is your idea?”

He smirked and moved his hips slightly, making me gasp as his dick pressed against my clit in just the right way.

“Do you trust me?” he asked. He could have asked me almost anything at this point and the answer would have been yes. Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. But I forced myself to keep at least a bit of my sanity. If only for a few more minutes. 

“You know I do.”

“And do you trust me enough to buy the costumes and give you yours on the day of the party.”

My entire body was screaming at me to say yes. To just give in. Especially when Azriel moved his hand and slid it between our bodies, finding that place I so desperately needed him to touch. But there was also a control freak inside of me telling me to not go along with this plan. There were too many things that could go wrong. 

I closed my eyes and forced myself to focus on anything but the his clever fingers and his heavenly scent and his stupid, handsome face. 

“No,” I rasped. “We have to decide now.”

“Hmm,” Azriel kissed my jaw. My eyes were still closed. “Do we now?”

“Yes.” The word was nothing more than a breath. Azriel was massaging my clit through my panties, his lips teasing my throat. He hummed against my skin. I let myself enjoy the sensations. Enjoy him. The hand on my hip disappeared for a moment just as Azriel’s hips shifted underneath me. I didn’t care. I didn't care about anything but the orgasm that was building inside me. I just needed a little more. Just a little…

And then his fingers were gone. “Azriel, what…” I didn’t even get the chance to finish my sentence before I could feel the head of his cock where his fingers had just been. I cursed myself for wearing underwear. I should have taken them off when I put on his shirt. Rookie mistake.  I forced myself to open my eyes, to look down.

Azriel was holding his cock in his hand, slowly moving against my aching core. I let out a shaky whimper at the sight. God, I needed him. We could continue this conversation later. “Azriel,” I pleaded, hoping that he knew what I was asking for. 

“Is this what you want, Elain? You want me to fill you up?” 

I almost felt my eyes roll back in my head at those words. God, this man and his dirty words did things to me. I nodded, silently begging him please, please, please. 

“Use your words,” he demanded, and the tone of his voice forced me to look up and meet his gaze. His eyes were dark. Hungry. He was done playing games. Or maybe, we were just starting to play? I didn’t really know. Didn’t care. I only cared about having him inside me.

“Yes,” I whispered. “Please.”

“Please, what?” 

This was his favorite game. The game where I, very specifically, told him exactly what I wanted. “Please, I want you inside.” I moaned when he moved his cock against my aching core again. “Please.”

The corner of Azriel’s mouth turned into something akin to a grin, but there was no teasing or playfulness in the way he looked at me. No, it was all dominance and power. “Move your panties to the side and show me exactly what you want,” he all but growled. 

I braced myself with one hand on his shoulder as I lifted my body. He held his cock as I moved my panties to the side, feeling how wet they were already. Would I ever get enough of this man? I doubted it. I moved again so the head of his cock was right at my entrance and it felt like a current running through my entire body. I needed him like I needed oxygen. I needed him to soothe the emptiness inside me. 

“Slowly,” he murmured as I started to lower myself onto him. I tried to focus on him, tried to look him in the eye as I took all of him inside me. I bit my lip, trying to hold back my moans. His cock stretched me, filled me. His name fell from my lips as I took him to the hilt, grinding down when he was fully sheathed inside me. 

“Good girl,” he murmured, returning his hands to my hips. 

I let myself get used to him - the feeling and the sheer size of him filling me up. I gripped his shoulder harder, needing something to keep me steady as moved. 

Or, tried to move. Because Azriel’s grip on me was bruising, unrelenting. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t think. What was he doing? “Does that feel good, sweetheart?” 

I could do nothing but nod. It felt too good. He always felt too good. But it was also torture. I needed friction. I needed more . 

As if he could read my mind, he asked, “You want to move, huh? You want to take your pleasure?” 

“Yes,” I whimpered and tried to move again. It was all in vain. Azriel held me down and I could do nothing as I felt myself clench around him. “Please.”

He chuckled darkly and the sound went straight to my core. I almost begged again. 

“You want so desperately to be in control, don’t you?” he asked, but he didn’t wait for an answer. “What would happen if you gave up control, Elain? Just once.”

I shook my head, not really understanding what he was asking. I was so far from being in control, it wasn’t even funny. When it came to sex, he was always in control. So demanding, so dominant. And I gladly gave him my submission every single time. He nuzzled my neck, sending tingles down my spine. “Let me choose the Halloween costumes.”

I almost laughed at the absurdity of the situation. “What?” “I'll let you move if you let me make this small decision.” His voice was low, almost a purr. “Don’t you want to move?”

I really did. He was so big inside me, I felt as if I didn’t know where I ended and he began. It only made me wetter. Needier. More desperate for…something. Anything. “I…” I gasped when his thumb found my clit. “What if you buy the wrong size?” I tried to reason even though my brain was a needy little mess at this point. 

“You think I don’t know your size?” Okay, fair point. He had bought me dresses before. And underwear. 

“But I want to look pretty,” I tried, trying to keep the little ounce of control I still had left. 

I could feel him smile against my skin. He kissed my neck once more and I was burning up. “You always look pretty,” he murmured. “Even in my shirt and these silly little pumpkin socks.” 

“I didn’t know you had a kink for fuzzy socks.” I wanted it to sound like a joke, but it came out more like a gasp since he, at this precise moment, started to massage my clit with expert movement. 

“I have a kink for you,” he chuckled. “Come on, give in.”

“But what if you buy a Shrek costume,” I whined. I had no idea where that thought came from, but I guess Shrek was the worst thing I could think of at this moment. Azriel let out a laugh. “Then I guess I will have to go dressed as a donkey.”

“That would be very fitting since you're being such an ass right now,” I muttered under my breath. 

One second, his hand was between us, caressing my clit, and then... it wasn’t. I barely had time to register the movement before he grabbed my throat, squeezing the sides of my neck. Not hard enough to stop the air from entering my lungs, but definitely hard enough to drive me crazy. He wasn’t playing fair - he knew what this did to me. 

“What was that?” 

“You’re an ass,” I whispered, knowing fully well that I would have to pay for that. I couldn’t wait. Azriel hummed and tilted my head slightly. When he pressed his lips to mine, I could do nothing but kiss him back. I closed my eyes and when his tongue teased my lower lip, I let him in. This kiss was everything but soft and teasing. It was desperate and feverish - burning me up from the inside. 

“Azriel,” I moaned. His grip around my neck tightened and I thought that I would die if I didn't get to move soon. “Please.”

“Just say yes,” he growled against my lips. “Just say yes and I’ll give you anything you want.”

I couldn’t think. My brain was incapable of forming sentences. Azriel’s other hand moved from my hips to my ass, finding its way underneath my underwear. The grip around my throat loosened slightly and I found comfort in his big hand just holding me. Guiding me. 

God, I was going to lose. I was going to let him have his way because there was no chance in hell that I could stand this torture much longer. 

I balled my fist in his shirt, kissing him harder. Trying to make him lose his own control. It didn’t work, I knew it wouldn’t. Azriel was never not in control. Even when I thought I had him wrapped around my finger, I didn’t. He could always bring me to my knees in the most delicious of ways. 

I felt one of Azriel’s fingertips at my entrance, caressing me just where he stretched me so completely. I whimpered into his mouth at the sensation. “Good girl,” he murmured. “Give in. I know what you want. What you need. Just say yes.”

Slowly, so slowly, he moved his finger further back. I gasped when I felt his finger right there , teasing me. “Az–” I couldn’t form sentences any more. The English language had left my brain. 

This wasn’t the first time he did this, nor was it all that surprising. We had definitely been more adventurous lately, yet I still felt myself blush every time he touched me like that. It felt so forbidden. So wrong. Like something I shouldn’t be doing. But my traitorous body went feral every time he did this. Every time his fingers, or other body parts, explored that other entrance. 

“Do you remember your safe word?” he asked, his eyes focusing on mine. They were almost black at this point, so dark it would have frightened me if I hadn’t known better. I nodded. “Yes,” I whispered, knowing that he needed me to use my words. 

“Do you need to use it?”

I focused on the sensations. I felt the way his cock filled me so completely and the way his finger was massaging that forbidden part of me. And there was absolutely nothing in me that wanted him to stop. 

I shook my head. “No.”

He smiled and kissed my cheek - such a gentle thing to do in a situation like this. “My good girl.”

There was a slight stretch and then the tip of his finger was inside me. I felt my eyes roll back at the sensation. There was no more space left inside me. I was completely filled by him. 

I wouldn’t be able to take this for much longer. 

I tried to focus my gaze. Tried to meet his eyes. He was already watching me, taking note of my every move - my every breath. He held me there, right at the edge. 

And I could do nothing but surrender. 

“Yes,” I whispered. 

“Yes?” He moved his finger and I was certain that I might die from overstimulation. 

“Yes, you can choose the stupid costumes,” I gritted out and the grin that spread across his face made me want to slap him. Or maybe kiss him. 

I chose the latter. 

“Good girl,” he groaned as I finally - finally - was allowed to move. 

The friction I was given did little to soften the ache inside me. I was still so completely full. His cock, his finger, his tongue, him . He was everywhere and everything and I was shaking. With my hands on his shoulders, I moved my body up and down his length and from the way he was kissing me, I could tell that I was not the only one going crazy here. He was devouring me. It was as if he couldn’t be close enough, couldn’t get enough. He needed me like I needed him and I needed him more than I needed to breathe. 

Azriel’s other hand was now on my ass, helping me move. On me, in me. He was everywhere and I still needed more. God, I was needy. A desperate mess.

“Please,” I whined, hoping that he knew what I was asking for. 

“Touch yourself,” he ordered, his lips never leaving mine. “Make yourself come on my cock. I want to feel how much you love being filled.” 

No sooner than the words left his mouth did I move my hand between our bodies. With two fingers, I touched myself just the way he usually did. I imagined that it was his fingers. I broke away from his bruising kiss, burying my face in the crook of his neck as I continued riding him. His cock felt so good and his finger did things to me that had me seeing stars. 

“I’m close.” I let myself breathe in his scent and it was like a drug, going straight to my head.

“Go on,” he said. “I’ve got you.” He kissed the top of my head and I was falling, falling. I sank down on his cock one last time and then I was coming. I screamed into Azriel’s skin as my orgasm tore through me, setting me on fire. This was everything and I was floating away.  My name was a prayer on his lips when he joined me in my pleasure, spilling inside me. 

We stayed like that for god knows how long - him still inside me, his hands caressing my back. I guess it took some time for me to come back to earth. Azriel kissed my forehead. “God, you are a fucking dream, Elain.” 

“A good dream I hope,” I answered sleepily. 

“The only one worth dreaming.”

I smiled and nuzzled even closer to him. “I wish we could stay like this forever,” I sighed. “With my cock inside you?” he chuckled. 

“Honestly, yes.”

“Well, I would definitely not protest,” he said. “Though it might be a bit inconvenient at times. Like when we have to go to work, or go to Halloween parties.”

“We can skip the party. You’re gonna make me dress up like Shrek anyway.”

He laughed. “Elain, I promise you that I am not going to buy you a Shrek costume.”

“Good,” I murmured, feeling too sleepy to keep my eyes open. The two candles I lit earlier had burnt out long ago. “But if you do decide on Shrek, I want to be Donkey.”

I felt his chest vibrate as he chuckled. He kissed the top of my head and hugged me closer. “Noted.”

_________________________________

What do you think their costumes will be?

[summerwritesfics]

🖤For Warmth You’ll Be Longing, Nightingale, Chapter 1 - For Of Sugar And Ice I Am Made

Pairing: Hanzo Hasashi/Kuai Liang Length: 7694 Words Rating: Explicit 🔞 Warnings: Cult AU, Past Torture, Flower growing in peoples skin, Body Horror, Mental Health Issues, NSFK (Not Safe For Kuai)

For Warmth You’ll Be Longing, Nightingale Masterlist

Notes: Omg, I finally have a bit of a “AO3 authors post under any and all circumstance” story for these notes, as I edited and posted this with half of my face swollen :D My cheek is so swollen I can actually see it from the corner of my eye lmao. Also I have been having toothache on and off since yesterday. I know those things together prob sound really bad but I don’t believe they are actually related (I have episodes of swelling, this feel very much like that and as such does feel like it’s on it’s way to actually going down, plus the toothache is slowly getting better.) If my editing if a bit off that is probably why, but I said I’d try post stuff over the weekend and I’m gonna do it dammit lmao. Anyway enjoy this chapter where Kuai basically becomes a manic pixie nightmare girl. Some cracks in his psyche show a little and it’s only gonna get worse from here, so buckle up. Chapter title is from “Love Like Winter” by AFI.

Things could change so much in just a year.

Kuai’s ascension was greatly contested by the Elder’s for weeks after it had happened. Calls to try and reason with Lady Cetrion to change her chosen one. Some Elder’s outright refused to acknowledge Kuai for what he was now. The Grandmaster was, oddly enough, on Kuai’s side in this, trying to argue that Lady Cetrion had chosen Kuai for a reason, so they should trust her judgement and that she had a plan. Still, it took some time for the Elder’s to come around.

Kuai freezing the entire compound for a few days did seem to get the majority in line however.

The general consensus of the regular members of the Lin Kuei were a lot more positive thankfully. Surprised, given Kuai’s reputation as the rebel of the compound, but seemingly happy for him. Really, it appeared people were just happy their devotion had been noticed by a God in some way. Lady Cetrion had blessed Kuai Liang, and by extension them, when she bestowed this gift to him.

Sure, he still got the odd death glare from some Elder’s, but none had yet dared to try and take him down. He could walk around the compound with his head held high, all that he crossed bowing to him. All his pain and suffering had finally been repaid with respect and adoration.

So… Why did he feel like he was still completely without any power?

Sure, The Lin Kuei followed him without question now, but somehow he got the feeling that Cetrion’s plans for him were beyond the scope of just the compound. There were so many problems in the world, hunger, war, pollution. He felt like Cetrion wanted him to be the one to put an end to all that. That he could in some way be doing more to save the world from itself.

The problem was, he had no idea where to even begin with that.

Even he had been unable to contact Lady Cetrion for guidance, and all the Grandmaster could suggest was taking it a day at a time. But he was growing impatient, and what he saw of the world beyond the compound, he wasn’t sure he had that much time left to act.

“You wish to do too much too fast, My Lord,” the Grandmaster told him, standing just to the side of Kuai’s throne. “We must first convert others to our cause, then when we have the manpower, you can do what you wish.”

Kuai crossed his arms and slumped in his seat, but he supposed the Grandmaster had a point. If more people believed he truly was the messiah, the easier it would be to command the changes he needed. It was just getting a world that hardly believed the old gods even existed to trust what they were saying was proving difficult.

“The good news is, we’ve managed to recruit a lot of new members from across the globe,” the Grandmaster continued, ignoring Kuai’s mini temper tantrum. “I just got word that they’ve arrived. They’ll be brought before you for initiation, and then shown to their accommodations.”

“Do we have enough room?” Kuai asked with an eyebrow raised. “I hadn’t believed they’d finished the new lodgings yet.”

“They’ve finished enough to welcome at least some new members,” the Grandmaster informed him and Kuai couldn’t help but frown. How come I haven’t been told about this? Given he was the one who’d ordered the new buildings, it seemed logical he would be the one to be told first. “I believe the other elder’s assigned Elder Fang to oversee the project, that may be why you have not been informed.”

Kuai rolled his eyes. Elder Fang had always hated Kuai Liang, and Lady Cetrion’s gift had just seemed to make that hatred amplify.

“He would not be a problem if you’d just let me freeze him,” Kuai grumbled, stopping himself from sliding even further in his chair.

The Grandmaster just chuckled, “unfortunately he is a little too important for me to allow you to do that, My Lord.”

Important, my ass.

Kuai didn’t get a chance to continue that line of thought when the doors to the throne room opened. Cyrax stepped through, guiding in a surprisingly large group of people in civilian clothing. Kuai immediately pushed himself to sit up, so he at least looked somewhat more professional than he actually was.

The group was diverse. Young and Old, single people and families, all races. He found it curious how their message had united people who likely had such different life stories. It gave him hope for being able to reach more over time. Overall though, no one really stood out to him. They all just looked like regular people hoping for a new start.

That was, until he found his eyes landing on one particular man towards the back of the crowd.

He was tall, but seemed to be ducking slightly to try and make himself seem smaller. He had long hair tied into a bun, a trim beard and a yellow hoodie. But it wasn’t any of that which had caught Kuai’s attention. It was the fact he appeared to be trying to not draw any attention to himself. He was seemingly hiding amongst the crowd, not wanting anyone to notice him.

Kuai appreciated the irony that the mans attempt to remain incognito had drawn his attention.

“Welcome to The Lin Kuei,” the Grandmaster began, and Kuai tried to look like he was paying attention to everyone and not just this strange man at the back. “I am Grandmaster Oniro, and this-” he gestured to Kuai, “is Lord Song Kuai Liang, Lady Cetrion’s chosen one.”

There was a chorus of whispers from the crowd. Kuai couldn’t make out what anyone was saying, but he could imagine it was questions on how this man could be the chosen one. What made him so special, after all? Kuai smirked, he couldn’t wait to start casually using his powers around them and seeing realisation slowly sink in.

The man at the back didn’t really react. He just lifted his head enough to get a good look at Kuai Liang. Kuai debated waving at him, but decided that’d probably just be mean.

Grandmaster Oniro was droning on and on about the compound, their rituals, the daily schedule, how everyone would be given a job to do. Kuai knew it all already, so he could just shut it out for now.

The man seemed to be paying attention, although he was frowning rather intensely. Clearly he had heard something that he had either taken exception to or was unsure about. Kuai supposed that in the outside world, they probably didn’t have quite as many strict rules as The Lin Kuei did. He should just be thankful I outlawed physical punishments. It was pretty much Kuai’s first order as the chosen one. No one, no matter how disobedient they were, would ever suffer like he had.

While he suspected it was his suffering that had drawn Lady Cetrion to him, that still didn’t mean it had been a good thing or worth the pain.

“Cyrax will show you to your accommodation,” the Grandmaster concluded. “We will give you time to settle in and then we can begin your spiritual journey.”

Cyrax jumped to action, bowing towards Kuai and the Grandmaster, before beginning to usher out the crowd. Kuai’s gaze was still on that same man, who once more tried his best to blend into the crowd. Curious. Was he just shy? Or was he trying to hide something?

Only one way to find out.

“Would I be okay to observe the new recruits?” Kuai questioned, trying to make the request as casual as he could. “I would like to get a feeling on the type of people they are.”

“Of course,” the Grandmaster replied, “you may do whatever you like, My Lord.”

“Correct answer,” Kuai snarked as he jumped up onto his feet. “In that case, I will bid you adieu.”

The Grandmaster bowed to him as he confidently strode out of the throne room. He wasn’t sure what was going on with the man he’d taken such an interest in. Hell, there might have been nothing at all. But Kuai needed to know what the guy's deal was.

Hanzo glared at his own reflection in the mirror. This uniform he’d been made to wear was simple, dyed yellow, and made of an itchy fabric. Worse still, it didn’t have any pockets, so he wouldn’t have anywhere to put his contraband phone. He needed to figure out a way to carry it around, he required it to be able to record conversations and take photographs of the conditions here.

This closed off cult in the middle of the Chinese wilderness had always had people wondering about the conditions inside. Until recently, it had been impossible to get in from the outside, the only new members having been born within. Rumours of the group's cruelty were widespread but somewhat unfounded. Truth was no one knew what happened behind the walls of the compound, and no one had ever left to tell the truth.

Then, suddenly, that all changed.

Of course, claims that the Elder God’s had blessed the group with the messiah were obviously fake. It was obvious it was a bid to attract attention and gain new members. The question was why? Why did they need new blood? Were their bloodlines becoming too intertwined? Did they just decide they wanted to expand?

Did they genuinely believe that fraud with a flower glued to his chest was really the Messiah?

Hanzo didn’t know, but that’s why he was here. He was going to document everything that went on within these walls, and then once he’d gotten what he needed, write an article exposing them. Hopefully then the Chinese government couldn’t continue to turn a blind eye to their dangerous practices.

He looked down at the robe again. The sleeves were long and quite baggy, so for now he could possibly tie the phone to his arm. He grabbed a strip of rope, pulling the sleeve up enough to place the phone against his forearm and wrapped the rope around it, being careful not to strap it too tightly and cut off his own circulation.

He let the clothing drop back down, hiding the phone from view. This was as good as any time to start exploring and seeing what he could find out. It seemed they were being given time to get used to their surroundings before their first meal and proper initiation. Hanzo didn’t know what that would entail, but he had a bad feeling about it.

He turned to leave the room. It was annoying he’d be sharing with a lot of other people, it would make hiding his true intentions a lot harder, but he was used to this sort of undercover work. He was the journalist who’d blown the lid on the Shujinko scandal after all. He could do this. And at least this time he wasn’t alone. Thankfully it seemed other factions were interested in exposes the cults inner workings, and in the interest of getting all information possible, the factions had agreed to work together rather than against each other.

As he walked down the corridor, he pondered that this building looked extremely new. Clearly they had been planning to open up their walls for a while now if they’d managed to build this cabin. Still, it didn’t really reveal too much. For a shack it was actually quite nice. No, he had a feeling the things he’d be looking for would be in other parts of the commune.

As he approached the door’s to the outside world, he could hear two voices talking. He recognised one as Cyrax, the man who’d guided them in, but the second was new. As quietly as he could, he made his way to the door, sticking his head around just enough that he could make out Cyrax and his partner in conversation.

Hanzo’s eyes widened when he realised it was the so-called messiah himself.

“So, everyone is settling in then? No complaints about the cabin?” The messiah asked, his tone so strange that Hanzo could not tell what he was thinking. “Given Fang’s involvement in building them I would not be surprised if there was.”

“No complaints,” Cyrax assured him, leaning to one side and smirking. “Fang may have contempt for you, but he wouldn’t risk pissing off the Grandmaster.”

The messiah, Hanzo believed his name was Kuai Liang, tilted his head side to side like he was considering that.

“Yes. You are probably right,” he finally admitted with a frustrated sigh. “If you do hear anything though, please let me know.”

Cyrax hummed, raising an eyebrow before saying “alright, spill.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest. “What’s gained your attention this time?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Kuai said innocently enough, looking at Cyrax with a pout and puppy dog eyes, far more suited to a child than a religious leader.

“You know damn well what I’m talking about Kuai Liang,” Cyrax fired back and Hanzo couldn’t help but hold his breath. It was such an informal way of speaking to someone who was technically his superior, Hanzo almost considered grabbing his phone to catch the aftermath that would surely follow. “I know you, and I know how nosey you are. Something, or someone, has caught your eye, and you’ve come to investigate.”

“I’m not nosey, I’m inquisitive, thank you very much,” Kuai replied, brushing down his outfit like it was dirty. It was now Hanzo was closer that he could tell just how much nicer the man’s clothes were than anyone else’s. His robe looked silky and comfortable, while also being extremely ornate. It was clear that his supposed status earned him luxuries the rest of the group did not get. “And maybe I’m just interested in the new people, we’ve never accepted new members during my lifetime.”

Cyrax didn’t reply, just continued to stare at Kuai. Weirdly Hanzo could sense Kuai squirming internally from the gaze.

“Alright, fine, yes there is someone who caught my attention,” Kuai admitted, brushing his hand through his hair. “There was a man near the back, wearing a yellow hoodie and hair in a bun.”

Hanzo felt all air leave his body. That was definitely him that Kuai was talking about. Why he’d taken notice, Hanzo had no idea, but it was the last thing he wanted. He needed to blend in and not stand out, definitely not immediately attract the attention of The Lin Kuei’s most important individual. What the hell did I even do to make him notice me?

“Oh, yeah, I know who you’re talking about,” Cyrax replied, rubbing his chin. “What about him though? He didn’t exactly stand out to me, if I’m being honest.”

“It is probably nothing,” Kuai said, shrugging as he did. “He was just trying a little too hard to not be noticed.”

Hanzo bared his teeth in a grimace. Was his attempt to hide that obvious?

“Weird,” Cyrax drawled, “he could just be shy.”

“Or he’s hiding something,” Kuai retorted and Hanzo held his breath. He’d honestly counted on just falling into the background. He hadn’t accounted for the possibility that any of the cult members would be that observant.

Let alone their so-called messiah.

Hanzo took a step backwards, and cursed when the floorboard creaked extremely loudly from his weight. Both Kuai and Cyrax stopped their conversation, and he knew they had to be looking towards the doorway. Maybe if he styled it out enough, he could make it look like he was just coming through.

He stepped outside, trying to look indifferent, and like he hadn’t been listening in to their conversation.

“Uh, sorry,” he muttered, attempting to continue walking past them.

“Wait!”

Hanzo froze at the sound of Kuai’s voice, seconds later an unnaturally cold hand was taking his and spinning him to face him. Hanzo was certain he must have looked like a deer in headlights as Kuai smiled up at him.

“You’re a new recruit right?” Kuai said in an innocent tone, like he hadn’t been talking about Hanzo just seconds ago. It was actually unnerving how sincere he sounded. Someone who could lie so well and so casually could only mean trouble.

“Um. Yes. Hanzo Hasashi, Your… Grace…” Hanzo wasn’t sure how he should be addressing Kuai Liang, but clearly that way in particular amused him greatly as he began to giggle.

“So formal!” Kuai lightly patted his chest. “There is no need.” He grimaced slightly. “Well, actually you might want to refer to me as My Lord in front of the Grandmaster and Elders, but otherwise Kuai Liang is fine!”

“I… See…” Hanzo wasn’t sure if Kuai was just trying to seem more personable to ease the nerves of newcomers or if he was trying to get something from Hanzo.

“No need to be so shy, Hanzo. I don’t bite.” Kuai pulled back ever so slightly, making a very obvious point to look him up and down. A wicked grin came over his face as he added on “I mean, not unless you want me to~”

Kuai winked at him, and all Hanzo could do was splutter in response. All Hanzo knew at that moment was that his entire face was hot, and that his flustered reaction was clearly delighting Kuai.

“Alright, easy boy,” Cyrax finally chimed in, putting a hand on Kuai’s shoulder. “You are a menace, stop teasing our new recruits.”

“I’m just being friendly,” Kuai insisted, practically giving Cyrax puppy dog eyes again.

“Yeah. Too friendly. Go be a pain in the ass somewhere else,” Cyrax shot back, it was clear from his tone he was teasing, yet Hanzo still couldn’t help but freeze slightly. How the hell Cyrax could be so comfortable being so rude to Kuai, even in jest, he didn’t know.

“Fine, spoil sport.” Kuai stuck his tongue out at Cyrax, before turning his attention back to Hanzo. “I’ll see you around, hope you settle in well.”

Kuai finally let go of Hanzo’s hand, before turning on the spot and walking off, lazily waving over his shoulder with one hand. Hanzo waited until he’d rounded a corner and disappeared before turning to look at Cyrax again, who was giving him a sympathetic smile.

“Sorry about that. Kuai Liang can seem a little full on when you first meet him,” he explained with a fond chuckle. It was starting to become clear to Hanzo that they were legitimately close, and not just in the form of a religious leader and a worshipper. “He’s still getting used to his role too. I promise he means well.”

Well. You probably would think that. Hanzo chose not to voice that thought, instead asking “about the whole messiah thing. How exactly did that happen?”

“I don’t know, really. They’ve been very quiet about it.” Cyrax rubbed the back of his head. “The Grandmaster and Elder’s were witness to it, but it’s like they’re all sworn to secrecy.”

“Right.” That just confirmed the whole thing was bullshit in Hanzo’s mind. It was all just very convenient for everyone involved to not be able to talk about it. “Um. Anyway, I’m going to go look around, if that’s okay.”

“Sure thing.” Cyrax patted Hanzo’s shoulder a couple of times. “If you need anything, please come find me.”

“Will do.” He bit his lip, and watched as Cyrax walked away.

Letting out a sigh of relief, he went to reach into his sleeve to retrieve his phone. He needed to see if the others were ready to meet, and write some notes about his close encounter with the messiah.

Only when he felt where it should have been, it wasn’t there.

He felt a pang of panic wash over him, clawing at the place it should have been. He glanced around the ground, wondering if he'd dropped it somehow. But he couldn’t have. He would have felt it, surely. Probably would have heard it too. Yet it was nowhere to be seen.

Icy fingers clinging to his hand came back to mind.

“Oh no,” he whispered to himself, the horrified realisation at what potentially happened hitting him at once. “But how the hell could he have…”

That didn’t matter. He could figure that out later. Right now, he needed to find Kuai Liang, and make sure his operation wasn’t squashed before it had even begun.

“Tch, what an idiot,” Kuai giggled to himself as he walked along the rooftop, holding his prize, Hanzo’s phone, up in the air triumphantly. A sleeve was such a shitty hiding place. He’d have done better putting it into his underwear than tied to his arm. “Then again, I am the king of contraband. Rookie didn’t stand a chance.”

He wasn’t sure who he was talking to. Himself, most likely. Maybe Cetrion. She was probably listening and watching over him, right? Maybe? He didn’t know.

He tilted his head as he looked at the device. He’d seen phones before when looking through the latest confiscations, but this one seemed particularly fancy. As he sat down, he pressed a button on the side, the screen lighting up and showing a picture of a pretty woman.

“Ooh, wonder who she is.” Kuai wasn’t really into women, despite the Grandmaster’s attempts to set him up with a wife. If he had to choose a woman to settle down with though, he could see himself being at least comfortable with one like her.

He had played with a few of the confiscated phones in the past, enough to know he had to make a swiping motion with his thumb to get to the main meat of the device. As he did so, a number pad popped up on the screen with the word “passcode” written above it.

“Drat,” Kuai hissed, noticing a button that said “hint”. He clicked it, hoping it would be something he’d understand, only to huff as he read aloud “Harumi’s birthday? Who the heck is Harumi?”

The thought occurred that was the name of the woman set as the phone’s background. His frustration diminished slightly, as he cancelled the passcode request. He stared at the woman, now dubbed Harumi until he found evidence to the contrary. Clearly she was someone close to Hanzo, if he held her photo so close to him, and made her Birthday his password. She looked too young to be his Mother, but too old to be a daughter, so a sister or wife then?

He idly swiped his finger across the screen, not entirely sure what it would accomplish, until a new screen came up. It took him a few seconds to realise it was a camera.

He gasped slightly. “Awesome!”

He held the phone up, trying to figure out the best shot of the compound. He assumed the big circle on the screen was what he needed to take the photo. He clicked a couple of times, getting different shots of the landscape. For as isolated as this compound was, it was at least surrounded by quite beautiful scenery.

Not that most got the chance to see it. Kuai only had because he was the only person unafraid to clamber onto the rooftops.

“Hmm, what does this button do?” He wondered aloud as he clicked a small button shaped like a more traditional camera, with circular arrows inside it. As soon as he clicked it, he was met with his own face staring back at him. “Oh!” He squealed in excitement, holding out his arm as far as he could to try and get as much of himself in the frame as possible. He began indiscriminately hitting the shutter button, taking photos of himself with all sorts of facial expressions. “Oh, this is such fun! No wonder the outsiders love these things, they’re fantastic!”

He was about to take another couple of photos of himself, when he noticed a strange little pop up at the top of the screen. When he brought it close enough to see, he realised it was a message of some kind.

[JC said: Hey man. We’re gonna meet at the big apple tree.]

Kuai frowned, clicking on the notification, only to be met with the passcode screen again.

“Damn it all!” He let himself flop backwards, looking up at the sky. How could he find out the passcode for this stupid thing? There had to be some way other than just brute forcing it. He could see the blurred picture of the woman in the background and his eyes widened. “If she’s that precious to him, maybe he has some other keepsakes of her.” He shot back upright and exclaimed “Kuai Liang, you are a genius!”

He slipped the phone into his pocket, scrambling to his feet and running as carefully as he could across the roof. Careful, was the keyword. The last time he was a little too heavy footed he wound up falling through to the floor below. The Grandmaster was less than impressed. And given it was before Lady Cetrion’s gift, he had paid dearly for his mistake.

His back stung just thinking about it.

“No, not thinking about that right now.” Really, he never wanted to think about that ever again. Yet his mind always seemed to wander back to it. He knew the torture room was still there, lying untouched in a layer of dust. He’d been in a few times, staring at the implements that just months ago had been frequently used on him.

Sometimes, he held the whip in his hand, almost longing for the sting of it against his skin once more.

Punishment was all he knew. Punishment was all he craved.

“No. Not now. Maybe later,” he hissed to himself as he came to a halt at the edge of the roof.

He held out a hand, concentrating until a bridge of ice began to form. He stepped onto it, before sharply forcing the ice down, and he slid along it until finally he hit the floor.

He brushed himself down. Taking a deep breath and then making his way towards the dorm buildings. As he entered the door he paused for a second, trying to listen and see if anyone else was inside. It sounded empty, but he knew that didn’t always mean it was. Still he walked over towards a bulletin board, quickly glancing down the list of names.

“Ah, there. Hasashi. H.” He pointed at the name and traced across to the room number. “Room 5. Got it.”

Making his way down the corridors, he was careful to peer into every room and make sure they were empty. So far, they seemed to be. It didn’t hurt to be cautious though. He continued, until finally getting to room five. He poked his head around the doorframe, checking if the coast was clear. He let out a sigh of relief when it was.

He quickly entered, glancing around and snorting. The problem with these extremely barebones and unpersonalised quarter’s is that he couldn’t tell which bunk and chest was Hanzo’s. He clicked his tongue. Just standing staring wouldn’t help him, he needed to start digging through the chests to see if he could find a clue.

He went to the first, opening the heavy wood and being thankful the elders insisted on no locks outside of important functions. This chest had very little in it, a few fiction books and that was about it. Granted one looked very interesting, and as he skimmed the writing on the book cover it implied the book was very heavy on the sexual content. He half debated pinching it, but quickly decided against it. If he could figure out whose chest this was, he might be able to slickly persuade them to give it up as a recommendation.

He put everything back, going to the next chest. It was also devoid of anything of interest. It was very much the same for the next 2 chests. He was beginning to wonder if he was hoping for too much, until he opened the 5th chest and a photograph taped to the inside immediately caught his eye.

A photograph of the same woman as the phone’s background.

“Hello,” he drawled, reaching for the small piece of paper and taking a better look at it. It was definitely her, Harumi. In fact, he was almost certain it was the exact same photo, or at least she’d been in a very similar pose. “That’s sad though, does he only have one photograph of her? I have more with Bi-Han, and we’re from an anti-technology society.”

He glanced inside the chest, and it really had nothing all that interesting in it. Just some clothes, a few hair ties and a small notebook. He opened it, but it was completely empty.

Kuai sighed, holding the photo up and staring at it. He almost wished Miss Harumi, whoever she was, could be here to tell him her stupid birthday. It’d make his life so much easier. Suddenly, he got the urge to flip over the photograph, to see if there was anything useful on the back. There, scribbled in pen, was a simple note.

Harumi’s 30th Birthday. 15th April 2020.

“Got it!” Kuai couldn’t help but consider how idiotic it was to have a bit of paper lying around that had your passcode written on it, but that dumb decision had made his life 100 times easier.

So, there were now a couple of choices for what the code was. Given it indicated it was six numbers long, it could either be day month year, or month day year, depending on which way Hanzo wrote it. He supposed year month day was also a possibility. If Miss Harumi was 30 in 2020, that meant she was born in 1990.

To start with, he put in 150590, to no success. Then 051590, and once again it was not accepted.

After he typed in 900515, he found the phone opened to a new screen, with a lot of buttons and options. Got it! Now he just needed to remember that number, 900515.

“I am so smart,” he giggled, as he put the photo back in its place. “No wonder Lady Cetrion chose me if the rest of the world is this dumb.”

Ironic, really, considering he’d spent his entire life being told he was stupid.

Either way, with everything back in place, he didn’t stick around the dorm. He didn’t really feel like explaining to any random recruit why he was snooping around. Hurrying out of the building, he rushed over to the building he’d been sitting atop earlier. He found the gutter that he generally climbed up, making swift work of scaling the building. Once he was on the roof, he sat at the edge, pulling the phone out again.

“9-0-0-5-1-5,” he whispered to himself as he put it into the phone again.

The menu popped up again, and while Kuai wanted to investigate and see what all these buttons did, he first wanted to find out what that message had been about. He clicked the corresponding button, finding that there was only one conversation on it. When he clicked it, he quickly realised there were multiple participants. He scrolled up to the top, but there wasn’t really much.

[S said: Remember to stick to the plan.] [S said: I will attempt to get hold of any sorts of paper work or files they have.] [S said: JX will try to get into any locked rooms, see what they’re hiding in those.] [S said: JC is gonna make good with the members, try to get as much as possible out of them.] [S said: H will document everything, either via photographs, audio or video.] [S said: K is joining us in a couple of weeks, hopefully bringing some supplies depending on what we need.] [S said: We need as much evidence as we can get if we have any hopes of taking these sons of bitches down.] [JC said: Thanks for reminding us of what we talked about 5 seconds before coming here.] [JX said: Also remember to delete all messages at the end of every day. Preferably every hour, to be honest.] [JX said: If any of them manage to get one of our phones, we need as little evidence of a co-ordinated procedure on them as possible.]

“Well, Hanzo screwed that for you already JX.” Kuai rolled his eyes. For all the effort these people went to, you’d think they’d have done a little better at keeping a low profile. Regardless, he continued reading the messages.

[H said: What we really need to try and lean into is the cruelty angle. There have been rumours for years of extreme cases of abuse, we need to expose that first and foremost. Their belief system being a fraud is also important.]

“Fraud? Who are you calling a fraud you bastard?” Kuai hissed between his teeth. He was a lot of things, but a fraud was absolutely not one of them. “And as for the cruelty, I hate to break it to you but you’re about a year too late for that one, dumbass.”

The next message was the one that had popped up earlier, and Kuai was tempted to send his own message. The question was, did he want to play pretend as Hanzo for a while and lead them on or did he want to scare the shit out of them right off the bat by revealing himself. Both options sounded like they could be entertaining to be honest.

He stared across towards the apple tree, spotting three figures standing around underneath it. Kuai smirked to himself, doing a few gestures on the phone until he’d brought up the camera again. He held it up, pointing towards the tree and snapping a picture. He returned to the message thread, selecting a button that looked like a picture and finding all the photos he’d taken came up. It seemed Hanzo had not yet taken any photographs, as only the ones Kuai had taken were there. Regardless he clicked the one he’d just taken, and without typing anything, hit the little arrow button.

[H has sent a photo] [JC said: Uh… Dude? You alright? What’s going on?]

Kuai smirked to himself, clicking on the picture button again. Scrolling through to find his favourite photo of himself. Once he’d found one he liked, one where he was winking and sticking his tongue out, he clicked it and then the send button, excited for the reception he was going to get.

[H has sent a photo] [JC said: What. The. Fuck?] [JC said: What is going on? Dude? H? If you’re there, say something.]

Kuai began kicking his feet as he excitedly chuckled to himself.

This was going to be so much fun.

Hanzo felt like he’d searched the entire compound, short of the private quarters of the cult's elders. He could not find the messiah for the life of him. His gut twisted, terrified he’d been found out already, only hours into arriving. If they found some of what was on there, they’d know he was here to be a whistleblower. At best, he’d be ejected from the compound, and at worst?

Well, he’d likely find out first hand just how cruel the cult could be.

He reached the end of a particularly large building, pulling on his hair as he breathed heavily. He had no idea what to expect. He couldn’t believe he’d been so stupid. How on earth had the messiah managed to grab the phone without him noticing anyway? Regardless of if the messiah stuff was bullshit, Kuai Liang was clearly sneakier than Hanzo gave him credit.

“Looking for something?” A sing-song voice called out to him. Hanzo frowned, it sounded somehow like it had come from above him.

He looked towards the top of the building, where over the edge of the roof, Kuai was sitting with his legs dangling down. He held up one of his hands, and dangling precariously between his fingertips was Hanzo’s phone. Kuai wore a huge grin on his face, clearly aware of the position he had Hanzo in.

“I must say these mobile telephones are fantastic aren’t they? The camera is a lot of fun, I don’t understand why we don’t have them,” Kuai continued like nothing was off about this situation. Like he didn’t hold the power to completely destroy everything Hanzo was working for. “Your messages were very interesting though.” Shit, shit, shit, how the hell has he managed to get in to read the messages? I had a passcode on it. “Oh, by the way, your little entourage is waiting for you over by the big apple tree. They seemed very confused by the photos of myself I sent them from your phone.”

Hanzo didn’t reply, the entire group was potentially rumbled because he’d been careless with his phone. He still did not understand how Kuai could have gotten through the passcode. It was Harumi’s birthday, there was no way Kuai could have known that, or even brute forced it. Outside of going through Hanzo’s belongings, that is.

A photograph he stuck to the inside of his trunk came to mind. A photograph of Harumi, Satoshi and himself celebrating Harumi’s birthday. And he would have written the date on the back.

His face dropped. How the fuck could I have been that stupid? Hanzo had done a lot of foolish things before, but this was beyond the pale. He really had just fucked up their entire investigation.

As he looked up to Kuai Liang, a triumphant grin on the messiah’s face.

“Ah, did it just dawn on you how I figured out your passcode?” Kuai taunted, as despite how light and carefree he sounded, there was a very dark undertone to his voice. “You aren’t very bright, are you?”

“What do you want?” Hanzo snarled. He didn’t understand what Kuai Liang was getting out of this. Surely it’d be more advantageous to him to immediately report this to his elders. Was he really so cruel as to want to taunt someone beforehand?

Kuai actually giggled at Hanzo’s response, leaning over the edge to sneer at him. “I’d be a little more polite if I were you. I might be quite enamoured by this technology, but I’m sure the Grandmaster won’t be quite as thrilled, especially if he reads through your messages.”

“You-“ Hanzo bit his tongue, what the hell was the messiah’s game here? “What are you going to do?”

Kuai tilted his head back and forth, like he was pretending to think really hard about it. The childish taunting action was enough to make Hanzo’s blood boil. He had to remain calm though, remember who he was dealing with. It was well within Kuai Liang’s power to make this 100 times worse for him.

“Why don’t we make a deal?” Kuai offered, leaning over the edge just a little further. “You let me keep this fancy bit of technology and I won’t tell the Grandmaster about the little investigation you and your friends are supposedly doing.”

“What? No!” He couldn’t let Kuai Liang keep the phone. He needed it to keep track of his investigation, document and contact the others. He couldn’t just give it to someone else. “I can’t do that.”

“Oh. A shame.” Kuai pouted slightly. “Seems the Grandmaster is going to learn about your little operation here and-“

“Please don’t.” Hanzo had no idea what he was hoping to accomplish by begging. He was just desperate to not get caught.

“Then, let me keep the phone,” Kuai demanded, his voice the most serious Hanzo had heard since he got here. As they stared at each other, Kuai narrowed his eyes. “Let me put it this way, I am going to get this phone either way. It’s just that with one of the choices, I won’t put you and your little friends on the Grandmaster’s shit list.”

Hanzo felt his resolve falter. While he needed the phone, he needed to stay undiscovered more. If giving up the phone would give them a bit more time, then he’d have to do it. They’d be able to come up with another plan for gathering evidence.

“If I agree, you won’t tell anyone?” He questioned, biting back his embarrassment.

“You have my word,” Kuai softly told him, placing a hand over his heart.

“Why though? What will you get out of this?” He just could not understand Kuai’s motives. What he basically had was the ultimate blackmail material. Why was a shiny toy all he wanted in exchange?

“Well, I get this nifty thing for a start,” Kuai replied, holding up the phone triumphantly. He looked genuinely excited to have it. Hanzo supposed for someone who’d been cut off from technology for most of his life, this would be a novelty. “But, I suppose I’m also interested to see what you uncover.” Kuai tilted his head. “And your reactions when you realise I’m not the fraud you think I am.”

Ah. Kuai had definitely looked through all the messages then. Weird that he seemed particularly offended by that word. It did seem to imply that Kuai Liang genuinely believed he was the messiah, and that just made him a lot more dangerous. That thinking was the sort that got people killed. Hanzo only hoped they could figure a way to shut this down before that happened.

“Okay,” he finally said. “Okay, you can have the phone, just, please do not tell anyone why we’re here.”

“Your secret is safe with me, Hanzo.” Kuai pushed himself so he stood up on the edge. “I would go and meet with your friends if I were you, they were quite concerned for your wellbeing.”

Before Hanzo could reply, Kuai turned and disappeared from view as he walked back across the roof. Hanzo just placed his head in his hands, groaning loudly. He wasn’t sure he’d made the right choice, or if he should have ever believed Kuai was telling the truth. But he guessed he’d find out soon enough.

He didn’t wait around, he needed to find the others and explain what had happened. Hopefully, they wouldn’t be too angry with him for almost fucking everything up. As he made his way from between the buildings, he saw the tree in question, where Jax, Johnny and Sonya stood under. When they spotted him, all three came over in a half-walk half-jog.

“Jesus fuckin’ Christ man,” Johnny exclaimed as he reached them. “We were getting worried about you. Thought they’d got you already.”

“Might as well have,” Hanzo muttered, rubbing his temple. “Somehow, their so-called messiah managed to get my phone off me.”

“That… explains the selfies,” Johnny mumbled, and Hanzo almost did a double take. The idea that Kuai’s first instinct on getting access to the phone was to take photos of himself was inconceivable. Then again he did say he’d sent pictures of himself.

“Did you get the phone back?” Jax asked hopefully.

“No. The best I could do was get him to agree not to tell anyone about it, in exchange for him keeping the phone.” And he realised saying it out loud how dumb it was for him to do that.

“Do you think he’ll keep his end of that bargain?” Jax shifted on his feet, clearly anxious about this turn of events.

“Hard to say. He’s so fucking manic, I can’t tell what he’s thinking.” Hanzo looked over his shoulder, in the distance he could see Kuai Liang still standing on the roof. “I mean, he seemed genuinely enamoured with the phone, so. Maybe.”

He looked back at the three of them, Johnny and Jax seemed a little more relaxed, but Sonya was looking unconvinced.

“Sonya, I’m so sorry,” he started shaking his head. “I just… Fuck, I didn’t know what to do.”

“No, it’s okay. I think given the circumstances you did the best thing,” she admitted, straightening herself out and placing her hands on her hips. “We’re going to need to have a change of plans though. Jax, given you and I are sticking together for most of the time, you might need to give your phone to Hanzo for now. I’ll make sure Kenshi knows that he’ll need to bring an extra when he gets here.”

“Fair enough.” Jax reached into his pocket, passing the phone to Hanzo. “The passcode is 100892.”

“Thank you,” Hanzo breathed out a sigh of relief. Slipping the new phone into his sleeve, he needed to find a way to make sure this one wouldn’t be found. Although maybe Kuai would be sated with just the one. Who knew with him being the way he was.

“As for messaging, we’ll make a new group chat for our plans, but keep the old one open,” Sonya continued and Hanzo couldn’t help but frown at her with that. “It’s a long shot, but maybe Kuai Liang will make some incriminating statements in it.”

Hanzo nodded, that actually made sense. Kuai seemed a little all over the place, and in his excitement over the technology, might very well leave very hard evidence of the cults wrong-doings. He felt the phone vibrate as if on cue. Given Johnny had his phone out, Hanzo didn’t bother to get his. Johnny stared at the phone with an incredulous look on his face.

“Yeah, not sure about that,” Johnny claimed. “He’s just messaged asking if any of us are the owner of the chest with the pornographic novel in it?”

There was silence between the four of them for a few seconds. Sonya eventually sighed.

“Lord give me strength to get through this mission,” she grumbled and Hanzo couldn’t help but nod in agreement.

Whatever God was out there, he could only hope they’d help them get through this in one piece.

[brighteyedbushybrowed]

𝐇𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠

𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 Post-sex cuddles are the perfect opportunity for braiding hair it seems. 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭 Hair Braiding 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐩(𝐬) Mary Goore x GN!Reader 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 No smut but mentions of sex (18+ only, MINORS DNI or I'll delete all of your bookmarks on your AO3 account), Mary usually being uncomfortable with physical touch but he's okay with it with you, long hair Mary again because why not, can be read as a part 2 to yesterday's fic but also works well on its own I think. 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 1157 words. 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 I finished my final undergrad essay today!! Celebrating with more long-haired Mary content whoopee. I've briefly proofread this to make sure there are no gendered pronouns or terms used for reader but if I've missed any please let me know!! 𝐊𝐨-𝐟𝐢 𝐓𝐢𝐩 𝐉𝐚𝐫

One thing about Mary Goore: he loves to cuddle after sex. It’s his favourite part of aftercare. Or at least it is with you. He’s been discovering over the past few months since you decided to give dating a shot that he likes doing a lot of things with you that he didn’t think he would. Before, the thought of being touched and manhandled while he was sticky and sweaty and coming down from the high of a climax made him cringe. It sounded like something that would be overstimulating. Like it would be too much sensory input for him to handle immediately after.

And yet, despite thinking that before, he’s now snuggled up close to you and he can hear your heartbeat as he rests his head on your chest. Long strands of blonde have stuck to his forehead and your upper torso from the sweat, and he can feel your fingers lightly massaging his scalp as your breaths gradually even out.

“Mare?”

“Mm?” Mary hums, their digits tracing random patterns on your hip.

Your nails scratch gently at their skin. “Have you ever considered doing other things with your hair?”

They snort. “Listen, I’m willing to try new things but I don’t think I wanna use my hair to get you off. It would take ages to wash that shit out.”

You lightly smack their shoulder, eliciting a giggle that brings a smile to your face. “Not like that. I don’t even think that would be possible and no, we’re not going to test it out so don’t even try.”

“Damn, and I was so looking forward to giving you a hair job.”

They laugh again at the way your face wrinkles up in displeasure. “Gross. No, I meant like… hairstyles and stuff. Something other than putting your hair in a ponytail every time you go to work.”

Mary considers this for a moment, gazing down at the long, sweat-damp locks of blonde that tickle your chest. If they were being honest, they had thought about cutting it all off and starting fresh. They hadn’t gone to a salon for a long time now and they knew there were likely a few split ends that probably needed the chop. However, they’d had their hair this length for such a long time now that it felt like a much scarier step to take than it probably was in reality. While they weren’t afraid of change, sometimes adjusting to change was difficult. Their morning routine would change. Their appearance would change. Even the way you carded your fingers through their hair would change. It would no longer be long strokes but short and sweet. Were they prepared for that kind of change?

Your fingers nudging his chin break him out of his inner monologue. “Don’t overthink it, baby. If you like your hair the way you do it now, then that’s fine. Nothing needs to change if you don’t want it to, you know? I was just curious.”

His shoulders immediately relax. “Good. I kinda like how I have my hair right now. I only really pull it back for work so we don’t have customers complaining about finding hair in their drinks.”

“That’s fair.”

Mary runs a hand through his hair and an idea strikes him. “Although… I suppose pulling it back in a different style wouldn’t be all bad. I could probably even do more fun stuff with it for Halloween and other themed nights.”

They let out a cry of surprise as you push them off you, making a beeline for the dressing table sat in the corner of the bedroom and picking up a handful of hair ties and a brush. Mary can’t help but get excited when they see the gleeful grin on your face when you return to the bed.

“Why don’t we try braiding it? You could be like Lara Croft or something!”

“Fuck, yeah, sure. But be careful. Don’t yank at my hair too much,” they acquiesce, turning so that their back is facing you as the mattress dips behind them.

The brush glides through Mary’s hair, only occasionally catching where a couple of strands had gotten tangled during sex. His eyes slide closed when you begin separating his hair into three sections, tilting his head back with a smile on his face. This is something else he didn’t think he’d enjoy in a relationship either. Ordinarily, he could tolerate being touched by strangers as part of his job at the bar. He was even able to accept that it would be a common occurrence when he did gigs with Repugnant, fans crowing the stage and reaching up to touch him or trying to grab him when he walked offstage. He didn’t enjoy his personal space being invaded, nor his personal boundaries around physical touch being crossed, but he made sure to take the time to decompress every time he came home.

You’re the only person they’ve been okay with being touched by. When you touch them, holding them close or even something as casual as sitting close to each other to watch a movie, they don’t feel the disgust or discomfort that they feel from strangers grabbing at him. Any time your fingers interlock with theirs, they feel safe. They feel calm. When you kiss them, cupping their face tentatively, they want to grab you and bring you in so close that your bodies almost become one entity. And now, as you braid their hair and hum an old King Diamond song, their body itches with the need to take one of your hands and place it on their bare skin so that they can feel that you’re there and you’re real. Because fuck knows sometimes Mary wakes up and thinks that they just dreamt up your entire relationship, still pining after you like a teen with a high school crush.

The warm press of your lips on Mary’s shoulder has his eyes fluttering open to find you holding a hand mirror in front of him, your back pressed against his and the newly styled braid swept forward over one of his pale, freckled shoulders.

“What do you think? Did I do good?”

The braid isn’t perfect, a couple strands of hair already sticking out, but his heart swells all the same. He can’t help but notice how much it suits him even if it is different to what he’d usually choose to do with his hair. His fingertips caress the smooth hair in the braid as he inspects it in the mirror before turning to look at you with a grin.

“Think you can do that for me before work whenever I stay over?”

The moment you start to nod, Mary takes hold of your face roughly and crashes his lips down on yours, the two of you laying down on the mattress with you beneath him as he expresses his gratitude with a multitude of kisses.

[dogueteeth]

Tagged by @silvery-bluish to look for orange, hand, shout, and run in my WIPs! Thanks for this, it was so much fun, even if it was surprisingly difficult to find "shout" anywhere in my fics, meanwhile, hand(s) were everywhere!! Guess my fics are subconsciously channeling my obsession towards hands and aversion to shouting. What an odd and fun discovery!

I'll tag forward.... uhmmm... @wonda-fhr ! I can't think of many others who may be up for sharing WIP snippets since I'm still trying to match tumblr faces or AO3/discord. No pressure to participate and even if I didn't tag you feel free to mention me if you want to do the prompt below anyways!

Forward prompt: Sky, teeth, hate, red

My Prompts

orange

She wants to scream. Wants to down the bottle, wants to smash it on the ground, wants to grab a gas pump and coat the asphalt, wants to set a match and watch it explode and hear the screams echo into a silent, desolate world that will never hear them. Trees don’t make a sound when they fall. Not when there’s no one there to hear them. No one would know. It’s a back road in the middle of nowhere, in a nowhere town with nowhere people, people like her. People who the government pretends don’t exist.

The FEZ’s own not-people that they dump nuclear ash on top of because they’re virtual uninhabitants. People who exist where they shouldn’t because it’s inconvenient, in the middle of nowhere in nuclear testing grounds, and people who don’t exist because of that very fact. Still more ‘people’ than she ever will be. Still ‘people’ enough to make her angry. Make her bitter. Make her crave match and flame and ash on her tongue, on her clothes, hot and burning enough to peel the lines of neon orange from her flesh. Hot enough to melt through and eat everything beneath. Bite. Lash out. Tear.

Tearteartearclawriptearkilltakescreamwhydidn’ttheycomeforme—

An excerpt from stray. , a chronological collection of shorts surrounding Cerrísa Becerra and her times after the first & second escapes. This one is set after the second escape. can you feel my environmental studies training peeking through lol?

shout(s)

“Oh, yes, yes, we fucking do,” she growls, finally twisting around to face him, the movement harsh enough that it makes him pause. She’ll give him what he wants. He wants her to face him? Wants her to open up, tell him everything that’s wrong? Why she never told him? Fine. Ortega should have learned long ago to be careful with what he wishes for, because she’s going to make sure it blows up in his face spectacularly.

“I didn’t tell you because it could never happen!” She shouts, all thoughts of proximity discomfort tossed out the window as she lunges forward, her face almost directly against his chest and her neck twisted uncomfortably to glare up at him through foggy eyes.

This snippet is from an untitled WIP I never finished. Ortega and Isa talking about why she never told him that she loved him, post-guilty and potentially post-faker. I initially made it back when Isa had the Anger Motivation, but it's since been abandoned as I no longer feel that it's very accurate to her character.

run(ning)

How did they even make it out alive back then, running blind and recklessly? He doesn’t know, not anymore. Did they? Make it? Alive? Is he? alive?

He supposes that he never really left. He stands somewhere on the Palos Verdes coastline, the shore too damaged and volatile after The Big One for any houses or communities to remain or be rebuilt. Abandoned. Isolated. Too remote for most things to survive. His body, physical, impermeable, is here, but his mind is elsewhere. It always has been. Even out here, where he can spread his wings and live, he still doesn’t feel alive. Still feels trapped in that tiny cell of four white walls, isolated from the world. From others. The change in scenery hasn’t helped. The grass isn’t greener. The frog still remembers the well. He still doesn’t feel alive. Still doesn’t feel free, a butterfly that sacrificed its wings to escape the web. Still doesn’t feel real, not in the way that matters. But then again, he’s never felt that way, never felt that self-confidence and assuredness that his handlers would carry. The confidence that comes from knowing that you’re human. From knowing that you matter.

Excerpt from palos verdes blue, the prequel to another WIP (below). Since this WIP may be published very soon, I won't elaborate much other than it's in FHR universe separate from Sidestep's story! :3

hand(s)

Instead, Dennis’ hands carefully travel up his arms, slow enough that if Larry wanted to, he could pull away, bat his arms aside and run but he doesn’t. He doesn’t want to run. He’s so tired of running. A small, delirious part of him wonders if he’s going to die like this, in the hands of a small, fragile human who could ruin his life in a heartbeat with the flick of a lightswitch, because he doesn’t have it in himself to kill, not this one, not this person, who, for a few small seconds, made him feel wanted, made him feel alive before his demons caught up to him. There’s nervousness and worry tinting Dennis’ motions as he convinces Larry to lower his hands. His thin, frail fingers rub small, soothing circles into the inside of his wrists, soft fingers smoothing over scars

Excerpt from sargasso sea. I debated on including the previous paragraph for context but. Ah. Hmm. Too spoilery? This will be published soon, anyways, after palos verdes blue.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it!!

[firawren]

"Transformation" A Beauty and the Beast fanfic

Chapter 5, “Camouflage,” rated G, now posted

Chapters: 5/17 now posted Fandom: Beauty and the Beast (Disney Animated Movies) Rating: Explicit

Romantic relationships: Belle/Beast, Gaston/Lumiere Platonic relationships: Gaston & Belle, Gaston & Beast

Key additional tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Love, Happy Ending, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Monster Fucking, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Redemption, Family, Friendship, see full list of tags on AO3

Summary:

Belle said she loved him. Everything transformed to how it used to be.

Except the Beast.

Forced into a new deal with the Enchantress, Beast will remain in this form forever. Belle doesn’t mind; she’s happy with him no matter what he looks like. Beast tries to just be happy, too, and for a while, everything is wonderful. Beast doesn’t know how he got so lucky, and Belle finally feels at home. But when the trauma of his past resurfaces, the future they’re trying to build together comes tumbling down.

Gaston’s ideal future isn’t going to plan either. Instead of getting married to Belle, it looks like he’s becoming friends with her, while developing feelings for someone else he’d never expected. This wouldn’t be so bad, except that the closer he gets to both of them, the more he learns to question his values and feel guilty for his past. And when that past finally comes to light, he stands to lose everything he’s gained.

This is a story about how sometimes the things we want to transform can’t be changed, and sometimes the things we think are hopeless can transform through love.

Excerpt from chapter 5:

“You know birds?” Gaston asked, fists finally unclenching, surprised that a soft-looking, fancily dressed man like Lumière would know anything about the outdoors.

Lumière smiled. “I could hardly run a kitchen without knowing about game. But birds I do have a particular interest in. Most other animals try to blend into their surroundings, but so many birds seem to want to stand out, at least the males. I suppose I’m attracted to their showmanship. I’m sure you can understand that.”

“What, camouflage? Of course I understand that. I’m an expert.” Gaston was rather impressed that Lumière knew about camouflage among animals, but wasn’t sure what his point was.

Lumière chuckled. “No, I think you are an expert in the opposite: standing out. I meant that you seem like the kind of man who appreciates showmanship, like me.”

Gaston frowned. It was true that he stood out because of how exceptional he was, and he enjoyed the deserved attention, but how could he be anything like soft little Lumière?

Belle chuckled. “You’re right, Gaston loves attention. You should see how much he gets, too, back in the village.”

“Oh, I can imagine, mademoiselle,” Lumière drawled, eyeing Gaston in an appreciative way that Gaston was well accustomed to, and which made him feel more willing to be friendly to the man. Maybe now he would recognize Gaston’s superiority and just concede the whole contest with Babette before they’d even begun. Though Gaston rather hoped not, honestly. Belle was the only challenging conquest he’d ever faced, and as angry as her rejection had made him, it had also given him the same sort of exhilarating energy rush he got during a difficult hunt. In the weeks since then, he’d come to realize he was maybe growing a little tired of everything being easy for him all the time. Challenging Lumière held a unique appeal.

“Since you enjoy showy birds, I suppose peacocks are your favorite?” Belle asked Lumière.

“You are completely right, mademoiselle! How could they not be? Such gorgeous plumage! We used to have some here, before—” He ceased speaking with an abruptness and inflection like he was cutting himself off, not just ending the sentence, and Gaston couldn’t miss how he nervously darted his eyes toward himself for a moment.

“Yes, uh, I’m sure that was lovely,” Belle stammered quickly, and turned to Gaston. “Do you remember when that traveling menagerie came through the village a few years ago? They had a beautiful peacock with them.”

Both Belle and Lumière were acting strange now, setting Gaston back on edge. He didn’t want to call them out on it, though, preferring just to observe and see what he could learn from it, for now. So he went along with the thread of Belle’s conversation. “Yes, I remember. The tiger was much more impressive, though.”

“I felt sorry for the tiger. It looked so forlorn, such a beautiful big creature trapped in a tiny cage.”

“I could have put it out of its misery. Would have made a great trophy in the tavern. People would have come from all around to see that.”

“Gaston!” Belle gasped. “That’s awful. How could you want to kill such a beautiful animal?”

“If it was a trophy, everyone would get to admire its beauty forever,” Gaston pointed out.

“You see, I knew you were a great admirer of beauty, of spectacle,” Lumière said with a smug smile. Annoyance prickled at Gaston again. Lumière barely knew him, yet was acting like he had him all figured out. Meanwhile, Gaston couldn’t figure out anything about the odd people in this odd place full of secrets. Frustration started to buzz in his veins.

Continue reading chapter 5 “Camouflage” of “Transformation” on AO3

[pikatrainer99]

Orange with his newest (13th) team member: Tails the Vulpix!

This was SO INCREDIBLY HARD to draw...it took me over two hours! Drawing Tails sleeping with her tails curled around her like a blanket was so difficult because there aren't many reference images I could use for that, since most sleeping Vulpix images have the tails behind them, but Tails uses them like a blanket since she has enough anxiety to qualify for a GAD diagnosis and the coziness is comforting for her. Seriously if anyone can give me tips for drawing Vulpix or help me find good references for this pose I would really appreciate it.

Orange is petting Tails' head while she sleeps on his lap, her fur is so soft and warm and it's making him sleepy too. This is the calmest I have ever drawn Orange, just look at him! He's not gonna wanna move for a while. They're supposed to be sitting under a shady tree, but since this isn't digitized (and I don't know if I'll digitize this one), it's hard to make that distinction.

I hope you all like this one regardless of the weird proportions and awkwardly drawn Vulpix! I have written the story of how Orange met Tails and she joined his team, so if you'd like to see that posted on AO3, just let me know.

One more thing, Tails' nickname has NOTHING TO DO with the Sonic the Hedgehog character, people who know me know that Tails is my favorite Sonic character and that may lead to confusion about Tails the Vulpix being named after Tails from Sonic. She is NOT named after him. I just thought that Tails would be a good in-universe nickname for a Vulpix since it has six tails...plus it's a very Orange-sounding nickname choice in my opinion. So that's why she's called Tails. I honestly wasn't even THINKING about Tails from Sonic when I chose it as this Vulpix's nickname, that's how well it fits this Pokémon species...and it fits Ninetales very well too, so if she ever evolves, she's still got the perfect name.