#I’m not easily understandable and I guess its fine

[myinterestsvary-writes]

Finished English Class this semester but am going to read this just because. I’m sorry that the book is tattered. There’s a lot of old, poorly maintained books in my house that only recently got out of boxes and were shelved.

[lost-in-fiction-like-ur-mom]

Hello friend 👋 wasn’t episode 4 of tbb amazing?? I’m loving this season. Wanted to pop in and request a fic - you know how when you’re walking your dog and everyone has to stop and say hello to the dog bc obvs. Can you do something like that but it’s crosshair walking batcher and reader stops to say how cute but then crosshair gets jealous of batcher getting all the love lol

Dog Days

Crosshair x Reader

Summary- You met Crosshair while he was taking Batcher for a walk. Passing your house quickly became a daily task you all looked forward to. Is it wrong to say you caught feelings for him? And was Crosshair really jealous of the attention you gave Batcher?

A/N- Hey girl! Sorry your request took so long to get around to. I didn't forget you! I want to personally thank you for all your kind words. I always see your liking and commenting on my works! This was such a cute idea!!! Crosshair is definitely the 'dad who didn't want the dog, but now loves it' guy. Thanks for requesting!

Word Count- 1,409

The scurrying of paws on tile caught your attention. You raised from your bent position, having been watering your plants outside your home.

You turned just in time to see a various colored blue animal running your way. The figure and attitude of it reminded you of a dog, but you were sure it wasn't.

The closer it got, you realized it was not slowing down. With a hiked breath, you squinted your eyes and prepared for impact.

"Batcher, stop!" A males voice rang out.

Just as commanded, the animal stopped at your feet. You opened your eyes to see it now sitting, tongue out. You blinked, heart still pounding.

"Sorry." Said the man, which you recognized as Crosshair. Him and the rest of his brothers had come back to Pabu after rescuing Omega.

"No, it's okay. Really, he seems sweet." The animal jumped to its feet as you reached a hand out. Your hand was soon met with slobber, as the animal licked you again.

"She."

"Oh, sorry. She seems sweet." You crouched down to her level, now fully petting her. You gave out a laugh as she now nuzzled into your face.

Crosshair crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. You took the hint.

"I guess I'll let you two get going. Have a nice day!" You stood, much to Batchers dismay. She already had a liking to you. She reluctantly followed Crosshair when he turned and walked away.

Only a day passed until you saw the two of them again. This time you had been leaving a neighbors house, needing some flour.

You of course, saw Batcher running down first. Crosshair slowly following. She barked at the sight of you, you didn't get scared when she ran at you this time.

"Hey girl!" You called out to her, but what you didn't expect was for her to actually jump on you.

It wasn't painful, but she did manage to knock the small bag of flour out of your hands. She had you playfully pinned under her, licking whatever she could.

The flour was also on top of you, and her, and the surrounding tile.

You gave out a cough, a white puff leaving your lips.

'Batcher, off!" Crosshair was frustrated at the scene. He had watched the whole fall.

Batcher didn't understand and happily ran over to him. You were still on the ground, slightly embarrassed at the turned heads.

A hand reached down to you, you grabbed it. Crosshair easily pulled you up. His strength took you by surprise.

"She hurt you?" He asked.

"I'm okay, I think most of the impact was on my butt." You rubbed at your hip, a dull pain arriving. It was going to bruise.

"How much flour was it?" He didn't seem to really care how you were doing.

"Uh, I think five cups? I was just borrowing it from my friend."

He hummed, Batcher was still at his side. She was awaiting his next command.

"It's fine, really. I know she didn't mean to." There was an awkward air around.

"I'll bring some tomorrow." Was all he said before turning and walking off.

He did bring the flour the next day, a bag double the size of what you had. You gave your neighbor her portion and put the rest in a jar.

You profusely thanked him, but he brushed it off and continued his walk.

To show your gratitude for the extra flour, you baked him a dozen cookies. You wrapped them neatly and carefully waited to see the two of them.

You found ways to busy yourself outside, trying not to make it obvious you were eagerly waiting for Crosshair. Oh, yeah and Batcher.

Upon hearing a bark, you ran inside to grab your fresh cookies. You raced back outside just in time to see Crosshair standing. He had his head turned, looking around. Was he looking for you?

"Crosshair?" His head shot your way.

"I baked you some cookies! As a formal 'thank you.'" He just looked at you, so you raised the cookies to him.

"Thank you." He said, fighting a smile.

"What did you say your name was?" It was your turn to smile at his question.

You promptly told him, trying not to grin too big.

He nodded.

"T-Theres enough cookies for the rest of your brothers, and Omega." You informed him. At his look, you felt your cheeks getting hot. He probably felt weirded out that you knew everyone's name, especially since he just learnt yours.

"Sorry..." You didn't even know what you were apologizing for, but you felt guilty for making things awkward once again.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, so don't apologize." His words were cold, but had a sense of affection in them.

At the new silence, you figured it was time to part once again.

"Have a good day, I hope you like the cookies." He actually waved this time, glancing over his shoulder to see you smile and wave back.

With each day that passed, you slowly got closer and closer to Crosshair and Batcher. Passing your house seemed to be on their daily walking routine.

A minute spent passing your house turned into taking a twenty or thirty minute break. You'd hold and play with Batcher while talking with Cross. It ranged from the weather to nightmares. You both found yourselves opening up to each other.

You quickly grew feelings for Crosshair over the weeks passed.

There were times you thought he felt the same, but the second you might have confessed or leaned in for a kiss- he'd change the subject. You just accepted that he didn't like you in the way you liked him. It hurt but you couldn't force feelings onto him.

You had started to notice that when you giddily ran to Batcher or held her tightly, Crosshair curled his lip- or gave out a glare. You picked up that he might be jealous of the attention you were giving her. Though, why would he be jealous if he didn't have any feelings for you?

It came to be a few minutes past two o'clock. Crosshair would be coming down any minute now. Though, your pesky bladder had you quickly running back inside.

When you came out, Crosshair was sat on your front porch. Batcher was at the ready, panting and hyper.

You greeted her first, dropping to your knees. She was more playful today, not leaving you alone.

"Oh, you're such a good girl!" You scratched behind her ears, she closed her eyes and wagged her tail.

You continued to play with her, she was rolling and doing tricks for you. Out of the corner of your eye you saw Crosshair stand. He crossed his arms, a scowl on his face.

"Such a pretty girl, so cute." You announced praises at her. Though not on purpose, you ignored Crosshair. She was on her back as you rubbed her belly.

"Why don't you get a room." He remarked, now obviously jealous of Batcher.

"Don't listen to him, Batcher! He's just grumpy and jealous." You were getting brave with your comebacks.

"I am not!" He was getting defensive.

"Shh, it's okay Batcher. Your dad is pretty cute too." You said, nuzzling her face.

"I am not her dad and i'm n-" Your words registered in Crosshairs head, the same time they did in yours.

You moved away from Batcher, the mood changed. It was silent for a moment, you looked at the ground.

"Okay I'll be leaving now." You stood to your feet, about to die of embarrassment. That was until Crosshair grabbed a hold of your wrist.

He forced you to face him. "Why?"

"Well gee Cross, I don't know. Maybe because I just said the dumbest thing ever. You think I don't know the feeling isn't mutual!" You confessed.

He stared for a moment, hand still gripping your wrist. You could tell he was contemplating something. That was until he made the last step forward and kissed you.

You felt light as a feather. He did like you back!

You could feel Batcher rubbing against your leg, but payed no attention to it. You were too lost in the kiss.

The two of you held each other, not puling away except to gasp for air.

"I guess I was wrong?" You panted out.

"You were far from being right." He just pulled you back in for another kiss.

A/N- Thank you so much for reading! I am so appreciative for your sweet comments HayBelle! Please let me know if there is anything you want changed in this fic!

Tags- (lmk if you want to be tagged as well!) @thethreeeyed-raven @knight-of-flowerss @dangraccoon

[mavnagerie]

crimson skinned

* blood is sweeter than strawberry wine

vampire! roronoa zoro x reader

summary: zoro gets turned into a vampire and a small inconvenience turns into a needy man chained up in the bottom of the sunny

warnings: SMUT. blood sucking/blood play, semi public sex, zoro is packing as usual. dom ish zoro, he’s a little insatiable as a vampire. fingering and unprotected sex, cream pie. non consensual vampire biting. NO proofread. WE DIE LIKE MEN. sanji is a big flirter… the usual

authors note: requests are open

Sailing the Grand Line has been nothing short of surprises. finding cultures you never even thought to possibly exist. species such as giants, hybrids, etc etc, it’s something new every week. but this week, this week was especially odd.

you and zoro had been an on and off couple for 3 years now, not so much a couple but a romantic convenience to each other. nothing was ever official but you never sought out pleasure in other people nor did you regularly buy flowers or go out to dinner together. but you slept together, kissed, held hands and he protected you like you were lovers.

so it was nothing odd when you realized that zoro had been bitten by something bad while the two of you were making out one night up in the crows nest. it wasn’t too late, the sun had just set, but while you were perched in his lap, licking his neck, he hissed at the feeling. you tasted it too, it tasted of a coppery essence.

you pulled away to see two large bite marks on the side of his neck, deep, and not dripping with blood but definitely dirty snd fresh.

“that hurt..” he grumbled, his head pressed back against the glass of the window.

“well i didn’t do anything, honey. you have something on your neck.” you let out a small laugh, grabbing his hand and placing his fingers on the two wounds. though he didn’t say anything, his eyes shot open.

“fuck i guess i got bit today, i thought i was dreaming it or i imagined it…” he sighed as he ran his fingers over the deep wounds.

“oh my god, on the island we were on?”

“yes it was by this giant bat.” he deadpanned, just thinking maybe chopper needed to clean his wound and he’d be okay… was he stupid?? had he not even looked in the mirror all day?

the room fell silent. your face dropped. knowing this island was dangerous, nami urged us to be careful, and to TELL CHOPPER if we had gotten bit by anything, ESPECIALLY a bat.

“zoro. you need to go downstairs and tell chopper and nami right now.” you grab his chin and pull him forward to meet your eyes.

“i don’t want to….” he grumbles.

“zoro!” you snap at him, not having to do anything else before you stand up, causing him to also give in, standing up to go down the ladder and see chopper.

“fine!” he groans as he opens the door and climbs down the ladder. you soon follow after him and run off to get nami while he finds chopper.

all of you were stuffed into choppers little doctors office, zoro laid on the bed while chopper cleaned the wound and put ointment on it. zoro talked to nami, describing the animal to her. she was looking through her book until she found something that matched the description, though this finding wasn’t comforting for her.

“vampire bat.” she read off the page. “the vampire bat distributes a venomous poison when biting its victims, although this poison doesn’t kill its human victims..” the others in the room let out a gentle sigh of relief before she continued to speak. “over the span of a week, it will begin giving humans vampire like features. sharp ears, teeth, golden eyes and sensitivity to light. it takes a full week for the victim to transform, an ointment can be easily made but materials are hard to find. without this ointment, after a week, the patient is untreatable.” she sighs as she turns the page.

“it talks about benefits to this problem but i’m not seeing many that help our swordsman protect us during our missions if it’s not at night.” namis eyes met you’re and you sighed.

“i understand.” you looked down at zoro on the bed, not budging as if the situation at hand didn’t scare him a little. acting all hard and emotionally inept always worked if he was scared.

“so how can we get that ointment made?” he pipes up, his voice low and gravelly.

“well, it says it’s all ingredients from the island we were just at. i assume we find them or buy them from the islands town, although if they caught on to us having a vampire on our ship, im not sure what they’d do.” she shrugs, looking at photos in the book.

“what does it say about needing to consume blood?” he asks a second question, becoming slightly more concerned about his future condition as time passes in the doctors office.

“it says it is not necessary for the entirety of your survival though, we may have the share the wealth if this proceeds in the week.” nami pushes her hair up behind her ear, looking down at the book. your eyes were staring down at zoros, watching his chest rise and fall as he processed the situation.

“i think the best course of action right now is just keeping an eye on you zoro. symptoms may worsen rapidly but it also just may be a very slow process. we can find out but i think we do need to make sure we keep someone looking out for you this week.” nami said as she stood up, looking over at you then to chopper.

“i can stay with him. i really don’t sleep that much anyways.” you said , going to sit on the edge of the bed, holding his hand.

“i’m sorry im putting our sailing on hold..” he throws his head back into the pillow.

“it’s okay zoro, you didn’t know.” chopper chimed in, smiling at the two of you.

“i’ll make sure to let the rest of the crew know.” nami said as she opened the door. “let me know if anything changes.”

you nod, holding his hand as she walks out. chopper looks at the two of you. “it’s best for him to stay down here tonight so we can keep an eye on him. i’ll make sanji set up a cot in the dining room.”

————

two days had passed since the original diagnosis. the crew had been busy trying to find the ingredients for the treatment on the island while you laid on top of zoro, sleeping in the shade of the tree. you had noticed him complaining about pains in his mouth and in his ears but you hadn’t really thought about it while you laid with your face in his chest.

the two of you rested peacefully but as the sun moved in the sky, zoro felt the sun on his foot and immediately shook awake, discomfort striking through him as the sun touched his tan skin. you awoke and asked him what was wrong.

“what is it?”

“the sun, it hurt me..” he whined. you knew that nami had said something about discomfort in the sun. you thought maybe it would burn him though all it did was seem to be a shock feeling that just proceeds while in the sun.

he sits up, pulling his feet in, pulling you up with him. you look up at him and push your fingers into his mouth, looking at his teeth. “oh no” you sighed. “your canines are getting sharper. no wonder you were feeling pain in your mouth.”

he sighed, annoyed at his situation and wished the crew could find a solution to his problem quicker, he knew if they didn’t today, it would just proceed to get worse. dramatic or not, zoro was feeling weird the entire week, getting more antsy and staying inside more. he also felt weak, not working out while he proceeded to change more and more. though, everything seemed normal up until one night.

everyone had been in their designated rest areas, him sleeping on the cot while you stood in the kitchen under a dim light reading a book, rather distracted by the reading, not paying attention to your resting boyfriend on the cot. staring at the pages you didn’t hear the very subtle and fast movements of the vampire until he was right behind you, grabbing you without warning, causing you to scream. already on edge from the lack of sleep but the sudden movement in the dark was terrifying.

your scream was guttural, crying out for sanji because in all of your time with the strawhats, sanji was always the fastest to save a girl in need. zoros arms tight around you, you could feel his breath against your neck before his hand clasped over your mouth. before he could do anything, sanji with a few others behind him come scrambling in, sanji getting zoro off of you and knocking him out cold, leaving you shaking, staring at the counter.

“you okay, mi amor?” sanji says, kneeling down on the floor to look at the swordsman with chopper while robin comforts you.

“i’m fine.” you sigh, knowing this was bound to happen.

“we’re almost done with the search for the items. i promise he’ll be back to normal soon.” chopper says, looking up at you with big eyes. you couldn’t be mad at his adorable face, you were just frustrated with the fact that they couldn’t fix him as fast as you wanted them to.

the next course of action was putting zoro in the bottom of the ship, away from the sun and everyone else, his hands chained to a post down in the bottom of Sunny. unconscious as usopp worked to chain him down. using some of the air dials to circulate fresh air through the dark room, awaiting him to wake up.

the straw hats took turns watching over him from afar while you got rest, though you could barely sleep over the idea of him waking up down there and either being worse than he was before or just scared like an animal. it made it difficult to sleep but robin tried to comfort you while you struggled to rest.

hours passed, he was still asleep as you finally woke up. it was close to ten AM and over half the crew was gone, trying to finish finding the items for zoro. it was just you, franky and zoro.

after waking up, your energy was finally replenished after a few almost sleepless days and you made you way around the ship, finding franky watching over zoro.

“is he still asleep?” you ask when appearing behind him. franky jumped before realizing it was you.

“i guess the both of you are rather sneaky.” he laughed. “yeah he’s woken up once or twice but only to just fall right back asleep…i think he’s waiting on you to fully come back to consciousness”

“ah i see. if you’d like, i’ll stay here and keep watch, you can go and do whatever franky things you need to do.” you glanced over at the moss headed vampire, slumped over on the floor.

“thank you, i’ll make sure to watch the ship while you’re down here. here’s the key for his locks so we don’t lose it. i promise.. we’ll get him better.” he smiled down at you before turning and leaving, leaving you alone in the dark hull, watching over your poor vampire.

as you got closer to him, missing his touch, you just wanted to be with him, you noticed the way his nose twitched and the way he stirred, knowing you were closer and shaking awake. he was fully conscious in seconds, realizing he was chained up and could barely move, thrashing around in his chains and cursing.

“what the fuck?!?” he shouts before he looks up to see you there, knowing that’s why he had woken up at all. he calmed down, shaking the anger from his limbs.

“why am i chained up?” he barks at you, annoyed. his words caused you to flip a switch, staring at him in disbelief.

“you tried to attack me last night?!” your arms were folded over your chest but flew to your side, raising your defenses.

“i did no such thing.” he glares at you, his sharp teeth poking at his lower lip. he was so cute…

“yes you did. you, roronoa zoro, snuck up behind me and tried to attacked me.”

he stared at you blankly, blinking silently. “hm.” he sighed looking away. “you just smelled really good…” he huffed.

“i’m sorry but you can’t drink my blood, baby.” you got down on the floor, balancing on your toes as you got closer to him. he leaned his head back against the post, looking up at you. he was filled with desperation.

“why not?” he pressed on, sitting up, wanting to be closer to you.

“mhh.. you could kill me..” you were folding. you were folding SO hard as you leaned down onto your knees, coming closer to him, placing your gentle hand against his chin.

“i would never do that to my princess” his smirk on his face revealed those menacing teeth. getting closer, your face was right near his, noses brushing against one another.

“zoro..” your voice came out hoarse before you pressed your lips against his. you could feel his chained hand up against the back of your thigh, urging you to come closer. before you knew it, your thigh was thrown over his waist, straddling his lap, deepening the kiss.

“cmon baby… unchain me..” he says against your soft skin. “you know you wanna…” he pressed his nose against your neck, inhaling sharply. “fuck you smell so good..” he groans, his hands grabbing at whatever skin he can touch.

“i can’t…” you sigh, your hips slowly grinding up against him.

“yes you can. i swear i won’t hurt you” his glowing eyes screamed danger but his voice soothed you into his body. before you knew it, you were pulling the keys out, fumbling to undo the chains. he groans loudly as he massages his wrists. acting as if he were normal again but you knew he was feral

“zoro” you mumbled against his lips , feeling his large hands against your stomach, grabbing at your sides. touching you as if he had never been able to put his hands on you before. he pressed his lips against yours, eating you up, wanting to tear you apart from the inside out. he guided your hips to grind against him again. he was so needy.

suddenly, you felt him moving, and with the sound of a growl, the wind is knocked out of you as you’re laying with the green haired vampire hovering over you. you heaved as he stared down at you with a need in his eyes. “you look so good…” he places his face in your neck, leaving you tense as you begged for him not to hurt you. he was so needy but you couldn’t tell if it was for your blood or for you… the way his nose was flush against your skin, you refused to believe it was just for you.

“zoro.. please..”

“please what, princess?” he moved his hands, intertwining his fingers with yours, holding them out, leaving you defenseless as his legs held down yours.

“don’t hurt me” your face was turnt up, eyes squinted shut.

“i would never do that to you, baby” he opened his mouth, his sharp teeth grazing over your delicate skin. “i just wanna taste you…”

before you could protest, acknowledge that he was about to lie straight to your face, he pierced his fangs into your soft skin, causing a loud cry to leave your lips. he moved a hand, planting it over your mouth as he began to drink your blood. tasting that bitterness of your perfume on your skin before the sweetness of your blood flooded his senses. as he began to suck at the new found wound, your cries turned into moans, arousal filling you as he placed his thick thigh between your two legs, pressed up against your cunt.

as your cries turned into moans, he removed his hand. he wanted to hear the beautiful noises coming from you as he felt you grinding against his thigh. he was sucking your blood until he was satisfied, leaving you a little lightheaded before he sat up so you could see his face. your blood coated his lips, his mouth was messy and his eyes glowed under the dim lighting of the room.

“you taste so good..” he sighed as he placed his lips against yours, forcing you to taste your own blood, though it didn’t take much for zoro to make you enjoy something as you placed your arms around his neck, pulling him in closer, licking his lips. your leg moved so that he could get a better angle, rubbing his thigh against you. you meekly moaned at the sensation, needing more.

almost missing the feeling of him sucking the blood from your neck. zoros hands snuck under your shirt, slowly pulling it up, urging you to move your arms so that he could pull it off of you, revealing your flushed skin. you couldn’t help but be lost, overstimulated, feeling brain fog as you let him pull your clothes off of your body.

“you lied to me..” you mumbled, watching him slowly pull your shorts off of your legs.

“no i didn’t..” he trailed off, slipping his hands under your back, clipping your bra undone and pulling it off, letting your breasts bounce free.

“yes you did.” you clenched your teeth at him, knowing the wetness between your legs disagreed with the anger you feigned.

“i didn’t because i know i heard those beautiful moans from your lips.” he pulled off his shirt, throwing it into the growing pile of clothes. his eyes were watching every part of you but your face, more focused on touching you and making you feel good rather than seeing that angry look on your face. you noticed that disinterested look on his face, but it wasn’t disinterest, it was him resisting.

he wanted to reward you for how good you were, how you didn’t squirm or anything away from him, you just let him take that sweet sweet blood. you watched his scar across his chest mold to the shape of his chest and abdomen. the way it dipped in the curves of his skin, while a sheen of sweat covered his skin. it was warm in the hull, that’s for sure.

zoro left his pants on for the moment, needing to touch you. his hands found your waist and pulled you close, placing his lips on your breasts, kissing you all over before sucking on your nipple, using his hand to please the other. the swordsman already had almost super human strength though being a vampire only helped him, as he used his other arm to tease your clit through your soft panties. abdominal strength for the win!

your lips parted, sighing at the touch, feeling your hands ball up with anger and unfurl as his lips attacked your skin. your hands found his back, nails dragging over his tanned skin as he teased you, his fingers expertly toying with your clit while he cured his oral fixation on your chest.

sharp teeth grazing over your sensitive nipples, leaving you gasping. pulling away, you see his sharp teeth catch the dim light in the dark room, shining under his lips. you had to admit, this zoro was attractive. you had always been attracted to him, but something was so different about him right now.

he leaned down to your mouth, taking you in a rough kiss, leaving you moaning against his lips as he pushed your panties to the side, touching your wet folds. your moans poured out against his lips.

“i love those noises” he speaks against your lips, pushing his middle finger into your cunt. “you sound so pretty. such a good girl” he pulls away so he can see your face, glossy lips parted while he slowly fingered you. something about his vampire persona was different, overall just a more dominant personality overcame him.

you prayed no one could hear you as you came undone on his fingers, moans filling the room while he pushed another finger into your cunt. his thumb pressed against your clit, rubbing circles in pace with his fingers pushing in and out of you. the sound was wet and loud of him fucking you with his fingers. he sat up while he fingered you, grabbing your hips and pulling you closer to him. he leaned back so he could see his fingers going in and out of you . “fuckk” he groaned. “look at that..”

“z-zoro… i’m close.. i’m gonna cum soon..” your head was thrown back, throat exposed. he could see the wound on your neck, feeling his dick twitch remembering your taste.

“cmon, you got it princess. cum on my fingers…” his tongue rests on his fangs, watching you hungrily as your hips buck into his hands, his name falling from your lips as an orgasm washes over you. the two of you hadn’t even really made out since he was bit, so needy didn’t explain how deprived you were of just his romantic touch. he was gratified to see you cumming on his fingers, watching you moan loudly while your walls squeezed his thick fingers.

watching you slowly come down from your high, he pulls his fingers out, bringing his hand to his mouth and licking his fingers clean before wiping them down his pants and pushing his arms underneath your back, pulling you up into his lap as he leans against the pole. you were recovering as your arms wrapped around his neck, kissing him deeply, tasting yourself on his tongue.

“i love you zoro..”

“i love you too, princess” he hums, lips soft against yours. his hands moved down to his pants, unzipping them and pushing them down. you moved so he could push them off, leaving you both staring at each other in just your boxers and panties. his cock was hard, throbbing under the thin fabric, a patch of wetness formed where his cock leaked precum. your hands found his cock and pulled it out of his boxers, stroking it while he hissed at the touch of your soft hands.

“oh baby..” he groans, his hands holding your hips, his thumb rubbing your clit through your panties while you stroked his cock.

“can i ride you?” you ask , your eyes looking longingly into his. your anger has long faded away, only really feeling needy for him.

“of course, princess.” he pushes his face into your neck, kissing your soft skin. taking your panties off would be too much of a hastle so he pulled the thin garment aside and helped you sit up in order to take his cock between your legs. the two of you uttered sounds of impatience as the throbbing tip rubbed between your wet folds. rubbing up against your swollen clit as you grinded up against him.

“princess, stop teasing me..” he sighs against your skin. “sit on it or i’ll do it for you.” his grip on your hips tightened a little. the threat didn’t scare you, it only excited you buy you were almost as impatient as him. he was so impatient but you pushed his cock between your folds, slowly sinking down onto it. his hands held you, his fingers pressing into your back in order to keep you stable while your hands held onto his shoulders.

curses spilled from your lips as you threw your head back, exposing that pretty place on your neck again. zoro licked his lips, eyes lidded, knowing that if he wasn’t careful he would lose control and take blood again. he just wanted to taste it one more time, although you sinking onto his cock helped distract from that need. your hands planted on him as you finally sank down on him, your clit rubbing against the minty green hair at his base.

“fuck..” he grumbles, watching as your weak moans pour from your lips as you adjust to the sheer size of his cock, it never gets old . he guides your hips, grinding them against him, leaving the two of you sighing at the feeling. “can you move baby?” he asked.

“mhm..” you nodded though your legs refused to let you move, leaving him needing to move you himself. “shit.. i can’t move.” you looked upset, annoyed that you couldn’t get your legs to push yourself.

“shh, it’s okay princess. i got it.” he speaks calmly as he wraps his thick arms around you, pulling you into his chest. his hands landed on the plain of your ass, holding your soft skin in his palms. your face was pressed into his shoulder while he began to slowly fuck you on his cock, pushing his hips into you while he lifted you up and down. your mouth was open, panting against his tanned skin, moans muffled as your teeth grazed his shoulder.

“i wanna hear you, princess. don’t hide your moans.” he speaks gently in your ear, using you to fuck his cock, moving you at a faster pace now. you placed your chin on his shoulder, tears built in your eyes at the overstimulation while he bounced you on his cock.

he could smell the wound deep in your shoulder, craving your blood. leaving his cock twitching inside of you as his calloused hands held your skin. he couldn’t help it when he placed his mouth on your shoulder, his lips wrapped around the wound again while his tongue licked the blood that had seeped out after he had punctured your skin. he moaned at the taste, pulling you even closer as he fucked you.

“f-fuck… zoro.. s-oo fast…” you babbled as he desperately fucked his cock into you, jaw slacked while he fucked you dumb. the tip of his cock battering your cervix while he dropped you down into it. “mhhh i’m gonna cum… zoro…” you whined, nails digging into his dark skin. he just moaned in acknowledgment, leaning forward, pushing you back.

“cum baby.. cum on my cock. i’m gonna fill you up but i need you to cum on my fucking cock..” he growled in your ear. his words sent you into a tizzy, immediately cumming on him without warning, your cunt squeezing around his cock, a loud sob leaving your lips as you came. he coaxed you through it.

“good girl..” he repeated as you babbled his name, still pummeling his cock into you. “fuck baby.. i’m so close..” he groans. “i’m gonna… i’m gonna cum inside-“ his voice is strangled as he pulls you down onto his cock, pumping you full of his cum. with you planted on his cock, his arms wrap around you, pulling you close to his skin. mumbling words in your ear. “princess” he sighs against you, his sharp teeth grazing against your flushed skin. you sat there, limp in his hold until he sat up, holding his hands on your waist.

he pulls back and stares at your pretty face and the way your hair clings to your sweaty skin.

“we need chopper to look at that bite.. im sorry if i hurt you..” it was almost like a switch was flipped, his behavior was reigned back to normal zoro behavior. no longer like he was acting like a vampire… it was the need of blood that really made him feral.

“hopefully they’ll have everything ready to turn you back..” you said , pulling him in to kiss him slowly. his lips are planted against yours as he carefully pulls you off his cock, cleaning your pussy with his fingers before licking them. he helps you stand as he does himself as the both of you collect yourselves.

he dresses you before dressing himself and kisses you once more, pushing your hair from your face.

“i’m not really sure if im allowed to let you out of here” you glance up at him, his dark eye looking down at you.

“you could chain me back up and pretend you never unchained me” he suggested, holding his hands out.

“the crew doesn’t trust your vampirish instincts right now. i think that’s the best call.” you sigh, watching him sit back down. as you chain him back up, you hear a knock at the door to the stairs. you look at him and plop yourself onto the ground, shouting for whoever to come in.

it was chopper and sanji!

“hey guys!” you smile up at them, glancing at zoro briefly before looking back at the two boys. chopper has something in his hand, appearing to be a bowl.

“i have the treatment!” he smiles, running over to the both of you. sanji following close behind him. chopper runs up to zoro, standing between his legs and holding the bowl out to him. zoro takes it from his tiny little paws and smiles at you over him before drinking it.

“it should start working within the next few hours, you’ll be fully healed in a day or two” chopper chimed in. “just let me know if anything worsens.”

zoro threw his head back, drinking down the sweet liquid. he could already feel his head clearing up as he put the bowl back into choppers paws.

“we’re gonna keep you down here until we fully know you’re healed.” sanji says to him, kicking his chains on the ground. zoro nods, a little frustrated.

sanji holds his hand out to you and allows you to stand up. “what’s that on your neck, princess?”

“hey-“ zoro gripes at him. “don’t call her that!”

you waved him off and moved your hand to cover your neck. “uh.. it’s nothing.”

“i bit her.” zoro says blankly, leaving the both chopper and sanji of them with their jaws dropped. sanji curses him loudly before chopper pushes at your legs, urging you upstairs, without many words just needing to get you into his doctors office to look at you. “sorry!” zoro shouts to you with a smile “i love you princess!!” he laughs as you turned your head back to him.

“i love you too zoro..” you sigh as all of you pile out of the hull, leaving zoro there, satisfied and sighing with a feeling of relief that he was no longer infected… pray to god that he didn’t also get you infected…

[soulprompts]

THE ART OF TIME SLIPPING. ( A PROMPT LIST! )

an absolute genius of a nonnie requested these, and i had a weekend off, and i wanted to write these because, i mean. time travel is a tasty concept on its own, but ACCIDENTAL time travel???? exceptional! anyway, my beloved nonnie, i truly hope that these are what you were looking for! and i hope everyone else enjoys them too! as always: DO NOT ADD TO THIS LIST OF PROMPTS! and do not claim them as your own!

FROM THE ACCIDENTAL TIME TRAVELLER:

“ look, i get it. I do. you have no reason to believe what i’m saying. but i promise you: i’m from the future. “

“ how many times do i need to tell you?! i’m not even born yet! you won’t see my birth records for months/years/centuries yet! “

“ wait… hold on a second, what year is it? “

“ you don’t even have the first idea what this feels like. i just found out that i somehow missed the last [INSERT TIME SPAN HERE] of my life, and in the blink of an eye. “

“ listen, this is going to sound mad, but… you’re my mother/father/parent [OR OTHER RELATIVE]. i can’t prove it, but you are. It’s the truth. i swear. “

“ i don’t understand how i came to your time. but i do know i need to get back to my one. “

“ i seriously wish you’d all stop asking me these questions! i don’t know how i got here! i just… slipped! it just happened! “

“ it’s so weird. all this stuff that’s going to happen between now and my time… i don’t even know if i should tell you about it. “

“ all the times i wanted to be alone, or i wanted to just be somewhere that nobody knew me… this isn’t what i wanted. “

“ i just want to go back to my own timeline. okay? I didn’t want any of this to happen. i never meant… this is so messed up. “

“ wait, you believe me?! i just told you a completely wild story about being from another time, and you just… trust that i’m being honest?! “

“ the wildest thing is, i didn’t do anything to get here. you know? i didn’t drive super fast, i didn’t turn a hot tub into a time machine. i just… i was home, then i was here. “

“ i guess there’s a risk it could happen to other people in my timeline, but i’m more concerned about me right now. “

" if i don't go back... there's no knowing what could happen. and if there's the slightest risk that you might stop existing if i choose to stay, then i don't wanna stay. your world needs you. okay? "

" hey. no matter what happens now, i want you to know that i'll never forget you. you believed me and my unbelievable story about time travel. that's not something that gets forgotten easily. "

TO THE ACCIDENTAL TIME TRAVELLER:

“ prove it. prove that you’re from a different time. then i might think about believing you. “

“ …sure… you’re from the future, yeah? okay pal, i believe you. so tell me, when was the last time you slept? “

“ this is some kind of dumb prank, isn’t it? wow. well done, well played, you nearly had me. jeez, time travel… that’s just next level insanity right there… “

“ i don’t know why, but… i think i’m going to believe you. it doesn’t make a single bit of sense, but fine. you’re from the future/past. “

“ how did you end up here? or should i say… now? “

“ haven’t you seen a single time travel movie? if you stay in this time, that could mess up the entire world! “

“ i… imagine this must be very weird for you. right? or is that the dumbest understatement of the millennium? “

“ if you’re from the past, then that means we should probably keep you away from the history books. it feels like a solid rule not to spoil your future for you. “

“ look, i can’t watch all those cheesy sci-fi flicks and then ignore the possibility that people can travel through time. “

“ no. no, i don’t believe you. i don’t believe a word of what you just said. but i figure i have nothing better to do, and i kinda wanna see where you’re going with this crazy story, so… let’s go out on a limb and say you’re telling me the truth. “

“ hey, i’m asking the questions here! you don’t get to just zap into my back yard and then assume you get to ask all these questions! who are you, and how did you get here?! “

“ did you live here before? or… like, in the future, i mean? “

“ the way i see it, there’s a lot of far easier lies to believe before you could ever expect anyone to swallow the whole time travel schtick. which probably means you’re telling the truth. “

" look. you wanna get back to your own timeline, right? that means we need to replicate everything that happened the exact second you showed up here. so let's go. "

" this is completely absurd! how did you end up here?! science? magic? how! this completely destroys any and all theories of quantum physics! you just... blinked into the past/future! it's just not possible! "

" from what you're telling me, it sounds like you could end up destroying the universe just by staying here too long. so let's find a way to get you back home. "

" you don't get it! if you're from the past, that means you need to stay there in order to keep this timeline safe. right? like the butterfly theory. if you're not there in the past, then you can't do your part to secure this timeline. we could stop existing if you don't go back! "

" i mean... would it really be so bad it you stayed? sure, a new timeline would exist, but... it'd be our timeline. where you and i get to stay together. that's not so bad, is it? "

[yourimagines]

Hey again! I loved your content on AngryGinge! I was wondering if you could do fluff content for ArthurTV? If not, it’s completely fine I understand! Thank you! 💕✨

Sorry that this took so long, I officially feel old because I didn’t know who he was 🙈 I’ve done some research on him. (Watching some videos.) I hope you like this one and I’m sorry it’s a shorter one

Podcast

* English is not my first language I apologise

* Gif is not mine

* Triggers: Swearing and fluff

- summary: you have a crush on Arthur

Y/N POV

Arthur asked me if I wanted to join him today on a podcast. A few others where there also like Chip and Calum. “Hey Y/N.” Chip greeted me as I arrived at the studio. “Hi Chip.” We both walked to the rest. Arthur was laughing with Calum. “Oh hey guys.” Arthur smiles at me, smiled shyly back. “You guys ready for today?” Calum asked us all. “Yes always.” Chip said while taking place on the set. “Okay then let’s get started.” Calum walks away to take a seat. Arthur smiles at me. “Let’s join them.” I nodded as we both took a seat. “I’ve never done a podcast.” “Don’t worry, Arthur will help you.” Chip laughs as Arthur pushed Calum. “Oh shut it.” I shyly looked at the microphone as the guys laughed about it.

“So we all seen the new movie talk to me right?” I shook my head. “No I haven’t.” “Why not?! It’s the best horror movie from this year.” Chip said to me. “Because I get scared easily, I don’t want to see a horror movie in the cinema, I wait till I can see it at home.” Calum laughs as Chip shook his head disappointed. “I can’t believe you….” I shrugged my shoulders. “Sorry I guess.” Arthur smiles at me. “We can watch it together then, I haven’t seen it either.” Calum gasped. “No way, come on guys..” “oh shut it Calum. Y/N and I will watch it together and then we come back to this topic again.” Chip starts to whistle, I blushed as Calum wiggled his eyebrows. “Yeah… watching the movie my ass.” Arthur laughs and shook his head. “Of course what else.” Chip made a kissing face. I was red as a tomato and hide my face. “Oh look at her!” Calum yells. “This is so not fair, you guys are making it weird.” I said into the microphone. “We?! Nahh you guys are so oblivious… just go on a date already.” I looked shyly over to Arthur who was smiling at me. “Only if you want” I nodded. “Yes, do you want it?” He nods. “Yeah for awhile to be honest.” I giggled at him. “Okay cool.” Chip and Calum high-fived each other. “Yess we did it again.” Arthur and I laughed at them. “Okay let’s move on…”

—— a few days later ——

“I heard you went on a date with Arthur.” Harry asked me as we were having lunch. “Yes, did you saw that video with chip and Calum.” “Yeah, you where embarrassed…” I nodded and sighed. “Yeah I’m still are.” “Why you like him and he likes you too.” “How do you know that maybe he’s just being nice and didn’t want me to be more embarrassed.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know, he does talks a lot about you when you’re not around. He smiles a lot when he sees or mentions you.” “Really?” He nods and took a bite from his food. “Yeah its getting annoying.” I hummed and took a bite from my food.

I was making a video with Harry as he got a call. “It’s Arthur.” I looked surprised as he answers the call. He made a silent movement to me as he puts him on speaker. “Hey Harry.” “Hello mate how’s going.” He smiles at me. “Good, I actually calling you about Y/N.” We both looked at each other. “Oh yeah, what’s about it.” “Well I’ve been on a date with her, was super nice but I don’t know if she wants to go on another one.” I smiled as Harry winked at me. “Ask her out then.” “You think she would love that.” “Mate you both like each other so yeah why not.” He gave me a thumbs up. “Yeah you right. Thanks Harry.” “No problem.” Arthur hangs up as Harry and I laughed. “See he totally likes you.” Then I heard my phone going off. I looked at my phone and saw Arthur’s name. “Oh my god.” “Pick it up your idiot.” I quickly answered the phone, putting him on speaker. “Hi Arthur.” “Hey Y/N, how you’re doing?” “I’m good, how are you.” Harry wiggled his eyebrows. “Good.. I was wondering if you want to go out on a second date.” I smiled brightly to my phone. “Yes I would love too.” “Really?! Uhh okay is tomorrow night fine with you?” “Yes that would be lovely.” “Okay cool. I’ll text you for the actual time… I see ya tomorrow then.” “Yes I see you tomorrow.” “Okay bye..” “bye…” he hung up and I did a happy dance. Harry laughs and joins me. “Oh my good Harry, I’m so nervous.” “Why you heard him he likes you, don’t chicken out now.” “I’m not just nervous about this.” I signalled with my hands around us. “It will be alright, you guys are totally in love, it’s makes me almost sick tho.” I pushed his arm. “Don’t be mean now.” “Hey I’m just saying..” we both laughed about it and started the video again.

—— date night ——

We where at a mini golf arcade. Arthur was winning the game. “Ugh not fair.” He laughs as my ball missed the hole. “It’s okay, you did your best.” He patted on my shoulder as I throw the ball in. “I’m hungry let’s eat something.” He nods and grabbed the golf stick. “Let me carry these to the counter.” I smiled and gave it to him. He walks over and gives them to the young girl behind the counter. She smiles and checks him out. ‘The disrespect of her.’ He waves and walks over to me. “Okay done, let’s eat something now.” We both walked next to each other to the food court. Our hands brushing slightly against each other’s. I got a light blush on my cheeks as we walked in.

“So favourite game.” I started to think. “Favourite game, I think at the moment party animals..” he nods. “Yeah that’s a fun one.” “What about you?” “Uhh I don’t know, I like a lot to be honest.” I nodded and took a sip from my drink. “I hope we can do this more often..” he looked at me with his beautiful smile on his face. I started to get shy and smiled. “I hope so too.” He carefully grabs my hand. “I like you for a while now, I hope you feel the same about me.” “Yes I do..” he squeezed my hand slightly. “I hate it that they were right about us, imagine all the bullying.” I groaned. “Oh yes especially from Chip and Calum.” We both laughed. “I hate them already.” “Yes me too, I can see the looks on their faces already.” He laughs and nods. “We need to protect each other from them, I have your back if your have mine.” “Don’t worry Arthur I have your back 100%.” He pulls my hand to his face and slightly kissed it. “Thank you..” I blushed at him. “No problem.” We both sat there for a few more minutes. Smiling at each other as two crazy love birds who just confessed their feelings.

[roturo]

Hey there, I just found your blog and hope u have great day! May I request Gojo x small boobie reader since yk.. 🥲 u can add comfort if u want or not its up to u though 🤷‍♀️ i guess hes a canon tit guy due to his wallpaper was Waka Inoue but still i wonder how he'd react to his partner. Stay hydrated and take care of urself 🙏

SMALL BOOBS? NO PROBLEM!

warnings: smut, angst, unprotected sex, cunnilingus, fingering, dacryphilia, whimpering, insecure reader, p in v sex, praising, nipple biting, biting words: 1k.

A/N: is this me crying bc of one of my insecurities?, no, that's not me.

The first time you saw his wallpaper on his phone, it kinda broke your heart. You didn’t understand why of all the girls he has met, he chose you.

A man as handsome as him could easily get a girl with a big chest. So when he asked to be your boyfriend you thought he would just play with you.

The both of you already had sex some other times ago without making anything official. 

So when he planned to become your boyfriend he noticed your demeanor turning quieter, almost like you’re scared of something happening.

He tried to ask what’s wrong but you would always say anything is fine and give him a kiss to make him forget about that.

Which worked really well, until you became distant, not totally, but him watching you not wanting to be part of his go outs with friends, or not even going out with him, it caused him to be insecure of this relationship.

And he started noticing you covering up more of your body with clothes bigger than you. He didn’t like that. He loved your body.

So when things started to heat up one day and you said you weren't in the mood he finally broke down.

‘Baby what's wrong? You’ve been so different these days, am I doing something wrong? Did you find someone else?’ His voice sounded like it was about to break, never in his life he felt so vulnerable, the fear of losing you was eating him alive.

‘Please tell me what’s wrong,’ He cupped your cheeks with his hands, tears forming in your eyes, he looked at you, ‘I’ll fix it baby, please.’ His face changed from fear to sadness when he watched you break crying. Without a word he hugged you, keeping the comfortable silence in the room, ‘I’m sorry ‘toru…’ he pulled apart from your brace and looked at you confused. ‘What do you mean?..’ Your hiccups trying to remain your cries broke his heart. ‘I-im not the type of girl you want.’ It’s like his heart was cut into a thousand pieces when you said those words, ‘What? You’re totally the girl I want, why do you think that?’ He cupped your face again, 

‘Y-your  wallpaper.’ You made a gesture pointing his phone with your chin, your gaze immediately looking away from Gojo. ‘What’s wrong with my wallpaper?’ His brows furrowed, moving his body to grab his phone from the nightstand and then showing it to you.

It was a picture of the both of you. You are hugging him, face hidden on his chest while he smiles from teeth to teeth, eyes scrunching and hugging you back like his life depended on it. 

The background was full of trees, you remember it was the day he asked you to be your boyfriend. On the right side of the picture there’s a heart with your initials next to it.

Tears formed again in your eyes, turning his phone to search for anything related to his favorite actress, you saw his clear phone case with a polaroid he took of you one day the both of you went for a walk. You were eating an ice-cream, probably laughing at something Gojo said.

You looked so pretty.

You broke down crying again, feeling guilty. You explained to your boyfriend why you were acting like these and the insecurities you had, making you hide your body from yourself and him.  

He broke down crying too, he immediately hugged you, thinking what he did for you to make you think that down of him. ‘I’m so sorry baby, before we were together I was scared to use a picture of us since maybe you felt uncomfortable, my eyes belong to you, I don’t care if you have small breasts, you’re the most precious thing in my life. Every part of your body was made for me and it’s perfect that way, you don’t have to hide it from me.’ He connected his lips with yours, making you leave an unexpected moan.

His kisses started marking your neck and continuing what you were up to before. Í’m going to show you how much I love you baby.’ His hands traveled down your body and got under your shirt. Pinching your right nipple with his thumb and index finger, making you whine at the sudden action. ‘I’m so sorry princess, i’m so sorry for not telling you everyday how perfect you are,’

He undressed the both of you while giving you quick pecks which made the both of you giggle, his kisses on your neck went to your chest and he inserted one of your nipples inside his mouth. You moaned, while his free hand played with your other nipple, ‘So perfect f’me’

His free hand slandered through your body until it met your wet lips and started playing with your clit, teasing your hole, making you moan. His mouth switched to the other nipple, inserting his middle finger while he rubs your clit with his thumb. ‘My pretty girl, mine and only mine.’

You whined at the sudden lost sensation of his fingers inside of you, but that whine turned into a silent moan when he inserted his cock inside of you. ‘so ready and wet f’me. This pussy is mine. Your body is so beautiful my love.’ 

His thrusts were slow but hard, every thrust followed by a praise after it. Sloppy kisses between the both of you, and him just exploring your body with his hands like he didn’t do it a million of times before. But this time it was appreciating it, leaving his touch for you to remember how much he loves you no matter what.

‘Cum baby, mph-’ His words were interrupted with a whimper when he felt your hole clench at his words, ‘Let’s cum at the same time.’ His rhythim suddenly changed into a quicker pse but still hard thrusts. Whimpers felt out of his mouth, tears also forming on his eyes, all you could do was moan and say his name like a prayer.

‘A-Ah! So pretty… so perfect.’ The last thrust sent a sudden electric shock between the both of you, all you could see was white, legs shaking, he groaned in your shoulder before biting on it. His cock strips of cum coming out and filling you up.

‘I love you baby, never forget that.’

[akunoniwa]

Prying

AN: i feel kinda evil bc the ending is sorta abrupt but this shit was getting too long babes... unless?

Synopsis: In which you and Dottore discuss pet names in conversation at first, putting them to good use not too long after...

Pairing: Il Dottore x fem!reader

Warnings: MDNI, Dottore finds your humiliation to be v irresistible..., use of 'master', 'daddy' (once! hear me out lmao), etc., mirror sex

WC: ~5.2k (she's long-winded, sorry, i think...)

You don’t understand the appeal.

As soon as you mentioned off-hand to Dottore that you didn’t understand why some thought it was hot to refer to their partners as ‘daddy’, he wouldn’t let you live it down. Not only did he find this addictingly humorous, but he also found himself curious… Perhaps you just never put it to proper use. Before you mentioned it, he didn’t have any opinions on the matter, let alone knowing it was a matter to begin with. But the fact that you were basically telling him that you would feel so degraded, so violated if you were to actually call someone this… He wanted to know, he wanted to weaponize this somehow, jokingly of course… He thinks.

“It’s just… Like, that’s how you address your father as a young child… Ya know?” You turned your head in the crux of your pillow towards him. You both lay in a leisurely type of bare, simply winding down from the day. Dottore had long set his book down, charmed by this topic.

“Well, wouldn’t it just… I’m not sure, darling… Some people are just so desperate to feel small, but I couldn’t tell you why or when it began. Sounds morbidly incestuous, to a degree.” You scanned his defined profile as he looked at the ceiling in thought, more committed to this investigation than you expected.

“Right? Like, why not ‘master’ or even… I dunno, someone not related to you?” You were waiting for this very reaction from him, a smirk pushing his fine smile lines to be visible.

“You never seem to call me any of those things…” Somehow the smirk dressed itself as a pout before your eyes.

“I– You never asked…? I don’t want to just randomly address you as something that might make you feel… Uncomfortable.” You must’ve forgotten who you were speaking to, a man who never seems to falter, a seasoned masochist. Even still, you stood your ground… In truth, the prospect of calling him anything other than his name simply embarrassed you, but you tried to keep that close to your chest in secret.

“I suppose you’re right.” He chose to respect your reasoning, “What if I asked?”

“Then I guess… If that’s what you like, I would do it.” You spoke matter-of-factly. In addition to the inherent embarrassment, you honestly found it hard to want to call anyone, any of those names, as you don’t usually give in that easily. This was something that only added fuel to his enduring fire, your playful resistance, the process of melting away your pride and dignity… All for him.

“You don’t even use my official title anymore. It’s almost funny, you’re the only one I like hearing my given name from, though usually, it’s only in here that I hear it.”

“Because you asked, you buffoon. You asked me to call you that because you told me you liked it.” You couldn’t keep a hold of your laughter any longer.

“Did I?” He remembers the day he did so, but found too much enjoyment in teasing you as he stroked his chin in faux thought.

“Maybe you should call me ‘master’.” Your giggles were running circles around the room.

“Would you like that?” He turned his head to you, his eye contact haunting you briefly, “Unlike a certain darling, I wouldn’t feel embarrassed to honor your filthy little wishes.”

“I said I would!”

It was his turn to chuckle, his deep voice resounding gently above you like its own duvet, “But you’d be reluctant, as you just informed me. Unfortunately, I find it amusing when you’re out of your comfort zone because I can tell when you’re just being your shy, bratty, self. You’d tell me otherwise.”

“Then we can both be masters.” Your laughter caved like a burst dam, dying at the thought of how ridiculous that’d be.

His face was hysterical, lips pressed so hard they’d lost their color as he tried not to let his laughter free, “I don’t know how that’d work… I don’t think we’d get anything done. Would we both be on our knees or just in a stalemate of power stances?”

“Stop– Stop talking.” The laughter was making your stomach tickle, unable to stop as he continued the hypothetical.

He rolled on his side to face you completely, “If we’re both standing in the power stance, how would one bend the other over their knee? It’s a logistical failure, darling.” His hand snuck over to gather a tear from your reddened face as your giggles died down. Perhaps being a buffoon wasn’t so bad if he got to hear your true laughter emanate from your infectious smile.

“I’d say we fight for the title, but… You’ve told me in various ways how you prefer to be the loser in that situation.”

“Try it,” you suggested, “Just try calling me master once, I wanna know how it feels.” A delicate, mischievous smile still lounged on your face.

An opening unlike any other, he’d overpower you with what you thought would be your pedestal. The sounds of blankets shifting flooded your ears as he moved to straddle over you, his powder blue hair hanging in ornate waves around his face.

“Is this not cheating?” You placed your hands on his blazing chest above you, your eyes lingering on how his arms flexed to hold himself over you.

“Only if you tell me it is… Master.” He didn’t hesitate, his eyes a deep, sappy scarlet, “You make the rules.” He referred to you like this so languidly, so heavily as he awaited what you might do next.

“I suppose I’ll allow it… I don’t feel very masterly when you’ve got me caged like this.” You took a liberty only the one ‘in command’ would, experimentally pinching his raised nipples for a reaction.

His long lashes fluttered as if a moth were shaking off dew. God, he wished you’d never stop, but he didn’t want to say that just yet, “Wouldn’t a master simply… Take control?”

He bent his arms to allow for his upper body to lean into you, his lips, taut once more in his trademark smirk, nearing your left ear, “Or… are you already stepping down?”

He felt your right hand slide down his front, anticipating your touch to collide with his exposed length, unfortunately the only thing he couldn’t conceal. He was easily aroused by you, though he was discovering… Toying with you like this, almost a perfect balance of submission was making his body rage for you. His willingness to even think someone had the higher ground was only because of you, finding that… Maybe he didn’t mind being controlled by you. But what really riled him was the thought of that pretty word leaving your mouth, so exasperated, barely able to think about anything beyond him.

Your hand sunk slowly against his searing, rigid body, not surprised to find he was already hard, his cock pronounced as it hung over you. You’d debated on touching him or not, but something about taking him into your hand was addicting… Just stroking his length, pulling on him deliberately from shaft to tip, as if you had him caught on a leash of your touch.

His voice, no matter the words or sounds that he used it for, was the key to your demise, deep with an alluring timbre. Quickly your mind was reminded, that he is the Second Harbinger… People find this man to be deplorable and menacing, his voice is only heard making barbaric commands or bickering with other deplorable, menacing Harbingers. All for good, supported, reason. But here, on top of his usual stony tone, grew flowers through the cracks of his demeanor, pollinated as you stroked him. His lips were so close… His shameless, sodden groans fall right into your ear. He was effortlessly always in control, knowing how susceptible you are to him.

“Don’t you want to tell me what to do, Master?” You wanted to punch him as he whined this into you, though not without defiance, his tongue shocking the helix of your ear, a trail of ice left behind. He wouldn’t dare allow himself to miss how your breath lurched in your throat.

You responded with a harsh enough pull on his cock to only remove your hand altogether, “You’re too good at this…” Not that you could mind too much. You pushed his chest in a way to urge him off of you, to which he easily obliged as you both switched places. His length pressed against his lower stomach as you sat over him to grind your pooled wetness along the underside.

“How long do you want to play pretend, darling?” You felt his hips gyrate up into you ever so slightly, “You clearly cannot get out of your mind, too busy wishing I was taking over it.”

You thought for a moment, wondering how you could catch him off guard… How you could make him lose himself, even for just a second. Your uncertainty was making it difficult, “How about…” You hesitantly removed yourself from him to retrieve a toy from your bedside drawer, laughing inwardly, almost nervously at his impending reaction.

He wouldn’t mind what you brought, his intrigue piqued as you revealed your futile efforts to best him in his own game. Your choosing a dildo could mean a few things in this situation… Did you want to fuck him? Was he to watch as you fucked yourself? He waited with bated breath, already missing your heat against him.

You returned to your position, a buzz of pleasure shooting through both of you at the continued contact. He’d do anything at this point, just wanting to see how far you’d go so he could obliterate you equally and more afterward.

After briefly taking it into your mouth, you dragged the wet tip along the center of his front, all the way up to his chin, “Would you suck cock for your master?”

A foreign feeling, not unlike pleasure, barrelled through him as he saw the look he was waiting for in your eyes, “You’re asking me?” Chills trickled through his body, all the way up through his nose as a pleased sigh.

“Be good for me… All you have to do is open your mouth…” You strung him along, though he was too turned on to care, parting his lips to allow you to slowly push into his mouth. He could feel your legs tensing on either side of him, your clit throbbing against his cock as he did so… This was so good.

“I wanna see your eyes.” You weren’t so much dominating him but rather he willingly entertained you by playing along, this is what he told himself anyway. Looking into your soul as his lips clung to the rubber so sweetly, his dextrous tongue working with more enthusiasm than you expected… You didn’t think he’d look so pretty doing this.

Once his spit generously coated the dildo, you dragged it from his mouth, depriving his twitching length of your sopping pussy as you sat between his opened legs. Opening your own, wide enough that he could see the lustrous stage you’d set. You easily slid the dildo, gleaming with his saliva, into your beckoning cunt as he was made to watch.

Well played, he thought… You looked so beautiful as your cunt clung to the dildo that was just in his mouth, your contorted face making it evident that you simply wanted to be filled… Your pace was slow with purpose as you imagined him fucking you like this… He wanted so badly to be inside you, to hear your abashed, small, voice call him dirty things. You swore you saw his cock jolt with impatience. 

His right hand lunged unhurriedly towards his sex, but you swatted it away, “You’re only allowed to watch.”

His lovely voice shaped as a threatening laugh met your ears. Threatening as in he’d let your antics wrack up to be used against you at the right time. His eyes were forced to shade themselves as he looked down over his toned torso, watching you intently. The only way you would be able to dominate him would be by his own hand… or cock. You had so many opportunities to learn from his example, though your mind was probably checked out at that point.

His movements to resist your words ceased, watching as you increased the pace of your self-assault, glorious sounds of your wetness snapping into his ears. His lower lip tucked between his teeth, your left hand playing mindlessly at the soft skin of his upper thigh… He couldn’t help but feel the fault lines of his heart threaten to burst at the lovely sight before him. It felt like his gaze alone was propelling your hand, the tension was caustic and heavy.

You brought yourself to the edge of your release, movements shaky as you caged over him like he’d done to you before. You only had to bring the toy to his lips for him to gladly collect your sweet, his moans, deeper than the Chasm, almost infusing with it as he did. He loved how your eyes branded him as you watched… Maybe you were learning something after all… How to adeptly destroy him, one glance at a time.

Setting the dildo aside, at this point, you just wanted to kiss him. His lips were glossed with a brew of spit and cum, but that only made it more enticing. Like leaves brushing against each other in a gentle breeze, your lips found his. His whole body felt particularly sensitive, your nips at his lips almost a tickle as you teased him. That is, until he captured your face between his hands, lifting his head to press up into you. It felt like the kiss had been placed into a kiln, searing and intense as he was exposing how much he just needed to have you. His heart attached to yours like jumper cables, reinventing what yearning felt like as his tongue swam against yours, disregarding aesthetics and grace.

You both were only left more of a mess than before. As you parted, briefly a salty thread of combined spit, like a spider web, hung between your lips before snapping silently.

His hands pressed down along your curves as if shaping clay, pausing at your waist. Your arms were growing tired, and you couldn’t keep your mind off the gravitational pull of your throbbing cunt, knowing how his cock merely sat in wait. You wanted to lay on his chest… For some reason, his grin only grew.

“Was it worth it? Do you feel transformed, master?” He batted at you with his words like a cat playing with its prey, knowing it was his turn, whether you decided that or not.

“You did well, darling.” You commented in a voice that mocked his own, causing you both to laugh in unison for the second time. Your head dropped in a forfeit as he squeezed your sides.

“Making fun of me, now… I see.” He clicked his tongue, returning to the program that he would see through to the end, “Go stand by the stool in front of the mirror.” He ordered as his hands dropped in time with a sensation of excitement in your stomach, starting with his interpretation of this act.

You obeyed, the kinetic flow of wanting to please leading you to where he directed. You were made to observe your naked body, though distracted when he approached from behind and sat beside you on the stool, “I want you to lay over me, your pretty ass perked for me.”

He could see a familiar gleam in your eyes that sent him universal, knowing you were following his every word like footsteps in snow. Bridged over his legs, his right hand found your plump ass as if it were a magnet, caressing your supple skin. You knew what his intentions were, though, bracing for how and when he’d deliver his first blow.

“Do you truly think, darling… That you’d be able to overpower me without me letting you?”

Whatever your answer was, he wanted to feel the recoil regardless, “You’d just tell me your submission was ‘playing along’ even if I did.”

His hand lifted but a few inches to collide with your ass cheek, gathering your flesh in his hand like a duvet, “It’s against your nature...”

You reeled in how he assumed his harsh demeanor so effortlessly, “Do you think the other Harbingers know you’d clearly bow to my will under your guise of controlling the uncontrollable?”

This clap to your ass felt more personal, making you wince as a squeak snuck out of your throat, “I don’t give a single fuck about those insolent boors. I’d not admit your curiosity in them, though you know I’ll just hit you harder.” Your eyes locked on his own in the mirror as he had well already caught onto your antics.

“So it goes… Perhaps I do wonder about them.” You pushed the topic over the cliff, the punishment he’d give could only really be a reward.

He tried to not allow his heart to be swayed by your taunts, “You think they aren’t familiar with your pathetic moans coming from my office?”

“If they’re anything like you, that’d only intrigue them further, I would think…”

Smack.

This time you gave him a moan of rejoice, growing addicted to the sting, his hand falling over the crest of your ass to explore your cunt. Your wetness overflowed to coat your clit as it threatened to drip, loving his aggression.

“Hmm… I’ve barely grazed your desperate cunt until now, and it seems you’re trying to insinuate something foolish. Then tell me, my sweet, insatiable, darling, what or who is it that you want?” His middle and ring fingers pressed into your soaked, petal-like lips, coaxing you to answer. 

You were debating… Should you weaponize another man’s name to provoke him… It feels like foul play, as you really had eyes for no other madman but himself, he knows this well. But what if…

“You’re always hanging around that opulent-looking one with glasses… Pantalone, was it?” You chose to improvise listlessly with war anyway.

He gritted his teeth, eyes diverting away from you for the first time. He knew you were just trying to play the cards you had, God, he knew. But something inside could not prevent the inherent, possessive tendencies from making some kind of appearance. Of all the Harbingers, of course you’d choose Pantalone as your mode of combat. He’s such a duplicitous excuse of a man.

His two fingers plunged into your hole, he watched as the muscles in your back tensed, feeling your front wriggle over his legs, “I see how he looks at you, darling. He is so acquainted with wealth, he’s used to having everything available to him… He sees you with me and knows his ability to be conscious of his own existence will be compromised if he even thinks about touching you.”

His hand retracted to instead give your weeping clit a generous slap, the wetness enhancing the sound, then sinking back into you. His lithe fingers felt so dizzying as they paced against your spongy walls, how could you think of anything but that?

“Really, I brought it up because the thought of them seeing you like this turned me on, not because I want to fuck them.”

“Invariably, if they somehow saw me like this, you’d be the only logical cause… Look in the mirror, look at yourself.” His free hand slid under your face to push your cheek in the mirror’s direction, “Who are you bent over so pitifully for right now? It almost sounds as if you’d like an audience…” He noted where your eyes were as you followed his roaming hand at your backside, “Tell me.” He demanded, swatting your ass once more. He couldn’t chain back the grin on his face, waiting to see which title you’d attempt to christen him with.

You weren’t about to give in to what he wanted most, your pure humiliation…, so you opted to at least repay him equally, “You, Zandik… Master.”

“Really…” His fingers returned to your sopping cunt, more so as a reminder rather than a means of pleasure, “I think you know what I want to hear… I’ll give you another chance.”

Your face cringed slightly, though that wasn’t enough to disguise the way your hole clenched around his stilled fingers at the thought, “Fuck…”

He hunched down to ensure his words were clear, “You brought this up… It was eating away at your mind so badly that you thought it was safe to bring it up to me? It’s at the tip of your little tongue, darling… Your face is such a tender shade of red…” His hand pumped slowly into you, as if to lure it out of you with his feigned compassion, “Tell me, pretty baby, whose fingers are inside you right now.”

Your eyes looked to the supposed heavens for a moment, “I hate you.”

He scoffed sharply, “That sounds more in character… You’d be such a contemptuous little brat for me…” He gathered your hair haphazardly, pulling your head upwards, somehow amplifying his ministrations, “Go on, who’s got you bent at his will.” His tone was low though infected with his shit-eating grin.

“Fine– You… Daddy.” Your voice had almost entirely checked out. You knew he wouldn’t let you leave this position until you did so.

He laughed a riot right into your ear, though hissed like the snake he is afterward at the sheer pleasure of winning, maintaining his pace, “You look as if you could hurl, darling, but I don’t think I’ve felt your cute cunt clench around me quite so hard… You’re dripping down my fingers, I ought to make you clean this mess up.”

You whined as he increased his pace, egging you on, “That’s right… So fucking tight…”

In actuality, he didn’t care much for the pet name but rather just your adorable embarrassment, so he decided he wasn’t convinced, “Why not embrace it a little more…” Getting you close to the edge, retreating his hand only to prod at your lips, “Why not taste your humiliation, since you hate calling me ‘daddy’ so much? Hmm?”

You were shivering as the denied orgasm left you high, though not so much dry, taking his slender fingers into your mouth. Your tongue weaved between them so as to clean them completely, his eyes sharp, jabbing into your face as he watched. That feeling again, as if an hourglass had been flipped, all the blood rushed to his core as he fucked your mouth with his hand. When he was satisfied with your work, he slowly dragged his soaked fingers along your back to trace back down. You shook at the chilling trail it left.

“Hmm,” There was an arrogant triumph to his voiced sigh, “So sensitive, too… It drives me crazy, darling.” He moved to grip your waist, urging you off of him, “I wonder… Would you suck cock for your master?” His words wagged their fingers in your ears as he adjusted you to sit on your heels before him.

“And you say I talk shit?” You ran your hands flush up his parted thighs, observing how cute his folded tummy looked as he sat, watching you. His faint happy trail, the glazed plains of his pale chest in contrast to his florid, angular face. For a moment, he said not a word, realizing how desperately he required your touch, in any capacity. His cock leaned heavily to the side, as if in its last attempt of an exhausted taunt for your lips. Your hands closed in on him, his eyes fluttering as they gently pulled at his flushed length.

“I love it when you moan for me…” You mentioned as an aside before taking his swollen tip between your velveteen lips. His head fell back, and a groan, like a smoke ring, hovered to the ceiling.

His fingertips pushed their way through your hair, though with no other intent but seemingly to distract himself from losing himself too soon. He played with your hair almost domestically, petting you along as you took as much of his throbbing cock as you could. You could tell he so badly wanted to buck into your mouth, your hands gripping him at the pivot of his thighs and hips as he writhed… You wished he’d let you in on this kind of raw desperation more often, as this version of him played in your mind so sweetly.

“Such a good girl for me, fuck.” He’d never called you that before, but the sensation it conveyed in your brain felt as if your soul had fallen out of the window of your body. He had you where you couldn’t refute it, making you swallow that, too, without resistance, “I knew you’d like that…” He laughed wickedly despite his exasperated state, and it felt so good, “My good girl…” He almost sang it down to you the second time, making your chest waver, coasting your hands upwards against his tense torso. He untangled his hands from your hair, easily blanketing yours against his waist, effectively lulled by the lush of your touch.

His fingertips dragged down the stretch of your arms, over the horizon of your shoulders to round back to your face, causing you to pause in wait. Your eyes lazily gravitated up to his own, his face was tipped as he peered over his nose in his lecherous way, “Come here, darling, where you belong…”

Upon your standing, he twisted you around between his hands to face away from him, then pulled down at your hips to finally lower your pliant, sobbing cunt onto him. The friction of his firm chest against your back alone was tantalizing enough, his hot breath steaming your skin from behind making your body slack in his grasp. A hand left your side, gripping his length to align himself. The initial pleasure of his tip making contact with the magma that was your arousal against him was suffocating, your eyes heavy with refined lust, though you couldn’t tear them away. He lowered you onto his cock at a meticulous speed, so dreadfully slow, you swear you could feel his pulse. His groan of contagious desire shot through your spine as you watched him disappear inside you as he left you to sit completely full of him for his own amusement.

“Look at you, pretty darling, how you like to watch yourself take my cock so beautifully.” His wet lips played on your shoulder blade to leaf between his words, “How I wish this very image were branded into my mind…” Moving towards the crook of your neck, your head inadvertently swayed to the side to allow access, his hands forcing your hips to grind in his lap. His teeth brushed over the sensitive base of your neck, your shoulders raising as he teased your skin. You felt as if you were losing your grip on a certain aspect of consciousness, the way his thick length stirred inside you, brushing and shocking every nerve.

“Keep moving just like that…” He instructed in a whisper as his hands left to tend to your breasts, adding yet another layer of dizziness as he pinched and kneaded. He loved the way the soft skin of your ass brushed against his inner thighs, your cunt tied and bowed around his shaft so perfectly. He’d pause at your neck here and there to peek at your face, a delirious focus on maintaining your movements… Your precious sounds that now flowed shamelessly from your lips, he truly could never get enough of you.

You tried to lift yourself, needing to be properly rearranged from the inside out, but he halted your attempt, unraveling a whine, “I know, I know… My good girl has been working so hard…” His eyes fixated on how your slick literally overflowed, trickling down to his balls in a lewd stream. How you squeezed around him upon that name… It was too much for him to bear, “You really do like that, huh darling?”

“Mmhm…,” is all you could manage, your thighs twitching impatiently, an indescribable feeling winding up your body, “God, please just let me move.”

“I didn’t even have to ask you to beg, you sorry little thing.” He guided you to lift, your vision flickering at the sheer strength of the awaited friction, “Tell me more… How much do you want me to fucking destroy you?”

You gave in to his game, unable to resist, “So badly, Zandik, please.”

Finally, your hole just barely reached the precipice of his raging cock, holding you there, “I could make you cum just like this, giving you only what you barely need as you wished I’d fuck you right– Please what?”

“Fuck… Please, please fuck me, I need your cock… Please.” You squirmed as your voice was hoarse and almost unfamiliar to even yourself as you pleaded.

He slammed you down onto him easily, given how soaked you were, hardly able to wait himself, “When you’re this wet, I would think my cock is the only thing you need.” He talked both you and himself into oblivion, sticky slick between both his and your thighs accentuating the frantic collision of your bodies. His fingers were soldered to your waist, gripping you as he moved your body at his pace, watching as your breasts flailed rhythmically in his thrusts’ wake. He wished there was a way to consume the buttery noises you were making on top of him as his own bled into them.

You adored how his lips hung open, how his brows tensed upward as he exhibited both complete focus and abandonment, his mind devoted only to the way he fucked you in this moment. You found him infuriatingly handsome as it is, but to see him so breathless, his vast vocabulary reduced to exclusively vile taunts, he was utterly ethereal like this.

His lips curled up as you eyed him so intensely, forcing you off of him, the sudden vacancy in your cunt making you want to scream. He stood behind you, feeling up your front as he did so, “I can’t describe the feeling I get when you look at me like that, darling…” He turned you to face him, hastily stealing your lips for a kiss that dug into your chest like his nails did your back as he searched your skin hungrily. 

Upon stopping, he moved to hold your chin in place, your face displayed in his hand like a gemstone gleaming in the prongs of a ring. His swollen lips were still close, his crimson eyes had a glow to them, almost, cascading a dense shadow of need over your features, “However I may call you, you will most importantly, always, be mine. …And I hope… I will always be yours, darling.”

[wuntrum]

do you have any tips for an artist who wants to start making one off comics? i really enjoy your artistic direction and style of story telling so i’m very interested in your thoughts on it

yes, definitely!!

-read lots of comics! and a variety of them, too--both ones in the sort of genre/style you'd like to make, but also ones in completely different genres, lengths, places of origin, traditionally/indie/digitally published, simple to experimental formatting, etc

-in relation to the last one, if a comic you read really speaks to you, take some time to study some page layouts from that comic! how do the panels vary from page to page? how much space is the text taking up? what sort of "shots" (to borrow from cinematic language lol) are they using? these shouldn't be fancy, just little thumbnails, but i find it really helps. here's a few i did from a guest in the house by emily carroll

-start smalllll. its really important to build up your stamina, just like with any new sort of skill. if you wanna make a graphic novel thats 200+ pages long, you should make some comics that are 1, 20, 50 pages long and see them through to the end before taking on a super big project.

-this is related to the last point, but i think keeping your cast of characters small at first can also help build up your comic stamina. signals was the first longer comic i made, so i specifically really wanted to focus on just jeanne (and occasionally her parents and peers when they showed up)

-character sheets are helpful, but i also think the easiest way to start getting your characters drawn consistently is through actually drawing the comic! there's also gonna be panels where they look "off" or whatever, and its literally fine, i promise

-through the smaller comics, experiment with how you go about writing your story! theres no right or wrong way to write/plan out a story so, it takes some trial and error to figure out what will work best with your work flow. for me, i've found success in making a timeline of events for the story -> loosely guessing how many pages i'll need/want per section of the story -> freewriting (trying not to edit too much, just dumping all the words out) -> thumbnailing/loose sketching/editing text (all sort of happens in the same step; i find i need the layouts in front of me to understand what i need/don't need from the text i wrote) -> tight sketching -> final . but, if that flow doesn't work for you, try something else! i know a lot of comics people find success in writing a script first, with indications of page and panel-by-panel breakdowns

-take shortcuts often and without guilt. its a lot of work to make a comic! theres just a lot of drawings involved, that most people aren't gonna look at for very long! i especially recommend for infrequent/difficult things, like buildings or crowds or cars or bookcases, using some sort of 3d asset/brush to make your life easier. if you can reuse a drawing and change the crop/expression, do it!

-use some sort of tracker to track your progress on how many pages you've sketched/inked/finished. even if you don't have an external deadline, i think it's still good to give yourself some sort of timeline to work on (i recommend setting "ideal" goals and "realistic" goals, especially if you're working/still in school/etc). for signals, i used google sheets, because you can set up columns to be attached to little circle charts, so as you check off your progress, you can really easily see how much you've done/how much you have left to do (as i type this i highkey forget how i did that before, with signals, so...you might need to do some sheets experimentation to actually do this lol. but there's probably other trackers you can use too)

-understanding comics and making comics by scott mccloud are both great books, highly recommend them (easy to get second hand/from your library/🏴‍☠️)

-lastly, haveee funnnnn

[dialovers-translations]

DIABOLIK LOVERS Para-Selene Vol.5 Sakamaki Laito Animate Tokuten CD

Original title: DIABOLIK LOVERS Para-Selene Vol. 5 逆巻ライト アニメイト 各巻購入特典ドラ

Source: Diabolik Lovers Para-Selene Vol. 5 Animate Tokuten CD

Audio: Here

Seiyuu: Hirakawa Daisuke 

Translator’s note: Bowling master Laito kind of threw me for a loop, but it also makes sense? Like he strikes me as the type of guy who would be unexpected skilled at a bunch of random things. In general, I’ve been really enjoying these ‘date scenario’ CDs. They actually did a good job making every one of them unique and choosing fun locations for each boy. I know the chances of us getting another DL anime are really slim, but if they do decide to make one, I really hope it’s not a season 3 based on DF or LE but a bunch of OVAs instead based on the drama CDs.

“...What’s this? There’s quite a lot of people here despite it being so late at night. I guess bowling is pretty popular. I thought I’d be able to do all sorts of fun things with my Bitch-chan, such a shame! ーー Ah! Our lane is over here. Ah! Check out the monitor over there! It actually displays our names as ‘Laito’ and ‘Bitch’! I love your name. It really stands out amongst the others! I would have loved to be able to input ‘Bitch-chan’ instead, honestly. I felt pretty bummed when they told me that I could only input up to five characters. Right, Bitch-chan?”

You frown. 

“...? You’ve been quiet this whole time. What’s wrong? Did you want me to add the ‘-chan’ as well?”

You shake your head.

“Then what’s the matter?”

You complain about him wanting to come here. 

“Eeh~? Is it really that strange? Even I feel like playing a game of bowling every now and then. There’s no ulterior motive behind it!”

You squint your eyes. 

“Oh dear. You’re still suspicious of me? ...Fine. I’ll fess up the truth. ーー We actually gave here today because I wanted to do you a favor.”

You tilt your head to the side.

“Mmh. We’re usually active at night, so most places where high schoolers like to hang out are closed by that hour, no? So we’re limited in the things we can do, right? Well, you might be fine with that, but you’re still a blossoming high school girl, so I figured that you might fantasize about the kind of cute dates depicted in shoujo manga and such. ーー I thought it wouldn’t hurt to go on a typical high schoolers’ date for once, so I started looking around for places which are open 24/7, which brings us here today. How’s that? Do you understand now?”

You nod.

“Nfu~ I’m glad. With that misunderstanding lifted...Now that we’re here anyway, why don’t we get started? I’m up first, aren’t I? Let me think...Which ball should I pick? ーー Ah. This one will do.”

*Thud* 

“It has the same color as your hair. I’ll throw it as hard as I can, imagining its your head instead~”

You protest.

“Nfu~ Oh come on, you may say that, but I know you’re happy deep down! You love to get pushed around by me, don’t you? ...Ah! When it’s your turn, why don’t you pick a ball in the same color as my hair? I don’t dislike the idea of being at your mercy either~”

You refuse. 

“Geez...You’d be able to get so much more of of life if you just enjoy it as one of many fetishes. You’re so easily embarrassed. Fine. ...I’ll throw the ball, okay?”

Laito faces towards the lane.

“Let me think...I’m supposed to throw it leaning down...or from up top? 

You seem surprised he has never bowled before. 

“Eh!? Bitch-chan...Do you really think I’ve come to this sorta place before? Today’s obviously my first bowling experience!”

*Rustle*

“But don’t worry! Experience isn’t what matters...It’s all about chemistry...!”

Laito throws his ball.

*Clatter clatter*

“Huh? I knocked all of them over. Is this what you’d call a ‘strike’?”

You seem very impressed.

“...Nfu~ I got praised~ Anyway, is this really so amazing?”

You nod.

“Heeh...I wonder if I am a natural at bowling? Control is key, so it might be the perfect game some someone who is very technique-minded such as myself. In that case, I’m quite curious what you are capable of, Bitch-chan~”

You frown.

“Now, now, no need to be so modest. Show me what you’re made of. Go give it a shot! ...Nfu~ I’m very much looking forward to this.”

You walk towards the lane.

“Break a leg, Bitch-chan~! Throw it with everything you’ve got!” 

You throw the ball. 

*Thud thud* 

“Nfu~ Ah-ahー I guess the excitement ended up being her downfall. What a shame. ...They call this a ‘gutter’, don’t they? I can’t believe you didn’t even manage to knock over one of them. ...Ah, come on. One more try, no?”

*Thud* 

You try once more.

*THUD*

“Ahー You really suck at this, don’t you?”

You seem disappointed.

“No need to be so sad. My strike might have been just a fluke. I’ll go next, so watch me, okay?”

Laito walks up to the lane again. 

“...Hah!”

*CLATTER*

“Aah~ I guess it wasn’t just beginner’s luck! I might have a knack for bowling after all! ...In that case, Bitch-chan, why don’t you come over here with your ball?”

You pick up your ball and approach him.

“Okay! Let’s practice how to hold the ball!”

*Rustle*

“Geez, no need to be so surprised. We came here to treat you to a good time today, so I’ll teach you very gently~ Come on, hold the ball.”

*Rustle*

“Hmー That won’t do.”

*Rustle rustle*

“You need to stretch your arm a little more.”

You try to scoot away from him, asking why he is touching you.

“What are you saying? I’m fixing your posture! I think I proved earlier that my bowling skills far exceed yours, so don’t you think it’s in your best interest to take my advice?” 

You frown.

“I mean, it’d be kind of difficult to tell you what to do without clinging to you like this, is it? I’m positive that it’d be so much easier to teach you good posture through direct touch!”

*Rustle*

“Come on, lean back against me and stand straight.”

*Rustle*

“Don’t move! You want to be able to throw the ball properly don’t you?”

You tell him to move away. 

“How mean, telling me to back off! I’m only trying to show my good heart by teaching you! I mean, if you lose this duel against me, you’ll get punished, remember?”

You seem surprised by that. 

“I mean, duh? Didn’t I tell you? All games have some kind of punishment game attached to it, don’t they? You have to expect those kind of things! By the way, now that you’ve already thrown once, you’re part of the game, so there’s no backing out~”

You ask him if he would punish you right here in public.

“Fufu~ Why would you ask that? ーー I get it. You’re curious about what this punishment would entail, aren’t you~? Were you perhaps hoping that I’d suck your blood~?”

You deny it.

“Nfu~ No point in trying to deny it~ I bet you imagined my fangs sinking deeply into your fair nape, didn’t you? Aah~ I suppose I have no other choice. That wasn’t the plan, but I’ll live up to your expectations and make the punishment something deliciously painful~ Please look forward to this punishment...which will turn both your body and soul to putty~”

You try to make a run for it.

*Rustle rustle* 

“Ahaha~ Oh come on, hold up! I told you that there’s no way out, didn’t you? You better behave...or I’ll do it right here, right now.”

You immediately stop resisting. 

“Nfu~ Good girl. Besides, there’s only a 50% chance that you’ll get punished, so just remember that you could always win and try to make the best out of it!”

You sigh in defeat.

“Well then, let’s continue your lesson. Now, where’s your spine?”

*Rustle*

“Nfu~ Found it~ Mm~

*Rustle rustle* 

“What are you saying? I’m helping you straighten your back! By tracing my fingers across your spine like this...See? You pushed out your chest which improved your stance! Try to hold this proper posture, okay?”

You ask him if he knows what hte proper posture for bowling is.

“Eh? No idea! How am I supposed to know what is the ‘right posture’ for bowling when I’m still a newbie at the game myself.”

You ask him what he has been teaching you then. 

“You’re just so terrible at this, I’ve just been giving you random points and then it was up to you whether or not you’d take my words for granted. ...Anyway, ahaha~ They’re really hard to miss when you’re standing looking straight ahead like that.”

You tilt your head to side.

“Over here. These bite marks on・your・neck~”

You squeak.

“They’re the proof of the love we share with each other every night~ It’s too bad you can’t really see them unless you move this close. I promise I’ll make them stand out even more by biting you nice and hard when we get back home, so rest assured~”

You complain. 

“You’re adorable when you pretend to dislike something. However, no losing on purpose because you want to get bitten ,okay?”

You insist that you would never do that. 

“I wonder~? You’re a naughty girl who seduces other by feigning discomfort. You want me to completely overpower you, run away with the victory and inflict pain upon you as a result, don’t you? And then you’d try to play innocent by saying ‘Oh I don’t actually want this, but it can’t be helped because I lost the game~', won’t you? ...Sure. Two can play that game. I like that sort of thing as well after all. I’ll make sure to slowly drive you into a corner...and then tease the living hell out・of・you~”

Your cheeks grow hot.

“Oh? What’s wrong? ...Nfu~ You’re flustered, aren’t you? Oh come, you are so shy~ ...Anyway, let’s get this game going! Try throwing the ball following my tips from earlier.”

You nod and throw the ball. 

*CLATTER CLATTER*

“Wow~ You actually knocked them all over! I’m shocked!” 

You rejoice.

“Nfu~ Congratulations, Bitch-chan. Judging from your sheer excitement, could it be that this is the first time you’ve ever hit a strike?”

You nod.

“Mmh, mmh~ I’m happy for you! In that case, why don’t we end on a positive note and wrap up the match right here? It’s obvious you’ll lose after all.”

You protest.

“I mean, even if continue to bowl one strike after the other now, you already threw a gutter once, so you have no chance at getting ahead of me.There’s no way I’d give away the win now.”

You shake your head. 

“Ah~ We can keep going until I have a slip-up if you want, but in return, your punishment will get more and more severe, the longer the game lasts. I believe you’d be much better off admitting defeat right now and simply heading home with me. 

I’m fine with either scenario. We’re here on a date today for you after all. You can choose whether you want to call it a day right now and quickly get your punishment, or if you’d rather have me tend to you thoroughly after I’ve messed with you a little longer.”

You call him out on being unreasonable. 

“Nfu~ Exactly. I might be messed up. But you love this crazy guy, don’t you? In which case, you have no other choice but to play along with me and slowly become insane as well.”

You sigh.

“Fufu~ Since you sighed in defeat, does that mean you’ve made your choice?”

You choose to go home. 

“Nfu~ Sure. As you wish. Well then...Shall we head home, Bitch-chan~? I’ll treat you to plenty of the good stuff which you love oh-so much~”

ーー THE END ーー

[miss-tc-nova]

All Not Lost - Percy de Rolo x Reader

Ventured into Vox Machina and now I'm in love with a nerd. ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

Premise: After years under a mind control spell, someone finds it hard to return to a broken home

Words: 2,688

Music Inspiration: The Magic Music Box - Orchestral Music by Jojo Comps

~~~~~

               Getting used to the loss of five years was never going to be easy. I lived an eternity in endless pain, but at the same time, in the blink of an eye, I lost everything. It wasn’t just the final years of my teens but also my whole world. My parents, my siblings, the friends I had, the people I loved—all of them in my life one moment and gone the next. Now I’m here, in this new world and trying to figure out how to take another step when I’m so afraid of walking.

               A voice pierces my mourning. Lifting my gaze from the text I’d long since lost track of, I find Percival de Rolo. It was Percy and his friends that tore me from Delilah Briarwood’s hypnotic spell, dragging me through time to a world I’m not sure I want to be part of.

               There’s something concerned on his straight features. It easily beckons a smile to my lips, a deceit I had much practice with lately.

               “Sorry, were you talking to me?” I ask a bit tongue in cheek.

               “I was, in fact.” Arms fold as green eyes peer at my tome from behind spectacles. “Though you seem far more engrossed in…the destruction of existence as we know it.”

               “Huh?!”

               A gloved finger points at the page, underlining the text that speaks of poorly performed magic that could unravel the fabric of reality.

               “Not planning to doom us all, are you?”

               “N-No! Nooo.” The book snaps shut, leaving the immediately vicinity via its flight over my shoulder.

               One of those dark brows quirk. “Really?”

               “Yeah. I was actually looking at teleportation spells but I guess I just…got lost in my own thoughts.”

               “I see.” Percy retrieves the tossed tome and returns it to the table. “Well no need to take it out on a perfectly good book. Though maybe we should reconsider its return if it contains the secrets to destroying the world.”

               I laugh. “I’m sure not a soul in existence has the power to pull that off. Besides, this is mine.”

               “So I should confiscate it.”

               “Only if you’d like to continue walking everywhere.”

               “We have Keyleth for that.”

               My expression falls deadpan. “What was it you needed me for?”

               He eyerolls my abrupt change of subject. “We’re going out for a drink and there were questions as to whether or not you’d care to join us.”

               “Oh…”

               I can understand that—a festive drink in celebration of another day survived. That’s the way Vox Machina enjoyed life and I could never deny them that. But I don’t feel like I survived, nor am I in the mood for said merriment.

               “I think I’ll pass but I appreciate the invitation.”

               Standing, I collect my text and start for the hall of borrowed rooms. Before I disappear, however, I pause.

               I lost it all beneath the Briarwood’s rule, and that included Percy. Yes, he stands before me now, but I can no longer claim him to be the boy I served for all those years—the boy I befriended. Somehow, this truth hurts me more than if his life had also been claimed by those monsters. And I find myself utterly disgusted for thinking such terrible things.

               Again, there’s worry across his face that I can only smile at.

               “Are you certain?” The soft, low gravel in his voice grates at my resolve.

               “I’ll be fine. Enjoy your night, Percy.”

               In the instant my back turns, the smile slips away. With every step, my heart cries to go running back and spill my every misery to him. Had I not come to terms with the fact that he is not the person I once knew, I have no doubt that I would be on my knees, wailing and begging him not to leave me.

               The door to my room closes and the silence is deafening.

               Because I’m a fucking coward.

~~~~~

               Groaning, I pry my face from my pillow. The pain of spilt tears stings at my eyes, but I force them open all the same. Darkness rules the room, the lantern on my bedside table has long since flickered out. Silver moonlight filters through the curtains to give some semblance of bearings.

               Again, the knocking rattles my tranquility, though this time, a voice follows.

               I should let him go—let him think me asleep and wander away for I know I’m at my weakest and Percy deserves so much better than for me to drag us into the past.

               But I’m at my weakest.

               The worn blanket clears my face before I stand. In my stride to the door, I straighten out my appearance. Though rationale yells at me to stop, emotions pull open the door.

               There he stands, surprised, perhaps thinking I wouldn’t answer.

               “What’s wrong?” I hate how broken I sound.

               “I’m sorry, did I wake you?”

               “I wouldn’t really call it sleep. Did you need something?”

               The well-dressed man straightens up, as if he’s rehearsed this a dozen times over.

               “Yes actually. I need you to come with me.”

               “Isn’t it late?”

               A smile cracks his lips, cracking at my fractured resilience. “We don’t have bedtimes anymore, do we?”

               My gaze adverts. “I suppose not…”

               “Just trust me.”

               A glove extends to me in offering and I somewhat retreat into my room.

               “Please.”

               Following that arm, my eyes find his face again and, for a moment, I see the boy from my past and there’s nothing I can do to keep from taking his hand. Percy hesitates not even a second in pulling me towards the front door, the warmth of his palm lulling me into acquiescence. My bare feet skim the stone floor, muted by the soft click of his boots. The utter silence of the building cautions the slumber or absence of other callers. Only we—as we creep through the dormant shadows—stir in this silent night.

               Even as my guide draws open the door, I follow without question. No, I only think twice when he steps towards the black steed harnessed to a small carriage. Even so, all I find in my glance is an encouraging smile.

               Gesturing to the uncovered cart, Percy lures me towards the steps. I don’t even have the words to respond, my hypnosis convincing my feet to climb the steps instead. Once I’m comfortably seated, Percival climbs into the driver’s seat and sets out.

               Whitestone, in all its destruction and desecration, rolls by as the carriage wheels creek through deserted streets. Seeing the present whilst remembering the past only brings back the ache I earlier tried to escape. My once proud and thriving home is naught more than a pile of rubble with its citizens scrounging on the edge of starvation. Each passing corner draws me closer to tears. Yet I somehow remain composed, trusting in the man that brought me here.

               There’s not much else he could take from me anyway.

               The excursion eventually leaves that battered city behind, climbing the gentle slopes that used to bring a bustle of travelers from across the realm. Nearing the top of said slope is where the horse’s hooves begin to slow, pulling the cart to the side of the road. The carriage driver dismounts his seat, strolling to the side where he, yet again, offers his assistance.

               “We’re here.”

               Cool grass rustles beneath my toes, soft against unprotected skin. A whisper of a breeze moves the air, careful not to cause unease in this comfortable atmosphere.

               “Where’s ‘here’?” I ask, my voice barely able to break the quiet.

               Percy waves away from the carriage. “Why don’t you see for yourself.”

               It takes my weary soul a moment to sum up the energy to take those few small steps. As I do, the grand ruins of Whitestone revel in the valley below. At its heart, the damage took its toll, but gazing down upon its corpse, the city breaks me. Knees give, bringing to me to the ground, trembling hands trying to contain the grief from pouring out.

               Through the mounting misery, a gentle hand meets my back. “It’s alright.”

               “How can you call this alright?!” My words come out louder, but I can by no means call them strong. “Our home is in ruins! We lost everything!”

               “So that’s what you see.”

               Breath still quivering in my chest, I peer up at Percy. His expression is that of contemplation.

               “I suppose I should have expected as much. When I first returned, that’s all I saw too. Nearly everyone I knew is dead and my home is in shambles. I’d given up hope that Whitestone could ever be prosperous again.” That smile returns ere long. “But the Briarwoods are gone. Those that are still here choose to rebuild and the people are in good hands. From what remains there’s potential. Whitestone can be great again—maybe even better. There’s an entire city down there just waiting to grow anew.”

               Looking back to my home, I consider his words. I can’t say that I’m entirely convinced, though I can no longer see just doomed remains. Some of those sentiments sooth the pain enough for me to clear my eyes.

               “Besides, I wouldn’t say we lost everything.”

               From my back, his hand slips beneath my fingers. His thumb softly strokes against my skin. I’m now unsure whether the hiccup in my chest came from my ebbing sorrow or my heart.

               “We’re here, aren’t we?”

               Percy waits patiently as I gather my words to respond. From his touch, my hand retreat as the rest of me tries its best to hide from him.

               “So much has changed from what I remember. To say that the people we were survived would be inaccurate.”

                “I agree that people change over time, but surely there’s still part of us that always remembers who we were, don't you think?"

               From the corner of my eye, I see Percy reach into his coat. Curiosity gets the better of me. In his palm sits a small ornate box. Silver embellishments flourish across ebony paint, a small silver latch securing the lid. Into my hands, he pushes the trinket. I warily turn the box in my fingers, noting the detail and craftmanship of the item. It appears to be not new but in good condition and not quite perfect. Barely noticeable, a hole in the side blends into the design. Easily, the box opens to show me its secrets. A bundle of mechanical parts is wound together inside yet I understand not its purpose. The metal cylinder is riddled with bumps sitting beside a comb with narrowly spaced teeth while a spring runs the length of the small container.

               Before I can ask, Percy extends his hand again. A silver chain tumbles across his palm, twisting and turning in on itself. At its heart lies a small, silver key. The peculiar charm has no teeth, but a hole at its end and, as I pick it up, I understand.

               Inserting the key into the side of the box, I’m met with some minor resistance. It clicks with each turn until, after a few turns, it moves no further.

               The moment I release the key is the moment the world stops spinning.

               The cylinder turns, those bumps brushing against the metal teeth of the comb with a chime. Each sound on its own is simply senseless noise, but as it continues to turn, it recreates a melody etched deep into my heart. A bright room adorned with golden decorations and luxurious drapes gleams beneath an elegant chandelier. The finest dresses and shoes skim the polished floor in tempo to the orchestra’s magic. People weave together before pushing apart, only to retwine themselves in elegant dance.

               Most importantly, he stands before me. Trauma has yet marred his face, pure innocence left behind that bashful smile. Naivety leads our steps yet allows us to indulge in our blissful youth. We had no fear for we knew none. Our lives were whole. And we were happy.

               “You remembered,” I whisper.

               Percy’s expression holds softer as he too remembers that simple dream. “It was your favorite song. How could I forget?” His gaze wanders the stars above. “You would go about your chores humming that song every day since that dance at my sister’s eighteenth birthday. It was as if you never wanted me to forget.”

               I stare back down at the singing box. “Because I never wanted to forget.”

               “See.” He snares my attention again. “You may not be who you were, but there’s still some semblance of the person I knew in there.”

               Percy stands, pulling me up beside him. Carefully, he takes the box and winds it once again before replacing it in my hand. This time, however, his fingers carefully cradle mine as the box sings its little tune.

               Wistfully, he says, “I can only hope that part of who you saw back then still exists in me.”

               Without warning, Percy pushes me back. I stumble, but the arm at my back keeps me balanced. It occurs to me what he’s doing and the second movement is far smoother. Into memories he leads me, through our childhood and into our teenage years. We spent so much time in each other’s company—in casual conversation, in fervent discussion, sometimes even in silence. It was Percy’s presence that always brought me peace, even now in this new broken existence. And I would dance with him until my last breath if the world would only let me.

               The notes teeter out, the music wheel eventually coming to a stop. Slowly, our feet also cease to move, our reminiscence at an end. Percy’s arms drop and I hold the music box close to my chest.

               “Thank you, Percy. I needed this.”

               It’s hard to see in only the moonlight, but a tint of pink dusts his nose. “Think nothing of it.” He reaches forward, carefully draping the silver chain around my neck. “After all, it only took me five years to finally give it to you.”

               “You got this for me?” A flutter in my chest begins to smolder.

               “Technically, I made it for you.”

               “You made this?”

               “Of course.” At the simple gesture of brushing the hair from my face, Percy ignites those embers. “Because I never wanted you to forget.”

               His touch is careful and soft, as though I might break. However, I need only the smallest sign to lean into his caress. Even the press of his lips to my forehead speaks of his caution, but I see the longing burning in his eyes. For us, it’s been far too long and yet no time at all. Percy is a different person and yet he’s still the same. I suppose not everything has been lost to me.

               Fingers curl around Percy’s coat, my head tilting back. My consent is clear and his head dips a second time. It’s like being blessed with new life, filling my chest with hope I dared not have before this moment. It’s soft and deliberate, meant to relay all we’ve weathered and all we will weather. But this one thing between us will stand through it all.

               Just as it began, it ends though the significance of it all hangs in the air. In his embrace, I soak in his presence. While I have his warmth, however, the night has grown ever late and from my mouth escapes a yawn.

               His voice is reluctant to break our serenity. “We’d best get you back to bed.”

               Rather than answer, I press tighter against him. In response, Percy slips his arms beneath me and whisks me back to the carriage. Sleep nearly takes me in the time it takes to return to our temporary residence. Again, it’s Percy’s strength that returns me to my bed, but it’s mine that keeps him there. I’m not ready for him to leave me again, no matter how short the night may be. He grants me that plea and it’s in his arms that I finally find the shattered pieces of my heart in peace.

[celandeline]

Summer of Like // Farleigh Start x OC (21)

It’s exactly the same as any other day - we are lounging by the lake, Venetia and I on the little wooden dock, soaking up the suns rays, Felix and Oliver on the shore, dipping their toes in the water now and then. It’s exactly the same as any other day, except it’s not. There’s a strange cloud in the air, hanging over us, even though the sky is cloudless. The hole of Farleigh’s absence is tangible.

Venetia is fuming, not quite understandably. “I mean, it's outrageous!”

On the shore, Oliver picks at the grass by his feet. “What actually happened?”

Felix sighs, the same exasperation from earlier. “He sent an email to Sotheby's to say he'd ‘come by’ some Palissy plates. I mean, the idiot. He had to have known Dad went to school with the chairman.” 

An email. I roll my eyes behind my sunglasses, and lean back on my elbows. It’s wild to me how no one thinks it’s out of character at all for Farleigh to be so careless. 

Venetia chimes in. “I mean, talk about biting the hand. Mum and Dad would give him anything he asked for!”

I could never hate Venetia. Never. But the way she’s so easily berating her cousin over something that I know she doesn’t really care about, gets me close to it. I know for a fact that she couldn’t care less about the Palissy plates, I know she’s only mad for the theatrics of it, because pretending to be angry is better than being bored. But it makes me mad. 

Felix is more sympathetic. “Yeah, well, obviously he got sick of asking.”

“That's ridiculous. He's more spoiled than we are!” Venetia says. 

How is it that Farleigh has lived with these people, is related to these people, and they don’t seem to know him at all? In the time that I’ve known him - significantly less than Venetia or Felix - I feel like I learned more about him than either of his cousins seem to have in their whole lives. 

Felix tilts his head. “Come on, V. You have to admit. It's a little bit dark, you know, him having to go to mum and dad with the begging bowl.”

Venetia is unwavering. “Oh boo-fucking-hoo.”

I turn over, to sun my back and to tilt my face away from the conversation, lest Venetia see the anger on my face. 

Felix finally gives in. “Alright, yes, fine, it was incredibly fucking stupid -”

“Guys, guys guys.” Venetia hisses, her eyes on the shore as James and Elspeth as they breeze towards us. Felix dips his head down towards Oliver, quietly saying something to him. A wave of silence descends on the group of us - I’m a little grateful, the conversation was beginning to grate. 

James is as sunny as ever - if I hadn’t seen the ruckus this morning myself, I would have never guessed anything at all had happened. “What a glorious day! I've never known a summer as hot as this one.”

Elspeth drapes herself into a chair on the shore. “Sweltering!”

James titters on. “I think it's hotter than last year. I didn't think that was possible but here we are again! It's hotter than Barbados, apparently. Barbados!”

“I can believe it, darling.” Elspeth says. “I honestly don't think I've ever been hotter in my life.”

It’s like they’ve forgotten about him already. God it makes me mad - and its alienating at the same time. It might be an American thing, it might be an Italian thing, but I could never imagine disavowing one of my cousins from the house. Blood relation means nothing to these people. 

James tucks his hands in his pockets. “I need to check with Robert to make sure that he’s being extra vigilant with the hydrangeas.” 

“Very wise, my love.” Elspeth says. James wanders off, and she sighs, relaxing. “Bliss! Bliss, bliss…”

I shouldn’t be angry. It’s not my place - I’m a guest of Venetia’s, this is not my family, what they do and say to each other is really none of my business. 

Tuning into the little portable radio, Elspeth gasps. “Oh, this song. God, I haven't heard this song in forever! I used to hang out with them all, actually, when I was modeling. Britpop, Blur, Oasis. God the parties!” She sighs. “But then of course "Common People" came out and everybody thought it was written about me. Which was completely mortifying and ridiculous! I mean I barely knew Jarvis.”

Venetia sits up on her elbows. “What?”

“‘She came from Greece. She had a thirst for knowledge.’” Elspeth quotes. “It couldn’t have been me. I’ve never wanted to know anything.”

It’s like these people live on another fucking planet. And at first, it was a novelty, just another part of this vacation, but now it’s almost horrific. 

“God, I wish we didn’t have to go to London.” Elspeth sighs. 

“I didn’t know you were going to London.” Felix turns to look at his mother over his shoulder. 

“Pamela’s funeral.” She says, matter of factly, not a hint of sorrow in her tone. 

Oliver turns to Felix. “Pamela died?”

At least Felix has the decency to sound upset. “Yeah.”

“She’d do anything for attention.” Elspeth says. 

God I can’t wait for the summer to be over. To go back to reality, where people care about each other and work through their problems instead of tossing each other out like trash. I love Venetia - truly and wholly - but I know that she doesn’t feel the same. How could she, when her parents treat people like they’re disposable?

Like she knew I was thinking about her, she turns to me. “‘S a bit sad, don’t you think?”

“Yeah.” I say. 

< previous part | next part >

[rainisawriter]

Hi can I request an h&l fic where fujio finally gets the motorbike he wants and has become quite the happy menace. Then maybe something happens and now needs the someone maybe from sannoh (maybe cobra or Yamato or both) to talk him to calming down. Dunno how the transition of that will be but maybe because Yamato fixes bikes?? Or something?

Thanks in advance 🤗😘

So, uh… I don't think this is what you had in mind when you sent this request I'm so sorry, I have no idea what happened lmao The fic just kinda… got a life of its own and took off, I guess. I totally understand if you hate this and feel free to send this request again if you'd like me to attempt sticking closer to what you wanted T-T)/

Genre: Fluff, friendship

Word Count: 5,853

━━━━━━༻☔༺━━━━━━

“Oi!” Kiyoshi slammed his hands down on the table, his eyes sparkling as he looked between me and Yasushi. “I want to go to Kyomin Café!”

“Kyomin?” the blonde’s brow furrowed as he glanced at you only to receive a shrug in reply. “What the hell is that?”

“It’s a café,” you replied with a snicker. “Weren’t you listening?”

Yasushi rolled his eyes. “I know it’s a damn café, but what kind of café? I’ve never heard of it before.”

“It just opened up downtown,” grinned Kiyoshi as he sat down beside you, his body forcing you to scoot over so there was enough room.

“Downtown?” Yasushi and you exchanged a look and you frowned.

“That’s White Rascal’s territory. If they find a couple of Oya kids there, they’re not gonna be happy.”

The blonde scoffed, folding his arms over his chest. “Please, we can take them easily!”

“You can try if you want,” you replied with a scoff. “But you can count me out. I have no interest in going against those guys.”

“Coward.”

“Call me what you want. I’m not a child like you, I won’t be goaded into it.”

“Hah?!”

Kiyoshi pouted at us. “Please? I really wanna go but I don’t wanna go alone!”

“Why do you wanna go there so bad, huh?” questioned Yasushi, looking suspiciously at his best friend.

His cheeks tinted pink as he lowered his gaze to the table.

The corner of your lips twitched upward as you realized the reason. “There’s a cute girl there, huh.”

His eyes widened, snapping over to you as his cheeks darkened. “How did you know?”

“You only have two interests - cute girls and fighting.”

Yasushi scoffed in disbelief. “No way in hell am I going to some cafe just so you can try and get a girlfriend. I have better things to do.”

“What?” you quirked a brow at him. “You mean glaring at Fujio’s group because you can’t beat them? Sounds like a bucket of laughs.”

“I don’t have to take this abuse from you!”

“Yet you’re not leaving.”

He glared at you for a moment, trying to intimidate you, but you just grinned at him, knowing you were right.

“Please!” cried Kiyoshi as he shot up from his seat, hands pressing together above his head as he bowed.

“Come on, Yasu,” you sent him a look. “This is clearly important to him and it’ll make him happy.”

He didn’t look convinced, narrowed eyes falling on the taller male.

“Besides, if we don’t do this we’ll have to deal with his sulking for the next week.”

Yasushi’s eye twitched at the thought, a scowl on his lips. “Fine.”

Kiyoshi’s face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. “Thank you!!” He threw his arms around the two of you, squishing you both to his body despite the table that separated you and the blonde.

“I already regret this,” muttered Yasushi.

You only sighed in agreement.

━━━━━━༻☔༺━━━━━━

Kyomin Café was located in the heart of White Rascal’s territory and it was packed to the brim with customers, all dressed fashionably in bright-colored clothing. The three of you stuck out like a sore thumb but no one paid you any mind aside from a few confused or dirty looks.

“This is so stupid,” muttered Yasushi as he glanced around the brightly lit interior. The walls were a faint pink, the floor marble white and the fluorescent lights bright enough to replace the sun itself.

The majority of the customers were female, so you could see why Kiyoshi wanted to come here. Unfortunately for him, he failed to consider why it was such a hotspot for girls.

“Welcome to Kyomin Café!” A tall, attractive young man appeared in front of you, a bright smile on his face and little hearts drawn on his right cheek. The name tag on his chest read Kiku. If he was put off by the appearance of you three, he didn’t show it at all. “Is it just the three of you?”

Yasushi was glaring at him, clearly put off by his friendly demeanor.

Kiyoshi was staring at him with his mouth open as he fought between feeling annoyed and envious.

You cleared your throat. “Yeah, that’s right.”

“I’ve got the perfect table for you! Please follow me.” He lead us to a table near the back of the cafe. It was square and painted white, pushed against the wall with three chairs surrounding it. “I’ll give you a moment to browse the menu. Back in a jiff!”

Yasushi scowled at his back. “I hate him.”

“You hate everyone, that’s not saying much,” you commented, picking up the brightly colored menu. It was full of sweets in pastel colors with cute names you wouldn’t be caught dead saying aloud.

Kiyoshi whimpered, lowering his head. “How can I compete with that?!”

“You can’t,” scoffed Yasushi, leaning back in his chair with his arms folded over his chest.

You kicked him hard under the table, glaring at him before motioning toward the defeated male.

He frowned, his hard demeanor falling the tiniest bit. He leaned forward, slapping Kiyoshi on the shoulder. “Hey, if they don’t choose you, then they’re dumbasses. So what if you’re not a pretty boy like that loser? Can he take a knife to the gut and keep fighting? No, he can’t! He would drop to the ground and cry like the loser he is.”

“You’re right…” He slowly lifted his head, his confidence slowly returning to him. “I’m twice the man he is!”

“Exactly!”

The girls sitting at the next table looked at the two weirdly before getting up and moving to a different table. You briefly wondered how long it would take before the three of you got banned from the cafe.

You rested your cheek against your hand, glancing to your left, eyes locking with one of the servers. Time seemed to freeze as the two of you stared at each other and it took a moment for recognition to flash through your mind.

It was Fujio. His usually slicked-back hair now sat against his forehead in waves, earrings dangling from his ears. He wore the cafe's uniform and tiny stars had been drawn onto the skin beneath his left eye.

His eyes widened in shock, panic clearly dancing within them. He stumbled back, nearly running into the guy who had seated you before he darted into the backroom. You had no idea why he was here but something told you he didn't want anyone at Oya to find out.

You glanced at your two best friends and frowned. You knew better than anyone that, if they found out, they would tease him mercilessly. The boys at Oya loved to gossip more than little old ladies enjoying Sunday tea so it would only be a matter of minutes before the whole of Oya knew.

"This shit looks gross," you stated, scowling at the menu. "My stomach already hurts. No way can I eat this sugary shit. Can we go now?"

"Hah?" Yasushi scowled at you. "You're the one who insisted that we come here for Kiyoshi. Now you wanna leave?"

You glanced around the room before leaning forward, lowering your voice. "My stomach really hurts, okay? You know how I get around big crowds.”

Kiyoshi frowned, concern written on his face as he leaned toward you. “Why is your stomach hurting? Are you sick?”

You shrugged a shoulder, looking at him pleadingly. “I don’t know, maybe. I think the ramen I ate this morning might have been expired.”

Yasushi scowled at this. “I just told you to throw that shit away!”

“I forgot.”

“You’re a hopeless idiot,” he huffed, standing up. “Let’s get out of here.”

Kiyoshi nodded, standing up and waiting for you to do the same. “Do you need me to carry you?”

“No, it’s not that bad. Thanks, though.”

“Where are you going?” Kiku approached us with a frown, head tilted to the side. “You haven’t even ordered yet. Is the menu not to your liking?”

“Piss off,” Yasushi huffed, glaring at the male as he walked past, making sure to bump his shoulder against Kiku’s. Kiyoshi also sent him a glare.

You glanced over your shoulder, locking eyes with Fujio again as he peered his head around the door. He was watching you nervously, his bottom lip between his teeth. He was clearly waiting for you to rat him out.

“Excuse me?” Kiku called out wearily, looking between you and the raven-haired male. “Do you know Hanaoka-san?”

“Nope,” you replied simply before turning back around and leaving the café. The boys were waiting for you, leaving an empty spot between them so they could walk on either side of you.

“We’re never doing that shit again,” huffed Yasushi. “What a waste.”

Kiyoshi’s shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry…”

You patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry too much, Kiyo. You’ll find a girlfriend one day.”

“I hope you’re right…”

“I’m always right.”

Yasushi snorted loudly, sending you a disbelieving look. “Like hell you are!”

You returned it with a blank look. “You should really stop being such a buzzkill, Yasu.”

“I am not a buzzkill! Right, Kiyoshi?”

Kiyoshi paused, looking between the two of you. His lips parted but, instead of answering, he turned on his heel and took off down the street.

“Yah! Get back here!” Yasushi cried, taking off after him.

You chuckled, shaking your head.

━━━━━━༻☔༺━━━━━━

“I’m hungry,” Yasushi complained, leaning back in his chair and staring up at the ceiling of the classroom.

“That sounds like a you problem,” you commented, not looking up from your phone.

He clicked his tongue in annoyance. “Oi, go with me to the vending machines.”

“Are you paying?”

He rolled his eyes as he stood up, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “Don’t I always?”

You followed him out into the hall, dodging students as they rushed past. It had been a few days since you saw Fujio at the café and you had the feeling he was avoiding you. Not that it mattered much since you guys weren’t friends, but you had to admit that you were curious. 

Was he having money problems? Did he get roped into it by someone else? The only one you knew who could work there was Tsukasa, but you doubted he would be willing to take the job. 

Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

Tsukasa was walking down the hall toward you, hands in his pockets. His eyes met yours for a moment before he looked away. You stepped to the side to walk past him but he went out of his way to bump his shoulder against yours. You realized why he had done so when he pressed a piece of paper into your hand.

“Sorry about that,” he smiled charmingly.

Yasushi scowled at him. “Watch where the hell you’re going, Takajo!”

“Right, right. Sorry,” he apologized again, his eyes flickering to your hand.

“Don’t worry about it,” you replied, sticking your hand into your pocket so Yasushi wouldn’t see the note.

“You should have punched him,” complained the blonde.

“It was an accident, keep your panties on.”

“I do not wear panties.”

“I hear they’re super comfortable for guys.”

“I’m going to kill you.”

“You’d be doing me a favor.”

The two of you stared each other down for a moment before grinning and cracking up.

“I’m gonna head to the bathroom,” you told him and he nodded.

“What do you want from the machine?”

“The usual.”

“Sure.”

You headed in the direction of the bathroom but kept walking when you reached it, glancing over your shoulder to make sure he wasn’t following you. You waited until you found an empty classroom before tugging the note from your pocket and reading it over.

'Meet me behind the school in 20 - H. F'

You hummed in interest, taking note of how pretty his handwriting was. Quite strange for a delinquent, but it somehow suited him. You considered going back to Yasushi and making up some lie about needing to go somewhere only to decide that it was easier just to go to the meeting. You could figure something out to tell him later.

Fujio was pacing under the large oak tree out back, his hand on his chin.

“Yo,” you called out, holding up the note when he looked over at you. “What’s up?”

He frowned at you, glancing at the note. “You didn’t tell Yasushi or Kiyoshi.”

“Did you want me to?” you inquired, quirking a brow.

“No!” he replied quickly. “No, I - I just figured you would."

"Not the first time you've been wrong, Hanaoka," you chuckled, trying to cut through some of the tension. It seemed to work as he grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I am curious, though. Why are you working there?"

His eyes lightened up at this and he dug into his pocket to pull out a page ripped from a magazine. "Look!"

You took it from him curiously, eyes scanning the page. It was for a motorbike, the price set at *. "Ho~? Are you planning to go the way of Murayama-san?"

"Of course not!" His brow furrowed and he folded his arms over his chest. "I just really want one. Have you seen Sannoh riding around town? They look so cool! I bet it's really freeing, too, like you're flying!"

You watched him closely as he spoke, taking in the cheerful and excited look on his face. He seemed so happy, so carefree, unburdened by the weight of being an Oya leader. You had to admit, it was a good look on him.

"What?" He pouted, shifting nervously under your watchful gaze. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I think it's great that you have something you want and you're working hard for it," you told him honestly, handing the page back. "I hope you get it, Hanaoka."

"Thank you," he smiled softly before adding as an afterthought. "For everything."

"Sure. You don't have to worry, I won't tell anyone about your job. Later." You lifted your hand in a half wave before turning and heading back into the school. Your phone buzzed in your pocket and you didn't have to check the ID to know who it was.

"Yah!" Yasushi's voice was so loud on the other end that you had to pull the phone away from your ear. "Where the hell did you go? Did I buy this shit for my own health, huh?"

"Keep your panties on, I'm on my way."

"I told you I don't - no, screw you! I'm giving your snacks to Kiyoshi!"

"Don't you dare -" But he had already hung up the phone. "Motherfucker," You muttered, rushing down the hall.

━━━━━━༻☔༺━━━━━━

You stifled a yawn as you stepped into the café, the bright lights making you wince. It was dark outside but with all of the neon lights of the downtown district, it was as if the sun was still out. Even so, they couldn't compare to the overpowering fluorescents of the café. You couldn't help but feel as if it was completely ridiculous to have lights that bright.

Surely someone had to have complained, right? You glanced around at the customers, all of them young girls with stars in their eyes as they undressed the waiters with their hungry gazes. It made you shiver in disgust.

"Oh, you're back!"

Your gaze shifted to Kiku who smiled warmly at you. "Table for one."

"Your friends aren't with you?" he inquired curiously, glancing behind you.

"Wasn't really their kinda scene."

"Oh, I see," he giggled. "Follow me!"

Kiku led you to the same table you had been at a few days ago, promising to return soon. You still felt sick looking at the menu of pure sugar, but the iced hot chocolate looked appetizing. You made a mental note to ask if it was as sweet as everything else.

While waiting for the waiter to return, your eyes scanned the café but there was no sign of Fujio. You were sure he had been working tonight, but it was more of a hunch than hard fact.

Kiku returned a moment later. "Do you know what -"

"Is Hanaoka working tonight?" you interrupted him, not sparing him a glance. 

"He's supposed to be, but he's running late," pouted the male, his hand on his hip. "I was supposed to get off five minutes ago."

You hummed thoughtfully, wondering if he had gotten caught up in a fight or something on his way. You briefly worried that the White Rascals had found him and, for some reason, that made your heart clench up anxiously. It was a feeling you had only ever experienced when Yasu or Kiyo were in danger. Not just a fight, but genuine danger.

"I thought you said you didn't know -"

Fujio came rushing into the café, breathing heavily and his clothes askew. His eyes fell on Kiku and he hurried over, bowing with his hands pressed together in front of him.

"I'm so sorry, Kiku-san! I had a… family issue to deal with."

Kiku sighed dramatically, inspecting the black polish on his nails. "You're lucky the customers love you so much. In fact, this one was just asking about you."

Fujio's eyes fell on you before widening in surprise, his lips parted.

Kiku patted him on the shoulder. "Go get yourself together and get clocked in, yeah? My feet are killing me."

"Yes, sir!" He sent you one last look before rushing into the back.

"Do you mind waiting?" inquired Kiku with a kind smile. "If you do, I can take your order before clocking out."

"I've got nowhere to be," you replied.

"Awesome. I'll let Hanaoka-san know to come see you first," he winked before turning and leaving.

You turned your attention to the window beside you. There was a small alleyway there with a brick wall on the other side, nothing too interesting. There was a line of windows stretching across the cafe wall, though, so you could see people walking past on the street, as well as the neon lights flashing across the buildings.

Thunder rumbled softly overhead, sending the people scattering inside, not wanting to be caught in the rain in their party outfits. 

"Hey."

You glanced over as Fujio squatted down beside the table, a pad and pen in hand. "Late for work, huh? You're never gonna get your bike that way."

He pouted, folding his arms on the table. "It wasn't my fault! Those guys jumped me, I had to fight back."

You scanned his face for any sign of injury but saw none.

He realized this and gently patted his right side, only to wince in pain. "I made sure they didn't get my face. I'm pretty sure I'd get fired if I showed up with a busted lip."

"Not necessarily. Girls like them," you motioned around you with your hand. "They live for drama. All you have to do is tell them someone robbed you and they'll eat it up. Might even give you a bigger tip."

"I don't want to lie to them."

You clicked your tongue, leaning back in your chair. "Sometimes this world doesn't deserve honesty."

"I'd rather live in a world that does," he admitted, a soft smile on his face.

You frowned at this, eyes narrowed. You wanted to call him a fool, to tell him that he was being naïve, but you couldn't bring yourself to say it. Fujio was an honest guy through and through. He didn't hold back his intentions or lie about what he wanted, even if it would benefit him. 

That kind of person can be easy to take advantage of, to manipulate, and you didn't want that to happen to him. For whatever reason, you now felt protective over him. It was the same way you felt about Yasu and Kiyo yet… it was also different in a way you couldn't put your finger on.

"So," he broke the tense silence, clearing his throat. "What are you doing here?"

You hummed, tapping your fingers on the menu. "Well, I didn't get to try anything the last time I was here. I kept thinking about the iced hot chocolate."

"Oh, that's one of our more popular items!" He grinned. "Everyone says it's really good."

"Have you tried it?"

"I have and I really like it. Do you want one?"

"How sweet is it?" 

"I can make it as sweet as you want. Most people request the sweetest version but I tried it and it was gross," his nose wrinkled cutesy and you chuckled.

"Just lightly sweet, please."

"Of course!" He scribbled it down on his notepad before glancing up at you. "Anything else?"

"I'll see after I finish my drink."

"Okay, I'll have it out to you soon." Fujio stood up with a smile, turning to give your order to the guy making the drinks but he barely made it two steps before his name was being called.

"Hana-kun~!" A short girl with wavy blonde hair waved frantically at him, nearly bouncing in her seat when he turned to look at her. She pouted her glossy lips, batting her eyelashes. "I missed you!"

He smiled charmingly at her, no doubt having learned it from Tsukasa. "I'll be with you in a moment, Minnie."

As soon as he disappeared into the back, her eyes fell on you, narrowed in annoyance. She sized you up before scoffing, a smirk sliding onto her lips as she twirled a piece of hair around her finger. She clearly didn't think much of you but you didn't really care either way. You weren't here to please this random chick you didn't even know.

Her face lit up when he stepped into the room again, but it fell when he ignored her and came straight to you, carrying the drink you ordered.

"I made sure it's not too sweet for you. Go on, taste it." He watched you closely as you sipped the drink. "Well? I can have it remade if it's too much."

"It's perfect. Thanks, Hanaoka."

A grin slid across his face, rubbing the back of his neck. "Glad you like it. I'll leave you to it, then."

You hummed as he finally gave Minnie the attention she was seeking. She kept glancing over at you as if to rub it in your face, but you were paying her no mind, looking down at your phone. Yasushi had messaged in the group chat, asking where you were since he had gone to your house and couldn't find you.

-> Yasubaka: Oi, were u kidnapped or sumthin?

-> Kiyochan: Kisnapped?!

-> Kiyochan: kidnapped*

-> Yasubaka: pft, I feel sorry for the kidnappers

-> Yasubaka: they got no idea what theyre in for

-> Yasubaka: seriously where tf are u??

You scoffed at the two idiots but couldn't help smiling at their concern. No matter how much you annoyed each other, you were still family at the end of the day. You quickly messaged back saying you had gone on vacation before putting your phone on silent and slipping it back into your pocket. Fujio was running around the cafe, taking orders and entertaining the girls drooling over him. He continued to check on you, but you chose not to order anything else.

After an hour of consideration, you had made your choice.

You pulled out a wad of cash from your pocket, counting out how much was needed for the bill before adding a $20 tip. You glanced at Fujio, catching his eye. He was in the middle of taking someone's order so he couldn't come over, but that was fine. You knew he was gonna fight against the over-tipping and you were too tired to deal with it. You motioned toward the cash and he nodded before returning his attention to the customers.

━━━━━━༻☔༺━━━━━━

"What the hell?!" Fujio slapped his hand on your desk, eyes burning as they bore into your own.

Yasushi and Kiyoshi were, thankfully, not in the classroom, but several of their followers were. They knew of Fujio's strength, though, and hesitated to attack him. They just stared at him with wide eyes and open mouths, trying to decide the best course of action.

You quirked a brow at him. "Hello to you, too."

Fujio glanced at the other students before lowering his voice. "We need to talk!"

"No."

"No?"

"I know what you wanna talk about and I'm not interested."

"It's too much!"

"Don't care." You sent him a blank look before getting up and leaving the room, the raven-haired male hot on your heels.

"Take it back." Fujio grabbed your wrist, trying to stuff the bill into your hand but you clenched it into a fist, giving him a grin.

"I refuse."

"Why are you being so difficult?" he pouted.

"Why are you? Just take it, Hanaoka."

He bit his lip, seeming torn. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"A hundred percent sure?"

"Yes."

"A hundred million -"

"I'm going to punch you."

A smile slid onto his lips, his grip loosening around your wrist but not leaving it. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it. Seriously, don't," you warned him, but your smile betrayed you.

"I won't if you won't," he said softly, his eyes once again boring into your own. They were softer this time, filled with something you couldn't quite decipher.

"Deal," you replied softly, unable to tear your gaze from his. Were his eyes always that pretty?

"Senpai, is everything alright?"

You quickly stepped away, realizing just how close the two of you had been. Clearing your throat, you looked at the first year that followed YasuKiyo. "Yeah, it's fine. Come on, let's go."

You could feel Fujio's eyes on your back as you walked away, but you couldn't bring yourself to look at him.

━━━━━━༻☔༺━━━━━━

Over the next few months, you actively visited the café just to help Fujio with his bike fund. To be honest, the place wasn't terrible but you certainly regretted giving their food a try. As expected, it was full of sugar and made your stomach turn. How anyone could eat that drivel, you'd never know.

He continued to resist the extra tip each time but finally gave in when he realized you weren't planning on changing your mind anytime soon. Part of you was thankful for this while another part missed arguing with him about accepting it. With each visit, you felt yourself growing more attached to the male and it was starting to scare you.

Yasushi and Kiyoshi had also noticed the change in your demeanor, along with the constant disappearance acts you kept pulling. They knew something was up and, being the idiot brothers they were, they wouldn't drop the subject. Every time they saw you, they were demanding answers or glaring at you in a poor attempt to break you. Having to deal with them and the fact that you had no idea how you felt about Fujio now was annoying as hell.

Finally, you just started avoiding everyone just to get some peace and quiet.

There was a spot on the opposite side of the roof from where Fujio's crew hung out that no one used. Probably because the floor was super weak there and, honestly, was a death trap in the making. It was peaceful, though, so you found yourself hiding up there more times than not.

"Is that Fujio?"

"No way!"

Curious, you peered over the side of the roof, seeing the raven-haired male driving down the street on a shiny new bike. His smile was brighter than the fucking sun and it was obvious that he was pretty damn happy about finally getting his bike. He hopped off it as soon as he was in front of the school, showing it off to anyone who would look.

You snorted when one of the boys tried to touch it only to get a foot in the face and a scolding look from Fujio.

Seeing how happy he was to finally have the bike he had wanted for so long brought a smile to your face, but it also left a sour taste in your mouth. He didn't need you anymore, you realized. He was probably going to quit his job at the café since he had what he wanted.

It shouldn't have bothered you, but it did. It bothered you a lot, more than you were willing to admit out loud.

You rolled onto your back, hands behind your head as you stared up at the fluffy white clouds above you. 'I should be happy. Now I don't have to visit that damn café anymore. Yasu and Kiyo will finally get off my back, too. Not to mention how happy Hanaoka is. This is a good thing...'

You groaned, rolling onto your side and closing your eyes. "A good thing, huh..."

━━━━━━༻☔༺━━━━━━

You stifled a yawn as you walked down the street, heading home after a long day of fighting. For some reason, everyone and their grandma seemed to want to fight YasuKiyo and, by association, you. It was something you had grown used to after so many years, but it felt as if everyone came out of the trenches today.

Someone yelled your name from behind and you held back a groan, turning to see who wanted to fight you now. To your surprise, it was Tsukasa and Fujio. You said nothing as they approached, quirking a brow at the blonde as he was the one who had called for you.

"We need your help."

"My help?" you echoed, scratching your cheek. "What for?"

Tsukasa nudged the ravenette in the ribs and you finally turned your gaze to him. The sadness in his eyes made your heart clench up painfully, anxiety coursing through your system. He looked as if he wanted to cry, an expression you had never once seen on the male.

He took a step toward you, his lips trembling as he searched for the right words. "There was an accident..."

Tsukasa sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Do you have to be so dramatic? They're going to get the wrong idea if you say it like that."

"Oh," he frowned at his best friend before looking back at you. "My bike, she... she was hurt. Badly."

The blonde folded his arms over his chest. "A couple of the part-timers got ahold of the truck Seki used to drive and they didn't see his bike there."

"She didn't stand a chance!" Fujio cried, grabbing you by the shoulders. "Tsukasa said you could help. Is that true?!"

"Ah, well... I can't help -"

His head fell, grip tightening on your shoulders.

"- but I know someone who can."

His head shot up, hope in his watery eyes. "Really?!"

"We gotta go to Sannoh territory, though."

"I have to get back to Oya," said Tsukasa with a sigh. "They made a real mess with that damn truck. Can I leave him in your hands?"

"Yeah, I got him."

"Thank you," he smiled charmingly at you before giving Fujio a stern look. "Behave and don't cause them any problems. No fighting with Sannoh, got it?"

"You have no faith in me, Tsukasa," pouted Fujio.

"I wonder why..."

After parting ways with the blonde, you led Fujio toward Sannoh's territory, feeling nervous for a host of reasons. Despite Cobra and Murayama having long since squashed their beef, they were still wary of Oya. Probably more so now that Murayama had left. They were also super protective of you because of your cousin. By all accounts, it was a bad idea to bring Fujio here yet you didn't hesitate.

Fujio needed you and you loved it.

The metal door to Asahina garage was up and your cousin sitting inside eating some onigiri. There was a broken down bike off to the side and he had no doubt been working on it before taking a break.

Yamato glanced up when he heard you enter, his eyes widening when he realized it was you. He jumped up, throwing his arms around you and squeezing the life from your bones. "Oi, where the hell have you been, huh? I was beginning to think you forgot about your favorite cousin!"

"You're my only cousin," you grunted in annoyance, trying to shove the hulk of a man off of you. "And I was here like two weeks ago."

"To see Cobra!"

"And? Cobra is less annoying."

"Thank you."

You glanced at the stairs, seeing Cobra descending them with a bottle of water in his hand and a smile on his face. "You're here, too?"

"Don't sound too excited," he joked, but a serious expression came to his face when he spied the ravenette lingering behind you. "Who is he?"

Before you could say a thing, Fujio bowed at the hip and introduced himself with vigor. "Hanaoka Fujio!"

"He's my friend," you stressed, sending the two males a stern look. "And he needs help."

"We're not a charity case," scoffed Yamato, eyes narrowed at the boy.

"He needs his bike fixed," you explained, taking note of how your cousin's eyes lit up at the mention. "I'll pay for it if that'll make you happy."

"No!" chorused Yamato and Fujio, sending you a scowl.

You held your hands up in surrender, fighting back your smile. "You'll help, then?"

Yamato seemed to consider this for a moment before sighing. "Fine. Bring it to me and I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you so much!" cried Fujio, bowing to them again. His eyes weren't quite as dull now, regaining some of their usual happy shimmer.

"I'm not making any promises," muttered Yamato before returning to his snack.

You patted the ravenette on the arm before turning to leave the garage.

He walked at your side, a pep in his step. "Thank you for this. It really means a lot."

You hummed. "Don't think you're not paying me back for this."

A smile tugged at his lips and he nodded. "Of course! Whatever you want."

The words made you pause, brow furrowed at him. He made it a few more steps before realizing you had stopped. He glanced at you, tilting his head to the side. "What's wrong?"

"Do you mean it?" you questioned softly. "Anything I want?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Did you have something in mind?"

"Yeah."

"What is it?"

You closed the distance, leaning closer until your face was just inches from his own. You knew exactly what you wanted.

Fujio swallowed hard, his cheeks tinting pink. "W-What are you -"

You leaned toward his ear. "You're buying me lunch for a month." And then you pulled back, walking away as if nothing happened.

Fujio's lips parted, face burning as he tried to wrap his mind around what had just happened.

You grinned back at him. "Oi, you comin' or what?"

He tried to get a hold of himself, ignoring his racing heart as he rushed to catch up with you.

━━━━━━༻☔༺━━━━━━

High&Low Masterlist.

WIPs.

[aquanova99]

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕕𝕠𝕨 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕡𝕙𝕚𝕞

Azriel x OC

Part 3

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➽───────────────❥

Well, that was a dumb idea. Why? Why did she feel the need to do that? Callista’s brows furrowed as her body curled into itself. She hadn’t even asked the young woman if she could use her magic on her. She couldn’t stop looking at her eyes. Sad at the suggestion of flight, but no tears at the long since acceptance of her position, her fate. Callista had to remind herself that she didn’t know these people, she had to remember Azriel’s warnings. If they somehow found her home, would they try and exploit everyone’s gifts? Fight these wars everyone seems on edge about? Part of her was worried it was a dream, and when she woke up she would be back in Luminia, part of her was hopeful she didn’t put everyone at risk by leaving. The light shining through one of the windows caused her eyes to reflectively squeeze even tighter. She forced herself to breathe before trying to open them.

The second he heard her move Azriel was the side of the bed. His wings blocked out the light and her eyes fluttered open. “How long?”

“Why would you do that?” Azriel was suddenly unable to keep the composure he’d been holding in for the past day and a half. “How could you do that? I had no idea what was happening. Your wings—”

“Are fine now.” She sat up and extended them to show the colors back and vibrant as usual, “Now, how long was I out?”

Azriels lips formed a tight line, he forced himself to speak as calmly as he could through clenched teeth, “….About 36 hours.”

“Objectively… that isn’t too bad. I’ve had worse.” She stretched and yawned, still coming to terms about her location, “How’s Emerie?”

“How are you?? How did you do that? Why did you—”

“Fall?” Azriel nodded, “I can heal almost anything but depending on the severity of something it takes a bit of energy out of me. A broken bone…those are usually easily, because every bone is supposed to set in a certain way. But something like a wing, I had to connect the tendon that was snipped. It’s still there just severely damaged. Almost recreating it, then it requires more of me. I had to figure out a lot of things when that fire broke out… but I don’t know everything so a lot of healing depends on magic and what I want to achieve.”

She shrugged as if putting her life in danger was no big deal to her. “It sounds like it could kill you.”

“I guess it could. I just haven’t had to use it in awhile.” Azriels eyes seemed to shine with a fury, she couldn’t quite understand. “Did I do something wrong?”

“Can you heal yourself?” At this point everything was now an interrogation. He would not risk her risking her life again. A protectiveness he had never felt before took over his entire being. He had been crouched next to the bed staring slightly up at Callista as she sat up and answered every question. For a brief moment, he wondered if was pushing her, possibly hindering any healing she was supposed to undergo. His worry won over any possible hesitation. Callista placed her hand on his face ever so gently. Her scars like the roots of an old tree spread down her arms

“I’m fine. Truly.” She looks at the scars trailing down her arm and grimaces at the sight of them. She tries to pull her hand back but fails. Azriel’s hand holds hers in place, she’s been trying to avoid it, but she cant ignore the fury in his eyes.

“You will not do that again.”

…

“I’m serious Callista. That kind of ability could put you in serious danger. Promise me you wont do it again.”

So he wasn’t angry at her. He did have a point. She was being careless. She didn’t know these people, if one of them were put in a difficult situation its hard to say what information they would divulge. Worse, what if they didn’t break? How far would these people go? Would they put their lives on the line to protect a secret that had no need to be shared? Stupid. Her eyes stung as she thought about the danger she put everyone in. She could only nod at Azriel’s request. Shame coursed through her veins.

Azriel softened, he gently brought her hand down to her lap and clasped his other hand around it, “I’m sorry.”

“Why would you be sorry? It was wrong of me to do something like that without even asking. You’re right. I was being selfish. My people, you all…if something happened to you—”

“Me?” Azriel was shocked. He’d been certain he had frightened her by yelling. He had been worried but it was no excuse. Not after what she had done for Emerie. After what she may have risked just coming back with him. He sat next to her, still worried about possibly pushing her away. He wondered if he would ever get over that, still he was intrigued. Why would she be worried about him?

“Couldn’t you get into trouble? For hiding what I can do?”

“I suppose. Being able to avoid detection helps.”

“And your friends?” This got his attention, was she worried they would break? “if they got into trouble I would never forgive myself. And I doubt you would either…”

“You think I would blame you if something happen—”

“I think you would try not to. But emotions are not logical. I don’t suppose your high lord could erase memories.” She laughs regardless of how much she wishes it were so easy.

“He can actually. But none of us would accept that.” Azriel shrugs

“It could keep you safe.”

“…No.”

“No?”

“My dear, our court is hardly in anyone’s good graces. Your abilities wouldn’t be the first thing they would think to torture out of us.” He could immediately see the effect his words had on him. All he was doing was confirming her worst fears. “We’ll be fine, Callista.”

She turned to face him, trying to read his usual unreadable face, hopeful she would be able to tell if he was telling the truth. When she had first met him his face, his body both mentally and physically seemed pained. She now knew what had been on his mind when he pushed his body past exhaustion, but since that first day he’s seemed wary to give any emotion away on his face. Up until now, she had assumed he could care less one way or another about helping her out. Maybe coming back only to prove to himself he could do it, to do something no one had done before. But he seemed genuinely concerned, worried about her own safety over his own.

She could only nod, “How is she?”

“Emerie? She’s terrified. Thinks it’s a spell that will wear off, so she been waiting for you to get better. Make sure she doesn’t get her hopes up. Are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

Everyone was waiting for them in the sitting room. Waiting to ask questions. “Please, sit.” Nesta gestured to a spot next to her, “How are you feeling?”

“Still regaining my energy, it seems. But fine. What would you like to know? Or should I start?”

“Please, go ahead. Better we don’t bombard you with endless questions.” Nesta continued

“I’ve been dealing with this kind of magic for a while. It’s permanent. It always takes some amount of energy but the bigger the issue the more it takes. I cannot heal something from nothing, so if you were to get your wings cut off I wouldn’t be able to make them grow back. Did I miss anything?” She ignores Emerie taking a deep breath

Cassian glances at Azriel who just shrugs. Emerie’s eyes begin to water. Gwyn rubs her back, “We told you.”

“Thank you…” She says through broken sobs.

“Actually, I apologize. I shouldn’t have made an assumption, even then I could have warned you. But I am glad it worked o—” Emery tackled her in a hug and kissed her cheek. Azriel stiffened and forced himself to remember Emerie was not a threat.

“Thank you.” She runs back to grab Nesta and Gwyn. They embrace her and Nesta squeezes Callistas shoulder before running off with her two sisters. All overjoyed to see Emery regain something they all knew had broken something deep inside her long ago. As far as Nesta was concerned, she was indebted to the newcomer.

“Take care of her Az!” Nesta waves as the girls run out the door. Azriel still stunned and conflicted at Emerie’s affection. Cassian tried to stifle the laugh building in his chest.

“Where are you planning on starting?” He asked his friend

“Maybe Dawn, or Summer Court?” Azriel offered

“I want to see where you’re from.” Callista hurried to explain herself as both men froze, “This training camp—it would be interesting to learn a new skill.”

“No.” Azriel couldn’t even begin to fathom her stepping foot there. Too dangerous. He was sure his kind would immediately flock to her. Try and get away with doing some of the worst things imaginable.

“Did you not say my people were unprepared for a fight? I should learn some techniques to take back.”

“Cassian could train you here. Emerie or Nesta could train you here. That camp is the worst part of Prythian.” The things they would do to you…he thought to himself. Callista shrugged in acceptance.

“End with Dawn.” Cassian interjected, “Get spring and fall out of the way. Don’t stick around too long.”

“You both worry too much. But I do want to thank you again for offering up your home.”

“We’ve heard you did the same.” Cassian smiled at Callista then turned serious, “You’re going to need to speak to Rhys soon enough. He is going to want to know how far your gift extends.”

A warning, Callista decided. She could feel Azriels eyes burning a hole in the back of her head. She decides to leave before starting another fracture between his friends, regardless of her opinion of them, they were still all Azriel knew. She nodded at Cassian, fluttering her wings just enough to reach his height and deliver a kiss on the cheek, “Thank you. I’m sure we will return by the days end.”

She ran back the second her feet touched the ground. Grabbing Azriels hand and squeezing it to let him know she was good to go. It only seemed to break his train of thought but he couldn’t help but smile as she beamed at him, he slightly nodded, “Ready?”

➽───────────────❥

She closed her eyes and squeezed his hand again. Her skin grew cold as the shadows enveloped her again. She wished she could see how it worked, but she trusted Azriel and didn’t dare break any trust in her. Before she could open her eyes again, she was overwhelmed with the floral perfumes surrounding her. She opened her eyes before Azriel needed to alert her that it was safe. Azriel had chosen a place most likely to be safe but they would not be able to stay here for long, relations with Tamlin and even the spring court were as tense as ever. He didn’t need to give Rhys another reason to worry further.

“What do you think?”

“Its beautiful…If I had your gift I would never stop looking for somewhere new to explore. Is that how you found this place?” She looked back at him, ready to inquire about this clearly secluded area. Flowers she could only imagine and dream of surrounded her, climbing up the trees. Whatever small lake the had arrived at seem clear and bottomless as it glimmered with some kind of magic. Any questions she had would have to wait, she looked at Azriel’s all too serious face. His posture was too similar to the way he seemed at dinner the first day she’d arrived. “Azriel?”

“What? Nothing. Everythings fine.”

“Well that’s good, but it isn’t what I asked.”

“I’m sorry. I must have been distracted. What?”

“I take it we cant stay here long?”

“Unfortunately, not. We aren’t exactly amicable with the spring court.”

“Why not?”

Azriel hesitates. Its not really his story to tell, besides it could get her in trouble if she meets the wrong people. Before he can say anything everything goes silent and his head snaps towards the direction he knows his friend will winnow from. He gets in front of Callista throwing her behind him. Rhys walks out unconcerned.

“Really?”

“What are you doing here?” Azriel spat out

“Besides the fact you shouldn’t risk being in here, I came to speak to your…friend.” He faces her with an expression made of stone, “I found what you came here for.”

Before Azriel could decode what he was talking about Callista stepped out from behind him, “You really must want me gone. Very well. Show me.”

“I assume I’ll see you back in the Night court then? Unless of course, you’d rather come with me?” He smirked, Azriel had never been so ready to fight someone he’d once considered one of his only friends. He felt his arm lift as Callista linked her arms with his.

“No. I’ll pass, thank you.”

Rhysand nods and disappears. Azriel tries not to let the disappointment show on his face. Why hadn’t he helped him before, those were months wasted when he could have been with…or rather could have helped Callista. He knew it was selfish, but he wasn’t ready for her to go. Since his time under the mountain Azriel knew the things Rhysand went through and was forced to comply with were unimaginable. So much so that any shift in his plans drove him crazy. Even more so now that Nyx was around. Everything had to go according to plan, if it didn’t it brought out a side he wasn’t sure he liked. No matter how much he empathized.

“You shouldn’t hold so much resentment for him. As poor as his judgement towards me may be, its clear he cares about you. He is trying to keep those he holds dear close.”

“So its alright he treats you this way?” Azriel shakes his head, “No. He should trust my judgement. I’ve never failed him, theres no reason—” Azriel is silenced by the feeling of her lips, ever light as a feather, graze his cheeks.

“I suppose you’ll have to show me around some other time. Come. We shouldn’t keep your brother waiting,”

Azriel blinks as he tries to regain his train of thought. He ends up only nodding and squeezing her hand tight and she smiles before closing her eyes.

➽───────────────❥

Azriel tries to not be instantly agitated at the sight of Rhysand sitting with his arms behind his head. As if there was nothing amiss. As if he couldn’t have given you this information months ago. He gestures to a book that looked as if it would crumble if it wasn’t handled properly. Callista warily approaches the ancient script. Azriel finally seems to notice that his hand was still intertwined with hers when she finally lets go to more carefully examine what Rhysand has offered her. He hates that he’s so bothered by the ease of which she let go. Has he always been so possessive over his friends? No, never like this. Never like her. She had ingrained herself into him, became a part of him he was terrified would disappear. That was the problem. It was difeerent this time. He could accept that he wasn’t enough for the other, hell he certainly would never be enough for her, but he couldn’t let her go. Not now. A small rational part of his brain told him to go slow. Be wary. He had only known her for a matter of days. Was that all it took to get him to not look back? Had he only latched onto her because he was desperate to have someone? Had he simply fallen for someone no one had any agency over? Was he willing to leave the people he had known his entire life for her? What if she rejected him as well? What would he do then?

Azriel cant make sense of the markings on the page but Callista studies every one intently. As he begins to worry  she turns to face him, feeling a kind of shift with shadows that encircle him. The two make eye contact only for a second before Azriel looks away, pain etched deep withing his eyes. Rhysand shifts in his seat and Azriel straightens up, he tells himself to get himself together. Whats one more rejection anyway?

“Find what you’re looking for?” Rhysand asks

“I—I don’t know.”

“Only one way to find out.” He shrugs

“I suppose you’re right… Azriel?” He can only dread whats coming, “You’ll have to forgive me. You’ll have to show me around another time.”

“Whenever you wish.” He smiles and bows his head, “Shall we head back?”

“I will be taking her Az. You’ve done enough traveling?”

“Really?” Callista interjects before Azriel can protest, “I’m surprised you’d be willing to leave your family for so long. And unprotected as well. I’m honored. Do you know where you’re going? Wouldn’t want you to be unable to make it back if the spell doesn’t work.”

“I—”

“Don’t be ridiculous Callista, Azriel can take you. Cant he Rhys?” Feyre steps in and sits on the high lord’s lap who can only take a deep breath and relent. He waves Azriel off, and he nods his head for Callista to follow. He wanted to talk to her before they left. She followed him all the way back to the house of wind.

“So…those markings…they’ll help?”

“Ancient runes, I’ve studied some from the books back home.”

“You remember everything?”

She pulls out her left hand, markings decorating her arm in gold. “If I can figure out how to pronounce everything correctly, I should be able to make it work. Hopefully, Tommin and the rest of the elders aren’t too mad to where they wont help.”

“I think with enough support they’ll whether they want things to change or not.”

“hm. Are you alright?”

“Why would I not be?” Azriel asked

“Well, you didn’t exactly need to bring me all the way here to have that conversation. What is it?”

“I—”

“Azriel?” She places her hand on his shoulder and every worry threatens to spill out

“What happens if this works?”

“What do you mean?”

“Will you explore what you can, with them? Or would you…”

“Come back?”

Azriel finally looks at her eyes, “Could you?”

“Would you want me to?” She smiles, Azriel shakes his head chuckling. What was happening? He had never had any issues with anyone. Not at Rita’s, not anywhere, even with Mor as painful as it was he had no difficulty flirting back. But here he was, tongue tied for seemingly the millionth time.

“I—” Azriel looks up and runs his hand through his hair sighing at how complicated this was all getting, “Of course I would.”

“Hmm. And would you want to come back here?” Because frankly you seem miserable, she though to herself. “Are you happy here?”

“I have a duty here.”

“That doesn’t exactly answer my question…” She tilts her head as she considers his words for a moment more, “Well, I suppose it does actually.”

His name on her lips unsettled him. No one called him by his full name around here. And she said with so much…kindness. Wait, he froze, what exactly did she he was letting her down. Did she mean when she said she understood, he himself didn’t understand what he wanted yet. What he wanted…

“Azriel…” He flinches at her touch, her fingers delicately trace her eyebrows, her hand gently rests on his face, “You really ought to stop worrying so much. If you want to talk you know I’m here. You are free to speak and ask whatever it is that’s worrying you.”

“Stay with me.” He finally says, grasping her hand and finally staring her in the eyes. Afraid to hear her answer but needing to get everything out, “I dont care where you want to go, but stay with me. I know you don’t know me. Not really but—”

Both hands now cup his face as she looks up. Her wings flutter ever so slightly and he feels her lips press against him once more, but the intention feels different. She purposely kisses him in the corner of his mouth, letting him decide whether or not he’d rather push it any further. She lingered for a few seconds, and then whispered, “You still owe me a tour if I remember correctly.”

She floats down, “I don’t plan on traveling alone anytime soon, what fun would that be?”

Azriel looks down at her smirk, her almost all knowing smirk. If she had any idea how he was entirely at her command. He would travel the ends of the universe for the smallest request. He was completely wrapped around her finger. He couldn’t deny it any longer. He needed her. Her company, her presence, her light. A balance to the darkness he seemed to carry around him constantly. She never pushed, and yet he felt like she was the only one that would understand. He grabs her face and kisses her as deeply as he can and hopes he can convey even a fraction of what he’s feeling. Its only when they both need to breath that they step back.

Azriel clears his throat, “Lets get going then, there so much I want you to see. And I can’t wait to get started.”

➽───────────────❥

She nods and grabs his hand. She closes her eyes and waits for the chill to pass. Every trip was exhilarating, literally breathtaking. She would never not be amazed by this ability, amazed and saddened. Calista wondered if he ever thought back to the times he had been scared of the darkness before it embraced, or if it ever still brought him a wave of sadness as he remembered exactly what brought this gift.

“This is wrong.” Azriels words force her eyes open

Callista immediately sees what he is referring to. The trees once green and lush looked dull. As if the life was being sucked out of them. And it was silent. Eerily silent. Callista felt her stomach harden.

“Where—”

Azriel shook his head, he is only whispering to himself but Callista wont accept what comes out of his mouth, “There’s only one?”

Callista refuses to believe it, she releases his hand and begins flitting to and from several different houses. She calls out names getting increasingly more panicked. Her home she once knew like the back of her hand seemed foreign to her now. Azriel could feel the pain in her voice but he was frozen, he caused this, he was sure of it. He should have never returned. No, that isn’t right, maybe he should have waited to hear the Elder’s concerns, pressed for more information. Likewise, Callista knew her absence had something to do with this.

“Azriel!!” She looked to him pleading, he seemed terrified, still he knew exactly what she was asking for, he point in a direction. This person would surely have some answers. Deeper in the woods, closer to the forest floor. Callista dashed off and Azriel snapped out of it enough to follow her. She breathed a sigh of relief when the elder who had protested when Azriel had first returned appeared. But Azriel noticed his aging immediately, Callista was so excited to see anyone she rushed and hugged him. The old man did not return the gesture. “Tommin.”

“So. You finally decided to come back.” He grunts and steps back. Callista seems taken aback by his attitude and finally realizing how different he appeared.

“How long?”

“Several hundred years if I am counting correctly.”

“What? That’s impossible, every other time was maybe a few years at most.”

“Because we had so many returning visitors before that young man. Anyhow, I’m sure you have questions. We don’t have much time.”

Callista shakes her head, refusing to accept what was plain to see. Azriel can only hope its one of two options, “But where is everyone?”

The old man, chuckles. As if he’s been waiting to deliver what hes about to say for years. As if it would make all of it okay…

“Oh child, they’re all long gone.”

➽───────────────❥

Taglist: @bubybubsters @mich0731 @azziessidehoe @cleverzonkwombatsludge @nightless @thelov3lybookworm @kemillyfreitas

[canarydarity]

hello,, remember that Jimmy centric harbinger of death au I mentioned months back? Have a snippet of a scene from the first chapter :) (which will be posted in full soon!)

“Jimmy, look out!” 

From over his shoulder, he hears it—the spark and a slight buzz, like static; for a weird second, he thinks of the radio and the crackling, the sand in the desert. But he knows better, he knows that hiss, a sound that haunts him both awake and asleep. It doesn’t matter that he was just facing that direction and had seen no sign of any creepers—there was a conditioned response to what he just heard, everyone has one; Jimmy’s is to drop, ducking to the ground hands up and over his head—not that they would’ve done anything to protect him had the threat been real. 

And while nothing happened—no crater dug itself into the ground, no hole ripped itself through his barely-armored body, no gasp as he woke up back in that desert—the panic was most definitely real. Seasoned target of one too many jokes, following the usual progression Jimmy knows the anger comes next; the panic would fade upon the realization that the threat wasn’t real and the annoyance at whatever joke was played would take its place, no less insistent and intense as the feeling before it. But as Jimmy cowers on the ground, catching his breath, his hands frantically cataloging limbs and appendages and understanding he was fine, he doesn’t find that his fear gives way to anger—his fear wasn’t giving away at all. 

His ears are ringing, which is weird because there had been no actual explosion. The noise came from somewhere—probably a disc if he had to guess—but it was pre-recorded, only a playback of some other detonation, it shouldn’t have nearly been enough to do any real damage. And it didn’t seem to for anyone else either, if the laughter he vaguely hears behind him is any sort of indication. The perpetrators are fine, but even so, Jimmy’s head rocks like there had been a blast, like he needs time to recover. 

No matter how many times he repeats to himself that nothing had happened, that it was just a stupid prank, he can’t seem to calm down. 

A hand touches his arm and he flinches hard, blinking up to find Scott just trying to help him to his feet. “Easy, Jimmy, easy.” Jimmy lets Scott pull him until he’s standing, brushing him off. 

Martyn is still laughing at his own prank, wiping a tear from below his eye, practically wheezing; it’s unclear how much of it is real and how much is for show. “I have gotten a one hundred percent success rate with that,” he brags with a happy sigh, hands out to his sides, inviting them to join in on his praise. “I gotta say, I’m pleased.”  

“What was that noise?” Jimmy asks, but his question goes unanswered. 

“He got me as well,” Scott says, but then he turns to look at Jimmy with a smirk. “But not nearly as aggressively as he got you, Jimmy.” 

Jimmy wants to join them in their amusement, he really does, but his heart rate hasn’t quite recovered yet. He’s embarrassed, almost, to still be feeling it. He blinks a few times hoping to clear something in his brain, begging himself to calm down, to chill out before someone notices. 

But of course, the next thing Martyn says is “Just a music disc Tim, jeez, you alright there?” Not sounding at all actually concerned about Jimmy’s state of being; his deceptively kind words more an excuse to poke at Jimmy’s weak spots than actually inquire about his feelings.

He wants to play it cool, to take the joke as easily as he’s sure the others have, but instead on instinct his shock makes him shove his arm in Martyn’s face, crowing “I’ve got goosebumps, Martyn, look!” 

Martyn draws back in his distaste, his own hand coming up to push Jimmy’s arm back down and away. “Yep, I see that alright, thank you.”

Scott pats Jimmy twice on the shoulder, something he’s quickly getting sick of happening in this sort of context.

“I’ve got a few more people to get with it, though, so—” Martyn says, clearly trying to take his leave now that he did what he came here to. “Actually,” he interrupts himself, “have you seen Grian anywhere?”

Scott shakes his head, “No, I—”

And—maybe just a moment behind—Jimmy understands he means to repeat the prank again, and speaks without really thinking about it or meaning to for the second time today. 

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea, actually.” 

Martyn’s eyes dart away from him and then back again like he's giving some sort of aside to an audience, acknowledging the weirdness of Jimmy’s comment with a 3rd party who’s in on the bit. “Um, what?”

Jimmy ignores the feeling that he’s walking himself into a joke, calling on Martyn to pick him apart like usual—because the feeling of wrong wrong wrong wrong is so much stronger. His ears are still ringing from the explosion that didn’t happen, and he rubs a hand over one of them trying to make it go away before he answers, but for some reason, that only makes it louder. 

He winces, both from the pain and the knowledge that he knows exactly how this conversation is going to go over before he even starts it. 

“I said you oughta stop that.” He tries to be firm, but from the smirk on Martyn’s face, he’s not going to succeed. It makes Jimmy double down, rush the rest of the sentence out of his mouth as quickly as possible, trying to avoid the possibility of being dismissed. “Someone could get seriously hurt!”

“It’s not a real creeper though, is it Timmy?” 

Jimmy feels the helpless frown settle on his face, and the frustration that comes with knowing he's going to lose but not wanting to give up; he acts and speaks with the same level of intensity as he does with everything else, but there's an underlying urgency here that he does not doubt even though he doesn’t quite understand its cause. He doesn’t bother answering Martyn’s question, knowing at least enough to understand that he isn’t meant to. 

“I still don’t think you should be doin’ that though!” He argues, and the worst possible turn the conversation could take begins from there; dismissal of the point that the prank is potentially dangerous for the more amusing idea that Jimmy is a sore participant. 

Martyn rolls his eyes and crosses his arms. “Oh come on,” he drawls. “Take a joke, take a joke…” 

Jimmy groans, “But Martyn, I think th—”

Martyn groans back, “But Timmy!” 

Scott laughs and Jimmy turns to glare at him, giving up on his sentence halfway through. 

Martyn takes the distraction as his leave, already having jogged halfway across the tiny valley by the time Jimmy looks back in his direction. 

“You’re gonna kill someone with that!” Jimmy yells after him, but Martyn is ignoring him and making really exaggerated gestures of goodbye, like he's just given a performance and the crowd is shouting for an encore. He brings both hands to his mouth and blows a kiss to his imaginary admirers, then clasps his hands together giving a large bow; waving, smiling, mouthing thank you. 

Jimmy calls again “I’m serious Martyn!” But his friend fakes a laugh and says “oh, you’re all too kind!” Before disappearing over the crest of the mountain across them.

[from-izzy]

that's him, that's just who he is | tbz lee sangyeon

» ​PAIRING: tbz lee sangyeon x gn! reader (implied afab reader...?)​ » TROPE/AU​: childhood friends 2 strangers » GENRE​: angst!, comfort later (more like a peace of mind after all the angst), little bit of fluff from the flashback » WORD COUNT: 2985 » ESTIMATED READING TIME: ~11 mins » WARNINGS (lmk if i missed anything!): as far as i'm aware, none! navi/masterlist!! 🤍 series introduction 🤍 series masterlist

my first story for my personal healing project!

this story reflects how i personally see sangyeon and i am a bit worried that i made it 'too personal' to the point that you guys won't really understand what's going on 😭😭 but i really hope this isn't the case.

another thing i want to emphasise and add! i'm still not used to writing for gn!reader so please, if you see something that should be changed, tell me straightaway! 😭😭 this is a very important topic and as much as i've proof read it, i am still able to make mistakes!

other than that...let's go!

“I’m home!” 

The house chorused in a series of ‘welcome back’s and variants of ‘omg! I need to tell you something!’. You hug your mum in the kitchen, craning your head forward to her shoulder, observing her working hard on the food that she’s making for the neighbourhood party that is happening across the road from your house in about two hours or so.

You relax in contentment as the smell of your mum’s homemade food fills the whole house and you can’t help but let out a deep sigh to relish the familiarity of it, only being able to get a whiff of the aroma maybe once a week, sometimes unfortunately even less.

“How was work?” Your mum strikes up the conversation when you put your chin on her shoulder, your whole body almost dangling if you could due to the exhaustion, “You look like you’re enjoying it.”

You roll your eyes in response, whining for your sister across the other side of the room, in front of the television to keep it down as you could barely hear the sizzling of the meat on the frying pan, “Well, it’s fine, I guess?” 

“Why? Cause at the very least you can see the love of your life?” Your chin detaches from your mother’s comfort, your spine straightening and you let out a gasp, almost scandalous at the words your mum just said, “Hey! You were the one who told me that all your co-workers were teasing you both for that ring on your finger!”

“True.” 

A radiant smile pulls up on your lips when you remember the way your partner knelt on one knee after casually asking you “Do you want to have little, mini versions of us walking around someday?” You, being slow, just leisurely answered back with a “Duh! Of course!” and before you knew it, the ring on your left fourth finger solidified the promises between you two to make that, and so much more happen.

Leaning onto the cupboard that stretches from the floor to the top of the ceiling, you play with the continuous silver band and the shiny diamond protruding on your ring finger. Already touching and feeling it so many times, you remember its grooves and design happily, reciting the next spaces of the ring in your head easily. The smile pulls up further on your face and you squeal at the thought of you walking down the aisle soon.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Your sister shouts in obvious annoyance, “You told me to be quiet and now you’re the one being loud!”

Ugh, this little demon.

“And what are you doing when mum is obviously working her ass off in the kitchen?” You observe your very very lazy sister’s surroundings: she rests her whole body on her side to watch the blown-up performance stage of one of the many groups that she likes, fully stretching and sprawling on the whole couch, bags of opened processed foods on the glass coffee table within her reach and her phone somewhere in the messy pile, “Geez, do something productive for once in your life.”

“Hey.” She finally sits up, not bothering to pause the big screen as the cheers of the fans could be heard clearly and from the corner of your eyes, you could see the new ‘ending fairy’ trend in the new generation of K-Pop, zooming from one member to the next, “Being happy is being productive.”

And you couldn’t refute that, knowing that she was absolutely right.

“Hey!” Your mum hollers your attention back to the kitchen behind you, the steam of the soup creating a soft and white fluffy barrier between her somewhat mischievous and guilty grin, “Do you mind helping out with the mango dessert? I don’t think I can finish it in time. I slept in and started preparations late.”

“Sure!” You immediately agree, glad to be spending some time with your mum anyway, “I’ll just quickly wash up and change. I’ll be right there!”

The routine isn’t anything special for a regular neighbourhood party: shower, do some quick skincare, put on light makeup, style your hair appropriately, match it with appropriate attire and off you go to the kitchen with an apron to save your clumsy, silly self.

“What do you need me to make?” Your eyes quickly scan the fruits, ice, beverages and decorative flowers.

“Your sister was craving some fruit punches. I only have mango and passionfruit available.” Your mum sets some more ingredients for you to use on the kitchen island before turning away to face the stove once more, “You’re good at making these things.” 

“That’s just an excuse right, mum?” The older woman chuckles, nodding in agreement.

You were about to ask your sister to get an idea of what exactly she wanted but the underaged sibling suddenly squeals and the beginnings of a soft instrumental bounce from the walls of the house before a deep, gentle timbre sings. Your lips twitch when the younger girl turns up the volume at the masked man on the television screen. 

“I should add alcohol to this.” You mutter as you start to work on the drink, focusing intently back on your work.

But along the way…

Is a voice from deep within you telling to to listen carefully to the male singer.

When your hand retrieves the unpeeled mango, you stare at it fondly, turning your hand to observe the little marks and imperfections on the skin. Suddenly, the fruit didn’t seem to just be a fruit. The orange-yellow shading reminds you of a boy from your childhood who had the same hoodie as the colour and you remember how he said he would dye his hair to be the same colour when he could one day when he gets older.

Having some sort of background to hair and colouring as your auntie has a salon herself, you commented that it would need a couple of bleaches and an unhealthy hair condition for him to achieve the vibrant colour. You could hear the surprised and stuttering voice in your head, compromising his choice to have a more pastel, lighter look rather than the look that would totally steal the attention of any crowd. 

Smiling at the really faint memory, you couldn’t help but sigh as you recalled that you no longer had contact with your primary school best friend. You both separated when you entered different high schools and despite promising to still have daily meetups in the neighbourhood park, you immersed yourself in your studies as he immersed himself further with the things he wanted to do. It was somewhat bitter but you both had the feeling it was coming anyway. Ultimately, you were glad that the friendship didn’t fade away because of some dramatic high school, hormonal drama.

“Lee Sangyeon, you’re such a good singer ugh!”

“W-Wait…” Your fingers quickly retract from the fruit peeler, whipping your head to the television at the familiar first name that your sister cheerfully shouted for.

It’s also when you realise that your sister isn’t watching live television but rather a replay of a video;  I mean, it had to be a replay because your sister obviously knew the name of the singer even when he still had his mask on to conceal his identity. 

Unknowingly, your eyes stuck to the screen, the mango slowly rolling out of your grip, your breath hitching as the familiarity of the song starts to take over your whole mind. The first observation you had was that his voice changed drastically. It wasn’t as high pitched and the lower register made your entire system start to relax when your lips unconsciously started moving to the shape of the lyrics to the song.

And there he was.

When the MC announced the name that you knew all too well, every muscle in your body froze except for the ones around your eyes as you couldn’t help but let a tear slip out. The nostalgia hits you and the second observation you had was that his smile never changed. It was still the gentle, wide ones that he always offered you whenever he answered your ridiculous questions or when he would ask you to accompany him to play on the swings instead of the slide. No, he didn’t have that hair colour that he talked about with you around fifteen years ago but his light brown shade showed you that he definitely did use similar hair products to achieve the look. 

But that smile.

That smile told you a lot; one of them being that you were sure that Lee Sangyeon was still a very much reliable, positive person.

Even when he introduced himself to the audience, bowing politely as his hair was all messed up due to him taking off his mask, you could tell that even though he was nervous and most probably sweating buckets, he still beats all the allegations from when you were children saying that he looks cold and unfriendly.

His smile and the way his eyes disappear behind his eyelids make the corner of your lips lift as well; even his eyes still hold a smile similar to his lips. It contrasted heavily with his no evident smile, the vertical lines between his eyebrows and how he only made short bursts of eye contact with the audience when he was singing beforehand. 

“You should just become a singer! Not an astronaut!”

“Should I?” Sangyeon could barely kick the surface of the sand with his legs, adjusting his posture on the swings to make sure that the swinging didn’t make him fall off to the ground and potentially embarrass himself in front of all the other kids, adults and their pets.

“For sure!” You exclaim, excitingly rattling the metal chains that held your weight in the air. You lean forward a little bit to escape the said chains and observe your friend beside you, “You have such a gentle personality and I could see you becoming the best leader ever! I could see you taking control, making sure that everything will go well and just being really reliable. Or you could go solo but honestly, it would be fun to see you dancing on stage.”

“Oh come on!” The little boy grunts in response to your laughing, recalling the way he was forcibly picked out from the crowd to do a little routine. Needless to say, he ran down the stage to sit back down with you, hiding his reddened face behind his arms above his knees, “Was I really that bad?”

“Nah.” You immediately saw the smile from back, “You looked a bit silly though.”

Sangyeon rolls his eyes away, still with a wide grin on his face as he observes the sun setting behind the trees and he takes notice of the way the warmth from the orange light slowly disappears from the top of his head to his forehead and is now down to just his chin.

“Well, I’ll just have to go with the flow, I guess.” You admire the way that Sangyeon looked at life. At such a young age, you always thought that he was mature and would take the cruel obstacles that life threw at him one step at a time, “It’s simpler that way anyways.”

His positivity definitely grew on you healthily and he would occasionally remind you that even though life is crap, it’s okay to feel like the whole world is against you and to cry once in a while. Your friendship with Sangyeon most definitely strengthened your mental health and amidst the hard times in life, you also believed that good things would happen one by one slowly. 

“As they say,” You follow his gaze to the barely visible hemisphere that was once high in the day, “Simple is Sangyeon.”

“But I guess I still want to be greedy and achieve all the things that I want quickly with whatever it is that I’ll pursue.”

The little chuckle that escaped from you made Sangyeon turn his attention back. He then sees the series of nods and your closed smile before hearing your approving hum, “Fair enough, fair enough.”

That was around the end of primary school and was one of the last regular meetups before high school where it became irregular and unsteady. 

You were happy though. You still are.

You’re happy that you met Sangyeon even though life took you to your different, diverse paths. Making friends in high school was a big pain in the ass as you had to start all over again from basic introductions and discussions of hobbies. It was so much easier because Sangyeon’s extroverted self carried you to make friends and drag other people into the conversation easily.

“You alright?” 

Your feet had a mind of itself when you realised that the television wasn’t on your ten o’clock anymore but more like your twelve. The younger at the couch had her legs tucked in beneath her body, kneeling on the leather sofa with both of her eyebrows raised in suspicion and concern.

“Y-Yeah.” You gesture to the big screen with a chin tilt, “So…which group is this?”

“THE BOYZ! Oh my gosh, this is what I was going to tell you about when you walked into the house! Look! There are eleven members and they’re all so handsome!” 

The contrasting volume between the two siblings, as they engaged in their back-to-back conversation, had the older woman from the kitchen sighing at ease. Though time was running out and they needed to finish as soon as possible to avoid being late (or being late at an unmannered time), she could see how her oldest child bent their upper body down and used their elbows to support their weight on the backrest of the couch while her youngest flips through the various video contents of the said group. She also remembers the existence of the now way more mature boy that she once knew personally and she has always been aware that even though the friendship ended peacefully, it was still hard on you as you jumped from group to group to find the right people to spend your time with.

Turning the red line of the stove knob to ‘off’, picking up the steaming pot and placing it on top of the coaster to the barely changed arrangement of ingredients that she sets for the dessert on the kitchen island, she lets out an exhale that blows the fragrant ginger away from her face. She didn’t have the heart to tell any of her children to help her out anymore, not when the younger was enthusiastically teaching the older the names of all the members once again after the latter only recalled around three of the names; the mother thought it was a good effort already on her behalf. 

Similar to the stuttering one who points at the still unfamiliar member, she rests her elbows on the cold table stone, one of her palms as a rest for her cheek. The ‘ten more minutes!’ reminder on her phone rang but as soon as the first note blared, the mother let out a quick, surprised sound, lunging to reach her phone across the island, tapping on the ‘silent’ button repeatedly, not wanting to break the chaotic atmosphere of her two kids, “I guess after all these years…”

Finally making the final decision inside her head, she opens the group chat for all the mothers in the neighbourhood to tell them that they won’t be able to make it to the monthly gathering. Amidst the happy squealing and claps when you were able to recite all the members’ names, the front door clicks open to reveal the other parental figure for the two busy children.

“What’s up with those two?” The man amusedly comments at his two precious children, dipping his head down to kiss his wife, “Don’t tell me they tried something for the first time.”

“No, no, no.” Immediately backing up the radiant smiles on both the younger’s faces that pasted on their faces across the room. The couple stays in the hallway, watching the way that you finally sit down on the couch properly next to your sister who shows you yet another stage and a song that you were sure was going to make it to your main playlist, “Let’s just say that there’s a boy who not only makes our oldest the happiest, but now also our youngest.”

“Well,” The dad exhales happily at the good news. One of his hands tucks itself into his pants pocket, the other wrapping around the waist of his lovely wife, “that’s good to hear. Sounds like a decent guy. Who is it?”

“Lee Sangyeon.”

“Damn,” he nods, slightly pouting as he reflects on his own actions, “maybe I should take notes from this guy.”

“Don’t be silly, love. You’re a great dad.” Before kissing another reassuring kiss onto his lips, “Lee Sangyeon…he’s just that type of person, you know?”

“What type?”

“The type that’s capable of making people happy.”

You and your sister finally take notice of the new figure in the house, jumping from your seats to tackle your parents in a hug. More variations of ‘welcome back’s and ‘omg! I need to tell you something!’ spewed out the still-excited youngsters. Your mum calms you both down from your jumping sprees, placing a hand on each of your backs. You make eye contact with your mum and she could see the swirls of adoration, peacefulness and a sort of…relief just swimming freely in your eyes.

The hand on your back runs up and down, your mother understanding how you feel without you even saying it. Once more, she lets her thoughts run and thanks the boy on the screen who was a strong figure in your childhood:

“That’s you. That’s just who you are, Sangyeon.”

navi/masterlist!! 🤍 series introduction 🤍 series masterlist tags (send a dm/ask if you would like to be here!): @deoboyznet 📢❤️ @k-labels 💙🤍 @k-films 🤎🎞️

[good-beanswrites]

Hello! Are you still doing requests for the drabble game? (If not it's still okay!!)

I've been browsing the milgram tags and I keep seeing your drabbles here and there and I've been so in love with each and single one of them. You characterize them in a way that feels so canon I wish it was actually real. Your stories are such a delight to read!

I'd like to request Lies + Kazui and Yuno, or Kazui with anyone really. He's been a liar through and through and I'd like him to talk with someone about it, and Yuno's the only other prisoner who can truly understand him. Especially with Kazui's trial going on and him leaning guilty, he would be more antsy than usual. (But if there's another scenario you'd like that's totally fine as well ^^) Thanks!

Aww thank you so much, I'm so glad you enjoyed! :D And thank you for the request, these two are so interesting !! I imagine that Kazui can tell from the voices he hears that he's leaning guilty, or at least very close in the middle. Here's him and Yuno, following an instinctual lie that she just can't leave alone...

“I’m doing fine,” Kazui said, perfectly accustomed to lying about himself. He was used to putting on a smile when his insides were yanked into knots. He was used to ignoring signs under the surface for the sake of others. There was one thing he wasn’t prepared for, though, and that was Yuno Kashiki.

“Mmm, no you’re not.” She said matter-of-factly. She braided her hair in a complex pattern, hardly even looking at Kazui. Instead, her eyes stayed fixed on the tiny handheld mirror she’d propped up on the table in front of her.

It wasn’t the first time she’d caught him in one of his lies. She’d been merciful in the past, allowing the group to laugh it off and move on. Now, in private, she seemed much less forgiving. She wasn’t the only one in an unforgiving mood (which, conveniently, brought him back to the root of the problem.)

“What are you doing with your hair?” He peered over from behind. “It looks nice -- what’s the occasion?”

Her voice lilted as she said, “oh, well I’m so glad you asked! I’m celebrating the day that prisoner number seven tried and failed to hide his true feelings from me after I asked him oh-so politely how he was doing!” 

He returned her smile with a pained one. “I’m not hiding anything. I’m doing as well as any other prisoner. Better than most, for that matter.”

She returned to her task. “That’s a pretty low bar.”

“Heh, I guess.”

“So? What’s eating at you?”

“Just annoying young women who can’t leave an old man alone…” 

He thought they could leave it at that. Yuno disagreed. 

“Come on, it’s just us. Be honest.”

After a pause, he furrowed his brow. “Why?” 

Yuno wasn’t the nosy type. She could have probably gone through all three trials without knowing a single thing about the others’ sins. She’d been even more solitary this trial, forgoing the usual gossip and conversation. For some reason, she seemed unmovable on this request.

She caught his gaze through the mirror. He could only see one of her eyes, but from her angle she probably saw most of his face. “Because it hurts, to lie.”

It did. It had hurt for years. Even when his act became second nature, when the words flowed easily and his body moved without pause, the truth was still somewhere deep inside trying to eat him alive. Here in Milgram, he continued to feel its ache. Now, on top of the same old lies, he was trying to play the part of the calm and collected adult. Yuno was right about the bar being low -- the prisoners were in a sorry state. He had to be strong for them. She herself wasn’t doing well; despite the airs she put up, she was struggling just as much. (She wasn’t the only one who could pick up on someone else’s well-worn mask.)

So he couldn’t be honest and falter in front of her, either. Aware that his silence would be equally telling, he asked, “are you speaking from experience?”

“I’m not letting you change the subject,” Yuno pursed her lips, “but I’ll never miss an opportunity to talk about myself.”

She shifted in her chair, now turning away from the mirror to look at Kazui. He was taken aback with how smoothly the confessions spilled from her. “Yes, I know firsthand what it’s like. I know how much it hurts to lie to someone who loves you. I know what it’s like to wait until the last moment to say something, realizing it’s too late, and you’re screwed. I’ve had to cover up my pain in front of others, pretend like it’s all fun and games when it’s clearly not. And most of all, I know what it’s like to be caught in the middle of the warden’s judgment.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” He did. 

Being named guilty is the worst fate for a lot of reasons. The thought of being forgiven, though, felt worse. There was no winning. Just another thing to claw at him from the inside out.

“It hurts, Kazui. I know you feel it. I realized how much all that secrecy tore me apart inside, so I came completely clean to the warden during my interrogation. I thought maybe it could help you, too.”

His expression softened. As much as Yuno wanted to be independent of this whole situation, there was always a part of her that wanted to treat others right. Seeing her intentions were pure, he felt himself relax under her gaze. 

“Telling them the truth… and being forgiven afterwards… will it help this ache, then?” He placed a hand on his chest. It was easier to direct his questions at her, but it was clear he was curious about his own fate. “Do you feel at peace now? Can you forgive yourself?” 

She turned back around. Her eye watched him from the mirror once more. 

“Yes,” she told him, and Kazui knew he wasn’t the only liar here.